USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 3
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3 A curious document in the State Paper Office, a composition abounding in errors, also recognizes the alleged transaction in connection with the Dutch, referring " to their engagement given to Sir Samuell Argoll, that they would come thither noe more." State Papers, Colonial Series, vol. xvii., No. 114.
" Plantagenet's Description of the Province of New Albion, reprinted in Force's
?
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Claims of the Dutch
1624]
Dutch in New Netherlands does not require full treat- ment in the present history. Two points are clear : that attempts were made by the Dutch, from time to time, to set up a jurisdiction and acquire a right of possession adverse to all other occupants ; and that the English con- stantly resisted their proceedings and denied their claim ; nay more, it is also clear, that whenever the English stated their objections to the action of the Dutch, the latter gave way, declaring, as one might express it, that they intended no offence and would not insist on anything. A kind of claim was thus set up Oct. 11, 1614, before the States General, to a certain jurisdiction within the region lying in America, between New France and Virginia, the sea-coasts whereof extend from the fortieth to the fifty-fifth degree of latitude, now named New Netherlands, and a charter was given to a company of memorialists to make four voyages within three years and to have the exclusive right to the Dutch trade in this entire region from the Hudson to Cape Breton. The memorialists based their application on the ground that during "the present year " they had " discovered and found " all this region, meaning thereby that they had explored it, for this was the sense in which they used the word " discover." The claim was a baseless one, as it had been discovered already by others, while there was no denial of the right of other
Tracts, says vol. ii., 18 (C. II.) of Argall's party, that they landed at " Manhatas Isle in Hudson's River, where they found four houses built, and a pretended Dutch Govern- our, under the West India Company of Amsterdam share or part ; who kept trading BOATS, and trucking with the Indians ; but the said Knights told him their Commis- sion was to expell him and all Aliens Intruders on his Majesties Dominion and Territories, this being part of Virginia, and this river an English discovery of Hudson an English man, the Dutch man contented them for their charge and voiage, and by his Letter sent to Virginia and recorded, submitted himself Company and Plantation to his Majesty and to the Governour and Government of Virginia !" Plantagenet, who wrote in 164S, adds the fact, also recorded by the Dutch, that the home authorities disavowed all responsibility for these settlers in Manhattan. Heylin, in his Cosmo- graphy, 1652, repeats the account, as does Stith in his History of Virginia.
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nations to trade at the Hudson. The Dutch simply claimed the right of their own traders to barter at the Hudson, and that right was waived when necessary.
In 1616 the " Directors of New Netherland," as they styled themselves, applied to the States General for an extension of privileges, having no governing power, and being represented at Manhattan by the person whom Argall styled "the pretended Governor." Nothing seems to have come of this application, but the subject came up again in 1620. In the summer of that year, Captain Thomas Dermer, an agent of Gorges, returning from Virginia to New England, found at the mouth of the Hudson certain Hollanders in trade with the natives. Dermer forbade them the place, as being by his Majesty the King of England appointed to his subjects ; they ex- pressed ignorance and "hoped they had not offended " ; but after Dermer had gone they continued their trade. We learn from the " Brief Narration " of Gorges, that the English Ambassador at the Hague brought the subject to the notice of the States General in the following year, 1621, when the reply was, that "they knew of no such thing," and that " if there were any, it was without their authority.1 Captain John Mason, in writing to Coke, also testified that the Dutch Ambassador, Caron, referring to the intrusion of the Dutch, " did disclayme, disavowing any such act that was done by their people with their authority."? It is clear that at this time the States Gen- eral made no exclusive claim to the territory ; and another
' See Gorges's " Brief Narration," Mass. Hist. Coll., series 3, vol. vi., 44-93.
2 It has been said that no confirmation of this has been found in the Dutch archives, but none is needed ; for Dudley Carlton, the English Ambassador at the Hague, reported to his government, in February, 1621, that he could not learn, either in commercial or diplomatic circles, of " anie Colonie eyther already planted there by these people, or so much as intended "; while Plantagenet distinctly affirms that "the States of Holland, by their publique instrument, declared those men trading at the Hudson to be mere private adventurers." When Carlton brought the subject to
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The Dutch West India Company
1624]
fact may here be noted, that the original destination of the English who came out in 1620 was the Hudson, and not Plymouth.
