USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of the county of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 5
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1 Col. Hist. of N. Y., ¿. , 195. 2 Valentine's Manual, 1863, 540.
3 Hendrick Kip was heard to say : " The Kivit (meaning the director) ought to be packed off to Holland in the Peacock, with a letter of recommendation to Master Gerrit (the public executioner) and a pound flemish, so that he may give him a nobleman's death." N. Y. Col. MSS., ii., 53.
42
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
It was now approaching the latter part of March. The season of the year was near when the Indians must prepare for the maintenance of themselves and families by planting. This could not be done in the midst of a war. Advances were therefore made by Pennawitz, chief of the Canarsees, for the re-establish- ment of peace. This resulted in a " talk " on Long Island, fol- lowed by a treaty of " solid peace" on the 25th of March.1 Some of the Long Island sachems then went to Hackensack and Tappaen to persuade those tribes to send to the fort and make peace with the Dutch. Nearly a month passed before they could be induced to put any faith in the Director. At length Oritany, sachem of the Hackensacks, invested with full power by the neighboring tribes, repaired to Fort Amsterdam, and entered into the following compact :
" This day, the twenty-second of April, 1643, between Wil- lem Kieft, Director-General, and the Council of the New Neth- erlands, on the one side, and Oratatin, Sachem of the savages residing at Ack-kin-kas-hacky,2 who declared that he was dele- gated by and for those at Tappaen, Reckgawawane, Kietawane, and Sintsinck, on the other side, is a PEACE concluded in the following manner, to wit :
" All injustices committed by said nations against the Nether- landers, or by the Netherlanders against said nations, shall be forgiven and forgotten forever ; reciprocally promising, one the other, to cause no trouble, the one the other ; but whenever the savages understand that any nation, not mentioned in this treaty, may be plotting mischief against the Christians, then they will give to them a timely warning, and not admit such a nation within their own limits."3
To impress the savages with the solemnity and honesty of this compact, presents were mutually exchanged. But these savages, untutored in the elaborate deceptions of diplomacy, did not feel that the presents received were commensurate with the great
1 Valentine's Manual, 1863, 540.
2 Hackensack.
3 Alb. Rec., ii., 220 ; O'Cal., N. N., ¿. , 277.
43
THIE WORK OF DESTRUCTION CONTINUED.
wrongs they had suffered, and they went away grumbling. Hence the peace thus concluded was only apparent and did not last long. The river tribes were not at ease. The great injuries inflicted upon them by the hated Swannekins were unavenged or unatoned, and nothing but blood or a full satisfaction could extinguish the fierce hatred which they nursed. Early in Au- gust the war whoop was sounded above the Highlands, and thence rolled southward. In some instances by stealth, in others by open violence, the savages waged a relentless war. Seven differ- ent tribes joined the coalition, which spread terror on every side. In this hour of peril Kieft called upon the people whom he had previously slighted to come to his assistance. They selected EIGHT representatives to confer and advise with the Director and Council. In this body was Jan Jansen Damen, but, for the part he had taken in bringing about the February massacre, he was expelled, and Jan Evertsen Bout of Communipaw chosen in his stead. The EIGHT resolved on war, and Kieft proceeded to arm the people, and stationed them in small companies to pro- tect the outlying settlements. But the savages were alert and gave the Dutch but little time for preparation. The force detailed to defend Lord Nederhorst's colonie were routed on the night of September 17th, and the house in which they took ref- uge was burned. Jacob Stoffelsen, then living near the present corner of Henderson and Third streets in Jersey City, fearing his place might be injured, had three or four soldiers detailed for its protection. On the 1st of October nine Indians came to his house. They were kindly disposed toward him, and did not desire to injure his person. Under some pretence they induced him to cross over to the fort. They then approached the soldiers as friends. These, being thrown off their guard by this show of friendship, gave no attention to their muskets, were attacked and killed, and the buildings burned. The savages took young Ide Van Vorst prisoner and carried him off to Tappaen.1 Aert Teunissen of Hoboken, out on a trading excursion, was killed
1 N. Y. Hist. Soc., N. S., i., 272. The next day, at the request of Kieft and Stoffelsen, De Vries went to Tappaen and ransomed the " boy."
