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MEMOIR
ON THE
EARLY COLONIZATION OF NEW NETHERLAM).
JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD.
SECOND SERIES VOL. II.
31NOTE.
The following details have been chiefly collected from Wassenaer’s Hrs-
torische Verhael, (Amst., 1621—1632,) a work I have lately met with in
London, and which, I believe, has hitherto been unknown to our historians.
I have merely endeavored to arrange them in a chronological order, without
pretending to attempt a finished narrative.
JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD.
London, ViHli October, 1848.MEMOIR.
The Charter of the Dutch West India Company, which
passed the Great Seal of the States General on the 3d day
of June, 1621, among other things ordained, that for the
term of twenty-four years from the first day of July, 1621,
(when the charter took effect,) none of the inhabitants of
the United Netherlands should be permitted to sail to, or
from, or to traffic on the coast of the countries in North
America, except in the name of the newly incorporated
Company; but at the same time it provided that such par-
ties as had, before the granting of the Charter, been en-
gaged in trading to those countries, might continue such
trade, and finish their voyages.
Twelve years had now passed away since Hendrick
Hudson first navigated the 44 Half-Moon” up the 44 Great
River of the Mountains” from Sandy Hook to about Alba-
ny. During this period ship a iter ship had sailed from Hol-
land to the newly discovered region, and had brought back
to their enterprising owners flattering accounts of the situa-
tion and commercial advantages of 44 New Netherland.”
Among the first to follow Hudson, was Hendrick Christian-
sen, of Cleef. On his return from a voyage to the West
Indies he happened to find himself in the neighborhood of
the 44 River of the Mountainsbut because his ship was
heavily laden, and a vessel from Monichendam had lately
been lost near there, he did not venture to go into the Bay
at that time, reserving the enterprise for a future occasion.
So, soon afterwards, in company with Adriaen Block, he
chartered a vessel commanded by Captain Ryser, and per-
formed a voyage to the newly discovered country. The
comrades afterwards revisited the country in separate ves-
sels :—Christiansen in the 44 Fortune,” and Block in the358
EARLY COLONIZATION
“Tiger,” and explored the coasts of Long Island and its
neighborhood; leaving their names upon some of the
islands near Montauk Point, as memorials of their enter-
prise. Block’s ship, however, being accidently burned, he
immediately set about constructing a yacht of about 16
tons burthen, in which he minutely explored the coast of
Connecticut and the neighborhood as far as Cape Cod.
This yacht he left on the coast for further use, on his return
to Holland. But Christiansen, after making several voy-
ages in his own ship, perceived the necessity of a perma-
nent factor residing among the Indians. He therefore
transferred his vessel to his comrade Block, and remained
at Manhattan; turning his attention to the fur trade of the
country; visiting the neighboring tribes in his shallops;
and erecting trading houses, one near Albany and the other
on Manhattan, for the protection of the enterprise. Block,
on his return to Holland, carried with him two sons of In-
dian Chiefs in New Netherland. These young savages,
who are described as being very stupid, yet adepts enough
in knavery, were named Orson and Valentine. Orson, espe-
cially, was exceedingly wicked, and sometime after his re-
turn to his own country he was the cause of Hendrick
Christiansen’s death; but vengeance swiftly followed, and
the young savage was shot by the Hollanders for his trea-
chery. Block, the comrade of Christiansen, afterwards
went into the service of the “Northern Company” and
was, in December, 1624, in command of a fleet of several
ships employed in the whale fishery. Other vessels were
soon despatched from Holland. The “ Little Fox,” Cap-
tain John De Witt, and the “ Nightingale,” Captain Thy’s
Volckertsen, of Amsterdam, as well as the “Fortune,” Cap-
tain Cornelis Jacobsen May, of Hoorn, following the track
of Christiansen and Block, were severally sent to explore the
coast, and traffic with the Indians on the River of the Moun-
tains, which now received the name of “ Mauritius,” in
honor of Prince “ Maurice,” of Nassau. The prospect of
trade now opened brightly; and, accordingly, the several
owners of these vessels united themselves into a trading
company ; and taking along with them “ figurative maps”
of the newly discovered lands, they went to the Hague to
describe the results of their enterprises in America, and to
ask from the States General a monopoly of the traffic in
that region.
