A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 53

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

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tion. On February 7, 1876, the new town hall was formerly transferred by the Board of Improvement to the town authorities. On this occasion a large and enthusiastic meeting was held. The formal transfer was made by Hon. J. A. Lott in an able address, a portion of which, in these days of robbery in high places, is worthy of historical record, and is as follows: 'It was found, on adjustment and settling of the interest realized on the money deposited in the bank, and in making up the final account, that the said expenditure exceeded the sum of forty thousand dollars borrowed, and the interest realized thereon, by the amount of ninety-eight dollars. That ex- cess was paid by the seven members of the Board out of their own pockets, in equal sums, to the treasurer, who was thus enabled to defray and pay the entire expenditure in- curred without leaving any outstanding in- debtedness therefor, beyond the amount au- thorized by law under which the Board acted.' "

While Flatbush had been enlarging her population and increasing the extent of her streets and the number of her homes, Brook- lyn had been advancing with mighty strides. In 1855 the latter had gathered in to itself one of the five Dutch towns,-Bushwick (in- cluding Williamsburg and Greenpoint) ; and it had no sooner got settled down with that increase than it began to cry out for more, to bring into its bounds the three ,remaining Dutch towns-Flatbush, Flatlands and New Utrecht-and the old English town of Graves- end. The question naturally created a great deal of earnest discussion, but it reached the stage of action on June 28, 1873,-seven days after the first telegraphic message was sent from Flatbush to the outside world,-when a bill was passed in the Legislature directing the local Supervisors to meet and appoint five commissioners who, with six to be appointed by the Mayor of Brooklyn, were to draft a plan for consolidation. The commissioners were duly named as follows: Brooklyn-J. N. Wyckoff, Jr., E. J. Lowber, A. G. Bay-

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liss, Edmund Briggs, George C. Bennett and George L. Fox; Flatbush, Hon. John A. Lott ; New Lots, C. Warren Hamilton ; Flatlands, Peter Lott; Gravesend, William Bennett ; and New Utrecht, Teunis G. Bergen.

There were many difficulties in the way of the proposed consolidation, not only in the matter of local taxation, but from the fact that the city would occupy all of Kings county, and unless some arrangement was made there would be two sets of officials to be paid with any amount of future trouble in the way of conflicts over jurisdiction. The credit for grappling with the numerous intricate ques- tions which arose has been awarded to John A. Lott, president of the commission, and the plan outlined by him was adopted by the entire body. The scheme was submitted to the electors at the election of November, 1873, and repudiated. Brooklyn was in favor of the annexation by a majority of sonie 20,000, but the other towns decided against it by a majority of 21,568. Even in face of that the question of annexation was not per- mitted to rest and the agitation in its favor was kept up until in January, 1894, separate bills for the annexation of each town were in- troduced in the Legislature and all were passed. That for the annexation of Flatbush came before Governor Morton for his signature April 28, 1894, and as he laid down his pen the separate history of old Midwout came to an end and it became simply Brooklyn's Twenty-ninth Ward.

Since consolidation, the progress of Flat-

bush has been little short of wonderful. Al- most every month has seen improvements,- streets and avenues opened up and homes of all sorts, from the princely villa to the me- chanic's cottage, erected. Even the tenement house is finding sites in some of its streets. Much of the old has disappeared, few of the ancient landmarks remain. Melrose Hall has been torn from its site, lost its glory, and what remains of it re-erected at Winthrop and Robinson streets, and is but, as it were, the shadow of the old structure. The Dutch church still stands in its hallowed God's-acre. The Bergen house, erected in 1735, is still extant in all its old-time usefulness, and so are the Lefferts' homestead, the Vanderbilt homestead, the old home of the Vanderveers, and that of the Birdsalls, the Martenses and several others. But time is against them and it seems only a question of a few years when Flatbush will have little in the way of antiq- uity to show the stranger within its gates. Hardly a building season passes without at least one of these survivors being torn down to make room for a modern structure or per- mit a street to be laid out. Even during the past year (1901) the old home of Dominie Freeman was torn down. It was erected in 1707, was badly shattered during the battle of Brooklyn and roughly used afterward by the British troops ; but it survived until the de- mand of modern progress finally secured its demolition. It is a pity that we could not · make certain the retention of some at least of such local historical landmarks.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

NEW UTRECHT.

