USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 2 > Part 26
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The Dutch made treaties with them, purchased lands of them, and traded with them. In after times the English, their successors, did the same. The Mohawk was a friend both to the Dutchman and Englishman. Corlear was a name sacred to him. All the
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English governors in their treaties and compacts styled themselves Corlear .* 1
- The Oneidas adjoined the Moliawks on the west. They cach on the banks of Oneida, Oriskinny, Sauquait, Cowassalon, Canaxar- aga, and Chitteningo creeks, around the head of Oneida lake, on Fish creek, and on Chenango river. The Oneida castle, or Keb- nowolohale, or Cahnowellahella, as it is called by the Oneidas, was then, as it is now, their chief town. It is about twenty miles west- wardly of Utica. Here the main body of the tribe had their per- manent residence. Here all the internal concerns of the tribe were adjusted. The settlement was five or six miles in extent, and pro- perly speaking consisted of several small villages and some ham- lets. They had then, as they have now, a small grove of butter- nuts standing in an open space, in which they assembled to transact all their public business. This grove is situated on the south side of the great road leading from Utica to Buffalo, and conveys to us at this day a lively picture of patriarchal simplicity. In the early periods of the histories of the Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Greeks, we find that justice was administered under trees. Like the Mo- hawks the Oneidas formed several clans.
The Oneidas, in common with the other Aganuschionian tribes, suffered severely in the contests carried on against the Adirondacks and French. Like the others they for some time rejected every overture to an accommodation, and it was not before they had . smarted under invasion that they would listen to peace.
After the peace the French sent missionaries to reside among them. . These induced a part of the tribe to emigrate to Canada. ;
The country of the Oneidas was ninety or one hundred miles in length from south to north, and about thirty in breadth from east to west. . The Mohawks country bounded them eastwardly, and that
* Corlear is the name of a Dutchman that resided in Schenectady about the time of the surrender in 1664. He was highly respected and beloved by the Mohawks. In the autumn of 1665 M. Courcelles sent out a party from Canada against them, who were well nigh perishing with cold, when they fell in with Schenectady. These the Mohawks would have murdered had not Corlear interposed. He was afterwards drowned in lake Champlain, while on his way to Montreal.
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of the Onondagas westwardly. It contains the county of Madison, and parts of Oneida, Oswego, Onondaga, and Chenango. Its fo- rests had abundance of ganie.
The lands watered by the Sauquait and Oriskinny, were consi- dered within the bounds of the Mohawk canton. In describing the Agoneasean cantons, the reader must not expect to find that degree of accuracy which marks the descriptions of our counties. We have aimed at the truth as much as possible, which is all we could do. The affairs of this people have been strangely neglected. Anterior to the war of the revolution some of the Oneidas lived in hamlets among the Mohawks.
The Onondagas lived west of the Oneidas, at Onondaga Hollow, on Onondaga creek, on Seneca and Oswego rivers, on Otisco inlet, on Onondaga river, Owasco inlet, &c. They formed several clans. The main body resided at the hollow at a place called the Castle, three miles south of the great road leading from Utica to Buffalo. This was not only the capitol of the canton,. but of the Agoneasean state. Here the chiefs of the confederated cantons used to con- vene in a grand or national council, in order to deliberate upon the internal and external affairs of the nation. , Here peace was made and war resolved upon. Originally the canton of Onondaga con- tained upwards of four thousand souls, and could send out eight or. nine hundred warriors. It ranked next after the Mohawk and Seneca cantons. . Their wars with the French and Adirondacks impaired their numbers. The emigrations to Canada and else- where had the same tendency. In 1683 the French under De Barre invaded their country, and compelled them, together with the Oneidas and Cayugas, to conclude a separate peace. The . Onondagas, in common with the other members of the Agoneasean nation, waged war for a long time with the French and Adiron- dacks, or Algonquins. They maintained amity with the Dutch, and afterwards with the English till the end of our revolution.
The Castle at present contains about fifty houses, on a street nearly one mile in length, and about two hundred inhabitants.
The Onondagas are reduced to about six hundred souls. They now live at Onondaga, on Buffalo creek, at Tunessassah on Alleg- hany river, and on Grand river, in Upper Canada:
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Their country formerly comprised the counties of Onondaga and Courtland, parts of Tompkins, Cayuga, Oswego, Madison, and Chenango. It was bounded on the east by the country of the Oneidas, on the north by lake Ontario, and on the west by the ter- ritory of the Cayugas. Its extent from north to south might have been ninety miles, and from east to west from thirty to forty.
The Cayugas possessed the country between the Onondagas and Senecas. It was laved on the north by lake Ontario, and stretch- ed southwardly about ninety miles. It contained all of the county of Seneca, the easterly half of the county of Wayne, and the west- erly parts of Cayuga and Tompkins. Their main stations were on the east and west sides of Cayuga lake, a little south of the outlet. Canoga, their chief town, was on the east side of the lake. Here they had a castle. The reservation is confined to the towns of Brutus, Aurelius, Scipio, Romulus, and Fayette.
The Cayugas cultivated the friendship of the English for a long time. They, with the other members of the confederacy, waged war against the French and Adirondacks, or Algonquins, for many years. 1
In 1779, according to Dodge, they had two hundred and twenty fighting men. The remains of the Cayugas now live on the reser- vation on Buffalo creek, on Alleghany river at Tunessasah, and on Grand river, in Upper Canada. Logan, the Mingo chief, was de- scended from an emigrant of this tribe.
The Senecas possessed the whole country west of the Cayugas. It was bounded on the north by lake Ontario, on the east by the country of the Cayugas, on the south by some portion of Pennsyl- vania, and on the west by lake Erie and Niagara river. The north- westerly counties of the latter state, on Alleghany river and on lake Erie, were included in it. In this state it comprehended the coun- ties of Monroe, Orleans, Niagara, Erie, Chatauque, Cattaraugus, Genesee, Alleghany, Livingston, Steuben, Yates, Ontario, and part -of Wayne.
The Senecas, after the Mohawks, were the oldest tribe, and held the second rank ; the tribe was divided into several clans, or small cominunities. . The chief seat of the Senecas was along Genesce river. Here they had a number of villages and towns.
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The Senecas were engaged for a seres of years in war with the French and Adirondacks. The French invaded their country se- veral times, and laid waste some of the: villages and towns. At last a peace and alliance was made. In the war for the conquest of Canada they sided at first with the French, but as their affairs de- clined they went over to the English. During the revolution they joined the latter nation, and made frequen and destructive inroads upon our frontier inhabitants, till the army of Sullivan invaded and devastated their settlements on Genesee ant other rivers.
Their settlements at this time are mainl: on Tonnawanta, Buf- falo, and Cattaraugus creeks, and Alleghanyriver. The tribe does not now number over two thousand souls. They have disposed of nearly all of their lands.
The Aughquagahs, on Susquehanna river were a war colony. The Aughquagalis were mostly from the Seneca canton, and the Mingoes from the Cayuga. The Mingoes or Olio river were also' a war colony. The Cohunnewagoes, at Sandusky, in Ohio, were likewise a war colony. These were probably sent out about the time of the colonization, and a little afterward :. The Monacans, or Tuscaroras, were originally, it is supposed, a branch of the Hu- ron nation. The Agoneaseah received and adopted them in 1712 under this supposition. They lived in Virginia and North Caroli- na, and consisted of five tribes. About the year 1607 they had fifteen hundred bowmen. An alliance subsisted between them and the Agoneaseah before the settlement of this state. After the adop- tion they constituted the sixth or youngest . tribe. They settled among the Oneidas and Onondagas. At present they live on Tus- carora creek, in Niagara county, about three miles east of Lewis- town, and on Grand river, in Upper Canada.
The Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, had one common origin, and formed one federate republic. Accord- ing to some the union had subsisted time immemorial. The Onei- das and Cayugas were called younger brothers, and the Mohawks and Senecas elder brothers. According to tradition the Ago- neaseah came from the parts near Montreal, in Lower Canada, be- ing driven away by the Adirondacks. £ The compact which they had formed and maintained gave them an ascendancy over all their
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neighbors, and many distan tribes. The Adirondacks, although they had forced them out o' Canada, were in the end subdued by them ; the Hurons and the Erigas were also subdued ; the Lenni Lenape, the Moheakannecvs, the Shawnese, Susquehannocks, Mi- amies, Illinois, and others had to submit. The latter nations, ex- cept the Illinois, submitter about the time the Dutch arrived in this state, or soon thereafter. The Agoneascah had, as early as 1607, fought their way down Hudson's river to the ocean, and the Sus- quehanna to the head o Chesapeake bay. The Lenni Lenape had resisted them for a long time, but having lost many of their warriors they had to make an absolute submission. The confede- rate state of the Lenni Lenape was the most powerful on the coast of the ocean. It comprised about thirty thousand square miles, and, as we have remaked, consisted like that of the Agoneaseah of five tribes, who all spoxe the same language. The Lenni Lenape, in their manners, laws customs, habits and mode of living, differed in no essential respecs from the Agoneaseah.
