USA > Delaware > Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 1 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
Having thus found a perpetuated name for the bay which has extended itself. to the river, as well as to the territory now known as the State of Delaware, it becomes a matter of his- toric interest to enquire after the man who lifted the curtain and permitted. the eyes of civilized men to explore the interior of our land and waters. For this part of our narra- tive we have sure data, ifnot full details, mak- ing a story not without a touch of almost romantic interest.
Yet, before we proceed, it might be well, after thus introducing the certainties which belong to the domain of history properly considered, to glance backward over the realm of mingled incident and tradition, of sunshine and shadow, in which were actors and verities, as patent to our minds as though their record assumed the tangible and enduring forms which we embalm and dignify with the name and authority of History.
-
CHAPTER II.
Scenes in New World-On the Delaware Bay and River-Contrasted with old World-Un- certainty as to Actors and dates-Whence arises our want of Knowledge-Looking Backward from Stand Point of History- Columbus-John and Sebastian Cabot-West India Company's Servants-Hendrickson-Am- sterdam and Republic of Holland-Origin of the United Company of-Fleet sent to America- Building of the Restless-Her Advent into Delaware Waters -Redeeming Captives-Early Records of Ventures Lost.
, O the early Navigators and Discoverers, coming from the Old World, the whole Western Continent, with its grand clusters of Islands, must have presented a fair and gorgeous picture ; and such is
their universal testimony. Of our portion of the continent, this is peculiarly true. No small part of such admiration was due to the Natural Scenery, as they entered the broad Bay, sailed up the noble River, explored the . various Creeks and Harbors, and on the Dela- ware side, viewed the firm banks, the elevated uplands, the natural lawns and savannahs, with the interminable forest-trees of every kind and height. These if first viewed in the spring, bursting in fresh buds and leaves, hav- ing the ground enameled with flowers in vari- ous shapes and colors ; if at fall, painted with all those various colors of brightest and liveli- est hues, which make our Autumn the delight of our eyes, and the wonder of those, who visit the Western World from other shores.
Those sailing westward in the ancient times, whose eyes last saw the low watery land of Holland, or last left the foggy, half- sunless isles of Great Britain, or put out from the rough, cold shores of Sweden and Fin- land, must have hailed the Delaware, as a Paradise ! And this is the name given to Mis- pillion Point, by the first Swedish settlers, who after their long voyage went ashore to look about the country and refresh them- selves before they sailed further up the Bay. Paradise Point stands on Lindstrom's Map of New Sweden, made in 1654 and 55 ; Lewes Creek is styled Flower River, whilst the brilliant freshness of the verdure and the density of the stately forests on all the Coasts, were constant objects of admiration. Indeed the navigators preceding and suc- ceeding them, could scarcely find words, ex- pressive enough, in speaking of the woods, the waters and the mountains.
To give the names of those Europeans who earliest visited and explored what we now know as Delaware Bay and River, to tell the order of their coming and settle the value of their claims, with any degree approaching certainty would be an impossible thing. Our information on these points is scanty and diverse, and therefore uncertain, and what little is on record, is laid up in various books, annals, and archives, in widely separated places, in the New World and the Old; and. written in different languages, which remain untranslated.
For these reasons it is evident that our earliest knowledge must be imperfect. We
12
HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
meet with suggestions here and there, like'tember 13th 1621 which shows that a ship footprints in the sand, that are unaccom- panied with body and record to fill up the details, and constitute History.
It is said by some one, that New York History is unreliable till it comes to the records of 1629, and the beginning of our History of Delaware we have placed very; properly at the period of the discovery of informed, that the Amsterdam Merchants, as our Bay, by Henry Hudson.
We are sure that before Columbus had found out more than a few Islands of the New World, the Cabots, John and Sabastian, the father and the more distinguished son, dis- covered the North American Coast, from Labrador, as far South as Maryland, probably as far as Virginia and North Carolina, pos- sibly, as far as Florida.
From Robbins in his Ancient and Modern History, and the New American Cyclopedia, it seems, they landed at various points and planted the banners of Venice, of which John Cabot was a naturalized citizen, and of England, in behalf of whose King, Henry VII, he took possession, and under whose commis- sion, he navigated. The natives, also, were discovered, clad in skins of beasts; and making use of copper ornaments and implements. There is no reason to suppose, however, that these navigators came near the Delaware Bay, or were aware of its existence.
was allowed to sail to the great River Dela- ware, and return by the Ist of July following, to trade away all they could, of the old stock, and bring back what remained with the clerks and seamen stationed there. In con firmation of this we find from London Docu- ments, that the English Privy Council were early as 1617 and 18, were sending vessels of 60 and So tons, to trade with the Indians. Vincent, p. 110, quoting O'Calligan.
