USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York > Part 9
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Claes Van Elslant, senior, was one of the earliest emi- grants; he came hither in the service of the West India Company, in the capacity of a clerk. He was an active and intelligent young man, and rendered good service in the wars and expeditions of early times. Mr. Van Elslant settled a family at this place, and was appointed court mes- senger, and held various other offices of a subordinate character, among which was that of the town sexton and undertaker. He lived in the time that the old grave-yard in Broadway, above Morris street, was the receptacle of the dead of this town; and probably, judging from the du- ration of his official career, he officiated at most of the burials in that ancient cemetery, which was abandoned about the same time that the ancient sexton departed this life. Mr. Van Elslant died about the year 1670. His son, Claes Van Elslant had, for many years, held the place of court messenger, formerly occupied by his father, who had become unfitted, by age, for the discharge of the active duties of the place, and after the death of his father he was likewise appointed, in 1670, the town sexton and un- dertaker, and also auctioneer of sales.
SMEE STRAAT.
128 Isaac Abrahamson.
Andries Clasen.
John Van Gelder, a grain measurer.
Elsie Barens.
Lambert Hendricksen Van Campen, a tavern-keeper. Jan Adamzen. Jan Meinderzen, cartman.
That part of the street, now known as William street, between Wall and Pearl streets, was then called the " Smee straat;" having formerly been known as " the glass-maker's street," and subsequently as "Smith street." At the period now referred to, it contained a few houses. We are unable to give the reason, with positive certainty, why the name Smee straat was applied to this street, unless from the circumstance that Jan Smeedes, a glass-maker, was one of the first, if not the very first settler upon the present line. He owned considerable land, and resided on the east side of the street, a short distance north of the present Pearl street and Hanover square. The common pronunciation, in Dutch, of Smeede's straat, would be the same by which it was known at the period now spoken of.
Meindert Barenzen, cooper.
Geetje Jans.
Andries Rees, an inn keeper. Jan Roelofsen.
Joris Dopsen, an innkeeper.
Immitje, widow of Frans Clasen. William Vanderschuyr.
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Andries Andriezen, a mason.
Cornelius Hendricksen, drummer, owned the premises on the south-west corner of Wall and William streets, con- taining twenty-six feet on Wall street and thirty feet on William street. This property he sold in 1699.
Gerrit Jansen Van Aarnhan.
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CHAPTER XI.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SEVERAL OF THE EARLY RESIDENTS IN NEW AMSTERDAM, NOT ENUMERATED IN THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS.
Maryn Andriezen originally settled on the patroon Van Rensselaer's estate, about the year 1632. He subsequently engaged in the North river trade, and established himself in New Amsterdam, where he owned a considerable prop- erty near the present Pearl and Wall streets. Mr. An- driezen was a man of violent passions, and in common with many other traders whose pursuits had brought them in constant commerce with the savages, he regarded that race with feelings of antipathy. Being a resident of the city at the time of the Indian war in 1642, he was fore- most in counseling violent measures against the savages, and an efficient minister in their destruction. The de- plorable results of that war to the Dutch, raised a high feeling in the community against the violent counselors whose impetuosity had brought about so many disasters. These persons endeavored to shift the responsibility of their acts from one to another, and the governor (Kieft) charged Andriezen with the odium of these misfortunes. The latter, upon hearing this, visited the fort, and present- ing himself in the council-room, assaulted the governor, then sitting in council. He was seized by those present,
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and lodged in prison. Several of his friends, headed by his son, soon after came to demand his release, and at- tempted to force an entrance to effect their object, when young Andriezen was shot down by a sentinel. The prisoner was afterward sent to Holland for trial, but is subsequently found residing in New Amsterdam. Mr. Andriezen died in this city a few years afterward, his widow, Lysbet Tysen, surviving him many years, having subsequently married Geerlief Michielsen.
Isaac Allerton, one of the New England pilgrims, arrived at Plymouth, in the May Flower, in 1629. He soon after engaged in the coasting trade, principally between the Dutch settlements and those of New England, and estab- lished extensive interests in the town of New Amsterdam, having formed a business connection with Govert Loock- ermans, a thriving Dutch trader. Mr. Allerton was a resident of this city for a considerable period, and in 1643 was one of the representatives of the citizens in the coun- cil called " the eight men," and held other offices under the Dutch administration. His trade increasing, he engaged in shipping, himself sailing on most of the principal voyages, extending along the Virginia coast and to the West Indies. The tobacco trade principally occupied his attention. His son Isaac attended to his father's business in this city during his absence on trading voyages. Mr. Allerton, senior, died in the year 1659. After his affairs in this city were closed, his son removed to New England.
