USA > New York > Staten Island > History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York : from its discovery to the present time > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
t The Lower bay of New York-also called Port May or Godyn's bay.
Hamel's Hoofden-the Narrows, between Staten and Long Islands. These "Hoofden," or headlands, were named after Hendrick Hamel, one of the directors of the West India Company.
$ Dutch miles-a Dutch mile is equal to about three English miles.
|| Visscher's Hoeck-Montauk Point.
"T The Kills.
48
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
is full of trees, and in some places there is good soil, where the savages plant their maize, upon which they live as well as by hunting. The other side of the small river, according to con- jecture, is about 20 to 30 miles broad to the South river, in the neighborhood of the Sancicans, as well as I have been able to make it out from the mouths of the savages ; but as they live in a state of constant enmity with those tribes the passage is seldom made ; wherefore I have not been able to learn the exact distance ; so that when we wish to send letters overland they (the natives) take them way across the bay and have the letters carried forward by others unless one amongst them may hap- pen to be on friendly terms and who might venture to go there."
The Indians dwelling on Staten Island at the time of its discovery were the Raritans, a branch of the great nation of Delawares or Leni-Lenapes. From indications found in various localities, such as large collections of shells and bones, it is evi- dent that they dwelt on or near the shores of the island, where fish, scale and shell, were easily obtained ; this is also confirmed by the fact that their burial places have been found in the vicinity of those places, neither of these indications of human occupancy having been found in the interior. Stone hatchets and stone arrow-heads, and springs rudely built up with stone walls, have been found at no great distance from the shores ; one of the latter may still be seen a short distance northeast of the Fresh poud, or Silver lake, in Castleton, and is known by the name of the Logan spring.
The interior of the island was their hunting ground, where deer, bears and other animals of the chase were found. The shores also afforded an abundant supply of water fowls, and thus, all their resources considered, the Indians were well sup- plied by nature with the necessaries of life. In addition to these, they had wild berries and fruits, maize, of which it is said they cultivated large quantities, beans, tobacco, and other articles of their own cultivation. The proximity of the island to the mainland enabled them to extend their hunting expedi- tions indefinitely. The wild animals which were found on the neighboring continent were also found here, but they, as well as their human contemporaries, have gradually retired or per- ished as civilization advanced.
It is supposed that the Indians of Staten Island, in common
49
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
with those of the neighborhood, were subject to the Mohawks, and stood in constant and mortal fear of them. Their clothing was the skins of the beaver, fox, and other animals, and con- sisted of but little more than a covering of the thighs and loins. Their food was maize or Indian corn, fish, birds and wild game. Their weapons were bows and arrows, the latter sharpened with flint stones or the bones of fishes. Boats were made from a single piece of wood, hollowed out by fire. Some led a wander- ing life, while others had fixed abodes built with rafters, and oven-formed, covered with the bark of trees, and large enough to accommodate several families. A few mats, wooden dishes, stone hatchets and smoking tubes composed their scanty fur- niture The fire was kindled in the middle of these dwellings, from one end to the other, and the smoke let out at an opening in the crown of the roof. On hunting and fishing expeditions they erected temporary huts in the same fashion.
All the agriculture was done by the women, who of course knew nothing of plowing or spading the soil, nor the culture of wheat, oats, barley or rye. Their universal grain was maize, or turkey corn, of which they made bread and "sapraen " or mush. They also cultivated beans, pumpkins, squashes and tobacco. The old men made wooden bowls, ladles and baskets.
Their hatches were made of stone, in shape like rnde wedges, about a half foot long, and broad in proportion. A notch was made around the thick end, which received the two parts of a stick split at one end which formed the handle. The jaws of the handle were then firmly bound with thongs to the hatchet and the implement was ready for use. Sometimes these hatchets were not handled at all, but were simply held in the hands when being used. Their chief use was to make good fields for maize plantations, by girdling the trees and thus clearing the ground by taking advantage of the natural course of decay and time in removing the wood growth,
When the Indians wished to fell a thick, strong tree they em- ployed fire. This was done by heaping a great quantity of wood about the trunk of the tree, and burning it, continuing this process until the trunk was burned through and the tree fell. But to prevent the fire consuming the part which they wished to save they made a swab with which, fastened to the end of a pole, they kept applying water to the trunk a little above the fire. When it was desired to hollow out a log they applied fire
4
50
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
in a similar way and kept wetting the part that was to be pre- served. After thus burning and charring the inside of the trunk they finished it by chipping and scraping the burnt parts with their stone hatchets, flints and sharp shells. Canoes were often made thirty to forty feet long.
