USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 2 > Part 38
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In the same spring, a considerable party left the East Camp, and went up the river to Albany. Being provided by government with some provisions, and implements of husbandry, they departed from this place for Schoharie. They travelled on foot, carrying their all on their backs, along the Indian path, and reached it in four days. They had no domestic animals. The British government had made suitabel provision for them ; but its agents, after their arrival in the province, defrauded them out of it.
The flats along Schoharie creek were mostly cleared at the time they came there, in May, 1713. Anterior, and subsequently to this, a band of Mohawks, called Schoharies, resided on them in several villages and hamlets, in an extent of twenty miles. They had about three hundred warriors. The Schoharies continued to reside there, till the commencement of the revolution ; but their numbers were constantly on the decline.
A few Mohiccons, and others, from the maritime parts, contigu- ous to the ocean, lived with the Scholaries.
The Germans found most of the flats vacant, (uncultivated,) although cleared. These the Schoharies permitted them to till. They planted corn, and in the course of the summer, erected log-huts at their several stations. Till the corn became fit for roast-
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ing and boiling, their food consisted of vegetables, roots, fish, and game.
The Schoharies were not backward in aiding their new guests in " the chase. They also instructed them in planting and hoeing corn, and roasting, boiling, and pounding it, and baking it into bread.
In the autumn of 1713, one of the emigrants named Lambert Sternberg, planted six quarts of wheat, which yielded him in the ensuing year sixty bushels. This was the first wheat ever grown in Schoharie. It was hoed, which was the occasion of the great produce.
The inhabitants in the infancy of the settlement, were dressed with the skins of wild beasts. The men wore buckskin jackets, vests, breeches, leggins, and moccasins, and caps made of bear skins, fox skins, or the skins of some other animal dressed with the fur on.
The women and children were also clad in similar habliments. The Dutch and other settlers in the Mohawk and Hudson countries, very generally till our own time, wore buckskin breeches; and moc- . casins during winter.
The Germans had no horses, cattle, sheep, or hogs, ploughs, drags, waggons, or sleighs ; they had no roads, but Indian paths; no mills, no houses, but huts constructed of logs or poles and covered with bark. The ground was broken up and stirred with hoes and spades or shovels, and then planted .- Every operation was manual.
Their corn they pounded in wooden mortars. Their wheat they carried on their backs to Schenectady, a distance of nineteen miles, to be ground. 1
Twenty men and women would go in company in single file on the Indian road.
In 1716, or 1717, a man by the name of Fox, erected a grist mill on Fox creek, about a mile and a quarter north of the place where the court house now stands. This was the first mill ever built in Schoharie.
Schoharie it is said contained in 1752, about one hundred and twenty-five families, who dwelt in one hundred and four houses.
For some of the remarks on Schoharie, and as to some of the Indian roads, I am under obligations to a Mr. Brown : a son of one of the first settlers.
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Two-thirds were Germans, and the rest Dutch, from, Norman's Kill and Schenectady.
We have no data on which we can found an estimate of the num- ber of the original settlers. It is certain, however, that several families went to Stone Arabia, in 1723, and from thence to Ger- manflats, in 1724, and that not a few proceeded through the woods · to the Susquehanna river, and descended that stream to Tulpe- hocken in Pennslyvania, where they joined others of their country- men. These emigrations were some years after the settlement, and were occasioned by defects in the titles to their land.
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The French in 1756, after the capture of Oswego, 'overrun Germanflats. In 1757, they laid it waste. It was devastated by the English in the revolution.
The first settlers of Stone Arabia and Germanflats, were, very poor, and surrounded with difficulties. There were no avenues to these places, but the Mohawk and Indian paths. The nearest mill was one twelve miles west of Schenectady, and one at the latter place, and the only conveyance to and from was canoes. Most of the corn and wheat used for some years, was pounded in mortars. The canoes used by the people of Stone Arabia, set out for mill from Palatine, and those of Germanflats, from the foot of Littlefalls. A few years after the settling of Stone Arabia and Germanflats, the Dutch erected mills on the Cayadutta, at Caugh_ nawaga. Traditionary account.
