Original Sources

I have relied heavily on the following source materials in writing The Boschloper Saga:

John Romeyn Brodhead’s Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York procured in Holland, England and France: Vol. II (Holland Documents: 1657-1678); Vol. III (London Documents: 1614-1692); Vol. IX (Paris Documents: 1631-1744); all published in 1855.

Brodhead’s History of the State of New York: Vol. II; published in 1871.

Cadwallader Colden’s The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New-York in America: Part I; published in 1727.

Edward B. O’Callaghan’s Documentary History of the State of New York, Vol. I; published in 1849.

Berthold Fernow’s Documents Relating to the History and Settlements of the Towns along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers (with the Exception of Albany) From 1630 to 1684 and also Illustrating the Relations of the Settlers with the Indians; published in1881.

John Romeyn Brodhead (1814-1873) devoted himself to the study of the colonial history of New York State.  An appointment as an attaché of the American Legation at The Hague in 1839 led him to the discovery that the Dutch archives were rich in materials on the early history of New York.  At the urging of the New York Historical Society, the New York State Legislature appropriated funds for Brodhead to gather and interpret documents relating to New York’s colonial history from archives in England, France and the Netherlands.  These transcriptions were later edited by Edward B. O’Callaghan and Berthold Fernow.

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776) was appointed a member of the New York Provincial Council in 1720 and, among other posts, held the position of Colonial Representative to the Iroquois Confederacy.  In the latter position, he took considerable interest in the Haudenosaunee and, in 1727, published the first volume of his History of the Five Nations. This was the first English-language history of Native American peoples.  A second volume followed 20 years later. As a result, Colden became known as the foremost authority on the affairs of Native Americans.  He worked tirelessly for better communication with them and to enlist their support for the British Crown.  Because of his efforts, the Mohawk gave him the name Cayenderonque.  Colden went on to serve as acting governor of New York in 1760-62 and 1763-65, and as governor in 1769-1771.

I would be remiss if I did not recognize the work of the New Netherland Research Center of the New York State Library.  The Center promotes and supports scholarship and knowledge about the seventeenth-century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America.  Under the direction of Dr. Charles Gehring, it makes the history of the Dutch colonial presence in North America available for study and research through preservation, transcription, translation and digitization of original 17th-century documents and manuscripts in the collections of the New York State Library and State Archives.  You can visit the Center’s website at http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/newnetherland/