USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. II > Part 50
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Director STUYVESANT was recalled to Europe soon after Stuyve- the surrender, to vindicate his conduct. He found Hol- sant. land divided between the partisans of the House of Orange, and the supporters of the Dewitts. The loss of New Netherland seriously embarrassed the latter, and Stuyvesant, in consequence, found himself the object of serious charges and most virulent attacks .? He returned to this country in 1668, and died on his bouwerie in 1672. His public acts afford the best means of estimating the merits His ad- of his administration. He was thoroughly conservative in minis- tra- tion. church and state. As he insisted on conformity in the one, so he looked for passive obedience in the other, and the enforcement of these principles brought him repeatedly into collision with the colonists, both Dutch and English. Unfortunately for his own peace, he, as was usual with the majority of Governors sent from Europe to America, took sides, on his arrival, with the clique of office-holders whom he found in the country, and who had already inflicted so much injury on the province. He thus became separated from the mass of his countrymen, and was forced to derive support and sympathy from the English of Long Island, whose education and principles
1 Alb Rec. x., 24; N. A. Rec.
? See papers entitled " A Deduction or Account of the Circumstances prece- ding the Surrender of New Netherland," addressed by Stuyvesant to the States General, Hol. Doc. xi., 262; " Considerations of the West India Company on Stuyvesant's Report," Ibid. xii., 12; " Nader Bericht," or Answer to the lat- ter by the late Director, Ibid., 79; Further Rejoinder of the Dutch West India Company to the Answer of Peter Stuyvesant, Ibid. xiii , 2.
548
HISTORY OF
BOOK VI. were the direct antagonists of his. The colonists were, in consequence, divided into two parties, and their powers 1664. of resistance proportionately diminished. The course pursued in negotiating the treaty of Hartford only tended to perpetuate these divisions. It gave rise to the order issued subsequently by the home authorities, by which race, for the first time, was made the test of fitness for public employment. From the date of this order Dutch power steadily waned on this continent, for it threw those who were loyal, when all others were discon- tented, into the arms of New England, and left the province powerless when its very existence was at stake. The close of his administration was, like its commence- ment, troubled and clouded. When the difficulties of his position at New Amsterdam demanded his undivided attention and all his energy ; and when the British fleet was preparing to summon him to surrender, he suffered his mind to be diverted from the major to the minor danger, and hurried to Fort Orange to parley with the Indians, when he should have spent night and day in strengthening his position on the Manhattans. The sole apology for such an oversight was, that he was thrown off his guard by information received from Willett and the West India Company. New Netherland would, not- withstanding all precautions, have doubtless fallen, but it would at least have been in a better state of defence, and the Director would not have furnished his enemies in Holland with a pretext for their bitter aspersions and repeated attacks.
His charac- ter.
Throughout his chequered life he exhibited a character of high morality, and in his dealings with the Indians, an energetic and dignified deportment, which contributed, no doubt, considerably to the success of his arms and policy. Alike creditable to his talents are his negotiations with the neighboring English colonies. His vindications of the rights of his country, on these occasions, betoken a firmness of manner, a sharpness of perception, a clearness of argument and a soundness of judgment, combined with an extent of reading, which few of his contemporaries could equal, and
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none surpass ; and were no other evidences of his civil CHAP. capabilities extant, the records he has left of these negotia- VIII. tions would suffice to command respect for his abilities, as 1664. they confer credit on his memory. Violence, it is true, for a season prostrated right, yet truth has no less been vindicated by time, and posterity has done him ample justice, for it has thoroughly sustained every position he assumed, whether with Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Maryland.
