THE
OLD STREETS
OF
NEW YORK
UNDER THE DUTCH.
A PAPER READ BEFORE THE
New York Historical Society,
JUNE 2, 1874.
BY
JAMES W. GERARD.
NEW YORK:
F. B. PATTERSON, 32 CEDAR STREET.
I875.








PROEM.
THE desire expressed by many interested in our local history to
possess a copy of the paper on "THE OLD STREETS OF NEW YORK,
UNDER THE DUTCH," recently read before the New York Historical Society by Mi. GERARD, has induced its publication by the
subscriber.
It relates to the most interesting and dramatic period of tlhe
history of our ancient city, over which Time is rapidly weaving
his mystic web.
Tile style, at times quaint and familiar, and at others eloquent,
with which the author has presented the subject, and the extent
of his researches into the minutice of the life of our Dutch predecessors, will commend the publication, not only to tile antiquarian, but to all citizens who take pride and pleasure in our
local annals.
A limited number of copies have been printed, solely on the
publisher's account, after permission obtained from the Historical
Society; and, it is hoped that the pamphlet will prove an acceptable addition to the other antiquarian publications issued by the
Public's obedient servant,
F. B. PATTERSON,
32 CEDI)AR STREET,
NEW YORK.








MR. P1RESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN
OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
In venturing to present a sketch of some of the old streets an(l
people of New York, under the Dutch rule, it may be well, first, to
glance at antecedent discoveries an(l settlements in the region
by other nations.
Awaking from the sleep of the Middle Ages, the aroused energy
of the European mind, towards the close of the fifteenth century, developed itself in geographical, as well as scientific iesearch.
Long intellectual slumber had created a rest wlhich wearied as
well as dwarfed.
The invention of printing  had distributed  knowledge no
longer hoarded in cloisters. Improvements in the use of gunpow(ler tended to subdue caste, and give intellectual as well as
civil freedom and vigor.
No longer content with dogmas and traditions, man yearned to
break local boundries and forms-to expand, to learn, to discover.
Mareo  Paulo's travels had instigated a thirst for adventure; and
men's minds were still excited by stories of the wealth and wonders of Catliay and Copango.
Tlhe art of navigation had been improved under the leaderslhip of Prince Henry, the Navigator.
New  maps were planned.  New enterprises stimulated the
ambition of the curious or the avaricious.  Tile great problem of
the earth was still unsolved.  The earth! man's abode and manl's
study.  What was it? What were its limits?
Pythagoras had claimed its rotundity in the mystic days of
history.  Still, the force of habit and the inertia of ignorance
kept concert with error.




The scholastic world still dtreamed its oldl dreams, and wrapped
itself in its cloak of Aristotle.  Circumnavigation was impossible.
Columbus, however, at thle close of the fifteenth century, made
the egg stand on its end, and rediscovered tle Northmen's lost
continent.  The slhade of Pythagoras t'riumphed through the
Genoese.
Geography vindicated her sister astronomy, and the world was
round.
The Portuguese, now roused in rivalry, vigorously attacked
Eastern realms. Bartlialarny Diaz had theretofore reached thle
southern point of Africa; and Vasco de Gamna, ill 1497, int
searchling for tlie realms of Prester John, carried the Portuguese
flag around the African contitnent, whiclh Pharaoh's vessels had
done for the Egyptian flag over 2,000 years before.
The wealth of either Indies now lay open. Unknown El Dorados awaited adventure.  Spaniard and  Portuguese fiercely
claimed the prize of the unknown earth.
Alexander VI. adjudged tle great process.
The geographical bulls of 1493 an!d 1506 made the division
for all prospective discovery.
A  line fiom  pole to pole was to divide the infildel world betwen the two most holy navigating powers, wlho vigorously set
to work to utilize the prize.
Magellan, for Spain, in 1519, passed through thle straits that
bear hlis name, and circumnavigated the globe.
The Portuguese culled rich productiotns fiom Ceylon and the
Moluccas, the Persian Gulf, and the coast of Coromandel; while
Cortes and Pizarro filled galleons that bore golden fruit to Spain
from Mexico and Peru.
Meanwhile the bleak northern coasts lay uncarled for. The
gold of southern seas and thle spicy treasures of the East lkept
enterprise from them.
England had, in 1497, felt the geograplhical impulse, and nobly
closed the discoveries of the fifteenth century.




The great problem of the day-tile northwest passage to India
and Catllay through the northern seas (since fiuitlessly found by
McClure)-turned Henry VII. froln affairs of State to win lauils
in the new field of geographical researcl.  The Cabots cornmissioned by him  cruised  along the North American coast froom 
Lablrador to Florida.
Hence Enygland's exclusive claim, deriding the Papal bulls, to
the entire country, from these glimpses of the coast by the
Cabots.
French Fishermen now began to swarm on the Newfoundland
Banlks, and found there an El Dorado of their own, in savage
contrast with Cortez' and Pizarro's sunny conquests.
In 1524, the Frelnch appear upon the scene of discovery; and
Verrazano carried tile French flag fiom 36~ to 500 of north latitude, and named the coast.
Anchoring hlis ship off thle Narrows, in our harbor, as it is supposed from his description, the Italian, in his shallop, entered our
bay.
He says, in hlis letter to King Francis: " We found a very
"pleasanlt situation among some steep hills, tllhough which a
"very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its way to thle sea.
"We passed up tile river about half a league, when we found it
" formed a most beautiful lake three leagues in circuit. All of' a sudden a violent, contlrary wind blew in from the sea, and
"forced us to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this
"region, which seemed so commodious and delightful."
The first of civilized men, Verrazano gazed upon the virgin
beauties of our isle, " Manhatta," then slumbering in primeval innrocence,-ere long, under the magic hand of civilization, to rise
and( ripen into stately magnificence, the Queen City of the Hemispllere.
Estevan Gornez, with his Spaniards, succeeded Verrazano in the
exploration of our bay, and named the North River, San Antonio: after him, also, called on some ancient charts, Rio de Gomez.




*We next read of Caltier on the St. Lawrence, alnd Frobisher.
and Gilbert in Labrabor and Newfoundland; and of Raleigli's
colonies at the Soutlh, and of Gosnlold's failures on the Massachusett's coast, and of King James' sweeping patents to the Eondon and Plymouth companies, embracing territory from Cape
Fear to Nova Scotia.
Then of settlements by the Plymouth Company on the Sagadahoc in Maine, whence the adventurous colonists are soon driven
homeward by the rigors of the wintry blast.
Then of the Sieur de Monts and 1his hardy pioneers, under a
patent from Henry IV., reaching from  Philadelphia to Cape
Breton.
While the English and French crowns were thus granting
patents of the whole explored region, and settlements were being
made North and South, a tract lay between tlhem  claimed by
botli, but settled by neither.
This belt of territory was still uncared for by the European.
There still roamed wild beasts titrough primeval forests
that shadowed a land genial in clime and rich in soil.
There the untamed red man chanted barbaric runes amid dim
traditions of his State, unconcious that the force of civilization
was at hand, as with the sword of doom, to drive him from hlis
ancient seats.
A new nation now appeared in tile arena of discovery.
A people dating, enterprising, persevering-born almost in the
sea which they had mastered-descendants of the ancient Norsemen, whose hardihood they inherited-nurtured amid morass and
fen-exposed to icy blasts from the North sea and lhumid exhalations from canal and dyke-taught early and ever to battle
with nature or to perish-where the face of sea and land and
sky, pale, sad and leaden, gave seriousness to the mind and resolve to the character. With a country less than a quarter the
size of this State, this people, in 1579, had made a nation whose
character had been formed amid perils and tears and blood.




For over forty years they had battled with the fierce legions of
Spain in defence of home and life.
For over forty years they lhatd shown a courage and a perseverance, under trial and defeat, almost unparalled in hluman history-and now, the seven " United Provinces of the Netherlands," having establislhed their liberties and consolidated their
State, were vieing with the other nations of Europe in schemes of
exploration and dominion.
Their naval power was rapidly augmented. They wrested from
Spain and Portugal a large portion of their Indian trade. They
planted colonies in the islands of the East; they visited reallms of
sun and snow in furtherance of commerce and discovery, and became the factors and carriers of Europe; they built up a navy
that, at one time, checked tile Spanish Arnmada, and at alother
drllove English fleets from the sea, and triumphantly sailed up the
Tharnes.
I-lendrick HIu(lson now appears upon the scene.
In April, 1609, under the direction of the Netherland East
India Company, and for the purpose of finding a N. W. passage
-that great sea problem of the day-he dared the perils of tile
Atlantic in the " IIalf Moon," of 80 tons, with a crew of twenty
men. After stopping at various places along the coast, in Septernber, 1609, lie brought his little vessel to anchor in what is
now the bnly of New York.
According to the Indian tradition, on the appearance of the "Half
Moon," there was great consternation among the simple aborigines who then inhabited the dense forests where now this city
stands.  Some thought it an immensely large fish or huge monster of the sea, others that it was a very large hut. As it continued to move in a threatening manner towards the land, couriers were sent off to notify the scattered chiefs and their people
of the phenomenon, and put them on their guard, and to gather
in the warriors. These various Indians arriving in large numbers
on the Manhattan shore, and viewing the strange object that was
slowly moving toward them, concluded that it was a large canoe




or lhouse, in which the great Manitto, or Supreme Being, himself
was, and that he was coming to visit them.  The chiefs thern deliberated ill council how the great Manitto should be received.
Meat was arranged for sacrifice; the womnen were directed to prepare the best of victuals; idols or images were anxiously examined and put in order, and a grand (lance was pirepared, as this
was supposed to be not only an agreeable entertainment for the
Manitto, but it might contribute to appease hIim in case he was
angry.  Tile conjurors weire also set to work to determine what
the meaning of the phllellomenon was, and what the result would
be. To the clhiefs and wise men of the nation, women and clhildrien were looking up in terror for advice and protection.  Between hope and fear, and in confusion, a dance, that great
resource of the Indian in difficulty, commenced; and woods and
shore rang with the wild and agitated cries of the leaping savages
and the loud beat of the tom-tom.
Scouts coming in declare the object to be a house of various
colors, antd crowded with living creatures.  It now appeared certain that it was the great Alanitto bringing them some new kind
of game. Soon there is hlailing from  the vessel in a strange
tongue. Many now begin to run to the interior woods. The
house or large canoe having stopped, a smaller canoe comes
asllore with a man altogether red from head to foot, and dressed
differently from the others. In the meantime the chiefs and wise
men had formed a large circle, and calmly and in resigned
silence awaited the awful visitor.  The red-clothed man then entered the circle, and we find, by the tradition, that the fear of the
savages presently disappeared u nder the conciliatory deportment
of the explorer and his men; and soon, by dint of presents and
kind treatment, the best understanding was established, which
was continued on the arrival of the vessel in the following
season.
Hudson then began the exploration of the "Great River of
the Mountains," as it was called, hoping that by it there might
be a passage through the continent to the Asiatic seas.




