USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 14
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He was formally inaugurated, May 27. GEI : ET The whole community were present, and lis- OR . S . PET : tened with eagerness to his well-prepared 000 TU speech on the occasion. The democratic JBERN VESANT :N :I Belgian, Cornelis Melyn, afterwards wrote, "He kept the people standing with their S heads uncovered for more than an hour, while he wore his chapeau, as if he were the Czar of Muscovy." Others who had RASO: suffered from the petty despotism of Kieft, and who were full of the liberal ideas which Stuyvesant's Seal. were the birthright of every Hollander, criticised the haughty bearing of the new governor, and prophesied the character of his future govern- ment. When he earnestly promised that "every man should have justice done him," he was loudly applauded. Kieft stood by his side during the ceremony, and seemed to think it fitting that he should say a few words of farewell to the people. He thanked them for their fideli- ty to him, expressed many kind wishes, and bade them adieu. Only a murmur of dissatisfaction arose in response, and a few voices above the rest were heard to say, "We are glad your reign is over."
131
POLITICAL EVENTS IN EUROPE.
CHAPTER £ IX.
1647 - 1650.
POLITICAL EVENTS IN EUROPE.
POLITICAL EVENTS IN EUROPE. - HOLLAND AND THE HOLLANDERS. - THE SABBATH IN NEW YORK. - THE FIRST SURVEYORS. - KUYTER AND MELYN, AND THEIR TRIAL FOR REBELLION. - THE WRECK OF THE PRINCESS. - KIP. - GOVERT LOOCKERMANS. - FIRST FIRE-WARDENS. - SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. - RENSSELAERSWICK A POWER. - THE GOVERNOR'S FAILURE. - CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND. - VAN CORTLANDT. - VAN DER DONCK. - MELYN. - THE QUARREL. - VAN DER DONCK IN HOLLAND. - ISAAC ALLERTON.
F REDERICK HENRY, Prince of Orange, died on the morning of March 14, 1647. He had been stadtholder of the provinces for twenty-two years, and had reached his sixty-third birthday. His death tended directly towards drawing to a close the eighty years' war, which had cost Spain over fifteen hundred millions of ducats. 1647. His office descended to his son, William II., by an act of reversion which the States passed in 1631. The young prince was the husband of Mary, daughter of Charles I. of England. He was full of military ambition and ready to buckle on his armor, but the nation distrusted his inexperience and entered immediately into negotiations for peace. France was a snag in the way, for a time, through a variety of conflicting interests. The French ministers were bent on preventing the consum- mation of the treaty, even resorting to countless intrigues when other means failed. It was finally signed by the representatives of the two nations, in January, 1648, at Munster. It was at once ratified by Philip IV. and by the several States of the Netherlands. The recognition of the sovereignty of the Dutch Republic was so absolute that an ambassa- dor was actually sent to the Hague from Spain, before Philip himself received one from the Dutch.1
Of the seven Dutch States, Holland was the most important, by reason of its dense population and great wealth; hence its name was often
1 Corps Dip., VI. 429, 450. Barnage Annales des Prov., Un. I. 102. Grattam, 262. Davis, II. 645, 649.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
applied to the confederacy by way of eminence. It embraced but a small portion of territory, chiefly of made ground, which was so loose and spongy that high winds sometimes tore up large trees by the roots. Every inch of the country was rendered available for some good purpose. The soil, steeped in water, produced excellent crops, and the fields and gardens teemed with vegetation. Canals were cut in all directions, and were alive with fleets of barges and with innumerable ships of war and commerce. The trim villas, and the quick succession of great towns, made a profound impression upon travelers and strangers. Throughout the length and breadth of the land there was a uniform appearance of comfort, affluence, and contentment. Houses and grounds were kept in a condition of perfect order, the streets and canals were lined with elegant trees, and the ever-whirling windmills looked as if they came out in fresh robes every morning. In no country were the domestic and social ties of life discharged with greater precision. It matters not that chroniclers have made the Dutch subjects of unmerited depreciation. It has been stated that they were characterized only by slowness ; and that the land was barren of invention, progress, or ideas. The seeds of error and prejudice thus sown bear little fruit after the reading of a few chapters of genuine contemporary personal description. As a rule, the Hollanders were not inclined to take the initiative in trade or politics, and were distinguished for solidity rather than brilliancy ; but it is absurd to say "they were unequal to the origination of any new thing." We find among them many of the most illustrious men of mod- ern Europe, - politicians, warriors, scholars, artists, and divines. Wealth was widely diffused; learning was held in highest respect; and eloquence, courage, and public spirit were characteristic of the race. For nearly a century after the Dutch Republic first took its place among independent nations, it swayed the balance of European politics ; and the acumen and culture of the leading statesmen elicited universal deference and admira- tion. For an index to the private life of the upper classes, we need but to take a peep into the richly furnished apartments of their stately man- sions, or walk through their summer-houses and choice conservatories and famous picture-galleries. As for the peasantry, they were neat to a fault, and industrious as well as frugal.
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The liberal commercial policy of the Dutch, and their great latitude of religious faith, attracted people to their shores from all parts of the world. Every language spoken by civilized man was to be heard in their exchange. The floor of the hall in the Stadt Huys at Amsterdam was inlaid with marble, to represent maps of the different nations of the earth.
133
HOLLAND AND THE HOLLANDERS.
Such was the country whose people settled New York. All classes emigrated ; but those who took the most active part in the direction of our infant institutions were, in intelligence and worldly wisdom, and in all those sterling characteristics which we are wont to respect, above the average of their generation. Their number was small, but its propor- tion to that of the illiterate laborers and traders who crossed the water was great- er than that between the higher and lower classes in any portion of Europe. This fact has generally been over- looked by the writers of American history who have imputed wholesale heaviness and incapacity, except in money-making, to the Dutch founders of the metropolis. As the blood of Holland, France, and England (and, we may add, much of the best blood of those three na- tions) became mixed in the veins of the people, it is easy to trace the increase of men- Interior of the Stadt Huys, of Amsterdam. tal vigor, the softening of national prejudices, and the general amalgama- tion of opinions, habits, tastes, fashions, and modes of life, until we have a new and distinct species of the human kind in the New York American.
Stuyvesant possessed in an eminent degree that distinguishing element of greatness, perception. He took the colony in at a glance, and saw why there was so much dilapidation and discomfort. The Indian war had destroyed property, until only about fifty farms could be counted in the province. Some of the colonists had been killed, and others had returned to Holland; so that there were not to be found over three hundred capable of bearing arms. The church in the fort was unfinished, and the timbers rotting. Money which had been contributed towards building a school-house had been expended to pay off the troops ; and the debt was still in arrears. The public revenue had not been collected, and there were conflicting claims in waiting to be settled with the pa- troons. In short, the whole situation was chaotic in the extreme.
134
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Whatever Stuyvesant did, he did thoroughly. As soon as he was in- augurated, he organized his council. It consisted of Vice-Director Van Dincklagen, a clever politician and a thorough scholar ; Fiscal Van Dyck, of whom little can be said in praise; the learned and gentlemanly Dr. La Montagne ; Adriaen Keyser; and Captain Bryan Newton. Van Tien- hoven was retained in the office of secretary ; Paulus Van der Grist was made equipage-master ; and George Baxter, an English gentleman of good education, was reappointed English secretary and interpreter.
A court of justice was established, over which Van Dincklagen was appointed presiding judge. Stuyvesant, however, reserved the right to preside in person whenever he should think proper, and required that his own opinions should be consulted in important matters.
Proclamations were issued with marvelous rapidity. The first on record relates to the Sabbath. Experience had long before yielded, upon every hand, its testimonies to the wisdom of the Divine institution. Then, as now, it was esteemed the duty of government to protect it, and to confirm to the people the material and vital benefits which it is so well calculated to secure. As a means of social, moral, and physical health, and as a measure of industrial economy, if we had no Sabbath, the ordi- nation of one would come directly within the scope of legislation. Stuy- vesant was possessed with a profound sense of its importance as a direct means for the establishment and perpetuation of a pure Christianity in this country ; and for his sentiments and his efforts in that direction he deserves to be honored to the remotest posterity. Another proclama- tion forbade drunkenness and profanity ; and still another prohibited the sale of liquor and fire-arms to the Indians, on pain of death. Strict laws were instituted for the protection of the revenues, which had been de- frauded by the introduction of foreign merchandise in vessels running past Manhattan in the night. The following is a copy of one of the proclamations on that subject : -
" Any one is interdicted from having the hardihood to go into the interior with any cargoes or any merchandise ; but they shall leave them at the usual places of deposit and there wait for traffic."
