Dutch Empire/Director-Generals of New Netherland

  Name In Office Notes
1 Cornelis Jacobszoon May 1624–1625 May was the captain of the ship New Netherland who delivered the first boat load of colonists to New Netherland on Governors Island in June of 1624. Having transformed the New Netherland territory to a province, he was named the province's first director.
2 Willem Verhulst 1625–1626 Oversaw the decision to locate the company's main fortress and town on the tip of Manhattan Island in the colony of New Netherland.
3 Peter Minuit 1626–1632 Was the founder of the Swedish colony of New Sweden in 1638, and purchased the Island of Manhattan from the Canarsee Native Americans on May 24, 1626.
4 Sebastiaen Jansen Krol 1632–1633 Was commander of Fort Orange(present day Albany) previous to this post.
5 Wouter van Twiller 1633–1638 Twiller purchased 'Noten Eylant', later called Governors Island from a tribe of Native Americans.
6 Willem Kieft 1638–1647 Started a war with the Native Americans in 1643(which became known as Kiefts War), and was fired in 1647.
7 Peter Stuyvesant 1647–1664 Last, greatest, and most famous, Director-General. Expanded the size of New Netherland, settled disputes with Native Americans and the English, and ordered the construction of the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway. He did not want to surrender the colony to the English in 1664, but under pressure from the Colonists and overwhelming odds, he was forced to. See, "place names" for places named after Stuyvesant.
8 Anthony Colve 1673–1674 Anthony Colve was commissioned as the Governor of New York when the Netherlands reclaimed New York City after nine years of British rule.


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