USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 2
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Immediately on their arrival at Manhattan, a rude fort was erected on the southern extre- mity of the island ; and, in the following year, a small redoubt was thrown up on the opposite bank of the Hudson, probably at the present Jersey City Point.
May extended his researches farther south. Sailing along the eastern coast of New Jer- sey, he rounded the cape that now bears his name, and entered and explored the lower waters of Delaware Bay.
In the ensuing autumn a special grant was made to the merchants by whom Christiaanse had been employed, dignifying their simple partnership with the title of " The United New Netherland Company," and confirming the pri- vileges promised by the previous decree of the States-General. It was now that the name New Netherland was first applied to that part of the continent lying between Cape Cod and the De- laware Bay. Christiaanse, as Upper Hoofdt, or
22
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1613
chief-commander, was placed at the head of af- fairs, with Jacob Elckens, at one time a mer- chant's clerk in Amsterdam, as his lieutenant.
These officers appear to have discharged the duties entrusted to them with judgment and tact. In the summer of 1671 they concluded a formal treaty of peace and alliance with the Iroquois, or Five Nations, at which the Dela- wares and Mohicans were also present. This alliance was kept up for many years, and proved of the highest advantage. Meanwhile, settlers were gradually coming into the country, and the little station at Manhattan, which presently took the name of New Amsterdam, began to wear the appearance of a town. Attempts were likewise made to extend the colony; and, in the year following the treaty with the Iroquois, a few traders planted the village of Bergen, the first of white settlements in New Jersey.
Although the charter of exclusive privileges, granted to the New Netherland company, had by this time expired, a brisk trade continued to be carried on with the settlement at Manhattan for several years, under special licenses to indi- vidual enterprise. The benefits of the lucrative traffic of the new country were thus opened to a larger number, but yet with little advantage to its growth into a permanent colony.
In the mean time, a body of English Puritans, who had fled from persecution at home to
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1620.] THE PLYMOUTH SETTLEMENT.
the more tolerant institutions of Holland, be- coming dissatisfied with their residence in the Low Countries, determined to seek some new land, where they might avoid the less austere manners of the Dutch, and still be free to practise and teach the faith they professed. The glowing description given by Sir Walter Raleigh, of Guiana, first drew them toward that country; but, wishing to retain their na- tional character and language, they finally de- cided upon procuring a patent for lands from the London or South Virginia Company.
Accordingly, on the 6th of September, 1620, after having completed their arrangements, they made their final embarkation at Plymouth, on board the Mayflower, for the new world. Their voyage was long and perilous. Buffeted about by adverse winds and currents, they were compelled to land a considerable distance north of where they intended, and entirely without the limits of the patent they held. Resolving to remain, however, on the 20th of December they began to erect their dwellings of hewed logs, and the town of New Plymouth quickly sprung up on the ore of Cape Cod Bay. The colonists soon after procured a charter from the Plymouth council, which had superseded the old company of that name, and to which the British crown had granted, in total disregard of the Dutch claim, all that part of the American continent,
24
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY.
[1623.
extending from the middle of New Jersey to the Bay of Chaleurs.
Designing to make the settlement on the Hudson the basis of a more extended American colonization, the States-General of Holland, in the year following the landing of the Pilgrims, authorized the formation of the celebrated West India Company, to the means of which they largely contributed, thus giving it the weight and character of a great national association.
To this company it was determined to commit the care of New Netherland, with an exclusive privilege of trade and settlement therein. That territory was at the same time formally erected into a province, to be known and distinguished by certain armorial insignia.
The new company sent out their first ship in 1623, under the command of May, with a num- ber of colonists, and a large store of provisions, merchandise, and arms. Having landed a por- tion of his passengers and cargo at New Amster- dam, May sailed to the Delaware River, where it was proposed to plant a colony. He chose a spot on the eastern shore, near the mouth of Timber Creek, a few miles below the present city of Camden, and there built Fort Nassau. Leaving a small body of men as a guard for the infant settlement, May returned to the Hudson, high up which Fort Orange was soon afterward built, on the present site of Albany.
25
COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY.
1627.]
