Unknown
Director of New Netherland, 1624
Adriaen Jorisz Thienpont was appointed the first Director of New Netherland on June 20, 1623. In 1624, he sailed with thirty families of Waloon settlers from Texel, Holland, to New Netherland. When 18 of those families settled in Fort Orange (Albany), Thienpont stayed with them to negotiated the agreements with the local Native American people that were the basis for the very profitable New Netherland fur trade. In 1626, Thienpont captained the ship upon which the new-appoint Director of New Netherland, Pieter Minuit, sailed from Holland to Manhattan and, when the captain returned to Holland, he brought with him the good news that the island of Manhattan had been purchased by the Director for goods “valued at 60 guilders.” This fact was memorialized in a letter written by Pieter Schaghen, a representative of the States General.