USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. I > Part 15
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Such was the impetus given to the affairs of the country
Farm No. 1, says Moulton, ran directly north of the company's garden out- side the fort, from what is at present Wall-street, to Hudson-street, along Broadway in the city of New York ; and went, in the time of the English, successively by the name of Duke's farm, King's farm, Queen's farm.
2 Alb. Rec. i., 85, 86. " Their lordships sent a considerable number of fami- lies thither in the beginning, and erected, at considerable expense, three saw- mills, which never produced any profit of consequence." Hol. Doc. iii., 97.
3 Deductie, ofte naechte ende claer verhael, over de gelegentheyt van de Zuyt Riviere, gelegen in Nieuw Nederlandt &c. overgelivert aen de Hoog Moo- gende Hoeren Staten General der Verinichde Nederlanden. Hol. Doc. viii., 32, 33, 35, 55, 56. The purchase of this tract by Corssen is also mentioned by commissary Hudde, in his report to Director Stuyvesant. Alb. Rec. xvii.
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by the arrival of Director Van Twiller. Forts, mansions, CHAP. and dwelling-houses went up in all directions, for he had a large idea of the West India Company's resources. Appear- ances possibly justified his impressions. That powerful as- sociation maintained, at this period, a force which gave it the character rather of an independent sovereignty, than of a chartered mercantile society. It owned one hundred and twenty vessels, ranging from three hundred to eight hundred tons burden, all fully armed and equipped ; and employed be- tween eight and nine thousand men. More than one hundred thousand guilders value in peltries were exported during the last year, and nearly the same quantity this year, from New Netherland.1 It is not surprising, then, that Van Twiller's plans were on an extensive scale. The chief essential to the prosperity of the colony still lacked, nevertheless. Scarcely one solitary agricultural settler had been, as yet, sent over by the company, to fell the forest or reclaim the wilderness.
The Indians manifested considerable ill-feeling towards the Dutch this year. Immediately after the departure of Eelkins, some of the latter, on the upper part of the river, were killed, and their cattle destroyed. The Raritans, also, attacked several of the company's servants, and committed other ex- cesses ; and open war broke out between those at Fort Good Hope and the Pequods. What the origin of the misunder- standing with the Raritans was, we have no means of de- termining. As respects the last, it seems that some Indians who came to trade to Fort Hope having been killed by the Pequods, the Dutch, in revenge, slew the old Pequod chief and several of his tribe, which so incensed the latter, that a war with the Dutch was the result. This, however, was not the only evil consequence of this bad state of things. It drove the Pequods, in an evil hour both for themselves and the Dutch, to invite the English of Massachusetts Bay to make a plantation on the Connecticut .?
1 Hol. Doc. iii., 97. Aitzema, i. De Laet, Kort Verhael
? Winthrop's N. Eng. i., 143.
1V. 1633.
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HISTORY OF
CHAPTER V.
Continued misunderstanding between the Directors and the Patroons-Preten- sions of the respective parties-Referred to the States General-Committee appointed to investigate the same-Articles submitted by the Patroons con- taining their demands-Replications of the company-Rejoinder on the part of Patroons-Owners of the William apply to Dutch ambassadors at London for damages-Threaten to apply to the king in council-Application com- municated to States General-Referred to the Assembly of the XIX .- Me- morial of the latter in reply-Request that the matter be referred to the Dutch and English ambassadors-States General decline to interfere-Quar- rel between Van Twiller and Minister Bogardus-Peace made with the Raritans-Imports and Exports-Superintendent over Pavonia arrives in New Netherland.
BOOK II. WHILE the occurrences narrated in the preceding chapter were passing in New Netherland, the differences between 1633. the several directors of the West India Company and the July 24. patroons in Holland continued to such a degree, as to impede materially the advancement of the country.1 Both parties were in a complete state of antagonism as to the interpretation to be attached to the privileges conferred by the charter of 1629. The company claimed the monopoly of the fur-trade, and would confine the Patroons strictly to the development, by themselves and people, of the agricultural resources of their colonies ; while the latter, who had already expended, as they alleged, a ton of gold on their three colonies, the yearly ex- penses of which amounted to forty-five thousand guilders,?
