USA > New York > The history of the late province of New-York, from its discovery, to the appointment of Governor Colden, in 1762. Vol. I > Part 20
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As in the natural, so in the political world, a violent storm is often immediately succeeded by a peaceful calm; tired by the mutual struggles of party rage, every man now ceased to act under its influence. The governor's good humour too extin- guished the flames of contention, for being unable to plan, he had no particular scheme to pursue ; and thus by confining himself to the exercise of the common acts of government, our public affairs flowed on in a peaceful, uninterrupted stream.
The reader will, for this reason, find none of those events in colonel Montgomerie's short admi- nistration, which only take rise under the superin- tendency of a man of extensive views. Indeed he devoted himself so much to his ease, that he has scarce left us any thing to perpetuate the remem- brance of his time.
The two rocks upon which the public tranquil- lity was shipwrecked in the late administration he carefully avoided ; for he dissolved the assembly, called by his predecessor, before they had ever been convened : and as to the chancery he himself coun- tenanced the clamours against it, by declining to sit ; till enjoined to exercise the office of chancellor by special orders from England. He then obeyed the command, but not without discovering his reluctance, and modestly confessing to the practisers, that he thought himself unqualified for the station.
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Indeed the court of chancery was evidently his aversion, and he never gave a single decree in it, nor more than three orders; and these, both as to matter and form, were first settled by the council concerned.
Mr. Philipse was chosen speaker of the assembly which met on the 23d of July, and continued sitting in perfect harmony till autumn. After his excellency had procured a five years' support, and several other laws to his mind, of less considerable moment, he went up to Albany, and, on the 1st of October, held a treaty with the Six Nations for a renewal of the ancient covenant. He gave them great presents, and engaged them in he defence of Oswego.
Nothing could be more seasonable than this in- terview, for the French, who eyed that important garrison, and our increasing trade there, with the most restless jealousy, prepared early in the spring following to demolish the works. Governor Burnet gave the first intelligence of this design in a letter to Colonel Montgomerie, dated at Boston the 31st of March, 1729. The garrison was thereupon im- mediately reinforced by a detachment from the independent companies ; which, together with the declared resolution of the Indians to protect the fort, induced the French to desist from the intended invasion .*
* From that time to the year 1754, this garrison was guarded only by a lieutenant and five and twenty men. General Shirley's parting from the forces destined against fort Du Quesne, and proceeding with half the army to Oswego in 1755, was extremely fortunate to our colonies; the French being then deter- mined and prepared to possess themselves of that post. Besides the vessels launched there to secure the command of the lake, the general before he returned to winter quarters, erected two strong square forts with bastions, commanding as well the entrance into the Onondaga river as the old fort, in the situation of which little regard was had to any thing besides the pleasantness of the prospect.
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Thus far our Indian affairs appeared to be under a tolerable direction ; but these fair prospects were soon obscured by the king's repealing, on the 11th of December, 1729, all the acts which Mr. Burnet, with so much labour and opposition, procured for the prohibition of an execrable trade between Albany and Montreal. To whose intrigues this event is to be ascribed, cannot be certainly deter- mined ; but that it was pregnant with the worst consequences, time has sufficiently evinced : nothing could more naturally tend to undermine the trade at Oswego, to advance the French commerce at Niagara, to alienate the Indians from their fidelity to Great Britain, and particularly to rivet the defec- tion of the Caghnuagas. For these residing on the south side of St. Lawrence, nearly opposite to Montreal, were employed by the French as their carriers, and thus became interested against us, by motives of the most prevailing nature. One would imagine that after the attention bestowed on this affair in the late administration, the objections against this trading intercourse with Canada must have been obvious to the meanest capacity ; and yet so astonishing has been our conduct, that from the time Mr. Burnet removed to Boston, it has rather been encouraged than restrained. This trade, indeed, was subject to duties ; but that at Oswego always was, and still is, exposed to the same incum- brance ; while the French trade, in the interval between the years 1744 and 1750, was perfectly free : and as the duty, by the law then made, is laid only on goods sold in the city and county of Albany, the trader, to elude the act, is only exposed to the trouble of transporting his merchandise
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beyond the scant district of the city ascertained in the charter. But how much soever our inattention to this matter may deserve censure, I cannot in justice to my countrymen help observing, that from the severest scrutiny I could make, our people are free from the charge of selling ammunition to the French, which has so unjustly exposed the inhabi- tants of Albany to the odium of all the colonies in New-England .*
The year 1731 was distinguished only by the complete settlement of the disputed boundary be- tween this province and the colony of Connecticut ; an event, considering the late colonizing spirit and extensive claims of the people of New-England, of no small importance, and concerning which it may be proper to give a succinct account.
