De Scheemaker was a Dutch assistent-resident (assistant resident) of the Netherlands Indies administration, appointed in 1876 as the first civil officer charged with conducting political affairs on the north coast of Atjeh, with his seat at the new Dutch establishment at Pidir.
Appointment
Until 1876 political affairs on Atjeh’s north coast had been entrusted to the commander of the war squadron on that coast. When the submission of Toengkoe Radja Pakik was converted into occupation, the civil and military commander in Atjeh proposed and the Netherlands Indies Government decided that at the capital of Pidir an assistant-resident should be stationed for the direction of political affairs of the whole coast. De Scheemaker went with a staff of one or more controllers destined for the service in Atjeh and dependencies, native clerks, a European clerk and 5 police servants; for his disposal were one armed boat — stationed in the mouth of the Pidir river for the control of imports — and one sloop’s crew for communication with the roadstead. He arrived and took over the civil charge from the naval station commander a few days after the completion of the fortification, at the end of June 1876.
His house stood at 200 to 300 metres from the fortification by the beach, with a watch whose strength was raised to 22 men in July after rumours of a projected attack on the fortification and later settled at 16. On 19 August he was charged with informing the princes of the other north-coast states — Endjoeng and Ajer Leboe with special warning — of the meaning of the breach with Gigiëng. These events are recorded by H. F. Meijer in Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876 (1883).
See Also
- Occupation of Pidir (31 May - 4 June 1876)
- Pedir
- Cancellation of friendship with Gigiëng (19 August 1876)
- Guerilla warfare in Groot-Atjeh
Source
Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876, door H. F. Meijer (Breda: P. B. Nieuwenhuijs, 1883), chapter VIII, pp. 268–281.