USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of the county of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 6
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
7 Ibid, 65. Pietersen was admitted to the rights of a small burgher in 1657.
8 Ibid, 62. Gysbertsen was a wheelwright by trade; came over in 1634, and settled in Rensselaerswyck.
53
MORE TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS.
December 5, to Jan Cornelissen Crynnen,1 - 25 morgens.
5, to Gysbert Lubbertsen,2 25
5, to Hendrick Jansen Van Schalckwyck,3 25
Michiel Jansen had also received a patent for twenty-six and a half morgens, and his brother-in-law, Claes Jansen, the baker, a patent for forty morgens lying at and near Communipaw. At Hoboken, Ahasimus, Paulus Hoeck,4 and Communipaw were flourishing farms.5
Ten years had passed since the treaty with Kieft had secured peace to the country. We have now reached the month of Sep- tember, 1655. Stuyvesant, in command of a squadron of seven vessels, having on board between six and seven hundred men, had departed on the fifth for the Sonth river to expel the Swedes, who had made a settlement there.6 In his absence troubles arose which bore disastrously upon the settlements on the west side of the river. They grew ont of such a trifling fact that one almost fails to appreciate the wonderful stupidity which precipi- tated them.
Hendrick Van Dyck, the schont-fiscal, had a farm in New Am- sterdam south of Trinity Church, extending from Broadway to the North river. He had with much care planted a peach or- chard with trees imported from Holland. This fruit was a rarity in those days, and to the Indians it was a novelty. The sight of the blushing peach was a sore temptation to the poor savages, so irresistible, indeed, that they were not loth to venture their lives in the dark nights to sail around in their canoes, and, by a stealthy march and scaling of fences, to appropriate the fruit. The wrath of Van Dyck's wife upon discovering these raids upon
2 Ibid, 69.
1 Winfield's Land Titles, 68.
3 Ibid, 70. The most of these patentees were soldiers.
4 This place was, during this year, called on to furnish its quota of troops to exterminate the pirates on Long Island Sound. It furnished one man of the forty required for that purpose. O'Cal., N. N., ii., 258.
5 Mr. Whitehead, a scholar of accurate learning, says that the several planta- tions on this side of the river were abandoned in 1651. Whitehead's East Jersey,
20. This is a mistake. They were not abandoned until 1655.
6 Broadhead, ¿. , 604.
54
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
her orchard knew no bounds. A watch was set for the thieving savage, but in the chase the wild rover was too nimble for the heavy-bottomed Dutchmen. As capture was impossible, nothing remained but to give the rogues a dose of shot, and Van Dyck was assigned to the duty. At midnight he secreted himself in the orchard and waited for the intruder. A dim figure soon scaled the fence and began to pluck the forbidden fruit. Van Dyck fired ; the victim fell. It was an Indian girl, and she was dead. The news of the ontrage soon spread, and the Indians de- liberately resolved npon signal vengeance. Giving no warning of their purpose, on the night of the 15th of September sixty-four canoes, carrying five hundred warriors, all armed,1 landed at New Amsterdam and scattered themselves through the streets. Van Dyck, for whom they were searching, fled to the house of his neighbor, Vandiegrist .? They attacked the house, and in the affray Van Dyck was wounded in the breast by an arrow, and Vandiegrist was cut down with a tomahawk. The town was quickly aroused ; the guard attacked the savages and drove them to their canoes. They then crossed over to the west side of the river, and " in the twinkle of an eye" a house at Hoboken3 was in flames, and all Pavonia was soon on fire. From one end of the settlement to the other the torch and the tomahawk did their work. Excepting the family of Michiel Jansen at Communipaw, every man who did not seek safety in flight was killed. All the cattle were destroyed, and everything burned. From Pavonia they passed over to Staten Island, and laid that waste.4 The at-
1 Fourteen hundred men belonging to the same expedition arrived shortly afterward. Valentine's Manual, 1863, 552.
2 This Vandiegrist was subsequently one of the owners of Slaugh's Meadow. Winfield's Land Titles, 128.
3 Vanderkemp translates this " Harbol." Alb. Rec., xiii., 327.
4 Captain Adrian Post, his wife, five children, one servant and one girl, were saved, Alb. Rec., viii., 158, but captured. O'Cal., N. N., ii., 293. He afterward acted for the Dutch Government in redeeming captives taken by the Indians. He settled in Bergen, where he became ensign, Sept. 6, 1665 ; representative, June 10, 1673; the first prison-keeper in East Jersey, July 19, 1673, and lieu- tenant, July 15, 1675. He was a man of considerable influence, and the founder of the Post family. He resided in the town on lot 164 ; Winfield's Land Titles, 81; and died Feb. 28, 1677.