The usual place for vessels to anchor was under the guns of the fort, near a queer little hand-board, which stood on the water's edge. To re- plenish the treasury, taxes were levied on liquors, and the export duties on peltries were increased. All outstanding tenths due from the impover- ished farmers were called in, but a year's grace for the payment was allowed in consideration of losses by the war. The people grumbled. Who will pay taxes with a cheerful countenance, particularly when it is at the
135
THE FIRST SURVEYORS.
supreme command of an individual, and through the withholding of his birthright, the franchise ? But Stuyvesant's military training made him imperious ; and, in point of fact, his instructions from the West India Company gave him less discretionary power than has been generally sup- posed. He must govern absolutely ; and he was by no means backward in obeying such instructions.
Workmen were employed to put the fort in repair; and others were engaged to complete the church, of which Stuyvesant at once became a member and set an example of devout Sabbath worship. The little village, with its crooked roads winding round hillocks and June 23. ledges, its untidy houses with hog-pens and chicken-coops in front and tumble-down chimneys in the rear, had some surveyors appointed over it in July, - Van Dincklagen, Van der Grist, and Van Tienhoven. They understood what improvements were needed to make the new dorp the miniature of a thrifty Holland town, and were very energetic in their measures. The streets were straightened, even to the removing of some huge obstacles ; nuisances were done away with ; great piles of accumu- lated rubbish were dumped into the water; a better class of houses was erected under their supervision ; and all owners of vacant lots were com- pelled to improve them within nine months after purchase.
In the mean time Kuyter and Melyn were instituting proceedings against Kieft. They had lost heavily by the Indian war, and were determined to compel an investigation of its causes. They proposed that all the leading men of the colony should be summoned into court and examined on oath in regard to it. They prepared a list of questions to be put to them, tending to elicit a train of evidence that would place the matter correctly before the company in Holland.
Stuyvesant appointed a commission to decide upon the propriety of granting such an inquiry ; and, as soon as the members came together, he expressed his opinion emphatically, that "the two malignant fellows were disturbers of the peace, and that it was treason to complain of one's magis- trates, whether there was cause or not." He had evidently taken alarm at the dangerous precedent of allowing subjects to judge rulers, since his own acts might have to pass the ordeal. Kieft was delighted at this mark of favor from the new governor, and emboldened by it to accuse his accusers. He had a double incentive; personal and July 11. revengeful hatred, and the rescue of his own character from ignominy. The following day, Kuyter and Melyn were arrested on a charge of "re- bellion and sedition." They were brought to trial almost immediately. This trial occupied several days, and created the wildest excitement. Stuyvesant occupied the bench, and Judge Van Dincklagen sat by his
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
side. Lawyers were rare on this side of the water, hence the prisoners defended themselves, and they did it in an able manner. They produced ample proof to sustain their charges against Kieft, towards whom they said they had no vindictive feelings whatever. They admitted that in the heat of war, and smarting under the loss of property, they had com- plained to the authorities in Holland, but not to strangers, nor had any deception at any time been used. It was a singular tribunal ; their case. had been prejudged. They were pronounced GUILTY; and capital July 25. punishment was, for a time, seriously contemplated. They were even denied the right of appeal to the Fatherland. " If I were persuaded. that you would bring this matter before their High Mightinesses, I would have you hanged on the highest tree in New Netherland," said Stuyvesant, as he pronounced their sentence. Melyn was banished for seven years and fined three hundred guilders. Kuyter was banished for three years and fined one hundred and fifty guilders. The fines were to be given, one third to the attorney-general, one third to the church, and one third to the poor. The prisoners were required to sign a written promise that, in any place to which they might go, they would never complain, or- speak in any way, of what they had suffered from Kieft and Stuyvesant. The Princess was about to sail for Holland, and they took passage, as did. also Dominie Bogardus, who had been so disturbed by Kieft in his min-
isterial labors that he resigned his charge and obtained per-
Aug. 16.
mission to defend himself before the Classis of Amsterdam. The church was not left without a pastor, for Dominie Johannes Backerus, formerly clergyman at Curacoa, who had accompanied Stuyvesant to New Amsterdam, was installed as his successor, at a salary of fourteen hundred guilders per annum.
