^ "^6^ - ^^ ^- * ■' , X'-T.^^T^v^^ V^>' %/»r.> ^ • • ' ' v^ o " a , •n. A> <. '•'■.'^•' .0^" -<^,^-.:^v V*. °o »^- -^^ 'o , * ^c^ ANTIQUITIES LONG ISLAND By GABRIEL F U R jM A N TO WHICH IS ADDED A BIBLIOGRAPHY BY HENRY ONDERDONK, JR. EDITED BY FRANK MOORE NEW YORK J. W. BOUTON, 706 Broadway Enleied according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by Frank Moore, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at \\^ashington. John F. Trow & Son, Pkinteks anu P.ookbinders, 205-213 East I'ltk St., NEW ^■ORl•:. . .'V. INTRODUCTION. This volume contains tlie notes of Mr. Gabriel Furman, on " Long Island Antiqui- ties and Early History ; with the Manners and Customs of its Inhabitants ; " " Notes Geographical and Historical, relating to the Town of Brooklyn, in Kings Ccunty, on Long Island," by the same laborious and enthusiastic collector, and a Bibliography of Long Island, by Henry Onderdonk, Jr., of Jamaica, New York. Of the preparation of the Antiquities, with which the volume is opened, Mr. Fur- man has left no account. The manuscript from which it is printed is fragmentary, and seems to have been put together at odd times during the period embraced Avithin the years 1824 and 1838. It was discovered by the editor, among the gather- iv INTKODUCTION. ings of a quaint and popular dealer in old books, j^ictures and hric-a-braG on Universi- ty Place, in this city, and was tliouglit valu- able enough to merit multiplication. A few errors of date, but none of judgment, have been corrected, and some obscurities made plain. Otherwise the work is given as it was left by its industrious author. The notes relatino; to the Town of Brook- lyn, by the same author, which necessarily contain some slight repetitions of material found in the Antiquities, are republished from the edition issued in 1824. The ex- treme scarcity of this little volume causes its reproduction here. "^ The Bibliography of Mr. Onderdonk, to wdiom I am indebted for permission to publish, is printed from a manuscript, pre- pared by that historical scholar and gentle- man in 1866, and presented to the New York Historical Society. Frank Moore. New Yokk, October, 1874. CONTENTS PAGE Indians and their History ^ The Devil's Stepping Stones 56 Ronkonkama Pond "^ ♦ John Bull's Talk. . -. ^^ Mongotucksee's Canal ''^"^ Manitou Hill ^^ Changes in the Aspect of the Country 'i'4 Buttermilk Channel ' ^ Israel CarlVs Well 85 Long Island Agricultural Society 91 Ancient Fortifications and Remains 93 Fort on Fort Neck 95 Situation of the Sand Hill 99 Foundation of Churches 100 The Dutch Reformed Churches 102 The Case of Bo\vne the Quaker 119 The Episcopal Churches 1^''' St. Ami's Church l'^9 Methodist Episcopal Churches 140 Roman Catholic Churches 1^1 Old Houses If-^ Governor Martin's House 1^0 Paintings by Copley 1^1 Monumental Stones and Funeral Customs 155 Schools and Education 1^9 Service of the Churches 1'^'^ VI CONTENTS. PAGE Ancient Names of Places 178 Names of Families 183 Dutch Nicknames 186 Manners and Customs 195 The Duke's Laws 205 Growth of New York 213 Andros' Proclamation 219 Slavery in New York 221 Samp Porridge 226 * ' Niggering Com " 228 Home Habits of the Dutch 229 Dutch Drinks and Table Service 231 Food and Labor 235 Knickerbocker Smoking Parties 239 Journeying in Olden Time 243 The Whale Fishermen 247 Publishing the Banns 251 Smoked Goose and Kolichees 253 Christmas and New Years 255 Festival of Santa IQaas 257 St. Valentine's Day 263 Easter and Easter Monday 265 Pinckster Day 267 " King Charlie," the Guinea Negro 268 Evacuation Day 269 Independence Day 269 " Squeak the Fife and Beat the Drum " 270 Notes on the Town of Brooklyn 275 Ancient Names and Hemains 276 Soil and Climate 278 Kieft's Grants and Patents 280 The Nicolls Patent 284 Governor Lovelace's License 289 The Deed from the Indians 290 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Governor Dongan's Patent 293 Town Rights and Ferries 298 Montgomery's Charter 303 Hendrick Remsen's Ferry 305 Breede Graft Ferry 309 Ancient Rights and Freehold 313 The First Steam Ferry 317 Roads and Public Lauding Places 319 Common Lands 325 Differences as to Boundaries 331 Difference with Bushwick 332 Difference with Flatbush 333 Difference with New Utrecht 336 Revolutionary Incidents 338 Battle of Long Island 339 Charles Loosley's Lottery 343 Descent of the Northern Indians 347 List of Constables 349 The Duke's " Overseers " 351 The Town Commissioners 355 Case of Henry Claes Vechte 361 The TowTi Government 363 The Village Government 367 The Board of Health 369 Account of the Churches 371 Destruction of Esopus 373 List of Dutch Ministers 375 Trustees of Dutch Churches 379 The First Baptist Church 385 Public Institutions 389 Population and Increase 390 Growth of Brooklyn 393 Value of Real Estate 395 Schools and Schoolmasters 397 Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE Newspapers and Moral Character 399 The Fire Department 401 Miscellaneous 407 Slavery in New York 409 William Morris' Deed 411 The Brookland Patent 415 Petition of Volkert Brier 417 Letter of Justice FUkin 417 Address of the Deputies 420 Lord Combury's Charter 423 Division of Common Lands 432 Advertisement of the Author 434 Bibliography of Long Island, by Henry Onderdonk, Jr. . 435 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Although Indian history in our day seems to have lost many of its charms, by reason of tlie numerous other more highly interesting subjects which the advance of science and the recent in- crease of knowledge have presented to our minds, We cannot, in treating of the antiquities and early history of this Island, avoid giving some account of the aboriginal tribes which formerly lived upon it, intimately connected as they were with that period in the history of our own race. We shall, however, as far as possible, avoid giving mere dry historical details, which at the same time afford but little information in the case of an uncivilized people, and fatigue the mind of the reader. And, also, so far as we can do it, we will endeavor to strike out a somewhat new path, by giving sketches of their history, and points of their general character, which seem to promise a more accurate idea of them as a race, in preference to following in the usual beaten track. 10 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Governor De Witt Clinton, who devoted mucli time to the aboriginal liistory of this continent, and esjjecially of tlie State of New York, in his anniversary discourse delivered before the New York Historical Society in December, 1812, when speaking of the Indian tribes on the Atlantic coast of New York and Connecticut, including, of course, those upon Long Island, observes: " In 1771 the Government of Connecticut, in an official statement to the British Secretary of State, represented the original title to the lands of Connecticut as in the Pequot Nation of In- dians, wdio were numerous and warlike; that their great sachem, Sassacus^ had under him. twenty-six sachems, and that their territory ex- tended from Narragansett to Hudson's Kiver, and over all Long Island." Samuel Jones, Esq., of Oyster Bay, South, upon Long Island, a gentleman of much learn- ing, in some criticisms on this discoui'se, which he addressed to John Pintard, Esq., Secretary of the New York Ilistoric^al Society, and which are printed in the third volume of the collections of that society, thinks the statement, thus cited by Governor Clinton, erroneous, and he remarks: "Tliis must be a mistake, unless the Long Island Indians were part of the Pequot Nation ; for it is certain, that when the Europeans first began INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. H their settlements on tlie island, the Indians on the western part of it were tributary to the Mo- hawks." As happens in many other cases of historical and literary controversy, in this instance the dis- pute is more imaginary than real, and there is really no difference between the two gentlemen, except what is caused by the use of a name only. The Indians upon the mainland of Connecticut, and to the Hudson Kiver, and also upon Long Island, were of one people or nation, the great Mohegan Nation ; which was divided into several tribes, who were sometimes, but erroneously, called by the whites, nations ; and these several tribes had a species of union among themselves, recognizing a common descent, and arising from that cause. It was this circumstance that caused so much appreliension among tlie inhabitants of this colony, during King Philip's celebrated In- dian war with the United Colonies of N'ew Ens:- land, lest the Indians upon Long Island, who w^ere then l)oth numerous and powerful, might not, from being of the same blood and nation, feel themselves bound to take part in that con- test. The Pequots were one of the largest and most powerful of the Mohegan tribes, and their name has been erroneously used in this instance for that of the whole people ; both writers con- 12 