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 6
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 6
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 6
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4 Supposed to be the present Schermerhorn house, or, at all events, the older portion of it ; said house having since been modernized. (See next page.)
5 Ocean Hill, in Greenwood Cemetery. (See note 2, p. 49.)
· The "white oak standing by the Indian foot-path, markt with three notches," referred to above, was a large tree with a decayed centre, which stood until some forty or fifty years ago, when it was finally prostrated by the wind. Within the remains of its stump, some twenty years since, Mr. Teunis G. Bergen, supervisor of New Utrecht, and Martenus Bergen, supervisor of the Eighth Ward, placed a stone monument, which forms the most southerly angle of the city of Brooklyn. At present all vestiges of the old tree have disappeared.
52
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN
by the said bay to the place where [it] began; containing 930 acres. The bounds and limits of the land above exprest, the said Adriaen Ben- nett, when a day is appointed by his Excellency and council for the hearing of his evidence, doth promise to make them appear to be the bounds and limits of the land purchased by his father, Willem Ariaense Bennett, of the Indians, in the year 1636.
" AUG. GRAHAM, Sur. Genl.
" MAY 21st, 1696."
This survey was accompanied by a map, of which we give a reduced copy from the original now on file in the Surveyor-General's office at Albany.
The most casterly house on this map is undoubtedly the present mansion-house on the Schermerhorn farm, on Third avenue, near Twenty-eighth street. In course of time it has been remodelled and modernized, but the stone walls of the original house still form a part of the present building. Its site, as we have previously remarked, is identical, or nearly so, with that of the house built by Bennett and destroyed in 1643.
The house near the first meadow is the present old stone house, known as the De Hart or Bergen house, located on the shore of Gowanus Cove, west of the Third avenue, near Thirty- seventh and Thirty-eighth streets. The main portion is of stone, but the wing is of wood, and is probably a more recent erection, and has undoubtedly been several times materially altered and repaired. About fifty years ago Simon Bergen, its then owner, proposed to demolish the old building on account of its great deeay, but, by the persuasion of his next neighbor, Garret Bergen (father of the Hon. Teunis G. Bergen), was induced to repair it and place a new roof upon it, and it has so remained to the present day. Both of these houses, therefore, are older than the Cortelyou or Vechte house, on Fifth avenue, which was erected in 1699, and hitherto bas always been considered the most ancient building in Brooklyn.
The " Pond" is that since known as the " Binnen-water" (lake or marslı), located near the intersection of Fifth avenue and Thirty- ninth street.
The " Swamp" or Cripplebush, on the land of Bennett, is identical with that which formerly existed between the Third and Fifth
South West boumts of Brookland
Land in possession of Agias Van Dyck
Foot Path
The land in difference be-
The land said to bre sold to Simon .Irı-
W
Arison AAtrinon Ben-
nett.
OPond
Meadow
E
Land in possession of Arian Williamse Bennett.
Swamp
Jno.Bennett
COPY OF A SURVEY made May 21 t 1696, by Augustus Graham. Surveyor-Genera., of the BENTON an ! BENNETT PUF PHASE of the In hans. Containing 930 Acres.
BAY OF THE NORTH RIVER.
S +
Thos Hoyan, Dui
THE SCHERMERHORN HOUSE
Page 52.
Tohs Hogan DEL
3.8
THE DE HART, OR BERGEN HOUSE.
Page 52.
53
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
avenues, in the vicinity of Twenty-eighth street, and is now mostly filled up.
The " first meadow" is located on Gowanus Cove, about Thirty- fifth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-seventh streets.
The " second meadow" was near the bay, in the vicinity of Forty- fifth and Forty-sixth streets and First and Second avenues.
The lands marked on the map as those " of Agias Van Dyck" were located mainly southwest of Forty-seventh street. They com- prise the farms since of Henry A. Kent,1 of Cornelius Bergen, of Theodorus Bergen, of Leffert Bergen, of Peter (afterwards Martenus) Bergen, and of the Van Pelts.
