History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch

Front matter

THE PUBLISHERS BEG THE LIBERTY OF PRESENTING THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS WITH RES- PECT TO THE VALUE OF THE ACCOMPANYING HIS- TORY OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF NEW-YORK. From the Honorable Col. N. S. Benton, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Common Schools. Albany, December 13th, 1S45. Dear Sir : — I have read your " History of New Netherland," with considerable attention, and am much pleased with it. The plan ofthe work and order of arrangement appear to me, well adapted to present to the reader, in the most acceptable form, the interesting details of our early Colonial History. I take great pleasure in commending it to public patronage. I am, very respectfully, yours, N. S. BENTON. Dr. E B. O'Callaghan. I have read, with much pleasure and interest, a considerable part of Dr. O'Callaghan's History of New Netherland.

The materials seem to have been sought and selected with great care and diligence ; and the work, as far as I have perused the manuscript, mnnifests scrupu lous accuracy, and a respectful consideration of the merits ofthe early colonists, who, to improve their condition, left their, and their fathers' homes, and encountered the privations and hardships incident to a settlement in the wilds ofthe New World. The author appears also to cherish a just estimate of the character of their descendants, among whom flourished such men as Arendt Van Corlear, Peter and Philip Schuy ler. Dr. O'Callaghan's labor and researches have very opportunely co incided with the recent effort of the government of the State of New- York to collect materials for its History; and the documents procured by the State have aided him in preparing, as it seems tome, as accurate and complete a history of the Dutch colonial period, as could reasonably be expected.

I have no doubt that the work will prove highly gratifying to all who take an interest in the early history of our country, and to all who rightly view the bearing and influence of its settlement, by Europeans, on the progress of humanity. H. BLEECKER. Albany, 27th June, 1845. I have read with great interest the greater part of the MS. His tory of. the New Netherlands, prepared by Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, of this city. I can vouch for the accuracy of his knowledge of the Dutch language — for his unwearied industry displayed during several years in examining every available printed and manuscript au thority, and I add with great diffidence, my belief that the work must prove acceptable to the public, not only for the many new facts con tained in it, but the interesting manner in which they are brought together.

Preface

. Circumstances of a public nature induced the writer of the following pages to enter, several years ago, into a somewhat extensive course of reading, with a view to determine, for his own satisfaction, the nature, as well as the extent of the constitutional rights enjoyed by the American Colonies, previous to the Revolution of 1776. Such an inquiry necessarily led to the investigation, not only of the amount of civil liberty which the colonists possessed at that time, but to the examination of the grounds on which that liberty rested, so as to distinguish between what had been guarantied by charter and the common law, and that which the colonists won for themselves in the course of their struggles against the prerogatives claimed by the Crown, and the usurpations sanctioned by Parliament.

To master this subject, the histories of the several Colonies, beginning with Virgi nia, and terminating with Georgia, were examined, in connection with the Colonial Charters, the Journals of the Colonial Assemblies, and the laws of the several Provinces, so far as these were accessible. The history of the Province of New York happened, not from any design, but by accident, to have been one of the last taken up, and then the author discovered that he could not go farther back than the year 1664. Smith and others alluded to the existence of a regular govern-

PREFACE.

. ment previous to that date, and Chalmers admitted that the English, after the surrender, " prudently copied what had been already established by the Dutch," but what the institutions were which the conquerors, instead of changing, "prudently copied," — what was the history of the country, or the character of its first settlers, he was unable to ascertain. Such a termination to his inquiry was calculated to excite, not to satisfy, curiosity. Here was a country possessing all the evidences of having been settled for half a century before its submission to the Duke of York. Well built towns, with a goodly number of inhabitants ;l richly cultivated farms, and a moral, peaceable, and reli gious community, whose history was to be gleaned almost entirely from writers, who, by their position, the circumstances in which they were placed, their habits of thought, associations, and sympathies, were calculated rather to prejudice the mind, than to direct the judgment to a correct conclusion.

