; I u.^...^^....^.^. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WJIH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library F 127S7 C64 + Annals of Staten island, from Its discov 3 1924 028 834 681 olln Overs Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028834681 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND, From its Discovery to the Present Time. BY J. J. CLUTE •'If we look for a epot which forever is blest By Nature with her perennial smile, We never need leave our own green iwle." Anon. NEIV YORK: Press of Chas. Vogt, No. 114 Fulton Street. 1877. Entered according to Act of Congrees, in the year 1877, by JNO. J. CLUTE, In tlie oflice of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PREFACE. This work was undertaken at the suggestion of several citizens of the county, who were aware that the writer, during a residence of between forty and fifty years, had accumulated a large amount of interesting materials relating to the history of Staten Island.' These were collected from time to time, for the purpose of publishing them in our local journals in the form of historical sketches, and not with the ulterior view of giving them to the public in their present form. They have now, however, been arranged, so far as was practicable, in chronological order, and a large amount of new matter introduced. For the local anecdotes and personal incidents, which might be extended almost indefi- nitely, the writer is indebted to the memories of several old people who have now passed away, some of whom were almost centenarians when they died, but whose memories abounded in reminiscences, and with whom he was on terms of close intimacy. He has thus preserved the memory of many events of local interest, which otherwise would have passed into oblivion. By far the most eventful period in the history of Staten Island was during the war of the Revolution, but the generation which was active then, has long ago disappeared, iv. and many events in the local history of the community, made up of personal experiences, remain forever unwritten. It is undoubtedly true that at the commencement of the war, the greater part of the people of the Island were in sympathy with the enemies of the country ; but the licen- tiousness and rapacity of the soldiery had inspired them with such enmity towards the British government, that at its close a revolution in the popular sentiment had taken place, and those who adhered to their loyalty, and followed the fortunes of their fellow loyalists, were probably not more than half a dozen in number, and these were they whose zeal for the royal cause had led them into the commission of acts, which, if they had remained on the Island, would have exposed them to public contempt, if not to public justice. Nevertheless, there were a few whose insignificance protected them, and who continued to "talk tory" as long as they lived, and grieved over the departure of the "times of the king when guineas were plenty." It has been the fortune of the writer to come in contact with two or three of these gar- rulous old mourners for royalty, the remnants of a class now totally extinct, whose reminiscences were not the less valu- able, because they were tinctured with toryism. We acknowledge with gratitude our obligations to the Rev. Dr. Brownlee, the late Rev. Dr. Goddard,andthe Rev. W. L. Lennert, for access to such records and documents as their respective churches, the oldest on the Island, possessed. The clergymen of several other churches have cheerfully furnished brief, but comprehensive data for historical notices of their respective churches. To the Hon. B. P. Winant, of Rossville. we are indebted for the original record of the es- V. tablishment of Methodism on the Island. We are also in- debted to a gentleman well known in literary circles, for the historical part of the article on the Sailor's Snug Harbor. Difficulties, in some instances insuperable, have been met in the effort to trace the genealogies of many of the oldest families on the Island. In very few can a correct or intelligi- ble record of descent be found, and in some of these the records have been commenced at a date so recent as to be utterly useless for our purpose. Were it not perplexing, it would be amusing to note the variety in orthography of many of the patronymics ; for in- stance, the name of the Decker family is spelled as follows : Dekker, Deceer, Deeceer, Decker, etc. ; the Depews, as follows : Depuy, Depew, Dupue, Depeue, etc. ; the Disosways, as follows : Dussauchoy, Desuway, Dusachoy, Dussoway, Dissoway, etc. ; the Bodines, as follows : Bodoin, Boudoin, Boudin, and Bodin, which is probably the original orthog- raphy. Another difficulty, and one entirely insurmountable, is found in a custom which obtained among the early Dutch, in an entire and unrecognizable change in the family name ; thus, for instance, Hans Jansen may be described as Hans Jansen, van den berg, or John Johnson, from the hill or mountain, or Hans Jansen van de zant— that is, John John- son from the sands or sea-shore— and his descendants, or some of them, would adopt the name of Vandenburg or Vanzant, thus annihilating at once all trace of their descent from the Jansen family. In the few instances in which the writer differs from the published histories of individuals and families, he will be VI. found to be strictly correct, when the proofs which he has submitted are examined. The limited area of Staten Island, about fifty square miles, its isolated position, and, in consequence, the isolated condition of its inhabitants, render it improbable that many important historical events have transpired upon it. Personal incidents and reminiscences might have been multiplied almost indefi- nitely, but sufficient have been given to enable the reader to form an opinion of the condition of society upon the Island, during the several periods of its history. Vll. INDEX CHAPTER I. Discovery — Verazzani — The first death — Hudson River— Hostages — The first battle — Localities inhabited— Food — Animals - 1 CHAPTER IT. Name — Dimensions — Surface — Climate — Geology — The fur trade — The first Eng- lish claim — The Dutch take possession — The Brownists 8 CHAPTER III. The West India Company — English claims — Arrival of settlers — First settlement on Staten Island — At the Wallabout — Birth of the first child— Purchase of Manhattan Island — The Patroons — Communipaw — De Vrie's grant — Melyn's patent — Staten Island massacre and its consequences — Still, &c., upon Staten Island — Indian murders and murder of Indians 14 CHAPTER IV. Long Island Indians — Roger Williams — Expedition against the Staten Island Indians — Searches for the precious metals — Toad Hill Iron Mine — Misgovern- ment of the Directors— Bogardus and De Vries — Their Policy — Decline of the Fur Trade — Kieft recalled — His Death — The several Sales of Staten Island . 23 CHAPTER V. Appointment, arrival and character of Sfuyvesant — His silver leg— Disputes re- specting boundaries —Disputes between Melyn and Kieft— Melyn's troubles with Stuyvesant — His sentence, and the reversal thereof — Stuyvesant sum- moned to Holland to answer — Sends his attorneys — Local troubles— Charges against Stuyvesant by the English — Early condition of the Island 37 Vlll. CHAPTER VI. A hard winter— Melyn's cliaracter— His return to America— Sale of the ship and cargo— Van Dinoklagen— War between England and Holland— Stuyvesant's perplexities— Ferry rates— J ohn De Decker— Stuyvesant's proclamation against preachers— Indian war of 1655— Staten Island ravaged— Melyn forsakes the colony— Sells his title to the Island— Waldenses and Huguenots settle on the Island— Dom. Drisius— Defence of Melyn— Kief t's shipwreck and death . . 33 CHAPTER VII, The province wrested from the Dutch by the English— A change of masters— De Decker banished— New grants on Staten Island— Blizabethtown settled— The establishment of courts— Berkley and Cartaret's patent— Nicoll surprised and indignant— Treaty of Breda- NicoU's resignation, and appointment of Lovelace 4^ CHAPTER VIII. Tradition and legitimate history — Doubts as to, the proprietorship of the Island — Circumnavigated — Cliristopher Billop — The Bentley manor— The Billop fam- ily — Tomb-stone records — Errors of Dunlap corrected — Col. Billop's capture and imprisonment 47 CHAPTER IX. Purchase of the Island in 1670 — Indian reservations — De Decker restored to his rights— Death of Stuyvesant — Preparations for war — War between England, and France and Holland — Capture of the province by the Dutch — Restoration to the English — Manning's punishment — Duke of York's new patent — Staten Island separated from the Long Island courts —Excise — The dreadful comet- star — Dongan's administration— His patent to Palmer — Dongan's manor house — Historical errors corrected — Papist alarms — Dongan's mill — Leisler's administration — Officers of the count}' — Sloughter — Plowman's law suit. . 53 CHAPTER X. Complaints against the sheriff — Census from 1698 to 1771 — Slaveholders — Civil and military oflBcers — Disappearance of old families — Cold winter of 1740-'l — Traveling in the olden time — A traveler's adventure in the woods —Cold winters of 1761 and 1768— Baron DeKalb— Domestic life of the olden time. 69 CHAPTER XI. Gov. Hardy— The Delanceys — Expedition against Louisburg — Gen. Amherst— Conquest of Canada — Moncton's army on Staten Island — Amherst invested witli the Order of the Garter on Staten Island— Extracts from old papers Beginning of the Revolution— Tories on Staten Island 80 IX. CHAPTER XII. Military value of Staten Island — British take possession of Staten Island — Brutality and insolence of the British soldiers on Staten Island 84 CHAPTER XIII. The tories and whigs of Staten Island — Submission of Kings county — Interview between Howe and the American commissioners at the Billop house — Rich ■ mond — Great fire in New York — Howe's expedition into New Jersey, and at- tempt to reach Philadelphia by land — Knyphausen's expedition into New Jersey — Murder of Mrs. Caldwell — Invasion of the Island by the Americans — Stirling's invasion 89 CHAPTER XIV. Lt. Col. Simcoe — His adventures in New Jersey — His capture — Negotiations for peace — Was Washington ever on Staten Island ? — His opinion of the people — Dwellings of the Hessians 99 CHAPTER XV. Capt. Hyler's adventures — Nathaniel Robbins — Ihe Prall families robbed — Futile attempt to rob John Bodine — Insolent conduct of two British officers — A soldier scalded with boiling soap — Soldiers stabbed with hay-forks — At- tempt to kidnap a young lady frustrated — Instance of prompt decision — Soldiers shot by a boy — Attempt to rob a farmer of his horse — Burglars dis- covered by means of a button— Evacuation of the Island — An eye witness' account of it Ill CHAPTER XVI. The Quarantine — Murders 131 APPENDIX "A."— CIVIL LIST. Members of the provincial Congress 140 Representatives in Congress " State Senators from Richmond County " Judges of the County Courts 141 Presidential electors from Richmond County " Members of the Colonial Assembly from Richmond County j^ " Members of Assembly from Richmond County 142 Members of the State Constitutional Conventions from Richmond County . . . 144 School Superintendents of Richmond County 145 Clerks of Richmond County " Surrogates of Richmond County " X. 145 146 Sheriffs of Richmond County District Attorneys of Richmond County Regents of the University from Richmond County Supervisors of Castleton and Northfield of Southfield, Westiield and Middletown 1^8 prior to 1766 ^^^ County taxes from the year 1766 APPENDIX " B."— EXTRACTS FROM OLD RECORDS. 151 APPENDIX "C."— ANECDOTES, &c. 183 APPENDIX "D."— GOVERNMENT. 203 APPENDIX " E."— STATEN ISLAND 300 YEARS AGO. 210 APPENDIX " F."— VILLAGES. New Brighton 218 Port Richmond 320 Edgewater 233 APPENDIX " G."— NOTED LOCALITIES. Toad Hill 226 Watchogue 338 The Rose and Crown 329 TheBuU'sHead S30 The Clove— The Finger-board road 232 Holland's Hook — Morning and Blazing Stars 238 Kill Van Kull— Arthur Kull— The Old place 334 APPENDIX " H."— HOSPITALS, &c. The Sailors' Snug Harbor 238 The Retreat 247 Seamens' Children's Home 249 The S. R. Smith Infirmary— Y. M. C. A 250 APPENDIX " I."— CHURCHES. Reformed Church, Port Richmond 0,54 " " Richmond 059 " " Brighton Heights 260 " " of the Hugaenots 261 St. Andrew's Church . . _ 9(52 XI. Calvary Presbyterian Church, W. N. Brighton 388 Presbyterian Church, Edgewater 270 Church of the Ascension, W. N. Brighton 371 St. John's Church, Clifton 373 St. Paul's Church, Middletown 373 St. Luke's Church, Eossville 374 Church of the Holy Comforter, Eltingville " Moravian Church . .- 275 Baptist Church, Park 282 " " Mariner's Harbor 285 Graniteville 286 South 287 Methodist Church— Woodrow 288 Bethel and St. Paul's 290 " " Asbury, Summerfield 291 St. Mark's— Trinity 293 '■ " Grace — Cebra Avenue 293 St. John's — Lutheran , " Unitarian 294 Roman Catholic— St. Peter's 397 St. Mary's, Clifton 399 St. Joseph's, Rossville — St. Patrick's — St. Mary's 300 APPENDIX "J."— BIOGRAPHIES. Individuals 303 Nicholas Garrison 304 Abraham Jones 306 David Mersereau 307 Nathan Barrett 310 Cornelius Vanderbilt 313 Daniel D. Tompkins 317 Samuel Russell Smith, M.D 319 APPENDIX " K."— INDUSTRIES, &c. New York Dyeing and Printing Establishment 333 Barrett, Nephews & Co's Fancy Dyeing Establishment 324 Fire-Brick and Gas Retort Manufactory 326 Linoleum Company 327 Whitelead and Linseed Oil Manufacturers 338 De Jonge's Paper Factory 329 The Oyster Trade Staten Island Railroad 331 Breweries 333 xu. APPENDIX •■ L. "—Old Families. Preliminary Notice 336 Alston family 888 Androvette " 339 Barnes " 341 Bedell " 843 Blake " 848 Bodine " 844 Bogart " 846 Braisted " 347 ■Britton " 348 Burbank " 849 Burgher, &c. " 351 Bush " " Butler " .. 353 Gannon " 354 Christopher " " Cole ^ " 356 Colon " " 357 Conner " " Corsen " 358 Cortelyou " 368 Crips ■' 364 Crocheron " " Cruser " 366 Cubberly " 368 Decker " 869 DeGroot " 371 DeHart " 373 Depuy " •• Disosway " 375 Dubois " 376 Dustan " 877 Eddy " 378 Egbert " 379 Enyard ■' 380 Fountain " 381 Frost " 383 Garrison " 384 Guyon " 386 Hatfield " 387 Haughwout family 388 HiUyer " 389 Holmes " 390 Housman " 391 Jacobson " 392 Johnson " Jones " 395 Journeay " 396 Laf orge " 397 Lake " 898 Larzelere " 399 Latourette " 400 Lisk " 401 Lockman " 403 Martling " " Martino " 404 Merrill " 405 Mersereau " 408 Metcalf " ..412 Morgan " 413 Ferine " 414 Poillon " 416 Post " 417 Prall " 418 Ryerss " 419 Seguine '■ 420 Sharrott " 431 Simonson " 422 Stillwell " 424 Sprague " 436 Taylor " 427 Totten " ■' Van Buskirk " 428 Vanderbilt " 429 Van Name " 431 Van Pelt " 433 Waudel " 434 Winant " 435 Woglom " 437 Wood " " APPENDIX "M."— MISCELLANEOUS. APPENDIX "N."— NOTES. 439 451 Annals of Staten Island. CHAPTER I. Discovery— Verazzano— The First Death — Hudson River— Hostages— The First Battle — Localities Inhabited— Food — Animals. Bright and oalm, over the heights of Neversink, brdke the dawn of the third day of September, 1609 ;* the early breeze rippled the surface of the slumbering ocean, and rustled through the leaves of the forest trees, awakening the song- sters which nestled beneath them to pour forth their matin hymn to greet the king of day ; the world seemed glad that light had once more dispelled the darkness. But all this beauty and harmony were lost upon the human denizens of the woods and mountains, who stood in groups upon the strand, gesticulating eagerly, and gazing intently, over the vast expanse of water which stretched out inimitably before them. Far off towards the Southeast, the unusual sight of a mere speck upon the surface of the ocean excited their wonder. Long and patiently they watched it as it slowly approached and grew larger and larger, until it had assumed proportions far exceeding that of any moving object which had ever before met their vision. What could it be ? Was it some great bird which had flown over the great sea from some distant islands ? Or, was it the Great Spirit who had de- scended to earth to visit and to bless his children ? Slowly and majestically the object swept past, turned around the sandy * Vide App. N. (1.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. point of land beyond them, and stopped. It was tlie Halt- Moon, and bore Henry Hudson and his fellow voyagers. They supposed, erroneously, however, that they were the first white men who had ever looked upon the enchanted scene which surrounded them. Hudson was ignorant that, nearly a century before (1524), Griovanni Verazzano had en- tered the bay, and anchored near the same spot ; that he lay there until the next morning, when a violent gale compelled him to put to sea again. Though not the first to behold, Hudson was the first to penetrate the mysteries of the land and water which extended to an unknown distance before him. In one boat he visited Coney Island, and sent another, containing five men, on an exploring expedition Northward. These men passed through the Narrows, coasted along Staten Island, and penetrated some distance into the Kills. On their return they suddenly encountered two large canoes, contain- ing twenty-six Indians, who, in their alarm, discharged a shower of arrows at the strangers, and killed one man, an Englishman, named John Coleman, by shooting him in the neck. Both parties became frightened, and pulled away from each other with all their strength. Coleman's body was taken to Sandy Hook, and there interred, and the place was called "Coleman's Point." The discovery of a northwest passage to the East Indies had, for a long time, been an object of great interest to the merchants of Europe, and in 1607 Hudson was sent to ascer- tain its practicability. He penetrated as far north as eighty- two dfegrees, discovered Spitzbergen and part of Grreenland, and, encountering an impenetrable barrier of ice, he returned to England. The next year, 1608, another expedition was fitted out by the same parties, and the command again entrusted to Hud- son. This also proved a failure, as far as its principal object was concerned. The English' company having declined to make another experiment, Hudson entered into the service of the Dutch East India Company, and was sent out in the Half Moon to renew the attempt. He sailed from Amsterdam on ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 3 the fourth day of April, 1609, and once more directed his course for the northern seas. Again the ice presented an in- superable barrier, and he was obliged to abandon the object of his search. In the hope of discovering something to in- demnify his employers for the expenses of the voyage, he sailed for the Continent of America, and arrived in the vicinity of Newfoundland in the month of July. Thence he followed the coast until he reached Virginia, which it appears he recognized as belonging to the English, and knowing that all south of that had been appropriated by Spain, he turned about and sailed northward again, until the third day of Sep- tember, when he saw the highlands of Neversink, and, as we have already narrated, anchored within Sandy Hook. Notwithstanding the mishap, as the death of Coleman was regarded, the natives proved to be friendly, and freely bartered with the strangers such articles as they had to dis- pose of, such as tobacco, maize, wild fruits, etc. Hudson remained at anchor until the eleventh, when he sailed through the Narrows, and anchored in the mouth of the great river which now bears his name. On the thirteenth he again weighed anchor, and proceeded to explore the beautiful stream upon whose bosom he was floating ; he was eleven days in ascending as far as the site of Albany, and as many more in descending. Before starting, he had had considerable Intercourse with the natives, but had always prudently kept himself and his men prepared for any emergency, and though the natives frequently came on board armed, they made no hostile demonstrations ; Hudson, however, detained two of the Staten Island Indians as hostages, and took them with him on the voyage up the river, as far as the site of West Point, where they escaped by jumping overboard and swim- ming to the shore. On his way he encountered many of the Indians, who, though they manifested a friendly disposition, were nevertheless suspected of entertaining hostile intentions, and it was supposed that the dread with which they regarded the arms of their visitors alone restrained them. On his return down the river, while lying at anchor off 4 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Stoney Point, numerous canoes from both sides surrounded the ship, from one of which an Indian entered the cabin by climbing through a stern window, from which he stole sev- eral articles of clothing. As he left the ship with his plun- der, the mate detected him and shot him, killing him in- stantly. This was the first blood shed by the whites. When the ship's boat was sent to recover the stolen articles, one Indian, who appeared to possess more courage than his fellows, while swimming, laid hold of the boat, apparently for the purpose of overturning it, but a sailor, with a single blow of his sword, cut off his hands, and he was drowned. It was supposed that the two Staten Island savages who had escaped at West Point, on their way down the river, had alarmed the several tribes, so that when the ship arrived at the upper end of Manhattan Island, it was met by a large fleet of canoes filled with armed savages, who discharged their arrows, but fortunately without doing any serious injury. A cannon was twice discharged at them, killing some of them, and tearing their canoes to pieces, the sailors meanwhile firing at them with small arms. The result of this engage- ment was that nine Indians were killed, and many more wounded, while the whites had sustained no inj ary whatever. Having escaped all the perils which surrounded him, Hudson put to sea on the fourth day of October, having spent a month in his explorations. The chronicler of this voyage of Hudson, Robert Juet,* says: "1609, Sept. 6. Our master sent John Coleman with four men to sound the river four leagues distant, which they did, but in their return to the ship they were set upon by Indians in two canoes, to the number of 26 ; in which affair John Coleman was killed by an arrow shot into his throat, and two others were wounded. The next day Coleman was buried on a point of land which to this day bears his name. " Sept. 8. The people came on board us, and brought * Vide App. N. (2.) AJSrWALS OF STATEN" ISLAND. 5 tobacco and Indian wheat to exchange for knives and beads, and offered us no violence. So we, fitting up our boat, did mark them to see if they would make any show of the death of our man, but they did not. ' ' Sept. 9. In the morning two great canoes came on board full of men ; one with bows and arrows, and the other in show of buying knives, to betray us, but we perceived their intention. We took two of them, to have kept them, and put red coats on them, and would not suffer the others to come near us, and soon after the canoes leave them. Im- mediately two other natives came on board us ; one we took and let the other go, but he soon escaped by jumping over- board. " Sept. 11. The ship had now anchored a considerable distance up the river. The people of the country came on board, making show of love, and gave us tobacco and Indian wheat. "Sept. 12. This morning there came eight and twenty canoes full of men, women and children to betray us, but we saw their intent and suffered none of them to come on board. They have great tobacco pipes of yellow copper and pots of earth to dress their meat in. "Sept. 15. Sailed twenty leagues further up the river, passing by high mountains. This morning the two captive savages got out of a part of the ship and made their escape. " Sept. 18. The master's mate went on shore with an old Indian, a sachem of the country, who took him to his house and treated him kindly. "Oct. 1. The ship having fallen down the river seven miles below the mountains, comes to anchor. One man in a canoe kept hanging under the stern of the ship, and would not be driven off. He soon contrived to climb up by the rudder, and got into the cabin window, which had been left open, from which he stole a pillow, two shirts and two bandoleers. The mate shot him in the breast, and killed him. Many others were in canoes about the ship, who immediately fled, and some jumped overboard. A boat manned from the 6 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ship pursued them, and coining up with one in the water, he laid hold of the side of the boat and endeavored to overset it j at which one in the boat cut off his hands with a sword, and he was drowned. "Oct. 2. Fell down seven leagues further, and anchored again. Then came one of the savages that swam away from us at our going up the river, with many others, thinking to betray us, but we suffered none of them to enter our ship. Whereupon two canoes of men with their bows and arrows shot at us after our stern ; in a recompense whereof, we dis- charged six muskets and killed two or three of them. Thea above an hundred of them came to a point of land to shoot at us. There I shot a falcon at them, and killed two of them ; whereupon the rest fled into the woods. Yet they manned off another canoe with nine or ten men, which came to meet us ; so I shot at it also a falcon, and shot it through and killed one of them. Then our men with their muskets killed three or four more of them." The Indians dwelling upon Staten Island at the time of its discovery were the Raritans, a branch of the great nation of Delawares or Leni-Lenapes. From indications found in various localities, such as large collections of shells and bones, if is evident that they dwelt on or near the shores of the island, where fish, scale and shell, were easily procur- able ; this is also confirmed by the fact that their burial places have been found in the same vicinity, neither of these indica- ations of human habitation having been found in the interior. Stone hatchets and stone arrow-heads, springs rudely built up with stone walls, have been found at no great distance from the shores ; one of the latter may still be seen a short distance northeast of the Fresh Pond, or Silver Lake in Castleton, and is known by the name of the Logan Spring. The interior of the island was their hunting ground, where deer, bears and other animals of the chase were found. The shores also afforded an abundant supply of water fowls, and thus, all their resources considered, the Indians were well supplied by nature with the necessaries of life. In addition ANKALS OF STATEW ISLAND. 7 to these, they had wild berries and fruits, and maize, beans, tobacco, and other articles of th«ir own cultivation. The proximity of the island to the mainland, enabled them to extend their hunting expeditions indefinitely. The wild animals which were found on the neighboring continent, were also found here, but they, as well as their human contempo- raries, have gradually retired or perished as civilization ad- vanced. Forty years ago, an occasional fox might be detect- ed prowling through the bushes, but now nothing but the timid rabbit, of aU the quadrupeds which once roamed over the hills and through the valleys, is left. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CHAPTEE II. Name-Dimensions— Surface— Climate— Geology— Tlie Fur Trade— The First English Claim— The Dutch take Possession— The Brownists. Theee is no evidence that Hudson ever circumnavigated the island, but that he satisfied himself of its insular charac- ter, is evident from the name he bestowed upon it ; he called it "Staaten Eylant," the island of the States— that is, the States General, under whose flag he was sailing. , To the aborigines it was known as " Aquehonga Manacknong," and in some old documents it is called "Egquahous," another Indian name which is said to signify ' ' the place of bad woods." The form of the island is that of an irregular triangle. The longest line which can be drawn through it, from the shores of the bay at New Brighton to the extremity of Ward's Point, is a few feet over thirteen and a half miles in length ; the longest line which can be drawn across it, from the shore of the Sound near Buckwheat Island, to the shore at the light- house near the Narrows, is about two hundred feet over seven and three-fourth miles in length. The surface of the island is diversified ; there is a high ridge commencing at TompkinsvUle, and running southwesterly to the Fresh Kills, in the vicinity of Richmond, the highest point of which is at the intersection of the Toad Hill road and Ocean Terrace, and which is the summit of the Island ; a branch of this ridge terming ting near the Black Horse Corner, is distinguished by the local, and by no means euphonious name of "Toad Hill." To the southeast of this ridge is a level, and probably alluvial, tract of country composed of upland and salt meadow, extending to the ocean. The soil of this upland is of excellent quality, and some of the best farms in the county are located here. To the northwest of ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 9 this ridge the surface is undulating, gradually declining to level upland and saline meadows. Almost every farm in the county is furnished with several acres of this meadow, from which large quantities of salt grass are taken annually. The soil of the island generally may be considered fertile — in some places unusually so — though in consequence of more than two centuries of cultivation it has become partially exhausted, and requires fertilizing. The island is well watered with springs, some of them very copious, and all of them affording water of excellent quality ; these are the sources of numer- ous rivulets and brooks which irrigate the surface in all direc- tions. Ex(iepting the salt meadows, the whole island was originally covered with dense forests, which have long since disappeared ; in most places the woods now growing, occupy lands which were once cultivated. The climate of the Island has long been celebrated for its salubrity, except for affections of the lungs and throat. There are few localities on the continent where the number of instances of extreme longevity in proportion to the popu- lation can be equaled, many of them being more than centenarians. Staten Island is based upon, primitive rock, which rises near its centre into a ridge, running longitudinally through it, with a breadth of from one to two miles. Boulders of green-stone, sand-stone, gneiss, granite, etc., appear in some sections sparingly, but in the northeast part of the Island, in considerable abundance. Steatite, containing veins of talc, amianthus and alabaster covers the granite of the ridge ; this approaches in many places within one and a half feet of the surface. Brown hematitic iron ore, of a superior quality, is abundant, as well as granular oxide of iron. Chalcedony, jasper, lignite, crystalized pyrites, asbestos, dolomite, brucite, gurhofite, and serpentine, are the other principal minerals. The climate of Holland and other countries of Europe, rendered furs indispensable to their inhabitants ; hitherto 10 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. these had been obtained chiefly from Russia, and at great expense. The Dutch had discovered that there were furs in the countries newly discovered, which were easily procurable in exchange for articles of extremely trifling value ; the temptation to engage in a traffic so exceedingly profitable, was too strong to be resisted by a people so prompt to pro- mote their own interests. Accordingly, in 1611, a vessel was dispatched to the Manhattans as an experiment, and so successful was this venture, that a spirit of commercial enterprise was at once awakened. Two more vessels, the Little Fox and the Little Crane, were licensed, and under the pretence of looking for the Northwest Passage, sailed direct for the newly-discovered river. This was in the spring of 1613. Having arrived, the traders erected one or two small forts for the protection, of the trade on the river. The posi- tion of the island of Manhattan for commercial purposes was so favorable as to strike the Europeans at once, and the traders who had scattered in various directions made that island their head-quarters. Hendrick Cortiansen was the superintendent of the business, and with his small craft penetrated every bay or stream where Indians were to be found, in pursuit of furs. In the autumn of this year, an Englishman, known in colonial history as Captain Argal, a resident of Virginia, touched at the island of Manhattan, to look after a grant of land which he claimed to have received from the Virginia Company, and, it is said, compelled Cortiansen to submit to the English authorities, and to pay tribute in token thereof. When the merchants in Holland who were interested in the fur trade heard of the pretensions of the English, they at once adopted such measures as they deemed necessary to secure both the trade and the country to themselves. They petitioned the States- General for protection and relief, and on the 27th of March, 1614, an octroy or ordinance was issued, granting them the privilege of making six voyages for the purpose of discovering new countries and seas, and trading to them. This octroy awakened the enthusiasm of adven- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 11 turers, and five ships, viz. the Nightingale, the Little Fox, the Tiger, the Fortune of Amsterdam, and the Fortune of Hoorn, were sent out. Among the commanders of these vessels were Adrian Block and Cornells Jacobson Mey, the former of whom gave his name to an island, and the latter to a cape on the American coast, wMch they still retain. Block had the misfortune to lose kis ship by fire, but he immediately built a small vessel, with which he penetrated into the unknown waters eastward ; he passed through and named the Hellegat, after a river in Flanders, then continuing his course with Metoae or Sewanhacky, now Long Island ; on his right, he sailed along the shores of the continent, discovered the Housatonic and Connecticut rivers ; the latter he named the Fresh river, and finally discovered the open ocean, thus for the first time demonstrating the insular character of the land on the south of his course ; to one of the smaller islands east of Long Island he gave his own name. Continuing his voyage along the coast, he discovered and examined Narra- gansett Bay, which he called Nassau Bay, and thence to Cape Cod, which Hudson had already discovered and named New Holland, and here he found Cortiansen' s ship. While Block was thus examining the north side of Long Island, Mey was similarly employed on its south side, until he also reached its end, when he stood towards the south and entered Delaware Bay, giving his own name to one of its capes, and calling the opposite cape Hindlopen, from a town, in Holland. When the intelligence of these discoveries reached the pro- jectors of the several voyages, at home, steps were imme- diately taken by them to secure to themselves the benefits of their enterprise and perseverance. All the country lying between the 40th and 45th, degrees of North latitude was called "New Netherland." Exclusive privileges to trade to these countries for a limited period were given to them. A trading house was at once erected on an island in the Hudson, near the present site of Albany, and the country on both sides of tke river thoroughly explored in quest of furs ; and by the time of the expiration of the grant, which was at the 12 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. close of 1617, some of tlie merchants engaged in the trade had realized immense fortunes therefrom. The charter having expired, the trade of New JSTetherland was thrown open, and adventurers from all parts of the fatlierland eagerly enlisted therein ; the former traders, how- ever, held on to the advantages they had gained by their prior occupancy. Thus it will be seen that the first Europeans who visited this part of the Continent, came for the purpose of trading, not of settling permanently, but having become favorably impressed with the soil and climate of the country, they began to entertain the idea of making it the place of their future abode, and to devote to agriculture that part of the season when furs were not obtainable. During the reign of Elizabeth, certain religionists who had renounced the commnniou of the established church, had formed themselves into a separate organization under the pastoral care of Richard Brown, from whom they were called " Brownists ;" these became the objects of the intolerance of the hierarchy, and the several enactments enforced against them drove them from their homes and country to Holland, as the only refuge in which they might enjoy their religious opinions undisturbed. But they left a seed behind which eventually germinated and fructified, and in turn became the objects both of clerical and regal persecution. These also were compelled to flee to Holland, where they settled in several towns. Those who took up their residence at Leyden were under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Robinson, and after a protracted residence, applied to the States-Greneral for permission to settle on Manhattan Island. The company of traders whose ships were employed in traversing the ocean, and carrying to the old world the wealth of the new, at once perceived the benefits which would result, not only to both countries, but to themselves individually from such an ar- rangement, seconded the application with great earnestness. But the government, though not averse to the scheme, had matters of infinitely more importance at that juncture to en- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 13 gage their attention. The twelve years' truce which had been arranged between the United Provinces and Spain, was about to expire, and the latter power had already required the former to return to their allegiance. This demand having been indignantly rejected, preparations were made for a re- newal of hostilities, and therefore the vessels of war, and the armed protection which the petitioners had requested, was refused. This decision changed the destinies of the emigrants, who subsequently settled on the bleak shores of New Eng- land. Different commercial associations had been formed among the Dutch themselves, whose several interests began to interfere with each other, and this led to bickerings and disputes, all of which were finally set at rest by the chartering of the "Dutch West India Company," which absorbed all private interests, and became the controllers of all matters relating to the New Netherlands. 14 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CHAPTER III. The West India Company— Englisli Claims— Arrival of Settlers— First Settle- ment on Staten Island— At the Wallahout— Birth of the First Child- Purchase of Manhattan Island— The Patroons — Communipaw — De Vries' Grant— Melyn's Patent —Staten Island Massacre and its Consequences — Still, etc., upon the Island — Indian Murders and Murder of Indians. The powers and privileges ot the West India Company were not coniined to the narrow limits of the New Nether- lands ; they embraced the whole range of the American coast, from the Horn to the Arctic Sea, and on the west coast of Africa from the Hope to the Tropic of Cancer, not pre- viously occupied by other nations. On the American coast settlements had been made by the French at Canada, by the English at Virginia, and by the Spaniards at Florida. The preparations made by the directors of the newly chartered company to improve the privileges granted to them, attracted, in England, the attention of the government, and a strong re- monstrance was sent to Holland, insisting that all the territory claimed by the Dutch was embra ced in the charter of Vir- ginia, and therefore was under the jurisdiction of England. The matter was from time to time brought before the author- ities of both countries, and the discussion protracted by the Dutch for the purpose of gaining time, that the preparations of the new company might be completed. The country was organized into a province, a few settlers were sent out, and a form of government was established, with Peter Minuit at its head as Director ; this was in the year 1624. In the same year, and probably in the same ship with Minuit, a number of Walloons arrived and settled upon Staten Island ; this is the first settlement on the Island of which we have any knowledge. These people came from the country bordering on the river Scheldt and Flanders ; they professed the re- formed religion, and spoke . the old French, or Gallic Ian- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 15 guage ; they were good soldiers, and had done efficient ser- vice in the thirty years' war. Two years before their arrival here, they had applied to Sir Dudley Carle ton, for permission to emigrate to some part of Virginia, upon condition that they might build a town of their own, and be governed by officers chosen by and from among themselves. This appli- cation was referred to the Virginia Company, and met with a favorable response so far as the mere settlement was concerned, but the privilege to elect their own officers was too long a step toward popular freedom, and could not be conceded ; the permission to settle upon the Company' s land was fettered with so many conditions affecting their civil and religious liberty, that they declined to entertain it, and turned their attention to the New Netherlands, where so many arbitrary conditions were not insisted upon. On their arrival here, they appear to have abandoned the idea of settling in a single community, for they separated and went in different direc- tions, a few families, as we have said, taking up their abode on Staten Island. The precise spot of their settlement cannot now be ascertained, but wherever it was, they did not occupy it long ; annoyed by the constant intrusions of the Indians, and apprehensive that in the event of difficulty with them, they were too remote from assistance, in the following year, 1625, they removed to Long Island, and settled at what is now known as the Wallabout, a name supposed to have been de- rived from them. The name of only one of these Walloons has been preserved, that of Greorge Jansen de Rapelje, who, on the 6th or 9th of June of that year, became the father of a daughter who was the first child of European parents born in the colony.* Some of our local annalists have claimed that the birth of this child took place before the removal to Long Island, but this is a claim which cannot be sustained. The father of this child was the progenitor of the respectable family of that name on Long Island. Having determined to colonize the country, and the per- mission of the government having been obtained, the West * Vide App. N. (3.) 16 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. India Company proceeded, to extinguish the Indian title by purchase. They repudiated the principle involved in the adage, "Macht maakt recht,"* and entered into negotiations for securing title to the whole of Manhattan Island ; this was accomplished during the year 1626, for articles the value of which was about twenty-four dollars. They have been charged with imposing upon the simplicity of the natives, and taking an undue advantage of their ignorance, but it must be remembered that at that time the island was a mass of rocks, swamps and dense forests, unavailable for even the purpose of a residence without great labor and expense ; that the Indiana were content with their bargain, is evident from the fact that they never after attempted to re -sell it, as they did Staten Island and several other places. The first great landed proprietors in New ISTetherland were called " Patroons ;" they were Samuel Godyn, Samuel Bloe- mart, Killian Van Eensselaer and Michael Pauw. The two first named settled in Delaware. Van Rensselaer obtained a patent for a large tract on the Hudson in the vicinity of Albany and Troy, and Pauw became the proprietor of all the country extending from Hoboken southward along the bay and Staten Island Sound, then called Achter KuU, now corrupted into Arthur KuU, including Staten Island ; this gra,nt was made to him by the Directors in 1630. At the same time the country was purchased from the natives for "certain cargoes or parcels of goods," and called Pavonia. The name of this proprietor still attaches to a part of his possessions in the locality known as Communi- paw— the Commune of Pauw— which has usually been sup- posed to be a name of Indian origin. It is to be mentioned to the credit of the Company, that they made it a condition in the patents which they granted, that the recipients should extinguish the Indian title by direct purchase, and this was exacted in every instance. f The consideration paid to the natives was not money, which would have been useless to * IWd (4.) Vide App. N. (5.) ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 17 them, but cloths of various kinds, culinary utensils, orna- ments, etc., but not fire-arms. The value of the articles paid for the fee of the Island paried at different times, for the Indians sold it repeatedly. Pauw's acquisition was not of much benefi.t to him ; it is not known that he made any effort to colonize it, or that he ever cleared a rood of it, for very soon after acquiring it, difficul- ties arose between him and the Directors, and he disposed of his territorial rights on the Island and on the Continent to his associate Directors for the sum of 26,000 guilders. He was a man of consequence in his own country ; he was one of the Lord Directors of the Company, and among their names we find his set down as the Lord of Achtienhoven. In 1630, or soon thereafter, David Pietersen De Vries obtained a grant for a part of the Island, and began to make settlements upon it, but the precise locality is not known ; it is supposed, however, to have been at or near Old Town, (Oude Dorp). The dwellings of the settlers, on their arrival, were generally constructed as speedily as possible, that their families might be sheltered. Excavations for this purpose were generally made in the side of a hill, or other con- venient spot, and lined and roofed with rude planks, split out of the trees ; sometimes the roofs were covered with several layers of bark ; these were only meant for temporary dwelling places, until better ones could be provided. De Vries was a literary man, and author of a historical work. There is no evidence that he resided upon the Island permanently ; the settlers, however, who were introduced by him, prospered for a time, and until their boaweries or farms were desolated by the savages, as we shall see hereafter. Peter Minuit having been recalled, in 1633 Wouter Van TwUler was appointed in his stead. The change, on the whole, was not beneficial to the colony. Minuit' s faults, whatever they might have been, were succeeded by the new Director' s vices, among which inebriety was not the least. The appoint- ment was a sad mistake on the part of the XIX, and though it took nearly five years to convince them of the fact, yet when 18 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. once convinced, they took prompt measures to repair their error by removing him. There is no historical evidence, that we have been able to discover, that Van Twiller ever set foot upon Staten Island during his administration, or that a single event occurred in connection with the Island, except the actual bickerings and disputes with the Raritans, as well as with other Indians. Notwithstanding, he appears to have had a predi- lection for islands, for when he perceived indications of the approaching termination of his administration, he hastened to secure to himself the possession of the island called by the Indians Pagganck, which subsequently became known as Nutten Island, and later still as Grovernor's Island, then esti- mated to contain 160 acres of land ; and two other islands in the Hallegat, the one called Tenkenas, containing 200 acres, and the other called Minnahanock, containing 120 acres. He secured these islands by private purchase from the Indians. The wisest act of Van Twiller' s administration was an advan- tageous peace he concluded with the Raritans, the Indians inhabiting Staten Island and the adjoining shores of the con- tinent ; this was in 1634. During this year came over Jan Evertsen Bout and his wife Tryntje Simonz de Witt ; he after- wards became a man of considerable note in the colony, and in 1638 purchased a farm and settled upon it ; this was the first settlement in the town of Bergen, N. J. In 1639, Cornelis Melyn, of Antwerp, sailed for America ; he is known in the Dutch history of the colony as the patroon of Staten Island. He was a wealthy man, and accompanied by several of his own class. He had obtained from the Direc- tors in Holland authority to take possession of Staten Island, and have it settled, but on the passage his vessel was cap- tured by the "Dunkirkers" or French, by which he lost all, or nearly all his property. Early in 1641 he applied to the Directors for a passage for himself and family, which was granted, and in August of that year he arrived at New Am- sterdam. He came over in a ship called the Eyckenboom, (oak tree), and brought with him a small quantity of goods for the Indian trade. On the 19th of June, 1642, he received ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 19 a patent for so mucli of Staten Island as was not already occupied by the farms or bouweries of De Vries. In the spring of 1640, some parties, on their way from New Amsterdam to South river, Delaware, stopped at Staten Island to take in water, and while there stole some hogs from the settlers on De Vries' bouv/eries. The Indians residing on the Raritan, and who had manifested a hostile disposition, were at once charged with this theft, which from the scarcity and value of the animals was regarded as a serious offence. Kieft, the director of the province of New Netherland, who had been appointed to succeed Minuit, appears to have been an indis- creet and imprudent man, and eminently possessed of the Dutch attributes of obstinacy and self-will. He at once charged the Indians with the theft, and resolved to punish them severely. He sent his secretary, Vantienhoven, and seventy men, some of whom were sailors from the ship Neptune, Capt. Hendrick Grerritsen, and some of them soldiers from the stockade or fort, with instructions to invade the Indian country, capture as many of the natives as they could, and destroy their crops. When the party reached their destination, they became insubordinate, and the secretary lost all control over them ; they declared their intention to kill every Indian they could find, and though reminded that that would be exceeding their instructions, they persisted in their resolution, and the secretary becoming disgusted with their conduct, left them. Several of the unfortunate savages were killed, and the chief s brother was barbarously butchered after he had been made a prisoner, by one of the party named Govert Loockermans. Their crops were destroyed, their wigwams burned, and other outrages perpetrated. Having done all the mischief in their power, the whites re- tired, leaving one of their number, the supercargo of the Neptune, named Ross, dead on the field. During the same year, 1640, the director erected a still upon Staten Island, and put it in charge of Willem Hendrick- sen, and thus our Island obtained the unenviable honor of being the place where spirits were first manufactured, not only 20 ANKALS OF STATEN ISLAND. in the province, but probably in America. Kieft also com- menced the manufacture of buckskin on the Island, about the same time. In September of the same year, the director and council caused a staff to be erected at the Narrows, that by the hoisting of a flag the a.pproach of a ship might be telegraphed to New Amsterdam ; this was the first marine telegraph in the harbor of New York. The Indians, goaded to desperation, not only by the un- justifiable destruction of their crops, and slaughter of their brethren, but by a long continued course of frauds practised upon them by unscrupulous men, who first intoxicated and then cheated them in bargaining with them, resolved upon revenge. One of their first acts was to invade Staten Island, where they attacked De Vries' bouwerie, killed four men, and burned two of his houses. This was in 1641. Not long before, a young Indian, smarting under a sense of wrong, vowed to kill the first Dutchman who crossed his path, and he kept his vow. Kieft, forgetting that himself was the instigator of all these outrages, announced his inten- tion of taking summary vengeance upon the savages. It was in vain that the prominent men of the colony counselled moderation — in vain that they represented to him that his course would be adding fuel to the fire — he replied to aU their remonstrances that the law was "blood for blood," and he meant to have it ; he recognized the applicability of the law to the whites, but not to the savages. His anger was chiefly directed to the Raritans, and he entered into an agreement with some of the river Indians to assist him in annihilating that tribe ; to excite their blood-thirsty disposi- tions, he offered ten fathoms of wampum for the head of a Raritan, and twenty fathoms for the head of every Indian engaged in the murders upon Staten Island. At this time he built a small redoubt upon the Island. In the meanwhile, the Indians upon Long Island began to manifest a hostile disposition, and Kieft found himself in- volved in new troubles. It was evident from some of his measures that he began to regret his precipitancy, and if ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 21 nothing else had occurred to irritate him anew, he might have consented to forget the past, and to " bury the hatchet," but just at this juncture some traders happened to meet an Indian of the Hakensack tribe, who was clothed in a dress of valuable beaver skins ; him they made drunk, and then robbed. On recovering his senses, the savage vowed to shoot the first Swannakin (white man) whom he should meet ; he did that, and more ; an Englishman, who was a servant of De Vries on Staten Island, was met by him and killed, and shortly after a man named Van Vorst, while engaged in re- pairing a house in the vicinity of Newark bay, met the same fate. Apprehensive of further trouble, a deputation of chiefs of some of the neighboring tribes, waited upon the Director, whom they found greatly excited, and not disposed to reason with them. He informed them that the only way to keep peace was to surrender the murderer. " We cannot do that," they replied, "because he has fled, and is out of our reach." They offered to make compensation for the crime, according to the customs of their people ; nothing, however, could propitiate Kieft but the possession of the murderer. The Indians represented to him, that it was not they who committed the murders, but the white men' s rum ; "keep that away from the Indians," said they, "and there will be no more murders ;' ' but Kieft was inexorable — he was resolved upon war, unless they surrendered the murderer, who was as far out of their reach as out of his. An event now occurred which gave a new direction to Kieft' s purposes. A band of Mohawks, the terror of all the neighboring tribes, made a descent upon some of the villages of the river Indians, who fled to Manhattan Island to seek the protection of the Dutch. They were hospitably received and protected by them for a fortnight. Half dead with cold* and hunger, they were objects of commiseration ; even Kieft appeared to have some sympathy for their wretchedness. Here was an opportunity for reconciling all difficulties and effecting a permanent peace ; but an evil Vide App. N. (6.) 22 AKNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. spirit was abroad in the land ; people began to talk about the final disposition of these refugees ; they were divided in opinion ; the Indians became aware that they had en- emies even among those who had afforded them temporary shelter, and they fled the second time, scattering themselves in various directions, and seeking shelter and protection among the neighboring tribes. Van Tienhoven and his asso- ciates, some of whom were members of the Council, sought permission to pursue and kill the fugitives, while De Vries, Domine Bogardus and their associates, recommended concilia- tory measures and Christian forbearance. Kieft was in a dilemma, but the secretary, taking advantage of the Direc- tor' s inebriety, presented to him a commission ready, drawn, and plied him with such arguments as a drunken man would be likely to appreciate, succeeded in obtaining his signature. In the dead of the night of the 25th of February, 1643, two companies left the fort on their errand of death — one commanded by Maryn Adriaensen, a man infamous for his bloody deeds, the other by sergeant Rodolph. Both compa- nies were impiously committed to the guidance and protec- tion of Heaven. They went in different directions, but as their proceedings are in no way connected with the task in hand, it must suffice to say that they both accomplished their bloody purposes ; the savages were found buried in slumber, and were ruthlessly murdered without discrimina- tion. Over one hundred of them were sacrificed under the most appalling circumstances of barbarity. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 23 CHAPTER IV. Long Island Indians — Roger Williams — Expedition against tlie Staten Island Indians — Searches for the Precious , Metals— Toad Hill Iron Mine— Misgov- ernmeut of the Directors — Bogardus and De Vries — Their policy — Decline of the Fur Trade — Kieft recalled— His Death — The several Sales of Staten Island. New troubles now arose with the Long Island Indians. Thns far they had remained quiet, but the Dutch, with an in- fatuation utterly unaccountable, suffered no opportunities to pass to excite them to deeds of violence. Matters were be- coming worse daily, and an outbreak of Indian fury could not have been suppressed much longer, when, through the unremitting assiduity of the philanthropic Roger Williams, a meeting between Kieft and several Indian sachems took place at Rockaway on the 25th of March, and a reconciliation was effected. The peace thus concluded was of short duration. The Indi- ans continued to commit depredations upon the property of the settlers, and especially was this the case upon Staten Island. Many of them still held their residence there, and could not resist the temptation to appropriate the products of the agricultural skill and labor of their white neighbors, which were so much superior in quantity, quality and variety to their own. Remonstrances had proved ineffectual, and it became necessary to adopt severer measures. In addition to this, the Raritans, who were the offending tribe, had interrupted the communication between the two shores of the river at New Amsterdam, and it had become perilous to attempt to land on the west shore. Early in 1644 an expedition against the Staten Island Indians was organized. It Consisted of forty burghers under Joachim Pietersen Kuyter ; thirty-five Eng- lishmen under Lieutenant Baxter, and several soldiers from the fort under Sergeant Peter Cock, the whole being under the command of Counsellor La Montague. They embarked 24 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. after dark, and at a late hour landed upon the Island. Thej marched all night, and when the morning dawned, had ar rived at the place where they expected to find the Indians but there were none there. Secretly as the whole enterprisi had been conducted, the savages had discovered it and es caped. The troops, after burning the village, returned, tak ing with them over five hundred schepels of corn. Notwithstanding the successful trade which had been car ried on in peltries, and the large amounts which had beei realized therefrom, the several successive directors, th( patroons, and even the company at home, had men employee in the search after the precious metals ; the discovery of one or two places which yielded a substance supposed to b( silver, created considerable excitement. The Indians pos sessed a peculiar substance with which they painted theii faces on important occasions, and the Director, having obtained a specimen of it, submitted it to the test of th( crucible, and the result was iron pyrites, though he called i gold. An expedition was sent to the Neversink mountain! to procure a quantity of a certain metal to be found there which, together with specimens from various other places, wer( shipped for Holland, but the ship foundered at sea. Ai expedition was also sent to Staten Island to examine the iroi mine there ; this was the mine on Toad Hill, in the vicinity of the Moravian Church. The hill was then known as th( Iron Hill, and is alluded to by that name in some of the earliest conveyances recorded in the country, and especially in the patent of Governor Dongan to John Palmer. So im portant was this mine considered, that the Company a Amsterdam in 1645 proposed to send a qualified person t( examine it. It was worked to some extent at a very earb period. The history of New Netherlands under the early Dutc] Directors, or Governors, consists of little else than a histor of the outrages committed by the whites and savages upoi * Vide App. N. (7.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 25 each other, the former being in most instances, directly or indirectly, the aggressors. They were also the principal sufferers, because, though they were better armed, they were fewer in number, and had more to lose. They appear to have not remembered that the success of their trading enter- prises depended chiefly upon the friendship of the Indians. The Directors of the Company ' at home were peculiarly unfortunate in their selection of Directors for the colony ; none of them, unless we except the last, Stuyvesant, under- stood the object for which they were sent out ; their chief aim and purpose was to annihilate the neighboring tribes, a measure which at the same time would have annihilated the fur trade also. Prominent among the few who compre- hended the situation, and understood what course of policy would have been best for the colony, was the minister, Dominie Bogardus, 'and De Vries, the patroon of part of Staten Island. They were strongly opposed to the course pursued by the Directors in their dealings with the Indians, and the event showed the ^^isdom of the policy of forbear- ance and conciliation which they recommended. So persist- ent were they in pressing their views, upon the authorities, that they excited their anger, and were charged with a design of ingratiating themselves into the favor of the Indians for selfish purposes, and to the prejudice of the interests of the colony at large. The Indians understood these men and re- cognized them as friends, and when, in one of the raids they made upon the settlers on the Island, they had killed some of De Yries' cattle without knowing to whom they belonged, they expressed their regret for the act, calling him the friead of the Indians. At another time, when a difficulty had occurred with some of the Long Island Indians, and Kieft found himself in a dilemma, he was very desirous of making peace with them, but he could find no ambassador who was wUlihg to trust himself in their power, until De Vries offered to visit them for the purpose. He was hospitably received, and when his mission was explained to them, and they were requested to visit the Director at the fort in New Amsterdam, 26 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. they refused to go until he had pledged himself for their safety. For many years the traffic with the Indians for peltries had been exceedingly profitable, and large fortunes had been secured by many of the traders, but in the course of time, as the articles of the Indian's traffic became scarcer, and the value of the Dutch commodities depreciated in consequence of their abundance, the trade gradually decreased, until at length the cost of sustaining the colony was greater than its revenues, and the West India Company found itself rapidly descending to the verge of bankruptcy. These misfortunes were charged to the incompetency of the colonial Directors, and Kieft came in for a large share of the censure. He was accordingly summoned home in 1647, to give an account of his stewardship. In obedience to this summons he took pass- age in the ship Princess, but was shipwrecked on the coast of Wales, and perished. It has already been said that the Indians were always ready to sell the Island. In 1630 the/ sold it to Michael Pauw ; shortly after they sold a part to David Pietersen De Vries ; in 1641 to Cornells Melyn ; in 1651 to August Heermans ; in 1657 to Baron Van Cappelan, and in 1670 to Governor Love- lace. To this last sale they were obliged to adhere ; there was probably a little more ceremony about it, which rendered the transaction more impressive. It is said that in delivering possession, they presented a sod and a shrub or branch of every kind of tree which grew upon the island, except the ash and elder, some say ash and hickory. In one of these sales, the price was paid in goods as follows : 20 fathoms of cloth, 2 coats, 2 guns, 5 kettles, 10 bars of lead ; 20 handsfull of powder, 400 fathoms of white wampum and 200 of black ; it has been computed by a local annalist* that the price, in cash, was about one mill an acre, or ten acres for one cent ; in this sale was included a large tract in New Jersey.f * Vide App. N. (8.) I Ibid. (9.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 27 CHAPTER V. Appointment, arrival and character of Stuyveaant — His silver leg — Disputes re- specting Boundaries — Disputes between Melyn and Kieft — Melyn's Troubles with Stuyvesant — His sentence, and the reversal thereof — Stuyvesant sum- moned to Holland to answer^Sends his Attorneys — Local troubles — Charges against Stuyvesant by the English — Early condition of the Island. In 1647, Petrus Stuyvesant succeeded William Kieft as Director- General of New Netherland. He is represented as having been a very honest and brave man. He had served his country before as Vice-Director at Curacoa, and in an at- tack on the Portuguese at St. Martin' s, had lost a leg, which loss was supplied by a wooden substitute, bound with silver bands — hence it was said that he had a silver leg. It is also said that he was a man of more than ordinary literary attain- ments. His earliest efforts were directed to conciliate the In- dians, and in this he was so successful that he excited the jealously of the neighboring English colonies, between whom and the Dutch, unpleasant diflEerences with regard to bound- ary lines had for a long time existed. The English pretended to believe that the object of the Dutch governor was to attach the surrounding tribes to himself, for the purpose of inciting them to a general massacre of the English colonists. But Stuyvesant, with a sagacity superior to their own, had another object in view ; he foresaw trouble with England and a prob- able war between that country and his own, and consequently between his colony and its neighbors, in the event of which the assistance of the Indians would have been invaluable if not indispensable. Fortunately, however, Cromwell and the States-General arranged all their difficulties, and the war cloud for the time was dispersed. No harm, however, had been done in conciliating the savages ; indeed, it was Stuy- vesant' s desire and policy to live in peace with all his neigh- bors, civilized or savage. 28 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. During the early years of the new Director's administration, the disputes between him and the governors of the several neighboring colonies, respecting boundaries, jurisdictions and various other matters, assumed proportions which bid fair to become serious, but as they form no part of the history of the Island, we pass them by for matters in which we are more directly interested. During the administration of Kieft, Melyn, the patroon of Staten Island, lived in a state of unremitting hostility with him. Having adopted, in a great measure, the policy of De Vries in the treatment of the Indians, though not as success- fully, he found himself in almost constant collision with Kieft, who was prompt to notice and avenge every act of the savages which he could torture into a hostile demonstration, and thus during the whole five years he controlled the destinies of the colony, his hands were reeking with the blood of hundreds of the natives, shed in collisions usually provoked by himself. De Vries had frequently warned him that Heaven would not permit the blood of so many of these children of nature to be thus causelessly shed without condign punishment — words which, with the ex-Director' s end in view, were prophetic. Kieft continued to reside at New Amsterdam for a short time after he had been superseded, and Melyn improved the opportunity to prefer charges against him. Stuyvesant, though on the whole disposed to deal justly with all men, would brook no direct attack upon the dignity of the Direc- torship, either in his own person or in that of his predecessor, and this was the light in which he chose to regard Melyn' s complaint ; perhaps, too, Kieft had improved ;the opportuni- ties offered by a daily intercourse to prejudice the Director against the patroon in advance ; it is certain, however, that when Melyn' s charges were preferred, they were met by counter-charges from the ex-Director, among which was one that Melyn had said he could get no justice from Kieft ; however true the assertion might have been in that instance, it proved quite true in the present, for after a long inves- tigation, the Attorney-General expressed an opinion that both ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 29 Melyn and Kuyter, who had also been implicated in the charges, ought to suffer death. The Director, however, knowing that his public acts were likely to be reviewed, was unwilling to inflict a pe nalty so severe, yet, though he pro- fessed to coincide with the opinion of the Attorney- General, he was disposed to deal more leniently with them ; he there- fore, with the consent of the majority of the counsel, con- demned Melyn to a banishment of seven years, and a fine of three hundred guilders, * and Kuyter to three years' banish- ment, and a fine of one hundred and fifty guilders. In accordance with this sentence, the defendants were sent to Holland. The attention of the government was immediate- ly called to the manner in which justice was administered in the colony, by an appeal which the banished patroon and his associates had taken on their arrival. An elaborate inves- tigation followed, and the sentence was reversed ; the Direc- tor was also censured, and required to return home and answer for his arbitrary conduct. Melyn, armed with the necessary documents, returned triumphantly to New Am- sterdam, and had the satisfaction of serving them upon the Director in person. The reply was, "I highly respect the authorities of my country, and with all deference I will obey their commands, but I shall appear by attorney, and not iii person." Melyn was not content with a verbal reply, but re- quired one in writing. This, however, was refused. These proceedings on the part of the patroon were far from mol- lifying the Director ; and, as he had proved to be a dan- gerous man to meddle with arbitrarily, he gratified his animosity by acts of hostility to his antagonist' s family. Jacob Loper, the son-in-law of the patroon, who had served under Stuyvesant in the West Indies, applied for permis- sion to make a trading voyage to South Eiver, Delaware, but it was peremptorily refused. The council, however, probably apprehensive of another appeal and reversal, fa- vored the application ; but the Director obstinately refused, and said, "He shall not go." Vide App. N. (10.) 30 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Cornelius Van Tienhoven and Jan Jansen were sent to represent the Director before the authorities at home, but Melyn followed them, resolved that they should take no advantage by reason of his absence. Stuyvesant's repre- sentatives appeared before the tribunal which had cited him, to answer for and defend the acts of their principal. It was not, they said, so much for remonstrating against Kieft's Indian policy, as for disrespectful words and conduct towards his superior officers, that Melyn was punished. Their argu- ments in behalf of their principal do not appear to have had much weight ; the opinion of the court was that Melyn had been seriously injured in his property and person for no crime, and indeed for no cause whatever, except that it might have been a difference of opinion with the Director. In the meantime, the trade of the colony having become unremunerative, the government at home involved in political complications with other powers, and Stuyvesant himself annoyed by the encroachments of his English neighbors on the east and the predatory acts of the savages on all other sides, had no time to devote to private grievances. Melyn' s matters were left in abeyance. The difficulties which sur- rounded the perplexed Director were of no trifling character. He was charged by the English colonists with endeavoring to instigate the Indians to massacre them ; with giving them arms and ammunition for that purpose ; with claiming t;erritory on the , Connecticut river as belonging to the Dutch ; with prohibiting Englishmen from settling on the South, or Dela- ware river, on a like pretence ; with an intention of poisoning and bewitching them, and that, through the assistance of an Indian he had engaged as an " artist," to practice his artupon them, which would have succeeded had not the conjuror been detected and slain; with furnishing the Indians with wild fire and rum ; with instigating the Indians to contemn the English ; and many other charges of an equally serious character. It was evident that the English were seeking an opportunity to quarrel with their Dutch neighbors, and all Stuyvesant's disclaimers, explanations and proofs went for ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 31 nothing ; the charges continued to be iterated and reiterated during the whole term of his administration. We pause here, in the course of our narrative, for a brief space, to take a view of the condition of our Island at this early period. The first dwelling houses erected on the Island, after the removal of the Walloons to Long Island, were in the vicinity of the Narrows, or between that and Old Town, which is so called, probably, from that circumstance, and were not more than five or six in number. There was one, probably, at the extreme south end, and one or two at Fresh Kill. Sub- sequently, in 1661, when the Waldenses arrived, and, after them, the Huguenots, the settlements at Old Town and Fresh Kill received accessions. Before their arrival there were no roads, except, perhaps, foot-paths through the forest, between the two last-mentioned localities ; there was no need of any, for the intercourse of the Islanders was only with New Am- sterdam. After the settlements at Old Town and Fresh Kill had received accessions, intercourse between them became more frequent, and, in due course of time, the road from the one to the other was constructed ; particularly after the Wal- denses had built their church at Stoney Brook, and the Huguenots theirs at Fresh Kill. The houses were built in clusters, or hamlets, for conveni- ence in mutual defence and protection. Tradition says that one of the first dwellings on the Island was situated on the heights at New Brighton, and was constructed of bricks imported from Holland, and occupied, for a time, at least, by a prominent official of the government. If there is any truth in the tradition, the house was, prob- ably, the residence of De Yries, who, feeling secure in the friendship of the Indians, ventured to erect his dwelling in that beautiful, but remote, locality. That the builder's confidence in the Indians was not mispla ced, the same tradition further says that, in 1655, when the great Indian war broke out, and the Island was nearly depopulated, this house, and its occupants, were spared. In the latter part of the last century, and in the beginning of the pres- 32 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ent, all the territory embraced in the first, and most of the second wards of the present Village of New Brighton, constituted farms owned by the families of the Van Bus- kirks, Crocherons, and Vreelands ; these farms extended from the Kills one mile into the country. Abraham Cro- cheron, the owner of one of them, erected a grist mill iu the valley east of Jersey Street, relying for a supply of water upon the spring now known as the Hessian spring ; but, this not proving sufficient, he converted his grist mill into a snuff mill, for which the supply was abundant. About the same time Captain Thomas Lawrence built a distillery on a small wharf which nows forms a part of the present large New Brighton wharf. Long before this part of the Island was patented to any individual, and laid out into farms, and while it was yet covered with the original forests, there was a deep ravine, extending from the spring mentioned above, to the Kills, into which the tide ebbed and flowed, and which, in the days of the Dutch and early English governors, afforded a place of concealment for the smugglers who infested the coast. The face of the country has now become materially changed, by cutting down the hills and filling up the valleys. In process of time, as settlers arrived, they located along the shores, and roads became a necessity ; these at first were constructed along the shores, until at length cross roads for convenience of communication between the several settlements were constructed. Some of these old roads have been closed, but the Clove road is the only original one now left. *Vide App. N. (11.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 33 CHAPTER VI. A "Hard Winter" — Jlelyn's Character — His return to America — Sale of the Ship and Cargo — Van Dincklagen — War between England and Holland — Stuy- vesant's Perplexities— Ferry Rates — John De Decker — Stuyvesant's Proclama- ation against Preachers — Indian War of 1655 — Staten Island ravaged — -Melyn forsakes the Colony — Sells his title to the Island — Waldenses and Huguenots settle on the Island — Dom. Drisius — Defence of Melyn — Kieft's Shipwreck and Death. The winter of 1650 is noted in colonial history for its severity ; the Kills and Sound were frozen ; there was also a great scarcity of provisions, and the people suflEered for every neces- sary of life except fuel ; that alone was abundant. One writer says that it was so cold that the ink froze in the pen as he was writing. There were other winters also remarkable for their severity, which will be noticed hereafter. To return to Melyn. He has been called "an unprincipled adventurer," but we have failed to find anything in his public life in the colony to warrant such a conclusion ; on the con- trary, as a member of the Council he persistently advocated moderate measures in all transactions with the Indians, and in the management of his own aifairs he as persistently in- sisted upon his chartered rights, and adopted only legal measures to defend them. Notwithstanding his successful appeal to the authorities at home — notwithstanding the rever- sal of the sentence imposed upon him by Stuyvesant, and the censure implied in such reversal, as well as the direct citation to appear and answer for Ms arbitrary and illegal proceedings, his persecutions stiU continued. In the Spring, Melyn and some twenty colonists took passage in the ship "New Netherland's Fortune," Captain Adrian Post, the ship and cargo belonging to the Baron Van Capellan. Melyn had no venture of his own in the vessel, but his colonists were supplied with agricultural implements belonging to them- selves. 34 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The passage was one of extraordinary length and more than usually boisterous, and they were obliged to put into Rhode Island for supplies ; they did not reach Manhattan until in the Winter. Making this stop at Rhode Island the occasion for another prosecution, Stuyvesant seized the ship under the pretext that it belonged to Melyn, and caused it and the cargo to be sold. The harassed patroon immediately with- drew to his "colonie" on Staten Island, from whence he was summoned by Stuyvesant to appear, and answer to new charges which had been preferred against him. This sum- mons he positively refused to obey, and a lot of land, with a house upon it, in New Amsterdam, belonging to him, was declared confiscated, and accordingly was sold. Melyn now fortified himself on the Island and established a manorial court. The ship was sold to Thomas Willet, who sent it on a voyage to Virginia, and thence to Holland, where Van Cappelan replevined it, and after a protracted law suit, the West India Company was obliged to pay a large sum in con- sequence of the illegal act of its representative and servant in New Nether land. Among the charges preferred against Melyn were the fol- lowing : that he had distributed arms amongst the Indians, and had endeavored to excite hostile feelings towards the Di- rector among some of the river tribes. When he left Hol- land, the patroon had taken the precaution of furnishing himself with a "safe conduct," as it was called, which was a sort of protection against further aggressions on the part of Stuyvesant ; to this, however, he paid little regard when he had the patroon in his power ; but now that he had proved contumacious by refusing to appear, and putting Mmself into his enemy' s power, the Director scarcely dared venture to ar- rest by force one who was protected by a document of such au- thority ; he therefore affected to be alarmed for his own per- sonal safety, and applied to the Council for protection, who granted him a body guard of four halbidiers, to attend him whenever he went abroad. Van Dincklagen, the Vice-Di- rector, had been instrumental in assisting both Van Cappelan ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 35 and Melyn in promoting the successful settlement of Staten Island ; he therefore fell under the displeasure of the Direct- or, who ordered him to resign, or the council to expel him from their body, but he refused to resign, and defied the Council to expel him, as they had no more power to deprive him of his office than the Director himself, as both held their commissions from the same authority at home. Never- theless, he was arrested and imprisoned in the guard-house, and the counsel who had defended him was forbidden to practice his profession in the colony. After the lapse of several days, the Vice-Director was liberated, and immedi- ately took up his residence with Melyn on Staten Island. These events occurred in 1651. War now broke out be- tween England and the States- General, and Stuyvesant found sufficient occupation to engross his time and atten- tion, in preparing to defend himself against the anticipated troubles with the neighboring English colonies, and the treachery of the English residing under his own government, notwithstanding the oaths of allegiance which they had taken. These latter, when they learned that Crom- well intended to send a fleet to America, for the purpose of subverting the Dutch governments there, entered into cor- respondence with the English colonial authorities, and but for the dilatory proceedings of Massachusetts, something disas- trous might have resulted therefrom ; but the ratification of a peace between the belligerents in April, 1654, and the conse- quent proclamation of the Protector inhibiting all English subjects from acts of hostility to the Dutch, put an end to their designs. A heavy burden was thus taken from the shoulders of Stuyvesant, and "Richard was himself again." He was now at liberty to devote himself to home bickerings, in which his soul appeared to delight. Among these were the Long Island ferry troubles, which sometimes proved to be of serious inconvenience to the people residing on either side of the water. After numerous and protracted discussions, regular rates were finally established, and though not connect- ed with our task, we give a list of them as a curiosity. They 36 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. were as follows : for a wagon and horses, 2 guilders and 10 stnyvers, equal to one dollar ; for a single wagon, € guilders— 80 cents ; a horse or horned beast, J guilder and 10 stuyvers— 60 cents ; for an Indian, male or female, 6 stuyvers— 12 cents ; each other person 3 stuyvers — 6 cents. In the month of April, 1655, arrived Johannes De Decker, a young man of excellent reputation, who had officiated in some public capacity at Schiedam, bringing with him a letter from the Directors of the West India Company, recommend- ing him to the first vacant "honorable office." He came as supercargo of the ship Black Eagle. The Vice-Director, Dyckman, at Fort Orange, having become insane, De Decker was appointed to succeed him, "to preside in Fort Orange and the village of Beaverwyck, in the Court of Justice of the Commissaries, to administer all the affairs of police and justice as circamstances may require, in conformity to the instructions given by the Director-General and Council, and to promote these for the best service of the country and the prosperity of the inhabitants." A responsible situation for a young man and a stranger, but he proved equal to the emergency . Whilst he was discharging these several duties, Stuyvesant issued a proclamation against unauthorized preachers, from whom nothing could be expected but "dis- cord, confusion and disorder in church and state." On the reception of this proclamation, De Decker issued another of a similar character, and rigidly enforced it. This act of the Director, when the knowledge of it reached Holland, was severely rebuked, and he was forbidden thereafter to interfere vdth the free exercise of religion. The next year, 1656, De Decker returned to Holland, where he married, and in 1657 returned to New Netherland. He had acquired a title to 120 acres of land on Staten Island, but probably by reason of some dispute with Stuyvesant, he was dispossessed, and, it is said, banished ; if so, he must either have been recalled, or had his sentence reversed, as in the case of Melyn, for we find him in the colony at the time when the English wrested it from the possession of the Dutch, and acting in the capacity ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 37 of commissioner for arranging the terms of surrender, by Stuyvesanfs own appointment. This Johannes De Decker is regarded as the progenitor of the numerous and respectable families of the Deckers now residing on the Island, and in many other places. He was a man of a most resolute character, with a disposition almost as obstinate as that of Stuyvesant himself, and of respect- able acquirements. During the year 1655, another and more serious calamity be- fell Staten Island than any which had preceded it. Hendrick Van Dyck, former attorney -general at New Amsterdam, on rising one morning, discovered a squaw in his garden stealing peaches ; in a moment of anger he seized his gun and shot her; killing her instantly. Of this rash act, little, if any notice, was taken by the authorities, but the Indians did not overlook it ; immediate measures were taken by them to avenge the outrage. Several of the neighboring tribes united, and early on the morning of the 15th of September sixty -four canoes, containing nineteen hundred savages, suddenly ap- peared before New Amsterdam. They landed and dispersed through the various streets, while many of the people were still asleep. As soon as they were discoverd, an alarm was sounded. The officers of the colony and city, and many of the principal inhabitants, assembled, and the leaders of the savages were requested to meet with them, which they did ; they accounted for their sudden appearance under pretext of searching for some hostile northern Indians, who, they pre- tended they had been informed, were either in the city or its vicinity. After much persuasion they were induced to promise to leave Manhattan Island at sunset, but when evening came they were still there, and manifested no disposition to leave. They became unruly, and the people became excited, and violent acts were committed by both parties ; Van Dyck, the thoughtless author of the trouble, paid the penalty of his rashness by being killed with an arrow, and Paulus Leinder- stein Van Der Grist, one of the city officials, was killed by a blow with an axe. The soldiers in the fort and the city guard 38 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. were called out, and attacked the invaders, driving them back to their canoes. Crossing the river, the savages attacked the settlements there and killed or captured most of the people. Thence they went to Staten Island, which at that time had a population of ninety souls and eleven flourishing bouweries ; twenty -two of the people were killed, and all of the remainder who did not escape were carried away captive, and the bouw- eries were desolated. The Indians continued their ravages three days, during which they killed one hundred whites, . took one hundred and fifty prisoners, and ruined three hun- dred more in their estates. The damages were estimated at two hundred thousand guilders, or about eighty thousand dollars, an enormous sum at that day. The whole country became alarmed, and people from all directions flocked- to New Amsterdam for safety, but even here they were not secure, for the Indians prowled over the Island by day and by night, slaying all within their reach. Stuy vesant, in the meantime, was at South River, Delaware, whither he had gone to remove some Swedish intruders on the Company' s lands ; but as soon as the news of the out- break reached him, he returned and adopted such measures as the exigency seemed to require. Ships in port were stopped, and all on board were impressed into service ; armed men were sent to the surrounding settlements, and the defences of the fort were enlarged and strengthened. The savages, find- ing so many prisoners a burden to them, sent Post, who had been superintendent at Staten Island, and whom they had captured, to negotiate for their ransom. Fourteen prisoners were sent in by one chief, who demanded some ammunition in exchange, which was sent ; then twenty-eight were returned on the same condition, and finally, after a protracted negotia- tion, they were all, or nearly all, set at liberty. Three years after this event, Staten Island had not yet recovered from its effects. Melyn, discouraged by the difiiculties which he was con- stantly doomed to encounter, and despairing of ever coming to terms with Stuyvesant, forsook New Netherland and re- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 39 moved to New Haven, where he took the oath of allegiance. Van Cappalan, however, did what he could to induce the affrighted people to return to their desolated homes, and sent ou,t new colonists. These efforts were made by Van Dinck- lagen, his agent. To avert the probability of another attack, he negotiated another purchase of the Island from the Indians, and made a treaty with them. These proceedings on his part were disapproved by the Directors of the Company at home, who insisted that all settlers' titles should come through them ; Stuyvesant was therefore directed to declare the late purchase void, to secure the Indian title for the Company, and then to convey to Van CappelaJi what land he might re- quire. In 1661 Melyn returned to Holland, and in consideration of fifteen hundred guilders (six hundred dollars), conveyed all his interest in Staten Island to the West India Company ; he was also granted an amnesty for all offences which had been charged upon him by either Stuyvesant or his predecessor. Van Cappelan being dead, the Company also purchased all the title he had to any part of the Island during his life- time, and thus became the possessors of the whole of it. Soon thereafter the Company made grants of land to several French Waldenses, and a still greater number of Huguenots from Rochelle, the descendants of whom are still residents here, and in a few instances still occupying the identical grants made to their ancestors. About a dozen families commenced a settlement south pf the Narrows. In 1663 they built a block-house as a defence against the Indians, and placed within it a garrison of ten men, and armed it with two small cannons. At the request of these settlers, Dominie Drisius, of New Amsterdam, visited them every two months and preached to them in French, performing also the other func- tions of his calling. Rev. Samuel Drisius was sent to Amer- ica by the Classis of Amsterdam, in 1654, at the request of the people, who desired a minister who could preach to them either in Dutch or French, which he was able to do. On his arrival at New Amsterdem he was at once installed as the 40 ANJSTALS OF STATEN ISLAND. colleague of the Rev. Johannes Megapolensis, who had re- sided in the country since 1642. Drisius cohtinued to officiate at New Amsterdam and on Staten Island until 1671. Before we take our final leave of the patroon of our Island, Coinelis Melyn, it is necessary to say a word or two in his defence. He was charged with many crimes, which are but echoes of the charges made by both Kieft and Stuyvesant against him. In a work entitled, ^' Breeden Baedt, aen de verenigJide Nederlansche Provintien,''^ orig- inally published at Antwerp, 1649, and extracts from a translation of which are printed in the fourth volume of the Documentary History of New York, it is said Cornells Melyn was charged, in hjs sentence, with more crimes than Kuyter, and punished more severely, (because Kieft had formerly flattered himself that he should have a part with him in Staten Island ; and, finding himself deceived, he had been obliged to make other conditions with other per- sons ; and Kieft played him this trick, as was afterwards proved) — and he was found guilty of crimen Icesos majes- tatis, crimen falsi, crimen of libel and defamation, and, on that account, was to forfeit all benefits derived from the Company, or which he might still claim, a penalty of 300 guilders, and to be banished from New Netherland for the term of seven years ; so that those who had accused Kieft were kicked out and sent away by Stuyvesant. It is well known that, when Director Kieft was reminded that these suits would, most probably, have taken another turn in Holland, he replied: "Why should we alarm each other with justice in Holland? — in this case I only consider it as a scare-crow." And Stuyvesant replied: "If I was persuaded that you would appeal from my sentences, or divulge, them, I would have your head cut oflE, or have you hanged on the highest tree in New Netherland." He also inveighed so furiously that the foam hung on his beard. They were brought on board like criminals, and torn away from their goods, their wives, and their chil- dren. The Princess (the name of the ship) was to carry ANKALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 41 the Director and these two faithful patriots away from New Netherland ; but, comiug into the wrong channel, it struck upon a rock, and was wrecked. And now, this wicked Kieft, seeing death before his eyes, sighed deeply, and, turning to these two (Melyn and Kuyter), said: "Friends, I have been unjust towards you; can you for- give me?" Towards morning the ship was broken to pieces. Among those drowned were Melyn' s son, the min- ister, Bogardus, Kieft, Captain John De Vries, and a great number of other persons. Much treasure was lost, as Kieft was on his return with a fortune of four hundred thousand guilders— 160,000 dollars. 42 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CHAPTER VII. The Province wrested from the Dutch by the English— A change of masters— De Decker banished— New Grants on Staten Island — Elizabethtown settled— The establishment of Courts — Berkley and Cartaret's patent — NicoUs sur- prised and indignant — Treaty of Breda — Nicolls' resignation, and appoint- ment of Lovelace. It is not our purpose to approve or disapprove of the seizure of the Dutch territories by the English, to which period we have now in due course arrived ; whether it re- dounded to the benefit or injury of the people, we shall not attempt to demonstrate ; Clarendon pronounced it "without any shadow of justice." England, in a time of profound peace, determined to annihilate the Dutch government on the continent of America, and she did it. She was already in possession of all that extensive country lying between the Spanish province of Florida and Delaware bay, and that other large tract lying between the Connecticut river and the French territories on the North, and now the king, with a deliberation as cool as if he owned it, patented to his bro- ther, the Duke of York and Albany, all the intervening territory, which embraced every rod of the Dutch posses- sions. Being Lord High Admiral of England, the Duke lost no time in despatching four vessels, viz. : the Gruinea, of 36 guns ; the Elias, of 30 ; the Martin, of 16, and the William and Nicholas, of 10 guns, with 450 soldiers — the whole under the command of Col. Richard Nicolls — to cross the ocean and take possession of his newly -acquired domain. Nicolls was also to be governor of the territory when he had subju- gated it. Commissioners accompanied the expedition, furnished with instructions to the English governors in America to render such assistance as might be required of them. When Stuyvesant heard of the designs of the Eng- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 43 lish, he adopted such measures as the exigency required, so far as his means permitted. In August, 1664, the fleet arrived in the bay, and anchored near Coney Island. The first Dutch property seized by them was on Staten Island, where the block house was taken and occupied. On the 30th of August, a formal demand for the surrender of New Am- sterdam was made, but an immediate submission to the demand did not take place. To do Stuyvesant justice, he was disposed to fight it out, but the municipal officers and the people, t'—^ing that resistance would be in vain, op- posed his wishes, and desisted from working on the defences. Probably for the first time in his life he submitted to the popular will. Nicolls had offered to restore the country if the respective governments agreed upon the boundaries between the Dutch and English territories, an offer which he might safely make, as he well knew that the seizure was not made with a view to the settlement of any territorial limits. Stuyvesant, however, appears to have seen a ray of hope in it, and appointed six commissioners, among whom was Dom. Megapolensis and Johannes De Decker, to meet a like number on the part of the English, to arrange the terms of the capitulation. These were just and reasonable, under the circumstances ; no change was to be made in the condition of the people, but all were to be permitted to enjoy their property and their religion to the fullest extent. As no one's rights and privileges were to be molested, the people sub- mitted to a change of rulers, not only with a good grace, but many with satisfaction, as it released them from the over- bearing and arbitrary tyranny of the Director. Though De Decker had been one of the commissioners who agreed to and signed the articles of surrender, yet, when the English began to change the names of places, and appoint new officers in place of those who had become obnoxious to them ; in short, when everything began to assume an English aspect, his patriotism began to revolt, and he endeavored in some instances to oppose the work of reform which the con- querors had initiated. This brought him to the notice of 44 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. McoUs, who, to rid himself of a troublesome subject, or- dered him to leave the colony within ten days. In the course of a few months everything became quiet, and the people seemed to be content with the new order of things. Unap- propriated lands now began to be parcelled out to English proprietors, by English authority. Staten Island, already settled by the Dutch and French, was now to receive acquisi- tion of another nationality. Capt. James BoUen received a grant of land on the Island ; the country between the Karitan River and Newark Bay was bought anew from the savages, and settled by people from Long Island, chiefly along Achter Cull, as the Dutch called it, because it was acMer, or behind the Cull, but now corrupted by the English into Ar- thur Kull, and four families from Jamaica began the settle- ment of Elizabethtown. Beside Capt. BoUen, Capt. William Hill, Lieut. Humphrey Fox and Coleman, all oflBicers of the fleet received grants of land on Staten Island, but as the vessels to which they were attached were no longer needed, and were sent back to England, they had little or no oppor- tunity to enjoy their acquisitions. Under the Dutch rule, the centre of all authority was at New Anisterdam ; criminals from all the settlements were brought there for trial, exceptfrom Rensselaerwyck, where the patroon assumed supreme judicial authority, an assumption which sometimes brought him into collision with the Director, who always insisted upon his own supremacy in all matters. It was the policy of the Duke of York to make as few changes as- possible, and thus reconcile the Dutch settlers, who com- prised three-fourths of the people, to the new order of things. As the population was likely to increase by emigration, it be- came necessary to institute local tribunals, that justice might be conveniently dispensed. A Court of Assizes was created, having both common law and equity jurisdiction; it was comprised of the Governor and his Council, and was the supreme tribunal. This did not differ materially from that established by the Dutch, in which the Director and his Council were supreme. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 45 In organizing the political divisions of the colony, Long Island, Staten Island and Westchester were all comprised in one shire called Yorkshire, and divided into three "Rid- ings ;" the territory novir comprising Suffolk County was called the East Riding ; Kings County, part of Queens and Staten Island, was called the West Riding, and the remainder of Queens, with Westchester, the North Riding. The Grov- ernor and Council retained the right to appoint a sheriff for the whole shire annually, and Justices of the Peace in each Riding to hold their office during the Governor's pleasure. These Justices held Courts of Sessions in each Riding three times a year. In the city the Burgomasters, Schout and Schepens, elected by the people, were replaced by a Mayor, Alderman and Sheriff, appointed by the Grovernor. Thomas Willett was the first Mayor. ( Vide Appendix D.) When it was known in England that New Netherland had been reduced, and was now actually in the possession of the English, Lord William Berkley and Sir George Cartaret, two of the royal favorites, induced the Duke of York, probably influenced by the king, to give them a patent for the territory west of the Hudson and the bay, and as far south as Cape May ; this they named Nova Csesarea, or New Jersey. With thirty emigrants, English and French, Capt. Philip Cartaret, a cousin of Sir George, and governor of the new territory, sailed for New York, but by stress of weather was driven into the Chesapeake. W hile lying there he for- warded despatches to BoUen, who was commissary at the fort in New York, and also to NicoUs. This was the first intima- tion the Governor had received of the dismemberment of the extensive territory over which he ruled ; he was both' as- tounded and chagrined ; he had already conveyed several parcels of land within the limits of the new grant, and re- garded the whole as the best part of the Duke's domain. He remonstrated, but his remonstrances came too late ; the Duke evidently thought he had been too precipitate, but as he could not well retrace his steps, he suffered matters to re- main as they were. Cartaret arrived in New York about 46 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. midsummer, 1665, and immediately took possession of his government. He chose Elizabethtown as his capital. It is said that when he first landed on the soil of Few Jersey, he carried a hoe upon his shoulder, in token of his intention to devote his attention to the promotion of agriculture. It is not to be supposed that the Dutch quietly submit- ted to be robbed of a territory which they had occupied so long, and which had cost them so much. Remonstrances, of course, followed the perpetration of the outrage — for as such it was regarded throughout Europe, — but they availed nothing. War was declared. Louis, of France, though disposed to friendship with Charles, of England, was under a treaty obligation to assist Holland in the event of a war with England, and he, accordingly, declared war against England also. This step was followed by vigorous prep- arations for the defence of the French territories in America. It is not our province to follow the events of this war, which lasted until the summer of 1667, when a peace was concluded between the belligerents, by what is known in history as the Treaty of Breda. By the terms of this treaty, the Dutch lost New Netherland, but obtained what they regarded as fully equivalent, valuable possessions in the East Indies. In 1668, NicoUs, by his own request, was relieved of the gov- ernment of the province, and was succeeded by Colonel Francis Lovelace. Thomas Lovelace, whose official signature is appended to so many of the old documents connected with the conveyance of property on Staten Island, and otherwise, and who at one time was sheriff of the county, was a brother to the Governor, and a member of his Council ; there was also another brother, named Dudley, likewise a member of the Council. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 47 CHAPTER VIII. Tradition and legitimate History — Doubts as to the proprietorsHp of the Island — Circumnavigated— Christoplier Billop— The Bentley Manor— The Billop fami- ly — Tomb-stone Records — Errors of Dunlap corrected — Col. Billop's capture and imprisonment. We have now arrived at an interesting period in the history of Staten Island, and in presenting it we shall be under the necessity of mingling, in some measure, tradition with legiti- mate history, and of correcting some errors into which some of the prominent historians of the State have fallen. As the history of one of the most prominent families of this period is involved, we shaU also be under the necessity of anticipating, in some degree, the chronological order of events. After the Duke of York had conveyed the territory of New Jersey to Berkley and Cartaret, a doubt arose whether Staten Island was not included in the grant, by the terms of the charter. Cartaret, the governor, not the proprietor, laid no claim to the Island ; on the contrary, he tacitly admitted that it did not belong to his jurisdiction, by accepting a con- veyance for a tract of land on the Island from NicoUs the Duke of York' s agent ; this he would scarcely have done, had he considered his brother the proprietor. In 1668 the Island "was adjudged to belong to New York," because one of the outlets of Hudson river ran around the Island ; while Berkley and Cartaret; by the terms of their patent, were bounded by the river and bay. The Dutch always appear to have regarded the inner bay or harbor as a mere expansion of the river, and the Narrows as its mouth. In their docu- ments, Staten Island is frequently described as lying in the river. If this view was correct, the Island evidently belonged to New Jersey, because it was embraced within its limits. 48 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The Duke of York himself appears to have had his doubts about the matter, for it is said, that when this question of jurisdiction was first agitated, he decided that all islands lying in the river, or harbor, which could be circumnavigated in twenty-four hours, should remain in his jurisdiction, other- wise to New Jersey. Christopher Billop, being then in the harbor in command of a small ship called the Bentley, which it is also said he owned, undertook the task of sailing around the Island, and accomplished it within twenty-four hours, thus securing it to the Duke, who, in gratitude for the service rendered him, be- stowed upon Billop a tract of 1163 acres of land, in the ex- treme southern part of the Island, which was called the "Manor of Bentley," after the ship which had accomplished the task. Here Billop built his Manor house, which has withstood the storms of more than two centuries, and is said to be in good condition at the present day. Important events, not only in the history of the Island, but in that of the country, have transpired in this house, to some of which we shall have occasion to refer hereafter. In 1674 the Duke of York, by permission of the king, organized a company of infantry of one hundred men ; of this company Christopher Billop was commissioned second lieutenant. He had served his king before his arrival in America, but in what capacity is not known ; his father, however, was not well spoken of. In 1677 Billop, while residing on his plantation on Staten Island, was appointed by Governor Andros, who had suc- ceeded Lovelace, commander and sub-collector for New York, on Delaware bay and river. While occupied with the duties of these offices, he "misconducted." himself by making "ex- travagant speeches in public ;" but of the subject of these speeches we are not informed ; they were probably of a politi- cal chai'acter, and must have been peculiarly offensive, for Andros recalled him the next year, and deprived him of his military commission. This action of the Governor was ap- proved by the Duke, who directed that another should be appointed to fill the vacant lieutenancy. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 49 Billop now retired to his plantation on Staten Island, there to brood over the ingratitude of princes, or perhaps over his own follies and indiscretions. We hear nothing more of him for two years, when he again appears as one of a number who preferred complaints or charges- against Andros, to the Duke, some of which must have been of a serious nature, as the Duke thought it necessary to send an agent over to investigate the matter, and on receiving his report, Andros was sum- moned to appear in person in England to render his accounts. This was probably in 1680 or 1681, when Brockholst succeed- ed Andros ; in 1682 Dongan succeeded Brockholst. In 1684 the question of the proprietorship of Staten Island was again agitated, and many of the landholders became apprehensive of the validity of their title, and some of them, among whom was Billop, were desirous of selling, but as no purchasers could be found for a dubious title, the property remained in the family. Dongan was directed, if the Billop estate was sold, to find some purchaser for it in New York, and not to suffer it to pass into the possession of a resident of New Jersey. Here we lose all farther historical trace of Christo - pher Billop ; tradition says that in the latter part of the seven- teenth, or the beginning of the eighteenth century, he sailed for England in his ship, the Bentley, and was never heard of after : he left no male issue, but he had at least one daughter. "Christopher Billop lived on Staten Island, opposite Perth Amboy, and from him Christopher Farmar took the name and estate, and he was the noted Colonel Billop, of the revolutionary war." — {Dunlap's Hist. New TorJc, vol. II. App. p. 153.) There are two errors in the above extract ; the name of the person who took the "name and estate" of Billop was Thomas Farmar, and it was he who married Billop' s daughter, and thus acquired both the "name and estate," for the one was conditional on the other. He was not the Colonel Billop, of the revolutionary war ; if Thomas (Farmar) Billop had lived until the war had broken out, he would have been nearly seventy years of age, but he did not live until then. The 50 AKNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. following inscriptions are still to be seen on his tombstone and that of his wife. "Here lies the body of Thomas Billop, Esq., the son of Thomas Farmar, Esq., Dec'd August y" 2d, 1750, in the 39th year of his age." "Here lies the body of Evjenea (Eugenia,), y' wife of Thomas Billop, aged 23 years, Dec'd March y" 22d, 1735." Tombstones are usually reliable records as to dates. Thomas (Farmar) Billop' s wife was born in 1712 ; therefore her father, Christopher Billop, was still residing on the Island, at or about that date ; and if, as tradition affirms, he was lost at sea, it could not have been prior to that date. The Colonel Billop, of revolutionary notoriety, evidently was not the one who married the daughter of Billop, for when the war commenced he had been dead more than a score of years, and as this was the only family of the name on the Island at that time,* it was his son, named Christo- pher, after his grandfather, who was so prominent during the war, at which time he was more than forty years of age. He married the daughter of Judge Benjamin Seaman, and both their estates were confiscated after the war. We note here, in passing, that both father-in-law and son- in-law were members of the New York Assembly in 1775, and on the 23d of February of that year they both voted with the tories against sending delegates to the Continental Congress — the tories, on that occasion being successful, cast- ing 16 votes against 9 Whigs. The stones from which the above inscriptions were copied, no longer occupy their places at the heads of the graves of those whose names they bear ; they have been removed, and the enclosure once sacred to the memory of this young couple, is now an undefined part of a cultivated field in the town of Westfield. Colonel Christopher Billop rendered himself obnoxious to many of the people of Staten Island by the intensity of his * Vide App. N (13.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 51 loyalty to the British crown during the war. His commis- sion was that of a Colonel in the British army, and he com- manded a regiment of native loyalists, or tories, composed chiefly of residents of the Island. Communication between Staten Island and New Jersey, having been prohibited, he was very active in enforcing the prohibition. The patriots of New Jersey were exceedingly bitter in their hostility to him, and took him prisoner twice. On one of these occasions, some of them, by means of a telescope from a church steeple in Amboy, still standing, saw him enter his own house. Boats were immediately manned and sent over, and he was captured and taken to New Jersey, and incarcerated at Bur- lington. Elias Boudinot, who had been appointed by Con- gress Commissary-General of Prisoners, issued the follow- ing order : "To the keeper of the common jail for the county of Burlington, greeting : You are hereby commanded to receive into your custody the body of Col. Christopher Billop, pris- oner of war, herewith delivered to you, and having put irons on his hands and feet, you are to chain him down to the floor in a close room in said jail, and there to retain him, giving him bread and water only for his food, until you re- ceive further orders from me, or the Commissary of Prisoners for the State of New Jersey for the time being. Given under my hand at Elizabethtown, the 6th day of November, 1779. Elias Boudinot, Com. Pris. New Jersey." While enforcing these severe measures, the Commissary informed his prisoner that his treatment (vas in retaliation for the sufferings of John Leshler and Capt. Nathaniel Ran- dolph, two patriots who had been captured by the British, and that as soon as the severity of their sufferings was miti- gated, his should be. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CHAPTER IX. Purchase of the Island in 1670— Indian Reservations— De Decker restored to his rights— Death of Stujvesant— Preparations for war— War between England, and France, and Holland — Capture of the Province by the Dutch — Restoration to the English — Manning's punishment — Duke of York's new patent — Staten Island separated from the Long Island Courts — Excise — The dreadful Comet Star — Dongan's administration — His patent to Palmer — Dongan's Man- or House — Historical errors corrected — Papist alarms — Dongan's Mill — Leis- ler's administration — Officers of the County — Sloughter — Plowman's law- suit. On the 18th of April, 1670, Staten Island was purchased from the Indians, for the Duke of York, by Governor Love- lace. This act has been termed "the most memorable" of his administration, and the Island was described as " the most commodiousest seate and richest land" in America. The year previous, the principal sachem had confirmed the former bargains made with the English, but several other inferior sachems now presented their claims, insisting that they were the owners. To quiet them, a new bargain was made ; they executed another deed and received their pay- ment in wampum, coats, kettles, guns and ammunition, axes, hoes, knives, etc., and as before related, possession was given by " turf and twigg." This was the last sale made by the Indians. It will be remembered, as it was stated before, that the Indians reserved two sorts of wood, and within the memory of people now living, several small parties of In- dians, at long intervals have visited the Island, and exercised their reserved right of cutting such wood as they required for the purpose of making baskets. In the same year Love- lace made Love Island, the property of Isaac Bedlow, an alderman of the city, and now known by his name, a sort of " city of refuge," by decreeing it a privileged place where warrants of arrest should be inoperative. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 53 It will be remembered that during the administration of Mcolls, Johannes De Decker, by reason of an imprudent display of his Dutch patriotism, was banished from the province, and that previous to this Stuy vesant had not only banished, but dispossessed him of his estate upon Staten Is- land. Some time after the peace of Breda, he applied to the Duke of York for a redress of his grievances and a restitution of his property. This application the Duke referred to Lovelace, with instructions to do in the premises what might be just and proper ; the result was that De Decker was re- stored to all his rights and privileges, and he retired to private life on his farm on Staten Island. Governor Lovelace also owned a plantation on the Island, on which he built a mill for grinding cereals. The next year, Stuyvesant, who, after the conquest of the country, had also retired to private life on his bouwerie, died at the age of eighty years.* Rumors of anticipated troubles in Europe reached America, and Lovelace immediately began to make preparations for the worst, so far as his means permitted ; he strengthened the defences of the fort, organized several military companies in the metropolis, and other places in the province, repaired arms and laid in a large quantity of ammunition and other warlike stores. In April, 1672, England and France declared war against Holland ; in Europe, the war was chiefly naval, and the English and French fleets suffered severely at the hands of De Ruyter and Tromp. On the 7th day of August, 1673, a Dutch fleet of twenty-three vessels arrived in New York bay, and anchored under Staten Island. Soon after their arrival they made a raid upon the plantation of Lovelace, and carried oil sufficient cattle and sheep to make a breakfast for the 1600 men on board the ships of the fleet. This arrival produced the greatest consternation in the city and neighbor- ing villages. Lovelace being absent in Connecticut, the fort was in command of Captain John Manning, who was in a state * Vide App. N (13.) 54 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. of dreadful perplexity ; he caused the drums to be beaten for volunteers, but none came ; he sent to the Long Island vil- lages for re-inforcements, but none responded to his call ; many of the Dutch inhabitants were "assuming airs," many had gone on board the Dutch ships to v^elcome the arrival of their countrymen, vrhile others on shore manifested their joy, and "talked threateningly." Manning was bewildered with his responsibilities, and fervently prayed for the Governor's return, but Lovelace, had he been present, could not have averted the fate of the city and its dependencies ; he could only have assumed the responsibilities which now devolved upon the unhappy captain of the fort. To endeavor to pro- crastinate in the hope of his superior' s return, was all that he could do. He sent a deputation to open a correspondence with his unwelcome visitors, but the Dutch, having learned the precise strength of the fort, and the amount of resistance that Manning was capable of making, were not disposed to delay, but while the deputation were on their way to the Commodore's ship, they had sent a trumpeter with a peremp- tory demand for surrender. To the inquiry of the deputies, What was the object of the Dutch in coming to the city ? the commodore replied, "To take it, and get our own back again." To the trumpeter's demand for surrender. Manning replied that he would send an answer when his messengers returned from the ships. When they did return, they re- ported that the Dutch were altogether too strong to be resisted successfully, and would grant only a delay of half an hour. In the meantime the vessels had been brought up within musket shot of the fort ; another messenger was sent to ask a delay until the following morning, but the request was re- fused, only another half hour being allowed. At the expir- ation of the time, a broadside was opened on the fort which killed and wounded several of the garrison. The fort replied and struck the commodore's ship. In the meantime a de- tachment of 600 men were landed above the "G-overnor's Orchard" on the east shore of the Hudson, which was in the rear of the present Trinity Church burial ground, the water AIS-NALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 55 then coming up nearly to that place. About 400 of the Dutch citizens met the detachment, and gave them a hearty welcome, assuring them that the fort could make no serious resistance. Manning raised a flag of truce, and three men were sent to meet the approaching enemy, two of whom were detained, but the third ran away out of the city. He then sent another messenger with a proposition to surrender the fort and garrison "with the honors of war," which was accepted. Before the sun set on the 9th day of August, 1673, the Dutch flag once more occupied its old elevation, at the top of the staff within the fort. Nine years before, the English, during a time of profound peace between the two nations, had secretly and treacherously fitted out an expedition, for the express purpose of seizing ^ place comparatively de- fenceless. The Dutch retook it during a state of war between the two nations, by a fleet fitted out for another purpose. The Dutch squadron consisted of two separate fleets, the one under the command of Admiral Cornells Evertsen, the other under the command of Commodore Jacob Binckes, or Benckes, and after their union they took alternate weeks in the command. The conquest having been consummated. Captain Anthony Colve was appointed Governor until further directions were received from "fatherland." The name of the city was changed to New Orange, and the following record or memorandum was made of the event: "On the 30th day of July, stilo vetery, ano 1673, was the fort and city of New York taken by the Dutch." At the time of the capture a vessel from a Connecticut port was also taken ; the governor of that colony indignantly remonstrated with the Dutch admirals against the seizure of the vessel, oblivious of the fact that war existed between the two nations ; the Dutchman, however, reminded him of it, and informed him further that they meant to do the English all the harm they could, unless they submitted. Colve was not disturbed in the performance of the duties which had devolved upon him as governor, during the few 56 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. months the province remained in the possession of the Dutch. On the 9th of February, 1674, peace was concluded between England and the States-General, by the treaty of Westminster, and according to its terms the colony reverted to the English. Major Edmond Andros, of Prince Kupert's dragoon regiment, which had been disbanded, was selected as the proper person to proceed to America and receive the province from the Dutch. Armed with the proper authority from the Dutch government, which had been furnished at the request of the English king, he arrived in the Diamond 'frigate in October, 1674, and anchored under Staten Island. A correspondence was at once opened between him and Colve, which resulted in a surrender of the province on the 10th day of that month. Manning, the commander of the fort at the time of the surrender to the Dutch, was arrested and tried for treason and cowardice, and sentenced to be cashiered and have his sword broken over his head, which sentence was carried into effect, after which he retired to his island, now known as Blackwell's. The Duke ot York, apprehensive that the validity of his title might be called in question, in consequence of the province having been in the possession of a foreign power, received a new patent from the king. In 1675, at a Court of Assizes held in New York, among other things it was ordered, that " by reason of the separa- tion by water, Staten Island shall have jurisdiction by itself, and have no further dependence on the courts of Long Island, nor on its militia." From this time forward, the Island has been an independent judicial district, and the first record, which soon after began to be kept, is still in exist- ence in the office of the County Clerk ; it is a small square volume, bound in vellum, and besides many quaint records of "sewts," contains the descriptions of the ear- marks on do- mestic animals, to distinguish the ownership, the animals probably running at large through the woods and unappro- priated lands. The regulation of the Excise received the early attention of ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 57 the government, and the following rates were established throughout the province, which ' ' tapsters' ' were allowed to charge ; French wines, Is. 3d. per quart ; Fayal wines and St. George's, Is. 6d. ; Madeira wines and Portaport, Is. lOd. Canaryes and Malaga, 2s. per quart ; brandy 6d. per gill ; rum, 3d. per gill ; syder, 4d. per quart ; double beere, 3d. per quart ; meals at wine-houses, Is. ; at beere-houses, 8d. ; lodgings at wine-houses, 4d. per night ; at beere-houses, 3d. Among the residents ot New York at that time, we find several familiar Staten Island names, such as Matthew Hill- yer, a schoolmaster, whose salary was £12, ($30) per year ; DeHart, Garrison, Blake, &c. Andros having received his commission as governor, caused the oath of allegiance to be administered to the people ; the English government was once more established, and so continued for a century thereafter. Towards the close of the year 1680, the people throughout the whole colony were greatly alarmed by the appearance of a "DreadfuU Cqmett Starr," which was visible in broad day- light, and had a " very fyery Tail or Streamer." It was at once universally accepted as an omen of " Dreadfull Punish- ments," and the authorities were requested to appoint a day of fasting and humiliation, that by the penitence of the peo- ple Heaven might be induced to avert the impending calami- ties. The lieutenant-governor Anthony Brockholst, in reply to the application, informs the petitioners that the terrible star had been observed, and that it " Certainly threatens God' s Vengence and Judgments," but recommends each indi- vidual to keep his own day of fasting and humiliation, and to perform his duty by prayer, &c. , as became good Chris- tians. Andros having been recalled, Brockholst administered the government until the arrival ot Colonel Thomas Dongan, who, though commissioned September 30th, 1682, did not arrive until the 25th of the following August. He was a pro- fessed papist, but is said to have been a "wiser man than a master." The people of Staten Island are more directly in- 58 AISTKALS OF STATEN ISLAND. terested in him than in any other governor of the provi: under either nationality ; having the whole country bef him, from which to select his residence, he judiciously mi choice of Staten Island, and the evidences of his reside] here are still, in some measure, perceptible. We anticip the order of events in the history of the Island, that we n: complete that of this governor, the two being almost identic At the time of Dongan's arrival, there dwelt in the city New York a gentleman named John Palmer, by professio lawyer, who, at the time of the separation of Staten Isla from the Long Island towns, was appointed "ranger" Staten Island. He had formerly lived on the island of B badoes, and had emigrated thence to New York. In 1683 lived on Staten Island, and was appointed by Dongan one the two first judges of the New York Court of Oyer a Terminer. He was also a member of the Council, a generally an active and prominent man in the affairs of province. To this man Dongan executed a patent, known the Island history as the Palmer or Dongan patent. 1 small brook which forms a part of the boundary between towns of Castleton and Northfield, and which runs to the ]V Pond, is stiU known by the name of " Palmer's Run," cause it also formed a part of the boundary of the land ci veyed by the patent. The document is dated March 31st, 1687, and the follow' is a description of the territory conveyed. ' ' Beginning a cove* on Kill Van Cull, on the east bounds of the lands Garret Cruise, (Cruser) and so running in the woods by ■ said Kill to a marked tree, and thence by a line of mart trees according to the natural position of the poles, south a by east two degrees and thirty minutes southerly accord: to the compass south, there being eight degrees and f orty-f minutes variation ffrom the north westward, and from thei by the reare of the land of Garret Cruise & Peter Johns' east & by north two degrees and thirty minutes to the 1 * Vide App. N. (14.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 59 of Peter Johnson's wood lott, & by his line south and by east two degrees and thirty minutes south sixty-one chains, and thence by the reare of the aforesaid lott & the lott of John Vincent northeast & by east one degree northerly to the southeast corner of the land of John Vincent thirty three chains & a halfe, from thence by his east line south & by west two degrees thirty minutes northerly to a white oak tree marked with three notches, bearing northwest from the ffresh pond,* from thence to a yoimg chesnutt tree the southwest corner of the land of Phillip Wells & so by a line of marked trees east nine degrees & fifteen minutes southerly by the south side of a small ffresh meadow to the north & to the north of the ffresh pond including the pond to the land of Mr. Andrew Norwood & so by his land as it runs to the reare of the land of Mary Brittaine & so by the reare of the Old Town lotts to the land of Isaac Bellew & Thomas Stilwell & from thence upon the Iron Hills f to the laud of William Stilwell & by his land to the land of George Cummins & ffrom his northeast corner to the southeast corner of the land of Mr. James Hubbard at the head of the ffresh kills & so round by his land to the reare lotts at Karles neck & so by the lotts to the highway left by Jacob puUion & the great swamp J to the land of John ffitz Q-arrett including the great swamp, thence by the soldier' s lotts and the reare lotts of Cornelis Corsen & company to the southwest corner of theire ffront lotts & so by the runne which is theire bounds to the mill pond including the mill pond to the sound or Kill Van Cull & so by the' sound to the cove where ffirst begun. Containing with all the hills, valleys, ffresh meadows & swamps within the above specified bounds five thousand one hundred acres be the same more or less. Also a great island of salt meadow lying near the ffresh kills <& over against long neck not yet appro- priated — and all the messuages, tenements, fencings, orchards, gardens, pastures, meadows, marshes, woods, underwoods, trees, timber, quarries, rivers, brooks, ponds, lakes, streams, * Vide App. N. (15.) \ Ibid. (16.) t Ibid. (17.) 60 AISTNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. creeks, harbors, beaches, flashing, hawking & flfowling, mines, minerals, (sUver and gold mines only excepted) mills, mill dams, etc. — The same shall from henceforth be called the Lordship & manor of Cassiltowne, — Yielding rendering and paying therefore yearly and every yeare one lamb and eight bushels of winter wheat." On the 16th day of April, 1687, John Palmer, and Sarah, his wife, conveyed the territory described above to Thomas Dongan, "for a competent summe of lawfuU money," .after an ownership of about a fortnight. Being unable to convey this property to himself, the astute governor invented and adopted this plan to obtain a lawful title thereto. It is now quite impossible to trace the lines de- scribed in the patent, as the most of the land-marks men- tioned therein have disappeared. If, by the terms "great swamp," is meant that extending from Granite ville to New Springville, and which is so designated in a variety of other ancient documents ; and if, by "Ffrefeh Kills," is meant the waters now known by that name, and which are, also, fre- quently alluded to by that name in similar documents, it is evident that the territory conveyed embraced not only the greater part of the present towns of Castleton and Middle- town, but a large proportion of Northfield also. In the following year, 1688, Dongan erected bis Manor House, which still remains, externally modernized in some degree ; but the oak frame, hewn out of the adjacent forest, is the identical one erected by him, the date of its erection having been marked upon one of the timbers with white paint. The house alluded to is the one standing in the mid- dle of the square bounded by the Shore Eoad on the north, Cedar Street on the south, Dongan Street on the east, and Bodine Street on the west, at West New Brighton. There is now a gradual descent of the surface of the land from the house to the Shore Eoad ; but, originally, the earth was as high on the southerly side of the road as it now is at the house, forming a sand hill between the house and the road, and which entirely concealed the house from view when ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 61 standing in the road in front of it. When this sand bank was removed, several skeletons, evidently of Indians, besides nnmerous other Indian relics, were nnearthed, indicating this spot as having been one of their burial places. There is a conveyance on record, in the office of the County Clerk, dated May 9th, 1715, from Thomas Dongan, Earl of Limerick, to Thomas, John, and Walter Dongan, and others, from which we make the following extract : "And the said Thomas, Earl of Limerick, being willing to preserve, and uphold, and advance, the name and family of Dongan, and haning no issue of Ms own to continue the same, he, there- fore, in consideration of natural love and affection to his kinsmen, the said John, Thomas, and Walter Dongan," &c. This extract is made to show, by his own authority, that he had no descendants. One of our State historians says : " The last of his descend- ants had reduced himself, by vifie, to be a sergeant of foot or marines in 1798, '99." And again : " A Colonel Dongan was wounded on Staten Island in August, 1777, and died Sept. 1st ; was he a grandson of the governor ?" The "kinsmen" mentioned in the conveyance, alluded to above, were nephews of the governor. The grave of one of them is marked by a tombstone, still standing in the church- yard of St. Andrews Church, in Richmond, and the following is the inscription thereon : " Walter Dongan, Esq., died July 25th, 1749, aged 57 years." Consequently, when the estate was conveyed to him by his uncle, the Earl of Limerick, he was about 23 years of age. His wife, Ruth, interred by his side, died July 28th, 1733, aged 32 years. The late Walter Dongan, who owned an extensive property at the Four Corners, Castleton, where he died February, 1855, at the age of 93 years, was a descendant, either son or grand- son, of Thomas, another of the nephews. John C. Dongan, who was a supervisor in 1785, and several times Member of Assembly, was the son of the nephew Walter, who was surrogate in 1733, and was generally known as "Jackey Dongan." He succeeded by some means, in obtaining a very 62 ANNALS OP STATBN ISLAND. large part of the governor's estate ; he was a free-liver, and what in modern parlance is known as a "fast man." He disposed of much of his property in small parcels, at low prices, and finally the residue passed into the McVickar family, with which, it is said, he was connected by marriage. The Dongan family name is now extinct in the county, notwithstanding the governor's anxiety to perpetuate it. Governor Dongan, though a professed papist, was a decided enemy to the French, whose schemes of aggrandizement on the northern frontier he persistently opposed, even against the expressed wishes of his master, the Duke of York, after- wards James II. The people of the province, and especially of the Island, where he resided, lived in constant dread of his religion. It was generally believed that Dongan had been appointed to his high trust for the purpose of forcing his religion upon the people of the province, and the fact that he selected his co-religionists, o'f whom there were some in the province, for the highest official positions, gave an aspect of probability to the suspicion. In 1689 the apprehensions of the people on Staten Island culminated in a panic. Fear reigned supreme for a while ; they dared not remain at night in their own dwellings, but in the deepest recesses of the forest they constructed temporary shelters, to which they resorted after dark, that they might not be observed and their retreats discovered ; they preferred to encounter the perils of the darkness and the forests, than trust themselves to the tender mercies of their fellow men. Some took their families upon the water in boats, which they anchored at a distance from the shore, and thus passed the nights ; and various other expedients were resorted to for concealment and security. Reports of various kinds were spread, which added fuel to the flame, and kept it burning for some length of time ; among these were, that a number of papists who had been driven out of Boston, had been received into the fort at New York, and had enlisted as soldiers ; that the papists on the Island had secretly collected arms, which they kept concealed and ready for use at a moment's ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 63 notice ; that the Governor' s brigantine had been armed, and otherwise equipped for some desperate enterprise, and the refusal of the commander of the vessel to permit it to be searched, was not calculated to allay the alarm. He admitted that the vessel had been armed, but not for the purpose alleged, but, as she was bound on a voyage to Madeira, she was in danger of being attacked by the Turks, and she had been armed for the defense of her crew and cargo. However plausible this reason might have, been, it was not generally credited. The excitement at length subsided, and not a Protestant throat had been cat. Tradition says that several pieces of cannon were after- wards found in the cellar of the Governor's mill, which it was supposed had been concealed there, to be in readiness when they might be required. This mill stood on the South aide of the recently constructed public road in West Brighton, called Post Avenue, which is in fact part of an old road re- 9pened, for, prior to the construction of the causeway which now connects West New Brighton and Port Richmond, the only communication between Castleton and Northfield, near the shore, was round the head of the cove or pond now known as the mill pond. After the construction of the cause- way, and its adoption as a public road, the old road ceased to be used, and was enclosed as a part of the Post farm, though the Post family did not own the farm until a subsequent period. This pond is alluded to in the Palmer patent, and the tide flowed and ebbed in it, so that boats, at high water, could reach the door of the old mill. This mill was largely patronized by the people of Bergen Point and its vicinity, as well as by the people of Staten Island. When the present avenue was constructed, the foundation stones, and some of the decayed oak timbers of the old mill , were unearthed, but no cannon. In the latter part of the last century, a flouring mill was built on the present steamboat wharf at West New Brighton, and the most of the water, which had pro- pelled the old mill, was diverted from its natural course by a canal which led it into the large pond at the foot of 64 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. the present Water street, which pond was then constructed to hold the water in reserve for the use of the new mill ; this was built by a McVickar, though it subsequently passed into the hands of the Van Buskirk family, and was better known as Van Buskirk' s mill. This mill was burned a few years ago, and the wharf, the pond and the canal for more than half a century have belonged to the New York Dyeing and Printing Establishment. After the construction of the causeway, and the diverting of the water, the pond has grad- ually filled up, until now it can scarcely be utilized for the purpose to which it was once devoted. It is not certain when Dongan returned to Europe, but it was probably in 1691, when he took up his residence in his native country, Ireland, and died, as is said, in 1721. He was the first Governor of the province who suffered an election by the people for Member of Assembly. It has been said that the apprehensions of the people in all parts of the province, on the occasion mentioned above, were entirely unfounded ; but if we glance at the condition of England at that time we shall find reason to. believe that their fears were not altogether chimerical. James II, formerly Duke of York and Albany, had abdicated the throne, and was then, 1689, a fugitive. William of Orange, and Mary his wife, the daughter of James, had just been proclaimed in England as William III and Mary II. Andros, the Grov- ernor of New England, had superseded Dongan, and had ap- pointed Nicholson his deputy in New York, himself being an appointee of James. Dongan, Andros and Nicholson were known as professed Eoman Catholics, and as such sym- pathized with James in his exile. Throughout England the new king and queen had been proclaimed, and the colonists of New York and New England were disposed to do so also, but were restrained by the Governor and his deputy, who were suspected, and not without reason, of a design of seizing the fort at New York, with a view of overawing the people and preventing any demonstration in favor of William and Mary, who were the professed champions of Protestantism. ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. 65 In such a state of affairs it would have been surprising in- deed if the apprehensions of the people had not been aroused. Early in the summer of that year a report was circulated, which obtained credence, that the papists intended to attack the people on Sunday, while at church in the fort, massacre them, and declare for James. So well were the people con- vinced of the truth of this rumor, that they assembled in great numbers, anticipated the intentions of the governor and his deputy, and their adherents, and seized the fort themselves. This they held until Nicholson had left the country, and William and Mary had been proclaimed by the exultant pop- ulace. Notwithstanding the reiterated assertions made at the time, that neither Andros nor Nicholson were friendly to the papists, there were affidavits and other proofs of a convincing character to contradict them. Jacob Leisler, a prominent character of that day, exercising both civU and military authority, was intrusted by the magis- trates with the administration of affairs, after the departure of Nicholson, and one of his first acts was to cause William and Mary to be proclaimed in the counties of Richmond, Westchester, Queens, Kings and Ulster, and the city and county of Albany and East Jersej'^ ; the order to Richmond was dated December 17th, 1689. On the 30th of the same month, he issued an order requiring all persons who held commissions, warrants, "or other instruments of power or command, either civil or military," derived from either Don- gan or Andros, forthwith to surrender the same to a justice of the peace of the county wherein they resided, except the counties of New York and Richmond, who were to surrender at the fort in New York. After the burning of Schenectady, and the massacre of its inhabitants by the French and Indians, in February, 1690, he issued another order to the military and civil officers of sev- eral counties, Richmond County being one of the number, that "fearing too great a correspondency hath been main- tained between j" s^ ffrensch & disaffected P'^sons among us," to secure all persons reputed papists, or who are inimical to 66 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. the government, or who continue to hold any commissions from Dongan or Andros, and bring them before him. In the same year, 1689, Leisler commissioned the following civil and military officers in Richmond County : Ely Crossen, high sheriff. Jaques Puillion, Captain. Jacob Corbett, clerk. Cornelis Corsen, do. Obadiah Holmes, justice. Thomas Morgan, Lieutenant. Jaques PouUion, do. John Theunis Van Pelt, do. Thomas Morgan, do. Seger Geritsen, Ensign. Jacob Gerritse, do. Cornelis Nevius, do. Cornelis Corsen, do. The following persons from Staten Island were members of a company commanded by Capt. Jacob Milborne, which was sent to Albany to establish Leisler' s authority, the govern- ment of that city having refused to recognize it, viz. : ' ' Jean Marlett, Francis Mauriss, Hendrick Hendricksen, Jean faefre, John Rob, John doulier and Peter Henkesson." Leisler' s administration was far from being peaceful ; other places in the province besides Albany disputed the validity of his appointment, but none were so decided in their opposi- tion. Milborne' s expedition to Albany resulted in nothing. In July, 1690, Leisler issued an order directed to the " Constable at Elizabethtown, & so foreward requiring and desiring the arrest of ' five armed frenchmen,' who were seen on Schutter's Island, having a watch out on trees, & being assured that peter deumont & Andrew flfallourdell" were amongst them, having fled out of this promisee from the hands of justice. We have no means of learning whether any of these men were ever arrested, nor whether they were guilty of any other crime than that of being Frenchmen ; but from the tenor of the order, we infer that he did not recognize Shooter' s Island as being a part of the province of New York. There is ho evidence that the people of Staten Island took any decided stand with regard to Leister's administration, nor in what light it was regarded by them ; generally, they submitted quietly to the authorities placed over them. Fur- AXNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 67 ther than commissioning some officers, and issuing some general orders, he does not appear in connection with the history of the Island. After the arrival of Grovernor Sloughter, Leisler and Mil- borne, his son-in-law, together with several members of his Council, were arrested for treason and condemned to death, but all were reprieved except the two first named, who were executed by hanging on Saturday, May .16th, 1691. On the 28th of April, preceding, a letter was presented to the Council in New York from the Sheriff of Richmond County, ' ' Giving an Account of severall Riotts and Tumults on Staten Island, and that they are subscribing of papers" ; the sheriff was ordered to secure the ring- leaders that they might be prose- cuted. The papers which were " subscribed" were petitions in favor of the two condemned men; the people of Westchester also sent a petition for the same purpose, but the Council did not recognize the right of petition in such cases ; therefore some were cited to appear before that body, while others were imprisoned as promoters of " riots and disturbances." During Dongan's administration, Leisler, having imported a cargo of wine, refused to pay the duties thereon to Matthew Plowman, the collector of the port, because he was a papist ; he was, however, compelled to do so, and ever, thereafter, was a bitter enemy of Plowman. During his brief arbitrary ad- ministration, to gratify his spite, he charged Plowman with being a defaulter to the government ; and, learning that he was the owner of a quantity of beef and pork, stored at Elizabethtown, he ordered Johannes Burger, a sergeant at the fort, to proceed to Staten Island, and compel such individuals as he might require to go with him, and assist in the removal of the provisions. Burger obeyed the order, and the prop erty was brought to Leisler in New York, who sent it to Albany for the use of the soldiers he had sent to that place. After Leisler' s execution. Plowman prosecuted all "who were concerned in the removal of his property, to recover its value. Amongst the number were the. following residents of Staten Island, viz., John Jeronison, Thomas Morgan, Lawrence 68 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Johnson, John Peterson, Dereck Crews, (Cruser) Chauck (Jaques) PoUion and John Bedine." These individuals, soon after the arrival of Major Richard Ingoldsby, as president of the province addressed an "humble Peticon" to him and the Council, in vrhich they admit having assisted in the removal of Plowman's property, but that they did so under compul- sion, believing that they were doing a service to their majes- ties ; that they considered it unjust to compel them to pay for the provisions when the whole country had the benefit of them ; they therefore pray that they may be relieved from the whole responsibility, or if that may not be done, that every person engaged in the removal be compelled "to pay their equall proporceons of the same." This petition was presented by Plowman himself, who thereby recognized the justice of their cause, but what the result of the application was does not appear. In 1693 the following persons were civil officers of Rich- mond County : Ellis Duxbury, Esq., Judge of the Common Pleas. Abra- ham Cannor (Cannon,) Abraham Lakeman (Lockman,) Dennis Theunisse and John Shadwell, justices ; John Stilwell, Esq., SherifE. The militia of the county consisted of two companies of foot, 104 men in all, under the command of Capt. Andrew Cannon. ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. 69 CHAPTER X. Complaints against the Sheriff — Census from 1698 to 1771 — Slaveholders— Civil and Military Ofacers— Disappearance of old Families — Cold Winter of 1740-'l — Traveling in the Olden Time — A Traveler's Adventure in the Woods — Cold Winters of 1761 and 1768— Baron De Kalb— Domestic Life of the Olden Time. It has been stated above, that the sheriff of Richmond sent a letter to the Council in April, 1691, with information that riots and tumults had taken place in the county, and directions were returned to him to secure the ringleaders, that they might be punished. Thomas Stilwell, the sheriff, was not dilatory in obeying the order, and arrested several of the cit- izens of the county, among whom were John Theunison, John Peterson and Gerard Vechten, each of whom he com- pelled to pay three pounds ; others were obliged to execute bonds for the payment of that amount, and one refused to do either, and him he imprisoned. When information of the sheriff's proceedings reached New York, orders were sent down to have the bonds cancelled, whereupon the three indi- viduals who had paid their money, demanded that it should be refunded ; the sheriff, probably conscious that he had ex- ceeded his powers, promised that it should be done, but de- layed so long, that the aggrieved parties appealed to the Council. At the same time, the same three individuals pre- sented a complaint against the assessors, who exempted themselves and some others from the payment of the tax for "negers," and that poor people wlio have no "negers" must pay "as much accordingly like Them that Has many negers. Therefore your petitioners humbly crave That your Ex"y will be pleased To signify Them iff s* negers should be Excluded ffbr paying Tax." What the result of these peti- tions was, we are not informed further than that they met with a favorable reception. 70 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. It must be admitted that Leisler, during the time he exer- cised his authority, had many friends upon the Island, though they were not very demonstrative. His appointments to oflBce were usually from among its best citizens, which ope- rated in his favor ; no decided steps were taken in his behalf during his imprisonment and trial, but after his condemna- tion petitions for his pardon were extensively signed, which had no other effect than to bring upon the signers the displeas- ure of the government, who regarded the act as disloyal. Further than the imposition of fines, which appear to have been remitted, and the brief imprisonment of a few individ- uals, no punishment was inflicted upon the culprits. For the remainder of the century nothing appears to have transpired, within the limited area of the county, of sufficient importance to be considered as of historical interest. What- ever may have taken place in the more densely populated parts of the province, Staten Island, in its secluded position, was left to pursue its own course as a separate and distinct community. ■ In lieu of other materials, we present a few sta- tistics which will prove of interest. They are arranged from tables in the Documentary History of the province. Tears. Men. Women. Children. Blacks. Total. 1698 328 208 118 73 727 1703 505 1712 1279 White Males. White Females. 1728 640 611 255 1506 1731 686 827 304 1817 1737 777 763 349 1889 1746 856 835 382 2073 1749 887 858 409 2154 1756 ... 862 805 465 2132 1771 1150 1103 594 2847 Notwithstanding the assertion made in the complaint against the assessors, that poor people had no "negers," the number of slaves Owned by a single individual was not always an indication of his wealth, for many of the residents appear to have been remarkably prolific, and had many ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 71 children of both sexes to assist them in their agricultural labors, thus rendering the assistance of slaves unnecessary. The following is a list of the slave holders in the ' ' North Company ' ' of Staten Island, as returned by Jacob Corsen, Jun., in 1755. The names are spelled as in the original, but are readily recognized. SLAVEHOLBEBS. Jfo. Slaves. Male. Female. 3 2 Thomas Dongan 7 Jacob Corssen, Seneor 3 Jacob Corssen, Juner John Vegte 2 Gerardus Beekman 1 In care of G. Beekman, but belonging to John Beek- man of New York 3 Henry Crnse 1 Antony Walters 2 Cornelius Cruse Simon Simonson 1 Johannis de Groet 1 John Rolf 1 Christeiaen Corssen 2 Joshua Merseral 1 John Deceer 1 Garret Crussen Garret Post 1 John Roll, Juner 1 SLAVEHOLDERS Barent marteling Richard Merrel 2 Otto Van tayl 2 Bastian Ellis John Veltmon Abraham Prall Charles Mecleen .... Margaret Simonson . . Joseph Lake John Roll Elenor haughwout. . . Abraham Crocheron. Barnlt De Pue John Crocheron David Cannon Aron Prall Charyty MerrUl Joseph Begel Cornelius Korsan.... No. Slaves. Male. Female. .. 1 The following are the names of the Civil and Military officers of the county of Richmond for the year 1739 : Jacob Corsen, Colonel. Christiene Corsen, Lt. Col. Thomas BiUopp, Major. North Division. John Veghte, Captain. Frederick Berge, Lieutenant. Jacob Corsen, Jun., Ensign. South Division. Cornelius Stoothoff, Captain. Jacob Berge, Lieutenant. Aris Rvertse (Ryerss), Ensign. West Division. Nathaniel Britton, Captain. Marthias Johnson, Lieutenant. Abraham Maney (Manee), Ensign. The Troop. Peter Perrin (Ferine), Captain. Garret Crosse, Lieutenant. Wynaut Wynants, Cornet. Danul Wynants, Qr. Master. * Vide App. N. (18.) Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. John Le Conte, Judge. Christian Corsen, 2d Judge. Qozen Adrianz, Sd Judge. Nicolas Britton, Justice. | Richard Stilwell, do. Joseph Bedell, do. John Veghte, do. Rem Vander Beek ,do. John Latourette, do. Thomas Billop* do. Cornelius Corsen, do. Joshua Mersereau, do. Abraham Cole, do. Barent Martling, do. Nicholas Larzelere, Sheriff, John Hillyer, Coroner. Danial Corsen, Clerk. 72 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. By examining the lists of names given above, the reader will perceive that a large proportion of the families who were once prominent and influential in the county, have either re- moved or become extinct by natural causes. The winter of 1740-1 was unusually severe ; whenever it was alluded to, it waa designated as " the hard winter," and it maintained its character until that of 1779-80 proved decidedly "harder." Its extraordinary severity continued from the middle of November to the end of March. Snow fell to the depth of six feet on a level ; fences were buried out of sight ; domestic animals were housed during the whole period, and many of them perish"ed ; intercourse between neighbors was suspended for several weeks ; physicians were not able to reach their patients because the roads were utterly impassable ; many families suffered for bread while their granaries were filled, but grain could not be ground because the mills were inaccessible ; the roofs of dwelling and out- houses in many cases were crushed by the superincumbent I mass of snow ; churches remained closed, and the dead un- buried. At length a day or two of moderate weather, with a light misty rain, softened the surface of the snow, which froze hard again, forming a thick, firm ice, sufficient to sustain a horse. This for a time afforded great relief to the imprisoned people, and enabled them to procure fuel and other neces- saries.* The conveniences for traveling in the days of our ances- tors presents a striking contrast to those of the present day. The following public notice appeared in 1753 : "A commodious stage-boat will attend at the City Hall slip, near the Half Moon battery, to receive goods and passengers, on Saturdays and Wednesdays, and on Mondays and Thurs- days will set out for Perth Amboy Ferry ; there a stage- wagon will receive them and set out on Tuesdays and Fridays in the morning, and carry them to Cranberry, and then the same day, with fresh horses to Burlington, where a stage- * Vide App. N. (19.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 73 boat receives them, and immediately sets out for Philadel- phia." Thus the journey between the two cities was ac- complished in three days, and was called "an improvement." The stage-boats of those days were the periauguas, or piro- gues of the present ; they were vessels without keels, heavy lee-boards, two masts and two large sails ; the improvement consisted in substituting these boats for the small sloops used before. "When wind and weather permitted, the "outside passage" was made — that is, through the Narrows and around the eastern side of Staten Island ; at other times they passed through the Kills and Sound. Another route, fre- quently taken, was across the bay to Staten Island, across the Island to the Blazing Star Ferry,* which was crossed in a scow, then to New Brunswick, where the Karl tan was crossed in another scow, thence to Trenton, where the Dela- ware was crossed in a third scow, and thence to the end of the journey. A third route was by way of Paulus Hook, now Jersey City, which was reached by a periaugua, and thence by stage-wagons and scows. This last route was the safest, as the journey by water was shorter, though that by land was somewhat longer. Three days, however, were oc- cupied by either route if everything was favorable, bat if any mishap occurred, or if the man and boy, who usually formed the crew of a periaugua, were intoxicated, as often happened, a fourth day must be devoted to the journey. The perils of crossing the bay in these boats in a gale of wind, was sometimes serious. There were other perils which beset travelers in those days, as may be seen by the following narrative, which we borrow from Dunlap : "1765, January 10th. A traveler passing from Albany to Boston, put up at a tavern and gave his bags, with money, in charge of the landlord. Next day proceeding, he found his horse lame, and stopped at a blacksmith's, who found the horse had been cut just above one of his hoofs, and some of the hair drawn through the wound. He inquired where the * Vide App. N. (30.) 74 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. traveler lodged last night, and being told, shook his head and advised him not to pursue his journey through the woods alone. 'I have good pistols.' 'Examine them.' He did, and found that the charge had been drawn, and supplied with dirt. This confirmed suspicion, and the blacksmith ad- vised him not to go on. The traveler persisted, and clean- ing and reloading his pistols, pursued his way. The black- smith, anxious for his safety, mounted his horse and fol- lowed. Before he overtook the traveler, he heard two pistols discharged, and soon met the traveler returning, who said, 'I have done the business for two of them.' It being near night, he returned to the blacksmith's, and remained until morning, when they both entered the wood, and found the landlord and his son dead — the victims of their own plot to rob the wayfarer." In January, 1761, the weather became exceedingly cold, and continued so till March ; the Narrows were frozen over. Another sevete winter occurred in 1768 ; it is related of Baron De Kalb that he, with eight other persons, attempted to cross over to Staten Island at the Blazing Star Ferry, but that the scow sunk, leaving them all night upon a sand island. Some died from the cold, while others lost some of their limbs. De Kalb was the only person uninjured ; he, after they were rescued, instead of warming himself by the fire as the others did, stood bare-footed in cold water, then took some refreshments and went to bed, and in the morning arose uninjured. A glance at the domestic life of the olden time will be of interest to the modern reader. The dwellings of our ancestors, at first, were unavoidably rude and inconvenient, as the necessity of an immediate shelter, upon their arrival, compelled them to erect their houses without regard to anything but that. Log cabins were built by almost every family, and when properly con- structed, were comfortable and durable. In process of time, as their means increased, many of them erected spacious, and in some instances costly houses of stone, some of which ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 75 may still be seen in various parts of the Island, but they were almost, without exception, in the Dutch style of archi- tecture — long, low and massive. The kitchen, which was usually a separate structure, but connected with the main house, was furnished with a spacious fire-place — in some in- stances occupying one entire end of the apartment. It is said- that some of these kitchens were furnished with doors, in front and in rear, large enough to allow a horse and sleigh loaded with wood, to be driven in at one door, the wood to be unloaded into the fire-place, and driven oiit at the opposite, but we will not pledge our historical veracity for the truth of the assertion. Usually a "back-log," of greenwood, too large to be managed without the aid of bars and levers, was rolled into the house and placed against the back wall of the fire- place, then smaller materials were built up in front of it and ignited, and soon a bright and glowing fire was kindled, giving heat, and at night light enough for ordinary purposes. The materials for these houses were abundant on almost every man' s farm ; stones were either quarried or found upon the surface ; timber grew in his own woods, where it was felled and dressed ; shingles were cut and split in the same place, and the boards and planks were sawed at some neighboring mill. Of these saw-mills there were several on the Island ; the ruins of one or two of them are still to be seen. The nails were made by the hands of the neighboring blacksmith. Lime of the best quality was made by burning the shells, which were found in many places near the shores in large quantities, deposited there by the aborigines. It required much labor, and occupied much time to build a house of this description, but it was built to be occupied by generations. With few exceptions, the people were agriculturists, and their method of cultivation did not differ materially from that of the present day. Their implements of husbandry were usually brought from the old country, and, compared with those of the present day, were clumsy and ponderous. Prior to the introduction of harrows, which is of compara- ^ tively recent date, branches of trees were used in their stead, 76 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. and are still used in many parts of the country at the present day. Every farmer whose necessities required it, was the owner of one or more slaves, the males being the assistants of the master in the fields, and the females of the mistress in the kitchen. They were invariably treated with kindness T)y the Dutch, but the French, and especially the English settlers, I were disposed to draw the line of social equality more rigidly. Slaves, however, were generally well taken care of, perhaps not always so much from motives of humanity as of interest. They always had their own sleeping apartments and their own separate tables. As the life of a slave was doomed to be one of labor, intellectual cultivation was deemed unnecessary; some, few, however, were taught suflaciently to enable them to read the Bible, and as they were admitted to be responsible hereafter for the deeds done in this life, religious instructions in pious families were not neglected. It was not unusual to see master and slave working together in the fields apparently on terms of perfect equality, but there were lines drawn, beyond which neither males nor females dared to trespass. In the kitchen, especially in the long winter evenings, the whites and blacks indiscriminately surrounded the same huge fire, ate apples from the same dish, poured cider from the same pitcher, and cracked nuts and jokes with perfect free- dom. In the construction of houses of the better class, the chim- neys were made of bricks imported from Holland, frequently as ballast, but when it was discovered that an article quite as good could be manufactured from iimerican earth, importa- tion ceased. Ovens were usually built outside of the house, and roofed over to protect them from the weather. The barns were low in the eaves, but very capacious, and some farmers had several of them, according to the size of their farms. One of the most important of a farmer's out-of-door arrange- ments, was his hog-pen ; the number of swine which he fattened annually was proportioned to the number of the members of his family. Beside swine, every farmer fattened ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 77 a "beef," and when the season for slaughtering came round, which was in the Fall, after the weather had become cold, there was a busy time both without and within doors ; what with the cutting up and " corning" of the meat, the labor of making sausages, head-cheese, rollitjes, and many other articles, even the names of which are now forgotten, both the males and females of the family were occupied for a fortnight or more. After the work of "killing time" was oyer, the long Fall and Winter evenings were devoted to the manufacture of candles, "moulds" and "dips." Every farm has its smoke-house, in which hams, shoulders, pieces of beef, and various other articles of diet, were hung to be cured with smoke. With his corned and smoked meats, his poultry, mutton and veal, the farmer' s family was not without animal food the year round. Game of various kinds abounded in the forests for a long time, and was usually hunted by the younger members of the family. Early in the Spring, every householder made one or more visits to the beach, to procure a supply of fish, both scale and shell ; but, more particularly, to lay in a supply of shad for summer consumption. This practice is continued, with many families, to the present day. Every house was furnished with two spinning wheels : a large one, for the manufacture of woolen thread, and a small one for linen. A thorough, practical knowledge, of the use of these instruments, was deemed an indispensable part of a young lady's education ; let her other accomplishments be what they might, without these she was not • qualified to assume the care of a family. After the thread had been spun, it was dyed ; sumach, the bark of the black oak, chestnut, and other trees, furnishing the materials for that purpose. Large families had looms of their own, with which the cloth for family use was woven, though there were professional weavers, whose skill was in demand when bed-spreads, and other articles with fancy patterns, were required to be made. Gfirls, at a very early age, were inducted into the mysteries of knitting, and were the recipients of many a boxed ear for 78 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. "dropping stitches." Provident families were well supplied with woolen and linen garments, and quantities of cloth of both materials laid aside, to be manufactured into household articles when they might be required. The prudent house- wife made it her care to provide an ample supply of clothing, not only for the living, but she had also, laid aside, grave clothes for the members of the household, to be ready at hand when they might be required. There were itinerant tailors, who went from house to house, spending several days at each, making overcoats, and such other garments as the women of the family could not make ; and itinerant shoemakers, who, once each year, went on their circuit, making and repairing boots and shoes. People sometimes lived at great distances from each other, yet social intercourse was not neglected. On Sundays they met at church, and, both before and after service, family and neighborhood news was communicated and discussed. On court days the men from all parts of the county met at the county seat, where they talked over their agricultural expe- riences, and other matters of interest. But the most cheerful of all social assemblages, especially for young people, took place in the winter, when the sleighing was good ; then it was that those who were yet unmarried sought each other's society, and met at Richmond to indulge in the merry dance until the waning hours admonished them to return to their homes. The attractions of these meetings have proved too powerful to be entirely abandoned, and they are still con- tinued by the same class in society. But the pater et mater familias were not without their social enjoyments ; the long winter evenings were frequently spent in visiting or receiving visitors, in the coiirse of which a sumptuous repast formed one of the pleasant features of the meeting. The early Dutch settlers on Staten Island, though not a literary, were a pious people ; the greatest part of them were able to read and write, as the Dutch family Bibles, and the beautiful chirography in many of them, testify. The Wal- densian and Huguenot elements, which amalgamated with ANKALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 79 them, served to intensify their religious sentiments ; indeed, it could not well be otherwise, for it was to enjoy the peace- ful exercise of their religion that these latter had forsaken the homes of their childhood and the graves of their fathers, and cheerfully submitted to the inconveniences and sufferings of a life in the wilderness ; religious duties had a claim para- mount to all others, and long before they were able to erect churches for themselves, their dwellings were thrown open for the accommodation of their neighbors, when the ministers from the city periodically visited them. The language of Holland was, of course, the first in use, the Huguenots brought their French with them, but as the several nationali- ties mingled and intermarried, it gradually died out, and the Dutch became the prevailing tongue until after the conquest, when in its turn it succumbed' to the language of the conquer- ors. The Dutch, however, continued to be used in social in- tercourse, and the services of the sanctuary for a long time after the conquest, and less than half a century ago, its un- couth accents were still heard in some dwellings. The Dutch were never addicted to the observance of holi- days ; Custydt, or Christmas and Nieuw Jaar, or New Year, were about the only ones of a religious character in which they indulged ; Paas, or Easter, was surrendered to the chil- dren, and Pingster or Whitsunday to the negroes. Children have not yet resigned their claim to their especial holiday in Dutch communities. Religious services were regularly held on Christmas, and on the first day of the New Year, on which occasion the newly elected church officers were formally in- ducted into their respective offices, and this ceremony was called being " married to the church." 80 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CHAPTER XL Gov. Hardy— The Delanceys— Expedition against Louisburg— Gen. Amherst— Conquest of Canada— Moncton's Army on Staten Island— Amherst invested with the order of the Garter on Staten Island— Extracts from old papers— Be- ginning of the Revolution — Tories on Staten Island. Sir Charles Hardy arrived September 2d, 1755, as Grovernor of the province ; he was an English admiral, and on account of his lack of knowledge and experience in civU affairs, was unfitted for the position which he was sent to occupy. He suffered himself, however, to be guided and directed in a great measure by his Council, and especially by the two De- lanceys, James and Oliver. When the provincial expedition against the French at Louisburg was being organized, he was appointed to the command, and embarked July 20th, 1757, leaving the government in the hands of James Delancey, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor in 1753. On the 29th of July, 1760, the Lieutenant-Governor, with Gen- eral Provoost and several other prominent gentleman, visited Staten Island, and dined there ; it is said to have been a very jovial party, and that he indulged in eating and drinking to excess, the penalty for which he paid the following day, when one of his children found him expiring, seated in a chair in his study. His house was in the Bowery. He was buried on the 31st, under the middle aisle of Trinity Church. The war between the English and French had been carried on for several years with great activity, but Abercrombie, the English commander-in-chief, though he had the reputation of being a consummate general, was unfortunate in most of his efforts against the enemy, probably because he relied more upon his English regulars, who were not accustomed to fight- ing in a wild country, than upon the provincials, who accom- panied him and formed an important part of his army, and ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 81 who were perfectly familiar with the country, and the manner of fighting the French and their Indian allies ; a mistake into which other British generals than Braddockand Abercrombie have fallen. In 1759, Abercrombie was superseded by Gfen- eral Amherst, and affairs on the Northern frontier soon began to assume a more favorable aspect. One of the most important services during this protracted war, was the capture of the French fort Frontenac, on the 27th of August, 1758. With 3,000 men, mostly provincials. Colonel Bradstreet, himself a provincial, traversed the wilder- ness between Albany and Lake Ontario, carrying with him eight pieces of cannon, and three mortars. Among these troops was a regiment commanded by Colonel Corse, of Queens county, and in that regiment was Captain Thomas Arrowsmith' s* company of Staten Islanders. This regiment contributed materially to the success of the expedition. Corse volunteered to erect a battery during the night of the 26th, and effected his purpose under a continuous fire from the fort. On the morning of the 27th, this battery opened on the enemy, who at once deserted the fort and fled. The ma- terial captured with the fort consisted of forty-six pieces of cannon, sixteen mortars, and a very large quantity of military stores, provisions and merchandise. In September, 1760, Canada was surrendered to the English, and the provincial forces engaged in its reduction turned their faces homeward. The revolutionary army of Howe was not the first British army that had occupied Staten Island ; in 1760, General Moncton encamped here for several months. During his occupancy an important ceremony, as it was regarded at that time and by that people, was performed here. Amherst, after the conquest of Canada, returned to New York, where he was received with salutes and illuminations. Moncton had been deputed to invest him with the order of the Garter, f which was done upon Staten Island, in the presence of all * Vide App. N. (21.) t IWd. (32.) 82 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. the dignitaries of the province, and a large concourse of spec- tators. The government of the province had been committed to Doctor Cadwallader Golden, of Ulster county, who ad- ministered it until the commission of Moncton as Governor arrived, which was on the 19th October, 1761. He, however, did not remain long, for on the 15th of the succeeding month he embarked with all his army for Martinique in a fleet con- sisting of one hundred transports and two line-of -battle ships. Early in the Summer of 1764, the light-house on Sandy Hook was lighted for the first time. Holt' s New York Gazette, or Weekly Post Boy of June 18, of that year, gives the following as items of important news : "The long-wished for ferry is now established from the place called Powles's Hook (Jersey City) to the City of New York."— Also a ferry established across the Kill Van KuU from Staten Island to Bergen. There is no evidence that the political questions of the day, which even at this early period began to agitate the minds of the people throughout the several provinces, produced much excitement on Staten Island ; the people were an isolated com- munity, holding little intercourse with the world around them, and taking comparatively little interest in matters not of a strictly local character. There were, however, some intelligent men among them who kept themselves informed on the topics which be"gan to agitate the country, and who well understood their merits. The great majority of the people, however, if not indifferent, were opposed to the patriotic doctrines which found so many advocates elsewhere. This is evident from the political character of the men sent by them as their repre- sentatives to the provincial assemblies, such as Benjamin Seaman, and his son-in-law, Christopher Billop, and later, Abraham Jones, who subsequently was refused his seat on account of his known sympathies with the British. The geographical situation of the Island gave a direction to the political sentiments of the people. Commanding the approach to the metropolis and the province, whatever na- tion possessed it, took advantage of its natural facilities in a ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 83 military point of view. The Dutcli had a battery on the heights at the Narrows at one time ; the English enlarged the military works at the same important point, and the United States have not failed to improve its advantages. Whoever, then, possessed this important point, before the revolution, to a certain extent might be said to possess, or at least to control the Island and the metropolis. Whilst the English held the government of the province, the people naturally imbibed English sentiments ; freedom of opinion on political subjects, so far as the nature and character of the govern- ment was concerned, was not tolerated. It is not to be won- dered at, then, that a people who for more than a century had been taught to believe that it was little short of treason to doubt the divine origin of monarchy, and especially of the English monarchy, should be conscientiously opposed to a change which was calculated to overturn all their most cher- ished institutions. More than half of the population on the Island, at the dawn of the revolution, were either of English birth or descent, and few, perhaps none, entertained the idea that the rebellion could by any possibility succeed, and even among the whigs themselves there were probably thousands who hoped against hope. 84 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CHAPTER XII. Military Value of Staten Island— British take possession of Staten Island- Skinner and BiUop-Col. Mersereau— Battle of Long Island— Brutality and in- solence of the British Soldiers on Staten Island. Lying between the ocean and the metropolis, and on the high- way from the one to the other, Staten Island, early in the war, was regarded as an important location in a military point of view. Its importance was enhanced by the fact that it was situated in a bay more than half surrounded by the main land of New Jersey, and commanded not only a great part of Long Island, but New York city, and a large extent of coun- try, embracing nearly all the northern part of New Jersey ; the possession of it therefore became a matter of importance to both belligerents. In 1776, General De Heister, with his army of German mercenaries in the pay of George III, arrived at Halifax, where the British fleet and army had for some time been awaiting re-inforcements. Washington had driven the Brit- ish out of Boston, and soon thereafter, (April 14,) arrived in New York, on his way to Philadelphia, to meet Congress. During the absence of Washington, the American army in New York was under the command of Putnam and Lee, and numbered in all 10,235 men, a force not at all comparable with that of the British, but which Clinton, with his cautious policy, considered too great to molest ; so, giving New York a wide berth, he sailed for Charleston, South Carolina. When he arrived, he found Lee there before him, and again he judged it prudent not to attempt to land his army until after the fleet had removed the obstacles. Sir Peter Parker,* the British admiral, attacked the fort on Sullivan's Island, but was repulsed. In the meanwhile General Howe, after being driven from Boston, had awaited the arrival of his brother. Lord Howe, *VideApp. N.(23.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 85 at Halifax, sailed from thence, and, on the second of July, landed on Staten Island without opposition.* His army amounted to 9,000 men. Not long after, Lord Howe, with a large fleet and 20,000 men, arrived, and also landed on the Island. Howe had now the command of nearly 30,000 troops, who were well armed, well disciplined, and, in every other respect, prepared for the work they had to do. Wash- ington' s army consisted of about one-third of that number, raw, undisciplined, and but partially armed ; new levies, however, were coming in daily. Clinton, after his repulse at Charleston, also came north, and united his fleet, or, what was left of it, and his army, to that of the Howes, thus increasing the number of the British army on Staten Island by 3,000 men. The first object to engage the attention of General Howe, was the conciliation of the American loyalists, and, to this end, he had numerous interviews with Grovernor Tryon, and other prominent individuals in New York and New Jersey, all of whom led him to believe that large numbers of the people were anxious to flock to his standard the moment it was unfurled. Delancey, of New York, and Skinner, of Perth^Amboy, were made Brigadier-Grenerals, and Billop, of Staten Island, Colonel, of the native loyalists, or tories. Proclamations were issued, promising protection to the peo- ple, so long as they remained peaceably at home, and mani- fested no sympathy for the rebels, or their cause. These, however, had little effect ; the people knew what British protection meant ; proclamations had been issued by other British commanders, in other parts of the coiintry, promising the same thing, and the protection which had been afforded was that which the wolf gives to the lamb. Misled by the specious promises which Howe had promulgated, hundreds of the whig inhabitants of Staten Island remained peaceably at home, to- reap the fruits of their credulity in having soldiers quartered upon them — in enduring, submissively. Vide App. N. (24.) 86 AlSrWALS OP STATETSr ISLAND. the insults and outrages committed upon themselves and their families, their houses and barns openly and defiantly plundered, their cattle driven away or wantonly killed, their churches burned, and, not unfrequently, some of their own number barbarously, and without provocation, mufdered. There were some, however, who had no faith in the protes- tations of the British commander, and too much manhood to conceal their sentiments ; to these the political atmosphere of the Island, was decidedly unhealthy, and these had to escape for their lives. Among these was Col. Jacob Mersereau. He was the son of Joshua Mersereau and Maria Corsen his wife ; by the records of the Ref. Church, Port Richmond, he was baptised May 24th, 1730, and died in September, 1804, in the 75th year of his age. He resided in the old stone-house in Northfield, not far from Grraniteville, now occupied by his son, the vener- able and Hon. Peter Mersereau. Soon after the beginning of the war, he became apprehensive for his personal safety, and fled to New Jersey. During his protracted residence there, he made occasional stealthy visits to his family by night, and on one of these occasions had a very narrow es- cape from capture. Having crossed the Sound, and con- cealed his boat, he took his course for home across fields, avoiding the public roads as much as possible. It was while crossing a road from one field to another, that he was met by a young man whom he knew well, but as neither spoke, he imagined the young man did not know him ; in this, how- ever, he was mistaken, for he was recognized at once. There was no British post just then nearer than Richmond, and thither the young tory hastened and informed the command- ing officer, probably Col. Simcoe, of his discovery. Prepar- ations were made immediately to effect the arrest of the Colonel, but it was near daylight in the morning before the party set out. They were in no haste, for they supposed he intended to remain concealed at home during the day. The family, as was their custom, had arisen early, but they did not discover the soldiers until they were within a few rods of the house. The alarm was immediately given, which, being ANNULS OP STATBN ISLAND. 87 perceived by the approaching party, a rush was made, and as they reached the door, the Colonel sprang out of the upper northwest window of the house, upon a shed beneath it, and thence to the ground, A few rods west of the house is a small^elevation, and it was while crossing ,this that he was discovered. On the other side of the hill was a hedge row, terminating at a swamp, along which he ran on all fours, to keep himself out of sight, until he reached the swamp, in the middle of which he found a place of concealment. When he was discovered crossing the hill, those who had begun a search within were called out, and pursuit was made, but when the top of the hill was reached, the colonel was no- where to be seen. The swamp was discovered, and it was at once concluded that he was there concealed, but as the pur- suers were ignorant of its intricacies, they could proceed no further. Dogs were then, put upon the track, which they followed to the edge of the swamp, where they chanced to scent a rabbit, and away they went in chase of the new game. Here the pursuit terminated, and the colonel, after remaining concealed the whole day, escaped during the fol- lowing night to New Jersey. For a week thereafter a close watch was kept upon the house by day and by night. It is some consolation to know that the treacherous young tory did not receive the reward which had been oflfered for the patriot's capture. Immediately preceding the battle of Long Island, or Brook- lyn, as it is sometimes called, the American forces were posted in New York and on Long Island. General Greene com- manded at the latter place, but being confined to his bed by illness, his place was temporarily supplied by General Sullivan. This, for the Americans, was unfortunate, as the former gen- eral was intimately acquainted with the country, while the latter, being almost a stranger, knew very little of the advan- tages of the surroundings. On the 22d of August, Howe, having determined to com- mence active operations, crossed the Narrows from Staten Island to Long Island, and landed without opposition be- tween New Utrecht and Gravesend. There is no need 88 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. of recapitulating the story of the battle and its unfortunate result — they are well known ; the British succeeded in gaining posssesion of New York, which was their main object. To keep possession after having obtained it, required a strong force, and, in consequence, the greater part of the British forces on the Island were withdrawn ; enough, however, were left to defend it against any force the Americans might be able to bring against it.* The result of the battle, on the whole, was beneficial to the people of Staten Island, as it left fewer soldiers there to depredate upon them, and rob them of their substance. If the history of the sufferings of the people of Staten Island during the war could be written, it would present a picture too dreadful to contemplate. Neither age, sex nor condition were exempt from insults and outrages of the grossest character ; no home was too sacred to protect its inmates from injury ; the rights of property were not recognized, if the invader coveted it ; even the temples of God were desecrated ; the law of might alone prevailed. Proclamations and professions of good will and protection had been promulgated repeatedly, but those who relied upon them usually reaped disappointment. It was useless to appeal to those high in authority, for the complaints of the people were unheeded, and redress for injuries, except under pecu- liar circumstances, could not be obtained. If a British officer's horse was in need of hay or oats, a file of soldiers was sent to any farmer who was known to have a supply, to seize and take it away. If the officer himself needed a horse, the same method was adopted to procure one. Money, provisions and even bedding and household furniture were taken by force ; sometimes promises of payment were made, but seldom ful- filled. The course adopted by the British while in possession I of the Island, effectually alienated many of the friends of the royal cause, and hence it was that so many of them, at the close of the war, eagerly took the oath of allegiance to the new government, and so few adhered to the cause of the king, and followed its fortunes. * Vide App. N. (25.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 89 CHAPTER XIII. The Tories and Whigs of Staten Island — Submission of Kings County — Interview between Howe and the American Commissioners at the Billop House — Rich- mond — Great fire in New York — Howe's Expedition into New Jersey, and at- tempt to reach Philadelphia by land — Knyphausen's expedition into New Jersey — Murder of Mrs. Caldwell — Invasion of the Island by Americans — Stirling's Invasion. The population of Staten Island, at the beginning of the revolution, consisted of the descendants of the early Dutch settlers, and English and French emigrants and their descend- ants. Of these, nearly all the former were whigs, or patriots ; those of English descent were loyalists, or tories, and the French were divided in their sympathies: the two latter classes, however, considerably outnumbered the former. Many of the French having settled here before the conquest of the province by the English, had intermarried with the Dutch, who were then the dominant class, and had imbibed Dutch opinions, manners and customs, and had even fallen into the use of the Dutch language. In some of the families bearing French names and of French descent, at the present day, are to be found family records, such as they are, written in the Dutch language. There was, however, another and more marked difference between the people of the several nationalities than mere political sentiments and opinions ; the Dutch were imbued with a deep religious feeling ; they were not generally as well educated as the English, but they could read and write, and keep their own accounts: the English had their religion, too, but they were more formal and less earnest and devoted than their neighbors ; the French in this, as in other respects, accommodated their religion to that of the class with which they had amalgamated. The whig cause throughout the country was calculated to foster religious en- thusiasm, for, being conscious of their own weakness as com- 90 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. pared with the mighty power and resources of Great Britain, they naturally looked to a higher power than that of man to sustain them in what they conscientiously believed to be the cause of right. In speaking of the battle of Long Island, a British officer writes as follows : " The Hessians and our brave Highlanders gave no quarters ; and it was a fine sight to see with what alacrity they des- patched the rebels with their bayonets, after we had surrounded them so they could not resist. We took care to tell the Hes- sians that the rebels had resolved to give no quarter — to them in particular — which made them fight desperately, and put to death all that came into their hands." Another officer, of high rank, possessed of some humanity, of which the former appears to have been destitute, writes : "The Americans fought bravely, and (to do them justice) could not be broken till they were greatly outnumbered and taken in flank, front and rear. We were greatly shocked at the massacre made by the Hessians and Highlanders after the victory was decided." Shortly after the battle of Long Island, over 400 of the cit- izens of Kings County, besides over 40 of its civil officers, voluntarily offered their submission to Gren. Howe and Gov. Tryon, having first taken the oath of allegiance to the king. Howe, who was undoubtedly sincere in his oft-expressed desire for peace, sent General Sullivan, who had been taken prisoner at the battle, with a verbal message to Congress, requesting that body to appoint some of its members in a private capacity, to meet him for the purpose of adopting such measures as might be agreed upon for the restoration of peace in the country, intimating that he was clothed with sufficient power for that purpose. By the same messenger Congress returned answer that they could not send any of their number, except in their official capacities as members of their body, and a committee of that character they would send for the purpose expressed in the message. Accordingly, on the 6th of September, Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsyl- ANKALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 91 vania; John Adams, of Massachusetts, and Edward Rut- ledge, of South Carolina, were appointed as such committee. On the 14th they met Howe on Staten Island ; the interview took place in the "Old Billop House," still standing. It had been occupied as a barrack for soldiers, and was in an ex- ceedingly filthy condition ; but one room had been cleaned and purified, and furniture placed therein, for the purpose of the meeting. Howe met the committee in a courteous manner, and at once proceeded to explain the nature of the power with which he had been invested, which were simply to ex- tend the royal clemency and full pardon to all repentant rebels who would lay down their arms and return to their al- legiance. The committee informed him that they were not authorized to entertain any propositions which did not recog- nize the political independence of the colonies. Howe replied that he had a great regard for the Americans as a people, but that recognition of their independence was a matter be • yond his authority, and could not for a moment be enter- tained, and that their precipitancy was painful to him and perilous to themselves. Franklin answered that the people of America would endeavor to take good care of themselves, and thus alleviate as much as possible the pain his lordship might feel in consequence of any severities he might deem it his duty to adopt. This terminated the brief interview, and the committee rose to depart. Howe politely accompanied them to the shore, the party walking, both in coming and re- turning, between long lines of grenadiers, who, to use the language of Mr. Adams, ' ' looked as fierce as ten furies, and making all the grimaces and gestures, and motions of their muskets, with bayonets fixed, which, I suppose, military etiquette requires, but which we neither understood nor re- garded." On the way down, his lordship again expressed his regret that he was unable to regard them as public char- acters, to which Mr. Adams replied, "your lordship may consider me in what light you please, and indeed, I should be willing to consider myself for a few moments in any char- acter which would be agreeable to your lordship, except that 92 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. of a British subject." To this Howe replied, "Mr. Adams appears to be a decided character." The consequence of this exhibition of Mr. Adam's independ- ent and fearless spirit was subsequently apparent, when the list of unpardonable rebels was published, prominent among which was the name of John Adams. It must have been humiliating in the extreme to the pride and arrogance of the British government to be obliged to receive this proscribed rebel as the first minister plenipotentiary of the new govern- ment of the United States of America. The remark of Mr. Adams did not prevent Lord Howe continuing his courtesy, for he sent them over to Perth Amboy in his own barge. A native annalist,* speaking of this interview, says, "This momentous interview at the old Billop House, between the old world and the new, was an event regarded with extreme solicitude by the people of both at that day. With the developments of time, it rises into the grandeur of a great battle-point and monument of history. The interview was brief. There was no agreement, no reconciliation. Inde- pendence was maintained. The result was limned by the hand of God, and is seen in the progress of a continent and the achievements of a century all over the world." When the British took possession of Staten Island, they immediately threw up strong intrenchments. Simcoe says : ' ' In the distribution of quarters for the remaining winter, Richmond was allotted to the Queen' s Rangers. This post was in the centre of the Island, and consisted of three bad redoubts, so contracted, at various times and in such a manner, as to be of little mutual assistance ; the spaces be- tween these redoubts had been occupied by the huts of the troops, wretchedly made of mud ;" these Lieut. Col. Simcoe had thrown down, and his purpose was to build ranges of log houses, which might join the redoubts, and being loop-holed, might become a very defensible curtain. Other fortifications were erected in other parts of the Island— one at New * Vide App. N. (8.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 93 Brighton, on ttie height now know at Fort Hill, which commanded the entrance to the Kills ; another was built at the Narrows, near the site of the present national fortifications, and in several other places. Many remnants of British oc- cupancy have been found in and around these old fortifi- cations, such as cannon balls, bullets, gun locks, &c. On the 21st of September, 1776, a great fire occured in New York ; it begun on the wharf at the foot of Whitehall street, and was driven by a southeast wind towards the North river, consuming in its course the Lutheran Church and Trinity Church, and did not stop until it reached Mortlike street (now Barclay;) the number of buildings destroyed was 493. Later in the autumn of this year, the British began to make predatory excursions from Staten Island into New Jersey along the Earitan, and these were continued through the war with various successes. Howe, having determined to make an effort to obtain possession of Philadelphia, left Clinton in command at New York, and began his march across New Jersey. Washington was strongly entrenched at Morristown, and had made preparations to dispute Howe' s passage across the State, whenever a fitting opportunity presented itself. Small detachments were sent out for the purpose of reconnoitering and annoying the British, while Howe resorted to various feints to draw Washington out, in all of which he failed. Thwarted in his purpose of crossing the State, the British general turned towards Amboy on his retreat to Staten Island, and committed terrible devastation on his way, which so exasperated the people that even his retreat became peril- ous. Greneral Greene hung upon his rear, striking whenever opportunity permitted. On the 22d of June, 1777, the British general, having arrived at Amboy the day before, sent all his heavy baggage and other incumbrances, together with a part of his troops, over to Staten Island ; but before he had time to transport the whole of his forces across the water, he received information that Washington had left his strong position, and was advancing to meet him. On the 25th, 94 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. in consequence of this information, wMch, however, proved to be unfounded, he recalled all his forces, and on the morn- ing of the 26th advanced from Amboy to meet the American army. He sent Cornwallis with a strong force to cut oflE a detachment of the Americans, under Lord Stirling and General Maxwell, who were advantageously posted on some high grounds, but who were obliged to abandon the advan- tages of their positions, being greatly outnumbered by the British. They did not retreat, however, until a severe skirmish had taken place. Having by this time learned that the report of the advance of Washington was premature, and abandoning all hope of drawing him out of his intrenchments, Howe turned his face once more towards Staten Island. Being foiled in his effort to reach Philadelphia by land, Sir William Howe resolved upon going thither by water. Accordingly he commenced the embarkation of his army on the 5th of July, but it was not until the 23d of that month that the fleet, consisting of 267 sail, passed .Sandy Hook. His movements, after putting to sea, greatly perplexed Washington ; if, as was reported, it was his intention to re- turn and sail up the North river to the relief of Burgoyne, it was necessary that an effort should be made to prevent him ; if, however, on the other hand, he was aiming at Philadelphia, it was necessary that he should be met in that direction. There was one of two opposite courses to be pursued, and it was not until he learned that the British fleet had attempted to pass up the Delaware, but had been pre- vented by obstructions to the navigation of that stream, and was then actually coming up the Chesapeake, that his per- plexities were removed. When Howe sailed for Philadelphia he left General Knyp- hausen in command at Staten Island. In the early part of the year 1780, among the thousand re- ports which were rife throughout the country, and which reached his ear, was one that the American army in New Jersey was in a mutinous condition, and that the people of ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 95 that state were desirous of returning to their allegiance to the British crown. To give the mutinous soldiers an opportunity for desertion, and the disaflEected citizens the facilities for submission, Knyphausen determined to invade the State. Accordingly, on the 6th of June, he crossed over from Stat- en Island to Elizabethtown with an army of 5,000 men. From this place he marched towards Springfield by way of Connecticut Farms, where he halted. Before reaching that place, however, he discovered that the reports of disaffection among the people were entirely without foundation ; instead of being received with open arms, as he had expected, the hostile demonstrations of the people were more decided than ever ; out of every ditch, from every hedgerow, from behind every tree in orchard or forest, in the line of his march, he was met by " the leaden messengers of death." Though the people almost without exception did what they could to op- pose his progress, they were not sufficiently numerous to combine and make a gtand. The German general's disap- pointment was not only great, but he was exasperated to such a degree, that he caused the village, with its church, to be burned, before he attempted to retrace his steps. The minis- ter' s wife, who had remained at home, supposing that her sex would be her protection, was deliberately shot through a win- dow; permission, however, was graciously given to remove the body before burning the house. This cold-blooded murder of Mrs. Caldwell produced a thrill of horror throughout the country, and no one act of British brutality more excited the indignation and hatred of the people towards their enemies, than this. Notwithstanding the weakness of Washington's army, preparations were hastily made to meet the invaders, and if possible, to drive them back, but their precipitated re- treat prevented a battle. The British affected to believe that it was was the desire of Washington to obtain possession of the post at B,ichmond, though what peculiar value either he or they attached to it in a military point of view, except that it commanded one of the entrances to the Island through the Fresh Kills, is not ap- 96 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. parent. To give the rebels, as well as Ms own semi-barbarous Hessians, employment, Knyphausen sent out frequent expe- ditions from the Island into the Jerseys, where the most hor- rid atrocities were sometimes committed. These were not usually sent forth on their errands of rob- bery and murder, unless they were known to be much supe- rior in number to the patriots, who were likely to meet and oppose them, or had same other important advantage. These predatory excursions, however, were not confined to the British, the Americans, on their part, sadly annoyed their en- emies by striking at them whenever the opportunity offered. The first of the hostile demonstrations on the part of the pa- triots occurred on the 17th day of October, 1776. General Hugh Mercer, who was in command of the American forces in that part of New Jersey contiguous to Staten Islahd, planned an attack upon the British entrenchments at Richmond ; the forces sent on this expedition were under the command of Col. Griffin. They were so disposed as to make the attack upon all the available sides simultaneously. They succeeded in reaching the place before daylight, but the enemy had been informed of their approach ; a skirmish ensued, which resulted in the retreat of the British, leaving two or three men dead, some wounded and dying, and seventeen prisoners in the hands of the Americans, beside a standard or two, and arms. On the 8th of August, 1777, a party of Americans crossed the Kills and landed somewhere on the shore at West New Brighton, and directed their course for Richmond. As they approached that village, they were met by a party of British, who, after a slight resistance, retreated slowly until they reached St. Andrews Church, which they entered ; the Americans fired at the windows until every pane of glass had been broken ; they then approached, and fired through the broken windows until the British were driven out; a reinforcement from the vicinity of the quarantine had been hurried forward, who reached Richmond j ust as the church had been vacated. It was now the turn of the Americans to ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 97 retreat, wMch they did by the Fresh Kill road,, keeping the prisoners which they had taken in their rear. These con- sisted, not of soldiers only, but of citizens also, whom they had captured on their way ; this prevented the British from firing, lest they should kill their own friends, or at least non- combatants. After the Americans had descended the hill and crossed the bridge at the locality now known as Laforge's Store, Westfield, they concealed themselves in a cornfield, where they waited until their pursuers were within reach, when they fired a volley at them, and the British colonel in command was killed. Continuing their retreat until they reached the shore of the Sound, they drove their prisoners, some thirty in number, into a large hog-sty, while they them- selves seized what boats they required, and effected their escape. While they were crossing, the British reached the shore and opened upon them with their artillery, which they had not yet had opportunity for using, and killed several of them.* Another blow was struck at the British on Staten Island by Lord Stirling in the winter of 1779, which was afterwards spoken of as "the hard winter." The Kills and the Sound were frozen over so that communication between the Island and the mainland was easy ; the bay was also bridged with ice, but a passage for boats was kept open until the bitter cold closed that also. With about 2,000 men, the Amer- ican commander crossed the Sound, designing to sur- prise "Skinner's New Corps," but the tories on the Island did not permit their friends to be surprised. ]S"otice of the expedition was at once sent to the nearest post, and prepara- tions were promptly made to meet the invaders. Tradition says that the Americans crossed at Elizabethtown, and marched along the shore to Port Richmond, where they were met by the British, and after a sharp skirmish, were driven back. An eye-witness said that a detachment of the Amer- icans attempted to pass up the Mill Road, now known as * Vide App. N. (36.) 98 ANNALS OF STATEK ISLAND. Columbia Street, but the snow was so deep they were obliged to return.* This was the inwasion alluded to in the old records, where Bedell and Micheau,t were paid "for powder delivered by Clonell Bilop's order, when the Island was in- waded." The winter of 1779 -'80 was remarkably severe ; the waters surrounding the Island were firmly frozen over, so that troops, cannon and military stores of all descriptions were conveyed from New York to the Island on the ice. An old resident, now some years deceased, informed the writer that on one oc- casion during that winter he visited some of his relatives on Long Island ; he entered his sleigh at his own door on Staten Island, and did not leave it until he reached his relative's door at New Lots, in Kings County. Rimngton's Gazette (New York) of that year has the fol- lowing items : Jan. 39, 1780. This day several persons came over on the ice from Staten Island. Feb. 1. A four-horse sleigh came over on the ice from Staten Island. * Vide App. N. (37.) f Ibid. (38.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 99 CHAPTER XIV. Lt. Col. Simcoe — His Adventures in New Jersey — His Capture — Negotiations for Peace — Was Washington ever on Staten Island? — His Opinion of the People — Dwellings of the Hessians. One of the most active of the British officers, and if his biographer is worthy of credit, one of the most bitter and re- lentless of the enemies of America, stationed upon Staten Island during the revolution, was Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe. When the British army first took possession of Staten Island, a provincial corps, called "The Queen's Rangers," was then newly raised, and Simcoe solicited the command of it, but did not succeed in obtaining it until after the battle of Brandywine in October, 1777. He was then about 24 years of age. His biographer says, "he knew that common opinion had imprinted on the partisan the most dishonorable stain, and associated the idea with that of dis- honesty, rapine and falsehood," and apologizes for his eager- ness to obtain this command by saying that he considered it the best source of instruction, and a means of acquiring a habit of self-dependence for resources. To judge from his subsequent exploits, and the egregious misrepresentations of his "Journal," "common opinion" was justified in its esti- mate both of the corps and its commander. He began his career by publishing the following advertisement in Rimng- ton^s Royal Gazette, printed and published in New York. "All Aspieing Heroes Have now an opportunity of distiaguisliing themselves by joining THE QUEEN'S EANGERS, Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Simcoe. Any spirited young man will receive every encouragement, be im- mediately mounted on an elegant horse, and furnished with clothing. 100 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. accoutrements, etc., to the amount of Forty Guineas, by applying to Cornet Spencer, at his quarters. No. 1033 "Water Street, or his ren- dezvous, Hewitt's Tavern, near the Coffee House, 'and the defeat at Brandywine on Golden HiU. 8®" Whoever brings a Eeeruit, shall instantly receive Two Guineas. Vivdnt Sex et Begina." That such an oflBcer, whose malignity was so often and so barbarously manifested wherever he served, should be laud- ed by British officers and writers, is not to be wondered at. The services of this corps were not confined to Staten Island and its vicinity— it followed in the wake of the British army when it went South, and partook of all its vicissitudes there. Sir Henry Clinton said of it, "the Queen's Kangers have killed or taken twice their own numbers," and adds, "they had not met with a single reverse," totally oblivious of its commander' s capture and imprisonment by the Americans in New Jersey, and some other mishaps which befel him else- where. These assertions were made by Clinton in 1780 ; if he had delayed only one short year longer, he would have qualified, or totally omitted his extravagant laudations, for Lafayette, describing Simcoe's retreat in Virginia, says, "the whole British army came out to save Simcoe. They retired next morning when our army came within striking distance." The general return of officers and privates surrendered prisoners of war on the 19th of October, 1781, the day of the surrender of Cornwallis, enumerates among the officers of the Queen' s Rangers, one lieutenant colonel : this was Simcoe. He was the coadjutor of Colonel Billop in enforcing with great severity the regulations of the military police, while serving on Staten Island. In the "Journal" referred to above, mention is made of an armed vessel stationed at Billop' s Point, which undoubtedly was the "gun-boat" so often alluded to in the old county records, and the main- taining of which was a charge upon the people of the county. The design of this vessel was to prevent inter- course between the people of the Island and those of New Jersey, a measure of great severity, when it is remembered ANNALS OF STATES ISLAND. 101 that before the war there was a considerable commercial as well as social intercourse between the two places. Allusion is also made in the Journal to a gun-boat at Richmond, which is probably the same vessel stationed in the Fresh Kills under the protection of the fort on the heights near Ketchum's mill, when not in active service elsewhere. Simcoe desired to be furnished with two gun-boats, twenty batteaux, and a sloop, the batteaux to be mounted on wheels, that they might readily be conveyed from Richmond across land, to the south beach, with which he proposed to keep the patriot forces in a state of constant alarm from Sandy Hook to Newark Bay, and force Washington to give up the coast from Middletown to Brunswick, but the Commander-in-Chief did not appear to appreciate the value of the suggestion. On the 22d of June, 1780, Simcoe and his Rangers were sent into New Jersey to join Knyphausen in an attack on the Americans, who were stationed beyond Elizabethtown. They crossed the Sound on a bridge of boats, and on the same day made an unsuccessful attack upon the Continentals. The uext day they marched towards Springfield, where a small party of Americans were also temporarily stationed, and at- tempted to surround them ; this was also a failure. After various marchings and counter-marchings, during which nothing of importance was achieved, they retired, and by the same bridge re-crossed the Sound to Staten Island. There were numerous marauding expeditions sent from the Island into various parts of New Jersey, which were not led by Simcoe, but by other officers almost as savage and brutal in their treatment of such Americans as were so unfortunate as to fall into their hands. Towards the end of October, 1780, there was a great excite- ment among the British on Staten Island, caused by a rumor that Lafayette had arrived in the vicinity of Elizabethtown with a large force, and furnished with boats on wheels, and that he meditated an attack upon the British posts on the Island. Every precaution was taken to prevent a surprise ; the defences were all strengthened, and defects which they 102 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. supposed would not be observed by the inexperienced and uneducated eyes of the American officers, but which the more cultivated observation of the French would readily detect, were repaired so far as time and means permitted. Simcoe marched his Kangers down from Richmond to Billop' s Point toward the close of the day, in full view of the people on' the opposite shore, to create the impression that an inroad into New Jersey was about to be made, and then marched them back again through the interior after dark. Reinforcements were sent from New York city, and Simcoe issued the fol- lowing proclamation : "The Lt. Colonel has received information that M. Lafayette, a Frenchman, at the head of some of his majesty's deluded subjects, has threatened to plant French colors on the Richmond redoubts. The Lt. Colonel believes the report to be a gasconade ; but as the evident ruin of the enemy's affairs may prompt them to some desperate attempt, the Queen's Rangers will lay in their clothes this night, and have their bayonets in perfect good order." He also had orders from the Commander-in-Chief to aban- don his post, "if the enemy should land in such force as to make, in his opinion, the remaining there attended with risk." Nothing, however, came of this alarm.. The most serious of Simcoe's experiences, while stationed here, occurred in October of the previous year. A rumor had reached the British Commander-in-Chief, that prepara- tions were being made to attack the city of New York ; that fifty boats, each capable of holding seventy men, were on the way from the Delaware to Washington's army, and that they were all collected together at a certain point on the Raritan river. Simcoe proposed to go there and burn them, and Clinton approved the plan, and directed him to carry it into execution. He had, however, a wholesome dread of Lee's cavalry, who, he had heard, had recently been at Monmouth, and sent to Clinton for information concerning this corps. Clinton replied that, according to the last intelligence, Lee was no longer in that part of the country, nor were there any AXNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 103 other troops in the way, except a few Jersey militiamen. Simcoe, however, knew that these were not to be despised, for they were partly composed of such refugees from Staten, Long and York Islands, as had been driven from their homes by the British ; besides, he had before come in contact with these " virulent principled " characters, who had an execrable custom of attacking British foraging parties from their coverts, " and insulting their very outposts, and had thus acquired a great degree of self-confidence and activity." After obtain- ing the aid of one Sandf ord, a Jersey tory, captain of a troop on Long Island, who was supposed to be familiar with the topography of that part of the country, as a guide, and sending Major Armstrong to South River, where he was to ambuscade his troops, Simcoe started at eight o'clock in the evening from Richmond, and marched to Billop's Point. The boats which were to be at the Point at twelve o' clock to convey them over, did not arrive until three in the morning, when the crossing was effected. His plan was to reach the place where the American boats were said to be collected, burn them, and then return by way of New Brunswick, and thence to South Amboy, where Armstrong' s ambuscade was to be placed, into which he proposed to lead the American forces who might follow him ; but, in the event of any mis- hap, Armstrong was directed to give credit to any one who could give the countersign of "Clinton and Montrose." On their way they overtook a man named Crow, who said, upon being questioned why he was out so late, that he had "only been sparking;" the poor fellow was very communicative, believing that he had fallen in with a party of Americans. When they arrived at Quibbletown, a party of men with knapsacks came out of a tavern, whom the Rangers prepared to attack ; but Simcoe, to carry out the delusion that they were a part of Washington's army, cried out, "These are not the tories we are in search of;" and the presence of Crow among them, who was well known, confirmed the people collected together in the idea that they were what they pre- tended to be. There was one man among the people, how- 104 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ever, who was not so easily deceived ; lie knew Simcoe by sight, and as soon as the party had left, sent an express to Governor Livingston, then at New Brunswick. The British were then guided by a boy, who believed Sand- ford to be a French officer, because he was dressed in red. This lad was anxious to communicate all he knew, which was not a great deal, but among that little was the unwelcome intelligence that all the boats except eighteen had been sent on to Washington's camp. This information proved to be correct. Simcoe proceeded at once to burn the boats, lament- ing, however, that he had not arrived earlier, that he might have captured the whole of them, and taken them down the river ; this he could not do now, as the people were collecting from all directions, and his situation was becoming hourly more perilous. Alarm guns were heard all over the country, and the people, who had already collected, fired at them as they passed, wounding several of the soldiers. Shots were also fired at them from the front, and fearful of an ambus- cade, he attempted to lead his troops across some fields, and "found himself, when he recovered his senses, prisoner with the enemy, his horse having been killed with five bullets, and himself stunned by the violence of his fall." In the haste of their retreat, some time elapsed before Sim- coe's absence was discovered. A halt was immediately or- dered, and the surgeon, Kellock, was sent back with a flag of truce to inquire for the missing officer. The Americans went forward in confidence to meet the flag, when Sandford, the Jersey tory, ordered a file of men to fire upon them, and Captain Voorheis, of the Continental army, was killed. The party thus treacherously attacked fell back, and the British were compelled to return without obtaining the information they had come to seek. When they reached South River where Armstrong had ambuscaded, the two parties united and returned to Staten Island. Simcoe, at the time of his capture, had some narrow es- capes ; a boy was prevented from bayoneting him by being told that he was dead already ;* a man declared he would * Vide App. N (29.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 105 have shot him if he had known he was a colonel, but as he imagined that "all colonels wore lace," and this man wore none, he was deceived ; the people were furious at the death of Captain Voorheis, who was a favorite with them, and loud threats were made to assassinate the captive. Simcoe's repu- tation had preceded him, and the people were inclined to bal- ance accounts with him, and put it out of his power to do them any more mischief ; the intervention of Grovernor Liv- ingston alone saved him from the popular fury. He was im- mediately taken to prison, where he remained until the 31st day of December. Permission was given to his servant, and surgeon Kellock, to attend him, an indulgence which was persistently denied to American officers, prisoners with the British. On the 28th, he was permitted, on account of his health, to take up his abode in a tavern in Bordentown, on parole. This place, being on the opposite side of the State, and therefore at a distance from the scenes of his former in- cursions, the people were not so embittered against him, though his reputation had reached even there, and a few manifested their dislike to his presence among them, yet the majority conducted themselves towards him with forbearance, and sometimes with kindness. When Colonel Christopher Billop was captured and com- mitted to the jail of Burlington County, Simcoe was released from his parole, and taken to prison with him. The reason for this step will appear presently. The mittimus of Elias Boudinot, Commissary of Prisoners, which will be found in another place, commanded Billop to be ironed, chained down to the floor, and fed on bread and water ; the same treatment was ordered for Simcoe. The Commissary expressed his regret that he was compelled to resort to such severe measures, and advised Billop to write to New York to procure a relax- ation of the sufferings of two American officers confined there by the British, and concluded by saying, "It seems nothing short of retaliation will teach Britons to act like men of hu- manity." This was the reason why Billop was dealt with so severely, and one of the reasons why the same treatment was 106 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. meted out to Simcoe. Another reason is given in a letter from Governor Livingston, to whom he had written for per- mission to go to Staten Island on parole, to effect the exchange of Billop and himself. The Grovernor says, " Your counter- acting the express terms of your parole at Bordentown, and your having been heard to say that whenever you should ap- prehend yourself in danger of being insulted by the people, you should think yourself at liberty to effect your escape (of which danger you doubtless intended to be the judge,) not to mention that your present situation is your best security against all popular violence, in case there were any grounds for such apprehension," and this extract gives the other reason for the severity with which he was treated. In reply to an inquiry in Simcoe' s letter, the Governor further says : "To your question whether private resentment is harbored against you, I answer, sir, public bodies are not actuated by private resentment, but the actions of individuals of a public nature, such as cruelty to prisoners, may nevertheless properly occasion towards such individuals a line of conduct very different from what is observed towards those of an op- posite character, and this with as little color for complaining of personal resentment, as of the civil magistrate's punishing a public offender ; but as no such charge has been proved (though many have been alleged against you,) I have no rea- son to think that such reports have influenced this govei'n- ment in the measures hitherto directed concerning you." Simcoe, in his reply to the Governor, assumes a deal of in- dignation, and says, "You cannot force yourself to believe, sir, that I ever harbored a thought of violating my parole," and at the close of his letter, remarks — and the Governor must have smiled when he read it — "cruelty is contrary to my nature, my education, and my obedience to my orders." He continued to write to the Governor, who probably be- came weary of his importunities, and at length ceased to re- ply. He then addressed himself to General Washington, who also made no reply, but he probably did what was better ; an exchange was effected, and Billop and Simcoe were both ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 107 released. Several plans were contrived by the friends of the two prisoners to effect their release, but they were all thwart- ed in various ways. After the arrest and confinement of Major Andre, Simcoe offered his services and that of his Rangers to the Command- er-in-Chief, to effect his release, but his offer was not accept- ed. He termed the execution of Andre a "useless murder." We have now done with Simcoe in connection with Staten Island and the war of the revolution. In consideration of his valuable services, his government, after the war, reward- ed him with the appointment of governor of Upper Canada, where he continued to manifest his hostility towards the United Stated by tampering with , the Indians, a disposition which was probably considered a qualification for the office. On the 19th of October, 1781, Cornwallis capitulated at Yorktown ; this virtually terminated the war. Both coun- tries were weary of it. The people of Grreat Britain com- plained bitterly of the expenses of the war, which were an- nually increasing ; they had been encouraged to bear these, sustained by the hope of ultimate reimbursement by the ex- clusive trade of the subjugated colonies. -The campaign in Virginia was regarded by both parties as probably the last of the struggle ; the English knew that the resources of Ameri- ca were well nigh exhausted, and the Americans were well informed of the discontent prevailing in England, and the ap- prehensions of the government of a revolution at home ; therefore each party regarded the campaign of 1781 as the decisive. When the capitulation took place, it produced the most unbounded joy in America, but consternation in Eng- land. The government, it is true, were making preparations for carrying on the war with renewed energy, but the pop- ular feeling was strongly in favor of its discontinuance j public meetings were held in various places, attended with demonstrations which it would have been imprudent to disre- gard, and towards the close of February, measures were in- troduced into Parliament which eventually resulted in peace. In the interim, however, both army organizations were main- 8 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. tained, though both remained passive ; ' ' there was no war, there was no peace." The soldiers of both armies, having nothing else to occupy them, organized predatory expeditions in the neighborhood where they happened to be stationed. In this respect, Staten Island was peculiarly unfortunate. Occupied by a hostile army, the people of the Island were preyed upon by desperadoes living in their midst, while the patriots on the opposite side of the Sound regarded them as tories, and therefore legitimate objects of plunder. They were thus, as it were, placed between two fires, and powerless to defend themselves against either. Was General Washington ever on Staten Island ? The only evidence of the fact which is attainable at this day is con- tained in the extract from his carefully kept accounts with the government of the United States, which we here present. " 1776. Ap'- 2.5tli, To the Exp' of myself and party recc'^ the sev' landing places on Staten Island J16 10 0." It may be said that the reconnoitering, which is almost un- intelligibly abbreviated in the original account, might have been done on the water, and quite as eflBciently as on the land. The following objections, however, exist to this view of the subject : Mrst.—The object of Washington was to erect fortifications and other defences on the most eligible sites, as the British did when they took possession on the following July ; and some parts of the shores— perhaps the most important— could not be examined with such an object in view, from any posi- tion attainable on the water. Second.— The Commander-in-Chief expresses himself in the above extracts, in terms similar to those used in other parts of his accounts for similar services in places not accessible by water, and IJiird.— There were two or three British vessels -of- war lying near the Island, on one of which Governor Try on had taken up his quarters, and from which he kept up an inter- ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 109 course with royalists on the Island, and a reconnoitering of the shores by water would not have been permitted, to say nothing of the danger of capture. Washington was as prompt to perceive the natural advan- tages of Staten Island in a military point of view as were the British. Within a week after his personal visit to the city, he established a look-out at the Narrows, which, when the British made their appearance, sent a message by express that forty of the enemy's vessels were in sight. This infor- mation was at once forwarded to the several posts on the Hudson, with instructions to prepare to give them a warm reception if they should attempt to ascend the river. But the ships, upon their arrival, anchored off Staten Island, and landed their troops, and the hill sides were soon covered with their white tents. Military works were at once erected upon every available point, thus intimating their intention of tak- ing a permanent possession. The opinion which Washington had formed of the people of Staten Island, as well as of their immediate neighbors at Amboy, may be learned from the following extract from one of his letters : " The known disaffection of the people of Amboy, and the treachery of those of Staten Island, who, after the fairest professions, have shown themselves our inveterate enemies, have induced me to give directions that all persons of known enmity and doubtful character should be removed from these places." After the British had entrenched themselves upon Staten Island, several expeditions were planned against them by the patriots, some of which were carried out with various degrees of success, as has elsewhere been stated, but others died almost in their inception. Of these latter the following was the most daring. One Ephraim Anderson contrived a plan for destroying the enemy' s fleet in the harbor by means of fire ships, the effort to be seconded by a descent upon the British forces stationed upon the Island. General Putnam approved of the proposed attempt, and communicated the 110 ANISTALS OF STATEN ISLAND. particulars in a letter to General Gates. The scheme was not carried into effect, because time failed to construct the num- ber of vessels whicli were deemed necessary to its success. Several night attacks were also planned, but which for various reasons were never made. There is tradition that an attempt was made by a small party of patriots from New Jersey, to land at night, upon the Island, in the small cove on the shores of the Kills, im- mediately west of the Pelton house ; they were met, however, by a party of British, and a skirmish ensued, during which a General Skinner* was either killed or niortally wounded. , The enemy's forces on the Island, both native and foreign, were exceedingly troublesome to the people of New Jersey. John Jay, in writing to Gov. Morris, said that if he had been invested with the power, he would have desolated all Long Island, Staten Island and New York, and withdrawn the Continental troops into the interior, and thus rendered the occupation of these places by the British of no advantage to them. As late as 18B2 the remains of some of the dwelling places of the Hessian soldiers were still distinctly to be seen along the Richmond Road, at the foot of the hill in the rear of Stapleton. These consisted of excavations in the side of the hill, eight or ten feet square, covered with planks of pieces of timber, upon which earth or sods had been placed to form roofs ; the fronts had been boarded up, and probably the sides. How they had been warmed in winter, or whether they had been warmed at all, was not apparent. They must have been miserably dark, damp caves, but probably, in the opinion of their English masters, good enough for Dutch mercenaries. * Vide App. N. (30.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Ill CHAPTER XV. ■Capt. Hyler's Adventures — Nathaniel Bobbins — The Prall families robbed — Futile attempt to rob John Bodine — Insolent conduct of two British oflBcers — A soldier scalded with boiling soap — Soldiers stabbed with hay forks — Attempt to kidnap a young lady frustrated — Instance of prompt decision — Soldier shot by a boy — Attempt to rob a farmer of his horse — Burglars discovered by means of a button — Evacuation of the Island — An eye-witness' account of it. The New Jersey Gazette of Sept. 25th, 1782, contains the following obituary notice : " Died Sept. 6, 1782, after a tedious and painful illness, which he bore with a great deal of forti- tude, the brave Capt. Adam Hyler, of New Brunsv^ick. His many enterprising acts in annoying and distressing the enemy endeared him to the patriotic part of his acquaintance. His remains were decently interred, with a display of the honors of war, in the Dutch burial ground, attended by a very numerous concourse of his acquaintances." We learn, fur- ther, from Rlmngton^ s Royal Gazette, that "Hyler died of a wound in the knee, accidentally given by himself some time ago." This Capt. Adam Hyler was an active partisan in and about that part of New Jersey where he resided. As his expeditions against the enemy were chiefly conducted by water, and in small boats, it is probable that he held his title of Captain by courtesy, and not by commission. The following are some of his exploits, as related in the papers of that period. In April, 1781, two rebel whale boats, one commanded by Hyler, the other by Dickie, attacked and captured a sloop from New York ; after plundering the vessel of goods of considerable value, she was ransomed for 500 hard dollars. This took place off Coney Island. On Sunday night, the 15th of the same month, just one 112 ANNALS or STATEN ISLAND. week after the. capture of the sloop, Hyler went over to (irow- anus, L. I., and brought off a Hessian Major and Ensign, with their servants. They were in the centre of two picket guards, yet the address of Hyler was such that the guards were not alarmed till he was out of their power. The pris- oners were carried safely into New Jersey. During a Saturday night in May, of the same year, Hyler captured a pilot boat and two other boats between Eobin's Reef * and Yellow Hook with a single whale boat. The pilot boat was plundered of valuable articles, and then redeemed for four hundred dollars. On a Thursday night in June, of the same year, the house of Nicholas Schenck, three miles south of Flatbush, was sur- prised by the crews of two rebel whale boats. Th"e family were at supper, and not prepared to make resistance. They wounded a man named Bogart with a bayonet, and took what valuables he had on his person ; they then relieved the family of the plate they could find., and decamped. About the same time Hyler entered a house at Canarsie, where a sergeant's guard were at supper, seized their arms, which were standing in the hall, borrowed their silver spoons, and sent the guards to report themselves to their officer. In August of the same year, Hyler, with his companions went three and a half miles into the country on Long Island, and captured Colonel Jerome Lott, who was notorious for his cruelty to American prisoners. They also secured about £600 in cash, and a bag supposed to contain guineas. On their passage up the Raritan, the bag was opened for the purpose of dividing the contents, and found to contain only half pennies, being the church collections. The Colonel was obliged to ransom his negroes, two of whom had also been taken, and he was then released on his parole. In January, 1782, a party of infantry from Staten Island in six boats went up the Raritan to New Brunswick, and before daylight succeeded in capturing all Hyler' s boats. In less *Vide App. N. (31.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 113 than a month thereafter Hyler launched a large new boat built for 30 oars. The following, taken from a paper published in New York, in the interests of the royalists, is another instance of the enterprise and indomitable resolution of Hyler. The date is July 15, 1782. " Last Tuesday night Mr. Hyler took 2 fishing boats near the Narrows, and ransomed them for $100 each. One of them has been twice captured." The same day "a little before sunset, Mr. Hyler, with 3 large 24-oared boats, made an attack on the galley stationed at Prince's Bay, south side of Staten Island. There being little or no wind, he came up with a good deal of resolution, but Capt. Cashman gave him an 18-pounder, which went through the stern of one of the boats, and obliged Hyler to put ashore on the Island, where, after a smart combat, he was obliged to leave one of his boats and make the best of his way home with the other two." " John Althouse, with 12 men, was on board a guard-boat at anchor in Prince' s Bay, when two whale-boats were des- cried under South Amboy shore. It was calm. The cable was sprung and a 24-pounder brought to bear, which sent a shot through Hyler' s boat. His crew were taken in the other boat, (Dickey's,) and all made ofE for New Brunswick with Gen. Jacob S. Jackson, whom they had captured in South Bay, and kept prisoner till he was ransomed." The mantle of Capt. Hyler appears to have fallen on other shoulders after his death. The New Jersey Gazette of November 13, 1782, says: "The brave Capt. Storer, com- missioned as a private boat-of-war, under the States, and who promises fair to be the genuine successor of the late valiant Cayt. Hyler, has given a recent instance of his valor and conduct in capturing one of the enemy's vessels, and in cutting out a vessel lying under the flag-staff and within half pistol shot of the battery of 14 guns, at the watering-place, Staten Island." Numerous instances of suffering are preserved in the tra- 114 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ditions of some of the old families of the Island. There was one man of local notoriety wiiose name is still remembered and mentioned by the descendants of those whose misfortune it was to suffer at his hands ; his name was Nathaniel Rob- bins ; he resided at what is now known as New Springville, but the house which he occupied was demolished many years ago. It stood near the corner of the roads leading to Rich- mond and Port Richmond, fronting on the former, but sev- eral rods therefrom. He was an Englishman by birth, dissolute in his habits, and the terror not only of those who dwelt in his neighborhoocl, but of the whole county. His wife was a native of Staten Island, and a daughter of the widow Mary Merrill. The opinion which his wife's mother entertained of him, may be inferred from a clause in her will, which was dated January, 10th, 1789, and in which she be- queaths to her daughter Mary Robbins the sum of £40, " so as never to be in the power or at the command of Nathaniel Robbins, her present husband." His depredations were gen- erally committed under some disguise, which he supposed effectually concealed his identity, though he was often be- trayed by his voice or some circumstance, which rendered his identity a moral if not an absolute certainty. He had his associates, who were also well known, some of whose names might be mentioned but for the respectability of their descend- ants, but Robbins was regarded as the leader and soul of the gang. Those families residing near the Sound, or " the lines," as it was called, suffered more from marauders than those who dwelt in the interior, because the opportunities for escape were more convenient. As part of the local history of the Island, though authenticated chiefly by family traditions, but not therefore the less reliable, several instances are sub- joinedi At or near Chelsea dwelt several families of the name of Prall, some of whose descendants are among the most re- spectable of our citizens at the present day. Among them were two brothers, Abraham and Peter, both prosperous farm- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 115 ers and men of substance. The house in which the former i-esided is. still standing, though considerably modernized, on the Chelsea road, at no great distance from the 'Richmond Turnpike. The Chelsea road at that time was little better than a private lane leading to these residences from the main road, and passing through dense woods. On one occasion a man who was indebted to him called upon him and paid him a considerable sum in gold. The next evening the .family were surprised by the approach of two men, who were evi- dently disguised ; their errand was at once suspected, and the old man had just time enough to take the money he had received out of the cupboard in which he had deposited it, and put it into his pockets. When the strangers entered, one of them presented a pistol at him, and said, " Prall, we know you have money, so deliver it up at once." He was very much alarmed, and his wife, perceiving his agitation, said, "Father, don't be alarmed, these men are our neighbors." She had detected the speaker by his voice, and knew him to be the same person who had paid the money the previous evening, and had seen it deposited in the cupboard. ' ' Do you suppose," said the old man, "that I am so unwise as to keep any large sum of money in my house in times like these ? You are welcome to any money you may find in the house." They took him at his word, and the cupboard was the first place visited ; the rest of the house was also searched, but without success. They then turned to go, but directed the old man to go before them through the lane to the public road. The path through the woods was intensely dark, and he managed, as he went along, to drop his guineas, one by one, upon the ground, until by the time they had reached the highway he had none remaining in his pockets. Here another effort was made to compel him to tell them what he had done with it, but all the reply they could extort from him' was, "the money I had in my house yesterday is not now in my possession. ' ' He was then searched, and he was made to sol- emnly swear that he would never divulge the circumstances of their visit, nor mention any names he might suspect. 116 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. This oath, though by no means obligatory, he scrupulously kept. The next morning he retraced his steps of the previoas night, and recovered every piece of his money. A younger member of one of these families, vphile on his way homeward, at a late hour, on horseback, when near the corner of the Port Richmond and Signs roads, New Spring- ville, was suddenly stopped by a man, who rushed out of his concealment in the bushes, seized his horse by the bridle, and ordered him to "deliver up." The horse was very spirited, and with a touch of the rider' s spur suddenly sprang forward, throwing his assailant violently to the ground. Then, at the utmost of his speed, he made for home, springing over every fence or other obstacle, until he reached his stable door in safety. At another time, two of these young men, each one of whom owned a horse, put their horses together in a team, and took a sleigh ride to visit some of their relatives on the south side of the Island. When they returned, and before removing the harness from their beasts, they ran into the house for a moment to warm their hands, the weather being intensely cold. They were scarcely seated at the fire when one of the females of the family came running into the room, and informed them that somebody was taking their horses away. Eushing out together, they saw two men in their sleigh driving rapidly in the direction of the Sound. Pursuit was useless ; they stood still, and saw them crossing the Sound on the ice, until they reached the Jersey shore, and then disappeared in the country. They never saw their horses after. Mr. John Bodine* having received a considerable sum of money, suspected that the fact was known, and if so, that an attempt would be made to rob him ; he therefore buried it under the step-stone at his back door. His suspicions proved to be well founded ; his expected visitors made their appear- ance the following evening, and demanded all the money he had in the house. It was in vain that he protested there was * Vide App. N. (83.) ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 117 no money in the house ; they insisted upon searching for it., but before doing so, bound him hand and foot, and then pro- ceeded with their villainous work. Nothing, however, was found. But they were not discouraged ; if the money was not in' the house, he had concealed it, and must reveal the place. He concluded that if prevarication was ever justifi- able, it was under just such circumstances as those in which he was then placed, so he persisted in his denial of having any, or having concealed any. They threatened to shoot him ; he told them to shoot away, he could not give them what he had not. Perceiving that the fear of death did not intimidate him, they resorted to torture ; they heated a shovel, and proceeded to burn him on various parts of his body, but all in vain, he persisted in his denial, and they finally desisted, supposing it to be improbable if not impossible for any man to endure so much agony for any amount of money. It was not money only that satisfied the rapacity of these thieves ; household furniture, clothing, linen, anything that had value in their eyes, was ruthlessly carried away. One family had a vault constructed under the flooring of a cider- mill, in which beds, bedding and other articles, except some of the most common description, and in constant use, were concealed. Several years after the war a man who resided near "the lines," being on business in New Jersey, discov- ered in one house a mirror and several pictures belonging to himself, and of which his house had been robbed. We are indebted for the following incident to a man who died more than a quarter of a century ago, then in his ninetieth year. One afternoon, late in the fall, two British officers on horseback rode into his barn-yard, and having dismounted, entered the barn, and perceiving his two horses in their stalls, peremptorily ordered him to take them out and put theirs in. They then directed him to see that their beasts were well fed and otherwise cared for. From the barn they went into the house, and ordered the mistress to show them her best room ; this was done ; then they proceeded to the upper part 118 ATSTNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. of the house, and after having examined every apartment, selected one, and directed her to prepare two beds in that room, and to see to it that they were clean and comfortable in all respects, and that the best room was furnished with everything suitable for the accommodation of gentlemen. They then descended into the cellar, and examined the family stores there, and in- the out-houses. Having ascertained the conveniences of the place, they ordered their supper to be prepared and served in the best room, informing her that they intended to reside there for some time, and expected to have their meals served regularly every day when they were at home. They brought no luggage with them except what was contained in two large valises strapped to their saddles. They remained in that house until Spring. Their clothes were thrown out every week to be washed, and by their order a supply of fire- wood was constantly ready at their door ; they did not always take the trouble to put the wood upon their own fire, frequently calling upon some one of the family to do it for them. One of them was a tory oflBcer from Amboy, the other was an Englishman. Said the old man, "they lorded it over our house for that whole winter, and all we had to do was to obey them ; there was no use in complaining or remonstrating ; if we had done so, we should have been re- quited with a curse and a blow of their swords. I felt like poisoning them, and verily believe I should have done so, if it had not been for fear of the consequences. They left us as unceremoniously as they came, without even a ' thank you' or a 'goodbye.' " It is related of a young woman, the daughter of a farmer residing in the vicinity of the Fresh Kills, while engaged one morning in boiling soap, two soldiers entered the kitchen and ordered her to prepare breakfast for them ; she declined to do so, as she was otherwise engaged, and could not leave her employment to oblige anybody. This reply excited their wrath, and one of them approached her with an intention of striking her. Seizing a large dipper, she filled it with the boiling liquid and dashed it at him ; perceiving her intention, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 119 he wheeled suddenly around and thus saved his face, but re- ceived the whole charge upon the back of his head and neck. His companion, fearing a similar reception, escaped as quickly as possible, but the scalded ruffian, in endeavoring to remove the hot soap, took all the hair off with it, which never grew again, and left the back half of his head bald ever after. Another farmer in the same vicinity, while he and one of his sons were engaged in the barn one morning, were sudden- ly alarmed by a shriek and a cry for help from the house. Each seizing a hayfork, they ran in and found three soldiers in the house, one of whom was holding one of the young women of the family by the arm. They both rushed at him, first one stabbed him in the shoulder, and the other in the thigh, disabling him at once. With the same weapons they attacked the other two, driving them all before them out of the house, and pursuing them for some distance down the road ; they escaped, however, without farther injury, by superior speed. The following romantic incident, though traditional, is well authenticated : Thirty years ago, perhaps more, there stood an old stone house nearly on the site now occupied by the residence of Capt. R. Christopher, in West New Brighton. For many years before it was demolished it was owned and occupied by the late Nathaniel Briiton, Jr. , but the name of the occu- pant during the early years of the revolution had entirely escaped the memory of the narrator ; he was, however, a prominent tory, and the father of a daughter said to have possessed more than an ordinary degree of personal attrac- tions ; before the commencement of the war she was affianced to a young man named Mersereau, who resided at Holland' s Hook, or its vicinity. A young British lieutenant had seen and admired her, and, probably from the outset, had marked her for a victim. He had succeeded. in becoming acquainted with her, and, to the gratification of her father, became very assiduous in his attentions. She, however, repulsed his ad- vances. After several months' efforts, finding he had utterly 120 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. failed in impressing her with a sense of the honor of his alliance, he resolved to possess himself of her person at all hazards. The same young tory who attempted to betray Col. Mersereau's presence with his family, and who, it would appear, was somewhat noted for his unscrupulosity, and who, for a suitable reward, was ready to lend himself to the perpetration of any outrage which did not actually imperil his own precious life, was applied to by the lieutenant. The plot concocted between them will develop itself as the narra- tive progresses. Almost directly opposite the junction of the road from Garrison's Station, on the Staten Island Rail- road, with the old Richmond Road, (or the King's Highway, as it was called in colonial times,) is a deep ravine, penetra- ting some distance into Toad Hill, at the farthest extremity of which is a spring of water, near which, before the war commenced, a solitary individual had built himself a rude hut or cabin, in which he dwelt for several years a veritable anchorite. When hostilities began, he disappeared, but the cabin still remained. The approach to it was by a foot-path through the dense forest which lined the hills on either side of the ravine. One evening the young tory called at the resi- dence of the young lady, and informed her that he had been sent to convey her to the residence of her aunt, near Rich- mond, who had been taken suddenly ill, and had requested her attendance. Suspecting no evil, and being much attached to her relative, she was soon ready to accompany him. Springing into the wagon which he had brought, she was rapidly driven away. When they reached the entrance to the ravine, two men rushed out of the bushes, seized the horse by the bridle, and ordered the occupants of the wagon to alight. One of them pretended to take possession of the driver, while the other led the young lady up the foot-path into the ravine, cautioning her that her safety depended upon her silence. So far the plot had been carried out success- fully, but there was an avenger nearer than they suspected ; they had taken but a few steps in the direction of the cabin, when several men rushed out of the bushes and seized the ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 121 lieutenant, for it was he who had possession of the lady One of them took her hand, assuring her that they were her protectors, and that she need be under no apprehensions. Though they were all disguised, she at once recognized Mersereau by his voice. Those who had possession of the lieutenant proceeded to tie his hands, informing him that they intended to do him no further hkrm than the infliction of a severe flogging ; and if he attempted to cry out, they would gag him. A bundle of supple rods was at hand, and two of them, one after the other, inflicted the chastisement which they had promised. Having punished him to their hearts' content, they released him, with the warning that if, after the expiration of a week, he was found upon the Island, they would capture him again and cut off his ears. The young lady was safely returned to her home by the same conveyance, but not the same driver, for he had, by some means, disappeared. The lieutenant also saved his ears by his absence before the week expired. How the villainous plot was discovered was never positively known, but it was shrewdly suspected that the young tory had played into the hands of both parties, and for a consideration had betrayed his military employer. The horse and wagon remained in the possession of Mersereau unclaimed for several weeks, but was finally stolen one night, and never heard of after. There is an instance of extraordinary self-possession and prompt decision related of a young man named Itousman, which probably saved his life. He resided in the vicinity of the Four Corners, and one morning, after a slight fall of snow during the night, he went out with his gun in quest of rabbits. Though the people of the Island, during its oc- cupancy by the British, were prohibited from keeping fire- arms of any description in their houses, some few had suc- ceeded in concealing guns, which, from the associations con- nected with them, or from some other reasons, were valuable to them ; such was the guu carried by young Housman on this occasion. While tramping through the woods, a sudden turn in the path brought him in sight of two soldiers, who 122 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. were out, probably, on the same errand. They saw each other simultaneously, and each party stopped. The young hunter thought of the loss of his gun, and probably of his life also, but suddenly turning his back to the soldiers, he waved his hand as if beckoning to some other persons as he stepped back round the turn, and shouted out, " Hurry up, here are two Britishers ; three of you go round to the right, and three to the left, and the rest of you follow me ; hurry up, before they run away." What the "Britishers" had to fear we know not, but hearing these directions, and fearing there might be a small army about to surround them, turned and fled, throwing away their arms to facilitate their flight. What report they made when they reached their quarters is not known, but a detachment was sent out to capture the young man and his army. Their surprise and mortification must have been extreme, when at the turn in the path they could only find the tracks of a single individual in the snow. This same Housman, in after years, conceived the idea that there was great mineral wealth in the hills about the Four Corners, and with the aid of a negro commenced min- ing operations in the side of the hill, in what is called " Don- gan's wood," now the property of Cornelius Dubois, Esq. The excavation which he made in the solid rock in search of gold, may be seen at the present day. A farmer whose name has passed into oblivion, residing "in the Clove," was called from home late one day to visit a near relative in some other part of the Island, who had been taken suddenly ill, leaving his wife and only child, a lad of seventeen or thereabouts, alone at home. It was af- ter dark before the boy completed his work about the barn, but just as he was coming oat he saw a soldier enter the house with a musket in his hand. Before he had time to reach the house, he heard his mother shrieking for lielp ; he rushed forward, and as he entered he saw the soldier holding his mother by the throat with his left hand, while his right was drawn back to strike her. When he entered, the soldier had placed his musket by the side of the door in the passage ; AjSriSTALS OP STATEN ISLAKD. 123 the son seized it, and at the imminent risk of shooting his mother, levelled it at the ruffian's head, and sent the ball crashing through his brain ; of course lie was killed on the spot. But here was a dilemma ; if the shot had been heard, and should attract any person to the spot, an exposure must ne- cessarily follow, and the lad would have been executed, for no circumstances would have been admitted as a justification for killing a soldier. Fortunately, however, the noise had not been heard, or at least had attracted no attention. All that could now be done was to conceal the body until the return of the husband and father in the morning ; this was done by dragging it under the stairs, where it was not likely to be seen by any person but themselves. The next morning, when the farmer returned,, and had learned what had taken place in his absence, he also became alarmed, but while his wife and son kept watch, he removed a part of his barn floor under which he dug a grave,, and after dark the evening after, the body was thrown into it, and the musket also, and buried, and there they probably remain to this day. The family kept their own secret until after the close of the war, and the evacuation of the Island by the British. A man named Cole, residing in Southfield, was the pro- prietor of a remarkably fine gray horse. Several of the officers of the army had offered to purchase him, but he declined to part with him at any price. He had before sold a horse to an officer, who had promised to pay for him within two months, but two years had passed, and the debt was not yet discharged. At another time a Hessian officer, who had been quartered upon him for a short time, when he left, forci- bly took away another horse, and Cole had repeatedly vowed that no other officer should have another horse of his unless he stole him; he would shoot him first, — theiorse, not the officer. Early, one bright winter evening, he heard a commo- tion in his stable, and, always on the alert, he thrust two pis- tols in his pockets and hastened out. At the stable door he saw two soldiers attempting to put a halter upon the head of his favorite horse. " Hi, there," he cried, "what are you going 1 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. to do with that horse 1" "Going to take him away," replied one of them ; "Colonel wants him, and sent ns to get him." " Well," said Cole, "you just make up you minds that neither you nor the Colonel shall take that horse away without my consent." "Stand aside, you d— d rebel," said one them, as Cole attempted to take the horse from them, at the same time pointing a bayonet at him, "or I'll make a hole through your heart." Without further reply, he drew one of his pistols and shot the horse through the head ; "there, you infernal thieves," he exclaimed as he threw the pistol down, "now you may take him." For a moment the soldiers were amazed as they gazed upon the struggles of the dying animal, but soon recovering themselves, they prepared to rush upon him with their bayonets, when Cole, presenting the other pistol, exclaimed, "Come on, you thieves and robbers, with your bayonets, and I'll drop one of you at least." The soldiers considering discretion, in this instance, the better part of valor, turned and walked away, threatening him with the vengeance of the Colonel. "Gro tell your master," said Cole, as he followed them to the gate, "that I'll serve him, or you, or any other thief who comes upon my premises at night to steal my property, as I served that horse." The majority of the English, of all ranks, regarded the colonists as physically, intellectually and morally inferior to themselves ; in their social intercourse with them they made but little distinction bdiween loyalists and rebels, and, in plundering, none whatever. But there were exceptions; among the officers of the British army, were some who were gentlemen by nature and by culture, and a few were eminently pious men, who found no difficulty in reconciling their obliga- tions to their king with their duty to their Maker ; these two latter classes were ever ready to listen to the complaints of the oppressed, and, as far as laid in their power, to redress the wrongs of the injured. Of this class was Captain John Voke,* of whom the fol- * Vide App. N. (33.) ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 125 lowing anecdote has been preserved. He was billeted upon a farmer in the vicinity of Richmond for some two or three months, and, unlike many other officers, regularly paid for his board and lodging. A few days after he had removed bis quarters, the farmer came to him and informed him that during the previous night his hquse had been entered and robbed of a sum of money, and that he suspected that it had been done by soldiers, because beneath the window through which the house had been entered, and which had been left open, he had found a button, by means of which, perhaps, the culprits might be detected. The Captain took the button and promised to give the matter his immediate attention. The button indicated the regiment as well as the company to which the loser of it belonged. During the parade that same day, he closely scrutinized the company indicated, and found a soldier with a button missing on the front of his coat. After parade he communicated his suspicions to the colonel of the regiment, and the soldier was sent for. When he had arrived, the colonel, using a little artifice, informed him that he suspected hira of being implicated in a drunken brawl the night before at a tavern a mile or two distant. This the soldier denied, saying that he could prove he was nowhere near that tavern, or even in that direction, during the night previous. " Were you out last night?" inquired the colonel; " W^ll — yes," answered the soldier, "but not in that direction. " Where were you ?" "In various places, but not at that tavern." "By whom can you prove that you were not at that tavern V The name of another soldier was mentioned , and the colonel sent for him. When he arrived, he corroborated all that the first soldier had said, adding that they two had been together all the night. " Then," said the colonel, "you two are the burglars who entered the house of Mr. through a window '\^st night, and robbed him of twenty guineas ; lay down the money upon this table, or you shall both be executed for burglary and robbery." The affrighted soldiers, taken by surprise, confessed their crime, and each placed ten guineas upon the table. What 126 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. punishment was meted out to the culprits is not related, but Captain Voke had the satisfaction of returning the money to the owner thereof in less than twentj-four hours after it had been stolen. On the 25th day of November, 1783, the British finally evacuated New York and Staten Island. Eight years before, they had entered the country with the expectation that, in less than as many months, they would overrun it from North to South, and trample out the rebellion. The people should be made to bow with abject submission before the in- vincible power of Great Britain, and humbly sue for the privilege of lying in the dust and having her foot placed upon their necks. The 'march of the army through the land, from its beginning to its end', was to be an uninterrupted triumph. But they now returned overcome and crestfallen ; the rebellion which they came to conquer, had conquered them, and their overweening arrogance and pride had re- ceived a blow such as it had never received before, nor since. An eye-witness of their departure described the scene as in the highest degree impressive. Several days before the 25th had been occupied in conveying the troops, cannon, tents, etc., from the land to the vessels, both in New York and on Staten Island. When all was ready, they passed through the Narrows silently ; not a sound was heard save the ratling of the cordage. "We stood," he said, "on the heights at the Narrows, and looked down upon the decks of their ships as they passed ; we were very boisterous in our demonstrations of joy ; we shouted, we clapped our hands, we waved our hats, we sprang into the air, and some few, who had brought muskets with them, fired % feu-de-joie\ a few others, in the exuberance of their gladness, indulged in gestures, which though very expressive, were neither polite nor judicious. The British could not look upon the scene without making some demonstration of resentment. A large seventy -four, as she was passing, fired a shot which struck the bank a few feet beneath the spot upon which we were standing. If we had had a cannon, we would have reourned it, but as we had none, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 127 re ran away as fast as we could. A few rods from us stood nother group, composed of men and women, who gazed silent - y, and some tearfully, upon the passing ships, for some of the emales had lovers, and some husbands on board of them, rho were leaving them behind, never, probably, to see them gain. It was long after dark when the last ship passed hrough the Narrows." But they did not all go ; many of the soldiers, especially [essians, who had no home attractions across the water, rhen they learned that peace had been declared, and that tie army would shortly leave the country, deserted, and ought places of concealment, from which they emerged when tie power to arrest them had departed. Many had formed ttaohments which they were unwilling to sunder. But lany more were detained by admiration of the country, and desire to make for themselves a new home in a new world, 'rom some of these have descended men whose names are Titten in the country's history. In proportion to its population, Perth Amboy contained lore tories than any other place within the limits of the tate of New Jersey. Many of these enlisted in the regiment nown as the Queen' s Rangers, and in the several companies omposing Col. Billop's regiment. We have been able to btain the names of but two of the captains of these com- anies, viz. : Abraham Jones, a native Staten Islander, and >avid Alston, an Englishman or Scotchman by birth, but for ears before the war a resident of New Jersey, in the vicinity f Kahway, and, after the war, of Staten Island.* Many of le British officers, in all parts of the country, remained after le cessation of hostilities, but many more of the rank and le ; this was so particularly on Staten Island, and many of le families now residing here are the descendants of these fficers and soldiers. There were not, by any means, as many )ries on the Island at the close, as at the beginning of the ar. The injustice and cruelty of the British during the * Vide " Alston," A pp. L. 128 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. whole term of their domination, and the repeated flagrant breaches of their promises in their numerous proclamations, as well as the inhumanity with which the American prisoners in their hands had been treated, had caused many to regret the step they had taken in publicly advocating the cause of the crown, and gradually they became converts to the cause of their native country, so that when the end came, there were few left who declined to take the oath of allegiance to the new government, and fewer still who were so infatuated with royalty as to abandon their property and the land of their nativity, to follow its fortunes. Of this latter class we have been able to find but two families, the Billop and the Seaman. The property of these families was confiscated and sold by Isaac Stoutenburgh and Philip Van Courtland, Com- missioners of Forfeiture for the Southern district of New York. On the 16th day of July, 1784, they sold to Thomas McFar- ren, of New York, the Manor of Bentley, containing 850^ acres for £4,695 ($11,737.50) forfeited to the people of this State by the attainder of Christopher Billop. On the same day, the same Commissioners sold to the same individual, for £1,120.16 ($2,802), about 170 acres of land, in the town of Castleton, forfeited to the people of this State by the attainder of Benjamin Seaman. On the 30th day of April, 1785, the same Commisssioners sold to Cornelius Rosevelt, of New York, 200 acres of land, more or less, for £3,000 ($7,500), forfeited tothe people of this State by the attainder of Benjamin Seaman. The remainder of the Billop estate, except about 100 acres, came into the possession of two brothers, Caleb and Samuel Ward. Caleb subsequently sold 100 acres to Codding- ton for $700; this eventually came into the possession of Garret Garrison, who married a daughter of Goddington.. Subsequently, Isaac Butler came into possession of 200 acres of the original estate, and James Butler, Gilbert Totten, James Totten and Thomas Storer each 25 acres. The policy of the Government of the United States appears always to have been of a pacific and conciliatory character ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 129 towards its enemies, after they have been subdued and ren- dered powerless for evil. All tories, as well as foreign foes, were permitted to take a position among the citizens of the country upon taking the oath of allegiance. All animosities were buried, and the descendants of a great number of these repentant royalists, now residing on the Island, are ignorant of the position their ancestors took in the great political ques- tions which agitated the country a century ago. At the close of the war, Staten Island, New York Island, and a part of Long Island, were peculiarly circumstanced ; throughout the country the several State governments, and the minor county and town governments under them, had been organized, and were in full operation, except in the counties mentioned ; these had been under the control of the British military authorities, and whatever -civil government they had, continued to be under the English laws ; any attempt to organize a government which had the least tincture of repub- licanism, would not have been tolerated a moment ; therefore, when the English evacuated the country, the government .which had directed the destinies of the country for a century, was, so far as these counties were concerned, annihilated, as it were, in a day, and the people, without any previous instruction or experience, were suddenly brought under the influences not only of another, but of a new code of laws. It would be interesting to trace the steps taken by the people of the Island to acclimate themselves, as it were, to the political atmosphere which they were thereafter to inhale, but here resources fail us ; there is nothing in the county archives to direct, or even to aid us. Except the records affecting the title to property, and the barren monetary records of the successive boards of supervisors, from which we have elsewhere culled all that is available for our purpose, there is nothing left ; all else has disappeared, especially the records of the courts held in the county. Of these there are none, from the begin- ning of the 18th century to 1843, or thereabouts, a period of nearly a century and a half. This is to be regretted, because there is no method by which the blank can be filled. It is in 130 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. documents like these that are missing, that many items of lo- cal interest are to be found. The few events of a historical nature which have transpired in the limited area of our coun- ty since the formation of the government, and which are here recorded, have been drawn from the memories of individuals still living, and from various other sources. Note. — Since the above was written, the compiler has succeeded in discovering two old books containing the proceedings of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions from 1710 to 1775, and a few cases after 1784. Between these dates no courts appear to have been held in the county, martial law prevailing during that time. The above books are of but little value in a historical point of view, as they contain little else than entries of suits for debts in the Com- mon Pleas, and for assaults and batteries in the Sessions. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 131 CHAPTER XVI. The Quarantine — Murders. As the commerce of the port of New York extended itself, and vessels from all parts of the world visited its harbor, and sometimes brought infectious diseases with them, it became an imperative necessity that the authorities should estal)lish a quarantine for the protection of the people dwelling within its limits. Accordingly, the Colonial Legislature, in 1758, en- acted a law creating a quarantine establishment, and located it upon Bedloe' s Island, where it remained thirty-eight years ; it was then removed to Nutten, or Governor's Island. In 1799, three years after its removal, the yellow fever was brought to New York, and it was decided that the establish- ment was altogether too near the metropolis to be of any service in protecting the people, by preventing the spread of malignant diseases. Commissioners were then appointed by Act of Legislature to procure a site upon Staten Island. They selected a parcel of land containing thirty acres, belonging to St. Andrew's Church, beautifully located on the northeast shore of the Island. Strong opposition was made not only by the owners of the land, but by the people of the Island generally, to its location among them, but it was taken, not- withstanding, by what in law is termed ' ' the right of eminent domain." Hospitals and other necessary buildings were erected, and during the first year of its existence on the Isl- and, twenty -five cases of yellow fever occurred among the people residing outside of its boundaries, all but one of which proved fatal. Almost every year thereafter contagious diseases, in some form, found victims among the people. In 1848, the number of persons sick from infectious diseases outside of the quarantine, amounted to one hundred and 132 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. eighty. In that year an earnest petition for relief was pre- sented to the Legislature by the people of the Island, sup. ported by powerful influences from New York and Brooklyn, and a committee was appointed by the Legislature to examine into the matter, and report at the following session. This committee at once proceeded to the performance of the duty assigned to them, and in 1849 ' ' unhesitatingly recommended the immediate removal of the quarantine." While the com- mittee were engaged in performing their duty, the yellow fever again broke out, and extended itself to various other places. In April an act was passed for the removal of the quarantine establishment from Staten Island to Sandy Hook. The measure had its opponents among the shipping merchants and others in New York, who were not idle ; the State of New Jersey also interposed its objections, and the persons ap- pointed by the Legislature of New York to carry out its intentions, took no ' action whatever, so that the removal act remained a dead letter upon the statute books. The fearful visitation of yellow fever in 1856, once more aroused the people of the Island, and another application for relief was made. In March, 1857, another act was passed for the removal of the quarantine from Staten Island, but the opposition of the Commissioners of Emigration, the Board of Underwriters of New York, and the shipping interests of that city, again thwarted the beneficent designs of the Legis- lature. The precautions adopted by the local authorities to protect the citizens and their families from infection, were opposed by the health oflRcer, and every possible obstacle was thrown in the way of the local officers to obstruct them in the performance of their duties. At length patience ceased to be a virtue, and the Board of Health of the town of Castleton, within which the quarantine was situated, passed a resolution, declaring the institution to be an insuffer- able nuisance, and called upon the citizens to "abate it with- out delay." Those residing in the vicinity required but slight encouragement to take the matter into their own hands, and at once to effectually remove the establishment, which ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 133 had legally been pronounced a nuisance. On the nights of the first and second of September, 1858, they forcibly entered the enclosure, and after carefully removing the patients from the several hospitals, set fire to, and burned down every building connected with the establishment. That some ex-, cesses should be committed by an exasperated populace, was to be expected ; there was so much system, however, in their mode of operation, that it was evident everything had been previously arranged, and that the people were carrying out instructions previously received. During the continuance of this intense excitement, it was remarkable that not a single life was sacrificed, nor any one seriously injured. These summary proceedings of the people of Staten Island produced great excitement, not only in the city of New York, but throughout the State, and indeed throughout the country. They were termed in the public prints barbarians, savages, incarnate fiends, sepoys, and in fact no epithets were con- sidered too vile to be applied to them. But they were all borne with equanimity, sustained by the consciousness that sooner or later there would be a revolution in public opinion. After all the mischief had been done, the Governor of the State declared the Island to be in a state of revolt, and sent over several regiments of militia, who were for some time encamped upon the grounds immediately north of the quar- antine. A matter of a character so serious, could not, of course, be passed over in silence. Legal proceedings were at once instituted, and Messrs. John C. Thompson and Ray Tomp- kins, who were regarded as the instigators and ringleaders of the incendiaries, were arrested on a charge of arson, and arraigned before the County Judge, Hon. H. B. Metcalfe, for examination. His opinion, which v^as extensively copied and read, had great influence in changing public opinion. His closing remarks merit repetition and preservation. " Undoubtedly the city of New York is entitled to all the protection in the matter that the State can give, consistently with the health of others ; she has no right to more. Her 134 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. great advantages are attended by correspondent inconven- iences ; her great public vrorks, by great expenditures ; tier great foreign commerce, by the infection it brings. But the Legislature can no more apportion upon the surrounding communities her dangers, than her expenses ; no more compel them to do her dying, than to pay her taxes ; neither can be done." Thus ended the charges brought against the prisoners ; no person vras punished for any complicity in the matter, but the county, very unjustly in the opinion of many, was com- pelled to pay for the value of the property destroyed, both public and private ; nevertheless, the people consoled them- selves vpith the reflection, that even at that price, they had cheaply, as well as effectually, rid themselves of a grievous nuisance, which had not only depreciated the value of their property, and exposed themselves and their families to con- tagion in its worst forms, but had actually been the direct cause of the death of hundreds of their relatives and neighbors. Towards the close of October, 1815, the community was startled by a report that a murder had been committed in the town of Southfield. The circumstances of the case proved to be as follows : On the 27th of that month, Bornt Lake, residing on the Amboy,* a few rods south of the Black Horse Tavern, while returning from his father's house, on the same road to his own, was shot and killed on the public road in front of his own premises, by his next door neighbor, a man named Christian Smith. Immediately after the commission of the deed, Smith went to another neighbor, Mr. John Jacobson, and informed him of what he had done, and asked his advice whether to surrender himself, or attempt to escape. What advice his neighbor gave him is not known, but Smith did neither the one nor the other, but wandered about in the woods, where he was found later in the day, and taken to prison. He did not deny having committed the murder, but * Vide App. N. (35 ) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 135 justified himself by the plea that Lake was committing a trespass upon his property ; that he had frequently done the same thing, and had been warned repeatedly what the con- sequence would be if he did not desist. He was indicted and brought to trial. The prosecution had an easy task, for the offence was not, and could not be denied ; it stood admitted, but the defence was justification. It was proved that a feud had for a long time existed between the parties, and that they did what they could to aggravate and annoy each other. Judge Spencer, who presided, charged strongly against the prisoner, for the law was against him. "If," he said, "the murdered man had trespassed upon the property of the prisoner, the law afforded ample redress, and he had no right to take the law into his own hand and redress his own wrongs." The jury, however, took a different view of the matter ; they acquitted the prisoner. The people were every- where surprised at the result, and perhaps none more so than the prisoner himself. The judge was indignant, and in dis- charging the prisoner from custody, indulged in some remarks which were bitterly severe. He said, in effect: "The jury have seen proper to find you not guilty ; how they have arrived at such a conclusion, in the face of the law and the facts, surpasses my comprehension, but I warn you that there is another tribunal before which you must appear hereafter to answer for your crime, and where you will not have the benefit of a Staten Island jury." It was said, probably more in jest than earnest, that the jury arrived at their verdict by the following argument of one of their number : " If we con- vict the prisoner, the judge will give him two or three months ihbre of life, during which time the county will be obliged to feed him, and to keep his cell warm, which will cost a good sum of money ; if to this is added the cost of building the gaUows, the sheriff's fee for hanging him, the cost of burying him, the expenses will amount to a hundred or a hundred and fifty dollars, and all of which wUl have to be raised by taxation ; but if, on the other hand, we say "not guilty," every dollar of this amount will be saved," and therefore 136 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. tliey said "Not Guilty." Others said that the jury sufifered their sympathies for the prisoner to control their verdict, as it was evident that he had suffered much mental torture during his incarceration. On Christmas morning, 1843, the community was again startled by the rumor that a double murder had been com- mitted at Grraniteville. A woman and her child, - named Housman, had been found dead in an apartment of their dwelling house, evidently killed by violence. Suspicion soon was fixed upon a relative of the deceased persons, but who, after several trials, in one or more of which the jury failed to agree, was, upon a change of venue, finally acquitted. The matter still remains shrouded in mystery. APPENDIXES. "A." CIVIL LIST. &c. 140 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CIVIL OFFICERS, EICHMOND COUNTY. Members of the Promncial Congress. Adrian Bancker, 2d Prov. Cong., lt75 — '6. Richard Conner, 1st and 3d Prov. Cong., 1775 — '6. Aaron Cortelyou, " " " " " " John Journeay, " " " " " " Rich'rd Lawrence, " 2d " Paul Micheau, " 3d " " " Representatives in Congress. Daniel D. Tompkins, 9th Congress, 1805 — '6. Henry Crocheron, 14th tc 1815- -'17. James Guyon, Jr., 16th it 1819- -'21. Jacob Crocheron, 21st (( 1829- -'31. Samuel Barton, 24th (( 1833- -'87. Joseph Egbert, 27th C( 1841- -'43. Henry I. Seaman, 29th ec 1843- -'47. Obadiah Bowne, 82d (( 1851- -•53. Henry G. Stebbins, , 38th t( Resigned. Dwight Town send, 38th (( 1863- -'65. Henry B. Metcalfe, 44th tc 1875- -"17. State Senators from Richmond County. Paul Micheau 1789— '90— '91— '92. Jacob Tysen 1828. Harman B. Cropsey 1832— '33— '34— '85. Minthorne Tompkins 1840 '41. James E. Cooley 1852 '53. Robert Christie, Jr 1864 '65. Nicholas La Bau 1866 '67. Samuel H. Frost 1870 '71. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 141 Judges of the County Courts. 1691 EUis Duxbury. 1710 Daniel Lake. 1711 Joseph BUlop. 1712 Thomas Farmar. 1739 Richard MerriU. 1739 John Le Conte. 1756 WiUiam Walton. (He was also a member of tlie Council from 1768 to 1768, when lie died.) 1761 1775 1808 1812 1836 1840 Joseph BedeU. Benjamin Seaman. 1786 1797 1802 1803 1823 1840 1841 1844 1847 1876 Paul Micheau. Gozen Eyerss. John J. Murray. John Garretson. Jacob Tysen. Henry B. Metcalfe. William Emerson. Albert Ward. Henry B. Metcalfe. Tompkins Westervelt. Presidential Electors from Richmond County. John Garretson. 1844 John C. Thompson. Joseph Perine. 1848 James M. Cross. Jacob Crocheron. 1856 Minthorne Tompkins. John T. Harrison. 1864 Obadiah Bowne. Members of the Colonial Assembly from Richmond County. John Dally 1691. Lambert Dorland 1691. EUis Duxbury 1691— '95— "98. Thomas Morgan 1692— '98, 1702. J. T. Yan Pelt 1692— '94— '98. John Shadwell 1693— '95. Thomas StUweU 1693— '98. John Tunison 1694- '95— '98. John Woglom 1698— '99. Garret Vegh+A 1699, 1702. John Stilwe 1702— '25. Abraham Lajierman 1702^— '26. Richard Merrill 1726— '37. John Le Count 1726— '56. Adam Mott 1737— '89. Richard StUweU 1739— '48. Paul Michean 1748— '51. App. N. (36.) Wm. T. Walton 1751— '61. Benjamin Seaman 1756 — '75. Henry HoUand 1761— '69. Christopher BiUop 1769—75. AiNJ-NAIjO Ur OXAXJilN lOLiAiNOJ. Members of Assembly for Richmond County. 1st Session. — Abraham Jones. . . . 1777 — '78. " Joshua Mersereau. " 2d " No name recorded. 1778—79. 3d " Joshua Mersereau . 1779— '80. 4th " Joshua Mersereau. 1780— '81. 5th " Joshua Mersereau . 1781— '82. 6th " Joshua Mersereau. 1782— '83. 7th " Adrian Bancker. . .1784 " Johannes Van Wagenen, 1784. 8th " Joshua Mersereau. 1784^-'85. " Cornelius Corsen. . . " 9th " Joshua Mersereau. 1786. " John Dongan 10th " John C. Dongan... 1787 Thomas Frost " 11th " John C. Dongan... 1788. " Peter Winant " 12th " Abraham Bancker. .1788— '89. " John C. Dongan ... " 13th " Abraham Bancker.. 1789— '90. " Peter Winant 14th " Gozen Eyerss 1791. " Peter Winant " 15th " Gozen Eyerss 1792. 16th " Gozen Eyerss 1793. 17th " Gozen Eyerss 1794. 18th " Lewis Eyerss 1795. 19th " Lewis Eyerss 1796. 20th " Lewis Eyerss 1797. 21st " Paul J. Micheau . . . 1798. 22d " Paul J. Micheau... 1799. 23d " John P. Eyerss. . . . 1800. 24th " Paul J. Micheau. . . . 1800—01. 25th " Paul J. Micheau 1802. 26th " . Paul J. Micheau . . . 1803. 27th " John Housman 1804. 28th " John Dunn 1804— '05. 29th " John Dunn 1806. 30th " David Mersereau. . .1807. 31st " David Mersereau. . .1808. App. N. (37.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND 32d Session — David Mersereau. . .1808— '09. 33d " Bichard Conner . . .1810. 34tii " James Guy on . 1811. 35th " James Guvon .1812. 36th James Guyon, Junr . 1812—13. 37th " James Guyon, Jnnr . 1814. 38th " Jesse Oakley .1814—15. 39th Eichard Corsen . . .1816. 40th Richard C. Corsen .1816—17. 41st " Richard C. Corsen .1818. 42d " Harmanus Guyon. . . 1819. 43d " Harmanus Guyon. . .1820. 44th " " Samuel Barton . . . .1820—21. 45th " Samuel Barton. . . . .1822. 46th " Isaac R. Housman . .1823. 47th " Henry Ferine .1824. 48th ' Harmanus Garrison.1825. 49th " No Election . ... .1826. 60th ' Abraham Cole .1827. 51st ' Abraham Cole .1828. 52d ' John VanderbUt. . . 1829. 53d ' John T. Harrison . .1830. 54th John T. Harrison . .1831. 55th ' Jacob Mersereau. . .1832. 56th ' Jacob Mersereau. . .1833. 57th ' ' Paul Mersereau . . . . 1834. 58th ' ' Lawrence Hillyer . .1835. 59th ' ' John Garrison, Jun . 1836. 60th ' ' Lawrence Hillyer.. .1837. 61st ' Israel Oakley .1838. 62d ' Israel Oakley .1839. 63d Bornt P. Winaat.. .1840. 64th ' ' Israel Oakley . 1841. 65th • ' Henry Cole .1842. 66th ' ' Henry Cole . 1843. 67th ' ' WiUiam Nickles . . .1844. 68th ' ' Peter Mersereau . . . . 184.=i. 69th ' George H. Cole . . . .1846. 70th ' ' George H. Cole . . . .1847. 71st ' Ephraim J. Totten. .1848. 72d Gabriel P. Disosway 1849. 73d ' Benjamin P. Prall. . 1850. 143 144 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 74th Session. —William H. Anthon.1851. 75tli " L'wr'ncefl..Cortelyoul852. 76th " Henry De Hart 1853. 77th " Nicholas Crocheron . 1854. 78th " John F. Eaymond. .1855. 79th " William J. Shea .... 1856. 80th " Joshua Mersereau. .1857. 81st " Eben W. Hubbard. . 1858. 82d " Robert Christie, Jun.1859. 83d " Theo. C. VermUye . . 1860. 84th " N. Dane Ellingwood 1861. 85th " Smith Ely 1862. 86th " Theodore Frean 1863. 87th " William H. Eutan.. 1864. 88th " James Ridgway . . 1865. 89th " Thomas Child 1866. 90th " Nathaniel J. Wyeth.1867. 91st " John Decker 1868. 92d " John Decker 1869. 93d " John Decker 1870. 94th " John Decker* 1871. 95th " David W. Judd .... 1872. 96th " John B. Hillyer .. 1873. 97th " Stephen D. Stephens, Jr 1874. 98th " " " ....1875. 99th " KneelandTownsendl876. 100th " Samuel R. Brick 1877. * The Certificate was given to John Decker, but the seat was subsequently awarded to Willet N. Hawkins. Members of the State Constitutional Conventions from Richmond County. Convention of 1788, Abraham Bancker, Gozen Ryerss. 1801, Joseph Ferine. 1821, Daniel D. Tompkins. 1845, John T. Harrison. 1868, George Wm. Curtis. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 145 School Superintendents, &c. , of Richmond County. Harman B. Cropsey, County Superintendent, appointed 1843. David A. Edgar, County Commissioner, elected. Henry M. Boehm, " Isaac Lea, " " " James Brownlee, " " " Clerks of Richmond County. 1682 Francis Williamson, 1810 John V. D. Jacobsen, 1684 Samuel Winder, 1811 Joseph Perine, 1689 Jacot) Corbet, 1815 Jonathan Lewis, 1691 Thomas Carhart, 1828 Walter Betts, 1698 Thomas Coen, 1843 Joshua Mersereau, Jr., 1706 William Tillyer, 1852 Israel C. Denyse, 1708 Alexander Stuart, 1855 James Cubberly, 1728 Adam Mott, 1858 Israel C. Denyse, 1738 Daniel StUweU, 1861 Abraham V. Conner, 1739 Daniel Corsen, 1864 Michael P. O'Brien— App.N.(39.) 1761 Paul Micheau, Joseph Egbert, 1781 Abraham Bancker, 1869 John H. Van Clief, Jr., 1784 John Mersereau, 1873 David H. Cortelyou, 1798 Joseph Ferine — App. N Surrogates < . (38.)1876 Abraham V. Conner. of Richmond County. Under Colonial Government. 1813 ComeUus Bedell, 1733 Walter Dongan, 1815 Tunis Egbert, 1759 Benjamin Seaman. 1820 Eichard Conner, Under Federal Government. 1820 John Garrison, 1787 Adrian Bancker, 1821 Tunis Egbert, 1792 Abraham Bancker, 1830 Eichard Crocheron, 1809 John Housman, 1843 Lewis E. Marsh, 1810 Cornelius BedeU, 1847 Henry B. Metcalfe- -App.N.(40) 1811 Jonathan Lewis, Sheriffs of 1876 Tompkins Westervelt. ' Richmond Coutdy. 1683 John Palmer, 1810 Daniel Guyon, 1684 Thomas Lovelace, 1811 Jacob Crocheron, 1685 Thomas StUwell, 1813 Jacob HUlyer; 146 ANNALS OK STATBN ISLAND. 1689 Eli Crossen, 1815 1691 Thomas Stilwell, 1819 1692 John Stilwell, 1821 1698 John De Pue, 1825 1699 Jacob Coulsen, 1828 1700 Christian Corsen, 1831 1701 John De Pue, 1834 1702 Lambert Garrison, 1837 1709 WiUiam TUlyer, 1840 1722 Benjamin Bill, 1843 1730 Charles Garrison, 1846 1736 Paul Micheau, 1849 1739 Nicholas Larzalere, 1852 1751 John Hillyer, 1855 1775 Thomas Frost, 1858 1784= Abraham Bancker, 1861 1788 Lewis Eyerss, 1864 1792 Benjamin Parker, 1867 1796 Isaac Cubberly, 1870 1799 John Hillyer, 1873 1802 Jacob Crocheron, 1876 1806 Jonathan Lewis, Henry Perine, John Hillyer, Jacob Crocheron, "Walter Betts, Harmon B. Cropsey, Lawrence Hillyer, Israel Oakley, Andrew B. Decker, Jacob Simonson, Israel O. Dissosway, Jacob G. Guyon, Israel O. Dissosway, Abraham EUis, Abraham Lockman, Isaac M. Marsh, Moses Alston, Abraham Winant, Jacob G. Winant, Moses Alston, "William C. Denyse, Benjamin Brown. District Attorneys of Richmond County. (This was made a County office in 1818.) 1818 George Metcalfe, 1850 George "White, 1826 Henry B. Metcalfe, 1853 Alfred DeGroot, 1833 Thorn S. Kingsland, . 1850 Abraham W. "Winant, 1839 George Catlin, 1865 John H. Hedley, 1840 Eoderick N. Morrison, 1872 Sidney F. Eawson, 1841 Lot C. Clark, 1875 John Croak. 1849 George Catlin, Regents of the University from Richmond County. Abraham Bancker, John C. Dongan, first board, 1784; Harmanus Garrison, second board, 1784 ; since which time the county was not represented in the board until April 12th, 1864, when George "Wm. Cur- tis was appointed, and still continues in office (1876). ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 147 Supervisor^ of the several Towns in Richmond County since the 'beginning of the year IIQQ— alphabetically arranged. Castleton. Barnes, George 1792— '93. Barrett. Nathan 1837r==:3a-_ burbancJi. Abranam 1794 — 'y8J Gary, Eichard S. 1804. Christopher, Richard 1846, 1849, 1857,-'8-'9, 1868-'9, 1874-'5-'6. Clute, John J. 1860. Conner, Richard 1766 to-'84, 1786 to-'92. Crabtree, James H. 1865. Crocheron, Abraham 1832 — '3. Davis, George B. 1853. De Groot, Jacob 1839. Dongan, John C. 1785. Ely, Smith 1861-'2. Esterbrook, Joseph 1866. Gardiner, David L 1864. Garrison, John 1803. Garrison, John Jr. 1834— '5— '6. Hazard, Robert M. 1847— '8. Heal, Nathan M. 1867. Herpeck, Charles A. 1877. Housman, John 1799 to 1802, 1810. Housman, Isaac E. 1822 to — '31. Laforge, Peter D. 1841— '2. Martliag, Joseph B. H. 1850 to— '52. Martino, Gabriel 1855. Mersereau, Joshua 1854. Minturn, Robert B. 1871. PeU, D. Archie 1870. Thompson, John C. 1840. Tysen, Jacob 1811 to— '21. Tysen, John Jr. 1805 to— '09. Vermeule, John D. 1872— '3. Vreeland, Eder. 1844— '5. Ward, Albert 1843. Northfield. Bedell, Cornelius 1790, 1794. Burger, James G. 1855. ChUd, Thomas 1868. Corsen, Cornelius 1779 to— '84. Crocheron, Henry 1800 to-'04, 1808 to— '14. Crocheron, Nicholas 1805 to-'7, 1825 to— '30, 1846— '7. Crocheron, Richard 1816 to— '23. Denyse, Israel C. 1866— '7. Hillyer, John 1767. Hillyer, John B. 1872. Hillyer, John Jr. 1772-'3. Hillyer, Lawrence 1851, 1856. Laforge, Peter C. 1862. Lake, Daniell795 to— '97. Latourette, Henry 1767. Latourette, Richard 1876— '77. Martin, Oliver R. 1848. Mersereau, David 1815. Mersereau, Jacob 1792— '3, 1799. Mersereau, John 1788. Mersereau, Peter 1841 to — '44. Moore, Richard C. 1854. Perine, James 1831— '32. Post, Garret G. 1850, 1857 to— '61. PraU, William 1824. Ryerss, Gozen 1785 to — '87. Simonson, Bornt 1774 to — '78. Simonson, Garret 1873 to — '76. Simonson, Jacob 1833 to-'40, 1849. Tysen, John 1789, 1791, 1798. Wright, Garret P. 1852. Van CUef, John H. 1868 to— '71. Van Name, Charles 1853, 1864. Van Name, Michael 1845. 148 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Southfield. Barnes, George 1789, 1800. Barton, Edward P. 1869. Barton, Samuel 1852, 1857. Brady, PhUip 1870. Britton, Alexander H. 1844. Clark, Ephraim 1866—67. Oocroft, James 1865. Coddington, Samuel 1857, 1841 to —'43. Cole, George H. 1845. Corry, William 1876, 1877. Cortelyou, Peter 1789— '98. Egbert, Joseph 1855— '56. Fountain, Anthony 1767, '69, '84. Garrison, John C. 1849, 1858 to —'60. Greenfield, George J. 1872 to Guyon, Harmanus 1816 to — '20 1822 to— '33. Guyon, James 1782— '3, 1785— '6. Guyon, James 1838 to— '40, 1847— '8, 1850— '51. HaU, Farnham 1846. Jacobson, Christian 1772 to— '81. Jacobson, John V. D. 1802 to— '15. Johnson, Anthony 1834 to — '36. Keeley, Dennis 1861 to— '64, 1871. Ketteltas, J. S. 1868. Mersereau, Jacob W. 1853 — '4. Perine, Henry 1821. PoiUon, John 1766, 1768. Tysen, John 1795 to— '98. Bancker, Adrian 1772—73. Cole, ComeUus 1788, 1794. Cole, Gilbert A. 1857, 1862. Cropsey, Jacob E. 1844— '45. Depuy, Nicholas 1766 to— '69. Eddy, Andrew 1846. EUis, George W. 1870— '71. Frost, Samuel H. 1851 to— '56, Guyon, Jacob M. 1876. Jackson, Richard 1828. Larzelere, Benjamin 1789, 1795 1801. Latourette, David 1835— '36. Mersereau, Daniel 1829— '33. Weslfield. Micheau, Paul 1790-'93. Oakley, Israel 1840. Oakley, Jesse 1850. Perine, Henry 1774— '83. Rutan, WUHam H. 1858— '61. Seguine, Henry H. 1874, 1877. Seguine, Joseph 1826, 1837—39. Totten, Ephraim J. 1847, 1849. Totten, Gilbert 1802— '25, 1827. Totten, John, 1784, 1809-'25, 1827. to Winant, Peter 1785— '87. Winant, Bornt P. 1834,'41-'43,1848. Wood, Abraham H. 1864— '65. Wood, Abraham J. '66-'69, '72-'73. Middletoiim. Armstrong, John E. 1H73. Bechtel, John 1864. Bradley, Alvin C. 1872. Brick, Samuel R. 1868—71. Davis, George B. 1861. Frean, Theodore 1866, 1877. Frost, Henry 1876. Hornby, Alexander 1862. Lord, D. Porter 1865, 1867. White, Frederick 1874. Wood, Jacob B. 1860 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 149 N. B, — There is no record of Supervisors' names earlier than 1766 , except in a few instances noticed below. The names of the Supervisors of 1770 and 1771 are not recorded. It is possible that the names of some of the earliest Supervisors are arranged under the wrong tovra, as in no case are the names of the towns and Supervisors connected. Supervisors prior to 1766. 1699. WiUiam THjeu, North. Anthony Tyson, West. Abm. Lakeman, South. 1703. Eichard Merrill, North. Stoffel Garrison, South. Anthony Tysen, West. 1704 . Merrill, North. Tunis Egbert, West. 1705. Aaron Prall, North. Tunis Egbert, West. Stoffel Van Sant, South. 1706. Tunis Egbert, West. Aaron Prall, North. 1709. Alex'r Stuart, South. Jacob Oorsen, North. Tunis Egbert, West. County Taxes from the year 1766. 1766 , 1767 1768. 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 $485 061 1,382 50 408 23 282 121 203 74 187 51 242 05 357 071 142 92 261 59 There are no taxes recorded except Excise during the war, or until after the organization of the Federal Government. 1784 $1,037 50 " 1785 637 50 1786 625 00 ' 1787 562 50' 1788 375 00 " ° By Act of Legislature, £5000 additional was levied this year. * £1600 additional levied by law. ^ £3250 State tax additional. d $1134.25 State tax this and the following year. 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 Incomplete on 1835 1836 Incomplete. 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 $3,615 84 8,518 16 2,928 31 3,169 46 3,552 72 4,255 04 5,442 17 4,505 531 4,424 61 3,909 09 4,409 77 the record. 3,867 51 5,942 55 8,659 55 8,458 93 9,211 51 7,268 53 150 AIINALS OF STATBN ISLAND. 1789 , 1790, 1791. 1792 750 00 875 00 700 00 750 00 1793 1,000 00 1794 812 50 1795..... 875 50" 1796 1,187 09" -1797 1,347 58 1798 811 61 1799 874 96 1800 No tax recorded. 1801 2,488 01 1802 1,100 00 1803 1,216 51 1804 1,234 71 1805 1,123 52 1806 1,005 68 1807 625 88 1808 676 55 1809 965 27 1810 606 66 1811 1,356 99 1812 1,004 67 1813 1,517 88 1814 2,169 18 1815 8,259 40 1816 4,424 41 1817 4,805 69 1818 . 3,383 90| 1819 3,746 89 1820 3,412 81 1821 3,305 42 1822 2,943 50^ 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 Not recorded. 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 Not recorded. 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 : 1866... 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 9,251 00 8,890 13 12,727 21 10,379 81 13,453 77 18,536 84 15,174 85 17,202 65 20,244 16 22,224 54 25,439 87 32,275 26 38,925 54 37,656 47 47,001 84 55,920 58 58,789 94 64,374 61 107,126 51 129,275 03 218,338 86 190,251 70 295,548 98 272,778 79 248,982 68 290,624 74 382,666 06 224,787 38 304,295 17 274,807 89 274,997 34 » $238.37i additional for echool tax. ■i Including school tax. N. B. — The books were kept until 179- in Colonial currency. There was great irregularity in making up the amount of tax some years. Sometimes the Dog tax was levied with the other taxes, sometimes by itself, sometimes it was paid out of the surplus Excise money when there was any. The State, school and poor tax were sometimes collected in the same way. "B." EXTRACTS From Old Records, &c. 152 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. EXTRACTS PROM THE OLD COUNTY RECORDS, "WITHOUT SPECIAL REGARD TO DATES, verbatim et literatim. I under writen Ponies Marlet out of my own free will have giuen to my brother Abraham Marlett the half of my Lott of Land that I Am to haue out of the paten (patent) with my father which I gaue out of my free will as a frend sheep (friendship) and I Ingeage to giue A Transport when my Brother Abraham Shall Requier it this A sined (assigned) out of good will on Staten Island on this 17th day of March, 1 678 as wetnes our hands Poules Richards the mark P. M of Peter f erche Pouls Marlet This is a Trew .Record out of the O Rigonell (original) By order on this 9th day Jenewery 1682 order of Abraham Marlett o Badiah Hulmes Clk Upon the Ingagment of Capt. John Palmer for the fidelity of ffrances willjamson to a fisheat (officiate) the of es of A Clarke for the Court the said Court By Joynt Consent have Mead choys of the A foorsaid flErancis willjamson this 12 day of June 1682 By reference to our civil list, it will be seen that this indi- vidual was the first county clerk. Thes Ar In his Maiests (Majesty's) Neam to will and Requi- ar you At sight hearof to giue nootes to the A (above) meintioned parsons to Meet to gether In sum Gunueient plas and then and ther to Act A Cording to ther Instruction and for soe Doeing this shall Be your soefishent warrant giuen under My hand on this 26 day of Jenewery 1681 Richard Stillwell Justes ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 158 Oct 10. 1698 To Tho Stillwell for a Wolve £0. 15. To Cornells Tysen for a wolves head £1 . 00. Richard Merrill Plf ) >• in A Action of the Caues Lambert dorlont Deft ) The Plf not A pearing to Ancer to his Action the Court or- dereth that the Plf shall pay the Cost of sewt (suit) Thes Are to glue notes to whome It may concarn that Richard Fathfall (?) and Elisabeth Larans (Lawrence) hath bin Publeshed A Cording to Law by Danill Stillwell on this 15th day of Oversear Jenewery 1682 The A Boue (above) Mentioned Parsons Ar Mared (married) By Me on the 25th day of Jenewery 1682 Richard Stillwell Justes By order obadiah Hulmes Clarck Jacob Jeyoung (Guyon) Ptf | In A Action of the Caus Isaac See (?) Deft f At A Court held on Staten Island By the Constable and oversears of the. seam on this present Munday Being the 7 day of febraery 1680 wharas the caus depending Between the Ptf and deft hath Bin heard the Court ordereth deft to Cleer his flax forthwith and his Corn out of the Barn within ten days from the deat hearof and to clear up his other A Coiants at the next Court. A A Court held on Staton Island By the Constabl and oversears of the Seam on this presont Munday Being the 5 day of September 1680 Sarah whittman Ptf William Britton Deft, in A Action of the Case to the valew of 'J' I'j. i The Caus depending Betwixt the Ptf and Deft hath Bin heard and for want of farther proof the Caus is Referred till the next Court. Sarah Whittman Ptf William Briten Deft At A Court held on Staton Island hj the Constabll and 154 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. oversears of the seam on this present Munday Being the 3 day of October 1680 the Court ordereth that the Deft shall seat (set) up and geett (get 1) forty panell of soefisiont (sufficient) fence for the yous (use) of Sarah whitman at or Be foor the first of november next in sewing (ensuing) with Cost of sewt. Capt Thomas Young Ptf Dec 5 1681 Edmond Arow Smith Deft The deft Most humbly declareth — the Ptf hath detained four small peeses (pieces) ov hed Band — on duble Rigan (rigging) for wich I paid in Ingon Com — half a Scepll of pees as not paid for and wheras he hath Charged me — for six and twenty pound of Buter there was no more than 26 p pot and all the waight of the pot was 8 pound. By this and other Consideration doth Cans me to detain the debt. i^^The "Buter" was charged at six pence per pound. March 7th 1736-7 John Bodine and Hester his wife sold to Joseph Bedle a parcel of land on the North side of Fresh Kills — "Being on the Poynt of Karles Neck, being irregular pees of land — " Containing Eighty Acres as likewise his " proporshanable quantity of Meadow Ground." Considera- tion £300 ($750.) signed Jean Bodin her Hester X Bid en mark 1769 Rojer Barnes Esquire and Joseph Ralph Esq. for the tryel of Joshua Marcheroe Esq. and Mr. Dromods Negroes £2.17. Joshua Marchero Esq. and Joseph Ralph and Richard Conner Esquires for the tryel of Mr Roper Dossons wench £3.00. Received of Mr. Thomas Billop fourteen hundred and forty five Bushels of Wheate In full for his Magistis Quit rent Due from the Manor of Bentley to the 25th of March Last. Witness my hand April 30th 1736 Arch" Kennedy Rec. General ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 155 January 6. 1770 then the Supervisars Examined into the account of the arras that was bought for the county and Benjamin Semans Esq Brought in the account of What quan- tity Was in his hands, thair Was in his hands £36 — Delivered to Captain Wright 12 guns and 12 hangers and guns With Bagnits to Mr. Broons and one Grun With a bagnit to Cornoral Dongan. John Bedeel Esq. to cost for to transport Hannah fich — and to cash paid to Lewes Dubois for the gale, (jail) — to sundrey Workmanship and nales for the gale and to a false york Bill taken of the coUecttors. March 30th Annoq Domini 1774 Gilbert Tottons ear mark for his cattle & sheep &c is a slit in the end of both ears viz. from the tip end down towards the head & a half moon on the upper part of the right ear. Entered the day and year above written by Paul Mioheau Clk. 1775 To John Bedeel Esq for Extrodany troble " John Hillyer Jun for a quoire of Paper " Jonathan Lewis Crowner for iuquist £1. 12. 0. 1. 6 2. 8. March 1776 To Thomas Frost for four double spring Pad locks for the goil (jail) two Pounds. 1780 to three visits to Cornelius Slaght and Dress- ing his wounds £1. 9. 1781 May 2 to a visit to Mr Van Pelt at Mr John Deckers. 0. 5. Bleeding him £0. 2. 6, a vomit £0. 2. 6 an anod. Bolus £0. 4. Total 4. 3. for which he received a voucher March 15th 1790. In 1778 there was paid to "Christian Jacobson for 3 years services as supervisor £4. 4. Henry Ferine " " " 3. 19. 6 156 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Barnt Simonson for 3 years services as supervisor 2. 2. Kichard Conner " " " 4. 4. The whole amounted to £14. 9. 6 or $36.18|. We quote this for the benefit of the same officers of the present day. "Sept. 28th 1779 Richmond County. Received of John Bedel Esq. the sum of Fifty one Pound six shill for the use of the Grun boat as appears by the following receipt Richmond County Sept the 28. 1779 Received of Mess' Richard Conner, Christian Jacobson Henry Ferine, Cornells Corson supervissors for said County the sum of Eighty four Found being in full for my selfe & Eight men belonging to the gun boat commenceing the four- teent of august last and continued for one month by me J as. Stewabt Capt" There are allusions to the gun-boat in several places in the records ; it was probably one of the means used by Col. Billop to enforce the order to prevent communication between New Jersey and Staten Island. •'October the 30: 1781 to Bedell & Micheau, for Powder delivered by Clonell Bilops order when the Island was in- waded." The firm of Bedell & Micheau probably were the proprietors of the store kept at Fresh Kills during the war, and men- tioned in another place. Under date of Sep. 17th, 1785, we find the following : "At a meeting of us the Supervisors we found that there had been a Leaf and part of a Leaf cut out of this book between the Dates of 1781 one and one thousand seven hundred and Eighty two, and we do hereby Certify the same, as Witness Our hands GozEN Ryeess Richard Conner Peter Winant James Guyon" ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 157 " Richmond Town Dec 16. 1786 At a Meeting this day of the Supervisors we did agree to advertise & Notify the Freeholders of the County of Rich- mond of a Law respecting the payment of arrearages and commutation of Quit rents passed by the Legislature y" 1st day of April 1786 and accordingly have wrote some Adver- tisements and put them up. GfozEN Ryers James Guyon Richard Conner." In 1787, Benjamin Micheau, the county treasurer, announced to the Supervisors that he had been robbed, but the record does not inform us how the robbery had been e£Eected, nor what amount had been abstracted ; we infer, from reading the meagre statement of the facts, that the treasurer had applied to the Legislature for a special act for his relief, and that one had been passed authorizing the Supervisors to afford the relief sought, if upon investigation they should find just reason for so doing. Accordingly several meetings were held, and a large amount of testimony taken, the result of which was, — to copy the record, — "after having heard all The Proofs and alligations respecting the segested (suggested?) Robbery as aforesaid, and having duly and deliberately Con- sidered the Evidince and alligations as the Law Directs, Do not Conceive That we the Supervisors are authoriz'd to raise the Money as Directed by said Law for the relief of Ben- jamin Micheau Late Treasurer of the County aforesaid. In Testimony Whereof we have hereunto set our hands This twenty Eighth Day June 1788 Joshua Mbrsereau John Wandel Richard Conner Cornelius Cole." "1786 June 26 To Martinus Swaime for transporting Sam perkins £ 1. 9. 158 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. To Abraham Barbanck for transporting Mrs. Ogg & a mulatto fellow £2. 18. ^" Dec 20tli 1787 John Vanderbilt sold to Benjamin Micheati conditionally for £14. 11. 10 current money of New York (about $36.50) One Negro wench named Ann One pide (pied) cow One red cow with white face One feather bed. The above is of the nature of a chattel mortgage. "1778 Oct 14 Met agreeable to ajornment, Examined the Loan officers Books and accts and found the £200 paid in to the Loan officers be again Let out ; and the Interest Paid as pr Receipt vz. Rec^ Sept. 18. 1788 from Mess' Garrison & Dubois Loan offi- cers for Richmond County Twenty nine Pound Which to- gether' With one Hundred & seventy six pound they paid the 14th July last, and Twenty Pound their Sallery is in full for the Interest on £4500 put out on Loan in said County to the third Tuesday in J une last. Geoege Bancker Treasurer Richard Conner Cornelius Cole John Wandel ^ Supervisors" Joshua Meksereau A record under date Dec. 1, 1789, contains the following accounts : "To Richard Scarret for digging a Grave £0. 10. To Lewis Dey for Boarding the Carpenters when repairing the County House & Building the Gallows & Furnished 100 shingles 1 Bushel of Lime a pair of hinges & For fetching Anthony Cornish from New York Goal fees &c &c £6. 0. To Lewis Ryerss (then sheriff) for two locks for the Goal, for going to New York for to Report Anthony Cornishes ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 159 Escape from Goal, for Going to New York when he was ap- prehended, for Fetching him from New York, Making the Gallows & Executing of Anthony Cornish, for Expence of Apprehending of sd Cornish at New York, Goal costs £16. 16. 0" We have been unable to find a more detailed account ot this case. A very aged man, living when this was written (1875,) and nine years old at the time of the execution, and who remembered it well, said that the prisoner was known as "Black Antony," being a negro; he had committed a murder on bor--' of a vessel in the Sound. The place of ex- ecution was near the site of the present school-house in Rich- mond Village. "I 309 330 258 440 451 267 463 409 167 381 340 127 • Oct. 19 : 1790. The following is the amount of the In- habitants of the county of Richmond as numbered by the Supervisors and Assessors of said county Agreeable to an Act of the Legislature passed the 18th day of February 1790. Males. Females. Slaves. Town of Southfield Town of Westfield Town of Northfield Town of Castleton Souls in Richmond Co. In all 3942 1593 1530 819" "March 1790 Benjamin Larzalere, To drawing an Inquisi- tion of a child found in a spring & duties therein required £1. 0. Benjamin Parker for attending the Jurors as Surgeon On the above Inquisition £0. 8. Lewes Dey for suppceneaing of evediuces in the above In- quisition £0. 5. Aug. 31 Dr. Benjamin Parker for Bord & Doctering of Peter Corkins in his last sicknis Untill his Death £26. 0. The clothing which said Corkins had at the time of his death was allowed on said Parker' s bill 160 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. To Joseph. Taylor by order of Doctor Parker for sundries for the Burial of Peter Corkins £. 0. 8. 3. Nov. 30. 1790 To Dr. William Young for Doctering of Peter Breestead in his last Illness £16. 0. 0" " 1790 To Richard Taylor Undersheritf for Transporting John Fannatle to John Simonson constable for the town of Westfield arid Victualing a his house £ 0. 7. To J ohn Simonson Constable for Transporting John Fan- natle from his house to Amboy and from Thence to Wood Bridge as there was no Constable in Amboy as by account Brt in £ 0. 19. " July 7 : 1792 At a meeting of the Supervisors Together with the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Richmond the 26th of June 1792 Lawrence Hill- yer, Joseph Barton Jun. were unanimously appointed Com- missioners to Superintend the Building of a Court House in the Town of Richmond on a Lott of ground given by Doctor Thomas Frost, and Thomas Frost having since been appointed a Commissioner to be with the said Lawreftce Hillyer and Joseph Barton to Superintend Said Court House and to Ad- vertise for Undertakers & to receive proposals that may be Consistent with geconomy and the Interest of the Cojinty. Richard Connbe Clk Supervisors" In 1792 a tax of £315 ($787.50) was levied upon the county for building the court house, and the sum of £15 ($37.50) was paid to Dr. Thomas Frost in payment for the "Lott" which the previous entry says he had given for the purpose. The record does not give the name of the "undertaker" to whom the contract was awarded. This building is still standing opposite the hotel known as the Richmond County Hall. When the present court house was built, the old court house property was sold to Walter Belts, who converted it into a dwelling. It is now (1875) owned and occupied by Isaac M. Marsh, Esq. While this ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 161 building was used for a court house, the brick buUding on the opposite corner was the prison. The same year, 1792, another tax of £84 ($210) was levied for finishing the court house. The completion of it was de- layed for nearly two years, for under date of Oct., 1794, we are informed that the supervisors met in it for the first time. The lot upon which the present court house stands was conveyed to the supervisors by Henry I. Seaman and wife by deed bearing date April 19. 1837, at a nominal price, for the purpose of erecting a court house thereon ; according to the terms of the conveyance, when the property shall cease to be used for that purpose, it shall revert to • the said Sean^an or his heirs. On the 22d December 1847 Farnham Hall and wife, in con- sideration of fifty dollars conveyed to the supervisors the lot in the rear of that upon which the court house now stands. "Feb. 5. 1795 The Supervisors Met Agreeable to notice at the House of Daniel Turner in Richmond Town To Draw up Petitions to Send to the legislature of this State for a new mode of Election Laws." 1797 Dec. 14. Bernard Sprong for making a map of the towns of Southfield and Westfield & surveying Smoking Point Road £6. 6. 0. Richard Conner for making a map of the towns of Castleton and Northfield & service of Clerk of Supervisors £. 7. 2. 0. (Total $33.50) 1801 October 26. To Lawrence Hillyer Esq for Erecting a Public Stocks according to Law $12 00 1801 July Peter Ogilvie attorney for the poor masters of Southfield against Britton and Kettletas was allowed $14. 37^ for his services. The following are from the Baptismal Records of St. Andrew's Church: 162 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. " 1780 June 18, a Child Belougeing to a Corprel of the 22 Rigment." " Armye Baptise a Child of y Army y" ]9 July 1776 Baptise a Child Charl by Name y° 21 of y" Scotch Dunkin son of Daniel McDaniel & Catrine y" Mother Baptis'd y 28'" of July 1776." The baptism of parents and their child at the same time is an event of rare occurrence ; the following is an instance : " Larance Rolph Adult Was Born 10 of April 1742 Pacience Lake Adult y" wife of Larance Rolph was Born Ja' 22 William Roberson Son of y° above adults was Bor- "■■ 12 of february 176.5." They were all baptized on the 18th day of August, 1765. Here is the age Richard Howell son of James Howell & of four of James Elizabeth his wife was Born April y^ 17, Howell Children 1757 & thir Daughter Susana ware born & Elizabeths his y° 20"" of Decemb'r 1758 & thir son James wives ware born y° 15"" of february 1761 & Elisabeth thir Daughter ware born y" 16 of february 1764 " William Sharp i son Samuel was Born July the 29 about sunset 1783 and was Baptised August th 17—1783." ' ' Reuben Son of Anthony & Mary Egberts Was born the 13th September 1770 on thursday about ten of the Clock in y Morning. Martha Dauter of Antony & Mary Egborts born April y* 25th about ten of j" Clock in y" Morning 1772 on Saterday, Elener Daughter of Anthony & Mary Egberts Born y' 7th of August about of one y° clock in y° morning 1774. Burials 1763 The Order of Vestery for y« Sactons fees for Digging a grave £0. 6. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 163 for inviting £0. 8. for y pall 0. 3. for tending 0. 3. for Sodding 0. 3. for Ringing y'' Bell 0. 3. £1. 6. The Clarks ffees for publishing & Baptysing, for writin the publishment £0. 3. for fetching y° water to baptise a child 0. 0. 6 for Entering y* Child on Record 0. 0. 6 for sweeping y° Church for Every puew P' year. 0. 1. 6 The following are copied from original receipts in the pos- session of a gentleman at Mariner' s Harbor, who resides upon a part of the property alluded to therein : " Received of Arent Van Amer Two Bushells & a half of Wheat in full for One years Quitt Rent of two Lotts of Land on Staten Island, one Q-ranted to Philip Bendell & the other to John Taylor the 15th December 1680, being to the 25th March last, as Witness my hand this 12th August 1761 RiCH° NicHOLLS Dep'y Rec^ Gem." "Received of Arent Van Amer Five bushells of Wheat in full for two Years Quitt Rent of the two Lotts of Land above mentioned to the 25th March last. As Witness my hand the 10th June 1763. RiOHD. NiCHOLLS Dep'^ Rec' Gren'" '* Received of Aarnt Van Amer Five Bushells of Wheat in full for two years Quitt Rent of the two Lotts of Land above mentioned to the 25th of March last. As Witness my hand this 2'd May 1765. Riohd: Nioholls Dep'^ Rec'^Gen^" The above receipts are all written in a distinct, but very cramped hand on a scrap of paper 4 by 6 inches. The three following are written on the reverse side of the same paper . " Received of Arent Van Amer two bushells and a half of 164 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Wheat in full for one years Quit Rent of the before mentioned Lotts of land due 25 March last. New York 14 May 1766 John Moore Dep. Rec'. Gren'." "Received of Arent Van Amer Two Bushells & a half of Wheat in full for One Years Quit Rent of the before men- tioned Lotts of land due 25 March last. Witness my hand 13 May 1767 John Moore Dep. Rec"^. Gen'." Reed of Arent Van Amen Two Bushells & half of Wheat in full for one Years Quit Rent of the above mentioned Lotts due 25th March last. Witness my hand the 6th July 1768. There are three other receipts for wheat bringing the pay- ment down to March 25th, 1775. Then on separate - papers are the following : " Patent granted to John Taylor for a Tract of Land on Staten Island dated 15th Decern"^ 1680 at One & a half Bushel Wheat fl Annum. ■ From 25 March 1775 to 25 May 1787 is 12 : 2 Deduct 8.— Aaron Van Naum^ 4. 2 @ 9/ £1. 17. 6 14 years commutation — 9/ 6. 6. - £8. 3. 6 Reced New Yok June 21st 1787 from Aaron Van Naam f the hands of Joshua Mercereau Esq. Public Securities which with the Interest calculated thereon to the 25th May last amounts to Eight Pounds three shillings & Six Pence in full for Arrears of Commutation on the above Patent. £8. S. 6 Peter S. Cartenius State Aud'" There is another drawn in similar terms for the patent AJfNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 165 granted to Philip Bendell, amounting to £5. 9. 0. The indi- vidual mentioned in these documents by the names of Arent Van Amer, — Van Amen — Van Naum, was Aaron Van Kame, the grandfather of Mr. Michael Van Name, and his brother Charles Van IS'ame, both of Mariner' s Harbor. It will be ob- served that during the royal government the quit rent was payable in wheat, according to the terms of the patent. Under the Federal Government it appears to have been com- muted for money. Vide App. N. (41.) The following is a copy of the Sheriff's bill for taking two convicts to state prison, in 1828 : "Nov. 24 Stage fare to Quarantine $1 00 Steam boat passage to New York 1 00 Drink on the road from New York to Yonkers 31 Supper, horse feed & drink at Yonkers. . . 2 00 Toll gates 50 Horse feed, lodging, drink & breakfast at Smith' s in Tarrytown 3 63 *' 25 Horse feed & drink at Yonkers 50 Horse feed & drink at Manhattan ville' 50 Stage f errage & 2 passages 2 00 Stage hire 10 00 2 days taking convicts to prison 4 00 2 days do do for deputy 2 00 N. B.— There were four persons on this journey — the sheriff, his deputy, and the two convicts. "At a Court of Sessions held for the county of Richmond March 3, 1712. Jos. Arrowsmith, Lambert Garrison, Nath' Britton, Abm. Coole (Cole), Peter Rezeau, Esq". March y° 4th. Court opened and Grand Jury calld. The presentmts of the Grand Jury brought in ; the Court orders prosess to be issued out against those presented— viz. Peter Bibout for beating Mr Mony (Manee) and his wiffe. Barnt 166 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Marling, Andrew Bowman, William Foord & The Taylor, peter peryne & Vn. Buttler, Peter Catherick and Nath' Brittin Junr. all for fighting. John Dove and John Bilew for carry- ing of Syder upon the Sabbath day. Abraham Van Tyle for allowing his negroe to Gary Irone to the Smiths on the Sab- bath day, and Mark Disosway for being drunk on the Sab- bath day." As Richmond had not yet been made the Countj'-seat, we infer, from the following entry, that the Courts convened in various places in the County, though Stony Brook was recog- nized as the County-geat: "March 2, 1713 Court a journed till to morow at Ten of the Clock in the forenoon to the North Side To Coll Gi-rahams Court opened, and ajourned Till y° fist Tuesday on 7ber (September) next. — God Save the Queen." Col. Aug. Graham was one of the judges of the Common •Pleas and Sessions. At a Court of Sessions held March 5th, 1716, "it was ordered by the court that Nicholas Brittin pay Twelve shillings flBne for his misbehaviour to Nath' Brittin Esq. and also ordered that he beg Justice Brittins pardon and promise to doe so no more, and also to pay all the charges of this action." Debtors were arrested, and obliged to give bail or be incar- cerated. The return to the precept of arrest by the sheriff or constable was "Cepi Corpus." " Att a Court held for the county of Richmond In the pro. of New York on the first day of March in the first yeare of His Majesties Reigne George by the Grace of God King of Great Brittain &c ann. Dom. 1714^-Ordered That Garritt Weghtie (Veghte) may be admitted to preffer The Lysence that he and some others, In behalfe of the Rest of the Dutch protestant Congregation In this County Have obtained of His ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 167 Excelly. Coll. Kobt. Hunter Esqr. &c. The Same being Read as also a peticon upon the Same, praying our approbacon for ther Erecting a Meeting House for the Exercise of ther protestant profession Contiguous to the Burial place on the North Syd of the Sd. Island They Esteeming it a place Most Convenient for that purpose, upon there pray and Humble peticon — It is Ordered by The Court that having Considered thereof Have Granted the prayer of the Peticoners according- ly, Ordered by the Court that this be Entered In our Book of Lysicns." September 3d, 1717, all the retailers of strong liquors were summoned to appear before the court of General Sessions to show by what authority they retailed ; thereupon appeared Mauris Williams, Jean Brown, Anthony Wright, Barnt Symerson, Daniel Lane, John Garrea, David Bissett, Corne- lius Eyman, Lamb' Garrittson Jun. Benj" Bill, Jacob John- son, Isaac Symerson, Joseph Bastido ; — 13 in the whole county. In almost every instance where a prisoner was acquitted by the jury, he was discharged by the Court upon payment of costs. September 6, 1720, "Ordered that a good suffic' publick pound be erected and made at or near the burying place by the Dutch Church in the North precinct ; and Ordered Like- wise that there be another pound erected in some conve place at Smoaking point in the West precinct. Whoever will be at the charge of making sd. pounds shall have all profitt accruing by poundage." At a Court of Sessions held in the Court House' at Stony Brook, on the 5th day of March, in the ninth of his Majestys' reign (1723), "Benjamin Bill Eq' high Sheriffe of the County of Richmond Complains to the Court of the Insufficiency of his majesty Goal for the said County that it is all together 168 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. soe Insufficiency that it is impossible to keep any prisoner safe as the Said Groal Divers prisoners having lately Escaped thereout and therefore the said sheriffe protest against the Inhabitants of the County of Richmond for Repairing the said Goal and against all waits Escapes that may Ensue for the Insufficiency of the said Goal and pray that his protest may be entered accordingly." In 1725, Nicholas Larzelier, then High Sheriff, repeated the same complaint in the same terms. Two years after he re- peats it again. The prison alluded to here was not at Stony Brook at that time, though the Court House was there until 1729. In 1710 the prison was built at "Cuckols towne" (Richmond) by order of the Court, as follows : ' ' Ordered that Mr. Lambart Garisone and Mr Wm. Tilly er (the late and then present sheriff) See the prison House built at Cuckols Towne — y° Dimensions Twelve foot in breadth, fourteen foot Long, Two Story high, six foot y Loer Room from beam to plank, and the uper Story Six foot, all to be built with stone, and for building of the sd. prison the Said Undertakers have hereby power To take the Monys out of the Collectors hands for carying on the sd. work & the order of y' sd. Undertakers & Receipts shall be a Sufficient dis- charge to y" sd. Collectors." The clerk, Alexander Stuart, evidently had an exalted idea of his abilities as a penman. His initial letters are of an ex- traordinary size, and ornamented in an extraordinary manner. He was withal something of a pedant, and makes a wonder- ful display of his knowledge of Latin. The title page of the record which he kept reads : ' ' The book of Records of the Court of Sessions and Common Pleas Held in the County of Richmond in the province of New York. Comine'' y 6th day of March an° 1710-11 and kept by Alex' Stuart Clk. Quid faciunt Leges abi Sola pecuuia regnit Aut abi paupertas — Vlncere Nulla potest." Then anticipating apparently the inability of his successors properly to close the volume, on the last page he has again ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 169 displayed his name, beneath which is another Latin line, "Vita hominis sine Literis Mors est. August y° 12th 1712." The Courts of General Sessions were frequently conducted by an overflowing bench, as for example, on the 22d Sept. 1761, there were present 1st, 2d and 3d Judges, and nine Justices— twelve in all. A bench of 8, 9, or 10 judges was not uncommon. On the 26th day of September, 1775, there was a Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions held at the Court House, in Kichmond town, after which there is no record of any Court having been held in the county until Monday the 3d day of May, 1784, "being the first Court held after the De- claration of Independence being published." This Court was held at the house of Thomas Frost, the court-house having been burned by the British, David Mersereau, Esq., being" Judge. The first case on the record is entitled — " ^^^^'^^^^^ I The Grand Jury brought in a bill of In- Thomas Frost ) dictment against the Defendant for saying, 'Johnson that G — d — Reble, G — d — the Rebles, hj G — I will sacrifice every G — d — Sun of a b of them,' and the Deft, being in Court was called and the Indictment Read to him. — Whereupon he pleaded not guilty and entered into Recognizance himself in twenty pounds and Peter Mer- sereau his security in ten pounds to appear at the next Ses- sion to Try the Traverse." Unfortunately there is no record of the result of this indictment. The next court whose pro- ceedings are recorded was held in September, 1794. It may be a matter of interest to know the names of the ofiicers of the first court held under the new government ; they are as follows : David Mersereau, Esq., Judge ; Cornelius Mersereau, Hen- drick Garrison, Peter Rezeau, Anthony Fountain, John Wandle, Gilbert Jackson, and Lambert Merrill, associate 170 ANWALS OF STATEN ISLAND. judges, Abraham Baacker, Esq., Sheriff; Jonathan Lewis, Coroner ; Daniel Salter, James McDonald, John Baker and Abraham Burbanck, Constables. The first act was to read the Commissions of the several oflBcers. The first civil suit on the tjalendar was Richard Housman against Henry Ferine. Trespass, damages £50. The following items relating to Staten Island, are taken from the "Journal of the New York Provincial Congress." The deputies elected by the freeholders of Kichmond County to the first Provincial Congress, were — Paul Michau, John Journey, Aaron Cortelyou, Richard Conner, and Maj. Richard Lawrence ; they were all in at- tendance at the first session in New York, May 22, 1775, ex- cept Lawrence, who did not present himself until June 1st. When the second Provincial Congress convened, Richmond County was not represented, but the following communica- tion from citizens of that county was read at the meeting of Congress : Richmond County, Dec'r 15th, 1775. Mr. President : Sir: — Your favour of 2d Decem'r. we hereby acknowl- edge came safe to our hand, and with the majority of oar committee considered the contents. We, agreeable to your request, have caused by advertisement the freeholders and inhabitants in our county to be convened on this day, in order that their sense might be taken whether they will choose Deputies to represent them in a Provincial Congress or not. Accordingly, a number of the said freeholders and in- habitants did appear : a regular poll was opened, and con- tinued till 6 o'clock ; at the conclusion of which it appeared that a majority was, for the present, for sending no Deputies. Our former conduct in sending of Deputies to represent us in Provincial Congress, was elevated with encouraging hopes of having, ere this, obtained the so much desired point in our view, namely, a reconciliation with Grreat Britain. But, with anxiety we express it, that tlie hopes of obtaining so ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 171 desirable an event, is now almost vanished oat of our sight ; and, instead of which, we behold with horror, eveyy ap- pearance of destruction, that a war with Great Britain will bring upon ns. Under these apprehensions, and in our par- ticular situation, we hope you will view us, and when candidly considered, we trust will furnish yon with sufficient reason, for the present, to forbear with us. We wish and pray that if yet any hope of reconciliation is left, that measures might be adopted, if possible, to obtain that desirable end, in wishing of which we conclude ourselves. Your most obt. And most humble serv'ts, John Tyson, Christian Jacobson. Daniel Corsen, Peter Mersereau, Joseph Christopher, Lambert Merrill, John Poillon. To Nath'l Woodhull, Prest. of Provl. Congress, New York. P. S. — Should the Congress think it necessary for further information of the state of our county, they will please to order two of our committee to appear before them for that purpose." During the recess of the Congress, the Committee of Safety was in session. On the 12th of January, 1776, Richard Lawrence and Christian Jacobson appeared before the Com- mittee, and represented that the majority of the people of Eichmond County were not averse, but friendly to the measures of Congress ; Lawrence was a member of the Committee for Richmond County. Sept. 1, 1775, David Burger, of New York, sent a letter to the Congress complaining that sundry persons in Rich- mond County had supplied a transport with live stock, and the matter was referred to the members of that county to make inquiry on the subject. 172 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. On the 1st December, 1775, Paul Micheau, one of the Dep- uties from Richmond County, in the first Provincial Congress, addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Congress, in which he says that he had requested the county committee to con- vene the people to elect new deputies ; that a meeting of the committee had been called, and that only a minority ap- peared, who for that reason declined to act, and requests Congress to write to them and learn their reasons for not con- vening the people, and concludes by hoping the Congress may be able to keep tranquility and good order in the Province, and make peace with the mother country. He then gave the names of the committee as follows : Capt. John Kittletas, Capt. Christian Jacobson, Capt. Cor- nelius Dussosway, Henry Perine, David Latourette, Esq., Peter Mersereau, John Poillon, Moses Depuy, Lambert Mer- rill, John Tysen, Joseph Christopher, CJeorge Barrus and David Corsen. To this communication Congress replied the next day in a letter addressed to "John Poillon, John Tysen and Lambert Merril, of the committee for Richmond County," urging them to elect Deputies to represent them without delay, and they added emphatically, "rest assured, gentlemen, that the neighboring Colonies will not remain inactive spectators if you show a disposition to depart from the Continental Union." They concluded their letter in these words : " We beg, gen- tlemen, you will consider this matter with that seriousness which the peace, good order and liberties of your county re- quire." The answer of the committee is given before under date of the 15th December, 1775. On the 21st, Congress passed several resolutions, censuring Richmond county for its delinquency, and resolved that if within fifteen days a list of the names of those who oppose a representation in Congress be not sent to that body, the whole county shall be considered delinquent, and entirely put out of the protection of Congress, and that intercourse with them shall be interdicted, and that the names of delinquents shall be published in all the newspapers of the colony. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 173 It was then that Lawrence and Jacobson had this interview with the Committee of Safety, on the 12th of January, 1776, as given before. On the 23d of the same month the following letter was re- ceived by the Committee of Safety from the Richmond County committee. "Richmond County, Jan' y 19, 1776. Gentlemen — Whereas the committee for this county have caused by advertisement the freeholders to be convened on this day, in order to elect two members to represent this county in Provincial Congress ; accordingly a poll was opened for that purpose, without any opposition, at the close of which it appeared by a majority, that Messrs Adrian Banker and Richard Lawrence was duly elected to represent this county in Provincial Congress until the second Tuesday in May next, which we hope will be agreeable to the rest of that body. We are, gentlemen, Your mo. obt. and most humble servts. Christian Jacobson, Lambert Merrill, John Tyson, Peter Mersereau, George Barnes, Moses Dupuy, David Latourette, Daniel Corsen, Henry Ferine, Joseph Christopher, To the Committee of Safety on recess of the Provincial Congress in Ne\ir York." In the interim, however, the delinquency of Richmond County had been represented to the Continental Congress, which body had passed the following resolve : " In Congress, Feb'y 8th, 1776. The inhabitants of Richmond county, in the Colony of New York, having refused to send Deputies to represent them 174 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. in Provincial Convention, and otherwise manifested their enmity and opposition to the system and measures adopted for preserving the liberties of America ; and as a just punish- ment for their inimical conduct, the inhabitants of that Colony having been prohibited by the Convention from all intercourse and .dealings ' w^ith the inhabitants of the said county ; and this Congress being informed by the Committee of Safety of that Colony, that the freeholders of the said county did aftervs^ards, without any opposition, elect Deputies to represenc them in Provincial Convention ; but as the pro- ceedings against them had been submitted to the consideration of Congress, it was apprehended Deputies would not be re- ceived until the sense of Congress should be communicated. Mesolved, That it be referred to the said Provincial Con- vention to take such measures respecting the 'admission of the Deputies, and revoking the interdict on the inhabitants of the said county, as they shall judge most expedient, provided that the said Deputies and major part of the in- habitants of said county shall subscribe the association en- tered into by that Colony. Extract from the minutes. Chas. Thompson, Sec'y." It was then ordered by the Provincial Congress that the resolution of the Continental Congress be transmitted to the Deputies lately elected by the people of Richmond County. The Congress being apprehensive that Gen. Clinton would attempt to land upon Staten Island for the purpose of making depredations and carrying off live stock, had requested the Provincial Congress of New Jersey to send Col. Herd, with his regiment, to the Island to prevent it, and lest he might not get there in time, a like request was made to the com- mittee of Elizabethtown. This measure excited the appre- hensions of the people of Staten Island, who were suspicious of the errand of Col. Herd and his regiment. Accordingly, on the 19th of February, the two deputies, Adrian Bancker and Richard Lawrence, hastened to inform the Congress that they had subscribed to the association entered into by the ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 175 Colony, and that seven-eighths of the people had done so like- wise •' long since," and that the coming of Col. Herd, " with a large body of men, to call the people to account for their inimical conduct," just then when many of the people were coming into the measures, and the cause gaining ground daily, would have an injurious effect, and they, suggest that the stopping of the New Jersey forces would quiet the minds of the people. On the same day Congress replied and assured the Deputies that Col. Herd' s errand to the Island did not in any manner relate to the people of the county, except to protect their property, and that a counter request had been forwarded to New Jersey. The two deputies were requested to attend the Congress and to bring with them the proof that the majority of the people had subscribed to the association, to enable them to take their seats. The committee of Elizabethtown had caused the apprehen- sion and imprisonment at that place, of Isaac Decker, Abm. Harris and Minne Burger, and had held Richard Conner, Esq., under bonds to appear before them, upon charges not specified. The Coagress of New York entered into a corres- pondence with the committee of that place, and requested them to send the delinquents to the county where they be- longed, to be tried by the county committee. The committee of Richmond were also informed of the action of the Con- gress, and were instructed to try the delinquents and mete out to them impartial justice, and report to Congress. On the 23d of February, Mr. Adrian Bancker's name ap- pears among those of the members of the Congress. On the 28th of February, Decker and Burger were returned to their own county, and the charges against them and Richard Conner were also transmitted to the committee of Richmond. Nothing is said of Harris. The committee of Elizabethtown, at the time of surrender- ing them, disclaimed all knowledge of their offences, but inti- mated that they had been arrested by Col. Heard, at the in- stance of either the New York or the Continental Congress. 176 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. On the 8th of March, Hendric Garrison, of Richmond county, forwarded a complaint to the Congress, that while he was attending as a witness before the committee of said coun- ty, and while under examination, the said committee permit- ted the defendants, Cornelius Martino, Richard Conner and John Burbank, to insult and abuse him, and asks the pro- tection of Congress, as he considers his person and property unsafe. Lord Stirling, as commander of the Continental troops in New York, issued a warrant to apprehend John James Boyd, of Richmond county, and to have him brought before the Congress. Capt. John Warner, to whom the warrant was de- livered for execution, laid it before that body on the 14th of March, when it was considered and decided that the said Boyd is so unimportant and insignificant a person as not to deserve the trouble and expense of apprehending him. Boyd resented this depreciation of his importance, and on the 21st sent a note to the Committee of Safety claiming to be "a steady and warm friend to his country," and pronounces any accusation against him unfounded. On the 1st of April, 1776, Christian Jacobson, as the chair- man of the County Committee, reported the organization of four companies of militia in the county, the officers of which were ordered to be duly commissioned. App. JN". (42). On the 3d of April Mr. Lawrence, a member from Rich- mond, reported that the county was already furnished with 14 good flats or scows, which were sufficient for the removal of the stock from the Island, and that the building of two more, as previously ordered, would be a useless expense. These scows, or flats, were held in readiness to remove the cattle to New Jersey, if the English ships of war on the coast should attempt to seize them, as they had done in several other places. On the 12th of April, Lord Stirling informed the Cotnoiit- tee of Safety that he had Gren. Putnam's orders to march with a brigade of troops for Staten Island, and that he would be under the necessity of quartering the soldiers in the farm- AWNALS OF STATEN ISLAND i 177 houses for the present ; he requests the people to be notified of the fact, so that they might prepare quarters most conven- ient to themselves, and to be assured that he would make the residence of the troops as little burdensome as possible. The Committee of Richmond were requested to prepare empty farm-houses, barns, &c., for the reception of the sol- diers, and to use their "influence with the inhabitants to con- sider the soldiers as their countrymen and fellow citizens em- ployed in the defence of the liberties of their country in gen- eral, and of the inhabitants of Richmond County in particu- lar, and to endeavour accommodate them accordingly." On the 2d of May, Mr. Garrison, (Hendric), chairman of the County Committee, was present at the meeting of the Committee^ of Safety, and inquired whether the people would be paid for fire-wood furnished to the troops in Richmond County, and for their labor in preparing the guard-house, at the request of Lord Stirling, and was referred to Col. Mifflin. Hence, we infer that some of Lord Stirling' s troops had taken up their quarters on the Island. On the 6th of May, Gen. Washington wrote to the Com- mittee of Safety, informing them that Peter Poillon, of Richmond county, had been arrested for supplying the king's ships with provisions. On the 8th, Poillon was brought before the Committee and examined. He did not deny the charge, but pleaded in extenuation that the regulations for prevent- ing intercourse with the king' s ships had not been published in Richmond County until the 2d or 3d of that month, and that therefore he was ignorant of them ; he stated further, that he left home with a considerable sum of* money to discharge a debt in Kings County, together with some articles of provision for New York market, of the value of about three pounds ; that while passing the ship of war Asia, at as great a distance as he safely could, he was fired at, and could not escape ; he proved further, by reputable witnesses, that he was a respectable man, and had always been esteemed a friend to the liberties of his country. He was discharged, with a caution hereafter to keep at a safe distance from the 178 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. king's ship, and to warn his fellow citizens of Richmond county to do the same. May 18 to 1776, a certificate signed by Christian Jacobson, chairman of the Richmond county committee, dated April 22d, 1776, was presented to the Provincial Congress, and attested by Israel D. Bedell, clerk, and directed to Paul Micheau, Richard Conner, Aaron Cortelyou and John Journey, was read and filed, whereby it appeared that these gentlemen had been elected to represent Richmond county in that body, with power to any two of them to meet to con- stitute a quorum, with the second Tuesday of May, 1777. On the 5th of June, 1776, Congress issued an order for the arrest of a number of persons in several counties who were inimical to the cause of America ; those from Richmond county were Isaac Decker, Abm. Harris, Ephm. Taylor and Minne Burger. They also ordered that several persons who held office under the king should be summoned to appear before the Congress, and among them are found the names of Benjamin Seaman and Christopher Billop, of Richmond. There is nothing in the Journal of the Congress to show that these orders and resolutions were ever carried into eflfect. On the 9th of July the Provincial Congress convened at the court-house in White Plains, Westchester county ; the British then having taken possession of Staten Island, there were no deputies from Richmond county in attendance. At this meeting the Declaration of Independence was received and read ; it was also reported that the British had taken posses- sion of Staten Island without opposition, and detachments had advanced towards Bergen Point and Elizabethtown. The Declaration having been read, it was unaniTnously adopted, and the Congress passed a resolution to support the same, " at the risk of our lives and fortunes." It was thus ordered to be published. It was then "Resolved and Ordered, that the style or title of this house be changed from that of the ' Provincial Congress of the Colony of New York,' to that of * The Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York.' " ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 179 The Convention recognized the impracticability of electing Senators and Members of Assembly in the southern district of the State, Westchester excepted, and as it was reasonable and right that the people of that district should be entitled to representation in legislation, they proceeded to appoint these officers ; and for the county of Richmond, Joshua Mersereau and Abm. .Tones were appointed ; the latter, as has already been noticed, was subsequently denied his seat, on account of his sympathy for the enemy. The proposed expedition of Col. Herd to Staten Island to protect the live stock there, originated with Gen. Lee. Hav- ing communicated his apprehensions to the Committee of Safety, that body, on the 10th of February, 1776, addressed a letter to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, in which they say: "The entrance of Genl. Clinton into our port on pretence of merely paying a visit to Govr. Tryon, though he has been followed by a transport with troops, which we have good reason to believe are only a part of 600 that embarked with him at Boston, renders it highly probable that some lodgement of troops was intended to be made in or near this city;" and as no troops from New York could be spared from its defence, and as Col. Herd's regiment was so near Staten Island, Gen. Lee deemed it proper that he should be sent over for its protection. The next day the Committee addressed another letter to the same Convention, informing them that the Mercury, ship of war, with two transports un- der her convoy, had left the port, and anchored near Staten Island, and express their fears that the Col. will arrive too late. In reply, the New Jersey Congress inform the Com- mittee on the 12th that Col. Herd, with 700 men, have been ordered to march immediately to Staten Island. On the 17th, Congress expressed their thanks to Col. Herd for his alacrity in their service, but as the danger had now passed (probably by the departure of the ships) his services would not be re- quired. After the British had taken possession of Staten Island, the County of Richmond does not appear to have been repre- 180 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. sented in the Legislature of the Btate for a long time. There were representacives who were entitled to their seats, but they were not permitted to leave the Island. Communica- tion with the main land, or with New York, or Long Island, was prohibited, except by permission, and consequently in the succeeding sessions of the Legislature the name of a representative from Richmond does not appear. In the Journals of the Convention, Committee of Safety, etc., the days of the week were all recorded in Latin thus : "Die Veneris 10 Hora a. m. April 21st, 1775;" that is, Friday, 10 o' clock, before noon. Die Soils, day of the Sun, Sunday. Die Lunse " Moon, Monday. Die Martis " Mars, Tuesday. Die Mercurie " Mercury, Wednesday. Die Jovis " Jupiter, Thursday. Die Veneris " Venus, Friday. Die Saturnia " Saturn, Saturday. The last was sometimes written "Die Sabbati," in allusion to the Hebrew Sabbath. The Convention sometimes met on Sunday, but usually adjourned, unless business of the utmost importance de- manded attention. The first Staten Island newspaper was published on the 17th day of October, 1827 ; it was called the Richmond Re- publican, and was edited by Charles N. Baldwin ; it hailed from Tompkinsville, but was printed in Chambers Street, New York. Its publication day was Saturday, and in poli- tics it was rabidly democratic. Its editor announced that he also sold lottery tickets, and solicited orders for sign and or- namental painting. A few notices and advertisements from some of the early numbers of this hebdomadal will interest the readers of the present day : "Boat Found. Taken up on the beach of the subscriber, on the 22d of October last, a yawl about twelve feet long, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 181 garbed streaks, oak, cedar top, painted black, turpentine bottom. Cornelius Vanderbilt." Under date of November lOth, 1827, is the following : " Steam Boat Bolitae, Capt. Vanderbilt (Oliver), will run regularly during the win- ter months, after Monday 12th, as follows : Leave Staten Island at 8 A. M. and 1 P. M. Leave New York at 10 A. M. and 3 P. M. Fare 25 cents. All baggage at the risk of the owners." In May following two steamboats ran on the ferry, viz. : The Bolivar, Capt. Oliver Vanderbilt, and the Nautilus, Capt. Robert Hazard. They advertised to leave Staten Island at 7, 8, 10 A. M. ; 12.30, 2.30, 4.30 and 6 P. M. New York at 8, 10 A. M. ; 12.30, 2.30, 4.30, 5.30 and 7 P. M. Fare 12| cents. Frances B. Fitch — though probably not a votary of the muses — advertised that he had started a ferry "at the Blazing Star, with a first rate scow, and will put on a horse- boat when the travel will allow." The ladies of Tompkinsville met at the school-house on Monday, March 5th, 1828, "to purchase and make up cloth- ing for the suffering Greeks," and the next month the "New York Grreek Committee" acknowledged the receipt of 173 garments from the inhabitants of Tompkinsville. The people of Holland' s Hook gave notice that thereafter their place would be called Jacksonville. On the 29th day of March, 1828, a stage commenced run- ning between Quarantine and Richmond, fare 37^ cents ; but in June of the same year it was reduced to 12^ cents. In July, 1828, Dr, Samuel R. Smith advertised that he had commenced the practice of his profession in Tompkinsville. 1836, September 14th, Aaron Burr died at Port Richmond, in the hotel now known as the Continental, in the second story northeast room. "C." ANECDOTES, &c. 184 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. At the time of the Revolution, and for more than half a century thereafter, there stood on the Shore Road, New Brighton, at the foot of the hill upon which St. Mark's Hotel now stands, a long, single-story, stone house, known as Van Buskirk's tavern ; but, towards the latter part of the time, as Brower's tavern, so called from the names of the individuals who kept the house. On the evening of May 24th, 17 — , there was a gay assembly at this house, composed of many young ladies from the vicinity, and a corresponding number of young men, many of whom were officers of the army en- camped on the Island. They had met to celebrate the King's birthday. A few of the young ladies, who were the daugh- ters of farmers living on the Shore Road, had been brought there by water, as the most convenient way of reaching the place, and now, as the hour of midnight was about to strike, were wending their way to the shore, where their boats were in waiting to convey them home. There were four of them, each one escorted by an officer, their oarsmen being negroes. The party was equally divided, occupying two boats. They were joyous and mirthful as they sailed on the calm surface of the Kills until they reached a point opposite the little cove, which is now filled up and occupied by the New Brighton wharf, at the foot of Jersey Street, when suddenly four boats, each containing five or six men, shot out of their concealment, and surrounded the homeward-bound party. The ladies manifested a good deal of alarm until they were told that no harm should befall them ; but the officers remained silent and calm, whatever they might have apprehended. At length one of them arose and inquired, "Who are you? What do you want ? Where did you come from ?" "Too many questions in a bunch," replied one of the in- truders, who appeared to be regarded as a leader. "Ask your questions singly, and I will reply to them." ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 185 "Well, then," resumed the officer, " Who. are you ?" " Citizens of the United States of America," was the reply. " Where did you come from V "From New Jersey." " What do you want?" "You— so make no ado about it, but each one of you get into a separate boat without delay." They saw at once that neither remonstrance nor resistance would be of any avail, and quietly obeyed the order they had received ; "trapped," said they, as they did so. The leader told the ladies that he was sorry to interrupt their enjoyment, but if they were afraid to return home with- out their red-coated protectors, he would farnish them with some who wore blue coats. This proffered civility they at once and unanimously declined, and were sent on their way under the care ot their colored oarsmen. The four officers were taken to a prison in New Jersey, where they were confined until duly exchanged. Towards the close of the war, a scout or spy, who had vis- ited New York and had returned to New Brunswick, where he, resided, reported that the British had loaded two large barges or batteaux with powder and other munitions of war, and intended to have them towed into Great Kills, Staten Island, after dark that evening, to escape the observations of the Americans. Several whale boats were at once prepared and manned for the purpose of capturing or sinking these batteaux. They timed their enterprise so as to reach the mouth of the Raritan after dark. The night was rainy and exceedingly dark, but with muffled oars, they pushed on, guiding themselves by the lights upon the Island until they entered the Great Kills. Here they concealed them selves and their boats, awaiting the arrival of their prey. About mid- night the measured strokes of the tow-boats were heard, and lights were seen to enter the Kills ; voices were heard speaking in subdued tones, and presently the dropping of the anchors in the water was distinctly audible at no great distance ; then 186 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. the departure of the row-boats, and all became silent. The Jerseyman waited patiently an hour or two, and then went in quest of the batteaux. These were readily found and exam- ined as well as the intense darkness permitted. A consulta- tion was briefly held in whispers, and it was decided that as the boats were so large, they would scuttle one and take the other in tow. Each batteau had a sentry on board, who, to escape the drenching of the rain, had comfortably ensconced himself under the tarpaulin which had been drawn over the hatch of each boat ; and the beating of the rain upon their shelter, if it had not soothed them to slumber, would have effectually prevented them from hearing the slight noise made by the augers used in boring a number of holes in the bow of one of the boats. This done, the cable of the other boat was severed, a rope attached, and it was quietly towed out into the bay. They were well up the Raritan with their prize when day began to break, and then the bewildered sentry awoke and came out from his retreat ; he was immediately secured and disarmed by two men, who had been placed on board for the purpose. He very soon comprehended the situation, and when it was offered to release him and put him ashore, he de- clined, saying that he would never go back to the army again, as he was sure of being shot for suffering himself to fall asleep on his post, when a shout or a shot would have been heard on the land and brought a rescue. The sentry on the other boat was probably drowned when the boat sunk, as in the deep darkness it was impossible to see which way to swim to reach the shore. The captured boat was brought to New Brunswick in safety, and was found to contain many articles which the Americans were in need of. Sir William Howe, though a strict disciplinarian, holding every man sternly to the line of his duty, nevertheless appears to have been of an amiable disposition, not disposed to molest any one for the expression of an opinion hostile to the government represented by him, except under extraordi. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 187 nary circumstances. Though a century has passed since he dwelt upon the Island, tradition has transmitted to us a few- anecdotes of his intercourse with the people. On some public occasion a number of the citizens had congregated at Rich- mond, and in the course of their conversation, one of them , whose name we shall probably be able to discover before we conclude the narrative, in speaking of military commissions, alluding to that of David Alston, signed a few days before, remarked, "I would rather have one commission with the name of the American George attached to it, than a dozen with that of the English George." Some of his friends and neighbors reproved him for uttering a sentiment which might be construed as treasonable, and intimated that he might yet be called upon to answer for it. The remark, it would appear by the sequel, had been reported at headquarters, but no official notice was ever taken of it. Some time, probably several months after, during one of Sir William's official visits to the Island, — for after the cap- ture of the city of New York, his headquarters for a time were there — he, with his staff, were riding along one of the dusty Island roads, and being very thirsty, they entered a large gate which stood invitingly open, and stopped at the door of a comfortable farm-house without dismounting. The farmer came out and inquired what he could do to serve Sir William Howe and his friends. "We are exceedingly thirsty," said the commander-in chief , " and have called to obtain a drink of milk if you have any to spare." " Yes," replied the farmer, " I will bring you some, if you will not dismount." This they declined to do, so the milk was brought to them by the farmer in a huge earthen pitcher, while his wife ac- companied him, carrying a number of glasses. After they had all partaken of as much as they desired, and the prof- fered payment being positively declined, Sir William re- marked, " You are very kind, sir ; may I know to whom I am obliged for this favor V The farmer gave him his name. "Indeed," exclaimed he, "I have heard of you before" — the farmer looked up inquiringly, — "you are the man who 188 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. prefers one of George Washington's commissions to a dozen of King George's " — the farmer's countenance fell,—" though I differ with you widely," he continued, "you need be under no apprehension ; we are both entitled to our respective opinions, and the right to express them, so long as we do no harm thereby." Bidding the alarmed farmer and his wife adieu, the party rode on. Sir William having observed that the farmer would shortly have an increase in his family, called him aside and whispered something in his ear which created a smile upon the countenances of both, and a reply from the farmer ; "if so, it shall be as you wish." Now, it so happened that in the course of a few days after the brief visit of Sir William and his staff, the farmer's fam- ily was increased by the birth of a son. Though he and his family were attached to the Reformed Dutch Church, and all his other children had been baptized in that church, on the baptism of this son, he was taken to St. Andrew's, where the ceremony was performed ; Sir William Howe was pre- sent, and the name given to the child was William Howe. In the baptismal record of that church there is but a single instance of a child having been baptized by that name, and that reads as follows : " William Howe, son of Daniel and Elizabeth Corsen, was born y° 24th of November, 1776, & was Baptised by 'mr Charlton 25th of Febreary, 1777." Thus, we think, we have discovered the name of the man who preferred George Washington' s commission to that of King George, and this discovery is corroborated by the fact that the Corsen family, so far as we have been able to learn, were all consistent whigs. For the subsequent fate of Wil- liam Howe Corsen, see App. L, Corsen family. A party of three or four officers on horseback being over- taken by a shower, took advantage of .the first shelter which presented itself, which happened to be a long shed attached to a barn. The owner of the place came out and offered to take care of their horses, if they would enter the house and ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 189 wait until the shower had passed. The invitation was accepted ; in going into the house, they were led through the Jiitchen, where the good housewife was engaged with her churn. They paused for a moment to observe the process of making butter, and then passed on. After they had seated themselves, they inquired whether they could be furnished with something to eat. The man of the house replied in the affirmative, and said that his wife would attend to their wants as soon as she had finished churning. "If," said one of the oflBcers, "that only prevents her from attending to our wants immediately, I'll do the churning for her while she prepares something for us;" so going into the kitchen, he good- humoredly informed her of the arrangement which he pro- posed to make, to which she, also good-humoredly, assented, but stood for a few moments to see how he managed matters. At length she exclaimed, ' ' Oh, sir, this will never do ; if you can't use your sword any better than you do the churn- dasher, you ain't much of a soldier; why, you are splashing all the milk out of the churn, and you will be a pretty look- ing object by the time you have finished ; here, let me pin this apron before you, then I'll show you how to do it." So saying, she fastened an apron upon him, to which he laugh- ingly submitted, then showed him how to use the dasher, and went to work preparing something for the party to eat. His companions occasionally would look at him and make some jocular remark, to which he would reply that he was creating an appetite. The good woman, too, would sometimes glance through the door at him, when she would exclaim, " Oh, oh, but he is an awkward man ; but if he keeps on long enough, he will fetch the butter." This remark of hers became a by-word among the officers of the army when anything re- quiring unremitted exertion was to be done, " keep on long enough, and you'll fetch the butter," and continued to be used long after the origin of it had been forgotten. By the time they had finished their repast, the rain had ceased. As they were preparing to depart, the officer who had performed at the churn inquired of the woman how 190 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. raucli they were to pay her. ' ' Pay !" she exclaimed,' ' ' why, sir, we don't keep a tavern ; we don't take pay for such tri- fles ; you are, all of you, heartily welcome to what little I have done for you." No amount of urging could induce her to accept money from them, and they rode off, promis- ing that she should hear from them before long. In less than a week thereafter, a package containing the materials for a black silk dress for the lady of the house, was received, to- gether with a brief note from Sir William Howe, requesting her to accept it as a remuneration for learning him how to churn. In one of the companies of infantry attached to the British army, was an Englishman who was very tall, standing a head above his fellows, and proportionately stout ; he was of a quarrelsome disposition, and frequently in trouble, and thoroughly disliked by his comrades. For some breach of military discipline, he was confined in the guard-house for several days, and fed on bread and water. To the confine- ment he made no very strenuous objection, but he protested, though in vain, against the fare allowed to him. When he was discharged, and permitted again to mingle with his fel- lows, he repeatedly expressed his intention of revenging himself upon his captain, on whose complaint he had been punished. The captain was informed of the threats made by the soldier, and warned to be on his guard. A few mornings after the release of the prisoner, while the company were be- ing drilled in firing blank cartridges, the captain became conscious that a bullet had passed his head within an inch or two, and buried itself in a tree just behind him, beneath which he stood. He suspected whence the bullet had come, but paying no attention to the matter, he maintained his calmness, and announced to the company that as the weather was very hot, there would be no further drill that morning, but on the following morning, at an early hour, it would be resumed ; each man was directed to furnish himself with three blank cartridges. The next morning at an early hour they were on the ground again, and their exercise began. When ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 191 preparing for firing at the word "make ready," the cap- tain cried out, ' ' that was awkwardly done ; it must be re- peated — shoulder arms — make ready ; — a great deal bet- ter," said he, ''take aim," — very badly done, that must be repeated, — shoulder arms." This was as far as he meant to go in that direction ; he had detected his enemy taking direct aim at him. He continued the drill in another direction, and caused every man to lay his musket down upon the grass in front of him, and take one step backward. One of the minor officers of the company, having been previously instructed, took his stand, sword in hand, direct- ly by the musket of the vindictive soldier. The captain then delegated two other officers to begin, one at each end of the company, and draw the charge out of each musket. The guilty soldier made an effort to seize his musket, but the sword of the officer standing in front of him was at his throat in a twinkling, and he was obliged to desist. The ex- amination resulted in finding every musket loaded with blank cartridges except the one belonging to the suspected individual — that was loaded with ball. He was immediately seized, his cartridge-box examined, and two more ball cartridges found therein. A court-martial was convened the same day, the prisoner tried on the charge of attempting to kill his captain, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot the day following, which was done by a file of soldiers detailed for the purpose, to the great relief of the captain, and not at all to the regret of his comrades. We have had occasion to allude to a gun-boat which was kept at the expense of the people of the county on the Sound, to prevent intercourse between the people of Staten Island and those of New Jersey. This boat, for a time at least, appears to have been under the direction of Col. Billop, and was an unpopular affair to the people on both sides of the water. It was an almost daily occurrence that those on board fired upon any person within their reach on the Jersey shores ; with what effect, however, is not known. A com- 192 AWNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. pany of half dozen Jerseymen once attempted to get pos- session of the boat, but failed. It was lying at anchor one bright moonlight night under the shore of the Island, and as no person was seen moving on board, they supposed their opportunity had come. Accordingly, one of their number was sent in a small boat to row up some distance above the gun-boat, and then to drift silently down with the ebb tide, and, as he passed, to observe whether there was any person on her deck. He succeeded in accomplishing his purpose, but discovered a man sitting flat upon the deck, apparently en- gaged in strapping a knife upon his boot. When he reached the shore he made his report, and the enterprise was aban- doned for the time, nor do we know that it was ever after renewed. Though there were, in the royal army, both among the English and Hessians, a great many idle, dissolute and very wicked men, officers as well as privates, there were also among them many exemplary and industrious men, some of whom were mechanics and some agriculturists. An army doing garrison duty, has generally a good deal of idle time, which was employed by these men to their own profit and advantage. Shoemakers, for instance, frequently made boots and shoes for the ofiicers and their families, when they had any, and for the citizens of the county ; and were permitted to take their surplus work to the city to sell to dealers, for all of which they were generally well paid. The government supplying all their personal wants, the money thus earned accumulated, until at the close of the war, many had large sums at their command. It was generally this class who contrived to stay behind, purchase land, or commence busi- ness on their own account, sometimes, it is said, under assumed names. Some of the agriculturists obtained per- mission from the neighboring farmers to clear and cultivate an acre or two of land which the owners, in many instances, had considered worthless, because it was overgrown with bushes and briars, and would cost more to clear, as they said, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 193 than it was worth. It was wonderful, indeed, to see the amount these industrious soldiers would raise on a single acre — "more," said our venerable informant, "than I could raise from five." They suffered no thorns, hedges or briars to grow along their enclosures, remarking that wliere a useless plant would grow, a useful one would grow as well. Thus not only in this, but in many other instances, teaching the farmer' s lessons in economy and thrift, which they would have done well to imitate. It is, after all, a doubtful matter whether there were many of the people of Staten Island who were really tories from principle. The Seaman and Billop families, and two or three others not quite so prominent, were all beneficiaries of the British government ; they were the proprietors of large and valuable estates bestowed upon them for merely nominal con- sideration ; they were also the incumbents of lucrative offices which gave them a power and an influence which otherwise they V70uld not have possessed. The British officers, both of the army and navy, were lavish of their gold, and the peo- ple of the Island, so far as money was concerned, were never in better circumstances. The temptation then to infringe the resolutions of the Provincial Congress, prohibiting all intercourse with the vessels of the enemy, were irresistible, more especially as the Congress was powerless to enforce its own ordinances, or to punish the infraction of them. But the local committees of the Province of New Jersey were not idle, neither were they blind. At times, when the demand exceeded the supply, the dealers on the Island were under the necessity of obtaining their articles from New Jersey, either personally, if they choose to run the hazard, or through agents, who sometimes contrived to smuggle them success- fully. There was, however, no lack of patriots on the Island who dared to strike a blow whenever it could be done with security. The following anecdote is an instance : — A man named Taylor — not of the Staten Island family of that name — came over from New York, and took up his abode here for the avowed purpose of trading with the English vessels. He 194 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. carried on the business for several montlis openly, and in de- fiance of all the cautions he had received by means of anony- mous letters, v^hich he openly exhihited in public places, and held up to ridicule. He defied any power which the rebels possessed to prevent his doing as he pleased in the matter of trading with the ships. One very dark and stormy night, five men entered his dwelling unannounced ; they were all disguised, and while a part of them seized and bound him, the remainder performed the same service for his wife. With pistols at their heads, they were cautioned to make no outcry. Having secured Taylor, they led him to his own barn, put a noose around his neck with a pair of his own horse reins, threw the rope over one of the beams, and hoisted him from the floor by his neck ; then having fastened the rope to a post in the manger, left him and went their way. His wife hearing the men depart, apprehended something serious had occurred, and made most desperate efforts to loose the thongs which bound her, and finally succeeded. Fortunately a lighted lantern stood in an adjoining room, which she seized and ran into the barn, where she found her worst ap- prehensions realized by seeing her husband struggling in the agonies of death. Finding she could not untie the knot around the manger post, she found a hatchet with which she cut the rope and let him down upon the floor. Having re- moved the noose around his neck, and finding him insensible, she ran to a neighboring house for assistance, and at length succeeded in restoring him to consciousness. Two or three days afterwards Taylor removed back again to New York, but he was accompanied by a guard of soldiers all the way to the city. It was at some time between the cessation of actual hostili- ties and the evacuation of New York, Long and Staten Islands by the British, that the following incident is said to have occurred : There were many ships of war lying at anchor in various parts of the harbor, mostly in the vicinity of the city ; there were some, however, which laid in, and even be- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 195 yond the Narrows, and these were anchored near the shores of Long and Staten Islands, as could safely be done, for the convenience of easy access to the land in all conditions of the weather, in order that the officers might obtain supplies of butter, vegetables, &c., from the farms in the vicinity. One day, a boy, some seventeen or eighteen years of age, whose father was a relative of the narrator of the anecdote, was in search of some stray cattle in the woods near the water, and saw a ship' s boat with two sailors approaching. Supposing he might as well keep out of their sight in that solitary place, he concealed himself behind a large tree ; he saw them land, and while one of them remained in charge of the boat, the other, with a basket in his hand, entered the wood. After having proceeded a few rods, until he was out of sight of his companion, and of everybody else, as he supposed, he took off his coat, knelt down at the foot of a large, gnarled tree, and, with an instrument resembling a mason' s trowel, dug a hole in the earth, partly under a huge root, and having de- posited something therein, carefully filled the hole again with earth, and laid a large flat stone upon it. Having accom- plished his purpose, whatever it might have been, he rose to his feet, and took a long and careful survey of the surround- ings, then proceeded on his way. The youth kept in his place of concealment for two full hours, when he saw the sailor returning with his basket apparently filled with vege- tables ; he passed by the place where he had dug the hole, scrutinized it closely, and then proceeded to the boat, which was still in waiting for him, and returned to the ship. Assur- ing himself that the coast was clear, the young man went to the place, re-opened the hole, and found therein a heavy can- vas bag, evidently containing, as he judged by its sound, a quantity of money. Securing his prize, and without waiting to re-fill the hole, he hastened away, and found some other place of deposit, known only to himself. A day or two thereafter posters were put up in every public place, offering a large reward for the recovery of three hundred guineas, which had been stolen from one of his majesty' s ships, being 196 ANISTALS OF STATEN ISLAND. the property of ^ government, and an additional reward for the detection of the thief, but the boy kept his own connsel. The theft occasioned a good deal of talk at the time, but it was soon forgotten in the excitement consequent upon the declaration of peace, and the preparations for the departure of the British from the country. For nearly four years the young man kept his own secret, at which time he had attained his majority ; and then, when he purchased a farm for him- self, and paid for it, did he first reveal, to his parents only, the manner in which he obtained his means. Sometime between the close of the Revolution and that of the century in which it occurred, a remarkable character made his appearance on the Island ; he was tall and lank, and had a complexion so dark that many believed him to be either half negro or half Indian. He appeared to be well ed- ucated, and was remarkably circumspect in his conduct and conversation. He professed to have once been in a. trance, during which he had visited both heaven and hell, and had seen and heard things which he dared not repeat. WhUe in heaven, he, with eleven others, all strangers to each other, were commissioned to return to the earth and preach the true and everlasting gospel to every creature, all over the world. The others, without doubt, were now fulfilling their mission, as he was his. He said he had traveled over the States of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and was now closing his work on Staten Island, where he was predes- tined to die. It had been revealed to him that he was first to have a very narrow escape from death, and then in a very short time thereafter he should die suddenly. He professed to have a limited power to work miracles, but that power was confined to healing the diseases of those who had faith ; and it was said, he actually did cure some who professed to have unlimited faith in him. His method of cure was to place his hand on the patient and say, "according to your faith be it done unto you." If he failed in effecting a cure, he ascribed it to no want of power in himself, but to a want of faith in AXNALS OF STATED ISLAND. 197 the patient. He denounced churches, and said they were the inventions of men who desired to go to heaven in an easy carriage drawn by angels over a road made of blossoms and perfumed flowers. He admitted there had been good people among them, for he had seen some of them in heaven. God, he said, had his temples, but he had built them Himself in the shape of trees, bowers aud shady retreats. He preached repeatedly wherever he could find an umbrageous tree and an audience. He was very severe in his denunciations of personal pride, however manifested, and made humility in all its phases the principal virtue of his system, because, he said, without humility there could possibly be no religion. He never accepted any gifts which were offered, except food when he was hungry, or clothing when he recLuired it. He accepted a night's lodging when it was offered, but if not, any place which afforded shelter and protection was sufficient. People regarded him as a sort of harmless lunatic, and he was never molested. One day, as he was passing a place where some men were felling trees, he stopped to see a very large tree fall, but as he stood too near, he was cautioned to stand back further ; he had moved but a step or two when the tree fell, apparently directly upon him, but to the surprise of all who saw it, he stood unhurt amid the branches, which in falling had passed on each side of him without touching him. " This," "said he, "is the great peril I had to encounter and escape ; now I shall die soon, and suddenly." The next day he was overtaken by a shower, and sought shelter in a barn, which was struck by lightning and he was killed, thus veri- fying his own prophecy. There are those still living who can remember the great panic which pervaded the Island somewhere about the year 1820. Somebody had predicted the positive sinking of the Island on a certain day. There were hundreds of people whose apprehensions were excited, and the prophecy became the subject of 'universal conversation. Some sold their pro- perty, others removed from the Island, and when the day 198 ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. dawned, even those who had derided the prophecy were conscious of a choking sensation. There were many people who spent that entire day on the shores of New Jersey and Long Island, with their eyes fixed upon Staten Island, expect- ing momentarily to see it go down. There was one man, it was said, conveyed a boat to the highest point of the Island, and spent the day in it, that he might be ready to slide off when the catastrophe came. He conveyed his boat back again at night. When the day had passed, and the absentees began to return, not a solitary individual could be found who had ever given the least credence to the prophecy. Tradition says that thirty or thirty-five years before the war of the Revolution began — that is to say, if the Declara- tion of Independence is assumed to be the beginning of that war — between 1741 and 1746, the agricultural community of Staten Island, which then probably embraced nine-tenths of the population, became terribly excited by the frequent and mysterious killing of their cattle. They were found dead in their pastures with their throats cut, in every instance close to their heads. At first it was ascribed to some enemy of the owner, who adopted this method of gratifying his vindictive inclinations, but it was at length discovered that in every case the animal's tongue had been cut out and taken away. Slight as it was, this appeared to be the sole motive of the perpetrator or perpetrators of these outrages. Three or four nights after the offence had been committed in one locality, it was repeated in another, miles away, and again, after another interval, in another place in quite a different direction. Three, four or five cattle were killed each night the perpetra- tors were abroad. Some farmers had their pastures watched every night ; others drove their cattle into inclosures during the night, near their dwellings ; the roads were patrolled dur- ing the darkness, but all these precautions were of little avail; if an animal happened to be exposed, or a watchman, through weariness or any other cause, became temporarily remiss, the crime was repeated, and the criminal escaped. The people at length became desperate ; public meetings ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 199 were held in the several towns, and rewards offered for the capture of the offenders, but none were captured. The slaves were suspected and closely watched, but no discoveries were made. At length a farmer residing near the locality known as the "Elm Tree," was aroused one night by the barking of his dogs in a distant part of his farm ; arousing his two sons, and two or three of his slaves, and arming them with guns and clubs, they hastened away in the direction of the still barking dogs, but observing the utmost silence. When they had reached the place where the dogs were, they were seen to be barking at something in a large tree in the edge of a piece of woods. A consultation in a subdued tone was held ; some thought the dogs had driven a wild cat into the tree — others that it might be a bear — but the old man said that a wild ani- mal would have fought and torn the dogs, and perhaps killed one or both, and therefore he differed from them, but he said, "There may be a cat in that tree, but I think it is the cat that killed our cattle; we shall see in the morning." A close watch was kept around the foot of the tree during the re- mainder of the night, and when it became sufficiently light, a man was discovered sitting on one of the upper branches. Convinced that he had at length caught the slayer of the cattle on the Island, he hailed him and directed him to come down, but received no reply. The summons to descend was repeated, several times without effect ; he sat immovable, crouched into as small a compass as possible, leaning upon the main trunk of the tree. The farmer was at a loss what to do ; he dared not fire, for he might kill him, while as yet he was only suspected ; at length he sent his negroes to notify two or three of his neighbors, and requested them to meet him, whUe he and his sons continued their guard over the prisoner. In less than an hour a dozen of the neighboring farmers were assembled under the tree, who all shared the farmer's sus- picions, until one of them, in endeavoring to obtain a better view of their prisoner, stumbled upon an object which at once verified their suspicions. This was an exceedingly dirty, 200 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. blood-stained, bag containing two or three fresh beef's tongues and a long sharp knife in a leather sheath. With such a formidable weapon in his possession, it was surprising that he had suffered the two dogs to drive him into the tree, unless in the suddenness of the attack he had dropped the bag, and either had not had time, or could not see, in the darkness, to recover it." There was now no diversity of opinion as to the character of the prisoner, though there was as to the best method of disposing of him. It was at length decided that if he persisted in his refusal to reply to their questions, or to descend from the tree, to shoot him. This decision was about to be carried into effect, when the prisoner, seeing the gun pointed at him, threw up his hands and exclaimed. " Don't shoot, massa, and I'll come down." It was then for the first time discovered that he was a negro. Slowly he descended, apparently looking about him for an opportunity of eluding his captors, but the moment he was within reach, a dozen hands seized and held him securely until his arms were pinioned. He was a stranger to all of those who sur- rounded him, and to all their questions as to his name and residence, he maintained a dogged silence. Growing im- patient of the fellow's stubbornness, a noose was slipped over his head, and in a very brief space he was dangling to one of the limbs of the tree. It was never known who he was or where he resided, but there was an expression of satisfaction throughout the Island when the news of the capture and execution was heard. During the whole time of their occupancy of the Island, the British kept a lookout on some convenient elevation, for the arrival of vessels. At one time a sentinel was stationed in the top of " a large chestnut tree, which grew upon the summit of the Island, about a mile from a small wooden church which stood near the King's highway." This de- scription corresponds with some locality near the present residence of Mr. T. C. Bogart. There is a tradition confirma- tory of this statement, which says that the British kept a number of soldiers on the top of Toad Hill to guard the road ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 201 and to keep a look-out over the land and water. From the locality indicated, this might have been done very easily, for it commands a view of the outer bay and Sandy Hook in one direction, and of the Kills, and New Jersey beyond, in the other. The sentinel in the tree was provided with a platform upon which to stand, and signals to elevate upon a pole lashed to the highest limb of the tree. This position was a perilous one in a heavy wind, and peculiarly so during a thunder storm. It is said that upon one occasion a soldier on duty in that elevated place was overtaken by a sudden storm of rain, thunder and lightning ; the ladder by which he had ascended was blown out of his reach, and he was unable to escape from the dangers which surrounded him. When the storm had passed away, his body was found upon the ground beneath the tree, with his neck broken, and certain livid marks upon his person, as well as the condition of the tree itself, indicated that he had been stricken with lightning, and had fallen to the ground. About a month thereafter, another storm passed over the same locality, and the look-out descended from his elevation as quickly as possible, but he had no sooner reached the ground than the tree was again struck, and he was kiUed at his foot. After that the place of lookout was changed, and brought down the hill nearer the church, probably in the vicinity of the light-house. The following season the doomed tree was again struck, and riven to splinters. An aged man named Britton, residing in Southfield, wiin his wife and grand-daughter, a young lady about seventeen years of age, were seated before a bright fire on the hearth, one chilly autumn evening ; on a table stood a mug of cider, and in the fire was one end of a long iron rod, placed there to become heated, with which the old man was in the habit of "mulling" his cider, a beverage of which he was very fond, and of which he partook every evening before retiring. While thus waiting for the iron to become red-hot, the outer door of the room suddenly opened, and a huge Hessian 202 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. soldier entered. After regarding the family group for a mo- ment, he walked to the corner in which the young lady was sitting, and seated himself beside her. "Hey, missy," said he, attempting to put his arm around her waist, "how you like ^ big Dutchman for a husband, hey ? " "Go away, you Dutch brute," said she. "Oh, no," he answered, renewing his attempt at familiarity, "me not go away yet." "Go away," she repeated "or I shall hurt you." Laughing at this threat, as something extremely amusing, he persisted in annoying her by his insolence. Suddenly she stooped down, and seizing the iron rod, thrust the red-hot end of it into his face. He uttered a yell, and in the effort to spring up, fell over his chair ; she continued her assault upon him by push- ing the rod into any part of his person she could reach, and when he had regained his feet and made for the door, she continued to pursue him, even following him out of doors. He made repeated attempts to strike her, but her rod being longer than his arm, effectually prevented him from touching her. He also attempted to seize the rod, but it was too hot to hold, and every such effort only burned him the more. Foiled at every point, he turned and ran away. "D." GOVERNMENT 204 AKNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. The Government of New Netherland, under the original Dutch settlers, was committed to the Director aud his Coun- cil, which at first consisted of five members. This Coancil had supreme executive and legislative authority in the whole colony. It had also the power to try all civil and criminal cases, and all prosecutions before it were conducted by a " Schout Fiscaal," whose duties were similar to those of a sheriff and district attorney of the present day. He had the power to arrest all persons, but not without a complaint previously made to him, unless he caught an offender in flagrante delictu. It was his duty to examine into the merits of every case, and lay them before the court, without favor to either party ; he was also to report to the Directors in Holland, the nature of every case prosecuted by him, and the judgment therein. In addition to the duties above enumerated, it devolved upon him to examine the papers of all vessels arriving or departing ; to superintend the lading and discharging of cargoes, and to prevent smuggling. He had a right to attend the meetings of the Council, and give his opinion when asked, but not to vote on any question. Several of the patroons claimed in a great measure to be independent of the Director and his Council, and organized courts and appointed magistrates for their own territories, as did the Patroons of Rensselaerwyck and Staten Island, bat they were at constant variance with the authorities at New Amsterdam. It is true that all who felt themselves aggrieved by the judgment of the Director and his Council, had a chartered right to appeal to the XIX at home— that is, the West India Company — but the Directors of New Netherland generally played the despot during the brief terms of their authority, and if any suitor manifested an intention to appeal, he was at once charged with a contempt of the supreme power in ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 205 the colony, and most severely punished, unless he contrived to keep out of the Directors reach, until his case had been heard and decided in Holland, as in the instance of Melyn, the patroon of Staten Island, who appears to have been a thorn in the sides of both Kieft and Stuyvesant. The religion recognized by the government of the province was that of the Reformed Dutch Church, or the Church of Holland, and though other sects were regarded with a cer- tain degree of suspicion, they were tolerated so long as they did not interfere with the privileges of others. When Stuyvesant was compelled by the popular clamor to surrender the country to the English, he stipulated for the preservation and continuance of all the political and religious rights and privileges of the people as then enjoyed, allegiance alone excepted, which was conceded by NicoUs. After the conquest, this stipulation was generally held in- violate, but the civil institutions of the country were modified to make them accord with English ideas of government. There are instances on record of persecution for opinion' s sake on religious subjects under the Dutch, but all such mat- ters were at once rectified when brought to the notice of the home government. This continued to be the practice of the English government also. From the date of the conquest to the arrival of Dongan as governor, the country had been governed by the "Duke's Laws," which prohibited the election of magistrates by the people, but in 1683 Dongan convened a general assembly, which modified some of these laws and abrogated others. Some of the important changes made by this assembly were the following : The supreme authority was to reside in the governor, council and people represented in general assembly. Assemblies were to be held at least triennially. Freeholders or freemen were to vote for members. The number of members were to be 21, or as many more as the Duke thought proper. Of these, Uichmond was entitled to two. 206 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Bills passed were to be approved by the governor, with the concurrence of the Duke. No tax should be levied but by consent of the governor, council and representatives. Trials by a jury of twelve, and a grand jury authorized. All oflEences except treason and felony to be bailable. No man's land to be liable to sale under execution without his consent, but the profits and issues thereof to be liable for debt. Married women's rights in their husband's estate not to be sold without their consent. Widows to be entitled to thirds, as dower. Full religious liberty to all professing faith in Grod by Jesus Christ. A law was also passed creating the office of a sheriff for- each county, and permitting him to have a deputy. The province was divided in 1683 into the following coun- ties : 1, New York; 2, Westchester; 3, Ulster; 4, Albany, including Schenectady; 5, Duchess; 6, Orange; 7, Rich- mond ; 8, Kings ; 9, Queens ; 10, Suffolk ; 11, Duke's ; 12, Cornwall ; the two last named now form a part of Massachu- setts. In March, 1688, Richmond was divided into four towns— Castletown, Northfield, Southfield and Westfield. The town of Middletdwn was not organized until 1860. Before the legal division of the county into towns, it was divided into three precincts, the North, South and West : Castleton was not included in any of the precincts, but was designated "The Manor." The limits of the precincts were about the same as those of the towns as established by law on the 7th March, 1688. Castleton derived its name from the Palmer or Dongan patent, in which the manor conveyed was called Cassiltown, corrupted into the present name, and the corruption legalized by repeated Acts of the Legislature ; the other towns were named from their position in the county. When the county of Richmond was first organized, the ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 207 county seat was fixed at Stony Brook, on the Amboy road, a short distance south of the Black Horse corner, and near the former site of the old Waldensian church. Tradition says that the county building consisted of a log cabin, containing two rooms, one for the residence of the Jailor, and one for a prison, in which prisoners remained as long as suited their convenience. The County seat was subsequently removed* to Cocklerf- town, which was the original name of the village of Richmond, then a mere hamlet of half a dozen small houses, and the name changed to that of the county. The courts organized under the English authority were as follows : 1st. The Court of Chancery, consisting of the Governor and Council, to which appeals might be brought from any other court. 2d. The Oyer and Terminer, held once each year in each county, and consisting of a Judge ot the upper court, and three Justices of the Peace of the county. 3d. In New York and Albany, the mayor and Aldermen held a court every fortnight, and from which there was no appeal except in cases where an amount over £20 was in- volved. 4th. Courts of Sessions in every county twice each year, composed of the Justices of the Peace of the county. 5th. Three Commissioners in every town to determine mat- ters of difference between parties not exceeding the value of £5. * Vide App. N. (43.) STATEN ISLAND 200 YEARS AGO. 210 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The following is an extract from a manuscript found in the city of Amsterdam, a few years ago, by Hon. H. C. Mur- phy, of Brooklyn. On the 8th of June, 1676, two Labadists, Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter, sailed from Amsterdam in a ship called the Charles, Capt. Thomas Singleton, and arrived at Sandy Hook on the 22d of September following. They say : "When we came between the Hoof den (the Highlands of Staten and Long Islands — that is, in the Narrows) — we saw some Indians on the beach with a canoe, and others coming down the hill. As we tacked about, we came close to the shore, and called out to them to come on board the ship. The Indians came on board, and we looked upon them with wonder. They are dull of comprehension, slow of speech, bashful, but otherwise bold of person and red of skin. They wear something in front over the thighs, and a piece of duf- fels, like a blanket, around the body, and that is all the clothing they have. Their hair hangs down from their head in strings, well smeared with fat, and sometimes with quan- tities of little beads twisted in it, out of pride. They have thick lips and thick noses, but not fallen in like the negroes, heavy eyebrows or eyelids, brown or black eyes, thick tongues, and all of them black hair. After they had ob- tained some biscuit, and had amused themselves a little climbing and looking here and there, they also received some brandy to taste, of which they drank excessively, and threw it up again. They then went ashore in their canoe, and we, having a better breeze, sailed ahead handsomely." After narrating how they landed in the city, and describing the bay and the immense quantities of fish therein, they proceed with their journal. " October Qth, Monday.— Wq remained at home two days, except I went out to ascertain whether there was any way of going over to Staten Island. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 211 10, Tuesday. — Finding no opportunity of going to Staten Island, we asked our old friend Symon, who had come over from Gouanes (Growanus ?), what was the best way for us to go there, when he offered us his services to take us over in his skiff, which we accepted, and at dusk accompanied him in his boat to Gouanes, where we arrived about 8 o' clock, and where he welcomed us and entertained us well. 11, Wednesday . — We embarked early this morning in his boat, and rowed over to Staten Island, where we arrived about 8 o'clock. He left us there, and we went on our way. This Island is about 32 miles long, and four broad. Its sides are very irregular, with projecting points and indenting bays and creeks running deep into the country. It lies for the most part east and west, and is somewhat triangular ; the most prominent point is to the west. On the east side is the narrow passage which they call the channel, by which it is separated from the high point of Long Island. On the south is the great bay, which is enclosed by Nayag, t'Conijnen island, Eentselaer's Hook, Neversink, etc. On the west is the Raritans. On the north or north-west is New Jersey, from which it is separated by a large creek or arm of the river called Kil Van Kol. The eastern part is high and steep, and has few inhabitants. It is the usual place where ships ready for sea, stop to take in water.* The whole south side is a large plain, with much salt meadow or marsh, and several creeks. The west point is flat, and on or around it is a large creek with much marsh, but to the north of this creek it is high and hilly, and beyond that it begins to be more level, but not so low as on the other side, and is well populated. On the northwest it is well provided with creeks and marshes, and the land is generally better than on the south side, although there is a good parcel of land in the middle of the latter. As it is the middle or most hilly part of the Island, it is uninhab- ited, although the soil is better than the land around it ; but *Vide App. N.