Part 2

The tavern seems to have been in frequent use as a place of detention of persons obnoxious to the Director and his Council and of persons suspected of offenses against the orders of the Director-General, and it is probable that some part of the building was set apart for that purpose. Sometimes the prisoners were quite numerous, as when, in 1651, the crew of the ship "Nieuw Nederlandsche Fortuyn" were quartered here, and also when in 1656, after it had become the City Hall, were brought here the twenty-three Englishmen who had attempted to make a settlement in the present Westchester, hostile to the Dutch claim. Notwithstanding this, the tavern came to be patronized by many of the best people of the place and by the officers of the West India Company. It became a place where a great deal of business was transacted, both public and private, and was one of the places where all public notices were posted, the others being the fort and the barn of the West India Company. It was, too, before it became the City Hall, the place where the court frequently sat for the trial of minor cases. Here was held in the fall and winter of 1653 the Landtdag, or Diet, consisting of representatives from each of the Dutch towns, for the purpose of providing means of defence against the Indians. This was the most important popular convention that had ever been held in New Amsterdam.

[Sidenote: The City Tavern Becomes the City Hall]

In 1652 New Amsterdam was incorporated as a city under the government of a schout, two burgomasters and five schepens, and was allowed a separate magistracy, although not independent of Governor and Council. This made it necessary to have a city hall or town house, and soon after the City Tavern was ceded to the city and henceforth was known as the "stadt huys" or city hall.

[Sidenote: Captain Underhill Makes Trouble]

In the first settlement of New England the laws and regulations as to the sale of strong drink and as to restraint in indulgence were very rigid, but afterwards much relaxed. In New Amsterdam there was little restraint; so that when the notorious Puritan Captain John Underhill came down to New Amsterdam, however exemplary may have been his behavior while at home among his New England friends (although there had been some complaint), he let himself loose and became, as some would say, "gloriously drunk." On the night of the 15th of March, 1644, in the parlor of Philip Gerritsen of the City Tavern, Doctor Hans Kiersted, Dominie Bogardus, Gysbert Opdyck and several others, with their wives, were having a supper and spending an agreeable evening. Some time after the supper, while they were enjoying themselves, Captain Underhill, with Lieutenant Baxter and a drummer, who had evidently made the rounds of the town and were in an advanced state of intoxication, appeared at the door. Gerritsen could not forbid entrance to the worthy captain, but told him that he was entertaining a party of friends with their wives and requested him to take a separate room where he would serve them. They were finally induced to do this after much talk. They invited some of the company to drink with them and they complied. Baxter invited Opdyck to join them but he refused. Thereupon Underhill and his companions drew their swords and cut in pieces the cans on the shelves in the tavern, hacked the door-posts and endeavored by force to get into the room where the supper party was. This was for some time resisted by the landlady with a leaden bolt and by the landlord trying to keep the door closed; but, in spite of all opposition, they succeeded in forcing their way in. Underhill was in such a state that it was quite uncertain at what moment he might take a notion to flesh his sword in any Dutchman who stood in his way. With his sword half drawn he cried: "Clear out of here, for I shall strike at random." The fiscal and a guard from the fort were sent for, but they did not succeed in quieting the drunken Englishmen. In reply to some remarks of the Dominie, who suggested that the Director-General himself be sent for, Underhill said, as deposed by witnesses: "If the Director come here, 'tis well. I had rather speak to a wise man than a fool." To prevent further and more serious mischief, fearing that at any moment Underhill might pink the Dominie, the supper party withdrew, leaving Underhill in possession of the field. Thus the gallant Captain scored another victory.

When Wouter Van Twiller came out, in 1633, as Director-General, the pressing claims of England to the control of the whole territory on the Atlantic Coast, induced the West India Company to send out with him a military force of one hundred and four soldiers to garrison the fort. These were the first that had been sent over.

[Sidenote: Sergeant Peter Cock's Tavern]

Among the soldiers, some years later, was a man by the name of Peter Cock, who held the rank of sergeant. He built, or had constructed for him, a little house, such as were being put up at that time, northwest from the fort, on ground now occupied by No. 1 Broadway. It was very likely the first house built on that side of the fort and was used as a tavern. It was no doubt more patronized by the soldiers than any other.

Sergeant Cock was in command of several regular soldiers under La Montagne in the expedition against the Indians on Staten Island in 1643. On their return to New Amsterdam, they were all immediately sent out to Greenwich and Stamford, where they scoured the country in search of the Indians. In November of the same year Governor Kieft dispatched one hundred and twenty men, under the command of Dr. La Montagne, Cock and Underhill, to exterminate the Canarsee Indians. They brought back from this expedition some prisoners, who were afterwards barbarously treated, inhumanly tortured and finally killed in the public streets of New Amsterdam.