It would afford pleasure were we justified in pronouncing a like panegyric on other parts of his administration ; but none can review his treatment of Van der Donck, Melyn, and the Nine Men ; his course towards Slechtenhorst and Van Dinclage, and his persecution of the Lutherans and other Nonconformists, without rebrobating his tyranny, and regretting that a character, so faultless in other respects, should be stained by traits so repulsive as these, and that the powers of a mind so strong should be exerted in opposing, rather than promoting civil and religious freedom. The hostility this part of his public conduct evoked, redounds most creditably to the character of the settlers, whose struggles for freer institutions cannot fail to win for them our sympathy and regard, independently of all interest they awaken whilst contemplating the gradual development of popular power during the contest. The privileges thus acquired were peculiar, it is true ; yet they afford not the less evidence, on that account, of a people's triumph, nor the less encouragement to the friends of rational progress, in their contests for popular liberty. Seventeen years elapsed from the establishment of the Nine Men to the meeting of a Representative Assembly in 1664; but this only proves the great strides the colony had, in the mean time, taken towards constitutional govern- ment ; and it is not unwarrantable to conclude, that such a government would, in a short time, have been in operation, had not force stepped in to stop the movement by wresting the country from its lawful owners, and deceiving the people by promises, made only to be broken. The prin- ciple of Representative government which was conceded
550
HISTORY OF
BOOK and acted on by the Dutch in 1664, was not admitted by VI. the English until after a lapse of twenty long years.
Van der
1664. ADRIAEN VAN DER DONCK, to whom the credit belongs of Donck. having contributed the most to bring this country before the public and to improve its institutions, having obtained a degree of Doctor of Laws at Leyden, was admitted an advocate of the Supreme Court of Holland. He then pre- pared to return with his family to his colonie, but on the eve of sailing, the Amsterdam Directors instructed their commanders not to receive him on board any of their vessels. In vain he procured the interference of influential friends, and represented the cruelty of separating him from his wife and children, who had already embarked ; in vain he pleaded the ruin that should overtake him were he not permitted to proceed. He was told, "he could not go," and " without process of law he could not obtain satisfac- tion." He, thereupon, applied to the States General ; was by them referred to the different departments of the West India Company, but that of Amsterdam persisted in the persecution. His family was obliged to sail without him, and he returned to the Hague. He had already pub- lished, in 1650, the Remonstrance of the Commonalty, and now prepared his principal work, entitled " A Description of New Netherland, as the same is at the present time, &c.," in which he treated of the natural history, products, physical appearance and advantages of the country.1 The Company was pleased with the book, and recommended it to the States General on the 14th May, 1653. In the fol- lowing July, he obtained a fifteen years' copyright of this publication, and returned, in the fall of that year, to Amer- ica, with leave to practice his profession "as far as giving advice." The Directors, however, "could not see what advantage his pleadings before the courts would have, especially as there were, no doubt, some lawyers already in New Netherland who could be engaged on the other side." His request to be permitted to consult the records and papers in the Council office at New Amsterdam, for
1 A translation of this work by the Hon. Jer. Johnson, is in N. Y. Hist. Coll. of 1841.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
historical purposes, was referred to Stuyvesant, but with- CHAP. out any result, and thus posterity lost all chance of obtain -~ VII. ing an account of the administrations of Peter Minuit or 1664. Wouter van Twiller. On arriving in this country, he applied (Dec. 1653) to the Burgomasters and Schepens for protection as a burgher, against, we presume, the re- fusal to admit him to plead. He died in the year 1655, leaving to his wife the colonie of Colen Donck, or Yonkers.'
