Dutch and English on the Hudson: A Chronicle of Colonial New York

CHAPTER XIV

Chapter 156,775 wordsPublic domain

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON

The story of the French and Indian wars on our border does not fall within the scope of this chronicle; but in order to understand the development of New York we must know something of the conditions which prevailed in the province during that troubled epoch. The penurious policy pursued by the Dutch and continued by the English left the colony without defenses on either the northern or southern boundaries. For a long time the settlers found themselves bulwarked against the French on the north by the steadfast friendship of the "Six Nations," comprising the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Senecas, and the Tuscaroras; but at last these trusty allies began to feel that the English were not doing their share in the war. The lack of military preparation in New York was inexcusable. The niggardliness of the Assembly alienated successive governors and {219} justified Clinton's assertion: "If you deny me the necessary supplies all my endeavors must become fruitless. I must wash my own hands and leave at your doors the blood of innocent people."

When the Indians under the leadership of the French actually took the warpath, the colonists at last awoke to their peril. Upon call of Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey, acting under instructions of the Lords of Trade, all the colonies north of the Potomac except New Jersey sent commissioners to a congress at Albany in June, 1754, to plan measures of defense and of alliance with the Six Nations.

Albany was still a placid little Dutch town. Mrs. Grant of Laggan in Scotland, who visited Albany in her girlhood, wrote of it afterward with a gentle suavity which lent glamour to the scenes which she described. She pictures for us a little town in which every house had its garden at the rear and in front a shaded stoop with seats on either side where the family gathered to enjoy the twilight. "Each family had a cow, fed in a common pasture at the end of the town. In the evening they returned all together, of their own accord, with their tinkling bells hung at their necks, along the wide and grassy street, to their wonted {220} sheltering trees, to be milked. At one door were young matrons, at another the elders of the people, at a third the youths and maidens, gaily chatting or singing together, while the children played around the trees, or waited by the cows for the chief ingredient of their frugal supper, which they generally ate sitting on the steps in the open air."

The court-house of Albany to which the commissioners journeyed by boat up the Hudson, is described by Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveler and scientist, as a fine stone building by the riverside, three stories high with a small steeple containing a bell, and topped by a gilt ball and weather-vane. From the engraved print which has come down to us, it seems a barren barrack of a building with an entrance quite inadequate for the men of distinction who thronged its halls on this memorable occasion.

In this congress at Albany, Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania and William Johnson of New York were the dominating figures. The famous plan of union which Franklin presented has sometimes made historians forget the services rendered by this redoubtable Colonel Johnson at a moment when the friendship of the Six Nations was hanging in the balance. Though gifts had been {221} prepared and a general invitation had been sent, only a hundred and fifty warriors appeared at Albany and they held themselves aloof with a distrust that was almost contempt. "Look at the French!" exclaimed Hendrick, the great chief of the Mohawks. "They are men. They are fortifying everywhere; but, we are ashamed to say it, you are all like women--bare and open without any fortifications." In this crisis all the commissioners deferred to William Johnson as the one man who enjoyed the complete confidence of the Six Nations. It was he who formulated the Indian policy of the congress.

He had been born in Ireland. His mother was Anne Warren, sister to Captain Peter Warren, who "served with reputation" in the Royal Navy and afterward became Knight of the Bath and Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron of the British Fleet. Captain Warren was less than a dozen years older than his nephew, whom he regarded with affectionate interest. He described him as "a spritely boy well grown of good parts and keen wit but most onruly and streperous," and the sailor added: "I see the making of a strong man. I shall keep my weather eye on the lad."

The result of this observation was so favorable {222} that the captain, who was on station in America, sent for William Johnson to come out and aid him in the development of a real estate venture. A large tract of land near the Mohawk River had come into Warren's possession, and as a sailor Warren naturally found difficulty in superintending land at what was then a week's journey from the seacoast. "Billy" was his choice as an assistant, and the boy, who was then twenty-three years old, left the Old World and in 1738 reached the new plantation where his life-work lay before him. For this he was admirably equipped by his Irish inheritance of courage, tact, and humor, by his study of English law, and by a facility in acquiring languages which enabled him to master the Mohawk tongue in two years after his arrival in New York.

The business arrangement between Captain Warren and his nephew provided that Johnson should form a settlement on his uncle's land known as Warrensbush, at the juncture of Schoharie Kill and the Mohawk, that he should sell farms, oversee settlers, clear and hedge fields, "girdle" trees (in order to kill them and let in the sun), purchase supplies, and in partnership with Warren establish a village store to meet the necessities {223} of the new colonists and to serve as a trading-station with the Indians. In compensation for his services he was to be allowed to cultivate a part of the land for himself, though it is hard to imagine what time or strength could have been left for further exertions after the fulfillment of the onerous duties marked out for him.

A few years after his arrival at Warrensbush he married a young Dutch or German woman named Catherine Weisenberg, perhaps an indentured servant whose passage had been prepaid on condition of service in America. Little is known of the date or circumstances of this marriage. It is certain only that after a few years Catherine died, leaving three children, to whom Johnson proved a kind and considerate father, in spite of an erratic domestic career which involved his taking as the next head of his household Caroline, niece of the Mohawk chief Hendrick, and later Molly Brant, sister of the Indian, Joseph Brant.

Molly Brant, by whom Johnson had eight children, was recognized as his wife by the Indians, while among Johnson's English friends she was known euphemistically as "the brown Lady Johnson." She presided over his anomalous household with dignity and discretion; but it is noticeable {224} that Johnson, who was so willing to defy public opinion in certain matters, was sufficiently conventional in others, as we learn from a description of the daily life of the legitimate daughters of the house. While Mohawk chiefs, Oneida braves, Englishmen of title, and distinguished guests of every kind thronged the mansion, and while the little half-breed children played about the lawns and disported themselves on the shores of Kayaderosseras Creek close at hand, "the young ladies" lived in almost conventual seclusion.

The grim baronial mansion where this mixed household made its dwelling for many years, was called variously Mount Johnson, Castle Johnson, and Fort Johnson. It was built in 1742 with such massive walls that the house is still standing in the town of Amsterdam. In 1755, when the Indian peril loomed large on the horizon, the original defenses were strengthened, a stockade was built as a further protection, and from this time on it was called Fort Johnson.

Owing perhaps to Johnson's precautions and the Indian's knowledge of his character, the fort was not attacked and its owner continued to dwell in the house until 1762, when, having become one of the richest men in the colony, he built on a tract {225} of land in Johnstown a more ambitious, and, it is to be hoped, a more cheerful mansion known as Johnson Hall. This house was built of wood with wings of stone, pierced at the top for muskets. On one side of the house lay a garden and nursery described as the pride of the surrounding country. Here Johnson lived with an opulence which must have amazed the simple settlers around him, especially those who remembered his coming to the colony as a poor youth less than thirty years earlier. He had in his service a secretary, a physician, a musician who played the violin for the entertainment of guests, a gardener, a butler, a waiter named Pontiach, of mixed negro and Indian blood, a pair of white dwarfs to attend upon himself and his friends, an overseer, and ten or fifteen slaves.

This retinue of servants was none too large to cope with the unbounded hospitality which Johnson dispensed. A visitor reports having seen at the Hall from sixty to eighty Indians at one time lodging under tents on the lawn and taking their meals from tables made of pine boards spread under the trees. On another occasion, when Sir William called a council of the Iroquois at Fort Johnson, a thousand natives gathered, and Johnson's {226} neighbors within a circuit of twenty miles were invited to assist in the rationing of this horde of visitors. The landholders along the Mohawk might well have been glad to share the burden of Sir William's tribal hospitality, since its purpose was as much political as social and its results were of endless benefit to the entire colony.

At last the Indians had found a friend, a white man who understood them and whom they could understand. He was honest with them and therefore they trusted him. He was sympathetic and therefore they were ready to discuss their troubles freely with him. As an Indian of mixed blood declared to the Governor at Albany in speaking of Sir William: "His knowledge of our affairs, our laws, and our language made us think he was not like any other white but an Indian like ourselves. Not only that; but in his house is an Indian woman, and his little children are half-breed as I am."

The English therefore were peculiarly fortunate in finding at the most critical stage of their political dealings with the Indians a representative endowed with the wisdom and insight of Sir William Johnson. Unlike the French, he did not strive to force an alien form of worship upon this primitive people. Unlike the Dutch, he insisted {227} that business should be carried on as honestly with the natives as with the white men. Unlike his fellow-countrymen, he constantly urged adequate preparation for war on the part of the English and demanded that they should bear their share of the burden. In a written report at the Albany congress he strongly recommended that inasmuch as the Six Nations, owing to their wars with the French, had fallen short both in hunting and planting, they should be provided with food from the English supplies. Finally he testified to the sincerity of his convictions by going to the war himself and rendering valuable service first as colonel and later as major-general. After the Battle of Lake George, Johnson was knighted by the King and received a grant of L5000 from Parliament. In the same year he was appointed by the Crown "Agent and Sole Superintendent of the Six Nations and other northern Indians" inhabiting British territory north of the Carolinas and the Ohio River.

Johnson is described by one who saw him about this time or somewhat earlier as a man of commanding presence, only a little short of six feet in height, "neck massive, broad chest and large limbs, great physical strength, the head large and shapely, {228} countenance open and beaming with good nature, eyes grayish black, hair brown with tinge of auburn." His activity took every form and was exerted in every direction. His documents and correspondence number over six thousand and fill twenty-six volumes preserved in the State Library. Nor did these represent his chief activities. He was constantly holding councils with the native tribes either at Fort Johnson or at the Indian camps. It was he who kept the Mohawks from joining in Pontiac's conspiracy which swept the western border; it was he who negotiated the famous treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1768. In the midsummer of 1774 he succumbed to an old malady after an impassioned address to six hundred Iroquois gathered at Johnson Hall.

He was one of the fortunate few whose characters and careers fit exactly. He found scope for every power that he possessed and he won great rewards. His tireless energy expressed itself in cultivating thousands of acres and in building houses, forts, and churches. He dipped a lavish hand into his abundant wealth and scattered his gold where it was of the greatest service. He loved hospitality and gathered hundreds round his board. He was a benevolent autocrat and nations bowed {229} to his will. He paid homage to his King, and died cherishing the illusion of the value of prerogative. He was fortunate in his death as in his life, for he was spared the throes of the mighty changes already under way, when the King's statue should be pulled down to be melted into bullets, when New York should merge her identity in the Union of States, and when the dwellers along the banks of the Hudson and its tributaries should call themselves no longer Dutch or English but Americans.

