A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 52

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

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FLATBUSH.

lands. Adriaen was the ancestor of the family bearing his name and appears to have been a prominent and popular citizen. He came here from Holland in 1650 and was one of the Schepens of Flatbush from 1654 until his ap- pointment as Schout. Afterward he became again a Schepen and secretary of the five Dutch towns, and rounded off his appointments by acting as auctioneer. He owned two valuable lots of land in Flatbush and prospered gen- erally. His death took place previous to 1688. The Schout was the direct representative of the Governor and Council, and was appointed by them, but the Schepens, or local magis- trates, were appointed on the nomination of the people. Midwout enjoyed three of these dignitaries.

At first the nominations for these repre- sentatives of the people seem to have been prac- tically dictated by the Governor. But the Mid- wout flocks were not remiss in asserting what they considered their just rights even at this early period in their history, and we find them represented at the conventions held in 1652, which demanded that the laws by which they were governed should resemble those of the old land from which they had emigrated. The story of this primitive constitutional struggle has already been fully told, and may be dis- missed here by saying that Governor Stuy- vesant fully asserted his authority, and the towns lost some of their privileges. They did not long remain under the Governor's displeas- ure, however. The shores of Long Island, and even of Manhattan Island, were at that time infested with river thieves and desperadoes, who often made a successful descent upon a village or farm-house and easily escaped with their plunder. It was held that most of these thieves were English, or that at all events they made Gravesend their headquarters and had the sympathy of the people there, whose prop- erty it seems was unmolested. To protect themselves the three Dutch towns of Breuck- elen, Flatlands and Midwout in 1854 organ- ized a company of militia, with a sergeant for each town and a regularly organized patrol.

This movement, undertaken by the people themselves without apparently any urging on the part of the authorities, appealed to Stuy- vesant's military sympathies, and he granted to the Dutch towns, of his own volition, all the privileges they had formerly asked and which he had so stubbornly refused. Midwout be- came entitled to send a list of six names to the Governor as the choice of the people for their Schepens, and from this list the ruler selected three to whom the usual commissions were issued. It is believed that the first three so appointed were Adriaen Hegeman, Willem Jacobse Van Boerum and Jan Sueberingh. A district court was also instituted, composed of delegates from each town along with the Schout, and this court had charge of all local matters, such as the laying out and mainten- ance of roads, establishment of schools and the like. This condition of things continued until 1661, when New Utrecht and Bushwick were added to the combination and the whole formed into a district called the Five Dutch Towns. Over these a Schout Fiscal was placed as the head of the legal and municipal authori- ties, while a secretary or clerk was appointed to perform much of the duties of the modern town clerk and notary,-acknowledge deeds, wills and other legal papers, and probably to act as the legal adviser of the Schout Fiscal. The first to hold the latter office (1661) was Adriaen Hegeman, of Midwout, quite a stand- ing officeholder, his successor being Nicasius de Sille, of New Utrecht. Michil Hainelle, of Brooklyn, was the town clerk from 1674 to 1680. The fact of his holding this office so long after the Dutch regime had passed away shows that the changes introduced by Gov- ernor Nicolls as to the Five Dutch Towns did not affect them greatly. The changes, in fact, were more in name than anything else ; and although the New Netherland passed un- der a "proprietor," the changes which were effected were in reality in the direction of a broadening of the liberties of the people.