The determination was at once taken to examine this apparently unexplored region, and though the writer had no pretensions to teach others, yet he was desirous to learn for himself, who those men were, who, leaving the comforts of home, and of civilized society, first plunged into the depths of the forests on these coasts, and bat tled against the repulsive circumstances by which they were surrounded ; what were the steps which they adopted to gain the confidence, or overcome the enmity of the Aborigines ; what their sufferings and their social condition ; whether they were worthy the land which gave them birth, or whether, as the humor of some has caused many to believe, they merely vegetated this 1 Chalmers states, in his Political Annals, that the number of houses in the City of New York, at the time of the surrender, was 343, and of inhabitants 3,430.

PREFACE.

. 7 life through, leaving no impress on the times in which they lived, nor on the country they inhabited. On the threshold of this inquiry he was met by the assertion, that " the Dutch Colonial Annals are of a tame and pacific character, and generally dry and uninterest ing."1 This assurance did not, however, deter him from proceeding. He patiently analyzed between twenty and thirty volumes of Manuscript Records in the Sec retary of State's office at Albany, and became soon convinced, maugre the peculiarity of the translation, that the opinion so confidently enunciated, was hastily formed, and did not accord with the evidence furnished by the papers left us by our Dutch predecessors. Instead of being " tame, pacific, dry, and uninteresting," they were found teeming with every material which could render historical research a work of pleasure and im provement.

When the contents of those volumes had been examined, the propriety of arranging the notes for publica tion was suggested. The writer, by this time, had become himself interested in the subject, and he therefore wil lingly set about this task. He was thus employed when Mr. Brodhead, whose very valuable labors, as Histori cal Agent, cannot be too highly appreciated, sent home sixteen volumes of Dutch documents which he had collected in Holland. It became necessary to collate what ever new facts, or connecting links these contained, and to examine various private papers which had been placed in the hands of the author. To render all these available, and to avoid what the sententious Benson calls " the indiscretion of attempting the history of this country not well versed in the Dutch," 1 Chancellor Kent's Anniversary Disc, before N. Y. Hist. Soc, 1828, p. 8.

PREFACE.

. a knowledge of that language became now indispensa ble. This difficulty having been surmounted, the present volume was at length completed, bringing the History of New Netherland down to 1647, or the end of Director Kieft's administration. In the course of composition many temptations offered to enter into lengthy disquisitions on points of minor importance, regarding which some difference of opinion exists ; and to clothe the narrative with additional, though not perfectly legitimate, interest, by embodying traditions which might flatter national pride, yet not accord altogether with historical strictness. The*se were avoided, for the one would only fatigue, and the other was foreign to the author's plan — to admit such facts only as were supported by unexceptionable evidence. The character of that evidence will be seen by the Notes and Appendix, which, though arranged in such a manner as not to interrupt the progress of the general reader, who may not, perhaps, have either leisure or disposition to look for authorities, will, it is hoped, prove useful to those who may follow in the same field of in vestigation.

Like blazed trees, they will, at least, point out to the future traveller the path of those pioneers who have preceded him in the forest, affording the benefit, at one and the same time, of their errors and their experience.1 1 Ab the titles of some of the authorities are abridged, it may be proper to observe that — " Alb. Ree." refers to Van der Kemp's Translation of the Dutch Documents in tho office of the Secretary of State. " Hoi. Doc," to the Dutch MSS. brought from Holland by Mr. Brodhead, and deposited in the same department. " Lond. Doc," to the MSS. obtained by the same gentleman in England, and deposited also with the Secretary of State. For translations of Van der Donck's Beschryv. van N. N. ; Lambrechten's N. N. ; De Vries' Korte Historiael ; and Acrelius' History of New Sweden, the author is indebted to the Collections of the New York Historical Society.

PREFACE.

. 9 In reviewing the difficulties which have been sur mounted, it would be wrong to forget those whose courtesy has done much to facilitate the progress of this work. Though it may seem invidious to par ticularize where all have been equally kind, it is only justice to mention that the Honorable S. Young, and the Honorable N. S. Benton, Secretaries of State, and the several gentlemen connected with that department, have, in the most polite manner, afforded every facility for making extracts from the records in that office. The author is indebted to the Honorable Mr. Corning, one of the Trustees of the State Library, and to the Librarian of the Albany Institute, for the privilege of consulting, at his own residence, many rare historical works which would not have been, otherwise, easy of access.

