USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The Dutch records of Kingston, Ulser County, New York (Esopus, Wildwyck, Swanenburgh, Kingston) 1658-1684 > Part 1
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THE DUTCH RECORDS OF KINGSTON
ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK
(ESOPUS, WILDWYCK, SWANENBURGH, KINGSTON)
1658-1684 10865
WITH SOME LATER DATES
PART I
MAY 31, 1658-NOVEMBER 18, 1664 ESOPUS-WILDWYCK
REVISED TRANSLATION FOR
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL
-
iparate from VOL XI 3 ASSOCIATION
NEW VE
of Proceedings
BY
PUBLI
SAMUEL OPPENHEIM
Of the New York Bar
LIBRA!
Author of "The Early Congressional Debates and Reporter," " The Early History of the Jews in New York, 1654-1664," "An Early Jewish Colony in Western , Guiana, 1658-1666," Etc.
1912
:
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTUR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION
HOY W3M
INTRODUCTION
The old Dutch records of Kingston, now in the office of the County Clerk of Ulster County, dating from 1658, are second in importance in the history of the Colony of New York to the data contained in the Records of New Amsterdam, and vie with, if they do not exceed, in importance the Records of the County of Albany and Colony of Rensselaerswyck, edited by Prof. Jonathan Pear- son, and the Dutch court records of Albany still unpublished.
The Kingston records have within the past fifteen years become accessible to the public in translated form, in three large manu- script volumes kept in the office of the County Clerk of Ulster County. They have not heretofore been printed.
The New York State Historical Association has decided, if it shall meet with sufficient encouragement, to print the whole of these records in a good English rendering, after a careful revision by comparison with the original Dutch.
The manuscript translation referred to, under the supervision of Judge A. T. Clearwater, as commissioner appointed by the Board . of Supervisors of Kingston, was made between 1895 and 1898 by Mr. Dingman Versteeg, a native of Holland His work, however, though possessing merits and of value in a comparison, is deemed by competent judges who have examined it to be unsuited to publication without thorough revision. Such a revision has become a desidera- tum. The task of making it has been entrusted by the New York State Historical Association to Mr. Samuel Oppenheim, of the New York bar, who, in another field dealing with the Dutch period in New Amsterdam between 1654 and 1664, has familiarized himself with the crabbed Dutch writing and the language of simi- lar records, and whose acquaintance with legal forms and expres- sions has been of great service in correcting the old translation, re-
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INTRODUCTION.
lating as it does to court records. Many changes, both in style and in matter, have been found necessary in the revision, the corrected manuscript showing alterations and recasting on almost every page .-
While a fluent and readable version is given in the revision, the aim, which is believed to have been accomplished, has been to adhere closely to the original Dutch record and to bring out its meaning clearly.
The court records begin, at page 11, of Book I, with the min- utes of the first meeting of the Inferior Court of Justice at Wild- wyck, as the Esopus, later Kingston, was then called, presided over by the Schout, or sheriff, and three Commissaries, or commis- sioners, appointed by Director General Stuyvesant and the Coun- cil of New Netherland. The first meeting was held July 12, 1661. Preceding the first court entry is a copy of a document dated May 31, 1658, relating to the defence of the village against attacks by the Indians. This appears at page 3. The preceding two pages are missing, but, judging from a statement in The History of Ul- ster County, by Nathaniel B. Sylvester, Phila., 1880, pp. 44 and 46, in a chapter copied from an unpublished manuscript of Jona- than W. Hasbrouck, of Ulster County, they probably contained a copy of the order of Stuyvesant giving the name Wildwyck to the place, and a memorandum of the fact that the court had been es- tablished there in May, 1661, and that Roeloof Swartwout had been appointed Schout, together with a copy of the order of his appoint- ment. Pages 4 to 10 are blank. They are referred to further on.
The extant Dutch records give the legal history of Ulster county quite fully to 1684. They also include a variety of ac- count books from 1676 to 1719, and from 1772 to 1774, as well as some church ordinances of 1742. A brief descrip- tion of them, as found in the report of Prof. Herbert L. Os- good on the Archives of New York, printed in the Report of the American Historical Association for 1900, Vol. II, pp. 78-79, will afford a general idea of their contents and of their his- torical importance. They consist of :
. 1. Court records, Book 1, July 21, 1661 to May 6, 1664. 336 pp. Folio. Prefaced by a copy of a bond by the inhabitants of Esopus, dated May 31, 1658, to demolish their separated dwellings, build closer together, and surround the village with a stockade.
