Scharf, J. Thomas, ed. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I. Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co., 1886.

Potomac and Ohio on the south, to Canada on the north, and from the Atlantic Ocean on the east, to the Father of Waters on the west, at the time of Hudson's discovery of the great bay of New York and the magnificent river which bears his name. Each of these three confederacies embraced numerous distinct tribes, sub-tribes, and smaller tribal divisions, or cantons, and …

Like more civilized people they took up the hatchet against a tribe of the same stock, if occasion arose, as freely as against an enemy of another race. Conflicting claims to lands, disputed boundaries, and the rivalries of neighborhoods, not unfrequently gave rise to enmities and wars. Thus in 1609, the tribes on the western side of the bay of New York and the lower Hudson …

The first writer on New Netherland, was Johan (John) de Laet, a learned man, a native of Antwerp) but a resident of the city of Leyden. He wrote in 1622, and first published in 1625, sixteen years only afler the discovery, through the Elzevirs at Leyden a "History of the New World," which contains the first historical account of what is now New York. He was a director of the …

At that time, de Laet says, the Indians on the west side of the Bay and River were called " Sank/iicanni," or Sanhicans, and those on the east, " Makicanni," or Mahicans, Mohicans, or Mohegans' the latter being Connecticut spelling of the word* The Dutch termed them " Mahikanders," and the natives on both sides of the Hudson collectively, the " River Indians." The Dutch word …

All the natives of the main between the Hudson and the Connecticut, from the Sound on the south to the Green, and the White, mountains on the north, were Mohicans, and their great council fire was established on the Hudson, in the present town of (xreenbush, nearly opposite Albany. The name of the Hudson was " Mahicannituek," or River of the Mahicans; just as the Delaware was …

3 Memoir, N. V. Hist. Soc. Coll., II. series, vol. 2, p. 85. The Indians of Westchester County were therefore Mahicans, or Mohicans, as it is easier to call them, of the Turkey tribe or clan of the Lenni-Lenape, or Delaware, stock of North American aborigines. They Avere divided into several sub-tribes, cantons, or chieftaincies, each ruled by a Sacchima, as the Dutch called …

A few miles further up the Hudson was another town of the same tribe called Alipconck, or place of Elms, now Tarrytown. This tribe seems to have held the centre of the County from the lands of the Siwanoys on the east to the Hudson on the west. Adjoining them on the north were the Sint-sinks possessing two villages, Ossingsing now Sing-Sing, and Kestabuinck, the latter of …

From Hellgate along the Sound, including the whole eastern side of Westchester County, and Connecticut, as far as Norwalk and its islands, and inland to the valley of the Bronx and the head waters of the Croton, a single and numerous tribe possessed all the land. These were the Sewanoes, or Siwanoys, as de Laet writing in 1624, the earliest and most trustworthy authority on …

One of these was at Throg's Point, another at the extreme point of Pelham Neck, another on de Laucey's Neck at the narrowest point at the mouth of the Harbour, where a small creek running into the Harbour from the west, and a round field.of upland adjacent to it, are still known as the Indian creek, and the Indian field, and the point itself as Indian Point. A fourth existed …

" Oh ! you are an Indian giver " is sometimes heard, expressive of the idea, of giving a thing and then taking it back, which has its origin in this custom. They sometimes sold and deeded the same land more than once, in whole, or in part. This was in pursuance of a custom which with them was a law. It is thus stated by Ruttenber in his " History of the River Indians," page …

In Westchester County the Indian title was first extinguished by purchase from the Indians pursuant to a license from the Dutch or English authorities, then Manors and (frants, by patents were obtained in the manner directed by the Dutch or English laws. And usually in the case of the Manors and larger patents, deeds of confirmation were subsequently obtained from the Indians …

The chief of some tribes attended, to complain of a purchase of lands which had been made from the Kickapoos. The harshness of language used by Tecumseh in the course of the conference caused it to be broken up in confusion. In the progress of the long "talks," which took place, Tecumseh, having finished one of his speeches, looked around, but seeing every one seated, while no …

1 Mi>iilton's Hist. N. Y., 27. vided between themselves this western world. These principles formed the basis of a conventional international law wliich has been always observed in America. They define with precision, to whom the Indians could dispose of their rights to dominion and to the soil, and to whom they could not. They have been laid down by Chancellor Kent and Chief …

" First, that discovery gave title to the government, by whose subjects, or under whose authority it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession. Hence if the country be discovered and possessed by emigrants of an existing acknowledged government, the possession is deemed taken for the Nation, and title must be derived from …

" Fourthly, The ultimate dominion was asserted, and, as a consequence, a power to grant the soil while yet in the possession of the Natives. Hence, such dominion was incompatible with an absolute and complete title in the Indians. Consequently thej' had no right to sell to any other than the government of the first discoverer, nor to private citizens without the sanction of …

Therefore each State before the Union in 1789, and each State since, (within its circumscribed territorial jurisdiction) possessed, and possesses, by its government the exclusive right to purchase from the Indians. ""Sixthly, That the allodial property in the territory of this State, or that which has become exclusively vested in the United States, is solely in the governments …

Such were the contests of France and Spain as to the territory on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico ; between France and Great Britain from their nearly contemporaneous settlements, till the treaty of Paris in 1763, when France ceded and guaranteed to Great Britain, Nova Scotia or Acadia, Canada and their dependencies. The cessions and reti-ocessions of the European powers …

A Patent was granted to Ferdinando Gorges for Maine, which was allotted to him in the division of property. New Hampshire was granted to John Mason. Before the surrender by the Dutch of their colony, now New York, in 1664, the King of England had granted to the Duke of York, the country of New England, and as far as the Delaware Bay. The Duke subsequently transferred New …

