The Pieter Stoutenburg family originated in the Province of Utrecht of the Netherlands. Knowing a little history of both the Netherlands and its Dutch colony, Nieuw Nederland is important to have an understanding of Pieter Stoutenburg’s life in the 17th century.
Pieter spent his early life in the Netherlands, presumably in the Province of Utrecht around Amersfoort and Stoutenburg. Another person from Utrecht was Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. He was a very important person in Dutch history whose life abruptly came to an end when Pieter was five years old.
Pieter arrived in New Amsterdam sometime before his marriage in 1649. By the time that Pieter arrived, it was over twenty-five years since the first families settled on the island that we call Manhattan at Fort Orange around Albany. It didn’t take long before New Amsterdam was joined by New Harlem, Brooklyn, New Lots, Bushwyck, New Amersfoort, etc.