USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 22
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An expedition against the Dutch in America was at once ordered, but kept a profound secret, lest the States-General should send a squadron to aid their unprotected subjects. The Duke of York, who had been ap- pointed Lord High Admiral of the British dominions, was to manage the enterprise. He borrowed of the king four war-vessels, on which he embarked four hundred and fifty well-trained soldiers, under the April 2. command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, the groom of his bedcham- ber, who was also commissioned as governor of the yet unpossessed terri- tory. Among the commissioned officers serving under Nicolls, were Matthias Nicolls, Daniel Brodhead, Robert Needham, Harry Norwood, and Sylvester Salisbury, some of whom were accompanied by their families.1 A commission, consisting of Colonel Nicolls, Sir Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, were empowered to attend to the general welfare of the colonies, settle boundaries, etc. The fleet sailed from Portsmouth about the middle of May.2
1 Matthias Nicolls settled on Long Island ; Daniel Brodhead and Sylvester Salisbury, in Ulster County, New York. Their descendants are very numerous, and rank among the best families in this country.
2 Col. Doc., II. 243-501 ; III. 66. Mass. H. S. Coll., XXXVI. 527. Pepys, IV. 353. Clarke's James II., I. 400. Valentine's Manual 1860, 592. Smith, I. 16. Wood, 144. Brodhead, II. 21.
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UNFRIENDLY EXPEDITION.
The first intimation New Amsterdam received of these hostile designs was through Richard Lord, of Lyme, a merchant, who was sending vessels to both Boston and New Amsterdam. He heard of it in the former place and communicated the fact to Thomas Willett, with whom he was doing business. Willett hastened to Stuyvesant, and, within an hour, the burgomasters and schepens were in close council with the brave old soldier, devising plans for fortifying the city. Some vessels on the point of sailing for Curaçoa were countermanded, and agents were sent hurriedly to New Haven to buy provisions. Men were stationed at Westchester and Milford, to act the part of spies, and announce the approach of the enemy, who were expected by way of the Sound. A loan of money was obtained from Jeremias Van Rensselaer, and a quantity of powder was secured from New Amstel. At this critical moment, when every hour was more precious than gold, a dispatch from the Amsterdam Chamber to Stuyvesant declared that no danger from England need be appre- hended, - that the king had only sent some frigates to introduce Episco- pacy into New England.
Confidence was thus restored, and the Curacoa vessels were permitted to depart. Mischievous quarrels among the Indians to the North
induced Stuyvesant to take a trip to Fort Orange. He had Aug. 6. reached his destination and entered upon the work of reconciling the savages, when an express followed him to say that the English squadron was actually on the way from Boston to New Amsterdam. He hurried home, arriving only three days before the English banners floated over the bay, just below the Narrows. One of his first acts was to set all his own negro slaves and hired workmen at his farm thrashing Aug. 29. grain night and day, and carting it to the fort. Three weeks had been lost in false security ; the city, alas ! was ill prepared to stand a siege. The fort, and the wall at Wall Street, however strong a defense against the Indians, would avail positively nothing against a civilized foe ; and there was the exposure on two rivers ! Four hundred men were all that could be mustered, to bear arms. Six hundred pounds was the max- imum of powder in the fort. Then, the English inhabitants were numer- ous and would aid the king's forces ; and the latter, before casting anchor, had cut off all communication between the city and Long Island, and had scattered proclamations through the country, promising safe and undis- turbed possession of property to all who would quietly submit to the government of England.
Stuyvesant regarded the situation with dismay. The English were in full possession of the harbor. He hastily called in the few soldiers from Esopus and other outposts, and, wishing to ascertain the condition of
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
affairs on Long Island, sent to the English commander four commission- ers, representing the council and the city, with a letter inquiring the object of his coming, and why he remained so long in the harbor without giving due notice. Nicolls replied, that he had come to reduce the country to the obedience of the king of England, whose commission he displayed ; and that he would send a letter to the governor on the following day. Saturday morning, Sir George Cartwright and three other gentle- Aug. 30. men came to the city, and were received with a formal salute from the guns of the Battery. The interview was ceremonious in the extreme. They bore from Nicolls to Stuyvesant a formal summons to surrender the province of New Netherland, with all its towns, forts, etc., at the same time promising to confirm his estate, life, and liberty to every man who should submit without opposition to the king's authority.