44
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
near Sandy Hook,1 and afterward his farm was laid waste and his cattle were destroyed. The four bouweries in Pavonia- Bout's at Gamoenepaen, Wouterssen's at Jan de Lacher's Hoeck, Stoffelsen's at Ahasimus, and Teunissen's at Hoboken-were laid waste and the buildings destroyed, not generally by open force, but by creeping through the bush and setting fire to the roofs, which were constructed either of reeds or straw .? Before leaving, they burned every house in Pavonia, except the brew house in Hoboken,3 and destroyed every bouwerie and planta- tion, with twenty-five lasts4 of corn and other produce, and killed or drove away the cattle.5 Pavonia and adjoining districts suf- fered more than any other section. So thoroughly was their de- struction accomplished that from Tappaen to the Highlands of the Navesinck the country was once more in possession of its ori- ginal masters.6 All was desolation. In the language of the EIGHT to the States General : " Every place almost is abandoned. We, wretched people, must skulk, with wives and little ones, that still are left, in poverty together, by and around the fort on the Manhattes, where we are not one hour safe. These heathen are strong in might. They have formed an alliance with seven other nations; are well provided with guns, powder, and ball, in exchange for beaver by private traders, who have had for a long time free course here. The rest they take from our brethren whom they murder.""
These troubles produced much discontent among the colonists. Poverty followed in the wake of the war. The company's treas- ury was depleted, and Kieft attempted to replenish it by heavier taxation. This, added to the war, kept the country in an almost disorganized condition until the spring of 1645. Then a number of tribes concluded a treaty of peace with the Dutch. In honor of this event, a " grand salute of three guns" was fired by Jacob Jacobsen Roy, gunner in Fort Amsterdam. Unfortunately, one of the pieces-a brass six-pounder-exploded, and poor Roy was
1 Valentine's Hist. of N. Y., 47.
3 Col. Hist. of N. Y., i., 329.
6 O'Cal., N. N., i., 389.
2 Ibid, 46; Col. Hist. of N. Y., i .. 185.
4 Ibid, i., 190. 5 Broadhead, i., 369.
7 Ibid, i., 393.
45
TREATY OF PEACE IN 1645.
badly wounded in the right arm.1 It was not, however, until the thirtieth of August, that the river Indians consented to lay down their arms, and enter into the following treaty :
" This day, being the 30th of August, 1645, appeared in the Fort Amsterdam, before the Director and Council, in the pres- ence of the whole Commonalty, the sachems or chief's of the sav- ages, as well in their own behalf as being authorized by the neigh- boring savages, namely: ORATANEY, Chief of Ackinkes-hacky; SESSEKENICK and WILLIAM, Chiefs of Tappaen and Reckgara- wank ; PACHAM and PENNEWINK (who were here yesterday and gave their power of attorney to the former, and also took upon themselves to answer for those of Onuney and the vicinity of Majanwetinnemin, of Marechowick, of Nyack and its neighbor- hood), and AEPJEN, who personally appeared, speaking in behalf of Wapping, Wiquaeskecks, Sintsnicks and Kichtawons.
"FIRST. They agree to conclude with us a solid and durable peace, which they promise to keep faithfully, as we also obligate ourselves to do on our part.
"SECOND. If it happen (which God in his mercy avert) that there arise some difficulty between us and them, no warfare shall ensue in consequence, but they shall complain to our Governor, and we shall complain to their sachems.
" If any person shall be killed or murdered, justice shall be directly administered upon the murderer, that we may henceforth live in peace and amity.
" THIRD. They are not to come on Manhattan Island, nor in the neighborhood of Christian dwellings with their arms; neither will we approach their villages with our guns, except we are con- ducted thither by a savage to give them warning.
" FOURTH. And whereas, there is yet among them an English girl, whom they promised to conduct to the English at Stamford, they still engage, if she is not already conducted there, to bring her there in safety, and we promise in return to pay them the ransom which has been promised by the English.
1 V. Y. Col. MISS., iv., 221.
46
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
" All which is promised to be religiously performed throughout the whole of New Netherlands.
"Done in Fort Amsterdam, in the open air, by the Director and Council in New Netherland, and the whole commonalty, called together for this purpose, in the presence of the MAQUAS ambassadors, who are solicited to assist in this negotiation as arbitrators, and Cornelius Anthonissen, their interpreter, and an arbitrator with them in this solemn affair. Done as above."
This treaty was signed by Sisendogo, Claes Norman, Orataney, Sessekemis, William of Tappaen, Jacob Stoffelsen, Aepjen, sachem of the Mohicans, and Cornelis Teunissen, all of whom affixed their mark ; and by Willem Kieft, La Montagne, Jan Underhill, Francis Donghty, George Baxter, Richard Smith, Gysbert Opdyke, Jan Evertsen Bout, Oloff Stevensen and Cor- nelis Haykens.1
Thus elosed the first Indian war. It had been carried on for eighteen months with but slight intermission. On the return of peace, the owners and tenants of farms on the west side of the river came baek to and rebuilt their desolated bonweries .?