INTRODUCTION.
1
2. Court records, Book II, June 29, 1664 to November 5-15, 1667. 360 pp. Folio.
3. Court records, Book III, November 12-22, 1667 to August 26, 1673. 302 pp. Folio. At the end is an indenture of service, acknowledged before the secretary, 1672-3, and in English, a sum- mons to appear before the next court of sessions.
4. Court records, Book IV, November 9, 1673 to November 11, 1675. 100 pp. Folio. Also marked "Liber C."
5. Court records, Book V, December 22, 1676 to October 15, 1684. 243 pp. Folio. This volume also contains an instrument of December 19, 1685, acknowledged before Thomas Garton, justice of the peace. In this volume a list is given of the "Prottocol" or court records, 22 in number, stating which pages were missing on Febru- ary 19, 1700-01.
6. Court records, January 8, 1680-1 to March 13, 1683-4, and March 15, 1680-1 to September 5, 1683. 354 pp. Folio.
7. Secretary's papers, Liber A, April 7, 1664 to December 31 1665. 140 pp. Folio. Contains depositions, deeds, mortgages, etc. 8. Secretary's papers, Liber B., 1666-1681. 442 pp. Folio. Contains
(a) Register of the secretary, January 5, 1666 to July 23, 1667, 190 pp.
(b) Contract of sale of horses, Gouwert Poulussen to Cor- nelis Barentsen Slecht, 1670; and two memoranda of fees due March 16, 1670, and November 9, 1673, pp. 191-192. Pp. 193-220 are blank.
(c) Register of the secretary, January 11 to November 22, 1675, pp. 221-235. Pp. 236 to 254 are blank.
(d) Register of the secretary, March 10, 1675 to November 9, 1676, pp. 255-276. Pp. 277-292 are blank.
(e) Register of the secretary, January 5, 1678-9 to February 29, 1860, pp. 293-295. Pp. 296 is blank.
(f) Transport for three negro slaves, John Colloway to Ga- briel Minviele, 1680 (in English), p. 297. Pp. 298 to 316 are blank.
(g) Register of the secretary, March 3, 1679 to February 27, 1679-80, pp. 317-381. P. 382 is blank.
(h) Indenture, December 23, 1678 (In English), p. 383. Pp. 384-400 are blank.
(i) Register of the secretary, March 3, 1679-80 to January 7, 1680-81. Pp. 401-442.
9. Secretary's papers, Liber C, 1669-1672. Pp. 13 to 166. Folio. Pp. 1 to 12 are blank. Contain the register of secretary La Montagne, December 27, 1669 to October 7, 1672.
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INTRODUCTION.
10. Secretary's papers, Liber D, November 4, 1672, to April 20, 1673. Contains deeds, etc.
11. Secretary's papers, Liber E, 1676 to 1679. 216 pp. Folio. Contains register of secretary La Montagne, March 29, 1676, to March 5, 1678-9, pp. 3 to 133; and minutes of the court of sessions, April 26, 1676 to December 14, 1680, on reverse side, pp. 134 to 216.
12 to 19. Various account books relating to the poor funds, the deacons and the church, all in Dutch, covering various dates be- tween 1676 and 1719, and also the years 1742, 1772 to 1774, 162 pp. Folio.
A romantic interest attaches to these volumes. Many years be- fore 1895 they disappeared from the Ulster County Clerk's office at Kingston, under circumstances not now definitely known. One day in June, 1895, an express package was received by the Clerk, which upon being opened was found to contain the records just described, together with some others in English. Inquiry then made resulted in the information that they had been shipped from Quogue, Long Island, by a gentleman who was a stranger to the express company. About fifteen years before this, rumors had been circulated in Ulster County that the records could be found on Long Island, but a sheriff, armed with a search warrant, whose arrival in New York was heralded with an announcement of the purpose of his visit, found nothing.
