History of the state of New York Vol I, Part 51

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 51

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).

Thus pertinaciously did the Amsterdam directors oppose the measures of improvement suggested at the Hague ; and the meagre modifications of the " Freedoms and Ex- emptions" of 1629 and 1640, which they grudgingly pro- 24 May. posed, scarcely deserved the name of reforms. The Pro-

* Hol. Doc., v., 223-238 ; O'Call., ii., 132-137 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 598, 599.

516

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

1650. 15 April. Instruc- tions to Stuyve- sant.

CHAP. XV. Visional Order itself was referred back to the committee, and was also communicated to the several Chambers of the company. " We send you a copy of this resolution," wrote the directors to Stuyvesant, " from which you may learn what vexations we have suffered, and how full of danger it is to irritate a furious multitude."

Return of Couwenho- ven and Bout.

8 April.

Leaving Van der Donck to prosecute in the Fatherland the cause of the commonalty, Couwenhoven and Bout obtained letters from the States General forbidding Stuy- vesant to molest them ; and accompanied by Dirck van Schelluyne, who had received a commission to practice as a notary public in New Netherland, the two delegates set sail for New Amsterdam, carrying with them two hund- red stand of arms and a flag for the use of the burghers .*

Ecclesias- tical affairs. The Classis of Amsterdam, anxious to promote the cause of education and religion in New Netherland, where Me- gapolensis was their solitary clergyman, now sent out Will- 10 January. iam Vestens, "a good, God-fearing man," as " Siecken- trooster," or consoler of the sick, and schoolmaster at Man- Domine Grasmeer. April. hattan. Domine Wilhelmus Grasmeer, a son-in-law of Megapolensis, also set sail to take charge of the church at Beverwyck. Grasmeer, however, had been under the censure of the Classis of Alckmaer, and his departure for America without their approbation was considered disor- 4 April. derly. The consistory of the church at New Amsterdam was, therefore, warned not to allow him to take any part in the administration of the Gospel, in case he should of- fer to do so, "until he should have made satisfaction to the Classis of Alckmaer."t

Municipal affairs of New Am- sterdam. School. 7 Feb.

The municipal affairs of the capital of New Netherland continued to be administered by the provincial govern- ment. Jan Cornelissen was employed to keep the com- mon school; and an academy was contemplated. Con- tracts for land on Manhattan Island had now become so frequent, that to guard against fraud, it was ordained that all sales of real estate should be void, unless approved by

* Hol. Doc., v., 202-207, 211 -213, 239-259, 274, 276-296 ; Alb. Rec., iv., 29. t Cor. Classis Amsterdam.

517

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

the director and council. Bakers were required to make CHAP. XV. their bread of the "standard weight of the Fatherland," and to use "naught else than pure wheat and rye flour 14 April. 1650. as it comes from the mill." The currency of the province was again regulated ; and " there being at present no other 30 May. specie," wampum was made lawfully current, at the rate of six white or three black beads of "commercial sewan," or of eight white and four black of the " base strung," for one stuyver. As men were now employed in repair- ing and restoring Fort Amsterdam, in obedience to the or- ders of the company, the inhabitants were warned not to 27 June. let their cattle run at large without a herdsman, "between the fort and the company's bouwery, and the pasture- ground occupied by Thomas Hall, and the house of Mr. Isaac Allerton."*

On the return of Couwenhoven and Bout, the common- 28 June. alty learned the details of what had occurred in Holland. sant's con- Stuyve- The States General had not turned a deaf ear to the com- position to tinued op- plaints of the people of their province; and though the form. popular re- Provisional Order was not yet ratified, it at least foreshad- owed reform. The Nine Men now requested the director to promulgate it officially ; but all he would do was to pro- claim the peace of Westphalia, in obedience to the orders of the States General. The company, he said, was opposed to the Provisional Order, and he would not conform to an instrument which his immediate superiors disregarded.

For two years, Stuyvesant's jealousy had prevented the Fresh diffi- mustering of the burgher guard ; the same jealousy now culties. refused them the stand of colors which the delegates had brought out from Holland. Even the arms which had been procured for their use were not delivered. Food, too, was scarce ; for the previous winter had been so cold "that the ink froze in the pen." In the midst of this famine, the director was obliged to send provisions to Curaçoa, and victual the company's vessels. Van Dincklagen and the Nine Men protested against diminishing the scanty sup- plies of the province. The people were exasperated, and 15 August.

* New Amst. Rec., i., 28-31, 33 ; ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 331.