However extravagant the pretension may appear, of converting the discovery of an inhabited country into conquest, if the principle has been asserted in the first instance, and afterwards juaintained ; if a country has been acquired and held under it ; if the jjroperty of the great mass of the community originates in it, it becomes the law of the land and cannot be questioned …

Wars, in which the whites were not always the aggressoi-s, ensued. European policy, numbers, and skill, prevailed. As the white j)opulation advanced, that of the Indians necessarily receded. The country in the neighbourhood of agriculturalists became unfit for them. The game fled into thicker and more unbroken forests, and the Indians followed. The soil to which the CVown …

By the treaty of peace, in 1783, Great Britain relinquished all claim not only to the government, but to the soil, and territorial rights, of the thirteen Colonies as claimed by the American negotiators of that treaty, the boundaries of which collectively were fixed by its second article. And by that treaty all the powers of that government and its right to the soil passed to …

During her whole existence as a British Colony, a period of one hundred and nineteen years, New York was a Royal Government, a Province independent in all respects except her allegiance to the British sovereign, whose representative was the Royal Governor for the time being. As such representative the Governor granted by patent all the lands which were granted in the Province …

Conscejuently a grant from the British Crown is tlie highest source of title in this State, and one which is irrefragable, and incapable of being affected adversely in any way by any legislative, or other, act of the State government, or any decision of any Court of this Stale, or of the United States. 3. The Dutch in Xeto Netherland. A brief statement of the dealings of the …

The extraordinary success of the East India Company at that time and the enormous dividends it declared drew the general attention to the eastern, and not to the western world. A single vessel in 1610, the year after the return of the Half Moon, made a successful trading voyage to the "River of the Mountains," returning to Holland with a valuable cargo of peltries. Two Dutch …

In this yacht, in the summer of 1614, Block sailed through Hellgate and explored Long Island Sound and the adjacent coast as far east as Cape Cod, discovering the Housatonic, and Connecticut rivers Narraganset Bay, and the island that still bears his name. He then first ascertained that Long Island was an island. The Connecticut river he ascended to a little above the present …

They presented a memorial to this effect, accompanied by the first map ever made of the region of New Netherland -- a "Carte Figuratif," as they styled it -- to the States-General in the autumn of 1614. The application met their approval, and on the 11th of October, in the same year, that sovereign body made a grant to the petitioners of the privilege sought, to run for the …

Merchants of the City of Hoorn, owners of the ship named the Fortuyn, wherof Cornelis Jacobssen May was skipper ; all now associated in one company, have respectfully represented to us, that they, the petitioners, after great expenses and damages by loss of ships and other dangers, had, during the present year discovered and found, with the above-named five ships, certain New …

" Which being considered, We therefore in Our Assembly having heard the pertinent Report of the Petitioners, relative to the discoveries and findings of the said new Countries between the above-named limits and degrees, and also of their adventures, have consented and granted, and by these presents do consent and grant, to the said Petitioners now united into one company, that …

rectly or indirectly, within the said three years, on pain of confiscation of the vessel and Cargo wherewith infraction hereof shall be attempted, and a fine of Fifty thousand Netherland Ducats for the benefit of the said discoverers or finders ; provided, nevertheless, that by these presents We do not intend to prejudice or diminish any of our former grants or charters; And …

This the States-General refused, having in contemplation to charter a great military and commercial company for the West Indies similar to the great organization of that nature then existing for the East Indies. The object in view in both was the same, namely, to establish a power, which could, at the same time, maintain profitable foreign trade, and carry on military and …

This committee sat for several months endeavoring, after hearing both sides, to effect this object ; but finding it impossible, they so reported, and the States General refused to give either party the wished for prize. In less than seven months after this rejection, " the long pending question of a grand armed commercial organization was finally settled; and an ample charter …

By the good efforts of some benevolent monks of Malaga many of the kidnapped Indians were rescued from slavery, and eventually found their way back to America. One of these was Squanto, who on reaching London, was sent by Mr. Slaney, merchant and treasurer of the Newfoundland Company to that island. There Dermer met him, on touching at the island on his way to England on a …

Their disease is the plague, for we might perceive the sores of some that had escaped who described the spots of such as usually die, (evidently the small-pox). When I arrived at my savage's native country, finding all dead, I travelled a long days journey westward to a place called Nummastaguyt (a place fifteen miles west from Patuxet) where finding inhabitants, I despatched …

Patuxet was the very place where on the 21st of December, 1620, eighteen months later, the Pilgrims from Leyden landed from the Mayflower, and which Captain John Smith six years before had called " Plymouth," a name which will ever be famous in New England history. Strange are the historic facts, that slaves were its first export, and those slaves Indians, that its first …

Squanto terribly disappointed at finding all his 2:)eople dead, remained with Dermer, till he touched on this second pinnace voyage, at Sawah-quatooke (an Indian town in the present township of Brewster on Cape Cod) " where," in Dermer's words, " he desired to stay with some of our savage friends." Subsequently Squanto, from the knowledge of English he had picked up> became of …

Near unto this we found a most dangerous cataract amongst small, rocky islands, occasioned by two unequal tides, the one ebbing and flowing two hours before the other." This was Hellgate, and the place were the Indians " let fly" at them was in the neighborhood of Throg's Point. Such was the voyage of the first Englishman who ever sailed through Long Island Sound, and the …

Dermer spent the succeeding winter (1619-20) in Virginia, went back to New England the next summer, again visited Plymouth in June, and described its advantages for a town settlement in his letter of the 30th of that month, went again to Virginia, and there died. On this return voyage from Virginia, Dermer, in the words of the " Brief Relation " of the Plymouth Company's …

