Pietro Cesare (Alberti) Albertus (abt. 1608 - bef. 1655)

Born about 2 Jun 1608 in Rio de San Luca, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Husband of Judith Jans (Manje) Alberti — married 1642 in New Amsterdam

Descendants

Died before 9 Nov 1655 before about age 47 in Alberti Farm, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, Colonial America

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Biography

Pietro (Alberti) Albertus is Notable.

Pietro (Alberti) Albertus has Italian Roots.

Pietro Alberti was a native of Italy who settled in New Netherland in 1635 after arriving as the crew member of a ship. He is said to be the first Italian settler in the U.S. state of New York, and probably in the United States of America. June 2 commemorates "Pietro Alberti Day" in New York City.

His origins are not known. He has been reputed to be the son of Andrea Alberti, who is said to have been Secretary of the Treasury of the Ducal Palace in Venice, and his wife Veronica Medici, aka Lady Veronica Cremona. There is no known basis for this identification. There is a record from Venice of a son named Giulio Caesari, born to Adrea Alberti and his wife Veronica in Venice and baptized there on 10 June 1608.^[1] Some Internet sources claim that the child Giulio Caesari baptized in 1608 was Pietro, but this is not plausible.

Recorded as Peter Petro Alberto, from Venice, he married Judith Jans, from Amsterdam, in the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam on 24 August 1642. Neither had been married previously.^[2]

Church Records

Marriage

• 1642. 24 Aug. Peter Petro Alberto, j.m. Van Venetien, en Judith Jans, j.d. Van Amsterdam. ^[2]

Children's baptisms^[3]

1. 1643 30 Aug. Jan, Petrus Petro Alberto. Wit.: Pieter Montfoort, Abel Rederhas, Marttha Hagebaert, Marritie Frans.
2. 1645 07 May. Marles. Casar Alberto, alias Pieter de Italiaen. Wit.: Jan Monfoort, Cosyn Briel, Joris Rapalje, Sara Planck, Janneken Rapalje.
3. 1647 14 Apr. Aert. Caesar Albertus. Wit.: Huyg Aertszen, laurens Pieterszen Noorman, Truyntje Hendricks, Lysbeth Jans.
4. 1649 27 Jun. Marie. Caesar Albertus. Wit.: Jan Evertszen Bout, Johan Smout, marie Lievens, Marie Cornelis.
5. 1651 02 Apr. Francyntie. Caesar Albertus. Wit.: Willem Corneliszen, Judith Joris.
6. 1652 31 Mar Willem. Caesar Albertus, Judith Meynje. Wit.: Samuel Mynje, Jan Corneliszen, Judith Joriszen, Magdaleen Brye.
7. 1654 03 May. Francyn, Petrus Albertus. Wit.: Isaac Kip, Gerrit Gysbertszen, Maria Geerards.

Death

Death:

Date: 9 NOV 1655

Place: New Amsterdam^{[4] [5]}

Event

Event:

Type: Arrival

Date: 1635

Place: New York, New York^[6]

Burial:

Date: 1655

Place: Dutch Reform Church, New York, USA

Marriage

Husband: Pietro Caesar Alberto

Wife: Judith Jans Magnee

Child: Francine UNKNOWN

Research Notes

Needs paraphrasing

NEW YORK'S FIRST ITALIAN -Pietro Cesare Alberti landed New Amsterdam 2 Jun 1635

Among the great Italian navigators and explorers (Marco Polo, Christoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), Sebastiano Caboto Amerigo VesPucci and Giovanni Verrazano (1524), figures another name, that of Pietro Cesare Alberti, who arrived in New Netherlands on 2 Jun 1635, and became the First Italian Settler in New York State. (And America.)

Pietro Cesare Alberti, it is told, was the son of Andrea Alberti, Secretary of the Treasury of Venice and Lady Veronica; and was baptized on 20 Jun 1608 in the Parish Church of San Luca in Venice.

As aide to Captain David Pietersen of the dutch ship "King David", sailing from Texel, Holland (now a small island off Northern Holland and then a booming port of the Dutch West India Company), Peter Caesar Alberti was the only Italian crewmember aboard. It is thought that the young Italian nobleman had formed associates with Dutch troops then stationed on Malamocco, an island off Venice. Between 1609 and 1632, there was a commercial understanding between the two maritime nations of Venice and the United Netherlands, whereby Dutch troops were employed by the Signory. Having negotiated an officer's rank for himself aboard a foreign flagship, Alberti sailed for the New World on 10 Jul 1634.

When the "King David" landed in New Amsterdam on 2 Jun 1635, Peter Caesar Alberti was ready to leave the ship, as there had been a dispute between himself and the Captain regarding wages. Before reaching New Netherlands, the ship had voyaged down the West Coast of Africa past the mouth of the Congo, across the Atlantic to Brazil, to Cayenne, Guiana, to the West Indies and then to Virginia. The Captain had threatened to land Alberti in Cayenne, Guiana,but Alberti hung on until the final port of New Amsterdam, where he promptly left the ship. Alberti is said to have sued the Captain and finally reclaimed part of his unpaid wages.