To General Stephen van Rensselaer he is beholden, like wise, in a special degree, for the very handsome and unreserved manner in which that gentleman placed in his hands, his extensive and valuable collection of MSS., from which the chapter on the early settlement of Rens selaerswyck has been almost exclusively compiled, and many interesting papers borrowed, which are now given, for the first time, to the public. From the account books and court records of that " Colonie" have, also, been ar ranged the prices of imported merchandise, stock, and country produce ; the list of the settlers under the first Patroon, and other tables which will be found in the Appendix. The Map of New Netherland, which accompanies this volume, is in every particular an exact sac-simile of one of a very ancient date, discovered at the Hague, by Mr. Brodhead, in 1841, and is now published for the first time. That of Rensselaerswyck is a copy, on a reduced scale, of one drawn in 1630, by Gillis van Schen-

PREFACE.

. del. The author is indebted for the draft of it to A. Douw Lansing, Esq. Whether, with all these valuable accessories, the work be worthy of the subject, it is now for others to say. Should its reception be such as to warrant the continuance of the author's labors, the remainder of the History of New Netherland, comprising the administration of Director Stuyvesant, will follow, as soon as the materials which have accumulated can be arranged and prepared for the press. In the mean time, as truth and historical justice are his main objects, the author hopes that those families, who possess ancient papers, however insignifi cant, will assist so far as to place them, for a limited sea son, at his disposal, receiving his assurance, that they shall be safely returned whenever required. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Discovery of America by Columbus — Jean and Sebastian Cabot visit the coast and claim the country for the King of England — Verrazzano enters the Bay of New York — Revolt of the Seven United Provinces from Spain — Interruption of Dutch commerce in consequence — The Dutch determine to compete with the Spaniards in the trade with India — Successive attempts to. carry out that project — Willem Barentszoon and Jacob Heemskirk try to find a northern passage to India and fail Repeat the attempt, and are again unsuccessful — A third effort made — Heemskirk winters in Nova Zembla — Returns to Holland — Project of finding a passage to India by the North abandoned — Several Dutch merchants send expeditions to the West Indies — Vessels in the employ of the Greenland Company said to have visited New Netherland, and to have built forts on the North and South rivers there, for the purpose of shelter for the crew in winter— The Company of Foreign Countries formed in Holland — Send four ships to India by way of the Cape— Expedition successful— Other expeditions follow — Dutch East India Company incorporated—A Dutch West India Company proposed— Plan therefor drawn up and published— Favorably received— Project interrupted by the truce with Spain- Dutch visit the River of Canada in search of furs — A private association in London resolve to look for a north passage to India— Dispatch a ship under command of Henry Hudson ; who makes two voyages to the north, but is unsuccessful- Hudson proceeds to Holland— Is patronised by the Dutch East India Company- Sails from Amsterdam, in the Half Moon, on a voyage in search of a northwest passage to China and India Page CONTENTS.

CHA PTER II. Hudson sails from the Texel— Arrives off Newfoundland— Reaches the coast of America in the lat. of 41°— Proceeds thence south to Cape Cod, which he calls New Holland— Arrives at the Chesapeake — Returns north and discovers a great bay in latitude 39° — Continues his northward course — Descries the Highlands of Navesinck— Rounds Sandy Hook, and enters the Great North River of New Netherland — Has communication with the Indians on the west side of the bay- Appearance of the country — Continues his course upward towards a narrow river — Sends his mate to sound the channel, who comes into collision with the natives and is killed — Hudson retains two Indians as hostages — Explores the river — Goes ashore in the neighborhood of Castleton on a visit to an Indian chief, by whom he is hospitably entertained — Concludes his exploration of the river, and turns back — Tries an experiment on some of the natives — Is the first European who introduces intoxicating liquors among the Indians — Continues his downward course — Gets again into collision with the savages, several of whom are killed — Leaves the mouth of the Great River, and arrives in England — Sends an account of his discovery to Holland — Proposes to undertake a new voyage — Is ordered to Holland, where he arrives in the following year — The Dutch decline his proposition, and he re-enters the service of the London Company Pago 33

