USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. II. Second Edition > Part 3
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Previous to this date Van Slechtenhorst had granted seve- ral leases for land in Katskill. But the directors refused to admit the patroon's pretensions to that section of country, as it had already been granted to another. In conformity with his instructions, Stuyvesant now protested against those leases, and announced his resolution to oppose these encroach- ments. The authorities of Rensselaerswyck were, conse- quently much embarrassed, and therefore remonstrated : they had only obeyed the orders of their superiors in Holland : " as two opposite things can not be made to approximate un- less one give way," it is easy to see how impossible it had become for them to perform their duty according to their oaths. "It is unbecoming natives of the United Nether- lands," they added, " to loosen the bond of union by which they are joined ; on the contrary, they ought to use all pos- sible means to tighten it." They therefore requested the director-general to defer further proceedings in the matter, until they should communicate with their superiors, and . promised in the meanwhile neither to send nor allow to be sent any settlers or cattle to the land in dispute. Thus was impeded the early settlement of the present county of Greene.
The local authorities were now earnestly besought to pro- vide the inhabitants with a proper schoolmaster, "Perceiv- ing how necessary such a person was to the establishment of a well-constituted republic," a committee was appointed to build a school-house and to collect funds for defraying what- ever expenses might be incurred. Andries Jansz was appointed to take charge of this institution in the course of the following year, and received a present, on entering on the discharge of his duties, of twenty dollars.
1 Alb. Rec., IV, 44, 46, 49, 50.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
Whilst engaged in this praiseworthy undertaking, the set- tlers were thrown into great consternation by a report that the Mohawks were meditating -an attack upon them. An Indian from Tappaan had arrived "unasked and unexpected," and said, " Ye Dutchman have now been selling guns long enough to the Maquaas. They have been among us, and by presents, engaged us to assist them to kill you when the river takes. They have been likewise among the southern Indians, who have promised also to lend them a hand." When closely questioned he persisted in his statement. " Come and take me, and bind me fast ; and if it do not happen at the stated time, as I have said, then strike me dead !" Asseverations so strong could not fail to convince. The settlers were called together, and the whole matter was laid before them. Opi- nions, however, differed. Some were for repelling force by force : others recommended negotiation. The latter and wiser policy prevailed and the authorities passed, accordingly, the following resolutions :
" The insecurity of our lives and property forces itself continually upon us, living, as we do, under the licentious constraint of inhuman men and cruel heathens. Of this we had, last year, a suspicion, but now it has really manifested itself by evident demonstration and truthlike predictions and advices communicated to us, not by the parties implicated, but by warnings and premonitions from far distant Indians. Though some have advised a recourse to arms and resistance, and to measure our weakness with their strength, the director,. commissaries and council, weighing the necessity of the case have concluded and resolved to commission and empower Mons. Arendt Van Curler, Gerrit Van Wencom, Cornelis Teunisz. van Breuckelen, Thomas Chambers, and Volckert Hanz (being thereunto requested), to repair, with a suitable present to the Mohawk country, and to renew former friend- ship and alliance, for the welfare of the Patroon's colonie, the safety of the common weal, and the protection of our wives and children, all which they willingly undertake."
Labadie, the French commissary at Fort Orange, who was well acquainted with the Mohawk tongue, was invited to accompany this embassy ; but he refused. Would it not be better, he was asked, to embrace peace than war ? “It matters little to those in the fort," he selfishly replied, " how
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
it goes- whether it be war or peace ;" and truly they could not but feel secure. In addition to whatever arms they might have belonging to the company, the commissary; to render his position stronger, had borrowed three pieces-one a six, another a five, and the third a three pounder, belonging to the Patroon. With these, therefore, it mattered little with him what the relation's with the Indians were. But it was far different with the mass of the unprotected colonists.
The ambassadors departed in the beginning of October, solemnly assuring the authorities of Rensselaerswyck that they should do all in their power to promote peace. To re- move all cause of future misunderstanding with the Indians, a placard was issued abolishing licenses to trade in the interior, as well as " bosloopers " or runners, called by the French " coureurs de bois," a " fountain of mischief, trouble and animosity ;" " but as this could not be properly or effectually accomplished without the consent of the people, . the latter, in confirmation of their good inclination, have, as far as they were concerned, assented thereto, in Fort Orange, under their own hands."