The partition line agreed upon in 1664 being considered as fraudulent or erroneous, a second agreement, suspended only for the king's and the duke's approbation, was concluded on the 23d of November, 1683, between colonel Dongan and his council, and Robert Trent, esq. then governor of Connecticut, and several other commissioners ap- pointed by that colony. The line of partition then agreed to be established, was to begin at the mouth of Byram brook, "where it falleth into the Sound at a point called Lyon's Point, to go as the said river runneth to the place where the common road or wading place over the said river is; and from the said road or wading place to go north north-west into the country, as far as will be eight English
* Ever since the year 1729, the sale of arms and ammunition to the French has been exempt both from duties and a prohibition, which I attribute to the confidence of the government that the calumny is entirely groundless.
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miles from the aforesaid Lyon's Point ; and that a line of twelve miles being measured from the said Lyon's Point, according to the line or general course of the Sound eastward, where the said twelve miles endeth, another line shall be run from the Sound eight miles into the country north north-west; and also, that a fourth line be run (that is to say from the northernmost end of the eight miles line, being the third mentioned line,) which fourth line with the first mentioned line shall be the bounds where they shall fall to run ; and that from the easternmost end of the fourth mentioned line (which is to be twelve miles in length) a line parallel to Hudson's river, in every place twenty miles distant from Hudson's river, shall be the bounds there, between the said territo- ries or province of New-York, and the said colony of Connecticut, so far as Connecticut colony doth extend northwards ; that is to the south line of the Massachusetts colony : only it is provided, that in case the line from Byram brook's mouth, north north- west eight miles, and the line that is then to run twelve miles to the end of the third fore-mentioned line of eight miles, do diminish or take away land within twenty miles of Hudson's river, that then so much as is in land diminished of twenty miles of Hudson's river thereby, shall be added out of Connecticut bounds unto the line afore-mentioned, parallel to Hudson's river and twenty miles distant from it; the addition to be made the whole length of the said parallel line, and in such breadth as will make up quantity for quantity what shall be diminish- ed as aforesaid."
Pursuant to this agreement, some of the lines were
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actually run out, and a report made of the survey, which, on the 24th of February, 1684, was confirmed by the governor of each colony at Milford in Con- necticut. Here the matter rested till a dispute arose concerning the right of jurisdiction over the towns of Rye and Bedford, which occasioned a solicitation at home; and on the 28th of March, 1700, king William was pleased to confirm the agreement made in 1683.
Nineteen years afterwards, a probationary act was passed, empowering the governor to appoint commissioners as well to run the line parallel to Hudson's river as to re-survey the other lines and distinguish the boundary. The Connecticut agent opposed the king's confirmation of this act totis viribus, but it was approved on the 23d of January, 1723. Two years after the commissioners and sur- veyors of both colonies met at Greenwich, and enter- ed first into an agreement relating to the method of performing the work.
The survey was immediately after executed in part, the report being dated on the 12th of May, 1725; but the complete settlement was not made till the 14th of May, 1731, when indentures certify- ing the execution of the agreement in 1725, were mutually signed by the commissioners and surveyors of both colonies. Upon the establishment of this partition, a tract of land lying on the Connecticut side consisting of above sixty thousand acres, from its figure called the Oblong was ceded to New-York, as an equivalent for lands near the Sound surren- dered to Connecticut .*
* See Douglas's late plan of the British dominions of New-England.
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The very day after the surrender made by that colony, a patent passed in London to sir Joseph Eyles and others, intended to convey the whole Oblong. A grant posterior to the other was also regularly made here to Hauley and Company of the greatest part of the same tract, which the British patentees brought a bill in chancery to repeal ; but the defendants filed an answer, containing so many objections against the English patent, that the suit remains still unprosecuted, and the American pro- prietors have ever since held the possession. Mr. Harison of the council, solicited this controversy for sir Joseph Eyles and his partners, which contributed in a great degree to the troubles so remarkable in a succeeding administration.
Governor Montgomerie died on the 1st of July, 1731; and being a man of a kind and humane dis- position, his death was not a little lamented. The chief command then devolved upon Rip Van Dam, esq. he being the oldest counsellor, and an eminent merchant of a fair estate, though distinguished more for the integrity of his heart than his capacity to hold the reins of government : he took the oaths before
MR. ALEXANDER, MR. DE LANCY,* and MR. COURTLANDT.
MR. VAN HORNE,
MR. KENNEDY,
This administration is unfortunately signalized by the memorable encroachment at Crown Point. An enemy despised at first for his weakness generally grows formidable for his activity and craft ; this ob-
* This gentleman being a youth of fine parts, was called up to the council board on the 26th of January, 1729, just after his return from the university. Mr. Morris, jun. was suspended on the same day, for words dropped in a dispute relating to the governor's draughts upon the revenue.
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servation is true, applied to private persons, religious sects, or public states. The French in Canada have always been jealous of the increasing strength of our colonies ; and a motive of fear led them natu- rally to concert a regular system of conduct for their defence : confining us to scant limits along the sea- coast is the grand object they have long had in view; and seizing the important passes from Canada to Louisiana, seducing our Indian allies, engrossing the trade, and fortifying the routes into their country, were all proper expedients towards the execution of their plan. By erecting fort St. Frederick, they secured the absolute command of lake Champlain, through which we must pass if ever a descent be made upon Canada, either to conquer the country, or harass its out-settlements. The garrison was at first situated on the east side of the lake, near the south end ; but was afterwards built upon a commo- dious point on the opposite side : of all their infrac- tions of the treaty of Utrecht none was more palpable than this. The country belonged to the Six Nations, and the very spot upon which the fort stands is included within a patent to Dellius, the Dutch min- ister of Albany, granted under the great seal of this province in 1696; besides, nothing could be more evident than the danger to which it exposed us. Through this lake the French parties made their ancient bloody incursions upon Schenectady, the Mohawks' castles, and Deerfield; and the erection of this fort was apparently adapted to facilitate the inroads of the enemy upon the frontiers of the colo- nies of New-York, Massachusetts Bay, and New- Hampshire ; for it served not only as an asylum to VOL. I .- 37
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fly to after the perpetration of their inhumanities, but for a magazine of provisions and ammunition; and though it was much above one hundred and twenty miles from the very city of Albany, yet by the con- veyance through Sorel river and the lake, it may be reinforced from Montreal in three or four days.
The Massachusetts government foresaw the dan- gerous consequences of the French fort at Crown Point, and governor Belcher gave us the first infor- mation of it in a letter from Boston to Mr. Van Dam. He informed him of the vote of the general court to bear their proportion of the charge of an embassage to Canada to forbid the works, and pressed him to · engage the opposition of the Six Nations. Van Dam laid the letter before his council on the 4th of February, 1732, who with singular calmness advised him to write to the commissioners of Indian affairs at Albany, ordering them to inquire whether the land belonged to the confederates or the River Indians. That Mr. Van Dam ever wrote to the commissioners I have not been able to discover ; nor whether any complaint of the encroachment was sent home, according to the second advice of council on the 11th of February, who, besides the first step, were now pleased to recommend his transmitting governor Belcher's letter and the Boston vote to the several south-western colonies.