Having given a sketch of the New Netherlands, as claimed by the Dutch in the yea: 1629, and of the tribes that occupied it, we shall resume the history of the state, and narrate such facts as we have been able to collect. Scanty as these are, they are not with- out interest. Every thing which appertains to the foundation and progress of a great state possesses an intrinsic value. The humble founders of this state consisted of a small number of adventurers led hither in pursuit of gain. They did not imagine that they were laying the foundation of a great, populous, opulent, and commercial state. They had no conceptions of what was wrapped up in the archives of futurity. Yes, the humble settlers of New Amsterdam, when they erected a small fort and trading-house where New-York now stands, had no idea that they were laying the corner stones of a great city, the emporium of the United States. In a word, they had no ideas of a great commercial city, of an extensive, populous. and opulent state, of roads, bridges, and canals, then in embryo. But this ought not to appear strange to us. These ideas are recent. They have originated during the last fifty years. The emigrants from New England, " the cradle of our independence and sove- reignty," have given a new impulse and direction to our affairs.
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They have increased our population, augmented our wealth, intro- duced new manners and new customs, 'and, in fine, have changed the order of things. To this people we are indebted for many of our ideas, and most of our improvements. This is the people that has in a measure elevated the state of New-York. accelerated its growth, and given to it that elevated station which it now holds. Its forests, the former abodes of savages and wild beasts, have in part been purchased, occupied, and cleared by this people. Hun- dreds of towns and villages have risen. An active, enterprising, and industrious population, has been introduced as if by magic. Every thing has the appearance of being supernatural. Forests prostrated ; roads opened ; bridges made ; canals constructed ; coun- ties erected ; towns and cities founded ; a numerous population in- troduced, and all the work of less time than the common age of man. How we are struck with transformations so sudden, so great. Pos- terity will scarcely credit them.
But to resume the subject. In the year 1628 the company erected a small fort at the mouth of Connecticut river. The Dutch called this river Varsche Rivier, that is, Fresh water river, A small settlement was formed in the vicinity of the fort, and some improve- ments were made. The Dutch ascended Connecticut river above one hundred miles, examined the country, and opened an inter- course with the natives. The ascending, exploring, and forming commercial correspondence, had been commenced before 1623. From the latter period the Dutch kept stations along the river, and maintained an intercourse with the inhabitants.
In 1627 a colony of Swedes and Fins landed at Cape Henlopen, and made a settlement on both sides of Delaware bry and river, in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The abo- rigines called Delaware bay, Poutaxett, and Henlopen, Inlopen.
The Dutch had built three small forts prior to the arrival of the Swedes, and made some settlements, but the natives broke them up.
Wilhelm Useling, a merchant, set on foot a company, styled the West India Company, and obtained letters patent from Gustavus Adolphus, on the 26th of July, 1626, for making establishments in these parts. Measures were forthiwith adopted to carry it into ef- fect. John Prince was the first Swedish governor. His successor
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was John Papegoia. Jobin Claudy Rysing succeeded him. He was the last governor of the Swedes .- See account of New Swede- land, in the New-York historical collection, vol. 4.
In 1630 the Swedes built a fort at Lewistown, which they called Hoarkill, six or seven miles west of Cape Henlopen.
lo 1631 they built another fort near Wilmington, called for: Christina, (Hopokahacking) .. Here they laid out a small town.
Wilmington is on Brandywine creek, five or six miles from New Castle.
