USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania : from its discovery by Europeans, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
* Hudson's Journal. Moulton. (1) See Note A, Appendix. + Journal of Hudson. N. Y. Hist. Col. Moulton. # Lambreehsten Ebeling. Moulton. § June 21, 1611. Purchas. Moulton.
8
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
possessed, was exercised upon friends and foes without mercy. Of the former, one was shot to death for the commission of a petty theft, and of the latter, nine were more deservedly slain, in an attack which they made upon the vessel. Thus the first visit of the white men to the shores of the Hudson was signalized by the violent death of ten of their aboriginal inhabitants.
The Dutch East India company, although disappointed in the main design of Hudson's voyage, found sufficient induce- ment, in the trade for furs he had opened with the na- tives, to cherish with them a commercial intercourse. A second voyage to the Hudson, made under their authority, in 1610, proving successful, was repeated. Private adventurers were stimulated to competition; and the profits of the com- pany decreasing, they applied to the States General for a monopoly, by which a remuneration might be secured to them, for the expense and risk of their discovery .*
The States decreed,t that "all persons who had discovered, or might discover, any rivers, bays, harbours, or countries, be- fore unknown, should enjoy, beside other advantages, the exclusive trade there for four successive voyages."} Under the protection of this edict, the Amsterdam Licensed Trading West Indian company was formed, with the design not only to protect the acquisitions already made on the Hudson, but to extend their commercial privileges, by the discovery of circumjacent places. Adrian Blok and Hendrick Christianse sailed in the service of this company. (1614) Blok arrived first at Mannahattan, and his ship having been accidentally burned, he built a small vessel, with which he passed through the East river, into Long Island sound. Coasting along the Con- necticut and Massachusetts shores, he fell in with Christianse near cape Cod. Together they proceeded toward Mannahat- tan, and on their way discovered Rhode Island and Connec- ticut river.§ Upon their return to the Hudson, they, with permission of the natives, erected a fort on Castle island.
* De Laet. + March 27,1614, or, as it is said, 1611, 1612. Moulton, 340. + Great Plaket book, I. D. 563. Moulton. § De Laet. Moulton.
9
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
In the preceding year, it is said, a small warehouse was built upon an island below Albany, and that, during the pre- sent, four houses were put up on Mannahattan. In the fol- lowing year, a redoubt was constructed upon the western bank of the river, near the southern extremity of that island .* The most important event of this period, was the alliance, by formal treaty, between the Dutch and the Five Nation con- federacy of Indians; at the execution of which, it is supposed, the Lenape tribes were also present, and, by the united in- stances of the Dutch and Iroquois, consented to the fatal assumption of the character of the woman, in the manner which will be related hereafter. t
The Hollanders, having confined their views of coloniza- tion to their Asiatic, African, and South American possessions, and perhaps restrained by the title preferred by the English, to the greater part of North America, in virtue of the disco- very by Cabot and other English navigators, had hitherto made no effort to people the shores of the Hudson. It has been asserted, that, between the years 1617 and 1620, settle- ments were made at Bergen in New Jersey, in the vicinage of the Esopus Indians, and at Schenectady; but the evidence upon this subject is not satisfactory. ¿ It has also been said, upon doubtful authority, that sir Thomas Dale and sir Samuel Argal, in the year 1614 or 1616, on their return from an ex- pedition against the French at Acadia, visited Mannahattan, and compelled the Dutch to submit to the English power, and to contribute to the expenses of their voyage.§
But, although the Dutch did not immediately make settle- ments in New Netherlands,|| they appear to have been well disposed to assist others in this design. They encouraged the puritans, who, under the care of the Rev. John Robinson, had fled from persecution in England, first to Amsterdam and then to Leyden, to seek a safe and more commodious asylum in the new world; though it was understood that these sectarians intended to preserve their national character, by
r
* De Laet. Moulton. + 1617. Heckwelder. + Moulton. § Beauchamp Plantagenet's Description of New Albion. Moulton. Il The name given to the country from Sandy Hook to Cape Cod.
2
10
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
receiving from the English government a patent for the lands they should inhabit. The germ of the New England colo- nies, planted at Plymouth in 1620, was originally designed for the country lying between the island of Mannahattan and the present western line of Connecticut. The season of their arrival* on the American coast, adverse winds and currents, and the discovery of a portion of the country, from whence the aborigines had lately been swept by pesti- lence, induced the pilgrims to seat themselves at Plymouth. t The charge of want of faith in captain Jones, under whose guidance they sailed, and of his having been bribed by the Dutch to land his passengers at a distance from the Hudson, is wanting in verisimilitude.
