USA > New York > Queens County > Newtown > The annals of Newtown, in Queens County, New York; containing its history from its first settlement, together with many interesting facts concerning the adjacent towns; > Part 5
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Whereas, God hath been pleased of late years to deprive us of Middel- burg, on Long Island, of the publie means of grace and salvation, and also of the education of our children in sehoolastic discipline, the way to true happiness : but yet God having in mercy at last provided for us a help meet for the discipline and education of our children, and, by the same person, help in the sabbath exercises, we therefore, who never gave, nor consented to the giving of the housing and lands built and fenced in, and also dedicated for the use of the publie dispensation of God's word unto us, do humbly entreat your honorable lordship, that this our said schoolmaster, Richard Mills by name, may be by your lordship possessed of the said housing and lands, for his use and ours also, for our children's education and the sabbath exercise, the which God doth require, and we have need of for us and our children. As the housing now stands it is like to go all to wreck and ruin, the fences are falling down, the house and barn decaying and wanteth repair, and Francis Doughty doth not repair it, nor the town-as it stands be- tween him and them, we will not repair it, and by this means it is like to come to nothing in a short time, and so we, and your lordship also, shall be disap- pointed ; therefore our humble request to your lordship is, that this our
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schoolmaster, and at present our soul's help in dispensing God's word to us and our children every Lord's day, may be settled in it, to enjoy it without any molestation from Francis Doughty, or any of his, for so long time as our God shall be pleased to continue him amongst us, or to provide another for us. Thus knowing that your lordship is as willing to further our souls' good as our bodies', we rest your lordship's humble petitioners.
THOMAS HUNT, MARY RYDER,
FRANCIS SWAINE,
JOHN BARKER,
JAMES BRADISH,
JOHN LAURONSON,
JAMES LAURONSON, THOMAS CORNISH,
NICHOLAS CARTER, SAMUEL TOE.
To this memorial was returned the following reply :
These presents do require and order Francis Doughty, and whoever it may concern, to give and grant unto the present schoolmaster, Mr. Richard Mills, a quiet possession of the said house and land ; it being with our knowledge, consent and help, built for the public use of the ministry, and therefore may not, cannot be given and transported for a private heritage. But if he or his wife hath to demand any remainder of means or salary of her deceased husband, Mr. John Moore, late minister of the aforementioned town, it is ordered, and these presents do order the magistrates and inhabitants of the said town to give unto the heirs what is due them. Done in Amsterdam, in New Netherland, this 18th of February, 1661.
P. STUYVESANT.
In compliance with this order, the premises were vacated, and Mr. Richard Mills, the first schoolmaster of Middelburg, was inducted into the town-house, and entered upon the responsible duties of his vocation.
This spring terminated the existence of the village of Aern- hem, on Smith's Island. It was broken up by order of the Direc- tor and Council, upon the ground that it might hinder the pro- gress of the new village of Bushwick, and the following year the tenantless cottages were removed upon the request of the magistrates of the new settlement, who feared they might be again occupied. Bushwick was planted in 1660, by a company of French, joined by a few Dutchmen, among whom was Joost Casperse, ancestor of the Springsteens, of Newtown. The succeeding year, upon invitation of the inhabitants, the Director-general visited the new village on the 14th of March, and conferred upon it the name of Boswyck, signifying a hamlet in the woods. The occasion was propitious, and the
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people embraced it to request of the Director certain privileges, and the grant of a large tract of land adjoining, as pasturage for their cattle, the bounds of which were set forth as extending " from the east side of Smith's Island southward to the hills, and along said hills westward, to the heights of Merck's plan- tation, and from the said heights northerly, by Merck's plan- tation, to Bushwick, being a four cornered plot of land." 1 Willing to favor the applicants, Stuyvesant gave them their request.
This grant infringed largely upon the Middelburg purchase, and produced great dissatisfaction among the settlers, some of whom went to the Director with their complaint. Thomas Wandell stated, that having understood that the whole hay meadow situated in Mespat Kills, had been allowed to the inhabitants and farmers of the village of Bushwick to be distributed among them by lot, he would of course lose his meadow granted him in the year 1654, by the magistrates of Middelburg, under the Director's order, "and lying between Smith's Island and the lands of Eldert Engelberts, at the place where he was massacred by the savages." He prayed that he might retain his meadow, which he was permitted to do, upon proving his title.
