Why Volkje Juriens and Jan Fransse Van Husum came to America.

...
The back bone's connected to the neck bone,
The neck bone's connected to the head bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The Sailing

We know that in May of 1639, Jan and Volkje were married in Amsterdam Nieukirke. And that they set sail soon thereafter aboard the ship den Harinck. The two months crossing put them in New Amsterdam (New York) on July of 1639. Then they sailed up the Hudson River to the colony of Rensselaerswyck to start a new life.

Why leave

The simple answer to the question of why Jan Franz Van Husum and his bride Volkje Jurians Nordstrand came to America is because of a flood. The Great Flood of 1634 to be exact. AKA, the Burchardi flood or the second Grote Mandrenke (Great Man Flooding). It was a flood of biblical proportions, arriving on the night of 11 October and continuing until the next morning. It struck the along the Holland coast and the western coast of the Jutland peninsula, loosely called North Frisia. Over ten thousand lives were lost, including Volkje's parents. Nordstrand Island, where Volkje lived with her parents and sister Annetje was devastated, villages and churches completely destroyed. Husum, then a seaport, was likewise devastated by the flood.

It was time to start a new life.

Jan and Volkje soon made their way to Amsterdam. Jan was 21, Volkje 16. They took up residence on the same street in Corte Tuiinstraat, between the two canals, the Lijnbaansgracht and the Prinsengracht. Whether they came together or separately is not known. How they met and when is not known. What they did in Amsterdam is not known.

Opportunity

Little is known. What is known is that they heard of the colonial estate of the Dutch patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who was providing free passage to the New World. IN exchange the colonist would farm and provide services to the patroon, swearing the following oath:

I, ______ , promise and swear that I shall be true and faithful to the noble Patroon and Co-directors, or those Commissioners and Council, subjecting myself to the good and faithful inhabitant or Burgher, without exciting any opposition, tumult, or noise; but on the contrary, as a loyal inhabitant, to maintain and support offensively and of the Colonie. And with reverence and fear of the Lord, and uplifting of both the first fingers of the right hand, I say — SO TRULY HELP ME GOD ALMIGHTY. 



It was an opportunity.
 

Notes on the Great Flood

The people who lived along the Jutland coast waged a constant battle against the sea. Nature  represented by the Great Flood of 1634 won the battle and altered history.

 The Great Flood of 1634

 

Cor Snabel

Imagine my surprise when I came across Cor Snabel's site detailing the Great Flood of 1634. As a bit of pre-history, Cor Snabel explains that a similar flood occurred in 1362. And at that time, contemporary chronicles claim that whole parishes were wiped off the map and 100,000 souls perished. Another storm stuck in 1625, dividing the island of Strand in two. 

But man persists.

See Historic Storms of the North Seas.

Read also the German Wiki account of the Buchardiflut.