USA > New York > New York City > The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume II > Part 7
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
the petition of Bayard! The account in Howell's "State Trials" is merely a repetition of this paper as put forth by Bayard-like so many of the papers of the time, not an account to be relied upon as doing justice to both sides. Bayard certainly had an object of im- portance to himself in publishing it. It is not a layman's place to review either the law or the evidence. It may be said, however, that Mr. Emott and Mr. Nicolls, for the defense, conducted it with evi- dent ability and legal knowledge; whilst the chief justice especially, whether right or wrong in his rulings and procedure, showed himself very ready in the law. De Peyster and Walters, as lay judges, took no part except to agree with the chief justice. It is on record that neither Atwood nor Weaver made a successful defense when they reached Eng- minutes of fomil I yole want that any went to me as alfor the two popes Mosts. I luft your into the Gomile of land; and the testimony, as given, seems of the flimsiest kind. How flimsy the evi- dence sometimes taken in that day, and what liberties were taken by judges, is you Disputed they offeris the now you'l dige known. But the trial was not hurried, it was long; the jury were out for many wecker 1 hours, and more than once asked instructions of the I love the two popes E/ Shm Mhahtar judge; and it was not till March 9, at 3 P. M., that they returned a verdict of guilty. A week's interval, and AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF LIEUT .- GOVERNOR NANFAN. Bayard asks for a reprieve till the king's judgment can be obtained. This transferred it to the lieutenant-governor and council. It recalls how, ten years before, two prisoners, under sim- ilar circumstances, had made the same request; that the governor (Sloughter) had granted it; but that the council, and Bayard among them, had voted their immediate execution; that at Bayard's house was the governor induced to sign the death-warrant; and that within two days thereafter they had been executed, under the same barba- rous and abhorrent law of England. It was the origin of the Leis- lerian party. For all that, Bayard had never expressed a regret; he had even secured additional colonial legislation to increase the power of the acting government in such cases. That the gun thus aimed at others might recoil upon himself he evidently never dreamed; and assuredly he never meant to expose himself to the penalties of
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high treason. He was not the man to put his neck within the reach of that noose. Now, however, it is his own turn to ask reprieve-the irony of fate upon a vindictive man. At this point the lieutenant- governor, Nanfan, first comes prominently into view. He sends word to Bayard that he should have no reprieve unless he made voluntary confession of his offense and begged pardon. It was March 17, and Cornbury certainly on his passage; a ship had already arrived which he was to follow in a week. What was the real object of the council? We can only form an opinion from Bayard's own publication of events. From the sheriff he learns that De Peyster and Walters had refused consent to his sentence until the lieutenant-governor had promised to grant a reprieve if due application was made for it; he now regards it as meaning that he should falsely accuse himself. On March 19 he sent a second petition; but the lieutenant-governor was not satis- fied, and had the clerk of the council draw up a proper one. This he copied (as he says), but it was again rejected. March 20, Atwood sends him word that unless his petition was a confession, he should have no reprieve; and the same day the sheriff told him that Weaver had told Atwood that the people were hot for his execution. Then the sheriff tried to persuade him to yield, but he refused. March 24, he again had word from the lieutenant-governor, through his son, that, unless he confessed, execution should soon be done; and on the 25th the sheriff again tells him that the lieutenant-governor was being "feasted" night and day, and it was feared that through his intemper- ance he would be prevailed upon to sign the death-warrant. On the 26th his son waited on the lieutenant-governor, and was told that unless he confessed the warrant would be signed the next day. Dur- ing that day he sent for Domine Du Bois to ask his counsel whether it was safe to sign a confession under such circumstances, and was told no. But it is pleasant to find Domine Du Bois now doing as Mr. Daille did for Leisler, but as Domine Selyns and Mr. Pieret did not then do - he went to the governor, and at his request, so he was told, the signing was put off another two days. On the 28th the Domine told him that several of the council, probably De Peyster, Staats, and Walters, who were his people, had assured him that if, even in general terms, he would confess his offense, he should be reprieved; but to this Bayard said it was all trick and fraud to expose and ruin him, yet to save his life, if possible, he would draw another and comply with what the council told him, so far as he safely could. He then inserted a clause in his petition, which Domine Du Bois presented; but the next day he returned with the news that it had been rejected as a reflection upon his sentence. A fifth petition of the next day (March 29) was unsatisfactory; but at the request of Domine Du Bois and Mr. Pieret, the signing of the warrant was again deferred another two days. Mr.
