USA > New York > Wyoming County > History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents > Part 4
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During the agitations attending this foul judicial murder, the Indians, from neglect, became dissatisfied toward the English, insomuch that they sent an embassy of peace to Count Frontenac ; to counteract this a council with the Five Nations was held at Albany, and the covenant chain renewed. In order to maintain this advantage, Major Schuyler, in whom the Five Nations had great confidence, led them in an invasion of Canada, and signally defeated the French. The intemperate habits of Sloughter brought on a severe illness, from which he died on the 23d of July, 1691, thus ending a weak and turbulent administration. Upon the death of Sloughter the chief command was com- mitted to Richard Ingoldsby, to the exclusion of Joseph Dudley, who, but for his absence, would have had the right to preside, and upon whom the government devolved; and as Dudley, upon his return, did not contest the authority of Ingoldsby, the latter governed until the arrival of Benjamin Fletcher, with a commission as governor, in August, 1692. He was a man of small ability and violent temper, active and avaricious, but prudently took Major Schuyler into his counsel, and was guided by his opinions in Indian affairs. His administration was so successful the first year that he received large supplies from the Assembly. The unamiable traits of his character were soon exhibited, however, and during most of his administration he was engaged in con- troversies with the Assembly, principally in regard to appro- priations for his expenses, for which he made extravagant demands. He was bigotedly attached to the Episcopal form of church government, and encouraged English churches and schools in place of Dutch. He procured an act from the Assembly, the provisions of which, though admitting of a more liberal construction, he interpreted as a recognition of the Episcopal instead of the Dutch church, and under this act Trinity Church was organized. A print- ing press was established in New York city in 1693, by William Bradford, who was employed by the city to print the corporation laws.
CHAPTER V.
COUNT FRONTENAC'S CAMPAIGNS-PIRACY-MISGOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK-FRENCH FRONTIER POSTS.
N 1693 Count Frontenac set out from Montreal with an army of French and Indians, and invaded the Mohawk country, capturing their castles, killing some of the tribe, and taking about three hundred prisoners. Schuyler, with the militia of Albany, hastened to the assistance of the Mohawks, and pursued the enemy in their retreat, retaking about fifty prisoners. In 1696 Count Frontenac made another effort for the subjugation of the Five Nations. With an army of regular troops and Indians under his command he ascended the St. Lawrence to Cadaraqui, now Kingston; then, crossing to Oswego, made a descent upon the Onondagas, who, apprised of his coming, set fire to and deserted their principal towns. On retracing his march he found his progress obstructed by the Onondagas, and incursions into Canada by the Five Nations were again renewed. In the following year the war between France and England was terminated by the peace of Ryswick, and these barbarous hostilities ceased.
During the late war piracy had prevailed, and was believed to be encouraged by the governments, for the annoyance of the commerce of their respective enemies. Merchant ves- sels were destroyed within sight of the harbor of New York, the commercial depot of the pirates, some of whom had sailed from there, having a good understanding with Fletcher and other officers. The extinction of piracy was loudly demanded, and the English government found it necessary to resort to vigorous measures for this end; and consequently, in 1695 Fletcher was recalled, and Richard, Earl of Bellomont, appointed in his place, with instructions for the suppression of this evil. The Earl of Bellomont, whose commission included the governments of Massachu- setts and New Hampshire as well as New York, did not arrive until May, 1698. Before leaving England, an armed vessel was fitted out by Bellomont and others, and placed under the command of Captain William Kidd, who sailed from England in 1696, and after cruising for a while turned pirate himself, and became the most bold and daring of the ocean marauders. He returned to New York with his booty and concealed portions of it on Long Island. . He was subsequently arrested in Boston, by order of the governor, on a charge of piracy, sent to England for trial, and there convicted and executed. Bellomont favored the Democratic or Leislerian party, and the new Assembly in 1699 being also Democratic, an act was passed by which the families of Leis- ler and Milborne were reinstated in their possessions. Bello_ mont died in 1701,and John Nanfan, the lieutenant-governor, upon whom the government devolved, succeeded him until the arrival, in 1702, of Lord Cornbury, who was appointed by King William as a reward for his desertion of James II., in whose army he had been an officer. His administration was chiefly distinguished for its intolerance, and he received the unenviable distinction of being the worst governor under the English regime. With savage bigotry he sought to establish the Church of England by imprisoning dissenting
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FRENCH TRADING AND MILITARY POSTS.
