In case some of you might be interested in researching and even building your family tree, we would suggest Genealogy.com as your primary starting point. Their FamilyTreeMaker tool is ideal for this. It only takes a little bit of searching around to discover that others have already uncovered quite a bit of useful information. You might want to start by looking into Pieter van Stoutenburg.
Pieter van Stoutenburg was very well educated and was a honorable gentleman. He was born in 1613 in Amersfoort, Utrecht, Holland. He came to Manhattan, perhaps the same time as Governor Stuyvesant on the 28 of March 1638. On the 16th of August, 1673, he was nominated as Magistrate or "Schepens" but did not get the job. However, Pieter van Stoutenburg was the treasurer of New Amsterdam, title being "Treasure of New Amsterdam" in 1676. It is said that he did so well at being the Treasurer that the British kept him as the city treasurer when they took the city. He also served on the Board of Deacons of the Dutch Reformed Church and was a officer of the Dutch Church School.
~~ The Stoutenburgh-Kruger Geneology
In case you want to spread your search wider to clarify certain details, a simple Google search is a great resource that should never be overlooked. However, if your looking for more "respected" source materials than a simple internet web page, Google Books will allow you to search a vast library of printed materials. For instance, I discovered that the book Ship Passenger Lists, New York and New Jersey (1600-1825), available from Amazon, seems to lend some credence to the previous claims that Pieter Van Stoutenburgh arrived in New Amersfoort at the same time as Governor Stuyvesant.
If you check around, you’ll begin to find that other people have already made interesting discoveries that relate to the family members you’re researching. For instance, The LeVan Family (Pedigree Version) contains some interesting material about Pieter Van Stoutenburg and the Roosevelt family.
Pieter Stoutenburg contributed to the care of the five (5) orphaned "Rosenvelt" children when their parents Claes Martenzen van Rosenvelt and Jannetje Thomas died. They were the immigrant ancestors of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt. In New Amsterdam parentless children were usually absorbed into other families in the Colony, but in this case the parents had owned enough property to provide for them. The Orphans Court instructed the orphanmasters, Tomas Hall and PIETER STOTENBURGH (sic), to make an inventory and to sell enough property to set up a trust fund for the Rosenvelt children’s care.
~~ The LeVan Family (Pedigree Version)
We know these seem like minor details, but that’s what lends interest to family histories. Showing how various family members might be connected to other people and events makes family histories fun. It doesn’t take long to discover that there are more things tying us all together than there are keeping us apart.
Everyone at the Stoutenburgh-Teller Family Association hopes that you’ll enjoy doing your own family research and that you’ll let the rest of us know what you find.