1 Valentine's Manual, 1863, 544.
2 Bout was among the number who returned. Before he had reconstructed his dwelling, however, he sold the " farm and a poor, unfinished house, with some few cattle, for 8,000 florins," to Michael Jansen. Col. Hist. of N. Y., ¿. , 432. Vide Vreeland Family. It is probable that Jansen purchased this farm in 1646. Certainly he was residing there in September, 1647. The farm sold to Jansen was only part of the tract given to Bout by the Company. The other part he sold to Claes Comptah, alias Claes Pietersen Cos, for 1,444 florins, 3 stivers. New Amst. Rec., iii., 143. Winfield's Land Titles, 48.
.
CHAPTER III .- 1646-1658.
Arrival of Stuyvesant-Murder of Simon Walinges at Paulus Hoeek-Confer- ence with the Indians-Tracts of land taken up in the County-War again breaks out-Pavonia destroyed-All the settlers flee -- Indians return their prisoners to Paulus Hoeck-Detached settlements forbidden -Persecution of the Quakers.
ON the 28th of July, 1646, Petrus Stuyvesant was commis- sioned Director General, and arrived at Manhattan on the 11th of May, 1647. Shortly after his arrival the Indians began to complain that the presents promised to them when they entered into the treaty of peace had not been received. Being without money and without goods, he was unable to satisfy their demands. and yet knew that if a war should break out, he would be cen- sured by the fickle multitude. In this dilemma the commonalty were called upon to select eighteen representatives, from whom the Director and Council selected NINE to advise the Govern- ment when requested. Manhattan, Brenekelen, Amersfoort and Pavonia made the necessary selections from their best citi- zens.1 From Pavonia appeared Michiel Jansen, the farmer,
I The merchants, burghers and farmers were represented in this Board. Its duties were-First. To promote the honor of God, the welfare of the country, and the preservation of the Reformed Religion, according to the discipline of the Dutch Church. Second. To give their opinion on matters submitted to them by the Director and Council. Third. Three of the nine, viz. : One merchant, one burgher, and one farmer, were to attend for a month in rotation on the weekly court, as long as civil cases were before it, and to act subsequently as referees or arbitrators on cases referred to them. If, in case of sickness or ab- sence, either of these three could not attend, his place was to be filled by an- other of the NINE of the same class. Six retired from oflice annually, to be replaced by an equal number selected from twelve names sent in by the whole board. They held their sessions in David Provoost's school room, and were the immediate precursors of the Burgomasters and Schepens, and of a municipal form of government in the city of New Amsterdam. New Neth. Reg., 55. 47
48
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
who held a seat in the same body in the years 1649 and 1650.1
Stuyvesant profited by the experience of his predecessor in his intercourse with the Indians. ITis manner toward them was conciliatory, and it was nearly two years after his arrival before any difficulty arose on this side of the Hudson, and even this was seized upon by the Director to prove the mildness of his govern- ment toward the natives. The following resolution of the Council, passed March 11, 1649, and the subsequent conference with the Indians, throw all the light upon this incident which can now be obtained :
" Whereas, on the 9th of March last, at Pavonia, about Paulus Hoeck, one Sinon Walinges? was found dead, having been, as is supposed from the arrows and wounds in his head, killed by the Indians, although it cannot be ascertained to what tribe they belonged ; yet thus far it is the general opinion that it was done by strangers, either from the Raritan or from the south, lured to this erime by their avarice, because they took from the house in which the murdered man resided about three hundred guilders in strung sewant, four beavers and five otters, with some cloth and friezes, which theft, no doubt, drew the man from his house, as he was discovered a pistol shot from the door in the path, lying dead on the ground, with a small ladder in his hand,3 and as the murdered man, without knowledge of the court, and against common usage, was carried, by some individuals, away from the spot where he was killed, and brought to this side of the river on the Manhattans before this city ; so the transaction has occasioned much commotion among the inhabitants and Indians -more so as some of our people took hold of the Indians and denounced them as guilty of the crime, which was then followed
1 New Neth. Reg., 56.
2 His surname was Van der Bilt. Broadhead, i., 509. He came to this country in 1636, and settled in Rensselaerwyck.
3 The meaning of this I do not comprehend, unless he lived in a sort of block- house, which rendered a ladder necessary for entrance and exit, and which, in the excitement of the moment, he carried with him after emerging from the house in pursuit of the thieves.
.
49
MURDER OF WALINGES AT PAULUS HIOECK.
by a general flight of the Indians from the Manhattans, and accounts of the transaction were spread far and wide.
