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 28
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The Jesuits were displeased, however, by the admission which the Mohawks had given to Dellius, who before his degradation by the New York Assembly, acted among the Iroquois as a protestant minister. But this man appears to have been more intent upon securing property to himself as a commissioner for Indian affairs, than on making converts. The Jesuit says, a female Iroquois re- sided with the Dutch minister as an interpreter.
Colden says, that when the French commissioners arrived at Onondaga, they approached with colours flying, and were met by the Iroquois orator, who introduced them under a salute of fire arms from the Indians. The council being met, the Jesuit made a speech, which was reported by the Iroquois to Lord Bellamont. He congratulated them on their determining to send chiefs to Ca- nada, notwithstanding that Corlaer (that is the governour of New York) had forbidden them-he regretted the death of the hunters killed by the Algonkins -- "happily peace with France was concluded! but why is Corlaer adverse to this happy correspondence ? The French are ready to restore, not only the captive Iroquois in their possession, but those held by their allies." The Jesuit offered to remain among them, and instruct them in Christianity : moreover, he would drive all diseases from them. He concluded by exciting their jealousy of Corlaer, for keeping the affairs of government secret from them, and not being so frank and communicative as the French.
The Indians rejected the offer of remaining among them-they had accepted ministers from Corlaer. The Indian orator very fairly told the Jesuit, that the French priests had deceived them. " They preached peace, and at the same time their countrymen came and knocked us on the head."
A peace however was concluded. The " habitans" rejoiced, for they had experienced every evil that savage hostility could inflict. The French Indians were displeased. " We perceive," they said, " that fear makes the French show more respect to their enemies, than love can make them show to'their friends."
M. de Callieres made the French Indians give up their Iroquois prisoners, though the latter had as yet surrendered none. In fact as we have seen the Frenchmen preferred the savage life. Some who were persuaded to return to their civilized friends, again fled to the Indians, and that unbred liberty or licentiousness, which they enjoyed among the Iroquois. This propensity to become savages,
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LORD BELLAMONT S DEATH.
was at all times characteristick of the nation, and often complained of by the officers, who had the welfare of New France in view.
The Jesuit historian, father Charlevoix, after mentioning Dellius and his female interpreter, says, he does not know when this mis- sion ceased, but that Bellamont drove the Dutch minister from Albany some years after .* He then speaks of protestants gene- rally as a Jesuit may be supposed to speak, and praises his own brethren accordingly. He says, the priest who directed the French embassy to Onondaga, did not make the acceptance of the protes- tant missionaries an obstacle to the conclusion of the treaty ; and when the ambassadors returned to Montreal, the Iroquois, with the exception of the Mohawks and Oneidas, sent deputies with them. At the conclusion of this treaty, the Hurons, Ottowas, and other French Indians, threw their hatchets at the feet of the Canadian governour, and signed the paper presented to thiem, after Callieres with the officers and priests, had written their names. The signing of the Onondagas and Senecas, Charlevoix says, was by tracing the figure of a spider ; thie Cayugas signed with the figure of a calumet, or pipe. Apparently, says the Jesuit, although the Mo- hawks and Oneidas were not present, some one was commissioned to sign for them. The mark of the Oneidas was a piece of wood, forked, with a stone in the middle ; that of the Mohawks, a Bear. The Hurons drew a Beaver, and the Abessaquicks, a Hare. 1701
After the death of Lord Bellamont, the French Indians and the Iroquois committed frequent hostilities on each other ; and Callieres endeavoured to introduce the Jesuits among the latter, but generally in vain.
On the 5th of March, 1701, Richard Coote, Earl of Bellamont, died, universally regretted by the greater portion of the people, and incalculably to the loss of the province of New York. I find, by the records of the corporation, that the corpse was buried with be- coming honours : the streets of the city through which the proces- sion passed, were prepared with due care. He was interred under the chapel of the fort; from which, I must suppose, that the corpse had been removed to the new City Hall, just finished, in Wall street, as the governour's place of residence was in the fort. A few days after, his coat of arms, carried in state, was placed in front of the new City Hall.t
· "Je trouve dans mes memoires que quelques annés apres Dellius fut chassée d'Orange par M. de Bellamont."
t Records of New York. On the 19th March, 1790, a committee was appointed to view the land at the fort and battery, and report the proper measures to be taken "for levelling the same." The committee reported, an extension of the battery ; and Messrs. Stoutenberg. Curtenius and Pintard, were appointed to assist the com- missioners in removing the fort.
