USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 2 > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
The colony now began to assume a regular form. Lands in the vicinity of the forts were purchased of the Mohiccons, Wabingas. Mohawks, &c. the original proprietors of the soil, and granted to the settlers who commenced improvements. The friendship and amity of the natives were sought and studiously cultivated. A re- gular intercourse was kept up at the different posts. The Dutch purchased furs, venison, and other commodities from them, and gave them in exchange knives, hatchets, blankets, beads, &c. The infant colony advanced in wealth and population.
Before, however, we proceed farther, we shall take a cursory view of the country which the Dutch claimed, and of the numerous tribes that possessed it, together with their stations, catastrophes,
287
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
&c. We consider such a course necessary in order to obtain a correct knowledge of the early history of the state.
The Dutch at this time claimed all that part of the continent of .North America which at the present day constitutes the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New-York, Connecticut, and Vermont, together with the middle and western parts of the state of Massachusetts. To this extensive tract, comprising nearly one hundred and twenty thousand square miles, they had given the appellation of New Netherlands, out of a tender regard to their na- tive country. A dense and interminable forest overspread the whole, a few very small spots excepted. Two nations, the Mohe- akanneews and Aganuschioni, possessed this extensive tract., Each nation had a language which its different members spoke and un- derstood .* No affinity subsisted between the languages of these nations. Both nations were divided into tribes or cantons, while these again were subdivided into clans. Among the Moheakan- neews, in some instances, each tribe formed a state or independent community, while in others several were leagued. The confeder- ated tribes of the Lenni Lenape is an instance of the latter kind. The Aganuschionian cantons were united. The former inhabited the coasts of the Atlantic ocean and most of the interior, and were the most numerous as well as most extensively spread. The latter resided inland, and occupied the middle and western parts of the state of New-York, together with the north-western part of the state of Pennsylvania. They were the lords of the whole country, and claimed and exercised savage sway over the former.
* There can be but little or no doubt that all the tribes on the coast, from the shores of Labrador to the confines of North Carolina, spoke the same language, with some modifications or provincial differences. The tribes of New England, the Lenni Lenape, the Shawnese, Nanti- cokes, Powhatans, &c. could all converse together. The Penobscots, Lenni Lenape; (Delawares,) Mohegans, Moheakanncews, &c. can at this day.
All the Huron tribes, of which the Aganuschioni were portions, spoke the same language.
The generic name adopted by the French for all the tribes of New England, was Abenaquis. The Abenaquis, and Lenni Lenape spoke the same language.
$
288
HISTORY OF THE
The Dutch, in the early period of their settlements, had inter- course with some of the tribes belonging to both of these nations. It was with them that they traded. It was with them that they formed alliances. It was from them that they bought lands, and obtained permission to erect forts and trading-houses. It was from ' them that they had leave to plant colonies, make improvements, ' and convert wastes into well cultivated farms.
In noticing the aborigines we shall commence with the Pequods, one of the Moheakanneew tribes, not that they were the first peo- ple of this nation with whom the Dutch had correspondence, but because order seems to require it. ,
The Pequods inhabited the country along the river Thames, in the state of Connecticut, and the contiguous parts. Their princi- pal stations were in the towns of New London, Groton, Stonington, and Waterford. They had seven hundred warriors. The whole number of souls might have been about three thousand five hun- dred.
The Pequods were a warlike race, and were dreaded and de- tested by most of their neighbors. They had fought their way to the coast some ages anterior to the colonization. Several of the tribes adjoining thei had been compelled to do homage. The. New England planters in the year 1637 conquered, dispersed, and nearly annihilated them.
The Nehanticks occupied the country around the mouth of Con- necticut river, and thence up that river a short distance. They were in subjection to the Pequods. An intimacy and friendship, however, subsisted between them, which neither the Dutch nor English could shake. Lyme, on the east side of the river, was their chief residence. The Nehanticks were mostly destroyed in the Pequod war. In numbers they fell short of that people.
The Mohegans lived north of the Pequods and Nehanticks, and owned most of the country on both sides of Connecticut river, northwardly almost to the Massachusetts boundary. They were divided into several tribes or cantons, such as the Mohegans, Po- dunks, Wongungs, &c.
We have intimated, that the Mohegans, Podunks, and some others living in Connecticut, were clans belonging to the Mohiccous,
289
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
one of the confederate tribes of the Lenni Lenape. The Mo- hickanders or River Indians, who resided in villages among the Mohegans, certainly were. These, had prior to the colonization, emigrated from the west side of the Hudson.
The Dutch concluded a treaty with them, and purchased some lands on the west side of the river, where Hartford now stands, on which they built a trading house and fort, in 1623. Subsequently they made improvements. The place they called Good Hope.
The English planters from Plymouth and Massachusetts, arrived in the year 1636, and also settled at Good Hope (now Hartford,) Windsor, Watertown, and Weathersfield. An alliance was also formed between them and the English, which was lasting. They assisted the latter in the war with the Pequods, and afterwards in the Indian war of 1674, 1675, and 1676. Very few of the tribe now remain in the state of Connecticut.
Some of the Mohickanders or River Indians lived in the country of the Moliegans, in the towns of Windsor, Weathersfield, Middle- town, and Hartford.
The Mohickanders were one of the five cantons of the Lenui Lenape. They lived west of the Hudson, in the states of New- York and New Jersey. Those on Connectir it river we may reasonably conclude were emigrants. . The state of the Lenni Lenape before its subversion, extended from the head of Chesa- peake bay on the south, to beyond that river on the north-east. A band of the Mohickanders resided near Stissic mountain, between Hudson and Connecticut rivers. The confederate tribes of the Lenni Lenape very often blended with one another. The Mohic- cons and Mohickanders not unfrequently lived in the same towns. They had the same language, laws, manners, and customs. The incidental distinctions now and then found in books, never existed out of books, and the heads of the compilers.
At the close of the Moheakanneew war in 1676, many of the fugitives fled westwardly, and obtained sanctuary among the Mo- hiccons and Mohickanders, their countrymen. From historical fragments, we find that two hundred crossed the Hudson below Al- bany, at one time, and that eighty halted at a Dutch village (not namned,) on the east side of that river. These fugitives had escaped VOL. 11. 38
2
:
'290
HISTORY OF THE
from a place in Massachusetts, called Ausotunnoog (on Housatonic river, near Stockbridge, in Berkshire county.) The infuriated co- Tonists had pursued them to this place, where they attacked, defeat- ed, and dispersed them. Little is known about the numbers that escaped the vengeance of their inhuman conquerors ; but we may reasonably conclude that these were not all.
' The Nipnets occupied the greater part of the country between Massachusetts bay, and the mountains west of Connecticut river. They were divided into several clans. Their country bounded that of the Mohegans on the south. They engaged in the war with the rest of their countrymen against the colonists, and suffered severely. There are now no remains of the tribe.
The Coos possessed the state of Vermont, and the western part of New Hampshire. They were divided into several bands, who do not appear to have been united. In the years 1674, 1675, and 1676, they took part with the other tribes against the New Eng- land colonies. Afterwards they made frequent incursions into the colonial settlements on Connecticut river, and committed unheard of cruelties. At present, little more remains to them than a name.
The Moheakanneews possessed Berkshire in Massachusetts, and the adjoining pats. of New-York westwardly to the Hudson, Stockbridge was eneir main residence. This people and the colo- nies of New England entered into close bonds of amity and friendship. They had on the north the Coos, on the east the Nipnets, on the south the Mohiccons, and on the west the Mohawks, from whom they were separated by the Hudson. The remnant of this tribe after the revolution, removed into the country of Oneida, in the state of New-York. Recently they have emigrated to Green bay, on the west side of lake Michigan.
When the Dutch arrived at Albany, violent controversies existed between the Moheakanneews and Mohawks, about the alluvial lands on the east side of the IIudson, and some of the islands in the river. To end these controversies, the commander of fort Orange invited the hostile chiefs into the fort, and persuaded them to bury the hatchet.
The Lenni Lenape, on Delawares, as they were called by the English, occupied the country from the head of the Chesapeake
STATE OF NEW-YORK. 291
bay, up to the Kittatinny or Blue mountain, and north-eastwardly to the other side of Connecticut river, comprehending that part of the state of New-York which lies between the Kaatskill mountains and the ocean, the westerly and middle parts of the state of Connecticut, all of the state of New Jersey, that part of the state of Pennsylvania which is watered by the Delaware, and the branches of that river which rise in that state, and the county of New Castle in the state, of Delaware, as far as Duck creek. The countries of the Moheak- anneews and Mohawks were on the north, and those of the Shawa- nese and Susquehannocks on the west : the Nanticockes, Conoys, and Tuteloes, were on the south. On the east they had the ocean, &c.
