USA > New York > History of the state of New York. Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 6
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Sheriffs 1 Novem. Courts of justice.
A third important act was "to settle Courts of Justice." This law established four distinct tribunals in New York : Town Courts, for the trial of small causes, to be held each month; County Courts, or Courts of Sessions, to be held at certain times, quarterly, or half yearly ; a General Court of Oyer and Terminer, with original and appellate jurisdic- tion, to sit twice every year in cach county; and a Court of Chancery, to be " the Supreme Court of this Province," composed of the governor and council, with power in the governor to depute a chancellor in his stead, and appoint clerks and other officers. But any inhabitant of the prov- ince might appeal to the king from any judgment, accord- ing to a clause in the Patent to the Duke of York. Don- gan accordingly appointed the former provincial secretary, Matthias Nicolls, and Captain John Palmer, of Staten Isl- and-both of whom had been bred lawyers-to be the first judges of the New York Court of Oyer and Terminer.t
Another law was ordained at the same time "for natu- ralizing all those of foreign nations at present inhabiting
* MSS. Lawe, Secretary's Offic': Revised Laws, 1813, ii., App., vi., vii. ; Thompson, E .. , 319, 320; Dunlap, il., App., xliii., xliv. The note at the foot of page iii., in Appendix to ii., Rev. Laws, 1913, is erroneous. Giles Goddard represented Cornwall County in the A-en- bly of New York for one session certainly: Maine IL. S. Coll., v., 4, 94, 98, 263, 201; Williun- son, L. 582.
+ MSS. Laws, Secretary's Office: Rev. Laws, 1913, ii., App. viii .- x. ; Col. MSS., III'T., 14; Council Min., v., 47, 4S, 49 ; Col. Doc., ii., 296; ill , 389, 330, 412, 414, 417 ; N. Y. H > Coll., ii. (ii.), 35, 36 ; Daly's Sketch, 50, 31; Wood's Long Island, 100, 101, 144, 150; Trom » son, i., 101, 102; ii., 390; ante, 29.
20 Decem. 1684. 7 Febr'y.
088
387
THOMAS DONGAN, GOVERNOR.
within this Province, and professing Christianity, and for Cu. VIII. encouragement of others to come and settle within the same." This statute was demanded by the general senti- 1683. 1 Novem. ment of "the people" of the most polygenous of all the Naturati- British dependencies in North America. The Dutch in- habitants of New York rejoiced in knowing that the Stadtholder of their fatherland was the husband of the presumptive heiress of the British crown, and that he might, perhaps, become their own proper king. They saw that Louis was beginning to drive out of France every one of his subjects who did not profess that the Pope of Rome was the only vicar of Christ. Therefore the Assembly of New York ordained that all the actual inhabitants of the 1 Novem. province, except bondmen, of what foreign nation soever, who professed Christianity, and who had taken, or should take the oath of allegiance, were naturalized; and that all Christian foreigners who should afterward come and settle themselves in the province might be naturalized upon their swearing allegiance to the king, and fidelity to the proprietor .*
After passing several other less important acts the As- 1 Novem. sembly adjourned ; and the laws it had enacted were for- lished Laws pub- mally published in front of the City Hall. Not long aft- and sent to 4 Decem. erward, Captain Mark Talbot was sent by Dongan to carry the duke. them to England for the duke's approval and confirma- tion.+
In the mean time, Connecticut, renewing the claim to a part of New York, which she had asserted to Brockholls the year before, complained to Dongan that Rye, Green- 5 October. wich, and Stamford had been summoned to "make pre- cut bound- Connecti- sentment" at the New York Assizes, and that as those ary. towns "indubitably" belonged to Connecticut, they should not be "molested by any such injunctions." Dongan, who had been specially instructed to settle the duke's boundary toward the east, answered at once that the agreement was 9 october. that Connecticut should not coinc within twenty miles of the Hudson River, and that she had " abused the former
* MSS. Laws, Secretary's Office; Livingston and Smith's Laws, 113; Van Schaack, 97, SS ; Col. Doc., iii., 114, 355, 370, 399. 479 ; v., 496 ; Council Journ., i., Int., xii., 387, 300 ; As- sembly Journ., i., 95, 140, 151, 373, 377; Chaimery's Ann., i., 584; Rev. Col .. i., 145.
t Minutes of N. Y. Common Council. i., 179, 173 ; Col. Doc., ill., 240, 349; Entries, xxxili.,
. 30; Council Journ., i., Int., xii .; Historical Magazine, vi., 233.
