USA > New York > History of the state of New York. Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 32
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
Ingoldesby
113; Narcissus Luttrell, il., 127; Collins's Perare, i., 229 ; Macaulay, ill., 128, 170, 435, 532, 5TO, CO0-OTT : Doc. Ilist., i., 120, 149. 1-6 ; C. A. I.e., 1 .. , 618, 131, 791, 310, 815; iv., 214, 719, 760; Col. MSS., xxxvi .. 119: N. Y. I. S. C. AL 1-633, 90, 20).
* Col Doc., ifi., 631, 6-0. 751-230; Doc. Hist., IL, 32, 04, 151, 203, 920, 221 ; Mass. II. S. Coll., + Col. Doc., Ii., TOG, 731, 752, 800 : 1v., 021, 3.5; Wood, 152; Moss. II. S. Coll., xxxY., 2.7, 279.
·
632
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Leisler very an- gry.
CHAP. XIT. Brooke, Lieutenant Shanks, and Ensign Simmes to demand from Lcisler possession of the fort for the king's forces and 1691. their stores. The fort was certainly the proper place in which Ingoldesby and his soldiers should be quartered, and the king's commissioned officer naturally considered the German usurper no more than a "pretended Governor." Leisler was "very angry at the demand ;" he was willing to receive the king's stores, but not the king's soldiers into the fort, and he asked Brooke " who were appointed of the Council in this Province?" When informed that William had named Phillipse, Van Cortlandt, and Bayard, among others, and not himself, Leisler fell into a passion, and cried out, " What ! those Popich Dogs, Rogues-Sacrement, if the King should send three thousand such, I would cut them all of." It was a crushing blow to the colonial demagogue who had thus been reproved by his king, and his taste of power had so infatuated him that he could not " bear the thoughts of a supersedeas," nor conceal his resentment to- ward those " harbengers, as he judged, of an authority to which he must submit.""
Leisler's dilemma.
And now Leisler had to meet a serious dilemma. Ile had seized the fort, as he pretended that it would not oth- erwise be safely kept for William. He had usurped the government of New York by sheer impudence, and without the least authority from the English crown. The only per- son now in the province who held William's commission to command the king's forces there was Ingoldesby, and he was bound to obey Sloughter, and him only, as the royal governor of New York. As the proper place for the royal garrison was the royal fort, Leisler should have let Ingoldes- by and his soldiers occupy it at once. If he had done so, much trouble would have been avoided.
Leisler ob- stinate,
Nevertheless, Leisler resolved to hold out against the change which he saw William intended. Sloughter had not arrived, and perhaps he might not come; while In- goldesby was ouly commissioned to obey the king's govern- or of New York for the time being. Of this technical di- lemma Leisler took advantage, and assumed that, in Slough- ter's absence, he was himself the commander-in-chief of
* Col. Doc., ili., 752, 291 ; Sv., 525; Dec. Ilist , li., 247, 248; Wood, i., 152, Thompson, i., 203; N. Y. I. S. Coll (1SC) , 315, 316, 529, 392.
