This collection comprises four legal documents, two in Dutch with English translations, pertaining to the seizure of a Dutch ship by an English privateer in 1748. The documents detail the claim made by Jacob Henry Moren and Solomon Levy Moduro, described as "of the Hebrew nation," in the court of the Dutch West India Company in Curaçao on January 25, 1748. Jacob Rodrigueze Rivera of New York City acted on their behalf. Translated by Issachar Polock in the Rhode Island Admiralty Court in 1758, these documents offer insight into early trade routes and the role of Jews in colonial legal proceedings. The documents are signed by Zachariah Polock as translator. The documents also provide biographical information about Jacob Rodriguez Rivera, a member of a Marrano family from Seville who played a significant role in Newport's Jewish community.
Subject: Dutch West India Company
No additional authority information available for Dutch West India Company.
Copper-engraved map of Suriname, Amsterdam: Johannes van Keulen, 1687. Features full contemporary hand-colouring, heightened with gold. Depicts coastal Suriname, identifying Starrenbergh, Para, Maribo, and Fort Zeelandia. Shows the Rio Marrawini (Maroni or Marowijne River), forming the border with French Guiana. This map is possibly the first to show one of the earliest synagogues in the Americas, and it lists at least one Jewish plantation (Nunes). The map shows the area less than 20 years after the Dutch accepted Suriname in exchange for New Amsterdam. This is the second edition of the third volume of van Keulen's Sea-Atlas (Zee-Fakkel). The mainland is colored pale red.