History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 19

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703

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HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

ment. Two of the landmarks of that century remain, carefully guarded by the citizens of the village-one the old Bowne house, a solidly built frame house, erected by John Bowne in 1661, the other the Friends' meeting- house, built in 1695. Besides the names of the patentees Henry Onderdonk jr. furnishes the following list of heads of families in the town at different times from 1645 to 1698:

Poulas Amerman, Thomas Applegate, Derrick, John and Elbert Areson, Anthony Badgley, Cornelius Barne- son, William Benger, Rudolf Blackford, George Blee, John, Elizabeth and Francis Bloodgood, Bernardus Bevon, Dirick Brewer, Moses Brown, Lyman Bumptill, Francis Burto, Widow Cartright. William Chadderton, John Clement, Rebecca Clery, Nathaniel Coe, William Danford, Obadiah Dewitt, Lawrence Douse, Sarah and Francis Doughty, Deborah Ebell, John Esmond, Edward Feake, John Firman, William Fowler Weaver, William Fowler Carpenter, John Furman, John Forbosh, John Genung, John Gelloe, John Glover, Lorus Haff, Thomas Hall, Garrit Hansom, Edward Hart, John Harrington, John Harrison, Matthias Haroye, John Heeded, Gerrit Hendricks, Powell Hoff, Benjamin Hubbard, Nathan Jeffs, Josiah Jenning, John Jores, George Langley, Madalin Lodew, John Man, Michael Millner, William Owen, Elias and Joseph Palmer, Mary Perkins, Arthur Powel, Edward Rouse, Abraham Rich, Thomas Runbey, John Ryder, Walter Salter, Henry Sawtell, William Sils- bee, Nicholas and Robert Snether, Mary Southick, Thomas Stevens, William C. Stiger, Richard Stocton, Samuel Tatem, Dr. Henry Taylor, John and Robert Terry, Simon Thewall, Richard Tindall, Edward Van Skyagg, Ellen Wall, William Warde, Richard Weller, Richard Wilday, Thomas Willde, Martin Wiltse.

The population of the town in 1700 could not have been far from five hundred, including slaves, of which there were about forty. The settlements were Flushing, Whitestone, Lawrence's Neck and Bay Side. A block- house had been built at what is now the corner of Union street and Broadway in Flushing village; it was known as the Guard-house, and was used as an arsenal and for the temporary detention of criminals on the way to the county jail. Grist-mills were built on several of the streams. A regular disciple of Esculapius, Dr. Henry Taylor, had settled here. A road to Brooklyn by the head of the vlaie through Jamaica was opened and used to some extent, but for general purposes canoes and pirogues down the East River were the connecting links with New York, and a taste for commercial ventures by water was growing which has since led to important re- sults. During the first half of this century several small potteries were established. The Prince nursery was opened, and in 1745 an Episcopal church was founded, which was chartered by Governor Colden as St. George's Church in 1761, and a church edifice erected in the fol- lowing year.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS AND CONTROVERSIES.

The pioneers of Flushing, having felt the keen blasts of proscription and outlawry for their religious views, sought Long Island as a permanent refuge, relying on the known liberality of the government of Holland, which had pur- chased for its subjects the prize of religious liberty at a

terrible cost of blood and treasure, and was inclined to accord the privileges it had gained to the oppressed of every nation. It was therefore with surprise and alarm that the people of Vlissingen found that within three years after the grant of their charter the Dutch governor sought to enforce arbitrary and uncalled for restrictions upon them, as well as to force on them the maintenance of a Reformed clergy.

The governor having arranged for the support of a State church-that of Holland-by the taxation of the people, the Quakers refused to submit, urging the plea that the law was one binding their consciences; and, see- ing in this rebellion against his authority, the arbitrary Dutchman, despite the fact that his country had always allowed the largest liberty to the consciences of its people, commenced a system of proscription and persecution.