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Vesey had been very vehement during the trial; had, therefore, taken a vacation in New Jersey, and was not with the other ministers. At this time, however, as Bayard was informed, his execution had been fixed for Easter Monday. Therefore, March 30, by Mr. Emott's ad- vice, he added another paragraph to his petition. With this the lieu- tenant-governor was at first satisfied, but Mr. Atwood intervened, and it was sent back; and then, "in consternation and confusion of mind," as he says, "with much regret and many protestations," "in hopes to save his life from the hands he was in," he altered his petition into a con- fession, whereupon he was reprieved, and his confession immediately printed and published. The struggle had contin- ued a fortnight. Would 1 they have proceeded to extremities had he not confessed ? Would they have allowed revenge and retaliation such scope! We cannot say. It was two hundred years ago. Human life was held at a minimum; forgiveness and even clem- ency were virtues scarcely in vogue; even the courts knew nothing of the old Roman maxim, in doubtful cases prefer the milder (benigniora). Owing to Bayard's instrumentality in Leisler's death, and to later exas- perations, half the community would have thought his death a right- eous retribution. The chief justice, on his part, was apparently the very man to sustain his sentence to the end as just and right in law. Weaver was with him; and to a less degree, yet under their influence, Nanfan. Thus far De Peyster had been moderate in his partizanship. It is true that, before his sentence, Bayard had written him a letter accus- ing him and his family of seeking his blood. But there is no evidence that De Peyster, or Staats, or Walters, was virulent against him to that extreme. Perhaps they knew the man; once before, in Leisler's time, he had weakened and confessed his error after only two days' imprison- ment. It is certain that Atwood and Weaver were the ones whom Cornbury pursued as chiefly responsible, that he imprisoned Nanfan for eighteen months, but only removed the others from the council. Surely it was too hazardous a game to urge to that result, too danger- ous a weapon to place in the hands of their enemies, and with Corn- bury coming! We can only close the chapter by saying that during their brief enjoyment of power, neither had the Leislerians shown themselves, as a party, capable of exercising it for the good of the
1 One of a pair presented by Bellomont to Col. Abraham De Peyster. EDITOR.
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community. The passions of both sides were too hot, their feud as yet too bitter. They needed discipline of a new and effective kind; and for that we must leave them to Lord Cornbury-yes, we may safely leave them to my Lord Cornbury !
BURGOMASTERS OF NEW AMSTERDAM.
1653 - Arent Van Hattem. Martin Krigier. Cornelius Steenwyck.
1654 - Arent Van Hattem. 1663 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt.
Martin Krigier. 1655 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt. Allard Anthony.
Martin Krigier.
1664 - Paulus Leendersen Vandiegrist. Cornelius Steenwyck.
1656 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt. Allard Anthony.
1665 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt. Cornelius Steenwyck.
1657 - Allard Anthony.
Paulus Leendersen Vandiegrist.
1658 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt. Paulus Leendersen Vandiegrist.
In this year Governor Nicolls changed the municipal government to the English form, and Thomas Willett was appointed mayor. In 1673 the Dutch regained the province, and for
1659 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt. Martin Krigier. a year the burgomasters were re- stored. Thus, in
1660 - Martin Krigier.
Allard Anthony.
1661 - Allard Anthony.
Paulus Leendersen Vandiegrist.
1662 - Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt.
1674- Johannes De Peyster. Johannes Pietersen Van Bruglı.
MAYORS OF NEW-YORK.
THOMAS WILLETT (1665-1667), the first mayor of this city, was originally a member of the colony of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, having arrived there from England in 1629. He soon thereafter entered upon an active trade with the colony on the Hudson, by means of the navigation of the Sound, owning and commanding vessels that plied constantly between Plymouth and New Amsterdam. In this way he acquired a perfect knowledge of the Dutch language, and became favorably known to the Dutch citizens. At the time of the English conquest in 1664, he seems to have been a resident of New Amsterdam. The prudent Nicolls allowed the municipal forms of the former regime to continue for nearly a year : then burgomasters and schepens were resolved into mayor and aldermen. Further to soothe the minds of the conquered even then, Cap- tain Willett was selected by the governor to be the first English mayor, by reason of his knowledge of the Dutch language. He occupied the office until 1667. His experience after the recapture by the Dutch in 1673, his death and place of burial, with illustration of grave-stones, are noted in 1: 358 of this work. Colonel Marinus Willett, mayor in 1807, was his great-great-grandson.
THOMAS DELAVALL was mayor of New-York in the year 1666, again in 1671, and for a third time in 1678. He held the rank of captain in the English army, and as he appears as a resident of New-York only after its seizure in 1664, it is to be presumed that he took part in that enterprise. Records of his purchases of property locate him first at Harlem, and later as the owner of nearly the whole of Great Barn Island, near Hell Gate. Still later we find him nearer the heart of the future city. Seven acres of land, upon which stood an excellent cherry-orchard, in the vicinity of the present VOL. II .- 4.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
Franklin Square, were purchased by him for one hundred and sixty guilders ($64). It is readily perceived that the origin of the name of Cherry street is to be looked for in this orchard of the mayor's. Engaging in mercantile business, and owning a mill (which the bolting monopoly made a profitable investment in those days), the mayor acquired great wealth. He therefore still continued to increase his real estate, and in 1672 he bought the house built and owned by Secretary Nicasius De Sille, on the east side of Broad street, corner of Exchange Place (for illustration, see 1 : 513). One of his daughters married William Dervall, who was mayor in 1675 (see below). Mayor Delavall was highly esteemed by both the Dutch and the English citizens. His pro- dener and conciliatory spirit did much to soften the irksome yoke of a foreign power, under which the Dutch chafed, albeit it was largely by their voluntary or unresisting assumption of it that it had been imposed at all.
CORNELIUS STEENWYCK was mayor of the city in the years 1668 to 1670, and again in 1882 and 1683 (see, for his portrait and autograph, 1: 349). As his name plainly indicates he was a Dutchman, and the fact of his appointment shows the extent to which the English authorities were willing to go to conciliate their Dutch sub- junta. It also manifests that he enjoyed the entire confidence of his superiors; for not ouly was he made mayor of the little city, but in Governor Lovelace's absence he was appointed noting governor of the province. As an evidence of his loyal spirit and a specimen of his use of the English tongue, there is on record his speech when an ap- peal was made to the citizens to aid the work of fortifying the town, to which many of the Dutch objected. "As the governor has been pleased to put the Honorable Mayor and Aldermen for to look to the best of the town and the inhabitants of t' same, what they anll think fit and necessary for the best thereof, he being but ordered sall always be found a willing and faithful subject." His business was that of a general merchant or storekeeper, his wealth became considerable, and he was a generous sup- porter of the Dutch Reformed Church. His widow afterward married the Rev. Henricus Selyns, the prominent pastor of that denomination. Steenwyck occupied a substantial house on the southeast corner of Bridge and Whitehall streets, elegantly furnished for theer dayx. The dwelling- or "living"-room (woon kamer) is thus described: it was " furnished with twelve rush leather chairs, two velvet chairs with fine silver lace, one cupboard of French nutwood, one round table. one square table, one cabinet, thirteen pictures a large banking-glass a bedstead [no doubt sank into the wall as usual, and thus taking away no space from the room]. five alabaster images, a piece of tapestry- work for cushions a showered tabby chimney-cloth. a pair of flowered tabby window- curtains, a drawing-box. a carpet." (For picture of the house. see 1: 353). Mayor Strawork died in lot.
MATTHEUS NICOLE was mayor in the year 16.2. He was an Englishman, the son of a dlergyman of the Established t'burch. It is uncertain when he came to America, but there is some reason to believe he was in New-York several years before the conquest. The latter vrot. however, fire brought him into prominence. and he was made secre- cary of the province. He appears to have been proved of some legal training or warning. fur he bad been appointed to prwise at the Court of Serions before he was bunured with the marvesity. He was mayor for valy a single year. after which his incai esperarme was syale brought base wyzwanie he being appointed one of the :whyve ue the Supreme Court in DAS He dil ou hus estsw on Lume Leand wear Cow link to in mary piace was Isopen Northamptonshire. Emclient the origin of that same in Cons iniund > walnut, hogy traces of hand in ving being purchased by Nicoll. Ex wn. Willum Sivil, was quatre of the gevrezen sombig four about sixteen con-
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the Dutch colony, receiving with others a grant of land on Long Island, embracing the present village of Flushing, from Director Kieft. He owned a small trading-vessel called the Adventure, with which he carried on a profitable business with the towns along the Hudson River as far as Albany, and with those on both sides of Long Island Sound. When he came to reside in the city he built a house on the Hoogh straat, later Queen, now Pearl street, between Hanover Square and Wall street. In front of him was the river, and the shore just here was protected by the " Schoeyinge," illustrated and described on page 297 of the first volume. Mayor Lawrence attained the age of eighty years, dying in 1699. By a comparison of the family tree it is seen that no lineal descendants of his bear his name. The only son who left issue was Joseph, his oldest, who left a daughter. But as two brothers accompanied him to America, the name was perpetuated through their posterity. During his mayoralty the population of the city reached 3000.
WILLIAM DERVALL was mayor in 1675. As already noticed, he married a daughter of Mayor Delavall, through whom he inherited large property in Harlem, and the Great Barn Island in the East River. But his wealth was considerable before this accession of fortune. He was one of those many enterprising " Yankees" who have ever found it more to their profit to settle in New-York than to remain in Boston, from even the earliest colonial times till the present day. In 1667 he and his brother John set up a store in Whitehall street near Pearl, which was the most elegant one in the city, making a handsome display of dry-goods, and attracting much custom.
NICHOLAS DE MEYER was mayor in 1676. The city then numbered about 3500 in- habitants. He was the second of Dutch birth to whom the mayoralty was intrusted by the English authorities. He came from Holland while he was still a very young man. In 1655 he married a daughter of Ensign Henry Van Dyck, who distinguished himself for bravery and energy in the Indian wars under Director Kieft. Like Mayor Law- rence, he lived opposite the "Schoeyinge," in the present Pearl street, then Hoogh straat (High street). Under the Dutch regime he had a seat in the town government as one of the schepens, holding that position at the time of the conquest. After that he served frequently as alderman; indeed after the granting of the Dongan charter, which provided for assistant aldermen from the several wards, he acted in the latter capacity in spite of the fact that he had occupied the chief magistracy. His trading operations extended to Albany, and he acquired large estates on Manhattan Island. He is said to have owned property in England and Holland also. He died in 1690, left six children, and one of his daughters married Philip Schuyler of New-York.
STEPHEN VAN CORTLANDT was mayor in the years 1677, 1686, and 1687. His appoint- ment, too, must have gratified the Dutch element; besides, he enjoyed the distinction of being the first native American who occupied the mayor's chair. He was the son of Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt, prominent in social and official life in the time of Gov- ernor Francis Lovelace, and a burgomaster under Stuyvesant. In 1671 Stephen Van Cortlandt married Gertrude Schuyler of Albany, and erected a dwelling-house on the "Waterside" ('t Water), now the block in Pearl street from Whitehall to Broad. When he was first appointed mayor, in 1677, he was only thirty-four years of age. As was noticed in the previous volume of this work, he figured prominently in the Leisler troubles on the side of the royal council, of which he was a member. On the appoint- ment of a mayor (Peter De Lancey) by the Leisler faction, Van Cortlandt refused to de- liver the city seal. "A committee waited on him at his residence, but his wife shut the door in their faces." The vicinity of Maiden Lane and Cortlandt street, on both sides of Broadway, was the site of a large part of his property in the city; he also owned a farm near the Collect, or Fresh Water Pond. The principal possession with which the name of Van Cortlandt has become identified was the manor reaching along the Hudson from Yonkers to Peekskill. He died in 1701, leaving a widow and eleven children. His son Philip succeeded him in the council of the province.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
FRANÇOIS ROMBOUTS was mayor of the city in the year 1679. He was born in France, but came to America and settled at New Amsterdam at so early an age that he became completely identified with the Dutch. He was engaged in trade, and reason- ably successful in it, although not ranked among the wealthiest citizens. His fortune was estimated at ten thousand dollars, enough for a comfortable competence in those days. Before and after he became mayor he held the position of alderman several times. When the city was divided into wards he represented the West Ward, as his house was situated therein, being on the west side of Broadway near Rector street. His garden ran to the North River shore. Mayor Rombouts was made a justice of the peace before his death, which occurred in 1691. He left but one child, a daughter, who married an Englishman by the name of Roger Brett. His lineal descendants to-day, therefore, bear that name. They include Captain Walter Brett of Fishkill-on-the-Hud- son, long and honorably identified with steamboat navigation on the Hudson, and his nephew, the Rev. Cornelius Brett, D.D., pastor of the historic Bergen Reformed Church of Jersey City.
WILLIAM DYRE was mayor in 1680. He was an Englishman, and settled in New England before the middle of the century, engaging in trade. His first connection with the history of New-York was in the capacity of an enemy. In 1653, when the republic of Holland was at war with the English commonwealth under Cromwell, Rhode Island sent an expedition to reduce New Amsterdam. Captain Jolin Underhill, who had once led the forces of the Dutch in the Indian wars, commanded the land forces, and Captain Dyre was given the charge of the naval force. New Amsterdam was too well prepared for their attack, however, to make it prudent to attempt it. After 1674 Captain Dyre became a resident of New-York, his house being situated on the Damen property, on the east side of Broadway, above Wall street. A few years after he was mayor he left the city and took up his residence in Jamaica Island, West Indies, where he died in 1685.
GABRIEL MINVIELLE was mayor in 1684. Either by birth or descent he was a Frenchman ; but at a very early age he was living in Amsterdam, Holland. In 1669 he established a mercantile house in New-York, engaging in trade principally with the West Indies. He married a daughter of Mayor Lawrence, but he died in 1702 without issue to survive him, and the name became extinct in New-York. His brother Pierre is the ancestor of the Virginia Minvielles. His residence was on the west side of Broadway, nearly opposite the parade-ground, now Bowling Green. Part of the large garden fronted on the street. Mayor Minvielle was one of the six captains of militia, of which Leisler was also one, who in that troublous period took turns in commanding at the fort when the royal council had been set aside. He afterward deserted the cause of Leisler, upon the arrival of Governor Sloughter was appointed one of the council, and voted for Leisler's death (see Chap. 12, Vol. I, of this work).
NICHOLAS BAYARD was mayor in 1685. He is so prominent a figure in the pro- vincial and municipal history of his time that very little remains to be said in this notice. His residence was in the Hoogh straat, now Stone street, on the northern side and near Hanover Square. He at first rented the place, but bought it subsequently for twenty-seven hundred guilders (a little over $1000). A farm of about ten or twelve acres, north of the Fresh Water Pond, was owned by him. His descendants added to these lands until the Bayard farm embraced nearly all that part of the city now bounded by Bleecker, McDougal, and Canal streets, and the Bowery. It is a well- known fact that he was a nephew of Director Stuyvesant, his mother being a sister of the latter. He was born in Holland (see illustration of birthplace, opp. 1: 583), came to New Amsterdam in 1647, and died in 1707, when about sixty-three years of age.
PETER DELANOY was mayor in the years 1688 and 1689. As his name indicates, he was of Huguenot or Walloon extraction, but his ancestors had settled in Holland, and, with a brother, he emigrated thence to New Amsterdam when the Dutch rule still pre-
EARL OF BELLOMONT AND SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY 53
vailed there. His brother, whose name was Abraham, came first, in 1651, in charge of a consignment of merchandise sent by Jacob Verplanck, a merchant of Amsterdam. In 1656 Peter followed his elder brother, and, also engaging in trade, prospered greatly and became the possessor of considerable property. His residence and place of busi- ness was near the corner of Whitehall and Pearl streets. In the times of Leisler he warmly espoused the cause of the latter. In accordance with the principle of demo- cratic rule then put into practice in provincial affairs also, the people were given the opportunity to elect their mayor. Peter Delanoy was chosen by a large majority both in 1688 and in 1689. He was the first mayor of New-York to be thus raised to this dignity ; and there was no election to the mayoralty after him until the year 1834. The population of the city was then about 3500.
ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER was mayor from 1691 to 1692 and again in 1693. The name had been identified with the municipal government from the earliest days of the incor- poration of the city, his father, Johannes, having been schepen and burgomaster at various times, and in 1677 being appointed deputy mayor. On his death he left four sons, Abraham, Isaac, Johannes, and Cornelius. Of those Abraham and Johannes be- came mayors of New-York. Abraham carried on his father's mercantile business, and acquired large wealth. The paternal mansion stood first in the Winckel street, running parallel to Whitehall street from Stone to Bridge, about midway between Whitehall and Broad, now no longer in existence. Afterward the elder De Peyster established himself on the east side of Broad street, between South William and Beaver streets. But when wealth accumulated Abraham De Peyster built a handsome mansion on Queen (now Pearl) street, opposite Cedar (for illustration, see page 37). Mayor De Peyster was one of the captains with Leisler, remaining true to him to the end. He was there- fore greatly esteemed by Lord Bellomont, and their relations have been described on a previous page. In his famous mansion he lived in luxurious style, his household service consisting of five male negroes, two female negroes, and two negro children. He was chief justice of the province and president of the council at the death of Bellomont, and thus was acting governor until Nanfan arrived. He was appointed, as will be seen, treasurer of the colony when the assembly could no longer trust its funds to the hands of Lord Cornbury. Infirmities of age compelled him to resign the position in 1721, whereupon his son Abraham succeeded him, holding it until 1767. Mayor De Peyster died in 1728. During his incumbency the city's population rose to 4000.
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