History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 1

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703


USA > New York > Queens County > History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals. > Part 1


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COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFSITE AVERY FINE ARTS RESTRICTED AR01413511


1683 HISTORY


QUEENS COUNTY NEW YORK.


1882.


Ex Libris


SEYMOUR DURST


t' Fort nieriw Amsterdam op de Manhatans


FORT NEW AMSTERDAM


(NEW YORK), 1651


When you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Ever'thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book."


AVERY ARCHITECTURAL AND FINE ARTS LIBRARY


GIFT OF SEYMOUR B. DURST OLD YORK LIBRARY


COURT HOUSE LONG IS NO CITY.


CLL QUAKER CHURCH FLUSHING ewilt in 1692.


OLD COURT HOUSE .I MINEULA.


QUEEN'S COUNTY AGRICULTURAL FAIR GROUNDS.


1683.


HISTORY OF


QUEENS COUNTY


NEW YORK,


WITH


AlIlustrations, ortraits, &


ketches


OF


PROMINENT FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS.


NEW YORK: W. W. MUNSELL & CO., 36 VESEY STREET.


1882_


PRESS OF GEORGE MACNAMARA, 36 VESEY STREET, NEW YORK


,


TABLE OF CONTENTS.


OUTLINE HISTORY OF NEW YORK.


CHAPTER I.


PAGE.


Discovery of New York -- The Indians of the Five Nations ..


7,8


ment of Long Island ... 44-46


Burroughs, Robert


355


CHAPTER II.


CHAPTER XII.


Burtis, Oliver D .. 548


446


Carpenter, James S


525


Charliek, Oliver.


575


CHAPTER HI.


War with France and the Commencement of the Revolution.


10, II


CHAPTER IV.


CHAPTER I.


Cock, William T.


511 86


Revolutionary Events in New York-The State Government Established ..


11, 12


CHAPTER V.


CHAPTER H.


Cornell Family


89


Early Schools and Studies-The Establish-


Corsa, Isaac ..


89


CHAPTER VI.


CHAPTER IN.


Crimmin, John


294


Internal Improvements - Constitutional Amendments-Schools -- Statistics. 13-15


GENERAL HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND. CHAPTER I.


A Sketch of the Topography, Geology and Natural History of Long Island 16-18


CHAPTER HI.


The Indians of Long Island-Territory, Characteristics, and Relations with the Whites.


18-92


CHAPTER HI.


Discovery and Settlement of Long Island - History of Colonial Times ...


2 :- 26


CHAPTER IV.


Customs, Characteristics and Institutions


of the Early Long Islanders.


25-30


North Hempstead. 400-467


Feakes, JJohn.


50


Fish Family


341


Floyd-Jones, William


570


Fosdick, Morris ..


216


Albertsou, T. W.


430


Geissenhainer. F. W


Allen, Benjamin W


t38


Greenoak, John


267


Allen, Mrs. B. W 438


Grithin Family


Alsop Family.


3to


Grosjean. F ...


Alt-Muller, George


526 Hallett Family


344


Angevine, Lewis W


185 Hallett, William


90. 266


Armstrong, John


Halsey, Stephion A


Backus. Asean.


34t Haviland Family


Bell, Robert M


120 Haviland, Isane E 431


Belmont, Perry.


Hegeman, Daniel. 541


Bennett, Incob.


Holtz, John F.


551


Bergen, George W


155 Herzog, Frederkek


550


Betts, Richard


3 to) Hewlett Family


4,32


Birdsall, John.


Hewlett, Jacob (.


563


Bloodgood Fully


Hewlett, Joseph L


134


41 43 Bloomer, Joshun


Brinckerhoff Family. 343


Brinckerhoff, John H.


253


Brown, John W. 290


Brutnell, Richard. 259


Burnet, Matthias ..


233


The Agrienltural Capabilities and Develop-


Burroughs Family


344


New York under the Dutch- English Gov- ernors to 1675


8-10


Historical Society. 46-48


HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.