In 1614, the States General of Holland gave to Capt. Mey and others, the privilege of navigating and trading between the lati- tudes of 40 and 45; and the West India Company as soon as it was chartered, issued special licenses to truck and trade on the great River, (Delaware,) between the latitudes of 38 and 40.
These slight indications make it evident, as indeed might be supposed, without any hints, that a New World, with so many imagined and fabulous reports hanging over it, stirred up adventurous spirits and moved many an expedition, large or small, secret or open, to brave the long seas in order to reach our shores ; but who they were, what was their history at home and fortunes abroad, what they saw and what news they carried back, no records that have yet come to hand, give us any information. New light on this point, too, comes from an exploration of the Dela- ware in 1615, hereafter to be noticed. When Captain Hendrickson came to the Christiana, he found three men, in the service of a Holland Company, in the hands of the Minquas and Mohican Indians, on the banks of the Chris- tiana, but who they were and how they came into such a condition, we are not informed. They must have been Europeans, and we may suppose them to be zealous prospectors, come out from Manhattan towards the Delaware, in search of the gold mountain or diamond beds, on which adventurous spirits began early to feed their gloating imaginations.
The first recorded sailing into Delaware waters was done as already stated in the year 1609, and yet from Vol. V. of Penna Historical Soc'y, it seems, that both on the North and South Rivers, as the Hudson and Delaware were early called, some adventurers and traders were to be found as early as 1598 ; not making fixed settlements, but only build- ing shelters for the winters, and perhaps erecting small forts for protection. The first recorded settlement of the Dutch on the Delaware, dates only in the year 1630, yet we are quite certain that before the year 1620, trading ships came from Holland, and in the year 1621 the famous Dutch West India Company of Merchants already had agents It is generally stated, by those who have written of the persons redeemed by Hendrick- son, that they were natives, but authorities consulted beyond our State limits have led the writer of this history to prefer the state- ment as just given, making them Europeans. on the River, with men and clerks, and a large stock of goods and trinkets, who were furnished with little yachts and sloops for, trading with the natives up the creeks and along the shores of Delaware waters. In proof, we have an Amsterdam record of Sep- | Before reciting the steps taken by Hendrick-
13
HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
son as the explorer of our waters, and as that now would be valued as if of golden and pioneer on our territory, the Historian, con- pearly drops. scious of the indebtedness of our State to the States General of Holland, and with a feeling CHAPTER III. of almost personal obligation to citizens of that country, especially the citizens of Am- sterdam, is tempted to express his obligations, and pay his tribute of admiration, to the heroism and worth of that Republic so de- serving of the praise of mankind. But his duty at the present is only with the Old Trading Town on the banks of the Amstel. We see its watery streets, and its brick struc- UT we again find the domain of history ; we know that in the year 1614, March 27th, an edict of the States General was passed in favor of all persons who should enter upon maritime discovery, who were required, in fourteen days after their re- turn, to deliver to the state "a pertinent re- port of their discoveries." tures built on piles in the lower town, with its multitudinous bridges, docks, and quays, to- gether with its numerous stores and factories, all tasting and strongly smelling of raw com- merce. We mount this flight of stone steps lifting one in front of the great warehouse .. We enter the dingy office where business is transacted and where three full dressed Dutch Merchants sit in Council. On the table at which they are seated lies a rude map show- ing a great bay and river, with a strip of coast, and then another bay and river, mak- ing the long Island of the Manhattoes. The South River, (Delaware,) striking off to the Northeast and joining the North (Hudson) River. See map of 1681.
.
