Grietje Reyniers

1602 - 1666  (63 years)

• Name	Grietje Reyniers  [1, 2]
  Birth	17 May 1602	Dürrenzimmern, Heilbronn, Württemberg
  Gender	Female
  FSID	LYX9-SN6
  Burial	Apr 1666	New York, New York, United States
  Death	24 Apr 1666	New York, New York, United States
  Person ID	I45491	footsteps | Bunker
  Last Modified	30 Jul 2025

  
  

  Family	Anthony Janszoon Van Salee,   b. 1607, Cartagena, Spain d. Queens, New York, United States
  Children	+ 1. Eva Antonise Van Salee,   b. 1640, Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States d. 20 Apr 1710, Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States (Age 70 years)  [Father: unknown]  [Mother: unknown] + 2. Sarah Antonise Van Salee,   b. 1635, Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States d. 1715, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States (Age 80 years)  [Father: unknown]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F25016	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 Jul 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Born 1602 in Amsterdam, Estates-General of the United Provinces (Netherlands). Died 1669 or before in Gravesend, Kings Co., New York. Described as the first prostitute of New Amsterdam. "Manhattan's first and most famous prostitute." From Russel Shorto's "The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan atd the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America" (Vintage Books, NY: 2004): "There was a kind of duke and duchess of the era of New Amsterdam, who outdid their neighbors for sheer rabble-rousing. Back in Europe, Griet Reyniers had worked as a barmaid at the tavern of Pieter de Winter in Amsterdam. In fact, she practiced two professions at once—the mistress of the tavern once spotted her in a back room' "her petticoat upon her knees," sekually servicing a party of soldiers. It's impossible to say whether the young Wouter van Twiller wandered into her establishment one evening and became enamored of her. All we know is that when he set sail for Manhattan on de Zoutberg ("Salt Mountain"), Griet was on board, too, ready to seek her fortune in a new land. It was a hazardous crossing: the ship was nearly captured by "Turks," and then it turned the tables and took the prize of a Spanish bark whose hulls were crammed with sugar. Griet was unfazed by the goings-on, and plied her trade at sea- passengers noticed her pulling "the shirts of some of the sailors out of their breeches." Landing at Manhattan and finding it, so to speak, virgin territory, she set up shop. She took to walking the Strand, hiking her petticoats to display her wares for the sailors. If she had come as Van Twiller's mistress, it may have been as a result of his finally dismissing her that she was observed marching into the fort one day crying out, "I have long enough been the whore of the nobility. From now on I shall be the whore of the rabble!"

  
  

• Photos

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• Sources

  [S155] Nederland, Indexen van de Archieven, Primaire Archiefs tukken (BS en DTB), 1600-2000, "Nederland, Indexen van de Archieven, Primaire Archiefstukken (BS en DTB), 1600-2000", FamilySearch (https://www./ark:/61903/1:1:QLRY-YRQW : Tue Mar 25 17:41:08 UTC 2025), Entry for Albert Egberts and Grietje Alberts, 27 Apr 1749. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLRY-YRQH [S323] Netherlands, Marriages, 1565-1892, "Netherlands, Marriages, 1565-1892", , FamilySearch (https:///ark:/61903/1:1:FN8Z-DZ7 : 7 February 2020), Grietjen Reiniersdr in entry for Albert Egbertssen, 1626. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FN8Z-DZ7