History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc, Part 3

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Publisher: W. Taylor
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USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 3
USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 3

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This second charter of privileges expired in January, 1618, and during its continuance the knowledge acquired of the country and its resources promised so much of success that the States General was ready to grant broader privi- leges, and on the 3d of June, 1621, the Dutch West India Company was in- corporated, to extend for a period of twenty-four years, with the right of renewal, the capital stock to be open to subscription by all nations, and "privileged to trade and plant colonies in Africa, from the tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, and in America from the Straits of Magellan to the remotest north." The past glories of Holland, though occupying but an in- significant patch of Europe, emboldened its Government to pass edicts for the colonizing and carrying on. an exclusive trade with a full half of the entire world, an example of the biting off of more than could be well chewed. But the light of this enterprising people was beginning to pale before the rising glories of the stern race in their sea girt isle across the channel. Dissensions were arising among the able statesmen who had heretofore guided its affairs, and before the periods promised in the original charter of this colonizing com- pany had expired, its supremacy of the sea was successfully resisted, and its exclusive rights and privileges in the New World had to be relinquished.

The principal object in establishing this West India Company was to secure a good dividend upon the capital stock, which was subscribed to by the rich old burgomasters. The fine furs and products of the forests, which had been taken back to Holland, had proved profitable. But it was seen that if this trade was to be permanently secured. in face of the active competition of other nations, and these commodities steadily depended upon, permanent set- tlements must be provided for. Accordingly, in 1623, a colony of about forty families, embracing a party of Walloons, protestant fugitives from Belgium, sailed for the new province, under the leadership of Cornelis Jacobson Mey and Joriz Tienpont. Soon after their arrival, Mey, who had been invested with the power of Director General of all the territory claimed by the Dutch, see- ing, no doubt, the evidences of some permanence on the Hudson, determined to take these honest minded and devoted Walloons to the South River, or Del- aware, that he might also gain for his country a foothold there. The testi- mony of one of the women, Catalina Tricho, who was of the party, is curious, and sheds some light upon this point. "That she came to this prov. ince either in the year 1623 or 1624, and that four women came along with her in the same ship, in which Gov. Arien Jorissen came also over, which four women were married at sea, and that they and their husbands stayed about three weeks at this place (Manhattan) and then they with eight seamen more, went in a vessel by orders of the Dutch Governor to Delaware River, and there settled.", Ascending the Delaware some fifty miles, Mey landed on the eastern shore near where now is the town of Gloucester, and built a fort which he called Nassau. Having duly installed his little colony, he re- turned to Manhattan; but beyond the building of the fort, which served as a trading post, this attempt to plant a colony was futile; for these religious zealots, tiring of the solitude in which they were left, after a few months abandoned it, and returned to their associates whom they had left upon the Hudson. Though not successful in establishing a permanent colony upon the

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Delaware, ships plied regularly between the fort and Manhattan, and this became the rallying point for the Indians, who brought thither their commodi ties for trade. At about this time, 1626. the island of Manhattan estimated to contain 22,000 aeres, on which now stands the city of New York with its busy population, surrounded by its forests of masts, was bought for the insig- nitieant sum of sixty guilders, about $24, what would now pay for scarcely a square inch of some of that very soil. As an evidence of the thrift which had begun to mark the progress of the colony, it may be stated that the good ship " The Arms of Amsterdam." which bore the intelligence of this fortunate pur- chase to the assembly of the XIX in Holland, bore also in the language of O'Calaghan, the historian of New Netherland, the "information that the col- ony was in a most prosperous state, and that the women and the soil were both fruitful. To prove the latter fact, samples of the recent harvest, consist- ing of wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, were sent forward, together with 8, 130 beaver skins, valued at over 45,000 guilders, or nearly $19.000." It is accorded by another historian that this same ship bore also " 8533 otter skins, eighty-one mink skins, thirty-six wild cat skins and thirty -four rat skins, with a quantity of oak and hickory timber." From this it may be seen what the commodities were which formed the subjects of trade. Doubt- less of wharf rats Holland had enough at home, but the oak and hickory tim- ber came at a time when there was sore need of it.

Finding that the charter of privileges, enacted in 1621, did not give suffi- cient encouragement and promise of security to actual settlers, further con- cessions were made in 1629, whereby " all such persons as shall appear and desire the same from the company, shall be acknowledged as Patroons [a sort of feudal lord] of New Netherland, who shall, within the space of four years next after they have given notice to any of the chambers of the company here, or to the Commander or Council there, undertake to plant a colony there of fifty souls, upward of fifteen years old; one fourth part within one year, and within three years after sending the first, making together four years, the re- muainder, to the full number of fifty persons, to be shipped from hence, on pain, in case of willful neglect, of being deprived of the privileges obtained." * *

" The l'atroons, by virtue of their power, shall be permitted, at such places as they shall settle their colonies, to extend their limits four miles along the shore, or two miles on each side of a river, and so far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will permit."

Stimulated by these flattering promises, Goodyn and Bloemmaert, two wealthy and influential citizens. through their agents-Heyser and Coster- secured by purchase from the Indians a tract of land on the western shore, at the mouth of the Delaware, sixteen miles in length along the bay front, and extending sixteen miles back into the country, giving a square of 256 miles. Goodyn immediately gave notice to the company of their intention to plant a colony on their newly acquired territory as patroons They were joined by an experienced navigator, De Vries, and on the 12th of December. 1630, a vessel, the Walrns, under command of De Vries, was dispatched with a company of settlers and a stock of eattle and farm implements, which arrived safely in the Delaware. De Vries landed about three leagues within the capes, "near the entrance of a fine navigable stream, ealled the Hoarkill." where he pro- ceeded to build a house, well surrounded with cedar palisades, which served the purpose of fort, lodging house, and trading post. The little settlement, which consisted of about thirty persons, was christened by the high sounding title of Zwanendal-Valley of Swans. In the spring they prepared their fields and planted them, and Do Vries returned to Holland, to make report of his proceedings.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

But a sad fate awaited the little colony at Zwanendal. In accordance with the custom of European nations, the commandant, on taking possession of the new purchase, erected a post, and affixed thereto a piece of tin on which was traced the arms of Holland and a legend of occupancy. An Indian chieftain, passing that way, attracted by the shining metal, and not understanding the object of the inscription, and not having the fear of their high mightinesses, the States General of Holland before his eyes, tore it down and proceeded to make for himself a tobacco pipe, considering it valuable both by way of orna- ment and use. When this act of trespass was discovered, it was regarded by the doughty Dutchman as a direct insult to the great State of Holland, and so great an ado was raised over it that the simple minded natives became frightened, believing that their chief had committed a mortal offense, and in the strength and sincerity of their friendship immediately proceeded to dis- patch the offending chieftain, and brought the bloody emblems of their deed to the head of the colony. This act excited the anger of the relatives of the mur dered man, and in accordance with Indian law, they awaited the chance to

take revenge. ('Calaghan gives the following account of this bloody massa- cre which ensued: "The colony at Zwanendal consisted at this time of thirty. four persons. Of these, thirty-two were one day at work in the fields, while Commissary Hosset remained in charge of the house, where another of the set. tlers lay sick abed. A large bull dog was chained out of doors. On pretence of selling some furs, three savages entered the house and murdered Hosset and the sick man. They found it not so easy to dispatch the mastiff. It was not until they had pierced him with at least twenty-five arrows that he was destroyed. The men in the fields were then set on, in an equally treacherous manner, under the guise of friendship, and every man of them slain." Thus was a worthless bit of tin the cause of the cutting off and utter extermination of the infant colony.

De Vries was upon the point of returning to Zwanendal when he received intimation of disaster to the settlers. With a large vessel and a yacht, he set sail on the 24th of May, 1632, to carry succor, provided with the means of prosecuting the whale fishery which he had been led to believe might be made very profitable, and of pushing the production of grain and tobacco. Ou ar- riving in the Delaware, he fired a signal gun to give notice of his approach. The report echoed through the forest, but, alas! the ears which would have been gladened with the sound were heavy, and no answering salute came from the shore. Ou landing, he found his house destroyed, the palisades burned, and the skulls and bones of his murdered countrymen bestrewing the earth, sad relics of the little settlement, which had promised so fairly, and warning tokens of the barbarism of the natives.

