USA > New York > A history of the state of New York, from the first discovery of the country to the present time: with a geographical account of the country, and a view of its original inhabitants > Part 9
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" The intelligence soon reached the Five Nations, that their ambassadors had been intercepted and assaulted by the con- trivance of the French governor; and they did not doubt of the truth of the information. The whole nation vowed re- venge, and agreed to make retaliation. Twelve hundred of their warriors, animated with the fiercest feelings of the savage heart, set out on a march to Montreal. The inhabit- ants, unacquainted with the attack upon the ambassadors, and believing that peace was made with the Five Nations, were in perfect tranquillity, without any preparation for, or apprehen- sion of danger. While the city was thus serene, and without fear, the storm of vengeance gathered and burst. On the 26th of July, the Indian warriors landed on the south side of the island of Montreal, and immediately began their assault upon every part of the city. Nothing could exceed the de- struction which the savages carried with them. They burnt the houses, sacked the plantations, and put to death every man, woman and child, which they could find without the for- tifications. 1000 of the French were slain in this massacre, and 26 were carried into captivity, and burnt at the stake; and so great was the consternation of the French, that the Indians lost but three of their number, while they carried destruction and carnage through the whole island. Not satisfied with the calamities they had already occasioned, in October the Indians made another descent upon the island ; again destroyed the lower part of it, killed several of the in- habitants, and took many prisoners.
" At no time had Canada ever before met with so heavy a misfortune. The very news carried defeat, as well as alarm,
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along with it. On receiving the tidings, the garrison at lake Ontario set fire to two barks, which they had just completed, and abandoned the fort, leaving a match to 28 barrels of pow- der, disposed with a design to blow up the works. The troops went down the river with such rapidity and fear, that one of their batteaux, with her crew, was swallowed up in 'one of the , falls. The confederates were in all the animation and inso lence of victory ; they seized the fort at Cadaraqui, with all the powder and stores ; they sent their scouts every where, to invade the frontiers, and break up the settlements in Canada. The French were involved in every kind of difficulty and danger ; their borders were invested, inroads made on their oldest plan- tations, their new settlements breaking up; it became difficult and dangerous to cultivate the lands, or to gather in the harvest : and to all the miseries and calamities of war were now added the distresses of famine, to complete their catalogue of woes. Their Indian friends and allies forsook them, and made peace with the Iroquois and English. Two only of the Indian tribes adhered to the French in their calamity; and these were too much dispirited to attempt any thing in their favor; and it was only in the cities of Quebec, Trois Rivieres and Montreal, that the inhabitants of the colony found any safety. The savages knew not how to approach, or to carry any fortified works; and the French availed themselves of this circumstance, till the affairs of the colony took a different turn."*
SEC. X. 1690. Count Frontenac detached several parties of French and Indians from Canada to take different routes into the English territories. One party, consisting of 150 French and Indian traders, and as many Indians, sur- prised and destroyed Schenectady. The assault was made about 12 o'clock on Saturday night, and 60 men, women and children were mas- sacred.
Never was a place more completely surprised. The inhabit- ants had no intimation of their approach, until their doors were
* Williams.
.
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FROM 1665 TO 1710.
broken open, and the enemy entered, and began the perpetra- tion of the most inhuman barbarities. No tongue, says col. . Schuyler, can cxpress the cruelties that were committed. Those who made their escape fled naked towards Albany through a deep snow, which fell that night in a terrible storm ; and 25 of these fugitives lost their limbs in the flight, through the severity of the frost.
" The news of this awful tragedy reached Albany about break of day. A universal dread and consternation seized the inhabitants. The enemy were reported to be 1400 in num- ber ; and many of the citizens of Albany entertained the idea that the best method was to destroy the city, and abandon that part of the country. But Schuyler and others roused and ral- lied the inhabitants. A party of horse was soon sent off to Sche- nectady, but they were not strong enough to venture a battle. The enemy kept possession of the place till the next day at noon; and, having plundered the whole village, they went off with 40 of the best horses loaded with the spoil; the rest, with all the cattle they could find, lay slaughtered in the streets."*
SEC. XI. 1691. Col. Henry Sloughter ar- rived at New York with the commission of governor of the province. The first assembly, after the revolution, was holden on the ninth of April. The province was, by an act of the assembly, divided into ten counties.
