USA > New York > The old streets of New York under the Dutch. A paper read before the New York historical society, June 2. 1874 > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01797 0333
THE
OLD STREETS
OF
NEW YORK
UNDER THE DUTCH.
1815
A PAPER READ BEFORE THE
New York Historical Society,
JUNE 2, 1874.
BY
JAMES W: GERARD.
NEW YORK : F. B. PATTERSON, 32 CEDAR STREET. 1875.
563
1752973
PROEM.
THE desire expressed by many interested in our local history to possess a copy of the paper on "THE OLD STREETS OF NEW YORK, UNDER THE DUTCH," recently read before the New York His- torical Society by Mr. GERARD, has induced its publication by the subscriber.
It relates to the most interesting and dramatic period of the history of our ancient city, over which Time is rapidly weaving his mystic web.
The style, at times quaint and familiar, and at others eloquent, with which the author has presented the subject, and the extent of his researches into the minutic of the life of our Dutch pre- decessors, will commend the publication, not only to the an- tiquarian, but to all citizens who take pride and pleasure in our local annals.
A limited number of copies have been printed, solely on the publisher's account, after permission obtained from the Historical Society ; and, it is hoped that the pamphlet will prove an accept- able addition to the other antiquarian publications issued by the Public's obedient servant,
F. B. PATTERSON,
32 CEDAR STREET,
NEW YORK.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/oldstreetsofnewy00gera_0
MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN
OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY :
In venturing to present a sketch of some of the old streets and people of New York, under the Dutch rule, it may be well, first, to glance at antecedent discoveries and settlements in the region by other nations.
Awaking from the sleep of the Middle Ages, the aroused energy of the European mind, towards the close of the fifteenth cen- try, developed itself in geographical, as well as scientific re- search.
Long intellectual slumber had created a rest which wearied as well as dwarfed.
The invention of printing had distributed knowledge no longer hoarded in cloisters. Improvements in the use of gun- powder tended to subduc caste, and give intellectual as well as civil freedom and vigor.
No longer content with dogmas and traditions, man yearned to break local boundries and forms-to expand, to learn, to dis- cover.
Marco Paulo's travels had instigated a thirst for adventure; and men's minds were still excited by stories of the wealth and won- dlers of Cathay and Copango.
The art of navigation had been improved under the leader- ship of Prince Henry, the Navigator.
New maps were planned. New enterprises stimulated the ambition of the curious or the avaricious. The great problem of the earth was still unsolved. The earth! man's abode and man's study. What was it? What were its limits ?
Pythagoras had claimed its rotundity in the mystic days of history. Still, the force of habit and the inertia of ignorance kept concert with error.
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The scholastic world still dreamed its old dreams, and wrap !.. itself in its cloak of Aristotle. Circumnavigation was imp, sible.
Columbus, however, at the close of the fifteenth century, mad .. the egg stand on its end, and rediscovered the Northmen's los continent. The shade of Pythagoras triumphed through this Genoese.
Geography vindicated her sister astronomy, and the world wos round.
The Portuguese, now roused in rivalry, vigorously attacked Eastern realins. Barthalamy Diaz had theretofore reached the southern point of Africa; and Vasco de Gama, in 1497, in searching for the realms of Prester John, carried the Portuguese flag around the African continent, which Pharaoh's vessels had done for the Egyptian flag over 2,000 years before.
The wealth of either Indies now lay open. Unknown El Dor- ados awaited adventure. Spaniard and Portuguese fiercely claimed the prize of the unknown earth.
Alexander VI. adjudged the great process.
The geographical bulls of 1493 and 1506 made the division for all prospective discovery.
A line from pole to pole was to divide the infidel world be- twen the two most holy navigating powers, who vigorously set to work to utilize the prize.
Magellan, for Spain, in 1519, passed through the straits that bear his name, and circumnavigated the globe.
The Portuguese culled rich productions from Ceylon and the Moluccas, the Persian Gulf, and the coast of Coromandel ; while Cortes and Pizarro filled galleons that bore golden fruit to Spain from Mexico and Peru.
Meanwhile the bleak northern coasts lay uncared for. The gold of southern seas and the spicy treasures of the East kept enterprise from them.