Kieft had managed, during his few years in office, to acquire a large. property, which he turned into money before taking his departure from the. province. He had always entertained the idea that minerals abounded. in the vicinity of Manhattan. A lump of mineral paint which an Indian. displayed during the trial of Kuyter and Melyn had been tried in a. crucible, and yielded three guilders' worth of gold. This induced him to obtain, through the aid of the willing Indians, a variety of specimens,, which were nicely packed and taken with him to Europe. It was the last of gold-finding in this part of the country ; and it is more than proba -. ble that all that was discovered was brought from some remote locality. Kieft sailed in the Princess, with the minister and the exiles. But the ill-fated vessel never reached its destination. It was wrecked on the rocky coast of Wales, and only about twenty persons were saved. They floated on pieces of the wreck to the shore. Among them were Kuyter-
137
THE WRECK OF THE PRINCESS.
and Melyn. Kieft, Dominie Bogardus, a son of Melyn, and eighty-one others perished. In the moment of agony, when all hope was aban- doned, Kieft confessed his injustice towards the two men whom he had wronged, and begged their forgiveness. Kuyter and Melyn proceeded to Holland, where the company afterwards reversed their sentence, and they returned with honor to this country.
The sorrowful tidings of the death of Dominie Bogardus fell over the community like a pall. There was universal sorrow. His wife and children, who had remained behind, were the recipients of the most heart- felt sympathy and consideration. But Kieft's fate excited very little feeling ; a fact which could not have escaped the notice of Stuyvesant.
Before the middle of September, the pressure of public sentiment had been so great, and the opposition to the payment of the revenues so spir- ited and determined, that Stuyvesant concluded to recognize to a limited extent the principle of "taxation only by consent," which the Fatherland had maintained since 1477. He called a public meeting, and " Nine Men " were chosen to advise and assist in the affairs of the government. This repre- sentative body consisted of Augustine Heer- mans, Arnoldus Van Hardenburg, Govert Loockermans, Jan Jansen Dam, Jacob Van Couwenhoven, Hendrick Kip, Michael Jan- sen, Evertsen Bout, and Thomas Hall.
Names are the keys of family history, unlocking for us the secrets of ancestral lineage. It is well known that, in very many cases, members of distinguished fam- ESTIGIA, NULLA RETRORSUM ilies sought here a field of enterprise and action which was denied them at home. Kip's Arms. Kip1 was one of those persons, and his coat-of-arms,2 engraved upon
1 The De Kype family formerly lived near Alençon, Bretagne, France. Ruloff De Kype was a Roman Catholic. He fell in battle in 1562, and the Protestants under Condé burned his elegant château. His son, Jean Baptiste, who was a priest, secured his burial in a neighboring church, where an altar-tomb was erected to his memory, surmounted by his arms with two crests. The youngest son, Ruloff, settled in Amsterdam, Holland, and became a Protestant. He died in 1596, and left one son, Hendrick (born 1576), who removed to this country in 1635, with his wife and children. He had three sons, Hendrick, Jacob, and Isaac .. Both himself and sons secured large tracts of land, and held prominent positions in the New Netherland gov- ernment. Hendrick married Anna De Sille in 1660, the daughter of Hon. Nacasius De Sille. Jacob married Marie La Montagne in 1654, the daughter of Dr. La Montagne. Rachel, the daughter of the latter, married Lucas Kiersted, in 1683, the grandson of Anetje Jans.
