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 5
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 5
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 5
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
and an overstepping of his legitimate power. Displeased with their advice, Kieft angrily reminded them that his will was yet supreme, and a few days after he issued, without their knowledge, a proclama- tion stating that for the purpose of carrying on the war, and "by advice of the Eight Men chosen by the commonalty," he had decided to impose the tax. This roused the ire of the Eight Men, whose sanction had been thus unwarrantably assumed, and the brewers refusing to pay the excise, their beer was confiscated and given to the soldiery. From that moment the spirit of resistance to arbitrary power became an element of the politics of New Nether- land, and party spirit divided the community. The Eight Men became the representatives of the democracy, while the parasites of power espoused the cause of the director. And, although the Eight counselled active operations against the savages, and the available force at his command was strengthened by the opportune arrival of one hundred and thirty soldiers from Curaçoa, Kieft contented himself during the summer with a "masterly inactivity." The Indians finding themselves unmolested, grew more insolent than ever ; so that, even at the distance of a thousand paces from Fort Amsterdam, no one dared "move a foot to fetch a stick of firewood without a strong escort." So deplorable was now the condition of public affairs, that the Eight representatives, on 28th of October, addressed a second memorial to the West India Company, stating their grievances, demanding the recall of Kieft, and the introduction into New Netherland of the municipal system of the Fatherland. This letter reached the College of Nineteen at an opportune moment, when, in obedience to a mandate of the States-General, they were in session to deliberate about the affairs of the colony. It was felt that the voice of the people could no longer be disregarded, and Kieft's recall was therefore determined upon. The College, likewise, referred all the papers in their archives relating to New Netherland to the newly organized "Chamber of Accounts," with instructions to report fully upon the condition of the province, and upon such measures as should be necessary for its advancement. Their report, communicated to the States-General a few days after, and which is one of the most important documents relating to New Netherland, fully reviewed the history of that province from its first settlement ;
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
strongly condemned Kieft's policy; revealed the fact that the colony, instead of being a source of profit, had really cost the West India Company more than 550,000 guilders over and above all returns, and gave their decision that, inasmuch as the charter of " Freedoms and Exemptions" had promised protection and defence to the colonists, and as improvements in the management were not beyond hope, "the company could not decently or consistently abandon it." Acting upon the facts and suggestions presented in this report, the College of Nineteen, early in July, 1645, prepared a code of general instructions for the regulation of the "supreme council of New Netherland ;" the expenses of the whole civil and military departments of the province being limited to 20,000 guilders per annum. Its government was vested in a "Supreme Council," composed of a Director, a Vice-director, and a Fiscal ; and to this council was committed the decision of all cases involving matters of police, justice, dignity, and the rights of the company. In criminal cases, " two capable persons" were to be "adjoined from the commonalty of that district where the crime or act was per- petrated." A definite boundary was to be speedily established between the Dutch and English, and the rights of the Indians were to be strictly respected, and every endeavor made to secure their confidence. The colonists were to be encouraged to settle in towns, villages, and hamlets, "as the English are in the habit of doing ;" Manhattan Island, hitherto monopolized by the company, was to be opened to immediate planting and settlements, and as many negroes were to be introduced as the patroons, colonists, and other farmers were " willing to purchase at a fair price." The fort was to be repaired and permanently garrisoned; while the colonists were required to supply themselves with arms, and to form a local militia, although without pay, which might be depended upon in case of war. The right of representation to the council at Man- hattan was confirmed to the colonists " for mutual good understand- ing, and the common advancement and welfare of the inhabitants." Amsterdam weights and measures were made the standards in New Netherland ; the Indian trade was reserved exclusively to the patroons, colonists, and free farmers; and the selling of firearms to the savages was strictly prohibited. The customs were to be rigidly
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
enforced ; and the expenses of the province, which had previously been borne exclusively by the Amsterdam Chamber, were now assumed by all the chambers of the company in common.
