O'Callaghan recorded in 1850 that Catelina Trico filed a deposition at public request on Feb 14, 1684/5:

"The Deposicon of Catelina Trico aged fouer score yeares or thereabouts taken before the right honoble Collo. Thomas Dongan Lent. and Governour under his Rlyll. hignss James Duke of Yorke and Albany etc. of N York and its Dependencyes in America, who saith and Declares in the prsens of God as followeth

"That she Caine to this Province either in the yeare one thousand six hundred and twenty three or twenty fouer to the best of her remembrance, and that fouer Women Came along with her in the same Shipp, in which ship the Governor Arian Jorissen Came also over, which fouer Women were married at Sea and that they and their husbands stayed about three Weekes at this place and then they with eight seamen more went in a vessell by ordr. of the Dutch Governor. to Dellaware River and there settled. This I Certifie under my hand & ye seale of this province. THO. DONGAN."

On Oct 17, 1688, she also filed the following deposition at public request.

"Catelyn Trico aged about 83 years born in Paris doth Testify and declare that in ye year1623 she came into this Country wth a Ship called ye Unity wherein was Commander Arien Jorise belonging to ye West India Company being ye first Ship yt came here for ye sd Company; as soon as they came to Mannatans now called N: York they sent Two families & six men to harford River & Two families & 8 men to Delaware River and 8 men they left att N: Yorke to take Possession and ye Rest of ye Passengers went wth ye Ship up as farr as Albany which they then called fort Orangie

"When as ye Ship came as far as Sopus which is ½ way to Albanie; they lightned ye Ship wth some boats yt were left there by ye Dutch that had been there ye year before a tradeing wth ye Indians upont there oune accompts & gone back again to Holland & so brought ye vessel up; there were about 18 families aboard who settled themselves att Albany & made a small fort; and as soon as they had built themselves some hutts of Bark:

"ye Mahikanders or River Indians, ye Maquase: Oneydes: Onnondages Cayougas. & Sinnekes, wth ye Mahawawa or Ottawawaes Indians came & made Covenants of friendship wth ye sd Arien Jorise there Commander Bringing him great Presents of Bever or oyr Peltry & desyred that they might come & have a Constant free Trade with them wch was concluded upon & ye sd nations came dayly with great multidus of Bever & traded them wth ye Christians, there sd Commanr Arien Jorise staid with them all winter and sent his sonne home with ye ship; ye sd Deponent lived in Albany three years all which time ye sd Indians were all as quiet as Lambs & came & Traded with all ye freedom Imaginable, in ye year 1626 ye Deponent came from Albany & settled at N: Yorke where she lived afterwards for many years and then came to Long Island where she now lives.

"The sd Catelyn Trico made oath of ye sd Deposition before me at her house on Long Island in ye Wale Bought this 17th day of October 1688. WILLIAM MORRIS Justice of ye pece'11

Catalyntje Jeronimus Trico is listed as a Huguenot ancestor represented in the Membership of the Huguenot Society of New Jersey. Two members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists who claimed Catalyntie Jeronimus Trico as their ancestor for membership were Mrs. Sarah Wilson Allen, national number 1087, and Mrs. Cora Vandemark Marsh, national number 277.

Catalyntje and Jorise first settled at Forte Orange (now Albany) where their first child, a daughter, Sarah was born on Jun 9, 1625. Sarah is known as the first female child born to the settlers in New Netherlands (Jan Vigne is the first child also born in Fort Orange). After remaining there awhile, Joris and Catalyntje and daughter Sarah (still a babe in arms) moved back down the Hudson River to New Amsterdam, some say for the safety from the Indians.

They lived just outside the gate of the fort of New Amsterdam on what is now Pearl Street. Joris was an innkeeper at this residence and Catalyntje kept records for him. This is shown by the fact that it is known that they recovered a considerable debt due them in a lawsuit which Catalyntje's record books had been the deciding point in the case. Joris could not write as shown by the fact that he always signed with a mark.

The lot on Pearl Street was very small. On the front, or street side, which faced south, the lot was only two rods wide (one rod is 16½ feet). The east and west sides were eight rods and five feet (137 feet) deep, and the north side was two rods and nine and one half feet (42½ feet) wide.

There is a story handed down telling how Catalyntie one day, after working in the fields, was returning to her house with her child to feed her and found some men just leaving who had let themselves in and had eaten her last morsel of food, a biscuit, which she had planned to give to her child. Catalyntje readily reprimanded them severely and called them thieves and robbers. The leader then introduced himself as Peter Minuet, the Commander and Chief of Fort Amsterdam. He then promised her that when the next boat arrived she would receive a cow for milk for her child in exchange for the stolen biscuit. When the cow arrived, she also received an additional tract of land on which to keep the cow.

There is another story that Peter Minuet gave Sarah Joris Rapalje 200 morgens of land (at Wallabout Bay) for being the first white girl born in the New Netherlands.

In 1643, Joris purchased land at Wallabout Bay. They cultivated this property for a number of years before moving out there permanently. Catalina lived to be 83 and at the time of her death had around 145 descendants. Some historical records for Catalina are in the collection of the Seaport Maritime Museum in New York City.

Created by: Larry Cornwell
Record added: Feb 04, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 33545024