USA > Delaware > History of Delaware : 1609-1888 > Part 27
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The zeal of the Dutch in settling their newly- discovered territories, which extended from Dela- ware Bay almost to Cape Cod, naturally excited the British, who were interested in the Plymouth and Virginia charters. As early as 1621 they complained to James I. of the eneroachments of the Dutch. At this early period it was a simple protest of the British against the title of the Dutch to the New Netherlands, which included New York, New Jersey and Delaware. The mat- ter was brought to the attention of the States-Gen- eral of Holland, but on the death of King James the affair was still badly complicated. Under Charles I. the dispute continued. The New Neth- erlands had now come under the management of the Dutch West India Company, but now, in their turn, they were much annoyed by the bold en- eroachments of the English. One of their largest vessels was seized ; they placed the matter in the hands of the State>-General, who decided to firmly maintain the rights of the company. The English were equally positive in their determina- tion to resist the Dutch aggressions, and the trouble over the boundaries gave rise to intense feeling on both sides. The addition of new purchasers, who might be possible disputants, had no tendency to unravel the entangled claims. Godyn and Bloem- mart had bought a strip of land from the natives in 1629, extending thirty-two miles inland from
The arrival of the Swedes in the Delaware, in 1638, marks another epoch in the narrative. We have seen in the chapter on the Swedish settle- ments that Usselinx, disgusted at his treatment by the Dutch, had entered the service of Sweden, and with Peter Minuit had superintended the expedi- tion of 1638. Opposition was at once elicited from the Dutch through William Kiett, Director- General of the New Netherlands, but Minuit per- Cape Henlopen, and two miles in breadth. De sisted, and the erection of Fort Christina gave Vries started a small colony near the Cape in 1631, definite shape to his plans Two years later the first English settlements on the Delaware were begun by the purchase of land on both sides of the bay by Captain Turner. the agent for New Haven.ª The purchases of the English continued for several years, and their possessions soon aggregated a con- siderable quantity of land, although they were forced to contend with the attacks of the Dutch and swedes. It can now be readily seen that by
and in the same year new purchases were made from the Indians on the east side of the Bay. The year 1632, however, stands out as a prominent landmark in the history of the disputes, for it was then that the famous charter was granted to Lord Baltimore, on which he afterwards based his claims to the land on the west side of the river Delaware. It was granted on June 20. 1632, and contained the following terms : " We . Charles L 'do vive, grant and confirm unto Cecilius, Baron of Baltimore, his heirs and assigns, all that part of
the peninsula, or chersonese, lying in the part of America between the ocean on the east and the Chesapeake on the west, divided from the residue thereof by a right line, drawn from the promon- tory or headland called Watkins Point, situate upon the bay aforesaid. near the river Wighco on the west unto the main ocean on the east, and between that boundary on the south unto that part of the Bay of Delaware on the north which lieth under the fortieth degree of north latitude, from the equinoctial, where New England is ter- minated, and all the tract of that land within the metes underwritten-(that is to say ) passing from the said bay called Delaware Bay. in a right line by the degree aforesaid, unto the true meridian of the first fountain of the river of Potomac, thence verging towards the south unto the farther bank of the said river, and following the same on the west and south unto a certain place called Cinquack, situate near the mouth of the said river, where it disembogues into the aforesaid bay of Chesapeake, and thence by the shortest line unto the aforesaid promontory or place called Watkins Point."1 The petition of Lord Baltimore, in com lianee with which the grant had been issued, set forth that the territory was "not then cultivated and planted, though in some parts thereof inhabited by a cer- tain barbarous people having no knowledge of Almighty God," and it was this declaration which was afterwards made an important factor in the struggle. These limits included not only the pres- ent State of Maryland, but all of Delaware and a part of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The remon- stranee came first from the last quarter, but that controversy does not bear upon the matter in hand with sufficient import to warrant our entering upon details.