England had, in 1497, felt the geographical impulse, and noblv closed the discoveries of the fifteenth century.
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The great problem of the day-the northwest passage to India and Cathay through the northern seas (since fruitlessly found by McClure)-turned Henry VII. from affairs of State to win laurels in the new field of geographical research. The Cabots commis- sioned by him cruised along the North American coast from Labrador to Florida.
IIence England's exclusive claim, deriding the Papal bulls, to the entire country, from these glimpses of the coast by the Cabots.
French Fishermen now began to swarm on the Newfoundland Banks, and found there an El Dorado of their own, in savage contrast with Cortez' and Pizarro's sunny conquests.
In 1524, the French appear upon the scene of discovery ; and Verrazano carried the French flag from 36° to 50° of north lat- itude, and named the coast.
Anchoring his ship off the Narrows, in our harbor, as it is sup- posed from his description, the Italian, in his shallop, entered our bay.
Ile says, in his letter to King Francis : " We found a very " pleasant situation among some steep hills, through which a " very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its way to the sea. " We passed up the river about half a league, when we found it " formed a most beautiful lake three leagues in circuit. All of "a sudden a violent, contrary wind blew in from the sea, and " forced us to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this "region, which seemed so commodious and delightful."
The first of civilized men, Verrazano gazed upon the virgin beanties of our isle, " Manhatta," then slumbering in primeval in- nocence,-ere long, under the magic hand of civilization, to rise and ripen into stately magnificence, the Queen City of the Hem- isphere.
Estevan Gomez, with his Spaniards, succeeded Verrazano in the exploration of our bay, and named the North River, San Anton- io ; after bim, also, called on some ancient charts, Rio de Gomez.
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We next read of Cartier on the St. Lawrence, and Frobisher and Gilbert in Labrabor and Newfoundland ; and of Raleigh's colonies at the South, and of Gosnold's failures on the Massa- chusett's coast, and of King James' sweeping patents to the Lon- don and Plymouth companies, embracing territory from Cape Fear to Nova Scotia.
Then of settlements by the Plymouth Company on the Saga- dahoc in Maine, whence the adventurous colonists are soon driven homeward by the rigors of the wintry blast.
Then of the Sieur de Monts and his hardy pioneers, under a patent -from Henry IV., reaching from Philadelphia to Cape Breton.
While the English and French crowns were thus granting patents of the whole explored region, and settlements were being made North and South, a tract lay between them claimed by both, but set led by neither.
This belt of territory was still uncared for by the Euro- pean.
There still roamed wild beasts through primeval forests that shadowed a land genial in clime and rich in soil.
There the untamed red man chanted barbaric runes amid dim traditions of his State, unconcious that the force of civilization was at hand, as with the sword of doom, to drive him from his ancient seats.
A new nation now appeared in the arena of discovery.
A people daring, enterprising, persevering-born almost in the sea which they had mastered-descendants of the ancient Norse- men, whose hardihood they inherited-nurtured amid morass and fen-exposed to icy blasts from the North sea and humid ex- halations from canal and dyke-taught early and ever to battle with nature or to perish-where the face of sea and land and sky, pale, sad and leaden, gave seriousness to the mind and re- solve to the character. With a country less than a quarter the size of this State, this people, in 1579, had made a nation whose character had been formed amid perils and tears and blood.
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For over forty years they had battled with the fierce legions of Spain in defence of home and life.
For over forty years they had shown a courage and a perse- verance, under trial and defeat, almost unparalled in human his- tory-and now, the seven " United Provinces of the Nether- lands," having established their liberties and consolidated their State, were vieing with the other nations of Europe in schemes of exploration and dominion.
Their naval power was rapidly augmented. They wrested from Spain and Portugal a large portion of their Indian trade. They planted colonies in the islands of the East ; they visited realms of sun and snow in furtherance of commerce and discovery, and be- came the factors and carriers of Europe; they built up a navy that, at one time, checked the Spanish Armada, and at another drove English fleets from the sea, and triumphantly sailed up the Thames.
Hendrick Hudson now appears upon the scene.
In April, 1609, under the direction of the Netherland East India Company, and for the purpose of finding a N. W. passage -- that great sea problem of the day-he dared the perils of the Atlantic in the " Half Moon," of 80 tons, with a crew of twenty men. £ After stopping at various places along the coast, in Sep- tember, 1609, he brought his little vessel to anchor in what is now the bay of New York.
