USA > New York > New York County > Harlem > Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals. : Prefaced by Home Scenes in the Fatherlands; Or Notices of Its Founders Before Emigration. Also, Sketches of Numerous Families, and the Recovered History of the Land-titles > Part 22
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On this date, the 7th of April Aº. 1662, have agreed and bargained, Jan De Pre, on the one side, and Wilhelm Montagnie on the other, in relation to, and over the sale of his allotment bought of Simon Lane,* on the following conditions. Jan De Pre acknowledges to have sold his house and house lot, land and garden, all that is fast by earth and nail, to Wilhelm Montagnie, for one Cow and Fifteen Guilders in sewant, the which he acknowledges to have received. The purchaser shall be held to pay the morgen money and the survey money. This all so done, and have with our hands subscribed. Dated as above.
Witness,
M. ZYPERUS. Aº. 1662.
JAN DE PRE, WILLEM DE LA MONTAGNE
In executing a deed, a bill of sale, lease, or other contract, cus- tom required the parties to appear with two witnesses before the town secretary, who, after hearing their statement, wrote out the instrument in his register, receiving for such service a fee of thirty stivers. When signed by all the parties, this remained as the original; but if desired, an attested copy was furnished by the secretary for an additional fee of twenty stivers. Wills, in the making of which the wife commonly joined with her hus- band (thus it was mutually fair and mutually binding) were executed in a similar way. A will in the usual form gave to "the longest liver" the use of the property for life or till a re-
" As first written it read "his lot No. 7," but Zyperus erased "No. 7," and inserted instead "gecocht van Symen Leen," i. e., bought of Simon Lane. It was to save misapprehension, as Lane had held and was registered for No. 8, though chang- ing with the rest when Jan Montagne vacated No. 1, he now held No. 7: and further the allotment carried with it No. 19, Van Keulen's Hook, just drawn by De Pre. Hence "No. 7" fell short of the proper description; yet without this number we could hardly identify the lot conveyed.
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marriage, after which it went equally to the children or other heirs. Sometimes in default of heirs it fell to the deacons for the benefit of the church or poor.
The grant of the commons west of the village for grazing purposes, of which we soon find the inhabitants in the peaceable enjoyment, must have dated from the very origin of the settle- ment; for while such grant unfortunately does not remain of record, it logically follows from the necessities of the case, the keeping and increase of cattle promising the facilities for doing it, and to which the settlers were directly encouraged in the ordinance of 1658, by the promise of "a cattle and horse fair." The extent of the first grant for the range of their cattle was probably left indefinite, to be determined by the future needs of the place, but it seems at least to have embraced the entire flats to the westward. The kine of the village, now much increased, were liable, if not carefully looked after, and with no fences to hinder them, to stray off and become lost in the woods and swamps. So, to save the time of many, it was resolved to em- ploy a common herder, who should collect the cows after milk- ing in the morning, drive them with the oxen out to pasture, and watch over them till brought in again toward evening. Hence was made the following :
Agreement with the Cow Herder.
I, David Du Four do acknowledge to have taken the cows to herd, belonging to the Town of New Harlem, at my own expense, and also from each house one pair of oxen; for the sum of three hundred guilders in sewant, and one-half pound of butter for every cow; provided I pay for the cattle that may be lost through my neglect. The time shall com- mence on the 23d of April, and end a fortnight after All-Saints' Day, at the option of the Inhabitants. It is also stipulated that the butter shall be paid in May, and the further payment as the Herder shall perform his work. Also the Herder grants power of parate executie. The above obligation we on both sides engage to hold to and fulfil. In N. Haerlem, 20th April, Anno 1662.
Daniel Tourneur and Lubbert Ger- ritsen promise to collect and pay the Herder money at the ap- pointed time. Dated as above. D. TOURNEUR *
DAVIT DU FOUR, . I P [mark of JAN P. SLOT], D. TOURNEUR, M. J. MUYDEN, J. LA MONTAGNE, Junior, * mark of LUBBERT GERRITS, MEYNDERT COERTEN, PHILIPPE CASIER, H H. KARSTENS, SIMON + DE RUINE, JE mark of JACOB ELDERTS, MOY PIER CRESSON.