The Dutch in 1632, according. to the author of the New Nether- lands, printed at Amsterdam in the year 1651, purchased the lands on both sides of Connecticut river from the natives. The contract and purchase were made by oue Jacob Van Curlis, then in the em- ployment of the States' General, and the West India Company, on the eighth of January, 1632. This purchase embraced the lands on the collaterals, as well as the principal stream. The Indigines knew nothing about conveyances in those times. It was not unfre- quent for them to sell the very lands on which they lived. The conveyances which they signed they neither knew nor understood.
In the year 1635 Mr. Fenwick, an agent of Lord Say and Lord Brook, built a small fort at the mouth of Connecticut river which he called Saybrook, in honor of his patrons, and began a settlement or plantation around it. This fort was in the vicinity of the Dutch fort, trading-louse, and settlement.
In 1635, o: according to other accounts, in the month of Octo- ber, 1633, a Mr. William Holmes, from the colony of Plymouth, in the state of Massachusetts, erected a trading-house on Connecti- cut river, at Windsor, eight or ten miles north of the city of Hart- ford.
Cotton Mather says, " the fame of the rich lands along Con- uecticut river, had reached the ears of the inhabitants of the infant colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts, and had excited high expectations among them."
The house built by Mr. Holmes, in 1633, was a store house, designed for traffic with the natives. At first, the Dutch and Eng- lish traders entered, and ascended the same rivers, and trafficked - with the natives, as best suited their convenience and interest.
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The individuals of both nations, engaged in the traffic with the natives, soon quarrelled. Those of each nation, claimed the coun- try under grants, from their respective sovereigns.
The Dutch, on the 25th of October, in the same year, made a formal protest, by which they required that Holmes should depart from the river : but he paid no attention to the protest.
In 1636, Hartford, Windsor, and Weathersfield, in the state of Connecticut, and Springfield in the state of Massachusetts, were settled by colonies from Massachusetts bay. They appear to have been led to this on account of the richness of the lands:
Cotton Mather says, " the faine of Connecticut river, and the rich lands along its banks, excited high expectations among some of the first settlers of Massachusetts bay. Accordingly, many of the planters belonging especially to the towns of Cambridge, Dorches- ter, Watertown, and Roxbury, took up resolution to travel one hun- dred miles westwardly from those towns, for a further settlement upon the lands bordering this famous river."
The favorable accounts of these lands were derived from Holmes, and others in his employ. It was in the year 1635, and probably the same year in which he erected a storehouse at Wind- sor, that this design was first formed.
The chief promoter, and the person who gave the most live and vigor to this enterprise, was the Rev. Thomas Hooker of Cam- bridge, who afterwards prevailed upon most of his congregation to accompany him. Previous, however, to their removal, they sent several persons to explore the country. These soon returned with very flattering accounts, of the richness and beauty of the lands.
In the month of June 1636, the planters who had engaged to emigrate, removed thitlier.
Those from Cambridge, settled on the spot of ground where the city of Hartford now stands, and in the immediate vicinity of the Dutch fort, trading house, and village of Good Hope. Those from Dorchester, settled at Windsor, eight or ten miles north of Good Hope, or Hartford. Those from Watertown, settled at Weathers- field, about eight miles south of Hartford, or Good Hope. And those from Roxbury, settled at Sprignfield in Massachusetts, about twenty-four miles north of Good Hope.
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Dr. Mather, in his Magnalia says, " In the month of June 1636, Mr. Hooker set out for the delightful banks of Connecticut river, with about one hundred persons. They were nearly two weeks on their journey, and travelled about ten miles a day. They had no covering but the canopy of heaven."
At that time, the whole space between Massachusetts bay, and Connecticut river, was one wide forest, overspread with trees. No · road lay across it, to mark out the course for these pilgrims ; no cultivated fields ; no smiling crops ; no villages ; no places of en- tertainment intervened to relieve the eye, cheer the mind, or ad- minister to their wants. The whole was a trackless waste: on every side, the prospect was bounded by close woods, which were intersected by swamps, marshes, and streams. But the planters were not at all detered by so many obstacles ; but cheerfully surmounted them.
There were now two Dutch settlements, and five English settle- ments on Connecticut river.
