USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. I > Part 24
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250
HISTORY OF
BOOK upon Van Dyck lost temper, and made a retrograde movement III. to Fort Amsterdam, whither he returned without having ac- 1642. complished the object for which he had been detailed. The expedition, however, was not without its effect. The Indians had observed, by the trail of the white men, how narrowly they had escaped destruction, and therefore immediately sued for peace, which Cornelis van Tienhoven concluded with them, in the course of the spring, at the house of a settler named Jonas Bronck, who resided on a river to which he gave his name, situate east of Yonkers, in the present county of Westchester. One of the conditions of this peace was, the surrender of the murderer of Claes Smits, dead or alive ; a condition which, however, was never fulfilled, owing either to unwillingness or inability on the part of the Indians.1
1 Journael van Nieu Nederlant ; Hol. Doc. iii., 107, 146, 166. Alb. Rec. ii., 202; iii., 25. " The tract between the Harlem River and the large stream next eastward, was Bronck's land. Jonas Bronck was the first proprietor of it." Benson's Mem. 27. Armenperal was the Indian name for one of the streams in that vicinity.
251
NEW NETHERLAND.
CHAPTER III.
Continued disagreements between the people of Hartford and the Dutch at Fort Good Hope-Kieft forbids all intercourse with the former-Greenwich comes under the jurisdiction of the Dutch-Progress of the English at the South River-Kieft determines to break up their settlements-Measures adopted with that view-Excitement at New Haven in consequence-Delegates from Hartford arrive at Fort Amsterdam to negotiate for the purchase of Fort Hope-Terms proposed by the Dutch-Movement in England against New Netherland-Lord Say's representations to the Dutch ambassador at Lon- don-Several English families remove from Massachusetts to New Nether- land-West Chester, or Vredeland, settled-Surveyor appointed-A fine stone tavern built in New Amsterdam-George Baxter appointed English secreta- ry-Ruinous condition of the church at Manhattans-Measures taken for the erection of a new building-First consistory in New Amsterdam-Contract for the proposed building-Inscription in front of the church-Renewal of misunderstanding with the Indians-Miantonimo conspires against the whites-General alarm in consequence-Some Dutch traders rob an Indian, who murders two settlers in revenge-Endeavors of the Indian chiefs to make satisfaction for the murder-Fail-Mohawks make a descent on the River Indians-The latter fly for protection to the Dutch-Are hospitably enter- tained-Remove to Corlaers Hook and Pavonia-Kieft determines to attack them-Is opposed by the principal men at New Amsterdam-Kieft will not listen to their objections-The attack-Cruelties practised against the Indians -Settlers on Long Island attack the Indians in their neighborhood-Eleven tribes proclaim war against the Dutch-All the Dutch settlements destroyed -Public discontents-Kieft endeavors to propitiate the Long Island Indians -The latter reject his ambassadors-A day of General Fast and Prayer or- dered-Proposals to depose the Director-general-An attack made on his life-Disorders consequent thereupon-Arrival of a flag of truce from the In- dians on Long Island-Ambassadors sent to invite them to Fort Amsterdam -Speech of the Indian chief-Treaty of peace and cessation of hostilities.
THE proposals conveyed to the West India Company from CHAP. the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut having had no result, the disagreements between the settlers at Hartford and the inhabitants of Fort Good Hope continued without any abatement. Complaints, similar to those already enumerated, were daily repeated against the English, who, it is but justice to say, accused, on their side, the Dutch of having sold guns to the Indians ; of having demeaned themselves insolently to- wards the people on the Connecticut; of having entertained
III. 1642.
252
HISTORY OF
BOOK fugitives guilty of violating their laws ; helped prisoners, un- III. der confinement, to file their irons, and to break jail ; persuad- 1642. ed servants to run away from their masters, and purchased goods stolen from the English, which they refused afterwards to restore.