1880
£
633
JACOB LEISLER, ACTING LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
New York. He refused to give up the fort unless Ingoldes- CHAP. XII. by had directions to that effect from King William or Gov- ernor Sloughiter. So he sent De la Noy and Milborne to 1691. inspect Ingoldesby's orders, and offer all sorts of accommo- dations for himself, his officers, and soldiers. The absurdi- ty of Leisler's position is obvious. To this proposition In- goldesby and the king's counselors on board the Beaver could not assent. They knew that when Sloughter left En- gland, William had never recognized Leisler's usurped au- thority. So Ingoldesby replied :- " I have seen the copy of 30 Jan. his Majesty's letter directed to Lieut. Govr. Nicholson, etc., but cannot find how you may derive any authority to your- self from thence. I want not the accommodation you spe- ciously offer to his Majesty's soldiers under my command. Possession of his Majesty's Fort is what I demand from you ; and if you refuse that, I must esteem you no friend to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary." The same day Ingoldesby issued a mandate to Captain Samuel Moore, 30 Jan. of Long Island, for aid against the "rebels" who opposed his Majesty. Leisler answered this by a protest, and a call 31 Jan. of the neighboring militia to obey his own orders. Find- ing that malicious rumors had been spread against him, In- goldesby declared that his purpose was not to disturb, but ? Feb. to protect the people. The next day Leisler announced 3 Feb. that Sloughter had been appointed governor of the prov- ince, and that the fort at New York would be surrendered to him on his arrival; and meanwhile directed Ingoldesby and his soldiers to be entertained in the city. So he for- 4 Tel. bade all persons from aiding or comforting the major of poses In- Leisler op- William's forces, who had no orders from the governor. At geldesby. length Ingoldesby, feeling that the "well affected" in the city would stand by him, landed his soldiers, with as much & Feb. caution as if he had " made a descent into an enemies' coun- try," and quartered them in the City Hall .*
As Bayard and Nicolls, whom Leister held elose prison- ers in the fort, had been named royal counselors by the king, Ingoldesby demanded their release. But Leisler re- plied that they must " remaine configned until his Majesties 14 Feb. further orders arrive." For a while there was quiet in New
* Doc. ITist., ii., 191-185. 919, 240; Col. Der., ill., 757. 730, 791: iv., 214; Dnalap, i., 195- 198; N. Y. II. S. Coll. (1965), 300, 301, 302, 315-320, 353, 384, 493 ; ante, 503, 507.
AGOR TE
£
631
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XII. York, Ingoldesby hoping for, and Leisler dreading the ar-
Leisler's fresh lies.
Action of the royal Council.
4 March.
1691. rival of Sloughter. But as time wore on, and the governor did not come, Leisler and his friends circulated reports that William's officers and soldiers were "Papists and disaffect- ed persons fled from England," and that they had " forged their commissions, and were enemies of King William and Queen Mary." Upon this, Dudley, who had come on from Boston, and the five other members of the royal Council, except Bayard and Nicolls, whom Leisler still kept confined in the fort, met in the city, and endeavored to " dispose the people to a better understanding." It was observed, how- ever, that armed men from all parts of the province and from New Jersey were constantly brought, with large sup- plies of provisions, into the fort, the guns of which were taken from the river front and trained to bear on the city. The block-houses were likewise filled with the adherents of Leisler, who objected to the king's soldiers going the rounds, and threatened to beat the houses of the citizens "about their ears." This obliged the counselors to call for the militia of the neighboring counties, and to desire "Major Richard Ingoldesby, the chief commander of their Majes- ties' forces sent thither, to take into his care and charge the defending their Majesties' subjects in this Province from any outrageous and hostile proceedings whatsoever, in such manner, and by such proper and just means as to him shall seem reasonable, 'till such time as his Excellency, Colonel Henry Sloughter, shall arrive, or their Majesties' pleasure shall be farther known." In the absence of the governor, this was evidently the only way in which the king's regu- lar authority could be maintained. Leisler, however, issued another proclamation from Fort William, declaring that he was " constrained to take up arms in defence of their Maj- 10 March. esties' supremacy," and denouncing the " illegal, unwarrant- „ able, and undue practices" of the king's own counselors and the second in command of the royal troops under Slough- 19 March. ter. IIe also wrote to the governor at Bermuda, hoping that his excellency might speedily arrive."
5 March. Leisler's proclama- tion.
By order of six of the king's counselors, Matthew Clark- son, the royal secretary of New York, meanwhile wrote to 4 March.
* Col. Doc., ill., 357, 155, 750, 100. 765; Doc. Hist., 11., 130, 187, 158, 152, 192, 193; Duular, ii., 199; N. Y. H. S. Coll. (1509), 004-010.
180
635
JACOB LEISLER, ACTING LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
the government of Connecticut, giving an account of affairs Cir. XII. in the province, and soliciting their advice. Secretary Al- lyn replied, advising the New York counselors "to avoid 1691. Clarkson contest with Captain Leisler, and rather to bear any thing writes to tolerable and redressible, 'till his Excellency's arrival." At cut.
