New York E-Book

Daniel Curry

• Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 368

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The aim of the writer was, in the "historical portion, to collect and detail the principal events of the local history of the city down to the beginning of the last century, omitting, as far as possible, all matters of general history in which the city was not directly and individually concerned." In the descriptive part he has endeavoured to select, out of the vast number of objects of interest offered by the great city, those of most general attractiveness and importance, and to group them in such a way as to present as lively a picture of the town as possible, even for those who have never seen it. In these aims he has fully succeeded, and the book is just what it ought to be, in point both of comprehensiveness and condensation.

Leseprobe

New York

A historical sketch of the rise and progress of the metropolitan city of America

DANIEL CURRY

New York, D. Curry

Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck

86450 Altenmünster, Loschberg 9

Deutschland

ISBN: 9783849649647

www.jazzybee-verlag.de

[email protected]

CONTENTS:

PREFACE.1

CHAPTER I. - DISCOVERY, DESCRIPTION, AND EARLY OCCUPATION — 1609-1630.4

CHAPTER II. - NEW-AMSTERDAM. — 1630-1664.14

CHAPTER III. – NEW YORK AN ENGLISH PROVINCE— 1664-1700.25

CHAPTER IV. - INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE TOWN— 1675-1700.37

CHAPTER V. - CONDITION AND PROGRESS— 1700 TO 1770.49

CHAPTER VI. - NEW-YORK DURING THE REVOLUTION.66

CHAPTER VII. – NEW YORK AFTER THE WAR — 1783-1790.80

CHAPTER VIII. - CONDITION AND PROGRESS — 1790-1810.93

CHAPTER IX. - NEW-YORK IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.106

CHAPTER X. NEW YORK AS IT IS.117

CHAPTER XI. -WATER-WORKS — LIGHT.125

CHAPTER XII. - PUBLIC BULLDLNGS— CHURCHES— CHARITIES.132

CHAPTER XIII. - EDUCATION.145

CHAPTER XIV. - ENVIRONS OF NEW YORK.160

CHAPTER XV. - THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK.169

PREFACE.

The growing magnitude and increased accessibility of the city of New York, are constantly making that city more and more a subject of interest in every part of the country. At the same time, and by the operation of the same causes, its history is becoming less and less familiar to the multitudes that make up its vast population. It is gratifying, however, to be assured that the materials of the city's history are not likely to perish. During the past half-century many individuals have manifested a praiseworthy regard for this subject, and have done much to collect and preserve the perishable materials of our city's local history. But especial honor, in this respect, is due to the New York Historical Society, by the indefatigable industry and liberal enthusiasm of whose members many a buried relic has been exhumed, and many a fading reminiscence revived, and embalmed in imperishable records. So much has been accomplished in that direction, and the whole matter is now in such able hands, and in the care of such zealous spirits, that the future renown of our metropolis may be accounted beyond danger.

It still appeared, however, to the author of the following pages, that there was a want of a more popular history of our city than any we have hitherto possessed. The details of the city's local history appeared to him to be too much scattered and mixed with more general historical matter, where, from the necessity of the case, they are only briefly and incidentally stated. As the result of this state of things, the facts of the city's history, as distinguished from that of the state or nation, are very imperfectly known to ordinary readers, even in the city itself. To bring the subject within the reach of all, is the design of this work.

It makes no pretensions to originality, nor yet to deep and thorough research. These were considered to be incompatible with the writer's design. It would have been an easy matter to have swelled the work to ten times its present volume; but in so doing the design for which it was written would have been defeated. In the historical portion the purpose has been to collect and detail the principal events of the local history of the city down to the beginning of the present century, — omitting, as far as possible, all matters of general history in which the city was not directly and individually concerned. The history of the past half-century is purposely made very brief and general. The events of this period are still fresh in the memories of the present generation, and the whole needs the mellowing influence of time to prepare it for the use of the historian. The descriptive portion was found much more difficult than the historical. In constructing it the question was perpetually recurring, what shall be inserted, and what omitted? and how may the requisite particularity be effected without sacrificing the not less necessary sprightliness and comprehensive generality? The author has in this matter done what he could, and probably he is as little satisfied with what he has been able to do as any of his intelligent readers will be. No doubt many will complain because of the omission of important matters; and quite as many, and often the same persons, will weary with the rehearsal of (to them) uninteresting details. These difficulties are believed to be unavoidable, and the writer has hoped for nothing more than to reduce them to their minimum proportions. As to how far he has succeeded, the reader will judge.

