History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 65

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 830

USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 65
USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 65

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crossed the river, and in the twinkling of an eye, a house at Hoboken was in flames, and all Pavenia was soon on fire. From the end of the settlement to the other the torch and tomahawk did their work. Excepting the family of Michao Jansen, at Communipaw, every man who did not week safety in flight was killed. All the cattle were destroyed and everything burned. From Pavonia they passed over to Staten Island and Jaid that waste. The attack raged three days with all the fury of savage warfare. The Dutch lost on . hundred and fifty in killed, one hundred and fifty carried into captivity, and over three hundred were deprived of their homes." 1

Ordinance Creating a Fortified Town. - The experience of scattered settlements having hitherto proved the difficulty of adequate protection from the attacks of the Indians, Stuyvesant, with the advice of his Council, in inatation of the plan adopted by the colonists in New England, resolved to order that henceforth the settlers should collect in close, com- pact villages, in situations cusy of defense ; and in pursuance of this purpose, issued the following "Ordinance of the Director-General and Council of New Netherland for the formation of villages, and the prohibiting straw roofs and wooden chimney -. " Passed Jan 18, 1656.

the Country, the most of which might have been, with thed's help, pro- vented and avoided if the good inhabitants of this province bad witled thenerlom together in the form of Towns, Villager and Hamlets, like our neighbors of New England, who, because of their ombinuti in and compact residences, have never been subject to much, at least not for to many and such gebers! disasters, which have been caused, nest le Und's righteous chastisement, ou account of nur sina, by templing the Mago barbariana thereunto by the agorate residences of the country | ple ; the one not being able, in time of need, to come to the assistance of the other, in consequence of the distance of the place and the inom L'lity of the Director-General and Council to provol. euch orjmrate country- house with a guan). To this, then, besides the Murders, Damages, and the destruction of divers Perde, Bouwers a and J'tantati is already enf. Forel is owing also the last, to the serious low and lundrame of this cmantry and the que ople theroot, the recu sure of which is to be appre- honderd and expected bereafter in iem than now and herebefore us the goal Inhabitants are taught by their lives and there of others to be wiser and more prudent, and to allow thenewelves to I influenced In gol law, ne they are bound to, tal ri compet dwellings in muital e pla - in & ra and manner as will be la. blown by the Director-General and tuna- cil, or by their commundonors, when the Director-General and Connell will be alde to amsit and maintain their sul e ta, with the jumer ID- trusted t th m by fall and the supren & Government.

" In order that this may to the better executed and served in future. the Director-General and tu il af round do hereby nos orly warn their gal antyjects, ut likewe= barge mud canmand them to concentrate themselves, by best spring, in the form of Towns, Vila,- and Hundet . to tlint they may L' the more effectually protected, maintained nud de- fended against all umaults and att cke of the Barturiana, by rau cther and by the military entrusted to the Director-General and Comment , Warning all the who will, contrary here noto, remain hereafter no their is Isted plantations, that they will do m' at their peril, withont ob- taining, in time of need, any weistance from the Iirector-General and

I Windeld'a " Ilist. Ilod. C'h., ' pp. 34,58.

034

HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Conne !! They shall, moreover, be fined annually the sum of 25 guilders f . the behoef of the public.

". Furthermore, the Director-General and Council, in order to prevent a t . auilden conflagration do ordain that from now henceforth no HI lare shall be covered with Straw or Keed, nor any more Chimneys be Constructed of Clapboards or Wood.

"Tbus dona, resolved, resumed and enacted in the Assembly of the Director-General and Council, holden at Fort Amsterdam, in New Netu- erland. Dated as above. " 1

This ordinance was not immediately carried into etlect, owing to the reluctance of the people to aban- don their old plantations and to adopt a mode of living not only novel but attended with a sacrifice which many felt ill prepared to make. The ordinance was reaffirmed the next year, and the people com- manded to concentrate in villages.

Repurchase from the Indians .- Preparatory to the erection of such a settlement as the ordinance required, the director-general and Council deemed it prudent to remove all doubts as to the satisfaction of the Indian claim to the land in Pavonia, although it had been regularly purchased by Michael Pauw, the patroon, in 1630, and by him conveyed to the priv- ileged West India Company. Accordingly, on the 30th day of January, 1658, the director-general and Council obtained from the Indians a deed, of which the following is a translation :

" This day, the date hereunder written, appeared before the Honorable Director-General, Petrus Stuyvesant, and the gentlemen of the Council of New Netherland at the council-chamber in the fort Amsterdam in New Netherland . Therincques, Wawapeback, Saghkins, Koglkonnigh, Bo- muakan, Memiwokan, Sames, Wowenutokwee, for themselves and in the name of Moikapes, Pepaghou, Parsoihques and others, partners of the lands hereafter mentioned, who declare to be the right owners of the lands lying on the west side of the North River in New Netherland, be- pinning by the great ruck whove Wiehacken, and from thence cross through the lunds till above the Islandt Siskars, and from thence along the channel-side till l'onstable's Hook. And from Constabla's Hook again till the aforementioned rock above Wiehacken, with all the lands, islands, chen in Is, valleys therein comprehended, in such manuer as the afore- mertioned parcel of lands are surrounded and encompassed by the North River, the Kill-Van-Kull, and the aforesaid direct line from the rock, alive Weehawken till above siskakes, where it is divided by the chan- hel. Which Inndr they offer absolutely to sell unto the director-general nud council, upon which the General and Council on the one side and the aforesaid Indians for themselves and them that are absent huve ac- corded and agreed in the manner following, in the presence of the here after mentioned t kristian and Indian witnerees

The aforesaid Indinna acknowledge to have sold, resigned nud trans- Iw ried, as they do, by the presents, all the lands heretofore mentioned, & the aforesaid Director-General and Council, and their successors, for eighty fathoms of wampum, two binukets, one dumble kettle, und one h-If barrel of strong Wwer. Which etforts they hereby acknowledge tu have enjoyed and received before the passing and signing of this

. Wherefore they do declare, for themselves and them which are absentt to resign and transport the lands before mentioned, to the above mon. the med General and Conueil, in a full, free, and perfect propriety, desisting of all actions and claims, which they could or might pretend, to the lands before mentioned-the transportera promise now or hereafter, not to make why pretensions therron ; but to keep nud hobl this transport, firm, sure ar inviolable. Promising ulas, to the said Director and Council, to fr - and warrant the said lands against all claims nuy other Indians tight pretend to, and if it should happen that in future times any of the Dutch by any Indians, should be damaged on pretention they were not fully paid for the lands aforward, they the sellers do promise to repair and satisfy the damages. It Is also nt puluted and agreed, the aforesaid In aliune shall depart and renouve by the first convenient opportunity, off the lands af reeud , and that none of their nation shall come and continue

to dwell upon upon it, without knowledge and consent of tha Director Generul und Council. This done at the Foort Amsterdam, and algned with the marks of the Indians after the cargoes were delivered to thelr banda, the 30th day of January, Anuo Domino, 1658."

WAS SUBSCRIBED :

the minrk of Therincques, made by himself.

tha mark of Saghkow.

the mark of Sames

the mark of Koghkenningh Wuirimus Couves.

the mark of Wawapehack.

the mark of Bomokan.

the mark of Wewenatokwee.

the mark of Mrmiwokan.

the mark of Sames, as Witness, otherwise called Job."

UNDER WAS .

" We, the subscribers, witnesses hereunto, desired by the Director- General and Council, to certify and declure, by this presout, that the above bargain for the land beforementioned, is so made before us, and the lands, by the sellers transported to the Director-General and Council, on the conditions and terms comprehended in the bill of sale, the con- ditions and anbetance plaiuly told, acquainted and daclared to the sellers by the interpreters, Govert Loocquermuns, Peter Wolphertson van Cowenhoven and Claas Curstense, and also by Wharinies van Couwe, formerly an owner of the lunda aforesaid ; and whereupon, the sellars have consented to the bargain, transported the lunds, and received the mentioned cargoes and wampeus, signed the conditions, with the above marks.

" In witness hereof, we have subscribed this, the day and year aforo- said, at the Fort Amsterdam, in New Netherlandt, in the Council Cham- ber.

" Joh. Megapolensia,

Petrus Stuyvesant,

" Samuel Drisius,

" Oloff Ierensin,

Nicasius de Sille, Piter Tonneman. "

" Govert Loocquermans,

LOWER WAS :

" Pieter Cowenboven,

" Machiel Yanseu.

T. P'resent, and was signed

" Yan Evertsen Bout,

Cornelius Van Ruyvon,

" Fe tha mark of ('luns," Carstensen Nuorman.

Socr.

" Entered upon record by me.

" J. Bullen, Serrat'y "

This deed conveyed all of the present Hudson County lying east of the Hackensack River and Newark Bay, and comprised the territory of the old township of Bergen.

Settlement of Bergen Village .- A petition was signed Jan. 22, 1658, by the following-named per- sons, farmers, who had been driven away by the Indians, to wit,-Michael Jansen, Claas Jansen Backer, Claes Pietersen Vos, Jans Captain, Direk Seiken, Dirck Claesen, and Lysbert Tysen, was pre-

1 .S. V. C.l. V.S. vi. 226 ; Winthelt, Six.

935

OLD BERGEN TOWN AND TOWNSHIP.

sented to the director-general and Council, setting forth that they " should incline to reoccupy their former spots of residence, to restore their buildings and cultivate their foriner fields," and praying that, n view of the injuries and losses which they had sustained, they might be favored "by an exemption of tithes and other burthens during a few years." The exemption was granted for a period of six years ; but the director-general and Council were firm in demanding that they shouldl " concentrate themselves in a village, at least ten or twelve families together, to become in future more secure and easier to receive aid for their defense in similar disastrous occurrences ; without which the Director-General and Council deem the reneeupation of the deserted fields too per- ilous; if it might, nevertheless, happen contrary to their order and placard, the Director-General and Council consider themselves not only excused, but declare that the aforesaid concession, or exemption during six years, shall be null and void." 1

No village had yet been located. But on the Ist day of March, 1660, Tielman Van Vleck and Peter Rudolphus sought permission " to settle on the maize land behind Gomocanepaen." This request, as well as a second petition which followed it, was refused. and the matter was dropped till August With of the same year, when a partition of "several inhabitants" was granted :

" Provided, that the village shall be fo unded and placed on a convenient spot, which may be defended with ease which shall be selected by the Director-General and l'onneil s their C'ominissioners.

" Secondly, that all persons who apply shall share with others by lut, shalt be obliged to make a beginning within the time of six weeks after the drawing of lots, and to send hither at least one person able to hear und bundle arms, and to keep him there, upon n penalty of forfeiting their right, besides an mmende of twenty florins, in behalf of the village, and to pay besides his shure in all the village taxes which during his atww nce have been decreeil and levied."

The precise date of laying out the village is not definitely known ; however, Van Vleck may justly be regarded as the founder of Bergen. He came orig- inally from Bremen, studied under a notary in Amster- dam, came to this country about 1658, and was admitted to practice the same year. He was made the first sehout and president of the court of Bergen, Sept. 5, 1661, and after the capture of the country by the English he returned to New York, and resided there in 1671.2

Bergen Named .- Up to 1660 it is manifest that the present "Jersey City Heights" were without a name and without a white inhabitant. The place was merely described as " behind Gemoenepaen." There was a small clearing about where Montgomery Street crosses Bergen Avenue, but it is probable that it had been made by the Indians, as it was known as the " Indian cornfields." or " Maize land," and, after the village was established, as the " old Maize land." If the reader will keep in mind the date of the peti

tion and permission to form a village, Aug. It, Inco, we will get very close to the date of the foundation of the village of Bergen. In a survey of a lot for Douwe Harmensen, in November, 1660 (the day ofthe month is not given in the return of the survey), the land is described as being "Dintrent het dorp Berghen in't nieuwe maiz Lant," ( near the village of Bergen in the new Maize land.") This particular bt, in the descrip- tion of which the name first weurs, lay " in the rear of Christian Pirtesse's land, in breadth twenty rolls along from the ereupple bush to the kill," and is lot numbered seventy-nine on the fieldl map, and is now, in part at least, owned by the Marion Building Com- pany at West End.3

This survey is conchisive proof that the village then existed and had a name, and bry nd all doubt its position was selected, the village surveyed and laid out, and a name given to it between the 16th of Au- gust and some time in November, 1660.

Many conjectures have been indulged in and some- what has been written as to when and by when Ber- gen was founded, and as to the origin of the name. Writers have generally followed Smith in his supposi- tions that the Danes had assisted the Dutch in its settlement, and that its name was in honor of the capital of Norway. Mr. Whitehead (East Jersey, 16) says it was commenced about Hils, and indorses Smith's origin of the name. Dr. Taylor, in his Annals, 45, holds the same opinion, except as to the deriva- tion of the name. Being mere of a Dutchman than a Dane, he hohls to the probability that the name came from Bergen-op-Zoom, a town in Holland. In the New Jersey Historical Collections, 226, it is said that Bergen is the oldest village in New Jersey, presumed to have been founded about 1616, and to have received its name from Bergen in Norway. Gordon, in his "History of New Jersey," 7. presumes that between 1617 and 1620 a settlement was made at Bergen, and the name taken from the capital of Norway. Mul- ford's "History of New Jersey," 4, indorses this view. Sypher and Apgar, "History of New Jersey," In, with a bold, if not ingenious, originality, say that Hud- son's men (') made small settlements at Bergen as early as 1617, clearly showing that the authors did not know what they were writing about. Yet this work of Sypher and Apgar is designed for a text-book in our schools ! The question arises,

Ist. By whom was it settled ?