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PLACE OF HIS INTERMENT.
In levelling the fort, it is said that the tablet, which, with its inscription had been placed in front of the first church of' New York, (built by Kieft, in 1642-3,) was found and removed to the Garden-street church. It is likewise said that the re -. mains of the Earl and Countess of Bellamont were found, in leaden coffins, with silver plates engraved ; and that the coffins were removed to St. Paul's church, the silver plates deposited in Gardner Baker's Museum, and on that property being disposed of, they were sold, and are lost.
John F. Watson, Esq., in his book called " Historic Tales of Olden Time," says, that an old gentleman told him, " he saw the old fort cut'down," and that the leaden coffins of Lord Bellamont and lady were found, and removed to St. Paul's church. This person is not here stated to have seen these coffins. In a manuscript on the same subject, deposited by Mr. Watson in the New York Historical Socie- ty's library, he says: " In taking down the ancient Dutch chapel vault, they came to the remains of Lord and Lady Bellamont, in leaden coffins, known by family escutcheons and inscriptions on silver plates. These coffins, with the bones of several other persons, were taken by Mr. Pintard, who told me, to St. Panl's church-ground, where they all rest now, in one common grave ; that the silver plates were taken by Mr. Vanzandt, for a museum; but he dying, they fell into hands which, with inch bad taste, converted them into spoons."-This is published in Mr. Watson's book, above mentioned.
Mr. John F. Watson has told us what was told him, and mitch curious matter, for which we are very much obliged to him. The facts elicited by him during his short visits to New York, (and even the errours consequent upon so brief an ex- amination. ) have led to further investigation, and much that is now known or will subsequently be discovered, must be credited to his ardent and persevering love of knowledge. Now, any person may see at this time, (1839,) that there is deposited with the New York Historical Society, part of a coffin and the remains of a silver plate, much decayed, on which neither arms nor inscription are to be seen. These, Mr. Pintard had reason to believe, from engraving to be seen in 1790, were the remains of the cothin and plate of Governour Bellamont. There being but one plate, contradicts, in some measure, the above story, told to Mr. Watson : and that plate being deposited in a state of decay, with the New York Historical Society, contradicts the notion of the two plates being melted up for spoons. And as it is well known that Lady Bellamont did not die until thirty-six years after the earl, and at a time when her eldest son, Nanfan, was Earl of Bellamont, it is not proba- ble that her corpse was, in 1737, brought over sea to be interred under the old Dutch church, in the fort of New York.
It may be asked, why was the English Governour of New York buried in the Dutch church, when the English church, called Trinity, had been recently erected ? This might either have been by his desire, and to show his detestation of Fletcher, and adliesion to the Leislerians, or, by the influence of the latter, after the earl's death.
I am willing to believe, that the bones of Bellamont rest in St. Paul's church- yard, (if not subsequently removed in the usual mode of transfer,) and that the parts of a coffin and plate, now to be seen, were devoted to his remains in 1701.
I find a list of four chaplains to the fort- I presume, appointed by the English government. In 1683, the Reverend Mr. Gordon. In 1684, the Reverend Josias Clark. In 1602, the Reverend Mr. Miller. And in 1701, the Reverend John Pe- ter Brisac.
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CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD.
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. CHAPTER XV.
Continuation of Kidd's affair-Persecution of Robert Livingston- Reversal of the attainder of Jacob Leisler, and restoration of pro- perty to the family-Lord Cornbury's family and character- Bayard's trial and condemnation-Reprieve-Relief by the arri- val of Cornbury, and reversal of the judgement against him- Nanfan, and the assembly of 1702.
1701 THE adventures, piracy, trial and execution, of William . Kidd, made so great a noise in America and England at this time, besides involving the good fame of many English nobles, that I must devote a page to the subsequent story of this unhappy - man .*
The Tory party in England endeavouring to destroy the Whig ministry, charged them with abetting Kidd in his piracies, and shar- ing the plunder. These gentlemen, as has been seen, had in con- junction with Bellamont and Robert Livingston, fitted out the Ad- venture Galley, and Kidd, on Livingston's recommendation, had been placed in command.
