We all know that the Van Cortlandt family was very important in the history of our area. But I bet you didnt you know that this woman, Annetje Loockermans, who was the mother of Stephanus Van Cortlandt (first native born mayor of New York City), is responsible for bringing Santa Claus to America! Annetje Loockermans, was the pre-eminent lady of New Netherland society from the 1640s until her death in 1684. As Mrs. Van Cortlandt (she married an ex-enlisted soldier with that fine surname and made him a man of stature) Annetje Loockermans is credited with having brought the Netherlandic tradition of celebrating Sinter Klaas (Saint Nicholas) to America – and this at a time when the Puritans of New England had outlawed the celebraton of Christmas. It took several generations before a family tradition known as Sinter Klaas (and today Santa Claus) was transmitted through several generations to the world. Annetje Loockermans is credited by her myriad descendants as having been the driving force behind the first municipal improvements in New York City: the paving of the dirt streets with cobblestones. Annetje and her daughter Maria Van Rensselaer are anecdotally credited with helping to avert a bloodbath by convincing their husbands not to forward monies to a useless battle against the mercenaries and English freebooters who captured New Netherland in 1664. Annetjes North American offspring today literally number in the millions and include the elite of business, government and academia from the past four centuries. Some of her descendants included John Jay, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, John Jacob Astor, Montgomery Clift, Cyrus Vance, and both Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt. Which brings us to our own area: The name Cortlandt Manor is derived from the Van Cortlandt Upper Manor House off Oregon Road in Cortlandt just outside the Peekskill city limits. The Upper Manor House was part of the estate of Annetje Loockermans son Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the colonial aristocrat and patroon who owned nearly all of northern Westchester County in the late 17th century.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 22:37:39 +0000
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