History of the state of New York Vol I, Part 48

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n
Publication date: 1871
Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers
Number of Pages: 844

USA > New York > History of the state of New York Vol I > Part 48

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ence of the

by the sav-

Toward evening, Huygens, the Swedish commissary, Interfer- arrived at Fort Beversrede, with seven or eight men, and Swedes. demanded by whose authority Hudde was raising the building. "By order of my masters, and with the previ- ous consent of the savages," replied the Dutch commissary. The sachems now interposed. "We shall grant this land Reproved to the Dutch, who will settle here ; but by whose orders ages. do the Swedes erect buildings here ?" said they to Huy- gens. "Is it not enough that the Swedes are already in possession of Matinnekonk, the Schuylkill, Kinsessing, Ka- kanken, Upland, and other places, all of which they have stolen from us ? About ten or eleven years ago, Minuit had no more than six small tracts of land upon Paghagh- king, which he bought to plant there some tobacco, of which we were to enjoy half the produce. You would be greatly surprised if we were to come to you and purchase land, and then take the land adjoining it, as you have done on the river here, and yet continue to do. You would even prescribe laws to us, who are the original and natu- ral proprietors of the land, as if we might not do with our own what we wish. The Swedes have only lately arrived on the river, yet they have already taken so much land from us, which they have actually settled ; while the Dutch have never taken from us any land, although they have dwelt here and conversed with us more than thirty years."

With this admonition from the savages, Huygens and his party retired, and Hudde continued his " commenced

* Alb. Rec., iii., 258 ; vii., 80 ; xvii., 268, 321 ; Hudde's Report, 436-439 ; O'Call., ii., 80; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 94-99, 115 ; ante, 232, 426.

484

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CH. XIV. work." While he was thus engaged, Mounce Kling, the Swedish lieutenant of the fort on the Schuylkill, arrived

May.

1648. " with twenty-four men, fully armed with charged mus- kets, and bearing maces, marching in ranks." To his de- mand whether the Dutch intended to proceed with their fort, Hudde promptly replied, " What is commenced must be finished." Upon this, the Swedish soldiers were or- dered to cut down every tree near the house. The order was soon executed; and even the fruit trees which Hudde had planted were destroyed .*

Damages inflicted by the Swedes.

16 May. Campanius returns to Sweden.

Campanius, who had accompanied Printz to New Swe- den as chaplain six years before, now returned home. His desire to improve the condition of the savages induced him to study their language; and he has the honor of hav- ing been the first missionary among the Indians of Dela- ware and Pennsylvania. After his return to Sweden, he completed the translation, which he had begun at Tinni- cum, of Luther's Catechism into the Lenni-Lenape tongue, in which, accommodating the Lord's Prayer to the circum- stances of the savages, he interpreted the petition for "daily bread" into a supplication for "a plentiful supply of venison and corn."t

Plowden again visits May. About the same time, Sir Edmund Plowden, the titular Manhattan. earl palatine of New Albion, whose pretensions had been derided by Kieft in 1643, paid a second visit to Manhat tan. He had now been " about seven years" in Virginia, where he lost all the property he had brought over. Plow- den's absurd claim seems to have been treated as con- temptuously by Stuyvesant as it had been by Kieft; and 14 June. the bankrupt earl palatine went to Boston, on his way "to England for supply, intending to return and plant Dela- ware, if he could get sufficient strength to dispossess the

* Hudde's Report, 439, 440 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 100, 101.

t Campanius, Preface, 72; Records of Swedes' Church ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 101, 102. The translated Catechism, a copy of which is in the library of the Am Phil. Soci- ety, was printed in Delaware and Swedish at Stockholm, in 1696. Campanius died on the 17th of September, 1683. In 1702, his grandson, who had never been in America, published the "Description of New Sweden," now generally quoted as "Campanius." A translation of this work, by Mr. Du Ponceau, of Philadelphia, was issued by the Penn- sylvania Historical Society in 1834.

