USA > New York > New York City > Old New York : a journal relating to the history and antiquities of New York City, Vol. II > Part 32
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preaching from God's Word, and the usnal exercises of Christian prayer and praise ; requesting and charging, for that purpose, all their officers, subjects, and vassals to frequent and attend the same ; forbidding in the meanwhile, during Divine service, in con- formity with our previous proclamations, all taverning, fishing, hunting, and other usual occupations, handicrafts, and professions, whether in houses, cellars, shops, ships, sloops, or in the streets and markets, in the forfeiture of such wares, merchandise, or property or the redemption of the same with the sum of twenty-five gelders, until otherwise ordered, to be applied for the benefit of the Poor and the Church, and furthermore one pound Flemish in case either buyers or sellers, the hirers or hired that may transgress, to be applied one half to the officers, the other half at the discretion of the Court. Furthermore we do hereby enact and forbid that no one shall on the forepart of the day give himself up to foolish drinking and other excesses, to the scandal and offence of others, in the penalty, in case any one be thus found, of being chastised by our Fiscal or any higher or lower officers at their discretion. Thus done, and after the resumption agreed to, and published at New Amsterdam in New Netherlands, 29th April, 1648.
NO LIQUOR TO BE SOLD TO THE INDIANS.
Whereas, by daily experience it has been seen and observed that notwithstanding it has been forbidden several times by former proclamations that any one should tap, hand out, mingle, or sell through the third or fourth person, directly or indirectly, any strong drinks to the Indians or Natives of this Country, we must daily see before our eyes that the Indians are running about through the Manhattans in a state of intoxication, and also that the inhabitants living without experience great vexation from the Indians, whereby, as formerly, fresh animosities and wars are to be apprehended ; therefore His Excellency the Director General and the Honorable the Councillors this once more the former proclamations do reenact, and hereby peremptorily do forbid, and we do by these presents peremptorily forbid the handing out, the mingling or selling of any strong drinks by whatever name or mark they may be known ; and in case any person after this date shall be convinced of these, though it should even through the in-
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formation of the Indians themselves (to whom, for mighty reasons, credit shall be given in this case) he shall, over and above the penalty established by former proclamations, be arbitrarily punished without any dissimulation, since it [is] far better that such evil disposed persons should be punished than that the coun- try and community in general should suffer damage through them. Thus done in session at Fort Amsterdam in the New Netherlands this 13th May, A. D. 1648.
TRADING BY FOREIGNERS FORBIDDEN.
Whereas, by their High Mightinesses the Director General and the Councillors, it has been with great concern noticed and ob- served that many of the Scotch merchants and small traders that from time to time come out of their country with their ships are doing or aiming at nothing else than with their underselling and manner of trading to destroy trade : selling their goods very rapidly, giving eleven or twelve gelders in loose seawant for one beaver, and having sold out they go with their ships, whence they may return the same year, without leaving or doing any benefit to the country, to the injury of the inhabitants, who by their freehold and birth are obliged to bear all of the burdens. Therefore, for the purpose of preventing such destroyers of trade, it is deemed advis- able and necessary for New Netherland and the inhabitants thereof · to enact and ordain that from this time forth all Scotch merchants and small dealers, who came from their country with vessels with the intention of trading here with Christians or Heathens, in wholesale or retail, shall not be permitted to carry on the least trade in the land, except in case they shall have had a residence here in New Netherland three following and succeeding years ; and furthermore to be compelled, within one year after their privi- lege and opportunity, to erect a decent and habitable tenement in this city, New Amsterdam ; all traders and others who are in pos- session of one habitable tenement and have resided three years in the place shall be permitted to trade, and not otherwise (the Merchant or Schipper of their High Mightinesses' vessels alone is exempted), provided that the same shall not be permitted to have any shop on the land. Thus done in the presence of his High Mightiness the Director General; His Excellency Dincklagen ; Monsr. La Montagne, Brian Nuton, and Paulus Lendersen at New Amsterdam this 18th September, A. D. 1648.
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JOHN HENRY STARIN.