Kieft finding himself unable, under these circumstances, to obtain any satisfaction for the injuries which his government and his people had, notwithstanding his repeated protests, sus- tained, resorted now to the extreme measure of forbidding all intercourse with the people of Connecticut, or the purchase, either directly or indirectly, of any produce raised in the neigh- borhood of Fort Good Hope, in the expectation that he should succeed in exacting from the necessities and self-interest of the English, what he had failed to obtain from their sense of justice and gratitude.1
With those established at Greenwich he was more success- ful. These people having become, at length, convinced that April 9. they were on Dutch territory, gave in their adherence to the authorities at Fort Amsterdam, to whom they swore allegiance, on condition that they should be protected against the Indians, and enjoy, as a manor, the same privileges as Patroons.2
1 Alb. Rec. ii., 158 ; Trumbull's Conn. i., 122.
2 Hol. Doc. ix., 204. The following is a translation of the agreement passed on occasion of Greenwich coming under Dutch jurisdiction :- " Whereas, we, Captain Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake, (") duly authorized by her hus- band Robert Feake, now sick, have resided two years about five or six (Dutch) miles east of the Netherlanders, subjects of the Lords States General, who have protested against us, declaring that the said land lay within their limits, and that they should not suffer any person to usurp it against their lawful rights; and, whereas, we have equally persisted in our course, during these two years, hav- ing been well assured that his majesty of England had pretended some right to this soil ; and, whereas, we understand nothing thereof, and cannot any longer presume to remain thus, on account both of the strifes of the English, the dan- ger consequent thereon, and these treacherous and villanous Indians, of whom we have seen sorrowful examples enough ; We, therefore, betake ourselves un- der the protection of the Noble Lords States General, His Highness the Prince of Orange, and the West India Company, or their Governor-general of New Netherland, promising, for the future, to be faithful to them, as all honest sub- jects are bound to be ; whereunto we bind ourselves by solemn oath and signa- ture, provided we be protected against our enemies as much as possible, and en- joy henceforth the same privileges that all Patroons of New Netherland have
(a) This lady is said to have been a daughter-in-law of Gov. Winthrop.
253
NEW NETHERLAND.
The party of English who had proceeded from New Haven CHAP. to the South River, were, in the mean time, in active progress with their infant settlements on Hog creek and the Schuylkill. Director Kieft, trusting to the assurances which they had given him, that it was not their intention to settle within the company's limits, was not prepared for the intelligence that they had forgotten that promise. He expressed himself, there- fore, in strong terms when he heard that they had settled on May the South River without his permission. With the encroach- 15. ments on the Fresh River strong in his recollection, he deter- mined that this young colony should not take root, and accord- ingly dispatched the sloops St. Real and St. Martin with a May strong force to the Delaware, with orders to Jan Janssen van 22. Ilpendam, the commissary in that quarter, to proceed with these vessels to the Schuylkill, and demand of the English set- tlers by what authority they had landed and traded there ; to require, also, of them to withdraw, should they not be fur- nished with a royal commission. In case they should refuse to retire, he was further instructed to arrest them, and have them conveyed on board the sloops, taking a full inventory of their goods, and then to destroy their trading-posts.
These orders were executed so promptly, that the English had not two hours to prepare for their departure. The expe- dition next proceeded to Hog creek, and, with the aid of the Swedes, destroyed the English settlement there, and then con- veyed these people, and their goods, first to New Amsterdam, and the settlers, and a part of their property, afterwards to New Haven. Mr. Lamberton, of the latter place, was con- sidered the principal instigator of these encroachments, and gave particular offence ; having, though protested against, con tinued injuring the trade which the Dutch carried on with the Indians on the South River. It was, therefore, determined to Aug. prevent him interfering with that trade for the future, unless he 28. should submit to the authority of the company, and pay the regular duties. He was, accordingly, compelled, when pass- ing the Manhattans, shortly after, to give an account of what
obtained, agreeably to the freedoms. ixth of April, 1642. In Fort Amster- dam, (Signed) DANIEL PATRICK ; Everardus Bogardus and Johannes Winkel- man, witnesses."
1642.
254
HISTORY OF
BOOK III. peltries he had obtained on the Delaware, ana to pay duties ~ on the whole. The English estimated their damages, on these 1642.
occasions, at five thousand dollars.
