Anthony Janszoon van Salee
Encyclopedia
Republic of Salé
The Republic of Salé was an independent corsair city-state on the Moroccan coast. It was a major piratical port during its brief existence in the 17th century.-History:-History:...
President Jan Janszoon
Jan Janszoon
Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, commonly known as Murat Reis the younger was the first President and Grand Admiral of the Corsair Republic of Salé, Governor of Oualidia, and a Dutch pirate, one of the most notorious of the Barbary pirates from the 17th century; the most famous of the "Salé...
. He was an original settler of and prominent landholder, merchant, and creditor in New Netherlands. van Salee was New York's first Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, and arguably one of the first in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. His Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
was eventually auctioned in the following centuries, having passed through a descendant, Robert Bayles, a one-time President of the The Market and Fulton National Bank of New York.
Life
Anthony was Jan JanszoonJan Janszoon
Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, commonly known as Murat Reis the younger was the first President and Grand Admiral of the Corsair Republic of Salé, Governor of Oualidia, and a Dutch pirate, one of the most notorious of the Barbary pirates from the 17th century; the most famous of the "Salé...
's fourth child, born in 1607 in Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
from his second wife. In 1624 Anthony was in Salé
Salé
Salé is a city in north-western Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
with his father, leaving in 1627 for Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
with his family. van Salee was living near the harbor in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
when he obtained a marriage license on December 15, 1629 to marry 27-year old German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
-native Grietse Reyniers two days before his ship to the New World left. In 1630, at the age of 22, he had immigrated to New Netherlands, along with his bride, as a colonist of the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
.
It is speculated that Anthony's father had provided him a considerable fortune, and by 1639 he was one of the largest landholders on the island, as well as a prosperous farmer. The relationship with his father after arriving in the New Amsterdam is unclear.
One of van Salee's first properties was a farm on the island of Manhattan acquired in 1638 which was named "Wallenstein", titled in memory of Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
. Becoming one of the original settlers of the area, the plat was located on the north side of the stockade along present-day Wall St. The bouwery was surveyed from Broadway to the East River between Ann Street and Maiden Lane. He transferred the deed the following year.
Following numerous legal disputes, including with the church, Anthony was ordered to leave New Netherland, but on appeal to the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
, was allowed to settle on 200 acre (0.809372 km²) in what would become New Utrecht and Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...
. This made him now one of the largest and most prominent landholders on Long Island. In 1643 he purchased a house on Bridge Street in New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
, in defiance of the court order restricting such. He would go onto become a successful merchant and creditor in New Amsterdam, while owning several properties throughout the region.
Social legacy
Anthony was a defender of minorities in the colony and subjected to repeated discrimination. Neighbors called him "A Turk, a rascal, and a horned beast." He was engaged in many legal disputes, from his dog attacking the hog of a black townsman, Anthony the Portuguese, to pointing loaded pistols at slave overseers from the Dutch West India CompanyDutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
. The first grantee of Conyne Eylandt
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
, he helped found many Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
settlements, including New Utrecht
New Utrecht, Brooklyn
New Utrecht was the last of six towns to be founded in what is today the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It was named after the city of Utrecht, Netherlands. In 1652 Cornelius van Werckhoven, a surveyor born in Utrecht and a principal investor in the Dutch West India Company, began purchasing...
, Gravesend
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...
, and in 1660 Boswijck
Bushwick, Brooklyn
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4...
along with 23 settlers which included Franciscus the Negro, a former slave who had won his freedom. Religiously he read his Qur'an frequently, petitioned for Christian missionaries, and was fined for housing an English Quaker once at his home on Bridge Street who was to repair a Dutch church. He was the neighbor of Lady Deborah Moody
Deborah Moody
Lady Deborah Moody was the only woman to found a colonial settlement in early North America. She was the first female landowner in the New World. She had an unusual influence in a society dominated by men, and was described by contemporaries as "a dangerous woman."-Biography:Lady Moody was born...
, of whom he was on good terms with, although he had disputes with her husband Sir Henry who filed speech charges against him.