The arbitrary acts of James were repealed, and the former privileges restored to the colo- ny. Leisler and Milborne, having made a vain attempt to retain their authority, and refused to deliver up the fort to the governor, were con- demned to death for high treason, and soon after executed. Sloughter died suddenly in July, 1691, and ended a short, but weak and turbu- lent administration.
* Williams.
10*
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
Soon after the arrival of Sloughter, the question which had often been a subject of animated debate, whether the people of the colony had a right to be represented in assembly, or whether it was a privilege enjoyed through the grace of the crown, was again agitated by that body. A memorable act was passed by the legislature of the province, virtually declaring the right of representation, and several other of the principal and distinguished privileges of Englishmen. It was entitled “ An act declaring what are the rights and privileges of their majes- ties' subjects within the province of New York." An act was likewise passed, that " no person, professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, shall be disturbed or questioned for different opinions in religion, if he do not disturb the public peace ;" with a proviso, " that this act shall not extend to give liberty to any of the Romish religion to exercise their worship."
The distractions in the province so entirely engrossed the public attention, that the Indian allics, who had been left solely . to contend against the common enemy, became extremely dis- affected. In the summer of 1691, major Schuyler, with a party of Mohawks, passed through lake Champlain, and made a bold and successful irruption into the French settlements at the north end of the lake. The design in this descent was to animate the Indians, and continue their hostility to the French. They accordingly continued their hostilities against them, and, by frequent incursions, kept the country in constant alarm.
An Indian, called Black Kettle, commanded in these excur- sions of the Five Nations; and his success so exasperated the French, that they ordered an Indian prisoner to be burnt alive. The bravery of this savage was as extraordinary as the tor- ments inflicted on him were cruel. He sung his military achievements without interruption, even while his bloody exe- cutioners practised all possible barbarities. They broiled his - feet, thrust his fingers into red hot pipes, cut his joints, and twisted the sinews with bars of iron. After this, his scalp was ripped off, and hot sand poured on the wound .*
SEC. XII. 1692. On the death of governor Sloughter, the council committed the chief com-
* Smith.
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FROM 1665 TO 1710.
mand to Richard- Ingolsby. In August, col. Benjamin Fletcher arrived with a commission of governor. In the following year, he intro- duced the Episcopal church into the province.
Early in the year 1693, count. Frontenac, with an army of 6 or 700 French and Indians, made an irruption into the territory of the Mo- hawks. In this descent, 300 of the Indians in the interest of the English were made prisoners.
Col. Schuyler, with a party from Albany, pur- sued the enemy, and several skirmishes ensued. When the French reached the north branch of Hudson's river, a cake of ice opportunely served them to cross it ; and Schuyler, who had retaken about 50 Indians, desisted from the pursuit. The French, in this enterprise, lost about 80 men.
Both parties suffered severely, in this expedition, by the severity of the season and the want of provisions. The Indians under Schuyler, on his return from the pursuit, were so dis- tressed, that they fed on the dead bodies of the French; while the enemy were so reduced, that they ate up their shoes before they arrived in Canada .*
During this season, Fletcher made an unsuccessful attempt to exercise command over the militia of Connecticut. By its charter, that state had exclusive power over its own militia ; but, by the plenary powers vested in the governor of New York, he had also command over them. Fletcher, the governor, insist- ed on submission, which being refused, he went to Hartford, while the legislature were in session, to compel obedience.
He ordered his commission to be read to the trainbands of Hartford, then under exercise of their senior officer, captain Wadsworth. As soon as the reading commenced, the captain ordered the drums to beat. It was in vain that the governor
* Smith.
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commanded silence. Three attempts were made to read, each of which was futile; the governor crying out, "Silence ! silence !" and the captain vociferating, "Drum ! drum !"
At length the governor, on being told by Wadsworth, that, if he again interrupted his drumming, he would " make the sun shine through him," relinquished all hope of success against such obstinacy, and returned to New York.