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. sidering and admitting the aborigines upon Long Island, to be of the same race with those upon the mainland of Connecticut. The writers on the Indian history of this country, and especially that of the tribes for- merly upon our Atlantic coast, previous to the last thirty years, have fallen into many eri-ors from this same cause to which we have just be- fore adverted. Charles Thomson, Esq., late Secretai-y to Con- gress, and also Samuel Jones, Esq., believed the Lenni Lenajpi^ called the Loiijjs by the French, and the Delaivares by the English, occupied Manhattan Island, Staten Island, and that part of Kew York and Connecticut which lies be- tween the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers, from the Highlands down to the Sound. But Gov- ernor De Witt Clinton thinks the statement of Smith, the historian of New York, that all the Indians w^ithin the territory thus desci-ibed were tributar}^ to the Five Nations, or the Iroquois, when the Dutch commenced their settlement of this colony, inconsistent with the view thus taken by Mr. Thomson, and subsequently by Mr. Jones. This difference in opinion, like that before re- ferred to, has but little real basis in the history of those Indian nations. The course of aboriginal emigration was directly the reverse of that of the 13 white man, being from west to east ; and the Mohegaiis and Lenni Lenajpi were of the same orio-in, tlieir ancestors formino^ the first Indian emigration to tlie Atlantic coast ; where, after- wards, in consequence of their great increase in popnlation, being in a fertile region where their necessary wants were more than snpplied by slight labor, both from the earth and the ocean, they became divided into two nations, retaining the evidences of their common origin, not only in their traditions, but also in their language, habits, manners and customs. Thus divided, they be- came permanently seated on this coast, the Mo- hegans occupying the country east of the Hudson River, inchiding Manhattan Island, Staten Island, and Long Island, and the Lenapi holding the country west of that river. The Irocpiois, or Five Nations, were an entirely different race of people, and a subsequent migra- tion to the east ; and the same spirit which bi-ought them to the banks of the Hudson River, and there seated one of their tribes, the Mo liawks, a little to the south of the present city of Albany, also induced them to extend their in- cursions down that noble stream, the Hudson, and also to the east of it, until they had rendered the Mohegan tribes below them, and upon Long Island, their tributaries. 14 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The ease with which the white men fell into the error of applying the name of a single tribe to a whole people is shown in tlie case of the MohawJcs, a single tribe of the Iroquois ; bnt which for very many years was the name by which the whole five nations was known to the white population of this country, and also to Eu- ropeans. And the tenacity with which the In- dian tribes held on to the history of their com- mon origin, and the extent to which they not only recognized it, but also acted upon it, is shown in the union effected between the Five Nations of this State and the Tuscaroras of North Carolina. These Tuscaroras originally formed part of the same people with the Five Nations, and in their first emigration from west to east, they separated from the others on the great prairies of the West, and migrated down farther south until they eventually seated themselves in North Carolina, where they were found by the first European set- tlers ; while their other brethren turned their course towards the north, and fought their way through the previous occupants of the lands, in some instances exterminating whole nations, as is the traditionary history of the Eries, until they be- became seated in the western part of New York, and along the fertile valley of the Mohawk Kiver. Althouo;h so far removed from the descendants INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 15 of their conmion ancestors, by interveniiio^ forests of hundreds of miles and numerous hostile tribes, the remembrance of their being of the same blood was sedulously preserved, and our records afford frequent evidence of the Five Nations sending assistance to the Tuscaroi-as in the prosecution of their wars. And at last when the Iroquois feared they were too much reduced by their frequent wars for their safety, as well as the maintenance of their predominance among the surrounding Indian tribes, they invited the Tuscaroras to re- move to western Xew York and to settle with them ; wliich invitation was accepted, and in the early part of the last century the Tuscaroras mi- grated to that portion of this State where they now are located, and thus was formed the Six Nations of Indians ; this being the last of those aboriginal migrati(jns which had continued upon this continent for very man}^ ages, and bringing it within the period of our colonial history. There were many tribes of Indians on this island, who were seated at the following places, as far as can be ascertained at this distant day : In Kings County. — In this county the most powerful and extensive tribe was the Canarse, who were the first inhabitants of the New World to welcome the arrival of Ilendrick Hudson, the European, who first discovered and explored the IG LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. fine river now justly bearing liis name. The ac- count which he gives in liis journal of this wel- come, and tlie appearance which the western extremity of this island presented to his men upon their first landing, is truly beautiful, and as it affords ns a much better idea of these Indians, and of tlieir mode of living, than anything we can obtain from any other source, we sliall substantially give the description whicli he has left us. When Hudson came to anchor in Gravesend Bay on the fourth day of September in the year 1609, the Canarse Indians visited him and came on board his vessel, apparently without any ap- prehension, and, as Hudson says, seemed very glad of their (the Europeans) coming. They l)rouglit with them green tobacco, and exchanged it for knives and beads. They were clad in deer- skins, well dressed^ and desired clothing, a rather nnusiial request for the aborigines to make on th.eir first intercourse with white men, and exhib- iting an advance in the arts of life which we have not been accustomed to attribute to the Indians of Long Island ; and they were " very civil." When they visited him on the ensuing day, Hud- son says, some of them were dressed in " mcuitles of feather s^^"^ and some in skins '''' of divers sorts of good fur sP He also states that they had yel- 17 low copper, red copper, tohacco pipes, and orna- ments of copper about their necks ; it was the abundance of instruments of this yellow copper that first attracted the attention of the Spaniards when they originally landed upon the coast of Mexico ; and which they, believing to be gold, purchased in great numbers. Does this show an intercourse between these Indians of Long Island, and the more civilized race found by the Sp)aniards in Mexico ; or did the Canarse Indians understand the art of manu- facturing these different kinds of copper ? The solution of these inquiries affords matter not only of curious, l)ut also of a highly interest- ing nature ; and which, singular as it may appear, seems never to have attracted the notice of a soli- tary writer on Indian history, or on the Antiqui- ties of America. Hudson also represents these Long Island. In- dians as having (jreat store of maize, ox: Indian corn, " wherecjf they make good bread," and cur- rants, some of which, dried, his men brought to liim from the land on the second day, and which, lie says, were " sweet and good." Some of the Indian women also brought him Jieinp, wdiich they must have known the use of, and highly valued, or they would not have thought of bring- ing it as a present. 18 LONG ISLAND A:sITIQUn lES. Some of his men landed npon this island in what is now the town of Gravesend, and they there saw "great store of men, women and chil- dren," who gave them tobacco upon their land- ing ; they also described the country to Hudson, as being full of great, tall oaks, and " the lands w^ere as pleasant with grass, and flowers, and goodly trees as ever they had seen, and very sweet smells came from them." Unfortunately this pleasant and peaceful in- tercourse between the Indians and their Euro- pean visitors was not long preserved. On the third day a party of Hudson's crew again landed at the same place. Among them was John Col- man, an Englishman ; and although nothing is said in Hudson's journal about any provocation to the Indians, yet it is certain some must have been given, and most probably not of a trivial character, or the people who had welcomed their arrival in such a friendly manner would not have become so immediately changed as to attack this party of the crew on this occasion. The result of this contest was, that John Colman was killed by an arrow shot into his throat, he probably be- ing the principal offender in this instance, as the [ndians shoot no chance shot, but invariably aim at a particular object ; and two others were ^vounded. Colman was buried upon the point of INDIANS, AND THEIE HISTORY. 