At Sergeant Cock's tavern the details of these expeditions and the part taken in them by each individual were, doubtless, thoroughly discussed by the soldiers as they drank their beer or other beverages served out to them. They talked over the quarrels of the Dominie and the Director-General and the last sermon in which the Dominie fulminated his biting diatribes against the Director; how the drummer beat up the drum and the gunner touched off one of the big guns when the Dominie was in the midst of one of his harangues, which distracted the congregation and almost threw them into a panic.

Next to the lot on which Sergeant Cock had built his house Martin Crigier obtained the grant of a lot in 1643, on which a house appears to have already been built, probably by himself. Crigier is said to have come out in the service of the West India Company when a young man, after his separation or release from which he had engaged in the business of trader and sloop captain on the North River and became an active and conspicuous citizen. He was certainly a doughty Dutchman, his name occupying a prominent place in the military annals of New Amsterdam.

The military expeditions in which he was engaged were numerous. In 1657 he went out in command of forty men to settle difficulties on the Delaware. In 1659 he commanded a force of sixty men, sent out to the same region to repel a threatened invasion of the English. In 1663 he was in command of the force sent to Esopus to punish the savages for their massacre of the Dutch, and in this expedition he seems to have had the complete confidence of Governor Stuyvesant, himself a valiant soldier. With Cornelis Van Tienhoven he was sent to New Haven to treat with the English and he was Burgomaster of New Amsterdam in 1653, 1654, 1659, 1660 and 1663.

[Sidenote: Burgomaster Martin Crigier, Tavern-Keeper]

He was an innkeeper and we can easily imagine that his house must have been the resort of all the Dutch politicians of his day, where were discussed not only plans of attack and defence, but also the policies of the little town in all its various aspects, both internally and in relation to the Indians and the English. The English, no doubt, were thoroughly discussed, for there was constant trouble with them at this time.

The house was near the fort, on ground now occupied by No. 3 Broadway, and looked out on the open ground of the present Bowling Green, which was then the parade of the soldiers, being in front of the gate of the fort, the eastern side of it being used as a market field on appointed days, where were displayed all kinds of country produce brought in from the surrounding country. Here, also, in this open space, in 1656 and subsequent years, was held, in the latter part of October and all through November, the cattle market for store and fat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, bucks, and such like. It was promised that stalls and other conveniences would be erected for those who brought such animals to market. This cattle-market, notice of which, by letter, had been sent out to the Dutch and English of Connecticut and Long Island, no doubt brought to New Amsterdam a great many from the surrounding country, even as far away as New Haven. The taverns were full and the life and activity of the city was much increased. The young men drank in the conversations of the city burghers at the taverns, discussed with them the price of beaver skins and other articles of trade with the Indians, and in turn told of the arts of the trapper and hunter, as well as adventures with the Indians and with the wild animals of the forest. These visitors, for a time, made the taverns gay and lively, and sometimes there were, no doubt, heated talks and even quarrels and personal encounters.

In front of the taverns of Captain Crigier and Sergeant Cock groups of men could be seen at such times bargaining and discussing prices and the news of the day. Beer was to be had and there was plenty of talk, for the outlying settlers brought in the news of their own sections and were very anxious to learn all the news of the city and still more anxious to get news from the fatherland.

Those who visited the city to bring in cattle and attend this market made of it a pleasure trip long to be remembered. Although New Amsterdam could not furnish any amusement that would intoxicate a modern New Yorker yet, to those who were passing their days in isolated homes, the gaiety of the little city was a source of great enjoyment; and in returning to their quiet homes they carried back with them all the little luxuries which they could afford and which the city could supply. They had also a great deal to tell their relatives and friends.

There is no doubt that when Peter Cock and Martin Crigier built their taverns to catch the patronage of the soldiers at the fort, the ground in the neighborhood to the west of the fort and along the river was in a perfect state of nature, untouched by the hand of man. The authorities kept the space in front of the fort clear of building; which, without any preconceived plan or intention on their part, resulted in leaving a triangular open space, which became the parade for the soldiers, the market place for cattle, and, afterwards, in the time of the English, the Bowling Green.

In September, 1659, transfer was made of a lot on the west side of the Heere Straat (Broadway), which was described as bounded on the south by the _newly-built house and lot of Burgomaster Martin Crigier_. It was about this time that improvements and a great advance were being made in the style of building, and as Crigier was at this time and had been some years previous a burgomaster, and was besides a conspicuous man in the community, it is natural to suppose that he would put up a good and substantial house.

On the other side of the fort, close under the shelter of its eastern wall, at the corner of the present Whitehall and Stone Streets, where the Produce Exchange now stands, was a little tavern which had been built in the most economical manner in 1641, and was kept by a Frenchman, Philip Gerard, called by the Dutch Geraerdy, who had left the gay city of Paris for life among the Dutch of New Amsterdam. Geraerdy probably had good reasons for the change; perhaps it was to escape conscription in the wars then raging in Europe. Riding the wooden horse in the fort was a common punishment of the soldiers, and Philip Geraerdy, we presume from a sense of humor, or for some other good reason, called his house the Wooden Horse, or at least it is so called in the Dutch records. The soldiers no doubt much preferred the wooden horse (or bench) in Philip's tavern to that in the fort. Philip was himself at one time a soldier, and had ridden the wooden horse, for May 27, 1642, "Philip Geraerdy, a soldier, for having been absent from the guard without leave," was sentenced to ride the wooden horse during parade, with a pitcher in one hand and a drawn sword in the other.

[Sidenote: The White Horse Tavern]

After a few years the name of Philip's house underwent a change. This may have been the result of a sort of evolutionary process, induced by Philip, who erected in front of his house a sign on which was painted a white horse on a dark background, very conspicuous. The house became known as the Sign of the White Horse or the White Horse Tavern.

Some lively scenes were connected with the little tavern. One dark night in the spring of 1643, farmer Jan Damen, whose house was just beyond the present Wall Street near Broadway, drank deep in Philip's house, and was in such a condition that Geraerdy thought it prudent to guide him home, which act of benevolence cost him dearly. Damen must have been in a mood that threatened trouble, for Geraerdy had taken the precaution to draw his sword from its scabbard and carry it himself. At the house Damen's serving man, armed with a long knife, resisted his master's entrance. Damen used the scabbard as a weapon and also secured a knife, and in the fight which ensued Geraerdy was, as the surgeon declared, dangerously wounded, Damen having struck him in the dark under the shoulder blade.

It was a dramatic and semi-tragic scene when "Black John," who hailed from the seaport town of Monnikendam, near Amsterdam, one morning, as they were at the house of Philip Geraerdy, addressed Ensign Hendrick Van Dyck, saying: "Brother, my service to you," to which the ensign answered: "Brother, I thank you." "Black John" did not hand over the can, but instead struck the ensign with it on his forehead so that blood flowed, saying that that was his Monnikendam fashion, and threw him over on his back. This, it is related, was done without having words or dispute of any kind.

Geraerdy became a sergeant in the burgher troops, and while keeping a tavern was also a trader and a man of business. Besides his own language he could speak both Dutch and English, acting occasionally as an interpreter. He succeeded so well that in a few years he built for himself a substantial house on that part of his lot fifty or sixty feet down from the corner on Stone Street.

[Sidenote: Taverns Regulated]

When Governor Peter Stuyvesant arrived, in May, 1647, he found New Amsterdam, to use an expression of the present day, "a wide open town." Before the close of the month he issued an order requiring that all places where liquor was sold should remain closed on Sunday before two o'clock in the afternoon, and, in case of preaching in the fort, until four o'clock,--this, under penalty of the owners being deprived of their occupation, and besides being fined six Carolus guilders for each person who should be found drinking wine or beer within the stated time, excepting only travellers and those who were daily customers, fetching the drinks to their own homes; and that all such places should be closed every night at the ringing of the bell about nine o'clock. In issuing this order he says: "Whereas we have experienced the violence of our inhabitants, when drunk, their quarrelling, fighting and hitting each other, even on the Lord's day of rest, of which we have ourselves witnessed the painful example last Sunday, in contravention of law, to the contempt and disgrace of our person and office, to the annoyance of our neighbors, and to the disregard and contempt of God's holy laws and ordinances," etc.

In March, 1648, he found that further action was necessary. He declared that one-fourth of the houses had been turned into taverns for the sale of brandy, tobacco and beer, and that they were detrimental to the welfare of the community; he therefore issued a set of rules for their regulation. No new tap-houses should be opened without the unanimous vote of the Director and Council. Those who had been tapsters could continue as such for four years at least, but in the meantime, should seek some other means of livelihood, so as not to be dependent on it. Orders as to closing at nine o'clock every night and on Sundays were repeated. Tapsters were to report all fights or disorderly conduct in their places, and physicians were to report all cases where they were called on to dress wounds received in such disturbances. This does not necessarily indicate that New Amsterdam was at this time a disorderly place, for like New York of the present day, it was a cosmopolitan city. The population at that time was not over five hundred souls, and it has been declared that eighteen different languages were spoken by the inhabitants.

[Sidenote: Litschoe's Tavern]

Some time previous to the year 1648 Daniel Litschoe established an inn on what is now Pearl Street in the outskirts of the town, which became the resort of the country people coming in from Long Island. Litschoe came out to New Amsterdam with the earliest settlers as ensign in the military service of the Dutch. He was with Stuyvesant at Beverwyck and on his order hauled down the lord's colors. He also went out with Stuyvesant in the expedition against the Swedes on the Delaware as lieutenant.

The tavern seems to have been a good-sized building, for it is spoken of as "the great house," but this is to be taken as in comparison with its neighbors. It had at least a quarter of an acre of ground attached to it, and stood back some little distance from the street. A part of the lot is now covered by No. 125 Pearl Street. In the spring of 1651, Litschoe leased this house to Andries Jochemsen, who kept it as a tavern or ale house for many years and had lots of trouble with the authorities. He would tap on Sundays and after nine o'clock, and his house was the resort of disorderly persons. After keeping tavern for some years in a house which he had built just outside the city wall, Litschoe purchased a lot inside the wall between it and the house he had resided in some years before, and here he, and after his death in 1662, his wife, Annetje, kept a tavern for many years.

When Sir Henry Moody came from Virginia in 1660 to exchange ratifications of the treaty to regulate commerce between that colony and New Netherland he was received with all the usual diplomatic honors. Two members of the council, under escort of halberdiers, were sent "to compliment him in his lodgings," and Moody, appearing in the fort, presented his credentials. He resided a considerable time at the house of Daniel Litschoe and when he left the city he failed to settle his score, for which his library left at the house was sold. More people came into the city over the river road from the Long Island ferry than from any other direction, and Litschoe's tavern near the city gate was an inviting resting place. It was one of the stations where fire-buckets were kept for use in cases of emergency.

The city wall, above mentioned, was a line of palisades straight across the island along the northerly side of the present Wall Street, passing through the present Trinity Churchyard. On the inside of the palisades was an embankment and a ditch. It was built in the year 1653, when England and Holland were at war and New Amsterdam was threatened by the New England colonists. Through this line of defence there were two gates, the land-gate at the present junction of Broadway and Wall Street and the water-gate at the river road or present Pearl Street.

[Sidenote: Peter Cock's Troubles to Obtain a Wife]

Peter Cock added much to the piquancy of the gossip of the taverns and the town when, in 1653, probably no longer a soldier, he brought suit against Annetje Cornelissen Van Vorst, claiming the fulfillment of a promise of marriage. The case occupied the time and attention of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens at a great many sessions, statements and counter-statements being presented to the Court, who, considering the case too large for them, sent it, with the papers, to the Director and Council for their decision. It was sent back to the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens, with a recommendation to appoint a committee to examine the papers and report. The final decision, pronounced May 18, 1654, was that the promise was a binding contract. From this decision Annetje appealed, but it was confirmed. In some way Annetje obtained a release, at any rate, she married November 11, 1656, Claes Jansen Van Purmerendt, a tobacco planter of Paulus Hook. Peter consoled himself with another Annetje, for on June 13, 1657, he married Annetje Dirks, of Amsterdam.

In 1661 Annetje Cock was a widow and in control of the tavern which Peter Cock had left. She asked permission to build a new house on the southeast corner of the lot, which request was refused, as it would be too near the fort. Her husband had contracted for the building of a house on the lot, which she claimed was voided by his death, and wished to make a new contract with others, but the court decided that the old contract was binding. A new house was built which was kept by her as a tavern for many years.

[Sidenote: A Dutch Tavern]

The taverns of New Amsterdam were probably modeled somewhat after those of Holland, for the Dutch were a people who stuck to the customs of the fatherland. The description of a Dutch tavern, from the journal of one of our citizens who visited a part of the Netherlands where customs have not changed for centuries is here given.

"It was the business of the good vrow or her maid to show up the traveller, and open the doors in the smooth partition of the box which was to receive his weary limbs for the night, and which otherwise he might not be able to discover, and after he crept into it, to come back again and blow out the candle, and in the morning to draw the curtains of the windows at the hour he fixed to rise. There was generally one room in which all the guests were received, and where there was a pleasant reunion in the evening, and all the visitors ate, drank and smoked. It had, in one corner, a closet, which, when opened (and, honestly, it was not unfrequently opened), disclosed sundry decanters, glasses and black bottles; and, on one side of the room, a rack in which were suspended by their bowls a score or two of very long pipes, each one inscribed with the name of a neighbor or owner. This was the room of Mynheer the landlord. He had no care beyond this; mevrow was the head of the house; she attended to all the wants of the guests, and gave them the information which they might desire. She was always on the spot as when, with a 'wet te rusten,' like a good mother, she bade you good night, and when, with a 'hoo-y-reis,' like an old friend, she bade you good-by."