/H s / THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES A HISTORY OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN AND KINGS COUNTY BY STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER, M. A. LATE MEMBER OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY, THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND THE SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYNITBS EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY ALEXANDER BLACK AUTHOR OF " THE STORY OF OHIO," ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I. BROOKLYN bp Subscription 1894 Copyright, 1894, BY ANNIE A. OSTRANDER. All rights reserved. Chi? <$tntion is limitcb to ^ifac $unbreti PREFACE AT the time of his death, in 1885, Mr. Ostrander had completed considerable MS. for a history of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County; had prepared many chronological notes with a view to fuller writing, and had accumulated a mass of material in the form of transcripts, references, newspaper and other reports. It was his own understanding that a first volume of a proposed two-volume history might be regarded as well in hand, and that the wherewithal for the remaining chapters was advanced toward completion. At the outset of his undertaking the editor met the embarrassment of not finding any outline which might reveal the precise form in which the author intended to cast his work. Mr. Ostrander worked with a definite idea, but did not formulate this idea in writing, and only the completed expressions of this idea remained for the guidance of the editor. It became apparent that the author intended to rearrange and extend the matter for the earlier 610266 GEOGRAPHY iv PREFACE chapters. This matter was preserved in the form of a series of articles published in the Brooklyn "Eagle," during 1879-80, covering the period from the discovery by Hudson to the beginning of the Revolution. The degree of attention which these articles at tracted induced Mr. Ostrander to extend the series far beyond the range he originally in tended to give to them. As a result these articles were not precisely consecutive, nor was the matter so ordered as to adapt itself to book chapters without material changes. Without knowing the author's design in de tail, it was exceedingly difficult to effect these changes save upon lines which the natural symmetry of such a work seemed to suggest, and the editor has had no hesitation in so rearranging the material, and in changing such features of the narrative as had been temporarily essential to serial publication. For the middle period, extending from the opening of the Revolution to the time of the consolidation of Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, and Bushwick, the author left a full narrative, and considerable collateral material. Beyond this point the chapters were in an unfinished sketch. In putting together the elements of this part of the work, the editor has been actu- PREFACE V ated by a wish to follow, so far as it might be apparent, the author's aim and plan. Possibly there is no occasion to offer apology for those passages in the body of the work, and partic ularly in the last chapter on modern Brooklyn, in which the editor has carried the narrative beyond the date of Mr. Ostrander's death. The few instances in which this occurs are obviously justified by the exigencies of the work. Nor should there be need for any de fense on the part of the editor for the propor tions of different elements of the work as now presented. No two historical writers would agree as to essential proportions in such a matter, and, without consultation with the author, no editor could hope to do more than compromise between such intent as appeared in unfinished work before him, and such ideal as to himself seemed wise. Both author and editor have incurred obli gations to Stiles's histories of Brooklyn and Kings County ; to the " Notes " of Furman ; Field's " Historic Scenes " ; the Collections of the Long Island Historical Society ; the his tories of Thompson and Prime, and to other authorities to whom acknowledgment is offered in the notes and in the body of the work. The editor is indebted to the excellent alma- Vi PREFACE nacs of the " Eagle " and of the " Citizen " ; to the " Brooklyn Compendium," compiled by John Dykeman, Jr., and published by order of the Common Council in 1870; to the recent compilation, " The Eagle and Brooklyn," ed ited by Henry W. B. Howard and Arthur N. Jervis ; and to various local reports and publi cations which do not call for enumeration here. A. B. BROOKLYN, N. Y., March 5, 1894. CONTENTS PACK STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER xi CHAPTER I THE REGION OF BROOKLYN AT THE TIME OF THE DIS COVERY Geology and Conformation of Long Island. Evidences of the Glacial Period. Theory of the Glacial Action. "Back-Bone" of the Island. Earliest Historical De scription. Trees. Animal Life. Indian Tribes : Their Subjugation by the Iroquois ; Habits and Habitations . I CHAPTER II DISCOVERY AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS Early Voyagers. Henry Hudson. Attitude of Holland and Spain. Motives of Holland. Hudson's Reports. West India Company. Dutch on Manhattan Island. The Walloons and the Wallabout. Derivation of the Name Wallabout. First authentically recorded Settle ments on Long Island. The Van Corlaer Purchase. Bennett and Bentyn's Purchase. Joris Jansen de Rapalje. Van Twiller. West India Company's Pur chases on Long Island. East River Lands .... 16 CHAPTER III THE INDIANS AND THE EARLY SETTLERS The Dutch Policy toward the Indians. Puritan and Dutch Policy contrasted. Long Island Indians: Their Relations with the Whites. Kieft's Attacks on Pavonia and Corker's Hook. Uprising on Long Island. Over- viii CONTENTS tures for Peace. Mission to Rockaway of De Vries and Olfertsen. Restoration of Friendly Relations . . 42 CHAPTER IV THE BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 1643-1647 The Ferry and the Ferry Road. Settlement of Flatlands. Flatbush. Lady Deborah Moody and the Settlement of Gravesend. Early Settlements. The Name of Breuckelen. Henry C. Murphy's Comments. First Schepens and Schout. Commission from the Colonial Council. The Removal of Kieft. Arrival of Stuyve- sant 53 CHAPTER V DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE UNDER THE DUTCH 1647-1664 Beginning of Stuyvesant's Administration. Condition of the Colony. Character of the Early Dutch Houses. Household Arrangement. Dress. Funerals. Mar riages. The Mixture of Races. Slavery. Religion. Attitude of Stuyvesant toward Sects other than Dutch Reformed. Triumph of Liberal Ideas. First Churches in Kings County. Troubles over the Church Tax. First Schools. The Dutch and Popular Education. End of Dutch Rule 69 CHAPTER VI KINGS COUNTY AFTER THE ENGLISH CONQUEST 1665-1700 Assembly at Hempstead. The " Duke's Laws." Love lace. New York retaken by the Dutch. Colve be comes Governor, return of English Rule under the Treaty of 1674. Dongan and the Popular Assembly. De Sille. Journal of Dankers and Sluyter. The Ferry. A Dutch Dinner. The Schoolmaster and the Constable. CONTENTS ix William and Mary and the Leisler Revolution. Slough- ter appointed Governor. Execution of Leisler, and Subsequent Honors of a Public Reinterment. Long Island receives the name of Nassau. Development of Privateering. Captain Kidd visits and buries Treasure on Long Island. Bellomont and the Suppression of Piracy. First Trial for Treason 106 CHAPTER VII BROOKLYN BEFORE THE REVOLUTION I70I-I77S Brooklyn becomes the Largest Long Island Settlement. Division of the Common Lands. Regulations as to the Cutting of Lumber. The King's Highway laid out. Brooklyn Officials at the Opening of the Century. Lord Cornbury's Proclamation to Long Island Justices. Slavery. Encroachments on the Common Highway. The Trial of Zenger. Population in 1738. Fortifying Long Island. Newspaper Glimpses of pre-Revolution- ary Life. Ferries. Kings County in the Assembly and the Provincial Convention. Philip Livingston. General Town Meeting in Brooklyn 157 CHAPTER VIII KINGS COUNTY DURING THE REVOLUTION 1775-1783 Kings County at the Opening of the Revolution. Parti cipation in Events leading to the Crisis. Military Officers. Long Island Tories. The Continental and Provincial Congresses. Fortifying. Declaration of Independence. General Greene on Long Island. Draft in Kings County. Landing of the British at Grave- send. The Battle of Brooklyn. The Night Retreat. British Occupation of the County. Temptations to Disloyalty toward the American Cause, and Action of the People under British Pressure. The County in Congress. Losses in the Battle. Incidents. Prisoners billeted on the Inhabitants of Kings County. Long Island Refugees. Conspicuous Figures of the Period. Peace . 211 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME I PORTRAIT OF STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER . Frontispiece THE FIRST BROOKLYN FERRY .... Facing page 38 THE FERRY IN 1746 102 BROOKLYN CHURCH AND DUFFIELD HOUSE IN 1776. (Drawn from Illustrations in Stiles's History of Brooklyn) 174 FIRST FIRE ENGINE USED IN BROOKLYN. (Drawn from lithographic illustration in Manual of the Common Council, 1863) 206 BROOKLYN DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. (From the Map by Gen. Jeremiah Johnson) 260 STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER THE name of Stephen M. Ostrander has been honored in the city of Brooklyn as that of a man whose career exemplified a stainless citizenship. The honors have been not those of public favor offered in a citizen's lifetime, nor of memorials after he has passed away, but the monuments of a cherished memory, the recognition of a generous and wholesome personality. Stephen M. Ostrander was born February 3, 1832, in the city of Brooklyn. He was of Dutch stock, his earliest ancestor in this country being Pieter Ostrander, who came to America in 1659. When Pieter Ostrander reached America with his wife and three chil dren a son, Pieter Pieterszen, 1 and two daughters, Tryutje and Geertje Peter Stuy- vesant was Governor of New Amsterdam, and the settlement on Manhattan Island occupied a small patch of land on the southern point of the land now occupied by the vast metrop olis of New York. Settlers had been living on the Brooklyn side of the East River for a 1 See appendix in second volume for explanation of system of Dutch family names. xii STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER little more than twenty years, and the Indians were still a formidable obstacle to the peace of the struggling young communities. Dutch immigration had not yet been checked by that bloodless conquest of the British, which five years later transformed New Amsterdam from a Dutch to an English colony, and changed its name to New York. We afterward find Pieter Pieterszen living at Kingston. This second Pieter among the American Ostranders was born at Amsterdam, Holland, in 1650, and before coming to this country with his father had been enrolled as a cadet in the army of the Dutch king. In 1679 he married Rebecca, daughter of William Janszen Traphagen and Joostje Willems Van Northwyck. Among the children from this marriage was Hendrick Ostrander, born at New Hurley, N. Y., in 1693. Hendrick acquired the ownership of two thousand acres of land at Plattskill, which were evenly divided among his ten children. He was " a staunch adherent of the Reformed Dutch Church," 1 and served in the army previous to the Revo lution. His marriage to Elizabeth Van Bom- mel, of Kingston, took place in 1724. His son Christoffer, born and died at Plattskill, was the father of Stephen Ostrander, born at Poughkeepsie in 1769, and afterwards of Pompton Plains and Brunswick, N. J., who 1 American Ancestry, vol. v., 1890. STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER xiii was an eloquent minister of the Dutch Church. An illustration of the conditions prevailing at this period is offered by the fact that Stephen Ostrander preached in both English and Dutch. The clerical Ostrander, who made an in teresting reputation as a preacher in the early part of the present century, married Maria Duryea in 1796. His son, Abraham Duryea Ostrander, born at Pompton Plains in the following year, came to New York in his twelfth year, and began an energetic business career. From his earliest years he was of a studious tendency, and his self-acquired learn ing gave him an excellent mental equipment. He became a ripe scholar and influential citi zen. For many years he led the first Sunday school in the Reformed Dutch Church of Brooklyn (corner of William and Fulton streets), walking to the meeting-place from his home at Flatbush. In 1820, he married Margaret T. Wilson, daughter of Peter Wil son, LL. D., of Columbia College, the tutor of Charles Anthon and other well-known scholars, and distinguished for having drawn up the constitution of the State of New Jersey. Abraham Duryea Ostrander's three sons were Peter Wilson, George A., and Stephen M. Ostrander. George A. Ostrander, a grad uate of Columbia College and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, was the first xiv STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER house surgeon of the Long Island College Hospital. The other two brothers became lawyers, and it is among the interesting tradi tions of the Kings County bar that they were frequently in opposition in the same case. Under such circumstances their professional steel clashed brilliantly, but the firm affection between the brothers had no hint of strife or rivalry. Stephen M. Ostrander, born 1831, was edu cated in this city and at Columbia College. He was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law while a decidedly young man, but soon made his personality felt in the life of the city. If his tastes led him to a studious life at home, his gifts and ambitions drew him into those features of political activity which demand voice as well as counsel. He cham pioned the Democratic party, and until the close of his life he spoke his loyalty in no uncertain tones. He became one of the " war horses " of the party in campaign times, and was a respected adviser in those political times of peace when parties prepare for war. He would have made an admirable public servant, but party conditions did not bring him to the front as a candidate, though they welcomed his voice on the platform. He wished to be surrogate, but the nomination he sought was given to Jacob I. Bergen. He was not an insistent candidate within his party, and the STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER XV rewards which might reasonably be considered to have belonged to him had not been be stowed at the time of his death. As a lawyer, Mr. Ostrander was conscien tious, painstaking, forcible. His genial per sonality made him popular wherever he ap peared. His strong figure fitted his character, which was staunch and equable. By tempera ment he was inclined to see the whimsical side of things, while quick to exclude any ele ment of this sort from matters commanding his serious thought. Stones concerning him reveal his quick humor. One day a witty but not especially well-versed Irish lawyer called upon him for assistance in preparing a case. One point of perplexity with the inquirer was as to the mo tive power on the ferries before the use of steam. Knowing Ostrander's familiarity with early Brooklyn history, the inquiring lawyer demanded information as to this point. " Be fore the days of steam," said Ostrander, " they used to have horse boats." " Horse boats ? " queried the lawyer, with a look of continued perplexity. " Yes." " Did the horses swim ahead of them ? " " No," solemnly returned Ostrander, " they had four holes cut in the bottom of the boat; the horse's legs passed through these holes, permitting him to walk on the bottom, and thus propel the boat." " Good ! " said the listener, " I '11 win the case." And he did. STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER Mr. Ostrander's interest in American his tory was perhaps a natural result of his an cestry and his tendencies as a student. He early began the accumulation of historical ma terial, and finally formed a definite plan for writing a history of the city of Brooklyn and Kings County. He was an active member of the Society of Old Brooklynites, frequently ad dressing that body, and as a member of the Long Island Historical Society, in whose handsome hall, on Pierrepont Street, he was the first to lecture under the auspices of the society, he found many opportunities to further his hobby of historical investigation. He also entered that fraternity of descendants of Dutch stock, the Holland Society of New York. During the later years of his life he was a frequent contributor to the newspapers and local magazines, generally upon topics directly related to local history. Debated questions as to historical matters always interested him, and his pen was ever ready with a casual com ment. He was a good debater, though not pugnacious, and never an ungenerous opponent. In his profession, in his political associations, in his relations with his fellow-citizens and with fellow-members of the different socie ties to which he was attracted, he was always well poised, highly respected, uniformly wel comed. His catholic tastes and sympathies STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER xvii gave him many interests, as they gave him many friends. It was as natural that he should be prominent in the Presbyterian Church, which he attended, as that he should be a lead ing figure in the Masonic fraternity, to which he was proud to own allegiance. His com manding figure, good voice, and easy manner made him a popular speaker on social as well as public occasions. Mr. Ostrander married Annie A. Hammond on August 7, 1866. His domestic relations were in keeping with the fine symmetry of his character. No marriage could have been happier. In the preparation of the historical work which was incomplete when his short illness closed his life, he had the loyal appre ciation and assistance of his wife. He died on November 19, 1885. The ex tent of his practice and income might have indicated the probability of a considerable fortune, but he was too open-handed to have become a rich man. He died worth a good name. HISTORY OF BROOKLYN CHAPTER I THE REGION OF BROOKLYN AT THE TIME OF THE DISCOVERY Geology and Conformation of Long Island. Evidences of the Glacial Period. Theory of the Glacial Action. " Back-Bone " of the Island. Earliest Historical De scription. Trees. Animal Life. Indian Tribes : Their Subjugation by the Iroquois ; Habits and Habi tations. THE geology of Long Island has always been regarded as a particularly interesting theme for those concerned in the study of such matters, since the examination of its phases brings into view so many and such various points of speculative interest. Prime in his " History of Long Island " 1 remarks that "when we consider the retired situation of Long Island, and how little it has excited the notice of travelers, it is not surprising that its 1 A History of Long Island, from its First Settlement by Europeans, to the year 1845, "with Special Reference to its Ecclesiastical Concerns. By Nathaniel S. Prime. 1845. 2 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN geological character as well as other peculiari ties should have remained so long unexplored. Until quite recently very few scientific men have even deigned to give it a passing notice, though the assertion may be safely hazarded that scarcely any other tract of land of equal extent on the American Continent furnishes more abundant room for the imagination of geologists to play upon, or that imposes a stronger necessity for conjecturing the opera tion of some tremendous agency, which in its freaks had invaded the domains of both the land and the ocean, and after completing its sport had silently retired without leaving a track to determine its origin or identify its form." The geologist of the present day does not seem to regard the field as one calling in the same degree for the exercise of the imagina tion, though the more definite knowledge acquired and made familiar since the time of the publication just quoted has in one sense vastly extended the opportunity for specula tion. Certainly it no longer can be said that scientific men have neglected the investiga tion of the subject. Commenting on the investigations of Dr. Dwight, Prime says : ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND 3 " From all these considerations, the inference has been regarded as legitimate that Long Island was once through its whole extent attached to the main ; and some powerful agency, the form of which is now left entirely to conjecture, forced the separation which is now marked by the intervening Sound. One of the most plausible suppositions is that the separation has been effected by some resistless torrent of water, which, under peculiar circum stances that it is impossible now to determine, has swept out the intervening land, and left its channel to be occupied by the waters of the ocean." Thus vaguely were the early speculations set forth. With a well developed glacial theory to aid him the modern geologist is able to present a fairly circumstantial picture of probable conditions in the past. We now know with reasonable certainty that Brooklyn rests on soil that is a monument to a vast force quite different from any that were included in the hesitating speculations of the early writers. In an admirable review of the subject written by Charles M. Skinner we are pre sented with a picturesque outline of the glacial theory. We are reminded that Brooklyn stands on rubble that was rolled down from 4 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN the New England mountains to the northward by a glacier larger than the combined areas of all the glaciers now existing on the earth. How many thousands of years ago this great glacier began its work we may only guess within somewhat liberal margins. This conti nent of ice covered the whole of the northern part of North America, burying mountains beneath its bulk and hollowing the beds of the great fresh-water seas that Chicago and its sister cities front upon to-day, burying, too, for aught we know, the remains of civilizations, though nothing at present has been taken out of the glacial drift, except rude stone imple ments, to show what the probable condition of man was at that time. This ice lay so deep that not even Mount Washington barred its advance, and to-day geologists find the summit of this mountain heaped with blocks of stone that were dragged from other points and left there when the ice melted ; for glaciers are not stationary, like ice on ponds and marshes, but have an onward movement toward their point of melting that varies, with the slope of their beds, from six to thirty-six inches a day. In Greenland the whole interior is covered with ice thousands of feet thick, the movement of which is hindered ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND 5 by a wall of mountains that nearly surrounds that island, but wherever a valley opens a way for it the ice sends down a tongue to the sea, and from these tongues the ocean currents break off the icebergs that float down the Atlantic. In their descent these glaciers act as plows, wearing off so much earth and rock from the hills that the icebergs are freighted with them, and where they melt their stony burdens sink to the bottom of the sea, forming the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The ice that buried upper North America acted in the same manner as the Greenland ice to-day : it eroded the mountains, it sent off bergs, and the rocks and gravel that it tore from the hills by a pressure of a thousand tons to the square yard were dropped at its foot, where they formed a moraine, as it is called. These moraines, which may be seen at the feet of the glaciers in Switzerland and British Columbia, and that sometimes make heaps and hills of rock, like rude forts, forty and fifty feet high, are trifling affairs to the shoals left by the great glacier of the ice age, for that can be traced from the Atlantic coast nearly to the Mississippi River. Long Island, measuring approximately 120 miles in length, is a small part of the dump of this glacier, and it is 6 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN sometimes possible to tell where the stones came from that are found on the surface. For example, there are in Brooklyn anthophyllite from Westchester county, feldspar and green mica from Fort George, basalt from the Pali sades of the Hudson, and a block of labrador- ite was found on Myrtle Avenue that had been carried down from the Adirondacks, three hun dred miles. The members of the United States geolo gical survey, supported by the New York and other state surveys, have studied into the course and volume of the glacier and mapped its moraine from Montauk Point westward nearly half across the continent. By this sur vey we learn that the gneiss that crosses under the East River and approaches the surface at Astoria, is the only bed rock to be found on Long Island, Brooklyn resting on a cushion of glacial drift that in some places is three hundred feet deep. Originally there were cliffs of gneiss edging the Atlantic, but the great glacier shaved these down to mere ledges. Central Park, New York, preserves a number of these ledges, rounded off into " sheep backs " and scratched by the pieces of stone that formed a grinding surface to the under side of the ice, while every now and ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND 7 then a boulder comes to the top of the ground in Brooklyn that is scored and almost polished by rubbing against those ledges. Pieces from that very outcrop in Hell Gate are found in Brooklyn streets. We are also reminded in Mr. Skinner's review that manufacturers of brick, tile, terra cotta, pottery, and porcelain in other states have to rely in part on the clay beds that environ Brooklyn for their material, and, in fact, that clay and sand are the only economic mineral products of Long Island. The expla nation of this is that Brooklyn clays are rich in silica, which is apt to be deficient in the clays of New Jersey. Without silica the clays are weak, and bricks and utensils made from them readily crack and crumble ; but by mixing properly the best results are obtained. Excellent sand for glass-making is also found in and near Brooklyn. There are many evidences in support of the theory that since the completion of the great glacier's work the surface of Long Island has subsided considerably. A recent writer 1 on the geology of Long Island says : " The shore at the west end of the island 1 Richard M. Bayles, in Long Island Magazine, Septem ber, 1893. 8 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN has also undergone decided changes even within the memory of persons now living. Per sonal witnesses have testified that about the first of this century Coney Island was com posed of high and extensive sand hills, which have since been flattened down to a low beach, sometimes covered by the tides. About the same time salt meadow-grass was annually cut on a part of the beach now far out into the ocean. We are also informed that cedar-trees were cut for fence-posts, and other timber for firewood, about 150 years ago, on land which is now submerged by the ocean a mile and a half or two miles from the shore. There was also a house standing upon what was known as Pine Island, the site of which is now beneath the breakers, at a considerable distance from the present shore." Within the range of Kings County a stratum of salt meadow has been found at a depth of one hundred and twenty feet, and at other points within the county shells have been found fifty and sixty feet below the surface. What is generally called the " back-bone of Long Island " is a ridge of low hills beginning at the western end within the limits of Kings County and running almost the whole length of the Island. Of the boulders or erratic blocks found on the Island in this central ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND 9 range of hills and between them and the north shore, Mr. Bayles writes : " The boulders or erratic blocks found upon the Island are mostly met with on the central range of hills and between them and the north shore. They are often contained in a stratum which is interstratified with deposits of sand, clay, and gravel, and is often exposed along the coast. Some of the blocks, when first dis interred, exhibit scratches upon one or more of their sides. Rocks of the same constituent formation are found in Rhode Island, Con necticut, and along the Hudson River. And those of the Island, in their variations, corre spond so accurately with the rocks of the local ities mentioned that it seems probable that they came from those localities. For example, the boulders on the east end are like the granite, gneiss, mica slate, green-stone, and sienite of Rhode Island and the east part of Connecticut ; opposite New London and the mouth of the Connecticut River are boulders like the granites, gneiss, and hornblende rock of those localities ; opposite New Haven are found the red sandstone and conglomerate, fissile and micaceous red sandstone, trap con glomerate, compact trap, amygdaloid and verd antique ; opposite Black Rock are the granites, gneiss, hornblende, quartz, and white lime stone, like those in Fairfield County ; and from IO HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Huntington to Brooklyn, hornblende, crystal line lime-stone, trap, red sandstone, gneiss, and granite, are the same in appearance as those found in the vicinity of the Hudson River." The earliest historical description of Long Island, in Daniel Denton's " A Brief Descrip tion of New York, formerly called New Am sterdam," published in London in 1670, re marks that " the greatest part of the Island is very full of timber, as Oaks, white and red, Walnut-trees, Chestnut-trees, which yield stores of Mast, etc." The same record says : " For wild beast there is Deer, Bear, Wolves, Foxes, Raccoons, Otters, Musquashes, and Skunks. Wild fowl there is a great store of, as Turkeys, Heath-hens, Quails, Partridges, Pigeons, Cranes, Geese of several sorts, Brants, Widgeons, Teal, and divers others. Upon the south side of Long Island in the winter lie store of Whales and Grampusses, which the inhabitants begin with small boats to make a trade, catching to their no small benefit. Also, an innumerable multitude of seals, which make an excellent oyle ; they lie all the winter upon some broken Marshes and Beaches or bars of sand before mentioned, and might be easily got were there some skilful men would under take it." Prime (1845) mentions the " remarkable fact ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND n in the natural history of this small territory, that of all the land-birds belonging to the United States, either as resident or migratory, two thirds of them are to be found on Long Island ; of the water-birds a still larger propor tion." It is estimated that at the time of its discov ery representatives of thirteen different Indian tribes occupied Long Island. The region of Kings County was occupied by the Canarsie tribe, which included the Nyacks at New Utrecht, the Marechawicks at Brooklyn, and the Jamecos at Jamaica. The headquarters of the tribe was in the vicinity of modern Ca narsie. From the names of the other tribes scattered over the Island the Rockaways, Montauks, Merricks, Manhassets, Patchogues, Shinnecocks, etc. many of the town and village names of the Island are drawn. The names Paumanacke and Seawanhacka have been applied both to the grand sachems elected by all the Indian tribes and to the Island itself, which has also been given the title of Wamponomon. The last mentioned name was evidently suggested by the fact that the chief business of the tribes in this region was the making of wampum^ the shell-money of the Indians, and 12 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN an article of manufacture for ornamental pur poses also. The Island was rich in shells, and these were ground, polished, pierced for stringing. In the earlier tradings for land the red men were eager to get runxes, a brad awl with which they pierced the shell. They made various forms of earthenware for domes tic purposes ; their war implements were often of admirable workmanship; and their canoes were of a size and strength demanded by the hazards of the journeys they undertook upon sea and Sound. " In regard to their religion," says Prime, " the Long Island Indians were polytheists and idolaters. Besides the good and the evil spirit, to each of which they seemed to ascribe supreme power, they had a god for each of the four corners of the earth, the four seasons of the year, the others of the elements of nature, the productions of the earth, the vicissitudes of day and night, besides a number of domestic deities. The good deity they called Cauh- lantoowut, and the evil spirit was named Mutcheshesumetook ; to both of which they paid homage and offered sacrifices. They had small idols or images which, they supposed, were acquainted with the will of the gods, and made it known to the pawwaws, or priests. These possessed unbounded influence, from ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND 13 their supposed intercourse with the gods and knowledge of their will. Their religious festi vals were attended with the most violent ges ticulations and horrible yells, as well as other disorders. They firmly believed in a future state of existence, in a far distant country to the west, where the brave and good would enjoy themselves eternally in singing, feasting, hunting, and dancing ; while the coward and traitor, the thief and liar, would be eternally condemned to servile labor so much despised by the Indian which in its results should be attended with endless disappointment. The dead were buried in all their personal attire, and, if warriors, in their arms. The body was placed in a sitting posture, and after being covered up, a bowl of scaump (pounded corn) was placed on the grave to support the occu pant on his imagined journey. The period of mourning continued a full year, the close of which was celebrated with a feast, accompanied with dancing that continued from the setting to the rising of the sun. It was a peculiar custom of this singular people never to men tion the names of their departed friends after their remains were deposited in tombs, and it was regarded as an insult if repeated by others. Every wigwam in which death occurred was immediately demolished, and a new one, if needed, erected in its stead." The wigwams of the Indians were designed 14 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN each to accommodate a number of families, the bark-covered frame being of eighteen to twenty feet in width, and a length of one hundred and fifty feet or more, as might be required by the number of the families that were to occupy it. An opening at the ridge gave escape to the smoke from the family fires. The Long Island Indians, notwithstanding the strength which might be presumed to have resulted from their insular position, were under the rule of the masters on the continent. The tribes to the east yielded to the New Eng land Pequods. The Canarsies bowed to the majestic despotism of the Iroquois. 