USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. II > Part 41
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1 Alb. Rec. xix., 409, 410, 418-420 ; New Amst. Rec.
$ Ibid. xx., 73, 147.
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laws should, moreover, be enforced only against their own CHAP. countrymen, and not against the Dutch who might settle III. among them. This point was of too high importance to 1663. be surrendered, " as long as it was tenable ;" but if, finally, their settlement was not to be attained without the sacri- fice even of this, Stuyvesant was authorized to accord to the English such terms as in his opinion might best con- duce to the public welfare.1
In accordance with these instructions, a final answer July 20. was given. The first, second, fourth, and sixth propositions were absolutely consented to. The election of magistrates was granted, on condition that those chosen be annually presented to the Director and Council to be confirmed and sworn into office. The settlers were next allowed to establish courts ; to make such laws as they may think most suitable, but such enactments were to be presented to the authorities at New Amsterdam, to confirm the same if " found to concur with the Holy Scriptures." Capital sentences, on convictions following the confession of the accused, were to be executed without appeal ; but in dark and dubious cases, especially in witchcraft, such judgments were not to be carried into effect, unless with the consent of the Governor and Council. Final jurisdiction was allowed in civil matters to the amount of one hundred pounds Flemish, above which sum an appeal was to lie to the superior tribunal. No new settlers were to be admitted unless by consent of the local magistrates and on taking the oath of allegiance. Finally a charter was to be granted. embracing all the above concessions .? Whether this settle- ment was carried into effect under Stuyvesant's adminis- tration is a matter of doubt. Probably the execution of the plan was obstructed by misunderstandings, which now existed to a serious degree, between the English of Con- necticut and Long Island and the Dutch, and which marred whatever good intentions were entertained by the supreme authority in Holland.3
1 Alb. Rec. iv., 415, 416.
2 Ibid. xxi., 231-237 ; Bancroft's U. S. ii., 317.
3 Mr. Whitehead, in " East Jersey under the Proprietary Government," accuses VOL. II. 29
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1661.
BOOK VI. Whilst these efforts were making to induce "persons of tender conscience" to settle in New Netherland, strange contradiction ! every means that power could employ were invoked to drive those of tender conscience already resident in the country from the province. Henry Townsend of Rustdorp, undeterred by the fines to which he had been already twice subjected, persisted, not only in harboring Quakers, but in inviting his neighbors to hear "the learned Jan. 8. man."2 The Rev. Mr. Drisius and the deputy sheriff were dispatched to stay these irregularities. Whilst the clergy- man preached at Rustdorp, the deputy sheriff set off to Gravesend, where he understood the Friends held a meet- ing. But the Quaker had fled, and the officer was forced to return with no richer trophy than the poor man's cloak.
Jan. 13. The two Townsends, Spicer, and Tilton were now prosecuted. Having been asked if they pleaded guilty to the charge against them, they demanded that it should first be proved. They were told that it was proved. They replied that they had only visited their " friends," and this was not forbidden by law. The equivoque did Jan. 20. not succeed. Henry Townsend was fined twenty-five and Spicer twelve pounds, with costs of suit. John Townsend and Tilton were sentenced to be banished.
The sword of the spirit wielded by Dom. Drisius having failed to convince the inhabitants of Rustdorp of their errors, the arm of the flesh now put forth its power.
the Dutch of having obstructed, or thrown obstacles in the way of this settlement, (pp. 24, 182 ) But in view of the whole of the evidence above adduced, candor, we believe, will acquit them of this illiberal charge. It was foreign to the spirit of the proclamation and conditions of February. 1661, with which, however, we presume Mr. Whitehead was unacquainted ; and when we reflect that Stuyve- sant interposed the right of appeal only in charges of witchcraft and such like "dubious cases," humanity and an enlightened spirit will rather praise than censure him for such " obstruction."
1 Names of those who were at the Quakers' meeting in Henry Townsend's house, as furnished by Richard Everett and Nathaniel Denton :- Henry Town- send, Goodie Tilton of Gravesend, Samuel Andrews, Richard Harker, Samuel Dean and wife, John Townsend and wife, Richard Britnell, Richard Chasmoor, and Samuel Spicer. Total, eleven persons. Alb. Rec. xix., 2. This Samuel Spicer married Esther, daughter of "Goodie Tilton," above mentioned. Vide ante, p. 143. Judge Thompson informs me, they removed to West Jersey in 1686, and that their daughter Martha married Thomas Chalkeley, in his day a popular and much esteemed leader among the Friends of Philadelphia.