The application was favorably received, and on the 11th
of October, 1614, the States General granted to these asso-OF NEW NETHERLAND.
359
ciated ship-owners the exclusive privilege of trading to
* New Netherlands as it was named in the grant, for three
years more, commencing on the 1st of January, 1615.
Availing themselves of this authority, they continued their
adventures; and in August, 1616, Captain Cornelis Hen-
dricksen reported, in person, to the States General at the
Hague, the result of the explorations of the little yacht
“Restless,” which Block had built at Manhattan, to take
the place of his ship the “ Tiger,” which had been acci-
dentally burned. The States General, however, having in
view the establishment of a grand Commercial Company,
with plenary powers, were not disposed to grant any more
long trading monopolies to the ship-owners of Amsterdam;
but they did not object to accord specific licenses for sepa-
rate voyages. Accordingly, upon the expiration of the ori-
ginal grant, the ship “ Beheld” was despatched to the Island
of Manhattan in October, 1618; and the next year the
“ Blyde Bootschap,” under the command of Cornelis Jacob-
sen May. But in the autumn of 1620, upon the owners of
May’s ship petitioning for a further exclusive trading pri-
vilege, the States General peremptorily refused their assent.
Nor did the States General look with more favor upon
the application which the Amsterdam Trading Company
made to them on the 12th of February, 1620, in behalf of
the “ Brownists” of Leyden, who, under Robinson their
preacher, were desirous to go to “ New Netherland” to
teach the faith of the Cross to the savages, and to colonize
a “ New Empire” on the shores of the Hudson, under the
auspices and protection of the Prince of Orange and Their
High Mightinesses. The statesmen of Holland by this
time entertained too large and ambitious designs, to listen
to the modest petition of the Amsterdam Company. They
had in view the establishment of a grand Commercial Mo-
nopoly, whose concentrated capital and energy should not
only direct the colonization of the Dutch discoveries in
America, but should also assist the State in crushing the
pride of Spain. They therefore, after repeated delibera-
tions, finally resolved, on the 11th of April, 1620, to reject
the prayer of the memorialists. And thus, repelled by the
policy of the Hague, the Puritans soon afterwards left their
home at Leyden, and embarked in the “ Mayflower,” under
the banner of St. George; and thus they came to plant on
the barren shores of New Plymouth the institutions which
it had been their purpose to cultivate in the more genial
regions of New Netherland.360
EARLY COLONIZATION
The West India Company, however, from various causes,
was unable to commence its operations, or to undertake
the trade to New Netherland, until two years after it had
received its Charter. But during this interval, several
ships, one of which was the 44 White Dove ,” Captain Jans
Houton, were despatched to the North and South Rivers,
under special licenses from the States General; in each of
which it was, however, specially provided that the respec-
tive vessels were to return to Holland before the 1st of July,
1622, so as not to interfere with the projected arrange-
ments of the West India Company. The particulars re-
specting these special grants are to be found in the 44 Hol-
land Documents” in the Secretary of State’s Office at
Albany.
According to Wassenaer, writing in February, 1624, ma-
ny of the inhabitants of the United Provinces had in for-
mer years traded to the coasts of America North of Vir-
ginia, and had also built for the security and protection of
their traders a 44 Castle,” called Fort Nassau, upon an
island in about 42 degrees of North latitude, on the 44 North
side” of the River of the Mountains, subsequently named
the River Mauritius. But as the neighboring Indian tribes
showed some discontent, and as the inland country was
very springy, so much so that the waters settling down-
wards from thence towards the river, often overflowed the
surrounding country, as well as inundated Fort Nassau
itself, the Fort was eventually abandoned and suffered to
go to decay. Perhaps the intention to found a permanent
colony lower down the river, among the Mahikans, had
also some influence. This was the Fort on Castle Island.
just below Albany, which Moulton says was abandoned in
the year 1617. The name of “Fort Nassau,” is to be
found on one of the Figurative Maps discovered in the
archives at the Hague—fac-similies of which are now in
the Secretary of State’s office at Albany.
