USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. II > Part 26
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It was not on Long Island alone that the Dutch territory was invaded. Regardless of the title already acquired by purchase both by Kieft and Stuyvesant, Thomas Pell, of Fairfield, laid claim to the Vreedlant tract in Westchester,
40, 41,) has committed a number of mistakes. He first represents that "the Governor refused to confirm their election." This was not so. He removed them from office for a violation of the patent. He next states that he conceded to Lady Moody at his visit to Gravesend, 23d Nov. 1654, " the nomination of the magistrates that year, and her popularity reconciled the people to the meas- ure, and produced submission to the arbitrary act of the Governor." This may be a very gallant version of the matter, but it is not a true one. Stuyvesant proposed then that the people should elect new magistrates, but this was de- clined, and we have shown that the election was again postponed in the spring of 1655, at the request of the settlers themselves, out of respect to Stuyvesant's absence in the West Indies. The Director-general did not concede " the nomi- nation of the magistrates" to her ladyship at any time. By the charter, such nomination was vested in the inhabitants, and he would have been acting ille- gally, had he conceded that nomination to any individual. She was called on as one of the patentees, "with the other inhabitants," to send in a nomination, as was always done. All this was according to law, and not for the purpose which Mr. Wood represents. Mr. Thompson has been led into error also by Mr. Wood.
1 Rec. Gen. Court of New Hav. 63, 96. The consideration paid for this tract was six coats, six kettles, six fathoms of wampum, six hoes, six hatchets, three pairs of stockings, thirty awl-blades, twenty knives, three shirts, " and as much peague as will amount to £4 stg." The purchasers were Samuel Mayo, Peter Wright, William Leveridge, - Washborne, Charles Armitage, Daniel Whitehead, Anthony Wright, Robert Williams, John Washborne, Richard Holbrooke. Oyster Bay Rec.
9 Alb. Rec. ix., 256 ; x., 9, 10, 32 ; Hol. Doc. ix., 261.
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under the color of a conveyance from the Indians, and CHAP. commenced selling land there to several persons from ~
V. Connecticut.1 The marshal was immediately dispatched 1655. with a protest against this trespass also. But the Dutch title was not recognized by the English squatters. Under the arms of England, which they had carved on a tree, four armed men met the court messenger as he entered the creek in front of their settlement, and demanded his business. On being informed that he wished to land, he was told that he could not do so. "But I'm cold," he replied ; "let me warm myself ;" and hereupon he sprang ashore. Here he was forthwith surrounded, and detained, " without being able to advance a foot," until the commandant of the place arrived. He made his appearance pistol in hand, the muzzle thrust right before him. He was accompanied by eight or ten armed follow- ers, and to these Van Elslandt read the paper with which he was charged, and which, having concluded, he offered to their leader. But the latter refused to receive it, on the ground that he did not understand Dutch. Had it been in English he would have replied to it. " When the decision of the authorities in Europe would be received on the boundary question, then he should understand whether
1 Rec. of the General Court of New Haven, 185. Thomas Pell, of Norfolk, Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I., emigrated to New England about 1642, in which year he appears by the Records to have been a resident of New Haven. He traded to the Delaware and Virginia in 1647. In 1648, he was called on to take the oath of allegiance to New Haven, but he declined compli- ance to this order, on the ground that he had taken the oath in England, "and should not take it here." Whether this refusal was prompted by his attach- ment to the royal cause does not appear, but he was pronounced guilty of con- tempt and fined. He would not pay the fine, however, and as " his carriage had been full of high contempt," he was again summoned before the authorities and again amerced. He removed to Fairfield, twenty-four miles west of New Haven, and purchased from the Indians nearly the whole of the south-eastern portion of Westchester co., a part of which was erected by Gov. Nicolls, in 1666, into the manor of Pelham. He married Lucy, widow of Francis Brew- ster, and died without issue in September, 1669, leaving his lands to his nephew John, " living in ould England," the only son of John Pell, D.D., who was employed by Cromwell as diplomatic agent to the Protestant Cantons of Swit- zerland, and was afterwards chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. [Biog. Dict., also Biog. Univer.] John. the second lord of the manor of Pelham, rep- resented the county of Westchester in 1691. He had two sons, John and Thomas, from whom are descended all the members of the family in this country.
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they were to be under the Dutch or under the Parliament.