0 NE of the prettiest and the most popu- lar of the old stownships in Kings county, New Utrecht, has less of a really interesting history than any of them. It somehow had, until the arrival of the ubiquitous trolley, always lived practically within itself. It covered an area of eight square miles-rather more-and boastedof its villages of New Utrecht, Bath, Fort Hamilton and Bay Ridge. The New Utrecht water front as a place for summer residence has been popular since early in the past century. For many years the Hamilton House, kept by Hawley D. Clapp, was a favorite resort for summer boarders. Curiously enough, a point on the New Utrecht shore was selected by Drs. Bailey, Bard, Rog- ers, Tillary and others as the site for the first bathing establishment erected on Long Island. This institution flourished, and when burned, in 1802, was rebuilt and long continued to be a favorite resort of New Yorkers. As time went on hotels and boarding houses increased in number and popularity. Of late years, however, many attractive all-the-year-round settlements have been added to it, of which Bensonhurst may be regarded as the chief. The land boomer has been particularly busy in New Utrecht and to his efforts we owe such communities as West Brooklyn, Van Pelt Manor, Homewood, Blythebourne and, as the auctioneers say, "a host of others." It is now all surveyed, a mass really of streets, driven with mathematical-like regularity in straight lines and at equal distances in spite of all natural obstacles, historical association

or family sentiment, and while only a few of these streets, comparatively, have been thoroughly opened and built up, still every year is adding to the number and the time is not far distant when New Utrecht will be but a memory and it will recognize as grace- fully as possible its new position as Brook- lyn's Thirtieth Ward. It was the last of the five Dutch towns to come into existence, and it was the last which really threw off the old condition of things and accepted emphatically the new,-those which now prevail.

The first patent issued for lands in what afterward became the township was granted in 1643 by Governor Kieft to Anthony Jan- sen, who came here from Holland at an early age. He did not seem to succeed on his 200 acres and sold them in 1660. In the meanwhile Cornelius Van Werckhoven essayed to start a colony in the territory, but the unfortunate result for that colonizer has already been told in these pages. Jacques Cortelyou, who suc- ceeded to his interests, established a settle- ment in 1657 and named it in honor of the ancient city of Utrecht. Twenty-one grants, each of fifty acres, and a house lot were that year issued by Governor Stuyvesant. Nine- teen of these were given to the settlers and the remaining two were reserved for the poor. Those to whom the patents were issued were: Jacques Cortelyou, Nicasius de Sille, Peter Buys, Johann Zeelen, Albert Albertson (Ter- hune), William Willemse (Van Engen), Ja- cob Hillickers (alias Swart), Pieter Jansen,

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Huybert Hoock, Jan Jacobson, Yunker (or Squire) Jacob Corlear, Johann Tomasse (Van Dycke), Jacobs Backer, Rutgert Joosten (Van Brunt), Jacob Pietersen, Peter Roeloffse, Claes Claessen (Smith), Cornelis Beeckman and Teunis Joosten.

The most noted of these pioneers was De Sille. He emigrated from Gelderland in 1653 and settled at New Amsterdam, where he be- came a close friend of Governor Stuyvesant, who at once appointed him to the high office of First Councillor. De Sille was a widower when he came here, and in 1655 he married a Dutch lass; but the marriage proved an un- happy one and the couple separated on ac- count of incompatibility of temper ; but which of the two was to blame in the matter the records fail to state .. The lady survived him, however, and the law records show that she had something to say in the disposal of his property ; so that very likely it was the hus- band's temper that was out of joint. Stuy- vesant, however, did not lose faith in De Sille on account of his matrimonial misfor- tune, and in 1656 he appointed him Schout Fiscal of New Amsterdam. On receiving his patent in New Utrecht De Sille appears to have at once removed there and built a house, where he resided until his death, some time prior to 1674. "This house (which was de- molished in 1850) was," says Van Bergen, "a fine relic of colonial life. Substantially built after the manner of the Dutch architects of the time, with its thick stone walls, its ca- pacious fireplaces, its prominent chimney, its long, rambling sort of roof of red tiles brought from Holland, its heavy beams and long raf- ters, and its odd windows with their little panes of glass,-this ancient colonial house was for nearly 200 years an evidence of the care, stability and comfort of the early set- tlers of New Utrecht. Into this house Gen- eral Nathaniel Woodhull, the Long Island hero in the Revolution, was taken to die, and before the old fireplace which had warmed the colonists for more than a century

the brave patriot enjoyed some comfort be- fore his death.