The arrest of John Townsend, Edward Hart, Thomas Styles, John Lawrence and John Hicks, in 1648, was followed by a series of petty persecutions, culminating September 15th 1657 in the arrest and punishment of Henry Townsend, who was condemned to pay a fine of £8 Flanders for having called together Quaker meetings. This aroused the indignation of the people of Jamaica and Flushing, and at a large assembly they adopted the following spirited remonstrance to Governor Stuyvesant: " Right Honorable-You have been pleased to send up unto us a certain prohibition or Command that we should not retaine or entertaine any of those people called Quakers, because they are supposed to be by some seducers of the people. For our part we cannot Con- demn them in this Case, neither can we stretch out our hand against them to punish, banish or persecute them; for out of Christ God is a Consuming fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Wee desire therefore in this Case not to judge, least we be judged, neither to Condemn least we be Condemned; but rather let every man stand or fall to his own Maister. Wee are commanded by the Law to do good unto all men, Especially to those of the household of Faith. And though for the present we seem to be insensible of the law and the Lawgiver, Yet when death and the law assault us, if wee have our advocate to seeke who shall plead for us in this case of conscience betwixt God and our own souls, the powers of this world can neither as- sest us neither excuse us; for if God justifye who can condemn ? and if God Condemn there is none can justi- fye. And for those Jealousies and suspicions Which some have of them, that they are destructive unto Magis- tracy & Ministerye [this] Can not bee; for the magistrate hath the sword in his hand and the minister hath the sword in his hand-as witnesse those two Great Examples which all magistrates and ministers are to follow, Moses and Christ,

whom God raised up, maintained and defended against all the Enemies both of

Flesh and Spirit, and therefore that which is of God will stand and that which is of man will come to nothing. And as the Lorde hath taught Moses, or the Civil Powers, to give an outward liberty in the state by the law written in his hearte for the good of all, and can truly judge who is good, who is evil, who is true and who is false, and can pass definite sentence of life or death against that man which rises up against the fundamental law of the States-General; Soe he hath made his ministers a savour of life unto life and a savour of death unto death. The laws of Love, Peace and Liberty in the State extending to Jews, Turks and Egyptians, as

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS AND CONTROVERSIES.

they are considered the sonnes of Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of Holland, soe Love, Peace and Liberty extending to all in Christ Jesus Condemns hatred, War and Bondage; And because our Saviour saith it is impossible but that offences will come, but woe unto him by whom they Cometh, our desire is not to of- fend any of his little ones in whatsoever form, name or title hee appears in, whether Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist or Quaker, but shall be glad to see anything of God in any of them, desiring to doe to all men as wee desire that all men should do unto us, which is the true law both of church and state, for our Saviour saith this is the law and the prophets. Therefore if any of these said persons come in love unto us we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egresse and regresse into our Town and houses as God shall persuade our consciences. And in this we are true subjects both of Church and state, for we are bound by the law of God and man to doe good unto all men and evil to noe man. And this is according to the pattent and charter of our Towne, given unto us in the name of the States-Generall, which we are not willing to infringe and violate, but shall hold to our pattent and shall remain your humble subjects the inhabitants of Vlissingen .- Written this 27th of December in the year 1657, by mee

Edward Hart, Clerk.

Tobias Feake, William Noble, Nicholas Parsell, William Thorne signior, Michael Milner, William Thorne junior, Henry Townsend, Nicholas Blackford, George Wright, Edward Terk, John Foard, Mirabel Free, Henry Bamtell, John Stoar, Nathe Cole, Benjamin Hubbard, Edward Hart, John Maidon, John Townsend, Edward Farring- ton, Philip Ed, William Pidgion, George Blee, Elias Doughtie, Antonie Field, Rich'd Horton, Nathaniel Coe, Robert Field sen., Robert Field jr., Tobias Feake, the Sheriff.

The governor, not disposed to listen to such Scriptural admonition, caused, as has been stated, the arrest of the supposed leaders in the meeting and continued his course. Henry Townsend was fined £100 Flanders for lodging Quakers again and again, which he unconditionally con_ fessed; the town government was changed and for five years the arbitrary course was continued, culminating in the arrest of John Bowne for attending Quaker meetings He refused to pay the fine of £25 Flanders, was thrown into prison, and after being kept there for about a year was transported to Holland for the welfare of the com munity and " to crush as far as possible that abominable sect, who treat with contempt both the political magis- trates and the ministers of God's holy Word, and endeavor to undermine the police and religion."