The excitement at New Haven, when these things became known, was very great. Threats of retaliation were publicly uttered, and to so great a height did this angry feeling extend, that Kieft found himself obliged, by approving the conduct of his servants, to assume the responsibility of their acts. Such of the inhabitants of New Amsterdam as had business after- wards at the " Red Mount," were under the necessity of pro- viding themselves with passports, in which this responsibility was fully avowed.1
The authorities at Hartford began at length to experience some inconvenience from the system of non-intercourse which Director Kieft ordered to be observed. With a view to arrange, In some way, the differences which existed, they commissioned Messrs. Whiting and Hill, the former a magistrate at Hart- ford, to proceed as delegates to Fort Amsterdam, to negotiate the purchase of the company's lands around Fort Good Hope. These gentlemen arrived at the Manhattans in the course of July, and received a detailed explanation of the grounds on which the Dutch title rested, as well as documentary proofs that the Dutch were in possession of that quarter before any Christians arrived on the Connecticut. As it was desirable, however, that some arrangement should be made for the ter- mination of the existing misunderstanding, the Director-gene- July 9. ral and council proposed ceding to the English the land on the Fresh River, on condition that they should annually pay, so long as they may occupy such land, agreeably to the ordinances of the United Netherlands, the tenth part of the produce of the land at Hartford, whether cultivated by the plough or other-
1 Alb. Rec. ii., 162, 177, 185. Hazard's State Pap. ii., 214. Trumbull's Conn. i., 123. Acrelius' Hist. New Sweden. Van der Donck corroborates the statement that the Swedes assisted the Dutch against the English. " Another Kill," he says, " is situate on the east bank (of the South River) called Hog creek, within three (Dutch) miles of the mouth of the river. Some English established themselves here, but Director Kieft drove them away, and protested against them, having been somewhat assisted by the Swedes. They deter- mined together to keep the English out of there." Vertoogh van N. N.
255
NEW NETHERLAND.
wise, orchards and kitchen gardens excepted, provided these CHAP. did not exceed a Dutch acre each, or in lieu of such tithes, such rent as should be agreed upon. These conditions were provisionally accepted, and the delegates returned home to submit them to their government, but they were not productive of any better state of feeling. The English persisted in har- assing the Dutch ; impounding their cattle found grazing on the common, and even preventing the transport to New Netherland of cattle not belonging to them.1
These feelings of animosity were not confined to the Con- necticut. The agents from New England, who happened to be, this summer, in London, were active in making their com- plaints known to those interested in the settlement of the Eng- lish colonies in America ; so that even persons of quality had their feelings strongly prejudiced against the Dutch.
Lord SAY, who had a personal interest in New England, and was one of the founders of Connecticut, was among the most prominent of these ; and the representations which he had received, had so great an influence on his mind, that his lordship took the earliest opportunity to remonstrate with Joa- chimi, the Dutch ambassador, then at the English court, to whom he addressed a memorandum, couched in the following terms :-
" Many Englishmen, (his majesty's subjects,) incorporated," July said his lordship, " by his majesty's letters patent, having, 23. with a view to avoid all difficulties, purchased land from the natives, the acknowledged and lawful owners thereof, have established sundry factories on the river Connecticut, in New England, where they have experienced various molestations and animosities from the Netherlands nation, who, having for- merly erected a small trading-post on the aforesaid river, set up, by virtue thereof, a right to the whole ; and not only that, but to all the country, from Narragansett Bay to the Hudson River, which they designated by the name of New Nether- land, although granted by his majesty to sundry of his sub- jects, and exclusively inhabited by English people. Many protests have they presented against the peaceable proceedings
1 Alb. Rec. ii., 171, 172. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Trans. i., 276.
IL. 1642.
256
HISTORY OF
1642.
BOOK of the English, and in various ways and forms have they trans- III. gressed against them, adding thereto sundry threats and haughty arguments. All these did the English read, and al- though there are, at the furthest, not more than five or six Netherlanders resident on the said river Connecticut, where there are more than two thousand English, yet these have had recourse to no violent proceedings against the others, but have treated them with all civility-yea, under God, have they been a means of preserving their lives.
" "Tis true, the Netherlanders sometimes aver that they pur- chased a portion of land, situate on the aforesaid river, from the Pequod Indians, and pretend a right thereto by virtue of said purchase. But it is very well known, (if any such pur- chase has been made, which as yet has never appeared,) that the Pequods had no other than an usurped title. And herein the weakness of their pretensions becomes apparent ; that the English having addressed sundry letters to their governor, Willem Kieft, residing on Hudson's River, to refer the settle- ment of the said question to impartial arbitrators, he would not accept the proposal.