(45.) !12 ANKALS OF STATEN ISLAND. n consequence of its being away from the water, and lying 10 high, no one will live there, the creeks and rivers being so lerviceable to them in enabling them to go to the city, and or fishing and catching oysters, and for being near the salt neadow. The woods are used for pasturing horses and cattle, or, being an island, none of them can get off. Each person las marks upon his own by which he can find them when he vants them. When the population shall increase, these )laces will be taken up. Game of all kinds is plenty, and wenty-five or thirty deer are sometimes seen in a herd. A )oy who came in a house where we were, told us he had shot en the last winter himself, and more than forty in his life, .nd in the same manner other game. We tasted here the )est grapes. There are now about 100 families on the Island, )f which the English constitute the least portion, and the Dutch and French divide between them about equally the greater portion. They have neither church nor minister, and ive rather far from each other, and inconveniently to meet ogether. The English are less disposed to religion, and nquire little after it ; but in case there was a minister, would !ontribute to his support. The French and Dutch are very lesirous and eager for one, for they spoke of it wherever we vent. The French are good Reformed church-men, and some )f them are Walloons. The Dutch are also from different quarters. We reached the Island, as I have said, about ) o'clock, directly opposite Gouanes, not far from the watering- alace. We proceeded southwardly along the shore of the lighland on the east end, where it was sometimes stony and •ocky, and sometimes sandy, supplied with fine constantly lowing springs, with which at times we quenched our thirst. We had now come nearly to the furthest point on the southeast, behind which I had observed several houses when ve came in with the ship. We had also made inquiry as to he villages through which we would have to pass, and they old us the " Oude Dorp " * would be the first one we would !ome to ; but my comrade finding the point very rocky and * Vide App. N. (46.) ANNALS OP STATBN ISLAl^D. 213 difficult, and believing the village was inland, and as we discovered no path to follow, we determined to clamber to the top of this steep bluff, through the bushes and thickets, which we accomplished with great difficulty and in a perspiration. We found as little of a road above as below, and nothing but woods, through which no one could see. There appeared to be a little foot-path along the edge, which I followed a short distance to the side of the point, but my companion calling me, and saying that he thought we had certainly passed by ihe road to the Oude Dorp, and observing myself that the little path led down to the point, I returned again, and we followed it the other way, which led us back to the place from where we started. We supposed we ought to go from the shore to find the road to the Oude Drop, and seeing here these slight tracks into ihe woods, we followed them as far as we could, till at last they ran to nothing else than dry leaves. Having wandered an hour or more in the woods, now in a hollow and then over a hill, at one time through a swamp, at another across a brook, without finding any road or path, we entirely lost the way. We could see nothing but the sky through the thick branches of the trees over our heads, and we thought it best to break out of the woods entirely and regain the shore. I had taken an observation of the shore and point, having been able to look at the sun, which shone extraordi- narily hot in the thick woods, without the least breath of air stirring. We made our way at last, as well as we could, out of the woods, and struck the shore a quarter of an hour's distance from where we began to climb up. We were rejoiced, as there was a house not far from the place where we came out. We went to it to see if we could find any one who would show us the way a little. There was no master in it, but an English woman with negroes and servants. W e first asked her as to the road, and then for something to drink, and also for some one to show us the road, but she refused the last, although we were willing to pay for it ; she was a cross woman. She said she had never been at the village, and her folks m ast work, and we would certainly have to go away as wise as we came. She eaid, however, we must follow the 214 AWNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. shore, as we did. We went now over the rocky point, which we were no sooner over than we saw a pretty little sand bay, and a small creek, and not far from there, cattle and houses. We also saw the point from which the little path led from the hill above, where I was when ray comrade called me. We would not have had more than three hundred steps to go to have been where we now were. It was very hot, and we per- spired a great deal. We went on to the little creek to sit down and rest ourselves there, and to cool our feet, and then proceeded to the houses which constituted the Oude Dorp. It was now about two o'clock. There were seven bouses, but only three in which anybody lived. The others were abandoned, and their owners gone to live on better places on the Island, because the ground around this village was worn out and barren, and also too limited for their use. We went into the first house, which was inhabited by English, and there rested ourselves and eat, and inquired further aftei the road ; the woman was cross, and her husband not much better. We had to pay here for what we eat, which we have not done before. We paid three guilders in seewan, although we only drank water. We proceeded by a tolerably good road to Nieuwe Dorp, but as the road ran continually in the woods we got astray again in them. It was dark, and we were compelled to break our way out through the woods and thickets, and we went a great distance before we succeeded, when it was almost entirely dark. We saw a house at a dis- tance to which we directed ourselves across the bushes ; it was the first house of the JSfieuwe Dorp. We found there an Englishman who could speak Dutch, and who received us very cordially into his house, where we had as good as he and his wife had. She was a Dutch woman from the Manhatans, who was glad to have us in her house. 12th, Thursday.— AliYiovigh. we had not slept well, we had to resume our journey with the day. The man where we slept set us on the road. We had no more villages to go to, but went from one plantation to another, for the most part belonging to French, who showed us every kindness because we conversed with them in French. ANNALS OF 8TATEN ISLAND. 215 About one-third of the distance ' from the south side to the west end is still all woods, and is very little visited. We had to go along the shore, .finding sometimes fine creeks well pro- vided with wild turkeys, geese, snipes and wood-hens. Ly- ing rotting on the shore were thousands of fish called mars- baucken, which are about the size of a common carp. These fish swim close together in large schools, and are pursued by other fish so that they are forced upon the shore in order to avoid the mouths of their enemies, and when the water falls, they are left to die, food for the eagles and other birds of prey. Proceeding thus along, we came to the west point, where an Englishman lived alone, some distance from the road. We ate something here, and he gave us the consola- tion that we would have a very bad road for two or three hours ahead, which indeed we experienced, for there was neither path nor road. He showed us as well as he could. There was a large creek to cross which ran very far into the land, and when we got on the other side of it we must, he said, go outward along the shore. After we had gone a piece of the way through the woods, we came to a valley with a brook running through it, which we took to be the creek, or the end of it. We turned around it as short as we could, in order to go back again to the shore, which we reached after wander- ing a long time over hill and dale, when we saw the creek, which we supposed we had crossed, now just before us. We followed the side of it deep into the woods, and when we ar- rived at the end of it saw no path along the other side to get outwards again, but the road ran into the woods in order to cut off a point of the hills and land. We pursued this road for some time, but saw no mode of getting out, and that it led further and further from the creek. We therefore left the road, and went across through the bushes, so as to reach the shore by the nearest route according to our calculation. After continuing this course about an hour, we saw at a dis- tance a miserably constructed tabernacle of pieces of wood covered with brash, all open in front, and where we thought there were Indians, but on coming up to it we found in it an Englishman sick, and his wife and child lying upon some 216 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. bushes by a little fire. We asked him if he was sick? "I have been sick over two months," he replied. It made my heart sore, indeed, for I never, in all my life, saw such pov- erty, and that, too, in the middle of the woods and wilderness. After we had obtained some information as to the way, we went on, and had not gone far before we came to another house, and thus from one farm to another, French, Dutch, and a few English, so that we had not wandered very far out of the way. We inquired, at each house, the way to the next one. Shortly before evening we arrived at the plantatioQ of a Frenchman, whom they called La Chaudrounier, who was formerly a soldier under the Prince of Orange, and had served in Brazil. He was so delighted, and held on to us so hard, that we remained and spent, the night with him. 13th, Friday. — We pursued our journey this morning from plantation to plantation, the same as yesterday, until we came to that of Pierre Gardinier, who had been in the ser- vice of the Prince of Orange, and had known him well. He had a large family of children and grand-children. He was about seventy years of age, and was still as fresh and active as a young person. He was so glad to see strangers who conversed with him in the French language, that he leaped with joy. After we had breakfasted here, they told us that we had another large creek to pass called the Fresh Kill; and then we could perhaps be set across the Kill V an Koll to the point of Mill Creek, where we might wait for a boat to con- vey us to the Manhatans. The road was long and ditficult, and we asked for a guide, but he had no one, in consequence of several of his children being sick. At last he determined to go hiniself, and accordingly carried us in his canoe over to the point of Mill Creek in New Jersey, behind Kol, (Achter Kol.) We learned immediately that there was a boat upon this creek loading with brick, and would leave that night for the city. After we had thanked and parted with Pierre le Gardinier, we determined to walk to Elizabethtown, a good half hour's distance inland, where the boat was. We slep there this night, and at 3 o'clock in the morning set sail." "F. 59 VILLAGES. 218 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. VILLAGE OF NEW BKIGHTON. This village was incorporated by act of the Legislature, April 26th, 1866, and embraced the northerly half of the town of Castleton. It was about two and a half miles long in a straight line, and about one mile in width. This territory was divided into four wards, and the trustees appointed by tlie same act to carry its provisions into effect, were Augustus Prentice, 1st ward ; James W. Simonton, 2d ward; Francis G. Shaw, 3d ward ; and Willliam H. J. Bodine, 4th ward. The portion of the town remaining unincorporated was very sparsely populated, but was obliged, nevertheless, to have a full corps of town officers, some of whom resided within the village, and exercised their offices without, as well as within, and the duties of some, such as the commissioners of high- ways, which office had been abolished within the village, could be performed only in the unincorporated remnant of the town. The bills rendered by these officers for their services at the end of each year were so enormous, that the taxes out- side of the village were greater than those within. The only method the people could resort to for ridding themselves of this burden, was to seek admission into the corporation, which they did, and in 1872 the remainder of the town was added to the village, and divided into two wards, the 5th and 6th. The dimensions of the village now are, length about 4 miles, breadth about 2. In 1871, a large and elegant village hall was erected on Lafayette Avenue, corner of Second Street, at a cost of about $36,000, including the land. The village contains eleven churches, viz : In the 1st ward the Reformed Church, corner of Tompkins Avenue and Fort Street. St. Peter' s Roman Catholic Church, between Carroll Place and St. Mark' s Place. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 219 In the 2d ward, Christ Church, Episcopal, on Franklin Avenue, corner of Second Street. Church of the Redeemer, Unitarian, on Clinton Avenue, corner of Second Street. The Snug Harbor Church. In the 3d ward, St. Mary's Church, Episcopal, onCastleton Avenue, corner of Davis Avenue. Calvary Church, Presbyterian, Bement Avenue, corner of Castleton Avenue. In the 4th ward. Church of the Ascension, Episcopal, on Richmond Terrace, or Shore Road. Trinity Church, Methodist, on Richmond Terrace, or Shore Road. Church of St. Rose of Lima, Roman Catholic, on Castleton Avenue, corner of Roe Street. In the 5th ward a Moravian Chapel on Richmond Turnpike, Four Corners. In addition to the above, the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation building, known as Association Hall, on the Shore Road, 4th ward, is used for religious purposes every Sabbath day, and several times through the week. There are four public schools in the village, viz : One on Madison Avenue, 1st ward. One on Prospect Av- enue, 2d ward. One on Elizabeth Street, 4th ward, and one on the Manor Road, near Four Corners, 6th ward ; there are also two or three excellent private schools. The charitable and benevolent institutions in the village are : The Sailors' Snug Harbor, and the Home for Destitute Children of Seamen, which are noticed elsewhere. The Shore Rail Road — cars drawn by horses — begins at the steamboat landing, foot of Arietta Street, and runs through Arietta Street, Richmond Turnpike, Brook and Jersey Streets, to the Terrace, and thence along the Terrace to the Mill Road, near the line of the village of Port Richmond, a distance of nearly four miles. The road is admirably conducted, and is considered a great public accommodation. There are three steam ferries connecting the village with 220 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. New York city— one from the foot of Arietta Street, on the east side of the Island, and two on the north side, each of which stop at the West New Brighton, Snug Harbor and New Brighton wharves, and make from eight to twelve trips per day to New York, according to the season. Of the industrial establishments in the village, the New York Dyeing and Printing Establishment, on Broadway, in the 4th ward, and the Staten Island Fancy Dyeing Establish- ment, on Cherry Lane, in the 6th ward, are the principal, and are described more at length elsewhere. Beside these, there are manufactories of paper hangings, carriages, silk dyeing, &c. There are two weekly newspapers printed in the village. VILLAGE OF PORT RICHMOND. This village was incorporated by act of the Legislature April 24th, 1866, and is situated in the town of Northfield. Its length on its southern boundary, which is nearly a straight line, is about a mile and a half ; its greatest width is about three-fourths of a mile. It is not divided into wards, like the other incorporated villages in the county, but into East and West Port Richmond by the Morning Star Road ; three of its five trustees must reside in the former, and two in the latter. Its first trustees were George W. Jewett, Nicholas Van Pelt, William A. Ross, Garret P. Wright and Henry Miller, all of whom were repeatedly re-elected by the people, and some of whom are still members of the board ; trustee Van Pelt was the first president, and has continued to perform the duties of that office without intermission until the present time (1876.) There are five churches in the village, viz : The Reformed Church, on Richmond Street, or Church Road. St. John's German Lutheran Church, on Division Avenue, corner of Catharine Street. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 221 Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, on Heberton Street, corner of Bond. Park Baptist Church, on Broadway, corner of Vreeland Street, and Baptist Church, on Union Avenue, near the western ex- tremity of the village. Summerfield Methodist Episcopal Church, on the Harbor Road, is but a few feet outside of the boundaries of the village. There is but one public school within the limits of the village, which is situated on Heberton Street, corner of Elizabeth. There is another public school a few feet outside of the village limits, near the southwest corner. St. John's Lutheran Church has a parochial school on Catharine Street. There are two steam ferries connecting the village with New York — the North Shore and the Peoples' ferries — both of which touch at the Elm Park and Port Richmond Land- ings. Of the industrial establishments, the White Lead Manu- factory of John Jewett and Sons, and the Linseed oil factory of Jewett & Dean, are the principal, and are noticed elsewhere. In addition to these, are several ship -yards, the principal of which is that of William Lissenden. A. century ago this place was known as Ryer' s Ferry ; on a change of owners of the ferry, it was called Mersereau' s Perry; there was also another Ferry in the vicinity of the former, known as Hil- leker's Perry, the wharf of which was next east of Jewett' s White Lead Factory, where the remains of it may still be seen. Subsequently the place was called Cityville, and then Bristol ; the paternity of the present name is due to Rev. Dr. Brownlee, at whose suggestion it was adopted, and it has now become permanently fixed. While this work was going through the press, it was sug- gested to the author, that his description of the Village of Port Richmond would hardly be complete without some ref- 222 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. erence to the Centennial Celebration of the nation' s natal day, especially as it was the only celebration on the Island. The celebration took place under the shade of the beautiful trees which overarch that splendid thoroughfare known as Heberton Street. The services consisted of an opening address by Ex-District Attorney S. F. Rawson, who presided. The Rev. Dr. Brownlee offered the opening prayer. The Rev. J. T. Bush read the Declaration of Independence. The author of these "Annals" then read an historical address relating to the Village of Port Richmond and the Town of Northfield. He was succeeded by the Hon. George WiUiam Curtis, who delivered an eloquent, patriotic address, which was univer- sally admired and applauded. The closing prayer and bene- diction was pronounced by the Rev. S. G. Smith, of the Park Baptist Church. The services were interspersed with vocal and instrumental music. It was, on the whole, the most creditable and patriotic celebration that ever took place on the Island. VILLAGE OF EDGEWATER. This village was originally incorporated in 1866, and by its charter divided into nine wards, but some legal defect having been detected in it, a new charter was enacted the following year. The names of the first trustees under the new charter are as follows : 1st Ward — William C. Denyse. 2d (( David Burgher. 3d a George Bechtel. 4th u Theodore Frean. 5th u Dr. Thomas C. Moffat ■ 6th c( James R. Robinson. 7th u Alfred Wandell. 8th (( Dennis Keeley. 9th Ci J. Duignan. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 323 Theodore Frean, President ; Henry F. Standerwick, Clerk ; Thomas Garrett, Police Justice. For a number of years the government of the village was injudiciously conducted, causing much dissatisfaction among the people, and the idea of abandoning the charter and re- turning to the original town government as it existed before the passage of the first act of incorporation, began to be entertained by a large number of citizens. In 1875 another attempt at local government was made by an amended charter containing several important changes and modifications. The village was divided into only two wards, with one trustee each, and a trustee at large, to be elected by the whole village, who was to be the president of the village. The board elected under the amended charter consisted of William Corry, trustee at large, and president ; Benjamin Brown, trustee of the 1st ward, Fellowes, trustee of the 2d ward ; Henry F. Standerwick, clerk. The churches within the corporate limits of the village are — Old St. Paul's, Episcopal, minister vacant. St. Paul's, Memorial, Episcopal, minister Stanley. St. John's, " " J. C. Eccleston, D. D. St. Simon's, Mission, First Presbyterian, " J. E. Rockwell, D. D. German Lutheran, " Kingsby Methodist Ep. " H. M. Simpson. African Zion, " " " St. Mary's, Rom. Cath. " John Lewis. "G." NOTED LOCALITIES. 226 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. TOAD HILL. Geographically, this eminence, or succession of eminences, commences at New Brighton, and runs southerly and south- westerly until it terminates somewhat abruptly on the north- erly side of the Fresh Kills, beyond Richmond Village. The Clove divides the ridge into two nearly equal parts, and it is to that part which lies between the Clove and the Mora- vian Church that the name is usually applied. The whole elevation abounds in minerals of various kinds, the most abundant, as well as most valuable of which is iron ore, which exists in immense masses, and is generally of a superior quality. Several of these iron mines have been extensively worked, and that lying nearest the Moravian Church was known and worked by the early Dutch settlers of the colony. The hill affords numerous splendid sites for dwellings, unsurpassed for extent and variety of prospect, as well as salubrity, by any in the country ; some of these have been improved by the erection of tasteful and ornate villas, but many more yet remain to be occupied. In the beginning of the present century, when availability for cultivation, and not beauty of prospect, was the principal consideration in the purchase of land, the whole hill, from the Clove to the Moravian Church, could have been bought for less than one thousand dollars, as the soil, except in the valleys between the ridges, was considered almost valueless for the purposes of agriculture ; half a century later, after the beauties of the location had become well known and appreciated, a single acre could not have been purchased for that sum, in many places. The origin of the uncouth name of the hill has been a subject of some speculation. The earliest reference to it in any existing document, is in the patent from Dongan to Palmer, in which it is called "the iron hill," and in other ancient conveyances of later dates, it is referred to by the iLS OF STATEN ISLAND. 227 It has been said that the name is not "Toad," but "Todt," from a person by that name who owned land upon it, but unfortunately for this theory, there is no evidence that there was ever an individual of that name on the Island, and certainly none that such a man was ever a land-owner in any part of the county. An old man recently deceased, at almost the age of a cen- tenarian, who had resided all his life either upon the hill or in its immediate vicinity, informed the writer that it was called "Toad Hill" before his time, and that he always understood it received its name from the following somewhat ludicrous circumstance. Before the war of the Revolution, how long he knew not, there was a young lady residing upon the hill, who was so fortunate as to have two suitors at the same time. As was quite natural under such circumstances, she had her preference, and the unfortunate wight who did not meet her approbation received a significant hint that his absence would be agreeable to her, by having a couple of large toads dropped into his capacious pocket by her own fair hands without his knowledge. On the next Sunday evening, as he was dressing for the purpose of making her another visit, he discovered that his Sunday coat emitted a perfume not agreeable to his olfactories. A close examina- tion revealed the cause ; the hint was understood, and his visits ceased. By some means the story became known, and his young acquaintances frequently taunted him by inquiring when he intended to go to toad hill again, or how the people on toad hill were. Thus the name which originated in a jest, became fixed upon the locality. Another hypothesis is that during one of the Indian mas- sacres, probably that of 1655, some of the inhabitants who had fled to this locality for concealment, were discovered and killed, and the hill in consequence became known as ' ' doode- bergh," or hill of the dead, which in time was corrupted into its present name. But it is never referred to in any of the old records by any other name than " the iron hill." * Vide App. N. (44.) 228 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. WATCHOGUE. Between Old Place and Chelsea, bordering on Staten Island Sound, is a level, sandy territory, sparsely populated, and, where not cultivated, is covered with a stunted growth of pines and cedars, though the low wet lands in some places bear a growth of larger trees of other varieties. The name of this territory is of Indian origin, but the meaning of the word has been lost. Indian names of places were usually significant of something peculiarly applicable to the locality, and as everything about the place has been changed since their day except the musquitoes, the name probably had some reference to these insects. It cannot be denied that this place is more than ordinarily infested with them, but this is owing more to its proximity to the extensive and prolific nurseries of them on the Jersey shores, than to any local cause. Nevertheless, the people of Watchogue appear to be almost as indifferent to their presence as if they were abso- lutely musquito -proof. Almost every place has some draw- back, and, except this, Watchogue is rather a pleasant place for one who loves to cultivate strawberries, melons and sweet potatoes ; these articles are produced here in great perfection. A rather pedantic attempt has of late years been made to Anglicise the Indian name by calling the place "Watch- Oak," which, as it is meaningless and inapplicable, no known event in its local history warranting the innovation, the name will not adhere. Perhaps the more recent name of ' ' Bloom- field" which it has received, may be more fortunate. Watchogue, being so near ' ' the lines' ' during the war of the Revolution, and being much more sparsely populated then than at present, had, no doubt, its local histories and tradi- tions, but as the people of that period have all passed away, the histories and traditions have passed away with them. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 229 THE ROSE AND CROWN. Lossing, in Ms very valuable contribution to American his- tory, "The Field Book of the Revolution,"* says: "The main body of Howe's troops landed near the present (late) quarantine ground, and encamped upon the hills in the vicinity. The fleet had anchored off Vanderventer' s (Van- deventer's) point, (the telegraph station at the Narrows), and three ships-of-war and some transports brought the English troops within the Narrows to the landing-place. Howe made his headquarters at the Rose and Crown Tavern, upon the road leading from Stapleton to Richmond, near New Dorp. The house is near the forks of the Richmond and Amboy roads, and overlooks the beautiful level country between it and the sea, two miles distant. It is now (1852) the property of Mr. Leonard Parkinson, of Old Town, Staten Island. The house was built by a Huguenot, one of the first settlers upon that part of the Island." We regret to add that since the above was written, the house has been demolished. It stood on the westerly side of the road, almost directly opposite the entrance to New Dorp lane. It was buUt of stone, and was but one story in height, having several dormer windows in the roof. It had a hall through the middle, with rooms on either side of it ; a low stone kitchen was attached to its southerly end, and the whole shaded by an immense tree in front. Howe himself, and a part of his staff, were quartered in this house, the re- mainder taking up their residence in the house, still standing, and known then, as now, as the "Black Horse" Tavern. After the battle of Long Island, and the capture of New York, Howe removed his headquarters to that city, and Dalrymple, who was left temporarily in charge of the Island, occupied the apartments vacated by his commauder-in- chief. The venerable Mr. Isaac Housman, who for many years owned and occupied the Black Horse property, and where he * Vol II, p. 800, note. 230 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. died, informed the writer, that on several occasions, aged British officers from Canada, who had served on the Island during the Revolution, accompanied by their sons, or some other young companions, revisited these scenes of their early life, and so little change had taken place in the vicinity of these two taverns, that they readily recognized the particular localities where the events which were still fresh in their memories, had taken place. On one of these occasions, an aged soldier, pointing to a rock by the side of the road, said to his companion, ' ' This is the identical rock upon which Cap- tain was seated by his seconds, after his duel with Captain , in which he was mortally wounded, and upon which he expired while they were waiting for the con- veyance which had been sent for." "Here Col. , while riding rapidly, was thrown violently to the ground by his horse stumbling, and broke his neck. They were, he said, both buried in a little cemetery in Richmond, and he thought he could place his feet upon their graves, for they were buried by tjie side of each other. He even pointed to a window in a neighboring house, which lighted the room he had occupied for a period of several months. If the history of these two houses could be written, it would abound with narratives of intense interest. They received their names from the emblems, or picture upon their respective signs ; that of the Black Horse was still swinging thirty years ago, but the horse had ceased to be black ; it much more resembled the ghost of an old gray nag, aflaicted with the rheumatism. THE BULL'S HEAD. This is at the intersection. of the Richmond Turnpike and the road leading from Port Richmond to New Springville. The sign which swung between two high posts in front of the small low tavern which stood on the northeast corner, gave ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 231 name to the locality. Some rustic artist had evidently ex- hausted all his talents and resources in transmitting to pos- terity the picture of a very fierce looking bull' s head, vs^ith very short horns and very round eyes, which looked very much like a pair of spectacles. Long before,- and during the Revolution, the locality was known by the name of " London Bridge," but why, is not so clear, unless the bridge over the little stream in the vicinity had some connection with it. After the war, and the erection of the new sign, the tavern became somewhat noted as a place of rendezvous for such young men, and probably old ones, too, as had a propensity for gambling. Some fearful stories were sometimes told of the place and its frequenters ; especially of one of them, who was a mysterious character, whom everybody desired to avoid, but who would not be avoided. Sometimes he ap- peared as a man of exceedingly dark complexion, but with fiery eyes ; that he had a hoof and a tail, nobody doubted, though nobody had actually seen them. Sometimes he would present himself in the shape of a huge black dog, or other forms as his fancy dictated, but he always remained until the party broke up, and then accompanied some one of them on the way home, never speaking by the way, because no one dared to address him, and all attempts to escape from him by speed proved utterly ineffectual. At length, so great be- came the terror which his frequent visits inspired, that the house was entirely forsaken by those who had patronized it, and then the mysterious visitor forsook it, too. We allude to these stories because they were once inseparably connected with the place, and half a century ago implicitly credited by people generally. Within a few years the locality has been visited by conflagrations, which consumed the houses on three of the corners, the fourth corner beijig vacant, and now the people who reside there, or some of them, endeavor to call it Phcenixville, because these houses, perhaps, will some day arise from their ashes. 232 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. THE CLOVE. The name of this locality is of Dutch origin ; "het kloven," — the cleft ; — the hill being here cleft through. As the early settlements on the north and south sides of the Island in- creased, intercourse between them gradually became a neces- sity, especially as many on the south side worshipped in the Dutch church at Port Richmond, and there was no available place, but this, where a road could be laid. Long before the Clove road was surveyed and recorded, it was used as a pubhc highway, and is one of the earliest roads in the county ; nature appears to have made it for the purpose. The follow- ing accident occurred here in the latter part of the last cen- tury. A fool-hardy young man undertook, on a wager, to ride down the high, bald hill on the southerly side of the Clove, on a sled, the surface of the snow which covered the ground being a thick hard crust of ice. He descended the hill like lightning, but losing control of his vehicle, he was dashed against a tree near the base of the hill and instantly killed. During the war of the Revolution, it is said, the British kept guards constantly traversing this valley, by day and by night, and none were permitted to pass through with- out the countersign. THE FINGER-BOARD ROAD. The road which connects with the Richmond road next south of the Clove road, is known to this day by the above name, which it received from a guide-board and post, stand- ing at its entrance, directing the stranger which road to take to Richmond. A robbery and murder was once committed on a small elevation over which^ the road passes, and which from that circumstance received the name of "Roguery Hill," and the road became known as the "Roguery HUl Road," until the guide-post, above mentioned, gave it the name it still bears. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 233 HOLLAND'S HOOK. This locality occupies the extreme northwest point of Staten Island. Its name is derived from the fact that the place was first settled by several families from Holland, and was, in consequence, originally called "Holland's Hook," the word Hook, or Hock, signifying a point or corner. The descendants of many of these families still reside there. It has been said that the place was named from Hon. Henry Holland, for several years a member of the Colonial Legisla- ture from this county, and an ardent friend of St. Andrew' s Church ; but Henry Holland never resided there, nor ever owned any real estate there, his property being entirely on the south side of the Island, in the vicinity of the Black Horse ; in fact, as may be seen by some old conveyances, the place was so called long before Holland's name was in any way connected with the Island, and probably before he was born ; on some of the recent maps of the county, this locality is known as "Howland's Hook," which is a corruption of the original name, and the result of ignorance of its origin. It is said that the use of the Dutch language continued here long after it had ceased to be used in other parts of the county. THE MORNING STAR— THE BLAZING . STARS. These were taverns, from which ferries were run across to New Jersey. They were so called from the emblems or figures on their signs. The former had a star, but how it was represented to enable it to be distinguished from the evening star, we are unable to say ; the road which led to it is still familiarly known by that name. Of the latter, there were two, the Old Blazing Star, and the New Blazing Star. These stars were comets. The Old Blazing Star ferry ran across the Sound near Rossville, ""'' "'as a very important locality dur- 234 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ing the Revolution. After Grovernor Tompkins had laid out and opened the Richmond Turnpike, stages ran regularly- over the vphole length of the new road, in connection with steamboats from New York, and constituted part of the route of travel between New York and Philadelphia. At the western terminus of the Turnpike, stages were carried over the Sound by means of large scows, and this ferry re- ceived the name of "The New Blazing Star." But these stars have all set, probably never to rise again. KILL VAN KULL— ARTHUR KULL. The precise meaning of the Dutch word "Cull," we are unable to give, though it probably had some reference to the water, as Newark Bay was emphatically called "the Cull," and was universally known by that name. The Dutch word "Kill" meant a small stream or passage of water ; therefore, the name Kill Van Kull means the stream or passage from the Cull, or Kull, as it is now spelled. Arthur Kull, or Kill, as it is now sometimes written, is a corruption of the Dutch word "achter," after, or behind; therefore, Achter Kull meant behind or beyond the Cull. An attempt has recently been made to change the orthography of the word Van, by substituting the letter o for A, thus, Von, which is neither Dutch nor English, and arises from ignorance of the fact that the Dutch a in this connection has the sound of the English in the same connection ; therefore, to spell the word correct- ly, it should be written Van, and pronounced Von. We give the above as the explanation of the origin of the Dutch names of these waters. THE OLD PLACE. In the first, and for many years, the only house built on the road known by this name, religious evening services were ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 235 held for a long time, its situation being central for a widely scattered population. After a while, the house became so dilapidated as to be uncomfortable, and the place of holding these meetings was changed. This proved to be so inconven- ient for many, that an apartment in the old house was repaired, and notice was given that the meetings would be resumed in the " Old Place," and thus the vicinity became known by that name. We do not know how reliable the above account of the origi" ~* the name may be ; it has, at least, the merit of being natui.*^ and probable. The people of the vicinity have of late caught the mania for changing old names for new ones, and have called the place " Summerville," a name appropri- ate enough during a part of the year at least ; and the ' ' Old Place Eoad" is now "Washington Avenue," which is not at all complimentary to the illustrious character whose name has been thus appropriated. Hospitals, Beneficent Institutions, &c. 238 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. '• Si monumentum requiris, circumspice." THE SAILOR'S SNUG HARBOR. In the summer of 1776, Captain John Lee, of Marblehead, in Massachusetts, under a commission of Congress, was cruising upon the high seas for British prizes. Finding himself short of supplies and munitions, he entered the port of Bilboa, in Spain, where, upon complaint of some English officers whom he had captured, he was arrested for piracy. The British minister in Spain used all his influence against him, but while the case was pending, the news of the Declar- ation of Independence reached Madrid ; the complaint against Captain Lee was dismissed, supplies and aid in refitting his ship were furnished, and Spain declared that the new flag of the United States should henceforth be as welcome in her ports as the old flag of Great Britain. She further sent a million of francs to her ambassador at Paris as a free gift for the young nation, and hinted that three thousand barrels of powder in New Orleans were entirely at its service. This timely friendship, like that of France, and, we must reluctantly confess, like all international friendships, was not wholly disinterested ; neither Spain nor France were in love with democracy or revolution, but they were heartily hostile to Great Britain, and were ready to strike the "ruler of the waves " whenever a blow would tell. Spain wished to solace her wounded honor by recovering Gibraltar, and she was greedy of territory beyond the Mississippi. Don Bernardo de Galvez, the brilliant young Governor of New Orleans, which was then a little city of scarcely four thousand inhabitants, and was described by the glowing French tourists as the most enchanting of cities, obeyed with ardor the direction of the home government. He retaliated the seizure of an American schooner upon the lakes, by the ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 239 seizure and confiscation of all British vessels within his reach, and early announced that the port of New Orleans should be wide open for the sale of the prizes of Yankee privateers. This was good news to a thrifty Scotch trader in that city named Randall, who had crossed the sea to make his fort ane, anf ho now quietly fitted out vessels which took the sea as privaieers, and brought him rich returns. There is no tradi- tion of peculiar harshness in his captures, which could cause a curse to cling to his gold, which rapidly increased, and was invested in plantations in Louisiana. When he died, his only son inherited his estates. This son, Robert Richard Randall, died three-fourths of a century ago ; there is no record of his life, and there are none living probably who knew him. It was his custom to leave his Louisiana plantation every summer, and come to breathe the cooler airs of the northern coast, much as his successors in that region iTsed to be seen at Newport and Saratoga before the war. Probably he was the counterpart of many a bachelor who may haply sit upon a pleasant piazza some sunny morning, snuffing the sea air, or the wind from the mountains ; if any such there be, let him be the counterpart of Randall, and so provide that his may become a name of interest to the unborn bachelor of another generation, if not of gratitude to hundreds and hundreds of "aged, decrepid and worn-out" fellow voyagers of life. Among the associates of Randall's summer sojourn by the sea, was a certain Mr. Farquhar, a family name which was familiar to New Yorkers in the beginning of the century, James Farquhar being the President of the Marine Society at the time of Mr. Randall' s death. Farquhar was an invalid, and was compelled every year to go to a southern and softer climate, and it naturally occurred to the friends that it would be convenient if their estates lay in the air that was most agreeable to their health ; they discussed the subject, and growing interested, compared their fortunes, which proved to be nearly equal, and after due consideration and debate, they agreed to exchange estate upon condition that Mr. Randall 240 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. should pay five hundred, guineas to boot, which he did, and the properties were transferred at the close of the last cen- tury. Mr. Kandall was now a New Yorker — a plain, quiet citizen, of whom there are no traditions. Neither Dr. Francis nor President King, in their genial gossip of the city at the open- ing of the century, nor Mr. Valentine nor Miss Booth, in their pleasant histories, have preserved any anecdote which show that he was at all conspicuous among the solid gentry of the time, nor is there any portrait of him known ; no doubt he wore his hair powdered and in a queue, and dressed in silk hose and breeches, with silver shoe and knee buckles, and broad -fiapped coat and vest, like other gentlemen of that day. Mr. Randall was a suburban citizen of what was then the little city of New York. It was bounded on Broadway by Anthony Street, on the North River by Harrison Street, and on the East River by Rutgers Street ; within these narrow limits was the city solid, but even the houses partook of the manners of the time, and stood apart in easy dignity, or were seated in green gardens and under pleasant trees. On Bow- ery Lane, stretching out of town through waving fields and cheerful orchards, farm-houses were to be seen even as far as Broome Street. The line of Broadway was the highland of the Island, and the hilly country about the the site of the St. Nicholas hotel sloped gently westward, enlivened by the country seats of rich men. If, following that line, the trav- eler advanced, upon his way to Albany, as far as the present Astor Place, he encountered a paling which ended the road at that point, and to his inquiry received the answer that it was the line of the farm of a Mr. Randall, who had ex- changed a Louisiana plantation for this estate of Mr. Par- quhar, at Sandy Hill. The mansion house, was a large yel- low building, upon the spot where the Presbyterian church in Mercer Street stood. The rural character of the neighbor- hood long survived in the farm, which, within the memory of men, occupied the site of the New York Hotel. In the large yellow house, on the first day of June, 1801, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 241 Robert Richard Randall, " being weak in body, but of sonnd and disposing mind and memory," made his will. He had summoned General Hamilton and Daniel D. Tompkins as the lawyers to draw the paper. He directed that his just debts should be paid. He gave to the legitimate children of his brother Paul an annuity of forty pounds each until they were fifteen years old, and a sum of a thousand pounds to each son as he became twenty-one, and the same to each daughter upon her marriage. He bequeathed to his worthy housekeeper his gold sleeve-buttons and a life annuity of forty pounds. To his faithful overseer he left his gold watch and forty pounds down. Finally, he bequeathed to his ser- vant his knee and shoe buckles, and twenty pounds down, — there he stopped. He had said nothing of the bulk of his property, and Hamilton and Tompkins waited his further directions. But Mr. Randall said simply that he had no other relatives, and did not know how to dispose of his property most wisely. He asked the advice of the lawyers, and Hamilton inquired how his fortune had been made ? Randall answered that it had been made for him ; he had in- herited it from his father. Hamilton inquired how his father had acquired it ? "By honest privateering," was Randall's reply. Hamilton then suggested that if no better disposition occurred to him, it would be proper to leave a fortune made upon sea, for the benefit of disabled seamen. Randall im- mediately felt the wisdom of the proposition, and assented, and it is to the benevolent sagacity of Alexander Hamilton that the establishment of the Sailor' s Snug Harbor is due. This account was derived from the late Isaac Bell, who was foreman of the jury upon the trial of the suit to break the will, and effectually disposes of the romantic tradition, which is of a kind always popular, that a certain grim and gloomy Captain Randall, another Kidd and ravager of the seas, after a dark career of prosperous piracy, during which by count- less murders and unimaginable atrocities, he amassed incred- ible wealth, became remorseful in his declining years, and in the vain hope of propitiating divine favor by good works. 242 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. left Ms ill-gotten booty to found a hospital for decrepid sailors. Contestants to the will immediately arose when it was offered for probate, and among them was the bishop of Nova Scotia. For nearly thirty years the legal warfare between the heirs and the executors was continued, until the Supreme Court of the United States in March, 1830, sustained the will, and turned over the estate to the Trustees. During all this time the property belonging to the estate had largely increased in value, and with a part of the accu- mulations thereof, the Trustees, on the 16th day of June, 1831, purchased from Isaac R. Housman, Esq., the splendid prop- erty now occupied by the Institution, on the North Shore of Staten Island, " containing one hundred and forty acres of land, salt meadow and marsh, be the same more or less," for the sum of ten thousand dollars, and immediately com- menced the erection of suitable buildings thereon, and in August, 1833, the first inmates were received. On the first day of May, 1835, the trustees purchased from Isaac, Joseph and Abraham Soria, twenty acres of land "by estimation," lying west of and contiguous to the first pur- chase for the sum of six thousand dollars, beside a small parcel or two, making a total of 164 acres, for the sum of $16,000. The principal structure is a massive cut-stone edifice, with a large wing on each side connected with it by corridors ; there are numerous other buildings, all constructed in the best manner, for the accommodation of the inmates, beside a church, a hospital, and elegant residences for the officers. In front of the main edifice is a large monument erected to the memory of the founder, whose remains rest beneath it. The inscriptions on this monument are as follows : North Side. The Trustees of the Sailors' Snug Haxbor erected this monument to the memory^ of Robert Richard Randall, by whose munificence this Institution Tvasjfounded on the 21st of August, 1834. ANNALS 01' STATEN ISLAND. 243 EaM Side. The humane institution of the Sailor's Snug Harbor, conceived in a spirit of enlarged benevolence, with an endowment which time has proved fuUy adequate to the objects of the donor, and organized in a manner which shows wisdom and foresight. The founder of this noble charity will ever be held in grateful remembrance by the par- taJjers of his bounty. South Side. Charity never faileth. Its memorial is immortal. West Side. The Trustees of the Sailor's Snug Harbor have caused the remains of Robert Eichard Randall to be removed from the original place of interment, and deposited beneath this monument on the 21st of Au- gust, 1834. The following Annual Report of the Trustees of the Sailor' s Snug Harbor, presented to the Senate March 1, 1876, will give an idea of the resources of the institution : EECEIPTS. Balance of cash on hand 31st Dec, 1874 $16,977 38 Cash received from Wm. T. Garner, for one year's rent of 35 acres of land on Staten Island, leased to him 200 00 Cash, 'changes made in the pay-rolls of the employes at the institution in 1875 37 52 Cash, for grease sold from the institution 245 23 Cash, for cabbages sold from the institution 19 00 Cash, for an empty oil barrel 1 00 Cash, E. C. Badeau, for extra tax on bill of prunes 132 Cash, Thomas Melville, governor, for money, etc., found among the effects of deceased inmates in 1875 81 58 Cash, from same, for sundries sold by him for account of the trustees in 1875 614 10 Cash, from officers and employes of the institution, for sun- dries sold them by the governor for account of the trus- tees in 1875 728 20 Cash, Joseph P. "Waller, for one year's rent of the " old frame parsonage" to 1st November, 1875 800 00 Cash, Society for the Rehef of Destitute Children of Sea- men, for one year's rent of the " Childrens' Home," to 1st November, 1875 500 00 244 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Cash, Kobert B. Minturn, for one year's rent of the boat- house lot tO' 1st November, 1875 50 00 Cash, estate of Margaret Morris, for one year's rent of houses and lots Nos. 8 and 10 Clinton place, to 1st November, 1875 1,800 00 Cash, Marine Bank, on the joint notes of the president and controller, viz.; 8th February, payable 3d May, 6 per cent $5,000 00 3d March, payable 1st May, 6 per cent 5,000 00 7th April, payable 7th May, 6 per cent 5,000 00 2d September, payable 2d November, 6 per cent 15,000 00 2d October, payable 6th November, 6 per cent. . 20,000 00 $50,000 00 Cash, interest on bonds and mortgages in 1875 7,443 83 Cash, interest on New York city bonds in 1875 4,200 00 Cash, interest on Brooklyn city bonds in 1875 1,750 00 Cash, iaterest on balances in Marine Bank in 1875 384 11 Cash, for interest on over-due ground rents in 1875 418 37 Cash, for ground rent on lots in Fifteenth ward on account, and in full to 1st November, 1874 $13,230 00 And on account of one year from 1st November, 1874, to 1st November, 1875 233,582 50—246,812 50 DISBUESEMENTS. $336,108 64 Cash loaned on bond and mortgage $44,000 00 Cash paid Marine Bank for loans made in 1875, and inter- est on same 50,410 84 Cash paid for suppHes 48,175 76 Cash paid for repairs and improvements 98,933 64 Cash paid for taxes $9,450 70 " " " insurance 1,734 63—11,185 35 Cash paid for house wages 10,925 76 Cash paid for estates of deceased inmates 59 30 Cash paid for furniture 3,243 02 Cash paid for salaries 16,166 64 Cash paid for contingencies 3 873 81 Cash paid for farm 4 456 71 Balance of petty cash account 48 67 Balance of cash on deposit on 31st December, 1875, to the credit of the trustees in the Marine Bank $41,914 01 In the Manhattan Company 2,713 13 44 627 14 $336,108 64 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 245 FUNDS. Dwelling-houses, Nos. 8 and 10 Clinton Place, in this city, at their cost ' $17,77412 Loans on bond and mortgage 132,000 00 N. York city, seven per cent, registered bonds 60,000 00 Brooklyn city seven per cent, coupon bonds 25,000 00 Balance of petty cash account 48-67 Cash on deposit to credit of the trustees in the Marine Bank 41,914 01 In the Manhattan Company 2,713 13 $279,449 93 ESTIMATED INCOME FOE THE YEAE 1876. Rents of houses and lots, Nos. 8 and 10 Clinton Place, for one year. $1,800 00 Eents of old " frame parsonage" on Staten Island, for one year 600 00 Rents of " Children's Home " on Staten Island, for one year 500 00 Eents of 35 acres of land on Staten Island, for one year. . . Eents of boat-house lot on Staten Island, for one year 50 00 Interest on bonds and mortgages, for one year 9,240 00 Interest on city bonds, for one year 5,950 00 Outstanding ground rents 9,750 00 Ground rents on lots in 1st Ward, of this city, for one year, from 1st Nov., 1875, to 1st Nov., 1876 3,050 00 Ground rents of lots in 15th Ward, for the year 1875, was $243,832 50 To this must be added the remaining half of the increased annual rent of $4,360, viz : from the 1st Nov., 1875, to 1st May, 1876, of the fourteen lots whose leases expired May 1st, 1875 ^,180 00 And one-half of the estimated increased an- nual rent of $20,090, viz : from 1st May to 1st November, 1876, of the 52 lots, the leases of which expire on the 1st May, 1876 10,045 00 255,557 50 Total estimated income for the year 1876 $286,697 50 Thomas Geebnleat, Controller. 246 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The number of the inmates, on the 24th of March, 1876, was 493. At the same time the resident oflBcers were : Thomas Melville, Governor. Kev. Charles J. Jones, Chaplain. S. V. E. Bogert, M.D., Physician. Joseph K. Clark, Steward. The qualification for admission to the benefits of the Insti- tution, is a sea service of five years under the flag of the United States ; in addition to this, the applicant must be su- perannuated, decrepid, or otherwise incapable of self-subsist- ence. Regular religious services are held in the Presbyterian form of worship ; Roman Catholics are permitted to attend the services of churches of their own faith in the neighboring village. There is a respectable library connected with, and belong- ing to the Institution, which is generally well patronized. Food, clothing, tobacco, medicine, and every other article which is usually considered a necessity to a sailor, is fur- nished — except liquors — and even many luxuries. Bakers, tailors, laundresses, and farmers, are all employed in and about the Institution, to contribute to the necessities not only, but the comfort and enjoyment of the inmates. The Governors of the Institution from its commencement, have been as follows : Capt. James Farquhar directed its affairs before it was re- moved to Staten Island. Capt. John AVhetten, from Aug., 1833, to Sept., 1844. Dr. S. y. R. Bogert, (acting), from Sept., 1844, to Sept., 1845. Capt. A. F. Depeyster, from Sept., 1845, to Nov., 1867. Capt. Thomas Melville, from Nov., ]867, present incum- bent. PHYSICIANS. Dr. S. R. Smith, (visiting). Dr. S. V. R. Bogert (resident), from July, 1844, still in oflfice. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 247 RESIDENT CHAPLAINS. Kev. John Grigg, Episcopalian. Rev. Robert Quinn, Dutch Reformed. Rev. Jackson, Presbyterian. Rev. Charles J. Jones, do. from May, 1863. THE RETREAT. On the 22d of April, 1831, the Legislature of the State of Nevsr York enacted a law which directs that the moneys levied and collected by law upon masters, mates, mariners and seamen arriving at the port of New York, be paid to the Trustees of the Seamen's Fund and Retreat, in the city of New York. These Trustees were to consist of the Mayor, Collector of Customs, President of the Seamen's Savings Bank, President of the Marine Society, the Health Officer of the city of New York, together with five shipmasters of the city of New York, to be chosen annually. The second section of the act directs that convenient and suitable build- ings be erected- in either New York, Kings or Richmond counties. This act received various modifications subse- quently, and was the authority for establishing the present " Seamen's Fund and Retreat." The first Board of Trustees were : Hon. Walter Bowne, Mayor. Capt. John Whelton, Prest. of the Marine Society. " Alex. Thompson, Prest. of the Nautical Society. Najah Taylor, Esq., Pres. of the Seamen' s Savings Bank. Dr. John S. Westervelt, Health Officer. Capt. James Morgan. " James Webb. " J. R. Skiddy. " Henry Russell. " Reuben Brum ley. Samuel Swartwout, Esq., Collector. 248 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The Committee of the Board appointed to select a location, on the 15th of June, of that year, reported that they had purchased forty acres of land of Cornelius Corsen, on Staten Island, fronting on the bay of New York, for the sum of $10,000. In addition to the buildings upon the land when it was purchased, others were immediately erected, and the Insti- tution was opened on the first day of October, 1831, when thirty-four patients were received from the Marine Hospital at the Quarantine. The report for that month states that seventy-three patients had been received, and thirty-two dis- charged. Dr. Peter S. Townsend was the first Resident Physician. Rev. John E. Miller, of the Ref. Dutch Church at Tomp- kinsville, was the first chaplain, which office he retained until his death in 1847. Capt. James Morgan was appointed Superintendent in July, 1832, but in October following Capt. Henry Russell was appointed, at a salary of $1000, with house and subsistence. The present officers of the Institution, May, 1876, are — TEUSTEES. Capt. W. C. Thompson, President. Hon. W. H. Wickham, Mayor of New York City. Dr. S. Oakley Vanderppol, Health Officer. Wm. H. Macy, Prest. of the Seamen's Savings Bank. Edward G. Tinker, 1 Wm. H. Allen, John Johnston, [-Shipmasters. Duncan R. Norvell, Clarkson Crolius. James R. Robinson. Willet JSr. Hawkins. OEFICEES OF THE INSTITUTION. C. Henry King, M.D., Physician-in-Chief. Geo. W. Stoner, M.D., House Physician. ANNALS OF 8TATEN ISLAND. 249 Francis M. Kip, D.D., Chaplain. Joseph Perkins, Secretary. John R. Lloyd, Office Clerk. We cannot conclude our brief description of this noble Institution in better terms than by quoting from a "Histo- rical Sketch" from the pen of an eminent physician : "It has been often justly observed that the Retreat is, in many respects, unlike any other Hospital perhaps in the world. As its name imports, it is in truth a Retreat. The sailor who has been from one United States Hospital to another, and spent in each the allotted period of four months, at the end of which he must seek for quarters elsewhere, finds a home here where, if diseased beyond the reach of medical or surgical art to restore him, he is pro- vided for, for the remainder of his days. If worn out in the hard service of the sea, hopelessly crippled or superannuated, he is transferred, if entitled, and he desires it, to the Sailor' s Snug Harbor, or sent, at the expense of the Board of Trus- tees, to his home and friends, however distant. The cemetery of the Retreat is located upon a knoll at the western end of the grounds, overlooking the Bay and City of New York. Here poor Jack finds a quiet resting place by the side of his comrades when his life of hardship, priva- tions and peril is ended. HOME FOR THE DESTITUTE CHILDREN OF SEAMEN. This Institution, intended solely for the class of persons indicated by its name, was founded in 1846. It was origin- ally located at Stapleton, but wlien the large and commodious edifice, now occupied by the charity, on the lands of the Sailor's Snug Harbor, was completed in 1852, it was removed to that place. The Institution has a small fund of its own, but totally inadequate to its support — consequently its chief reliance is upon contributions and donations. 250 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The parents or guardians of the children received here are expected to pay fifty cents per week for each child, for which food, clothing, education, and in case of sickness, medical care, are furnished. Children placed here are surrendered to the managers at least for one year ; none are received under two, nor over ten years of age, and if they remain here until they have attained a proper age, they are either returned to their parents, or provided with respectable places. The number of inmates in September, 1876, was 106. THE S. E. SMITH INFIRMARY. On the 18th of April, 1861, the Medical Society of Rich- mond County convened for the purpose of adopting measures to establish an Infirmary for the care of the sick poor, and for the reception of casualties. Doctors Anderson, Moftat, Lea and Cavelti were appointed a committee to report a plan for its organization, and the plan proposed by them was adopted by the society. It was named "The Samuel R. Smith Infirmary," as a tribute to the memory of a distinguished physician and respected citizen of the county. This charity, which has ever since been in active and successful operation, has been the means of incalculable benefit to hundreds of sufferers. It is almost entirely supported by voluntary con- tributions and occasional bequests. The medical gentlemen of the' county bestow their services to the patients of the institution gratuitously. THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH SHORE, S. I. The Association was organized at a meeting held in Trinity M. E. Church, on the evening of July 15th, 1867. On the 3d September following, it was incorporated. The following are ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 251 the names of the incorporators : Mathew S. Taylor, George A. Middlebrook, Mulford D. Simonson, John D. Vermeule, and Eugene DuBois. The corner-stone of their beautiful edifice was laid Tuesday, August 15th, 1871, with appropriate ceremonies, and was dedictated November 22d, 1872. The building contains a Reading Room, Sitting Room, As- sociation Meeting Room, and an Auditorium capable of seat- ing four hundred and eighty persons. The total cost of the building was $19,755.32. The following gentlemen have been Presidents, viz. : 1. John M. Hawkins, 1867 and 1868. 2. Charles F. Cox, 1868 and 1869. 3. M. Floy Reading, 1869 and 1870. 4. Frank N. Barrett, 1870 and 1871. 5. James B. Eadie, 1871 and 1872. 6. Wm. Harman Brown, 1872, 1873. 1874, 1875. 7. Cornelius DuBois, Jun., 1875 and 1876. 8. Wm. R. Eadie, 1876 and 1877. "I. ?? CHURCHES. 254 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. THE REFORMED CHURCH, PORT RICHMOND. " During the Dutch Colonial Grovernment there was a settle- ment of the persecuted French Vaudois, or Waldenses, on Staten Island ; as early as 1660, the Rev. Samuel Drisius (of the Dutch Church in New Amsterdam) crossed the bay once a month to preach to them. There was a Huguenot settlement on the Island a short time afterwai-d, parties of these having fled to Holland to escape from persecution, and having come over to New Netherlands in company with their new friends. After a season, the French church and organization passed away, and the great body of its members blended with the Dutch inhabitants, in the Reformed Dutch Church. The fact of the settlement of a considerable number of the persecuted Waldenses on Staten Island, is very interesting. They had fled from the dreadful persecutions in the valleys of Pied- mont, to Holland, and were sent, at the expense of the city of Amsterdam, amply provided for, to New Netherlands in America."* Dominie Drisius was one of the pastors of the Dutch Church in New York, then New Amsterdam, from 1652 to 1682, and preached regularly once a month to the Waldenses on Staten Island, from about 1660 onward. It may be in- ferred from that fact, that there was a little church of that noble and devoted people established here ; not a church building perhaps, till later, but a little band of Christ' s peo- ple, which is the true meaning of a church, worshipping in some spot where they found it most convenient ; it might be in some building, or under some spreading oak of the forest at Oude Dorp, where their first settlement was made. In 1661 grants of land on this Island were made to several persons, among whom were some Waldenses, and also many * Vide App. N. (47.) ANNALS OP 8TATEN ISLAND. 355 other fugitives, who had fled hither from La Rochelle. They commenced a new settlement a few miles south of the Nar- rows, and built a little village of twelve or fourteen houses, and a block-house with two small guns, and a garrison of ten soldiers, for protection against the Indians. It was to this little colony that Dominie Drisius, who could preach • in French, as well as Dutch, ministered once a month, while the colony was too feeble to support a minister of its own. The descendants of these Waldenses and Huguenots are stiU numerous on our Island, and bear some of the oldest and most honored names among us. Many of them have become connected with other denominations, partly from convenience of residence, but many more on account of the persistence of the Dutch Church in the use of the language of the Father- land, long after English had become the prevailing tongue. About the year 1665, the first church edifice built on the Island was the French or Waldensian Church at Stony Brook, on the Amboy road, a little south of the Black Horse corner. Of this church there are no remains, except a few foundation stones. About the same year, 1665, there was another church built on the Island. This was a Huguenot church, and stood near the Fresh Kills, or what is now known as the Seaman farm. The services in this church were conducted in French for many years after the date mentioned above. There are no vestiges of this church building to be found at this day, but the little grave-yard marks the spot where it stood. There are traces of a church on the North side, about 1680, in which the services were in the Dutch language, the Hollanders having settled in considerable numbers along the KiUs. There is no evidence that either of these churches had a pastor of its own ; beside Dominie Drisius, Dominie Selyns, who was pastor of the churches of Brooklyn, Bushwick and G-ravesend, preached to the churches here at stated times. In 1682 and 1683, Dominie Taschemaker, from the Univer- sity of Utrecht, supplied the churches on the Island. He 256 ANWALS OF STATElSr ISLAND. afterwards removed to Schenectady, and perished there in a massacre by the French and Indians, in February, 1690. The Rev. Pierre Daille, who had been professor in the Col- lege of Saumur, and who came to America in 1683, and was colleague to Dominie Selyns, preached frequently to the Huguenots on Staten Island and other places ; he was a learned and pious man. From 1687 to 1689, the church at Stony Brook was sup- plied by Laurentius Van Den Bosch, or Yan Bosen, as it was sometimes written. He was suspended from the ministry by Dominie Selyns and others, who could not wait for the slow process of sending their proceedings to be reviewed by the authorities in Holland. From this fact, the inference is warranted that this church, though composed of Frenchmen, was under the jurisdiction of the church in Holland, and was therefore, ipso facto, a Reformed Dutch Church. For three years from 1694, there appears to have been no pastors on the Island, but the churches were supplied from New York, Long Island and New Jersey. In 1697, the French Huguenot Church at Fresh Kill secured the services of a pastor in the person of the Rev. Dr. David Bonrepos, who had been settled at New Rochelle. He re- mained until 1717, supplying the church at Stony Brook also, when the infirmities of age compelled him to relinquish his charge. We find the name of this minister frequently in the county records of conveyances, in the purchasing and selling of real estate. In 1714, Grovernor Hunter executed a grant to the Re- formed Protestant Dutch Church, to build a new church on the North Shore, probably on the site of the one which, as was said above, existed thirty-four years before. We have preserved, as a curiosity, a diagram of the ground plan of this church, which will be found at the close of this Ap- pendix. There was a church at Richmond prior to 1717,* built *Vide App. N (48.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 257 )robably in 1662 for in that year, 1717, Dr. Bonrepos, having surrendered his charge, the churches at Fresh Kill and Stony Brook united with the Dutch at Richmond, and a new church edifice was erected — ^not where the present Reformed church stands, as is generally supposed, but opposite the present 30urt house — and the three churches became one. This church tl I united with the church on the North Side in extending a call to the Rev. Cornelius Van Santvoord, of Leyden, who accepted the invitation and came to this country about 1718 : there is, however, no positive record of the date of his arrival, except one in the book of baptisms, which gives the date of his first performance of that ordinance in April of that year. Dominie Van Santvoord continued here until 1740, when he accepted a call from the Reformed Dutch Church at Schenec- tady, and removed to that place.* As has been said before, the date of the organization of a church on the North Side is not positively known, but that it was at a very early date, is evident from the title page of the old baptismal record alluded to above ; it is as follows : " Register Boek Van De nam en Der Kinderen Dewelck Gredoopt Benuen Op Staten Eylandt Beginne Van Het Jaer Anno 1696." In English "Register book of the names of children which have been baptized on Staten Island, beginning from the year 1696." During the succeeding ten years, so far as can now be as- certained, the church on the North Side had no pastor, but the pulpit was supplied, as at other times of vacancy, by ministers from the city and elsewhere. There is a ground- plan of the old church in existence, hexagonal in figure, dated in 1751, which is divided into eighty -four pews, with the names of the owners or occupants written in most of them, from which it is evident that the congregation must have been a large one for that period. In 1750 the church on the North Side united with the church at Bergen, N. J., in a call on Petrus de Wint. His creden- * Vide App. N. (49.) 258 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. tials, however, proved to liave beea forgeries, and he was dis- missed in June, 1752. One year from that time, the two churches again united in a call upon William Jackson, at that time a student under the care of the Rev. John Frelinghuysen, of Raritan, N". J. By the terms of the call, he was to proceed to Holland to complete his studies, the churches paying him an annual sum for his support. He remained there four and a half years, and was ordained there. On his return he was installed as pastor of the two churches in 1757. He had the reputation of a preacher scarcely inferior to that of Whitfield. Such crowds attended his preaching, that at times the churches could not contain the auditors, and the services were held in the open air. After a pastorate of thirty -two years, he be- came insane, and the pulpits were declared vacant. The two churches, however, united in making a comfortable provis- ion for him during the rest of his life. He was the last minister who preached in the Dutch language. After the Waldenses had united with the Dutch and French Huguenots in forming a church at Richmond, as already stated, a Presbyterian Church was organized at Stony Brook — how soon thereafter, however, we have no knowledge ; but in 1769 the Reformed Dutch Church at Richmond and the Presbyterian Church united to build a church on the identi- cal lot now occupied by the Reformed Church in that village, and this church was destroyed by the British during the war of the Revolution, because it was a rebel church. In 1790 the Rev. Peter Stryker was ordained minister of y the Reformed Dutch Church on the North Side. In 1792 the church was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York by the title of " The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church," on Staten Island. The names of the corporators were Peter Stryker, Hendrick Garretson, John Van Pelt, Welhelmus Vreeland, John Garretson, William Merrel, Peter Haughwout, Abraham Prall and Nicholas Haughwout. Mr. Stryker having received a call from a church at Second River, Belleville, N. J., left Staten Island in 1794. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 259 The old church having been destroyed during the Revolution, because it also was a rebel church, and which stood a few feet north of the present edifice, it was resolved to build a new one of brick. The materials for this church were manu- factured in a field a few rods West of the site upon which it was built. It was completed and in use in the spring of 1787. It was in this church that Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice-Presi- dent of the United States, and his family, worshipped. Three years after the departure of Kev. Mr. Stryker, Rev. Thomas Kirby became the pastor ; he remained a little over three years, and was suspended from the ministry for in- temperance. On the 16th of May, 1802, the Rev. Peter I. Van Pelt was ordained as pastor, and continued so until 1835, when the re- lation betweeii him and the church was dissolved by mutual consent. During Dr. Van Pelt's incumbency, a new church was organized at Richmond, and the present edifice built. In August, 1835, the present pastor, the Rev. James Brown- lee, D.D., was ordained and installed. The old brick church, having proved inadequate to the necessities of the congregation, the present church edifice was buUt upon the site of the former one, and dedicated in February, 1846.* THE REFORMED CHURCH AT RICHMOND. During the incumbency of Mr. Kirby in the church on the North Side, the matter of reorganizing the church at Rich- mond, and rebuilding the edifice on the site of the old church, which was burned during the war, was agitated, but no definite result was reached until 1808, when, by the per- severing efforts of Dr. Van Pelt, of the North Side church, the object was accomplished ; he supplied tlie pulpit until * Vide App. N. (50.) 260 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 1835, when Dr. Brownlee, his successor, ministered to both churches until 1853. The connection between the two churches was dissolved in 1854, when the church in Eich- mond became a distinct and separate ecclesiastical organiza- tion. Its first pastor after that event was the Rev. Thomas R. Gr. Peck, and his successors have been Rev. Erskine N. White, Rev. Jacob Fehrmann, Rev. J. H. Sinclair, and the pulpit is now supplied alternately with that of the Church of the Huguenots, by Rev. Dr. F. M. Kip. This church has a chapel at Giflford's Station S. I. R. R. THE REFORMED CHURCH ON BRIGHTON HEIGHTS. Another off-shoot of the Church on the North Side was organized as a branch thereof, at Tompkinsville, on the 23d of July, 1820. This enterprise was carried to completion through the perseverance of Dr. Van Pelt, assisted by the munificence of Yice-President Tompkins, who donated the land and contributed a large sum of money towards building the church. Dr. Van Pelt supplied the pulpit until 1823, when, as an independent church, the Rev. Johu E. Miller became its pastor. Mr. MiUer died in 1847, and the Rev. Alexander R. Thompson became the pastor. During his incumbency, some of the members withdrew their con- nection, and organized a church at Stapleton, nearer their own residences, with which Mr. Thompson > identified himself. The vacancy thus left by him was filled by the Rev. Philip M. Brett, who was installed in 1851, and died in 1860. He was succeeded by the Rev. Edward Hitchcock, and he by the Rev. William T. Enyard, the present pastor. During Mr. Brett's pastorate it became evident that the neighborhood of the church was becoming objectionable, and measures were adopted to procure another site, which were successful, and a new church edifice erected on the elevation known as Brighton Heights, a short distance North of the old church. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 261 THE CHURCH OF THE HUGUENOTS. In 1850 a number of the members of the Reformed Church in Richmond, residing at such a distance therefrom as to ren- der their attendance inconvenient, organized a new church at Bloomingview, now known as the Church of the Huguenots. A plain, but substantial church building was erected upon land donated by the Hon. Benjamin P. Prall, and the Rev. James A. M. Latourette, a descendant of a Staten Island Huguenot family, became its first pastor. Soon after, however, he re- signed his charge, having connected himself with the Protes- tant Episcopal Church. Mr. Latourette was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas B. Grregory, who also, after a brief term, resigned. The Rev. Herman B. Stryker, a native Staten Islander, and son of the Rev. Peter Stryker, formerly pastor of the church on the North Side, then supplied the pulpit for several years. After his resignation, the Rev. Dr. Francis M. Kip assumed the duties of the pastoral office, and remains there at the present time. In the early part of Dr. Van Pelt's ministry, in the church on the North Side, a building was erected on the corner north of the church for educational purposes, and as long as it stood was known as the "Academy." The effort, however, to make it useful for the purpose to which it was devoted, did not succeed. It was in this building that in 1812, or about that time, a Sunday School was begun, which, as Dr. Van Pelt informed the writer, was the first in America, as far as he knew. He also said that it was not intended to be an exclusively religious institution, nor to be devoted exclusively to the instruction of children : adults who had had no previous education were admitted, and both classes were instructed in the ordinary branches of a common English education ; religious instruction, however, was not neglected. 262 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH. After the conquest of the province by the English, the people of that nationality began to emigrate in considerable numbers. Generally they were an intelligent class, and the proximity of Staten Island to the metropolis, as well as its natural attractions, induced many to settle here. Like their predecessors, they were desirous of having a church of their own, in which the services should be conducted in their own language. It is probable that divine service, after the manner of the church of England, was occasionally held here prior to 1704, for in October of that year the Rev. William Vesey, of Trinity Church, New York, in reporting the state of religion in Richmond County to the Society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, in London, says that there was a tax of £40 per annum levied upon the people for the support of the minister, and that they desired to have a minister sent to them, as well as some further en- couragement from the society. In 1693 Gov. Fletcher succeeded in having the Episcopal Church established by law throughout the colony, to be supported by general taxation. This law remained in force until the Revolution, so that all non-Episcopalians, besides supporting their own churches, were obliged to contribute toward the support of the Episcopal Church. This law, however, became in a great degree inoperative in Richmond County after the munificient bequest of Judge Duxberry became available. In 1706 the Rev. John Talbot was sent here as a missionary, but a church in New Jersey shared his ministrations. In 1710 he was succeeded by the Rev. Eneas McKenzie. The church was built in ] 713, and was a very plain stone struc- ture, standing probably upon the site of the present church. The church charter, usually known as Queen Anne' s charter, is a very voluminous and imposing document, written in ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 263 large characters upon sheets of parchment, and altogether too long to be transcribed here. It commences as follows : "Anne, by the grace of God, Queen of Great Britain, France, Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: — Whereas our loving Subjects, the Reverend Eneas Mackenzie, Minister of Staten Island, Richmond County, Ellis Duxbury, Thomas Harmer, Augustin Graham, Joseph Arrowsmith, Lambert Gerritson, Nathaniel Brittain, William Tillier, Richard Merrill, John Morgan and Alexander Stewart, all freeholders, and of the principal inhabitants of the said Island in Communion of the Church of England, as by Law established, by their petition presented unto our Trusty and Wellbeloved Robert Hunter, Esq., Captain Generall and Governour in Chief of our' province of New York, in behalf of themselves and all other the Inhabitants of the said Island in Communion of the Church of England, as by Law Established, and their Suc- cessors have sett forth that by the charitable and voluntary contributions of pious and well asserted Christians, and the blessing of Almighty God favouring their weak endeavours, there is now erected, built and finished neer the middle part of the said Island, a decent and convenient stone church for the service and worship of God, according to the Discipline of the Church of England, as by Law Established," &c., &c. And ends thus : — "And Witness our said worthy and well- beloved Robert Hunter, Esq., Captain Generall and Gov- ernour in Chief of our Said province of New York and province of New Jersey, and the Territories depending on them in America, And our Admirall of the same, pr in councill at ffort Ann in New York the Twenty ninth day of June in the Twelfth of our Reign, Anno Dm. 1713." At the same time the queen presented the church with prayer books, pulpit cover, and a silver communion service, with her name inscribed on them. In 1718, Ellis Duxbury bequeathed an extensive and valuable tract of land to the Rector of St. Andrew's Church, and in case of voidance or vacancy, to his widow, until a 264 ANWALS OF STATEN ISLAND. successor is instituted, and for no other purpose whatever.* In 1747 the Rev. Richard Charlton became rector ; his eldest daughter vras connected by marriage to the Dongan family, and another daughter was the wife of Dr. Richard Bailey, who was Health Officer of the Port of New York, and died in 1801 ; his remains are interred in the grave yard of the church. Dr. Charlton' s ministry continued thirty-two years ; he died in 1779, and was buried under the church. In 1774, Henry Holland, Esq., a merchant doing business in New York, but residing mostly on the Island, presented the church with a bell, which; for want of a belfry, was hung for several years in a tree. At the same time he also presented two silver collection plates upon which is engraved the foUowingJnscription : " The gift of Henry Holland, Esq., to St. Andrew's Church, in the County of Richmond, in testimony of his gratitude to the members of that church for their regard to him, manifested by their successful exertions in his favor on his election as a Representative for that County in the General Assembly, and for their kind approbation of his conduct during a service in that trust for 8 years. Dated New York, Nov. 1, 1774." His coat of arms, or escutcheon, is also engraved upon the plates; the motto is '■'• lAbertas et natale solum.'''' After the decease of Mr. Charlton, the pulpit was supplied for a brief term by the Rev. Mr. Barker. On the first day of May, 1780, the Rev. Mr. Fieldf became the rector ; he had been a chaplain in the British army stationed in the fortifications in the vicinity of the church. His first baptism is recorded as having been performed two weeks after that day ; the record thereof is as follows : "John Simonson, son of Isaac Simonson and Elizabeth his wife, was born on the 4th December, 1779, baptised by Mr. Field on Sunday, May 14th, 1780." Mr. Field died in 1782, and his body was borne to the * Vide App. N. (51.) f IWd. (53.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 265 grave by soldiers of the 77tli regiment, and interred under tlie church. During the whole Revolutionary vsrar, the Island being in possession of the British, divine service was generally sus- pended in all the churches except this. The same is true of all other parts of the countrj'- where the British were in pos- session. Where the whigs had power, none were closed ex- cept such Episcopal churches, the rectors of which refused to omit the prayers for the King. In 1783 the Rev. John H. Rowland became rector. He was a native of Wales, and had been previously settled in a parish in Virginia. In 1788 he removed to ]S"ova Scotia, and died in 1795. In October, 1788,* the Rev. Richard Channing Moore be- came rector. He was born in the city of New York, August 21st, 1762 ; he studied medicine and practiced physic for a few years, when he became a student of Bishop Provost. His first ministry, after receiving orders, for a very brief period was at Rye, in Westchester county, and at the date above mentioned came to Staten Island, where he remained until 1808, when he accepted a call to St. Stephen's Church, New York. In 1814 he was elected Bishop of Virginia, and rector of the Monumental Church in the city of Richmond, and was consecrated May 18, 1814. During his incumbency, in 1802, a chapel was built on the North side, and called "Trinity Chapel," which has since become the Church of the Ascension. He died November 11th, 1841. From 1793 to 1801, he officiated also at Amboy at stated times. During his residence on the Island, he united 231 couples in marriage. In May, 1808, Dr. Moore was succeeded by his eldest son, the Rev. David Moore, who continued Rector for the period of forty-eight years. Rev. David Moore, D.D., was born in the city of New York, June 3d, 1787 : he studied theology with his father, and was admitted to the diaconate in 1808, when he immedi- * Vide App. N. (53.) 266 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ately took charge of his parish. In the north-east corner of the burial ground of St. Andrew's Church, in the Village of Richmond, stands a beautiful monument, with the following inscription on one side : Rev. David Moore, D.D., Eector of St. Andrew's Church, Including Trinity Chapel, Staten Island. Born June 3d, 1787, Died Sept. 30th, 1856, Aged 69 Years. On the opposite side of the monument is the following in- scription : "This Monument, the spontaneous offering of a grateful community, was erected to the memory of Rev. David Moore, D.D., eldest son of the Rt. Rev. Richard Channing Moore, D.D., late Bishop of Virginia. In this, his first and only parish, where he was the beloved and honored Rector for forty-eight years, he had justly earned the reputation of a most devoted and laborious servant of Christ, and as he was found faithful even unto death, those who knew his value well, have laid him here to rest, weeping and "sorrowing most of all that they shall see his face no more." On a mural tablet within the church is the following : "Sacred to the memory of Rev. David Moore, D.D. ; or- dained Deacon in Trinity Church, May 8, 1808. Received priests' orders in old St. Andrew's, June, 1811. After a min- istry of 48 years in this parish, entered into rest on Tuesday evening, September 30, 1856. In his life and character he was an exemplary pattern to his flock, possessing in an emi- nent degree those qualifications which endeared him to the hearts of an attached people, and raised in their affections a monument which will endure when the church militant on earth shall receive the full fruition of the church triumphant in Heaven. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 267 "For he was a good man, full of the Holy Grhost and of faith, and much people were added unto the Lord." Acts ii, 24. Dr. Moore was succeeded by the Rev. Theodore Irving, L.L.D., Feb. 5th, 1857, who resigned in November, 1864. In June, 1865, Rev. C. W. Bolton became rector, but re- signed the following January, and was succeeded by the Rev. Kingston Goddard, D.D., of Philadelphia. Dr. Groddard died October 2'4th, 1875, and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Yocum, who was installed June 15th, 1876. As a matter of interest to many families still represented on the Island, the following list of the communicants of St. Andrew's Church, on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1769, is ap- pended : John Hillyard, Esq., & his wife. John Hillyard, Jun', & his wife. John Mecheu (Micheau) & his wife. Joseph Bedell & his wife. Isaac Couberle (Cubberly) & his wife. Henry Latourette, Esq., & his wife. David MerceroW, Esq. Luwis Dubois, Esq., & his wife. Paul Micheu, Esq., & his wife. John Merrell. Barerit Slact (Slaight.) John Mercerow & his wife. Cap" Drummin (Drummond) & his wife. Tunis Egberts. John Woats (Watts.) Cap" Gieffers (Gifford ?) & his wife. On that day were admitted Miss Cole, Miss Catey Balie, Miss Johnson, Miss Catin, Mrs. Morgain — 32 in all. On Whitsunday, May 23, 1790, there were 62 members in full communion, of who John Micheau and his wife, Paul Micheau and his wife, and the wife of John Meroereau, were the only survivors of the members of 1769. We note as a circumstance somewhat remarkable, that 268 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. though services in this church were continued throughout the war of the revolution, while other churches were either closed or burned, the baptisms did not average more than three in a year, and some of these were children whose parents be- longed to the army. CALVARY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.* The first step looking toward the establishment of the Cal- vary Presbyterian Church was taken Feb. 22d, 1870, when a meeting was held at the residence of Mr. Augustus W. Sex- ton, and the following Preamble was adopted : "We, the undersigned, interested in the cause of church extension, do hereby signify our approval of the organization of a church and society at West New Brighton, Staten Island, New York, and do hereby agree to contribute, for the erec- tion of a meeting-house for such society, the sums set op- posite our names respectively ; our several subscriptions to become binding whenever two-thirds of the whole number of those whose names are hereto subscribed, shall agree to erect a suitable church edifice in the town aforesaid, and shall appoint a treasurer to receive the amount of our several sub- scriptions, provided that such agreement shall be entered in- to, and such a Treasurer appointed, within the period of twelve months from the date hereof. Dated February 22d, 1870." Then follow the names of 34 persons, whose subscriptions aggregate the sum of $4,270.00. On the evening of Feb. 21st, 1871, a second meeting was held at the same place, and after the organization of the meeting by the election of Mr. Nathan M. Heal, as President, and Mr. Augustus W. Sexton, Jun., as Secretary, the Pre- amble adopted at the previous meeting was read, and Mr. Augustus W. Sexton was elected Treasurer until the com- plete organization of the church. The Preamble was then * Vide App. N. (54.) ANNALS Oi' STATEW ISLAND. 269 amended SO as to read, "We, the undersigned etc., etc., do hereby signify our approval of the organization of a Presby- terian Church and society at West New Brighton, etc., etc. At this meeting 12 persons were present. A third meeting was held Oct. 27th, 1871, at which two plans were submitted for a chapel building, and an executive committee were appointed to make inquiries concerning the probable cost of a suitable building ; to ascertain what ma- terial would be most desirable, and to have a general super- vision of the undertaking in its present stage, such committee to report to the meeting before taking any action. The committee reported at a meeting held Nov. 25th, 1871, and it was resolved that the building committee be given power to proceed with the building under three restrictions, viz., that they should not involve the congregation in debt ; that the number of sittings should be restricted to 300, and that the cost of the whole enterprise should not exceed $10,000.00. At this same meeting Mr. R. N. Havens, Mr. R. J. Fuller, and Mr. Augustus W. Sexton, were appointed a committee to take the necessary steps to secure a church or- ganization. At a meeting held Sept. 19, 1872, the following persons were elected trustees: Messrs. R. N. Havens, Edward Bement, Nathan M. Heal, Henry Dean, David Moore, A. W. Sexton. Sept. 26th, 1872, the society resolved to incorporate them- selves under the name and title of the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Staten Island. At a meeting held Nov. 15th, 1872, Mr. R. N. Havens and Mr. A. W. Sexton were elected elders, and Mr. R. J. Fuller and Mr. William J. Ladd deacons. Application having been made to the Presbytery of Brook- lyn for the admission of the society as an organized church into that body, a committee was appointed to receive the congregation, and on the 17th of November, 1872, at 3 o'clock P. M., the organization services were held. Thirty -five per- sons constituted the initial membership. On the evening of the same day, the Dedicatory services were held in the 270 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. chapel on the corner of Castleton and Bement Avenues. From this date until April, 1873, the pulpit of the church was supplied by the Rev. James S. Evans, D.D., who, as Synodical Superintendent of church extension, had rendered great assistance in effecting the organization. On the evening of March 11th, 1873, a call was extended to the Rev. J. Milton Grreene, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, which was accepted by him, and he was Installed pastor of the church on the evening of April 3d, 1873. Constant growth has characterized the organization, so that in September, 1874, it was found necessary to enlarge the chapel by one half its original size. The present membership, (Nov. 1875) is 105. The lot of land upon which the church edifice is built was donated by the estate of the late Mr. Edward Bement. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF EDGEWATER. This church was organized on the 14th day of May, 1856, with twenty-six members. Its first pastor was Rev. Alonzo Brown, whose pastorate extended from Oct. 1st, 1856, to Nov. 30th, 1857. Rev. Samuel W. Crittenden from April, 1858, to Nov. 29th, 1859. Rev. W. H. Taylor from Feb. 22d, 1860, to April 18th, 1864. Rev. D. R. Prazer from April 1st, 1865, to Nov. 1st, 1867. At this time the Presbyterian Church at Clifton, which had been organized by the secession of some of the members of the Reformed Dutch Church at Tompkinsville, under the pastorate of Rev. A. R. Thompson, as elsewhere observed, abandoned their distinct organization and united with the church at Edgewater, and the Rev. J. E. Rockwell, D.D., on the 29th of October, 1868, became the pastor, and still continues so. The present number of mem- bers (Sept., 1867) is 160. The sittings in this church are free. The chapel, or Sunday School rooms of this church, which formerly stood on Gore, now Broad Street, and which was AJSTNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 271 destroyed by an incendiary fire, is now being rebuilt at the corner of Brownell and McKeon Street, opposite the church. It is a spacious and elegant brick edifice, erected chiefly, if not wholly, through the munificence of a lady, who donated $8,000 for the purpose. CHUECH OF THE ASCENSION. In 1802, Trinity Chapel, in connection with St. Andrew's Church at Richmond, was built upon a lot of land on the North Shore, conveyed for the purpose by John MoVickar, Esq. Rev. Richard Channing Moore, rector of the church at Richmond, officiated in it until he left the parish. After his departure, his son. Rev. David Moore, succeeded to the rector- ship, and preached, usually 'every Sunday afternoon, until a short time before his decease, being assisted in his duties in both places by several other clergymen employed for the purpose. After his death, the services in the chapel were conducted by several clergymen temporarily engaged until May, 1869, when another parish was organized, and Trinity Chapel became the Church of the Ascension. The first rector after the organization was Rev. Theodore Irving, L.L.D., of Newburgh. The congregation increased so rapidly that the old frame building was found to be insufficient, and the erection of a new church was determined upon. The corner- stone of the new edifice was laid with appropriate ceremonies on the 30th day of August, 1870, and was first opened for Divine service on Ascension Day, May 16th, 1871. Dr. Irving continued in the church untU February, 1872, when he re- signed. In July, 1872, the present rector, Rev. James S. Bush, of San Francisco, was settled. The officers of the church at the time of the erection of the chapel, were Rev. Richard Channing Moore, rector ; James Guyon and Peter Mersereau, warden^, and Peter Laforge, John Latourette, John Van Dyke, Nicholas Journeay, Paul 272 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Micheau, Joshua Wright, Paul J. Micheau, and George W. Barnes, vestrymen. The material of which the church is built is Staten Island granite ; in form it is cruciform, and has several beautiful memorial windows ; it has a turi-et on the northeast corner, and a tower and spire one hundred and fifteen feet high on the northwest corner. ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, CLIFTON. The corner-stone of the first church edifice was laid on the 12th day ot September, 1843, by the Rev. Dr. Moore, of St. Andrew's Church, and the parish organized on the 20th. The first officers were Charles M. Simonson and W. H. As- pinwall, wardens ; Levi Cook, James R. Broadman, M.D., William B. Townsend, W. D. Cuthbertson, Lewis Lyman, Daniel B. Allen, William A. Fountain and William H. White, vestrymen. The corner-stone of the present beautiful edifice was laid by Bishop Potter, November 10th, 1869 ; the building com- mittee were John A. Appleton, Jacob H. Vanderbilt, Jere- miah Leaycraft and George S. Scofield ; architect, Arthur Gilman. The following is the succession of the rectors : Rev. Kingston Goddard, from June, 1844, to June, 1847. Rev. A. G. Mercer, from June, 1847, to September, 1852. Rev. R. M. Abercrombie, from January, 1853, to February, 1856. Rev. J. C. Eccleston, from April, 1856, to January, 1863. Rev. T. K. Conrad, from March, 1863, to October, 1866. Rev. J. C. Eccleston, D.D., called a second time. May, 1867, and is the present incumbent. The present church edifice stands on the easterly side of New York Avenue, in that part of the village of Edgwater known as Clifton, and is, by far, the most beautiful in the county. The material of which it is constructed is a ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 273 rose-colored granite, from Saybrook, Conn. The style is the later decorated Gothic of the fourteenth century, of the time of the third Edward, in which so many of the parish churches in England were erected. The cost was $120,000, and the church is free from debt. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, CASTLETON. This church, originally in Castleton, now in Edgwater, Middletown, was organized in March, 1833. Its first officers were Henry Drisler and William Whettin, wardens ; Richard S. Cary, Caleb T. "Ward, Daniel Simonson, John B. Simonson, Henry B. Metcalfe, vestrymen. In April, 1870, a new church, which is a solid stone struc- ture, was completed, at a cost of $50,000. It was erected by the Hon. Albert Ward, at his own expense, as a "Memorial" of his only sister, the late Mary Mann Ward, and the edifice, together with the land surrounding it, was presented by him to the parish. On petition to the County Court, an order was made, in conformity with the statute, to change the name to "St. Paul's Memorial Church" of Richmond county. Its present officers are Albert Ward and J. H. Pool, war- dens; William C. Anderson, M.D., J. R. Kearney, Roland Thomas, A. E. Outerbridge, Gr. H. Daley, Robert W. Gordon, Jun., W. Kebs, Isaac O. Van Duzer, vestrymen. The succession of the Rectors is as follows : Rev. F. H. Cuming, 1833. Rev. Wm. P. Curtis, 1834, died 1834. Rev. Wm. H. Walter, 1836. Rev. Wm. Walton, 1840. Rev. Gordon Winslow, 1844. Rev. Charles A. Maison, 1852. Rev. E. H. Cressy, 1859. Rev. T. W. Punnett, 1861. Rev. Charles B. Coffin, April, 1875, died July 10th, 1875. Rev. Albert U. Stanley, Nov., 1875, the present incumbent. 274 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, EOSSVILLE. Of this church we have been able to procure only a meager account. The parish register appears to have been imperfect- kept. 'he church edifice was erected in 1843, and its first rector was Rev. C. D. Jackson ; he officiated some six or seven years, when he died in Westchester county. He was suc- ceeded by the Rev. William H. Rees, who officiated about five years, when he died at Newark, N. J. The next rector of whom we find any account was the Rev. Jesse Pound, who died in the parish after a service of some nine or ten years. He was succeeded by the Rev. Henry H. Bean, who, after several years' service, also died in the parish. The church at present (July, 1876) is vacant. There have been other rectors, but there is no record of them. CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER. This church is located at Eltingville, in the town of South- field. The parish was organized October 24th, 1865 ; the incorporators were, Albert Journeay, James Guyon, Edward Banker, Junr., S. K. Raymond, John W. Mersereau, Junr., and Charles E. Robins. The church edifice was erected in 1865, and consecrated May 29th, 1868. The rectors have been as follows : Rev. J. W. Payne, from Nov. 29th, 1865, to August 9th, 1866. Rev. W. W. Holley, from Oct. 4th, 1866, to Oct. 24th, 1867. Rev. W. Leacock, from Feb. 26th, 1868, to Sept. 23d, 1868. Rev. Newland Maynard, from Sept. 27th, 1869, to May 23d, 1871. Rev. Frederick M. Gray, from Aug. 1st, 1873, present in- cumbent (1876.