USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. II > Part 40
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Shortly after the promulgation of this patent, Roeloff June 27. Swartwout was commissioned as sheriff, thus completing the organization of the first court of justice in the present county of Ulster.1
The Rev. Mr. Blom was accompanied to New Nether- land by the Rev. Henricus Selyns of Amsterdam, who had been invited to take charge of the congregation at Breukelen. The disturbances at the Esopus had the effect of retarding his immediate entrance on his charge, and it was 1660. not until the 3d of September, 1660, that he was formally Sep. 3. inducted. The population of Breukelen consisted at that period of thirty-one householders, or one hundred and thirty-four souls, who, being unprovided with a church, assembled, at first, in a barn for public worship.2
1 Alb. Rec. xix., 125-131. Roeloff, son of Thomas, Swartwout married, 13th August, 1657, at Fort Orange, Eva Albertsen, daughter of Albert Andriessen Bradt, and relict of Anthony de Hooges, secretary of Rensselaerswyck. (See Vol. I., p. 433.)
2 Alb. Rec. iv., 337, 364; viii., 277, 304 ; xviii., 133 ; MS. letter of Dominie Selyns to the Classis of Amsterdam. The following are the names of the first members of the church at Breukelen :- Joris Dircksen, Susanna Dubbels, Albert Cornelissen, Tryntie Hudders, Willem Gerritsen van Couwenhoven, Aelte Joris, Peter Montfoort, Sara de Plancke, Jan Evertse, Tryntie Symons, Wil- lem Bredenbent, Aelte Brackund, Jan Pietersen, Greatje Jans, Teunis Nyssen, Femmetie Jans, Adam Brower, Magdalena Jacobs, Johannes Marcus, Elsie Hendricks, Teunis Jansen, Barbara Lucas, Jan Jorissen, Jan Hibbou, Gertruyt Barent (25 members.) Breukelen Church Rec. Dominie Selyns married, 25th July, 1662, Machtelina Specht van Utrecht. He returned to Holland in 1664, but came back afterwards to this country, and officiated in the church of New York.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK VI. Fort Orange was, up to this period, the frontier town on the northern and western borders of the province. Be- 1661. yond that all was "the far west," little known and less explored, wholly abandoned to the wild savage or wilder beasts of prey. But civilization, that giant before whom beasts and savages were alike fated to disappear, and who was never to pause until he bathed his feet in the waters of the Pacific, was now about to take another step west- ward. The proximity of the whites had exhausted the resources of the Indians in the neighborhood of Bever- wyck. Furs were becoming scarce, and the soil was no longer an object of value. The natives were, therefore, inclined to sell for a trifle the Great Flatt, west of the fort, "towards the interior of the country." Six or eight families were desirous to move thither, and the prospect of obtaining additional settlers was favorable, for at Beverwyck the common people were much impover- ished, and unable to meet their wants, "from one loaf to June 18. another."" Under these circumstances, Arent van Curler applied, on behalf of himself and others, to the Director- June 23. general for permission to purchase the land in question. June 21. The requisite authority was duly granted,? but had not been yet received at Fort Orange when a freshet laid the June 26. country for miles around under water. This was followed, a few days after, by an inundation, much greater than the first, which forced the inhabitants to quit their dwellings and fly with their cattle for safety to the woods on the adjoining hills. . Incalculable damage was caused by these irruptions. The wheat and other grain were all prostrated, and had to be cut mostly for fodder, affording scarcely seed
1 Arent van Curler's letter to Director Stuyvesant, dated Rensselaerswyck, 18th June, 1661, in Fort Orange Rec., also in Alb. Rec. xix., 179. Van der Kemp's translation, in the latter, is in many essential parts incorrect.
2 Alb. Rec. xix , 180. Arent van Curler's letter having been read, together with the authority to purchase the same, and to make a concentration there- upon, the Director and Council assented thereunto, "provided that the said lands, on being purchased from the native proprietors, be, as usual, transferred to the Director-general and Council aforesaid, as representatives of the Lords Directors of the Privileged West India Company ; that, whatever the petitioners shall pay for the aforesaid lands to the original proprietors, shall, in due time, be returned to them, or be discounted to them against the tenths.
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sufficient for the next spring.1 This visitation necessarily CHAP. caused the postponement of the purchase of the Great Flatt Il. until the ensuing month, when the following deed was 1661. obtained from the Indian owners :-
" Appeared before me, Johannes La Montagne, appointed July 27. by the Director-general and Council of New Netherland Vice Director and Commissary in the service of the Privi- leged West India Company, at Fort Orange and the town of Beverwyck, certain chiefs of the Mohawk country, by name Cantuquo, Sonareetsie, Aiadane, Sodachdrasse, proprietors of a certain parcel of land, called in Dutch the Groote Vlachte, (Great Flatt,) lying behind Fort Orange, between the same and the Mohawk country, which they declare to have ceded and transported, as they hereby cede and transport, in real and actual possession and property, unto Sieur Arent van Corlear, the said parcel of land or Great Flatt, called, in Indian, SCHONOWE, as it is bounded in its contents and circumference, with its trees and streams, for a certain number of cargoes, wherein the cedants acknowledge to have received satisfaction ; renouncing, now and for ever, all property and claim which they hitherto have had in the aforesaid parcel of land, promising to free the same from all claims which other Indians might have thereon. Done in Fort Orange the 27th July, anno 1661, in presence of Martin Morris and William Montagne, thereunto requested, in presence of me, La Montagne, Vice Director and Commissary over the Fortress Orange.""
A grant under the provincial seal was issued in the fol- 1662. lowing year, but the land was not surveyed or divided April 6. until 1664.3 The inhabitants of Fort Orange and its neigh- borhood were most anxious to retain the fur monopoly,
1 Petition in Renss. MSS. of the colonists of Rensselaerswyck to the Director and Commissaries of that colonie, for a remission of rent and tenths for this year, dated September 15th, 1661. Jeremias van Rensselaer's letter to his mother, 8th October, 1661, in Renss. MSS. Alb. Rec. vi., 345.
2 Fort Orange Rec. 1654-1680. The mark of Cantuquo to the above instru- ment was a Bear ; of Aiadane, a Turtle ; of Sonareetsie, a Wolf ; denoting the tribe or family to which each belonged.
3 Alb. Rec. xxi., 137.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK and had sufficient influence with the Director and Council VI. to induce them to order that the settlers of Schaenhech- 1662. stede (as the new village came to be called) should confine themselves exclusively to agriculture, and abstain from all trade with the Indians. This, in fact, was the condition on which they were allowed to remove thither ; " for it would never have been permitted to settle this plain ex- cept on the assurance that no object was in view but agriculture, because of the dangers which would accrue if, at such a distant place, any trade with the savages was allowed."1 Such a restriction was easily evaded at this " distant" outpost, and it soon came to be known that some of the settlers sold intoxicating liquors to the natives. 1663. When the application for the survey came before the May 7. Council, Jacques Cortelyou was sent thither, but with in- structions not to survey any man's land who might refuse to sign the following obligation :-
" WE, the undersigned inhabitants on the Flatt named - hereby promise that we shall not carry on, or allow to be carried on, at the aforesaid Flatt, or thereabout, any the least handeling, (traffic,) however it may be called, with any Indians, under what pretext the same may be, directly or indirectly, on pain of paying, if we, or any of us, happen to violate this our promise, a fine, without any opposition, for the first offence, of fifty beavers ; for the second, one hundred ; and for the third, forfeiture of our acquired and obtained lands on the aforesaid Flatt."2
When this resolution was communicated to the parties May 18. interested, it excited much discontent. They avowed their loyalty, and willingness to pay the duties rightfully belonging to the Company, and not to do anything in violation of the laws and placards of the province. They hoped that they should not be treated less liberally than others. They had purchased their lands with their own monies, erected buildings, stocked their farms; now should all this be in vain, they would be ruined. They therefore
1 Alb. Rec. xxi., 139.
Pampieren raekende Schaenhechtady in Albany County Clerk's office, 1680-1685; 297-301.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
requested that the surveyor might be allowed to proceed, CHAP. " otherwise they should be necessitated to help themselves as best they could."1
