Greetings group, Does anyone have a good source for the population of New Amsterdam during the 1830s, the Director-Generalship of Van Twiller? Conventional wisdom is that his policies on immigration increased the size of the colony--but I'd like some hard numbers if they are available. Many thanks, James * * * * James Nevius author of "Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City" “A smart and entertaining window on the city of the past.” —The New York Times http://www.insidetheapple.net And don't forget to read our NYC history blog at http://blog.insidetheapple.net

Hi James, I assume you mean 1630's, as Van Twiller was director from 1633 to 1638. All I could find so far is that in 1628 there were 270 on Manhattan. This was written by Van Wassenaer in Mar 1630 in his Historisch Verhael. It is printed in Jameson's Narratives of New Netherland on p. 89. >From Gotham by Burrows and Wallace -- p. 29: "Van Twiller arrived in 1633 with a hundred-odd soldiers... p. 30: "When Kieft stepped ashore in 1638, New Amstedam was a collection of eighty of ninety structures occupied by four hundred or so people -- not much bigger, in other words, than it had been a dozen years earlier in the days of Peter Minuit." (Unfortunately, they cite sources en masse for each section; so I don't know where they got this.) >From Eric Homberger's The Historical Atlas of New York City, p.28 -- "The population of the colony (Manhattan and surrounding farms) was estimated to be between 400 and 500 by 1643." He also cites sources en masse, and like the above book he merely cites the whole book -- no page nos. My impression is that what increased the population significantly was making the Freedoms and Exemptions more friendly to colonists. And to try to actually have colonists instead of mere employees. This was done by the DWIC, not by Van Twiller. I don't think Van Twiller made policy. And it happened after his time anyway, as I recall. Regards, Howard [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Nevius" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 2:28 PM Subject: [DUTCH-COLONIES] Population of New Amsterdam under Wouter vanTwiller Greetings group, Does anyone have a good source for the population of New Amsterdam during the 1830s, the Director-Generalship of Van Twiller? Conventional wisdom is that his policies on immigration increased the size of the colony--but I'd like some hard numbers if they are available. Many thanks, James