Civil History of the County-Crimes and Penalties-The Court-House-Ofheials ... 49-55


Colgan, Thomas


239


Colyer, Charles.


497


The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain


12, 13 .


ment of Academies 55-57


Covert, Charles G


384


Cutting, Leonard


1.6


Courses and Coursers of Old ... 57-59


CHAPTER IN.


De Be Voise, Adrianna


351


The Timber Growth of Queens County -


De Bevoise, Charles I


352


Its Uses-The Nursery Growths


59,60


De Be Voise, Cornelius S.


350


CHAPTER V.


De Bevoise, Henry S


De Be Voise, John


349 349


De Bevoise, John I.


321


CHAPTER VI.


Queens County in the Civil War- Record of the Volunteers, 65-73


Dennett, A. K. P


135


Denton, Richard.


173


Ditmars Family


Downing, Benjamin W


136


Finshing. 74-143


Hempstead 144-192


Jamnica. 193-258


Eastman, Henry W


456


Long Island Clty. 259-326


Embree Family.


Newtown 329 406


Farrington Family


CHAPTER V.


The participation of Long Island In the War with France ...


30,31


CHAPTER VI.


Beginning of the Revolution-Prevalence of Toryism - Independent Spirit in Sul- folk


31 34


CHAPTER VII.


The British Invasion-Battle of Brooklyn Washington's Retreat.


CHAPTER VIH.


Long Island In British Hands-Rnids front the Mainland- Smuggling -The Prison Ships Nathanlel Woodhull ..


CHAPTER IX.


The War of 1812-Privateering-The For- tification of Long Island


CHAPTER X.


The Construction of Wagon Roads and Railroads ou Long Island. 43,44


CHAPTER XI.


Formation and Growth of the Long Island


Bryant, William Cullen


Clark, John M.


431


Clement, Charles HI


Cock, Townsend D.


156 508


The Cradle of American Horse Racing-


De Bevoise Family


31


De Bevoise, Abraham


2522


History of the Queens County Agricultural


Society.


60-64


De Be Voise, John (


Debevoise, John M 352


TOWN, VILLAGE AND CITY HISTORIES.


Downing, George S


330


Duryea, JJohn S ..


408


Oyster Bay .. 468-576


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.


34-36


37 41


Hewlett, Willhun H


4:33


Colden, Cadwallader D.


4


TABLE OF CONTENTS.


Ilicks, Elias


466


Vanderveer, George W


356


L'Hommedieu, James 1


414


1licks Family ..


89


Vanderveer, Il. S


407


Licht, 1'


380


Ilopkins, John B.


209


Van Duyn, Willlain.


343


Ludlam, Henry.


547


llnnter, George.


262 Van Nostrand, John E


338 Ludlam, James M


499


lInnter, Jacob.


265 Van Pelt, Peter


319


Lnyster, John B


5:18


Jackson Family


159,408


Van Stelen, Abraham


205


Maurice, James.


381


Jackson, John C ..


314 Van Sielen, James


206


Merritt, Israel J.


131


Johnson Famlly.


248 Van Wyck Family


206


Messenger, Thomas


463


Johnson, Martin G.


250-b Van Zandt Family


85


Moore, Thomas L


Jones Family


552 Walters Family.


89 Moore, Willlain I


178


Jones, Charles H


555 Webb, Edwin.


186


Mudge, WIliam.


528


Jones, David W


556 Werd, Henry R.


231 Nicoll, Delancey.


141


Jones, John D ..


558 Weeks, William MI


5:28


Oakley, J. M


254


Jones, Oliver L.


555 White Famlly ..


498


Paff, George N


183


Jones, Walter R ..


557 Whitney, Scudder V


494


l'itkin, John R ..


219


King, Rufns ..


255


Willets, Samuel


465


Powell, B. S


569


King, Gov. John A


256


Williams, William II


309


Prince, L. Il ..


125


King, John Alsop.


258 Woodhull, Nathanlel.


41


Rapelye, George I


356


Kissam Family.