The Cornelius Bergen farm, between Fifty-seventh and Fifty-ninth streets, was sold, in 1760, by Hendrick Van Dyck,? to John Bergen, who conveyed it to his son Teunis, the father of Cornelius. It is now owned by William C. Langley and Thomas Hunt.
The Theodorus and Leffert Bergen farms, between Fifty-second and Fifty-sixth streets, together formed a tract which was originally sold by Claes Van Dyck, April 6, 1724, to Joseph Hegeman,8 who, on May 10th, 1734, sold it to Cornelius Sandford." On the 28th of August, 1744, these premises were again sold by Theodorus Van Wyck of New York and Helen his wife, the sole daughter of the above-named Sandford, "late of Brooklyn," to Hans Bergen, and was the first purchased by the Bergens of the numerous farms they afterwards settled at the Gowanus, Yellow Hook, and Bay Ridge. The estate descended to Bergen's son, Michael, who divided it be- tween his sons Theodorus and Leffert. Leffert's portion is now owned by Thomas Hunt and M. McGrath.
The Peter Bergen and Van Pelt farms, between Forty-sixth and Fifty-second streets, were once owned by the Van Pelt family, and were divided between two brothers. The southern portion was
1 The land of H. A. Kent is part of a farm since owned by Winant Bennet, and lying partly in Brooklyn and partly in New Utrecht.
2 This property became his by conveyance, dated Oct. 6, 1708 .- King's Co Convey., lib. iii. 196.
3 Convey., King's County, lib. v. 6. Original consideration, £824.
4 lib. v. 79. "
£500.
5 Sandford's widow, Gertrude, married Joris Remsen.
54
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
conveyed by Wouter Van Pelt to Peter Bergen, who divided it between his sons Martenus and Peter.
" The land in difference between Simon Arison1 (de Hart) and Ariaen Willemse Bennet," continued in possession of the former, who, on the 2d of November, 1696, obtained from Governor Fletcher a confirmatory patent covering " the land in difference" and the plot noted on the map as "sold to Simon Arison," which lands, a few years ago, comprised the farms of Simon Bergen and that of John S. Bergen, and are distinguished on Butts' map as lands of J. Morris, John S. Bergen, John F. Delaplaine aud others .? They descended first to Simon, junior, a son of the first Simon ; then to his son Simon, who, dying without issue, devised them to his sister Geertje, who married Simon Bergen. Simon Bergen resided on the prem- ises prior to and in the beginning of the American Revolution, when he was accidentally shot, in 1777, "by a musket he was buying of a sailor, and died from loss of blood." The accident is said to have happened close to and in front of the old De Hart or Bergen house, described on page 52. After the death of Simon Ber- gen, the plantation was divided between his sons Simon, junior, and John S .; the former taking the portion (between Thirty-seventh and Fortieth streets) on which the old house is located, in which he resided for some years, until he finally built a more commodious one on the adjoining heights, after which the old one was used by tenants. After the death of Simon, junior, his daughter Leah, the wife of Jacob Morris, inherited the portion of the farm on which the old house is located, in which she resided until within a few years ago, when, in consequence of the increased value of the prop- erty, caused by the rapid strides made by the city, she was induced to dispose of it.
The lands designated on Graham's map as "in possession of
1 SIMON AERTSEN (DE HART) emigrated to America in 1664, and settled at Gowanos, where he bought, probably within a short time after his arrival, a portion of the Bennet and Bentyn farm. On the death of his first wife, Geertie (Gertrude) Cornelis- sen, he married (June, 1691) Annatie, the widow of William Huycken of Gowanus. Ac- cording to tradition, he was the builder of the De Hart or Bergen house, described on page 52, of which we find mention made as early as 1679 (see Coll. L. I. Hist. Soc., i., 122), which descended, with the plantation, to his eldest son, Simon.
2 See note 1 on page 50, and note 1 on page 51.
55
.