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The student who has the courage to delve in the _Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York_, the _Documentary History of the State of New York_, the ecclesiastical records, the pioneer journals, and the minutes of early city councils, will not only reach the fundamental authorities on the history of the settlers on the Hudson, but will find many interesting incidents of which the dull titles give no promise.

If the reader prefer to follow a blazed trail, he will find a path marked out for him in reliable works such as _The History of New Netherland_ by E. B. O'Callaghan, 2 vols. (1855), _The History of the State of New York_ by J. R. Brodhead, 2 vols. (1871), _The Narratives of New Netherland_, admirably edited by J. F. Jameson (1909), _New York_, a condensed history by E. H. Roberts (1904), John Fiske's _Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America_, 2 vols. (1899), and William Smith's _History of the Late Province of New York_ (first published in 1757 and still valuable).

Many histories of New York City have been written to satisfy the general reader. Among the larger works are Mrs. M. J. Lamb's _History of the City of New York_, 2 vols. (1877; revised edition, 1915, in 3 vols.), Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer's _History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century_, 2 vols. (1909), {232} James G. Wilson's _Memorial History of the City of New York_, 4 vols. (1892), and _Historic New York_, 2 vols. (edited by M. W. Goodwin, A. C. Royce, and Ruth Putnam, 1912). Theodore Roosevelt has written a single volume on New York for the _Historic Towns_ series (1910). In his _New Amsterdam and its People_ (1902), J. H. Innes has brought together valuable studies of the social and topographical features of the town under Dutch and early English rule. I. N. P. Stokes's _Iconography of Manhattan Island_ (1915) is calculated to delight the soul of the antiquarian.

One who wishes to turn to the lighter side of provincial life will find it set forth in attractive volumes such as _Colonial Days in Old New York_ by A. M. Earle (1915), _The Story of New Netherland_ by W. E. Griffis (1909), _In Old New York_ by T. A. Janvier (1894), and the _Goede Vrouw of Mana-ha-ta_ by M. K. Van Rensselaer (1898).

Most rewarding perhaps of all sources are those dealing with the biographies of the prominent figures in the history of the State, since in them we find the life of the times illustrated and personalized. E. M. Bacon in his _Henry Hudson_ (1907) gives us a picture of the great mariner and the difficulties against which he strove. The _Van Rensselaer-Bowier Manuscripts_, edited by A. J. F. Van Laer (1908) show us through his personal letters the Patroon of the upper Hudson and make us familiar with life on his estates. J. K. Paulding in _Affairs and Men of New Amsterdam in the Time of Governor Peter Stuyvesant_ (1843) makes the town-dwellers equally real to us, while W. L. Stone's _Life and Times of Sir William Johnson_, 2 vols. (1865), shows us the pioneer struggles in the Mohawk Valley. In the English _State Trials_ {233} compiled by T. B. Howells, 34 vols. (1828), we read the story of the famous pirate Captain Kidd, and find it more interesting than many a work of fiction.

Among the autobiographical accounts of colonial life the most entertaining are _The Memoirs of an American Lady_ by A. M. Grant (1809), _A Two Years' Journal in New York, etc._ by Charles Wolley (1902), and _The Private Journal of Sarah Kemble Knight_, the record of a journey from Boston to New York in 1704 (1901).

Further bibliographical references will be found appended to the articles on _Hudson River_, _New York_, and _New York_ (_City_), in _The Encyclopaedia Britannica_, 11th edition.

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INDEX

_Adventure-Galley_, The (ship), 170, 171, 172, 173

Albany, name of Fort Orange changed to, 137; refuses to send delegates to Fort James, 153; preeminently Dutch, 154; refuses to recognize Leisler, 154, 156; Leisler sends troops to assistance of, 156; congress (1754), 219, 220-21; court-house, 220; _see also_ Orange, Fort

Alexander, James, supports Van Dam, 196; contributes to _New York Weekly Journal_, 197; counsel for Zenger, 198-99

Amersfort, 77

Amsterdam, Fort, established, 54; condition in 1638, 61; becomes Fort James, 137; _see also_ James, Fort

Andros, Sir Edmund, Governor of New York, 144; asserts authority in New Jersey, 146-147; recalled, 147; appointed Governor-General of "Dominion of New England" (1688), 149; imprisoned in Boston, 151; instructed to suppress piracy, 167

Angola, Paul d', one of the first negro slaves, 25

Archer, John, 140

Arlington, Lord, 139

_Arms of Amsterdam_, The (ship), 26

Avery, buccaneer, 173

Barents, Reymier, 156

Barentsen, Pieter, 54

Bayard, Mrs., sister of Stuyvesant, 86

Bayard, Nicholas, 154, 155, 159, 160, 163

Bear Mountain, replica of _Half Moon_ at foot of, 16

Bears Island fortified, 45

_Beaver_, The (ship), 161

Beeren (Bears) Island fortified, 45

Bellomont, Earl of, in stock company to fit out privateer, 170; succeeds Fletcher as Governor of New York, 170-71, 180-181; Captain Kidd communicates with, 174; royal Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 175 (note); uprightness, 181; espouses Leislerian cause, 181-83; death (1701), 183; revenues under, 191

