Oloff Stevense van Cortlandt was a prominent merchant in New Amsterdam and New York City.
Background
Van Cortlandt was born probably in the Netherlands and apparently spent his youth entirely in the Dutch Republic. No special significance need be attached to the Scandinavian origin of his name and that of his father, Steven, or Stevens.
Oloff Stevenszen seems to have lived near Wijk bij Duurstede, in the province of Utrecht. Since he afterwards adopted the surname "Van Cortlandt" (1643), it has been plausibly surmised that he hailed from a very small village called Cortlandt, which existed at that time near Wijk bij Duurstede.
Career
Van Cortlandt emigrated in the Haering (Herring), serving in the capacity of a soldier employed by the Dutch West India Company, and arrived in New Amsterdam in March 1638. On July 1, 1640, he was appointed a commissioner of cargoes. In 1641 he began the purchase of real estate; in 1643, he is mentioned as a public storekeeper; in 1645, he was one of the Eight Men, and in 1650, he presided over the Nine Men. He held the office of city treasurer in 1657, 1659, 1660, 1661, and 1664; and he was burgomaster (mayor) from 1655 to 1660, and again in 1662 and 1663.
In 1663, he was one of the commissioners sent to Hartford to treat on the Connecticut boundary. He served as a deacon in the Reformed Church as early as 1646, while the more honorable office of elder was conferred upon him in or before 1670.
He was a member of various committees in the city and the colony from 1647 to 1664, and, when in 1664, New Amsterdam became New York, he was chosen to negotiate with the English. Under the new government, he acted as alderman in 1665, 1667, 1670, and 1672. In 1667, he was deputy mayor.
Van Cortlandt dealt in miscellaneous merchandise, owned a brewery on Brewer (or Brouwer) Street, and helped finance various commercial ventures.
Achievements
Van Cortlandt was the progenitor of one of the most prominent families in the American colonies. In addition to his interesting coat of arms, there are two memorials which attest his opulence and sagacity.
One is Van Cortlandt Manor, near Croton, built by his son Stephanus; the other, Van Cortlandt Park, at the northern extremity of New York City, is a symbol of the wealth in real estate amassed by him and his son Jacobus.
Personality
During the last ten years of his life, Van Cortlandt was rated as the fourth richest person in the colony. Part of his wealth he owed to his wife. He was a hard-headed businessman.
When he saw fit, he did not hesitate to oppose such personages as the Rev. Evarardus Bogardus and Governor Stuyvesant; and on one occasion at least he refused to permit the tax collector, Paulus van der Beeck, to visit his wine cellar.
Connections
On February 26, 1642, Van Cortlandt married Anneken Loockermans, a native of Turnhout in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium).
He was the father of seven children, of whom the eldest, Stephanus, and the youngest, Jacobus, achieved especial distinction. His daughter Maria, who married Jeremias Van Rensselaer.
