Wilheim Willink
Encyclopedia
Holland Land Company
The Holland Land Company was a purchaser of the western two-thirds of the western New York land tract known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. This tract was known thereafter as The Holland Purchase...
, and the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
. Wilhelm Willink had a summer estate on the Spaarne
Spaarne
The Spaarne is a river, in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam....
River, neighboring the estate villa Welgelegen
Villa Welgelegen
Villa Welgelegen is a historical building in Haarlem, the Netherlands, which currently houses the offices of the provincial executives of North Holland. Located at the north end of a public park in the city, it is an example of neoclassical architecture, unusual for its style in the...
of his associate Henry Hope
Henry Hope
Henry Hope was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Boston, in Britain's Massachusetts Bay Colony in North America.-Early years:...
.
Biography
In the 18th century it became fashionable for Dutch businessmen to invest in the young United States, and many were talked into investing in land there after John AdamsJohn Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
signed the trade treaty with the Netherlands in 1782. Around 1790 there were reportedly thirteen investors in the Holland Land Company syndicate, who hoped to profit by buying a large tract of land in Western New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and northern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and reselling it to settlers and businessmen. The other Holland Land Company investors included: the merchants Pieter and Christiaan van Eeghen; Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck , Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic and an investor in the Holland Land Company....
, a lawyer and politician; Pieter Stadnitski; the brothers and bankers Jan, Roelof & Nicolaas van Staphorst
Nicolaas van Staphorst
Nicolaas van Staphorst was a Dutch banker and a conservative republican. Up till 1794 he was involved in a total of eleven loans that were granted in Amsterdam to the United States with a value of 29 million guilders, and in the Holland Land Company.-Life:In 1782, the brothers led discussions with...
; Hendrick Vollenhoven; Cornelius Vollenhoven; Hendrick Seye; Wilhelm Willink (the younger); Jan Willink; and Jan Willink (the younger).
Willink's name was given to the Town of Willink
Willink, New York
Willink, New York is a former town in Western New York, USA. The name was derived from Willem Willink, one of the original investors of the Holland Land Company....
when it was created from Batavia, New York in 1804. It was included in Niagara County
Niagara County, New York
Niagara County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,469. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra; meaning the strait or thunder of waters. It is the location of Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara, and...
when the latter was formed in 1808 from Genesee County
Genesee County, New York
Genesee County is a county located in Western New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,079. Its name is from the Seneca Indian word Gen-nis'-hee-yo meaning "The Beautiful Valley." Its county seat is Batavia.- History :...
.
The Town of Willink, along with the Town of Clarence
Clarence, New York
Clarence is a town located in the northeastern part of Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 30,673 according to the 2010 census. This represents an increase of 17.42% from the 2000 census figure . Clarence is also the name of a postal district in the south part of the town...
, was taken to form Erie County
Erie County, New York
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 919,040. The county seat is Buffalo. The county's name comes from Lake Erie, which in turn comes from the Erie tribe of American Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654.Erie...
in 1821. The Town of Willink was then dispersed by the formation of newer towns in Erie County (such as Concord
Concord, New York
Concord is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 8,526 at the 2000 census. The town is believed to be named after Concord, Massachusetts by early settlers from New England....
, Eden
Eden, New York
Eden is a town located south of Buffalo, in Erie County, New York, USA. The population was 8,076 at the 2000 census. The basis for choosing the town's name is unknown....
, and Aurora
Aurora, Erie County, New York
Aurora is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 13,996 at the 2000 census.The Town of Aurora is one of the "Southtowns" of Erie County and is also erroneously called East Aurora, the name of its principal village...
). Some of the investor names appear on the Big Tree Treaty of 1804, by which the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
sold off their rights to most of the land in the Holland Purchase
Holland Purchase
The Holland Purchase was a large tract of land in what is now the western portion of the U.S. state of New York. It consisted of about 3,250,000 acres of land from a line approximately 12 miles to the west of the Genesee River to the present western border and boundary of New York State.The land...
.
The names of the investors were formerly given to locations in western New York, but they have since been replaced. Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
itself was briefly called New Amsterdam. Stadnitski Avenue in Buffalo is now Church Street. Schimmelpenninck Avenue is now Niagara Street. Buffalo streets were also named after Willink and Van Staphorst, but only Willink's remains. Their names appear as the original owners on most deeds for land in this part of New York.
The syndicate hired agents to perform the work of selling and improving their land. Their principal agent was Theophilus Cazenove
Theophilus Cazenove
Theophilus Cazenove, or Theophile Cazenove , was a financier and one of the agents of the Holland Land Company.- Life and career :...
, later succeeded by Paolo Busti
Paolo Busti
Paolo Busti, or Paul Busti , was the principal agent of the Holland Land Company from 1800 until his death. Busti was born in Milan, Italy and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. Others agents were Joseph Ellicott
Joseph Ellicott
Joseph Ellicott was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the Quaker faith.-Life:He was the son of Joseph Ellicott ....
, Adam Gerard Mappa
Adam Gerard Mappa
Adam Gerard Mappa was a Dutch Patriot and active colonel in a local militia,...
, Benjamin Ellicott, William Peacock, and Gerrit Boon
Gerrit Boon
Gerrit Boon was the son of a Lutheran minister Johan Michiel Boon. His father had studied in Helmstedt and moved in 1752 from Amersfoort to Delft and in 1774 to Rotterdam. Gerrit Boon became a sugar refinerer in the city, working for his brother-in-law...
.
In 1801 Willem and Jan Willink, merchants in Amsterdam, were enabled to purchase and hold real property in the town of Havre de Grace in Harford County. Ultimately, the syndicate earned only modest profit from the investment, but their funds greatly assisted the development of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.