Berkeley, Lord, 145

Beverwyck, 72

Birds of Hudson region, 28

Bissels, associate of Van Rensselaer, 40

Blagge, Captain, defense of Leisler, 157-59

Block, Adriaen, 135

Block Island, 135, 174

Blommaert, Samuel, 36, 40

Blucker, of Albany, 156

Bogardug, Rev. Everardus, 88-90

Boston, 151, 168

Bradford, William, printer, 193

Bradley supports Cosby, 196

Brant, Molly, 223

Breuckelen (now Brooklyn), 77

Burnet, William, Governor of New York, 190

Burton, Mary, 213

Cabots, The, explorations in Hudson region, 16

Canada, expeditions against, 185-86, 188

Carey (Kerry), Peggy, 213

Carleton, Sir Dudley, English ambassador at The Hague, 132

Caroline, niece of Mohawk chief Hendrick, 223

Carteret, Sir George, part of New Jersey granted to, 145; death (1680), 146

Carteret, Philip, Governor of New Jersey, 146, 147

Casimir, Fort, 130

Catholics, Roman, oppose Leisler, 153-154; accused of inciting negro plots, 212, 213-17

Chambers, John, 199

_Charter of Liberties and Privileges_, 148

Christina, Fort, 127

Clarke, George, Governor of New York, letter on negro plots, 214-15; suspicions of, 215-17

Clinton, George, Governor of New York, quoted, 191-92, 219

Coates, Edward, 166

Cod, Cape, 135

Colden, Cadwallader, 196, 197

Colman, John, 6-7

Colve, Captain Anthony, Dutch Governor of New York, 143

Commerce, aim of Dutch in America, 18; with Holland, 24; dubious sea ventures, 168-169

Congo, Simon, one of the first negro slaves, 25

Connecticut River, 22, 65, 135

Coorn, Nicholas, 45-46

Cornbury, Edward Hyde, Lord, Governor of New York, 183-185; revenues under, 191

Cornelissen, Jan, 95

Cosby, William, Governor of New York, 190, 194-96

"Cosby's Manor," 195

Curtius, Alexander Carolus, 101

Cuyler, Johannes, of Albany, 156

De Laet, Johan, 11, 40

De Lancey, James, supports Cosby, 196; Chief Justice, 199; Lieutenant-Governor, 219

De la Montagne, J. M., 95

De la Noy, Peter, 162, 169

Delaware, Swedish colony in, 127-28; _see also_ New Sweden

Delaware Bay, 36

Delaware (or South) River, 22, 51, 59

De Neger, Jan, 35

De Peyster, Colonel Abraham, 207

De Vries, Captain David, quoted, 28; takes up territory on Delaware Bay, 36; _bouwerie_ of, 39; opinion of Van Twilier, 57; head of committee of twelve, 64; appearance, 64; treats with Indians, 65-66; account of building of church, 92-93; visits Governor Printz, 129; opinion of Eelkens incident, 134

Dongan, Colonel Thomas, Governor of New York, 48, 147, 157; instructed to suppress piracy, 167

Drisius, Domine Samuel, 86

"Duke's Laws," 138

Dutch East India Company, 17

Dutch West India Company, 20-22, 30, 32, 33-34, 38, 51, 56, 60, 73

Dyckman, 72

Earle, Mrs., overhears negroes plotting, 212

East Indies, pirates in, 168

Education in New Netherland, 93-101

Eelkens, Jacob, 59, 132-35

_Eendragt_, The (ship), 40

Elizabethtown declared a free port, 146

England, war with Holland (1652), 76-77; treaty (1654), 77; sends fleet to New Netherland, 79-82; war with Holland (1672), 142-43; treaty (1674), 143-44; takes steps against buccaneers, 170

Esopus, Indian troubles at, 74, 79

Evertsen, Admiral Cornells, 143

Fenwick, land claimant in West Jersey, 146

Flatbush, 77

Fletcher, Colonel Benjamin, Governor of New York, 165; encourages piracy, 165-66; revenues under, 191

Flushing, 77; religious toleration in, 86

Food resources, 28

Fordham Manor, 140

_Fortune_, The (ship), 18

Francisco, John, one of the first negro slaves, 25

Franklin, Benjamin, at Albany congress, 220

Frederycke (Fredericksen), Kryn, 54

Fur trade, 17, 18-19, 27, 41

Gardiner's Island, Captain Kidd at, 174

Godyn, Samuel, 36, 40

_Good Hope_, The (ship), 45-46

Governor's Island, 60

Grant, Mrs., of Laggan, _Memoirs of an American Lady_, 48; on negro servitude in Albany, 209; describes Albany, 219-220

Gravesend, 77

_Griffin_, The (ship), 127

Griffis, W. E., defends Van Twiller, 58-59

Gustavus Adolphus, 126

_Half Moon_, The (_Halve Maene_) (ship), anchors in New York harbor, 1-2; description of, 2-5; effect on Indians, 4-5, 7-10; journeys up Hudson, 10-12; homeward course, 13; Hudson's cabin, 14; puts to sea, 15; replica, 16

Hamilton, Andrew, defends Zenger, 200-05

Harrison, Francis, 196, 198

Hartford, Treaty of, 77

Heckwelder, Rev. John, Moravian missionary, account of arrival of _Half Moon_, 7-9, 10

Hempstead, 77

Heyn, Peter, 55

Hill, Rowland, quoted, 114

Hobocan Hackingh, 37

Hoboken, 74

Hodgson, Robert, 85

Holland, _see_ United Netherlands

Holmes, Sir Robert, 168

Horsmanden, Judge, 217

Housatonic River discovered, 135

Hudson, Captain Henry, explores Hudson River in _Half Moon_, 1-16; barters with Indians, 4-5, 10; entertains Indians, 4-5, 8-10, 13-14; at West Point, 10-11; Irving's description of, 12; fights with Indians, 15; held at Dartmouth, 17