" It were desirable that they might be ordered to demean themselves in the place where they are, in a peaceable, neigh- borly manner, and to be content with their own limits, or to leave the river, which would tend most to their master's profit, it being very manifest that the returns have, and will, never repay expenses. Moreover, they live there in an ungodly way ; beseeming, in no wise, the Gospel of Christ. Their residence there will never produce any other effect, than ex- pense to their masters, and trouble to the English."
July Violent language having been used about the same time by 31. others, who did not hesitate to threaten that if the difficulties on the Fresh River were not shortly arranged, the Dutch should be forcibly ejected from that quarter before the end of the year, M. Joachimi thought it his duty to communicate to Aug. 8. the States General, not only Lord Say's letter, but some report also, of the irritable state of feeling which existed abroad on the subject, and to recommend that their High Mightinesses should write to King Charles, and request his majesty to command those of New England not to disturb the Dutch
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257
NEW NETIIERLAND.
in New Netherlands, of which country they had possession CHAP before the arrival of the English. "For," his excellency added, " such commands must proceed from his majesty, and it might be taken ill that redress should be sought from the House of Parliament, whose orders probably would not be received in those far distant quarters." He urged, again and again, the necessity of losing no time in this matter, and in a subsequent dispatch, reminded their High Mightinesses of the Oct. 17 near approach of the winter, and how much it behooved them to make such arrangements as would obviate all chances of hostilities between the parties in America. These communi- cations were duly referred to the directors of the West India Company, and the States General instructed their ambassador to endeavor to allay all irritation, by representing, that it was not to be presumed that the Dutch, who were too weak, could succeed in overpowering the English, who were much the stronger, in that country. As for the threats which were ut- tered in England, their High Mightinesses did not regard them as of any consequence. "The power of that nation was rent in twain ; one part contending against the other ; and there- fore she was not to be dreaded by foreign states."1 But, meanwhile, religious persecution caused numbers to remove from New England to New Netherland.
The Rev. Francis Doughty, a dissenting minister, had emi- grated to Massachusetts, like many others, for conscience' sake. But here he discovered that he had plunged "out of the frying-pan into the fire." Being at Cohasset, on the northern bounds of New Plymouth, in 1642, he happened publicly to assert " that Abraham's children should have been baptized," which gave so much offence to his hearers, that he was drag- ged out of the assembly, and otherwise harshly used.2 This unchristian treatment determined him to remove to Long Island, whither he was accompanied by Richard Smith and several other settlers, then residents of Cohannock and other places. On application to the Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam,
1 Hol. Doc. ii., 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 293, 294, 305, 306. Aitzema, ii., 932.
" Leechford's News from New England. Cohasset was originally settled in 1635, when it was called Hingham.
33
111. 1642.
258
HISTORY OF
1642. March
BOOK they immediately obtained a patent for thirteen thousand three hundred and thirty-two acres of land at Mespath, as Newtown, L. I., was originally called, which was endowed with the 28. usual privileges of free manors, such as free exercise of re- ligion, power to plant towns, build churches, nominate magis- trates, administer civil and criminal justice, subject, however, to the conditions and reservations contained in the patent, which was in keeping with the charter of 1640, and similar to that already offered in the preceding month of June, to the people from Lynn.
