Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 2

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374

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1734, Philip Livingston, William Dick, Myndert Schuyler, John Schuyler, Hen- drick Van Rensselaer, Rutger Bleecker, Stephanus Groesbeck, Philip Schuyler, Jere- miah Van Rensselaer, Edward Holland, Nicholas Bleecker, Ryer Gerritse; Dirck Ten Broeck, Johannis Lansing, jr., John De Peyster, Jacob Glen, Cornelius Cuyler, John Schuyler, jr., Edward Collins, Abraham Cuyler.

1738, the Commandant at Albany, Members of Assembly for Albany, Rensselaer- wyck, and Schenectady, the Mayor, Recorder and Sheriff of Albany, and Philip Liv- ingston and Edward Clarke.

1739, The Council, Commandant, Mayor and Recorder of Albany, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Peter Winne, Stephanus Groesbeck, Rutger Bleecker, John De Peyster, John Schuyler, jr., Jacob Glen, Arendt Bradt, Edward Collins, Myndert Schuyler, John Schuyler, Cornelius Cuyler, Johannis Lansing, jr., Hendrick Ten Eyck.

1742, Philip Livingston, John Rutherford, Myndert Schuyler, Abraham Cuyler, Nicholas Bleecker, Johannis Lansing, jr., Cornelius Cuyler, Mayor Dirck Ten Broeck, Recorder Hendrick Ten Eyck, Rutger Bleecker, John De Peyster, Stephanus Groesbeck, Ryer Gerritse, Edward Collins.

1745, the preceding list, and Stephen Van Rensselaer.

1746, Commissary for Indian Affairs, William Johnson.

1752, Commissioners, the Council, Commandant at Albany, Members of Assembly of Albany, Rensselaerwyck, Schenectady and Livingston Manor, Mayor and Re- corder of Albany, Myndert Schuyler, Cornelius Cuyler, Hendrick Bleecker, John Buchanan, Peter Groenendyck, Johannis Lansing, jr , Jacob C. Ten Eyck.

1754, Mayor and Recorder of Albany, Commandant, Myndert Schuyler, Cornelius Cuyler, John Buchanan, Jacob C. Ten Eyck, John Rensselaer.

Peter Winne, sole Superintendent, April. 1755.

February, 1756, William Johnson, Sir William Johnson, Bart.

July, 1774, Col. Guy Johnson and the State Commissioners, Philip Schuyler, Vol- kert P. Douw, Timothy Edward, Oliver Wolcott, James Duane.

While in most respects the State of New York and the general gov- ernment have been magnanimous in dealing with the now fallen na- tions who once roamed as conquerors over much of this broad land, there is still much to be regretted in the details of their treatment. Even to this day our Indian affairs in the far west seem to be conducted 2

more for the benefit of a few heartless agents than to mete out justice to the natives. Ever hospitable to the first white men, freely sharing his home and the best he could procure for his entertainment, it seems at this distance and to the sympathetic mind, a hard condition that made it necessary to war upon the Indian and drive him from his coun- try. He could do no less than fight for his home with such weapons and temperament as his Creator had given him.1

As far as relates to their connection with Albany county, it is worthy of note that this territory was almost wholly free from Indian attack and depredation. The only notable exception took place in what is now the town of Berne, where a family of eight persons named Dietz were murdered or carried away captives; this was near the Schoharie line. ? This exemption of Albany county from the invasions suffered by surrounding localities is doubtless to be credited to the fact that the inhabitants were many of them Tories, who secretly or openly aided the royal cause, and that Albany itself was well protected by forts and arms.

CHAPTER III.

For the purposes of this work we need only refer briefly to the dis- coveries and occupation by the French of the country to the northward of what is now the United States prior to 1600. These included the voyages of Jean Verrazzani in 1524, and of Jacques Cartier ten years later, and a second voyage by the latter in 1540. On this occasion he was accompanied by Jean Francis de Roberval, who held a knight's commission as lieutenant-general over the "new countries of Canada, Hochelaga and Saguenay." Little was accomplished of a permanent character by these navigators, and further attempts at French occupa- tion were discouraged until 1598, when "New France," as it was called, was made a place of banishment for French convicts. The real founder of a permanent colony in New France was Samuel de Cham-

1 Colden writes: " The hospitality of these Indians is no less remarkable than their other virtues; as soon as any stranger comes they are sure to offer him victuals. If there be several in company, and come from afar, one of their best houses is cleaned and given up for their enter- tainment."