55
PAVONIA ENTIRELY DESTROYED.
tack raged for three days with all the fury of savage warfare. The Dutch lost one hundred in killed, one hundred and fifty were carried into captivity, and over three hundred were de- prived of their homes. Twenty-eight bouweries and a number of plantations were destroyed, besides a large amount of grain and a number of cattle.1 The savages of Ahasimus, Aekinke- shacky, Tappaen, and others were present in this conflict, and were guilty of shocking cruelties, against their solemn promise, confirmed by an oath, which they never took before, viz. : " May God, who resides above, take vengeance on us if we do not keep our engagements and promises."?
For the second time Pavonia was a desolation. The settlers on this side of the river, in common with those of other places, took wing and fled to New Amsterdam for protection.3 Here the most of them remained for the next five years, until better days returned. As soon as Stuyvesant, then on the Delaware, heard of the attack by the savages, he hastened his return. Im- mediately on his arrival he adopted plans for the defence of the Province. The Indians, being encumbered with the prisoners they had taken, sent in Captain Post with a proposal of ransom. On the 13th of October Pieter Kock+ conducted Captain Post back to Paulus Hoeck, where he met the Indians. They were displeased that the captain had not returned at the time speci- fied, and gave expression to their feelings by saying, " Ye Dutch- men lie so fast that we cannot trust you." They promised, how- ever, that all the prisoners should be at Paulus Hoeck within two days. " Come and see it."5
Although they had invited negotiation and accused the Dutch of falsehood, they prevaricated and delayed to release the cap- tives. Stuyvesant soon lost all patience with them, and issued the following order :
1 O'Cal., N. N., ii., 291.
2 Alb. Rec., x., 165.
3 Valentine's Manual, 1860, 616.
4 Pieter was accustomed to come to the shores of Pavonia under more favor- able circumstances. It was here, but a few years before, that he wooed but failed to win Annetje Van Vorst.
5 Alb. Rec., xiii., 65.
56
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
" CAPTAIN POST .- Whereas, the savages appear studiously to delay the pending negotiations, which were begun with mutual consent, and with a prospect of satisfactory arrangement, and as they appear, by their repeated excursions, to endeavor to dis- courage our soldiers, by keeping them constantly on the move, and being ferried over time and time again, meantime no deci- sion is come to respecting the prisoners in their hands;
" Therefore, we desire you, or any other person familiar with the Indian language, to demand in our name of the Sachems Pennekek, Orataney, and others, what is their final intention, and whether they have concluded to deliver over our prisoners or not, and if so, when. And we also require that they will not keep us longer in suspense or tell us lies.
" Done in Fort Amsterdam, October 16, 1655."1
On the following day the Sachem of Achter Col brought to Paulus Hoeck a number of his captives, as appears by the fol- lowing action of October 18th :
" WHEREAS, Pennekek, a chief of the savages, did yesterday, being the 17th of October, bring in fourteen persons of the Dutch nation, males and females, who had been taken captive by his nation, and placed them again under the protection of the Dutch government, and at the same time, as a further token of his good will, brought in Captain Post, he also a prisoner, and there- upon solicited the Director to reciprocate his courtesy in present- ing him with some powder and balls ;
" The Director-General and Council judge the request of Pen- nekek a matter of considerable importance, and having mature- ly considered it, resolved to send him, as a proof of their good will, two Indians who were taken captive by our men, as a free gift of the Director-General, with a small quantity of powder and ball, in the hope that by these means the remaining Chris- tians may obtain their liberty."2
The fact that a body of savages with prisoners were gathered at Paulus Hoeck caused quite a commotion in New Amsterdam
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., vi., 153.
2 Valentine's Manual, 1863. 557.
57
THE INDIANS SURRENDER THEIR CAPTIVES.
