SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON
The story of the French and Indian wars on our border does not fall
within the scope of this chronicle; but in order to understand the
development of New York we must know something of the conditions which
prevailed in the province during that troubled epoch. The penurious
policy pursued by the Dutch and continued by the English left the
colony without defenses on either the northern or southern boundaries.
For a long time the settlers found themselves bulwarked against the
French on the north by the steadfast friendship of the "Six Nations,"
comprising the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the
Senecas, and the Tuscaroras; but at last these trusty allies began to
feel that the English were not doing their share in the war. The lack
of military preparation in New York was inexcusable. The niggardliness
of the Assembly alienated successive governors and {219} justified
Clinton's assertion: "If you deny me the necessary supplies all my
endeavors must become fruitless. I must wash my own hands and leave at
your doors the blood of innocent people."
When the Indians under the leadership of the French actually took the
warpath, the colonists at last awoke to their peril. Upon call of
Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey, acting under instructions of the Lords
of Trade, all the colonies north of the Potomac except New Jersey sent
commissioners to a congress at Albany in June, 1754, to plan measures
of defense and of alliance with the Six Nations.
Albany was still a placid little Dutch town. Mrs. Grant of Laggan in
Scotland, who visited Albany in her girlhood, wrote of it afterward
with a gentle suavity which lent glamour to the scenes which she
described. She pictures for us a little town in which every house had
its garden at the rear and in front a shaded stoop with seats on either
side where the family gathered to enjoy the twilight. "Each family had
a cow, fed in a common pasture at the end of the town. In the evening
they returned all together, of their own accord, with their tinkling
bells hung at their necks, along the wide and grassy street, to their
wonted {220} sheltering trees, to be milked. At one door were young
matrons, at another the elders of the people, at a third the youths and
maidens, gaily chatting or singing together, while the children played
around the trees, or waited by the cows for the chief ingredient of
their frugal supper, which they generally ate sitting on the steps in
the open air."
The court-house of Albany to which the commissioners journeyed by boat
up the Hudson, is described by Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveler and
scientist, as a fine stone building by the riverside, three stories
high with a small steeple containing a bell, and topped by a gilt ball
and weather-vane. From the engraved print which has come down to us,
it seems a barren barrack of a building with an entrance quite
inadequate for the men of distinction who thronged its halls on this
memorable occasion.
In this congress at Albany, Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania and
William Johnson of New York were the dominating figures. The famous
plan of union which Franklin presented has sometimes made historians
forget the services rendered by this redoubtable Colonel Johnson at a
moment when the friendship of the Six Nations was hanging in the
balance. Though gifts had been {221} prepared and a general invitation
had been sent, only a hundred and fifty warriors appeared at Albany and
they held themselves aloof with a distrust that was almost contempt.
"Look at the French!" exclaimed Hendrick, the great chief of the
Mohawks. "They are men. They are fortifying everywhere; but, we are
ashamed to say it, you are all like women--bare and open without any
fortifications." In this crisis all the commissioners deferred to
William Johnson as the one man who enjoyed the complete confidence of
the Six Nations. It was he who formulated the Indian policy of the
congress.
He had been born in Ireland. His mother was Anne Warren, sister to
Captain Peter Warren, who "served with reputation" in the Royal Navy
and afterward became Knight of the Bath and Vice-Admiral of the Red
Squadron of the British Fleet. Captain Warren was less than a dozen
years older than his nephew, whom he regarded with affectionate
interest. He described him as "a spritely boy well grown of good parts
and keen wit but most onruly and streperous," and the sailor added: "I
see the making of a strong man. I shall keep my weather eye on the
lad."
The result of this observation was so favorable {222} that the captain,
who was on station in America, sent for William Johnson to come out and
aid him in the development of a real estate venture. A large tract of
land near the Mohawk River had come into Warren's possession, and as a
sailor Warren naturally found difficulty in superintending land at what
was then a week's journey from the seacoast. "Billy" was his choice as
an assistant, and the boy, who was then twenty-three years old, left
the Old World and in 1738 reached the new plantation where his
life-work lay before him. For this he was admirably equipped by his
Irish inheritance of courage, tact, and humor, by his study of English
law, and by a facility in acquiring languages which enabled him to
master the Mohawk tongue in two years after his arrival in New York.
The business arrangement between Captain Warren and his nephew provided
that Johnson should form a settlement on his uncle's land known as
Warrensbush, at the juncture of Schoharie Kill and the Mohawk, that he
should sell farms, oversee settlers, clear and hedge fields, "girdle"
trees (in order to kill them and let in the sun), purchase supplies,
and in partnership with Warren establish a village store to meet the
necessities {223} of the new colonists and to serve as a
trading-station with the Indians. In compensation for his services he
was to be allowed to cultivate a part of the land for himself, though
it is hard to imagine what time or strength could have been left for
further exertions after the fulfillment of the onerous duties marked
out for him.
A few years after his arrival at Warrensbush he married a young Dutch
or German woman named Catherine Weisenberg, perhaps an indentured
servant whose passage had been prepaid on condition of service in
America. Little is known of the date or circumstances of this
marriage. It is certain only that after a few years Catherine died,
leaving three children, to whom Johnson proved a kind and considerate
father, in spite of an erratic domestic career which involved his
taking as the next head of his household Caroline, niece of the Mohawk
chief Hendrick, and later Molly Brant, sister of the Indian, Joseph
Brant.
