Wouter van Twiller
| Wouter van Twiller | |
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A painting of Wouter van Twiller by Washington Allston (detail)
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| 5th Director-General of New Netherland | |
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In office 1633–1638 |
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| Preceded by | Sebastiaen Jansen Krol |
| Succeeded by | Willem Kieft |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 22, 1606 Nijkerk, Netherlands |
| Died | August 29, 1654 (aged 48) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Wouter van Twiller (May 22, 1606 – buried August 29, 1654) was an employee of the Dutch West India Company and the Director-General of New Netherland from 1633 until 1638. He succeeded Peter Minuit, who was recalled by the Dutch West India authorities in Amsterdam for unknown reasons.
Van Twiller, who was born in Nijkerk, the son of Ryckaert and Maria Van Rensselaer Van Twiller. Kiliaen van Rensselaer was his maternal uncle.
He was appointed to the position because he had made two voyages to New Netherland colony before. He was a clerk in the warehouse of the Dutch West India company. Rensselaer entrusted him with shipping cattle to Rensselaerswyck, his colonial estate on the Hudson River. Van Twiller was somewhat acquainted with the geography of New Netherlands and the condition of its affairs. Largely through Van Rensselaer's influence the Dutch West India Company chose him as the new Director-General of New Netherlands, and he set sail for New Amsterdam in the ship De Soutberg.
Amid a considerable amount of land and properties, including islands known in the present day as Roosevelt Island and Randalls and Wards Islands, van Twiller purchased 'Noten Eylant', later called Governors Island from a tribe of Canarsee Indians for two axe heads, a string of beads and some iron nails. While in office, settlers from New England occupied the Connecticut Valley and he was never able to oust them. He was able to defend the Dutch territory in the Delaware Valley, where his soldiers captured a shipload of intended settlers from Virginia and expelled soldiers who had taken Fort Nassau.
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