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Richard Everett and Nathaniel Denton, having given CHAP. proofs of their fidelity by " informing" on their neighbors, were appointed, with Andrew Messenger, magistrates over 1661. the town, and a dozen soldiers were quartered on the Jan. 24. infected district. Such were some of the means employed in those days to propagate truth and "suppress conven- ticles." If they had not the effect of convincing men of their errors, they succeeded, at least, in making them sensible of the oppression of the government under which they lived. They therefore remonstrated, and requested Feb. 10. that the soldiers be recalled. They were told that their petition should be complied with whenever they promised, in writing, to assist the magistrates in arresting any Quakers who might visit their town. Fifteen of the townspeople, with their magistrates, gave the required pledge,' but Feb. 11. John Townsend, Richard Harker, Samuel Dean, Samuel Andrews, Benjamin Hubbard, and Nathaniel Cole refused to sign the paper. The soldiers were, thereupon, quartered Feb. 15. on the recusants, and Townsend was ordered to quit the province. Again, however, Townsend and three others remonstrated. " They were obliged to support seven Mar. 3. soldiers because they would not become tale-bearers and informers against Quakers." They asked to be relieved of this burthen on their promise to demean themselves as good subjects. " They should be released whenever they signed the paper," was the only answer vouchsafed them.2
The wild and irregular habits of the Mohawks, and their insolent domineering over the other tribes, caused, now, a good deal of annoyance to the Director-general. Having
1 " We whose names are underwritten, doe, by these presents, promise and engage, that iff any meetings or conventicles of Quakers shall bee in this towne off Rust dorpe that we know of, then we will give information to the aughthor- ity set up in this place by the Governor, and alsoe assist the aughthority of the towne against any such person or persons called Quakers, as needs shall require. Witness our hand this 11th of February, in the year 1661, stil nov. Richard Everett, Nathaniel Denton, Andrew x Messenger, Abram x Smith, Samuel Mathews, Robart Coe, Benjainin Coe, Samuel Smith, William Foster, Roger Symes, Richard x Chasmore, John Rodes, Henry Steven, Moses Smith, George Mills. Written by Daniel Denton, clerk." Jamaica Rec. i., 120.
2 Alb Rec. xix , 11, 18, 21, 24, 28, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 55, 56.
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BOOK VI. crushed the Hurons, one hundred and sixty of their war-
riors directed their movements towards the Kennebec, on 1662. whose banks the English maintained a few men for the purposes of trade with the north-eastern tribes. After April30. forcing these to barter some goods, they proceeded to Fort May 3. Penobscot, and surprised a party of Onakouques, or Ab- enaquis Indians,1 who to the number of about one hundred men, women and children, had come to obtain supplies from the whites, and were encamped, in fancied security, under the protection of the fort. To cloak their designs, the Mohawks purchased some provisions and goods, and then departed with their prisoners. On their return to the upper trading post, they killed several head of cattle be- longing to the English, plundered the house of its contents, removed thence about a quarter of a mile, and ensconcing themselves in a rude stronghold, erected for the nonce, indulged, during a fortnight, in their wonted barbarities, putting to death several of the unfortunate people who had fallen into their hands. The authorities of Boston and Nova Scotia complained to the Director-general of these aggressions, and sent delegates to the Manhattans with a view to obtain redress for those injuries. Stuyvesant July 27. found it necessary to accompany these gentlemen to Fort Aug. 1. Orange, where he was met by several of the Mohawk sachems. Various efforts were made to induce the sav- ages to surrender their prisoners and indemnify the Eng- lish for the damages they had inflicted. They offered wampum, but refused to give up the captives. "If the English were not satisfied, they could not help it." They then broke off " in a huff," scattered themselves through Beverwyck, and insolently proclaimed aloud that the Dutch were "no better than hogs ;" that they cared not for the English, but on the contrary, would, within three weeks, attack the border settlements on the Connecticut, and burn and destroy everything that came in their path, unless the English now declared themselves satisfied. Stuyvesant, however, succeeded in mollifying the bar-
1 " Onakouque, alias Kennebeck." Alb. Rec. vi., 402.