It has been an especial design to present the work entirely free from the influence of favor for any sects, parties, or persons. The stand-point of the writer is that of an American and a Christian; and doubtless what he has written will sufficiently attest that his position has had some influence over his writing. He would be very sorry to be compelled to believe that such is not the case. Further than this he has the feelings and sentiments of a New-Yorker, — " one to the manor born;" and he does not hesitate to confess that he has written under the influence of that instinct of human nature by virtue of which every man sees and appreciates the excellences of his own country, city, or neighborhood. If this be a fault in a writer, it is no discredit to a man.

The writer would gladly acknowledge the sources from which his materials have been drawn, were it possible for him to do so. But these are so various, and often so far from being original in the places whence he obtained them, — and not unfrequently the same matter is found in several independent works, — that the thing is given up as impossible. If anyone shall suspect that his productions have been drawn upon, the probability of the correctness of the suspicion will not be denied; but it will be well, if such an one is inclined to complain, for him first to make himself certain that the purloined treasure was really his own, and that the proof of the theft shall not involve himself in the same offense, by disclosing an earlier authority, from which both were taken. The chapter on Education was gathered, principally, in detached pieces, from the reports of the Boards of Education in the city. A proper and satisfactory exhibition of the history of the schools of the city is still a desideratum. The chapter on " The People of New York " appeared originally in the Knickerbocker Magazine for July, 1852, and of its excellences, however inconsiderable, the author claims the ownership, while he alone is responsible for its faults and defects. The final chapter on the "Future of New York" is submitted to the reader, to be estimated by him as it shall seem to deserve. The composition of it afforded a little amusement to the writer, and possibly it may contribute in the same way to the pleasure of the reader; and if so it will not fail of a valuable result.

As to the form and method of the work, but little needs to be said. The style of composition is the writer's own: it would have been better had he been capable of doing better; as it is, it must go forth, with all its imperfections on it. In the distribution of the matter into chapters, the design has been to divide by natural joints, rather than to sever into so many equal portions. It is hoped that this part of the work will be found satisfactory. The distribution into sections has been made with the hope of adding to the sprightliness of the work, or at least of breaking the dead monotony into which it was feared the continuous narrative would otherwise fall. This arrangement, too, it is anticipated, will be favorably received by the reader.

The work is now submitted to the public, of whose candor the writer has had many occasions to think favorably, and to whom he therefore, without trepidation, commits this production, which goes forth relying solely upon its own inherent qualities for that favorable reception, but for the hope of which books would not be published. Of its intrinsic excellence it does not become him to speak confidently — and suspecting it may need the favor of its critics, he hopes by modesty to secure whatever he fails to achieve by merit.

THE AUTHOR. New-York, December, 1852.

CHAPTER I. - DISCOVERY, DESCRIPTION, AND EARLY OCCUPATION — 1609-1630.

1.A strange sight is seen.

On the 3d day of September, in the year 1609, a strange and unaccountable phenomenon was witnessed by the wandering savages who happened to be in the neighborhood of Sandy Hook, and in sight of the place where the waters of the Lower Bay unite with the ocean. A creature of a size and proportions that quite surpassed their conceptions, came moving, as if self-impelled, upon the face of the water, apparently descending from the clouds, or coming from the dim and mysterious regions of the great deep. Passing through the entrance that leads from the untamed wastes of the wide ocean into the sleeping or sporting ripples of the inland bay, the wonderful stranger advanced to a considerable distance onward, and then stopped suddenly, and remained unmoved. The wondering savages gazed upon the unwonted sight with superstitious awe. The strange visitor, thought they, must be an inhabitant of another world, or of the scarcely less mysterious far-off regions beyond the seas, of which confused and uncertain rumors had reached them; or, perhaps, the Great Spirit himself had come in this manner to visit his children in the wilderness, but who could tell whether in mercy or in wrath?

2. Hendrick Hudson and the " Crescent."

The vessel that then entered the unknown waters of New York Bay was the Crescent, commanded by Henry Hudson, who, though himself an Englishman, was sailing in a Dutch vessel, and under the flag of the United Provinces. " Three years before, under the flag of his own country, he had coasted the western shores of Greenland, and pierced the Northern Ocean to within eight degrees of the pole, while searching for a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Two years later, the attempt to reach India by the northwest passage was renewed, and again failed of its purpose. The want of success in these two enterprises disheartened the London merchants under whose patronage they had been undertaken. Not so, however, with the undaunted navigator, who, like Columbus, his great prototype, when his own countrymen refused to sustain him, sought the assistance of strangers, and was employed by the Dutch East India Company to prosecute still farther his favorite work of discovery. He set sail on this memorable voyage on the 4th of April; and keeping farther southward than before, he left Newfoundland to the right, and running down the southern coast of Acadia, (Nova Scotia,) anchored at length near the mouth of a noble river, since known as the Penobscot. Thence passing still farther to the south, he discovered Cape Cod, of which he took possession in the name of the United Provinces, and gave it the name of New-Holland.

