USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 11
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Andros SIGNATURE OF EDMOND ANDROS.
Frontenac had begun a fort-the after- ward famous Fort Frontenac of history -where the conference was held, when, leaving a small garrison in the fort, he returned to Montreal. The great minister of Louis XIV., Colbert, sent word to Frontenac that he had better imitate the Dutch at Manhattan and Orange, and instead of " prosecuting distant discoveries, to build up towns and villages in Canada."
On the reconquest of New York by the English the important question arose : " Who shall be sent to govern the province ?" Nicolls was dead, and Lovelace was incompetent. The king commissioned Sir Edmond Andros," major of dragoons, who was then thirty-seven years of age, to
* Sir Edmond Andros was born in London in 1637. His family were distinguished on the island of Guernsey. After serving as Governor of New York from 1674 to 1684 he returned to England, and entered the service of his king at the palace. Appointed Governor of New England, New York, and New Jersey in 1688, he exercised arbitrary power until the Revolution dethroned his master, King James II., that year, when he was deposed and sent to England. In 1692 Andros was made Governor of Virginia, and so remained until 1698. In 1704 he was created Governor of Guernsey, and died at West- minster in 1713.
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fill that station. He had been brought up in the royal household ; was a favorite of the king and the duke ; a good French and Dutch scholar ; a thorough royalist ; an obedient servant of his superiors, and was well fitted to perform the part which his masters appointed him to play. His private character was withont blemish, and the evil things spoken of him relate to his public career. This man played a conspicuous part in American history for a few years.
Andros received the government of New York from Colve in October, 1674. With all their political disabilities under him, the people of that province prospered and were comparatively happy. Luxury had not corrupted their tastes, and their wants were few. A man worth three thousand dollars was considered rich ; the possessor of five thousand dollars was considered opulent. There was almost a dead level of equality in society. Beggars were unknown. "Ministers were few, but religions many," and out of matters of faith grew many contro- versies. There seemed little reason for the twenty thousand inhabitants of the domain to be unhappy ; but the divine instinct of freedom, which demanded a free exercise of the rights of self-government, made inany of them discontented and in some places mntinons. The career of Andros in America outside of New York was more striking-more dramatic than within that domain.
Andros in his zeal exceeded his master's instructions, and very soon lie acquired the just title of "tyrant." The duke, his master, was a strange compound of wickedness and goodness, slow to perceive right from wrong, and seldom seeing truth in its purity. Bancroft says of him : " A libertine without love, a devotee without spirituality, an advocate of toleration without a sense of the natural right to freedom of conscience-to him the muscular force prevailed over the intellectual. He was not bloodthirsty ; but to a narrow mind fear seems the most powerful instrument of government, and he propped his throne [when he became king] with the block and gallows. He floated between the sensuality of indulgence and the sensuality of superstition, hazarding heaven for an ugly mistress, and, to the great delight of abbots and nuns, winning it back again by pricking his flesh with sharp points of iron and eating no meat on Saturdays." The Duke of Buckingham said well that " Charles would not and James could not see."
One of the first of the acts of petty tyranny of Andros was the im- prisonment of leading citizens of New York-Steenwyck, Van Bruglı, De Peyster, Bayard, Luyck, Beeckman, Kip, and De Milt-on a charge of " disturbing the government and endeavoring a rebellion." Their offence consisted in an expressed desire not to take an unconditional oath
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of allegiance to Charles Stuart, and petitioning the governor for leave to sell their estates and to remove elsewhere.
Andros proceeded to enforce jurisdiction over every foot of territory included in the duke's charter of 1664-Pemaquid, in Maine, the islands of Martha's (Martin's) Vineyard and Nantucket, and disputed domains on the Delaware. He also claimed jurisdiction over all the territory west of the Connecticut River. The authorities of Connecticut disputed the claim, and Andros denounced their action as " rebellion against the duke."