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 275 THE MORAVIAN CHURCH. So far as is now known, the first of the denomination of Christians called Moravian, or United Brethren, on Staten Island, was Captain Nicholas Garrison. It is said that the ship which he commanded, while on a voyage from Georgia to New York, was overtaken by an exceedingly violent storm. Among the passengers on board was the Bishop Spaiigenberg, who remained calm and undisturbed amidst the confusion and terror which prevailed on board, spending^ most of the time in earnest prayer. The vessel survived the tempest, and reached the port in safety, but ever after a very warm frienship existed between the Bishop and the Captain, who was a pious man. In 1742, David Bruce, a very zealous ser- vant of God, was sent to visit the scattered flocks in New York, and on Long and Staten Islands, and he was probably the first Moravian preacher who ever officiated as such on Staten Island. The ship or snow, alluded to above, was built for the ser- vice, of the Moravians, on Staten Island, between the year 1745 and 1748, under the direction of Abraham Boemper and Timothy Horsfield, agents of the Moravian Church in New York ; she was launched on the 29th day of May of the last mentioned year, and registered in the name of Mr. Henry Antes. The cost of her building was defrayed almost entirely by Bishop Spangenberg from a legacy left him in- dividually by Thomas Noble, a merchant of New York. This vessel was in the eervice of the Moravian Church nine years, in the coarse of which she crossed the Atlantic twenty-four times, sailing between New York and London, or Amsterdam, and made one voyage to Greenland. She had the reputation o6 being an excellent sailer. The largest colony she ever car- ried was that led by John Nitschmann, which landed at New York City in May, 1749, and numbered one hundred and twenty-five souls. She pat to sea on the 8th of September, 1748, for the first time, and for the last time on the 20th of 276 ANNALS OF STATEW ISLAND. November, 1767, in command of Capt. Christian Jacobson. Ten days thereafter, in latitude 37° North, and longitude 60° West, she was chased by a French Privateer, the Marguerite, captured, and given to a prize crew to be taken to Louisburg, but owing to ignorance of navigation on the part of those to whom, she was intrusted, was totally wrecked on the 12th day of January, 1758, off the coast of Cape Breton ; her passen- gers barely escaped with their lives. Count Zinzendorf, during his sojourn in America between December, 1741, and January, 1743, extended the influence and enlarged the membership of this denomination in New York, and also on Long and Staten Islands. From that time religious intercourse was maintained unbroken between those places and Bethlehem, and after the arrival of the first col- ony of Moravians in June, 1742, the above named three places were jointly constitued one of many fields in which the brethren sought to labor for the furtherance of gospel truth. It was without delay entered by their evangelists, or itinerants. Among these were the brethren Bruce, Aimers, Gambold, Neisser, Utley, Rice, and Wade. Between 1742 and 1746 the Moravian Society in New York met for worship at Thomas Noble's; after that time at Henry Van Vleek's, in whose house also the ministers were accus- tomed to lodge during their sojourn in the city. In the spring of 1748, at which time there were upwards of fifty persons attached to the Brethren in the city and on the adjoining islands, an ineffectual effort was made to secure the use of the Lutheran Church in New York for public services statedly. Thereupon a hall was rented for holding meetings, and apartments for the residences of ministers. In the former there was preaching both in English and German once on the Lord' s day, and public and private worship on several evenings of the week. Abraham Boemper, Henry Van Vleek, William Edmonds, John Kingston, Jeremiah Burnet and Jannitje Boelen, of New York ; Timothy and Mary Horsfield, William and Charity Cornwell, and Jaques_[and Jacomyntje Cortelyou, of ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 277 Long Island; and Jacobas and Vettje Van Der Bilt, of Staten Island, are mentioned in September, 1747, as being the most active members of the triple Moravian Society in the province of New York. On the 27th of December, 1748, Bishop de Watterville or- ganized a 'Moravian congregation in New York from members of the society, in connection with the Brethren, since 1741 ; George Neisser was installed as pastor. In 17.'il a church was buUt on Fair Street, now Falton, between Nassau and William Streets, and dedicated to the worship of God by Spangenberg and the brethren Owen Rice and Jacob Rogers, on the 18th of June, 1751. Before the close of the year, a parsonage also had been erected on the line of the street in front of the church. It was first occupied by Owen and Elizabeth Rice. Abraham Reincke was settled in New York in 1754. Between 1742 and 1763, about a dozen different clergymen of the denomination came occasionally to the Island to ofiici- ate. In 1756 there were only three communicant members on the Island, viz. : Jacobus Vanderbilt and his wife Yettje or Neiltje, and the widow Elizabeth Inyard.* The religious services were usually held in a school-house, which, as some say, stood upon or near the site of the present church, but as others say, with more probability, at the corner of the roads at what is now called Egbertville. In 1762, Richard Connor, Stephen Martino, Jun., Tunis Egbert, Jacob Vander Bilt, Aaron Cortelyou, Mathias Enyard, John Baty, Cornelius Cortelyou, Cornelius Vander Bilt, Cornelius Van Deventer, Stephen Martino, Mary Stilwell, Cornelius Martino and Peter Ferine, applied to the church authorities at Bethlehem, Penn- sylvania, for the establishment of a Moravian Church upon Staten Island. On the 7th of July, 1763, the corner-stone of a church and parsonage was laid, and on the ensuing 7th of December the church was consecrated. The identical build- ing is still standing, and continues to be occupied as a par- sonage. * Vide App. N. (oo.) 278 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. The first regularly settled pastor of the church was Hector Gambold, in 1784 ; he was succeeded the same year by James Birkly, and he by E. Thorp ; then followed— Frederick Moehring, from 1787 to 1793. James Birkly again, from 1793 to 1797. Frederick Moehring again, from 1797 to 1803. Nathaniel Brown, from 1803 until his death in 1813. John G. Bechler, from 1813 to 1817. George A. Hartman, from 1817 to 1837. Ambrose Kondthaler, from 1837 to 1839. H. G. Glauder, from 1839 to 1852. Bernhard de Schweinitz, from 1852 to 1854. Amadeus A. Reinke, from 1854 to 1860. Edwin T. Senseman, from 1860 to 1862. Eugene Leibert, from 1862 to 1867. Francis F. Hagen, from 1867 to 1870. William L. Lennert, from 1870 to 1876. William H. Vogler from 1876 — present incumbent. The early dates and events given above, have been derived chiefly from denominational sources, the records of the church having been destroyed during the Revolution, when some British soldiers forcibly entered the parsonage at night, and after wantonly destroying furniture and other articles be- longing to the occupant, carried off the archives of the infant church. About the same time, probably on the same night, the house of Capt. Christian Jacobson, in the vicinity of the church, was also entered, and he was killed by being shot. He was an eminently pious man, and captain of the Mora- vian ship, "Irene," after the retirement of Capt. Garrison. The society was incorporated April 15th, 1808. The present church edifice was consecrated May 15th, 1845. The first conveyance of real estate to the church was by a document endorsed "Lease and Release" here given entire, verbatim et literatim. "This Indenture, made the Eighth day of June, in the third year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 279 of the Faith, and in the Year of onr Lord, 1763, Between John Baty, of Richmond County, Province of New York, Yeoman, of the one Part, and Thomas Yarrell, Minister of the United Brethren of the City of New York, Henry Van Vleek, of the City aforesaid. Merchant, Cornelius Van De- venter, Yeoman, & Richard Conner, Esqr., both of Richmond County of the other part, Witnesseth that the Said John Baty, for and in Consideration of the Sum of five Shillings Current Money of the Province of New York, to him in- hand Paid by the said Thomas Yarrell, Henry Van Vleek, Cornel- ius Van Deventer and Richard Conner, the Receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, he the said John Baty hath Granted, Bargained & Sold, and by these Presents doth grant Bargain and sell unto them the said Thomas Yarrell, Henry Van Vleek, Cornelius Van Deventer and Richard Conner, all that Certain Peace or Parcel of Land Scituate lying and being on the South side of Statten Island, Richmond County, Province of New York, Beginning at the North East corner of the Land of Cornelius Cortelyou, thence running on a Course North twenty-Seven degrees West Three Chains, thence North Eight degrees West five Chains & forty Lincks, thence North forty degrees East five Chains and twenty-two Lincks, thence South forty-Seven Degrees East seven chains & forty-four Lincks to the Place of Beginning, Containing five & a half acres more or Less, Bounded South West & South South West by Land of Cornelius Cortelyou, and North West and North East by the Land of the above said John Baty, & South east by the King's Hey Way. Together with all and. Singular the Reversian & Reversians, Remainder & Re- mainders, Rents and Services of the said Premisses above mentioned, and every Part and Parcel thereof with the ap- purtenances. To have and to hold the Said Peice or Parcel of Land, Hereditaments and Premises above Mentioned and every part and parcel thereof with the Appurtenances unto the Said Thomas Yarrell, Henry Van Vleek, Cornelius Van Deventer & Richard Conner, their Executors, Administrators and Assigns, from the day of the date of these Presents, 280 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. for and during and untill the full End and term of one whole year from thence next and immediately ensuing and follow- ing fully to be Compleat and ended, Yielding and Paying therefore one Pepper Corn on and upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Andel, (if Demanded) to the Intent that by virtue of these Presents and by force of the Statute for trans- ferring of uses into Possession, they the said Thomas Yar- rell, Henry Van Vleek, Cornelius Van Deventer & Richard Conner may be in actual Possession of all and singular the Said Premises above Mentioned with the Appurtenances, and be thereby Enabled to accept and take a grant and Release of the Reversion & Inheritance thereof to them & their heirs, to the only Proper use and behoof of them the said Thomas Yarrell, Henry Van Vleek, Cornelius Van Deventer and Rich- arn Conner, their heirs and Assigns forever. In Witness whereof, the Parties first above named have hereunto sett their hands & Seals the day & Year first above Written. Sealed & Delivered John Beat? (l.s.) in the Presence of us, Jacob Vandeebilt, John Herttell. On the succeeding day, June 19th, 1763, John Baty and Hannah his wife conveyed the same premises to the same parties in fee, in consideration of twenty-five pounds, ten shillings ($63.75.) On the second day of March, 1790, Edward Beattey, as executor of the last will and testament of his father, John Beattey, in consideration of five shillings, conveyed the same property, with slight variation in the courses, to John Ett- wein Bishop, Hans Christian Van Schwein, and the Rev. Jacob Van Vleek, of the town of Bethlehem, and State of Pennsylvania, the Rev. Frederick Moehring, Richard Conner, John Dorsett and Lewis Ryerss, of the county of Richmond, for the reason given in the following extract therefrom : "Whereas, the late John Beattey, of the County of Rich- mond & State of New York, in the year of our Lord one ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 281 Thousand Seven Hundred & Sixty-three, did give & sell a lott of Grround to a religious Society in Union with the Episcopal Church, known by the name of Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren, on which by divers Contributions & Donations by a number of said Society & other Friends, a Church or House of Worship with a dwelling House for the Minister, has been built and to this day Upheld and kept in repair ; And, Whereas, the Deed of Conveyance of said John Beatty has been in the time of War mislaid or somehow lost."" The deed alluded to, in the above extract, was not lost as was supposed, but had been sent to the church authorities at Bethlehem, in accordance with the custom of the church, with congregations which were not self-sustaining. Years after the execution of the executor's deed, after the church had become self-sustaining, it was returned. On the 31st day of August, 1873, the Chapel and Sunday School building at the Four Corners was dedicated. It was built upon land donated for the purpose by Mr. Cornelius Du Bois ; the lot is one hundred feet square. The whole premises is estimated to be worth over seven thousand dol- lars. The donations of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt to this church of his forefathers, have been munificent. When the. present church edifice was erected, he contributed the sum of one thousand dollars towards its completion. On the 20th day of December, 1865, he gratuitously conveyed to the Trustees of the United Brethren's Church on Staten Island, eight and a half acres of land on the East side of the origi- nal five and a half acres, and on the 30th day of October, 1868, about forty-six acres more on the north and west sides thereof. 282 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. THE BAPTIST CHURCH. The establishment of this church on Staten Island, like that of several others, was the result of missionary labors. Pro-, minent among the pioneers of this denomination, are found the names of John Gano and Elkanah Holmes, who visited the Island and preached in private houses, in barns, under trees, and wherever else the people could be gathered together. On the 27th of August, 1785, eight persons, viz. : Anthony Fountain, Sen., Belichy Fountain, Hannah Fountain, Nicholas Cox, Margaret Kruser, Mary Van Name, Mary Lockerman and Susannah Wandel, were baptized. On the 24th of October following, Jacob Van Pelt, John Wandel, Jun., and Charles Van Name, were also baptized, and on the 21st of November, John Lockerman, making in all twelve persons, who, on the 30th of December of the same year, were organized into a church by the Revs. Gano and Holmes, of New York. The late venerable Garret Fountain,* who, though residing on the Island, had previously connected himself with a Baptist ('hurch in New York city, now removed his membership to the new organization. From 1785 to 1796, the records of the church have been lost, but in the latter year Daniel Steers supplied the pulpit, but it is doubtful whether he was ever regularly ordained^ From 1796 until 1809, there is another blank in the history of the church, but at that date we find the church without a pastor, though services were held, conducted by Revs. Parkinson, Cox, WykofT, Segar and Bruce, of New York city. In this year, 1809, the "Clove Meeting House"t was built, and dedicated October 24. In the spring of 1810, the church called as their pastor the Rev. James Bruce, a licentiate of the First Baptist Church, of New York, who accepted the invitation and preached his first sermon on the second Sunday in May. He was ordained in * Vide App. N. (56.) f ibid. (57.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 283 New York the 21st day of June, and on the 24th baptized seven persons on the sea-beach, and on the 29th of July, at the North side, three more, viz. Jacob Burbank and Nancy his wife, and Mrs. Charity Baker. Mr. Bruce died in 1812, and was succeeded by Elder Carpenter, who had been a Methodist preacher, but having changed his views, he was baptized on the 25th of September, and immediately installed as pastor of the church. He was, however, soon dismissed, and from 1813 to 1817 the church was supplied by various ministers. In August of the last named year. Rev. Robert Randolph, of Samptown, N. J., became pastor of the church. After a service of three years, he was honorably dismissed, and was succeeded by Rev. Thomas B. Stephenson, a licen- tiate of the Bethel Baptist Church of New York, who was ordained in the Clove Meeting House, August 25th, 1819. In August, 1822, he resigned his charge to engage in the work of domestic missions. In April, 1824, Rev. Aruna R. Martin became pastor of the church, and was ordained June 8th following. He was a very zealous man, and after a pastorate of eleven years, died in October, 1835. During Mr. Martin's incumbency, the Baptist Church at Graniteville, then called Fayetteville, was built.* On the first Sabbath in May, 1836, Rev. Samuel White be- came pastor of the two churches. The records of the church then contained the names of sixty -nine members, but ten of them could not be found. During the early years of Mr. White's ministry the membership of the church was more than doubled, and the church at Graniteville was enlarged to accommodate the worshippers. On the 24th February, 1841, fifty-three persons received letters of dismission, and were organized as a separate church at Port Richmond, and called the "North Baptist Church of Staten Island," now known as the "Park Baptist Church." The following are the names of the persons who received their letters of dismission on this occasion, and became the founders of the Park Baptist Church, viz : * Vide App. N. (58.) 284 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Jolm Lockman, Mary Lockman, Thomas Wright, Mary Wright, Charles Van Pelt, Susan Van Pelt, Catharine Kinsey, Jacob Van Pelt, Harriet Van Pelt, Harriet Van Pelt, 2d, Nicholas Van Name, Sarah Van Name, Esther Thompson, WilUam B. Thompson, Mary H. Thompson, Gertrude Jones, Mary MerriU, Catharine Van Pelt, Nancy D gfiker, Polly Bm-bank Asher Read, Eliza N. Eead, George W. Smith, Catharine C. Smith, Mary H. Wilder, William Lissenden, Ann G. West, Mary Ann Haughwout, George F. Thompson, Sophia Thompson, John Thompson, Barbara Post, Jane Maria Van Pelt, Margaret Bedell, Emma Honsman, Betsy Simonson, Dinah Riddle, Richard Fullager, Sarah E. Fullager, Sarah A. WamboU, Jacob Bush, Mary Bush, Rachel Ann Van Name, Ann Van Name, Eliza Van Pelt, Moses Van Pelt, Polly Van Pelt, Elima Fullager, Sarah G. FuUager, Abram Crocheron, Mary Van Pelt, Mary Simonson. Mary Lissenden, The Council which constituted this church convened at the church at Grraniteville on the ]st of March, 1841. The first pastor of the North, now Park Baptist Church, was Rev. J. T. Seeley, from May 1st, 1841 to August 1st, 1845, having baptized eighty -one. The second pastor was Rev. David Morris from August 1st, 1845, to May 1st, 1849, having baptized twenty-six. The third pastor was Rev. B. C. Townsend from May 1st, 1850, to May 1st, 1852, having baptized fifteen. The fourth pastor was Rev. H. Jackson, from May 1st, 1802, to February 1st, 1853. The fifth pastor was Rev. John Seage, from May 1st, 1854, to May 1st, 1856, having baptized fourteen. ANNALS OJb' STATEN ISLAND. 285 The sixth pastor was Rev. C. P. Wilds, from June 1st, 1856, to April 25th, 1858. The seventh pastor was Rev. G. W. Dodge, from August 1st, 1858, to May 30th, 1859. The eighth pastor was W. A. Barnes, from February 9th, 1860, to February 18th, 1861, when he was dismissed. After this, and until August, 1864, the church had no settled pastor, but was supplied chiefly by Rev. William B. Scrope. The ninth pastor was Rev. D. B. Patterson, from August 21st, 1864, to February 1st, 1866, who then resigned on ac- count of ill health, having baptized six. The tenth pastor was Rev. D. W. Sherwood, from January 27th, 1867, to September 1st, 1870, having baptized nine. The eleventh pastor was Rev. S. G. Smith, who was installed December 1, 1870, and is the present incumbent, (March, 1877). MARINERS' HARBOR BAPTIST CHURCH, This church is an oflf-shoot from the North, or Park Bap- tist Church, at Port Richmond, and was organized 12th March, 1857. The names of the constituent members are as follows : David Van Name, Sr., Betsey Van Pelt, Agnes Van Name, Daniel A. MaUett, Dea. Geo. F. Thompson, Maria H. Thompson, Elizabeth Thompson, Harriet Merrill, John Thompson, Catharine A. Van Pelt, MeUnda Thoropson, Sarah Cartwright, David Van Name, Jr., Sarah J. Cart-wright, Eachel Ann Van Name, E. Clara Cartwright, Nicholas Van Name, Jacob Loots, Sarah Van Name, Elizabeth Loots, Harriet Ann Johnson, Charlotte Kinsey, John C. Van Name, James Fisher, Catharine Van Name, Elizabeth Fisher, WilUam Lissenden, Barbara Post, Mary Lissenden, Eliza Bush, 286 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. William H. Lissenden, Ellen Corsen, Jacob Bush, Clarissa Thompson, Mary Bush, Mary Merrill, Ehzabeth Van Pelt, Sophia Merrill, Jacob Van Pelt, Richard Hancock, Harriet Van Pelt, Emily Hancock, Moses Van Pelt, Sarah M. Dsacon, Mary Van Pelt, Charles Van Pelt, Jr., Daniel Van Pelt, Garret Jones. Forty-eiglit in all. The membership March, 1876, was 136. The following are the names of the pastors since its organ- ization : The first was Rev. Z. P. Wilds, from April 1, 1857, to June, 1858. The second was Rev. J. N. Tolman, from December 16, 1858, to December BO, 1860. The third was Rev. G. W. Folwell, from January to Sep- tember, 1861. The fourth was Rev. J. L. Benedict, from January, 1862, to June, 1864. The fifth was Rev. J. J. Brouner, from June, 1864, to Jan- uary, 1869. The sixth was Rev. W. B. Harris, from March, 1869, to January, 1872. The seventh was Rev. J. W. Taylor, from March, 1872. to April, 1875. The eighth was Rev. Charles P. Hull, from July, 1875, and is the present pastor (March, 1877). GRANITEVILLB BAPTIST CHURCH. This church claims to be the continuation of the original church in the Clove ; it was dedicated March, 31st, 1842, and rebuilt in 1858. Rev. Samuel White Officiated as its pastor until his death, which occurred on the twenty- seventh anni- versary of his settlement. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 287 He was succeeded by the Rev. D. Bennet Patterson, who was installed pastor March 23d, 1863. The Rev. Duncan Young became pastor September 8th, 1872. The present incumbent. Rev. Gr. J Gannon, commenced his labors January 1st, 1876. The present number of members is 58. THE SOUTH BAPTIST CHURCH. This church was organized at Tottenville, December 11th, 1859, and their house of worship was erected early in 1860 ; the commodious lecture-room attached to the main building was erected in November, 1870. The constituent members were : John Tucker, Mrs. S. B. Hazleton, S. B. Hazleton, Mrs. Mary Wrifle, Geo. D. Fisher, Isabella Ayr, William Cooley, Mrs. J. H. Cole, Mrs. Isabella Fisher, Mrs. Ann Storer, Mrs. Sarah A. EUis, Mrs. S. D. Reed. The pastors of the church since its organization have been as follows : Rev. T. W. Conway, from Jan. 11th, 1860. Arthur Day, from Nov. 1860. William James, from March, 1865, to Feb., 1866. William B. Harris, from March, 1867, to March, 1869. David Taylor, from June, 1869, to June, 1870. Robert Bocock, from July, 1870, to October, 1871. J. W. Brinckerhoff, from Sept., 1, 1875, and since. There is a small Baptist Church at Kreischerville, between Rossville and Tottenville, built about 1845, but is at present without a pastor. 288 AWNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. THE METHODIST CHURCH. The introduction of Methodism upon Staten Island is due to the preserving efforts of a few zealous individuals con- nected with the denomination in New Jersey and elsewhere. The first Methodist sermon preached on Staten Island was in November, 1771, by Francis Asbury,* in the house of one Peter Van Pelt, only twelve days after his arrival in America. It is to the unwearied labors of Thomas Morrell and Robert Cloud, two preachers attached to the Elizabethtown circuit, that this church is chiefly indebted for its organization. Of Morrell it is said that he had been a soldier, and bore upon his person scars of wounds received in fighting for his country. He was also a man of more than ordinary abilities and ac- quirements. Of the local preachers, William Cole f was most prominent, and during the intervals between the visits of the itinerants, frequently officiated in private houses, school- houses, barns, or any other place that offered. On the fifth day of May, 1787, the first Methodist Society on Staten Island was organized, and the following persons were elected Trustees to take care of the temporalities of the ctiurch, viz.: Abraham Cole, (at whose house the meeting was held ;) Benjamin Drake and John Hillier, first class, to serve one year ; Grilbert Totten, John Slaight and Joseph Wood, second class, to serve two years ; Joseph Totten, Elias Price and Israel Dissosway, third class, to serve three years. Measures were then adopted to erect a house of worship, and the following appeal to the Christian community was promulgated : "To all Charitable, well-disposed Christians of every de- nomination on Staten Island. Whereas the Inhabitants on the West end of said Island are destitute of any Place of Public Worship, so that numbers, more especially of the poorer and middling ranks of People who have not Carriages, &c., are necessarily precluded from attending the Worship of * Vide App. N. (59.) f Ibid. (60.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 289 God in a Public manner, their Children also lose the benefit of Public Instruction, and it is to be feared the Consequence will be to the rising Greneration a settled Contempt for the worship of God and the ordinances of the House. To remedy as far as human prudence can Extend the afore- said, and many other Inconveniences that might be named, the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church on said Island have chosen trustees agreeable to Law in order to Erect a Church for the Performance of Divine Service, and tis Supposed by the Blessing of God this may be the means of not only benefitting the present Generation, but that Numbers Yet unborn may have reason to Praise God for the pious Care of their forefathers. But as this will be Attended with a heavy Expence, to which the members of said Church are Inadequate, they hereby Respectful solicit the Donation of all such who are willing to promote so Laudable an Under- taking, we therefore the subscribers do hereby promise to pay or cause to be paid to the said Trustees or any Person Impowered by them to receive it, the sums affixed to our Sev- eral names, as Witness our Hands this Seventh day of June, In the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-seven." Then follows the names of eighty-seven contributors, whose united subscriptions amount to nearly $350. The largest contributors are Gilbert Totten, £8, ($20) ; Israel Disosway, £15, ($37.50) ; Benjamin Drake,* £8, ($20) ; Mark Disosway, £5, ($12.50) ; Peter Woglom, £6, ($15) ; Joshua Wright, £5, ($12.50) ; Jacob Reckhow, £5, John Androvat, £5, Peter Winant, Sr., £4.15, ($11.87^) ; John Slaght, £4.15. Among the subscribers we find the names of individuals attached to other churches, such as Bedells, Swains, Taylors, Larzeleres, Micheaus, La Tourettes, Mersereaus, Pralls, Conner, &c. It is said of Israel Disosway, that in addition to his sub- scription, which is the largest on the list, he gave the timber for erecting the new charoh, out of his own woods. Not- * Vide App. N. (61.) .290 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. withstanding he was so prominent in the organization of the new church, and for several years held the office of trustee therein, he never severed his connection with the old John Street Church in New York ; in May, 1791, we find that "Nicholas Crockshon was elected in the place of Israel Disosway, who has removed from the Island." With the small sum realized by the subscriptions just men- tioned, the first Methodist Church on Staten Island was built on the site now occupied by the Woodrow Church in West- field. That the trustees took excellent care of the temporalities of the church, will be perceived from the following extract from the original "Day Book :" "At a meeting held in the Methodist Church for chosing a Saxon to serve for one year in said church to keep said house swept and sanded and scruped when the Trustees shall direct, and all other necessary dutys of a saxon for the sum of five dollars: Kichard Mier was chosen and accepted." Subsequently, the "saxon" was allowed one shilling "for every fire he makes in the stove," additional. In 1842 the present church edifice was erected on the site of the former.* On the twelfth day of February, 1822, at a meeting held at the house of James Totten, it was unanimously resolved to build another house of worship, in the town of Westfield, to be called " The Tabernacle." A church appears to have been organized, and trustees duly elected. In August, 1823, a public meeting was held "in the Tabernacle;" the edifice must therefore have been erected immediately. In 1841 the membership had increased to such a number that it was found convenient to erect another church and organize another society in Tottenville, which is now known as "The Bethel Church." In 1860 it was found necessary to build still another church, which is now known as "St. Paul's," in Tottenville. * Vide App. N. (02.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 291 The early Methodists, however, did not confine their efforts to the town of Westfield ; for, not long after they had become domiciled there, a small class, under the leadership of Elias Price, who afterwards became a local preacher, was organized in the Town of Northfield, which, in 1802, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of a new society, and the erection of a new church, which now is recognized as the Asbury Church at New Springville. For more than thirty years this church was the only place of public worship pos- sessed by the Methodists of Northfield and Castleton. In 1838 those residing along the shore, in both towns, began to agitate the matter of building a new church nearer their own residences, and at or near trraniteville. The next year Mr. Robert C. Simquson offered a lot of land on the Fond Road, Port Richmond, as a free gift, if they would erect a -church thereon. This offer was at once acceipted by those residing in that vicinity, and the proposed church at Graniteville was abandoned. The Methodists of Mariners' Harbor then re- solved, inasmuch as a church for their accommodation had become a necessity, to erect one nearer their own homes. Accordingly, on the sixth day of April, 1839, a new society was organized by the election of Peter Braisted, Henry Jones, Benjamin B. Kinsey, John L. Richards, and Daniel Simonson, as Trustees. The certificate of incorporation was recorded on the fourth day of May following, and immediately thereafter — that is, on the eleventh of the same month — a lot was pur- chased for the consideration of $275, and on the twentieth a contract was made to erect a building for the purpose of pub- lic worship. During the following six months the church was erected, and on the first day of December, 1839, it was dedi- cated. For several years the same preacher served this church, and the one on "the Neck," (now Asbury,) but in 1849 the connection was severed, and each church became in- dependent of the other. In 1854 a parsonage was purchased. The membership of the church having rapidly increased, it was found necessary to erect a new and larger house, which was accordingly done, and the new edifice was dedicated the 292 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. tenth day of October, 1869, which has since been known as the Summerfield Church. The old church, which is the southwesternmost building within the corporate limits of the Village of Port Kichmond, was sold for $1,500, and is now occupied as an African church. In July, 1872, the church known as St. Marks, at Pleasant Plains, was dedicated. For a brief period it was considered as under the patronage and supervision of the Woodrow Church ; but in 1873 it became an independent organization. The Methodists of Port Richmond and its vicinity, having accepted the offer of Mr. Robert C. Simonson to give them a lot upon condition of building a church thereon, he conveyed it to them December 1st, 1838 ; and the church was dedicated early in the winter of 1839. This continued to be their house of worship until 1853, when they erected the large and com- modious brick church edifice at the corner of the Shore Road and Dongan Street, West New Brighton. The original building and lot was sold April 28th, 1853, to the German Evangelical Lutherans for the sum of $1,500. The new church took the name of Trinity, and was incorporated under that name January 10th, 1853, the trustees being Jasper G. Codmus, John W. Snedeker, Lewis Edwards, Azariah Dunham and John Simonson. The land upon which the present church and parsonage is built, constituted the lots numbered 45 and 46 of the estate of John Bodine, Sen., and was purchased of Noyes P. H. Barrett, June 25th, 1851,- Jasper G. Codmus,. John W. Snedeker, Lewis Edwards and John Simonson being trustees. It was subsequently discovered that the title was defective, inasmuch as the land was conveyed to the above named persons individually, and before the incorpora- tion ; therefore on the 10th day of July, 1869, the same individuals quit-claimed the property to the Trustees of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and thus remedied the defect. The bell and clock in the tower of this church were procured by the contributions of the people residing in its vicinity. The membership in March, 1876, was about 224. January 28d, 1867, forty-eight persons, the most of them ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 293 seceders from Trinity M. E. Cliurch, convened in the North Baptist Church, Port Richmond, and were then and there constituted by the presiding elder into a new church or society, to be called "The North Shore Free M. E. Church." On the 27th of the same month, the first Sabbath services of the new church were held in the Baptist Church. The first trustees were Read Benedict, Ward McLean, John Q. Simonson, William Greer, Noyes P. H. Barrett, John S. Sprague, William Bamber, Dr. F. Gr. Johnson and George F. Heal ; their first meeting was held Feb. 18th, 1867. The corner-stone of the new church, now known as " Grace Church," was laid August 1st, 1867, and the church was dedicated December 29th, 1867. The church lot is bounded on the North by Bond street, on the South by Cornelius street, and on the West or front by Heberton street. The present number of members (April, 1876) was 150. We have been unable to procure a connected history of the Methodist Church at Edgewater ; the church building stands on Cebra Avenue, and was erected in 1865, and rebuilt in 1870. LUTHERAN CHURCHES. The German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John, U. A. C.,* at Port Richmond, was organized October 17th, 1852. The original members were : John Rathyen, John C. Schiegel, Paul Schmidt, Aug. Senne, Charles Keutgen, J. H. Matthius, John Hettsche, Diedrich Senne, Carl Senne, Gottlieb Bertsch, A. Knopp, Carl Neidthart, Ernst Senne, Adam Fuegel, Louis Koenig, A. Hulsebus. * Vide App. N. (63.) 294 ANNALS OF SXATEN ISLAND. The pastors of the Church have beeu as follows : 1. Bernard de Schweinitz. 2. Fr. Boeling, from 1853 to 1855. 3. H. Roel, from 1855 to 1856. 4. J. F. C. Hennicke, from 1856 to 1857. 5. K. Goehling, from 1858 to 1859. 6. M. Termenstein, from 1860 to 1867. 7. J. E. Gottlieb, from 1867 to 1875. 8. C. Frincke, Jr., Dec. 5, 1875, present pastor. The present membership is forty. There is a parochial school connected with the Church under the supervision of the pastor. The Cliurch Edifice was purchased from the Methodists. (See Trinity M. E. Church.) There is a Lutheran Church at Edgewater, of which we have been unable to procure information, notwithstanding we have made repeated efforts to do so. It has a parish school con- nected with it. UNITARIAN. THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMEE. "The First United Independent Christian Church of Staten Island," was organized at the house of Minthorne Tompkins in Stapleton, February 19th, 1851, by the election of Dr. A. Sidney Doane, Minthorne Tompkins, Daniel Low, F. S. Hagadorn, William Emerson, P. C. Cortelyou, John C. Thompson, H. M. Harding, John Crabtree, A. J. Hamilton, John Bendernagel and Philip Bender, as trustees. This Society held their meetings at the Lyceum in Stapleton, where the Reverend Messrs. Bellows, Chapin and Osgood often kindly officiated until the Rev. John Parkman, of Bos- ton, who had recently become a resident of the Island, accepted the charge. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 295 On the 21st of September of the same year, 1851, "The Congregational Church of the Evangelists of New Brighton" was established by the initiative of Messrs. James Parker, Lucius Tuckerman, W. C. Goodhue, George W. Jewett, John Crabtree, A. J. Hamilton, George A. Ward, Robert C. Goodhue, William W. Russell, Smith Ely, S. M. Elliott, John D. Sloat, J. E. Kunhardt, William F. Cary, John Jewett, Jr., L. G. Wyeth and Mrs. M. Pendleton. This society held their meetings at the Belmont House, New Brighton, Mr. Parkman preaching on alternate Sundays there and at the Lyceum, for about six months, when, unable to obtain a suitable place for worship, the organization was dissolved, and the members joined the congregation. Mr. Parkman was called to the pastorate of the united body, and the name of the corporation was changed to that of "The Church of the Redeemer." Messrs. Daniel Low, George A. Ward, W. C. Goodhue, John F. Raymond, Lucius Tucker- man, H. M. Harding, A. J. Hamilton, John Crabtree, and Daniel G. Garrison being the Board of Trustees. A build- ing for church purposes was erected on Richmond Turnpike at the foot of Cebra Avenue, an isolated situation, apparently selected because, being about equi-distant from the several villages, it was not more inconvenient to one than to another. It was dedicated June 29th, 1853. The church flourished and increased, and it was thought necessary to enlarge the building. This was done, and the number of pews almost doubled. In a comparatively short time, however, the disadvantages of the situation became more and more manifest ; the roads were bad, and there were no sidewalks ; most of the congre- gation lived at a distance ; access to the church was difficult, almost impracticable at seasons to those on foot ; the zeal of many of the original members diminished, some died, more left the Island, and their places remained empty. Mr. Park- man, with his family, went to Europe, and was succeeded temporarily by Rev. Charles Ritter, and by Rev. R. P. Cut- ler, and finally in November, 1865, after an unsuccessful 296 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. attempt to induce Mr. Parkman, on his return to Boston from Europe, to resume his former charge, the church was closed, the building sold and removed, the land also sold, and the proceeds invested in U. S. Bonds. The corporation was continued, however, and its members patiently awaited the time when more favorable circumstances should call it to re- newed activity. That time came in 1868, when the population of New Brighton, having greatly increased, Rev. W. R. G. Mellen, then Secretary of the Hudson River Conference, be- ing informed of the disbanded state of the society, determined to gather. the congregation together, and attempt its re-organi- zation. Meetings were held at the Union Sunday School Room in New Brighton, at which he conducted the services, and after much patient and earnest endeavor on his part, the desired result was attained. A re-organization was effected, and Messrs. Daniel Low, George W. Jewett, John C. Hender- son, Charles C. Goodhue, George W. Curtis, John H. Piatt, Edward B. Merrill, J. Prank Emmons, and Andrew M. P. Davis, were chosen Trustees. A lot of land on the corner of Clinton Avenue and 2d street. New Brighton, was purchased, and a church edifice erected thereon at the cost of nearly $15,000. The larger part of this snm was paid by the funds in hand and by subscriptions, but a debt of nearly $6,000 remained. Rev. W. C. Badger was called to the pastorate, but was compelled by ill health to resign in about eighteen months. The pulpit was afterwards supplied by different clergymen for a while, but for several months the services were conducted by Mr. George W. Curtis, who read such printed sermons as he judged would interest and help the congregation. In May, 1871, Rev. W. R. C. Mellen, who had, in the meanwhile, been preaching at Detroit, was settled as pastor, and remained in charge until May, 1874, when circumstances compelled him to resign. Since when, the services have been principally and gratuitously conducted by Mr. Curtis, in the manner above mentioned, to the continued delight and satisfaction of ±he hearers. AXNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 297 During this period a fine organ has been purchased and paid for, mainly through the exertion of Mr. J. W. Simonton, who had gratuitously conducted the musical services of the congregation since the re-organization ; the debt has been paid off, Mr. Daniel Low, recently'' deceased, having con- tributed largely for this purpose, and the society has been enabled to give assistance to other weak churches, and to de- serving charities. The present trustees are Messrs. J. C. Henderson, George W. Curtis, J. W. Simonton, Greorge F. Hicks, J. Frank Em- mons, Mrs. W. T. Johnson, Mrs. C. C. Goodhue, Mrs. J. D. Vermeule and Mrs. Chas. R. Lowell. The revenues of the Church of the Redeemer are raised by subscription and not from the ' rent of pews, the seats being absolutely free. All persons of both sexes, of full age, who have been stated attendants on worship with the society for one year, and have contributed five dollars annually to its treasury, are entitled to take part, and to vote at all its pro- ceedings. Note. — The above is from the pen of a member of the con- gregation. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The first Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island was or- ganized on the first day of April, 1839, at New Brighton. For some time prior to this, however, a few individuals professing this faith, assembled regularly every week in a small apartment of the "Gun Factory," an establishment which stood at the corner of Richmond Terrace and Lafayette Avenue, and consisted of the Factory proper and a row of brick two-story cottages. The ground upon which the church (St. Peter's) was built, was donated for the purpose by the New Brighton Association, and will revert when it ceases to be used for a church of that faith. The first pastor was Rev. Ildefonso Medrano, a native of 298 ANNALS OF STATEW ISLAND. Old Spain ; he remained until December, 1845, and was sue ceeded by Rev. John Shanahan, whose brief pastorate termi nated August, 1846. Rev. James Rosevelt Bailey was the next pastor for a still briefer period, from August to December, 1846. He was afterwards Bishop of Newark, and is now Archbishop of Baltimore. Then came Rev. Patrick Murphy, who was pastor from March, 1846, to February 11th, 1848, w^hen he died of yellow fever, and was interred under the altar. He was immediately succeeded by his brother. Rev. Mark Murphy, who was succeeded by the present incumbent, Rev. James L. Conron, in August, 1852. The two brothers Murphy were remarkably quiet, unas- suming, and faithful men. In the church is a mural tablet to the memory of Patrick, in the following words : " Hie Jacet In Spem Beatse Eesurrectionis Rev''"' Patbicius Mtjephy, Presbyter Primus, ut creditur, Qui in hac Insula Mo"*""" °-»*' In Hibernia natus juxta oppidum Enniskillen, Seminarii S'" Maria Ad Monies Aluminus, et in Neo- Eboraco ordinatus, pastor Ecclesise hujus et Insulse Totius Constitutus est. Ubi Morum suavitate, Vitae integritate, Zelo et eloquentia pro Deo et Sancta Fide, ita se commendavit ut Ab omnibus vere bonus pastor, et Quasi Apostolus Inaulee haberetur, Labore tandem et morbo gravi. Oppressus, Anno setatis suae SO""- Mense post ordinationem 15"'°- die 11"«- Pebruarii 1848, animam Deo reddidit, Memoriam sui relinquens non cito Perituram, sed quse diu inter Fideles in benedictione Servabitur. Requiescat in Pace." ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 293 {Trandation.) Here lies, In the hope of a blessed resurrection, Reverend Pateick Mitephy, Believed to be the first priest Who died on this Island. Born in Ireland, near the town of EnnisMllen, graduate of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, And ordained in New York, and Appointed pastor of this Church, and Of this whole Island, where. By the amiabOity of his disposition and integrity of his life, Zeal and eloquence for God, and Holy faith, he so commended himself, that By all he was considered a truly good pastor, and As it were, the Apostle of the Island. At length, worn down by labor and a fatal disease, His soul returned to God, In the thirtieth year of his age, and ^he Fifteenth month after his ordination, February the 11th, 1848 ; Leaving a memory not soon to be Forgotten, but which shall long remain Among the faithful in benediction. May he rest in peace. ST. MARY'S CHURCH, CLIFTON. la October, 1852, this parish and. congregation were organ- ized by the late Archbishop Hughes, and the Rev. J. Lewis was appointed pastor thereof, and has continued in the same pastorate ever since. Immediately after his appointment. Father Lewis erected a temporary chapel and schools at a cost of about $6,000 ; these were used for five years. In 1857, Archbishop Hughes laid the corner-stone of St. Mary's Church, on New York Avenue, and the edifice was 300 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. completed the following year, and cost about $58,000 ; it is the handsomest Catholic Church on Staten Island. In 1858 and 1859 the rectory adjoining the church was built at a cost of $10,000. In 1862 Father Lewis purchased seven acres of land of the Parkinson estate in Southtield, and laid it out as a Cemetery ; he also built upon it a neat cottage for the keeper' s residence. A large school-house, an orphan asylum for the parish, a residence for the Sisters of Charity, and another for the male teachers of the school, were built in 1864, at a cost of about $36,000. These schools are probably the largest on the Isl- and ; the books show a daily attendance of nearly four hun- dred pupils, who are gratuitously instructed by five Sisters of Charity and two lay teachers, under the supervision of the pastor. Father Lewis is entitled to commendation for his zeal and fidelity in his efforts to promote the spiritual and temporal interest of his parishioners. ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, ROSSVILLE. This church was built in 1851, and for three years thereafter was under the care of the church at Clifton. About 1854 Rev. Caro became its pastor, and was succeeded by the Rev. Bernard McCrossen in 1857. He remained until 1859, when the Rev. John Barry became its pastor, and is the present incumbent. St. Patrick's Church at Richmond was built in 1861, and owes its existence to the persevering efforts of Father Barry, who is J ts present pastor. St. Mary's Church at Grraniteville was built about 1851, solely by contributions from the laborers in the granite quarry in its vicinity. For some time, and until 1854, it was under the care of Rev. Mark Murphy, of St. Peter's Church, New Brighton. About the latter date it was annexed to the church at Rossville, St. Joseph's, and still remains connected there- with. "J." BIOGRAPHIES. 302 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. mDlVIDUALS. Arrowsmith. — Of this name there were two on the Island during the first half of the last century — Thomas and Edmond. They were Englishmen, and appear to have aspired to an aristocratic position in society. Their public services were chiefly of a military character. Bancker. — This was a very prominent and influential family in its day. Adrian was a member of the Provincial Congress in 1775, Member of Assembly 1784, and Surrogate in ]787 ; he died in that office Sep. 30, 1792, and was succeed- ed by his son Abraham, who held the office until 1809 ; he had been sheriff in 1784. Adrian had a brother Gerard also living on the Island. Beatty. — John, and his son Edward, who died July 17, 1825, ag^d over 81 years. They owned the property lying between the Moravian Church and the Patten House, and were prominent as friends and supporters of that church. BiLLOP. — The name is introduced here only to notice the fact that Col. Christopher, so eminently notorious during the Revolution, had a son John Willett, bap. June 11, 1769, of of whom we hear nothing more. If living at the time of the evacuation of the Island, he was a lad of 14 or thereabouts, and probably accompanied his father to the British pos- sessions. Borland. — In the latter part of the 17th century, we meet the name of Lambert Borland frequently. He was a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1691, and therefore must have been a man of considerable importance. The name has now entirely disappeared from the Island. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 303 Du^fN. — In our local records, church or county, this name occurs only in connection with a single individual who is designated as John Dunn, Esq. He appears to have been a man of superior acquirements, and was twice elected Member of Assembly from the county, 1804 and 1805. He died Dec. 21, 1826, aged 57 years. Mrs. Abm. Housman, of Port Richmond, is his only surviving child in the county. GfiFFOED. — This name also occurs in the records only with reference to a single individual, as early as 1770. ^ He was a man of considerable influence, and his name is perpetuated in the public road called from him, Grifford's Lane, near Eichmond. Harrison. — John Talbot Harrison, M.D., was born Oct. 2, 1785, and died Mar. 6, 1863. His appointment as Health Ofiicer of the port introduced him to the Island, where he subsequently took up his residence. He was a Member of Assembly for the county in 1830 and 1831, Presidential Elector in 1840, and member of the State Constitutional Con- vention in 1845. He was highly respected as a man and as a physician. He was the father of H. R. Harrison, M.D., Port Richmond. Le Count, or Le Conte, John — Was a man of great in- fluence in the county early in the last century ; he was a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1726, and again in 1756 ; he was also County Judge from 1739 to 1756. Marlet. — There were two brothers of this name, Paul and Abraham, residing in the county between 1680 and 1700 ; they possessed considerable property, but the name has become extinct. They both appear to have been highly respected in their day and generation. MiciiEAU. — During the last half of the last century, and the beginning of the present, -there were several families of this 304 ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. name in the county, some of whom were men exceedingly popular. The first of the name, Paul,* was sheriff, in 1736, and member of the Colonial Assembly from 1748 to 1751 ; his son Paul, however, appears to have been a great favorite with the people of the county ; he was chosen to the Provincial Congress in 1775 — '6 ; County Clerk for 20 years from 1761 ; County Judge for 11 years from 1786, and State Senator from 1789 to 1792. His son Paul J. was Member of Assembly 1798— '9 1802— '3, and Benjamin, County Treasurer in 1787. There was never a more popular or influential family in the county, but they have all disappeared. They were residents of Westfield. Beside the above, there were individuals and families who once exerted a powerful influence in the county, who have now totally disappeared ; among them are the names of Berge, Adriance, Stoothoff, Yeghte, Vanderbeck, Staats, Veltman, Clendening, Garrabrantz, Hoogland, B,alph, Jenners, Van Wagenan, Slecht, Carenton, Spier, Hafte, Swaim, Neiius, Ryke, Schouten, Grray, Zutphen, Rykman, Van Engelen, Metzelaer, Van Tuyl, Pryor, Jurks, De Grammeaux, Vander- hoven, Richaud, Wimmer, Caspers, Packer, Van Dyck, Sim- senbach, Brebant Bosler, Tillburgh, Van Brakel De Camp. Carhart, Corbitt, Tillou, etc., etc. NICHOLAS GARRISON, The subject of this sketch was born on Staten Island in 1701. After the establishment of the Episcopal Church on the Island, his parents connected themselves therewith, and, in the early history of St. Andrew's Church, we find the name of Lambert Garrison, who was the father of Nicholas. In his thirteenth year he went to sea, and, after a sea- faring life of eight years, he came to New York, and took the command of a vessel in the West India trade. While thus engaged he met Spangen- * Vide App. N. (64.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 305 berg, in October, 1736, oti the island of St. Eustace, and it was on board of bis ship, on which the latter had taken pas- sage for New York, that he first began to be attracted towards the people with whom he subsequently cast in his lot. On a voyage to Jamaica, in 1740, his vessel was taken by a Spanish man-of-war, and himself and crew carried to Cuba, where they were imprisoned for more than a year. In 1743 he sailed for the West Indies for the last time ; he had not, however, forgotten the new attachment which he had formed ; he had met Count Zinzendorf on the island of St. Thomas in December, 1738, and in January of 1743 he welcomed him to his home on Stateh Island. It was here that Garrison con- sented to accompany the Count to Europe, and take charge of the vessel, by which he designed to send a reinforcement of brethren and sisters to Pennsylvania. In pursuance of this object, he embarked with Zinzendorf and his company, January 20, 1743, on board the ship "Jacob," Capt. Ketteltas, for London ; thence he crossed to the continent and arrived at Marienborn in March, and was there admitted to church fellowship. In the following June, he returned to England to complete his arrangements for the transportation of the colonists mentioned above, and took command of a vessel called "The Little Strength." The ship, on her voyage to America, was captured, but her crew and passengers were exchanged ; but whether they ever reached America is uncertain, though Garrison did, for in April, 1745, we find him accompanying Boehler, Anthony Seyfferi Aimers, and Pryzelius, to Europe, on the ship called " The Queen of Hungary," Captain Hilton. This vessel, also, was captured by a French privateer oflE the Scilly Islands, and taken into the harbor of St. Malo. In consequence of this delay, it was June before Garrison reached Marienborn. Here he remained during 1746. In 1747 he took command of a ship which had been fitted out with supplies and timber for the Hernhutt Mission, in Greenland. On his return, he was appointed to the command of a snow, which was then build- ing for the brethren on Staten Island. Accordingly, he sailed 306 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. for 5^ew York, and reached his home on the Island in June, 1748. The snow, called "The Irene," went to sea for the first time September 8, 1748. The next year he made a voy- age with the Irene to Greenland. In 1756 he resigned the command of the vessel in favor of his trusty mate, Christian Jacobson, and went to Germany. Though he had resolved to abandon the sea, he was prevailed upon to visit Dutch Guiana, and effect the purchase of lands on the Corentyn and Rio de Berbice, for the use of the brethren' s mission. Re- turning to Germany, he settled at Neisky, or Neisse, in Prus- sian Silesia. In 1763 he left Europe, and selected Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as the home of his declining years. It was he who gave the name of Neisky to the wooded heights that skirt the southern limits of the borough of Bethlehem, where the old sailor was wont to pass his leisure hours. He died September 24, 1781 ; his widow, Mary Ann, survived until 1799. He made his will April 7, 1766, in which he makes be- quests to his sons Nicholas, John Lambert, and Benjamin, and to his wife the money due to him from the Diacony, or Economy, at Bethlehem. In January, 1769, he appended a codicil to his will, in which he speaks of his estate as nearly expended. We are not positively assured that the Lambert Garrison, whose name is mentioned in Queen Ann's charter of St. An- drew's Church, and who was sheriff of the county in 1702, was the father of Nicholas, but the probability is that he was, as we find the name Lambert among the sons of Nicholas. ABRAHAM JONES. By referring to our list of Members of Assembly, it will be seen that the name of this individual stands first, and that he was debarred from taking his seat in that body on account of his sympathy with the royal cause ; in other words, his tory proclivities. He was the owner of a large tract of land at AKWALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 307 the present New Springville, a part of which is now owned and occupied by his great grandson Hiram J. Corsen, Esq. He was very active in promoting the cause of the king, and thus rendered himself obnoxious to the whigs on the other side of the Sound. He held a commission as captain in the regiment of loyal provincials, or tories. The following anec- dote is related of him. One night a number of whigs, who had resolved to attempt his capture, crossed the Sound and made their way, undiscovered, to his house. Rapping loudly at the door, they awakened the captain, who raised the win- dow and inquired what they wanted. " Captain Jones," replied one of them, "hurry down, the rebels are coming, and making for this house." Hastily dressing himself, he came out of the door and inquired where the rebels were ? "Here," said the first speaker, "here we are, and you must go with us." He had fallen into the trap prepared for him, and was carried into New Jersey. We are unable to state how long he was detained. At the close of the war many of the former tories on the Island took the oath of allegiance to the new government, and thus saved their estates. Whether Captain Jones did so, we do not know, but as his property was not confiscated, it is to be presumed he did. After the tory exodus to Canada, he went there also, for what purpose is not known, but he did not remain long ; on his homeward voyage he became ill, and died on board his ship, and was buried at sea. DAVID MERSEREAU. Among the prominent citizens of Staten Island of the past, may be mentioned the late David Mersereau, Esq. He was born about the year 1769, and died in April, 1835, aged sixty- six years. His remains lie interred in the burial ground of the Reformed Church at Port Richmond, near the southeast corner of the church, within a few feet of the public highway, and the spot is marked by a high marble monument. Early 308 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. in life he married Cornelia, tlie daughter of Abraham Eolf, who owned and occupied the property lately belonging to the estate of Mrs. Jane Burger, on the Shore Road, in the 3d ward of the Village of New Brighton, through the middle of which the public road called Burger Avenue now runs. Shortly after his marriage he removed to Currituck, Virginia, where he opened a store, which, under the management of his wife, proved a success, Mr. Mersereau himself being oc- cupied with other pursuits. He remained at the South sev- eral years, and accumulated a considerable amount of money. Having concluded to return to the North, he and his family embarked on a small schooner, in the hold of which he had stowed his personal effects, with a quantity of staves on the deck. During the voyage they encountered a violent storm, which capsized the vessel, and all except Mr. Mersereau and his wife were drowned. By great exertion he succeeded in bringing her to the bottom of the vessel, from which she was repeatedly washed by the waves, but as often recovered by him . At length, totally exhausted, she slipped from the ves- sel, and sank beyond recovery. For forty-eight hours he clung to his precarious support, until a passing Philadelphia vessel, which he signalled by waving his coat, rescued him. This was not his only escape from a watery grave ; at one time he was thrown into the sea from a small boat, at the South, but escaped by swimming to the shore half a mile distant. At another time his boat was upset by a squall off Port Johnson, sometimes called "Rotten Meadow," but he was rescued by a passing vessel. In November, 1779, he purchased of his father-in-law Rolf the property above mentioned, containing 140 acres. The farm house, built by the father of Mr. Rolf, stood near the site of the present mansion house of Mrs. Bement, and after the fashion of the day was constructed of stone, long and low. The Burger house, which recently stood fronting the water, but now removed further up the -Avenue, was built for Mr. Mersereau by John Hilleker, a builder of some note at that ANNALS OP STATBN ISLAND. 309 time. Here he lived with his mother for several years, until she married Peter Prall, who lived in the house now occupied by Eder Vreeland, Esq., not far from Graniteville. On this farm Mr. Mersereau built a tannery, which he placed under the superintendency of Stephen Wood. The tanner's house stood on, or very near the site of the residence of A. W. Sexton, and the remains of the vats were visible un- til recently. Mr. Mersereau' s second wife was Maria Bennett of Long Island, a sister of the wife of the late Eev. P. J. Van Pelt, D.D. By her he had but one child, a daughter who married Henry F. Heberton, Esq., of Philadelphia, and they were the parents of Mrs. C. J. Good and her sister Mrs. Curry, of Port Richmond. Beside the farm already mentioned, Mr. Mersereau was the owner of several large and valuable parcels of real estate. At one time he owned all those lots lying between the Mill Road and the Pond, and extending from the Shore Road to the Post Farm. He also owned the mill afterwards known as Bodine's mill, and the property adjacent; he built another mill at the termination of the Old Place Road ; he also built the two brick houses on the Shore Road, Port Richmond, near Jewett' s White Lead Works, one of which he sold to his brother-in-law. Dr. Van Pelt, and in the other he resided until he died. In connection with this house, he owned 30 acres of land which his executors sold to Peter N. and Eder V. Haughwout, and which now constitutes an important and beautiful portion of the Village of Port Richmond. The large building usually known as the Port Richmond or Con- tinental Hotel, at one time belonged to him ; from the wharf in front of this hotel, John Ryers ran a ferry boat to New York, fare 25 cents. John Hilleker, who built the house next east of the brick house occupied by Mr. Mersereau, built a wharf nearly opposite his residence, the remains of which are still to be seen, from which he ran an opposition ferry, fare 18 cents. Mr. Mersereau bought both of these ferries, and ran his boats from the old wharf. At the time Ryers ran his ferry, the place was known as " Ryers' 310 AJSTNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Ferry ;" after the change of owners, it was called " Mer- sereau's Ferry," by which name it was known until that of Port Richmond supplanted it. Mr. Mersereau was a very active and enterprising man, of a benevolent disposition, and exceedingly kind to his slaves, of whom he had several ; one of them, " Old Holly," may be remembered by some persons still living. The following characteristic anecdote is related of Mr. M.^ Early one morning a stranger was found lying on the old wharf at Port Richmond, who was either very ill, or by some means had been severely injured ; though still living, he was unconscious when found ; nobody recognized him or remem- bered ever to have seen him before. A great many people were naturally attracted to the spot, and among them Mr. Mersereau. The inquiry was, what was to be done with him ; one had no time to attend to him ; another had no accommoda- tions for him, and each looked on him and went on his way. At length a clergyman came to look at him, and when Mr. M. inquired what had better be done with the man, replied that he was unable to advise about the matter, and passed on. At length Mr. M. and a colored man were the only ones left with the stranger ; " Come," said he to his companion, "the priest and the Levite have looked upon him and gone on their ways ; we will be the Samaritans, and perform our duty as neighbors to the stranger," and they provided for his com- fort. Mr. M. was Member of Assembly from this County in 1807-'8 and '9, Supervisor ot Northfield in 1815, and for many years one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. NATHAN BARRETT. Nathan Barrett was born on the second day of February, 1795, in what is now the town of Hope, Waldo county. State of Maine, that State being then a territorial dependency of ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 311 Massachusetts. In early life he was apprenticed to a tanner, and served his full term of apprenticeship. During this period he was called upon to assist in defending the coast from the aggressions of the British, who were then menacing it, but he was never engaged in any important military enterprise. When he was "out of his time," an affection in one of his arms rendered him unable to follow the business to which he had been trained ; consequently, he entered into the employ- ment of a relative who carried on the dyeing business in Boston, where he learned to be a finisher. In 1819, when the New York Dyeing and Printing Establishment was organized and located on Staten Island, he was one of the original stockholders, and was appointed superintendent of the finishing department. In 1832, he was appointed general superintendent of the works of the establishment, which he conducted with great ability, and to the great profit of the stockholders. In the autumn of 1851 , he resigned his posi- tion and severed his connections with the company, and im- mediately commenced the erection of the extensive dyeing works on Cherry Lane,\which went into operation March 17th, 1852. This establishment was under his control and direction until July, 1865, on the 12th day of which month he sailed for Europe with the double purpose of improving his health, and acquiring information of the European im- provements in dyeing, and its kindred arts. During his absence he visited England, Scotland, Ireland and France, in which latter country he was taken seriously ill, and re- turned to England, and died in London on the 3d day of October, 1865. His remains were conveyed to his home, and interred in his family burial ground, in the Staten Island Cemetery, North Shore. In person. Col. Barrett was a large man, and dignified in his demeanor. In politics he professed to be a democrat, but refused to be bound by party ties. He had no political aspirations, though such was his popularity and acknowl- edged ability, that he might have attained high position had he desired it. He was twice supervisor of Castleton, and 312 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. once superintendent of tlie poor of the county, and these were the highest political offices he was ever willing to ac- cept. He obtained his title of Colonel by being elected to that office by the Staten Island regiment. About 1832 he purchased the farm of Cornelius Britton on the North Shore, which extended from Broadway to near Taylor street ; the western portion of it he sold, and laid out the remainder into several streets, and a large number of lots, which is now- known as " the village." During his term of service as supervisor, he initiated the proceedings against the corrupt "ring," which had so long preyed upon the county treasury, and as a superintendent of the poor, he happened to be "the right man in the right place." He found our county poor-house in a disgraceful condition ; the poor were not provided with knives, forks, or spoons, nor even with a table, but took their allotted portion of food, and slunk away into holes and corners to devour it like dogs ; there was no separate accommodations for the sexes, no conveniences for cleanliness, no provisions for educating the children, but all was disorder, confusion and filth. Col. Barrett soon inspired his associates with his spirit, and the necessary improvements were at once commenced ; new buildings were erected, and reformatory measures adopted iu every department, and to the minutest details, and before his term expired he had succeeded in bringing the institution to its present respectable condition. He was liberal, but unostentatious in his benefaction, up- right and consistent in his Christian deportment, and for several years before his decease, a member and an officer of Trinity Chapel, afterwards the Church of the Ascension. In every sense he was a public benefactor, an exemplary citizen, and a good man. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. It is seldom, indeed, that individual enterprise and genius have accomplished results so important, so universally bene- ANNALS OP STATBN ISLAND. 313 licial not only to the individual himself, but to the commun- ity, to the country, and to the world, as in the instance of the individual vs^hose name stands at the head of this sketch. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on Staten Island, on the 27th day of May, 1794. His father's family was of Holland descent, and had emigrated to America about the middle of the 17th century. His father, whose name was Cornelius also, was not remarkable for any peculiar traits of character, but was recognized as an industrious and honest man, engaged in agriculture chiefly. As there were no regular ferries estab- lished at that time between the Island and the city, he, as well as many others who were similarly engaged, owned a small sail-boat, or periaugua, with which to convey the pro- duce of his land to a market in the city. It was usual among the farmers on the Island, who were owners of these vessels, to accommodate their neighbors, who had none of their own, to convey their articles to market also, and this necessity finally led to the establishment of regular ferries. It would occupy too much of our space to describe the struggles of the boy Cornelius to become the owner of a boat of his own, and how he eventually succeeded, and how to his gratifica- tion and pride, he became "Captain Cornell" before he be- came a man. It would be interesting to trace the workings of his indomitable perseverance to force a way for himself through life, to their wonderful results, but we can only glance at the prominent events in his career. For several years he was engaged in carrying passengers and freight to and from the city and Long Island, accumulating and saving until, at the age of eighteen, he found himself the Captain and principal owner of one of the largest periauguas which navigated the bay, beside being interested in several others engaged in the same business. In December, 1813, he was married to Miss Sophia Johnson, also a native of the Island, and the next j'^ear removed his residence to New York. About this time he became owner and master of the largest and fast- est periaugua in the bay, which may be remembered by some yet living, as the " Dread." In 1815, he and his brother-in law. 314 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. ■Capt. JohnDe Foreest, bailtthe schooner Charlotte, (so named after the Captain' s wife), which was regarded as something extraordinary at that time, and which proved to be a suc- cessful vessel. In 1817 he attracted the notice of Thomas Gibbons, who was engaged in carrying passengers between New Yorjc and Philadelphia in steamboats, which just then began to be ex- tensively employed, and was offered the situation of captain of one of them, still spoken of by those whose memories go back to that date, as "The Mouse in the Mountain," at a salary of one thousand dollars per j'-ear. This was not half as much as he was making by his sailing vessels, but his clear head perceived that steam must eventually triumph ; he therefore accepted the ofler, that he might render himself familiar with this new motive power. A few months after he had commenced his new career, he was assigned to a larger boat, "The Bellona," then just completed. Mr. Vanderbilt then removed to Elizabethport, and shortly after to New Brunswick, to which all Philadel- phia passengers were conveyed, and from which they were carried by coaches across the State. At the solicitation of his employer, he undertook to conduct the hotel, at which the passengers remained all night, in connection with the steamboat, and made both remunerative, which they had not been before. In 1827, he leased the Elizabethport and New York ferry from Mr. Gribbons for seven years, at the expira- tion of which the lease was renewed for seven years more^ This also proved to be successful under his management. Having obtained the skill and experience which he had desired, he cut loose from Gibbons, though tempting offers were made to him to remain, and the man was master of himself again. Immediately he commenced building steamboats, and estab- lished lines on Long Island Sound and on the Hudson river, running in opposition to lines long established, but as his boats were better and faster, and his rates lower, success again crowned his efforts. The discovery of gold in Califor- ANNALS OP STATBN ISLAND. 315 nia, and the consequent rush to that country, suggested a new enterprise to his ever active mind, which culminated in the establishment of a route via Nicarauga, in July, 1851, with steamers on both oceans. In 1853 he sold his steamers to the Transit Company. About this time he built the "North Star," and with his family made the tour of Europe in it. The vessel attracted the attention and admiration of the people and the press at every port at which she touched, and the man who could conceive the idea, and had the means of building such a vessel, which eclipsed all the barges of royalty, attracted no less attention and wonder. In 1855 he established a line of steamers from New York to Havre, which, like every enterprise that had felt the magic of his touch, proved eminently successful. Among these steamers was the Vanderbilt, which proved to be the swiftest ocean steamer afloat. In the Spring of 1862, unlike thousands of others who took advantage of the necessities of the country to promote their own personal interests, he gave the splendid steamer Vander- bilt to the Government, a most munificient and timely gift, which Congress recognized by a vote of thanks and of a gold medal. This steamer was of 5,000 tons burden, and cost eight hundred thousand dollars. During the time he was occupied in the steamboat business, he built and owned over one hundred steam vessels of all descriptions. The history of the life of such a man as Cornelius Vanderbilt, presents too many prominent points to be taken up and considered in detail, in a sketch necessarily brief : we can therefore but summarily glance at what remains to be narrated. Of late years he has gradually withdrawn himself from all connection with steamboat business, and turned his attention to railroads. In this, as in all else he ever undertook, he has not been content until he could stand at the head, and is now recognized as the railroad king of the country ; his influence is felt far and wide, and he has it in his power materially to 316 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. affect the business of tlie country ; Wall Street quakes as he passes through it, for the keen and vigilant spirits of that habitation of Mammon recognize the presence of a master. The query naturally presents itself, wherein lies the secret of this extraordinary success? It cannot be ascribed to a combination of fortunate circumstances, for there was little or no failure in anything he undertook. Perhaps it lies in his power to judge more than in anything else. In the words of another, "He appears to possess an intuitive judgment of men and things. Consequently all his plans are first care- fully considered ; every possible contingency provided for, so that when he executes them he strikes with a strong arm, because a confident one." With such judgment, combined with energy and perseverance, success was the natural result. There is another feature in the character of Commodore Vanderbilt, which must not be overlooked ; he has not suf- fered his intercourse and struggles with the world to harden his heart or to extinguish the kindlier emotions of his nature ; it is said that when he returned from his European excursion in the North Star, the steamer was stopped when she arrived opposite the residence of his mother, and he went on shore to greet her first of all on his return. The rich are usually regarded as uncharitable ; it has even passed into a proverb that wealth is selfish, but to the rich men of the present generation, at least, the adage is not ap- plicable. Commodore Vanderbilt' s benefactions have not been ostentatious, but they have been numerous and valuable, to what extent will only be known when that day which shall reveal all things, shall have arrived. In the Moravian Cemetry on Staten Island, is an elegant and costly mausoleum, crowned with a beautiful marble statue of Grief. Within its granite walls lie enclosed the dust of many who were dear to him while they lived, and where his own venerable form is destined to repose in peace, when the strife of life is over. Since the above was written. Commodore Vanderbilt has departed this life. After a protracted illness, he died January 4th, 1877. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 317 DANIEL D. TOMPKINS. The subject of this sketch was born at Scarsdale, (Fox Meadows,) in the county of Westchester, N. Y., on the 21st day of June, 1774. He was the seventh son of Jonathan Gr. Tompkins, who was one of only three persons who adhered to the cause of the country during the Revolution in the town where they resided, and lived to see his son not only repeat- edly elected to the office of Governor of his native State, but elevated to the second office of the nation. Governor Tomp- kins was educated at Columbia College, and admitted to the bar in 1797. In 1798 he married Hannah, daughter of Mangle Minthorne, a wealthy resident of New York City, his wife, at the time of the marriage, being only sixteen years of age. He at once took a high stand in his profession. In 1 801 he was chosen a representative of the city in the convention to revise the Constitution of the State. In 1802 he was elected a Member of the Legislature of the State. In 1804 he was ap- pointed a puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, to fill the va- cancy made by the election of Justice Morgan to the office of governor. In 1805 and -' 6 he was a Member of Congress. In 1807 he was elected Governor of the State over Morgan Lewis. The term of office of the governor then was three years, and in 1810 he was re-elected over Jonas Piatt. In 1813 he was re-elected over Stephen Van Rensselaer. In 1816 he was again elected governor, Rufus King then opposing him. In 1817 he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and, consequently, resigned the office of governor, and was suc- ceeded by John Taylor, then lieutenant-governor. In 1821 he was chosen a delegate from the county of Richmond to the constitutional convention of the State ; of this body he was appointed president, and it was the last public office whicjh he held. He died on the 11th day of June, 1825, at his resi- dence on Staten Island. In his official capacity during the last war with Great Brit- ain, he had frequent occasion to visit the military works at 318 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. the Narrows, and thus became familiar with the beautiful sites on the Island. On the 12th of June, 1814, he made his first purchase of land in Richmond County ; it was a tract of forty-seven acres, covering a part of Tompkinsville. Subse- quently he bought several other parcels, until he became the owner of nearly seven hundred acres. The village which bore his name until it was absorbed by the corporations of New Brighton and Edgewater, was laid out by him, and the streets still known as Arietta, Minthorne, GrifEen, Sarah Ann, and Hannah, were named after his children. About 1816, at his own personal expense, he laid out and opened the public road known as Richmond Turnpike across the Island, from the landing at Tompkinsville to the Blazing Star Ferry, now known as Linoleumville, a distance of over eight miles, to the width of four rods, and was instrumental in establishing a line of stages thereon, which, in connection with his own steamboat, the Nautilus, for many years was the route of travel between New York and Philadelphia. During his residence on the Island, he and his family worshipped in the Reformed Dutch Church at Port Richmond, until the church of the same denomination at Tompkinsville was built, upon land donated, and with funds largely con- tributed by himself. He was a warm friend of the pastor of that church. Rev. P. I. Van Pelt, D.D., and aided him liberally in his numerous benevolent enterprises. The last public effort of Grovernor Tompkins was the delivery of an oration in the church at Tompkinsville on the National Anniversary, 1823. Towards the close of his life he was doomed to suffer pecuniary embarrassments, owing to the tardy justice of his country, and though numerous obstacles were thrown in his way in his efforts to collect what was justly due to him, he finally triumphed over them all. A contemporary says of him: "We fondly turn our recollections towards him as one of the most amiable, benevolent and true-hearted men that ever lived. He bore the stamp of this feeling of kindliness towards his fellow ANNALS OUP STATEN ISLAND. 319 men, in his open and frank countenance, in Ms easy and unaffected address, in the very tones of his voice, in his every day intercourse with society." His remains were interred in the family vault in St. Mark's Church, in the city of New York. SAMUEL RUSSELL SMITH, M.D. Dr. Smith was born at Waterbury, Connecticut, on the 10th day of April, 1801. Of his early youth we know but little, but at the age of fourteen he became a clerk in a book- store in the city of New York. After serving in this capacity for a time, he entered the drug business, and at the same time commenced the study of medicine, which he prosecuted to a successful issue, graduating at the University of the State of New York, in the class of 1828. In May of that year, he came to Tompkinsville, and began the practice of his pro- fession, which he pursued successfully until his death, which occurred December 24th, 1851. In person. Dr. Smith was slightly under the ordinary stature ; of a frame by no means robust, but active in all his movements. His voice was soft and low, and a smile per- petually played upon his countenance, which was indicative of the kindness and benevolence of his heart. He devoted himself assiduously to his profession, in which he was remarkably successful. He was no respecter of persons, for all ranks and conditions of life equally received his atten- tions when required. As an instance of the goodness of his heart, the following anecdote is worthy of preservation. One cold winter night, after a more than ordinary fatiguing day's work, he was awakened by a loud rap at his door. Upon answering the call, he found a poor lighterman there, who said his wife required the doctor's services as soon as possible. " I will come immediately," vvas his reply. With- out delay he prepared himself to face the snow-storm, which i!20 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. was raging without, and hastened to the lighterman's dwell- ing. After he had performed the duty required of him, and as he was preparing to return to his home, the lighterman tendered him five silver dollars, at the same time remarking, " I have been saving up this money for several weeks, know- ing that I would soon need your services, but a but little doing in my business at this season of t...^ j^^i-, ^i is all I have been able to raise." "No, no," replied the doctor, putting his hand behind him, " you need that money just now more than I do ; your expenses, in the present condition of your family, will be heavier than usual, so instead of taking your money, you must allow me to add to it," at the same time laying a five dollar bank note upon the table, and hurrying away to avoid hearing the poor man' s expressions of gratitude. This was so characteristic of the man, that when the recipient of the doctor's bounty related the circumstance to his fellows on the following morning, it created no surprise whatever, but one of them remarked, "That's just like Dr. Smith." Though the saying that a man "had not an enemy in the world" has become exceedingly trite, it was never more applicable than to the subject of this sketch. The grief of the community at his death was universal. "K." INDUSTRIES, &c. 322 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. THE NEW YORK DYEING AND PRINTING ESTAB- LISHMENT. This establishment was organized in the year 1819, under the firm name of Barrett, Tileston & Co., and continued in successful operation for a period of about six years ; a char- ter of incorporation was then obtained under the title which heads this article. The late Samuel Marsh was elected President, which position he held with great credit to himself and profit to the stockholders until his death, which occurred after he had been elected President for the forty- ninth suc- cessive year. The business of the Establishment is the dyeing and cleansing of all kinds of garments for ladies and gentlemen, as well as goods in the piece and in wholesale quantities. This Establishment also carried on the silk printing very extensively, employing at one time sixty block printers and as many attendants, and also printing by steam power. By this branch of manufacture the popular silk handkerchiefs were introduced, and sold in every State in the Union. The steady increase of the business of ihe concern com- pelled a corresponding increase in buildings and machinery, until it is now the largest and most complete establishment of the kind in the United States, if not in the world. To give the reader an idea of the immense business carried on here, we must commence with the receiving room, where the goods are deposited each day when received from its oflBces in New York. In this department about forty females are employed in tacking the goods and sewing thread numbers on each article, in every department. Next to this is the Silk Fancy Dye House, where fifty men are employed in dyeing all kinds of silk goods, ribbons, tis- sues, barages, velvets, dresses, and in fact all kinds of silk ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 323 goods whicli are found in our market. The dyers in charge of this department are very skilful, and of these the Estab- lishment always has a full corps. Adjoining this is the wholesale Worsted Dye House, where merinos, delains, alpacas, tabby velvets and a variety of other goods, are skilfully converted from unsaleable to saleable colors. A large amount of machinery is employed in these departments, as well as in the finishing rooms where the goods' are taken after being dyed. Here also much skill is em- ployed in giving the dyed fabric the appearance of new goods. Passing from this branch of the work, we come to the Book back department, where about fifty men are employed in the manufacture of book -binders' cloth. Here is machinery of the value of more than $75,000 in constant operation. This Establishment has obtained a perfection in this branch, un- equalled by any similar concern in this country, and sur- passed by none elsewhere. A constant addition of valuable machinery is rendered necessary in order to keep pace with the growing demand of trade. Next in order is the Cotton Dye House, where are upwards of thirty dyeing machines constantly running. Here may be seen every variety of cotton fabrics, such as window shades or Hollands, umbrella cloth, wigans, selesias, serges, cambrics, &c. These goods are received direct from the mills, done up in bales, and before dyeing are singed by being passed over red hot iron plates to remove the lint or fibres, after which they are bleached in large tubs, which contain about two tons of cotton each. When thoroughly white and clean, the goods are sent to the dye-house and dyed to the colors ordered ; after which they are taken to the Calendar Room, where are ten large calendars constantly at work on these goods to finish or glaze them. From this the goods are taken to the folding and packing rooms, where they are made ready for shipment to the merchants. These departments employ seventy-five men and women. Where so much machinery is in constant motion, there is also much wear and tear, which renders it necessary to keep 324 AKNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. all kinds of mechanics on the premises. The most noticeable in this line is the Machine Shop with its expensive lathes and other tools ; five men are ordinarily employed here. The Carpenter's Shop, with its circular saws, planing mills, etc., employs five men. The Blacksmith Shop and Plumber's Shop has four men. On the premises is a Maxam gas machine, which furnishes gas for the Establishment made from gasoline. The steam power is furnished by thirteen boilers, and the motive power by two large and six smaller engines ; it requires three thousand tons of coal per annum to supply these boilers. Attached to the premises is a large pond covering an area of several acres, which supplies the establishment with water. Mr. J. T. Young, President, and Mr. Joshua Mersereau, Secretary, are gentlemen well known for their sterling busi- ness qualifications, and to whom the Establishment is largely indebted for" its present growth and prosperity. The principal office of the company is 98 Duane street ; be- sides which, it has other offices at 752 Broadway, and 610 Sixth Avenue, New York ; 166 and 168 Pierrepont street, Brooklyn, and 40 North Eighth street, Philadelphia. BARRETT, NEPHEWS & CO.'S FANCY DYEING ESTABLISHMENT. This establishment is located on Cherry Lane, in the sixth ward of the village of New Brighton. It was organized in March, 185] , by Col. Nathan Barrett, Nathan M. Heal, Joseph H. Heal, Edwin B. Heal and Abraham C. Wood, who formed the copartnership under the above title, the buildings having been erected the previous year. The capital originally invested was $12,000, of which Col. Barrett contributed one-half. The business went on steadily and prosperously from its commencement ; much of the ANNALS or STATEN ISLAND. 325 profits was annually invested in enlargements and improve- ments both in buildings and machinery. The health of Col. Barrett began to fail seriously in 1865, and he determined to take a voyage to Europe, hoping to de- rive benefit therefrom physically, and to accomplish a long cherished desire of visiting French and English Dyeing Estab- lishments, in order to gain information that might be of service to this Establishment, founded principally by his enterprise, capital and skill, and in the success of which he felt a deep interest. His intelligent foresight induced him, with the consent and approval of his associates, to take the necessary steps to place the concern on the best foundation for stability, by changing the copartnership into a corporation, which was done on the 12th day of July 1865, with a capital of $132,000, represented by thirteen hundred and twenty shares of one hundred dollars each. The day this change was consummated he sailed for Europe. Very soon after his arrival out, his disease assumed a more virulent aspect, and he died in the city of London on the 3d day of October, 1865 ; thus were frustrated his hopes and his purposes. The members of the original co-partnership were also the stockholders in the new corporation ; Col. Barrett being the first President, Nathan M. Heal, V. Pres't, and Abm. C. Wood, Secretary and Treasurer. After the decease of Col. Barrett, Mr. N. M. Heal was chosen President, and Joseph H. Heal V. Pres't, Mr. Wood continuing in the offices origi- nally held by him, and these continue to be the officers of the Company to the present time. In 1862 the business of the Company had so increased as to require a larger supply of water than their streams and pond afforded. In this emergency, some land, with several springs of fine water, was purchased from the late Rev. Samuel White, distant about three thousand feet from the Establishment, and below its level ; pipes were laid under- ground, through which the water is forced by a steam pump as occasion requires. In 1866 it was deemed advisable to secure a still larger supply, and the Company purchased the 326 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. farm of the late John M. Post, containing twenty-eight acres, adjacent to the first purchase, on which were copious springs of excellent water. This latter investment has, in every respect, been a profitable one to the stockholders. Its in- ception and successful consummation are to be attributed to the sagacity and good judgment of the President, Mr. Nathan M. Heal, The buildings of the Company cover an area of an acre and a quarter, and the business, when in full operation, gives employment to about four hundred persons. FIRE-BRICK AND GAS RETORT MANUFACTORY. Midway between Rossville and Tottenville, on the shore of the Sound, and in the hamlet known as Kreischerville, are "The New York Fire-Brick, and Staten Island Clay Retort Works." In this establishment fire-bricks and gas retorts are manufactured. The works cover an acre and a quarter of land, and was established in 1845 by B. Kreischer, Esq., but the style of the firm now is "B. Kreischer and, Son." On th ■ ■ shore, in the State of New Jersey, are similar works laterial there found is inferior to that found at Kreischerville, which is a very white and homogeneous clay. This material is also used for putting a gloss on paper, and by the aid of sulphuric acid, alum may be produced. The clay is dag from pits, and is found at various depths from the surface. The value of the articles manufactured here amounts to about fifty thousand dollars annually, and the amount of capital invested is about one hundred thousand dollars. The number of men employed is from fifty to seventy-five, and sometimes more. The composition of the material used in this establishment is very similar, if not identical, with that found near Amboy, in New Jersey, the analysis of which by Prof. Cook is as follows : ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 327 Alumina 39.94 Silicic acid, combined 42. 22 Silicic acid, free . , 1.22 Silica, quartz sand 71 Peroxide of iron 41 Potash 47 Titanic acid . .... 1.63 Water, combined 13.44 100.04 Office 58 Goerck Street, New York. LINOLEUM COMPANY. A short distance southwest of Long Neck, or Travisville, as it is now called, at the westerly extremity of Richmond Turnpike, on the shores of Staten Island Sound, stand the works of "The American Linoleum Manufacturing Com- pany," a new enterprise, recently located on the Island, and the only one of the kind in the United States. It is a joint- stock concern, with a capital of $450,000, three-fourths of which is owned in England. The article manufactured is the "Patent Linoleum Floor-cloth," made from pulverized or ground cork and linseed oil, an article quite as ornamental as oil-cloth, but much more durable, and though more costly at iirst, is much cheaper on account of its durability. The Company own about 200 acres of land, and commenced building in August, 1873, and the works now (May, 1876) cover an area of about seven acres. The manufactured goods were in market for the first time in January, 1875. They employ ordinarily about sixty men, and their collective steam power is that of about 140 horses. Mr. Joseph Wild is the president of the company, and Mr. J . Cartledge manufacturing director. The office of the Company is at 90 and 92 Thomas Street, 328 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. New York city ; Mr. C. H. Pepper, 1283 Broadway, is the retail agent. The article manufactured by this Company is becoming constantly more popular, requiring a continued increase of facilities for producing it. WHITELEAD AND LINSEED OIL MANUFACTORIES. A few rods east of the old steamboat landing at Port Rich- mond, and between the Shore road and the shore of Kill Van KuU, are the Whitelead works of John Jewett and Sons ; this constituted the original firm ; the present consists of G. W. Jewett, J. A. Dean, C. H. Jewett and O. D. Jewett. The works are built upon, the site of the old oil factory, which was burned many years ago, and have been much en- larged and extended since their first erection in 1842. They now occupy two and a half acres of land ; the principal building is of brick, three stories high, and one hundred and fifty feet in length, with a brick wing at right angles, nearly as long ; the corroding houses cover an area of 200 by 125 feet ; the machinery is propelled by engines, in the aggregate, of one hundred and fifty horse power. About seventy-five men are usually employed, and about two thousand tons of white- lead are manufactured annually. Two of the partners of the above described establishment, Messrs. G. W. Jewett and J. A. Dean, commenced the manu- facture of linseed oil in 1869. The buildings, which are nearly a mile West of the Whitelead Works, also stand be- tween the Shore Road and Kill Van KuU, and partly on a large wharf. The main building is of brick, three stories high, one hundred and twenty feet long by seventy-six feet wide, with an addition seventy-six by twenty-five feet, and a tower containing a public clock. This establishment employs about fifty men, and manufactures about 1 a million of gallons of oil annually. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 329 DE JONGE'S PAPER FACTORY. This establishmeut was originally located in New York city, but as business increased, and additional facilities be came imperative, the works were removed to Staten Island in 18fi2. They are located on the South side of Richmond Turnpike, about half a mile from Tompkinsville. Louis Dejonge and Charles F. Bentgraf are the proprietors, and carry on the business of coloring, printing, and finishing fancy paper, under the style of Louis Dejonge & Co. The capital in- vested is about $200,000, and the annual value of the manu- factures about $300,000. The works cover an area of about two acres, the principal building is about 230 feet long by 40 feet wide, with a wing at right angles of 125 by 30 feet. From 110 to 120 hands are regularly employed in the estab- lishment, and the engines, in the aggregate, are about one hundred horse power. The office of the Company is at 71 and 73 Duane Street, New York city. THE OYSTER TRADE. By far the most important of the industries of Staten Island is its oyster business, which is carried on in several parts of this and the neighboring counties, where the sea shores offer the proper facilities, chiefly by inhabitants of Mariner's Harbor. The business would be of very limited extent and of trifling importance, if confined to the vicinity of the residences of the proprietors. There are so many conditions and contingencies attending it, that nothing more than a very general description can be given. The business is necessarily not local, but extends in its multitudinous ramifications from the shores of Long Island Sound to the rivers of Virginia. There are numerous large 330 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. schooners, owned wholly or in part upon Staten Island, en- gaged exclusively in transporting oysters from the rivers of the last mentioned State to the metropolitan market, or to more northern shores, to be planted, where they are left to grow and fatten until they are in proper condition to sell. In addition to these large sea-going schooners, there are numerous smaller sailing vessels occupied in carrying the small, or seed oysters, from one place to another for planting, or the mature mollusk from the beds where they were placed to grow and fatten, to the dealers in the metropolis and else- where. The vessels employed in this trade, hailing from Staten Island, may be jcounted by the hundreds, while the individuals subsisting thereby may be enumerated by thou- sands, while the capital invested may be estimated by millions. When the season is fair, and no adverse circum- stances intervene, the business is lucrative, sometimes remarkably so ; but success depends so much on judgment and experience^ that a novice, under the most favorable circumstances, lacking these, would more frequently fail than succeed. There are, besides, so many accidents beyond the perception of human sagacity, or the control of human power, that the business, at the best, may be considered, in a great degree, precarious. Sometimes whole cargoes, worth thousands of dollars, are lost at sea on the passage, either by storm or by diseases peculiar to oysters themselves ; some- times valuable beds are ruined by these diseases, or by fishes, especially drums, which crush the shells and suck out their contents, and in a great variety of other ways the expenses and labors of a season are sometimes suddenly and irretriev- ably lost. No cultivator or dealer is able to estimate with any degree of certainty, at the beginning of a season, what its results may be. Patience and indomitable perseverance, together with a competent capital at hand, are the only con- ditions which will, not insure success, but render it probable. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAN1>. 