In explanation of their disappearance and return, Wheeler B. Melius, in an introduction to the index to the Kingston records, printed in the Index to the Public Records of the County of Al- bany, State of New York, 1630-1894, quotes a statement concern- ing them, made by a gentleman named Van Alstyne, residing in Brooklyn, to Thomas J. Van Alstyne, former Mayor of Albany and ex-congressman, while in search of genealogical information. As quoted, Mr. Van Alstyne of Brooklyn said:
"Years ago I, with a few others, became interested in these old Dutch records at Kingston. There was very little interest displayed in their preservation, and, being written more or less illegibly in the old Dutch of that early period, they were as a sealed book to most people. No translation had ever been attempted, officially or otherwise, and as there seemed to be no prospects of a translation, the records were removed to Brooklyn, where arrangements had been made for a complete translation by an old Dutch scholar. The
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INTRODUCTION.
work was scarcely started when the translator was taken ill and died. Owing to the press of other business, I lost track of the records, but it seems that when the effects of the deceased translator were disposed of, his executors, knowing nothing of the ownership of the records, but being satisfied that they were of a public char- acter, had them packed in a box and removed to the old city hall, where they were left undisturbed for a long time. I was one of the commissioners having in charge the building of the new city hall, and when that edifice was completed and the work of trans- ferring the books and papers was under way, this old box of Kingston records came to light. While the officials, to whom the records were Greek, were discussing the advisability of consign- ing the box of 'rubbish' to the junk pile, I happened to come into the room, and at once recognized the records. I had them carefully boxed and shipped to the Ulster County Clerk's office at Kingston. No word was sent with them, because those who had brought them to Brooklyn were unable to complete the work and thought they might be open to censure for removing them from Kingston and then allowing them to remain so long neglected and in danger of destruction. These are the facts of the disappearance and return of the Kingston records, and the mystery is a mystery no longer."
The Dutch traded at Kingston Point as early as 1613, and left some boats there in 1621-22. No permanent occupation seems to have been made, so far as appears from any manuscript records, prior to 1652. In that year Thomas Chambers, an Englishman by birth, with a colony of settlers from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, began a permanent occupation of the region of the Esopus, presumably by consent of the aborigines or by purchase of farms from them.1
Rev. Johannes Megapolensis and Rev. Samuel Dris- ius, in August, 1657, writing to the Classis of Amsterdam, refer to Esopus as follows :
"About eighteen [Dutch] miles [about 54 English] up the North River, half way between the Manhattans and Rensselaer or Beaverwyck, lies a place called by the Dutch Esopus or Sypous and by the Indians Atharhacton [ Atkarkacton]. It is an exceedingly fine country there. Thereupon some Dutch families settled there. who are doing well."2
1 The History of Ulster County, edited by Alphonso T. Clearwater, Kings- ton, N. Y., 1907, p. 33-34.
" Ecclesiastical Records of New York, vol. 1, p. 398.
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INTRODUCTION.
Although the Dutch authorities had forbidden the sale of brandy and other liquors to the Indians, Chambers reported to Director General Stuyvesant in May, 1658, that some trouble had oc- curred at the Strand "through the fearful intoxication of the bar- barians." They had obtained an anker of brandy (about ten gallons), and, becoming intoxicated, killed one of the inhabitants ยท and set fire to the house of another, so that the people were com- pelled to fly. At a previous date the Indians, under the influence of liquor, had become quarrelsome and had compelled the settlers, under the threat of arson, to plow their lands for them, killed some hogs and a horse or two that had strayed on their plantations, and, in the estimation of their white neighbors, used great violence every day.3
On an appeal to Stuyvesant for assistance, he went up from Manhattan to the scene of the disturbance. In an interview with the inhabitants he pointed out to them the inadvisability of then thinking of war against the Indians, and suggested that they should build closer together and enclose the whole place with palisades. He marked out for them a site for a village on the north side of the Great Plat, to which he later gave the name Wildwyck, now the oldest part of Kingston.4
The agreement of the inhabitants by which they bound them- selves to live close together, upon the assurance of protection from Stuyvesant in case of attack by the Indians, is the first entry in the extant Dutch records now put into print. A photogravure of the record of this agreement accompanies this translation.
The Indians were not pleased with the action of the white men, and complained to Stuyvesant that the land taken for the village had not been paid for, but after a conference with him they agreed to yield their claim "to grease his feet with, because he had made such a long journey to come and see them." Later, further meetings were held with the Indians, and further land obtained from them. Matters proceeded along with more or less friction until the latter part of 1659, when, through the sale of intoxicants
" Clearwater, supra, p. 34.