The passiveness we discovered on this impudent and dangerous invasion of his majesty's rights, is truly astonishing ; and the more so, as the crown had at that time four independent companies, which had long been posted here for our protection, at the annual expense of about 7500 pounds sterling. A
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very good scheme, in some measure to repair this shameful misconduct, was afterwards projected by settling the lands near lake George with loyal protestant highlanders from Scotland. Captain Laughlin Campbel, encouraged by a proclamation to that purpose, came over in 1737, and ample promises were made to him. He went upon the land, viewed and approved it, and was entreated to settle there even by the Indians, who were taken with his highland dress. Mr. Clarke, the lieutenant- governor, promised him, in a printed advertisement, the grant of 30,000 acres of land, free from all but the charges of the survey and the king's quit rent. Confiding on the faith of the government, captain Campbel went home to Isla, sold his estate, and shortly after transported, at his own expense, eighty-three protestant families, consisting of four hundred and twenty-three adults, besides a great number of children. Private faith and public honour loudly demanded the fair execution of a project so expensive to the undertaker and beneficial to the colony ; but it unfortunately dropped, through the sordid views of some persons in power, who aimed at a share in the intended grant, to which Campbel, who was a man of spirit, would not consent,
Captain Campbel afterwards made an attempt to redress himself, by an application to the assembly here, and then to the board of trade in England. The first proved abortive, and such were the diffi- culties attending the last, that he left his colonists to themselves, and, with the poor remains of his broken fortune, purchased a small farm in this
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province. No man was better qualified than he for the business he had engaged in. He had a high sense of honour and a good understanding ; was active, loyal, and of a military disposition: for, upon the news of the late rebellion in Scotland, he went home, fought under the duke, returned to his family, and soon after died, leaving a widow and several children, who still feel the consequences of his disappointments.
Mr. Van Dam finished his administration on the 1st of August, 1732, when William Cosby, esq. arrived with a commission to govern this and the province of New-Jersey. The history of our public transactions, from this period to the present time, is full of important and entertaining events, which I leave others to relate. A very near relation to the au- thor had so great a concern in the public controversies with colonel Cosby, that the history of those times will be better received from a more disinterested pen. To suppress truth on the one hand, or exag- gerate it on the other, are both inexcusable faults, and perhaps it would be difficult for me to avoid those extremes. Besides, a writer who exposes the conduct of the living, will inevitably meet with their fury and resentment. The prudent historian of his own times will always be a coward, and never give fire till death protects him from the malice and stroke of his enemy.
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
THE HISTORY OF NEW-YORK.
CHAPTER I.
-
A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.
THE province of New-York, at present, contains, Long Island, Staten Island, and the lands on the east side of Hud- son's river, to the bounds of Connecticut. From the division line between that colony and the Massachusetts Bay, north- ward, to the line between us and the French, we claim an extent to Connecticut river .* On the west side of Hudson's
* The grounds of this claim are contained in the following report of a com- mittee of council, to governor Clinton, on the 2d of March, 1753, which was drawn up by Mr. Alexander.
"May it please your Excellency,
" In obedience to your excellency's order in council, of the 3d day of July last, referring to a committee thereof, the petitions of Robert Livingston, jun. esq. and of the owners of a certain tract of land called Westenhook, com- plaining of new claims and encroachments made upon their lands by the inha- bitants of Massachusetts Bay, and also the surveyor-general's and the attorney- general's reports on the said two petitions : the committee having maturely weighed and considered of the same, humbly beg leave to report to your excellency :
" Ist. That they apprehend the claims of Massachusetts Bay to the manor of Livingston, or the said tract of land called Westenhook, cannot be well founded; because they find that the Dutch claimed the colony of New Netherland, as extending from Cape Cod to Cape Cornelius, now called Cape Henlopen, westward of Delaware Bay, along the sea-coast, and as far back into the country as any of the rivers within those limits extend ; and that they were
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river, from the sea, to the latitude of 41º lies New-Jersey. The line of partition between that province and this, from that latitude to the other station on the Delaware, is unset-
actually possessed of Connecticut river, long before any other European people knew any thing of the existence of such a river, and were not only possessed of the mouth of it, where they had a fort and garrison, but discovered the river above a hundred miles up, had their people trading there. and purchased of the natives almost all the lands on both sides of the said river.
