A little while ago, I was surprised to see my 8th and 9th ggrandfather,
Joseph da Costa (brother of Uriel), listed as one of the first 23 Jews to
arrive in New Amsterdam in 1654. Among other information that I have on him
is his arrival in 1655 on Die Bunte Cuhe (the Spotted Cow) which is recorded
because he sued the captain of the ship for damage to his goods - and that
is in the Holland Land Company Records.

Of course, he could have gone back and forth, as he was back and forth
between Brazil and Amsterdam. But I had seen Wisnitzer's list of the first
23, and he was not on that list either.

So I got a copy of "An Old Faith in the New World", to see whether it
actually said what was posted. da Sola Pool quotes 3 sources that the 23
were: Abraham and David Israel, Moses Ambrosius (Lumbrozo), Asser Levey,
Judicq de Mereda, Rycke Nounes, and others - women and children. Only 4 men,
he says.

Further, there were already 2 Jews in New Amsterdam: Jacob bar Simson and
Solomon Pietersen. These do not seem to be Sephardic names, but they could
be aliases, but not Joseph, who usually used Joao Perez da Cunha.

So I ask that those who stated that Joseph was among the first 23, along with
Jacob Cohen Henriques: could I have the source of the information, as it
seems to be different than mine.

Sally Bruckheimer
Princeton, NJ