JEREMIAS VAN RENSSELAER succeeded his brother, Jan Jer. var: Baptist, as Director of the colonie in 1658, and administered laer. Rensse. its affairs for sixteen years with great prudence and dis- cretion. He was much respected by the French, and
1 Van der Donck's widow having married Hugh O'Neal, Esq., and a new patent was taken out, in their joint names, for the colonie on the 8th October, 1666, which they sold on the 30th of the same month to Elias Doughty of Flush- ing, (Mrs. O'Neal's brother.) O'Neal and his wife returned subsequently (1671) to Maryland, "the place of their abode." On the 1st of March, 1666-7, John Archer of Westchester purchased a portion of the colonie from Doughty, which was erected by Lovelace, on the 13th November, 1671, into "the manor of Fordham." John Heddy of Westchester bought 320 acres of the land in June, 1668, for a horse and £5, and William Betts and George Tippett, " who are in possession of a part of the same land formerly owned by old Younker van der Donck," acquired an additional section in July following. On the 18th August, 1670, Margaret, wife of Frederick Phillips, on behalf of her husband and Thomas Lewis, mariner, purchased one half the river of Nepperhan, with milling privileges and 300 acres of land, for £150, the other half having been previously sold to one Dirck Smith. On the Ist December of the same year, Francis French and Ebenezer Jones of Annehooksneck, and John Westcott of Jamaica, purchased what afterwards went by the name of " the mile square." The residue of Doughty's interest in the colonie, amounting now to 7708 acres, was purchased conjointly on the 29th September, 1672, by Thomas Delaval, Frederick Phillips and Thomas Lewis, each of whom held one-third. Delaval bequeathed his share on the 10th June, 1682, to his only son, John, who with Phillips and Geesie Lewis, widow, obtained a patent for the property on the 19th February, 1684. Delaval sold out to Phillips on the 27th August, 1685, who also purchased on the 12th June following, the share belonging to Mrs. Lewis and her tive children ; and having, in the meanwhile, acquired the Indian tracts of Potanteco or Wachandico, Wechquaesqueeck and a number of other Indian lands, the whole was erected on the 12th June, 1693, by Gov. Fletcher, into " the manor of Phillipsborough," with the feudal appendages of Court Baron and Court Leet. Van der Donck's original colonie became thus cut up and de- stroyed, and the only portion of it that perpetuates his memory now, is the town of YONKERS, which derives its name from "Jonkheer," or gentleman, a Dutch title of courtesy which he held in common with several others of the early colo- nists. Agatha his mother, and Daniel his brother, came to New Netherland in 1652. Guisbert, Daniel's son, was born in Holland, in 1634. These are the ancestors of such of the name as are now to be found in this country, thougli the family is called Vandunck or Verdunck. They live principally on Long Island.
552
HISTORY OF
BOOK VI. exercised an influence over the Indians surpassed only by
1664.
that of Van Curler. On the change of government and the breaking out of the war, considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining a patent for the manor from the Duke of York. To obviate this, some persons of influence advised him to take out one in his own name, he being qualified, as a British subject, to hold real estate. To his great honor, it is recorded that he rejected the offer, for he was only co-heir, and could not thus defraud his brothers and sisters. He was a man of great industry, and com- municated to Holland an account of various occurrences in this country, under the name of "the New Nether- land Mercury." His correspondence, from 1656 to his death, still in good preservation, affords a valuable and interesting commentary on private and public affairs, and contains a relation of facts and incidents which otherwise . would be irreparably lost. He died on the 12th October, 1674, and was followed to the grave by a large concourse of mourners.1
Captain Scott.
Captain SCOTT, " who was born to work mischief as far as he is credited or his parts serve him,"" remained in durance until the arrival of the fleet. His arrest created much dissatisfaction among many of the Long Island towns, and a remonstrance signed by one hundred and forty-four inhabitants of Flushing was, in consequence, sent to Hart- ford, testifying that he had acted by desire of the people, and that, "in their silence, the very stones might justly rise to proclaim his innocence." As these were considered Quakers, their representations had no weight. The Gov- ernor and Council of Massachusetts took up the matter very warmly, and not only wrote to those of New Ply-
1 His wife died 29th January, 1689, N. S. in the 44th year of her age, leaving five children, the eldest of whom, Kiliaen, was the first Lord of the manor of Rensselaerswyck, which he represented in the Provincial Assembly from 1691 to 1703, when he was called to the Council. In the following year he conveyed Claverack, or " the lower manor," as it was called, with the Cralo estate at Greenbush, to his younger brother Hendrik. From these two proceed the nume- rous members of this wide-spread family in this country. Jan Baptist van Rensselaer survived his brother four years, having deceased 18th October, 1678 ; Dom. Nicolaus van Rensselaer died the month following.