SEC. XIII. Mr. Fletcher's administration was characterized by much turbulence, and frequent disagreement between him and the assembly. The raising and appropriating the revenue, and the religious concerns of the colony, constituted the usual subjects of controversy. He left the province in 1695.
An act had been passed by the assembly for the support and encouragement of the clergy. Fletcher, who was a bigoted Episcopalian, made efforts to have the act so framed, that the ap- propriations might be exclusively devoted to the Episcopal clergy.
In their session of April, on receiving a petition from the church-wardens and vestrymen of the city of New York, the house declared it to be their opinion, "that the vestrymen and church-wardens have a power to call a dissenting Protestant minister, and that he is to be paid and maintained as the act directs."
Trinity church, in the city of New York, was built in the following year ; and the Reformed Protestant Dutch church incorporated. The city, at this time, contained 594 houses, and 6000 inhabitants. The shipping of New York consisted of 40 ships, 62 sloops, and 60 boats.
SEC. XIV. In 1696, Frontenac made another irruption with a large force, and carried devas- tation into the possessions of the Five Nations. After this expedition, small parties of the In- dians in the English interest continued to harass the inhabitants near Montreal; and similar par-
.
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FROM 1665 TO 1710.
ties in the French interest to harass those near Albany, until the peace of Ryswick, in 1697.
The last expedition against the confederates was undertaken by Frontenac in 1697. He landed at Oswego with a powerful force, and marched to the Onondaga lake. He found their principal village burnt and abandoned. He sent 700 men to destroy the Oneida castle, who took a few prisoners. An Onon- daga chief, upwards of 100 years old, was captured in the woods, and abandoned to the fury of the French savages. After sustaining the most horrid tortures with more than stoical forti- tude, the only complaint he was heard to utter was, when one of them, actuated by compassion, or, probably, by rage, stabbed him repeatedly with a knife, in order to put a speedy end to his existence. " Thou ought not," said he, " to abridge my life, that thou might have time to learn to die like a man. For my own part, I die contented, because I know no meanness with which to reproach myself." After this tragedy, the count thought it prudent to retire with his army; and probably he would have fallen a victim to his temerity, if the Senecas had not been kept at home, from a false report, that they were to be attacked at the same time by the Ottawas .*
SEC. XV. 1698. Richard, earl of Bellomont, who had been appointed, the previous year, to · succeed Fletcher, arrived, and assumed the gov- ernment. The assembly of the province, at this time, consisted of but 19 members.
In the following year, M. de Callieres, succeeding count Frontenac as governor of Canada, terminated the existing dis- putes between the French and the Five Nations, by agreeing to have an exchange of prisoners at Onondaga.
When the French commissioners came to Onondaga, De- canesora, one of the deputies of the Five Nations, met them without the gate, and complimented them with three strings of wampum. " By the first, he wiped away their tears for the French who had been slain in the war; by the second, he opened their
* Clinton, in Coll. N. Y. Hist. Soc.
-
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. HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
mouths that they might speak freely (that is, promised freedom of speech) ; by the third, he cleaned the mat, on which they · were to sit, from the blood that had been spilt on both sides." It is observable, that the Indian council refused to hear the French, or to give them an answer, but in the presence of the commissioners from Albany. Bruyas, a Jesuit, one of the French commissioners, offering a belt, in token of his readiness to stay with them, the grand council immediately rejected it, saying, " We have already accepted Corlear's belt, by which he offers pastors to instruct us."*
In 1700, the assembly of the province passed an act against Jesuits and popish priests. The preamble states, that divers of them have come of late, and, for some time, have had their residence in the remote parts of the province, and other adja- 'cent colonies, and have, by wicked and subtile insinuations, in- dustriously labored to seduce the Indians from their due obe- dience to his majesty, and excite them to sedition, rebellion, and open hostility against his majesty's government. The act required every ecclesiastical person receiving his ordination from any authority derived from the pope or sec of Rome, now residing within this province, to depart out of it before the first day of November.