With the spring of 1645 came, at last, a welcome termination to the Indian war, and on the 30th of August, a general treaty of peace was ratified with all the tribes at Fort Amsterdam. But "the sting of war" remained. At Manhattan and its vicinity, scarcely one hundred men, besides traders, could be found. The church, commenced in 1642, was still unfinished. The money contributed for the erection of a common school-house had " all found its way out;" and even the poor-fund of the deaconry had been sequestered and applied to the purposes of the war. Beyond Manhattan, almost every settlement on the west side of the North River, south of the Highlands, was destroyed. The western end of Long Island was almost depopulated, and Westchester was desolated. The posts on the South River and the Rensselaerwyck Colony alone had escaped the horrors of war.
In the work of regeneration and reconstruction which was now to be commenced, Kieft's attention was first directed to securing the Indian title to lands in the vicinity of Manhattan, which had not yet become the property of the company. On the 10th of Sep- tember, 1645, a tract of land on Long Island, on the bay of the North River, between Coney Island and Gowanus, and forming the present town of New Utrecht, was purchased from its native proprietors for the West India Company, thus completing their title to most of the land within the present counties of Kings and Queens. During the next month, a tract of sixteen thousand acres to the westward of Maspeth, was patented by the director to English emigrants who established there the town of Vlissingen, now known as Flushing. And Maspeth itself was soon repeopled by its former occupants, who had been driven from their homes by the desolation of war. Two months later (December, 1645), Lady Moody and her associates, who had so bravely maintained their position during these long and harassing years, received from Director Kieft a patent for their settlement on Long Island, adjoining Coney Island, now forming the town of " Gravesend."
Meanwhile, disagreements which arose among the several
44
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Chambers of the West India Company concerning certain details of the new government of the province, delayed the recall of Kieft from the position which he filled so discreditably to himself and so disastrously to the public interests. His situation at this time was far from agreeable ; the commonalty, informed of his intended recall, did not hesitate to express their satisfaction, and the director, irritated by their ill-concealed joy and reproaches, vented his spleen by fining and banishing those who were most outspoken. This was denounced as tyranny, and thereupon arose wranglings between himself and the people. Yet, amid these dissensions, which em- bittered the remainder of Kieft's term of office, progress was steadily made in the settlement and colonization of the country. On the east side of the North River, above Manhattan Island, in the summer of 1646, Adriaen Vander Donck established a patroon- ship, which is now represented by the town of Yonkers ; and shortly after, Antonissen van Slyck, of Breuckelen, received from Kieft a patent for "the land of Kaatskill," on the North River, where he established a colony.
As will be seen from the preceding pages, the occupation of land within the limits of the present city of Brooklyn, commencing with the Bennet and Bentyn purchase of 1636, had steadily progressed, until now (1646) nearly the whole water-front from Newtown Creek to the southerly side of Gowanus Bay was in the possession of individuals who were engaged in its actual cultivation. Small hamlets, or neighborhoods, also, seem to have grown up at the original centres of settlement, known respectively as " The Gowanus,"" " The Waal-bogt,"" and " The Ferry."" About a mile to the south- east of this latter locality, and lying between the "Waal-bogt" plantations and those at Gowanus, was a traet, spoken of in the early patents as " Mereckawieck, on the Kil (or Creek) of Gowanus," and which was, undoubtedly, the residence of the tribe of that name. Here were the "maize lands" or planting grounds, which, in 1643 (ante, pages 36 and 37) were so unjustly despoiled by the covetous whites ; and of which, during the war which ensued, the
1 See page 23, and note.
* See page 24, note ; also Appendix No 1.
