Pallas van Angola

Name

Pallas van Angola, also spelled as Palas, Palasse, Palassa.[1] Her unusual first name identifies her even in records that do not mention her last name or relatives.

In a book chapter about slavery in New Netherland, Jaap Jacobs noted that Pallas was a name from Ancient Greece, and that assigning such a classical European name would have stripped away part of her original identity.[2] 

Origin

Identified as a “negrinne,” Pallas was a Black woman.[3] Her last name indicates she was from Angola.

Migration

Pallas was in New Netherland by 1642, when she married.[4] It is unknown whether she was transported directly from Angola, or via another place in the Americas.

Settlement

Pallas probably lived in New Amsterdam between 1642 (marriage)[5] and 1656 (sale).[6] It is unknown whether she remained in New Netherland after 1656.

Biographical Details

Pallas van Angola was born between say 1600 and 1630, probably before 1620, since she was married at least twice by 1642.[7]  As an enslaved woman,[8] she would have been brought to the colony in bondage. Only young, healthy women would have been selected, making a birth before 1600 unlikely. She died after 14 March 1656, when the New Netherland Council ordered her sale.[9] 

Marriage and Children

Pallas van Angola first married Françisco d’Angola. After his death, she married a  different man of essentially the same name, Françisco van Angola. Pallas and her second husband registered their intentions to marry at the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam on 26 February 1642.[10] Whether Pallas had any children is unknown.

Education

Pallas spoke at least some Dutch. She was accused of calling another woman a thief, a statement that would have been implausible if she did not speak Dutch.[11] 

Enslavement

Pallas was enslaved by the West India Company. On 14 March 1656, the director-general and council of New Netherland ordered the fiscal to sell her after a complaint that Pallas had committed theft. An (unnamed) enslaved man, accused of laziness and unwillingness, was also ordered to be sold. The proceeds of the sale would go to Pieter Rudolphus to pay a debt.[12] Rudolphus, a merchant, had appeared before the New Netherland Council earlier that day to submit his bill of 2481 guilders and 14 stivers for various goods and merchandise he had provided to the West India Company and its servants. About to depart for Holland, he requested speedy payment.[13] The council sold the two enslaved people to raise the requested funds quickly.

It is unknown who purchased Pallas. On 6 August 1655, seven months before the council ordered her sale, they had imposed a 10% export duty on Black people who were taken out of New Netherland since that was so common.[14] This may have been Pallas’s fate as well.

A court case before the New Amsterdam court of Burgomasters and Schepens may explain why Pallas was accused of theft. On 28 February 1656 Marritie Jans sued Maghteltie, the wife of Rev. Megapolensis. Apparently, Marritie Jans had worked for Maghteltie, and came to collect her wages. According to Marritie, Maghteltie accused her of stealing 1.5 beaver and some lace. Concerned for her name and reputation, Marritie brought the case before the court and challenged the minister’s wife to either prove her case or withdraw her accusation. Cornelis van Ruijven, acting as attorney for the defendant, his mother [in-law], explained that it had been the “negerin” [Black woman] Pallas who had said that to her, in the presence of Maghteltie, and challenged Marritie to prove that she had been robbed of her good name, or else to admit that she had lied. Maghteltie was issued a copy of the suit against her.[15] The case was not heard before the court again.

Marritie Jans, apparently a servant, had gone up against two powerful people: the minister’s wife and her son-in-law, Cornelis van Ruijven, the secretary of the New Netherland Council. It seems unlikely she would have done so without foundation. During the court session Maghteltie and her son-in-law denied the accusation, turning the tables on Marritie by accusing her of lying. This was just two weeks before Pallas was ordered to be sold. The timing suggests that either the minister’s wife discovered Pallas was the true thief, or found it convenient to blame her anyway. Implicating Pallas would have protected Marritie Jans’s reputation without either party having to admit to having lied. Cornelis van Ruijven would have had no trouble bringing the accusation to the attention of the council he worked for. As an enslaved woman, Pallas would have had even less of a chance of standing up against such powerful adversaries than Marritie Jans. If Pallas were innocent, her sale would have the additional benefit of potentially removing her from the colony, preventing her from speaking out.

Church Membership

Pallasse van Angola or “Pallas” witnessed the baptisms of four children at the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam:

• Elisabeth, daughter of Pieter Portugies, “neger” [Black], baptized 1 March 1643. Witnesses: Sebastiaen van Angola, “neger,” and Pallas van Angola, “negrinne” [Black woman].[16]
• Philip, son of Groot Emanuel, “neger,” baptized 9 July 1645. Witnesses: Sebastiaen, “capt van de negers” [captain of the Blacks], Pallas van Angola.[17]
• Adam and Eva, twins of Emanuel Neger, baptized 31 March 1647. Witnesses: Simon Congoij Augustijn, Pallas, and Cecilia.[18]
• Dominicus, son of Emanuel Swager van Angola, baptized 16 February 1648.  Witnesses: Franciscus, “neger,” Pallas, “negrinne.”[19] The other witness may have been Pallas’s husband, Françisco (Frans or Franciscus in Dutch).