Instead of knives they used little sharp pieces of flint or quartz or some other hard kind of stone, and these were some- times substituted by sharp shells or pieces of bone which they had sharpened. At the end of their arrows they fastened narrow angular or pointed pieces of stone. These points were commonly pieces of flint or quartz, but sometimes other hard kinds of stone were used, and again the bones of animals or the claws of birds were sometimes used.
They had stone pestles, about a foot long and as thick as a man's arm. These were made of a black sort of stone, and were used for pounding their maize, which was an important article of their food. Sometimes they used wooden pestles. For mortars they hollowed out the stumps or butts of trees. The old boilers or kettles of the Indians were either made of clay or of different kinds of stone. The former were made of a dark clay mixed with grains of white sand or quartz, and burnt in the fire. Many of these kettles had holes in opposite sides of the upper edge, through which a stick was passed, and by this means the kettle was held over the fire to boil. These kettles seldom had feet, and were never glazed either inside or outside.
Their tobacco pipes were made of clay, or pot-stone or ser- pentine stone. The clay pipes were shaped like our common pipes of that material, though they were much coarser and more rudely formed. The tube was thick and short, often not more than an inch but sometimes a finger in length. In color they were like our pipes that have been long in use. The celebrated " pipe of peace " was made of a fine red stone, not found in this part of the country, and it was probably almost unknown to the Indians of Staten Island.
For fishing they used hooks made of bone or the claws of birds. Fire was kindled by rubbing one end of a hard piece of wood against another dry one till after a time the friction became so great that the wood began to smoke and finally to burn.
The Indians in personal character and appearance were
51
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
healthy, strong, robust and well proportioned. In social life they were polygamous, their chiefs having several wives. They were faithful, however, to the marriage relations, and the women often preferred death to dishonor. Wassenaer of Amsterdam, who wrote in 1621-33, says that the Indian women "are the most experienced star-gazers; there is scarcely one of them but can name all the stars-their rising and setting, the position of the Arctos, that is, the wagon, is as well known to them as to us, and they name them by other names." All the natives paid particular attention to the sun, moon and stars in connection with their seasons. The first moon following the one at the end of February was greatly honored, and as she rose they had a festival, feasting on fish and wild game, and drink- ing with it clear, fresh water. The Indian year now com- menced, and this moon was hailed as the harbinger of spring, and the women began to prepare for planting. At the arrival of the new August moon another feast was celebrated for the coming harvest.
The Indians seemed to have no knowledge of God or religion. Some of them paid homage to the Devil or evil spirits, but not with so much ceremony as the native Africans do. They be- lieved in good and evil spirits, and their spiritual affairs were entrusted to Kitzinacka, a sort of weather priest. He visited the sick and dying, and sat beside them bawling, crying and roaring like a demon. He was a kind of Capuchin, with no abode of his own, lodged where he pleased, and never ate food prepared by a married woman. It must be cooked by a maiden or an old woman.
Wampum was the universal money among the Indians. It was made of the thick and blue part of sea clam-shells and oyster shells. The thin covering of this part being split off a hole was drilled through it and then the outward shape given to it by means of a stone upon which it was rubbed or ground. The form was sometimes eight sided, but generally round or nearly so, and in size resembling the cylindrical glass beads sometimes known as " bugles." The beads were usually about an eighth of an inch in diameter. When fin- ished they were strung upon cords of some kind, and these strings of wampum were measured by the foot, yard or fathom. In their manufacture from six to ten feet in length were considered a day's work. It was of two kinds, white
52
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
and purple or black. The latter was wrought out of the mussel shells. With the Dutch governors six beads of the white or four of the purple were equal in value to one penny. This currency was used by the Europeans for many years after their settlement here. The Indians made belts of wampum by weaving the strings into widths of several inches and they were two feet or more in length. It was sometimes called seewan. Both the Dutch and English recognized it as currency for a long time. In 1683 the schoolmaster at Flatbush, L. I., was paid his salary in wheat at "wampum value." Among other fees he received for supplying water for baptisms twelve styvers, in wampum, for every baptism. In 1693 the ferriage for passen- gers from New York to Brooklyn was eight styvers in wampum each. It was also used for ornamenting the person and as an emblem of agreement in treaties. The belt of wampum removed the remembrance of injuries and bloodshed. On Staten Island, Long Island and the neighboring shores of the mainland are found numerous beds or heaps of clam shells broken into very small pieces. These were without doubt the scenes of this manufacture. When we remember that this article was the currency of all the tribes even away inland, and that the ma- terials of which it was made were only found on the sea coast, we can see what an important and advantageous position the Indians of this locality. occupied.
