Pieter Van Halen was born in Holland in 1633 and died in Albany, New York in January of 1674. We find the first reference to Peter in the list of arrivals at New Amsterdam. IT read as follows: “Pieter Van Haelen, Van Uytrecht, shoemaker, came in the ship, Vergulde Bever (The Guilded Beaver), piloted by captain Jan Reyersz Van der Beets, in May of 1658, bringing with him his wife, two small children and a boy. One of the children was a full fare passenger and it the other two of one to three years.” From careful comparison of all data, it seems likely the youth who paid full fare was not Peter’s son but his younger brother, Lawrence, then about 16 years of age.
Peter Van Allen exercised the "small burgher right" at New Amsterdam, June 18, 1658, and apparently entered immediately upon the Indian trade. This action implies that he had possession of some starting capital. Although he did his trading with the Indians in and around Fort Orange, his residence was in New Amsterdam and he spent the winters with his family there. On December 13, 1658, Hendric Hensen Swit sued him for the unpaid rent of a house in New Amsterdam. Peter set up his defense for the non-payment based on his contention that the house was in such a poor state of repair that it was no longer habitable. Peter ended up paying 60 florins in zewant, otherwise known as wampum or Indian currency, thus settling the matter. In the following winter, December 2, 1659, Paulus Vander Beek sued him for half a year’s rent of another house, minus the value of work performed on the property by Peter. Peter admitted this debt and asked for a delay.
On March 28, 1659, Elizabeth, the daughter of Pieter Van Haelen and Weyntje Morre was baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam. The sponsor for the baptism was Adriaen Van Leer, who had been a fellow passenger aboard the Vergulde Bever.
In the
spring of 1660, Peter was at Fort Orange trading with the Indians. On May 25th
of that year, Peter, his brother Lawrence, Philip Pieterse Schuyler, Abraham
Staeles, Herrit Schlechtenhorst, William Feller and David Schuyler, “on behalf
of the commonality legally assembled”, petitioned the authorities to forbid
Christian brokers from roaming the woods asking that only Indian brokers to be
permitted in the Indian trade. There is an element of humor in the fact that
two months later on July 15, 1660, a complaint was filed against Peter and a
number of others for indulging in the very practice which he had
asked to be forbidden. To be fair, there was probably no effective means of
enforcing such regulations, and the very men who were opposed to the practice no doubt
resorted to it in self-defense.
In the
spring of 1661 Peter appears to have moved with his family to Wiltwyck, later
known as Kingston. The Kingston records show that he drew lot 9 in the village
on May 2, 1661. He also appears to have served for a short time at the army
garrison. The muster roll shows Pieter Van Haelen, cadet, discharged from service on January
15, 1661. Later that year on July 12, 1661, Peter complained to the authorities that the sergeant
had beaten him in the guardhouse and pursued him on the public street. In
defense, the sergeant claimed that Peter had taken brandy into the guardhouse
and had sold it to the prisoners there on Sunday, while the sergeant was at
church.
On November
12, 1661, Peter Van Aelen is shown in the public records being assessed 10 florins for building the
minister’s house at Wiltwyck. The practice at the time was to assess farmers
according to the number of morgens of land owned by them and on their ability
to pay. A morgen was equal to approximately 2 acres with two florins being the
average assessment on any landowner. This little detail demonstrates that the
authorities considered Peter fairly successful and well to do. Also, during the
year 1662, Peter is on record as having instituted legal suits against 3
different people at Wiltwyck for debts arising out of the sale of shoes and
brandy.
January 11,
1662 Barnet, the son of Peiter Van Aelen and Weynt Morren was baptized at
Kingston, the sponsor being Andries Harmensen.
On January
7, 1663, the Indians attacked and massacred the settlement of Wiltwyck. Peter was living at
Wiltwyck at the time of the massacre by the Indians, but that he was actually
present at the time is doubtful. On the list of those killed is Pieter Van
Hael’s wife, "shot and burned in her house". Also burned in the house with
Peter’s wife were Willem Jansen Hap and Willem Hap’s child. There is no hint of what
happened to Peter’s little son, Barnet, who was then not quite two years old, and no
further reference is made of him in any history, so it can be supposed he did
not long survive the death of his mother.
On August
19, 1663, Peter Van Alen, about to depart for Holland, gave power of attorney
to “syn knecht”, which probably means clerk, Dirck Wessels. This record is in
the Albany County Notorial Papers and is a purely business document empowering
Dirck to receive and disburse moneys on Peter’s account during his absence.
He was evidently a justice of the peace, as there are two records in 1664 where he took acknowledgements, and in the same year was surety for Jan D. Van Elps, who purchased a brewery. The payment for the brewery was made in beaver skins valued at 1150 guilders.
On either Jan or Jun 26, 1668, Pieter Van Alen, Evert
Maycose, Jan Hendrickse de Bruyn and Dirck Wessels obtained from Governor
Richard Nicolls (Col Nichols was commander of the English military force and the first English governor of the province. His commission bore the date of June 12, 1668) a patent to a tract of land on the Nutton and Kinder Hoek,
known by the name of Machickoeske. It was described that it went up northernly next to the land
formerly bought from the Indians by Efert Luycose and so on to Packquack. This
was to have included a considerable part of the great flat in which the present
village of Kinderhook lies and which extends northward to the village of
Valatie. The precise extent of the tract is unknown and the admittedly imprecise description is obtained from the deed belonging to Peter’s son, John.
In the year 1669 Peter married Maria Teller, daughter of Wilhelmus Teller, the wachtmeester (watchman) of the fort. Presumably this was Fort Orange, in Albany.
A reference to Peter owning real estate in the city of Albany is a deed
from Stoffel Hansen Abeel which transferred on August 26, 1672 to Peter Van
Alen. The deed was for a house and a lot in Albany “toward the hill between
Jacob Sanderson and Johannes Wendell”. There is
supposedly a book by Henry Van Allen that is in the State Library at Albany,
New York from which Wava Van Allen copied most of this history of Peter Van
Allen. I obtained a type written manuscript from my father Gordon Van Allen which
I used to create this page. Further, one Wendy Hanson of British Colombia, sent me a copy of a book by Benjamin Taylor Van Alen, published in 1902, which added more to the details of Peter's life. If there are any corrections I need to apply, or
more information that can be added, I would greatly appreciate an email to me
at dave@vanallens.com advising me of such.
Posted here
February 24, 2002 and updated December 10, 2002