clergymen, and prohibiting them from exercising their functions without his special license, and he even robbed one clergyman of his house and glebe. With insatiable rapacity he plundered the public treasury, and opposed every measure of the people for the security of their rights. Destitute of gratitude, licentious and base, he completed the universal contempt in which he was held by appearing in public dressed in women's clothes. As he had become an object of abhorrence, the Queen, through the pressure of popular sentiment, felt compelled to revoke his commission. As soon as he was deposed he was thrown into prison by his creditors, where he remained until the death of his father, when he became Earl of Clarendon. Upon the death of King William his commission was renewed by the Queen, who at the same time gave him the chief command of New Jersey, the government of which the proprietor had surrendered into her hands. He was succeeded December 18th, 1708, by Lord Lovelace, who died on the 5th of May following, leaving the government in the hands of Lieutenant- Governor Ingoldsby, whose administration is only remarkable for an unsuccessful expedition, under Colonel Nicholson, for the reduction of Canada. This failure was chiefly due to the mismanagement of Ingoldsby, who was conse- quently removed April 10th, 1710, and Gerardus Beekman, the oldest member of the council, exercised the authority of governor till June 14th, when Robert Hunter arrived with a commission as governor. This year Colonel Schuyler went to England to urge the importance of subduing Canada, taking with him the chiefs of the Five Nations, who were highly gratified with their voyage and reception.
The ensuing year another expedition for the reduction of Canada was undertaken. Four thousand troops were raised in the colonies under Colonel Nicholson, to join an English fleet and land force before Quebec. Arriving in the St. Lawrence, many of the ships were wrecked, and about a thousand soldiers lost, which put an end to the campaign. Nicholson, who had proceeded as far as Lake George, on hearing this news returned, and the expedition proved an entire failure. It had entailed a heavy debt upon the province, in consequence of which the governor's in- fluence was somewhat impaired, he having entered into it with much zeal. His request for a permanent appropriation for the government was refused by the Assembly, which brought him into several unhappy contests with that body. In March, 1713, the war between England and France terminated by the treaty of Utrecht, in which the English supremacy over the Five Nations was conceded by the French, and an end put to the inflicton of Indian hostilities. The Five Nations being relieved from hostilities with the French, engaged in conflict with the Indians at the south. The Tuscaroras, a tribe kindred to the Iroquois, residing in North Carolina, having been greatly reduced by a war with the whites, and being unable to resist their encroachment, removed to the north and joined the confederacy. They settled near Lake Oneida, among the Five Nations, and the confederates were thenceforward called the Six Nations. Hunter remained at the head of the government until 1719, when, his health failing, he returned to England. His intercourse with the Assembly was agreeable during the latter part of his administration, and his attachment to the interest of the colony made his departure regretted.
