Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 1, Part 3

Author: Anderson, George Baker
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1324

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empire to that point where he should be able to found a city, his charter gave him power to establish officers and magistrates. He was empowered absolutely to make rules for the government of his colonists, providing that they should conform to the laws of the parent government. In order to appeal from a decision made by one of the Patroons' manorial courts, it was necessary that the judgment should be for fifty guilders or more, in which event the case might be carried to the director and coun- eil in New Netherlands. The tenants of the manor were to be free from taxes of all lands during the first ten years. No colonist was allowed to leave the colony during his term of service without the written consent of the Patroon, and the company contracted to do everything in its power to capture and return fugitive colonists.

The trade arrangements between the company and the Patroons were very liberal for the times, it would appear. They were allowed to trade along the Atlantic coast of North America, with the single provision that all cargoes were to be sent first to Manhattan, where a duty of five per cent. should be paid to the company before shipment to Holland. The company, however, reserved the sole right to trade in the skins and furs of all animals. The colonists also were not allowed to weave any cloths, on pain of punishment. This restriction applied to all, whether independent or under patroons. The company, on the other hand, contracted to protect and de- fend all the colonists against all wars and powers, whether inter-colonial or internal. The company also agreed to furnish as many negro laborers as they conveniently could, for as long a time as was convenient to the company. A wise provision was that the colonists should provide and support a minister and a schoolmaster.

One of the first of the Dutch capitalists to accept the tempting offer of the Dutch West India company was Killiaen Van Rensselaer.1 Bastiaen Jansen Krol, commissary, and Dierek Cornelissen Duyster, under-commissary at Fort Orange, having learned that a tract of land called by the Indians Sannahagog, or Sanckhagag, on the west side of the Hudson, or the North river as it was then known, extending from Beeren island, called Passapenock by the Indians, up to the Smaekx island, and " extending two days' journey into the interior," was for sale, purchased it from Paep Sikenekomptas, Nancouttanshal and Sick- oussen, the native proprietors, for Killiaen Van Rensselaer, who had heard of it from Krol. The sale was effected April 8, 1630. In July of the same year Gillis Hoossett purchased for Van Rensselaer "from Cottomack, Nawanemit, Abantzene, Sagisguwa and Kanamoack, the lands lying south and north of Fort Orange and extending to within a short distance of Moenimines Castle, then situated on what is now ealled Haver island;" and from Nawanemit, one of last named chiefs, his grounds, "called Semesseeek, stretehing on the east side of the river,

! The references employed in writing the history of the Colony of Rensselaerwyck, were sug- gested by William Bayard Van Rensselaer, esq., of Albany, a direct lineal descendant of Killiaen Van Rensselaer.

VAN RENSSELAER ORGANIZES A COLONY.

from opposite Castle island to a point facing Fort Orange, and thence from Paetanaek, the Mill creek, north to Negagons." These convey- ances were ratified on the same day that the charter of 1629 was pro- claimed at Fort Amsterdam. April 13, 1637, an intervening district "called Papsickenekaas, or Papsskanea as the name was afterwards pronounced, lying also on the east side of the river and extending from opposite Castle island south to the point opposite Smackx island, and including the adjacent islands and all the lands back into the interior, belonging to the Indian owners, was purchased 'for certain quantities of duffels, axes, knives and wampum,' also for Van Rensselaer, who thus became proprietor of a tract of country twenty-four miles long and forty-eight miles broad, containing, as is estimated, over seven hun- dred thousand acres of land, which now compose the counties of Al- bany, Rensselaer, and part of the county of Columbia. "!

Determined that no one should take advantage of what he believed to be, and what subsequently proved to be, a great opportunity in the way of acquiring a naturally rich and exceedingly fertile country, he made hasty arrangements to send out a colony and take possession of the lands on both sides of the noble Hudson river at the head of navi- gation. With the keen eye of an experienced Dutch trader he foresaw the great benefits which would fall to the colony which should be es- tablished at this point, where ships might be loaded with ease and at small expense and sail direct for any part of the world, making allowance for the customs restrictions imposed by the company from which he was to receive the privileges referred to. Early in the spring of 1630 he gathered together a small body of emigrants, farmers and their families, with a small stock of cattle and horses and what farming utensils they would need at the start, and put them in charge of a trusty overseer, or " upper bouwmeester," named Wolfert Gerritson. These men and women, after being told exactly what would be expected of them and the benefits which would fall to them by diligent efforts on their part, embarked for the New World at the Texel in a small ship called the "Eendragt," or " Unity," of which John Brouwer was captain.

