Tomys “Thomas” Swartwout ★

1600s–1640s

Born in 1607 in Groningen, in the Netherlands. Traded tobacco in Amsterdam with his brothers. Married at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam on 7 April 1630, and there again on 3 June 1631.

1650s

Emigrated to New Netherland in 1652 and the next year helped found Midwout (Flatbush), Long Island. In December 1653 signed the Humble Remonstrance asking that colonists have a voice in their government. Served as Midwout's schepen in 1655.

1660s

Received the patent to his 116-acre Midwout farm in 1661, then moved on to Wiltwyck (Kingston). Eventually returned to Amsterdam, where he was buried on 15 October 1679.

A Tobacco Merchant's New World

Tomys “Thomas” Swartwout was born in 1607 in Groningen, in the Netherlands, and as a young man in Amsterdam traded tobacco with his brothers, among the first merchants to sell wholesale Virginia and New Netherland tobacco into the Dutch market. He emigrated to New Netherland in 1652, and the following year, with Jan Snedeker and Jan Stryker, petitioned Director-General Peter Stuyvesant for the right to settle Flatbush, Long Island, naming the new village Midwout after a town near his native Groningen. The settlement's land had not been properly purchased from the Canarsee people, who responded to the encroachment by taking horses and other property until the matter was resolved by New Netherland's government the following year.

A Voice for Colonial Rights

In December 1653, Tomys was one of nineteen delegates who convened at New Amsterdam's City Hall to sign the “Humble Remonstrance and Petition of the Colonies and Villages of New Netherland,” asking for protection from Indigenous conflict and for taxed colonists to have a voice in their own governance rather than being ruled solely by the Dutch West India Company — one of the documents historians credit with helping plant the seeds of representative government in America. He served as Midwout's schepen (magistrate) in 1655, helping plan the village's defensive layout, though he declined to continue in the role the following year. Tomys received formal patent to his 116-acre Midwout farm in 1661 before moving on to Wiltwyck (Kingston); his son Roeloff Swartwout went on to become Wiltwyck's schout. Tomys was a member of the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam. He eventually returned to Amsterdam, where he and his wife lived on the Herengracht, and he was buried there on October 15, 1679.