The curious rowed over to Pavonia and prowled around the camp. Those who were indignant over the captivity of rela- tives insulted the Indians if they landed on Manhattan. The authorities, fearing the natural result of such conduct, made a general order on the 18th of October that no person should pre- sume to go over to Paulus Hoeck, by boat, canoe, or other ves- sel, nor should any one converse with the Indians, under penalty of correction. No person, whoever he might be, should, on the arrival or departure of any boat, or when the Indians should ar- rive, crowd to the landing, or indulge in clamor or noise, under penalty of imprisonment, whether young or old. If any per- son crossed the river without showing a token (or permit) from the authorities, the Indians were authorized to arrest and hold him for ransom.1 On the 19th Post, Claes Jansen de Ruyter, and Peter Wolfertsen van Couwenhoven brought over the above views of the government, with some presents for the Indians. and returned on the 21st with twenty-eight ransomed captives. The savages also sent a message that twenty or twenty-four others would be sent in on receipt of a proper quantity of friezes, guns, wampum, and ammunition. The Director then wished to know how much they would take for the " prisoners en masse, or for each." They replied, seventy-eight pounds of powder and forty staves of lead for twenty-eight persons.2 The offer was ac- cepted, and additional presents made. This seems to have ended the second general Indian war.
At this time it does not appear that there was one white resi- dent remaining within the limits of this county. The savage was again the undisturbed lord of the soil. Even Michiel Jan- sen, who escaped the slaughter of September, had fled to New Amsterdam with his numerous family. Stuyvesant, being a practical man, attempted not only to conciliate the Indians for the present, but to provide for the safety of settlers in the fu- ture. He had long before this, and on several occasions, made known his views as to the impropriety of detached or isolated settlements, which exposed the people to destruction. He now
N. Y. Col. MSS., ci., 107.
2 O'Cal., N. N., ii., 294.
58
IIISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
put those views into definite and authoritative shape by the fol- lowing
" ORDINANCE
Of the Director-General and Council of New Netherland for the formation of villages, and prohibiting straw roofs and wooden chimneys. Passed January 18th, 1656.
"WHEREAS, sad experience hath from time to time proved that, in consequence of the separate dwellings of the country peo- ple located on the Flatland in divers hooks and places, in com- plete opposition to the Order and good intention of the Honble Company and its government here, many murders of People, killing and destruction of Cattle, and burning of Houses, have been committed and perpetrated by the Indians, natives of this Country, the most of which might have been, with God's help, prevented and avoided, if the good Inhabitants of this Province had settled themselves together in the form of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, like our neighbors of New England, who, because of their combination and compact residences, have never been subject to such, at least not to so many and such general disasters, which have been caused, next to God's righteous chastisement, on ac- count of our sins, by tempting the Savage Barbarians thereto by the separate residences of the Country people; the one not being able, in time of need, to come to the assistance of the other, in consequence of the distance of the places, and the im- possibility of the Director-General and Council to provide each separate country house with a guard. To this, then, besides the Murders, Damages, and destruction of divers People, Bonwer- ies, and Plantations already suffered, is owing also the last, to the serious loss and hindrance of this country and the people thereof, the recurrence of which is to be apprehended and ex- pected hereafter no less than now and heretofore, unless the good Inhabitants are taught by their losses and those of others to be wiser and more prudent, and to allow themselves to be in- fluenced by good law, as they are bound to be, to form compact dwellings in suitable places in form and manner as will be laid down to the Inhabitants by the Director-General and Council, or their Commissioners, when the Director-General and Council
59
DETACHED SETTLEMENTS FORBIDDEN.
will be able to assist and maintain their subjects, with the power intrusted to them by God and the Supreme government.
"In order that this may be the better executed and obeyed in future, the Director-General and Council aforesaid do hereby not only warn their good subjects, but likewise charge and command them to concentrate themselves, by next Spring, in the form of Towns, Villages and Hamlets, so that they may be the more effectually protected, maintained and defended against all assaults and attacks of the Barbarians, by each other and by the military intrusted to the Director-General and Council ; Warning all those who will, contrary hereunto, remain hereafter on their isolated plantations, that they will do so at their peril, without obtaining, in time of need, any assistance from the Director-Gen- eral and Council. They shall, moreover, be fined annually in the sum of 25 guilders for the behoof of the public.1
"Furthermore, the Director-General and Council, in order to prevent a too sudden conflagration, do Ordain that from now henceforth no Houses shall be covered with Straw or Reed, nor any more Chimneys be constructed of Clapboards or Wood.
" Thus done, resolved, resumed and enacted in the Assembly of the Director-General and Council, holden in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland. Dated as above."?