In June, 1623, (according to Wassenaer.) the Directors of
the West India Company, finding that the inhabitants of the
Netherlands had, in conformity with the decree of the
States General, given up visiting the coasts of America,
despatched thither three ships—44 The Orange Tree,” 44 The
Eagle,” and 44 The Love,” for the purpose of maintaining
the cause of traffic, and in the hope of realizing their first
returns. In the spring of the same year, the Directors also
equipped a ship of 130 lasts (260 tons) burthen, called theOF NEW NETHERLAND.
361
New Netherlands, the command of which they entrusted to
the experienced Captain Cornelis Jacobsen May, and des-
patched it with a company of thirty famiiies, chiefly Wal-
loons—who probably, discontented with the result of their
application, the year before, to Carleton the English Ambas-
sador at the Hague, for permission to settle in Virginia,
now resolved to go out under Dutch auspices—in order to
found a colony on the rivers of New Netherland. The ship
sailed from Holland in the beginning of March, 1623, and,
shaping her course by the Canary Islands, arrived at the
River Mauritius (the Hudson) in the beginning of May.
On arriving at the mouth of the river, they found a French-
man lying there, who wished to set up the arms of the King
of France. But this the Hollanders would not allow him
to do, for fear of disobeying the orders of the States Gen-
eral and of the West India Company, and of frustrating
their designs. They accordingly manned a yacht called the
“ Mackarel” which had returned from up the river where
she had been trading, and conveyed the Frenchman to sea.
This Frenchman wished to do the same thing on the South
River, but he was repulsed in a similar manner by the set-
tlers there.
This having been accomplished, the “ New Netherland”
sailed 44 miles* up the river to “ Castle Island” in the May-
kans country, near which a fort with four bastions, named
“Fort Orange” had been thrown up and completed. They
immediately commenced farming operations, and before the
Mackarel returned, the corn was almost as high as a man;
so that they got bravely along. The head manager at Fort
Orange was the Honorable Daniel van Krieckebeeck, for
brevity’s sake called Beeck; and he performed his duties so
satisfactorily that he received a vote of thanks.
On Prince's Island, formerly called “ Murderer’s Island,”
they had also built a fort which they named “ Wilhelmus
flat in front, and with a “ curtain” in the rear, which was
garrisoned by sixteen men for the defence of the river be-
low. The yacht Mackarel sailed from Holland on the 16th
of June, 1622, and arrived in New Netherland on the 12th
of December following, which was thought to be rather a
long voyage ; but she lost a great deal of time at the Wild
Islands, where she stopped to fish, with very little luck.f
* Dutch miles, equal to about 132 English miles.
t The “ Mackerel” was about 60 tons burthen—and having returned to Hol-
land, she sailed from the Texel on the 25th of April, 1625, laden with necessa-
ries for New Netherland ; and two days afterwards she was captured and taken
into Dunkirk as a prize.362
EARLY COLONIZATION
The “ New Netherlands on her return to Holland, re-
ported that the colonists were progressing satisfactorily,
and were cultivating friendly relations with the aborigines.
The trade in peltries all now enuring to the benefit of the
West India Company, the cargo of valuable beaver and
other skins which the ship brought back to Amsterdam,
added over 28,000 guilders to its coffers.
In the meantime, Cornelis Jacobsen May, of Hoorn, re-
mained in New Netherland, as the First Director of the
infant colony. His administration continued during the
year 1624; and the capacity of the country for cultivation
and production having by this time become favorably
known to the Directors of the West India Company, they
resolved to improve it. Accordingly in the spring of 1625,
Peter Evertsen Hulft, one of the m embers of the Board,
having undertaken to convey to the colony, at his own risk,
such necessary articles as should be offered for the pur-
pose, two ships each of 140 lasts (280 tons) burthen, were pro-
vided and loaded with cargoes consisting of a hundred and
three head of cattle; among which were stallions, mares,
bulls and cows, for breeding, as well as swine and sheep.
These beasts were all very well provided for on ship board—
almost as well as on shore. Each one had his own stall,
arranged with a flooring of sand—which was laid upon a
deck constructed specially in the vessel. Under this deck
each ship carried three hundred tons of fresh water for the
use of the cattle. Hay and straw were also provided in
abundance for the voyage; and all kinds of seed, ploughs
and farming implements were put on board for the colony.
Hulft also added a third ship to the expedition, in order
that there should be no lack of means to carry out the en-
terprise he had undertaken.
Along with these vessels, there also went a yacht, fitted
out by the Directors of the Company on their own account.