In 1621 the great West India company was formed in Hol- land, endowed with the power of the States General, and supported by their wealth. ¿ The licensed trading company, which had hitherto conducted commercial operations in the Hudson, and had been content to confine themselves to one river, and a small portion of the coast, was merged in the new company, to whom may properly be ascribed the first efforts of the Dutch nation, to colonize the lands discovered by Hudson.
By direction of this company, a number of settlers, pro- perly provided with the means of trade, subsistence, and de- fence, were despatched, under the command of Cornelius Jacobse Mey.§ With more enterprise and industry than his predecessors, this navigator visited the shores from Cape Cod, to the south or Delaware river, (1) where he proposed to fix his own residence. From him the bay of New York was called Port May, the bay of the Delaware, New Port May, and its northern cape, Cape May, and the southern, Cape Cornelius.| Under his orders, a fort called Nassau was built, at a place called Techaacho, upon or near Sassackon, now Timber creek, which empties into the Delaware, on the eastern shore, a few miles below Coaquenaku, now Philadel-
* November, 1620. + Robertson, Dudly letter. Moulton. # See Charter in Haz. Collec. § 1623, De Laet. (1) See Note B.
Append. || De Laet.
11
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
phia .* During this year, the forts New Amsterdam and Orange were also erected, upon the sites of the great cities of New York and Albany.
The administration of the affairs of New Netherlands was confided, by the West India company, to Peter Minuit, with whom came a colony of Walloons, who settled upon Long Island at a bend of the shore opposite to Mannahattan.t In 1627, governor Minuit opened a friendly and commercial intercourse with the Plymouth settlers, and prosecuted the fur trade with great advantage to the company. }
In 1629, the West India company granted, by charter, special privileges to all persons who should plant any colony in New Netherlands;§ giving to the patroon, or founder, exclusive property in large tracts of land, with extensive ma- norial and seignoral rights. Thus encouraged, several of the di- rectors, among whom Goodyn, Bloemaert, Pauuw, and Van Renselaer, were most distinguished, resolved to make large territorial acquisitions, and sent out Wouter Van Twiller, of Niewer Kerck, a clerk of the Amsterdam department of the company, to direct its public affairs, and to make a se- Jection of lands for the benefit of individual directors. |
One of the three ships which came over in 1629, visited an Indian village on the south-west corner of Delaware bay, and purchased from the three chiefs of the resident tribe, in behalf of the Heer Goodyn, a tract of land, extending from Cape Hinloop to the mouth of the river, being in length thirty-two, and breadth two, English miles. In the succeed- ing year, several extensive purchases were made, for Goodyn and Bloemaert, from nine Indian chiefs, of land at Cape May, in length sixteen miles along the bay and sixteen miles in breadth; for the director Pauuw, Staten island and a large tract on the western side of the Hudson, in the neighbourhood of Ho- boken; and for Van Renselaer, very extensive tracts along the
* Joost Hartger's Nicw Netherlands. Acrelius nya Swerige. Ebe- ling's der Staat New Jersey. Campanius. Moulton's N. Y. Barker's Sketches. + At the Wal bocht, 1624-5. + Moulton. § See
the charter in Moulton's N. Y. | Moulton.