From a careful examination of the names of the original settlers, not only of the village of Bergen, but of the Colonie of Pavonia, and after an earnest endeavour to ascertain whence they came, it must be conclusive that the settlement was made by Ilolland- ers (or, perhaps, more properly speaking, Netherland- ers), Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians. Of these were more Netherlanders than of all the others combined. Oldmixon, while intimating a probability that the

1 Albany Recurdla, xiv. 27.

" Winfield's " Hist Ilud. Co.," 68 ; Ibuf. 60, 70.

3 Winfeld's "Land Tliles."

936

HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Danes settled, admits that " the Dutch, always indus- trious in trade, worked them so far out of it that Berghen. the northern part of New Jersey, was al- most entirely planted by Hollanders."-British Em- pire, i. 283.

It may be proper to mention here a statement found in "Pictures of New York,"10: " It was the custom of the Dutch West India Company to grant land to those who have served out the time they had con- tracted for with the company. Hence, Bergen and Communipaw and several other places weresettled by disbanded soldiers; and it is remarkable that the in- habitants of those places retain their ancient manner There is another possible derivation, which it is ! proper to mention, without adopting it. Stuyvesant of living and the very disposition of soldiers, espe- cially the old men still living and their descendants, I directed the village to be located on some spot easy of

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BERGEN AND BUYTEN TUYN IN 1660.

seem most of them to follow their footsteps." Carry- ing the idea of the military settlement still further, it is said among the soldiers of Stuyvesant, who were transplanted to Bergen, were some of the Moorish race, whose peculiar complexion, physiognomy and characteristics are, it is alleged, yet to be traced in their descendants -- the swarthy complexion, the sharp, dark eye and curling black hair, so opposite to the ruddy color, the light eye and fair hair of the Hollander .- N J. Hist. Soc. Proc. 1845-46, 49.

2dl. As to the name.

Bergen in Norway received its name from the hills which almost surrounded it. Bergen - op- Zoom, eighteen miles north of Antwerp stands on a hill sur- rounded by low, marshy ground, which with its for- tifications, afforded great security. Thus it will be

defense. The motive-in fact, the primary thought -- which necessity suggested in the formation of the village was safety. The settlers were driven to it as a city of refuge from the savage foe. In the Dutch language the verb bergen means to "save," probably derived from berg, a hill, which in case of attack is a place of safety. Very appropriate and very beautiful ! - Winfield's Hist. of Ilud. Co.

Beautiful for situation, casily defended, and sur- rounded by good farm lands, the new village was soon in a flourishing condition. It was laid out in a square, the sides of which were eight hundred feet long, with two streets crossing each other at right angles in the centre, 1 and a street around the whole

1 These streets were once straight, but owing to encroachments by adjoin- ing property owners, the one running north and south is quite crooked.

257

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N.33.

seen that the two supposed godfathers of our Bergen received their names from local circumstances. Are not the same circumstances existing here to give the same name to the new village ? On two sides of the hill was marsh, and the only other place for settlement was along the river. To the eye of the Hollander, accustomed to look upon marshes or low land re- deemed from the sea, the ridge growing in height as it extended north from the Kill Von Kull was no mean affair. To him it was Bergen, the Hill, and like the places of the same name in Europe, it took its name from the hill on which it was built.

A L2.

937

OLD BERGEN TOWN AND TOWNSHIP.

plot. Along the exterior of this surrounding street palisades were erected before April, 1661, to secure the place from the attacks of the Indians. In the centre of the plot where the streets intersected was a publie plot of about one hundred and sixty feet by two hundred and twenty-five feet. These streets quartered the town, and each quarter was divided into eight building lots, but by son manipulation the cast quarter was made to contain, in 1764, mine lots, and the north quarter only seven lots. The map in- serted is copied from the field map found in Winfield's " History of Hudson County," and no doubt correctly shows the town plot a- originally laid out, the shape of the lots and the general features of Buyten Tuyn.

On the side of the town where the cross-streets come to the palisades were gates, called the north- east gate, northwest gate, etc., through which were roads leading into the wood.

The beauty and general desirableness of the situ- ation, the fear of the Indians, the stringent orders of the director-general, and the advantages of the new settlement caused the village to grow so rapidly, that in May, 1661, not an unoccupied lot remained inside the fortifications,- Winfield's Hist. of Hud. Co.