During the following summer the authorities, on information
1 In the latter part of this year Jacob Stoffelsen asked for permission to re- turn to his farm at Harsimus. In his petition he set forth that he had been twice driven away by the Indians, that he was an old man, and was willing to build a small house and barn. The authorities insisted upon their placard of January 18th. They claimed that imperious necessity required that separated settlements should be discouraged. Yet they permitted Stoffelsen to continue the cultivation of his farm at his own risk during the following year. This on December 21, 1656. N. Y. Col. MSS., viii., 313.
2 N. Y. Col. MSS., vi., 226. On the subject of the preceding ordinance, the Directors in Amsterdam wrote as follows, December 19, 1656 :
" We are well pleased with the Edict your Honors have enacted respecting the separate habitations of the outside people, provided it apply to the Builders of new dwellings, and not to those whose houses are already erected and con- structed, for we do not think it fair to constrain the latter thereto." N. Y. Col MSS., xii., 45.
60
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
that a few Tappaen Indians were contemplating mischief against the whites, reaffirmed the above ordinance, and commanded the people to concentrate in villages.1
This ordinance was perhaps the principal cause which pre- vented the repeopling of Pavonia for several years. The people could not make up their minds to abandon their separate settle- ments and concentrate in villages. Therefore they quietly re- mained in exile upon the Island of Manhattan. Neither they nor the authorities would abandon their positions ; hence the fields of Pavonia remained desolate.
During the next two years the attention of the authorities and people was largely engrossed with religious matters. A persecu- tion of "Non-Conformists " began, and Dominies Megapolensis and Drisius held the garments of those who stoned the saints. Whatever doctrine they preached, they practiced this: "Stand by thyself, come not near to me ; for I am holier than thou." They demanded that Dominie Goetwater, a Lutheran minister, who had presumed to come to New Amsterdam to instruct the people in his way of belief, should be sent back in the same ship in which he came. The " Friends," who had been expelled from Boston, came within the bounds of New Netherland, and pro- claimed their simple, comprehensive ereed. They were imme- diately pursued with pains and penalties. If they demanded to be informed what law they had broken, and called for their accusers, that they might know their transgression, tortures fol- lowed, such as would rival those of the Inquisition. Even those who entertained the persecuted, or showed them sympathy, were accused of treating with contempt all ecclesiastical and political authority. If one whose soul thirsted for the water of life waited upon the ministrations of any other than a duly authorized ex- pounder of Heidelburgh, he or she was instantly accused of being absent from worship and profaning the Lord's Day. So soon and so completely had Netherlanders forgotten the great lesson of the Low Land War, in which William the Silent laid his life upon the altar, and whole hecatombs of their countrymen had
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., viii., 56.
61
PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS.
been sacrificed, that every man might pray to God in his own language and worship Him in what form he might, personally responsible to Him only for the honesty and genuineness of that prayer and worship. Alas, for human weakness which natural- izes tyranny in every heart ; which makes every man's credo a Procrustean bed upon which he would lengthen or shorten every other man's credo until it fitted with exactness.
" Alas for the rarity Of Christian charity Under the sun."
It is some satisfaction, however, to know that these persecutions were mostly confined to the east side of Hudson's river. It is very doubtful if any such eruelties for opinion's sake were indulged in within the bounds of this county. On Monday, the 23d of September, 1658, three persons-Tomas Christen, Tomas Chap- man and John Cook-were carried before the Council, suspected " to be of the sect called Quakers, which they unquestionably proved, entering the room without paying any mark of respect their heads covered." They had come from "Gemeene Pas " (Communipaw), and requested permission to pass on to New England. This was denied. The sheriff conducted them back to Communipaw, and they were warned not to come again, under the penalty of corporal punishment.1
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., viii., 991.
CHAPTER IV .- 1658-1664.
Deed from the Indians for all the land in the County, between Hackensack and Hudson-The Refugees desire to return to Pavonia-Forced to concen- trate-Petition to found a village on the Hill-The village of Bergen begun-Its Founders and Name-Its manner of settlement and defence -Its first Charter and Court-Names of Officers-Lot owners ordered to take out Patents-A Well ordered to be dug in the Village-Communi- paw fortified.