19 Coney Island, which Hudson from that circum- stance named Colman^s Point This serious occurrence terminated Hudson's intercourse with the shore of this ishind, al- thou2:h the ahorio-ines came and visited him the next day, as he says, in the same manner as if notliing had happened ; they evidently regarding Colman's death in no other light than as a just punishment f(^r some offence he had committed ; and the next day Hudson pursued his course up the river. The old Dutch inhabitants of King's county have a tradition that tlie Canarse tribe was subject to the Mohawks, as all the Iroquois were formerly called, and paid them an annual tribute of driea clams and wampum. When tlie Dutch settled in this county they persuaded the Canarses to keep back the tribute; in consequence of which a party of the Mohawks came down and killed their tributaries wlierever they met them. The Canarse Indians are at this time totally extiuct ; not a single member of that ill-fated race is now in existence. We ha^'e still preserved in the records of the Dutch Government of this colony historical evi- dence of the trutli of this tradition, and some ac- count of this extraordinary incursion of the Iro- quois or the Five Nations of Indians uj)on Long 20 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Island. TliGY seemed to have regarded all the Indians of the great Mohegan faniih^, in the southern part of this colony, as their tributaries ; and they probably were so long anterior to the Dutch settlement of this country. After the Dutch colonization the Indians upon Long Island appear to have discontinued the payment of the usual tribute to the Iroquois, or to the Mohawks, as they were generally called, that being the Iro- quois tribe most contiguous to the European set- tlements, being located then a little south of Albany, upon the west side of the Hudson Elver, and thus for a long period with the European colonists the name of Mohawk was used to desig- nate the whole Iroquois Confederacy ; and the Long Island Indians did this probably from the belief that the Iroquois would not dare come down and attack them among the European set- tlements. But in this they were greatly mis- taken. For in the 3'ear 1655, with the view of chastising: all their former tributaries in the southern part of this colony, a large body of these northern Indians descended the Hudson Kiver and made a landing upon Staten Island, where they massacred sixty -seven persons — a very great number, considerino; the state of the colonv at that period ; whether they were white people or Indians who were thus slain is not stated, but 21 probably a large portion of tliem were in the first class, and were killed in attempting to prevent tlie landing of this hostile force. After this, this Indian army crossed to Long Island, and invested the town of Gravesend, which they threatened to destroy ; but which was relieved by a detach- ment of Dutch soldiers sent from Xew Amster- dam (New York). Upon their abandoning the siege of Gravesend, the Dutch records give no further account of them, than to mention that all this was done when those northern Indians were upon their waj^ to wage war against the Indians upon the east end of Long Island. It was un- doubtedly directly after leaving Gravesend that they fell upon and destroyed tlie Canarse tribe, and afterwards proceeded down through the island with that terrible foray of murder the ac- count of which has been preserved in tradition to this day ; and to prevent a repetition of which the Consistory of the Dutch Church at Albany undertook to be the agents to see that the re- quired tribute was regularly paid by the Long Island Indians to the Five Nations. So great was the dread of the Iroquois among the Indians of this island, arising from the tradition preserved of this terrible incursion, that a very aged lady, who was a small girl of, eight or nine years before the commencement of the lievolationary war, tells 22 LONG ISIAND ANTIQUITIES. US that five or six Indians of the Iroquois Nation were for some offence brought to Kew York and sent to Jamaica, upon Long Island ; and that, al- though they were 23risoners, not one of the Long Island Indians could be induced to look, with liis person exposed, npon one of these terrible " Mo- hawks," as they called them ; but very many of them would be continually peeping around cor- ners, and from behind other people, to get a sight at those northern Indians ; at the same time expressing the utmost fear and dread of them. Mrs. Eemsen, the widow of Anthony Eemsen, deceased, formerly of Brooklyn, on Long Island, says that, soon after she was married, the^^ moved to Canarse on that island, now (1832) about forty years since, where she made the shroud in which to bury the last individual of the remnant of the Canarse tribe of Indians. This last member of that tribe also told her the tradition before men- tioned, of the destruction of the greater portion of the Canarse tribe by the Mohawks, in conse- quence of their failure to pay the required tribute. This Indian told her that three or four families of them, having become alarmed by the shrieks and gi-oans of their murdered friends, fled for the shore of the bay, got into their canoes, and paddled off to Barren Island, forming part of the great south beach, whither the Mohawks could not, 33 or did not, follow them. They returned late on the following day, and soon ascertained that tliey constituted the only living representatives of their entire tribe, who liad the night previous laid them down to rest in a]:)parent security ; and that no ti'ace was to be discovered of their vindictive and ba-rbarous enemies. It was some days, how- ever, before they ventured to return permanently to their old residences, and not before they be- came entirely satisfied that the Mohawks had re- turned to their homes. This Indian incursion caused the Dutch Gov- ernment to feel much apprehension on the sub- ject of Indian attacks upon the towns of the western part of this island for a long time sub- sequent. The inhabitants of Flatbush were or- dered by Governor Stuy\'esant, in 1656, a short time after that foray, to enclose their village with palisadoes, to protect them from the Indians. And .again, to prevent the incursions of In- dians, the Governor, in 1660, ordered the inhabi- tants of Brooklyn to put tlieir town in a state of defence, and also commanded the farmers to re- move within the fortifications under the penalty' of forfeiting their estates. The Dutch colonists seem to have lived in al- most continued apprehension of the Iroquois. On the 26th of June, 1663, Governor JStuyvesant 24 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. informed tlie churcli of Brooklyn that the Esopus Indians, who were then in league with the Iro- quois, had on the 7th of that month attacked and burnt the town of Esopus (Kingston), " killing and wounding a number of the inhabitants, and taking many prisoners; burning the new town, and desolating the place." July 4, 1663, was ob- served as a day of thanksgiving on account of a treaty of peace with the Indians, the release of the prisoners, and the defeat of the English at- tempt to take the whole of Long Island. And good reason the Dutch had for their fears of the Iroquois, for a more enterprising and vindictive nation never existed among the abori- gines of this continent. Immense extents of wild, unsettled country seem to have afforded no pro- tection against their incui-sions. They not only made regular expeditions to the southern part of this colony, and even to its utmost extremity ; they not only invaded Canada and subjugated all the region north of Lake Erie, and between lakes Ontario and Huron, and nearly exterminated its former population, but they also made frequent incursions throiio;h what is now the State of Ken- tucky, and claim to have acquired that country by right of conquest, and also upon the back settlements of South Carolina. In the South jOavolina Gazette of April 11, 1753, we have tho 25 evidence of one of their expeditions to that re- gion, in a proclamation of the Governor, and a vote of the Assembly of that Province, offering a reward of one hundred ponnds currency to any person who should kill or take alive any one of the body of northern Indians that had lately come into that province, and " committed sundry- robberies and other acts of violence." The Iroquois preserved their power and influ- ence upon this continent by the union of five small tribes, which but for this confederacy would have been destroyed or obliged to merge themselves into their more powerful