Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 16

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations > Part 16

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But little was attempted by the early colonists of the Hudson and Mohawk toward educating the Indian children.

It is well known that Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, about the middle of the last century, had a school for the education of Indian youth in Lebanon, Conn. His benevolent design was to take the young Indian away from the surroundings of his tribe and inter- est him in learning and Christianity, and train h'm to become a teacher and preacher to his own peo- ple. Sir William Johnson, among other leading men, favored his plan and sent him pupils, among whom was the celebrated Joseph Brant. Of these pupils Dr. Wheelock writes in 1763 : "Joseph and the rest of the boys from your quarter are well, and make good progress in learning. Joseph is, indeed, an excellent youth. He has endeared himself to me as well as to his master and to everybody else by his good behavior."

This school was removed to Hanover, N. H., in 1769, and made a part of the working plan of

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

Dartmouth College-" vox clamantis in deserto " -a leading idea of the good first President being to educate Indian boys there, and much of this work has been done in this institution.

In 1762, Sir William Johnson writes to Mr. Wheelock : "I agree with you in the opinion that the Indian children will not improve in their studies near so much from the method proposed of erecting schools in their nations as they would do according to your plan of education, whereby they are kept out of the way of and uninfluenced by bad example."

For some years, near the close of the French war in 1763, it was proposed to change the loca- tion of this school from Lebanon to some place nearer the Indian population, where there were more lands and less people. Several places in this State were considered. Among other loca- tions the City of Albany was considered. A free correspondence was held with the Mayor from 1766 to 1768 in regard to the school. The corpo- ration had offered to give {2,300 to Dr. Wheel- ock, on condition that he would remove his insti- tution from Lebanon to Albany. Volkert P. Douw was Mayor and favored the movement.

Other attempts were made, by good men, to teach the Indians to read and write, and other lessons of science and civilization, at sundry times and in sundry places ; but these attempts had little success, and were of brief duration. Nothing was done that accomplished results so good, so broad and so lasting as what was done by Eleazer Wheelock. We let him tell his own story : "Among those whom I have educated there have been near forty who were good readers and writers, and were instructed in the principles of the Christian religion as their age and time would admit, and were suf- ficient masters of English grammar, arithmetic, and a number considerably advanced in Greek and Latin, and one of them carried through college and was a good scholar, and others carried through a course of learning with not less expense for each of them than would have been necessary to have supported an English youth through a course of collegiate studies, and they have generally behaved well while they were with me, and left my school with fair and unblemished characters, and under the influence of every motive I could set before them to a good improvement of the distinguishing talents which God had committed to them, and many of them have gone immediately from my school with good and reputable business, and such business as they were equal to, and generally to serve as schoolmasters, but some as interpreters,

&c., and nothing has prevented their being em- ployed usefully and reputably in various capacities until this day but the want of fortitude to resist the power of those fashionable vices which were ram- pant among all their tribes. * *

* Of all the number before mentioned I don't hear of more than half who have preserved their characters un- stained, either by a course of intemperance or un- cleanness, or both, and some who, on account of their parts and learning, bid the fairest for useful- ness, are sunk down into as low, savage and brut- ish manner of living as they were in before any endeavors were used with them to raise them up ; and there are some of whom I did and do still entertain hope that they were really the subjects of God's grace who have not wholly kept their gar- ments unspotted amongst the pots. And six of these who did preserve a good character are now dead."- Wheelock's Narrative, 1771.

As a specimen of the language spoken by the Six Nations that once frequented Albany County, we give the Lord's Prayer, copied from "Smith's Hist. New York " :

So-ung-wau-ne-ha cau-ro-unk-yau-ga, teh-see- ta-ro-au, Sauk.son-e-you-sta, esa, saw-an-e-you, o-ket-tauh-se-la, eh-ne-au-wong, na, cau-ronunk- yawga, naugh-wou-shauga, ne-at-te-weh-ne-sa-lau- ga, taug-wau-nau-to-ro-na-an-tough-sick, to-an- tang-we-lee-whe-you-staung, che-nee-yent, cha- qua-ta-leh-whe-you-staun-ne, tough-sau, tangh- wam-sa-re-neh, ta-waut-ot-ten-au-gal-ough-toung- ga, nas-aw-ne, sa-che-au-tang-was co-an-teh-sal- oh-aun-za-ick-au, esa, saw-au-ne-you, esa, sash- autz-ta, esa, soung-wa-soung, chen-ne-auh-a-aug- wa, au-wen.

INDIAN TREATIES, TRADE AND OTHER AFFAIRS.

