USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 9
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of the money to be given to the poor, one-third to the church, and one-third to the fiscal. The heavier punish- ment of Melyn was imputed by many to a private revenge on the part of Kieft, with whom the former had refused to share his grant on Staten Island.
Both Kuyter and Melyn were placed as criminals on board the ship Princess, then ready to return to Holland. Kieft accompanied his victims with his ill-got fortune ; and Domine Bogardus and Van der Huyghens, the late schout fiscal, were also of the company. But the ill- fated vessel struck on a rock on the coast of Wales, and went to the bottom, carrying with her Kieft, Bogardus, a son of Melyn, and eighty others. But twenty were saved ; among whom were Kuyter and Melyn. The rich cargo of furs, valued at a hundred thousand dollars, was irretrievably lost. The news of the tragical end of the director excited but little sympathy at New Amsterdam, while the New England settlers affected to regard it as a special mark of the wrath of God against their enemies. The sentence against Kuyter and Melyn was afterwards reversed by the Company, and they returned with honor to New Amsterdam.
To complete the proposed improvements, money was necessary. But the treasury was empty, the taxes came in slowly, and the colonists murmured grievously at being taxed without their consent. Embarrassed by the difficulties of his position, Stuyvesant at length consented to concede a representation, and in August, 1647, called an election at which the inhabitants of Manhattan, Breuckelen, New Amersfoordt and Pavonia chose eighteen men, from whom nine were selected by the director and
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council to advise with them in matters relating to the wel- fare of the province. This new house of representatives consisted of Augustine Heermans, Arnoldus Van Harden- burg, Govert Loockermans, Jan Jansen Damen, Jacob Wolfertsen Van Couwenhoven, Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, Michael Jansen, Jan Evertsen Bout, and Thomas Hall ; three of whom were to have seats in the council in turn on the usual weekly court day, and to act as arbitrators in civil cases. Six of the board were to be succeeded annually by six others, elected by the director and council from among twelve chosen by the people at the election on the last day of December.
The Nine Men at once commenced their deliberations in respect to the proposed repairs of the fort and city. Stuyvesant offered on the part of the Company to defray a part of the expense of a school, and to furnish one of the government houses for its temporary accommodation, but insisted that the people should repair the fort for their own security. This, the Nine Men refused, as the Company had bound itself by its charter to keep the fort in a posture of defence. They offered, however, to repair the church and to reorganize the school without delay, and after some hesitation this proposition was acceded to, and the repairs commenced forthwith.
In 1648, Adriaen Keyser, Thomas Hall, Martin Krigier and George Woolsey, were appointed fire wardens to in- spect the houses in the city. The owners of all chim- neys, condemned by them as foul, were to pay a fine of three guilders. If a house should be burned by the owner's carelessness, he was to pay a fine of twenty-five guilders. These fines were to be appropriated to the
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purchase of ladders, hooks and buckets, to be deposited at different places throughout the city. The public wells were in the middle of the streets, and the water was passed from them in buckets through long rows of citizens to the scene of the fire. It was not until several years after, however, that these buckets were actually provided. Every Monday was fixed as a market-day, and an annual fair for ten days, com- mencing on the Monday after St. Bartholomew's Day, was established. Various laws for the regulation of trade and immigration were enacted, and new ordi- nances were passed, forbidding the sale of fire-arms and . ammunition to the Indians. So earnest were the council in this latter prohibition, that Jacob Reintsen, with Jacob Schermerhorn and his brother, being convicted soon after of violating it, were sentenced to death ; a sentence which was afterwards commuted, through the intercession of their friends, to the confiscation of their goods. In 1649, an order was established for the regulation of weights and measures, the Amsterdam standard being adopted. The same year, a dispute arising between Domine Backerus and the director, the domine obtained permission to return to Holland ; and Domine Megapo- lensis, the ex-minister of Rensselaerswyck, was installed as his successor. The following year, Dirck Van Schelluyne, the first lawyer, commenced practice in the city.