The government devolved upon Peter Schuyler, the oldest
member of the council, who successfully administered affairs until the arrival of William Burnet, September 17th, 1720. A trading post was commenced at Oswego in 1722, by Governor Burnet, in order to engross the trade of the Six Nations, and with the farther design of following it up on the lakes to the westward, to obtain the trade of the more remote tribes. A congress of several colonies was held at Albany to meet the Six Nations, whereby the chain of friendship was strengthened, and trade with remote tribes promoted. The establishment of this post at Oswego was highly displeasing to the French, and in order to intercept the trade from the upper lakes they obtained consent of the Iroquois, through the influence of the Jesuits, to rebuild their trading-house and fort at Niagara, and also decided to erect a chain of military posts to the Ohio river, so as to cut off and confine the English trade. Though not without opposition, they succeeded in erecting their fort at Niagara. Although some of the members of the Six Nations were opposed to this invasion by the French, it succeeded through the disaffection of a party of merchants and others interested in the French trading policy, who, since the peace of Utrecht, had carried on a good trade with Montreal, through the aid of Indian carriers, and were opposed to the governor's policy. The Assembly was also strongly tinctured with the spirit of opposition, and refused a renewal of supplies except for short periods. This body was dissolved in 1727, but the next was quite as stubborn, and it was likewise dissolved, and the governor could only erect a small military defense for the post at Oswego, which, to his credit and the the colony's shame, was at his own expense. On the accession of George II., Burnet was, through the efforts of his enemies, transferred to the government of Massachusetts, and John Montgomery appointed to succeed him. He entered upon his duties April 15th, 1728. His . short ad- ministration is not distinguished for any important event. In 1729 the King, against the wishes of the best citizens of the colony, repealed the act prohibiting the trade in Indian goods between Albany and Montreal. A line was surveyed and agreed upon between Connecticut and New York in 1731. The establishment of this partition gave to New York a tract of land formerly on the Connecticut side, called from its figure the "Oblong," as an equivalent for lands near the sound, surrendered to Connecticut.
Montgomery died July Ist, 1731, and was succeeded by Rip Van Dam, whose administration was unfortunately signalized by the erection of a fort at Crown Point by the French, without resistance from the acting governor. The arrival of Colonel William Cosby, August Ist, 1732, finished his administration, and began one rendered memorable for its arbitrary proceedings and tumult, rather than for striking or important events. Among the first of Cosby's acts was a demand that Rip Van Dam, his predecessor, should divide equally with him the emoluments of the office before his arrival. Van Dam assented, on the condition that Cosby should reciprocate by an equal division of the perquisites received by him from the colonies since his appointment and before coming to this country. This demand on the part of Van Dam was sustained by the people generally, but Cosby, despotic and avaricious, refused, and commenced a suit against Van Dam for half of his salary. As the governor by virtue of his office was chancellor, and two of the judges his personal friends, the counsel for defense took
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF STATE OF NEW YORK.
exception against the jurisdiction of the court. The ex- ception was overruled by the judges in the interest of Cosby. even against the opinion of Chief Justice Morris, who was immediately removed from his office and Colonel Cosby's claim ordered paid. The indignation of the people at such arbitrary proceedings found vent in squibs and ballads, aimed at the aristocracy, and placing some of the members of the legislature in a ludicrous position. The New York Weekly Journal, edited by John P. Zenger, in defending Van Dam, published some severe criticisms on the govern- ment, arraigning the officials for assumed arbitrary power and perverting their official stations to purposes of private emolument. These papers were ordered to be burnt by the common hangman, and Zenger was arrested and imprisoned on a criminal charge for publishing a seditious libel against the government. When the trial came on, the publication was admitted, and proof offered for its justification, which were objected to by the attorney-general, on the ground that in a criminal proceeding for the publication of libelous matter, the truth of the facts alleged was not proper to be admitted in evidence, and he was sustained by the court, Andrew Hamilton, the counsel for the defense, resisted this decision of the court, and insisted that the jury was the judges of both the facts and the law, and it was for them to interpose between arbitrary violations of law and justice and their intended victim. The jury, after a short deliberation, gave a unanimous verdict of acquittal. Cosby, although repulsed by this verdict, persistently continued to make himself odious to the people by other arbitrary measures. A few days before his death he convened his council in his bed-chamber, and suspended Van Dam, the senior member thereof, upon whom the government would have devolved upon his decease. He died March 10th, 1736. The council convened immediately after his death, and George Clark, next senior counsellor, was declared president, and assumed the authority of governor. The suspension of Van Dam was declared illegal by a powerful party in his favor, and a struggle ensued between him and Clark for the office, both exercising authority until October 30th, when Clarke received a commission from England to act as lieutenant- governor. He sought to conciliate those hostile to him, and to keep in favor with the aristocratic party at the same time, he dissolved the Assembly that had continued in existence for many years, and a new one was elected, which, to his chagrin and regret, was in sympathy with the popular party, and at its session could not be prevailed upon to grant a revenue for a longer period than one year, establishing a precedent that subsequent Assemblies did not depart from.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ALLEGED PLOT TO BURN NEW YORK-FRENCH AND INDIAN HOSTILITIES - THE CONTEST FOR THE OHIO VALLEY.