.
zation law.
388
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1683. 16 October 5 Novem. Dongan's letter.
CH. VHI. contract." Attempting finesse, Connecticut replied that she had not violated that agreement. But Dongan wrote back very plainly-" The King's Commissioners, being strangers, and relying upon your people, were assured by them that the river Mamaroneck was twenty miles, every where, from Hudson's River, as we have very creditable witnesses can testify, and that it was Colonel Nicolls his intentions. Notwithstanding all that, you pretend to with- in sixteen or seventeen miles of this town, and, for ought we know, to Esopus and Albany also; which is argument sufficient it was none of Colonel Nicolls his intention. If you do not submit to let us have all the land within twen- ty miles of Hudson's River, I must claim as far as the Duke's Patent goes, which is to the River Connectient. * * Since you are pleased to promise to do me the hon- or to see me, pray come with full power to treat with me : and I do assure you, whatsoever is concluded betwixt us shall be confirmed by the King and his Royal Highness, which the other agreements, I hear, are not. If you like not of it, pray take it not ill that I proceed in a way that will bring all your patent in question.""
14 Novem. Connecti- cut's ac- tion.
But Connecticut had no notion to have her patent brought " in question" by the Duke of York, in such per- ilous times for charters in England. In great tribulation, Governor Treat summoned a special court at Hartford, and characteristic action was taken. Treat, with Gold, Allyn, and Pitkin, were commissioned to go to New York, and agree for a final settlement of the boundary, according to their "best judgment ;" but with the proviso -which abandoned Connecticut pretenses --- " that his Majestic and Royall Highness approve of and confirm the same." The agents were privately instructed not to yield to the Govern- or of New York more than twenty miles eastward from the Hudson River, "but get him to take up with as little as may be." These instructions were so framed as to allow Connecticut to gain every thing she could, and to take up with almost any thing - provided " Ilis Majestic and the Duke's Highness shall please to ratify it."t
' Col. Rec. Conn., ill., 100, 131, 213, 314, 326-330; Col. Doc., ill., 106, 230, 221, 235, 226, 247, 333; vil., 597: ante. 360, 361, 373.
t Col. Rec. Conn., il., 312, 514, 5:5; ill., 133-138, 323, 330; Trumbull, i., 304, 205; C .1.
8
389
THOMAS DONGAN, GOVERNOR.
When the Hartford Commissioners reached New York, Cu. VIII. they found that Dongan was fortified with the testimony of Lawrence, Younge, and Nicolls, who personally knew that in 1664 it had been clearly understood that Connecti- Connecti- cut agents cut was never to approach the Hudson River nearer than twenty miles. This truth, indeed, was too certain to be York. gainsaid. The pretenses of Connecticut to any territory on that river were proved to be " fraudulent or erroneous." And now the Connecticut, agents appealed to Dougan's magnanimity, as their predecessors had to that of Nicolls, to be allowed to retain some of their settlements on the Sound, and to give in exchange for them an "equivalent tract" inland. It was accordingly agreed between Don- 28 Novem. gan, with his counselors Brockholls, Phillipse, Van Cort- about the landt, and Younge on the part of New York, and Treat, Gold, Allyn, and Pitkin on the part of Connecticut, that the boundary point between the two provinces should be removed several miles east from Mamaroneck to Byram River, between Rye and Greenwich, and the line run thence as it now remains ; and that this new line should be properly surveyed the next October. On their return to Connecticut, her commissioners notified the Rye magis- 3 Decem. trates that they "could not help" giving up that town, but that Dongan was " a noble gentleman," and would do for their welfare whatever they should " desire in a regular manner." **
. One of the duke's special instructions to his lieutenant governor, as has been seen, was to consider and report the advantage of granting to the city of New York " inmmuni- ties and privileges beyond what other parts of my terri- tories doe enjoy." Immediately after the adjournment of the Provincial Assembly, the mayor and aldermen of the metropolis accordingly petitioned Dongan that the "an- 9 Novem. cient customs, privileges, and immunities" which had been City. granted to them by Nicolls in 1665, should be confirmed by a charter from the Duke of York, with certain additions, including the division of the corporation into six wards; MSS., xxxi., 92 ; Ixix., 8; N. Y. Senate Doc., 1557, No. 165, p. 43, 44, 107-100; Col. Doc., ili .. 235, 362, 363; vii., 234 563, 506, 507.