The current year seems to have been marked by no other event of general interest. During the spring of 1662 several votes were taken for the better regulation of the town. On March 13th " the town homelot and barn " were let to Thomas Roberts, upon condition of his repairing the barn and fences. Edward Jessup, Samuel Toe, John Layton and John Burroughes were empowered to levy a rate or tax of five stivers (about five cents !) on the acre, for the payment of the town debts. Thomas Lawrence, who had filled the office of town clerk for several years, was succeeded by John Bur- roughes, who in May was appointed clerk of the court also. And to guard against some actual or apprehended violation of the custom of the town, respecting the admission of new inhabitants, it was resolved, May 23d, " that the man coming into the town irregularly, at the call the best course shall be taken to remove him, being a man of an evil report."
1 Marcus de Suson, here referred to, had a plantation near Cripplebush.
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In accordance with the terms of the Freedoms and Exemp- tions established in 1640, the founders of Middelburg, had hitherto been free from all imposts or taxes to the general government. The prescribed term for such exemption had now expired, and Director Stuyvesant, ever attentive to the interests of his superiors, dispatched the following epistle to remind them that they would thenceforth be required to ren- der annually the tenth part of their harvest, or commute for the same, on such terms as should be mutually agreed upon.
LOVING FRIENDS :-
Whereas the time of ten years and also the freedom of tenths is expired, these presents do order the magistrates, and also all the inhabitants of the town of Middelburg, and all the other plantations in Mespat Kill, that none of them shall presume or undertake to remove their fruits or increase, as corn, maize, tobacco, &c. before they have agreed for the year about the tithes, with the Governor-general and Council, or their commissioners, upon forfeiture of fifty guilders. Done in Fort Amsterdam, in New Netherland, on the 3d of July, 1662. P. STUYVESANT.
Upon the reception of this the inhabitants met on July 7th, and appointed Edward Jessup, Richard Betts, and Francis Swaine, to wait upon the Director, and agree with him "for the tithes for the present year, both for town and kill."
The toils of harvest being ended, attention was turned to making the much needed repairs upon the town-house, as was called the only public building in the village, and which hitherto had served, as occasion required, the several purposes of a church, school-house, and parsonage. James Lauronson was engaged September 18th, for the sum of one hundred guilders, or forty dollars, to underpin, with stone and mor- tar, the house and the leanto; to lath and plaster both rooms, (the town furnishing lath and nails); to build an oven, repair the chimney, and do what was needful in the chamber,-all to be completed in six weeks. William Lawrence was also employed to cover the roof with a good coat of thatch, for forty-two guilders, and Lauronson engaged to provide the thatch and deliver it at the town-house, for the additional sum of forty-five guilders. Payment was to be made these individuals, " after the value of wheat at six guilders a bushel."
While this work was in progress, Richard Betts, Samuel Toe, John Scudder, John Coe, George Sergeant, John Denman
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and Thomas Reede purchased, Oct. 3d, 1662, of the Indian chiefs Womatupa, Wonoxe, and Powatahuman the neck of meadow-land " commonly called Plunder's Neck by the Eng- lish," lying on the south side of Long Island, and " bounded on the east side by the river Hohosboco, with a small brook on the west side running into the river before mentioned." This acquisition of salt meadow was found highly conducive to the success of the Middelburg farmers, because salt hay was necessary to the healthy growth and sustenance of their cattle, which "were subject to diseases when they were pastured on new ground, and fed on fresh hay only."