neighbors. Strange as it may seem, it is to them we owe our present form of government in the United States. Their chiefs had for years observed that the French in Canada, although not the one-tenth of the English colonies in either power or resources, owed their success mainly to a want of union in the colonies.; and that the only colonies that offered them any effectual resistance were the United Colonies of l^ew England, and they urged upon the Governor of ^ew York, and the British commanders of the forces, the necessity of a union. Their suggestion w^as sent to England, approved there, and resulted in the congress held at Albany in ITott, at which the Privy Council of England directed the chiefs should be invited, and 3 26 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. their advice taken. This policy of a strict con- federation was adhered to by the Iroquois through out their history; and when, about tlie commence- ment of the eighteenth century, they found them- selves by their frequent wars reduced below the number they regarded necessary for their safety and preponderance among their Indian neighbors, they invited the Tuscaroras from I^orth Carolina to remove to the western part of New York, and "become a member of their league ; which invita- tion was accepted, and the Tuscaroras gradually moved up to their present location, and became the sixth nation of the Iroquois confederacy, which afterwards was known as the Six instead of the Five Nations. The Tuscaroras retained their lands in North Carolina, on which they were formerly settled, until within the last ten or twelve years, when they sold the same and di- vided the proceeds among their tribe. This does not look very much like that robbing Indians of their lands, of which we hear so much from the English press. So late as 1820 the Seneca and other tribes forming the Six Nations in this State, assumed the power of trying and punishing, and in some cases ca]3itall3', members of their respec- tive tribes for crimes by them committed within the Indian reservations. The question of con- flict between this assumed jurisdiction, and that INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 27 claimed by the State over them in common witli all others its inhabitants, was brought up by the case of Soo-non-gize, otherwise called Tommy Jemmy, an Indian of the Seneca tribe, who in 1821 was indicted for the ninrder of an Indian woman of the same tribe committed within the Seneca reservation near Buffalo, in this State. On the trial the defence set up was, that the alleged murder was connnitted by authority de- rived from the councils of the chiefs, sachems, and warriors of that tribe, who were an indepen- dent nation, and had full power aud jurisdiction in the premises, and were competent to grant the authority upon which the alleged act was com- mitted. The Court of Oyer and Terminer, at which, we think. Chief -Justice Spencer presided, refused to entertain this defence, and held that the Indians of this tribe, as well as all others within this State, were subject to the laws of this State; and the Indian was thereupon convicted of the murder, and sentenced to be executed. The court, however, under the peculiar circum- stances, commended his case to the favorable notice of the Governor, and the Governor commu- nicated it to the Legislature, upon which the Legislature, on the 12th of April, 1822, passed "An Act declaring the jurisdiction of the courts of this State, and pardoning Soo-non-gize, other- 28 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. wise called Tommy Jemmy." That act, after reciting the claim of the Indians to jurisdiction, proceeds to declare : " And whereas the sole and exclusive cognizance of all crimes and offences committed within this State belongs of right to the courts holden under the constitution and laws thereof, as a necessary attribute of sovereignty, except only crimes and offences cognizable in the courts deriving jurisdiction under the constitution and laws of the United States ; and whereas it has become necessary as well to protect the said Indian tribes as to assert and maintain the juris- diction of the courts of this State, that provision should be made in the premises " — they then enact that the sole jurisdiction is in the State courts, w^ith the exception above mentioned ; and that Soo-non-gize, otherwise called Tommy Jem- my, is "fully and absolutely pardoned of said felony." And thus terminated the last effort on the part of the Six Nations to maintain their standing as an independent government ; a mea- sure that would have been very injurious to them as a people if they had been successful, as it would have left them without the protection of the State government. The Rev. Dr. John Bassett, the minister of the Dutch Eeformed Church in Bushwick, on this island, and who was formerly a minister of the 29 same Church in Albany, states that the Montauk Indians npon the east end of Long Island for a long period paid a tribute to the Six Nations of Indians (tlie Five Nations of Golden, the Iroquois) ; and that the consistory of the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany were the agents for receiving and paying over this tribute. We recollect to have heard, about ten years ago, that, fifteen or twenty years previous to that time, it was usual for the farmers coming to the city of New York from the east end of Long Island, in the fall of the year, to bring w^ith them to the city a quantity of w^ampum (Indian money), which was to be sent to x\lbany. What its ulti- mate destination was we were not then informed, but we now have little doubt that it formed in part, if not entirely, the tribute in question to be paid to the Six Nations of Indians. It is not a little strange that, after all we have on tliis subject in our public records and histories, and also the fact that the consistory of the Dutch •Reformed Church at Albany were for many years the agents for the receipt of this tribute from the Montauks and other Indians on the eastern part of Long Island and its transmission to the Iroquois, Samuel Jones, Esq., of Oyster Bay, South, should have expressed it as his belief, in 1817, that there was no evidence that the Indians 30 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Oil Long Island, eastward of about thirty miles from Xew York, were tributary to the Five Na- tions. And he makes the further extraordinary statement, directly opposed to the evidence af- forded us by the extracts from the Dutch rec- ords which we have previously cited, that " we have no reason to believe that the Five Nations had any war with the Indians on Long Island after it was settled by Europeans " (New York Llist. Society's Collections, vol. iii., page 324). In these statements Mr. Jones is evidently giv- ing us the results of his own thoughts, without having examined the original documents, which should alone determine such a question, or other- wise he would soon have found evidence enough of their incursions upon this island after the Dutch settlement. A small tribe of Nyack Indians was settled at Nyack, on Long Island, in 1646 ; and they are mentioned in the records of the Dutch Colonial Government of the New Netherlands (now New York) of that year. It is said there is a tradition that a small tribe of Indians formerly inhabited the valley between the Brooklyn, Jamaica, and Flatbush Turnpike road, and the Gowanus mill-ponds in the town of Brooklyn. On the arrival and settlenKiur of the Europeans here a quarrel ensued between INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTOEY. 31 them and this tribe, in which one of the settlers was killed. In order to avoid the vengeance of the whites, the little tribe moved to the Jersey shore not far from Communipaw, where they had scarcely seated themselves before the whites at- tacked them in the night and slaughtered tliem all. (This tradition I had from Mr. Jacob Ilicks, set. 58.) The tradition, however, we do not put much faith in. There were undoubtedly several small tribes scattered over different j^^i'ts of the island of which we know little or nothing at pres- ent. At the first settlement of the white inhabitants there was a very numerous Indian population on this island, as is evident from the large portion wdiich Daniel Denton, in his description of l^ew York, printed at London in 1670 (the first work on this colony in the English language, and he an inhabitant of this island), devotes of his work to describing their manners and customs. We have also preserved tlie names of fourteen of their tribes who were formerly located upon Long Island. Every few years some discoveries are made in various parts of this island of the remains of these aborigines. On dii2:2:ino; a few feet below the surface recently at the Narrows, in Kings County, more than a wagon-load of Indian stone 32 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. arrow-lieacls were found lying together, niider circumstances calculated to induce the