Finding the French were tampering with the Iroquois, Andros went to Albany, regulated some affairs at Schenectady, and penetrated the Mohawk Valley a hundred miles beyond. On his return to Albany he received solemn assurances of the friendship of the Five Nations, and then he organized the first " Board of Commissioners for Indian Affairs." This was a most important measure, and its operations were salutary for a hundred years. He appointed as its secretary Robert Livingston, then town clerk of Albany, a shrewd Scotchman who had lately come over from Rotterdam, and who afterward became prominent in colonial affairs. The Five Nations gave Andros the name of " Corlear," in memory of their good friend, Arendt van Curler or Corlear, who, as we have observed, was commissary of Rensselaerwyck, and who was drowned in Lake Champlain.
It was at this juncture that King Philip's War " broke out and spread great alarm throughout New England. Andros sympathized with his countrymen in their distress, but could not spare a military force to aid them : but he sent six barrels of gunpowder to the Rhode Islanders (who were excluded from the New England Confederacy), and invited any of them who should be driven out by the Indians to come to New York and be welcomed as guests. There was no good feeling between the " United Colonies of New England " (see p. 58) and Andros.
* Massasoit, the warm friend of the "Pilgrim Fathers" at New Plymouth, had two sons, called respectively by the English, Philip and Alexander. The former was the elder, and succeeded his father as sachem. Perceiving that the English were undoubtedly determined to deprive him of his domain, he listened favorably to the counsels of his hot young braves, and began a war for the extermination of the white intruders. At his seat at Mount Hope, in Rhode Island, he planned a federation of all the New England tribes for that purpose. Exasperated by an untoward occurrence, he suddenly struck the first blow thirty miles from New Plymouth, and for about a year he spread terror and desolation far and wide. Finally he was killed in a hiding-place by another Indian. His wife and little son had been made prisoners. The Christians of Massachusetts delib- erated whether to kill or sell into slavery to fellow-Christians in Barbadoes this innocent pagan boy. The latter measure was the most profitable, and it was adopted.
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Late in 1677 Andros went to England to look after his private affairs, leaving Anthony Broekholls * in charge of the government of New York. Brockholls administered public affairs wisely for a few months. Meanwhile the governor liad been knighted by King Charles, and he returned to New York Sir Edmond Andros. During his absence a royal marriage had taken place which had an important bearing upon the destinies of New York-nay, of the world. It was the marriage of William, Prince of Orange, the acknowledged leader of the Protestants of Europe, to his cousin Mary, daughter of the Duke of York. The duke was a Roman Catholic by conviction, and the marriage was dis- . tasteful to him.
The duke, regardless of the rights of Berkeley and Carteret, had given Andros sufficient authority to allow him to annoy these proprietors and the settlers in their domain. Berkeley sold his interest to English " Friends" or Quakers, and Carteret consented to a division of the terri- tory into East and West Jersey. He held East Jersey. The proprietors of West Jersey, making liberal Joszerkley concessions to settlers, soon at- tracted a numerous population to that region. But Andros was a chronic disturber. He caused the duke to claim the right to rule all New Jersey, and Andros at- tempted to exercise it. A judicial SIGNATURE OF SIR JOHN BERKELEY AND SIR GEORGE CARTERET. decision soon freed it absolutely from the duke's control, and late in 1681 the first Representative Assembly met at Salem, in West Jersey, and adopted a code of laws. East Jersey was also sold to Quakers, and numerous settlers came there also.
Meanwhile William Penn, an English Quaker, son of Admiral Penn (who was a friend of the king and the duke), had become a proprietor of West Jersey, having obtained from Charles a grant of a domain (March, 1681) including " three degrees of latitude and five degrees of longitude," west of the Delaware River, in payment of a loan made by the king from
* Anthony Brockholls was of a Roman Catholic family in Lancashire, England, and was a " professed Papist" himself. He came to New York at about the time of its sur- render to the Dutch in 1674, and was named as the successor of Governor Andros in the event of the death of the latter. In 1681 he was appointed receiver-general of the prov- ince, and in 1683 he became one of the council of Governor Dongan. For fully thirty years Brockholls was a very active man in publie affairs in the province of New York.
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Penn's father. The domain was named in the charter " Pennsylvania." Penn obtained, by grant and purchase of the duke, the territory com- prised in the present State of Delaware, and on coming to America the next year, the agent of the duke surrendered it to Penn.