1 De Vries refers to these misunderstandings in the following entry in his journal : " July 24. Arrived at Amsterdam, where I found my associates at variance with one another, and with other directors of W. I. Company, because I had traded two or four beaver-skins ; certainly a circumstance not worth the while to talk of, it being granted by the 15th Art. that a Patroon shall have the privilege to do so, when the company has an officer or commissioner. So that our colonie making was now suspended. The directors have done nothing but fight with their own shadows."
2 Haerselven verder geinvolveert hebben met aenteykenen van verscheyden Patroonaatschappen, waervan de oncosten, tot heden aengeweent en gecon- eumeert, nog verre een tonne gouts incontant passeren ; en daerenboven jaer-
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aiming at a quasi independence, claimed unrestricted trade CHAP. along the coast and in the rivers; and, as successors to the
1633.
V. " Lords Sachems from whom they purchased," exclusive commerce and jurisdiction within their patroonships, which they were extending on all sides ; and within which they de- nied to the company and its officers the exercise of any au- thority, even to the posting of a placard
It is easy to anticipate that views so opposite must termi- nate, as we have already seen, in bringing into question not only the nature and extent of the charter, but even its validity. The company admitted, at once, the legality of the charter, Nov. but the great difficulty was to determine the extent of the 24. privileges derived under it. With a view to settle all differ- ences, the directors of the chamber at Amsterdam appointed a committee of five persons to negotiate with the patroons, Dec. and in case no agreement could be had, empowered these 19. deputies to refer the whole matter to a committee of the States General, or to the high court of Holland. No better under- 1634. standing followed this reference. The questions at issue were, therefore, referred to their High Mightinesses, who March deputed six of their body to investigate the grounds of the dis- 27. pute, and decide thereupon by a majority of votes.1 May 13.
On the 16th June, 1634, MICHEL PAAUW, SAMUEL BLOEM- MAERT, KILLIAEN VAN RENSSELAER, and HENDRIK HAMEL, Patroons of New Netherland, appeared before this commit- tee, and handed in a paper containing, in a series of articles, their several pretensions. A knowledge of the contents of this paper being necessary to a thorough understanding of the views which the Patroons entertained at this time, as well of their privileges under the charter as of their claims against the directors of the company, we insert them here without any apology.
lyck tot onderhout van drie haer patronaatschappen, ter minsten met 45 duyzend guilden belast blyven. Letter of the Patroons, June, 1634. Hol. Doc. ii., 99, 100. A ton of gold is equal to 100,000 guilders, or $40,000
1 Alb. Rec. xiii., 42, 43 ; Hol. Doc. ii., 39, 40, 91, 94, 120. The Lords Arn- hem, Herberts, De Knuyt, Weede, Lecklama, and Haersotte, were first ap- pointed, but owing to the absence of some of these, others were named to fill vacancies which subsequently occurred. The resolution of the directors admit- ting the validity of the charter of 1629, is among the Rensselaerswyck MSS
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HISTORY OF
1634. June 16.
BOOK 11. "PRETENSIONS AND DEMANDS OF THE PATROONS OF NEW NETHERLAND, DELIVERED TO THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THEIR HIGH MIGHTINESSES, ON THE 16TH JUNE, 1634, AGAINST THE LORDS DIRECTORS OF THE PRIVILEGED WEST INDIA COM- PANY.1
" ARTICLE I. That the Freedoms and Exemptions, granted to the Patroons and their people within the limits of New Netherland and the dependencies thereof, must be maintained and observed by the Privileged West India Company justly and according to their tenor and contents ; and be holden as a mutual contract, binding on both sides, whereby the in vited Patroons sent their people and goods thither ; in conse quence whereof the Patroons claim to enjoy inviolate the privileges contained therein.
" II. That the company having, up to the 19th December, 1633, repeatedly called in question the conceded Freedoms, are bound to make good the manifest damages caused thereby to the Patroons.
