USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of the county of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 7
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" In witness hereof, have we subscribed this, the day and year
65
PAVONIANS DESIRE TO RETURN.
aforesaid, at the fort Amsterdam, in New Netherland, in the Council Chamber.
" JOH. MEGAPOLENSIS,
" SAMUEL DRISIUS,
" OLOFF HERENSIN,
" GOVERT LOOCQUERMANS,
" MACHIEL YANSEN,
" }, the mark of CLAAS,
" CARSTENSEN NOORMAN, " T' Present,
PETRUS STUYVESANT,
NICASIUS DE SILLE,
PITER TOUNEMAN,
PIETER COWENHOVEN,
JAN EVERTSEN BOUT,
" CORNELIUS VAN RUYVEN, Seer."I
This deed conveyed all that part of Hudson County which lies east of the Hackensack river and Newark Bay, and com- prised the territory of the old township of Bergen. The farm- ers of " Gomoenepa," who had been driven from their homes in 1655, had, on the 22d of the same Jannary (1658), expressed a desire to return to their deserted bouweries. For this purpose they petitioned as follows :
"To the Director-General and Council in New Netherland :
" Shows with all due reverence the interested farmers, who have been driven away by the Savages from their farms in Pa- vonia, Gemoenepaen, and other neighboring places, how that they, supplicants, should incline to reoccupy their former spots
1 N.Y. Col. MSS., viii., 707 ; Taylor's Annals, 46. It may be well to note here that the Indians, in the conference held at Easton, October 23, 1758, gave to Governor Bernard two deeds, by which they released all their right and title to the soil of New Jersey, for which they received £1,000. Smith's Ilist. of N. J., 479. These deeds were, at the request of Governor Franklin, ratified by the Six Na- tions at a conference held at Fort Stanwix (Rome), October 24, 1768. Col. Ilist. of N. Y., ciii., 112. Not only the Dutch, but also the English, always dealt with the New Jersey Indians with great fairness, and extinguished their titles by ac- ceptable compensation. This fair treatment was traditional among them ; and to show their appreciation of it, at the latter conference, after a special meeting upon the subject, the Six Nations conferred upon the governor, as representa- tive of the people, the euphonius name of SAGORIGHWEYOGIISTA-" The Great Arbiter, or Doer of Justice." Ibid, ciii., 117. I am quite sure the reader will be delighted with such a pet name, and beguile his leisure hours with its frequent repetition.
5
66
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
of residence, to restore their buildings, and cultivate their for- mer fields ; but as they have been greatly injured and suffered immense losses by the incursions of said savages, by which it will be highly difficult for them to renew their former business of farming, so they now, in their present situation, should ear- nestly solicit that they might be favored by your Hon. with some privileges, to assist them in this arduous task, so as by an exemption of tithes and other similar burthens, during a few years, as your Hon. in their discretion may deem proper for their relief. Expecting your favorable apostil,1 they remain,
" Your Hon. humble Servants,
" MICHIEL JANSEN,2
" CLAES JANSEN BACKER,3
" CLAES PETERSEN Vos (Cos),4 " JANS CAPTAIN,
" DIRCK SEIKEN,5
" DIRCK CLAESEN, 6
" LYSBET TYSEN."7
Upon this petition the following order was made on the same day :
" The supplicants are permitted, in consideration of the rea- sons explained in their petition, the privilege of exemption from the payment of tithes and the burthens attached to these during six years, provided that they, in conformity to the orders and placards of the Director-General and Council, concentrate them- selves in the form of a village, at least of ten or twelve families to- gether, to become in future more secure and easier to receive aid for their defence in similar disastrous occurrences; without which the Director-General and Council deem the reoccupation of the deserted fields too perilous, which, if it might neverthe- less happen, contrary to their order and placard, the Director-
1 A note in the margin of a book or writing ; hic, an order.
2 Vide VREELAND FAMILY.
3
Winfield's Land Titles, 50.