She carried out six families, with their household furniture,
and also several unmarried people, so that forty-five new
comers were thus added to the colony. The beasts, two of
which only died on the passage, were, on their arrival,
landed on Noten Island, but there being no grazing ground
for them at that spot, they were, a day or two afterwards,
taken by shallops and barges to Manhattan, where they
eventually throve very well, though some twenty, in all,
were lost.
The colony had, in 1625, increased to two hundred souls,
and Cornelis Jacobsen May was succeeded by William VanOP NEW NETHERLAND.
Hulst, as the Second Director of New Netherland. Van
Hulst’s administration, however, like that of his predeces-
sor, lasted only one year ; at the end of which he returned
to Holland.
Pursuing their design to found a stable colony in Ame-
rica, the Directors of the West India Company now des-
patched Peter Minuit, of Wesel, to assume the chief com-
mand in New Netherland as its Third Director. He sailed
from Holland, accordingly, on the 9th of January, 1626, in the
ship Sea-Mew, Captain Adriaen Joris, and arrived at Man-
hattan on the 4th of May following.
Soon afterwards, the ship “Arms of Amsterdam” was
despatched from Holland, having on board Isaack de Ra-
sieres, a prot£g& of Mr. Blommaert, one of the Directors of
the Company. The “ Arms of Amsterdam” arrived in New
Netherland on the 27th of July, 1626 ;* and very soon after-
wards Director Minuit concluded a treaty with the natives,
by which they ceded Manhattan Island to the Dutch for
the sum of sixty guilders. This vessel sailed on her return
voyage from the river Mauritius on the 23d September,
1626, and arrived in Holland on the 4th of November fol-
lowing, laden with a valuable cargo of peltries in charge of
Peter Barentsen, the Indian trader. De Rasieres remained
in the colony as second in command, and secretary under
Minuit; and no time was lost in providing for the perma-
nent security of the settlement. A fort was accordingly
staked out by the engineer, Mr. Krijn Frederijcke, on the
southern point of Manhattan Island, to which they gave in
advance, the name “ Fort Amsterdam.” The company’s
Comptoir, or counting house, was held in a stone building
With a thatched roof; the other houses were chiefly con-
structed of the bark of trees* The Director and Koopman,
resided together; and there were about thirty ordinary
houses clustered along the east side of the river. The
other officers of the colony were Jan Lempo, schout, or she-
riff, and Sebastiaen Jansen Krol, and Jan Huych, comforters
of the sick, (Kranck-besoeckers,) who, on Sundays, for want of
a regular clergyman, read to the people certain texts of
Scripture, and the creed. Frances Moelemacker was at the
same time employed in building a horse mill, with a spa-
cious room above, to serve for a large congregation; and a
tower was also to be erected, in which the bells brought
from Porto Rico were intended to be hung.
* See letter of De Rasieres to Blommaert,
SECOND* SERIES, VOL. II. 82364
EARLY COLONIZATION
Every person in New Netherland rendered some public
service ; they were as industrious as the Hollanders at home£
one traded with the natives southward and northward,—
another built houses—a third cultivated the land. Each
husbandman had his own farm upon the Company’s land,
and was also furnished with cows, the milk of which was
his own profit. The houses of the Hollanders were all, at
that time, outside of the fort; but as soon as that should be
completed they intended to reside within its walls, so as to
be secure from a sudden attack. It was also intended to
abandon the fort on the South River, and transfer the people
there to Manhattan. At Fort Orange, which was then the
furthest point north at which the Hollanders had traded,
fifteen or sixteen men only were to be left; the rest wrere
to come down the river.
It happened this year (1626) that the Maykans, making
war upon the Maquas, asked the assistance of the comman-
der at Fort Orange with six other men. Commander Kriecke-
beeck having accordingly gone with them about a mile from
the fort, they met the Maquas, who fell upon them so warmly
with a discharge of arrows, that the party was put to flighty
and many of them were slain. Among the slain were the
Commander Krieckebeeck, and three of his men, one of whom,
Tymen Bowensen, was eaten by the savages after he had
been well roasted. The others were burnt; and the remains
of the Commander and two of his men wore buried side by
side. Three of the party escaped by flight; two of whom
were Portuguese, and one a Hollander from Hoorn. One
of the Portuguese was hit in the back by an arrow as he
was swimming for his life. A leg and an arm of the vic-
tims were carried home by the savages to be distributed
among their families as evidences that they had conquered
their adversaries.