In 1621 the States-General took action of great im- portance, in granting a patent to a body afterward known as the West India Company, which was empowered, on certain conditions, to conduct an exclusive trade in North and South America and Africa.1
This Company was organized and clothed with vice- regal powers. Within the vast limits set by the patent, the company could build forts, appoint commanders, and maintain order and justice, and thus protect themselves from " pirates, extortion, and otherwise." It is said, inci- dentally, that "they must advance the peopling of those fruitful and unsettled parts," but the Patent shows that the main object of the company was trade, and that any "peopling" contemplated was purely with refer- ence to carrying on business in an efficient manner. No plan of colonization was projected or hinted at, in con- nection with either of the continents included in the Patent, while New Netherlands was not even referred to, the design being to establish military trading-posts the notice of the States General, February 9, 1622, the officials still pleaded ignorance of any intention to conflict with English interests in America. See N. Y. Col. Doc., iii., 17 ; and Calendar of State Papers (Colonial), A.D. 1622-24, 26. N. Y. Col. Doc., iii., 7. "New Albion " in Force's Tracts, vol. ii., c. ii., 18.
1 The patent recites, "That for the term of four-and-twenty years, none of the natives or inhabitants of these countries shall be permitted to sail to or from the said lands, or to traffic on the coast and countries of Africa, from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, nor in the countries of America, or the West Indies, begin- ning at the fourth end of Terra Nova, by the Straits of Magellan, La Maire, or any other straits and passages situated thereabouts to the Straits of Anian, as well on the North Sea as the South Sea, nor on any islands situated on the one side or the other, or between both ; nor in the western or southern countries, reaching, lying and between both the meridians, from the Cape of Good Hope, in the east, to the east end of New Guinea, in the west, inclusive, but in the name of this United Company of these United Netherlands." O'Callaghan's History, i., 399. Hazard's State Papers, Phil. 1792, vol. i., 149, 174, 181. See on the French Seignories established on Lakes George and Champlain. N. Y. Doc. History, i., 348-375. 2
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wherever the opportunity was offered and to injure Spain by all the means in their power.1 The company was not exclusively a Dutch company. The agreement of 1623 provided that "foreigners " might become stock- holders, and the subscription books were actually kept open for them two months longer than for the Dutch.
The Patent of the Dutch Company, however, did not take its final form until June 21, 16232; and in the mean- while, September 15, 1621, the White Dove, under Houten, was licensed to make a voyage to "North" Virginia, and Volckersten and others were allowed to send out a ship to "the Virginias." The Rev. Peter Plancius, the well-known Dutch geographer, with others, dispatched two ships to trade on the North and South rivers ; but these vessels were required to return to Holland not later than July 1, 1622. In all these trans- actions there was a complete avoidance of the setting up of any claim in New Netherlands against the English. As already related, Carlton, the English Ambassador, had warned the States General against that course, and the warning had been heeded. In the meanwhile, No- vember 3, 1620, King James granted to the North Vir- ginia Company, whose headquarters were at Plymouth, England, the entire territory between Newfoundland and Philadelphia.3 That the very largeness of the charter led to Parliamentary protest does not affect the reality of the English claim. The protest was aimed simply
1 Asher says of the Dutch West India Company that " They disdained the peace- ful arts by which other privileged associations of the same class have grown mighty and rich. Their aim was to attack the Spaniard in his transatlantic strongholds ; to sink or take the ships in which he transported his silver and gold ; to cut him off, if possible, from all connections with the New World." xxxi.
2 De Læt, Faerlijck Verhael ; in Hazard's State Papers, i., 149, 174, 181 ; and O'Callaghan's Hist. of New Netherlands, i., 410, x.
3 The charter of 1606, it will be remembered, left the region in latitude of 40° N. to be settled by either the North or South Virginia Company.
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1624]
The Beginnings of New York
against a monopoly. The right of England to the ter- ritory was recognized by the protestors, whatever may have been the demur of the French.