belief that a large manufactory of those articles once ex- isted at this place ; tliey were of all sizes, from one to six inches long, some perfect, others partly finished. There were also a number of blocks of the same kind of stone found in the rough state, as when brought from tlie quarry ; they had the appearance of ordinary flint, and were nearly as hard ; not only arrow-heads, but axes and other articles of domestic use were made from these stones. In Queens County. — In this county the Iwock- away, Merrikoke, and Marsapeague tribes of Indians were settled on the south side ; and the Matinecoc tribe on the north side. The middle of the island seems to have been by common consent the acknowledged boundary between the tribes on the north and south sides. In this county, about the year 1654, a battle was fought between the English, under Captain John Under]] ill, and the Marsapeague Indians. This is the only con- test of any importance between the English and Indians on Long Island, of which we have any account. The Indians were defeated with con- siderable loss. In Suffolk County. — In this county were the ^Nissacpiage, Setauket, Corchaug, Secataug, Patch- INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 33 ogue, Shinecoc and Montauk tribes of Indians. The Manhanset tribe was on Shelter Island, Earn Island, and Hog Island. Tradition asserts they conld bring 500 warriors into the field. Most of the tribes of Indians have totally disap- peared like " The baseless fabric of a vision." The Montank, which occnpied Montauk Point and Gardiner's Island, is the only tribe which has any number in it, except the Shinecoc tribe. In this decrease of the Indian tribes the white population has not had tlie extensive agency which many persons in our day seem to imagine ; and a minute inquiry into the circumstances of the case could scarcely fail to satisfy them that, even where the utmost exertions were honestly used to prevent it, tliis decrease could not be stayed or retarded, much less arrested in its pro- gress. The Dutch Government believed in the possibility of converting the Indians, and also of forming them into civilized communities, and with that view were very rigid in their enact- ments against all courses and practices which they thought would interfere with the attainment of that end. Thus it was that Governor Stuyvesant, in 164:7, prohibited the sale of strong drink to the Indians, under the heavy penalty of live hun- 34 loinG island antiquities. dred Oarolus guilders " and the further respon- sibility for all the misdemeanors that may result therefrom ; " a law which was strictly enforced. In addition to this he directed that in all cases justice should be done to the aborigines ; that their lands shonld not be taken without a fair compensation, and that the inhabitants should pay them for any work which the Indians should do for them ; nnder " the penalty of such a iine as according to the occasion shall be deemed right." These regulations were substantially continued by the English Government for many years after they came into possession of the colony. Many exertions were used both by the Dutch and Eng- lish Colonial Governments to Christianize the In- dians upon this island, but with little success ; the restraints which religion imposed were not suited to their feelings or dispositions. The at- tempt, however, was not abandoned. In the year 1741, the Eev. Azariah Horton was the mis- sionary to the Long Island Indians, a duty which he assumed in the month of August of that year. He states that then at the east end of the island there were two small towns of the Indians, and lesser companies settled at a few miles distance from one another, for the length of above one hundred miles between the extremities of the INDIANS, AND TIIEIK HISTORY. 35 island. At liis first coming he was well received by most of them, and heartily welcomed by some ; the Indians at the east end especially gave diligent and serious attention to his instructions, and a general reformation of manners was soon observable among them. Up to the close of the year 1743, he had baptized thirty-five adults and forty-four children. " He took pains with them to teach them to read, and some of them have made considerable proficienc}^" But notwithstanding all this, Mr. Ilorton, in the early part of 1744, complains of a great defection of some of these Indians from their first reformation, caused by " a relapse into their darling vice of drunkenness ; a vice to which the Indians are everywhere so greatly addicted, and so vehemently disposed, that nothing but the power of Divine grace can restrain that impetuous lust, when they have an oppor- tunity of gratifying it." Under these discourag- ing circumstances the mission was still continued ; and we are under the impression that it was not abandoned until after the commencement of the Revolutionary war, which broke up most of the churches in this colony. To show how extremely difficult it was to pre- vent the Indians from drinking, notwithstanding all the restrictions imposed ]:)y the Government, we refer to the case of the Rev. Samson Occom, 3G LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. the celebrated Mohegan minister, and a man who the Eev. Dr. Buell, in a letter of May 9, 1761, characterizes as a " preacher of the Gospel who seems always to have in view the end of the ministry, the glory of God, and the salvation of man," and who he also speaks of as " the glory of the Indian nation." Yet this Indian clergyman, learned and good as he undoubtedly was, could not avoid the curse of his race, and in a letter which he addressed to the Presbytery of Long Island on the 9th of June, 1764, confesses himself " to have been shamefull}^ overtaken by strong drink, by which (he says) I have greatly wound- ed the cause of God, blemished the pure religion of Jesus Christ, blackened my own character, and hurt my own soul." This Indian avidity for strong drink is thus portrayed by a chief of the Six N^ations, in a speech he made to the Commissioners of the United States at Fort Stanwix in the year 1788. He observed : " The avidity of the white people for land, and the thirst of the Indians for spii-itu- ous liquors were equally insatiable ; that the white men had seen and fixed their eyes upon the Indian's good land and the Indians had seen and fixed their eyes upon the white men's keg of rum. And nothing could divert either of them from their desired object ; and therefore there was no 87 remedy, but the white men must have the land and the Indians the keg of rum." This speech affords a correct view of the case. The Indians could not be prevented from drink- nio^, allhouo'h o^reat exertions were used to ac- complish that end ; notliing human could effect it ; it was alone (to use the words of the Rev. Mr. Horton, in 174:4) tlie power of Divine Grace that could restrain this impetuous lust. This account of the Rev. Mr. Horton's mission in 1744 was unfortunately the history of every attempt to ameliorate the condition of these poor tribes. So long as they were in the course of instruction, and everything was done for them, or they were assisted in doing matters in order to teach them, things went on tolerably well ; but the moment they were left to themselves to put in practice the instructions they had received, in governing their own towns, in conducting their own church service, teaching their own schools, and in cultivating their own fields, they began to retrograde ; the benefits which they had received were not communicated by them to their chil- dren, and of course the next generation was almost as much of savages as were their fathers before the advantages of civilization were intro- duced among them. Notwithstanding tliese dis- couraging circumstances, oft-repeated attempts 38 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. were made to induce the remnants of these abori- gines to adopt the habits and practices of civil- ized life, but with very limited and partial suc- cess, and laws were enacted by the State Legisla- ture to facilitate these benevolent efforts, and to prevent trespasses upon the lands of the Indians, in order to induce them to resort to its cultivation for their support. It seems to have been impos- sible to satisfy tlie aboriginal inhabitants of this island as to the value of education, or to convince them that it was not a disadvantage for them to possess it. This trait, however, is not peculiar to the Indians of this island ; it is now found in full operation in the minds of great numbers of the aborigines west of the Mississippi, and is a most serious bar to their advancement in the arts of civilized life. Thej esteem their own education (if it may be so called) as immensely superior to that which we offer them, for the life which they lead, and which they desire to continue in ; and they look upon the learning and knowledge which we tender to them as only calculated to be of use alone to the white men. Notliing