Chapter III

Boundaries of the Dutch discoveries — Rivers therein — Appearance and condition of the country — The trees — Fruits — Plants — Wild Animals — Birds — Aquatic fowls — Fish — Reptiles — Natives of the country — Enumeration of the various tribes — Their physical appearance — Mode of hunting — Agriculture — Food — Clothing — Ornaments — Dwellings — Furniture — Villages — Canoes — Indian Women — Marriage — Polygamy — Travail— -Political arrangements among the Indians — Wars — Weapons — Treatment of prisoners — Treaties of peace — Circulating Medium — Burial of the dead — Religious opinions — Manittous — Immortality of the soul— Superstitions Opinions of the creation — Medicine men — Method of treating disease — Amusements — Gambling — Feeble means of resistance against the superior powers of the white men 43

Chapter IV

Truce between the Dutch and Spaniards — Crisis favorable for Hudson's discovery Private adventurers resolve to send a ship to the Great River — Erect forts thereupon — Establishment on the island of Manhattan under Hendrick Corstiaensen Visited by Captain Argal, and obliged to acknowledge its dependence on the crown of England — States General grant exclusive rights to all who discover new countries — Edict of 27th March, 1G14 — Dutch send Adriaen Block, Hendrick Corstiaensen, and Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, with five ships, in search of new lands— They proceed to the mouth of the Great River of the Manhattans — Block's vessel burnt — Builds the Restless — Explores the East River — Discovers the Freshwater River CONTENTS. 13 &c — Passes through the Sound and meets Corstiaensen — Returns home — Progress of Mey — His discoveries — Captain Hendricksen continues to explore the country in the Restless — Reports of discoveries laid before the States General — The country acquires, for the first time, the name of New Netherland — Charter or grant of October, 1614, to United New Netherland Company — Rivier van den Vorst Mauritius — Forts erected at each extremity thereof — Dutch drive an active trade among the Indians — Captain Hendricksen returns to Holland — His report — Expiration of the charter of Oct., 1614 — Fort removed from Castle Island to the Noordtman's Kill Treaty of the Dutch with the Five Nations — Causes leading thereto, and importance thereof Page 67

Chapter V

The New Netherland Company petition for renewal of their charter — The ship Scheld sent to Manhattes — That country becomes more generally known— Attention of the Puritans directed thither — Review of the causes which drove these people to Holland — Desire to remove to America — The Rev. Mr. Robinson, their minister, intimates their wish to emigrate to New Netherland — The managers of the Dutch Trading Company lay this application before the States General and the Prince of Orange — Memorial to his Royal Highness on this occasion — Termination of the twelve years' truce — Request of the New Netherland Company on behalf of the Puritans decidedly refused — Captain Mey returns to Holland — Petitions for exclusive right to new countries he had discovered — Opposed — Incorporation of the Dutch West India Company 81

Book II. From The Incorporation Of The Dutch West India Company, To

THE OPENING OF THE FUR, OR INDIAN, TRADE TO THE INHABIT- ANTS OF NEW NETHERLAND. 1621—1638.

Chapter I

Charter of West India Company — Its various provisions — Comparison between it and those granted to other Companies for making settlements in America — Company do not commence operations immediately — Various vessels licensed to proceed, meanwhile, to New Netherland — Excite considerable jealousy among the English interested in planting Virginia and New England, who remonstrate to King James against the Dutch — English Ambassador at the Hague urges the States General to stay the departure of the Dutch ships — Their High Mightinesses disclaim all knowledge of the enterprise — English Ambassador's explanation thereupon to the CONTENTS. King— Dutch vessels proceed, notwithstanding, on their voyage — Several families desire to move to New Netherland— States General refer the matter to the West India Company— They approve of the design, but suggest that its execution be postponed until a Director General be appointed .... Rage 89

Chapter II

The West India Company takes possession of New Netherland— Several settlers and servants sent out — Fort Nassau built on South River — Fort Orange on the river Mauritius — Peter Minuit, of Wesel, arrives in the country as Director-general, accompanied by a colony of Walloons — First settlement on Long Island — First white child born — Members of Minuit's council — Duties of schout-fiscaal — First schout-fiscaal — Colonial secretary — Imports and exports — Dutch purchase island of Manhattans and adjoining islands from the Indians — A blockhouse erected on Manhattan Island, and called Fort Amsterdam — Murder of an Indian by some of Minuit's servants — Trade opened with the English settlement at New Plymouth — Correspondence and intercourse with that colony — Dutch alarmed at threats thrown out by their English neighbors — Apply to directors in Holland for a military force — Charles I. extends to the ships of the West India Company the privileges conferred by the treaty of Southampton on the vessels of the States General — Progress of trade — Renewed efforts in Holland to promote the settlement of New Netherland — The Assembly of the XIX. determine to establish lordships or " colonies" there — Heyn's victory over the Spanish silver fleet — Charter to Patroons in New Netherland 99

Chapter III

Several directors of the West India Company acquire patroonships, or " colonies," in New Netherland — Associations formed to settle Zwanendal and Rensselaerswyck — Patroons' colonies confirmed and " sealed with the seal of New Netherland" — Quarrels between Directors of the Company and Patroons — Privileges granted to Patroons called into doubt — Director Minuit recalled — English Companies grant patents for Massachusetts and Connecticut — Evince considerable jealousy of the Dutch— The vessel in which Minuit and other servants of the Company are returning to Holland, is seized at Plymouth by order of the British government, for having traded to, and obtained her cargo in, countries subject to the king of England — Audience of the Dutch ambassadors with Charles I. in consequence — They demand the release of the Company's ship — The king declines — The West India Company call the attention of the States General to the matter — Lay before their High Mightinesses a deduction of their title to New Netherland — The States General resolve to maintain the Company's right to that country — Lengthy reply of Charles I. and the Lords Commissioners of England to the Dutch remonstrance Refuse to permit the Dutch to encroach on and usurp one of his Majesty's colonies unless they consent to submit to his Majesty's government — The Company's ship released' " saving his Majesty's rights" — Continued misunderstanding between the Directors of the West India Company and the Patroons — Commissaries sent to the several " colonies" belonging to Patroons, to prevent the latter interfering in the fur-trade Colonie of Zwanendal destroyed by the savages — De Vries visits South River and makes peace with the Indians — Profitable state of trade with New Netherland CONTENTS. 15

Chapter IV

Wouter van Twiller appointed Director-general — Arrives in New Netherland — His council — Other officers of the company in that country — First clergyman and first schoolmaster in New Amsterdam — An English vessel visits the Manhattans for the purpose of trading with the Indians on the Hudson's River — Director and council refuse her permission to ascend the river — Sails to Fort Orange, notwithstanding — Opens a trade with the natives thereabout — Is opposed by the commissary at that post — Indians prefer trading with the English factor, who had been in the Dutch service, several years before, in that quarter — -Three vessels arrive with troops from Fort Amsterdam, to prevent the English trading with the Indians- Pull down the English tent — Force their people and goods on board their ship, which they convoy out of the river — Damages inflicted on the English — Quarrel between two English skippers at the Manhattans — Vau Twiller opposes De Vries, who wishes to visit the Sound — Contentions in consequence — De Vries's opinions of the functionaries at Fort Amsterdam — Notelman, schout-fiscaal, superseded — Is succeeded by Van Dinclage — Van Twiller determines to build a fort on the Fresh River — Sketch of the quarrels between the Indians there — Tract of country called Conneticock purchased — Deed of sale — Fort Good Hope built — New Plymouth people determine to build a trading-house on the Fresh River — Proceedings in consequence — Van Twiller protests — -This protest disregarded — Writes to the XIX. — Attempts to dislodge the English by force ; without success — Improvements in New Amsterdam — -New fort — Church and other houses erected — Improvements at Fort Orange and Fort Nassau — Schuylkill purchased — Resources of the West India Company — Trade of New Netherland Page 141

Chapter V

Continued misunderstanding between the Directors and the Patroons — Pretensions of the respective parties — Referred to the States General — Committee appointed to investigate the same — Articles submitted by the Patroons containing their demands — Replications of the Company — Rejoinder on the part of Patroons — Owners of the William apply to Dutch ambassadors at London for damages — Threaten to apply to the king in council — Application communicated to States General — Referred to the Assembly of the XIX. — Memorial of the latter in reply — Request that the matter be referred to the Dutch and English ambassadors— States General decline to interfere— Quarrel between Van Twiller and Minister Bogardus— Peace made with the Raritans — Imports and Exports — Superintendent over Pavonia arrives in New Netherland 158