º Lond. Doc. ii., 60.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
mouth and New Haven to urge their interference, but sent CHAP. Major-general Leverett and Captain Davis to Connecticut VIII. to remonstrate against the harsh proceeding. New Haven 1664. likewise sent delegates with similar instructions, and Gov- ernor Prince of New Plymouth wrote to Governor Win- throp in behalf of Scott, " of whom they have heard nothing but that he is a gentleman well deserving of the country, and one that his Majesty hath been pleased to employ in his service." Two of the assistants were bearers of this letter. Scott shortly after addressed " an humbell petition to the Court at Hartford," setting forth that " having run himself into a labrinth of misery by the evil advice of bad instruments, as well as his corrupt nature, and knowing you sit in God's stead, who delights in shewing mercie, do, for His sake, beseech your favorable report, which shall be deemed by your poor suppliant a signal kindness never to be forgot, and shall endeavor, if his present estate and future service (in the meanest capacitie) may make a com- pensation, never to be wanting whilst he remaines, and shall ever pray." He was soon after released and took a part in the subsequent operations under Nicolls. His residence was at Ashford, now Brookhaven, L. I. He was, besides, owner of other extensive tracts on that island, where there is abundant evidence to show that he exercised at one time great influence, and where, it appears, he was proprietor of "the manor of Hope."" He was doomed, like many others, to be disappointed in his expectations from the Stuarts, and failing to obtain, as he wished, a grant of Long Island, he considered himself injured, and in revenge on the Duke of York, urged Carteret and Berkely to secure New Jersey for themselves." He quarrelled with Nicolls, who seems to have been prejudiced against him by Con- necticut, and repaired to Barbadoes, whence it was intended to send him a prisoner to England on a charge of forging the sign manual to a grant in his favor of Long Island.3 What became of him afterwards is not known with cer-
1 Hempstead Rec. i., 78.
$ Ibid. 156.
$ Lond. Doc. ii., 60.
554
HISTORY OF
BOOK VI. tainty, but it is presumed he passed over to Holland and obtained a commission of major in the Dutch service.1
1664.
Baxter. BAXTER, the predecessor of Scott in the career of trouble and disorder, returned to the Manhattans with the English forces, and prosecuted Van Ruyven, the agent of the West India Company, for the sum of 1278 guilders, which he claimed as due to him. A plea was entered against this action, that he had "rebelled against the States General in 1655, and raised in Gravesend the standard of the Com- monwealth of England." Baxter repeatedly pronounced the statement "a lie," for which "unmannerly words" the court fined him six guilders .? He arranged his affairs in the province some time after, and removed to Nevis, in the West Indies.
Martin Kry- gier.
MARTIN KRYGIER, the first Burgomaster of New Am- sterdam, having distinguished himself as a fearless warrior, and performed for many years the duties of an exemplary magistrate, retired, with his General, into private life. He finally settled at Canastagione (now Niskayuna) on the banks of the Mohawk, "where the Indians carried their canoes across the stones." In this retired and romantic spot, this brave soldier and good man laid himself down to rest in the early part of 1713. Though his descendants are numerous throughout this State, the original homestead at Niskayuna still remains in the family, a circumstance highly illustrative of the steady habits and domestic virtues of our Dutch citizens.
D'Hin- oyossa.
D'HINOYOSSA offered his services to the British to super- intend the colony on the South River, on the same condi- tions that he had acted for the city of Amsterdam, but they were not accepted.3 He removed to St. Mary's, and eventually returned to Holland, where he entered into the Dutch army, and served in the war between Louis XIV. and the Republic. In the course of these operations he formed part of the garrison of one of the fortresses that capitulated to the French. So much indignation did this
1 Brieven van J. De Witt, iv., 925.
3 Lond. Doc. i., 232.
9 N. Y. Rec. Dec. 1664.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
surrender excite, that the garrison (D'Hinoyossa among CHAP. the rest) was ordered to be summarily punished. On VIII. further investigation, this order was either modified or 1664. withdrawn, and D'Hinoyossa, it is presumed, passed the remainder of his days in Fatherland.
The disappearance of these men from the public stage was followed by a revolution in the Laws, Language, and Institutions of the country, which, however, was not com- pleted for many years. To follow society through this rugged transition, until it assumed a thoroughly homoge- neous character, is a study interesting both in its incidents and consequences ; and in all respects worthy the investi- gation of the Patriot and the Philosopher.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
A.
Instructions of the Commissioners at the Assembly of the XIX. of the General Privileged West India Company, to the Director and Council of New Netherland, in conformity to which they shall have to regulate themselves provisionally and until further order.