John Henry Starin, the President of the Saratoga Monument Association, ex-member of Congress and a prominent figure among the leading railroad and steamboat men of our day, was born in Sammonsville, in that portion of Montgomery now known as Fulton County (since its division from the former), on August 27th, 1825. Johannes Ster, the founder of the family in America, came from Holland about 1648. Ilis descendant, Nicholas Ster, translated his name into Stern, since changed into Starin. Stern has the same signification in German that Ster has in Dutch. He removed from Albany into the Mohawk Valley about 1720, taking up land there. The settlement was called German Flats, and subsequently became an integral part of Mont- gomery County. With Nicholas Ster came his wife and five children. Eight more were born to him in New York. Philip Starin, his second child, was born at German Flats, New York, Elizabeth, daughter of John Ebertson, a Hollander, becoming his wife. Their seventh child, John Starin, was born in Charleston, Montgomery County, in 1754. He died in Fultonville in 1832. He, with ten others of the Starin family, fought throughout the struggle for Independence under Washington. At its termination he established a public house on the Mohawk's north bank, opposite Caughnawaga. This tavern, being on the regular stage and mail route, did a prosperous business. In 1780 he married Jane, a daughter of Hendrick Wemple, a native of Holland. His third child, Myndert, was born at Glen, Montgomery County, in 1786. IIe was the father of John Henry Starin, the present rep- resentative of the family. Filled with enterprise and business pre- vision, he founded the manufacturing interest of Sammonsville by building industrial structures with steam and water power. He was full of energy, and exhibited much forethought for the common good and the business prosperity of the village. The pretty town of Fultonville is said to have been laid out and planned by him, and he also, with the pecuniary aid of Mr. Thomas Robinson, erected several of the buildings. In 1810 he was
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united in wedlock to Rachel, the daughter of Major Thomas Sam- mons, of Johnstown, N. Y., of a family creditably prominent before, during, and after the Revolution. The Sammons and Starin families being old neighbors and their male members Revolutionary com- patriots, their relations had always been of the most amicable character, and after Peace had spread her wings over the land they earnestly cooperated in the industrial advancement of the communities along the Mohawk River.
John Henry Starin was the fifth of the eight children that sprang from Myndert Starin's marriage. From an early age he exhibited . those striking traits to which, in their riper development, he is so largely indebted for his business success. Application, energy, con- centration of purpose and a remarkable power of reflection and fore- cast, these were the qualities conspicuous even in his youth, and at maturity they formed the basis of his character. The sound and salutary instruction which he received at the best schools accessible to the American youth of that day served to confirm and give direction to his intellectual qualities. After graduating at Esperance Academy, in Schoharie County, he studied medicine, but he soon perceived that this occupation was ill-suited to his restless energy. Accordingly he abandoned it as a profession and became a clerk in the drug store of his brother Delancey in Fultonville. In 1856 he came to New York City, where he not only sold, but manufactured, medicinal and toilet articles. He succeeded in this calling, and several advantageous offers of part- nership were made to him, which he refused. The business of arranging for the transportation of his goods involved almost daily contact with railroad and steamboat men, and it was at this period of his career that the idea occurred to him of establish- ing a general freight agency in this city, representing the leading railroad trunk lines. An officer of one of the most promi- nent of these, to whom he explained his plan, at the same time soliciting his co-operation, obtained for him the clientage of a leading road. A contract having been entered into, Mr. Starin began the undertaking with his accustomed energy, and the busi- ness increased so rapidly that he sold out his drug business and devoted himself exclusively to the new enterprise. Shortly after this the rebellion burst upon the country. During the struggle
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Mr. Starin displayed conspicuous ability as an effective organizer of transportation of troops, stores and munitions of war for the Government. On repeated occasions and in the face of apparently insuperable obstacles, large bodies of hungry troops, so isolated as to be almost practically cut off from regular bases of supply, received by the prompt and skilful utilization of the vast and well organized resources at his command the food and materiel of which they stood in need; this, too, in far less time than they could have been otherwise supplied and, moreover, at less cost. The wondrously speedy and successful execution of his Govern- ment contracts won him high reputation as a transportation agent, and contributed in no small degree to the extension of his railroad and steamboat connection at the close of the war.