N 1741, several fires having occurred in New York, suspicions were awakened that a con- spiracy had been formed for the destruction of the city. It was not long before it was charged upon the negro slaves, who at that time con- stituted about one-fifth of the population. Universal consternation seized upon the inhabitants, and a
general panic ensued, in which reason and common sense were scarcely entertained. Rewards were offered for the arrest and conviction of the offenders, and a full pardon tendered to' any of their number who would reveal their knowledge of the conspiracy. A weak negro girl, named Mary Burton, a servant in a low boarding house, after much importunity and full promise of pardon, implicated several negroes, by confessing to have heard them talking privately about burning the city. They were arrested and executed on this slender testimony. Others, among them several whites, were implicated by her, and suffered the same fate. Other informers appeared, arrests became numerous, and the popular fury and delusion did not subside until Mary Burton, the chief informer, after frequent examinations, began to touch characters above suspicion and known to be innocent. Then, as reason began to return, the delusion passed away, but not until one hundred and fifty-four negroes and twenty- four whites had been committed to prison, and nearly forty of these unfortunates executed. In the commencement of his administration Clarke had succeeded in conciliating both parties to a considerable extent, but managed before its close to lose the confidence of both, insomuch that his re- tirement, on the arrival of his successor, Admiral George Clinton, September 23d, 1743, was but little regretted. Favorable accounts of Clinton's talent and liberality had been proclaimed, and he was received with demonstrations of universal satisfaction. The election of a new Assembly was ordered, and a spirit of harmony so far prevailed that he concurred in all its measures.
In March, 1744, war was declared between England and France, and measures were taken for the conquest of Canada. The colonies of New York and New England united in an expedition, to co-operate with a fleet under Commodore Warren, for an attack on the French fortress at Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island, which capitulated in June, 1745. The country north of Albany was seriously molested by attacks from the Indians and French. The fort at Crown Point with a force sufficient to enable its commander to send out detachments to destroy the English settlements. The settlement at Saratoga was burned, and nearly all the inhabitants either killed or taken prisoners. This was followed by an attack on the village of Hoosick. The fort at that place was commanded by Colonel Hawks, who was compelled to surrender, thus leaving the settlements, all the way to Albany, open to the enemy; but measures were speedily adopted for putting the frontier in a state of de- fense. In 1746 an expedition against Canada was resolved upon by the English government. The colonies, with the promise of assistance from England, entered into the design with much zeal. New York raised sixteen hundred men for the forces directed upon Crown Point and Montreal. England failed to furnish the promised assistance, and the expedition proved unsuccessful. Peace was concluded at Aix la Chapelle in 1748. Hostilities ceased, and the colony enjoyed a short period of tranquility. The harmony between the Assembly and the governor did not long continue, for, in 1745, an open disagreement occurred, and almost constant bickerings followed. In 1748 Clinton sent a message to the Assembly, demanding an appropriation for the support of the government for five years. The Assembly, justly re- garding it as a direct attempt to render the crown independ- ent of the people, indignantly refused; and after a few
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FRENCH AND ENGLISH HOSTILITIES.
weeks' contention, the governor prorogued that body, and by successive prorogations prevented it from sitting for nearly two years, until the affairs of the colony were in an alarming condition for want of funds. His reiterated de- mands for a permanent revenue met with persistent refusal. Opposed and embarrassed by political factions, he tendered his resignation, after an administration of ten years, and was succeeded October 10th, 1753. by Sir Danvers Osborne. The new governor immediately informed the council that his in- structions were to maintain the royal prerogative and demand a permanent support for the government. He was told by the members present that the Assembly would never submit to the demand, and appeared greatly depressed, the loss of his wife a short time before having already thrown him into a melancholy state of mind, bordering on insanity. Knowing the difficulties that his predecessor had experienced, and being charged with instructions still more stringent, he saw in the tempest before him a prospect which so worked upon his morbid mind that the next morning he was found dead, having hung himself at his lodgings. On his death, James de Lancey, by virtue of his commission as lieutenant-govern- or, assumed the administration of the government. He had formerly been a leader in the aristocratic party, but recently had opposed the demands of the crown, and consequently had become highly popular. Striving to retain his popularity by favoring the representatives in measures advantageous to the colony, while holding his office at the will of the English government, and being compelled by the instructions of his predecessor to convince the ministry that he was zealous to promote the interest of the crown, his task was peculiarly difficult; but it was performed with a shrewdness and skill creditable to his ability as a statesman.