"2dly. That governor Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor of the said province, by his letter dated the 2d of September, 1664, new stile, in answer to a letter from governor Richard Nicholls, of the 20-30th August preceding, demanding the surrender of all the forts and places of strength possessed by the Dutch, under his (governor Stuyvesant's) command, writes as follows :- ' Moreover it's with- out dispute, and acknowledged by all the world, that our predecessors, by virtue of the commission and patent of the said lords, the States General, have with- out controul, and peaceably (the contrary never coming to our knowledge) enjoyed Fort Orange about forty-eight or fifty years, and Manhatans about forty-one or forty-two years; the South river forty years, and the Fresh river about thirty six years.' Which last mentioned river, the committee find to be the same that is now called Connecticut river.
" 3dly. That the said Dutch governor Stuyvesant did, in the year 1664, surren- der all the country which the Dutch did then possess to king Charles the second, and that the States General made a cession thereof, by the treaty of Breda, in the year 1667 : that the Dutch reconquered part of this province in 1673, and surrendered and absolutely yielded it to king Charles the second, in 1673-4, by the treaty of London ; and that in the year 1674, king Charles granted to the duke of York all the land between Connecticut river and Delaware Bay; the whole of these lands being part of the former colony of New Netherland.
" 4th. That the duke of York, in his several commissions to major Edmund Andross, on the 1st of July, 1674, and to governor Dongan on the 30th of Sep- tember, 1682, among other descriptions of the boundaries of this province, mentions all the land from the west side of Connecticut river to the east side of Delaware Bay : that their majesties, king William and queen Mary, by their commission, bearing date the 4th day of January, in the first year of their majes- ties' reign, appointed Henry Sloughter to be governor of the province of New- York and territories depending thereon ; the boundaries whereof to Connecticut river, on the east, were notorious by the grant and other commissions aforesaid, and many other grants and commissions relating to the same.
"5th. That the committee apprehend Connecticut river continued the cast bounds of this province until the 28th of March, 1700, when, by king William's confirmation of an agreement between this province and Connecticut, the western bounds of that colony were settled at twenty miles from Hudson's river ; and they cannot find any other alteration in the eastern bounds of this province, and have no reason to believe any other was made before or since that time.
" 6th. That king James the first, by letters patent, bearing date the 3d of November, in the eighteenth year of his reign, granted unto the council of Ply- mouth, from forty to forty-eight degrees of north latitude inclusive, in which
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tled. From thence, wheresoever it may be fixed, we claim all the lands, on the east side of Delaware, to the north line of Pennsylvania ; and all the territory, on both sides of the Mohawks' river, and westward to the isthmus at Niagara : in a word, all the country belonging to the crown of Great
there is a recital to this purpose :- 'Now for as much as the king has been certainly given to understand, by divers good subjects, that have for these many years frequented those coasts and territories, between the degrees of 40° and 48°, that there are no other subjects of any christian king or state, or by any authority from their sovereigns, lords, or princes, actually in possession of any the said lands or precincts, whereby any right, claim, interest, or title, may or ought, by that means, to accrue or belong to them,' &c. And also a proviso in these words :--- 'Provided always, that the said lands, islands, or any of the premises, by the said letters patent intended or meant to be granted, were not then actually pos- sessed or inhabited by any other christian power or state.' Which patent the committee conceive could not vest any thing in the grantees, by reason of the said recital and condition upon which it was granted ; part of the premises being then actually possessed by the Dutch, and most of the said colony of New Netherland being within the bounds thereof.
" 7th. That the council of Plymouth, by their deed dated the 19th of March, in the third year of king Charles the first, granted to Sir Henry Rosswell and others, part of what was supposed to be granted by the said letters patent, which grant from the said council of Plymouth the committee take to be void, as founded upon the said void patent.
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