According to the Indian tradition, on the appearance of the "Half Moon," there was great consternation among the simple aborig- ines who then inhabited the dense forests where now this city stands. Some thought it an immensely large fish or huge mon- ster of the sea, others that it was a very large hut. As it con- tinued to move in a threatening manner towards the land, cour- iers were sent off to notify the scattered chiefs and their people of the phenomenon, and put them on their guard, and to gather in the warriors. These various Indians arriving in large numbers on the Manhattan shore, and viewing the strange object that was slowly moving toward them, concluded .that it was a large canoe
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or house, in which the great Manitto, or Supreme Being, himself was, and that he was coming to visit them. The chiefs then de- liberated in council how the great Manitto should be received. Meat was arranged for sacrifice ; the women were directed to pre- pare the best of victuals; idols or images were anxiously exam- ined and put in order, and a grand dance was prepared, as this was supposed to be not only an agreeable entertainment for the Manitto, but it might contribute to appease him in case he was angry. The conjurors were also set to work to determine what the meaning of the phenomenon was, and what the result would be. To the chiefs and wise men of the nation, women and chil- dren were looking up in terror for advice and protection. Be- tween hope and fear, and in confusion, a dance, that great resource of the Indian in difficulty, commenced ; and woods and shore rang with the wild and agitated cries of the leaping savages and the loud beat of the tom-tom.
Scouts coming in declare the object to be a house of various colors, and crowded with living creatures. It now appeared cer- tain that it was the great Manitto bringing them some new kind of game. Soon there is hailing from the vessel in a strange tongue. Many now begin to run to the interior woods. The house or large canoe having stopped, a smaller canoe comes ashore with a man altogether red from head to foot, and dressed differently from the others. In the meantime the chiefs and wise men had formed a large circle, and calmly and in resigned silence awaited the awful visitor. The red. clothed man then en- tered the circle, and we find, by the tradition, that the fear of the savages presently disappeared under the conciliatory deportment of the explorer and his men; and soon, by dint of presents and kind treatment, the best understanding was established, which was continued on the arrival of the vessel in the following season.
Hudson then began the exploration of the "Great River of the Mountains," as it was called, hoping that by it there might be a passage through the continent to the Asiatie seas.
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The explorers have left accounts of their expedition up the river, and express delight at its size and the beauty of the scen- ery, beginning to be clad, as nature then was, in gorgeous hues, shining through the soft haze of the autumnal summer.
Hudson penetrated to the highest point of navigation beyond Albany, and was a month in his exploration. He sent an ac- count of his voyage to his Dutch employers at Amsterdam, stating, among other things, that " it is as beautiful a land as the foot of man can tread upon."
We can imagine the surprise and consternation of the savage tribes that lined the banks as the little " Half Moon," gigantic to them, cautiously crept on its way up the "River of the Moun- tains " -- its motley crew peering over the vessel's sides to gaze upon the wonders and beauties of the strange land, and half mistrusting the savages that gazed back at them from the shore. The daring commander, " the man clothed all in red," we may picture reposing himself, after his long and anxious sea voyage, on the lofty poop, smoking, perhaps, some of the raw tobacco just got from the Indians, and viewing the noble river that was to bear his name. Now he watches the smoke curling up from some wigwam in glade or dell, now admires the frowning battle. ments of the Palisades, now passing in wonder under the shadow of the " Dunderberg," or the lofty "Crow Nest," or the bold headland since called, as tradition narrates, Anthony's Nose, after the nasal organ of Anthony de Hooge. Secretary of the col- ony of Rensselaerswyck, and marvelling at the depth of the pellucid stream as the little ship wound cautiously through the weird gorges of the highlands, and gazing with the delight of a traveller as he approached the lofty range of the Kaatskills, whose crests, illumined by the sun, came peering through the moving clouds.
Anon, a shot from a Culverin plows through the glassy stream and awakes the silent forests.
