General Notes

Pieter, youngest son of Wolphert, became a miller and a brewer.  Hisbrewe
ry was at what later was the corner of Pearl and William Streets, New Yo
rk City.  After New Amsterdam was incorporated in 1653, a court of Scho
ut (sheriff), Burgomaster, and Schepens (sheriffs or Aldermen) was establi
shed.  On February 2, 1653, Pieter and four others were appointed to s
it in court from October 19, 1655 until 1660.
In September, 1655, Pieter was one of three men who went among and negotia
ted with the marauding Indians for the return of Christian captives, he be
ing an interpreter of the Indian Language.  In 1663, as Lieutenant, he w
as sent by Stuyvesant to retaliate against the Indians at Esopus (Now King
ston, New York).  On March 12, 1665, he was appointed City Surveyor.
David K. Conover: "I came across this item in the Fall 1997 Swedish Coloni
al News. It has a Couwenhoven reference which may be of interest to you.
ANDERS STILLE'S WIFE, by Dr. Peter S. Craig
'Deeds by Anders Stille, eldest son of Olof Stille, identify his wife as A
nnetje, the Dutch form of Anna. In testimony before the New Castle cour
t, Anders stated that he had been familiar with the houses and stree
ts of the town since 1658. In the 1671 English census of the Delaware, And
ers was shown as residing in New Castle and married to the owner of his ho
use, named Anna Peterson by the English census taker.
Who was Anna or Annetje "Peterson"? This has long stumped me. Howeve
r, in working up a pending article on this 1671 census for future publicat
ion, I was struck by the fact that Wharton's cenus was a door-to-door surv
ey of each resident. Comparing his census with records of early patents a
nd deeds disclosed, beyond question, that the house occupied by Anders Sti
lle and his wife was owned by a Dutch brewer by the name of Pieter Wolfert
sen van Couwenhoven, who was in prison at Manhattan in 1671 because he h
ad defaulted on a mortgage of property in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, to Go
vernor Philip Carteret of New Jersey. Pieter was not himself named in t
he census, perhaps to hide his identity from creditors. But, whatever t
he reason, the father's financial difficulties now tell us that his daught
er, known as Annetje Pieters van Couwenhoven to the Dutch, was the wi
fe of Anders Stille, the Swede. The house in New Castle was sold in 1672 a
nd the Stille family moved to Christiana Bridge to live next door to Ande
rs Stille's niece Elisabeth Petersdotter (Yocum), wife of the English sold
ier, John Ogle.'
Dr. Peter S. Craig, 3406 Macomb Street NW, Washington DC 20016
Pieter, youngest son of Wolphert, became a miller and a brewer. His brewe
ry was at what later was the corner of Pearl and William Streets, New Yo
rk City, After New Amsterdam was incoporated in 1653, a court of Schout (s
heriff), Burgomaster, and Schepens (sheriffs or Aldermen), was establishe
d. On February 2, 1653, Pieter and four others were appointed to sit in co
urt from October19, 1655 until 1660. In September, 1655, Pieter was o
ne of three men who went among and negotiated with the marauding Indians f
or the return of Christian captives, he being an interpreter of the Indi
an Language. In 1663, as Lieutenant, he was sent by Stuyvesant to retalia
te against the Indians at Esopus (Now Kingston, New York). On March 12, 16
65, he was appointed City Surveyor.
There were no children of Pieter Wolfertse Van Couwenhoven and Josynthe Th
omas."
[Copyright 1999 by David Kipp Conover - All Rights Reserved]
Alt Death: After 1699