On presenting his case to the West India Company at Amsterdam they declined to favor such arbitrary measures, and treated him in the most conciliatory man- ner; and in their next dispatch rebuked Stuyvesant as follows:

"Although it is our desire that similar or other sectarians may not be found there, yet, as the contrary seems to be fact, we doubt very much whether rigorous proceedings against them ought not to be discontinued; unless indeed you intend to check and destroy your population, which in the youth of your existence ought rather to be en- couraged by all possible means. . Wherefore it is our opinion that some connivance is useful, and that at least the consciences of men ought to remain free and un- shackled. Let every one remain free as long as he is

modest, moderate, his political conduct irreproachable, and as long as he does not offend others or oppose the government. This maxim of moderation has always been the guide of our magistrates in this city, and the conse- quence has been that people have flocked from every land to this asylum. Tread thus in their steps and we doubt not you will be blessed."

This message had the effect of moderating the gover- nor's zeal and rendering inoperative his orders dated in 1661, wherein he forbade the holding of any religious services other than those of the Reformed Church, on penalty of a fine of fifty guilders on each person attend- ing-the fine to be increased with each violation and the fourth conviction to be visited with exemplary punish- ment.

Tlie change from Dutch to British rule in 1664 brought no relief, and in 1667 we find that William Bishop had 'spoken seditious words at a publique meeting of ye Inhabitants of the Towne of Fflushing on ye 3d of this instant month." The complainant was one Captain Richard Betts, who declared that, after the governor had offered to furnish: the people with powder and take fire- wood in exchange for it, he heard Bishop say that there was "another cunning trick." Bishop confessed the discourtesy, and was sentenced to be made fast to the whipping-post, " there to stand with rodds fastened to his back during the sitting of the court of Mayor and Aldermen, and from thence to be carryed unto the Com- monGoole [jail], until further order."

On the 30th of October 1701 Samuel Haight, John Way and Robert Field petitioned in behalf of themselves and other Quakers of Queens county, setting forth that they were refused the right to vote in local affairs be- cause they would not take the oath. It is not known what effect this petition had, but it is certain that the Duke of York, in his instructions to Governor Dongan, gave most explicit instructions to molest no one by reason of differing opinions on matters of religion.

It was not until a much later date that this bigoted persecution ceased; for we find that on the 29th of November 1702, at a half-yearly meeting of the Quakers at Flushing, the missionary preacher, Samuel Bownas, was arrested and required to give bail in the sum of two thousand pounds, the court expressing its willingness to accept his own recognizance for one-half the amount. He refused, saying, " If as small a sum as three half- pence would do, I should not do it," and was consequently sent to jail. On the 28th of December the court met, and his case was presented to the grand jury, who re- turned the bill "indorsed, 'Ignoramus'." The presid- ing judge was very angry and uttered severe threats against the jury, when James Clement, of Flushing, promptly administered a scathing rebuke. They were sent back to reconsider the case, and again returned the same reply. They were then dismissed and the unfortun- ate Quaker remanded to prison. A Scotch shoemaker living near the jail, although a churchman himself, sym- pathized with Bownas and taught him to make and re- pair shoes, and thus afforded him a means of securing many comforts by his own exertions; for he succeeded,

HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

as he relates in his diary, in earning fifteen shillings a week. During his imprisonment he was visited by the Indian king and three of his chiefs, who were puzzled to know why he should be so punished if he worshiped the same Great Spirit as did the other pale-faces, and why they should shut him up and leave bad white men at large. In the autumn of 1703 the court again as- sembled and the case was presented to another grand jury, who returned the papers indorsed, as before, " Ignoramus." On the next day he was liberated and " a large body of dear friends had him with them in a kind of triumph !" He had spent eleven months in jail.

