Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (April 28, 1623 – September 21, 1707) – also known as William Beekman and Willem Beekman (or Beeckman) – was a Dutch emigrant who came to New Amsterdam (now New York City) from the Netherlands on May 27, 1647 in the same vessel, Princess, with Director-General and later Governor Peter Stuyvesant.
Beekman soon became Treasurer of the Dutch West India Company, beginning a long life in public service that included being Mayor of New York City, Governor of Delaware (1653–1664), and Governor of Pennsylvania (1658–1663).
He is the progenitor of the Beekman family in America.
Early life Wilhelmus (William, Willem) Beekman was born at Hasselt, Overijssel, Netherlands, on April 28, 1623, to Hendrick Beekman and Mary Baudartius, who had married in 1621 at Zutphen, the Netherlands.
Family His paternal grandfather, Rev. Gerardus Beekman was born in Cologne, received a University education, and studied theology at Frankendale in the Palatinate Region, from 1576 to 1578. He became one of the most learned scholars of his time. He is said to have been able to "speak, think and dream" in five languages. Rev. Beekman, who married Agnes Stunning, at Cleves, died at Emmerich in 1625, and Stunning died at Mülheim, Germany, in 1614.
Gerardus Beekman lived at a time when Europe was engaged in religious wars and Protestants had begun to seek refuge from persecution. The persecution of Protestants by the Archbishop of Cologne was the cause of Gerardus' settling in the neighboring city of Mülheim, a refuge for Protestants. Rev. Beekman took a prominent part in the support of the principles of the new church and was chosen one of the delegates to visit the Duke of New Berg, the Elector of Brandenburg and James I to secure their support in behalf of the reformed religion. His mission executed with so much credit to himself, James I caused the coat of arms of the Beekman family to be remodelled, to "a rose on either side of a running brook". Rev. Beekman was one of the distinguished scholars who translated the King James Bible from the original manuscripts into English, for James I, and for his services received special honors from the King.
His maternal grandfather, theologian Willem Baudartius, preacher in the town of Zutphen, was one of Dutch Calvinism's most zealously orthodox protagonists. As his participation in the Synod of Dort suggests, Baudartius enjoyed considerable stature as an intellectual leader. At the Synod he had participated not only in the formulation of the doctrines of the Dutch Reformed Church, but also in prescribing its forms of worship. Furthermore, he was one of the handful of scholars selected to make the authorized translation of the Bible into Dutch. In 1632, when the Old Testament translation was completed after many years of effort, it was immediately acclaimed on all sides and has been employed ever since.
New Netherland
Wilhelmus Beekman departed from Amsterdam at Christmas, 1646, bound for the settlement which the Dutch West India Company had established in the year of his birth on Manhattan Island.
The voyage from the Netherlands to the New World was long and arduous, Stuyvesant going by way of Curaçao in the Dutch West Indies on account of political considerations. In May 1647, Wilhelmus arrived in Nieuw Amsterdam aboard the Dutch merchant ship Princess Amelia. among the passengers was Director-General Pieter Stuyvesant.
Traveling by ship in the 1600s was not without its dangers; the Princess Amelia sank on its return voyage to Holland in September 1647. Only 21 of the 107 passengers survived.Smith, Jacqueline. "Explore the Beekman Family Tree!", New York Historical Society, October 2, 2013
Early political office From the outset, he was identified with affairs of state and the government of the new city. A general meeting of the Director-General and Council of New Netherland was held with the Burgomasters and Schepens (magistrates) on 13 March, 1653, at which it was decreed that breastworks or a wall should be built to protect the city and that the cost should be levied against the estates. Peter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven and Wilhelmus Beekman were chosen Commissioners and authorized to offer proposals, invite bids, and make the contract for the construction of the work. It was completed in May, 1653, and extended along the present Wall Street, skirting De Heere Gracht, an inlet of the bay, where Broad Street now is.
In the same year, Wilhelmus Beekman was appointed one of the five Schepens of New Amsterdam. Beekman was a member of The Nine Men, 1652; Schepen in 1653, 1654, 1656 and 1657 (President), 1673; Burgomaster in 1674. Between 1652 and 1658, he served as Lieutenant of the Burgher Corps of New Amsterdam. In 1658, Beekman, while Vice Director of New Netherland, he added the title of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. His jurisdiction as Commissary at Esopus, now Kingston, and its dependencies extended from the Catskills, where that of Fort George terminated, to the Dans Kamer, a few miles above the Highlands, which was the northern limit of the jurisdiction of Fort Amsterdam. His home at Esopus was the scene of many memorable gatherings of distinguished men. He entertained there Governors Cartwright, Nichols, and Lovelace.
From 1648 to 1652, Beekman was a Selectman, and on February 2, 1653, he was appointed one of the five original schepens of New Amsterdam. With the First Anglo-Dutch War under way, on March 14, 1653, Beekman was appointed to join council member Montagne to supervise work fortifying the town. He served as a schepen until 1658.