"De Sille was a man of many accomplish- ments, well versed in the law, not unacquaint- ed with military affairs, of fine character, a poet and a historian." For the last named quality we still have evidence in his "History of the First Beginning of the Town of New Utrecht," which was translated by the late Teunis G. Bergen. De Sille's only son re- turned to Holland in 1662 and died there. Of his two daughters, Gerdientje married Gerretse Van Couvenhoven, of Brooklyn Ferry, and Anna married Hendrick Kip, Jr. It is curious to note as an instance of how things were done in those days that when Anna's son, Nicasius, was fourteen years of age "she bound him to Jan Montange (Flat- bush) to learn the cooper's trade. Montange was to board the apprentice, find his wash- ing and mending, give him eight stivers every Sunday for spending money, send him to evening school and at the end of his term give him a Sunday and every-day suit of clothes."

Bergen tells us-and no man was a better authority-that of the pioneer settlers of New Utrecht named above Joosten Van Brunt is alone represented by male descendants in the town to this day, although Cortelyou, De Sille, Van Dyck and Terhune are represented through female descendants, while Jansen Van Salee, the first patentee, is represented by the Sicklen and Emmanis families. Joosten Van Brunt was quite a prominent man in his day and a useful and prosperous citizen. He came here from the Netherlands in 1653, and was a Magistrate of New Utrecht for several years, extending his landed property consid- erably beyond the limits of his original patent by judicious purchases as well as by securing additional patents. In 1674 he bought De Sille's house, when it was put up at auction by the latter's administrators and it contin- ued in the possession of his descendants until its demolition, in 1850. Some of his descend- ants still reside on property which he pur-

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NEW UTRECHT.

chased or secured. He had three sons,- Nicholas, Cornelius and Joost. Nicholas, who was a farmer on some one of the parental holdings, married Helena, daughter of Jac- ques Cortelyon, and died in 1684, leaving a son, also named Nicholas, who was born in the same year. The latter, on the death of his grandfather prior to 1713, became heir to most of his property, but did not long sur- vive, for his own will was probated in 1714. He was married, but his children appear to have died in infancy and the bulk of the orig- inal owner's estate reverted to his second son, Cornelis, who had long before that time won wealth as well as prominence in the af- fairs of the colony. He was assessed in 1706 on 144 acres of land in New Utrecht. From 1698 to 1717 he was a member of the Co- lonial Assembly. 1718 he bought the Pen- noyer patent in Gravesend for £365, rather a large transaction for those days. Cornelis died in 1748, leaving a family of four sons and five daughters. His younger brother, Joost, was of a military turn, and was in suc- cession Ensign, Captain, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of militia. For over forty years he held the office of Supervisor. He died in 1746, leaving a son, Rutgert, who in 1744 suc- ceeded him in his office of Supervisor and was a Captain in the local militia. Rutgert ac- quired considerable wealth,-so much that he was known as "Ryke Bood" or rich brother, and he became the owner of considerable real estate. In 1752, six years before his death, he transferred, for £2,200, a tract of 246 acres in New Utrecht to his son-in-law, Joris Lott, husband of his daughter Maria. Such were the pioneers of a family which has continued to be connected with New Utrecht to the pres- ent day.

Governor Stuyvesant gave New Utrecht a patent in 1662, when Jan (Tomassen) Van Dyke, Rutger (Joosten) Van Brunt and Ja- cob Hellakers were chosen as Magistrates and the dominion of Adriaen Hegeman as Schout was extended over the new township. Soon after the patent was issued Stuyvesant