12
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
river, above and below Fort Orange .* The impolicy of these large and exclusive appropriations was subsequently felt and condemned, and their ratification seems to have been obtained by admitting other directors to participate in them. The ter- ritory of Goodyn was denominated Swanwendael,t that of Pauuw, Pavonia, and that of Van Renselaer, Renselaerwick.}
For the purpose of prosecuting their plans of colonization, the above named and several other directors entered into an association, § to which they admitted on equal terms, David Pieterson De Vries, an experienced and enterprising navi- gator. || Their immediate design was to colonize the Dela- ware river; to cultivate tobacco and grain, and to establish a whale and seal fishery. The command of the vessels, ap- pointed to carry out the colonists, was given to De Vries, who left the Texel on the 12th December, 1630, and arrived in the Delaware bay in the course of the winter. He found the country deserted by Europeans. Fort Nassau was aban- doned, and in possession of the Indians. Captain Mey had departed, bearing with him the affections and regrets of the natives, who long cherished his memory. De Vries and his companions selected a spot on Lewis' creek, T for their set- tlement, and unimpeded by the season, which he reports as uncommonly mild, they erected a house, surrounded with palisades, and called it Fort Oplandt, serving as a fort, a house of commerce, and place of rendezvous. The whole plantation, as included within the limits of Goodyn's purchase, extended to the Little Tree corner or Boompjes Hoeck .**
On the return of De Vries to Holland, the colony was left under the command of Giles Osset, who set upon a post or pillar the arms of the States General, painted on tin, in evi- dence of their claim and possession. An Indian, ignorant of the object of this exhibition, and, perhaps, unconscious of the right of exclusive property, appropriated to his own use this honoured symbol. The folly of Osset considered this offence, not only as a larceny, but as a national insult; and he
* See Moulton. + Valley of Swans. ¿ Moulton. § 16th Oct. 1630. | De Laet. Moulton. Ţ Called by the Dutch Hoerne Kill. ** Corrupted into Bombay Hook. De Vries. Moulton.
R
13
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
urged his complaints and demands for redress, with so much vehemence and importunity, that the harassed and perplexed tribe brought him the head of the offender .* This was a punishment which Osset neither wished nor had foreseen, and he ought justly to have dreaded its consequences. In vain he reprehended the severity of the Indians, and told them, had they brought the delinquent to him, he would have been dismissed with a reprimand. The love of vengeance, inseparable from the Indian character, sought a dire gratifica- tion; and, though the death of the culprit was doomed and executed by his own tribe, still they beheld its cause in the exaction of the strangers. Availing themselves of the sea- son in which greater part of the Dutch were engaged in the cultivation of the fields, at a distance from their house, the Indians entered it, under the amicable pretence of trade, and murdered the unsuspicious Osset, with a single sentinel, who attended him. Thence proceeding to the fields, they fell upon the labourers, in the moment of exchanging friendly salutations, and massacred every individual. This conduct of the Indians, with its extenuating circumstances, as related by themselves to De Vries, is sufficiently atrocious; but it is neither improbable nor inconsistent with the disposition the aborigines had frequently displayed towards foreign- ers, that the desire of possessing the white man's wealth, was as powerful a stimulant to violence, as the thirst for ven- geance.
In December, 1632, De Vries again arrived from Holland. He found no vestiges of his colonists, save the ashes of their dwelling, and their unburied carcasses. Attracted by the firing of a cannon, the savages approached his vessel with guilty hesitation. But having at length summoned courage to ven- ture on board, they gave a circumstantial narrative of the de- struction of his people. De Vries deemed it politic to pardon what he could not safely punish; and was, moreover, induced, by the pacific disposition of his employers, to seek reconci- liation. He made a new treaty with the Indians, and after-
* Moulton. Barker's Sketches.
14
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
wards, with a view to obtain provisions, ascended the river above Fort Nassau. He had nearly fallen a victim here to the perfidy of the natives. Pretending to comply with his request, they directed him to enter the Timmerkill creek (Cooper's,) which furnished a convenient place for an attack, but, warned by a female of the tribe of their design, and that a crew of a vessel (supposed to be from Virginia) had been there murdered, he returned to Fort Nassau, which he found filled with savages. They attempted to surprise him, more than forty entering his vessel; but, aware of their in- tention, he ordered them ashore with threats, declaring that their Mannetto, or Great Spirit, had revealed their wicked- ness. But subsequently, pursuing the humane and pacific policy which had hitherto distinguished him, he consented to the wishes they expressed, of forming a treaty of amity, which was confirmed with the customary presents on their part; but they declined his gifts, saying, they did not now give presents that they might receive others in return .*
Failing to procure the necessary provision, De Vries, leav- ing part of his crew in the bay to prosecute the whale fishery, sailed to Virginia, where, as the first visiter from New Ne- therlands, he was kindly received, and his wants supplied. Upon his return to the Delaware, t finding the whale fishery unsuccessful, he hastened his departure, and with the other colonists returned to Holland, visiting Fort Amsterdam on his way. Thus, at the expiration of twenty-five years from the discovery of the Delaware by Hudson, not a single European remained upon its shores. (1)
It has been erroneously affirmed that the Swedes settled on the Delaware in the year 1627 or 1631 .¿ The design of establishing a colony here was fondly cherished by Gustavus Adolphus, but was not effected during his life. This prince fell at Lutzen in 1632, and several years elapsed, after his death, before the ministers of his daughter Christina gave their countenance to the undertaking. The successful enter-
* De Vries. Moulton. + April, 1633. (1) See Note C.
