Engelbert Steenhuysen was the first schoolmaster in
Bergen, having been licensed October 6th, 1662. He was allowed two-hundred and fifty guilders in wampum
annually and "some other stipulations beside the school
money, as reason and equity shall demand." It seems
that he was required "to look out and procure a suitable place in which to keep the school." According to
the Albany records (vide Winfield) the people of Bergen
addressed a memorial to the Council that he might be
obliged to fulfill his contract to act as Voorleezer and
Schoolmaster for two years. The church records do
not mention him as Voorleezer.