" III. That in the Exemptions and Freedoms mention was made of the property of those lands only of which the com- pany could dispose by virtue of their charter ; and such ex- tension is considered as referring only to fertile and unin- habited lands, or lands inhabited by individual Indians, having no chief, whom the Patroons were bound to satisfy for their ground : In addition to these, within the limits and extensions of the Patroonships which have been purchased, there exist Lordships having their own rights and jurisdictions, which the chiefs of said nations have ceded to the Patroons together with the proprietorship of the soil, as can be seen by the deeds of concession and conveyance. The Patroons main- tain that such prerogatives and advantages, in that country, are absolutely theirs ; and that the company hath no more power over the Patroons, as purchasers of such lands, than it had over the Lords Sachems the sellers, inasmuch as the in- tention of their High Mightinesses by the Octroy notoriously
" "Sustenue en eisch van de Patronen van Nieuw Nederlandt ongeleveert aen Heeren Gecommitterende van haer H. M. den 16 Junii, 1634, contra de Heeren Bewinthebberen van de Geoctroyeerde W. I. Co." Hol. Doc. ii., 105-114.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
was, not to abridge any person in what is his, and conse- CHAP. quently cannot be burdened with the venia testandi, justice V. and police, which are repugnant to the right already acquired by the Patroons.
" IV. That under the term goods, mentioned in Articles X., XIII., XVI., must be understood such merchandise without which the permitted trade along the coast of Florida and Newfoundland cannot be carried on, nor the soil of the Pa- troonships paid for,-ITEM, shoes and stockings, and other necessaries of the people, which the natives of those coun- tries do not use, belong to implements of husbandry, all ne- cessary to the country people of the Patroons, every descrip- tion of which the company promised to convey for nothing.
" V. That the company, having no ships, nor berths in their ships, for the use of the Patroons, cannot, conformably to the XIth Art., refuse, or any longer withhold their written consent from the Patroons, officially demanding the same, whereby the latter would lose the season and voyage, from which the ruin of the colonies, or at least great loss, would accrue.
" VI. That all places in New Netherland, the island of Manhattan excepted, are, by the XII. Art., free for the planta- tion of colonies.
" VII. That the Patroons may sail from the coast of Florida to Newfoundland, paying 5 per cent. recognition ; therefore, the Patroons cannot be prevented sending ships or yachts, with all sorts of goods to New Netherland, without which the aforesaid coasts cannot be frequented, nor prizes taken from the enemy-Art. XIII., XIV., XVI., XXIII.
"VIII. Inasmuch as the company (Art. XV.) first absolutely, and afterwards by restriction, reserved the fur-trade every- where on the coast of New Netherland, and the places cir- cumjacent thereto, the Patroons say, that the inland trade, together with the territories of the Patroonships, is not included therein ; and therefore that the Patroons are not obliged to pay, within their limits, one guilder for every merchantable skin. ITEM-That the Patroons may trade for all sorts of furs, without their colonies, and everywhere about the coasts of New Netherland, and the places circumjacent thereto, where the company had, at the time of granting of the Freedoms, no
21
1634.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK commissaries for procuring goods, on payment of one guilder II. for each merchantable beaver or other skin. ITEM-Seawan 1634. being, in a manner, the only money of the country, wherewith the produce of the interior is purchased, must be considered as permitted goods, being the representative thereof.
"IX. That the company, pursuant to the tenor of Arts. X. and XVI., is obliged here, and by its servants in New Nether- lands, seasonably to inform the Patroons and their commissa- ries, on demand, what places remain in its ships, in order that they may regulate their people, in regard to their numbers, goods, cattle, and implements ; and having accommodation in its ships, not to refuse the Patroons the authorized loading therein, nor charge more than the allowed freight.
" X. That the appeal reserved to the Director and council in New Netherlands in civil actions of fifty guilders and up- wards, should not prejudice, in the least, the higher jurisdic- tion, and other privileges of the Patroons.
" XI. Inasmuch as the company (Art. XXV.) hath promised to take the colonists of New Netherlands into its safe-keeping; to aid and defend them as well as possible against all inland and foreign wars and forces, with whatever power it may then have; the company, or its servants, having failed to do this, are bound to make good the injuries which befell the Patroons, their people, cattle, and goods there, and which they still con- tinue to suffer.
" XII. That the Freedoms and Exemptions are permanent for all the partners, without the company having the power to infringe or restrict these to the prejudice of the Patroons.
" XIII. That the expenses incurred by the Patroons by travelling, consultations, vacations, or otherwise, for the neces- sary maintenance and justification of the Freedoms and Exemp- tions, in the service of the company and for the advantage of all the principal partners, ought to be defrayed by the privi- leged West India Company.
