The Dutch Muslim Pirate and the Founding of New York

I’m about to tell you the most fascinating 17th century tale that you’ve probably never heard of. It’s a story about pirates, flexible loyalties and the founding of America. New York to be exact. As you may know, one of the first European colonies in North America was New Netherland and it stretched from present day Albany, southwards to Manhattan (New Amsterdam), New Jersey and Delaware. It only lasted about 50 years before being taken over by the British but in that short time, the seeds of a new, diverse culture were planted in the soil of the New World.

The 16th and 17th centuries were a time of perpetual war between the Netherlands and Spain. So around the same time as the young Dutch Republic was discovering America, a Dutch privateer named Jan Janszoon was sailing the European coast of the Atlantic looking for Spanish ships to attack. Against orders, he started venturing into the Mediterranean Sea and the African coast in search of new targets. At that time, most of North Africa was known as the Barbary Coast, a group of territories loosely affiliated to the Ottoman empire. In 1618, 4 years after the founding of Fort Nassau at present day Albany, Janszoon was captured in the Canary Islands by a group of Barbary corsairs who took him back to Algiers.

Although the details of his imprisonment are scarce, he promptly converted to Islam and began working for his Moorish captors. He adopted the name Murad Reis and started his own crew of buccaneers. He became infamous for leading raids in places like Iceland, Ireland and the various islands of the Mediterranean. He and his men would capture silver, livestock and prisoners to be sold as slaves. Even today in Iceland, the series of raids conducted by Janszoon’s crew-which led to the capture of hundreds of slaves-are remembered as “the Turkish abductions.”

In 1635, Janszoon was captured in Malta by the Knights Hospitaller. He spent several years in captivity until he escaped in 1640 whereupon he returned to Morocco to be appointed Governor of a fortress there. He died sometime in the 1640s, having become a wealthy man from his enterprising piracy.

Jan Janszoon had 4 children with his Moorish wife, one being named Anthony. As fate would have it, Anthony Janszoon emigrated to New Amsterdam around 1630, thus making him one of the earliest settlers in what would become New York City. It wasn’t long before “the Turk” and his wife became a notorious feature of the burgeoning New Amsterdam social scene. His wife, Griet Reyniers, was a well known prostitute. Her scandalous behavior, coupled with his hot-headed and ill-tempered reputation made them quite controversial among their neighbors. They were involved in several legal battles due to their untoward behavior, and Anthony allegedly threatened at least one neighbor at gunpoint. That being said, he was viewed by some as a defender of minorities; one story has him protecting an English Quaker from the strictly Calvinist authorities.

Their disorderly conduct became so bad that they were eventually expelled from Manhattan, yet Janszoon still held enough clout to be allowed 200 acres in western Brooklyn. They lived out the rest of their lives in New Netherland, and witnessed the takeover of the colony by the British in 1664. Griet died in 1669 and Anthony briefly remarried before himself passing away in 1676. They left behind 4 daughters who despite their parent’s sins seemed to have grown up to be respectable enough. In fact, one of the Janszoon’s descendants was none other than the Commodore, Cornelius Vanderbilt. A classic example that America’s origins are more diverse than some think.