' Id., pp. 34-35.
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INTRODUCTION.
to the savages, what is known as the Esopus War of 1659-1660 was inaugurated.5
A record of this war and of the events leading to and fol- lowing it is to be found in the Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York, vol. XIII, which is our main source of infor- mation regarding the early history of Esopus or Kingston.
Peace was concluded July 15, 1660, "under the blue sky." A copy of the treaty is given in vol. XIII, just mentioned. By its terms, the Sachems promised to convey, as indemnification, all the territory of the Esopus and to remove to a distance from there, without ever returning again to plant. In other words, they promised to give up the Groot Plat which Stuyvesant wanted and which the settlers hoped to obtain without payment.6
The name Wildwyck was given by Stuyvesant to the settle- ment in the spring 1661, in a document of which Sylvester gives the Dutch version which, as already mentioned, he indicates was the first entry in the records, page 1. The English reads as follows :
"Peter Stuyvesant, Governor and Director General, commis- sioned and authorized in the control of all matters relating to the public good of all the territories of New Netherland, by virtue of the authority and permission of the Honorable Lords, the Directors of the Privileged West India Company, Greeting :
"The aforesaid valiant Director General Peter Stuyvesant, ob- serving the situation and condition of the place called "Esopus," already inhabited six or seven years, and pleased thereat, hath, in consideration of its state and population, erected our place into a village, and honored it with the name of Wildwyck, by which name it shall henceforth be called."7
A court at Wildwyck was established by Stuyvesant in May, 1661. The oath of office of the commissaries appointed to act dur- ing the first year appears to be dated May 5, 1661, though the en-
6 Id., p. 36.
6 Id., pp. 33-38.
7 Nathaniel B. Sylvester, The History of Ulster County, N. Y., Phila., 1880, p. 44. The editor adds that the new name was given in honor of the Indians who had made a "free gift " of the soil, and that the Governor prob- ably meant it to be known as Indian retreat, Indian Refuge or Indian Village. Though Sylvester spells the name Wiltwyck, the correct spelling Wildwyck, which has the meaning he mentions, is here used. The original of the docu- ment he quotes does not now appear to be extant.
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INTRODUCTION.
abling ordinance is noted as having been enacted later, May 16, 1661. The oath is to be found in Documents, supra, vol. XIII, p. 196, and reads as follows:
"Whereas, the settlement in the Esopus increases daily, it has been considered necessary to establish there a small bench of jus- tice, as Commissaries of which his Honor, the General, has chosen Evert Pels, Cornelis Barentsen Slecht and Aldert Heymanse Roose, who took the following oath as Commissaries:
. " 'We promise and swear, in the presence of the Almighty and Ever-present God, that we will be true and faithful to the Director General and Council, now in office or hereafter to be appointed, under the authority of Their High Might: the Lords States Gen- eral, and the Lords Directors of the Incorporated West-India Com- pany, Department of Amsterdam, as our Masters and Patroons, that we will hold them and their orders in great respect and obey them, that we will administer good law and justice to the best of our knowledge, prevent all mutiny, strife and disorder, and assist in preventing them by all our power, that we will maintain and exercise the Reformed Church service and no other, obey the in- structions received or hereafter to be received, and finally do every- thing, which good and faithful magistrates are bound to do. So help us God Almighty !'
"May 5 [1661]." '
The ordinance establishing the court is entitled, "An Ordi- nance of the Director General and Council, for the erection of a Court of Justice at Wildwyck," passed May 16, 1661. It is print- ed in Laws and Ordinances of New Netherland," edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, at pages 395 to 401, and was no doubt intended, with the preceding oath and the order quoted below, appointing the Schout, to be copied in the blank pages 4 to 10 of Book I of the Dutch records following the document of 1658. This ordinance is also found in the Documents, supra, pp. 196-198, as translated by Berthold Fernow, with variations in language from that given in O'Callaghan's translation of New York Colonial Manuscripts, vol. IX, pp. 607, et seq. The O'Callaghan translation is preferred, and is here given, for a clearer understanding of the translated court records. In it the name of the village is spelled Wildwyck, though in Fernow's translation it is printed Wiltwyck. It reads:
"Petrus Stuyvesant, on behalf of the High and Mighty Lords States General of the United Netherlands, the Honorable Directors
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INTRODUCTION.