Twenty-nine years after Dermer's visit, in the year 1648, there appeared in England a ])amplilet, under the nom de plume of " Beauchamp Plantagenet, Esq.," entitled, " A Description of the Province of New Albion," in which it is stated, that Capt. Samuel Argall, on his return to Virginia from Acadia in 1613, "landed at Manhatas Isle, in Hudson's river, where they found four …

Murphy of Brooklyn, a great lawyer, a practiced statesman, in the Dutch language profoundly skilled, and who had been minister to Holland, after a thorough investigation of this story of Argyll's visit, placed in a note to his translation of Van dor Donck's "Vertoogh," or "Representation," of New Netherland, published in 1849, the following emphatic opinion, -- " This story is …

The first step in this direction was the chartering of the West India Company by the States General of the United Netherlands on the third of June 1621. Such an organization as an armed military trading company to Africa and Virginia, was suggested by William Usselinx, a merchant of Antwerp, in 16uG, as a means of aiding the Government in the war with Spain, then raging. Some …

1 II. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., 2d Series, 326 ; see also I. Brodhead, 51, and note E., p. I'A. - Prince Maurice. to, and approve thereof, and direct that the same shall be punctually attended to and observed, by the directors, members, and every person concerned therein, in the same manner as if they wore inserted in the charter; because we find them proper for the service of …

The West India Company's Charter consists of a preamble and forty-five articles, together with the preamble and twelve articles of the final agreement of the 21st of June 1623 above-mentioned. The central power of this vast association, as O'Callaghan states, " was divided, for the more efficient exercise of its functions, among five branches or chambers, established in the …

Apart from the exclusive trade of the coast of Africa, from the tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, and of the coast of America, from the Straits of Magellan to the extreme North [Terra Nova or Newfoundland], this Company was authorized to Ibrm alliances with the chiefs of the Indian tribes, and obligated to advance the settlement of their possessions, encourage …

The Director-General and his Council were invested with all powers judicial, legislative, and executive, subject, some supposed, to appeal to Holland; but the will of the Company, expressed in their instructions, or declared in their marine or military ordinances, was to be the law of New Netherland, excepting in cases not especially provided for, when the Roman Law, the …

" The States General engaged, among other things, to secure to the Company freedom of navigation and traffic, within the prescribed limits, and to assist them with a million of guilders, equal to nearly half a million of dollars; and in case peace should be disturbed, with sixteen vessels of war and four yachts, fully armed and equipped; the i'ornier to be at least of three …

And such was the basis of the legal system under which civil rule and civil law was first established within its borders; and under which it flourished and was governed, till the close of the Dutch dominion, a period of more than half a century. 4. The Colonhntion by the West India Company. In the same year, 1623, the West India Company began the colonization of New …

These Walloons were the inhabitants of the frontier between France, and Flanders, from the river Scheldt to the river Lys, their language was the old French, and their religion the Reformed Faith of the Huguenots. Associated with this expedition, as the captain of the ship, was Adrian Joris, who had made several prior voyages to the coast of America, although he is sometimes …

The first colonists of this region spoke no English, and knew no English law, and they were brought here by the nation which first discovered and occupied the land,' a nation likewise ignorant of English law and of the English tongue. The Roman law, with a few Batavian customs engrafted upon it, was the first legal system established in the entire region, and it not only …

in those days was also the seal of "New Amsterdam," Burmounted by a mantle having in its centre the letters G. W. C, the initials of " Geoctroyeedo AVest Indische Comp\gnie," the Dutch appellation of the West India Company. --III. Doc. Hist, 396. 6 Wassenaer, III. Doc. Hist., 4.3. 6 I. Brod., 156. " Cabot, whose voyage along the coast of North America was the basis of the …

The rest on arriving were landed on "Noten," now Governor's, Island, then covered by a dense forest of nut trees, so thick that the pasturage was insufficient, and two days later all the animals were transferred to Manhattan Island where they throve well. These ships also brought six more families of Walloons, and a few single people, forty-five persons in all.' To Verhiilst …

By virtue of these powers, and of the vote of the Company placing New Netherland under its sole control and management, the Amsterdam Chamber of the Company appointed Peter Minuit Director- (teneral, and the following persons as his council, viz., Peter Bylvelt, Jacob Elbertsen Wissinck, Jan Jansen Brouwer, Symon Dirksen Pos and Reynert Harmensen. To these were added Isaac de …

He was also chief custom-house officer and had power to inspect vessels and their cargoes, sign their papers, and confiscate all goods introduced in violation of the Company's regulations. This most responsible of all the offices in the new government was held during Director Minuit's entire administration by the above-named Jan Lampo who was a native of Cantelberg. It should …

The Governor and Council first laid out and commenced the erection of a regular fortification on the extreme southern point of Manhattan Island. The engineer was Krijn Frederickje, and it was begun in 1626, was not finished in July 1627, as de Rasieres tells us, but was probably completed at the end of 1627. Its predecessor, though called a fort, was simply a stockaded trading …

Bradford of Plymouth, for a friendly trade, visited that celebrated place, as a New Netherland envoy in 1627, and has left us an account of it in this letter, discovered at the Hague in 1846, and first printed in II. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., 2 Series, 339. On the 23d of September, 1626. this shij), the " Arms of Amsterdam," sailed again on her return voyage to Holland, with a …

She had a comparatively rapid passage, reaching Amsterdam on the fourth of November following, a little over six weeks. The very next day, the delegate of the States- General in the "Assembly of the XIX.," then in session, advised that august body of the arrival, and the news, by letter. Unfortunately Minuit's official despatch has not been preserved, but tlje letter of Pieter …