The thorough fitting up of the town-house was probably with a view to the settlement of the Rev. William Leverich, who several months after is found occupying the building, and preaching the Gospel among the people of Middelburg. This learned and pious man graduated in 1625, at Cambridge, England, and eight years after came to New England, where he labored in different places about twenty years, part of the time in instructing the Indians about Sandwich, for which purpose he acquired their language. In 1653, he re- moved to Oyster Bay, whence he spent about five years in propagating the gospel among the aborigines on the Island ; but settled, in 1658, as pastor of the church at Huntington, from which he removed with his sons Caleb and Eleazar to Middelburg, about the close of 1662, where his labors met with decided favor. Measures were taken to raise a salary for his support, and afterwards, "for his encouragement among them," the town gave him two parcels of meadow, and as that was thought " not to be enough to supply his need," there were added twelve acres more at the east end of "Long Traines Meadow." The need of a more suitable place of worship was apparent, and on Jan. 9th, 1663, the town voted to build a " meeting-house," but the execution of this design was inter- rupted by the extraordinary events which soon after transpired. The country was on the verge of revolution and civil war.
Never, perhaps, was there an administration whose pro- ceedings, while aiming to promote good order, morality, and religion, tended to results more directly opposite, than that of the impolitic Stuyvesant. A course of austere legislation ; fines and banishment for difference in religious faith and prac-
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tice ; injustice and violence to the savages, who in turn wreaked their revenge on the inoffensive settlers, all contributed to lessen the population and produce the deepest aversion to the government. Middelburg had not escaped the iron hand of this policy, as we have seen, and besides, several of the pur- chasers had been harshly dealt with. In 1661, Richard Bul- lock was cast into prison for debt, but he managed to escape, and probably fled the province; and five years before that, Thomas Greedy, a man of over seventy years, was, for a slight offence, banished the country. Such undue severity had a direct tendency to disgust and inflame the public mind-the English population were totally estranged, and held the go- vernment in utter detestation.
Such was the dominant feeling in Middelburg, when Con- necticut received a charter from Charles II. confirming to that colony the "islands adjacent." By a wanton construction of the patent, Connecticut laid claim to Long Island, as one of the islands referred to. On October 27th, 1662, intelligence was sent to Middelburg and the surrounding English villages, that they were "annexed to the other side of the Sound." The long wished for deliverance offered, and the English towns hailed the event as affording a most opportune occasion to shake off the galling fetters of Dutch tyranny. Thus came the eventful year 1663, and though the design of a union with Connecticut was yet in embryo, Middelburg cvinced a dispo- sition to assume the institutions of their English neighbors. On Jan. 9th, they appointed several citizens of trust, after the manner of the New England towns, to conduct their public affairs for the ensuing year. These were John Layton, Fran- cis Swaine, William Blomfield, John Cochran, Samuel Toe, Richard Betts, and Ralph Hunt, all or most of whom took an active part in the thrilling events which soon after transpired. The way was preparing for a political revolt; the tempest of opposition to the government which for long years had been gathering blackness, was about to pour forth its angry torrents. It was a season of peculiar trial to the Director of New Netherland, for to add to his sources of uneasiness, the red men were venting their cruelty upon the inhabitants of Esopus, on the Hudson. Stuyvesant resolved to despatch a military force to their assistance. He sent word to Middelburg, that on
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June 30th, he would visit that village in person, or send his depu- ties to obtain recruits for this service. But the application for aid was ill-timed, for when the recruiting officers, consisting of Lieutenants Couwenhoven and Stillwell, and Ensign Samuel Edsall, made their appearance, the magistrates and leading in- dividuals dissuaded the inhabitants from enlisting; the period was critical, and the events to which they looked forward, might call forth the exercise of their undivided strength. The officers therefore left, having effected nothing.
Notwithstanding this ripening spirit of insubordination, Middelburg yet kept up a show of allegiance, dictated rather by motives of policy, than any genuine feelings of attachment. In the month of July, Thomas Wandell and two other citizens waited upon the Director, and commuted for the tithes for the current year, the amount fixed upon being fifty schepels1 of wheat and fifty of peas : upon condition that these and the tithes for the preceding year which yet remained unpaid, should be delivered within a suitable time, at the Company's store- house. It may be doubted, however, considering the anarchy which succeeded, whether the government obtained a particle of this revenue.
