Samuel Godin

Samuel Godin, Godyn or Godijn (1561 or around 1566 in Antwerp – September 29, 1633, in Amsterdam) was a wealthy merchant, originally from Southern Netherlands, trading on Spain, Brazil and the Levant.

In 1595 he was involved in serious legal case with Isaac le Maire and Dirck van Os on behalf of his "father-in-law".

Because of the recent troubles with English whalers around Spitsbergen the plan came up to catch whales in the Atlantic, near the North River (today’s Hudson).

The estate had been further extended, on May 5, 1630, by the purchase of a tract twelve miles square on the coast of Cape May opposite, and the transaction was duly attested at Fort Amsterdam.

A ship of eighteen guns was fitted out to bring over the colonists and subsequently defend the coast, with incidental whale-fishing to help defray expenses.

[11] The purpose of the settlement was "to carry out the whale fishery in that region, and to plant a colony for the cultivation of all sorts of grain, for which the country is very well suited, and of tobacco."

A palisaded fort was built, with the "red lion, rampant," of Holland affixed to its gate, and the country was named Swaanendael or Zwaanendael Colony.

[14] Against orders the skipper had delivered tobacco in England and secretly unloaded furs at Texel, which he had kept during the journey in his cabin.

His heirs were his son-in-law Hendrick Trip and his daughter Cecilia Godin, and his sons Samuel Godijn (1603-?)