Needless to say, Pietro Cesare Alberti was the only Italian in the city of New Amsterdam His name became quite mangled by the Dutch Scribes. On the public records he acquired several orthographic mutilations, which account for the varied spellings of ALBERTI today. He was styled as: Cicero Piere, Cicero Alberto, Peter the Italian, Caesar Albertus, Pieter Mallenmook, etc. In the course of several generations, his descendants were generally called by the surname Albertus, finally Burtus and Burtis, which was finally Anglocized to Albertis, thus retaining the original Italian name Alberti.

By 1639, four years after his arrival, Peter Caesar had contacted a Pieter Montfoort, a large tobacco landowner, with whom he negotiated for a portion of the former's land. This was at Wallabout, on Long Island, within the present city limits of Brooklyn. Four years later Alberti secured a deed of ownership for the land from the Director General and Council of New Amsterdam then the legal government. In 1647 more land was granted by the Dutch West India Company. With this land and a patent for an adjacent piece of land, in 1647 Alberti owned the equivalent of a 100 acre farm, today an area from the Fort-Green section of Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

On 24 Aug 1642, Peter Caesar Alberti married Judith Manje, also spelled Magnee, (also recorded as Jans) daughter of Jean Magnee and Martha Chambert, both originally Walloons from Flanders and influential Dutch settlers. The bridegroom Alberti then inherited a large home alongside a canal which ran through the present Broad Street in Manhattan.

In 1646, the Alberti-Manje family abandoned their home on Broad Street and moved to Alberti's plantation property on Long Island. Seven children were born to them between the years of 1643 and 1654. One died as an infant, but the other six were still alive when both Peter Caesar and his wife Judith were killed in an Indian raid in 1655.

The Dutch authorities took charge of the six living children, appointed a guardian, and made a favorable lease of the plantation on Long Island. The records show that all of the children married. In 1695, two of the sons, Jan and Willem, sold the Alberti Plantation, and the land started the slow passing of hands down through the centuries.

It is well established that Peter Caesar Alberti was the first Italian settler in New York state and the first Italian family to throw in his lot with the infant colonies that were to become the United States of America, together with many Italians who have come to this country since that time.

(From the Records of the Italian Historical Society of America, 26 Court Street, Brooklyn and the Long Island Historical Society)

Pietro Alberti has been reputed to be the son of Andrea Alberti, who is said to have been Secretary of the Treasury of the Ducal Palace in Venice, and his wife Veronica Medici, aka Lady Veronica Cremona. There is no known basis for this identification. There is a record from Venice of a son named Giulio Caesari, born to Adrea Alberti and his wife Veronica in Venice and baptized there on 10 June 1608. Baptismal Certificate, Parrochia S. Luca Ev., Venezia, 20 maggio 1980. Uploaded to Ancestry.com by mymei44 originally shared this on 09 May 2014. Some Internet sources claim that the child Giulio Caesari baptized in 1608 was Pietro, but this is not plausible.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptismal Certificate, Parrochia S. Luca Ev., Venezia, 20 maggio 1980. Uploaded to Ancestry.com by mymei44 originally shared this on 09 May 2014.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Purple, Samuel S., editor. "Marriages from 1639 to 1801 in the Reformed Dutch Church, New York." Collections of the New-York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Vol. 1. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1890.
3. ↑ Evans, Thomas Grier. "Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam and New York. Baptisms from 25 December, 1639 to 27 December, 1730." Collections of the New-York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Vol 2. New York: Printed for the Society, 1901.
4. ↑ Source: #S86 Data: Text: Death date: 9 November 1655 Death place: New Amsterdam, NY, USA Note: Ancestry Record genepoold #25823
5. ↑ #S107 Data: Text: Death date: 1655Death place: Dutch Reformed Church Note: Ancestry Record millind #109314420
6. ↑ Source: #S42 Page: Place: New York, New York; Year: 1635; Page Number: . Data: Text: Arrival date: 1635Arrival place: New York, New York Ancestry Record pili354 #2156390

• Wikipedia contributors, "Peter Caesar Alberti," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed June 12, 2016). Also see Current version of Wikipedia article.
• Wardell, Patricia A. Early Bergen County Families. File: BCFam-A.pdf. Accessed 12 Jun 2016.
• FindAGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85707187/pietro-caesaro-alberti
• http://www.italianhistorical.org/page63.html
• http://fonderiausa.com/pietro-cesare-alberti-first/
• Source: S107 Heritage Consulting. Millennium File. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.
• Source: S164 Genealogical Research Library, comp. New York City Marriages, 1600s-1800s Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
• Source: S27 Edmund West, comp. Title: Family Data Collection - Births Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.
• Source: S3 Ancestry Family Trees. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. URL: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/23363295/person/1456111241/facts
• Source: S42 Gale Research. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Original data - Filby, P. William, ed.. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2010.
• Source: S52 Godfrey Memorial Library, comp. Title: American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data - Godfrey Memorial Library. American Genealogical-Biographical Index. Middletown, CT, USA.
• Source: S86 Edmund West, comp. Title: Family Data Collection - Deaths Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.
• Source: S87 Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Marriages Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Alberti-16 created through the import of CJB001.ged on Jul 18, 2012 by Christopher Becker.
• WikiTree profile Alberto-5 created through the import of Paula's family 5-28-2011.GED on May 29, 2011 by Paula Marksman. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Paula and others.