History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 8

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868

USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 8

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

* The Dutchess Farmer, May 7, 1878.

THE SHEKOMEKO AND WECHQUADNACH MONUMENTS.

Indian village. As the missionaries, in writing of Wechquadnach, never distinctly allude to one, "there is room for the presumption that the dwellings of the Indians were scattered along the western shore of the lake, inasmuch as the nature of the ground is such as would have led them to select it for planting purposes." Bruce was carried across the "Gnaden See" (Indian Pond) on two canoes, and buried on the east side of the Pond. From Wechquadnach the party pro- ceeded to the site of Pachgatgoch, two miles south- west of Kent.

July 11, 1859, the Moravian Historical Society resolved to erect monuments over the grave of Buttner, and near the graves of Bruce and Powell. A numerous committee of which Messrs. Davis, of Pleasant Valley, Lossing, then of Poughkeepsie, and Edward Hunting and Theron Wilber, of Pine Plains, were members, was appointed to collect the requisite funds and superintend their erection. October 5th and 6th, was the time designated for the dedication of the monuments. The details of the work naturally fell to the share of the local mem- bers of the committee. The monuments were fashioned by Messrs. Miller & Co., of Poughkeep- sie ; and Messrs. Davis and Lossing cheerfully un- dertook to select the material, and to superintend the lettering of the inscriptions. Two obelisks of the finest Italian marble were contracted for at $260, (including transportation and necessary ma- sonry,) to which was added $16.41 incurred for lettering.

The monuments were thus described by Mr. Lossing, in a letter to members of the committee August 5th, 1859 :-

" Shekomeko Stone .- Pedestal, 29 inches square ; 12 inches high ; of Connecticut sandstone. Weigh- ing 700 lbs. Base, 23 inches square; 12 inches high ; with moulding above 2} inches high. Weigh- ing 500 lbs. Shaft, 18 inches by 15} below ; 17 inches by 14} above ; 4 feet 5 inches high. Weigh- ing 1,400 lbs. Entire height, 6 feet 62 inches. Entire weight 2,600 lbs."

"Wechquadnach Stone. - Pedestal, 29 inches square ; 12 inches high ; of Connecticut sandstone. Weighing 700 lbs. Base, 23 inches square ; 1I inches high; with moulding above 22 inches high. Weighing 500 lbs. Shaft 18 inches by 15} below ; 10 inches by 8 above ; 6 feet high. Weighing 1,400 lbs. Entire height, 8 feet 12 inches. Entire weight, 2,600 lbs."

The following are the inscriptions on the Sheko- meko monument :---

[North Side.] SHEKOMEKO MISSION, COMMENCED AUGUST 16, 1740, BY CHRISTIAN HENRY RAUCH, ERECTED BY THE MORAVIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, OCTOBER 5, 1859. [South Side.] IN MEMORY OF THE MOHICAN INDIANS, LAZARA, BAPTIZED DEC. 1, 1742. DIED DEC. 5, 1742. AND DANIEL, BAPTIZED DEC. 26, 1742. DIED MARCH 20, 1744.

Upon the west side is the German inscription which appeared on the original tombstone of Bütt- ner; and upon the east side, the English transla- tion of the same.

The inscriptions upon the Wechquadnach monu- ment are as follows :-

[North Side.] JOSEPH POWELL, A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN THE CHURCH OF THE UNITED BRETHREN, BORN, 17IO, NEAR WHITECHURCH, SHROPSHIRE, ENGLAND, DIED, SEPT. 23, 1774, AT SICHEM IN THE OBLONG, DUCHESS Co., N. Y.

[South Side.] DAVID BRUCE, A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN THE CHURCH OF THE UNITED BRETHREN, FROM EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, DIED JULY 9, 1749, AT THE WECHQUADNACH MISSION, DUCHESS Co., N. Y. [East Side.]

" HOW BEAUTIFUL UPON THE MOUNTAINS ARE THE FEET OF HIM THAT BRINGETH GOOD TIDINGS, THAT PUBLISHETH PEACE ; THAT BRINGETH GOOD TIDINGS OF GOOD ; THAT PUBLISHETH SALVATION."-Isaiah lii, 7.

[West Side.]

ERECTED BY THE MORAVIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, OCTOBER 6, 1859.

October 4, 1859, a delegation of Moravians from Bethlehem, New York and Philadelphia, arrived at Pine Plains, and on the evening of that day held in-

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

troductory services in the Bethel, a union church in the valley of the Shekomeko. The two succeeding days, the 5th and 6th, first the Shekomeko, and next the Wechquadnach monuments, were dedi- cated with solemn and imposing ceremonies, con- ducted according to the Moravian ritual.