Molly Brant, by whom Johnson had eight children, was recognized as his
wife by the Indians, while among Johnson's English friends she was
known euphemistically as "the brown Lady Johnson." She presided over
his anomalous household with dignity and discretion; but it is
noticeable {224} that Johnson, who was so willing to defy public
opinion in certain matters, was sufficiently conventional in others, as
we learn from a description of the daily life of the legitimate
daughters of the house. While Mohawk chiefs, Oneida braves, Englishmen
of title, and distinguished guests of every kind thronged the mansion,
and while the little half-breed children played about the lawns and
disported themselves on the shores of Kayaderosseras Creek close at
hand, "the young ladies" lived in almost conventual seclusion.
The grim baronial mansion where this mixed household made its dwelling
for many years, was called variously Mount Johnson, Castle Johnson, and
Fort Johnson. It was built in 1742 with such massive walls that the
house is still standing in the town of Amsterdam. In 1755, when the
Indian peril loomed large on the horizon, the original defenses were
strengthened, a stockade was built as a further protection, and from
this time on it was called Fort Johnson.
Owing perhaps to Johnson's precautions and the Indian's knowledge of
his character, the fort was not attacked and its owner continued to
dwell in the house until 1762, when, having become one of the richest
men in the colony, he built on a tract {225} of land in Johnstown a
more ambitious, and, it is to be hoped, a more cheerful mansion known
as Johnson Hall. This house was built of wood with wings of stone,
pierced at the top for muskets. On one side of the house lay a garden
and nursery described as the pride of the surrounding country. Here
Johnson lived with an opulence which must have amazed the simple
settlers around him, especially those who remembered his coming to the
colony as a poor youth less than thirty years earlier. He had in his
service a secretary, a physician, a musician who played the violin for
the entertainment of guests, a gardener, a butler, a waiter named
Pontiach, of mixed negro and Indian blood, a pair of white dwarfs to
attend upon himself and his friends, an overseer, and ten or fifteen
slaves.
This retinue of servants was none too large to cope with the unbounded
hospitality which Johnson dispensed. A visitor reports having seen at
the Hall from sixty to eighty Indians at one time lodging under tents
on the lawn and taking their meals from tables made of pine boards
spread under the trees. On another occasion, when Sir William called a
council of the Iroquois at Fort Johnson, a thousand natives gathered,
and Johnson's {226} neighbors within a circuit of twenty miles were
invited to assist in the rationing of this horde of visitors. The
landholders along the Mohawk might well have been glad to share the
burden of Sir William's tribal hospitality, since its purpose was as
much political as social and its results were of endless benefit to the
entire colony.
At last the Indians had found a friend, a white man who understood them
and whom they could understand. He was honest with them and therefore
they trusted him. He was sympathetic and therefore they were ready to
discuss their troubles freely with him. As an Indian of mixed blood
declared to the Governor at Albany in speaking of Sir William: "His
knowledge of our affairs, our laws, and our language made us think he
was not like any other white but an Indian like ourselves. Not only
that; but in his house is an Indian woman, and his little children are
half-breed as I am."
The English therefore were peculiarly fortunate in finding at the most
critical stage of their political dealings with the Indians a
representative endowed with the wisdom and insight of Sir William
Johnson. Unlike the French, he did not strive to force an alien form
of worship upon this primitive people. Unlike the Dutch, he insisted
{227} that business should be carried on as honestly with the natives
as with the white men. Unlike his fellow-countrymen, he constantly
urged adequate preparation for war on the part of the English and
demanded that they should bear their share of the burden. In a written
report at the Albany congress he strongly recommended that inasmuch as
the Six Nations, owing to their wars with the French, had fallen short
both in hunting and planting, they should be provided with food from
the English supplies. Finally he testified to the sincerity of his
convictions by going to the war himself and rendering valuable service
first as colonel and later as major-general. After the Battle of Lake
George, Johnson was knighted by the King and received a grant of L5000
from Parliament. In the same year he was appointed by the Crown "Agent
and Sole Superintendent of the Six Nations and other northern Indians"
inhabiting British territory north of the Carolinas and the Ohio River.
Johnson is described by one who saw him about this time or somewhat
earlier as a man of commanding presence, only a little short of six
feet in height, "neck massive, broad chest and large limbs, great
physical strength, the head large and shapely, {228} countenance open
and beaming with good nature, eyes grayish black, hair brown with tinge
of auburn." His activity took every form and was exerted in every
direction. His documents and correspondence number over six thousand
and fill twenty-six volumes preserved in the State Library. Nor did
these represent his chief activities. He was constantly holding
councils with the native tribes either at Fort Johnson or at the Indian
camps. It was he who kept the Mohawks from joining in Pontiac's
conspiracy which swept the western border; it was he who negotiated the
famous treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1768. In the midsummer of 1774 he
succumbed to an old malady after an impassioned address to six hundred
Iroquois gathered at Johnson Hall.
He was one of the fortunate few whose characters and careers fit
exactly. He found scope for every power that he possessed and he won
great rewards. His tireless energy expressed itself in cultivating
thousands of acres and in building houses, forts, and churches. He
dipped a lavish hand into his abundant wealth and scattered his gold
where it was of the greatest service. He loved hospitality and
gathered hundreds round his board. He was a benevolent autocrat and
nations bowed {229} to his will. He paid homage to his King, and died
cherishing the illusion of the value of prerogative. He was fortunate
in his death as in his life, for he was spared the throes of the mighty
changes already under way, when the King's statue should be pulled down
to be melted into bullets, when New York should merge her identity in
the Union of States, and when the dwellers along the banks of the
Hudson and its tributaries should call themselves no longer Dutch or
English but Americans.
{231}
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The student who has the courage to delve in the _Documents relative to
the Colonial History of the State of New York_, the _Documentary
History of the State of New York_, the ecclesiastical records, the
pioneer journals, and the minutes of early city councils, will not only
reach the fundamental authorities on the history of the settlers on the
Hudson, but will find many interesting incidents of which the dull
titles give no promise.
If the reader prefer to follow a blazed trail, he will find a path
marked out for him in reliable works such as _The History of New
Netherland_ by E. B. O'Callaghan, 2 vols. (1855), _The History of the
State of New York_ by J. R. Brodhead, 2 vols. (1871), _The Narratives
of New Netherland_, admirably edited by J. F. Jameson (1909), _New
York_, a condensed history by E. H. Roberts (1904), John Fiske's _Dutch
and Quaker Colonies in America_, 2 vols. (1899), and William Smith's
_History of the Late Province of New York_ (first published in 1757 and
still valuable).
Many histories of New York City have been written to satisfy the
general reader. Among the larger works are Mrs. M. J. Lamb's _History
of the City of New York_, 2 vols. (1877; revised edition, 1915, in 3
vols.), Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer's _History of the City of New York
in the Seventeenth Century_, 2 vols. (1909), {232} James G. Wilson's
_Memorial History of the City of New York_, 4 vols. (1892), and
_Historic New York_, 2 vols. (edited by M. W. Goodwin, A. C. Royce, and
Ruth Putnam, 1912). Theodore Roosevelt has written a single volume on
New York for the _Historic Towns_ series (1910). In his _New Amsterdam
and its People_ (1902), J. H. Innes has brought together valuable
studies of the social and topographical features of the town under
Dutch and early English rule. I. N. P. Stokes's _Iconography of
Manhattan Island_ (1915) is calculated to delight the soul of the
antiquarian.
One who wishes to turn to the lighter side of provincial life will find
it set forth in attractive volumes such as _Colonial Days in Old New
York_ by A. M. Earle (1915), _The Story of New Netherland_ by W. E.
Griffis (1909), _In Old New York_ by T. A. Janvier (1894), and the
_Goede Vrouw of Mana-ha-ta_ by M. K. Van Rensselaer (1898).
Most rewarding perhaps of all sources are those dealing with the
biographies of the prominent figures in the history of the State, since
in them we find the life of the times illustrated and personalized. E.
M. Bacon in his _Henry Hudson_ (1907) gives us a picture of the great
mariner and the difficulties against which he strove. The _Van
Rensselaer-Bowier Manuscripts_, edited by A. J. F. Van Laer (1908) show
us through his personal letters the Patroon of the upper Hudson and
make us familiar with life on his estates. J. K. Paulding in _Affairs
and Men of New Amsterdam in the Time of Governor Peter Stuyvesant_
(1843) makes the town-dwellers equally real to us, while W. L. Stone's
_Life and Times of Sir William Johnson_, 2 vols. (1865), shows us the
pioneer struggles in the Mohawk Valley. In the English _State Trials_
{233} compiled by T. B. Howells, 34 vols. (1828), we read the story of
the famous pirate Captain Kidd, and find it more interesting than many
a work of fiction.
Among the autobiographical accounts of colonial life the most
entertaining are _The Memoirs of an American Lady_ by A. M. Grant
(1809), _A Two Years' Journal in New York, etc._ by Charles Wolley
(1902), and _The Private Journal of Sarah Kemble Knight_, the record of
a journey from Boston to New York in 1704 (1901).
Further bibliographical references will be found appended to the
articles on _Hudson River_, _New York_, and _New York_ (_City_), in
_The Encyclopaedia Britannica_, 11th edition.
{235}
INDEX
_Adventure-Galley_, The (ship), 170, 171, 172, 173
Albany, name of Fort Orange changed to, 137; refuses to send delegates
to Fort James, 153; preeminently Dutch, 154; refuses to recognize
Leisler, 154, 156; Leisler sends troops to assistance of, 156; congress
(1754), 219, 220-21; court-house, 220; _see also_ Orange, Fort
Alexander, James, supports Van Dam, 196; contributes to _New York
Weekly Journal_, 197; counsel for Zenger, 198-99
Amersfort, 77
Amsterdam, Fort, established, 54; condition in 1638, 61; becomes Fort
James, 137; _see also_ James, Fort
Andros, Sir Edmund, Governor of New York, 144; asserts authority in New
Jersey, 146-147; recalled, 147; appointed Governor-General of "Dominion
of New England" (1688), 149; imprisoned in Boston, 151; instructed to
suppress piracy, 167
Angola, Paul d', one of the first negro slaves, 25
Archer, John, 140
Arlington, Lord, 139
