USA > New York > New York County > Manhattan > Annals of old Manhattan, 1609-1664 > Part 6
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In 1641 a more serious quarrel occurred among slaves of the West India Company, and one man was murdered. Six negroes were implicated in the crime, and to discover the real criminal the common method of tor-
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ture was proposed. To escape this the negroes all professed responsibility for the deed, and the director, unwilling to lose so many ser- vants, decided that lots should be drawn to determine who must expiate the murder. The victim designated by this process was a man of huge stature, who was known as the giant, and although two ropes were employed to lift him upon the gallows, these supports gave way and he fell to the ground. The assembled multitude then begged so earnestly for his life that pardon was granted.
Much trouble was created in New Amster- dam by the circulation of poor wampum, The best wampum was manufactured by the Long Island Indians, but an inferior article made in New England was soon brought into New Netherlands. In 1641 the first law passed to regulate the currency ordained that all coarse sewant should pass for one stiver. The value of good wampum was estimated
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Peaceful Progress
by the fathom, and when this unit of measure was defined as, " as much as a man could reach with his arms outstretched," the shrewd Indians, when disposing of beaver skins, chose their tallest men for traders.
A book published in Holland in 1671 re- cords that while in converse with one of the savages employed as intermediary in termi- nating the Indian wars, Kieft noticed that his face was streaked with a glittering yellow substance, and suspecting the presence of gold in the mineral used, he succeeded in procur- ing a sample for the crucible. According to the chronicle, the result of his experiment was shown in two pieces of gold valued at three guilders. Arend Corsen was immedi- ately dispatched to Holland with samples of the ore, but the ship in which he sailed never reached its destination, and the search for precious metal was not pursued by the Dutch.
Valentine gives an interesting extract from
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some official records during Kieft's adminis- tration, wherein deeds for the conveyance to the West India Company of lands on Long Island are signed in Indian fashion by the original proprietors.'
The established mark of Sey Sey.
1
The established mark of Sipento.
The established mark of Ponitarannackhzne.
I Valentine's Manual for 1847, p. 143.
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X
The Honorable Peter Stuyvesant. 1647-1653
H E came like a peacock, with great state and pomp," said an old writer describing the arrival of Stuyvesant. Salutes from the fort almost exhausted New Amsterdam's supply of powder, while the rejoicing colonists shouted and cheered in response to the new governor's declaration, "I shall rule you as a father his children."
It was the eleventh of May, 1647, for al- though the ship had left Holland on Christ- mas Day, the West Indies and the scenes of Stuyvesant's early exploits at Curaçoa had been visited before its course had been di- rected to Manhattan Island. The man de- scribed by Washington Irving as "a valiant, weatherbeaten, mettlesome, obstinate, leath-
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ern-sided, lion-hearted old governor" had been trained by many experiences before his appointment to rule in New Netherland.
The son of a clergyman of Friesland, he had received a liberal education, and having chosen a military career, had early entered the service of the West India Company.
A commission to be director of the colony at Curaçoa opened opportunities well suited to his daring temperament, at a period when the Hollanders stood strenuously opposed to every threatening force upon the sea; but having led an attack upon the Portuguese island of St. Martin, Stuyvesant was wounded in an unsuccessful conflict, lost a leg, and was forced to return to Holland for surgical aid. Restoration to health was followed by the acceptance of the appointment as gover- nor of New Netherland, and he arrived at Manhattan accompanied by his refined and attractive wife, his cultivated sister, Mrs.
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Bayard, and her three little sons with their tutor. Van Dincklagen, Van Dyck, and sev- eral other officials, as well as a company of free colonists, came by the same vessel, and on the twenty-seventh of May the new director and his assistants were formally in- augurated.