SEC. XVI. Lord Bellomont died in March, 1701, and John Nanfan, who had been previous- ly appointed lieutenant-governor, arrived soon after, and assumed the command. Lord Corn- bury was appointed governor the following year. After an administration distinguished only by his oppression, avarice and injustice, he was superseded, in 1708, by lord Lovelace, who died in May of the following year, and a few months after his arrival in the province. On the death of Lovelace, the command devolved on Richard Ingolsby, the lieutenant-governor.
* Colden.
119
FROM 1665 TO 1710.
The war between England and France was again proclaimed in 1702 ; but, with the excep- tion of an expedition against Canada some years after, its operations in the colony were not at- tended with any remarkable event.
In 1701, a court of chancery was organized in the province of New York. The Five Nations, the same year, put all their hunting grounds under the protection of the English. The assembly, premising that it would be to the honor of God and the welfare of the province, that the Five Nations should be instructed in the Protestant religion, passed an act, granting £60 a year to Bernardus Freeman, minister of the gospel at Schenectady, as his salary for instructing those Indians, and £15 a year for his charge and expense. During the summer of the following year, an uncommon mortality prevailed in the city of New York, which distinguished this period as "the time of the great sickness." Three years after, the city of New York was thrown into great consternation by the appearance of a French privateer in the harbor.
A fruitless attempt was made, in 1709, to conquer Canada, in which the province of New York manifested a deep interest. Besides raising several companies, she procured 600 Indians, paid their wages, and maintained 1000 of their wives and chil- dren at Albany, while they were in the campaign, at the ex- pense of above &£20,000.
SEC. XVII. In 1710, col. Schuyler went to England, to inculcate on the ministry the abso- lute necessity of reducing Canada to the crown of Great Britain. The more effectually to ac- complish this, he carried with him five Indian chiefs, who gave assurances to the queen of their fidelity, and solicited her assistance against their common enemies, the French.
" The arrival of these sachems in England occasioned great observation through the kingdom. Wherever they went, the mob followed them; and small prints of them were sold among the
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
people. The court being at that time in mourning for the prince of Denmark, these aboriginal princes were, therefore, dressed in black under-clothes, after the English manner ; but, instead of a blanket, they had each a scarlet ingrain cloth mantle, edged with gold, thrown over their other garments. The audience, which they had of her majesty, was attended with unusual so- lemnity. Sir Charles Cotterel conducted them in two coaches to St. James's ; and the lord chamberlain introduced them into the royal presence. One of them, after a brief and pertinent introduction to his speech, proceeded to observe :- ' We were mightily rejoiced, when we heard our great queen had resolved to send an army to reduce Canada ; and immediately, in token of friendship, we hung up the kettle, and took up the hatchet, and, with one consent, assisted colonel Nicholson in making preparations on this side the lake ; but at length we were told, . our great queen, by some important affairs, was prevented in her design at present, which made us sorrowful. The reduction of Canada is of great weight to our free hunting; so that, if our great queen should not be mindful of us, we must, with our families, forsake our country, and seek other habitations, or stand neuter.' At the close of this speech, they presented belts of wampum to the queen, in the name, and in token of the sincerity, of the Five Nations."*
* Holmes's Annals. .
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FROM 1710 TO 1743.
CHAP. VII.
FROM 1710 TO 1743.
Hunter's Administration. Expedition against Canada. Administration of Burnet, Montgom- ery, Crosby and Clarke.
SEC. I. 1710. Col. Robert Hunter was ap- pointed governor of the province, and arrived in June. He brought over with him near S000 Palatines, who had fled to England, the year before, from the rage of persecution in Germany. Many of these people settled in the city of New York ; others, on a tract of several thou sand acres in the manor of Livingston ; while others went into Pennsylvania.
SEC. II. In 1711, Nicholson went to England, and solicited another expedition against Canada, which was granted, and an armament ordered, . proportional to the magnitude of the enterprise. New York, New England, New Jersey and Pennsylvania provided the quotas of men in- tended for the expedition.
Soon after his return from Europe, Nicholson proceeded to Albany, to take command of the troops of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, consisting of about 1000 Palatines, who had come to New York some time before, 600 Indians, and the regiments commanded by colonels Whiting, Schuyler and Ingolsby ; amounting, in the whole, to upwards of 4000.