Under Nicolls, as we have seen, Long Island became the main portion of the new

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county of Yorkshire, the Dutch towns became part of the West Riding, Midwout became Flat- bush, the Schouts and Schepens became mem- ories, and law was administered by a deputy sheriff and a selected array of justices. The local government in the towns was under the care of overseers,-"men of good fame and life chosen by plurality of voices of the free- holders,"-and a constable was to be chosen from among the ex-overseers, and seems to have been the executive officer of the latter. The overseers assessed the local tax rate, kept the church and roads in repair, looked after the poor, saw to it that the minister's salary was forthcoming, regulated bounds and fences and held court in all cases in which less than £5 was involved. When an overseer or con- stable was elected and refused to serve, a fine was imposed-fio for an everseer and £5 for a constable. The overseers continued to ad- minister affairs under that name until 1684, when the first Colonial Legislature, under Gov. Dongan, changed their title to supervisors, and so they remained until the end of the his- tory of Flatbush. That same Legislature did away with the nonsensical arrangement of Yorkshire and the West Riding became Kings county. One particularly beneficial result of Governor Dongan's legislation to Flatbush was the settlement of the courts within its bounds. In 1668, by the desire of the Hemp- stead Convention, the courts were transferred from Flatbush to Gravesend. By an act passed November 7, 1685, Flatbush was again made the center of the legal world of what was then Kings county, and, as if to perpetuate this distinction, a court-house was at once erected. In 1758 this building was superseded by an- other, which served until 1793, when a larger edifice was constructed. In 1832 that building was burned and with the flames passed the legal glory of Flatbush, for Brooklyn then be- came the county town. In 1695, beside the first court-house, a whipping-post and a pair of stocks were erected as terrors to evil-doers as well as for use, while the village pound was not far away.

The progress of the years passed slowly and uneventfully in Flatbush until the out- break of the Revolutionary War, and that memorable struggle found the inhabitants sad- ly divided in their allegiance; but it would seem as if the majority was in favor of taking 10 part in the contest. Possibly the older residents, not from any love for King George and British rule, but from a dislike to radical changes, desired matters to remain as they were. They admitted that wrongs existed, but hoped for their abatement by peaceful agi- tation. The younger element, however, seemed to throw their hearts into the cause of the Patriots, and were anxious to demand their rights and a removal of all obstacles to the liberty of the people; but their ardor appears to have been restrained by the counsels of their elders. Still Flatbush was desirous in bringing about reforms in the government re- lations, it hated the stamp duties as much as did New York or Boston, and it was repre- sented in the convention that met in New York City April 10, 1775, to choose delegates to the First Continental Congress, by David Clarkson, Adrian Voorhees, Jacobs Vande- venter and John Vanderbilt. These were elect- ed at a meeting held in Flatbush five days pre- viously, and the convention elected three citi- zen's of Flatbush to the congress,-Johannes Lott, John Lefferts and John Vanderbilt.

These three men deserve more than a pass- ing notice, for they were foremost among the upbuilders of Flatbush. Johannes 'Lott was the great-grandson of Peter Lott (or Lodt), who emigrated from Holland in 1652. In 1662 he secured a patent for twenty-four mor- gens of land in Flatbush, which he sold in 1674 to Jan (Cornelise) Boomgaert. He held other tracts of land in the town, and his name ap- pears in Governor Dongan's patent to Flat- bush in 1656, and he took the oath of alle- giance there in 1687. For a time he was one of the local magistrates. His son, Engelbert, also took the oath of allegiance to Britain, in 1687, and in 1698 was High Sheriff of Kings county. John Lott, the eldest son of this latter dignitary,

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was born in Brooklyn July 21, 1701, and died prior to 1733, leaving among other children a son, Johannes, born September 2, 1730, who was the Patriot already named as being returned to the Continental Congress. Mention has al- ready been made of John Vanderbilt in con- nection with the history of Flatbush Church. "The Senator," as he was familiarly called, afterward rendered considerable aid in the Provincial Legislature. John Lefferts was a prominent member of a family whose story is elsewhere told in these volumes.

But while the good folks of Flatbush were as loud, if not as strenuous, in their complaints as others against the wrongs inflicted on the colonies by the British Parliament prior to the ·outbreak of hostilities, they were, as a whole, of a rather halting turn of mind when the time came to choose at the parting of the ways. At a meeting of delegates held in Flatbush on May 22, 1775, at which all the towns in Kings coun- ty except Flatlands were represented, the Flat- bush representatives, Nicholas Cowenhoven and Johannes E. Lott; reported that their con- stituents desired to remain neutral in any con- flict which might arise. "Prudence," as one writer said, "had taken the place of valor." The fact is that the proximity of Flatbush to New York and Brooklyn, both of which were Tory in their sympathies, had overawed the local patriotic sentiment, and, besides, the Tor- ies who resided in the township itself were active, powerful and influential. Flatbush an- swered to the call of the Provincial Congress for troops so far as to provide a company for the Long Island regiment of militia, but there is no evidence that it ever furnished its full quota. Cornelius Van der Veer was captain ; and Peter Lefferts and John Van Duyn lieu- tenants, and John Bennem, ensign, were the other officers, but it is doubtful whether the company ever fired a shot for independence, although it is vaguely hinted that they actu- ally did outpost duty prior to the landing of the British. Mayor Mathews, of New York, had his county seat at Flatbush, and, as has already been chronicled, kept up an active in-

