Phyllis Harrison

I imagine that even if they were a little scared, all of our immigrating ancestors found it exciting to come to America, especially if they were entering through New York City and had never been there before. Flying into an international airport in this legendary city, known around the world, is much different today than it would have been 400 years ago.

The city was becoming infamous even then, but mostly for the wrong reasons. Why would otherwise rational people get on a vessel that promised months of misery and almost equal odds that they would never make it there, but die along the way? They brought their families with them: grandparents, children, pregnant women and sometimes even pets or livestock.

The stock reasons we were given in grade school just don’t cut it, just as the passengers don’t fit the one-size-fits-all mold. I have spent the last several years reading firsthand accounts from voyagers and settlers, from Robert Juet to the Van Rensselaer Bowier manuscripts and beyond. I have also explored the reproduction ships and studied the plans and specifications. My conclusion is that you would have to be mostly out of your mind, in fear of imminent death, or so focused on escaping a bad situation or gaining wealth that you no longer had any sense at all of self-preservation.

I can’t think of anyone who has written a story about this piece of our history (my apologies if someone has and I have not found it). Yes, yes, we know it was long and miserable, miserable and long, but what are the details of everyday life? How do people deal with each other when they are forced to live in confined situations for long periods of time? This is the continuing story of our immigration history, and I hope it speaks to you, whether your family came last year or four hundred years ago, whether they came eagerly or not so willingly. I hope it expands the possibilities of finding the true facts of our collective and individual family beginnings.
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The world is in turmoil, the future uncertain, the present dangerous. Securing a better future requires desperate measures and the fortitude to see it through.
Europe’s political landscape in 1643 has become too dangerous for fugitive Gilles Montroville to continue living in the city of Amsterdam. Nearby European countries have been unable to provide a safe haven for him. He needs to find a fast route to safety for himself and his young family.

When he is offered the chance to emigrate to New Amsterdam and work for the West India Company, Gilles seizes the opportunity. Given the difficult and violent conditions in the colony, it seems more an act of insanity or desperation than self-preservation. Mannahatta Island is far enough away to offer a chance of survival and the possibility of future wealth. Great fortunes have already been made by a few from the bounty of the foreign wilderness, especially from the pelts of the beaver, the “tamakwa” as they are called in the language of some of the indigenous people on the new continent.

Gilles knows that the journey will be long and arduous and there will be hard work ahead of them after they get there, but the voyage proves to be longer and more difficult than he imagined. Challenges arise that he has not foreseen, both during the voyage and waiting for them in the new land. His strength of will is tested as he battles incidents on the journey and his own fears. Determination and willpower are needed just to keep Gilles believing that they will reach their destination safely and that the future will bring them security along with a new life.… (mais)