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 5

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Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280

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 5
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 5

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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

more, who appealed to the cabinet of Great Britain, who subdued the whole province of New Netherlands. By this great achievement, the whole extent of North America, from Nova Scotia to the Floridas, was rendered one entire dependeney upon the British crown. But mark the consequence: The hith- erto scattered colonies being thus consolidated and having no rival colonies to check or keep them in awe, waxed great and powerful, and finally becoming too strong for the mother country. were enabled to shake off its bonds. But the chain of effects stopped not here; the successful revolution in America pro- duced the sanguinary revolution in France, which produced the puissant Bonaparte, who produced the French despotism."

In March, 1656. the ship "Mercury," with 130 emigrants, arrived, the government at Stockholm having had no intimation of the Dutch conquest. An attempt was made to prevent a landing, and the vessel was ordered to report to Stuyvesant at Manhattan, but the order was disregarded and the col- onists debarked and acquired lands. The Swedish Government was not dis- posed to submit to these high-handed proceedings of the Dutch, and the min- isters of the two courts maintained a heated discussion of their differences. Finding the Dutch disposed to hold by force their conquests, the government of Sweden allowed the claim to rest until 1664. In that year, vigorous meas- ures were planned to regain its claims upon the Delaware, and a fleet bearing a military force was dispatched for the purpose. But, having been obliged to put back on account of stress of weather, the enterprise was abandoned.

CHAPTER III.

JOHN PAUL JACQUET, 1655-57-JACOB ALRICHIS, 1657-59-GOERAN VAN DYCK, 1657 -58-WILLIAM BEEKMAN, 1658-63-ALEXANDER D'HINOYOSSA. 1659-64.

T' THE colonies upon the Delaware being now under exclusive control of the

Dutch, John Paul Jaquet was appointed in November, 1655, as Vice Director, Derck Smidt having exercised authority after the departure of Stuy. vesant. The expense of fitting out the expedition for the reduction of the Swedes was sorely felt by the West India Company, which had been obliged to borrow money for the purpose of the city of Amsterdam. In payment of this loan, the company sold to the city all the lands upon the south bank of the Delaware, from the ocean to Christina Creek, reaching back to the lands of the Mingnas, which was designated Nieur Amstel. Again was there di- vided anthority upon the Delaware. The government of the new possession was vested in a commission of forty residents of Amsterdam, who appointed Jacob Alrichs as Director, and sent him with a force of forty soldiers and 150 colonists, in three vessels, to assume the government, whereupon Jaquet relin- quished authority over this portion of his territory. The company in commu- nicating with Stuyvesant upon the subject of his course in dispossessing the Swedes, after duly considering all the complaints and remonstrances of the Swedish government, approved his conduet, "though they would not have been displeased had such a formal capitulation not taken place," adding as a paren- thetical explanation of the word formal " what is written is too long preserved, and may be produced when not desired, whereas words not recorded are, in the lapse of time, forgotten, or may be explained away."

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Stuyvesant still remained in supreme control over both the colony of the- city and the colony of the company, to the immediate governorship of the lat- ter of which, Goeran Van Dyck was appointed. But though settlements in the management of affairs were frequently made, they would not remain set- tled. There was conflict of authority between Alrichs and Van Dyck. The companies soon found that a grievous system of smuggling had sprung up. After a searching examination into the irregularities by Stuyvesant, who vis- ited the Delaware for the purpose, he recommended the appointment of one general agent who should have charge of all the revenues of both colonies, and William Beekman was accordingly appointed. The company of the city seems not to have been satisfied with the profits of their investment, and ac- cordingly made new regulations to govern settlement, by which larger returns would accrue. This action created discontent among the settlers, and many who were meditating the purchase of lands and the acquisition of homes, de- termined to go over into Maryland where Lord Baltimore was offering far more liberal terms of settlement. To add to the discomforts of the settlers, " the miasms which the low alluvial soil and the rank and decomposed vegetation of a new country engenders," produced wasting sicknesses. When the planting was completed, and the new soil, for ages undisturbed, had been thoroughly stirred, the rains set in which descended almost continuously, producing fever and ague and dysentery. Scarcely a family escaped the epidemic. Six in the family of Director Alrichs were attacked, and his wife died. New colo- nists came without provisions, which only added to the distress. " Scarcity of provisions," says O'Calaghan, " naturally followed the failure of the crops; 900 schepels of grain had been sown in the spring. They produced scarcely 600 at harvest. Rye rose to three guilders the bushel; peas to eight guilders. the sack; salt was twelve guilders the bushel at New Amsterdam; cheese and butter were not to be had, and when a man journeys he can get nothing but dry bread, or he must take a pot or kettle along with him to cook his victuals." " The place had now got so bad a name that the whole river could not wash it clean." The exactions of the city company upon its colony, not only did not bring increased revenue, but by dispersing the honest colonists, served to notify Lord Baltimore-who had laid claim to the lands upon Delaware, on account of original discovery by Lord De la War, from whom the river takes its name, and from subsequent charter of the British crown, covering territory from the 38th to the 40th degree of latitude-of the weakness of the colonies, and persuade him that now was a favorable opportunity to enforce his claims. Accordingly, Col. Utie, with a number of delegates, was dispatched to demand that the Dutch should quit the place, or declare themselves subjects of Lord Baltimore, adding, "that if they hesitated, they should be responsible for whatever innocent blood might be shed."

Excited discussions ensued between the Dutch authorities and the agents. of the Maryland government, and it was finally agreed to refer the matter to Gov. Stuyvesant, who immediately sent Commissioners to the Chesapeake to settle differences, and enter into treaty regulations for the mutual return of fugitives, and dispatched sixty soldiers to the Delaware to assist in preserving order, and resisting the English, should an attempt be made to dispossess the Dutch.

Upon the death of Alrichs, which occurred in 1659, Alexander D'Hinoyossa was appointed Governor of the city colony. The new Governor was a man of good business capacity, and sought to administer the affairs of his colony for the best interests of the settlers, and for increasing the revenues of the com- pany. To further the general prosperity, the company negotiated a new loan

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

with which to strengthen and improve its resources. This liberal policy had the desired effect. The Swedes, who had settled above on the river, inoved down, and acquired homes on the lands of the city colony. The Fins and dis- contented Dutch, who had gone to Maryland, returned and brought with them somno of the English settlers.

Discouraged by the harassing conflicts of authority which seemed inter- minable, the West India Company transferred all its interests on the east side of the river to the colony of the city, and upon the visit of D'Hinoyossa to Holland in 1663, he secured for himself the entire and exclusive government of the colonies upon the Delaware, being no longer subject to the authority of Stuyvesant.

Encouraged by liberal terms of settlement, and there being now a prospect of stable government, emigrants were attracted thither. A Mennonite commu- nity came in u body. " Clergymen were not allowed to join them, nor any ' intractable people such as those in communion with the Roman See, usurious Jews, English stiff-necked Quakers, Puritans, foolhardy believers in the mil- lennium, and obstinate modern pretenders to revelation.'" They were obliged to take an oath never to seek for an office; Magistrates were to receive no com- pensation, " not even astiver." The soil and climate were regarded as excel- lent, and when sufficiently peopled, the country would be the "finest on the face of the globe."

CHAPTER IV.

RICHARD NICHOLS, 1664-67-ROBERT NEEDHAM, 1664-68-FRANCIS LOVELACE, 1667-73-JOIN CARR, 1668-73-ANTHONY COLVE, 1673-74-PETER ALRICUS, 1673-74.

A FFAIRS were scarcely arranged upon the Delaware, and the dawning of a better day for the colonists ushered in, before new complications began to threaten the subversion of the whole Dutch power in America. The English had always claimed the entire Atlantic seaboard. Under Cromwell, the Navigation aet was aimed at Dutch interests in the New World. Captain John Scott, who had been an officer in the army of Charles I, having obtained some show of authority from the Governor of Connecticut, bad visited the towns upon the west end of Long Island, where was a mixed population of Dutch and English, and where he claimed to have purchased large tracts of land, and had persuaded them to unite under his authority in setting up a government of their own. He visited England and "petitioned the King to be invested with the government of Long Island, or that the people thereof be allowed to choose yearly a Governor and Assistants." By his representation, an inquiry was instituted by the King's council, "as to his majesty's title to tho premises; the intrusions of the Dutch; their deportment; management of the country: strength, trade and government; and lastly, of the means necessary to induce or force them to acknowledge the King, or if necessary. to expel them together from the country." The visit of Seott, and his prayer to the King for a grant of Long Island, was the occasion of inaugurating a policy, which resulted in the overthrow of Dutch rule in America. But the attention of English statesmen had for some time been turned to the importance of the territory which the Dutch colonies had occupied, and a belief that Dutch trade in the New World was yielding great returns, stimulated inquiry. James,

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Duke of York, brother of the King, who afterward himself became King, was probably at this time the power behind the throne that was urging on action looking to the dispossession of the Dutch. The motive which seemed to actuate him was the acquisition of personal wealth and power. He saw, as he thought, a company of merchants in Amsterdam accumulating great wealth out of these colonies, and he meditated the transfer of this wealth to himself. He was seconded in this project by the powerful influence of Sir George Downing, who had been Envoy at The Hague, under Cromwell, and was now under Charles II. "Keen, bold, subtle, active, and observant, but imperious and unscrupulous, disliking and distrusting the Dutch," he had watched every movement of the company's granted privileges by the States General, and had reported every- thing to his superiors at home. "The whole bent," says O'Calaghan," of this man's mind was constantly to hold up before the eyes of his countrymen the growing power of Holland and her commercial companies, their immense wealth and ambition, and the danger to England of permitting these to pro- gress onward unchecked."

After giving his testimony before the council, Scott returned to America with a letter from the King recommending his interests to the co-operation and protection of the New England colonies. On arriving in Connecticut, he was commissioned by the Governor of that colony to incorporate Long Island under Connecticut jurisdiction. But the Baptists, Quakers and Mennonites, who formed a considerable part of the population, "dreaded falling into the hands of the Puritans." In a quaint document commencing, "In the behalte of sum hun- dreds of English here planted on the west end of Long Island wee address," etc.," they besought Scott to come and settle their difficulties. On his arrival he acquainted them with the fact, till then unknown, that King Charles had granted the island to the Duke of York, who would soon assert his rights. Whereupon the towns of Hemstede, Newwarke, Crafford, Hastings, Folestone and Gravesend, entered into a "combination" as they termed it, resolved to elect deputies to draw up laws, choose magistrates, and empowered Scott to act as their President; in short set up the first independent State in America. Scott immediately set out at the head of 150 men, horse and foot, to subdue the island.

On the 22d of March, 1664, Charles II made a grant of the whole of Long Island, and all the adjoining country at the time in possession of the Dutch, to the Duke of York. Borrowing four men-of-war of the king, James sent them in command of Col. Richard Nicholls, an old officer, with whom was as- sociated Sir Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, Esq., and a force of 450 men, to dispossess the Dutch. To insure the success of the expedition, letters were addressed to each of the Governors of the New England colonies, enjoining upon them to unite in giving aid by men and material to Nicholls. The fleet sailed directly for Boston, where it was expected, and whence, through one Lord, the Dutch were notified of its coming. The great- est consternation was aroused upou the receipt of this intelligence, and the most active preparations were making for defense. But in the midst of these preparations, notice was received from the Chambers at Amsterdam, doubtless inspired by the English, that " no apprehension of any public enemy or dan- ger from England need be entertained. That the King was only desirous to reduce the colonies to uniformity in church and state, and with this view was dispatching some Commissioners with two or three frigates to New England to introduce Episcopacy in that quarter." Thrown completely off his guard hy this announcement, the Director General, Stuyvesant abandoned all preparations for resistance, and indulged in no anticipations of a hostile visitation. Thus

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

were three full weeks lost in which the colonies might have been put in a very good state of defense.

Nicholls on arriving in American waters, touched at Boston and Connecti- out. where some aid was received, and then hastened foward to Manhattan. Stuyvesant had but a day or two before learned of the arrival, and of the bos- tile intent. Scarcely had he issned orders for bringing ont his forces and for fortifying before Nicholls scattered proclamations through the colony promis- ing to protect all who submitted to his Brittanic majesty in the nndisturbed possession of their property, and made a formal summons upon Stuyvesant to surrender the country to the King of Great Britain. The Director found that he had an entirely different enemy to treat with from Rysingh, and a few half- armed Swedes and Fins upon the Delaware. Wordy war ensued between the Commissioners and the Director, and the English Governor finding that Stny- vesant not in the temper to yield, landed a body of his soldiers upon the lower end of the island, and ordered Hyde, the commander of the fleet, to lay the frigates broadside before the city. It was a critical moment. Stuyvesant was stand- ing on one of the points of the fort when he saw the frigates approaching. The gunner stood by with burning match, prepared to fire on the fleet, and Stuyvesant seemed on the point of giving the order. But he was restrained, and a further communication was sent to Nicholls, who would listen to nothing short of the full execution of his mission. Still Stuyvesant held ont. The inhabitants implored, but rather than surrender " he would be carried a corpse to his grave." The town was, however, in no condition to stand a siege. The powder at the fort would only suffice for one day of active operations. Pro- visions were scarce. The inhabitants were not disposed to be sacrificed, and the disaffection among them spread to the soldiers. They were overheard mut. tering, "Now we hope to pepper those devilish traders who have so long salted us; we know where booty is to be found, and where the young women live who wear gold chains."

The Rev. Jannes Myapolenses seems to have been active in negotiations and opposed to the shedding of blood. A remonstrauce drawn by him was finally adopted and signed by the principal men, and presented to the Director Gen- eral, in which the utter hopelessness of resistance was set forth, and Stuyve. sant finally consented to capitulate. Favorable terms were arranged, and Nicholls promised that if it should be finally agreed between the English and Dutch governments that the province should be given over to Dutch rule, he would peacefully yield his authority. Thus without a gun being fired, the En- glish made conquest of the Manhattoes.

Sir Robert Carr, with two frigates and an ample force, was dispatched to the Delaware to reduce the settlements there to English rule. The planters, whether Dutch or Swedes, were to be insured in the peaceable possession of their property. and the magistrates were to be continned in office.

Sailing past the fort. he disseminated among the settlers the news of the surrender of Stuyvesant, and the promises of protection which Nicholls had made use of. But Gov. D'Hinoyossa was not disposed to heed the demand for surrender without a struggle. Whereupon Carr landed his forces and stormed the place. After a fruitless but heroic resistance, in which ten wore wounded and three were killed, the Governor was forced to surrender. Thus was the complete subversion of the State's General in America consummated, und the name of New Amsterdam gave place to that of New York, from the name of the English proprietor, James, Duke of York.

The resistance offered by D'Hinoyossa formed a pretest for shameless plunder. Carr, in his report which shows him to huve been a lawless fel-

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

low, says, " Ye soldiers never stoping untill they stormed ye fort, and sae con- sequently to plundering; the seamen, noe less given to that sport, were quickly within, and have g tton good store of booty." Carr seized the farm of D'Hinoyossa, his brother, John Carr, that of Sheriff Sweringen, and Ensign Stock that of Peter Alrichs. The produce of the land for that year was seized, together with a cargo of goods that was unsold. "Even the inoffensive Men- nonists, though non-combatant from principle, did not escape the sack and plunder to which the whole river was subjected by Carr and his marauders. A boat was dispatched to their settlement, which was stripped of everything, to a very naile."

Nicholls, on hearing of the rapacious conduct of his subordinate, visited the Delaware, removed Carr, and placed Robert Needham in command. Pre- vious to dispatching his fleet to America, in June, 1664, the Duke of York had granted to John, Lord Berkeley, Baron of Stratton, and Sir George Carteret. of Saltrum in Devon, the territory of New Jersey, bounded substantially as the present State, and this, though but little settled by the Dutch, had been in- cluded in the terms of surrender secured by Nicholls. In many ways, he showed himself a man of ability and discretion. He drew up with signal success a body of laws, embracing most of the provisions which had been in force in the English colonies, which were designated the Duke's Laws.

In May, 1667, Col. Francis. Lovelace was appointed Governor in place of Nicholls, and soon after taking charge of affairs, drew up regulations for the government of the territory upon the Delaware, and dispatched Capt. John Carr to act there as his Deputy Governor. It was provided that whenever complaint duly sworn to was made, the Governor was to summon "the schout, Hans Block, Israel Helm, Peter Rambo, Peter Cock and Peter Alrichs, or any two of them, as counsellors, to advise him, and determine by the major vote what is just, equitable and necessary in the case in question." It was further provided that all men should be punished in an exemplary manner, though with moderation; that the laws should be frequently communicated to the counsellors, and that in cases of difficulty recourse should be had to the Gov- ernor and Council at New York.

In 1668, two murders were perpetrated by Indians, which caused consider- able disturbance and alarm throughout the settlements. These capital crimes appear to have been committed while the guilty parties were maddened by liquor. So impressed were the sachems and leading warriors of the baneful effects of strong drink, that they appeared before the Council and besought its authority to utterly prohibit the sale of it to any of their tribes. These re- quests were repeated, and finally, upon the advice of Peter Alrichs, "the Governor (Lovelace) prohibited, on pain of death, the selling of powder, shot and strong liquors to the Indians, and writ to Carr on the occasion to use the utmost vigilance and caution "

The native murderers were not apprehended, as it was difficult to trace them; but the Indians themselves were determined to ferret them out. One was taken and shot to death, who was the chief offender, but the other escaped and was never after heard of. The chiefs summoned their young men, and in presence of the English warned them that such would be the fate of all offend- ers. Proud justly remarks: " This, at a time when the Indians were numer- ous and strong and the Europeans few and weak, was a memorable act of jus- tice, and a proof of true friendship to the English, greatly alleviating the fear, for which they had so much reason among savages. in this then wilder- ness country."

In 1669, a reputed son of the distinguished Swedish General, Connings-

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA,

marke, commonly called the Long Fin, with another of his nationality, Henry Coleman, a man of property, and familiar with the language and habits of the Indians, endeavored to incite an insurrection to throw off the English rulo and establish the Swedish supremacy. The Long Fin was apprehended, and was condemned to die; but upon reconsideration his sentence was commuted to whipping and to branding with the letter R. He was brought in chains to New York, where he was incarcerated in the Stadt-house for a year, and was then transported to Barbadoes to be sold. Improvements in the modes of administering justice were from time to time introduced. New Castle was made a corporation, to be governed by a Bailiff and six associates. Duties on importations were laid, and Capt. Martin Pringer was appointed to collect and make due returns of them to Gov. Lovelace.

In 1673, the French monarch, Louis XIV, declared war against the Neth- erlands, and with an army of over 200,000 men moved down upon that de- voted country. In conjunction with the land force, the English, with a power. ful armament, descended upon the Dutch waters. The aged Du Ruyter and the youthful Van Tromp put boldly to sea to meet the invaders. Three great naval battles were fought upon the Dutch coast on the 7th and 14th of June, and the 6th of August, in which the English forces were finally repulsed and driven from the coast. In the meantime, the inhabitants, abandoning their homes, cut the dikes which held back the sea, and invited inundation. Deem ing this a favorable opportunity to regain their possessions wrenched from them in the New Workl, the Dutch sent a small fleet under Commodores Cornelius Evertse and Jacobus Benkes, to New York, to demand the surrender of all their previous possessions. Gov. Lovelace happened to be absent, and his representative, Capt. John Manning, surrendered with but brief resistance, and the magistrates from Albany, Esopus, East Jersey and Long Island, on being summoned to New York, swore fealty to the returning Dutch power. Anthony Colve, as Governor, was sent to Delaware, where the magistrates lastened to meet him and submit themselves to his anthority. Property in the English Government was confiscated; Gov. Lovelace returned to England, and many of the soldiers were carried prisoners to Holland. Before their de- parture, Commodores Evertse and Benkes, who styled themselves " The honora- ble and awful council of war, for their high mightinesses, the State's General of the United Netherlands, and his Serene Highness, the Prince of Orange," commissioned Anthony C'olve, a Captain of foot, on the 12th of August, 1673, to be Governor General of "New Netherlands, with all its appendences," and on the 19th of September following, Peter Alrichs, who had manifested his sobserviency and his pleasure at the return of Dutch ascendancy, was ap- pointed by Colve Deputy Governor upon the Delaware. A body of laws was drawn up for his instruction, and three courts of justice were established, at New Castle, Chester and Lewistown. Capt. Manning on his return to En- gland was charged with treachery for delivering up the fort at New York with- out resistance, and was sentenced by a court martinl "to have his sword broken over his head in public, before the city hall, and himself rendered incapable of wearing a sword and of serving his Majesty for the future in any public trust in the Government."

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

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