In the lapse of years since then Mr. Starin's business has enor- mously increased. The lighterage and handling of freight of the leading railroads which have their great focal centre in New York have been and are in the hands of Mr. Starin, and the contracts in- volving this business and its various ramifications are constantly in- creasing. The steamboat and freight lines of Mr. Starin, his im- mense business establishments and receptacles for freight on our river front, are too familiar to Gothamites to need more than a pass- ing mention. But in the business community his famous energy, his skill in the handling of gigantic contracts, the wonderful system which signalizes every branch of his vast business, are the admira- tion of railroad and steamboat men. His talent for organization was conspicuously shown at the recent centennial celebration, when, in the grand display of our naval force and merchant marine on the North and East Rivers, he was entrusted with the arrangement and conduct of the latter division of the pageant. It is also a fact in his favor that should not be forgotten by Mr. Starin's townsmen that, when the holding of the World's Fair in 1892 was proposed, Mr. Starin offered to guarantee on behalf of the owners of steam trans- portation in this harbor that at least $500,000 would be subscribed by them alone toward the successful consummation of the enterprise.
Besides the enormous plant of his vast establishment and his fleet of vessels, steamboate, tugs, propellers, lighters, barges, car floats, grain boats, floating elevators and dry docks, Mr. Starin is a large real estate owner here and elsewhere. Among the most
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picturesque of his possessions is his extensive and admirably man- aged stock farm, near Fultonville, N. Y., where not only is some of the choicest stock in any racing or trotting stud in America to be found, but far better than this from a humanitarian point, its care and conduct gives employment to scores of the indus- . trious among the rural population of the neighborhood.
Mr. Starin is not less widely known to the Summer excursion- · going people of New York than to the business community. His boats laden with pleasure seekers run everywhere, and those to Glen Island, which at lavish expense he has converted into a veritable fairy land, are particularly delightful and notable. The newsboys of New York also know him well as the free donor for many years of his boats and barges for their excursions under the ' direction of Mr. O'Connor, of the News-Boys' Home. In the same connection his name is familiar to the Grand Army of the Republic, the policemen, the firemen and many others.
Mr. Starin's public life, which of itself forms a most important episode in his career, began with his appointment as postmaster of Fultonville, in 1848, a function he satisfactorily exercised until 1852. In 1876 he became a Congressional candidate on the Re- publican ticket in the Twentieth District, comprising Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties. He was elected, served his teri, and was renominated by the Republicans in 1878, and received 17,735 votes, while the Democratic nom- inec received 10,878 and the candidate of the Greenback Labor party polled 3,585. Consistency, moderation, fidelity to party and sagacity, marked his Congressional career. Before the XLVth Congress finished its session he was urged to accept a third nom- . ination. No more fitting exposition of his political views can be given than the subjoined letter to Mr. A. C. Churchill, of Schenec- tady :
"NEW YORK, July 3, 1880.
"My Dear Sir: Your communication of the 1st inst., in which you are good enough to express a warm desire that I should con- sent to become a candidate for re-election to Congress from the Twentieth District, has been duly received. In reply I.must say to you, as I have to other esteemed friends, that I have fully de- termined not to seek for a re-nomination. Further than this I will
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say to you frankly, that I would not accept the position were it tendered to me. At the same time, however, I beg to assure you in the most positive terms that I am deeply sensible of the obliga- tion which your kind confidence and that of my other friends has placed upon me. For the generous support which I have hereto- fore received from the citizens of my district-support which has in many cases been given without regard to political predilection- I shall ever feel profoundly grateful. In the same connection 1 may be permitted to add that throughout the Congresssional terms which I have served it has been my aim to so act that I might de- serve the approval of intelligent and right minded men of my own and other parties. If I have succeeded in this my highest ambi- tion is gratified, and I shall esteem myself more than compensated for any sacrifice of personal business interest which attention to my public duties has involved. If it be the verdict of my con- stituents that I have not neglected the trust which they reposed in me I shall be satisfied.
