F 129 S5 L2 Copy i Why -Schenectady Was Destroyed In 1690. u,**/ ^ A PAPER ^ Read Before the Fortnightly Club of Schenectady IVIAY 3. 1887. BY JUDSON S; LAN DON. COPVmoHT il*7, BV J. 8. L.ANDON. Why Schenectady was Destroyed in 1690. A PAPER ^.-xxxxv,. READ BEFORE THE FORTNIGHTLY CLUB OF SCHENECTADY MAY 3rd. 1897. By JUDSON S. LANDON. On the night of the 8th of Fehiiiaiy, I»',:mi, ,,\u- luiiKhcd and fourteen Frenchmen and ninety-six Indians, after a twenty-two days' march from Montreal tluoiigh llie snow and the wilderness, stole in ui)on the sleepiuj; village of Schenectady, then containing about sixty houses and three Imndn-d inhabitants, massacred sixty of the inhabitants, pluiidiMcd and l)umed all of tlie houses, except six. and on the following day .set forth on their return to Montreal, carrying away thirty captives and a great deal of ])lnndcr, and leaving in destitution and hi'ljilessnt'ss such survivors as were too feeble to endure cai)tivity or make tlu-ir e.sc^ipe. The story has been often told. It is not the i)urpose of this l>aper to repeat it, but to attempt to group together tlie causes which, operating upon twij continents, liad as their incident or their result the destruction of Schenectady. First, war existed between England and France. James IT h.id been taliation, gave bis support to the Augsburg League. The Protestants joined the league, i)artly because Louis, in 1685, had revoked the Edict of Nantes, an edict undei- which such of the Protestants of France as survived the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in 1572, had had ])artial tolei'ation for eighty-seven years. War had broken out between Austria and Turkey, and the Augsburg League became the allies of Austria, and France the ally of Turkey. William, by becoming King of England, was able to add England to the enemies of France. Thus it was that the armies of the Pope and of the Protestants of Europe, under the lead of the English -Dutch King William, warred against the annios of llu> C'resii'iil ami tin- Jtsuit faction of tlio cross under the lead of the great French monarch — a war that was waged from the Danube and the Rhine to the hanks of the Boyne in Ireland. Of course, anumg the objects of the war between England and France was the dominion of the North American con- tinent, or at least that jiart of it which lies along the Atlantic coast north of the (iulf of Mexico and east of the St. Ijawrence and the Mississippi rivers. The French had taken possession of the St. I^awrence and the Mississippi rivers and the great lakes of the St. Lawrence basin, and claimed title to all the land within the watei-shed of these rivei-s and lakes. The English had their fringe of settlements along the Atlantic coast from the mouth of the Kenncbeck as far south as Charleston, S. C. The Dutch had settled New York, and had pushed their settlements up the Hudson and Mohawk to Schenectady, with a few plantations five or six miles beyond. The Dutch liad suriendered to the English in 1G64, and the province of New York was now governed by the English. The province, however, was essentially Dutch, and Schenectady almost exclusively so. Apart from the war between the Dutch-English and French governments, the French and the Dutch and English colonies in America bad their own cause of war, and that was their rivalsbip for the control of the fur trade with the Indians. The Dutch colony of New York was founded for the pur- poses of trade. Its primary object was to enrich the Dutch West Inilia Company. There was no religious or jiolitical sentiment about it, as in tliecase of the early New England settlements. That the Dutch finally became more of an agricultural community, composed of people who wislied to make homes for themselves in the New Netherlands, was a natural evolution, resulting from the fact that the monopolistic West India company was rapacious and tyran- nical, and that it was soon found out th.-it the farmer was surer of a comfortable living than wiis the hunter or trader. Besides, the colonist could liave all the land he could work. The Dutch were Protestants, and their notions of liberty were to be let alone. Father Jogues, writing of New Netherland, in KiAC, says : "When any one comes to settle in the country, they lend him horses, cows, &c. ; they give liim provisions, all of which he returns as soon as he is at ease ; as to the land, after ten years he pays to the West India Company the tenth of the produce which he reaps. * * * The English, however, come very near to them, choosing to hold lands under the Hollanders, who ask noth- ing, rather than depend on English lords, who exact rents, and would fain be absolute." But afterward the Dutch company became more exacting and the New England colony more liberal, so that when the Dutch colony surren- dered to the English, in 1(564, the intelligent Dutch farmer welcomed the change. He