# Smith's History of New Jersey. Proud. Holmes' Annals.
15
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
prise of the Dutch West India company had excited their northern neighbours, the Swedes, to the formation of a simi- lar association, whose operations might also extend to Asia, Africa, and America. William Usselinx, or Usseling, a Hol- lander, who had been connected with the Dutch company, obtained the assent of Gustavus to this measure .* Designing to plant a colony on the Delaware, he prepared and published articles of association for that purpose, accompanied with a description of the fertility of the soil, and the commercial advantages of the country. The king by proclamation ex- horted his subjects to contribute to the formation of the com- pany,t and recommended its plan to a diet of the states, by whom it was confirmed .¿ Persons of every rank, from the king to the peasant, subscribed; an admiral, a vice-admiral, merchants, assistants, commissaries, and a military force were appointed, and the company received the name of the South company. But the intervention of a German war suspended its operations, and the death of the king proved fatal to the main project. The subordinate one, however, of a colony on the Delaware, was revived during the minority of Chris- tina, under the administration of Oxenstierna. §
From 1633 to 1638, no attempt was made by any European nation to settle on the banks of the Delaware, unless during this period sir Edmund Ploeyden commenced his ephemeral palatinate of New Albion. It is probable, however, that the Dutch visited the river for the purpose of trade, and occa- sionally remained for some time at fort Nassau. That they vigilantly watched the approach of other nations to these shores, is obvious, from the promptitude of their remon- strances against the subsequent attempts of the English and Swedes.
Minuit, who had been superseded by Vouter Van Twiller, in the direction of the affairs of New Netherlands, proceeded to Holland, and thence to Sweden, where he succeeded in re- viving the plan of colonizing the Delaware, under the imme-
· 21st Dec. 1624.
Acrelius. Moulton.
+ 1626, July. ¥ 1627. § Campanius
16
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
diate authority of the government, then administered by the excellent Oxenstierna. In 1637 or 1638, an expedition was fitted out, under Minuit's command, consisting of the Key of Calman, a ship of war, and a transport named the Bird Grip, (Griphen,) carrying a clergyman, an engineer, and many set- tlers, with the necessary provisions, and merchandise for trade, and presents to the Indians .* Landing at Inlopen, the inner cape on the western shore of the Delaware bay, and delighted by its verdure and fertility, the Swedes named it Paradise point. Proceeding thence up the bay and river, they opened communications with the natives, and purchased from them the soil upon the western shore, from the capes to the falls at Sankikans, opposite to the present city of Tren- ton. Soon after (1638) they laid the foundation of the town and fort of Christina, at a place called by the natives Hopo- haccan, on the north of the stream Minquas, alias Suspe- cough, not far from its mouth.t Not a vestige of this town or fort remains, but a plan of both, drawn by the engineer Lindstrom, has been preserved by Campanius. In 1747, this spot was chosen to protect the country from an attack by the French and Spaniards; and, in throwing up a redoubt, at the distance of three feet below the surface, a Swedish coin of Christina was found by some workmen, among axes, shovels, and other implements .¿ The author of Bescryvinge van Ne- therlands, &c. asserts, that Minuit entered the Delaware under pretence of obtaining refreshment on his way to the West In- dies, but threw off his disguise by erecting this fort: . The vigi- lance of the Dutch soon discovered this intrusion. Kieft, who about this time succeeded Van Twiller as governor of New York, remonstrated with Minuit, by a letter dated May 6, 1638, asserting, that the whole South river of New Nether- lands had been in the Dutch possession many years, above and below Christina, beset with forts, and sealed with their blood.§ This remonstrance was unreasonable and unwarrant-
Bescryringe van Virginie. De Laet. Arcelius. Swedish MS. re- cords, communicated by the Rev. Nich. Collin. + Swedish records, MS.
# Kalm's Travels. Barker's Sketches.
§ N. Y. Records. Acre- lius. Smith's N. Y.
