USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 2
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It appears that Johan De Hulter, in 1654, purchased a tract of one thousand acres from the Indians, bounded on the north by the lands of Thomas Chambers, and was patented by his widow in March, 1657. This grant. it was claimed by some, covered the site of the old village of Kingston, but was denied by Governor Stuyves- ant. This settlement remained in peace for only a short time, for in 1655 the Indians, on both sides of the river, made war upon the Dutch at New Amsterdam and its vicinity, and the settlers at Esopus, fearing an attack and being without any means of defence, fled from their homes to places of comparative security, leaving their dwellings and flocks to the mercy of the savages. As soon as peace was concluded, which was in the following fall, they returned to their homes to find that much had been appropriated and de- stroyed by the Indians.
With residences thus scattered, the natives were living around and among them, which resulted in frequent depredations the one upon the other ; and, as appears to be always the case, the settlers were not careful to keep the " fire-water" from the Indians' lips. That in one instance resulted in a drunken spree near Ponekhockie, in which the Indians in their craziness killed one man, a skipper named Harmon Jacobs, while standing on board his vessel ; and the dwellings of Jacob Adriance and Andries Van der Huys, lo- cated at Ponckhockie, were set fire to and burned to the ground.
Such was the fear created in the minds of some of the settlers, that they submitted to some of the most humiliating exactions
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
from the Indians, as appears by the character of their call upon Stuyvesant, the governor, for assistance. In it they say : "The savages compel the whites to plough their maize land, and when they hesitate threaten, with firebrands in their hands, to burn their houses. . . . That the chiefs have no control of their men. We are locked up in our houses and dare not move a limb."
The extent of their settlement at that time, May, 1658, may be judged by the fact that in such application to the governor they state that " they had 990 schepels of grain in the ground, and had 60 or 70 people, who support a reader at their own expense."
Immediately on receipt of the news, May 28th, the council di- rected the governor to proceed with sixty or seventy men to the relief of the inhabitants.
He arrived there on Wednesday ; the next day being Ascension Day, he notified the people to meet him after service in the after- noon. He told them the killing of one man and the burning of two buildings was not enough to make war. They must concentrate and form a village with a stockade, so as to be able to protect themselves. They objected on account of their poverty and their inability to house their crops so near harvest, and they wished the troops to remain and to have the village built after harvest. He finally told them that there was no security as they then lived ; they must concentrate then or remove to Fort Orange or Manhat- tan ; or if they remained as they were, they must give him no more trouble. If they agreed to concentrate, he would remain until the work was complete.
The next day, the 30th of May, he had a conference with about fifty warriors, who met him under a tree. Stuyvesant then recounted to them their insolence to the whites, their murders, and their burn- ing of dwellings ; still he did not come to make war, but to punish the guilty ; and asked them why they acted thus, and were con- stantly threatening the inhabitants. After a pause one of the chiefs arose and said : " The Shawanakins sold our children drink, and they were thus the cause of the Indians being made crazy, which was the cause of all the mischief. The sachems could not always control the young men, who would often fight and wound. The murder was committed not by one of our tribe, but by a Minnisink, who had skulked away among the Haverstraws. The one who fired the two small dwelling-houses had run away, and dared not cultivate his own soil. We are innocent, not actuated by malice, do not want to fight, but cannot control the young men."
Stuyvesant replied that if any of their men wanted to fight, let them step forth. He would place man against man ; yes, twenty against thirty or forty of the hotheads. But that it is unmanly to threaten farmers, and women and children, who are not warriors.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
If it was not stopped he would be compelled to retaliate on old and young, on women and children. "You must repair all damages, seize the murderer if he comes among you, and do no further mis- chief. The Dutch are now going to live together in one spot. It is desirable that you should sell us the whole of the Esopus land and remove farther into the interior ; for it is not good for you to reside so near the Shawanakins, whose cattle might eat your maize, and thus cause frequent disturbances." The matter was settled upon the terms thus dictated by Stuyvesant, and the savages de- parted after exchanging some small presents.
The citizens finally came to terms with Stuyvesant, and entered into a written agreement, which translated is as follows : " We, the subscribers, assembled inhabitants of the Esopus, having found. from time to time, through a very sorrowful experience, and to the damage of us all, the faithless and unbearable boldness of the Indians' barbarous nature-how uncertain it is to depend on their words --- how careless and perilous it is to live so separate and wide apart among such a faithless and insolent nation, have (on the proposition and promise of the Director-General, the lord Petrus Stuyvesant, to furnish us with a night-guard, and in case of neces- sity with further help) resolved among one another, that in order to better protect ourselves, our wives and children, it is necessary to leave our separate dwellings immediately after the signing of this, in the most speedy manner possible, and to concentrate in such place as the Lord Director shall choose, and surround it with palisades of proper length ; and in order that through these means, if it please the all-good God to lend his blessing, we may be better prepared to preserve ourselves and ours from a sudden onslaught of the Indians, we bind ourselves one to another, after prayer to the Lord, to take the means named in hand without any objection, and to complete them as speedily as possible, under a fine of one thousand guilders, to be paid for the benefit of the place, by any one who may oppose the same by words or deeds. In further wit- ness whereof we have hereto set our own hands, in presence of the Lord Director-General and Govert Loockermans, old Schepens of the City of Amsterdam in New Netherland. Done the last of May, 1658.
"Signed : Jacob Jansen Stol, Thomas Chambers, Cornelis Barentse Slecht, mark of Willem Jansen, Peter Dercksen, Jan Jansen, Jan Broersen, Dirck Hendricksen Graef, Jan Looman."
After this agreement was signed, the first thing requiring atten- tion was the selection of the site for the village. That, of course, was a matter of primary importance. Stuyvesant wisely selected the site of what subsequently became the thickly settled part of the old village of Kingston, comprising the tract of land having
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
North Front Street on the north, Main Street on the south, Green Street on the west, and East Front Street (now Clinton Avenue) on the east ; thus being protected by very steep banks on three sides, and exposed on a level only at the south.
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The location appears to have been satisfactory to all, as the in- habitants proceeded at once to remove their dwellings and build the stockade. The selection was made on the 31st day of May, and in three weeks' time the palisade was substantially completed, the buildings removed, a bridge thrown over the brook beyond the gate near the northwest corner of the stockade, and a guard-house and temporary barracks built.
North. Steep descent, lowland.
4.
+
Steep descent.
4
West.
East.
4
Steep descent, lowland.
1
3
3
2
4
Extensive level plain.
South.
PLAN OF STOCKADE, WILTWYCK, 1658.
The outside lines represent the stockade.
No. 1. The fortified part. No. 3. The gates to fortified part.
No. 2. The block-house. No. 4. The outside gates.
The double lines inside are the streets.
The location of the stockade was such that on the north, east, and west sides it ran along the brow of a steep declivity, with small streams of water, through wet marshy ground at the foot, and an extensive prairie flat beyond on the north and east sides ; and on the west was a valley, with a brook running through the centre, bordered by considerable marshy ground. The last-named brook was very soon utilized for milling purposes ; on the south there was a very extended sandy flat terminating in the narrow neck encompassed by the stockade.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
In the illustration, the outside lines represent the stockade ; Fig. 1, the fortified part, including guard-house and barracks ; 2, the block-house ; 3, the gates to the fortified part, and 4, the outside gates. The average length of the area included in the stockade was about thirteen hundred feet and the width about twelve hun- dred feet.
Shortly after the Dutch had begun their stockade they saw a band of Indians approaching and at first apprehended trouble, but soon found that the mission was friendly. They had come to give the land on which the village was commenced as a present to " the grand sachem" of the Hollanders, "to grease his feet, as he had taken so long and painful a journey to visit them."
Stuyvesant then, after the completion of the work, and leaving a detail of twenty-four soldiers as a guard, left on the 24th of June for his headquarters at New Amsterdam.
Peace with the Indians promised to be of very short continu- ance. Distrust appeared to exist on both sides. On the 15th of October, 1658, Director Stuyvesant had a conference with several sachems or chiefs of the savages. After the sachem had affirmed their authority to enter into a binding agreement, the affronts and injuries which they had done to the Esopus Christians were re- hearsed to them as follows :
"They or their tribe had killed two horses of the Widow Hul- ter."
"That about a year or eighteen months ago they had wounded with a hatchet one Jacob Adriaensen on the head, while in his own house, in consequence of which he is still blind of one eye, and they had also mortally wounded his little child."
" That since the Spring they had burned his house and plun- dered his goods, also killed a dutchman on one of the Sloops."
"That they had stolen and taken with them from the aforesaid burned house some duffels and shirts of Adriaen Van der Sluys."
" That they had compelled the farmers to plough their land for corn and had threatened Cornelis Barentsen Slecht to burn his house, in case he should refuse, taking a firebrand for that purpose and running up under the roof to fire the barn.
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" That they had extorted at different times new payments from the Dutch, who had bought land from them and paid for it accord- ing to the bill of sale, and had inflicted many more threats, affronts and damages upon our nation, which have been the cause that the People have been obliged to pull down their houses and move close together, and that the Director General has been forced to close this place by palisades, with great labor and expenses and to send here and keep so many soldiers.
"That they have killed again, contrary to their promise, a
.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
horse and several hogs belonging to Jacob Jansen Stoll for all which losses caused by them proper satisfaction is demanded."
The Indians made professions of friendship and a desire to make satisfaction. But the director-general, after waiting until the 18th, the Indians not returning on that day, as promised, became satisfied that they had no intention of giving satisfaction. He therefore returned to New Amsterdam on the 19th of October, 1658. leaving instructions with Ensign Dirck Smit that he should join to the old garrison twenty-five men from the military brought up, so that they should number fifty men, and he to have the su- preme command. With the assistance of the inhabitants he was immediately to make the enclosed place secure, and mount a proper guard at the two gates and the guard-house, in daytime as well as at night, and not allow any savage to pass through except upon permission of Jacob Jansen Stoll and Thomas Chambers. Until further order he was not to act hostilely against the savages unless they began first and harmed the Christians. Then, with the advice of said Stoll and Chambers, and assistance of the inhabitants, he was to act defensively, and apprehend, resist, and pursue the sav- ages as occasion might require.
On the 29th of October, 1658, Messrs. Stoll, Chambers, and Smit reported to the director-general, by letter, that the savages on the previous day had released the large tract of land as demanded, and expected some presents in return.
Mutual distrust continued to exist between the whites and the Indians. The Dutch suspected that the savages intended to attack and slaughter them when opportunity offered, while the savages had no confidence in the sincerity of the director-general, he hav- ing avoided or neglected to send them the promised presents as a guarantee of peace. As usual with the savage, the withholding of the presents was an evidence of want of sincerity. For that reason they apprehended that it was his intention to surprise and destroy them. In this critical condition, ready to blaze at the touch of the slightest spark, they lingered along through the winter and sum- mer of 1659 and until the fall, when a dastardly outrage on the part of the whites, entirely unprovoked and uncalled for, and with- out excuse, set the warwhoop resounding throughout the coun- try, accompanied with all the horrors of savage warfare.
A few Indians-some eight in number-were employed by Thomas Chambers, who lived on his farm and had not removed into the village, to husk his corn, at which they were engaged until late in the evening.
During the evening they asked for brandy. When they had finished their work he gave them a large jug of it. They went to a brook near by and had their frolic. As the liquor operated the
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
noise and yelling and drunken orgies increased. It became so great that the commandant of the guard ordered a squad of his men to march out of one of the gates and return by the other, so as to see what the turmoil was, but not to commit any violence. He did so, and reported that it was a few Indians on a drunken spree.
That was enough to set some indiscreet hotheads in motion, of whom there is always a supply to curse any community ; and Jacob Jansen Stoll called on several people to follow him and attack the Indians. Accordingly, against the orders of Ensign Smit, he left with Jacob Jansen Van Stoutenbergh, Gysbert Phillipse Van Velthuysen, Thomas Higgins, Evert Pels, Jan Arentsen, Barent Harmensen, Martin Hoffman, and Abel Derekson, and attacked the savages as they lay huddled together in drunken stupor, firing . a volley of musketry among them, killing some and wounding others. It is said the unfortunate wretches immediately jumped up : one was knocked on the head with an axe ; a second was taken prisoner ; a third fled ; a fourth, while lying intoxicated, was cut on the head with a cutlass, which aroused him from his stupor, and he made off. The Dutch thereupon returned to the fort with great speed, after that most valiant exploit, murdering Indians stupidly drunk.
Ensign Smit, perceiving that he could not control the action of the settlers, determined at once to return with his command to New Amsterdam, and leave the settlers to the consequences of their acts. He therefore announced his intention to leave the next day, and made preparations accordingly.
The people became wild with excitement, and made earnest op- position. They did not know what to do in the predicament in which they were placed. Smit would not yield, and insisted upon going. Finding they could do nothing by persuasion, Stoll and Chambers quietly got possession of all the boats in the neighbor- hood, so that Smit was thus deprived of the only means he had of transportation. In this emergency, securing one canoe, he sent Christopher Davis to the governor with information of the situa- tion of affairs. He was escorted to the river by eight soldiers and about a dozen citizens, under the command of Sergeant Laurent- son. This was on the 25th of September, 1659, about four days after the massacre. When this party was returning from the river, it fell into an ambuscade near where the City Hall is now situated. The sergeant and thirteen men at once surrendered, seeing, with the . opposing numbers, the folly of resistance. The others fled, and reached the gate in safety.
War to the knife was now fully inaugurated. The Indians, to the number of five hundred and upward, surrounded the place, and kept up a constant skirmish. Throwing firebrands, they set fire to
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
the house of Jacob Sebers, which, with many barns, stacks, and barracks were burned. They attempted to take the place by storm, and for that parpose made a most desperate assault, but without success. The stockade formed such an effective protection that only one man inside of the enclosure was killed. Not succeeding in capturing the place, they then proceeded to kill all the domestic animals they could find. The siege was thus kept up uninterrupt- edly for three weeks. Failing in their main object, they then pro- ceeded to wreak their vengeance upon the prisoners.
Jacob Jansen Van Stoutenbergh, Abraham Vosburgh, a son of Cornelis B. Slecht, and several others were forced to run the gauntlet, after which they were tied to stakes ; then cut and beaten in the most cruel manner ; and such as survived the torture were burned alive. There were others of the prisoners who suffered tor- ture and death, but their names are unknown.
Thomas Chambers was exchanged for an Indian captive. One soldier made his escape. Sergeant Laurentson and Peter Hille- brants were ransomed. Pels's son, who was a youth, was adopted into an Indian family. He remained with the tribe, took a wife from among them, had children, and refused to leave his wife. Whether he afterward returned to civilization or not tradition does not inform us.
At this time there was a great deal of sickness prevailing at New Amsterdam and throughout the colonial possessions, which, added to the dread and fear which fell upon the inhabitants, it was impossible for Stuyvesant to procure any volunteers for aid to Esopus. Anticipating that the massacre and war would extend throughout the whole colony, the farmers fled in every direction, abandoning houses, grain, cattle, and, indeed, the nearest inhabited villages on Long Island, seeking shelter where they thought there might be safety.
There were only about half a dozen soldiers all told in Fort Amsterdam, and all sick. Stuyvesant himself was sick. In this plight he used every effort imaginable to procure volunteers ; every effort to that end was a failure. After the most urgent and repeat- ed appeals only from twenty-five to thirty volunteers could be pro- cured. Finally he required the able-bodied men to cast lots, and that those upon whom the lots fell would be required to go, under penalty of forfeiture of fifty guilders.
On the 9th of October, 1659, on Sunday, after the second ser- vice, he was able to set off with about one hundred and sixty men and as many Indians from Long Island. He reached Esopus the next day. On arriving there he learned that the Indians, not hav- ing been able to carry the works by assault or by any other way, had, about three weeks previous, abandoned the siege and gone to
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
their homes. Stuyvesant was unable to pursue them on account of the country being so inundated, and the streams swelled by the heavy rains. He then at once returned to Manhattan.
Before leaving he strengthened the garrison, leaving Smit still in command. It appears, however, that the savages only made their appearance occasionally, to make threats and keep the people watchful. In the mean time, the authorities at Fort Orange had sent two Maquas chiefs, with Misameret, a Mohican sachem, to con- . clude an armistice. In this, after a few days' stay, they were suc- cessful, and at the same time they ransomed two men. The armis- tice was to continue as long as the director should elect.
On the 28th of November, 1659, Stuyvesant again visited the place, hoping to conclude a permanent peace, but the savages were afraid of him and did not meet him. About the middle of the follow- ing month they brought in some turkeys and deer, " to see if we were sincere." Some powder was given in exchange, which had a happy effect. But no confidence was placed in them. It was believed that winter and a scarcity of corn alone retarded hostilities. Tradi- tion and old documents have left but little information how the settlers passed the winter. There is no doubt that they had a very watchful, anxious, and busy time, interspersed with many episodes which would at this day have made interesting and thrilling narra- tives. But the mantle of oblivion has been thrown over it by the lapse of ages, and we must pass on to scenes the records of which have not been thus obliterated.
Late in the winter or early in the spring of 1660 Director Stuy- vesant had a consultation with his council in regard to the affairs of Esopus and their troubles with the Indians, and proposed to make a formal declaration of war. He thought it too humiliating to bear what had passed in Esopus, and he proposed to fight. He said the people of Esopus could produce more grain than all the other settlements. There was, therefore, the greater need for their protection. He did not purpose to declare war immediately, but at once began preparations therefor, and increased the military strength of the colony. And until prepared to strike a decisive blow, he purposed "ruse for ruse, and to lead them away by chicanery."
Van Ruyven, the secretary of the colony, opposed this scheme if it could be avoided, reminding them that the whites were the aggressors, not the Indians, and urging that another effort be made : for peace ; and if war must be made, it should be deferred until fall, when they could destroy the maize, which was always planted in some remote, secret place, to provide food for the winter. The council, however, agreed to declare war, but advised it be deferred until fall.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
After the above determination had been reached, and on the 15th of March, Goetchels, chief of the Wappingers, appeared before the council at Manhattan, and asked for peace in the name of Pegh-Pegh-quanoek, Pemmyrameck, Prenwamack, and Seewe- chammee, sachems of the Esopus Indians. "They were very fear- ful all winter the Dutch would make war. They had the wampum and beaver all ready to make peace. They did not come them- selves, because they were full of fear." Governor Stuyvesant an- swered, they only wanted an " empty peace."
The chief answered it was only the empty heads (Kaele backers) who wanted war ; that all the principal men, especially Kaelkop and Pemmyrameck, begged for peace and wanted to meet at Esopus.
In the mean time, Smit was pursuing the Indians and harassing them wherever they could be found. On the 15th of March he marched into the interior about eight or ten miles, where he dis- covered sixty savages, who fled without offering any resistance. But the Dutch soldiers fired on them, killed three or four, and took twelve prisoners. Returning they destroyed an Indian fort called Wiltmeet, supposed to have been located in Marbletown, and cap- tured considerable maize, beans, and peas, and a number of peltries.
This again struck terror into the savages, and they were afraid to go and meet Stuyvesant, who arrived at Esopus on the 18th to meet them. Stuyvesant, irritated by their failure to meet him, at once determined to declare war. He then sent the plunder and prisoners to Manhattan, ordered the remnants of the tribes to be driven across the Catskill Mountains, and then sailed to Fort Orange. On the 25th of March, 1660, he issued a formal declaration of war against them and their adherents.
By treaties entered into with river tribes south of Esopus, in- cluding the Wappingers, he bound them to remain neutral : thus entirely cutting off the Esopus Indians from any allies or assistance in that quarter.
On the 3d of April two parties of savages appeared on the op- posite side of the Esopus Creek and made derisive gestures. The next day they came again and promised to come on the morrow. Smit, early the next morning, placed forty-three men in ambush about three gun shots from the stockade. Soon about one hundred Indians appeared, but their scouts discovered the snare. The Dutch now began a general attack, and followed them for an hour. They killed three, wounded two, and took one prisoner, with a loss of only three horses.
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