effectual can l)e done towards civilizing and instructing the Indians until this idea is removed from their minds, and until they become cultivators of the soil for a subsistence, — until they look to the grain Avhich they raise, and to the cattle and 39 stock which they rear for a living, in place of seeking it by the chase, and in fishing npon the lakes and rivers. The moment they become truly fixed to the soil (and that will probably not be until one generation of cultivators shall have passed away), they will see and feel the necessity of knowledge, and they will then of their own motion seek for it ; until that time arrives all efforts to impart education to them are thrown away, they place no value on it, but, on the con- trary, regard it as an impediment to the course of life on which they depend as a means of exist- ence. There has always been a very great and seri- ous difiiculty which we have had to contend with in all attempts to Christianize the aborigines, to which sufficient attention has not been paid. We refer to their religious belief. They believe in one God, whom they call the Great Spirit ; and who they believe controls and orders all things. They also recognize the existence of an evil spirit, and have their system of future rewards and pun- ishments. It, therefore, often becomes extremely difficult for the missionary to convince them that he is preaching a new religious faith. To their untutored minds the variances, so marked and pal- pable to us, do not present themselves ; and often has the sincere teacher of the Gospel been 40 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. obliged to confess that his prospect of success would be very much better with a people who wei-e the avowed worshippers of idols, stocks, and stones, than with the Xorth American Indians, and arising from the circumstances before re- ferred to. It is true our Indians believed in a pbirality of gods, but they were all subordinate to the Great Spirit, and could not be distin- guished by them from the angelic host of the Christian faith ; for their subordinate gods were the miuisteriug spirits of their superior god. The religious faitli of the Long Island Indians is de- scribed by the Rev. Samson Occom, an educated Mohegan Indian ]ninister, as follows : " They believe in a plurality of gods, and in one great and good Being, who controls all the rest. They likewise believe in an evil spirit, and have their conjurers or pawaws." Occom was perfectly conversant with their old religion, and one who had great influence with them ; and when he re- moved to Western Kew York with the remnants of some of the New England tribes, a consider- able number of the Montauks from this island accompanied him. i\\ the year 1792, in the hope that it would benefit them, the Legislature of this State con- ferred upon the Shinecoc Indians upon the east end of this island, the power of electing three INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 41 trustees from their own tribe to manage and ap- portion their lands among the members of their tribe, with a view to its improvement. At these elections, each male Indian above twenty-one years of age was a voter ; and the elections were to be held annually in Southampton, on the iirst Tuesday in April, at the place of holding the annual town meeting ; and the town clerk of Southampton was required to be present, and to preside at these Indian elections. But the Legis- lature would not permit these trustees to lease out the lands of the tribe to any one without the consent of three Justices of tlie Peace residino^ next to them, and then not for a longer period than three years. In order to promote friendship and a future good understanding between the Montauk In- dians and the white settlers, an agreement, in writing, was entered into between them on the 3d day of March, 1702-3, by which all previous differences were declared settled, and the respec- tive rights of the Indians and the wliite inhabi- tants to the lands in that vicinity adjusted. Under this agreement they continued to live in peace with each other, until about the year 1787, when the Indians began to imagine that the white proprietors were in possession of much more land than had been declared to belong to 43 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. them by the agreement of 1703 ; and to test this question they turned their cattle into some of the fenced fields of the white people, which caused their impounding. Upon the trial which result- ed from this act, it was shown that the white proprietors held the same lands that were award- ed them by that agreement and no more. Then the Indians came to regard the agreement itself, under which the}^ had so long lived in peace, as a serious grievance ; and in 1807 they petitioned the Legislature of this State for relief in respect to certain grievances which they said had been im- 230sed upon them by the proprietors of the lands on Montauk in reference to the improvement of their lands ; and they prayed the interference of the Legislature to procure an alteration of the agreement made by their ancestors with those proprietors. The Legislature saw that these poor Indians could not be referred to the courts of law to test the validity of their agreement, as would have been the course if that petition had em- anated from anj^ other of the inhabitants of this State, and they therefore appointed Ezra L'Hom- medieu, John Smitli and Nicoll Floyd, Esq., of Suffolk County, commissioners to inquire into the grievances complained of by those Indians ; and authorized them, with the consent of tlie pro- prietors and the Indians, to make such arrange- 43 ment as they might judge equitable, for the future improvement of the land at Montauk hy the Indians, notwithstanding the agreement made by their ancestors ; and to report their proceed- ings to the Legislature at their next meeting. These commissioners made their report to the New York Legislature on the 30th of January, 1808, from which it clearly appeared that the Indians were in error in believing their ancestors had not conveyed to the white proprietors all the lands they were then in possession of ; and they also appended to their report the original agree- ment which was i:&ade on the 3d of March, 1702-3, which the Legislature ordered to be filed in tlie office of the Secretary of State. By their report the commissioners state that " the uneasiness of the Indians in respect to their rights to land on Montauk has been occasioned principally by strangers (not inhabitants of this State), who, for a nunal)er of years past, have made a practice of visiting them, and have received from them pro- duce and obligations for money for counsel and advice, and their engagements to assist them in respect to their claims to lands on Montauk, other than those now held by the aforesaid agree- ment." And the commissioners further state, that " the neck of land they (the Indians) live on contains about one thousand acres of the first 44 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. quality, on which, by the aforesaid agreement, they have a right to plant Indian corn without restriction as to the number of acres, besides im- proving thirty acres for wheat or grass ; to keep two hundred and fifty swine, great and small, and fifty horse, kind and neat cattle, and to get hay to winter them. They now enjoy privileges equal with their ancestors, since the date of the said agreement, although their numbers have greatly diminished ;" and the commissioners con- clude with expressing it as their opinion that " there is no necessity of any further legislative interference respecting them." The explanations made by these commissioners appear to have been satisfactory to the Indians, and we hear nothing further from them until 1816, when they complained to the Governor aiid the Legislature of som.e trespasses committed upon their lands by the white people, which complaint w^as answered by the appointment of another commission to inquire into their condi- tion, and to remedy the evils of which they com- plained, w^hich is hereafter mentioned. A considerable number of the Montauk In- dians appear to have emigrated in 1783, together with some other fragments of the great Mohegan nation, of which they formed a part, into the w^est- ern part of this State under the direction of the 45 Rev. Samson Occom, where they all together merged into one tribe and became known as the Brotliertown Indians. Thej were also some- times called the N^ew England Indians, and con- sisted of the following tribes — the Mohegan (em- bracing all whose particular tribe was unknown, and therefore the general national name was ap- plied to them), the Montocks (or Montanks), the Stonington and Narragansett Indians, the Pe- qnots of Groton, and the Nehanticks of Far- mington. The Legislature of this State, in 1813, con- firmed to these Indians the land previously set apart for their use, and declared that it should remain to tliem