437


Wyckoff. Nicholas ...


391


Remsen, James S


251


Lawrence Family


Youngs, Danlel K


496


Riker, Samuel.


368


Lawrence, John W.


Roemer, Jacob.


121


Lawrence, Joseph A


370


Rogers, Charles H.


323


Lent Family.


343


Schwalenberg, Willlam II


325


Leverich, Edward.


Sınlth, Richard


495


Leverich, Charles P


401


Smith, Silvanns S


460


Lewis, Francis


80 Albertson, T. W.


430


Smith. William Mitchell ..


461


L'Hommedicu, James H.


445


Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Ilenjamin W


440, 441


Taber, Samnel T.


451


Licht, Philip.


384


Alt-Muller, George ...


527


Taber, Stephen.


454


Lowcree Family.


185


Tompkins, Joseph .J.


350


Ludlam Family.


511 Armstrong, John J.


247


Townsend, Solomon.


491


Ludlam, Henry


547


Backus, Ascan.


345


Underhill, Daniel ..


543


Lndlam, James M.


499


Bell, Robert M.


120 Van Alst, John I


364


Luyster Family.


342


Helmont, Perry


577


Van Alst, Peter G.


327


Luyster, John B.


539


llergen, George W


154


Vanderveer, George W.


357


Maurice, James.


380


Birdsall, John


573


Vanderveer, Il. S


407


Merritt, Israel J


131


Ilrinckerhoff, John II.


253


Van Nostrand, Jobn E


339


Messenger, Thomas


462 Burroughs, Robert ..


355 Van Pelt, Peter


319


Moore Family


340 Burtis, Oliver D.


548 Webb, Edwin.


187


Moore, Thomas L


178 Bryant, William Cullen


44-


Wecks, William M


528


Mudge, William ..


527 Carpenter, James S.


140


Charlick, Oliver


575


Willets, Samnel ..


465


Nicoll Family ...


140 Clark, John J.


430


Wyckoff, Nicholas.


390


Nostrand Family.


250 Cock, Townsend D


508


Yonngs, Daniel K.


496


Oakley, J. M.


254 Coek, William T


510


Onderdonk, Henry, Jr.


197


Paff, George N


182 Covert, Charles G.


385


Parsons, Samuel


92 De Bevoise, Abraham


252


Parsons, S. B.


93 De Bevoise, Anna M


252


Pitkin, John R


219 De Ile Voise, Adrianna


351


Bergen, George W., Residence ... 156


353 Church, Grace, Jamaica ... 240,243, 244


350 Church. Christ, Oyster Bay ... 502


281 Church, St. George's, Hempstead .. 175,177


349 Church Rcetorv, St. George's, Hempstead. 177


Prince, L. B.


128


De Be Voise, John C ..


348


Church, Presbyterian, Jamaica. 233,234


Rapelye, George I.


356


De Bevoise, John I.


321 Church, Reformed, Jamaica


236


Remsen Family


343 De Bevoise, Jane .


320


Church, Union Evangelical, Corona .. 396


Remsen, James S


352


De Bevoise, J. C., Residence. 348


518


Rodman, John


86 Downing, Benjamin W


137 Frontispiece


1


Rocmer, Jacob


124 Downing, George S


531 Grosjean, F., Residence.


215


Rogers, Charles H.


322


Duryca, H. V.


519 Hewlett, George, Residence


435


Rycken (Riker) Family


342 Duryea, John S ..


408 Hopkins, John B., Residence.


211


Schwalenberg, William H.


325 Eastman, Henry W


457 Jackson, Samuel C., Residence


408


Seabury, Samuel.


176 Floyd-Jones, William


5:1 Johuson, Martin G., Residence.