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Willem Ariaense Bennet" were patented, September 9, 1644, by Governor Kieft, to Mary Thomas (sometimes called Mary Badye), widow of Willem Ariaense Bennet, deceased,1 and is the land between Twenty-eighth and Forty-first streets, designated as that of Abraham Schermerhorn, Garret G. and John G. Bergen, the heirs of Henry Pope, and that portion of Greenwood Cemetery which is taken from the rear of the Schermerhorn and Bergen farms.
II.
On the 5th of April, 1642, a patent was granted by Kieft to one CORNELIS LAMBERTSEN (COOL)ª for lands described as
"Lying on Long Island, called Gouwanes, extending in length from the wagon-road between the aforesaid land and Jan Pietersen's land, lying alongside the river, till to a certain swamp (Krepplebosch), next to the land of William Adriaense (Bennet), which land was formerly occu- pied by Jans Van Rotterdam and Thomas Beets (Bescher), with the ex- press condition that the roads as they now run over the above-described land shall remain as they now are. In addition to the above-described land, unto him, Cornelis Lambertsen, is granted a portion of a hay-marsh (valley) lying by the hay-marsh of Anthony Van Salee, containing six morgen.""3
Cool's patent, extending from the northerly line of Bennet's land nearly to the head of Gowanus Cove, comprised, as near as can be ascertained, the farms designated on Butt's map of Brooklyn as of Peter Wyckoff, John Wyckoff, Henry Story, and Winant Bennet.
1 Before she married Bennet, she was the widow of Jacob Vardon (or Fardon); and after Bennet's death, she married again, Mr. Paulus Vander Beeck. Alb. Rec., xxi. 41; date, 1663. See also, concerning the Bennet property, deeds of Simon Aerson to Dirck Hattum, March 7, 1677. Lib. iv. 122; also, various old deeds in possession of C. W. Bennett.
9 Patents G. G. 46, Secretary of State's office.
3 The Dutch morgen was equal to about two English acres. The Dutch rod was equal to 13 Dutch feet; or 12 feet 3,62 inches, or 18,64, links, English measure. A Dutch foot was equal to 11.304 1006 inches, English measure. The Dutch mile is equal to 2,97% English miles.
56
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
A deed from Thomas Bescher, above mentioned, to Cornelis Lam- bertsen (Cool), of May 17th, 1639, prior to the date of the patent recorded in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, for these premises, is the earliest conveyance from one settler to another which has been found for lands in Brooklyn. In this deed Bescher conveys his right in
" A plantation before occupied by John Van Rotterdam, and after- wards by him, Thomas Bescher, situate on Long Island, by Gouwanes, in a course towards the south by a certain creek or underwood on which borders the plantation of Willem Adriaensen (Bennet) Cooper ; and to the north, Claes Cornelise Smit's ; reaching the woods in longitude : for all which Cornelis Lambertsen (Cool) shall pay to said Thomas Bescher 300 Carolus guilders, at 20 stuyvers the guilder."1
From this deed we may infer that one of the first agricultural set- tlements in Brooklyn was made upon these lands.
Of Claes Corneliese Smit's, afterwards Jan Pietersen's (Staats)? patent, above referred to, no copy has been discovered; and, in the absence of any measurements, we are only enabled to locate it as commencing about at the head of and on the southerly side of Gow- anus Cove, extending some distance along the Mill Creek, or the meadows bordering thereon ; including, it is believed, the land between Braxton and Ninth streets, designated on Butt's map as farms of heirs of Rachel Berry, J. Dimon, R. Berry, H. L. Clark, and A. Van Brunt.
We subjoin a few notes concerning the more modern occupation of the lands between First and Twenty-eighth streets.
From First to Fifth street, marked on our map as land of Edwin C. Litchfield, was originally the Vechte farm. On this farm is still standing, on the west side of Fifth avenue, near Fourth street, and on the east side of the old Gowanus road, the ancient building com- monly known as " the Cortelyou house." It is constructed mainly of stone, the gable-ends, above the eaves, being of brick ; the date of its erection, 1699, being indicated by iron figures secured to the
See page 28.