Du Four, the Amsterdam drayman, better at driving a team than stupid cows, was soon disgusted with his new occupation,
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and turned it over to Jean Gervoe, the soldier. But now the cattle were not well looked after, as was alleged; in fact, some of the oxen, when needed for the yoke, were missing. As things went, it was necessary to engage another herder, and on April 29th Jan Cogu and Monis Peterson, who were partners in a lime-kiln, etc., undertook the herding for 350 gl., being 50 gl. more than Du Four was to have. The collectors, Tourneur and Gerritsen, sued Du Four to recover the difference, and the town court decided he must pay it, the defendant only making the flimsy plea that he "was led by artful talk" to undertake the herding .*
Meanwhile occurred the first case of mortality brought to our notice in the little community, and soon another. The per- sons were Jan Sneden and his wife, who died in quick suc- cession early in the year. Descended of an Amsterdam family, as before stated, Sneden came to Harlem in 1660, where he oc- cupied Monis Peterson's house and bouwery, but soon secured an allotment of his own, being No. 14 Jochem Pieters, with the erf and garden belonging to it. The Snedens were probably in- terred in the ground used later for the riegroes, and lying at the rear of the Judah plot, as interments were made there many years before "the old graveyard," removed a dozen years since, was taken for that use. The magistrates proceeded to settle Sneden's estate, as he was indebted to Isaac De Forest and others. His property was sold at vendue on three separate days, beginning March 25th. First the house and lands, with the grain on the latter sown by Sneden the previous fall, were, pursuant to notice, set up, and struck off at 135 gl. to Jaques Cousseau, who bid 25 gl. over his highest competitor, Tourneur. Jan La Montagne bid 100 gl., perhaps for his brother, who had not then purchased. At the two subsequent sales the household articles were disposed of, bringing 189 gl. But a mere pittance, 42 gl., was left to the orphans, Carsten and Grietie, over whom, on April 28th, Philip Casier and Lubbert Gerritsen were ap- pointed guardians, with directions "to act according to law." Grietie soon chose another protector, being married, August 13th
* Jena Gervoe, who apparently came out under an engagement as a soldier, had done such duty for several years at Harlem, but was free when not required to bear his musket, to till the land which he had taken up, or engage in other honest labor. But on leaving. in 1662, he sold his allotment, being. Nos. 13. Jochem Pieters, and 11. Van Keulen's Hook, with house and lot and meadows, to Philip Casier. He served as adelborst, cadet or corporal, under Lieut. Stilwell, in the Esopus war, for which, on his petition, January 10, 1664, he was allowed extra pay. He married in 1659, but his only child mentioned was Hillegond. at whose baptism, March 5, 1664, Jaques Tuynier (Cresson) stood as godfather. When the English took the country, Gervoe probably left with the Dutch forces.
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following, to Jean Guenon, of Flushing, from which union have sprung the now widely scattered Genung family .*
On November 16 new magistrates were appointed by the Director and Council, from a double number nominated by the old board. The new board consisted of Jan La Montagne, Philip Casier and Derick Claessen. One of their first acts was to provide for the more careful placing of houses and fences ; which some seem to have disregarded, to the damage of particu- lar and general interests. It was to check this abuse, and also to prevent any houses being put up outside the proper limits, that the magistrates, November 25th. passed the following :
"The Hon. Heere Schepens find it good to appoint and authorize Jan P. Slot, former schepen, as Rooy-meester (sur- veyor of buildings), for the improvement and sightliness of the village; and the builders shall every one be charged, after this time, to set no fences nor houses in the absence of the Hon. Heer Rooy-meester."
Upon November 30th, Montagne's term as deacon having ex- pired, Daniel Tourneur was chosen in his place, and also as brandt-meester, or fire-warden. Simon De Ruine and Monis Peterson were appointed keur-meesters van de heyningen, or in- spectors of fences, in place of Hendrick Karstens and Adam Dericksen ; and a fine of three guilders was ordered against the owners every time their fences should be found defective. The court also directed "the fences at the north side of the village to be set within fourteen days, under a penalty of two pounds Flemish" for each failure,-equivalent to 12 gl. A placard to that effect was posted up. This was called for by the great damage done the past summer to the crops of peas and buck- wheat upon the land of Jochem Pieters, from the cattle getting in; and which the schout, Slot, had taken no means to remedy, though the fence-masters and others had gone to him with loud complaints. The new officers going to view . the fences, December 18th, found that Michiel Muyden, Hendrick J. Vander Vin, Daniel Tourneur and Jean Le Roy had not complied
* Carsten Jansen Sneden, still at Harlem, entered Daniel Tourneur's service January 15, 1668, for a year, and at its expiration was to have 300 guilders and "a pair of shoes and stockings." His uncle, Claes Sneden, lived in New York, where his children by his wife Maria were baptized, between 1663 and 1667. He or Carsten was no doubt the ancestor of the Snedens of Rockland County.