" Wherefore, to prevent its spreading further, the Director General and Council have deemed it advisable-first, to make no further stir about this murder, and do our best to appease both Christians and Indians, and reconeile them again to one another, to bury the corpse, and urge the Christians carefully to abstain from betraying any desire of revenge."1
The Indians, fearing that the Director would seek revenge after the manner of his predecessor, sent some of their leading men to New Amsterdam to ask forgiveness and renew the cov- enant of friendship. On the 19th of July the Sachems Seyse- gekkunes, Oratamus (Orataney?), Willem of Tappaen, and Pen- nekek of Achter Col (Elizabethtown), met the Council at the fort. Pennekek made a speech to the effeet that the Minquas of the south desired to live with the Dutch in friendship, and, to signify their wish, he laid down a present for the Director ; that one Indian of Meekgackhanie had lately, without the knowledge of his people, done some mischief at Paulus Hoeek, and asked that it might be exeused ; that the Raritans, residing formerly at Wiekquakeek, had a saehem, and wished him to intercede for them ; that Meyternaek, Sachem of Nyack, with his tribe, was desirous to be included in the treaty, and would continue and remain friends to the Dutch ; that he proclaimed the same for the Indians of Remahennonk ; that their heart was upright, and they wished to live with the Dutch in friendship, and that all the past might be forgotten, and said : " Could you see my heart, then you would be convinced that my words are sincere and true."
Governor Stuyvesant replied in a conciliatory speech, and pre- sented the Indians with about twenty florins, and some tobacco and a gun to Oratamus. The Indians were delighted, reaffirmed the treaty of peace, and returned to their homes.2
From this time until the year 1655 the settlers on the west side of the Hudson pursued the even tenor of their way without
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., ¿e., 428.
2 Valentine's Manual, 1863, 548.
4
50
HISTORY OF IIUDSON COUNTY.
much disturbance from any source. They joined in the general crusade against the hard-headed Peter, very much as the masses now do against officials, but beyond this they were occupied in improving their farms. The favorable situation of the land had attracted notice, and numerous grants had been made by the company to individuals since the devastating war of 1643. The wounds of that terrible contest were healed, and health and prosperity were everywhere visible. Jacob Jacobsen Roy, the gunner of Fort Amsterdam, had received a grant for one hun- dred and fifteen morgens of land at Constapel's Hoeck.1 Claas Carstensen, the Norman, sometimes called Van Sandt, had taken up fifty morgens, extending from bay to bay, and including the central part of the recent township of Greenville, then called Minkakwa.2 Maryn Adriaensen had received a plantation of
1 Land Papers (Albany), G. G., 141. Winfield's Land Titles, 73. The Dutch word for gunner is konstapel; hence Konstapel's Hoeck, or Gunner's Point. It derived its name from the occupation of its first European owner. It lies east of Bergen Point, at the mouth of the Kill van Kull. It is a rolling piece of sandy land, separated from the main by salt marsh. Different parts of it are known as Bird's Point, Van Buskirk's Point, and Mitchell's Point. On account of its distance from populous settlements, it is being extensively devoted to those kinds of pursuits which require isolation. Its Indian name was Nip- nichsen. Roy received the patent in March, 1646. His wife's name was Fokeltje Willems. N. Y. Col. MSS., ii., 29.
2 Land Papers (Albany), G. G., 197. Winfield's Land Titles, 59. The map of the county will show that Cavan Point is about opposite Droyer's Point- the former in New York bay, the latter in Newark bay. The two points stretch out like wings. Above them are meadows, below them is a good shore, and only about one-half the distance across. By rowing around either of these points the natives had a short and easy portage from one bay to the other, and a good landing upon either side. Hence they named the place Minkakwu (corrupted by the Dutch into Mingackque), " the place of the good crossing"-from mino, or min, " good," and kakiwe, " to cross over a point of land on foot." It in- cluded that part of the county which lies between the Morris canal, or Fiddler's Elbow, on the south, and the bluff where the Central Railroad crosses the Morris canal on the north.
Prior to 1644 Carstensen lived on Long Island. He married Hilletje Hen- dricks, April 15, 1646 ; was admitted to the rights of a small burgher, April 13, 1657, New Neth. Reg., 172, and appointed interpreter of the Algonquin language in 1658. Ibid, 133.
