Joannes Nevius

Joannes Nevius or Joannes Neef (March 1627 - circa June 1672) was the third secretary of New Amsterdam under the Director-General of New Netherland. He became the first secretary of New York City under the English.

Nevius was the son of or Joannes Neef(f) Sr. and Maria Becks. He was baptized 14 March 1627 at his father's church in Zoelen, Gelderland, in the Dutch Republic. He moved with the family to Venlo in 1634. Sometime before 1646, the family moved to Kampen (his father may have been dead by that point).

Nevius entered the University of Leyden in 1646. In 1651 (or possibly 1650), he sailed to America, probably leaving from Amsterdam. When he landed in Manhattan, it contained perhaps 1,000 inhabitants. Peter Stuyvesant was governor. The village was called Manhattoes until 1653, when it was incorporated as the city of New Amsterdam.

Joannes Nevius was probably a merchant when he first arrived. The first record of him in Manhattan is March 3, 1652, when he witnessed a baptism. On March 13, 1653, he was assessed 100 guilders to help pay for the city's defensive wall. On September 1, 1653, he was appointed arbitrator in a suit for wages.

On November 18, 1653, he married Adriaentje Bleijck. On November 22, 1653, he signed a "Remonstrance of the Merchants of New Amsterdam in Regard to the Imposition of Import Duties."

He owned a lot at what is now 80 Broadway and may have had his house there. This land was taken from him by the city on May 3, 1657, for a parade ground.

November 30, 1654, he appeared in court as attorney-in-fact for his father-in-law, who was defendant in a suit regarding the construction and outfitting of a ship, the Nieuwe Liefde. This suit dragged on for several years.

December 8, 1654, Joannes Nevius was named a city Schepen (filling the term of a Schepen who had been murdered). There were five city Schepens and two Burgomasters, who sat as magistrates and city council in the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens at the Stadt Huis, or city hall.

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