They ponder the prospects of trade ; the balance of gains and losses ; and, not satisfied . with their already extended trade and inflow- ing wealth, their commercia! ambition uniting with their greed of gold, they determine to venture more and go further. Under otlier a commercial town of North Holland, on the roofs the same process is going on, till at Zuyder Zee. The fleet, after a very quick pas- age, arrived safely at Manhattan; but whilst thus favored by the winds and the waves, one of these ships, the Fortune, commanded length, a full exchange is constructed, and out of various firms and partnerships of practiced dealers, the United Company of Amsterdam Merchants is organized for action. A com- by Captain Block, met an enemy in the shape pany whose hand has been felt, and their of fire, and was unfortunately burned at her voice heard so potentially in the momentous moorings, but whether at Manhattan or at Block Island, does not, certainly, appear. It is likely this calamity happened at the latter place, when separated from the rest of the vessels. They were obliged to build a new craft, and as timber was plenty in those days, with the help of what was saved from the work of planting our Commercial Institutions ! And justly, may we lament that we cannot ferret those old pigeon holes, desk covers, and secret drawers, where consultations, and plans and lists of ventures, and resolutions and reports were too safely stowed away, with no forecasting mind to post and preserve ! conflagrated ship, this was no great task. The them, or lay them in archives for our use in new vessel they called a yacht, and gave her writing of a time gone by forever. Long ago the name of the "Onrest," or the "Restless;" which, considering the element on which she
1
History Resumed-Edict of the State General -Sailing of the Fleet to America-Burning of the Fortune-Building of the "Restless"-Capt. Mey, and the Capes-Hendrickson's Explora- tions-Map of Hendrickson-His Trade with Indians-Return to Holland.
This movement was made in response to the petitions of the merchants; and the Union, taking advantage of the decree, straightway dispatched five vessels to the New World. The names of these vessels are found in Hol- land documents. There was the "Tiger," commanded by Captain Hendrick Cortienson; the "Little Fox", Capt. DeWith; the "Nightingale", Captain Volkersten ; the "Fortune", Capt. Adrien Block, the discov- erer of Block Island; and another vessel called the "Fortune" also, commanded by Capt. Cor- nelius Jacobson Mey, which is supposed to have belonged to several merchants of Hoorne,
have they crumbled into dust or turned into ashes ; every letter gone into annihilation was to live, and the errands she was to make,
14
HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
was appropriate. This, Vincent says, in his! Now, who was this bold man, Capt. Hen- History of the State of Delaware, vol. I p.IOI, drickson, that, with so slight a force would was the first vessel built in this country, by adventure among savages, whose dispositions Europeans. He means within the limits of were, yet, so little known, and into solitary what became the United States, for it is cer-'
tracts of water, and solemn forests, entirely tain, from Bancroft, Vol. I p. 140, that Sir unexplored ? We are not certain whether he Thomas Gates, when wrecked in 1610, on his was a Swede or Hollander. On the one side, way to Virginia, built two vessels of cedar the name of Hendrickson, as Swedish, is found wood, at the Bermudas, in which the commis- in a list sent from this country to Sweden sioner and colonists reached their destination. in the year 1693. A gentleman of this name, living in Wilmington, Delaware, may be re- membered by some now living, whom all un- derstood to be of Swedish descent. He was tall and large framed, but not corpulent; of large, grave. dignified, pale face, and looked upon as a true type of that respected race. But, on the other side, it is found that both Dutch and Swedish children, at Christiana, afterward Wilmington, grew up together, speaking the Swedish language, and were all called Swedes; and, also, Capt. Cornelius Hen- drickson is said, in Holland documents, to be- long to Monnikendam in New Holland, on the Zuyder Zee, 8 miles northeast of Amsterdam, and he is found in the service of Holland.
.
The Spaniards, also, built ships in the new world. The little Restless may be regarded as the first child of America, and her memory - deserves to be cherished in Delaware waters for the story of her adventures.
She may well be called little, for, strangely, whilst so many important particulars of those early days have been unrecorded, or the re- cords lost, we are told the precise dimensions of this vessel, as being 38 feet keel, 443 feet long, 11 feet wide, making 16 tons burthen, or by Dutch measure, 8 lusts ; as diminutive as one of our smallest class oyster shallops.
In a short time three of the fleet sailed from Manhattan to the eastward, on new explora- tions, and Capt Block, probably, went with them; whilst the Fortune, Capt. Mey, and most certainly the Restless commanded by Captain Cornelius Hendrickson, sailed south- ward. From the various sources that have been intimated, there must have been some rumors of a great Bay and River in that direc- tion, of which these two vessels are now in pur- suit. They sailed down the Barnegat coast in safety and, fortunately, turned into Delaware Bay. From Capt. Mey, it is said, both our capes were named; Cape May still adorning the southern point of New Jersey, Cape Cornelius being at first given to the Delaware Cape, which is now called Henlopen.
