History of the Bronx: In 1639, the first European settler came to establish himself on the mainland north and east of the Harlem River. His name was Jonas Bronck. Born in Sweden, he had made a living as a commercial seacaptain sailing out of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He, his wife and his indentured servants from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands gradually cleared the woods and cultivated the lands between today's Bronx and Harlem Rivers, mostly south of modern 150th Street. When Bronck died in 1643, the only thing that was named after him that remained over the years was the Bronck's (or, abbreviated, Bronx) River. In 1683, the colonial government established counties, and all of the modern Bronx was the southernmost portion of Westchester County. In 1874, a dynamic and growing New York City annexed the part of today's Bronx west of the Bronx River. That territory became part of New York City and New York County. In 1895, the lands east of the Bronx River were taken by the city as well. In 1898, the city took over Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Along with Manhattan, they all became subdivisions of the city called boroughs. It was decided that the two areas previously annexed should also become a borough, but those lands never really had a name before. Looking at a map, the city fathers saw that the Bronx River ran through the middle of the territory. For this reason, they named it the Borough of The Bronx, after the river.