The startled deer rush back to inner glades : and wolf and otter, and fox and bear, and basking snake, retreat to den and
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brake. The eagle shrilly screams, and wheels a further flight. while echoes prolonged resound from shore to shore, and proud- est chief, and squaw, and child fall down in dread as they see the lightning flash from the moving monster, and hear the sharp thunder that shakes the silence of their ancient abodes.
A quaint extract from an account, written by Robert Juet, one of Hudson's mates, shows the friendly intercourse established by Hudson with the red man as he went up the river, and the ready manner with which they took to the white man's fiery drink, soon the bane of their doomed race :--
" In the afternoon our master's mate went on land with an old savage, a Governor of the Countrie, who carried him to his house, and made him good cheere. * * * * The People of the Countrie came flocking aboard, and brought us grapes and Pompions, which we bought for trifles. * ** * Our car- penter went on land and made a foreyard; and our master and his mate determined to trie some of the chiefe men of the coun- trie, whether they had any treacherie in them. So they took them down into the cabbin, and gave them so much wine and Aqua vite that they were all merrie; and one of them had his wife with him, which sate so modestly as any of our countrie women would doe in a strange place. In the end one of them was drunke, which had been aboard of our ship all the time that we had been there ; and that was strange to them, for they could not tell how to take it."
The Indians, we read, reciprocated their good treatment by bringing oysters, and fish, and wampum, and other tributes on board.
On Hudson's return down the river, the Indians, becoming more familiar with the moving house, were more inclined to hos- tility, possibly under some provocation given. Their warlike and venturesome spirit was also aronsed to try conclusions with the strange race; and we read further, in Juet's journal, this brief account of the first confliet and bloodshed between the
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white and red man on these shores, when gunpowder, the new civilizing agent, was employed :
" This afternoon one canoe kept hanging under our sterne, with one man in it, which we could not keep from thence, who got up by our rudder to the cabin window and stole out my pillow and two shirts, and two Bandeleers. Our master's mate shot at him, and stroke him on the brest, and killed him ; whereupon all the rest fled away, some in their canoes, and some leapt out of them into the water. We manned our boat and got our things againe. Then one of them that swamme got hold of our boat, thinking to overthrow it. But our cooke took a sword and cut off one of his hands, and he was drowned."
Another trouble occurred about off the present Nyack, as the vessel was descending the river :
" At break of day," Juet recounts, " we weighed, the wind being at N. JWest, and got down 7 leagues. Then the flood was come strong, so we anchored. Then came one of the savages that swam away from us at our going up the river, with many others, thinking to betray us. But we perceived their intent, and suffered none of them to enter the ship. Whereupon two canoes full of men, with their bows and arrows, shot at us after our stern ; in recompense whereof we discharged six muskets, and killed two or three of them. Then above a hundred came to a point of land to shoot us. Then I shot a falcon at them, and killed two of them; whereupon the rest fled into the woods. Yet they manned off another canoe with 9 or 10 men, which came to meet us. So that I shot at it also a falcon, and shot it through and killed one of them. Then our men with their muskets killed 3 or 4 more of them. So they went their way."
Hudson's account of the beauty and fertility of the region, and the rich peltry to be obtained there, aroused the attention of his Dutch employers, who immediately started expeditions with a view to settlement and trade.
Voyages were undertaken, at private risk, in 1610 to 1612, to trade with the Indians at and along the river " Mauritius," as
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it was called after Prince Maurice, and a few houses or Inits erecte l.
A trading house was also established on Castle Island, at the west side of the river, a little below the present Albany, and called Fort Nassau.
In 1614 a charter or monopoly of trading was granted by the States-General to an Amsterdam Association, and the territory was recognized for the first time under its new name of " Minor Nederland," which comprised the region, as set forth in the char- ter, between "New France and Virginia, the sea coast whereof extend from the 40th to the 45th of latitude."
In 1621 an exclusive charter, with almost sovereign powers, was given to the DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. This company immediately began the business of colonization and the con- struction of buildings for the occupation of the colonists, and sent out cattle and farming materials and implements. By the charter the West India Company became the immediate sove- reign of New Netherland, subject to the general supervision and control of the States-General, in whom the ultimate sovereignty resided, and to whom allegiance was sworn.
The colony was put under the government of a Director and Council, of whom the Governor or Director was directly commis- sioned by the States-General. The Council was appointed by the Director with the approbation of the Company.
