USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, 1609-1909 > Part 11
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The Council of the Province of New York included, besides the governor, the first councilor, Lieutenant Anthony Brockholls, who had come with him from England; Captain William Dyre, collector of customs; Matthias Nicolls, who had been restored to his old post as secretary of the colony; and under the ducal instruction to complete his Provincial Council "from among the most prudent inhabitants" of the Province of New York, Governor Andros chose as members John Lawrence, William Dervall, Stephanus van Cortlandt and Frederick Philipse.
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Lieutenant Brockholls, the chief councilor, who had also been named by the duke to succeed Sir Edmund Andros in case of his death, was the first Catholic to be appointed to important office in New York, or in New Nether- land. He was openly a Catholic, while James was one in secret. Captain Dyre was son of William Dyre, one of the founders and for many years secretary of the colony of Rhode Island, and son of Mary Dyre, the Quakeress, who was condemned to death in Boston, and after being reprieved for a time on her son's petition, was hanged in 1660. Having been in London in 1673, Captain Dyre had sent an urgent petition setting forth a plan for the recovery of the duke's lost province and advocating the expul- sion from it of the Dutch inhabitants. Stephanus van Cortlandt was a native of Manhattan, born in 1643, son of Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt and Annetje, sister of Govert Lockermans; and was a prosperous merchant. Frederick Philipse, who wrote his own name "Vlypse," was a native of Fries- land; was a carpenter when he first came to New Netherland, but in 1660 had started out as a trader, first acting as skipper of his own vessels. He was successful in trade, and added to his substance by marrying a rich widow, so that a tax-list of New Orange (New York) under the Dutch occupation, showed him as the richest man in the place; with an estate valued at 80,000 florins.
On November 10, 1674, Governor Andros restored the city government to the English form, appointing Matthias Nicolls, provincial secretary, to be mayor of the city; and created the office of deputy mayor, which he gave to John Lawrence, who, though an Englishman, had maintained friendly rela- tions with the Dutch invaders during the Colve régime. From the organization of the Common Council under these officers, down to the present time, the minutes have been kept in English; but the accounts of the city were kept in Dutch until eight years later.
Captain John Manning, who had surrendered the fort to Colve, had been taken away by the Dutch fleet, with his wife, and part of the English troops and had been landed, without means, at Fayal. With much difficulty he made his way to England, his wife dying on the journey. When the case came before the king and the duke, the hopelessness of any resistance to the Dutch fleet was so apparent that the king declared the fort could not have been held by so small a force. He returned to Manhattan with Andros, who had selected him, Governor Carteret of New Jersey, and Matthias Nicolls to con duct the negotiations with Colve. After the Common Council had been reorganized, William Dervall, who had been one of the chief sufferers by the wholesale confiscations made by Colve, made a formal complaint against Man ning, for treachery and negligence in the surrender of the fort. The forma complaint made it necessary for Andros to call a court-martial, which met is
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January, 1675. The court acquitted him of the charge of treachery, but found him guilty of neglect of duty; and he was ordered dismissed from the service of the crown. His sword was broken over his head, in front of the City Hall, and a book written by Charles Wolley, afterward chaplain to the governor, says that he was exiled to an island in the East River. It is doubtful if such exile was included in the formal sentence, but he lived there, as the island was owned by him, being part of the estate of the West India Company, which was confiscated by Governor Nicolls. Manning had received a grant for the island from that governor, and after his death, his stepdaughter, a Mrs. Blackwell, inherited it. It remained in her family until 1828, when it was bought by the city, which has built penal and charitable institutions upon it. It still retains the name of Blackwell's Island.
Following the provisions of the Treaty of Westminster, which had pro- vided for a restoration, as to property rights, of the status quo ante, Andros had proclaimed the annulment of Colve's confiscations, and the recession of such property to its former owners. This order created much dissatisfaction among those Dutchmen who had benefited by the confiscations. Even those of the Dutch who had not profited in this way by the confiscatory policy of Colve were far less content with English rule than they had been when the English, under Nicolls, had first taken the island. One reason for this had been, that when Stuyvesant was director-general, New Netherland had been under the rule of the West India Company, which had denied to the burghers many of the liberties and rights which had been theirs in the Fatherland, while exacting constant tribute from their commerce and industry. When Colve recaptured the province, however, they had hoped, as direct subjects of the States-General, to receive the benefit of Dutch civil and religious liberty, and burgher government such as was enjoyed by the people of the Nether- lands; and which they much preferred to the Duke's Laws, even when admin- istered by such well-intentioned governors as Nicolls and Lovelace.