Nicolls having omitted to sign this summons, it was returned to the delegates, and time thereby gained. Stuyvesant and his council con- sulted with the city magistrates. Stuyvesant was determined upon de- fending his post to the last, and withheld the paper which contained the terms of surrender, lest it should influence the people to insist upon capitulation. The city magistrates were strongly in favor of non-resist- ance, but thought it well to bring the city into as fair a state of defense as possible, in order to obtain " good terms and conditions." Men worked all day Sunday on the fortifications, and the officers of the government were in close council for several hours. On Monday morning, a
Sept. 1. meeting of the citizens was called at the City Hall, and the bur- gomasters stated publicly that they had been denied a copy of the sum- mons which Nicolls had sent to Stuyvesant, but explained the terms of surrender. A loud clamor at once arose for the paper itself. Stuyvesant came to the City Hall and attempted to explain the impossibility of surrender under any circumstances, the extreme displeasure it would occasion in Holland, the painful responsibility that was resting upon him, etc., etc., but, in the end, produced the desired document.
The work of preparation continued through the day; and anxiety and excitement were everywhere apparent. On Tuesday morning, Sept. 2. Governor Winthrop, who had joined the fleet, accompanied by his son Fitz John, Ex-Governor Willys, Thomas Willett, and two Boston gen- tlemen, visited the city in a row-boat, under a flag of truce. As they landed at the wharf, a salute was fired, and they were conducted to the nearest public house. Stuyvesant met them with stately politeness. Winthrop's mission was to present a carefully written letter from Nicolls and to use his own utmost endeavor to persuade the Dutch governor into a peaceful submission. There were many courtly speeches and replies
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WINTHROP'S INTERVIEW WITH STUYVESANT.
during the interview, but Stuyvesant was iron-hearted and declined Winthrop's urbane advice. On taking leave, Winthrop handed the fol- lowing letter, addressed to himself, to Stuyvesant, who read it aloud to the gentlemen of his council and the burgomasters present ;
" MR. WINTHROP : As to those particulars you spoke to me, I do assure you that if the Manhadoes be delivered up to his Majesty, I shall not hinder, but any people from the Netherlands may freely come and plant there, or thereabouts ; and such vessels of their owne country may freely come thither, and any of them may as freely returne home, in vessels of their owne country, and this, and much more, is contained in the privilege of his Majesty's English sub- jects ; and thus much you may, by what means you please, assure the governor from, Sir, Your very affectionate servant, " RICHARD NICOLLS."
The burgomasters asked permission to read this letter to the citizens. Stuyvesant pronounced such a course injudicious and refused his consent. Van Cortlandt declared that all which concerned the public welfare ought to be made public. High words ensued on both sides, and finally Stuyvesant in a fit of passionate indignation tore the letter in pieces. Steenwyck, in angry tones, condemned the destruction of a paper of so much consequence, and, with the other magistrates, quitted the fort. A crowd had collected about the City Hall, to learn how matters stood. The news was received with lowering brows. Suddenly the work on the palisades stopped, and three of the principal citizens - not belonging to the government - appeared before the governor and council and peremp- torily demanded a copy of the letter. They were not disposed to parley. The fragments were shown to them ; but no reasoning would satisfy them. They threatened - covertly at first, and then openly. Stuyvesant hurried to the City Hall and tried in vain to quiet the raving multitude. “It would be as idle to attempt to defend the city against so many as to gape before an oven," was the general cry. Some cursed the governor ; others cursed the company ; but all united in a demand for the letter. He argued that it did not concern the commonalty, but only the officers of the government. "The letter ! The letter!" was the only reply. Re- tiring from this outburst of popular fury, he returned to the fort, and Nicholas Bayard, his private secretary, having gathered the scattered scraps, made a copy of the mutilated document, which was given to the burgomasters.
Meanwhile, Stuyvesant had been preparing an answer to the summons of Nicolls. It was an overwhelming argument, tracing the history of New Netherland through all its vicissitudes, and pointing out the abso-
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
lute unsoundness of the English claim. He pictured in earnest language the consequences of any violation of the articles of peace so solemnly agreed upon by Charles and the States-General, and warned the English commander against aggression. He sent four of his ablest advisers - two from his council and two from the city -to convey the document to Colonel Nicolls, and to " argue the matter " with him.
Nicolls declined discussion. He said the question of right did not con- cern him. He must and would take possession of the place. If the reasonable terms he offered were not accepted, he should proceed to attack.
" On Thursday, I shall speak with you at the Manhattans," he said, with dignity.
" Friends will be welcome, if they come in a friendly manner," replied one of the delegates.
"I shall come with my ships and soldiers, and he will be a bold mes- senger indeed who will dare to come on board and solicit terms," was his rejoinder.
" What, then, is to be done ?" was asked.
" Hoist the white flag of peace at the fort, and I may take something into consideration."
The delegates returned sadly to New Amsterdam. Nicolls, seeing that Stuyvesant was not disposed to surrender, made preliminary arrange- ments for storming the city. He called the people of Long Island together at Gravesend, and published the king's patent to the Duke of York, and his own commission, in their presence. Winthrop announced, on behalf of Connecticut, that, as the king's pleasure was now fully signi- fied, the jurisdiction which that colony had claimed and exercised over Long Island " ceased and became null." Nicolls promised to confirm all the civil officers who had been appointed by Connecticut, - which gave immense satisfaction. Volunteers, to swell his army, came from all parts of the island. Prospects of plunder seem to have entered largely into their calculations. The citizens of New Amsterdam regarded them as their deadly enemies ; and well they might, at this juncture, for threats and curses filled the air, and rovers talked openly of " where the young women lived who wore chains of gold."
The volunteers were encamped just below Breuckelen, to be ready to storm the city by land. Nicolls sent a few of his troops to join them. It was rumored that six hundred Northern savages and one hundred Sept. 5. and fifty Frenchmen had re-enforced the English forces against
the Dutch. On the morning of September 5th, Nicolls came up under full sail, and anchored between the fort and Governor's Island.
"It is madness, " said Dominie Megapolensis, laying his hand lovingly upon the Governor's shoulder-"what will our twenty guns do in the face of the sixty-two which are pointed towards us on yonder frigates ? Pray, do not be the first to shed blood ! " Page 213.
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THE CRISIS.
The crisis had come. New Amsterdam, with its population of fifteen hundred souls, was "encircled round about," without any means of deliverance. " It is a matter of desperation rather than soldiership to attempt to hold the fort," said Vice-Governor De Sille.
Stuyvesant stood in one of the angles of the fort, near where the gun- ner held a burning match, awaiting the order to fire at the approaching vessels. He had been expostulated with by one and another, who saw only infatuation and ruin in resisting a foe with such extraordinary ad- vantage in point of numbers ; but to all he had answered, with emphasis, " I must act in obedience to orders." " It is madness," said Dominie Megapolensis, laying his hand lovingly upon the governor's shoulder. " Do you not see that there is no help for us either to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west ? What will our twenty guns do in the face of the sixty-two which are pointed towards us on yonder frigates ? Pray, do not be the first to shed blood !"
Just then, a paper was brought to Stuyvesant signed by ninety-three of the principal citizens, including the burgomasters and schepens, and his own son, Balthazar, urging with manly arguments that he would not doom the city to ashes and spill innocent blood, as it was evident the sacrifice could avail nothing in the end. He read the appeal with white lips, and with unspeakable sorrow expressed in every feature. His only remark was, " I had rather be carried to my grave." Five minutes later, the white flag waved above the fort.
Arrangements were immediately made for a meeting, to agree upon articles of capitulation. The time was eight o'clock, on Saturday morn- ing ; the place, Stuyvesant's country-house at the farm. Colonel Nicolls appointed his two colleagues, Sir Robert Carr and Sir Sept. 6. George Carteret, and the New England gentlemen, Governor Winthrop and Ex-Governor Willys of Connecticut, and John Pinchon and Thomas Clarke of Boston, as his commissioners. Stuyvesant selected Hon. John De Decker, Hon. Nicholas Varlett, and Dominie Megapolensis from his council, to represent the province, and Cornelis Steenwyck, Oloff S. Van Cortlandt, and Jacques Cousseau, to represent the city. The proclama- tion and the reiterated promises of Nicolls formed the basis of the twenty-four articles which were carefully and intelligently discussed on that momentous occasion. The Dutch citizens were guaranteed security in their property, customs, conscience, and religion. Intercourse with Holland was to continue as before the coming of the English. Public buildings and public records were to be respected, and all civil officers were to remain in power until the customary time for a new election. The articles of capitulation were to be ratified by Nicolls and delivered
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
to Stuyvesant by eight o'clock on Monday morning, at the " old mill," on the shore of the East River, near the foot of Roosevelt Street, at the outlet of the brook which ran from the Fresh Water Pond. Within two hours afterward, the fort was to be vacated, the military marching out with all the honors of war.
On Sunday afternoon, after the second sermon, the conciliatory terms by which New Amsterdam was surrendered - terms, perhaps, the most Sept. 7. anxious community. On Monday morning, Stuyvesant and his favorable ever granted by a conqueror- were explained to the council affixed their names to the articles of capitulation, and exchanged them with Nicolls. All things being ready, the garrison marched out of the fort, carrying their arms, with drums beating and colors flying, and embarked on a vessel about to set sail for Holland. Colonel Nicolls and Sir Robert Carr formed their companies into six columns, Sept. 8. and entered the town as the Dutch garrison departed. The city magistrates were assembled in the council chamber, and with much ceremony proclaimed Nicolls governor of the province. The English flag was raised over the fort, which was now to be called Fort James, and New Amsterdam was henceforth to be known as New York.
The conquest of Long Island and New Amsterdam has been widely stigmatized as an act of peculiar national baseness. It was matured in secret and accomplished with deliberate deceit towards a friendly govern- ment. It provoked a war which disgraced the reign of Charles II. ; a war in which Dutch fleets not only swept the Channel, but entered the Thames, burned the warehouses and dock-yards at Chatham, and mad-
dened and terrified the citizens of London with the roar of their cannon. And yet, unjustifiable as it surely was for an undeclared enemy to sneak into a remote harbor and treacherously seize a province, the temptation furnished by the circumstances of the case may perhaps be cited as a sort of palliation of the deed. The West India Company and the States-General had always undervalued New Netherland; it was their neglect of it which had been the most potent stimulus to English am- bition ; and finally, the event itself could not have been avoided by the Dutch government unless all their previous policy had been reversed and their title planted upon a more tenable basis.
Stuyvesant was mortified and humiliated beyond expression. His solitary heroism, and his loyalty, unshaken to the last, did not protect him from the severe censure of his superiors. He was summoned to Holland to render an account of his administration, and detained there many months. The soulless corporation was dying by inches. The loss of its province had been its death-blow. But it had sufficient vitality
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THE STUYVESANT PEAR-TREE.
left to make a desperate effort to shift the responsibility of its misfor- tunes upon the head of its faithful servant, notwithstanding abundant proof that, year after year, and by almost every ship which crossed the ocean, he had warned the self-sufficient company of the impossibility of holding the province against any hostile attack without the means to improve its weak and dangerous condition. The peace of Breda put an end to the controversy, and Stuyvesant, whose property interests were all in New York, returned and took up his abode here as a private citi- zen. While at the Hague, he labored incessantly to secure from the king the ratification of the sixth article in his treaty with Nicolls, which granted free trade with Holland in Dutch vessels. He wrote to Charles, that New York could scarcely be relieved by England during the pres- ent season, and that what he asked for would prevent the Indians from diverting their traffic to Canada, as well as enable the Dutch inhabitants to follow their prosperous vocations. His logic was convincing, and Charles authorized the Duke of York to grant "temporary permission for seven years, with three ships only."
Stuyvesant brought with him, on his return voyage to New York, a pear-tree, which he planted in his garden. It survived the storms of two hundred winters. As the city grew, and one old land- mark after another disap- peared, the solitary pear-tree long continued to put out its blossoms every spring and to bend under the weight of its fruit every summer. It stood for many years, surrounded by an iron fence, on the cor- ner of East 13th Street and L 3d Avenue; and when, at last, OVISION STORE HAMIIST R it fell, many a loyal mourner strove to obtain a fragment of its broken body to preserve in remembrance of by-gone times. The railing which en- closed it may still be seen, Stuyvesant's Pear-Tree. and within it a vigorous young offshoot of the parent tree, putting forth
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
its leaves and branches with an appearance of family pride, and a good degree of the family energy.
The life of Governor Stuyvesant was one long romantic history, as well as an instructive lesson. He had marvelous intellectual power, great subtlety of discernment, and yet a peculiar turn of mind which rendered him less successful in politics than were many who had not half his ability. He gave evidence of extensive reading; a fact in itself remarkable, when we take into consideration the age in which he lived, and the difficulty, at that time, of obtaining books in this country. He was a courtly man, from whom the freshness of youth had quite
In this Vault lies buried
PETRUS STUYVESANT, late Captain-General and Governor inChiefof Amsterdam in New-Netherland now called New York and the Dutch West-India Islands , died in A.D.167 2 aged 80 years.
Stuyvesant's Tomb.
departed, when he retired from public life. He was active, however, in all his movements long after a restful repose had settled upon his care- worn features. He interested himself in church affairs and in city improvements, grew social and companionable, frequently dined his English successor at his country-seat, and rendered himself very dear to his family and intimate friends. He gave one the impression of fine rich fruit, not tempting in external show, but sound and sweet to the core. He died in 1672, and was interred in the family vault, in the church upon his farm. One hundred and thirty years afterward, St. Mark's Church was erected upon the same site, and Peter Stuyvesant, the great-grandson of the governor, caused the vault to be repaired and enlarged. Upon the outer wall of St. Mark's Church is the original tab- let, of which the sketch is a fac-simile.
Governor Stuyvesant had two sons, Balthazar and Nicholas William.
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THE STUYVESANT FAMILY.
The former was born in 1647, and the latter in 1648. Balthazar re- moved to the West Indies after the surrender of the province. Nicholas William married Maria, the only daughter of William Beekman, who died without issue. He then married Elizabeth Slechtenhorst, daughter of the famous commander of Rensselaerswick. They had three children, Peter, Anna, and Gerardus. The former died in 1705, having never married. Anna married the Rev. Mr. Pritchard, an Episcopal clergyman. Gerardus married his second cousin, Judith Bayard. They had four sons, only one of whom, Peter, left descendants. He was born in 1727, and married Margaret, daughter of Gilbert Livingston. Their sons, Nicholas William and Peter Gerard, are well remembered by our older citizens; of their daughters, Judith married Benjamin Winthrop, Cornelia mar- ried Dirck Ten Broeck, and Elizabeth married Colonel Nicholas Fish and was the mother of Hon. Hamilton Fish, the present Secretary of State for the United States.
PETERSFIELD.
WINNAM=ARNOLD SC
THE BOWERY HOUSE.
[" Petersfieid " was the residence of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (many years President of the New York Historical Society), who married, I, Susan, daughter of Colonel Thomas Barclay; 2, Helen Sarah, daughter of Hon. John Rutherford, of New Jersey. The " Bowery House" was the residence of Nich- olas William, the brother of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. Both mansions were built prior to the Revolu- tion. For location, see map of Stuyvesant estate, page 188. The chief portion of this extensive prop- erty is now in possession of the three descendants, Hon. Hamilton Fish (Secretary of State), Benjamin Robert Winthrop, and Louis M. Rutherford, the well-known astronomer.]
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER XIII.
1664 - 1668.
NEW YORK.
NEW YORK. - THE DUKE OF YORK. - GOVERNOR NICOLLS. - MR. AND MRS. JOHANNES VAN BRUGH. - THE BRODHEAD FAMILY. - ALBANY. - THE TAKING OF THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO ENGLAND. - SIR ROBERT CARR AT DELAWARE BAY. - AN EXTRAORDI- NARY COMPLICATION. - CONNECTICUT DIPLOMACY. - THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN CONNECTICUT AND NEW YORK. - NEW JERSEY. - ELIZABETHTOWN. - JOHANNES DE PEYSTER. - INTERESTING CONTROVERSY. - COURT OF ASSIZES. - NICOLLS A LAW- MAKER. - THE HEMPSTEAD CONVENTION. - "THE DUKE'S LAWS." -THE FIRST RACE- COURSE ON LONG ISLAND. - THE FIRST VINEYARD ON LONG ISLAND. - THE FIRST MAYOR OF NEW YORK. - THE FIRST ALDERMEN. - JOHN LAWRENCE. - NICHOLAS BAYARD. - SYMPTOMS OF WAR. - SECRET ORDERS. - WAR DECLARED. - CORNELIS STEENWYCK. - THE PLAGUE IN LONDON. -- THE GREAT FIRE IN LONDON. - ENGLAND'S DISGRACE. - CLARENDON'S FALL. - NEW YORK'S MISERIES. - NICOLLS'S WISDOM. - WITCHCRAFT. - THE MANORS OF GARDINER AND SHELTER ISLANDS. - NICOLLS ASKS FOR HIS RECALL.
TT has been the destiny of New York to sustain fiercer trials and to gain a wider and more varied experience than any other American State. The first half-century of her existence, though not very fruitful in achievements, greatly surpasses in importance any other equal period, from having projected the impulse and prescribed the law of her subse- quent development. When, in 1664, she was geographically united to New England and the Southern British colonies, and exchanged a repub- lican sovereignty for an hereditary king, she possessed the vital element of all her later greatness. The irrepressible forces, political, social, and religious, which were sweeping over the chief nationalities of Europe in that remarkable century, were already here, and pushing to unforeseen ends. Eighteen languages were spoken in our infant capital. The arri- vals which followed increased without materially changing the character of the population. The old, stubborn, intensely practical Dutch spirit was firmly planted in this soil; English inflexibility, sagacity, and invig- orating life had also taken root; and French industry, refinement, and vivacity flourished, if possible, the most luxuriantly of the three. The
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