THE COMMENCEMENT OF COLONISATION.
The Puritans.--Memorial to the States-General.--Disagreement
of the English and the Dutch.--Colony on the
Delaware.--Purchase of Manhattan.--The First Settlement.--An
Indian Robbed and Murdered.--Description of the
Island.--Diplomatic Intercourse.--Testimony of De
Rassieres.--The Patroons.--The Disaster at Swaanendael.
In the year 1620 the Puritans founded their world-renowned colony at
Plymouth, as we have minutely described in the History of Miles
Standish. It will be remembered that the original company of Puritans
were of English birth. Dissatisfied with the ritual and ceremonies
which the Church of England had endeavored to impose upon them, they
had emigrated to Holland, where they had formed a church upon their
own model. Rev. John Robinson, a man of fervent piety and of
enlightened views above his times, was their pastor.
After residing in Holland for several years, this little band of
Englishmen, not pleased with that country as their permanent abode,
decided to seek a new home upon the continent of North America. They
first directed their attention towards Virginia, but various obstacles
were thrown in their way by the British Government, and at length Mr.
Robinson addressed a letter to the Dutch Company, intimating the
disposition felt by certain members of his flock, to take up their
residence at New Netherland.
The proposition was very cordially received. The intelligent gentlemen
of that Company at once saw that there was thus presented to them an
opportunity to establish a colony, at their trading post, which it
would be wise to embrace. They therefore addressed a memorial upon the
subject to the States-General, and to the Prince of Orange, in which
they urged the importance of accepting the proposition which they had
received from Mr. Robinson, and of thus commencing an agricultural
colony upon the island of Manhattan. In this memorial they write under
date of February, 1620:
"It now happens that there resides at Leyden an English
clergyman, well versed in the Dutch language, who is
favorably inclined to go and dwell there. Your petitioners
are assured that he knows more than four hundred families,
who, provided they were defended and secured there by your
Royal Highness, and that of the High and Mighty Lords
States-General, from all violence on the part of other
potentates, would depart thither, with him, from this
country and from England, to plant, forthwith, everywhere
the true and pure Christian religion; to instruct the
Indians of those countries in the true doctrine; to bring
them to the Christian belief; and likewise, through the
grace of the Lord, and for the greater honor of the rulers
of this land to people all that region under a new
dispensation; all under the order and command of your
princely Highness and of the High and Mighty Lords
States-General.
"Your petitioners have also learned that His Britannic
Majesty is inclined to people the aforesaid lands with
Englishmen; to destroy your petitioners' possessions and
discoveries, and also to deprive this State of its right to
these lands, while the ships belonging to this country,
which are there during the whole of the present year, will
apparently and probably be surprised by the English."
The petitioners therefore prayed that the request of Mr. Robinson
might be favorably regarded; that the contemplated colony should be
taken under the protection of the Dutch government, and that two ships
of war should be sent out for the defence of the infant settlements.
The Dutch government was then upon the eve of a war with Spain, and
all its energies were demanded in preparation for the conflict. They
therefore quite peremptorily refused to entertain the petition of the
New Netherland Company. Thus the destination of the Puritans was
changed. Though they were not encouraged to commence their colonial
life at New Netherland, still it was their intention when they sailed
from England, to find a home somewhere in that vicinity, as England,
as well as Holland, claimed the whole coast. A note, in the History of
New Netherland, by E.B. O'Callaghan, contains the following
interesting statement upon this subject:
"Some historians represent that the Pilgrims were taken
against their will to New Plymouth, by the treachery of the
captain of the Mayflower, who, they assert, was bribed by
the Dutch to land them at a distance from the Hudson river.
This has been shown, over and over again, to have been a
calumny; and, if any farther evidence were requisite, it is
now furnished, of a most conclusive nature, by the petition
in behalf of the Rev. Mr. Robinson's congregation, of Feb.
1620, and the rejection of its prayer by their High
Mightinesses.
"That the Dutch were anxious to secure the settlement of the
Pilgrims under them, is freely admitted by the latter.