In 1675 the governor and Council passed an ordinance which, after reciting the fact that there had been recent changes in the government, and that other oaths had been imposed upon the inhabitants of New York, stated that all persons intending to remain in New York must take oaths of allegiance and fidelity to the King of England and the Duke of York, at such times and places as might be appointed by the magistrates in the various places throughout the province. In response to this, eight of the foremost Dutch citizens, Cornelis Steenwyck, Johannes de Peyster, Johannes van Brugh, William Beekman, Jacobus Kip, Anthony de Milt, ÆEgidius Luyck and Nicholas Bayard, expressed their willingness to take the oath on condition that Governor Andros should confirm the pledge of Governor Nicolls, to the effect that the capitulation of August, 1664, was not in the
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least broken by any words or expressions in said oath; and when questioned by the governor, declared that they only wished to be assured of future freedom of religion, and of exemption from the duty of fighting against their own nation in time of war. Andros declared that they must take the oath without conditions; and upon their again declining to do so issued to the sheriff a warrant for their arrest, on the charge of being factious and seditious persons who were endeavoring to foment disturbance and rebellion. The eight men petitioned the mayor and aldermen to intercede with the governor on their behalf, that they be not compelled to take the oath or to bear arms against Dutchmen; but the Mayor's Court recommended that they be held in bail of £200 each, for trial at the next session of the Court of Assize, and this was done.
Pending the meeting of the Assize Court the eight men, through Steen- wyck, sent a petition to the States-General of the United Netherlands, asking that through their ambassador their case should be laid before King Charles, and to urge that the Dutch residents of New York should be allowed the privileges which were given them by the capitulation of 1674, and which they believed to have been confirmed by the Sixth Article of the Westminster Treaty of 1674, restoring the status quo. The Dutch ambassador brought the matter to the notice of the Duke of York, but he said he had no knowledge of any previous concession to the Dutch residents on the basis of any capitu- lation. The duke did, however, through Sir John Werden, remind Andros of his desire that all the residents of New York should be treated with all pos- sible humanity and gentleness, consistent with the preservation of the honor and safety of the provincial government.
The Assize Court met in October, and the burghers were arraigned. De Peyster took the oath without further protest, but the others went to trial on charge of unlawfully refusing to swear allegiance; and also with violating one of the navigation acts which forbade aliens to trade in any of His Majesty's plantations. They were found guilty upon both counts, and their property was attached, but finally taking the prescribed oath, the proceedings were dismissed.
Another case which caused discontent among the Dutch inhabitants was connected with their fear that English rule would mean a loss of religious liberty, and the placing of them under the rule of bishops. With Andros had come Rev. Nicolaus van Rensselaer, youngest son of Killaen van Rensselaer, the first patroon of Rensselaerswyck, and brother of Johannes van Rensselaer, second patroon. Both of these patroons remained in Amsterdam; the patroon- ship being managed successively by Jan Baptist and Jeremias van Rensselaer, sons of the first patroon. Nicolaus, who had studied for the ministry, in Holland, had been licensed there according to the rules of the Reformed
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NICOLAUS VAN RENSSELAER MAKES TROUBLE
Church. Becoming a protégé of the Stuarts, he went with them to England, at the Restoration, and received ordination at the hands of a bishop of the Church of England, becoming pastor of a Dutch congregation in West- minster. When Andros came to America, the young pastor came with a letter from the Duke of York, recommending him to Andros for appointment to any benefice that might become vacant at New York or Albany. Andros, to whom any recommendation of the duke appealed with the force of a command, sent him to Albany with a letter to Domine Schaats, directing him to receive Van Rensselaer as a colleague. Domine Schaats protested against the irregu- larity of the proceeding, but submitted; but soon accused him of false preach- ing, and a church trial, at Albany, found him guilty of heresy.