of the Incorporated West India Company, Director General of New Netherland, Curacoa, Bonaire, Aruba, and their dependencies, to- gether with the Council :
"To all who shall see these Presents, or hear them read, Greet- ing, 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 Wildwyck situate in the Esopus, and in order that such may be effected and preserved, with greater love, peace and unity, and to manifest and, indeed, to prove to each Inhabitant of the above named Village, the effect thereof, the Director General and Council aforesaid, con- sidering the increase and population of said village, have resolved to favor its Inhabitants with an Inferior Court of Justice, and to constitute it, as much as possible and the circumstances of the Country will permit, according to the laudable custom of the City of Amsterdam in Holland, but so that all judgments shall remain subject to reversal by an appeal to the Director General and Coun- cil of New Netherland, to be by their Honors finally disposed of.
"In order that all things 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 the Supreme government established here, promoters and professors of the Re- formed 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 consist of one Schout, being on the spot, who shall, in the name of the Director General and Council convoke the appointed Schepens and preside at the Meet- ing; and with him, of three Schepens, to which office are for the present time and ensuing year, commencing with the last of next May, elected, and on having taken oath are confirmed by the Direc- tar General and Council, Evert Pels, Cornelis Baerentsen Sleght, and Elbert Heymans Rose :
"Before whom all matters touching civil affairs, security and peace of the Inhabitants of the Esopus, also justice between Man and Man, shall be brought, heard, examined, and determined by definitive judgment, to the amount of Fifty guilders and under without appeal; when the sum is larger the aggrieved party shall be at liberty to appeal to the Director General and Council afore- said, provided that he enter the appeal within the proper time, and give security according to law, for the principal and costs of the suit.
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INTRODUCTION.
"In case of disparity of votes and opinions on any occurring cases, the minority shall coincide with the majority without any contradiction. But those who are of a different advice and opinion can cause their advice and opinion to be entered on the roll or rec- ord; but in no wise make public their rendered advice outside the Court, nor make it known to parties, under arbitrary correction at the discretion of the Court itself.
"The Schout shall, pursuant to the first Article, preside in the meeting, and collect the votes; also act as Secretary until further order and increase of the population. But if he have to act for himself as a party, or in behalf of the right of the Lords Patroons, or in behalf of justice for the right of the Fiscal, in such case he shall rise up and absent himself from the bench, and then have no advisory, much less a casting, vote; but one of the senior Schepens shall, in such case, preside in his place.
"What is set forth in the preceding Article of the Schout, shall also apply to the Schepens, whenever any cases or questions arise in the aforesaid Court between themselves as parties, or between others related by consanguinity to the appointed Schepens, such as brothers, brothers-in-law or cousins in the first or direct line.
"All inhabitants of the Esopus shall, until further order, either of the Lords Patroons or their Supreme government, be amenable te and subject to be cited before the aforesaid Schout and Commis- saries, who shall hold their Session and Court meeting in the Village aforesaid once a fortnight, harvest time excepted, unless necessity and circumstances otherwise require.
"In order to provide the good Inhabitants of Wildwyck with cheap and inoppressive justice, the Schout, as president, and the Schepens of the Court, must, for the convenience of parties, appear on the Court day, and at the place appointed, on the fine of Twenty stivers, to be at the disposition of the Board, they being notified at least twenty-four hours before the Court day to appear, by the Court-messenger, to be appointed by the Director General and Council, and double as much for the President, unless excused by sickness or absence. If appearing too late, and after the appointed hour, the fine shall be Six stivers.
"Extraordinary Courts shall not be ordered at the cost and charges of the parties, except on the application of both parties, under submission to costs on loss of the suit, which costs shall prev- iously be deposited by the applicant or appellant, to wit: for each Schepen, Fifty stivers, for the President, Three guilders, besides the provision for the Clerk and Court messenger, to be hereafter appointed and other ordinary costs, according to law.
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"All cases of Crime shall be referred to the Director General and Council of New Netherland, saving that those of the court may, and are bound to apprehend, arrest and to detain and hold in con- finement, all Criminal delinquents until they can send them under guard to the Supreme government, and, in the meantime, take good and correct information touching the Crime committed, at the cost of the Criminal or the Treasury, and such transmit at the same time with the delinquent.
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