[[File:Dutchreformedchurchbergen1680.png|thumb|right|Dutch church in Old Bergen Township, 1680.]] {{New Netherland}} '''Voorleser''' was the title given to a responsible citizen in New Netherland and later Dutch colonies who had semi-official duties in local law, education and religion.

==Etymology== The word ''voorleser'' as used in English texts is a variant of the Dutch word ''voorlezer'', which means "one who reads (to others)". However, both spellings are used interchangeably when referring to the title used by colonial Dutch Americans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Education |first=United States Office of |url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=0gwpocxrH7wC&q=voorlezer&pg=PA164}} |title=Statistics of Land-grant Colleges and Universities |date=1912 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}</ref> It has several different translations or interpretations, such as "lay reader",<ref name="enc">{{Cite book |last=Lurie |first=Maxine N. |url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=_r9Ni6_u0JEC&dq=voorleser&pg=PA74}} |title=Encyclopedia of New Jersey |last2=Mappen |first2=Marc |date=2004 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-3325-4 |language=en}}</ref> "public reader",<ref name=friend>[http://olddutchchurchfriends.org/index.php/tour-the-old-dutch/tour-the-church "Original 1685 Bell."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727142135/http://olddutchchurchfriends.org/index.php/tour-the-old-dutch/tour-the-church |date=2011-07-27 }} Friends of the Old Dutch Church & Burying Ground. Retrieved 2010-08-01.</ref> "fore-reader",<ref name="olddutch">{{Cite web |last=Zalenski |first=Annita |title=The Old Dutch Church of Totowa - Passaic County Historical Society |url=http://www.lambertcastle.org/totowa_church.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504021213/http://www.lambertcastle.org/totowa_church.html |archive-date=2017-05-04 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=www.lambertcastle.org |url-status=live }}</ref> and "church reader".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ellsworth-J-La-coste- - User Trees - Genealogy.com |url=https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/a/c/Ellsworth-J-La-coste-/BOOK-0001/0076-0001.html |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=www.genealogy.com}}</ref>

== History == The title was commonly used from the mid-17th century<ref name="barg" /><ref name="har" /> to the late 18th century.<ref name="annal" /> In the villages of the era,<ref name="ny" /> one person could accomplish many tasks. After the English took over the Dutch settlements of New Netherland,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shorto |first=Russell |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=1G5o9bzMvt4C}} |title=The Island at the Center of the World |date=2005-04-12 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4000-9633-6 |language=en}}</ref> Dutch settlers continued relying on the ''voorleser'' for maintaining village records and documentation. The last person given the title resigned in 1789; his successor was given the title of "clerk".<ref name="hol">{{cite book|author=Holland Society of New York |year=1914|url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=Q7kTAAAAYAAJ|page=37}} |title=Yearbook of the Holland Society of New-York|access-date=2010-08-01}}</ref> However, documents were maintained in Dutch until 1809.<ref name="annal" /> The population grew beyond the ability of one person to maintain, and the majority of settlers began speaking and keeping records in English. Thus, the role of the ''voorleser'' disappeared, and the ''voorleser''<nowiki/>'s tasks were redistributed.

== Duties == The ''voorleser'' had numerous local duties and was considered an important member of the community<ref name="ny">Van Winkle, Daniel (1910). [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/10/06/105094346.pdf "History of Bergen Village."] ''The New York Times.'' Retrieved 2010-08-01.</ref> by the early settlers.<ref name="bergen">{{Cite book |last=Clayton |first=W. Woodford |url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=zDEUAAAAYAAJ|page=165}} |title=History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men |date=1882 |publisher=Everts & Peck |language=en}}</ref> Each ''voorleser'' had jurisdiction over virtually all legal and religious actions and ceremonies in their community.<ref name="annal">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Benjamin Cook |url={{google books|plainurl=yid=_w5RAAAAcAAJ|page=169}} |title=Annals of the Classis of Bergen, of the Reformed Dutch Church and of the Churches Under Its Care |publisher=Board of Publication of the Reformed Dutch Church |year=1857 |location=New York |pages=167–169 |chapter=The Voorlesers, or Choiristers and Clerks}}</ref> Voorlesers required scholarly qualities,<ref name="har" /> as they acted as the village clerk and schoolmaster,<ref name="ny" /> typically educating the youth in the same building where religious services were held.<ref name="barg" />

As a de facto minister, occasionally reading the scriptures,<ref name="olddutch" /> the ''voorleser'' was responsible for baptisms, communicants and marriages.<ref name="annal" /> When a death occurred, ''voorlesers'' were given full charge of funerary tasks, serving as an undertaker, grave-digger, or sexton, and attending the burial.<ref name="ny" /> The ''voorleser'' led the congregation in singing during church services,<ref name="ny" /> and in the absence of a proper pastor, performed the ceremonies on Sabbath, which consisted of prayers and typically, a prepared sermon by a theologian from the Netherlands.<ref name="barg">{{Cite book |last=Winkle |first=Daniel Van |url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=aMFu3buVwGYC|page=168}} |title=Old Bergen: History and Reminiscences with Maps and Illustrations |date=1902 |publisher=J.W. Harrison |language=en}}</ref> They also read the law and creed, as well as portions of the Psalms.<ref name="ny" />

==Notable ''voorlesers''== *Stuynhuysen, Engelbert – Old Bergen's first voorleser, gaining the title in 1662.<ref name=barg/> *Bertholf, Guiliam – began working in Harlem, New York City on April 24, 1690.<ref name="har">{{Cite book |last=Riker |first=James |url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=iK1J8ESty44C|page=458}} |title=Harlem (city of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals: Prefaced by Home Scenes in the Fatherlands; Or, Notices of Its Founders Before Emigration. Also, Sketches of Numerous Families, and the Recovered History of the Land-titles |date=1881 |publisher=author |language=en}}</ref> *Sickels, Abraham – Old Bergen's last ''voorleser'', retired in 1789.<ref name=hol/>

==Advisory boards== Other prominent members in the community of New Amsterdam (which included all the settlements around the Upper New York Bay) were part of councils that advised the Director of New Netherland. Called upon at various times during the colony's existence, they were known as the Twelve Men, the Eight Men and the Nine Men.

==See also== {{Wiktionary|voorleser}} *Voorlezer's House

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:New Netherland Category:Afrikaans words and phrases Category:Dutch words and phrases