485

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

Swedes." But his purpose was never executed ; though, CH. XIV. upon reaching London, he seems to have published a ro- mantic pamphlet-" Description of the Province of New 1648. Plantage- Albion"-under the fabulous name of " Beauchamp Plan- net's New tagenet."*

In the mean time, the West India Company had ex- 4 April. pressed their dissatisfaction that the limits between the Swedes, the English, and the Dutch were still unsettled. Stuyvesant accordingly dispatched Van Dincklagen and Van Dinck. La Montagne to the South River, with instructions to pro- La Mon- lagen and cure a formal confirmation of the lands which had been to the South tagne sent previously purchased of the savages. Three days after 7 June. River. their arrival at Fort Nassau, the commissioners proceeded to Fort Beversrede, and invited to a conference the native chiefs and " rulers over the territories and lands lying on and around the Schuylkill, called Armenveruis." 'Their 10 .June. former sale to Arendt Corssen, of "the Schuylkill and ad- the Schuyl- joining lands," was now irrevocably confirmed ; and of all firmed. kill con- this territory the Dutch officers "took a public and lawful possession."t

Purchase of

The commissioners then sailed to Tinnicum "with a be- Interview coming suite," and solemnly protested against the injuri- Printz. with ous acts of the Swedish governor. Nevertheless, Printz continued his vexatious conduct. Hans Jacobsen, attempt- 2 July. ing to establish himself on the Schuylkill, was stopped, and annoy- threatened " that if he came there again and dared to the build, he should carry off with him a good drubbing." A 6 July. Swedes. few days afterward, Thomas Broen was treated in a sim- ilar manner at " New Holm."

The next autumn Hudde visited Manhattan, at Stuyve- 8 Sept. sant's summons, and made a report on the situation of af- port. fairs on the South River, with suggestions for their im- provement. Not long afterward, the director received in- 25 Sept. telligence of new provocations of the Swedes. Printz had

Continued

ances from

Hudde's Te-

· Winthrop, ii., 325; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 279, 323-326 ; aste, p. 381, 382 ; Appendix, note E. Plantagenet's " Description" has been reprinted by Mr. Force, in his Collection of Tracts, vol. ii.

+ Alb. Rec., iv., 5; Hudde's Report, 440 ; Hol. Doc., viii., 55 ; O'Call., ii., 81 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 102 ; ante, p. 232.

486

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

16 Sept.

CH. XIV. built a large house, thirty feet long and twenty wide, in 1648. front of Fort Beversrede, and within twelve feet of its gate, so that it could now be scarcely seen from the river. The inland savages, too, were dissatisfied that the river was not "always crowded" with Dutch cargoes ; for the Swedes had but few. The commissariat of the company was "in want of every necessary article," and there were now only six able-bodied men on the South River to gar- rison the two Dutch forts .* +

Settlement commenced at Passa- yunk. It was therefore determined to commence the coloniza- tion of Passayunk ; and patents were granted to Simon Root and other freemen, to settle and build on the Schuyl- kill, at "the Mast-maker's Point." With these patentees, 18 October. Hudde returned to Fort Nassau. Preparations were im- mediately made for building in the neighborhood. of Fort Beversrede ; and the palisades around that post which the 4 Nov. Swedes had torn down were replaced. The work had scarcely been repaired, before it was destroyed a second Interrupted time by the Swedes. The same day, the Swedish lieu- by the Swedes.

5 Nov.

tenant, Swen Schute, going to Mast-maker's Point, where Root was beginning to raise a house, forbade him to pro- ceed. At the intercession of Adriaen van Tienhoven, the clerk of the court on the South River, and Alexander Boy- er, the deputy commissary, Schute " relented" until they could send to Fort Nassau and obtain Hudde's further or- ders. These were sent the same night; and at sunrise the next morning Schute warned the Dutch officers that he had also received " positive orders" from Printz to de- stroy what they had built. Ordering his men to draw their swords, he marched to Mast-maker's Point, followed by the Dutch. In spite of all protests, and the exhibition of Stuyvesant's instructions, the Swedes presently destroy- ed Root's building, "using their swords in lieu of axes."

7 Nov. Protests of the Dutch. 9 Nov.

Hudde, not having "any other arms than paper," again protested against this "destruction of mutual harmony and friendship." Van Tienhoven also wrote to Stuyvesant, de-

* Alb. Rec., v., 71 ; xvii., 268 ; Hol. Doc., viii., 32-35 ; Hudde's Report, 440, 441 ; S. Hazard, 78, 102-104.

