A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 61

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

USA > New York > A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 61

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We, William Kieft, Director General, and the Council residing in New Netherland, on behalf of the High and Mighty Lords States- General of the United Netherlands, His High- ness of Orange, and the Honorable Directors of the General Incorporated West India Com-

383

THE STORY OF BROOKLYN VILLAGE.

pany, To all those who shall see these presents or hear them read, Greeting:

Whereas, Jan Evertsen Bout and Huyck Aertsen from Rossum were on the 21st May last unanimously chosen by those interested of Breuckelen, situate on Long Island, as Schep- ens, to decide all questions which may arise, as they shall deem proper, according to the ex- emptions of New Netherland granted to par- ticular Colonies, which election is subscribed by them, with express stipulation that if any one refuse to submit in the premises afore- said to the above-mentioned Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen, he shall forfeit the right he claims to land in the allotment of Breuckelen, and in order that everything may be done with more authority, We, the Director and Council aforesaid, have therefore authorized and appointed, and do hereby authorize the said Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen to be schepens of Breuckelen ; and in case Jan Evert- sen and Huyck Aertsen do hereafter find the labor too onerous, they shall be at liberty to select two more from among the inhabitants of Breuckelen to adjoin them to themselves. We charge and command every inhabitant of Breuckelen to acknowledge and respect the above-mentioned Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen as their schepens, and if any one shall be found to exhibit contumaciousness towards them, he shall forfeit his share as above stated.

This done in Council in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland.

It may not be inappropriate here to refer to the ancient town after which the new settle- ment was named, and to this end we quote from the able monograph on "Origin of Breuckelen," by Mr. Harrington Putnam :

Amersfoort, Breuckelen, and Utrecht have many historic associations. To the politician and reader of Motley, they are forever linked with the career and tragic end of Barneveld. In 1619, he fell a martyr to the cause of state rights and local self-government. Such an event, comparatively recent in 1646, and still appealing to the sense of individual liberty, may have been recalled by the settlers in America. While the liberties of Utrecht had been the cherished objects of Barneveld's so- licitude, he proudly proclaimed his birth in Amersfoort. In moments of arduous public labor he looked hopefully forward to an hon-

orable and calm retirement from the tumults of party strife to his beautiful estate at Gun- tersteijn in the village of Breuckelen .. Breuck- elen, however, was an ancient village three centuries before the settlement in New Nether- lands. Located between Utrecht and Amster- dam, it was early noted for its healthfulness, which soon made it a desirable residence region. The surrounding fields and foliage are strikingly green and luxuriant, even for Holland. Castles grew up about it along the banks of the beautiful Vecht, which all the suc- cessive tides of war have not quite destroyed. . In the Dutch records, Breuckelen had vari- ous spellings, as Broklede, Broicklede, Brack- ola, Brocklandia, and Broeckland. Hence some say that the name came from its brooks and marshes-van de drassige en broekactige veen- landen-meaning a brook or marsh land. It is mentioned as an important place in the year 1317. There were two parishes on opposite sides of the Vecht. These are Breuckelen- Nijenrode, from the castle of Nijenrode, and Breuckelen-St. Pieters. The small river Vecht dividing these towns may be considered an outlet of the Rhine, which parts in two chan- nels at Utrecht. The Vecht turns to the north and empties into the Zuider Zee. It is navig- able for small vessels, and at Breuckelen is a little over two hundred feet wide.

The old country-seats along the Vecht, once set in the prim, geometric gardens of the last century, are now represented by modern villas, half hidden by trees, which to-day form bits of unmatched rural scenery. Eminent landscape painters of the modern Dutch school have loved to make studies amid these gentle windings, and the celebrity of the Vecht in art bids fair to surpass the forgotten fame of the neighboring castles. Old drawbridges of wood cross the sluggish river. Trees come close to the tow-path, bordered by quaint gardens. Along the garden edges, looking out upon the stream, are Koepels or tea houses and over all this abundant foliage rises a church spire.