In the meantime, outside difficulties had been pressing heavily upon the director. The dispute between the Dutch and English, in respect to the territory of the Fresh River, together with Long Island, was still pend-
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ing, and as a last resort, Stuyvesant repaired in person to the scene of the contest. After a long negotiation, it was finally decided to submit the case to two delegates from each side, to be subject to their decision. These arbitrators assigned to New England, all the eastern por- tion of Long Island, comprising the present Suffolk County. On the mainland, the boundary was to begin at the west side of Greenwich Bay, to run northerly twenty miles into the country, but in no case to approach within ten miles of the Mauritius River. The Dutch were left in possession of their territory at Fort Good Hope, and no disposition was made in respect to South River.
The people were dissatisfied with an arrangement which ceded so large a portion of their territory to their enemies, and loudly accused the director of injustice. Both the arbitrators appointed by him had been Englishmen ; and this displeased the colonists, who claimed that their wishes had not been represented in the treaty, and complained to the Company that the director had surrendered territory enough to form fifty colonies, and had taken Englishmen into his confidence instead of his legal counsellors. They also petitioned for a municipal government, like that of the independent cities of the Fatherland. This had been granted to Breuckelen some time before. On the 26th of Novem- ber, 1646, a charter had been conferred upon the little village, then situate nearly a mile distant from the wa- ter's edge, granting to the inhabitants the right of elect- ing two schepens, or magistrates, with full judicial powers. These were subordinate to. a schout, who was
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in turn, subordinate to the schout fiscal of Manhattan. These liberal privileges naturally excited the envy of their brethren across the river, who claimed similar rights for themselves. On the 4th of April, 1652, their petition was granted by the Company, and a " burgher govern- ment" established at Manhattan. This consisted of a schout, to be appointed by the Company, and two burgomasters and five schepens, to be elected by the people ; who were to form a municipal Court of Jus- tice, subject to the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the province. At the same time, the States General ordered Stuyvesant to repair at once to Holland, to give an account of his administration ; but, yielding to the remonstrances of the Amsterdam chamber, were at length persuaded to revoke their recall. Domine Dris- sius was appointed as assistant to Megapolensis, and La Montagne took charge of the school.
The city thus received its first incorporation. Cornelis Van Tienhoven was elected schout ; Arent Van Hatten and Martin Krigier, burgomasters ; and Paulus Van der Grist, Maximilian Van Gheel, Allard Anthony, Wilhelm Beekman * and Pieter Van Couwenhoven, schepens. The stone tavern at Coenties' Slip was converted into a " stadt huys " or city-hall ; and the magistrates held their court there every Monday morning, beginning at nine and closing at twelve.
In the autumn of 1652, the settlements of Middleburgh and Midwout, now Newtown and Flatbush, were founded under patents from Stuyvesant. In the same year, a war
. * See Appendix, Note D.
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broke out between England and Holland, and the citi- zens, fearing an attack from their New England neigh- bors, set to work to fortify the city. The fence that had been erected along the line of Wall street during the late war for the protection of the cattle, was converted into a ditch and palisades with a breast-work, and extended from river to river. The fort was also strengthened, and the whole body of citizens were ordered to mount guard every night. Grateful for the concessions which had just been made them, the citizens promptly raised the six thousand guilders which were needed for the completion of the fortifications, and set to work themselves, pick and shovel in hand, to dig the trenches and erect the palisades. During the whole summer, the citizens remained under arms, expecting an attack ; nor were their fears un- founded. The settlers of New England took advantage of this opportunity to break the late treaty, and to en- deavor to further their plans for the ultimate conquest of New Netherland. Their first step was to accuse Stuyve- sant of having plotted with the Narragansett Indians for the destruction of the English. The sachems themselves denied all knowledge of such a plot, and Stuyvesant indignantly demanded an investigation of the matter. Three delegates were accordingly appointed to visit New Amsterdam, and receive depositions; but little was accom- plished by this negotiation, and the delegates returned to Boston with small proof of the accusation. On Long Island, Captain Underhill, turning against his late allies, endeavored to stir up the colonists to revolt, but without effect. The commissioners of the United Colonies, who still professed to believe in the reality of the plot, urged
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immediate hostilities against the Dutch, but the General Court of Massachusetts refused to take part in the war, and thus prevented the accomplishment of the design. Eager for the conquest of the Dutch province, the other colonies persisted in their purpose, and by their repre- sentations, induced Cromwell to send an expedition against New Amsterdam. Before it arrived, peace was proclaimed between England and Holland. The news was received with joy in the city ; bells were rung and cannon fired, and the 12th of July, 1654, was set apart as a day of general thanksgiving.
In the meantime, a continual contest had been going on between the people and the director, and to replenish his exhausted treasury, the latter had been compelled to surrender to the city the obnoxious excise on beer and liquors. But this failed to satisfy the burgomasters and schepens, who, on the 24th of December, 1653, ad- dressed a letter to the Company, entreating that New Amsterdam might enjoy equal municipal privileges with her namesake in Holland. They demanded that the schout should be chosen by the people, instead of being, as heretofore, the Company's fiscal ; and that as the city was compelled to defray its own expenses, the excise should go into the city treasury, and power should be conferred upon the municipal authorities to levy taxes, and to lease the ferry between Long Island and New Amsterdam. They also demanded that the city should have a seal and a stadt huys of its own, and should have full authority to sell and convey lands, and to regulate its local affairs ; and that fixed salaries should be granted to the magistrates. In the spring of 1654, a portion of
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their demands was reluctantly granted. The office of schout was separated from that of the Company's fiscal ; but the directors still retained the power of appointment in their own hands. The municipal authorities were granted the use of the stadt huys, which had hitherto been wholly under the control of the provincial government; they were permitted to pay the public salaries out of the excise, and to levy taxes with the consent of the com- monalty and the provincial government; and to sell and convey lands within the limits of the city. No one was permitted to ferry across the river without a license from the magistrates. The ferryman was required to keep proper servants and boats, and a house on both sides the river for the accommodation of passengers, and to pass all officials free of toll. On the other hand, he was not compelled to ferry anything without prepayment, or to cross the river in a tempest. On the 10th of October of the same year, an ordinance was passed by the city au- thorities, regulating the rates of ferriage at three stuy- vers each for foot passengers, except Indians, who paid six each, unless there were two or more. On the 19th of March, 1658, the ferry was put up at auction, and leased to Hermanus Van Bossom for three years, at three hun- dred guilders a year. The annual salary of the burgo- masters was fixed at three hundred and fifty, and that of the schepens at two hundred and fifty guilders. A seal*
* This seal is thus described by E. B. O. Callaghan, Esq., to whom we are indebted for this information :- " Argent per pale ; three crosses saltire; Crest, a. Beaver proper, surmounted by a mantle, on which is a shield or, bearing the letters G.W.C. (Geeoctroyerde West Indische Compagnie). Under the base of the arms are the words, SIGILLUM AMSTELLODAMENSIS IN NOVO BELGIO :- the Seal of Amsterdam in New Netherland. The whole is encircled with a wreath of laurel."-See cut on p. 52.
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LAON
W
Seal of New Netherland, 1623-1664 .- ( This seal is referred to on page 52.)
was also granted to the city, which was received and publicly delivered on the 8th of the next December by the Director to Martin Krigier, the presiding burgomas- ter. Jochem Pietersen Kuyter was appointed schout by the Company, as many supposed, to make amends for the harsh usage he had formerly received from the hands of their officer. But he was murdered by the In- dians before the arrival of his commission, and Fiscal
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Van Tienhoven was continued in the office by Stuyve- sant, despite the discontent of the burghers.
Much dissatisfaction also prevailed in the settlements on Long Island, and on the 10th of December, 1653, a Landttag or Diet, composed of delegates from New Amsterdam, Breuckelen, Midwout, Middleburgh, Heem- stede, Amersfoordt, Flushing and Gravesend assem- bled in the city. These delegates addressed a remon- strance to the governor, complaining of the arbitrary enactment of laws and appointment of officers, and the partial distribution of lands ; and demanding for the peo- ple a direct share in the government. This proceed- ing deeply offended the director, who regarded it as an encroachment upon his prerogative, and he angrily dis- solved the assembly. Upon this, the delegates protested to the Company ; and the English settlers, who were noto- riously disaffected, and were even suspected of conspiring with the freebooters who infested the shores, grew so turbulent, that, to counteract their influence, Stuyvesant determined to increase the power of the Dutch villages by giving them the privileges they desired. Breuckelen had two schepens already ; two more were now added, and David Provoost was appointed her first separate schout. Midwout and' Amersfoordt also received a municipal government. The Company, on their part, treated the protest with scorn, and ordered Stuyvesant to crush all such insolent pretensions.
Hitherto, the minister at New Amsterdam had also officiated occasionally on Long Island. But, as the settlements increased, the colonists demanded a settled minister, and, in 1654, the first church on Long Island
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was built at Midwout or Flatbush, and Domine Johannes Polhemus, who had just arrived from Brazil, was installed at a salary of six hundred guilders. In this church, he preached every Sunday morning, preaching in the after- noons alternately at Breuckelen and Amersfoordt, until 1660, when Domine Henry Selyns was installed as minis- ter of the church at the former place. At the same time of the erection of the church at Midwout, the Lutherans determined to build a church at New Amster- dam. But Stuyvesant, who was a zealous Calvinist, refused them permission, and the Company, influenced by the representations of the Classis and the clergy of the Reformed Dutch Church, supported him in the refusal, on the ground that so dangerous a precedent would soon be followed by the other dissenting sects, and thus destroy the established religion of the province. This was the first manifestation of religious bigotry in New Netherland.
At this juncture, trouble broke out in a new quarter. In 1650, Stuyvesant had built Fort Casimir near the mouth of the Brandywine River, about five miles dis- tant from the Swedish fort Christina, for the purpose of protecting the Dutch commerce from the encroachments of the Swedes. This territory, the Swedes claimed as their own, and in 1654, Rising, their governor, took possession of the fort, disarmed the garrison, and changed its name from Casimir to Trinity-the capture having been made on Trinity Sunday. Indignant at this outrage, Stuy- vesant seized the Golden Shark, a Swedish ship which had entered Sandy Hook Bay by mistake, took posses- sion of her cargo, and brought the factor a prisoner to Fort Amsterdam ; then invited the Swedish gover-
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.
nor to visit him at Manhattan to adjust differences, promising him courteous treatment and a safe return. This invitation was peremptorily refused by the Swede, upon which Stuyvesant dispatched an account of the affair to his superiors, and demanded instructions as to further proceedings. The Swedish rule was now broken in Europe, and the government, having no longer any reason for temporizing, at once directed the governor not only to avenge the insult, but to drive the Swedes from every part of the river. The command accorded well with the warlike spirit of Stuyvesant. All the military force of the colony was at once mustered for the enterprise, and on the 5th of September, 1655, he sailed with seven vessels and one hundred and sixty men to attack the Swedish colony at Fort Christina. The enterprise was successful ; and the forts were forced to surrender. The Swedes were compelled either to evacu- ate the country or to swear allegiance to the Dutch gov- ernment ; Rising was sent to Europe, and a Dutch com- mandant was placed in charge of the conquered territory.
The Indians had always been friendly under the paci- fic rule of Stuyvesant. In the ten years that had rolled away since the Indian war, their former hostility had almost been forgotten, and when Stuyvesant sailed for New Sweden, leaving the settlement defenceless, no one thought of danger from the natives. But, a short time before, the ex-fiscal, Hendrick Van Dyck, had shot a squaw whom he had detected in stealing peaches from his orchard, just below Rector street ; and the murder had not been forgotten by her tribe, who now seized the opportunity to wreak their vengeance on the unprotected
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settlers. On the 15th of September, sixty-four canoes, containing nearly two thousand armed warriors, landed before daybreak at Fort Amsterdam, and spread them- selves over the town, telling the startled burghers that they came in search of some Indians from the north, who had secreted themselves there. The pretext did not deceive the citizens, but by friendly words and pro- mises, they succeeded in keeping their savage visitors quiet, and finally persuaded them to leave the town at sunset and cross over to Governor's Island. They returned in the evening, and shot Van Dyck, the offender, in the breast with an arrow. Van der Grist was also struck down with an axe. The people were roused to a desperate defence, and hastily rallying together, they assaulted the savages, and drove them to their canoes. It was only to change the scene of destruction. Crossing the North River, they recommenced their bloody work at Hoboken and Pavonia, slaughtering men, women and children without mercy, and burning the houses, barns and crops. Thence, they crossed over to Staten Island, which they quickly laid waste. In three days, one hun- dred of the settlers were killed, and one hundred and fifty taken prisoners. Twenty-eight bouweries with their cattle and crops were destroyed ; and the losses of of colonists were computed at two hundred thousands guilders.
The whole country was aroused. From all sides, the terrified farmers flocked to the fort for safety. The settlements on Long Island were threatened with des- truction, and bands of Indians prowled over the island, capturing or killing every colonist that chanced to fall in
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their way. An express was at once dispatched to the director, who quickly returned to the terror-struck city.
But his policy differed widely from that of the head- strong Kieft. While he used every precaution to protect the colonists from the attacks of their enemies, he strove to conciliate the latter by kind words and presents, in- stead of incensing them still further by new provocations. In this, he was successful. The Indians, terrified by his preparations and pacified by his gifts, soon consented to release their prisoners and to treat for peace.
Peace having thus been made with both Indian and European foes, the colony began thenceforth steadily to prosper. In 1656, the first map of the city, containing seventeen streets, was drawn; and two years after, stone pavements were first laid down in Stone street. At this time, the average price of the best lots was fifty dollars. A census was taken, which enumerated a hun- dred and twenty houses, and one thousand inhabitants in the city of New Amsterdam. In the same year (1656) a stand for country wagons was established at the foot of Whitehall street. Provision was made to secure the shores of the East River from the washing of the tide by lining them with planks ; and the wharf, which was on the line of Moore street, extending but little beyond the low water mark, was improved by an extension of fifty feet.
In the following year, an important distinction was . created among the citizens by the introduction of the system of great and small burgher-rights, then in vogue in Amsterdam. This change sprung directly from the citizens themselves. For many years, peddlers had been
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in the habit of bringing their goods into the province and disposing of them ; then returning to Europe with the avails of their adventure. The merchants, disliking that their trade should thus be drawn off by those who bore no part of the burdens of the colony, entreated that no persons but city burghers should be allowed to carry on business in the metropolis, and none but settled resi- dents to trade in the interior. To meet their demands, in 1657, Stuyvesant and his council required that before selling their goods, all traders should open a store within the limits of the city, and pay to the municipal authori- ties the sum of twenty guilders. This entitled them to the small burgher-right; to which, likewise, all were entitled who were natives, or who had resided a year and six weeks in the city ; who should marry the daugh- ters of burghers ; and all salaried officers of the Company. By paying the sum of fifty guilders, they entered the class of great burghers, which included all the provincial and municipal authorities, both present and future, together with their male descendants. All city officials were required to be chosen from the latter class, who were likewise exempt for one year from watch and military service, and free from arrest from the inferior courts. From this sprung the kindred institution under the Eng- lish government of the freedom of the city.
In 1658, two hundred and fifty fire-buckets with hooks and ladders, were imported from Holland for the use of the city, and a rattle watch, consisting of eight men, was organized. All thatched roofs and wooden chimneys were ordered to be removed, and the best lots were taxed until built upon. At this time, the average .
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rent of the best houses was about fourteen dollars a year. A market-house, the first in the city, was erected for the sale of meat at the Bowling Green. The only school in the city had always been irregularly sustained, owing to the want of funds and a suitable school-house. Jacob Van Corlaer attempted to remedy the deficiency by opening a private school, but this was quickly inter- dicted by Stuyvesant, on the ground that he had received no permission from the provincial authorities. But many of the burghers were anxious to give their children a classical education, and as it was impossible to obtain this nearer than Boston, they wrote to the Company to send them a Latin teacher, promising to build a school- house at their own cost. As a further inducement, they urged that the inhabitants of the neighboring towns would likewise send their children, and that "New Amsterdam might finally thus attain to an academy, the credit of which would redound to the honor of the Com- pany." This argument proved convincing, and the next year, Doctor Alexander Carolus Curtius was sent to them at a salary of five hundred guilders and perqui- sites. Curtius soon established a flourishing Latin school in the city, where he also practised as a physician. He returned to Holland two years after, and was succeeded by Domine Egidius Luyck, the private tutor of the fam- ily of the director.
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