[ Holland Documents, Vol. III. ]
THE Supreme Council in the countries of New Netherland shall consist of three per- sons, namely : the Director as President, his Vice and the Fiscal, by whom all occurring affairs relating to the police, justice, militia, the dignity and just rights of the Company shall be administered and decided, each remaining bound, nevertheless, to vindicate his commission. With this understanding, however, that in all cases in which the Advo- cate-fiscal shall be obliged to proceed as conservator of the rights of the Supreme Authority, or of the Company, be the same civil or criminal, the Military Commandant shall sit in his stead, and if the charge be criminal, two capable persons shall moreover be adjoined from the commonalty of that district where the crime or act was per- petrated.
As regards the promotion of the settlement of the boundaries between the people of the New Netherland and the English, it is not considered necessary to proceed there- with at present ; but the Director and Council are instructed to take care that the English do not encroach further on the Company's lands ; in the mean time they shall try if a boundary can be determined on, yonder, with the aforesaid English, and the inclination thereunto being apparent, they are instructed to send forthwith advice thereof hither, with pertinent information after due enquiry how much of the Company's lands the English possess : All, however, with the understanding that the aforesaid English, who are found at present in the Company's district, and have settled there, or shall come and settle therein, shall be subject to the Company's government there, and to that end shall take the oath of fidelity to their High Mightinesses the Lords States General and the West India Company, after which they shall not be regarded otherwise than as original subjects.
In order to re-establish peace and quietness once more in the land, they shall en- deavor, by all possible means, to pacify and give satisfaction to the Indians; and the Director and Council therein are charged to advance, on the one side, the interests of the Company, and on the other to maintain good correspondence with their neighbors, and especially with the Indians.
They shall do all in their power to induce the colonists to establish themselves, on somne of the most suitable places, with a certain number of inhabitants, in the manner of towns, villages and hamlets, as the English are in the habit of doing, whereby they will dwell in greater security, according to the intentions of the Company in the grant- ing of the already printed Freedoms, and the amplifications thereof.
The aforesaid Director and Council shall use dispatch in the repairs of Fort Amster- dam, for which purpose it is considered best, and least expensive to the Company, to build the same of good clay, earth, and firm sods, and to encourage the soldiers to that work by
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APPENDIX.
some presents, and bind the same to keep it in continual repair ; and whereas it is of the highest importance to the colonists to possess a good and safe retreat in case of ne- cessity, (which God prevent !) these should be induced to aid in the work for this once ; and the Director is commanded to attend closely for the future to the ordinary repairs thereof.
The persons hereinafter specified shall be maintained to garrison the fort, on such allowances as shall be found most advantageous for the Company, and for greater secu- rity, the colonists and their domestics shall be holden, under certain penalties, to pro- vide themselves with good muskets, and other weapons for their own defence, so as to be able, in time of necessity, with the garrison, to resist a general attack, without the Director, colonists, or whosoever it may be, having the power to take into the pay of the Company any soldiers, be they few or many.
Further, inasmuch as the respective colonists have been allowed, by the Freedoms, to delegate one or two persons to give information to the Director and Council concern- ing the state and condition of their colonies, the same is hereby confirmed.
The Director and Council shall, first of all, establish the colonists and freemen on the Island of Manhattans, and grant to them as much land as they shall be able to culti- vate, either as tobacco plantations, or with grain and all other crops to which the soil is adapted, and from which they shall expect to derive the greatest profit.
And for the encouragement of the cultivation of the land there, it would not be found unwise to permit, at the request of the Patroons, colonists, and other farmers, the introduction there of as many negroes as they are willing to purchase at a fair price ; and the Director and Council shall notify the Assembly hereof every year, when further order shall be here taken regarding the transport of negroes thither.
And although it is proposed, for the further encouragement of population, to reserve the trade with the Indians exclusively to the Patroons, colonists and free cultivators resi- dent there, without permitting any private traders to carry on any commerce with the said Indians, it is nevertheless resolved as far as regards these, to adhere to the existing practice, but the Director and Council shall take information thereupon to serve as advice to the Assembly.
The aforesaid Director and Council shall pay strict regard that no arms nor muni- tions of war shall be sold by the freemen to the Indians, nor by the private traders to the freemen or Indians upon certain penalties to be enacted therefor; but the freemen who shall have to do so, may bring the same from the Company's magazine on the order of the Director and Council.
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