We now come to a turning point in our narration. A movement occurred soon after the completion of an agreement between the Managers and Adventurers of the West India Company, June 21, 1623, which, intended to harmonize the interests of all the proprietors, led to active measures in connection with North American colon- ization, and brought on a situation of the utmost import- ance to the future of the region; indeed, it is at this point that the history of the City of New York may be said to begin.
CHAPTER II.
DUTCH OCCUPATION OF MANHATTAN ISLAND.
General Review of the Dutch Claim-the Walloons among the First Settlers-Cornelis Jacobson May-Peter Minuit, Director-the Patroons of New Netherlands-the Dutch Church formally Established-Religious Intolerance and Persecution-Dissatisfaction with Dutch rule-Gradual Deterioration and Decline of the Colony-Surrender to the English in 1664.
T HE most interesting episode in the history of Man- hattan Island is its occupation by the Dutch for 40 years, from 1624 till the final surrender to the English, 1664. The City of New York bears to this day the impress of that early colonization, and will, no doubt, retain it for years to come. We concede to the doughty and honest folk who once ruled over their little village at the end of the island the honor and credit of having set an example of many admirable and praiseworthy qualities, but decline to countenance the pretensions recently made in their behalf, by persons who seem persuaded that all that was best in English civilization was due to Dutch in- fluence, and that the New World was chiefly indebted to Holland for what it secured on the line of popular government, religious toleration, and cultivation in learn- ing and the arts. The Hollanders were a most interesting people ; there is much that is attractive and pleasant in the story of "New Amsterdam." Their manners were simple ; their attachment to home and home life intensely strong ; they laid great stress on the education of their children, and paid due respect to religion ; their annals
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The Dutch Occupation
1664]
have a raciness and quaintness which render the perusal entertaining and agreeable ; and those of us who were brought up under the influence of Dutch traditions and customs will always retain a kindly sympathy with them, and hold them in cordial recollection. But, however strongly the tide of affectionate regard goes out to our Dutch friends, it must be remembered that they never succeeded in proving their original right to this section of the country ; that their claims, whenever presented, were always denied ; that their position was what may be called an impossible one, considered with reference to a permanent establishment ; and that the administration of affairs in New Amsterdam went from bad to worse, till it reached a state in which the interests of the whole popu- lation made radical change imperative. The Dutch had no rights here by virtue of discovery ; for the river and the bay had been well known since Verrazano's voyage in 1524. They had no rights by virtue of charter ; three years before the voyage of Hudson (who was himself an Englishman, and of whose crew half were English) the region had been doubly covered by patents issued by King James to the North and South Virginia Companies, who commenced colonization both in New England and in Virginia in 1607 ; a royal donation based on the claim of England to the North American mainland, acquired by John Cabot in 1497. So that, in fact, the whole country was " pre-empted," as the Dutch very well knew, both by virtue of priority of discovery and formal occupation,1 and
' In the Letters Patent of King James I., " for two several colonies and plan- tations to be made in Virginia and other Parts and Territories of America, dated April 10, 1606," license was given for colonizing " that part of America, commonly called VIRGINIA, and other Parts and Territories in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or People, situate, lying, and being all along the Sea Coasts, between four and thirty Degrees of Northerly Latitude from the Equinoctial Line, and five and forty Degrees of the same Latitude, and in the main land between the same four and thirty and five and forty degrees,
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the shadow of a claim set up by the Dutch at a subsequent period, that the Spaniards had the right to original posses- sion, and that the Dutch came in as vassals and subjects of the King of Spain, was too preposterous to be se- riously maintained. Finally, their claim on the ground of a bona fide purchase of Manhattan Island from the In- dians, could not be pressed without calling attention to a discreditable transaction, in which the unlucky Indians and the Islands thereunto adjacent, or within one hundred Miles of the Coasts thereof."
Page 1 of an " Appendix to the First Part of the History of Virginia : containing a Collection of such Ancient Charters or Letters Patent, as relate to that Period of Time, and are still extant in our publick Office in the Capitol, or in other Authentic Papers and Records." Reprinted, as the appendix to The History of the First Dis- covery and Settlement of Virginia. By William Stith.
