USA > New York > Kings County > Williamsburgh > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 12
USA > New York > Kings County > Bushwick > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 12
USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 12
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In February, 1660, the villages of Breuckelen and New Utrecht were ordered to be immediately put into a state of defence, with palisades, etc., and the Hon. Nicasius de Sille was directed to sur- vey and attend thereto.2
During the same month, several Frenchmen settled, by Stuy- vesant's permission, at a place "between Mespath Kil and Nor- man's Kil," and laid the foundation of a village since known as Boswick, or Bushwick, now included in the Eastern District of the city of Brooklyn.
On the 1st of March, 1660, Aert Anthonissen Middagh, Teunis Gybertsen Bogart, Jean Le Clerc, Gerrit Heyndrick Backer, Philip Barchstoel, Christina Cappoens, Jacob Kip, and Joris Rapalje, all residents of the Waal-boght neighborhood, petitioned the Direc- tor for permission to form a village "on the margin of the river, between the lands of said Bogaert and Kip, so that," as they expressed it, " we may be in sight of the Manhatans, or Fort Amster- dam." 3 The position selected was, probably, the elevated point of land which jutted into the river about the foot of South Fourth street, in the present Eastern District of our city, and which was known in the ancient time as the "Keike," or "Lookout." Jacob Kip, the owner4 of the land adjoining the Hans Hansen (Bergen) patent (described pages 88 to 97), had been secretary of Nieuw Amsterdam, and was an influential and enterprising man in the colony. It was, probably, owing to his desire to improve the value of his real estate, by securing the establishment of a village thereon, that this petition was made; and his influence with the authorities was such, that permission was granted to erect the
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., viii. 1047. 2 Ibid., ix. 78.
3 Ibid., ix. 522.
4 There is, however, no evidence that he ever resided on the property.
8
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
block-house, and the settlers in the vicinity were directed to remove thither.
In May following, the Governor and Council appointed Jacques Cortelyou, surveyor, Albert Cornelissen (Wantenaer), and Jan Evertse Bout, as commissioners to examine the situation and qual- ity of the land in the neighborhood of the village of Breuckelen, and to report (with a map) how much of it remained undisposed of, how it was cultivated, and how many plantations might be advan- tageously laid out upon it.1
This year (1660) is also noticeable as the year in which the first church was organized in Breuckelen, by the installation of the Rev- erend Henricus Selyns, of which memorable event a full account will be found in another chapter. The town at that time had a population of thirty-one families, or 134 souls, who, being unpro- vided with a church, assembled, at first, in a barn for public worship.
On the 10th of February, 1661, the residents in the vicinity of the Waal-boght were notified that they must comply with the previous orders of the Council against isolated dwellings, and that they must remove to the village erected during the previous year on Kip's land (ante, p. 113), for greater security, before the 15th of the next month.2
ยท To this they demurred, and requested permission to construct a block-house for their defence, on the point of Joris Rapelje's land- i. e., on the easterly side of the Waal-boght.3 They were ordered to "appear on the next Council-day, together with Jacob Kip and Christina Cappoens, to be heard pro and con." On the 3d of March, therefore, the same petitioners-viz., Joris Rapaille, Teunis Gysbert Bogaert, Rem Jansen Smith, Evert Direx van As, Jan Joris Rapaille, Jean Le Clercq, Wynant Pieters, "all residents or land- holders in or about the Waale-boght"-set forth in a petition that " some time ago (i. e., in March, 1660), on the petition of Jacob Kip and others," it had been decreed that " a village and block- house should be laid out on the height at the end of said Kip's land,"
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix. 197.
2 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix. 523. The reference of this order to Brooklyn, in the printed Calendar of Documents, is evidently incorrect.