Governor Bradford, in his History of the Plymouth Colony,
acknowledges it, and adds that the Dutch for that end made
them large offers.
"Winslow corroborates this in his 'Brief Narrative,' and
adds that the Dutch would have freely transported us to the
Hudson river, and furnished every family with cattle. The
whole of this evidence satisfactorily establishes the good
will of the Dutch people towards the English; while the
determination of the States-General proves that there was no
encouragement held out by the Dutch government to induce
them to settle in their American possessions. On the
contrary, having formally rejected their petition, they
thereby secured themselves against all suspicion of dealing
unfairly by those who afterwards landed at Cape Cod. It is
to be hoped, therefore, that even for the credit of the
Pilgrims, the idle tale will not be repeated."
There were many indications that a conflict would ere long arise
between the Dutch and the English. The English repudiated entirely the
Dutch claim to any right of possession on the Atlantic coast. They
maintained their right to the whole American coast, from the Spanish
possessions in Florida, to the French posts in Canada. The English
government founded its claim upon the ground of first discovery,
occupation and possession. Various companies, in England, had, by
charters and letters patent from their sovereigns, been entrusted with
these vast territories. It was quite evident that these conflicting
claims between England and Holland must eventually lead to collision.
The Dutch merchants continued to push their commercial enterprises in
New Netherland with great energy. They were preparing to send quite a
large fleet of merchant vessels to the extensive line of coast which
they claimed, when the British merchants composing what was called the
Plymouth Company, took the alarm, and presented a petition to James
I., remonstrating against such proceedings. The British government
promptly sent an ambassador to Holland to urge the States-General to
prohibit the departure of the fleet, and to forbid the establishment
of a Dutch colony in those regions. The diplomacy which ensued led to
no decisive results.
In the year 1623, the Dutch sent a ship, under captain May, and
established a small colony upon the eastern banks of the Delaware,
about fifty miles from its mouth. The settlement, which consisted of
about thirty families, was in the vicinity of the present town of
Gloucester. A fortress was erected, called Fort Nassau. This was the
first European settlement upon the Delaware, which stream was then
called Prince Hendrick's, or South River. Another fortified post,
called Fort Orange, was established upon the western banks of the
Hudson River about thirty-six miles from the island of Manhattan.
Very slowly the tide of emigration began to flow towards the Hudson. A
few families settled on Staten Island. Not pleased with their isolated
location, they soon removed to the northern shore of Long Island, and
reared their log cabins upon the banks of a beautiful bay, which they
called Wahle-Bocht, or "the Bay of the Foreigners." The name has since
been corrupted into Wallabout. The western extremity of Long Island
was then called Breukelen, which has since been Anglicised into
Brooklyn.
The government of these feeble communities was committed to a
Governor, called Director, and a Council of five men. One of the first
Governors was Peter Minuit, who was appointed in the year 1624. The
English still claimed the territory which the Dutch were so quietly
and efficiently settling. In the year 1626, the Dutch decided to make
a permanent settlement upon Manhattan island, which was then estimated
to contain about twenty-two thousand acres of land. The island was
purchased of the natives for twenty-four dollars. It was all that, at
that time, the savage wilderness was worth. In that year the export of
furs amounted to nineteen thousand dollars.
The colony soon numbered about two hundred persons. The village
consisted of thirty log houses, extending along the banks of the East
River. These cabins were one story high, with thatched roof, wooden
chimneys, and two rooms on the floor. Barrels, placed on an end,
furnished the tables. The chairs were logs of wood. Undoubtedly in
many of these humble homes more true happiness was found than is now
experienced in some of the palatial mansions which grace the gorgeous
avenues of the city. About this time three ships arrived, containing a
large number of families with farming implements, and over a hundred
head of cattle. To prevent the cattle from being lost in the woods,
they were pastured on Governor's, then called Nutten's Island.