Tlhe exl)loLers hlave left accounts of their expedition up thle
rivel, and express dlelight at its size anld thle beauty of' the scenery, beginning to be clad, as nature then was, in gorgeous hues,
shiningc through thle soft haze of the autumnarl summer.
Hudson penetrated to the highest point of navigation beyond
Albany, and( was a montlh int lhis exploration.  He senlt an account of his voyage to his Dutch employers at Amsterdam,
statinog, among otlher things, that " it is as beautiful a land as the
foot of man can tread upon."
We can imagine the surprise and consternation of thle savage
tiibes that lined the baiks as the little " Ialf Moon," gigantic to
tlhem, cautiously ciept on its way iup the " River of tlhe Mounta:ins"-its rnotley crew peering over the vessel's sides to gaze
tupon the wonders and beauties of the stiange land, and half.nistrusting the savages tha:t gazed back at thein friom the sliore.
The daring commander, "tile rnan clothed all in red," we may
picture reposing hirnself, after hlis long and anxious sea voyage,
on the lofty poop, smoking, perhaps, some of thle raw tobacco
just got from the Indians, and viewing the noble river that was
to b)ear his name.  Now he watches the smoke ulrling up from
some wigwamrn in glade or dell, now admires the fiowning battle
ments of the Palisades, now passing in wonderi under the sha(low
of the " Dunlerberg," or thle lofty " Crow  Nest," or the bold
headland since called, as tradition narrates, Anthony's Nose,
after the nasal organ of Atitlhony de Hooge, Secretary of the colony of Rensselaerswyck, and marvelling at the depth of tile
pellucid stream as the little ship wound cautiously through the
weird gorges of the higlhlands, and gazing with the delight of a
traveller as he approached the lofty range of the Kaatskills,
whlose crests, illumined by the sun, came peering through the
moving clouds.
Anon, a shlot from a Culverin plows tllrough the glassy stream
and awakes the silent forests.
The startled deer rush back to inner glades; and wolf and
otter, and fox and bear, and basking snake, retreat to den and




10
brake.  The eagle shrilly screams, and whleels a further flighlt,
wlhile eclhoes 1prolonged resound from shoire to shore, alnd proudest chief, and squalw, and( cllil(l fall clown ill (dreadl as they see
tlhe lighltning flash from the movilg ronster, and hear the sharulp
tlhunder that slakes the silence of their ancient abodes.
A quaint extract from an accounlt, written by Rob)lert Juet, one
of Hudson's mates, slhows thle friendly inltercourse established by
HIudson with the red innii as he went up the river, and tle ready
nanner with wlhich they took to tile white man's fiery drink,
soo00  the bane of their doorned irace: —" In the.afternoon o(ur master's mate wenlt on ]alid with an old
savage, a Governorv of thle Couiitlrie, who clarried hlim  to his
h]ouse, and made him good clheere.  *  *  *  *  The People of
the Countrie came flocking aboard, and brought us gr;lpes andl
Pompiols, wlhich we bought for trifles.  *   *   *   *  Our carp)enter went on land and made a foreyard; and our master and
hlis mate determine(l to trie some of the chiefe men of the countrie, whethler they hlad any trleacllelie in thein.  So they took
thern (lown into tile cabbin, and gave them  so much wine and
Aquta vilce that they were all melrie; al;d one of tlern had his
wife with him, which sate so modestly as- any of our coulltrie
womeii woul( doe in a strange place.  Itn the end one of them
was drunke, which had been aboard of our slip all thle time that
we had been there; and that was strange to them, for they could(
not tell how to take it."
The ITidians, we iead, reciprocated their good treatment by
bringing oysters, anrd fish, and wampum, and othler tributes oil
board.
On Hludson's return dowmi the river, the Indians, becoming
more familiar with tile moving house, were more inclined to hostility, possibly under some provocation given.  Their warlike
and venturesome spirit was also arobused to try conclusions with
the strange race; and we read furthler, in Juet's journal, this
brief account of the first conflict and bloodshed between the




11
white and redl man on these shores, when gulopowder, the new
civilizing algeiit, was employed:
" ThrJis afternoon one canoe kept blanging under our ster'ne, witll
onle man ill it, wlilch we could iiot keep from thence, who got u1)
by our rudder to tlle cabin window, andl stole out my ipillow and
two shirts, an(l two B:lndeleers.  Ouri master's mate shlot at him,
and stroke hinm oil the blest, ald( killed him; where upon     all thle
rest fled away, soie ill their canoes, an(l some leapt out of themn
into the water.  We Inallned our bloat aind got our things agailne.
Tlien one of them tllat swanrne got hlold of our boat, tlhinkilng to
overthrow it.  But our cooke took a swordl and cut off one of
hlis hands, and lie was drowned."
Another trouble occurre(l about off the preseiit Nyack, as the
vessel was descendling tlle river:
"At bl-eak of day," Juet recounts, "we iweighled, tlle willnd
being at N. West, and got down 7 letagues.  Tllen the flood was
come stroilg, so we anchored.  Thenl came one of tlle savages
that swanm away from us at our going up thle river, with many
others, thinking to betray us.  But we perceive(l their initent,
and suftered.l nione of them to enter the ship.  Whereupon two
canoes full of men, with their bows and arrows, shot at us after
our stern; in recoinlpense whereof we discharged six muskets,
and killed two or tlhree of thlem.  Then above a hlundred came
to a point of land to shoot us.  Then I shot a filcon at them,
and killed two of them; wlhereupon the rest fled into the woods.
Yet thley manned off another canoe with 9 or 10 meii, which
came to meet us.  So that I shot at it also a falcon, and shot it
tihrougil and killed onee  f thlem.  Then  our men with their
mnuskets killed 3 or 4 more of them.  So tiley went their way."
Hudsol's account of the beauty alti fertility of the region,
and the rich peltry to be obtained t.here, aroused the attention of
]lis Dutch employers, who immediately starlted expeditions wTith
a view to settlement and trade.
Voyages wer'e undertaken, at private risk, in 1610 to 1612, to
trade with the Indians at and along thle river " Mauritius," as




12
it was called after Prince Maurice, and a few houses or hluts
erec!e l.
A tra(ling ihouse was also establislhed oil Castle Island, at the
west sidle of thle river, a little below thle preselnt Altbany, and
ca:lled Fort Nassau.
In 1614 a chl-arter or monopoly of tr.lding was granted by the
States-General to an Amsterdam  Association, and thle territory
was recognized for tlhe first time unlder its new narme of " Nieuw
LNederlanl," whlich- comprised thle region, as set forth in the charter, between "New France and Virginia, thle sea coast whereof
extend fiom the 40th to the 45th of latitude."
In 1621 an exclusive charter, with almost sovereign powers,
was given to the DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY.  T'1his company
immediately began thle business of colonization and tle construction of buildinlgs for the occupation] of the colonists, and
sent out cattle and farming materials and implemenlts.  By the
(lllarter thle West In(lia Company became the imnmediate sovereicgn of New Netherlalrd, subject to the general supervision and
control of tlhe States-General, in wlhom the ultimate sovereignlty
resided, and to whom allegiance was sworn.
The colony was put under the government of a Dit-ector and
Council, of whom the Governor or Director was directly commissioned by the States-General.  The Council was appointed by
tihe Director witlh the approbation of the Company.
We read that Peter Minuit, one of the early directors, in 1626,
puirchased thle island of Manhattan, for the Company, from  the
Indians, for sixty guilders, or about twenty-four dollars.
rllhis amount seems not a very large onle for the City of New
York, but, on compounding thle interest, it reaches at this time
about the slum of two Ilundred millions of dollars.
The sulm of twenty-four dollars, paid in wampum, was doubtless quite satisfactory to the Red man, wlho had most of tlhe Continent at his disposal; and it is to be remarked that the dealings
of our Dutch ancestors with the aborigines was cllaracterized by
a rigid regard for their riglhts, whatever they were, and no title




13
was deemed vested and no rigilt absolutely claimed, until satisfilctionl to the savage owner was made.
The City of New Yolik at tlis time, tlhat is to say at fourteen
years of age, conlsisted of less titan two score rudely fashioned
locg-louses exteiiding along thle southleast slhore, tocgetller with
one or two buildings of gre:lter imlpottnrice beloncilng to the Company, including a simple block Ilouse for defenice against the red
mI en.
Time will not allow us to go into details of tile little colony
nuder its successive directors, May, Verlllulst, Minuit, Van Twiller, and Kieft, extending from 1624 to 1647.'The sturdy colonists battled with the wilderness that surrounde(l thlem  and maintained their little settlement amid danger and
privation.
r'hey tlirew the clharms of home and family and peace where
for all time had been rutde nature an(l barbaric life.  Industry,
tihrift, and order gave clheerful aspect to the scene, and made success to follow labor.,Little " bouweries" or farms began to spring up even on adjacent sliores, and the Metowacks on Sewan-liacky (Long Island),
and the Monatons on Staten Island (Monacknong), and the Saniiclkans on the Jersey shlore, looked on in wonder at the novel
implements, the docile cattle, and the steady industry of the
wlhite man, who soon, with fruit and flower and golden grain,
gave bloom and beauty to the barren lalnd.
Little clearinlgs now were made among the more favorite situations on tile Island along tile Ilelle-gat or East River, and timescarre(l oak anld stul'dy beach and elm  began to fall before tile
woodman's axe, that pernetrated and resounded through the hlitherto silent mysteries of the woods, and dirove back beast and bird
to ilnner slhades.
The size and prosperity of the settlement rapidly increased
un(ler thrift and perseverance.  Lands were given to settlers, religious fieedom  guaranteed, and the tide of immigration began
rapidly to flow.




14
Of course, while these earlier settlenmenits were being made, tile
present city alnd county presented  a lhighly  rural aspect.  A
denise forest covered the mnid!d(le and ul)per portions of tile region,
wlhere lived tle red man in primritive barbarlism.
31rooks, l)on(ds, swamps, aild marslhes characterized otl er po1rtions of time Island of thle' Mlnlhattoes."  Lfty hills were on
tlhe site of parts of Beekrnanl at(l Ferry streets, on both sides of
Maidenl Lane, anlld on tlie preseat site of )arts of Nassau, Cedar,
and Liberty streets.
A rlaige of sandy hlills traversed the city fr'om about the corneri of Clarilton anid Varick to the julietion of Eighltlh and Greenle
streets.  Northl of tlhem  ran  tile brook or rivulet called by tlle
d( liinns Minett., andl by thle Dutcll "Bestevaer's Killetje," or
Gralldfa.therl's Brooklc, whicl, corllsinlg  tlhrolgl  tlle marshes of
Wasllilgton Squlalre, emptied into tlme Noiltlh River at the foot of
Charlton str'eet.
A chiain of watters extended fi'orm  James street at the soutiheast, to Cal)al street at tIle northwest.  A  ditch an(l inlet occupie(l tlle place of Broad street.  Exteiisive meadow  or marsh
land, knownl sul)sequentlv as Stu.yvesalit meadow or swamilp, extetnded from 14:th street (Iown to IHouston street.
Near tle )presenlt r'ombs in Celltre street, was a lnlrge pond or
lake of friesh water, subsequen}tly calle(l tlhe " Iatlck-l/oeck,  " witlh
verdanlt bhills an(l sloping, bankl's.  Tllis pond was connected( with
tle East itiver by a rivulet called the Versch WVater, or fieshll walter, runnin)g eastward and crossilg Chnl;tlham  between Pearl and
Roosevelt streets.  An  extensive swamp extended north of tile
present Laigllt street, subsequently called Lisl)ellardss swaInp or
meadows, aniil joined the Kalck-hloeelk to the north of tihat pondl.
A marsh also lay between Exclhange Place, William an(dl  New
streets, called the " Cobmpetny's VTalley," wvhose waters werle drained
by the great ditches in Broad aal( Beaver streets.
A swamp or Imarsll also extended over Iparts of Cherry, James
adti Catharine.  streets; adll(  what was subsequetltly BeekmarI