King James in his Second Charter, " for the further enlargement and explanation of the privileges of the said Company and first Colony of Virginia, Dated May 23, 1609," grants and confirms to said Company all the lands in that part of Virginia " from the Point of Land, called Cape or Point Comfort all along the sea coast to the northward two hundred Miles, and from the said Point of Cape Comfort all along the Sea Coast, to Southward two hundred miles, and all that Space and Circuit of Land, lying from the Sea Coast of the Precinct, aforesaid, up into the land throughout from sea to sea, West and Northwest. And also all the Islands, lying within one hundred Miles, along the Coast of both Seas of the Precinct, aforesaid," etc. Ibid., 15.
In the third Charter of King James I., March 12, 1611-12, the same provision is found " up or into the Land, throughout from Sea to Sea, West and North-west," etc. Ibid., 23.
In the Charter of 1609 appears the provision securing to intending settlers and their offspring the inalienable rights of free-born Englishmen. To this chartered right our fathers, at the opening of the war for independence, appealed in defence of their resistance to British tyranny. The clause is as follows :
" Also, we do for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, DECLARE, by these Presents, that all and every the Persons, being our Subjects, which shall go and inhabit within the said Colony and Plantation, and every of their Children and Posterity, which shall happen to be born within any the Limits thereof, shall HAVE AND ENJOY all Liberties, Franchises, and Immunities of free Denizens and natural Subjects, within any of our other Dominions, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been abiding and born, within this our Realm of England, or in any other of our Dominions." Ibid., Sec. xxii., 20.
Here is the original charter of liberties which the war for independence confirmed and made national. For this, and the common law as well as for the English Bible the English Christianity, and the English tongue, we may thank our old-time connec- tion with Virginia, the mother of States as well as Presidents.
(Bishop Perry : Historical Address delivered in St. John's Church, Dubuque, written on occasion the Semi-centennial Celebration of organization of the parish.)
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New Amsterdam
1664]
complained bitterly that they had been-to put it mildly -overreached. The facts are, that the Dutch occupation was simply due to a favorable conjuncture, of which the States-General availed themselves ; and that it terminated, as soon as affairs changed, without bloodshed and with little serious opposition. The historical episode is in- teresting, but not of constraining importance. There was every reason why the Dutch should yield their ground when they did. During their 40 years of occupancy, the Eng- lish had persistently denied their rights to that position, while New England confidently looked forward to the time when their occupation would be terminated. It was not an unreasonable expectation ; for even if the Dutch had possessed a good title, and had managed their affairs with prudence and ability, a glance at the map will show that the position could not have been permanently re- tained. Wedged in between the English settlements on the North, and Virginia on the South, and unable to keep their foothold by arms, it was merely a question of time before inexorable laws must take their course. When the settlement passed into the hands of the English, it went to those who had the right on their side. Far from regarding the occupation of New Amsterdam by the land and naval forces of England as a political crime, we con- sider it as the natural and inevitable result of causes which it was impossible to resist, and as making for the welfare of the colonists of all nations on the North Atlantic coast.
It is not necessary, for the purpose of this history, to dwell at length on the "New Amsterdam " era; a few remarks will suffice. The foundation of the settlement may be dated from 1621, when the States-General of Holland gave the West India Company its charter. With the arrival of Cornelis Jacobs and his company of Walloons, the formal occupation of the place began ; and
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it is important to note that the first settlers were French, and not Dutch. We are not aware that any connection has yet been pointed out between the granting of the patent of the West India Company and the movement for planting a colony ; the latter originated with the French, who were the first to avail themselves of the offers of the West India Company to carry their plans and wishes into effect.
The Walloons were a Romance people of Gallican and Teutonic origin, who had crossed the French border and settled in Belgium, chiefly in Hainault, Namur, Luxem- burg, Limburg, and Liege.1 Their language is an old dialect of the French ; it has a small literature of its own. Of these Walloons many embraced the Reformed faith, and were obliged to fly in consequence, being expelled by the Spaniards from the Catholic Netherlands ; many passed into Holland, and some found their way to Eng- land. From some of these people, desirous of finding a settled home, came a petition to King James, in 1621, for permission to go to Virginia and there to form an estab- lishment of their own. They had high and aristocratic notions ; they wished to live as nobles, in a kind of feudal system, and asked that they might be granted, in the new country, certain extraordinary and exclusive privileges for themselves and their descendants. 2 The petition was
1 Dr. De Witt writes : " Bordering on France, and speaking the French language, they were termed Gallois, which was changed, in Low Dutch, into Waalsche, and in English into Walloon." N. Y. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1848, 75. See Baird's His- tory of the Huguenot Emigration to America, i., chap. 2 and Riker's Harlem, 13.