Mr. Throgmorton, with a number of his friends, who had already been driven with Roger Williams from Massachusetts Oct. 3. by "the fiery Hugh Peters," procured permission to settle thirty-five families, some twelve miles east of the Manhattans, at a place now called West Chester, but which the Dutch at this time named Vredeland, or Land of Peace, a meet appel- lation for the spot selected as a place of refuge by those who were bruised and broken down by religious persecution. And the Lady Moody, who had become "imbued with the errone- ous doctrine that infant baptism was a sinful ordinance," and had, in consequence, been excommunicated by those of New England, "to avoid further trouble," took shelter also among the Dutch, with her son Sir Henry and their followers, in the course of the next year. Her ladyship located at the south- west corner of Long Island " by the express will and consent of the Director-general and council of New Netherland," who called the settlement "'s Gravenzande," after the picturesque village (originally a walled city) of that name at the embou- chure of the river Maas, where the ancient counts of Holland held their courts previous to their removal to the Hague.1
1 Alb. Rec. xx., 7. Gov. Winthrop notices these emigrations, Hist. N. Eng. i., 42 ; ii., 85. The original patent to the Rev. Mr. Doughty and his associates, is inserted in Latin, in the Dutch Rec. G. G., 49. The MS. is peculiarly dif- ficult to be deciphered, being in the contracted chirography of the seventeenth century. A translation of the document will be found in Appendix F ; Mar- tinet's Beschryv. iii., 279. The supposition that the town of Gravesend, on Long Island, derived its name from the first settlers having sailed from Graves- end, in England, is altogether gratuitous. It was the fashion with all European powers who had possessions in the New World, to transfer the names of towns in the mother country, to their new settlements in America. The Dutch were as
259
NEW NETHERLAND.
In order that regularity should be observed in drawing CHAP. boundaries and division lines, Andreas Hudde was this year appointed surveyor, at a salary of two hundred guilders, or $80, per annum, with an additional fee of ten shillings per diem, and two stivers per morgen of two acres, besides the payment of his travelling expenses and ferriage.
Increased accommodation for the numerous strangers who touched at New Amsterdam, on their way from New England to Virginia, became now necessary, as they occasioned the Director-general much inconvenience. " A fine stone tavern" was therefore erected for their use on a lot fronting the East River ; and, " as many questions of law processes, with their various consequences, arise on account of the number of English which daily come to reside among us, and which dis- turb harmony and social intercourse more or less," Director Kieft, "though roughly acquainted with the English language, and somewhat initiated in the law," found himself in need of some one to assist now and then with advice and to write his letters. George Baxter was accordingly appointed English Dec. secretary to the Director-general and council of New Nether- 11. Jand.'
The church erected by Director Van Twiller, had, by this time, shared the fate common to all the public buildings con- structed during his administration, and was now in such a state of dilapidation, that it was considered nothing better than " a mean barn." The necessity of a new church was ad- mitted by the Director and council so far back as 1640; when, with a view to supply the funds requisite to defray the ex- penses of a new building, a portion of the fines imposed by the court of justice was appropriated to that purpose. But nothing practical eventuated from this arrangement. The ac- commodation continued to be of the most wretched descrip- tion, when Captain David De Vries urged the matter anew on the consideration of the Director-general. "It was a shame," he said, " that the English should see, when they passed, no-
observant of this custom as any other nation, of which fact any person can satis- fy himself by looking over a map of Holland.
1 De Vries ; Alb. Rec. ii., 169, 187, 202 ; iii., 409. Hudde's commission as surveyor bears date 26th June, 1642.
I11. 1642.
260
HISTORY OF
BOOK
thing but a mean barn in which public worship is performed. III. The first thing they did in New England, when they raised
1642. some dwellings, was, on the contrary, to build a fine church. We ought to do the same," he continued ; "we had good ma- terials, fine oak wood, fine building-stone, good lime made from oyster-shells, which was better than the lime in Holland." This reasoning, backed by the intelligence that the colonists of Rensselaerswyck had it in contemplation to raise a church also, had considerable weight with Director Kieft. He seem- ed desirous to leave behind him a monument to perpetuate the memory of his zeal for religion, and forthwith inquired who should superintend the good work. There were not wanting " friends of the reformed religion." Joachim Pietersen Kuyter, " who was a good Calvinist, and had a good sett of hands," was elected deacon, and with Jan Dam, Captain De Vries, and Director Kieft, "formed the first consistory to superintend the erection of the projected church."!
These points having been arranged, the next question to be decided was, the site of the building. It was ordered to be erected within the fort. But this was looked upon in the light of " a fifth wheel to a coach," and excited considerable oppo- sition among the commonalty, who represented that the fort was already " very small," and that it stood on the point, or extremity of the island, whereas a more central position ought to be selected for the accommodation of the faithful generally. It was, moreover, particularly urged that the erection of a church within the fort, would prevent the southeast wind reach- ing the grist-mill which stood thereabout, and thus cause the people to suffer, especially in summer, through want of bread.2
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