It was not until the stirring events of the French wars drove petty interference with the rights of the people out of the minds of the English governors that those who refused to favor the Episcopal mode of worship were allowed much peace. Fines, illegal assessments, im- prisonment and banishment were the arguments em- ployed, and finally a plan was adopted the cool malevo- lence of which was worthy of a Machiavelli. No mar- riages were to be recognized save those performed by the Church of England, and persons married by other forms were to be arrested for adultery, which was actually done in some cases; so that in the court records of those days an indictment or charge of adultery is more likely to be an evidence of the accused's membership in the society of Friends than of his moral obliquity.

Mandeville, in his " Flushing, Past and Present," has a list of sums taken from Quakers December Ist 1750, pursuant to two acts of the Assembly of the province of New York. It includes the following names and amounts: John Thorn, £2; James Burling, £2; James Bowne, £2; Benjamin Doughty, £2; Stephen Hedger, £2; Daniel Bowne, £2; James Persons, £2; Daniel Lathum, £2; Samuel Thorne, £2; Caleb Field, £2; John Thorne, f1.

The result of the persecution was what has been the case for all time; the proscribed sect grew and has never been without a place of meeting and the means of grace, while the churches upheld by the sword of man failed to find a hold on the hearts of the people until after that sword had been withdrawn.

INCIDENTS OF TRADE AND AGRICULTURE.

The old account book of John Bowne, commenced in 1656 and carried down by his son Samuel to 1702, affords an amusing and instructive view of the primitive habits and simple wants of the people of their day, and a few extracts from its pages will at least serve as a contrast to some of the extensive monied operations with which many of the citizens of Flushing at the present are familiar. Bowne was an enlightened and thrifty farmer, served as county treasurer in 1683, and in 1691 was elected to the Assembly. He is believed to have acted as a sort of agent for his neighbors, or as a merchant on a small scale, keeping up a correspondence with merchants in “Man- hattans," as New York was then called; and he made and sold cider extensively for the times, shipping it to his old

friend William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, who once paid him a visit here.

When this account book was commenced paper money was unknown and coin very scarce. Wampum or " se_ want," as the Dutch called it, was the measure of values, and payments were also made in labor, beaver skins, pro- duce (called "country pay ") and the like. Tobacco, however, seemed to have a cash value, and was eventually adopted as the medium of exchange. Weights, measures and values were given in Dutch. Henry Onderdonk jr. has explained them as follows: "A guilder, marked g., seems to be about 6 pence; a stiver, marked st., a farth- ing. The precise value is not very clear, but 20 stivers make a guilder. The skepel was about 3 pecks; the anker, 4 gallons; the much, about a gill. Dutch and English weights and measures differed though sometimes called by the same names."

The most striking entries in this old business record, with their dates, are as follows:

1656 .- R. Stockton dr., Salt I lent you, 2 of our little kettlefuls.

1658, May 5 .- John Ford dr. for 112 bushels peas, 3 days work at harvest, when I shall call him.

1659 .- Nich. Parcells dr., 117 good, substantial 5-hole chestnut posts; also the rending out of 200 rails. 1668. -Dr. for a scythe I sold him for to cleave me out 400 good rails, I finding the timber.

1660, Dec. 5 .- Due me from father, £2. 14s., to be paid in threshing of wheat at 7d. a bushel, and stubbing of ground at 16d. an acre, or as I think it worth.

1661, May 30 .- Sarah Cornwellis (Cornelius) hired with me to do one year's service for 70 guilders in wampum pay ($8.40). Humphrey Trimble cr. one day's work, 30 stivers; 1 day at harvest, 2 guilders, due him in wampum.

1663, June .- Wm. Orins has 3 lbs. sheep's wool for shoeing and bleeding of my mare one whole year; one pint of liquor, Is. 6d .; about a lb. bacon, 6d .; one cheese, IS. 3d. A quire of white paper to John Houlden, schoolmaster, Is. 6d. Saml. Mills, dr. one day's mowing for 2 combs; 2 combs at 2 pecks wheat. A. Cornelius, dr., half b. wheat for 2 combs.