4 Ibid, 47. Vide GARRABRANT FAMILY.
5 Ibid, 65.
6 Vide VREELAND FAMILY, note.
? She was the widow of Adriaensen, patentee of Weehawken.
THE PEOPLE COMMANDED TO CONCENTRATE.
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
The petitioners accepted the conditions imposed and returned to their farms, for they longed to escape from the city and the pursuits they were obliged to follow there .? They were reluct- ant, however, to forsake their bouweries or to erect a village for the protection it might afford. Nearly two years passed after they received permission to return,3 and yet no village was formed, no provision made against the attacks of the Indians. This delay obliged the authorities to enforce penalties for diso- bedience of previous orders upon the subject of detached settle- ments. On the 9th of February, 1660, they did ordain, inter alias, as follows :
" In order to prevent, and in future put a stop, as much as possible, to such Massacres, Murders, and Burnings, by cruel Barbarians, at the separate dwellings, the Director-General and Council of New Netherland do, therefore, hereby notify and Or- der all isolated Farmers in general, and each in particular, wherever they may reside, without any distinction of persons, to remove their houses, goods, and cattle before the last of March, or at latest the middle of April, and convey them to the Village or settlement, nearest and most convenient to them ; or, with the previous knowledge and approval of the Director-General and Council, to a favorably situated and defensible spot in a new palisaded Village to be hereafter formed, where all those who apply shall be shown and granted suitable lots, by the Director- General and Council or their Agents, so that the Director-Gen- eral and Council, in case of any difficulty with the cruel Bar- barians, would be better able to assist, maintain, and protect their good Subjects with the force intrusted to them by God and the Supreme authority. Expressly warning and commanding all
1 Alb. Rec., xic., 27.
2 Many of the Pavonians, including Michael Jansen and Casper Steinmets, kept tap-rooms in the city during their exile. New Amst. Rec., ii., 133.
3 The exact date of their return is not known.
68
HISTORY OF IIUDSON COUNTY.
and every whom these may concern, to transport their property, previous to the time aforesaid, into Villages or Hamlets, on pain of confiscation of all such goods as shall be found, after the aforesaid time, in separate dwelling and farm-houses."1
Following closely upon the promulgation of this enactment, and on March 1, 1660, Tielman Van Vleck?
and Peter Rudolphus, with the commendable ambition to be the founders of a village, sought permission " to settle on the maize land behind Gemoenepaen."" They were unsuccessful; why, is . not now known. Undiscouraged, however, Van Vleek, on April 12, 1660, sent in another petition, numerously signed, for per- mission to settle a village and some bouweries "on the maize land behind Gemoenepaen."4 This request was also refused.5 This second refusal put a stop to all efforts to found a village in this county until the 16th of Angust following, when several "inhabitants of this province," that is; of New Netherland, whose names, unfortunately, have not been preserved, petitioned for permission to " begin" to cultivate farms and plantations on the west side of the river, " behind Communepah," and "to make there a village or concentration." On the same day the authorities gave the following decision upon the subject :
" The petition is granted to the supplicants, provided that the village shall be formed and placed on a convenient spot, which may be defended with ease, which shall be selected by the Di- rector-General and Council or their commissioners.
"Secondly. That all persons who apply and shall share with
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., ir., 53.
2 Van Vleck may justly be regarded as the founder of Bergen. He came originally from Bremen, studied under a notary in Amsterdam, came to this country about 1658, and was admitted to practice the same year. N. Y. Col. MSS., viii., 932. He was made the first Schout and President of the Court at. Bergen, September 5, 1661. New Neth. Reg., 100. After the capture of the country by the English he returned to New York and resided there in 1671.
3 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix., 117. + Ibid, ix., 143. õ Ibid, ix, 146.