Jean Guenon died at Flushing, L. I., in 1714. His will, made when he was in perfect health, date November 24, 1703; that of his widow, Margaret, February 21, 1721-2. At the latter date their sons, John, born 1669, and Jeremiah, born 1671, were living; as also their daughters, Hannah, wife of Joseph Hedger, and Susannah, wife of Louereer. John and Jeremiah Genung shared their father's farm in Flushing; their descendants are now to be found in many parts, especially of the State of New York.
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with the placard. They were all complained of December 27th, by the new schout, who demanded the fines, viz .: from Muy- den 24 gl. for his two lots, and 12 gl. each of the others. Tour- neur pleaded sickness and other excuses, but the court exacted the fine from him and from Le Roy, with costs of suit. Muyden and Vander Vin, after being thrice in default, were also sentenced, January 25th, 1663, with order to pay inside of eight days.
It showed admirable pluck on the part of the magistracy to thus deal with persons of the first standing; for Vander Vin and Muyden were both great burghers of New Amsterdam, and the first an ex-schepen. On several occasions, by invitation, Muyden had occupied the bench at Harlem, as "an extraordi- nary schepen," his intelligence and fitness for the office leading to a regular appointment soon after to fill a vacancy. He had visited Holland in 1661, bringing out on his return a number of hardy Norwegian workmen, and was now prosecuting the business of soap-making. And thus closed 1662, with its vari- ous measures of public utility and impartial dispensing of jus- tice, alike necessary to protect and promote the common inter- ests of the villagers .*
* Francois le Sucur, who left the town early in 1663, was the ancestor of the families of Leseur and Lozier, now mostly seated in New York City and Bergen County, N. J. Francois first lived in Flatbush after coming to Manhattan, and in 1659 married Jannetie, daughter of Hillebrand Pietersen, of Amsterdam; in which year Jannetie's brother, Pieter Hillebrands, was captured by Indians at Esopus, but this did not deter her from removing there with her husband. Before going from Harlem he sold some of his effects, and his wife bought "a little bed," etc., at Sneden's sale. Le Sueur's sister. Jeanne, went with them to Esopus, and there married Cornelis Viervant, with whom she returned to Harlem. Le Sueur was living in 1670, but on November 30, 1671, his widow bound out her son, Hillebrand, eight years old. He was engaged by the deacons, in 1673, to ring the bell at five guilders a year. Afterward the widow married Antoine Tilba, and by him had children also. Those by Le Sueur. all but the first, born at Esopus, were Jannetie, born 1660, who married Jan Postmael (or Post) and Thomas Innis; Hillebrand, born 1663, John and Jacob, born 1665, and Nicholas, born 1668. Hillebrand married, 1688, Elsie, daughter of Jurian Tappen. but soon died, leaving apparently but one child, Jannetie, born 1689, who married William Elting. Hillebrand's widow married Abraham Delamater, previously of Harlem. John, of Kingston, married Rachel Smedes, in 1686, was an elder of the church, and quite distinguished. He had Jannetie, born 1687, John, born 1689, Catherine, born 1692, etc., of whom the first married Abraham Low. Nicholas, whose branch of the family write their name Lozier, married at New York, May 8, 1691, Tryntie, daughter of Peter Slot. . He afterward left Kingston and settled near Hackensack, where he married, in January, 1709, Antie, daughter of Derick Banta. His children were, Hille- brand, born 1695; Peter, born 1697; John, born 1699; Mary, born 1701; Antie. born 1703; Lucas, born 1705; Jacobus, born 1707; Benjamin, born 1708; Tryntie. born 1710; Hester, born 1711; Rachel, born 1714; Jacob, born 1719; Abraham, born 1721; Leah, born 1723, and Margaret, born 1726. These intermarried with the Demarests and others, but we must here leave them. In Ulster County the French pronunciation of this name was, for a time, tolerably preserved in the form Lashier, but is now extinct there, though the blood runs in the Post family and others.
CHAPTER XIII.
1663-1665.
STIRRING EVENTS : END OF THE DUTCH RULE.
TT happened that Pieter Jansen Slot, son of the ex-schepen, was to wed a fair damsel of Ahasimus, by name Marritie Van Winckel. The young roysters of the village hearing, on Friday, February 2d, 1663, that the bans had that day been registered, were jubilant over the news, and set to work,-it was an ancient rustic custom of fatherland,-to honor the happy Pieter by planting a "May-tree" before his door. Now, some workmen in the employ of Mr. Muyden and others, in for ruder sport, not only raised "a horrible noise in the village by shouting, blow- ing horns, etc., while others were asleep," but proceeded to deck the May-tree with ragged stockings; at which, when dis- covered by Pieter, he was very wroth, taking it as "a mockery and insult." He at once cut the tree down, but the young men brought another to take its place; when, as it lay before the house, along came Muyden's men and hewed it in pieces. Not to be baffled, the young folk the same night procured and raised a third tree, which, however, shared the same fate.