518

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. XV. Stuyvesant added to the feeling by depriving the Nine 1650. Men of the pew in the church which the consistory had 17 August. appropriated to their use. In writing to his superiors in Holland, the director accused the returned delegates of en- deavoring to draw away the people from their allegiance to the company and its officers. The English on Long Island, who the year before had expressed their confidence in Stuyvesant, again endorsed his administration. A let- 21 August. Another Gravesend. ter, signed by Baxter and the other magistrates at Graves- letter from end, was addressed to, the Amsterdam Chamber, " thank- fully acknowledging" the benefits which they had enjoyed under the rule of the company, " who are the rightful owners of this place." The delegates who had come back from Holland had given birth to " schisms, factions, and intestine commotions," which could be best prevented "by supporting and maintaining our present governor against those malignants, and by our superiors in Holland discred- iting the false reports of discontented persons."

13 Sept. The Nine Men write again to the States General.

But, if the English settlers thus exhibited their syco- phancy to Stuyvesant and their devotion to the West In- dia Company, the " idea of popular freedom" among the Dutch commonalty could not be repressed. The Nine Men again appealed to the States General, whom they had al- ready found to be their " affectionate fathers." No amend- ment had followed the interposition of the home govern- ment. , "We can not," wrote the tribunes, "undertake any thing so long as reform is withheld. We hope, there- fore, that your High Mightinesses will confer on us a good and wholesome government."*"

Stuyvesant at Hart- ford.

17 Sept.

21 Sept.

In this extraordinary position of affairs-his administra- tion bitterly opposed by his own countrymen, and strenu- ously supported by the English residents-Stuyvesant pre- pared for the long-projected meeting with the commission- ers of the United Colonies. Embarking at Manhattan, ac- companied by George Baxter, his English secretary, and a large suite, he touched at several of the settlements along

* Hol. Doc,, v., 272, 346, 354 ; vi., 25 ; ix., 234 ; Alb. Rec., iv., 43 ; O'Call., ii., 140-143 ; Bancroft, ii., 304.

519

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

the Sound, and in four days arrived at Hartford. The di- CHAP. XV. reetor opened the negotiations by a letter, recapitulating the considerations which had moved him to undertake his 23 Sept. 1650. " troublesome journey." This communication, though Negotia- tions. signed at Hartford, was dated "New Netherland." To this the commissioners took exception ; and Stuyvesant 24 Sept. promptly explained that, as the substance of his letter had been agreed upon in eouneil at Manhattan, it had been dated as it was; if, however, the commissioners would for- bear ealling Hartford "in New England," he would not date his letters as "in Connecticut in New Netherland."

The commissioners declaring themselves satisfied, the negotiation proceeded. After a long correspondence, in which the points of controversy were reviewed and ex- plained in detail, it was agreed that " all differences" 28 Sept. should be referred to two delegates from each side, who should prepare satisfactory articles of agreement. On their part, the commissioners appointed Simon Bradstreet, of Arbitrators Massachusetts, and Thomas Prenee, of Plymouth; and appointed. Stuyvesant, on his part, delegated Captain Thomas Willett and Ensign George Baxter .*

" Upon a serious examination and consideration of the particulars committed to reference," the arbitrators deliv- ered their award. Judgment as to what had happened 29 Sept. during Kieft's administration was respited until Stuyve- treaty ar- Hartford sant could communicate with his superiors in Holland. In ranged. regard to the South River, both parties were left "in statu quo prius." Respecting the seizure of Westerhouse's ship, New Haven should aequiesee in Stuyvesant's explanations. Concerning bounds and limits, the arbitrators determined, "I. That upon Long Island, a line run from the western- Boundary most part of the Oyster Bay, so and in a straight and di- New Netb- between reet line to the sea, shall be the bounds betwixt the En- New En- erland and glish and Dutch there ; the easterly part to belong to the gland. English, the westernmost part to the Dutch. II. The bounds upon the main to begin at the west side of Green- wich Bay, being about four miles from Stamford, and so

* Hazard, ii., 154-170 ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., 210-234 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 184, 198, 199.