2 King's Co. Convey., lib. iv. 9.
57
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
outside of the gable fronting the old road. As near as can be ascer- tained, Claes (or Nicholas) Adriaentse Van Vechten, an emigrant from Norch, in the province of Drenthe, Holland, owned the planta- tion on which the house is located, and probably erected the building. Previous to, and about the period of, the American Revolution, the property was owned by Nicholas Vechte, grandson of old Claes, the emigrant ; and in 1790, Nicholas R. Cowenhoven, one of his heirs, sold the house and a portion of the farm, for the sum of £2,500, to Jacques Cortelyou,1 who resided on the premises until 1804, when, unfortunately, having become insane, he committed suicide by hanging himself from the limb of a pear-tree in the orchard adjoin- ing the house. He was a descendant, in the sixth generation, from Jacques Cortelyou, the surveyor, and first of the name, who emi- grated to this country about 1652, and settled at New Utrecht .? After his death, the property was divided by his sons Adrian and Jacques, the latter taking the portion on which the old house was located, in which he resided until the enhanced value of the property, caused by the rapid spread of the city, induced him to dispose of some to parties who have divided it into city lots.
In this connection we may as well refute the popular tradition which states this house to have been the headquarters of Generals Washington and Putnam, prior to or during the battle of Long Island. The fact is, that Washington's headquarters were in New York ; and although he went over to Brooklyn after the commence- ment of the unfortunate battle of Long Island, on the 27th of August, 1776, there is no evidence or probability that he went out- side of the American lines, which extended from the Wallabout to the Gowanus Mill Creek. Putnam also had his headquarters within the lines, near to the ferry. There was undoubtedly some fighting in the vicinity of this house, as one writer says, " the British had several field-pieces stationed by a brick house, and were pouring canister and grape on the Americans crossing the creek." This building, therefore, must be the one referred to, as there was no other, answering to the description, in the vicinity.
1 King's County Conveyances, liber vi., p. 434.
2 See Coll. L. I. Hist. Soc., i. 127, 128.
58
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
The lands between Fifth and Seventh streets, designated as those of Theodore Polhemus, formerly belonged to his father.
The farm between Seventh and Ninth streets formerly belonged to Rem Adriance, whose daughter married for her first husband Cornelius Van Brunt, the father of Adriance Van Brunt.
The farm commencing on Gowanus Creek, and being between Ninth and Twelfth streets, also belonged, about 1810, to Cornelius Van Brunt, and is described in our map as divided between his son Adriance and Henry L. Clarke.
The Berry farm, on Mill Creek, extending from Twelfth to half- way between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, was sold, previous to the Revolution, by Cornelius Van Duyn to Walter Berry, and subsequently conveyed by Richard Berry to A. W. Benson.
From the southerly line of the above farm to the present Middle- street, was a farm which, about the year 1751, was conveyed by Christophel Scarse and Peter Van Pelt to John Bergen. He con- veyed it to his brother, Dirick Bergen, who devised it to his three daughters, one of whom married Joseph Smith, another, Walter Berry, and the third, Ebenezer Carson. It is known on Butts' map as lands of J. Dimon, heirs of R. Berry, and Peter Wyckoff.
The land between Middle and Twentieth streets was originally one farm, owned by Cornelius Van Duyne,1 and conveyed to Peter Wyckoff during the Revolutionary war. It is now owned by John Wyckoff.
The lands between Twentieth and Twenty-fifth streets originally formed one farm, owned by Jacob Fardon, and by him sold, in 1720, to one Anthony Hulsaart, of New Utrecht.ª By him it was conveyed to Joseph Woodward and Wynant Bennet, and Wood- ward's portion is now known as land of Henry Story.
