USA > New York > History of the state of New York. Vol. II, Pt. 1 > Part 7
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47
RICHARD NICOLLS, GOVERNOR.
joy all the articles of surrender" made at New York, and CHAP. II. that former local arrangements were generally to remain in force. Jeremias van Rensselaer was also confirmed in 1664. 18 October. his authority, on condition that a new patent should be ob- Rensselaer. tained from the duke, and the inhabitants of Rensselaer- wyck. wyck should take the oath of allegiance .*
By the articles of capitulation, the Dutch, who were three fourths of the inhabitants, were at liberty to sell their lands, and remove with their families and personal effects to Holland. But Nicolls, from the first, had been anxious to retain them all in their present homes, and in- duce them to become British subjects. IIe therefore went to the meeting of the metropolitan burgomasters and sche- 14 October. pens, and having sent for Stuyvesant, Van Ruyven, and the Dutch ministers, invited them to take an oath to be Oath of al- true subjects of the King of Great Britain, and to obey all required. commands from his majesty, the Duke of York, or his gov- ernors and officers, while they lived in any of his majesty's territories. This obligation did not involve any permanent renunciation of allegiance to the Dutch government. Nev- ertheless, great reluctance to take it was shown, as the ar- ticles of surrender, while they declared that " all people shall still continue free denizens," did not provide for their swearing to a new allegiance. After much debate, "all the meeting roundly declared" that they could not take sach an oath unless the governor should add to it " con- formable to the articles concluded on the surrender of this place." Their reason for insisting was that otherwise they might " nullify or render void the articles." Domine Mega- polensis and Secretary Van Ruyven, however, "saw no im- pediment" to taking the proposed oath.
A few days afterward the burgomasters called upon 18 October. Nicolls, with whom, in the presence of Cartwright and Willett, the matter of swearing was again discussed. To put an end to the "false and injurious aspersion" regarding it by which the minds of the inhabitants were by this time distracted, Nicolls declared in writing " that the articles of surrender are not in the least broken, or intended to be bro- kun, by any words or expressions in the said oath." This 20 October. * Giro. Fnt., 1, 36-50; Col. Duc., ili., GT, 68, 94 ; Colden (ed. 1755), i., 34; Smith, i., 23 ; il. N Y H. S. CAL .. i .. 391; Mansell, vil., 97. 98; Val. Man., 1847, p. 370 ; Esopus Records; /t.1, 1, 000, 401, 852; ante, vol. 1, 714, 729, 732, 744, 761.
48
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. IT. answer satisfied all. Tonneman, the schout, although in- tending to return to Holland in the next ship, did not re- 1664. fuse to take the obligation. In the course of the next five
21 October to days, upward of two hundred and fifty of the Dutch inhab- 26 October. Allegiance sworn by the Dutch. itants, including Stuyvesant, Van Ruyven, the Domines Megapolensis and Drisius, Beekman, Van Rensselaer, and others from New York, Esopus, and Albany, swore allegi- ance to Charles the Second and the Duke of York .*
The governor's statesmanship was quickly vindicated. The " Vroedschap," or great council of the city, having been 22 Novem. called together to elect a successor to Tonneman, chose Al- 19 Decem. lard Anthony; and Nicolls, confirming their choice, gave the new sheriff a commission and instructions for his guid- ance. As the soldiers had already become unruly, Nicolls 31 Novem. appointed Anthony Wharton to be provost-marshal, to keep them from interfering with the citizens, and to punish of- 22 Novem. City's let- ter to the Duke of York. fenders. The city authorities testified their good will in a letter to the Duke of York, drawn up by Burgomaster Steenwyck, praising Nicolls as a " gentle, wise, and intelli- gent" governor, under whose wings they hoped to " bloom and grow like the cedar on Lebanon." To this end they prayed that the city of New York might have the same commercial privileges as the king's subjects in England, or even be as free from burdens as Boston; in which case, in a few years, the duke would derive great revenues from a province which would be " then peopled with thousands of families, and having great trade by sea with New En- gland, and other places in Europe, Africa, and America."+
Yorkshire and Alba- nia,
Thus was an imperial territory added to the dominions of England. Specific names were now given to the acqui- sition, so as to " comprehend all the titles" of the Duke of York. The province itself was called "New York." Long Island was designated as "Yorkshire." The region be- tween the Hudson and the Delaware, of which little was known beyond the few hamlets near Manhattan, was named " Albania."
Of all the territory of New York, Albania offered the greatest attractions to emigrants. It was considered the
* Gen. Ent .. i., 49, 50; New Amsterdam Pec., v., 614-018; Val. Man., 1961, 605-607; Col. Doc., ill., 74-77 ; H. B. Dawson's " Sons of Liberty in New York," 14-16.
