Peter
Minuit
Alternate First Name(s)
Pieter
ID
1609,000,110
Gender
Male
Birth Date
1580
Birth Date Notes
between 1580 and 1585
Death Date
1638-08-05
Occupation(s)
Ancestor Notes

Peter Minuit = 3rd Director of New Netherland

 (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was from Tournai, in present-day Belgium. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New Netherland. He founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware Peninsula in 1638.  The Dutch took control of that colony in 1655.

Minuit is generally credited with orchestrating the purchase of Manhattan Island for the Dutch from the Lenape Native Americans. Manhattan later became the site of the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, and the borough of Manhattan of modern-day New York City. A common account states that Minuit purchased Manhattan for $24 worth of trinkets. A letter written by Dutch merchant Peter Schaghen to directors of the Dutch East India Company stated that Manhattan was purchased for "60 guilders worth of trade," [1] an amount worth approximately $1,143 in 2020 dollars.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit