USA > Pennsylvania > Lives of the governors of Pennsylvania : with the incidental history of the state, from 1609 to 1873 > Part 4
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Towards the close of the year 1659, Alrichs, after having administered the affairs of the colony for a period of a little more than two years, during which his people and his family had been visited by dire afflictions, was relieved by death. It would appear from the complaints made against him by those most intimately associated with him in the government, that many of the evils under which the colony grieved, were due to his own maladministration.
ALEXANDER D'IIINOYOSSA, 1659-64. - COLONY OF CITY. - Previous to his death, Alrichs had recommended the appointment of Alexander D'Hinoyossa, in whose hands he left the government, as his successor. This recommendation was approved and confirmed by the commissioners. The administration of D'Ilinoyossa was little less turbulent than his predecessor's had been. Conflicts of authority between himself, who represented the City's colony, and Beekman, who had charge of the revenues of the West India Company from all the settlements on the Delaware, were frequent, and many complaints were made to their respective masters in Holland. D'Hinoyossa refused to recognize the authority of Stuyvesant over him, as his predecessor had done, claiming that his only source of power, and consequent accountability
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to, was the commissioners of the Company of the City of Amsterdam. The West India Company claimed jurisdiction over the commerce of the entire district, and insisted upon a strict collection of the revenues, while the City's colony sought to evade the payment. Tired of these conflicts and petty strifes, negotiations were entered into for the retransfer of the Nieuer Amstel Colony to the West India Company. Not succeeding in this, the commissioners of the city effected a new loan, with the determination of infusing fresh enterprise into its colonial affairs. D'Hinoyossa seems to have been more successful than his predecessor in securing the peace and internal quiet of his little kingdom, and in making such regulations in relation to trade and settlement as to attract the Swedes from the territory above to his dominions. The Finns, who, as we have noticed, had gone to Maryland to settle, became dissatisfied, and meditated a return, and their friends who visited them with the purpose of joining them there, came back with evil tidings, and more firmly resolved than ever to abide in Nieuer Amstel. Encouraged by the favorable turn in affairs, the commissioners of the city nego- tiated a transfer of all the territory on the east side of the Delaware to their dominions. Attracted by the liberal offers of aid to settlers which were made by the commissioners, a new impulse was given to emigration. A community known as Mennonites resolved to emigrate in a body. By the terms of their association, 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 Millennium ; and obstinate modern pretenders to revelation."
Negro slaves had been early introduced into the New Amsterdam colonies, the use of which had been commended by the home companies. At about this time, Beekman made an urgent application to Stuyvesant for some slaves, and D'Hinoyossa, in a formal paper addressed to the commissioners, requested that a contract be immediately made for fifty head of slaves to till the rich valleys along the Delaware.
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ALEXANDER D' IIINOYOSSA.
Intent on securing the greatest prosperity for his colony, and tired of the constant clashing of interests between the jurisdictions of the double authority, D'Hinoyossa visited Holland in 1663, for the purpose of securing for the City Company the entire government of the settlements upon the Delaware. In this he was successful, and upon his return in December, Stuyvesant made a formal transfer of authority.
By this action Beekman was left without jurisdiction, and soon after returned to New Amsterdam, where he was ap- pointed by Stuyvesant commissary at Esopus, upon the Hud- son. "While the two colonies were kept up," says Acrelius, "Beckman had a share in the administration; but he was little considered. This made him envious of D'Ilinoyossa, whom he aspersed in frequent letters to Stuyvesant."
The Swedish West India Company was not disposed quietly to submit to the loss of its possessions upon the Delaware. Vigorous remonstrances were made against the attitude which the Dutch Company had assumed, and de- mands were made for the restoration of their territory. But the Dutch, having taken forcible possession, would yield nothing. Until 1664 the Swedes allowed their claims to rest; but in that year vigorous measures were planned for punish- ing their assailants and repossessing their colony, and a fleet bearing a military force was fitted out for the purpose. It appears that this force set sail, but meeting with misfortunes upon the sea, was obliged to return, and the project was finally abandoned.
From the time of the transfer of the entire settlements on the Delaware to the Company of the City of Amsterdam, D'Ilinoyossa held undivided authority until the conquest of all New Netherland by the English, a period of nearly ten months. Upon the downfall of Dutch rule, D'Hinoyossa returned to Holland, and entered the army of the States. He . served in the war between Louis XIV. and the Republic, and he is mentioned as one of the garrison of a fortress which surrendered to the French. He ended his days in Holland.
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CHAPTER IV.
ENGLISH RULE, 1664-73.
COL. RICHARD NICHOLLS, 1664-67 .- Conflict between Dutch and English rule in the New World was early de- veloped. Virginia and Maryland had repeatedly claimed the territory upon the Delaware; Massachusetts insisted on the right of an indefinite extension of its territory to the west; and Connecticut not only claimed the islands to the south, but that, by the terms of its charter, its western boundary was the Pacific. Against these pretensions on all sides, Stuy- vesant protested vigorously, significantly asking, " Where, then, is New Netherland ?" In September, 1663, seeing the New England colonies marching steadily toward the Hudson, Stuyvesant made a voyage to Boston, where he met the dele- gates of the United Colonies, and entered his complaints; but he could secure no concessions or guaranties, -the New Englanders pointing to their grants from the British crown, and relying upon its power for their vindication.
The English Government had always claimed the territory which the Dutch had been permitted to occupy; and Crom- well, in his time, had planned its recovery. The purpose had been renewed in the time of his son; but in neither reign had forcible measures been adopted. Had the plan of Dutch colonization been more vigorous, and its system of government not been beset with fatal inherent evils, its con- quest would have presented serious difficulties. , But the almost utter lack of educational facilities, the exorbitant de- mands of government, and the denial of popular participation in public policy, left little for which the subjects were willing to fight.
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COL. RICHARD NICHOLLS.
Charles II. having ascended the English throne, granted a patent, dated March 12th, 1664, to his brother James, Duke of York and Albany, of all the territory between the Con- necticut and the Delaware rivers, and the islands adjacent thereto, covering not only the possessions of the Dutch, but portions of grants previously made by the British Crown. Four armed vessels, led by the frigate Guinea, were fitted out and dispatched with four hundred and fifty soldiers, under command of Col. Richard Nicholls, groom of the bed-chamber to the Duke, to take possession of the lands thus conveyed. With Col. Nicholls were sent Sir Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, Esq., who were commis- sioned by the King, to first visit the New England colonies, and "to hear and receive, examine and determine, all com- plaints and appeals, in all matters, military, criminal, and civil, and proceed in all things for the providing for and settling the peace and security of the country, according to their discretion and instructions. . After all the ceremonies [in the New England Colony] are performed, in the first place of all business, and before you enter upon any other particular, discourse at large and with confidence to them, all that we ourself have discoursed with you, of reducing the Dutch in or near Long Island, or anywhere within the limits of our dominions, to an entire obedience to our government, they having no kind of right to hold what they are in possession of."
Nicholls steered directly for Boston, where, upon his arrival, he conferred with the authorities in obedience to these instruc- tions, and obtained recruits for the expedition. He then sailed for Connecticut, and receiving on board Governor Winthrop, proceeded to Manhattan, arriving near the close of August. Before opening formal negotiations with Gov- ernor Stuyvesant, the English commissioners issued a procla- mation to the people, offering the most liberal regulations as to government, trade, and commerce, and entire security to person and property, provided they would transfer their allegianco to the English Crown. The allurements thus held
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out were very tempting, promising a more liberal internal policy than was afforded under Dutch rule. A formal de- mand for the surrender of the government was then made. Stuyvesant was disposed to resist ; but his people, with whom he had frequently quarrelled before, respecting their rights as citizens, were not disposed to second him. At length, see- ing that he was powerless, Stuyvesant, on the 8th of Septem- ber, yielded to the demand, and New Netherland passed under English rule.
Sir Robert Carr was immediately dispatched to the Dela- ware with a force sufficient to effect the reduction of the col- ony. Pursuing a policy similar to that adopted by Nicholls, Carr sailed past the fort, and addressed himself to the con- ciliation of the Swedes and Finns, which was speedily accom- plished.
He then approached the fort and demanded its surrender. But every proposition for an amicable transfer of the govern- ment was rejected by D'Hinoyossa, though the fort was in no condition for resistance, and was garrisoned by only fifty men. " Whereupon," says Carr, "I landed my soldiers on Sonday morning following, and commanded ye shipps to fall down before ye fort wth muskett shott, wth directions to fire two broadsides apeace uppon ye fort, then my soldiers to fall on. Which done ye soldiers neaver stoping untill they stormed ye Fort, and sae consequently to plundering; the seamen, noe less given to that sport, were quickly wthin, and have gotten good store of booty. The loss on our part was none; the Dutch had ten wounded and three killed."
ROBERT NEEDIIAM. - Maddened by the resistance offered, the town was given up to shameless plunder. Forty horses, sixty cows and oxen, one hundred sheep, and from sixty to seventy negroes were seized, and the personal possessions of the Dutch authorities were appropriated by the leaders, -Sir Robert Carr seizing the farm of D'Ilinoyossa; his brother, Captain John Carr, that of Sheriff Van Sweringen; and Ensign Stock that of Peter Alrichs. This selfish and unwarrantable
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COL. FRANCIS LOVELACE.
procedure was discountenanced by Nicholls, who soon after visited the Delaware, and appointed Captain Robert Needham to the chief command in that colony, though retaining in his own hands supreme authority throughout his entire do- minions.
Before sending his fleet for the forcible reduction of New Netherland, the Duke of York had granted to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret all that territory now included in the southern limits of New Jersey. Up to this time few set- tlements had been made on the east side of the Delaware, and these had claimed little attention or care of the govern- ment.
Nicholls made a digest of the laws which had been in force in the several English American colonies, which were known as the Duke's Laws, and these he promulgated for the government of his own territory. His will was, however, the supreme law, as his counsellors were subservient, and the judicial officers were of his own appointment. But this authority was judiciously exercised, and general prosperity was assured during his administration.
COL. FRANCIS LOVELACE, 1667-1673. - CAPTAIN JOHN CARR. - In May, 1667, Nicholls was succeeded by Col. Francis Lovelace, and early in the following year regulations for the government of the military and civil authorities upon the Delaware were drawn up by the council in New York. By the terms of these regulations, a commissioned officer and twenty soldiers were provided to uphold the English authority upon the river, and Captain John Carr was selected as the commissioned officer. For the maintenance of civil order, it was provided that, as often as complaint was made, the commissioned officer was to summon " the schout, Hans Block, Israel IIelm, Peter Rambo, Peter Cock, Peter Alrichs, or any two of them, as counsellors, to advise him, and deter- mine, by the major vote, what is just, equitable, and neces- sary in the case in question." A similar commission was to decide all Indian difficulties, and order the arming of the
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inhabitants when necessary, which orders and summons must be obeyed. The counsellors were to be duly instructed in the laws, and in all cases of difficulty appeal was to be had to the superior government at New York. Two murders had been committed about this time by Indians while maddened by liquor, whereupon Peter Rambo proceeded to New York, at the request of the leading men of the tribe, to ask that the sale of strong drinks to the Indians be absolutely pro- hibited. The whole matter was finally referred to Carr and his commission, whose decision was to be final.
In the year 1669, one Marcus Jacobson, known as the Long Finn, said to have been a son of Coningsmark, a noted Swedish General, together with Henry Coleman, also a Finn, attempted to incite insurrection by seditious speech. They appear to have been lawless characters, who had abandoned civilized for savage life. On the 2d of August, Governor Lovelace issued a proclamation for their arrest, and for the confiscation of their property, unless they gave themselves up within fifteen days. The Long Finn was taken, held in irons, tried, convicted, and adjudged worthy of death, but was finally "publicly and severely whipped, and branded with the letter R, with an inscription written in great letters and. put upon his breast, that he received that punishment for attempting rebellion." He was afterwards transported to Barbadoes, where he was sold. Many of the simpler sort were found guilty, and it was ordered that they be treated with " severity, and such taxes laid on them as may not give them liberty to entertain any other thoughts but how to dis- charge them." Coleman was also apprehended and trans- ported.
In 1671, upon the recommendation of Captain Carr, sev- eral orders were made by the council in New York apper- taining to affairs upon the Delaware. Among others, it was provided that none except those who were licensed should be allowed to distil or to sell spirituous liquors. The temper of the Indians at about this time gave cause to apprehend a general uprising, and the people were warned to retire into
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CAPTAIN JOHN CARR.
the towns, and every person between sixteen and sixty was ordered to provide himself with powder and bullets. For the detection of the Indians who had committed the two murders above referred to, Peter Alrichs was sent to New York, where, on the 25th of September, 1671, he testified before the council respecting the facts in the case. Upon the return of Alrichs a conference was held at the house of Peter Rambo, with the sachems of the tribes to which these Indians belonged, who promised to bring in the murderers within six days, dead or alive. One of the offenders escaped; but the other, on being overtaken by one of his tribe, - a friend, - and told that the sachems and his brothers had said that he must die, requested his friend to shoot him, which was accordingly done, and his body, after being car- ried to Fort Casimir, now called New Castle, was hung in chains.
In 1672, George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, travelled through the Delaware country, fording streams in his course, camping out at night, and visiting and counselling with his followers on his way. At New Castle he was kindly received by Captain Carr. "Being very weary," he says, "and 'inquiring in the town where we might buy some corn for our horses, the Governor came into the street and invited me to his house, and afterwards desired me to lodge there, tell- ing me he had a bed for me, and I should be welcome."
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CHAPTER V.
DUTCH RULE, 1673-74.
A NTHONY COLVE, Governor of New Netherland, 1673 to 1674. - PETER ALRICHS, Deputy Governor on west side of the Delaware .- In 1673, Louis XIV., the haughty monarch of France, declared war against the Netherlands, and moved by land for its invasion with two hundred thousand men, while England, with a powerful fleet, descended upon the Dutch coast. The aged De Ruyter and the youthful Tromp led out the Dutch fleet to meet the threatened danger, and the population, in a spirit of unexampled patriotism and devotion, abandoned their homes, and, cutting the dikes which held back the sea, invited inundation. In three des- perate naval battles, fought on the 7th and 14th of June and the 21st of August, De Ruyter held the English at bay, and finally defeated his adversaries. In the meantime, a small Dutch squadron, under the command of Commodores Evertsen and Benckes, had been dispatched for the recovery of New Netherland. Arriving before the fort at New York on the 6th of August, fifteen days before the last great naval engagement upon the Dutch waters, submission of the Eng- lish to the power of Holland was demanded. Governor Love- lace had just departed for New Haven, where he was to meet in council the Connecticut authorities. The fort was in command of Captain John Manning; but no preparations having been made for defence, the English power, after a brief resistance, was surrendered to the Dutch. Captain Anthony Colve, who was in command of the military forces, was placed in supreme authority. Several of the English soldiery were sent prisoners to Holland, and Governor Love-
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ANTHONY COLVE.
lace returned with the squadron to Europe. The entire ter- ritory of New Netherland, as it passed from the hands of Stuyvesant, was thus recovered, and, in honor of the Prince of Orange, was called New Orange.
News of the conquest soon reached the Delaware, and deputies were immediately dispatched to New York to give in their adhesion to the new power. In return for this prompt submission, liberal privileges of trade and rights under gov- ernment were granted. Three courts were established, one at Nicuer Amstel, one at IIcern Kill, and one at Upland, the inhabitants being required by plurality of votes to nominate for each, eight persons, from among whom justices were selected by the council at New York. Peter Alrichs was ap- pointed Commander and Schout, and Walter Wharton, Sur- veyor. Alrichs was commissioned to administer the oath of allegiance to all the inhabitants on the Delaware. Property of the English government was confiscated, but the private possessions of its officers were restored.
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CHAPTER VI.
ENGLISH RULE, 1674-81.
YIR EDMUND ANDROS, 1674 to. 1681. - CAPTAIN ED- S
MUND CANTWELL .- Scarcely had the authority of the Dutch on the Delaware been confirmed and settled, when, on the 9th of February, 1674, peace was concluded between England and the Netherlands, by the terms of which New Nether- land was restored to the dominion of the English. That the conquest by the Dutch might in no way impair the rights of the Duke of York, King Charles renewed the grant of terri- tory as formerly described, and Sir Edmund Andros was sent to repossess the government, surrendered by Lovelace. Colve yielded his power amicably, in compliance with the terms of the treaty, to Andros, who, on the 9th of November, 1674, issued his first proclamation, reinstating affairs through- out his dominions as they were previous to the surrender. Edmund Cantwell and William Tom were dispatched to the Delaware to take possession of the fort and all government property, and ten justices were appointed, who were to "re- sume their places as magistrates." Cantwell was commis- sioned Captain and Schout, and was empowered to administer the official oath to the justices. For his forwardness in vol- untarily submitting to the Dutch the year before, Peter Alrichs was deprived of his office of judge, but was sub- sequently reinstated. Captain Cantwell was substantially invested with the full power of Deputy-Governor. In May, 1675, Governor Andros visited the Delaware, and, on the 14th and 15th, held a court at New Castle, in which orders were made relative to the opening of roads, the regulation of church property and the support of preaching, the prohibi-
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CHRISTOPHER BILLOP.
tion of the sale of liquors to the Indians, and the distillation thereof by the inhabitants.
In 1675, the ship Griffith, from London, with several fami- lies, arrived in the Delaware, the passengers settling at Salem, on the east or New Jersey side of the river, -John Fenwick, Edward, Robert, and John Wade, and Richard Noble, mem- bers of the Society of Friends, being of the number. William Edmundson, an eminent preacher of this faith, visited the colony during the same year, holding meetings at Upland, New Castle, and other places.
JOIIN COLLIER. - On the 23d of September, 1676, Cant- well was superseded in chief authority by Captain John Collier, with the title of " Commander in Delaware River and Bay," and on the same day justices of the peace for the several courts, to serve for the period of one year, were ap- pointed. Full and formal instructions were issued to these by Andros and his council, the preamble to which was in these words : " Whereas, The Last Icare att my beeing att Delowar uppon application of the Inhabitants Representing that my p'decesso" Govern' Lovelace had begun to make a Regulacon for the due administracon of Justice according to the lawes of this Government pursuant to wich I: did appoint some majistrates and made some Rules for their pro- ceeding the Ieare e'suing or till further order; In which haveing uppon mature deliberation, by the advyce of my Councill made some alteracon, They are to Remaine and bee in force in forme following:" IIere follow twelve articles for the regulation and government of the colony. The list of taxable male inhabitants between the ages of sixteen and sixty years, made in the beginning of 1677, for Upland Dis- trict, was one hundred and thirty-six, and for New Castle, three hundred and seven.
CHRISTOPHER BILLOP. - Collier, having usurped authority by sitting as judge of the court at New Castle, was deposed by Governor Andros, and Captain Christopher
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Billop was commissioned to succeed him. In this year three ships arrived from England with families of emigrants, principally Quakers, who settled for the most part in West Jersey, but a portion along the western shore of Delaware.
Berkeley and Carteret, to whom the Duke of York had conveyed New Jersey, finding the revenues from their pos- sessions insignificant, and being constantly harassed with difficulties in asserting authority over them, in March, 1674, shortly after the return of George Fox from his visit to Friends in the New World, sold, for a thousand pounds, an undivided part of their territory, to John Fenwick in trust for Edward Byllinge, both members of the Society of Friends. The fortunes of Byllinge were so impaired that it became necessary to assign his property for the benefit of his credi- tors, and Gawen Laurie, William Penn, and Nicholas Lucas were appointed assignees. Two years later, disputes between the purchaser and proprietors having arisen, a division was effected, by which Byllinge was put in possession of West New Jersey as his share of the province. In the discharge of his trust as assignee, William Penn first became interested in settlements in America. In March, 1677, the constitution of West New Jersey, a document drawn with great care, and in a spirit of unexampled liberality, was promulgated. Num- bers of the Society of Friends, fleeing from persecution at home, sought the new country.
The father of William Penn, an admiral in the British Navy, who had won distinction in the conquest of Jamaica, and in engagements with the Dutch, had died, bequeathing to his son a claim upon the English government for sixteen thousand pounds. The King, who was always harassed with debts, was disposed to listen to any proposal by which money could be realized. To the son's application for large grants of land west of the Delaware, in payment of this claim, a ready ear was given. Lord Baltimore, proprietor of Maryland, who was kept constantly advised of the designs of Penn, threw many obstacles in his way. But, steadily pressing his suit, on the 4th of March, 1681, his desire was
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