There was ample opportunity for the ex- ercise of Stuyvesant's imperious ability, for the disastrous Indian wars, and the rule of a man whom the people could not respect and hardly tolerated, had left all civil statutes in a condition of wavering force. Over the new court of justice, which was promptly established, Van Dincklagen was appointed judge, except on occasions when the director should himself see fit to fill the position. Stuyvesant's first proclamation, "done at Fort Amsterdam on the last day of May, 1647," commanded a more strict observance of Sunday; forbade any liquor to be drawn
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on that day " before two of the clock in case there is no preaching, or else before four, except to a traveller and those who are daily customers, fetching the drinks to their own homes." Innkeeper, landlords, and tapsters were forbidden to keep their houses open on any week day after the ringing of the bell at nine o'clock in the evening, and fines were imposed for "drawing a knife or sword rudely or in anger."
The financial affairs of the colony were in chaotic confusion, and laws for the protec- tion of the revenue were promptly enforced. Excise duties were for the first time levied on liquors, and the export duty on peltries was increased, while, free from suspicion of re- proach, two of the Company's yachts were ordered to cruise in the West Indies for the purpose of capturing the rich galleons on their way from South America to Spain.
The vigorous director did not neglect the
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minor details of municipal interest. Proprie- tors of vacant lots were directed to improve them within nine months, or forfeit their titles to possession ; and Van Dyck, in his office of fiscal, was required to make complaint against all delinquents and transgressors of the military laws, "and all other our instructions and commands." The last comprehensive phrase was indicative of the new director's methods in legislation. His conception of the parental government he had promised in- volved only the promulgation of laws on his part and unquestioning obedience from the people.
When, after Stuyvesant's arrival, Kieft form- ally resigned his office to the new director, a proposition to offer the retiring officer the conventional vote of thanks was rejected by Kuyter and Melyn, two members of his council, on the just ground that they had no reason to thank him. These men subsequently
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presented a petition asking for a judicial in- quiry into Kieft's conduct as governor, but Stuyvesant, perhaps fearing to establish a dangerous precedent if he acceded to the re- quest, declared that it was " treason to peti- tion against a magistrate whether there was cause or not."
Kieft revenged himself upon Kuyter and Melyn, by charging them with having been theauthors of " a false and calumnious letter," prepared, he asserted, clandestinely, and sent in the name of the Eight Men to the College of XIX. To this charge the accused were ordered to reply within forty-eight hours; but when they brought evidence to sustain their charges against Kieft, their " frank an- swers" were adjudged an aggravation of their offense, and fiscal Van Dyck was ordered to prosecute them for having " fraudulently ob- tained the signatures of the Eight Men, to the letter," as well as for offences against the
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Indians and toward the West India Company. Although these charges were fully answered by the accused, the prejudged case was soon decided against them, and both Kuyter and Melyn were banished from the province. The right of appeal to the fatherland was denied them, and Stuyvesant threatened to " hang them on the highest tree in New Nether- land," should they venture, subsequently, to carry the matter to the home authorities. The director openly declared, " If any one during my administration shall appeal, I will make him a foot shorter, and send the pieces to Hol- land, that he may appeal in that way."
On the sixteenth of August, 1647, Kieft set sail for Holland, taking Kuyter and Melyn with him as prisoners, and carrying away a private fortune, estimated at four hundred thousand guilders. In the same ship sailed Dominie Bogardus, who had resigned his charge that he might clear himself before
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the classis of Amsterdam of the accusations brought by Kieft. But their ship, the "Prin- cess," was never to reach its destination. It was wrecked off the coast of Wales, and about one hundred passengers, including Bogardus and Kieft, were drowned. Kuyter and Melyn were among the saved, and testified that in the time of peril Kieft had confessed his injustice, and asked their forgiveness. Before continuing their journey to Holland, these wise councillors had the waters dragged in the vicinity of the sunken ship, until the box containing their papers was recovered,' and with these documents they secured from the States General justification for their conduct in New Amsterdam.
After the treaty of peace some Indian tribes had evinced dissatisfaction with the presents distributed among them, and Stuyvesant, anticipating a renewal of hostilities, wished I Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Colonies.