520

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. XV. to run a northerly line twenty miles up into the country, 1650. and after, as it shall be agreed by the two governments of the Dutch and of New Haven; provided the said line come not within ten miles of Hudson's River. And it is agreed that the Dutch shall not, at any time hereafter, build any house or habitation within six miles of the said Greenwich. line. The inhabitants of Greenwich to remain, till further consideration thereof be had, under the government of the Dutch pos- Dutch. III. That the Dutch shall hold and enjoy all the lands in Hartford that they are actually possessed of, known or set out by certain marks or bounds; and all the remainder of the said land, on both sides Connecticut River, to be and remain to the English there. And it is agreed that the aforesaid bounds and limits, both upon the island and main, shall be observed and kept inviolate both by the English of the United Colonies and all the nation, without any encroachment or molestation, until a full and final determination be agreed upon in Europe by the mu- tual consent of the two states of England and Holland." Further provisions. It was also agreed that the provision in the eighth article of the New England confederation, for the surrender of runaway slaves and fugitives from justice, should be ob- served between the English of the United Colonies and the Dutch within the province of New Netherland. And the arbitrators finally suggested that the proposition of "a nearer union of friendship and amity" between the English and Dutch colonists in America should be recommended to the several jurisdictions of the United Colonies .*

Stuyvesant returns to 12 October. 26 Nov. Returning to Manhattan, after an ineffectual effort to Manhattan. arrange the proposed alliance with the United Colonies against the Indians, Stuyvesant reported the result of his negotiation to the Chamber at Amsterdam. But he omit- ted to send them a copy of the Hartford treaty ; and, five years afterward, the directors expressed their apprehension that the discussions with the commissioners had not re- sulted in a definite arrangement.t

* Hazard, ii., 170-173 ; Hol. Doc., viii., 124 ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., 234-237, 301-303 ; Trumbull, i., 191 ; O'Call., ii., 151 ; Bancroft, ii., 295 ; ante, p. 362.

t Alb. Rec., iv., 177, 198 ; Stuyvesant's Letters, 10-13.

sessions at Hartford.

521

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

Both the referees whom Stuyvesant had appointed at CHAP. XV Hartford were Englishmen. This was naturally felt as a slight, and even an insult, by his own countrymen, who 1650. Opposition monalty to now avowed their opposition to a treaty which they had of the corn- had no hand in framing. Complaints were sent to Hol, the Hart. ford treaty. 19 Dec. land that the director had surrendered more territory than might have formed fifty colonies ; and that he had ceased to consult with Vicc-director Van Dincklagen and Fiscal Van Dyck, and had taken into his confidence an English- man who did not understand the Dutch language, and a Frenchman heavily in debt to the company.

The Nine Men again brought the condition of the prov- 22 Dec. ince before the States General. Stuyvesant had refused Men com- The Nine to select from their nominations to fill the vacancies about to the to occur in their board, which was thus threatened with General. States dissolution. " The grievous and unsuitable" government of New Netherland should be reformed, and the measures recommended by the committee of their High Mightiness- es should be promptly adopted, " so that we may live as happy as our neighbors," wrote the representatives of the commonalty to the home government. All these docu- ments were sent to Van der Donck at the Hague .*

In the mean time, the directors of the Amsterdam Cham- ber, deriding the pretension that Fort Orange, which had Preten- been constructed and garrisoned "ycars before any men- proprieta- tion of Rensselacrswyck exists," was built upon the soil Rensse- ries of of that colonie, determined to use their " sovereign right" rebuked by laerswyck to the confusion of the ungrateful Van Twiller, who, they pany. the com- declared, had "sucked his wealth from the breasts of the 16 Feb.

company which he now abuses." Stuyvesant was accord- ingly instructed to repel by force any attempts to "vilify" his jurisdiction. Beeren Island, which the patroon's agents had "usurped in such a lofty way" that they named it " the place by right of arms," and levied a toll, was to The North be deprived of its artillery, should any be planted again. free. " Every one shall navigate this river unmolested, and cn- joy a free trade at our Fort Orange, which these colonists

sions of the

River to be

* Hol. Doc., vi., 4, 11, 15, 25-70 ; O'Call., ii., 155-157.

plain again

522

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. XV. pretend is constructed on their own territory," again wrote the directors to Stuyvesant .*

1650. Conflicting claims to Katskill. 24 May.

15 June.

The claims of the proprietaries of the colonie to the ter- ritory about Katskill were also openly denied by the West India Company ; under whose orders Stuyvesant prohibit- ed any settlements there by tenants claiming to hold under leases which had been already granted by the authorities of Rensselaerswyck. The colonial officers replied that they had only obeyed the instructions of their patroons ; and promising to refrain from taking any further steps to oc- cupy the disputed territory, they requested the director to suspend action on his part until the question could be set- tled in Holland.

Domine Grasmeer.