Indian affairs were from the very first, by com- mon consent, managed by the citizens of Albany. They were nearly all Indian traders, and were in constant intercourse with them. The acquaintance thus formed, their business interests, and their frontier situation, fitted them for the duties in- volved.

There was only one beaver dam, so far as we have learned, in Albany County, and that in the town of Berne ; at least there is no trace or record of any other. But beaver skins and other furs and peltry were brought from a widely extended terri- tory-from the whole State of New York as occu- pied by the Iroquois, far away from the wilds of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and even from the Canadas, and from New England. The unscrupulous zeal

INDIAN TREATIES, TRADE AND OTHER AFFAIRS.

of the bosch-loopers or runners, knew no bounds. They invaded, when they could do so without too much risk, the territorial rights of the Frenchman and the New Englander, regardless of anything but gain. The Indians were met on their way to the city by these primitive drummers, and bargains were made in advance of the market. Albany claimed a monopoly in the fur trade as against other people or other localities. Their claim was confirmed by the Dongan Charter of 1686. But squatters all about, and especially the early settlers on the Mohawk flats, caused great trouble and grief to Albany traders.

Philip Pieterse Schuyler came from Amsterdam, Holland, and settled in Beverwyck as early as 1647. He was a trader far above the average in ability and character, and his dealings with the Indians were fair and honorable. They became much attached to him, and chiefs often visited him at his farm-house, four miles up the Hudson, and he had a house built especially for their entertain- ment near his residence in Albany. In 1665, he attended a council held with the Mohawks, as delegate from Albany, after which he had much to do with the frequent negotiations with the Five Nations. He assisted in inaugurating what became the settled policy of the province-to treat the Indians as friends and allies. His son Peter, who continued the same policy after his father's decease in 1683, acquired a great influence over these pecu- liar people.

Under the Dutch Government, the Director- General and Council of New Netherland managed the Indian affairs. As the relations with the tribes became more complicated and varied after the English conquest in 1664, it became nec- essary that some persons residing at Albany should be appointed to receive communications in regard to them, and to treat with them in emer- gencies. The Governor's residence at New York was inconveniently distant. Hence, the origin of the Indian Department, in 1684. The magistrates of the City of Albany were first appointed. In 1690, a distinct Board was constituted, acting under the Governor in all matters of this department, without salary. As most of its members were traders, and had the handling of moneys and other presents, the office of Indian Commissioner became one of great importance and profit. Their records are missing, and are said now to be in Canada. In 1755, the English Crown assumed control of Indian affairs, dividing the colonies into northern and southern departments,. and appointing Sir William Johnson as northern Superintendent, who, at his death in

1774, was succeeded by his nephew, Col. Guy Johnson.

"The diplomacy, statesmanship, and good faith exhibited in the earliest management of Indian affairs reflect the highest credit on those charged therewith, and laid the territorial foundations of the Commonwealth on the secure basis of honorable treaties honorably kept. The inspiration and guid- ance in these relations came largely from the Schuy- lers, under whom Sir William Johnson was trained."

The adoption of the Federal Constitution super- seded the State supervision, which now has to do only with certain lands and some other matters connected with the reservations in the State.

COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

These officers were once, perhaps, the most im- portant in their functions, of any in Albany County and the territory extending a great distance around

it.

The men who held it were leading men of the

time, and their names should here be recorded.

1684.

Mayor and Magistrates of Albany.

OCTOBER 19, 1690.

Joachim Staats,

Peter Bogardus,

Johannis Wendell, Ryer Jacobz Schermerhorn,

Johannis Bleecker, Mayor of Albany.

1691.

Matthew Shanky, Peter Schuyler,

George Bradshaw, John Tuder,

Dirck Wessels.

AUGUST IO, 1696.

Peter Schuyler,

Evert Bancker,

Godfrey Dellius, Dirck Wessels,

Mayor, or the Mayor for the time being.

JULY, 1698.

Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Commonalty.

Dirck Wessels, Hendrick House.

1706.

Peter Schuyler, Myndert Schuyler,

Capt. Weems, Johannis Cuyler,

The Mayor, Evert Bancker,

Johannis Abeel, Henry Holland,

Kiliaan Van Rensselaer, Peter Van Brugh,

Hendrick Van Rensselaer.

APRIL 25, 1710.

Kiliaan Van Rensselaer, Johannis Cuyler,

John Abeel, John Schuyler,

Evert Bancker, Myndert Schuyler,

Hendrick Hansen, Peter Van Brugh,

Johannis Roseboom.

1712.

Peter Schuyler, Johannis Schuyler,

Kiliaan Van Rensselaer, Hendrick Hansen,

Richard Ingoldsby, Myndert Schuyler,

Peter Van Brugh,

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

JULY 23, 1715.