By the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, the boundary between the French and English colonies was left as indefinite as before, and consequently those lands which both claimed the right to possess were still in dispute. The French had established their trading posts, missionary stations and fortifications from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and were vigorously pursuing their designs for the extension of their power and dominions. The English Ohio Company, formed for settlement and trade with the Indians, obtained in 1749, a grant from the British government of an extensive tract of land on the Ohio river.
When the Assembly met in the spring of 1754, Governor De Lancey, in his message to that body, called their atten- tion to the recent encroachments of the French, and to a request by Virginia for aid from the colony of New York. The Assembly voted only a thousand pounds for aid, and to bear its share in erecting forts along the frontier.
By victories in western Pennsylvania in 1754 the French were left in undisputed possession of the entire region west of the Alleghanies. The necessity of concerted action on the part of the English colonies to resist their aggressions had now become obvious, but unworthy sectional feelings often prevented harmony of action for a general defense. The Six Nations were also becoming alienated from the English by the influence of French emissaries. The English ministry, aware of this critical state of affairs, had advised a convention of delegates from all the colonial assemblies, to secure the continued friendship and alliance of the Six Nations, and to unite their efforts in the common defense. In accordance with this recommendation, a convention of
delegates from the colonies of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland, was held at Albany in June, 1754. The chiefs of the Six Nations were in attendance, and the proceedings were opened by a speech to the Indians from Governor De Lancey, who had been chosen president of the conventio ... A treaty with the Six Nations was renewed, and they departed, apparently satisfied. While this treaty was being negotiated, at the suggestion of the Massachusetts delegates, a plan for the union of the colonies was taken into consideration. The suggestion was favorably received, and a committee, consist. ing of one member from each colony, was appointed to draft plans for this purpose. The fertile mind of Benjamin Franklin had conceived the necessity of union, and before leaving home he had prepared a plan, which was adopted. It was similar in many of its features to our Federal Con- stitution, framed many years afterward. The provincial assemblies, considering it too much of an encroachment on their liberties, rejected it, and it was rejected by the English government because it gave too much power to the people.
CHAPTER VIL
THE RESULT OF FOUR ENGLISH EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE FRENCH-MONTCALM'S SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS.
HOUGH England and France were nominally at peace, the frontier was desolated by savage hordes let loose upon the settlements by the French. While the English ministry were hes- itating, the Duke of Cumberland, who at that time was captain-general of the armies of Great Britain, sent over, early in 1755, General Braddock, with a detachment from the army in Ireland. Braddock, soon after his arrival, met the colonial governors in a conference at Alexandria, to devise measures for repelling the encroachments of the French. Four separate expeditions were there resolved upon: the first against Nova Scotia; the second, under Braddock himself, for the recovery of the Ohio valley; the third against Fort Niagara, and the fourth against Crown Point, on Lake Champlain. The first resulted in the complete reduction of Nova Scotia. The second and most important, under Braddock, from which much had been expected, was, through the folly of that officer, disastrous in the extreme. Washington had repeat- edly urged the necessity of sending scouts in advance, but Braddock, obstinate and imperious, would listen to no warnings of danger from Indian ambuscades. When within a few miles of Fort Duquesne, the army was surprised by the lurking foe, and only saved from total destruction by the bravery of Washington, who, upon the fall of Braddock, assumed command, and conducted a retreat, but not until more than half the force had been sacrificed. The expedition against Fort Niagara, under General Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, was also unsuccessful. His troops hearing of Braddock's defeat, soon after leaving Albany, were so disheartened that many of them deserted. At Oswego he
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