II. 1663.
Accompanying this remonstrance was a private letter May 21. from Van Curler to the Director-general. On his recom- mendation the settlers had consented to proceed with their ploughing and planting, though, at first, they seemed unwil- ling to do so. He trusted that the place would be surveyed, though it was his impression that the Director and Council were acting on the suggestion of some envious persons who sought their own profit at the expense of the cultiva- tion of the public lands, and that under a pretended fear that " a little beaver" should be bought there, and they have thereby so much less. It seemed to him that they who followed agriculture ought not to be worse treated than those who pursue commerce. It would be lamentable were the settlers and their posterity to remain forever under this ban of slavery, and be excluded from bartering either bread, milk, or the produce of their farms for a beaver, so as to be able to purchase some covering for their bodies and dwellings. No person would imagine that trade could be carried on with the Indians at Schaen- hechtady as favorably as at Fort Orange. Goods must be brought from the latter place thither, and therefore must needs sell higher. To obviate all difficulty, the settlers were willing to pledge themselves not to sell any brandy to the Indians, on pain of confiscation of their property.2
This appeal in favor of unshackled commerce was of no avail. Nothing but danger would accrue if the inhabitants June 18. were to continue conveying merchandise, as they had already begun to do, on waggons and horses, to the sav- ages. " Already the Indians had attacked waggons, fired on those who conducted them, and attempted to violate
1 Signed, A. van Curler, Philip Hendricksen, Sander Leendertsen Glen, Symon Volckertsen, Pieter Sogemaekelyk, Teunis Cornelissen, Marte Cor- nelise, Willem Teller, Bastiaen De Winter, attorney for Catalyn widow of Arent Andries De Voss, Pieter Jacobse Borsboom, Pieter Danielse van Olinda, Jan Barentse Wemp, Jacques Cornelise. These were the first settlers of the locality in question.
2 Pampieren raekende Schaenhechtady.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK females journeying thither, as well in the concentration as VI. on the road." To prevent a repetition of these insolences, 1663. no goods were to be carried to Schaenhechtady for the future, and the Schout of Fort Orange was ordered to pro- ceed forthwith to the new settlement, take an inventory of all the goods introduced there in violation of the act of concession, and have the same removed, " as it was not the intention to build up one place for the purpose of bringing ruin on another-yea, on the whole country."1 Thus things remained for nearly another year. It was not until May, 1664, that the surveyor was allowed "to lay out the lands of Schaenhechstede."" In legal and muni- cipal affairs it remained dependent on the court at Fort Orange.
1 Pampieren raekende Schaenhectady ; Alb. Rec. xxi., 135.
2 Alb. Rec. xxii., 169, 234.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
CHAPTER III.
Probable effects of the Restoration on New Netherland-Proclamation inviting English settlers-Conditions-Citizens of New Haven propose settling behind Staten Island-Privileges demanded by them-Failure of the projected settle- ment-Revival of the persecutions against the Quakers-Soldiers quartered on the suspected-Remonstrances in consequence-Trouble between the Mo- hawk and Kennebec Indians-Cruelties of the former towards the French- Revival of religious persecutions-John Bowne turns Quaker-Is arrested- Further penal statutes-Connecticut claims Westchester and the English towns on the west end of Long Island-Stuyvesant endeavors to vindicate the rights of the Dutch-Fails-Bowne required to recant-Refuses, and is banished- Singular retribution-Bowne lays his case before the West India Company- Stuyvesant censured.