Peter Schuyler, John Schuyler,

Kiliaan Van Rensselaer,

Myndert Schuyler, Robert Livingston, Jr.,

Hendrick Hansen, John Cuyler,

Peter Van Brugh.

NOVEMBER 12, 1720.

Peter Schuyler, Henry Holland,

Hendrick Hansen,

Philip Livingston,

John Cuyler,

John Collins,

Peter Van Brugh, John Wendell,

Evert Bancker,

John Bleecker.

1724.

Henry Holland, Philip Livingston, Johannis Wendell,

Peter Van Brugh,

John Collins,

Evert Wendell,

John Cuyler, Hendrick Van Rensselaer,

Evert Bancker, David Van Dyck.

1726.

Capt. Cornwell,

John Cuyler, Peter Van Brugh,

Philip Livingston,

Evert Bancker,

Henry Holland, John Collins,

Henry Rensselaer.

SEPTEMBER 13, 1728.

Philip Livingston,

Hermanus Wendell,

Myndert Schuyler,

Johannis Roseboom,

Evert Bancker, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer,

Rutger Bleecker, Nicholas Bleecker,

Henry Holland, Evert Wendell,

Stephanus Groesbeck,

Philip Schuyler,

Peter Van Brugh,

Ryer Gerritse,

Johannis Cuyler,

Barent Sanders,

Abraham Cuyler, Johannis Lansing,

NOVEMBER 1, 1732.

The preceding with

Johannis Schuyler,

Henry Van Rensselaer, Dirck Ten Broeck.

JULY 13, 1734.

Philip Livingston,

Nicholas Bleecker,

William Dick, Ryer Gerritse,

Myndert Schuyler,

Dirck Ten Broeck,

John Schuyler, Johannis Lansing, Jr.,

Hendrick Van Rensselaer, John De Peyster,

Rutger Bleecker, Jacob Glen,

Stephanus Groesbeck,

Cornelius Cuyler,

Philip Schuyler, John Schuyler, Jr.,

Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Edward Collins, Abraham Cuyler.

Edward Holland,

1738.

Philip Livingston, Edward Clarke, Commandant at Albany, Members of Assembly for Albany, Rensselaerwyck and Schenectady, Mayor, Recorder and Sheriff of Albany.

DECEMBER 5, 1739.

The Council, Stephanus Groesbeck,

Commandant at Albany, Rutger Bleecker,

John De Peyster,

John Schuyler, Jr.,

Peter Winne, Arent Bradt,

Edward Collins,

Myndert Schuyler, John Schuyler,

Cornelius Cuyler, Johannis Lansing, Jr., Hendrick Ten Eyck.

1742.

Philip Livingston, Mayor Dirck Ten Broeck, Recorder Hendrick Ten Eyck,

John Rutherford,

Myndert Schuyler,

Rutger Bleecker,

Abraham Cuyler,

John De Peyster,

Nicholas Bleecker, Stephanus Groesbeck,

Johannis Lansing, Jr., Ryer Gerritse, Edward Collins.

Cornelius Cuyler,

1745.

The preceding with Stephen Van Rensselaer, 1746. Commissary for Indian Affairs, William Johnson. NOVEMBER, 1752. Commissioners, The Council, Commandant at Albany, Members of Assembly of Albany, Rensselaerwyck, Sche- nectady and Livingston Manor, Mayor and Recorder of Al- Hendrick Bleecker, bany, John Buchanan,

Myndert Schuyler, Peter Groenendyck,

Cornelius Cuyler, Johannis Lansing, Jr.,

Jacob C. Ten Eyck.

JUNE 15, 1754.

Mayor and Recorder of Al- Cornelius Cuyler, bany John Buchanan,

Commandant at Albany, Jacob C. Ten Eyck,

Myndert Schuyler, John Rensselaer, Peter Winne, Sole Superintendent, April 15, 1755.

FEBRUARY, 1756.

William Johnson, Sir Wm. Johnson, Bart. JULY, 1774.

Guy Johnson,

Volkert P. Donw,

State Commissioners,

Timothy Edward,

Oliver Wolcutt,

Philip Schuyler,

James Duane.

It has not been our purpose to discuss the Indian speculatively in regard to his origin ; nor in regard to his personal appearance, his dress, food and habits, his manner of life, or his views upon government and religion. We have confined ourselves to his relations to the early settlers of Albany County and vicinity, and their successors, and to the characteristics developed by the educational, moral and religious influences to which they were subjected here in the affairs of peace and war. We have the Indian of the Six Nations only before us as he was in our local history; as he mingled with our people as a fur- trader, in treaties of peace, in our county, in our wars, in our records of treachery and carnage.