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to " use dispatch " in repairing the fort. But for this work money was needed, and resis- tance to arbitrary taxation was continued. The council, therefore, advised concessions to the people, and, in September, 1647, the residents of Manhattan, Breuckelen, Mid- wout (Flatbush), Amersfoort (Flatlands), and Pavonia were summoned to assemble at New Amsterdam, where an election was held at which eighteen of the "most notable, reasonable, honest, and respectable men " were chosen, from whom the director select- ed nine " to assist in promoting the welfare of the colony." 1
Having assembled this council, Stuyvesant communicated to them his projects for re- pairing the fort, completing the church, which Kieft had begun five years previously,
I The Nine Men were Augustine Heermans, Arnoldus Van Hardenberg, Govert Loockermans, Jan Jansen Dam, Jacob Wol- fertsen Van Couwenhoven, Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, Machyel Janssen, Jan Evertsen Bout, Thomas Hall.
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and providing a school-house. The represen- tatives of the people expressed their willing- ness to be taxed for the church and theschool- house, but they declared that the expenses at- tending repairs upon the fort should be met by the West India Company, who were pledged to protect the colonists.
While the discussion of these matters was engrossing his council, Stuyvesant's attention was called to affairs in other parts of the province. Commercial supremacy had been acquired by New Amsterdam through the prerogative of staple right, which gave that port a monopoly in the imposition of duties upon all goods carried up or down the river. Officers of the patroonship of Rensselaers- wijck claimed that this prosperous estate was held directly from the States General of Hol- land; and, regardless of the authority of the West India Company, they assumed a right, from their fortress on Bear's Island, to collect
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a toll from every passing vessel, with the ex- ception of those in the Company's direct em- ploy. The commander on Bear's Island also decreed that in passing his fort every vessel should strike its colors in homage to the patroon, and when Govert Loockermans, on his way from Fort Orange to New Amster- dam, refused this expression of deference, his boat became a target for the guns of the island, though valiantly declaring, "I strike for nobody but the Prince of Orange and the States General," he pursued his way.
In 1646, Brandt van Slechtenhorst was appointed to govern Rensselaerswijck, and seized the first opportunity for asserting his disregard for the authority of the New Netherland director. Stuyvesant, having ap- pointed a day of fasting and prayer for the province, sent the proclamation to Rensse- laerswijk, but Van Slechtenhorst refused to permit it to be publicly read, and openly de-
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fied the director when he arrived in person with a guard to enforce his authority.
Further to show his independence, Van Slechtenhorst ordered the erection of some houses at forbidden places within range of the guns of Fort Orange, and hostilities cen- tered at that point when, the director having ordered the palisades around the fort to be replaced by stone-work, Van Slechtenhorst forbade stone to be quarried or timber cut upon the patroon's estate. An order to pull down the newly-erected houses, and to arrest Van Slechtenhorst, increased the excitement and highly entertained the Indians. These phlegmatic people held their own opinion of Stuyvesant, whom they called "Wooden Leg," and on the occasion of a dispute in which the honorable director had displayed more than his usual spirit, one of the Mo- hawksremarked," Wooden Leg very drunk !" " Impossible!" replied a Dutchman, "the
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governor never drinks to excess." "Not drunk with rum," continued the Indian, " Wooden Leg born drunk ! "
Adriaen Van der Donck, a former sheriff of the colony of Rensselaerswijck, and a man of firm and high principles, soon acquired great influence in New Amsterdam. He was the first lawyer in New Netherland, and after leaving Rensselaerswijck he had settled on land north of Manhattan Island, which be- came known as de Jonkheer's land, Jonkheer being a Dutch title applied to the sons of noblemen ; and which, corrupted by the Eng- lish tongue to Yonkers, has perpetuated the name of a large estate.
When the pressure of public sentiment forced Stuyvesant to concede some rights for which the people had long contended, Van der Donck was appointed secretary of the Nine Men. The increase of financial diffi- culties at New Amsterdam, where high duties
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restricted trade, induced these councillors to propose sending a committee to Holland, with requests for long-promised reforms ; and the director, designing to present to the States General his own conception of the situation, approved the project, but opposed it when he discovered the intention of the people to re- veal their point of view.
The Nine Men promised to provide him with a copy of every statement in their com- munication, but Stuyvesant obstinately re- fused to sanction the preparation of the document, and forbade any assembly to be convened for discussion of the situation. Members of the council then secretly can- vassed the settlement to learn the sentiments of the people, and when this proceeding was discovered by the director he ordered the arrest and temporary imprisonment of Van der Donck, who was accused of seditious conduct, and, in opposition to the advice of
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the vice-director, Van Dincklagen, was ex- pelled from the council.