In the following year, Peter Minuits, a na- tive of Wesel, in Westphalia, arrived at New Amsterdam, to act as governor, or commercial director of the colony. Under his administra- tion, which lasted till 1631, affairs glided on smoothly, and, in a commercial point of view, prosperously. Lands were now purchased from the Indians ; among others, the whole of Man- hattan Island, for sixty guilders, or about twenty- four dollars. The fort at New Amsterdam was enlarged, and that place made the capital of the colony. The trade of the province was extend- ed, even to the Indians upon the St. Lawrence ; and in the first four years it increased one-half, while the income derived from it was full a third more than the outlay of the company.
In 1627, Minuits, for the first time, held com- munication with the Puritans, now firmly esta- blished at Plymouth, after six years of wearisome effort. Letters were sent to the governor of New Plymouth, congratulating him and his people upon the success of their adventure, and proposing a friendly intercourse and trade. Governor Bradford and his council answered in courteous language, expressing their lasting re- membrance of the kindness they had received while in the native country of the Dutch. With regard to the proposal for commercial inter- course, they said that "it was very acceptable to them, and they did not doubt but that in a
3
26
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1628.
short time they might have profitable trade to- gether." In concluding, however, they plainly intimated their doubt as to the validity of the title of their neighbours to the lands they were then occupying; and requested them "to for- bear to trade with the natives in the bay and river of Narraganset," as, " otherwise, they were resolved to solicit his majesty for redress, if by any means they could not help them- selves."
To this the Dutch replied firmly, yet with unruffled calmness, insisting upon the justness of their claim, and declaring their determination to uphold it.
The good feeling between the two colonies does not appear to have been interrupted by this difference; for but a short time elapsed when De Razier, second in command at New Amsterdam, was sent, with much pomp and cere- mony, as special envoy to the English. The Pilgrims were greatly pleased with the appear- ance and demeanour of the Dutch envoy, who, on his part, was equally gratified at the manner of his reception and entertainment. Yet he was unable to procure any definite treaty with the English, they urging that, in the then doubt- ful condition of the title to New Netherland, a matter so important should be arranged by the ministers of their respective nations.
As yet the colonization of New Netherland
27
PATROONS.
1629.]
-
had increased but slowly. In 1629, a scheme to promote the peopling of the country was adopt- ed by the directors of the West India Company, and sanctioned by the States-General. A char- ter of privileges and exemptions was drawn up, under which any person, who within four years planted in New Netherland a colony of fifty souls, above the age of fifteen, might acquire, by purchase from the Indians, as an "eternal heritage," and with the title of patroon, or lord of the manor, a tract of land extending sixteen miles along one side of a navigable stream, or half that distance on each bank, and reaching as far inland as he deemed necessary. With the approbation of the director and council of the province, all other persons, emigrating on their own account, were free to take up as much land as they could properly cultivate. The com- pany was pledged to protect the colonists of every degree and condition, from " outlandish and inlandish wars and powers," and to furnish the manors with negro slaves, if the traffic were found profitable. At the same time it reserved to itself the trade in furs, and monopolized the sale of woollen, linen, and cotton fabrics, by prohibiting their manufacture in the colony.
Even before this charter was ratified by the States-General, two of the directors of the com pany, Godyn and Bloemart, prepared to secure a portion of the advantages it offered, by com-
28
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1630.
missioning their American agents to purchase from the resident chiefs, a slip of land two miles wide, and extending from Cape Henlopen to the mouth of the Delaware River. On the 5th of May, 1630, a second tract, sixteen miles square, and comprising Cape May with the adjacent country, was purchased on behalf of the same individuals. Staten Island, and the country around Hoboken, under the name of Pavonia, were soon after taken up for the Director Pauw, while Kilian Van Rensselaer became the pro- prietor of a considerable territory along the Hudson, from Albany to the mouth of the Mohawk.
Naming their purchase Swanandael, or the Valley of Swans, Godyn and his associates at once prepared to colonize it. An expedition was fitted out, under the direction of David Pe- terson De Vries, an experienced navigator, who had been admitted into the company. Sailing from the Texel, in December, 1630, De Vries, after a quick passage, landed at Hoarkill, now Lewistown, on the western shore of the Dela- ware Bay, where he built a trading-house and fort, and planted a colony of thirty-four persons. Having remained in the country more than a year, he returned to Holland for supplies, leaving the infant settlement under the care of one Giles Osset. Meantime, Pauw and Van Rensselaer had secured their claims to patroonships, by
29.