_Arms of Amsterdam_, The (ship), 26
Avery, buccaneer, 173
Barents, Reymier, 156
Barentsen, Pieter, 54
Bayard, Mrs., sister of Stuyvesant, 86
Bayard, Nicholas, 154, 155, 159, 160, 163
Bear Mountain, replica of _Half Moon_ at foot of, 16
Bears Island fortified, 45
_Beaver_, The (ship), 161
Beeren (Bears) Island fortified, 45
Bellomont, Earl of, in stock company to fit out privateer, 170;
succeeds Fletcher as Governor of New York, 170-71, 180-181; Captain
Kidd communicates with, 174; royal Governor of Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, 175 (note); uprightness, 181; espouses Leislerian cause,
181-83; death (1701), 183; revenues under, 191
Berkeley, Lord, 145
Beverwyck, 72
Birds of Hudson region, 28
Bissels, associate of Van Rensselaer, 40
Blagge, Captain, defense of Leisler, 157-59
Block, Adriaen, 135
Block Island, 135, 174
Blommaert, Samuel, 36, 40
Blucker, of Albany, 156
Bogardug, Rev. Everardus, 88-90
Boston, 151, 168
Bradford, William, printer, 193
Bradley supports Cosby, 196
Brant, Molly, 223
Breuckelen (now Brooklyn), 77
Burnet, William, Governor of New York, 190
Burton, Mary, 213
Cabots, The, explorations in Hudson region, 16
Canada, expeditions against, 185-86, 188
Carey (Kerry), Peggy, 213
Carleton, Sir Dudley, English ambassador at The Hague, 132
Caroline, niece of Mohawk chief Hendrick, 223
Carteret, Sir George, part of New Jersey granted to, 145; death (1680),
146
Carteret, Philip, Governor of New Jersey, 146, 147
Casimir, Fort, 130
Catholics, Roman, oppose Leisler, 153-154; accused of inciting negro
plots, 212, 213-17
Chambers, John, 199
_Charter of Liberties and Privileges_, 148
Christina, Fort, 127
Clarke, George, Governor of New York, letter on negro plots, 214-15;
suspicions of, 215-17
Clinton, George, Governor of New York, quoted, 191-92, 219
Coates, Edward, 166
Cod, Cape, 135
Colden, Cadwallader, 196, 197
Colman, John, 6-7
Colve, Captain Anthony, Dutch Governor of New York, 143
Commerce, aim of Dutch in America, 18; with Holland, 24; dubious sea
ventures, 168-169
Congo, Simon, one of the first negro slaves, 25
Connecticut River, 22, 65, 135
Coorn, Nicholas, 45-46
Cornbury, Edward Hyde, Lord, Governor of New York, 183-185; revenues
under, 191
Cornelissen, Jan, 95
Cosby, William, Governor of New York, 190, 194-96
"Cosby's Manor," 195
Curtius, Alexander Carolus, 101
Cuyler, Johannes, of Albany, 156
De Laet, Johan, 11, 40
De Lancey, James, supports Cosby, 196; Chief Justice, 199;
Lieutenant-Governor, 219
De la Montagne, J. M., 95
De la Noy, Peter, 162, 169
Delaware, Swedish colony in, 127-28; _see also_ New Sweden
Delaware Bay, 36
Delaware (or South) River, 22, 51, 59
De Neger, Jan, 35
De Peyster, Colonel Abraham, 207
De Vries, Captain David, quoted, 28; takes up territory on Delaware
Bay, 36; _bouwerie_ of, 39; opinion of Van Twilier, 57; head of
committee of twelve, 64; appearance, 64; treats with Indians, 65-66;
account of building of church, 92-93; visits Governor Printz, 129;
opinion of Eelkens incident, 134
Dongan, Colonel Thomas, Governor of New York, 48, 147, 157; instructed
to suppress piracy, 167
Drisius, Domine Samuel, 86
"Duke's Laws," 138
Dutch East India Company, 17
Dutch West India Company, 20-22, 30, 32, 33-34, 38, 51, 56, 60, 73
Dyckman, 72
Earle, Mrs., overhears negroes plotting, 212
East Indies, pirates in, 168
Education in New Netherland, 93-101
Eelkens, Jacob, 59, 132-35
_Eendragt_, The (ship), 40
Elizabethtown declared a free port, 146
England, war with Holland (1652), 76-77; treaty (1654), 77; sends fleet
to New Netherland, 79-82; war with Holland (1672), 142-43; treaty
(1674), 143-44; takes steps against buccaneers, 170
Esopus, Indian troubles at, 74, 79
Evertsen, Admiral Cornells, 143
Fenwick, land claimant in West Jersey, 146
Flatbush, 77
Fletcher, Colonel Benjamin, Governor of New York, 165; encourages
piracy, 165-66; revenues under, 191
Flushing, 77; religious toleration in, 86
Food resources, 28
Fordham Manor, 140
_Fortune_, The (ship), 18
Francisco, John, one of the first negro slaves, 25
Franklin, Benjamin, at Albany congress, 220
Frederycke (Fredericksen), Kryn, 54
Fur trade, 17, 18-19, 27, 41
Gardiner's Island, Captain Kidd at, 174
Godyn, Samuel, 36, 40
_Good Hope_, The (ship), 45-46
Governor's Island, 60
Grant, Mrs., of Laggan, _Memoirs of an American Lady_, 48; on negro
servitude in Albany, 209; describes Albany, 219-220
Gravesend, 77
_Griffin_, The (ship), 127
Griffis, W. E., defends Van Twiller, 58-59
Gustavus Adolphus, 126
_Half Moon_, The (_Halve Maene_) (ship), anchors in New York harbor,
1-2; description of, 2-5; effect on Indians, 4-5, 7-10; journeys up
Hudson, 10-12; homeward course, 13; Hudson's cabin, 14; puts to sea,
15; replica, 16