1 Under the species of "protection " enforced by the Iroquois, the Canarsies were obliged to pay regular tribute for the privilege of being unmolested, and much of this tax was doubt less paid in wampum. The collection of this tax seems at the time of the first white settle ments to have been intrusted to the Mohawks, who were members of the confederacy. When the tax was due it had to be delivered, or the 1 At the time of the discovery the Iroquois, or League of the Five Nations, claimed to have subdued and mastered all the Indian tribes from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. The Iro quois occupied in particular the middle and upper region of New York State. The earliest of the general histories of this remarkable confederacy was written by Cadwallader Golden, who died on Long Island in 1776. ABORIGINAL LONG ISLAND 15 debtors were likely to hear from headquarters. Samuel Jones, writing in 1817, says 1 that there is no evidence that the Indians on Long Island, eastward of about thirty miles from New York, were tributary to the Five Nations ; and adds that " we have no reason to believe that the Five Nations had any war with the Indians on Long Island after it was settled by Europeans." Furman 2 regards this statement as extraordinary, and offers evidence of the fact that farmers coming to New York city in the fall of the year from the east end of Long Island, during the early period of settlement, brought with them quantities of wampum to be forwarded as tribute to the Iroquois mas ters at Albany. It has frequently been claimed by historical writers that the consistory of the Dutch Church at Albany were for many years the agents for the receipt of tribute from the Montauks and other Indians on the eastern end of Long Island, which, if a fact, was, as we shall see, entirely consistent with the conser vative attitude of the Dutch pioneers. 1 New York Historical Society's Collections, vol. iii. p. 324. 2 Antiquities of Long Island, p. 29. CHAPTER II DISCOVERY AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS Early Voyagers. Henry Hudson. Attitude of Holland and Spain. Motives of Holland. Hudson's Reports. West India Company. Dutch on Manhattan Island. The Walloons and the Wallabout. Derivation of the Name Wallabout. First authentically recorded Settle ments on Long Island. The Van Corlaer Purchase. Bennett and Bentyn's Purchase. Joris Jansen de Rapalje. Van Twiller. West India Company's Pur chases on Long Island. East River Lands. IT is possible that in the voyages of the Cabots, Long Island was sighted if not touched; and the voyage of Esteben Gomez in 1524, " to find a way to Cathay," may leave the same possibility. There is every probability that the Spaniard, Giovanni da Verrazano, who in 1524 made a voyage to this country in the interest of France, the first official French exploration in this direction, entered New York harbor. From the account of this mar iner it appears likely that he skirted the coast of Long Island, saw Block Island, giving to it the name of Louisa, mother of Francis I., and anchored in the harbor of Newport. FIRST SETTLEMENTS 17 Those who care to speculate as to possible visitors early in the sixteenth century, may take account also of the voyage of Lucas Vas- quez de Aillon and Matienzo, made in 1526. That one at least of the early Spanish voy agers, all of whom were looking for a passage to India, had seen the region of the coast on which Long Island lies, is indicated by the presence in England of a map which was in existence before Henry Hudson made his first voyage. In this map the name Rio de San Antonio is given to the river afterward named after Hudson. This being the case it is not to be consid ered as certain, if it is to be considered as likely, that Henry Hudson really sailed across the Atlantic with any idea of finding either a northwest passage to India, or in hope of find ing somewhere under 40 north latitude any passage to the western ocean. Why Henry Hudson should formally have pretended to seek such a passage will appear from a glance at the political situation at the time of his voyage. When Hudson left Europe, Holland and Spain were at swords' points. Carlyle has pithily summed up the case : " Those Dutch are a stirring people. They raised their land 1 8 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN out of a marsh, and went on for a long period of time herding cows and making cheese, and might have gone on with their cows and cheese till doomsday. But Spain comes and says, ' We want you to believe in St. Ignatius.' ' Very sorry,' replied the Dutch, * but we can't.' 4 God ! but you must] says Spain ; and they went about with guns and swords to make the Dutch believe in St. Ignatius. Never made them believe in him, but did succeed in break ing their own vertebral column forever, and raising the Dutch into a great nation." The Dutch were well acquainted with the work of the Spanish explorers, and the idea of contesting with Spain for a share in the profits and advantages of transatlantic dis covery grew out of the war with Spain. At this time international law gave to a sovereign any new land discovered in his name, and not already laid hold upon by any Christian prince. If Holland was to fight Spain in America it would be useful to have at least the shadow of a tenable international claim ; and so Hudson ignored the earlier Spanish voyages in assum ing to discover the river to which his name was given, and the land thereabouts which the Dutch, with beautiful political audacity, first claimed to own by right of discovery, and FIRST SETTLEMENTS 19 afterward claimed to own through Spain as " first discoverer and founder of that New World." The first proposition to make a Dutch expedition to America came from an English man, a sea captain named Beets. The States- General refused this offer, but jealousy of Spain's resources in the New World kept alive the ambitions of the Dutch and finally resulted in the formation of the West India Company. The theory of this company was both com mercial and political. The scheme was first broached by an exiled Antwerp merchant, William Usselinx, in 1592. Before it came to completion a Greenland Company came into existence, and, while feigning to hunt up a northwest passage, its ships are said to have sailed into the North River, and to have landed on these shores in 1598. It was not until 1606 that Usselinx's ideas were formu lated in a working plan. The company might then have been fully formed had not talk of a peace with Spain made it politically unwise to risk the adventure. When in 1609 Henry Hudson, the English sailor, who already had made several voyages across the Atlantic, offered his services to the West India Company, it was ostensibly to 20 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN seek a passage to India. The Amsterdam chamber of the company fitted out Hudson in the " Half Moon," which sailed out of the Texel on April 4, 1609. Whatever may have been Hudson's inten tions as to any search for a northwest pas sage, he abandoned such a search in favor of one for a more southerly passage, having, it is said, been told by Captain John Smith " that there was a sea leading into the Western Ocean by the north of Virginia." After landing at Newfoundland, at Penob- scot Bay, and at Cape Cod, Hudson found Delaware Bay ; but a week later, realizing that he was too far south, he steered the Half Moon into the " Great North River of New Netherland." It is the tradition that during the exploration of the great bay and river a boat's crew from the Half Moon made its first landing on Long Island, at the sandy shore of Coney Island ; but there might seem to be a likelihood that a landing would be made further to the north. The Long Island Indians whom Hudson met were representatives of the Canarsie tribe. These Indians visited the Half Moon with out fear, and gladly welcomed the strangers, doubtless looking upon them with much awe. FIRST SETTLEMENTS 21 Hudson says " they brought with them green tobacco to exchange for knives and other implements. They were clad in deerskins and expressed a wish to obtain a supply of European clothing." Some of them were decked in gay feathers and others in furs. Hudson refers to the stock of maize or Indian corn, " whereof they make good bread." It thus would appear that the Island had a good reputation two hundred and seventy years ago for corn, which it still maintains. They also had a good supply of hemp which they offered in trade, and must have understood its manu facture in a rude way. 1 Hudson remarks, " that upon landing he saw a great store of men, women, and chil dren, who gave them tobacco." In his ac count he describes the country " as being full of great tall oaks." He says " the lands were as pleasant with grass and flowers and goodly trees as ever they had seen, and very sweet smells came from them." The pleasant relations between Hudson and the Indians did not continue very long. Hud son does not state how the difficulty arose, but one of his men was killed with an arrow 1 Among Brooklyn's manufactures in recent years rope- making has taken a prominent place. 22 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN and two others wounded. The unfortunate man was buried on the point of Coney Island, which Hudson named Colman's Point, in honor of the dead seaman. Hudson remained for a month, pursuing his explorations of the river which has since car ried his name, and then set sail for Holland. The news which the explorer brought home was of a sort to arouse the interest of the Dutch people. Hudson told of a rich region alive with fur- bearing animals, an important circumstance to speculators in a cold country like that of Holland, where the question of warm clothing was always to the fore. The immediate result of Hudson's reports was the launching of many private ventures and an urgent move ment to complete the organization of the West India Company. It was not until 1621 that the States-General at last signed the charter, and meanwhile traders had established them selves on Manhattan Island. Although the English in Virginia were beginning to express their theories of claim to the Hudson region, the West India Company went into possession in 1623, sending as di rector, Adrien Jorissen Tienpont, who made stronger the fortification at Manhattan Island, FIRST SETTLEMENTS 23 and built a new fortification near that placed by the advance guard of Dutch traders (in 1618) near Albany. This* post was called Fort Orange. Tienpont was succeeded in 1626 by Peter Minuit, who was not long in making a bargain with the Indians for the whole of Manhattan Island. The price paid was about twenty-four dollars. In making this significant purchase Minuit and those whom he represented had in mind to make the Manhattan Island settlement the principal centre of trade and colonization, if anything like colonization may be said to have occupied the attention of the Dutch at the time. There was, indeed, a passage in the charter of 1621, by which the company was required "to advance the peopling of these fruitful and unsettled parts," but actual coloni zation was not a matter of much thought until the later exigencies of trade made the subject important. Followed as it was by the organ ization under a charter of a council with supreme executive, legislative, and judicial authority, the movement under Minuit is to be regarded as the foundation of the present state of New York. It was shortly before the appointment of 24 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Minuit as Director of New Netherland that a number of Walloons applied to Sir Dudley Carleton, principal Secretary of State to King Charles I., for permission to settle in Virginia. " These Walloons," says Brodhead, " whose name was derived from their original ' Waal- sche ' or French extraction, had passed through the fire of persecution. They inhabited the southern Belgic provinces of Hainault, Namur, Luxemburg, Limburg, and part of the ancient bishopric of Liege, and spoke the old French language. When the northern provinces of the Netherlands formed their political union at Utrecht, in 1579, the southern provinces, which were generally attached to the Romish Church, declined joining the confederation. Many of their inhabitants, nevertheless, pro fessed the principles of the Reformation. Against these Protestant Walloons the Span ish government exercised the most rigid meas ures of inquisitorial vengeance, and the sub jects of an unrelenting persecution emigrated by thousands into Holland, where they knew that strangers of every race and creed were sure of an asylum and a welcome. Carrying with them a knowledge of the arts, in which they were great proficients, they were distin guished in their new home for their tasteful and persevering industry. To the Walloons the Dutch were probably indebted for much FIRST SETTLEMENTS 25 of the repute which they gained as a nation in many branches of manufactures. Finding in Holland a free scope for their religious opin ions, the Walloons soon introduced the public use of their church service, which to this day bears witness to the characteristic toleration and liberality of the Fatherland." The Virginia company, whether for want of cordiality or other reason, did not attract the colonizing ardor of the Walloons, who turned to New Netherland, and a party of them came over with Minuit. The lands first allotted to the Walloons were on Staten Island. It is possible that this situation seemed to the French exiles too remote from the protection of the Manhattan Island fort. However they may have been influenced, certain of the new-comers chose rather to settle at Fort Orange and others at that bend in the East River which has since been known as the Wallabout. Various explanations of the name Walla- bout have been offered. That of a derivation from wahlebocht, bay of the foreigners, has been favorably received ; but Stiles * quotes 1 A History of the City of Brooklyn, including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. By Henry R. Stiles. 1867. 26 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Samuel Alofsen [from the " Literary World," No. 68, May 20, 1848] as maintaining that the locality was named by the early Dutch settlers prior to the arrival of the Walloons ; that the name is derived from een waal, basin of a har bor or inner harbor, and een bogt, a bend, and that, like its European namesake in the city of Amsterdam, it signifies " The Bend of the Inner Harbor." Notwithstanding the indications which sev eral writers have assumed to find of settlement at the Wallabout during or shortly after the year 1623, there is an absence of definite evi dence of any actual settlement at any date so early, and probabilities are entirely against a settlement at that time so far from the fort. There were early hunting-lodges and tempo rary trading-houses incidental to the shooting and trading trips of those occupying the Man hattan Island settlement, and there is the possibility that unrecorded residence by the Walloons or others may have been established at the Wallabout before the recorded grants. But for definite evidence of a first settlement in the shape of an authoritative taking of land we must turn to the purchase by Jacob Van Corlaer in 1636. Van Corlaer was an official under the FIRST SETTLEMENTS 27 administration of the new Director of New Amsterdam, Van Twiller. The Director him self, who had been a clerk in the West India Company's office, had great eagerness for acquiring territory. He bought from the In dians a part of Connecticut, and planted near the present site of Hartford a fort, which he could not but understand would be a thorn in the side of the English. Not only did he freely spend the government's money in buy ing land and strengthening fortifications on a most ambitious plan, but he granted to him self and favored officials associated with him choice pieces of land on Manhattan Island, and across the river on Long Island. The year following the Van Corlaer grant, Van Twiller's conduct, which all but ruined the company, resulted in his recall, and the ap pointment of William Kieft as his successor. At this time the settlement on Manhattan Island occupied only a very small region below the present Battery Place. Its main feature was the fort, whose protecting presence was one of the inducements which the Com pany extended to colonists. A decree issued in 1629 declared that any member of the West India Company who, under certain easy con ditions, should form a settlement of not less 28 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN than fifty persons, none of whom should be under fifteen years of age, should be granted a tract of land fronting sixteen miles upon the sea or upon any navigable river (or eight miles when both shores of the river were occu pied), and extending thence inland indefinitely ; and that the patroons to whom such grants of land should be made should exercise manorial rights over their estates. The provisions were sufficiently liberal to assure the making of many minor settlements, and it was natural that many eyes should be turned toward the softly undulating country on the southeast of the East River. The offi cial land-grabbing under Van Twiller retarded rather than advanced colonization. Indeed, the company scarcely fulfilled the obligations of the charter in sending colonists to the new region. The grant to Van Corlaer appears as a pur chase from the Indians of a " flat " of land called " Casteteeuw, on Sewan-hackey, or Long Island." The same date is given to grants to Andries Hudde and Wolfert Gerritsen of flats to the west of Van Corlaer's, Van Twiller him self getting the desirable land to the east. These purchases, amounting to 15,000 acres, were in a level region, reported already to FIRST SETTLEMENTS 29 have been cultivated to some extent by the Indians, and appealing to men broughf up in a flat country, and unaccustomed to wood- clearing, as superior to the regions having a heavy tree growth. Plows were soon at work, and from the settlement thus begun grew the village of " New Amersfoort," now the town of Flatlands. In the same year (1636) the Indians sold to William Adriaense Bennett and Jacques Ben- tyn a tract of 930 acres at Gowanus, a region so named by the Indians. The tract extended from the vicinity of Twenty-eighth Street, along Gowanus Cove and the bay, to the New Utrecht line. The transaction is described in the following record : " On this 4th day of April (English style), 1677, appeared before me Michil Hainelle, acknowledged as duly installed Clerk and Secretary, certain persons, to wit: Zeuw Ka- mingh, otherwise known in his walks (or travels) as Kaus Hansen, and Keurom, both Indians, who, in presence of the undersigned witnesses, deposed and declared, that the limits or widest bounds of the land of Mr. Paulus Vanderbeeck, in the rear, has been or is a cer tain tree or stump on the Long Hill, on the one side, and on the other the end of the In dian foot-path, and that it extends to the creek 30 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN of the third meadows, which land and ground, they further depose and declare, previous to the present time, was sold by a certain Indian, known as Chief or Sachem Ka, to Jacques Bentyn and William Adriaense (Bennett), the latter formerly the husband of Marie Thomas, now the wife of Mr. Paulus Vanderbeeck; which account they both maintain to be the truth, and truly set forth in this deposition. " In witness of the truth is the original of this with the said Indians' own hands subscribed, to wit : By Zeuw Kamingh or Kaus Hansen, with this mark ( ) and by Keurom with this mark ( ) in the presence of Lambert Dorlant, who by request signed his name hereto as a witness. Took place at Brookland on the day and date above written. " Compared with the original and attested to be correct. " MICHIL HAINELLE, Clerk." Three years afterward Bentyn sold to Ben nett all or nearly all of his share of the land acquired in this early sale. The purchase by Bentyn and Bennett is to be regarded as the first exchange of property looking to a settlement within the limits of the present city of Brooklyn. It was in the fol lowing year that a second purchase was made by Joris Jansen de Rapalje, who was one of FIRST SETTLEMENTS 31 the Walloon emigrants who came over with Minuit in 1623. Rapalje's first residence after reaching this country was at Fort Orange (Albany). In 1626 he removed to New Am sterdam. In June, 1637, he bought a tract adjoining the Rennegackonk, a little Long Island stream entering the East River at " the bend of Marechkawieck," at the Wahlebocht or the present Wallabout. There were about 335 acres in the purchase, part of the land now being represented by the grounds of the Marine Hospital. At this time Rapalje lived on the north side of the river road, now Pearl Street, and on the south side of the fort. Writing of this period Thomas A. Janvier says : " Actually, only two roads were established when the town of New Amsterdam was founded, and these so obviously were necessary that, practically, they established themselves. One of them, on the line of the present Stone and Pearl Streets, the latter then the water front, led from the Fort to the Brooklyn Ferry at about the present Peck Slip. The other, on the line of the present Broadway, led northward from the Fort, past farms and gar dens falling away toward the North River, as far as the present Park Row; and along the line of that street, and of Chatham Street, and 32 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN of the Bowery, went on into the wilderness. After the Palisade was erected, this road was known as far as the city gate (at Wall Street) as the Heere Straat, or High Street ; and beyond the wall as the Heere Wegh for more than a century the only highway that traversed the Island from end to end." Rapalje followed the example of the colo nists in general in snuggling close to the Fort. The writer just quoted remarks: " Upon the town rested continually the dread of an Indian assault. At any moment the hot-headed act of some angry colonist might easily bring on a war. In the early autumn of 1655, when peaches were ripe, an assault actually was made : being a vengeance against the whites because Hendrick Van Dyke had shot to death an Indian woman whom he found stealing peaches in his orchard (lying just south of the present Rector Street) on the North River shore. Fortunately, warn ing came to the townsfolk, and, crowding their women and children into the Fort, they were able to beat off the savages ; whereupon the savages, being the more eager for revenge, fell upon the settlements about Pavonia and on Staten Island : where the price paid for Hen drick Van Dyke's peaches was the wasting of twenty-eight farms, the bearing away of one FIRST SETTLEMENTS 33 hundred and fifty Christians into captivity, and one hundred Christians outright slain." During a part of the time that he lived in New Amsterdam Rapalje was an innkeeper. He appears to have been a man of the people, for in August, 1641, he was one of twelve men to represent Manhattan, Breuckelen, and Pavo- nia in considering measures necessary in deal ing with the Indians. It was at about 1654 that he began living at the Wallabout. Cer tainly he lived on Long Island in 1655, for in that year he began serving as a magistrate in Breuckelen. It once was customary to assert that Ra- palje's daughter Sarah was the first white child born on Long 1 Island. The fact is that Sarah Rapalje was born during the residence of her parents at Fort Orange. The error arose from the supposition that Rapalje settled at the Wallabout upon his arrival in this country in 1623. Of Sarah Rapalje, who may probably be said to have been the first white female child born in the New Netherland Colony, one of her descendants, the author of the History of the Bergen Family, says : " The early historians of this State and locality, led astray by a petition presented 34 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN by her, April 4th, 1656, (when she resided at the Walle-boght,) to the Governor and Council, for some meadows, in which she states that she is the 'first-born Christian child in New Netherlands,' assert that she was born at the Walle-boght. Judge Ben son, in his writings, even ventures to de scribe the house where this took place. He says : ' On the point of land formed by the cove in Brooklyn, known as the Walle-boght, lying on its westerly side (it should have been easterly], was built the first house on Long Island, and inhabited by Joris Jansen de Rapalje, one of the first white settlers on the Island, and in which was born Sarah Rapalje, the first white child of European parentage born in the State.' In this, if there is any truth in the depositions of Catalyn or Catalyn- tie Trico (daughter of Jeremiah Trico of Paris), Sarah's mother, . . . they are clearly mistaken. According to these depositions, she and her husband, Joris Jansen de Rapalje, came to this country in 1623; settled at Fort Orange, now Albany ; lived there three years ; came, in 1626, to New Amsterdam, ' where she lived afterward for many years ; and then came to Long Island, where she now (1688) lives.' Sarah, therefore, was undoubtedly born at Albany, instead of the Walle-boght, and was probably married before she removed to Long Island, there being no reason to suppose that FIRST SETTLEMENTS 35 she resided there when a single woman with out her husband." The family record gives the time of her arriage as between her fourteei teenth year. Mr. Stiles remarks : marriage as between her fourteenth and fif- " While, therefore, Albany claims the honor of being her birthplace, and New Amsterdam of having seen her childhood, Brooklyn surely received most profit from her ; for here in the Wallabout, she was twice married, and gave birth to fourteen children, from whom are descended the Polhemuses, the Bergens, the Bogarts, and many other of the most notable families of Kings County." At the time of Rapalje's purchase at the Wallabout it began to appear to the land speculators that Long Island was a desirable field. The Director 1 himself made haste to secure the island called " Pagganck," lying close to the Long Island shore south of Fort Amsterdam. The island was thickly covered with nut-trees, which brought it the title of " Nooten " or Nutten Island. In due time this became known as " the Governor's island," and this name has become permanent. Van Twiller's successor was not less appre- 1 Van Twiller. 