But finding, as he proceeded yet farther to the southwest, that he was approaching the settlements of his countrymen in Virginia, he turned to the northwest to explore the unknown waters lying in that direction, hoping to find some opening that might conduct him to the vast expanse of the South Sea. It was thus that, after a voyage of five months, Hudson entered the inland waters of the middle region of the North American coast, and began the discoveries that have given to his name an imperishable renown.

3. He explores the harbor and river.

The barbarous inhabitants of the shores, though overawed by the first appearance of the Crescent, soon recovered from their consternation, and after a short time communications opened free between the vessel and the shore. A week was spent at the first anchorage, after which, passing through the Narrows — the strait that connects the lower and upper bays — on the 11th of September, 1609, Hudson, the first of Europeans to explore this hitherto sequestered region, brought his sea-worn craft to ride quietly upon the broad bosom of the noble river that now, with manifest propriety, perpetuates his name. Ten days more were occupied in exploring the river. Cautiously sounding his way, the intrepid navigator brought his vessel across the broad waters of Tappan Bay, and through the narrow passage of the Highlands, till, opposite the spot now crowned with a city bearing his own name, he came to shallows, and there he cast his anchor. Proceeding still farther in his boats, he examined the river and its banks till it dwindled to a comparatively insignificant fresh-water stream. Then turning his face once more toward the ocean, about a month after he had first entered these inland waters, he again passed outward through the same channel by which he had entered, and leaving his new discoveries to their original solitudes, he hastened to report to his employers the fruits of his adventures.

4. Did Hudson first discover these regions?

The question has been raised whether indeed Hudson and his companions were the first Europeans that ever entered the waters of New York Bay. Conjecture has made this region a portion of the mysterious Vinland, so famous in Scandinavian story. Fancy has also brought the wandering Prince Madoc to this coast, and within these quiet waters. It has been more confidently asserted that Verrazani, nearly a hundred years before the date of Hudson's discovery, actually entered this harbor, and spent some time in its examination, though the proof of this assertion is far from being satisfactory. With somewhat greater probability, it is declared that persons in the employ of the Dutch Greenland Company resorted to this place about the year 1598, to find a shelter for themselves during the winter months; but of this, too, the proof is wholly unsatisfactory. So far as any reliable evidence is concerned, Hudson's claim to priority in the discovery of the harbor of the commercial metropolis of the New World, and of the river that bears his name, is still unimpeached.

5. How the newly-discovered region appeared.

The newly-discovered landscape appears to have impressed the minds of the discoverers with the most lively and agreeable emotions. September is, in many respects, the most delightful season of the year in this part of the world; and the weather, during the stay of the voyagers, seems to have been, for the most part, highly favorable. The accounts they gave of the lands they had discovered were at once true to nature, and yet almost enchanting. To employ the language of a chronicler of these events: "The island of Manhattan spread wide before them, like some sweet vision of fancy, or some fair creation of industrious magic. Its hills of smiling green swelled gently one above another, crowned with lofty trees of luxuriant growth, some pointing their tapering foliage toward the clouds, which were gloriously transparent, and others loaded with a verdant burden of clambering vines, bowing their branches to the earth, that was covered with flowers. On the gentle declivities of the hills were scattered in gay profusion, the dogwood, the sumach, and the wild briar, whose scarlet berries and white blossoms glowed brightly among the deep green of the surrounding foliage; and here and there a circling column of smoke rising from the little glens that opened along the shore, seemed to promise the weary voyagers a welcome at the hands of their fellow-creatures." Another writer, in sketching the history of this discovery, has given other features of the scene with equal truthfulness and felicity of expression. " Reptiles sported in the stagnant pools, or crawled unharmed over piles of moldering trees. The spotted deer crouched among the thickets, but not to hide, for there was no pursuer; and there were nothing but wild animals to crop the uncut herbage of the productive prairies. Silence reigned, broken it may have been by the flight of land-birds, or the flapping of water-fowl, and rendered more dismal by the howling of beasts of prey. The streams, not yet limited to channels, spread over sand-bars tufted with copses of willows; or waded through wastes of reeds: or slowly, but surely, undermined the groups of sycamores that grew by their side. The smaller brooks spread out into sedgy swamps, that were overhung by clouds of mosquitoes; masses of decaying vegetation fed the exhalations with the seeds of pestilence, and made the balmy air of the summer's evening as deadly as it seemed grateful. Vegetable life and death were mingled hideously together. The horrors of corruption frowned on the fruitless fertility of uncultivated nature."

6. How the native inhabitants appeared.

The land thus discovered was not altogether an uninhabited waste. It was the dwelling place of man; but of man debased to the same state of uncultivated wildness that marked the face of nature around him. Of the numerous powerful tribes that once possessed the regions now covered by the cities and villages, the fields and meadows of our smiling country, none were located about the places visited by these foreign adventurers. Scattered and enfeebled bands of the great family of the Mohegans were found along the banks of the Hudson; and the Manhattans, a small and feeble tribe, had their few " smokes'' on the eastern bank near the river's mouth. These Indians were among the least elevated, in social position and in useful knowledge, of all the families of American savages; nor were they such formidable warriors as were sometimes found among these fierce children of nature. In harmony with the rude nature around them, they were vagrants and wanderers over the face of the country, rather than lords of the soil. Their architecture was the rudest that debased human ingenuity could devise, or untaught human hands construct. Their food consisted of ill-flavored roots and wild fruits, or the precarious produce of the chase. Their religion (if indeed they can be classed among religious beings) was the indistinct prompting of an immortal mind shut up in the darkness of ignorance, and impelled by the untamed passions of a depraved heart. In character, habits, and pursuits, the human tenants of these wilds were but one remove from their irrational associates of the wilderness.

7. General aspect of the bay and environs.

Before proceeding to notice the affairs of the Europeans, as they subsequently occurred in the region whose discovery has now been detailed, it may be agreeable to the reader to have a more definite account of the local configuration of the newly-discovered country. Few spots of earth unite more of the elements of beauty than may be seen in a bird's-eye view of the harbor of New York and environs. The eyes of the original discoverers saw this scene in all its beauty, when, in the soft light and transparent atmosphere of early autumn, they first looked out upon it. After gazing upon this landscape under like circumstances, one may readily sympathize with the spirit of their glowing descriptions, and would esteem such gorgeous language as indicative of a just sensibility rather than of an exuberant fancy. Since that time, art may have added something to its refinement; but in its original solitude there was also an awful sublimity mingling with and rising above the sweetness of this verdant scene, that is now wanting.

8. The Lower Bay and Narrows.

The entrance to these quiet waters lies through a broad passage of more than four fathoms depth at low tide, with the drifting sands of Coney Island on the east, and a long sand-bar projecting far out from the main-land (now called Sandy Hook) on the west. Immediately within the bar the waters spread out far to the west, forming a capacious inland bay, and insinuating far into the country. The ground in front, though apparently a portion of the continent, is, in fact, an island, being separated from the main-land by a narrow belt of water — the well-known Staten Island. On the east of this is a long channel separating it from Long Island, and uniting the Lower Bay with the harbor, or Upper Bay. This channel is called the Narrows, and is the only and sufficient medium of communication in this direction with the ocean from New-York Bay. Along its eastern border runs the shore of Long Island, at the south a low sandy beach, but farther north a beautiful and fertile tract elevated more than a hundred feet from the water.

9. New York Harbor.

As seen by one approaching it from the Narrows, the Bay of New York presents one of the finest land and water views on the face of the earth. A beautiful sheet of water expands on every side, with its jutting shores and frowning headlands in the dim distance — yet not so remote but that their waving outlines may he readily traced. On the left the upper side of Staten Island stretches away to the west, forming the base of the picture, while in front, slightly to the left, rise the blue shores of New-Jersey, with the hills of Hoboken in the distance. Directly to the westward, the waters open a passage into a deep inland bay, now known as Newark Bay, which is separated from the Bay of New York by a low and broad peninsula, called Elizabethtown Point. Two small islands (Bedlow's and Ellis's) are seen in this direction — green specks, rising out of the water, and giving increased beauty to the fair scenery. Immediately in front the noble Hudson spreads out its broad surface, extending far into the interior — itself an arm of the sea, capable of bearing the united navies of the world. On the right, after passing Long Island, which here rises in a precipitous headland, is, first. Governor's Island, a verdant spot of earth covering a continuation of the long ledge of rocks that underlies Manhattan Island. This island is less than a mile in circuit, and but a few feet above the level of high-water; and, lying at the mouth of the channel that here enters from the east, divides it into two parts. A little farther onward rises the rocky projection of Manhattan Island, once the desolate region already described, but now the seat of commerce and the dwelling-place of the multitudes that make up the Empire City of America.

10. The East River and Hurlgate.

The channel that opens to the right — a deep and broad strait called the East River, and separating Long Island and Manhattan Island — leads from the Bay of New-York into another smaller bay, (Wallabout,) and still farther onward it winds northward through a cluster of rocky islands — four of the largest of which are called, after early proprietors, Blackwell's, Randall's, Ward's, and Berrian's — to the celebrated eddy and whirlpool called by the Dutch settlers Helder-gaat, or Helle-gaat, meaning the bright passage, which the English corrupted into Hellgate, a name more recently softened into Hurlgate. This renowned pass, the terror of early navigators, and the scene of many a thrilling legend, demands a more circumstantial description than most other localities here enumerated.