See History of the Town of Berne.

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plain, a man born with the uncontrollable instinct for discovery and adventure that characterizes all great explorers. His very early adven- tures have no connection with this work, and it is sufficient to state that in 1608, after having counseled his patrons that on the banks of the St. Lawrence was the most favorable site for a new empire, he was sent over and laid the foundations of Quebec. To further gratify his love of adventure, he joined with some of the Canadian Indians and started forth into the unknown country which the natives had tried to describe to him. One of the results was the discovery of Lake Cham- plain (named in his honor), and the meeting of a party of the Iroquois on the shore of that lake, where he fought them with powder and bul- lets, giving them their first knowledge of those terrible engines of de- struction. The Iroquois were defeated with the loss of two of their chiefs, who fell by Champlain's own hands.

Thus was signalized the first hostile meeting between the white man and the Indian. Low as the latter was found to be in the scale of in- telligence and humanity, and terrible as were many of the subsequent deeds of the Iroquois, it cannot be denied that their early treatment by Europeans could foster in a savage breast no other feeling than hos- tility and revenge. It is like a pathetic page of romance to read Cham- plain's statement that "the Iroquois were greatly astonished, seeing two men killed so instantaneously," one of whom was their chief; while the ingenuous acknowledgment of the Frenchman, "I had put four balls in my arquebus," is vivid testimony of how little mercy the Iroquois were thenceforth to receive from their northern enemies and the pale-faced race which was eventually to drive them from their do- main. It must, however, be remembered that it was an age in which might was appealed to as right more frequently than in later times, and the planting of the banner of the cross was often preceded by bloody conquest. Hence it is, at least to some extent, in the light of prevailing custom in the old world in Champlain's day, that we may view his readiness to do battle with the enemies of the northern In- dians.

It is an interesting coincidence that a part of the territory now em- braced in the State of New York which is closely identified with this history, was first visited by white men of whom there is reliable record, from two different directions almost simultaneously, and from two dif- ferent European powers. On the 4th of April, 1609, only a very short time after Champlain had successfully killed his first Indian, Henry

Hudson, an English navigator and a friend of Capt. John Smith, sailed from Amsterdam in a small vessel, with a crew of about twenty Eng- lish and Dutch sailors, in the service of the Dutch East India Com- pany. Crossing the Atlantic he touched at the Maine coast and Cape Cod, continued on southerly to Chesapeake Bay, which he reached early in August. He soon afterward turned his prow northward, and after making explorations along the coast, entered New York Bay on September 3, 1609. On the 12th he began a voyage up the river which bears his name and probably reached a point near the site of Hudson city with his vessel. He then on the 19th sent a boat and crew farther up and doubtless passed the site of Albany.1

Convinced that this noble river offered no new route to China or the Indies, which was probably one of the objects of his voyage, Hudson started homeward on the 4th of October and arrived in England No- vember 7.

His experience with the Indians was in the main similar to that of the other Europeans upon their first visits; he was received with kind- ness mingled with awe. In the beautiful autumn he found the country a paradise, and so reported to his employers. Morever he foresaw a rich field for money-making and the thrifty Dutch were not slow to take advantage of it. The next year a second vessel was sent over by shrewd traders of Amsterdam, and a successful trade was opened with the natives along the noble river, which had been named by the

1 There is evidence that by many is considered unimpeachable that the French had discoy- ered the Hudson long before this date. On this question we may quote the following frem " Discoveries in America in 1525," by A. J. Weise, pp. 361-2: "The fact that the French had ascended the Grande River (Hudson River) to the height of its navigation, to trade with the In- dians, long before Henry Hudson explored it, is corroborated by still stronger testimony than that already presented. One of the earliest maps representing the territory of Nieu Nederlandt (New Netherland), or that part of New France which the French had called La Terre d'Anormee Berge, is the figurative chart presented to their High Mightinesses, the Lords States-General of the United Netherlands, on the 11th of October, 1614, by a number of Dutch merchants, praying for a special license to navigate and traffic within the limits of this part of North America." Concerning this map Brodhead, the historian, wrote as follows: "This map (made in 1614) is un- doubtedly one of the most interesting memorials we have. It is about three feet long, and shows, very minutely, the course of the Hudson River, from Manhattan to above Albany, as well as a portion of the sea coast; and contains, likewise, curious notes and memoranda about the neigh- boring Indians. The work, perhaps, of one of the companions of Hudson himself, and made within five years of the discovery of the river, its fidelity of delineation is scarcely less remark- able than its high antiquity." Now, one of the explanatory notes on this map contains un- deniable testimony that the French were the discoverers of the Grande River, and that they had been trading with the Mohawks long before the Half Moon sailed up the river. The plain language of the inscription makes all explanation of its meaning unnecessary, thus: "But as far as one can understand by what the Maquaas [Mohawks] say and show, the French come with sloops as high up as their country to trade with them."

