Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck (1606–1690), also known as Abraham Isaacse Ver Planck, was an early and prominent settler in

New Netherlands New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

. A land developer and speculator, he was the progenitor of an extensive Verplanck family in the United States. Immigrating circa 1633, he received a land grant at

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is located across the river from Manhattan. The name Hook comes from the Dutch word "hoeck", which translates to "point of land." This "point of land" has ...

(in today's

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

) in 1638. He was one of the driving forces behind the bloody

Kieft's War Kieft's War (1643–1645), also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between the colonial province of New Netherland and the Wappinger and Lenape Indians in what is now New York and New Jersey. It is named for Director-General of New N ...

against the Native American population, set off by their retaliation to the Dutch's 1643 Pavonia massacre. His losses were so great at Pavonia he was forced to mortgage his Paulus Hook plantations. A property owner on a smaller scale on Manhattan for the remainder of his life, he died with outstanding debt, settled by his family in 1699 by sale of one of his holdings.

Family

Coat of Arms of Abraham Isaacsen Ver Planck

Verplanck was the son of Isaac Ver Planck, born in Edam in

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

(Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden) in 1606. He married Maria de la Vigne in 1632. His children were Abigael Van Lear (1635–1672), Gulian ( – 1684), Callyntje(1639–1708), Isaac (b. 1641), Susanna (b. 1642), Jacomyntjie (b. 1644), Ariantje (b. 1646), Hillegondt (1648–1724) and Isaac (1651–1729). Some of his children relocated to what has become known as the

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

of New York. He died at

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

in 1690. He was the father of merchant, fur trader, and land grant applicant Gulian Verplanck (c. 1636 - 1684), whose widow Henrica inherited a one-third interest of the expansive

Rombout Patent The Rombout Patent was a Colonial history of the United States, Colonial era land patent issued by King James II of England in 1685 sanctioning the right of Francis Rombouts and his partners Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Jacobus Kip to own some of ...

in today's southern

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later o ...

. His daughter Callyntje, sometimes spelled Catharina, married

David Pieterse Schuyler David Pieterse Schuyler was a Dutch-born member of the Schuyler family. He was a fur trader, Alderman of Albany, captain, and merchant. Early life Schuyler was born in the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, in 1636 as the son of Pieter Tjer ...

Paulus Hook

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, along the west bank

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

and

Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rai ...

would become contemporary

Hudson County, New Jersey Hudson County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the Hudson River, the North Jersey county is part of the state's Gateway Region an ...

. Though it only became independent municipality from 1661 with the founding of a village at

Bergen Square Bergen Square, at the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Academy Street in Jersey City, is in the southwestern part of the much larger Journal Square district. A commercial residential area, it contains an eclectic array of architectural sty ...

, Bergen began as a

factorij Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, of ...

Communipaw Communipaw is a neighborhood in Jersey City in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and the site of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives ...

circa 1615 and was first settled in 1630 as Pavonia, with settlements at

Harsimus Harsimus (also known as Harsimus Cove) is a neighborhood within Downtown Jersey City, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The neighborhood stretches from the Harsimus Stem Embankment (the Sixth Street Embankment) on the north to Ch ...

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...

, and

Vriessendael Vriessendael was a patroonship on the west bank of the Hudson River in New Netherland, the seventeenth century North American colonial province of the Dutch Empire. The homestead or plantation was located on a tract of about about an hour's walk ...

in the following years. They were along the banks of the

North River (Hudson River) North River () is an alternative name for the southernmost portion of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City and Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey in the United States. History Name In the early 17th century, the entire wat ...

across from

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

, under whose jurisdiction they fell. In 1630,

Michiel Reyniersz Pauw Michiel Reiniersz Pauw (29 March 1590 – 24 March 1640) was a director of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) between 1621 and 1636. He is buried at Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. He grew up in Warmoesstraat in an influential Calvinist merchan ...

purchased two tracts from the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Hackensack tribe Hackensack was the exonym given by the Dutch colonists to a band of the Lenape, or ''Lenni-Lenape'' ("original men"), a Native American tribe. The name is a Dutch derivation of the Lenape word for what is now the region of northeastern New Jer ...

: Hopoghan Hackingh (

) and Ashasimus (

), covering the entire peninsula between the

and

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

now known as

(and later a third purchase of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

.) The

patroon In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Free ...

ship (established under the

Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions The Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions,Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ized form of his surname (which means "peacock"), Pavonia. It is said it was sold to him by the Manhattans after they had retreated there after the sale of their home island to

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (French language, French: ''Pierre Minuit'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Peter Minnewit''; 1580 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloons, Walloon merchant and politician who was the 3rd Director of New Netherland, Director of the Dutch Nort ...

some years before. Pauw failed to fulfill the other conditions set forth by the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

(WIC) (which included populating the area with at least 50 adults) and was later required to sell his interests back to it. The area was an island at high tide. In 1638, an agent/superintendent for the WIC, a man named Michael Paulez (Pauluson, Powles) was assigned to the land. He built a hut, operated an occasional ferry and traded with the local native population. His name was eventually anglicized to Paulus, and given to the hook jutting into the river and bay. By permission of

Director of New Netherland This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland (''Nieuw-Nederland'' in Dutch) in North America. Only the last, Peter Stuyvesant, held the title of Director General. A ...

Willem Kieft Willem Kieft, also ''Wilhelm Kieft'', (September 1597 – September 27, 1647) was a Dutch merchant and the Director of New Netherland (of which New Amsterdam was the capital) from 1638 to 1647. Life and career Willem Kieft was appointed ...

, Verplanck acquired land at Paulus Hook on May 1, 1638. The Manatus Map of 1639 depicts a land holdings in the nascent province; number 31 is described as the "plantations at Paulus Hook".

Twelve Men and "Kieft's War"

On August 29, 1641, he was elected a member of

's advisory board, the

Twelve Men The Twelve Men was a council of citizens chosen by the residents of New Netherland to advise Director Willem Kieft on relations with the Native Americans in the wake of the murder of Claes Swits. Elected on 29 August 1641, the temporary council ...

. In 1641, his relationship with the director was so contentious that he was threatened with banishment if he continued to insult the company's officers. The following year Kieft disbanded the council because it disagreed with his military ambitions. In 1643, Verplanck took part in a

Shrovetide Shrovetide is the Christian liturgical period prior to the start of Lent that begins on Shrove Saturday and ends at the close of Shrove Tuesday. The season focuses on examination of conscience and repentance before the Lenten fast. It includes ...

dinner meeting at the home of Jan Jansen Damen, with other guests including Kieft,

Cornelis van Tienhoven Cornelis van Tienhoven ( Utrecht – 1656 New Amsterdam) was an official of New Amsterdam from 1638 to 1656, and one of the more prominent people in New Netherland. He served in the administrations of three governors: Wouter van Twiller, Willem Ki ...

and

Maryn Adriansen Maryn Adriansen (1600 – ) (also spelled Maryn Adriaensen, Marinus Adriaensz, Marijn Adriaensz, Marin Adriaensz, Marinus Ariaens) was an early settler to New Netherland. Originally emigrating under an indenture agreement he later became a prominen ...

. During dinner, the men discussed the Indian situation and Van Tienhoven produced a petition advocating the massacre of the Native American population. All those in attendance signed the document and Kieft agreed. The Pavonia Massacre took place, February 25–26. Eighty Native Americans were brutally massacred. Kieft ordered Adriaensen and a band of volunteers to go to Corlaers Hook to attack the refugees assembled there. Retaliation was swift, and the colonists suffered greatly that winter from Native American attacks during what is known as

,Ruttenber, E.M.,''Indian Tribes of Hudson's River'', (Hope Farm Press, 3rd ed, 2001) which lasted until 1646. Verplanck's losses were so great in the Pavonia action that he was forced to mortgage his property to Jan Damen and Tienhoven, to serve as security for a loan from the

, which he did on April 27, 1643.

New Amsterdam

In 1643,

forced the Verplancks to seek the safety of

Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam, (later, Fort George among other names) was a fortification on the southern tip of Manhattan Island at the confluence of the Hudson River, Hudson and East River, East rivers in what is now New York City. The fort and the island ...

Manhattan Island Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

where they later bought a lot from brother-in-law Van Tienhoven near the present-day Pearl and

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

and later purchased a house in the Smit's Vly (along the shores of the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

at the foot of today's Maiden Lane) and in 1649 built a house there. In 1664, when the English fleet appeared in the

Upper New York Bay New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay ...

to claim the colony, Verplanck was one of the signers of the petition requesting that

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

surrender. Sometime after February 27, 1699, a parcel of land having belonged to Verplanck, located on King Street in Manhattan was sold by his heirs, apparently to settle his estate.

Rombout Patent

Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck's son Gulian was one of three men granted what is today known as the

. In 1685, King

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

issued a royal grant for some of land to

Francis Rombouts Francis Rombouts (22 June 1631 – 1691) was the 12th Mayor of New York City from 1679 to 1680. He was one of three proprietors of the Rombout Patent, and the father of the pioneering Colonial businesswoman Catheryna Rombout Brett. Biography F ...

Stephanus Van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor ...

(both former

mayors of New York City The mayor of New York City is the chief executive of the Government of New York City, as stipulated by New York City's charter. The current officeholder, the 110th in the sequence of regular mayors, is Eric Adams, a member of the Democratic Pa ...

) and Verplanck purchased from

Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...

Indians on the east bank of the

in what is today's southern

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. However, Verplanck died in 1684 and his widow married Jacobus Kip, grandson of

Hendrick Hendricksen Kip Hendrick Hendricksen Kip (1600–1685) was a Dutch colonial magistrate. He was one of the nine original popular assemblymen serving in New Amsterdam from 1647 under Pieter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Netherlands. Biography Hendrick Hendricksen ...

, and the family's share of the patent passed down through that line.Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements, Volume 2, p. 744
/ref>

References

;Notes ;Sources