The embassy to the Mohawk was successful. Presents were distributed among them to the amount of five hundred and seventy-five guilders ; the expenses of the delegation amounted to eighty-one and a half guilders, or about thirty dollars, the whole of which sums were paid by the authorities of Rensselaerswyck.1
In 1651, the call for a subsidy from Rensselaerswyck brought on a collision between the authorities of that colonie and the provincial government. The latter had, already, peremptorily demanded the excise on wines and strong liquors consumed in the Patroon's district, which was refused. It was considered an invasion of the freedoms, and in direct opposition to the custom of fatherland. The Patroon had de- frayed, from his own resources, the salaries of the minister and other public servants, as well as the general expenses attendant on the settlement of the country. These had amounted, on the 30th of June, 1650, to the sum of twenty- five thousand seven hundred and seventy-three guilders, or
1 Gerechtsrolle der Colonie. The items of expenses are stated in Slechtenhorst's accounts.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
more than ten thousand dollars ; no part of which had been paid either by the company, or the codirectors of the colonie.1 It would be, therefore, submitting to a wrong to consent to the demand now put forth. As it was a matter, however, that concerned the common interests of the country and the privileges of the colonie, commander Van Slechtenhorst was commissioned to proceed to New Amsterdam, to remonstrate with the director and council against it.
He arrived at the Manhattans towards the close of the month of April, and took the earliest opportunity to repre- sent how contrary to reason, law and usage were the proposed exactions. But Stuyvesant was inexorable, and Slechten- horst, on his side, was equally unyielding; " for it was a matter of great importance, which may cause not only . tumult but bloodshed in the country." The parties separated, but Slechtenhorst had not yet finished his dinner, when a mes- senger summoned him before the director-general and coun- · cil. Immediately on his appearance the authorities pro- ceeded to pronounce sentence against him, animadverting in strong terms on his conduct, especially in reference to the settlement of Katskill. Slechtenhorst, no ways daunted, demanded if a man could be condemned unheard ? The only answer he received was an order for his arrest. He was detained four months at the Manhattans, notwithstand- ing he repeatedly protested against his detention, and the authorities of Rensselaerswyck made several applications for his release. Finally, seeing no prospect of obtaining per- mission to depart, he embarked in a sloop, and returned to Fort Orange, having given a guaranty to the skipper to see him harmless, should he be prosecuted for having received him on board. It was well for the skipper that he had taken this precaution ; for, on his return to the Manhattans, his vessel was arrested, and he was fined two hundred and fifty guild- ers and costs. Van Slechtenhorst estimated his expenses in consequence of these proceedings at about four hundred dollars.
:
1 This expenditure is stated in a letter, signed by Johan Van Wely and John B. Van Rensselaer, and dated 7th April, 1671. Rensselaerswyck Manuscripts.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
Three years had now elapsed since director Stuyvesant set up a claim for a separate jurisdiction for Fort Orange, distinct and independent of that of Rensselaerswyck. Yet the question remained still unsettled. Lines were not drawn in those days with as much precision as in our times. The Indians measured by the day's journey ; Stuyvesant by the cannon ball. The jurisdiction of the fort, as claimed by him, extended over a circumference within the range of gun shot, which he estimated at six hundred paces of five feet to a pace; 1 a distance subsequently estimated at one hundred and fifty rods. As the hamlet of Beverwyck, now becoming every day more populous and valuable, would, by this operation, be severed from the colonie; and as the company could not fail, in consequence, to secure the greater part of the fur trade, to the serious injury of the Patroon, considerable opposition was manifested to Stuyvesant's pretension. The authorities of Rensselaerswyck maintained that the fort stood on the Patroon's soil ; that the whole territory from Beeren island to the Cohoes was his ; and that, consequently, the fort could have no jurisdiction beyond its walls. As for trading in furs, or cutting timber, it was, they insisted, a flagrant spolia- tion of the Patroon's property.
Jean Baptiste Van Rensselaer, the first of that family who visited this country, was elected one of its magistrates, whilst this controversy was at its height. Shortly afterwards, an order was issued that all the freemen and inhabitants should take the oath of allegiance to the Patroon and his represent- atives.