The Shekomeko monument marks the grave of Büttner ; that at Wechquadnach stands on a rocky ledge on the east shore of and overlooking the beautiful "Gnaden See," or " Lake of Grace," and the entire region of country in which the Mora- vians, whose labors it commemorates, carried on their missionary work. The grave of Bruce, near which the latter stands, is on the east, and that of Powell, which is still marked by the stone originally erected to his memory, on the west side of this sheet of water.

The services consisted of those portions of the Moravian ritual that relate to death and the res- urrection ; the litanies used at burials, which were deemed peculiarly appropriate, inasmuch as the remains of the missionaries were committed to the grave without the performance of those cherished rites ; the Easter morning litany, which is observed yearly in Moravian burying-grounds ; the choral music of trombonists, a characteristic element of Moravian obsequies ; and historical and doctrinal discourses.

CHAPTER VI.

HUDSON'S DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH RIVER-HIS INTERCOURSE WITH THE NA- TIVES -- DIVERSE CLAIMS OF THE ENGLISH, FRENCH AND DUTCH-CHARACTER OF THE DUTCH COL- ONISTS OF NEW NETHERLANDS-EARLY DUTCH ENTERPRISES IN THE VALLEY OF THE HUDSON- THE UNITED NEW NETHERLAND COMPANY-THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY-DUTCH COLO- NIZATION - ITS PERNICIOUS FEATURES - THE HARSH MEASURES OF DIRECTOR KIEFT-DEP- REDATIONS OF THE WAPPINGERS-THE ESOPUS WARS-THE DESTRUCTION OF WILTWYCK-Ex- PEDITION TO RED HOOK DURING THE SECOND ESOPUS WAR-FRIENDLY OFFICES OF WAPPIN- GERS-INDIAN TREATY OF 1664-ITS EFFICACY -SUPERSEDURE OF THE DUTCH BY THE ENGLISH.

O N the 4th of April, 1609, Henry Hudson, an intrepid English navigator, and the friend of Captain John Smith, having failed in two attempts to discover a western passage to the East Indies, in the interest of a company of London merchants,

sailed from Amsterdam with a mixed crew of some twenty Dutch and English sailors, in the employ of the Dutch East India Company of Holland, formed the previous year for traffic and coloniza- tion. He arrived on the American coast near Portland, Maine, whence he proceeded south along the coast to the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. From thence he proceeded northward, discovered and entered Delaware Bay, and on the 3d of Sep- tember moored his vessel, the Half Moon ( Halve Maene,) a mere yacht of about eighty tons burden, within Sandy Hook. On the fourth he proceeded up the bay to a very good harbor near the Jersey shore ; and here he received on board the natives, who came in great numbers to traffic for knives and beads. On the fifth Hudson returned the visit of the natives, who welcomed him by singing and dancing. "Men, women and children were feather-mantled, or clad in loose furs." " Some had pipes of red copper, with earthen bowls, and cop- per ornaments round their necks." "They were friendly, but thievish, and crafty in carrying away what they fancied." On the sixth, five of the crew were sent in a boat to examine the channel. They sounded the Narrows and proceeded to Newark Bay; but on the return, for some unexplained rea- son, were attacked by the natives in two canoes, and John Colman, an Englishman, who had ac- companied Hudson in his Polar explorations, was killed by an arrow shot in his throat, and two of his companions wounded. Colman was buried at Sandy Hook, and Colman's Point, where his re- mains were interred, perpetuates the memory of this first European victim of the natives in these waters .*

During the three succeeding days Hudson con- tinued to receive the visits of the natives, some of whom came armed, though he took the precaution to allow only two of the latter to board the vessel, and those he detained and dressed them in red coats. Soon after two others came to the vessel, and one of these he also detained, but he escaped by jumping overboard and swimming to the shore.

On the ninth Hudson moved cautiously through the Narrows, and on the eleventh reached New York harbor, " where he rode all night." On the morning of the twelfth he commenced the memor- able voyage up the river which bears his name. Owing to the lightness of the wind he could pro- ceed only a very few leagues. The moment he anchored, the native men, women and children renewed their visits in increased numbers, bringing

* History of New Netherland, I., 36.