BOOK V. Until then they chose to remain under the Commonwealth 1655. of England."1
The news of " the infamous surrender" of Fort Casimir had, long ere this, reached Holland, and if any evidence were required to prove the falsehood of which Rysingh had been guilty when he represented that the Dutch West India Company had authorized that aggression, the latter now promptly furnished it. They ordered (Nov. 16th) the Director-general "to exert every nerve to avenge the insult, by not only replacing matters on the Delaware in their former position, but by driving the Swedes from every side of that river."" The interest of the Company and New Netherland demanded it. Two armed ships were forth- with commissioned ; " the drum was beaten daily for volun- teers" in the streets of Amsterdam ; authority was sent out to arm and equip, and if necessary to press into the Company's service, a sufficient number of ships for the expedition ; and lest those who had been guilty of treachery and dis- honor in the late " shameful transaction," should escape punishment, Commissary Bikker, whose " cowardly sur- render" of the fort was declared " insufferable," was ordered to be immediately placed under arrest. The winter passed away, however, without anything being done. In the spring, the Directors engaged a thirty-six gun brig, belonging to the Burgomasters of Amsterdam, in which they sent out an additional force of two hundred men. The fleet now in commission consisted of the Bal- lance, the Vigilance, the Solomon, the French privateer L'Esperance, and the Love, whilst the provincial govern- ment had a carte blanche to charter any other vessels that May 25. might be required. No delay was to be allowed, and all diligence was to be used, " even though Director Stuyve- sant should not have returned " from the West Indies, as
¿ Hol. Doc. ix., 261-267.
2 This order was subsequently modified by a dispatch, dated 26th May, 1655, in which Stuyvesant was directed, " after his exploit shall have been success- ful," to permit the Swedes to hold the land on which Fort Christina is built, with a garden to cultivate tobacco, "because it appears they made the purchase with the previous knowledge of the Company." Alb. Rec. iv., 186.
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immense preparations were making in Sweden to assist CHAP. their colony on the South River.1 V.
1655.
Cromwell's policy had in the mean time rendered Stuy- vesant's voyage utterly abortive. Having issued orders, towards the close of the last year, for the management and government of the West Indies, the commissioners on their arrival laid an embargo on all the Dutch ships in these islands, eight of which were seized at Barbadoes alone. Three of these were under the command of the Director-general, of whom the English were " in more fear than all the world besides."" His plans having been thus deranged, Stuyvesant, after suffering a long detention, finally succeeded in returning to New Netherland, where he was soon overtaken by the Directors' orders to subdue Aug. 16. the Swedes. A day of prayer and thanksgiving was immediately appointed, to beseech Almighty God, with humble hearts, not only to continue his blessings, but to crown the intended expedition with success. As ill health, from an epidemic prevailing at the time, prevented him superintending, in person, all the details of preparation, Vice Director de Sille, Attorney-general Tienhoven, and "the valiant Frederick de Koninck," captain of the Bal- lance, were authorized to attend to these. " If any lovers of the prosperity and security of the province of New Netherland were inclined to volunteer, or to serve for reasonable wages, they were invited to come forward ; Aug. 19. and whoever should lose a limb, or be maimed, was
1 Alb. Rec. iv., 157-159, 166, 180.
2 Journal of the Proceedings of the English Army in the West Indies, 4to. 1655 ; Thurloe, iii., 142, 251 ; iv., 634. Mr. Edward Winslow, one of the com- missioners, writing to Thurloe, from Barbadoes, March 16th, 1654-5, says : " We have mett the Dutch Governor of New Netherlands, with three ships under his command. He is commander in cheife of all parts in America under the States' command. This man's business was to settle a faire trade betweene the Netherlands and this place ; but we spoiled the sport. He hath bin under the embargo ever since we came ; and the rather because he told us he had business with the Spanish plantations, and we are in more feare of him for the discovering our raw and defective forces, than all the world besides. . This Dutch Governor undertook to plead the cause of his countrymen, and hath our answer in writing." Stuyvesant sailed from the Manhattans Dec. 24th, 1654, and returned July 11th, 1655. On his return he laid before the Council a report of his voyage, but it, unfortunately, is not among the Records.