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barians, who consented to a temporary truce with those CHAP. of Kennebec, to permit them to come in and make peace, III. and finally surrendered, in exchange for some presents, a 1662. few of their prisoners.1
Whilst one party of Mohawks were thus negotiating with the English, another, aided by some Oneidas, attacked Aug. 12. a post near Montreal, garrisoned by seventeen Frenchmen and one hundred Indians, all of whom they put to death except three of the former, and twenty of the latter. Among the slain was the Rev. Mr. Vignal, whom the savages devoured ; Monsieur Brignac was burned at the stake by the Oneidas. The surviving French prisoner succeeded, after much difficulty, in making his escape, with two others of his countrymen whom he met in cap- tivity. After travelling nine nights through the forest, having no food but the bark of trees or grass; after having been pursued by some half-dozen different war parties, and undergoing incredible dangers, the unfortunate men at length arrived, scarcely resembling human beings, at Fort Orange, where they experienced a most cordial welcome, were clothed and lodged, and finally conveyed beyond the reach of their savage persecutors, to the Manhattans ; whence they were forwarded to Boston, and coastwise to Quebec, where they finally arrived after innumerable hardships.2
The embers of religious persecution, which lay all this while smouldering on Long Island, now burst out anew into a flame. But, as is usual in such cases, the persecuted ob- tained more converts than the persecutors, and Providence at length raised up an instrument to vindicate the rights of conscience.
JOHN BOWNE, a native of Matlock, in Derbyshire, emi- grated to Boston in 1649, in the twenty-second year of his age. His origin was humble, his habits plain, and his
1 " A True Relation of the Mohawks' coming to Penobscott Fort, and what they did there." Alb. Rec. xx., 178, 184-189, 191-194; Hol. Doc. xi., 211. The dates of the transactions on the Kennebec, described in the text, are presumed to be " Old Style."
$ Relation, &c., 1664-5., 92-105.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK manners unaffected. He was endowed with a strong mind VI. and sound judgment, whilst his avocations as a farmer tend- 1662. ed to add to his physical powers of endurance. Having removed to Flushing, he attended, at first from curiosity, some of the Quaker meetings in that town. Struck with the simplicity of their worship, he invited them to his house, and next became, in the course of this year, a member of their society, "his judgment being convinced of the truth of the principles they set forth." His house, henceforward, became the head-quarters of the sect, where all those from the neighboring towns of like persuasion collected.1 Aug. 24. Information of the fact was communicated by the magis- trates of Rustdorp to the Director-general, who forthwith Sep. 14. ordered Bowne to be arrested, and fined twenty-five pounds. In contempt of " the merciful sentence " already pronounced on them, John Tilton of Gravesend, and his wife, also persisted in their heresies ; they were therefore peremptorily ordered to quit the province within a few Sep. 21. weeks. These rigorous measures were followed by another most stringent proclamation against the public exercise of any but the Reformed religion, "either in houses, barns, ships or yachts ; in the woods or fields," under a penalty of fifty guilders for the first offence on each person found in attendance thereupon, whether "man, woman or child," or who should provide accommodations for "heretics, vagabonds or strollers ;" double that sum for the second offence ; and four times the amount, with arbi- trary correction, for the third infraction of this law. All sedi- tious or seducing books, papers or letters, were also for- bidden to be imported or distributed, under a fine of one hundred and fifty guilders on the importers and distribu- tors, and fifty guilders on the receivers, together with the confiscation of all such publications. All persons arriving in the province were, within six weeks thereafter, to appear at the secretary's office, to register their names and take the oath of allegiance, failing which they should pay fifty guilders and suffer arbitrary correction ; and finally, all
1 Thompson's Long Island, ii., 386.
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magistrates conniving at the violation of this statute were CHAP. to be deprived of their office and declared incompetent to
1662. Oct. 5.
III. fill thereafter any public trust. Michael and Samuel Spicer cared very little, however, for bills of pains and penalties. They continued to propagate their principles and distribute their tracts. "To crush this abominable sect," they were both ordered to quit the province.