Colony of Swedes and Third Anglo-Dutch War On July 30, 1658, he received the appointment of Vice-Director or Governor of the Colony of Swedes (Delaware), through the influence of the Dutch West India Company. The capital, then known as New Amstel, is today New Castle. It was a challenging assignment as the population was largely Swedish and Finnish immigrants only recently conquered by the Dutch. Beekman resided at Altona, a new name for the former Swedish Fort Christina, now the city of Wilmington. It was located on the Delaware Bay, called South River by the Dutch, and he resided there until 1663, and then moved to Esopus, now Kingston, New York, to assume the duties of his new appointment as Schout (Sheriff) and Commissary at that place.
In 1664, Beekman was sheriff of New Amsterdamand in 1673, he was a lieutenant in the militia. In 1674, Beekman was elected Burgomaster and retained his office when the English gained control of the city following the second Anglo-Dutch War.
In March 1672, the third Anglo-Dutch War began and with the arrival of the Dutch fleet in July 1673, the English surrendered. Beekman was named a Schepen once again. By mid-August, the governmental pattern of pre-English years was fully established. However, by February 1674, the province was returned to the English in the Treaty of Westminster. When Andros, the Governor, arrived in 1674, Beekman was one of a committee of three to go on board The Diamond, to welcome the Governor, and ask for certain favors for the Dutch in New York.
New York City office Before the end of 1678, William was back in office once more. Governor Edmund Andros had by then reorganized the government of the City of New York under a mayor, deputy mayor, and aldermen, all of whom he himself appointed. Beekman became an alderman in 1678 and was reappointed in 1679 and in 1680. In the latter year he advanced to the head of the list of aldermen and to the title of deputy mayor. The mayor at that time was Captain William Dyer, who was also Collector of Customs and a member of Gov. Andros' Council.
Hurried and preoccupied with other matters associated with his recall, the departing governor neglected to make specific provision for the renewal of the expiring authority for the collection of customs duties. Actually the authority expired in November 1680, but no attention was called to the matter for many months. Then, in May 1681, opportunity knocked for Beekman. Governor Andros had departed; the lieutenant-governor was temporarily absent from the province and Mayor Dyer, collector of customs, was laid low by illness. With no authority to continue the expired taxes without express orders from the Duke of York, Mayor Dyer, who was also tax collector, continued to levy customs taxes.
Dyer was summoned before the very court of which he was normally the presiding officer, that of the mayor and aldermen of the City of New York. With Deputy Mayor William Beekman presiding in his place, the court promptly ordered Dyer to surrender the goods which he had been holding for non-payment of customs.
The members of the mayor's court then intimated to Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brockholls and his council that the collector should be tried for usurping the power of government. The lieutenant governor in council committed Dyer to trial, and a grand jury was sworn. Collector (Mayor) Dyer was formally indicted for having "trayterously maliciously and advisedly used and exercised Regall power and authority over the Kings subjects." In July a petit jury was sworn and twenty witnesses had been heard for the prosecution before the defendant confounded his accusers by demanding to know the authority of the commission which was trying him. After consultations among themselves the self-righteous patriots decided to send the defendant to England "to be proceeded against as his Majesty and Council shall direct."
William Beekman and his fellow aldermen continued to administer municipal matters and Brockholls discreetly reappointed all of them in 1681 and 1682 without attempting to name a successor to the unfortunate Mayor Dyer.
Acting Mayor of New York Beekman was Deputy Mayor of New York from 1681 to 1683, and from 1682 to 1683 was acting mayor. Col. Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, was appointed Governor of the Duke of York's Province of New York in 1683. With instructions from the Duke, Gov. Dongan sailed from England to America, finally reaching New York City on August 25, 1683. In 1683, when Thomas Dongan became governor, Beekman was mayor of New York, and was one of those appointed to survey Fort James. Rev. John Gordon became chaplain of the English soldiers in New York, and Mayor William Beekman, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, Lucas Santen, Mark Talbot, and Gabriel Minvielle were appointed to survey Fort James, while Captain Thomas Young was made pilot of the port.
The instructions given Gov. Dongan contained a provision for the creation of an Assembly of eighteen members to be elected by the freeholders. In preparation for the election of an Assembly William Beekman and the aldermen ordered a census to be completed "with all possible speed". As acting Mayor since the elimination of Dyer more than two years before, Beekman occupied a post which gave him great prestige in the eyes of the inhabitants.
On November 9, 1683, Dongan received a petition signed by William Beekman, mayor, Johannes Van Brugh, John Laurence, Peter J. Morris, James Graham, Cornelius Van Steenwyck, and Nicholas Bayard, aldermen of the city, petitioning for a city charter. With the city's charter granted, on November 24 the "old magistrates" were discharged, ending Beekman's term, and Cornelius Van Steenwyk was appointed mayor.
Alderman of New York Beekman was elected East Ward Aldermen in 1685, and served to 1696, when he retired due to old age. In 1696, he was one of the Elders who sought and received an official charter from the royal authorities for the Reformed Dutch Church.
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