"XIV. That the company hath not the power to affix pla- cards in the Patroons' colonies, without their knowledge and against their will, excluding all from the fur-trade ; nor to intro- duce commissaries there to pursue that commerce, nor to oblige the inhabitants belonging to the Patroons, by an oath
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NEW NETHERLAND.
V. 1634.
formed for that purpose, to abstain from trading in any way CHAP. in furs, seawan, or maize.
"XV. That the officers and magistrates of the Patroons in New Netherland may oppose themselves thereto; and whenever the company enters, notwithstanding, by force of arms the just sanctuary of the Patroons, and affixes such pro- clamations, they may demolish such posted placards as being repugnant to their Freedoms; for whenever the high officers of the Patroons were arrested-protesting against the wrong -- 'twas perceived that their Patroons were deprived of the con- ceded Freedoms. Such proceedings should be declared null and void-the company should be charged to abstain from such for the future, and to make good the damages caused thereby.
"XVI. Finally, in case the company sought by direct or in- direct means to induce the Patroons to abandon their colonies, the former should be declared holden to indemnify for all pres- ent, future, and past expenses and interests in the above men- tioned matter."
These demands, seriously infringing on what the company considered its sovereign rights, and, what perhaps was of more grave concern, deeply affecting its exclusive privileges in mat- ters of trade and revenue, were met by the directors requir- June ing the patroons to hand in separate statements, as they had 22. heretofore been in the habit of doing, of their respective claims, as their pretensions varied and had different foundations, and could not be understood from a united representation. The directors added, at the same time, that if the Patroons declared that they had no claim against the company, nor intended to institute any action against them, but merely wished to have the decision of the S.ates General on the several points of the charter affecting the Patroons, the company would remain neu- tral, so as to permit those points to be examined and decided. To this the Patroons replied at some length, charging the di- rectors again with not having allowed the charter of 1629 to have had its full effect, in consequence of which they had suf- fered serious injury and damage, for which they looked for in- demnity. A preliminary question, however, arose, and which they now submitted ;- that was, whether the privileges which
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HISTORY OF
BOOK they claimed under the above charter were valid or not. On the result of this depended whether they should continue or 1634. abandon the further planting of colonies ; when that was set- tled, they promised to produce a statement of their respective losses, and to give what further information may be required.1 Upon so small a thread, at this remote period, hung the colo- nization of New Netherland !
While this discussion was going on, the news reached the English capital of the interruption which the William had met in the Hudson's River from Director Van Twiller, and the Dutch there. The proprietors of the vessel, urged on, no doubt, by the New England Company, between whom and the Virginia Society the Spanish ambassador was busily intriguing,2 imme- diately waited on Messrs. Joachimi and Brasser, the ambassa- dors from the Hague at the Court of St. James, with a state- ment of the affair, and a demand for damages, failing the pay-, ment of which, they threatened to apply for redress to the king May in council. The Dutch ambassadors lost no time in commu- nicating all the particulars to their High Mightinesses, who June immediately referred them to a committee for investigation.
27. 13. On a subsequent recommendation of this committee, the whole June of the papers were referred to the deputies of the West India 20. Company, for an explanation of this misunderstanding, who addressed to the States General the following memorial :-
Oct. 25. " High and Mighty Lords ! The Deputies from the As- sembly of the XIX. are directed to represent and complain to your High Mightinesses that one Jacob Jacobz. Eelkins, hav- ing repaired last year unto the service of Mr. William Klobery
1 Hol. Doc. ii., 115-117 ; 119-123
" Joachimi writes as follows, at this date, touching this intrigue : " Disputes have arisen here some months since hetween those who have the king's charter for Virginia, and those who sail to aud plant New England. A noble lord, who would be sorry that any misunderstanding should exist between the English and Netherlands nations, has told me that the above disputes were not agitated because the above parties were suffering loss the one from the other ; but in or- der that men might have occasion to quarrel with the Dutch about the posses- sion of New Netherland. The above mentioned lord was of opinion that the above disputes were fomented by the Spaniards"-literally, " were forged in the Spanish forge," (gesmeed syn in der Spagniaerden smesse.) Hol. Doc. ii., 51, 52, 53.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
and Company, arrived with the ship William, commanded by CHAP. Skipper William Trevor, in the month of April, 1633, at the North River in New Netherland, at the Manhattes, to trade his goods thereabout and up the river, for peltries, on the in- vented pretext that the said river, and surrounding country, were in, and a part of, the domain of his majesty the king of Great Britain, without, however, having, as far as we know, or being willing, as we are informed, to exhibit the instruc- tions, or commission of his majesty, which he might have for that purpose.