MASSACRE OF THE COLONISTS.
1631.]
sending out a number of colonists to settle on their respective tracts.
De Vries had left the Delaware but a little while, when Osset began a quarrel with the In- dians, on account of one of their chiefs having taken a plate of tin, stamped with the arms of Holland, from a post in Swanandael, to which it had been fastened, as a token of the claim and possession of the Dutch. Foolishly construing this light, trespass into a national insult, Osset so harassed the Indians for redress, that, to get rid of his importunities, they brought him the offender's head. The Dutch commandant was shocked at this unexpected and sanguinary re- sult, and told the Indians that he had wished for no such severity, intending to punish the delin- quent with nothing but a simple reprimand. Though they had themselves condemned and ex- ecuted the offending chief, his friends now plot- ted a terrible retribution upon the strangers, to whose exactions they attributed his death. Taking advantage of a time when all the colonists but Osset and a single sentinel were labouring in the fields, at a distance from the fort, the savages entered it, bearing packs of furs, and offered to trade. Unsuspicious of evil, Osset ascended to the upper store-room of the fort, in order to get some articles of mer- chandise, to exchange for the peltries of the In- dians. As he came down stairs again, a warrior
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.30
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1632.
cleft his skull with a tomahawk, and he fell dead without a groan. The sentinel was next despatched. From this scene of blood the In- dians now sauntered out to the fields, greeting the labourers in a friendly way. Mixing freely with their intended victims, they suddenly fell upon them, and in a few moments not one was left alive.
When, in December, 1632, De Vries returned from Holland, he found no white man to wel- come him to the shores of the Delaware. The bones of his friends were bleaching in the fields, and the dwellings they had erected were reduced to ashes. His proffered friendship at length in- duced a few doubting and trembling savages to come on board his ship, and from them he heard the details of the sad fate that had befallen the little colony. Policy, as well as the natural kindness of his heart, led De Vries to overlook the offence of the Indians; and, having distri- buted presents among them, he formed a treaty of peace and reconciliation. Landing a num- ber of emigrants, he soon afterward sailed in search of provisions, as high up the river as Cooper's Creek, where he narrowly escaped de- struction from the treachery of the savages. Deeming the creek a convenient place to attack him, they directed De Vries to bring his vessel into it, pretending, at the same time, they had there the articles he needed. But, as he
31
SWANANDAEL ABANDONED.
1632.]
had been forewarned by an Indian woman of the snare that was laid for him, he avoided it, and returned down the river to Fort Nassau, which now swarmed with savages, the garrison having deserted it nearly two years previous. Many of the Indians came on board the ship, offering beaver-skins for sale. Telling them that the Great Spirit had acquainted him with their evil designs, De Vries compelled the whole party to go on shore. Several of the principal chiefs now collected on the bank of the river, and sig- nified their wish to form a treaty of friendship, to which the mild and peaceful leader of the Dutch readily acceded. To confirm the new treaty, the Indians, according to their custom, made him many presents, but would accept none in return, saying that they did not give presents with the view of receiving others.
Finding it impossible to obtain sufficient pro- visions on the Delaware, De Vries soon after- ward set sail for Virginia, where he met a kindly reception, and was supplied with all he wanted. Returning to the scene of his unsuccessful at- tempt at colonization, he took on board the few settlers he had left, and made his way to New Amsterdam.
32
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1632.
CHAPTER II.
Dispute between the patroons and the West India Company -Manors of Pavonia and Swanandael abolished-Wouter Van Twiller governor-Difficulties with the Plymouth co- lony-Rival trading-houses on the Connecticut-Governor Kieft-Minuits founds a Swedish colony on the Delaware- Its prosperous condition-English settlers at Salem Creek- Dispossessed by the Swedes and Dutch-Printz succeeds Minuits as governor of New Sweden-Encroachment of the Puritans upon territory claimed by the Dutch-War with the Indian tribes on the Raritan-Unsuccessful negotiations for peace-Massacre of the Indians-Their terrible retalia- tion-Overtures for peace-Council at Rockaway-War re- newed-Settlements on the Passaic destroyed - Captain John Underhill-His successful descents upon Long Island -Arrival of reinforcements-Vigorous prosecution of the war-Interposition of the Mohawks-Peace declared-Un- popularity of Kieft-His recall-Lost at sea.