-
17
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
able, if, as Campanius asserts, the Swedes had obtained in 1731 the right of the Dutch by purchase. The allegation of this right may have induced forbearance on the part of the Dutch authorities, but did not deter them from erecting a fort at this period at the Hoarkills. The Swedes maintained a harmonious intercourse with the natives, but do not appear to have received immediately any additional force from Sweden. Minuit died in his fort at Christina about three years after his arrival .*
On the 15th of February, 1642-3, John Printz, a lieutenant- colonel of the Swedish army, having been appointed governor, accompanied by John Campanius arrived in the Delaware with another colony, on board a ship of war called the Fame, and a transport named the Swan. The new governor esta- blished himself on the island of Tennekong or Tinicum, where he erected a fort called New Gottenburg, a handsome and con- venient dwelling for his own use, denominated Printzhoff, or Printz Hall, and a church, which was consecrated in 1646. Around this nucleus the principal settlers reared their habita- tions. By his instructions from the Swedish government, the right of soil was acknowledged to be in the aborigines, and he was directed to confirm the contract made by Minuit, for the lands on the Delaware, from Henlopen to Sankikans, extend- ing inland so far as the necessities of the settlers should re- quire; to refrain from every species of injury to the natives, and to cultivate their favour, by a just and reciprocal commerce, supplying them with articles suitable to their wants; and to employ all friendly means to civilize and win them to the Christian faith.
Printz honestly pursued his instructions, which were also faithfully observed by his successors, and no hostilities actually commenced between them and the Indians. But the respect and affection of the latter were not unchangeable, since they nearly expired with the exhaustion of the Swedish stores. When the capacity for making presents had ceased, the
* Acrelius. Swedish Records, MSS,
3
18
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
-
savages held councils, in which they earnestly deliberated on the propriety of preserving or exterminating their newly settled neighbours. Justice and mercy prevailed. The old and the wise expatiated on the benevolence and utility of the strangers, and assured the young and violent that they could make no easy conquest of men armed with swords and mus- kets, and guarded by courage and vigilance. The ire of the Indians was particularly directed towards the clergyman, whom they supposed to be engaged, during divine service, in exhort- ing the Swedes against them; the minister alone speaking, whilst all others were silent.
Before Printz's departure from Sweden, an English settle- ment was known to exist on the eastern shore of the Dela- ware. About sixty persons had settled near Oijtsessing, Asa- mohocking, or Hog (Salem) creek, in 1640 or 1641. These were probably the pioneers of sir Edmund Ploeyden. The Swedes had purchased from the Indians all the land, from Cape May to Narriticon, or Rackoon creek, for the purpose of bringing them under their dominion, and Printz was com- manded to attach the English to him, or to procure their re- moval without violence .* But these instructions were not obeyed, since we are told, that the Dutch and Swedes united to expel the English, and that the latter, assuming the task of keeping out the intruders, possessed themselves of their settlement, and erected a fort, which they called Elftsborg, or Elsinborg. 1 Acrelius gives another version of the erection of this fort, assuring us that it was reared after the building of fort Kasimer in 1651, as a counterpoise to the Dutch power acquired by that fortress; and that the guns of Elsinborg com- pelled the Hollanders to lower their flag from the mast head of the passing vessels, which was taken in great dudgeon, and proved one of the moving causes of their subsequent wrath, so fatal to the dominion of the Swedes. ¿ Be this as it may, all authors agree that the Swedes were driven out by an invincible foe; that the moschettos, overwhelming in
# Acrelius.
+ Beschryvinge Van Virginie. Smith's New Jersey. ¿ Acrelius.
1
19
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
numbers, and incomparable for pertinacious activity, obtained exclusive possession of the fort; and that the discomfited Swedes gave the name of the enemy to the abandoned posi- tion, and called it Moschettosburg.
The Salem settlers were not the only Englishmen who endeavoured, at this time, to establish themselves in the vi- cinity of the Delaware. A colony, seated under the patent of lord Baltimore, was discovered on the Schuylkill, and the watchful Kieft despatched two sloops to expel them, which appears to have been effected without difficulty. His in- structions, dated May 22, 1642, to Jan Jansen Alpendam, who commanded the expedition, are on record, and strongly assert the right of the Dutch, both to the soil and trade there .*
The Swedish government anticipated resistance from the Dutch West India company, of whose pretensions to the shores of the Delaware they were well aware. Printz was instructed to protest against their claims, supported, as was admitted, by the actual possession of fort Nassau, then garri- soned by twenty men; and, in case of hostile efforts on their part, to resist to the uttermost.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.