USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 6
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36
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
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38
THE EMPIRE STATE.
stand." Holmes and his little party soon landed, and on the site of Windsor, just above Hartford, they erected their house and planted the seed of an English colony. The Dutch and English quarrelled concern- ing the ownership of the Connecticut Valley for about twenty years, when the question was amicably settled. The Dutch withdrew, and the present line between New York and Connecticut was established as the eastern boundary of New Netherland.
The new State yet lacked a prime element of perpetuity. There were no independent farmers in New Netherland cultivating their own lands, for the soil belonged to the Dutch West India Company, excepting that of the patroon estates. These wealthy monopolists carried on all agricul- tural operations off the public domain. The tiller might own his house, but he held no fee-title to the soil. Thousands of fertile acres in the province remained uncultivated, for commercial advantages alone occu- pied the attention of the company. The feudal system, internal discord between the patroons and the officers of the company, and external dangers began to repress the energies of the people before the end of Van Twiller's administration. Many were sighing for "fatherland."
The machinery of the local govern- ment generally moved sluggishly and often viciously. The governor lost all personal influ- SIGNATURE OF LUBBERTUS VAN DINCKLAGEN. ence, and became a target for coarse jests. We have seen how Dominie Bogardus treated him. His own subordinates treated him with equal contempt. The schout-fiscal, Lub- bertus van Dincklagen, one of the most learned and honest men among them, reproved him openly.
Van Twiller ventured to strike back in this case, but the blow he gave Van Dincklagen proved to be like that of a· boomerang. It wounded . the governor himself most seriously. His blow consisted in refusing to pay the schout-fiscal his salary, which was in arrears three years, and sending him to Holland in disgrace. It was a sad day for the governor when Van Dincklagen departed, for the schout-fiscal was a man of pluck, and held a ready pen. He sent such damaging memorials to the States- General, the truths of which were verified by the testimony of De Vries before the Amsterdam Chamber, that Van Twiller was recalled at the moment when he had purchased Nutten and other islands around Man-
39
VAN TWILLER AND KIEFT.
hattan, in expectation of vegetating and dying in official dignity in New Netherland.
We have no memorial of Van Twiller left in the name of any State, village, institution, water-craft, or domain excepting the isle of Nuts, which lies in the bay of New York, within earshot of the place of his final departure for the Zuyder Zee. It is called "The Governor's Island " to this day. At his departure he was one of the most extensive land-owners in the province, and the herds of cattle which stocked his farms gave occasion for the suspicion that the governor had enriched himself at the expense of the company's interests. *
Van Twiller was succeeded by William Kieft, a man of great energy, but lacking in moral qualities. Little is known of him before his appearance at New Amsterdam. He had lived in Rochelle, in France, where, for some misdemeanor, the people hung him in effigy. De Vries, who knew him well, ranked him among the " great rascals of the age." He was energetic, spite- ful, and rapacious ; fond of quarrels, and never happy except when in trouble-the reverse of Van Twiller, who loved ease and quiet. His first council was composed of Inen of similar humor.
Kieft began his ad- ministration by concen- SIGNATURE OF WILLIAM KIEFT. trating all executive pow- er in his own hands. He and his council assumed so much dignity that it became a " high crime to appeal from the judgments" of the governor and his subordinate officials. Yet he was really a better man for the company and the people than his predecessor. He was as busy as a brooding hen, and attempted reforms in government, society, and relig- ion on a scale altogether beyond the capacities of himself and his " sub- jects," as he sometimes styled the people. He had an exalted opinion
* Van Twiller was a native of Nieuwkerk. He married a niece of Patroon Van Rens- selaer, through whose influence the incompetent clerk was appointed governor. Recalled in 1637, he publicly abused the Dutch West India Company after his return to Holland with considerable wealth. He vilified the administration of Stuyvesant. The company were indignant, and spoke of Van Twiller as an ungrateful man, who had " sucked his wealth from the breast of the company which he now abuses." Van Rensselaer seems to have had confidence in him, for he made Van Twiller executor of his last Will and Testament.