1 The river Wigheo was he same as that now known as the Poco- moke, and I'mquack is now smith's Point.
- Brudheal's " History of New York," vol. i., p. 3<3.
i
110
HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
the middle of the seventeenth century the terci- tory now known as Delaware was subject to many owners, each trying to interfere with and prevent the advance of the others. In 1650 the first im- portant conference over the boundaries was con- vened at Hartford, for the purpose of settling the disputes between the Dutch and the English of New Haven, who had purchased land on the Delaware. The meeting was called at the sugges- tion of the commissioners of the United Chionies, and Stuyvesant willingly assented. The hegota- tions were at first conducted in writing; but this method proved irksome, and consumel so much time that a new plan was soon adopted. Each of the parties involved appointed two commissioners to represent them. the four to form a board of arbitration to settle the disputed questions. Stuy vesant appointed Ensign George Baxter, and Captain Thomas Willett, while the New England commisssoners selected Symon Bradstreet and Thomas Prenee. Their deliberations, however, resulted in no definite conclusion. The New Englanders asserted that the Dutch had eneroaebed on their land, and that they had in consequence suffered damages to the extent of £1000. Stuy- vesant denied this, but stated that as these alleged invasions of Eng ish rights had occurred during the administration of Governor Kieft, he was unable to deal with the matter intelligently. Both parties at length agreed to refer the decision to England and Holland, and in the mean time agreed to pursue their interests on the Delaware without interfering with one another.1 The New Haven people started out soon afterwards with a new colony to settle on their lands in the Dela- ware, but, touching at New Amsterdam on their voyage, they were all placed under arrest. They insisted that they had no intention of settling elsewhere than on their own land, which was their privilege, according to the agreement of the arbi- trators. The Director-General thought that they had come with a view to extending their territory, and refused to let them proceed, and the trouble over the boundaries was once more opened between the English and the Dutch.
In the same year, 1651, an attempt was made to reach an agreement about the extent of the lands held by the Swedes and Dutch on the Delaware. The Swedes had suddenly exhibited an exceed- ingly bold spirit, committing many acts of violence upon the Dutch with the evident purpose of dis- possessing them of the whole river. Being unsue- cessful at this, they endeavored to purchase land from the Indians, who refused to sell, but gave the Dutch all the land from Bombay Hook to Christina Creek .? Another unsuccessful attempt was made by
Stuyvesant in 2653 to adjust the difference- : the New Haven owners of property on the D. ware. hy appointing three new commissioner. meet a like number to be named by the Cui Colonies. The negotiations had hardly been be .. however, before the Dutch agents abruptly o parted withom any instructions from their Go ;- ernor, teavias the matter in its old shape. 1% epistolary attempt to come to an agreement w .. then bezun by a letter from Stuyve-ant to th New England commissioners, but they held the. the seizure of the vessel at New Amsterdam ha i been too great an affront for them to consider any further arrangement with the Dutch It was they, however who reopened the discussion a year lat ... by writing to Governor John Rising, the newly. arrived Swedish agent, but again without resul. The affair had now been brought to higher author- ities and correspondence was conducted between England and Holland relative to the subject of boundaries on the Delaware, and this was equally barren of results. In 1655 John Cooper and Thom- as Munson applied to the court of New Haven for the protection of two magistrates and also a supply of guns and ammunition, to take with them in an attempt to settle on their land in the Delaware. The court agreed to this, but the discouraging reports which were brought from the Delaware at this time dampened the ardor of the new colonists, although some were still willing to make a start, but nothing came of the expedition.
The capture of Fort Casimir by the Dutch in 1655 practically settled the disputes between the Dutch and Swedes, leaving the former complete masters of the situation. The history of the eol- ony under the Dutch has already been treated at length. The severity of Alrichs' administration at New Amstel drove six soldiers to desert from the Dutch service and seek refuge in Maryland. At a meeting of the Council of New Amstel in 1659 it was deeided to request Governor Fendall. of Maryland. to return the de-erters. The Dutch now began to fear that the English would encroach upon them from a new quarter, as they had hith- erto been doing from New Haven. A letter wa- dispatched to Colonel Utie, the leading magistrate of Maryland and a member of the Governor's Council, requesting that it be forwarded to the Governor. Colonel Utie consented, but at the same time informed the messenger that the Gov. ernor and Council of Maryland had already issued instruetions in January ordering him to " repair to the pretended Governor of a people seated on the Delaware Bay and inform them that they were seated within his ford-hips province with his no- tice." : He further stated that Lord Baltimore had ordered the land within the limits of his charter . f 1632 to be resurveyed, with a view to a-suming defin-
3 MeMalou's " History of Maryland," p 23.
1 11 waril's " Annals of Pennsylvania," pp 120-122. Vincent's " His- tory of Delaware." pp. 2og-/11.