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BOOK assured of a decent compensation." Each of the mer- V. chantmen were ordered to furnish two of their crew, and 1655. a proportionate share of provisions, and those " who make a living by sailing up and down the river," were to be Aug. 28. impressed and distributed among the several companies. In the midst of all the bustle which now animated the Manhattans, a question arose of serious importance : " Should the Jews be enlisted ?" The citizens had an in- vincible repugnance to admit them into the guard-house. The difficulty was solved without much ado by Stuyvesant. " In this celebrated emporium of New Amsterdam," Jews are not called upon to participate in such duties. Though willing to serve, they were declared exempt. Each of them, however, between the age of sixteen and sixty, was taxed sixty-five stivers a head per month, " which is to be levied by execution in case of refusal."
Every preparation that foresight could suggest having now been made, the fleet, consisting of seven vessels, large and small, set sail on Sunday, the 5th September, “ after the sermon," with a force of between six and seven hun- dred men, and were next afternoon, at three o'clock, in the bay of the South River. The Hon. Nicasius de Sille and the Rev. Mr. Megapolensis accompanied the expe- dition. A dead calm and unfavorable tide prevented the ships proceeding with as much dispatch as Stuyvesant desired, and it was not until the following day that they anchored before Fort Elsinburgh, which was found de- Sep. 10. serted. On the morning of Friday, wind and tide serv- ing, they weighed again, and between eight and nine o'clock the expedition landed about a gunshot above Fort Trinity. The Director-general immediately dispatched Captain Smith, with a drummer, to summon the place, and detailed a party of fifty men to cut off all communi- cation with Fort Christina. Meanwhile Swen Schute, the Swedish commandant, demanded permission to com- municate with Rysingh ; but this was denied, and he was again called on to prevent bloodshed. An interview now took place " in the valley mid-way between the fort and the Dutch batteries," between him and Stuyvesant, and he
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a second time asked leave to send an open letter to his CHAP. superior. This was denied, and Schute departed " dissat -~ V. isfied." Breastworks were now thrown up, and the Dutch 1655. troops ordered to advance, and "for the third time " the fort was summoned. A delay until next morning was asked, to prepare an answer. This was granted, " because we could not be ready that evening or following night with batteries near enough to allow our guns to bear." On the following morning the commander went on board Sep. 11. the Ballance and capitulated. By the terms then agreed to, he obtained leave to send to Sweden, by the first oppor- tunity, the cannons, nine in number, belonging to the crown ; to march out of the fort with twelve men, as his body guard, fully accoutred, and colors flying, but the other soldiers were to wear only their side arms. The muskets belonging to the crown were to remain until sent for ; the commandant and other officers were to retain their private property, or leave it until a future oppor- tunity offered for its removal ; and, finally, the fort was to be surrendered, with all the cannon, ammunition, materials, and other goods belonging to the West India Company. The Dutch troops entered Fort Casimir at noon, and Dominie Megapolensis preached a sermon of thanksgiving on the following Sunday, to the "army of occupation." About thirty Swedes submitted and asked leave to move to the Manhattans.
Rysingh, in the mean time, ignorant that Fort Casimir had fallen into the enemy's hands, had dispatched nine or ten of his best men to reinforce the garrison. On their way thither these fell in with an advanced post of some fifty or sixty Dutch, by whom, after a skirmish, they were taken prisoners, except two, who made good their escape. Factor Ellswyck was now sent with a flag, and enquired of Stuyvesant the cause of his coming hither. " To recover and retain our property," was the reply. The hope was then expressed that the Director-general would remain satisfied, and not advance nearer Fort Christina. He answered evasively, the Dutch " preparing, in the mean- while, to march thither on the following day."
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HISTORY OF
TOOK V. Rysingh, on learning that he was to be attacked, spent the night, with what force he could command, strengthen- 1655. ing his defences. On the following morning the Dutch Sep. 14. showed themselves on the opposite bank of Christina creek, where they threw up a battery and entrenched Sep. 15. themselves. Their ships went up to the Third Hook and landed additional forces, who immediately invested the fort on all sides. The vessels were then brought into the mouth of the creek, their cannon planted west of the fort, and also on Timber Island ; and Stuyvesant summoned the garrison to surrender. The latter held a council of war, and resolved to stand on the defensive, "and leave the consequences to be redressed by our gracious superi- ors." But the place could not hold out long. The supply of powder scarcely sufficed for a single round, and their force, consisting of only thirty men, was quite inadequate to its defence. The enemy's troops were in the mean time appropriating to themselves the property of those Swedes who lived without the fort, killing the cattle, and pillaging whatever was movable. At length the Swedish garrison itself showed symptoms of mutiny. The men were har- assed from constant watching, provisions began to fail, many were sick, several had deserted, and Stuyvesant threatened, if they held out much longer, to give no quarter. A parley was at last called. Rysingh and Van Ellswyck Sep. 23. met Stuyvesant and De Sille. But this eventuated only in renewed discussions, and the Swedes returned exhibiting more determination than their hopeless condition war- ranted. On the 24th the Dutch commander sent in his ultimatum, and gave the besieged twenty-four hours to consider whether they should capitulate or take the conse- Sep. 25. quences of their continued obstinacy. The following day they capitulated, on honorable terms, after a siege of four- teen days, during which, very fortunately, there was a great deal more talking than cannonading, and no blood shed, except those of the goats, poultry and swine which the Dutch troops laid their hands on. The twenty or thirty Swedes then marched out " with their arms, colors flying, matches lighted, drums beating and fifes playing,
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NEW NETHERLAND.
