Jews from Brazil to New Netherland (New York)

Recife Brazil early map

In 2000, Olive Tree Genealogy was approached by the Jewish Archives in Recife Brazil, asking for help in identifying the 23 Jewish refugees who were on board the ship St. Charles sailing from Recife to New Netherland in 1654. According to the Archives in Recife, the first Jewish Synagogue in America was built in Recife, this is known from archeological excavations.

I have a small connection with the Dutch settlement in Recife Brazil through my 8th great grandmother Maria Post who was born there and baptised on 6 June 1649 in the Dutch church in Recife. See FN 1:

The Archives interest was in the names of the refugees, and what their lives were like in New Netherland. As far as I am aware, there is no passenger list for the St. Charles. Names of the Jewish refugees may be able to be pieced together by using other documents. I managed to find the names of some of the adult passengers from other records -- mainly court documents of the time. The names I found (using primary records only) were: Abram Israel, David Israel, Asser Levy, Moses Ambrosius & Judicq de Mereda

One source I consulted stated that there were 23 Jews "big and little" (meaning adults and children)

On 7 Sept. 1654 Capt. Jacques de la Motthe aka Motte, skipper of the St. Charles, appeared in court with a petition. He requires payment for freight and board 'of the Jews whom he brought here from Cape St. Anthony". de la Motte states that "the Netherlanders who came over with them" are not included in his suit and that they have paid him. Solomon Pietersen "a Jew" appears and says that "900 guilders of the 2500 are paid and that there are 23 souls, big and little [meaning adults and children] who must pay equally" [Source: The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini, edited by Berthold Fernow in 7 volumes. reprint Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. Baltimore. 1976 Vol. I Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens 1653-1655 p 240]

It is not clear if Solomon Pietersen was on board the ship so I have not added his name to the list. There are some published materials on the Jewish refugees who came from Brazil to New Netherland, but I have not attempted to find them. I have found the names of several other Jewish settlers to New Netherland who may have been passengers on St. Charles -- but they may also have arrived before or after the Recife refugees.

From what can be pieced together about them, it seem probable that the twenty-three consisted of six family heads---four men (with their wives) and two other women who in all likelihood were widows, since they were counted separately---and thirteen young people. The heads of the families were Asser Levy, Abraham Israel De Piza (or Dias), David Israel Faro, Mose Lumbosco, and ---the two women---Judith (or Judica) Mercado) (or De Mercado, or de Mereda) and Ricke (or Rachel) Nunes. [Source: The Grandees: America's Sephardic Elite by Stephen Birmingham]

The Jewish Archives representative informed me that they plan on establishing a Jewish Center Study at the old Synagogue, and they will place the information and sources I find for others to use. I do not know if this happened.

Historical Background

On January 26, 1654, approximately 150 Jewish families of Portuguese background fled the city of Recife, in Pernambuco, Brazil. By September a number of these refugees had established the first community of Jews in the future United States.

Known as Sephardim (Jews of Spanish-Portuguese extraction), theirs was a complex saga. After 1497, the kingdom of Portugal outlawed Jewish life, causing many to flee to Holland where a climate of acceptance prevailed. From there, some migrated on to Pernambuco, a colony of the Dutch West India Company in modern day Brazil. Their community flourished there until the Dutch eventually surrendered Pernambuco to the Portuguese and the Sephardim were again forced to flee.

After being driven ashore in Jamaica by Spanish ships, twenty-three members of the community, along with a group of Dutch Calvinists, made their way to New Netherland (New York)—another colony run by the Dutch West India Company. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of all Dutch possessions in North America, feared the indigent newcomers would burden the colony but when he motioned to eject the Jewish newcomers the Company refused his petition (many of the company's shareholders themselves being Jewish). [Library of Congress. http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan26.html]

Helpful Sources

A book cited by Stokes in his Iconography: Samuel Oppenheim, _The Early History of the Jews in New York, 1654-1664_ (1909) As cited by Russell Shorto in The Island at the Center of the World: Hershkowitz, Leo, "New Amsterdam's Twenty-Three Jews -- Myth or Reality?" In Shalom Goldman, ed., _Hebrew and the Bible in America: The First Two Centuries_; Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis Unirversity Press, 1993. [Howard Swain]

Harry Macy has an interesting article in the latest (vol 15, nos 2-3; Spring/Summer 2004) NYGBS newsletter now titled The New York Researcher. The article is titled: "1654-2004: The 350th Anniversay of New York's First Jewish Settlers" and is on pp 35-37. In a footnote he mentions that Leo Hershkowitz has "compiled a probable list of those coming in 1654 and the next few years." This is in his article, "Original Inventories of Early New York jews (1682-1763)" in American Jewish History vol 90 (2002) pp 246-47, note 7. Mr. Macy''s article lists many other sources of interest to those researching these early Jewish settlers. [Howard Swain]

(Summer 2004) issue of "de Halve Maen", the quarterly publication of The Holland Society of New York. It is Professor Leo Hershkowitz' article, "By chance or by choice: Jews in New Amsterdam 1654", pages 23-30. Herkowitz says that de Peereboom (The Peartree) sailed from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam on 8 July 1654. New Amsterdam is now New York City.