Chapter VI

Encroachments of the New England people on New Netherland— Tear down the arms of the States General at Kievitts Hoeck— Van Twiller protests against the intruders, and makes representations to the directors— The English send Governor Winslow to London to complain against the Dutch— He is imprisoned there— Eng- CONTENTS. lish attempt a settlement on the South River— Are taken prisoners and sent to the Manhattans — First English settlers in New Amsterdam — Fort Amsterdam finished — Irregularities there — Director-general and several members of his council appro priate to themselves large quantities of the public domain — Settlement of Flatlands, or New Amersfoort commenced — Van Dinclage, schout-fiscaal, opposes Van Twil ler—Is dismissed from office— Returns to Holland— Ulrich Lupold appointed in his place — Van Dinclage brings the affairs of New Netherland before the States Gen eral — Assembly of the XIX. remove Van Twiller — Willem Kieft appointed direc tor-general of New Netherland — Prices at New Amsterdam and on the Connecti cut — Van Twiller adds a number of islands to his estates — States General call the attention of the company to the retrograding condition of New Netherland — Re quire report thereupon — Queries submitted to the directors — Their answers — Propose surrendering the Indian trade — Unfavorable state of the colony — Causes thereof — States General insist on the adoption of some plan to encourage emigration to and the settlement of the country, so that New Netherland may not be lost or given away ... ........ Page 168

Chapter VII

Arrival of Willem Kieft, third Director-general — His council — Colonial Secretary, and schout-fiscaal — Other public officers — Their salaries — Condition of New Amsterdam — Irregularities there — Proclamations of director and council— Organization of court of justice — Proclamation against drunkenness — Arrival of immigrants — Purchase of land on Long Island — State of public morals — Regulations for the inspection of New Netherland tobacco — Rights of the Dutch threatened in the south — Swedish West India Company formed — Pieter Minuit, former director of New Netherland, appointed director of New Sweden— Arrives at the Delaware with some Swedes — Is boarded by the Dutch Commissary — Opens a trade with the natives — Purchases land and erects Fort Christina — Kieft protests against him several times, but in vain — Minuit returns to Sweden, leaving a colony of twenty men behind — Swedish ship seized in Holland on her return from " the West Indies" — Is released — States General urge, the permanent settlement of New Netherland — New articles and conditions proposed by the Amsterdam chamber — a " new project" also submitted by parties friendly to the Patroons — Patroons seek to enlarge their privileges, and to reserve the country for manors and lordships — States General disapprove of both these plans— Proclamation opening the trade in New Netherland, and abolishing the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by the West India Company CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Consequences of the opening of the trade — Encouragement to emigration — English settlers in New Netherland obliged to take an oath of allegiance — Further encroachments of the English — Settle New Haven — Hartford people oppose the Dutch at Fort Good Hope — Controversy between the parties — Grant of Long Island to the Earl of Stirling — An agent appointed by that nobleman to settle that island — Further purchases by the Dutch thereupon — English cross over and commence settlements on the east end of Long Island — Additional grants by the Dutch on the western extremity — Lupold removed from office — Cornelis van der Huygens appointed schout-fiscaal — Other appointments — Renewal of the differences between the English and the Dutch on the Connecticut — Change of commissary at Fort Hope The Norwalk Islands purchased by the Dutch — Additional purchases on Lon" Island — Earl Stirling's agent arrives at New Amsterdam — His pretensions disregarded — A party of English attempt a settlement west of Oyster Bay — Dutch expedition sent to prevent them — Prisoners taken and dismissed — Southampton and Southold commenced — English commence a settlement at Greenwich — Protested against— Proceedings in Holland regarding New Netherland— A new charter agreed upon by Assembly of the XIX.— Provisions thereof— Laid before the States General— Effects of opening the fur-trade on the Indians— Director Kieft determines to impose a tribute on them — Indians discontented— Occurrences at Staten Island— Property belonging to the company stolen— Kieft enraged against the Raritans— Sends an expedition against them— Attack— Result— Prices of sundry commodities at New Amsterdam— Still erected on Staten Island— Brandy and other Page 205 liquors manufactured