" Council Min., v., 27, 28, 29. 30, 31; Col. MISS .. Ixix., 9, 10, 11 ; Col. Rec. Conn., iii., 330- 333: Bolton's Westchester, il., 26. 27 ; Trumbull, i., 305, 3556: Senate Doc., 1857, No. 165, 44, 45, 110-112; Smith, i., 2-5, 286, 257 : Dunlap, fi., App. xliv .; Col Doc., ill., 106; iv., G29; v., 950; vil, 504; vill., 442 ; ante, 55, 53.
1683. 25 Novem.
Agreement
boundary.
New York
390
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
cu. vii. the annual election of aldermen and other officers by the freemen in each ward ; the local government of the city to 1683. be intrusted to them, and to a mayor and recorder, to be annually appointed by the governor and council : that a sheriff, coroner, and town-clerk be appointed in the same way; that the corporation appoint their own treasurer; and, finally, that whatever else was necessary for its wel- fare should be confirmed to the old Dutch city as fully "as his Majesty hath been graciously pleased to grant to other corporations within his realm of England.""
10 Novem. Objections were made by the governor and his council to some of these proposed additional articles. But, after 19 Novem. full explanations, they were agreed to in "almost every particular." The existing metropolitan officers were ac- 24 Novem. cordingly reappointed by the governor; who also commis- Metropoli- tan offi- cer3. sioned John West, its actual clerk, to be " clerk of the city of New York," and John Tudor, one of the lawyers whom Brockholls had assigned to prosecute for the duke's govern- ment, to be its sheriff, in place of Collyer. The corpora- 2; Novem, tion soon afterward asked that it might choose its own 6 Decem. clerk, and have other privileges. Dongan answered that the clerk's nomination must be referred to the duke. But he allowed the corporation its ferry, dock, and market, and promised it a grant of lands on Manhattan Island.
S Decem. The city of divided The mayor and aldermen accordingly divided the city New York into six wards, and assigned Nicholas Bayard to be akder- into wards. inan for the South Ward, Jolm Inians for the Dock Ward, William Pinhorne for the East Ward, Gulian Verplanck for the North Ward, John Robinson for the West Ward, and 10 Decem. William Cox for the Out Ward. Dongan now ordered that the substance of the corporation's petition of the ninth of November be put in practice, "until such time as luis Royal Highnesses pleasure shall be further known therein."
* Col. Doc., 334, 337-339 : Val. Man., 1844-5, 612, 313 ; 1851, 897-399; Minutes of N. Y. Comumnon Council, i., 179-152; Council Min .. v., 16-19; ante, 76, 77, 373. This prtiti ous1 signed by William Beekman, the mayor, and Johannes van Brugh, John Lawrence, PeterJ. Morris, James Graham, Cornelis Steenwyck, and Nicholas Bayard, the aldermen if the cay of New York : Ent., xxxiii., T9; Col. Doc., iii., 339. These names do not appear ja V !. a. tine's Manual. Between the 9th and the 24th of November, 1633, Dongan seems to Lavs appointed Steenwyck mayor in place of Beekman, and Nicholas Bayard, John lian -. W ... liam Pinhorne, Gulian Verplanck, John Robinson, and William Cox to be allermen : Mit of N. Y. Com. Council, i., 184, 153 ; Dunlap. H., App. cxxxi. Mr. Murray Hoffman's " Tria'. ise," vol. ii., 7-10, makes the petitions of the New York Common Council of Dat! -. 1653, to Dongan, as governor for the Duke of York, : pp ar as if they were addresse ! ! ... as governor under James the Second, in 1056.
.
391
THOMAS DONGAN, GOVERNOR.
