Cornelius Jacobsen May

Cornelius was a Dutch fur trader and explorer after whom Cape May, Cape May County, and the city of Cape May, New Jersey were named.

Following the path of his relative Jan Cornelisz May, a famous explorer who led several discovery voyages to explore the Northeast Passage and circumnavigated the world between 1614 and 1617, Cornelius became interested in the exploration activities as well.

In 1614 he was named a captain of a ship that explored the Hudson River and traded in furs, which were very expensive commodity in Europe at the time. In the same year, he was involved in activities of the New Netherland Company which got the permission from the Dutch States General to conduct four expeditions with the aim to explore the American territories between the 40th and 45th parallels.

Therefore, Cornelius already had valuable experience and insight in the area, relations with the native people and trading opportunities before he was appointed the first director of the future New Netherland by the Dutch West Company in 1624.

As a captain of the ship named “New Netherland”, May brought the first 30 families of Walloon and Flemish backgrounds to present day New York City. He held the office of director until the following year when he was replaced by Willem Verhulst, and probably returned back to Holland.