They send thence samples of summer grain ; such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, beans, aud flax. The cargo of said ship is ; -- 7,246 Beaver skins. 178J Otter skins. 675 Otter skins. 48 Minck skins. 36 Wild cat skins. 33 Minckes. 34 Rat skins. Considerable oak timber and hickory. Herewith, High and Mighty Lords, be recommended to the mercy of the Almighty …

Of no other of the nations of Europe which colonized America, except the Dutch, can it be truly said that this wise and Chiistian principle always governed them in their dealings with the Indians. Much has been written about AVilliam Penn as being the first to purchase their lands by treating with them. But Director Minuit on the banks of the Hudson preceded him in this …

The price paid for the Island was a fair one, for the time, age, and place, for it was nothing but a little wild island on a coast almost unknown, of a continent entirely unknown. It was but one of hundreds and hundreds of small islands lying all along the Western shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with nothing to show it had any value at all except the prior occupation of one end …

New Amsterdam, and that the value of the imports (supplies and goods) was 20,384 guilders, about 8,500 dollars, and that of the exports (furs and timber) were 45,050 guilders, about 14,000 dollars.* It was simply as a station to collect furs from the Indians that Manhattan Island then had any value whatever. Such was the beginning of that "Province of New Netherland" in the …

This Petition of fifty-six heads of families, Walloon, and French, all of the Reformed Religion was presented to, and left, with Carleton, who sent it to Eng- 1 md, enclosed in a letter of his own favoring its object, dated the 19tli of July. 1621. Accompanying the petition was a written covenant in these words ; -- "We promise his Lordship the ambassador of the most serene …

Among the names are those well known in New Amsterdam from that day to this, as De Forest, De La Montagne, Lambert, Le Roy, Du Puy, and others, as good, honest, upright people. The Lords in Council referred the application to the Virginia Company, who received it very coldly, suggested a few modifications and declined any assistance, in money or in transportation. This ended …

and under which they had always lived, and was based on fealty, homage, and manorial rights, as fixed by the Roman law, with which alone they were acquainted, and which under the West India Company was established as the law of New Netherland, and governed it till its conquest by the English in 1664. The articles of this " petition" numbers five and six, are in these words …

Whether they would be permitted in the "said lands to hunt all game whether furred or " feathered, to fish in the sea and the rivers, to cut "heavy timber, as well for ship building as for com- " merce, at their own will ; in a word, whether they "could make use of all things either above or beneath "the ground, at their own pleasure and will, the royal "rights reserved; and …

It found this a difficult duty to perform, mainly in consequence of two causes. The first was, the extreme profit of the fur trade which absorbed the general attention. The second was, that the farmers and laborers of Holland knew that they could do well enough at home. This fact is thus state<l in a report of the Assembly of XIX. to the States General in 1629, referring to …

After much discussion, and long deliberations, it was finally determined in the Assembly of the XIX. that a plan should be prepared giving special privileges, powers, and exemptions, to such members of the Company who would, at their own expense and risk, send out expeditions, and establish separate and distinct plantations in any part of New Netherland, Manhattan Island …

Only three or four copies of this pamphlet are now known to exist, and it is so rare that within ten years a distinguished New York antiquarian reprinted it in fac-simile. As it is the first instrument under which lands in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and Connecticut, were acquired, and on which titles rest, it is here given in full from the …

shall be permitted to send in the ships of this Company going thither, three of four j)ersons to inspect the situation of the country, provided that they, with the officers and ships company, swear to the articles, so far as they relate to them, and pay for provisions and for passage, going and coming, six stuyvers per diem ; and such as desire to eat in the cabin twelve …

All such shall be acknowledged Patroons of New Netherland, who shall, within the space of four years next after they have given notice to any of the chambers of the company here, or to the Commander or the Council there, undertake to plant a colonic there of fifty souls, upwards of fifteen years old ; onefourth part within one year, and within three years after the sending of …

The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shnll and may be permitted, at such places as they shall settle their colonies, to extend their limits four miles along the shore, that is, on one side of a navigable river, or two miles ' on each side of a river, and so far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will permit; provided and conditioned that the company keep to …

were such, that the Commander and Council for good reasons, should order otherwise; always observing that the first occupiers are not to be prejudiced in the right they have obtained, other than, unless the service of the Company should require it, for the building of fortifications, or something of that sort ; remaining, moreover the command of each bay, liver, or island, of …

They shall forever possess and enjoy all the lands lying within the aforesaid limits, together with the fruits, rights, minerals, rivers and fountains thereof; as also the chief command and lower jurisdictions,' fishing, fowling, and grinding, to the exclusion of all others, to be holden from the company as a perpetual inheritance, without it ever devolving again to the …

The Patroons may, if they think proper, make use of all lands, rivers, and woods, lying contiguous to them, for and during so long a time as this company shall not grant them to other Patroons or j)articular individuals. " IX. Those who shall send persons over to settle colonies shall furnish them v.-ith proper instructions, in order that they may be ruled and governed …

In case it should not suit the Company to send any ships, or in those going there should be no room ; then the said Patroons, after having communicated their intentions, and after having obtained consent from the Comi)any in writing, may send their own ships or vessels thither; jirovided that in going or coming they go not out of their ordinary course ; giving security to the …

All the Patroons of colonies in New Netherland, and of colonies on the Island of Manhattes, shall be at liberty to sail and traffic all along the coast from Florida to Terra Neuf,* provided that they do again return, with all such goods as they shall get in trade, to the Island of Manhattes, and pay five per cent, for recognition to the Company, in order, if possible, that …