250-b


Seabury, Samuel, jr


240


Fosdick, Morris


246 Jones, Oliver L., M. D., Hotel


566,567


Seaman Family


158


Geissenbainer, F. W


392 Leverich, C. D., Residence.


404


Smith, Richard


495


Haviland, Isaac E


431 Lutheran Cemetery


393


Sınith, Silvanns S


460


Hegeman, Daniel


541 Licht, Philip, Factory.


386


Smith, William Mitchell


461 Heitz, Jobn F.


551


Lott, A. V. S., Residenee


342


Snediker Family ..


249 Herzog, Frederick


550 Nichols, G. H. & Co., Chemical Works ...


377


Spooner, Alden J.


15% Hewlett, William H.


433 Owen, Mrs. Henry, Residence ..


217


90 Hewlett, William


432 Portable House Manufactory, Corona


404


562 Paff, George N., Residence.


183


Taber, Samuel T


450 Hewlett, Joseph L.


434 Remsen & Wainright, Hotel.


162


Taber, Stephen.


455 Hopkins, John B.


261 Schenck, John, Residence.


535


Thorne, James ..


520 Jackson, John C.


315 Smith, Henry T., Brick Works. 546


306,307


Townsend Family.


490 Jones, Charles H


Townsend, Solomon


491 Jones. David W.


556 Thorne, James, Residence and Office


521


Underhill, Daniel.


543 Jones, John D.


559 Van Wickel, George S., Residence.


254


Underhill, John


506 King, Rufus.


255 Van Siclen, Abraham, Residence


204


Urquhart, William


238 Lawrence. John W.


133


. Van Sicleu. James, Residence.


207


Valentine Family


89,507


Lawrenee, Joseph A ...


370 Williams Veneer Mills


309


Van Alst, John I.


365 Leverich, Edward


398 Wyekoff, N., Residence.


388


Van Alst, Peter G


326 Leverieb, Charles P


400 Map of Long Island. 5


Willets, Samuel, Residence. 465


Suydamn Family ..


343 Hewlett, Jacob C


211 Roe, G. B. & Co., Lumber and Coal Yard ..


107


Thorne Family


89 Hunter, Jacob.


Tompkins. Joseph J.


359 Johnsou, Martin G.


250-b Steinway & Sons' Piano Works.


554 Taylor, John, Residence.


88


Powell, B. S ..


569 De Bevoise, Charles 1.


Poyer, Thomas


218 De Be Voise, Cornelius S


Praa. Peter.


260 De Bevoise, Henry S


Prince Family


124


De Be Voise, John


251 Debevoise, John M


Riker, Samuch.


369 Dennett, A. K. P.


135 Duryea, Starch Works.


494


524


Whitney, Scudder V


Nicoll, Delancey.


220 Colyer, Charles


ILLUSTRATIONS.


90 132


PORTRAITS.


398


86 Angevine, Lewis W.


Sprong, Bernard.


PREFACE.


It has heretofore been possible for the scholar, with leisure and a comprehensive library, to trace out the written history of his county by patient research among voluminous public documents and many volumes, some- times old and scarce; but these sources of information and the time to study them are not at the command of most of those who are intelligently interested in local history, and there are miny unpublished facts to be res- cued from the failing memories of the oldest residents, who would soon have carried their information with them to the grave; and others to be obtained from the citizens best informed in regard to the various interests and institutions of the county which should be treated of in giving its history.


This service of research and compilation, which very few could have undertaken for themselves, the publish- ers of this work have caused to be performed. While all the standard sources of information have been con- sulted, very much of the material embodied has been gained by personal interview and original investigation. The publishers desire to acknowledge in general terms the kindness and courtesy with which their efforts to obtain the facts recorded here have usually been met. To the proprietors of the newspapers of the county, for access to the files of their journals; to officers in charge of the public records; to clergymen, for assistance in preparing the church histories; and to the secretaries of numerous associations, for data furnished, their thanks are due. Aside from this general expression more particular men- tion is called for of several contributors to the work.


Any one attempting at this day a complete history of Queens county must profit largely by the labors of Henry Onderdonk jr., whose contributions to the early history of Long Island (enumerated on page 220) are as valuable as they are voluminous. While his publications have furnished many facts incorporated in various parts of the volume, Mr. Onderdonk prepared expressly for this work the general history of the county (pages 49- 65), the history of Jamaica village (pages 220-246) the records of the Society of Friends in North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, and the account of Revolutionary events in those towns.


