Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, often spelled Cornelius Jacobsz May in Dutch, was a 17th-century Dutch explorer, captain, and fur trader. Mey was the first director of New Netherland and was stationed at Fort Amsterdam. Mey was the captain of the ship ''Nieu Nederlandt'', which delivered the first boatload of colonists to New Netherland in north-east America.

Family

May is believed to have been from

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

in the northwest

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 ...

but may have been born in the smaller village of Schellinkhout, located just east of Hoorn. His brother is believed to have been Jan Jacobszoon May van Schellinkhout for whom the island of

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

is named.Samuel Muller ''Geschiedenis van de Noordsche Compagnie.'', Gebr van der Post, 1874, footnote on page 167
/ref> Both brothers were cousins of Jan Cornelisz May, a prominent Dutch sailor and voyager
/ref> who led several expeditions to the Northeast passage and circumnavigated the world with Joris van Spilbergen between 1614 and 1617.

1614 to 1616 expeditions in North America

In 1614, May was the first to sail the Mauritius River, now known as the

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 ...

, where he entered into an agreement with various competing Indian tribal traders. On October 11, 1614, May became party to the

New Netherland Company New Netherland Company () was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Following Henry Hudson’s exploration of the east coast of North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company in 1609, several Dutch merchants sent ships to trade wi ...

, which received an exclusive patent from the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate () and the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of R ...

for four voyages to be undertaken for the next three years to territories discovered between the 40th and 45th parallels at the exclusion of all other Dutch through January 1618. From August 1616 to November 1616, the New Netherland Company tried unsuccessfully to secure a patent for a territory located between the 38th and 40th parallels at Delaware Bay, which had been surveyed from 1614 to 1615 by Cornelis Hendricksz from Monnikendam on the ship ''Onrust''. In 1616, Cornelis Hendricksen, sailed the ''Onrust'' up the Zuyd Rivier, now known as the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

, from Delaware Bay to its northernmost navigable reaches, on a voyage to ransom three fur traders taken from Fort Nassau on the North River. Wheeler, 1879, p. 11 On behalf of the successor company of the New Netherland Company, May explored and surveyed the Delaware Bay on a ship named called the ''Blyde Boodschap'', for the exploration of territories to the west of and below Manhattan, and those in as far south as the fortieth degree in Virginia and engaged in trade with the Indians there in 1620. In 1621, he ordered the construction of a factory at Fort Nassau at the mouth of Big Timber Creek. Two of the six business partners with two ships, ''Blijde Boodschap'' and ''Bever'', focused on exploration and trade in the Zuidt Rivier, or Delaware River, were Thijmen Jacobsz Hinlopen and Samuel Godijn. Cape Hinlopen, now spelled Cape Henlopen in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, is named after Thijmen Jacobsz Hinlopen. Cape Hinlopen was New Netherland's most southern border on the 38th parallel. Godyn's Bay, now Delaware Bay, was named for Samuel Godyn, one of the first patrons in New Netherland and 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 ...

and the Northern Company.

First colonists of New Netherlands

May was unable to trade in the South River, now known as the

, to the exclusion of competing Dutch companies. Though the competing Dutch companies were eventually able to reach agreement on New Netherlands, discord arose again which was finally settled by arbitrators in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, on December 23, 1623. In 1624, the 38th and 39th parallels region came under the final jurisdiction of the

with the delivery of New Netherland, including the Walloon and Flemish families."Cornelius Jacobsen Mey", New Netherland Institute
/ref> May was the captain of the ship ''Nieu Nederlandt'' (aka New Netherland) which delivered the first boat load of colonists to New Netherland, first at Fort Orange, the trading post near present-day

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 ...

, and then on

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...

, in present-day

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, in 1624. In the spring of 1624, May returned to New Netherland in command of the ''Nieu Nederlandt'' with the first group of settlers, mostly young Walloon families. Some were sent to company lands in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Two families and eight single males took a sloop to the Zuidt (South) River, now the

, and established Fort Wilhelmus. Eight men were also left on Nut Island to promote the fur trade, and the remaining 18 families proceeded to Fort Orange. Klein, 2001, 739 Having transformed New Netherland into a Dutch province, May was named the province's first director. During May's brief directorship, Fort Orange was completed on the North River, and Fort Nassau on the South River.

Legacy

Cape May, New Jersey and Cape May County, New Jersey are both named after Mey. Shorto, 2004, p. 40

Citations

Bibliography