15
swamp covered what is still knownl as "Tlie Swamnl," over the
region about Ferry and Cliff and Frank~olt streets.
Tlle lower part of the island was ]uxtiainlt in verdure, rollilng
ald well watered, and invited the coloInist to rest there, niot only
by its l)ropinquity to navigaltion, but by superior fertility andC altitt(le for culture, an(1 the picturesque be:auty of its situation.
Wolves roa-lmed at la-rge throughl tile wildertness noltlh of tlHe
preselt park; and as late as 1685 we iread of a gubelrnatorial proclarnation, speaking of thle misclhief done bl) wolves, anid givilng
permissionl to an.)' inllabitants on the Island  of Manliattan to
hlunt antl destroy t lem.
On the unsettled polrtion of the island continued to dwell and
follow tlie clhase the fierce tr'ibe of thle Man-hattas.
Oft thle infaint colony  wais st.airtled by the wild lhoops of the ired
man atnd the rush of tile game, as wolf or deer or haie, ini the ardoIr of tile chase, wa:s ldrivei into thle cluster of cottages that constittuted thle first settlement oil the islanid.
Subsequently, difficulties witli thle red men at times br'ought
rapine ald lluin.  I'lie (lesolatinc' war witlb the Indianls, itnitiated
througlh the unwise policy of Gov. Kieft, lasted nearly five years,
witll 11ardly a tempo)olry cessation, and "'Nieuw  Amsterdamn"
became  nelarly depopulate(l.  Scarcely one hlundred able mell
besides tradlers could be tlhen found.  Fatlher Jogues, a Jesuit
Father, travelling there in 1643, speaks of the sufferings of tlhe
inlhabitants fromn the murderous attacks of the red man as " giievoils to see."
During tile period above referred to, colonization by the Elnglish lhad bee'i going0 on in New England.  TlIe colonies or Plymouth, Massacllusetts Bay, Connecticut and New  Havei   were
establislied in succession, andt occasional communication  tookl
Ilace between their officials and the Dutchl Governors on tlhe
"Manhattoes,' whichl was conducted witlh  great courtesy anldl
kindness.  In aiiswer to a letter from de Rasieres, the Dutch Secretary, whicll, as a tribute of nleighborly kindness, was acco-nmpanied by "a iunldlett of sugar and two Holland cheeses,"  William




16
Bradford, tlle Governlor of Plymoutlh in 1627, exlpresses himself
as follows: "It is out resolution afnd hearty desire to hold and
conltinue all fiielldsllip and good neiglhborhood witli you as fair
as we lnay ailA lies in outr power.  *  *  *  We cannot likewise oilit (out of our love and good affection toward you, and
tlhe trust you repose in us) to give you warning  of the dalnger
wlhich nmay befall you, th;t you may prevent it; for if you light
eitlher in tile hands of those of Virginia, or the fishing ships
wllichll come to VirginJia, perladventulre they will make prize of
you, if t.hey cat,, if tlhey fiid you tratling witlin tlheir limits; as
they surprised Ca colony of thle F'remelcl  iot many yearts since
whlicl was seated within their bounds."
These communications, althouglh always courteous, and generally fmriendly, even when tile hoine goverlnments were at war, we
find always accompanied by a protest or claim by the English
thlat the'Dutch were occupying their plossessions without legal
claim  or right, and in opposition to the Eiglish title; while the
Dutcll as persistently retaliated, asserting their claim as founded
on HudsoIn's discovery and a continlluous occupation.
I propose now to take a stroll about the City of "' Nieuw Amsterdam,"  sometimes call.ed the town 6f tile "Mantahadoes," or
"Manhattans,"  or of the " Manattlhanes," the capital of New
Netherlands, somewhere about the period between 1658 and
1660, under the administration of his Excellency Petrus Stuyvesant,'the last of the Dutch Governors, allnd a few years before the
surrender of the province to tlme English.
The Governor had returned successful, two or three years before, from  hIis great campaign against Fort Casimer and Fort
Clhristina, and the Swedish settlements on thle Soutll or Delaware
River; the Indians had been awed into submission, and with the
exception of an occasional disturbance by the malcontents among
the English settlers on Loii, Island, or a cloud of apprellension
that was continually lowering from New England on the vexed
question of territorial rigllts, the little city was progressing in
peace and prosperity.




17
New Amsterdam at thlis time contained but 220 11ouses aiid a
population of about 1,400, arnorng whom  it is sai(l tllele were
spokei eighteen dif'erent tongues.  The grleater part of the
houses were of wood, coveled witll reeds or shingles, some of
them with woo(den cllimneys; others, of a more pretentious cliaracter, were built of little shiny, yellow, glazed bricks, baked in
I-Holland, variegate(l with blacker bricks of quaint cross and
clieckerwork design, and were roofed with red and(l black tiles.
There were a few residences built of stone, as were thle company's store-lhouses on Winkle street.  Nearly all of these houses
were placed with their gable ends towards thle stieet; the end of
the roofs rising to a peak in successive steps.
Surmounting all was thdat great comnfort of a Dutchman, revered at lhome tllrough sad experience of' broken d(yke and sea
barrier- the weat lercock.
These primitive mansions were placed ill a straggling mannler-some inl tlloloughfares, and some at random-o about the
quaint little town, which was then mostly comprised in the species of semicircle inade by Wall street and the East and North
Riveirs.
If we could have penetrated the best room of one of the better class of tlhe residences of tlhis olden time, we would have
beheld an interior in which the inherited order, thrift, and cleanlinless of thle irace was pleasingly manifested.
Outside, under projecting eaves, was thle " stoePl," thle place of
social inlterchange andl domestic repose.
The bulls-eye in the door, and tile siall size of thle lower willdows, indicated a residence amnid peril and apprellension of the
savage foe.
Within, thle well-scrubbed snow-wllite floor is covered with
finest sand( drawn in figures and festoons.  Above, the polished
oaken rafters are cut in quaint device and motto.
Through thle glass doors of the nutwood cupboard shine, glittering in thle sunlight or by the blaze from cheerful hearth, the
generous pewter tankard and two-eared cup, and portly dranm




18
mug, and silver porringer and ladle  relics brought firom the old
sea home-and Delft ware tea-pot and bowl, and a few tiny china
cups, wherein thle social bohea is often dealt out to appreciative
guests, wlho knit and gossip between the fiequent sips.
At one enld, in an alcove, is the great four-posted family bedstead, the pri(le of thle house, the family hleir-loom, endeared
through associations witlh thle past, on which rest its two beds of
down, and flowered curtains, ald intricate patchwork quilt, a~nd
silken coverlid-triur mphls of domestic thrift andl handicraft.
In another place is the great cedar chest, wllere reposes the
valued stoi e of household linen, snow-wlhite and substantial, tlhe
good housewife's hereditary dowry, increased t)y industry, an(l
destined to be apportioned among the blooming maidlenis of tlle
household, whllen some Jan or Pieter or Jacobus can muster courage to ask them to leave the paternal roof.
Extending almost along the breadth of the roorn is the great
fire-place of those days,. in whose ample embrasure would gather
the children and the cats an(d dogs, and the old negro slave croling out his stories on the lonog winter eve.
Brass-motlnted irons support the blazing pile of solid logs.
In firont is a brazen fender of intricate design, seiit over by I-Tolland friends.
Scenes of Scriptural history are illustrated tlieie by the little
blue tiles that line the clhimney-piece-Jonah's adventuries, and
Tolhy's trlavels, ald(] Sampson's exploits-while onl the lofty mllantle, covered witlh flowered tabby clhirney clotl, sttands the hourglalss, the old Bible with its bralzen endls anid clansps, the well-bur.
nished family Nwarmilg-pan, tle best pipe of tile master of the
house, (lad his trusty sworld an(l file-piece, that had often hlelped
to defend his homre-tlhat had doiie gootl service in the expeditioIl against the savag(es, with old Jan de la Montalgnie, at Heernstcde, wlhen Kieft w:is director —tlhat had fouglht with Sergeant
RIodolf at Pavollial —thltat lhadi flourislled in tle gleat carnmpaign
against the castles of the Weckquaesgeeks, in the valley of Saw



19
Mill-Creek —and that had participated in the bloodless victory
over the Swedes on tile South River.
In one corner stands the fire-screen, with its gay designs; in
another the best spinning-wheel, curiously inllaid.
Against the wainscoated walls is the round tea-table, with its
turned up leaf, the benches in the windows, and in prim  array,
each in its accustomed place, are the fhigh-lacked chairs of Russia leather, adorned with double rows of brass-heade(l nails, one
or two covered, perhaps, by embroidered backl and seat, and
trimmed with lace —the work of the dexterous fingers of the
good house-wife herself, in earlier (lays.
On the walls might h)e seen a little mirror in a narrow ebony
frame, and also so framed a few engravings of Holland social
life, portraits of some Dutch magnate, or scenes of naval figlltthe taking of a galleon firom hated Spain, or a broadside conflict
between two hligh-pooped frigates.
Here, too, was the loom from which was made the home-spun
cloth that clad the good man and his boys, and made stout petticoats for the girls.
These humble homes were scenes of placid joy and content.
No artificial pleasures lured from  the domestic scene.  Tile
family circle formed a tie of strength, where all were attached,
occupied, and happy.
Industry kept off the attacks of weariness and the inroad of
vice; and the scenes of beauty that nature exhibited arounld
them-the sports of the chase-the arrival of another slip from
Amsterdam, with its varied goo(ds and budget of European
news-the rumors of an Indian wal, or tidings fiom  the New
Enrgland colonies-kept the inhabitants of the little town far
from the stagnation that routine often l)rings to rural circles.
We will begin ounr perambulatiols, if you please, at about the
present cornert of Broadway at the head of Wall —at the old
city gate, called the Land-gate, close(ld nightly by the city watch,
where was the outlet from the city walls or palisades, called the
" Cingel," runnling a little north of tile line of the present Wall




20
st reet.  Trlliese palisades werle  or iginatlly  erectedl for defence
against thle savages, under Governoz' Kieft's administration, and
subsequently strengthened in 1653, when a war was tlllreatened
with New England, and a ditclh and rampart constructed inside.
We nlow turn our face down wllat is modern Broadway, tlheoi
calle(l the "  eere Slraat."  We pass the present site of Trinity
Cllurcll and Church-yard, then thle West India Company's Garden, runnling to the river; onl which, on a bank overhangingl thle
stream, were thle locust trees, thle resort of lad and lass for sentinental walk.  IIere they viewed together the glories of the bay,
illumilned witlh beams of settinig sun, or whispered lhopes under
Dian's lighlt, and listened to music of the wave, breaking over
what was then thle pebbly shore.
Below, on the West side, were the picturesque mansions and
gardens alld peach orchard running to the river of the Schout
Fiskael, Henldrick Van Dyck, whose rosy daughter, Diewertie,
might be seen looking over the low-cut door.  Then came the
fine brick house alnd orchard of Burgomaster Vandiegrist.
Then we pass the old Dutch Chuircll-yard or burying-ground
of thle settlement, just above the present Morlris st-reet, where
many of the rude forefthellels of the hlamlet still lie-the hardy
pioneers that bore the toil and battle of the earlier time, and
carved thle way for empire.
Even at this time, in digging foundations in that part of the
city, is found some disregarded relic of a former sturdy life.
This venerable abiding place of thle earlier dead was sold in
building lots, under the advancing spirit of the age, in 1677.
In a goodly house ulear by dwelt the revered Dominie Megal)olensis, of whom we shall have sometlling to say by and by.
Also, hlereabout, some on thle west and some on thle east side of
the street, were Peter Simkan the tailor, and Jan Joostanl the
slipper, and Jan Stevenson the schoolmaster, and the tavern of
the doughty captain and ex-burgomaster, Martin Ciegier, who,
reposing after his varied campaigns, was still ready for thle tented
field.




