USA > New York > Bronx County > History of Bronx borough, city of New York : compiled for the North side news > Part 2
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Rivalling Split Rock in historic interest is the famous Rocking Stone of Bronx Park, just west of the buffalo range in the south- erly portion of the Zoological Park. Accounts tell that this was a source of wonder and amazement to the Indians, who would gather about these various balanced rocks and hold many a medicine- dance in their weird and peculiar fashion. Many years ago, long before the Bronx Park was even thought of, this rocking stone stood on the extensive estate of the Lydigs, and the foreman of the place attempted to drag it away from the spot it had occu- pied for so many generations. The combined efforts of twenty- four oxen proved unavailing to stir it from its place, and ye: one person, by pushing from the right direction, can easily cause it to rock back and forth.
"A rock, chance poised and balanced lay, So that a stripling arm might sway, A mass no host could raise.
"In nature's rage at random thrown. Yet trembling like the Druid's stone On its precarious base."
Historians tell us that this Rocking Stone, which it is lucky the firmer could not dislodge, is entirely different in geological formation from the rock on which it rests. Had the glacier carried it but a little further south, it would now be in soft carth mateaid of on ice-polished veins of rock, and the Bronx weall have lost one of its most cherished curiosities.
Bạn to rough to Pôham Bay Park. On a section of the Since last one medway from which the Split Rock may be sser. between Bartow Stata and City Island, rises a solitary wortel. emblazoned with a broade tablet and known as "Glover's Rok." in commode of the masterly retreat conducted by Side Gove dusse the Revelation, holding in check the red cools
2
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
under lowe and enabling Washington with his men to reach a point of safety. It is about opposite "Jack's Rock," one of the best fishing resorts in the vicinity.
Within the limits of picturesque Bronx Park of glacial . uriosities, too important to be passed by without a little notice, there are the "glacial grooves," or indentations in the solid rock, showing where the mass of ice plowed its way along. leaving these deep furrows in its wake. In the precipitous side vi a cliff is the "Indian Well." also styled the "Indian Bath," a rocky basin perhaps used by the red men as a place to grind their corn, in the hollow of which some stone, in days of yore, was whirled around and around by the powerful mass of ice until it ground this deep hole. Then the outside of the cliff evi- dently fell forward towards the river, releasing the stone that had done the work, but leaving its results behind.
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A little to the south will be found the "Bear's Den," a ro- mantic spot where the rocks were piled perpendicularly by some immense force, between them being a natural cave in which a family of bears may have made its home and reared its (ubs in these wild, rocky fastnesses. To the south of the "Bear's Den" may be seen the "Indian Burying Ground," where a mass of stones is standing on end in truly Druidical fashion. Whether this be the work of the ice or the Indians or of the white man, there it remains, one of the curiosities of the Botanical Garden.
Now to take a glance at some of the other interesting glacial
freaks. There is the great boulder, styled "Black Rock," partial- ly imbedded in the salt marshes to the south of the Westchester Turnpike, not far from Pugsley's Causeway. I have been told that this is a meteorite, but at any rate there it lies, probably deeply sunken in the ground, almost within sight of the great stone- "Watson Mansion," the home of the Westchester Golf Club.
Overlooking the new Jerome Park Reservoir, just in front of the engineer's office. stands another immense rock, fortu nately on the city's property and so likely to be preserved. If we pass to the southwest, just outside the reservoir's domains, we shall come upon a flat surface of rock, plainly bear- ing the marks of the pas-ing of the glaciers in centuries gone by. Plainly indented here are two depressions, the exact size and shape of human feet. If we can imagine that some "glacial man" stood here when the rock was yet plastic, he must have stood with his toes turned far out, almost too far to have rendered it possible. A photograph of this freak of nature would indeed be difficult, unless the camera were pointed directly downwards.
There are many other boulders that have as yet withstood the advancing - march of civilization, such as the one on top of the ridge overlooking Jerome Avenue, and the great rock near the southerly limit of Claremont Park. A large boulder stands near the corner of the Southern Boulevard and Home Street, but it will soon yield to the "advancing tide that flows not from the waters of the Sound but from New York City."
Rocking Stone of Bronx Park
CHAPTER II
THE INDIANS OF THE BRONX
Hendrick Hudson's Experience-Indian Names-Indian Villages-Indian Deeds
The thirteenth day of September, 1609, says a writer, marked the point of division between the prehistoric and the historic pe- riods of our district. It will be remembered that that great structure of the future, the Hudson Memorial Bridge, that is to span Spuyten Duyvil Creek at its confluence with the Hudson River and connect the Boulevard Lafayette with the beautiful Spuy- ten Duyvil Parkway, is located almost at the exact spot where the "Half Moon" came to anchor and was met by the innumerable canoes of the dusky race, who came out from their villages and hiding places to witness the wonderful flying bird with white wings that had come from such a far distant country. Earlier than that date all is uncertainty, almost ignorance. Afterwards we know something, but far too little, of the many events that make up the history of our borough.
Whence came these red men that once inhabitated our dis- trict and whosc traces we behold even to-day? Of the Indians' own history they seemed strangely ignorant. If we ignore the "indigenous" theory, we may believe that possibly they strayed from the Orient to this country by means of Behring Strait, or were brought in ships that had been wrecked on these shores. Japanese vessels that have not infrequently been cast on our northwestern shores and the islands in the Pacific as well as the Atlantic Oceans may have been the means of bringing these carly dwellers to our region.
Occupying our entire Atlantic seaboard was one great tribe -the Algonquins. This was divided into many subdivisions, speaking many different tongues. Occupying the large portion along the sea coast were the Siwanoys, or Sewanoes. In the interior the Mohicans or Mohegans scemed to have held sway. As to the opinion of an early Dutch settler in regard to the Indians, it was as follows : "They call themselves Manettas ; they are the devil himself!" Probably he had reference to the tribe inhabiting Manhattan Island, which is said to have overflowed to the lower part of Bronx Borough.
An exact allotment of the territory occupied by each branch of the great Algonquin tribe might be given up as hopeless ; their subdivisions and overlappings would puzzle even a Philadelphia lawyer. Oysters were their favorite food, as the shell beds bear distinct evidence. One on City Island may especially be men- tioned, while on Pelham Neck once existed two villages, one on the extreme point and another further on the mainland, ncarer the Eastern Boulevard. I have in my collection two curiosities that were dug up from here. One is a highly polished "banner- stone" and the other a portion of an Indian's skull, exhumed from the extensive burying-ground they once had here.
An early traveler in this borough tells us that "the salvages are the most salvage of any I ever saw." If we were more exact,
we should refer to these red men as "Amerindians." as this title was adopted not long ago by the Bureau of Ethnology.
"And still the lofty hills abide Where sped their moccasincd feet. Still flows and ebbs the river's tide Where skimmed their birch bark fleet.
"But from the hills and river's shore Their dusky race has fled. The pale-face thoughtlessly treads o'er The places of their dcad."
Go where you will, you will find the old Indian names still in use. As we have seen, Muscoota was their name for the Har- lein River-perhaps on account of the number of "mosquitos" they found there, as the name signified "the river of the grass lands." The River Bronx they termed "Aquahung." while the Hudson was in their language "Shatemuck." Mill Brook, whose waters once flowed, clear and crystal, through the Webster and Brook Avenues valley, was known by them as "Acrahung" and Spuyten. Duyvil Creek "Papirinamen." This gave rise to the "Island of Papirinamen," lying to the north of old King's Bridge and cast of Tippett's Brook, which was in truth an island when the tide was high.
The northern bank at the mouth of Spuyten Duyvil Creek was the site of a fortified Indian village "Nipinichsan." It proved both a dwelling place and a defence against the savage "Sank-hi-can-ni ( Fireworkers) living on the west side of the "Shatemuck" ( Hudson). Some years ago the distinct remain- of Indian shells were visible in the rear of the fortress, "Nipinich- san," of the Mohegans.
A brief glance may be taken at the various Indian village -. strongholds and burying grounds that once dotted this borough. They dwelt on the Bronx, on the shores of Tippett's Brook and on the banks of the Hudson. When Hendrick Hudson came sail- ing up in his "Half Moon," and stopped at a point near Spayten Duyvil, he tried to capture two of the Indians, who had come out in their canoes to meet him, but. jumping overboard, they es- caped. What was his dismay, on returning down the river. a month later. when they swarmed out in their canoes to seek re- venge. Hudson describes the attack in his own words as il- lows : "Whereupon two canoes full of men, with their bows and arrows, shot at us after our sterne, in recompense whereof we discharged six muskets, and killed two or three of them. Then above a hundred of them came to a point of land to shoot at u. There I shot a falcon at them and killed two of them; where- upon the rest fled into the woods. Yet they manned of another
4
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
canoe with nine or ten men, who came to meet us. So I shot a falcon and shot it through, and killed one of them. So they went their way."
Many interesting tales are told about the Indians that once dwelt among the wilds of Pelham Bay Park. Indeed we may describe this as the paradise of the red men. It was here they as- sembled in hordes to fish: among the rocky fastnesses they se- cured an almost unlimited supply of their beloved "quekog." from which they fashioned their primitive "seawant" or wam- pun. Hence arose what is known as the Indian name for this section "Laaphawachking." the "Place of Stringing Beads."
A few years ago, two men were exploring in this neighbor- hood for Indian relics, when suddenly their spades struck against the bones of a human foot. What was their delight in unearth- ing the complete skeleton perfect, save for the absence of the left hand, while lying in the hollow of the right arm was a sharp stone weapon, resembling a knife! It was suggested that the
and Ann-hook, once chiefs of the powerful Sewanoes. "We examined several mounds near the water's edge," writes a his- torian, in speaking of Pelham Neck. "One held the remains of an Indian boy about twelve years old, in a sitting position, together with a beautiful specimen of native pottery, formed by the hand alone, rudely ornamented with zigzag lines, in which we discovered an arrow-head of quartz and the bones of a small animal."
But to turn to the ancient town of Eastchester for a moment. All along the banks of the "Aqueanoncke." or East- chester Creek, were numerous Indian wigwams, while a castle of the Sewanoes stood on a hill at the rear of one of the best known residences. Traces of these were recently discernible. while many arrow heads and implements were found.
In the Indian deed of Fastchester, dated December 3d, 1700. the following is the consideration : "Fourteen guns, twelve coats, twelve Indian kettles, twelve Indian axes, four adzes and four
7071
Indian Cemetery
skeleton was that of a criminal, whose right hand had been cut off before his execution, and the stone weapon with which the deed was done, buried with him, to take with him to the happy hunting grounds.
The opinion is that the skeleton is that of a very aged Indian, who had lain buried for three hundred years and perhaps much longer. This discovery is of the greatest scientific value and it has been added to the many treasures of antiquity in the Museum of Natural History.
"The Indians long are gone. With their forests wide and deep.
And we build our homes upon
Fields where their fathers sleep."
One authority tells us that close to an immense rock on Hunter's Island are the graves of the famous Sachems, Nimham
barrels of cider." The deed from the Indians of Westchester. May 27, 1692, from the Indian Sachems Mamincpoe and Wampage. gives as its consideration :
Two guns Two coats Two shirts Two kettles
Two adzes One barrel of cider Six bits of money. Following are the disbursements upon the Indian purchase :
s
d
William Barnes, One Kettle.
1
0
To expences to ye Indians. 0
6
O
John Hunt, One Coate. O 12
0
For Money 0
I
O
To Indian Supper and other Expences 3
William Richardson, Two Shirts. O 12
Jolin Ferris, senior. One Coate. 0
12
O
To One day with the Indians. O
3
O
5
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
Joseph Hunt, Two Adzes (and 3s 8d in money ) 0
0 Samuel Palmer, One gun.
I
0
0
Thomas Baxter, One Gun.
I
2
0
Joseph Hunt, One Barrel of Cider. 0
3 0
£8 4
6
27" of March, 1704, Joseph Hunt was directed to go to the clerk of the County and see the Indian deed recorded.
The deed conveys :
"All that tract of land lying on the east side of Brunx's river beginning at the Pine Trees, compassing all the land which we the said Maminepoe and Wampage layes claim to, until they come to the head of Rattle Snake brook, and from thence northeast to Mr. Pell's land, so north by said Pell's marked tree to Brunk's River . (only reserving to our- selves the privilege of making use of whitewood trees for our particular use.)"
Not a very exact description, and one that would hardly pass the particular attorneys of to-day. But it was fully in keeping with the old deeds and descriptions of that age where land, not being in the great city of New York, was not quoted at such a high premium as it is to-day.
Passing south along the Sound from Pelham Bay Park we find that a well fortified Indian castle stood on Sereven's Point. Indeed one authority describes it as the original settlement of the Weckquaesgeeks. Here they had a permanent camp, pro- tected by a fort, and on this locality also was their burying- ground. A mortar, cut in the solid rock, shows plainly where they ground their corn. The name, "Castle Hill," still clings to this place, as a memento of the by-gone days of the savages. The old Bear Swamp Road, between Westchester and Bronx- dale, on the outskirts of Bronx Park, is so styled from the large swamp near which the red men had quite an extensive village. Of this settlement they remained in possession until 1689.
According to another authority it was the Sewanoes that lived at Castle Hill and Bear Swamp. They are known as "one of the tribes of the seacoast, dwelling along the shore of the Sound from Norwalk to Hell Gate, while their deeds of sale
covered parts of Morrisania, Pelham, Eastchester, Westeleste: and West Farms. One of the best known warriors, who livedi about 1644, was Mayane, described as "a fierce Indian who alone dared to attack with bow and arrow three Christians armed with guns, one of whom he shot dead, and whilst engaged with the other was killed by the third and his head conveyed to Fort Amsterdam."
An early historian thus describes the Indians of upper Bronx Borough : 1
"They are well shaped and strong, having pitch-black and lank hair, as coarse as a horse's tail, broad shoulders, small waist, brown eyes and snow-white teeth; they are of a sallow color, abstemious in food and drink. . . . Their clothing is most sumptuous. The women ornament themselves more than the men. . . . Both go for the most part bare-headed. Around the neck and arms they wear bracelets of 'seawant,' and some around the waist. Moccasins are made of elk hides. . . . The men paint their faces of many colors. The women lay on a black spot only here and there."
This same authority writes that when the Indians went "a-hunting bears" they dressed themselves, "as Esau did, in clothes that have the flavor of the woods," that they might not be discovered by the sharp-smelling animals. Great quantities of arrow heads and spear heads have been dug up in the vicinity of Eastchester, showing it to have been a great hunting district.
In the year 1880 we are told that there were but fifteen civilized Indians in all Westchester County, and ten years later, only four. "The passing away of a race is sad. The wail of the red man as he looked for the last time on the graves of his kindred and set his face toward the sunset, touches a respon- sive chord in all sympathetic breasts."
"I will go to my tent and lie down in despair ; I will paint me with black and will sever my hair ;
I will sit on the shore where the hurricane blows, And reveal to the God of the tempest my woes. I will weep for a season on bitterness fed,
For my kindred are gone to the mounds of the dead."
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15
A SCENE ON THE BRONX NEAR THE HEMLOCK GROVE
CHAPTER III
THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS
Jonas Bronck-Anne Hutchinson-John Throckmorton-Thomas Cornell-Dr. Van Der Donck
"I hear the tread of pioneers, Of nations yet to be ; The first low wash of waves, where soon Shall roll a human sea.
"The rudiments of empire here Are plastic yet and warm; The chaos of a mighty world Is rounding into form."
How many of those who admire the many glories of the Bronx River, its romantic gorge near the Lorillard Mansion and its broad artificial lake above West Farms, where hundreds and even thousands glide in row-boats in summer or in autumn enjoying the rich coloring of the foliage on either side, ever stop to think that this little river was named after one Jonas Bronck, who, in 1639, settled near its mouth, erecting his house there, the traces of which have entirely disappeared? As early as 1628, the white population of Manhattan Island was given as two hundred and seventy! What a wonderful difference from to-day! Two years earlier, in 1626, the whole of Manhattan Island was purchased from the Indians "for the value of sixty guilders," or twenty-four dollars! As Frank Moss expresses it, they were buying "a pig in a poke." They knew but little of the vastness and extent of what they were getting. But it turned out to be a most fortunate and lucky "pig !"
As we have said, the first settler of Bronx Borough ap- peared in the year 1639. At that time the ship "Fire of Troy" arrived at New Amsterdam in July, bearing Bronck, his family, farmers, servants and cattle. Soon afterwards he bought from two Indian sachems, Ranaqua and Taekamuck, some five hun- dred acres, which became known as "Bronxland," and were described as "lying between the great kill" (Harlem River) and the Aquahung, afterwards known as the "Bronx" In this way we easily see the derivation of the name Bronx (Bronck's) River. The "Fire of Troy" set sail from Hoorn in Holland. We learn that while Jonas Bronck's last residence was in Amsterdam, where he married his wife, Antonia Slagboom, he was originally of Swedish descent, and that great and wondrous tales had come to him of the marvelous fertility of the strange country beyond the seas.
The New York Colonial Documents tell that he built for himself on his new possessions a stone house with a roof of tiles-evidently as a safeguard against the flaming arrows of the Indians -- and two barracks, a barn and tobacco house. On an old map of "Bronxland" Fled in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, it would appear that Bronck's house, as clearly as this old tracing indicates, was not far from the mouth of the Bronx River, perhaps close to the present Harlem River station
of the branch road of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Bronck may have imported bricks from Holland with which to build his home in the Westchester wilderness, as the Dutch word for stone-steen-is always ambiguous unless accom- panied by some words of description. Two of Bronck's friends who came over with him in the "Fire of Troy," leased part of his land for cultivation in order to raise tobacco and maize, and to reimburse him for their passage money out of the products.
In Bronck's library in his home at Morrisania, which was called "Emmaus," were found a number of Danish and Latin works, together with several law, history and divinity books. In the year 1642 Jonas Bronck's house was chosen as the place for the signing of the treaty of peace with the Indians, which unfortunately did not last long, and in the following year he died, his estate being administered by his friend across the river at Harlem. One of those who made up the inventory was the Dutch minister at New Amsterdam, Everardus Bogardus, the husband of the well known Anneke Jans. Among those present were his widow and his son, Peter Bronck. We find that the Rev. Mitchell Bronk, formerly of the Ascension Church in Me !- rose, was a descendant of Jonas Bronck of old.
Returning to the inventory, it shows quite clearly that Jonas Bronck was a gentleman of culture, as well as refinement an ! learning, for he is said to have used silver on his table and ha ! table-cloths and napkins and to have possessed as many as six linen shirts. We are told that his belongings included pictures. silver cups, spoons, tankards, bowls, a silver-mounted gun, fine bedding, satin, gros-grain suits and gloves. How fortunate are we when we stop to consider that the name Bronck is perper- ated for all time to come in the Bronx River as well as Bronx Park and the Borough of the Bronx.
It was unfortunate that the treaty of peace signed at Bronck's house proved of but little avail. Back in 1620 two of the Weckquaesgeek Indians journeyed southward, crossing the Harlem River until finally they reached the "Kolek" or Co !- lect Pond, near Canal Street, with a quantity of beaver skins for trading. llere they were met by servants of Governor Minuit, who not only stole the skins but murdered the older Indian. The younger savage, a nephew of the elder. managed t. escape, but vowed that he would seek revenge, and when he came to manhood he redeemed his vow. Ile came one day :> Harlem, seeking to trade some skins for "duffels," and while the white man with whom he was about to make the barter was stooping over his chest, the treacherous red man quickly rated an axe and killed him on the spot, escaping with his pour to: across the Harlem into Westchester.
Prompt satisfaction was demanded by Governor Kaf :. : . the chiefs refused to surrender the culprit, although withers
8
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
were at once sent from New Amsterdam in an unsuccessful at- tempt to capture him. Then it was that the short-lived treaty of peace which was signed at Bronck's house came to an end. The savages, in no manner satisfied, began committing depredations on all sides, until at last Governor Kieft decided upon a war, placing Captain John Underhill in command of the expedition. This intrepid Indian fighter writes as follows in his "News from America :"
"Myself received an arrow through my coat sleeve, a second against my helmet on the forehead; so as if God in His provi- dence had not moved the heart of my wife to carry it along with nie, which I was unwilling to do, I had been slain. Give me leave to observe from hence, let no man despise advice and counsel of his wife, though she be a woman."
Turning to the English settlers, we learn that one of the earliest as well as most important was Mrs. Anne Hutchin- son, who has given her name to the Hutchinson River or East- chester Creek, which after passing under Pelham Bridge widens into that noted fishing resort, Pelham Bay. The summer of 1642 saw her advent to the vast wilderness of Pelham Bay Park, to- gether with her son-in-law, Mr. Collins, his wife and family and Mrs. Hutchinson's younger children. Driven from both Boston and Rhode Island because of her peculiar religious ideas, she sought the forest as a refuge. Crossing from Flushing so as to avoid the Dutch who did not look upon her ideas with favor, she had her house built upon the rising ground not far from the Hutchinson River and, as near as the authorities agree. back to the famous Split Rock. The exact spot remains unde- cided.
Among her scattered neighbors she still continued to ex- pound her peculiar views. Among others that came to hei meetings was big Captain John Underhill-and rumor has it that he may have cared less for her teaching than for her hand- some self.
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