Cornelius Steenwyck (Steenwijck or Van Steenwyk), Mayor 1668-1670 and 1683-1684: Steenwyck (1626 – 1684) was one of the most prominent merchants of New Amsterdam and one of the first New Netherland slave traders. He also served as burgomaster (equivalent to mayor) of New Amsterdam when the Dutch surrendered to the English in 1664. He invested in three slave ships that took captives from Africa to the Caribbean from 1666 to 1669. Another mayor, Nicholas Bayard, was a co-investor in one of the vessels. The three ships carried 1,033 captives from Africa, with 888 survivors of the Middle Passage who were sold in the Caribbean.

He participated in shipping wholesale goods and the tobacco trade with Virginia, including ships he purchased with business partners. Steenwyck had a trading partner in Amsterdam, the van Hoornbeeck family, who financed part of his trading. Steenwyck served as burgomaster (office similar to mayor held by two men) in 1664 and helped negotiate the transition to English rule. In 1677, Steenwyck engaged in shipping cargo to England with fellow mayors William Dervall and Gabriel Minvielle on the ship James.[1]

In 1652, he signed a petition explaining that the inhabitants of New Amsterdam were “inclined to a foreign trade, and especially the coast of Africa” to “fetch thence slaves.” On May 3, 1660, the Dutch colonial council granted Steenwyck and eleven other merchants from New Amsterdam leave to trade captives along the west coast of Africa, from Cape Verde to Cape Lopez de Gonsalvo.[2]

In February of 1662, there is a court case that involves “Mattheu, the negro; of Steenwyck.” Mattheu is involved in a lengthy court case, which included him being beaten to force a confession and being imprisoned for false accusations until “his master applies for his release from confinement.”[3]

Slaveship Investments

Mayor	Ship	Dates of Voyages	Ports of Call	Enslaved Purchased	Cargo	Co-Investors
Cornelius Steenwyck	Leonora	1666-1667	Textel, Ardra, Curaçao, Martinique	338, 291 survived		Jacob Dircksz Wilree
Cornelius Steenwyck and Nicholas Bayard	Leonora and Leeuwinne	1668-69	Textel, Ardra, Curaçao	147, 126 survived		Balthazar Stuyvesant
Cornelius Steenwyck	Vergulde Posthoorn	1668-69	Textel, Ardra, Curaçao, Martinique, St. Kitts	548, 471 survived		Gerard Hamel, Gillis van Koornbeek, and J B Reusselaer

[1] “Commerce and Community,” p.435

[2] Northeast Slavery Records Index; original document from NY State Archives; Slavery in New York, Merchants & Empire; p.27

[3] The records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674, edited by Berthold Fernow, v.4, p.41-51

Slaveship investments: Slave Voyages website, #44270; 11781 and Bound by Bondage; 44281 and Bound by Bondage

Copyright 2025 Paul Hortenstine