' Identical with the present Fulton Ferry, at foot of Fulton street, Brooklyn, p. 35.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Indians were dispossessed.1 As soon as, and even before, hostilities ceased, the choicest portions of this tract were taken up by the white settlers under patents from the Dutch West India Company. Thus, in July, 1645, JAN EVERTSE BOUT, followed in 1646 by HUYCK AERTSEN (van Rossum), JACOB STOFFELSEN, PIETER CORNELISSEN, and JORIS DIRCKSEN, and by GERRIT WOLPHERTSEN VAN COUWENHOVEN and others in 1647, established themselves in this vicinity, on either side of the road that led from Flatbush to "The Ferry." The village thus formed, and which was located on the present Fulton Avenue, in the vicinity of the junction of Hoyt and Smith streets with said avenue, and southeast of the present City Hall, was called BREUCKELEN, after the ancient village of the same name in Holland, some eighteen miles from Amsterdam .? Its founders were the first to avail themselves of the policy recommended by the West India Company's Chamber of Accounts, in the "Code of General Instructions" which they had prepared for the Provincial Council in the preceding autumn, viz. : "to do all in their power to induce the colonists to establish themselves on some of the most suitable places, with a certain number of inhabitants, in the manner of towns, villages, and hamlets, as the English are in the habit of doing." And their expressed wish and intention to "found a town at their own expense" was promptly responded to (June, 1646) by the Colonial Council, with the following brief or com- mission :
" 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 Highness of Orange and the Honorable Directors of the General Incorporated West India Company. To all those who shall see these presents or hear them read, Greeting :
" Whereas, Jan Eversen Bout and Huyck Aertsen from Rossum, were on the 21st May last unanimously chosen by those interested
1 See the discussion of the Lubbertse patent in chapter on "Early Settlers and Patents."
2 For a most interesting account of a visit to the original Breuckelen, made by the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, of Brooklyn, while Minister to the Hague, the reader is referred to Appendix No. 4.
8 N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., ii., 332, and note.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
of Breuckelen, situate on Long Island, as Schepens, to decide all questions which may arise, as they shall deem proper, according to the Exemptions of New Netherland granted to particular Colonies, which election is subscribed by them, with express stipulation that if any one refuse to submit in the premises aforesaid 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 every thing may be done with more authority, We, the Director and Council aforesaid, have therefore authorized and appointed, and do hereby authorize the said Jan Eversen and Huyck Aertsen to be schepens of Breuckelen ; and in case Jan Eversen 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 Eversen 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. Thus done in Council in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland."1
This organization of the TOWN OF BREUCKELEN was further per- fected, during the ensuing winter, by the appointment of a schout or constable, as appears by the following commission :
" Having seen the petition of the schepens of Breuckelen, that it is impossible for them to attend to all cases occurring there, especially criminal assaults, impounding of cattle, and other incidents which frequently attend agriculture ; and in order to pre- vent all disorders, it would be necessary to appoint a schout there, for which office they propose the person of Jan Teunissen. There- fore we grant their request therein, and authorize, as we do hereby authorize, Jan Teunissen to act as schout, to imprison delinquents by advice of the schepens, to establish the pound, to impound cattle, to collect fines, and to perform all things that a trusty schout is bound to perform. Whereupon he hath 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 dependent on the Upper
1 Col. MSS., iv., 259, June 12, 1646.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Schout, Schouts on the Bailiff or Marshal. We command and charge all who are included under the jurisdiction of Breuckelen to acknowledge him, Jan Teunissen, for schout. Thus done in our council in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, the first December, Anno 1646."1
MANHATTAN ISLAND
Kupcton
THE FERRY
WAAL-BOGY
RUNNECACKONCK
NUTTEN .I.
THE B
'END OF MARECHAWIECK
MAREČKAWIECK
BREUKELEN
ROODE HOEK
HIGHWAY
N
GOWANUS BAY
-E
CUJANES
S
MAP SHOWING THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE VILLAGE OF BREUCKELEN AND ITS ADJACENT SETTLEMENTS IN 1646.
Thus, more than two centuries ago, the TOWN of BREUCKELEN was founded upon nearly the same locality which has since become the political centre of the CITY of BROOKLYN.
1 New York Col. MSS., iv., 276; O'Callaghan, i., 383; Brodhead, i., 421, 423. Teunissen appears to have been acting as schout previous to the date of his com- mission, as among Col. MSS. (ii., 152) are two contracts made by him with different parties for furnishing them with building materials, and dated November 22, 1646, in which he is called " Schout of Breuckelen."
48
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
CHAPTER II.
