The Dutch who came to the Hudson Valley were more mercantile, and less agrarian than those who immigrated later to be farmers in the Midwest. The Dutch community in the Hudson Valley was however quite insular, until after the Revolutionary War. Today, it is largely assimilated. There are Dutch names here, there and everywhere. And all the small rivers and creeks are called "kills." Van Rensselaer was a patroon who was granted a massive land area around Albany, and basically has his own commercial empire ala the Dutch West India Company, making his money mostly from beaver fur trading with the Indians. The patroon families, both Dutch and non Dutch (e.g. Livingston), intermarried, so everybody is related to everybody who has an early prominent ancestor in the Hudson Valley.
The first Dutch settlement was near Albany, in 1615. It was intended for the fur trade. The Hudson was used by the Dutch, like the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes were by the French.
A settlement was made at Gloucester on the Delaware in 1623, the main city became Wilmington after the Dutch displaced the Swedish.
New Amsterdam was founded in 1626 (according to Wikipedia, the settlers were mostly Walloon). If true, this might form a critical distinction with areas like Grand Rapids. Since it was a trading settlement they could likely speak Dutch, but would probably have been Roman Catholic. I think I recall that the Dutch in the Hudson area would attend a Lutheran Church in Athens.
A settlement was made near Hartford in 1633, but was turned over to the English in 1653 (were the colonies considered English, rather than British, prior to the Act of Union in 1707, though I think there was a Scottish colony in Central America?)
The English conquered New Amsterdam in 1664, so the period of Dutch sovereignty was short. Nonetheless, they would have had a head start on settling the Hudson. Under the early Hanoverians there would probably not be resistance to further settlement from the Netherlands or Germany.
The Hudson is not prime agricultural territory. The Catskills would not be as heavily settled as they are if not for proximity to New York City. By the time New York City was becoming a booming metropolis needing to import food, the Erie Canal was built.
Livingston Manor was a grant from Queen Anne. It was rented out to farmers, who were usually in arrears, and would either abscond or be kicked out. Germantown was part of the manor, settled with German from the Palatine, and intended to produce naval stores. Most of the Germans left to go west of the River where they could buy land or squat.
When the Proprietors founded Hudson in 1785, there were docks at the site to serve the Dutch farmers in the hinterland. Hudson was founded by Americans from Nantucket, who wanted a whaling port more secure from the British. One of the Dutch who sold his land to the proprietors, has the same surname as the current mayor, and is almost assuredly descended from that family.
Hudson was very quickly settled, so most would not be from farmers. Later, Martin Van Buren would practice law. Having looked at a lot of Hudson census records, it is remarkable how many persons were born in New York, and both parents were born in New York. It is quite unlike in the West, where it was quite likely an adult was not born in a State, and almost a certainty that the parents were born in a different state, but outside the USA.
In the industrialization period around the turn of the 19th century, there were a lot of Poles, Italians, and various Austrian possessions. There was a boarding house where all the boarders were Ruthenian.