" O'Callaghan's " History of the New Netherlands," vol. ii p 10G.
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BOUNDARY DISPUTES AND SETTLEMENT.
ite jurisdiction over the whole. The receipt of this by Alrichs, Beekman, Alexander D'Ilinoyossa, intelligence produced great consternation at New John Willienison, John Crato, Hendrick Ripp and G. Van Swerigen, the scerctary of the Council. They complained that the citizens of the Delaware has been entieed into Maryland by alluring prem- ises, some of whom had thus escaped service which they were bound to render, and others had left behind them heavy pecuniary obligations. Objee- tion was also made to the form of the instructions held by Utie, which were simply signed by Philip Calvert, secretary, but contained neither place nor date ; but U'tie paid little attention to this. The particulars of the affair were forwarded at once to Stuyvesant, who replied on the 28d, eensuring Alrich, and Beekman for allowing Utie to proceed as far as he had already done and also for promis- ing to reply within three weeks. He severely reprimanded them for recognizing Utie at all, with the defective credentials which he brought, and by way of reproof removed the management of the affair from their hands and appointed instead Cap- tain Martin Krygier and Cornelius Van Ruyven to have entire control of the controversy with Maryland. Krygier was at the same time com- missioned as commander of all the militia on the Delaware, and sixty men were placed under him to repel any inroads from Maryland. The new agents were also instructed to treat Utie as a spy unless, on his return, his papers were less defective than when first exhibited. Amstel, and Stuyvesant writes that in a short time " fifty persons, including several families, removed to Maryland and Virgima," leaving scarcely thirty families in the town, while other places were day by day growing worse and worse. This was the first clain: entered by Lord Baltimore to the terri tory over which a heated struggle was destined to rage for more than a century. The affair was brought before the Maryland Council on August 3rd (O. S.), and U'tie was further instructed " that. in vase he find an opportunity, he insinuate into the people there seated (on the Delaware) that in case they make their application to his Lordship's Gov- ernor here, they shall find good conditions, according to the conditions of plantations granted to all comers into this province, which shall be made good to them, and that they shall have protection in their lives, liberty and estates, which they shall bring with them." On the same day the Governor of Maryland wrote to the Governor of the territory of the Delaware giving him notice to depart. With reference to the disputed lands he said : " I can by no means acknowledge any tor Governors there but myself, who am by his lordship appointed lieuten- ant. of his whole province, lying between these degrees, 38 and 40, but do by these require and com- mand you presently to depart forth of his lordship's province, or otherwise desire you to hold me exeused if I use my utmost endeavor to reduce that part of his lordship's province unto its due obedience unto him."
