William Dervall | |
|---|---|
| 9thMayor of New York City | |
| In office October 17, 1675 – October 14, 1676 | |
| Preceded by | Matthias Nicoll |
| Succeeded by | Nicholas De Mayer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 September 1642 (baptism)[1] |
| Died | ca 1711[2] |
William orWillem Dervall (1642 – c. 1711) was a Dutch-bornMayor of New York City from October 17, 1675 until October 14, 1676.[3]
Dervall[note 1] was the son of Frans Jorisz Derval, a wealthy timber merchant inAmsterdam originating fromWijchen. In September 1665, Willem had found his way to theEast Coast of the United States, as the EnglishGovernor Nicolls issued him a letter ofdenization and granted him permission to trade anywhere in the English colonies of America.[5][6]
Dervall and his fellow merchant and (supposed) brother Jan/John arrived in 1667 fromBoston to New York City and set up a store on the corner ofWhitehall Street andPearl Street.[7] He did good business, sending from time to time large quantities of goods to his brother Cornelis in Amsterdam.[5]
In September 1670, Willem married Rebecca Delavall, daughter ofThomas Delavall, Mayor of New York in 1666, 1670 and 1678, with whom he appears to have had just one child, a daughter Frances in 1681.[3]
In 1673-1674, when the Dutch retook the city for half a year during theThird Anglo-Dutch War, Derval lost quite a bit whenAnthony Colve confiscated the property of representatives ofCharles II of England and theDuke of York.[6] After Thomas Delavall's death in 1682, Dervall inherited Great Barent Island, now namedWards Island, and a large estate inHarlem.[3] He later served as an alderman in the City Council.
Dervall was the one but youngest of a family of 14 children of Aagtje Huijgens (c. 1599–1652) and Frans Jorisz Derval (c. 1596–1669), who married in February 1624 in Amsterdam.[note 2] His brother Joris (born 1631) was in 1671 a colonist inTorarica, inSuriname.[8]Jan/Johannes/John Dervall, who also used the surname "de Witt", married in November 1675 withCatharine van Courtlandt. After Jan's death in February 1689, Catharine remarried Jan's business partner, ColonelFrederick Philipse in 1692.[9] In contrast, the aforementioned brother Cornelis Darvall (1640–1721), lived his whole live in Amsterdam, where he was a powerful merchant. To wit, Cornelis is thought to have arranged the quick release ofJacob Leisler, after Leisler and other New York citizens had been captured by Moorish pirates on a voyage to Europe in 1678; the other captives had to wait for over a year before New York GovernorEdmund Andros could forward their ransom.[10]
