Wilhelmus Beekman

Wilhelmus Beekman
Mayor of New York City
Acting
In office
1682–1683
GovernorAnthony Brockholls
Preceded byWilliam Dyre
Succeeded byCornelius Van Steenwyk
Deputy Mayor of New York City
In office
1681–1683
GovernorAnthony Brockholls
Governor of the Colony of Swedes
In office
1658–1663
Preceded byJohan Risingh
Succeeded byWilliam Penn, became the Province of Pennsylvania
Personal details
Born
Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman

(1623-04-28)April 28, 1623
Hasselt, Overijssel, Dutch Republic
DiedSeptember 21, 1707(1707-09-21) (aged 84)
Rhinebeck, Province of New York
NationalityDutch
Political partyIndependent
SpouseCatalina de Boogh
Children9, including Gerardus
Parent(s)Hendrick Beekman
Mary Baudartius
RelativesWillem Baudartius (grandfather)
Rev. Gerardus Beekman (grandfather)
Henry Beekman (grandson)
ProfessionPolitician

Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (April 28, 1623 – September 21, 1707) – also known as William Beekman and Willem Beekman (or Beeckman) – was a Dutch immigrant to America who came to New Amsterdam (now New York City) from the Netherlands in the same vessel (the ship Princess, on May 27, 1647) with Director-General and later Governor Peter Stuyvesant.

Beekman soon became Treasurer of the Dutch West India Company, beginning a long life in public service that included being Mayor of New York City,[1][2] Governor of Delaware (1653–1664), and Governor of Pennsylvania (1658–1663).[3][4]

He is the progenitor of the Beekman family in America.[5]

  1. ^ Acrelius, Israel; Collin, Nicholas (1841). "New Sweden, or The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware". Collections of the New York Historical Society. 2. 1: 421.
  2. ^ Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler (1909). History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century. Vol 2. New York: Macmillan Company. pp. 247, 269.
  3. ^ Bernstorf, Mrs. Philip W. (2003). Directory of the Hereditary Order of Colonial Governors Prior to 4 July 1776. Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors. p. 24.
  4. ^ Charles, Michael Harrison (2006). List of the Colonial Governors Prior to 4 July 1776. Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors. p. 30.
  5. ^ Aitken 1912, p. 3.