Connecticut having, by this time, obtained a royal patent, notified Director Stuyvesant not to trouble, henceforward, any of his Majesty's subjects within its limits. This was but the shadow of forthcoming events. Oostdorp on the main was advised that it was included within the colony Oct. 9. of Connecticut, and its inhabitants were summoned to send Oct. 13. representatives to the Hartford legislature. Rustdorp, (Gemeco,) Flushing, Gravesend, Heemstede, and Middle- burgh, received notice, also, that they were annexed to Oct. 27. the other side of the Sound.1 The situation of New Nether- land was now seriously critical. " There remains after this not one foot of land to the West India Company. Those of Boston claim Fort Orange, with all the country, from one sea to the other ; those of Hartford, the remainder to Maryland and Virginia."" In this dilemma, the Director- general called the attention of the magistrates of Connecti- Dec. 13. cut to the seditious proceeding of Capt. Young. It was an absolute breach and nullification of the agreement of 1650, and justified the States General and Lords Directors of the West India Company to demand and recover all the land between Greenwich and the Fresh River, of which they had been, without the authority of any patent or com- mission, so unjustly deprived. Still confiding (though not very wisely) in the promises of Governor Winthrop, he should await the return of that gentleman. In the mean- while he demanded a decisive answer to the complaints he now entered against " the aforesaid John Young."" The 1663. magistrates of Oostdorp were next called on to explain May 12.
1 Alb. Rec. xviii., 218; xx., 249, 253; xxi., 97, 99-101.
2 Ibid. xviii., 219.
3 Ibid. xx., 263; Rec., in Secretary of State's Office, Hartford, entitled " Colonial Boundaries," ii., 1.
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BOOK why they had not sent in, as usual, their annual nomina- VI. tion. They had called the people together for that pur- 1663. pose, (they replied,) but the latter refused to act, as they had been summoned by Hartford. Why, then, had they not communicated the letters they had received six months ago? Why had they actually appointed two persons to represent their village in Hartford ? They confessed they had erred, and prayed forgiveness. They were dis- charged, and letters were sent forbidding the settlers to obey any orders from Hartford, or to send delegates thither. Richard Mills, the Connecticut emissary, now in prison, June 9. was liberated on swearing not to do anything, “written or printed," either in or out of the province, against the Dutch government. He some time after went to Virginia.1 Connecticut persisted, notwithstanding, in its determination to reduce Eastdorp, and for this purpose sent Captain John Talcott, one of the magistrates of the colony, with a mounted force of sixteen or eighteen men, over to West- July 20. chester, who absolved the settlers from their allegiance to the Dutch ; dismissed the magistrates ; appointed others in their stead, and finally made themselves masters of the whole place.2
Now, all this time John Bowne continued doggedly in jail, and refused to pay his fine. He was one of those men who, strong in their innocence, seem determined to try issues with their persecutors ; and " as he continued obsti- nate and pervicacious," he was warned that he should be sent across the seas if he did not submit. But this threat had no effect on the Quaker convert, and at the appointed Jan. 8. day he was put on board the Fox-an ominous name !- and shipped for Holland, whither Stuyvesant also wrote, com- plaining in strong terms to the Directors of the man, as a disturber of the peace, who "obstinately persisted in his refusal " to pay the fine which had been imposed on him,
1 Alb. Rec. xxi., 80, 93-95, 103, 141, 143.
2 Aitzema, iv., 112. Trumbull, i., 257, says Talcott was sent " to lead the inhab- itants to the choice of their officers." He keeps the armed possc carefully out of sight, as well as the other violences of the Connecticut emissary. Sending sixteen or eighteen armed men into a retired hamlet, is rather a suspicious mode of teaching people how to vote.
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and was now banished " in the hope that others might be CHAP. discouraged." Should this example fail of salutary effect,~
III. the Director-general expressed his determination to have 1663. recourse to " more severe prosecutions." But before he could put this threat into execution, retributive justice brought to his own lips the bitter chalice from which he had obliged so many others to drink. Judith Varleth, his brother-in-law's sister, lay imprisoned in Hartford on charge of being a witch,1 and Stuyvesant found himself obliged to implore in her behalf that forbearance and mercy which he knew not to extend to others. Punishment, to a high- toned mind even worse than this, now awaited him. Bowne in due season "manifested his case to the West India Com- pany." " They were not disposed to take offence at our manners or the like, neither one word against me in par- ticular, nor one word tending to the approval of anything that was done against us." On the contrary, a dispatch was transmitted by the Directors at Amsterdam to Gov- April16. ernor Stuyvesant, severely censuring the course he had pursued. "In the youth of your existence you ought," said they, "rather encourage than check the population of the colony. The consciences of men ought to be free and unshackled, so long as they continue moderate, peaceable, inoffensive, and not hostile to the government. Such have been the maxims of prudence and toleration by which the magistrates of this city have been governed ; and the con- sequences have been, that the oppressed and persecuted from every country have found among us an asylum from distress. Follow in the same steps, and you will be blessed.""