These conflicting pretensions were necessarily productive of a bad state of feeling between the opposing parties. On New Year's night, some soldiers, armed with matchlocks, sal- lied from the fort, and fired a number of shots at the Pa- troon's house. Several pieces of ignited wadding settled on the roof (which was of reed), and had caused the destruction of the building had not the inmates been on the alert. On the following day, the soldiers assaulted young Slechtenhorst
1 De forts gerechticheyt synde, naer gemeene ordre ende gebruyck, ontrent de doel van een gotelings schoot, gereckent op ses hondert geometressche passen.
Annals, ii.
3
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
in the street, "and not only beat him black and blue, but dragged him through the mud and mire in the presence of Joannes Dyckman, the company's commissary,1 who cried out all the time, "Let him have it now, and the d-l take him !" Philip Pietersen Schuyler endeavored to save his brother-in-law. Dyckman, hereupon, drew his sword and threatened to run Schuyler through, if he interfered. The soldiers struck others of the commander's children, and threatened to shoot them, but were prevented. The friends of the family were justly incensed at this outrage, and me- naced revenge. This coming to Dyckman's ears, he, it is represented, ordered the guns of the fort to be loaded with grape, with the intention of blowing down the patroon's house.
Things were in this unpleasant state when Stuyvesant sent up some placards relating to the limits of Fort Orange, which he ordered to have published in the colonie. Dyck- man, accompanied by six followers and three soldiers " armed with carbines and pistols," proceeded to the house where the magistrates were in session, and demanded of Slechtenhorst to make a minute of what he was about to require. As it was contrary to law for any man to enter another's jurisdic- tion with an armed posse, without the previous consent of the local authorities, Dyckman's conduct was looked upon as an additional insult, against which Slechtenhorst protested, ordering the commissary at the same time to quit the room. Dyckman retired ; but " as force hath more to say here than justice," he returned with increased numbers, and demanded that the placards should be published throughout the co- lonie by the sound of the bell. "It shall not be done so long as we have a drop of blood in our veins," replied the court, "nor until we receive orders from their high mightinesses and our honored masters." But Dyckman, nevertheless, persisted, and ordered the porter to ring the bell. This was opposed also. Dyckman now proceeded to the fort; ordered
1 Dyckman had been first clerk to the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company, and sailed in the Waterhound, in the spring of 1651, for New Netherland, having been appointed bookkeeper, at a salary of 30 fl. per month and board. On his arrival he was sent as commissary and vice director to Fort Orange, which offices he filled until 1655, when, having become deranged, he was superseded.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
the bell there to be rung three times; then returned to the Patroon's court-house ; ascended the front stoop, or steps, with his armed followers, whilst the wondering burghers stood round, and directed his deputy to make proclamation of the placards. The latter was about to obey, when Van Slechtenhorst, rushing forward, tore the placards from his hands, " so that the seals fell on the ground." Another long protest followed from the authorities of the colonie, whilst young Van Rensselaer said to the crowd, "Go home, good friends ! 'tis only the wind of a cannon ball fired six hundred . paces off."
On receiving the report of these occurrences, the director- general immediately dispatched another placard to Dyckman; again declaring the jurisdiction of Fort Orange to extend within a circumference of six hundred paces of said fort, "and in order that no man shall plead ignorance, we further charge our commissary, after publication hereof, to erect on the aforesaid limits, north, south and west of the aforesaid fortress, a post, marked with the company's mark, and to affix on a board nailed thereto, a copy hereof." Within these bounds, no house was, for the future, to be built, ex- cept by consent of the director and council, or those autho- rized to act for them.1 This violent and illegal act, violat- ing at once the rights of property and the sixth article of the charter of 1629, severed, now and forever, the town of Beverwyck from Van Rensselaer's colonie .? It was not,
1 Rensselaerswyck Manuscripts.
2 The Patroon and codirectors of Rensselaerswyck never ceased to protest against this high handed proceeding, and to demand the restitution of the property thus unlawfully taken from them. They succeeded at length in 1673 (when the country fell a second time into the hands of the Dutch), in obtaining tardy justice. On the 3d of April of that year, the directors of the West India Com- pany acknowledged, by a notorial act, after having examined the original Indian deeds, that the proprietors of the colonie were also right owners of the town, then called Willemstadt ; that the aggres- sion committed against them by director Stuyvesant, was in special violation of the 6th Art. of the charter of 1629, and could neither take away nor diminish the proprietorship claimed by the parties. The company at the same time declared that they had no right or claim to any part of the said colonie. This view of the case was ad- mitted also by Gov. Dongan, in 1686, who considered it necessary to obtain a release from the Patroon of all his claims, before he could legally incorporate the city of Albany.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
however, quietly submitted to by the authorities of the lat- ter, for they immediately ordered their constable to remove the posts forthwith, " protesting before Almighty God and the states-general, against all open force and violence, and insisting on reparation for all losses and damages which might accrue, or be caused thereby." On the same day, the court drew up a long remonstrance " against the unbecoming pretensions and attacks of the director and council of New Netherland," in which they denied that the latter had any authority over the colony ; they had never sworn allegiance to the company, much less to Monsieur Stuyvesant, and owned no masters but the states-general, and their own imme- diate superiors, whose lands have been erected into a perpe- tual fief, with high, middle, and low jurisdiction ; and he who would now destroy this, must be more powerful than the company, "yea, than their high mightinesses." The late director Kieft, understood the law better than those who administer it now-a-days ; and this will be made mani- fest when the matter shall be subjected to that touchstone.1
This paper was declared, by the director and council, " a libellous calumny." Secretary de Hooges was called on to furnish the names of the magistrates who had voted in favor of it, and threatened, in case of disobedience, to prosecute him for contumacy.
In the meanwhile the question of jurisdiction presented itself in a new shape to agitate and disturb still further this infant hamlet. A negress belonging to Sander Leendert- sen Glen, charged with theft, caused several " decent per- sons " to be prosecuted as receivers of stolen goods. She was ordered to be arrested for defamation, and Dyckman pro- ceeded to take up the wench .. Her master refused to surren- der her that evening. Dyckman, offended at this, told the burgher that he had power to send him and all his family to jail; to pull his house down about his ears, and trample it
1 On the 13th of this month, the authorities of the colonie pur- chased from the Indians two tracts of land on the east side of the Hudson, and situate north-east of the flats. One of these was called Paanpaack (on which the city of Troy now stands), the other Panhoosick, or Hoosick, as it is now called, which adjoined the first mentioned on the north. It is described as running landward in " unto the Wappenakicks, or otherwise to the Fresh river."
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
underneath his feet, " as it was erected on the company's soil.' " I have nothing to do with you," replied Glen ; " I can not serve a new master until I am discharged from the one I live under." The commissary threatened him with Stuy- vesant, but the other thought he should fare as well at the director-general's hands as he. This retort overthrew Dyck- man's temper. He drew his rapier and threatened to run his adversary through. But Glen was not afraid. He seized a stick to repel his assailant, who then retired. Next morning he was summoned to the fort, and placed under arrest. Ru- mors now became rife that Stuyvesant was about to visit the place, and the commissary went so far as to give out that a new gallows was building for Slechtenhorst and his son, and for young Van Rensselaer, who were put down as the foment- ers of this rebellion." 1
The director was at this time occupied in ridding himself of all that remained of his opponents at New Amsterdam. Melyn was in a manner outlawed ; Van Dinclage had retired to Staten Island to brood over his contumelies ; Van Schel- luyne durst not exercise his profession, and the nine men were under ban. The only one undisposed of was attorney- general Van Dyck, and his hour had now arrived.
From the moment that he had been commissioned, he was treated by Stuyvesant with marked contumely, and excluded from the council for over two years after his arrival in the colony. In the exercise of his office he was most commonly employed as a scrivener, to copy legal papers, the drafts of which the director-general usually prepared ; at other times he was " charged to look after the pigs and keep them out of the fort, a duty which a negro could very well perform." When Van Dyck happened to object, the director " got as angry as if he would swallow him up; " or if he presumed to disobey, " put him in confinement, or bastinadoed him with his rattan !" A series of ill-usage such as this natu- rally drove the fiscaal into the ranks of the opposition. Charges of drunkenness and of having received bribes were brought against him as early as 1647, and periodically re- newed, but did notaccomplish as yet his dismissal or disgrace.
1 Rensselaerswyck Manuscripts.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
But in the spring of this year 1 a silly lampoon against the director-general made its appearance, and Van Dyck was put down as its author .? The council was convoked to con- sider this weighty affair of state, and a resolution followed, dismissing the schout-fiscaal from office, " on account of the multitude of his misdemeanors and connivances." This resolution purported to be " by and with the advice of the nine men," but thesc repudiated the assertion, and declared, " that they never had any knowledge of the commonalty, having complained of Van Dyck ; that they never had agreed to the resolution ordering his dismissal ; that Stuyvesant had passed it on his own authority, and that the secretary had falsely appended to it their names."
To fill this vacancy, Cornelius Van Tienhoven, the puta- tive author of the above intrigue, received the appointment of attorney-general ; Carel Van Brugge, " an Englishman," provisionally succeeded him as provincial secretary ; and Adriaen Van Tienhoven became receiver-general in place of his brother.
" Were an honorable person appointed in my stead," says Van Dyck, commenting on these proceedings, " the false
" The directors, writing this year to Stuyvesant, say : " We have observed that your climate does not reform much the manners of in- dividuals. Of this there is yet much less hope if the chiefs of the administrations set a bad example to others. In this respect, we re- ceive many complaints from those who return from New Netherland, against the attorney-general, for drunkenness and other vices. If he continue such a disorderly life, we shall be compelled to employ such means of restraint as we deem expedient."-Alb. Rec., IV, 74. " This pasquinade was in these terms: " Myn Heer General ! It isimpossible for me to conceal from your excellency, that I heard you scolded and cursed on the evening of the 11th of March, at Mr. Fyn's house, as a rogue and a tyrant, with many other calumnious defamations, which cut me to the heart. Thou art a God appointed of God ! I pray you for Christ's sake to prevent it, or I shall feel very unhappy, for I can no longer listen to it, and durst not acquaint you with it by word of mouth. Christman, Fyn, and two other women heard it also. I wish that the fiscaal would bestir himself. No other man is better. Was neither signed nor subscribed, nor compared with the discovered scrap, this 28th March, 1652, in New Amsterdam, (signed), Cor. Van Thienh., secretary." Van Dyck ac- cused Van Tienhoven, Christman (V. T.'s clerk), and others of hav- ing got up this plot, and circulated this lampoon to have him dis- missed .- Hol. Doc., VI, 263-265.
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Colony of Rensselaerswyck.
accusations against me, which have been so long resolved upon and written, might have some semblance of truth ; but the person whom the director-general hath, on his own mere motion, made fiscaal, is his perjured secretary, who returned here contrary to their high mightinesses' prohibition ; a public, notorious, and convicted whore-monger and oath- breaker ; a reproach to this country, and the main scourge of both Christians and heathens, with whose sensualities the director himself has been always acquainted." "The fault of drunkenness could easily be noticed in me, but not in Van Tienhoven, who has frequently come out of the tavern so full that he could go no further, and was forced to lie down in the gutter." 1
Having thus disposed of Van Dyck, Stuyvesant turned his attention to Van Slechtenhorst, and to conclude all diffi- culties with him, repaired to Fort Orange and called on the authorities of Rensselaerswyck to state where their bounds commenced. It was indifferent to him from what point, north or south, they should start. The exemptions allowed them four miles on one, or two miles on both banks of the river, and he was prepared to concede to that extent ; but he warned them, if they should refuse this "reasonable offer," he would proceed ex parte. They replied that they had no instruction to act in the premises ; and requested delay, until they advised with the interested parties in Hol- land. The delay was granted, but the question of supremacy over Beverwyck was not so easily settled. Sergeant Litchoe presented himself with a party of soldiers before the patroon's house, and having stationed his followers at the door, or- dered Van Slechtenhorst to strike the patroon's flag. The latter peremptorily refused to obey, whereupon "fourteen sol- diers armed with loaded muskets, entered the enclosure, and after firing a volley, hauled down the lord's colors." Stuy- vesant followed up this act, by issuing a proclamation erect- ing in Fort Orange a court of justice for the village of Beverwyck and its dependencies, apart from, and independent of, that of Rensselaerswyck. This placard having been affixed to the court house of the colonie, was torn down by Van Slechtenhorst, who in return posted a proclamation vindicat-
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