IN the mean time, a sharp quarrel had sprung up between the patroons and the West India Company; the former claiming an exclusive right to trade within the limits of their respec- tive territories, while the latter contended for a monopoly in the fur traffic, and charged the patroons with having grasped at undue advan- tages, by purchasing such extensive and favour- ably located tracts. A long and serious dispute resulted, and it was finally settled only by abolishing the manors of Pavonia and Swanan- dael.
33
COMMERCIAL RIVALRY.
1933.]
During the progress of this quarrel, Governor Minuits " fell into disputes with the company," the consequences of which were his displacement and recall to Holland. His successor, Wouter Van Twiller, formerly a clerk in the employ of the West India Company, arrived at New Am- sterdam in the spring of 1633.
During the five years that Van Twiller was governor, of New Netherland, but little worthy of historical notice occurred. . Several new trading-posts were established, and the fur traffic extended, while many improvements were made and farms opened on the island of Manhattan. It was during this period, however, that the good feeling hitherto existing between the Man- hattanese and their Plymouth neighbours gave way to the jealousies created by commercial ri- valry ; and, at the close of Van Twiller's admi- nistration, both the Dutch and the English, in defiance of each other's remonstrances, had built trading-houses and begun settlements on the Connecticut River. About the same time a few English, under the leadership of one Captain Holmes, attempted to plant a colony in the neighbourhood of Fort Nassau, but being dis- covered by the Dutch, the whole party were made prisoners, and carried to New Amsterdam.
Van Twiller having fallen under the suspicion of being more faithful to his own interests than to those of the province, the West India Com-
34
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1638.
pany, in March, 1638, notified him of his dis- ' missal from office, and appointed William Kieft to be his successor.
The new governor was a man of great energy, but passionate, and overbearing, and with little of the cool decision necessary to carry him well through the difficulties that soon on all sides be- set his administration.
One of his first acts was to issue a sharp pro- test against the English plantations on the Con- necticut. Treating this remonstrance with silent contempt, the English went steadily on with their settlements. Kieft was illy prepared to resist with any thing more forcible than words, and so endured, as best he could, the aggressions he was not able to prevent.
Scarcely a month afterward, a new competitor for the territories claimed by the Dutch as a portion of New Netherland, appeared on the waters of Delaware Bay.
As early as 1626, Gustavus the Great, of Sweden, had cherished the design of planting a colony in America ; but the subsequent war with Germany, and the death of the Swedish monarch, delayed its execution for many years. In 1633, however, the project was revived by Oxenstiern, the enlightened chancellor of Christina, the daughter and successor of Gustavus.
Indignant at having been removed from his office, Minuits, the former governor of New Ne-
35
SWEDISH COLONY.
1638.]
therland, now offered his services to conduct the Swedish enterprise. Oxenstiern did not long hesitate to accept his offer, and two ships, the Key of Calmar and the Griffin, were presently made ready and placed under his orders. Sail- ing in these two vessels, well provided with a a store of provisions and merchandise, the little colony of Swedes and Fins arrived off Cape Henlopen, or, as they called it, Paradise Point, early in the spring of 1638. Having purchased the lands from this point to the falls at Trenton, they formed a nucleus for their contemplated settlement, by building a fort near the mouth of Christiana Creek, on the western shore of the Delaware. Kieft immediately issued a sharp remonstrance against the new colony, declaring that it occupied lands which the Dutch had already studded with their forts, and sealed with their blood. Determined to remain, the Swedes made every preparation to defend themselves; but Kieft, with unaccountable forbearance, went no further than to authorize the erection of a fort at Lewistown.
1377427
As time glided by, the Swedish colony on the Delaware increased and prospered. Vessels were continually arriving, crowded with emi- grants from the bleak plains and rugged hills of Scandinavia. Though the Dutch regarded the settlement with a jealous eye, they made no attempt to disturb it for many years; and, on
36
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1641.
one occasion, at least, they and the Swedes leagued together against the encroachments of the English.