487

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

tailing the injurious conduet of the Swedish officers, and CH. XIV. urging him to examine in person the situation of the South River, " because the Swedes do here what they please." 1648 They had entirely shut out the garrison at Fort Bevers- rede from " the sight of the water on the kill," and had not left them land enough " to make a small garden in the spring." The savages, too, "continually renew their demand for powder and balls." Commeree was "nearly spoiled ;" for the Duteh were compelled to give two fath- oms of white, and one fathom of black sewam for a bea- ver. This barter was "rather too much against them." Every fathom, it was found, amounted " to three ells," as " the Indians always take the largest and tallest among them to trade with us."*

The director, in the mean time, had not neglected mu- Municipal nicipal affairs at New Amsterdam. Commissary Keyser, New Am- affairs at from the council, and Thomas Hall, Martin Kregier, and sterdam. George Woolsey, from the commonalty, were appointed " fire-wardens," to visit and inspeet all the houses in the 23 January. town, " between the fort and the Fresh Water." In case any house should be burned through the owner's negli- genee, he was to be fined twenty-five guilders. If the fire- Fire de- wardens should condemn any chimney as foul, the owner partment. was to pay a fine of three guilders, "to be appropriated to the maintenance of fire-ladders, hooks, and buckets, which shall be provided and procured the first opportunity." Tav- erns were also regulated. As "almost one full fourth part of the town of New Amsterdam" had become "houses for the sale of brandy, tobacco, or beer," it was ordained that 10 March. no new taverns should be licensed, except by the unanimous regulated- Taverns consent of the director and couneil. Those already estab- lished might, however, continue for four years longer, upon condition that their owners would abstain from selling to the savages, report all brawls to the council, and procure

* Alb. Rec., v., 6, 10, 11; vii., 206 ; xvii., 340-348; lIol. Doc., viii., 35, 36, 57, 58; Hudde's Report, 441, 442 ; O'Call., 11., 83 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 104-108 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 248. A fathom was commonly estimated at as much as a man could reach with outstretched arms. The Indians, therefore, had good reason to choose their " largest and tallest" men to trade with the Dutch.

488

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

29 April. Church services.

13 May.

CH. XIV. decent houses, according to their ability, "to adorn the 1648. town of New Amsterdam." To prevent further damage, no hogs nor goats were thereafter to be pastured between Fort Amsterdam and the "Fresh Water," except within proper inclosures. With the approbation of Domine Back- erus, the council also ordained that "from this time forth, in the afternoon as well as in the forenoon, there shall be preaching from God's word, and the usual exercises of . Christian prayer and thanksgiving," which all persons Indians at were required to " frequent and attend." Notwithstand- Manhattan. . ing every precaution, the savages were daily seen "run- ning about drunk through the Manhattans." The pla- card against selling them strong drink was thereforere pub- lished; and in addition to former penalties, offenders were now " to be arbitrarily punished without any dissimula- tion." Many of the inhabitants had been in the habit of employing the Indians as servants, or work-people, and had allowed their wages to become in arrear. The Indians had threatened to right themselves in their own fashion ; 28 Sept. and all persons were therefore warned to pay their debts to the savages promptly, under penalty of a fine. A new 6 October. proclamation forbade the townspeople from harboring run- away servants, whether of the company, "or of any other 15 Dec. Vacant lots to be im- proved. persons living here or elsewhere." The community was also warned, " for the last time," to improve their vacant lots in the town of New Amsterdam. In default, such lots would be assigned to persons inclined to improve them, and a reasonable compensation would be awarded to the original owner .*

The Nine Men take the initia- tvc.

The " Nine Men," as we have seen, had commenced their public service by passing upon the propositions of the director. An occasion soon arose for them to take the in- itiative. The commonalty, anxious for the prosperity of the province, desired to encourage the immigration of per- sons who intended to make New Netherland their perma- nent home. Whoever came with such an intention was welcome. Many strangers had already settled themselves * New Amst. Rec., i., 8-11, 15-19, 22-24 ; Appendix, Note Q.

489

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

at Manhattan and on Long Island without awakening and CH. XIV. jealousy. But there were many besides who had come with other designs; and the Nine Men wished to check 1648. what seemed a growing evil. A remonstrance was, there- 18 Feb. fore, addressed to Stuyvesant and his council, proposing va- rious measures for remedying the injuries caused by per- sons who contributed nothing toward the advancement of the province, but who merely carried on a temporary trade in furs, which they procured from the Indians by improp- er traffic, and then smuggled out of the country at night.

