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Pieter
Winne
Pieter Winne was the founder and patriarch of the Winne family of early Albany. He was born in Ghent, Flanders (Belgium) in 1609, the son of Franciscus and Anna Winne. Two decades later, he had married Frieslander Tannetje Adams and they began to raise a family.
He
brought that family to New Netherland during the
1650s where he became a tenant in the colony of Rensselaerswyck.
His farm was in the southwestern part of the manor
called Bethlehem where he also operated a sawmill
(probably along the Normanskill). By the end of the
decade he also was established in Beverwyck - where
he owned a house and became a prominent fur trader.
Subsequently,
Winne gravitated more to the countryside where he
held substantial lands. For several decades, farmer
and mill operator Pieter Winne was one of the principal
personages of Bethlehem. In 1672, he was appointed
a magistrate for Bethlehem. He served until October
1684 when he was replaced. He was also active in
the Albany Dutch church - serving in a number of
capacities.
He
wrote a will in in 1677 and another one in July 1684.
In the second will, he characterized himself as a
magistrate living in Bethlehem and that he was "sick in body but of sound memory and understanding." It named his wife as sole heir during her widowhood. It also identified their twelve living children - whom he made his secondary heirs.
Founder
of a large regional family, Pieter Winne lived into
his eighties. He died during the early 1690s and
his widow re-married in 1693. His descendants were
mainline residents of colonial Albany and prominent
throughout the region.
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Notes: The
life of Pieter Winne is CAP biography number 8586.
This profile is derived chiefly from family and
community-based resources. The traditional source
of information on him is a sketch printed in the
Van Rensselaer-Bowier
Manuscripts, 845. It states
that he emigrated to New Netherland in 1653. The
best online resource has been provided by Robert
Winn.
Tradition
holds that he was first married to an "Aechie Jans Van Schaick." But no mention of her
or of any of her children was made in his will in
1684!
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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