Minuit, Peter (mĭn`y

ĭt), c.1580–1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing 60 Dutch guilders and made New Amsterdam (later New York City) its center. Dismissed by the company in 1631, he later entered into negotiations with the Swedes and headed (1638) the group sent out to found New Sweden New Sweden, Swedish colony (1638–55), on the Delaware River; included parts of what are now Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. With the support of Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna, Admiral Klas Fleming (a Finn), and Peter Minuit (a Dutchman), the New
..... Click the link for more information. . He was lost in a hurricane in the West Indies.

Minuit, Peter

(born c. 1589, Wesel, Kleve—died June 1638, Caribbean Sea) Dutch colonial governor of New Netherland. In 1626 the Dutch West India Co. named him director general of the colony on Manhattan Island. According to legend, to legitimize Dutch occupation of the island he persuaded the Indians to sell it for a handful of trinkets worth about 60 guilders ($24). At the island's southern tip he founded New Amsterdam. He was recalled to Holland (1631) and later was sent to establish the colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay, where he again purchased land from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilmington, Del.) in 1638.

Minuit, Peter (?1580–1638) colonist; born in Wesel, Rhenish Prussia (now Germany). He became the first director-general of New Amsterdam. In 1626 he purchased Manhattan Island from Algonquin Indians for 60 guilders (24 dollars). Later, he led an expedition under the Swedish flag and created the short-lived "New Sweden" in present-day Delaware.