The remonstrance of the Nine Men prompted new proc- lamations, which only produced embarrassment. No per- 10 March. son was thercafter to be allowed to carry on business in New Netherland except permanent residents who had taken the oath of allegiance, were rated at from two to three thousand guilders at least, and who intended to Residence " keep fire and light" in the province. "Old residents.", required. however, though not possessing the full property qualifi- cation, were allowed trading privileges, provided they re- mained in the province, and used only the weights and measures of "Old Amsterdam, to which we owe our name." To carry out this policy, it was soon afterward ordained 18 Sept. that " all Scotch merchants and small dealers, who come merchants over from their own country with the intention of trading here," should " not be permitted to carry on any trade in the land" until they had resided three years in the prov- ince ; and they were further required to build " a decent habitable tenement" within one year after their arrival. Strangers, however, might sell goods from their vessels, if they were properly entered, and the duty paid on all sales. Every Monday was to be a market day, " as well for stran- gers as residents." In imitation of one of the customs of the Fatherland, an annual " Kermis," or fair for ten days, Kermis or commencing on the Monday after Saint Bartholomew's day, was established, at which all persons were privileged to sell goods from their tents. The trade on the North and South Rivers was reserved to citizens of the requisite qual- ifications, who had obtained a pass from the director. The

Scotch or peddlers.

490

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CH. XIV. East River, however, was declared to be " free and open

to every one, no matter to what nation he may belong."

Hand or guide- boards.

1648. All vessels under fifty tons were to anchor between the Capsey "Hoeck," which divided the East from the North River, and the "hand," or guide-board opposite the "Stadt- herberg," which Kieft had built in 1642. Larger vessels might anchor as far eastward as the "second guide-board," opposite the " Smit's Vleye." No freight, however, was to be landed, nor were any boats to leave the vessels be- tween sunset and sunrise .*

All these regulations were strictly enforced. The con- traband trade in fire-arms, of which the New England commissioners had complained, was as severely condemned by the commonalty ; and the new regulations for its sup- pression met their warm approbation. All they desired was that they " should be executed without partiality." Cases, however, occurred in which the director's action exposed him to severe criticism. Govert Barent, the arm- orer of Fort Amsterdam, Joost Teunissen de Backer, Ja- cob Reintsen, Jacob Schermerhorn, and his brother, were 9 July. Contra- in fire- arms. arrested, and Reintsen and the two Schermerhorns were band trade convicted and sentenced to death for violating the proc- lamation against illicit trade in fire-arms. The sentence, however, was commuted, " by the intervention of many . good men," to the confiscation of the goods of the convicts. Teunissen was released on bail ; and failing to receive a passport to return to Holland, he left New Netherland se- cretly the next year, and brought his case before the States General. Stuyvesant was blamed for undue severity in these instances, as well as for the seizure of a cargo of goods in a ship consigned to Govert Loockermans, one of the Nine Men.t But his conduct seems to have been dic- tated by an earnest desire to repress the mischievous traf- fic which had been carried on so long with the savages.

This trade centered chiefly at Rensselaerswyck, where

* Alb. Rec., vii., 160-189 ; New Amst. Rec., i., 20, 21 ; O'Call., ii., 59-62 ; C. F. IIoff- man's Address, 1847, p. 27.

t Alb. Rec., vii., 240 ; viii., 60 ; Hol. Doc., iv., 238, 243 ; O'Call., ii., 62-64 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 290, 311, 312, 334, 335.

491

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

Brandt van Slechtenhorst, the recently-appointed commis- CH. XIV. sary of the infant patroon, had now arrived. The new co- lonial officer, who was esteemed "a person of stubborn and 1648. 22 March. Van Slech- tenhorst, headstrong temper," took an early opportunity to exhibit his devotion to his feudal chief, and his insubordination to the provincial government. A proclamation for the ob- servance of a general fast-day throughout New Nether- land having been sent to Beverswyck or Beverwyck, for publication, Van Slechtenhorst protested against it as an 26 April. invasion of "the right and authority of the Lord Patroon." ordination. His insub- Stuyvesant, whose attention had already been called to the illicit trade carried on within the colonie, therefore de- termined to hasten his proposed visit there. Embarking July. Van with a small escort of soldiers, he soon afterward reached Brugge, commissa- Fort Orange, where Carl van Brugge was now the com- ry at Fort pany's commissary, in place of Bogaerdt. Orange.

The arrival of the commander-in-chief was greeted by Stuyvesant salutes from the artillery of Fort Orange, and the patroon's Orange. visits Fort " three pieces of cannon." Van Slechtenhorst, summoned 21 July.

to answer for his contempt of the company's authority, re- torted by complaining of Stuyvesant's infringement of the privileges of the patroon. The director general was in no 23 .July. mood to trifle, and a protest, conveying the orders of the Van Slech- Orders to provincial government, was handed to the contumacious tenhorst. colonial officer. He was directed to refrain from putting up any buildings within range of the guns of Fort Orange, as they rendered the post insecure. No new ordinances affecting trade or commerce within the colony were to be made, unless with the assent of the provincial authorities. The pledge which the patroon and his officers exacted from the colonists, not to appeal from their judgments to the Su- preme Court of New Netherland, was held to be " a crime ;" and the annual return of all the affairs of the colony to the director and council at Manhattan, provided for in the char- ter of privileges, was peremptorily required. In reply, Van 28 July. Slechtenhorst complained that the director had acted " as tenhorst's Van Slech- if he were the lord of the patroon's colonie." The pro- reply. hibition from building near Fort Orange was unjustifiable;

commissa- ry at Rens- selaers- wyck.

