History of Montgomery & Fulton Counties byF. W. Beers & Co. Chapter 2

OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

CHAPTER II

THE DUTCH REGIME IN NEW YORK-RIVAL CLAIMS OF THE ENGLISH-THE LATTER PREVAIL.

To encourage immigration, in 1629 an ordinance was adopted, granting to any member of the company, who within four years should plant a colony of fifty persons, upwards of fifteen years old, the privilege of selecting a tract of land sixteen miles in length, on any navigable stream, and inland as far as he should choose, with the title of Patroon, denoting something lordly in rank and means. The Patroons on their part were to buy of the Indians the right to the lands selected, maintain a minister and school master, and pay duty on trade carried on by them, but the company reserved the exclusive right to the fur trade, which was becoming extensive, and attracting dealers from the banks of the St.Lawrence. Several availed themselves of this privilege, among whom were Michael Pauw and Killian Van Rensselaer, the former securing Staten Island and a large tract on the Jersey shore, and the latter a large tract on the Hudson river, now the counties of Albany and Rensselaer. Although the Patroons were excluded in their charter by the company from participating in the fur trade, their interference brought on a controversy, and Minuit, who it was thought favored their pretensions, was recalled. The vessel in which he sailed was detained by the English authorities at Plymouth, on the charge that he had traded and obtained her cargo in territory subject to England, and thus the respective claims of the English and Dutch to the title of New Netherlands were again called in question. The Dutch relied on the discoveries made by Hudson, and their immediate occupation ratified by charter; and the English on the prior discovery by Cabot and the grant of James I. covering the territory. No final settlement being obtained, the question was deferred ; and in April, 1633, Wouter Van Twiller arrived at New Amsterdam as the new Director-General, bringing with him Everardus Bogardus, a clergyman, Adam Roelandsen, the first schoolmaster to the colony, and a small military force, with which he subsequently made considerable display. Soon after assuming the government, he directed Jacob Van Corlaer to purchase a tract of land of the Indians on the Connecticut river, near the present city of Hartford. The English colonies earnestly remonstrated against this invasion of their territory, but without effect. The Plymouth colony secured a tract of the Indians at Windsor, and sent Lieutenant William Holmes with a force to take possession and commence a settlement. Van Corlaer being unable to oppose them with any effect, Van Twiller sent a force of soldiers to disperse them. The courage of the Dutch commander forsook him on perceiving that they were prepared to meet him, and he refrained from trying to dislodge them. Better success, however, attended him in an expedition against the Virginia colonists. A band of these, under the lead ofGeorge Holmes, had taken possession of Fort Nassau on the Delawareriver. Van Twiller immediately sent a force there, which captured and brought them as prisoners to Fort Amsterdam. During his administration, Jacob Eelkins, who had formerly been an agent for the company at Fort Orange, arrived at Manhattan as supercargo of an English vessel engaged in the fur trade. Van Twiller refused to let him proceed without a licensefrom the company, which Eelkins declined to present; but claiming aright to trade with the Indians as an Englishman, to whom the territory belonged, he proceeded up the river to Fort Orange, in defiance of the Governor, and commenced trading with them. Van Twiller, in great indignation, dispatched a force after him, which took possession of his wares, and bringing his vessel back, sent it out to sea. He was so mindful of his own interests, that he became the wealthiest land-holder in the province. Vehemently passionate, he became involved in a bitter quarrel with Bogardus the clergyman, and with Van Dincklagen, a member of his council.The latter had very justly complained of his rapacity, for which he sent him a prisoner to Holland, on a charge of contumacy. His corruption andincompetency to govern becoming apparent, he was recalled, and William Kieft, in 1638, succeeded him, in the government of the colony.

The company in the following year obtained a new charter, limiting the Patroons to four miles on the rivers and eight inland. Other efforts were made to encourage immigration. Settlements were extending in all directions, and the province was rapidly filling with inhabitants. The Governor, however, instead of proving useful in promoting the prosperity of the colony with the opportunities presented, became involved in difficulties with the English settlements and the neighboring Indian tribes, which finally brought the colony to the verge of extirpation. By injudicious management and cruelty to the Indians, they were incited to revenge and relentless war on the whites. A robbery having been committed, a tribe of Indians, though innocent, were suspected; and Kieft sent an armed force against them, killing several of their number and destroying their property. The Indiansretaliated for this unprovoked attack by murdering some settlers and burning their buildings. The chiefs refused to give satisfaction for these out rages, and Kieft resolved on a war against them. An Indian, whose uncle had been killed by the whites a number of years before, vowed revenge, and killed a Dutchman at Manhattan. Kieft sent a force against his tribe, with orders to exterminate them. Seeing their danger, they sued for peace. Before the terms of a treaty had been agreed upon, a warrior, who had been made drunk and then robbed by the whites, upon recovering his senses, killed two of the Dutch. Just at this time the River Indians, in a conflict with the Mohawks, were compelled to take refuge on the Hudson opposite Manhattan, and solicit protection from their enemies, but instead of its being granted, a party under the sanction of Kieft, and against the remonstrance of the best citizens, went over to massacre them. This wicked and inhuman outrage was perpetrated at midnight, and nearly a hundred of these helpless and unsuspecting fugitives were murdered or driven into the river to perish. A desperate and bloody war was the result. The neighboring tribes joined to avenge this outrage. The dwellings of the settlers were burned, their fields desolated, and themselves shot by their lurking foes. Their settlements were attacked in every direction, and terror, despair and death prevailed. Captain John Underbill, who had gained some notoriety in Indian warfare, was appointed to command their forces, and finally succeeded in bringing the Indians to submission, and in 1645 a treaty of peace was concluded. An earnest appeal was made for the recall of Kieft, who had been the cause of this calamitous war, which was favorably received, and Peter Stuyvesant, who was appointed to succeed him, took possession of the government May 11th, 1647. He had been in the service of the company as Director-General of Curacoa. The controversy between the Dutch and English settlements still continuing, arbitrators were appointed to adjust their claims. The eastern part of Long Island was assigned to the English. A line was specified for the boundary between the Connecticut and New Netherland colonies, but it was unsatisfactory to the Dutch. In 1652 a municipal government was established for Manhattan, consisting of a revenue agent, to be appointed by the company, and two burgomasters and five inferior magistrates to be elected by the people, and to have jurisdiction, except in capital cases. The Swedes since the early part of Kieft's administration had been encroaching upon the Dutch territory on the Delaware; and Stuyvesant, by order of the company, went against them with an armed force, recaptured the forts, and again resumed possession of the territory. While on this expedition, one of the Indians having been shot by a settler, the savages appeared at Manhattan in canoes, killed the offender, and crossing to the Jersey shore and Staten Island, began killing other settlers and destroying their property. Stuyvesant returned, and by conciliatory measures restored peace.