ENGLAND was now in a state of transition, and a crisis CHAP. was at hand, the issue of which might prove either favora- III. ble or fatal to Dutch interests in America. The followers of 1661. Charles, needy and unscrupulous, would, no doubt, endeavor, for selfish purposes, to excite the prejudices of the new monarch against the Hollanders, and represent the latter hostile to the increase of British settlements in the New World. On the other hand, a number of Puritans and Independents, whose party had been for so many years in the ascendant, and who relished neither the Restoration nor the institutions which it replaced, would now naturally, in their discontent, betake themselves to America. Here the West India Company held a vast tract extending from the North to the South River, which was, it may be said, wholly unpopulated ; inhabited only by fierce Indians, who constantly interrupted the land communication between the Manhattans and the Delaware. To prove, then, to the King, that the Dutch entertained no hostility against English settlers; to the Puritans, that they would not be regarded with an unfavorable eye, but be on the contrary welcomed and cherished, in New Netherland; and to secure to the rich and fertile district, now forming the State of New Jersey, the blessings of civilization and the benefits
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HISTORY OF
BOOK of a moral and religious population, the bold resolution VI. was taken to invite those of tender consciences in England 1661. and elsewhere to settle in that part of the province lying between the 39th and 40th degrees of latitude. With these views, the following proclamation and liberal con- ditions were scattered throughout the British kingdom :-
Feb. 14. " The STATES GENERAL of the United Provinces, To all who shall see or hear these presents read, make known : That We have condescended and permitted, as We do, by these, condescend and permit all Christian people of tender conscience, in England or elsewhere oppressed, full liberty to erect a colony in the West Indies, between New Eng- land and Virginia in America, now within the jurisdiction of Petrus Stuyvesant, the States General's Governor for the West India Company, on the conditions and privileges granted by the committees of the respective Chambers representing the Assembly of the XIX. [We] do, there- fore, order, charge and command all and every one whom these may concern, that they shall not, in any wise, hinder the said people, nor any of them, nor any whom they shall or might send with knowledge of the said Company, but contrarywise afford unto any and all of them, all favorable help and assistance where it shall be needful ; for we have found it to be good for the Company. Given at the Hague under our seal and paraphure, and signed by our Greffier the 14th day of February, Anno Domini, 1661."1
" CONDITIONS AND PRIVILEGES granted by the West India Company unto all such people that shall be disposed to take up their abode in those parts, viz .: in New Nether- land.
" The West India Company being assembled, do grant and condescend unto all such people as above mentioned, of what nation soever, fifteen leagues of land in breadth along the seaside, and as farr in depth in the continent as any plantation hath or may be settled in New Netherland, with jurisdiction of all bayes and rivers comprehended within the bounds above mentioned.
1 Lond. Doc. i , 105.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
" The free property forever of the said colonie, with the CHAP. appurtenances and dependencies of the same, with power III. to dispose thereof forever, either by will, contract, bond or 1661. otherwise.
"They and their associates may and shall establish their high, middle and low jurisdiction ; the better to mainteyne their authority.
" They shall be free from payinge head money for the space of twenty yeere.
" They shall have the propriety of any mines of gould and silver, (if any found,) and all other mineralls whatso- ever or chrystalls, costly stones, marble, saltpetre, pearle fishing, with exemption of all dutyes and recognizances, for the tyme of twenty yeere, and of [tenths ?] and other taxation for the tyme of tenne yeere.
" They shall be free for tenne yeere of any recognizance for all such goods as shall be transported into the said colonie for traffique with the natives or otherwise.
" They shall be free for the tyme of tenne yeere for paying the Company their right of furrs, dyes, and any groth, and all merchandise that shall bee exported, none excepted.
" These inhabitants shall and may make use of theire owne fraited or hired shipps for the transportation of theire owne goods and merchandises forever, without rendering or giving any account unto the said West India Company.
" The said inhabitants shall and may freely erect and establish within their colonie the fishing trade, and trans- port the same into Spaine, the Streights or elsewhere, free from any recognition during the terme of twenty yeere.
" The said inhabitants shall have full liberty, after they have planted their colonie, in case of difference with the aforesaid Peter Stuyvesant, or any that shall survive him as Governor, by appointment of the States of the Netherlands, to chuse a Director or cheife ; only they shall issue out all writs, of what nature soever, in the name of the States Generall of the United Netherlands."
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HISTORY OF
BOOK VI. A glowing description of the country was appended to these conditions. The land, "only six weeks' sail from 1661. Holland," was fertile ; the climate was " the best in the world ;" seed may be committed to the soil without prepa- ration ; timber and wild fruit of all descriptions abounded ; furs and game may be obtained without trouble, and every encouragement existed for the establishment of fisheries. " Therefore, if any of the English good Christians, who may be assured of the advantages to mankind of planta- tions in these latitudes above others more southerly, and shall be rationally disposed to transport themselves to the said place, under the conduct of the United States, they shall have full liberty to live in the fear of the Lord, upon the aforesaid good conditions, and shall be likewise court- eously used." "If any persons wish to transport themselves without joining the above Company, they shall have the full, free and absolute liberty, to all intents and purposes whatsoever."1
In the course of the year preceding the appearance of these papers, application was made by John Sticklan, of Huntingdon, on Long Island, on the part of a number of New England people, for permission to commence a settle- ment at Achter Cul. Nothing further was done, how- ever, in the matter until the following spring, when the news of the annexation of their colony to Connecticut caused considerable dissatisfaction at New Haven, and such indisposition towards the King that some of the magistrates absolutely refused to take the oaths prescribed by the new order of things.2 In this state of the public mind information was, possibly, received of the liberal offers of the States General and the West India Company, and a deputation came over to examine the lands. These gentlemen were so "courteously entertained" that Messrs.