Colonel Utie reached New Amstel in September, with Major Jacob De Vriutz and several others who made up the commission. Several days were spent in reconnoitering and questioning the settlers, and on the 8th a conference was held with Alrichs and Commissary William Beekman. Three of the fugitives were handed over, and Utie then plainly stated that the people must either leave or declare themselves the subjects of Lord Baltimore, and if they refused to submit to either of these alternatives he could not hold himself " responsible for the inno- cent blood that might be shed on that account." Alrichs remonstrated that they had been in posses- sion for many years, and held their land by an betroi of the States-General and the directors of the West India Company. The Marylanders were obstinate and irritable and refused to argue, but demanded an immediate and positive state- ment from the Dutch as to what they proposed to do. Alrichs now endeavored to secure delay by a proposition to submit the whole question to the mother countries. Failing in this, he requested three weeks in which to confer with the Director- General of the New Netherlands, to which Colonel L'tie reluctantly consented. The next day, how- ever, the Dateh submitted a written protest signed
Rumors soon eame trom Maryland that Utie, who had returned on the 11th, was preparing to return to New Amstel with a force of five hundred men. Stuyvesant thereupon appointed two commis- sioners, in the persons of Augustine Heermans and Resolved Waldron, to proceed to Maryland with a letter and orders to request, in a " friendly and neighborly way, the redelivery and restitution of such free people and servants as for debt and other ways have been fled, and as to us is given to un- stand that for the most part are residing in his honor's government, especially about a year since have gone out of this colony of the high, well esteemed lords governors of the city of Amster- dam ; which if you do, we are ready to assure you, that in maintaining of good justice and neigh- borly duty, to do the same beside all those that may come runaways to us out of any of your neighbor governments." If Governor Fendall refused to comply the commissioners were to in- form him that the Dutch would retaliate by offer- ing full protection to whatsoever fugitives might seek refuge on the Delaware. With regard to Colonel Utie's expedition, the letter bitterly com- plained both on the ground of the absence of all justice and the harsh manner in which it was conducted, and the commissioners were instructed to demand full reparation for the injuries " already sustained by his frivolous demands and bloody
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
threatening." On the 30th of September Heer- asked for a charter over a region " hitherto u ... mans and Waldron set out on their journey to ticated, and partly occupied by sarages haring " knowledge of the Divine Bring" When they rens. sembled in the evening, this passage was urgently put forward by the Dutch as being quite sufficient to invalidate Baltimore's present claim, since the region had undoubtedly been settled by civilized people prior to 1632, when the charter was granted. Governor Fendall replied that this was known to the King, and demanded the charter by which the Delaware territory was held, but lleermans and Waldron refused to exhibit it. It had now be- come so evident that no permanent arrangement could be eoneluded at this time, that very little effort was made after this, and on the 20th the commissioners left, Waldron returning to New Amstel at once, while Heermans proceeded to Vir- ginia to obtain the opinion of the Governor of that colony on the subject of dispute. O'Callaghan, in his " History of the New Netherlands "1 expresses the following opinion of the action of the Dutch commissioners at their meeting with the Maryland Couneil in 1659: "They evinced a taet and shrewdness of a high order ; and it is doubtful now whether, in the prolonged suit which occurred subsequently between the patentees of Maryland and Pennsylvania, any solid plea was brought forward against the Baltimore claim that was not already anticipated in the Dutch papers And no man can rise from a perusal of the whole of the pleadings without being convinced of this- that if the State of Delaware now occupies an inde- pendent rank in this great republic, she is indebted mainly for that good fortune and high honor to the stand taken by the Dutch in 1659." Maryland. Their guides were savages, and with a small convoy of soldiers they set out on what was then a rather perilous trip They had not pro- gressed far when the Indians declined to proceed. They finally induced them to advance a little, but as soon as a river was reached they dismissed all but one. They embarked in an old, dried-up boat, which they found on the shore, but were forced to calk it with rags, and one man was constantly em- ployed in bailing it out. Thus they reached the Elk River, and after a brief rest in the woods, pro- ceeded to the Sassafras. Here they found one or two deserters, who, on promise of a pardon, agreed to return to New Amstel within a month, but met with much opposition from others. At the mouth of the Sassafras, which they reached on October 2d, they heard a heavy fusilade at Colonel Utie's place, and supposed that this was a company pre- paring for an attack on the Delaware settlements. On the 3d they stopped for a while with Captain Wilke, one of the magistrates of Kent Island, and a considerable discussion ensued on the issues be- tween the two governments, but in a friendly way. Here they secured a new boat and guide at forty pounds of tobacco a day, and on the 7th arrived at Secretary