had a colorful life and was a strong and energetic woman. One researcher has summarized her life as "a woman of much enterprise, of considerable shrewdness and business ability and of some education--a woman of such persistent and daring courage as became the mother of pioneers."
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| 1644 map of New Amsterdam, which shows the locations of Marye's tavern and her father's land, both along the East River Courtesy Museum of the City of New York |
Original Settler of New York City
Marye was born in about 1617 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her parents (Philipppe Du Trieux and Jacquemyne Noiret) were French Huguenots who had come from the area that is now the border between France and Belgium. To escape religious persecution, they fled to Amsterdam where they were married in 1615. The family lived in both Amsterdam and Leyden/Leiden, before leaving Europe permanently. In 1624, they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in the ship "Nieu Nederlandt" (New Netherland) and settled at New Amsterdam, in what is now Manhattan, New York City. Marye and her family were among the earliest pioneers and settlers of what is now New York City.
Marye was raised in New Amsterdam, where her father was the Court Messenger (basically a sheriff or marshall) for New Netherlands. They lived in a house on what is now Beaver Street on the southern tip of Manhattan. Her father also owned a large chunk of land on the East River, where the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge now sits. Pioneer life in New Amsterdam was not glamorous, as the settlers were frequently subject to a variety of hardships. Sometime between 1649 and 1653, her father was murdered and some sources indicate that he was killed by Indians.
Pioneer Businesswoman
Aside from being a pioneer settler of New York City, Marye was also one of its earliest female business owners. For most of her adulthood, Marye was a tavern keeper. She continued to own and operate her tavern, even after being married to two different husbands. Marye is first acknowledged as a tavern keeper when her tavern was shown on a 1644 map of New Amsterdam. She was then a 27-year old married woman with at least three children. Marye's tavern was on the east side of the southern tip of Manhattan, on what is now Maiden Lane. She continued to operate her tavern until at least the 1660s.
In addition to running her tavern, Marye also worked as a trader with her first husband Cornelis.
Banishment
The surviving records infer that Marye kept quite a rowdy tavern in New Amsterdam. As early as 1646, she was frequently in trouble for how she ran her business. Some of her offenses included selling liquor after hours (9 pm), selling liquor during prayers, selling liquor without a license and selling liquor to Indians. The authorities had finally had enough and in 1664, Marye was fined and banished from New Amsterdam. It is not known if she ever returned. She asked for remission of her sentence and for leave to move to Fort Orange (Albany). She eventually moved to Schenectady, New York, where several of her children had settled. She died there at an unknown date. Later, after her death, several of her family members were wounded or killed during the Schenectady Massacre of 1690.Illegitimate Child
Marye was married twice. She married her first husband, Cornelis Volkertsen Viele sometime before 1642, when she was in her early 20s. Cornelis was a trader and tavern keeper, and she continued to do business on her own after their marriage. In 1650, after the death of Cornelis, Marye married her second husband Jan Peek. (The city of Peekskill, New York was named after him.) Jan had died sometime prior to 1664, when she was banished from Manhattan. Marye had four known children by her first husband and four known children by her second husband.My descent from Marye Du Trieux:
Additionally, we have record that Marye had an another child that was born illegitimately by neither of her husbands. In a 1642 court record, a man named Pieter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven acknowledged paternity of a daughter named Aeltje that he had with Marye Du Trieux. In the document, he agreed to raise the child as his own. Interestingly, both Pieter and Marye happened to be married to other people. At the time, Marye was married to Cornelis Viele and had one son by him, who was born in 1640. Pieter had a wife named Hester who he married in 1640, but they did not yet have any children.
It is not clear whether Pieter and Marye's child Aeltje was the result of an affair or whether the child was born out of wedlock before either of them were married. Interestingly, I also happen to descend from Pieter Van Couwenhoven through his marriage to Hester.
Marye Du Trieux md. Cornelius Volkertsen VieleMy descent from Pieter Van Couwenhoven:
- Cornelis Cornelisen Viele md. Suster Bouts
-- Jannetje Viele md. Johannes Dyckman
--- Maryke Dyckman md. Lourens Knickerbocker
---- Maritjen Knickerbocker md. Ruloff White
----- Jane White md. Thomas Butler
------ Hannah Butler md. Peter Thurston
------- Reuben Harris Thurston md. Mary Brooks
-------- Irvin H. Thurston md. Lydia Dunham
--------- Julia M. Thurston md. Henry W. Bixby
---------- Neil F. Bixby md. Bertha Hoffman
----------- Patricia J. Bixby md. Ben T. Plymale
------------ Barbara A. Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh
------------- Ryan J. Wadleigh
Pieter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven md. Hester Simons
- Annetje Pieterse Van Couwenhoven md. Anders Olaffson Stille
-- Jacob Stilely md. Rebecca Springer
--- Jonathan Stilley md. Magdalena Vandever
---- Jacob Stilley md. Anne French
----- Rebecca Stilley md. John Bouseman
------ Maxamillia Bouseman md. William H. Riddle
------- Artinecia Riddle md. William H. Merriman
-------- George F. Merriman md. Mary E. Murray
--------- Vera V. Merriman md. Benjamin H. Plymale
---------- Ben T. Plymale md. Patricia J. Bixby
----------- Barbara A. Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh
------------ Ryan J. Wadleigh