Domine Grasmeer, in open contempt of ecclesiastical censure, had, meanwhile, arrived at Rensselaerswyck. The Classis of Alckmaer promptly suspended him from the ministry ; but he seems, nevertheless, to have preached with acceptance to the colonists, who were glad to have the services of an ordained clergyman, even though he was under the discipline of his clerical peers. The cause of education was not neglected ; the people earnestly entreat- ed the colonial officers to provide them with a proper school- master, and steps were taken to raise a fund for building a school-house. This was soon accomplished, and Andries Jansen was appointed the first schoolmaster of Beverwyck.

9 Sept. Schoolmas- ter. Temper of the Mo- hawks. 20 Sept.

23 Sept.

In the autumn, a Tappan savage coming up to Fort Or- ange, reported that the Mohawks were meditating an at- tack upon the Dutch. "Ye Hollanders," said he, "have now been selling guns long enough to the Maquaas," who, he added, had been endeavoring to excite the Southern tribes to exterminate the isolated colonists as soon as the river should freeze, and assistance from Fort Amsterdam be almost impossible. The inhabitants were therefore called together ; and, after free consultation, the colonial author- ities appointed commissioners to proceed to the Mohawk country, with proper presents, and renew the friendship and alliance of the Dutch with the Iroquois. Labbatie,

* Alb. Rec., iv., 26, 46, 49 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 377, 378 ; ante, p. 304.

523

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

the company's commissary at Fort Orange, who had ac- CHAP. XV. companied Van Curler in 1642, was asked to repeat his visit with the new embassy. But Labbatie, feeling him- 1650. self seeure within his fortified post, declined. The colonial 2 October. delegates therefore proceeded alone on their mission ; and bassy to the A new em- friendship was secured with the Mohawks by the distribu- valley. Mohawk tion of presents to the value of nearly six hundred guilders.

The main fountains of " mischief, trouble, and animosity" were the trading licenses, and the " bosch-loopers," or run- ners in the woods, known among the French as " coureurs de bois." This system of licenses, which had helped the Trading li- patroon's revenue to the injury of the colonists, was now abolished. censes formally abolished by a placard, with the full approbation of the people, who testified their assent " in Fort Orange under their own hands."*

Van der Donck, in the mean time, had remained a faith- Van der ful representative of the commonalty of New Netherland Van Tien- in their Fatherland. Learning that Van Tienhoven was Holland. hoven in on the point of returning, "to exercise his vengeance" on the popular party, he obtained an order of the States Gen- 21 July. eral for the examination of the secretary upon fifty-nine specific points touching the misgovernment of the province. A long report upon the subject was accordingly submitted 9 August. to their High Mightinesses. The letter of the thirteenth of September, in which the Nine Men renewed their de- mand for " a good and wholesome" government, was soon afterward received ; and the publication of the Remon- 18 Nov. strance of the commonalty attracted so much attention, that a formal defense of the West India Company's ad- ministration in New Netherland became necessary.t

Donck and

For this purpose, Van Tienhoven, after a year's delay, 29 Nov. drew up, and submitted to the States General " a brief hoven's re- Van Tien- statement," in answer to some of the points in the " Ver- Remon- ply to the toogh." The secretary's reply was an able paper. It took New Neth- strance of no notice of the charges against himself ; exhibited a suc- erland. cinct and skillful defense of the company and its officers ;

* Alb. Rec., viii., 318 ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 161-163, 185 ; Cor. Classis Amst.

+ Hol. Doc., v., 310-325, 339-345, 354-357 ; ante, p. 512, 518.

524

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. XV and closed by retorting upon the signers of the Remon- strance short descriptions of their individual characters, in 1650. terms meant to be by no means flattering .*

1651. 14 January.

14 March. Van Tien- hoven or- dered to come t Hague.

Van der Donck, however, soon presented another me- morial to their High Mightinesses ; and the Amsterdam Chamber was directed to send Van Tienhoven and his fa- ther-in-law, Jan Jansen Dam, to the Hague for examina- tion. But the secretary, who had employed himself dur- ing the winter in deceiving a poor girl at Amsterdam, while his wife was yet living at Manhattan, was about to return, with the spring fleet, to New Netherland ; and the company, to mark their appreciation of his "long and faithful services," had renewed his appointment as provin- cial secretary, made him likewise their receiver general of revenue, and granted him a well-stocked farm. The di- rectors were now ordered to prevent Van Tienhoven's em- barkation until he should have reported himself at the Hague. The secretary, obliged to obey, was arrested on reaching the seat of government, and was fined for adul- tery. A week afterward, he managed to embark, in spite of the prohibition of the States General; and, accompanied by his paramour, he returned to Manhattan, where the rich cargo of a Portuguese prize, captured on the voyage, pro- cured for him an acquittal in the fruitless prosecution com- menced by his undeceived victim.t

21 April.

28 April.

5 May.

Van Tien- hoven re- turns to New Neth- erland.

1650. 8 Feb. Melyn re- turns to New Neth- erland.

Melyn, who had not failed to bring before the States General Stuyvesant's "irreverent neglect" of their man- damus, intrusting his undecided case to an attorney, avail- ed himself of the growing interest in New Netherland to induce Baron Hendrick van de Capellen, of Ryssel, one of the committee of the States General, and several Amster- dam merchants, to form an association for the colonization of Staten Island and its neighborhood. A ship called the " New Netherland's Fortune" was purchased, in which some twenty colonists, with proper farming implements,

18 May.

* Hol. Doc., v., 360-401 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 329-338. In O'Call., ii., 121-127, this paper is erroneously ante-dated as of the year 1649.

+ Hol. Doc., v., 404, 408, 410, 412, 413 ; vi., 6, 33-59, 246, 267-280 ; Alb. Rec., iv., 70 ; O'Call., ii., 168, 169.

525

PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.

were sent out, under the charge of Adriaen Pos. Proeur- CHAP. XV. ing a new letter of safe-conduct from the States General, Melyn set sail in his influential friend's vessel ; which, 30 Junc. 1650. forced by a long and boisterous voyage to put into Rhode Island for supplies, did not reach Manhattan until mid- winter. Stuyvesant eagerly availed himself of this devi- 19 Dec ation as a pretext to seize the ship and vent his animosi- ty against the patroon, by prosecuting him as the alleged owner. As the vessel was owned by Van de Capellen and his associates in Holland, the action against Melyn failed ; but the ship and cargo were nevertheless confisea- ted and sold. The patroon now went to his eolonie at Staten Island, " for the greater security" of which, Van Dineklagen had just before purchased from the Raritans, 5 August. for Van de Capellen, the lands "at the south side, in the chased of Lands pur- Bay of the North River." Summoned to Manhattan on tans. the Rari- new charges, Melyn refused to obey, and a house and lot which he owned at New Amsterdam were seized and sold Apprehending further trouble, the patroon fortified him- Melyn on self in his colonie, where he established a manorial court. and. Staten Isl- Before long, he was charged with distributing arms and ammunition among the Raritans and the South River tribes, and with stirring up the Nyaek savages against Stuyve- Stuyvesant. The council accordingly passed a resolution body- that the director should be attended by a body-guard of guard. four "halberdiers" whenever he went abroad .*

Notwithstanding the rebukes which his administration Stuyvesant had received at the Hague, Stuyvesant persisted in his ar- arbitrary persists in bitrary course. But the spirit of the Dutch colonists did measures. not slumber ; and the vice-diretor, and the fiseal, Van Dyek, joined in preparing a new protest expressing the 1651. popular griefs. Stuyvesant now ordered Van Dineklagen Van Dinck- 28 Feb. lagen ex- elled from the council

to be expelled from the eouneil. The viee-director refused ; to obey ; for his commission was from the same supreme

* Alb. Rec., iv., 90; viii., 1-7, 23, 64-66 ; lIol. Doc., v., 65, 306 ; vi., 42, 263 ; vii., 32 ; East Jersey Records, B. "; Whitehead's East Jersey, 19; O'Call., ji., 130, 157. 158, 575. The " New Netherlands' Fortune" was sold to Captain Thomas Willett, one of Stuyve- sant's Hartford arbitrators, who sent her on a voyage to Virginia and Holland, where she was replevined by Van de Capellen ; and the West India Company, after a long lawsuit, was obliged to pay heavy additional damages.

526

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. XV. authority as was that of the director himself. Newton and 1651. Baxter, with a file of soldiers, therefore arrested Van Dinck- lagen, and conveyed him to the guard-room, where he was imprisoned several days. After his liberation, he retired to Staten Island, to brood with Melyn over their mutual Van Schel- injuries. Van Schelluyne, the notary, who had authenti- luyne and others op- pressed. cated the protest, was arbitrarily forbidden to practice his profession, and scarcely dared to keep any papers in his house for fear they should be seized by the director. Loock- ermans and Heermans both suffered vindictive prosecu- tions. Stuyvesant's displeasure seemed chiefly directed against his own countrymen of the popular party ; the En- glish, who had shown their sycophancy, were treated with consideration and regard.

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 51

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