made a visit to New Utrecht in solemn state, hoisted the flag of the Netherlands, and wound up by partaking at a feast in the home of the pioneer, Van Brunt. This may be said to be the first excitement in the history of New Utrecht. The second occurred in 1663, when the adventurer John Scott rode into the village with his gang of bragga- docios, took possession of the unguarded blockhouse, fired one of its guns, and pro- claimed Charles II the sovereign ruler of New Netherland. Scott tried to make Jacob Hel- lakers and others swear allegiance to the Eng- lish sovereign, threatened several women with the sword and then clattered away to win fresh victories. Little over a year later there was a still more serious excitement, for on December 8, 1664, a fleet of English vessels appeared in Nyack Bay and it was not long before Colonel Nicolls' coup changed New Netherland into an English colony, sent Peter Stuyvesant, indignant and bellicose to the last, into retirement and brought New Utrecht as well as the other Dutch and English towns on Long Island under the British flag. New Utrecht seems to have submitted to the change with placid submission and was represented by two delegates at the convention which Governor Nicolls called in 1665 after he had secured a firm grip of the reins of govern- ment. In the following year it accepted a new patent from his hands, found itself one of the towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and the "Duke's Laws" became the supreme legal code of the town. The English rule lasted for nine years and then disappeared as sud- denly as it came, for on July 29, 1673, a fleet of vessels with the flag of Holland at each of their mastheads was seen in Nyack Bay and were heartily welcomed and soon New Neth- erland was Dutch once more. Governor Colve's rule was especially welcomed in the Dutch towns on Long Island, and on August 29 every male inhabitant of New Utrecht of suitable age took the oath of allegiance to the Fatherland and swore to it undying fidel- ity. They also accepted a new charter or

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

patent for the town from the astute Colve, for that enterprising potentate had found out, like Nicolls and Stuyvesant and all the rest, that there was money in such things.

Matters were just beginning to settle down into their accustomed dreary routine when a fresh change occurred. On August 27, 1674, another fleet was discovered lying in Nyack Bay, and before the burghiers fully realized the nationality or purpose of the strange craft the sailors were in possession of New Utrecht, helped themselves to beef and other good things and took possession of all the cattle, grain and vegetables in the place. That night

DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH OF NEW UTRECHT, AT VAN PELT MANOR.

New Utrecht was once more annexed to the British crown and it was not long afterward that the Dutch rule in New Netherland be- canie forever a thing of the past. English laws and government were planted again, to stay this time until revoked by the people themselves. In 1686 Governor Dongan is- sued another patent to the town, and in it the quit rent was fixed at six bushels of winter wheat, payable in the city of New York March 25, in each year.

Beyond what has been related above, thie story of New Utrecht is practically destitute of interest until the time of the Revolution. It made progress but slowly. In 1647 it had a population of some 35, in 1698 it had 259,

of which 48 were slaves. Perhaps the only matter which aroused general interest was the local congregation, and even that had but little incident to record excepting the same quiet progress which characterized the civil history of the town. Ecclesiastically New Utrecht was the ward of Flatbush. Church services were at first held in the schoolhouse when the weather was unpropitious, but those who were able were expected to walk to the sanctuary at Flatbush. Provision was made in the schoolhouse, however, for the spiritual edifi- cation of those who were unable for one rea- son or another in any weather to undertake such a journey. In 1677 the people formed themselves into a congregation and the dedi- catory services were conducted by the Rev. Casparus Van Zuren. Bergen tells us that "the names of the first elders were: Jan Guysbertz and Myndert Korten; the first deacons were Arian Willemsen (Bennett) and Jan Hansen (Van Nostrand). More than 26 families formed the congregation, and 27 per- sons were communicants at the beginning of the church organization. The following is the list of the original members: Jan Hansen (Van Nostrand) and wife; Myndert Korten and wife; Daniel Vorveelen and wife; Jau Gysbertz; Willemtje; Neeltje; Adrian Wil- lemsen Bennett and wife; Jan Pietersen Van Deventer and wife; Nyntie Van Dyck; Gys- bert Tysz Van Pelt and wife; Adriaantje; Joost Du Wien and wife; Pieter Veritie ; Jean du Pre ; Nicholas du Pre ; Lourens Jansen and wife; the mother of Joost du Wien ; Annetje Bocquet ; Magdalena Van Pelt."

It was not until 1700 that the first church building was erected, an octagonal stone structure something like that of Flatlands with a large rooster perched on the top of an iron cross over the belfry.

Like so many other Long Island towns, the control of New Utrecht's civil government was vested for many years in the same hands by which the affairs of the church were man- aged. On this point a recent writer says :

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NEW UTRECHT.