" Blokje's Berg" (pronounced, by the Dutch inhabitants, "Blucke's Barracks"), was the ancient name of a small hill on Gowanus Cove, near the intersection of the present Third avenue and Twenty- third street, the old Gowanus road passing over it. North of the
1 This land appears to have been sold to William Huycken, in 1679, by Mr. Paulus Vanderbeeck, whose son, Conradus, in Dec., 1699, gave a confirmatory deed of the same to Cornelius Gerritse Van Duyne, who had married Huycken's eldest daughter. King's Co. Convey., lib. ii. 210.
9 King's Co. Conyey., lib. vi. 316.
59
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
hill was a ditch which drained the morass and swamp on the east into the cove, and this ditch was crossed by the road by means of a small wooden bridge. It is mainly memorable as the place where the British column, advancing by the Gowanus road, on the morn- ing of August 27, 1776, received its first check, from an American picket-guard, on which occasion several lives were lost, being the first blood shed in that battle. Near it, on the northeast corner of Twenty-third street and Third Avenue, was the old Weynant Bennet house, which yet stands, retaining its ancient appearance, and yet bearing upon its venerable walls the marks of shot and ball received on that disastrous day.
The farms of Cornelius Bennet and Joseph Dean, between Twenty- fifth and Twenty-eighth streets, were originally one farm.1
Along the bay, between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth streets, was the hamlet of Gowanus. It was originally laid out in village lots, and the old stone " Bennet house," which stood in the middle of Third avenue, near Twenty-seventh street, and was taken down when the avenue was opened, was probably a remnant of the origi- nal settlement.
III.
RED HOOK.
The " Roode Hoek," or Red Hook, so called from the color of its soil, has almost entirely lost its identity, in consequence of the construction of the Atlantic Docks, and the other extensive and important improvements in that part of the modern city of Brook- lyn. Its original form and topographical appearance, however, has been faithfully preserved and delineated in Ratzer's map; and it may be described, in general terms, as extending from Luqueer's Mill Creek (about Hicks and Huntingdon streets), following the in- dentations of the shore around the cape and headland, to about the western boundary of the Atlantic Docks, on the East River ; or, in general terms, as having comprised all the land west of the present Sullivan-street. Its history commences with the year
1 Deeds of Bennett family.
60
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
1638, when Director VAN TWILLER petitioned for its use, which was granted to him on condition that he should relinquish it when- ever the Company wanted it.1 Van Twiller had previously be- come possessed of "Nutten" or Governor's Island, several islands in the East River, near Hell-gate, and lands at Catskill and on Long Island, amounting in all to between three thousand and three thousand seven hundred and fifty acres. These, as well as similar purchases made by other officials, were disapproved by the authorities at home,-who very justly complained that " the whole land might thus be taken up, yet be a desert,"-and finally, in 1652, were declared null and void, and the lands consequently reverted to the Company .?
The title of Red Hook being thus vested in the Government, was conveyed and granted to the town of Breuckelen, in 1657, by Gov- ernor Stuyvesant, and was subsequently confirmed by Governors Nicolls and Dongan.3 It was sold, on the 10th of August, 1695, by the patentees and freeholders of the town, to Colonel Stephanus Van Cortlandt. In their deed, which recites the original grant by Stuyvesant, etc., the property is described as
" A neck of land called Red Hook," estimated as containing fifty acres, more or less, of upland, then in possession of Peter Winants,4 " together with all the land and meadow thereunto belonging, to the westward of Fred. Lubbertsen's patent, bounded between the Salt Water River and said patent."
To this was added, by deed from Peter Winants, " son and heir of Winants Peterson," in November following, twenty-four acres, " bounded east by the land heretofore belonging to one Frederic
1 He afterwards (June 22, 1643) took out a patent for the same. Patents, G. G. 66, Sec'y State's office.
2 Brodhead, i. 265, 267, 276, 536.
3 Furman, 11.
4 Sept. 30, 1678, Wynant Pieters had received a patent for " a piece of upland at the Red Hook, or point over against Nutten Island, within the jurisdiction or limits of Brookland on Long Island, beginning from a creek next Frederick Lubberts' land lying west from the high hook or point, and so on to the river ; thence going along the river to the bay of the Gouwanes, south-southeast, and running again from the said bay easterly to Frederick Lubbertse's land. It contains about 24 acres of land." In N. Y. Col. MSS., xxviii. 165, 166, date Dec. 13, 1679, mention is made of a charge against Wynant Pieters, of having, by means of false information, obtained a patent from the Governor for Red Hook.