Jan Evertsen Bout is generally regarded by local historians as the founder of Brooklyn, and as such deserves somewhat more than merely passing notice. According to the record in Bergen's "Early Settlers in Kings County," he was born in the Province of Gelderland in 1603 and entered the service of the West In- dian Company. In 1634 he emigrated to New

381

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Netherland and we find him, four years later, settled as a farmer at Pavonia (Jersey City, N. J.). In 1643 he was chosen one of the eight men then selected to represent the people in the days of Gov. Kieft's extremity and became a member of the Council by Kieft's appointment in 1645. That same year he secured a patent for fifty-six acres of land on Gowants Kill, and when the town of Breuckelen was organ- ized he was chosen as the first of its Schepens. In 1660 he was enrolled as a member of the Re- formed Dutch Church in Breuckelen. He was twice married, first to Tryntje Symons de Wit, and secondly to Annetje Pieters. No children blessed either union, and after his death, in 1670, Annetje married Andries Janse Jurianse and appears to have brought him, as a dower, Jan's Brooklyn property.

The year 1646, in view of Kieft's proclama- tion, already given, may therefore be accepted as the beginning of Brooklyn's municipal his- tory. The measure of local self-government then awarded to the community was as limited as was possible. The magistrates were in office and clothed with honor and authority, but they had no one to carry out their orders; so they at once petitioned Kieft, and the nature of their petition can easily be inferred from that digni- tary's answer, which was as follows :

Having seen the petition of the schepens of Breuckelen, that it is impossible for them to at- tend to all cases occurring there, especially criminal assaults, impounding of cattle, and other incidents which frequently attend agri- culture ; and in order to prevent all disorders, it would be necessary to appoint a schout there, for which office they propose the person of Jan Teunissen. Therefore we grant their request therein, and authorize, as we do hereby author- ize, Jan Teunissen to act as schout, to imprison delinquents hy advice of the schepens, to estab- lish the pound, to impound cattle, to collect fines, and to perform all things that a trusty schout is bound to perform. Whereupon he hatlı taken his oath at the hands of us and the Fiscal, on whom he shall especially depend, as in Holland substitutes are bound to be depend- ent on the Upper Schout, Schonts on the Bailiff or Marshal. We command and charge all who

are included under the jurisdiction of Breucke- len to acknowledge him, Jan Teunissen, for schout. Thus done in our council in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, the first De- cember, Anno 1646.

With the appointment of this terror to evil- doers the municipal government of Brooklyn may be said to have been made complete as far as it could be under the circumstances. It does not seem likely that the Schout was much exercised over the degenerates from within the village, and that his income from Breuckelen was mainly derived from what might be called legal fees, such as drawing up writs, petitions, certificates and the like. During the remainder of the Dutch regime the story of the young town passed on so placidly that really there is little for the general historian to tell, and what little there is gathered around the fantastic figure of Peter Stuyvesant. Soon after that potentate "of uncertain reputation, impetuous, high tempered, energetic and persistent," as Henry Cabot Lodge has described him, suc- ceeded Kieft in 1647, the whole of New Neth- erland felt the benefit of the change. But his paternal notions were at times carried too far, and in the protests against his assumptions of power the people of Breuckelen were ever active and were represented in all the conven- tions which so often aroused the wrath of the paternal "Silver Legs," as the Indians called Stuyvesant, on account of the silver bands which strengthened and adorned his wooden limb.

In 1660 a palisade was erected around the settlement of homes, and in that year also Hen- ricus Selyns began preaching in Brooklyn, thus marking the beginning of the great factor in the city's subsequent fame. The palisade proved a source of comfort during the Indian outbreak of 1663. But in spite of the general success of the colony as a whole under Stuy- vesant, the progress of Breuckelen in the mat- ter of population continued very slow, as may be understood from the fact that when the Director and Council decided that the village

THE STORY OF BROOKLYN VILLAGE.

385

should contribute eight or twelve men to the common defense of the Dutch towns, a meeting of the inhabitants voted to the effect that such a proposition was outrageous, that it really called for more men than the place should or could provide. But then Breuckelen was constantly giving the Director trouble by not complying with his wishes and tamely submitting to his notions. On his arrival he ordered an election of nominees for membership in his Council, retaining the final selection from those elected in his own hands. New Amsterdam, Breucke- len, Amersfoort and Midwout were among thie

is no doubt the convention indirectly led to an increase of municipal privileges all round. In Breuckelen the number of Schepens was in- creased from two to four and it got a Schout all to itself in the person of David Provoost. The latter official was one of the early settlers in New Amsterdam, arriving there in 1639, and he afterward held several official positions. He received his appointment as Schout in 1654 and in 1656 was succeeded by Pieter Tonne- man. It is difficult to understand why Pro- voost resigned so soon, for he appears to have been an inveterate office-seeker, and it was not