" It is, notwithstanding, sufficiently known to all the world, and best of all by this Jacob Eelkins himself, as he was, be- fore the year 1614, in the service of those who, then, had a charter from your High Mightinesses to trade exclusively to this river and neighborhood, that the said river and adjoining country were discovered, at the cost of the Privileged East India Company, in the year 1609, before any Christians had been there, as was testified by Hudson, who was then em- ployed by the said company, to find a northwest passage to China ; that your High Mightinesses afterwards granted a charter to divers merchants to trade exclusively for peltries there, where, under the supreme command of your High Mightinesses also, before the year 1614, one or more small forts were erected and garrisoned with people for the protec- tion of said trade ; that, further, after the Privileged West India Company began to rule this country, not only the afore- mentioned little forts were rebuilt and enlarged, but the said company purchased from the Indians, the indubitable owners thereof, the Island of the Manhattes, lying right before the mouth of the said river, and there laid the foundations of a city.
" Divers colonies have been planted also, with the know- ledge of this company, not only on the said river, but like- wise on the South River, and others lying eastward of the abovementioned North River, by several natives and inhab- itants of this country, who, for that purpose, purchased the lands and grounds with the respective limits and jurisdictions of the Indian chiefs, as the same is to be seen by divers con- veyances and concessions made to the Patroons of the colo-
V. 1634.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK nies by the Sachems (Sagmoen) and chief lords of the In- 11. dians, and those who had any interest therein. So that the 1634. said company hath commanded, possessed, and cultivated this country from the beginning of their charter, and carried on trade there, without any person having, with reason, ques- tioned them thereupon, or sought to destroy their trade by force, except only some prohibited traders, and especially Jacob Eelkins, who lately attempted nothing less than to per- suade, by false representations, his Britannic Majesty, that this country of New Netherland was a part of his domain on the continent of North America.
" And although our governor and officers there endeavored, in a friendly manner, to dissuade the abovementioned Jacob Eelkins to refrain from trading within their limits, he, notwith- standing, proceeded up the river, and having pitched his tent ashore, commenced to truck with the Indians in alliance with the company. So that our officers were necessitated, after divers negotiations and protests, as may further be seen by the written and authentic acts thereof, to weigh the said Eelkins' anchor, and to cause him to return from the afore- said river. The company, by all these occurrences, hath suffered special loss, and their trade thereby hath been par- ticularly damaged, and the injurious seed of discord hath been sown between the Indians and our people, who have there- tofore lived with each other in good friendship; and other serious mischiefs have followed by the killing of men and cattle, whereof we expect further information by the next ship, which must now. arrive soon ; so that we have cause to com- plain, and to set forth great damages and losses against the masters of this Jacob Eelkins, for which they, on the con- trary, complain against us, and make very heavy claims."
The memorial concluded by suggesting, in order to get rid of present difficulties, and to prevent their recurrence, to refer the whole matter to Sir William Boswell, the British ambas- sador at the Hague, on the one side, and Mr. Joachimi on the other, for the purpose of settlement, and further recommended that some measures should be taken by their High Mighti- nesses to establish the boundary line between the English and the Dutch in North America.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
The States General declined to interfere in the matter, but CHAP. advised the company to confer, themselves, on the subject with V. 1634.
the English ambassador, and thus the affair remained in abey- ance for the present.1
The even course of events in New Netherland was now dis- turbed by an open, and what appears to be an unseemly quar- rel between the Director-general and the clergyman at New Amsterdam. The cause of the misunderstanding between the parties is unknown; but the minister is represented (by no friend of his, however) as having demeaned himself towards the Director in a manner " unbecoming a heathen, much less a Christian, letting alone a preacher of the gospel." He wrote June him a letter couched in very strong language, called for, per- 17. haps, by the laxity of conduct of the Director-general, who, the minister alleged, was "a child of the devil ; a consummate villain, whose bucks were better than he; and to whom he should give such a shake on the following sabbath, from the pulpit, as would make him shudder," with a great deal more such abuse.2
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