69
BERGEN LAID OUT.
others by lot, shall 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 bear and handle arms, and to keep him there upon a penalty of forfeiting their right, besides an amende of 20 florins, in behalf of the village, and to pay be- sides others his share in all the village taxes, which, during his absence, have been decreed and levied."
The requirements and directions of the above apostille are sufficiently plain. Whoever will look at the topography of the village, which was shortly afterward begun on the " Hill," will come to the conclusion that it must have been laid out in strict conformity to these requirements, and it is highly probable that it was laid out by Governor Stuyvesant himself. When the vil- lage should be located, the lots within its bounds were to be dis- tributed among settlers by lottery, without charge, and within six weeks thereafter the erection of buildings upon the lots was to be begun.
Up to the date of the above petition it is manifest that the present "Jersey City Heights" were without a name and without a white inhabitant. The place was described as " behind Gemoe- nepaen." There was a small clearing about where Montgomery street crosses Bergen avenue, but it is probable that it had been made by the savages, as it was known as the " Indian corn field," 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 petition and permission to form a village-August 16. 1660-we will get very close to the date of the foundation of the village of Bergen. In a survey of a lot for Donwe Harmensen in November, 1660 (the day of the month is not given in the return of the survey), the land is described as being " omtrent het dorp Berghen in't nieuwe maiz Lant"-neur the village of' Bergen in the new Maize land.1 This particular lot, in the de- scription of which the name first occurs, lay "in the rear of Christian Pieterse's land, in breadth twenty rods along from the
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 142. As late as August 4, 1661, it was called Nieuwe dorp op't maislant.
70
IIISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
ereupple bush to the Kill," and is lot numbered seventy-nine on the Field Map, and is now, in part at least, owned by the Marion Building Company at West End.1 This survey is conclusive proof that the village then existed and had a name, and beyond all doubt its position was selected, the village surveyed and laid out, and a name given to it between the sixteenth of August and some time in November, 1660.2 Beautiful for situation,
1 Winfield's Land Titles, 110.
2 Many conjectures have been indulged in and somewhat has been written as to when and by whom Bergen was founded, and as to the origin of the name. Writers have generally followed Smith in his suppositions. This author thought the Danes had assisted the Dutch in its settlement, and that its name was in honor of the capital of Norway. Smith's N. J., 61. Mr. Whitehead, East Jersey, 16, says it was commenced about 1618, and endorses Smith's origin of the name. Dr. Taylor, in his Annals, 45, holds the same opinion, except as to the derivation of the name. Being more of a Dutchman than a Dane, he holds to the probability that the name comes from Bergen op Zoom, a town in Holland. In the N. J. Historical Collection, 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 Ilistory 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, 41, endorses this view. Sypher and Apgar, History of New Jersey, 10, with a bold if not ingenious originality, say that Hudson'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 is designed for a text-book in our schools! Now,
1st. 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 endeavor to ascertain whence they came, I have concluded that the settlement was made by Hollanders (or perhaps more prop- erly speaking, Netherlanders), Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. Of these there were more Netherlanders than of all the others combined. Oldmixon, while intimating a probability that the Danes settled it, admits that "the Dutch, always industrious in trade, worked them so far out of it that Berghen, the northern part of New Jersey, was almost entirely planted by Hollanders." British Empire, i., 283.
It may be proper to mention here a statement which I find in Pictures of New York, 10 : " It was the custom of the Dutch West India Company to grant land to those who had served out the time they had contracted for with the Company. Hence Bergen and Communipaw and several other places were settled by disbanded soldiers; and it is remarkable that the inhabitants of those places retain their ancient manner of living, and the very disposition
71
BERGEN PALISADED.
easily defended, and surrounded 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 plot. Along the exterior of this sur- rounding street palisades were erected before April, 1661, to se- cure the place from the attacks of the Indians. In the centre of the plot where the streets intersected was a public plot of about one hundred and sixty by two hundred and twenty-five
of soldiers, especially the old men still living and their descendants, seem most of them to follow their footsteps." Carrying the idea of the military settlement still further, it is said that among the soldiers of Stuyvesant, who were trans- planted to Bergen, were some of the Moorish race, whose peculiar complexion, physiognomy and characteristics are, it is alleged, yet to be traced in their de- scendants-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. Ilist. Soc. Proc., 1845-6, 48.