THE EARLY SETTLERS AND PATENTS OF BROOKLYN .*
UNLIKE the English towns at the eastern end of Long Island- which were generally settled by congregations or companies of indi- viduals, bringing with them established religious and civil organiza- tions-the Dutch settlements in the neighborhood of New Amster- dam mostly began as individual enterprises. The new-comers took up such tracts of land as best suited them, and commenced their cultivation. These lands were either selected from those of which the title had already been secured by the West India Company, or were purchased directly from the Indian proprietors themselves. In either case, their occupation was duly sanctioned by a patent or " ground-brief" from the Company, and confirmatory patents were also granted after the lands had been under cultivation for a certain number of years. Official transcripts of most of these patents yet exist in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, from which, together with town and county records, we are enabled to locate the farms or " bouweries" of the early settlers with a considerable degree of accuracy. The dates of these patents mostly range from 1640 to 1646, in which latter year the period of incubation may be said to have terminated by the incorporation of the village of Breuckelen.
* NOTE .- In the preparation of this chapter we have received great assistance from Hon. TEUNIS G. BERGEN, of New Utrecht. His well-known interest in all that relates to the history and antiquities of King's County, together with an extensive fund of local information, acquired in the long practice of his profession as a surveyor, abundantly qualify him for the important services which he has so kindly rendered us in this portion of our work.
To the late J. M. GRUMMAN, C'ity Surveyor, Messrs. SILAS LUDLAM, HENRY E PIERREPONT, BARNET JOHNSON, NICHOLAS WYCKOFF, DANIEL RICHARDS, and others, we are also indebted for facilities for examining maps, family MSS., etc., for which we desire to return our grateful acknowledgments.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
I.
In the year 1636, JACQUES BENTYN and WILLIAM ADRIAENSE BENNETT purchased from the Indians a tract of land in Brooklyn, extending from the vicinity of Twenty-eighth street, along Gowanus Cove and the bay, to the New Utrecht line,' as appears by the following Dutch record, being a certified copy, by Michael Hainelle, clerk, from the old records of the town of Brooklyn :
" On this 4th day of April (English style), 1677, appeared before me Michil Hainelle, acknowledged as duly installed Clerk and Secretary, cer- tain persons, to wit: Zeuw Kamingh, otherwise known in his walks (or travels) as Kaus Hansen, and Keurom, both Indians; who, in presence of the undersigned witnesses, deposed and declared, that the limits or widest bounds of the land of Mr. Paulus Vanderbeeck, in the rear, has been or is a certain tree or stump on the Long Hill,2 on the one side, and on the other the end of the Indian foot-path, and that it extends to the creek of the third meadows ;3 which land and ground, they further depose and declare, previous to the present time, was sold by a certain Indian, known as Chief or Sachem Ka, to JACQUES BENTYN and WILLIAM ARIENSEN (BENNETT), the latter formerly the husband of Marie Thomas, now the wife of Mr. Paulus Vanderbeeck ; which account they both maintain to be the truth, and truly set forth in this deposition.
" In witness of the truth is the original of this with the said Indians' own hands subscribed, to wit : By Zeuw Kamingh or Kaus Hansen, with this mark, , and by Keurom with this mark, , in the presence of Lambert Dorlant, who by request signed his name hereto as a witness. Took place at Brookland on the day and date above written.
" Compared with the original and attested to be correct.
" MICHIL HAINELLE, Clerk."
1 Ante, pages 23 and 24.
2 The "Long Hill" referred to is the eminence now called " Ocean Hill," in Green- wood Cemetery, on the rear of the farm late of Cornelius W. Bennett and that late of Abraham Schermerhorn, and on the boundary between Brooklyn and Flatbush.
3 The " third meadow" is the low ground, formerly meadow, between the land now of Henry A. Kent and that of Winant and Bennett ; said meadow being located on the boundary between Brooklyn and New Utrecht.