Meanwhile the States General had sus- pended the sentence against Kuyter and Melyn, and cited Stuyvesant to appear at the Hague, either in person or by deputy, to justify his decree against the two men. In the midst of the excitement caused by Van der Donck's arrest, Melyn returned, bringing this order and his own exoneration, and demanding that both documents should be publicly read. Stuyvesant was compelled to comply, but re- fused to reverse his own sentence against Melyn, and the latter again left New Amster- dam. The director wrote to the States Gen- eral that if discharged by the Company, he would appear in response to their command, but otherwise he would send an attorney ; but he ventured no longer to interfere with the action of the Nine Men, and, in July, 1649, they addressed a document to their High
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Mightinesses of Holland, petitioning for the establishment of a burgher government at New Amsterdam, and the settlement beyond dispute of boundary lines. A "Remonstrance" from the people, signed by a committee of eleven, was also prepared, detailing griev- ances and soliciting relief, and Van der Donck, Van Couwenhoven, and Jan Evertsen Bout, were commissioned to carry the papers to the Hague.1
But though the home government saw "no reason to object to a commission for the settlement of boundaries " the first request was not granted, and the West India Com- pany upheld the action of Stuyvesant, who, thus encouraged, became more imperious than ever. He had appointed the crafty Van Tienhoven to represent him at the Hague,
I The memorial was signed on behalf of the people by Augus- tine Heermans, Arnoldus Van Hardenberg, Jacob Van Couwen- hoven, Machyel Janssen, Thomas Hall, Elbert Elbertsen, Govert Loockermans, Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, and Adriaen Van der Donck.
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and this ambassador reached Holland soon after Melyn's arrival. During the winter of 1649-50 the discussion of colonial affairs dragged its slow length along before the States General, while the Dutch people were read- ing Van der Donck's "Vertoogh " descriptive of New Netherland ; and, alluding to the in- fluence of that little book, the West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant, "The name of New Netherland was scarcely ever mentioned before, and now it would seem as if heaven and earth were interested in it."
In New Amsterdam the months were mem- orable for financial difficulties and scarcity of food. When Stuyvesant supplied a vessel for Curacoa with provisions of which the colonists had need, the council remonstrated, and a quarrel ensued, which culminated in an open rupture when the delegates to Holland returned, bringing a stand of colors for the burgher guard : Stuyvesant refused to
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allow these insignia to be presented, and in a childish determination to take revenge upon the Nine Men for opposition to his will, he deprived them of their special pew in church.
But the governor's attention was diverted from the complications at New Amsterdam by matters connected with the New Eng- land colonies, where jealousies against New Netherland were still fostered. Soon after his arrival in New Amsterdam, Stuyvesant had dispatched a letter to Governor Winthrop, wherein, alluding to the "indubiate rights of the Dutch" to the territory they occupied, he had proposed an adjustment of all exist- ing claims. Winthrop communicated the contents of the letter to the New England commissioners, then assembled at Boston, but although some of the delegates were in favor of accepting the proposal for a conference, the Connecticut people thought "it would
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be more to their advantage to stand upon terms of distance."
When Cromwell arose to power in Eng- land, the West India Company sent a mes- sage to Stuyvesant to "live with his neighbors on the best terms possible," and, as there were claims to be adjusted on Long Island as well as in New England, arrangements were at length made for a meeting at Hartford. Stuyvesant and his suite, travelling in state by way of Long Island Sound, arrived after four days at their journey's end, where "the great Muscovy Duke," as Van Dincklagen called the director, gave offense immediately by dating the first paper he presented from "Hartford in New Netherland." His apology was accepted, however, and the discussion of territorial rights was amicably continued for several days. At last it was agreed to submit the decision to four arbiters, and George Baxter, Stuyvesant's English secretary, and
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Thomas Willett of Plymouth were chosen for the Dutch, and Simon Bradstreet and Thomas Prince for the English. They de- cided that the boundary line between Eng- lish and Dutch possessions on the main land, starting east of Greenwich Bay, four miles from Stamford, should run north, but never come within ten miles of the Mauritius River; while on Long Island the line of sep- aration should cross from Oyster Bay to the Atlantic.
