Jan Rodrigues
Encyclopedia
Juan "Jan" Rodriguez born in Santo Domingo, was the son of a Portuguese
sailor and of an African woman and was the first man, of African and Europe
an descent, to live in what would become New York City
spending the winter, without the support of anchored ship, at a Dutch
fur
trading post
on Lower Manhattan
that had been set up by Christiaan Hendricksen in 1613.
This small settlement, and others, along the North River were part of a private enterprise. It was not until 1621 that the Dutch Republic
firmly established its claim to New Netherland
and offered a patent
for a trade monopoly in the region. In 1624, a group of settlers established a small colony on Governors Island
. Together with a contingent of colonizers coming from the Netherlands that same year joined the traders established in the tiny 11 year old settlement of New Amsterdam
.
In the early spring of 1613, fur trader Adriaen Block
complained bitterly that a competitor, Thijs Volckenz Mossel, commander of the Jonge Tobias, had tried to “spoil the trade” by offering three times more for a beaver than Block did.
In his report against Mossel, which he submitted to the Amsterdam Notary upon his return to Holland, Block topped off his list of accusations against Mossel with his outrage that crewman Rodriguez had become a permanent fixture in the Manhattan frontier, trading and living alone among the natives.
When the said Mossel sailed away from the river with his ship, [Rodriguez] born in St. Domingo, who had arrived there with the ship of said Mossel, stayed ashore at the same place. They had given [Rodriguez] eighty hatchets, some knives, a musket and a sword.
According to Block, Mossel denied that Rodriguez was working on his behalf. Rodriguez had taken it upon himself to gain friendship with the natives, set up a trading post, and live comfortably on Manhattan Island.
[Mossel] declared that this Spaniard [Rodriguez] had run away from the ship and gone ashore against his intent and will and that he had given him the said goods in payment of his wages and therefore had nothing more to do with him.
Block closed his report by writing that he knew of no other crewman who stayed behind but Rodriguez. This means that a native of Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic and Haiti, was the first documented non-Native American to remain on Manhattan without the support of a ship in the harbor. And the natives, who preferred the goods and ironware sold by Rodriguez over their own, seem to have accepted him as the island’s first merchant.
By the autumn of 1613, three Dutch ships had arrived: De Tijer, captained by Block, the Fortuyn, captained by Hendrick Christiaensen, and the Nachtegaal, captained by Mossel. This time it was Christiaensen who wrote about Rodriguez. His log states that Rodriguez came aboard the Nachtegaal, presented himself as a freeman, and offered to work for Christiaensen trading furs. Despite the short, exciting narrative, the historical record leaves us with few details about the remainder of the life of Juan “Jan” Rodriguez. What does remain is an intriguing episode of early New York City history.
So despite Christiaensen being officially considered the founder of New York City in late 1613, actually the real founder of the city is Jan Rodriguez, having established himself in Manhattan around a year before in late 1612 (the actual year of settlement of the city by non-natives).
Today a plaque stands in Riverside Park
in Manhattan
in recognition of Jan Rodriguez, whom history records as the first merchant and non-Native American inhabitant of the island. In addition, a mural created by Creative Arts Workshops for Kids, in sponsorship with the Harlem River Park Task Force, Harlem Community Development Corporation and New York State Department of Transportation, depicts an image of Jan Rodriguez as he might have appeared in 1613.
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
sailor and of an African woman and was the first man, of African 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...
an descent, to live in what would become New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
spending the winter, without the support of anchored ship, at a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
on Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
that had been set up by Christiaan Hendricksen in 1613.
This small settlement, and others, along the North River were part of a private enterprise. It was not until 1621 that the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
firmly established its claim to New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
and offered a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for a trade monopoly in the region. In 1624, a group of settlers established a small colony on Governors Island
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
. Together with a contingent of colonizers coming from the Netherlands that same year joined the traders established in the tiny 11 year old settlement of 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 the early spring of 1613, fur trader Adriaen Block
Adriaen Block
Adriaen Block was a Dutch private trader and navigator who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four voyages from 1611 to 1614, following the 1609 expedition by Henry Hudson...
complained bitterly that a competitor, Thijs Volckenz Mossel, commander of the Jonge Tobias, had tried to “spoil the trade” by offering three times more for a beaver than Block did.
In his report against Mossel, which he submitted to the Amsterdam Notary upon his return to Holland, Block topped off his list of accusations against Mossel with his outrage that crewman Rodriguez had become a permanent fixture in the Manhattan frontier, trading and living alone among the natives.
When the said Mossel sailed away from the river with his ship, [Rodriguez] born in St. Domingo, who had arrived there with the ship of said Mossel, stayed ashore at the same place. They had given [Rodriguez] eighty hatchets, some knives, a musket and a sword.
According to Block, Mossel denied that Rodriguez was working on his behalf. Rodriguez had taken it upon himself to gain friendship with the natives, set up a trading post, and live comfortably on Manhattan Island.
[Mossel] declared that this Spaniard [Rodriguez] had run away from the ship and gone ashore against his intent and will and that he had given him the said goods in payment of his wages and therefore had nothing more to do with him.
Block closed his report by writing that he knew of no other crewman who stayed behind but Rodriguez. This means that a native of Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic and Haiti, was the first documented non-Native American to remain on Manhattan without the support of a ship in the harbor. And the natives, who preferred the goods and ironware sold by Rodriguez over their own, seem to have accepted him as the island’s first merchant.
By the autumn of 1613, three Dutch ships had arrived: De Tijer, captained by Block, the Fortuyn, captained by Hendrick Christiaensen, and the Nachtegaal, captained by Mossel. This time it was Christiaensen who wrote about Rodriguez. His log states that Rodriguez came aboard the Nachtegaal, presented himself as a freeman, and offered to work for Christiaensen trading furs. Despite the short, exciting narrative, the historical record leaves us with few details about the remainder of the life of Juan “Jan” Rodriguez. What does remain is an intriguing episode of early New York City history.
So despite Christiaensen being officially considered the founder of New York City in late 1613, actually the real founder of the city is Jan Rodriguez, having established himself in Manhattan around a year before in late 1612 (the actual year of settlement of the city by non-natives).
Today a plaque stands in Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in recognition of Jan Rodriguez, whom history records as the first merchant and non-Native American inhabitant of the island. In addition, a mural created by Creative Arts Workshops for Kids, in sponsorship with the Harlem River Park Task Force, Harlem Community Development Corporation and New York State Department of Transportation, depicts an image of Jan Rodriguez as he might have appeared in 1613.