In their burials the dead were placed in the earth without a coffin, but with all their costly garments of skins, in a sitting posture, upon a stone or block of wood. Near the body were also arranged a pot, kettle, platter and spoon, with some wam- pum and provisions, for their invisible journey to the Spirit Land. Over the grave was heaped a pile of wood, stone or earth. A few of these spots of sepulture have been found in different parts of the island. One of these was on or near the old Pelton place at West New Brighton. Here have been found, in years long gone by, various trinkets-a copper box, copper earrings and a glass pipe. The last was found in the mouth of an Indian skeleton.
Tradition says that the point of the island now occupied by Tottenville was once a favorite burial spot with the Indians. The remains of several have been exhumed there within a few years past. One was found while digging a cistern on the premises of Mr. Appleby, and several others were dug up on
53
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY,
the premises of Joel Cole. The peculiar beauty of the site, it is said, made it attractive to the aborigines for sepulture, af- fording as it did an uninterrupted view of the rising and the setting sun. The site was also a favorite meeting place during the periods of their spirit worshipping. Friendly tribes from Long Island, Manhattan island and the Jersey shore were wout to join the natives here, on their festive occasions, when doubt- less the surrounding forests and the neighboring hills resounded with the untutored songs of thousands of the children of nature's wilds.
The treatment of the Indians by the Dutch explorers and the Dutch government was not such as to inspire friendly re- turns from the savages. The disgraceful barbarities with which the Indians were often treated are too common matters of his- tory to need repetition here. In consequence of the savage passions which this treatment aroused Staten Island was re- peatedly scourged by the spirit of retaliation naturally evinced by the sons of the forest, Of some of the more notable de- monstrations of hostility between the two races we shall speak.
In the spring of 1640 some parties, on their way from New Amsterdam to South River, Delaware, stopped at Staten Island to take in water, and while there stole some hogs from the settlers on de Vries' bouweries. The Indians residing on the Raritan, and who had manifested a hostile disposition, were at once charged with the theft, which was regarded as a serious offense, and Gov- ernor Kieft to punish them sent a company of about seventy men, under command of his secretary, Van Tienhoven, with in- structions to invade the Indian country, capture as many of the natives as they could, and destroy their crops. When the party reached their destination they became insubordinate, and the secretary lost control over them. They declared their in- tention to kill every Indian they could find, and thoughi re- minded that such a course would be going beyond their instruc- tions, they persisted, and the secretary, seeeing that expostula- tion was in vain, left them to execute their wanton determina- tion. Several of the unfortunate savages were killed, and the chief's brother was barbarously murdered after he had been made a prisoner by one of the party named Govert Loocker- mans, Their crops were destroyed, their wigwams burned, and other outrages perpetrated. Having satiated their fiendish spirit, the Dutchmen retired, leaving one of their number,
54
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
whose name was Ross, supercargo of the ship "Neptune," dead on the field.
The Indians, goaded to desperation, not only by the unjusti- fiable destruction of their crops, and slaughter of their brethren, bnt by a long continned course of frauds practised upon them by unsernpnlons men, who first intoxicated and then cheated them in bargaining with them, resolved upon revenge. One of their first acts was to invade Staten Island, where in 1641 they attacked the settlement that de Vries had begun, and killed four men and burned two of his honses.
Not long before, a yonng Indian, smarting under a sense of wrong, vowed to kill the first Dutchman who crossed his path, and he kept his vow. Governor Kieft, forgetting that he himself was the instigator of all these ontrages, annonnced his intention of taking summary vengeance upon the savages. It was in vain that the prominent men of the colony counselled moderation- in vain that they represented to him that his course would be adding fnel to the fire-he replied to all their remonstrances that the law was "blood for blood," and he meant to have it ; he recognized the applicability of the law to the whites, but not to the savages. His anger was chiefly directed to the Raritans, and he entered into an agreement with some of the river Indians to assist him in annihilating that tribe, and to excite their blood- thirsty dispositions, he offered ten fathoms of wampum for the head of a Raritan, and twenty fathoms for the head of every Indian engaged in the murders upon Staten Island. At this time he built a small redoubt upon the island.