When Bellamont seized Kidd in Boston, he imprisoned him, and wrote to the ministry for a king's ship, to send the pirate for trial to England. The Rochester was dispatched for the service,
* The traditional place of resort for Kidd and his crew, was at Sachem's Head. a rocky peninsula, jutting from Long Island into the sound, near the town of Guilford. Stories of treasures found in this neighbourhood, are believed by many, and some of them asserted upon good, or what ought to be good authority. Colo- nel Stone, in his Commercial Advertiser, asserts that within the last eighteen months, a pot, containing $1,800, was ploughed up in a field upon Martha's Vine- yard. The Thimble Islands, near Sachem's Head, were asserted to have been the resort of Kidd. The largest of these, bears his name. They call another " Money Island," and it has been dug most industriously. Upon Kidd's Island is a cave, where it is said the pirates used to sleep. On the face of one of the rocks, are cut his initials, R. K., which are soberly given as testimony that Kidd frequented the place, and cut these letters. Unfortunately, the pirate's name was William, and not Robert. Every thing about this island is called Kidd's - a hole in the rock is his punch- bowl, and a flat rock is his table.
There is a proclamation extant in the Fast Jersey proprietor's office, issued by Governour Prasse, authorizing the arrest of Captain Kidd and his vessel. It is da ted August 24th, 1699.
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DISSENTIONS IN NEW YORK.
and was driven back by stress of weather. The cry was then raised that this was all collusion-that the ministry feared to bring Kidd home because of their nefarious connexions with him. The party even moved in Parliament, that all concerned in Kidd's ad- venture, might be turned out of office. Kidd at length was put upon his trial, with nine of his men, at the Old Bailey. The Earl of Portland, Lord Somers, the Earl of Oxford and Lord Hali- fax, having been impeached by the Tories, the fitting out of Kidd for the purpose of piracy, was made a charge against each of them. Endeavours were used to make the unhappy man criminate these gentlemen ; but in vain, for the truth was too notorious to admit of his saving himself by accusing them. After many vexations and ceremony of a trial against each of these noblemen, they were all declared innocent, and acquitted with honour.
Kidd and his nine men were found guilty of murder and piracy, in May, 1701, and accordingly executed.
To return to New York : John Nanfan, Esquire, the Lieutenant Governour, was in Barbadoes in March, when the Earl of Bella- mont died; and the aristoratick party seized the opportunity to en- deavour to undo all the good which the deceased governour had done for the province, or at least to revive in the most fierce and deadly force, the animosities which broke forth when the citizens- raised the standard of Protestantism, and William of Orange.
In a late instance, when Sloughter died suddenly, the aristocratick party, which composed the council, elected one of the body (Ingolds- by) to take the Gubernatorial chair ; that party were now a small minority, but one of them was the seniour member, they therefore insisted that in the absence of the Lieutenant Governour, their member from seniority was entitled to the chair of authority. The democratical majority pleaded the late precedent, in favour of an elec- tion. These were Abraham De Peyster, (to whom Bellamont's letters are addressed,*) Samuel Staats, Robert Walters, and Tho- mas Weaver.
Colonel William Smith was the person claiming the chair by right, as being the eldest member of the council ; and he was sup- ported by Peter Schuyler and Robert Livingston, who, by absent- ing themselves, threw the government into perplexity. The assem- bly met, as convened on the 2d of April ; but the chair being va- cant, they adjourned from day to day. The majority of the council send- ing to them a statement of the controversy, they decided in favour of an election : a decision which, Smith says, was afterwards supported by the board of trade, in England. The dispute, however, con- tinued - the minority being principally supported by Livingston ;
* See Appendix S.
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PERSECUTION OF LIVINGSTON.
and the assembly, doing no business, adjourned to the first Tues- day in June. In the mean time, the lieutenant-governour arrived, and ended the controversy.
This conduct of Robert Livingston, added to his never-forgotten or forgiven support of the Albany Convention of 1689 - his thwarting the measures of Leisler, and finally aiding in bringing that unfortunate man, with his son-in-law, Milbourne, to an igno- minious death, as rebels and traitors, raised against him the decided animosity of the democratick party. The next assembly persecuted Livingston -called upon the lieutenant-governour to pray the king to remove him from his office of secretary of Indian affairs - and, in the meantime, to suspend him from the exercise of his commis- sion. Livingston had refused, likewise, to account for sums re- ceived by him, as collector of the excise ; and the committee for examining his accounts, charged him with the amount of £18,000, (an enormous sum in those days,) for which he did not produce vouchers .*
. The affairs of the city were likewise thrown into confusion by the same party spirit that perplexed the council and assembly. Mr. Noel, the mayor of the city, met with such opposition, that the busi- ness of the corporation was suspended.t.