21
On the east side of Broadway, going downl from'Wall, the
houses were rather of a meaner orderl the proximity of the
narsh, or Company's Valley, called " Schaap-Waytie," or sheep's
walk or pasture, a swampy mea(low surrounded by hills, running
from Wall street and Exchange Place to Broad and Beaver, not
making the east as desirable as was the west side.  Olne of these
hills was called " Verlettellnber " and termi-n ated the little canal
that led up Broad street. This nlame was subsequently converted
illto " Flattellbaracl  " IHill.
Thle movement of thle cattle firon the highways to this meadow
made the tlien rural path, or Schlaap-waytie, which now is knlownl
under the more business-like title of Exchange Place, and was
known, under the English regimze, as Garden street.
Tlhis region was drained by the ditches (dug  on thle site of
Broad and Beaver, which ditclhes were thle lhumable origin of
these two time-honored streets.
We now pass on our left what was known as the old ditcli, thle
"Bever-graft" or " straat," which, east of Broad strleet, was know!n
as "';De -Prince straat."   On tlhis street lived many well-to-do
citizens, whose national instincts caused them  not to dislike a
little muddy water.
Passing down Broadway, we come to wliat was called the
"Oblique Road," also thle " Jfarclcvelt-steqyie," or tile Jfarketfield
path," now still Marketfield street. This road or path led from the
Broad street canal to the marckvelt, or malket-place, which was
opposite the present Bowling-green, commencing on tile east side
of Whitehall street, near Stone street, and extending as fart up
as Beaver.
Here was a busy and bustling place.  Besides the marketplace on the east, tlhere was the fort at the foot of Brofadway, just
south of the present Bowling Green, and the parade in front.
Tlhere, also, towards thle Northl liver, near Battery Place, was
tile great town windmill, to wlhicli farmers carried their wheat in
ox-drawn wains, or on the backs of some of the shaggy horses




22
tlhat were allowed to browse and roam  unctleclked arounld the
woods oil the upper part of the island.
Here was a sort of business and social exchange, wlhenlce was
distributed the news from New England or Holland, or the last
gossipy rumor of the town-where the Domine's last sermon was
discussed, and where the Burgher's rights were upheld in argument against the invasions of the Governor.
At the kMtrclkvelt was held, also, the great annual cattle fair, in
October, ald beasts driven from Straatfort and New Haven, and
Suid(llanptonl and Oosthampton, might be seen in competition
with those raised on the island, or transported from Heemstede
and Esopus and Rensselaers-wyck from Oost-dorp (Westellester)
and Rust-dorp (now Jamaica).
Another narket was held on Saturdays at the Strand, neat the
house of Dr. Hans Kierstede, then on the north side of Pearl
street, at about tile foot of Moore street, where was the weighlhouse and the little dock, then the only one in thle town.
At these two markets flocked the country folk, some for purchase, some for sale; coining in farm carts or on lhorse and pillion, or from the Jersey or Long Island shore by the feriy, or in
thleir owln boats.  fHere bustled the housewife, battling for a bargain with obstinate vendors from " Gamoenepa; " here stood the
dusky Indian with his wampum  belt; and here the substantial
burgher interchanging views with some financial wise tradermayhap the price of beaver skins, or a sudden rise in clay pipes.
Anchored in the inlet in Broad street, and at the little dock on
the Strand, might be seen the shallops and canoes of Indian and
country people from Long Island, bringing to the markets veal,
pork, butter, cheese, roots and straw, raised( on their well-tilled
farms; and there was venison, and milk, and tobacco, and
peaches, and  pork, and smoked "twaeflt," or striped  bass.
There, too, are " Gouanes " oysters, not less tihan a foot long, as
recorded in a journal kept at this period, and cider, and herbs,
and melons; and here is Indian maize or Turkey wheat, brought
by the Corchaug, the Secatauy, or the XNajack Indians fiom their




23
homes on Long Island, firom which maize was made thle faivorite
Indian pap or mush, called " Sapaen "-also extensively adopted
by thle Dutch, and still known by that name among us modernsHere, too, in rather shlort but voluminous petticoats, hob-nail
shoes, woollen stockings, and kirtle an!d( hood, arle the sturtdy
fitrmers' vrouws, gathered firom  " Breuckelen" and Vlake-bos (Flatbush); and buxom lassies from Ahasimts, and HIoboken-Hacki'ng,
and Nezw Ulrecht, and NVew Amersfoordt (Flatlands), and Ornpoge
(Amboy), in close-quilted caps and head-banlds, and heavy gold
earrings, and copper shoe buckles, vending, and bargai.inng, and
chlatting; and there are stout farmers from  Sapokanican (now
Greellwicll), and from  the new village of " New Haerlem," and
fiom Vlissingen (now Flushing), and from  Boomptie's Hoeck,
come to buy cattle or poultry, or seeds for their farms.'Thele are also drovers from thle English settlement on the
Sound, wlho, in their little trading-sloops, had muttered good Puritan players as they passed tlllough the trials and perils of the
H" Eelle-gat."
There, also, in the season, were " elft " (tlhe modern shad), and
the water terrapin, whose good qualities were known, even inl
those days, by the City officials, as testifies Countsellor Van der
Donck, who ywrites, in 1656, "Sornme persons prepare delicious
dishes from thle water terrapin, which is luscious food."
At the little dock, or in the canal in Brooad street, we may also
see canoes of the Marechkawick Indians, living between  Nieuw
Amersfoordt and Breuckelen, bringilig wild turkeys, anlcd quail, and
white-headed wild geese, aind coots, and whistlers, and llue bills,
and pelicans, and eel shovelers.
Jail Evertsen Bout, too, is tlhere from " Gamoenepa; " Farmer
Verplanck, too, is there fiorn  " de Smit's Valey," now  Pearl
street; and Hermanus Srneeman, fromn  Bergen; and Jan Pietersell, fromr Nieuw Ilaalilem; and George Holmes, the Englishman,
fi-om  hlis tobacco l)lantation  at " Dettle," now Turtle Bay; nnd
Peter Ilartgers, the trader, from the Heeregraft; and Daniel Delton, fiom lleemstede; and one or two Tappaen Indians from the




IIudson river, or a' Sin)t Sing," witlh skins of fox and squirt-el,
or wolf; and perhaps a Raritan or a IHackingsack might be there,
with the spoils of the cllhase, from  the Jersey shore; and a Maquaa, with beaver skiis, fioin thle valley of the Mohallwk.  The
various little boats aid sloops take back, at the close of the day,
inediciiies, Barbadoes rum, called by thle Dutch " Kill devil; " also
Inmscovado sugar, " arrack " for their punch, and, doubtless, some
"Olykoeks " and ginger-bread for tile little people; allnd fresh
ribbons and caps foi- Sun(lay wear; and stout linsey woolsey
stuffs, andl perlli)ps sonme new pipes to please old Grlatny in the
chimniey corler.''lhe medium  of exchange betweenl buyeri and seller, at these
ancient, llarkets, was of  a various character.  Sometimes it was
beaver, or othier skins; sometimes grain; solnetimes Dutch guilders, or stuyvel's; but tlme favorite currency, preferred by both
Dutch colonist ani( Indian, as well as by thle English settlers-iln
fact, thle great common basis of trading —was wnampul, Sevwan, or
Swe -w n t.
T'l'le best was Ilade by the Indians on Long Island, or Sewanliackey.  That was rated as thle truly genuine currency, and
foulld its way over all the marts of trade then established in
North America.
A fathom  of wampum, so called, was as much as a man couldl
ieaclh b)etween his outstretched arms, and was equal to about four
guilders.  Stri'ctly speakin)g, Sewant was the genlleic name for
tlhe money.  nWampum was the white, and Suckauhock the black
beadls, which were dlouble tle value of the white.  The white
was made ftonm thle stem or stock of the periwinkle, n-ow seldom
found; the black, or purple, friom the iiside shell of thle hlard
clanr.  It was ma(le ito beads stlrung on the sinews of animals,
an(l polished.  Three beads of bllack, or six of wlhite, as a general thing, equalled a Dutchl stuyver, or English penny.  This
was ait about par, although. tlhere were as many fluctuations and
commercial panics affecting tlhis currency as we in these days experience with gold coin.




As all illustrationl of thle varied money for the payment of labor at thle tile, we read of a conltract rilade in 1655, between
Egbert Van Borsurn, tile felriy mait  oil thle Loiig Island side,
uinder which the carpenters were to be paid 550 guilders (about
220 dollars): one-tlhilrd ill beaver skills, one-third in good meichantable wampumn, and olle-third in good silver coiii, and small
beer to be dirunk duringr worlk.
We now come to thle Foirt, pride and glory of New Amsterdarn, ernlblemrn of home autliority, local mani f'estation of tlhat great
sovereign power, their Higll Miglitinesses tl e States-Generalailound whose walls the earliest rimemnories of thle settlers clustered
-oll whose bastion floated thle flag that recalled thle brave Fatherlaliid-before whose walls, oil thle parade, were drilled tile little arinies of two or three llundred men tlhat went out to battleun(ler whose protecting power tile younig hamlet had nestled, and
spread, and girowl —that still, even with its few and ancient cainon, and crlumrblinig earth works,  alld broken bastions, exposed
firom  thle river and commandeed   by heights witllin, bade stern defiance to )both civilized and savage foe.
The first Fort was a mere block-lhouse.
The secolnd Fort was commenced ill 1633, and constlucted of
earthl works.  It was boundedl by the present Brildge, Whitehall
andl State streets, and thle Bowling Green.  It lIad four po,ints or
bastions, with no moat outside, but was enclosed witlh a (louble
row of palisadles.
Origirnally called Fort Amstelldam, unl(ler tlhe Dutch; subsequently Fort Jamles, uiider thle Duke of York; change(l by Gov.
Colve, oii the Dutch restoiatioll, to Fort Wilhelm  Hendlrick;
changed by Gov. Andros, to Fort James; by Leisler, to Fort
Williarn; by Slougllter, to Fort Williarn Henry; nld afterwarlds
called Fort George-its nonlenclatulre exhibited tihe varlying fortunes alld history of New Amsterdamn.
Severlal brick aind stone dwellings were located within  its
walls; amonig tlhem the governor's brick house, and tile chlurch
built of stone; a witndmill was at one of the bastions, and a higol




26
flag-staff, on which tile orallge, yellow  and blue colors of the
" Privileged West India Co." were hoisted wheii any vessel was
seen in the bav.
Durinrg thle Indian wa,, brought about by the unwise and aggressive policy of Governor Kieft, in 1641, the inhabitants fled to
the shelter of the Fort, an(l established tlheir huts as nealr as possible to the protecting ramparts.  These buildings subsequently
remained; and gralts of lalnd were made to thle lolders.  Thlus
was formed a portion of the present Pearl street next to Whitehall street, and also a )ortion of the latter street.
Those were perilous times in tile " Mallladoes."
All tle farms and exposed halbitations about the Island were
lestroye(l, an(l their panic-stricken inhabitants were driven into
the Fort, where tlhe garrison was not over fifty or sixty men.
The plantations al)out Westchester and Statell Islaild, and the
blooming "bouweries " on the East river, and on the line of the
present Chlatham street, and at Hoboken-Ilaclking, Pavollia, Navisillk, andl Tappaen, were laid waste, and almost every settlement on thle west side of the Higlhlands was destroyed and the
inllabitants slaughtered.
The great dIamatic event connected with the history of the
Fort was its calpitulation to the Englisll in 1664, in a time of
peace between Englaiid and the Nethellands.
Clharles II., as is well knownl,!lad given a patent of a large territory to his brother, tile Duke of Yorik aLd Albally, cornpreblending Long Island and all the lanlds and rivers fiom the west
side of the Coiinecticut River to thle east side of Delawale Bay.
In Se)tembel of 1664, accordingly, wlhile thle col(ony was undler thle direction of Gov. Stuyvesant, Col. Nichols, tile DeputyGovernor appointed to reduce and govern the province for the
Dulke, with scarcely note of warni~ng, appeare(l in the lbay withl a
a fleet of four shipls of Ilearly 100 guns, an(l a body (,f 500 regular soldiers, besides sea-men.  New Englandels also swelled tile
invading force, alld the services of Long Island settlers and Savages were also engaged.