Long Island

BROOKLYN IN 1766.

places thus honored by a taste of popular gov- ernment. Out of the eighteen thus chosen by public vote the Governor selected nine as his advisers, and his choice from Breuckelen fell upon Jan Evertsen Bout. In 1653, at the un- authorized convention of representatives of New Netherland towns held in New Amster- dam, Breuckelen was represented by Frederic Lubbertsen, Paulen Van der Beeck and Will- iam Beeckman. Probably Bout did not attend because of his official position. The meeting apparently accomplished nothing. Stuyvesant was bitterly opposed to such things and he em- phatically told the delegates to go home and not to assemble again on such business; but there

until 1665 that we find him in another position, that of Clerk of the local courts. Probably the fees attached to the Breuckelen appointment were too small to suit his views or his ambi- tion. Tonneman held on until 1660, when he was appointed Schout of New Amsterdam and then Adrian Hegeman became Breuckelen's Schout, with a fixed salary in addition to what seems to have been for the time quite generous fees.

Shortly after the unauthorized meeting of representatives of the people which Stuyvesant so ruthlessly put down, Bout again comes. under our notice. In 1654 lie declined to serve any longer as one of the Schepens, declaring he

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Governour General, under his Royal Highness, James Dukeof Storke and Albany &c. of all his Territories in america OLo + all to whom these presents shall com, senorth Greeting, Whereas there is a certame Sound within this Government, Scituate, lying and Bring, in the west Living of Yorkshire, upon Long Piland, Commonly calle and known by the name of Bruecke= Elen; Which said Town, is you in the Future or occupation, of severalk Freeholders and Inhabitants, who having Peritofor.

boom crate there by Authority, base from at very considerable Charge, in manuring and Granting a considerable part of the Sands belonging there unto, and settled a competent Number of familyis there upon: Non for a Confirmation unto the sais frecholors Gang Inhabitants in their Possession and Enjoyment of the

premises , 2 , Know yes, That by virtue of the Commission and Authority unto me given by his Royal Highnesse, Ihave given Ratifyco, Confirmer and grantcon, And by these of presents, to give, Ratify, Confirme and grant, unto Pan Everts Jan Damen, Albert Cornelissen, Paulus Verbeeck, Michiel Eneyl, Thomas Lamberts, Jeunis Gysberts Bogart, and Forms Jacobsen, + as Batentes, for and on the behalf of themselves and their of Associates, the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the said Towne, their Hits, Successors and Assignes, All that Theact together with the revival Bareilles of Land, which already have or hereafter shall be Purchased or procured, for and on the behalf of the said

Town, whether from the Nation Onoyan Proprieto, or others, within the Browns and Lunitts bortafter sett for thand express, (vist ) That is to say The Said Town is Bounded westward on the farther side of the Land of It" Saulus Verbeeck, from

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when stitching South Cast, they go over the Hills, and so * Eastward along by the said Hills, to a South East Point, which takes all the Lotts behind the Swamp, fromwhich said Lotts they run Northwest to the River, and extins to the ffaret on Fother side of the Hill, herrtofore belonging to Hans Hansen, over against the Kecke or Looks out, Including within the Faro : Bonnes and Suites, all the Lotts and Plantations, lyng and bring at the Gouwanes, Sierford, Wallebocht and the ferry.

All which said Parcells, and Fact of Land, and premissis, to in the Brownos and Lunitts afor mention & Described, and A allow any Plantation or Plantations thereupon, from banca forth are to be, apportant and belong, to the fair Town of Greuckler, Together with all Havens, Harbo. Greekes, Quarry's woodland, Meadow Provino, Que Land or valley of all sorts Pastures, Marshes, Runs, Rivers, Lakes, fishing Hawking, Hunting and Howling, And all other profitts, Commodities, Enioluments and here ditaments, to the said Lands and put = : misses, within the Grounds and Lignitts sett forth, belonging or in any wist appertaining, Ilnd with all, to have freedom of Commonage, for Range and find of Cattle and Horts, into the woods, as will without as within their Bounds and Limits, with the rest of their neight !!; Is also, one third part of a cer = = tam Nick of Meadow Ground or valley, calle Sellers neck lying and bring within the Limits of the Town of Jamaica, Purchased by the Said Town of Jamaica, from the Judyans, and Told by them, unto the Guhabitants of Breucklen a fortsaid as it hath bien lately laid out, and divided by their mutual + consent, and my order, where unto, and from which, they are likewise to have free Ogresse and Legrissi, as their occasions