tercourse from there with Governor Tryon, while the latter maintained his gubernatorial chair and dignity on the quarter-deck of the Asia or one of the other British ships in the harbor while the city of New York was in the hands of the Patriots. His neighbor, Colonel William Axtell, was equally pronounced in his devotion to Toryism, and there seems no doubt that it was in Axtell's mansion, Melrose Hall, that the plot for the abduction of Washington was hatched. Until the British landed, August 22, 1776, Flatbush, indeed, appears to have been the center of Tory plots and projects and schemes of all sorts. That landing and the story of the seven or eight days which fol- lowed until Washington had carried his troops from Long Island to New York is Flatbush's real contribution to the history of the nation. The story of that brief and interesting cam- paign has already been told in this work, and we need only refer here to a few local inci- dents related in Field's elaborate monograph on the history of the battle, by which it would seem that most of the few honors gained by the American troops in the short campaign were won in Flatbush on its western boun- dary. The vanguard of the British forces under Colonel Donop got to Flatbush late on the evening of August 22. Says Field :

Three hundred American riflemen, who had occupied the village, abandoned it as soon as the Hessian battery of six guns had taken position and opened fire. The possession of this slumberous little Dutch village by the Hessians was not, however, destined to be maintained without a struggle. The awe in- spired by the imposing array of the German troops liad worn away in the cool night, and early on the morning of the 23d the slumbers of the heavy-eyed Hessians were broken by a dash upon their right wing, resting near the west end of the village. On the thickly wood- ed hills near Flatbush, Colonel Hand was in command of the whole Pennsylvania battalion of riflemen, consisting of 553 officers and privates. Believing that the familiarity ac- quired by combat with the formidable stran- gers would dissipate the increasing dread with which they were regarded, Colonel Hand or-

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

dered an assault upon their lines. The attack was spirited, though feebly maintained, as the Americans retired to the woods as soon as a field-piece was brought to bear upon them.

On the afternoon of the same day the Con- tinentals again tried to drive Donop out of Flatbush. So impetuous and fierce was the assault that that portion of the Hessian corps was driven back upon the main body, then lying south of the Dutch church, and the whole detachment was held at bay for more than one hour. The fire of the American

to the horrors which war had brought upon this quiet village. Although it has been a pop- ular habit to charge this incendiarism upon the Hessian invaders, it is yet certain that these dwellings were fired by the Americans to prevent their occupation as defensive po- sitions by the enemy.

On the 25th the Americans determined to meet the Hessian artillery with the same arms ; and, accordingly, a strong body of rifle- men, accompanied by several guns, pushed forward beyond the edge of the woods, and

THE LEFFERTS HOMESTEAD. From "Flatbush, Past and Present." By permission of the Flatbush .Trust Co.

riflemen was so galling that the Hessians were compelled to improvise redoubts, from the houses of Adrian Hegeman and Lefferts Martense, for the purpose of repelling their attack. In these buildings they cut holes, wherever these afforded them position for fir- ing upon the American sharp-shooters. At length the cannon, from which the Hessian gunners had doubtless been driven by our riflemen, were brought into position, and opened their fire upon the assaulting party. At this time the houses of Jeremiah Vander- bilt, Leffert Lefferts and Evert Hegeman were in flames, and added, by their conflagration,

opened fire with round and grapeshot upon the devoted village, behind whose walls the enemy sought shelter from the rebel sharp- shooters. The attack was well maintained for a time, but was at length repulsed by the greater weight and steadiness of the Hessian artillery.