27
The Dutch colony was quite uinprepared to contend with such
a force, the Fort being in a dilapidated condition, manned by
only 250 soldiers, and commrnllded lby lills within pistol shot.
l'he little garrison accordingly capitulated, with the honors of
war, on the 8th of September.  The Governor protested against
the act, wishing  to figllt to the last, and exclairring to the citizens reqnesting him to surrender, " I had much rather be carried
out dead!"
The conclusion of Gov. Stuvvesant's reply to the summons of
the English to surrlender the town, against wllieh they threatened
the miseries of war, is worth recalling:
" As touching," he writes, "the threats in your conclusion, we
have nothing to answer, only that we fear nothing but what God
(whlo is as just as rnerciful) shall lay upon us; all things being in
His gracious disposal; and we may as well be preserved by Him
with small forces, as by a great army, whichl makes us to wish
you all happiness and prosperity, and recommend you to His
protection.
My lords,
"Your thrice humble and affectionate servant and friend,
" P. STUYVESANT."
A dramatic picture suggests itself, representing a part of the
Englisli fleet ill the bay between the Fort and Nutten (now Governor's) Island, with its guns trained against the old fortification,
whose flagg was still flying in the Summer breeze; the other ships
landing their troops just below Breuckelen, there combining their
forces with the Englislh militia from New England, and crlossilng
the river in boat and barge.
The stout old Governor, standing on one of the outer bastions
of the Fort, an artilleryman, with lighted match, at his side, waiting the approach of the invaders.  A throng of the notables of
the city, Burgomasters, and Schepens, and Burgllers, all begging
hlim to surrender, and exhibiting the hopeless condition of New
Amsterdamn, " encompassed and hemmned inl y) enemies," wllele
defense was impossible, and the two Domines Megapolensis,




28
fatlher and son, imploring hiin not to commence hostilities which
must end ill destruction, and finally leading him  between tlhemn,
protesting and sorrowful, fromnthe Irampalrts.
Thle Dutchl soldiers marche(l out of the old Fort, according to
tlhe terms of caplitllation, with their arms fixed, druins beating,
and colors fl ying, and matches lighted, down Beaver lale to the
Waterside, and emblarked for Holland.  The Englisli flag was
hoisted over the Fort, which then became Fort Janes anid "N-ieuw
Amsterdam " " NArew York."
After its surrender to the Englislh, the little town settled down,
witli Dutch stolidity, under its Englisli r-ulers, whlose Government
was kilndly.  For eigllt.yetlrs it pursued an even course under a
Mayor and Aldermene, instead of a Schout, Burgeneeestere1, anid
Schepeen, utntil, on the war }breakling out between the English
and thle Dutch in 1672, it was retaken by thle latter.
]New York thlereupon was rechristened )by the Dutch Governor
Colve  "New  Orallge."  Tile  natne of New  Nethlerland  was
restoredl, an(l thle old fort was re-christened Fort " Wil/ie7bm  lIenclrick," in lollor of the Prince of Orange.
On tle subsequetlt peace, lhowever, betweeln England anlld Hol]ald, in 1674, tlie region) of New Netlierland wa:s finally cede(d to
the English.
Gov. Andros took possession for the Duke anld re-cliisteiied'New Amsterdam " -as " New York," and thle formt ag;lill becarme
"`Fort JamCes. "
Tlhe fort was also the scene of stirring evelets durilg the times
of anarchy when Leisler was dictator.
HIee, witlh his own hand, the self-constituted Governorl ha(d
fired one of the fort guns at the Kibig's ti'oops, as tlhey stood on
p)radltle, and in a sort of desperate infattuatio(n began to batter the
tow 1n.
TIle old( fort, during  Elglislh colonial tines, was the scene of
gubel-rnatorial st:te and sllow,  and hlere too were fired salutes for
His Majesty's birtl-day, ad( for' victory over Frenchman  lnd
Spainiard.




29
The fort was also the scene of stirring events during our revolutionary period, and changed its flag under the fortulles of
the war.
At length, when peace had been establislied in the land, tlhe
services of this venerable servant of Bellona were considered  no
longer necessary by the " Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty,"
whose utilitarian spirit, in 1788, caused its final destruction and iemoval.  And now no remnant remains of this ancient structure,
that rose with the settlement of our islan(l, and saw and shared its
changing fortunes.
THE CHURCH.
Situated in the fort was the Church, where the purest Calvanism, as dlterrnined by the Synod of Dort, was disseminated successively by Dominle Michaelius, Domine Bogardus, Domine
Backerus, and Domines Megalpolelsis and Drisius.
The earliest church services of the colony had been held in a
spacious toom or loft over a lhorse mill; and religious services
were at first conducted by a " Kranlc-besoeker " or consoler of tile
sick.'l'his room  was replaced by a plaitn barn-like wooden
structure in'1633, situated on the north side of the present Pearl
street, neat Whitehall.
Under Governor Kieft the increasing population of the settlement required better accommodatiolls, and the colonists came to
the determination that their New  England brethren, who had
erecte(l fine meetincg-houses ill their various settlements, ought
not to excel them in tlhis matter.
Inl 1642, a church edifice was accordingly begun, and p)laced
within  thle  fort for greateir security against thle tittacks of
Indians.
T''le subscriptions for thle new churclh were accomnplishled (luring a merly-mlraki g at the marriage of a daughter.of Domnine
Boardus, and the Governor tloulght wisely tlhat thle hilarity i.cidelltal to such an occasion would stimulate the generosity of thle
wedding gYuests.  A chronicle of thle time tells us that, after the




30
fourth or fifth round of drinking, his Excellency, Governlor Kieft,
started the subset-iption with a large sum of guilders, and the rest
followed his example and " subscribed richly." " Some of them,"
says De Vries, a then sojurner at the settlement, " well repented it,
but nothing availed to excuse."
This clhurch had twin roofs side by side, and upon the gable
end, toward the water, there was a small wooden tower with a
bell, which called the good people to their devotions, and was also
rung on occasions of warning or rejoicing. There was no clock,
but a sun-dial on three sides, or the tower was surmounted by
the usual weather-cock.
Domine Eve rardus Bogardus came over in 1633, with the new
Governor Van Twiller.  The Domine was a prominent man in
those days, next only in importance to the Goveirnor, with whom
he was often at loggerheads.  Soon after his arlrival he was smitten
with the attractions of the widow of Roeloff Jansen, then the possessor of the fine farm on the Hudson, and now favorably known
to us as Anneke Jans.  The Domine led to the hymeneal altar
that historical personage, of whom we shall have something more
to say by-and-by. The Dornine was often in contention with tlhe
goverlnors of the period, and is recol-ded, when excited under a
difference of opinion with Governol Van Twiller, to have addressed that functionary as a " Child of the Devil."
Bogardus was continually at swoird's-point, also, with Dii-ector
Kieft. Kieft cha-ged the Domine with continual intoxication,
and a love of strife and slander, and with whatmust have cut him to
the quick, of pi-eaching stupid sermons; and sent missives to him
of thireat and denunciation, and divers otrders to show cause why
he should not be removed, whicli or-ders the Domine treated with
open contempt.
The Domine, on the other hand, fulminated against the Governor- from the pulpit and elsewhere, and denounced him as a consummate villian; and declared that his (thle Domine's) goats were
a superior animal to the Director; and boasted, on one occasion,
that he would give the Diirector fi-om  the pulpit, on the next




Sunday, such a shake as would make them both shudder! Kieft
in retaliation, and to drown the Domnine's anathemas, would also,
at times, have a drum beaten and the cannon discharged from the
the fort outside. tlbe churclh during service.  Those were, indeed,
trying times!
The Domiine, also, was quite a litigant, and the gossips of the
day must lhave been rarely exercised over tlbeir tea cups with the
details and progress of an action broughlt by bLim  against Alithoiiy Jansen Van Salee, as husband and guardian of his wife,
Grietie, for slandering the Domine's wife.  It seems Mrs. A nneke
Bogalrdus had, on one occasion, unpleasantly talked about Madame
Van Salee; whereupon Madame Van Salee had said that Madame
Bogad uus, in passing tlhrough  a muddy part of the town,
had displayed lher ankles more than was necessary.  Under the
judgment of the Court, Madame Van Salee had to make declaration in public, at the sounding of thle bell, that she knew the
minister to be an holiest and a pious man, and that she had lied
falsely. She was further condetmnied to pay costs, and three guilden for thle poor.  This treatment miglht not be amiss for petty
gossips even at the present day.
Tlhe Dominle, also, was defendant in a slander suit brought
against him  by Deacon Oloff Stevenson Van Coltlalndt, which
was of long duration; and the attention of the little towi was
divided between these stirring events and divers troubles with
tlhe New Haven an(d Hartford colonies in the east, occurring
about the same time.  Do-nmile Bogardus was finlally di-owned,
together with his old opponent, ex-Director Kieft, they having
together sailed in the ship "Princess" for Holland, which was
wrecked off thle English coast in 1647.
Domine Baekerus succeeded Domnine Bogardus when Stuyvesant becamrne Governor, in 1647, but left in a year or two, being
succeeded by thle le-iarned Johanines Megapolensis, witli whlom was
sul)sequently associated his sonl Samuel, and Domine Drisius.
We may present to ourselves, for a moment, a picture of a
congregatioll of our New  Amsterdlam  predecessors, gatlhered




32
together for a morning service in the church in the oldl ort; Jan
Gillesen, the kiink, or h)ell-ringer, is lustily pullinig at thle sonorous little Spanish bell, captured by the Dutch fleet from  Porto
Rico, wlhose sounds roll gently o'er hill and meadow, and reach
the settlements on the Long Island shore.  Tlhe morning  suil
is shining briglitly over the bay, which glistens through the trees
that are scattered over the verdant field thalt rolls between the
bay andl thle fort, while the cottages, witlh their higlh-peaked
roofs, and the windmill by the fort, and a few slleep grazillg ill
the dist:ance, give a varied aspect to the peaceful scele.  All
lalbor has ceased, the sonlg even of birds seems hlushed; and the
calm repose of the Sabbatlh seems to pervade the very air, and
gives to Nature an additional serenity (and repose.  The neatlyclad people, in family groups, slowly and sedately wend their
way through road and rural laile to the house of worsllip —some
on foot, otliers oil hlorse-back, or in vehicles, some landing in
boats from  distant settlements or neighboring  farms on either
river.
iNicassius de Sille, the city "Schout,' accompanied b)y Helldrick
Van Bomrneel, the town. crier, is going his rounds to see that all
is quiet and conformed to thle sacredness of the day; to keep tlle
lazy Indians and negroes from fgllting and gaminlg, and the tapsters from selling liquor.  In front, and on tlle side of thle fort, is a
concourse of waggons and horses; some animals let loose to
gralze on the blill-side tlatL ran towards the water; othlers drinking froum the trough supplied by the well before the fort; others
cared for by the negro slave bo ys, who, proud of their cllarge,
walk them  to and fio, and occasionally take a sly ride froin a
complaisant animal.
Now, preceded by old Claes Van Elsland, the Marslhal of the
Council (who also fulfilled the functions of sextoll and dogwhipper), and marching between tile bowing people up tile aisle,
we beliold him  wlhose presence represents  the  "High  and
Mighty Lords, the States-General of thle United Netherlailds,
His Highlness of Orange, and the Noble Lords the Managers of