Everardus Bogardus, domine, the first established cler- gyman in this city. arrived here in 1633. A church, con- structed of wood, was erected for him on the present north side of Pearl street, between Whitehall and Broad streets. This edifice being exposed to an assault, should the Indians
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surprise the community while at their devotions, was aban- doned in the time of the Indian war of 1642, at which time a church was erected within the walls of the fort, where Domine Bogardus afterward officiated. He married in this city the widow of Roelof Jansen, one of the earliest settlers. This lady owned, in right of her former hus- band, a farm on the North river, in the neighborhood of the present Canal street, containing sixty-two acres, which had been granted to Mr. Jansen in 1636. At the time of her marriage to Domine Bogardus she had four children, and by Domine Bogardus she had also four children. This farm was, in the year 1671, conveyed by the heirs, with the exception of one of her sons, Cornelius, to Gov- ernor Lovelace, and became afterward the property of Trinity church. Her son Cornelius, not having joined in the conveyance, his heirs claim one-eighth interest in this valuable property, which has been the subject of litigation for many years, and is well known as the " Anneke Jan's suit." The residence of Domine Bogardus in this city was on the present Whitehall street, east side, between Bridge and Stone streets. Having embarked on board the ship Princess in the year 1647, on a visit to his father-land, the vessel was cast away on the English coast, and Mr. Bogardus, with more than eighty others, perished. He was succeeded in the pastoral charge of the Dutch congre- gation in this city by the Rev. Johannes Backerus. It is to be remarked that the original name of the family was Bogard or Bogaert, the termination us, assumed by him being then a common custom among clergymen and other professors of learning, as giving a classical distinction to the ordinary name. The name of his successor was orig- inally " Backer," or as it would be called in English, the
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Rev. John Baker. Subsequently, in this city, the Rev. Messrs. Megapolensis, Drissius, Selinus and others, held the pastoral charge of the congregation.
William Beeckman was born at Hasselt in 1623, and came to this city in 1647, at the commencement of Gov- ernor Stuyvesant's administration, being then in the employment of the company. He married Catharine, a daughter of Frederick Hendricks de Boogh, captain of a Hudson river trading vessel, and a lady of great personal attractions. In 1652 he purchased of Jacob Van Corlaer his plantation at Corlaer's Hook, where he resided for some time. At an early age he filled the office of Schepen of this city, and other municipal offices of distinction. In 1658 Mr. Beeckman was appointed vice-director of the Dutch colony at the mouth of the Delaware river, where he resided until the year 1663, when he was transferred to the settlement at Esopus in this State, of which district he was appointed sheriff. After officiating there for several years, he removed to this city. In 1670, he purchased the farm formerly owned by Thomas Hall, and then occupied by his widow in the vicinity of the present Beekman street, and fronting on the road along the East river shore, (now Pearl street.) This property then lay between the farm formerly belonging to Cornelis Van Tienhoven on the south, and Bestevaar's swamp on the north. It covered several of the present blocks in that vicinity. Mr. Beeck- man here continued the brewing business, which had formerly been established by Mr. Hall. He resided at that place, in high repute among the citizens of his day until his death, which occurred in 1707, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. His descendants at the present day are numerous.
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William Breedenbent, under-sheriff in 1633, was the orig- inal grantee of a lot, and among the first settlers on the north side of the present Beaver street, between Broad and New streets.