36 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN ciative of the value of land on Long Island, but his purchases seem to have been made in the interest of the company. In August, 1638, he bought for the West India Company land adjoining Rapalje's farm and extending be tween Rennegackonck Creek (at the Walla- bout) to Newtown Creek, and inland to " the Swamps of Mespaetches " (Maspeth). This important sale to Kieft, representing approximately the area of the present East ern District of Brooklyn, was made by " Ka- kapoteyuo, Manquenw, and Suwvian, Chiefs of Keskaechquerem," who received " eight fathoms of duffels, eight fathoms of wampum, twelve kettles, eight adzes, and eight axes, with some knives, beads, and awl blades." By other purchases, at Jersey City and else where, the West India Company sought to extend its dominions and increase the popula tion of the colony. The States-General gave some attention to the colony, and by a procla mation in September, 1638, the Amsterdam Chamber threw open New Netherland to trade by all inhabitants of the United Provinces and of friendly nations, " in the company's ships," with an import duty of fifteen per cent, and an export duty of ten per cent. Every immi grant was to receive from the Director and FIRST SETTLEMENTS 37 Council " according to his condition and means, with as much land as he and his family can properly cultivate," the company reserv ing a quit-rent of a tenth. To these induce ments was added that of free passage over the Atlantic. The favorable result of these offers soon appeared in the increased rate of immigration and in demand for land. The Director and Council soon found it to be desirable to buy more Long Island land, which they did in January, 1639. By this purchase the company secured the tract extending from Rockaway eastward to " Sicktew-hackey," or Fire Island Bay ; thence northward to Martin Gerritsen's, or Cow Bay, and westward along the East River to " Vlaack's Kill " in other words nearly all the land comprised in the present County of Queens. In August of the same year (1639) Antony Jansen van Vaas of Salee received two hundred acres resting within the present towns of New Utrecht and Gravesend. In November a pat ent was granted for " a tobacco plantation " on the beach, " hard by Saphorakan " (pre sumably at Gowanus) adjoining the land of Bennett. Another neighbor to Bennett came in the person of Frederick Lubbertsen, who, 38 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN in May of the following year ( 1 640), received a patent for land extending northerly from Gowanus Cove, and representing a large part of what is now known as South Brooklyn. Lubbertsen, who had been chief boatswain to Kieft in 1638, was an ambitious and politi cally disposed man. Two years after this big purchase he was one of twelve men chosen by the commonalty of New Amsterdam. He did not remove to Long Island until 1653, in which year he was chosen to represent the young town of Breuckelen at the New Am sterdam convention. He became a local magis trate in 1653, served several terms thereafter, and filled other political posts. As the lands of western Long Island repre sented by the present area of Kings County began to increase in value by increase of set tlement and competition in purchase, persons who had merely availed themselves of " squat ter " privileges began to see the advisability of taking out formal patents. There had been particularly numerous instances of " squat ting " in the region of the Eastern District in a radius from the Wallabout inlet. Among the patents issued in 1640 was one to Abra ham Rycken, for a plantation of considerable extent in this region, and in 1641 a piece of THE FIRST BROOKLYN FERRY FIRST SETTLEMENTS 39 land on the East River legally passed into the possession of Lambert Huybertsen. Adjoining the land of Joris Rapalje at the Wallabout was an extensive piece of farm land occupied by Rapalje's son-in-law, Hans Han- sen Bergen. On Wallabout Bay lay the tobacco plantations of Jan and Peter Mont- fort, Peter Caesar, and other farmers. Between the Bay and the East River end of the Lub- bertsen purchase came the land sold to Claes Jansen van Naerden (Ruyter), Jan Mauje, and Andries Hudde, all of which was afterward sold to Dirck Janse Waertman, who held it until the sale to his son-in-law, Joris Remsen, in 1706. Meanwhile (in 1640) the first permanent English settlement on eastern Long Island had been made by Lyon Gardiner on the island which afterward received his name. This set tlement, and others which followed it, were distasteful to the West India Company, which, having secured control of the entire western end of the Island, from Cow Bay on the Sound to Canarsie Bay on the ocean side, began to regard itself as entitled to claim jurisdiction over the entire area. When in 1641 emi grants from Lynn, Mass., undertook to settle at Schout's Bay, within Queens County, they 40 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN were driven off by soldiers who had been sent out by Kieft for the purpose. The English colonists did not leave the Island, but settled at Southampton, in Suffolk County. The fact that other New England settlers, who planted Southold, were not at tacked seems to show either that Kieft scarcely regarded the territory beyond the Queens County line as worth fighting for at this time, or that he came to regard the newcomers as accepting his authority. The settlement at Southold by emigrants from New Haven was indicative of conditions within New England to which later settle ments on Long Island may be attributed. The extreme severity of the Puritan religious temper found expression in distressing exac tions and persecutions. Driven from Eng land by intolerance, the Puritans, when placed in control of social and political conditions, exhibited a degree of paternalism not less despotic than that from which they themselves had suffered. And as the Puritans of Eng land had found shelter and liberty in Hol land, the victims of Puritanical intolerance in America fled to the friendly support of Dutch authority within the New Netherland juris diction. FIRST SETTLEMENTS 41 In fact, shortly after 1 640 the Dutch govern ment granted favoring patents to emigrants from New England. The Rev. John Doughty and his followers were welcomed at Maspeth, and provision for other comers (among them Anne Hutchinson and her family) was made at Throg's Neck and New Rochelle. CHAPTER III THE INDIANS AND THE EARLY SETTLERS The Dutch Policy toward the Indians. Puritan and Dutch Policy Contrasted. Long Island Indians : Their Relations with the Whites. Kieft's Attacks on Pavonia and Corlaer's Hook. Uprising on Long Island. Overtures for Peace. Mission to Rockaway of De Vries and Olfertsen. Restoration of Friendly Relations. THESE numerous settlements had not been accomplished without the encountering of In dian difficulties. In general the Dutch policy toward the Indians was business-like and rea sonable, contrasting favorably with policies prevailing elsewhere among American new comers. The Dutch were not so social as the French, but their attitude was more fraternal than that usually observed among the English colonists. Douglass Campbell, who is to be regarded as a strong partisan of the Dutch as opposed to the Puritan system, but whose exhaustive studies both of the Puritan and of the Dutch people gave him an unusual grasp of the situation, thus contrasts the policy of the two peoples : THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS 43 " Why the Puritans were involved in cease less wars can be read in every line of their history. As they could not make of the In dian a red Puritan, he was a spiritual outcast, whom it was their duty to exterminate. Three years after the landing of the Mayflower Miles Standish and seven of his companions mur dered three native chiefs in cold blood. It was this event which led the devout John Robinson to say, ' How happy a thing it would have been if you had converted some before you killed any.' In 1637 the white settlers of Connecticut put a red captive to death by dragging him limb from limb by ropes fastened to his arms and legs. Bancroft tells us that the Puritans bought the Indians' land, except that of the Pequots. Look at their laws and see. In 1633 Massachusetts passed a statute in relation to land titles. It confirmed to the Indians the little patches around their wig wams on which they raised their corn, but declared that the rest belonged to the whites on the authority of the first chapter of Genesis ' and the invitation of the Indians.' But mur der and robbery of their land all pale before the crowning infamy which drove the red man to despair. Above all things he prized personal liberty; slavery to him was a thou sand fold worse than death. And yet to this fate the settlers consigned thousands of the natives, sending them to the West Indies to 44 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN work on the sugar plantations. Among these victims was the little grandson of the good king Massasoit, who had welcomed the Pil grims and been their life-long friend. Look at the records of Massachusetts, and there you will find statute after statute offering bounties for Indian scalps, the prices fixed being from twenty-five to one hundred pounds for males, from twenty to sixty for women, and from ten to twenty for children under ten years of age. These same statutes provided that females and children taken prisoners should belong to the captors, ' to be sold out of the province.' I mention these facts in no invidious spirit, but in justice to the red man, who has been called treacherous and cruel. He resented such conduct ; and can you wonder at it ? He had no redress except by arms, and he has written the story of his vengeance all over the face of New England. What could the In dians think of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the white man's God ? What was true of the New England colonies was true of the south ern colonies as well. The course pursued by Penn can hardly be taken as a criterion, for he dealt with the Delaware Indians, who had been conquered by the Iroquois, deprived of the use of arms, and forced to accept the opprobrious epithet of ' women ; ' and Penn, in purchasing their lands, only followed out the example which had been set by the Dutch. THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS 45 " Turn now to New York, and see what the Indian was under different conditions. The upper Hudson and the valley of the Mohawk were first settled by the Dutch. They simply treated the Indian as a man. Tolerant in religion, they respected his rude faith ; truthful among themselves, to him they never broke their word ; honest in all their dealings with him, they kept good faith. They suffered from no thefts, because they took nothing except by purchase. Their land titles were respected, because for every tract they had an Indian deed. They were scourged by no massacres, save from the enemy across the border, because they committed no robbery or murder. This was the whole secret of their policy. It is easy to belittle it, as historians have done, by saying that upon no other con ditions could they have lived among the na tives. Of course it was politic, but the world has discovered that honesty is the best policy, without concluding that it is any the less a Christian virtue. These early settlers in New York were traders, offshoots from what was the greatest commercial nation of the world. They made no pretense of doing missionary work. They were simply in pursuit of gain. But they had learned that the only permanent success in life rests on honesty and justice. This is the lesson that commerce teaches, and because it does so it has been the civilizer of 46 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN the world. After the English conquest in 1664 the same policy was continued, thanks to the presence of the Dutch, who still formed the majority of the population. The Six Na tions then placed their lands under protection of the crown and were recognized as append- ant to New York. The burden thus cast upon the province was very heavy. For more than a century New York kept their alliance by heavy subsidies and by contributions of men and money for their defense against the French." 1 The Indian policy of the Dutch has, indeed, been credited with a most important influence upon American history. But sagacious as it may have been as a broad plan of action, there was no way of obviating the difficulties arising from local and individual blunders. Consider ing the number of special provocations to revolt, it is remarkable that Indian troubles were not more frequent and more serious, and that the storm did not break sooner and more fiercely than it did. Prime remarks that the conduct of the Long Island Indians toward the whites is "without a parallel in the his tory of the country." " The Indians on Long Island," says Silas Wood, " seem to have been less troublesome 1 Address before Long Island Historical Society, 1880. THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS 47 to the whites than those north of the Sound. . . . [They] sometimes committed depreda tions on the property of the whites. ... It does not appear that they ever formed any combination against the first settlers, or mate rially interrupted the progress of their im provements. . . . The security of the whites must be ascribed to the means they employed to preserve peace with the Indians." When the storm of Indian anger and re venge broke over New England in 1643, New Netherland did not escape a similar if not equally terrible visitation. If the settlers in New Amsterdam began to experience anxiety, something like a panic seized upon the settlers of outlying regions. The Long Island settlers were perhaps less ill at ease than others at an equal distance from the Fort, so friendly had been their relations with the Indians ; but individual offenses of the settlers and individ ual offenses by the Indians produced a strained relation in certain quarters, and when the ex cuse came the hot-heads among the Long Island settlers made trouble. At New Amsterdam the trouble began when the Mohawks descended upon the river tribes in retaliation for local offenses, and the river Indians flocked to the vicinity of the Fort for 48 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN protection. At " Corlaer's Bouwery," on Man hattan Island, a group of Long Island Indians, under the chief, Nainde Nummerius, had encamped. An ill-advised appeal to Kieft resulted in an impulsive decision on the part of the Governor, who, in spite of wiser counsel, sent out two secret expeditions on the night of February 25, 1643, one against the refugees at Pavonia, the other against the encampment at Corlaer's Hook. The attacks were merci less. Eighty Indians were slaughtered at Pa vonia, and forty at the Hook. This unfortunate blunder resulted in acts which still further excited the anger of the Indians. Long Island settlers asked Kieft for permission to attack the Marechawieck tribe ; but Kieft, possibly because he had already begun to realize the influence of the outrage he had committed, denied permission on the ground that the Long Island red men had given no sufficient cause for offensive action. Nevertheless, the Governor did not deny to the Long Island settlers any retaliatory steps that might at any time seem necessary. Shortly after this communication, two wagon-loads of corn in charge of a party of Indians were seized, and when the Indians resisted the act of plundering, three of them were killed. THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS 49 If the massacre on Manhattan Island had caused among the Long Island Indians a gen eral resentment against the white men, the murders on the Island itself made their hostil ity specific and local ; and it is not surprising that many of the Long Island tribes joined hands with the river Indians. The tragedies which followed belong to the annals of a " year of blood." Terror seized the Long Island settlers in common with all outlying colonists, many of whom lost no time in seeking the shelter of the Fort. Kieft was bewildered by the conse quences of his act. Realizing that the chief offenses had been against Long Island tribes, he sent to these a propitiatory message, which was met by shouts of " corn thieves ! " by the Indians. Those settlers who held their posts on Long Island were forced to adopt measures of fortifying their homes, which they did after the methods of inclosure peculiar to the time, and to preserve the utmost vigilance to save their lives. From a number of families women and children were sent to the ^Fort, the men remaining to guard the property. The advent of spring, bringing to the home- staying Indians of this region, as well as to the white men, the necessity for planting corn, 50 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN suggested an effort toward permanent peace. Brodhead's narrative says : " Three delegates from the wigwam of Pen- hawity, their 'great chief,' approached Fort Amsterdam, bearing a white flag. ' Who will go to meet them ? ' demanded Kieft. None were willing but De Vries and Jacob Olfert- sen. ' Our chief has sent us,' said the savages, ' to know why you have killed his people, who have never laid a straw in your way, when none has done you aught but good ? Come and speak to our chief upon the sea-coast.' Set ting out with the Indian messengers, De Vries and Olfertsen, in the evening, came to ' Rech- quaaike,' or Rockaway, where they found about three hundred savages and about thirty wig wams. The chief, ' who had but one eye,' invited them to pass the night in his cabin, and regaled them with oysters and fish. At break of day the envoys from Manhattan were conducted into the woods about four hundred yards off, where they found sixteen chiefs of Long Island waiting for their coming. Placing the two Europeans in the centre, the chiefs seated themselves around in a ring, and their ' best speaker ' arose, holding in his hand a bundle of small sticks. ' When you first came to our coasts,' slowly began the orator, ' you sometimes had no food ; we gave you our beans and corn, and relieved you with our THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS 51 oysters and fish ; and now, for recompense, you murder our people ; ' and he laid down a little stick. ' In the beginning of your voy ages, you left your people here with their goods ; we traded with them while your ships were away, and cherished them as the apple of our eye ; we gave them our daughters for companions, who have borne children, and many Indians have sprung from the Swanne- kens ; and now you villainously massacre your own blood.' The chief laid down another stick ; many more remained in his hand ; but De Vries, cutting short the reproachful cata logue, invited the chiefs to accompany him to Fort Amsterdam, where the Director 'would give them presents to make a peace.' " The chiefs, assenting, ended their orations, and presenting De Vries and his colleague each with ten fathoms of wampum, the party set out for their canoes, to shorten the return of the Dutch envoys. While waiting for the tide to rise, an armed Indian, who had been dispatched by a sachem twenty miles off, came running to warn the chiefs against going to Manhattan. ' Are you all crazy, to go to the Fort,' said he, ' where that scoundrel lives who has so often murdered your friends ? ' But De Vries assured them that ' they would find it otherwise, and come home again with large presents.' One of the chiefs replied at once : ' Upon your words we will go; for the Indians 52 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN have never heard lies from you, as they have other Swannekens.' Embarking in a large canoe the Dutch envoys, accompanied by eigh teen Indian delegates, set out from Rockaway, and reached Fort Amsterdam about three o'clock in the afternoon." The result of this conference was the rees- tablishment of peaceful relations, the Long Island red men aiding in the making of terms with the river Indians. When, in the follow ing September, trouble broke out again, Kieft sought to keep the Long Island tribes as allies, but, before terms could be made, attacks were made at Maspeth and Gravesend, as well as at Westchester ; and the ensuing winter was full of distress, most of the settlements becoming almost wholly deserted. The Government, at its wits' end, appealed to New Haven, and finally to the States-Gen eral in Holland itself. In the spring (of 1644) the Long Island Indians were placated; but with the remainder of the hostiles Kieft showed no ability to treat, and the wars lasted until the following year, when the long strain upon Fort Amsterdam was agreeably broken. CHAPTER IV THE BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 1643-1647 The Ferry and the Ferry Road. Settlement of Flatlands. Flatbush. Lady Deborah Moody and the Settlement of Gravesend. Early Settlements. The Name of Breuckelen. Henry C. Murphy's Comments. First Schepens and Schout. Commission from the Colonial Council. The Removal of Kieft. Arrival of Stuy- vesant. NEAR the site of the present Peck Slip, New York, there lay, in 1642, a farm owned by Cornelis Dircksen, who kept an inn, and con ducted a ferry between a point of land at Peck Slip and a point on the Long Island shore represented by the present location of Fulton Ferry. Dircksen owned land on the Long Island side also, close to the ferry. When he sold this tract in 1643 t William Thoma- sen, he sold with it the right to run the ferry. Clustered about the ferry on the Long Island shore were a number of cabins, and the little settlement which grew up there became known in popular parlance as " the Ferry." Crossing the river in the small and rudely 54 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN built boats of the period was no easy matter, particularly when the tide was in full motion; and the place of crossing was naturally chosen, as at a later time in the building of the great bridge, at the narrowest part. The irregular road, which wound its way from the ferry on the Long Island side, strag gled to the east of the rising ground called by the Indians " Iphetanga," and now known as the Heights, and reached the little settle ment of Breuckelen lying at a point closely corresponding to the present City Hall. In fact, the old road followed the general direction of busy Fulton Street of later days. Before the Indian war of 1643 there were only one or two cabins in this region. To the south lay the first settlement within the limits of Kings County Amersfoort, or Flat- lands. The first recorded purchase of land in this region was by Andries Hudde and Wol- phert Gerretsen in 1636. The first planta tion here was called Achtervelt, and the house which marked the first settlement is described by Teunis G. Bergen as being twenty-six feet long, twenty-two feet wide, and forty feet high, with a roof " covered above and around with plank; two lofts, one above another, and a small chamber on their side ; " while adjoining BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 55 was " one barn forty feet long, eighteen feet wide, and twenty-four feet deep ; and one bergh with five posts, forty feet long," the whole sur rounded with " long, round palisades." The road running to Amersfoort turned off at an angle corresponding to the present line of Flatbush Avenue. The road made another turn a short time later, and reached the settle ment of Midwout or Flatbush (called by the Dutch V Vlaacke Bos}. The actual first settle ment of Flatbush, as of the other towns within Kings County, is frequently estimated to have been as early as 1624; but as in the other cases we are obliged to depend for definite knowledge upon records of purchase, which, although they undoubtedly follow, sometimes by a period of several years, the planting of the first habitation, give indication of the time when permanent settlement had begun to be a fact. The town patent from the Director was not secured until 1651. The ferry road ultimately found its way to the then far town of Jamaica. Meanwhile, upon that part of Long Island first trodden by the feet of white men had begun the town of Gravesend. The region of Gravesend, including Coney Island (called by the Dutch V Conijnen Eylanf] and much of 56 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN the Bay coast, differed from other regions of the county in being first settled by English people. Among those who were driven from Con necticut by Puritan intolerance was Lady Deborah Moody. Lady Moody was a daugh ter of Walter Dunch, a member of the Eng lish Parliament in the time of Elizabeth, and widow of Sir Henry Moody of Garsden, in Wiltshire, who had been knighted by King James in 1622. She emigrated to America in 1640, and settled at Swampscott, near Lynn. In her expectation of religious liberty she was disappointed, for the authorities were not long in discovering that she did not regard infant baptism as an ordinance of Divine origin. In those days children a few days old were bap tized at church fonts in which the ice had sometimes to be broken before the function could proceed, and the ceremony was regarded as absolutely essential to salvation. Lady Moody was first " admonished," and afterward " presented " to the Quarterly Court for sin fully doubting the wisdom of infant baptism. Excommunicated from the church, and thereby placed in an ostracized position, the distressed English gentlewoman, accompanied by her son, Sir Henry, John Tilton and his wife, and BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 57 by a few other friends, came to New Amster dam. 1 Here she was agreeably surprised to find a few English people who had been living some distance above the Fort, opposite the lower end of Blackwell's Island, but who were at the time of her coming huddled under the walls of the Fort under the terror of the prevailing Indian wars. A consultation between the Moody party and the Manhattan Island wanderers from New England resulted in the appointment of a committee to select a new site for a settle ment. The choice fell upon the Gravesend region, for which Kieft gave a patent in the summer of 1643. The circumstances under which Gravesend was settled were thus of a promising charac ter, for the party was made up of people who, like Lady Moody, were seeking permanent homes, and were likely to make temperate and energetic citizens. The leader in this band of pioneers was a woman of exceptional force and refinement. 1 " The Ladye Moodye, a wise and anciently religious woman, being taken with the error of denying baptism to in fants, was dealt with by many of the elders and others, and admonished by the church of Salem (whereof she was a mem ber) ; but persisting still, and to avoid further trouble, etc., she removed to the Dutch against the advice of her friends." Governor Winthrop's Journal. 58 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN " For sixteen years," says Stiles, " she went in and out among the people, prominent in their councils, and often intrusted with im portant public responsibilities, which prove the respect and confidence of her associates. She seems also to have enjoyed the friend ship of Governor Stuyvesant, who several times sought her advice in matters of great public importance. Even the nomination of the three town magistrates was, on one or two occasions, intrusted by the Director-General to her good judgment. He also availed him self of her kind offices, on another occasion, in quelling an incipient rebellion, raised by some of her English associates against the Dutch authority." Whether the name Gravesend was derived from the town of the same name on the Thames, or from the Dutch town Graven- sande, is not known, but the stronger reasons are offered for the latter supposition. Thus, at the close of the Indian wars the meagre settlement of Breuckelen had for com pany within the area of the present county the hamlets at Flatlands and Gravesend, the farms at the Wallabout, possibly a habitation at Flatbush, and some trading quarters and modest houses at the Ferry. New Utrecht, BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 59 Bushwick, Williamsburgh, and New Lots had yet to be settled formally, though squatters, the date of whose coming is impossible to set, began, as soon as the Indian hostilities ceased, to enter upon desirable pieces of land wherever this could be done without local opposition. The settlement which received the name of Breuckelen was made in the maize region lying between the Wallabout and Gowanus the latter the place of the first purchase (by Bennett and Bentyn) within the present limits of the city. Portions of this tract were taken by settlers under the Dutch patents from the West India Company. In July, 1645, Jan Evertsen Bout settled here. He was followed a few months later by Huyck Aertsen, Jacob Stoffelsen, Peter Cornielessen, Joris Dircksen, Gerritt Wolfertsen, Cowenhoven, and many others. They located themselves on the road leading from the Ferry to Flatbush, which was then the most important place. A village was formed, which had for its central point the present location of Smith Street and Fulton Avenue. Henry C. Murphy, writing from Holland at the time of his sojourn as American Minister to that country, describes the Breukelen of Holland as a very old place, containing about 60 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN 1,500 inhabitants. The houses were old fash ioned, and the streets irregular. The people seem to lack thrift and enterprise. The Dutch church was an imposing edifice. Mr. Murphy's impression of the place was not pleasing. Outside of the village he found comfortable dwellings, surrounded with flowers and duck ponds, and everything in perfect neatness and order. On one side of the vil lage was the park, a place laid out with walks and shrubbery, and containing about half an acre of land. He crossed the bridge which spans the Vecht, which connects the two com munities, Breukelen Nijenrodes and Breuke- len St. Pieters. He speaks of the view as charming. The Vecht is about 100 yards wide, and its waters flow lazily along. " The name Breuckelin," he says, " means marsh land." This is the meaning given by the Dutch authorities. Mr. Murphy quotes from one author who says the name has the same origin " as maarssen, merely from its marshy and watery turf lands ; " and although the name is spelled on ancient documents and letters Bracola, Broecke, Broeckede, Broicklede, and Broeklundia, they all indicate the same origin. Mr. Murphy draws a striking comparison between the character and situation of the two BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 6 1 places, showing a wonderful similarity and ap propriateness of name, arriving at the conclu sion that it was selected on account of the corresponding conditions of the two places. As the Holland Brooklyn was spelled in a variety of ways, so, too, Mr. Murphy says, it has been with our own fair city. He states that the record shows it to have been called Breucklyn, Breuckland, Brucklyn, Broucklyn, Brookland, and Brookline. It was during the close of the last century that its orthography became fixed as Brooklyn. The circumstances attending the settlement of Breuckelen as a town were associated with a critical turn in the affairs of Kieft's admin istration. Kieft's tyrannical methods of government, a form of self-willed procedure absolutely gro tesque in many respects, had been sufficiently recognized before the Indian war. After his infamous blunder at Corlaer's Hook his unpopularity increased. Before the war began, Kieft had been compelled to call a Council of Twelve 1 from the people. The Twelve, being chosen by the people, constituted the first illustration offered in New Netherland of representative government. This board, soon 1 Also described as a Council of Eight. 62 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN after the war began, was abolished in a per emptory way; and not long afterward Kieft undertook once more to call upon its advisory aid. When the board objected to certain taxes (on wine, beer, brandy, and beaver skins), he remarked that he still was master, and pub lished his proclamation levying the tax, with the statement that this was done by advice of the council chosen by the commonalty. To these elected representatives of the people such acts naturally were intolerable, and it was not surprising that they should set them selves to secure the removal of Kieft. A memorial sent to the West India Company asked for his recall and for the introduction of the system of government prevailing in Holland. The College of Nineteen made a report upon the case to the States-General, mentioning incidentally that the colony, started as a commercial enterprise, had cost the West India Company, over all profits, more than 550,000 guilders. The resulting reform con siderably modified the theory if not the prac tice of government in New Netherland. The College of Nineteen decreed a " Supreme Council " for New Netherland. Government was placed in the hands of a council consist ing of the Director, a Vice-Director, and a BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 63 Fiscal. The people were to have a right to representation in the council, such being desir able " for mutual good understanding, and the common advancement and welfare of the in habitants." In the code of general instructions which the West India Company had sent for the guidance of the Provincial Council, those in authority were urged " to do all in their power to induce the colonists to establish themselves in some of the most suitable places, with a certain number of inhabitants, in the manner of towns, villages, and hamlets, as the English are in the habit of doing." It was pursuant to the policy of this code that Bout and his associates declared their intention to "found a town at their own expense." It fell to the people who were to organize the town of Brooklyn to choose schepens ; l and at this first election they selected as their representatives Jan Evertsen Bout and Huyck Aertsen. Bout was a well-to-do farmer and one of the original settlers. In 1646, he was chosen a schepen to decide questions which might arise in Breuckelen. He took a patent 1 The function of the schepen resembled that of the squire or petty justice, particularly in communities so small as not to have a burgomaster. 