secret plans when he left New Amsterdam in the late summer of 1659 never to return as a permanent resident.[1] Herrman was not a Dutchman nor did he have the slow moving methodical mind of the colonial Dutchman of New Amsterdam. His later life shows that he was fond of a good deal of pomp and show as well as refinement and elegance; he had a pronounced taste for scholarship and learning and took a keen delight in things artistic. These cultural longings certainly Herrman could have but partially satisfied in those early days of New York’s development and which alone could be had only in the southern colonies. On the whole, as we look more deeply into his character and personality, Herrman had more in common with the Virginia planter than with the Dutch merchant. There were other reasons why New Amsterdam life became distasteful. The most cultured man in the Dutch province and one of Herrman’s most intimate friends, Adriaen Van der Donck had died in 1655.[2] Govert Loockermans seems to have disappeared from the annals of New Amsterdam after 1652 and it is not known what became of him. Since Herrman makes no further mention of him it is not improbable that he died or moved away.[3]
With his wife’s people, the Verletts, he seems to have got along well enough though there seems to have been no un-
- ↑ Since Herrman was made a denizen of Maryland, Jan. 14, 1660, it would seem that he had in mind such intention sometime before that. Applications for such privileges were no doubt slow moving in those days.
- ↑ Van der Donck finished his legal course at Leyden University, receiving his degree, Supremus in jure, April 10, 1653. Late that year he returned to America. In 1645 he had married Mary Doughty, daughter of Francis Doughty, an English minister of New Amsterdam. He was probably buried in the old Dutch cemetery on the west side of lower Broadway. See Valentine’s Manual, 1856, p. 444.
- ↑ The main street of Dover, Del. is named Lockerman. It is possible that Loockermans went to that vicinity after 1652.