4
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
In the course of a few years after this joint purchase, Bennett seems to have become the owner of the whole, or nearly the whole, of the entire tract,1 and to have built himself a house on or near the site of the present mansion-house on the Schermerhorn farm, on Third avenue, near Twenty-eighth street, which was burned down during the Indian wars of 1643, in Governor Kieft's administration.2 Bennett died about the same time, and probably during his chil- dren's minority, and his widow afterwards married Mr. Paulus Van-
1 Dec. 26, 1639, as per deed recorded in office of Secretary of State at Albany, from JAQUES BENTIN, he sets forth : "I undersigned, Jaques Bentin, acknowledge that I have sold to William Adriansen a certain lot of land joining the land of William Adriansen, for 360 guilders ;" by which he may have intended to convey his whole interest in the Indian purchase. May 25th, 1668, a confirmatory patent was granted to Thomas Fransen for " a certain parcel of land and meadow-ground upon Long Island, lying and being near unto or by Gowanes; the said parcel of land lying between the first and second meadow-ground or valley ; being bounded to the north by the first, and to the south by the second valley, as by Paulus Vander Beeck it was staked out in the presence of the said Thomas Fransen and other witnesses ; being also of the same breadth eastward as far as into the original ground- brief is set forth, the parcel of meadow being divided into four parts. Two of them- viz., No. 2 and No. 4-are transferred to the said Thomas Fransen, which makes the just moiety or half of the said meadow, together with a small parcel of woodland lying beyond that part of the aforesaid second valley where ' No. 4' is," as conveyed by Adriaen Willemsen (Bennett) to Paulus Vander Beeck, and, Sept. 5, 1666, conveyed by the said Paulus Vander Beeck and his wife, Maria Thomas, to the said Fransen, the quantity of land being certified by the surveyor and endorsed on the first conveyance
9 In an affidavit, made on the 15th of February, 1663, before Walenyn Vander Veer, notary, etc., by Mary Thomas (sometimes called Badye, and widow of William Ariaense Bennett, her second husband ; of Jacob Varden, her first husband ; and now wife of Mr. Paulus Vander Beeck). it is set forth that "her houses, in the Indian wars, past about nineteen years, were burned and destroyed."
About nineteen years previous to 1663 carries back to 1643, in which the Indian wars, during Kieft's administration, took place.
This statement is further strengthened by a deed, dated January 2, 1696-7, from the Patentees and Freeholders of Brooklyn, to Adriaen Bennett, a son of the aforesaid William Ariaense Bennett (to secure his rights for what appears to be the same land covered by the patent to Mary Thomas. except that the quantity is two hundred acres), wherein it is set forth " that the said William Ariaense Bennett had formerly lawfully purchased a certain tract of land of the native proprietors, the Indians, in the year 1636, at Gowanus aforesaid, according to the boundaries and limits herein after speci- fied ; and that by the Indian wars, and also by fire, great part of the writings, patents, and deeds of said William Ariaense Bennett's aforesaid land is lost and destroyed, together with the records ; and also that said Adriaen Bennett, the lawful heir to said William Ariaense Bennett, deceased, thereby is in danger to lose his right of inher- itance," etc.
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
der Beeck, " surgeon and farmer." Mr. Vander Beeck, who was one of the patentees mentioned in the charter of 1667, granted by Governor Nicholls to the town of Brooklyn, and a prominent and influential citizen, died in the year 1680; and the Gowanus estate is next found in the possession of Adrian Bennett, a son of the original proprietor. During his occupancy, some dispute seems to have arisen between him and one Simon Arison (de Hart), who had become possessed of a portion of the original purchase.1 In conse- quence of this controversy, and in compliance with the mandate of the Governor and Council, a new survey was ordered, as appears from the following report :3
"Pursuant to his Excellency's warrant, bearing date the 9th January, 1695-6:
"I have surveyed for Adriaen Bennett a certain parcel of land at the Gowanos, on the Island of Nassau, beginning at a certain small lane3 near the house of said Adriaen Bennett,4 and from thence it runs alongst the said lane and markt trees to a certain chesnut standing on the top of the hill,5 marked with three notches, and thence to a black oak standing on the south side of the said hill, marked with three notches. The course from the said black oak to the first station is south 44° and 30' easterly, distance 80 chains ; and thence it runs irregularly by markt trees, said to be markt by the Indians when purchased by Willem Arianse Bennett, to a white oak6 standing by the Indian foot-path, markt with three notches, the course 20° northerly, distance 122 chains; and thence it runs by the southwest side of Brookland Patent to the bay of the North River, and so
1 Said portion being that owned by Thomas Fransen, as described in note 1, on pre- vious page.
' Land papers, liber ii. 228, office Secretary of State, Albany.
$ Probably the farm-lane between the farm late of Cornelius W. Bennett and that of Abraham Schermerhorn ; said lane being near the present Twenty-first street, in the Eighth Ward.
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