9 " Would not he [the King] grant them a banlieu or territory of eight English miles all around, i. e., sixteen miles in diameter, which they might cultivate as fields, meadows, vineyards, and in other ways ; which territory they should hold from his said Majesty, either conjointly or severally, in such fealty as his said Majesty may deem reasonable, without any other person being able to reside there unless by taking a patent (lettre de baillette) of the land therein contained, in which would be reserved Inferior Seignorial Rights ; and whether those amongst them who could live as nobles would not be permitted to declare themselves such." N. Y. Col. Docs., iii., 9.
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The Walloons
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denied and the scheme, though twice proposed, in 1621, and again, in 1622, fell through.
It does not appear where these ambitious petitioners resided at the time of their application to the English authorities ; but after failing in the design to settle in Virginia, some of them turned their attention to the Dutch, and probably made application to the West India Company. A resolution was offered to the States-General, April 21, 1622, stating that the Directors of the Company had examined a paper relative to families desiring to be conveyed to the West Indies, and that they reported in favor of it. In 1623 the Walloons appeared in the Hud- son River.
The story is told by Wassenaar, who says that in the spring of 1623, the West India Company equipped "a vessel of 130 lasts, called the New Netherlands, whereof Cornelis Jacobs of Hoorn was Skipper, with thirty families, mostly Walloons." They sailed by way of the Canaries, and reached the Hudson River. These Walloons were no doubt French Huguenots, though probably not of the extreme aristocratic type before referred to. The New Netherlands, on her arrival, was joined by the yacht Mackerel, which had come over by way of the West Indies the previous year.1 She found a French ship in the harbor, which, with the aid of the Mackerel she at- tacked and drove away. On the New Netherlands was one Catalina Trico, born in Paris.
Wassenaar further states that the ship2 sailed up to Albany, then called Fort Orange, while Catalina Trico, in her deposition, testifies that "When as ye ship came as farr as Sopus, which is } way to Albanie; they lightened ye ship wth some boats yt were left there by ye Dutch that
1 Wassenaar in N. Y. Doc. Hist., iii., 24.
2 Ibid., iii., 23.
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had been there ye year before a tradeing wth ye Indians upont their oune accompts & gone back again to Holland, and so brought ye vessel up." 1
She also testified under oath that, " As soon as they came to Mannatans, now called N: York, they sent Two families & six men to harford River & Two families and 8 men to Delaware River."
The English appear to have been well informed re- specting this movement, and said at once that it contem- plated an intrusion upon their patent. An arrangement was accordingly made to dispossess the invaders, as may be learned from a letter written on board the Bonnie Bess, off the Isle of Wight, May 4, 1623; but the Walloons had reached their destination, while the English ship ar- rived in Virginia too late in the season to make the intended attack upon the colonists at the Hudson. But for the bad weather encountered by the Bonnie Bess, this occupation of Manhattan might have been nipped in the bud, as the English were instructed to give them fight, spoil, and sink them into the sea.
Cornelis Jacobson May became the first Director of Manhattan, which now received the name of New Nether- land.
" After a service of one year only he was succeeded by William Ver- hulst. The English continued to regard these proceedings with disap- proval. That same year a Dutch ship, the Orange Tree, returning to Holland from Netherlands, was seized in the harbor of Plymouth in England : but the affairs of King James I. were in a condition which prevented him from efficiently asserting English rights in that direction. James died in 1625, and Charles I., his successor, was compelled to form a treaty with Holland in view of impending operations against Spain ; so that England was practically debarred from interference with the little colony on the Hudson. In 1626 Peter Minuit was ap- pointed to succeed Verhulst. Arriving in May, he at once assumed a
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