The numbers at Weathersfield, Hartford, Windsor, and Spring- field, were sufficient for a small congregation at each place. The early Dutch, and English colonies, lived in villages enclosed with palisadoes, or large posts set in the ground, side by side, rising ten or twelve feet, and sharpened at the tops. One or more gates were to these enclosures. Sometimes ditches were drawn around them. la the interior, one or more block houses were erected, as places of resort for the old men, the women, and children, in cases of at- tacks from the natives. In these houses, the armour and magazines were kept. Some were on duty by night and by day. The lands around the villages were cultivated in common, and owned in com- mon. The produce of the earth was gathered in common, and stored in common, from whence it was dealt out to the different members of these small communities.
Among the English settlements on the banks of Connecticut river, Hartford seems to have taken the lead, and to have ranked first. Each band of emigrants was accompanied by a clergyman, who settled with them. The clergy had great influence in those infant settlements, and did much towards establishing them upon solid foundations.
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"In the winter after their arrival, a famine ensued; which well nigh proved fatal to them. This was occasioned by the early freezing of Connecticut river, whereby their ship with provisions was detained at its mouth. Divers of thein were hereby obliged in the depth of winter, to travel back to Massachusetts bay, in order to procure subsistence." Cotton Mather.
In 1637, Mrs. Davenport, and Eaton, removed from Massa- chusetts bay, with a considerable body of planters, to a small bay on Long Island Sound, about twenty-six miles west of the mouth of ' Connecticut river, and founded a town, which they called New Haven. The bay, and its vicinity, was called by the natives Quin- nipiack. A clan of Indians called Quinnipiacks, dwelt around the bay, and in the adjacent parts. The first settlers of New Haven, being joined shortly afterwards by more of their countrymen, found- ed the towns of Guilford, Milford, Stamford, and Brainford.
Stamford is about thirty-five miles west-south- west of New Haven. The other towns are in its. neighborhood."
The planters at each settlement had a minister ; from this cir- cumstance, we conclude that tlie numbers must have been con- siderable.
We have already mentioned, that a colony of Swedes and Fins, landed in the year 1627 at cape Henlopen, and made settlements on both sides of Delaware bay, in the states of New Jersey, Dela- ware, and Pennsylvania. This occasioned new troubles to the Dutch. William Kieft, who had succeeded Wouter Van Twiller, wrote to Peter Minuit,' who appears to have been the Swedish governor in those parts, and informed him, that the Dutch claimed the country around Delaware bay, and along Delaware river. He concluded by protesting against the encroachments made by the Swedes, and threatening to reduce them, unless the inhabitant sub- mitted to the States General of the Netherlands.
During the administration of Wouter Van Twiller, the New Eng- land planters extended their settlements westwardly to Connecticut river. Jacob Van Curlet the commissary, in the name of the States General, and of the governor of the New Netherlands, protested against the encroachments, and claimed the country as belonging to the Dutch. But the English planters paid no attention to his protests.
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CHAPTER XII.
William Kieft, in 1637, succeeds Wouter Van Twiller in the go- vernment of the New Netherlands .- Encroachments of the colo- nists of New England on the Dutch possessions on Connecticut river .- War between the New England colonists and the Pe- quods .- Conquest and dispersion of the Pequods .- Governer Kieft issues a prohibition uguinst the English -Some of the English colonists in 1640 pass over the Sound and form settle- ments on Long Island .- The condition of Long Island .- Of the interfering claims of the English and Dutch .- Settlement of the Island .- The order in which the several towns on the Island were settled :-- Trade .- Character of the English 'settlers .- Of the civil and political condition of the English towns before the surrender in 1664 .- Union of the English towns with Connec- ticut .- Ecclesiastical state of the towns on the island .- The Dutch compel the English to withdraw from the Schuylkill .- Disputes between the Dutch and English planters on Connecti- cut river .- Correspondence between governor Kieft and the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, &c.
In the year 1637 William Kieft succeeded Wouter Van Twiller in the government of the New Netherlands.
The English planters had hardly established themselves on Con- necticut river, before they became embroiled in a war with the Pe- quods, a warlike people who dwelt on the river Thames and its branches. It is in vain to search into the origin of this war. Like most other matters concerning the transactions of the early settlers, it is involved in much obscurity. The only accounts which we have, are found in Hubbard's history of the Indian war, and Mather's Magnalia. These authors saw every thing on one side, and little - or nothing on the other. The Pequods, according to these authors, were the aggressors, while their conquerors acted with perfect rec- titude.
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