The first church officers chosen performed the duties of overseers of the poor. The con- trol of town and church affairs by the same individuals thus early begun was continued throughout the eighteenth and into the pres- ent century. Here as elsewhere in the county the past died hard and the town records were kept in the Dutch language until 1763. Oddly enough church officers were elected at town meetings, the same as other functionaries, and were ex officio poor overseers. It was also common to confer the offices of constable, col- lector and poundmaster on the same indi- vidual, for the plausible reason that neither alone was of much value and might be con- sidered a burden rather than a favor to the incumbent. So unwelcome was the post of constable that it was necessary to assign it to the married men of the community in ro- tation, and in case the receiver of the honor was unable to serve he had the right to name a substitute, whose fidelity he was willing to vouch for. At first five and afterward ten pounds was the compensation allowed to the collector. In 1799 the elders of the churchi were chosen commissioners and the deacons trustees of common schools, which regulation continued till 1812, when the present state common-school system was adopted. Polit- ical distinctions were not recognized in town affairs.

Apropos to the long continued church gov- ernment it is interesting to recall a case of a dominie who performed his own marriage ceremony in 1663, while another wife was still living. The defendant alleged that the first wife had eloped and he therefore pre- sumed that he might perform the ceremony for himself as well as for any one else. This plea was set aside, the marriage annulled and the defendant fined in two hundred guilders and forty beaver skins, besides forty guil- ders more for his insolence and impertinence to the court.

At first the ministers were those of Flat- bush, but when the collegiate compact, as it was called, was dissolved, the Rev. Dr. John Beattie became sole minister of New Utrecht. His pastorate lasted from 1809 to 1834, and he was succeeded by the Rev. Robert Ormis- ton Currie, who continued until 1866, when the Rev. David S. Sutphen became pastor. He held the pulpit until 1880, when he was

succeeded by the Rev. Alfred H. Brush. The old graveyard of New Utrecht, which still is preserved amid all the modern changes at what is now Sixteenth avenue and King's High- way, may be said to mark also the site of the first church. In his sketch of New Utrecht, of which much use has been made in preparing this sketch, Teunis G. Bergen wrote :

The old graveyard of the village, near where the first church edifice stood, still pre- serves the old lines and shows the grassy mounds over the graves of the early dead of pioneer times, as well as over the remains of those who died but a short time ago. The graceful monument erected to the memory of Drs. DuBois and Crane commemorates deeds of noble sacrifice. In the year 1856 some. shipping in the quarantine, then opposite Staten Island, communicated the fatal seeds of yellow fever to the inhabitants of Bay Ridge and Fort Hamilton. Family after fam- ily was broken up or sadly ruined by the ter- rible scourge. In the endeavor to stay the ravages of the disease and help the afflicted, these two physicians bravely did their utmost until they, too, fell victims to the pest and were interred in the ancient church-yard. Since then the quarantine hospitals have been established lower down in the bay, near Sandy Hook; and nothing has occurred to detract from the salubrity of the air of New Utrecht throughout its whole area.

Of late years, however, this old burying ground has been sadly neglected, and a recent visitor described it as "uncouth and unkempt," the weeds luxuriant, the stones decaying,. broken or fallen, the inscriptions fast becom- ing unreadable, and the whole place, with the exception of a few plots, left "to hang as it will grow." This reproach to New Utrecht, this slur upon the memories of the village fathers who there rest, should not be per- mitted to continue. The people should strive to preserve as long as possible the amenity and sacredness of the little enclosure. It is a part of the history of the old town.

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For a month or two prior to the landing of the British forces on August 22, 1776, New Utrecht was the scene of constant excite- ment. In 1740 or thereabout* a ferry was es- tablished between Bay Ridge and Staten Island and the landing on the Long Island end was beside the bluff now occupied by Fort Hamilton and was locally known as Denyse's ferry. A small battery was placed there early in August, 1776, by the Americans with the view of stopping the traffic between the shore and the British ships then in the harbor. The good folks of New Utrecht were not above turning an honest penny by supplying the en- emy with fresh meats and farm and garden produce, and the ferry to Staten Island not only carried over to the enemy an abundance in the way of provender but was the means of much information being conveyed con- cerning the doings of the patriot forces which should have been zealously withheld from the British troops then on Staten Island or from the British sailors in the bay. From its very nature the water front of New Utrecht pre- sented many convenient places for sending to the enemy on the waters or on the land across the bay the persons or the communications of spies and informers of all sorts, and it also gave the British a stretch of coast line whichi from its extent and unguardedness almost in-

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 53

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