And now the tide of emigration began pretty rapidly to increase. The
Dutch transported emigrants for twelve and a half cents a day, during
the voyage, for both passage and food. They also gave them, upon
reaching the colony, as much land as they were able to cultivate. With
a wise toleration, which greatly honored them, the fullest religious
freedom of speech and worship was allowed.
A strong block-house, surrounded with palisades of red cedar, was
thrown up on the south point of Manhattan Island, and was called Fort
Amsterdam. This became the headquarters of the government and the
capital of the extended, though not very clearly defined, realm of New
Netherland.
An unfortunate occurrence now took place which eventually involved the
colony in serious trouble. An Indian, from the vicinity of
Westchester, came with his nephew, a small boy, bringing some beaver
skins to barter with the Dutch at the fort. The narrow trail through
the forest, led in a southeast direction, along the shore of the East
River, till it reached what was called Kip's Bay. Then, diverging to
the west, it passed near the pond of fresh water, which was about half
way between what are now Broadway and Chatham streets. This pond, for
a century or more, was known as the Kolck or the Collect.
When the Indians reached this point, they were waylaid by three white
men, robbed of their furs, and the elder one was murdered. The boy
made his escape and returned to his wilderness home, vowing to revenge
the murder of his uncle. It does not appear that the Dutch authorities
were informed of this murder. They certainly did not punish the
murderers, nor make any attempt to expiate the crime, by presents to
the Indians.
"The island of Manhattan," wrote De Rassieres at this time,
"is full of trees and in the middle rocky. On the north side
there is good land in two places, where two farmers, each
with four horses, would have enough to do without much
grubbing or clearing at first. The grass is good in the
forests and valleys; but when made into hay, it is not so
nutritious for the cattle as the hay in Holland, in
consequence of its wild state, yet it annually improves by
culture.
"On the east side there rises a large level field, of about
one hundred and sixty acres, through which runs a very fine
fresh stream; so that land can be ploughed without much
clearing. It appears to be good. The six farms, four of
which lie along the river Hell-gate, stretching to the south
side of the island, have at least one hundred and twenty
acres to be sown with winter seed, which, at the most, may
have been ploughed eight times."
There were eighteen families at Fort Orange, which was situated on
Tawalsoutha creek, on the west side of the Hudson river, about
thirty-six Dutch miles above the island of Manhattan. These colonists
built themselves huts of bark, and lived on terms of cordial
friendship with the Indians. Wassenaar writes, "The Indians were as
quiet as lambs, and came and traded with all the freedom imaginable."
The Puritans had now been five years at Plymouth. So little were they
acquainted with the geography of the country that they supposed New
England to be an island.[1] Floating rumors had reached them of the
Dutch colony at the mouth of the Hudson. Governor Bradford
commissioned Mr. Winslow to visit the Dutch, who had sent a ship to
Narragansett bay to trade, that he might dissuade them from
encroaching in their trade upon territory which the Puritans
considered as exclusively belonging to them. Mr. Winslow failed to
meet the Dutch before their vessel had sailed on its return to
Manhattan.
Soon after this the Dutch Governor, Peter Minuit, sent secretary De
Rassieres to Governor Bradford, with a very friendly letter,
congratulating the Plymouth colony upon its prosperity, inviting to
commercial relations, and offering to supply their English neighbors
with any commodities which they might want.
Governor Bradford, in his reply, very cordially reciprocated these
friendly greetings. Gracefully he alluded to the hospitality with
which the exiled Pilgrims had been received in Holland. "Many of us,"
he wrote,
"are tied by the good and courteous entreaty which we have
found in your country, having lived there many years with
freedom and good content, as many of our friends do this
day; for which we are bound to be thankful, and our children
after us, and shall never forget the same."
At the same time he claimed that the territory, north of forty degrees
of latitude, which included a large part of New Netherland, and all
their Hudson river possessions, belonged to the English. Still he
promised that, for the sake of good neighborhood, the English would
not molest the Dutch at the mouth of the Hudson, if they would
"forbear to trade with the natives in this bay and river of
Narragansett and Sowames, which is, as it were, at our doors."
The authorities at Fort Amsterdam could not, for a moment, admit this
claim of English supremacy over New Netherland. Director Minuit
returned an answer, remarkable for its courteous tone, but in which he
firmly maintained the right of the Dutch to trade with the
Narragansetts as they had done for years, adding "As the English claim
authority under the king of England, so we derive ours from the States
of Holland, and we shall defend it."
Governor Bradford sent this correspondence to England. In an
accompanying document he said,
"the Dutch, for strength of men and fortification, far
exceed us in all this land. They have used trading here for
six or seven and twenty years; but have begun to plant of
later time; and now have reduced their trade to some order,
and confined it only to their company, which, heretofore,
was spoiled by their seamen and interlopers, as ours is,
this year most notoriously. Besides spoiling our trade, the
Dutch continue to sell muskets, powder and shot to the
Indians, which will be the overthrow of all, if it be not
looked into."
Director Minuit must have possessed some very noble traits of
character. After waiting three months to receive a reply to his last
communication, he sent another letter, reiterating the most friendly
sentiments, and urging that an authorized agent should be sent from
Plymouth to New Amsterdam, to confer "by word of mouth, touching our
mutual commerce and trading." He stated, moreover, that if it were
inconvenient for Governor Bradford to send such an agent, they would
depute one to Plymouth themselves. In further token of kindness, he
sent to the Plymouth Governor, "a rundlet of sugar and two Holland
cheeses."
It is truly refreshing to witness the fraternal spirit manifested on
this occasion. How many of the woes of this world might have been
averted had the brotherhood of man been thus recognized by the leaders
of the nations!
A messenger was sent to Plymouth. He was hospitably entertained, and
returned to Fort Amsterdam with such testimonials of his reception as
induced Director Minuit to send a formal ambassador to Plymouth,
entrusted with plenipotentiary powers. Governor Bradford apologized
for not sending an ambassador to Fort Amsterdam, stating, "one of our
boats is abroad, and we have much business at home." Director Minuit
selected Isaac De Rassieres, secretary of the province, "a man of fair
and genteel behavior," as his ambassador. This movement was, to those
infant colonies, an event of as much importance as any of the more
stately embassies which have been interchanged between European
courts.
The barque Nassau was fitted out, and manned with a small band of
soldiers, and some trumpeters. It was the last of September, 1629,
when earth and sky were bathed in all the glories of New England
autumnal days. In De Rassieres' account of the excursion, he writes:
"Sailing through Hell-gate, and along the shores of
Connecticut and Rhode Island, we arrived, early the next
month, off Frenchman's Point, at a small river where those
of New Plymouth have a house, made of hewn oak planks,
called Aptuxet; where they keep two men, winter and summer,
in order to maintain the trade and possession."
This Aptuxet was at the head of Buzzard's Bay, upon the site of the
present village of Monumet, in the town of Sandwich. Near by there was
a creek, penetrating the neck of Cape Cod, which approached another
creek on the other side so near that, by a portage of but about five
miles, goods could be transported across.
As the Nassau came in sight of this lonely trading port suddenly the
peals of the Dutch trumpets awoke the echoes of the forest. It was the
4th of October. A letter was immediately dispatched by a fleet-footed
Indian runner to Plymouth. A boat was promptly sent to the head of the
creek, called Manoucusett, on the north side of the cape, and De
Rassieres, with his companions, having threaded the Indian trail
through the wilderness for five miles, was received on board the
Pilgrims' boat and conveyed to Plymouth, "honorably attended with the
noise of trumpeters."[2]
This meeting was a source of enjoyment to both parties. The two
nations of England and Holland were in friendly alliance, and
consequently this interview, in the solitudes of the New World, of the
representatives of the two colonies, was mutually agreeable. The
Pilgrims, having many of them for a long time resided in Holland,
cherished memories of that country with feelings of strong affection
and regarded the Hollanders almost as fellow-countrymen.
But again Governor Bradford asserted the right of the English to the
country claimed by the Dutch, and even intimated that force might soon
be employed to vindicate the British pretentions. We must admire the
conduct of both parties in this emergency. The Dutch, instead of
retaliating with threats and violence, sent a conciliatory memorial to
Charles I., then King of England. And Charles, much to his credit,
issued an order that all the English ports, whether in the kingdom or
in the territories of the British king, should be thrown open to the
Dutch vessels, trading to or from New Netherland.
The management of the affairs of the Dutch Colony was entrusted to a
body of merchants called the West India Company. In the year 1629,
this energetic company purchased of the Indians the exclusive title to
a vast territory, extending north from Cape Henlopen, on the south
side of Delaware Bay, two miles in breadth and running thirty-two
miles inland.
The reader of the record of these days, often meets with the word
_Patroon_, without perhaps having any very distinct idea of its
significance. In order to encourage emigration and the establishment
of colonies, the authorities in Holland issued a charter, conferring
large extents of land and exclusive privileges, upon such members of
the West India Company as might undertake to settle any colony in New
Netherland.
"All such," it was proclaimed in this charter,
"shall be acknowledged _Patroons_ of New Netherland, who
shall, within the space of four years, undertake to plant a
colony there of fifty souls upwards of fifteen years of age.
The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shall be permitted,
at such places as they shall settle their colonies, to
extend their limits four miles[3] along the shore, and so
far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will
admit."
The patroons, thus in possession of territory equal to many of the
dukedoms and principalities of Europe, were invested with the
authority which had been exercised in Europe by the old feudal lords.
They could settle all disputes, in civil cases, between man and man.
They could appoint local officers and magistrates, erect courts, and
punish all crimes committed within their limits, being even authorized
to inflict death upon the gallows. They could purchase any amount of
unappropriated lands from the Indians.
One of these patroons, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a wealthy merchant in
Holland, who had been accustomed to polish pearls and diamonds,
became, as patroon, possessed of nearly the whole of the present
counties of Albany and Rensselaer, in the State cf New York, embracing
the vast area of one thousand one hundred and forty-one square miles.
Soon all the important points on the Hudson River and the Delaware
were thus caught up by these patroons, wealthy merchants of the West
India Company.
When the news of these transactions reached Holland, great
dissatisfaction was felt by the less fortunate shareholders, that
individuals had grasped such a vast extent of territory. It was
supposed that Director Minuit was too much in sympathy with the
patroons, who were becoming very powerful, and he was recalled. All
were compelled to admit that during his administration the condition
of the colony had been prosperous. The whole of Manhattan Island had
been honestly purchased of the Indians. Industry had flourished.
Friendly relations were everywhere maintained with the natives. The
northwestern shores of Long Island were studded with the log cottages
of the settlers. During his directorship the exports of the colony had
trebled, amounting, in the year 1632, to nearly fifty thousand
dollars.
We come now to a scene of war, blood and woe, for which the Dutch were
not at all accountable. It will be remembered that a colony had been
established near the mouth of Delaware Bay. Two vessels were
dispatched from Holland for this point containing a number of
emigrants, a large stock of cattle, and whaling equipments, as whales
abounded in the bay. The ship, called the Walvis, arrived upon the
coast in April, 1631. Running along the western shore of this
beautiful sheet of water, they came to a fine navigable stream, which
was called Horekill, abounding with picturesque islands, with a soil
of exuberant fertility, and where the waters were filled with fishes
and very fine oysters. There was here also a roadstead unequalled in
the whole bay for convenience and safety.
Here the emigrants built a fort and surrounded it with palisades, and
a thriving Dutch colony of about thirty souls was planted. They
formally named the place, which was near the present town of Lewiston,
Swaanendael. A pillar was raised, surmounted by a plate of glittering
tin, upon which was emblazoned the arms of Holland; and which also
announced that the Dutch claimed the territory by the title of
discovery, purchase and occupation.
For awhile the affairs of this colony went on very prosperously. But
in May, 1632, an expedition, consisting of two ships, was fitted out
from Holland. with additional emigrants and supplies. Just before the
vessels left the Texel, a ship from Manhattan brought the melancholy
intelligence to Amsterdam that the colony at Swaanendael had been
destroyed by the savages, thirty-two men having been killed outside of
the fort working in the fields. Still DeVrees, who commanded the
expedition, hoping that the report was exaggerated, and that the
colony might still live, in sadness and disappointment proceeded on
his way. One of his vessels ran upon the sands off Dunkirk, causing a
delay of two months. It was not until the end of December that the
vessels cast anchor off Swaanendael. No boat from the shore
approached; no signs of life met the eye. The next morning a boat,
thoroughly armed, was sent into the creek on an exploring tour.
Upon reaching the spot where the fort had been erected they found the
building and palisades burned, and the ground strewn with the hones of
their murdered countrymen, intermingled with the remains of cattle.
The silence and solitude of the tombs brooded over the devastated
region. Not even a savage was to be seen. As the boat returned with
these melancholy tidings, DeVrees caused a heavy cannon to be fired,
hoping that its thunders, reverberating over the bay, and echoing
through the trails of the wilderness, might reach the ear of some
friendly Indian, from whom he could learn the details of the disaster.
The next morning a smoke was seen curling up from the forest near the
ruins. The boat was again sent into the creek, and two or three
Indians were seen cautiously prowling about. But mutual distrust stood
in the way of any intercourse. The Dutch were as apprehensive of
ambuscades and the arrows of the Indians, as were the savages of the
bullets of the formidable strangers.
Some of the savages at length ventured to come down to the shore, off
which the open boat floated, beyond the reach of arrows. Lured by
friendly signs, one of the Indians soon became emboldened to venture
on board. He was treated with great kindness, and succeeded in
communicating the following, undoubtedly true, account of the
destruction of the colony:
"One of the chiefs, seeing the glittering tin plate,
emblazoned with the arms of Holland, so conspicuously
exposed upon the column, apparently without any
consciousness that he was doing anything wrong, openly,
without any attempt at secrecy, took it down and quite
skilfully manufactured it into tobacco pipes. The commander
of the fort, a man by the name of Hossett, complained so
bitterly of this, as an outrage that must not pass
unavenged, that some of the friendly Indians, to win his
favor, killed the chief, and brought to Hossett his head, or
some other decisive evidence that the deed was done."
The commandant was shocked at this severity of retribution, so far
exceeding anything which he had desired, and told the savages that
they had done very wrong; that they should only have arrested the
chief and brought him to the fort. The commandant would simply have
reprimanded him and forbidden him to repeat the offence.
The ignorant Indians of the tribe, whose chief had thus summarily,
and, as they felt, unjustly been put to death, had all their savage
instincts roused to intensity. They regarded the strangers at the fort
as instigating the deed and responsible for it. They resolved upon
bloody vengeance.
A party of warriors, thoroughly armed, came stealing through the
glades of the forest and approached the unsuspecting fort. All the men
were at work in the fields excepting one, who was left sick at home.
There was also chained up in the fort, a powerful and faithful
mastiff, of whom the Indians stood in great dread. Three of the
savages, concealing, as far as they could, their weapons, approached
the fort, under the pretence of bartering some beaver skins. They met
Hossett, the commander, not far from the door. He entered the house
with them, not having the slightest suspicion of their hostile intent.
He ascended some steep stairs into the attic, where the stores for
trade were deposited, and as he was coming down, one of the Indians,
watching his opportunity, struck him dead with an axe. They then
killed the sick man. Standing at a cautious distance, they shot
twenty-five arrows into the chained mastiff till he sank motionless in
death.
The colonists in the field, in the meantime, were entirely unaware of
the awful scenes which were transpiring, and of their own impending
peril. The wily Indians approached them, under the guise of
friendship. Each party had its marked man. At a given signal, with the
utmost ferocity they fell upon their victims. With arrows, tomahawks
and war-clubs, the work was soon completed. Not a man escaped.