The persecution of the Quakers under the Dutch ceased from this time, but not its evil consequences. The affec- tions of the people were forever alienated ; for what incen- tive is there to love a government which violates the most sacred rights ?
1 This lady was sister to Maria Varleth, who married successively Johannes van Beck, Paulus Shrick, and (April, 1664,) William Teller of Schenectady.
9 Alb. Rec iv., 427 ; xviii., 221; xx., 199, 208, 213, 217-220, 230-233, 263, 291 ; Besse, ii., 237
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CHAPTER IV.
Alexander D'Hinoyossa succeeds Alrichs at New Amstel-Changes in conse- quence-Lord Baltimore sends an agent to Holland to support his pretensions to the Delaware-The West India Company resist his claims-Apply for pro- tection to the States General-Renewed efforts to colonize the South River -- Enlargement of the charter of New Amstel-New civil list-Private mer- chants admitted to take stock in the city's colonie-Disagreements between D'Hinoyossa and Beekman-Consequent disorders-The former visits Hol- land-Mennonists propose emigrating to the South River-Their peculiar rules-Obtain a grant of land at the Whorekill-The whole of the South River surrendered to the city of Amsterdam-Further emigration-D'Hinoyossa appointed Director over the Delaware, and Beekman commissioned Sheriff of Wiltwyck.
BOOK VI. WHEN Vice Director Alrichs perceived his last hour approaching, he appointed, in conformity to his instruc- 1660. tions, Alexander D'Hinoyossa his successor, adjoining unto him Gerrit van Sweringen and Cornelis van Gezel as councillors, to administer the government of the city's colonie on the South River, until otherwise ordered. He enjoined them, at the same time, in feeling terms, and made them promise, as he took their hands in his, to perform their duty uprightly, and act in good faith towards each other. The scene was moving, and touched the heart of the lieutenant, who expressed himself in kindly terms towards the dying man, praised his administration, hoped that God might yet spare him, and voluntarily promised that he should ever be foremost in the defence of his honor and reputation. The breath, however, was scarcely out of the Vice Director's body, when these promises were forgotten. For, the next night, whilst yet the corpse occupied the chamber of death, D'Hinoyossa and Van Sweringen employed themselves examining the papers of the deceased ; then called the magistrates together, read to them the instructions Alrichs had re- ceived, besides the letters sent to him from Holland, and loudly accused him of having violated the major part of
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his superiors' commands. Had he been still living, his CHAP. life and property would have been forfeit. D'Hinoyossa
IV. concluded his attack, by expressing his determination to 1660. seize all his effects for the use of the city, and called on the Schepens to approve under their signature these pro- ceedings. The magistrates, however, refused to concur. Some of the acts which D'Hinoyossa had declared illegal, had been those of the court in which they sat. They were, consequently, compromised as having participated in such judgments, or orders, and could not, therefore, be expected to condemn themselves. "They should prefer being dismissed from office, to declare an honest man a vil- lain." They were discharged accordingly. D'Hinoyossa followed this by arraigning Van Gezel, Alrichs' executor and heir, on a charge of mutiny, on the ground that he caused the Schepens to refuse obedience to his orders, and finally removed him from the office of councillor and colo- nial secretary ; seized his property ; placed a bailiff in his house ; threatened to transport him to Fatherland, and denied him all access to the books, papers and accounts of the deceased Director. To avoid all further persecu- tion, Van Gezel was obliged to remove to Altona, where Jan. 30. he placed himself under the protection of Commissary Beekman, and subsequently appealed for justice to the Director-general. Jan Prato was appointed his successor in the council, and Pieter Alrichs commissary at the Whorekill.1
In the mean time, Lord Baltimore, dissatisfied with the issue of the conference at Patuxent, between his officers and the Dutch commissioners, sent Capt. James Neale April20. to Holland, to enquire if the West India Company author- ized the occupation of the country on the south side of Delaware bay ; if so, to demand its surrender in his name ; and should such be refused, to protest against them on the ground of illegal possession. This was, however, of no avail, and its renewal was thereupon ordered. A formal June 7. claim for the surrender of New Amstel was then sent
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