33
the privileged West India Company "-no less a personage, in
fact, walking with a cane, sturdy and erect, in spite of hlis
wooden leg, than his Excelletlcy De Heer Directeur Generaal
Petrus Stuyvesant, Governor of Nieuw Nederland, accompanied
by his wife, the lady Judith, walkilng stately and prim, as
becomes her position as wife of the great Director; and by her
side old Dr. Johannes de la Montagnie, ex-Councillor, and now
Vice-Director at Fort Orange (Albany), who has come down on a
visit to talk about state affairs.
Followinog the Governor is the provincial secretary, Cornelius
Van Ruyven, and his wife, Hildegoiide, a daughter of Domine
Megapolensis; anld here are tlhe "most worshipful, most pirudent,
and very discreet," their mightinesses the Burgomasters and
Selepens of New Amsteidam, answering to what are now the
aldermen and common councilmen.  Preceding them  to their
official pew, with their velvet cuslions brought from the Stadt
Huys, or City Hall, is old Mattilcw  Ie \'s, tlie luoa l Mhlislal.
Walking in portly dignlity are the Burgomasters, Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt and Paulus Leedersen Vandiegrist; and the
most worshipful Schepens, Cornelius Steenwyck, Johannes de
Peyster, Peter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven, Isaac de Foreest
and Jacob Strycker.
Followiiig them we observe Allard Anthony and Isaac Bedlow, thle prosperous traders;.and Johannes de Witt, the miller
and flour merchant; and Dr. Hans Kierstede, with his wife Sara,
who was a daughter of Mrs. Anneke Jalis Bogardus.  Alld lhere
is Madame Cornelia de Peyster, wife of the Schepen, with her
goldlen-celsped psalm-book hanging from lher arm  by its golden
chain; anld the wealthy fur trader, Peter Rudolphus de Vries,
and Margaretta Hardellbrook, his bride, who, four years later,
married thle lively young carpenter, Frederick Phillipse, he, who
a few years later became also Lord of Phillipse Manor, on the
Hudson, by the Pocantico creek or Mill river, just above Tarrytown. And there was tle great English merchant, John Dervall,
anid his handsome wife, Katllerina, the daughter of Burgomaster




34
Oloff Stevenson Van Cortlandt-which lady, in after time, also b)ecame a wife of and brought a large fortune to the same lucky Mr.
Frederick Phillipse, who then sat humbly in the back benches,
little drealning of the good fortune that was awaiting him by his
marriage with the neighlboring two rich widows. And here is the
substantial mercliant, Jerominus Ebbing, and the widow de Huller, to whom he was betrotlied, daugllter of old Johannes de Laet,
one of tile original proprietors of Rensselaerswyclk  and Madame Margaretta (le Riemer, formerly Graveniaedt, just married
to Schepell Cornlelius Steenwyck; and Mrs. Catllerinle de Boogh
Belckman, daughter of Captain de Boogh, tlhen runing tile
smartest craft on the river, wliich Mirs. Catherine was mairried to
Wilhelmus Beelkman, Director onl South river.  And here is the
widow  of the late Secretary, Cornelius Van Tieiihoveii, whose
hat anld canle had been found in thle North rivei', which was the
last seen of the most unpopular mian iil Nieuw Amsteridam.
Now eiiters Mrs. Elizabeth Backer, formerly Van Es, the great
fuat trader on the Heere-graeft, followed by lher little slave boy,
Toby, carryillg lier New Testament with silver clasps.
And here, also, is the young baroiet, Sir Henry Moody, son
of Lady Deboralh Moody, from  " Graveazandt," she who left the
Massachusetts colony because of lier views on infant blaptism, and
who had twice defelded her house against savages in the troubious times.
And come also to hear the Domiiie are some of the Van Curleis anld Gerritseiis land Wolfertsenls an(l Stryclkers, fioin New
Aiersfoor(dt (Flatlailds); and thle Snedekors and Elbertsens anld
Van IHatterms, from " Vlackebos," ol  fidwtout (Flztbush); and old
Lubbeltsen Vanderbeck  from.Breuckelen; and Rapeljes alnd
Duryees:illd Cershous, fiomn the WTaalboy/t.
An(l then follow  tlte rest of the good citizens of the plaice,
botlh those of the great and the small citizenship, the "( Goote
Burgerrechlt" anl  the "Kleine Burgerrecht"-Dirlck Van Schelluyne thle notary, Vanderspiegle the baker, whose two little girls
subsequently married, one a DeForeest, and thle otlher Rip Van




Darn, the Colonlial Lieutenant Governor; and burly Burget Jorisen, the patriotic blacksmith fiom Hanover Square, tlhe last man,
five years later, to advocate resistance to tile English, and who
aban(loned the city in disgust after the surrender.
And then Pieter Coinelius Vanderveer and Mrs. Elsje, his
wife, the daughter of the great merclhant, Govert Lockermans,
whicli Mrs. Elsje subsequently married tlhe unfortunate Jacob
Leisler.  Behind Mrs. Valnderveer were lher lively sisters, Marritje and Jannetje, and near by, casting slheep's-eyes at the
former, was Master Balthazar Bayard, whom  she subsequently
married.
After thie Domine's exhortation was finished, and a prayer from
Domine Drisius, and a psalm had been sung, led by Harmanus
Van Hoboken, the schoolmaster and "zieken-trooster," or choirleader, whose voice the widow  Marritje  Pieters particularly
admired, the members of the congregation wended their way
over street and path and meadow to their respective homes.
The ladies doffed their Sunday finery and set to work in
hearty preparation of the noontide meal.
The last we hear of the old Church is the finding of the stone
whichl had been placed, when it was building, over the door in
front.  The New York Magazine, in 1790, records the finding of
this venerable relic in these words:
"Junle 23. On Monday last, in digging away the foundation
of the fort, in this city, a square stone was found among the
ruins of a chapel (wllich formerly stood in the fort), with the following Dutch inscription on it:'Ao. Do. M.D.CXLII. W. Kieft,
Dr. Gr. Heeft de Gemeenten dese Tempel doen Bouwen.' In English:'A. D. 1642. WinVm. Kieft, Director General, hn:th caused
this temple to be built for tlhe community."'
This stone was removed, it is reported, to the Reformed Dutch
Churcli in Garden street, now Exchange Place, where it was destroyed in the great fire of 1835.
Quitting the Fort and the Marckvelt, we proceed down the




36
rest of the modern Whitehall street, a part of which was included in the Miarckvelt.
A part of Whitehall, north of Stone, was also subsequently
called " Beurs straat," or Exchange street.
On this street stood the Governor's house, built of stone by
Stuyvesant, and called, under the English, the Whitehall, wlhich
gave the modern name to the street.  The grounds extended to
the river, where was a dock, to which was moored the Gubernatorial State barge.
Crossing Whitehall is Stone street.  This street, bletween
Broad and Whitehall, was originally "Brouwer straat; " between
Broad and IIanover square, and up Pearl to Wall, it was called
"Ifoogh straat," Higll street, also " the road to the ferry," it being
the nearest direct route from the Fort to the Long Island ferry.
The    d      hllaSytb ll'is Ialil/e t) tlie f- brry was tlhe origin of this street.
Tile ferry road was continued through lHanover square and
Pearl street to about the present Peck Slip, where were the prlimitive boats of the ferry of those days.
On Brouwer straat lived many of the most prosperous citizens.
Several breweries there gave its name to the street.'We now come to Bridge street, whichl was the second street
laid out or occupied as such.  This street was called " De Brugh
straat," or Bridge street, from  its leading from  the Fort to the
bridge across the canal, which ran througlh Broad street.
TVinckel stieet lay parallel to Whitehall, between the present
Pearl and Bridge streets.  On this Winckel street, or Sh/op street,
were five substantial stone store-houses, belonging to the Dutch
West India Co.  This street has now disappeared, there being no
tholroughfare to represent it.
We come next to what is the present Pearl street.  Pearl
street formed the original bank of the E:ist riverl-Water, Front
and South streets having been all subsequently reclaimed and
built.  Here was the first settlement; and soine thirty or forty
little bark or woo(l louses, clustered along the b:ank of the river
south-east of the Fort, were the nucleus of this great city.




Between Whitehall and Broad streets, Pearl street was called
the Strand, "T' TWater," or at " the waterside."  A portion of this
street, between State and Whitehall, was also called " Pacterel
sltraat."
Between Broad street and Hanover square it was known as at
the East river; also "De Waal," being so called from a wall or
siding of boards to protect the street from the washing of the
tide.
On Pearl street, between Broad and Whitelhall, in the vicinity
of the landing-place, were the residences of the principal traders
and merchants.
The old " Stadt-h~uys," or City Hall, formerly the City Tavern,
stood on the present northwest corner of Pearl and Coenties Alley.  It had( a cupola and a bell, which was rung on great occasions, and for the sessions of the Burgomasters and Schepens, and
on publication of new laws.
This "Stadt-huys" was sold at auction in 1699, and the new
City Hall erected about 1698, under the English rule, on Wall
street at the head of Broad.
The report of a trial held in the old " Stadt-huys," before the
Court of Burg,)masters and Scllepens, has come down to us.  It
exhibits the original and primitive manner in which legal points
were raised and justice dispensed, in that early time.
Jan Haeckins was plaintiff and Jacob Van Couwenhoven defendant.  An abstract of the report reads thus:  The plaintiff
demands pay from defendant for certain beer sold according to
contract. The defendant says the beer is bad. Plaintiff denies
that the beer is bad, and asks whether people would buy it if it
were not good?  He further insists that the beer is of good quality, and such as is made for exportation.  Couwenlioven denies
this, andl requests that after thle rising of the bench the Court
may come over andl try the beer, and then decide.  The parties
having been heard, it is ordered that after the meeting breaks up
the beer shall be tried; and if good, then Couwenhoven shall make




38
payment according to the obligation; if otherwise, tile plaintiff
shall make deduction.
Near the junction of the modern Pearl street and Stone street,
was what was then known as Burger Jorisen's path, or Bulglher's
path, in the vicinity of the present Old Slip, so called after the
sturdy blacksmith who lived tlhere.
We next in our peregrinations come to Broad street.
Broad street was called " de ieere graft " and " Breede gtraft,"
also the Common Ditch.
Above Beaver street Broad street was " de Prince graft," and
ran into the "Schaaep waytie," or sheep pasture, before spoken of.
Our Dutch ancestors, of course, were not happy without a canal, and accordingly a miniature one was easily arranged out of
the Broad street ditch; a little estuary also ran in there from the
Bay. The ditch or canal ran up beyond Beaver street, and also
branched to tile west, into Beaver street. Its sides were planked
in about thle year 1657.
Up this canal were rowed and fastened the boats from  the
farms and market gardens on the opposite shores of Long Island,
and the Bouweries, on the East and North Rivers.
Tile ditch in Broad street was not filled until after the English
occupation in 1676.
We now come to the modern William street.
William  street below Wall to Pearl was " Smee straat," afterwards Smith street.
South William  street was formerly "Slycki Steegie" or "Dirty
Lane," subsequently "Mill Street Lane;" there being a mill
erected in the lane, which was originally a cul de sac, leading from
Broad street to the mill.
We thave now again reached Wall street, at the foot of which
is the Water poort or Water gate, closed at bell-ringing at nine in
the evening, and opened at sunrise.
We may for a moment picture to ourselves an assemblage of
the good people of New Amsterdam, gathered together at the
widow Mietje Wessels' tavern on Pearl street, near Broad, on the




39
celebration of some festival day, say that of their patron, Saint
Nicholas, on tlie 6th of December, or a celebration of the "Nieuw
Jaar," or New Year.
The assemblage embraces all classes of the citizens. The distinctions of wealtli and rankttle are not drawn so sharply as in
larger communities, but a sympathy of interests and of dangers
binds together the little settlernent, gives stronger ties to( fellowship, and produces a comparative social equality.
The oil lamps and the dipped candles are flickerinlg gaily f,'oro'
the snowy whitewashed walls of Madame Wessels' large asseinbly-roorn, and the fresh sand is arranged in gay festoons around
thle well-scraped floor, carefully prepared by the widow's daughters Jannletje and lHendrickje.  Old Mingo, the Governor's black
slave, who has been lent f/or the occasion, is tuning his fiddle for
the dance; while on benches around the room sit many of the
dignitaries and high officials of the settlement.
We take a glance at thle gentle sex as it assembles.
We see cornmplexions fair, features regular, and countenance
placid-the invidious miglht call it somewhat inanimate.
The figure is not tall, but healthy and generous. Nature is
allowed to have her sway, without unseemly pressure or restricti on.
Tile hair is bound close to the head with a small cap on the
back, leaving the dainty ear exposed with its ponderous gold or
silver earrings.  Large plates of thin gold project fiom eachl side
of the forellead, and in some cases there is a plate in the middle.
Necklaces, too, hang around many a snowy neck, and at the
sides of some hang embroidered purses, with silver ornaments
and chain.
Gowns of tlick silk, heavily embroidered, with waists of a rotundity that would startle a modern Venus, encase forms that
thougl substantial are agile in the dance, as the glowing and
shiny faces, 1after the active capering then in vogue, amply attest.
Some wear short petticoats, of fine blue or scarlet cloth, or of
some gay striped design.  Coat-tails, of a darker hue, project in




the rear, acnd colored hose, with lively clocks on the side, encase
limbs which attest the solid charms that result from health and
exercise.
Some of the more elegant dancers wear petticoats of quilted
silk, of varied hue, embroidered with filagree in silver or in gold.
The elderly ladies have about the head the crape or tartanet
"samare " then in vogue.
The gentlemen appear in homespun, serge, or kersey, or colored cloth; some in velvet or silk breeches, and coat flowered
with silver, with, perhaps, gold or silver buttons, and lace neckcloth, and silken stockings; shoes with buckles of copper or silver, as suits the wearer's taste or means; and some with steel or
silver-handled sword hanging by the side.
Among the young Juffers or misses, we notice Margrietje Van
Cortlandt, subsequently Mrs. Jeremias Van Rensselaer, daughter
of the notable burgomaster, Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt, who
is walking with becoming dignity about the room, with his little
bov Johannes.
We inotice, also, Captaini Martin Cregrier's pretty daughters,
Lysbeth and Tryntje, with their young brother Frans, who has
proudly on his arm Miss Walburg de Silla, with whom the bans
had just been published.
Further on is de Heer Dirck Van Cleef, the prosperous trader,
and his wife Geesje, and their two little people friom the Cingel,
the little girl in a mob-cap and long earrings, and the little boy
in knee-breeches and silver-buckled s}hoes.
And there is the fine lady of thle day, Madame Ann Bayard
Verlett, wife of Captain Nikolaes Verlett, formerly Ann Stuyvesant, a relative of the Governor, and her three sons, Baltllazar,
Pieter, and Nikolaes, by her first husband, Samuel Bayard, all of
whom became famous men during the English colonial time.
With Madame Bayard is her relative, the beautiful Judith Verlett, who, a few years later, when visiting Hartford, was arrested
as a witch, and only delivered from the clutches of the ungallant Puritans by tile mnost earnest action of the Governor. Now




41
her witchery is exerted upon her attendant swain, Master Nikolaes Biyard, whom she subsequently nlarried.
Walkillg with some dignitary of the day, is the proud Juffrouw
Antonida Van Slaghboom,   Arent Van Corlaer's wife, wllo aIssunred lerl former name to show  her descent, as being of the
house of the Slaghboorns.'Pallking with the bride, Mis. Dornine Drysits, we behold Domine Johannes Megapolensis and his wife, Mis. Mnlgteldt, near
wlhom is her son Samuel, the young Domine, who has just graduated with honor at Harvardl University, and her other sons,
Direk and Jan.  And there, too, is lher daughter, Iillegonde, carrying her head pretty lhigll, for shle is married to no less a person
thaln Cornelius Van Ruyven, the Colonial Secretary.
And lelre is the elegant Margareta de Riemers, Ilow thle bride
of Cornelius Steenwyck, the rich mercllhant; and young Wilhelm
Bogardus, a son of the late Doinine, walking proudly with Miss
Wyntje Sybrmants on his arm, with whom he is soon to enter the
bonlds of matrimony.
And theire is the Don Giovalnni of the period, Geleyn Verplanck,
who, after many scrapes, finally was permanently captured by
the fascinationls of Hendrickje, daughter of Madame Wessels,
then a yourg miss of about fifteen.
Here also is Juffrouw Vander Donck, widow of Adrianl Van(elr Donlk, the Patroon or feudal chief of tlle colony of Colon
Donck, between thle tuldsoll and Zaeg-Kill, or Saw-miill Creek, who,
firom his Dutch appellation or sobriquet of tile " Jonker," gave. its
appellation to the modern Yonkers.
An(d there is Nikolaes de Meyer, and his wife Lydia —she that
was a Vlan Dyck, daughter of the rich Schout Fiskaal, Van Dyck,
and ait wlhose weddintg it is said a disappointed lover, young De
Haas, took the lucky bridegroom  by the throat, and would have
straiigled him had the guests rnot interfered.
Leaning on the arm of Jacobl Steendam, tile New Amsterdam
poet, we see thle gay divorcee, Mrs. Nikolaes de Sille, thle onlly iecorded plienomenon of that kind in New Amsterdanm.




And hlere, too, is Mrs. Dr. Hans Kierstedt, from the Waterside, and her little girl Blandina, and near them  Master Pieter
Bayard, wlho afterwards narlriedthe fair Blandina.
And there were the lively young fellows, Stoffel Hooglandt
and Jan Ter Bosch, and also Conraedt or Coentie T'en Eyck, tIle
tanner, on the Heere graft, who gave his name to Coenties
Slip.
Dancing lustily we see some more of the young girls and
belles of the period —Gysbertje Hermans, and Tryntje Kip, and
Maretje Van loorn, and Geertruyd Wyngaerdt, and Jannetje
Hillebrants, and Magdcleentje Van Tellickhuysen, and Bellettje
Plottenburg; all then buoyant and palpitating with life and joy,
now vanished and numbered with the army of the Past. With them,
too, is the stately Judith Isendorn, who soon after fell captive to
the classic wooing  of Aegidius Luyck, the Latin schtoolmaster.
Here is bluff Thomas Hall, the English farmerl, firom  the
"Smit's Valley," near Beekman street, and Evert Duychingh and
his wife Hendriclkje, and Johannes Pietersen Van Brugh, from the
Hoogh Straat, the latter of whom  married a daughter of Mrs.
Domine Bogardus.
There, also, walking about in uniform, with a proud beauty on
either arm, is the redoubtable commander, Ensign Direk Smit.
He who, with a dozen men, had marched through the then terra
incognita down to the South or Delaware River, to capture a
Sweedish ship; who, with a little garrison of 50 men, had defended
the village of Esopus from the Indians, and had stood a three
weeks' siege in the stockades, and who afterwards fought his way
through the woods and took an Indian for't nine miles inland, just
north of Esopus, and made the great Indian chief Popoguzctchen
to flee before him.
And there were the rich bachelors Balthazar de Haert, Jan
Van Cortlandt, and Jacobus Kip, and Johannes Nevius, the Clerk
of the Court; and also Carl Van Brugh, the Company's " Opper
Koopman " or chief commissary.




And Jacob Melyn, son of the former Patroon of Staten Ishind; and many more of the lads and lasses of the time who
we may not further particularize.
And there were solid rounds of beef, and pork, and venison,
and sapaen and oysters, and Oly-Kloecken. and Panne-Yioecken in
variety.
And there was Antigua runt and brandy punch, and Fiall,
Passado, and Madeira wines, and other strong potations that
suited the stamina of the time-and kept off' the cold of the
wintry walk or drive.
The revel, which began at five, was finished by nine-when
Captain de Pos with his rattle watch began to go the rounds-and
there was a putting on of woollen and cloth wrappers, and " rain
cloths," and yellow and red " love hoods," thlrough which peered
roguish eyes that often invited some enterprising Jan or Dirck to
take a New Year's smack, on the home drive to tile Bouwerie-and
soon the guests were gone, the lights out, and the full moon shone
down on the glistening snow, piled on high peaked roof, and
weathercock, and the gigantic windmill that stood like sentinel
over the sleeping town, with no noise to break the silence of the
light, save its creaking arms as they moaned under the blasts
from the bay. Swinging in the moonlight, too, was the sign at
the Widow Litschoe's tavern, on the water side, facing the East
river, where had been another party of a different clharacter.
There-playing draughts and enveloped in smoky clouds,
drinking capacious potations to his Mi.ghtiness of Orange and de
Heer Directeur, and confusion to the red men and Spaniards,
and swearing big oaths of valor —had been HIendrick the smith
from  Brugh-Straat, and Jacob Schaafbanck the jailor, Albert
Pietersen the trumpeter, and Hendrick IIendricksen the drummer,
from XSnee street, and little Jan Jansen Busch the tailor; which
latter, being too noisy in his demonstrations and pugnacious in
his mode of argument, Hendiick Van Bommel and Jan Jansen
Van Langstraat, two of the night watch, were carrying off, kicking and roaring, to the jail-room in the Stadt-huys, there to finish




44
the evening's amusements until he could resume his wonted
phlegm.
Outside of the city walls there were various localities of interest, but time will not allow more than a hasty glance at a few of
them.
Beyond the "WIaterpoort" and city palisades, Pearl street was
continued along the shore, and bore the name, up to about Peck
Slip, of the " Smit's Valley " vley, or valley.
At about the foot of Peck Slip was the ferry to Long Island,
where the passenger, if he desired to Cl'oss, blew tile horn hlaliging there to summon William  Jansen, the ferry man,. who for
about three stivers, or six cents, would take him  over the
stream.
Outside of the city palisades, beyond Wall street, Broadway
was called the "Heere- Wegh. "
Beyond Wall street was the "MJaagde-Pacdlje," or the Maiden
Patli, which nomenclature was changed to Green Lane or Maiden
Lane about 1690.
This lane was, under our Dutch ancestors, a rural shady whalk,
witlh a rivulet running through it, and slopling hills on either
side, from one of which looked down Jan Vinge's windmill, on
the Darnen farm, just north of Wall street.
South of the Maiden Lane stretched the " Klacaver;V1aytie," or
pasture field of clover, belongilng to the Jan Jansen Dametl farm;
andt near by, a little cascade, formed from  living stleams, fell
tlhrough the foliage over the rocks, and deliglited the eye of the
poet or lover of the period, as lie rosined amid these then sequestered shades.
We pass Vandercliffe's orchard and Gouwenberq HIill, Oil part
of the present Pearl, Cliff and Jolhn streets, thenl a favorite place
of r esort for the citizen on sultry summer a fternoons.'j'}lere he
1miglit rest, ftirned by breezes from  the bay, overlooking the
romalltic woodled shores onl the opposite side of the river, (lnd refreshed by a little stream  that camrne singing dowii its rocky bed
along the present line of Gol(l street.




45
We pass also Bestevaers Kreupel bos, or Kr'ipple Bush, since
Beekman's Swarnm, covering parts of Ferry, Gold, Frankfort and
adjacent streets, and arrive at the Park, in those days called thle
"Vlacke," the Flat, or the Commons.
On one side of this passed the main highway leading out of
tlle town to the Bouweries, afterwards known as tihe Post road to
Boston.
To this Common the cows of the inhabitants were driven fiom
the city by Gabriel Carpsey, the herdsman, who, as lie passed
alonlg Broadway, Pearl street and Maiden Lane, blew his horn,
and collected the cattle to be pastured, which came out lowing
from their various enclosures.  On his return along those streets,
each respective cow, knowing her horne, stood at the gate until
adlmittcd, the herdsman again blowing his horn to notify the
owner' to receive his docile animal.
Passing the cornelt of Chatham and Duane, we come to the
fresh-watel pond or lake, called the Kalck-hoeck, in subsequent
days corrupted into the COLLECK, or COLLECT.
This pond was very deep, one of the most romantic spots on
the island, and a favorite resort for the angler and the pleasureseeker.
Where the "Tombs" now looks gr'imly down on noisome
Centre street, there was presented in those days a chairming syl1van scene. Lofty hills, clad with verdure and rich with varied
foliage, surrounded the clear waters of the lake, whiclh was fed
by rivulets that flowed in through grloves fragrant with flowers,
and musical with tile song of bilds. Little pleasure-houses were
placed upon the banks and shoire, and fairy-li ke boats skimmed
the pellucid waters.
Here thle angler pursued his gentle sport, and hlere tile lover
of Nature came friom the busy haunts below, and found repose
and solace amid the peaceful scene.
Oni this pomd, in 1796, then 60 feet deep, John Fitch paddled,
to the admnilration of the gazing multitudes, his little experimnental steame,', about 18 feet long.




North of the lake stretched the range of mnarshl land, which it
was subsequently found necessary to drain thiough Canal street.
From  the KIalck pond, a little sparkling  fresh water stream,
called the " Ould Kill," or tile "Versch Water," or fresh water,
ran over Wolfert's meadow, which covered the present Roosevelt
street, and emptied into the East river at foot of James street,
wlicli stream was covered by a bridge at the junction of Roosevelt and Chatham streets, in English times called the Kissing
Bridige —so called because a certain salute was claimed there by
ellterprising travellers from their complaisant companions.
Near thlis was the celebrated tea-water purnp, whose water was
subsequently carried in carts about the city, within the memory
of mally here.
North of thle Kalck Iloeck pond was land called the Werpoes,
originally granted to Augustine Heermans, in 1651 —about 50
acres-and for a time a plantation for old negroes.
In 1644 the woods were partially cleared between this plantation and tile great Bouwery, where was aftelrwards Governor
Stuyvesant's house, between tle )present 2d and 3d aveuues and
10th and 11th streets, about 125 feet west of St. Mark's Cliurch.
There were five other Bouweries or farms that had belonged to
the Company, between the Chatlani Square and Stuyvesant's
Bouwerie, that were sold to various individuals.
The above farms were devastated by the Indians in 1655, but
subsequenltly hlouses were again built on them, and thle Bouwery
road was established, running at first tllhrough dense woods.
We read of one Jansen about tlhis time asking to be released
from his tenatncy of land nlear the Bouwery, "as he had two
miles to ride through a dense forest."
On the west side of Broadway, between Fulton and a line between Chlambers and Warren Streets, and extending to the North
River, was thle West India Company's farm, subsequently confiscated by the English, afterwards knlown as the Duke's and
King's Farm, and by the Crown ceded to Trinity Church.




47
North of it was the Domine's farmn or Bouwerie.  This is the
domain of Mrs. Anneke Jans or Jansen —as has been humorously
said, "One of tlhe few immortal names tllat werle not born to
die."
This lady was born in Holland, and came over early; lher first
husband was one Roelofi Jansen, a superintendent at Rensselaerwyck, who subsequently came to New Amlsterdam.  On the dlecease of Jansen the fiir wi(low was persuaded to re-enter the
bonds of Hymen by Dornine Everalrdus Bogaldus.  Subsequently, on thle Domine's decease, tile widow went to Albanly,
and died tlhere in 1663.
She had eight clhildren, four' unlder the first and four by the second miarriage.
Her will is at Albany, dated 29thi January, 1663, by which she
leaves to lier child(ren and grandclcildrllen all hler real est.te in
equal shares, with a plior cl!arge of 1,000 guilders in favor of tlle
children of the first rmarliage, out of the proceeds of thleir fatller's place, viz.: a certain farm on Manlhattan Island, bounded on
the North River.
This farm had originally been conveyed by Governor Van
Twiller to Roeloff Jansen.  It was confirmed to Mrs. Anneke
subsequently by a glant given by Stuyvesalt in 1654, and was
again confirmed in 1667 by the first English Governor, Nicolls.
The farm consisted of ab)out 62 acres, running on Broadway
from Warren to Duane; it then left Broadway on a northwest
course, and ran,northl along the river.  It commonly went by tle.
name of the Domine's Bouwerie, thle upper part above Canal being called the Domine's HIook.
A  majority of the heirs, after Mrs. Anineke Jans Bogardus'
decease, about the year 1670, made a conveyance of the tract to
Governor Lovelace, whose interest in tlhe same was sublsequently
confiscated for (lebt by Governor Andrlos, nrlder orderls flrom thle
Duke.  It was then called the Duke's farm, and was subsequently granted to Trinity Clhurch by Queen Ann.




The clairr of the heirs who did not joini in the transfer of the
property, and their descendants, has been asserted at different
times dowll to the present (lay, and a right of escheat has also
been claimed as against Trinity Church in favor of the State.
The heils claim  that the grant of the tract by Queen Ann
to the Chulch was invalid, inasmuch as the Crown had no title to
their portion of it.
The first suit we read of was brought by Cornelius Brower,
one of the heils, in 1750, in which he was non-suited, and in
1760 a verdict was rendered against him; and f'br the rest of the
century, ill the newspapers of the time, are to be found notices
of meetings of the heirs for the assertion of their claims.
In 1807 suit was brought by one Col. Malcolm; one in 1830,
by three of the heirs; and other suits in 1831 and ill 1847, and
also since that date, which all resulted in favor of the churcll.
We subsequelntly iead of private meetings and mass meetings,
at different times, of these irrepressible heirs, who are now daily
increasing, inl geometrical proportion.
At one of the l:lst grand meetings iri 1868, -in Philadelpliii,
delegates were present fiorn five States, and upwards of two
thousand heirs were representedl, and bonds were issued to pay
expenses.
A suit, I believe, is ilow being prosecuted in the Circuit Court
of the United States, of this circuit, to recover this anciert piece
of swamp pasturage, which now is wortlh maiiy millions, but at
one time is stated to have been leased for the annual rerit of two
hlogs!
The church title is not, as is alleged by the hleirs, placed uponl
the deed from  a majority of the heirs in 1670 to the English
Governol Lovelace, but upon the grant to the Church by Queen
Ann in 1705, and a continuous and open adverse occupancy and
possession by the chulrch, since that time, which possession uilder
a claim of title has made, it is asserted, an indefeasible title.
The heirs inl tlleir litigation meet the defenice of adverse possession-which, by law, in twenty years ripens into a title —by




the plea that Trinity Churclh does not hold adversely, but
merely by a possessorship as tenant ill common under the deed
to Lovelace by a part of the heirs; and claim the well-known
piinciple of law that one tenant in common holds for the joint
benefit of his co-tenants, and cannot'hold adversely.
North of the Domine's Bouwerie was an extensive swamp, andl
nlortlh of that the tract known to antiquarians as " Old Jan's
land;" being the land of old Jan CelQs, a settler fiorn New England in 1635.
Time will not allow me further to pursue my sketch of the
people and places of tlhis our earlier period.
A period which seems to increase in interest as it recedes into
the past.
Recent historians have brouglht forward prominently the courage, the patriotism, and the worth of the Batavian people,
co-workers withl the Anglo-Saxon in vindicating human rights
and extending the area of liberty.
A people, it has been remarked, whose country, created in the
midst of marshes, had no solid foundation except in the wisdom
of her rulers and the untiring industry of lher people.
A people whose learning lhas given to science discoveries that
have proved of lasting benefit to humanity.
A people whose patriotismn overwhelmed their land with the
floods of ocean to keep.it fi-om invasion, and whose courage has
never given way under oppression or defeat.
A people who, emerging triumphant from the bloody struggle
which for nearly half a century lhad taxed their life and their
resources, established public schools, and gave to Europe freedom of education, of conscience and religion.
A people whose country, in the face of the inhumanity and
intolerance of the time, was, like the Jewish altar, an asylum for
the persecuted and oppressed; and which, says Michlelet, was
the bulwark, the universal refuge and salvation, humanly speaking, of the human race.




50'Whlile New Ei),lald was burning witchles and torturing Quakers, New  Netlerland was free firom  delusioln, and received
withini its borders ministrants of every creed.
When Stu.vesant, subsequently, began to persecute thle Quaker, lis han(l was clheckedl.  When, also, lie ma(le plroclamnation
against outside preaclhiig o, conventicles, except in conformity
witlh the Synod of Dort, under a heavy penalty, lie was sternly
rebuked by his directors.
On one occasion. we read, tlhat he sought to coerce the Quakers
at Flushiing to confo)rm to his ideas of worslip, and arrested and
tranlsported to lHolland one of their principal men, Jolrhn Bowne.
Tile latter, on appeal to the Home Goveiirnmeiit, returned  in
1663, bealiing a letter to the Governor firom  thle Dutch autholities, re-establ]islling toleratnce in matters of religious opinion, in
these memorable wolrds: " The consciences of men ought to be
fiee and unsliaelkled, so long as they cozntinue moderate, peaceable, inoffenllsive, and not hostile to gcvernment.  Suchl have beeii
the maxiris of plrudence and toleration by wlhich the mag istrates
of this city, Amsterdam, hlave been governed; and the consequences have been that thle oppyressed and persecuted from every
coutitry have found among us asylum from distress. Follow in
tlhe same stel)s and you will be blessed."
Suchll were the noble words of this noble land, in opposition to
the policy of coutitries that hid tle liglht of science in dungeons
-that goveirned tlhrougli the judgments of the Inquisition, and
guided minds by the terrors of the sword, the scourge, and the
~ anathema.
I cannot close this allusion to this people, grent in all qualities
that make a nation, without a referenlce to tle preamble of their
notab)le Declaration of Independence of the Spaniard-issued
1651-the piototype of our own Charter of Freedom.  A  portion of tlheir Declaration reads as follows: " The States-General
of the United Provinces of the Netherland's, to all who shall see
or read thlese presents, greetilng: Whereas, it is notorious to every
one that the prince of a country is established by God as a sov



ereign chief of his subjects,- to defend and preserve them  from
all injuries, oppressions, and violences:    *    *    *   And
when lie does not do this, but instead of defending his subjects,
seeks to oppress them, and deprive them of their privileges and
ancient customs, and to command them and use them as slaves,
he ought not to be deemed a prince, but a tyrant; and as suchl,
his subjects, according to right and reason, can no longer recognize him as their prince.   *   *   But they can abandon hlim,
and choose another in his place as chief and lord to defend
them."
I wonder, Mr. President, in view of this nationality, which is
part of our own, which is sympathetic with us in all that constitutes greatness and virtue in nations, which is part and parcel of
our history and of our blood,-I wonder, I say, that while the
flags of St. Patrick and St. George, on the festal days of those
Saints, flaunt their folds over City Hall and public e(lifices, that,
on the festal day of St. Nicholas, no banner is seen to recall our
ancient historic time.
Is this ignorance or an incomprehensible partiality?
It is sad to reflect that there is not a thing left to mark the site
of this ancient town, with the exception of the little slender
scion of the pear tree, that hlas shivered through the wintry
blasts, and is now dying, at the corner of the Tllird avenue and
Thirteenth street, whilom thle site of a part of the Bouwerie of
Governor Stuyvesant.
In Europe, each locality preserves with a religious care all
remnanrts of its early history.
But tere, Time's effacing fingers, assisted by the inroads of
" Speculation" and Finance, that know no law higher tllhan gain,
have swept away all visible memento of the past.
Ngieuw Amsterdam has varnished.  The names of some of the
old settlers and denizens, preserved in those of their descendants,
and a few old records in the City and State Archives, are the
only tangible proofs of even the existence of the old Dominion.
The quaint little city has passed into history.




The once busy and hardy people have left no trace of their active and earnest life; and even their grave-yard has been built
over and buried from human contemplation.
I have thus, Mr. President, endeavored to fulfill my attempt to
present, in a manner, perhaps, too familiar for the gravity of this
body, a review or sketch of our old city in its primeval days, and
to group together some of the personages, both notable and hurnble, who preceded us in the occupation of our island.
I have presented to you little that is new, little that is not due
to the researches of your local antiquarians, at the head of whom
is our respected member, Dr. O'Callaghan.
But it seems as if this association, in the midst of its more
prominently useful researches, would do well, at times, to review
the incidents of the lives and places of abode of the grave, persevering, just men that preceded us; to endeavor to keep up
a public interest in this the most interesting period of our local
history; and to hold up to succeeding generations the trials, the
courage, the industry and the virtues of our Dutch ancestors.