The Fulkerson Family Pages
Fulkerson Family Patriarch--Dirck de Noorman (Holgerson), a Business Man
Dirck was born at about mid-reign of King Christian IV. It was in the latter part of King Christian's reign that many witch hunts, witch trials, and executions of witches were conducted, both in Norway and in Denmark.
During the 1600s Bergen was yet under the control of German Hanseatic League merchants (although the organization's power and cohesion were waning). Norwegian merchants did not regain control of the port until after 1700.
Dirck's circle of acquaintances in New Amsterdam is yet another indication of his origins. The great majority of Dirck's personal and business dealings in the 1650s and 1660s were with Scandinavian immigrants.
Some early researchers concluded Dirck was one of the Volckertsen brothers from Hoorn, a Dutch seaport. This relationship would seem unlikely, as these brothers were early investors in the Virginia tobacco trade. There is no evidence in the Dutch record that they ever sailed to America: "24 Sep 1621: At the request of Dierck Volckertsen, Doctor Verus and Dr. Carbasius, all of Hoorn, Pieter State General Nannincx of Mdemblik, and Cornelis Volckertsen together with Pieter Dircksen Schoders, bookkeeper have received permission to send a ship to the Virginies loaded with all sorts of merchandise, to trade there and return with their cargo, goods and merchandise, agent and sailors to this country. They have to return before July 1, 1622."
Perhaps Dirck had been acquainted with Peter Minuit, the New Netherlands colony's third Director, who bought the whole of Manhattan Island from the Canarsee Indians in 1626 for $24 worth of trade goods.
Minuit and his Assistant Director Isaac De Raisieres were anxious to demonstrate their new colony had the resources and potential for industries....especially ship building.
By 1628 Minuit and De Raisieres sought to import a group of Scandinavian ship carpenters who knew how to make pitch from pine - a locally abundant resource - which was needed for caulking a ship's hull.
Continue to A Fulkerson Founder of New York
In 2014, to commemorate the 400 years since the founding of the original colony on Manhattan, a group of history enthusiasts undertook The Onrust Project and created a replica of Adriaen Block's ship (pictured above).
Hendrick Christiaensen was among the first to have been bitten by the Terra Nova (Earth New) trade bug. Christiaensen may have hired a ship with Adriaen Block; but Adriaen Block was likely the go-getter. Arnout Vogels, Leonart Pelgrom and Francoys Pelgrom chartered the ship 'St. Pieter' of 60 lasts (120 tons) on May 19, 1611, captained by Cornelis Rijser, Citizen of Amsterdam. The ship was manned by 13 and carried three passengers. The ship and sailed to trade at places appointed by the merchants. If trade should prove insufficient the crew was to help with fishing.
Vogels had traded in furs in Canada, with Van Tweenhuysen and Hans Hunger, the brothers Leonart and Francoys Pelgrom, they formed the first company to carry on trade in New Netherland.
Soon also, the Jonge Tobias, captained by Thijs Volckertsen Mossel, would be the first ship embarking on a trading voyage to the Native American island of Mannahatta, carrying Juan Rodriguez, the first documented non-native resident of what would eventually become New York City, predating the Dutch settlers. Born in Santo Domingo (now in the Dominican Republic) to a Portuguese sailor and an African woman, Rodriguez is also considered the first immigrant, the first person of African heritage, the first person of European heritage, the first merchant, the first Latino, and the first Dominican to settle in Manhattan.
In The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, by Simon Hart, there is an involved discussion of the dramas going on between the earliest ship captains in the teen years of the 1600's and their crews as they began staking out trade and territory in the area. Within this account is the relation of an incident regarding Thijs Volckertsen Mossel and Adriaen Block (Tygjer a.k.a. The Tiger) . Another version of Mossel's name is oft-mentioned, and it is uncertain whether Mossel has any connection to Dirck de Noorman and Christine Vigne.
There is speculation regarding the manner (i.e. upon which ship) and timing of the arrival in the New Netherlands colony by Christine's parents, Guillame and Adrienne Vigne.
Per the 375th Anniversary of the Eendracht nd Nieuw Nederland by Harry Macy, Jr. (NYG&B Newsletter, Winter 1999) Ghislain and Adrienne (Cuvellier) Vigne and their children Marie, Christine, and Rachel were on either Niew Nederland or De Eendracht, as their son Jan would be recorded as the first male child born in the new colony.