Hamilton, Andrew, defends Zenger, 200-05
Harrison, Francis, 196, 198
Hartford, Treaty of, 77
Heckwelder, Rev. John, Moravian missionary, account of arrival of _Half
Moon_, 7-9, 10
Hempstead, 77
Heyn, Peter, 55
Hill, Rowland, quoted, 114
Hobocan Hackingh, 37
Hoboken, 74
Hodgson, Robert, 85
Holland, _see_ United Netherlands
Holmes, Sir Robert, 168
Horsmanden, Judge, 217
Housatonic River discovered, 135
Hudson, Captain Henry, explores Hudson River in _Half Moon_, 1-16;
barters with Indians, 4-5, 10; entertains Indians, 4-5, 8-10, 13-14; at
West Point, 10-11; Irving's description of, 12; fights with Indians,
15; held at Dartmouth, 17
Hudson River, explored, 1-16; "the River of the Steep Hills," 11;
called Mauritius, 22, 23, 29, 132; commerce on, 28-29; overflows, 79;
pirates on, 180
Hughson, tavern-keeper, 213, 215-16
Hunter, Robert, Governor of New York, 186; brings Palatines to New
York, 186-88; resigns, 189; quoted, 191
Hutchiuson, Anne, 65
Huyck, Jan, 90
Indians, effect of _Half Moon_ on, 4-5, 7-10; attack Colman, 6;
friendly at West Point, 10; on _Half Moon_, 13; attempt theft, 14-15;
conflict with, 15, 62-66, 74-75; legal ceremony toward, 36; paid for
lands, 37-38, 53; servants of Minuit kill friendly Indian, 55; Kieft's
troubles with, 62-66; attack New Amsterdam, 74; as neighbors of Dutch,
124-26; treaty signed on Norman's Kill, 125; friendship of the "Six
Nations," 218; take warpath, 219; Sir William Johnson as friend of,
226-27
Ingoldesby, Major Richard, 161, 185-86
Irving, Washington, _see_ Knickerbocker, Diedrich
James, Duke of York and Albany, Lord Proprietor of New York, 137,
144-45; becomes King of England, 148
James, Fort, 137, 143, 153; _see also_ Amsterdam, Fort; Willem
Hendrick, Fort
Jogues, Isaac, Jesuit missionary, describes Rensselaerswyck, 40-41
Johnson, Sir William, at Albany congress, 220; formulates Indian
policy, 221; born in Ireland, 221; described by his uncle, 221; life,
222-24; home, 224-25; hospitality, 225-26; in French and Indian War,
227; knighted, 227; appearance, 227-28; activities, 228; personal
characteristics, 228-29
Johnson, Fort, 224, 228
Joris, Adriaen, 22
Juet, Robert, of Limehouse, quoted, 2, 9
Kalm, Peter, describes courthouse at Albany, 220
_Key of Kalmar_, The (ship), 127
Kidd, Captain William, 170-179
Kieft, William, succeeds Van Twiller, 45; as Governor of New
Netherland, 61-67; character, 61; activities, 61-62; relations with
Indians, 62-66; recalled (1647), 66; drowned, 66; Kuyter and Melyn
against, 69; upheld by Stuyvesant, 69; opposed by Bogardus, 89-90;
raises money for church, 92-93; letter to Minuit, 127-128
Knickerbocker, Diedrich (Irving), description of Henry Hudson, 12;
description of Van Twiller, 58; quoted, 121-122
Knight, Sarah Kemble, quoted, 206-07
Krol, Sebastian, 54, 56-57, 90
Kuyter, Jochem Pietersen, 69
Labor in New Netherland, 27
Leisler, Jacob, 150; calls convention at Fort James, 153; appointed
"Captain of the fort at New York...", 153; Catholics and aristocracy
oppose, 153-54; temporary victory, 154-55; assumes title of
Lieutenant-Governor, 155; demands recognition, 155-56; calls convention
to discuss defense, 156-57; controversy about, 157-60; refuses
surrender of fort, 161-63; finally yields, 163; sentenced to death,
163-64; attainder removed, 164; Bellomont causes reburial, 181-82
_Little Fox_, The (ship), 18
Livingston, Robert, 48, 154, 155, 170, 186, 196
Livingston Manor, 48
Long Island, SO; Dutch on, 22; English on, 78, 135-36; becomes county
of Yorkshire, 138
Loockermans, Govert, 45-46
Lovelace, Colonel Francis, succeeds Nicolls as Governor of New York,
139-40; establishes first mail service, 140-42
Lovelace, Lord, Governor of New York, 185
Luyck, AEgidius, 101
Maasen, Cornelis, 109
Madagascar, meeting place for pirates and merchants, 168-169, 170; Kidd
reaches, 172
Manhattan Island, 29; Hudson leaves, 10; settlers in, 22; purchased
from Indians, 25, 53; reserved for Dutch West Indian Company, 33;
surrendered to England, 80-82; life on, 103
"Mannahattanik," 9
Manors in New York, 32, 34-35, 47-49
Mauritius, (Hudson) River, 22, 23, 29, 132
Maverick, Samuel, 139
May, Cornelis Jacobsen, of Hoorn, 22; first Director-General of New
Netherland, 51
_Meeuwken_, The (ship), 52
Megapolensis, Rev. Johannes, Jr., 40, 86, 87-88, 90, 109
Melyn, Cornelis, 39, 69
Michaelius, Domine Jonas, 26, 88, 96-97, 109
Middleburgh, 77
Milborne, Jacob, 155-56, 162, 163, 181-82
Minuit, Peter, Director-General of New Netherland, 25, 52; recalled
(1632), 45, 56; buys Manhattan Island, 53; builds Fort Amsterdam, 54;
preparations for war, 55; shipbuilding, 66; enters service of Sweden,
56, 126-27; establishes Swedish colony in Delaware, 127-28
Montgomerie, John, Governor of New York, 195