expected the government to be framed upon the New England models, and that he would keep what he had- and get rid of the restraints upon his trade. The result was the Dutchman prospered and his tribe increased. The French colonization of Canada had three objects — trade, dominion and the conversion of the Indian. That is to say, the French King wanted the dominion, tlie favor- ites of the King wanted the profits of the trade, and the J esuit l)nests wanted the privilege and the service of converting the Indians ; and these three purposes were skilfuUy com- bined and made co-operative. Tliere was not nuich I'oyal control in the English coloni- zation of that century. No matter what the language of the charter or commission to the royal governors, the col- onists themselves either seized the lielm of government, as in New England, or controlled, either by ))ersuasion or turbulence, its movements, as in New York. The ])eoplc took care of tliemselves, sought to make their own fortunes, and practically reduced the government to non-interference witli their liberties. French colonization, on the other hand, was minutely rt'giilatfd and restiirtotl by the lionic govornnuMit. Tin- rate of increase was very unequal. In li'.lM) the jji-ovince of New York liad about 18,000. The New England col- onies togetiier about ir>i\00(\ while the entire French jiopulatiou of Canada did not exceed 1"J,UU(). Thus the aggregate of the Enghsh and Dutch people in New England and New York exceeded the French in Canada fourteen times. But the French ]>rovince was under one govern- ment, while the English colonies were under several. The New England colonies foi'nied a confederation for nmtual defense, but New York stood alone until after the destruc- tion of Schenectady, when, in May, IC.Imi. the New England and New York colonies met by their delegates in Alb.uiy, and concerted measures for the common attack upon the French and defense against them. This was the first American Congress. The French sought to compensate for their great dispar- ity in numbei-s by making allies of the Indian tribes. This had been the French policy from the beginning, in Uio4. It was the French policy to attract the Indians by trade, and to hold them by conversion to Christianity. Tlir Jesuit priests wen- the missionaries, who zealously under- took the labor of converting the Indians. If successful, France would enjoy the profits of the Indian trade in times of peace, and have the supjwrt of the Christian, or "i)ray- ing Indians," as they were called, in times of war. It nmst be said, to the lasting honor of the Jesuit missionary, that he was actuated by as consecrated and unseKish devotion to his sense of duty as the aimals of lofty .self-.sacritice record. A chain of Jesuit missions was established from the ( lulf of St. Lawrence as far west as the Lake of the Woods, anil in these, far away from civilization and tlu> f.ices of white men, the Jesuit priests, amid the .scpialor, dirt, inde cency and misery of the savage tribes, devoted their sym- pathy, their labor and their lives to the s;dvation of the souls of these uinegenerate chihlren of nature. To aid in — fl — snatching a (lying soul from Hell's burning pit was with these earnest devotees the higliest service in whicli life could be spent or sacrificed. With a self-denial that chal- lenges the admiration of mankind, these men welcomed with delight the order of their superior, which bade them carry the emblem of the cross to the heathen. Several of the priests kept a record of their labors and experience. These "Relations" remain to us. They are not only the amazing chronicles of the cajiacity of the human mind, when inspired and sustained by religious zeal, to rise above and remain superior to the most wretched and depressing surroundings, but they are also among the most complete and instructive descriptions of Indian life and character now extant. The native tribes that inhabited the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers and the northerly shores of the great lakes, were easily and strongly impressed by the picturesque symbols and the simple and zealous expositions of the Christian faith presented by the Jesuit fathers. Great numbers professed conversion. The English and Dutch took little account of the Indians, except to protect themselves against, them and profit by their trade. It is true that the English charters usually recited that one object of tlie colony was to carry the bless- ings of the Christian religion to the benighted savages, and it is true that a few devoted men, of whom Ehot was the most remarkable for successful results, and Brainard for self-denial, devoted tlieir lives to the conversion of the In- dians to the Protestant religion. With few exceptions the efforts made by the Protestants to convert the Indians were feeble and sjiasmodic, deriving their vigor from