3 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix. 530, date Feb. 24, 1661.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
and that they had been ordered to remove thither. To this they objected, "inasmuch as the place is wholly unfit for the purpose, partly because the woodland thereabout, being stony, is not suitable for arable land," and "little or no crops can be, apparently, expected from it, as it cannot be ploughed, in consequence of the large num- ber of rocks and hollows thereabouts; wherefore, it is impossible, even by the hardest labor, to obtain a scanty living there. More- over, in consequence of the uncommon height of the land there, it is impossible to find good and sufficient water to make a well. Jan de Kaeper's (Jan, the sailor's) well is an example of this : it adjoins his house in the valley (meadow), and people must descend into it by means of ladders, and then scoop the water in a little bowl, which (i. e. the well), nevertheless, does not suffice (to supply) two families who are dwelling there at present." The streams in the neighborhood are mostly dried up in summer, and during the win- ter season the roads are often very "hard and pointed by the frost, or deep and muddy in heavy rains, or well-nigh impassable from snow," so that, when people wish to water their cattle, they are obliged to fetch the water in barrels from Theunis Gys- bertse (Bogaert's) well, which is a most fatiguing and injurious business for farmers, both in summer and winter;" a drudgery, in fact, which the petitioners state they " daily see performed by their neighbors with a weeping eye." For these reasons the petitioners requested permission "to build a block-house on Joris Rapaille's point (hoeck)," which they considered a much preferable place for the purpose," being " by nature more defensible and stronger," the water there being " by far the richest fountain in the entire coun- try, and the spot being conveniently "near their bouweries and plantations." They admitted the possibility of being separated from each other by occasional high floods; but they expected to lay a bridge over the Kill-two or three planks broad-and to grant to each one who was willing to settle there convenient lots for houses and gardens, of which they would transfer to them their whole right and title, " so that, under God's blessing, it might soon increase to a convenient village." Their arguments prevailed with
1 " Runnegackonck," the creek which formed the easterly boundary of Rapalie's farm, and emptied into the Wallabout Bay.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
the Director and Council, and the petition of Jacob Kip and Chris- tina Cappoens was rejected.1
In June, 1661, the people of Breuckelen presented a petition to the Council, through their schepens, asking that,
" Whereas, it pleased your Honors to allow them, for purposes of pasturage for their cattle (which now, God be praised, are increased to a considerable number), the use of certain portions of the ' valley' (or meadow), situated near the corner of Fred. Lubbertsen's (land), at the Red Hook; also, a small valley (meadow) in the Walle-bocht, located in the woods between the mountain and the underwood (Kreupelbosch) ; besides a portion of the valley (meadow) beyond the 3d kil, towards the seaside, extending easterly towards the 4th kil, and westerly from the sea towards the woods,"
the aforesaid tracts may be granted to them in perpetuity. This petition was granted as soon as the land could be surveyed.2
The tithes of Breuckelen, Gowanus, and the Waal-bocht, for this year, were sold by the Director-General and Council to Messrs. Paulus Van der Beeck and Warnaer Wessels, and the people were forbidden to remove any thing from their farms until the tithes had been collected by these purchasers.
The year 1661 will also be ever memorable in the history of Breuckelen as having furnished to the good people their first school- master. On the 4th of July, 1661, the following petition was pre- sented
" To the Right Honble Director-General and Council of New Netherland : The Schout and Schepens of the Court of Breuckelen respectfully repre- sent that they found it necessary that a Court Messenger was required for the Schepens' Chamber, to be occasionally employed in the Village of Breuckelen and all around where he may be needed, as well to serve sum- mons, as also to conduct the service of the Church, and to sing on Sun- days; to take charge of the School, dig graves, etc., ring the Bell, and perform whatever else may be required : Therefore, the Petitioners, with your Honors' approbation, have thought proper to accept for so highly necessary an office a suitable person who is now come before them, one
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix. 547.
2 Ibid., 647, 648.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Carel van Beauvois, to whom they have hereby appropriated a sum of fl. 150, besides a free dwelling; and whereas the Petitioners are appre- hensive that the aforesaid C. v. Beauvois would not and cannot do the work for the sum aforesaid, and the Petitioners are not able to promise him any more, therefore the Petitioners, with all humble and proper rev- erence, request your Honors to be pleased to lend them a helping hand, in order thus to receive the needful assistance. Herewith, awaiting your Honors' kind and favorable answer, and commending ourselves, Honorable, wise, prudent, and most discreet Gentlemen, to your favor, we pray for your Honors God's protection, together with a happy and prosperous ad- ministration unto Salvation. Your Honors' servants and subjects, The Schout and Schepens of the Village aforesaid. By order of the same,
" (Signed) ADRIAEN HEGEMAN, Secretary."
In answer to this petition, the Director and Council were gra- ciously pleased to say that they would "pay fifty guilders, in wam- pum, annually, for the support of the precentor (voorsanger) and schoolmaster in the village of Breuckelen."1
Jarls & Brainworx
FAC-SIMILE OF THE SIGNATURE OF CAREL DE BEAUVOIS.