Moore, William, 172-73
Morris, Lewis, Chief Justice, 196, 197
Motley, J. L., quoted, 30-31, 99
Moussart, associate of Van Rensselaer, 40
Murray, John, 212
Myndertsen, Myndert, 36
Nanfan, John, Lieutenant-Governor of New York, 180
Narragansett Bay, 135
Nassau, Fort, 19
Navesink Heights, Hudson passes, 1
Neger, Jan de, 35
Negroes, plot of 1712, 210-11; alleged plots of 1741, 211-17; _see
also_ Slavery
Netherlands, _see_ United Netherlands
New Amsterdam, established (1626), 25, 54; growth of, 29; "staple
right" established at, 61; Indian troubles at, 62-66, 74; municipal
rights given to, 73; in Stuyvesant's time, 75-76; fortification of, 77;
church building in, 91-93; in seventeenth century, 102, 103;
development of, 104-06; class distinction in, 107-08 (note); becomes
New York, 137; _see also_ New York City
New Castle (Del.), 130
New Gottenburg, 129
New Jersey, 65; granted to Berkeley and Carteret, 145-46; enters "the
Dominion of New England," 149
New Netherland, Dutch claim, 17; commerce, 18-19; New Netherland
Company, 19-20; Dutch West India Company, 20-22, 30, 32, 33-34;
colonization, 21-23; settlers, 23-24; supplies from Holland, 24-25;
slavery, 25-27; resources, 28; patroonship, 32-47; "Privileges and
Exemptions," 33-35; English take possession of (1664), 47; small
proprietors in, 49-50; demands made to States General, 72-73;
convention to consider defense, 77-79; _The Humble Remonstrance_, 78;
becomes New York, 82; religion in, 83-93; religious liberty in, 83-85;
religious tyranny, 85-87; education, 93-101; burghers in, 102-22;
pioneer living conditions, 103-04; fire protection, 104-05; public
sanitation, 105; improvement in living conditions, 105-06; "great
burghers," 107-08; dress, 108; children, 109-20; holidays, 114-18;
christenings, 118; spirit of mystery, 120-21; neighbors, 123 _et seq._;
relations with New Sweden, 128-31; relations with English, 131-36;
question of boundaries, 136; bibliography, 231-33; _see also_ New York
_New Netherland_, The (ship), 56
New Netherland Company, 19-20
_New Netherland, The Representation of_, 68, 70
New Orange, 143
New Sweden, established, 127-128; relations with Dutch, 128-131
New York, government changed, 137-38; surrenders to Dutch (1674), 143;
name changed to New Orange, 143; returned by treaty to English, 144;
_Charter of Liberties and Privileges_, 148; becomes royal province,
148; enters "The Dominion of New England," 149; piracy, 165-79; _see
also_ New Netherland
New York City, market for pirates, 168; becomes cosmopolitan, 206; in
1729, 206-07; public buildings, 207; luxury, 207-08; negro slaves,
208-17; bibliography, 231-33; _see also_ New Amsterdam
_New York Weekly Gazette_, 197
_New York Weekly Journal_, 197-198
Nicholson, Francis, Lieutenant-Governor of New York, 151-152, 157;
leaves for England, 154; imprisons pirates, 168
Nicolls, Colonel Richard, expedition against New Netherland, 80-81;
first English Governor of New York, 137-138, 139, 144; warns against
division of territory, 145
Nicolls, William, 159
_Nieu Nederlandt_, The (ship), 22
_Nightingale_, The (ship), 18
Nooten (Nut) Island, old name for Governor's Island, 60
Norman's Kill, treaty with Indians at, 125
Nysen, Wolf, 35
Olfertsen treats with Indians, 65
Orange, Fort, 39; established, 19; colonists, 23, 25, 40; supplies
brought up Hudson to, 29; in 1626-28, 54; Stuyvesant's orders
concerning, 71-72; strengthened, 77; town on Hudson, 102; Eelkens lands
near, 134; becomes Albany, 137; _see also_ Albany
Oxenstiern conducts government of Sweden, 126
Oxford, Earl of, 170
Palatines in New York, 186-88
Patroons, 32 _et seq._
Pauw, Michiel, 36-37, 39
Pavonia, 39, 74
Philipse, Judge Adolphe, 196, 199
Philipse, Frederick, 184
Philipse Manor, 47
Pietersen, Evert, 95
Piracy, 165-79
Portuguese, Anthony, one of the first negro slaves, 25
Postal service established, 140-42
_Princess_, The (ship), 66
Printz, Johan, Governor of New Sweden, 128-29
Quakers, pay Indians for land, 37-38; Stuyvesant's dealings with, 70,
85-86
_Quedagh Merchant_, The (ship), 172, 174, 177
Rapaelje, Sarah, 25, 109
Raritan Indians, 63
Religion in New Netherland, 83-93
Rensselaer's Stein (Castle Rensselaer), 45
Rensselaerswyck, typical patroonship, 39; settlement, 39-41; life in,
41-46; library, 42; cost of living, 42-43; terms of leases, 43-44;
hostility between patroon and tenants, 44; relation of patroon and
Company, 45; Stuyvesant and, 71-72
Roelantsen, Adam, 94
Romney, Earl of, 170
Rondout, 102
Rysing, Governor of New Sweden, 130
_St. John_, The (slaver), 26
San Salvador, victory of Dutch over Spanish off (1627), 55
Schenectady, massacre at, 156
Schoharie, Palatines at, 188
Schuyler, Peter, 154, 155
Schuyler estate near Albany, 48-49