More will be said of Indian treaties, trade and other local matters in the history of Albany City.

EARLY DISCOVERY-VERRAZANO.

There are geographers who believe that Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine navigator, commanding a French crew, sailing across the Atlantic, and,

Capt. Norris,

Peter Matthews,

Mayor and Recorder of Al- bany, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Jacob Glen,

EARLY DISCOVERY-VERRAZANO.

cruising up the Eastern coast of what is now the United States, entered the Bay of New York in the spring of 1524. After a brief tarry, he made no farther sail up the great river, no farther exam- ination of its beautiful shores, but went on his way. Coasting along New England, and returning to France, he made a report of his hurried and comparatively unimportant trip to Francis I., King of France, in July following. If this is true, the Dauphin was the first European vessel that touched the waters of our Hudson River. But the French monarch, so far as appears, took no notice of this discovery. Subsequent French navigators paid no regard to it. Cartier, in 1534, and others near his time, did not follow in his track, but went to the more chilly latitudes and more inhospitable shores of the St. Lawrence to found New France. Could they have been ignorant of the voyages of Verrazano? And Champlain sailed up the lake that bears his name almost to the upper waters of the Hudson in 1609, entirely ignorant of French claims, or oblivions of them if he even heard of them. This neglect of the alleged Verrazano report, in an age of discovery, and when the eyes of all Western Europe were turned toward these shores, and all its monarchs were eager to increase wealth and power by territorial ex- tensions in America, is not easily explained. Hence, many regard the report as a historic frand, and the whole matter as a fable. We give the facts, but express no opinion in this place. One thing is certain, that there is no credible evidence that any subsequent settlements or trade ever resulted from this alleged discovery of Verrazano; nor is "the city and county of Albany " indebted to it for its planting and growth. Nothing came of it ; hence it probably has no place worthy of special discussion in this history .*

At the convention at Albany in the year 1754, held by the Indian Commissioners, as reported among the papers of Sir William Johnson, a speech was made by one of the Indians, in which he gives the following account of the first advent of the white race to the Hudson River. "Our fathers had a castle on this river. As one of them walked out he saw something on the river, but was at a loss to know what it was. He took it at first for a great fish. He ran into the castle and gave notice to the other Indians. Two of our forefathers went to see what it was, and found it a vessel with men in it. They immediately joined hands with the men in the vessel and became friends. The white people told them they should not come up the river any farther at that time; and said to them they would return from whence they came, and come again in a year's time. According to their promise they returned in a year's time, and came as far up the river as where the old fort stood. Our forefathers invited them ashore and said to them, we will give you a place to make you a town. It shall be from this place up to such a stream (meaning Patroon's Creek), and from the river back up to the hill."

In an able document sent by "The People of New Netherlands" to "The High and Mighty Lords States General of the United Netherlands," on the 28th July, 1649, occurs the following, the insertion of which seems pertinent here :

"In the year of Christ 1609 was the country, of which we now propose to speak, first found and discovered at the expense of the General East India Company-though directing their aim and design elsewhere-by the ship de Halve Mane, whereof Henry Hudson was master and factor. It was afterward named New-Netherland by our people, and that very justly, for it was first discovered and taken possession of by New Netherlanders and at their expense, so that even at the present day the natives of the country, who are so old as to remember the event, testify that, on seeing the Dutch ships on their first coming here, they knew not what to make of them, whether they came down from heaven or were devils. Some of them on its first approach, even imagined it to be a fish or

* See note, page r. Furthermore, it is here proper to quote again from " Discoveries in America to 1525," by A. J. Weise, pp. 361, 362 : "The fact that the French had ascended the Grande River (Hudson River, to the height of its navigation, to trade with the Indians, long before Henry Hudson explored it, is corroborated by still stronger testimony than that already presented. One of the earliest maps representing the territory of Nieu Nederlandt (New Netherland), or that part of New France which the French had called La Terre d'Anormee Berge, is the Figurative Chart presented to their High Mightinesses, the Lords States General of the United Netherlands, on the 11th of October, 1614, by a number of Dutch merchants, praying for a special license to navigate and traffic within the limits of this part of North America. {Says John R. Brodhead, the historian : "This map (made in 1614) is undoubtedly one of the most interesting memorials we have. It is about three feet long, and shows, very minutely, the course of the Hudson River from Manhattan to above Albany, as well as a portion of the sea-coast ; and contains, likewise, curious notes and memoranda about the neighboring Indians. The work, perhaps, of one of the companions of Hudson himself, and made within five years of the discovery of our river, its fidelity of delinea- tion is scarcely less remarkable than its high antiquity.'] One of these explanatory notes contains the undeniable testimony that the

French were the discoverers of the Grande River, and that they had been trading with the Mohawks long before the Half-Moon sailed up the river. The plain language of the inscription makes all explanation of its meaning unnecessary : 'But as far as one can understand by what the Maquaas (Mohawks) say and show, the French come with sloops as high up as their country to trade with them.' A fac simile of this map is in the State Library, and the inscription above referred to is as follows : 'Ma so vele men heeft connen verstaen uyt i seggen ende beduyen van de Maquaas so comen de Francoysen met sloupen tot bovem aen haer land met hacrluy handeln.'" G. R. H.

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

some sea-monster, so that a strange rumor con- cerning it flew through the whole country. We have heard the Indians also frequently say that they knew of no other world or people previous to the arrival of the Netherlanders here."

EARLY DISCOVERY-HENRY HUDSON AND HIS FOLLOWERS.

Henry Hudson first made known to the civilized world "the great river of the North," which we now call Hudson in honor of this bold discoverer. He was an English navigator, an intimate friend of the famous Captain John Smith, who had been employed by London merchants in the vain search for a passage to India by the Northern seas. The pursuit being abandoned by them, as is said, it was continued by the Dutch East India Company. On the 4th of April, 1609, he sailed from Amsterdam, with a crew of about 20 English and Dutch sailors, in the Half-Moon, a yacht of about 80 tons. Impas- sable ice turned his prow. Steering across the Atlantic, touching the shores of the Penobscot Bay and Cape Cod, he proceeded to the capes of the Chesapeake, which he reached early in August. Thence he sailed northerly along the coast, entering rivers' mouths, until he anchored in New York Bay early in September. On the 12th, he commenced sailing up the river, advancing as far as he found it safely navigable, probably to a point near the present site of Hudson City. Anchor- ing here on the 19th, he sent a boat with his mate and four men further up the river, which, no doubt, passed the site of Albany. He may have proceeded the whole length of the present county, as far as the sprouts of the Mohawk. On the 23d, convinced that this "River of the Mountains " furnished no shorter route to China and the Indies, he leisurely returned down the stream, sailing out to sea, and reaching England November 7th. He had many interviews with natives along the shores, generally of the most friendly character. They came to him in boats laden with fruit, meat, furs, and their own manufactures; they received trinkets in return with great delight. He found the inhabitants below the highlands more savage and faithless than those far- ther north. Delighted with the noble stream, its banks rich in autumnal foliage, fertile in fruits, splendid in varied scenery, and coursing through a region evidently abounding in large resources for adventure and wealth, his report to the Dutch Company was most favorable. It was not forgotten by them. The next year, another vessel was sent out by shrewd merchants of Amsterdam, which made a successful adventure in the fur trade along

the Mauritius, as the Dutch first named the Hudson. Other vessels followed in 1611, 1612, 1613 and 1614, on voyages of discovery and trade. Captains John De Witt, Hendrick Corstiaensen, Adrian Block, and Cornelius Jacobsen Mey were foremost in these enterprises. The coast, with contiguous islands, river mouths and bays, all along from Nahant to Delaware Bay, were visited by them. The Fresh or Connecticut, and other rivers were ascended so far as they could be navigated. Manhattan Island was made the chief depot of trade, and Corstiaensen was appointed agent for the Holland fur traffickers. In this same year, 1612, he began laying the foun- dations of the future commercial metropolis of this now great Republic in the construction of a small fort with a few rude buildings, on the southern extremity of the island.

NEW NETHERLANDS- THE ENGLISH CLAIM.

In 1614 the territory extending from Cape Cod to the Delaware River was called New Netherlands, and claimed as under the States General of Hol- land. Its limits were not well defined, but it was understood to include all the coasts and islands herein and adjacent, and the lands upon the Dela- ware, Hudson and Connecticut rivers, so far as the Dutch needed them for settlements and trade. But the claim was not admitted by England. The English Cabots had-as was then believed-been the first of Europeans to discover the coast of North America.

The whole territory in North America, lying be- tween the 34th and 45th parallels of latitude, was claimed by England by right of prior discovery. The claim extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 1606, on April 10th, two patents were granted by James I., King of Great Britain, dividing this territory into North Virginia and South Virginia- the former was given for the purpose of colonization to the Plymouth Company ; the latter to the Lon- don Company. The settlement of Jamestown in 1607, and Plymouth, in 1620, resulted.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 16

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452