Benjamin Fenn and Robert Treat, magistrates of the dis- Nov. 2S. contented colony,3 with Mr. Lawe and Deacon Gun, visited
1 Lond. Doc. i., 105-109.
2 Trumbull's Conn. i., 242.
3 Mr. Fenn had been elected an assistant of New Haven, in 1654. It was with difficulty he had been prevailed on, this year, to accept the office. He took the oath with the reservation that his office referred only to the laws of the col-
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the Manhattans in the fall, furnished with powers to con- CHAP. clude the terms on which they might commence the pro -~
111. posed plantation. They demanded, Ist, liberty to establish 1661. a church " in the Congregational way, such as they have en- joyed in New England about twenty years past," and that the same be recorded ; 2d, that the English churches under the Dutch government, if they agree to unite together, be allowed to call a Synod, " to establish by common consent such orders, according to Scripture, as may be requisite for the suppressing of heresies, schisms, and false worship, and for the establishment of truth and peace in these English churches, and that the Governor and Council at New Amsterdam protect the said churches and synods from any that oppose or injure them;" 3d, the right to administer justice in all civil matters within themselves; to elect their own magistrates and other officers ; to keep courts and make all such laws and orders as they shall find most suitable to their condition and welfare ; and that all planters within their jurisdiction be bound to obey such laws, orders, sentences and appointments as shall from time to time be enacted, without appeal to other authori- ties, "for this power the English in New England have had and exercised in all causes, by the graunt of the late King of England, Charles the First, as is seene in His Majesty's letters pattent, aboute twentye yeares together." This privilege they considered the more essential under the Dutch, "whose laws they know not, nor understand their language." For the manner of exercising this "selfe- power," they proposed to adopt the fundamental laws of New Haven, "so far as we shall find it will alike suite Christ's ends and our condition ;" 4th, that the lands be purchased from the Indians, and then conceded by the Dutch government to the associates forever; 5th, that no person be allowed to settle among them except by their own consent ; 6th, the right to collect debts ; and finally,
ony, and that if anything " foreign " presented, he should decline acting. Mr. Treat acted several years as assistant of New Haven and Connecticut. Of the latter, he was subsequently Governor fifteen years, having filled the office of Deputy Governor for thirty-two years. He was one of Andros' Council, in 1687, and died 12th July, 1710, aged 89.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK VI. the ratification of these conditions, by a proper instru- ment.
1661.
There was no objection to any of these proposals, ex- cept the third. "In the way of magistrature, judicature, and civil affairs, shall be granted (it was replied) to the petitioners all such power, authority, privilege and liberty as all other towns and colonies in New Netherland have obtained ; to wit, the nomination of their own magistrates within themselves, yearly, in a double number, to be pre- sented [as a token of acknowledgment] unto the Director- general and Council, to elect from the same the magis- trates for that year, and to confirm those that shall be qualified, with sufficient power and authority to make, and see approved and confirmed by the Director and Council, all such ordinances as they shall find good for the benefit of their towns or plantations; according to the same, to do right and justice ; appeal being reserved unto the High Court, in conformity to the general order and exemptions granted unto all the inhabitants of New Netherland."1 Mar. 11. Further consultation took place in the course of the follow- ing spring, but no change resulted in the answer already given. The right of appeal and the double nomination May 30. were insisted on, after which the whole matter was referred to Holland." As the proposed settlement might serve as a 1663. defence against the savages on the Raritan and Minnisinck, Mar. 26. the Directors made no objection to it. On the contrary, as it would have been a gratification to them, had the pro- ject been carried out, they advised the Director-general to encourage it. The only obstacle which retarded its progress was the appeal in certain criminal cases, such as fornication, adultery, and similar offences, which the New Haven people punished by death, in accordance with the Mosaic law. To this the Directors did not altogether object. They consented that the right of appeal should be abolished " in all crimes the prosecution of which is instituted on a voluntary confession," but this could not be permitted to extend to " all other cases of a dubious nature." These
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