It must be noticed that the East River connects two arms of the sea, which communicate with the ocean at points separated by nearly two degrees of longitude. Of course the tide enters by the eastern way considerably earlier than by the other, and, consequently, the water is forced rapidly through the narrower parts of the strait. At the point in question an irregular pile of rocks — a ledge with immense holders lying confusedly upon it — extends quite across the channel, through and over which the water is forced with great violence. These rocks form a partial dam, so that the passage of the tide is somewhat obstructed, and the water on the side of the flood elevated above the level of the other side, and, of course, rapids and eddies are formed in various places. The overlying rocks sometimes form subaqueous channels, through which the water is forced by the pressure of the tide, and rising from which the current spreads over the surface, giving it the appearance of a boiling caldron. These agitations occur only when the tide is rising or falling; at slack-water, whether flood or ebb, both sides being at the same level, all is quiet. The interruption to navigation caused by this obstruction is less serious than might be apprehended. The channels between the higher crags of the rocks are large enough to give ample space for the safe passage of all kinds of inland water craft; and experienced navigators are accustomed to pass and repass " the gate" without loss or apprehension of danger.

11. Harlem River.

To the west of Hurlgate, a deep bay, full of low reedy islands, indents the shore, and, narrowing to a diminutive channel, reaches quite over to the Hudson, and forms the northern boundary of Manhattan Island. This at the south-eastern end is called Harlem River; but at its junction with the Hudson, where it is a diminutive water-course, it is called Spuytendevil Creek. The direction of this channel, from river to river, is nearly north and south, cutting the narrow belt of land transversely, and making a distance of four times its width.

12. Manhattan Island — geologically and topographically.

Manhattan Island is a narrow tongue of land lying between the Hudson River on the west, and on the east that part of Long Island Sound commonly known as the East River. The same body of water forms its southern boundary, while Harlem River lies on the north. Its greatest length, along the Hudson River, is a little more than thirteen miles: its breadth varies from one to two and one-third miles. Its aggregate area amounts to about fourteen thousand acres. The entire island is underlaid by a ledge of stratified granitic rock, extending from north to south, and rising in some places to the height of nearly two hundred feet, and in others sinking to a considerable depth below the surface. The geological character of the island determines at once its figure and its surface, both of which are rough and irregular. Sudden acclivities and projecting crags were originally intermingled with ponds and marshes. In some parts the tide penetrated nearly to the middle of the island; and in others were fresh-water ponds, elevated considerably above tide-water. Toward the southern part of the island was a large extent of diluvial earth overlying the sunken rock, that came to the surface again at the southern point, and there only about at the level of the water. This tract extended nearly a mile up the Hudson, and more than half a mile along the East River. Beyond this, and about midway between the two rivers, was a pond of fresh water, which was discharged by a brook running south-eastwardly to the East River, through a vast swamp, or estuary — the tract now reaching from Pearl-street on the west to Catharine-street on the east, and extending up nearly to Chatham-street. To the west of this swamp was another of less extent, separated from the former by a ridge, upon which Pearl-street runs. This was long known as Beekman's swamp, and the portion of the city erected upon the spot is still called "the Swamp." To the west of the Fresh Pond was a valley of wet land reaching down to the Hudson, and ending in a marsh, ' a region now traversed by Canal-street. Beyond this belt of fresh water and marshes, that almost insulated the part below them, there lay to the north-eastward a fine tract of arable land and extensive meadows, the south-eastern angle of which was known for many years as Corlaer's Hook, so called after an early proprietor. The upland portions of this side of Manhattan Island were early appropriated by the Dutch colonists for farms, or " boweries," from which circumstance the neighborhood came to be called " the boweries " — a name still borne by a principal avenue of this part of the city, and perhaps destined to live while New York shall continue to be a city. Farther up, on the eastern side, the land was more broken and rocky, swelling into eminences, with intervening swamps and morasses.

The west side of the island was less varied in its natural features than the other. The shore presented an almost straight line from end to end. The region extending northward from the Fresh Pond along the Hudson consisted of irregular hills and valleys, generally without fast rocks, although full of large and small loose stones and rocks, with springs of pure water, and with rivulets and marshes. The shore of the Hudson for a distance of three or four miles was low, and intersected by bays and estuaries; farther up it rises in high rocky hills of a most rugged and forbidding aspect. The whole of the upper part of Manhattan Island, embracing more than half of its entire area, was always ill adapted to agricultural purposes, and to the present time some portions have never been subdued by the skill of the cultivator. A more forbidding spot of earth on which to erect a great city has seldom been seen than was presented in the original ground-plan of the city of New-York; and in rearing a city on such a foundation the builders have combined the arts of the stone-cutters of ancient Petraea and the amphibious labors of the founders of Venice and St. Petersburgh.