1667 .- I sent to Govert by Joseph, the boatman (Feb.) 3 skepels of peas for brother Underhill and one for my- self.

1668 .- I bo't at Govert's 8 lbs. of sugar, at a guilder à Ib. In 1667 I owed Govert within a few stivers of 100 guilders.

1668 .- Bought of David the turner, one winch for a wheel, 2g .; 6 chairs and a bottom for an old chair at 58g., to be paid at the crop in peas at 5g. a skepel, or Indian corn at 4g. a skepel at York; or in hogs, fat or lean, if we can agree. Agreed with David for what chairs I will at 4g. apiece for the bigger, and 5ost. for the children's, to be paid in lean hogs before winter (as they are worth with us) upon sewant account. John Sprong being to act for them. If we can't agree he is to choose one man and I another to make the price be- tween us.

1670 .- Two quarts liquor at 3 pecks wheat, 35. 9d. Rum at harvest, 35. Load of thatch at half a day's work. Henry Gardner owes for a can of vinegar IOS. John Sprong's hogshead of tobacco is paid for by 6 loads of hay.

1672, Dec-John Marston, dr. Three loads hay from the south; for the hay, carting and stacking, in all, £4. July .- Bought a deerskin from the shoemaker at 2 skepels of peas; cotton wool at rod. a pound; sugar at

8 1

JOHN BOWNE'S ACCOUNT BOOK.

Iod. a pound. [It will be noticed that the accounts are now kept in English money.] Jane Chatterton dr., 9 lbs. sugar at 6d. a lb .; wheat, 4s. a bushel. John Feke dr., by 3 days riding in the woods to seek his stray mare, 15s. if ever she be found.

In 1668 there is a memorandum of his account as col- lector of taxes. As they were usually paid in produce there was either a town barn, or the collector furnished storage, charging for it. In 1684 he sums up an item of his business as county treasurer, as follows: " Waste of corn (by shrinkage), 7s. 6d .; Indian corn lost in measure, 20s .; carting corn in Flushing, 7s. 6d .; to chamber-room for corn, 20s .; collector's salary, 14s. 4d."

1674, March .- Hay-dust sold Dr. Taylor, 12 bush. at Is. a bush. May .- A fat cow, £4 3S. 4d., to Mynard, the shoemaker.

1675, Oct .- John Baylie, 8 lbs. wool for so much flax, Dutch weight.

1676 .- N. Sneden dr., 8 good cider barrels, with broad hoops, for a cross-cut saw; a washing tub for a file.

1678 .- Abm. Ogden cr., weaving 31 yards of linen, at 8d. a yard; 29 yards woolen, at 7d. a yard; 3 days reap- ing, at 2s. 6d. a day.

1680, Nov. 27 .- Dorothy Bowne went to Mary Willis's. Her things are: 8 handkerchiefs, 3 white and one black hood, 8 caps, 3 pair sleeves, 5 headbands, 4 aprons, 2 pair stockings, 2 new shifts, 4 petticoats, 2 waistcoats.

1680 .- Account of charges for John Clay in his sick- ness and at his burial; 2 oz. cloves and mace, 4s .; 1 14 OZ. nutmegs, 2s. 2d .; 6 lbs. currants, 4s. 6d .; 25 lbs. sugar, 9s. 472d .; 2 galls. rum, 6s .; 6 lbs. butter, 3s .; coffin, 6s.

1681 .- Due Edw. Burling, 6 bush. Indian corn or one barrel cider, which he pleaseth. Due John and Elias Burling, cr. by ringing pair of wheels, 15s. August .- I sold Geo. Lambert a mare for £5 in money and a mus- tard bowl; and a grey mare to John Newbold for £3 5S. Old England money.

1683 .- Wm. Penn dr., 4 barrels boiled cider, at 30s. each; 3 barrels raw cider, at 15s. each; 36 bush. hay- dust, at 2s. a bush.