Among those in Middelburg that warmly advocated an alliance with Connecticut, was Capt. John Coe, who in August addressed a letter on the subject to the General Court, at Hartford, and dispatched it by James Christie. The latter delivered his message on the 22d of that month, (old style,) two hours after the court broke up, and Messrs. Talcott and Allyne returned an answer by the same person, expressing much regret that that being the case, they could not aid them according to their desire. They recommended an application to the court, at its meeting in autumn, when any memorial would be duly considered. "In the mean time," they add, " we suppose Stuyvesant dare not in the least offer any injury to any of you; and after the meeting of the commissioners, at October court, they will the better know how to act towards yourselves, or any of the towns about you. If there were a general concurrence in the desire of submitting to our govern- ment, we suppose it would much promote the end aimed at by you." Capt. Talcott also engaged Christie to visit the other
1 A schepel was nearly three English pecks.
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villages of Flushing, Hempstead, and Jamaica, "to try if the inhabitants were favorably inclined towards the governor of Hartford."
Christie having returned to Middelburg, the absence of Director Stuyvesant, who had sailed for Boston, to meet the Commissioners in relation to their differences, afforded a favor- able occasion to visit the English towns, and accomplish the proposed union in favor of Connecticut. He accordingly pro- ceeded with two others to Gravesend, with "a simple commis- sion signed Coe," and a copy of Talcott's letter ; and the town being called together, Christie produced his letters and informed the assembled villagers that they were no longer subject to the Dutch government, but to that of Hartford. But the sheriff, Nicholas Stillwell, a friend to the administration, regarded this as rather a dubious fact. He accordingly arrested Christie's person and papers, and sent intelligence of the proceeding to the Council, who thereupon detached a sergeant and eight men to convey the prisoner to Fort Amsterdam. On the arrival of the soldiers at Gravesend, messengers were immediately dispatched to Middelburg, to announce the fate of Christie; for which reason the sergeant and his men left with their pri- soner, at two o'clock at night, and returned to the city.
The arrest of their townsman, was heard with indignation at Middelburg, and John Coe and Edward Jessup, with five of the overseers of the town, immediately proceeded, by night, across to Westchester, and returned with Capt. Richard Panton, a commissioned officer under Connecticut, and a company of men, "to beat arms against the Dutch." They were joined by others in Middelburg, and the next day, Sept. 25th, proceeded to Gravesend, to the number, as was stated, of a hundred and fifty, mounted and on foot. Finding that Christie was beyond the reach of rescue, they determined to secure the person of the sheriff, whose house they surrounded about nine o'clock in the evening, shouting that they would have him, dead or alive, as he had been the instrument in apprehending James Christie. They searched the house with lighted candles, but in vain ; the object of their pursuit had escaped amid the dark- ness, to the residence of his son-in-law. The mob then broached two anchors of brandy that lay in the cellar, and regaling them- selves, departed without further depredation.
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On the morrow Christie underwent a rigid examination before the Council. The same day Captains Coe and Panton, in the name of the town, despatched Richard Smith to New Amsterdam with a formal demand on the Attorney-general for his release, threatening, in case of a refusal, to "resent it as a breach of the peace, and act according to the nature of the case." The only reply which this clicited, was a circular letter to Middelburg and the other English villages, calling upon the people to seize any mutinous persons who might come into their town, or give information thereof to the Council, that the good inhabitants may continue in peace and unity, " as they have done, through God's blessing, hitherto." But the Council were alarmed, and at once despatched an account of this outbreak to the Director-general at Boston. The excitement in Middelburg was now at a high pitch, and in the exasperated state of the public mind it became a settled purpose to abjure and resist Dutch authority, and form a junction with Connecticut. But Stuyvesant had at least one English friend in Middelburg. This was John Lauronson, who wrote the following letter to the Director soon after his return, giving him a summary of the reigning disorders.
Right Honorable, the Lord Stevesant :
The cause of my presenting these few lines to your honor, is to let you understand what traitors there are in Middelburg. John Coe, Edward Jessup, Ralph Hunt, Richard Betts, Samuel Toe, John Layton, Francis Swaine, went to Westchester in the night, and brought Panton, with a company of men, over, to beat arms against the Dutch, and have taken a copy of Panton's commission to kill and slay any that opposeth him. He beats up the drum under a color to train, and when the town is come together, then he plots against your honor. These seven men set almost the whole town against your honor ; they call private meetings, and there they conspire against you, and have put the town in an uproar. And Richard Betts said that he would spend his life and his estate in this cause, and John Layton abused your honor, and said that you are a devil, and a wooden leg rogue, and a picaroon, and rails against your honor that it is a shame to hear him. Edward Jessup hath been a traitor a long time; he went to New Haven to see to put the town under them, and I never knew of it, till they came for money as would go for his charges. If some come, be not
1 I know not to what occasion this alludes, except it be to the mission of Jessup and Coc to Boston in 1653, when they may have touched at New Haven to secure the favor of that colony.
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taken with them, they will never be at rest, but always a doing of mischief. So, having no more to trouble your honor, I rest your true and faithful subject,
JOHN LAURONSON.
At the meeting of the general court of Connecticut in October, Capt. John Coe, deputed by Middelburg, and others from the several English towns, proceeded to Hartford and presented petitions to be received to the protection and privi- leges of that colony, seeing "it hath pleased the Highest Majesty to move the heart of the King's Majesty to grant unto your colony such enlargements as comprehends this whole Island, thereby opening a way for us (as we hope) from our present bondage, to such liberties and enlargements as we are informed your patent affords." Agreeably to their request the court declared that " as the lines of their patent extended to the adjoining islands, they accepted those towns under their jurisdiction." On the other hand, an embassy which Stuyve- sant had sent to confer with the general court touching their boundaries, returned without having effected anything, further than to satisfy themselves by seeing the delegates from the disaffected towns on the most intimate terms with the princi- pal men there, "that the doings of Richard Mills at West- chester, of Coe, Panton and others on Long Island, were done and put into execution at their instigation." The deputies had informed the general court of the detention of Christie :- " A countryman of ours, for carrying a message to a neighbor plantation from some of yourselves, has been imprisoned for several weeks, and how long it will continue we know not." Hereupon the secretary of the court wrote to Stuyvesant, Oct. 22d, demanding the release of Christie.
It now remained for Connecticut to follow up the recent act of annexation, and establish formally, her authority on the Island. For this purpose Capt. John Coe, of Middelburg, and Anthony Waters, of Jamaica, who were duly empowered, proceeded, in November, with about eighty men, horse and foot, through the English towns, informed the people that the country belonged to the King, removed the old magistrates and appointed others, who took the oath of fealty to Con- necticut.
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Middelburg was now in allegiance to King Charles II. In the ardor of their loyalty they discarded the name by which the township from its settlement had been designated, and adopted that of Hastings, after a town in Sussex, England, distinguished in history as the scene of the famous victory of William the Conqueror, by which that monarch obtained the throne of Britain. Encouraged by the prospective growth and prosperity of the settlement, the inhabitants gave them- selves early in the winter to matters of publie convenience. All persons were required to make "good sufficient fence where their share is to do it," and that by the first day of the ensuing March, upon forfeit of "half a crown," for every rod of fence defective. Four individuals were chosen fence viewers, which is the first notice we have of this not very distinguished, but highly necessary office. Two " common fields," each a single enclosure, in which the villagers proposed unitedly to plough and plant, were directed to be laid out, one on the north and the other on the south of the village lots, which matter was entrusted to four persons, one of whom was James Christie, who had obtained his liberation from the prison of Fort Amsterdam, under bonds.1
1 James Christie was a native of Scotland, and at this time was thirty-two years of age. He is first named in 1661, when he bought the dwelling house of Lieut. William Palmer deceased. He was still living at Newtown in 1665, but the following year his widow Sarah married Humphrey Clay. There is reason to believe that he was the ancestor of those families bear- ing the name of Christie in New-York city and vicinity.
Capt. Richard Panton, who acted so conspicuous a part in the late com- motions, had for years cherished feelings of hostility to the government, having, in 1656, suffered a brief imprisonment at New Amsterdam for an attempt to throw off the Dutch yoke at Westchester. After the conquest of the country by the English, he continued an influential man at Westchester, both in civil and church affairs, till his decease, in the beginning of the next century, at an advanced age.
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