The Dutch connection with North America began in September 1609, when Henry Hudson, an English Captain, in service to the VOC (Vereenigde OostIndische Compagnie) discovered with his ship "De Halve Maene" (The Half Moon) the river which today bears his name. He was in search of a NW passage to Asia.

Shortly after the return of the Hudson expedition, Dutch merchants sent out new expeditions, the aim of all these expeditions was the fur trade with the Indians. In 1614, the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands granted a charter for three years to the New Netherlands Company of Amsterdam.

The first Dutch settlement in North America was built in late 1614 on Castle Island (an island on the Hudson river little below the site of Albany, NY). This trading-post was called Fort Nassau, but this fort lay frequently under water and for that was abandoned in 1617 in favor of a new fort.

In 1621 the new born West Indische Compagnie (West India Company) granted a charter that included the coast and countries of Africa from the tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope and also all the coast of America.

In 1624 the first WIC expedition started, a ship with about thirty families of colonists (most of them were Walloons) reached the Hudson or Great River. They anchored near the abandoned Fort Nassau. Here later in 1624 a new fort called Fort Oranije was built on the west side of the river where Albany now stands. In the same year the Dutch began to build two forts, one on the South River (now the Delaware River) named Fort Nassau, and the other on the Fresh River (now the Connecticut River) which was called Fort De Goede Hoop.

In 1626 a fort was built on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, this fort was called Fort Amsterdam and around it the town of Nieuw Amsterdam developed, it was destined to become the capital of the Dutch colony, in 1628 the population at Nieuw Amsterdam was 270 souls.

Peter Minuit, director general of the company and a Walloon, purchased all of Manhattan Island from the local natives for 60 Dutch guilders, which some have calculated to equal $24. The village's growth was slow, but the population was diverse from the beginning. Since Holland of the day was one of the most prosperous and desirable places in the world, only a limited number of Dutch were attracted across the ocean. Instead, people of many different nationalities searching for economic opportunities found new hope in New Amsterdam. From its earliest times, the town was a melting pot. No one ever confused early Boston with New Amsterdam; the latter was a seafarers' town, complete with a full complement of taverns and smugglers.

Dutch control of the New Netherlands lasted only about 50 years, but remnants of that time remain. Dutch settlers erected a stockade wall at what was then the northern edge of New Amsterdam, which later evolved into Wall Street. Dutch villages of Haarlem and Breukelen would later become New York boroughs. Early Dutch farms, called bouweries, provided the name for the section of the city that would later become the Bowery.

In the countryside outside of New Amsterdam, things were somewhat different. To bolster Dutch control in the area, the West India Company created a patroon, or land-owner, system that granted huge parcels of land and feudal rights to individuals who could finance the settlement of 50 adults. Land ownership was denied to common workers, who became tenant farmers. One of the most famous patroonships was along the Hudson River; it was maintained by Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a Dutch diamond merchant. The result of this system was the concentration of large blocks of land and exclusive political power in the hands of a few. This society was immortalized in Washington Irving's History of New York. The patroon system lived on in New York into the early 19th century.

In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was sent to New Amsterdam to replace an unpopular governor, but his dictatorial style proved to be equally distasteful. Meanwhile, English settlers were expanding into the New Netherlands, forcing the Dutch out of New Hope in the Connecticut Valley and establishing new settlements on Long Island. In 1664, James, Duke of York and brother to King Charles II, asserted his claim to the entire region between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. English troop ships arrived in New Amsterdam harbor and prepared for battle. Stuyvesant bellowed orders to the citizens to defend the colony, but could not motivate them. The New Netherlands became New York without a shot fired.

Jan Fransse Van Husum came to the New Netherlands in 1639, making him our second earliest emigrant. From him come many descendants bearing some 30 varients of the name Van Husum; Van Husem, Van Huysen, Van Huisen, Van Hoese, Van Hoesen, Von Huss, Yon Huize, Vanhosen, Vanhouser, Vanhooser, Van Hoese, and our Van Hoose.

He was born about 1608/9 in the city of Husum in the province of Schleswig in northern Germany, now called Schleswig-Holstein. He was called Jan son of Fransse. Schleswig-Holstein is the region of southern Jutland dividing Denmark from Germany. It is bound on the west by the North Sea and on the east by the Baltic. Clearly, Jan Fransse was not Dutch. He was Frisian-speaking most likely and an accomplished sailor.

Off the coast of Husum, in the North Sea, lay an island by the name of Nordstrand or Nordstrant. Here, in 1618, was born to Wilhelm Jurianse [5378] a daugher, Volkie. When Nordstrand was destroyed by a storm in 1634, Volkie and her sister Annetje Juriaens survived and were taken to Husum. Here Jan Fransse and Volkie met, fell in love and married.

The church banns of April 30, 1639 are translated thus: 'Appeared as before, Jan Franz from Housom (sic), sailor, age 30 years, living in Corte Tuijnstraat, having no parents but assisted by his cousin Anna Jans, and Volckje Juriaens age about 21, of same street, having no parents but assisted by her acquaintance, Isaack Pietersen.' They were married in the Dutch Reformed Church at Nieuwe Kerk at Amsterdam, Holland on May 15, 1639.

Before they got married, they'd already made arrangements on March 28, 1639 with Kiliaen Van Renselaer concerning immediate passage to and settlement in the colony of Rensselaerswyck. The colonists agreed to remain there for four years. This document also stated that their "ship now lies ready," but they didn't set sail until after Jan Fransse and Volkje Juriens were married on May 15, 1639. After the wedding they set sail on the ship, "Den Harlinck" and arrived in New Amsterdam on July 7, 1639.

Jan Fransse Van Husum was a sailor by occupation and acted as a commissioner for the West India Company. He was interested in shipping and purchased several lots and erected many buildings in Albany. They settled at Fort Orange which later became known as Albany, New York. While he lived there, he made several purchases of land. On March 10, 1647 he gave power of attorney to Jan Janse van Brestyn, cooper, to claim from Abraham Plank at Fort Amsterdam in New Netherlands seventeen beaverskins which were due him. By 1652 he had permanently settled in the Hudson area when he purchased a lot in Albany, which is located today on the northeast corner of Broadway and State Street. The following year he received another grant of land above the town's stockade by the river with an adjoining garden lot. On May 11, 1667 two more parcels of land were confirmed by patent.

His principal land purchase was made on June 5, 1662 for several hundred acres of the Claverack land from the Mohican Indians. Klaver River means Clover Reach. This tract of land includes the ground on which the city of Hudson is built and also a part of Greenport. It extended along the Hudson River from Stockport Creek on the north to the mouth of Keshna's Kill on the south, which empties into the South Bay near Mount Merino and on the east of Claverack Creek. Here it met the boundary of the Van Rensselaer Patent, and the priority of the title was contested by the Patroon. After a long litigation, the court finally settled the title in favor of Van Hussem, and were conferred to him by a patent from Governor Nicoll at Albany on May 14, 1667.

The purchase was originally made from an Indian named Pametepiet (or
Pompoenick) with his signature being a mark, and another Indian named Tatan Kenant, whose signature was also a mark . The purchase price for this large amount of land was 500 guilders in beavers. On June 11, 1664, the sale was confirmed by another Indian and owner named Sickaneec~ (alias Tunis). Van hussem's signature was also a mark. By the time this dispute was settled Jan Fransse was already dead, so the land was transferred, in whole or in part, to his heirs in accordance with contracts dated May 30 , 1667 and June 22, 1694.