CAREL DE BEAUVOIS, who was thus commissioned to fulfil the mul- tifarious duties of court-messenger, bell-ringer, grave-digger, chor- ister, reader, and schoolmaster of Breuckelen, is described by Riker as " a highly respectable and well-educated French Protestant, who came from Leyden, in Holland. He was of a family whose name and origin were probably derived from the ancient city of Beauvais, on the river Therin, to the northwest of Paris ; but there is reason to believe that he himself was a native of Leyden. He arrived at
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., ix. 678.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Amsterdam, in the ship Otter, February 17, 1659, accompanied by his wife, Sophia Van Lodensteyn, and three children born to them in Leyden, and now aged eight, six, and three years respectively. His literary merits and acquaintance with the Dutch language soon acquired for him the situation of a teacher ;" but in 1661, as we have seen, his duties were enlarged by his appointment to the office of chorister and reader. He afterwards served as public secretary or town clerk, which office he held till 1669. His descendants have ever been numbered among the most respectable citizens of Brook- lyn, Bushwick, and Newtown.1
The arrival of Governor Winthrop at New Amsterdam, en route to England in July, 1661, afforded an opportunity to the inhabitants of Breuckelen to honor their distinguished guest, and their own Gov- ernor, who escorted him, with a salute, for which purpose ten pounds of powder were issued to them from the public stores.2
In this year, also (1661), Boswyck, which now numbered twenty- three families, received its official recognition as a town by the creation of a subaltern court and magistrates ; but, having no Schout of its own, was, together with New Utrecht, annexed to the juris- diction of Hegeman, the Schout of Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Mid- wout,-the district being afterwards known as the "Five Dutch Towns."
In Sept., 1661, the inhabitants of Harlem, Bergen, Breuckelen, and the Dutch villages on Long Island, were notified to have their lands surveyed, and to take out patents therefor.3
In June, 1662, in consequence of a petition from Breuckelen, Mid- dleburg, Mespath, and other villages, Mr. Jacques Cortelyou is directed by the Council to survey and apportion to each of those towns, shares in the meadow between the 3d and 4th kils. Breuck- elen was to have 100 morgens, and Middleburgh and Mespath 80 morgens each.4 The meadows here referred to were probably those lying on the south side of the island, within the limits of the town of Jamaica, and known as " Seller's Neck."
The year 1663 dawned over New Netherland, pregnant with im-
1 See Riker's Hist. of Newtown, pp. 407, 410, for genealogy of the De Bevoise family.
2 N. Y. Col. MSS., ii. 460. 3 Ibid., ix. 788. 4 Ibid., x. 149.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
pending trouble to the Dutch. An earthquake, bringing terror to their hearts, was followed by a great freshet which devastated their harvests. The dreaded small-pox raged through their villages, and decimated the neighboring Indian tribes. Then ensued the horrors of savage warfare, and men's hearts failed them before the terrors of the red-man's tomahawk and firebrand. When at last compar- ative peace had been restored, Stuyvesant turned his attention towards making some definite settlement with the colony of Con- necticut concerning their respective jurisdictions. The Connecticut authorities, however, claimed that several of the English towns of Long Island were under their rule, and even ventured to hint that they would reduce the adjoining Dutch villages also. After long and fruitless negotiations, the Dutch agents returned "with fleas in their ears" to New Amsterdam. Finding themselves powerless to resist their English and savage neighbors, the towns of Haerlem, Breuckelen, Midwout, Amersfoort, New Utrecht, Boswyck, Bergen, and the City, assembled in convention, by Stuyvesant's order, Nov. 1st, and adopted a remonstrance to the Amsterdam Chamber, wherein they attributed their troubles to the supineness of the authorities in Holland. The action of the Convention was at once prompt and loyal to the interests of the country and the Fatherland. But, even while they deliberated, a revolution was in progress on Long Island. Certain self-constituted officials visited the English towns, changed the names thereof, proclaimed the king, and threat- ened the Dutch settlements.
Let us turn aside, however, from the current of public events, in order to notice a few local items, marking more particularly the progress of the town of Breuckelen.
