Meet the main character: Sarah Rapalje

Born in 1625—Sarah Rapalje is the first child of European ancestry born in New Netherland—the Dutch colony that included parts of states later known as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. She is born in Fort Orange, later known as Albany, to Walloon pioneers named Joris Rapalje and Catalyna Trico. Joris and Catalyna were on the first ship to arrive with settlers, the Endracht, around March of 1624.

A year after Sarah was born, the colonists were ordered to concentrate their population to the island of Manhattan after Piere Minuit, the Director of the Dutch West India Company, made a land deal with the Lenape Canarsee Natives.

Sarah is my 8th great-grandmother. When I researched my genealogy, she stood out. She lived nearly 400 years ago and yet I could learn more about her than my grandmothers who lived only a few generations ago. This is partially due to her distinction as the eldest child of New Netherland but also because, in the Dutch colony, women weren't confined to the home. Sarah appears in court records and land grants. Objects she owned are in museum collections. Family lore was recorded in genealogy books written about her first and second husband.

A record of Sarah's birth

One of Sarah's belongings is a silver medallion her first husband gave her as a wedding present. On one side is engraved the figure of a man and a woman in seventeenth century attire, being married by a Domine or minister. Encircling are the Dutch words which translated read: “See here, lady, whom I love and no one else, here is my faith, my heart and my desire next to God." The reverse side depicts a man and a woman in a garden. It is encircled with the Dutch phrase, “Behold, the creator of flesh and blood, created two out of one." It was set into the lid of a tankard by silversmith Nicholas Roosevelt for Jeromus and Jane Remsen, descendants of Sarah. The donor, Tunis Johnson, was also a descendant of Rapalje’s. The tankard is in the Brooklyn Museum's collections.

This illustration of Sarah was shared by the Holland Society. The chair, fireplace, mantle, and clock are in the Brooklyn Museum's collection.

What was life like for Sarah? My novel aims to fill in the gaps and- spoiler- its not always so peaceful as the lovely illustration depicts.