Sewall, Samuel, 168
Shipbuilding at New Amsterdam, 56
Shrewsbury, Duke of, 170
Slavery, Dutch introduce, 25-26; treatment of slaves in New Netherland,
26-27; in New York, 208-09; ordinance regulating slaves (1684), 209-10;
_see also_ Negroes
Sleepy Hollow, church at, 47-48
Sloughter, Colonel Henry, Governor of New York, 160, 161, 162, 163,
165, 191
Smith, William, 197, 198-99
Smits, Claes, 63
Somers, Lord Chancellor, 170
_Soutbergh_, The (ship), 57
South (now Delaware) River, 22, 51, 59
Spain, truce with Holland, 17, 30; plots against Holland, 30; defeat by
Holland, 55
Spuyten Duyvil, 120
Stanwix, Fort, Treaty of, 228
"Staple right" at New Amsterdam, 61
Staten Island, 36, 50, 63; purchased by Pauw, 39; transferred to Melyn,
39; Indians attack, 74; becomes part of Yorkshire, 138; Dutch fleet
off, 143
Steenwyck, Cornelis, 139
Stevensen, Jan, 95
Stony Point, _Half Moon_ becalmed at, 13
Stuyvesant, 196
Stuyvesant, Petrus (Pieter), made Director-General, 45; appearance, 67;
as Director-General, 68; upholds Kieft, 69; arraigned by burghers, 69;
defense of, 69-70; character of, 70-71; contest with Van Slichtenhorst,
71-72; arbitrariness, 72; opposes local self-government, 72-73;
treatment of Indians, 74; warns Company of lack of defense, 76;
treatment of Convention, 77-79; begs for reinforcements, 79; surrenders
to English, 81-82; religious tyranny under, 85-87; builds Fort Casimir,
130; tries to settle boundary disputes, 136
Swannendael, 36
Sweden, plans expedition to New World, 126; entrance into Thirty Years'
War, 126; establishes colony in America, 127-28
Tarrytown, 47
Tew, Thomas, 166-67
Thirty Years' War, 83, 126
Tienpont, associate of May, 61
_Tiger_, The (ship), 18
Trevor, Captain of the _William_, 132
Trinity Church founded, 165
Ulster refuses to send delegates to Fort James, 153
United Netherlands, gains foothold in America, 2, 17; colonists from,
22-29; relations with Spain, 30, 55; character of people, 30-31;
relations with England, 76-77, 79-82; takes possession of New York in
1674, 143; _see also_ New Netherland
Usselinx, William, 126
Van Buren, A. H., cited, 23 (note)
Van Cortlandt, Stephanus, 154
Van Cortlandt Manor, 47
Van Curler, Arendt, 44
Van Dam, Rip, 195-97
Van der Donck, Adrian, 68, 72; _Representation_, 68, 70
Van Dyck, Hendrick, 74
Van Hoboocken, Harmanus, 95; _Reverential Request_, 100
Van Rensselaer, Jan, 43
Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, system of patroonship suggested by, 32-33;
establishes Rensselaerswyck, 39-40; born (1580), 59 (note)
Van Rensselaer, Maria, 59 (note)
Van Slichtenhorst, Brandt, 71
Van Tienhoven, Cornelis, 69-70, 103
Van Twiller, Wouter, Governor of New Netherland, 45, 56, 57-61; nephew
of Van Rensselaer, 45, 59 (note); De Vries's opinion of, 57; Irving's
description of, 58; Griffis defends, 58-59; birth, 59 (note); lavish
expenditure of, 59-60; Eelkens incident, 59, 132-35; recalled, 60
Van Wassenaer, Nicholas Janszoon, account of shipment of live stock,
24; of colony under Minuit, 52-53; of settlement of Fort Orange, 53-54
Verhulst, William, Director-General of New Netherland (1625-1626), 51
Verhulsten Island, 51
Verrazano visits Hudson River region, 16
Verstius (Vestens), William, 95
Walloons, 22, 97
Warren, Anne, mother of Sir William Johnson, 221
Warren, Captain Peter, 221
Warrensbush, 222
Weckquaesgeecks, 55, 63-66
Wendell, Captain, 156
Westchester, New Englanders in, 138; becomes part of Yorkshire, 138
West Point, Hudson reaches, 10
Willem Hendrick, Fort, 143
William of Orange and Mary, sovereigns of England, 149 _et seq._
_William_, The (ship), 132, 133, 134, 135
Wiltwyck, 23
Wisenberg, Catherine, wife of Sir William Johnson, 223
Yorkshire, 138
Zenger, John Peter, apprentice to Bradford, 193; collects subscription
for playing organ, 193-94; publisher of _New York Weekly Journal_, 197;
arrested for libel, 198; trial, 199-205
AN OUTLINE OF THE PLAN OF THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA
The fifty titles of the Series fall into eight topical sequences or
groups, each with a dominant theme of its own--
I. _The Morning of America_
TIME: 1492-1763
The theme of the first sequence is the struggle of nations for the
possession of the New World. The mariners of four European
kingdoms--Spain, Portugal, France, and England--are intent upon the
discovery of a new route to Asia. They come upon the American
continent which blocks the way. Spain plants colonies in the south,
lured by gold. France, in pursuit of the fur trade, plants colonies in
the north. Englishmen, in search of homes and of a wider freedom,
occupy the Atlantic seaboard. These Englishmen come in time to need
the land into which the French have penetrated by way of the St.