The peace of Utrecht concluded between England and France, on the thirty-first of March, 1713, put an end to the war in Ame- rica, as well as in Europe. The allies of both nations were in- cluded in the peace. Among its provisions, it was stipulated that the subjects of England and France should be at full liberty to trade with the Indians of both. But though these stipulations might bind the subjects of these nations, yet they had no validity on the allies of, either. Neither confessed allegiance to those nations ; they admitted to trade with them whom they pleased. When the Agoneaseah, and others, heard the news of peace, they inclined to repose. An evidence that the belligerents had induced them to enter into war.
The legislature of 1713, was opposed to the governor, and did VOL. 11. 57
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pot grant him the extravagant sums which he demanded. Still, however, as he told them on the opening of the session, that he would pass no bills, without they complied with his wishes, they had to make some allowances to him.
In August, 1714, the house placed a sum of money at the dis- position of his excellency, for the purpose of enabling him to pur- chase goods, trinkets, &c. for the Agoneaseah ; and for disbursing his expenses to, at and from Albany, where he was to make the distribution, and enter into a compact with them.
At the session of 1716, appropriations were made for the re- paration of the fortifications at Albany. Bounties were provided for such as killed wild cats, and foxes, in Kings, Queens, and Suf- folk counties. From this it may be perceived, that these counties had populated but slowly.
A law, in the autumn of 1:17, was made, appointing persons to run the line between this province and New-Jersey.
The legislature, on the twenty-fourth of June, 1719, voted a sum of money to construct a bridge over Kinderhook creek, in the county of Albany. The place located for this bridge, was close by the village of Kinderbook in Columbia county.
In the same law, provision was made for altering some roads in the province. Claverack was settled about the same time that Kinderhook was. The first settlers at the latter place were a few Swedish families. The Dutch and English came afterwards. Pro- vision by law was made for running and ascertaining the lines of partition and division, between this province and that of Connecti- cut.
Governor Hunter resigned on the 19th of July, 1719, and was succeeded by colonel Schuyler, the president of the council. During the short time he held the government, he repaired to Albany, and inade a treaty with the Agoneaseah. This treaty was little more than a ratification of the ancient covenant.
CHAPTER XVIII.
William Burnet, Esq. arrives on the 17th of September, 1722, and assumes the government of the province .- Congress of governors and commissioners at Albany .- Erection of a fort and trading- house at Oswego .- Stone Arabia settled, in 1723, by the Ger- mans ; also Germanflats on the Mohawk, about the same time, by the same people .- The close of Mr. Burnet's administration un- popular .- Is superseded by John Montgomery, Esq. April, 1729. -Negro act passed in October, 1730, &c .- Death of Mr. Montgomery, in July, 1731 .- Rip Van Dam, Esq. succeeds him , as president of the province .- Mr. Crosby assumes the command of the province, in Flugust, 1732 .- Rate of ferriage between New-York and Brooklyn, fixed by law, &c .-- Government of Mr. Clark.
William Burnet, Esq. superseded colonel Schuyler, the president, as governor of the province, on the 17th of September, 1720. He is represented to have been a man of sense and learning, and to have been of a mild disposition. He studied the arts of recom- mending himself to the people. No governor before him did so much business in the court of chancery; but his decisions were not marked with much legal science, or judgment. Messrs. Morris and Alexander, and Dr. Colden, were his confidents. They were all men of talents, and in public estimation.
The assembly in November, this year, made regulations for put- ting the militia into a better condition to defend the province in case of invasion.
Among thie acts made, there was one for mending and keeping . in repair the post road, leading from the city of New-York, to King's bridge. The utmost harmony subsisted at this session, be- tween the house and his excellency.
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' Mr. Burnet seems to have been better acquainted with the pro- vince, than any of his predecessors. He is the first who endea- voured to obtain the command of lake Ontario. For this purpose, ' he formed the project of establishing a trading-house, and military post at the mouth of Oswego river. To carry his project into effect, he commenced building a trading-house and fort, in the country of the Onondagas, in the year 1722 ; and recommended provision for the residence of trusty persons, among these people and the Senecas.