331 THE STATEN ISLAND RAILROAD. This road extends from Vanderbilt's Landing to Totten- Tille, and is thirteen miles in length, and its original cost was about $300,000. The first meeting of citizens to discuss the practicability of constructing the road, was held in the village of Richmond, on the 2d day of August, 1851, at which Articles of Associa- tion were submitted, discussed and adopted, and filed in the office of the Secretary of State, on the 18th day of October, 1851. On that day an election was held for the first Board of Directors, and resulted in the election of the following gentle- men, viz : Joseph H. Seguine, Joel Wolfe, Edwin R. Bennet, Stephen Seguine, Henry Cole, Henry I. Seaman, Henry Van Hovenborgh, Peter C. Cortelyou, John Gr. Seguine, William Totten, Greorge White, William King, and Cornelius White. Joseph H. Seguine was elected President, Stephen Seguine Treasurer, and George White, Secretary. The first annual report was made to the State Engineer and Surveyor on the 80th day of September, 1852. Numerous obstacles presented themselves to prevent the speedy completion of the road, not the least of which was the difficulty of securing a right of way over the lands of several landed proprietors, and in January, 1855, it became necessary for the company to apply to the Legislature for an extension of time to construct their road. The first receipts from passengers was on the 23d day of April, 1860, the trains running only a part of the way, but on the 2d day of June, of that year, the formal opening of the road took place. Through various embarrassments and difficulties, monetary and otherwise, the conductors of the enterprise have per- severed, until the road may now be considered as a permanent institution of the county. 332 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. BREWERIES. Among the principal industries of Staten Island must be included its breweries for the manufacture of lager beer. The Island appears to have been selected as a locality peculiarly adapted to this manufacture, on account of the number and copiousness of its springs of excellent water. These establish- ments, collectively, pay an immense revenue tax, and this tax is one dollar on each barrel ; the amount of the tax indicates the number of barrels brewed annually. The largest of these establishments is Bechtel' s Brewery, at Stapleton. It was founded in 1853 by John Bechtel. In 1865 he sold the whole concern to his son, George Bechtel, the present proprietor. The capital invested amounts to the enormous sum of $400,000. In 1865 the revenue tax of this Brewery amounted to $10,000, and, in 1875, to $60,000. It employs about fifty hands. The next Brewery in importance is the Clifton, in Edge- water. It is invested with some degree of interest from the fact that it was established by Gen. Garabaldi and his partner, Meucci, in 1851. Since their day it has passed through the hands of several proprietors: viz., Louis Gross, Christian Trefz, Gabriel Mayer, at whose decease it passed into the hands of the present proprietors, David Mayer and Fr. Bach- mann. The capital invested amounts to $250,000, and its revenue tax was $40,000 in 1875. It employs forty-five hands. The Constanz Brewery, in Middletown, near the Four Cor- ners, was so called from the name of the native place of one of its founders. It was established in 1852 by August Smidt & Co. After running it successfully for several years, it passed into the hands of Finzel & Decker ; they, in turn, sold it to Joseph Setz, and, recently, he conveyed it to Monroe Eck stein; the present proprietor. The capital invested amounts to $250,000. Its revenue tax in 1875 was $18,000, and it em- ploys twenty hands. The Atlantic Brewery, at Stapleton, is owned by Rubsam ANNALS or STATBN ISLAND. 333 & Horrmann. It was established in 1870, has a capital of $175,000, and employs thirty-three hands. Bischoff' s Brewery was established, at Stapleton, in 1854 or '5, by Gillich. Subsequently it became the property of Wolf & Reinhardt, and now belongs to George BischoflF. Its capital is about $75,000, its revenue tax $11,000, and it em- ploys twenty hands. There are several other similar establishments on the Island, but not on so large a scale as the above. At the Centennial Exhibition, in Philadelphia, there were eleven prizes awarded to brewers in the United States, three of which were awarded to Staten Island brewers ; viz., to Mayer & Bachmann, George Bechtel, and Rubsam & Horrmann. Eckstein, Bischoff, and several others, did not compete. "L." OLD FAMILIES. 336 AXNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. THE] OLD FAMILIES. PRELIMINAEY. In preparing a history of the old families of Staten Island, it was intended at the outset to give the genealogical descents of each as full as it was possible to obtain them ; w;e have done so, but not in the manner first proposed. Insuperable obstacles have presented themselves on every side. Two or three have declined to impart any information, probably be- cause they knew so little of their own families, that they had none to impart, or, for some other unexplained reason. In the vast majority of instances, however, inquiries have been cheerfully answered, and every possible facility aiforded, but the most of them have been unable to go further back into the past than their own grandfathers. Family bible records have afforded but little assistance, as in most cases they give only the dates of the births or deaths, or both, of individuals, without informing us what relationship they bore to other individuals mentioned in the same record, and which the families themselves are unable to trace. Other records, again, inform us that " Father A," or " Mother B," died on a certain day, without informing us whose father or mother they were, or even giving us the full name of the individual. In several instances, we have succeeded in ob- taining a perfect chain of descent of some branch of a family from the original emigrant, or settlers, down to their descend- ants of the present day, as in the Bodine, Mersereau, Van- derbilt, Winant, and other families. Obviously, it was im- possible to trace the descent of each branch of each family, for it would have been an almost interminable, and constantly accumulating labor. These, and other difficulties constantly presenting themselves, the original design was, of necessity. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 337 abandoned, and instead thereof, the reader is presented with such notices of the old members of their respective families, as we have been able to find in the records of the county, the several churches and the families themselves, leaving each to trace out his own pedigree from the materials thus furnished, if he is able. Imperfect as these notices may be, it must be gratifying to the descendants of these old families to read the names of some of their ancestors, of whom, per- haps, they never heard before. It will be observed, that in numerous instances we give the full maiden name of the wife and mother, and the dates of the baptisms of the children ; these are taken from the records of the Dutch church. In other instances, we give only the baptismal names of the wife and mother, and the dates of the Mrths of the children ; these are taken from the records of St. Andrew's Church, as are all the records of marriages. A blank space has been left after the record of each family, for the purpose of adding, in pencil, such names as may be desired. On Staten Island, as well as elsewhere, there are a few families whose ancestors reflect no credit on their descend- ants, or whose descendants reflect no credit on their an- cestors ; these, for obvious reasons, have been omitted. 338 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ALSTON. Originally this was a Scotch family ; one of its most noted members was Charles Alston, a celebrated Scotch physician, and author. He died in 1760. Joseph Alston, the son-in-law of Aaron Burr, and a former Governor of South Carolina, was also of this family. The first of the name on Staten Island was David Alston, who came here from New Jersey, somewhere about the beginning of the Revolution . He was commissioned a Captain in the British army, his company was composed of provincial loyalists, or tories ; he owned the property recently belonging to the estate of Samuel Decker, deceased, in Northfield. The large stone house in which he lived and died, was demolished a few years ago. He died between the 6th and 14th of May, 1805, for these are the dates of his will and its probate. He speaks, in that document, of his sons Warren, Japhet and David. It is said that he continued to draw his half -pay from the British Government as long as he lived. His son Japhet, at the time of his death, which occurred July 31, 1842, at the Four Corners, Castleton, was the father of Moses Alston, Esq. , late twice sheriff of the county, and of his brothers David,* Japhet, Adam,* George and William. A copy of Captain Alston's Commission is given below, as an interesting and curious old document. L. S. By His Excellency Sir William Howe, Knight of the most Honorable Order of the Bath, General and Com- mander-in-Chief of all His Majesty's Forces within the Colonies lying on the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to West Florida inclusive, &c., &c., &c. To Baxiid Alston, Esq.: By virtue of the Power and Authority in Me vested, I DO hereby constitute and appoint You to be a Captain of a Company in the Third Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, Commanded by Lieut. Colonel Edward V. Dongan. Yon are * Dead. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 339 therefore to take the said Company into Your Care and Charge, and duly to exercise the Officers as Soldiers thereof in Arms, and to use Your best Endeavours to keep them in good Order and Discipline from Time to Time, as you shall receive from the General or Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Forces in North America, now and for the Time being Your Lieut. -Colonel Commandant or any other Your Superior officer, according to the Rules and Discipline of War in Pursuance of the Trust hereby reposed in You. Given under my Hand and Seal at Head Quarters in New York, the Fifteenth day of July, One Thousand Seven Hun- dred and Seventy- Six, in the Sixteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland king. Defender of the Faith, and so forth. By his Excellency's Command, W. Howe. Robert Mackenzie. ANDROYETTE. This is one of the old families of the Island, but it was never very prominent nor very numerous ; the notices of it therefore are few. They appear to have confined themselves chiefly to Westtield. The name occurs nowhere in the civil list of the county. 340 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. John is mentioned in the county records as having bought land of Tunis Egbert, Jan. 27, 1699, and as having sold land in 1705. Peter and Rebecca Cole had the following children : Daughter Rebecca, bap. Mar. 27, 1720. Daughter* Elizabeth, bap. Dec. 25, 1723, died in infancy. Twins Elizabeth and Anna, bap. Jan. 1, 1726. John and Leah Swam had son John bap. Apr. 7, 1729, and dau. Leah, bap. May 17, 1724 ; this John we find mentioned as collector of the West Division in 1767 and 1768. Peter and Caty his wife, had son Peter, born July 6, 1765 ; he made his will Dec. 21, 1792, proved Mar. 17, 1802, in which he speaks of his wife Catharine, his dau. Catharine, wife of Dow Storer ; dau. Elizabeth, wife of Peter Latourette ; dau. Mary, wife of Joseph Totten ; sons Peter, Charles and John. These three sons were married as follows : Peter and Elizabeth Slack, Jan. 4, 1789. Charles and Margaret Slack, Sep. 11, 1797, and John and Ann Cole, Aug. 21, 1802. The family is at present represented by the three brothers, Cornelius C, John and Benjamin; their grandfather was usually known as Major John, and their father as young Major John. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 341 BARNES. George Barnes and Roger Barnes, brothers, came from England many years before the RevolutioD, bnt it is not cer- tain that they came together. Roger bought land in Febru- ary, 1762, in Southfield ; George, about 1770, bought land in Castleton, and settled upon it. This was a large tract, lying at the southwest corner of the Turnpike and Manor Road. Constahz Brewery and the Child's Nursery occupy a part of it. Roger's wife's name was Ann, and they had a son Robert, born May, 1760, and a daughter Margaret, born April 8, 1766. George' s wife' s name was Dorothy, and they had the following children : Elizabeth, born July 18, 1767. John, born October 11, 1768. Roger, born January 7, 1771. They had, also, a son George. Roger married Sally Lake, a sister of Bornt Lake, who was killed, (see Lake family,) and after the death of Roger, she married Richard Wood. John married Margaret Ferine, May 2, 1793, and they were the parents of Capt. John W. Barnes, of Port Richmond, and grandparents of Barnes Brothers, of the same place. 342 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. BEDELL. We find this name at an early date in America, but not in connection with Staten Island. In 1673 we find Robbert Beedill, Daniel Beedel, Mathew Beedel, and John Beddell, enrolled among the inhabitants of Hempstead, Long Island. It is nearly a century after that date, that we find the name in any of the records of Richmond County. In 1768, Silas rendered a "bill for "docktering," whence we infer that he was a physician. In the same year mention is made of John, who was County Treasurer when he died, in the early part of 1781. There is a Joseph also mentioued in 1770, but not the Joseph alluded to elsewhere as having been taken prisoner by the Americans when a boy ; they were father and son. The father made his will Oct. 28, 1793, proved Nov. 19, same year, in which he speaks of his sons Jesse and Joseph, and his daughters Mary, Pattie, Pegge, Catharine and Jane ; his wife's name was Catharine ; his son Joseph was born Oct. 24, 1763 ; Jesse was born 1773, and died Aug. 28, 1852. Stephen and Catharine Latourette were mar. May, 1766, and had a son David born July 19, 1771. Silas (the doctor) and Mary his wife, had the following children : Phebe, born Nov. 19, 1770. James, born Apr. 9, 1773. John, born Mar. 28, 1775. James married Hetty Parker Jan. 12, 1806. There was another J ohn, wife Catharine, who had a dau. Hillite, born Apr. 7, 1771. Stephen and Mary Donelly were mar. Mar. 9, 1808 ; Israel died at Elizabethtown, N. J., Aug. 30, 1830; he was the father of the Rev. Gregory Townsend Bedell, D.D., an eminent Divine of the Episcopal Church, who was born at Fresh Kill, Oct. 28, 1793, and died Aug. 30, 1834, just four years after his father to a day. Rev. Dr. Bedell was the father of the Rev. Gt. Thurston Bedell ; Rev Dr. Bedell was ANNALS OF 8TATEN ISLAND. 343 an only son ; he was also the nephew of the late Bishop Moore, his mother being sister of the Bishop. BLAKE. This family is of English origin ; the date of their arrival or settlement on the Island is not known, though it was probably about, or just anterior to the middle of the last century ; like most of the other families of the same nation- ality, they were decided royalists during the Revolution. The first name of the family we find on the Records is that of William, who married Mary Woglom, and had the following children, viz.: John, born Sept. 28, 1763, died Sept. 30, 1852. William, born Apr. 21, 1766, died Jan. 16, 1852. Edward, born 1773, died Dec. 14, 1845. John married Tabitha Merrill, and died childless. WUliam married Ann Corsen, and had the following child- ren : Daniel, lately deceased, William (drowned), Richard C. (still living in Illinois), Edward and Greorge. Edward was the father of Mrs. Margaret Minott, of West New Brighton. John, usually known as Capt. John W. Blake, owned and occupied the now valuable property corner of Mill and Manor roads. West New Brighton, extending westward on both sides 344 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. of Cherry Lane, and embracing the site of the Dye Works of Barrett, Nephews & Co. William owned and occupied the property on the Little Clove road, subsequently owned by D. Porter Lord. Daniel, son of William, recently deceased, was the father of Daniel, captain of the Police force of the county, and the present representation of the family on the Island. BODINE. This family is of French origin. The name is not men- tioned by Smiles among the Huguenots. The first historical allusion to the name that we have met is, a brief biographical account of John Bodin, who was a native of Angers, studied law and lectured at Toulouse ; he wrote several works, and died of the plague at Laon, in W96. The date of the emi- gration of the family to this country is not known, but it must have been in the latter part of the 17th or very early in the 18th century, for we find the name of John Bodine men- tioned in the county records as having purchased land in 1701, and was still living in 1744, as we find his name and that of his wife Hester mentioned as having sold land at that date. Mention is also made in records at Albany of John Bodein, in 1707. It is probable that he was an emigrant, as we find him preserving the French orthography of his name, Jean, and of his son. who came with him, Francois. Jean was also ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 345 a witness to a baptism in the R. D. Churcli, in April, 1720 ; he was therefore a Protestant, or Huguenot. Francois* married Maria Dey, and they had a son named Jean, baptized in the same church Nov. 29th, 1719. Of this second Jean, or John, we find no account except that his wife' s name was Dorcas, and that they had several children baptized. They were undoubtedly the parents of John Bodine, who was born in February, 1753, and of James Bodine, born in January, 1759. John died in March, 1835, nearly 82 years of age, and James in May, 1838, nearly 80 years of age. John married Catharine Britton, sister of the late Mr. Nathaniel Britton ; their sons were John, usually recognized in the local history of the North Shore, as "Squire John," Jacob, (the father of W. H. J. and Edmund Bodine, constituting the present firm of Bodine Brothers, the late Capt. John, James, Jacob and Albert, and three daughters ; ) and Vincent, who re- moved from the Island. James was the father of the late Mr. Abraham Bodine, of Mariner's Harbor, and of several other sons and daughters now dead. " Squire John" owned considerable property on the North Shore, among which was the mill, and the pond, and the land east of it, including the old Dongan Manor house, which he subsequently sold to his father, who died in that house in 1835. He also owned the property now occupied by tbe store of Pine, Hillyer & Co., the residence of Mr. C. M. Pine, and the dwelling west of it, in which he lived at the time of his decease. * Vide App. N. (65.) 346 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. BOGART. This family is of Dutch, and not of English extraction, as is generally supposed. The name was, originally, written Bogaert. The earliest mention of the name in the province occurs in an assessment roll of Breucklen (Brooklyn), dated 1673, where Theunes Grisbertse Bogaert is named, having the largest assessment on the roll. We find him again assessed in 1683. In 1715 we find the name of Simon enrolled among the militia of Kings County. Our theory is that this Simon had a brother Tunis, and that they were sons of Gysbert: for, in the assessment mentioned above, he is rated for three polls (himself and two sons) ; that these sons married on Long Island, the one a Ten Eyck, the other a Hageman, (for these names were common on Long, but were not found on Staten Island,) and then purchased land and removed here. Simon Bogaert and Margarietje Ten Byck had the following children, viz. : A daughter Elisabet, bap. Oct. 18, 1719. A daughter Margareta, bap. Deo. 3, 1722. A son Simon, bap. May 19, 1726. A son Grysbert, bap. Jan. 19, 1729. A daughter Sarah, bap. Feb. 13, 1732, and perhaps others. Tunis and Catharine Hegeman had the following children, viz. : A son Isaak, bap. Nov. 2, 1718. A son Adrian, bap. Dec. 18, 1720. A son Abraham, bap. Apr. 21, 1723. A daughter Maria, bap. Mar. 28, 1725. A son Cornelius, bap. Mar. 2, 1729, and perhaps others. Simon, (probably son of Simon,) and Martha, his wife, had the following children, viz. : A daughter Mary, born Dec. 4, 1746. A son Simon, born June 19, 1754. A son Richard, born Feb. 22, 1757. Isaac and Rachel had a son John, born Oct. 14, 1770 ; also ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 347 a son Simon, who was the father of the present representative of the family on the Island, Mr. Timothy C. Bogart, near the Four Corners. BRAISTED. Though this name has been identified with the county for a century and a half, the earliest notice of it in the old church records, is that of William and Christina Bouwman his wife, who had a son Johannes, bap. in 1715, and a son Andries, Aug. 18, 1719. In the county records we meet with him as having purchased land in 1730. Johannes, or John, son of William, married Trintje Haughwput, and had a son Jan, or John, bap. Aiig. 18, 1741, and a son Peter, bap. Aug. 15, 1748. We then lose trace of the family for 30 years : then it appears again in the name of Egbert and Rachel his wife, who had a son Egbert, born May 6, 1773. The next and only remaining notice we have of the family in the last century is the marriage of John and Nautchie (Anna) Martling, daughter of John Martling, Feb. 14, 1790. The family is now represented by Capt. J. Braisted, of Edgewater, and a family or two at Watchogue, in the town of Northfield. 348 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. BRITTOtf. This family is of French descent, and their name was originally written Breton, another example of the change of French names into English. The earliest mention of the name in connection with the Island, is that of Capt., some- times called Col. Nicklos, who was born in 1679, and died Jan. 12, 1740.* A^ ^*<'***ci2> fhM^rc TtA-Hcu^^.t^ cl*,^ £U<^ William was defendant in a suit at law Oct. 3, 1680. Nathaniel was plaintiff in a suit in July, 1681, and again in a suit with Lewes Lakerman in the same year. These two last named were adults when " Col. Nicklos" was an infant, but the consanguinity between them cannot now be ascertained. There was another William, a son of Nicholas, probably Col. Nicklos, born Oct. 11, 1708. There was a Joseph, perhaps a brother of William, who had a son James, bap. Apr. 23, 1707, and a daughter, in 1708. There was also a Richard, who purchased land in 1694. Nathaniel made his will in 1683, but he was still living in 1695 ; he was probably the same individual who was a party to the law-suit alluded to above. Nathaniel and Esther Belleville had a daughter, bap. Apr. 9, 1732. Nathaniel, and Mary his wife, had the following children : Joseph, born Nov. 15, 1760. Richard, born Mar. 22, 1766. William, born Sep. 19, 1768. Samuel and Mary had the following daughters : Addra, born July 7, 1771. Mary, born July 31, 1773. Nathaniel and Catharine had a daughter Mary, born Apr. 4, 1775 ; at her baptism, the father was also baptised. Samuel and Polly Latourette, married May 24, 1797. The present representative of one branch of the family is J. A. H. Britton, Esq., of New Dorp ; his father was Nathan- * Vide App. N. (66.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 349 iel, whose place of interment is marked by the marble monu- ment at the southwest corner of the Church of the Ascension. Nathaniel was born in 1764 or '5 ; he was twice married ; his first wife was a Van Buskirk, of Bergen, and they were the parents of Debora, wife of Joshua Mersereau, born Aug. 4, 1782, died Mar. 26, 1840 ; Cornelius, born July 1, 1785, died April 3, 1867 ; he resided at Fresh Kill for many years before his death. Abraham, born Aug. 20, 1787, died Aug. 26, 1866; he resided on the Clove road in Castleton, and was the father of Henry and Abraham, both recently deceased, who resided on the pa- ternal property. Nathaniel, Jr., born in 1792, died Feb. 13, 1841 ; he owned and resided on the property on the east side of Broadway, West New Brighton, extending the whole length of that highway. He had also another son, John. Nathaniel' s second wife was Margaret Bedell, who was born Jan. 5, 1768, and died Sep. 21, 1849 ; she was the mother of J. A. H. Britton, Esq., as before mentioned. See note, Vanderbilt family. BURBANK. The Burbanks are of English origin. The family tradition is that there were three brothers came to this country together, one of whom settled on Staten Island, the other two in New England, but their names and the date of their arrival has 350 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. been lost. There are several branclies of the family, but all are descended from the one brother, who took up his abode on the Island. John W., residing near the Four Corners, and his brother Jacob, of Tompkinsville, are the sons of Jacob, who was born April 9, 1771, and died Sept. 14, 1854. He was twice married, his first wife having been Ann Wandell, and his second Lucy Thompson, widow of Hennell (?) Jacob was the son of Abraham, who was born Nov. 20th, 1744, and died May 12th, 1822. Ann his wife was born June 9th, 1742, and died Nov. 24th, 1822. Their sons were Jacob, mentioned above, and Isaac, born June 17, 1787, and died Mar. 21, 1856. The earliest mention of the name is in the baptismal record of the Ref. Dutch Church at Port Richmond, as follows : Thomas and Maritje Martling his wife had a daughter baptized April 22, 1707. Other notices of the family, are found in the records of other churches and of the county. John and Leah Haughwout his wife had a son Thomas, baptized Dec. 3, 1728, and a son John, Aug. 16, 1743. Lucas and Martha Baile (Bailey) his wife, had children baptized between March 28, 1736, and April 13, 1 742. Peter made his will Nov. 6, 1774, which was proved Nov. 5, 1793, in which he mentions his wife Martha and his sons John, and James and his daughter Martha. There is another Thomas mentioned in the County records 1768. John and Elizabeth his wife had a son William, born June 3, 1786. James and Nelly his wife had a son Abraham, born Sep. 1, 1786. There is mention made in the County records of John, who was paid by the county for keeping his father, an invalid. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 351 BURGHER, BURGER. These, at the present day, are two distinct families, who write their names as above. Johannes Burger, from Giesman, came over in the ship Stettin, Sept., 1662; but where he settled, is not known. There was an Elias Burger and Susanna Whitman, his wife, who had a son Nathan, bap. Feb. 23, 1724, and this is the first record of the name in the County. Col. Mcholas Burgher was born Jan. 23, 1768, and died May 23, 1839 ; he was the father of Matthias, John, James G., David, and several other children. John was the father of Mr. David Burgher, of Edgewater, the present representa- tive of the family spelling their name with an Ji. The other family, who eschew the Ti, and adhere to the original orthography, are of comparatively recent connection with the Island. David D. Burger was born in South Carolina in 1777, and settled on Statenlsland in 1814, where he died in Feb., 1831. He left several sons, of whom Nicholas, of Four Corners, and Samuel, of Bull' s Head, still survive. BUSH. This name, written Bosch, in the Dutch records, is found here early in the last century. The family was never very 352 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. numerous nor prominent, consequently the notices of its members are very few. Joshua, or Josiah, had a son Samuel, bap. 1706. Nicholas and Elizabeth Drinkwater had the following chil- dren : Edward, bap. Nov. 24, 1728. Barent, bap. Sep., 1734. Nicholas, bap. July 13, 1740. Uarret had a daughter Mary, bap. Sep. 30, 1787, and daughter Elizabeth, bap. Aug. 30, 1789. Joseph and Mary Johnson were married Dec. 10, 1792. Lambert and Mary Stilwell were married Jan. 27, 1795. The family name, though not as old as some others on the Island, was in the province at an early date. Among the emigrants who came over in the ship Fox in August, 1662, we find the name of Jan Bossch from Westphalen. There was another family of this name descended from John Bush, an Englishman, who fought at Bunker Hill on the side of the Americans, and subsequently took up his residence on Staten Island, where he married, and had at least one son, whose name was William, who was the father of the late Mr. John Bush of Watchogue, Northfield, and of Mrs. S. D. Kennison, of West New Brighton. ANIMALS OF STATEW ISLAND. 353 BUTLER. This was another of the royalist families which were here before and during the Revolution. The earliest mention of the name in the church records is in 1732, where James and Sarah Carem had a son John, bap. Mar. 26. In St. Andrew's records, we find the following : Henry and Balaesha (Baletta) had a son James, born May 8, 1759 ; and a son Nathaniel, born Mar. 23, 1768. Thomas and Mary had a son James, born Oct. 19, 1758, and a son Antony, born Nov. 17, 1769. John and Rachel had a son Daniel, born Oct. 29, 1758. John and Mary had a son Henry, bap. Mar. 11, 1776. Thomas and Susan had a daughter Maria, bap. May 13, 1790. Thomas and Mary Herod married Dec. 20, 1789. Daniel and Elizabeth Pray married Dec. 29, 1807. The family is at present in part represented by Mr. Talbot Butler, of Port Richmond, whose father was Thomas, and mother Eleanor Crocheron, daughter of Abraham ; Thomas had several brothers, James, John, Elias and Henry, and they were the sons of John and • Kingston his wife. Thomas was twice married, his second wife was a widow Blake, maiden name Wood. 354 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CANNON. On Staten Island the name is usually accented on the last syllable. The family was here as early as 1680, but it was never very numerous or prominent ; its members appear to have been of a retiring nature, and are never found mentioned in any official character, except in one instance where one of them held a minor military office. Andreas (Andrew) was plaintiff in a suit in 1680, and was probably the progenitor. We find no further mention of them until John and Maria Egbert had a son Abraham, bap. May 7, 1741. A daughter, Apr. 22d, 1746 and a son Jacobus, July 19, 1748. David and Aeltje (Alida) Prall, had the following children : A daughter, bap. May 2d, 1753. A son, Arent, bap. Nov. 2d, 1754. A son, David, Jan. 29, 1758, and A son, Andries, Aug. 26, 1759. David is also mentioned in 1755 as owner of a slave. Andrew and Mary Wright were married Dec. , 1795. CHRISTOPHER. The original of this name is Christoffel, which is the Dutch for Christopher. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 355 The earliest mention of the family occurs in a church record, as follows : Barent and Anna Catharina Stilwell had the following chil- dren baptized. A son, Nicklaas, Aug. 4, 1703. A daughter, Catharyna, Apr. 23d, 1706, died young. A daughter, Rebecka, Apr. 20, 17 — . A daughter, Maria, 1710. A daughter, Susanna, Jan. 11, 1719 ; they had twin chil- dren Catharina and Barent, bap. Aug. 13, 1716. This Barent is mentioned in the county records as having sold land in 1704. Stoffel also sold land the same year. Catharine Christopher, widow of Albert Rykman, had a posthumous child, Albert, bap. Oct. 26, 1729. Hans (John) and Jane Arrowsmith, had the following chil- dren baptized. A son, Johannes, Apr. 16, 1732. A son, Barnt, Apr. 14, 1734. A son, Joseph, Aug. 8, 1736. A son, Kichard, Sep. 80, 1739. Nicolas and Christina Bowman had a son, Barnt, bap. Nov. 27, 1726, and a daughter Sep. 26, 1731. Richard (above) and Esther his wife, had the following children : John Grarrison, born Sep. 18, 1770. James G-rover, born Aug. 30, 1772. Joseph, born May 9, 1775. Joseph, son of John, had a son Joseph, who was father of Capt. Richard Christopher, of West New Brighton. 356 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. COLE. We have nowhere found the slightest allusion to the origin of this family, but an individual of the same name was on the Island before the beginning of the last century ; in the county records we find the name of Abraham Cole as having sold land in 1695, which, of course, he must have purchased at an earlier date. In the church records, we find no further mention of the name for more than half a century, though the name of Abraham appears to have been perpetuated. Abraham and Hannah had a daughter Ann, born May 11, 1762. A son Abraham, born Mar. 6, 1766, and A son John Bedell, born July 31, 1770. Peter and Susannah Latourette had a son Henry, born Feb. 6, 1765. Richard lived in the county in 1766, and Cornelius in 1772. Cornelius and Ann Dyelland were married May 1766. Stephen and Ann had a daughter Ann, born July 22, 1768. A son Stephen, born Sep. 11, 1771. A son John, born Feb. 5, 1775, and A daughter Margaret, who married Samuel Holmes ; — see Holmes family. Stephen, the son, married Jane Mersereaa, Oct.' 16, 1796, and John, the son, married Mary Winant, Apr. 1, 1797. Isaac and Esther his wife, had a son Edward, born Apr. 8, 1770. Richard and Mary Spragg were married Oct., 1774. Richard and Mary his wife, had a son Abraham, born Mar. 6, 1775. John and Catharine his wife, had a son Abraham, born Apr. 6, 1775. Cornelius and Frances Cole were married Nov. 1], 1797. John and Eliza Drake were married Dec. 24, 1801. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 357 William, the pioneer of Methodism on Staten Island, was born in 1769, and died 1843. Abraham, born , 1751, died Feb. 19, 1798. COLON. James Colon, George Colon and John (elsewhere written Jonas) Colon, were naturalized May, 1770. These were prob- ably the progenitors of the family of that name, which once were numerous, but now nearly extinct. There was also a Peter Colon in the county in 1774. CONNER. Richard Conner came to Staten Island from Ireland about 1760, as he purchased his landed estate at that time. He was 358 AXNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. a man of respectable acquirements, and superior business qualifications. His worth appears to have been soon dis- covered, for he was almost immediately placed in responsible offices, and continued to serve the public in various capacities until the time of his death. He was born 1723, and died Feb. 1, 1792. He made his will Feb. 4, 1790, proved Feb. 6, 1792, in which he speaks of his daughter Ann, deceased, and of Catharine and Elizabeth, and his son Richard. One of his daughters married into the Garrison family, and was the mother of Mr. John C. Garrison, of Garrison's Station, S. I. R. R. His only son Richard, universally known as Col. Conner, was for many years a prominent surveyor in the county, and held various offices of trust. He was born in 1763, and died April 5, 1853, leaving several sons, of whom Mr. A. V. Conner, present Clerk of the county, is one. The family were always attached to the Moravian Church. There was another family of the same name in the, county in 1761, as appears by a record of a baptism of Adam, son of Jeremiah and Ann, in October of that year, but they were a distinct family. CORSEN. This is one of the oldest, and at one time among the most influential families on the Island. In this instance, as in most of the other old families, we have been able to obtain ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 359 only shreds of its history, none of those now bearing the name being in possession of a genealogical descent. From 1650 to 1690, we find the names of Hendrick, Peter, Jan, Philip, &c., as residents of New York, or some parts of Long Island. The first mention of the name in connection with Staten Island occurs Dec. 30, 1680, in a patent bearing that date, conveying to Cornelius Corsen, Andries Juriansen, Derrick Cornelison and John Peterson, 180 acres of land, 60 acres of which belonged to Corsen, and 40 acres to each of the others. This land is referred to in the patent of Gov. Dongan to Palmer, and mentioned as the land belonging to Cornelius Corsen and company. Another patent to the same parties, of the same date, conveyed 320 acres of land lying westward of, and bounded by the Mill Creek, beside 32 acres of salt meadow " where most convenient." This Cornelius is designated as Captain in a record in Albany, dated Dec. 21, 1680. We find him mentioned again in the county records as being plaintiff in a suit in January, 1681. He died before Dec. 7, 1693, as his wUl was proved on that day, before " Benjamin Fletcher, Captain-General and Governor-in-chief of the provinpe of New York, province of Pennsylvania, county of Newcastle, and the territories and tracts depending thereon in America." By this will he devises his property to his wife Maritje for her life, and then to be equally divided among his children. He had at least three sons ; Christian, 2d Judge and Lt. Col. in 1738, Cornelius, a justice, and Jacob, who made his will Oct. 8, 1742, by which he makes the following bequests : his homestead to his son Jacob, £70 (§175) to his daughter Suster, wife of Johannes Simonson ; £70 to his daughter Mary, wife of Joshua Mersereau ; £70 to his son Douwe ; £70 to his son Benjamin ; £70 to his daughter Rebecca, wife of John Blom ; to his sons Douwe and Benjamin all his lands in Hunterdon county, N. J. ; to his daughter Suster all his lands on the west side of Staten Island, meaning the land mentioned in his father's patent as lying west of the Mill Creek, on which some of the Simonson family, her descendants, still reside ; to his son Jacob his silver-hilted 360 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. sword and silk sash,* and all his other goods to his children equally. Daniel Corsen, who was County Clerk in 1739, was probably another son of Capt. Conelius, In the church-yard of the Reformed Church at Port Rich- mond, there are still to be seen two head-stones, with the following inscriptions in the Dutch (Holland) language : Hier onder rust het lyk. van Cornelius Coesen, Esq., overleden den 26 Maart — A. D. MDCCLV on— — ynde LIII. Here under rests the body of Cornelius Coesen, Esq., who died the 26 March, 1755, in his 53d Hier legt het Lighaam van Jannetia Van Boskerk, Huys vrouw van Cornelius Corsen Overieeden den MDCCXLIX Zyude L Jaar Here lies the body of Jane Van Buskirk, wife of Cornelius Corsen- died the , 1749, in her 50th year. This good old lady was probably a native of Bergen, N. J., where there were several families of the Van Buskirks, there being none of that name on the Island at that date. She was born in 1699, three years before her husband, a sub- ject of William and Mary ; she was three years old when Queen Anne began to reign ; she was fifteen years old when George I. was crowned, and twenty-eight when Greorge II. * Vide App N. (67.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 361 ascended the throne, and had been dead eleven years when George III. succeeded to the crown ; she had children older than George Washington, who was seventeen when she died ; she had been dead twenty-seven years when the United Sta.tes were declared independent. She has slumbered in her tomb a hundred and twenty-seven years, all unconscious ot the mighty events which have transpired during that period ; strangers have trodden in her paths for more than a century and a quarter; her country's foemen, with ru^^^""" ^oot, have desecrated her tomb, but she heeded nothin; ept on as unconcerned as if all had been as peacefu liet as her own slumbers. Cornelius and Jannetje Van Buskirk had tli ing children : A daughter, bap. Nov. 24, 1723. A son Peter, bap. Aug. 13, 1725. A son Christian, bap. Feb. 26, 1727. A son Cornells, bap. Feb. 23, 1729, died an infant. A son Cornells, bap. Feb. 21, 173] . A son Jacobus (Jacob), bap. Oct. 22, 1732. A son Daniel, bap. Mar. 9, 1735, died May 22, 1801. A daughter, bap. Sep. 19, 1736. A daughter, bap. Sep. 23, 1738. We append the following, collected chiefly from church records : Cornelius, son of Benjamin, bap. May 4, 1714. Daniel, born 1714, died Jan. 26, 1761. Capt. Jacob, born 1707, died 1772. Benjamin and Blaudina Vile (Viele) had a son Benjamin, bap. Aug. 3, 1718. Jacob and Cornelia Cruser had the following children : Jacob (see note) bap. Oct. 13, 1747, and three daughters, between 1739 and 1754. Douwe (son of Jacob) and Jannetje Cosin, had a child bap. Oct. 5, 1755. Daniel and Maria Stilwell had sons Richard and Daniel, both bap. Nov. 7, 1753. 362 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. Cornelius, Jr., had son Cornelius, bap. Sep. 2, 1787, and a daughter Jannetje (Jane), bap. Oct. 17, 1790. Richard had a daughter Catharine, bap. Aug. 30, 1789. Daniel and Elizabeth Bogart, had son Cornelius, bap. Sep. 17, 1758, and son William Howe, born Nov. 24, 1776.* Jacob had a daughter, bap. Mar. 25, 1701, a son Jacob, bap. Oct. 21, 1707, (see Capt. Jacob, above) and a son Ben- jamin, bap. Apr. 1, 1710. Corsen and Elsey Ayro mar. Nov., 1801. Hiram J., of New Springville, is the son of Cornelius V. B. ; he was the son of Richard ; and he was the son of Cor- nelius. Note. — -We copy, as a curiosity, an inscription on a grave- stone in the Port Richmond Ref. Church grave-yard, as '• follows : ' ' Her legt het lighaam van Jacob Corsen, Zoon Van Jacob A. Corsen, Jun', Deezer Werreld overleeden den 6 : 9 ber : 1748 oud zynde 15 Manden en 14 Dagen." Here lies the body of Jacob Corsen, son of Jacob A. Cor- sen, Jun., who departed this world November 6, 1748, 15 months and 14 days old. This was undoubtedly the infant son of Jacob and Cor- nelia, whose baptism is noticed in the text. * Daniel and Elizabeth Bogart his wife, had also three other sons, John, Dan- iel and Richard ; Richard married Elizabeth Egbert, and they were the parents of Mr. Abraham E. Corsen, of Mariner's Harbor. Daniel built the stone-house still standing near the Richmond Turnpike, and now the property of A. C. Brad- ley, Esq. ; subsequently he owned a farm on the Clove road, now or recently the property of Haynes Lord, Esq., where he died, and the place came into the pos- session of his sou Richard. William Howe Corsen lived to have a family of his own ; a short time previous to the war of 1812, he was murdered, and his body concealed under a bridge on the public road. Evidently he had been robbed. The perpetrators of the crime were never detected. AKNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 363 CORTELYOU. This name, in some of the old records, is written Corteleau ; it is of French origin, but changed through a long residence in Holland, previous to emigration to America. The family was in this country at an early date ; Jacques Cortelliau (so written by himself,) was the surveyor, who, in 1657, laid out the town of New Utrecht, on Long Island, into 20 lots, of 50 acres each, one of which was assigned to him for his resi- dence. He came to America in 1652, for in 1687, when the inhabitants of Kings County took the oath of allegiance to James II, the name of Jaques Corteljou is found among them, with a note attached, that he had then been in the country 35 years. He had four sons, all of whom had been born on Long Island ; their names were Jacques, Jr., Cor- nells, Pieter, Willem ; still, in the assessment roll of New Utrecht, for the year 1676, neither of their names appear. The family on Staten Island is undoubtedly descended from that of Long Island, though when the removal took place, is uncertain ; a part of them remained on Long Island, as in 1738 we find the names of " pijeter kartelijou," and "ailte kartelijou," still at New Utrecht. The first mention of the name in the church records on Staten Island, is that of Jaques, and his wife Jacomyntie (Jemima) Van Pelt, who had a daughter Debora, bap. Dec. 26, 1720. Aaron, who was born 1726, and died Aug. 22, 1789, was undoubtedly the son of Jacques and Jacomyntie, as they appear to have been the only family of the name on Staten Island. Aaron had a son Peter, born Dec. 27, 1768, and died Feb. 3, 1857, and he was the father of the present representative of the family. Judge Lawrence H., of Fresh Kill. Aaron was one of the original members of the Moravian Church. There was a Jacob, probably a brother of Peter, born Aug. 26, 1760, and died Feb. 7, 1817. There is a record of a Peter, who married Sarah Van Pelt, Dec. 31, 1801. 364 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CRIPS. This family can scarcely be numbered among the old families of the county, though at one time they were toler- ably numerous ; they are now almost extinct. The earliest notice we have found in the marriage of John Crips and Margaret Bety (Beatty) Jan. 5, 1761, they had a son Wil- liam, born Apr. 28, 1764. William and Sarah had daughter Elizabeth, bap. June 23, 1771. Thomas and Mary Ferine were married Nov. — , 1791. James and Elizabeth Blake were married Oct. 1, 1801. There was a Richard, mentioned in the county records i~ 1766. CROCHERON. One branch of this family, which once was numerous, but is now disappearing, is represented by Mr. Daniel G. Cro- cheron, of Graniteville ; Mr. Abraham Crocheron, of New Spring ville, represents another branch, both having descended from the same original progenitor. Joseph, Daniel Gr., Abra- ham, Stephen, David and George, were the sons of Daniel Crocheron and Eliza Wood his wife, who were married August ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 365 3, 1791. Daniel was the son of Abraham and Margaret his wife, and was born Jan. 15, 1770. Abraham was the son of Daniel and Maria Dupuy his wife, and was baptised March 30, 1740, and died June 28, 1806. Mr. Abraham Crocheron, of New Springville, is the son of Abraham, who was born Jan. 6, 1790, and he was the son of Abraham and Jane his wife. The first mention of the family in the county records is of John, in 1698 ; subsequently, but in the same year, mention is made of Nicholas, so that there were two individuals of the name of Crocheron in the county at that early date, but we have no means of knowing in what degree of relationship they stood to each other, if any. Henry Crocheron and Nannie his wife had the following sons : John, born April 13, 1770; Henry, born ~ c. 26, 1772 ; Jacob, born August 23, 1774, (he married Mary vakley, Feb. 22, 1797 ; he was Sheriff of the County, etc.,) and Reuben, baptized September 24, 1789. Abraham Cro- cheron and Elizabeth his wife had a son Nicholas, born August 9, 1761, and died December 30, 1817, (he was familiarly known as " Squire Nick,") Henry, born March 22, 1766. There was another Abraham, and Margaret his wife, who had a son Daniel, born January 15, 1770. Daniel and Sarah his wife had a daughter Mary, born April S, 1775. John Crocheron and Jenny his wife, had a daughter Mary, born March 4, 1773. Abraham and Mary Prall his wife had a son Abraham, born Sept. 4, 1787, and a son Benjamin, baptized June 28, 1789. (Benjamin died a few years ago on the Old Place Eoad ; his wife was Susannah Prall, his cousin. Abraham, the father, formerly owned the farm now a part of New Brighton). Another Daniel had a son Daniel born June 9, 1788. John and Hannah Housman were married February 10, 1792. Daniel and Jane Jones were married November 29, 1798. Nicholas and Winant were married May 28, 1801 . The ('rocheron family have been prominent in the county ; Henry was Member of Congress 1815 — '17. Jacob was Mem. 366 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ber of Congress 1829— '31 ; Presidential elector in 1836; Sheriff 1802, 1811 and 1821. Nicholas was Member of Assembly, 1854. Kichard was County Treasurer, and Surrogate, 1836, and for several years thereafter. The family is of French descent. CRUSER. Cruise, Ceoes, Keoesen, &c. The family is of Dutch descent. It is impossible now to ascertain when Garret, who is pro- bably the first of the name in America, emigrated. In 1676, we find him rated in Breucklyn, but after that date his name does not appear among the freeholders of that place. It is probable that he removed to Staten Island the following year, for then Sir Edmond Andross granted him a patent for 160 acres of land on Staten Island. On Long Island he had but 28 acres. He had, probably, the following sons, Hendrick, Cornelius, Dirk or Derick, Garret and Jan. Hendrick, who was perhaps the eldest, had several children baptized on Staten Island between 1698 and 1716. Cornelius' married Helena Van Tuyl, probably a daughter of Otto Van Tuyl> and had the following children baptized here : Hendrick, Oct. 10, 1731. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 367 Abraham, July 29, 1733, died March 11, 1770. Cornelius, Aug. 8, 1736. Derick had the following children baptized here : Nicklas, May 6, 1696. Derick, Oct. 22, 1701. Hendrick, July 3, 1707. Garret had the following children baptized here : Cornelius, Oct. 28, 1711. Derick, Oct. 18, 1713. Grarret, April 1, 1717. Jan had a daughter Elizabeth, baptized July 14, 1713. Cornelius, son of Cornelius and grandson of Garret, married Beeltje de Groot, and had a son Cornelius, baptized Aug. 26, 1759. Abraham, son of Cornelius, and grandson of Garret, married Antye Simonson, and had a son Johannes, or John, baptized June 4, 1760. (This John had a daughter Elizabeth, baptized May 10, 1789.) Garret, son of Garret and grandson of the original Garret) married Claartje (Clara, Clare, Clarissa) Blencroft, and had a daughter Cornelia, baptized Aug. 27, 1740 ; a daughter Clarissa, baptized Oct. 11, 1748, and a son Hendrick June 24, 1752, and others. Garret, son of Hendrick and grandson of the original Garret, married Gertrude Van Tuyl, and had the following children : Hendrick, baptized Dec. 8, 1723. Femitje (Euphemia ?) Sept. 13, 1728. Abraham, Aug. 6, 1732. The late Morris H. Cruser and brothers are the direct de- scendants of John, mentioned above. The family were once numerous and prominent, but like many other of the old families, is disappearing. 368 AKNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. CUBBERLY. This family is of English descent, but came to Staten Island from New Jersey. The name originally was written Coverle, but, by some unaccountable metamorphosis, has be- come so changed that the owners of the original name, were they living, would not recognize their own legitimate descend- ants. The first of the name on Staten Island was Isaac, who re- sided here in 1769. Probably he came here a young man, for he married here, in the Journeay family. His sons were Stephen, Joseph, James, Thomas and Isaac. Isaac married an English woman named Broughton, and had two sons — William, now living in New Jersey, and James, once clerk of the county ; Mrs. Charles E. Racy, of West New Brighton, is also his daughter. Isaac resided at the noted locality known as "The Elm Tree," where, though a large part of his property is now submerged by the waters of the ocean, his dwelling house still stands. There is another branch of the family which we are unable to trace, viz. : Joseph and Auder (sic) his wife had a son James, born Oct. 18, 1776 ; this James married Eleanor Ralph, January 20, 1799. The late William Cubberly, of Port Richmond, is descended from this branch. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 369 DECKER. This family is by far the most numerous, as well as one of the oldest, on the Island. Its progenitor was Johannes De Decker, who arrived here in April, 1655. He was a promi- nent man in the colony, filling various offices of responsi- bility, and after a public service of many years, finally set- tled down for the remainder of his life on bis farm of 120 acres, on Stateii Island. His numerous descendants have so frequently intermarried, that at this day it is worse than use- less to attempt to trace their genealogy. Some of the elder members retained the prefix De, but it has long ago fallen into disuse. Mattheus De Decker, probably a son of Jo- hannes, had A son John, bap. Sep. 7, 169^. A son Abraham, Oct. 21, 1707. A daughter Elizabeth, Apr. 17, 1711, and A son Mattheus, , 1715 ; to this baptism Pieter De Decker was sponsor, who was also probably a son of Johan- nes. This Pieter and Susanna Hetfeel (Hatfield,) his wife, had the following children baptized : A daughter Maria, Sep. 21, 1718. A son Johannes, July 24, 1720. A daughter Susanna, May 24, 1724. A daughter Sara, Oct. 23, 1726. A son Mattheus, June 10, 1728. A daughter Eva, Mar. 26, 1732, and A sou Abraham, Apr. 7, 1735. John — probably a son of Mattheus — and Maria Swaim, had a daughter bap. July 3, 1726, Charles Decker, sponsor, who was probably another son of Johannes. John (son of Pieter) and Nancy, or Anna Merrell, had A son Johannes, bap. Apr. 19, 1743, and A son Richard, Apr. 26, 1748. Charles, (above mentioned,) and Lena Swaim, had 370 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. A son Matthys, bap. Apr. 5, 1730, died in infancy. A son Mattheus, bap. Mar. 16, 1733, and A daughter, Jan. 8, 1738. Richard, known as Col., born May 15, 1747, died May 2,6, 1817 ; his mother was a Merrill (see above), and his wife was Wyncha Merrill. Thej^ had a son Richard, bap. Oct. 26, 1788. Matthew, (son of Charles) and Merrian, his wife, had A son Israel, bap. Aug. 28, 1763, and Israel had a daughter bap. Feb. — , 1788. John (son of John, above) and Elizabeth, his wife, had A son Reuben, born Aug. 6, 1766, and Reuben and Mary Swaim were married July 25, 1790. Abraham and Phebe his wife had A son Noah, born Mar. 26, 1773, and A son Charles, born Apr. 10, 1775. Moses and Elizabeth Wood were married April, , 1769. Matthias and Lidde (Lydia) Milburn were married Nov. , 1775. Isaac and Margaret Jones were married Aug. 7, 1791. Jacob and Leah Depue were married June 5, 1796. Sylvanus and Sarah Parker were married Oct. 24, 1800. Isaac and Elizabeth Christopher were married Oct. 13, 1804. Matthew made his will Apr. 26, 1787, proved Sep. 15, 1787, in which he mentions his wife Catharine, son of Matthew, a minor, and daughters Margaret, Elsie, Elizabeth, Ann and Catharine, who was lame. Hon. John Decker, of Port Richmond, represents one branch of this family ; his brothers were Matthias, Benjamin and David, the two first deceased. Their father was David, and their mother Catharine Decker; David's brothers were John, Benjamin and Abraham ; they were the sons of Benja- min and Mary Egbert, and Benjamin was the son either of Matheus, son of Charles, or Mattheus son of Pieter, probably the latter. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLANB. 371 De groot. This family, though originally French, and known as Le Grand, for centuries past has been regarded as Dutch, the name by which it is now known being simply a translation of the French name. The eminent scholar and advocate, Hugo de Groot, otherwise known as Grotius, was a member of this tamily. Motley, in his life of John of Barneveld, says of him : " He was then (June 5th, 1619) just 36 years old. Although comparatively so young, he had been long regarded as one of the great luminaries of Europe for learning and genius. Of an ancient and knightly race, his immediate ancestors had been as famous for literature, science and municipal abilities, as their more distant progenitors for deeds of arms in the feudal struggles of Holland in the middle ages. His father and grandfather had alike been eminent for Hebrew, Greek and Latin scholarship, and both had occupied high positions in the University of Leyden from the beginning. Hugo, born and nurtured under such quickening influences, had been a scholar and poet almost from his cradle. He wrote respecta- ble Latin verses at the age of seven ; he was matriculated at Leyden at the age of eleven. When fourteen, he took his bachelor' s degree. On leaving the University, he was attached to the embassy of Barneveld, and Justinus van Nassau to the Court of Henry IV. In France, before he was fifteen, he received from the University of Orleans the degree of Doctor of Laws. At seventeen he was an Advocate in full practice before the Supreme tribunals of the Hague, and when twenty- three years old he was selected by Prince Maurice from a list of three candidates for the important post of Fiscal or Attor- ney-General of Holland. At twenty-six he published Mare Liberum— a little later, his work on the Antiquity of the Batavian Republic. At twenty-nine he had completed his Latin History of the Netherlands. His great work on the Rights of War and Peace was afterwards written." * * * There were two emigrantii of this name to America, viz.. 372 ATSTNALS OF STATEW ISLAND. Willem Pietersen de Groot, wife and five children, came over in April, 1662, in the ship called the "Hope;" and Staes de G-root, who came over in the " Spotted Cow," the succeeding April. The name is not found in any of the old State documents, except upon Staten Island and in Albany county. The emi- grants settled in these places, the latter on Staten Island. The earliest notice in our local records is as follows : Johannes (a son of Staes) and Elizabeth Seckkels his wife had the following children : Peter, bap. April 2d, 1729. Robert, bap. Oct. 10th, 1731. Johannes, bap. Feb. 1st, 1735. Peter married Claartje (Clare) Post, and had the following children : Garret, bap. Aug. 25th, 1751. John, bap. May 2d, 1753. Katrina, bap. July 27th, 1755. Gertrude, bap. July 17th, 1758. John, son of Peter, married Mary Wood, and they were the parents of Jacob de Groot, who died March 11th, 1875, aged 86 years, and grand-parents of Alfred de Groot, the present representative of the family in this county. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 373 DE HART. Of the ancestors of this family on the island, there is but little to be learned from the local records ; what we have been able to glean is as follows : Daniel had a son Daniel, bap. Oct. 22, 1707. A daughter , April 17, 1711. A son Matthias, bap. , 1815. A son Samuel, bap. 1717, died May 17, 1798. Baltus and Mary Phillipse, had daughter Catalyn, bap. 1746 or -'7. Matthias, born Aug. 21, 1749 ; died Oct. 20, 1840. Edward had a son Jacob, bat). Oct. 24, 1790. DEPUY. Depuy, Pew, Dupue, Depeue, Depew, &c. At the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, there was a Prot- estant family of this name in Languedoc. Two brothers of this family, Philip and David, then fled to Holland, and be- came officers in the army of William of Orange ; they ac- companied him to England, and were both killed at the bat- tle of the Boyne. Another brother, Samuel, w^s an officer in the British army, and served in the Low Countries. But some of the name were in America before the Revocation. In 1662, Nicolas du Pui, with his wife and three children, came to this country in the ship called the "Purmerland Church ;" he probably settled on Staten Island, and was the 374 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. progenitor of the family here, as we find his baptismal name perpetuated among them. If this assumption is correct, then the names of two of the three children were John and Francis, for we find them mentioned in the public records as early as 1680; John as defendant in a suit in March of that year, and Francis as owning a tract of woodland near Fresh Kill, in December of that year. We do not meet with the name of Francis after that date, but find the name of John again, in the church record, as having a daughter Elizabeth baptized Oct. 22, 1707, and a son Moses, July 22, 1714. Nicolas, perhaps a grandson of the original, and Neeltje (Cornelia) Dekker had the following children : A daughter, bap. Apr. 6, 1724. A son, John, bap. June 27, 1725. A son, Matthew, bap. Oct 8, 1726. A son, Nicolas, bap. June 4, 1730. A son, Moses, bap. Oct. 27, 1732. A son, Aaron, bap. Aug. 26, 1739. Nicholas, last mentioned, was supervisor of Westfield, 1766, &c. John, last mentioned, and his wife Sarah, had a son Nich- olas, bap. , 1757. Moses, last mentioned, and his wife Leah, had the follow- ing children : John, born Jan. 10, 1759. Nicholas, born June 3, 1766. Moses, born Jan. 17, 1769. Barent, who probably was another son of Nicolas, and Neltje, and his wife Elsie Poillon, had the following children : Martha, bap. May 20, 1750. Elsie, bap. Dec. 9, 1739. There was a Barent, who made his will June 4, 1792, which was probated Aug. 17, 1792, in which he speaks of his wife Mary, and the following children : Nicholas, Barent, Daniel, Abraham, Mary, Elsie, Sally and Elizabeth. These two named Barents. may be identical, but if so, he was twice mar- ried, and his daughter Martha was dead when he made his will. ANISTALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 375 DISOSWAY. The name of Du Secoy is found among the Hugxaenot fami- lies who left France before the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It has been ascertained, from the State records, that Marcus, Job, Peter, Israel, and Susanne, settled on Staten Island, opposite Perth Amboy, more than two centuries ago. The name of Marcus is mentioned in the colonial history in 1673, petitioning for men to be sent to Court at Fort William Henry. A portion of the land originally purchased by this family (500 acres), and the stone house erected upon it, is still owned and occupied by some of the descendants. Like many other French names, unpronouncable to English and Dutch tongues, this has undergone various changes in the course of two hundred years. In the Dutch Church baptis- mal records, the oldest and most reliable authority, it is always written Du Secoy and Du Secay. In the County re- cords, often copied by careless or illiterate clerks, the name is spelled Dus Souchoy, Dusway, Dusuchoy, Dussoway, Des- soway, Dusosway, Disosway. The fact that the original em- igrants were Huguenots, is evidence of their individual piety, and it is said that, during the war of the Revolution, though surrounded by enemies, they were firm in their adherence to the cause of their country. There are several of the name mentioned in the County records as having purchased land as early as 1687. The fol- lowing are taken from old church records : Marcus Du Secoy had a son Gabriel, bap. Apr. 20, 1703, at which Susanna Du Secoy was sponsor ; these were, probably, two of the original emigrants. As there was no Gabriel among them, it was the Gabriel whose baptism we have just noticed, who was sponsor at the baptism of his relative' s (prob- ably sister's) child, in Jan., 1725, when Dina Du Secoy, wife of Henrick Bries, had a daughter baptized ; she had had a son Henrick baptized three years previous. Israel, and Gertrude Van Deventer, his wife, had a daugh- ter baptized June 3, 1722. 376 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Job, and Sara Deny, his wife, had a son Johannes baptized September 22, 1723. Cornelius, and Catharine, his wife, had a daughter Ann, baptized December 9, 1757. Mark and Eliza Cortelyou married November 2, 1790. DUBOIS. Sometimes written Duboys, Debaa, &c. This was a large family, some of them residing in Brittany, and some in French Flanders. Antoine Dubois, and some of his relatives, fled to England as early as 1583, to escape per- secution for their religious opinions. It is not known when the family first came on the Island, nor who was the first of the name ; the earliest name mentioned in the church record is that of Louis du Bois, Jun., whose wife's name was Catharine Van Brunt ; they had a son Samuel who was baptised Dec. 11, 1737. They had also a son Benjamin, and a son John. Benjamin became a minister of the Reformed Dutch Church in 1764, and was immediately settled over the churches of Freehold and Middletown, N. J., where he re- mained sixty-three years. John and Hester his wife had a daughter Mary, born June 27, 1766 ; he made his will Jan. 17, 1793, which was proved Feb. 1, 1794, in which he speaks of his wife Hester ; his daughters, Hester, wife of Lewis Prall ; Martha, wife of Daniel Winants ; Elizabeth, wife of Charles Laforge ; and Mary, wife of James Laforge, and his son Richard. ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. B77 There was another John who had a son, Nathaniel R., and died at the age of 87 ; his son, Nathaniel, died in May, 1874, age 85 years ; his wife was Frances Butler. Lewis and Jane Mersereau married Jan. 12, 1804. The family, once tolerably numerous and highly respect- able, are almost extinct in the county. DUSTAN. This family has for many years been identified with the Island. William and Peter were natives of Scotland, and emigrated to America at an early age. The former, locally known as Major Dustan, was born September 11th, 1759, and died on Staten Island, May 23d, 1841, nearly 82 years of age. He left one son, Isaac Kip, whose melancholy death is re- corded on his monument in the Moravian Cemetery, as follows: "This monument is erected a tribute of esteem to the memory of Isaac Kip Dustan, aged 38 years and 7 months, who lost his life while iu the discharge of his duties as Cap- tain of the ill-fated Steamer Atlantic, off Fisher's Island, during the memorable gale of the 28th of November, 1846." The monument is surmounted by a marble bell, on which is the following epitaph. " Far, far o'er the waves, like a funeral knell. Mournfully sounds the Atlantic's beU. 'Tis the knell of the dead, but the living may hear ; 'Tis a warning to all, mid the opening year. In the midst of our life, as we draw out each breath, How swiftly we haste to the caverns of death ; May the fate of the lost one our own warning be Like a death- knell rung out o'er life's treacherous sea.'' 378 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Capt. Dustan was a man of powerful frame, with a com- manding presence, and a universal favorite. He married a daughter of the late Charles M. Simonson, and left one son, Charles, who, during the late rebellion, entered the Union army as a private, and gradually rose to the rank of Brigadier- Greneral. He is now a resident of the State of Alabama,' and a member of its Legislature. The wife of Geo. J. Greenfield, Esq., of Edgewater, is also his daughter. EDDY. The present representatives of this family are Cornelius C, of Stapleton, and his cousin James, of Huguenot, in West- field. The former is the son of William, who was killed by his horse running away, in January, 1828 ; the latter is the son of John, also deceased. William, John and Andrew, who is still living near Wood-row church, Westfield, were brothers and sons of William, the first of the name, who came here from New Jersey, during the war of the Eevoln- tion, with the intention of remaining but a short time ; but either the refusal of a pass, or protracted delay in furnishing it, detained him on the Island, until finally, having probably formed some attachment, he relinquished the idea of return- ing, and settled permanently. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 379 EGBERT. The first emigrant of this name was probably Grovert Egbert, who came to America in the ship called the "Spotted Cow," in 1660, but it is not certain that he ever lived on Staten Island. The first mention of the name in connection with the Island, is that of Tunis, who bought land in 1698, and sold land to John Androvat in January, 1699. The tradition, in one branch of the family, is that some of the grandsons of this Tunis are still living, which is improbable, unless we accord to him an extraordinary length of life, as well as to his son Johannes or John. If this Tunis married Petronella Dupuy, then his son John was bap. Dec. 1745, and his sons, in the order of their birth, were Joseph, John, Tunis, Samuel, Ed- ward, Thomas, Holmes, Cornelius, Henry, and William. Of these are still living (1876) Edward, on the Manor road, Castleton ; Cornelius,* on the Amboy road, Southtield, and WUliam at Graniteville. If the above is reliable, then prob- ably the same Tunis had another son named Abraham, (born Sep. 21, 1747, died Oct.. 2, 1816), who was father of the fol- lowing sons, viz.: Abraham, Joseph, Tunis, Cornelius, John, Stephen, James and Edward ; two sons and seventeen grand- sons, besides grand-daughters and daughters, whose names are not given. We subjoin the following, indiscriminately, as we have collected them from several records. James is mentioned in the county records in 1724, and again in 1766. Peter is also mentioned in 1767. Tunis, probably a son of the original Tunis, born 1720, and died May 19, 1805. Tunis born Jan. 11, 1759, died Nov. 5, 1825. Moses and his wife Caty had a son Abraham, born Nov. 8, 1768, "about 3 o'clock." * Vide App. N. (68.) SfciO ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Moses, the above, was born Oct. 21, 1742, and died Nov. 13, 1831. Jacus (James?) and Trientje Backer (Baker?) had a daughter bap. Oct. 11, 1743. Abraham and Elizabeth Gerresen had a daughter bap. Apr. 17, 1744, and a son Benjamin, born Aug. 25, 1768. Abraham and Francyntje Parain (Francina Ferine) had a son Abraham, born May 22, 1715 ; a son John, bap. Apr. 10, 1720 ; a daughter Elizabeth, bap. June 17, 1722. Jacobus (James) and Catharine Deny had a son Johannes, bap. J uly 14, 1 723 ; a son Laurens, bap. Mar. 24, 1724. Jaques and Catharine Bakker (Baker ?) had a daughter Susannah, bap. Nov. 4, 1733, identical with the above Jacus. Anthony and his wife Mary had a son Reuben, born Sep. 13, 1770, "on Thursday, about 10 of the clock in y"= Morning." A daughter Martha, "born April 25 about 10 of y° clock in y" morning, 1772, on Saterday." A daughter Eleanor, " born Aug. 7 about one of y^ clock in y° morning 1774." John and Catharine his wife had twins, Tunis and Eleanor, born Nov. 11, 1771." Barney and Ann Taylor married Oct. 4, 1801. ENYARD. In the County records is found the name of Jollis Inyard, who purchased land on the Island as early as 1687, and sold land in 1692. In 1708 the same individual, under the name ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 381 of Yellis Ingart, sold land. The names JoUis, Yellis, and Grillis are the same, being Dutch corruptions of Giles. He had a son Matthys, (Matthias) whose wife was Elizabeth Gerritson, and they had the following children : Matthys,* bap. Jan. 7, 1730. Gillis, bap. Dec. 17, 1732. Susanna, bap. May 4, 1735. Catharine, bap. Apr. 23, 1739. Elisabet, bap. Apr. 18, 1743. Nicklaes, bap. Apr. 22, 1746. Nicholas married Jemima "Wood, July , 1768. They had a son Elias, who was the father of Mr. John Enyard, of Port Richmond, and grand-father of Rev. William T. En- vard, pastor of the Ref. Church, Brighton Heights, S. I. FOUNTAIN". This family is of French origin. James Fontaine, or, de la Fountaine, as it was formerly written, the story of whose escape from France after the Revocation, is given by Smiles ; Fontaine, the French fabulist. Sir Andrew Fontaine, the antiquarian, and many others, eminent in science and the arts, are of this family. The progenitor of those of the name in America, was not driven from his native land by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, for there is the notice of a " Charel Fonteyn, a Frenchman, and wife," who came to America in the ship called the " Golden Beaver," in * Vide App. N. (69.) 382 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 1658 ; there is also a record of Antone Fountain, aged 30, who was a witness in a suit on Staten Island, in 1680. The family is not as numerous in the county as formerly, some branches having become extinct, others having removed from the county. The representative of one branch of the family at the present day, is Mr. Vincent Fountain, of West New Brighton. He is the son of the late Capt. Henry Fountain, who was born 1787, and died May 28th, 1867. He lived for many years in the large house between the Church of the Ascension and the building of the Young Men's Christian Association, on the North Shore. Capt. Henry, and his late brother John, of Tompkinsville, were sons of Vincent Foun- tain, who was born in 1748, and died Dec. 11, 1819. Vin- cent was probably the son of Anthony Fountain, who was supervisor in 1767. Beside the above, there is mention in the county or church records, of the following : Antone Fontayne, who purchased land in 1686 ; probably he was the same who was witness in a suit six years before. Vincent, who both bought and sold land in 1697. Richard also bought in 1702. Anthony and Belitze (Isabella) Byvank, his wife, had a daughter baptized May 11, 1729. Anthony and Annatje Geretson, his wife, had a son An- tone, baptized Nov. 3, 1754, a son John, Nov. 20th, 1757, and a son Cornelius, Dec. 23d, 1759. (See foot note.) Anthony and Susannah, his wife, had a son Charles, bap- tized Sep. 25th, 1756. John Fountain and Catharine Fountain were married Dec. 24th, 1804. iVb^e. —Cornelus Fountain died Jan. 27, 1813, and his wife Elizabeth lived but four days after, having died Jan 31, 1813. They are buried by the side of each other in a field in the town of Southfield, a few rods south of the Old Town road, and east of the S. I. Railroad. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 383 FROST. The first of this name in this county, as far as can now be ascertained, was Dr. Thomas Frost; he resided at Richmond, and from the fact that courts, supervisors' meetings, and other public bodies met at his house sometimes, we infer that he also kept an inn or tavern. That he was a decided loyal- ist or tory, is evident from the indictment found against hira by the first grand jury which was impanelled after the evac- uation of the Island by the British, as may be seen in another place. The first court-house built in the county after the form - ation of the new government, was upon land purchased from him, which building is still standing, though in a mod- ernized form, and is now owned and occupied by Isaac M. Marsh, Esq. That Dr. Frost was here just before the Revo- lution, is seen by an entry in the baptismal record of St. Andrew' s Church, which records the fact that Thomas and Tamar Frost had a son named William Errell, born Febru - ary 17th, 1774. They bad, at least, three more sons, viz., Samuel, Henry and John ; what became of the two last men- tioned, we do not positively know, but Samuel continued to reside on the Island ; he was twice married, the first time to a lady from New Jersey, the second time to Catharine Bedell, by whom he had one son, the late Samuel H. (see civil list. ) Samuel H. married Louisa, daughter of the late Mr. Stephen Ketteltas ; their children were Henry (late supervisor of Middletown) and Stephen K. 384 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. GARRISON. Sometimes written Garretson, Gerabtson, etc. There were several of the name emigrated from Holland ; the earliest were Gerret Gerretson Yan Gelthuys, a tailor — came over, in 1658, in the ship " The Gilded Beaver." John Gerretson, baker, with his wife and child, came at the same time, and in the same ship. Wouter and Stoffel came over in February, 1659, in the " Faith." Gerret and Jan came over in December of the same year, in the same ship. There were several others of the name came over in succeeding years. Whether the family on the Island have all descended from one emigrant, or from more, it is now impossible to determine. The earliest mention of the name on the Island occurs in 1691, when Jacob gave his brother John a power of attorney to sell land on Smoking Point, from which we infer that Jacob was not a resident of the Island, and John was. From 1698 to 1702 we find the names of Frederick, Christopher Lambert, (Sheriff in 1802) and Seger, all as land owners. Hendrick is mentioned in the County records 1768 ; he lived on the Clinch property, Richmond Road, near Finger- board Road ; his mouth, it is said, when he closed it, con- tracted into wrinkles, like that of some kind of fishes : he is said to have been remarkably athletic and active, and his voice was so exceeding powerful, he could make himself heard over a mile. His son Harmanus was born in April, 1732, and died July 3, 1813. Harmanus' son John, (always named as John, Esq.) was born in 1761, and died December 19, 1837 ; he was County Judge from 1803 to 1823, Presiden- tial elector in 1808, and surrogate 1820. John's son Harmanus was Member of Assembly, 1825 ; it was humorously said of him that he carried more weight in the Assembly than any other member, for he weighed over 300 pounds. This Har- manus had three brothers, John, Jun., George and Garret; ANNALS OF ^TATEN ISLAND. 385 John, Jun., was Member of Assembly, 1836 ; his sons are Jacob C, and John of Fresh Kills. The venerable John C, now living at Garrison's Station, S. I. E. R., was born March 15, 1788 ; he is the son of John, and his mother was Elizabeth Conner, sister of the late Col. Rich- ard Conner ; his grandfather was usually called Hannis, which is an abbreviation of the word Johannes. In addition to the above, we find in the several Church records mention made of the following : Jacob, born Sept. , 1766, died July 3, 1847 ; he married Catharine Simonson, Jan. 18, 1789. John, known as Col., born 1761, died Aug. 15, 1839 ; he had a daughter bap. Sept. 7, 1787. Nicholas and Christina Van Woglom, son Abraham bap. Sept. 21, 1744. Daniel and Mary had the f oUovdng children : Charles, born Feb. 11, 1755. Jacob, born June 13, 1757. Daniel, bap. Aug. 22, 1762. Daniel made his will Dec. 21, 1792, proved Dec. 5, 1793, in which he speaks of his wife Mary, and his children Daniel, Jacob, Charles, Catharine Buskirk, and Mary. Isaac and Maria Christopher, son Christopher bap. Mar. 21, 1731. John and Susan Lake, married Dec. 23, 1806; Charles, Sheriff in 1730, and Adrianche, mentioned in the County records in 1763, we find no further traces of. 386 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. GUYON. This is an ancient and honorable French Protestant family. Some of them escaped at an early date from the persecutions in their native country, and came to America ; others re- mained until the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, when most of them escaped to Holland, but a few remained to face the peril. William de Gruyon de Geis fled to Holland, and took service under William of Orange, and lost an arm in that service in Germany ; he died in 1740. Several of his de- scendants held commissions in the English army. Of those who remained in France, an aged pastor was arrested, and, upon being searched, a letter from Claude Brousson, who was a proscribed preacher, was found upon him, and he was forth- with executed, and the house at Nismes in which he was captured was razed to the ground, as a punishment to its owner for giving him shelter. The last Count Guyon was in the Austrian service as late as 1848. There were, probably, two of the family came to New York at an early date — Gregory and Jaques. The former lived at New Rochelle in 1710, and was then 44 years of age, and his wife, Mary, 40. The latter settled on Staten Island, and received a patent from Sir Ed'mond Andross, dated March 27th, 1675, for about 178 acres of land on Staten Island, at a quit rent of eight bushels of wheat. This patent is still in existence, and the land is still owned and occupied by one of his direct descend- ants, Mrs. Dr. Ephraim Clark. We find in our County re- cords notices of two law-suits: one, "Jacob Jeyoung against Isaac See, in 1678 ; the other, Jaques Jeyoung against fifrancis Martinoe, March 6, 1781." As he was the only individual of the name of Guyon, — or Jeyoung, which is nearer the French pronunciation— he was, without doubt, the plaintiif in both suits, the name Jacob being either a clerical error, or an in- stance of clerical ignorance. He had a son James, born Jan- uary 5th, 1714. James had a son James, born March 16th, 1746, whose wife's name was Susannah, and they were the ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 387 parents of the late Maj. James Guy on, father of Mrs. Cl«rlr known in our civil list as James, Jun., who was born Dec ber 24th, 1778, and died March 9th, 1846. He was Men.„.. of Assembly in 1812-13, and Eepresentative in Congress in 1819-'20. He was married three times : first, to Ann Bedell, mother of Mrs. C. ; second, to Ann Ferine ; and third, to Martha Seguine ; the two last were childless. The present Maj. James Gruyon was the son of Harmanus, and his wife, Elizabeth Holmes, married May 2d, 1802. Har- manus— usually called Harry— was Member of Assembly 1819-20. He was the son of James by his second wife, Mar- garet Garrison, and half-brother of James, Jr. In the old church records of St. Andrews, we find the fol- lowing, which we are unable to place : John and Elizabeth Butler married January 12th, 1800. Cornelius and Getty Mersereau married May 16th, 1807. HATFIELD. The tradition of the family is that James Hatfield and a brother came from England long before the Revolution ; the brother settled in New Jersey, but James on Staten Island. During the war, James was a decided whig, a rare occurence, particularly on Staten Island, and was incarcerated by the British, or tories, somewhere in New Jersey, but was shortly released by the Americans. His sons were James and John D., who was born April 5, 1777, and died December 3d, 1856 ; he married Mary, daughter of Jacob Van Pelt, and they were the parents of the following children : John, Moses, (both whom were lost at sea in December, 388 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 1830); Maria, wife of Capt. J. W. Barnes, of Port Richmond ; Jacob died in infancy ; Jacob, born Marcb 17, 1817, and still living in Port Richmond. There is a record of a Benjamin Hatfield, who married Nanne Merrill, January 10th, 1765, and of Susanna Hatfield, who was the wife of Pieter Decker, and had a child baptized as early as 1718. (See the Decker family). Whether these were members of the same family, it is impossible now to de- termine, unless there is an error in the family tradition. HAUGHWOUT. The date of the arrival, and the name of the progenitor of this family, are lost. It was never very numerous, and the notices of it in the county and church records are few. The earliest mention of it is where Egbert Haughwout was sponsor at a baptism Apr. 20, 1709, and where Peter Haughwout sold land in 1708. Egbert had a daughter bap. May 4, 1714, and Peter and Neltje (Cornelia) Bakker his wife, had eight chil- dren baptized between 1710 and 1736. Jan and Elizabeth Hooglaut had a daughter baptized Oct. 16, 1720. Peter and Aaltje (Alida) Bennett, of Long Island, had the following children : A daughter Neltje (Cornelia), bap. July 28, 1751. A son Peter, June 24, 1752. A son Nicholas, Mar. 12, 1758, and A son Wynant, Apr. 20, 1760 He owned a large property at the locality now known as Willow Brook, or the Gun Factory, in Northfield. He made ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 389 his will Dec. 15, 1787, probated Sep. 6, 1792, in which he speaks of his wife AUe (or Altje), his sons Peter, Nicholas and Wynant, and his daughters Alle Webb, deceased, Nelly Cozine, deceased, and his grand-children, the children of his daughter Nelly, and Alettee, Garrett, Peter and Jacobus. His son Peter was the father of the late Peter N., of Port Richmond. His son Wynant was the father of Simon, gro- cer, of Graniteville, and his son Nicholas was father o£ Nicholas, now deceased, who was engaged in the oyster busi- ness, and was the first to introduce oysters "on the Canal Street plan" — that is, stewed^ or otherwise cooked, before which they could only be procured raw. Egbert and Elenor Garebrantz had a son Daniel, bap. Mar. 8, 1782. Nicholas had a daughter baj ag. 6, 1786. Wynant had a son Isaac bap. Oct. 28, 1787. Peter had a son Daniel, bap. June 7, 1788. HILLYBR. John Hillyer, sometimes written Hilliard, lived on Staten Island in 1693, and married Elizabeth Dey in 1714. Their children were John, (supervisor in 1767) Elizabeth, Mary, James, William, Nathaniel, Simon and Lawrence. The present families of the name are descended from the youngest son Lawrence. His son John (sheriff in 1799 and 1819), was born in July, 1763, and died in July, 1848. His wife Elsie Merrill was born in November, 1768, and died in August, 1858. Their children were Lawrence, (sheriff in 1831 390 AJSTNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. and Member of Assembly 1835 and 1837.) JohnB. (Member of Assembly 1873.) Jobn B. is the father of James A., late of the firm of Pine, Hillyer & Co., of West New Brighton; and Abraham, of the firm of Hillyer and Hartley, of New Brighton, beside several other children. Other Hilly ers are mentioned in the records of St. Andrew's Church, as follows : John and Esther his wife had A daughter, born Sept. 19, 1756. A son, Nathaniel, born Oct. 2, 1765. A daughter, born Nov. 14, 1768. John, Jr., had a son Abraham, born Jan. 20,' 1759. William and Dinah his wife had A daughter, born Dec. 24, 1748. A daughter, born Sept. 11, 1756. ■ John and Mary his wife had A daughter, born Mar. 29, 1774. A son John, born April 18, 1776. Lawrence and Ann Larzalere married Dec. 4, 1808. HOLMES. The progenitor of this family was Obadiah, or, as he some- times wrote it, "oBadiah;" he came from England in the latter half of the seventeenth century, and obtained a patent for a valuable tract of land in Southfield, which remained in the family for several generations. His name is found in the county records as early as 1683. There is a link missing in the family chain, which it now appears to be impossible tc ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 391 supply ; there is no record of the names of his children. His grandson Samuel liyed and died on the paternal estate, and had six daughters and two sons, Baker and Samnel. The latter married Margaret, daughter of Stephen Cole, and had the following children : Samuel, James, John, Cornelius, Van Renselaer, George W. Eliza, and Ann wife of David Mersereau, of Northfield. Several of these are still living. HOUSMAN. We have no means of ascertaining when the first of this name came to America from Holland. The earlii t mention of the name is found in the assessment roll of Boswyck (Bushwick) L. T., where the name of Charles Housman occurs in the years 1675 and 1676. The earliest mention of the name in a church record on Staten Island is as follows : John and Wynje Symons (Simonson) had A daughter, bap. Sept. 4, 1726. A son Aart (Aaron or Arthur) May 24, 1730. A daughter , June 1, 1732. A son Dirk, Feb. 29, 1736, died July 29, 1807. A son Abraham, Dec. 9, 1739. A daughter Elizabeth, Oct. 11, 1743, and A daughter Jemima, July 19, 1748. Isaac, born Nov. 4,. 1775, died Dec. 2, 1857 ; he was married to Hannah Ferine Apr. 9, 1807. Peter had a daughter bap. Aug. 6, 1785, and another Dec. 7, 1788. The most prominent members of the family were John, who was many years one of the inferior Judges of the Com- 392 ANKALS OP STATfiN ISLAND. mon Pleas, Member of Assembly 1804, Surrogate 1809, and Supervisor repeatedly. Isaac R. was also one of the Judges, Member of Assembly, 1823, and Supervisor repeatedly. The Sailors' Snug Harbor property was purchased from him. Notices of the family are extremely meagre in our county records. James made his will Nov. 1, 1801, proved Sep. 22, 1803, in which he speaks only of his brothers Anthony and Jacob. JACOBSON. This was a Danish family. The first of the name found in our records, is Christian, who is mentioned in the article on the Moravian Church. His son, John Van Deventer, was born in 1768, and died in 1826. He had the following sons : Peter, dec. ; Cornelius, living on Long Island — he married a daughter of Isaac R. Housman, Esq. ; Bedell, dec. ; Israel, dec. ; Abraham, dec. JOHNSON. It is impossible to trace the Johnson' s back to their several progenitors in this county. Evidently they are not of the ANNALS OF 8TATEN ISLAND. 393 same origin ; the name is English, but some of them are of Dutch extraction, having Anglicised the Dutch name of Jan- sen. We give extracts from the various records indiscrimi- nately, leaving each one of the name to appropriate his ov?n ancestors. The earliest is : Peter, w^ho vras plaintiff in a law suit in 1680. Thomas and Ann Bouwman, son Casper, bap. June 30, 1728. Johannes and Jannetje (Jane) Glascow, son Thomas, bap. Feb. 29, 1736. Nathaniel and Sophia Van Gelder, sonHeuricks, bap. ]Nov. 19, 1738. Niers and Sara Morgan had daughters bap. 1731, 1739 and 1740. Peter and Mary Taylor, married Oct. 24, 1754. Isaac and Elender Bov/man married , 1764. Peter and Malli (Molly) Lister, son Jouneton (Jonathan) bap. Oct. 2, 1755. John and Cornelia Ceilo, son Peter, bap. Nov. 7, 1753. The above are from the Dutch Church records, except the marriages of Isaac and Peter, which with the following are from St. Andrews. Dowe and Margaret, daughter Ann, born May 7, 1771. Dowe made his will Nov. 10, 1783, proved June 7, 1788, in which he mentions his sons Dowe and James. Winant and Mary had daughter Sophia, born Dec. 17, 1772, and son David born Apr. 13, 1774. Winant, not the above, made his will June 18, 1803, proved June 30, 1803, in which he mentions his wife Mary and sons Winant and Jesse ; these sons married — Winant, Catharine Guyon, Nov. 26, 1797, and Jesse, Eachel Totten Jan. 11, 1804. Mattice (Matthias) had a son William, born July 17, 1751, who was baptized May — , 1772, then an adult. George had a son Thomas, born Aug. 17, 1771. Isaac and Ploney (Appolonia) Frome, married Mar. — , 1772. Nathaniel and Catharine Woglom, married Nov. 9, 1791. 394 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Lewis and Phebe Van Pelt, married Dec. 24, 1793. John born , 1770, died June 2d, 1832, and Patty (Mar- tha) Bedell, married Mar. 23, 1794. He was a potter, and carried on his business on the Shore Eoad, in the vicinity of Elm Park, Port Richmond ; they had the following sons : John, merchant at Richmond, S. I., born Jan. 3, 1795, died Dec. 19, 1859. Joseph B., merchant at Port Richmond, born Nov. — , 1796, died July 4, 1849. Israel D., merchant at Port Richmond, born Apr. 15, 18(>3, died Feb. 9, 1873 ; and James. Jacob, brother of the potter, married Eliza Haughwont, July 28, 1795 ; their sons were Peter H., James, Isaac, Ben- jamin and Jacob. William, brother of the potter, married Catharine Martling, Apr. 28, 1802 ; their sons were John, James, William, Ed- ward and Channing ; they had also a daughter Sarah, who married Hugh Gibson, and died Aug. 25th, 1826, in her 69th year ; their son John, born Feb. .13, 1803, died Nov. 3, 1865. Edward, brother of the potter, born Oct. 12, 1776, died Sep. 4, 1856. Abraham and Jane Jennings, m^-rried Sep. 24, 1794. David and Jane Winant, married June 23, 1796. Ephraim and Catharine Laforge, married Oct. 10, 1797. James and Letitia Totten, married Feb. 20, 1805. Anthony and Fanny Oakley, married Jan. 28, 1807. Esek, of Tottenville, was grandson of James, and son of Abraham, who built one of the first houses on the Billop es- tate, after the sale by confiscation. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 395 JONES. There were several families of this very common name in the county, from early dates, between whom there appears to have been no relationship whatever. We submit a brief genealogy of some of the early families of this name. The earliest one named is Edward, whose wife was Catharine Decker, and they had the following children : Edward bap. July 20, 1718, died young. Mattheus, bap. Nov. 2, 1719. Abigail, bap. April 22, 1722. Edward, bap. Aug. 14, 1726. Mattheus, above named, married Margaritje (Margaret) Growan, and they had a daughter Catharine, baptized June 7, 1743. There was a John whose wife was Rachael Van Engelen, and they had the following children : Elizabeth, bap. April 10, 1732. Johannes, bap. March 9, 1735. A daughter, bap. , 1737. Lucretia, bap. March 30, 1740. Isaac, bap. April 22, 1747. Abraham and Jannetje Persnet had a daughter Jane, bap. May 2, 1753. Edward and Martha, his wife, had a son Abraham, born March 31, 1772. 396 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. JOURNEAY. Moillart Journeay, from Pays de Vaud, came to America in April, 1663, in the ship called "The Spotted Cow," but where he settled is not known. The earliest mention of the family in connection with the Island, is in the county records, where John Journeay bought and sold land in 1700. The name is not again met with in any church record now in ex- istence, until we find it in that of St. Andrew's Church, about the middle of the last century, as follows : John and Martha his wife had the following children : John, born Jan. 4, 1752. Albert, born Mar. 8, 1755. Nicholas, born Aug. 22, 1756. William, born Aug. 6, 1759, and Richard, born Aug. 7, 1771. The above named Nicholas is mentioned in the county records in 1791 as Nicholas, Jun. ; there must therefore have been another Nicholas, whose name we have nowhere met. Nicholas, son of John, had a son Nicholas, bap. Nov. 1, 1789. Joseph and Mary Winant were married Dec. 29, 1807. John and Patjence Cole were married July — , 1802. John (not the last named, unless Patience Cole was his 2d wife) made his will Mar. 7, 1803, proved Apr. 21, 1803, in which he speaks of his wife Patience, his sons Albert, Rob- ert, Abraham, John, William, James and Richard, and his daughters Martha Randolph, Catharine Fountain and Mary, wife of Dr. Henderson. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 397 LAFOKGE. The name of De la Forge appears iu the assess- ment roll of Boswyck (Bushwick) in 1676, and among those who took the oath of allegiance in Kings County in 1687, is the name of Adrian La fforge, who had then been in the County fifteen years. In 1738 there was an Adrian Laforge, who bought land on Staten Island. From the similarity of the name, the inference is natural that if they are not identi- cal, they were connected ; this is, however, conjecture. There appears to have been two branches of the family, the Castle- ton and the Westfield, who may or may not have had a common origin. The paucity of notices in the old records of the County and churches, and the absence of family records, renders it impossible to trace the family far. The present living representative of the Castleton branch is Mr. Gr. M. Laforge, of Illinois ; the late Mr. Peter D. Laforge, also of .Illinois, and the late Capt. John Laforge, of West New Brighton, were his brothers ; their father was David, and their mother G-ertrude, daughter of John Martling, (see Martling family) ; David' s father was Peter, who was the son of Benjamin ; David's brothers were Peter, John, Benjamin, Jacob, Richard Channing Moore; Peter, David's brother was the father of Mr. Peter C. and David of Port Richmond. Of the Westfield branch, we have only the following notices : David and Catharine had a son Henry Seguine, bap. May 15, 1790. John and Phebe Bedell married Sept. 15, 1804. James and Catharine Winant married Feb. 8, 1806. David and Ann Johnson married July 8, 1807. 398 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. LAKE. This family is probably of English origin. The first men- tion of the name occurs in the county records, where the name of Daniel is recorded as having purchased land in 1696 and 1699. Daniel, probably, had several sons, among whom were Joseph, Abraham, and Thomas. Joseph had a son Joseph, baptized April 20, 1708^ who married Aaltye (Alida) Burbank, and had a son Abraham, baptized March 26, 1731. Joseph had also another son Abraham, baptized 1715. Abraham (Daniel's son) also had a son Joseph, baptized 1708, and Abraham, 1715. Thomas, perhaps the youngest of Daniel's sons, married Jannetje (Jane) Stryker, and had a son Thomas, baptized Oc- tober 19, 1718. Here occurs a gap which we are unable to fill. ■Joseph, born July 8th, 1753, and his wife, Catharine, born June 2, 1755, both died March 14, 1813, within one hour of each other. They had a daughter Patience, born May 30, 1790. There was another Joseph also born 1753, and died May 24, 1843, in his 90th year. There was stiU another Joseph, born in 1773, and died March 16, 1854. He lived on the Manor Road near the Four Corners, Castleton. William and Mary Tysen, his wife, had the following sons : William, born November 16, 1769. Bornt, born March 25, 1771 ; killed October^^27, 1815. Joseph, born May 12, 1777. Bornt had the following sons: William, Joseph, Daniel, and John, of whom John is still living (1876) at Graniteville. There was a Daniel W. born 1780, died October 6, 1835. Daniel and Margaret, his wife, had a son Daniel, born May 12, 1777. Cornelius and Susan Androvet were married April 6, 1794. Joseph and Eliza Van Pelt were married January 20, 1798. ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 399 Daniel and Margaret Jackson were married June 5, 1802. Daniel Lake made Ms will October 13, 1789, proved Sep- tember 4, 1792, in which : mentions his wife Sarah, his sons Daniel and Joseph, and his grandson Daniel, son of his son William, deceased. LARZELERE. The earliest mention of this name occurs in the county- records, where Jacob bought land in 1686. Nicholas bought land in 1693 ; he was at one time sherifif of the county. There was another Jacob, probably a son of Nicholas, whose wife's name was Alice ; they had a son Daniel, born June 16, 1757, and a son Bejijamin, born Oct. 22, 1761. Nicholas, probably a brother of Jacob, whose wife's name was Sarah ; they had a daughter Johanna, born Jan. 7, 1768. Jacob and Elsy, (or Alice, the same mentioned above,) had a son Richard, born June 18, 1771. Benjamin, (not the one mentioned above) was born July 6, 1740,. and died Oct. 6, 1802 ; he made his will June 17, 1802, in which he mentions his wife Sarah, and his children Ben- jamin, Jacob and Catharine. The family, once an important one in the county, is now nearly, if not quite, extinct, and it is impossible to obtain a connected genjealogy. There was a Rev. Jacob, a minister of the Ref. Dutch Church in"N. and S. Hampton, Penn., from. 1797 to 1819, who was probably connected with the Staten Island family. 400 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. LATOURETTE. The original Latourette was a French Huguenot, but when he came to America is unknown. The family is not among the earliest settlers on Stat en Island. The first mention of the name we have found is as follows : Jean and Maria Mersereau had the following children : A son David, bap. Apr. 24, 1726, David Latourette spon- sor. A son Anthony, Jan. 24, 1730. A son Henry, Jan. 24, 1731. Pierre La Turrete and Mariamne Mersereaux had A son Daniel, bap. Mar. 3, 1728. Twin sons DaVid and Jacques, Oct. 31, 1730. David and Catharine Poillon, son Jaques, bap. Mar. 19, ]732. James, probably one of the Jaques mentioned above, and Elizabeth his wife, had a son John born Dec. 11, 1764. A son Jonathan, born Jan. 31, 1766, and A son Henry, born Apr. 22, 1775. David and Elizabeth his wife had a daughter Catharine, born Nov. 9, 1766. John and Susannah his wife had a son John, born Sep. 30, 1764. James and Mary his wife had a son David, born July 7, 1786. David and Phebe Cole married Nov. 12, 1808. Henry of Fresh Kills, weaver, made his will. Jan 19, 1794, proved Dec. 30, 1794, in which he speaks of his wife Sarah, his brother Henry, dec'd, his sons Henry, John and Peter, and his daughters Susan, wife of Peter Cole, and Ann, wife of William de Groot. Peter's wife was Elizabeth Androvette. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 401 LISK. This family was never very numerous on the Island, and we find little mention of it in any records. James, the earliest mentioned, had a son John bap. Mar. 25, 1701. He is also mentioned as having bought land in 1706 ; he had a son Thomas, who married Catalyntje Van Pelt, and had daughters baptized in 1729, 1731, 1739 and 1745 ; John, son of James, married Rachel Haughwout, atid had a son Jacob bap. Jan. 2, 1728. Matthias and Anastasia had a son Moses born Dec. 7, 1766. John and Mary had a son Thomas born Sep. 19, 1756 ; he made his will Aug. 24, 1793, proved Nov. 4, 1793, in which he mentions his children Thomas, Franky and Catharine. There is an Alexander Lisk mentioned in the Court Records in 1724. LOCKMAN. LOOKEEMAN, LaKEMAN, LaCKMAN, LoCKERMAN, &C. This is one of the oldest of the Dutch families in the prov- ince. The first mention of the name is that of Govert Lock- ermans, (sometimes spelled Lookermans), who arrived in America in 1633, in the carvel St. Martyn. He was a minor when he arrived, and came as an apprentice, but was imme- diately taken into the service of the Company. He soon con- trived to make himself conspicuous, especially in leading attacks upon the Indians, on Staten Island and elsewhere. The earliest mention of the name in the records, occurs in 402 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 1680, when Abraham Lakeman* is said to have owned a par- cel of woodland on the south of the Fresh-kill. About this time there were several of the name on the Islanc -Abraham, mentioned above, whose name is found again on the records, in 1 684 and 1692 ; Lewis, who was defendant in a suit July 6, 1681 ; and Peter, who sold land in 1684. These three prob- ably were brothers. There was an Isaac, perhaps a son of one of the above, of whom we only know that his wife was Catharine Christopher, and that they had a son Lewis, bap. May 23, 1731. Abraham, and Elizabeth his wife, had two daughters born — Sarah, in 1762, and Margaret in 1767, and a son Abraham, born Apr. 4, 1772. Isaac, and his wife Martha, had the following sons : David, born Jan. 26, 1768 ; Jacob, born July 21, 1771, and Joseph, born Oct. 7, 1775. William and Mary his wife had a daughter Sarah, born Oct. 4, 1772. Isaac and Margaret his wife had a son William, born Nov. 24, 1772. There was another Isaac, born 1758, and died May 1, 1814. Samuel and Catharine Crowal, were married Mar. 16, 1790. Nathaniel made his will Dec. 12, 1795, proved May 24, 1803, in which he mentions his wife Martha, his daughter Susanna, and his sons Isaac and John. This family is also gradually dying out. * Vide App N. (70.) ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 403 MANEE. Originally written Manez. This is a Westfield family con- cerning which the notices, in either county or church records, are exceedingly meagre. We have found but few shreds of its history. Peter, and Mary Brooks his wife, had a daughter baptized August 8, 1725. Abraham and Anna Jansen, his wife, had a son Abraham, baptized May 26, 1723. Abraham and Sarah du Chesne, had a daughter Sarah, bap- tized March 30, 1740. Abraham had a son Isaac, baptized May 15, 1790. Peter and Mary Pryor were married Jan. 4, 1804. William and Eliza Pryor were married April , 1808. Abraham and Mary Woglom were married Oct. 8, 1808. Isaac made his will May 14, 1794, proved July 18, 1794, in which he speaks of his brothers Abraham and Peter, and sister Hannah Prior. His will is dated on the day of his death, at which time he was 46 years old. MARTLING. This name is not met with at a very early date ; when its connection with the Island began, is unknown ; the earliest mention of the family in our local records, is in 1724, when Isaac Martling and Anna Van Name his wife, had a daughter bap. Jan. 10 ; a son John, Jan. 21, 1731, a Barent Martling being present as a sponsor. He died in infancy. 