Other authorities relieve Capt. Mey from the immodesty of imposing his name on both the States, declaring that he himself origin- ated the term Hen or Hindlopen, after a town of the same name in Friesland, Holland : see note p. 23, vol. XI, Hist. Soc. Penn'a.
It seems, that after Capt. Mey had located the Delaware, as far as these additional names would give us a local habitation ; without breaking through the shallow, shoaly entrance, he sailed back to Holland, leaving the Rest- less to make a minute examination, by explor- ing the bay and river.
In our uncertainty on this point, and in the absence of any trace of the Captain's real per- son, let us take this noble looking Hendrickson of later years, and in the person of a younger man, place him on board the Restless as com- mander, and accompany this first known adventurer as he sails, and lands, and explores our shores.
It must first be said, that he was a more distinguished navigator than the exploration of the Delaware alone, would warrant us to believe. The small craft, too, could have had but little leisure, under his active management, for he not only tells in his report of the land adjacent to a bay and three rivers, between 38 and 40 degrees of latitude, but he furnishes a very curious map (now at Albany New York) on parchment, two feet by cighteen inches, done "in an elegant style of art", showing with accuracy, the coasts from Nova Scotia to the Virginia capes. This surveying may have been done after his Delaware work, when, on his return home, he may have taken the present northern route, rather than the long southern voyage by the West Indies, which was generally used at that day. The bay and three rivers spoken of were undoubtedly the Delaware Bay and River, with the Hoorne-
15
-
HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
kill, the Christiana and the Schuylkill, the 40th | ports the supposition that he made a thorough : degree carrying him as high as Philadelphia. Lindstrom's map showsa multitude of creeks on both sides of the Delaware, that have now mostly dried up, but into these a 16 ton vessel with little freight and a light crew could have put her bows and looked round, and there is no doubt but that the Captain's sharp eye did take a complete survey of all, at least, on the Delaware side.
Those familiar with the coast from Cape Henlopen northward, will judge what he must have seen, by making allowance for changes which the two and a half centuries have made. He might have felt himself almost at sea, again, in his little ship when off Jones Creek, to sur- vey 30 miles of water, looking eastward. He must have admired the beautiful cove above Delaware City, rounding out at New Castle, the sloping ground covered with a majestic forest. He found the Christiana much wider than at present, and whilst exploring her stream and tributaries, he fell in with the Min- quas Indians, who belonged to this locality, and from them he redeemed the three Euro- Pean captives before spoken of. It was a timely piece of humanity our Captain put forth when he paid kettles and beads and merchan- dise for their liberty, thus stamping our shores with God's broad seal of brotherhood.
The explorers must have been pleased with the uplifting of the shores north of the Chris- tiana. Perhaps they landed at Naaman's Creek and gave a look through the forest glades. Tinicum Island must have excited their admi- ration; then, the . Schuylkill opened fairly, though the Restless must have looked very sharply to discover an entrance so shrouded as to give it the name of the Hidden Stream. Very likely the voyagers went on around that long point, which gives entrance to Philadel- phia, and coasted those beautiful banks, then fringed with pines, "a situation," Penn said, 67 years later, "not surpassed by one among all the many places, he had seen in the world."
In the year 1615 and beginning of 1616, those discoveries were made ; for from vol. V, Penn'a Historical Archives, we learn, that in August 1616, Hendrickson, supported by the merchant owners, appeared before the States General of Holland and gave his written re- port. What is left recorded is, certainly, but a meagre summary of that report, but it sup-
exploration, landing and walking on our Del- aware soil, and tarrying long enough to give a satisfactory account of what was there. He tells how he traded with the Indians for skins of various kinds, sables, furs and robes; he marked the kind of trees and leclares the land to be filled with oaks, hickories and pines, having spots abounding in grape vines; the woods are alive with Bucks, Does, Turkeys and Partridges, and the climate is very temperate.
We cannot but suppose that the men on this expedition saw far more than is here re- corded. They doubtless encountered more of the Americans, as the savages were called, than the Minquas and Mohicans, for twelve different tribes then hunted, fished and fought on Delaware shores. Vincent : p. 68, and it is easy to imagine, what stories must have been carried home about their painted bo dies and feathered heads their looks and language, their wigwams and curious customs, and of the many wonders in every department they dis- cerned. And Delaware readers may congrai- ulate themselves that this first coming together of the old and new worlds, was no bloody ambuscade, but a meeting, conducted in amity and sealed with an act of good will, that must have left a wholesome lesson of brother- ly love on their savage minds.