HUDSON'S EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH RIVER.

beans and very good oysters ; but none were allowed on board. On the thirteenth, with the aid of the flood tides, he reached a point just above Yonkers. On the fourteenth, a strong south-east wind carried him rapidly into the Highlands, " through the majestic pass guarded by the frown- ing Donderberg." He anchored at night near West Point, amidst the most sublime scenery of the mountains, whose summits were concealed when he awoke the next morning by a heavy mist which hung over the river and adjacent country. Here the two natives whom he held as hostages escaped through the port-holes of the vessel and swam to the shore, where they expressed their in- dignation at the treatment to which they had been subjected by uttering loud cries of scorn and anger.

The mist soon cleared and he proceeded up the river, anchoring at night a little below Red Hook, within the shadow of the majestic Catskills. Here he found "very loving people and very old men," by whom he " was well used;" and here also he " caught a great store of very good fish." Most of the sixteenth was spent in taking fresh water. He did not weigh anchor until night, and then proceeded only two leagues, when shoal water compelled him to lay at anchor till morning. On the morning of the sixteenth the natives brought Indian corn, pumpkins (pompions ) and tobacco, which they exchanged for " trifles."

On the evening of the seventeenth, having twice grounded on shoals during the day, he reached a point just above the site of Hudson (latitude 42° 18' .* ) On the eighteenth he rode at anchor; and in the afternoon the " master's mate f went on land with an old savage, a governor of the country, who carried hint to his house and made him good cheer." "He was," says O'Callaghan, " chief over forty men and seventeen women," and says Bancroft, occu- pied "a house well constructed of oak bark, circular in shape, and arched in the roof." " Here," adds O'Callaghan, " he found large quantities of Indian corn and beans, sufficient to load three ships, besides what were still growing in the fields."

At flood tide on the nineteenth, about eleven o'clock, Hudson weighed anchor and proceeded "two leagues above the shoals," anchoring in eight fathoms of water. Here too, the natives flocked aboard, bringing grapes, pumpkins and

beaver and otter skins, which they exchanged for beads, knives, hatchets and other trifles. He now, says Bancroft, "drew near the landing of Kinder- hook," and ventured no higher with the yacht ; but sent the master's mate with four men to take soundings of the river. Two leagues above they found but two fathoms of water, and the channel very narrow; but above that, seven or eight fath- oms. They returned towards night.

On the twenty-first Hudson purposed exploring the river higher up, but was deterred because " much people resorted aboard." He determined, however, "to try some of the chief men of the country, whether they had any treachery in them. So he took them down into the cabin and gave them so much wine and aqua vitæ that they were all merry," and "in the end one of them was drunk." His companions were filled with astonish- ment, and " could not tell how to take it." They left in their canoes for the shore; but some of them returned again, bringing " stropes of beades," which they gave to their stupefied companion, who slept quietly all night on the vessel. He had re- covered when his friends came to see him at noon the next day, and so rejoiced were they that in the afternoon they visited the boat in great num- bers, bringing with them tobacco and beads, which they presented to Hudson, to whom they " ınade an oration, and showed him all the country round about." One of their number was sent ashore, and soon returned with a great platter of dressed venison, which they caused Hudson to eat with them. They then made him reverence and de- parted, all save the old man, who, having tasted the fatal beverage, preferred to remain aboard.

Heckewelder has preserved the pathetic Dela- ware tradition of this first debasing acquaintance with the Europeans, whom the natives first regarded with a superstitious fear, believing Hudson to be none other than the great manitou. After describ- ing the consternation of the natives when they first discovered the strange apparition of a house upon the waters and the preparations made to give the supposed manitou the most fitting welcome their savage natures could devise, he says :-

" Meanwhile, a large Hackhack* is brought by one of his [Hudson's] servants, from which an unknown substance is poured out into a small cup or glass, and handed to the supposed Mannitto. He drinks-has the glass filled again, and hands it to the chief standing next to him. The chief receives it, but only smells the contents and passes it on to the next chief, who does the same. The glass or

* Bancroft's History of the United States, II., 28. O'Callaghan, (History of New Netherland, I., 37,) fixes this location in the neighbor- hood of the present town of Castleton.

t Robert Ivet's account, Transactions New York Historical Society. Bancroft and O'Callaghan both say it was Hudson himself.

* Meaning a gourd.