51
TRACTS OF LAND TAKEN IN THE COUNTY.
fifty morgens at Awiehaken.1 Direk Zieken (or Sycan) had ob- tained a patent for a plantation below Gemoenepaen, and back of Kewan .? Syean's Creek, winding through the meadows, be- tween Cavan Point and the upland, still perpetuates the name of
Winfield's Land Titles, 36. Adriaensen was born in 1600. N. Y. Col. MSS., ¿. , 249. Came from Vere to this country in 1631, and settled in Rensselaerwyck. O'Cal., N. N., i., 434. Ile shortly afterward came to New Amsterdam, was chosen one of the " Twelve," August 29, 1641, and bore a prominent part in the troubles of 1643. He was a bad man, a noted freebooter ; O'Cal., N. N., i., 434 ; a drunkard, N. Y. Col. MSS., i., 200, and a slanderer. Ibid, iv., 94. IIis wife's name was Lysbet Tysen. She survived him, and married Geerlief Mich- ielsen, May 3, 1654. New Amst. Rec., i., 448.
The name of this place is now corrupted into Weehawken, formerly also writ- ten Whehocken, Weehawk and Wechauk, but the true name is as given in the text.
It still retains much of its primitive attractiveness. Halleck has sung its beauty :
Weehawken! In thy mountain scenery yet, All we adore of nature, in her wild And frolic hour of infancy, is met; And never has a summer's morning smiled Upon a lovelier scene. * *
* Tall spire, and glittering roof, and battlement; And banners floating in the sunny air.
And white sails o'er the calm blue waters bend, Green isle and circling shore-are blended there,
In wild reality. When life is old
And many a scene forgot, the heart will hold Its memory of this.
The word is Indian, and several attempts have been made at its definition. Weeh-ruh-ink, the termination in auk, meaning " tree," suspected to apply to the rock which in its structure resembles trees. N. Y. IIist. Soc. Proc., 1844. 106. The modern orthography gives a sound similar to Ye-haw-kans, signify- ing " houses." Macauly's N. Y., ii., 261. In a letter received from IIon. J. Hammond Trumbull, of Connecticut, he says : "The last syllable of Weehaw- ken appears to represent the location affix, ing or ink. I am inclined to believe that Wehoak denotes ' the end' (of the Palisades), corresponding to the Massa- chusetts Wehque, 'ending at,' or wohk-few (Eliot), 'at the end of.' This definition seems to me to be the most probable."
2 The upland along the shore, between the Abattoir and Cavan Point, was granted to Egbert Wouterssen, May 10, 1647, by the Indian name of Apopca- lyck. Winfield's Land Titles, 36. The northerly part is known as Raccocas, formerly Regpokes, Rightpokus, Right-pocques and Right-Coakkus. The lower part was Kewan, now known as Cavan Point, sometimes as Great Kaywan. Kewan is Indian, and signifies a point of land. On a map in Marshall's Wash-
52
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
this owner of the land on its western bank.1 In 1654 patents were issued for land in the southerly part of Jersey City and in Bayonne, down to near the present First Reformed Church. The tracts were designated by this general description, " between Gemoenepaen and the Kil van Kol." Most of them lie within the district afterward known as Pembrepogh, but as that name is not mentioned in the patents, it would seem fair to infer that the same was not then known to the Dutch, or, at least, not ap- plied to this portion of the county. The grants were as follows : October 23, to Jacob Wallingen, from Hoorn,2 - 25 morgens. December 4, to Jan Cornelissen Buys,3 - 25
5, to Jan Lubbertsen,4 25
5, to Jan Gerritsen Van Immen,5 - 25
5, to Jan Cornelissen Schoenmaker,6 - 25
66 5, to Gerrit Pietersen,7 - 25
66 5, to Lubbert Gysbertsen,8 50
66
ington, Vol. V., dated August 27, 1776, Kewan is named " Gallows Point." In the olden time this point extended into New York bay much further than it now does. In the last seventy years the water has encroached upon it at least two hundred feet. A cherry orchard once stood where fishermen now stake their nets.
1 This is the creek through which the water of the Off-fall (which stream took its rise in Tuers' pond, near the Bergen Reformed Church) forced its way to the bay. From Straatmaker's Point to the bay it is yet in existence ; above that point it was destroyed by the construction of the Morris canal.
2 Winfield's Land Titles, 71. It is probable he came to this country with Captain De Vries in 1635 or 1636. N. Y. Col. MSS., i., 64.
3 Winfield's Land Titles, 64. Buys was admitted to the rights of a small burgher, April 14, 1657. He was living in Midwout in 1663. He was known as "' Jan, the Soldier."
4 Ibid, 65. Lubbertsen was appointed clerk of the Company, September 8, 1654, but on the 19th of March, 1658, the same position was refused him. On the 13th of August, 1658, he was licensed to keep school in New Amsterdam, " to teach reading and cyphering ;" was admitted to the rights of a small burgher, April 14, 1657, and appointed one of the commissioners to fortify Bergen in 1663.
5 Ibid, 66.
6 Ibid, 66.
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