29 Facts About Wilhelmus Beekman

Wilhelmus Beekman is the progenitor of the Beekman family in America.

Wilhelmus Beekman became one of the most learned scholars of his time.

Wilhelmus Beekman is said to have been able to "speak, think and dream" in five languages.

Rev Wilhelmus Beekman, who married Agnes Stunning, at Cleves, died at Emmerich in 1625, and Stunning died at Mulheim, Germany, in 1614.

Gerardus Wilhelmus Beekman lived at a time when Europe was engaged in religious wars and Protestants had begun to seek refuge from persecution.

Rev Wilhelmus Beekman took a prominent part in the support of the principles of the new church and was chosen one of the delegates to visit the Duke of New Berg, the Elector of Brandenburg and James I to secure their support in behalf of the reformed religion.

Wilhelmus Beekman's mission executed with so much credit to himself, James I caused the coat of arms of the Beekman family to be remodelled, to "a rose on either side of a running brook".

Rev Wilhelmus Beekman was one of the distinguished scholars who translated the King James Bible from the original manuscripts into English, for James I, and for his services received special honors from the King.

Wilhelmus Beekman departed from Amsterdam at Christmas, 1646, bound for the settlement which the Dutch West India Company had established in the year of his birth on Manhattan Island.

Peter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven and Wilhelmus Beekman were chosen Commissioners and authorized to offer proposals, invite bids, and make the contract for the construction of the work.

Wilhelmus Beekman was a member of The Nine Men, 1652; Schepen in 1653,1654,1656 and 1657,1673; Burgomaster in 1674.

Wilhelmus Beekman resided at Altona, a new name for the former Swedish Fort Christina, now the city of Wilmington.

In 1664, Wilhelmus Beekman was sheriff of New Amsterdamand in 1673, he was a lieutenant in the militia.

In 1674, Wilhelmus Beekman was elected Burgomaster and retained his office when the English gained control of the city following the second Anglo-Dutch War.

Wilhelmus Beekman became an alderman in 1678 and was reappointed in 1679 and in 1680.

Wilhelmus Beekman was elected East Ward Aldermen in 1685, and served to 1696, when he retired due to old age.

Wilhelmus Beekman brought wealth from the Old World and invested it wisely in New Amsterdam.

In 1652, he purchased a farm known as Corlaer's Hook from Jacob Corlaer where Wilhelmus Beekman lived with his bride and was fully launched into the delightful society of the Dutch city.

Wilhelmus Beekman added land to his farm land owned by Isaac de Forest, near what is 126th Street, on the upper end of Manhattan Island, destined to later become Harlem.

Wilhelmus Beekman held properties at Corlaer's Hook and in Harlem as well as the land on which his house stood, the north side of the present site of Chatham Square.

Wilhelmus Beekman was a brewer, as were many of the town's leading citizens, and the proprietor of a flour mill.

Wilhelmus Beekman used beer to pay his taxes in 1672 and was referred to publicly as "brewer".

In 1676, Wilhelmus Beekman added to his land holdings purchasing the land of Thomas Hall, with a house facing the East River and a brew house on it.

Colonel Henry Wilhelmus Beekman was the recipient of two large tracts of land in Dutchess County, NY.

See Settlers of Wilhelmus Beekman Patent for families who lived in this patent which was a manorial estate of the Wilhelmus Beekman and Livingston families, who leased the land until the early 19th century.

William Wilhelmus Beekman helped to establish a measure of self-government for the Dutch hamlet which was to become a great city.

Wilhelmus Beekman was a perennial political leader under both English and Dutch rule and played an instrumental role in securing a municipal charter from the English authorities for New York City.

Wilhelmus Beekman's name is perpetuated in the names of William Street and Beekman Street, New York City, which latter became legally a street in 1734.

Henry Wilhelmus Beekman, who owned a grant there in 1703, known as the Wilhelmus Beekman Patent.