and the Dutch took possession of the fort, hauled down the CHAP. Swedish flag, and hoisted their own."?1 V.
Such of the Swedes as wished to remain in the country 1655. were to be secured in their rights as well of property as of conscience, and Governor Rysingh and all others who intended to proceed to Europe were to be provided with means of repairing thither. By a secret article it was permitted to the former, and to the factor, to land either in England or France; and a sum of three hundred pounds Flemish was advanced to Rysingh, to be repaid within six months, in Amsterdam, he leaving, as a guarantee, the property of the Crown and Company, which were to be sold should the money not be forthcoming at the stipulated time.2
Immediately after the surrender of Fort Christina, Stuy- vesant offered, in compliance with his instructions, to re- Sep. 26. store the place to Rysingh, on honorable and fair conditions, and made him, accordingly, a tender of the keys, but these the Swede refused. The matter was no longer within his province, and he preferred to abide by the capitulation.9 A proclamation was, thereupon, issued, ordering all who wished to remain in the country to take the oath of allegi- ance. Twenty persons gave in their adhesion. Two out of three of the Swedish clergymen, then on the river, were summarily expelled the country ; the third was saved from similar ill treatment solely by intelligence that the Manhattans and adjoining settlements were a prey to all the horrors of an Indian foray.4
1 Campanius' New Sweden.
2 " Both parties retained what they got; the one the money, the other the goods." Acrelius.
3 The Instructions to Stuyvesant are in Alb. Rec. iv., 186. The result is stated in x., 134, and more fully in Hol. Doc. viii., 49. " On the same day [of the surrender, the Company] caused a written offer to be made to restore again the surrendered Fort Christina into the hands of the aforesaid Johan Rysingh on honorable and fair conditions, to be sworn to and faithfully observed by him and his officers as commissioners of her Royal Majesty, on the one side, and by the said Director-general and Council as commissioners for this State and Company on the other ; but the aforesaid proposition was declined by the said Johan Rysingh, on the pretext that the matter was no longer in his hands, [in zyn geheel,] and that he should rather adhere to the concluded capitulations."
4 " Our people retook Fort Casimir again in the year 1655. It was provided with a right strong garrison of our nation, and contained divers freemen there VOL. II. 19
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HISTORY OF
BOOK A party of savages, Mohegans, Pachamis, with others V. from Esopus, Hackingsack, Tappaan, Stamford and Onke-
1655. way, as far east as Connecticut, estimated by some to amount to nineteen hundred in number, from five to eighteen Sep. 15. hundred of whom were armed, landed suddenly before daybreak, in sixty-four canoes, at New Amsterdam, and whilst the greater part of the inhabitants were still buried in sleep, scattered themselves through the streets, and burst into several of the houses, on pretence of looking for " In- dians from the North," but in reality to avenge the death of a squaw, whom Van Dyck, the late Attorney-general, had killed for stealing a few peaches from his garden. The Council, magistrates and principal citizens assembled in the fort, and calling the chief Sachems before them, enquired the cause of this irruption. They succeeded in prevailing on them to quit the place by sundown, and to retire to Nut Island. Instead, however, of observing their promise, when evening arrived they became bolder, shot Van Dyck in the breast with an arrow, and felled Captain Leendertsen to the ground with an axe. "The hue and cry of murder now rang through the streets." Urged on by Van Tienhoven, the military and burgher corps rushed from the fort, attacked the Indians, and forced them to take to their canoes, leaving three of their men dead on the shore. The Dutch lost Cornelis van Loon and Jan de Vischer. Three others were wounded. The savages
with dwellings. So one was appointed who should read every Sunday some- thing from the Apostles, which has as yet been continued, and the Lutheran minister who was there was sent to Sweden. Two miles from Fort Casimir up the river stands another fort, which was also taken at the same time by our peo- ple, and the preacher, together with the Swedish garrison, was sent away. But as many Swedes and Finns, to the number at least of two hundred were dwelling two or three miles up the river, above Fort Christina, the Swedish Governor insisted in the capitulation, that one Lutheran minister should be re- tained to instruct the people in their own tongue. This their request was too easily granted : Ist, because trouble had broken out at Manhattan with the In- dians, and men required quick dispatch and to hasten back to the Manhattans to redress matters there ; 2d, because we had no reformed preacher here to establish there, or who understood their language." Rev. Dom. Megapolensis to the Classis at Amsterdam. I am indebted to the politeness of the Rev. Dr. De Witt of New York for these and other MS. letters, as well as for many addi- tional acts of kindness, which I take great pleasure in thus thankfully acknowl- edging.