Marriage to Grietse Reyniers
He married Grietse Reyniers, a scandalous woman from The Netherlands who was previously the mistress of Wouter van TwillerWouter van Twiller
Wouter van Twiller was an employee of the Dutch West India Company and the Director-General of New Netherland from 1633 until 1638...
. She had encountered him while an employee of the tavern belonging to Pieter de Winter. Grietse is considered a legend of American colonial history because of her wild, sexual ways. She is dubbed the first Manhattan "lady of the night" by some accounts, while others have called her the "Carrie Bradshaw
Carrie Bradshaw
Carrie Preston is the fictional narrator and lead character of the HBO sitcom/drama Sex and the City, portrayed by actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She is a semi-autobiographical character created by Candace Bushnell, who published the book Sex and the City, based on her own columns in the New York...
" of colonial Manhattan. She is quoted as having once said "I have long been the whore of the nobility. From now on I shall be the whore of the rabble." She was known to have measured the private parts of bar patrons with a broom stick.
Between 1638-1639, the couple accounted for 10% of the crime rate in the colony, or 15 of 93 cases. During this period the Dutch legal system was heavily invested in quarrels, and the cases included actions of petty slander from the likes of Anneke and Domine Bogardus after Grietse accused of them of lying, Grietse mooning the naval fleet, and Anthony's drunkenness.
Grietse died in 1669, and Anthony married Metje Grevenraet, before dying in 1676 after passing his final years at his home on Bridge Street. Metje was a Quaker who helped Anthony tolerate the church.
He had four daughters with Reyniers who married into respectable colonial commercial families:
- Eva Antonis, who married Ferdinandus van Sycklin, an original immigrant to New Netherlands for whom Van Siclen AvenueVan Siclen Avenue (IND Fulton Street Line)Van Siclen Avenue is a local station on the IND Fulton Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Van Siclen and Pitkin Avenues in Brooklyn, it is served by the C train at all times except late nights, when the A train provides service.There is a crossover and a single...
in Brooklyn is named for. He was a descendant of a crusaderCrusader- Military :* Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades* Crusader states, states set up by the Europeans in the Middle East during The Crusades* Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II* HMS Crusader, three British naval ships...
and banker named Simon van der Sicklen, whose family possessed the domain of Nazareth, BelgiumNazareth, Belgium- General information:Nazareth is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Eke and Nazareth proper. On January 1, 2006 Nazareth had a total population of 10,947...
during the medieval ages and founded the town of SeclinSeclinSeclin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole.Ghana national football team footballer Andre Ayew was born in Seclin.-Twin towns — Sister cities:...
, now in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The family's original surname was de la Faucille. - Cornelia, who married William Johnson
- Annica, who married Thomas Southard, born Thomas Southworth, cousin to Constant Southworth, stepson of Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth ColonyPlymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
. Annica and Thomas' daughter Abigail was the great-great-grandmother of Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history... - Sara, who married John Emans
Appearance
Anthony's physical appearance and race is the subject of much debate, and like his mother, the consensus was that he was of a mixed-ethnic background. He was incredibly tall with superior strength. van Salee has been described many ways, with some calling him a "semi-Dutchman" of "tawny" complexion, erecting the first "European" house in New Utrecht. Other descriptions have said he was a "former black slave" who was a "mulatto"; others include "half-Moroccan", "TurkTurkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
", "Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
", and "swarthy".
Anthony was very wealthy and had made many enemies, while falsely being attributed to certain history written well after his death. Anthony's appearance is consistently used in court documentation alongside his name with the phrase "Turk", indicating his appearance and/or lifestyle was a main emphasis for documentarians and historians during that period. From deduction, he was not a "free black", claimed in 2008, and "former black slave", as claimed in 2001, because he was the wealthy heir of a former head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
. It is also noted that Anthony was considered "European" enough to be credited, in 1643, for building the first "European" settlement in New Utrecht, while even historic Southern African-centric collections cannot determine what his actual appearance, race, or origin was. It is also noted that he had four daughters who married into respectable, colonial New Amsterdam families of European origin.
Notable descendants
Anthony's notable descendants include the Vanderbilt dynastyVanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, while it is unclear if a brother or himself is a progenitor of the Bouvier line of the Kennedy dynasty
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
according to family legend.