+ New Amst. Brc., v., 643-646; Patents, i., 151-155; Val. Man., 1561, 607, 608; Valen- tine's City of New York, 161-163.
49
RICHARD NICOLLS, GOVERNOR.
inost "improveable part" of the province "in respect not CuAr. II. only to the quantity of the land, but to the sea-coast and Delaware River, the fertility of the soil, the neighborhood 1664. to Hudson's River, and, lastly, the fair hopes of rich mines." Communipaw, Bergen, and Staten Island, already settled settle- by the Dutch, were now to gain new neighbors. John Albania. ments in Bailey, Daniel Denton, and others, of Jamaica, on Long Isl- and, asked leave to buy and settle a tract of land on the ss sept. After Cull River,* which they had formerly intended to do, but had been "obstructed by the" then ruling Dutch." Nieolls, wishing to give the Long Island people some "re- ward for their fidelity" previous to the surrender, cheer- fully assented, and promised the petitioners " all due en-30 Sept. couragement in so good a work." Bailey and Denton. with their associates, soon bought from the savages the 28 October. land between the Raritan River and Newark Bay, which had been purchased thirteen years before by Augustine Heermans. The English purchase, however, was confirmed ? Dec. by Nicolls to Captain John Baker and John Ogden, who had bought out Denton's interest, and to Bailey and their associates, upon condition of their " doing and performing such acts and things as shall be appointed by his royal highness the Duke of York or his deputy." Before long, four families from Jamaica began the settlement of what was soon afterward known as Elizabethtown.t
The military and naval officers who accompanied Nicolls from England also became large landholders. Captain James Bollen, the commissary of ammunition at Fort Grants of land. James, and others, received a grant on Staten Island. A 94 Dec. tract at Hackensack was granted to Captain Edward Grove, 3 October. "[ the Martin. To Captain William Hill, Lieutenant Hum- phrey Fox, and Master Coleman, of the Elias, were sever- ally allotted parcels of land on Staten Island. The naval grantees, however, had scarcely time to take possession of their domains ; for their ships, being no longer required for Mrvice at New York, were sent back to England with dis-
* This was an English corruption of the Dutch name " Achter Cul" (now called Newark INTI, which was given because it was achter, or "behind" the bay of New York. The pas- the leading to this cul was called the "Kil van Cul," and is now known as "the Kills." Nx 4r.4. Y .L. L., 313, note.
* º L [ke., ill., 195; Chalmers, i., 615, 624, 625; Patents, i., 20; Elizabethtown Bill in $ \t 5Fery (1:47), 95-95; Leaming and Spicer, 668-673; Smith's N. Jersey, 62 ; Gordon, 27; WIDWAT: IL J .: 19. 56-09 ; Index N. J. Col. Doc., 47 ; Thompson's I. I., ii., 103; Den- 'its . % ) , 13, 13 ; ande, vol. 1., 537, 707, 708, 724.
TANTO
50
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
. CHAP. II. patches from Nicolls announcing the success of the expe- dition, and the establishment of the duke's government in 1664. what was lately New Netherland."
The Dela-
tory.
An important question had been meanwhile presented for the action of the royal commissioners. The Duke of York's patent included only the territory lying east of the Delaware, and the authority of Nicolls as governor extend- ed no farther. Yet the commissioners were instructed by the king to reduce to his obedience the Dutch wherever seated within his claimed dominions in North America. Nicolls soon learned that the Maryland people were "in some sort overawed" by the city of Amsterdam, to which the Delaware settlements belonged, and that, unless those possessions were acquired, the gaining of New York would be "of small advantage to his majesty." Without regard- ing Lord Baltimore's pretensions, the commissioners de- termined "to reduce the Delaware, thereby to assure this place for his royal highness."
Sept. Expedition to reduce the Dutch on the Del- aware.
Five days after the capitulation of New Amsterdam, Nicolls, with Cartwright and Maverick, accordingly com- missioned their colleague, Sir Robert Carr, to go with the Guinea, Captain Hyde, and the William and Nicholas, Cap- tain Morley, and "all the soldiers which are not in the fort," and reduce the Delaware settlements. Carr was instructed to promise the Dutch the possession of all their property and all their present privileges, " only that they change their masters." To the Swedes he was to " remonstrate their happy return under a monarchical government, and his majesty's good inclination to that nation." To Lord Baltimore's officers in Maryland he was to declare that their proprietor's pretended right to the Delaware being "a doubtful case," possession would be kept for the king " till his majesty is informed and satisfied otherwise."+ Carr's expedition sailed from New York just before Cart-
* Patents, i., 5, 7-9, 92; Col. Doc., ii., 470 ; iii., 68, 92, 103. The Elias was wrecked near the Lizard, and all the letters in her sent by Nicolls were lost. For this reason, among others, the carly records relating to New York in the State Paper Office are so defective. Captain Hill and a few men were saved. Hill afterward obtained another ship, was at the battle of Lowe-toffe the next June, then at Barbadoes, and in the autumn of 1067 returned to England from France, where he had been a prisoner. Captain Grove arrived safely with the Martin, and behaved like a coward at Lowestoffe. He was " reckoned a prating cox- comb and . f no courage," and was certainly an adept in the basiness of bribing for office : Pepys, i., 401, 402 : ili., 294; Mass. H. S. Coll., xxxvii., 190.
+ Gen. Int .. i., 33. 53, 50; Hazard's Reg. Peun., 36, 37 ; Col. Doc., ii., 226 ; iii., 52, 57, 63, 60,70; Col. Mes., xx., 1.
51
.
RICHARD NICOLLS, GOVERNOR.
wright's went up to Fort Orange. After a tedious voyage, CHAP. II. prolonged by the ignorance of the pilots and the shoaliness of the Delaware, the ships anchored above New Amstel. 1664. The Swedes were soon made friends. But the Dutch at 10 October. 30 Sept. first were obstinate for a defense. After a long parley, Fob Oothout and five others, on behalf of the burghers, signed articles of capitulation as favorable as those which 3 Oct. had been agreed to by Stuyvesant. But Hinnoyossa, the city's governor, with less than fifty soldiers, resolved to de- fend the fort. The next Sunday morning the ships drop- 122 Oct. ped down, and fired two broadsides each, while a company Conquest of the Del-
of foot, under the command of Lieutenant John Carr, a son aware. of Sir Robert, with Ensign Arthur Stock, stormed the works. The Dutch fired three volleys of musketry, but none of their ordnance, on their assailants, who did not lose a man ; while three of the garrison were killed and ten wounded. Carr now landed from the Guinea, and claimed the pillage for himself as " won by the sword." Assuming an author- ity independent of Nicolls, he claimed to be "sole and chief commander and disposer" of all affairs on the Delaware. With quick rapacity, he appropriated Hinnoyossa's farm to Rapacity c! himself, Schout Van Sweringen's to his son John, and Peter Carr. Alricks's to Ensign Stock. To Captains Hyde and Morley be granted a tract of land in the upper part of the river, 28 Oct. called by the Indians "Chipussen," which he erected into a manor by the name of "Grimstead." The Dutch soldiers were sent into Virginia to be sold as slaves. The property of the city of Amsterdam, as well as that of the inhabitants about New Amstel, was remorselessly seized. To complete the work of Carr -- in such disgraceful contrast to that of Nicolls at Manhattan-a boat was sent down to the Hloar- kill, where all the city's effects were plundered, and even the inoffensive Mennonists, who formed " the Quaking So- viety of Plockhoy," were stripped "to a very. naile."
The ships were quickly sent back to New York with a 33 Oct. report from Carr of his proceedings, and of the hostile at- titude of the Susquehanna Indians, who were then at war with the Iroquois Senecas. But Carr himself, instead of returning to assist in executing the royal commission, would not leave the Delaware. His colleagues thought his conduct there presumptuous and disgraceful. They baked.
52
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. II.
1664.
24 Oct. 3 Novem.
peremptorily required him to return to New York; and Cartwright and Maverick commissioned Nicolls to proceed to Delaware Bay, " there to take special care for the good government of the said place, and to depute such offi- cer or officers therein as he shall think fit, for the man- agement of his majestie's affairs, both civil and military, until his majestie's pleasure be further known." In writ- ing to Secretary Bennet, Nicolls rebuked Carr's conduct, and added that because of his absence, "his majestic's com- mission can not be pursued in the several colonies of New England unless I should leave New York, and thereby put to hazard the security of all at once, contrary to the opin-
26 Oct.
5 Novem.
Nicolls's report to Secretary Bennet.
ions of Colonel Cartwright, Mr. Maverick, and all the rea- son which God hath given me. For we do concur that we came to serve his majesty and not our own ends." Nicolls farther urged that merchandise for the Indian trade and the necessities of the inhabitants should be promptly sent out. By the loss of the former Dutch trade, thousands in Virginia, Maryland, and New England were deprived of their accustomed necessaries, and would not know how to live " without speedy care be taken from England." If Lord Baltimore should solicit the grant of Delaware to himself, the king ought to look upon his patent as forfeit- ed, for trading with the Dutch contrary to the Navigation Act. Nicolls also submitted that if the Dutch should at- tempt to recover either New York or Delaware, the king should "enjoin all his colonies, none excepted, under severe penalties, to resist and expel all such foreigners out of these his majesty's territories." With these dispatches the Guinea 26 Oct. was ordered to follow the Elias and the Martin to England. But her departure was delayed by a mutiny which broke out among the soldiers in the garrison of Fort James, and 22 Novem, she did not sail until nearly a month afterward. Captain Harry Norwood, whom Nicolls not long afterward recom- mended as his own successor, returned in her to England.
In pursuance of the commission of his two colleagues, Nicolla goes to the Delaware.
Nicolls visited the Delaware, accompanied by Captain Rob- ert Needham, whom he proposed to leave there as his dep- uty in command. Carr was severely rebuked, and obliged to give up much of his ill-gotten spoil. Nevertheless, he could not be persuaded to leave the place for some time.
53
RICHARD NICOLLS, GOVERNOR.
The name of New Amstel was now changed to New Castle, CHAP. II. and an infantry garrison established there. As Needham's presence at Fort James, to act as first counselor, was desir- 1664. able, Captain John Carr was appointed commander of the Delaware, in subordination to the government of New York, to which it was annexed "as an appendage ;" and thus affairs remained for several years."
Upon the return of Nicolls to New York, the royal com- missioners proceeded to execute a very delicate duty. The Connecticut Charter of 1662 covered not only the entire territory of New Haven, but also a large part of New Boundary Netherland. The Dutch rejected the claims of the Hart- necticut. ford Court, and New Haven stoutly refused to yield to Con- neeticut, because her charter had been surreptitiously ob- tained " contrary to righteousness, amity, and peace." The Duke of York's patent, however, not only comprehended Long Island and other neighboring islands, but the whole of New Haven, and the greater part of Connecticut, includ- ing Hartford itself. When this became known, both the wrangling Puritan colonies were seriously troubled at a specimen of majestic usurpation which outdid their own encroachments on the Dutch territory. Yet Connecticut was in no condition to oppose so powerful an antagonist as the presumptive heir to the crown. New Haven was still more helpless. Her only alternative was submission to Connecticut, or annexation to New York. After a sor- rowful debate, her General Court determined to submit to Connecticut ; yet final action was postponed until it could no lager be avoided.
In this dilemma it was important to conciliate the royal commissioners. At their first meeting after the surrender of New Netherland, the Connecticut Court voted a present 13 October. of five hundred bushels of corn to Nicolls and his col- leagues. They also appointed Mathew Allyn, Nathan Gold, Agents James Richards, and Captain John Winthrop to go with New York. Governor Winthrop to New York and congratulate the commissioners, "and, if an opportunity offer itself, that they can issue the bounds between the duke's patent and
with Con-
11 August. 11 Sepical.
* 6+2. T'ht .. 1. 53, 75, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 67 ; Coll. MISS., xx .. 1; Col. Doc., ii., 360, 411, 421, Y'A * *; ilL., 6% : 1. 53. 103, 104, 109, 113, 115, 345, 346; Mass. II. S. Coll., xxxvii., 300-311: ** *. i. C't; Hazard' . Reg. Penn., i., 37; iv., 56; Aun. Penn., 355-200 ; S. Smith's N. 7 , 6 . 51; 1TUN. L. 122-124; N. Y. IL. S. Coll. (1869), 81; ante, vol. i., 717, 744.
54
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. II. ours (so as in their judgments may be to the satisfaction of the court), they are impowered to attend the same." John
1664. Howell and Captain John Younge, of Long Island, were desired "to attend the same service." Horses were like- wise presented by Winthrop to the royal commissioners .*
The Connecticut delegates accordingly visited New York, where they were received by Nicolls, Cartwright, and May- 30 Novem. erick. Both patents were produced, and all that could be said on each side was fully considered. The question abont Long Island was soon decided. The duke's patent ex- pressly included it by name ; that of Connecticut did not. Moreover, Governor Winthrop, at Gravesend, a few days before the surrender, had declared that the jurisdiction formerly exercised by Connecticut over Long Island " ceased and became null." The commissioners, therefore, at once determined that the southern boundary of Connecticut Long Isl- and ad- judged to New York. should be the Sound, and that Long Island should be un- der the government of the Duke of York, "as is so ex- pressed by plain words in the said patents respectively."
But Connecticut claimed that, under her charter, her territory extended across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, the Duke of York's patent covered all her territory west of the Connecticut River, and left her only the narrow strip between the east side of that river and Rhode Island. Moreover, she had not yet obtained possession of New Haven. IIer charter had been granted only upon Winthrop's promise of submission " to any alter- ation" in her boundaries which might be made by the king's commissioners. Their authority to declare Hart- ford itself within the jurisdiction of New York, as it had once been within the jurisdiction of New Netherland, could not be disputed. The original Indian deed of S June, 1633, to Commissary Van Curler, of the land around Hartford, was appealed to in proof. But the commission- ers were supplicated not to enforce the duke's patent to its full extent, which would deprive Connecticut of her "very bowels and principal parts." In the judgment of Nicolls. such a decision would "cast dishonor upon his majesty,"
* Col. Rec. Conn., i .. 415, 427, 433, 435; ifi., 480 ; New Haven Rec., ii., 467-485, 491-548; Mass. H. S. Coll., xxxvii., 311; Col. Doc., iii., 186; Chalmers, i., 203-296 ; Dec. Hist. N. Y .. i., 504 ; Tramaball, 1., 249-272, 515-521; Palfrey, il., 545-556, 50 ?- 595; iii., 236; ante, vol. L., 519, 302, 133.
£
55
RICHARD NICOLLS, GOVERNOR.
and be " to the utter ruin of that colony, and a manifest CHAP. If. breach of their late patent." Besides, in the delicate rela- tions in which the commissioners were placed respecting 1664. all the New England colonies, it was important this should be made " a leading case of equal justice." They there- fore determined that five towns, which "had been pur- Five town- chased, possessed, or gained" by Hartford, or by New Connecti- ,yielded to Haven, should be "relinquished to Connecticut by virtue cut. of their precedent grant from his majesty." Such a settle- ment, they "were assured, would be an acceptable service" to the Duke of York, although to the diminution of his patented bounds.
At the same time, it was distinctly understood on both sides that the dividing line should run " about twenty miles from any part of Hudson's River." An agreement to this effect was drawn up between Nicolls and Winthrop and 30 Novem. his colleagues. To define the starting-point and the com- pass direction of this boundary, an amendment was insert- Boundary- ed, describing it as running from the head of Mamaroneck main land. Creek to the north-north-west, until it reaches the Massa- chusetts line. The amendment seems to have been pro- posed by the Connecticut delegates, who assured Nicolls that the boundary thus described would be "twenty miles every where from Hudson's River."
Upon this basis the royal commissioners the next day 1 Deecri. signed an instrument, in which, after declaring Long Island to be under the government of the Duke of York, they or- dered " that the creek or river called Mamaroneck, which is reported to be about thirteen miles to the east of West- chester, and a line drawn from the cast point or side, where the fresh water falls into the salt at high-water-mark, north- Boundaries north-west to the line of the Massachusetts, be the western ed. establish- bounds of the said colony of Connecticut; and all planta- tions lying westward of that creek and line so drawn to be under his royal highness's government ; and all plantations lying eastward of that creek and line to be under the gov- ernment of Connecticut." Winthrop and his colleagues at the same time gave their " consent to the limit and bounds above mentioned."*
* 64n. T.h.t., i., 70, 71: N. Y. Col. MSS., xxii., 5; Ixix., 1-6; N. Y. Senate Doc., 1957, No. 343, p. 7, 59, 41, 42, 100-104; Col. Doc., ii., 139, 140 ; iii., 55, 106, 238; vii., 564, 507; Col.
line on the:
56
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. II. For the moment, this settlement of the dispute seemed 1664. to be satisfactory to both parties. The submission of New Haven to Connecticut was soon completed. But Nicolls 13 Decem. and his colleagues were strangers, and ignorant of the ge- ography of the country. They supposed that they had adopted substantially the same boundary agreed to by the Dutch and English colonies in 1650. Unfortunately, they Trickery of " relied upon" the assurances of the Connecticut delegates, Connecti- cut. and were deceived by " wrong information" which no hon- est or intelligent adviser could have given. The line as- sented to and intended by Nicolls-twenty miles every where from the Hudson River-instead of starting at Mamaroneck, should have started several miles farther to the east, near Stamford; and, instead of running north- north-west, it should have run due north. But the duped commissioners established a line, the starting-point of which was about ten miles from the Hudson, and which, crossing that river near Peekskill, intersected the prolong- ed southern boundary of Massachusetts near the north- west corner of the present New York county of Ulster. All the territory north and east of this line was thus ap- parently assigned to Connecticut and Massachusetts. The absurd error was soon detected, and the boundary was nev- er ratified by the Duke of York or by the crown. But the pertinacity with which Connecticut clung to what looked very much like a mean deception on her part was after- ward the cause of great controversy."
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