13. Productions — vegetable and animal.

As seen by the early navigators, this rugged fragment of creation was clothed in its primeval forests. Upon its knolls and hilltops grew the hickory, the chestnut, the white and yellow oaks, and the white ash, with underwoods of sumach, dogwood and hazel. Along the hillsides and by the water's edge were the beach, the sycamore, and the stately whitewood; and in the swamps, the elm, the white maple, the gum, and the black ash, with a countless undergrowth of shrubs and brambles, and clambering vines.

Its animal productions were those common to this part of the world. The sluggish bear straggled through these forests, while droves of gaunt wolves howled from the hilltops, and occasionally the shrill scream of the panther awoke the echoes along the valleys, and herds of timid deer cropped the green herbage in quiet security, or fled in dismay at the approach of their voracious enemies. The feathered tribes too were there in great abundance. Among the upland trees were heard the notes of the robin and blackbird, mingled with the screams of the garrulous blue jay, and the cooing of the wood-pigeons, that swept over the forests in innumerable companies. In the thickets were the thrush, the catbird, and the sparrow; and along the water's edge were found vast numbers of geese, ducks, and snipes. Along the streams and at the watersides were colonies of beavers, or more solitary otters, muskrats, and minks; the forests were animated with vast numbers of squirrels, while in the deep waters were porpoises, tortoises, and sharks.

14. The homeward voyage.

The homeward voyage of the Crescent was prosperous, and in due time the gallant ship entered Dartmouth harbor in safety. Hudson immediately forwarded to his patrons a glowing account of his discoveries; and as they had been made by a party sailing under the flag of the Provinces, the rights of proprietorship belonged to that country. Thus, from the earliest period, was the country on both sides of the Hudson River conceded to the Dutch, by right of original discovery.

15. Early occupation.

The new proprietors did not permit the discovery made in their behalf to be a barren one: the possession was soon occupied and turned to advantage. The very next year — while Hudson, again employed by his own countrymen, was prosecuting that glorious but fatal voyage that resulted in the discovery of an immense inland sea in the northern portion of our continent, which is at once his grave and his monument — some merchants of Amsterdam fitted out a vessel with an assorted cargo, designed for traffic with the natives on Hudson's River. The adventure proved successful, and was annually renewed for several succeeding years. In 1613, Sir John Argall, with a semi-piratical squadron under English colors, entered the harbor at the mouth of Hudson's River, where he found a few rude dwellings on the southern extremity of Manhattan Island, which served as the summer quarters for a small company of Dutch traders, who were prosecuting their gainful purposes in this unfrequented region. They acknowledged allegiance to Holland, and claimed the protection of the flag of their own country. They, however, consented to hoist the English flag when commanded to do so by the British cruiser; but they pulled it down again as soon as he had gone. In 1614, seven ships were sent to America by a joint-stock company of merchants residing in Amsterdam, under the command of Adrian Block and Hendrick Christianse; and a rude fort was erected at the lower extremity of the island. The next year a fort was established at the head of navigation on the Hudson, near to the present site of the city of Albany.

16. "A trading-post on Hudson's River"

In these early enterprises of the merchants of Amsterdam, trade rather than colonization seems to have been the governing purpose. For several years no colony was attempted, and the trade of the whole region was an individual enterprise of those who chose to engage in it. But, in 1621, the Dutch West India Company was incorporated, with a monopoly of the trade of all the Dutch foreign possessions on both shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and having authority to govern any unoccupied territories that they might choose to appropriate. The immense regions thus given up to this new corporation were distributed among branches of the company located in the principal cities of Holland, and the country on the Hudson became the portion of the branch located at Amsterdam. Presently rude cottages began to cluster about the block-house on Manhattan Island, and the incipient metropolis assumed the title of New Amsterdam, while the whole territory of Hudson's River was called New-Netherland. A government was soon afterward established, and for nine years from 1624 Peter Minuets filled the important post of director of the infant colony. It was during this period that the whole island of Manhattan was purchased from the Indians, for a sum about equal to twenty-four dollars.

17. The town, as it was.

" These," says an eloquent historian of our colonial affairs, " were the rude beginnings of New York. Its first age was the age of hunters and Indian traders; of traffic in the skins of otters and beavers; when the native tribes were employed in the pursuit of game, and the yacht of the Dutch, in quest of furs, penetrated every bay, and bosom, and inlet, from Narraganset to the Delaware. It was the day of straw roofs, wooden chimneys, and wind-mills."

CHAPTER II. - NEW-AMSTERDAM. — 1630-1664.