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that require Lohave and to Bolo, als and singular the said Thach no Barcells of Land, Meadow Ground or valley, Com- montage, Hereditamanty and prinusses , with their a of their Appartenances, and of every part and barcil thirst of, Bt fair Batentes and their clsociales, their Hues, auch and Clsignes, to the proper use and behoofd of the said Satinties and their Associates, their haires, Successo. Assignis for ever. Moreover, Too hereby, give, Ratify, Confirme and grant to unto the saw Bateuittis and their + Associates, their Hours, Successo End Classiques, olivy Rights and Priviledges, Belonging to a Jour within this Government, and that the place of their present Habitation, shall continue of Vand resame the name of Breukelen, by which nam and file it shall be outinguished and known, in all Bargains sais Patentins shall make for and on behalf of themselvest Oand their Associates, the fair Heirs, Successo

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as now are, or biertafter shall bra, Constituted and Establishit, by the Janits of this Government, under the province of his Royal Highness, mas Hours and Successo: Given under * my hand and Scale at fort Games in New York, on the Istand of Manhattat the to Day of October, I'm the muettoute years of the Bran of our overargue Lord, Charlesy Second, By the Grace of God of England, Scotland france and francs King, Defender of the faith to, tunog Dormi 1667.

Richard Nicholls

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390

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

would rather return to Holland than venture on another term. However, says Harrington Putnam, "no excuses regarding his private business were accepted [by Stuyvesant]. Though the Schepen-elect had served for pre- vious terms, and filled other colonial offices, he was not now allowed to retire. The Sheriff was formally ordered to notify him of these summary commands of Gov. Stuyvesant: 'If you will not accept to serve as Schepen for the welfare of the village of Breuckelen with oth- ers, your fellow-residents, then you must pre- pare yourself to sail in the ship King Solomon for Holland, agreeably to your utterance.' This appeal to the civic conscience of one who had been prominent as a reformer, coupled with the grim threat of deportation, was irresistible. No further declinations in Breuckelen offices seem to have troubled the Council." Bout did not go to Holland, but continued in public life until at least 1665, for he was then one of the representatives of Breuckelen at the Hemp- stead convention ; after that he passes from our view.

In spite of his paternal methods and dom- ineering tactics, there is no doubt that under Stuyvesant's rule the Dutch towns steadily advanced in self-government. He was virtually as one man standing like a barrier between two forces of progress, for the home authorities in New Amsterdam always showed themselves, when appealed to, to be in favor of the fullest measure of local self-government and the liberty of the subject, while the Dutch pertinacity never permitted an aim to be lost sight of once it was believed to be a right. There were frequent quarrels be- tween the Dutch towns and Stuyvesant, and these there is no doubt drove him to seek the support of the English settlers at Gravesend and elsewhere much more than pos- sibly he cared to admit. But his arbitrary will kept alive a certain measure of discontent which even he had to reckon with, and it is a singular fact that it was under Stuyvesant that the acceptance of the theory that the people

were the source of power and the arbiters of law found its earliest acknowledgment in what is now the State of New York. The first prin- ciples of union were also instilled into the minds of people and ruler when, in 1664, the Director felt impelled to call a meeting of representatives chosen in each community to consider various matters of common interest and indirectly to repair the damage done by his own misgovernment. At that meeting Breucke- len was represented by William Bredenbent and Albert Cornelysen Wantanaer, two of its Schepens. It is of little moment what that meeting did : its importance lies in the fact that it was called at all and that it had been called at the direct behest of such a ruler as Stuy- vesant. It met in April in the fort at New Amsterdam, and five months later the English flag waved over that stronghold, an English Governor held sway and the indomitable Pieter troubled the lieges no more.