In case the ships of the Patroons, in going to, or coming from, or sailing on, the coast from Florida to Terra Neuf, and no further without our grant, should overpower any of the prizes of the enemy, they shall be obliged to bring, or cause to be brought such prize to the college (chamber) of the place, from whence they sailed out, in order to be rewarded by them ; the company …

But the same shall be permitted at such places where the company have no factories,' conditioned that such traders shall be obliged to bring all the peltry they can procure to the island of Manhattes, in case it may be, at any rate, practicable, and there deliver to the director, to be by him shipped hither with the ships and goods ; or, if they should come hither, without …

All coarse wares that the colonists of the Patroons there shall consume, such as pitch, tar, wood-ashes, wood, grain, fish, salt, hearthstone, and such like things, shall be brought over in the company's ships, at the rate of eighteen guilders ($7.20) per last; four thousand weight to be accounted a last, and the company's ship's crew shall be obliged to wheel and bring the …

They will not take from the service of the Patroons any of their colonists, either man or woman, son or daughter, man-servant or maid-servant ; and though any of them should desire the same, they will not receive them, nor permit them to leave their Patroons, and enter into the service of another, unless on consent obtained from their Patroons in writing; and this for and …

In regard to such ]irivate persons as on their own account, or others in the service of their masiers here (not enjoying the same privileges as the Patroons), shall be inclined to go thither and settle; they shall with the approbation of the Director and Council there, be at liberty to take up as much land, and take possession thereof, as they shall be able properly to …

And it is consented to tlint the Patroons of Colonists may send ships along the coast of New Nciherland, on the cod fishery, and witii the fish they catch 10 trade to Italy, or other neutral countries, paying in such cases to the Company for recognition six guilders (82.40) per last; and if they should come with their lading hither, they shall be at liberty to proceed to …

And the Patroons shall be exempt fr m all recognition to the company for the term of eight years, and pay only for freight, to bring them over, two i)er cent., and after the aforesaid eight years, for recognition and freight, the one-eighth part of what the same may be worth. "XXV. The company will take all the colonists, as well free as those in service under their …

The colonies that shall happen to lie on the respective rivers, or islands (that is to say, each river or island lor itself), shall be at liberty to appoint a deputy, who shall give information to the Commander and Council of that Western quarter, of all things relating to his colonie, and who are to further matters relating thereto, of which deputies there shall be one …

It will be noted that under the first article of this Plan, or charter, of Freedoms and Exemptions, the privilege of becoming Patroons, with all their rights, powers, and exemptions, hereditary and otherwise wr.s confined solely to the members, that is the stockholders, of the West India Company. Other persons however, could, with the permission of the Director ard Council of …

The first of these were Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blommaert, whose agents, sent out some time previously, on June 1st, 1729, a few days before the passing of the charter, bought for them of the Delaware Indians, the lands on the southwest side of Delaware Bay from Cape Henlopen thirty-two miles northwardly in length, and two miles inland in width. As these were Dutch miles, the …

It bears date the 15th of July 1630, and bears the signatures of Pieter Minuit and his Council, -- the only signatures of those officials known to be iu existence, and is the first title given by civilized men to lands in the present State of Delaware, and the first in New Netherland under the charter of Freedoms and Exemptions of 1629. Its date is two years before Lord …

" We, the Director and Council in New Netherland, residing on the Island Manahatas and in Fort Amsterdam, under the authority of their High Mightinesses tlie Lords States-General of the United Netherlands, and of the Incorporated West India Company, Chamber at Amsterdam, hereby acknowledge and declare, that on this day, the date underwritten, came and appeared before us, in …

Samuel Godin and Samuel Blommaert, absent; and for whom We, by virtue of our office, under proper stipulation, do accept the same namely : the Land to them belonging, situate on the South side of the aforesaid Bay, by us called the Bay of the South River, extending in length from C. Hinlopen off unto the mouth of the aforesaid South River, about eight leagues (groote mylen) …

Without they, the Grantors having, reserving, or retaining for the i'uture, any, the smallest part, right, action, or authority, whether of property, command, or jurisdiction therein ; but now, hereby, forever and a day desisting, retiring from, abandoning and renouncing the same for the behoof aforesaid; promising further, not only to observe, fulfil, and to hold fast …

Another of the directors who took time by the forelock in the matter of the Patroonships was Kiliaen van Rensselaer of Amsterdam, who de Vries tells us " wns accustomed to polish pearls and diamonds." At his request Sebastian Jansen Kraol, who had resided as commissary at Fort Orange for three or four years, bought for him early in 1630, of the Mohican Indians, a tract on t"he …

We the Director and Council of New Netherlands residing on the Island of Manahatas and iu Fort Amsterdam, under the authority of their High Mightinesses the Lords States-General of the United Netherlands and the Incorporated West India Company, Chamber at Amsterdam, do hereby acknowledge and declare, that on this day, the date underwritten, before us appeared and presented …

Van Rensselaer, or those who may hereafter acquire his interest ; also to dispose of, do with, and alienate it, as he or others should or might do with his other and own Lands and domains acquired by good and lawful title, without the grantors therein retaining, reserving, or holding, any the smallest part, right, action, or authority, whether of property command, or …

There was besides : This conveyance written with mine own hand is, in consequence of the Secretary's absence, executed in my presence on the thirteenth day of August, XVI, = and thirty as above. (Signed) Lenart Cole, Deputy Secretary^^ The lands covered by the above " transport" together with some adjacent land subsequently acquired by Kiliaen van Rensselaer formed the great …

