Pieter Aldricks
1633-1697
Born: Netherlands
Died: New Castle, New Castle, Delaware, USA
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1633-1697
Born: Netherlands
Died: New Castle, New Castle, Delaware, USA
<font size="3">Sent in 1658, by the Dutch Government with instructions for New Netherlands. In 1659 he is carrying on at trade in Delaware. In 1660 he is appointed commander of the area. In 1664 New Amsterday was captured by the English and the Dutch forts on the Delaware were taken. After some "violent behavior," Pieter then swore fidelity to the English and continued his trade. In 1672 he was appointed baliff for New Castle, in 1677 he was commissioned as a justice. From 1682-1683 he was a member of the first Assembly of the Province. From 1685-1689 he served as a Provincial Councillor. When William Penn bought out the land of the Indians in a large body of land lying between Philadelphia and Wilmington, the first witness to this Indian deed was Pieter Alricks. Between 1690 and 1693 he was commissioned a justice of the peace for the Lower Counties, and later a judge of the Provincial Court. He died in 1697 at the age of 65 years. </font>
<strong>Pieter Alricks</strong> <sup><font size="2">(152)</font></sup><sup><font size="2">(108)</font><font size="2"> </font></sup>was born about 1635 in Nykerck, Groningen, Netherlands. He died in 1697 in probably New Castle, Delaware. Pieter Alrichs was one of the earliest settlers in what is now the state of Delaware. The city of Amsterdam took over the little colony established by the Dutch West India Company on the shores of the Delaware River in the late 1650's. It is the only instance of a European city having its own colony in the new world. They named it New Amstel, after a suburb of Amsterdam, and appointed Jacob Alrichs as the first city director. Alrichs, a wealthy man from an "influential and aristocratic" Dutch family, was the uncle of Pieter Alrichs, the founder of the Alrichs family in this country. Nothing is known of Pieter's early life, but he was well-educated, speaking and writing English as well as Dutch. He also learned the language of the local Indians well enough to communicate and negotiate with them, an ability that would prove very useful and remunerative to him. <br><br>He first appears in the historical record on a deed buying land from the Indians signed on June 7th, 1659. His uncle was childless and he may have inherited from him when the uncle died that year. Certainly, he always appeared to have plenty of money. In 1660 he was appointed to command a small fort on the Hoerekill (literally Whore's Creek) with the rank of ensign. The following year he was sent to negotiate a commercial treaty with the English colony of Maryland and did so successfully. Later he travelled with the governor of New Amstel to the Netherlands to negotiate with Amsterdam for more support, which was granted. <br><br>Soon he was in charge of all trading with the Indians (principally for furs) and received a commission of twenty-five per cent on all trade with them. He brought over ten employees from the Netherlands to work the land granted him by Amsterdam and was described in the document as a "free merchant and commissioner for the City of Amsterdam on the South River," as the Dutch called the Delaware. He soon had a flourishing plantation and built a boat large enough to carry cargo to New Amsterdam. <br><br>In 1664, the English attacked and took over the Dutch colonies in North America and Alrichs moved temporarily to the now renamed New York City after most of his property was seized as the spoils of war by the new English governor. Here he married Maria Wessell, whose family had settled in New Amsterdam from Utrecht. He took an oath of allegiance to the new English government and was soon flourishing once again, and eight slaves belonging to him that had been seized were returned. In August 1672 he was named "Bayliff and Principal Civill Magistrate at New Castle . . . for the year ensuing." <br><br>The following July, the Dutch retook the colony and appointed Alrichs as Chief Magistrate after he swore allegiance to the Dutch. When the colony once more, and now finally, returned to English rule the next year, the new English governor, Sir Edmund Andros, did not reappoint Alrichs, but he was back in the good graces of the English government by September, 1677, when he was appointed a justice. <br><br>When William Penn became the proprietor of Pennsylvania, which then included Delaware, Alrichs was among those who officially greeted him in New Castle on October 27th, 1682, and he promptly swore allegiance to Penn's government. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly the following year and the year after that to the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania. He last attended a council meeting in Philadelphia on May 13th, 1697, and died shortly thereafter. <br><br>Alrichs, while always willing to serve whatever government happened to be in power, was obviously a very able man, one whose talents were indispensable. Among his numerous possessions at his death were eighteen slaves. <br>He was married to Maria Wessell on Feb 9 1664 in New York City.