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now crossed over to the western side of the river. "In a CHAP. moment a house at Hoboken was on fire, and the whole ~ v. of Pavonia was wrapt in flames." With the exception of 1655. Michel Jansen's family, every man was killed, together with all the cattle. A large number of women and chil- dren were taken prisoners. Elated by success and mad- dened by an increased thirst for blood, the savages next passed over to Staten Island, the population of which now amounted to ninety souls, by whose industry eleven bou- weries had been brought into a high state of cultivation. Of all these sixty-seven escaped.1
During the three days that this storm raged, the Dutch lost one hundred people, one hundred and fifty were taken into captivity, and more than three hundred persons, be- sides, were deprived of house, home, clothes and food. Twenty-eight bouweries and a number of plantations? were
1 List of yeomanry, men, women and children, men and maid servants, sent by Baron Hendrik van de Capelle tot Ryssel to New Netherland, in the West Indies, on Staten Island, since May, 1650, and who survived that cruel and bloody destruction by the Indians, in September, 1655. 1. Capt. Adriaen Pos, with wife, five children, one servant, one girl; reside yet on the Island. 2. Hendrik Werrinck, with wife, two children, and one servant ; reside on Man- hattans. 3. Paul Derricks, wife, one child, and one servant; reside at Fort Orange. 4. Hendrik Marcellis, wife, two children, one servant ; reside at Fort Orange. 5. Jan Aertsen van Heerde, with wife and eight children, reside at Manhattans. 6. Albert Gysbertsen van Heerde, wife, four children, one ser- vant ; reside at Fort Orange. 7. The wife of Arent van Hengel was married with one Severyn, now living at Manhattans. This woman hath a son. 8. The widow of John van Oldenseel, named Elfken, married one Mandemaker, with three children ; lives on Long Island. 9. The widow of Jan Wesselinck, married to an Englishman, being a carman living at the Manhattans, with three children. 10. Dylart, servant of the deceased farmer, resides at Mespresskill. 11. The wife of a wheelwright, who was engaged at Zutphen, named Her- minken, resides at Fort Orange, and married a carpenter with two children. 12. Three children of Corporal Gerrit Janssen van Steenwyck, transported hither at the Baron's expense. 13. Wynold, servant of deceased Hans Barentsen van Osnabrugge, sent by Melyn towards the north, has left him again, and has be- come an apprentice to a ship carpenter. 14. A boy of Barent Driessen van Ooste- veng, lives with a farmer on Long Island. 15. A child from Heenderen, called " the maimed child," resides at Breukelen, opposite Manhattans. In all 67 liv- ing souls. Recorded in this manner at Zutphen, on the 14th November, 1657, by the wife of Capt. Pos, and by the farmer Jan Aertsen van Heerde. Alb. Rec. viii., 158.
? Relation de ce qui c'est passé en la N. France, 1655, 1656., 11. By bouweries are meant those farms on which the family resided ; by plantations those which were partly cultivated, but on which no settlers dwelt.
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BOOK burned, twelve to fifteen thousand schepels of grain de- V. stroyed, and from five to six hundred head of cattle killed 1655. or driven off. The damages inflicted on the colonists were estimated at two hundred thousand florins, or eighty thou- sand dollars.1
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