Mathijs van Ceulen LettersThere was a Mathijs van Ceulen who served on the Brazil Governing Council (Hoogh Secreeten Raad) from 1636-1641. Until recently, he was thought to be the progenitor of the Van Keuren family in America. Recent discoveries, however, show the governor of Brazil to be Mathijs Abrahamsen van Ceulen, while the Van Keuren progenitor was Mathijs Jansen van Ceulen. A bundle of 21 letters written by Mathijs A van Ceulen during this time period was discovered among West Indische Compagnie documents at Algameen Rijckarschief in Den Haag. The letters dealt with company business, and all but one had multiple signatures.Below are some of those letters. Although it is now known that this is a different Mathijs van Ceulen, I decided to leave the letters posted, for their historical significance. Plus, the two Mathijses were possibly related. 25 November, 1638
The only letter in the bundle signed exclusively by Mathijs van Ceulen. Noble, serious, wise, and very discrete gentlemen, Schipper P. P. Rous has received at his request from the Commissary of the dry........(goods?) the meat of a salted pig, weighing 470 pounds that the ship is prepared to set sail and that the schipper has his supplies, as it should be written down, on board, thus your honours are informed.
Action Recife the Pernambuco(Brazilian Province) M Van Ceulen 10 November, 1638
25 Feb, 1639
17 January, 1640
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