Andros had been suddenly recalled from New York in the autumn of
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1682, and Brockholls again became acting governor. Nothing of special interest in public affairs occurred during his administration of nearly three years, excepting a claim to Staten Island as a part of East Jersey, made by Lady Carteret, widow of the deceased proprietor. The matter was soon settled by the sale of East Jersey.
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CHAPTER VIII.
SIR EDMOND ANDROS had ruled New York about nine years with vigor. He had kept peace with the Iroquois Confederacy ; crushed religions enthusiasts ; frowned upon every sign of republicanism, and asserted with great tenacity the power of the duke, his master, within the char- tered limits of his territory. Meanwhile the duke had listened to the appeals of the inhabitants of New York and heeded the judicious advice of his friend, William Penn, to give the people more liberty ; and he sought an able and enlightened governor to take the place of Andros. He found such a man in Themas Dongan," a younger son of an Irish baronet, and then about fifty years of age. He was a Roman Catholic, enterprising and active, a " man of integrity, moderation, and genteel manners."
Under instructions from the duke, Dongan ordered an election of a General Assembly of Representatives of this Songany the people, their number not to exceed eighteen. Their functions were to as- sist the governor and Council in framing laws for the "good of the colony," SIGNATURE OF GOVERNOR DONGAN. the duke reserving to himself the right to examine and approve or reject such laws. The representatives were to be allowed free debate among them- selves in considering proposed laws. Thus the people of New York were first allowed to share the colonial political authority.
It was a notable event in the history of the State of New York when, on October 17th, 1683, the first General Assembly of the Province of New York, composed of ten councillors and seventeen representatives of the people, met at the City Hall and were addressed by Governor
" Governor Dongan had served in the French army ; was a colonel in the royal army, and had been Lieutenant-Governor of Tangier. When he resigned his office of Governor of New York to Andros, in 1688, he retired to his farm on Long Island. With the assumption of power by Leisler, a strong anti-Roman Catholic spirit was fostered, and Dongan being a Papist, was wrongfully regarded with suspicion. Because he had a brigantine constructed to carry him on a visit to England, he was charged with a trea- sonable design against William and Mary, in favor of dethroned King James. He went to Boston, sailed thence to England, and afterward became Earl of Limerick.
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CHARTER OF LIBERTIES FOR NEW YORK.
Dongan, whose sympathies were in unison with the popular desires. The Assembly chose the experienced Matthew Nicolls speaker and John Spragg clerk. They sat three weeks and passed fourteen aets, all of which were assented to by the governor, with the advice of his Council. The first of these acts was entitled " The Charter of Liberties and Priv- ileges, granted by His Royal Highness, to the Inhabitants of New York and its Dependencies." It declared that the supreme legislative power should forever be and reside in the governor, council, and people, met in General Assembly ; that every freeholder and freeman should be allowed to vote for representatives without restraint ; that no freeman should suffer but by judgment of his peers ; that all trials should be by a jury of twelve men ; that no tax should be assessed, on any pretence whatever, but by the consent of the Assembly ; that no seaman or soldier should be quartered on the inhabitants against their will ; that no martial law should exist, and that no person professing faith in God, by Jesus Christ, should at any time be anywise disquieted or questioned for any difference of opinion. Not a feature of the intolerance and bigotry of the New England charters appeared in this first " Charter of Liberties" for the province of New York.
This aet was read in front of the City Hall on the morning after its passage in the presence of the governor, his Council, the Assembly, the municipal officers, and the people, the latter having been summoned to the joyous feast by the sounding of trumpets. In this charter was again enunciated the postulate of the Nether- lands-" Taxation only by consent."
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The next aet that was passed provided for the division of the province into twelve counties or shires. The names of the twelve are still retained, but their territorial dimensions have been mueh modified by the erection of new counties from parts of some of them. The names and boundaries of these political divisions as given in the aet of 1683 are as follows :*
The City and County of New York bear the name of the duke's first title. It included all Manhattan Island, and several adjacent islands.
Westchester County embraced all the territory eastward of Manhat- tan to the Connectient line, and northward along the Hudson River to the Highlands.
* The seals of the several counties represented on page 99 were of those in use in 1875.
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Duchess County was so named in honor of the duke's wife, the Duchess of York .* It extended from Westchester northward to Albany County, and "into the woods twenty miles."
Orange County extended from New Jersey northward along the Hud- son River to Murderer's Creek (now Moodna's Creek), above the High- lands near New Windsor, and westward to the Delaware River. It was so named in honor of the duke's son-in-law, the Prince of Orange.
Ulster County derives its name from the duke's Irish earldom. It extended from the northern boundary of Orange County along the river, and " twenty miles into the woods" as far north as Saugerties.
Albany County, bearing the duke's second or Scotch title, extended indefinitely northward from Roeloff Jansen's Kill (Creek) on the east side of the river, and on the west side from Saugerties northward to " the Saraaghtoga."
Richmond County, which included Staten Island and two or three smaller islands, was probably so named in honor of the king's illegiti- inate son by the Duchess of Portsmouth, the Duke of Richmond.
Kings and Queens counties occupied the western portion of Long Island from Oyster Bay and Hempstead, and was named in honor of the monarch and his wife.
Suffolk County embraced the eastern portion of Long Island, and derived its name from that of the most easterly county in England, south of Norfolk.
The duke's possession in Maine (at Pemaquid) was called Cornwall County. The islands off the coast of Massachusetts which were included in his charter were constituted Duke's County.
Courts of justice were established by the Assembly in the several counties. These consisted of four tribunals-town courts, county courts or Courts of Sessions, a court of Oyer and Terminer, and a court of Chancery to be the Supreme Court of the province. The latter was composed of the governor and his Council. But every inhabitant of the province was allowed the right to appeal to the king from the judg-
" When the names of the counties were given, the title of the wife of a duke was spelled with a "t"-dutchess-and so continned in the English language until the ap- pearance of Johnson's Dictionary, in 1755. He gave it the orthography of its French derivitive-duchesse-omitting the final e. The name being spelled with a "t" in the early records of the State, it was not changed when the orthography of the name of the wife of a duke was changed, and through inadvertence and ignorance of its origin, the name of Duchess County has been spelled with a "t" until within a few years, when attention was called to the fact that the county was named in honor of the Duchess of York. It is now universally spelled without a "t" by well-informed people. It is so spelled in the United States Census Reports of 1880.
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ment of any court. All the laws passed by this first General Assembly of New York were read to the people in front of the City Hall, and were then sent to England for the consideration of the duke .*
Dongan conducted his "foreign relations" with spirit. He told the pestering Connecticut authorities that if they did not keep quiet and
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adhere to the boundary agreement of 1650, which was a line twenty iniles east of the Hudson River, he should proceed to claim the original territory defined in the duke's patent, eastward to the Connecticut
* Late in 1683 the city of New York was divided into six wards, named respectively North Ward, South Ward, East Ward, West Ward, Dock Ward, and Out Ward. James Graham, one of the late aldermen, was commissioned the first recorder of New
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River. He renewed the claims of Andros to sovereignty over the Five Nations. At an interview with Mohawk leaders at Albany, in the pres- ence of the Governor of Virginia (Lord Effingham), lie enjoined them not to deal with the French without his leave, nor allow any of that nation to live among them excepting the missionaries. The Mohawks readily assented, and so unfriendly did the Iroquois deport themselves toward the French that most of the missionaries, alarmed, went back to Canada. Dongan also warned the French, who had come among the Indians at Pemaquid-especially the Baron de Castin *- to come under the duke's authority or to leave the region. So thoroughly did Dongan win the respect and reverence of the Iroquois that they called Albany their " sixth castle." Four of the nations requested the governor to put the Duke of York's arms on their castles as a protection against the French.
When, in 1682, the Count de la Barre became Governor-General of Canada he resolved to bring the Iroquois into subjection to the French. This design he cherished continually, but he found the energetic Dongan a bar to his ambitious schemes. A crisis came carly in 1684. De la Barré was preparing to attack the Senecas. Dongan notified him that all the Iroquois nations were subject to the Duke of York ; that the duke's territory extended to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and that if the French did not come south of those waters the English would not go north of them. Dongan's tone was so firm, yet concilia- tory, that De la Barre pansed for awhile. In the following summer he made an attempt to carry out his threat with the aid of the Jesuit mis- sionaries, but signally failed. The Intendant of Canada said he was " fooled in the most shameful manner" by Dongan and the Iroquois.
York," who took a seat on the bench of the Mayor's Court on the right hand of the Mayor. The shipping of the port of New York at that time consisted of three barks, three brigantines, twenty-seven sloops, and forty-six open boats.
* The Baron de Castin, a French nobleman and military leader, established a trading house at the mouth of the Penobscot River, and exhibited hostile movements, at times, toward the duke's possessions in Maine. He married the daughter of an Indian chief. In 1695, accompanied by Iberville, he led about two hundred Indians against Pemaquid, and captured it.
* James Graham, the first recorder of the city of New York, was a Scotchman and kinsman of the Earl of Montrose. He was an able lawyer, and practised his profession while conducting a mercantile business in New York. He was an alderman in 1680, and became attorney-general and one of the Council in 1685. He was attorney-general under Andros, in Boston, shared the odium of the governor, and on the downfall of the latter was imprisoned awhile. In 1691 he returned to New York, was elected to the Assembly, and became ite Speaker. He was again in the Council in 1699. Graham had been active in urging the execution of Leisler, and shared the fortunes of the anti-Leislerians, which ended his public career in 1701. He died at Morrisania the same year.
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The discomfited De la Barre wrote to the French minister that his cam- paign had been " bloodless !" It had been fruitless as well, and worse.
Early in February, 1685, King Charles II. died at the age of fifty-five years, a worn-out libertine. His brother, the Duke of York, took his place on the throne of Great Britain as James II. He had hesitated about sending the promised " Charter of Liberties" to New York ; now, as king, he positively refused to confirm what, as duke, he had prom- ised. He instantly began to demolish the fair fabric of civil and relig- ious liberty which had been raised with so much hope in New York. A direct tax was ordered without the consent of the people ; the printing-press-the right arm of knowledge and freedom-was for- bidden a place in the colony ; and as he had determined to establish the Roman Catholic faith as the State religion throughout his realm, the provincial offices were largely filled by adherents of the Italian Church.
The liberal - minded Dongan lamented these proceedings ; and when the scheming monarch in- structed the governor to introduce French missionaries among the Five Nations, he resisted the games. measure as dangerous to the Eng- lish power on the American continent. Fortunately the Iro- quois Confederacy remained firm in their friendship for the English in after years, and stood as a powerful barrier against the aggressive French when the latter twice attempted to reach the white settlers at Albany with hostile intentions.
The clear-headed and right-hearted Dongan stood by the people and the interests of England with a firmness which finally offended the mon- arch. Dongan knew that the king had a great love for the French, and when he saw the advantages which he was disposed to give them in America by his unwise acts, he could not but regard his sovereign's con- duct as treason toward his country. For his faithfulness he was rewarded with the gratitude of the people of New York and the displeasure of
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the monarch, who dismissed him from the office of governor. He received a letter from James in the spring of 1688 ordering him to sur- render the government into the hands of Andros, who held a viee-regal commission to rule New York and all New England. New York was made a royal British province. It had been a dukedom of a royal Eng- lish subject for about twenty years. James was proclaimed king, at New York, on April 22d, 1685.
In the mean time, Dongan had experienced more trouble with the French. The Marquis de Nonville had become Governor of Canada. He resolved to build a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River to over- awe the Iroquois, and he prepared to attack the Senecas. The Jesuit missionaries united with him. To counteract their influence, Dongan summoned the Five Nations to a conference at Albany in the spring of 1686 .* The Indians asked to be relieved of the French priests at their castles, to be replaced by English priests. The governor promised to establish an English church at Saratoga, and CIT to ask the king to send over English priests ; at the same time he warned the Iroquois of De Nonville's intention to attack them.
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