64 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN from Governor Kieft "of land at Marechka- weick, on the kill of the Gowanus, as well the maize land as the wood land, bounded by the land of Huyck Aertsen." It adjoined the land of Van Cowenhoven, and embraced within its limits the mills which were designated as Frecke's and Denton's. Those mills, situated near each other, are vividly remembered by many Brooklyn citizens. They were reached by a bridge from Butler street. Crossing over the bridge and passing the first mill the road wound around the water's edge. The commission from the Colonial Council read, as follows : " We, William Kieft, Director General, and the Council residing in New Netherland, on behalf of the High and Mighty Lords, States- General of the United Netherlands, His High ness of Orange, and the Honourable Directors of the General Incorporated West India Com pany. To all those who shall see these pre sents or hear them read, Greeting : "Whereas, Jan Evertsen Bout and Huyck Aertsen, from Rossum, were on the 2ist May last unanimously chosen by those interested of Breuckelen, situate on Long Island, as Sche- pens to decide all questions which may arise, as they shall deem proper, according to the Ex emptions of New Netherland granted to Par- BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 65 ticular Colonies, which election is subscribed by them, with express stipulation that if any one refuse to submit in the premises aforesaid to the above mentioned Jan Evertsen [Bout] and Huyck Aertsen, he shall forfeit the right he claims to land in the allotment of Breuck- elen, and in order that everything may be done with more authority, We, the Director and Council aforesaid, have therefore authorized and appointed and do hereby authorize the said Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen to be Schepens of Breuckelen ; and in case Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen do hereafter find the labor too onerous, they shall be at liberty to select two more from among the inhabitants of Breuckelen to adjoin them to themselves. We charge and command every inhabitant of Breuckelen to acknowledge and respect the above mentioned Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen as their Schepens, and if any one shall be found to exhibit contumacious- ness toward them, he shall forfeit his share as above stated. This done in Council in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland." Before the ensuing winter had passed, the schepens found their labors sufficiently ardu ous to justify an appeal to the Director, which resulted in the appointment of a schout, or constable. The new commission said : " Having seen the petition of the Schepens 66 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN of Breuckelen, that it is impossible for them to tell cases occurring there, especially crim inal assaults, impounding of cattle, and other incidents which frequently attend agriculture ; and in order to prevent all disorder, it would be necessary to appoint a Schout there, for which office they propose the person of Jan Teunissen. Therefore we grant their request therein, and authorize, as we do hereby au thorize, Jan Teunissen to act as Schout, to imprison delinquents by advice of the Sche- pens, to establish the pound, to impound cat tle, to collect fines, and to perform all things that a trusty Schout is bound to perform. Whereupon he has taken his oath at the hands of us and the Fiscal, on whom he shall espe cially depend, as in Holland substitutes are bound to be dependent on the Upper Schouts or the Bailiff or Marshal. We command and charge all who are included under the juris diction of Breuckelen to acknowledge him, Jan Teunissen, for Schout. Thus done in our council in Fort Amsterdam, in New Netherland, the first December, Anno, 1646." * Thus began the official existence of Breuck elen, which at this time was distinct from the hamlets of Gowanus, the Ferry, and the Wall- about. Governor Kieft saw on the Breuck- 1 By the wording of contracts dated November 22, 1646 (New York Col. MSS. ii. 152), it appears that Teunissen was called " Schout of Breuckelen " before this date. BEGINNINGS OF BREUCKELEN 67 elen shore signs of agricultural activity at various points from Gravesend to beyond the Wallabout. In March, 1647, Hans Hansen Bergen bought a large tract of land adjoin ing the farm of his father-in-law, Joris Jan- sen de Rapalje. The water frontage of this tract was from the Wallabout Creek to the line of the present Division Avenue. Other purchases on the shore probably completed the chain of private ownership along the river and bay fronts between the points above named. A second tier of patents represented land back of the river parcels, and sometimes running in very eccentric lines. Although these patents antedated in many instances by several years the actual settle ment by the owners, 1 the increasing number gave indication of the stimulus that came with the end of organized Indian hostilities. The cessation of these hostilities brought new life to the people of New Netherland, and induced them to look more critically at the urgencies of their political as well as their domestic situation. The movement looking to the removal of 1 As we have seen, Rapalje, who made one of the earliest purchases (1636), did not begin living on his Wallabout farm until probably 1655. 68 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Kieft, which first resulted in modifications in the form of government, and which had never slumbered, at last succeeded, and in May, 1647, Kieft was succeeded by Peter Stuy- vesant. CHAPTER V DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE UNDER THE DUTCH 1647-1664 Beginning of Stuyvesant's Administration. Condition of the Colony. Character of the Early Dutch Houses. Household Arrangement. Dress. Funerals. Mar riages. The Mixture of Races. Slavery. Religion. Attitude of Stuyvesant toward Sects other than Dutch Reformed. Triumph of Liberal Ideas. First Churches in Kings County. Troubles over the Church Tax. First Schools. The Dutch and Popular Education. End of Dutch Rule. WHEN Stuyvesant, followed by the principal burghers, made his first public appearance in New Amsterdam, the people saw that the new Director had but one leg, the other, which he had lost in the wars, having been replaced by a wooden affair, laced with silver bands. His manner was soldierly, and excited from those who looked askance at him the remark that his stride was " like a peacock's, with great pomp and state." Moreover he was accused of keeping the burghers bareheaded for several hours, though he was covered, " as if he were the Czar of Muscovy." 70 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Peter Stuyvesant l was the son of a clergy man of the Reformed Church. He was a " self-made " man, having had a hard struggle from his boyhood. He had fought in the ser vice of the West India Company against the Spaniards and Portuguese in South America. For a time he was Governor of the Island of Cura9oa, and it was while making an attack, during this command, on the Island of St. Thomas that he lost his leg. He had mar ried, at Amsterdam, Judith, the daughter of Balthazzar Bayard, a French Protestant who, like so many others who came to America, had fled to Holland to escape persecution. When Stuyvesant declared in his first speech at the Fort that he would govern the colony " as a father does his children," he gave some hint of the view of the situation which he was inclined to take. However fatherly and generous were his feelings toward the peo ple whom he was to preside over, he intended to be master of the situation. The people who greeted the new Director 1 " No other figure of Dutch, nor indeed of Colonial days is so well remembered ; none other has left so deep an impress on Manhattan history and tradition as this whimsical and obstinate, but brave and gallant old fellow, the kindly tyrant of the little colony. To this day he stands in a certain sense as the typical father of the city." Theodore Roosevelt, New York, p. 26. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 71 with much cordiality, and who in this demon stration were influenced as greatly by the feel ing that any change must be for the better as by any definite expectation that Stuyvesant would be better than Kieft, had suffered from so many influences that tended to disorganize and disconcert them that the new Director found them in no very promising state. In deed, he found New Netherland in a " low condition." Breuckelen and her sister settlements were as yet merely farming communities. New Amsterdam itself had begun to present some of the characteristics of a town. Extending as far as the present line of Wall Street (from which fact the street gets its name), it was thickly settled within a narrow area toward the point. The houses were rough, the streets unkempt. " Pig-pens and out-houses were set directly on the street, diffusing unpleasant odors. The hogs ran at will, kept out of the vegetable gardens only by rough stockades." l If the physical condition of the town offended Stuyvesant, so, also, did the moral condition. The new Director called for a " thorough reformation." There must be an end of drunk enness, Sabbath-breaking, and the selling of 1 Bayard Tuckerman, Peter Stuyvesant^ p. 62. 72 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN liquors to the Indians. Stuyvesant saw the necessity of conciliating the Indians, and the efforts which he made to this end were gratify ing to the Long Island settlers. To protect the outlying settlements from the incursions of the savages, and to provide means for the payment of the annual presents and perquisites to the Indians, Stuyvesant consented to give the various towns repre sentation in the government. The grand old democratic principle of taxation and represen tation going hand in hand was thus recog nized. It was these sentiments, which early took root in Breuckelen, that resulted in the Revolutionary War, and established the fact that taxation without representation was unjus tifiable. As a result of this consent, an elec tion was held in Breuckelen and the other towns, and eighteen of the most respectable and honored men in the community were chosen, from whom nine were selected by the Director and Council as an advisory board. They were to confer with the Director and Council and to promote the welfare of the peo ple. They were also to consult upon all meas ures proposed by the Director and Council, and to give their advice. The Director was empowered to preside at all meetings of this DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 73 board. The members held seats in the Coun cil, taking turns weekly, three sitting at a time ; on court days acting in a judicial capacity to try cases and render judgment. The administration, at least in its earlier years, saw an increase in the rate of immi gration. During Stuyvesant's administration many stone houses appeared in New Amster dam, and on Long Island came an improved class of habitations. The houses of the Dutch period, and of the later period that imitated the primitive archi tecture of that time, are among the most inter esting objects of study that remain on Long Island. The first Long Island houses had re sembled those of the Indians. Very soon after ward the character of the dwellings became more solid and permanent, and after the In dian war came comfortable one-story houses, thatched with straw, and with big stone chim neys. Most of the Dutch houses on Long Island, even in later times, were of wood. A brickyard was established at New Amsterdam in 1660; but in those days it was thought that the baking of brick of greater thickness than two inches could not be effectual, and building with such small brick as then came from the maker was very expensive. 74 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN The one-story Dutch houses generally had an " overshoot " roof, which formed now one and now two piazzas. Very often a seat was placed at each end of the porch ; and when the weather permitted, this sheltered place was generally occupied by the family and vis itors of an evening. There are a number of these fine old Dutch houses still standing within the limits of the county and city. The interior of the Dutch houses was gen erally as solid and simple as the exterior. The big fireplace was one of the most important features of the house. Those who could afford it often had the mantel front set about with glazed Holland tiles. These tiles had pictures moulded on them, and very often the whole series of pictures around the fireplace opening would tell stories from the Bible. " The chil dren grew to know these pictures, and the stories they told, by heart; and when they gathered about the hearth of an evening, and the tile pictures glimmered faintly in the light of the big wood fire, grandfather would open the great family Bible on his knees and read some of the stories over again for the hun dredth time." In the best room of the house stood the mountainous bedstead, as grand as the owner DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 75 could afford to make it. Underneath was the trundle-bed, which was pulled out at night for the children to sleep on. " The pillow-cases were generally of check patterns; and the curtains and valance were of as expensive materials as their owner could afford; while in front of the bed a rug was laid, for carpets were not then in common use. Among the Dutch the only article of that sort, even up to the time of the Revolution, was a drugget of cloth, which was spread under the table during meal-time when, upon ' extra occa sions,' the table was set in the parlor. But even these were unknown among the inhabit ants of Breuckelen and the neighboring towns. The uniform practice, after scrubbing the floor well on certain days, was to place upon the damp boards the fine white beach sand (of which every family kept a supply on hand, renewing it by trips to the seashore twice a year), arranged in small heaps, which the members of the family were careful not to dis turb by treading upon ; and on the following day, when it had become dry, it was swept, by the light and skillful touch of the housewife's broom, into waves or other more fanciful fig ures. Rag carpets did not make their appear ance in this country until about the beginning of the present century." 1 1 Stiles, History of Brooklyn, vol. i. p. 229. 76 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN The Dutch did not use tables save for the kitchen or for the service of meals. The table dishes were of wood and pewter, though a few people kept some china on the sideboard for " company." As tea was a luxury which very few had much of, the tea cups were very small. For display, silver tankards, beakers, porrin gers, spoons, snuffers, and candlesticks were in favor. Clocks were extremely rare, the primitive hour-glass doing service in most houses. " Of books," says Stiles, " our ances tors had but few, and these were mostly Bibles, Testaments, and Psalm-Books. The former, many of which still exist among the old fami lies, were quaint specimens of early Dutch printing, with thick covers, and massive brass, and sometimes silver, corner-pieces and clasps. The Psalm-Books were also adorned with sil ver edgings and clasps, and, when hung by chains of the same material to the girdle of matrons and maidens fair, were undoubtedly valued by their owners quite as much for the display which they made as for their intrinsic value." In every family was a spinning-wheel, sometimes four or five. The dress of the peo ple, like so many other Dutch things, closely resembled that of Hollanders at home. The DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 77 ordinary dress for men was a blouse or jacket, and wide, baggy trousers. Justices and other officials wore black gowns. The Sunday clothes of men as well as women were often gorgeous in color and effect. The ladies frizzed and powdered their hair, wore silk hoods in place of hats, and squeezed their feet into very high-heeled shoes. The dandies of the day wore long coats with silver lace and silver buttons, bright vests or waistcoats, vel vet knee-breeches, black silk stockings, and low shoes with silver buckles. On holidays the people made a gay-looking company. Christmas was a happy festival with them always. In those early days people had to depend upon such family festivities even more than do later generations having many sources of amusement away from home. It was from the Dutch that American children learned to say Santa Claus, and it was from them that Americans learned that fashion, which has still not entirely died out, of making calls on New Year's Day. One of the prudent customs of the Dutch settlers was to begin, so soon as they came of age, to lay by money for their funeral expenses. No Dutchman wanted to be a burden upon any one if he could help it, even when he died, 78 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN and this practice of laying by gold or silver pieces to pay the expenses of proper burial became very general. A Dutch funeral was one of the most singular features of life among the people. After the minister had seated himself beside the coffin and the company was duly assembled, the sexton or servants would appear with glasses and decanters, and wine would be given to such of the guests as cared to drink. Funeral cakes and other victuals were handed about in the same way, and then pipes and tobacco were brought in. The eating, drinking, and smoking being fin ished, the minister would rise and make his address and prayer, and then the sexton and minister would lead the procession to the burying-ground. 1 1 " Among the Dutch settlers the art of stone-cutting does not appear to have been used until within comparatively a few years, with but few exceptions, and their old burying-grounds are strewn with rough head-stones which bear no inscriptions ; whereas the English people, immediately on their settlement, introduced the practice of perpetuating the memories of their friends by inscribed stones. Another reason for not finding any very old tombstones in the Dutch settlements is that they early adopted the practice of having family burying-places on their farms, without monuments, and not unfrequently private burials, both of which the Governor and Colonial Legislature, in 1664 and 1684, deemed of sufficient importance to merit legislative interference, and declared that all persons should be publicly buried in some parish burial-place." Furman, Antiquities of Long Island, p. 155. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 79 A people so prudent about matters of fun eral expenses were likely to be prudent about other affairs of life coming earlier in the list. Young men were generally careful about sav ing money with which to get married, and the young women spun and sewed for many months getting ready the linen which they were in the habit of providing for the house keeping. Furman instances this inventory of the goods a Breuckelen bride brought to her hus band : " A half-worn bed, two cushions of ticking with feathers, one rug, four sheets, four cushion covers, two iron pots, three pewter dishes, one pewter basin, one iron roaster, one schuyrn spoon, two cowes about five years old, one case or cupboard, one table." That the course of true love, as it is ob served after marriage, did not always run smooth, is shown by the early appointment in New Amsterdam of a " First Commissary of Marriage Affairs." In this era marriage was surrounded with many difficulties, and required both time and patience to secure its accomplishment. The following curious document is the form which was used in 1654 to secure a marriage license : 8o HISTORY OF BROOKLYN To the right Honourable the Lordships the Magistrates of Gravesend : DEAR FRIENDS Whereas, on the date of this loth day of February, 1654, a peticion is presented to the cort hereby, Johannes Van Beeck, that the banns (of matrimonie) between him and Maria Varleth, may bee hear regis tered and bee properly proclaimed, and wee hav understoode that the same Johannes Van Beeck ande Maria Varleth had prevusly too this maide procklemation of thare banns throgh youre cort att Gravesende wich (under Koncison) is contrarie too the stile and cus- tomes of oure Faderland. Itt is cure requeste to youre honourable cort in case such an oc- kacion should ockur in futur, that wee mai bee inn formed kincerneing the same, inn order on ether sydde to preventee all impro- priertys, which allso wee engaige too doo on our parte spechally iz the praktize and cus- tome off our Faderland that any one shal maike three proclamations inn the plaice ware his domercile is, ande then he maye bee maryed werever hee pleases, wherein wee ar ande remaine your right Honourable Lord ships' affectionate friend. ARENT VAN H ATT AN. Bye order of thee Burgomasters and She- pens of New Amsterdam. Attest JACOB KIPP, Sec'ty. AMSTERDAM IN NIEW NETHERLANDS, this xoth day of February, 1654. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 8 1 The next step taken by the candidates for matrimony was their appearance before the Court. This event in the old manuscripts is recorded as follows : " Casper Varleth and Johannes Van Beeck appeared inn cort and praed most ernestly thatt onn thee perticion and remonstrance konserning the marriage between Johannes Van Beeck and Maria Varleth presented too the Burgomasters and Schepens may be dis posed off, and in konsequence of the Bench note being kompleate itt iz posponed untill Thursda next, soe az inn thee meantime too notifie the other Lordships. " Johannes Van Beeck appeared in cort and requested az before thatt acion maye bee had onn his peticion, offering furthermore iff thort nesary att thee time ande the okeacion too bee readie to affirme under oathe whatt he stated inn his peticion, repeating especially three con- versacions hadd with his Excellencie Petrus Stuyvesant." The subject-matter of the petition was im portant, and could not be hastily passed upon. The Burgomasters deliberated for three days, and doubtless viewed the subject in every phase and light imaginable. At last they reached a conclusion which cannot be better presented than in the precise language of the decision rendered : 82 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN " Bye the Burgomasters and Shepens of niew amsterdam having been seen and ex amined the peticion as presentede too our cort, onn the zoth ande i6th days of this month, tochinge the bonds off matrimonie between Joh Van Beeck and Maria Varleth. Thare- fore wee inquire into, " First Who frome the beginning was the institutor of marriage, ande also whot the apostels off thee Gentiles teaches thareon. " Secondly The proper and attaned age of Johannes Van Beeck ande Maria Varleth. " Thirdlie Thee consente off the Fathure ande Mothure off the Dauter. " Forthly The distance and remoutnes beetweene this and cure Faderland, together withe thee calamiters relacion betweene Hol land and England. " Fifthly Thee danegur in such case aris- ienge ffrom long retardacion, betweene these too younge persons beecominge publick blame being attachede to the fammelys onn either sidde. "Our Shurlogans ande wise Jurists doo saye korectly onn such mattus, that wee must nott commit any lesser sinns too avoyde grater ones ; tharefore wee thinke (with due submis sion) thatt bye suteable marrage (the apostel inn his epistel to the Heebrues calls the bedd undefiled honurable) both thee lesser ande thee grater crimes are preevented. Tharefor DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 83 thee Burgomasters and Shepens off the city of Niew Amsterdam doe judge thatt thee afforeseyde younge persons haveing mayde thare proper Ecklisiastical proclamations with the earlyst opportunitie, and that they folloe it upp with thee bonds of matrimonie immedi- atelie tharafter. " Done at the Stadt House inn Niew Am sterdam in Niew Netherlands this iQth Feb- erary, 1654. "ARENT VAN HATTAN, MARTIN KRIGIER, P. L. VANDUGRIST, WILH. BEECKMAN, PlETER WOLFERSON, JOSH. P. R. RUYTER, OLOFF STEVENSEN." The social life of the New Netherlands was in many respects characteristic of the hard conditions of life in any new country, but in many respects it was peculiarly different from that of New England. " The sharp and strong contrasts in social position," says Mr. Roose velt, 1 " the great differences in moral and ma terial well-being, and the variety in race, lan guage, and religion, all combined to make a deep chasm between life in New Amsterdam and life in the cities of New England, with their orderly uniformity of condition and their theocratic democracy." In fact, democratic as the Dutch theory was, the actual condition of York, p. 29. 84 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN the Dutch colony was aristocratic in its char acteristics. " The highest rank was composed of the great patroons, with their feudal privi leges and vast landed estates; next in order came the well-to-do merchant burghers of the town, whose ships went to Europe and Africa, carrying in their holds now furs or rum, now ivory or slaves ; then came the great bulk of the population, thrifty souls of small means, who worked hard, and strove more or less suc cessfully to live up to the law ; while last of all came the shifting and intermingled strata of the evil and the weak, the men of incur ably immoral propensities, and the poor whose poverty was chronic." The picturesqueness of the population was accentuated by the presence of a growing num ber of negro slaves which a Dutch vessel had been the first to bring to America. 1 But, as we shall see later, slavery never was welcomed as an institution in this region, and never gained a firm foothold. Tobacco culture and other causes, which operated to the encourage ment of slavery in Virginia and Maryland, did not appear in the northern colonies ; where, moreover, the temper and taste of the people 1 A Dutch war-ship sold twenty negroes into the colony of Virginia in August, 1619. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 85 were not such as to make easy the develop ment of slavery. As in early New England, the domestic and social affairs of the Dutch colony were always intimately associated with religious tra ditions, and, as in New England, the theory of religious liberty found a varying and often a grotesque application. The early theory of the colony was that of complete religious liberty, and at no time was there an intolerance comparable to that which prevailed among the Puritans, who sought liberty but yielded little ; but the laws of the colony favored the Protestant Reformed Church, and it alone. To be sure, the West India Company commended freedom of belief, and the early Governors, partly, doubtless, be cause they were too busy with other matters, and partly because occasion had not yet arisen, caused little trouble by any attitude toward questions of faith or worship. But when the colony grew to considerable proportions, and the mixture of races brought about by the advertised liberality of the Dutch settlements began to bring up the social and religious questions inevitable in such a community, there were many clashings and disputes and bitternesses. 86 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Stuyvesant was as definite and immovable in his ideas about church-going as about every thing else. He believed in established author ity, and personally resented the impertinence of people who saw fit to take a position at vari ance with what seemed to be set forth and settled by the established power. When the Lutherans, in 1654, sought to hold meetings of their own, Stuyvesant reminded them of the duty of attending the good Dutch church, and refused them premises for their meetings. Appeal to Holland, whose position Stuy- vesant's mental methods certainly did not rep resent in this instance, forced the Director to let the Lutherans alone ; and possibly the rebuke was responsible for the fact that the Anabaptists on Long Island escaped serious trouble shortly afterward. But Stuyvesant hated the " cursed Quakers," with whom he had many bitter differences, going so far as to hang up one preacher by the arms and lash him for defying his authority. Of Catholics Stuyvesant had an even greater horror. In 1654, he passed an ordinance for bidding the keeping of Ash Wednesday and all other holy days, as " heathenish and popish institutions, and as dangerous to the public peace." DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 87 To the intermittent religious squabbles brought on by the determination of Stuyvesant to stick to the letter of the law rather than to take the popular Dutch view of moderate leniency, the West India Company finally put a stop by ordering Stuyvesant to " let every one remain free so long as he is modest, moderate, his political conduct irreproachable, and as long as he does not offend others or oppose the Government." These terms, rather than any ever offered by Stuyvesant, represent the real sentiment prevalent among the Dutch people. In the ship which brought over Governor Minuit, in 1626, came two ziekentroosters, or " comforters of the sick," who were frequently found filling positions as assistants to ordained clergymen. By these two men the early reli gious services of the New Amsterdam colony were conducted until 1628, when another ship from Holland brought out Jonas Michaelius, who was sent by the North Synod of the Netherlands. It was Michaelius who "first established the form of a church " at Man hattan. He was succeeded five years later by Everardus Bogardus, whose congregation left the upper loft of the horse-mill for a small building dedicated to church service. In 88 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN 1642, a new stone church was built within the Fort, and in the year of Stuyvesant's coming Bogardus was succeeded by Dominie Johan nes Megapolensis, who led the church for twenty-two years. Meanwhile the Long Island settlers who wished to attend divine service were obliged to cross the river to New Amsterdam. In 1654, however, Midwout (Flatbush), which had begun to assume an importance as a settlement that promised to give it the position that Breuck- elen afterward assumed, established a church. An order was issued in February, 1655, re quiring the inhabitants of Breuckelen and Amersfoort (Flatlands) to assist Midwout " in cutting and hauling wood " for the church. The Breuckelen people objected to working on the minister's house, but were forced, under the Governor's order, to assist throughout the work. This first church in Kings County, built un der the supervision of Dominie Megapolensis, John Snedicor, and John Stryker, occupied sev eral years in the building; but that it was used before its completion is indicated by the fact that in August, 1655, Stuyvesant convened the inhabitants to give their opinion as to the qualifications of the Rev. Johannes Theodorus DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 89 Polhemus as a " provisional minister," and to decide what salary they would pay him. The report of the Schout was that the people ap proved of Mr. Polhemus, and that they would pay him 1,040 guilders (about $416) a year. Polhemus belonged to " an ancient and highly respectable family " in the Netherlands, had been a missionary in Brazil, and had come from . that country to New Amsterdam. He was a devout Christian, and his faithfulness does not seem to have been questioned, but when, in 1656, the magistracy of Midwout and Amersfoort sought permission to request vol untary contributions from the three Dutch towns, Breuckelen protested, declaring that " as the Rev. John Polhemus only acts as a minister of the Gospel in the village of Mid wout, therefore the inhabitants of the village of Breuckelen and adjacent districts are disin clined to subscribe or promise anything for the maintenance of a Gospel minister who is of no use to them." By way of showing their good will to Mr. Polhemus personally, they urged that the minister might be permitted to preach alternately in Breuckelen and Midwout. If this were done they were " very willing to con tribute cheerfully to his support, agreeable to their abilities." 90 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN The Director and Council replied that they had " no objection that the Reverend Polhe- mus, when the weather permits, shall preach alternately in both places ; " but although Mid- wout consented, Gravesend and Amersfoort ob jected, these villages having contributed to the support of the Midwout church, and Breuck- elen being "quite two hours' walking from Amersfoort and Gravesend, whereas the village of Midwout is not half so far and the road much better." To this was added : " So they considered it a hardship to choose either to hear the gospel but once a day, or to be com pelled to travel four hours, in going and re turning, all for one single sermon, which would be to some very troublesome, and to some utterly impossible." As a way out of this difficulty the Director and Council decided that the morning sermon should be at Midwout, which was about the same distance from each of the three other towns, and that the afternoon service should be changed to an evening service to be held alternately in Breuckelen and Amersfoort. In recognition of the situation of Midwout, that village was to give annually 400 guilders, and Breuckelen and Amersfoort each 300 guilders for the support of the minister. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 91 This seemed like an amicable settlement, and might have remained such had not Breuckelen been dissatisfied with the preach ing of Mr. Polhemus. The dissatisfaction ex pressed itself in a protest sent to the Director and Council, in which the people of Breuck elen reminded the Director that they had never called the Reverend Polhemus, and had never accepted him as their minister. " He in truded himself upon us against our will," said the protest, " and voluntarily preached in the open street, under the blue sky; when to avoid offense, the house of Joris Dircksen was temporarily offered him." Moreover, Mr. Pol hemus was accused of offering " a poor and meagre service," giving, every fortnight, " a prayer in lieu of a sermon," by which they could receive " very little instruction." Often, when they supposed this prayer was begin ning, it was " actually at an end." This they experienced on the Sunday preceding Christ mas, when, expecting an appropriate sermon, they heard " nothing but a prayer." " Where fore," continues the protest, " it is our opinion that we shall enjoy as much and more edifica tion by appointing one among ourselves, who may read to us on Sundays, a sermon from the ' Apostles' Book,' as we ever have until now 92 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN from any of the prayers or sermons of the Reverend Polhemus." All this, the protest hastened to say, was intended in no offense to the preacher, whose inabilities were recognized as resulting naturally from the fact that in his advanced years "his talents did not accom pany him as steadily as in the days of yore." To this protest Stuyvesant responded merely by directing the sheriff to "remind those of Breuckelen, once more, to fulfil their engagement, and to execute their promise rela tive to the salary of Mr. Polhemus." Amid their discontent, and in consequence also of the poverty of many of his parishioners, the poor preacher suffered not a little for want of the ordinary necessities of life. In the winter of 1656, his house ting not yet completed, he and wife and children were forced to sleep on the floor. When Sheriff Tonneman com plained to the Council of having been abused while attempting to collect the odious tax, Lodewyck Jong, Jan Martyn, " Nicholas the Frenchman, Abraham Janesen the mulatto, and Gerrit the wheelwright," were each fined twelve guilders ($4.80) ; and when Jan Martyn sought to hire the public bellman to defame Tonneman, he was " obliged to beg pardon, on bended knees, of the Lord and of the court, DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 93 and was fined twenty-five guilders ($10) and costs." Wearied of his efforts to coax and threaten the Breuckelen opposition into paying the tax, Stuyvesant at last (in July, 1658) forbade all inhabitants of the three towns to remove grain from their fields until all tithes were taken or commuted. There was no escape from this, and the tax was paid. Two years later Breuckelen secured a preacher of her own in the person of the Rev. Henricus Selyns, 1 a preacher whose ancestors had been prominent in the earliest days of the Dutch Reformed Church, and who had been reared in the traditions of this flourishing denomination. He engaged to serve Breuck elen for four years. When, in September, 1660, Dominie Selyns preached his first sermon in the Breuckelen barn which served as a house of worship, the population of the village was one hundred and thirty-four persons, representing thirty-one families. The preacher had been promised a salary of one hundred florins, but when an effort was made to raise funds the magistrates 1 The call of the Breuckelen Church to Dominie Selyns was by him accepted, and approved by the Classis of Amsterdam, February 16, i66o(-6i). Brooklyn Church Records. 94 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN found themselves under the necessity of appeal ing to the Director for aid. Stuyvesant offered to pay one hundred and fifty guilders, provided Mr. Selyns would also preach every afternoon at his "bouwery" on Manhattan Island. This arrangement was duly made. In 1 66 1, when Breuckelen received from the West India Company, by request of Dominie Selyns, a bell for the church, there were fifty- two communicants. Meanwhile, Mr. Selyns was living at New Amsterdam, and in 1662 an effort was made to induce the preacher to live in Breuckelen, on the theory of the sche- pens that, if he did so bring himself among them, " the community would be more willing and ready to bring in their respective quotas." It does not appear that the Dominie found it convenient to live in Breuckelen, but there is no doubt of his zeal nor of his popularity. When, in 1664, the Dominie returned to Hol land, it was with the regrets and good wishes of the little band of Breuckelen parishioners. The Dutch attitude toward education was in many respects very different from that which prevailed among the English. At the time of the settlement of New England and New Amsterdam, Holland was far in advance of other European states in ideas of popular DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 95 education. Mr. Campbell 1 places Holland two hundred years in advance of any other country in Europe at the time of the Puritan emigration. There was, indeed, an extraordi nary contrast between " the free cities " of the Netherlands and their neighbors at this time. " The whole population," says May, 2 " was edu cated. The higher classes were singularly accomplished. The University of Leyden was founded for the learned education of the rich, and free schools were established for the gen eral education." Common schools had, in deed, been founded in the sixteenth century, and in the seventeenth the children of all classes were taught at the public expense. Such ideas of educational democracy had 1 Mr. Campbell and other recent writers, actuated doubtless by some resentment toward the complacency of New England, have unquestionably exaggerated in certain respects the essen tial position of Holland in educational advancement, and offered a somewhat stronger plea for the leadership of the Dutch in popular education on this continent than a strictly judicial examination of the case seems to justify ; but there can be no reasonable doubt in the minds of impartial students that serious misconceptions have existed, and that these jus tify the championship of the Dutch, of which Mr. Campbell's The Puritan in Holland, England, and A merica is so brilliant an example. The early claims for English and for Puritan educational traditions not only ignored but excluded the Dutch, and it was inevitable that the effort to do justice to Holland's remarkable services for popular education should result in occasional overstatement. a Democracy in Europe, vol. ii. pp. 67-72. 96 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN not appeared in England at the time when education first began to be considered in this country. Mr. Draper 1 notes that there was no school but the Latin school in Boston for thirty-five years after the passage of the so-called compulsory education law of 1647. Nor did the early Massachusetts schools receive all the children of the people. " No boys were received under seven years of age till 1818. No girls of any age were admitted prior to 1789. It was one hundred and forty- two years after the passage of the so-called compulsory school law of 1647 before Bos ton admitted one girl to her so-called 'free schools,' and it was one hundred and eighty- one years thereafter before girls had facilities equal to those enjoyed by their brothers." On the other hand, New Amsterdam had a professional schoolmaster as early as 1633, and with him popular common school education began in this country. Prior to 1662, there were as many as ten persons licensed to keep private schools or to teach on their own ac count, and Furman states that young men from both the New England and the Virginia colonies came to New Amsterdam to be edu- 1 Public School Pioneering in New York and Massachu setts. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 97 cated. Speaking of the movement of 1658, looking to the establishment of a Latin school at New Amsterdam, and of the comment thereon by Mr. George H. Martin, represent ing the State Board of Education of Massa chusetts, Mr. Draper says: " Mr. Martin seems to make much of the fact that the petition for the sending over of a Latin master stated that there was no Latin school nearer than Boston, but overlooks the fact that there had previously been a Latin school at New Amsterdam, and also the other fact that there was no school at Plymouth, and none but a Latin school at Boston, and that it received only a few of the brighter boys of the wealthier families, to prepare them for college and the ministry." The earliest laws of the colony show that for the support of schools " each householder and inhabitant should bear such tax and public charge as should be considered proper for their maintenance." l The first schoolmaster in Breuckelen made his appearance in 1661, on the 4th day of July, in which year the following petition was pre sented : 1 New York Colonial Documents, vol. i. p. 112. 98 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN To the Right Hon. Director- General and Council of New Netherland: The Schout and Schepens of the Court of Breuckelin respectfully represent: That they found it necessary, that a court messenger was required for the Schepens Chamber, to be occa sionally employed in the Village of Breuckelin, and all around, where he may be needed, as well to serve summons, as also to conduct the service of the church, and to sing on Sunday; to take charge of the school, dig graves, etc. ; ring the bell and perform what ever else may be required. Therefore, the petitioners, with your Honours' approbation, have thought proper to accept for so highly necessary office a suita ble person who is now come before them, one Carel Van Beauvois, to whom they have appro priated the sum of fl. 1 50, beside a fine dwell ing; and whereas the petitioners are appre hensive that the aforesaid C. V. Beauvois would not and cannot do the work for the sum aforesaid, and the petitioners are not able to promise him any more ; therefore the peti tioners, with all humble and proper reverence, request your Honours to be pleased to lend them a helping hand, in order thus to receive the needful assistance. Herewith awaiting your Honours' kind and favorable answer, and commending ourselves, Honorable, wise, pru dent and most discreet gentlemen, to your favor, we pray for your Honours God's protec- DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 99 tion, together with a happy and prosperous administration, unto salvation. Your Honors' servants and subjects, the Schout and Sche- pens of the village aforesaid. By order of the same, [Signed] ADRIAEN HEGEMAN, Secretary. The Directors granted the petition and agreed to pay fifty guilders annually in wam pum for the support of the precentor and schoolmaster. The first school was set up in the little church, which stood near the present junction of Fulton and Bridge Streets. The second public school within the county was opened in the new village of Bushwick. The area of the county represented by the town of Bushwick had, as we have seen, been purchased by the West India Company in 1638. In 1660 the Wallabout residents had built a block-house on the high point of land overlooking the East River, known as the "Kiekout," 1 or "Lookout." At about the same time (in the month of February), " four teen Frenchmen, with a Dutchman named 1 The river farm, which included the " Kiekout" bluff, is first found in the possession of Jean Meserole, who came from Picardy, France, in 1663, and from whom is descended Gen. Jeremiah V. Meserole, President of the Williamsburgh Sav ings Bank, first colonel of the Forty-seventh Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. 100 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Peter Janse Wit " and an interpreter, called upon the Director to lay out a town plot east of the Wallabout settlement. On February 19 the Director, with the Fiscal, Nicasius de Sille, Secretary Van Ruyven, and the sworn surveyor, Jaques Corteleau, came to a spot between " Mispat (Maspeth) Kill," New- town Creek, and " Norman's Kill," l Bushwick Creek, to "establish a village." Here a sur vey was made, and twenty house lots laid out. The first house was at once erected by Evert Hedeman, and others soon appeared. In March of the following year " the Direc tor-General visited the new village, when the inhabitants requested His Honour to give the place a name ; whereupon he named the town Boswijck," the Town of the Woods. The people of the new village then selected six of their men, from which the governor chose three, to be magistrates, the town remaining subject to the schout of Breuckelen, Amers- foort, and Midwout. Thus when the first public school was 1 So named from Dirck Volckertsen, surnamed " the Nor man," to whom was granted in 1645 land on the East River between Bushwick Creek and Newtown Creek, now within the seventeenth ward of the city of Brooklyn, and still known as Greenpoint. Volckertsen lived in a stone house on the north erly side of Bushwick Creek near the East River. The house was standing until after the middle of the present century. DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS opened in Bushwick, the hamlet scarcely con tained twenty houses, a fact which may illus trate the attitude of the Dutch and French in this part of the country toward the question of popular education. The first schoolmaster in Bushwick was Boudwyn Manout, who took charge on December 28, 1662. The setting up of the third school within the county was effected in a new village called Bedford, lying southeast of the Wallabout and east of Breuckelen. The settlement of this village dates from 1662, in which year, in the month of March, Joris Jan. Rapalje, Teunis Gysbert (Bogaert), Cornelis Jacobsen, Hen- drick Sweers, Michael Hans (Bergen), and Jan Hans (Bergen) asked the Director for a grant of unoccupied woodland " situated in the rear of Joris Rapalje, next to the old Bay Road." The Director made the grant, with the stipula tion that the petitioners should not make " a new hamlet." The little settlement thus formed was ad jacent on the south to another known as Cripplebush 1 (variously spelt in the Dutch orthography of the early days), and lay at the 1 Early section names within the township of Breuckelen were Gowanus, Red Hook (lying west of the Ferry), the Ferry, Wallabout, Bedford, Cripplebush. All of these, save the last, have survived as designations of regions in the present city. 102 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN intersection of the Jamaica highway, the Clove Road running to Flatbush, and the Cripple- bush Road running to Newtown. The Bedford school-house was placed in the heart of the village, at the cross-roads. This school, beginning in the year 1663, afterward, according to the records of Teunis G. Bergen, became the present Public School No. 3, and had an interesting history. Throughout the whole of Stuyvesant's direc torship, the quarrels between him and the peo ple were of frequent occurrence, and gained rather than diminished in violence. As we have seen, the tendency observable in the col ony was aristocratic, and Stuyvesant fostered such a tendency to the utmost. At one time he sought to institute a division of the burgh ers into two classes, major and minor, the rights of the major burghers to be hereditary, and to include the sole right to hold office. He had an honorable sense of justice ; but his method of exercising justice was eminently paternal. He regarded complaint against a magistrate as nothing less than treason. With his Council, the " Nine Men," he had one wrangle after another. Both the Nine Men and himself repeatedly sent protests to Hol land, and the West India Company chose to THE FERRY IN 1746 DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 103 let the pugnacious Director and his people fight the thing out among themselves. This indifference on the part of Holland, which plainly took nothing more than a com mercial interest in the colony, naturally in spired little loyalty toward the home govern ment. The nation that ignored their protests, let their fortifications crumble from lack of repair, and refused to guard them by proper numbers of soldiery, could expect no ardor of patriotism from those who were so treated. Meanwhile trouble began to show itself be tween the Dutch and the Connecticut colony. The latter claimed authority over the English towns on Long Island, and threatened also to take possession of the Dutch settlements. The English were jealous of the rich territory of the Dutch. They beheld the valuable trade which had sprung up through the instrumen tality of the Dutch West India Company. They were inclined to consider the Hollanders intruders. The English claimed the entire continent as their domain by virtue of the discovery made by their navigator, Cabot. Efforts were made to settle the disputes and differences, without success. All negotiations proved futile. With the Indians on one side and the English on the other the situation for 104 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN the New Netherlands was perilous indeed. At last the Long Island towns, with Haar lem, New Amsterdam, and Bergen, assembled in convention and prepared a remonstrance to the home government, charging all their dis asters to the lack of interest manifested by the mother country in their welfare. The colo nists divided into two parties, one favoring adherence to Holland, the other favoring the acceptance of English rule. In 1664 Charles II. granted to his brother James, the Duke of York and Albany, a patent of all the territory lying between the Connect icut River and Delaware Bay, in which was included the whole of the Dutch possessions. The Duke immediately dispatched four ships, with 450 soldiers, under command of his Dep uty Governor, Colonel Richard Nicolls, to take possession of the territory. The squadron anchored at Nyack Bay, between New Utrecht and Coney Island, in August, 1664. The block house on Staten Island was captured, and all communication between Manhattan and the neighboring colonies was effectually intercepted. The people were not prepared for this inva sion. The very liberality the Dutch loyalists had exercised toward other nations was to seal DUTCH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 105 their doom. The English settlers whom they had welcomed with open arms were anxious for a change of government, and the arbitrary conduct of the Dutch officials induced many of the Hollanders to coincide with the wishes of the English. Stuyvesant was powerless ; the Fates were against him, and resistance was useless. Yet he would have refused to surren der, and was for making the best possible fight. But the people refused to rally under his leadership, and without the striking of a blow the Dutch colony fell under English rule. CHAPTER VI KINGS COUNTY AFTER THE ENGLISH CONQUEST 1665- 1700 Assembly at Hempstead. The " Duke's Laws." Love lace. New York Retaken by the Dutch. Colve be comes Governor. Return of English Rule under the Treaty of 1674. Dongan and the Popular Assembly. De Sille. Journal of Dankers and Sluyter. The Ferry. A Dutch Dinner. The Schoolmaster and the Constable. William and Mary and the Leisler Revolu tion. Sloughter appointed Governor. Execution of Leisler, and Subsequent Honors of a Public Reinter ment. Long Island receives the name of Nassau. Development of Privateering. Captain Kidd visits and buries Treasure on Long Island. Bellomont and the Suppression of Piracy. First Trial for Treason. WHEN Nicolls assumed control as Governor of New Amsterdam, under the patent to the Duke of York, he considered it best to act in a liberal spirit toward the Dutch, and endeav ored to gain their good will and esteem. In deed, this was the wise English policy which he represented. So conciliatory was his ad ministration that the Dutch element did not appear to be affected by the change. The trade with Holland was continued without in- UNDER ENGLISH RULE 107 terruption. The Dutch were permitted to elect all minor officials and to observe the cus toms of the fatherland. New York received a new charter, and the government was placed in the hands of a Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriff, appointed by the Governor. The leg islative power was vested in the Governor and Council, who alone possessed the power to impose taxes. The titles to property in the province were not in any way disturbed. The Council was careful to confirm and declare legal all grants, patents, and other evidences of title which had been derived through the Dutch government. New grants in confirmation were given, and additional expense in consequence was im posed upon the owners. Large sums were also expended in repairing the forts in and about the harbor to resist any attempt which might be made to retake the city. Measures were also adopted to provide a more perfect and uniform system for the gov ernment of the towns on Long Island. In order to reconcile differences, and establish laws which should control in each town, Ni- colls organized an Assembly of delegates, composed of representatives from each town. The Assembly thus formed, met in Hemp- IO8 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN stead in 1665. Breuckelen was represented in that body by two of her well-known citizens, in the persons of Frederick Lubbertsen and Evertsen Bout. The Assembly adopted a code of laws which were called the " Duke's Laws." Considering the state of the times and the varied conditions of the people, the code thus adopted was reasonable and just to all. These laws continued in operation with slight amendments until 1683, when Governor Don- gan convened his provincial Assembly. The actions of Governor Nicolls gave the delegates satisfaction and pleasure, and they became his fast friends. They expressed their admiration of his actions by an address of congratulation to the Duke of York, which was characterized by an exceedingly deferential tone toward the new authority. Many of the people objected to the tone of this address, and gave vent to their feelings in outspoken language against the delegates. So fearless and indiscreet was the language used, and so imminent did the violence threatened by the anti-English ele ment appear, that the Government was con strained to take notice of the same. At a court held in 1666, a stringent act was passed to prevent a repetition of the slanders against the delegates. UNDER ENGLISH RULE 109 In 1665, Long Island, with Staten Island, was created a shire, and called Yorkshire, as a token of respect to the proprietor, the Duke of York. The shire thus formed was divided into districts, which were denominated ridings. The towns included in Kings County, Staten Island, and Newtown, were called the West Riding. Nicolls displayed much wisdom in the management of the colony, and thereby won the respect of the people. He did not, however, remain long in service. Being anx ious to return to Europe, in 1668 he bade farewell to the New World, and set his face eastward. Upon his return to his native land he engaged in his country's service in the war with Holland, and gave his life in defending the flag in a naval engagement in 1692. Nicolls was succeeded by Governor Francis Lovelace, whose administration was a striking contrast to that of his predecessor. Despotic, arrogant, and self-willed, Lovelace was born to be a " paternal " ruler, and ever manifested a domineering spirit. The inhabitants had al ways claimed the right to levy and impose their own taxes, and protested against taxation without representation. To all protests he paid no attention except to " pronounce their complaints as scandalous and seditious." His IIO HISTORY OF BROOKLYN frequent remark was, "the people should have liberty for no thought but how to pay their taxes." In order to carry out his views, and to display his power, he imposed a duty of ten per cent, upon all imports and exports arriving at or going from the province. In 1672, Charles II., instigated by the French, proclaimed war against Holland. This rupture led the Dutch to conceive the idea of regaining their lost possessions. A squadron consisting of five vessels was fitted out, and placed under the command of Ad mirals Beuckes and Evertson. The fleet thus prepared sailed from Holland and appeared off Sandy Hook on the 2Qth of July, 1673. The news of the expedition reached the city long before the arrival of the fleet. Governor Lovelace had no adequate idea of the impor tance and necessity of preparation to resist the attack. He left the city and proceeded to Albany to regulate the difficulties with the Indians, and placed the fort in charge of Cap tain Manning. When the news reached the city that the Dutch fleet was approaching, Manning sent messengers to Governor Love lace, requesting him to return speedily. He came, and at once commenced active defen sive preparations. The fort was manned, and UNDER ENGLISH RULE \ \ \ soldiers were mustered into service and drilled. The enemy not appearing, the Governor dis banded his forces and went to Connecticut. When the fleet reached Sandy Hook, Man ning again informed the Governor and re quested him to return, and in the mean time employed himself in collecting recruits. He was not successful. The love of fatherland could not be obliterated from the hearts of Dutchmen. They refused to volunteer against their own flesh and blood, and instead spiked the guns of the fort to prevent any resistance to the fleet. The soldiers in the fort were but amateurs, and having had no experience were of but little service. The fleet anchored in New York Bay, July 30, 1673. Manning lacked courage, and did not pos sess any attribute fitting him to properly de fend the city. In his dilemma, and not having the aid and assistance of the Governor, he found himself powerless to act as the occasion demanded. He sent a messenger to the fleet to inquire their object in disturbing the peace of the colony. In the morning, the admirals dispatched an officer to demand the immedi ate surrender of the fort. Manning, anxious to gain time, requested that he might have until the following day to give his answer. 112 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN This was refused, and he was notified that unless the city was surrendered in half an hour the fort would be bombarded. To this notification no reply was received. The Dutch, true to their word, commenced a cannonade which resulted in killing and wounding a num ber of men. The salute of hot shot was not returned. Captain Colve, with a band of six hundred men, landed, and the attacking force was ranged in line of battle in front of the fort, and prepared to make a triumphal march through the city. Manning became agitated and frightened. He commenced negotiations, but, as he had no power to enter into any agreement, he was compelled to surrender. The city, again in the possession of its ori ginal settlers, was called New Orange, and the fort was named Fort Hendrick. Some of the English soldiers taken as hostages of war were sent to Holland. It may well be supposed that this success ful capture produced a deep sense of morti fication to the English Government and the New England colonies. Manning was sub sequently court-martialed and tried for cow ardice and treachery. His defense was mainly that he had no time to put the fort in a proper condition of defense that the enemy UNDER ENGLISH RULE 113 were eight hundred strong, while he had but eighty men in the fort, and that he sought to delay capitulation, hoping that help might arrive. He was found guilty by the court. Through the influence of friends his life was spared, but he was compelled to suffer the ignominy of having his sword broken over his head by the executioner in front of the City Hall, and he was declared incapable of ever holding any office, either civil or military, in the gift of the Crown. Governor Lovelace also was severely reprimanded, and all his property was confiscated to the Duke of York. It would appear that the conduct of the Gov ernor was more reprehensible than that of Manning. Manning was merely a subaltern, and Lovelace being Governor, it was his duty to exercise proper care in defending the territory committed to his control. He was twice notified by Manning of the intended attack, and seemed by his actions either to manifest but little interest, or not to realize the importance of defensive measures. Captain Colve now assumed control of pub lic affairs. Fearing that the English might endeavor to regain the territory, he repaired and strengthened the fort, and put the city under military protection. A new charter was 114 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN given to the city, and the old forms of govern ment readopted. Courts were established at various points, and all the magistrates were required to appear at New Orange, and swear allegiance to the Dutch Government. Colve received his commission as Governor of the New Netherlands from the admiral of the fleet. He was very energetic, fortifying weak points, and asserting the claim of the Dutch to all the territory which Governor Stuyvesant had controlled. The fort was re paired in a substantial manner, and every pre caution taken to effectually resist any attack which might be made. Colve directed that the provisions of the city should be securely kept, and prohibited the exportation of wheat and grain. In order to prepare the people for active service, he organized companies and had them drilled daily by competent officers in the manual of arms. The city under his administration assumed a military appearance. Parades and drills were of daily occurrence. The city was carefully guarded by watchmen ever on the alert. While Governor Colve exercised authority in the province, he took occasion to visit Flat- bush with his officials, where by his direction the magistrates of the various towns on Long UNDER ENGLISH RULE 1 1 5 Island had assembled. He conveyed to them the intelligence that troops were on the way from New England to assail the town, and that it was necessary to make preparations for resistance. He commanded them to hold themselves in readiness to proceed to the city whenever he should require their presence. Many of the people considering it prudent to move to the city for safety, obtained permission to do so, and the Governor appointed a com mittee to secure proper accommodations for them. A general exodus from Breuckelen and the other towns was the result. The inhabitants of the west end of the Island were eager to move, and in order to prevent depopulation, Governor Colve issued another order, stating that it was necessary for a portion of the males to remain in the towns to protect property and prevent invasion, and he directed that one third of the military force should remain. The Dutch during their control of -New York won for themselves the respect of all onlookers. In their management of the colony, notwithstanding many defects, they were more liberal than any of their neighbors. They were a hard-working, painstaking, thrifty class of people, whose sterling virtues have left upon 1 1 6 HIS TOR Y OF BROOKL YN the character of New York an impress that can never be obliterated. The character and principles of the Dutch, handed down from one generation to another, have done much to mould the great western commercial centre into the cosmopolitan metropolis it is to-day. The Knickerbocker patience and perseverance under trials, the honesty and integrity of the Dutch, their love of education and independ ence have been of incalculable value to the State and nation. The Dutch were not to be surprised by any English force. The difficulty was settled by the treaty of peace between the States-General and England, signed at Westminster on the 9th of February, 1674. The terms of the treaty provided for the restoration of New York to the English. This was accomplished on the loth of November, 1674, when the fort was surrendered to Major Edward Andros, the Governor appointed by the Duke of York. Thus New York again passed from the con trol of the original settlers into the hands of their conquerors. The fort again assumed the name of Fort James, and the city resumed the name of New York. The inhabitants were required to swear allegiance to the King of England, and the form of government established by the English was restored. UNDER ENGLISH RULE I 1 7 Governor Andros also restored the titles, grants, and privileges which the towns had enjoyed under the English Government, and furthermore declared all legal proceedings which had been taken during the reoccupation by the Dutch to be legal and valid. Andros was arbitrary and oppressive in his conduct, and did all in his power to prevent efforts on the part of the inhabitants to obtain representation in the councils of the govern ment. In 1680, charges were preferred against him in which he was accused of interfering with the privileges of New Jersey, and he was summoned to England to answer. He was acquitted, and returned to be still more oppres sive. In 1683, he was removed, and Colonel Thomas Dongan was appointed his successor, with directions to convene a popular assembly. This Assembly was composed of the Gov ernor, Council, and seventeen members elected by the people, and held a session commencing October 17, 1683, which lasted seventeen days. The Assembly adopted wise measures, which were called "the charter of liberties." This charter provided that the supreme authority should be vested in the Governor, Council, and Legislature elected triennially by the people. The right of trial by a jury of twelve men was Il8 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN guaranteed, and the liberty of the citizens was secured. Protection and freedom of religious belief were also assured. The County of Kings was organized, and comprised the five towns of Breuckelen, Bush- wick, Flatlands, Flatbush, and New Utrecht. Queens County was also organized. The province was divided into counties. These counties were: New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Richmond, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Albany. In each county a court of sessions was to meet twice a year, and the Court of Oyer and Terminer annually. The offices of assessor and supervisor were also created. The first town clarke (as it was then spelt) of which there is any record was Heer Nica- sius De Sille. 1 He was appointed in 1671, and l When, in 1660, it was deemed necessary to prepare defenses for Breuckelen and New Utrecht against attacks from the Indi ans, De Sille was directed to make the necessary surveys. Under Stuyvesant De Sille held the important position of attorney- general. He was a man of ability and influence. The posi tion he held under Stuyvesant demonstrated the fact that his attainments were appreciated. He was born in Arnheim. His ancestors were natives of Belgium, who fled to Holland to escape religions persecution, and whose devotion to the inter ests of their adopted country was manifested on many occa sions in the noble stand taken by the Dutch Republic to main tain its independence against the Spanish invasion. He came to New Netherland in 1653, commissioned by the West India Company to reside at New Amsterdam, and by his counsel aid and assist the Governor in his duties. He was directed UNDER ENGLISH RULE 119 acted in that capacity for four years. Michil Hainelle succeeded him in 1675, and held office until 1690. During the administration of De Sille, Frederick Lubbertsen and Peter Perniedeau were trustees and overseers. In 1676 we find Teunis G. Bergen and Thomas Lambertsen filling the offices of trustee and overseer. Of New York and Brooklyn immediately after the establishment of English rule we find some interesting glimpses in the journal of Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter, published in the collections of the Long Island Historical Society. 1 These two Dutch travelers were members of the sect founded by Jean de La- badie, and known as Labadists. The Laba- dists had found shelter in tolerant and enlight ened Amsterdam when persecuted in France. The new faith was embraced by many of the Walloons at Rotterdam and elsewhere. A to give his advice on all subjects relating to the interests of the colony. It is said that he built the first house in New Utrecht. It was at his house that the brave General Wood- hull, the hero of Long Island, who gave his life for his coun try, breathed his last. S. M. O. 1 Journal of a Voyage to New York and a Tour in Several of the American Colonies in 1679-80. By Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter of Wiewerd, in Friesland. Translated from the original manuscript in Dutch for the Long Island Histor ical Society, and edited by Henry C. Murphy, Foreign Corre sponding Secretary of the Society. Brooklyn, 1867. I2O HISTORY OF BROOKLYN community, resembling in many respects those of the Quakers, was established at Wiewerd, and the promoters resolving upon coloniza tion in America, Bankers and Sluyter were sent to New York on a tour of investigation. After their first tour, of which their journal speaks, they were again sent to New York in 1683, to establish a colony. The Labadists give a detailed account of their experiences in New York and on Long Island. They make a natural comment on the name " river " for the strait separating Long Island and Manhattan Island. " There is a ferry, . . . for the purpose of crossing over it, which is farmed out by the year, and yields a good income, as it is a considerable thorough fare, this island being one of the most popu lous places in this vicinity." The ferry at this time was patronized by both white men and Indians, though the Indi ans usually economized by using their own boats in carrying to New York their fish, fowl, or furs. The fare on the ferry was " three stuivers in zeewan for each person." A " stui- ver in zeewan " was equivalent to less than half a cent of our money. Going up the hill from the ferry the travel ers passed through the "first village called UNDER ENGLISH RULE \ 2 1 Breuckelen," in which they saw " a small and ugly little church standing in the middle of the road." Here they turned off to the right and reached Gowanus, where they were enter tained by Simon Aertsen De Hart. After speaking of the large and remarkable oysters, " fully as good as those in England, and better than those we eat at Falmouth," the travel ers give this description of the Dutch dinner: " We had for supper a roasted haunch of ven ison, which he had bought of the Indians for three guilders and a half of seewant, that is, fifteen stuivers of Dutch money [fifteen cents], and which weighed thirty pounds. The meat was exceedingly tender and good, and also quite fat. It had a slight spicy flavor. We were also served with wild turkey, which was also fat and of a good flavor; and a wild goose that was rather dry. Everything we had was the natural production of the country." The guest adds : " We saw here, lying in a heap, a whole hill of watermelons, which were as large as pumpkins, and which Symon was going to take to the city to sell. ... It was very late at night when we went to rest in a Kermis bed, as it is called, in the corner of the hearth, alongside of a good fire." These visitors did not entertain a very warm 122 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN appreciation for what the journal describes as " a miserable rum or brandy which had been brought from Barbadoes and other islands, and which is called by the Dutch kill-devil. All these people," continues the same narrator, " are very fond of it, and most of them ex travagantly so, although it is very dear and has a bad taste." At New Utrecht, however, they drank " some good beer a year old." The writers comment upon Coney Island in these words : " It is oblong in shape, and is grown over with bushes. Nobody lives upon it, but it is used in winter for keeping cattle, horses, oxen, hogs, and others, which are able to obtain there sufficient to eat the whole win ter, and to shelter themselves from the cold in the thickets." The Fort Hamilton region, called Najack (Nyack), after the Indian tribe of this name living in the vicinity, is spoken of as an island, it being surrounded by a marsh. These and other records of the period indi cate how little the early influence of the Eng lish rule affected the Dutch manners and cus toms, particularly on Long Island. The new rulers might introduce the English system of weights and measures, and adopt a new nomenclature for officials and civic systems, UNDER ENGLISH RULE 123 but for a long time, and far into the eigh teenth century, Dutch life on Long Island remained singularly like all that it had been in the fatherland and in the pioneer homes. An annual fair was established in Breuckelen in 1675. It was provided that there shall be kept " a ffayre and market at Breucklin, near the ffery, for all grain, cattle, or other products of the country, too be held on the ffirst Mun- day, Tusday, and Wenesday inn November, and in the City off New York the Thursday, Ffriday, and Saturday following." To meet the necessary expenses of possible war, it was ordered that in case there should happen a war with the Indians, for the better carrying on of the same, one or more rates should be levied as there shall be occasion, an account whereof to be given to the following Court of Assizes. At the same time it was ordered " that in all cases the magistrates through the whole government are required to do justice to the Indians as well as to the Christians." In 1675, by reason of the fact that Long Island and Staten Island were separated by water, it was provided that Staten Island should have jurisdiction of itself, and be no longer dependent on the courts of Long Island, nor on the " Milishay." 124 HIS TOR Y OF BROOKL YN The overseers and trustees were required to take an oath to administer the laws, without favor, affection or partiality to any person or cause, and, when required, to attend to the pri vate differences of neighbors and endeavor to effect a reconciliation. Slight allusion has heretofore been made to the schoolmaster. He was an important ele ment in the community. As his labors were various, and much more irksome than at the present time, the following agreement, exe cuted by the schoolmaster at Flatbush, in 1682, will be read with interest : Article i. The school shall begin at 8 o'clock, and goe out att 1 1 ; shall begin again att i o'clock and ende at 4. The bell shall be rung before the school begins. 2. When school opens one of the children shall reade the morning prayer as it stands in the catachism, and close with the prayer before dinner ; and in the afternoon the same. The evening school shall begin with the Lord's prayer, and close by singing a Psalm. 3. He shall instruct the children inn the common prayers, and the questions and an swers off the catachism, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, too enable them to saye them better on Sunday in the church. 4. He shall be bound to keepe his school UNDER ENGLISH RULE 125 nine months in succession from September to June, one year with another, and shall always be present himself. 5. Hee shall bee chorister of the church, ring the bell three times before service, and reade a chapter of the Bible in the church, be tween the second and third ringinge of the bell; after the third ringinge, hee shall reade the ten commandments, and the twelve articles of ffaith, and then sett the Psalm. In the after noon, after the third ringinge of the bell, hee shall reade a short chapter or one of the Psalms of David, as the congregation are assemblinge ; afterward he shall again sett the Psalm. 6. When the minister shall preach at Broock- land or Utrecht, hee shall bee bounde to reade from the booke used for the purpose. He shall heare the children recite the questions and answers off the catachism on Sunday and instruct them. 7. He shall provide a basin of water for the baptisme, ffor which he shall receive 1 2 stuy- vers in wampum for every baptisme ffrom par ents or sponsors. Hee shall furnish bread and wine ffor the communion att the charge of the church. He shall also serve as messenger for the consistorie. 8. Hee shall give the funerale invitations and toll the bell, and ffor which he shall re ceive ffor persons of 15 years of age and up- 126 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN wards, 12 guilders, and ffor persons under 15, 8 guilders ; and iff he shall cross the river to New York, he shall have four guilders more. The school money was paid as follows : 1. Hee shall receive ffor a speller or reader 3 guilders a quarter, and ffor a writer 4 guild ers ffor the daye school. In the evening, 4 guilders ffor a speller and reader, and 5 guild ers ffor a writer per quarter. 2. The residue of his salary shall bee 400 guilders in wheat (off wampum value), deliver able at Brookland ffery, with the dwellinge, pasturage, and meadowe appertaining to the school. Done and agreede on inn consistorie inn the presence of the Honourable Constable and Overseers this 8th day of October, 1682. Constable and The Consis- Overseers. torie. CORNELIUS BERRIAN, CASPARUS VANZUREN, RYNIERE AERTSEN, Minister, JAN REMSEN, ADRIAEN RYERSE, CORNELIS BAREN VAN- DERWYCK. I agree to the above articles and promise to observe them. JOHANNES VAN ECKKELLEN. In those days the duties of a constable in Brooklyn were not confined to the present UNDER ENGLISH RULE 127 requirements. In 1670, a law was enacted, whereby his duties were defined. As the order is peculiar, it is here inserted : " Ordered that the constable of the towne of Breucklyne doe admonish the inhabitants too instruct theire children and servants, in matters of religione and the laws of the country. " Ordered that the constable doe appoynte a suytable person too recorde every man's par ticular marke, and see such man's horse and colt branded. " Ordered that the overseers and the con stable doe paye the value off an Indyan coat ffor each woolf killed, and they cause the woolf's heade to be nayled over the doore of the constable, theire to remayne, and alsoe to pull off both eayres inn token that the heade is boughte and payed ffor." In 1695 the Court of Sessions of Kings County " ordered that the constables of this towne shall on Sundaye or Sabbath daye tayke lawe ffor the apprehending off all Sabbath breakers, searche all ale houses, taverns, and other suspectede places ffor all prophaners and breakers off the Sabbath daye, and bringe them before the justice too bee dealt with ac- cordinge to lawe." As a penalty for refusing so to do, it was 128 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN further " ordered thatt ffor every neglect or dee- fault the constable shall paye a fine of six shillings." At the same session it was " ordered that mad James bee kepte by Kings County in general and thatt the deacons of each towne within the sayde county doe fforthwith meete together and consider about theire proportions ffor the maintenance of sayde James." Disputes having occurring between Brook lyn and Flatbush relative to their boundary or town lines, reference was had to the Court of Sessions and action was had thereon, as will appear by the record of its proceedings : " Att a Cort of Sessions held ffor the West Riddinge of Yorkshire, uppon Long Island, the 1 8th day of December, 1677, the following order was mayde: There being some differ ence between the towns of Fflackbush and Brucklyne conserninge theire boundes, the which they are both willing to reffer to Cap tain Jacques Cortelyou and Captain Richard Stilwell too decyde, the Cort doe approve thereoff, and order theire report too bee de terminative." These Commissioners took five years and a half to perform their labors, and then reported the result of their deliberations, as follows : UNDER ENGLISH RULE 129 To the Worshippful Cort of Sessions nowe sitting at Gravesende, June 21, 1683 : These maye certiffie thatt inn obedience too an order ffrom sayde Cort and bye consente of bothe townes of Breucklyn and Ffackbush, too run the lyne twixt the sayde townes, which are wee underwritten, have done and markt the trees twixt towne and towne, as witness our hands the daye and yeare above written. JACQUES CORTELYOU, RICHARD STILLWELL. The surveyor, Philip Wells, gave his certifi cate that he found the line run by the Com missioners to be just and right. These certifi cates were recorded by order of the court. In 1671 one Thomas Lambertsen and wife sued John Lowe for defamation of character. The defendant confessed that he was drunk, " and was verry sorry for defaminge the plain tiff's wife," and begged his pardon in open court. They " ordered him to paye the costs off the plaintiff's attendance, and keepe a civill tongue in his heade." Some of the orders made by the Court of Sessions, as contained in the ancient records, are very interesting at this period, and express in a great measure the character of the early settlers : 130 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN " At a Court of Sessions held at Gravesend the 1 6th day of June by His Majesty's au thority in the twenty-first year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the second, by the Grace of God of Great Britaine, Ffrance and Ireland, King, Defender of the ffaith, in the year of our Lord, 1662. Present: Mathias Nichols, Esquire, President; Mr. Cornelis Van Ruyter, Captain ; John Manning, Mr. James Huddard, and Mr. Richard Betts, Justices. " Weras during this Court of Sessions their have been several misdemeanors committed in contempt of authority in the towne of Grave- sende, by one throwing down the stocks, pull ing down of fences and such like crimes ; the court also find that there was noe watch in the town which might have prevented itt, and being the offenders cannot be discovered, itt is ordered that the towne stand fined five pounds till they have made discovery of the offenders." The penalty in slander cases was very light, as appears by a verdict rendered in an action for defamation in 1699. The verdict was as follows : " At a cort of General sessions, held att Gravesende, December i, 1669, John Ffur- man, plf., vs. Adraiaen Ffrost, deft. The Plaintiff declared in an action of defamacon, how that the defendant reported him to be a purjured person, and common Iyer, which was UNDER ENGLISH RULE 131 sufficiently proved, and also confessed by the defendant. The Jury brought in the verdict for the plaintiff, with five pounds damages and costs." Among the measures marking the progress of the county was a provision by which all the highways in the region were to be laid out four rods wide. When, in 1685, the Duke of York succeeded to the throne of England under the title of James II., he instructed Governor Dongan to assert the prerogative of the Crown as a natu ral right, to impose taxes, and also prohibited the establishment of printing presses in the colony. He was opposed to the diffusion of information, and evidently thought that edu cation and knowledge would weaken and de stroy his power over the people. Thus, self ishness marked his whole course. In August, 1685, the provincial council was dissolved by order of the Governor, and no other was chosen or summoned. This course was adopted to lessen the influence of the people, and concen trate the entire management and control in the hands of the Governor. On the 3d of May, 1686, an important event occurred for Brooklyn. It was the issuance of a patent whereby all the rights and privi- 132 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN leges granted by Governor Nichols in 1667 were fully confirmed and ratified. Dongan, in the same year, also granted a charter to the city of New York, confirming the franchises previously granted to the corporation, and placed the government upon a solid founda tion. The Governor, however, still retained the appointment of mayor, under-sheriff, clerk, and all other important officials, merely giving the people the right to choose their aldermen, assistant aldermen, and minor officials, at an annual election to be held on St. Michael's day. This patent of 1686 was a very impor tant document for New York City. Upon this document New York based its claims to ownership in the Brooklyn shore. It was this charter which made sailors on board of United States vessels at the Brooklyn Navy Yard citi zens of New York City, and gave them the right to vote in the seventh ward of New York. Dongan was a fast friend of the Indians, and during his administration secured their good will by counsel and assistance. He had their confidence, and in various ways they manifested gratitude. They called him the "white father," and he was long held in re membrance by the savage tribes, who appreci- UNDER ENGLISH RULE 133 ated his many kind acts to them. He suc ceeded better with the Indians than he did with the whites. The King was anxious to introduce the Catholic religion, in opposition to the wishes of the colonists. The feeling between the two parties formed as a result of this threat became very bitter. Dongan quickly saw that the policy of intolerance would jeopardize the perpetuity and peace of the English posses sions, and opposed the measure. The Crown officers appointed by the home government were all Catholics, and in order to appease popular prejudices, Dongan selected his coun cilors from among the best known and fore most Protestants/ This judicious policy was not approved by the King, and in 1688 Don gan was recalled, and Francis Nicholson as sumed the management of affairs. In the mean time, Sir Edward Andros had been appointed royal governor of New Eng land and New York. Nicholson, as his dep uty, acted during his absence. The troubles which assailed the people in consequence of the arbitrary acts of the King were not to last long. The hour of deliverance was at hand. The dismal forebodings of the people were removed when the intelligence was received 134 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN that the King had abdicated his throne, and that the reign of William and Mary had be gun. This was in 1689. The citizens of New York thereupon assumed the power to remove and depose all the officials who had been ap pointed through the instrumentality of the late king. .The authority of Deputy Nichol son was questioned. Each sovereign had ad herents. Parties were formed among the peo ple. One sustained the late sovereign, while another supported the new potentates. Polit ical and religious discussion waxed warm, and the two parties became known as the demo cratic and aristocratic classes. Some main tained that the change of sovereigns in no way affected the colonial government, and that the commissions granted by James were valid until set aside and declared illegal by the new power. Others considered the change in England as a complete revolution, which ex tended to every province belonging to the kingdom. They held that all things were in a state of anarchy, and that no one possessed the power to control ; that all officials were functus officio, and consequently the power rested with the people, and that they alone could devise measures or means of govern ment, until the sovereign will should be ex pressed. UNDER ENGLISH RULE 135 As a result of this condition of affairs the inhabitants of Long Island deposed their magistrates and elected others to fill the places of those they had removed. They also took occasion to send a large body of militia to New York to aid the popular party in that city, which was led by Jacob Leisler. He held the position of captain, was an old, wealthy, and respected citizen, a firm Protestant, and an opponent of the Catholics. The public money was deposited in the Fort, and the peo ple were anxious to secure its control. A de tachment of forty-seven men repaired to the Fort, obtained possession without resistance, and Captain Leisler became the acknowledged and recognized leader of the revolutionary movement. He assumed control in behalf of the new sovereigns, and at once took measures to protect the public property. The defenses were strengthened, and a battery of six guns erected. The erection of this battery was the beginning of the public park long known as the Battery. As everything was in a chaotic state, it was deemed advisable to organize a Committee of Safety, whose first act was to place the city under the command of Leisler. Subsequently the authority of Leisler was confirmed by a 136 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN dispatch directed to the late Governor, or to such other persons as might be in command, requiring such person to assume the entire control of governmental affairs. Thereupon Leisler took the title of Lieutenant-Governor, and appointed his advisory council, consisting of eight well-known citizens, to aid him in the discharge of his trust. Having entire and complete supremacy, he resolved to place the city in an orderly condition, and to accomplish this purpose took active measures. His con duct did not please the people. Some were jealous of his power, and began to stir the people into rebellion. This was accomplished with but little effort, and resulted in a street riot, from which the Governor barely escaped with his life. The services of the militia were called in requisition, and for a short time the result was uncertain. The riot, however, was subdued. Several of the ringleaders were cap tured, thrown into prison, and a court sum moned to try them for treason. The chief leader, Nicholas Bayard, was kept in the cells of the City Hall for a period of fourteen months, until released by Governor Sloughter. In 1691, General Henry Sloughter was ap pointed Governor by the sovereign authority. Upon his arrival he demanded the surrender UNDER ENGLISH RULE 137 of the Fort, which at first was refused. Major Ingolsby, who had been appointed by him Lieutenant-Governor, at once landed his forces and blockaded the Fort. In this work Ingolsby was aided and urged on by the enemies of Leisler. For seven weeks the city was kept in this state. Leisler refused to surrender his authority until the commission of the new governor was produced. At the same time, however, he declared himself willing to sur render possession to any one duly authorized and deputed to take his place. Ingolsby, still urged on by Leisler's foes, did all he could to irritate and annoy him. On the i Qth of March, 1691, Sloughter was met by a delegation consisting of Philipse Van Courtland and others, representing the anti-Leislerian party, which expressed to him a cordial greeting and loyalty. With his es cort from the city he proceeded to the City Hall, exhibited his commission, and took the oath of office. It was late at night when he reached the Hall, and although it was near midnight he dispatched Ingolsby and a party of soldiers, at the instigation of Van Court- land and his friends, to demand a surrender of the Fort. Leisler was suspicious, and thinking that all was not right, refused to surrender, 138 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN and sent a letter by one of his men who had known Sloughter, with directions to ascertain if he was really present and had issued the order, or whether it had been prepared by some one who had assumed the role of author ity. This act angered Sloughter, and he at once told the messenger that he intended to make himself known in New York. Major Ingolsby was again directed to return and take possession of the Fort, and to release Bayard and the other prisoners who had been com mitted by Leisler for treason. 'Upon their re lease and restoration to freedom they were elevated to the position of members of the Council. This augured ill for Leisler. The new Governor summoned Leisler and his son- in-law, Milburne, to appear before him with out delay. Leisler refused to give up posses sion and still held the Fort. He, however, sent Milburne and Delanoy to the Governor to obtain the assurance that his life would be spared. The messengers sent to make terms were imprisoned, and another demand was made to surrender. Leisler became fright ened ; matters were becoming exceedingly hot and disagreeable. Resistance could not be kept up much longer, and he feared his life would be forfeited in consequence of his dis- UNDER ENGLISH RULE 139 obedience to the lawfully constituted author ity. He deeply felt the necessity of recon ciliation, and sent a letter of apology to the Governor for holding the Fort. He admitted that his action had been unwise, and excused himself on the ground that he feared the peo ple would take his life if he gave up control to Ingolsby. This letter was treated with con tempt, receiving no consideration at the hands of the Governor or his Council. Sloughter convened his Council at the City Hall. All of its members w'ere enemies of Leisler. Leis- ler, deserted by the soldiers of the Fort, was brought a prisoner before Sloughter, and im prisoned with several others in the guard house. At this meeting of the Council the Gov ernor appointed John Lawrence Mayor of New York. Leisler with his fellow prisoners remained in the guard-house four days, when the Gov ernor and Council again met to consider the propriety of his removal to prison. On the following day a court was organized to try the prisoners for murder and rebellion. The court met on the 3Oth day of March. Leisler refused to put in any plea, maintaining that the court had no jurisdiction of the case ; that 140 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN the sovereigns alone had the right to decide whether he had acted without legal authority. The judges were unwilling to assume the power to decide the question, and submitted it to the Governor and Council, who held that the point was not well taken. Thereupon Leisler was found guilty on the I3th day of April, declared to be a usurper, and with Mil- burne was condemned to death. The Governor did not at once sign the death warrant. He was not satisfied with the situation, and feared to incur the displeasure of the King. The enemies of Leisler urged him to the act, without success. At last, after a month had passed away, they adopted a new method to gain their desire. A feast was pre pared, to which the Governor was invited. They again urged upon him his duty in the matter, and at last by the use of flattery, and while the Governor was under the influence of the good wine which had been provided for the occasion, succeeded in their endeavor. The anti-Leislerian party, having accom plished the desire of their hearts, could not rest until the warrant was put into execution. They feared that the Governor might relent and revoke his order. Nicolls, Van Court- land, Bayard, and those of their adherents who UNDER ENGLISH RULE 141 had been imprisoned by the direction of Leis- ler, were burning for vengeance, and nothing but his ignominious death would allay their fury. The warrant having been signed, the festal board lost its attractions. An officer took pos session of the document and carried it to the City Hall. Orders were issued to lead out the prisoners to instant execution. In order to keep the matter from the ears of Sloughter, some remained at the entertainment and kept the Governor in good humor and forgetfulness with wine. The day of execution was cold and dismal. In the drizzling rain the prisoners were led out to meet their fate. The scaffold was erected in the park opposite the City Hall. Friends of Leisler gathered round him in the trying hour, bewailing the doom of their leader, and in bitter words execrated those who had sought and obtained the death warrant. Leisler lamented the fate of his son- in-law, and with his dying breath addressed his son and friend in words of tenderness. Turning to Milburne he said : " Why must you die ? You have been but a servant doing my will. What I have done has been in the service of my King and Queen, for the Pro testant cause and for the good of my country ; 142 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN for this I must die. Some errors I have com mitted ; for these I ask forgiveness, and I en- treat my children to do the same." Thus perished the last Dutch Governor of New York. 1 His remains were interred in his own ground near the location of old Tam many Hall. The treatment he received was unjust. He had assumed the reins of govern ment at the behest of the people, when they had no ruler, and continued to act in that capacity, considering the open letter of the new sovereigns as a sufficient authorization. He was condemned unheard, receiving the l " No man has been more maligned or misunderstood than Jacob Leisler. Historians have deliberately misjudged him, drawing their conclusions from the biased reports of the few aristocrats who hated or the English officials who despised him. Jacob Leisler was one of the earliest of American patri ots. His brief and stormy career as Provincial Governor of New York was marked by mistakes of judgment, but his mis takes were more than overbalanced by his foresight and states manship. He acted as one of the people for the people. He summoned a popular convention, arranged the first mayoralty election by the people, attempted the first step toward colonial union by endeavoring to interest the several provinces in a continental congress, and sought to cripple the chief adversary of the English in America, France, by the masterly stroke of an invasion of Canada. That he failed is due to the jealousy, the timidity, and the short-sightedness of his fellow colonists. But he builded wiser than he knew; for, though he died a martyr to colonial jealousy and English injustice, his bold and patriotic measures awoke the people to a knowledge of their real power, and prepared them for that spirit of resistance to tyranny which a century later made them a free republic." Elbridge S. Brooks, The Story of New York, p. 74. UNDER ENGLISH RULE 143 treatment of a common malefactor. It is but just to say of him that he resigned his authority to the new government as soon as the Council had been sworn in, and as soon as he was properly apprised of his supersedure. He was prejudged by a court composed of his ene mies, some of whom, on account of malice, were not qualified to try him. In 1695 his estate, which had been confiscated, was re stored to his family. Subsequently Parlia ment declared that Leisler had held under proper authority, set aside all acts of attainder and judgments which had been passed against him and his associates, and the bodies of Leis ler and Milburne received the honor of a pub lic reinterment. It was but tardy justice. During Sloughter's administration many important changes were made. The govern ment was placed upon a firm basis, and various courts were organized. Courts of Common Pleas and General Pleas were organized in every county, and the town governments as sumed in a measure their present form. The number of supervisors was reduced to one from each town, with three surveyors of high ways. In May, 1691, the General Assembly con firmed all previous grants and patents. The 144 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN grants to Breuckelen were thus again con firmed. Governor Slough ter died suddenly July 23, 1691. Some supposed that he was poisoned by the friends of Leisler, whose bitterness was ever manifested toward him. The theory of poisoning, however, was not supported by the post mortem examination. If religious questions had been at the bot tom of the democratic revolt led by Leisler, the triumph of the aristocratic class did not close the religious differences. 