Lawrence and the Great Lakes, and a mighty struggle between the two
nations takes place in the wilderness, ending in the expulsion of the
French. This sequence comprises ten volumes:
1. THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT, by Ellsworth Huntington
2. THE SPANISH CONQUERORS, by Irving Berdine Richman
3. ELIZABETHAN SEA-DOGS, by William Wood
4. CRUSADERS OF NEW FRANCE, by William Bennett Munro
5. PIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTH, by Mary Johnston
6. THE FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND, by Charles M. Andrews
7. DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON, by Maud Wilder Goodwin
8. THE QUAKER COLONIES, by Sydney G. Fisher
9. COLONIAL FOLKWAYS, by Charles M. Andrews
10. THE CONQUEST OF NEW FRANCE, by George M. Wrong
II. _The Winning of Independence_
TIME: 1763-1815
The French peril has passed, and the great territory between the
Alleghanies and the Mississippi is now open to the Englishmen on the
seaboard, with no enemy to contest their right of way except the
Indian. But the question arises whether these Englishmen in the New
World shall submit to political dictation from the King and Parliament
of England. To decide this question the War of the Revolution is
fought; the Union is born: and the second war with England follows.
Seven volumes:
11. THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION, by Carl Becker
12. WASHINGTON AND HIS COMRADES IN ARMS, by George M. Wrong
13. THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION, by Max Farrand
14. WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES, by Henry Jones Ford
15. JEFFERSON AND HIS COLLEAGUES, by Allen Johnson
16. JOHN MARSHALL AND THE CONSTITUTION, by Edward S. Corwin
17. THE FIGHT FOR A FREE SEA, by Ralph D. Paine
III. _The Vision of the West_
TIME: 1750-1890
The theme of the third sequence is the American frontier--the conquest
of the continent from the Alleghanies to the Pacific Ocean. The story
covers nearly a century and a half, from the first crossing of the
Alleghanies by the backwoodsmen of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the
Carolinas (about 1750) to the heyday of the cowboy on the Great Plains
in the latter part of the nineteenth century. This is the marvelous
tale of the greatest migrations in history, told in nine volumes as
follows:
18. PIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST, by Constance Lindsay Skinner
19. THE OLD NORTHWEST, by Frederic Austin Ogg
20. THE REIGN OF ANDREW JACKSON, by Frederic Austin Ogg
21. THE PATHS OF INLAND COMMERCE, by Archer B. Hulbert
22. ADVENTURERS OF OREGON, by Constance Lindsay Skinner
23. THE SPANISH BORDERLANDS, by Herbert E. Bolton
24. TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson
25. THE FORTY-NINERS, by Stewart Edward White
26. THE PASSING OF THE FRONTIER, by Emerson Hough
IV. _The Storm of Secession_
TIME: 1830-1876
The curtain rises on the gathering storm of secession. The theme of
the fourth sequence is the preservation of the Union, which carries
with it the extermination of slavery. Six volumes as follows:
27. THE COTTON KINGDOM, by William E. Dodd
28. THE ANTI-SLAVERY CRUSADE, by Jesse Macy
29. ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson
30. THE DAY OF THE CONFEDERACY, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson
31. CAPTAINS OF THE CIVIL WAR, by William Wood
32. THE SEQUEL OF APPOMATTOX, by Walter Lynwood Fleming
V. _The Intellectual Life_
Two volumes follow on the higher national life, telling of the nation's
great teachers and interpreters:
33. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN EDUCATION, by Edwin E. Slosson
34. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN LITERATURE, by Bliss Perry
VI. _The Epic of Commerce and Industry_
The sixth sequence is devoted to the romance of industry and business,
and the dominant theme is the transformation caused by the inflow of
immigrants and the development and utilization of mechanics on a great
scale. The long age of muscular power has passed, and the era of
mechanical power has brought with it a new kind of civilization. Eight
volumes:
35. OUR FOREIGNERS, by Samuel P. Orth
36. THE OLD MERCHANT MARINE, by Ralph D. Paine
37. THE AGE OF INVENTION, by Holland Thompson
38. THE RAILROAD BUILDERS, by John Moody
39. THE AGE OF BIG BUSINESS, by Burton J. Hendrick
40. THE ARMIES OF LABOR, by Samuel P. Orth
41. THE MASTERS OF CAPITAL, by John Moody
42. THE NEW SOUTH, by Holland Thompson
VII. _The Era of World Power_
The seventh sequence carries on the story of government and diplomacy
and political expansion from the Reconstruction (1876) to the present
day, in six volumes:
43. THE BOSS AND THE MACHINE, by Samuel P. Orth
44. THE CLEVELAND ERA, by Henry Jones Ford
45. THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE, by Solon J. Buck
46. THE PATH OF EMPIRE, by Carl Russell Fish
47. THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND HIS TIMES, by Harold Howland
48. WOODROW WILSON AND THE WORLD WAR, by Charles Seymour
VIII. _Our Neighbors_
Now to round out the story of the continent, the Hispanic peoples on
the south and the Canadians on the north are taken up where they were
dropped further back in the Series, and these peoples are followed down
to the present day:
49. THE CANADIAN DOMINION, by Oscar D. Skelton
50. THE HISPANIC NATIONS OF THE NEW WORLD, by William R. Shepherd
_The Chronicles of America_ is thus a great synthesis, giving a new
projection and a new interpretation of American History. These
narratives are works of real scholarship, for every one is written
after an exhaustive examination of the sources. Many of them contain
new facts; some of them--such as those by Howland, Seymour, and
Hough--are founded on intimate personal knowledge. But the originality
of the Series lies, not chiefly in new facts, but rather in new ideas
and new combinations of old facts.
The General Editor of the Series is Dr. Allen Johnson, Chairman of the
Department of History of Yale University, and the entire work has been
planned, prepared, and published under the control of the Council's
Committee on Publications of Yale University.
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
143 ELM STREET, NEW HAVEN
522 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK