Abraham Pietersen van Deursen (before November 11, 1607 – c. 1670), aka Abraham Pietersen van Deusen, was an immigrant from

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

who settled in

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 ...

and become one of the Council of 12 that was the first

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies func ...

in the Dutch colony. The Van Deursen, Van Deusen, Van Duser, Van Duzer, Van Duzor, Van Duzee, and Van Dusen families of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

are all descended from Abraham Pietersen van Deusen, a miller and a native originating from

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Birth

He was born in 1607 in Haarlem to Pieter van Deursen (c1575-?) and Maria or Paulina Vincke (c1575-?). Pieter and Maria/Paulina were married on January 15, 1591, in Haarlem. Abraham was baptized in Haarlem on Wednesday, November 11, 1607, and the witnesses were Jan Jans and Styntjen Jans.

Siblings

Abraham may have had the following siblings: Handrick Van Dussenberg, who was master of the Masons in 1638, and Adrian Pitersen, of Aitzema, Netherlands, who was a director of 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 ...

Marriage and children

Abraham married Tryntie Melchior Abrahams (1611–1678) on December 7, 1629, in Haarlem. Their wedding banns were signed on November 25, 1629, at the

Grote Houtstraat The Grote Houtstraat is a shopping street in Haarlem that connects the Grote Markt, Haarlem, Grote Markt to the Houtplein in the direction of the Haarlemmerhout woods. History The street runs along one of two old parallel roads running through the ...

in Haarlem. Together they had the following children: *Teuwis Matheeus Abrahamsen Van Deusen (c.1631-?), who married Helena Robberts *Marytje Van Deusen (1634-?), who married Thomas Janszen Minsar *Isaac Van Deusen I (1635-?), who married Jannetie Jans *Jacob Van Deusen (1638-?), who married Catalynje Van Eslant *Pieter Van Deusen I (23 March 1642-?), who married Hester Webbers (or Webb) *Melchior Van Deusen (6 March 1644 – 1742), who married Engeltje Rutgers

Emigration

He emigrated to

before 1636 with his wife, and several of his children. In 1638 he was listed as a

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

in New Amsterdam. Cheska Callow Wheatley writes:

New York colonial documents state that Abraham Pietersen, of Haarlem took possession, in 1636, for the Dutch West India Company, of the Island of Quentensis in front of Sloops Bay (now known as Dutch Island). In another place he islandis described as the Island of Queteurs in front of Sloops Bay and Pequator's River and in 1664 they speak of the special possession of Abraham Pietersen, of Haarlem, still living on the Island of Quetenesse, in the Narricanese Bay near
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
and also of another island near the
Pequot River The Thames River ( ) is a short river and tidal estuary in the state of Connecticut. It flows south for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 through eastern Co ...
, called by the English: The Dutchmen's Island. In a latter instance he is spoken of, as of
Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
, owing to his having lived there when he became interested in the first mentioned Island. In 1638, he was spoken of as the first miller in New Amsterdam; an important and lucrative position in those days, and he is sometimes mentioned in the records as Abraham Pietersen, Molenaer, or Miller. In 1641, on August 29 he was one of the "Twelve Men" whom the commonalty chose and empowered to resolve on everything with the Director-General and Council, and on November 3 he was one of the "Eight Men" who sent a memorial to the State General of Holland, setting forth the distressed state on account of the Indian Outbreak, and begging for assistance.

Council of Twelve Men

In 1641, he was appointed to a

council of 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 wa ...

that were to advise

Director-General 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. As ...

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 ...

on the impending Indian war. This was New Amsterdam's first representative democracy, but it was temporary. The colony attacked the

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

population which led to a retaliatory burning of the colony in

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 ...

. John Franklin Jameson (1859–1937) writes:

Whereupon all the commonalty were called together by the Director to consider this affair, who all appeared and presently twelve men delegated from among them answered the propositions, and resolved at once on war should the murderer be refused; that the attack should be made on
he Indians He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...
in the autumn when they were hunting; meanwhile an effort should be again made by kindness to obtain justice, which was accordingly several times sought for but in vain.

Council of Eight men

In 1643 Abraham was appointed to a new

council of eight men The Eight Men was a group of eight residents chosen by the people of New Netherland in 1643 to advise Director Willem Kieft on his governance of the colony. An early form of representational democracy in colonial North America, it replaced the si ...

. The council petitioned the States-General and blamed governor Kieft for the declining economic condition of the nascent colony. They requested that a new

be appointed and that the people themselves be given more influence in the new government. Director General Kieft was dismissed, and

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 ...

took his place, remaining in power until the colony was turned over to the British in 1664. Kieft returned to Holland, but the vessel was lost at sea and his body was never recovered. John Franklin Jameson (1859–1937) writes:

The commonalty were called together; they were sore distressed. ''They chose eight'', ''in the stead of the previous twelve'', persons to aid in consulting for the best; but the occupation every one had to take care of his own, prevented anything beneficial being adopted at that time. nevertheless it was resolved that as many Englishmen as were to be got in the country should be enlisted, who were indeed now proposing to depart; the third part of these were to be paid by the commonalty; this promise was made by the commonalty but was not followed by the pay.

Burgher

In 1657 Abraham became a

burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bur ...

, and there is no more mention of him in the extant records.

Death and burial

He died sometime before July 28, 1672. That is the date his wife died, and she was listed as a widow. It is not known where he was buried.

Legacy

Abraham Pietersen Van Deursen (1607-c1670) was the third great-grandfather of

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

(1782–1862), the 8th President of the United States, and ancestor of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

(1882–1945) the 32nd President of the United States.

Timeline

*1607 Baptism in Haarlem, Netherlands on November 11 *1624 New Amsterdam established *1627 Marriage to Tryntie Melchiors (1611–1678) in Haarlem on December 7 *1636 Emigration from Netherlands *1636 Living on Island of Quentensis in front of Sloops Bay *1638 Working as miller in New Amsterdam *1638 Willem Kieft appointed Director General *1640 The Pig War *1641 Council of 12 chosen on August 29 *1642 Council of 12 convened to discuss Indian War on February 18 *1642 Colony attacks Native-Americans *1643 Council of 8 convened on September 13 *1644 Council of 8 seeks an expanded role in the government on June 18 *1644 Council of 8 petitions Amsterdam for relief from Kieft in October *1647 Willem Kieft departs *1647 Peter Stuyvesant appointed *1657 Appointed burgher on April 14 *1657 Lance Corporal of Company Second of the Burghers Corps *1664

under

captured by the British and renamed New York *1664 Abraham and son, Isaac swear allegiance to the King of England in October *1670 (c.) Death of Abraham *1672 Death of his wife on July 28