18. The patroons.

For the first twenty years after their discovery, the Dutch possessions on the Hudson had much more the character of a trading-post than that of a colony. Holland was at that time becoming a nation of merchants, and such was the growth of trade at New Amsterdam that in 1632 the exports amounted to the very considerable sum of fifty-seven thousand dollars. In 1629 a grand scheme for colonizing the Dutch territories in America was formed in Holland. Liberty was given to the members of the Dutch West India Company to plant colonies in New-Netherland on certain easy conditions. It was decreed, that whoever should, within four years after giving notice of his purpose to do so, form a settlement of not less than fifty persons of fifteen years old and over, should be entitled to occupy and possess a tract of land sixteen miles in extent, along the sea-shore, or the bank of any navigable river, (or eight miles when both banks were occupied,) with an indefinite extent inland. The persons who formed colonies under this provision were called patroons, and were entrusted with large powers within their several manors, both as proprietors and as civil magistrates.

19. The work advances.

Under this system of colonization the lands about the bay, and on both sides of the Hudson, were speedily taken up by the more enterprising members of the Dutch West India Company. The island of Manhattan, however, was wisely reserved for the use of the company. The patroons, in order to secure the lands they had appropriated, made great efforts to obtain the requisite number of colonists. Some were obtained by emigrations from Holland, and some from the English colonies. To forward this purpose, liberal conditions were offered by the patroons; and, following the example of the home-government, the colonial authorities granted a full toleration to all Christian sects.

20. Wouter Van Twiller, Governor.

In the year 1633 the little colony of New-Netherland received a governor from the fatherland in the person of Wouter (or Walter) Van Twiller, and the scattered settlements and trading-posts on the Hudson were erected into a province of the United Netherlands. The new governor brought over with him a company of a hundred and four soldiers, a school-master, and a minister. But as the trade with the Indians was the all-engrossing matter of interest, but little was done toward introducing permanent settlers into the province. The governor, however, applied himself vigorously to his public duties, and several improvements were undertaken. The fort was rebuilt, with barracks for the soldiers; a church and parsonage were erected, and also a house for the governor; and mills and other buildings necessary for the welfare of the settlement. The island of Manhattan was divided into farms, called " boweries," and on the one nearest to the fort, (that is, from Wall-street to the Park,) the governor had a dwelling, barn, brewery, and boat-house built. Buildings were also erected on some of the other " boweries " of the company.

21. The governor in trouble — is recalled.

Durino; the whole term of Van Twiller's administration the little colony was in a state of disquiet or alarm. On the east the English were steadily encroaching on the territory of the company, and on the Delaware the Indians were carrying on a destructive war against the feeble settlements on that river. Nor were the internal affairs of the government less troublesome. Between the government and the patroons continual disputes were kept up, as to their respective rights, and especially as to the privilege of trading with the Indians, of which both parties claimed a monopoly. At the same time the governor was not altogether forgetful of his private interests. In company with several others he purchased of the Indians a fertile tract of land on Nassau or Long Island, (at Vlatlands,) upon which the new proprietors proceeded to establish farms. He also purchased for his own use the little island just south of the fort, originally called Nutten Island, from the great number of nut-trees found on it; but, from its being the property of Governor Van Twiller, it has since been known as Governor's Island. But the discontents that prevailed in the colony at length came to the notice of the company, and, from the character of the complaints, it was doomed best to recall the governor, which accordingly was done, after an administration of four years.

22. William Kieft, Governor.

The new governor, William Kieft, did not arrive in the colony till March, 1638. He then found the company's affairs much neglected, and the public property in a ruinous condition, — the building going to decay, — the boweries or farms untenanted and stripped of their stock, and the purchase of furs, which constituted the principal object of interest in the colony, engrossed by private traders, and conducted in a most profligate manner. The new governor endeavored by orders and proclamations to remedy these evils, but with only partial success. A few additional settlers were also brought into the province about this time, and some further purchases of land from the Indians were made; but the growth of the settlements was as yet inconsiderable.

23. The Swedes on the Delaware.

About this time Peter Minuets, formerly director of New-Amsterdam, with a company of Swedes, under the patronage of Queen Christina, daughter of the great Gustavus Adolphus, entered the Delaware, and purchased of the Indians a tract of land on the western side of the bay, and built Fort Christina. Kieft was greatly dissatisfied with this intrusion upon territory claimed by the Dutch West India Company, and, by repeated and violent protests, to which Minuets paid no attention, forbade the intended settlement. But the Dutch governor deemed it unsafe to attempt to dislodge the intruders by force, and the power of Sweden in the affairs of Europe was such as to forbid the home-government interfering in the matter. So the little Swedish colony was left to pursue its course in peace.