De Vries knew that he was in no position to attempt to punish the guilty parties, and hence determined to pursue an entirely pacific policy. At his invitation, the Indians gathered in with their chief for a conference. Sitting down in a circle beneath the shadows of the somber forest, their Sachem in the centre, De Vries, without alluding to their previous acts of savagery, concluded with them a treaty of peace and friendship, and presented them in token of ratification, "some duffels, bullets, axes and Nuremburg trinkets."

In place of finding his colony with plenty of provisions for the immediate needs of his party, he could get nothing, and began to be in want. He accord- ingly sailed up the river in quest of food. The natives were ready with their furs for barter, but they had no supplies of food with which they wished to part. Game, however, was plenty, and wild turkeys were brought in weigh- ing over thirty pounds. One morning after a frosty night, while the little

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

craft was up the stream, the party was astonished to find the waters frozen over, and their ship fast in the ice. Judging by the inild climato of their own country, Holland, they did not supposo this possible. For several weeks they were held fast without the power to move their floating home. Being in need of a better variety of food than he found it possible to obtain, Do Vries sailed away with a part of his followers to Virginia, where he was hospitably enter- tained by the Governor, who sent a present of goats as a token of friendship to the Dutch Governor at Manhattan. Upon his return to the Delaware, De Vries found that the party he had left behind to prosecute the whale fishery had only taken a few small ones, and these so poor that the amount of oil ob- tained was insignificant. He had been induced to embark in the enterprise of a settlement here by the glittering prospect of prosecuting the whale fishery along the shore at a great profit. Judging by this experience that the hope of great gains from this source was groundless, and doubtless haunted by a superstitious dread of making their homes amid the relics of the settlers of the previous year, and of plowing fields enriched by their blood who had been so utterly cut off, and a horror of dwelling amongst a people so revengeful and savage. De Vries gathered all together, and taking his entire party with him sailed away to Manhattan and thence home to Holland, abandoning utterly the settlement.

The Dutch still however sought to maintain a foothold upon the Dela. ware, and a fierce contention having sprung up between the powerful patroons and the Director General, and they having agreed to settle differences by the company authorizing the purchase of the claims of the patroons, those upon the Delaware wero sold for 15,600 guilders. Fort Nassau was accordingly re-oc- cupied and manned with a small military force, and when a party from Con. necticut Colony came, under one Holmes to make a settlement upon the Dela- ware. the Dutch at Nassau were found too strong to be subdued, and Holmes and his party were compelled to surrender, and were sent as prisoners of war to Manhattan.

CHAPTER II.

SIR WILLIAM KEIFT, 1638-47-PETER MINUIT, 1638-41-PETER HOLLANDAER, 1641-43- JOHN PRINTZ, 1643-53-PETER STUYVESANT, 1647-64-JOHN PAPPAGOYA, 1653-54- JOHN CLAUDE RYSINGHI, 1654-55.

A T this period, the throne of Sweden was occupied by Gustavus Adolphus, a monarch of the most enlightened views and heroic valor. Seeing the activity of surrounding nations in sending out colonies, he proposed to his people to found a commonwealth in the New World, not for the mere purpose of gain by trade, but to set up a refuge for the oppressed, a place of religious liberty and happy homes that should prove of advantage to "all oppressed Christendom." Accordingly, a company with ample privileges was incorpo- rated by the Swedish Government, to which the King himself pledged $400,000 of the royal treasure, and men of every rank and nationality were invited to join in the enterprise. Gustavns desired not that his colony should depend upon serfs or slaves to do the rough work. "Slaves cost a great deal, labor with reluctance, and soon perish from hard usage. The Swedish nation is laborious and intelligent, and surely we shall gain more by a free people with wives and children "

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In the meantime, the fruits of the reformation in Germany were menaced, and the Swedish monarch determined to unsheath his sword and lead his people to the aid of Protestant faith in the land where its standard had been successfully raised. At the battle of Lützen, where for the cause which he had espoused, a signal victory was gained, the illustrious monarch, in the flower of life, received a mortal wound. Previous to the battle, and while engaged in active preparations for the great struggle, he remembered the interests of his contemplated colony in America, and in a most earnest manner commended the enterprise to the people of Germany.

Oxenstiern, the minister of Gustavus, upon whom the weight of govern- ment devolved during the minority of the young daughter, Christina, declared that he was but the executor of the will of the fallen King, and exerted him- self to further the interests of a colony which he believed would be favorable to "all Christendom, to Europe, to the whole world." Four years however elapsed before the project was brought to a successful issue. Peter Minuit, who had for a time been Governor of New Netherlands, having been displaced, sought employment in the Swedish company, and was given the command of the first colony. Two vessels, the Key of Calmar and the Griffin, early in the year 1638, with a company of Swedes and Fins, made their way across the stormy Atlantic and arrived safely in the Delaware. They purchased of the Indians the lands from the ocean to the falls of Trenton, and at the mouth of Christina Creek erected a fort which they called Christina, after the name of the youthful Queen of Sweden. The soil was fruitful, the climate mild, and the scenery picturesque. Compared with many parts of Finland and Sweden, it was a Paradise, a name which had been given the point at the entrance of the bay. As tidings of the satisfaction of the first emigrants were borne back to the fatherland, the desire to seek a home in the new country spread rap- idly, and the ships sailing were unable to take the many families seeking pas- sage.

The Dutch were in actual possession of Fort Nassau when the Swedes first arrived, and though they continued to hold it and to seek the trade of the Indians, yet the artful Minuit was more than a match for them in Indian bar- ter. William Keift, the Governor of New Netherland, entered a vigorous protest against the encroachments of the Swedes upon Dutch territory, in which he said "this has been our property for many years, occupied with forts and sealed by our blood, which also was done when thou wast in the service of New Netherland, and is therefore well known tothee." But Minuit pushed forward the work upon his fort, regardless of protest, trusting to the respect which the flag of Sweden had inspired in the hands of Banner and Torstensen. For more than a year no tidings were had from Sweden, and no supplies from any source were obtained; and while the fruits of their labors were abundant there were many articles of diet, medicines and apparel, the lack of which they began to sorely feel. So pressing had the waut become, that application had been made to the authorities at Manhattan for permission to remove thither with all their effects. But on the very day before that on which they were to embark, a ship from Sweden richly laden with provisions, cattle, seeds and merchandise for barter with the natives came joyfully to their relief, and this, the first permanent settlement on soil where now are the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania, was spared. The success and prosperity of the colony during the first few years of its existence was largely due to the skill and policy of Minuit, who preserved the friendship of the natives, avoided an open conflict with the Dutch, and so prosecuted trade that the Dutch Governor reported to his government that trade had fallen off 30,000 beavers. Minuit

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was at the head of the colony for about three years, and died in the midst of the people whom he had led.

Minuit was succeeded in the government by Peter Hollandaer, who had previously gone in charge of a company of emigrants, and who was now, in 1641, commissioned. The goodly lands upon the Delaware were a constant attraction to the eye of the adventurer; a party from Connectient, under the lead- ership of Robert Cogswell, came, and squatted without authority upon the sito of the present town of Salem, N. J. Another company had proceeded up the river, and, entering the Schuylkill, had planted themselves upon its banks. The settlement of the Swedes, backed as it was by one of the most powerful nations of Europe, the Governor of New Netherland was not disposed to molest; but when these irresponsible wandering adventurers came sailing past their forts and boldly planted themselves upon the most eligible sites and fer- tile lands in their territory, the Dutch determined to assumo a hostile front, and to drive them awny. Accordingly, Gen. Jan Jansen Van Ilpendam-his very name was enough to frighten away the emigrants-was sent with two vessels und a military force, who routed the party upon the Schuylkill, destroy- ing their fort and giving them a taste of the punishment that was likely to bo meted out to them, if this experiment of trespass was repeated. The Swedes joined the Dutch in breaking up the settlement at Salem and driving away the New England intruders.

In 1642, Hollandaer was succeeded in the government of the Swedish Colony by John Printz, whose instructions for the management of affairs were drawn with much care by the officers of the company in Stockholm. " He was, first of all, to maintain friendly relations with the Indians, and by the advan- tage of low prices hold their trade. His next care was to cultivate enough grain for the wants of the colonists, and when this was insured, turn his atten- tion to the culture of tobacco, the raising of cattle and sheep of a good species, the culture of the grape, and the raising of silk worms. The manufacture of salt by evaporation, and the search for metals and minerals were to be prose- cutod, and inquiry into the establishment of fisheries, with a view to profit, especially the whale fishery, was to be made." It will be seen from these in- structions that the far-sighted Swedish statesmen had formed an exalted con- ception of the resources of the new country, and had figured to themselves great possibilities from its future development. Visions of rich silk products, of the precious metals and gems from its mines, flocks upon a tbonsand hills that should rival in the softness of their downy fleeces the best products of the Indian looms, and the luscious clusters of the vine that could make glad the palate of the epicure filled their imaginations.

With two vessels, the Stoork and Renown, Printz set sail, and arrived at Fort Christina on the 15th of February, 1643. He was bred to the profession of arins, and was doubtless selected with an eye to his ability to holding posses- sion of the land against the conflict that was likely to arise. He had been a Lientenant of cavalry, and was withal a man of prodigious proportions, " who weighed," according to De Vries, " upward of 400 pounds, and drank three drinks at every meal." He entertained exalted notions of his dignity as Govern- or of the colony, and prepared to establish himself in his new dominions with some degree of magnificence. He brought with him from Sweden the bricks to be used for the construction of his royal dwelling. Upon an inspection of · the settlement, he detected the inherent weakness of the location of Fort Christina for commanding the navigation of the river, and selected the island of Tinacnm for the site of a new fort, called New Gottenburg, which was speedily erected and made strong with huge hemlock logs. In the midst of

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the island, he built his royal residence, which was surrounded with trees and shubbery. He erected another fort near the mouth of Salem Creek, called Elsinborg, which he mounted with eight brass twelve-pounders, and garrisoned. Here all ships ascending the river were brought to, and required to await a permit from the Governor before proceeding to their destination. Gen. Van Ilpendam, who had been sent to drive away the intruders from New England, had remained after executing his commission as commandant at Fort Nassau; but having incurred the dis- pleasure of Director Keift, he had been displaced, and was succeeded by An- dreas Hudde, a crafty and politic agent of the Dutch Governor, who had no sooner arrived and become settled in his place than a conflict of authority sprang up between himself and the Swedish Governor. Dutch settlers secured a grant of land on the west bank of Delaware, and obtained possession by pur- chase from the Indians. This procedure kindled the wrath of Printz, who tore down the ensign of the company which had been erected in token of the power of Holland, and declared that he would have pulled down the colors of their High Mightinesses had they been erected on this the Swed- ish soil. That there might be no mistake about his claim to authority, the testy Governor issued a manifesto to his rival on the opposite bank, in which were these explicit declarations:

" Andreas Hudde! I remind you again, by this written warning, to discon- tinue the injuries of which you have been guilty against the Royal Majesty of Sweden, my most gracious Queen; against Her Royal Majesty's rights, pre- tensions, soil and land, withont showing the least respect to the Royal Majes- ty's magnificence, reputation and dignity; and to do so no more, considering how little it would be becoming Her Royal Majesty to bear such gross violence, and what great disasters might originate from it, yea, might be expected.

* * * All this I can freely bring forward in my own defense, to exculpate me from all future calamities, of which we give you a warning, and place it at your account. Dated New Gothenburg, 3d September, stil, veteri 1646."

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Author: Publication date: Publisher: W. Taylor Number of Pages: 1280

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280