On Sunday morning, February 4th, Jan Pietersen, at whose house Pieter was staying and all this happened, made his com- plaint to Montagne, the schout; the masters also informing him that their men were plotting other mischief, but they had no power to prevent it. The schout, now going thither, ordered the rioters to disperse; but they only defied him, and even threatened him with their guns and axes. Only more enraged, they gave the Sabbath to cutting down and burning the palisades around Jaques Cresson's barn. Next morning Jacob Elderts, who had lately bought a lot on Van Keulen's Hook, was engaged bringing thatch from Bronck's meadow. Before he had spoken "a single word," they caught and beat him, also wounding him on the head. In vain "Meester Willem," who witnessed the as- sault, commanded them to desist. Perhaps it was to pay off El-
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derts for the death of their countryman, Bruyn Barents, a cooper, five years before; perhaps not. The two were then working in a brewery at Brooklyn, and Bruyn made at Elderts with a knife, when the latter, in self-defense, knocked him down with a sledge. Bruyn lingered six months, and died February 12th, 1658. As the case stood, Jacob was arrested, but let off by the court with a fine of 100 gl. for the wounding. But be this the explanation or not, the schout seeing the rioters heeded not his authority, and apprehending further trouble, hastened, the same day, to inform the Director, who, with the Council, referred the matter to the Attorney-General, "to take further information about it."
Here ended, or is lost sight of, this almost tragedy ; the pub- lic attention at Harlem being absorbed by the death, in quick succession, of two worthy inhabitants, Adam Dericksen and Philip Casier. Dericksen was from Cologne, owned an allot- ment of land and had served as inspector of fences with Hen- drick Karstens in 1661-2. In the first of these years he married Magdalena, daughter of Lambert Van Telckhuys. Left with an infant Grietie, his widow, a few months later, became the wife of Monis Peterson. In the death of Casier the community lost one of its sterling men, a skilful farmer, and valued for his experience and judgment. His place in the magistracy was filled, April 23d, by the appointment of Michiel J. Muyden .*
The old question touching the payment for their lands now came up in a somewhat different shape, and with better success. The following memorial, explaining it, was drawn up by Heer
* Philippe Casier, had he lived, must have proven a most useful inhabitant. Ifis adventurous voyage from France to the West Indies, back to Holland, thence up the Rhine, and finally to this country, with his eight in family, are events in his life already noticed. Another child, Sarah, was added in 1662, when Casier had become a resident and landholder at Harlem. Ile and wife, Marie Taine, united with the church October 2, of that year, and on November 16, he was made a magistrate. But near the close of the ensuing winter, 1663, death arrested his usefulness. He had but just sold, January 11, 1663, a lot on Van Keulen's Hook to Jacob Eldertsen. also called Brouwer ( Brewer), from his former occupation. Selling her lands to Joost Van Obli- nus, the widow bought a house in the Markvelt-steegie, in New York, and lived there for some years, with her sons, Jean and Jaques, who were bakers. In 1671 she married Jean le Roy, of Harlem, and afterward went with him to Staten Island. Her daughter. Hester, born at Sluis, in Flanders, married, in 1677, Jean Belleville, who was living in 1703. They had sons, Jean, born 1677: Philip, born 1679, etc. See Martino. The younger daughter, Sarah Casier, married, 1680. Jacques Guion, merchant, from St. Martin, France, she being much his junior. His will. made May 3, 1680, was proved December 1, 1694, and his widow admitted executrix. Guion visited Europe in 1678. He owned 200 acres of land on Staten Island. granted him October 13, 1664, on which some of the descendants still reside. Philip Casier's two sons, in 1673. were members of Capt. Steenwyck's troop; but Jacques appears to have soon died unmarried. Jean accompanied his mother to Staten Island, in 1676, obtaining that year a grant of 80 acres of land on Long Neck. He married, in 1680, Elizabeth. daughter of John Damen, of Brooklyn. In 1701 he and his brother-in-law, Jean Belle- ville, owning an adjoining farm, with other neighbors like themselves, born French subjects (Casier had his birth in the French island of Martinique), sent their names to England, and were naturalized by act of Parliament. Casier made his will Decem- ber 26, 1709, which was proved the next month, January 24, 1710. Susannah, a sec- ond wife, survived him. His children then living were Philip and Peter, who shared his farm, and daughters Sophia and Elizabeth. Has not this name become Casey?