In 1641, while Sir Edmund Ployden was vainly endeavouring to settle his Palatinate of New Albion, comprising the country from Mary- land to Connecticut, a company of nearly fifty families sailed from New Haven, to plant a colo- ny upon the Delaware. They finally disembark- ed upon the banks of what is now Salem Creek, a few miles above its mouth, and began to clear fields and erect houses. Van Gessendam, the Dutch commandant at Fort Nassau, sent notice of these intruders to Kieft, who immediately despatched two vessels with orders to reduce or disperse the colony.
Equally watchful, the Swedish commandant had marked the English when they entered the bay; and, with a view to dispossess them of the territory they had occupied, he sent an agent to purchase the whole tract from its Indian' owners. When the expedition fitted out by Kieft made its appearance, the Swedes joined with the Dutch, and they presently proceeded together to the English settlement, took the colo- nists prisoners, burned their houses, and confis- cated their goods.
Minuits having died about this time, Colonel John Printz succeeded him as governor of New Sweden, arriving in the Delaware on the 16th
1
37
WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
1643.]
--
of February, 1643. Landing upon the island of Tennekong, or Tinicum, a few miles below Philadelphia, he built, with huge hemlock logs, the Fort of New Gottenburg, around which the houses of the emigrants who had accompanied him soon began to cluster.
While the Swedes were setting up their au- thority over the Dutch possessions on the De- laware, the English continued to narrow the limits of New Netherland upon the north. At any other time, it is probable that Kieft would have disputed every inch of the ground with the intruders ; but Indian disturbances had broken out, and he was now fully occupied in contending with an enemy that seemed bent upon his de- struction.
This desperate and sanguinary contest began in the summer of 1640. Having been charged with the commission of a few petty thefts, the Indian tribes upon the Raritan were visited by a party of Dutch soldiers, and several of their leading chiefs subjected to insult and gross mal- treatment. The maddened savages, in the fol- lowing year, retaliated by murdering the settlers ยท and laying waste the plantations on Staten Island. Not long afterward a Dutchman was slain by an Indian of the Raritan tribe, who, when a boy, had witnessed the murder of a kinsman by the whites, and had sworn to avenge it. The offender's nation having refused to
4
38
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1643.
deliver him up, they were outlawed, and a price set upon their heads. During the following year they evinced a disposition to yield, and steps were taken toward a treaty of reconcilia- tion. But, while these negotiations were pend- ing, an Indian, the son of a chief, was made drunk and then robbed by some Dutch traders. Furious from a sense of the wrong he had suffer- ed, and blinded by intoxication, the savage took revenge. by shooting down the first white man that fell in his way. Expressing their grief for this unfortunate occurrence, a deputation of chiefs waited upon Kieft, and offered to com- pound the murder by paying a fine of two hun- dred fathoms of wampum. The governor was inexorable, and demanded the fugitive; but the Indians were unable or unwilling to surrender him.
Contrary to the advice of the pacific De Vries, Kieft now determined upon an exterminating war against the savages. Imitating the cunning of those he plotted to destroy, the governor kept from them every intimation of the evil that was impending, and directed a continuance of kind intercourse with them, "until God's will and proper opportunity should be offered." That opportunity came in February, 1643.
Descending from their strongholds in the north, a war-party of the Mohawks made an onslaught upon the tribes around Manhattan,
39
MASSACRE OF INDIANS.
1643.]
and compelled, them to seek the vicinity of the Dutch for protection. Many of the colonists were disposed to pity them, and gave them food ; but Kieft, seizing the chance, joined with their foes, and determined upon their destruction. Accordingly, on the night of the 25th of Febru- aro, a party of soldiers was sent across the Hudson to Pavonia, where a large number of the trembling fugitives had collected. The Indians were sleeping without guards, and in no expecta- tion of evil. Their surprise was complete, and scarcely a hatchet was raised in defence. Eighty of their number, men, women, and children, were cruelly massacred. " This was a feat,' wrote De Vries, "worthy the heroes of old Rome-to massacre a parcel of Indians in their sleep, to take the children from the breasts of their mothers, and to butcher them in the pre- sence of their parents, and throw their mangled limbs into the fire or water! Other sucklings had been fastened to little boards, and in this position they were cut in pieces ! Some were thrown into the river, and when the parents rushed in to save them, the soldiers prevented their landing, and let parents and children drown." During the same night a second party of soldiers fell upon the Indians at Corlear's Hook. No mercy was shown. Forty miserable savages were butchered in cold blood; some while sleeping, others while flying without a show
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