The fleet, consisting of 15 men of war, 40 transports, 6 store-ships, and an excellent train of artillery, under the com- mand of sir Hovenden Walker, set sail from Boston, with a
11
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
land army, consisting of five regiments from Europe, and two from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire ; making, in all, about 7000.
The admiral arrived in the St. Lawrence early in August, and, on the 22d, in a thick fog and high wind, the fleet was driven on the rocks and shoals of the north shore. Eight or nine of the British transports were lost, and above 1000 lives, besides great damage done to the vessels saved. The admiral bore away for Spanish bay, where, after full consultation, it was agreed to abandon the expedition.
Gen. Nicholson, who had proceeded as far as lake George . with his troops, received information of the failure of the en- terprise, and retreated.
. SEC. III. The conquest of Canada had been an object of earnest desire and sanguine expec- tation to the colony ; and the failure of this last enterprise was attended by circumstances equal- ly mortifying and calamitous. They had suffered heavy losses, and were again exposed to the depredations of their ancient foe. The war was, however, terminated, in 1713, by the treaty of Utrecht, and their apprehensions, for the present, relieved.
In 1712, the Tuscarora Indians, after having been defeated in an attempt to exterminate the English settlers in North Caroli- na, abandoned their country, and repaired to the Five Nations, who received them into their confederacy, and made them the sixth nation.
The same year, the Negroes in New York, in the execution of a plot to set fire to the city, burned a house in the night, and killed several people, who came to extinguish the fire. Nine- teen of the incendiaries were afterwards executed.
SEC. IV. During the carly part of Hunter's administration, much controversy subsisted be- tween the different departments of government
·
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FROM 1710 TO 1743.
and their respective partisans. His exercising the office of chancellor was received with high disapprobation by a large portion of the inhabit- ants. Before his leaving the province, they appear to have become reconciled, and the most perfect amity and concord to have subsisted.
Hunter, by the advice of his council, began to exercise the office of chancellor in October, 1712. Van Dam and Philipse were appointed masters, Whillman, register, Harrison, exam- iner, and Sharpas and Broughton, clerks. A proclamation was then issued to signify the sitting of the court, which gave rise to the two following resolutions of the house :- " Resolved, that the erecting a court of chancery, without consent in general assembly, is contrary to law, and of dangerous consequence to the liberty and property of the subjects; and, That the estab- lishing fees, without consent in general assembly, is contrary to" law." The assembly were prorogued the next session.
Hunter left the province in 1719, and the command devolved on Peter Schuyler. During his short administration, Schuyler conducted the affairs of the colony with prudence and integri- ty. Little is observable in his time, except a treaty at Albany, with the Indians, for confirming the ancient league.
SEC. V. 1720. On the 17th of September, William Burnet, esq. assumed the government of the province, and soon after obtained an act from the assembly, prohibiting the trade between New York and Canada. This prohibitory act had a very beneficial effect on the interests of the colony.
From the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht, a considerable trade was carried on between Albany and Canada, for goods saleable among the Indians. The object of this act was to
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
draw the Indian trade into New York, and to obstruct the communication between the French and the Indian allies, which gave them frequent opportunities of seducing them from their fidelity, and to regain the Caghauagas, who had become inter- ested in their disaffection, by being the carriers between Alba- ny and Montreal. The chiefs of the Indian confederates, fore- seeing the ill consequences of this trade, had complained of it to the commissioners of Indian affairs. The commissioners had written a letter to governor Hunter, acquainting him with the dissatisfaction of the Indians ; but, though it was laid be- fore the house, no effectual measure had been previously adopted.
SEC. VI. In 1722, for the purpose of securing the benefit of the trade and friendship of the Six Nations, governor Burnet erected a trading- house at Oswego, in the country of the Senecas.
This establishment naturally excited the jealousy of the French, who, in 1726, launched two vessels into lake Ontario, and transported materials to Niagara, for building a store-house, and repairing the fort. Their object was not only to secure the entrance into the west end of the lake, but, likewise, to carry their trade more westerly, and thus render Oswego useless, by shortening the travels of the western Indians near 200 miles.
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