In the meanwhile, the Indians npon Long Island began to manifest a hostile disposition, and Kieft found himself involved in new troubles. It was evident from some of his measures that he began to regret his precipitancy, and if nothing else had occurred to irritate him anew, he might have consented to forget the past, and to "bnry the hatchet ;" but just at this junetnre some traders happened to meet an Indian of the Hack- ensack tribe, who was clothed in a dress of valuable beaver skins, whom they mnade drunk, and then robbed. On recover- ing his senses, the savage vowed to kill the first Swannakin (white man) whom he should meet. He did that, and more ; an Englishman who was a servant of de Vries on Staten Island, was met by him and killed, and shortly after a man named Van Vorst, while engaged in repairing a honse in the vicinity of
55
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
Newark bay, met the same fate. Apprehensive of further trouble, a deputation of chiefs of some of the neighboring tribes, waited upon the director, whom they found greatly ex- cited, and not disposed to reason with them. He informed them hat the only way to keep peace was to surrender the murderer. "We cannot do that," they replied, "because he has fled, and is out of our reach." They offered to make compensation for the crime, according to the customs of their people .; nothing, however, could propitiate Kieft but the possession of the mur- derer, The Indians represented to him, that it was not they who committed the murders, but the white men's rum ; "keep that away from the Indians," said they, "and there will be no more murders ;" but Kieft was inexorable-he was resolved upon war, unless they surrendered the murderer, who was as far out of their reach as ont of his.
New troubles now arose with the Long Island Indians. Thus far they had remained quiet, but the Dutch, with an infatn ation utterly unaccountable, suffered no opportunities to pass to excite them to deeds of violence. Matters were becoming worse daily, and an outbreak of Indian fury could not have been suppressed much longer, when, through the unremitting assiduity of the philanthropic Roger Williams, a meeting between Kieft and several Indian sachems took place at Rock- away on the 25th of March, and a reconciliation was effected.
The peace thus concluded was of short duration. The Indi- ans continued to conmit depredations upon the property of the settlers, and especially was this the case upon Staten Island. Many of them still held their residence there, and could not resist the temptation to appropriate the products of the agri- cultural skill and labor of their white neighbors, which were so much superior in quantity, quality and variety to their own. Remonstrances had proved ineffectual, and it became necessary to adopt severer measures. In addition to this, the Raritans, who were the offending tribe, had interrupted the communi- cation between the two shores of the river at New Amster- dam, and it had become perilous to attempt to land on the west shore.
In the winter of 1642-3 two armed parties from Fort Amster- dam attacked the Indians at Corlear's Hook and Pavonia (Ho- boken) slaying thirty at the former place and eighty at the latter. This outrage led to almost fatal consequences. From
56
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
the Raritan to the Connecticut the war-whoop was heard, and eleven tribes declared open war against the Dutch. All settlers they met with were murdered, -men, women and children- dwellings were burnt, cattle killed and crops destroyed. In the spring of 1643 peace was secured, but it was unsatisfactory to the river Indians, and the war-fires were again kindled. Pa- vonia, and the greater part of Manhattan and Long islands, were in the hands of the savage foes, now embracing seven tribes and numbering 1,500 warriors. To oppose this uncivilized body the Dutch forces amounted to not more than 200 to 300 settlers and between 50 and 60 badly munitioned soldiers. All the "Bouweries," or plantations at Pavonia, and with one excep- tion only on the Long island shore, were destroyed. An early chronicle says: " Staten Island, where Cornelius Melyn estab- lished himself (1643) is unattacked yet, but stands expecting an assault every hour."
Early in 1644 an expedition against the Staten Island Indians was organized. It consisted of forty burghers under Joachim Pietersen Knyter ; thirty-five Englishmen under Lieutenant Baxter, and several soldiers from the fort under Sergeant Peter Cock, and the whole being under command of Counsellor La Montange. They embarked after dark, and at a late hour landed upon the island. They marched all night, and when the morning dawned, had arrived at the place where they ex- pected to find the Indians, but there were none there. Secretly as the whole enterprise had been conducted, the savages had discovered it and escaped. The troops, after burning the vil- lage, returned, taking with them over five hundred schepels of corn.