61
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Lubbertsen ; north, by York River ; west, by Hudson's River ; and south, by Gowanus Bay." These purchases were subsequently confirmed to Colonel Van Cortlandt, by a grant from King Wil- liam III., dated June 2, 1697.1
Van Cortlandt died Nov. 25, 1700, and on May 23d, 1712, his heirs executed a deed to Matthias Van Dyke, of property described as
" A certain messuage, mill, mill-dam, mill-house, and tract or neck of land or meadow, unto low-water mark, as far as a place called Koytes (or Kotier's) Kill (Graver's Kill)," lying and being upon the Island Nassau, formerly Long Island, commonly called and known by the name of the Red Hook, containing in quantity fifty acres, more or less ; bounded on the east by the east side of a creek that runs by the westernmost bounds of Frederic Lubbertsen's land ; and on the south, by the Gouwanus Bay ; and on the west, by Hudson's River ; and on the north, by the East River, at low-water mark; including the aforesaid creek, which maketh the east bounds of said lands and meadow."
The mill mentioned in this deed was undoubtedly erected during the occupancy of Van Cortlandt and prior to 1689, at which time it is referred to in an agreement between Corssen and Seabring. The mill-pond, which was formed by damming off the creeks and natu- ral ponds in the adjoining marsh, contained in 1834 over forty-seven acres of drowned marsh, but it is long since filled up and obliterated by the march of modern improvements. The mill was located on the corner of the present Dikeman and Van Brunt streets, and the dwelling-house appertaining thereto stood about the corner of Par- tition and Van Brunt streets.3 By a deed, dated Feb. 1, 1736, Matt. Van Dyke conveyed these mill premises to his son John, who is mentioned as one of his father's executors in 1749. He devised his estate to his two sons, Nicholas and Matthias, who, in 1784, divided it between them. On Ratzer's map, in 1766, these build- ings are designated as of A. Van Dyke, probably Matthias, who with his son, is mentioned as residing on Red Hook, with their
1 Also recorded, Pat., lib. vii. 132, etc., Secretary of State's office.
2 So called from its being a convenient place to "grave" (from the Dutch graaven) or cleanse and recaulk the bottoms of boats and vessels. It was located at the "Red mills," or Cornell's mills, near junction of present Harrison and Columbia streets.
3 Map of property belonging to heirs of Matth. Van Dyke, by R. Graves, junior, city surveyor, 1834.
62
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
respective families, during the Revolutionary war, and were described as " good staunch whigs and very clever folks."' At the time of the battle of Long Island a fort was erected here, named Defiance, and mounting four 18-pounders, en barbette.
The Nicholas Van Dyke mill, which was erected after the date of Ratzer's map, on the same pond, was located on the ground now bounded by the present Van Brunt and Richards, Van Dyck and Partition streets ; the dwelling-house being on the northeast corner of Van Dyck and Van Brunt streets. This mill was called the " Ginger Mill," by which name it is yet distinctly remembered by some of our oldest citizens.
Boompties Hoek, or " tree-point," sometimes corrupted to Bombay Hook, was the name applied to the southerly projection of Red Hook, and which, in common with all the natural features of this vicinity, has shared the oblivion consequent upon recent city im -. provements. "The Hook" originally extended from about the junc- tion of the present Otsego and Cuba streets (where its memory is still preserved by " Bomptje's Hook Wharf") around to "Meuwee Point,' as it was called, at about the junction of the present Henry, Bay, and Grinnell streets.
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