Some days after this occurrence, Pieter Barentsen, who
had been in the habit of visiting this region in trading shal-
lops, arrived at Fort Orange. The savages excused their
conduct, on the ground that they had done nothing, on their
part, against the whites; and they demanded the reason
why the whites had meddled with them, which, if they had
not done, such an event would not have happened.
There being now no commander at the post, Director
Minuit ordered Pieter Barentsen to remain in that capacity
at Fort Orange. There wore at this time eight families
there, and ten or twelve sailors in the service of the Com-
pany. The families, however, were directed to removeOP NEW NETHERLAND.
365
from Fort Orange during the year, leaving the post to be
garrisoned by sixteen men without any women. This was
done for the purpose of strengthening the chief colony at
Manhattan with householders; where the Indians were
by this time becoming more and more accustomed to the
presence of foreigners. The Fort on the South River
was also abandoned, about this time, in order to Concentrate
as much strength as possible at Manhattan; and for econ-
omy’s sake a single yacht, only, was to be employed in trad-
ing in that quarter.
To the north of the colony were the Sickenanes, living
between the “ Brownists” (the Puritans of Plymouth) and
the Hollanders. The chief of this tribe had shortly before
this period made a treaty with Pieter Barentsen, to trade
with no one but with him. JaquesElekes, had imprisoned this
chief on board his yacht in the year 1622, and had made
him pay one hundred and forty fathoms of sewan, by way
of ransom. For this reason the chief now distrusted every
one but Barentsen.
This Pieter Barentsen was well acquainted with all the
neighboring tribes of Indians. He traded not only with the
Sickenanes, to whom all the tribes on the northern coast
were tributary, but also with the Sinnecox, Wapenox, Ma-
quaes and Maikans. He visited all these Indians in shallops,
and traded with them for furs and peltries in great friend-
ship. He came back to Holland in November, 1626, in the
ship Arms of Amsterdam, Captain Adriaen Joris, in charge
of a valuable cargo; and bringing the interesting intelli-
gence of the purchase of Manhattan Island, and of the pros-
perity of the colony.
In the month of October, 1628, two ships which had been
despatched from New Netherland by Director Minuit, ar-
rived in Amsterdam, laden with furs and ship timber for the
West India Company. One of these vessels was the “ Three
Kings,'9 captain Jan Jacobsen, of Weiringen, and the other,
the “Arms of Amsterdam99 captain Adriaen Joris. When
these ships left Manhattan on the 19th of August, 1628, the
government of New Netherland was administered by “ Min-
uit, the successor of Van Hulst,” who, as before stated, went
out from Holland on the 9th of January, 1626. Fort Am-
sterdam was now completed ; having four bastions, and be-
ing entirely faced with stone. The colony now num-
bered two hundred and seventy souls, including men, women
and children, who still resided outside of the fort, without366 EARLY COLONIZATION OF NEW NETHERLAND.
any apprehensions of the Indians, with whom they lived on
friendly terms.
The colonists subsisted chiefly by their farming ; the de-
ficiency being supplied by the West India Company.
Their winter corn had turned out very well; but the
summer corn, being prematurely ripened by the excessive
heat, was very meagre. The cattle that had been sent
there throve well; and every thing wore a prosperous ap-
pearance.
At Fort Orange, there were now no families remaining,
as they had all been transferred down the river to Manhat-
tan. Twenty-five or twenty-six traders, however, still oc-
cupied the post under the direction of Sebastiaen Jansen
Krol, formerly Kranck-besoecker (comforter of the sick) at
Manhattan, who was sent to Fort Orange in 1626, when
Peter Barentsen left on his return to Holland. By order of
the West India Company, all their people who were former-
ly on the South River, had also now deserted that region,
retaining there only a single trading vessel.
In the beginning of 1628, a war broke out between the
Maikans near Fort Orange and the Maquaes, but the latter
killed and captured most of the Maikans, and expelled the
remnant, who settled themselves towards the north, near
the Fresh River, (the Connecticut,) so called, where they
began to till the ground; and thus there was now an end of
war in that region,