. We read that Peter Minuit, one of the early directors, in 1626, purchased the island of Manhattan, for the Company, from the Indians, for sixty guilders, or about twenty-four dollars.
This amount seems not a very large one for the City of New York, but, on compounding the interest, it reaches at this time about the sum of two hundred millions of dollars.
The sum of twenty-four dollars, paid in wampum, was doubt- less quite satisfactory to the Red man, who had most of the Con- tinent at his disposal; and it is to be remarked that the dealings of our Dutch ancestors with the aborigines was characterized by a rigid regard for their rights, whatever they were, and no title
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was deemed vested and no right absolutely claimed, until satis- fiction to the savage owner was made.
The City of New York at this time, that is to say at fourteen years of age, consisted of less than two score rudely fashioned log-houses extending along the southeast shore, together with one or two buildings of greater importance belonging to the Com- pany, including a simple block house for defence against the red men.
Time will not allow us to go into details of the little colony under its successive directors, May, Verhulst, Minuit, Van Twil- ler, and Kieft, extending from 1624 to 1647.
The sturdy colonists battled with the wilderness that surround- ed them and maintained their little settlement amid danger and privation.
They threw the charms of home and family and peace where for all time had been rude nature and barbaric life. Industry, thrift, and order gave cheerful aspect to the scene, and made suc- cess to follow labor.
Little " bouweries" or farms began to spring up even on adja- cent shores, and the Metowacks on Sewan-hacky (Long Island), and the Monatons on Staten Island (Monacknong), and the Sau- hiekans on the Jersey shore, looked on in wonder at the novel implements, the docile cattle, and the steady industry of the white man, who soon, with fruit and flower and golden grain, gave bloom and beauty to the barren land.
Little clearings now were made among the more favorite situa- tions on the Island along the Helle-gat or East River, and time- searred oak and sturdy beach and elm began to fall before the woodman's axe, that penetrated and resounded through the hith- erto silent mysteries of the woods, and drove back beast and bird to inner shades.
The size and prosperity of the settlement rapidly increased under thrift and perseverance. Lands were given to settlers, re- ligious freedom guaranteed, and the tide of immigration began rapidly to flow.
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Of course, while these earlier settlements were being made, tire present city and county presented a highly rural aspect. \ dense forest covered the middle and upper portions of the region, where lived the red man in primitive barbarism.
Brooks, ponds, swamps, and marshes characterized other por- tions of the Island of the "Manhattoes." Lofty hills were on the site of parts of Beekman and Ferry streets, on both sides of Maiden Lane, and on the present site of parts of Nassau, Cedar. and Liberty streets.
A range of sandy hills traversed the city from about the cor- ner of Charlton and Varick to the junction of Eighth and Greene streets. North of them ran the brook or rivulet called by the Indians Minetta, and by the Dutch "Bestevaer's Killetje," or Grandfather's Brook, which, coursing through the marshes of Washington Square, emptied into the North River at the foot of Charlton street.
A chain of waters extended from James street at the south- east, to Canal street at the northwest. A ditch and inlet occu- pied the place of Broad street. Extensive meadow or marsh land, known subsequently as Stuyvesant meadow or swamp, ex- tended from 14th street down to Houston street.
. Near the present Tombs in Centre street, was a large pond or lake of fresh water, subsequently called the " Kalek-hoeck," with verdant hills and sloping banks. This pond was connected with the East River by a rivulet called the Versch Water, or fresh wa- ter, running eastward and crossing Chatham between Pearl and Roosevelt streets. An extensive swamp extended north of the present Laight street, subsequently called Lispenard's swamp or meadows, and joined the Kalek-hoeck to the north of that pond.
A marsh also lay between Exchange Place, William and New streets, called the " Company's Valley," whose waters were drained by the great ditches in Broad and Beaver streets.
A swamp or marsh also extended over parts of Cherry, James and Catharine streets; and what was subsequently Beekman
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.wamp covered what is still known as "The Swamp," over the region about Ferry and Clif and Frankfort streets.
The lower part of the island was luxuriant in verdure, rolling and well watered, and invited the colonist to rest there, not only by its propinquity to navigation, but by superior fertility and ap- titude for culture, and the picturesque beauty of its situation.
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