Concerning this conference, it was after- wards written, " The English entertained the director of New Netherland like a prince, but he never imagined that such hard pills would be given him to digest!" and when Stuyvesant heard the arbiters' decree he ex- claimed, " I have been betrayed !" This treaty of 1650 was, however, never formally rati- fied by the English, whose policy would not permit so direct a recognition of the province
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of New Netherland; and the fact that Stuy- vesant had consented to the appointment of Englishmen as arbiters for the Dutch raised a storm of opposition in New Amsterdam. The Nine Men declared that "the director had ceded away territory enough to found fifty colonies, each four miles square,"1 and again called attention to "the grievous and unsuitable governor of New Netherland." 2
Soon Captain John Underhill, who had quar- relled with Stuyvesant, offered his services to the English, and, sailing up the Connecticut, posted upon the abandoned Fort Good Hope a notice that it had been confiscated, and thus ended the Dutch domain in New England.
Upon Stuyvesant's return to New Amster- dam, he was so exasperated by the conduct of the Nine Men that, at the next election, he refused to fill the vacancies in their board;
I Mrs. Lamb's History of New York.
2 Holland Doc.
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and when Van Dincklagen and Van Dyck wrote to the Holland government, protesting against the director's methods, and once more calling attention to the dissatisfaction among the colonists, those officials were expelled from the council.
Van Dincklagen denied Stuyvesant's pre- rogative in this action, and refused to abdi- cate, on the ground that he had been installed by the higher authority of the States General; but the audacious governor summarily com- manded the vice-director to be seized and thrown into prison. Although released in a few days, Van Dincklagen was not reinstated, but, joining Melyn on Staten Island, he there awaited the turn of the tide.
At the patroon's fortress on Bear's Island, Van Slechtenhorst continued to repudiate the au- thority of the New Netherland governor, until Stuyvesant compassed his arrest, when he was carried to New Amsterdam and imprisoned.
.
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He escaped and returned to Rensselaers- wijck, but was soon drawn into a quarrel with Dyckman, the commander at Fort Orange, concerning the extent of their respective jurisdictions, and the excitement among their partisans grew so intense, that Stuyvesant's presence was necessary to subdue the tumult occasioned. By his command, Van Slechten- horst was again seized and taken to New Amsterdam, while the director issued patents to colonists sent by the West India Company, for land claimed by the patroon within the village of Beverwijck.
During the course of these events, the vice- director's protest had been received by the States General, and, before their High Mighti- nesses, Van der Donck had replied to Van Tienhoven's defence of Stuyvesant. Believing his errand accomplished, Van Tienhoven re- turned to New Amsterdam, where his con- duct elicited the comment that he " was like
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an evil spirit scattering torpedoes." In 1652, he was appointed to fill Van Dyck's place as fiscal, while Carel Van Brugge succeeded to the vacated office of provincial secretary.1
Opposition to Stuyvesant's arbitrary rule was continued, at home and abroad, till it became evident to the directors of the West India Company that the province would be lost if concessions were not made, and, in 1652, they consented to the establishment of a burgher government at New Amsterdam, in which the two burgomasters, five schepens and a schout were to be elected by the people. At the same time the export duty on tobacco was remitted, the price of passage to New Netherland was reduced, ammunition was ordered to be sold " at a decent price," and colonists were permitted to procure negro servants from Africa.
But still greater honor awaited the active I Mrs. Lamb's History of New York.
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settlement of eight hundred people. On the second of February, 1653, the city of New Amsterdam was incorporated, and a government was promised, modeled upon that of Amsterdam in the fatherland. Preceded by that honorable functionary, the "klink" or bell-ringer, the director-general and the magistrates went in august procession to the church to inaugurate the new city ; and from his room in the fort, dedicated by an inscrip- tion to "the Son of Peace," the klink, on his return, had liberty, no doubt, to sound a glad accompaniment to the shouts of the people.
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