CHAPTER XI

THE MAKER  OF THE  SILVER  CHAIN

The settlement, or "colonic," near Fort Or¬
ange, was at first named from the shape of the
land at the riverbank, the Dutch word meaning
hoop-net, and the old neighborhood in Albany is
still so called.

Later, this gave way to Beverwijk, or Beaver
Town, from the plenteousness of beaver skins
seen in the trade with the Indians, though there
is a town in North Holland, not far from Am¬
sterdam, also named Beverwijk. Ultimately,
when the settlement flourished under Arendt van
Curler, it was very properly called Rensselaer¬
wijk.

"Heroes are made early." The coming of
Arendt van Curler opened a new chapter in the
history of the Patroon's colony. He was seventeen
years old when he crossed the Atlantic, in Decem¬
ber, 1637.

The van Curler estate near Putten in Guelder¬
land, not far from Nijkerk, is mentioned in the
list of property owners made in 1313. Gosen van
Curler was the schout, or sheriff, of Nijkerk, in
1593. In the Book of Baptisms of the Reformed
Church (1593-1620) is the record that on the