We read of several other annoying attacks upon the Hessians by the daring American militia, the latter even arousing their enemies to fight at two o'clock one morning, an hour which was against all well regulated notions

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FLATBUSH.

of warfare, but the defeat on the 27th prac- tically ended the fighting on Long Island and the crisis was settled elsewhere. During the British occupation Flatbush seems to have been prosperous enough except that signal vengeance was wreaked, immediately after the battle of Brooklyn, on those whose sym- pathies were known to have been with the Patriots. Most of the farmers lost their cat- tle and horses and growing crops were de- stroyed. Many houses were burned and the vast number of unburied dead infected the air and fever became epidemic. Those who could left the town, and business for a time was at a standstill. Soldiers were quartered in dwellings without regard to the wishes of the owners and without any compensation, while on the least sign of grumbling or dis- content all sorts of rude pranks were played and property was wantonly destroyed. We read of feather beds being emptied into wells, of woodwork and furniture being slashed and destroyed, of fences and tables and chairs be- ing torn up for firewood; and not only prop- erty but life was in constant danger. Thugs and thieves crowded the streets and even took possession of the court-house and held their orgies in it, as well as made it the receptacle of much of their plunder. After a while mat- ters quieted down considerably and law and order resumed sway,-as much as was pos- sible under martial law. The township be- gan to prosper even under British rule, but the Long Island campaign, brief as it was, had left a trail of havoc and disaster behind and the people learned a grim lesson of the uselessness of being neutral when the dogs of war have been unchained and are sniff- ing at their gates.

With the passing away of the British oc- cupation Flatbush fell into line as an Amer- ican township, and as the angry passions be- tween Patriot and Tory died out it resumed its quiet, dreamy existence with hardly a rip- ple, except in connection with church af- fairs or around election time, to disturb the sweetness of its repose. As the legal centre

of Kings county it attracted many visitors at intervals from the outside world, was the scene of some general business and loomed up considerably in the affairs of the county. It had even progressed a little on modern lines, its sidewalks were kept in good order and well graded, and in 1830 a daily line of stages was introduced by Smith Birdsall to run between Flatbush and Brooklyn, replac- ing the farm wagons which had previously been in use. But the progress of Flatbush was ruthlessly arrested by the fire which in 1832 destroyed the court-house and so led to the transference of the courts to Brooklyn, which became the county seat. Flatbush then quietly sank into the status of a mere coun- try village; its glory had apparently depart- ed; even its kerche only shed its light within its own territory and was no longer a lamp that sent its spiritual rays over almost an en- tire county. But the citizens made the best of the situation, and with wealth and energy on their side seemed determined that Flat- bush should not be altogether forgotten. Its beauties as a residential neighborhood were soon exploited and every effort was made to induce new settlers. For a time these efforts seemed to bring very slow re- sults, for the town was removed from any centre of population ; it had no manufactures and transit was slow, uncertain, and in win- ter time decidedly unpleasant. However, a beginning was made in 1834 when Gerrit L. Martense (a descendant of "Martin the Boor," who settled in Flatbush prior to 1687), laid out a tract of land into lots and opened two streets,-Johnson and Erasmus. Some six or eight cheap houses were built on this property, but the scheme was not a financial success.

In the following year Dr. Adrian Vander- veer had his farm surveyed and mapped out in city lots, opened Vernon avenue, and laid out Bedford avenue and Lott, Prospect, Law- rence, Franklin and Clinton streets. This en- terprise likewise failed for the time, and the survey lay practically dormant for some thirty

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years, when its provisions began to be put in operation. In fact it was not until 1866 that Flatbush began to grow in the modern sense, and since then there has gone on within it a steady stream of street-opening and home- building. Land booms of all sorts have flour- ished and faded within its boundaries, but, in spite of the misfortunes which always at- tended such schemes, its beautiful situation, superior surroundings and healthful climate have carried it safely through many a forced march and enabled it to grow prosperous, while other boomed localities have disap- peared from the map and returned to wild- wood. Two notable results of judicious booming were the establishment, in 1852, of two villages in the township,-Greenfield (afterward Parkville) and Windsor Terrace. They flourished for a while and brought to their sites quite a number of particularly de- sirable settlers, most of whom erected beauti- ful homes and spent money in embellishing their neighborhood; but neither village ever commanded a large population and both are now simply sections in Brooklyn's Twenty- ninth Ward.