Domine Van Nieuwenhuysen of the church at New York, had previously, while Van Rensselaer was in the city during the progress of the burghers' trial, refused him permission to administer the sacrament of baptism in his church, saying that he was not a lawful minister of the Reformed Church; that he had been "palmed off" on the church at Albany, but not legally called to that charge. Van Rensselaer had appealed to the governor and Council, and Van Nieuwenhuysen had submitted a written statement of his ecclesias- tical view, which he and his Consistory argued at length before Andros and the Council. The Domine disclaimed any aspersions against Anglican orders, but declared that without a pledge to conform to its practices, no minister could lawfully administer the sacraments in a Reformed Church. The case ended by a written pledge of conformity to the usages of the Dutch Com- munion on the part of Van Rensselaer.
After his return to Albany, Van Rensselaer offended again by some dubious expressions from the pulpit, by which the congregation felt scandal- ized; and a complaint was lodged against him in 1676, by Jacob Leisler, who was a deacon in the church at New York, and Jacob Milborne, an Englishman then resident in Albany; with the result that the Mayor's Court of Albany imprisoned him. Upon this he appealed to the governor, who ordered his release, and directed that Leisler and Milborne should give bonds to show good cause for his arrest. Leisler refused to do this and was himself ordered under arrest. The case then came up before the governor and Council, with the result that the case was referred back to the Albany magistrates, and settled by a compromise, Leisler and Milborne being com- pelled to pay the costs of the suit.
While thus officially settled, the parishioners were by no means satisfied with the ministrations of Van Rensselaer, against whom there were strong personal, as well as ecclesiastical objections; and they were much relieved when, a year later, he was deposed by Governor Andros for his notoriously offensive manner of living.
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Nicolaus van Rensselaer had previously petitioned Andros to appoint him director of Rensselaerswyck, in place of his brother Jeremias, who had recently died. Jeremias' widow, who was a daughter of Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt, and her brother, Stephanus van Cortlandt, resisted the application. but finally agreed to joint control, which continued for several years until the death of Domine Van Rensselaer; when Kiliaen, son of Jan Baptist van Rensselaer, and Kiliaen, son of Jeremias van Rensselaer, became joint admin- istrators; the first-named Kiliaen ranking as the third patroon and first lord of the manor of Rensselaerswyck, until his death in 1687; when the other Kiliaen, his cousin, became the fourth patroon and second lord of the manor. He and his brother Hendrick, both sons of Jeremias and the daughter of Oloff Stevensen van Corltandt, were ancestors of the entire American family of Van Rensselaer.
At the time of King Philip's War, Governor Andros offered his aid to the authorities in New England; but they were more afraid of recognizing the authority of the Duke of York than they were of the Indians, for the duke was insisting upon the Connecticut River as his boundary. Andros, how- ever, did valuable, if unsolicited, service by entering into a pact with the Iroquois, which kept them from siding with King Philip.
Several town officials and individuals on Long Island, and elsewhere in the province, were arrested during this period upon charges of seditious acts and words, evincing widespread discontent. The main cause of disaffection was, that the oft-repeated requests for an assembly were not granted. Letters from the duke to Governor Andros indicated that the requests had been sent to England with the recommendation of the governor that they be granted. But James was a Stuart, and the Stuarts had experiences with Parliaments, which made them averse to establishing representative government in royal colonies. In his letters he told the governor that the assembly idea seemed to him to be dangerous and likely to create disturbances, but declared himself ready to reconsider the subject if the governor persisted in his recommen- dations.