2d. As to the name. Bergen in Norway received its name from the hills which almost surrounded it. Bergen op Zoom, eighteen miles north of Ant- werp, stands on a hill surrounded by low marshy ground, which, with its forti- fications, afforded great security. Thus it will be 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 set- tlement was along the river. To the eye of the Hollander, accustomed to look upon marshes or low land redeemed from the sea, the ridge growing in height as it extended north from the Kill van 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. This I believe to be the true origin of the name.
There is another possible derivation, which it is proper to mention, without adopting it. Stuyvesant directed the village to be located on some spot easy of defence. The motive-in fact, the primary thought-which necessity sng- gested in the formation of the village, was safety. The settlers were driven to it as to 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. If the verb be used as a substantive, we would then have Bergen, a " place of safety." Very appropriate and very beautiful !
3d. When Bergen was settled is sufficiently shown in the text.
1 These streets were originally straight, but owing to encroachments by ad- joining property owners, at least the one running north and south is quite crooked.
72
IIISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
feet. These streets quartered the town, and each quarter was divided into eight building plots.1 On the sides of the town, where the cross streets came to the palisades, were gates, called
X. 110.
N. 129.
N. 42.
N. 99.
N.103.
173.
N.41.
J. 98.
Nº 109 .
. 97.
N. 108.
157.
155.
255.
149.
A. 96.
Nº 107.
154.
284.
156,
153.
148.
N. 95.
N. 106
165.
152.
116.
14%
N. 105.
159.
V50.
161.
1. 93.
N. 114.
177.
152
164.
166.
158.
163.
16%
285.
N. 32.
N. 224.
162
286.
160.
59.
168.
256.
N. 287.
N. 241.
N.33.
BERGEN AND BUYTEN TUYN IN 1660.
the northeast gate, northwest gate, etc., through which were roads leading into the woods.
The beauty and general desirableness of its situation, 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
1 By some manipulation the southwest quarter is made to contain, in 1764, nine lots, and the southeast quarter only seven lots. The map inserted in the text is copied from the Field Map made in 1764. I have no doubt that it correct- ly shows the town plot, as originally laid out, the shape of the lots and the gen- eral features of Buyten Tuyn.
1. 94.
Nº 100.
/13.
Nº 115.
257
73
BERGEN AND BUYTEN TUYN.
inside of the fortifications.1 The buildings first erected were of logs, and, at least the barns, covered with reeds, in spite of the Director's order .? The land within the village plot was laid out in lots by Jacques Cortelyon, the sworn surveyor,3 and muum- bered. In the same manner the land surrounding the town was laid out in larger plots, to be used as plantations by those whose house lots were within the village. These lots ad- joining the town were called " Buyten Tuyn," Outside Gardens, a name which they retain to this day. In like manner the salt meadow on the Hackensack, when it did not pass with the up- land as one lot, was mapped and numbered. But few of these numbers have been discovered, vet enough to make one regret that the map, the distribution and ownership of the lots in Ber- gen and Buyten Tnyn, have not been found. An old historian says, " The manner of laying ont originally is singular, but small lots where their dwellings are, and these contignous in the town of Bergen. Their plantations, which they occupy for a livelihood, are at a distance ; the reason of fixing thus is said to
1 N. Y. Col. MSS, ir., 599.
2 Powers of Atty. New Amst., 65. In a lease here recorded, dated April 1, 1661, from Guert Coerten to Jacob Luby, of a " lot at Gweykonck, 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 pro- vided 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 haul 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 fol- lowing," for their joint use. He was also to provide the lessee on halves with two young cows, 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 for 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 it shows the currency then in use. Cornelius C. Van Rypen now resides upon this lot.
