Jonas Bronck
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Jonas Jonson Bronck (1600?–1643), also known as Jonas Jonasson Bronk or Jonas Joanssen Bronck, was a Danish immigrant to North America after whom the New York City borough of the Bronx was named.
Bronck was born in the small village of Komstad, Norra Ljunga socken, outside Sävsjö in the then Danish, now Swedish province of Skåne, some time around the year 1600. Rather than take over his family's farm, he became a sailor, and it is known that he traveled to Japan and India. He married his wife, Teuntie Joriaens, on July 6, 1638, in Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. He and his wife subsequently decided to emigrate to North America.
In 1639 he acquired a piece of land located across the Harlem River from the island of Manhattan. The farm came to be known as "Bronck's land" or simply "Bronck's," from which eventually evolved the modern name of "the Bronx."
Trivia
- There is a street in Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands that is named "Jónas Broncksgøta." Many people of Scandinavian descent claim that Jonas Bronck himself was descended from Eric the Red and Leif Ericson, who colonised the area. There is also some small archeological evidence suggesting this.
External links
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