Calvert's house, at Patuxent. They dined together on the next day, and discussed the sub- ject of their mission, and the same programme was also carried out on the 12th, this time the argu- ment becoming rather heated. On the 16th the Gov- ernor announced his readiness to meet them, and two horses were sent to convey them to the house of Mr. Bateman at Potusk, about eighteen miles distant, where the meeting was to take place. As soon as was possible Stuyvesant acquainted the directors of the West India Company of the trouble with the English and in 1660 received a letter in which they expressed the opinion that " if they (the English ) won't be persuaded, they must be dislodged " Lord Baltimore, who was at this time in London, issued orders to his agent in Hol- land, Captain James Neal, to demand of the com- pany the surrender of all lands on Delaware Bay. On September 1st, Neal conferred with the Council of Nineteen with regard to the matter, but their response was merely the firm expression to main- tain their rights to territory which they claimed by purchase and priority of possession. The Council of Nineteen then prepared an address to the High Mightinesses of the States-tieneral, requesting them to send an appeal to the King of England to com- mand Lord Baltimore to de-ist in his encroach- ments. In May, 1661, at a meeting of the Coun- cil of Maryland, the whole trouble was settled for After a pleasant dinner the papers were produced and the negotiations were begun with the Gov- ernor and Council. The preliminaries were quiet- ly conducted, but Colonel Utie, who was also pres- ent, soon became excited and declared that if " the Governor and Council would be pleased to renew his eommission, he would do once more what he had done before." The New Netherlanders mildly replied that if that were done. he would be considered a disturber of the publie peace and would be treated as such. This brought on a heated battle of words, which lasted some time. The Dutch had put in a claim for all land between the degrees of 38' and 42- north latitude, and the Marylanders finally broke up the meeting by as- serting that they were unable to take any further action without consulting Lord Baltimore. The friendly relations were once more resumed after the meeting adjourned, and the matter discussed by all parties unotlicially. On the 17th a copy of a short while by the passage of the following resu- lution : " That as it is a matter of doubt whether
Lord Baltimore's grant was submitted to the Dutch at their request, and they now for the first time New Amstel lies below the 40th degree of north lat- discovered that passage in which Lord Baltimore
2 Vol. d., pp. 3-7-3>
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BOUNDARY DISPUTES AND SETTLEMENT.
tude, and as the West India Company appears resolved to maintain their possessions by force, and there is no prospect of aid from the other colonies in any attempts which they might make to reduce them, all further efforts for their subjugation should be delayed until the will of the proprietary can bea + certaioed and that in the mean time someeffort should be made to determine whether the settlement was located within the limits of the grant." Lord Bal- timore nevertheless took the additional precau- tion of securing a confirmation of his patent from the King, on July 2, 1661, so as to he better prepared to meet Dutch elaims in the future.
The boundary disputes were now allowed to re- main nndisturbed for a few years, but with the transfer of the New Netherlands to the Duke of York, in 1664, a new factor was introdneed. The accession of an English Governor somewhat ap- peased the desires of Lord Baltimore, and he was during a brief period a source of no annoyance to the proprietors of the Delaware region. That his claims were not completely dropped is evident from a minute of the Council in 1672, from which it ean be inferred that in that year the Maryland- ers had again sent their agents to the Delaware, who, without any ceremony, had proceeded to sur- vey the land with the apparent purpose of assert- ing their authority over Whorekill. Later in the year a Marylander named Jones created a consid- erahle disturbance there by plundering the people and magistrates, and the affair was taken up by the Governors of the two provinces. This it was feared was another attempt to gain possession of the territory for Maryland, but it appears to have been no more than an outrage by private parties. A similar attack was made in 1674. These were quite sufficient to make the Marylanders a constant object of dread and suspicion to the inhabitants on the Delaware. This is illustrated by an incident in 1677. It was learned that Colonel Coursey was going to New York as an agent from Mart land, and would pass through New Castle. When it was heard, however, that he would be accompanied by a number of others, a special meeting of the commander and justices was called and the militia was summoned to appear with arms and ammuni- tion, under Captain Cantwell, and await the arrival of Colonel Coursey. But it was nevertheless or- dered that in case the colonel should announce his arrival and business, that he be hospitably received. It was in 1678 that the boundaries were agreed upon between Upland and New Castle Counties The decision was reached on November 22d be- tween the Upland Court and President John Mall, of the New Castle Court, and declared the " county of Upland to begin from the north side of Oule Fransen's creek, otherwise called Steenkill, lying on the bight above the Verdrietige Hoek, and from
the said creek over to the single the point on the east side of this river."
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