492

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

Fort Or- ange to be repaired.

CH. XIV. for "a few years ago" the patroon's trading-house had 1648. stood on the very border of the moat, and, moreover, the land all around was his. After directing that the pali- sades of the fort should be replaced by a solid stone wall, and after endeavoring to induce the Mohawks and other - neighboring savages to preserve peace among themselves, with the Dutch, and with their " brethren, the English and French," the provincial commander-in-chief returned to New Amsterdam, saluted on his departure, as he had been on his arrival, by all the artillery at Beverwyck.

8 Sept.

Notwithstanding Stuyvesant's orders, Van Slechtenhorst 23 August. persevered ; and a new protest from Manhattan warned him to refrain from encroachments on the precinct of Fort Orange. The colonial officer replied by excepting to the technical formality of the director's legal proceedings, and by contrasting the practice at New Amsterdam, where streets full of houses clustered around the fort, with the more severe restrictions at Beverwyck, where no buildings were thenceforth to be erected within the range of a mus- ket ball from Fort Orange. Van Slechtenhorst followed up his letter by forbidding the company's commissary to quarry stone, or cut timber within the colonie. At the same time, he persisted in erecting houses for the patroon "even within pistol-shot of Fort Orange."

Soldiers sent to Fort Orange.

Stuyvesant promptly dispatched a corporal's guard to Fort Orange, and ordered Commissary Van Brugge to de- molish the prohibited buildings, arrest Van Slechtenhorst, and keep him in custody until he produced his commis- sions and instructions. The patroon's officer was also summoned to appear and answer at Fort Amsterdam; and the importation of fire-arms into the colonie, without the permission of the " Lords Majors" at Amsterdam, was for- mally prohibited. 2

2] Sept.

The unusual presence of a military force created some excitement in the quiet hamlet. The bearing of the sol- diers was insolent; Van Slechtenhorst himself, while walk- ing in the street with his deputy, was rather rudely sa- luted; the colonists were offended; and the Mohawk sav-

493

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

ages wondered why the " Wooden Leg"* wished to de- CH. XIV. stroy the houses " which were to shelter them in storms and winter." They could not understand the motives for Feelings of 1648. the director's military restrictions. "Come to us in the the Mo- hawks. Maquaas country," said they, "and we will give you plenty of land."

Van Brugge, unwilling to proceed to extremities, for- bore to demolish the houses or arrest the patroon's officer ; but he executed the rest of his duty ; and Van Slechten- horst refusing to produce his commission, was summoned Van Slech- to appear and answer at Fort Amsterdam. The soldiers summoned tenhorst were now directed to return to Manhattan. The patroon's tan. to Manhat- representative again exhibited his loyalty in a protest 20 October. against Stuyvesant's infringement of the privileges of his Protest. feudal chief. Van Brugge's mode of serving the summons had not technically conformed to the practice at home, and was not legal. The patroon was master on his own land, and his officers.could arrest all trespassers, and pre- vent the cutting of timber. It was a mere subterfuge that his buildings interfered with the safety of Fort Orange, which one could now " enter or quit at pleasure, by night or by day."

The provincial government promptly maintained that 23 Nov. their authority "extended to the colonie of Rensselaers- ders from Fresh or- wyck, as well as to the other colonies, such as Heemstede, sant. Stuyve- Vlissingen, and Gravensande." The company's chief of- ficers, Van Brugge and Labbatie, were directed to proceed with the repairs of Fort Orange, and authorized to take timber and quarry-stones for that purpose from any place within the territory of New Netherland. All buildings within gun-shot of the fort were to be destroyed, and the jurisdiction of the company over its precinct, and their "ancient and uninterrupted use" of the land in its neigh- borhood, were to be firmly maintained. A fresh citation

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the state of New York Vol I, Part 48

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n Publication date: 1871 Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers Number of Pages: 844

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n
Publication date: 1871
Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers
Number of Pages: 844