Upon their arrival at Fort Orange they at once began the settlement of the colony of Rensselaerwyck after the plans which had been laid out for them by their patroon. Soon after their arrival Gillis Hoos-

1 Munsell's Annals of Albany, Vol. 1, p. Is".

LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.

sett, acting as the special agent of the patroon, secured from the Indians the second grant of land on the west side of the river north of that obtained by Krol. The council at Manhattan retained exclusive con- trol of Fort Orange and the land immediately surrounding it, which was in the midst of the Van Rensselaer grant, so that Fort Orange itself, and its successor, the city of Albany, were never a part of the domain of the patroon. The council, however, confirmed the two purchases made by the patroon, on Aug. 8 and 13, 1630, respectively, and at the same time issued the formal patents therefore, placing under feudal rule a territory which now forms the larger part of the counties of Rensselaer and Albany. This domain for generations thereafter was known as the colony of Rensselaerwyck, and subsequently as the manor of Rensselaerwyck.

The large grant received by Van Rensselaer caused feelings of jeal- ously to arise among other capitalists. This sentiment of dissatisfac- tion increasing, the patroon decided that it would be politic for him to make a show of dividing his estate. He therefore divided it into five parts, retaining two of the shares for himself and deeding the balance about equally among Samuel Godyn, John De Laet and Samnel Bloem- maert. With the latter were associated Adam Bissels and Touissaint Moussart, who were by the terms of the contract, co-directors of Rensselaerwyck. De Laet received that portion which now includes the village of Greenbush; Godyn's island is on the same side of the river a short distance to the south; Bloemmaert's share was about the mouth of the small stream which later was known as Patroon's Creek. Notwithstanding this division it will be seen that the portion reserved for Van Rensselaer was the most extensive and most valuable portion of the grant.

The English confirmation of the patent to Killiaen Van Rensselaer given by Thomas Dongan, an English Governor, dated November 4, 1685, describes the boundaries of the several purchases made by the agents of Van Rensselaer as follows:

Beginning at the south end of or part of Berrent Island on Hudson's River and extending northwards up along both sides of the said Hudson's River unto a place heretofore called the Kahoos, or the great falls of the said river, and extending itself east and west from each side of the said River backwards into the woods 24 English miles, as also a certain tract of land situate, lying and being on the East side of Hudson River beginning at the creek by Major Abraham Staet's and so along the said river southward to the south side of Vaxtrix Island by a creek called Waghan- kasigh, stretching from thence with an easterly line into the woods 24 English

FOUNDATION OF RENSSELAERWYCK.

miles to a place Wawanaquiasick, and from thence northward to the head of said creek by Major Abraham Staet's aforesaid. 1

In 1630 a commissary of the Dutch West India company had pur- chased of the Indians two tracts on the west side of the Hudson River for Killian Van Rensselaer, Seven years later (1637) Van Rensselaer purchased the tract on the opposite or east side of the river for certain quantities of duffels, axes, knives and wampum, and thus became the proprietor of a tract of country 24 miles along the river and 48 in ex- tent east and west. Over this tract he possessed all the authority of a sovereign and made a large outlay for its settlement, giving it the name of Rensselaerwyck.

A copy of a map of that portion of the manor of Rensselaerwyck lying east of the Hudson River, comprising the major part of what is now Rensselaer county, is herein given, showing the farms or different parcels of land as they were originally laid out in the manor, under the manorial leases, many of which retain their original boundaries to this day. 2

Every year new immigrants arrived and the colony became even more prosperous and the patroon more wealthy than he had anticipated. All the settlers had live-stock, seeds and farming utensils. The land was leased of the patroon at an annual tental, payable in grain, beeves and wampum, or a share of the products of the land such as they might be. The average rate of rent demanded was ten bushels of wheat per hundred acres per annum. The patroon and his partners were in- vested with full authority in civil and military affairs, subordinate only to the Dutch West India company and the government of Holland. They had their forts, soldiers, cannon and courts of justice. The management of the colony was vested in a court of board consisting of four persons or yotes, of which Van Rensselaer held two; Bloemmaert, or Bissels, one; and De Laet, or Moussart, one. Van Rensselaer was not to have any authority superior to his associates except the title of patroon, which, with all its fendal honors, was vested in him alone. The other partners bound themselves to do fealty and homage

' This Patent excepted Fort Albany from the southernmost end of the pasture lying over against the north end of Martin Garrittson's Island to the post on the north side of the said town, where it was formerly marked by Gov. Stuyvesant, and so backward into the woods northwest lo English miles.

" This map is a copy of the original map of the eastern hall of the colony of Rensselaerwyck, now in the possession of Jeffrey 1. Thomas, civil engineer and surveyor, of Troy. It is believed to be the only map of its kind in existence.

LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.

for the fief on his demise, in the name and on behalf of his son and heirs.

The court of the colony exercised executive, legislative or municipal, and judicial functions. It was at one time the governor, the legisla- ture and the supreme court. It was composed of two commissaries called " gecommitteerden " and two councilors called " gerechts per- soonen," also raetspersoonen, raedtsvrienden or "schepenen." The former were legislators more than anything else, and the functions of the latter were more like those of the country justice of to-day. There was also a sheriff or "schoutfiscaal;" a constable, or "gerechts-bode," and a secretary or clerk for the court and the colony in general.

The office of sheriff was the most important in the colony. The first sheriff of Rensselaerwyck was Jacob Albertsen Planck, and the first colonial secretary, who was also superintendent of the colony, was Arendt Van Corlaer or Van Curler. He was succeeded in 1642 by An . thony de Hooges. Brant Peelen, Gerrit de Reus, Cornelis Teunissen van Breuckelen, Pieter Cornelissen van Munickendam and Dirck Jans- sen were among the earliest magistrates of Rensselaerwyck. Sheriff Planck's successor was Adriaen van der Donck, who in turn was suc- ceeded by Nicolans Coorn. Andries Jansz was the first schoolmaster, beginning his service in 1615.

Arendt Van Corlaer (or Van Curler) came from Holland in 1630 as assistant commissary of the patroon, but soon after his arrival he was appointed commissary-general, or superintendent of the colony, and acted as colonial secretary until 1642. Ilis jurisdiction extended from Beeren island to the mouth of the Mohawk on both sides of the river. In 1612 he resented Father Jogues from the Mohawk Indians; in 1646 he married Antonia Slaghboom and visited Holland; and on his return moved to the flats above Albany, where he had a farm; in 1659 he held a conference with the Mohawks at Caughnawaga and renewed the treaty of sixteen years' standing with them. lle was one of the leaders in the settlement of Schenectady in 1661-62.

The original journal of Arendt Van Corlaer's expedition to the com- try of the Mohawks and Senecas in 1634-35, which was translated for the first time in the summer of 1895 by General James Grant Wilson of New York, is justly considered as of great historical value, inasmuch as it antedates any other existing doenment relating to the history of New Netherland, and also in that it comes from the pen of one of those

JOURNAL OF ARENDT VAN CORLAER.

who were very closely identified with the early life of the colony of - Rensselaerwyck. He was the Indians' great friend and they were all his friends. As General Wilson says, in his preface to the translation of the journal of Van Corlaer

A monument, perhaps without a peer on the pages of the history of New Nether- land, was that erected in the hearts of the Mohawks, Senecas and other native tribes, as well as in the hearts of the French of Canada, to Arendt Van Corlear, a man of large benevolence and unsullied honor, in remembrance of the kindness, the justness, and the mercy by which he so won the affections of the simple sons of the forest, ever open to the manifestations of regard for their welfare, that, when taken from them by death, they extended his name to every governor of the province of New York for many years, with the signification " good friend," and all that that title implies.

Van Corlaer was a cousin of Jeremias Van Rensselaer and a nephew of Killiaen Van Rensselaer. He took up his residence in Rensselaer- wyck at what afterward was known as Fort Orange. He was at once thrown in contact with the Indians, and by his uniform fair- ness and kindness to them he so won their esteem that his wishes were law to them. Many a time when they were greatly provoked by the whites lie restrained them from acts of violence. His great strength with the red men was so generally recognized that when the English succeeded the Dutch in the control of the province in 1664, Governor Nicoll consulted him on the interests of the country generally and on Indian affairs particularly and through him paved the way to the ag- gressive alliance between the Five Nations and the Government, an alliance which was maintained for more than a century. Early in the summer of 1667 Van Corlaer started on a visit to Quebec, in response to an urgent invitation from his friends there. He never returned. While attempting to eross Lake Champlain in a frail canoe he was over- taken by a storm and drowned near Split Rock, in the bay called by the French " Baye Corlar," now Perne bay, Essex county, New York.

In 1643 Arendt Van Corlaer married Antonia Slaghvoorn, widow of Jonas Bronck, a patentec of lands in Westchester county. In 1661 he organized an association and purchased the Schonowe flats west of Albany, which he named Schaenedestede, "the beautiful town, " near Schenectady, which was his home at the time of his death. Upon the death of his widow in 1677 his estate passed into the hands of strangers.

December 11, 1634, Von Corlaer started on a journey "to the Ma- quas and Sinnekens Indians" -- the Mohawks and Senecas. In his jour-

LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.

nal he states that "the reason why we went was that the Maquas and Sinnekens very often came to our commissioners ( Martin Gerritsen and me) stating that there were French Indians trading in their land, and that the Maquas wished to go there and trade with their skins, because the Maquas Indians wanted to receive just as much for their skins as the French Indians did." Von Corlaer was accompanied by Jeronimus la Crock, William Tomassen and five Maquas Indians. On the first of January, 1635, a treaty of peace for four years was signed by the Ma- quas and Sinnekens and the French Indians. Von Corlaer and his party did not reach Fort Orange on their return until January 21.

Johannes Megapolensis was called from Holland to serve as first pastor of the little colony. For the convenience of the settlers at Green- . bush, called Tuscameatick by the Indians, a ferry was soon after es tablished near the foot of the creek called Beaver's kill, and from that day to this it has continued in constant operation.

In 1652 Gerrit Swart received his commission as schout, or sheriff, of Rensselaerwyck and was sent to this country from Holland to per- form the duties of that office, the most important exceutive office in the colony. In his commission were these words: " He shall use for his dwelling the house formerly used by the former preacher, situated in Greenbush, and there reside with his family, and exercise and dis- charge his aforesaid office with all diligence and fidelity, according to the laws, ediets and ordinances already or to be enacted there." On his departure he received instructions which contained these important clauses: " Having arrived with God's help at the island of Manhattan, he shall procced by the first opportunity to the Colonie and report him- self to Jan Baptist Van Rensselaer and make known unto him his qual- ity by exhibition of his commission and instructions. He shall above all things take care that Divine worship shall be maintained in said Colonie, conformably to the Reformed Religion of this Country, as the same is publicly taught in these United Provinces. He shall in like manner pay attention that the Lord's Day, the Sabbath of the New Testament, be properly respected both by the observance of hearing the Holy Word as well as the preventing all unnecessary and daily labor on said day. And whereas it is a scandal that the Christians should mingle themselves unlawfully with the wives or daughters of the heathen, the officer shall labor to put in execution the placards and ordinances enacted or to be enacted against the same and strictly exact the fines imposed hereby without any dissimulation."

AUTHORITY OF THE SHERIFF.

The winter of 1646-47 was remarkably long and severe and caused much suffering among the colonists. The Hudson froze over at Rens- selaerwyck as early as November 24, and remained closed until the lat- ter part of March. Upon the melting of the snow and ice at that time a great freshet occurred. The water surrounded Fort Orange, nearly carrying it away, and a number of horses were drowned in their sta- bles. At the same time the inhabitants on both sides of the river were amazed at seeing a fish of great size, "snow white in color, round in the body and blowing water out of its head," swimming up the stream. The ignorant and superstitious among them feared that the visit of this monster of the deep would bring with it some dire calamity, and their fears were heightened when the first thunder and lightning of the year came, while this mysterious monster swam hither and thither, evidently looking for a way to escape This monster had hardly disappeared when another, more mysterious still, forty feet long, brown in color, having fins on its baek and also ejecting water from the top of his head, put in an appearance. This visitor was at once pronounced a whale by some mariners who were familiar with the leviathan, and the strain upon the public nerve was relieved. Soon after it was learned that this whale had become stranded on an island at the mouth of the Mo- hawk river, and within a few days the flesh of the animal was roasted, and most of the oil extracted. Four other whales grounded in differ- ent parts of the Hudson in the same year. Why they should have as- cended the river so far is a matter of conjecture.