The late Alden J. Spooner prepared chapters II and XII of the general history of Long Island (pages 18-22, 46-48), but his lamented death left the completion of them to other hands. Chapter XI of the same section of the work (pages 44-46) was written by Richard Wil- lets, of Westbury.


In the preparation of the history of the town of Hempstead articles were contributed as follows: On the village of Pearsalls (pages 166, 167), by Miss Ellie F. Pearsall; the " Jerusalem" neighborhood (pages 157-162), by Edward H. Seaman; St. George's church Hemp- stead village (pages 174-178), by Rev. W. H. Moore, D. D., who also furnished the accompanying cuts; the church institutions at Garden City, by Rev. T. S. Drowne, D. D .; Seaford, New Bridge, Bellmore and Smithville South (pages 169-171), by Thomas D. Smith; and Rockville Centre and East Rockaway (pages 163- 166, 170, by John Rhodes and Oliver Denton.


The very valuable early history of the town of North Hempstead (pages 409-412) was contributed by H. G. Onderdonk, of Manhasset, to whom the publishers are also indebted for other assistance. The history of the record.


Methodist Episcopal churches of this town was written by Rev. E. Warriner, from. a portion of the material which he has for years been collecting for his forthcom- ing "Cyclopedia of Long Island Methodism." The value of these articles and the amount of research in- volved in their preparation will be recognized by all readers. The section on the agriculture of North Hemp- stead (pages 416, 417) is by Benjamin D. Hicks, and we are indebted to that gentleman for other favors. The account of journalism in the town was furnished by H. W. Eastman; that of the schools by Commissioner C. E. Surdam; that of the Roslyn mills by Walter Hicks; and notes on Port Washington and the oyster business by Warren Weeks. Histories of the religious institutions of the town, other than the M. E. churches above men- tioned, were contributed as follows: Christ church Manhasset, Rev. J. E. Homans; Westbury union Sunday-school, Miss Henrietta Titus; Reformed church of Manhasset (in part), Warren Mitchell; Trinity church Roslyn, Rev. William C. Brush; St. Aloysius church, Great Neck, Rev. E. J. Smith; the Ro- man Catholic church at Roslyn, Rev. M. C. Brennan; Roslyn Presbyterian church, J. Browne jr .; Baptist church of Port Washington, James E. Bird.


Contributions to the history of the town of Oyster Bay were made as follows: Sea Clift (page 529) Rev. W. H. De Puy, D. D .; agriculture (pages 487, 488), Daniel K. Youngs; Odd Fellows' lodge, Glen Cove (page 520), W. M. Peck; Syosset (pages 547, 548), (. I). Burtis; Glen Cove and Matinecock (pages 505-525), J. T. Bowne; Hicksville (page 549), John F. Heitz; churches of Oyster Bay village-Episcopal Rev. W. M. Geer, Baptist Rev. C. S. Wightman, Presbyterian Rev. A. G. Russell, Method- ist Episcopal William Ludlam; churches of Glen Cove -Presbyterian Rev. T. S. Bradner, Methodist Episco- pal Rev. J. S. Gilder, Protestant Episcopal Rev. J. C. Middleton; Brookville Reformed church, Rev. J. H. Davis; Locust Valley Reformed church, Rev. A. De W. Mason; East Norwich M. E. church, H. H. Frost; Jones Institute, Walter Franklin. The author of the history of this town would acknowledge the kind assistance given in its preparation by the town clerk, John N. Remsen, and by Miss Letitia Townsend; many facts in the early history of the town were taken by permission from the " Townsend Memorial."


Other acknowledgments are made in different parts of the history itself.