24. New inducements to settlers.

The little progress made by the colony, at length induced the directors of the West India Company to mitigate some of the rigors of their policy. The monopoly of the trade to the colony was so far modified as to permit any who might choose to do so to engage in it; though only the company's ships could be used for transportation. A free passage was given to all who wished to remove from Holland to the colony; and emigrants were offered lands, houses, cattle, and farming tools, at an annual rent, and clothes and provisions on credit. The authority of the patroons was defined and somewhat diminished. To every person who should bring six persons into the colony, two hundred acres of land were to be given; and the towns and villages were to have magistrates of their own. Other provisions of a similar character were made, regulating the trade with the Indians, and also providing for the religious and educational wants of the people.

25. Population increases.

Under the new arrangements a number of emigrants were drawn from Holland, some of them men of considerable property. Some English indented servants, who had served out their time in Virginia, settled also in New-Netherland; and some Anabaptists and others, who had been driven out of New England by religious intolerance, sought here a place of safety. The settlements were now rapidly extended in every direction around New-Amsterdam. On Long Island, in addition to the settlements at Wallabout and Flatlands, another was commenced (1639) at Breukelen [Brooklyn]. Staten Island, and the region to the west of Newark Bay were both granted to patroons, and settlements commenced upon them. New-Amsterdam shared only indirectly in these improvements, but its progress, was slow, though steadily onward. " A fine stone tavern," says an old chronicler, was built, and the " mean old barn " that had served for a church, was replaced by a new stone building, erected within the enclosure of the fort, and paid for partly by the company, and partly by subscription.

26. Further troubles by other colonies.

The foreign relations of New-Netherland became by degrees more and more complicated and embarrassing. The encroachments from the New-England colonies were becoming truly alarming; and, on the south, the Swedes were firmly seated in their position, and threatened to exclude the Dutch entirely from their possessions on the Delaware. The growing importance of the colony of Rensselaerwick, at the north, which began to assume a kind of independence, became a further cause of uneasiness. These difficulties, however, though sufficiently embarrassing, were not the worst that the governor had to oppose. A more terrible calamity than any of these presently threatened the colony, from a nearer and much more implacable enemy.

27. Troubles with the Indians.

The Indian tribes of the regions about New Amsterdam became incensed against the whites by a thousand petty provocations, arising from the avarice or folly or mere wantonness of the colonists, and, in return, committed such acts of revenge as seemed to demand chastisement from the government. The Raritans, a tribe residing on the west side of the Hudson, were the first to feel the prowess of the white man. Both parties were sufferers in the conflict that took place, and the Indians gladly accepted the proffered terms of peace. Soon afterward a Dutchman was killed by an Indian belonging to a tribe located near Tappan Bay, and the murderer protected by his tribe, for which cause eighty men were sent to inflict due punishment upon them. Alarmed at the threatened invasion, the Indians promised to give up the murderer. The expedition thereupon returned to New Amsterdam, but the promise was never fulfilled. A quarrel subsequently broke out between the colonists and the Hackensacs, and two white men were treacherously murdered by the Indians. The chiefs offered wampum in atonement, which the governor refused, and demanded the murderers. Just before this time the Tappan Indians, fearing an attack from the powerful tribes of the Mohawks, removed down into the neighborhood of New-Amsterdam, and were mingled with the neighboring tribes, especially the Hackensacs. Soon after these united bands of savages came and encamped in two bodies at no great distance from the fort. Their design was evidently not hostile; but the occasion was seized by the enemies of the Indians at New Amsterdam, and an order to attack them was obtained from the governor, while under the influence of wine at a holiday feast. The attack was wholly unexpected by the Indians, and very little resistance was made. A terrible slaughter ensued. About eighty of the savages, including old men, women, and children, perished miserably in the conflict, or were afterward murdered in cold blood. The noise of the battle, and the shrieks of the women and children, could be plainly heard at the fort. Next day the war party returned into the town, bringing with them thirty prisoners.

28. An Indian war — A treaty of peace.

These atrocities, with others of a like character that were soon after perpetrated, aroused the Indians to a high pitch of exasperation. Eleven petty tribes united to make war against the Dutch, whose unprotected boweries, reaching in every direction many miles from New-Amsterdam, offered an easy prey to the savages. Many houses were burned, the cattle were killed, the men slain, and several women and children made prisoners. The terrified and ruined colonists fled on all sides into New-Amsterdam, and, all who could, sailed for Holland. The expeditions sent against the Indians were only partially successful in subduing them, and, worst of all, discontents and mutual criminations distracted the councils of the governor. The Indians at length, satiated with blood, offered terms of peace, which were gladly accepted by the whites, and a respite given from the bloody and ruinous conflict.

29. More Indian wars — A terrible slaughter.