Pieter Pieterse Lasse from Hoesem, age 24, went into service to Jan Baptista van Rensselaer, in 1659. “Hoesem probably refers to the coastal city of Husum in Schleswig-Holstein… prior to 1616 it was part of Denmark. It is possible that Pieter was of German origin, since he consistently used a surname, but he also could have been of Dutch or Danish descent.”8310 As of 1998 when this article was written searches of parish record of this region had not revealed a record for Pieter.