Sarah Rapelje (9 June 1625 – April 1685) was the first European

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

female, the " first white child" born in

New Netherland 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 ...

Biography

Sarah Rapelje was the daughter of Joris Jansen Rapelje (1604–1663) and Catalina Trico (1605–1689), who were Walloon

Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

who sailed on board the ship ''Eendracht'' from the

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 ...

in 1624. The Rapeljes arrived at a site along 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 they helped build one of the first Dutch settlements,

Fort Orange Fort Orange () was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city and state capital Albany, New York developed near this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on n ...

, where Sarah Rapelje was born on 9 June 1625, along the Waaleboght. Fort Orange would eventually become the fur-trading town of Beverwijck, which itself would later become

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 1626,

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 ...

near the mouth of the Hudson River was bought by Dutch settlers from local Native Americans, and the Rapelje family were sent to help with the settlement of

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 ...

on the island's southern tip. Joris Rapelje later bought land on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, across 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, ...

from New Amsterdam, in the village of Breuckelen (the basis of modern

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) and eventually moved to Wallabout Bay. Sarah Rapelje married Hans Hansen Bergen in 1639 with whom she had eight children, seven of whom lived into adulthood, until Bergen died in 1653. In 1654 Rapelje married Teunis Gysbertse Bogaert (b. 1625, Heicop,

– d. 1699, Breuckelen, New York) with whom she had seven more children. Rapelje died in 1685 in Boswijck, a village that became the modern Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. By the time Rapelje died the New Netherland colony had been ceded to the English in 1664, and was rebranded the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

Legacy

Rapelje's chair is in the permanent collection of the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

, a gift of her Brinckerhoff descendants. Brooklyn's Rapelye Street is named after the family. Sarah Rapelje herself was granted a large tract of land in the

Wallabout Wallabout is a neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn that dates back to the 17th century. It is one of the oldest areas of Brooklyn, in the area that was once Wallabout Bay but has largely been filled in ...

by Dutch authorities for being the first European Christian female to be born in the New Netherland. The family owned extensive property in the area of present-day Red Hook. Her descendants include

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...

, British television presenter

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...

, Al Fagaly,

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

, Governor

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

Royal Baking Powder Company The Royal Baking Powder Company was one of the largest producers of baking powder in the United States. Royal Baking Powder is still marketed today. History The company was started by brothers Joseph Christoffel Hoagland and Cornelius Nevius ...

president Joseph C. Hoagland (1841–1899) and Grammy-winning musician Mark O'Connor.

References

External links

The Hidden History of the Rapeljes, Urban Environmentalist NYC, gowanuslounge.com

The Rapelje Family, The Baltimore Sun

The Rapelje Property, on the Brooklyn & Jamaica Rail Road, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

The Rapelje Estate, Foot of 35th Street, North River, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Rapelje Avenue, Queens, New York, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Rapelyea House, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Rapelyea Estate, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Biography

Legacy

References

External links

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