WE have now reached a state of peace in the history of Hudson County which is not again to be broken in upon by an Indian war. With considerable accuracy Stuyvesant comprehended the policy to be pursued toward the savages, and skillfully seized every occasion to temper their wild dispositions. Feeling that possibly their title to the land in Pavonia had not been satisfac- torily extinguished, and that this might be one cause of complaint with them, and urged thereto by the great desire of the refugees to return, he entered into negotiations for its purchase. On the 30th of January, 1658, he received from them 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 gentle- men of the Council of New Netherlandt, at the Council Chamber, in the Fort Amsterdam, in New Netherlandt, Therineques, Wawapehack, Saghkins, Kogkhennigh, Bomokan, Memiwokan, Sames, Wewenatokwee, for themselves and in the name of Moi- kopes, Pepoghon, 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 Nether- landt, beginning by the great Rock above Wiehacken, and from thence across through the lands, till above the Islandt Siskakes,1
1 Siskakes, Sikakes, Secaucus, is an Indian word, and signifies the place where the snake hides. It must have retained its peculiarity down to the times of the 62
63
INDIAN DEED TO STUYVESANT.
and from thence along the Channel side till Constable's Hook. And from Constable's Hook again, till the aforementioned Rock, above Wiehacken, with all the lands, islands, channels, valleys, therein comprehended, in such manner as the aforementioned parcel of lands are surrounded and encompassed by the North River, the Kill van Koll,1 and the aforesaid direct line from the Rock above Wiehacken, till above Siskakes, where it is divided by the Channel. Which lands they offer absolutely to sell unto the Director-General and Council, upon which the General and Council on the one side, and the aforesaid Indians, for themselves and them that are absent, liave accorded and agreed in the man- ner following, in the presence of the hereinafter mentioned Chris- tian and Indian witnesses : The aforesaid Indians do acknowledge to have sold, resigned, and transported, as they do by these pres- ents, all the lands heretofore mentioned, to the aforesaid Director- General and Council and their successors, for eighty fathom of wampnm, twenty fathom of cloth, twelve kettles, six guns, two blankets, one double kettle, and one half-barrel of strong beer. Which effects they hereby acknowledge to have enjoyed and received before the passing and signing of this.
" Wherefore they do declare, for themselves and them which are absent, to resign and transport the lands before mentioned, to the abovementioned General and Council, in full, free and perfect property, desisting of all actions and claims which they could or might pretend to the lands before mentioned-the transporters promise now or hereafter, not to make any pretensions thereon : but to keep and hold this transport firm, sure, and inviolable. Promising also to the said Director and Council, to free and war- rant the said lands against all claims any other Indians might pretend to, and if it should happen that in future times any of
Dutch, for they named it " Slanghenbergh," which in English is Snake Hill. It is a high rock rising out of the salt marsh on the east side of the Hackensack river. Its name was transferred to all of the upland lying between the river and Pinhorne creek.
1 The Kill van Kull included Pinhorne creek as well as the channel between Bergen Point and Staten Island.
64
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
the Dutch, by any Indians, should be damaged on pretension they were not fully paid for the lands aforesaid, they, the sellers, do promise to repair and satisfy the damages. It is also stipula- ted and agreed, the aforesaid Indians shall depart and remove by the first convenient opportunity, off the lands aforesaid ; and that none of their nation shall come and continue to dwell upon it, without knowledge and consent of the Director- General and Council. Thus done at the fort Amsterdam, and signed with the marks of the Indians, after the cargoes were delivered to their hands, on the 30th day of January, Anno Domini 1658.
T, 1 the mark of Therineques made by himself.
the mark of Bomokan.
the mark of
t,
- the mark of Wewenatokwec.
t, Seghkow. the mark of Memirvokan. ៛,
៛, the mark of Sames. the mark of t, Koghkenningh. Wairims Conwee. the mark of f, Wawapehack.
the mark of Sames,
as witness,
otherwise called Job.
" We, the Subscribers, witnesses hereunto, desired by the Di- rector-General and Council, do certifye and declare, by this pre- sent, that the above bargain for the lands before mentioned, is so made before us, and the lands, by the sellers transported to the Director-General and Council; on the conditions and terms com- prehended in the bill of sale, the conditions and substance plain- ly told, acquainted and declared to the sellers by the interpreters Govert Loocquermans, Peter Wolphertson van Cowenhoven, and Claas Carstensen, and also by Wharimes van Conwe, formerly an owner of the lands aforesaid; and whereupon, the sellers have consented to the bargain, transported the lands, and received the mentioned cargoes and wampum, signed the conditions, with the above marks.
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.