1 Benjamin Fletcher, who succeeded Sloughter as Gover nor, was a man of limited education, narrow views, self-opinionated obstinacy, and always questionable personal sincerity. It was a dar ling project with him to introduce the English language and the Episcopalian forms of wor ship. To accomplish this purpose he made 1 " The government of the colony was at once put on the basis on which it stood until the outbreak of the Revolution. There was a governor appointed by the king, and a council likewise appointed ; while the assembly was elected by the freeholders. The suffrage was thus limited by a strict prop erty qualification. Liberty of conscience was granted to all Protestant sects, but not to Catholics ; and the Church of Eng land was practically made the state church, though the Dutch and French congregations were secured in the rights guaran teed them by treaty. It was, then, essentially a class or aristo cratic government, none the less so because to European eyes the little American colony seemed both poor and rude." Theodore Roosevelt, New York, p. 71. UNDER ENGLISH RULE 145 strenuous efforts, bringing to bear every in fluence within his power. The Hollanders were wedded to their own peculiar forms of church government, and regarded their church as best entitled to be considered the estab lished form of religious worship. Vigorous efforts were consequently made to retain its supremacy, and great opposition was mani fested toward the proposed change. The Dutch language was long successfully retained in the Dutch churches. It was not until 1767 that the English language was introduced, causing great dissatisfaction among the old Knickerbocker stock. The tenacity displayed in retaining the language of the fatherland, and the refusal to provide English services, drove many young people into the Episco palian fold. To this circumstance may be ascribed the reason why to-day so many Dutch families are found connected with that denom ination. Had the fathers gratified the wishes of their children by providing services in the English language, the Reformed Dutch Church would have retained many families that found their way into the Episcopalian Church. William Bradford, of Philadelphia, in 1693, established the first printing-press in New York City, and had the exclusive contract 146 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN from the city government to print the laws, ordinances, and corporation advertising. He had no competitor, and must have enjoyed a rich harvest. To Bradford belongs the credit of establishing the first newspaper ever printed in the province. His effort in this direction proved eminently successful. The paper was first given to the public in 1725, and was called the " New York Gazette." At first it was merely a weekly paper, printed on a small half sheet, containing only two pages. As his business increased it was enlarged to four pages. In 1693 Long Island received a new name, being designated as Nassau Island. The change met with but little favor, and although the name Nassau is intimately associated with the history of the island and with local institu tions, it failed to become permanent. During this period a system of privateering came into vogue, which in a great measure received encouragement from the authorities. The entire coast was infested by daring buc caneers and pirates, who plundered the ship ping, making serious depredations upon the commerce of the country. The province suffered greatly from these freebooters, and, although complaint was made from time to UNDER ENGLISH RULE 147 time to the constituted authorities, no redress or protection was received. The officials themselves were corrupt, and participated in the profits derived from the nefarious and infamous business. Governor Fletcher fell under strong suspicion of complicity. Legiti mate trade was destroyed, and many embarked in the new calling who under other circum stances could not have been induced to pollute themselves by engaging in so vile a traffic. The English government at last became alarmed. Trade was suspended and merchants were afraid to send their vessels and wares over the ocean. They were unwilling to risk their property in so dangerous and hazardous an enterprise. It became necessary to adopt active means to suppress piracy. The Gov ernor could not be trusted, and, in order to break up this evil, Governor Fletcher was re called in 1695, and Lord Bellomont appointed in his stead. Lord Bellomont did not enter upon the dis charge of his duties until 1698. He was a man of quick perception, and was convinced that active measures were necessary. To carry out his views he urged the Government to equip an armed naval force to cruise in the western waters and capture the human sharks 148 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN who were pillaging vessels and destroying the commerce of the nation. England at that time was engaged in a war with France, and had not the means or equipments to respond to the appeal. She required all her naval ves sels to defend herself against her neighbor. Bellomont was determined to accomplish his laudable undertaking to destroy piracy in American waters, and, as he could receive no aid from the Crown, resolved to organize a stock company for the purpose. He was encouraged in his effort by the King, who approved the plan, and, with the Duke of Shrewsbury and others of the nobility, became a shareholder in the company thus formed. The object of the company was to build and man vessels to capture the pirates. A sum of money amounting to about $30,000 was raised. A fine and strong vessel called the Adventure Galley was placed in commission. She carried sixty sailors and mounted thirty guns. Captain William Kidd, a bold and adven turous officer, was placed in command of the ship thus equipped. In order to encourage him in his labor, it was provided that his share in the enterprise should be one fifth of the proceeds. He was a man of large experience, UNDER ENGLISH RULE 149 having been engaged in the West Indian and New York trade for many years, and having at various times been employed as captain of packet ships. His experience and knowledge of the coast preeminently fitted him for the undertaking. He had lived in New York a long time, owned considerable property, and was looked upon as a man in every way worthy to discharge the duties assigned him. Bello- mont and Robert Livingston had the utmost confidence in him, and gave him a warm rec ommendation for the position. He married a lady of high social rank in New York, and was privileged to move in the best circles of the city. The vessel sailed under flattering auspices in April, 1699, from Plymouth, England, for New York. Arriving at the latter port, Cap tain Kidd shipped ninety additional men, and proceeded to the Indian seas in search of pirates. Kidd soon found that his own sea men sympathized with the buccaneers, and were far from unwilling to assume the role of pirates. It will never be known what argu ments induced him to turn aside from the path of duty, and join the band of pirates he was sent to destroy. The fact is that he was led to abandon his enterprise, and became the 150 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN most daring and bold robber on the sea that ever trod the quarter deck. Reckless and energetic, he soon enriched himself with booty taken from merchantmen upon the high seas. It is said that he would often return to the shores of New York and Long Island, and bury his ill-gotten gains for future use. Kidd not only buried treasure on Long Island, but, if romantic traditions are to be believed, visited the island under certain sen timental conditions. He is credited with hav ing made early visits to Bushwick in attend ance upon a pretty young woman whose family resided in that region, and with having sought hospitality at the " Kiekout," on the way to and from the home of the lady. Even after the character of his undertakings became known, Kidd ventured to return to Long Island. After capturing a large frigate he landed at Gardiner's Island, and buried a quantity of treasure. After dividing some of the ill-gotten gains with his crew, he discharged them, and went to Boston to reside, under an assumed name, hoping that he would not be discovered. In this expectation he made a great mistake. A man like him could not pass long unnoticed. His past career rendered his detection sure. Bellomont was in Boston UNDER ENGLISH RULE 151 attending to certain affairs of state, and, meet ing Kidd in the street, at once recognized him, and speedily caused his arrest. It was a proud and happy day for Bellomont, and proved to be a crowning effort in his life. His wish was accomplished ! He had found and with his own hand arrested the notorious pirate. The prisoner was at once sent to England on a charge of murder and piracy, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death, and executed on the 1 2th of May, 1701. Kidd's family con tinued to reside in New York, feeling keenly the disgrace which had been brought upon them. 1 Diligent search was now made for his buried treasures. A large quantity of valuable jewels and gold and silver was found at Gardiner's Island. The excitement on the subject be came intense. Bellomont and Livingston, having recommended Kidd for appointment as commander of the expedition against the pirates, and in consequence of their former friendliness for Kidd, were accused unjustly of having connived at and participated in his 1 There are varying views of Kidd's character and career. Thus Berthold Fernow writes in the Narrative and Critical History of America (vol. v. p. 195): "To-day that which was meted out to Kidd might hardly be called justice; for it seems questionable if he had ever been guilty of piracy." 152 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN spoils. Had this charge been true, Bellomont would hardly have been so ungrateful or im prudent as to arrest him in the streets of Bos ton and transport him to England for trial and execution. Bellomont, in the administration of the af fairs of state, allied himself with the demo cratic faction. Bayard, Van Courtlandt, and the other members of the Council who had opposed Leisler, were removed, and their places filled by the former adherents of Leis ler. A new Assembly was called in May, 1699. Bellomont opened it with a speech cal culated to please and encourage the people. He told them that he came with a firm deter mination to be just to all interests ; that the public money should not be squandered by any one, and that all officials should be held to a strict accountability. The address gave satisfaction to the Assembly. Acts were passed for the suppression of piracy, regulat ing elections, and for the indemnification of those who had been excluded from the general pardon which had been previously granted. Bellomont instituted and initiated many re forms. Markets were erected at Coenties Slip, and at the foot of Broad Street. Streets were opened and paved, and provision was made for UNDER ENGLISH RULE 153 keeping them clean. A house was secured and used as a hospital for the sick poor of the city. The ferry between Breuckelen and New York was leased for a period of seven years, and the rates of fare fixed. The fare for a single person was eight stuyvers in wampum, or a silver twopence; a shilling for a horse, twopence for a hog, and a penny for a sheep. By the terms of the lease the city of New York was to build a commodious ferry-house on the Breuckelen side, which was to be kept in repair by the ferryman. The jurisdiction of Bellomont was enlarged by his appointment as Governor of Massachu setts as well as of New York. He was greatly interested in the Navigation Acts; but his efforts to enforce them were resisted by the residents and merchants of New England, and met with opposition in New York. The mer chants of New York were incensed at his con duct, and made a vigorous complaint to the Board of Trade and Parliament. The matter, however, was never investigated, as he was released from trial, by the hand of death, in 1701. In 1697, a mob of Kings County people, who resented the spirit of the English Govern ment, assembled, " armed, at the Court House 154 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN of Kings County, where they destroyed and defaced the King's arms which were hanging up there." Among those who so convened were the familiar names of John Rapalje, Ja cob Ryerse, Garrett Cowenhoven, Jacob Ben nett, and John Meserole, Jr. In November, 1697, negroes were not al lowed to be brought from New York on the Sabbath unless they were provided with passes. During the succeeding years similar legisla tion was enacted, and the liberty and freedom of the negro were still more restricted. He was " forbidden to run about on the Sabbath." The regulations with regard to the observance of the Sabbath were very stringent. One of the legislative enactments provided " that no people should pass on the Sabbath day unless it be to go to or from church, or other urgent and lawful occasions according to act of Assembly upon penalty of fine and impris onment." In 1693 one f the fi rs t trials for treason in the New World was held in Kings County. In those days petit magistrates, clothed with a little brief authority, became arbitrary, and often imagined that criticism and words ut tered concerning the way they discharged their duties had a tendency to exasperate the UNDER ENGLISH RULE 155 people against the constituted authorities. They would often cause the arrest and con finement of citizens on frivolous and baseless charges, and denounce them as guilty of trea son. Such a case was the trial of John Bibaut for "treason." The action taken by the jus tices clearly shows that it was a matter of but little moment, and fraught with no danger to the community. The following order shows the nature of the case : "October n, 1693. Att a meeting of the Justices off Kings County, held att the County Hall. " Present, Roetiff Martense, Nicholaus Still- well, Joseph Hagerman, and Henry Ffilkin, Esquires, Justices. " John Bibaut, off Brookland, inn the county aforesayde, wee aver being committed bye the said justices too the common jail of Kings County, ffor divers scandalous and abusive words spoken by the sayde John against theire majesties authority, and breache of the peace ; the said John having now humbly submitted himself and craves pardon and mercy off the sayde justices ffor his misdemeanor, is dis charged, paying the officers ffees, and being on his good behaviour, till the next cort of sessions inn November next ensuing the dayte thereoff." 156 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Several others were arrested and imprisoned on similar charges made by the justices. Al though the fines imposed were heavy, it is not to be presumed that the offenses com mitted were of a serious nature, as the accused were all discharged on payment of the fine exacted. CHAPTER VII BROOKLYN BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 1701-1775 Brooklyn becomes the Largest Long Island Settlement. Division of the Common Lands. Regulations as to the Cutting of Lumber. The King's Highway laid out. Brooklyn Officials at the Opening of the Century. Lord Cornbury's Proclamation to Long Island Justices. Slavery. Encroachments on the Common Highway. The trial of Zenger. Population in 1738. Fortifying Long Island. Newspaper Glimpses of pre- Revolution ary Life. Ferries. Kings County in the Assembly and the Provincial Convention. Philip Livingston. General Town Meeting in Brooklyn. BEFORE the close of the seventeenth cen tury Brooklyn had assumed a leading place among the Long Island towns. Indeed, in the number of assessed persons the village with the " ugly little church " began to exceed Midwout as early as 1675,* when it had sixty property owners who paid taxes. At the beginning of the new century we 1 The assessment rolls of the five Dutch towns in 1675 showed the following proportions in the number of persons assessed : Breuckelen, 60 ; Midwout, 54 ; Boswyck (Bush- wick) 36 ; Amersfoort, 35 ; New Utrecht, 29. 158 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN find Breuckelen, if not growing rapidly as we now understand the term, at least treading steadily forward and assuming the traits of an organized community. At a town meeting held in 1693, the com mon lands of Brooklyn had been divided as follows : " All lands and woods, after Bedford and Cripplebush over the hills to the path of New Lotts, shall belong to the inhabitants of the Gowanis, beginning from Jacob Brower and soe to the uttermost bounds of the limitts of New Utrecht. " And all the lands and woods that lyes be twixt the aforesaid path and the highway from the ferry toward Flattbush shall belong to the freeholders and inhabitants of Bedfford and Cripplebush. " And all the lands that lyes in common after the Gowanis betwixt the limitts and bounds of Flattbush and New Utrecht shall belong to the freeholders and inhabitants of Breucklin, fred neck, the ferry and the Walla- bout." Among the commissioners appointed to lay out the common lands was Captain Henry Ffilkin, an influential resident of the town and an elder in the Reformed Church. The ordi nance provided specifically as follows : "It is BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 159 likewise ordered and agreed that Capt. Henry Falkin shall have a full share with any or all the freeholders aforesaid, in all the common lands or woods, in the whole patent of the Town of Broockland aforesaid beside a half share for his home lott. To have and to hold to him, his heirs and assigns forever. It is likewise ordered that no person whatsoever within the common woods, of the jurisdiction of Broockland aforesaid, shall cutt or fall any oak or chesnut saplings, for firewood during the space of four years from the date hereof, upon any of the said common lands or woods within the jurisdiction of Broockland patent, upon the penaltie of six shillings in money for every waggon load abovesaid soe cutt, beside the forfeiture of the wood soe cutt as above- said, the one half thereof to the informer, and the other half for the use of the poor of the Towne of Broockland aforesaid." At a later town meeting 1 trustees were 1 The peculiar methods employed by the citizens of Brook lyn at that time in electing their officials cannot be better illustrated than by the presentation of a report of one of those town meetings as follows : Alt a towne meeting held this 2pth day of April, 1699, at Breucklyn, by order of Justice Michael Hanssen ffor to chose town officers ffor to order all townes business and to deffend theire limits and bounds, and to lay out some part thereoff in lotts, to make lawes and orders ffor the best off the inhabitants, 160 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN appointed for the common lands, and regula tions adopted respecting the cutting of timber in the public woods. These rules were adopted to prevent the unnecessary cutting of timber and consequent waste. Among other things it was ordered " that no shoemaker or others shall cutt or ffall any trees to barke in the common woods, upon the penaltie of the payment of ffive pounds ffor every tree so cutt." It will be noticed that the orthography of that period was quite different from that in use in the present age. The common woodlands, amounting to about 1550 acres, 1 were surveyed and appor tioned, each house in town receiving an inter est in the wood, and being provided with means of ingress and egress from the region so apportioned. A conveyance dated in 1 705 gives " alsoe all the rights and privileges of the common woodlands of the town of Broock- land aforesaid to said house belonging as per record of said town may appear." and to raise a small tax ffor to defray the towne charges, now being or hereafter to come, to receive the townes revenues, and to pay the townes debts, and that with the advice off the justices off the said towne standing the space or time off two years. Chosen ffor that purpose by pluralitie of votes. Ben jamin Vande Water, Joras Hanssen, Jan Garritse Dorlant. By order off inhabitants aforesaid, J. VANDE WATER, Clarke. i Furman's Notes, p. 45. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION i6l When, in 1703, the improved fenced lands of Breuckelin were surveyed, it was found that Simon Aertson was the largest real estate owner, being the happy possessor of 200 acres. On the 28th of March, 1704, Fulton Street, then called the King's Highway, was laid out by commissioners appointed by the General Assembly of the Province of New York. The commissioners to whom this duty was assigned were Joseph Hegeman, Peter Cortelyou, and Benjamin Vande Water. The original plan or description of the road, being interesting and peculiar, is here in serted. It was as follows : " One publique, common and general high way, to begin from low water marke at the ferry in the township of Broockland, in Kings County, and from thence to run ffour rod wide up between the houses and land of John Aer- son, John Coe and George Jacobs, and soe all along Broockland towne aforesaid, through the lane that now is, and ffrom thence straight along a certain lane to the southward corner of John Van Couwenhoven's land, and ffrom thence straight to Bedfford as it is now staked out, to the lane where the house of Benjamin Vandewater stands, and ffrom thence straight along through Bedfford towne to Bedfford lane, running between the lands of John Gar- 1 62 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN retse Dorlant and Claes Burnse to the rear of the lands of the said Cloyse, and ffrom thence southerly to the old path now in use, and soe along said path to Philip Volkertses land, taking in a little slip of said Philip's land on the south corner, soe all along said road by Isaac Greg's house to the Fflackbush New Lotts ffence, and soe all along said ffence to the eastward, to the northeast corner of El- dert Lucas's land, lying within the New Lotts of Fflackbush aforesaid, being ffour rod wide, all along, to be and continue forever." Jacob Vande Water, who became town clerk of Breuckelen in 1691, held the position until 1 705, when he was succeeded by Henry Ffil- kin. Ffilkin held office until 1714. From 1691 to 1699, Joris Hanssen, Hendrick Clau sen, and Jan Gerbritse acted as trustees and commissioners of the town. In 1699, the trustees and commissioners were Benjamin Vande Water, Joris Hanssen, and John Gar- retse Dorlant. From 1 700 to 1 709, the trus tees were Hendrick Vechte, Jacob Hanssen, and Cornelius Vanduyk. The first supervisor of the town was Joris Hanssen, and he held the position from 1 703 until 1714. Jacob Vande Water, the clerk, owned pro perty in the neighborhood of Tillary and Ray- BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 163 mond streets. His tract was mentioned in the patent issued by Governor Dongan in 1686, ratifying previous grants. He took the oath of allegiance to the Government at the time his patent was ratified, having then resided in the colony twenty-nine years. In 1697, he was appointed one of the freeholders to lay out and divide the common lands, and acted in that capacity with Joris Hanssen and Jan Garretse Dorlant, heretofore referred to as trustees. Vande Water was a man of great importance in the little hamlet, and enjoyed the confidence of the community. The officials of Brooklyn * who acted from 1 700 were as follows : Hendrick Vechte was trustee from 1 700 to 1726. Jacob Hanssen was trustee from 1700 to 1708. Cornelius Vanduyk was trustee from 1700 to 1726. John Staats was trustee from 1709 to 1726. Samuel Garritson (or Gerritse) was town clerk in 1714 and 1715. 1 The total assessment value of real and personal estate in Brooklyn in 1706 was ^3,122 I2d, or about $15,610, and the tax on the same was ^41 35 7^d, or about $205. The tax levied in the County of Kings was ^201 i6s i^d, or about $1,005. 1 64 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Adrian Hegeman became town clerk in 1727, and served in that capacity until 1752. Joramus Rapelye (Rapalje), Jacobus Lef- fertse, and Rem Remsen, acted as trustees from 1727 to 1752, a continuous and unbroken board. Adrian Hegeman came from an old family, and was doubtless a son of Adriaen Hegeman, who, as schepen or schout in 1661, signed the petition to the Director-General of the Council of the New Netherlands, praying that assist ance might be given to pay Carol Van Beau- vois for teaching school, digging graves, run ning on errands as messenger, etc., referred to in a previous chapter. His salary as clerk was thirty-three and one third pounds per annum, or about $160 in our money. On the death of Bellomont (in 1701) the administration devolved upon Lieutenant- Governor Nanfan, until the appointment of a new Governor. Nanfan at the time was tem porarily absent in Barbadoes, and in conse quence a sharp and bitter contest took place as to the management and control of the province. The anti-Leislerian party claimed that Colonel William Smith, being senior member of the Council, should exercise au thority. The Leislerian or democratic party BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 165 asserted that the same course should be pur sued as at the time Sloughter died, which con sisted in the election of a temporary chair man. The discussion waxed warm, and would have led to disastrous results, had not Lieu- tenant-Governor Nanfan opportunely arrived to quell the disturbance. Nanfan was a strong exponent of the Leis- lerian policy, and warmly espoused that party's cause. The Assembly convened by him pos sessed his spirit, was actuated by the same motives, and enjoyed the confidence and sup port of Leisler's friends. During the absence of Nanfan and while the Government was without a head, Peter Schuyler and Robert Livingston supported and sustained the pretensions of Colonel Smith, senior councillor, to be considered the temporary ruler of affairs. Livingston was one of Leisler's most determined enemies, and had been execrated as such by Milburne in his dying words. At this time Livingston held the very important office of Secretary of Indian Affairs and Collector of Customs. The new Assembly caused his removal, and re quired him to furnish his accounts for exam ination. Not being able to produce them, he was denounced and charged with being a 1 66 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN defaulter. His expulsion from the Council followed, together with confiscation of his prop erty and effects for the benefit of the province. It seemed as if the enemies of Leisler were to be brought quickly to punishment, and that the martyr's friends were to enjoy the sweets of revenge. The feuds which existed between the two parties in the affairs of the colony pro duced the same confusion in the municipal affairs of the city. In the Board of Aldermen each party had its adherents, and the conten tions between the two equaled in intensity of hate the feeling manifested between the con tending parties in the war of the Rebellion. Some of the aldermen refused to take the oath of office at the hands of Mayor Noell, and he appointed others in their place. The friends of Leisler refused to act or to recog nize the power of the Mayor to make new ap pointments. To enable an appeal to be taken to decide the question, the Aldermen took a recess, and the city was virtually without a government for a month. The court to whom the matter was referred held that the Mayor possessed the authority to act in the premises by filling vacancies, and thereupon the new officials took their seats. The Board thus be came equally divided between the two parties. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 167 The Mayor belonged to the aristocratic or anti-Leislerian party, and had the casting vote. This proceeding on the part of the Mayor created intense excitement, and threatened the peace of the city. Lord Cornbury, a nephew of Queen Anne, who had just ascended the throne, was ap pointed to succeed Lord Bellomont. Bayard, who had labored to secure the conviction and execution of Leisler and Milburne, having pre pared the act under which they were executed, upon hearing of the appointment of Cornbury, transmitted papers to him and to Parliament, strongly condemning the Leislerians and abus ing Nanfan and his administration. Nanfan, learning of the action of Bayard, immediately arrested him and his associate, John Hutchins, for treasonable acts in vilifying the administra tion. Bayard had the misfortune to be tried under' the same act which he had prepared for the benefit of Leisler. The act provided " that any person who should endeavor by any manner or way, or upon any pretense, by force of arms or otherwise, to disturb the peace, good, and quiet, of the province, should be esteemed rebels and traitors, and should incur the pains and penalties which the laws of Eng land had provided for such offenses." 1 68 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Bayard had enforced this law without sem blance of pity, but with rancor and hatred in his heart toward Leisler and Milburne. His own hour had come ! As he had meted out to others, so he himself was to receive. He could expect no clemency. Bayard was in dicted for treason and rebellion, for inciting the soldiers in the fort against the constituted authorities, and for inducing his friends to sign libelous petitions and addresses. Great exertions were made to secure his acquittal, without avail. He was tried, found guilty of the offense, and sentenced to death. Hutch- ins met with a similar fate. Leisler was not allowed opportunity to appeal for a reprieve, but Bayard and Hutchins received more merci ful treatment. Governor Nanfan gave them a reprieve until the matter could be presented to the King and his wishes ascertained. In the mean time Lord Cornbury arrived, and ex ercised executive clemency by their release. Bayard was again taken in favor by Cornbury, who denounced the Leislerians and identified himself with the party in opposition. The judge who passed sentence on Bayard was obliged to leave the country, having by his conduct incurred the displeasure of the Gov ernor and Council. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 169 Cornbury's administration was intolerant to ward every religious and educational advance ment. He embraced every opportunity which presented itself to rob and plunder the treas ury, and enrich himself thereby. Although his opportunities for enrichment were great, yet he possessed no capacity for saving that which he secured. His recklessness and licen tiousness caused him to become deeply in volved in debt, and rendered him unpopular with the people ; public sentiment was, indeed, strongly against him. This fact, in connec tion with his general and reckless disobedi ence of orders, caused his recall in 1708. His creditors, who had looked upon his advance ment to the position of Governor as a golden opportunity to secure their claims, feeling keenly the disappointment of not receiving their just dues, and becoming greatly incensed against him, on his return to England had him arrested and cast into prison, where he remained until the death of his father, whom he succeeded in the peerage. The condition of the negro slave at this time was one of degradation. The negro's privileges were circumscribed, and strict laws were enforced concerning his habits and move ments. In order to pass the gates the slaves I 70 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN were obliged to obtain permission of their masters, and were not allowed to meet to gether. They could not own property, and there were no means provided whereby they could obtain their freedom. If an owner de sired to give his slave his freedom, he was liable to pay a heavy fine for transgressing the law. These burdens daily increased. The traffic in slaves became more and more popu lar as a business. In order to supply the demand, a public market for slaves was opened in New York in 1711. It was located at the foot of Wall Street, and it was the practice to bring all the slaves who were to be sold or hired to this market, where they could be inspected as so many cattle by parties desiring to bid. So strict were the ordinances passed concerning negroes that they were not allowed to appear in the streets at night unless they had a lighted lantern. All who violated this regulation were committed to jail, and kept in confinement until a fine of eight shillings was paid. The master or owner of the slave on paying this fine enjoyed the privilege of requiring the authorities to give the offending slave thirty- nine lashes at the public whipping-post. It was not unnatural that these regulations should BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 171 breed among the negroes at times a spirit of rebellion. They committed many murders in retaliation for injuries received. At Newtown, in 1 707, an entire family was murdered by the slaves. On being appre hended, the murderers acknowledged their offense, and gave as a reason for committing the crime that they had been prevented from going out on Sunday. The punishment in stituted for the murderous acts of slaves was calculated to fill them with fear and dread. They were even " tied to stakes and burned alive, broken on wheels, or suspended to the limbs of trees and left to perish." Seldom in the world's history has so much inhumanity been manifested towards slaves as in the early days of the colonies. In 1706, Lord Cornbury issued the follow ing proclamation to the justices of the peace in Kings County : By his Excellency, Edward, Lord Viscount Cornbury, Captain General and Governor in Chief of the provinces of New York and New Jersey, and the territories depending thereon in America, and Vice Admiral of the same, etc.: Whereas, I am informed that several negroes in Kings County have assembled them selves in a riotous manner, which if not pre- 172 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN vented may prove of ill consequence ; you and every one of you are therefore hereby required and commanded to take all proper methods for seizing and apprehending all such negroes in the said county, as shall be found to be assembled in such manner as aforesaid, or have run away or absconded from their masters or owners, whereby there may be reason to sus pect them of ill practices or designs, and to secure them in safe custody, that their crimes and actions may be inquired into ; and if any of them refuse to submit themselves, then to fire on them, kill, or destroy them, if they can not otherwise be taken ; and for so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given under my hand at Fort Anne, in New York, the 22d day of July, 1706. CORNBURY. Furman, in his " Antiquities," refers to the condition of slaves on Long Island, and bears testimony that as a general rule they were peaceable and well behaved. He says that they were much attached to the families to which they belonged. Many now living can bear testimony to this fact. When slavery was abolished in New York it was provided that all who had reached a certain age should remain with their owners and be provided dur ing life with proper support and care. The BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 173 writer can now call to mind many old negroes who never obtained their freedom. They loved to talk of " massa " and the boys. They considered themselves a part of the family, and often idolized their owners. The master had in them true, warm friends, ever ready to fight his battles and take his part. The aged negroes loved to sit in the chim ney corner and tell to the children the history of the family. They would narrate in glowing language the incidents of the past, and always had eager listeners. They were rarely sold or separated from the family. When a son or daughter was married, a slave became a por tion of the dowry or outfit. At times when estates were divided it became necessary to dispose of them. Furman says " that in an inventory taken on the i6th of December, 1719, in Kings County, of the estate of a de ceased person, a negro wench and child were valued at ,60, while five milk cows, five calves, three young bulls, and two heifers were col lectively valued at ^20." New York was visited during the time of Lord Cornbury with that terrible scourge of the human race, yellow fever. It was brought from St. Thomas and spread rapidly. Physi cians seemed powerless to prevent its ravages. 174 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN It was an epidemic long remembered and dreaded by the citizens of New York. All who could get away fled either to Jersey or Long Island. Lord Cornbury, with his reti nue, took up his residence in Jamaica, Long Island. In order to afford suitable accommo dations for so high a dignitary as the Gov ernor, the Presbyterian minister of the village cheerfully gave up his parsonage to his use, removing himself to a smaller and less preten tious house. In return for this act of kindness, Cornbury was guilty of a very contemptible trick toward the Presbyterian minister and church. The Governor was an uncompromising supporter of the Established Church of England, and was ready at all times to advance her interests. The Presbyterian church of Jamaica was strong and prosperous. Its popularity made the few Episcopalians in the village jealous and anxious to secure the property. The presence of Cornbury induced them to take possession of the building on a Sunday after noon between services. This act resulted in violence between the parties, each of which claimed title. The pews were torn out, and the turmoil was only quelled by the appear ance of the Governor, who decided that the Episcopalians were entitled to possession. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 175 A law suit followed, and the Episcopalians kept possession until 1728. The sheriff also seized the parsonage and land, and leased it for the benefit of the Episcopal Church. Corn- bury, having been kindly treated by the minis ter, rewarded the act of courtesy by surrender ing the house into the hands of the Episcopal rector, who took possession and occupied the house when Cornbury returned to New York. Cornbury was succeeded in 1710 by Robert Hunter, who was a man of fine abilities, good character, possessed of excellent business quali ties, and of a varied experience. He was one who in our day would pass for a very good Yankee. He was born of humble Scotch par ents, who had not the means to supply him with an education. He was in a great mea sure a " self-made " man. When very young he was apprenticed to an apothecary. This employment not suiting his taste, he ran away and enlisted in the army as a private. Possess ing honesty and perseverance, and withal hav ing a desire to please his superior officers, he soon gained their affection and good will, and was placed in the line of promotion. His manliness gained him friends everywhere, and in a short time the poor Scotch lad rose to the rank of a brigadier general. He was now 176 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN thrown into the society of the cultivated and refined. Hunter married an heiress, through whose instrumentality he was appointed Lieutenant- Governor of Virginia. He started for his new field of labor in 1707, was captured by a French cruiser and taken back to Europe as a prisoner. He was exchanged after having been a prisoner only a short time. What at first seemed to be a hardship in his case proved a blessing, and the precursor of higher honors. Upon being released the Queen re moved the gall from the bitterness he had en dured by bestowing upon him the position of governor of the provinces of New York and New Jersey. Hunter considered it a paramount duty on his part to enforce the requirements of the Crown. In acting in accordance with their wishes he was compelled to oppose every man ifestation of republican feeling on the part of the people, and to ally himself with the aris tocratic party. He chose his councillors from this party, but was careful to select men of in telligence and power. Among his first advisers might be mentioned Gerardus Beekman, Rip Van Dam, an honest and successful Dutch merchant ; Killian Van Rensselaer, whose BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 177 family were patroons on the Hudson. The Huguenots were represented in his Cabinet by John Barbaric and Frederic Philipse. Hunter was deeply interested in the Huguenot ele ment of the population. Governor Hunter had a fixed desire to acquire additional territory for his Queen. He projected an expedition to conquer Canada, and used his influence to induce New Eng land to join in the enterprise. This was in 1711. It was a measure which met with hearty acquiescence in New York. The attention of the Assembly was brought to the subject, and at once an appropriation of ten thousand pounds was made to defray the necessary ex penses. The Assembly issued bills of credit, and they may be said to be the beginnings of paper money in our country, as such notes had never before been used in the colony. In 1712, after the failure of the expedition for conquest, rumors of an intended negro rebellion were heard on every side. It was noticed that the movements of the slaves were mysterious, and the general opinion was that the slaves intended to cause a riot ; and a nat ural alarm spread through the communities on Manhattan Island and on the Brooklyn side of the river. These fears were not unfounded. 178 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN The smouldering fire burst out into a flame. Property was destroyed, one house was burned, and several white men were killed. It was re solved to make a general arrest of the negroes. Nineteen were taken, tried, and executed for their connection with the disturbance. In 1713, the war between England and France terminated by the treaty of Utrecht, which put an end to the effort to conquer Canada. Hunter's health failing, in 1719, after a term of nine years, he was obliged to seek a change of climate, and returned to England, leaving the administration of affairs in the hands of his trusty friend, Peter Schuyler. He bade adieu to New York in July, 1719, bearing with him the good wishes of the people. Schuyler's official career was short, lasting but one year. His long residence and connec tion with public matters proved of service to himself and the people he governed, and ren dered his short administration eminently suc cessful. He exercised great influence with the Indians, having ever shown himself to be their friend and protector, and having on many occa sions interceded with them, and thereby saved the settlement from invasion and destruction. One of his principal and most worthy acts was BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 179 the restoration of friendship between the whites and Iroquois Indians, which gave him deserved popularity. The next governor was William Burnet, a son of the celebrated Bishop Burnet. He arrived on the iyth of September, 1720, imme diately assumed control and entered upon his duties as governor of the combined provinces of New York and New Jersey. He was a man of education and ability, and above all things else was thoroughly honest. He readily saw that the wisdom and prudence of Hunter had been beneficial to the colony, and he resolved to follow the same course his predecessor had pursued. One of his first acts was to con tinue the Assembly which had been convened by Hunter, and he kept it in existence for eleven years. The Assembly manifested its confidence and gratification by voting him a revenue for the succeeding five years. It was soon after the opening of Burnet's ad ministration that the people of Brooklyn and Kings County began to give signs of annoy ance and agitation over encroachments made by private owners upon the king's highway leading from the ferry, and now represented by Fulton Street. This highway, as we have seen, had been laid out in 1704, by the duly l8o HISTORY OF BROOKLYN constituted commissioners, and it was pro vided " that it was to be ffour rod wide and to continue forever." In April, 1721, the General Sessions of the Peace for Kings County held its term, and, after a due consideration of the question, in dictments for encroaching on the " common highway of the King leading from the ferry to the church," were found against John Rapalje, Hans Bergen, and others. It appears very singular that these indictments were obtained at the instance and upon the complaint of two of the indicted parties. The complaint on which this indictment was obtained was as follows : Flatbush, April 19, 1721. John Rapalje and Hans Bergen of the fferry desires of the Grand Jury that the Commissioners own being should be presented for not doing there duty in laying the King's highway according to ye law, being the King's highway is too narrow from the ferry to one Nicolus Cowenhoven living at Brooklyn, and if all our neighbours will make ye road according to law, then ye said John Rapalje and Hans Bergen is willing to do the same as aforesaid, being they are not willing to suffer more than their neighbors. As witness our hands the day and year first above written. JAN RAPALJE. HANS BERGEN. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION l8l These men were governed by a desire that all should fare alike, demanding that the law should be enforced without fear, favor, or par tiality. Some of the persons indicted, in connection with others who felt aggrieved and feared that they also might be placed in a similar un pleasant position, applied to the Colonial Leg islature, and secured the passage of a law on the 2 /th of July, 1721, "to continue the com mon road or King's highway from the ferry toward the Town of Breuckland, on the Island of Nassau, in the Province of New York." The preamble was as follows: " Whereas, Sev eral of the inhabitants on the ferry on the Island of Nassau, by their petition, preferred to the General Assembly, by setting forth that they have been molested by persecutions, occa sioned by the contrivance and instigations of ill and disaffected persons, to the neighbor hood, who would encroach upon the buildings and fences that have been made many years, alledging the road was not wide enough, to the great damage of several of the old inhabit ants, on the said ferry, the said road as it now is, has been so for sixty years past without any complaint either of the inhabitants or travel lers." 1 82 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN The remaining sections of the law estab lished the road "forever," as it then existed, from the ferry upward to the town of Breuck- land, as far as the swinging gate of John Rapalje, just above the property belonging to James Harding. The unwillingness of the early settlers to part with their land, when land was so cheap, accounts in a great meas ure for our present narrow and crooked street. These early settlers, in their opposition to the widening of the street, might have desired to preserve some favorite fruit or shade tree. It has been given as a reason why Broadway, New York, makes a turn or diverges at Grace Church, that a Dutchman had a favorite cherry tree on the line of the thoroughfare as pro posed, and, if the street was continued in a direct line, the tree would have felt the wood man's axe. Another provision of this enactment was the privilege it gave that, if a majority of the in habitants of the town should " adjudge that part of the road near to the ferry to be too narrow and inconvenient," they could take proceedings to have it widened. In order to secure this improvement, " they might cause the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve men to appraise the value of land to be taken, and the BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 183 amount of value so ascertained should be levied upon the towne, and collected and paid to the owners of the land so appropriated to street purpose." This provision of the law was never en forced. The people seemed to rest content with their narrow, winding, crooked lane, which in those days resembled a cow-path. The " swinging gate " referred to, is said to have been located on the rise of the hill at or near the junction of Sands and Fulton streets. The commissioners of highways laid out another important highway or road on the 28th of March, 1704. It led to the public landing place at the mills of Nehemiah Den- ton at Gowanus. The record of this road is as follows : " One common highway to Gowanus Mill, to begin from the northeast corner of Leffert Peterses ffence, and soe along the road west erly as it is now in use, to the lane yt parts the lands of Hendrick Vechte, and Abraham Brower and Nicholas Brower, and soe all along said lane, as it is now in ffence to the house of Jurian Collier, and from thence all along the roade, now in use to the said Gowanus Mill, being in all four rod wide to the said lane, and that there be a convenient landing place for all persons whatsoever, to begin ffrom said 1 84 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN southermost side of said Gowanus Mill house, and ffrom said house to run ffour rod to the southward, for the transportation of goods, and the commodious passage of travellers ; and that said highway to the said Gowanus Mill ffrom said house of said Jurian Collier, shall be but two rod only, and where it is now in use said common highway to be and continue forever ; and ff urther that the ffence and gate that now stands upon the entrance into said mill neck, shall soe remain and be alwayes kept soe enclosed with a ffence and hanging gate ; and the way to said mill to be thorou that gate only, and to be alwayes shutt or put to, by all persons that passes thorou." In 1 709 another road l and landing place had been laid out at or near the mill of John C. Friecke. Brooklyn's political fortunes were at this period so intimately connected with those of New York city that the political history of one is, in general, the political history of the other; yet Brooklyn and Kings County held suffi- 1 The description of this road in the records is as follows : " One common highway to begin ffrom the house of Jurian Collier to the new mill of Nicholas Brower, now sett upon Gowanus Mill neck soe called, as the way is now in use, along said neck to said mill to be of two rods wide, and that there shall be a landing place by said mill in the most convenient place ffor the transportation of goods, and the commodious passing of travellers ; and said highway and landing place to be, remaine and continue forever." BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 185 ciently aloof to justify the omission of any particular chronicle of the administration of Burnet and its quarrels with the French, or the circumstances attending the Governor's transfer to Massachusetts by George II. The next Governor, John Montgomerie, was instructed to continue the policy of Hunter, but he had not the firmness to do so. The principal event in Montgomerie's ad ministration, and one which is held in lasting remembrance in New York, was the grant of an amended charter to the city in 1730. This charter, as well as the Dongan charter, of which it was an amendment, is one which has always been of interest to Brooklyn, as it claimed to fix the limits of the city of New York. The limits thus embraced in the char ter extended to low-water mark on the Long Island shore. 1 On the death of Montgomerie, in 1731, the Governorship passed temporarily to Rip Van Dam, senior member of the Council, in whose accession the Dutch elements in New York and Kings County rejoiced greatly. Colonel William Crosby, who became Gov ernor in 1732, was guilty of infamous tyrannies and usurpations, as in the Van Dam trial, and 1 For comment on Brooklyn's claims, see appendix. 1 86 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN later in the persecution of John Peter Zenger, publisher of the " Weekly Journal," a news paper started in opposition to the adminis tration " Gazette " and to voice the popular opposition. Under Crosby's instigation the Council pro mulgated an order directing that the papers containing the obnoxious articles should be burnt by the hangman at the pillory. When this order was presented to the Quarter Ses sions the Aldermen protested strongly against it, and the court thereupon refused to allow it to be entered on the records. The Re corder, Francis Harrison, was the only one who attempted to defend it, and he based its regu larity upon former English precedents. The court also refused to allow the hangman to execute the order, and it was carried into effect by a negro slave, hired for the purpose. The negro did his work in the presence of the Re corder and other partisans of the government. The magistrates, with great and commendable unanimity, refused to attend, and evidently con sidered that the whole proceeding was but on a par with the former actions of the adherents of the Crown. The burning of the papers did not satisfy the aristocratic party. They desired to be BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 187 avenged, and, thirsting for a victim, shortly after caused the arrest of Zenger on the charge that he had been guilty of publishing treasonable and seditious libels against the Government and her representatives. He was imprisoned on this complaint, and, while in jail awaiting the action of the grand jury, was treated in a cruel and inhuman manner by his jailers. The ordinary courtesies usually granted to uncon- victed men were denied him. He was even refused the use of pen, ink, and paper. The jail of the city at that time was in the City Hall, in Wall Street. Here Zenger was im prisoned. Application was made by his friends to have him submitted to bail, and for the purpose of having the amount fixed, he was brought be fore the court on a writ of habeas corpus. The court required him to give bail in the sum of ^400, with two additional sureties in the sum of ^200 each. This was virtually a denial of bail, as he could not procure the requisite amount. In his endeavor to get his bail re duced, he swore that he was not worth, exclu sive of his trade tools, the sum of ^40. On this affidavit he was remanded to his place of confinement. The trial of Zenger occasioned great excite- 1 88 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN ment on both sides of the East River. The acquittal brought immense enthusiasm and lavish honors on Andrew Hamilton, who bril liantly defended the popular publisher. In the Assembly called in 1737, under Gov ernor Clarke, Kings County was represented by Samuel Garretson, Abraham Lott, and Johannis Lott. Brooklyn's population in 1738 was 721. In the same year the population of the other set tlements was as follows : Flatbush, 540 ; Bushwick, 302 ; New Utrecht, 282 ; Flat- lands, 268; Gravesend, 235. The breaking out of virulent smallpox in New York brought the Assembly of 1 745-46 to Brooklyn, a matter of momentous interest to the little hamlet. The house of "Widow Sickle " was honored by the Assembly as a place of meeting, and its great room was so occupied for several months. During Governor Clinton's term smallpox appeared a second time in New York (in 1752), and the Colonial Assembly again sought quar ters in Brooklyn in which to hold their delib erations. The Legislature chose a house on Fulton Street near Nassau. It was at this im portant session that, on the 4th of June, 1752, the Colonial Commissioners canceled bills of BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 189 credit, issued by the Colony of New York, amounting to the sum of ,3,602 i8s. 3d. The Assembly manifested no little acrimony toward the Governor and displayed a grow ing feeling of independence. This independence of the representatives of the people appeared with increasing frequency, and signs of it so preyed upon gloomy Sir Danvers Osborne, who succeeded Clinton, that he hanged himself with a handkerchief in his garden, shortly after his inauguration, leaving Lieutenant-Governor DeLancey 1 to assume control of the government. 1 To DeLancey belongs the honor of signing the charter of Columbia College in New York, first known as Kings College, an institution in which Brooklynites have always taken a deep interest. Among her graduates from Brooklyn may be men tioned the ex-mayor, ex-senator, and ex-minister to the Hague, Henry C. Murphy, who graduated in 1830. The Hon. Alex ander McCue, of the City Court, was the valedictorian of the class of 1845. Ex-supervisor William J. Osborne, Henry C. Murphy, Jr., George I. Murphy, Richard M. De Mille, John Lockwood, of Lockwood's Academy ; George W. Collard, the erudite professor of languages in the Polytechnic ; Stewart L. Woodford, and Edgar M. Cullen all graduated from Columbia. Beside these might be mentioned John L. Lefferts, Van Brunt Wyckoff, ex-mayor Edward Copeland, who graduated in 1809; the late Samuel E. Johnson, ex-county judge, who graduated in 1834, and the late Rev. Stephen H. Meeker, who for fifty years was pastor of the old Bushwick Church. Among the clergy who enjoyed her academic shades might be men tioned the late Rev. Dr. Dwight, who for many years was pas tor of the Joralemon Street Dutch Church ; the Right Rev. Henry Ustick Onderdonk, at one time rector of St. Ann's Church and subsequently bishop of Pennsylvania ; Rev. Dr. HISTORY OF BROOKLYN Meanwhile one phase of Long Island's re lations to New York should not escape notice. The position of Long Island made it natural that New York should look to it as in a mea sure a bulwark against attack from the sea, and various governors displayed an interest in repairing those harbor fortifications which rested on the Island. Governor Clarke addressed the Legislature, in 1741, in the following terms: "There is great reason to apprehend a speedy rupture with France ; your situation ought therefore to awaken you to a speedy provision against that event, in fortifying the town in a better manner than it is at present by erecting bat teries in proper places upon some of the wharves facing the harbor, others upon the side of the Hudson River adjoining the town, and one at Red Hook, upon Long Island, to Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, formerly rector of St. John's Church ; the Right Rev. Dr. George F. Seymour, formerly rector of St. John's Church and now bishop of Springfield. Of the legal profession who have graduated from her law school might be mentioned William H. Ingersoll, Edward B. Barnum, Henry Broadhead, Abel Crook, William Leggett Whiting, Philip L. Wilson, Henry S. Bellows, Merwin Rush- more, F. A. Ward, D. D. Terry, L. Bradford Prince, Daniel W. Northup, and a host of other well known members of the bar. Of the medical profession the number from Brooklyn is legion. S. M. O. We may now add to the roll a conspicuous name, that of ex-mayor Seth Low, now president of Columbia. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 191 prevent the enemy from landing at Nutten Island." Governor Clinton, on April 30, 1 744, assured the Legislature in a special message that " it was absolutely necessary there should be a bat tery of six guns at Red Hook, on Nassau Island, which would effectually prevent the enemy's lying there, to bombard the city, or their landing any force or artillery on Nutten Island. In case of any such attack upon us, this battery might be easily supplied and main tained by the force of the country." Of life on Long Island and throughout the Colony during the period immediately prece ding the Revolution we find many interesting glimpses through the medium of newspapers of the time. The "Weekly Post Boy" of June 18, 1753, contained an advertisement which was of inter est to the citizens of Long Island : Notice is hereby given that the Ferry House from Long Island to Staten Island, com monly known by the name of the Upper Ferry, otherwise Stillwell's Ferry, is now kept by Nicholas Stillwell, who formerly occupy'd the same ; he has two good Boats well accommo dated for the safe Conveyance of Man or Horse across the Narrows. He also proposes 1 92 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN to carry, if required, travellers either to Staten Island, Elizabethtown Point, Amboy, or New York, and that at the most reasonable terms. He continues to keep good entertainment for travellers. NICHOLAS STILLWELL. John Lane advertised in the " Mercury" June J 8> i?53> as follows: This is to inform the Publick that John Lane now keeps the ferry at Yellow Hook, 6 miles below New York ferry on Long Island, and has provided good boats, well fitted, with proper hands, and will be ready at all times (wind and weather permitting) to go to Smith's Ferry on Staten Island, with a single man only. There will be good entertainment at said house, where all gentlemen travellers and others may expect the best of usage, for them selves and horses, from their very humble ser vant, JOHN LANE. N. B. Travellers are desired to observe in going from Flat Bush to said ferry to keep the mark'd trees on the right hand. The Free and Accepted Masons are referred to by the " Mercury " as having observed in due form the anniversary of St. John. Its account of the proceedings is as follows : " Sunday the 24th ult, being the Anniversary of the Festival of St. John the Baptist, the Ancient and Right Worshipful Society of BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 193 Free and Accepted Masons, of this City, as sembled at Spring Garden, the next Day, and being properly cloathed, made a regular Pro cession in due Form, to the Kings Arms Tav ern in Broad Street, near the Long Bridge, where an elegant Entertainment was provided ; and after drinking his Majesty's and several other loyal Healths, the Day was concluded in the most social manner, and to the entire satisfaction of all the Company." The following peculiar advertisement ap peared in the " Post Boy "in 1753 : " By a person lately arrived in this Town, Painting upon Glass (commonly call'd burning upon Glass) is performed in a neat and curi ous Manner so as to never change its Colour; Perspective Views neatly colour'd for the Camera Obscura. "N. B. Young gentlemen and ladies are instructed in either of the above, so as to be capable to perform it themselves in a little Time, at a reasonable Rate. By the same per son, Land Surveyed, Designs for Buildings, Plans and Maps neatly drawn. Enquire at Mr. John Ditcher's Tallow Chandler and Soap Boiler in the Sloat." It would appear that Bedloe's Island at that time was private property, and was considered by the owner to be very valuable. He adver tised : 194 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN " To be Let, Bedloe's Island, alias Love Is land, together with the Dwelling House and Light House, being finely situated for a tav ern where all kinds of Garden Stuff, Poultry, &c., may be easily raised for the shipping out ward bound, and from where any Quantity of pickled Oysters may be transported ; it abounds with English Rabbits." The " New York Gazette " of July 23, 1753, made an announcement, of interest to Presby terians, that " Inasmuch as it was yesterday the declared Intention of the Presbyterian Church in this City to make use of the Version of Psalms Known by the Name of Mr. Watt's in their publick Worship, this may serve to acquaint all concerned, that an Impression of these Psalms was done here in the year 1750, in order to supply two or three neighboring con gregations, which are now almost all sold off, and a new Impression begun, which would have been finished as Leisure Time permitted; but as there is likely to be a small Demand quickly for them, the Impression will be now pro ceeded in immediately, and finished with all Dispatch ; so that in a very few Weeks they will be ready. And all such Families of this City, as shall take three or more of them at once, shall at any time before the ist of No vember next, have them at the wholesale price BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 195 of 2S. per Book, and singly 2s. 4