As there were private matters which made it advisable for Governor Andros to visit England, he received permission to do so; and in November, 1677, he sailed, leaving matters in the province in charge of Lieutenant Brockholls, first councilor. He was given a cordial reception at court, and knighted by Charles, as an approval of his services in the government of New York. He left England May 27, 1678, and after a long voyage in a New England merchant ship reached New York August 7. When he left England it was thought that a new war was imminent, Charles having con- cluded a Treaty of Alliance with the States-General of Holland, and Par- liament having voted him a large sum of money to make war, as an ally of
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ANDROS FAILS TO HOLD NEW JERSEY
Holland, against Louis XIV. But when this coalition threatened, Louis determined to make peace with the Netherlands and in August the Peace of Nimeguen was concluded. But in May, when Sir Edmund Andros sailed, war seemed certain; and the duke, who was Lord High Admiral on colonial seas, had given Sir Edmund a commission to serve as vice admiral within the borders of his government, and to establish an admiralty court in New York. One of his first acts, therefore, after his return to New York, was to confer admiralty jurisdiction upon the Mayor's Court.
New Jersey, which had been divided into two parts, that bordering on Delaware Bay and River being called West Jersey, over which Sir Edmund Andros assumed fiscal control, while the other portion, accessible through the Bay of New York, was administered by Sir George Carteret, with the seat of government at Elizabethtown. The duke, who had given and afterward revoked a patent to Berkeley to the portion called West Jersey, and had sim- ilarly granted East Jersey to Sir George Carteret, was trying to get back control of Jersey; and as Andros' commission included New Jersey, as well as New York, Nantucket and Pemaquid, he was instructed to assert the authority of the duke in East, as well as West Jersey. After the death of Sir George Carteret, in 1680, Philip Carteret, who was governor of East Jersey, was instructed to use no authority without the sanction of Governor Andros. Ignoring the inhibition, Philip Carteret was arrested and thrown into jail in New York. But though Andros presided over the court, and its members were his appointees, the jury acquitted Governor Carteret, who, however, was compelled to give bonds to exercise no authority until the matter was decided in England. The duke submitted the entire matter to Sir William Jones, the most eminent lawyer in the United Kingdom at that time. He decided the case fully and unequivocally against the duke's contention, with the result that the duke confirmed Governor Carteret's authority, forbidding the gov- ernment of New York to interfere with him, and giving new grants both for East and West Jersey which separated them entirely from the jurisdiction or supervision of New York.
Several complaints had been sent to England about the administration of Andros, and the duke sent John Lewin to New York with a commission as special agent and a summons to Governor Andros to return at once to England, leaving his government in charge of Lieutenant Brockholls. The duke and his secretary both sent friendly letters to Sir Edmund. Lewin was also commissioned to prepare a fiscal report in regard to investigation as to the revenues of the government, the trade of all parts of the province, and similar matters
When Lewin reached New York, in October, 1680, Sir Edmund was in Boston in connection with some negotiations concerning the Indians; but as
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soon as he returned he gave notice of Lewin's commission, to all the courts of the province; did what he could to aid Lewin in his investigation, held a meeting with all the justices, in November, receiving from each a report of the condition of his district. Leaving Lieutenant Brockholls in charge, with the title of Commander General of the Province, and a special commission as chief of the militia; and giving Lady Andros a power of attorney to attend to his private affairs, he sailed for England, leaving New York, January 1I, 1681. He probably expected to return to his governorship, and for two years and a half Commander Brockholls reigned in his stead; but Sir Edmund Andros was made an officer of the king's household; sent for Lady Andros, and did not return to America until 1686, when he was appointed by King James II to the office of Governor General of the Dominion of New England.
Andros has been written down in history, by most authorities, as a tyrant; but the more modern view modifies to a considerable extent, the estimate of him given by the early New England historians. He was a soldier and a royalist, with a very strict view of obedience to his superiors, and of a like obedience to himself by his inferiors. But he was a believer in and a practiser of religious tolerance, and while many of his acts were dis- tasteful to the people, it was not because he was tyrannical on his own initiative, but for the reason that he was obediently carrying out the orders of his royal master. He pleaded with some insistence for permission to establish an assembly in New York, and was, no doubt, instrumental in the creation of one, under his successor. In control of the Indian situation he showed mas- terly ability; and in a complete reorganization of the militia, the repairing of the fort and strengthening the defenses of the harbor of New York, and augmentation of the public revenue, he showed superior qualities of executive skill.