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Dutch, the Mauritius. Other vessels soon followed in 1611, 1612, 1613, and 1614, all of which returned with rich cargoes of furs. Fore- most in these business ventures were Capts. Hendrick Corstiaensen (Christiansen), John De Witt, Adrian Block and Cornelius Jacobson Mey. The coast from Nahant to Delaware Bay, with the adjacent isl- ands, was visited by them, and the Connecticut and other rivers were ascended as far as practicable. A trading post was established on Man- hattan Island, Corstiaensen was appointed agent of the traders, and in 1612 built a small fort and a few rude structures on the southern end of the island; this was the beginning of the present great city of New York.

Meanwhile the English also were busy in the new world. That country laid claim to all the territory in North America between the 34th and the 45th parallels of latitude, and extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. In April, 1606, King James granted a patent to an as- sociation called the Plymouth Colony for the northern part of this ter- ritory, and another patent to the London Company for the southern part; these sections were called respectively North Virginia and South Virginia. Jamestown (Virginia) was settled in 1602, but no permanent settlement was made by the English in the northern region until the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620. Thus - there were three distinct sources of immigration to this country, the adventurers of each power acting with authority from their respective sovereigns, and each power basing its claims on the then generally recognized right of discovery. A struggle for possession could be the only result.

The English made their first demonstration against the Dutch in 1613, when, according to Captain Smith, a party that had been on a hostile expedition against the French to the northward, " found at Manhattan Isle four houses built, and a pretended Dutch Governor." The Vir- ginians demanded possession upon the ground that Henry Hudson, an English subject, could not alienate from the English crown what was properly a part of Virginia and included in the grant of the Eng- lish king. Corstiaensen was then in command on the island, and being powerless against his adversaries, he submitted his colony to English rule. This was more a formality than otherwise, for the Holland com- panies retained actual possession fifty years longer and laid the found- ations of the city. As far as New England was concerned, it never had any respect for the Dutch claim; but the country from the western part of Long Island and up the Hudson to the Mohawk, including

Albany and adjacent settlements, remained New Netherlands until the English extinguished the Dutch régime in 1664.

Hendrick Corstiaensen and his co-laborers early appreciated the im- portance of having a trading post far up the Hudson. A special char- ter was granted by the States-General of Holland on October 11, 1614, to a company of Amsterdam merchants with the distinctive title of the New Netherlands Company, giving them a trade monopoly for four years, until January 1, 1618. Acting under this, Corstiaensen and a few others sailed up the river in 1614 and built a small fort on what was Castle (now Westerlo) Island, just below the site of the later Fort Orange; they named it Fort Nassau. This fortification was about fifty feet square, surrounded by a ditch eighteen feet wide, defended by eleven stone guns and two cannon and garrisoned by twelve men under Jacob Jacobson Elkins, who succeeded Corstiaensen. In 1639 it was visited by De Vries, who found it occupied by Brandt Pylen (or Peelan), under lease from the patroon and his partners. It was then farmed and well stocked. Here Corstiaensen and his companions began active trade with the Indians, but Corstiaensen was soon afterward killed by an Indian in his employ. The situation of this fort was untenable on ac- count of spring floods, and in 1617 a new one was erected at the mouth of the Norman's Kill on the west bank of the Hudson. It was there, probably, that the first treaty of friendship was made by the Indians and the Dutch. When the charter of this company expired they were unsuccessful in their application for another. There was an interval of five years during which no regular organization had representatives here; but it is believed that Elkins and some others remained and con- tinued their lucrative trade through the medium of Holland ships. It would be surprising if this were not the case.