Connecti- the same time he wrote to Leisler that there was no doubt 11 March. " but that the ships and gentlemen arrived, do come in sub- vice to ordination to his Excellency Colonel Sloughter, and that his Leisler. Excellency, as Governor from their Majesties, is daily ex- pected at New York ; that therefore you so act and demean yourself as may no ways violate their Majesty's subjects peace and safety."*
Allyn's ad-
dress" from
The advice of Connecticut was seconded by several of Leisler's own followers. Gerardus Beekman assembled the people of Kings and Queens at the ferry, " to write togeth- er a peace address." With this he came to the fort, " to " Perce al- persuade Leisler from such base and inhuman actions." Kingsand But " the malice of a choleric man" could not be restrain- counties. Queens ed. Seeing that he meant to hold out, and had already gathered three hundred men in the fort, the Council hast- cned the militia from the neighboring towns, and in a short time five hundred came into the city. Clarkson wrote again 16 March. to Connecticut, asking for three or four hundred men to as- sist in maintaining the king's government. Captain Wil- William liam Kidd, a "blasphemous privateer," was also employed Kild. by the Council, and did " many good services" with his ves- sel.+
Leisler now prepared a long declaration against Ingoldes- 16 March. by and the royal counselors, requiring them to disband their declaration forces; otherwise they would be pursued and destroyed as goldesby. against In- "impious and unreasonable men." This was sent the next day, and an answer required within two hours. A temper- 1 March. ate reply was returned, that the counselors, officers, and sol- Council. Reply ofthe diers were commissioned by King William, and wished to preserve the peace, and that those who should attack them would be "public enemies to the crown of England.";
Affairs were now coming to a crisis. Having usurped * Doc. ITist., il., 155, 158, 150 ; Danlap, il., 199, 200; ante, 596. It is marvelous how per- versely Dunlap blunders in calling ( larkion the " Secretary of the pretended King's Coun- cil of New York."
t Doc. Ilist., ii., 152, 100-192, 194 209; Col. Doc., ill., 760; Col. MES., xxxvi., 16; Council Min., vi., 6; Journals, 1., 3; A-sembly Journals, 1, 6; Hant'y Merchants' Mag., xiv., 41.
* Doc. Ili.t., ii., 193-196 ; Col. Doc., ii., 558; Dunlap, i., 20)-202.
D
636
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XII. the authority of lieutenant governor by a false construction
of the king's letter to Nicholson, Leisler determined to at-
1691. tack the king's own commissioned officers and soldiers. In the absence of the governor, William had expressly direct- ed that the commander-in-chief, or the " first counsellor" ap- pointed by himself, should take the administration. The Ingoldesby Council held that Ingoldesby was such chief commander, and therefore Dudley, the first councilor, did not act as pres- ident. Certainly both were commissioned directly by Wil- liam, which Leisler never had been."
chief com- mander.
17 March. Leisler fires on the troops.
Persons killed.
Scarcely a quarter of an hour after he received the reply of the Council, Leisler, with his own hand, fired one of the guus of the fort at the king's troops as they stood on parade. This was followed by other shots at the house where they were Jodged, and by volleys of musketry, which wounded several and killed two, one of whom was an old soldier, Jo- siah Browne, said to have been slain by Gouverneur. Balls were also heated in the furnace to fire the town. The guns of the fort were answered from the land side, and, in firing one of the cannon, six persons, among whom was MacGreg- orie, were killed. Leisler had meanwhile ordered the block- house on the Smith's Vlye, at the opposite side of the city, to support the fire from the fort. But Ensign Brasher, its commander, not willing to oppose Ingoldesby's soldiers, who were preparing to attack, went to the fort for farther orders, where he was imprisoned ; and, in his absence, the burgher guard in the block-house laid down their arms and went to their houses.
Block- house sur- renders.
This defection greatly discouraged Leisler and his adhe- 18 March. Leizler fires rents, now closely invested in the fort. The next day, how- , more shots. ever, he fired a few more shots, which did no harm ; while Ingoldesby refrained from attacking and held his men on the defensive, expecting a sally from the fort, or a batter- ing down of the city. To distinguish his men from those of Leisler, Ingoldesby directed them to wear white bands on their left arms.t
15 March. 10 March
At this critical moment word came that the Archangel had anchored below the Narrows. The next morning Dud-
* Col. Doc., fif., 606. 623. 791 : Dec. Ilist., il., 192 ; N. Y. H. S. Coll. (191S), 404.
t Col. Due . IL., 205, 158, 700, TO5, 167 ; Doc. Hizt., il., 205, 206, 222, 227, 231, 293, 215; Mask. HI. S. Coll .. xxxv .. 282-254 : N. Y. H. S. Proc., 1-43, 107 ; Coll. (1-6S), 384, 404. Neither Dun- lap (i., 202) nor Hodmian (222) refer to the events of IT ap- 18 March.
HOTANTE
£
637
HIENRY SLOUGHTER, GOVERNOR.
ley and the other councilors went down in a brigantine and CHAP. XII. met the long-expected governor. The frigate had been nearly lost upon the rocks at Bermuda, where she was de- 1691. Arrival of tained three weeks; and six weeks more were consumed in Sloughter. coming from there to Sandy Hook. On learning the con- dition of affairs in New York, Sloughter hastened up to the city in the ship's pinnace, passing through the Buttermilk Channel, on the cast side of Nutten Island. "The noise and shouting that followed upon the Governor's landing" made the hearts of Leisler's followers " to devide." Going at once to the City Hall, Sloughter cansed the bell to be rung and his commission to be read, after which he took the required oaths and swore in Councilors Dudley, Phil- Connellots lipse, Van Cortlandt, Minvielle, Brooke, Willett, and Pin- horne, all who " were at liberty."* The governor directed Ingoldesby to go with his company and demand entrance into the fort. This was refused by Leisler, who sent Stoll with a letter to Sloughter requiring "orders under the King's own hand, directed to him." Sloughter told Stoll that he was glad he had seen him in England and now again at New York, and Ingoldesby was again directed to demand possession of the fort, the release of Councilors Bayard and Nicolls "to attend his Majesty's service," and the presence of " Leisler, Milborne, and such as are called his Council." To this second demand Leisler answered that the fort was not to be delivered " upon such casy terms;" and he sent Milborne and De la Noy, with Ingoldesby, back to the governor " to capitulate," as if he were an enemy ; ro- fusing to attend himself or to set free the royal councilors whom he held in prison. Upon this Sloughter committed Milborne and De la Noy to the guards, and ordered In- Millome goldesby a third time to demand the surrender of the fort, Noy im- and De la the enlargement of Bayard and Nicolls, and the attendance prisoned of Leisler ; " all which was peremptorily and with contempt refused." As it was now nearly midnight, the governor di- rected the Council to meet the next morning, and so ended this eventful day.t.
* Colonel William Smith, formerly Governor of Tangier, who had come from England to New York in 1686, and, having been recommended by Dongan as a fit councilor, was so named in Sloughter's commission, was sworn and took his seat on 25 March, 1621: Council Min., vi., 7; Col. Doc., ffi., 417, 655, 720, 567: iv .. 1137 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 442.
+ Col. Doc., ili., 766, 358, 350, 360, 765, 360, 301; ix., DOT; Doc. Ti-t , ii., 202, 222, 210; Chalmers, Rev. Col., 1., 243 ; Annals, 1., 524, 011, 612; ii., 71 ; Council Min., vi., 1, 2; N. Y.
638
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XII. On Friday morning, the twentieth of March, the Council 1691. 20 March. accordingly met the governor at the City Hall. Deprived of Milborne, " his oracle, and De la Noy, his great Minister of State," who were now in custody, Leisler wrote to Slough- Leisler's submission ter. ter, " I see very well the stroke of my enemies, who are to Slough- wishing to cause me some mistakes at the end of the loy- alty I owe to my gracious King and Queen ;" and he sup- plicated the governor to receive the fort, and treat him as a person who would give " an exact account of all his actions and conduct." But this letter was not noticed. The gov- ernor ordered Ingoldesby and his soldiers to require the men in the fort to ground their arms and march out, prom- ising that all should be pardoned except Leisler and his Leisler's men sur- render. council. Leisler's men " readily forsook" the fallen dema- gogue ; who was brought before the governor at the City HIall, and the king's letter to Nicholson taken from him, while he, with his councilors, " being found in actual rebel- lion," were ordered to be committed to the guards. Bay- Leider im- ard and Nicolls, freed from their long imprisonment, were and Bayard sworn of the Council, " and Bayard's chain put on Leisler's prisoned, and Nicolls set free. legg.
Sloughter at once took possession of the fort, which he 20 March. named " William Henry," after the king, and then issued an Assem- Writs for the election of representatives to an Assembly to Writs for bly. meet on the ninth of April. John Lawrence was commis- sioned as mayor of New York, William Pinhorne recorder, and Thomas Clarke coroner. Sheriffs of the several conn- ties were also appointed. Thomas Newton, of Boston, who was reputed to be the best lawyer in America, was appoint- ed attorney general of New York by the governor, who did not know of Graham's " pretensions" for the place. On the first Sunday after Leisler's imprisonment, Domine Selyns, whom he had so coarsely insulted, preached, in the full- ness of joy, before the new governor, from the text in the twenty - seventh Psalm, "I had fainted, unless I had be-
21 March. Officers ap- pointed.
23 March. Domine Selyns' sermon.
TI. S. Coll. (150S), 334, 401. It is surprising how Dunlap, i., 202, 203, mi-represents these transactions, and how implicitly Hoffman (223, 224) fellows his errors, which later writers have reitera+ M.
* Col. Doc., itt., 767, 750, 704; Doc. ITist., IL., 202, 203, 216, 217, 222, 240, 211. 248; Council Min , vi., 2, 3; N. Y. II. S. Proc .. 1849, 107 : Coll. (1-63), 310, 311, 495; Mass. H. S. Coll .. XXXV., 253; Chalmer-'s Annals, L, 012 ; & nith, i., 110: Dunlap, i., 203. 204, 205, 200. It is amusing to see how obstinately Dantsp insists that Leister was a "Dutchman," and not "a Ger- man." Many in our own times maintain the same vulgar error.
880
€39
HENRY SLOUGHTER, GOVERNOR.
lieved to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the Cuir. XII, living."*
1691.
Councilors Dudley, Van Cortlandt, and Brooke were ap- 23 March. pointed to examine the prisoners with a view to their com- mittal for trial. The prisoners asked Sloughter for a hear- ing before himself, under the reference to him by the Privy Council of the previous October. But that order did not relate to the recent transactions, which the governor judged it proper should be tried by a court. A special commission of Oyer and Terminer was accordingly ordered, under the st March. king's large authority to Sloughter. The court consisted commis- of Joseph Dudley and Thomas Johnson, whom the govern- Over and rion of Terminer. or forthwith appointed judges in admiralty, together with go March. Sir Robert Robinson, formerly governor of Bermuda; Col- onel William Smith, Recorder Pinhorne, and John Law- rence, of the Council ; Captain Jasper Hicks, of the frigato Archangel; Major Ingoldesby ; and Colonel Jolm Younge, and Captain Isaac Arnold, of Long Island, or any six of them, " one of the Judges always being one." This court was composed of persons "most capable of discerning the truth, and the least prejudiced to those people; who indeed executed their commission with all the lenity and patience imaginable." The prisoners were committed to the custody 20 March. of Sheriff Lyndall, of New York, for trial before this tribu- oners com The pris- mitted to
nal on a charge of traitorously levying war against the king the sheriff. and queen, counterfeiting their majesties' great seal, mur- dering Josiah Browne, and other high misdemeanors. Coun- cilors Bayard, Van Cortlandt, and Pinhorne were directed 30 March. to prepare the evidence, and Nicolls, Farewell, and Emott were assigned as king's counsel to assist Attorney General Newton.t
When the trial came on, the indictment found by the April. grand jury charged the prisoners with treason and murder dietment Their in- "for holding by force the King's fort against the King's grand jury. by the Governor, after the publication of his Commission, and ne had thereby become Chief Magistrate, and after demand had been made in the King's name, and in the reducing of
* Council Min., vi., 3, 5, 6: Col. Doc., ifi., 321, 756, 761, 767, 768: iv., 219, 551, 547 ; Min. of N. Y. Com. Council, i., 353; Smith, i., 112: Dunlap, i., 206; Murphy's Anthology, 114; N. Y. M. S. Coll. (1565), 406; ante, 630.
t Corneil Min., vi, 5, C. T. S, ?: Dos. Ilist., ii., 153, 204, 205; Col. Doc., ilf., 625, 603, 701, 747, 000, 167, 794 : CUL. MISS., xxxiv .. $0 ; xxxvi., 02 ; xxxvii., 93, 94: N. Y. Will. iv., 236; Smith, i., 110; Dunlap, 1, 200; N. Y. HE. S. Coll. (1505), 311, 323, 301, 495; ant :, 302, 631.
ОД ЯТНОЙ
640
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XII. which lives had been lost." There was nothing alleged
1691. against them for any previous irregularities or usurpations
Petit jury. of authority. The petit jury was " composed of youths and other bitter men." Eight of the prisoners pleaded not Leisler and guilty. But Leisler and Milborne refused to plead " until Milborne refuse to the power be determined whereby such things have been plead. acted," and they insisted that the court should first decide whether the king's letter to Nicholson of 30 July, 1680, "had not given Captain Leisler an authority to take upon him the Government." This was simply begging the ques- tion. The court, however, would give no answer until the prisoners had pleaded, which they refused to do. Upon this, the court thought it best to ask the governor and Coun- cil whether the king's letter, or any of the papers which had been referred to Sloughter by the Privy Council, " can be understood or interpreted to be and contain any power and direction to Captain Jacob Leisler to take the Government of the Province upon himself, or that the administration thereupon be to be holden good in law." Sloughter and 13 April. Opinion of or and his counselors accordingly declared their opinion " that the the govern- aforesaid letters to Captain Nicholson, nor any other papers Council on in the packet directed to his Excellency for a report, con- tains any power or direction for the government to the said Nicholson. Captain Leisler." Announcing this decision as its own, the court again called on Leisler and Milborne to plead to the indictment. But this they obstinately refused to do, and, "after several hearings as mutes" during eight days, the Night of the prison- ers con- victed. jury found them guilty, along with Abraham Gouverneur, Gerardus Beekman, Johannes Vermilye, Thomas Williams, Myndert Coerten, and Abraham Brasher. The jury, how- Two ac- quitted. ever, acquitted De la Noy and Edsall. Sentence of death, according to the barbarous English law then in force, was at once pronounced by Dudley, the presiding judge, upon the eight condemned criminals. "By the advice of the 20 April. Prisoners sentenced and re- prieved. Judges," the governor reprieved the prisoners, upon their petition, until the king's pleasure should be known, " unless any insurrection of the people necessitate their execution."*
In obedience to the orders of the Privy Council, Slough-
* Col. Doc., ili .. 606. 750, 769, 762, 769. 367, 750, 252, 804, S11 ; iv., 215: Doc. Hist., il., 206, 205. 203, 200, 211. 913, 217, 222, 235, 211, 244; Council Min., vi .. 11, 50; Chalmers's Annals, i., 504, 612; il .. 71, 52; Rev. Col., i., 249 ; Assembly Journals, i., 7 : Smith, 1, 110, 111; Dan- lap, i., 200, 207; N. Y. I. S. Coll. (150), 011-017, 325, 350-361, 355, 106 ; ante, 503, 504, BUT.
the king's 1 tter to
040
YHOTSHE
641
HENRY SLOUGHTER, GOVERNOR.
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.