Vries, David Pietersen de (däˈvēt pēˈtərsən də vrēs) [key], b. c.1593, Dutch merchant captain and colonizer. An experienced mariner, Vries, in partnership with directors of the Dutch West India Company, founded (1631) a settlement (Swanendael) on Delaware Bay, later destroyed by warring Native Americans. After trading trips to America (1634–36), he established patroonships on Staten Island (1639) and at Tappan (1640). When both colonies were ravaged by the Native Americans, he returned to Holland and wrote his Korte Historiael (1655), a valuable source for the history of New Netherland. Portions of his book are translated in Narratives of New Netherland (ed. by J. F. Jameson, 1909).
See C. M. Parr, The Voyages of David de Vries (1969).