On June 3, 1621, the Holland States General incorporated the Dutch West India Company, giving it unprecedented rights to trade and found settlements from Cape Horn to New Foundland during twenty- four years, with exclusive jurisdiction over New Netherlands. It was empowered to appoint governors to be approved by the home authori . ties, to colonize territory, administer justice, etc. The executive man- agement of the company was placed with a board of nineteen directors, one of whom was to be appointed by the States-General and the re- mainder by the company; these were to be located in five different chambers in five Holland cities. The province of New Netherlands was assigned to the Amsterdam chamber. By the spring of 1623 the

company was fully organized and began its operations with vigor. No opposition was made to their plans, though the English ambassador at the Hague formally protested.

In April, 1623, one of the nineteen directors, Cornelisen Jacobsen Mey, came over from Holland in command of a vessel with thirty fam- ilies, chiefly Walloons,1 or French Protestants, and landed at New Am- sterdam. Of these it is believed that eight families settled on the site of Albany and built Fort Orange, about two miles above Fort Nassau and near the foot of State street as it now exists. These thrifty immi- grants opened a lucrative fur trade with the Indians. In this year (1623) Adrien Jorise was appointed governor in New Netherlands, served one year and in 1624 was succeeded by Cornelisen Jacobsen Mey, and he in 1625 by William Verhulst.

The fur trade began with profit to the company and promised larger returns in the future. The principal furs were beaver and otter skins, of which the quantity shipped was enormous. For example, in the fall of 1626 the vessel "Arms of Amsterdam " took out 7,246 beaver skins, 8532 otter, 81 mink, 36 wild cat, and 34 rat skins; also "samples of summer grain, such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, beans, and flax."

In 1688 Catelyn Trico, a native of Paris, France, eighty-three years old, gave testimony which proves her to have been one of the first white woman in Albany. She came over, according to her statements, in 1623, in a ship named the "Unity," commanded by the first governor, Adrien Jorise, which was the first ship sent out by the West India Company. She came to Albany with eighteen families, who built a small fort and huts of bark. Two other families and six men were sent to Hartford, Connecticut, two families and eight men to the Delaware River, eight men were left at Manhattan, and the remainder, as stated, went up the river. Adrien Jorise remained there all winter and sent his son home with the ship. The narrative states that four other women came over on the "Unity" and were married and went to the Delaware River. This woman remained three years at Albany, went thence to New York and later to Wallabout. 2

1 The Walloons inhabited parts of France and at the time of their dispersion in 1580 num- bered over 2,000,000. They were of mixed Galic and Teutonic blood and spoke the old French dialect. They fled to Holland, where they were welcomed for their skill and industry .- LOSSING.

2 It will be seen that this statement, while probably correct in most respects, differs widely in others from most records. This is especialy noticeable in the number of families that first located at Fort Orange,

The first white child born in New Netherlands was Sarah Rapalje, daughter of one of the Walloons, who was born June 7, 1625, and whose descendants are still living.

From the records showing the comparatively wide distribution of the men and families who came over in the " Unity " may be drawn an in- ference as to the plans and operations of the West India Company. They were not by any means confined to any one section of New Netherlands. Ships came and went, laden on the westward voyage with the gaudy cloths and trinkets which, almost valueless where they were made, took the childish fancy of the natives and paid readily for furs that were almost priceless in comparison. Rum, too, soon became an important article in the trade, and no scruples were shown in ex- changing it with the Indians on the basis of a very little drink for a large quantity of fur. The country itself was attractive, as it has ever been, to the adventurous or ambitious, and the passing years saw large accessions to the population. On these points Gulielmus Baudartius (or Baudart), the Dutch scholar and historian, wrote as follows:

Inasmuch as the multitude of people, not only natives but foreigners, who are seeking a livelihood in the United Provinces is very great, so that where one stiver is to be earned there are ten hands ready to receive it, especially in Holland which is the reservoir of divers kingdoms and countries. Many are obliged on this ac- count, to go in search of other lands and residences where they can obtain a living more easily and at less expense. Accordingly, in the year 1624, as in previous years, divers families went from Holland to Virginia in the West Indies, a great portion of them being English, called Brownists [Puritans], whom King James will not permit nor suffer to live in his land, because they hold and maintain divers points of relig ion improbated by the present church of England.

A ship arrived in August [1623] from that part of Virginia called New Netherland, which had conveyed some families from Holland thither. This vessel brings many and various letters from private individuals, each written to friends and acquaint- ances, whereof this is mostly the tenor-

" We were much gratified on arriving in this country; here we found beautiful rivers, bubbling fountains flowing down into the valley; basins of running waters in the flatlands, agreeable fruits in the woods, such as strawberries, pigeon berries, walnuts, and also voor labrusten or wild grapes. The woods abound with acorns for feeding hogs, and with venison. There is considerable fish in the rivers; good tillage land; here is, especially, free coming and going, without fear of the naked natives of the country. Had we cows, hogs, and other cattle fit for food (which we daily expect in the first ships) we would not wish to return to Holland, for whatever we desire in the paradise of Holland is here to be found. If you will come hither with your family you will not regret it."

This and similar letters have roused and stimulated many to resolve to emigrate thither with their families, in the hope of being able to earn a handsome livelihood,

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strongly fancying that they will live there in luxury and ease, whilst here, on the contrary, they must earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.

The trade headquarters remained at New Amsterdam (New York), although much of the actual exchange of goods and furs took place at Fort Orange. The Dutch governors had their seat at the former place, making it the center of such civil government as existed.

In 1626 Governor Peter Minuit, then in office, purchased the Island of Manhattan of the Indians for a sum equal to about $24. William Bradford was then governor of Plymouth, the English colony, and learning that the Dutch were sending ships to Narragansett Bay to trade, sent Edward Winslow to Governor Minuit to remonstrate. This resulted in a correspondence between Bradford and Minuit which, while of a general friendly character, still contains assertions on the part of the former that the Dutch must respect the rights of the Plym- outh colonists and not permit his traders to come to Narragansett for furs. He also complained that the Dutch were selling muskets, pow- der and shot to the Indians-which was true.

But active as were the trade operations of the West India Company and eager as were their efforts to promote emigration to New Nether- lands, it is clear that little was accomplished towards the establishment of permanent settlement. The emigrants were not, as a rule, persons of stable character, persevering industry, and thrift; they were not the home-builders of the new country. Such were to come later. The re- port of the Assembly to the States-General in 1629 said:

All who are inclined to do any sort of work here [in Holland] procure enough to cat without any trouble, and are, therefore, unwilling to go far from home on an un- certainty. The people conveyed by us thither, have therefore found but scanty means of livelihood up to the present time, and have not found any profit, but a drawback to this [West India] company. The trade carried on there in peltries is right advantageous; but one year with another, we can, at most, bring home only fifty thousand guilders [$20,000].

From the foregoing it can be seen that permanent settlement did not begin until 1629-30, as will be described in the succeeding chapter, when new trade regulations and a new and widely different order of affairs in New Netherlands were inaugurated. A work published in Amsterdam in 1628 says: "There are no families at Fort Orange," "they keep five or six and twenty persons, traders, there." Another early Dutch writer said, "It never began to be settled until every one had liberty to trade with the Indians, inasmuch as up to this time no

one calculated to remain there longer than the expiration of his bounden time, and therefore did not apply themselves to agriculture."

Following is a list of the Dutch governors: Adrien Jorise, 1623; Cor- nelius Jacobsen Mey, 1624; William Verhulst, 1625; Peter Minuit, May 4, 1626; Wouter Van Twiller, April, 1633; William Kieft, March 28, 1638; Peter Stuyvesant, May 11, 1647, to September 8, 1664, when the city was surrendered to the English; Anthony Colve, September 19, 1673, when the city was retaken by the Dutch, to November 10, 1674, when by treaty the city was again given to the English.

Of these Dutch officials the first two were skippers of vessels which brought over some of the first immigrants, and were instrumental in locating Fort Orange, probably in 1623. Of Verhulst nothing is known. Peter Minuit, the purchaser of Manhattan Island, as before stated, was the first fully empowered director general, and was a man of high character and excellent qualifications. It was he who conducted the correspondence with Governor Bradford relative to Dutch en- croachment upon the trade of Narragansett Bay, and his letters are models of courteous diplomacy. He also kept amicable relations with the Indians and greatly advanced the interests of the Dutch in trade.

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 2

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374