Before dismissing Capt. Hendrickson who puts so strong a link into Delaware History, we will pronounce him a wise, valiant, learned, persevering, and kind hearted man; lamenting the want of longer annals, from which to de- pict his character and fortune. All has been told except to record that a dark curtain must be dropped over his subsequent course; for, as far as appears, neither he or the merchant- owners derived any special advantages for their expenses and toils, in the exploration. Although their cause was twice pleaded before the Holland Council, the reward was twice deferred, and if any bright fortune was con- ferred upon him, it can only arise from our hope that justice at length prevailed against the slow moving caution of these old trading officials.
16
HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
CHAPTER IV.
I ple, is that by which the Aborigines of Dela- Native Indians-Tribes-Dress-Customs- Women-Marriage-Employments-Burials. ware were known. But this was, in all proba- bility, a false and inaccurate title in so far as concerns them if applied to the location in EFORE proceeding further it would be eminently proper to give the reader some knowledge of the people found by Capt. Hendrickson, as inhabiting the lands which lie on the Bay, rivers and creeks of which which Hendrickson found them. Vincent tells us that tradition, as given in Thatcher's Indian Biography, said " they came from beyond the Mississippi and uniting with the Five Nations, drove off and destroyed the primitive residents he speaks in the "pertinent report " made by of the country." These Five Nations belonged him on his return to his fatherland A vast to the Iroquois stock which included the population of Indians, numbering many tribes, Mohawk, Oneidas, Onondagos, .Cayugas and and thousands of human beings were dwellers Senecas, and their confederation being joined by the Tuscaroras, from that time were known as the Six Nations. The Susquehannocks on . the Chesapeake and the Passayontke, the Min- quas, the Mohicans and the Nanticokes, of whom mention is frequent in the earlier history of this State, belonged to this famous family of the Six Nations whose settlements extended from the Hudson to the Potomac. The Leni Lenape was the name designating only a small subdivision of the large confederacy of which we have spoken, and while including the Passayontke, from whom we have Passa- yunk creek in the southern part of Philadel- phia, and who were in the extreme upper portions of this State ; the Minquas who were on the Christina and the Brandywine, and the Nanticokes, who occupied the southern portion of the State, yet these branches of the Lenape family were still farther subdivided into various smaller tribes with various names as location or convenience required. Hence, half a century later when the controversy was going on Dutch and Swedish settlers on the Delaware, we find the names of many tribes whose histo- ry is unknown, and even their location in Mary- land and Delaware, it is impossible for the his- torian to determine. As many as twelve tribes were resident "in this State and around New Castle", according to Vincent : His. of Del. p. 66. The Passayontke have long since departed but left a creek and a street in Philadelphia to perpetuate their name. The Minquas were blotted out soon after the beginning of the last century. Christiana usurps their place on our waters, and the last of the Nanticokes left our dug up the bones of their principal chiefs and bore them with them. - "Del. Register, "
on either side of the Bay and Delaware river, between Cape May and Gloucester, in New Jersey, and Cape Henlopen and the mouth of the Schuylkill, on the Delaware and Pennsyl- vania side. These are the admitted points, determining the scope of his memorable survey and investigation. More than one writer upon Delaware history has expressed regret that so few places, whether of headlands or waters in the State, bear the names of either chieftan or tribe of all those who, as aborigines, hunted in our forests or fished in our streams. It will be seen, in the subsequent history of Delaware, how Kings and Emperors, States General and Trading Companies and their Proprietors and Governors, disposed of these people and their lands, and how, of the Grant to Lord Baltimore covering our territory, we may say that "a King, remarkable in history mainly through the circumstances of his death upon the scaffold, had granted to a subject what it cost the monarch nothing to acquire-the homes, across the sea, of a free and brave people, between partiesin the interest of Maryland, and . whose hospitality and unsuspecting confidence alone made the grant available ; and, with royal magnificence had bounded his gift by parallels of latitude, the courses of mighty rivers, and the headlands of ocean ; and the subject, with scale and compasses, apportioned his territory with his neighbors, settled the lines of what were to become adjacent sover- eignties, and thus accelerated the progress of those events which, at length, extinguished the council-fires at which his ancestors had warmed themselves when they were strangers in the land, and whose last faint blaze was fed with the unstrung bows and blunted arrows of State in 1748. At Laurel, Delaware, " they the forest princes of the Peninsula."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.