3 Cortelyou was the first surveyor in New Amsterdam, and made the first map of that city in 1656. I have no doubt that 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. He died in 1693, leaving three sons and two daughters. His descendants are quite numerous, some of them living in New Jersey.
74
HISTORY OF IIUDSON COUNTY.
be through fear of the numerous Indians in the early times of their settlement."1
The village grew rapidly. In one year it became of sufficient importance to merit a local government. Up to this time the court of Burgomasters and Schepens in New Amsterdam had, since its organization in 1652, exercised 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. On the 4th of August, 1661, Tielman Van Vleck, at his own request, was appointed Schout of the Nieuw dorp op't maislant,? though he was not commissioned until the 5th of the following month.3 On this latter date was adopted the following
" ORDINANCE
of the Director-General and Council of New Netherland erecting a Court of Justice at Bergen :
" PETRUS STUYVESANT, on behalf of the High and Mighty Lords States General of the United Netherlands, the Honble Directors
1 Smith's Hist. of N. J., 61. 2 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix., 705.
3 Ibid, ix., 763. The following is a copy of his commission, as translated by Vanderkemp :
" Whereas, it is requisite to preserve justice in the village of Bergen, situated to the west side of the North River, in New Netherland, that a well qualified person officiates there as sheriff, for which office being recommended to us the person of Tielman Van Vleck, Notary Publick within this city ; So is it that we, having a full confidence in his abilities, virtue and talents, commissioned and appointed him, so as we do by this, as sheriff of the aforesaid village, to officiate in that capacity in the aforesaid place and its districts, in conformity with the instruction which he has already received, or which he may receive in future, and in consequence of it to bring to justice every transgressor of any political, civil or criminal laws, ordinances and placards, and to have them mulcted, ex- ecuted and punished with the penalty comprehended in these, to promote that by his directions and denunciations all criminal cases and misconducts may be brought to light, decided with speed, and all judgments executed without de- lay ; and further, to act in this respect in such manner as a good and faithful sheriff is in duty bound to do on the oath which he hath taken. We therefore command the Schepens and all the inhabitants within the district of the afore- said village to acknowledge the aforesaid Tielman Van Vleck for our officer and sheriff, and to procure him in the exercise of his office all possible aid whenever
75
FIRST CHARTER OF BERGEN.
of the Incorporated West India Company, Director-General of New Netherland, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba and their dependen- cies, together with the Council,
" To all those who shall see these Presents, or hear them read, Greeting, make known :
" That their Honors do not hope or wish for anything else than the prosperity and welfare of their good Inhabitants in general, and in particular of the People residing in the Village of Bergen, situate on the West side of the North River, and in order that such may be effected and preserved with greater love, peace and unity, and to manifest and to prove in deed to every Inhabitant of the above-mentioned Village the effeet thereof, the Director- General and Council aforesaid, considering the increase and pop- ulation of said Village, have therefore resolved to favor its Inhabitants with an Inferior Court of Justice, and to constitute it as much as possible, and as the circumstances of the Country permit, according to the laudable custom of the city of Amster- dam in Holland, but so that all judgments shall be subject to reversal by and an appeal to the Director General and Council of New Netherland, to be by their Honors finally disposed of.
" In order that all things there may be performed with proper Order and respect, it is necessary to choose, as Judges, honest, intelligent persons, owners of real estate, who are lovers of peace and well affected subjects of their Lords and Patroons, and of their Supreme government established here, promoters and pro- fessors of the Reformed Religion, as it is at present taught in the Churches of the United Netherlands, in conformity to the Word of God and the Order of the Synod of Dordrecht. Which Court of Justice, for the present time, until it shall be herein otherwise Ordained by the said Lords Patroons, or their Deputy, shall con- sist of one Sehout,1 being on the spot, who shall, in the name of
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