Cornelius Jansen Clopper (abt 1636 - abt 1686)

Bruce Westerdahl’s 8th G Grandfather

Cornelius Jansen Clopper was born in the Netherlands in Bergen op Zoom on the coast of the North Sea. The Zoom is a river and Bergen op Zoom means “Hills on the Zoom.”

Sometime in the first half of the 17th Century, Clopper immigrated to New Amsterdam in an area which is now the financial district in Manhattan. The specific date is unclear. 

According to tradition, Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from Native Americans in 1626 for a load of cloth, beads, hatchets and other trinkets valued then at 60 Dutch guilders.  According to my research, Minuit got the core of the Big Apple for about $72 by today’s standards.

Clopper established a business as a blacksmith on the northwest corner of Pearl Street and Maiden Lane. Check it out on Google Maps.  

On October 28, 1657, Clopper married Heyltje Peters, and genealogical records suggest they had seven children, and the oldest was John, from whom members of the Houck/Westerdahl families are descended.

When Cornelius died, he left a fortune of $10,000 He was one of the richest men in New York.

A 5th G Grandson of Cornelius and Heyltje was Theodore Roosevelt Jr, the 26th President of the United States. Teddy Roosevelt is also my 5th Cousin 3 times removed.

Isn’t genealogy fun?