Hudson River, explored, 1-16; "the River of the Steep Hills," 11; called Mauritius, 22, 23, 29, 132; commerce on, 28-29; overflows, 79; pirates on, 180

Hughson, tavern-keeper, 213, 215-16

Hunter, Robert, Governor of New York, 186; brings Palatines to New York, 186-88; resigns, 189; quoted, 191

Hutchiuson, Anne, 65

Huyck, Jan, 90

Indians, effect of _Half Moon_ on, 4-5, 7-10; attack Colman, 6; friendly at West Point, 10; on _Half Moon_, 13; attempt theft, 14-15; conflict with, 15, 62-66, 74-75; legal ceremony toward, 36; paid for lands, 37-38, 53; servants of Minuit kill friendly Indian, 55; Kieft's troubles with, 62-66; attack New Amsterdam, 74; as neighbors of Dutch, 124-26; treaty signed on Norman's Kill, 125; friendship of the "Six Nations," 218; take warpath, 219; Sir William Johnson as friend of, 226-27

Ingoldesby, Major Richard, 161, 185-86

Irving, Washington, _see_ Knickerbocker, Diedrich

James, Duke of York and Albany, Lord Proprietor of New York, 137, 144-45; becomes King of England, 148

James, Fort, 137, 143, 153; _see also_ Amsterdam, Fort; Willem Hendrick, Fort

Jogues, Isaac, Jesuit missionary, describes Rensselaerswyck, 40-41

Johnson, Sir William, at Albany congress, 220; formulates Indian policy, 221; born in Ireland, 221; described by his uncle, 221; life, 222-24; home, 224-25; hospitality, 225-26; in French and Indian War, 227; knighted, 227; appearance, 227-28; activities, 228; personal characteristics, 228-29

Johnson, Fort, 224, 228

Joris, Adriaen, 22

Juet, Robert, of Limehouse, quoted, 2, 9

Kalm, Peter, describes courthouse at Albany, 220

_Key of Kalmar_, The (ship), 127

Kidd, Captain William, 170-179

Kieft, William, succeeds Van Twiller, 45; as Governor of New Netherland, 61-67; character, 61; activities, 61-62; relations with Indians, 62-66; recalled (1647), 66; drowned, 66; Kuyter and Melyn against, 69; upheld by Stuyvesant, 69; opposed by Bogardus, 89-90; raises money for church, 92-93; letter to Minuit, 127-128

Knickerbocker, Diedrich (Irving), description of Henry Hudson, 12; description of Van Twiller, 58; quoted, 121-122

Knight, Sarah Kemble, quoted, 206-07

Krol, Sebastian, 54, 56-57, 90

Kuyter, Jochem Pietersen, 69

Labor in New Netherland, 27

Leisler, Jacob, 150; calls convention at Fort James, 153; appointed "Captain of the fort at New York...", 153; Catholics and aristocracy oppose, 153-54; temporary victory, 154-55; assumes title of Lieutenant-Governor, 155; demands recognition, 155-56; calls convention to discuss defense, 156-57; controversy about, 157-60; refuses surrender of fort, 161-63; finally yields, 163; sentenced to death, 163-64; attainder removed, 164; Bellomont causes reburial, 181-82

_Little Fox_, The (ship), 18

Livingston, Robert, 48, 154, 155, 170, 186, 196

Livingston Manor, 48

Long Island, SO; Dutch on, 22; English on, 78, 135-36; becomes county of Yorkshire, 138

Loockermans, Govert, 45-46

Lovelace, Colonel Francis, succeeds Nicolls as Governor of New York, 139-40; establishes first mail service, 140-42

Lovelace, Lord, Governor of New York, 185

Luyck, AEgidius, 101

Maasen, Cornelis, 109

Madagascar, meeting place for pirates and merchants, 168-169, 170; Kidd reaches, 172

Manhattan Island, 29; Hudson leaves, 10; settlers in, 22; purchased from Indians, 25, 53; reserved for Dutch West Indian Company, 33; surrendered to England, 80-82; life on, 103

"Mannahattanik," 9

Manors in New York, 32, 34-35, 47-49

Mauritius, (Hudson) River, 22, 23, 29, 132

Maverick, Samuel, 139

May, Cornelis Jacobsen, of Hoorn, 22; first Director-General of New Netherland, 51

_Meeuwken_, The (ship), 52

Megapolensis, Rev. Johannes, Jr., 40, 86, 87-88, 90, 109

Melyn, Cornelis, 39, 69

Michaelius, Domine Jonas, 26, 88, 96-97, 109

Middleburgh, 77

Milborne, Jacob, 155-56, 162, 163, 181-82

Minuit, Peter, Director-General of New Netherland, 25, 52; recalled (1632), 45, 56; buys Manhattan Island, 53; builds Fort Amsterdam, 54; preparations for war, 55; shipbuilding, 66; enters service of Sweden, 56, 126-27; establishes Swedish colony in Delaware, 127-28