The Delawares called themselves Lenni Lenape, which we understand means Indian men, or men born in the country. Lenno, in the language of this people, is man.
They also called themselves Woapanachky, which signifies a people living towards the rising sun. This name had applicability to their situation. The sun appeared to rise in the Atlantic ocean, which washed their country on the east, or rather south-east. Be- yond the ocean, they imagined there was no land. To avoid con- fusion, we shall use the word Lenni Lenape. As to the word clan, we intend to avoid it as much as possible; had this been done long ago, we should not be troubled now with the names of thirty or forty tribes, where there were only five.
This nation or confederacy, consisted of five tribes or cantons, to wit : the Mohiccons, the Wabingas or Mohickanders, the Mun- seys, the Unami or Wanami, and the Chihohocki. The latter tribe took the lead.
Manhattans .- This name might be applied with some propriety to a clan of the Mohiccons, but to call the tribe by this name ap- pears to us an absurdity. In detached fragments of history we find the word Mohiccon frequently used, but Manhattan never, except it be in allusion to the island on which the city of New-York stands, and its vicinity. The first Dutch settlers became acquainted with a few families living on this island, and learned that they called it Manhattan. Hence, the name of a tribe was given ; but the early settlers did not intend it : for they never use the word, but in allu- sion to the island and its vicinity. Mohiccon, in aftertimes was
-
.
292
HISTORY OF THE
1
applied to places on Susquehanna river, and in Ohio, where the re- mains of this tribe retired and settled.
The Mohiccons occupied the middle and western parts of the state of Connecticut, the counties of Suffolk, Queens, Kines, Richmond, New-York, Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess, in 'New-York. They were subdivided into several bands, such as the Mohiccons, Manhattans, Manhattae or Manathanes, Quinnipiacks, Naugatucks, Mohegans, Podunks, Wongungs, Mantinicocks, Ni- paquaugs, Sicatugs, Seatolcotts, Shinnacocks, Corchaugs, Montau- ketts, &c. The seven latter. bands possessed .the eastern and middle parts of Long Island. The Naugatucks, Quinnipiacks, &c. lived in Connecticut, the Manhattans on Staten and Manhattan islands, the western parts of Long Island, and the southern parts of Westchester county : the Mohiccons had the residue of West- chester, and the counties of Putnam and Dutchess, and the con- tiguous parts of Connecticut.'3
According to Mr. Wood's Sketch of Long Island, the following clans lived on it, to wit : (beginning on the west,) the Canarses, Rockaways, Merikokes, Marsapeagues, Secatagues, Patchagues, Mantinecocs, Nissaquagues, Sataukets, Corchaugs, Shinecocs, Man- hattans, and Montauks.
The Wabingas or Mohickanders, had their dwellings mostly be- tween the west or main branch of Delaware river, and Hudson's river, and from the Kaatskill mountains southwardly to the Rariton in New Jersey. They occupied the counties of Ulster, Sullivan, Orange, and Rockland, and part of Delaware in this state and the counties of Bergen and Essex, and parts of Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Sussex in New Jersey. They constituted the fol- lowing bands, viz. the Sankikani, Minisinks, Pomptons, Narriticongs, Capibingasses, Gacheos, &c.
The Munseys held the country on the upper parts of Delaware, down to the Lehigh. In this state, they had the greater part of Dela- ware county, and in Pennsylvania, they had the counties of Wayne, Pike, and North Hampton.
The Unami, or Wanami, dwelt south of the Wabingas, and pos- sessed all the residue of New Jersey lying south of the Rariton,
.
STATE OF NEW-YORK. 293
and between the ocean and Delaware river and bay. The Mele- tecunks, Mantaws, Sapoonies, &c. were clans of this tribe.
The Chihohocki were south of the Munseys; and west of Dela- ware river, and of Delaware bay. Their country extended from the Lehigh down to Duck creek, and comprehended the south- eastern part of the state of Pennsylvania, and the adjoining part of the state of Delaware. They formed a number of bands ; namely, the Neshaminies, the Passajonks, the Chihohocki, the Minguas, Conestogas, &c.
The Minguns and Conestogas, two clans belonging to the Chiho- bocki, removed to Wechquetank, a place behind the Blue mountain in Pennsylvania. where they were mostly massacred by the people of Lancaster, in 1763, with vandalic fury, and this during a pro- found peace. In the revolution, the Americans completed the destruction of these clans. Wechquetank is thirty miles north-west by west from Bethlehem.
The Lenni Lenape were conquered by the Aganuschioni, about the time of the colonization.
As the colonists encroached upon them, they retired inland, and seated themselves on the head waters of Delaware and Susque- hanna rivers, rather on the latter. Their stations were mostly in the counties of Delaware, Otsego; Broome, and Tioga in this state. From these parts, or the flat parts of Pennsylvania, a branch mi-
. grated westwardly to Ohio and Muskingum rivers. Since the revolu- tion, those on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, have removed westwardly, and joined their countrymen. Subsequently they have retired still farther west. Many of them have crossed the Missis- sippi.
The Sapoonies who lived at Diahago, and other places on the Susquehanna till after the revolution, were a family of the Unami 1 or Wanami, a tribe of the Lenni Lenape. They removed from New Jersey after the settlement of that country by our people.
The Mohiccons who dwelt on the upper parts of Susquehanna river, and its branches in the county of Otsego, near the lake of that name, emigrated from the east side of Hudson's river, some time after the arrival of the Dutch. They were a portion of the Lenni Lenape, residing east of the latter river.
-
-
1
294
HISTORY OF THE
The Nanticockes, Conoys, and Tuteloes, who inhabited in alme same' parts with the Lenni Lenape, originally lived between Dela- ware and Chesapeake bays, in the states of Maryland and Del- ware. They bordered on the Chihohocki, one of the Lenta Lenapian tribes. The Conoys and Tuteloes were probably cantous of the Nanticockes. . After the Aganuschioni had penetrated to Chesapeake bay, and vanquished the Shawanese and Susquehan- nocks, an alliance was formed with them and the Nanticockes, Conoys and Tutelces.
The latter have gone westwardly with the Lenni Lenape.
The Susquehannocks lived on the lower part of Susquehanna river, and on the west side of Chesapeake bay. They do not exist any longer as a tribe.
They probably blended with the Shawanese, a neighboring and kindred tribe. They may have been only a canton.
The Shawanese were north of the Susquehannocks, and west of the Lenni Lenape. They dwelt along Susquehanna river, and westwardly as far as the Alleghany mountain. The Shawanese had a close alliance with the Lenni Lenape. They were con- quered by the Agoncaseah. The Shawanese have retired west- wardly as our people have intruded upon them. They now live in the states of Ohio and Missouri.
The original seat of the Shawanese was in Pennsylvania, west of Susquehanna river. Subsequent to the colonization, they removed westwardly to the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers : since then, to the Scioto, &c. and laterly more west, some have even passed the Mississippi. In Ohio, they lived on Muskingum, Scioto, Sandusky, Miami, and other rivers. 'The Shawanese, Delawares, Miamies, Mingos, and Aganuschioni, often lived in the same villages. The Erigas, a Huron tribe, occupied much of Ohio before their dispersion by the Aganuschioni.
The Agoneaseah consisted of five tribes or cantons. They were called by the English the Five Nations, and by the French, Iroquois. These tribes were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Although divided into five independent comunities or republics, yet they were confederated, and formed only a single state. They possessed all the country from the
295
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
Hudson and head of lake Champlain, on the east, westwardly to Niagara river and lake Erie. Their country was bounded on the north by lake Ontario, and the country of the Adirondacks, or .- Algonquins, on the east by that of the Coos and Moheakanneews, on the south by that of the. Lenni Lenape and Shawanese, and on the west by that of the Hurons, from which it was separated by Niagara river, and lake Erie. On the south-west it touched upon the Erigas. It comprehended about thirty thousand square miles, and was mostly in this state.
The Aganuschioni sometimes styled their confederacy Kenunc- tioni. Douglass estimates the extent of their empire at one thou- sand two hundred miles from north to south, and seven or eight hundred from east to west.
The Mohawks dwelt in the cast, on the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, and their waters. Their country was about one hundred and ten miles in length from east to west, and about one hundred and twenty-five in breadth from north to south. Ticonderoga on the north, and Catskill creek on the south, were deemed boundaries. The Adirondacks were northwardly, and the Wabingas southwardly. It embraced nearly all of the counties of Greene, Albany, Schoharie, Schenectady, Saratoga, Warren, Hamilton, Montgomery, Otsego, and Herkimer, and parts of Oneida and Washington.
The Mohawks were divided into the following clans, namely : the Schaunactadas along the Hudson, at Albany and southwardly ; the Saratogas at Stillwater, Saratoga, &c., on the same river; the Connestigunes on the Mohawk, below Schenectady ; the Ohno- walagantles at Schenectady, Rotterdam, and Glenville ; the Chuchtononedas along the same river, westwardly almost to Scho- harie creek ; the Icanderagoes on the Mohawk, at, and around the mouth of Scholarie ; the Caughnewagas, at, and about Caugh- newaga; (the Caughnewagas emigrated to Canada anterior to 1690, for some of them were with the French in the winter of 1690, when Schenectady was burnt. They reside mostly at St. Regis, on the confines of this state. Their village contains eighty or one hundred houses. They have thirty thousand acres of land, which is partly in Lower Canada, and partly in this state.) The Oswe- gatchies, lived about Anthony's Nose on the same river; the
296
HISTORY OF THE
Canajoharies at Canajoharie and Palatine ; the Osquakes 2: Fort Plain, and on Osquake creek ; the Nowadagas, at, and around · the mouth of East Canada creek, and tlience westwardly along the river to Fall Hill ; the Kowogoconughariegugharies at Germanifa's and about the mouth of West Canada creek, and the Schoharies on Schoharie creek.
Icanderago at the mouth of Schoharie creek, was the capitol or chief station of the tribe, when the Dutch first became acquainted with the Mohawks, and continued to be such, for one hundred years or upwards, afterwards. Con-nughi-ha-rie-gugh-ha-rie had been originally. It stood where Schenectady stands.Here the Mo- hawks had a large town, which could send out eight hundred war- riors, if tradition is true. Why they in a measure abandoned it, · and removed up to Icanderago, we have never been able to learn. Might it not have been on account of the hunting grounds? The flats at Icanderago were extensive, rich, and beautiful. They were surrounded by forests which abounded more with game.
In 1666, the French burnt this town, and all the villages in the neighboring parts.
The Mohawks, it is alleged, had two thousand warriors about the year 1629. "
In 16S8, twelve or fifteen hundred of the Aganuschioni made at incursion into Canada, crossed the St. Lawrence, surprised the town of Montreal, and murdered many of the inhabitauts. This marauding band belonged mostly to the Mohawk canton, and it is likely, that not over one-half of the able bodied men were engaged in it. We mention this expedition merely to show, that the numbers of the Mohawks have not been greatly overated. Even at this period they were considerably reduced. Many had perished in the long, and almost uninterrupted wars between them and the Adiron- dacks, Hurons, and French.
. Towards the close of the seventeenth, and in the early part of the eighteenth century, the Caughnewagas, Oswegatchies and others, emigrated to Canada, and seated themselves on, or near the banks of the St. Lawrence. These emigrations comprised half or more of the Mohawk canton. From this time they declined very fast. Between 1730, and 1750, Nowadaga in the town of Danube, in
1
297
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
the county of Herkimer, became their main residence. The settle- ment extended three or four miles along the river, and consisted of several villages, or rather collections of huts erected at short inter- vals, without order, and according to the convenience or caprice of the occupants. Five hundred warriors could sally out of these villages in 1754. Bands belonging to this tribe resided at Scho- harie, Fort Hunter, and Germanflats till the revolution, or a few years before. There are some persons now living, who remember the. time, when the numbers were considerable, at Schoharie and Germanflats. In the valley of Schoharie, there were several vil- lages and hamlets.
The Mohawks continued to reside here till 1776, when they broke up their quarters and removed in a body to Upper Canada. They now live on the bay of Quinty, and on Grand or Ouse river. :
Kowogoconughariegugharie, at present Germanflats & Herkimer, was abandoned some time before Nowadaga. It contained several villages. The largest was on the south side of the Mohawk, near- ly opposite the village of Herkimer. Its site is still discernable from the number of holes which they dug to bury their corn in dur- ing winter. It extended a mile or more, as these excavations would indicate.
The Mohawks were considered the oldest tribe, and were ac- knowledged by the others to be at the head of the confederacy. They were a terror to the Mohcakanneews and others. Prior, and subsequent to the arrival of the Dutch, they made annual ex- cursions northwardly to the St. Lawrence, eastwardly to Connecti- cut river, and southwardly to the ocean and the Potomac. Dr. Mather, who wrote towards the end of the seventeenth century, calls them men-eaters. We have quoted this to show what dread they inspired the conquerors of the Moheakanneews with. The story of their eating human beings is undoubtedly a fiction; but in New England it was once believed as a reality.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.