Johannes Van Rensselaer, heir to the patroonship, was a minor at the death of his father and the duties of the office devolved on his uncle, Johannes Van Wely, and Wouter Van Twiller. The immediate man- agement of the estate was entrusted to Brant Arent Van Slechtenhorst of Nieukerke, in Guilderland, who assumed most of the powers of the patroon. Van Slechtenhorst made an attempt to extend the colony of Rensselaerwyek to the south, but he met with opposition and the scheme was abandoned.

In 1645 the colonists were threatened with an attack by the Mohawk Indians, but an embassy of diplomatie Dutchmen visited the redmen, made them presents and returned with assurances that there would be no trouble.

There was a collision between the authorities of the colony and the provincial government in 1651 on account of a demand for a subsidy

LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.

from Rensselaerwyck. The colonists had already refused to pay the excise on wines and liquors consumed by them, on the ground that such a poliey was an invasion of the freedoms and in direct opposition to the customs of the Fatherland. Van Slechtenhorst was commis- sioned to proceed to New Amsterdam to remonstrate with the directors and council against it, and while there he was arrested and held four months, on order of Stuyvesant, the governor, notwithstanding his protests and those of the authorities of Rensselaerwyck. He finally escaped and returned to Fort Orange. But feeling continued to run high over the question as to whether Fort Orange was properly under the jurisdiction of Rensselaerwyek or not, and if so, what constituted Fort Orange proper. Several collisions occurred between the two fac- tions. Stuyvesant sent a placard to the fort defining the limits of that settlement, but Slechtenhorst protested against its reading and in the confusion that followed the document was torn up by Jean Baptist Van Rensselaer. Stuyvesant immediately dispatched another decree to Joannes Dyckman, the company's commissary, declaring the jurisdic- tion of Fort Orange to extend within a circumference of 600 paces from the fort. This act, violent and illegal, contrary to the charter and in defiance of the rights of property, severed the town of Beverwyck from Rensselaerwyck. Despite the protests of the authorities Bever- wyek was finally given a separate tribunal, not many years after be- coming the city of Albany.

Jeremias Van Rensselaer succeeded his brother Jean Baptiste as director of the colony in 1658, his administration extending over a period of sixteen years and being characterized by rare discretion. le was highly respected and very influential among both the French and the Indians. He died Oct. 12, 1684.

The eldest son of Jeremias, named Killian, was the first lord of the manor of Rensselaerwyck, which he represented in the provincial assembly twelve years, beginning in 1691. In 1703 he was called to the council, and in the following year he conveyed Claveraek, or the " lower manor," as it was known, with the Cralo estate at Greenbush, to his younger brother Hendrik.

In the early days of the colony of Rensselaerwyek the population consisted of three classes principally. The most influential of these were the freemen, men and women of fair intelligence, who had emi- grated from Holland at their own expense. A second class was com-

THE SYSTEM OF LAND TENURE.

posed of the farmers, a highly desirable lot, mostly adult men, whose expenses were paid by the patroon, except in rare instances. The third class was made up of farm laborers and other servants, who were sent from Holland by the patroon. The extensive resources of Killiaen V'an Rensselaer were freely applied to furthering the interests of those who had helped him to settle his colony, for he realized that their suc- cess meant his success and their failure meant his failure. Whenever he learned of any difficulties which had beset them he, through his agents, was quick to extend a helping hand. Considering the times and the conditions surrounding the colony and its inhabitants it may be said that he was in a certain sense a benefactor. Lack of capital rarely embarrassed any of his dependents. In the beginning he laid out sev- eral fine farms on the fertile flats on both sides of the river. On these he erected substantial dwelling houses, barns and stables, and at his own expense stocked them with cattle and horses, and in some cases with sheep. He also paid for the necessary farming implements, and whenever the occupant of a farm applied to him for other necessities the appeal was not allowed to go unheeded. Thus it was that the first patroon caused to be established the most substantial colony, in many ways, in the New Netherlands, and which has been evolved into one of the richest and most prosperous communities which has succeeded any colony formed in America in the first half of the seventeenth century.

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Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 1, Part 3

Author: Anderson, George Baker Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1324

Author: Anderson, George Baker
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1324