and their posterity, without the power of alienation, and that the said tract should be called Brothertown. They also pro- vided that a school should be established there for the Indians, to be supported out of the annual sum of $2,160.79, to be paid out of the State treasury, and that after also deducting the salary of their attorney to look after their interests, the balance should be applied to the use of those In- dians as should be judged most beneficial to them. In 1816, Govern.or Tompkins, at the request of the Montauk Indians, appointed Richard Ilubbel and Isaac Keeler, Esqrs., commissioners to inquire into the trespasses committed upon their property, 46 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. and as far as practicable to have them redressed. In their report the commissioners state : " That about fifty families, consisting of 148 persons, men, women, and children, inhabit said point — that fourteen of the women are widows, and that they all live in about thirty huts, or wig- wams, nearly in the same style as Indians have for centuries past." These Indians, at present, obtain their living principally from the sea, although they till some land for raising corn, beans, and potatoes, in small patches or lots. They are in possession of about 500 aci-es of land of the best quality. They keep cows, swine, poultry, one horse and one pair of oxeii. Their land, through bad tillage, is unproductive. Civilization and education appear to be much on the decline, and their house of worship, which was formerly in a flourishing state, is now going to ruin. The elder inhabitants have learning sufficient to read and write, but the children are brought up in a savage state. The Montauk and Shinecoc Indians are the only tribes now remaining on this island. There are a few miserable individuals the rem- nants of some eastern tribes of this island, but no great number of them. About the year 1819, Stephen, the king or sachem of the Montauk Indians, died, and was buried by a contribution. This Indian king was INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 47 only distinguislied from others of his tribe by wearing a hat with a yellow ribbon on it (E. S. King, iet. 22, Jan., 1825). The Sag Harbor newspaper, in 1830, mentions that on the 5th of January of that 3'ear, there died at Poospatuck, near Moriches, on Long Island, Elizabeth Job, aged seventy-two years, relict of Ben Job, and queen of the Indians in that place, " leaving but two females of her tribe, both well stricken in years. Thus ends the custom, for many ^^ears kept up, of paying a yearly tribute of a handful of rushes to their queen." ^Notwithstanding the Indians upon the east end of Long Island were so much reduced in num- bers, the State Government, in 1831, made another attempt to elevate them in the scale of life, and on the 19th of April of that year, the Legislature passed an act directing the SujDcrin- tendent of Common Schools annually to pay the additional sum of eighty dollars from the school fund to the treasurer of the county of Suffolk, to support a school among the Shinecoc Indians, for the instruction of their children. And they require the Commissioners of Common Schools in Southampton to include in their annual re- port " a statement of the length of time that a school has been taught in pursuance of this act ; the number of children taught in said school ; 48 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. the manner in wliich such moneys have been ex- pended; and whether any and how much re- mains unexpended, and for what cause." This law was limited to three years, but by another act passed March 1st, 1845, it was re- newed for four years, from April 28th, 1844, ^* and no longer, nnless the same shall be extended by the Legislature." Thus we see the Indians upon Long Island dwindling away notwithstanding all the exer- ticais used by the Government for their support and advancement. The Indian and the white man, it seems, cannot live together ; the former insensibly waste away before the latter, even w^iere they are well and kindly treated, and the utmost care taken for their preservation. At Eastham, on Ca23e Cod, in 1674, Rev. Mr. Treat, the minister settled there, states that there were four Indian villages under his care. They had teachers and magistrates of their own people, and they were so kindly and affectionately treated by him that they venerated him as their pastor, and loved him as their father. There were then five hundred adult persons in their four villages, all of whom attended public worship. But all these exertions made for their benefit were of no avail, they wasted away by fatal diseases and other causes not easily explained, so that in 1693 they INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 49 Vv'ere reduced to only foui' individuals. So it was also on Long Island, as we have learned from the old inhabitants who were born on that island and resided upon it all their lives ; here the In- dians, although permitted to erect their wigwams where they pleased upon the farms of the pro- prietors, not in the grain fields, and one family of them passed their whole lives upon the farm of our grandfather, free of rent, and were em- ployed about farming duties, and paid for their services, and treated ^ith kindness, yet they seemed to die away in an unaccountable manner; no Hocks of children were to be seen playing about their huts. Their destruction cannot be attributed, as some now imagine, to the introduc- tion of ardent spirits among them by the white men, for old people will tell you that many of them did not indulge that way, and our Pilgrim fathers and Dutch ancestors made many very strict regulations to prevent the sale of those liquors to the Indians. There were indeed numerous cases of inebriation among them, for this seems to be a vice which the Indian cannot well avoid. We must bear in mind that the liquors then in use throughout the country were pure and unadul- terated, the people having not then learned the art of making the noxious compounds now vended under those names, so that they would not 3 50 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. produce the deleterious effects which we witness in those who now use them. But the real truth of the case is^ the Indians had performed tlieir duty, and fulfilled their destiny in this world, and Providence designed that their place should be supplied bja different race and order of men, and had so ordered matters that portions of this continent became gradually no longer fitted for their state of existence, and as a necessary conse- quence tliey faded away. If we would accustom ourselves to look upon such things in a different and more extended point of view, and not at- tempt to explain them from our finite political considerations, we w^ould be more frequently much nearer the truth. Lewis and Clarice's 2 ravels (Svo, Phila., IS 14) shows us that the small-pox, which had then be- come an epidemic disease in civilized countries, also raged with almost unparalleled malignity on the banks of the Missouri river among the Indian tribes at the commencement of the present cen- tury ; whole villages and nations were swept away by it. The following account of its effect upon the na- tion of the Mahas will exhibit one of the causes in progress for the destruction of the Indian tribes. " The ancient village of Mahas consisted of three hundred cabins, but was burned about four INDIANS, AND THEIK HISTORY. 51 years ago (in 1800), soon after the small-pox had destroyed four hundred men, and a proportion of women and children. On a hill in the rear of the village are the graves of the nation." " The accounts we have had of the effects of the small-pox on that nation are most distressing ; it is not known in what way it was first communicated to them, though probably by some war party. They had been a military and powerful people ; but when these warriors saw their strength wasting before a malady which they could not resist, their frenzy was extreme ; they burnt their village, and many of them put to death their wives and children to save them from BO cruel an affliction, and that all might go to- gether to some better country." At various periods of our history the fell pesti- lence has swept before it whole tribes and nations of the red men from the face of the earth. Thus it was the year before the pilgrims landed in ]^ew England, the country had been nearly depopulated by some fell disease among the abo- rigines. The first white settlers upon landing found nothing but the graves of the previous in- habitants, and their corn-fields with the crop un- gathered. It was in this way that Providence opened the country for its settlement by a civil- ized race, which, in all human probability, would 52 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. not have been effected by the small number of pilgrims who made their landing at Plymouth, if the native tribes had existed in their pristine strength. And again, within our own time, about twenty -five years since, the small-pox made its appearance amongst the Marden Indians, one of the most numerous, and the most civilized, as well as the most powerful tribe west of the Mis- sissippi river, and entirely destroyed them. Their manners, habits and customs are preserved to us by the sketches of George Catlin, Esq., who visited their villages, and remained with them some months, about two years previous to their de- struction. A singular natural phenomenon appears when the Indian blood is mixed with that of the white man ; it scarcely ever lasts beyond the second genei-ation ; and is very rarely met with beyond the third generation, but gradually wastes away, so that it is a common remark that the half- breeds soon run out. All these things melt away the Indian tribes from before the face of the white man ; and yet, notwithstanding all this, the Europeans, and especially the English, are often reading us homilies on our treatment of the Indians, in which they only exhibit their ignor- ance of the entire subject. A writer in the Gentlemanh Magazine^ Lon- 1 INDIANS, AND THEIR HISTORY. 