On the first of March in this year (1663), the following petition was presented
" To the Right Honbie Director-General and Council of New Netherland :
" Shew with due reverence and respect, the undersigned, neighbors and inhabitants of the village of Breuckelen, your Honors' obedient servants, that there lies convenient to us a certain place near Breuckelen fit to be erected into a new village, for our advantage, being a woodland (as we) believe (is) known to your Honors, in which place there is sufficient accom- modation where twenty or thirty persons can have a suitable place and
120
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
lot ; and as the valley's thereby furnish no nearer place (than) those adjoin- ing between the 3d and 4th kills,1 to supply the cattle with fodder, and is also the nearest spot, therefore we, the Petitioners, are under the necessity of turning to your Honors, humbly praying and soliciting that the aforesaid requested place may be granted to them, each his lot, as the valleys in the hay season be far from here, and they seek the nearest, in order to bring in the grass dry and in good condition (with God's blessing), for the preservation of the cattle, and all that is annexed thereto, that appertains to the farmers. Awaiting, therefore, a favorable answer, if your Honors the Director-General and Council, in your wise discretion, shall vouchsafe to grant the same, we remain your Honors' obedient servants.
ALBERT CORNELISSEN,
TIETJE SCHIERCKS,
BARENT BI JANSEN,
JAN JACOBSEN,
JAN DAMEN,
JOOST VERSTRAALEN,
JAN PETERS, from Deventer,
CASPER PIETERS,
JAN MARTYN,
HENRYCUS TEUNIS,
THEUNIS CORNELIS,
SYMON CLASEN,
TJERCK JANSEN,
HEYNDRYCK JANSEN BEEN,
TONIS SNYSKEN, (?).
TIERCS DIERCKSS,
PETER PETERS,
HARMEN HEYNDRICKS,
PIETER LAMBERT,
JAN HIBON,
SYMEN JOOSTEN,
JORES JORISE,
HEYDRICK FALLKERS,
CORNELYS VAN BORSEM,
PIERE WOUTERSE,
LODEWY(CK) JONGS,
CORNELYS JANSE SPUYLER,
YOKAM . . . UEDDEN,
BARENT PJTERSE." 2
The magistrates of Midwout, also, petitioned for a similar favor of erecting a village on the same parcel of land. It was, therefore, de- termined by the authorities that the land should be surveyed by the Surveyor, in order that an opinion might be formed as to the num- ber of plantations which might advantageously be laid out on it.
On the 26th of May, Thomas Lambertsen, Evert Dircksen van As, Teunis Dircksen, Teunis Jansen, John Damen, Hendrick Jan- sen Been, George Probatskin, Peter Petersen, Teunis Cornelissen, Joost Fransen, Dirck Jans Hooglandt, Paulus Dircksen, Wynant
1 Ante, pp. 116, 118.
9 N. Y. Col. MSS., Part ii. x. 37.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Petersen, Dirck Paulusen and Hendrick Claesen, citizens of Breuck- elen, petitioned the Council for leave to establish a " concentration," in the following terms :
" Whereas, we lately obtained from your Honors a certain piece of land, situated back of the Waale-boght, or at Marcus' plantation ; and whereas, we, the petitioners, have our fencing stuff ready, and some of us have already sowed and planted, and others contemplate beginning their plan- tations, and inasmuch as (otherwise) we should be at a considerable distance from our property, we have agreed unanimously to solicit as a favor, that we may be permitted to make a concentration there, in order to protect our property." 1
The petition was granted.
In the month of July, during the Indian troubles which prevailed, the Director proposed that Breuckelen should furnish 8, 10, or 12 men, to be "kept ready for the protection of one or the other place in danger, which may God avert!" A meeting of the inhabitants was forthwith held, at which every person present expressed a will- ingness to aid in protecting their neighbors on Long Island, but it was deemed that the town was not strong enough to furnish so many . men ; and a letter was despatched to the Director and Council to that effect ; also refusing, from prudential motives, to cross the river to the defence of New Amsterdam. Letters expressing a similar resolution were also sent by the neighboring towns of Amersfoort, Gravesend, Midwout, and New Utrecht .?
In February, 1664, on petition of the magistrates of Breuckelen and the three adjoining Dutch towns, an ordinance was passed by the Council, providing for the registry of deeds, mortgages, and all legal writings relating to real estate in those towns, to be made, according to the practice of the Fatherland, before the Secretary and two of the magistrates of the town in which said property is situated, -no deed to be signed unless the original patent was exhibited.3
During the same month the people of Breuckelen were forbidden, under penalty of 100 guilders,4 to remove their crops from the fields
1 N. Y. Col. MSS., x., Part ii., 117.
2 Ibid., x., Part ii. 191, 193, 195.
3 Ibid., x., Part iii., 53, 55, 56.
4 A guilder is equal to 41 cents, 6 mills, and a fraction - 666
1000.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
until the tithes had been collected by Sheriff Hegeman. The same thing had occurred before ; and in the following year, " some of the country people" of Breuckelen, having neglected to pay their tithes, were ordered to pay them within twenty-four hours, on penalty of execution. These tithes, probably, were not raised for church pur- poses exclusively, but for government. According to the laws of that day, lands were usually exempt from taxation for ten years, after which time they were taxed one-tenth of their produce.