Associations

Pallas van Angola acted as baptismal witness for four other families in the African community of New Netherland: Pieter Portugies, Groot Emanuel, Emanuel Neger, and Emanuel Swager van Angola. Whether these last three names represent three different individuals, or one or two persons under different names, is unclear. Pallas also knew Machtelt Willemsz, the wife of Rev. Johannes Megapolensis,[20] the woman who probably accused her of theft, and Marritie Jansz, who accused Machtelt of theft.

Literature

Jacobs, Jaap. “Van Angola Naar Manhattan: Slavernij in Nieuw-Nederland in de Zeventiende Eeuw.” In Daalder, Remmert, Dirk J. Tang, and Leo Balai, eds. Slaven en Schepen in Het Atlantisch Gebied, 75–80. Leiden, Netherlands: Primavera, 2013.

Romney, Susanah Shaw. New Netherland Connections: Intimate Networks and Atlantic Ties in Seventeenth-Century America. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Mentions Pallas (page 215) in a larger discussion about how the African community strengthened connections by serving as baptismal witnesses for each other.

Scott, Kenneth. “Jan Cornelissen van Rotterdam.” New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 114 (January 1983): 13–16. The article mentions the court case between Marritie Jans, daughter of Jan Cornelissen van Rotterdam, and the wife of minister Megapolensis; and Pallasse’s involvement.

Source Editions

Fernow, Berthold, and E. B. (Edmund Bailey) O’Callaghan. Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens, 1656 to Aug. 27, 1658, Inclusive. Vol. 2. The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini. New York City, New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1897. Includes a translation of the court case between Marritie Janss and Maghteltie, wife of Rev. Megapolensis (pages 46–47).

Gehring, Charles T., ed. Council Minutes, 1655–1656. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995. Translation of the order to sell Pallas (pages 267–68).

Sypher, Francis J., ed. Liber A of the Collegiate Churches of New York. Part 2, Baptisms 1639 to 1697, Members 1649 to 1701, Marriages 1639 to 1701. Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015. Pallas van Angola is mentioned on page 473 (her marriage intentions) and 257, 264, 269, 271 (as a baptismal witness).

Citations

[1] Marriage intentions of Françisco van Angola and Palassa van Angola, 26 February 1642, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, marriage register, 1639–1701, p. 573; imaged, “U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639–1989,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961) > New York > Manhattan > Collegiate Church . . . > image 464 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

[2] Jaap Jacobs, “Van Angola Naar Manhattan: Slavernij in Nieuw-Nederland in de Zeventiende Eeuw,” in Remmert Daalder, Dirk J. Tang, and Leo Balai, eds, Slaven en Schepen in Het Atlantisch Gebied (Leiden, Netherlands: Primavera, 2013), 75–80 (p. 79).

[3] Baptism of Elisabeth, daughter of Pieter Portugies, 1 March 1642, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 257; imaged, “U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639–1989,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961) > New York > Manhattan > Collegiate Church . . . > image 157 of 1410.

[4] Marriage intentions of Françisco van Angola and Palassa van Angola, 26 February 1642.

[5] Marriage intentions of Françisco van Angola and Palassa van Angola, 26 February 1642.

[6] Order to fiscal to sell Palasse and a man, 14 March 1656, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 6, 1655–1656, p. 327; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/52612), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V06_0327c; citing series A1809, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[7] Marriage intentions of Françisco van Angola and Palassa van Angola, 26 February 1642.

[8] Order to fiscal to sell Palasse and a man, 14 March 1656.

[9] Order to fiscal to sell Palasse and a man, 14 March 1656.

[10] Marriage intentions of Françisco van Angola and Palassa van Angola, 26 February 1642.

[11] Marretie Jans vs. Maghteltie wife of rev. Megapolensis, 28 February 1656, in Court of Burgomasters and Schepens (New Amsterdam), minutes, vol. 1, 1653–1656, p. 517; imaged, “Digital Collections,” NYC Department of Records & Information Services (https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/), identifier MSS0040_1_2_01; citing Minutes of Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam, series 1: Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam records, New York City Municipal Archives, New York City, New York.

[12] Order to fiscal to sell Palasse and a man, 14 March 1656.

[13] Petition by Peter Rudolphus for payment of an account, 14 March 1656, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 6, 1655–1656, p. 325; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/52608), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V06_0325b.

[14] Ordinance imposing a duty on exported negroes, 6 August 1655, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 6, 1655–1656, p. 70b; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/52316), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V06_0070b.

[15] Marretie Jans vs. Maghteltie wife of Rev. Megapolensis, 28 February 1656.

[16] Baptism of Elisabeth, daughter of Pieter Portugies, 1 March 1642.

[17] Baptism of Philip, son of Groot Emanuel, 9 July 1645, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 264; image 164 of 1410.

[18] Baptism of Adam and Eva, twins of Emanuel Neger, 31 March 1647, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 269; image 169 of 1410.

[19] Baptism of Dominicus, son of Emanuel Swager van Angola, 16 February 1648, in in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 271; image 171 of 1410.

[20] For her identification, see for example the power of attorney by Machtelt Willemsz, wife of Rev. Johannes Megapolensis, 8 January 1650, in David Doornick, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 1649–1651, p. 301; imaged, “Indexen,” Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/bebf5fd5-213b-1e00-e053-b784100af734); citing call no. 1947, Record Group 5075: Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam [Records of the Notaries Residing in Amsterdam], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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