Zwaanendael was a settlement established in 1631 by Dutch settlers in the area of present-day Lewes, Delaware. In 1632 the settlement at Zwaanendael was destroyed and all colonists killed in a dispute with the Nanticoke, the local Native American tribe. In present day Lewes a Zwaanendael Museum and Zwaanendael Inn exist, although all of the original structures were destroyed with the massacre of the settlers. Seal of the City of Lewes There are other places called Lewes Lewes (pronounced LOO-is) is an incorporated city located in Sussex County, Delaware. ... The Nanticoke Indian Tribe is a Native American tribe from Sussex County, Delaware comprising the Nanticoke River watershed which empties into the Chesapeake Bay. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Built in 1931 in Lewes, Delaware, the Zwaanendael Museum was created to honor the 300th anniversary of Delawares first European settlement, Swanendael, founded 1631. ...

History

In 1629 a group of patroons, organized under Samuel Godyn in Amsterdam, planned to buy and settle land along the South River. They chose the west bank, chartering land between Bombay Hook (the original Dutch name was "Bompties Hoek") and Cape Henlopen along the Delaware Bay. Godyn and several other men hired the Dutch navigator David Pietersen de Vries, a native of Hoorn, Holland, to lead a group of colonists to establish a new colony. In 1631, de Vries and the colonists set sail for North America under the command of Captain Peter Heyes in a ship called the Walvis (Whale). They arrived in the spring, and the colonists began setting up a new colony, meant to be a center for farming, ranching, trading, and whaling. A town site was established and named Zwaanendael. A nearby creek was named "Blommaertkill" (after Samuel Blommaert, one of the patroons), and the Delaware Bay was dubbed "Godyn's Bay." The fledgling colony was established by just 33 men with enough supplies to begin new homes and new lives. The 28 colonists brought by de Vries were joined by five more from New Amsterdam, including Giles Hosset who became the leader of the colony. De Vries left the men shortly afterward and returned to Holland. Most would never be seen again. Nickname: Motto: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig (Valiant, Determined, Compassionate) Location of Amsterdam Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province North Holland Government  - Mayor Simon McAndrew (PvdA)  - Aldermen Lodewijk Asscher Hennah Buyne Carolien Gehrels Tjeerd Herrema Maarten van Poelgeest Marijke Vos  - Secretary Erik Gerritsen Area [1][2]  - City 219 km²  (84. ... Cape Henlopen from space, October 1994 Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. ... Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is a large esturarial inlet of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Delaware River along the coast of the United States. ... Samuel Blommaert was an Amsterdam merchant of the 17th century. ... New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) was the name of the 17th century town which grew outside of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in the New Netherland territory (1614–1674) which was situated between 38 and 42 degrees latitude as a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic since 1624. ...

In 1632, Peter Minuit informed the West India Company that the Zwaanendael colony had been obliterated by native tribes in the area. All men but one had been killed, with their bodies left to rot and their houses and supplies burnt and livestock taken. The only survivor was a man named Thunis Willemsen, who escaped and made it to New Amsterdam. De Vries returned to the South River by way of the Indies, and arrived late in 1632. Upon arriving, he met with the local native tribesmen to find out what happened. Apparently one of the local native chiefs had taken a tin coat of arms from one of the Dutch buildings. Hosset handled the theft very badly, though the details of what happened aren't known. But whatever he did, the natives attacked Zwaanendael, razing its buildings and killing its inhabitants. De Vries and the other patroons didn't bother sending a new expedition, and eventually the Dutch West India Company bought out their title to the land. Unfortunately, it seems the Dutch experience at Zwaanendael wasn't unique, as they apparently got along poorly with the native peoples surrounding the New Amsterdam colony as well. The Dutch returned to Delaware in force in the later 1640's and 1650's, eventually taking over the Swedish colony before they themselves were finally forced out of North America by the English. Peter Minuit (1580–August 5, 1638) was a Dutch Walloon from Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. ... There has been more than one West India Company: The Dutch West India Company The French West Indies Company The Danish West India Company The Swedish West India Company This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) was the name of the 17th century town which grew outside of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in the New Netherland territory (1614–1674) which was situated between 38 and 42 degrees latitude as a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic since 1624. ...

Though the name Zwaanendael, or Swanendael, stuck as part of the town folklore, by the time William Penn and the English took over the region the town was rebuilt and renamed Lewes. Today, the only remnant of the first colony is the name. However, to honor the tercentenary of the first European colony in Delaware in 1931, the state of Delaware built Zwaanendael House, a smaller replica of the town hall in the Dutch town of Hoorn, in honor of de Vries. It still stands and is open to the public; it houses a museum of regional history, though most of the contents are from the later English colonial and early United States history. Zwaanendael House is located near the intersection of Savannah Road and King's Highway in Lewes. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday, and admission is free. William Penn William Penn (October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) founded the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony that became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... For other uses, see Hoorn (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Zwaanendael Museum