The complaints against Andros which had led to his recall, were chiefly to the effect that he had given preference to Dutch over English traders; added to charges in connection with the Carteret matter, before mentioned. An examination of the charges, which Andros courted, led to his complete exoneration, and a royal compliment upon the success of his administration : his appointment as a "Gentleman of the King's Privy Chamber."
Commander Brockholls found the task which Governor Andros had left him a difficult one; and was not a sufficiently strong man to cope with it suc- cessfully. The customs rates made his first trouble. They had been estab- lished, under the orders of the duke, for three years, in 1674, and renewed in 1677 for a second period, which expired in November, 1680. The duties were collected as before, without a formal order by Andros, and when he went away he left no instructions to Brockholls, except that all things should con- tinue as they then were.
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CAPTAIN DYRE ACCUSED OF TREASON
Brockholls went up the river to Albany; Captain William Dyre, who was collector of customs as well as mayor of the city, was ill of a fever. A vessel came from London, and unloaded her goods, which were taken by the consignees and placed in their warehouses without any declaration to the Custom House. When asked about the matter, each of the merchants made the plea that the customs law had expired by limitation, and refused to pay any duties.
When Brockholls returned he called all the available members of the Provincial Council together. Matthias Nicolls, the secretary, was away in England; and John West, the lawyer who was filling his clerical positions, was not a councilor; so the only advice which Brockholls had, was that of Councilors William Dervall, Stephanus van Cortlandt and Frederick Philipse; all of whom were merchants. They decided that they had no power or authority to continue the collection of customs duties without orders from home. By this time other goods had arrived, and had been detained by Col- lector Dyre, for unpaid duties. Following the decision of the Council, to which Commandant Brockholls made no demur, the merchants affected sued Collector Dyre for unlawful detention of their goods; and on May 31, 1681, the Mayor's Court ordered him to deliver the goods to the consignees. On the same day a number of merchants, headed by Samuel Winder of Staten Island, filed with the Provincial Council a charge of high treason for having collected duties after the rates had expired. The commander, in Council, sent this charge to the Mayor's Court for further consideration. The mayor, who was also the defendant, was absent from the court, as were also the sheriff and two aldermen when this charge was presented. Those present were William Beekman, the deputy mayor; Peter Jacobsen; Samuel Wilson, and James Graham. They considered the matter, and returned as their unani- mous opinion in which they informed the commander, that their court had no power to punish capital crimes, in which class was the crime of high treason, with which Captain Dyre was charged. Furthermore, as Captain Dyre was a member of the Provincial Council, was mayor of the city, and chief member of their court they could not further examine or meddle with it. The onus of further action being cast upon him, the commander, in Council, committed Dyre for trial at the regular autumn session of the Court of Assizes; but at Dyre's request, changed the order, to have the matter come up at a special session to be at once convened.
The court, which convened on June 29, and was in session four days, was composed of Commander Brockholls, his three councilors, the alderman of the city, John Young, high sheriff of Yorkshire; twelve justices of the peace from the three ridings of Yorkshire; Thomas Delavall, justice of the peace of Esopus; John West, who, besides being clerk of the court, sat as justice of
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the peace for Pemaquid and other parts eastward. The grand jury of twenty- four were all English, except one Dutchman, Cornelis Steenwyck. They found a true bill against Captain Dyre for high treason. The court ordered the defendant into custody as the king's prisoner, and Commander Brock- holls demanded from him that he surrender his commission and the seal of the city; which request Dyre, on the ground that he had received them from Governor Andros, declined to do.
When he was brought into court for trial, on July I, and the indictment was read to him, Dyre pleaded "not guilty;" and then, after a score of witnesses for the prosecution had been examined, he demurred to the jurisdiction of the court, on the ground that like its members, he had received his commission from the Duke of York; and that one part of the government could not proceed against another part. This seemed to impress the court, which ordered that Captain Dyre be sent to England for trial; and that his chief accuser, Samuel Winder, give a recognizance of £5000 to prosecute him in the English courts; and a committee of five was appointed to draft a letter to the secretary of state, giving an account of the proceedings against Captain Dyre, and stating that the court was sending him to England to be tried because he, like the members of the court, held a commission from the Duke of York; and because the charge against him was that of high treason.
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