To the honor of a few, however, be it said the Dutch were not unanimous in their inhuman hostility to the Indians. Promi- nent among the few who comprehended the situation, and understood what course of policy would have been best for the colony, was the minister, Dominie Bogardus, and de Vries, the patroon of part of Staten Island. They were strongly opposed to the course pursned by the directors in their dealings with the Indians, and the event showed the wisdom of the policy of forbearance and conciliation which they recommended. So persistent were they in pressing their views upon the authori- ties, that they excited their anger, and were charged with a * A schepel was almost three pecks.
57
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
design of ingratiating themselves into the favor of the Indians for selfish purposes, and to the prejudice of the interests of the colony at large. The Indians understood these men and rec- ognized them as friends, and when, in one of the raids they made upon the settlers on the island, they had killed some of de Vries' cattle without knowing to whom they belonged, they expressed their regret for the act, calling him the friend of the Indians, At another time, when a difficulty had occurred with some of the Long Island Indians, and Kieft found himself in a dilemma, he was very desirous of making peace with them, but he could find no ambassador who was willing to trust himself in their power, until de Vries offered to visit them for the pur- pose. He was hospitably received, and when his mission was explained to them, and they were requested to visit the director at the fort in New Amsterdam, they refused to go until he had pledged himself for their safety,
On what part of the island the Indian village, which has been spoken of as having been burned by the Dutch expedition in 1644, was located is entirely a matter of conjecture. There is a tradition that an Indian village once stood on the shore of the Lower bay not far from the present Annadale, but no remains have been found to establish its site. From numerous relics and Indian remains that have been found about Tottenville. Kreischerville and Watchogue, it is possible that the village may have been at one or other of those places.
During the year 1655, another and more serions calamity be- fell Staten Island than any which had preceded it. Ilendrick Van Dyck, former attorney-general at New Amsterdam, on rising one morning, discovered a squaw in his garden stealing peaches ; in a moment of anger he seized his gun and shot her, killing her instantly. Of this rash act, little, if any, notice was taken by the authorities, but the Indians did not overlook it ; immediate measures were taken by them to avenge the outrage. Several of the neighboring tribes united, and early on the morn- ing of the 15th of September sixty-four canoes, containing nine- teen hundred savages, some of whom were Mohicans, and others from Esopus, Hackingsack, Tappaan and Stamford, sud- denly appeared before New Amsterdam. They landed and dis- persed through the various streets, while many of the people were still asleep. They broke into several honses on pretense of looking for "Indians from the North," but in reality to
58
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
avenge the death of the squaw that Van Dyke had shot. As soon as they were discovered, an alarm was sounded. The officers of the colony and city, and many of the principal inhab- itants, assembled. and the leaders of the savages were requested to meet with them, which they did ; they accounted for their sudden appearance under pretext of searching for some hostile northern Indians, who, they pretended they had been informed, were either in the city or its vicinity. After much persuasion they were induced to promise to leave Manhattan island at sun- set, but when evening came they were still there, and manifested no disposition to leave. They became unruly and the people became excited, and violent acts were committed by both parties ; Van Dyck, the thoughtless author of the trouble, paid the penalty of his rashness by being killed with an arrow, and Paulus Leinderstein Van Der Grist, one of the city officials, was killed by a blow with an axe. The soldiers in the fort and the city guard were called out, and attacked the invaders, driv- ing them back to their canoes. Crossing the river, the savages attacked the settlements there, and killed or captured most of the people. Thence they went to Staten Island, which at that time had a population of ninety souls and eleven flourishing bouweries ; twenty-two of the people were killed, and all of the remainder who did not escape were carried away captive, and the bouweries were desolated. The Indians continued their ravages three days, during which time they killed one hundred whites, took one hundred and fifty prisoners, and ruined three hundred more in their estates. Alarm spread throughout the entire region, and there was no safety anywhere, for the hostile Indians were prowling about by day and by night, even upon Manhattan island, where they killed all who came within their reach. Stuyvesant employed every means in his power for the protection of the settlement at New Amsterdam and the neigh- boring settlements, and after awhile the ransom of all or nearly all the prisoners taken by the Indians was accomplished, the Indians receiving ammunition in return for the captives.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.