Cornelius Hendrickson was a Dutch mariner and explorer who charted the North American coastline near present-day New Jersey.
Early life
Cornelius Hendrickson was born around 1572, the son of Lambert Barrentje Hendrickson, an admiral in the Dutch Navy. Nicknamed "Pretty Lambert", the admiral was a friend and associate of Admiral
Jacob van Heemskerk, and commanded ''De Tijger'' in the
Battle of Gibraltar of April 1607.
''Onrust''

In November 1613, Dutch fur trader
Adrian Block was preparing to return to Holland with a cargo of furs when his ship, the , caught fire and was destroyed while moored in the
North River near the tip of Manhattan Island. Over the winter, Block and his crew built the (Restless), which he used to explore the East River and Long Island Sound. The ''Onrust'' was long with a capacity of 16 tons. Later that year, Block rendezvoused with
Hendrick Christiaensen off Cape Cod. Before boarding the ''Fortuyn'' to return to the Netherlands, Block turned the ''Onrust'' over to Hendrickson.
In 1614, Hendrickson navigated the ''Onrust'', through
Barnegat Inlet to the
Toms River, which he charted, along with
Barnegat Bay, and
Great Bay to the south.
In mid-to-late 1615, Hendrickson sailed into
Godins Bay (Delaware Bay) and up the
Zuyd Rivier (South River) to the
Schuylkill River, searching for a site to establish a trading post for the Dutch West India Company. Hendricksz's voyage was made aboard the ''IJseren Vercken'' (Iron Hog), a vessel built in America.
During the winter of 1614–1615, some Dutch sailors remained at
Fort Nassau to engage in the fur trade. Interested in the benefit of Dutch firearms, the Mohawk persuaded three to accompany them on a raid against the Susquehannocks. That spring the sailors were captured by the Susquehannocks who brought them south. In the course of his explorations Hendrickson he met a band of
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
(Minquas) and ransomed the three for kettles, beads, and trade goods.
In 1616, in Amsterdam, he filed the first definitive map of the New Jersey coastline.
He died in 1650, in
Utrecht.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrickson, Cornelius
17th-century Dutch explorers
1570s births
1650 deaths
Dutch explorers of North America
People of New Netherland