There is no doubt that the upward move- ment in 1866 was brought about by the intro- duction of street cars in 1860, following the opening up of Flatbush avenue from Fulton avenue, Brooklyn. At first there were grave doubts as to the success of the venture, but when these were removed and the village could be reached by a reliable, and, what was then considered an expeditious, mode of tran- sit, its upward progress was assured. In 1864 gas was introduced and in the same year the fire department (which had existed since 1821, when it was called the "Flatbush Engine Company") was equipped with a modern engine and equipment, at a cost of over $6,000 ; and in 1872 the town reached the dignity of having a newspaper, when the "Kings County Rural Gazette" was issued. The old Dutch Reformed church long ere 1866 had several neighbors,-the Methodist Episcopal church, organized in 1844, and St.

Paul's Protestant Episcopal church, organized in 1836, being among the earliest, while, as might be expected in such a community, schools were abundant and all the resources of social and religious life and culture found ample scope. The town had had a board of health since 1832, and could point to its use- fulness with justifiable pride. Saloons in- creased naturally with the population ; but the establishment in 1874 of an excise commis- sion served to curtail the number of these places, while a Law and Order Association, organized in 1880 under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. C. L. Wells, closed many objection- able resorts which had crept into the town- overflowed into it from its big neighbor, in spite of the organization in 1878 of a small police force and Police Board. The estah- lishment of a Board of Improvement in 1871, just when the upward movement was begin- ning to gain headway, did much not only to preserve the amenity of the place but pro- ceeded to open up streets and avenues only when the public welfare so demanded, and with the most scrupulous care that the in- terests of the property-owners and the public should be equally safe-guarded. To this body of seven residents, serving without compen- sation, modern Flatbush owes much. Not the least of their good works was the building of the much desired Town Hall. On this subject the Rev. R. G. Strong wrote :

"The subject of a town hall was repeatedly agitated in the local village paper. After the destruction of the county court-house at Flat- bush, great difficulty was experienced in find- ing a suitable place to hold the village courts, the town elections and other public meetings. For many years the elections were held at the hotels of the village; and the justices held their courts either at their own houses, or in the parlor of one of the numerous hotels of the village. There being no place in which to confine prisoners, or persons awaiting trial, constables were compelled to take such per- sons to the jail in Brooklyn, and then return them for trial to the village. . After the erec-

John M. Ferris

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tion of the public school-house, in 1842, the elections and justice courts were held, for nearly twenty years, in its upper story. About the year 1861 it became necessary to use this room for school purposes. During this year Schoonmaker's Hall, on Flatbush avenue, was completed, and was used for ten years as a place for all public gatherings, church fairs, sessions of court and for election purposes. The discussion of this subject in the local paper brought the matter prominently before the public.

"A call for a public meeting to consider the subject of a town hall appeared in the Rural Gazette of February 14, 1874. Pur- suant to this call a large and enthusiastic meeting of prominent citizens was held at Schoonmaker's Hall on Thursday, February 19, 1874, Supervisor J. V. B. Martense being Chairman, and Abraham Lott, Secretary; at which, after various motions and considerable discussion, the matter was referred to the Board of Improvement, with power, the ex- pense for land and building being limited by resolution to $40,000. At this meeting the town authorities were directed to issue thirty- year bonds, and provision was made for pay- ment of interest and principal by taxation. The Board of Improvement immediately en- tered upon the accomplishment of the task as- signed to them. A building committee, con- sisting of John Lefferts, John J. Vanderbilt and John L. Zabriskie, M. D., was appointed. Architect John Y. Cuyler was engaged to draft plans for the building. On May 18, 1874, the Board procured the enactment of a law authorizing them to proceed legally in their work (Chap. 456 of the Laws of 1874 of the State of New York). A section of land (100 feet front and 200 feet deep) was purchased on Grant street (then Union Place) 200 feet east of Flatbush avenue, at a cost of $5,800. The contract was let to William Vanse for $29,000, the building to be com- pleted September 1, 1875. Though not com- pleted, the building was nevertheless used on November 2, 1875, for the annual fall elec-

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 52

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188