individual jnety and zeal instead of from the government. Tlie Indian mind and language readily lend themselves to symbohc and picturesque methods of thought and expression, but sti-ug- gle vaguely with abstract conceptions when not tlius illus- trated. Thus the Catholic French succeeded far better than the Protostaut EngUsh and Dutch in thi-ir missionary label's. Wherever the Jesuit priest maintained his mis- sion, there the fur trade with the Indians was secured to tlie FrtMicli ; there French pohcv prevailed, and the "pray- ing Indians" became the friends and, to some extent, the allies of the French. Could this policy of conversion, friendsliip and trade be continued and extended, it was not ditUcult to foresee that the North American continent, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mis- sissippi, would be possessed by French and Indians, and governed by the French. Opposed to the success of such a scheme of colonization were the English colonies on the seal)oard and the Dutch - English colony of Now York. But the most annoying, and at that time perhaps the greatest obstacle to the suc- cess of the French scheme was the Iroquois confederacy of Indians, the Five Nations of New York. This remarkable confederacy, consisting of the Mohawks on the east, the Senecas on the west, with the Oneidas, Onondagas and Cayugas between, occupied what is now cential New York, from the Hudson to beyond the (Jene- see. This confederacy of nations was the friend of the Dutch colony of New York and the enemy of the northein and north westeiii races, who opened thcii- villages to tlie Jesuits and gave their fur trade to the French. In 104:3 the New York colony, Kieft being governor, very treach- erou.sly made war upon some AlgoiKiuin tribes who inhab- ited near Manhattan Island. The Mohawks c;laimed tiiat these southern tribes were under their protection, and they avenged Kieft's treachery and waged a desultory war against the Dutch for five years ami nearly exterminated them. In the end the Dutch made a treaty witii the Iro«iuoi.s, humiliating in its terms, but which really proved to be of the utmost service to them. The Dutch ob.served its provisions so faithfully and therearter dealt with the iroipiois so fairly and kindly as to inspire them with respect — ft — and affection. The English, succeeding in li;r>l to the government of the colony, were 'wise enough to cherish this friendly alliance. The Iroquois were a brave and warlike i^eople. In sys- tematic government and native intelligence they were far in advance of most of the northern tribes. They were kind and faithful to their friends, but i^racticed every sav- age cruelty upon their enemies. Their skulls were larger than those of any other tribe of aborigines in North or South America. Besides their resources of fish, game and furs, they permitted their women to cultivate plantations of Indian corn, beaus and pumpkins. Manual labor, except in pursuit of game or the enemy, was unworthy an Indian man. Their power and prowess were respected and feared by the other tribes north of the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Mississippi. From the first the Iroquois become the enemies of the French. In 1009, before Hudson ascended the river which bears his name, the Frenchman, Samuel Champlain, with two French followers and a war party of Hurous and Algonqnins, marched southward from Montreal and came to the lake, which in like manner perpetu- ates the name of Champlain, and ascended it in canoes as far as Ticonderoga. There they met a party of the Iroquois and engaged them in battle. Champlain and his two French companions fired their guns upon the Iroquois, and thus brought upon th(>m consternation and defeat. These were the first white men they ever saw and the first guns they over heard. In IfilO, and again in 1610, Champlain, as the ally of the Hurons and Algonqnins, defeated the Iroquois by the use of firearms. It was plain to the Ii'o- (juois tliat unless they also could obtain firearms tlioir long- established supremacy over all the other Indian nations was at an end. Wlieii, therefore, the Dutch came up the Hudson, the Mohawks received them kindly, partly becaus(> they were afraid of the guns of wliito men, and partly also because, when tiny discovered they were not Frenchmen, — — they lioped to obtain from tlu-m thf same kind of firearms which the Hurons and Algontjiiins had received from the French. Thus tlie Moliawks early found that the Dutch were as useful to them as the French were to the Hurons and Algonquins. The Dutch furnished them with guns and ammunition, and they soon regained their lost ascendency. The Mohawks and the Dutch north of the Catskills early made a treaty of peace at tlie Norman's Kill near Albany, and this treaty was observed, renewed and continued, with, it is true, occasional waverings and inter- ruptions, until the breaking