So far as Gov. Nicolls was concerned, the chief feature of his administration, the chief feature that is of interest in the history of Breuckelen, was the granting to it of a charter which has been reproduced in fac-simile, while of the events of the six years' administration under his successor, Gov. Lovelace, only the beginning of the village of Bedford need be recorded. The second Dutch regime was bar- ren of incident, so far as concerns the history of Breuckelen, and when, in 1674, the English Government was resumed the village seems to have accepted the charge again with placid equanimity. Governor Dongan in 1686 gave it a new patent, which served the purpose of help- ing his administration with a fee and fixing some disputed boundary questions.

But amid all these changes in rulers Breuckelen continued to make definite prog- ress, and by 1676 it had assumed its place at the head of the five Dutch towns. Its taxable rate was adjusted on a valuation of £5,067, while that of Middlewout was £4,872, Boswyck £22,960, New Utrecht £3,024, and Amersfort £3,966. Gov. Dongan fixed the town's quit

391

THE STORY OF BROOKLYN VILLAGE.

rent at twenty bushels of wheat. In 1698 the population of Breuckelen (it had then become Brookland) was given at 444, not including 65 slaves, while its nearest neighbor, Flatbush, re- joiced in 405 whites and 71 slaves.

Much of the early history of Breuckelen that has come down to us is in regard to bound- ary disputes, for it does not seem that in the political troubles of the commonwealth, such as the Leisler excitement, or even in the charg- es of the ruling powers, its people took any very profound interest. The matter of their boundaries, however, seems to have been a vital question and was the cause of much trouble between them and the good folks of Flatbush and Bushwick, while the rights in connection with the ferry were also a source of standing and perpetual worry with New York. In these troubles and complications and claims, how- ever, the Brooklyn people seemed to want no more than might be considered their just right, and an instance of their conscientious regard for this may be found in the following excerpt, showing in the way in which they adjusted their own internal boundaries at a public meet- ing of the citizens :

At a Town meeting held the 25th day of February, 1692-3, att Breucklyn, in Kings County. Then Resolved to divide their com- mon land and woods into three parts, in man- ner following to wit:

"I. All the lands and woods after Bedford and Cripplebush, over the hills to the path of New lotts shall belong to the inhabitants and freeholders of the Gowanis, beginning from Jacob Brewer and soe to the uttermost bounds of the limits of New-Utrecht.

"2. And all the lands and woods that lyes betwixt the abovesaid path and the highway from the ferry toward Flattbush, shall belong to the freeholders and the inhabitants of Bed- ford and Cripplebush.

"3. And all the lands that lyes in common after the Gowanis, betwixt the limits and bounds of Flatbush and New Utrecht shall be- long to the freeholders and inhabitants of Brooklyn, fred. neck [Frederick Lubbertsen's Neck], the ferry and the Wallabout."

In 1702 Fulton Street was laid out and ex- cept near the water front provided a fairly good thoroughfare out to Bedford Corners, and in a measure to Flatbush. This road was so highly regarded that it received the name of the King's Highway, and jealous eyes were kept upon it to guard against encroachments upon its width and usefulness. However, at that time Brooklyn and its then suburbs-Go- wanus, Wallabout, Bedford, Red Hook and Cripplebush and the Ferry-were tolerably well supplied with roads, at least with roads which made communication between them comparatively easy. Still the whole territory grew slowly in point of population, much more slowly than might be expected considering the opportunities for settlers and the wide extent of fruitful land that lay fallow awaiting the cultivator. Even in 1738 the population of Brooklyn and what we have called its suburbs did not exceed 725, yet even these limited fig- tres placed it far in advance of the other Dutch towns.

Of the internal history of the people little is known until almost the beginning of the cen- tury, for the records of the town prior to the close of the Revolutionary War have mainly been lost or destroyed. A few incidents might be chronicled, such as the meeting of the Colon- ial Legislature in a house on Fulton street in 1752, owing to the fear of small-pox, which then raged in New York; but as a rule such details as we have are hardly worthy of being incorporated in a general history, however use- ful some of them may be for assisting the his- torian to arrive at conclusions on matters of purely local interest. In fact Brooklyn was a municipality in name but only a community in reality until after the nineteenth century had begun, and although by that time its popu- lation had increased to nearly 1,700 it was al- most unknown outside of Long Island and Manhattan. Tytler's Gazetteer, published at Edinburgh in 1781, in its account of Long Island did not think Brooklyn worthy of even being named, while Moore's American Gazet-

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 61

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