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Vander Vin; the clerk, Montagne, having now no personal in- terest in this matter apparently :
To the Noble, Great and Honorable, the Director-General and Council in New Netherland :
The undersigned, owners and occupants of the lands within the village and jurisdiction of New Harlem, respectfully represent, that to their great surprise and solicitude, they have been informed that the eight guilders which your Honors required said proprietors to pay for each morgen of land taken by them, should be paid in beavers, or their value; whereas this was not the understanding of your petitioners who, in regard to the announcement made by your Honors, on the 4th of March, 1658, as to the privilege with which this village was to be favored, did not otherwise conceive respecting the price set upon said land, but that pay- ment thereof was to be made in sewant currency, according to the customary usage. Had they understood differently, they would never have agreed, nor could have been persuaded, to burden themselves with so hard an undertaking as that of bringing those lands under cultivation, besides paying thus heavily for them; and even yet the petitioners, instead of finding themselves eased in their labors, have great difficulty in making these lands fit for tillage, so they are now wholly discouraged, as they did not apprehend that they should encounter the present diffi- culty. Wherefore, addressing themselves to your Honors, they pray that your Honors may be pleased to declare, by a favorable answer on the margin, that the petitioners may pay the eight guilders per morgen, in sewant, in the usual course between man and man .*
JAN PIETERSEN, his mark IP DIRCK CLAESSEN. D. TOURNEUR. MOY PIER CRESSON.
HENDR. J. VANDR VIN JEAN LE ROY, his mark + MOENIS PETERSON, his mark JAN LOURENS, his mark N
N. D'MEYER.
SIMON DE RUINE, his mark +
COUSSEAU. HENDRICK KARSTENS, his mark H
M. MUYDEN.
JAQUES CRESSON.
As the effect of their former decision upon this subject had been to force some worthy persons to sell out their improve- ments and quit the town, the Director and Council now conceded more than the petition asked for. The answer was as follows:
This 19th March, 1663. The foregoing petition being presented and read, and besides this, the proposals of the schepens of the village of New Harlem, made in the name of the inhabitants of that village hav- ing been heard and considered; the Director-General and Council, after some debate pro and con, have resolved to relieve the inhabitants from the payment of the eight guilders per morgen, which they agreed to and were held to pay, by the terms upon which the lands were dis-
* Beaver and other furs, with sewant (see note p. 153, together formed the com- mon currency among the settlers. Beaver was convenient for large payments, especial- ly for remittances to Holland, as was sewant for small payments and for making change, and this was the currency mainly used in all ordinary trading. But beaver, which was as gold, always commanding its fixed price, had become so scarce as often not to be had for the payment of a debt, without going a long distance for it, even to Fort Orange or the Delaware River; while sewant was plenty, and its value fluctuating. Therefore this distinction; a guilder beaver. that is, a guilder payable in beaver, was counted 40 cents, at the standard value of the guilder, but a guilder sewant was worth only one-third of the former, or 13 1-3 cents, and depreciated still more. Hence a wide difference how the bargain was, whether to pay the stipulated number of guilders in beaver or in sewant.
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tributed; Provided, that the said inhabitants, in lieu of an exemption from tithes for fifteen years, shall enjoy the same but eight years; so that they shall be obliged to satisfy the tithes promptly in the year 1666, which said tithes, from 1666 to 1672, both years inclusive, shall, in place of the eight guilders per morgen, be for the benefit of the parties (or their creditors), who were formerly expelled from said lands.
Thus was put to rest, to the great relief of the inhabitants, a question which had been a long-standing source of anxiety with them; and the history of which is important, first, as showing on what terms the lands were finally held, and second, to what labor and trouble the settlers were put, in felling the forests and subduing the soil, to make themselves a home; a struggle truly, with their scanty means. But they had come to a point when their courage, energy and faith in God were to be put to a more severe test .*
Astounding news reached the villagers of an Indian onslaught and massacre at Esopus, .on June 7th, in which some of their friends and kinsfolk were sufferers, and witnessed by Jacob El- derts, who had lately gone thither. The schout, Montagne, in the flush of nuptial greetings on his union with Maria Vermeille, a lady from his native place, was shocked to hear that his sister, Van Imbroch, and her little Lysbet were in captivity with the savages. Harlem was all alarm. The town people assembled June 12th, by orders from below, and with the advice of the magis- trates, Montagne, Claessen, Tourneur and Muyden, and clear- headed Slot, asked to sit with them as extraordinary schepen, proceeded to take the necessary steps for inclosing the village with a line of stockades, and putting it in a complete state of defense. Ten persons were designated to cut palisades, and four others to draw them to the village; while Tourneur and Jaques
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