404 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Peter and Jannetje (Jane) Heereman had a son John, bap. Apr. 26, 1748. Barent and Susanna Grerretson had a son Barent bap. Sep. 19, 1749, and Barent, Sen., was sponsor. There were three generations present on this occasion, represented by three Barent Martlings. Peter (same as above) had a son Benjamin, bap. Sept. 17, 1752, and another son Johannes or John Oct. 11, 1743. Barent, son of Barent above named, married Nannie Tuson (Tyson), and had a son Barent, born Jan. 10, 1776. Johannes or John, son of Peter, was- the grandfather of Mr. Peter L. Martling, now (1876) residing near the Four Cor- ners ; he made his will Dec. 15, 1798, which was proved Jan. 8, 1802 ; he speaks of six daughters and two sons, viz.: Annatje (Anna), Elizabeth, Catharine (married William Johnson, died Nov. 19, 1852, in her 72d year). Gritty (Q-ertrude), married first David Laforge, second John Laforge, Jane, Catharine, and Clarissa (died unmarried Aug. 15, 1872, aged 81 years), and Garret and John. The former owned the property now belonging to A. C. Bradley, Esq. ; the latter owned the farm now occupied by his son Peter L. ; he married Dorcas Laforge Jan. 3, 1802. Benjamin and Aala (Alida) Cozine were married June 13, 1795. MARTIN O. Gaston Martineau, a surgeon of Dieppe, settled in England in 1685, and was a French refugee. He had several sons, whose descendants still reside in England, and many of them ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 405 are distinguished. The family in America is a collateral branch, and were in this coiintry and on the Island before Gaston left Prance. We find the name of Francis in our county records as defendant in a suit with Jaques Jeyoung in 1681, and as selling land in 1691. Stephen was born 1727, and died May 9, 1801 ; he owned and resided on the property now known as the Poor House Farm. He was one of the corporators of the Moravian Church. Benjamin, brother of Stephen, was born 1742, and died May 17, 1824. Benjamin, son of above was born Apr. 4, 1766, and died Nov. 20, 1814. He was father of Mr. Gabriel Martino, re- siding near Four Corners, Castleton. Stephen was father of Mr. Gabriel Martino, residing be- tween Graniteville and Bull's Head. MERRILL. This family have descended from Richard Merrill and Sarah Wells his wife, natives of Warwickshire, England, who emigrated to America about the year 1675, and settled on Staten Island. As their family was the only one of the name on the Island, they had among their children the following sons : William, Richard, Thomas, Philip and Philys, unless the two last names are identical, and perhaps John, for we find in the Albany records the name of William as owning land on Staten Island in 1683 ; Philys bought land of Rich- ard (father or brother ?) in 1711 . 406 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Richard married Elsie Dorlant, and had the following children : Richard, bap. Sep. 22, 1709, who died young. Elsie, bap. Apr. 1, 1708, by Dom. Freeman. Richard, bap. 1715. Lambert, bap. Jan.'l, 1721. Susanna, bap. Sep. 13, 1724. Philip and Elizabeth Bakker, (Baker) his wife, had the following children : Catherine and Susanna, twins, bap. July 4, 1725. Philip, bap. Feb. 24, 1727. Nicholas, bap. Nov. 24, 1728. Elisabet, bap. Apr. 8, 1733. Neeltje (Cornelia) bap. Mar. 9, 1735. Thomas and Jenne Grewan had a son Richard — no date of baptism. John and Gertrude Simonson had a daughter, bap. Sep. 18, 1726. William ; of his descendants we have no account. The above are the children and grand-children of the orig- inal pair, so far as the church records throw any light upon the matter. Richard, son of Thomas, had the following children : Margaretta, bap. Jan. 1, 1738. Annatje, (Anna) bap. Apr. 19, 1743 ; no others mentioned. Jan and Aeltje (Alida) Bennet had a son Simon, and a daughter bap. on the same day, May 6, 1745. Thomas and Eva Jones had a daughter bap. Oct. 31, 1756. This Thomas made his will Dec. 31, 1791, proved Apr. 30, 1803, in which he mentions his wife Eva and his sons John, Thomas and Matthew. John, son of Thomas and Eva (known in the family as Hon- uis) was born 1742, and died Dec. 19, 1826, His wife's name was Charity. Thomas (known as " Sawmill Thomas,") son of John and Eva, had a son John, bap. Aug. 17, 1788. There was a John, Jun., who had a daughter bap. Nov. 7, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 407 1790, and John Y., who was born in 1770, and died June 6, 1858, but they are probably distinct persons; John, Jun., more probably was the son of Joseph and Martha, and was born Apr. 4, 1765. Joseph also had a daughter Mary, born Jan. 16, 1763. John and Ann his wife had a daugliter bap. Nov. 7, 1753. Lambert, (son of Richard and Elsie), and Tabitha, had a son Richard, born July 9, 1765 ; a son Jonathan born May 34, 1774 ; a daughter Tabitha, born Feb. 18, 1770, who married Capt. John W. Blake, and died Jan. 12, 1861, aged nearly 91 years ; also a daughter Elsie, born 1768, married John Hillyer 1785, and was the mother of Hon. Lawrence Hillyer, dec, and Hon. John B. Hillyer, still living (1876) at New Springville. William and Ann Merrill were married Aug. — , 1776. Abraham and Ann Merrill were married Oct. 3d, 1790. Mary, widow of Merrill, made her will Jan. 10, 1789, proved Nov. 30, 1789 ; reference has been made to this will before, and the bequest made to her daughter Mary, the wife of Nathaniel Bobbins. The family was once numerous, and have largely intermar- ried with other families of the Island. The property belong- ing to them in Northfield was extensive, and a part of it is still in the possession of some of them. The public road known as Lambert's Lane, leading to Watchogue, was named from Lambert Merrill, mentioned above. 408 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. MERSEREAU. [From Family Records and Traditions.] John Mersereau was a native of France, and a Protestant. In his youth he was possessed of extraordinary physical strength. He studied law, but disliking the confinement of study, he learned the trade of a saddler, which he subse- quently carried on extensively. He was also captain of a military company, armed with pikes, the members of which attained great skill in the use of that weapon. When he went abroad, he always wore a sword at his side. One evening he met three men habited as friars, whom he saluted, saying "Good evening, gentlemen." They immediately charged him with being a Protestant — otherwise he would have said "Good evening, fathers." He replied, "I know but one Father, who is in Heaven." They then drew their sabres, which were concealed under their cloaks, .and attacked him, and he was obliged to defend himself ; the result was, he killed one, wounded another, and the third fled. For some unexplained reason, he was never molested for this deed. He died young, and left three sons — Joshua, Paul and Daniel — and two daughters, Mary and Martha. These children, with their mother, fled from France to England 1685, immediately after the Revocation ; but James II, having just ascended the throne, and being a Roman Catholic, they feared further persecution, and all, with the exception of Paul, who re- mained and followed his father' s business, continued their flight to America. They had intended to settle at Philadel- phia, but they were driven to New York by stress of weather. They settled on Staten Island, where their mother , died, and was buried in the French church- yard (on the Seaman farm, Westfield). Daniel was a tailor ; Joshua married a Latourette, and died May 23, 1756, aged over 93 years. They had a son Joshua, who was born May 18, 1696, and died July 9, 1769 ; his wife was Maria Corsen (sometimes written Mary), daugh- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 409 ter of Jacob Corsen ; she was born Oct. 24, 1704, and died July 3, 1763. Their children were : *Joshua, born Sep. .26, 1728, died June 10, 1804. tJacob, born Apr. 23, 1730, died Sep. 7, 1804. John, born Mar. 2, 1732, died . Elizabeth, born Jan. 4, 1734, died in infancy. David, born Nov. 10, 1735, died July 19, 1763. Mary, born Jan. 14, 1738, died . Cornelias, born July 27, 1739, died July 27, 1814. Paul, born Feb. 23, 1741, died Jan. 26, 1823. Elizabeth, born Nov. 26, 1742, died . Rachel, born Feb. 27, 1746, died July 9, 1769. Paul, son of Joshua and Maria Corsen, married Elizabeth Barnes, born Apr. 21, 1751, died May 26, 1833, their children were : Joshua, born Feb. 7, 1773, died Mar. 7, 1847. Nancy, born Apr. 4, 1775, died Nov. 30, 1851. Mary, born Feb. 2, 1777, died June 6, 1858. Elizabeth, born June 20, 1779, died May 8, 1855. Eachel, born June 30, 1781, died Feb. 23, 1863. tPaul, born Mar. 14, 1784, died July 21, 1856. Margaret, born Mar. 27, 1787. Gertrude, born Nov. 30, 1789. Joshua, son of Paul and Elizabeth, married Deborah Brit- * He was repeatedly Member of Assembly between 1777 and 1786. \ Jacob made his will July 16, 1804, proved Sept. 18, 1804, in which he speaks of his wife Charity, and his children John, and Mary, wife of Thomas Cubberly ; Elizabeth, wife of Daniel De Hart ; Sophia, wife of John Crocheron ; Jacob, Da- vid, arid Peter. He was the Col. Jacob Mersereau, whose escape from the British during the Revolution is alluded to elsewhere. His son Jacob was the father of John T. and Alfred Mersereau, of Graniteville, and Member of Assembly 1832 and 1833. His sou Peter, still living on the old homestead, born in 1788, was Member of Assembly 1845. Col. Jacob had also a son John by his first marriage, who married a Cruser, and lived in an old stone house, on the tarn of the road west of the Snug Harbor, and was father-in-law to the late Judge Abraham Crocheron. X Paul was Member of Assembly 1834, and for several years subsequently a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. 410 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. ton, Jan. 7, 1801. She was born Aug. 4, 1782, and died Mar. 26, 1840 ; their children were : Nathaniel, born Oct. 18, 1802, died in infancy, Paul, born Sept. 20, 1804. Mary, born Jan. 29, 1807. twins, born Jan. 19, 1810. Cornelius, born May 12, 1811. * Joshua, born Jan. 28, 1814. Elsey, born Aug. 30, 1817, dec'd. Elizabeth, born May, 5, 1820, dec'd. Debora, born Apr. 7, 1823. John, born May 28, 1826, died in infancy. Margaret. Thus far we have traced but one branch of the family ; what notices we have found in the public records, of other branches, we give indiscriminately. There was a John mentioned in the County records in 1730 ; he was probably the same with Jean, whose wife's name was Craage ; they had a son Joshua baptised Feb., 1731, and sub- sequently a son Daniel. This Daniel married Cornelia Van- derbilt, and had a son John, baptized Mar. 4, 1759. Etienne (Stephen) and Ann Mitchell had a son Daniel baptized, no date ; a daughter Jan. 1, 1735, and a son Rich- ard, May, 1740. There was a Joshua had a son Harmanus baptized June 8, 1788. There was a Paul here as early as 1728, sponsor at a baptism. Peter and Rebecca his wife had the following children : Sarah, born Mar. 23, 1769. Daniel, born Aug. 27, 1771, died July 16, 1855. John, bap. Nov., 1775. Peter died June 16, 1803, born 1734. See Note. There was a John born Dec, 1737, died July 30, 1811. John and Charity had a son John born Apr. 13, 1757 ; son Lawrence Mar. 28, 1761. * Joshua was Member of Assembly 1857, and County Clerk from 1843 to 1852. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 411 Paul and Frances had a son John born May 2, 1759. Stephen and Lydia had the following children : Sarah, born Sep. 8. 1766. Daniel, born Dec. 6, 1768. Stephen, born Feb. 14, 1774. Joshua and Mary had the following children : Stephen, born May 5, 1770. Joshua, bap. Sept. 6, 1772. Daniel and Susan had a daughter Ann bap. July 6, 1789. Daniel and Ann had a daughter Cornelia bap. June 26, 1791. Heury and Eliza Laforge married Sept. 6, 1790. Jacob and Mary Crocheron married Sept. 5, 1798. Daniel and Alida Lake married Oct. 6, 1798. Daniel and Eliza Winant married Feb. 8, 1800. Stephen and Lanah (Helen) Winant married Nov. 21, 1802. John and Ann Parlee married Dec. 31, 1803. Joshua and Susannah Story married Dec. 10, 1805. There were others of this name who emigrated from Hol- land, but where they settled is not known. Dunlap says, '' The Huguenots who fled to Holland after the bloody and complicated treachery and murder performed by the papists under Charles IX, had remained among their Dutch brethren until many of their descendants had become, in language and manners, assimilated to the Hollanders, and emigrated , to this country more Dutch than French ; such as the Dur- yeas, Cortelyous, Mersereaus, and many others." Note. — Peter Mersereau made his will May 6, 1600, proved July 25, 1803, in which he alludes to his wif e without nami ng her, and mentions his children Elizabeth, Rebecca, Catharine, Ann, Sarah, Daniel and William. There is another branch of the family, not located on Staten Island, of which Capt. Lawrence Mersereau, who was born Jan. 4, 1773, and died at Union, Broome County, N. Y., January 24, 1873. At the age of 25 he married Hannah Christopher, and had the following children : Hester, Maria, Joshua, Clarissa, George W. Lawi-ence, Mary, William, 412 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Hannah and John C. Capt. Lawrence's father's name was Joshua. METCALFE. Though not among the old, this family is among the most prominent ones of the county. Simon, the progenitor of the family on Staten Island, came from England in 1765, and settled in New York city, and was subsequently appointed deputy surveyor of the colony. He left his son Gfeorge in England to be educated until he was seventeen years of age, when he joined his father in this country. After studying law, he resided at Albany for a time, then went to Johnstown, Pulton county, N. Y. He married the daughter of Commo- dore Silas Talbot. In 1796 Gov. John Jay appointed him Assistant Attorndy-G-eneral, which office he held until 1811. He then removed to New York, where he practiced law until 1816, when he removed to Staten Island-, and in 1818, when the office of District Attorney was made a county office, he WHS appointed to perform its duties. He died in 1826. His children were Maria, who married William S. Root, of Tomp- kinsville ; Silas Talbot ; Simon ; Catharine, who was the first wife of John B. Simonson ; Henry Bleecker ; Georgiana, who married Daniel Fenu, of Massachusetts ; Louisa, twins, and George. Henry Bleecker was born January 20th, 1805, studied law with his father, and admitted to the bar in 1826. The same year he was appointed District Attorney for Richmond county, which office he held until 1833. In 1840 he was ap- ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 413 pointed a County Judge, and the same year U. S. Boarding Officer at Quarantine, in the Revenue Department, which place he occupied until 1843. In 1847 he was elected County Judge and Surrogate, the two officers having been united, and re-elected from time to time until near the close of 1875, at the end of which year he would have been legally disqual- ified by age, but he resigned to take his seat as Member of Congress, to which he had been elected, and he is now, 1876, performing the duties of that office as Representative of the 1st Congressional District of the State of New York, in the 1st Session of the 44th Congress. MORGAN, This family was on Staten Island at an early date, but the notices of them in the records are very few. Thomas Morgan was a member of the Colonial Assembly from this county in 1692, &c. This is the first occurrence of the name in the county records. His name occurs again in the Dutch Church records as having a son Abraham, baptized May 5, 1696, and a daughter Martha, September 7, 1698. Thomas, (probably a son of the former,) and Magdalena Staats his wife, had the following children : A daughter Elisabet, baptized Feb. 7, 1725. A daughter Magdalena, bap. Feb. 12, 1737. A son Pieter, bap. March 9, 1729. A son Thomas, bap. Oct. 10, 1731, and A daughter Sarah, bap. Sept. 16, 1739. The name does not again appear until 1754, December 16, when William Morgan and Elizabeth Winter were married. 414 ANNALS or STATBN ISLAND. It is probable that William was tbe son of Pieter mentioned above, though not certain. William had a son John, who lived and died in the vicinity of New Springville. Among his children was a son Charles who married a Vroom, and they were the parents of Mr. Henry C, of Travisville, and his brother, the late John, of Mariner's Harbor. PEEINE. The original orthography of the name was Perrin. Count Perrin was a Huguenot refugee from Nouere ; the American family are not descended from him, but the original emigrant was akin to him. The first occurrence of the name in this county was in 1687, where Daniel Perine sold land, and he was probably the progenitor of the Perines of the present day. Like many other old families iu the county, they have a family record, but very imperfect, except perhaps for the last two or three generations. The branch which we are able to trace, lived for a century and a half, or more, in the same house, which is still standing, and occupied by them, on the Richmond road, a short distance north of Q-arrison' s Station, on the Staten Island Railroad. It is probably the oldest dwelling house' in the county occupied by the family who built it. Cornelius S. and Joseph B., still residing in the old house, are the sons of Simon S., who was the son of Joseph, born June 4, 1759, died April 16th, 1814. Joseph's brothers were Edward, born July 6, 1766, and Henry, born Nov. 29, 1768, and married Mary Winant June 21, 1795 ; ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 415 they were the parents of Mrs. Elizabeth, relict of the late Richard Tysen, Esq. Joseph's parents were Edward and Ann ; Edward died during the Revolution. We are unable to trace the pedigree of any branch of the family beyond Edward, with any degree of certainty. Prob- ably Edward was the son, possibly the grandson, of Daniel, whom we suppose to be the original. In addition to the above, the following are found on the county and church records, on tomb-stones, etc. Henry and Susannah his wife had a son Edward, born Feb. 19, 1758 ; a son Peter, born May 22d, 1764 ; Henry made his will Apr. 10, 1788, which was proved June 7, 1788, in which he mentions his wife Susannah and his children David and Cornelius, then minors, and his other children, Edward, Margaret, and Susannah, Abraham, Henry, Nancy and Mary. This younger Henry was a weaver, and made his will Oct. 29, 1792, which was proved April 2, 1793, in which he speaks of his brothers David, Cornelius and Edward, but alludes to no wife nor children. Henry and Ann his wife had a son Abraham, born Feb. 1, 1766. Henry and Hannah his wife had a son Henry, born June 5, 1767. James and Nannie his wife had a daughter Sophia, born July 17, 1767. William and Miranda Ma wife had a son Peter, baptized June 27, 1790. Edward and Patience Mersereau were married June 7, 1790, and had a daughter Mary, born Oct. 9, 1790. Abraham and Sarah Rezeau were married Aug. 24, 1790, and had a son Peter Rezeau, born Sep. 20, 1791. Peter and Mary Bedell were married Dec. 31, 1788. Edward and Adriar Gruyon were married Jan. 20, 1791. Henry and Magdalena Simonson were married June, 19, 1800. Cornelius and Mary McLean were married Mar. 31, 1804. 416 ATSTNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Edward, born in 1745, died Nov. 22, 1818. James G., born Aug. 29, 1796, died Sep. 17, 1833. There was a Teter, living in 1766, and a Henry in 1767, who were interested in the purchase or sale of land. POILLON. The first mention of the name we have found, was in con- nection with Staten Island, when Jaques Poullian was ap- pointed a Justice for Richmond County, Dec. 14, 1689, by Leisler. The family was never numerous, and the notices of them in the local records are few. Jaques is frequently mentioned as buying or selling land prior to 1708. After him we have no notice of any member of the family for half a century ; then John, and Margaret his wife, had a son John, born June 6, 1753.. A son Peter, born Jan. 27, 1763, and A son James, bap. Nov. 3, 1772. James and Frances his wife had a son J ohn bap. Nov. 14, 1762. Peter and Margaret his wife had a son John, born Oct. 28, 1770. A son Peter, born Mar. 6, 1772 ; this Peter was a com- municant in St. Andrew's Church, 1792, after his father's death. (See history of that church. ) Abraham and Susan Cole married June 17, 1790 ; he died young. John and Elizabeth Seguine married July 5, 1792. Abraham made his will July 20, 1791, proved Aug. 8, ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 417 179], in which he mentions his wife Susan, and his son Peter, a minor. John, named above, made his will Mar. 16, 1802, proved Feb. 18, 1803 ; mentions his wife Margaret, his daughters Mary, Margaret, Ann, Sarah and Catharine, and his sons Peter, John and James, deceased. POST. Adrian Post, who was, without doubt, the progenitor of the family on Staten Island, was commander of a ship which brought emigrants to the colony before 1650. He was subse- quently the superintendent of Baron Van de Cappelan's plantation on the Island. The Indian massacre of 1655 drove him temporarily from the Island, but he soon returned, and resumed his residence here. His family consisted of his wife, five children and two servants. John, who was probably a grandson of Adrian, married Anna Housman, and they had the following sons baptized : Abraham, April 19, 1743, and Adrian, April 26, 1748. Garret and Sarah Ellis had the following sons baptized : Garret, August 7, 1754. Abraham, March 12, 1758. Abraham had a daughter Miriam, born July 31, 1790. There was another Garret born 1720, and died March 31, 1797. The notices of this family are very meagre. 418 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. PRALL. The present representatives of the family are : Hon. Benjamin P. Prall, of Huguenot, Westfleld, and bis brother Capt. Arthur Prall, of New Springville, Northfield. Their father was Peter Prall, born 1763, and died Nov. 1, 1822 ; his father was Benjamin Prall, born 1733, and died 1796 ; his father was Abraham Prall, born 1706 and died Sep. 28, 1775 ; his father was Peter Prall, whose name we find recorded as a witness or sponsor at a baptism in 1708 ; he had an older son than Abraham, viz. : Arent born 1698, and a younger Isaac born 1710. This brings us very near, or quite to the original of the family. There was, however, an Arent Prall, who probably was either father or brother of the last mentioned Peter. We find his— Arent' s — name on record as owning 120 acres of land on Long Neck in 1694. Other members of the family, not in the above line, were Peter, born Apr. 9, 1737, and died Feb. 28, 1822 ; his brother Abraham, born 1740, died May 6, 1820 ; he had two sons, viz. Daniel, drowned Oct. 10, 1817, and Ichabod, a merchant in New York ; Daniel married Ann Mersereau Jan. 22, 1794. Scattered through various records, we find the following, whom we are unable to place, viz. : Aron, Jun., and his wife Antye Staats, had a daughter born May 21, 1715 ; a son Aron in 1717 ; a daughter in 1719, and a son Peter in 1724. Aron, or Arent, (not Jun.) and his wife Maritje Bowman had a son William Joris, born 1730, and a son Hendriok, born 1735. Isaac (probably the son of Abraham, above mentioned) and his wife Maria Debaa or Dubois, had a daughter born 1746, and another in 1748 ; a son Peter in 1744, and a son Lewis in 1751. Benjamin and his wife Sarah Swaim had a son Abraham born in 1752, and a son John in 1766. John (wife's name not given) had a daughter born in 1719. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 419 Abraham and Sarah Cannon were married Aug. — , 1776. John and Martha Latourette were married Jan. 14, 1802. There was a Wolford Praule, who was a freeholder as early as 1696, but he was not probably connected with this family, as his name was spelled differently, and there is no further notice of him. RYERSS. We find this name at an early date on Long Island. Arie Ryerse and Maerte Ryerse were assessed as owners of prop- erty at Middelwoat, now Flatbush, in 1676, but when their connection with Staten Island began is unknown. Adrian was born 1716, and died December 12, ,1779 ; his wife was Hester Debaa (Dubois ;) their son Lewis was born December 7, 1754, and died April 13, 1806. Aris, another son of Adrian, had a daughter baptized July 27, 1786, and a son David, baptized October 17, 1790. Grozen, also a son of Adrian, made his will October 21, 1800, proved January 13, 1802, in which he speaks of his son John P., and his daughter Margaret, his brother Lewis, and his grandsons GrOzen Adrian Ryers, and Ryerss De Hart. He was an exceedingly obese man, and required two ordin- ary chairs to sit upon ; his wife was in the same condition. He was a'wealthy man, and owned property in various parts of the county. In 1791 he became the owner of 300 acres of land, in the eastern part of the State, which, when the line between New York and Massachusetts was finally determined, fell within the latter State. To compensate him for the loss of this land, the State of New York gave him a patent for 1800 acres in Wilmington Township, Essex County, which is 420 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. known as Ryerss' grant to this day. He dwelt for manj years preceding his death at Port Richmond, in the largt house known as the Continental Hotel. He was a very prom- inent and useful man ; he was supervisor of Northfield from 1785 to 1787 ; a member of the Constitutional Convention ir 1788 ; he was Member of Assembly from 1791 to 1794, and first Judge of the County from 1797 to his death. His brother Lewis was sheriff in 1788 -'90, and Member of Assem- bly from 1795 to 1797. His son John P. was a Member oi Assembly 1800. Probably the only remaining member of the family on the Island is Mr. David R. Ryerss, living near the Moravian Church. SEGUINE. We have been unsuccessful in our efforts to obtain reliable information with regard to the origin of this family, and are obliged to be content with such as can be found in the local records, the earliest of which is — Jean and Elizabeth Hooper, had a son Jonas, bap. Dec. 12, 1725. Jaqaes and Lady Mambrut, daughter Sara, bap. Mar. 3. 1728. A son Jean, bap. Mar. 19, 1732. Jean and Jaques stood sponsors for each other's children ; they were probably brothers. The above are from the records of the Dutch Church ; the following are from those of St Andrews : James and Elsee, daughter Sara, born Apr., 1766. Son James, born Dec. 10, 1760. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 421 John and Sarah had the following children : Elisha, born May 31, 1760. James bap. July 18, 1762. Henry, born Feb. 4, 1764. Lawrence and Ann, daughter Sara, born Apr. 2, 1761. James and Caty, son Stephen, born Mar. 22, 1764. Son James, born Apr. 5, 1766. James made his will Jane 13, 1795, proved Oct. 7, 1795; mentions his wife Catharine and his children Barnt, Joseph, Frederick, John, Henry, Stephen and James. John and Rachel Mitchel married Nov. — , 1775. John and Margaretta, son John, bap. Oct. 24, 1790. Son Henry, bap. Oct. 27, 1793. James and Mary Gruyon married June 30, 1791. Stephen and Susanna Poillon married Nov. 8, 1792. Henry and Jane Garretson married Aug. 13, 1800. Stephen and Margaret Guyon married Mar. 5, 1805. SHARROTT. This is another example of the change of a French name into English. Richard Sharet, the first of the name on Staten Island, according to the family traditions and records, was a French- man by birth, of Huguenot parentage, and for a short period after his emigration resided in New England. He came to Staten Island either just before, or just after, the commence- ment of the Revolution. Here he married a woman of German parentage named Mary Heger. Their children were WiUiam, Richard, John, James, Susan and Mary. John married Mary Ann Burbank, October 9th, 1789 ; 422 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. their children were Peter, (died Feb., 1875, aged 86,) John, Jeremiah, Richard, Abraham, William Henry, Mary, Susan, Catharine, Eliza, Louisa — some of whom are still living. SIMONSON. This name was found in the province as early as 1631. Willem came over in the "Fox" in 1662, and was probably the first of the name on Staten Island. The family has become so numerous during the past two centuries that it is impossi- ble at this day to ascertain whether the several branches are of kin or not. The branch descended from Barnt appears to have been the most prolific. Barnt and ApoUonia Messeker had a daughter bap. in 1701 ; a son John in 1702, and a son Aart in 1710. Aert (Arthur) and Margaret Daniels had the following bap. Apr. 20, 1708. Tohn) bap. , 1710. ip. Oct. 11, 1711, died in infancy. ^^^. ., ^j,p. July 14, 1713. Christopher, bap. June 18, 1714. Daniel, bap. July 26, 1724. Barnt, bap. July 14, 1728. * Simon (above) and Sarah Van Pelt had the following children : Van Pelt, bap. Mar. 13, 1742. Aert, bap. May 21, 1744. John, bap. May 2, 1754. Evert, bap. Dec. 18, 1755. * These were probably members of another branch of the original family , descended from Aert or Arthur. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 423 Hans, (above) and Antje (dim. of Ann) Yan Pelt, daughter bap. June 7, 1743. Christofel, (Christopher above,) and Maria Van Shurze had a son Christofel, bap. Apr. 19, 1743. Hans, (above) was probably the husband of Suster Corsen ; he was a constable in 1770. Daniel and Maria Decker had a son Abraham, bap. Feb. 26, 1758 ; a daughter in 1753, and another daughter in 1754. Isaac and Neeltje (Cornelia) Coteleau, had a son Isaac, bap. Dec. 17, 1732 ; this Isaac was the father of Joseph, who mar- ried Elizabeth Winant, and they were the parents of the fol- lowing sons : John, Jacob and David, still living at New Springville ; Joseph, still living at Grraniteville, and Abra- ham, deceased, also of the wife of Hon. John B. Hillyer. Cornelius and Elizabeth Depue, had son Barnt, bap. June 24, 1759. Daniel and Molly Decker had son Abraham, bap. Feb. 26, 1758. * Isaac and Antje (dim. of Ann) Vanderbilt, daughter bap. July 8, 1722. Christofel and Catarina Van Scuren, had daughter bap. May 6, 1743. Isaac had a daughter Elizabeth, bap. Aug. 30, 1789. Jacob and Adra Poillon were married Jan. 22, 1790 ; he was born in 1768, and died Oct. 27, 1844, in his 76th year ; she was born June 5, 1765, and died July 10, 1871, aged 106 years, 1 mo. 5 days ; they had a daughter Elizabeth, bap. May 1, 1791, and a son John P., born Oct, 18, 1810, and died June 20, 1868 ; he lived in Heberton Street, Port Eichmond. Barnt and Abigail Crocheron, married Mar. 8, 1755. Barnt and Abigail, had a son John, born July 17, 1758. John and Ann, daughter Prances, born Dec. 26, 1771 ; son John, born Dec. 6, 1773. Isaac and Elizabeth Wood, married July 28, 1757. Isaac and Elizabeth Bird married Apr. 5, 1789. John and* Alice Marshal, married Jan. 5, 1790. * These were also probably members of another branch of the original family, descended from Aert or Arthur. 424 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Peter and Ann Cole, married Aug. 20, 1791. John and Phebe Wood, married Sep. 28, 1799. * Arthur and Harriet Pritchard, married June 27, 1801. * Charles M., born 1780, died July 26, 1853; he lived at Stapleton. Eeuben, born Jan. 1765, died Sep. 19, 1844. John, born Apr. 15, 1782, died Nov. 25, 1862, Isaac made his will June 28, 1787 ; proved July 9, 1787 ; mentions his wife Helethay, and his sons Jeremiah and Isaac ; no other children mentioned. There was another Isaac, born October 2, 1761, died May 17, 1855, in his 94th year. STILWELL. Of English origin. The family was here at an early date. The first mention of the name, with reference to the Island, is in the Albany records, where a piece of wood-land on the south side of Fresh Kill is mentioned as belonging to Daniel Stilwell in 1680. There is also mention made in our county records of Richard in 1689 ; of John in 1695 -'6 and 1708, and of Thomas in 1697 and 1704. It would appear then that at the close of the 17th century there were at least four families of the name in the county. We subjoin the names of those found in the several church records. Elias and his wife Anne Burbank, (she was probably the daughter of Thomas Burbank and Maritje Martling. See Burbank family,) had a son Thomas baptized June 30, 1726, and a son Daniel baptized March 24, 1728. Thomas married Debora Martling, and had a son Elias baptized Jiyie 10, 1747. * These were also probably members of another branch of the original family, -descended from Aert or Arthur. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 425 Daniel, whose wife's name was Annatje(Anna,) had a daugh- ter Susannah, baptized July 1 8th, 1762. There was another Daniel whose wife was Maria Poillon, who had a son Jaques baptized March 26, 1738, and a son Daniel, baptized April 4, 1736, whose wife's name was Ariantje, and had a son Jere- miah, born December 1, 1763. Here we abandon the attempt further to trace the gene- alogy, and give the remaining names which we have collected, leaving it to the members of the family to discover their own ancestors. Sarah Pareyn (Ferine,) wife of William '■'oMit" had twins William and Daniel, baptized September 6, 1719. — (Posthu- mous.) Jan and Elizabeth Parein (Perine) had a son John, baptized November 15, 1719. Thomas and Sarah Van Name had a son Thomas, baptized December 22, 1723. Daniel and Catharine Larzalere had a son Richard, baptized November 25, 1739. Joachim and Anna Tenners had a son John, baptized July 28, ]751, and a son Richard, May 23, 1759. Thomas and Nancy Fountain had a son Antone, baptized February 16, 1755. John and Helena Van Name had a son Elias baptized June 24, 1752. Richard and Jenneke (Jane) Van Name had a son Nicho- las, baptized September 21, 1735. The above are from the records of the Dutch Church ; the following are from St. Andrews. Nicholas (son of last mentioned Richard) and his wife Effey (Eva) had a daughter Catharine, born November 13, 1761. Jeremiah and his wife Yetty had a son Peter, born April 30th, 1764. John and Oily Taylor were married September 15, 1757. Samuel and Hannah Van Pelt were married June 9, 1755. Richard and Mary his wife had a son Daniel, born Febru- ary 7, 1770. 42^ ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Nicholas born Jan. , 1747 ; died April 26, 1819. Abraham born Mar. 1750 ; died Sep. 12, 1824. The Stilwells were for a long time an influential and prom- inent family in the county, and members of it filled many lo- cal oflices ; (see civil and military lists,) while there are yet sev- eral highly respectable individuals among them ; one branch has physically, morally, and intellectually deteriorated. SPRAGUE. The tradition in the family is that there were three brothers, Joseph, Edward and John, emigrated simultaneously from England, but the date of that event is lost ; it must have been early, however, as we read of Jacob Spragg, who must have been a son of Joseph, as early as 1729. Of these brothers, Joseph took up his abode on Staten Island ; of the other two, one settled on Long Island, and one on Rhode Island. William, whose name we find in the county records in 1767, and Joseph in 1772, were undoubtedly grandsons of the original Joseph. The original Joseph had three sons — Jacob, John and Edward — notwithstanding, the family has not in- creased very rapidly, and at present number but a few families, mostly confined to the town of Westfield. The only notices of the name in the old record of St. Andrew's Church, are the following : Andrew, and Catharine Pryor married June 28, 1800. Jacob and Margaret Wood married July 12, 1800. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 427 TAYLOR. Abraham and Harmintje Haughwout had the following children : Son Ephraim, bap. Oct. 23, 1711, died young. Daughter Altje, (Alida) bap. May 18, 1710, died young. Daughter Eachel, bap. Aug. 21, 1720. Daughter Altje, bap. Nov. 25, 1722. Son Peter, bap. July 4, 1725. Son Ephraim, bap. Apr. 6, 1729. Daughter Margaret, bap. Nov-. 23, 1715. Ephraim married Elizabeth Morgan, Jan. 4, 1756. Another Ephraim, probably father of Abraham, had a son Jan, and a daughter Marietta, both bap. in 1696. The above family, though English in name, had assimilated with the Dutch, as is evident from the names of some of them , and are found in the records of the Dutch Church. The fol- lowing are found in the records of St. Andrew' s Church, and are of another family. Oliver, born 1687, and died Aug. 24, 1771 ; there is nothing to indicate that he was born on the Island, though he died here. Henry and Judith had a son John, born Sept. 20, 1770. Oliver and Sarah, daughter Elisabeth, born Aug. 24, 1771 . Henry and Lydia, son Abraham, bap. , 1775. John and Fanny, son Oliver, born Sept. 24, 1791. Benjamin and Ann Decker married Sept. 9, 1792.' John and Sarah Yates married Jan. 7, 1804. TOTTEIN. We can scarcely consider this family as among the old 428 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. families of the Island, though the name is found in local re- cords for more than a century. In the records of St. An- drew' s Church, the name occurs two or three times, until the organization of the Methodist church, when it becomes iden- tified with that church. Gilbert was one of the first, and leading men, connected with that society. The residence of the families bearing the name has been almost exclusively in the town of Westfield, and the thriving village of Tottenville in that town perpetuates their respecta- bility and influence. The only notices of the name in church records, other than those of the Methodist church, are as follows : Silas and Charity his wife, had the following sons : Joseph, born Aug. 10, 1765. Ephraim, born Feb. 24, 1768. Joseph and Mary Cubberly married Dec. 11, 1804. Though the family appear to have always maintained a very respectable position, they do not appear to have been aspirants for political distinction ; Ephraim, Gilbert and John, have repeatedly served their town as supervisors, and Ephraim J., was Member of Assembly in 1848. VAN BUSKIRK, VAN DUZER. Neither of these can be regarded as old Staten Island families. Tljere was a Cornelius Van Buskirk here during the Revolution, but he came from Bergen. The sites of the Pavilion at New Brighton, and St. Peter's Church, occupy a part of his farm. His dwelling house stood along the Shore Road, at the foot of the hill upon which St. Mark's Hotel stands, and is alluded to elsewhere. He had a son who ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 429 owned a farm on the road leading from Quarantine to Rich- mond, near the Clove road. Another son lived at West New Brighton, near Pine, Hillyer & Go's store, and owned the mill which formerly stood on the " Factory Dock ;" his wife was a Schermerhorn, from Schenectady. The Van Buskirks were among the earliest settlers on Ber- gen Point, and were a very respectable, though not a numer- ous family, on the Island. The venerable Mrs. Van Duzer, mother-in-law of Hon. H. B. Metcalfe, now (June, 1876,) in her 96th year, but since deceased, married a son of the origi- nal Cornelius Van Buskirk, and after his death married the late Daniel Van Duzer. The Van Duzer family originally came from Long Island, and settled on Staten Island near the close of the last cen- tury. They were never very numerous. Daniel Van Duzer left, at least, two sons — John H., for many years a baker at Tompkinsville, and Daniel C, a grocer at the same place, both now deceased. VANDBRBILT. Jacob, the first of the name on Staten Island, was a native of Platbush, Long Island, and was the son of Aris and Hilitje his wife. On the 19th of May, 1715, Aris sold a large tract of land at New Dorp to his son Jacob, who came to reside upon it. See Note, at the end of this article. Jacob was born Jan. 25th, 1692, and died U59 ; his wife Elenor, or Neiltje, was born Feb. 10th, 1698 ; their children were : Aris, born Feb. 2, 1716. Denys, born Sept. 5, 1717. Hilitje, born Mar. 22, 1720. 430 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. Jacob, born Jan. 6, 1723. Magdalena, born Dec. 1, 1725, married Cornelius Ellis. John, born Nov. 15, 1728. Cornelias, born Sept. 22, 1731. Anna, born Feb. 11, 1734. Phebe, born Apr. 27, 1737. Anthea, born Jan. 31, 1739. Elenor, born Sept. 13, 1742. Jacob (born Jan. 6, 1723) married Mary Sprague, who was born Feb. 17, 1729 ; their children were : Elenor, born , 1747, married a Johnson. Jacob, born Jan. 6, 1750. John, born May 9, 1752. Dorothy, born July 29, 1754, married a Swaim. Oliver, born June 16, 1757. Joseph, born Sept. 6, 1761. Cornelius, born Aug. 28, 1764. Cornelius (born Aug. 28, 1764) married Phebe Hand, who was born April 15, 1767. He died May 20, 1832 ; she died June 22, 1854 ; their children were : Mary, born Dec. 21, 1787, married Chas. M. Simonson, died Aug. 10, 1845. Jacob, born Aug. 28. 1789, died Oct. 3, 1805. Charlotte, born Dec. 29, 1791, married Capt. John De Foreest, died Jan. 5, 1877. Cornelius, born May 27, 1794 (the Commodore), died Jan. 4, 1877. Phebe, born Feb. 19, 1798, dipd young. Jane, born Aug.l, 1800, married— 1st, Van Duzer ; 2d, Col. Saml. Barton. Elenor, born Jan. 4, 1804, died Apr. 21, 1833. Jacob Hand, born Sept. 2, 1807. Phebe, born Feb. 9, 1810. Another branch of the family is as follows : John, who was member of Assemby in 1829, was the son of Jacob, who we are unable to place. John was born Aug. 1, 1769, and died Mar. 27, 1851 ; his sons were : John, born ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 431 July 2, 1796, died Aug. 13, 1847 ; Oliver, Aaron, Edward, Cornelius, Richard, Jacob. John and Oliver were well known in their day as "captains of steamboats, the former on the line between Elizabethport and New York ; the latter between New York and Staten Island, and other places. Note. — Beside the land which Jacob bought of his father Aris, he purchased a parcel adjoining the above from Nathaniel Britton and Elizabeth his wife, on the 4th day of May, 1719, which was a part of a tract of 100 acres granted to Nathaniel Britton, father of the above named grantor, by Benjamin Fletcher, then Governor of the province, on the 25th day of June, 1696. VAN NAME. This is one of the old Dutch families of the countj"^, but not among the oldest. The earliest mention of the name occurs in a church record, as follows : Evert and Wyntje (Wilheljnina) Benham had a son Joseph, bap. Apr. 22, 1709, and a daughter Aug. 3, 1718. Simon and Sarah Prall had a daughter bap. Oct. 30, 1716. A sou Aaron, Aug. 17, 1718, and A son Moses, Feb. 21, 1725. Engelbert and Maria De Camp had a son John bap. Apr. 12, 1719, and twin daughters Oct. 15, 1721. Johannes had a son Pieter, bap. May 18, 1718. Aaron (son of Simon, above) and Mary McLean, had the following children : Aaron (grandfather of Michael and Charles of Mariner's Harbor), Catharine, Simon, William, Ann, Moses and Charles. Aaron (last mentioned) had a son Moses, who married Mary Le G-range ; they had the following children, named in the 432 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. order of their births : John, Polly, Moses, Elizabeth, Catha- rine, Michael, Sophia, Rachel, CJiarles and Aaron. Those in Italics are still living, 1877. There was another Moses, born Feb., 1760, died Oct. 16, 1811 ; Simon, born Feb., 1739, died Nov. 24, 1812. Charles, of another branch of the family, made his will Apr. 8, 1805, probated May 21, 1805, in which he mentions his sons Anthony and Aaron, both minors. VAN PELT. We read of individuals of this name in New Utrecht, sev- eral years before we meet the name in connection with Staten Island : thus, Wouter (Walter), Anthony, and Aert Van Pelt, are mentioned as early as 1687, living on Long Island. The first Van Pelt we meet in the Staten Island records is Hen- drick, who had several children born between 1696 and 1701. He was, probably, connected with the Long Island families, as we find their names perpetuated on Staten Island. At, or about, the same time, there was a Peter Van Pelt, who had a son Jan baptized Oct. 21, 1707, and a son Samuel July 25, 1710. This John and .Jannetje (Janet) Adams, his wife, had A daughter , bap. March 28, 1736. A son William, April 13, 1742, and A daughter , April — , 1744. Jacob and Aaltje (Alida) Haughwout, his wife, had A son John, baptized October 15, 1727. A daughter Catalyntje, September 27, 1724. John and Susanna Latourette, his wife, had twins- John and Susanna, baptized May 25, 1729. Tunis and Maria Drageau, his wife, had the following children : ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 433 Son Anthony, baptized October 9, 1729. Son Johannes, baptized February 14, 1731. Daughter Maria, baptized June 3, 1734. Son Joost, baptized May 19, 1737. Son Tunis, baptized November 19, 1738. Peter had a son William, baptized November 23, 1715 ; a son Samuel, April 16, 1717. Simon and Maria Adams had a Son Peter, baptized May 23, 1749, and a Daughter, April 18, 1743. John (Anthony's son) and Susanna Latourette, his wife, had A son Joost, baptized April 4, 1736, and A son Anthony, baptized April 30, 1733. This Anthony married Janneke Simonson, and had A daughter , baptized June 11, 1760. Peter and Barber Houlton had A daughter , baptized April 18, 1743, and A son David, baptized October 12, 1755. Jan and Maria Bouman had a daughter, baptized Septem- ber 14, 1742. Jan, Jr. andCatrina Bouman had a daughter, baptized May 6, 1745. John had a daughter, baptized October 29, 1787. Samuel, son of Peter, mentioned above, and Maria Palken- burg, had A son Pieter, baptized July 19, 1748. Aart and Christina Immet, daughter Maria, baptized De- cember 10, 1721. John and Margaret, his wife, had the following children : — A son Tunis, born August 8, 1760. A son John, born February 10, 1765. A son James, born May 13, 1761, and A son Peter, boin November 13, 1769. Peter and Phebe had a son Tunis, born June 6,1768. Anthony and Susanna had a daughter Susanna, born May 10, 1766, and A son Greorge, born Mar. 1, 1769. 434 ANNALS OF STATEK ISLAND. Joseph and Elizabeth had son James, born Aug. 5, 1767, and A son Tunis, born Dec. 2, 1771 . John and Catharine Lawrence, daughter Mary, baptized March 8, 1772. Jacob and Elizabeth, daughter Mary, born March 11, 1768. Peter, son of John and Margaret, above, married Mary Colon, December 5, 1797. David and Hannah Wright married June 21, 1801. He vpas born February , 1779, and died March 30, 1838. There is a tradition that one of the earliest Van Pelt' s, probably Hendrick, v?as a man of immense size ; he was very tall, and proportionately bulky, and possessed of strength equal to that of several ordinary individuals. The Indians, who, notwithstanding their repeated sales of the Island, continued to prowl over it, pilfering from the set- tlers whatever they could lay their hands upon, were much afraid of him, and kept themselves far away from his prem- ises. He had a son who was a dwarf in stature, not exceed- ing four feet in height, who was the constant companion of his father ; they were, in fact, inseparable in the day time. When the father died, the son took to his bed, and died two days thereafter. WANDEL. The first of the name in our county records is John, who, with his wife Letitia, executed a mortgage to G-roora, May 1, 1767, and cancelled it by payment the next year. He was a cordwainer by trade, and carried on the tanning busi- ness on Toad Hill. John and Letitia had a son Peter born ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. 435 January 10th, 1766. Peter married Sarah Van Clief , March , 1789, and died May 17th, 1857, over 91 years of age. His sons were Matthew, Daniel, John, Peter S., and Walter I., the latter only still living, April, 1876. WIN ANT. This is one of the oldest families on the Island, and is so ramified that it is impossible to trace all its branches to their sources. We select that branch which is probably best known, and is represented by Abraham, and his brother Jacob Gr., both of whom have been sheriffs of the county. They are the sons of Hon. Bornt Parlee Winant, who is still living at Eossville. His parents were Abraham Winant and Mary Parlee, who were married August 1, 1807. The father of Abraham was Winant Winant, who made his will July 5th, 1804, which was proved Aug. 11th, 1804, between which dates he must have died. In that instrument he mentions his wife Mary, and his children Abraham, John G., Jacob Gr., Mary, Frances and Ann. The father of Winant Winant was Abraham, who was the son of the elder Winant Winant, who was the son of Peter Winant, the progenitor of the family. The following is the inscription upon his tombstone : "Here lies the body qf Peter Winant, born in the year 1654, who departed this life August 6th, 1758, aged 104 years." He was a native of Holland, but the date of his emigration and settlement on the Island, which are identical, has been lost. As his family was the only one of the name then in the county, the following must have been his sons, viz. : Peter, who had a son Peter, baptized April 23d, 1707. Winant (mentioned above), whose wife was Ann Cole, who t36 ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. lad the following sons baptized : Peter, Mar. 37, 1720 ; Abra- lam. Mar. 24th, 1725 ; Jacob, Oct. 9th, 1726, and Daniel, ^pr. 22, 1728. John, whose wife was Lena Bird, had a son Peter baptized ^ar. 19, 1732 ; and Cornelius, whose wife was Maria Cole, had a son Cornelius )aptized Feb. 28th, 1728. The following are other members. of the family, whose lames we find in the county and church records : Capt. Peter, born Dec. 4, 1784 ; he was captain of the chooner Thames, which was wrecked on Absecom beach, l^ov. 4, 1823, when he lost his life. Peter, born Oct. 5th, 1802, died Feb. 8, 1867. Abraham and Mary his wife had a daughter Ann, born ?ep. 30, 1758, and a daughter Elizabeth, born Mar. 3, 1770. Daniel and Rachel his wife had a son Daniel, born May 10, .760. Daniel and Susannah his wife had a daughter Ann, born fune 27, 1762. Daniel and Elizabeth his wife had a daughter Rachel, born )ct. 4, 1765. Peter and Christiana his wife had a son George, born Sep. 1, 1770 ; this George married Eliza Winant, Nov. 15, 1794. John and Hannah, or Johanna his wife, had a daughter Elizabeth, born July 29, 1774, and a son Jacob, May 15, 1776. Peter and Charity his wife had a son Isaac, born Feb. 1, 775 ; this Isaac married Patty Winant, Jan. 16, 1796. Peter and Ann his wife had two children, Daniel and ^nn, baptized Nov. 20, 1785. See Note below. Cornelius, and Catharine his wife, had a daughter Cornelia )aptized Nov. 21, 1790. Peter and Mary Winant were married July 14, 1790. Moses and Catharine Winant were married Aug. 7, 1800. Daniel and Eliza Oakley were married Dec. 19, 1801. Note. — Peter Winant made his will May 9, 1793, which was proved uly 26, 1793, in which he mentions his wife Ann, his father Daniel, id alludes to his children without giving their names. ANWAL8 OF STATEN ISLAND. 437 WOGLOM. This name was originally written " Yan Wogelum." John sold land in 1696 ; this is the earliest mention of the name in the local records ; the next is— Grrysie Woggelum, who was witness at a baptism in 1698. John Van W. had daughter Chrystyntien, bap. 22, 1707, and a daughter Suster, bap. July 26, 1711. Ary (Adrian) and Celia Pryer had the following children : Son Jan, bap. May 21, 1716. Daughter Anna, bap. June 3, 1722. ■ Son Andries, bap. June 27, 1725. Son Adrian, bap. J uly 27, 1729. Son Abraham, bap. Aug. 8, 1731. There was a Douwe Van W. residing on the Island in 1742. The next notices of any members of the family are from the records of St. Andrews. Abraham and Hannah Parlee, married Nov. 18, 1790. Joshua and Martha Cole married Feb. 10, 1796. John and Lanah Pryor married Dec. 24, 1808. WOOD. This family is of English origin. The name is common everywhere, and it is exceedingly doubtful whether the Woods on the Island have descended from the same original. The present representative of one of the families is Samuel B. Wood, Esq., residing near^ Garrison's Station, on the S. I. Railroad. He is the son of the late John B. , who, with his brother Samuel (still living 1876), are the sons of Samuel. Samuel's brothers were Joseph, John, Stephen and Jesse, 438 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. and they were the sons of John, the g. grandfather of Sam- uel B., Esq. It is impossible to trace the genealogy of any other branch, but subjoin the names of such as are to be found in the several church records. Stephen and his wife Geertje (Gertrude) Winter, had twins Stephen and Obadia, baptized Dec. 24, 1727. Stephen and "his wife Jemima Mott had a son Richard, baptized June 13, 1731. The above are from the records of the Dutch Church ; the following are from those of St. Andrew's Church. Stephen and Mary his wife had a daughter, Mary, Sept. 18, 1772 ; a son Stephen, bap. June 5, 1785. John and Margaret his wife had a son Stephen, bap. Aug. 1, 1773, who married Damy Housman Feb. 3, 1794. (This Stephen was one of the five brothers mentioned above as sons of John.) Stephen and Alice, or Elsy, his wife, had a son John, bap. June 15, 1783 ; he married Barbara Van Pelt Dec. 23, 1804, and another son, Abraham, born Sep. 22, 1788. Timothy and Sarah Eezeau were married Jan. — , 1769. Isaac and Susan Lewis were married Feb. .9, 1794. John and Sarah Lockman were married Mar. 23, 1794. Richard and Catharine Lockman were married Jan. 7, 1795. James and Elston (Alston ?) were married June 1, 1799. Charles and Joanna Dongan were married Dec. 11, 1806. (She was the daughter of the late Walter Dongan, of the Four Corners, and the mother of Mr. Walter D. Wood, of Mariner's Harbor.) Jesse and Catharine Marshal were married July 9, 1807. James, mentioned above, lived at Long Neck, or Travisville, and his sons were Charles, mentioned above, John, Peter and Abraham ; Charles was well known in his day as a local preacher in the Methodist Church. John, brother of Charles, married Mary Jones, and was the father of James, deceased in 1831, and Edward resides at Travisville. "M." MISCELLANEOUS. 440 ANNALS OF STATBN ISLAND. DEFUNCT INCORPORATIONS ON STATEN ISLAND. In the year 1823 the Legislature passed an Act incorpor- ating the Village of Tompkinsville, but beyond this nothing was ever done. March 11th, 1835, an Act was passed to incorporate the New York India Rubber Cloth Company ; for a term of twenty years. The capital stock was $100,000, in shares of $50 each. The first Directors appointed by the Act were Samuel Marsh, Nathan Barrett and David V. N. Mersereaii. The Company was duly organized, and erected a buUding, which is still standing, in the Fourth Ward of the Village of New Brighton, and now occupied as a paper hanging manu- factory. The business was carried on successfully for several years, until competition finally rendered it unremunerative, when it was discontinued. March 26th, 1838, an Act was passed to incorporate " The Staten Island Whaling Company." The capital stock was $200,000 in shares of $50 each. Richard D. Littell, John H. Smith, Ephraim Clark, Jun., Jacob Bodine, Franklin S. Kin- ney, William A. Swain, Eder V. Haughwout, William Woram and John Totten, were appointed Commissioners to open the books and receive subscriptions to the capital stock. The Company was duly organized, and erected a building upon the present site of Jewett's White Lead Factory, at Port Richmond. They also purchased a bark called the "White Oak," which made one voyage in quest of whales, and after several months' absence returned with a tolerable cargo. A fire having occurred, which totally consumed the large building with all its contents, the Company was dis- solved. April 18th, 1838, an Act was passed to incorporate " Rich- mond College," to be located on Staten Island. Ogden Ed- wards, Walter Patterson, Charles T. Oatlin, Jacob Tyserh, ANNALS or STATEN ISLAND. 441 Thomas McAuley, Charles A. Porter, JoTin S. Westerveli, William Wilson, Oeorge Howard, Caleb T. Ward, William W. Phillips, Thomas Wilson, Minthorne TompMns, Wil- liam A. Seely, John N. McLeod, Thomas Gumming, Billop B. Seaman, William C. Brownlee, Robert Patiison, David Moore, Alexander Martin, Thomas E. Davis, James 0. Smith, William Scott, Louis McLane, John B. Miller, James Pollock, James B. Murray, Duncan Dunbar, Samuel Barton, William Agnew, Thomas J. Oakley, John R. Satterlee, and William Soul were constituted the body corporate and poli- tic, and the first trustees. Several efforts were made to con- vene the trustees vrithout success, and the matter finally died away and was forgotten. Monies parturient, etc. N. B. The names in Italics were residents of the Island. THE STATEN ISLAND BANK. The Staten Island Banking Association commenced busi- ness July 24th, 1835. It was located at Port Eichmond, and its place of business was the west end of the double building, corner of the Shore Road and Broadway, now occupied as a shoe store. Its first board of directors were Richard D. Lit- tell, John H. Sm'ith, William A. Swain, Franklin S. Kinney, William Woram, William Colgate, Eder V. Haughwout, Jacob Bodine, John Totten, Sen., Joseph Seguine, John T. Harrison and Samuel Sherwood. Richard D. Littell was president, and John West cashier. After a brief existence of about two years, its doors were closed, and have never since been opened. CEMETERIES. The reprehensible practice of burying the dead under and around churches, originated with the Romish priests, who pretended that the souls of the deceased enjoyed some pe- culiar advantages by having their dead bodies interred in ground consecrated by a church ; but even they have grown 442 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. wiser in these days, and the practice is going into desuetude. The ancients always buried their dead at a distance from densely populated localities ; the Turks construct their ceme- teries far from the abodes of the living, and usually adorned them with great care. The dangerous practice of inter- ring the dead among the living is still continued in several places on Staten Island, but vrhich at no very distant period will be prohibited by legal enactments. There are several cemeteries on the Island, among which are the Staten Island and Fountain Cemeteries, at West New Brighton ; the Ceme- tery of St. Peter's Church, on the Clove road; Silver Mount and Woodlawn Cemeteries, on Richmond Turnpike, Middle- town ; Springville and Sylvan Cemeteries, in Northtield ; St. Mary' s Cemetery, in Southfield, and the Moravian Cemetery at New. Dorp. The latter, containing over sixty acres, is larger than all the others combined. This we trial ground more than twenty years before the Moravians ob- tained possession of the land. It is a place of great natural beauty, which art has much inlproved. There are. several objects of interest in it, among which may be enumerated the mausoleum or family vaults of Commodore Vanderbilt, of the Crocheron and other families ; the monuments of Mrs. Winant, J. C. Thompson, Capt. I. K. Dustan, W. B. Town- send, the Banker family. Col. Shaw, &c. ; this latter stands on a pretty elevation, and contains the following inscription : In Memory of Egbert Gould Shaw, Col. 54th Reg. Mass. Vols. Born in Boston, 10th October, 1837 : Kffled 18th July, 1863, At Fort Wagner, Morris Island, S. C, and there buried With his men. * Omnium reliquit servare rempublicam." * Tlie motto on the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 443 Pattent for a peice of land on Statten Island, granted to Garritt Croosen. Edmond Andross Esq' Wliereas there is a certain parceU of land at Statten Island lying on y° north side thereof the which hath by order been layd out for Gar- ritt Croosen y" s" land being bounded on y' "West side with a small runn of Water w""" makes y" partition betwixt y' land belonging to y' MiU & y' land layd out for Collon'' Lovelace's Plantacon a lyne running on either side South and by East it is in breadth one hundred and seventeene Enghsh Eodd in length into y' woods two hundred thirty foure Rodd. Containing one hundred and sixty acres & one hundred Rodd as also a piece of Meadow Ground lying on j' South west side of John Tunisen's Creek bounded on y° South South "West side & by y' Meadows by Clause Arcntson the North side of Peter Jansen soe round environed by the creeke containing twelve acres as by y° return of y° survey under the hand of y" survey' doth and may appear. Know yee &c. — Dated ^ 29 day of Sept 1677, Quitt Rent 2 BusheUs of Good "Winter "Wheat in N. York. In one of the old record books containing minutes of the proceedings of the Supervisors, is the following entry : " 1827, May 5th, At a meeting held this day, present Harmanus Guy- on, John Totten & Nicholas Crocheron, Supervisors, also Richard Crocheron, Esq., James Guyon, Esq., and "Walter Betts, Esq., Commis- sioners appointed according to a law passed April 10th, 1826, an act to provide for Building a Fire proof Clerk and Surrogate's office in the County of Richmond, whereby it was made the duty of the Supervisors at their annual meeting to cause to be levied and collected a sum not exceeding One Thousand five hundred Dollars, over and above the ex- pense of Collecting the same, for the purpose of building a fire proof Clerk and Surrogate's Office for Said County, to be located in such part of Said County as the Judges of the ' Said County, or a majority of them shall direct, and in which aU the public Records and Papers belonging as well to the Clerk as the Surrogate of the Said County shall be kept, and the said Judges have fixed Upon the Cite of the Old County-house on the East side of the Goal for the locating the same. Whereupon resolved by the Said Supervisors Present that the county- house be sold and removed without delay to make a clear Cite for the purpose of erecting Said Clerk and Surrogate's office, and also that the proceeds of such sail be paid to the County Treasurer, subject to the 444 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. order of the Supervisors, and also that the said Commissioners be and hereby are empowered to sell Said County house for the best price that can be got for the same at public Vendue, notice to be given of the sime (sic) of such sale. And the Supervisors having caused to be raised and paid into the Treasury of Said County the sum of six hun- dred dollars for and towards the Building Said Clerk and Surrogate's office. Also resolved by the Supervisors that they will in case the six hundred dollars raised for the purpose of building Said Clerk and Surrogate's office should be Insufficient to pay for building the same ; In such case they wiU Borrow as much as will be sufficient to complete the same. Provided however that the whole cost of building such office shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars. Signed Heem^ Guyon, Nicholas Ceocheron, John Totten. Whereupon it was ordered by the Supervisors that their Clk shall Immediately give to said Commissioners an order on the County Treasurer for the said sum of six hundred DoUars. Which said order was in due form made out and delivered to one of the said Commissioners for the Payment of the said six hundred Dol- lars as aforesaid. RiCHABD CONNEE, Clk. ) $ C. of the board of Supervisors j 600 00 The above document is given in full, as a specimen of the verbose and exceedingly precise style in which Col. Richard Conner, as clerk of the supervisors, kept all the county records, under Tais official care. The "Goal" incidentally alluded to, still stands on the corner north of and directly opposite the hotel called the "Richmond County Hall," and the clerk's and surrogate's fire-proof offices, built upon the "Cite" of the county house, is the small brick building, also still standing, next east. The exact cost of the building cannot now be ascertained, but during the following year, bills for materials and labor were audited to the amount of $941.08. On the 7th of October, 1828, the following resolution was passed : " It is Resolved by a Majority of the Supervisors of the County of Richmond that three men be appointed to take charge of the records of the County of Richmond, in consequence of the 111 health of the ANNALS 01" STATEN ISLAND. 445 present County Clert, Jonathan Lewis, Esq., and that they make an Inventory of such Books and Papers as they shall find in the office of Said Clerk, and shall deposit such Books and Papers in the office now erected in the Village of Eichmond for that purpose. Resolved that Walter Betts, Esq., Eichard D. Littell, Esq., and Abraham Auten, Deputy Clerk, is hereby appointed to take an Inventory of said Books and Papers, and deliver them to the said Abraham Auten, Deputy Clerk, on his giving a receipt for such Books and Papers on the Schedtde or Inventory, and deliver such Schedule so signed to the Supervisors of Said County, By order of the Supervisors. ElCHAED COKNEE, Clk." In January, 1830, there is an allowance of a bill to " Frederick B. AUen for work done and yet to be fiLuished by him on the Poor house and out Buildings. $82 29 " In December, 1829, a bill was. allowed to Richard D. Lit- tell and John Guyon as committee men, "to take into consideration the purchasing of a Farm for the poor of said County, also for advertising and attendance to receive pro- posals from persons who had farms for sale." In December, 1829, and January, 1830, bills to a large amount were audited for work, materials, &c. , for the poor- house. THE COUNTY POOR-HOUSE. Prior to the establishment of a County Poor-House, the destitute poor were provided for by being boarded in private families, and sometimes under circumstances such as now would not be tolerated,' as when children were paid for taking care of their helpless parents, of which there were several instances. On the second day of May, 1803, Joseph Barton, Sen., car- penter, and Mary, his wife, sold to the Supervisors, Justices, and Overseers of the Poor of the county, for the sum of $262.50, two acres of land, on the road leading from Rich- mond to New Dorp, on which was a small frame house, con- taining two or three rooms. This property was purchased for the purpose of a County Poor-House, though it was not 446 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. able to accommodate one-fourth of the poor of the county, who appear to have been more numerous in proportion to the population than they are at present ; the remainder were dis- posed of as before stated. The public charity continued to be dispensed in this manner for more than a quarter of .a cen- tury after the purchase. In January, 1829, the Supervisors called a public meeting of the taxpayers of the county, to devise some cheaper method of supporting the poor, "as the taxes were becoming burden- some." Whatever methods may have been proposed at that meeting, the proposition to purchase a farm large enough to enable the poor to earn their own subsistence by their own labor was adopted, and John Guyon and Richard D. Littell were appointed to ascertain what farms could be purchased, and at what prices, and to report at an adjourned meeting. In the meantime an application was made to the Legisla- ture for authority to make a purchase for the purpose pro- posed, and to levy a tax to pay for it. On the 8th day of April, 1829, the following Act was passed : "An Act to provide for a County Poor-House, in the county of Richmond. § 1. The Act entitled, " An Act to provide for the establishment of County Poor-Houses," passed November 27th, 1824, shall apply to and include the county of Richmond, the exception in the said Act not- withstanding ; but the sum to be raised by a tax, as specified in the first section, shall not exceed four thousand dollars. § 2. It shall be lawful for the Supervisors of the said county of Rich- mond to sell the house and ground at present possessed by the county, and heretofore appropriated as a poor-house, and to apply the proceeds towards the purposes expressed in the said Act, and to no other purpose.'' Of the several farms offered to the, county, that of Stephen Martineau, containing between ninety and one hundred acres, in the town of Northfield, was selected, for which about three thousand dollars was paid, and which still belongs to the county, and continues to be occupied as a poor-house farm. On the 13th day of AprU, 1830, the Supervisors sold the old poor-house property to William D. Maltbie, for the sum AWJSTALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 447 of one hundred and fifty dollars. This is the property now occupied by Dr. Millspaugh, near Richmond, opposite the parsonage of St. Andrew's Church. From the Supervisors' accounts, it would appear that the new establishment was supplied with two or three cargoes of fertilizing materials, wagons, horses, cows, and necessary agricultural instruments. Isaac Britton was the keeper. On the 18th of October, 1836, the supervisors purchased fourteen and eight-tenths acres of salt meadow from John Eg- bert for $205. On the 7th day of January, 1843, the supervisors pur- chased five acres of woodland ad.ioining the county farm on the west, from William Decker, for $250. How far the original purpose of making the paupers sup- port themselves by their own labor, has been successful, is foreign to our present purpose ; the establishment has been regularly maintained, new buildings have been erected as circumstances developed their necessity, among which are apartments for the insane, a pest-house, and recently a re- spectable school-house. The present keeper is Mr. Thomas McOormack. The last royal patent for lands on Staten Island was granted by Queen Anne, to Lancaster Symes, on the 22d of October, 1708. It conveyed all unappropriated lands, mead- ows, &c., &c., on the Island, at an annual rent of six shil- lings current money of New York, payable on Lady-day of each year. It is recorded at Albany in book No. 7 of Pa- tents, page 371, and quite recently recorded in this County. As an example of the manner in which the old Dutch family records were kept, we subjoin the following of part of the Van Name family. The orthography is exceedingly defective : 448 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. "Het Jar 1713 Den 29 actober is myn soon Syme van name ge- bore.'' (The year 1713, the 29th October, is my son Simon Van Name, born.) " Het Jar 1716 Den 15 augustes is myn Dogter Sara gebore." (The year 1716, the 15th August, is my daughter Sarah born.) " Het yar 1718 Den ellefde augustes is myn soon aron van name gebore.'' (The year 1718, the 11th AugTist, is my son Aaron Van Name born.) " Het yar 1705 Den 27 yanneware is magdalena Swam gebore. Het yar 1707 Den 19 my is maria Swem gebore." (The year 1705, the 27th January, is Magdalena Swaim born. The year 1707, the 19th May, is Maria Swaim born.) " Het yar 1725 den 8 feberwarii is my Soon moses van name gebore." (The year 1725, the 8th February, is my son Moses Van Name born.) See Van Name family, App. L, Simon Van Name and Sarah Prall nis wife. This Simon Van Name was a Justice of the Peace, and a prominent man in his day. We give below copies of a couple of legal documents issued by him : " Richmond County To the Constable of the north diuision where as Complaind is made by Euert van name unto me Simon van name one of his Magistices Justice of the peace that Hennery day owith him the Sum of Seuen Shillings and neglect to Pay the same this is theair for to require you to somins thesame hennery day to apear before me at my dweling house on thursday next at one of the aclock in the after noon which will be the 13 day of this instient month els Jugment shall go against him by The fault giuen from under my hand this the tenth day of March Ano domini 1728:9 SiME VAN NAME." The following venire has a paper attached to it containing the names of twenty persons, the first twelve of whom are numbered, and probably constituted the jury in the cause : " Richmond to the Constable of County the North devition Where as there is an action depending between Tommas morgan plantif & Isaac Garrison Defended Both of the County Abousd (above said) and the Defendent Desires a Jury upon the sd Action These are therefore in his Maiestyes Name to Require & Command ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 449 you to Svmmons Twelve Sufficient Men to Appear Before me on Wensday next at Twelve of the Clock in the forenoon of the Sameday at my Dwelling Hous to Serve as Jvrers upon the sd Action Depend- ing Whereof fail not Given under my hand Thee twenty seventh day of July Annoq. Dom. 1730 SiME VAN NAME." Names attached ; 1 Abraham corshon, 2 richard crips, 3 John men- galroU, 4 garat cruse, 5 philip merel, 6 honas deker, 7 barnt sweme, 8 ranses bodine, 9 nicholes stilwiU, 10 nichles depue, 11 John boker, 12 tunas te bout, nickles bush, mr couanouer, art simanson, Jacob benet, lambart garison, i^homas lisk, alexander hsk, ben goman ayrs." On the reverse of the venire are the following endorsements : Richmond County July the 29 the Jury finds for the sd defendant. venire 0. 1. 6 to the constabel 0. swaring the Jury 2. swaring y evdens 1. 6 swaring the Constel ^ 6 Entring verdeck 1. 6—6 We copy entire the following old bonds, with their en- dorsements, in English and Dutch, found among the pa- pers of Simon Van Name. "Know aU men by these presents that I Johanis Swame of the County of Kichd in the province of new york yeoman am holden and firmly bound unto magdalena Swame and mary^Swame and petemel and Elizabeth of the same place in the Sum of two hundred and fourty pounds Current mony of New York to be paid to the Said above men- sioned or to there certain Attorneys Exers admrs ; or assigns to the which payment well and truly to be made I do here by bind my Self, my heirs ; Exers : and admrs ; and every and every of them firmly by these presents. Sealed with my Seal dated this 7th Day of Septem- ber in the 6th year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord Gorge, by the G e of God of Great Rritain, france and Ireland king defender of the laith Anno Domini 1719. The Condition of this Obligation is Such that if the above bounden Johanis Swame, or his heirs Exers : admrs or assigns shall well and truly pay or cause to be paid to the above named magdalena Swame and mary Swame ; petemel De puy and Elizabeth Garrison ; and I am 450 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. oblighd to pay magdalena Swame Fifty pounds after the Death of Barent Swame Six years her Fathers boorshon (portion) and mary Swame the Like Sum of Fifty pounds Current mony of New York of there fathars poorshon and I the said Jobanis Swame am oblighd to pay to peternel De puy and Elasabath Garrison Each of them then (ten) pounds Like Current mony for there Fathers poorshon next en- suing the date here of without fraud or further Delay then this present Obhgation to be void and of none effect or else to Stand and Eemain in full force and virtue Sealed and Delivered in the presence of us Johanis I S Swame ( , seal \ ^ torn oEf^ feansoy bodain Petee Peaal Endorsements. June y" 13th 1722 Then Eeceived of Simon van Ame & Aron praU executors of Johanes Swam deceased y' sum of twenty pounds Currant money of New York & upon this within written bond we say Received by us for our wiefes Peternel & Elizabeth Granted to them by bond as within mentioned Son (?) DE PDY Lambaet Gabison. anno 1723 Den sesde my Dan ontvange van syme van nam Extor van yohannes swem overled de som van vyftegh pout op dese enge schreve bant wy ont vange. Johannes deckee. anno 1723 Den 18 actober Dan ontvange van Syme van name Exetor van yohannes swem over- lede De som van vyftyge pout op dese engeschreve bant en vol voor myn part ick ontvange madeJen swem nouw wyf van charels dedecker wy ontvange. Charles (J dedekee merk MADALEN DEDEKKEE "N." NOTES. 452 ANNALS OP STATEN ISLAND. DIAGRAM OF THE SECOND EDIFICE OF THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH AT PORT RICHMOND. Built about 1714 — destroyed during the Revolution. Platform van den Christelyk Needer duytsche Kerk op Staten jEiland, den 30«« Iher Anno Dom : 1751. Danl. Cobsen Fecit. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 453 KEY TO THE « PLATFORM." Translation of the title : " Plan of the Christian Lo w Dutc h Church on Staten Island, the 30th September, in the year of our Lor f 175f > made by Daniel Corsen." A. Predikestoel— Pulpit. B. Ouderlingen— Elders. C. Diakeneu— Deacons. 1 Boumeeater's Plaats en Kerkmeester's Plaats— The Master-Builder's Place and the Church-Warden's Place. 3 Plaats voor den Overheidt — Place for the Magistrate. 3 Nicholas Backer, 4 Douwe Van Wogelom, 5 Ernst Lende, Henrik Croesen, 6 Jan Veghte, 7 Jacob Corsen, Cornells Corsen, 8 Gerrit Croesen, Abraham Croesen, 9 Joshua Mersereaux, 10 Gerrit Kroessen, 11 Gerrit Post, Cor= Krock, 13 Pieter De Groot, 13 Johannea De Groot, 14 Jan Van Pelt, and another illegible, 15 ~ ' K T^homas BurbankT 17 Jacob Van Pelt, 18 Peter Martlinghe, 19 Cornelius Croesen, SO Egbert Hagabot, 31 Robert De Groot, 32 Hendrik Proll, and another erased, 33 Johannes Simonson, The succeeding nine are vacant, 33 Antouie Van Pelt, 34 Jon Roll, Junr., 35 Joseae Morseroe, Junr., 36 Cornelius EUes, 37 Vacant, 38 Art Simonson or Simonze, 39 Richard Merrell, 40 Jan Roll, 41 Cornelius sen. , 54 Cornelia Veghte, 55 Vacant, 56 Helena Croesen, 57 Elisabet Corsen, Sister Bock, 58 Maria Praal, 59 Catrina Berckelo, 60 Sara EUes, 61 Arayaentie Elles, 63 Elizabeth Baker, 63 Sara Post, 64 Belitie De Groot, 65 Elizabeth De Groot, 66 AeyeaSpeer, 67 Vacant, 68 Maria Mersereau, 69 Fransyntje Post and another erased, 6Q Jl^iiE tgytto Simom e. 63 iieliefrY'risitlandt^ 63 Ainatie MartUngJis, 64 El^e Merrill, 65 Ourtruyde MerreU, 66 Antje Corsen, 67 Gornelia Uroesen, 68 Oerret Croesen, 70 Cornelia , 71 De Nakomelings van (the descendants of) Catharine Hoogelandt, 73 Vacant, 73 Knelia ricke, 74 Magritie Gerrode ? 75 Jannetje Van Woggglom, 76 Maria Beekman, 77 Fermie Van B , 78 Vacant, 7a Fytie Mersereau, 80 Lena Van Wagene, 81 Maria Prall, 83 Annietie fountain, 88 Wintie Van Tuyls, 84 Rebecca Staats. 43 Isaac Simonze, 43 Johanne Vanwagena, 44 Wilhelmus Vreelandt, 45 Cornelius Corsen, 46 Christian Corsen, 47 Otto Van Tuyl, 48 Jacob Corsen, 49 Vacant, 50 Nealtje Hagewout, 51 Cornelia Corsen, 53 Aaltje Van Pelt, 53 Jan Veghte , It will be observed that the numbers from 60 to 69, both inclusive, are dupli- cated ; we have underscored the duplicated numbers. It will also be observed that according to the universal custom in the olden times, the sexes were separ- ated in their seats. Across the ends of 76, 77 and 78 are written the words " Stoelen voor den Predikant " — Chairs for the Preacher. This was the second church edifice ; it was built about 1714, partially destroyed by fire, by the British early in the Revolution as a rebel church, what was left standing, was subsequently blown down, in a heavy gale. The name of Daniel Corsen does not appear among those of the pew-holders ; but as he was generally the incumbent of some civil office, his seat was in No 1. or 3. 'He was county clerk at the time he made the diagram. 454 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. (1) Smith, in his "History of New York," says that the voyage which Hudson discovered the great river which bears his name ■v made in 1608, under a commission from the king of England. 1 English, when they laid claim to the territory occupied by the Dut did so under pretence of a former grant made to the Virginia Co pany, and not in consequence of any discovery made by Hudson. I inquiry naturally suggests itself, if Hudson saUed under an Engli commission, how did he obtain the command of^a Dutch ship? for is not pretended that the Half Moon was anything else. Again, wl under such circumstances, did he name our Island after the Sta: General of HoUand ? Evidently Smith looks only through Engli spectacles. (2) Quoted by Drake in his " Book of the Indians of North Am( (3) Might makes right. (4) The name of this child was Sarah ; she lived to be the wife two husbands, and the mother of twelve children. Dunlap, Vol. 1, 47, in a note, gives the names of her husbands and children. (5) Some authorities say that the Director-General and Council pi chased Staten Island from the Indians about 1626, several years befo the date of the first patent. (6) This was in February, 1643. (7) A schepel was about three pecks. (8) The late Hon. G. P. Disosway. (9) In his negotiations Lovelace referred to the several previous sal< but the Indians replied that they had not been paid in fuU, and nc demanded an additional 600 fathoms of wampum, but finally agrei to accept 400, together with a number of guns, axes, kettles and watc coats. The Governor and Council came to an agreement with them ( the 9th of April, 1670, by which, on receiving payment, they promis( to abandon the Island. On the 1st day of May, they formally deHven up possession to Thomas Lovelace and Matthias Nicholls, who we deputed for the purpose. Yet, in a pubhc document dated July 8t 1672, Nathaniel Sylvester is represented as the owner of the Islan This Nicholls was at one time Secretary of the colony. There was Sylvester family residing on the Island at an early date, and son ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 455 of the name were found here in 1754, when John Sylvester and Elizabeth his wife had a daughter born Nov. 1. Bap. Eec. St. An- drew's Church. (10) The value of a guilder was forty cents. (11) This spring was so called because it supplied the Hessians, who were encamped upon the neighboring heights during the Kevolutiouj with water. (12) We find the name of Joseph Billop in the county records, once as being the lessee of 200 acres of land, and in 1711 as a Judge of the county. We have been unable to discover what relationship, if any, he bore to the colonel. (13) Brodhead says that the date of his death was February, 1672 ; whereas the tablet in St. Mark's Church makes it August, 1682, a differ- ence of about ten and a half years. (14) On the 29th September, 1677, Gov. Andros executed a patent to Garret Croosen (Cruser) for 160 acres of land on the north side of Staten Island, an abstract of which will be found in App. M, which is bounded on the west by " a small runn of water.'' It is difficult, if not impossible, at this day to trace the boundaries of some of the old pat- ents, but we assume that the " runn of water " mentioned in the patent is the stream issuing out of the " boiling spring " on the Bement estate, as that spring was formerly called the " Cruser spring, " and in convey- ances of even recent date the " runn" is called the " Cruser Spring brook." The. land conveyed was 117 rods in breadth, probably at right angles with the sides, and not following the sinuosities of the shore of the KiEs, which, being nearly 2,000 feet, would reach nearly or quite to the Pelton estate. This estate once belonged to one of the Cruser famUy, but probably it was a subsequent purchase. By the same patent it is evident that " Colon"' Lovelace's Plantacon," laid west of the Cruser grant, and must have been convened to him before the date of that grant. The Palmer patent begins at a cove on " Kill Van Cull," on the east bounds of the lands of Garret Cruser ; probably the word east is a clerical error, and should have been west, but even on that supposition the boundaries described in the latter patent would embrace Lovelace's property. If we assume " the cove " to be that next west of and adjoining the Pelton estate, the difficulty would be increased, as the boundaries would embrace the properties both of Lovelace and Cruser. As we said before, insuperable difficulties meet us in every attempt to locate these boundaries. The natural outlet of 456 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. the Cruser Spring Brook was at or near the place where the surpli water from the works of the New York Dyeing and Printing Estal lishment now enters the Kills. The pond of this Establishment is i artificial structure, made nearly a century ago for the use of a m which stood on the " Factory Dock.'' The main stream which su phes this pond is also an artificial canal ; the natural outlet of tl water which now supplies this pond was through Bodine's pond in the Kills. In Governor Dongan's days, these waters supplied a poi in the rear of the reservoir of the Gas Company on the south side Post Avenue, for the use of his mill, which we have elsewhere aUud( to as the miU, in the cellar of which cannon were said to have been co cealed. (15) Silver Lake. (16) ToadHiU. (17) Between Graniteville and New SpringviUe. (18) Born Thomas Parmar ; he was the father of Col. BiUop, the Revolution. (19) This description of the severity of that winter was given to t writer by an old man who was born in 1748, and died in 1837. ] had frequently heard his father speak of it. His description apph to Long Island near the Narrows, where the family resided, but -w just as applicable to Staten Island. (20) So called because the sign of the tavern at the ferry had i figure of a comet painted upon it. (21) Thomas Arrowsmith ; the name of this man occurs in seve places in the county records, as having bought and sold land. In i records of St. Andrew's Church, the baptism of his daughter Ma May 26, 1754, is entered, and the birth of his son Henry on the 3( November, 1758, which must have occurred while the father was abs( with the army. He was a man of some importance in the coue The family is no longer found here. (22) The order of the Garter, which outvies all similar instituti in the world, was founded by Edward III, April 23d, 1349-'50 ; garter is of blue velvet, bordered with gold, with the inscription in old French, " Honi soit qui mal y pense." (23) A quaint old historian says that during this action Sir P( ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 457 met with a serious loss in having a very important and indispensable part of his silk breeches carried away by a cannon ball, which passed in his rear. (24) Gen. Howe to Lord George Germain : " States Island, July 7, 8, '76. The Halifax fleet arrived June 29 at Sandy Hook, where I arrived four days sooner. I met with Gov. Tryon on board ship at the Hook, and many gentlemen, fast friends to Government, attending him, from whom I had the fullest information of the state of the Rebels, who are numerous and advantageously posted with strong intrenchments, both upon L, I. and at N. Y., with more than 100 pieces of cannon for the de- fense of the town towards the sea, and to obstruct the passage of the fleet up the North River, besides a considerable field train of artillery. We passed the Narrows with three ships of war and the first division of transports ; landed the Grenadiers and Light Infantry, as the ships came up, on the Island, to the great joy of a most loyal people, loEg suffering on that account under the oppression of the Rebels stationed among them, who precipitately fled on the approach of the shipping. The remainder of the troops landed next day and night, and are now distributed in cantonments, where they have the best refreshments. I propose waiting here for the English fleet, or for the arrival of Lt. Gov. CUnton, in readiness to proceed, unless by some unexpected change of circumstances it should in the meantime be found expedient to act with the present force." The oppression of the " loyal people" by the rebels stationed among them, alluded to in the above letter, existed only in the writer's imagi- nation. There were no rebel forces stationed here ; the British took possession too early. There were several " rebels" escaped from the Island when the British arrived, but it was only those who had so freely expressed their opinions, that they considered their personal safety endangered by remaining. (25) A British official account of the battle says : " On the 25th Lt. Gen. De Heister, with two brigades of Hessians from Staten Island, joined the army, leaving one brigade of his troops, a detachment of the 14th Regiment from Virginia, some convalescents and recruits, un- der the command of Lieut. Col. Dalrymple, for th'e security of the Island. (26) This account was received from the late venerable Mr. Joseph Bedell, who, though a boy, was one of the prisoners taken by the Americans. Mr. B. was born Oct. 24, 1763— consequently he was 458 ANNALS OP STATBN ISLAND. about fourteen years old when the skirmish took place. He fixed the day of the month, Aug. 8, by the fact of the extraordinary heat of the day. Two British soldiers, in pursuit of the Americans, utterly over- come, lay down under two large trees which then stood in front of the premises now occupied by Mr. Jacob 0. Garrison, at Fresh Kill, and died there. (27) The above brief account differs slightly from that in Col. Simcoe's Journal, which evidently is so prejudiced as to be utterly unreliable. (28) Bedell and Micheau kept a store at Fresh Kill. (29) The man who was instrumental in saving the life of Simcoe, by restraining the boy who was about to stab him, was named Mar- rener. He was a very active partisan, and was peculiarly obnoxious to the British. He was subyequently taken prisoner, and Clinton de- clined to accede to his exchange until Simcoe informed him that he owed his life to this man's intervention ; the only trait of humanity recorded of Simcoe while in America. (30) There was a Gen. Skinner in the tory department of the Brit- ish army ; he is said to have come from Amboy. (31) Robin's Reef was so called because of the great number of seals which frequented it ; robyn being the Dutch word for seal. (32) At this time he hved on the present poor-house faim. (33) In the baptismal record of St. Andrew's Church, is the fol- lowing entry : " Christopher Yoke, son of John Yoke, Capt. and mary his wife, was baptised June 2d, 1783." (3'4) See Alston, App. L. (35) The house he lived in stands on the westerly side of the Am- boy road, a few rods from the Black Horse Corner, and is occupied by his son-in-law, Mr. Cornelius Egbert. (36) This Paul Micheau was probably the first of the name in the county ; he was born in 1700, and died Aug. 6th, 1751, while a mem- ber of the Colonial Assembly. His son Paul, and grandson Paul J., were both prominent men in the county. He resided in Westfield, and, as was customary in those days, was buried on his own land. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 459 His grave-stone, with two or three others, stiQ stands in the middle of a large field west of the residence of Isaac K. Jessup, Esq. (37) He was not permitted to take his seat, on account of his un- disguised sympathy with the British. (38) His commission as Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, etc., was dated Feb. 22d, 1798, and is still in existence. (39) Died before the expiration of his term, and Joseph Egbert appointed to fill the vacancy. (40) Since 1847 the duties of the Surrogate have been performed by the County Judge. (41) There are numerous receipts of this kind still in existence in all parts of the county. (42) In ] 790, as we have seen, there were only 1593 males in the county ; in 1776 there were less, probably not much over 1200. Allowing half of these to be boys, and a proportion of men too old to bear arms, there were not many left to be enrolled in the four com- panies of militia. As Jacobson reported this enrollment to the Pro- vincial Congress, which was a patriotic body, as was not the Provincial Assembly, there were not many left to be regarded as tories. These four companies, however, were never mustered into the service of the country, for in about three months after the date of Jacobson's report, the British had possession of the Island — consequently they would no t have been suffered to leave their homes, to enter the service of their country. (43) The precise date of the removal of the county seat from Stony Brook to Eichmond cannot now be ascertained. There is a record of a court held in the court-house, at Stony Brook on the 5th day of Sep- tember, in the second year of the reign of George 11 — 1728. On the 6th day of March, 1729, a court was held in the court-house at Eich- mond town ; the removal, therefore, was made between September 5th, 1728, and March 6th, 1729. We have noted elsewhere that a stone prison had been built at Cuckbl's town, and it was probably found in- convenient to have the court-house and prison in different places, some two miles apart, and therefore the removal was effected. The hamlet, now the village of Eichmond, was usually called Cockles- town, but in the old records we find the name written "Gorkold's town " and "Gerkolds town;" in the court records for 1711 it is written "Cuckols towne." 460 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. (44) It is probably owing to ignorance of the ancient name of the hill, that an attempt has not long ago been made to resuscitate it, in more euphonious form, as Monte Ferro, for instance, and thus obliter- ate the present disagreeable appellation of this beautiful locaHty. (45) In the early histories of the colony, allusion is sometimes made to the " Watering Place " on Staten Island, where outward-bound ves- sels usually took in water. This was near the present TompkinsvUle landing. The brook which supplied the water stiU runs, though greatly diminished. There were also several springs along the eastern shore, some of which were very copious, and are still in existence, though many of them have been choked by modern improvements. (46) Old town as distinguished from Nieuw Dorp, or the present New Dorp. (47) Copy of a letter from the late Eev. Thomas De "Witt, D.D., of New York, to the Eev. James Brownlee, D.D., of Staten Island. (48) March Gth, 1696, James Hanson Dye and James Felcheth exe- cuted a lease of a lot of land on the l^resh KOI Road to the Dutch congregation for a term of fifty years. The dimensions were " 87 foot c>n the east side, along the King's road, 81 foot 'on the south side, 63 foot on the west side, and 60 foot on the north side." (49) We append the following additional and interesting facts in the history of this clergyman. After his settlement on Staten Island, he married Anna the daughter of Johannes Staats, and became the father of the following chUdren, aU of whom were born and baptized here, as the following extract from the old Dutch church records shows. Maria Catharine, baptized March 6, 1720. Anna, " July 23, 1721. CorneHus, " March 3, 1723. Staats, " March 2], 1725. Jacoba, " December 22, 1728. Zeger, " October 7, 1733. In the county clerk's office there is recprded a' deed from John Staats to his son-in-law, Cornelius Van Santvoord, dated 1734, and recorded 1743, for a parcel of land on the North Side. This deed was recorded three years after he left the Island. The land conveyed by it is now a part of the Pelton property, and the old house stiU standing is the identical one built and occupied by the Dominie. Prof, Pearson, in his " Genealogies of the First Settlers of Schenectady," says that the Eev. Cornelius Van Santvoord was the fifth minister of the church at AXNAL8 OF STATEN ISLAND. 461 that place. He came from Leyden, where he had a sister living at the time of his death in 1752, who had married Zeger Hazebrook. He preached his last sermon Dec. 21, 1751, from Luke ii : 10 — 14. On the succeeding New Year's day he ascended the pulpit, but was too weak to preach, and concluded his last public service by prayer and the customary New Year's benediction. He died Jan. 6, 1752, aged 55 years, and was buried under the church. His wife died soon after his removal to Schenectady, and on the 19th of February, 1748, he mar- ried Elizabeth ToU. She died before the date of his wiQ, which was March 6, 1747, leaving no issue. His eldest daughter Maria Catharine married John E. Wendell, a lawyer of Albany, July 16, 1741. His eldest son Cornelius settled in Albany in 1747, and married Ariantje Bradt on the last day of the year 1747 ; he Uved on the site of the present Delevan House. His brother Staats, who was a gunsmith, married WiUempie Bradt, a sister of his brother's wife on the same day. His son Zeger settled at Schenectady, and married Catalyntje, daughter of EHas Post, April 18, 1756 ; he died on the anniversary of his wedding 1813. His daughter Jacoba married Peter Truex of Schenectady, Feb. 26, 1749. Prof. Pearson says all his children were born on Staten Island, and mentions another daughter, Geertje (Ger- trude), who married Eyk Van der Bilt on the Raritan, but her name is not found in the baptismal record above mentioned. (50) For most of these historical facts, the writer is indebted to the " Address delivered in the Reformed Church, Port Richmond, by Rev. James Brownlee, D.D., on the fortieth anniversary of his settlement, August 22, 1875," by the kind permission of the author. (51) Ellis Duxbury, or EHas Dukesberry — for the name is found written both ways — was by birth an Englishman, and came to Staten Island at an early date. He was Judge of the county nineteen years, and several times member of the Colonial Assembly. His will, be- queathing the property alluded to in the text was dated May 5, 1718, and proved October 22 of the same year. The property was a planta- tion of two hundred acres, situated on the northeast extremity of the Island, and consequently the point of land at New Brighton was, un- til a recent date, generally known as " Duxbury's Point," and sometimes " The Glebe." It was bequeathed to the Minister, Church-wardens and Vestry of St. Andrew's Church, for the only use and maintenance of the minister and incumbent. The property still owned by the church at TompMnsvUle and its vicinity is a part of this bequest. Being a devise to a religious incorporation, it was void by law, but as the title of the church was never disputed, and as the State by several acts in- 462 ANNALS OF BTATEN ISLAND. cidentally recognized its validity, to say nothing of a possessii more than a century and a half, the title has long ago become vi peachable. (52) In the old record is the following entry : " Mr. field came hear whitsunday the 1st May & administerec sacrent, 1780." In justice to the clergymen of this church, it is proper to re: that the records from which we quote here and elsewhere, were '. not by them, but by the clerks of the church, some of whom evid^ had not been familiar with a school-house in their youth. (53) Several authorities which have been consulted, and ar them Dr. Henshaw's biography of Bishop Moore, unite in fixinj date of this settlement in 1789. The authority for the date in the is an entry in the old book of records of the church in his own h writing, and is as follows : " Register of Marriages since my settlement in the Parish of i Andrew's, October 1, 1788." His first marriage bears date Oct., 1788, and is that of Richard '. and Simonson. In the same book is also the following entr " October 5, 1788, the Reverend Richard Moor Began Devine S( at the Ghiirch of Saint Andrews." His first baptism bears the same date ; it was that of Catha daughter of John Poillon. (54) The history of Calvary Presbyterian Church was furnishe Rev. J. M. Greene. (55) Jacobus Vanderbilt — this is evidently an error — Jacobi James, and in the whole Vanderbilt genealogy there is not a si James ; the name should undoubtedly be written Jacob. This is ther evident from the fact that Jacob Vanderbilt, born in 1692 died in 1759, according to the family record, and 1760 accordii the church account, was the first of the name on Staten Island, that his wife's name was Elenor or Neiltje, both names being the s the one English, the other Dutch. He was at one time an elder ii Reformed Dutch Church on Staten Island. Elizabeth Inyard was the widow of Matthias, and sister of ( Nicholas Garrison, whose biography is given elsewhere. ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. 463 (56) He is said to have been the inventor of centre-boards in sailing vessels. (57) This church, at the corner of the old Clove and Richmond Eoad, has for many years been totally abandoned by the Baptists. It gradually fell into ruin, and was finally demolished early in the present year, 1877. (58) This church stood on the ground now occupied by the small Baptist Cemetery, nearly opposite the District School House, and was demohshed after the organization of the North Baptist Church. (59) Francis Asbury was born 1746, and came to America in 1771. He was ordained bishop by Dr. Coke in 1784, and was the senior bishop of the Methodist Church in the United States. He traveled annually through the country, preaching and ordaining preachers. He died suddenly at Spotsylvania, Va., in 1816, aged 70 years. (60) The following is a copy of the inscription on the tomb-stone of Mr. Cole, in the burying-ground of Woodrow Church. Sacred to the Memory of Rev. "William Cole, born Sept. 22d, 1769 ; joined M. E. Church Oct. 26, 1788 ; Born of the Spirit May 5, 1789 ; received hcense to preach the Gospel May 6, 1792 ; ordained deacon Oct. 1, 1797 ; ordained elder Jtme 2, 1822 ; departed this Hfe April 14, 1843, aged 73 years, 6 months, 28 days. (61) There is the following note attached to his name ; " £8 if he keeps that land now in dispute, or £4 if he loses it. (62) There is a small chapel at Kreischerville under the care of the "Woodrow Church. (68) TJ. A. C. "Unaltered Augsburgian Confession. This Confession was drawn up at Augsburg by Melancthon, and by him and Luther presented to the Emperor Charles in 1530. (64) This Paul Micheau died 1751. In the middle of a large field, in the town of "Westfield, near the residence of Isaac K. Jessup, Esq., is a small cluster of grave-stones, among which is that denoting the place of the interment of this Paul Micheau. (65) There is an entry in an old Court record of 1726, wherein Francis Bodin (written Buddin in another place) was charged with some offence against the king, and " comes into Court, and rather than 464 ANNALS OF STATEN ISLAND. contend with the king confesses judgment and submits to a fine," which is only another way of pleading guilty. (66) The following is a copy of the inscription upon the tomb-stones of Col. Nicklos Britten and his wife : " Here lyes y" Body of Col. Nicklos Britten, aged 61 years, Deceased Jan. 12, 1740. Here hes a man of tender hart Unto the poor in every part He never sent the poor away Which well is nown unto this Day." " Here Lyes y" Body of Frances, wife of Col. Nicholas Britton, aged 66 years. Deceased May y" 7, 1748. 3kx. ir^^ ^v* Cf^-^'^'^ This Woman who is buried here This county has nown for many a year A loving mistress, a faithful wife A Tender mother all her Life.'' These stones are still standing in the Moravian Cemetery, and are evidence that there was a burial-ground there long before the Mora- vians obtained possession of the property. (67) This sword, which is at present in the possession of H. J. Cor- sen, Esq., of New SpringviQe, was an heir-loom in the family ; the silk sash, however, has disappeared. (68) This Cornelius Egbert, stiU living (July, 1876), married the daughter of Bornt Lake, who was murdered by Christian Smith, and occupies the same house Lake occupied at the time of his death. His brother William married another daughter of Lake. (69) Matthias Enyard, with his mother Elizabeth Garrison — she being then a widow — were among the first members of the Moravian Church on the Island. See the history of that church. He had a son Matthias, who married Sarah Decker, and had the following sons, Reuben, Elias, Nicholas, John and Matthias. The names of David and Benjamin Enyard appear in the court records in 1770, but we have not met with them elsewhere. (70) Edmund Andros, Knt. Lieut, and Governor-General, under his Eoyal Highness James, Duke of York and Albany, etc., of New York and dependencies in America, granted to Abraham Lakeman eighty acres of land on the northwest side of Staten Island at an an- nual rent of one bushel of wheat. 1 i