This year was remarkable for a congress of several governors and commissioners at Albany. The ancient friendship with the Agoneaseah was renewed at the same time. Mr. Burnet prevailed upon them to send a message to the Eastern Indians, threatening them with a war, unless they concluded a peace with the colonies of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire, which were greatly har- rassed by their frequent irruptions.
Albany was at this time a great mart for fur. In July, 1723, the house appropriated a sum to defray the expense of two sheds, which had been erected for the accommodation of the Agoneaseah and other Indians, who came there to vend their skins.
In 1724, provision was made for fortifying Albany. In an act passed by the assembly, July, 24th, Claverack is described as a precinct in the manor of Rensselaerwick. The Dutch then occu- pied the flats along Claverack creek.
From an act of the same date, it appears that Schoharie was then called a precinct. The act provided for laying out, and opening a · road therein. Schoharie was settled in 1713, by the Germans. Some Dutch families seated themselves there soon afterwards.
.. The erection of the trading-house at the mouth of Oswego river, and the establishment of another trading-house at Irondequot, upon lake Ontario, in the country of the Senecas, excited the jealousy of the French. . Fearful of losing a profitable trade with the Agonea_ seah, which they had almost entirely engrossed, and the comman I of lake Ontario; they built two vessels at fort Frontenac, and transported materials for building a large storehouse, and repairing the fort at the mouth of Niagara river. Baron de Longueil, who had the chief command in Canada, on the death of M. de Vaudreuil,
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in October, 1725, went in person to Onondaga, where he obtained permission to raise the storehouse at Niagara. . When this matter came to the knowledge of the other cantons belonging to the Ago- neaseah, they were displeased with the French, and declared that ·
the permission given by the Onondagas was void. They sent de- puties to the French commandant at Niagara, with a message, signi- fying that the ground on which they were at work, belonged to the country of the Senecas, and required them immediately to desist. The French, however, continued their labours with all possible dis- patch. M. Joncaire, who had been adopted by the Senecas, and was well esteemed by the Onondagas, used all his address among them, to prevent the interruption and demolition of the works. Canada was greatly indebted to him for his incessant labours among the natives. He spoke the Huron with as much fluency as he did his mother tongue. Possessing great influence, he facilitated the missionaries in their progress through the Agoneasean cantons, lessened the influence of the English, and rendered their depen- dence upon them precarious. Colonel Schuyler had been so thoroughly convinced of this, that at a treaty held with them in 1719, he endeavoured to prevail upon them to drive Joncaire out of their country.
In relation to the works which the French constructed at Nia- gara, it is probable that the Senecas cared very little about them, and that they would never have sent deputies to the commandant with orders to desist, had they not been instigated to it by the emissaries of Mr. Burnet. The French and English traders were jealous and hostile, the one to the other. Both endeavoured to obtain the trade of the Indigines. Various arts were resorted to by them, in order to gain it. The French being more engaging in their manners ultimately succeeded.
This year there was a conference at Albany, between the Ago- neasean chiefs, and Mr. Burnet.
Stone Arabia was settled in 1722, or 1723, by Germans from Schoharie, and Germanflats on the Mohawk river, the year there- after by the same people. Germanflats was for some time called Burnet's fields. The Agoncascali called the country west of Little- falls, embracing at this day the towns of Germanflats, Herkimer,
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Schuyler, and Frankfort, Kow-ogo-con-ugh-ha-rie-gugh-aric. This was the most remote settlement in the province, and continued to be such till 1785, when the late Mr. Hugh White transcended Ger- manflats, and founded Whitestown, the oldest place in the western country. 1
From an act passed in 1726, it appears that the public road on the north side of the Mohawk, ended at Cayadutta creek, about a mile west of Caughnawaga. The same act directed that a road should be opened as far westwardly as the settlements extended. The colonists of Stone Arabia and Germanflats, reached those places by the Indian roads.
The administration of Mr. Burnet gradually became unpopular, owing principally to decrees which he made in chancery contrary to law ; and to his interposition in ecclesiastical and other matters. The whole assembly became dissaffected to him. It resolved that the erecting or exercising a court of chancery in the province, without the consent of the assembly, was contrary to the laws of England, and subversive of the rights of the subjects. It was also resolved, that it would at its next session pass a law, declaring all the decrees and proceedings of said court illegal, null, and void ; and that it would take into consideration whether such a court be necessary or not, and in whom tlie jurisdiction ought to be vested, &c. Mr. Burnet no sooner heard of these resolutions, than he called the members before him, and dissolved the assembly.
We are now come to the close of Mr. Burnet's administration, when he was appointed to the chief command of Massachusetts. The excessive love of money, a disease common to all his prede- cessors, and to some who succeeded him, was a vice from which he was entirely free. He sold no offices : nor did he attempt to raise a fortune by indirect means.
John Montgomery, Esq. superseded Mr. Burnet, on the 15th day of April, 1728. In talents for government, he was much in- ferior to his predecessor ; he had neither strength nor acuteness of parts, and was but little acquainted with any kind of literature.
As in the natural, so in the political world, a violent storm is often succeeded by a peaceful calm ; tired by the mutual struggles of party rage, every man now ceased to act under its influence. The
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governor's good bumour too, extinguished the flames of contention : for being unable to plan, he had no particular scheme to pursue; and thus, confining himself to the exercise of the common acts of go- vernment, the public affairs of the province flowed on in a peaceful uninterrupted stream. Governor Montgomery dissolved the assem- bly, and called a new one. Among the acts passed, are some for improving and laying out roads in the counties of New-York, West- chester, and Dutchess. After the legislature had risen, his excel- lency went up to Albany, and on the first of October, held a treaty with the Agoneaseah for the renewal of the ancient covenant. He gave them great presents, and engaged them in the defence of Oswego. This post was usually guarded by a lieutenant and twenty-five men .*
On the twenty-ninth of October, 1730, the assembly passed an act for the more effectually preventing and punishing the conspiracy and insurrection of negroes, and other slaves, as it is quaintly stiled. The act, after providing penalties against such as might trade with slaves, allowed the owners to punish them for crimes at discretion, provided the punishment did not extend to life or limb. It con- tained these farther provisions, that not above three should meet together, unless it should be in some servile employment ; under the penalty of being whipped upon the naked back, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, a number of lashes not exceeding forty for each offence. The act provided farther, that every city, town, and manor within the province, should hereafter appoint a common whipper, or flagillator for its slaves. This dignified personage was to have such compensation as the owners of slaves should vote ; but it was not to exceed three shillings for any case of fla- gillation, or laceration. It seems that certain slave holders, pos- sessed of humane feeling, were opposed to such barbarous legisla- tion : for we find that in cases of neglect, or refusal to pay the flagillator, that such flagillated slave or slaves, might be committed to jail till the same was paid, together with the costs of committal. The punishment for assaulting, or striking any Christian or Jew, was imprisonment for any period of time, not exceeding fourteen days,
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and such scourging as two justices of the peace, might in their wis- dom and power think proper, provided, however, for this strange law, had its provisoes, that it should not extend to life or limb. By the same act, slaves were not allowed to give evidence, except against slaves. They were debarred the right of trial by jury, unless their masters made election. The proceedings in these times against this unfortunate portion of the human race, for crimes, or supposed crimes and offences, were excessively severe. Every procedure was committed to justices of the peace, who were vested with the power of trying, condemning, and ordering bloody executions in a summary manner. No appeal lay from their deci- sion; no merciful hand could interpose. The decree of the justice was decisive. The sympathy of the owner, if he had any, and there were such, was of no avail. In vain were his remonstrances and solicitations in behalf of his slave. He could not bring his case before a higher, a more intelligent, a more enlightened, and a more impartial tribunal. O tempora, O mores ! What an order of things ! Who can read these barbarous laws without indignation and pity. But why should we advert to the colonial laws of the province, and to the times ? We have abundance of examples in our own time. It is true, the New England people have extirpated