USA > New York > New York City > History of the New Netherlands, province of New York, and state of New York : to the adoption of the federal Constitution. Vol. I > Part 27
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Notwithstanding the pressure from war and other calamities, it tending the " grievous law," which took from the city the mono- poly of bolting flour and baking biscuit, and " placed at every planter's door the privilege" of bolting and baking, still Bellamont found the town extending and improving. An English church had been commenced, and was opened for publick worship in one year. This was Trinity church, which must have touched upon, or removed, part of the old wall. A pew was appropriated to the common council, and hither the mayor appointed by the gover- nour, the alderman and assistants repaired annually on the 14th of October, to hear the Reverend Mr. Vesey, and his English succes- sors, preach a sermon, though for a long time many of these dig- nitaries were Dutch; after attending Episcopal service, they in procession marched to the fort, waited on the governour, and again returning to the City Hall, took the requisite oaths of office. A City Hall had been determined upon, to be built at the end of Broad Street, north of the old wall, and the former Stadt House fronting Coenties Slip, had been doomed to destruction-the land sold, and the rubbishi removed. The new building which of course destroyed another portion of the wall, was completed during Lord VOL. I. 30
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Bellamont's administration, and the stones of the former bastion or wall, on which the pallisades were fixed, were used for this great work, in which were the halls of justice, the jails and dungeons of the city, for many years. The City Hall then built, was on the site of the now building Custom House of the United States, and being finished while Bellamont and Nanfan were the idols of the people, their arms, with the king's, decorated the front. We shall see the fate of these decorations as we pursue the history of the city .*
Previous to the peace of Ryswick, the French monarch had deter- mined upon the conquest of New England, and for this purpose the Count Frontignac, had orders to keep the French troops in Ca- nada in readiness. He, however, remonstrated, and represented that the French force had better be directed against New York, which would deliver Canada from the much dreaded Iroquois, who impeded all the great designs of France, on the continent of Ame- rica. His plan was similar to that of the English, in our revolu- lutionary contest-a naval and military force to take New York city, and penetrate the province by the Hudson ; while the army of Canada, by the way of Lake Champlain, conquered the north and established themselves atAlbany. But the plans of the Court of Versailles prevailed; the Marquis of Nesmond, with an arma- ment, was to take Boston, and drive the English from Newfound- land. The old Count was to be brought by sea to the assistance of the Marquis. All this done, the united forces were to take New York, establish that place as a French city, and then subdue the province. But the fleet and the Marquis Nesmond returned to France without firing a gun, and Count Frontignac, was not called upon, to aid in the conquest of New England, and nothing of importance was undertaken against the Indians.
Colden, in his History of the Five Nations, states, that the Iro- quois having heard of the peace concluded between England and
. When the city had grown so great as to burst the'bounds of the palisadoed wall, (which was situated where Wall Street is now built, ) the houses began to be erected over a marsh, on the East river side, from the Half Moon, a little fort at the termi- nation of the palisades, to the site of the present Fulton Market. This marsh was bounded on the west by the high ground of Golden Hill, and was called the Vly, being an abbreviation of valley ; and from its owner it was denominated Smecs Vly, soon changed by the English into " Smith's Fly." Now, during Lord Bellamont's government. the Magde Padje, or " Maiden Lane," which commenced on the high ground, or at " the Broadway," was continued through the Vly, and a " slip" formed which was called the " Countess's Ship," in compliment to the governour's lady, the Countess of Bellamont. At this slip, was afterwards placed the Fly Market. The Golden Bergh, as the Dutch called it, is now only remembered by Gold street ; but " Cliff street" retains the name Dirk Van der Cliff; and " John street," a part of which was called "Golden Hill," has still its original denomination, derived from John Harpendingh, who gave to the Dutch congregation the ground on which the North church is built, and whose escutcheon is there preserved.
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France, in February, 1698, pursued their hunting near Lake On- tario, but were attacked by the Algonkins, at the instigation of Fron- tignac, and suffered some loss when unprepared for resistance.
In April, the Earl of Bellamont despatched Colonel John Schuy- ler,* and a Dutch Clergyman of the name of Dellius, with tidings of the peace of Ryswick to Montreal. Father Charlevoix says, that the Earl's letter, was dated the 22nd of April, and reached the French Governour in May. Bellamont with these tidings sent all the French prisoners, taken by the English of New York, and pro- mised to order the Iroquois to deliver such as they held in capti- vity : he required of the governour of Canada, all subjects of the king, held by the French as prisoners, whether Christians or Indians.
The count would not acknowledge that the Iroquois were sub- jects of New York or England, and insisted upon treating with them as people subject to France, who voluntarily considered the French King as their father.
He required that the French detained among them should be brought to Canada, and threatened hostilities against the Indians, if they did not comply.
The earl says, "I have sent this letter by Colonel Schuyler, member of the king's council for this province, with M. Dellius and two other gentlemen : they bring the prisoners which were held by our Indians." He doubts not but Frontignac will release all the subjects of the king in his power, as well Christians as In- dians; that all amenities of peace may take place, etc. etc. Fron- tignac replied, that he would exchange or release the English and Dutch prisoners in his power ; that he never refused to make ex- changes during war, notwithstanding the ill treatment several French prisoners had experienced from the English, and the agreements violated by them; that he is persuaded the governour will not suffer Captain Flebusteir to be keep in chains and treated with extreme rigour any longer. He further said to Bellamont, that he could not comprehend, that he had charged the Messrs. S. and D. to demand the Iroquois prisoners in New France in exchange for Frenchmen ; that these Iroquois were, since last autumn, in treaty with him, and had left a hostage to guarantee their word: they are, he said, children disobeying their father, and had been under the domination of the King of France, before the English became masters of New York ; that his orders on this point were precise, and he must obey them. Nevertheless, this
· Charlevoix seems to consider this Colonel Schuyler, as the celebrated Peter, the grandfather of Philip, so famous in our revolutionary contest; and this idea seems to be conveyed by the expression of Bellamont, which makes Colonel Schuyler a member of the council.
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should not interrupt their good intelligence ; that he had taken measures to hinder the Indians domiciliated with the French from committing hostilities against the Englishi settlements, &c. "Messrs. S. and D.," says the Jesuit, " departed, charmed with the recep- tion they had met with." Some Indians soon after informed Fron- tignac that Bellamont had held a great council with the chiefs of the Five Nations ; that the Mohawks had told him that they were the masters of their soil, and had been long before the English appeared ; and had burnt, in Bellamont's presence, all treaties they had signed : they, however, promised the governour that they would hold the Indians they had as prisoners, until Frontignac sent back all the Iroquois he held. To this, Bellamont objected; and re- quired the prisoners to be put in his hands, to be conducted to Mon- treal ; that he prohibited all hostilities against the French ; but as to their Indian allies, they were at liberty - but not with the In- dians domiciliated in the French colony. It was said, the Iroquois agreed to give Bellamont their prisoners, but did not fix the time. Frontignac saw that Bellamont wished to establish the sovereignty of England over the Iroquois, and that his (Frontignac's) part, was to divide them, by representing that the English wished to become masters of their country and persons. For this purpose, he invited them to come to Montreal, and sent his agents among them. Some came to Montreal, where they were feasted and retained by caresses a long time.
A second letter from Bellamont, only strengthened Frontignac's determination to gain tlie Iroquois. The Governour of New York wrote that he had a conference with the Five Nations; that they desired to continue under the protection of England, and avowed subjection ; that they complained of the French and Canadian In- dians, who committed hostilities upon them because they were sub- jects of England; that the French Indians had carried off a number of their people since the publication of the peace ; that he was sur- prised to find the Five Nations were not treated as subjects of the crown of England ; that they were such, could be proved to all the world ; that from Frontignac's letter, he understands that he acts by order ; that the injuries received by the Iroquois, were a cause of the last war, and he is astonished to find that they are repeated, in contravention of the treaty; that the King of England would not suffer any insult to be offered to his Indians ; that he has ordered them to be on their guard, and if attacked, to resist to the knife, and he would succour them. He says, the Five Nations wish him to drive away the French missionaries from them, and to send them protestant ministers, and he has promised so to do. He requires Frontignac to prohibit the interference of the French priests or they will be subjected to the punishment awarded by the laws of Eng- land ; and threatens, "assuredly I will execute all that fall into
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my hands ; and the Indians have promised to send them to me." He says, if hostilities do not cease on the part of the Canadians, they must take the consequences: "the Indians will put in my hands the prisoners they have taken during the war, (more than a hundred,) provided, on your part, you release their countrymen." He wishes the count's determination, and, in the meantime, sends four Frenchmen, who, as he says, "our Indians have brought to Albany ;" that the Iroquois tell him, that Frontignac had sent word to the upper cantons, that if they do not come into Canada in forty-five days, he would march into their country with fire and sword .-- " I send, to-day, niy lieutenant-governour, with regular king's troops, to oppose any hostilities you may under- take; and I will arm my government to repulse you ; and make reprisals for any damage you may do our Indians."
The Jesuit historian tells his readers, that this high tone of Bella- mont's, indicates his want of power - the English always do so, when they know they cannot sustain their pretensions. Frontignac · replied, that the kings, their masters, had agreed to settle their boundaries : France only wishes to bring back her children by kindness, if she can - if not, by severity. He says, the Iroquois belong to France, and reject the dominion of England.
During this controversy, Lord Bellamont visited Albany to carry his point with the Iroquois; and before the affair was brought to any conclusion, the French governour died, at the age of seventy- eight, on the 2Sth of November, 1698.
Doctor Cadwallader Colden gives this version of the affair : - Bellamont ordered the Iroquois to bring the French prisoners, who were to be given up, according to the treaty of Ryswick, as captives held by English subjects, to Albany, there to be delivered to Count Frontignac, as so many prisoners to the arms of England. The French Governour of Canada would not allow this -as it placed the Iroquois in the light of subjects to Great Britain. He insisted that the Indians should bring the French prisoners to Montreal, and there deliver them as their captives. He threatened to continue hostilities against the Iroquois, if they did not comply. He further insisted that all the French Indians must be included in the peace. This last, the Iroquois refused, saying that they would be revenged on the Ottawas and Algonkins. They were embittered against the latter, particularly for the death of their hunters, who thought them- selves secured by the peace of Ryswick. "Must I," said a war- riour of the Iroquois, who was killed on this occasion, " Must 1," who have made the earth tremble, die by the hands of children ?"
Bellamont, hearing that Frontignac was preparing all his power for the chastisement of the confederates, sent as we have seen, Co- lonel John Schuyler, with the Dutch minister, Dellius, to Canada, notifying him of the peace concluded in Europe, and of his deter- mination to uphold the Iroquois.
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Doctor Colden mentions the parade made by the French, at Montreal, on occasion of the funeral of one of their Indians. "The priest that attended him at his death, declared that he died a true christian ;" and as a proof, gave his exclamation on hearing of the crucifixion : " Oh, had I been there, I would have revenged his death, and brought away their scalps !"
At New York, Bellamont had to remedy the evils produced by Sloughter, Ingoldsby, &c: he had to rectify the abuses which Fletcher and his council had perpetrated, in their persecution of the Leislerians, and in cherishing the pirates. The earl informed the council that he had an affidavit, accusing Fletcher of permitting pirates to land their spoilsin the province, and that Mathias Nicholl had received .£S00, as a reward for protecting them. The latter acknowledged the receipt of monies ; but not from known pirates. Fletcher was threatened with being sent home for trial; but Nicholl was thought not rich enough for a trial at such a distance : he was, however, suspended from the council, and obliged to enter into a recognizance in £2,000.
As the governour had avowed his disposition to do justice to the friends of Leisler, and also his determination to wipe from the pro- . vince the stain of encouraging piracy, the council were soon changed for men on whom he could rely. Pinhorne was first dismissed, on the 14th June: Brooke, the receiver-general was put out of office. The assembly was dissolved.
When the governour returned from Albany, Bayard, Mienville, Willet, and Lawrence, were suspended : and on the 2Sth of Sep- tember, Abraham Depeyster, Robert Livingston, T. Weaver, and Samuel Staats, took seats at the board. Phillipse resigned, and Robert Walters took his place. The governour, lieutenant-gover- nour, and council were now Leislerian, or opposed to the corrupt aristocracy that had ruled. A new assembly was convened 1699 on the 1Sth of May, 1699, and Philip French was chosen speaker. In his opening speech, Bellamont said : " I can- not but observe to you what a legacy my predecessor has left me, and what difficulties to struggle with; a divided people, an empty purse, a few miserable naked half starved soldiers, not half the num- ber the king allowed pay for ; the fortifications, and even the gover- nour's house, very much out of repair ; and, in a word, the whole government out of frame. It hath been represented to the govern- ment in England, that this province has been a noted receptacle of pirates, and the trade of it under no restriction, but the acts of trade violated by the neglect and connivance of those whose duty it was to have prevented it." He added : " I will take care there shall be no misapplication of the public money. I will pocket none of it myself, nor shall there be any embezzlement by others." He said,
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he should consider it the glory of his government, to find out some expedient to reconcile party spirit, and to provide against the abuse of elections. He recommended an increase of numbers in the assembly, from 19 to 30. The opponents of the governour had, however, prevailed in the elections of this assembly.
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A new assembly afterwards met, and, although it was com- posed of the friends of Leisler, as opposed to the aristocracy which had flourished under Sloughter, Ingoldsby, and Fletcher, yet they chose James Grahame their speaker ; but Abraham Gouverneur, whe had adhered to Leisler, and who had been charged with the crimes of murder and treason by the enemies of Leisler, was now a member for Orange county, and an active, influential man with the assembly .*
Acts were passed for indemnifying those who were excepted out of the general pardon, of 1691 ; against pirates; for the settlement of Milbourne's estate ; for presenting the governour and his lieu- tenant with £1,500 and £500 ; for continuing the revenue six years longer; and for regulating elections.
About this time, the friends and adherents of Jacob Leisler, evinced their sense of the injustice that had been done to him and Milbourne, by removing their remains from the place in which they had been interred, like malefactors, after the atrocious murder that had been committed by executing them, in a mockery of judicial proceedings. They accordingly disinterred their coffins, and with every mark of respect, buried them as martyrs to the cause of the people, in the Dutch Church, Garden Street.
I find as one of the reasons given by Lord Bellamont, for removing Bayard from the council, among charges of a more grievous nature, " that he had advised the printing a scandalous and malicious pam- phlet, entitled a letter from a gentleman in New York," in which, and in a pamphlet printed at Boston, it was endeavoured to cast every species of odium upon Leisler, and the revolution he effected. And after Bellamont's decease, and the prevalence under Cornbury, of the aristocratick faction, I find among the "heads that com- plained against the Earl of Bellamont in his government of New York," the following. " He permitted, if not directed, the taking up at midnight, with sound of trumpet and drums, the bones of
* This assembly were :- From New York, James Grahame, John Depeyster, Da- vid Provoost. From Orange and Kings, Abraham Gouverneur, Cornelius Sebring, and Cornelius Van Brant. From Queens, John Jackson and Daniel Whitehead. From Richmond, Thomas Morgan and Garret Veighte. From Westchester, John Drake and John Hunt. From Albany. Hendrick Hanson, John Jansen Bleeker, and Ryer Schermerhorn. From Ulster, Jacob Rutsen and Abraham Hasbrook. From Rennsclaer, Killian Van Rennselaer. From Suffolk, Henry Pierson and Matthew Howell.
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Leisler and Milbourne, who had been buried in their own graves near nine years, and to lay in state some weeks, and afterwards to be publicly buried in the Dutch church, against the consent of the officers thereof, attended by a thousand men in arms, and a mob of 1500 men, chiefly Dutch," to the great terrour " of the principal in- habitants." And his Lordship is charged with having " honoured the funeral, as it is said, by looking out of a window as it passed by."
The reader will divest this, of the exaggeration of party, and it gives a picture of the times, and the people, not otherwise obtained.
According to a work published in 1699, entitled " British Em- pire in America," New York then consisted of 1,000 houses. That the chief defence of the city consisted of the fort, and that two batteries had been erected - one on each side of the Narrows.
Dellius, the clergyman who had been employed by Bellamont as a messenger to Count Frontignac, concerning the Indians, had been a commissioner for their affairs, and had, Chief Justice Smith says, fraudulently obtained Indian deeds for an immense tract of land- a grant for which, he found means to procure from Fletcher : and
Nicholas Bayard had likewise obtained a grant for another immense tract of country. Pinhorne, with associates, obtained a patent for two miles on each side the Mohawk river, for fifty miles in extent. These extravagant patents, gained without any shadow of adequate compensation to the province, were recommended to the lords jus- tices as being vacated, and were accordingly vacated by law. Del- lius was suspended from the ministry. Thus Bellamont, by undo- ing the corrupt practices of his predecessors, opened a field for real settlers in these countries on advantageous terms for the province, and restored their rights to the Indians.
Colonel Schuyler and others had been parties in these im- mense patents with Dellius, but had withdrawn their claims, indignant at the fraud by which the grants had been ob- tained. . Dellius, Pinhorne, and one Bancker, under pretence of a deed of trust for the Mohawks, obtained a transfer in fee for themselves, and got a patent from Fletcher, reserving a nominal rent of a few skins, to be paid to the government .*
1700 The abilities, firmness, and elegant manners of Lord Bellamont, combining with strict honesty and enlightened desire to promote the welfare of the province, raised the oppressed Leislerians, and went far to convince the aristocratical faction, or at least such of them as were accessible to just and honourable feel-
* See Thomas F. Gordon's history, prefixed to his excellent Gazeteer of New York.
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ings, of the errours they had committed and caused in their oppo- nents. The Leislerians were the people - the democracy of the province-and they found an efficient champion in Lord Bellamont, who, at the same time, was the friend and champion of the honest part of the aristocracy, or gentry -" the people of figure" -- the determined foe to the dishonest, selfish, supercillious intriguers, who had governed his unworthy predecessors.
M. de Callieres succeeded to the government of Canada upon the death of Frontignac. Charlevoix, tells us, that the Iro- quois sent deputies to Montreal to condole for the loss of their father-or to gain intelligence. Callieres grants them a truce of sixty days, but insists upon their giving up their French prisoners. The new Canadian governour, attributing the hostile disposition of the Indians to Bellamont, sent secret emissaries to Onondaga, to counteract the governour of New York. The consequence is a visit of two chiefs to Montreal, who announce a general deputation from the Iroquois in July 1700: and on the 2d of that month, two Onondagas, and four Senecas, appear, who are treated as ambassa- dors from the confederacy, and much state and ceremony used by the French to gain them. Feasting and presents of course.
These ambassadors inform Callieres of a visit made to Onon- daga by Peter Schuyler, as an agent of Lord Bellamont, to per- suade the Iroquois not to send deputies to Canada, and to prevent these six chiefs from coming. They, however, complain of the Ottawas, or French Indians, who had, since the peace of Ryswick, and when the Iroquois thought themselves secure in hunting, at- tacked and killed several of their men and women. They demand that Callieres should send three officers with them' on their return, to convince the nation that he desires peace. This is complied with, and a great council being held at Onondaga. a French priest harrangued the Indians, telling them that " Ononthio is their father, Corlaer only their brother ;" the Jesuit missionaries love them, and France wishes peace for their welfare.
Other French agents talk to them in the same strain, and en- deavour to persuade the Indians that the power of France is to be dreaded ; but the fatherly love of the nation is boundless. But an Englishman, says Charlevoix, accompanied by an Onondaga, arrived at the council, who tells them from Bellamont, not to listen to the French ; that he in ten or twelve days expects to meet the Five Nations at Albany. This lordly tone, the Jesuit says, dis- pleased the Iroquois ; and the missionary increased their discontent, by telling them, that the English treated them as if they were sub- jects-that to avoid slavery they must be reconciled to their father.
One of the French officers went to the Seneca nation to recover the prisoners. Liberty is given to the Frenchmen to return ; but the greater number being adopted, and pleased with the savage life, VOL. I. 31
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refused to return to civilization. While this was passing among the Senecas, the Iroquois held a general council at Onondaga, at which an officer of Lord Bellamont's was present. The Indians avowed their determination to visit Canada and conclude a peace with France.
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