Ile accordingly commissioned James Graham, one of its Cu. VIII. late aldermen, to be the first recorder of the city of New 1683. York. All its other officers were sworn to fidelity by the 1684. 4 Decem. governor in Fort James; and Recorder Graham, coming
16 Jan'y. thence to the City Hall, " took his place on the bench on Recorder Graham.
the right hand of the mayor."*
Dongan also allowed the metropolis to hold a Court of 1 Febr'y. Sessions until the duke's pleasure should be known, and Court of 31 March. commissioned its mayor and aldermen to be justices of the Sessions. peace. As soon as it was organized, the common council 15 March. adopted various by-laws for the government of the city. It also asked Dongan to confirm the former orders of An- 17 March. dros, especially that of the 20th January, 1680, prohibiting the bolting of flour at any other place in the province than the city. The governor required "reasons at large" for is March. this request ; and the corporation submitted that, as the 9 April. manufacture of flour was the chief support of the trade of the metropolis, the high reputation of its breadstuffs should not be taken away, as it would be if bolting were allowed elsewhere, and that Long Island enjoyed a peculiar advan- tage in its whaling, while the rest of the province was ag- ricultural. Albany, however, objected to such a monopoly 16 April being allowed to the metropolis. But as Deputy Governor Walrond, of Barbadoes, complained that some bad meal had already been sent there from New York, Dongan is- 22 May. sued a proclamation prohibiting the packing or bolting of four. flour, or the making of bread for exportation, in any place within the government, except the city of New York. This action was approved by the duke's commissioners, who in- 1 Novem. structed the governor " by all meanes chiefly to incourage the City of New Yorke, according to the practice of your predecessors, and particularly to observe how it was in Sir Edmond Andros, his time."t
The shipping of the port of New York now consisted of 1 March. three barks, three brigantines, twenty - seven sloops, and shipping. forty-six open boats. But the trade of the city had lan-
New York
' Council Min., v., 19, 20, 27, 31-35. $2 ; Col. MSS., xxxi , 95: xxxiv., 9, 10, 12; Min. of C. Council, i., 182-202. 207, 205, 253; Val. Man .. 1844-5, 314-317; 1851, 300-401; 1854. 438, 440; Entries, xxxill., 10 ; Dunlap, il., App. caxxi., cxxxii. : Daly's Sketch. 31; ante, 360.
t Min. of Com. Council, i., 143, 169, 210, 211, 230-245, 253, 255-257, 260, 261: Val. Man , 1551, 401; Council Min., v .. 59, 02, 05. 71. 72, 83-85 ; Col. MISS., xxxi., 125, 126. 131, 144 ; xxxiv., 20; Col. Doc. i., 315, 23, 251. 197 ; Dunlap, ii , App. cxxii .- CXXXIV. ; Hoffman's Treatise, il., 6; Oldmixon, il., 28; ante, 550.
1
392
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1684. 16 Feb'y. 7 March. New York City's ad- dress to the duke.
CH. VIII. guished of late, owing to peculiar causes, one of which was the duke's alienation of East Jersey. At Dongan's suggestion, under an opinion of Recorder Graham, the council and the city authorities drew up an address to the duke, in which was shown the convenient natural situation of Manhattan for commerce, and the hurtfulness of the "unhappy separation" of New Jersey from the ancient ter- ritory of New York, by reason of which its trade was di- verted, to the injury of the proprietor's revenue. They therefore prayed that his royal highness would reannex East Jersey to his province " by purchase or other ways," and thus prevent the flourishing of the adjacent country by the ruin of New York. This address, the joint work of the New York Council -- of which the elder Lewis Mor- ris, of Westchester, and also of New Jersey, had just been sworn a member-was sent by Dongan to the duke and his commissioners, with a representation urging "the great inconveniences of having two distinct Governments upon one River," and "how convenient it would be to regain East Jersey.""
'S l'ebr'y. 2 March. New York and New Jersey.
New York, indeed, had reason for annoyance. The pro- prietors of East Jersey removed Rudyard, and appointed Gawen Lawrie to be their governor, who, after visiting Dongan, assumed his official duties at Elizabethtown. Lawrie soon wrote home that the Governor of New York desired the boundary-line between the two provinces to be run, because several plantations were settled on the Hud- son, and it was not known to which side they would fall. Amboy was now named " Perth," in honor of the earl, and a ferry was established there between Pennsylvania and New York. A few weeks afterward, Lawrie reported that several merchants of New York were leaving their planta- tions there and coming to East Jersey, because its land was more productive. Even Peun and Dongan seem to have become rivals for the purchase of Baker's interest in Eliza- bethtown.+
26 March. 29 March. Penn and Dongan,
* Council Min., v , 48 ; Min. of N. Y. Com. Council, i., 200, 222, 223, 225-227 ; Val. Man., 1860, 575; Col. Doc., ii., 619; ilf., 341, 348, 354: Chalmers's Ann., i., 619, 021. 697, 62 .; Dunlap, i., App. cxxxii. ; Assembly Journals, ii., 527, noe; Whitehead's East Jersey, 107. 215, 216 ; Eastern Boundary, 30. Lewis Morris was admitted into the New York Council on 17January, 1634: Council Min., v., $; Bolon's Westchester, il., 290; Whitehead's Mom. of [ .. Morris, 3; ante, 158.
f Chalmers, i., 619-6.1; Lcami g and Spices, 168-155; Col. Dec., ili., 322; S. Smith, 170,
393
THOMAS DONGAN, GOVERNOR.
Penn had now become so involved in his controversy Cu. VIII. with Lord Baltimore that he sent two of his counselors, Lloyd and Welsh, to ask Dongan's friendly intervention. 1684. The governor promptly wrote to Maryland, as desired. 23 April. But when the Pennsylvania agents asked to be allowed to treat with the New York savages for their Susquehanna lands, Dongan told them " that they of Albany have sus- 24 .April. picion it is only to get away their trade, and that Mr. Penn opposes Dongan hath land already more than he can people these many ten-ions. years ; that the Indians have long since given over their lands to this government ; and advised them to write over to the duke about it." The agents then asked the govern- or to write to the Indians; but this was refused. Don- gan's firm opposition to Penn's "coveting his neighbor's lands," made the latter his bitter enemy in England, whither he soon afterward returned " to improve his inter- 12 August. est" with the court. The duke's secretary, however, in- structed Dongan "that no lands beyond the bounds of 10 March. East and West Jersey (betwixt the rivers) ought to be sep- orders to James's arated from your government upon any terms, and that Dongan. you should use great care to hinder Mr. Pen and the in- habitants of both Jerseys from obstructing the peltry trade of New York; and that in order to this, you should pre- vent, all you can, the uniting of any part of either Jersey with Mr. Pen, who (as you observe) is very intent on his owne interest in those parts." Again Werden wrote, 27 Angust. " Touching Susquehanna River, or lands about it or trade quehanna The Sus- in it, which the Indians convey to you or invite you to, we lands. think you will doe well to preserve your interest there as much as possible, that soe nothing more may goe away to Mr. Penn or either New Jerseys. For it is apparent they are apt enough to stretch their priviledges, as well as the people of New England have been, who now probably will be reduced to reason by proscention of the Quo Warranto which is brought against them."*
During the winter the savages in Maine were suspected ?1 March. of plotting against the English, and the New Hampshire
Pemaquid.
162, 175-180; Hatfield, 218-637; Whitehead's E. J., 39, 99, 100, 107. 161, 284-993 ; N. J. IT. S. Proc., vili., 162; Council Min., v., 65; Penn. Arch .. i .. SO ; ante. 49. 107, 36S.
* Col. Doc., ilf., 840, 341, 350, 422: Dor. Hist .. i., 265. 265: Council Min., v., 78-70 ; Ponn. Arch., i., S4-57 : Col. Kec., i., 103, 194. 105. 1:9, 114, 117. 115 : Proud, i., 205-557, 911 : Mom. Penn. II. S., 1., 442-440; Chalmers's Ann., i , 641, 5 ), 620-060; Dixon, 219, 220; ante, CTT.
Pen's pre-
T
304
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
11 April.
Un. VII. Council asked Dongan to aid them with Mohawk war. riors. To further this request, Governor Cranfield, with 1684. Dudley and Shrimpton, of Massachusetts, visited New York. Dongan, however, would not irritate the Iroquois, especial- ly as the Kennebec savages were "stout fellows, and fear- ed not the Mohawks;" although he promised assistance if the Eastern Indians began hostilities. As Saint Castin was supposed to have instigated them, the governor again warned him and the French under his authority either to quit Pemaquid, or else swear allegiance to the King of Eu-
21 April. 23 April. 0 July. Orders for
May. Dongan again warn3 Castin. gland ; promising not to interfere with their religion. Don- gan's offer was considered by the French to be " the more dangerous," because of his " being a Catholic, and having a Jesuit and Priests along with him." Intending to visit Pemaquid, Dongan left its local government for the pres- ent in the hands of Captain Nicholas Manning, Sheriff John Allen, and Giles Goddard, its representative in the New York Assembly. Some of its inhabitants complained that Pemaquid. the regulations of the previous November were " altogeth- er arbitrary," and asked that the laws and tribunals of New York, although " over great distant," should be extended to them ; but as the governor was now occupied with the Iro- quois at Albany, the affairs of Pemaquid were postponed until he could himself go thither, " and in the mean time, the former orders to be observed."*
New York and Cana- da.
Up to this time the relations between New York and Canada had been, upon the whole, friendly. The sympa- thy between Charles the Second and Louis the Fourteenth was not to be disturbed by any questions about their colo- nies in North America. But the Duke of York was anxious to gain all the territory he could ; and his deputy, Andros, had claimed, in 1677, that New York included all the coun- try south of the Saint Lawrence and Lake Ontario. This bold claim could not, however, be admitted by Canada. French missionaries had planted Christianity in that region long before any other Europeans had seen it; and the gov- ernors of New France had maintained the sovereignty of their king by warlike expeditions, and by treaties with the
* Council Min., v., €6-09, 72. 91 ; Col. MSS., xxxi., 166, 181; xxxii., 11, 37 : xxxiv .. 15. 1S (ii.), 2; Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., v., 30-72, 81-104. 263, 264: Masa. IF S. Coll., xxxv .. 121, 122; Mass. Rec., v., 400; Col. Doc , ill., 304, 315, 406, 45); ix., 203, 205, 260, 500, 918; Del- knap, i., 171, 172, 322; Williamson, i., 5.1; ante, 379.
305
THOMAS DONGAN, GOVERNOR.
savages, whom they overawed. But the appointments of CH. VIII. De la Barre and of Dongan, to govern Canada and New York, brought to a crisis the question between those colo-
16S4. nies, which could no longer be left undecided.
Dongan's Indian policy was simply to execute and ex- tend that of his predecessor, Andros. In his earliest let- ters the duke's governor told De la Barre that "nobody February. Dongan's hath a greater desire to have a strict union with you, and indian good correspondence, than myself, who served long time in policy. France, and was much obliged by the king and gentry of that country." At the same time, Dongan claimed that all the territory "south and southwest of the Lake of Can- ada," belonged to the King of England. De la Barre, how- ever, would not recognize the Iroquois as British subjects. Some Senecas and Cayugas having plundered French ca- noes on their way to the Sioux, assaulted Fort Saint Louis, es March. but were repulsed by De Baugy, the successor of Tonty. Barre's De la De la Barre therefore resolved to attack the Senecas. He conduct. detained their ambassador, Tegancourt, who came to Que- bec to ratify the agreement made the autumn before ; and directed the Jesuit missionaries, Millet at Oncida, and the two Lambervilles at Onondaga, to intrigue so as to divide the Iroquois confederates. The savage allies of the French in the West were also ordered to be brought down, and Fort Frontenac was re-enforced. Some Caghnawaga con- verts were sent with friendly messages to the Mohawks, 10 June. Oneidas, and Onondagas. The King of France was so- 5 June. licited to obtain an order from the King of England, pro- hibiting Dongan from assisting the Iroquois. De la Barre also sent the Sieur Bourdon to New York with a letter, ad- 15 June. vising Dongan of his intention to attack the Senecas and Cayugas, but not the Mohawks and Oneidas, "neighbors of Albany;" the people of which, he asked, might be forbid- den to sell arms and ammunition to the Iroquois, which proceeding "can alone intimidate them, and when they . sce the Christians united on this subject, they will show them more respect than they have done hitherto."
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