out of tiie war of the Revolu- tion in 177."). The white man then abandoned his fealty to the King of Great Britain, hut the Inxjuois remained faithful to his long pledged alliance, and because of his tidelity to it his people were wasted, his hunting grounds were taken from him, and the renmant of his tribes became vagabonds in the land over which their fathers had been rulers. As the French claimed all the watershed of the St. Law- rence valley, their claim embraced a portion of the Iroquois territory in northern and western New York. In supjtort of this claim the French and Indian allies had made fre<[uent incursions into this territory, but without any pei-manent success. The French were also sedulous in their efforts to convert the Iroquois tribe to Christianity, as well as the Hurons and Algonquins. In these efforts many of the Jesuit priests laid down their lives— martyrs to their faith and sen.se of duty. The chief obstacle to their success with the hxxjuois was that the religion they taught was so readily accepted by their enemies, the Hvirons and Algoncpiins. In their wai-s against them the Irocjuois sjiared neither priest nor convert. History preserves in reverent honor the names of Fathers Daniel, Lalemant, Brebeuf and others, mission- aries to the Hurons, who jjerished by the bloody hands of the Iroquois. Among the martyrs was (he s.iintly F.itber Jogues, whcse monument in the form of a shrine to the — 10 — Virgin, " Our Lady of Martyrs," stands upon the southern bank of the Mohawk, at Auriesville, a few miles west of us, within sight of the windows of the passing cars of the New Yoi'k Central Railroad. Father Jogues himself, in a letter still preserved, recounts in a strain of touching sim- plicity the tortures he and his companion, Eene Coupil, suffered while captives upon a previous occasion in the hands of the Mohawks, the death of his comi^anion, and his own ultimate escape. But he afterward returned to the Mohawk 'country, hoping to convert the very savages who had tortured and maimed him. But the Mohawks, after wavering between accepting him as a teacher and priest, or coiidenming him as an enchanter, who had de- stroyed their harvests, finally adopted the latter alterna- tive ; they cut off his head, placed it on a pole with the face toward Canada, as a warning of the fate his imitators might expect, and thi-ew his body into the river. This was iu 1646, near the place where the shrine now stands. But the zeal of the Jesuits was superior to their fear of savage cruelty. At last, in 1658, the Onondagas admitted the priests into their villages, and soon after the Oneidas, Senecas and Cayugas did the same. The Mohawks were less indulgent. They understood that to favor the Jesuits was to displease their Dutch friends at Schenectady and Albany. But the Jesuits Ihially won their way into the Caughnawaga (Fonda) family or castle, and succeeded in making many converts. In 1671 they induced most of the converted Mohawks to migrate to Canada, where in a new Caughnawaga, near Montreal, their descendants still remain. These converted emigrants were the "i)raying Indians," who, with the Fi-ench, destroyed Schenectady in 16i»0. The Frencli, however, nevcn- succeeded in establishing a porniant-nt foothold or inlhience among the great body of tlie lr()(|U()is. "^i'he priests could not change tlieir savage natures. The (;onvert would revert. The French still continued tlicir alliance and frimidsliip with their Indian — 11 — allies, the ancient enemies of the Iroquois. Naturally strifes arose, and war fi>llnt of England af- tenvards reversed their attainder and restored tlieir estates to their heirs. Ahrain Gouverneur, who had been re- prieved, married Leisler's daughter, the widow of Milbunie, and he, being elected to the assendtly, was cho.sen speaker, and succeeded in i)rocuring the asseinl)ly to pass an act to pay Leisler's heirs one thousand jwunds on account of the money which Leisler had expended in defence of the province. My narration ends hero. I am obliged to .sacrifice detail to condensation, hut I hope it is not uninteresting to you to re<;dl tliat the destruction of this infant village was one of the results of the .strife between the Christian and the Turk, the Pope and the Jesuits, England and the allied powers of Europe against Franco and Turkey, the alliance — 16 — of Pope and Protestant, the alliance of Canadian French with Hurons, Algonciuins, and the Mohawk "praying Indians," the alliance of the Dutch and English of New York with the Iroquois nation, the strife for the dominion of the North American continent, and last but not least, the political dissensions in the province of New York that followed upon tlie abdication of James II, and the accession of William and Mary, King and Queen, of ever blessed memory. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iilil li il i II 014 224 479 2|^