During the brief rule of Lieutenant-governour Nanfan, the younger Leisler, under the influence of Bellamont and Livingston, (now again the enemy of the Leislerians,) obtained all the redress · from the English ministry that the nature of the wrongs done to his family would admit. He petitioned for himself- for his nephew, the son of Milbourne - and for his father's friend, Gouverneur - and obtained an act of parliament, reversing the convictions, judg- ments, and attainders, passed by Sloughter's court, under the influ- ence of the " people of figure," against Leisler, Milbourne, and Gouverneur. The following is a letter to Lord Bellamont from Lord Jersey, secretary of state :¿
* The removal subsequently, by Sir John Johnson, of the books containing the transactions with the Indians, leaves us in the dark respecting many circumstances connected with our history.
Although Livingston was a favourite with the aristocratick party, when he op- posed Leisler from 1689 to 1690, and again when he opposed the Leisler- ians, in 1701, yet, while acting in conjunction with Bellamont, we may judge how Bayard and his party spoke of him, by "heads of charges against Bella- mont's government," where, one is, the removing from the council " Colonel Bay- ard, Messrs. Mienviel, Pinhorne, etc., considerable for riches, and putting in their places Abraham Depeyster, a merchant, Samuel Staats, a Dutch barber surgcon, Robert Livingston, a Scotchman, the contriter of Kidd's piratical voyage, Robert Walters, a son-in-law of Leisler's," etc. - three of whom , the same document accu- ses of not being rich - and the whole are called "Leislerians."
t See Appendix T.
# An abstract of the record, made of this dispute, will be found by the reader under the head of miscellaneous matter.
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LORD CORNBURY GOVERNOUR.
" MY LORD, - The king being moved upon the petition of Mr. Jacob Leisler, and having a gracious sense of his father's services and sufferings, and the ill' circumstances the petitioner is thereby reduced to, his majesty is pleased to direct, that the same be trans- mitted to your lordship, and that you recommend his case to the general Assembly of New York, being the only place where he can be relieved, and the prayer of his petition complied with."
This letter being laid before the house, money was ordered to be raised, and other measures taken to benefit the family of the murdered lieutenant-governour.
It was soon known in New York, that the king had appointed Lord Cornbury to succeed the Earl of Bellamont, as governour of
the province, and measures were taken by the aristocratick 1702 party to secure this corrupt individual for their purposes. Nicholas Bayard again took the lead, and procured ad- dresses to be signed, to the king, to the parliament, and to Cornbury, representing Jacob Leisler and his adherents, as men who had acted from the beginning, solely with a view to their own interests, and had enriched themselves on the spoils of their neighbours. To Cornbury, they were profuse in their congratulations, and in assertions calculated to prejudice him against the present ruling party, and gain his patronage for themselves. Reflections were liberally cast upon the Earl of Bellamont and his lieutenant- governour, Nanfan, who was accused of bribing the house of as- sembly to support his measures. This, Nanfan no sooner heard, than he demanded the addresses from Hutchins, a tavern-keeper and an alderman, active in Bayard's service. Hutchins refused, and on the 19th, January 1702, was committed to jail .*
The next day, Bayard, Rip Van Dam, (now first brought into notice,) Philip French, and Thomas Wenham, address the lieu- tenant-governour, justifying both Hutchins and the representations made to the English Court, and demanding the release of their partizan. But Nanfan saw that Bayard had fallen into a pit he him- self had prepared for others : for he had procured an act to be passed in 1691, when Leisler and his friends were devoted to ruin, by which, "whatsoever person or persons shall, by any manner of ways, or upon any pretence whatsoever, endeavour, by force of arms or otherwise, to disturb the peace, good, and quiet, of their
. The lieutenant-governour and council made the following order, on the 16th of January, 1701. " It is hereby ordered, that Alderman Jonathan Hutchins do appear before this board to-morrow, and produce the addresses to his majesty, to parliament, and to Lord Cornbury, which were signed by several of the inhabitants of this city, and soldiers of the garrison in his ( Hutchin's) house." Hutchins ap- peared, and for neglecting or refusing to deliver up the addresses, was committed to jail.
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PROCEEDINGS AGAINST BAYARD,
majesties' government, as it is now established, shall be deemed and esteemed as rebels, and traitors unto their majesties', and in- cur the pains, penalties and forfeitures as the laws of England have for such offences, made and provided." On the 21st of January, the lieutenant-governour committed Bayard to prison, on a warrant as a traitor. A commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued on the 12th of February, to William Atwood, chief justice, and Abraham De Peyster and Robert Walters, puisne judges of the Supreme Court. The trial of Bayard was hastened by party vio- lence and the apprehension of the arrival of Cornbury.
Edward Hyde, by courtesy called Lord Cornbury, who was so anxiously looked for by Nicholas Bayard and the party that had flourished under Sloughter, Ingoldsby, and Fletcher, was the grandson of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, lord chancellor and prime minister of Charles II, and the son of the second Earl of Clarendon, who was brother to James the Second's queen, and never would take the oaths to William. Notwithstanding this affinity to James and his queen, and the adhesion of the second Lord Clarendon to the Jacobites, Cornbury, his son, who com- manded a body of cavalry, set the example of defection to James's army, by leading his troops to the standard of William, Prince of Orange. The government of New-York, to repair his dilapidated fortunes, and shelter him from his creditors, was at this time con- ferred upon him by William, and subsequently confirmed to him by Queen Anne, with that also of New Jersey. On the death of William and his consort Mary, Anne, the second daughter of James, came to the throne. Thus, Cornbury, who as the reader will perceive, was the queen's cousin, had the immediate support of royalty. That he was one of the most worthless and rapacious of men, the records of New Jersey and New York attest.
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Although such was the man the aristocratical party hoped to gain, or already knew they had gained, nothing can justify the indecent manner with which the trial of Bayard and Hutchins was conducted. Upon the commitment of the prisoners, the city militia were called out, and a company required each day to guard them, until the citizens complained, when this military guard was removed. The court, composed of William Atwood, chief justice, with Abraham De Peyster and Robert Walters, who were to try the prisoners by special commission, were known to have condemned them before trial, and Weaver, who carried on the prosecution, was a party man. The prisoners petitioned that they might not be tried until the usual sitting of the Supreme Court. This of course was- refused; and a verbal answer given to Bayard's son, that out of mere " grace the court should be deferred for five days."
On the 19th of February the court sate. The grand jurors who appeared, with the exception of three or four, were Dutch. Some VOL. I. 32
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TRIAL OF BAYARD.
of the jurors were objected to, as having said, " that if Bayard's neck was made of gold he should be hanged."" But the court overruled the objection. Atwood charged the jury, and the court adjourned to the next day.
· The 20th, Mr. Weaver being appointed solicitor, insisted upon being with the jury. Corbett, Cooper, Cortlandt, and De Key, protested against his presence, and insisted upon their right to send for such persons as they pleased. Weaver threatened that he " would have them trounced,"-whereupon the jury broke up. In the afternoon the court met and sent for the jury. Weaver com- plained of the opposition to his will, and the court dismissed the refractory jurors, and sent for Boelen. The jury separated without finding a bill, and Atwood, the chief justice, was heard to say, "if the grand jury will not find a bill against Bayard, I will bring an information against him for high treason, and try him upon that."
On the 21st, the grand jury brought in a bill endorsed, " billa vera," signed by the foreman. The counsel for the prisoners, Messrs. Nicholl and Emot, objected to the bill, that it was not found by twelve jurors. All objections were overruled, and Bayard was ordered for trial on Monday, the 2d of March.
When the court met, Nicholl, who had been mayor of the city, ob- jected to the indictment as illegal. Weaver replied, " when you had the government, Dr. Staats had a bill found against him by eight men of a jury of fifteen." Nicholl said, that he never heard of it ; but if true, it was no precedent. The prisoner was brought to the bar, and charged with rebellion and treason, for conspiring to procure mutiny and desertion among soldiers in the pay, and be- longing to the garrison of fort William Henry : and for procuring them to sign libels against the present government. The prisoner pleaded, " not guilty."
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