So much time is necessarily consumed in preparing and printing a work of the magnitude of this that the parts first done may not in all cases embody the latest information, as, for example, in giving a list of the pas- tors of a church or the officers of an organization or a town; this would be inevitable at whatever time the vol- ume might be issued. Thus: while the supervisors are the same in several towns as in 1881, the present super- visor of Newtown is Thomas F. McGowan; of North Hempstead, Jacob Powell; Hempstead, Martin V. Wood.


While some unimportant errors may perhaps be found amid the multitude of details entering into the composi- tion of a work of this character, the publishers yet present this result of many months' labor as a reliable and orderly narrative of all the events in the history of Queens county of sufficient importance to merit such


-


ORIGIN OF TOWNS.


KINGS COUNTY.


QUEENS COUNTY.


Brooklyn. Was Settled 1636.


Hempstead


1644."


Bushwick.


1660


Jamaica ...


1656, " Gov Stuyvesant; settled, 1653.


. . 1710; settled.


Flatbush


1651


Newtown. . 1640, " Gov. Kieft.


Riverhead


From Southold,


Flatlands,


1636


long Island City.


From Newtown, May 6th 1870


Sinithtown


Chartered 1677, by Gov. Ar


Gravesend.


1643


North Hempstead. ...... From Hempstead, April 6th 1784


Southampton


New Utrecht


1654. Oyster Bay.


MAP OF LONG ISLAND


Vill+


معطلا سير


.1


F


()


1


East Hampton


Huntington.


slip. . . .


Shelter Island


From Southold, 1730; settled.


1653. Southold


TATA.


1


SUFFOLK COUNTY.


Flushing .. . Chartered 1645, by Gov, Kieft,


Brookhaven. settled, 1643


Babylon .. From Huntington, March 13th . 1658; settled,


carin


1


OUTLINE HISTORY


OF THE


STATE OF NEW YORK.


CHAPTER I.


- DISCOVERY OF NEW YORK-THE INDIANS OF THE FIVE NATIONS.


N 1524 John de Verazzano, a Florentine navi- gator in the service of Francis the First of France, made a voyage to the North American coast, and, as is believed from the account which he gave, entered the harbor of New York. No colonies were planted, and no results followed; and the voyage was almost forgotten.


Though discoveries were made by the French north from this point, and colonies planted by the English farther to the south, it is not known that New York was again visited by Europeans till 1609, when the Dutch East India Company sent Hendrick Hudson, an English- man by birth, on a voyage of discovery in a vessel called the "Half Moon." He reached the coast of Mainc, sailed thence to Cape Cod, then southwesterly to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, then, coasting northward, he entered Delaware Bay on the 28th of August. From thence he proceeded northward, and on the 3d of September, 1609, anchored in New York Bay. On the 12th he entered the river that bears his name, and proceeded slowly up to a point just above the present site of the city of IIud- son; thence he sent a boat's crew to explore farther up, and they passed above Albany. September 23d he set sail down the river, and immediately returned to Europc.


In 1607 Samuel Champlain, a French navigator, sailed 4th of July in that year discovered the lake which bears his name.


Five Nations, and by the French the Iroquois, and by themselves called Hodenosaunee-people of the long house. The long house formed by this confederacy ex- tended east and west through the State, having at its eastern portal the Mohawks, and at its western the Sen- ecas; while between them dwelt the Oneidas, Ononda- gas, and Cayugas; and after 1714 a sixth nation, the Tuscaroras, southeast from Oneida Lake. Of these Indians Parkman says that at the commencement of the seventeenth century "in the region now forming the State of New York, a power was rising to a ferocious vitality, which, but for the presence of Europeans, would probably have subjected, absorbed or exterminated every other Indian community east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio."