In 1664 Charles II. of England, regardless of the claims of the Dutch to New Netherlands, granted to his brother, Duke of York and Albany, afterwards James II.,'the whole country from the Connecticut to the Delaware, including the entire Dutch possessions. A fleet was sent out by the Duke under Colonel Richard Nichols, to enforce his claim and take possession of the Dutch settlements. Arriving in the bay he demanded a surrender, which Stuyvesant at first indignantly refused, but because of the unwillingness of the colonists to fight in his defense and of their insisting upon capitulation, together with the favorable nature of the terms offered, he was induced to yield, and on the 3d of September, 1664, the province was surrendered, and the government of the colony passed into the hands of the English. The names of New Netherlands and New Amsterdam were changed to New York, and Fort Orange to Albany. It is supposed that at this time the province contained about six thousand inhabitants. Soon after the surrender, the Duke conveyed to Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret what now constitutes the State of New Jersey, over which a separate proprietary government was established. In 1682 William Penn purchased the settlements on the Delaware, which were annexed to Pennsylvania. Nichols, who became Governor, devoted much time to confirming grants under the Dutch government by issuing new ones, and thus making a heavy expense to the land owners. He changed the form of the municipal government June i2th, 1666, by granting them a city charter, and placing the executive power in the hands of a mayor, aldermen and sheriff, all to be appointed by the Governor. An invasion from Holland had been feared, and preparations for defense had incurred an increase of taxation, of which the colony greatly complained, in consequence of which, he resigned his office in 1668, and Colonel Francis Lovelace was appointed to succeed him. Holland being involved in a war with England, an opportunity was presented for the Dutch to regain their lost possessions in America, and for that purpose they sent out a squadron which anchored at Staten Island July 3oth, 1673. The fort was in charge of Captain John Manning, who treacherously surrendered without making any effort to resist. The city was again in possession of the Dutch, and Captain Anthony Clove in command of the province. Manning was afterward tried and convicted by court-martial for cowardice and treachery, and adjudged to have his sword broken over his head in front of the City Hall, and to be incapacitated from holding any office. Under Clove, the Dutch claims to the province were reasserted, and preparations made for a vigorous defense, in case of an attempt on the part of the English for its recapture; but by the provisions of a peace concluded February 9th, 1674, the province reverted to the English. To silence all controversy respecting his claims, the Duke obtained a new patent from the King to confirm the one granted in 1664, and commissioned Major Edmund Andros as Governor. His arbitrary course made his administration very unpopular. He endeavored to extend his jurisdiction to the Connecticut river, but his claims were stoutly resisted by the people of that province, and he finally concluded to abandon the design. He quarreled with and disputed the right of Philip Carteret, who administered the government of East Jersey, arresting and bringing him prisoner to New York. For this act the proprietors of the New Jersey government preferred charges against him, which he was summoned to England to answer. He returned, to continue his oppressions, but the resistance of the people against him was so strong that he was recalled, and Thomas Dongan appointed as his successor, who arrived August 27th, 1683. Through the influence of William Penn, he was instructed to organize a popular assembly, and accordingly, soon after his arrival, issued orders for the choosing of representatives. This, the first Colonial Assembly of New York, was convened October 17th, 1683, and consisted of a council of ten, and seventeen representatives. A charter of liberties was framed, vesting the supreme legislative power in the Governor and council, and the people in general assembly, conferring the right of suffrage on the freeholders without restraint; providing that no freeman should suffer but by judgment of his peers, and that all trials should be by a jury of twelve men. The imposition of any tax without the consent of the assembly was prohibited. Martial law was not to exist, and neither soldiers nor seamen were to be quartered on the inhabitants against their will. The province was divided into counties, and the representatives were apportioned according to the population.