USA > New York > Geography of the state of New York. Embracing its physical features, climate, geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, history, pursuits of the people, government, education, internal improvements &c. With statistical tables, and a separate description and map of each county > Part 6
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The country thus discovered by Hudson, was inhabited by numerous roving tribes of Indians, of whom the Maquaas or Mohawks were the most formidable and warlike. The Man- hattans, who inhabited the island on which New York is situa- ted, were also a fierce and warlike nation. Between thirty and forty of these tribes occupied Long Island and the country wa- tered by the Hudson and Delaware rivers and their branches.
In 1610, a ship was sent by some merchants in Amsterdam, to trade with the Indians of Hudson river, for furs, &c. Other voyages were made during the succeeding years. In 1613, one
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or two small trading forts were erected on the river ; and four houses were built on Manhattan Island, under the superintend- ence of Hendrick Corstiaensen, who visited with his trading boats every creek, inlet and bay in the vicinity, for the purpose of securing for his employers, the furs and produce of the country.
On the 29th of March, 1614, the States General of the United Netherlands passed an ordinance, granting to all original diecov- erers of lands in North America, the exclusive privilege of making four voyages to such lands as they had discovered, for the purposes of trade. Under this ordinance, five ships were despatched, by a company of merchants, the same year. The command of these vesse's was giv :n to Adriaen Blok, Hendrick Corstiaensen and Cornelis Jacobsen Mey. They explored ex- tensively the coast near New York.
Blok discovered and named Block Island, south of Rhode Island, and also the East river, to which he gave the name of Hellegat, from the Hellegat river in East Flanders.
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Captain Mey proceeding southward, discovered and named Capes May and Henlopen, or Hindlopen. On the return of these ships, a Capt. Hendrickson was left on the coast, to prosecute discoveries.
The tract of country extending from the Connecticut to the Delaware river, received the name of New Netherlands ; and the exclusive right to trade there for three years from that date, Oct. 11, 1614, was granted to the discoverers by the States General.
The discoverers, upon the passage of this grant, formed themselves into a company, called the United New Netherlands Company. This company erected, the same year, a fort and a trading house at an island, near the head of navigation on the Hudson, just below the present city of Albany, and garrisoned it with ten or twelve men. Another fort was erected at the southern point of Manhattan Island ; and men were despatched in every direction among the Indian tribes, to induce them to trade with the company.
In 1618, a flood in the North river, or Mauritius, as it was called, injured the company's fort at Castle Island, near Albany, so much that it was deemed best to remove it to another posi- tion. Accordingly, a site was chosen on the Normanskill, or creek, a few miles below. Here they made a treaty with the Five Nations. The charter granted to the New Netherlands Company, by the States General, having expired this year, (1618,) they petitioned for its renewal, but in vain. Private traders, principally the former partners of that company, con- tinued, however, to visit the country for the purposes of traffic.
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At this period the attention of the Puritans, who afterwards settled at Plymouth, was attracted to this fertile and beautiful country. Having in vain applied to England, fer grants of ter- ritory in the New World, they intimated, in the beginning of the year 1620, to the prominent individuals concerned in the trade to the New Netherlands, their desire to emigrate thither. This intimation was readily and willingly received by these traders, and a petition presented by them to the States General, for their approval of the project. War existing, however, between the States General and Spain, that body thought best, not to approve this proposition.
In June, 1621, was passed the charter of the Dutch West India Company, an armed Mercantile Association, which was designed to extend the fame and power of the Netherlands ; and to render them formidable upon the seas to Spain, their old and sanguinary enemy. This charter, though not particularly favorable to freedom, was as liberal in its provisions, as that of any other commercial association of that period.
. The West India Company having been fully organized, sent out a ship called the New Netherlands, on the 20th of June, 1623, to their newly acquired possessions, under the direction of Capt. Mey already noticed, and Adriaen Joriszen Tienpont. The former of these, proceeded immediately to the Delaware, then called the South, or Prince Hendrick's river, and there established a fort, near the present town of Glouces- ter, which he named fort Nassau. The same year a fortified post, called Fort Orange, was erected within the limits of the present city of Albany, a few miles above that erected in 1618, on the Normanskill.
DIRECTOR MINUIT'S ADMINISTRATION.
In 1624, Peter Minuit, of Wesel, in Westphalia, having been appointed director of New Netherlands, arrived in the country, bringing with him several families of Walloons, inhabitants of the frontier between Belgium and France.
These settled on a bay of Long Island, near Manhattan Isl- and, called from them Wahlebocht, or the bay of the foreigners, a name since corrupted into Wallabout. Here Sarah de Ra- pelje, the first child of European parentage, whose birth occur- red in the colony, was born in June, 1625.
. The government of this newly established colony was vested in the director, and a council of five, who possessed supreme executive, legislative and judicial authority in the colony. The only other important officer of the government was the Schout Fiscal, who filled both the offices of Sheriff and Attor- ney General. Under the superintendence of these authorities, the trade of the colony prospered.
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In 1626, Staten Island was purchased of the Indians; and in the same year, the island of Manhattan was bought for the sum of twenty-four dollars. The fort, upon this latter island, received the title of Fort Amsterdam, and the colony that of New Amsterdam.
An affray occurred between some of Minuit's farm servants and an Indian, in which the latter was killed. No attempts were made to punish the murderers; and this outrage after- wards led to serious consequences. The exports of the colony this year amounted to about $19,000.
In the ensuing year, 1627, amicable correspondence was opened between the Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam, and the Pilgrim settlers at Plymouth. In this correspondence the English authority was set up by the Plymouth coloniste over the region watered by the Connecticut, and denied by the Dutch.
Up to the year 1629, no colonies, properly so called, can be said to have been established in the New Netherlands. The settlements were simply trading establishments, in which the · traffic in furs was the principal employment ; and the soil was hardly cultivated in sufficient quantities to supply the wants of the traders.
In Sept. 1628, Admiral Heyn, who had charge of the West India Company's fleet, captured the Spanish Plate ships, con- taining gold, silver, &c. to the value of five millions of dollars. The directors of the company, elated by such unexpected good fortune, were disposed to yield to any measure apparently cal- culated to increase their wealth; and at the meeting of the company's council (commonly known as the XIX,) on the 7th of June, 1626, a measure was adopted, the effects of which are yet felt in the state.
This measure was, the passage of a grant to certain individ- uals, of extensive seignories, or tracts of land, with feudal rights, giving them power over the lives and persons of their subjects. Certain restrictions and limitations were made in this grant, which was called " The Freedoms and Exceptions, granted by the Assembly of the XIX, of the Priviliged West India Company, to all such as shall plant any colonies in New Netherlands."
Under this grant Samuel Godyn and Samuel Bloemmaert pur- chased, soon after, a tract of land, thirty-two miles long, and two miles wide, on the south-west side of Delaware Bay; and on the 18th of April, 1630, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a pearl mer- chant of Amsterdam, secured a tract on the west side of the North river, embracing the site of the present city of Albany.
By subsequent purchase, in this year and in 1637, Mr. Van
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Rensselaer became proprietor of a tract of land, twenty four miles long, and forty-eight broad, now composing the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and part of the. county. of Columbia.
In 1630, Godyn and Bloemmaert also secured a tract, on the opposite shore of the Delaware Bay, making a territory of sixty- four miles in circumference. Another of the company's direct- ors, Michael Paauw, purchased Staten Island, Jersey City and Ahasimus, now called Harsimus, with the lands adjacent.
This colony was called Pavonia: that on the Delaware, Zwanendal, or the valley of swans, and Mr. Van Rensselaer's, Rensselaerwyck.
Active exertions were forthwith made to colonize these vast estates. Colonies were sent to Rensselaerwyck and Zwanen- dal ; and fortifications erected. Anxious, however, to partici- pate in the very profitable trade in furs and peltries, the Pa- troons, in the opinion of the other directors, soon transcended the limits prescribed, in the bill of Freedoms and Exceptions. Hence difficulties arose between the two parties, which mate- rially embarrassed the prosperity of the infant colonies. Minuit the director, was recalled, partly probably from the machina- tions of Wouter Van Twiller, who, in the capacity of agent of the company, had visited the colony two years before, (1632.)
On his way home in March, 1632, Director Minuit was forced, by stress of weather, to put into the port of Plymouth, England. The vessel was immediately seized, on her arrival, on a charge of having traded and obtained her cargo in countries subject to Her Brittanic Majesty. Considerable diplomatic correspondence ensued between the State officers of England and the Nether- lands ; and finally, the object of the English government, (the assertion of their title,) having been attained, the vessel was released.
During this period the dispute between the Patroons and the colony continued. In the latter part of the year, the Indians in the neighborhood of the Delaware Bay, considering themselves injured, came suddenly upon the colony of Zwanendal, and butchered in cold blood all the colonists, thirty-four persons in number. The next year, Captain de Vries, the founder of the colony, returned from Holland, and, finding himself unable to punish the treachery of the Indians, made a peace with them.
DIRECTOR VAN TWILLER'S ADMINISTRATION.
In April, 1633, Wouter Van Twiller, a relation of the Pa- troon Van Rensselaer, having been appointed director of the settlement, arrived at New Amsterdam. About this time also Rev. Everardus Bogardus, the first minister, and Adam Roe- landsen, the first schoolmaster, arrived in the colony. Vao
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Twiller seems to have been ill calculated to govern the colony, at so stormy a period as this. Addicted to the use of intoxica- ting liquors, he only resorted to heavier potations, when the emergency called for sober and vigorous action.
In the early part of his administration, the Dutch settlements, on the Connecticut, were established. In 1614, Adrien Blok, one of the most enterprising captains in the employ of the New Netherlands Company, had discovered this river, and named it the Fresh Water River.
In 1632, Hans Encluys, one of the servants of the West India Company, had set up the arms of the States General at Kievits Hoeck, now Saybrook Point, thus formally taking possession of the river. He had also purchased a tract of land, at that point, for the company, from the Indians.
On the 8th of June, 1633, Jacob Van Curler, under the direction of Van Twiller, purchased territory along the Con- necticut river, embracing most of the site of the present city of Hartford, and several of the adjacent towns, of Tattoe- pan, chief of Sickenam (Little) River. On this territory he erected a fort or trading post, which he fortified with two pieces of cannon.
On the 16th of September following, a vessel commanded by Capt. Wm. Holmes, and sent by the Plymouth Colony, who had settled about Massachusetts Bay, ascended the Connecti- cut. On passing the fort, Capt. Holmes was ordered to stop ; but being in stronger force than the Dutch, he persisted; and proceeded, (though not without repeated protests from the Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam,) to erect, a little above, the frame of a house which he had brought round in his vessel.
During this and the succeeding year, the contest between the Patroons and the Company continued to the manifest disad- vantage of both parties.
In 1635, the English at Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, sent several new colonies to the Connecticut river, one of which, under the command of Governor Winthrop, landing at Say- brook Point, tore down the arms of the States General, and carved a i uffoon's face in its stead. They also refused to let the utch lan , on the tract they had purchased in 1632; and erected on the very same tract, Saybrook fort.
At the present site of Springfield, Mass., Mr. Pynchon estab- lished a trading house and a plantation: and the next year, 1636, Hooker and his followers located themselves in Hartford.
DIRECTOR KIEFT'S ADMINIS ET ATION.
In 1637, the mal-administration of Director Van Twiller having come to the ears of the company, William Kieft was
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appointed in his place. Director Kieft arrived in New Amster- dam in March, 1638, and found the fort greatly dilapidated ; the company's property wretchedly managed, and every thing be- tokening the prevalence of disorder. Director Van Twiller, however, had not suffered his own interests to be neglected ; his farms were well stocked, and his houses in good repair.
The new director began, with a strong hand, to reform abuses, and to improve his colony ; but he was a man of headstrong temper, who would not brook control or advice, and possessed, at the same time, a weak and ill balanced mind. Like his pre- decessor, he was addicted to intemperate habits.
In 1638, Peter Minuit, the first Director of the New Nether- lands, who had, after his dismission from that station, gone to Sweden, arrived on the coast with a Swedish colony, and settled upon the banks of the Delaware, within the limits of the territory claimed by the Dutch.
Having erected a fort there, which he named Fort Christina, after the Swedish queen, Kieft protested against his course, as an invasion of his territory : but from the weakness of his own colony, he was obliged to content himself with protesting.
In the latter part of the year 1638, the restrictions which hitherto had been placed, by the company, upon the trade to the New Netherlands, were taken off, and free traffic encouraged. This measure gave a new impulse to trade and emigration; new farms were taken up; and a number of gentlemen of wealth and distinction removed to the colony.
Persecution, too, drove many, from New England and Virginia, to settle among the more tolerant Dutch, who, though firm in their adherence to their own creed, did not deem it necessary to persecute those who differed from them in religious tenets.
In the mean time the aggressive disposition of the English settlers still continued. They founded a colony at New Haven, notwithstanding Director Kieft's protests ; they occupied the fertile valley of the Tunxis (Farmington) river ; and even went so far as to plough and sow the company's lands around the Fort of Good Hope at Hartford, assaulting and severely wounding some of the men in charge of that post, whom they found at work in the fields.
The commander of the fort, Gysbert Op Dyck, promptly re- monstrated against this unwarrantable procedure, but the Eng- lish justified themselves on the ground, that as the lands were uncultivated, and the Dutch did nothing to improve them, "it was a sin to let such fine lands lie waste."
Not satisfied with these aggressions, the Plymouth company proceeded to grant the whole of Long Island, to the Earl of Stir- ling ; and a settlement was soon afterwards effected, by Lyon Gardiner, at Gardiner's Island.
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The Dutch, meantime, were active in establishing settlements, at the western extremity of the island. Lands were granted to settlers in Brooklyn, then called Breuckelen; at Gowanus, and at Gravenzande, now called Gravesend.
In May, 1640, a company of emigrants from Lynn, Mass., claiming authority under the Earl of Stirling's patent, com- menced a settlement near Cow Neck. The Director having learned this fact, despatched the Schout, or Sheriff, with a band of soldiers, to investigate the matter ; and, if they had actually commenced a settlement, to take them prisoners. This was ac- complished ; and after examination, they were dismissed, on con- dition, that they should leave the territory of their High Mighti- nesses, the States General.
In the autumn of the same year they returned, and founded the town of Southampton, L. I. Other settlers, from the same quarter, soon after founded Southold. These settlements were not disturbed by the Dutch.
This year, a most sanguinary contest commenced, with the Indians, which continued to disturb the colony for five years; and had well nigh depopulated it. The causes of this war were many. The Indians saw, with daily increasing envy and dis- like, the heritage of their fathers occupied by strangers. The settlers, often arrogant and selfish, deprived them of their real or imagined rights.
In addition to this, Director Kieft, acting, as he alleged, under instructions received from Holland, proceeded,to lay a tax on the Indian tribes for the support of the colony. This aroused their indignation; and unfortunately, about this time, a robbery, committed by some of the servants of the colonists, was attrib- uted to the Indians. Kieft's imprudent disposition led him to send a body of soldiers, to execute summary vengeance upon the supposed offenders. A number of them were inhumanly butchered, and their crops destroyed.
This produced deep hostility of feeling, on the part of the Indians ; and the following season, with the cunning character- istic of their race, they took measures for revenge. Unexpect- edly, they attacked Staten Island, and killed several planters. Kieft sought satisfaction, by exciting a war between the Indian tribes.
Early in 1642, he determined to avenge a murder, which had been committed by one of the Indians. He accordingly called a council of twelve men, from among the citizens of New Am- sterdam, to aid him, in deciding upon the proper course to be pursued. -
This council advised patience and forbearance ; and then pro- ceeded to take up the abuses of his government, and to ask for reforms. Kieft soon dismissed. them, forbade their meeting
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again, and disregarding their advice, sent a company of soldiers to attack the Indians. They were unsuccessful in finding them, and a hollow peace was concluded between the two parties. This however did not long continue.
In 1643, one of the Hackensack tribe, having been robbed by some of the Dutch, killed two of them in revenge. Kieft de- manded the murderer, but the Indians refused to deliver him up. At this juncture the Mohawks, the most formidable tribe, in the territory bordering on the Hudson and the Lakes, de- scended the river for the purpose of levying tribute from the weaker tribes, in the neighborhood of New Amsterdam.
These, terror stricken, fled to the Dutch for protection, and might have been won to sincere friendship, by kindness; but having been received kindly for a few days, they left the colony, and scattered themselves among the adjacent tribes.
It was at this period that Kieft, forgetful of the dictates of humanity, suffered himself to authorize a transaction which stains, most foully, his whole administration. At a drunken revel on the 22d of February, 1643, a petition was presented to him by some of the most blood thirsty of the inhabitants, re- questing him to order the extermination of these Indians, thus deprived of a shelter and a home. Kieft readily complied, and when the season of debauchery was past, refused to recall his order.
Two parties of soldiers were sent out at night to surprise and destroy the unsuspecting red men. One hundred and ten were killed, and thirty taken prisoners. Nor were these all warriors, who were thus butchered in their sleep. Women and children were cut to pieces, by the swords of these ruthless exterminators ; and neither age, nor sex were spared.
The consequences, as might have been expected, were, that the farms and buildings of the Dutch were burned by the exas- perated Indians ; numbers of the settlers were killed ; and in a few weeks Kieft was compelled to receive the inhabitants into the fort, as the only place which afforded protection, against the assaults of the savages. His course aroused the prejudices of the people against him ; and endeavoring to throw the blame of it upon others, he was threatened with assassination.
In the autumn of 1643, the savages united together to drive the Dutch from New Amsterdam ; and almost daily, murders were committed by them. Kieft was again compelled to submit to the association of the representatives of the people, with him- self in the government.
Having received a reinforcement, from the English settlers at Westchester, in 1644, under the command of Capt. Underhill, several expeditions were undertaken against their common enemy, 'in which some eight hundred were alain. These re-
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suits led the Indian tribes of Long Island, and the shore adja- cent, (east of New Amsterdam,) to sue for peace; but it was not of long continuance. In 1645, however, a treaty was con- cluded, through the powerful intervention of the Mohawks, with most of the Indian tribes.
During this whole period, from 1640 to 1645, the English colo- nists were constantly pursuing a course of aggression, upon the territories claimed by the Dutch. Determined to harass the commander of the fort at Hartford, till he should be compelled to leave his post, they neglected no means of carrying into effect their resolution. They also proceeded to establish settle- ments, west of the Connecticut, wherever they could obtain a foothold.
On their southern frontier, too, the Swedes were depriving them of their trade with the Indians, and securing the fairest lands, watered by the Delaware and its tributaries, for their farms, notwithstanding these had been previously purchased of the native proprietors, by the Dutch.
The " Colonie" of Rensselaerwyck, meanwhile, removed from 'these troubles, and cultivating a friendly relation with the In- dian tribes, was peaceful and prosperous. The Patroon com- plained, indeed, that his rents were not punctually paid; but the number of his bouweries, or farms under cultivation, and the amount of exports, showed conclusively, that its interests were, on the whole, well managed.
Mindful of the religious improvement of his colonists, the Pa- troon sent over in 1642, the Rev. Johannes Megapolensis, as minister of the "Colonie," who labored among them efficiently and successfully for many years.
Mr. Van Rensselaer never resided in his colony ; but confided its management to a Commissary General, or Superintendent; which office was filled by Arendt Van Curler or Corlaer, a most worthy and excellent man; and after him by Anthony de Hooges.
The office of Schout Fiscal or Sheriff and Attorney General, was also one of great importance, and was filled by Jacob Albert- sen Planck, and afterwards by Adriaen Van der Donck.
In 1643, a church was erected on what is now Church street, near Market street, or Broadway, Albany.
In 1646, the venerable Patroon, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, died at Amsterdam. His son Johannes succeeded him as Patroon.
In 1647, two whales ascended the Hudson, one of which grounded on an island at the mouth of the Mohawk, causing great consternation among the honest burghers.
The Assembly of the XIX. finding their colony at New Am- sterdam decreasing in numbers and wealth, and verging towards
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destruction, under the mismanagement of Director Kieft; resolv- ed to recall him; and in 1645 appointed in his place General Peter Stuyvesant, formerly Director of the Island of Curasoa.
GOVERNOR STUYVESANT'S ADMINISTRATION.
Peter Stuyvesant, the successor of Kieft, in the government of New Netherlands, had been Director of the Dutch settlement at Curacoa and the adjacent islands; and had acquired a high reputation for military prowess. Having been wounded in the siege of St. Martins, in 1644; he returned to Holland for surgical aid. In 1645, his health having been partially restored, the West India Company appointed him Director of their colony of New Netherlands.
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