1683 .- Martha Joanna's 30 weeks' schooling and what else is paid for by a red petticoat to E. C. (Elisabeth Cowperthwaite ?)

1685 .- John Adams cr. by inaking 28 rods of stone wall at Is. 6d. a rod; 4 days cutting thatch, ros; 212 days walling, 6s .; dressing 2 cows, 4s .; for 30 shingles, 9d.

1687 .- Maria Feake, dr., canoeing and carting home 3 loads hay, 16s .; cr., making ro shifts, 15s .; 3 petticoats, IOS .; 2 weeks spinning, Ios .; making 5 shirts and knit- ting 2 pair stockings. [This woman was the deserted wife of Tobias Feake, the ex-sheriff, who ran away to Holland with another woman, to the great scandal of the community. She kept a farm, tried to pay his debts, and raised a family of his children, retaining the respect of all her neighbors. It will be seen that the prices paid for her work were large, compared to the prevailing rates of men's wages. It was probably the good old Quaker's way to cover up a charitable act and relieve her from the humiliation attending a direct gift.] April 20-Jona. Wright, for cart hire, I day reaping or mowing. For 6 pecks oats, in reaping to satisfy me in reason; 3 days mowing for one pair worsted hose. Chas. Mordan, dr., for hay and fodder, one good day's mowing or reaping. A doz. almanacs, 4s .; neck of veal, 6d.

1687 .- Dr. Simon Cooper, cr., for letting Daniel's blood, Is .; wormseed, rs .; two journeys from Oyster Bay to Flushing, 24s .; 5 plasters, 5s .: 7 doz. pills, 14s. ; 2 bottles cordials, Ios .; salve and cere-cloth, 3s .; a purge, 2s. 6d .; drawing a tooth, IS. Paid Dr. Taylor for com- ing to let James's blood, 3s. 6d.

1690 .- Declined Ri. Stockton's proposal for all his housing lands and conveniences thereto belonging [at Bay Side], 70 acres or more at home and 2 ten-acre lots and 2 twenty-acre lots at a mile or two distance, with so much meadow as may yield 20 or 25 loads of hay a year, price £300. 16 half-ankers of boiled cider for half of 2 oxen. I bought of Wm. Dearing a negro girl Betty for £23 in silver, f12 in hand and LII next month.

1691 .- Account of linen in John Bowne's house: New diaper, 4 tablecloths, one doz. napkins, one doz. towels, fine sheets 6, and 2 cotton sheets, 4 coarse linen, 2 fine tow, 2 bolster cases, 9 fine pillow-biers, 4 coarse ones; small linen: 4 .cravats, 5 handkerchiefs, 5 neck cloths, 8 caps, 7 bands; woolen, bedding, &c .: 8 coverlets, 12 blankets, 3 feather beds, 5 bolsters, 4 large do., 4 pillows, other pillows, 9 in all; six good chaff beds, 2 sets of curtains; pewter: 9 platters, 4 new basons, 8 plates, 5 porringers, 4 salts, one flagon, 2 tankards, one pot, 2 chamber-pots, 2 doz. spoons, 2 saucers; 3 brass candle- sticks, 2 pair scales.

1693 .- Dinner and wine for 7 men (in N. Y.), ros. 6d .; one best pair yarn hose, 4s .; pair mittens, Is. 3d.

1694 .- The cooper is to make me 60 good barrels for cider, tight and sizeable, at 20d. each, the timber already got, he providing what is yet wanting, to be paid 13 in cash and 23 in cider at 12s. 6d. a barrel now, and ros. a barrel from the press, he finding casks.

In 1695 a school bill is stated as follows: Wm. and Thos. Richardson, dr. to John Urquhart for 4 weeks diet, £1 175. 6d., and for writing and cyphering, 8 weeks at Is. 3d. a week for both; teaching John to read, Io weeks at 6d. at week; leather for his breeches, 9s. 8d. ; 1/2 yard osenbrigs, 1od .; one ounce silk, 4s. 6d.

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History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 19

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co. Number of Pages: 703

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703