Like Godyn, Blommaert, and Van Rensselaer, early in 1630 he bought through agents the Indian title to the lands on the west side of the Hudson River, opposite Manhattan Island from the heights of Wehawken, and Hoboken, to Bergen Point, and also the island of Staten Island. He duly obtained like transports of these regions from the Director and Council, and gave to his …

" Whereupon some directors of the before-named Company in addition to tlie great interest they possessed with their next friends in the said Company (who imported [to the value of] more than two tons of gold) ; animated with new zeal to carry out their High Mightinesses' intentions, and hoping in consequence for God's blessing, preceded all the other stockholders by way of a …

" So that on the 28th November, 1630, were read at the Assembly of the Directors, the deeds of conveyance of the lands and jurisdictions purchased from the Saccimaes, the Lords of the Country, executed for the behoof of the Patroons, their successors; and the new proprietors were accordingly thereupon congratulated. "On the 2d December, in the year aforesaid, the patents sent …

Very soon difficulties arose between the West India Company and the Patroons in relation chiefly to the trade in furs and the claims of the Patroons to embark in the same under the articles of the charter of Freedoms and Exemptions. The latter were more inclined to push the trade in peltries than the agricultural settlement of their lands, for the reason that the former was …

The Patroons on their side claimed that the Company not only had no right to restrict them, but had not fulfilled its own obligations as laid down in the articles of the Freedoms and Exemptions. These controversies led finally after much discussion, to a determination by both parties, concurred in by the States-General, to which both had appealed, that the charter of 1729 …

It states, "That said river" ("the North River in New Netherland," so styled in the memorial which is believed to be the first time "it is so named in any official document) " and adjacent countries had been discovered in the year 1609, at the cost of the East India Company, before any Christians had ever been up said river, as Hudson testified, who was then in the service of …

" Further, that after these countries had passed into the hands of the incorporated West India Company, not only were the above-named forts renewed and enlarged, but said Company purchased from the Indians who were the indubitable owners thereof, the Island of the Manhattes, situate at the entrance of the said river, and there laid the foundation of a city. " As also, not only …

In 1638, A " Report on the Condition of New Netherland was made to the States-General by a special Committee of eight members, of which Rutger Hu\ - gens was Chairman, in the form of eight brief questions and answers thereto, (The questions were propounded by the States-General, and the answers were made by the special committee of that body, after it had held a joint meeting …

Whether it would not, therefore, be expedient to place the district of New Netherland at the disposal of the States-General? A. They have no intention so to do ; unless they derived profit by it. But they hope, now that they have taken some order about Brazil, that it will prove a source of profit in time. They propose to surrender the trade with the Indians, or something …

they, therefore, with the approbation of their High Mightinesses, hereby make known to all and every the inhabitants of this Slate, or its allies and friends, who may be disposed to take up and cultivate lands there, and to make use for that purpose of the harbors of these countries, that they may henceforth convey thither in the company's ships, such cattle merchandise and …

And if any one happen to commit an error, in the valuation of his goods, the Company shall be at liberty to take such goods, paying onesixth more than they are entered at ; but all concealed and smuggled goods, either in this country or that, which may be discovered to have been brought on board the Company's ships, by secret plans or other cunning contrivances, shall be …

Failing therein, he shall incur, in addition to the loss of such land, such penalties and fines as shall be mutually agreed on at the time of the grant. To which penalties and fines his successors and assigns shall be also bound. And in order to obviate all confusion and losses, which have formerly arisen therefrom, and are hereafter to be expected in a still graver degree, no …

All those who will be inclined to go thither, to inhabit the country or to trade, shall severally declare under their signatures, that they will voluntarily submit to these regulations, and to the orders of the Company, and shall allow all questions and differences there arising, to be decided by the ordinary courts of justice, which shall be established in that country, and …

The old disputes between the Company and the Patroons as to their respective rights, though modified, still continued. At last in January, 1G40, the matter was taken up by the States-General, the Assembly of the Nineteen, and the Patroons, with a determination to come to a final settlement of the whole subject. Debates, discussions, and negotiations, were actively continued …

own words, the new charter of 1640, so that there can be no misunderstanding of these most important instrumeats as to what they do, or do )iot, contain. It is entitled ; -- " Freedoms and Exemptions granted and accorded by the Directors of the General Incorporated West India Company at the Assembly of the XIX., with the approbation of the High and Mighty Lords States General …

"All good inhabitants of the Netherlands and all others inclined to plant any Colonies in New Netherland shall be at liberty to send tjiree or four persons in the Company's ships going thither, to examine the circumstances there, on condition that they swear to the articles, as well as the officers and seamen, as far as they relate to them, and pay for board and passage out …

" For Patroons and Feudatories of New Netherland, shall be acknowledged all such as shall ship hence, and plant there a Colonic of fifty souls, above fifteen years of age, withm the space of three years after having made a declaration and given notice thereof to some Chamber of the Company here or to the Governor there ; namely, one-third part within the year, and so forth …

" And the Patroons, of theni.selves or by their agents, at the places where they will plant their Colonies, shall have the privilege to extend the latter one mile (consisting of, or estimated at, 1600 Rhineland perches) along the coast, bay, or a navigable river, and two contiguous miles landward in; it being well understood, that no two Patroonships shall be selected on both …

"The Patroons shall forever possess all the lands situate within their limits, together with the produce, superficies, minerals, rivers and fountains thereof, | uith high, low and middle jurisdiction, hunting, fishing, fowling and milling, the lands remaining allodial, but the jurisdiction as of a perpetual hereditary fief, devolvable by death as well to females as to males …

" And should it happen that the dwelling places of private Colonists become so numerous as to be accounted towns, villages or cities, the Company shall give orders respecting the subaltern government, magistrates and ministers of justice, who shall be nominated by the said towns and villages in a triple number of the best qualified, from which a choice i and selection is to be …

" But in case it should come to pass that the Company have no ships to dispatch, or that there be no room in the sailing vessels, in such a case the Patroons and Colonists can, upon previously communicating their determination to, and obtaining the consent of the Company in WTiting, send their own ships thither, provided, in going and returning, they shall not leave the …

" And, whereas, it is the Company's intention first to settle the Island of the Manhattes, it shall provisionally be the staple of all produce and wares accruing on the North river and the country thereabout, before they can be sent further, except those which by nature itself are useless there, or cannot be brought there except with great loss to the owners, in which case the …

" First, that all goods which will be sent hence for sale there, whether freighted by the Company, or by Colonists, or the stockholders themselves, must be brought into the Company's stores for inspection and payment of the proper duties, to wit: ten per cent, i on the cash cost of the article here, besides convoyfreight and average, an agreement being made for the freights of …

"And on the other wares which will be sent thence hither, shall be paid here, over and above the convoy duty granted by the State to the Company, five per cent., according to the valuation to be made here, on such penalty as aforesaid ; but an agreement must be made with the Governor and Council there, for the freight of any of the goods that are being sent from there in the …

" And in case said private ships, in going or coming, or in ranging along the coast from Florida to Newfoundland, happen to capture any prizes, they shall, in like manner be obliged to bring the same, or to cause the same to be brought, to the Governor and Council in New Netherland, or to the Chamber whence they respectively sailed, to be rewarded by them, and the third part …

" In like manner they shall not be at liberty to depart thence with their goods obtained in barter, without first returning to the said place, to enter their goods there and to obtain proper clearance, signed by the Governor and Council, and they shall be bound to return to this country, with their ships and yachts, to the place they sailed from, in order to discharge all …

" The Company shall not take from the service of Patroons or Colonists, their man servants or maid servants, even though some person should solicit it; nor receive them, much less suffer them to go from their master's service to that of another, during the term of such years as they are bound for; and if any man servant or maid servant run away, or take his freedom contrary to …

" All Patroons, inhabitants or Colonists, are also allowed to send ships along the coast of New Netherland and the countries circumjacent thereunto, to fish for Cod, &c., and to proceed with the catch straight to Italy or other neutral countries, on condition of paying to the Company for duty, in such case, six guilders per last, and on coming here with their freight, it shall …

"The Company shall take all Colonists,' whether free or bound to service, under their protection, defend them as far as lies in their power with the force which it has there, against all domestic and foreign wars and violence, on condition that the Patroons and Colonists shall, in such case, put themselves in a suitable state of defence for which purpose each male emigrant …

" The particular Colonies which hai)pen to lie on the respective rivers, bays or islands shall have the privilege (to wit, each river or island for itself) of designating a deputy who shall give the Governor and Council of that country information respecting his Colonic, and f)romote its interests with the Council: one of which deputies shall be changed every two years, and …

" The Company shall, accordingly, appoint and keep there a Governor, competent Councillors, OflScers and other Ministers of Justice for the pn - tection of the good and the punishment of the wicked ; which Governor and Councillors, who are now, or may be hereafter, appointed by the Company, shall take cognizance, in the first instance, of matters appertaining to the freedom …

Van der Donck, Couwenhoveu and Bout, wlio were sent by the Commonalty to Holland, had explained the matters in question, enacted on the 24th of May 1(550, a third Charter of " Freedoms and Exemptions," which modified somewhat the clauses of that of 10-40 relating to trade, and the administration of justice in some minor points.' It did not however vary in the least the …

All were transplanted to New Netherland, and there existed and flourished until its capture by the lingiish in 1(5(54. Nine years later when the Dutch re-conquered it, all were re-introduced, a Dutch Governor re-appointed, and New Netherland replaced in its original position, except as to the names of its three largest towns which were changed. New York, as the English had …

From them it devolved upon the Dukes of Bavaria, the last representative of which house was dispossessed by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, who held the rest of the Netherlands under his rule. By the marriage of his daughter, Mary of Burgundy, with the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the entire Netherlands passed from the House of Burgundy to the Imperial House of Austria …

One of the strange results of this truce, was the voyage of Hudson in search of a western pas.sage to Cathay, and his momentous discovery of the Bay of New York and the magnificent river which has immortalized his name. Another remarkable result, was the establishment in the same year of the Bank of Amsterdam, which so long ruled the exchanges of Europe, and through which, the …

A Republic which not only established its own independent existence as one of the nations of Europe, but humbled forever the pride and power of Spain then one of the greatest of those nations. A Republic which founded in the New World a system of government, the principles of which to-day form 1 Maasilorp's Introduction to his translation of Grotius" treatise on I)iitcU …

This Stadtholder was, originally, the representative of the Count, or the Sovereign, but at the period of which we are treating, he was elected by a body called the " States-Provincial" of each Province, which consisted of deputies elected by the Boards of Managers and Nobles of the Province. These " States Provincial" managed all the affairs of each Province for itself, the …

Neither war nor peace could be made, nor troops nor money raised, without a unanimous vote of the whole seven Provinces by their envoys in the States-General. The title of this Supreme Council of Parliament of the Republic, was " The High and Mighty Lords the States -General." It received ambassadors, appointed its own to other nations, and conducted, wholly, the foreign …

So ancient and honorable is that system and doctrine of State right;', upon the continued preservation of which in their integrity depends the existence of the American Union. The source of power in the " States Provincial " of Holland was in the constituencies of the deputies to them who were the Municipal Councils of the towns and cities, and the College of Nobles, by which …

Only a year's previous residence was necessary for any foreigner to obtain it. The privileges it conferred were, freedom of trade, exemption from tolls, special privileges and preferences in the conduct of lawsuits, and an exclusive eligibility of election to municipal office. The |)rivileges of the two classes of burghers varied only in degree. The city and town governments …

It was also a strikingly conservative as well as effective form of government, and after the termination of the twelve years truce with Spain in l(j21,it enabled the Netherlands to carry on that brilliant series of hostilities against Spain which, in 1G48, resulted in her final acknowledgment of the United Provinces as an Independent Nation.' Subsequently to that event the …

The Dutch people of the United Provinces at the date of Hudson's discovery of New Netherland, and during the period of its settlement and possession by that Republic consisted, by their own law, of two classes, "Nobles" and "Commoners." The Commoners were subdivided into "Gentlemen by birth," and "Common people." Thus practically making three classes of Dutch citizens. They …

It seems formerly that Gentlemen by birth were those who from generation to generation were descended from free and honorable persons. These, being favoured by different Counts [of Holland], and especially by Count Floris, who was disliked by the nobles (which gave rise to a conspiracy against him and ultimately to his death), had a right to wear arms publicly, as a token of …

The people dwelt in the towns and cities, and only the nobles on large estates in the country with great buildings, strongholds, and sometimes churches, to accommodate themselves and their numerous retainers whom they were bound to protect. In the single province of Holland alone, the largest of the seven provinces of the republic, there existed, and had existed for more than …

Count, King, or Emperor, the same rights and privileges as a body, which the nobles possessed individually. The Sovereign, as Lord Paramount, granted these as they were desired, for he was perfectly willing that the people of the towns should commute for specific annual sums the military and other feudal services to which he was entitled, just as the nobles did. The people …

In the Council of State their deputy was the President, and in the States-General his was the first vote^ cast. "The Dutch Nobility" says the English author of the "Description of Holland" in 1743, seem to observe a medium between the loftiness of those of the same rank in some countries, and the meanness of others. The Italian Nobility do not scruple to trade: The French are …

It was a system they had tried, and under which they had lived, for more than two centuries, which all classes approved, and with which they were fully satisfied and thoroughly familiar. Hence it was, that when tlie West India Company undertook to colonize New Netherland, they Aturally adopted for that new po.ssession the same system which they knew had always worked well in …

It is needful to consider only the most salient features of these instruments, for a simple reading of documents themselves, as above given in lull, will afford the best possible idea of the nature of the system of colonization, of w'hich they were the foundation, and upon which rests that civilization, which, increasing and improving in the course of years, and modified, not …

Judged by the lights of the seventeenth century these charters of Dutch Colonization were extremely free and liberal, far more so than those of any other nation at that time. It must be remembered, too, that, they were the work of an armed commercial organization, of the nature of those then existing, intent upon its own interests, as well as those of the nation to which it …

This was changed by that of 1640 which threw them open to, "All good inhabitants of the Netherlands and all others inclined to plant any colonies in New, Netherland." The former acknowledged, and granted the rights, powers, and privileges, of Patroons, as they then existed in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, to those who would plant a "colonie," (that is establish a …

This was restricted by the second charter, to one Dutch mile along a navagable river, or two miles landward. The latter also provided for a class of colonists, not Patroons, in these words "For Masters or Colonists, shall be acknowledged, those who will remove to New Netherland with five souls above fifteen years; to all such, our Governor there shall grant in property one …

"The Patroons shall forever possess all the lands situate within their limits, together with the produce, superficies, minerals, rivers, and fountains thereof, with high, low, and middle jurisdiction, hunting, fishing, fowling, and milling, the lands remaining allodial, but the jurisdiction as of a perpetual hereditary fief, devolvable by death as well as to females as to …

And should any Patroon, in course of time, happen to prosper in his colonie to such a degree as to be able to found one or more towns, he shall have authority to appoint officers and magistrates there, and make use of his Colonie, according to the pleasure and the quality of the persons, all saving the Company's regalia.^ And should it happen that the dwelling places ot …

Then follow the powers, rights, and privileges, the first of which was the high, middle, and low jurisdiction within the patroonship; a power necessarily appertaining to the ownership of the land, as requisite to the orderly government of the patroonship, the due protection of the tenants in their rights, and the determination of all controversies between themselves, or …

This means, not the actual grinding, or manufacturing, but the right to erect, or control the erection of, all mills within the Patroonship. For every Patroon was to build a mill, or mills, for the use and benefit of the tenants or vassals, these terms being sinijilN' synonymous, of the Patroonship. These mills could, either be run by the Patroon or his agent, or rented by him …

devolving again to the Company, and in caseitshouM devolve, to be redeemed and repossessed with twenty guilders per colonie to be paid to this Company, at the Chamber here {Holland), or to their commander there {New Netherland) within a year and six weeks after the same occurs, each at the Chamber where he originally sailed from." This continued without change till 1640, when …

A feud, or fief, (these terms are synonymous) is thus defined in the Dutch law, "an hereditary indivisible use over the immoveable property of another, with a mutual obligation of protection on the one side, and a duty of homage and service on the other." ^ Such a fief, under the law, "was not divisible, except by charter and passed only per capita, or by stipulation in cases …

These "old fiefs" were not transplanted to New Netherland by the charters of Freedoms and Exemptions, but the new fiefs created by virtue of those charters had merely the same rights of jurisdiction, hunting, fishing, fowling, and milling, as the old un- 1 This means "political and judicial," the original being badly transl.ited. See Art. X, in the charter of 1629, where the …