George Baxter, an Englishman, was appointed, by Kieft, in 1642, his English secretary, and was a conspicuous character in the different negotiations with New England, for several years. In 1646 he patented lands at Canarsie, on Long Island, where he resided for some time. He was continued as English secretary by Stuyvesant, but soon turned against the Dutch, and became concerned in in- trigues to subvert the Dutch authority, and was suspected to have acted the part of a spy in his intercourse with the Dutch. Being a magistrate at Gravesend, he was dismissed from office in 1654, and soon after hoisted the English flag at Gravesend, and, in company with several of his neigh- bors, proclaimed the jurisdiction of Great Britain. He and the others were then seized and sent to prison at New Amsterdam; here he lay over a year, when, through lenity, having been removed from the dungeon to a more comfort- able apartment, he seized an opportunity to escape. His property was, however, confiscated. Baxter now became more active than ever in his efforts to free Long Island from the dominion of the Dutch, and, in 1663, appeared before the ministry in England, to give an account of the affairs of New Netherland. He afterward returned to New Amsterdam with the English forces which captured the city in 1664; he subsequently removed to Nevis, in the West Indies.
Jaques Cortelyou was originally the agent of the Hon. Mr. Van Werckhoven, a magistrate of Utrecht, in Holland, who, in the year 1651, purchased several large tracts, for
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the purpose of planting colonies in New Netherland. Cortelyou was a man of good education, and was offered the place of Sheriff of New Amsterdam, in 1654, but de- clined to act. He was the first surveyor of the city, and made the first map of the town in 1656, at the time the streets were first established. In 1657 he became the patentee of New Utrecht, so named after the city of which his patron, Van Werckhoven, was a magistrate, and him- self probably a native.
Johannes Delamontagnie, doctor, arrived in this country in the year 1637, being then about forty-five years of age. He was appointed, by Governor Kieft, the following year, as a member of his council, an office the second in author- ity in the government. Mr. Delamontagnie (whose name was sometimes abbreviated to "Lamontagnie" and "Mon- tagnie") was a French Huguenot, and sought these shores to escape the rage of religious persecution in France. He purchased a farm, of about two hundred acres, at Harlem, on this island, which he named the " Vredendal," or Valley of Peace, paying therefor seven hundred and twenty dollars. It lay east of the present Eighth avenue, and between Ninety-third street and the Harlem river. In 1644 he commanded a party from this city, against the Indians on Staten Island, and soon after another, against one of the Long Island tribes at Scout's Bay. At the time of Mr. Delamontagnie's arrival here, he was a widower, with four children. One of his grand-sons, named Vincent Dela- montagnie, was born on 22d of April, 1657, and died 26th of May, 1773, at the age of one hundred and sixteen years.
Samuel Drissius, domine, was sent out from Holland in the year 1652, to assist Domine Megapolensis, then
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the officiating Dutch clergyman in this city; he was, at that time, about forty years of age. Soon after his arrival he married Lysbet Juriaensen, widow of Isaac Greveraat, for- merly a Dutch trader in this city, by which marriage he acquired a considerable property; his own salary was about six hundred dollars. The residence of Mr. Drissius was on the present north side of Pearl street, between Whitehall and Broad streets (next to corner of Whitehall street;) the lot was about twenty feet front, and extended to Bridge street. He subsequently removed to the west side of the present Broad street, near Wall, his premises embracing a large garden. Mr. Drissius officiated as clergyman here until his decease, about the year 1681; he left no children, and bequeathed his property, one half to his wife and one half to his sister, Mrs. Jane Slade, of London.
Jan Jansen Damen, a trader, settled originally at Fort Orange, or Albany, about the year 1631, but subsequently removed to New Amsterdam, where he took a prominent part in the public affairs of his time. He was the original grantee of a large farm, extending from the North to the East river, and bounded partly on Maiden lane. The city wall cut through a part of this property, when erected in 1653, and laid the grain fields open; it then belonged to his heirs. Having visited the father-land, on public busi- ness, in the year 1651, Mr. Damen died on his return. Some further account of his family will be found in other parts of this book.
Philip De Truy, court messenger or marshal, was one of the early settlers. He resided on the road called the Smith's Valley, now Pearl street, north of Maiden lane, where he owned a considerable property.
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Arnoldus Van Hardenburgh, a trader, was among the earliest inhabitants, and occupied a conspicuous position among the merchants of his day.
Pieter Hartgers came to this country in 1643, in the ser- vice of the company, and first settled at Fort Orange, or Albany. He married Fytje, daughter of Annetje Jans. Having engaged in trade on his own behalf, he established a temporary place of business on the present Broad street. He died in Holland, in 1670.
Andries Hudde was one of the officers employed by the West India Company in this city, from a very early period. He was a considerable property-holder as early as 1636. He held the office of first commissary of wares. In 1646 he was transferred to the Dutch settlements at the mouth of the Delaware river, to superintend the company's com- mercial interests in that quarter. He afterward (1655) was appointed secretary and attorney-general of that col- ony. Hudde having died, his property in this city, on Broadway, east side, above Beaver street, sixty feet front and two hundred and twenty feet in depth, was sold to Mr. Aertsen, in 1667.
George Holmes, an Englishman who had settled in New England, went thence, in 1635, with thirteen or fourteen others, to make a settlement on the Delaware river, where the Dutch had established a colony. They were, however, made prisoners by the Dutch, and sent to New Amsterdam. Holmes then expressing his willingness to become a sub- ject of the Dutch, was permitted to establish himself in trade here, as other citizens. He received a grant of land for a tobacco plantation; "in breadth, from Deutel Bay, (Turtle Bay) along the East river to the hill of Schepmoes, where the beach tree lies over the water, and in depth one
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hundred rods into the woods." He also received the grant of a town lot, near the fort, on the present Whitehall street. He died here, and left several children. The property was afterward sold to Cornelius Steenwyck.
Wolfert Gerritsen, one of the earliest Dutch settlers, who, with his family, permanently remained in the colony, came here in 1630, in the service of Patroon Van Rensse- laer, and acted as overseer of the farms in the colony. Subsequently entering the service of the company at New Amsterdam, a residence was built for him by the company in 1633, near the fort; it is believed, on the present north- west corner of Pearl and Whitehall streets. In 1636, in company with three other prominent officials (Governor Van Twiller being one,) he purchased from the Indians a tract of ten to fifteen thousand acres, on Long Island, near the present town of New Utrecht, where he afterward resided for many years, and where, it is supposed, he died. His step-sons, Jacob Wolphertsen Van Couwenhoven and Pieter Wolphertsen Van Couwenhoven, were, for many years, among the most prominent citizens of New Am- sterdam.
Philip Geraerdy, a trader, was among the earliest set- tlers, and received a grant, in 1643, of a house lot on the north side of the road now called Stone street, between Whitehall and Broad streets. He was also the original grantee of a lot on the east side of Broadway, between Beaver street and Exchange place, one hundred and ten feet front and about two hundred and thirty feet in depth. His property was inherited by Jan Geraerdy, who after- ward resided at the homestead, in the present Stone street.
Michael Jansen emigrated from Broeckhuysen, to this country in 1636, and first settled at Rensselaerswyck. He
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was accompanied by his wife and two children. Turning his attention from farming pursuits to the fur trade, he amassed a considerable fortune, and, in 1646, removed to the vicinity of New Amsterdam, having purchased the plan- tation of Jan Evertsen Bout, called Gamoenepa (Commu- nipaw,) on the west side of New York Bay. The Indian wars which devastated the settlements contiguous to this city, compelled Mr. Jansen, in the year 1655, to remove his family, for greater safety, within this city, where, although not privileged as a citizen, he was permitted, in consequence of his having lost his all by the Indian war, to open a tavern. This business he followed until the occurrence of a more settled condition of Indian affairs, when he returned to the Jersey shore, and re-erected his farm buildings, and renewed his farming operations. He was one of the first magistrates in that part of the present State of New Jersey.
Jochem Pietersen Kuyter had, previously to emigrating to this country, been a commander in the Danish service, in the East Indies; he came hither, from Darmstadt, in the year 1639, accompanied by his family. His intention being to turn his attention to farming, he procured a grant of a large farm at Harlem, on this island, and engaged in agricultural pursuits, on a large scale. He also had a house in this city, on the present north side of Pearl street, on the block between Hanover square and Broad street, where he engaged in trade to some extent. Mr. Kuyter, from an early period, took a prominent part in the public affairs, and may be said to have been the leading man of his day on the side of the citizens' party, or that part of the community in favor of extending privileges to the people, and of restraining the arbitrary powers claimed by
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the officers of the West India Company. His opposition to Kieft's administration was one of the leading causes of its downfall. Upon Stuyvesant's advent to power, he was courted by the two factions, existing under the former ad- ministration; he chose to favor that of Kieft, as necessary to sustain the prerogatives of his own power, and caused Kuyter and others to be brought to trial for seditious con- duct. He was found guilty of having threatened Kieft " with his finger;" which, with other similar acts of con- tempt, were adjudged worthy of exemplary punishment, and he was sentenced, in 1647, to be banished for three years, and to pay a fine of about sixty dollars. He sailed for Holland, and immediately brought the matter before the authorities there, and procured a reversal of the judgment. He then returned to this city, and continued to reside on his farm until the year 1654, when he was unfortunately murdered by the Indians. A commission was at that time on its way from Holland, appointing him sheriff of this city. The widow of Mr. Kuyter married again, and died within a year after his death. The patro- nymic name of Kuyter was Pietersen, by which he was commonly known.
Cornelis Melyn, of Antwerp, arrived in this city in 1639; in 1640 he procured an order in Holland that a grant of the whole of Staten Island (except a farm which had been previously granted to another) be made to him, which was done in 1642; he had previously established his residence there, and settled a number of persons upon the island. Mr. Melyn was, at that time, of middle age; his daughter married Jacob Schellinger, a merchant of this city. The Indian war of 1643 completely frustrated all Melyn's de- signs for the establishment of a settlement on Staten Island,
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and made him one of the leaders of the party opposed to Kieft's government, to which the evils of that war were ascribed. During that war he resided in this city, having procured the grant of a lot on the Heere graft, which may now be particularly pointed out, as extending on the east side of Broad street, between Stone and Pearl streets, with sixty feet depth on both those streets. The op- position of Melyn to Kieft's administration was very violent. On Stuyvesant's arrival, in 1647, Kieft brought charges against Melyn and others, of seditious conduct; he was convicted, and sentenced to seven years' banish- ment and to a fine of one hundred and fifty dollars. He appealed from this sentence, and went to Holland; where, having brought the matter to the attention of the authori- ties, the sentence was virtually reversed, and Melyn re- turned to this city; here the differences between Melyn and Stuyvesant were renewed, and continued for several years, he meanwhile residing on Staten Island. The Indian troubles having been revived, an assault was made upon his plantation; himself and whole family were taken pris- oners, and all his buildings, crops and farming utensils were destroyed by the natives. In 1659 he made over his property in Staten Island to the government, and removed to Holland. It is believed that his sons, Jacob and Isaac, afterward resided in this city.
Johannes Megapolensis, domine, at the age of thirty-nine years-with his wife, Macktelt Williamson, aged forty-two years, and his children, Helligond, Derrick, Jan and Sam- uel, aged fourteen, twelve, ten and eight years-was sent from Holland, by Mr. Van Rensselaer, in the year 1642, to officiate as minister of the gospel at Rensselaerswyck. Having resided there until the year 1649, and at that time
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differences having arisen to make him dissatisfied with his residence there, he was preparing to return, with his family, to Holland; but the church at New Amsterdam being then vacant, by the departure of the Rev. Mr. Backerus, Gov- ernor Stuyvesant prevailed on Domine Megapolensis to establish himself in New Amsterdam. His wife had previ- ously left the country, and it was with difficulty he was persuaded to remain. His salary was fixed at four hun- dred and eighty dollars per annum. Domine Megapolensis resided here for many years subsequently; he owned con- siderable property on the present east side of Broad street and on Beaver street. He was living as late as 1663; but his subsequent history is not known to us.
Lady Moody and her son, Sir Henry, having left the New England colonies on account of religious persecution, -she having laid herself open to the charge of heresy, in maintaining the erroneous doctrine that infant baptism was a sinful ordinance-took refuge, in the year 1642, among the Dutch, and, for a short time, resided in this city. She soon afterward purchased a considerable tract on Long Island, in the present village of Gravesend; her plantation was, at the time of the Indian war in 1643, attacked by the Indians; but having a guard of forty men, escaped injury. She died previous to the year 1660. Her son, Sir Henry Moody, for a time, resided at Gravesend, but removed, it is believed, to Virginia. He was appointed, in 1660, ambas- sador from that colony, to negotiate with the authorities of New Netherland respecting some commercial regula- tions, and remained in this city a considerable time, resid- ing at the tavern kept by Litschoe, on the present north side of Pearl street, a few doors below Wall street. He departed, leaving an account due for his board, to defray
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