Among those who disembarked were Jacob Barsimon, probably with Asser Levy and Solomon Pieterson. These were the first known Jews to set foot in the Dutch settlement...

"The 23 Jews whose voyage had originated in Brazil arrived shortly after "de Peereboom". On page 29 Herkowitz says, "Though Jews asked for permission to build a synagogue, it was not granted by Stuyvesant, and this issue was never pursued..." [courtesy of Dorothy Koenig]

Visit Ancestry.com's free JEWISH FAMILY HISTORY COLLECTION for access to their Jewish records

FN 1: C.J. Wasch, Doopregister der Hollanders in Brazilie 1633-1654, (1889), Adriaen Crijnen Post, Clara Moockers. Wt Christoffel ---, Andelijina Caron, Dorothea Montanier.

Women's History Month: Clara Moockers Post, Strong Female Ancestor

In honour of Women's History Month (March 2014) I issued a challenge to all geneabloggers to write a  minimum of 10 blog posts this month about women who have made a difference.

Clara Moockers Post, born ca 1621 in Holland was my 9th great-grandmother.  Here is her story:

For 24 years, from 1630 to 1654, Recife, a Northeastern city in  Brazil, was held by the WIC (West India Company).

My 9th great grandparents Captain Adriaen Crijnen Post and his wife Clara Moockers, were stationed in Recife during this time. They had 3 children born in Recife between 1644 and 1648.  I  often think of Clara and how strong she must have been to raise a family in the jungle with the heat, the dangers of various illnesses such as malaria, and the poisonous snakes and other dangerous wildlife.

Adriaen and Clara's daughter Maria (my 8th great-grandmother) was baptised in Recife Brazil in June 1649 [Doopregister der Hollanders in Brazilie 1633 - 1654]. By the time Brazil fell to the Portuguese in 1654, the family had left for the Netherlands and then on to New Netherland (present day New York state).

On 30 June 1650 the ship "New Netherland's Fortune" sailed, arriving in New Netherland on 19 December 1650.

Adriaen and his family were on Staten Island by 1655. Adriaen was a representative of Baron Hendrick van der Capellen, the owner of one-third of Staten Island. As the superintendent of a group of twenty people who were to farm Staten Island, Adriaen set up a colony which flourished.

In the summer of 1655 the Peach Tree War began over Hendrick Van Dyke's shooting of a Native woman taking peaches from his trees in his orchard in Manhatten. As a result, the settlements on the lower Hudson River and around New York were destroyed by Iroquois attackers. On 15 September 1655, the colony on Staten Island was burned to the ground by the Natives from Hackensack. Twenty-three people were killed and sixty-seven taken prisoner, among them Adrien, his wife Clara, their five children, and two servants.

In October 1655, Adriaen was released by the Hackensack chief Penneckeck to bargain with Petrus Stuyvessant for the release of prisoners. Adriaen made the journey between Manhattan and the Native headquarters at Paulus Hook, New Jersey several times before an agreement was reached. Fifty-six captives were released in exchange for powder, lead, guns, blankets and wampum. Among those freed were Adrian's wife and children.

Returning to Staten Island Adrian was ordered by Van der Capellan to gather survivors and erect a fort. Trying to keep the group fed, he found a few cattle that the Natives had overlooked roaming in the woods  That winter Adrian and his family camped in the company of some soldiers  in the burnt-out settlement.  They butchered some of the cattle they had found and obtained milk from others. They survived the winter with  little food and rough shelters. Stuyvessant recommended to Post that he and "his people" and cattle move to the stockade on Long Island but Adrian and Clara refused. They stayed on Staten Island virtually alone. 

By Spring of 1656 Adrian was ill and unable to perform his duties, so Clara requested that someone else be appointed as van der Capellen's agent. In April of 1656 Clara petitioned Stuyvessant asking that the soldiers be allowed to stay, but Stuyvessant decided that since there were only 6 or 7 people on the island, a garrison was not required and they should all move to Long Island.


Adriaen and Clara eventually left Staten Island and settled on the mainland of present-day Bergen, New Jersey. Adriaen died in 1675 but it is not known what happened to Clara. She was a strong female, mother to 9 children, who endured much and adapted well to whatever difficult conditions she faced. I'm so proud to have her as my ancestor.

Credit: Image from Fotolia