-
40
THE EMPIRE STATE.
of Minuit as a governor, and he resolved to imitate his example ; but Minuit became the bane of his peace almost from the beginning.
Kieft found public affairs in New Netherland in a wretched condition, and he put forth strength to bring order out of confusion. Abuses abounded, but measures of reform which he adopted almost stripped the citizens of their privileges. Fort Amsterdam was repaired, and new warehouses for the company were erected. He caused orchards to be planted and gardens cultivated on Manhattan. He had police ordinances framed and enforced. He caused religion and morality to be fostered, regular religious services to be publicly conducted, and a spacious stone church to be built within the fort, in the wooden tower of which were hung the Spanish bells already mentioned as giving out their chimes from the bell-tower of the horse-mill. It was a gala day in New Am- sterdam (1642) when the Connecticut architects, John and Richard Ogden, hung those bells, and the governor gave a supper to the builders and the magnates of the village at his harberg for strangers, a stone building at the head of Coenties Slip, which was called the " City Tav- ern" in Stuyvesant's time .*
A more liberal policy in respect to private ownership of land (to be mentioned presently) caused immigration to increase. The freedom of conscience which prevailed in the Fatherland prevailed also in New Netherland. All that Kieft required of new settlers was an oath of allegiance to the States-General of Holland. When they could answer the question affirmatively, "Do you want to buy land and become a citizen ?" it was the extent of the catechism.
Kieft had eaten but few dinners at New Amsterdam when he was informed of the impertinence of the Swedes in buying enough land between two trees to build a house upon, and then claiming the whole territory west of the Delaware from Cape Hinlopen to the falls at Trenton ; lands the most of which were already in possession of patroons. Upon what foundation was this claim laid ? Let us see.
Usselinex, the original projector of the Dutch West India Company, had left Amsterdam in a passion, and laid before Gustavus Adolphus,
* The shrewd governor took advantage of the occasion of a wedding feast to secure ample subscriptions for the building of the church. It was the wedding of a daughter of Dominie Bogardus. At the wedding feast, at which the principal people of Manhattan were gathered, after "the fourth or fifth round of drinking," Kieft proposed a subserip- tion for the church, and gave liberally himself. All the company, with light heads made dizzy with drink, vied with each other in " subscribing richly." Some of them, when they became sober, " well repented of their reckless extravagance," but " nothing availed to excuse it."
41
THE SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE.
King of Sweden, the great champion of Protestantism, a well-arranged plan for establishing a Scandinavian colony on the South or Delaware River. Gustavus was delighted, for it promised an asylum in America for all persecuted Protestants. But while the scheme was ripening the Swedish monarch was called to the field, where he fell in battle, near Lutzen. He did not forget the great prospective enterprise. Only a few days before his death he recommended it as "the jewel of his kingdom." The Count of Oxenstierna, who ruled Sweden in behalf of Christina, the daughter of Gustavus-" the sweet little jessamine bud of the royal conservatory" (alas ! for its full development)-ardently sup- ported the enterprise. Four years before the wasp of Rochelle succeeded Van Twiller, Oxenstierna gave a charter to the Swedish West India Company, and Peter Minuit, the dismissed Governor of New Nether- land, was appointed the first governor of the Swedish colony to be founded on the Delaware River. Toward the close of 1637, Minuit sailed for the Delaware in the good ship Key of' Calmar with a company of emigrants. It was this apparition that startled Kieft soon after his arrival at Manhattan.
At first Kieft was astonished, then affronted, and at last he rubbed his hands with delight, for he saw a clear opportunity for a quarrel and a display of his diplomatic powers. The whole breadth of the present State of New Jersey lay between him and the intruders, and that was a comfort. He fearlessly issued a proclamation with an imperial flourish, protesting against the intrusion and declaring that he would not be " answerable for any mishap, bloodshed, trouble, or disaster" which the Swedes might suffer from his anger and valor.
Minuit langhed at Kieft and went on to build a stronghold on the site of Wilmington, which he named Fort Christina, in honor of his young queen, and pushed a profitable trade with the Indians. The fiery Kieft hurled protest after protest against the Swedes, but they were as little heeded as were the paper bulls sent by Clement to bellow excommunication through the realm of Henry the Eighth of England. Swedish vessels filled with Swedish men, women, and children, intent on empire and happiness in America, came thicker than Belgie proc- lamations ; and in spite of Kieft's majesty, the Scandinavian colonists laid the foundations of the capital of "New Sweden" on an island not far from the site of Philadelphia. More than forty years before Penn,
" the Quaker, came, To leave his hat, his drab, and his name, That will sweetly sound from the trump of fame Till its final blast shall die,"
42
THE EMPIRE STATE.
they spread the tents of empire on the soil where now flourish in regal pride the commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The English on the east became as troublesome as the Swedes on the south. Like busy ants they were spreading over the fertile lands west of the Housatonie River, and under the provisions of a charter given to Lord Stirling by the Council of Plymouth, they actually claimed the whole of Long Island. They disregarded Dutch proclamations and Indian title-deeds. Filibusters from Massachusetts east down the arnis of Holland which had been set up at Cow Bay on the island, and moeked the officials at Manhattan.
Kieft with great energy soon put an end to these encroachments. He bought for the company from the Indians all the territory comprised within present Kings and Queens counties, and immediately planted settlements within that domain. Colonies were established on Staten Island and on the west side of the Hudson River ; while settlements were made by the English on the eastern portions of Long Island without interference by the Dutch.
Lyon Gardiner, the English military com- 5 mander at the month of the Connectient River, bought of the barbarians the island that bears his name. He removed from Saybrook to his island, where his wife gave birth to a BY THE NAME OF GARDI ENER daughter, and so the first permanent English settlement was made within the present limits THE GARDINER ARMS. of the State of New York. Peace might long have reigned in New Netherland had not acquisitiveness arisen in rebellion against justice, and engendered a ter- rible storm of vengeance among the dwellers of the forest.
The partiality of the Dutch for the Mohawks made the River Indians (as the dwellers along the Hudson south of Fort Orange were called) jealous, and their friendship for the white people was greatly weakened by the dishonesty of traders, who stupefied them with rum and then cheated them in traffic. Kieft not only winked at these things, but, under the false plea of " express orders" from his principals, he de- manded tribute of furs, corn, and wampum from the tribes around Man- hattan. They sullenly complied, but with an inward protest against this rank injustice. When they east the costly tribute at the feet of the Hollanders they turned away with a curse bitter and uncompromising.
When the governor elearly perceived this black cloud on the brows of the barbarians, surcharged with the lightnings of vengeance, his fears
43
WAR WITH INDIANS IMPENDING,
and his cruelty were awakened. With the usnal instinct of a bad nature, he sought an opportunity to injure those he had deeply wronged. The opportunity was not long delayed. Some swine had been stolen from a plantation on Staten Island. Kieft charged the innocent Raritans with the theft, and sent armed men to chastise them. Several Indians were killed. This outrage kindled the anger of all the surrounding tribes, even beyond the Hudson Highlands.
At this juncture the little nephew of the Westchester chief who had been murdered by Minuit's men fifteen years before had grown to lusty manhood, and proceeded to execute his vow of revenge made when he saw his uncle slain near the spot where the Halls of Justice now stand. He came to Manhattan, crept stealthily to the solitary cabin of Claas Schmidt, a harmless wagon-maker at Turtle Bay, on the East River, slew him with an axe, and plundered his dwelling. Kieft demanded the murderer from his tribe. His chief refused to give him up. Here was a cause for war. Kieft chuckled with delight ; but cooler heads and better hearts averted a dire calamity. The people absolutely refused to shoulder their fire-arms at the governor's bidding, and said to him plainly :
" You wish to have war that you may make a wrong reckoning with the company."
Kieft had stormed and threatened, but this unexpected revelation of the people's insight into his real character suddenly transformed the bullying antocrat into a seeming republican. He called together all the masters and heads of families ostensibly to consult upon public affairs. It was only to make them unconscious cat's-paws in the prosecution of his designs, and have them bear a part of the responsibility.
44
THE EMPIRE STATE.
CHAPTER IV.
IN 1640 a new charter for patroons was granted which greatly modified the obnoxious features of that of 1629. It allowed " all good inhabitants of the Netherlands to select lands and form colonies in New Netherland." The proposed land grants were comparatively small in extent, compre- hending only two miles along the shores of any bay or river, and extend- ing four miles into the country. These inferior patroons were endowed with many of the privileges of the superior patroons.
Provision was also made for another class of proprietors. Whoever should convey to New Netherland five grown persons besides himself was to be recognized as a " master or colonist," and could occupy two hundred acres of land, with the privilege of hunting and fishing. Commercial privi- Hrindt Van PurLey leges, which the first char- ter had restricted to the patroons, were now extend- ed to all " free colonists." These wiser provisions, not- withstanding onerous im- SIGNATURE OF ARENDT VAN CURLER. posts for the benefit of the company were exacted from the colonists, stimulated emigration and promised perpetuity and pros- perity to the province.
Meanwhile the Colonie of Rensselaerwyck had greatly prospered under the energetic management of the patroon's commissary, Arendt van Curler .* Around Fort Orange within that domain had grown a
* Arendt van Curler is represented as a man " of large benevolence and unsullied honor," bold and energetic, to whom the patroon delegated his entire power at Rens- selaerwyck. His jurisdiction included all the territory on both sides of the Hudson River, between Beaver Island and the mouth of the Mohawk River, excepting the precinct of Fort Orange. This post, which was the property of the Dutch West India Company when the first purchases in the neighborhood were made by Van Rensselaer, was always occupied by a small garrison commanded by officers under the immediate direction of the provincial authorities at Manhattan.
. Van Curler or Corlear was one of the best and most sagacious of the earlier founders
of New York State. He was a first cousin of the first Patroon Van Rensselaer, and
45
VAN CURLER AND VAN RENSSELAER COLONIE.
little village called Beverswyck. This was the beginning of the city of Albany, now the political capital of the State of New York.
Patroon Van Rensselaer through Commissary Van Curler was begin- ning to exercise power almost co-ordinate with that of the director-gen- eral or governor at Man- hattan. He had his koop-man, his schout- fiscal, and his council under his commissary, and he was invested with power to administer jus- tice, pronounce and exe- cute sentences for all degrees of crime, even the penalty of death ; and he was the executor within his domain of all the laws and ordinances DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH AT ALBANY .* of the civil code that governed New Netherland. In addition to this, the colonists upon his great manor were subjected to such laws and regulations as the patroon or his deputy might establish. They had the legal right to appeal to the governor and Council at Manhattan ; but this right was virtually annulled by the obligation under which the colonists upon the manor were compelled to come-namely, not to appeal from the manorial tribunals.
came to America in 1630. His wise and humane treatment of the Indians caused him to be beloved by them all, and his policy toward them did more to secure a peaceful settle- ment of the Mohawk Valley by the white people than the efforts of any other man. The first act of the English governor after the conquest of the domain from the Dutch in 1664 was to send for Curler, to profit by his advice concerning an Indian policy. He was an efficient promoter of sobriety, morality, and religion. Returning from a visit to Canada on the invitation of the governor, in 1667, his boat was capsized in a squall on Lake Champlain, and he was drowned. For a long period the lake was known to the English as Curler's or Corlear's Lake.
* The first church edifice built at Albany was a wooden structure thirty-four feet long by nineteen wide. It stood among other buildings clustered around Fort Orange. It had pews for the magistrates and deacons, and nine benches for the congregation. The ex- pense of all was thirty-two dollars. In 1656 a larger church was built of stone at the junction of (present) State Street and Broadway. Its pulpit and bell were sent over by the Dutch West India Company. It served the congregation a century and a half, or until 1806. One of its windows bore the arms of the Van Rensselaer family.
46
THE EMPIRE STATE.
In government, as in other matters, the Van Rensselaer Manor or Colonie of Rensselaerwyck exhibited some of the most conspicuous features of feudalism. It was almost an autocracy within a State, and as such it sometimes gave much trouble to the superior authorities at Manhattan. Only Fort Orange and its immediate surroundings were exempt from the patroon's control.
Impressed with the necessity of sound religious instruction in his colony, Patroon Van Rensselaer, in 1642, sent to Rensselaerwyck John Megopolensis, D.D., a learned clergyman belonging to the classis of Alekmaer. A substantial church edifice was constructed, and very soon a flourishing church was established upon the theological foundation formulated by the Synod of Dordrecht. The influence of Dr. Mego- polensis on the Hollanders and the Indians was most salutary.
Soon after the arrival of this minister an occasion tested the humanity, the toleration, and the broad Christianity of the Dutch. A Jesuit missionary (Father Jogues) and two other Frenchmen were taken prisoners by the Iroquois and conducted to the Mohawk country, where they frequently suffered tor- tures. Informed of this, Van Curler attempted to rescue them. With two others he rode on horseback into the Mohawk country, where they were joyfully received, for the commis- IAN BAPTIST VAN RENSSELAER DIRECTEVIRDER COLONY RENSSELAER Wyck 1656 sary was beloved by the Mohawks. He offered munificent ransoms for the Frenchmen, but the Indians refused to give them up. ARMS OF THE VAN RENS- SELAER FAMILY. The barbarians saved the life of Father Jogues, but murdered his companions. He finally escaped to Fort Orange, went to Europe, returned to Canada in 1646, ventured among the Mohawks as a missionary, and was slain by them at Caughnawaga soon after- ward.
The " free colonists," as we have observed, were the " masters" who, with the " heads of families," were called in consultation with the gov- ernor concerning an attack upon neighboring Indians. By this act the ambitious Kieft, who strove to exercise the powers of an autocrat in the government of New Netherland, unwittingly planted the first seeds of democracy-the first germ of representative government among Euro- peans within the domain of the State of New York. The "masters and heads of families" who came together at the bidding of the governor in
40
FIRST POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVE BODY.
the summer of 1641, chose twelve discreet men as a committee to aet for them.
The names of the members of this first representative assembly ever convened for political purposes in New Netherland should never be for- gotten. They were : Jacques Bentyn, Maryn Adriaensen, Jan Jansen Danı, Hendrick Jansen, David Pietersen de Vries, Jacob Stoffelsen, Abraham Molenaar, Frederick Lubbertsen, Jo- ehem Pietersen Kuyter, Gerrit Dirck- sen, George Rapelye, and Abram Planck. They were all emigrants from Holland, and had enjoyed the blessings of popular freedom in that garden of Western Europe. They were the first representatives and as- serters within the boundaries of New York of the germinal doctrines of the Declaration of Independence pro- Вас Родиц mulgated at Philadelphia more than sixscore years afterward.
The Committee of Twelve chose the energetie De Vries for their president. He had suffered deeply from the barbarians in the destruction of Swaanendael, on the Delaware, and had lost much property by their depredations on Staten Island, yet both humanity and expedieney counselled him to preserve peace with the Indians. This condition he strenuously advocated. His colleagues agreed with him, and the sanguinary governor was astonished and puzzled. The senators were firm, and hostilities were deferred.
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