2 The coat-of-arms was painted also upon the window of the Dutch church in New Amster- dam.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
stone, was used ten years later by his son Jacob, who built it firmly into the wall over the front door of the house at Kip's Bay, where it re- mained until the building was demolished, in 1851. Govert Loocker- mans, also, was a man of good birth as well as of strong character. He was married twice : first in Amsterdam, February, 1641, to Ariaentie Jans ; and second in New Amsterdam, July, 1649, to Maritje (Maria), the widow of Tymen Jansen. His daughter Maria, who married Balthazar Bayard in 1664, was born while on the voyage to America late in the autumn of 1641. His daughter Jannetie (born 1643) became the second wife of Dr. Hans Kiersted. His step-daughter, Elsie Tymens, was twice married, her second husband, whom she wedded in 1663, being the celebrated Jacob Leisler. Two sisters, handsome and accomplished women, accom- panied Govert Loockermans to this country, one of whom married Jacob Van Couwenhoven ; the other, Anetje (or Ann, as the name was Angli- cised), was married to Oloff S. Van Cortlandt, in the Dutch Church of New Amsterdam, February 26, 1642. Loockermans bought a large tract of land and rented it out to laborers; he owned two or three sailing vessels, erected a store, and became a thriving man of business.
The winter which followed was memorable in the history of Stuy- vesant. He had shed his blood on battle-fields before he took up his abode in New Netherland ; but he had never encountered such a snarl of disputes as arose about the boundary lines of the province. It was the same subject continued which had pestered Kieft, and which seemed to grow more unwieldy and less likely to be settled every year. He was harassed also by the encroachments of the Swedes on the Delaware. And in the midst of his efforts to harmonize the contending parties, the Indians exhibited signs of uneasiness because their promised presents were in arrears. They demanded fire-arms, too, of the Dutch ; and, despite the new code of stringent laws, a contraband trade in this commodity was carried on. On one occasion, this crime was charged upon three hitherto respectable men, and they were tried and found guilty. Stuyvesant con- demned them to death; but friends interceded, and their lives were spared, though their property was confiscated. Stuyvesant was engaged in frequent wrangles with the " Nine Men," who acted in the capacity of legislators, and held decided opinions of their own; and he had still more serious controversies with the patroons, who interfered with the trade of the company, and denied the governor's authority over them. The subordinate officers of the government were captious and sometimes insolent, and all at once the people united with the New-Englanders in
1 A Dutch Bible which once belonged to Govert Loockermans, and which is now in the library of the American Bible Society, contains memoranda of the family, written in Dutch.
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SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.
one grievous complaint against the high custom-house duties. Verily, the governor's lines had not fallen in pleasant places.
He found time, in the midst of his many and disagreeable duties, to think a little about the feeble settlement, which was cer- 1648. tainly in great need of friendly care.
In June of that year, the first " fire-wardens " were appointed, at his suggestion. They were to inspect the chimneys between the fort June 23. and the Fresh Water Pond. Their names were Adriaen Keyser, Thomas Hall, Martin Cregier, and George Woolsey. For a foul chimney, the owner was fined three guilders. If a house was burned through care- lessness in that respect, the occupant was fined twenty-five guilders. The fines were to be used to buy hooks, ladders, and buckets ; but it was several years before the fund became large enough to invest to any advantage.
There were many little taverns springing up all over the lower part of the island, and Stuyvesant took it upon himself to inspect them ; for he feared, with reason, that they seriously endangered the morals of the people, since they were but fountains of bad liquor, July 8. and the habitual resort of Indians and negroes. He made it therefore an indictable offense to keep one open without a license, and he required all those who received licenses to procure or build better buildings "for the adornment of the town." He also issued a proclamation that no hogs and goats should for the future be pastured between the fort and Fresh Water Pond, except within suitable inclosures. As the autumn rolled round, he established a weekly market, which was held on Mon-
days. Soon after, in imitation of one of the customs of Holland, Sept. 18. he instituted an annual cattle-fair, to commence every first Monday after the feast of St. Bartholomew and continue ten days.
About that time, Jan Stevensen opened a small private school which was tolerably well patronized. The best families had generally their own private tutors direct from Europe; but there were enough to support a school besides, and the new teacher found himself fully occupied. Stuyvesant was very earnest in the matter of providing means for "the education of every child in the colony." He wrote to the West India Company several times on the subject of establishing a public school, which he said ought to be furnished with at least two good teachers. He related how, for a long time, they had passed round the plate among themselves, but " had only built the school with words, for the money thus collected was always needed for some other purpose." He expa- tiated upon the great necessity of instructing the youth, not only in reading and writing, but in the knowledge and fear of God. His sugges- 9
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