slavery among us; but in the states southerly of Pennsylvania, and south of the Ohio, and west of the Mississippi, it still holds with all its force, its horrors, and its barbarity. There are no governments in the world where a whole people are held in bondage worse than that of the Israelites ; but the English and the American-we do not in- tend to censure the people of the northern, and north-western states, where slavery either does not exist, or is breathing its last gasp. In vain do we talk about Ottoman slavery; in vain do we commiserate the lot of the Greeks. Their's is the condition of a conquered people, permitted by their conquerors to enjoy the lands of their fathers, upon the payment of such exactions as the Sultan may think proper to make. He does not sell them so long as they pay exactions, and render submission. He has not deprived them of their lands. All they can make beyond the exactions, belong to them. Many have amassed princely fortunes under the con- querors. But not so with the English and American slaves. They
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have neither houses nor lands : nor have they any of their earnings. . Every thing goes to the master. The slave has nothing which he .can call his own. He has no home ; no resting place. The des -. pot who owns him, is entitled to all his earnings. He may casti- gate him ; he may sell him. The slave is valued like other property. The husband may be separated from the wife : or the wife from the husband and the children ; and these again from both. Such oc- currences are frequent and common. They excite no commisera- tion. They are vulgar; and every thing which is vulgar, passes without emotion. But we will not consume more time on a sub- ject, which among slave holders, can only beget us hate.
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In the year 1731, the disputed boundary between this province and Connecticut was settled ; an event of no small moment.
His excellency Mr. Montgomery, died on the first of July this year. His death, owing to his humane disposition, was consider- ably lamented.
The command of the province then devolved upon Rip Van Dam, Esq. he being the oldest of the council. During his ad- ministration, the French built fort Frederick, or the east side of lake Champlain; but afterwards they removed the garrison to the west side, where they erected a strong fort, which gave them the command of the lake, and the only practicable avenue at that time : leading into Canada. The situation of the fort was admirably adapted to repel an invasion, and to facilitate incursions into New- York and New England .*
Mr. Van Dam finished his administration on the first of August, 1732, when William Cosby, Esq. arrived with a commission to govern this, and the province of New Jersey. Mr. Cosby's ad- ministration commenced under very favourable auspices.
The legislature convened pursuant to proclamation, on the 19th of August. The house presented to his excellency a congratula- tory address, and received in return, his answer filled with compli- ments, containing a strong intimation for money. Among the laws . enacted, there was one for the improvement and making of roads in the counties of Queens, Kings, Richmond, Westchester, Dutchess,
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and Ulster : another regulating the rates of ferriage between New- York and Brooklyn. The latter is a curious specimen of legisla- : tion, and savors much of a tariff bill. Among the rates fixed upon upwards of three hundred articles, there was one giving to the ferryman, three eggs for every hundred carried to market.
A law was passed at this session, imposing a tax on wigs. A custom about. this time had been imported, which imposed upon young men and boys the necessity of shaving their heads, and wear- 1 ing large wigs. The legislature might, however, after all, have em- ployed their time to better advantage, than in intermeddling with a custom so absurd.
But the wig tariff was not so oppressive as the egg tariff. The latter put women and girls to no small inconvenience, in stopping wben on their way to market, to have their eggs counted ; besides, it must have occasioned no trifling merriment to travellers, to see the ferryman over-hauling the eggs, and arranging thein in rows on the sand, where he and the females occasionally disputed about the numbers, and the amount of duty, which often led to a second or third counting, before the controverted point could be settled. We should like to know the logical reason which led the assembly to the passage of such a law. Was it to know how many eggs the citizens consumed in one year ; or was it because the ferryman was fond of eggs ; or was it because the members had no other way of wasting their time ?
Some provision was made for a public school in the city of New- York, for teaching Latin, Greek, and mathematics.
At the session, in the year 1734, means were provided for the defence of Albany, Schenectady, and other places in the province. It appears from the act, that the Dutch church at Schenectady was kept in a defensible situation, so that in case the place should be assaulted, a portion of the inhabitants might take refuge in it. There was a road at this time westwardly to Caughnawaga creek, twenty- eight miles.
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