Montgomerie, John, Governor of New York, 195

Moore, William, 172-73

Morris, Lewis, Chief Justice, 196, 197

Motley, J. L., quoted, 30-31, 99

Moussart, associate of Van Rensselaer, 40

Murray, John, 212

Myndertsen, Myndert, 36

Nanfan, John, Lieutenant-Governor of New York, 180

Narragansett Bay, 135

Nassau, Fort, 19

Navesink Heights, Hudson passes, 1

Neger, Jan de, 35

Negroes, plot of 1712, 210-11; alleged plots of 1741, 211-17; _see also_ Slavery

Netherlands, _see_ United Netherlands

New Amsterdam, established (1626), 25, 54; growth of, 29; "staple right" established at, 61; Indian troubles at, 62-66, 74; municipal rights given to, 73; in Stuyvesant's time, 75-76; fortification of, 77; church building in, 91-93; in seventeenth century, 102, 103; development of, 104-06; class distinction in, 107-08 (note); becomes New York, 137; _see also_ New York City

New Castle (Del.), 130

New Gottenburg, 129

New Jersey, 65; granted to Berkeley and Carteret, 145-46; enters "the Dominion of New England," 149

New Netherland, Dutch claim, 17; commerce, 18-19; New Netherland Company, 19-20; Dutch West India Company, 20-22, 30, 32, 33-34; colonization, 21-23; settlers, 23-24; supplies from Holland, 24-25; slavery, 25-27; resources, 28; patroonship, 32-47; "Privileges and Exemptions," 33-35; English take possession of (1664), 47; small proprietors in, 49-50; demands made to States General, 72-73; convention to consider defense, 77-79; _The Humble Remonstrance_, 78; becomes New York, 82; religion in, 83-93; religious liberty in, 83-85; religious tyranny, 85-87; education, 93-101; burghers in, 102-22; pioneer living conditions, 103-04; fire protection, 104-05; public sanitation, 105; improvement in living conditions, 105-06; "great burghers," 107-08; dress, 108; children, 109-20; holidays, 114-18; christenings, 118; spirit of mystery, 120-21; neighbors, 123 _et seq._; relations with New Sweden, 128-31; relations with English, 131-36; question of boundaries, 136; bibliography, 231-33; _see also_ New York

_New Netherland_, The (ship), 56

New Netherland Company, 19-20

_New Netherland, The Representation of_, 68, 70

New Orange, 143

New Sweden, established, 127-128; relations with Dutch, 128-131

New York, government changed, 137-38; surrenders to Dutch (1674), 143; name changed to New Orange, 143; returned by treaty to English, 144; _Charter of Liberties and Privileges_, 148; becomes royal province, 148; enters "The Dominion of New England," 149; piracy, 165-79; _see also_ New Netherland

New York City, market for pirates, 168; becomes cosmopolitan, 206; in 1729, 206-07; public buildings, 207; luxury, 207-08; negro slaves, 208-17; bibliography, 231-33; _see also_ New Amsterdam

_New York Weekly Gazette_, 197

_New York Weekly Journal_, 197-198

Nicholson, Francis, Lieutenant-Governor of New York, 151-152, 157; leaves for England, 154; imprisons pirates, 168

Nicolls, Colonel Richard, expedition against New Netherland, 80-81; first English Governor of New York, 137-138, 139, 144; warns against division of territory, 145

Nicolls, William, 159

_Nieu Nederlandt_, The (ship), 22

_Nightingale_, The (ship), 18

Nooten (Nut) Island, old name for Governor's Island, 60

Norman's Kill, treaty with Indians at, 125

Nysen, Wolf, 35

Olfertsen treats with Indians, 65

Orange, Fort, 39; established, 19; colonists, 23, 25, 40; supplies brought up Hudson to, 29; in 1626-28, 54; Stuyvesant's orders concerning, 71-72; strengthened, 77; town on Hudson, 102; Eelkens lands near, 134; becomes Albany, 137; _see also_ Albany

Oxenstiern conducts government of Sweden, 126

Oxford, Earl of, 170

Palatines in New York, 186-88

Patroons, 32 _et seq._

Pauw, Michiel, 36-37, 39

Pavonia, 39, 74

Philipse, Judge Adolphe, 196, 199

Philipse, Frederick, 184

Philipse Manor, 47

Pietersen, Evert, 95

Piracy, 165-79

Portuguese, Anthony, one of the first negro slaves, 25

Postal service established, 140-42

_Princess_, The (ship), 66

Printz, Johan, Governor of New Sweden, 128-29

Quakers, pay Indians for land, 37-38; Stuyvesant's dealings with, 70, 85-86

_Quedagh Merchant_, The (ship), 172, 174, 177

Rapaelje, Sarah, 25, 109

Raritan Indians, 63

Religion in New Netherland, 83-93

Rensselaer's Stein (Castle Rensselaer), 45

Rensselaerswyck, typical patroonship, 39; settlement, 39-41; life in, 41-46; library, 42; cost of living, 42-43; terms of leases, 43-44; hostility between patroon and tenants, 44; relation of patroon and Company, 45; Stuyvesant and, 71-72

Roelantsen, Adam, 94

Romney, Earl of, 170

Rondout, 102

Rysing, Governor of New Sweden, 130

_St. John_, The (slaver), 26

San Salvador, victory of Dutch over Spanish off (1627), 55

Schenectady, massacre at, 156

Schoharie, Palatines at, 188

Schuyler, Peter, 154, 155

Schuyler estate near Albany, 48-49

Sewall, Samuel, 168

Shipbuilding at New Amsterdam, 56

Shrewsbury, Duke of, 170

Slavery, Dutch introduce, 25-26; treatment of slaves in New Netherland, 26-27; in New York, 208-09; ordinance regulating slaves (1684), 209-10; _see also_ Negroes

Sleepy Hollow, church at, 47-48

Sloughter, Colonel Henry, Governor of New York, 160, 161, 162, 163, 165, 191

Smith, William, 197, 198-99

Smits, Claes, 63

Somers, Lord Chancellor, 170

_Soutbergh_, The (ship), 57

South (now Delaware) River, 22, 51, 59

Spain, truce with Holland, 17, 30; plots against Holland, 30; defeat by Holland, 55

Spuyten Duyvil, 120

Stanwix, Fort, Treaty of, 228

"Staple right" at New Amsterdam, 61

Staten Island, 36, 50, 63; purchased by Pauw, 39; transferred to Melyn, 39; Indians attack, 74; becomes part of Yorkshire, 138; Dutch fleet off, 143

Steenwyck, Cornelis, 139

Stevensen, Jan, 95

Stony Point, _Half Moon_ becalmed at, 13

Stuyvesant, 196

Stuyvesant, Petrus (Pieter), made Director-General, 45; appearance, 67; as Director-General, 68; upholds Kieft, 69; arraigned by burghers, 69; defense of, 69-70; character of, 70-71; contest with Van Slichtenhorst, 71-72; arbitrariness, 72; opposes local self-government, 72-73; treatment of Indians, 74; warns Company of lack of defense, 76; treatment of Convention, 77-79; begs for reinforcements, 79; surrenders to English, 81-82; religious tyranny under, 85-87; builds Fort Casimir, 130; tries to settle boundary disputes, 136

Swannendael, 36

Sweden, plans expedition to New World, 126; entrance into Thirty Years' War, 126; establishes colony in America, 127-28

Tarrytown, 47

Tew, Thomas, 166-67

Thirty Years' War, 83, 126

Tienpont, associate of May, 61

_Tiger_, The (ship), 18

Trevor, Captain of the _William_, 132

Trinity Church founded, 165

Ulster refuses to send delegates to Fort James, 153

United Netherlands, gains foothold in America, 2, 17; colonists from, 22-29; relations with Spain, 30, 55; character of people, 30-31; relations with England, 76-77, 79-82; takes possession of New York in 1674, 143; _see also_ New Netherland

Usselinx, William, 126

Van Buren, A. H., cited, 23 (note)

Van Cortlandt, Stephanus, 154

Van Cortlandt Manor, 47

Van Curler, Arendt, 44

Van Dam, Rip, 195-97

Van der Donck, Adrian, 68, 72; _Representation_, 68, 70

Van Dyck, Hendrick, 74

Van Hoboocken, Harmanus, 95; _Reverential Request_, 100

Van Rensselaer, Jan, 43

Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, system of patroonship suggested by, 32-33; establishes Rensselaerswyck, 39-40; born (1580), 59 (note)

Van Rensselaer, Maria, 59 (note)

Van Slichtenhorst, Brandt, 71

Van Tienhoven, Cornelis, 69-70, 103

Van Twiller, Wouter, Governor of New Netherland, 45, 56, 57-61; nephew of Van Rensselaer, 45, 59 (note); De Vries's opinion of, 57; Irving's description of, 58; Griffis defends, 58-59; birth, 59 (note); lavish expenditure of, 59-60; Eelkens incident, 59, 132-35; recalled, 60

Van Wassenaer, Nicholas Janszoon, account of shipment of live stock, 24; of colony under Minuit, 52-53; of settlement of Fort Orange, 53-54

Verhulst, William, Director-General of New Netherland (1625-1626), 51

Verhulsten Island, 51

Verrazano visits Hudson River region, 16

Verstius (Vestens), William, 95

Walloons, 22, 97

Warren, Anne, mother of Sir William Johnson, 221

Warren, Captain Peter, 221

Warrensbush, 222

Weckquaesgeecks, 55, 63-66

Wendell, Captain, 156

Westchester, New Englanders in, 138; becomes part of Yorkshire, 138

West Point, Hudson reaches, 10

Willem Hendrick, Fort, 143

William of Orange and Mary, sovereigns of England, 149 _et seq._

_William_, The (ship), 132, 133, 134, 135

Wiltwyck, 23

Wisenberg, Catherine, wife of Sir William Johnson, 223

Yorkshire, 138

Zenger, John Peter, apprentice to Bradford, 193; collects subscription for playing organ, 193-94; publisher of _New York Weekly Journal_, 197; arrested for libel, 198; trial, 199-205

AN OUTLINE OF THE PLAN OF THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA

The fifty titles of the Series fall into eight topical sequences or groups, each with a dominant theme of its own--

I. _The Morning of America_

TIME: 1492-1763

The theme of the first sequence is the struggle of nations for the possession of the New World. The mariners of four European kingdoms--Spain, Portugal, France, and England--are intent upon the discovery of a new route to Asia. They come upon the American continent which blocks the way. Spain plants colonies in the south, lured by gold. France, in pursuit of the fur trade, plants colonies in the north. Englishmen, in search of homes and of a wider freedom, occupy the Atlantic seaboard. These Englishmen come in time to need the land into which the French have penetrated by way of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, and a mighty struggle between the two nations takes place in the wilderness, ending in the expulsion of the French. This sequence comprises ten volumes:

1. THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT, by Ellsworth Huntington 2. THE SPANISH CONQUERORS, by Irving Berdine Richman 3. ELIZABETHAN SEA-DOGS, by William Wood 4. CRUSADERS OF NEW FRANCE, by William Bennett Munro 5. PIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTH, by Mary Johnston 6. THE FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND, by Charles M. Andrews 7. DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON, by Maud Wilder Goodwin 8. THE QUAKER COLONIES, by Sydney G. Fisher 9. COLONIAL FOLKWAYS, by Charles M. Andrews 10. THE CONQUEST OF NEW FRANCE, by George M. Wrong

II. _The Winning of Independence_

TIME: 1763-1815

The French peril has passed, and the great territory between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi is now open to the Englishmen on the seaboard, with no enemy to contest their right of way except the Indian. But the question arises whether these Englishmen in the New World shall submit to political dictation from the King and Parliament of England. To decide this question the War of the Revolution is fought; the Union is born: and the second war with England follows. Seven volumes:

11. THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION, by Carl Becker 12. WASHINGTON AND HIS COMRADES IN ARMS, by George M. Wrong 13. THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION, by Max Farrand 14. WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES, by Henry Jones Ford 15. JEFFERSON AND HIS COLLEAGUES, by Allen Johnson 16. JOHN MARSHALL AND THE CONSTITUTION, by Edward S. Corwin 17. THE FIGHT FOR A FREE SEA, by Ralph D. Paine

III. _The Vision of the West_

TIME: 1750-1890

The theme of the third sequence is the American frontier--the conquest of the continent from the Alleghanies to the Pacific Ocean. The story covers nearly a century and a half, from the first crossing of the Alleghanies by the backwoodsmen of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas (about 1750) to the heyday of the cowboy on the Great Plains in the latter part of the nineteenth century. This is the marvelous tale of the greatest migrations in history, told in nine volumes as follows:

18. PIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST, by Constance Lindsay Skinner 19. THE OLD NORTHWEST, by Frederic Austin Ogg 20. THE REIGN OF ANDREW JACKSON, by Frederic Austin Ogg 21. THE PATHS OF INLAND COMMERCE, by Archer B. Hulbert 22. ADVENTURERS OF OREGON, by Constance Lindsay Skinner 23. THE SPANISH BORDERLANDS, by Herbert E. Bolton 24. TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 25. THE FORTY-NINERS, by Stewart Edward White 26. THE PASSING OF THE FRONTIER, by Emerson Hough

IV. _The Storm of Secession_

TIME: 1830-1876

The curtain rises on the gathering storm of secession. The theme of the fourth sequence is the preservation of the Union, which carries with it the extermination of slavery. Six volumes as follows:

27. THE COTTON KINGDOM, by William E. Dodd 28. THE ANTI-SLAVERY CRUSADE, by Jesse Macy 29. ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 30. THE DAY OF THE CONFEDERACY, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 31. CAPTAINS OF THE CIVIL WAR, by William Wood 32. THE SEQUEL OF APPOMATTOX, by Walter Lynwood Fleming

V. _The Intellectual Life_

Two volumes follow on the higher national life, telling of the nation's great teachers and interpreters:

33. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN EDUCATION, by Edwin E. Slosson 34. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN LITERATURE, by Bliss Perry

VI. _The Epic of Commerce and Industry_

The sixth sequence is devoted to the romance of industry and business, and the dominant theme is the transformation caused by the inflow of immigrants and the development and utilization of mechanics on a great scale. The long age of muscular power has passed, and the era of mechanical power has brought with it a new kind of civilization. Eight volumes:

35. OUR FOREIGNERS, by Samuel P. Orth 36. THE OLD MERCHANT MARINE, by Ralph D. Paine 37. THE AGE OF INVENTION, by Holland Thompson 38. THE RAILROAD BUILDERS, by John Moody 39. THE AGE OF BIG BUSINESS, by Burton J. Hendrick 40. THE ARMIES OF LABOR, by Samuel P. Orth 41. THE MASTERS OF CAPITAL, by John Moody 42. THE NEW SOUTH, by Holland Thompson

VII. _The Era of World Power_

The seventh sequence carries on the story of government and diplomacy and political expansion from the Reconstruction (1876) to the present day, in six volumes:

43. THE BOSS AND THE MACHINE, by Samuel P. Orth 44. THE CLEVELAND ERA, by Henry Jones Ford 45. THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE, by Solon J. Buck 46. THE PATH OF EMPIRE, by Carl Russell Fish 47. THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND HIS TIMES, by Harold Howland 48. WOODROW WILSON AND THE WORLD WAR, by Charles Seymour

VIII. _Our Neighbors_

Now to round out the story of the continent, the Hispanic peoples on the south and the Canadians on the north are taken up where they were dropped further back in the Series, and these peoples are followed down to the present day:

49. THE CANADIAN DOMINION, by Oscar D. Skelton 50. THE HISPANIC NATIONS OF THE NEW WORLD, by William R. Shepherd

_The Chronicles of America_ is thus a great synthesis, giving a new projection and a new interpretation of American History. These narratives are works of real scholarship, for every one is written after an exhaustive examination of the sources. Many of them contain new facts; some of them--such as those by Howland, Seymour, and Hough--are founded on intimate personal knowledge. But the originality of the Series lies, not chiefly in new facts, but rather in new ideas and new combinations of old facts.

The General Editor of the Series is Dr. Allen Johnson, Chairman of the Department of History of Yale University, and the entire work has been planned, prepared, and published under the control of the Council's Committee on Publications of Yale University.

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS

143 ELM STREET, NEW HAVEN 522 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK