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 8
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* Historians have differed materially in their estimate of the character of Leisler. By some he has been denounced as weak and vain; by others ex- tolled for his firmness and integrity. It is apparent from a careful examination of his administration, that he was a man of honesty and integrity of purpose, but strongly prejudiced against the Roman Catholic faith, and not possessed of those traits of character, which would qualify him for a successful governor, in the troublous times in which he lived.
Milborne was a man of considerable education, and undoubtedly possessed greater abilities, and perhaps less integrity, than his father-in-law. It is alleged that Leisler was very much influenced by him in his measures.
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Captain Kidd accordingly sailed for New York in April, 1696, but after cruising for a while, himself turned pirate, and became the most ferocious and daring of all the ocean marauders. Returning to America, in 1701, he sold his ship, and boldly appeared in Boston, where he was arrested, and sent to England for trial and execution.
Lord Bellomont died in 1701, and John Nanfan, who had been his lieutenant governor in New York, succeeded him in the government.
The administration of Lord Bellomont is stained by the enactment of one law, which, for its bigotry and intolerance, is deserving of notice. In 1700, a law was passed, directing that every Catholic priest who came into the colony, should be hanged. The design of this law was alleged to be, to prevent the Catholic priests from exerting an influence upon the Indiana, hostile to the English.
The earl, as well as Nanfan, who was his kinsman, had es- poused the cause of the friends of Leisler, and already two dis tinct parties had been arrayed against each other.
In 1701, on the petition of the family of Leisler, to the queen, the attainder was reversed, and £1000 granted his heirs, as a compensation for their losses,
Nicholas Bayard, one of the most active of those who had procured the death of Leisler, having attacked Governor Nanfan, and his measures in public, and ex- hibited insubordination to the government, was arrested, in 1702, tried, convicted of high treason, and sentenced to death. But his prosecutors did not urge his im- mediate execution ; and on the accession of Lord Cornbury, he was liberated from prison, and the attainder reversed.
On the 3d of May, 1702, Lord Cornbury, grandson of the Earl of Clarendon, and first cousin to the queen, arrived as governor.
Of all the Governors of the colony under the English crown, Lord Cornbury received the unenviable distinction, of being the worst. Rapacious without a parallel, he hesitated not to apply the public money to his own private purposes ; and though notoriously vicious, yet he was so intolerant, that he sought to estab- lish the Episcopacy at all hazards, imprisoning and prohibiting ministers of other denominations, from exercising their functions, without his special license. He was, moreover, as destitute of gratitude, as of courtesy, injuring those most, from whom he had received the greatest benefits. His manners were as ignoble and undignified, as his conduct was base, and when this hopeful scion of royalty wan- dered about the streets clothed as a woman, [which was a common practice with him] the people felt that he had taken Caligula for a model.
So urgent were the complaints against him, that the queen, in December, 1708, felt herself compelled to revoke his commission. No sooner was he deposed from office, than his creditors put him in jail, where he remained, till the death of his father, by eleva- ting him to the peerage, procured his liberation. He had at- tached himself to the Anti-Leislerian party.
He was succeeded, in December, 1708, by John, Lord Love- lace, Baron of Hurley. The cheering hopes, to which the appointment of this excellent man gave rise, were doomed to sudden disappointment, as he died on the 5th of May, 1709. .
He was succeeded by the lieutenant governor, Ingoldsby, whose administration, of eleven months, is only remarkable for
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another unsuccessful attempt upon the French possessions in Canada, under the direction of Colonel Nicholson. This oc- curred in 1709.
After the failure of this attempt, Colonel Schuyler visited England with five of the Iroquois sachems, in order to rouse the people to greater exertions, in defend- ing the colonies.
In April, 1710, Lieutenant Governor Ingoldsby was removed from office, and Gerardus Beekman, the senior councillor, offi- ciated as governor, till the arrival of General Hunter, in June, 1710. Three thousand Palatines, from Germany, flying from religious persecution in their own country, came over with Governor Hunter.
The ensuing year, another expedition was commenced against Canada, by land and water. The squadron destined for its reduction was under the command of Sir Hoveden Walker, and the troops under Brigadier General Hill. Owing to mismanagement, they did not enter the St. Lawrence sufficiently early in the season, and having unskilful pilota, several of the ships ware wrecked in that river, and 800 soldiers lost. The whole expedition proved a failure.
As was to be expected, the assembly did not feel inclined in all cases to pay implicit deference to the governor's mandates ; and, in the earlier years of his administration, Governor Hunter had several unpleasant collisions with that body. After a time, however, both parties exercised a spirit of mutual forbearance, which made their intercourse pleasant and advantageous to the colony.
Measures were adopted, during his administration, to adjust the boundaries between the colony and the adjacent colonies of New Jersey and Connecticut; but no definite settlement was made.
Few of the colonial governors resigned their office more generally beloved, or more ardently attached to the interests of the colony, than Governor Hunter. The address of the assembly to him, at his departure, in 1719, in its tone of affec- tion and regard, stande forth alone, in these times of distraction, like a green and fertile oasis, amid the shifting and arid sands of Sabara.
During the period (a little more than a year) which elapsed between the departure of Governor Hunter, and the arrival of his successor, Colonel Schuyler, as senior member of the coun- cil, officiated in the place of the governor. Under his adminis- tration, a treaty, offensive and defensive, was again concluded with the Iroquois.
Governor Burnet arrived in September, 1720, and continued in office till his death, in April, 1728.
One of the first acts of his administration, was one prohib- iting the sale of goods, suitable for the Indian trade, to the French from Quebec and Montreal.
This, though a very just and necessary measure, excited great bitterness of feeling on the part of the merchants who were engaged in this traffic, and of course in the minds of their adherents. They petitioned Parliament for its repeal ; but were foiled, by the able manner in which their false statements were exposed, by Dr. Colden, then a member of the council.
During this excitement, another transaction affected Governor Burnet's popu- larity. He interfered, at the request of one of the parties concerned, in an ecclesi- astical difficulty, in the French church in New York city, and of course drew upon himself the opposition of the other party.
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The French in Canada, under the vigorous government of the aged, but ambitious Count Frontenac, had formed the design of erecting a chain of military posts to the Ohio river, and along its banks; thus confining. the English to the coast east of the Alleganies. In pursuance of this design, they proceeded, in 1725, though not without the most strenuous opposition, on the part of Governor Burnet and Colonel Schuyler, to erect a fort on Niagara river, which they called Fort Niagara.
The next year, with equally violent opposition on the part of the French, Governor Burnet erected Fort Oswego, at the present site of the village of Oswego.
The new assembly convened in 1797, were of a different political complexion from their predecessors; and between them and the governor, there were frequent and unpleasant contentions. These contentions continued till the period of his death. His fine talents, profound learning, and unaffected kindness of heart, caused him to be esteemed even by his enemies, and his faults were entombed with him.
Colonel Montgomery succeeded Governor Burnet, in 1728, and remained in office till his death, which occurred in 1731. During his government, viz., in October, 1728, the good will of the Iroquois was secured, and they were engaged to aid in the defence of Fort Oswego. In December, 1729, the king, con- trary to the wishes and representations of the best citizens in the colony, repealed the law, prohibiting the sale of Indian goods to the French. The boundary between Connecticut and New York was fully settled, and the line run, in May, 1731.
In July of the same year, Colonel Montgomery having de- ceased, Rip Van Dam, the senior councillor, administered the government, till August, 1732. During his administration, the French erected a fort at Crown Point, without any resistance on the part of the feeble and inefficient acting governor.
On the first of August, 1732, Rip Van Dam was superseded by the arrival of Colonel Cosby, who remained in office till March, 1736, the period of his death.
Historians have been much divided in their views of Governor Cosby. Some represent him as an arbitrary, tyrannical and unjust ruler. Others regard him as a man of mild manners, but necessarily driven to harsh measures, by the turbu- lent spirits with whom he had to deal.
The act which caused the most serious difficulties in his administration, was his demand that Rip Van Dam, who had officiated as lieutenant governor, pre- vious to his arrival, should divide with him, the emoluments of his office. Mr. Van Dam offered to do this, provided Governor Cosby would also divide what be had received from the colonies, before coming to this country. Governor Cosby, who appears to have been somewhat avaricious, refused to do this, and commen- ced a suit against Van Dam, for the half of his malary. Mr. Van Dam attempted to bring a counter suit, but the judges, who were in the governor's interest, de- clined entertaining it.
The newspapers took up the controversy, and one, conducted by a man named Zenger, defended Van Dam. The attacks of this journal against the governor. provoked the latter and his council, to such a degree, that they directed copies of the paper to be burned by the hangman, and indicted Zenger for libel. At the
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trial, his counsel, Mesars. Alexander and Smith, disputed the jurisdiction of the court, and were stricken from the roll of attorneys in consequence.
Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia, was employed to defend Zenger, and the jury, without leaving their seats, gave a verdict of acquital. Hamilton was presented with the freedom of the city, in a gold box, as an acknowledgement of his services, in upholding the liberties of the people, against a governor appointed by the crown.
During Governor Cosby's administration, a Latin grammar school was founded in New York, by the assembly.
But a few days previous to his decease, Governor Cosby suspended Rip Van Dam from the council, thereby preventing his acting as lieutenant governor, in the event of his death. This act had well nigh produced serious troubles in the colony ; for Mr. Clarke, who was next in order of seniority, having as- sumed the government, Van Dam opposed him, and himself appointed various officers.
The two parties soon came into collision, and a civil war seemed inevitable. Each party prepared for such a result, when, on the very eve of a conflict, a commission arrived from England, confirming Mr. Clarke, in the office of lieutenant gov- ernor, and president of the council.
This, of course, left the other party no alternative but submission. Gov- ernor Clarke exerted himself, to remove all just ground of complaint, from the people. He sought every occasion to conciliate those who were hostile to him ; and during the seven years he was in power, rendered himself highly popular.
In 1737, a company of Highlanders offered to settle on the shores of Lakes Champlain and George, if they could be coun- tenanced and aided by the assembly. As the colony would prove an effectual barrier to the French, on the northern fron- tier, the proposition was cheerfully met, by many of the citizens ; but the assembly withheld the necessary aid, and the poor colonists were obliged to leave their lands, almost in a state of starvation.
In 1741, occurred the Negro plot, so famous in the annals of New York.
The evidence of the existence of such a plot seems to be meagre and insuffi- cient. It is not improbable that a few profligate wretches, whites as well as blacka, had meditated arson ; but the only proof of a plot to burn the city, was the testimony of a single abandoned woman, whose statements often contradicted each other, and were not corroborated by any of her associates. Yet such was the alarm and infatuation of the citizens, that on this woman's testimony, 154 Negroes and twenty Whites were imprisoned, thirteen Negroes were burned at the stake, eighteen or twenty persons hanged, seventy transported to foreign countries, and fifty discharged. .
The people, always suspicious of the Roman Catholics, arrested and executed several Irishmen, who professed that faith, and who happened to arrive in the colony about this time. Among others who were hanged, was one Ury, a Cath- olic priest, who was condemned on two charges; one, that he was concerned in the conspiracy, and the other, that he was a Catholic priest. The charge of con- spiracy, he protested was untrue, nor was it proved against him.
In September, 1743, George Clinton, son of the Earl of Lin- coln, arrived in the colony, with a commission as governor.
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The ensuing year, war was declared, between England and France, and the colonists prepared to carry it on with vigor.
In 1745, the colonies of New England and New York united in an attack upon the French fortress, at Louisburg ; and New York furnished ten pieces of cannon, and £8000 towards the expedition. It was surrendered in June, of that year.
The colonies were seriously molested, during the year 1746, by the Indians, in the pay of the French, who attacked and re- duced the English fort at Hoosick, and also made an incursion upon the settlement at Saratoga, murdering and plundering all who fell in their way. It was therefore determined to make a vigorous attack upon the French fortresses at Crown Point and Niagara, and also to send an army to capture Quebec. For this purpose New York raised £40,000, and solicited aid from England, which was promised, but not furnished. The enter- prise proved unsuccessful.
The peace of Aix la Chapelle was concluded in 1748, and the colony, in the prosperity which followed for a few years, began to recover from its losses by the wars.
In 1746, the assembly appropriated £2250. towards founding a college.
During the years 1746 -9, there were constant contentions, between the governor and assembly ; but in 1750 both parties manifested a more concili- ating spirit, and during the remainder of Governor Clinton's administration, they were on better terms.
Governor Clinton resigned in 1753, and in October of that year, Sir Danvers Osborne arrived, as his successor. Deeply afflicted at the loss of an excellent and amiable wife, the cares of the government seemed, to this unfortunate gentleman, an intolerable burden; and on the 12th of October, 1753, five days after his arrival, he put a period to his own existence.
Mr. De Lancy, the chief justice, was appointed lieutenant gov- ernor, a short time previous to Governor Clinton's resignation, and now assumed the reins of government.
Desirous of retaining the affections of the people, and disposed to side with their representatives in those measures which were advantageous to the colony, while at the same time he held his office at the will of the English government, Mr. De Lancy had a difficult task to perform ; but the skill with which he concili- ated both parties, does honor to his ability, as a statesman.
In 1754 a convention of delegates from the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Penn- sylvania, Maryland and New York, met at Albany, to devise some plan of common defence against the French, who had again commenced hostilities.
At this convention Dr. Franklin, afterwards so eminent in the history of the Revolution, proposed a plan for political union, which was rejected by the provin- cial assemblies, on the ground that it gave too much power to the crown, and by the English government, because it gave too much power to the people.
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In September, 1755, Sir Charles Hardy, an admiral in the British navy, arrived in New York, as governor. Being unac- quainted with civil affairs, he gave the management of these to Mr. De Lancy. In the spring of this year, the colonies had made extensive preparations for an attack on the enemy, but, owing to the ignorance of the commanders of the English forces, of the tactics of Indian warfare, the campaign was utterly un- successful. Braddock, who was sent against Fort Du Quesne, (now Pittsburgh,) was killed, and his army routed, by a small body of Indians. Crown Point, and Niagara, both French posts, although assailed, were not captured.
Nor was the campaign of 1756 more successful. The Eng- lish fort at Oswego was captured, 1600 men taken prisoners, and a large quantity of stores seized, by the French.
The campaign of 1757 was still more unsuccessful. Fort William Henry, on Lake George, with a garrison of 3000 men, was compelled to surrender. These repeated misfortunes awa- kened the energies of the English.
In 1758, William Pitt (Lord Chatham) was placed at the head of government, in England, and a new impulse was given to the energies of the nation. Success soon followed. In July, Louisburg, which at the former peace had been restored to the French, was recaptured. Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, (now Kingston, C. W.) was captured soon after, and the French compelled to abandon Fort Du Quesne. General Aber- crombie attacked Fort Ticonderoga, but unsuccessfully.
Stimulated by this success, New York, in 1759, exerted her- self to the utmost, and raised $625,000 in five months, and lev- ied a force of 2680 men. Ticonderoga was captured by General Amherst, early in the season, and Crown Point surrendered a few days later. In July, General Prideaux invested Fort Niag- ara, and though he was killed in the attack, Sir William John- son, his successor in the command, succeeded in reducing it. On the 13th of September, the brave General Wolfe laid down his life, in the moment of victory, when the English banners floated over the towers of Quebec.
The ensuing year the French, made an unsuccessful effort to recapture Quebec; and on the 8th of September of that year, all the French possessions in Canada were surrendered to the British Government, and the French power extinguished there. Two small islands at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, St. Pierre and Miquelon, alone were preserved to them, of their former vast possessions.
During the progress of these events, in July, 1760, Governor De Lency suddenly deceased. He was succeeded by Dr. Cad- wallader Colden, the president of the council, who in August, 1761, was appointed Lieutenant Governor. In October of the
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same year, General Robert Monkton arrived, with a Governor's commission, but left on the 15th of the ensuing month, to com- mand an expedition against Martinique, and the government again devolved upon Dr. Colden.
It was during his administration, that the difficulties between New Hampshire and New York commenced, relative to the territory, now known as the state of Vermont.
By the original patent, granted to the Duke of York, this tract was included. New Hampshire, however, claimed it under her charter ; and, contending that the charter of the Duke of York was obsolete, proceeded to make extensive grants of land, to the settlers on the west side of the Connecticut. Emigration pro- gressed rapidly, and in 1763, 138 townships had been granted, by New Hamp- shire, covering a large portion of the present state of Vermont.
Governor Colden was not the man to sit by, and tamely submit, to what he deemed injustice to his colony. He issued a proclamation, claiming jurisdiction as far east as the Connecticut, and ordered the sheriff to make returns to him, of any persone, who had taken possession, under the authority of New Hampshire.
The Governor of New Hampshire issued a counter proclamation, and the mat- ter was referred to the Crown, which decided in favor of New York. The at- tempt to enforce this decision, and to induce the inhabitants to take out new deeds under New York, was, with some exceptions, ineffective, and led to con- stant hostilities between the Vermont settlers, and the government of New York.
In 1764 the news of the passage of the Stamp Act, (which rendered all deeds, bonds, notes, &c., invalid, unless written on stamped paper, which should pay a duty to the Crown, ) excited universal indignation among the people. An organization was soon formed in this, as well as some of the adjacent states, called "The Sons of Liberty," which offered the most daring re- sistance, to this aggression upon the rights of the people.
Governor Colden attempted to enforce the act, but the at- tempt called down the hostility of the people upon him, and but for his age, he would undoubtedly have suffered in person. As it was, his effigy was carried about the city, and hung upon a gallows erected for the purpose, and his carriage and other property destroyed.
When the stamps arrived, he was obliged to surrender them to the city corporation, and await the action of the Governor, Sir Henry Moore, who arrived in July, 1765, and by the advice of his council, was deterred from attempting farther to enforce the act.
On the 1st Tuesday in October, 1765, a Congress composed of delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina, met at New York, to take into considera- tion, the invasion of the rights of the colonies, by the Stamp Act.
New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, did not send delegates, but two of them expressed their sympathy with the Congress, and the others bad no meeting of their legislatures, in time to appoint delegates. This Congress made a declaration of the rights and privileges of the colonies, and petitioned for redress.
The Stamp Act was repealed on the 18th of March, 1766; but
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the offensive declaration accompanied the repeal, that " Parlia- ment possessed the power, to bind the colonies in all cases, what- soever."
In 1767, Charles Townsend, chancellor of the English ex- chequer, proposed a new bill, levying duties on glass, paper, paints and tea. This passed, and the inhabitants entered, as they had previously done, into non-importation agreements, by which they pledged themselves to use none of these articles, nor, so far as it could be avoided, other articles of British manu- facture. In 1769, five-sixths of these duties, and in 1770, all of them, were repealed, except the duty on tea. The people of New York, as well as of the other colonies, rigidly abstaining from the use of this beverage, no excitement was produced ; and from 1770 to 1774 a period of calmness ensued, although the English government and the colonists regarded each other with jealousy.
Attempts were made, in 1767, to settle the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. Massachusetts, under her charter, claimed to the Pacific Ocean, and had repeatedly attempted to make settlements within the bounds of New York. The attempt to establish these settlements, had produced collision, and in several instances, bloodshed. Commissioners from the two colonies met at New Haven, in October, 1767, and determined that the Massachusetts line should run twenty miles east of Hudson river, but could not agree in regard to the manner of running that line.
In September, 1769, Sir Henry Moore deceased. His course, during the period in which he acted as Governor, had been pru- dent, mild, and dignified. He had, as far as possible, abstained from controversy with the assembly and people, interpreting his instructions from the government in England, as liberally as lay in his power. His death was much lamented. Governor Col- den again occupied his place, although very much advanced in years.
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