" But without regard to my own feelings in the matter, I have noticed that there is among Republicans everywhere a growing sentiment in favor of rotation in office. I can see no public or party necessity which calls for an exception in my case. There are a number of staunch men and true Republicans in the district who desire and deserve the place which I have held for two terms, and who would discharge its many responsible duties far more acceptably than I have been capable of doing. These, my dear sir, are my chief reasons for declining the honor which you and other lenient friends would confer upon me.
" In conclusion let me say that I regard the coming political can- vass as being in many respects the most important we have ever known. Some of the most momentous questions which ever pre- sented themselves to a free people must be decided by it. I trust more earnestly than I can express that they may be decided well and wisely. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add that in my opinion the best interests of the Union demand the success of the presi- dential ticket nominated by the Republican National Convention. The work of our great party, the party of progress, of enlight- enment and liberty, is not yet complete. It will not be complete until every citizen of the United States is able to freely cast his
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ballot and is assured that when cast it will be fairly counted. The prosecution of this work may be safely committed to the hands of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Believing this, and even though my own place in the contest will be that of a private in the ranks, you may rest assured that I will spare no honorable · effort which may tend to complete Republican success.
" I remain very truly yours,
" JOHN HI. STARIN."
One of the most agreeable incidents in the career of Mr. Starin, and one which will doubtless always give much satisfaction to his children and those who come after them, occurred at Starin Place, Fultonville, New York, a short time ago. Starin Place, to which reference has already been made, consists of upwards of 1,200 acres of land situated upon the high hills which slope back from the picturesque Mohawk Valley.
Upon this property has been erected a palatial homestead, sur- rounded by many acres laid out in walks, drives, lawns and flower gardens, and embellished by stately greenhouses, graperies, fish ponds, a deer park, artificial waterfalls, a race track, bowling alley and gymnasium, together with many rare semi-tropical plants and a number of pieces of statuary in bronze and marble.
About two years ago it occurred to a number of gentlemen who were visitors at this ideal summer home, that it would be a good idea to present to it impersonally a bronze statue of its founder, to be erected upon the place and remain in the custody of a repre- sentative of the Starin family to be chosen by the donors. To carry out this idea Mr. George E. Bissell, the distinguished sculptor, was called upon, and the result was the modeling and casting of a bronze statue of Mr. Starin, which is in every way a work of art. The figure is eight feet high, and is supported by a pedestal of Quincy granite ten feet high and ornamented by reliefs in bronze of "Commerce," "Legislation," " Agriculture " and "Public Works." The pedestal is upon a base of rough and massive field stones four feet high, and the effect of the work, placed as it is upon & commanding knoll in the midst of extensive and well kept grounds, is most attractive. This fitting tribute to their friend was presented by Frank Hiscock, Geo. C. Clausen, Joel B. Er-
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hardt, Henry W. Schmidt, Henry F. Dimock, Charles C. Clausen, Elihu Root and Howard Carroll, gentlemen whom it is needless to state have achieved distinction either in legislation, the law, com- merce or literature.
On Tuesday, Oct. 7th, 1890, Mr. Starin being in Europe, the gentlemen having the matter in charge took the opportunity to unveil the statue. The ceremony was simple but most impressive. Some two hundred of the friends and neighbors of " the Commo- dore," as he is familiarly called throughout the. Mohawk Valley, assembled around the statue, and at the appointed time were joined by Mrs. Starin and her children and grand children, together with the Hon. Joel B. Erhardt, Collector of the Port of New York ; the Hon. Edward Wemple, Comptroller of the State of New York; the Hon. A. J. Dittenhoefer, Mr. Henry W. Schmidt, Mr. E. E. Gedney, Mr. Ormand G. Smith, Mr. George E. Bissell, the sculptor ; the Hon. Elihu Root, the distinguished jurist ; and Mr. Howard Carroll, all of whom had traveled from New York for the purpose of being present. Judge Dittenhoefer introduced Elihu Root, who, upon behalf of his associates, made the following happy speech of presentation :
" Ladies and Gentlemen: We all know how common an occurrence it is for individuals and communities to say very good things about men who are dead, to write epitaphs of fulsome praise, to chisel in marble heroic sentences of adulation, when they can give no glow of satisfaction, inspire no throb of gratification in the heart of the man whose memory is commemorated.
"Some of the near personal friends of Mr. Starin, friends who know him best and consequently appreciate him most highly, have recog- nized the fact that of all the actors in this busy, struggling nine- teenth century life of ours, no one is more filled with the vitality of energy, work and progress than he ; and so it seemed eminently proper to them that they should express their thought regarding him and say what they had to say of him while he is alive. And they de- termined to express their thoughts in bronze. His characteristic modesty would, I am afraid, have prevented the carrying out of this project if he were in this country. But he is now traveling in for- eign lands, enjoying a period of much needed and well deserved rest, and his friends take the opportunity, without his knowledge,
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to present impersonally to Starin Place, which his genius and indus- try has created, this representation of himself. They do this in the hope that when he returns he may find in it an evidence of the esteem in which he is held. Long may it stand to fittingly com- memorate the lovely and lovable character of the man whom it well portrays."
As Mr. Root ceased speaking Miss Marguerite Spraker, Mr. Starin's youngest granddaughter, a sunny haired and charming lass of eight Summers, cut the string which held the American en- sign round the statue and it dropped to the ground, revealing the well known form and features of the gentleman whom it was de- signed to represent. Then, in response to Mr. Root, Mr. Howard Carroll, whose wife, it is perhaps needless to state, is the youngest daughter of Mr. Starin, upon behalf of the family, accepted the statue in the following address :
" If, Mr. Root, ladies and gentlemen, if this magnificent statue of its founder were presented to Starin Place solely because of any merit he may have as a personality, only because of any distinc- tion he may have achieved as an individual, it would, from my point of view, be neither modest nor seemly for his representa- tives to say more than that they were profoundly grateful to over generous friends for the high honor and esteem in which the head of their house was held by those friends.
" But I am sure from what I know of the motives which have controlled and which underlie this presentation, that while the gentlemen who make it have for Mr. Starin respect, regard, aye, even affection, deep seated, heartfelt and sincere, nevertheless they had in mind in the erection of this bronze not so much the man, as the grand type of American citizenship of which we can claim with all modesty that he is an example.
" If any man may say he is an American, he may make that claim. He was born among these Mohawk hills, as was his father, and his father, and his father before him. The conditions under which they lived and under which his carly life was passed did much to mold him to that type of manhood which we honor to-day.
" His childhood was not an easy one. Their lives were spent fighting for life.
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"Just think of it! Less than one hundred years ago this valley, this very spot upon which you have erected the choicest product of a Parisian workshop, though brought into being by an Amer- ican mind, this valley was a wilderness ; this spot the midst of a jungle. It is true that here and there upon the hill tops a clear- ing had been cut, and hardy settlers, braving many dangers, liter- ally battling for possession of the soil, had made for themselves primitive homes. But where great cities now stand, giant forest trees then towered; roads were almost unknown and the valleys were for the most part untrodden labyrinths.
" What a marvel ! to be born surrounded by wild beasts, to watch the retreating footsteps of savage tribes, yet to live to witness not only the first steps, but the highest achievements of an advanced civilization. This was the lot of the father of the man whose statue you have just unveiled.
" Let me repeat that these remarkable conditions, the conditions under which his early life was passed, did very much to make of him the man who has since been found worthy to take a place in the nation's highest council. The people of his village, as it was then, were constantly engaged in a struggle to live. At the same time they were contented and hopeful ; they were inspired by kindly sympathies which sprang from common needs. All intercourse was upon a level. No man envied his neighbor, for nowhere did the selfish or osten- tatious display of ill-gotten wealth put poverty to shame. It was in such a community and under such conditions that John II. Starin was born and passed his childhood. He was taught by his surroundings that exclusiveness is not one of the marks of distinction. Ile learned in infancy that no man in this country is born better than another, that the most exalted in the land may learn many a useful lesson from the humblest. He has never forgotten these truths. Indeed his life has been a strik- ing exemplification of them. He has never forgotten his native Mohawk hills. He went from them a poor young man. He re- turned to them with wealth beyond his wildest dreams. He re- mains in them to spend that wealth among the people who knew him when he was poor. He has no false pride. He is proud of his early struggles. He is a typical American. So believing, and
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