But, to return to our narrative of the public events which were agitating the colony of New Netherland. Early in January, 1664, Captain John Scott, an adventurer of unsettled life and principles, acting under the quasi authority of the Duke of York, visited the discontented English villages on Long Island, stimulated them to the formation of a distinct and independent government, of which he was declared the temporary President, and proclaimed Charles the Second as their king. Having made this fair beginning, he set out with about 150 followers, horse and foot, to subjugate the neigh- boring Dutch towns. Coming first to Breuckelen, he raised the English flag and addressed the citizens, affirming that the soil they occupied belonged to the King of England, and absolving them from their allegiance to the Dutch Government. But his appeal fell dead upon the ears of the listening crowd, and the only answer made was a courteous invitation from Secretary Van Ruyven, to visit and con- fer with the Director-General. This Scott declined, saying : "Let Stuyvesant come here with a hundred men; I shall wait for him and run a sword through his body." Turning next to a lad near by, the son of Burgomaster Krygier, he commanded him to doff his hat to the royal standard. Upon the boy's refusal to do so, he struck him, whereupon one of the Dutch bystanders remarked that he ought to strike men, not boys. This speech provoked the ire of Scott's followers, four of whom fell upon the man, who was finally obliged to flee, after making a brief resistance with an axe. The English thereupon left, threatening to burn the town if he was not delivered up.1 Passing next to Midwout, Scott repeated the scenes of Brooklyn ; but the stolid Dutchmen, alike unmoved by his seduc-
1 N. Y. Col. Doc., ii. 394, 899, 482, 483, 404.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
tions and his threats, merely asked to see his commission, which he promised to produce on his return, in April. The next day the farce was repeated at Amersfoort and New Utrecht, where those who refused to salute the English flag were set upon and mal- treated, to the engendering of much confusion and mutual enmity.
Learning of these transactions, Stuyvesant sent a commission to Long Island, to seek some settlement of these troubles. A meeting occurred (January 14) between the two parties at Jamaica, where a basis of agreement was agreed upon-although Scott had informed the Dutchmen that the King of England had granted Long Island to his brother, the Duke of York, who was determined, if it was not peaceably surrendered, to possess himself of it, and also of the whole province of Nieuw Netherland. Collisions and disturbances, how- ever, continuing between the English and Dutch, induced the Direc- tor, in February, to call a meeting of delegates from the Dutch settlements on the island, for the purpose of making a proper rep- resentation to the States-General and W. I. Company, of their trials and dangers. This Convention, wherein Breuckelen was represented by Messrs. Willem Bredenbent, Albert Cornelis Wantenaer, and Joris Gysberts Bogert, voted a remonstrance and detailed statement of affairs, which was forwarded to the Fatherland.
In the succeeding month, the provisional arrangement agreed upon by the Dutch authorities and Captain Scott at Jamaica, in the preceding January, were formally ratified by commissioners from either side. It was the best the Dutch could do, in the unfortunate circumstances under which they were placed ; but it was a virtual concession of their own weakness and inability to cope with their English neighbors. The valley of the Connecticut River, the fer- tile lands of Westchester, and now, last of all, the five English towns of Long Island, had slipped from their nerveless grasp. In this critical state of affairs, the principle of popular representation was, for the first time, fully recognized in the province. At the special request of the Burgomasters and Schepens, the Director convened a GENERAL ASSEMBLY of delegates from the several towns, to discuss and consider the affairs of Nieuw Netherland. This Convention, in which Breuckelen was represented by Willem Bredenbent and Albert Cornelis Wantenaer, assembled at the "Stadt Huys " (or City
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Hall), in New Amsterdam, on the 10th of April, 1664. Within the first days of its session, however, advices were received from the Fatherland, announcing that the provincial despatches of Novem- ber preceding had been duly received, and that certain prompt and important measures had been inaugurated towards a settlement of the difficulties pending between the English and Dutch. An addi- tional military force was also sent out, and the Governor was directed to prosecute the war with the Esopus Indians to a complete and suc- cessful issue, and also to reduce to obedience the revolted English towns. Thinking this latter to be an undertaking easier commanded than accomplished, the Dutch authorities turned their chief atten- tion to their relations with the savages, with whom, on the 16th of May, a satisfactory peace was concluded.
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