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

cup thus passes through the circle, without the liquor being tasted by any one, and is upon the point of being returned to the red-clothed Man- nitto, when one of the Indians, a brave man and a great warrior, suddenly jumps up and harangues the assembly on the impropriety of returning the cup with its contents. It was handed to them, says he, by the Mannitto, that they should drink out of it as he himself had done. To follow his example would be pleasing to him; but to return what he had given them might provoke his wrath, and bring destruction on them. And since the orator believed it for the good of the nation that the contents offered them should be drunk, and as no one else would do it, he would drink it himself, let the consequence be what it might; it was better for one man to die, than that a whole nation should be destroyed. He then took the glass, and bidding the assembly a solemn farewell, at once drank up its whole contents. Every eye was fixed on the resolute chief, to see what effect the un- known liquor would produce. He soon began to stagger, and at last fell prostrate on the ground. His companions now bemoan his fate, he falls into a sound sleep, and they think he has expired. He wakes again, jumps up and declares that he has enjoyed the most delicious sensations, and that he never before felt so happy as after he had drunk the cup. He asks for more, his wish is granted; the whole assembly then imitate him, and all be- come intoxicated."*

Alas, this was but the sad prelude to a sadder sequel !

On the twenty-second Hudson sent five of the crewto sound the river higher up. They proceeded " eight or nine leagues, and found but seven foot of water, and inconstant soundings." Hudson was now forced to the conclusion that he had reached the head of navigation, and he regretfully retraced his steps on the twenty-third, making two leagues that day and " seven or eight," the twenty- fourth, each day grounding on shoals, and the latter day going ashore, where they " gathered a good store of chestnuts." On the twenty-fifth and twenty- sixth he rode at anchor, because of adverse winds. On the morning of the twenty-sixth "two canoes came up the river from the place where we first found loving people," and in one of them was the old chief who was the subject of the strange ex- periment with aqua vitæ. He brought with him another old man, who presented Hudson with " more stropes of beades," "and showed him all the country there about, as though it were at his command." Hudson dined with them and their wives, and "two young maidens of the age sixteen or seventeen years," who also accompanied them

to the vessel, and "behaved themselves very mod- estly." To one of the men Hudson gave a knife, and received in return tobacco. On the twenty- seventh he was grounded on a shoal "from half ebb to half flood " tide, but made six leagues. The old chief who had acquired such a relish for Hudson's "good cheer " again came on board and urged him to lie at anchor and go ashore and eat with him; but the wind being fair Hudson would not yield to his request. He departed with a sorrowful countenance, but Hudson comforted him with presents and the assurance that they would return the next year.

On the 29th, Hudson anchored at the lower end of the Long Reach, which "is six leagues long." Here natives who came on board brought " Indian wheat." October Ist, while becalmed off Stony Point, "the people of the Mountains came aboard of us, wondering at our ship and weapons." One man, who persisted in "hanging under our stern," gained the cabin window by means of the rudder, and stole a pillow, two shirts and " two bandeleers." He was detected by the mate, who shot him in the breast and killed him. The others fled, some taking to their canoes, others to the water. A boat was manned, and the stolen goods easily recovered. An Indian, who swam to the boat, seized it with his hand and tried to upset it; but the cook cut off his hand with a sword and he was drowned. On the second, at the head of Manhattan Island, the vessel was approached by a canoe containing one of the natives who escaped from it on the voyage up ; but fearing treachery, Hudson would not allow him nor his companions on board. Two other canoes, filled with armed warriors, now came under the stern, and an attack was made with arrows ; but they were repulsed with a loss of two or three men. Over a hundred of the natives then took position on a point of land, but a falcon shot killed two of them, and the rest fled to the woods. Another canoe, manned with nine or ten warriors, came to meet them ; but a falcon shot was sent through it and one of its occupants killed. Three or four others were killed and the rest dis- persed with musketry. Hudson then dropped down two leagues, and was free from further danger.

Such were the events which opened up to Eu- ropean emigration the beautiful and fertile valley of the Hudson, and sowed the seeds of decay among the native tribes, whose shattered fragments were rolled back like a shriveled scroll upon the western nations, who, in their turn, are rapidly re- ceding in constantly diminishing numbers before

* Historical Account of the Indian Nations in Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1., 56, 57. See also Doc. Hist. 11., 598, 599.

FIRST SETTLEMENT AT NEW AMSTERDAM.

the onward march of civilization. Soon after the intelligence of Hudson's discoveries were received in Holland, in whose name he took possession of the country, colonization projects engaged the at- tention of the company who employed him.

Little is known of Hudson's earlier life, except that in youth he received a thorough maritime edu- cation. His connection with the Dutch East India Company ceased soon after his arrival in England in November, 1609; for England, having become jealous of the maritime enterprises of the Dutch, caused his detention in that country. He re- entered the service of the London Company, and in 1610 voyaged in search of a north-west passage to India. He discovered and entered the bay which bears his name ; but continuing his search too long, was compelled to spend the winter in the northern latitude. In the spring, a part of his crew mutinied, and placing him, his son and seven others in a boat, left them to their fate. He is supposed to have perished in this situation, but his fate is a mystery.

Three European nations at this time based claims to a part of the territory embraced in the State of New York ; England, by reason of the discovery of Cabot and his son Sebastian, claiming a territory eleven degrees in width and extending westward indefinitely; France, by reason of the discoveries of Verrazani, claiming a portion of the Atlantic coast ; and Holland, by reason of the dis- covery of Hudson, claiming the country from Cape Cod to the southern shore of Delaware Bay. But the Dutch became the actual possessors of the country.

Colonization in New York, not less than in New England, was an emanation from the Reformation, which emancipated the Low Countries on the one hand, and was followed by collisions between English dissenters and the Anglican hierarchy on the other. "The Netherlands," says Bancroft, " divide with England the glory of having planted the first colonies in the United States ; they also divide the glory of having set the example of public freedom. If England gave our fathers the idea of a popular representation, the United Provinces were their model of a federal union."*

The pilgrim fathers who colonized New England, fleeing from religious persecution at home, found refuge in Holland, which was then struggling to throw off the oppressive yoke of Spanish tyranny, and there learned their first lesson in popular gov- ernment, from a people, who, from the time of the

universal sway of imperial Rome, “had been ani- mated by an indomitable spirit of civil liberty." "The Dutch Republic," says Brodhead, "which for nearly a century after it first took its place in the rank of independent nations continued to sway the balance of European politics, owed its proud position to the moral qualities and free spirit of the people of the Netherlands ; to the constitution of their gov- ernment ; to their geographical position ; their maritime power; their liberal commercial policy ; their spirit of universal toleration ; and to the wise statesmanship which attracted to their shores a winnowed population from other lands."

The truce with Spain, concluded April 9, 1609, which virtually, if not formally, acknowledged Dutch independence, brought a temporary respite to the people of the Netherlands, who, for more than forty years, had been struggling with desperate energy and dogged determination against the mighty forces of Spain. Four days before the consummation of this truce, which was wrung from Spain by the great victory achieved over the Spanish fleet the previous year, by that bold navigator, Jacob Heemskirk, Hudson had sailed on his voyage of exploration in the interest of Holland; and when his discoveries were made known, the people were ripe for those adventures which planted colonies in the valleys of the Hudson and Delaware from the surplus population at the mouths of the Rhine.

In 1610, the Dutch sent out a vessel to engage in the fur trade on the banks of the river discov- ered by Hudson. In 1612, and again in 1614, Hendrick Christiansen and Adrian Block fitted out two other vessels for the same purpose, and were soon followed by others. The fur trade proving successful, Christiansen was appointed to superin- tend it and Manhattan Island made the chief depot. In 1614, he erected a small fort and a few rude buildings on the southern extremity of the island, which he called New Amsterdam. March 27, 1614, the States General of the United Netherlands secured to each discoverer the exclusive right to make four voyages to the lands discovered by him for the purpose of trading with the natives ; and October 1 1th of the same year a charter was granted to an association of merchants engaged in the traffic, conferring on them the exclusive right to trade for three years in the territory situated between New France and Virginia, (between 40° and 45° of lati- tude,) the whole region being then known as New Netherland.

In the meantime, in 1614, explorations were being made in the surrounding country. Adrian

* Ilistory of the United States, II., 18.

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

Block passed up the East River, Long Island Sound-demonstrating for the first time the insular character of Long Island-up Connecticut River, and into the bays and along the islands eastward to Cape Cod. Cornelissen Jacobson Mey explored the southern coast of Long Island and southward to Delaware Bay; Capt. John DeWitt sailed up the North River and gave his name to one of the islands near Red Hook ; while Hendrick Christian- sen ascended that stream to. Castle Island, a little below Albany, (which has long since become a part of the main land,) where he established a trading post, and, in 1615, built a small fort called Fort Nassau, which, being damaged by the flood in 1618, was removed a little below to the Norman's Kill. Here a treaty of peace was formed between the Five Nations and the representatives of New Netherland, which remained inviolate so long as the Dutch retained possession of the country. A third fort was built at the mouth of Rondout Kill, on the site of the city of Kingston, contempo- rary with those at New Amsterdam and Castle Island; but it was not until 1652 and 1653 that any settlers took up land in that quarter.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 8

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868