"The Iroquois was the Indian of Indians. A thorough savage, yet a finished and developed savage, he is, per- haps, an example of the highest elevation which man can reach without emerging from his primitive condition of the hunter. A geographical position commanding on the one hand the portal of the great lakes, and on the other the sources of the streams flowing both to the Atlantic and the Mississippi, gave the ambitious and ag- gressive confederates advantages which they perfectly understood, and by which they profited to the utmost. Patient and politic as they were ferocious, they were not only the conquerors of their own race, but the powerful allies and the dreaded focs of the French and English colonies, flattered and caressed by both, yet too sagacious to give themselves without reserve to either. Their or- ganization and their history evince their intrinsic superi- ority. Even their traditionary lore, amid its wild pueril- striking contrast with the flimsy creations of Algonquin fancy. That the Iroquois, left under their own institu- tions, would ever have developed a civilization of their own, I do not believe."


up the St. Lawrence, explored its tributaries, and on the ities, shows at times the stamp of an energy and force in


At the time of the discovery of New York by the whites the southern and eastern portions were inhabited by the Mahican or Mohegan Indians; while that portion These institutions were not only characteristic and curious, but almost unique. Without sharing the almost west from the Hudson River was occupied by five con- federate tribes, afterwards named by the English the fanatical admiration for them of Morgan, or echoing


8


OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


the praises which Parkman lavisnes on tnem, it may be truly id that their wonderful and cohesive confederation furnished a model worthy to be copied by many civilized nations, while, so long as they were uncontaminated by the vices of civilization, they possessed, with all their savagery, many noble traits of character, which would adorn any people in their public, social, or domestic relations.


They made themselves the dreaded masters of all their neighbors east of the Mississippi, and carried their victorious arms far to the north, the south, and the east. Their dominance is thus eloquently pictured in Street's " Frontenac ": -


" The fierce Adirondacs had fled from their wrath,


The Hurons been swept from their merciless path; Around, the Ottawas, like leaves, had been strewn, And the lake of the Eries struck silent and lone. The Lenape, lords once of valley and hill,


- Made women, bent low at their conquerors' will.


. By the far Mississippi the Illini shrank When the trail of the TORTOISE was seen on the bank; On the hills of New England the Pequod turned pale When the howl of the WOLF swelled at night on the gale; And the Cherokee shook in his green, smiling bowers When the foot of the BEAR stamped his carpet of flowers."


It will hereafter be seen that the Iroquois acted an im- portant part in the early history of the State.


Space will not permit a description of their league, or confederation, a sketch of their tribal relations, and their religious, social and domestic customs, or a history of their warlike achievements.


Only an allusion may here be made to the many dim and shadowy records of a pre-existing people of whom not even a faint tradition remains. These records con- sist of stone, terra cotta, or bone weapons, implements or ornaments, that are occasionally discovered, and of the remains of defensive works found here and there through the State. Many similar works have been leveled by the plough, and those that remain are slowly crumbling and passing to oblivion. Some of them, though they would not be regarded as models of military engineering at the present day, give evidence of an adaptation to the circumstances that probably existed when they were built, and of skill in construction, which are not discreditable to their builders.


CHAPTER IT.


NEW YORK UNDER THE DUTCH-ENGLISH GOVERNORS TO 1765.


N 1610 another vessel was sent from Holland to trade with the natives and in 1612 two more, soon after followed by others; and a small fort and a few rude buildings were erected at the southern extremity of Man- hattan Island, and the place was named New Amsterdam. In 1614 the States General of Hol- land granted a charter to the merchants engaged in these


expeditions, giving exclusive privileges of trade for four years. The Hudson River had been ascended by Hen- drick Christiansen, and a fort and trading house erected near the present site of Albany, which was named Fort Orange.


In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was chartered, and in 1623 settlers were sent thither. In 1626 Peter Minuit, as director-general or governor of the province, arrived with other settlers, and purchased the island of Manhattan from the Indians for trinkets of the value of about $24. In 1629 the company offered grants to patroons who should found settlements in the province (which had been named New Netherlands) of fifty or more adults, and several availed themselves of this offer. In 1633 Minuit was recalled and Wouter Van Twiller ap- pointed in his place. During his administration the con- troversy concerning jurisdiction was commenced between the Dutch and the English, who claimed the country on the ground of prior discovery by Cabot and the grant of James I. covering the territory.




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