The buildings first erected w re of logs, and at least the barns covered with reeds, in spite of the dirce- tor's orders. "In a lease dated April 1. 1661, from Guert Coerten to Jacob Luby, of a 'lot on Gwey- konck, otherwise called the Maize land, being No. 16,' we learn that the town had already passed an ordinance or made an order that the lots should be fenced. The lease provided for the construction of a house thirty feet long, and a barn fifty feet long to be built along the palisades of the village. The lessee was to cut and smooth the timber and hadl it, as also the reeds to cover it. In March the lessor was to deliver on the land a plow and 'a wagon against the harvest following,' for their joint use. He was also to provide the lessee on halves with two young cow's and two three-year-old oxen, on half risk, and in the following spring two more young cows and two oxen. The lease was for six years. Rent tor the first two years, fifteen pounds of butter from each cow ; for the last four years, two hundred guilders in coin or good wampum. This was the first lease of a lot within the town of Bergen, and gives us an idea of the currency then in use."

The land within the village plot was laid out in lots by Jacques Cortelyou, the sworn surveyor, and numbered. This Cortelyou was the first surveyor in New Amsterdam, and made the first map of that city in 1656, and there is no doubt he laid out the town of Bergen and surveyed the adjoining plantations. He was the town surveyor after the country was in possession of the English, and died in 1693, leaving three sons and two daughters.

These lot- adjoining the town were called " Buyten Tuyn," outside gardens, a name which they retain to the present time. In like manner the salt meadow

on the Hackensack, when it did not pass with the upland as one lot, was mapped and numbered. But few of these numbers have been discovered, yet enough to make one regret that the map, the distri- bution and the ownership of the lots in Berger and Buyten Tuyn have not been found. An old historian says, "the manner of laying out originally is -ingu- lar, but small lots where their dwellings are, and these contiguous in the town of Bergen. Their plantations, which they occupy for a livelihood, are at a distance ; the reason of fixing them thu- is said to be through fear of the numerous Indians in the early times of their settlement."

Bergen Chartered .- The village grew rapidly, and in one year it had become of sufficient import- ance to merit a local government. Up to that time, (1661) the C'ourt of Burgomasters and Schepens in New Amsterdam had, since its organization in 1652, exer. cised legal jurisdiction on the west side of the river. Henceforward matters in controversy here were to be decided by a local court, subject to the right of appeal to the director-general and Council.

Aug. 4, 1661, Tillman Van Vleek was, at his own request, appointed schout of the Nimo dorp op't mais- lant, though his commission was dated a month later, as follows:

(MINST Y u) TITLEMAN VAN VLELOK TO RE SHERIFF OF BERGEN N.J. ). " The 50 of September 11.

" Petrus Stuyvesant, in behalf of their High : Might . the Lords States. General of the I'n tel Netherlands and the Noble Lerde-Directors of the Privileged West India Company, Director-General of New & otherland, Curarne Aruba, Bonayro and dependencies with the Honorable Council Greeting

" Know Je, Whereas for the promotion of justice in the village of Ber- gen, site . on the west side of the North River of New Netherland a . sitable porn is required, to attend the re to the duties of the Schout's office, for which place one Tieleman van Vleeck, Notary public in this city, has been proposed, Therefore we have, conthing in his ability, piety and good part appointed and commissioned, an we hereby appoint and , ummitsinh the same to be schont of the aforesaid village, to holdt, have charge of and serve in the caldo the at the aforesaid place and the district thereof, iruant w the instruct na, which he has a ready received r may hereafter receive, to bring to justice accordingly all breaker of all je litieni, civil and criminal lawe, onlinances and placard-, tu e. v0- ente and punish them with the punishmentsexpr. Itherein. to demand that upon his directi in and accusation all criminal matters and alorson shall be corrected und abated and all " it mes speedily and without delay be executed and to do further, what a good and faithful Schout is bound to do In this r gard, on the vath taken by him We charge there- fore the schopens and inhabitants in the district of the af rraand village t , arknowledge the wud Tieleman van Vleeck as our officer and shout, ne afuresaid, and to give and cause to be given to him, upon request, all necesary and posible momentan. in the discharge of his duties for wa have con lund. 1. that this I necrwry for the service of the HenNe C u- tens and the promotion of justice Thus dene at the meeting of the Noble Directortion ral and Council, held at Fort Vort rdam in New- Netherland, the 50 of September A. lo01 "- N. J Hist. & Archires.

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 65

Author: Shaw, William H Publication date: 1884 Publisher: [United States :] Number of Pages: 830

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 830