53 don, for December, 1846, nnder the head of Ex- tra -ts from the Portfolio of a Man of the World, seems to think he lias found a panacea for all the evils attending this decrease of the Indian race, in a project which he admits cannot now be tried ; it is this : " Had settlements of the Europeans been made at once in the far West by a set of bachelor soldiers, and the Roman and Sabine mariages forces been effected in a civil way, the two races might have melted into one another miperceived, and spread their civilization backwards to the East, and red men and white men become as little distinguishable as a Sabine from a Roman in the time of Cicero." Nothing but a want of knowledge could induce such a proposition, otherwise he would have known that this mixed race, so far from spreading civilization over the continent, would have been in every respect a more debased and worthless race, and less likely to communicate any of the benefits they had received from their European fathers than even the pure Indian race. And who is there accustomed to take enlarged and extended views upon such subjects, that when he looks upon the Indian race and the mode practised by them in obtaining their food, can help but be struck with the idea, that Provi- 54 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. dence is by this means prej)aring the way for the extinction of that race of men, and for having their phice supplied by one of an entirely dif- ferent character. Nothing in om* j iidgment shows this more clearly than the common Indian prac- tice of setting fire to the prairie, and even to the forest, in order to drive to them their game. Sir Francis Head, in his Emigrant, on this point observes, that the aborigines for many years have been and still are in the habit of burning tracts of wood so immense, that, from very high and scientific authority, he was informed that the amount of land thus burned has exceeded many millions of acres, and that it has been and still is materially changing the climate of North Amer- ica. But besides this effect it is simultaneously working out another great object of nature. This improvident mode of obtaining game, by the de- struction it brings upon all the small game and the young of the larger variety, while it for a short time affords the Indian an abundance, eventually afflicts with famine and destitution all engaged in it, to the utter destruction of the Indian tribes ; an instance of which is given in the Beaver Indians of Canada, who forty years ago were a numerous and powerful tribe, and are now reduced to less than one hundred men, w^ho can scarcely find wild animals enough to keep 55 themselves alive. Tlie red population all over this continent have, from the period of its first discovery to the present day, been diminishing in the same ratio as the destruction of the moose and the buffalo, upon wliich they and their fore- fathers have subsisted ; and thus it is tliat we see, under a dispensation of Providence, by the agency of the aboriginal race, this continent is gradually undergoing a process which, with other causes, will assimilate its climate to that of Europe, and that the Indians themselves are clearing and pre- paring their own country for the reception of another and different race, who will in subse- quent ages gaze upon the remains of the elk, the bear, the buffalo, and the beaver, with the sam-e feeling of astonishment with which similar ves- tiges are now regarded in portions of Europe, the monuments of a state of existence that has passed away. AVliat, let us ask, has the civilized race in America to do with this certain and un- erring cause of extinction operating upon the nations of the aborigines on this continent ? It is indeed curious and worthy of note, that English writers, in treating of Canada, can both readily see and recognize the operation and effect of this great law of Providence ; but when they turn their eyes to the United States and observe the same effects .produced and operating upon our 56 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Indian tribes, they insist upon their being the result of oitr policy towards the aborigines, and that we are driving them before us out of exist- ence. So little qualified are the English, as a peoplfe, to judge correctl}^ in matters affecting other nations, and especially if they are pleased to regard them in any light as rivals. TRADITIONS. The Devil's Stepping Stones. — It is said that, at a certain time, doubtless some ages ago, the devil set up a claim against the Indians to Con- necticut as his peculiar domain ; but they being in possession, were determined, of course, to try to hold it. The surfaces of Connecticut and Long Island were at that time the reverse of what they are at present. Long Island was covered with rocks, and Connecticut was free from them. The Indians refused to quit on so short a notice, and accordingly both parties prepared for the contest. His Satanic majesty crossed to Connecticut, to enforce his claim by dispossessing the Indians ; but he was disappointed, the Indians were too much for him, and forced him to retreat to 57 Throg's Point. The tide being low and the pas- sage not very wide, the demon secured his retreat })j stepping from rock to rock until he reached Lono^ Island. After havino^ seated himself in the middle of the island at Coram and brooding over his defeat in a sullen humor, he suddenly roused himself, and collecting together all the rocks he could conveniently get at on the island, lie de- posited them in heaps at Cold Spring, where he amused himself with hurling them across the sound on the fertile plains of Connecticut. The Indians who last remained in that part of the country, not only undertook to show the spot where he stood, but also insisted that they could discern the prints of his feet. RoNKONKAMA FoND. — This piccc of watcr, from its lonely and secluded situation, was often the theme of Indian story. Among the many traditions respecting this interesting little lake, the following is all that I have been able to ob- tain at this distant day. The aborigines appear to have regarded it with a sort of awful veneration. They considered its depths as unfathomable, and believed that the fish were specially placed there by the Great Spirit. Under this impression, at the time of the first settlement, they refused to eat them, regarding them as superior beings. John Bull's Talk to the Indians. — King Ben, 58 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. wlio Styled himself one of the last of the Indian chiefs on Long Island, often resided on Whale's Neck, Qneen's County. lie nsed to relate many wonderful stories about the first settlers, and often told the story of John Bull speaking to the In- dians, wliich was as follo\\'S : The English had a large cannon which they told the natives was John Bull, and that on a certain day he would make a talk to them. Accordingly, on the day appointed, the poor Indians were placed in a line fronting the mouth of the gun, which being shotted was fired off to their destruction. King Ben says that the wrath of the Great Spirit, by rea- son of this outrage, was so great that at the sea- son of the year when this foul murder was com- mitted, no grass wiU grow upon that accursed spot, which still bears the stain of human blood. The fact is, that the place where this wicked deed is alleged to have been committed is a rido^e of red gravelly soil, on which in the dry season nothing can grow for want of moisture. MoNGOTucKSEE. — Caiioe place, on the south side of Long Island, derives its name from the fact, that more than two centuries ago, a canal was made there by the Indians, for the purpose of passing tlieir canoes from one bay to the other, that is, across the island frcm Mecox bay to Peconic bay. Although the trencliTTarijeen in MONGOTUCKSEE S CANAL. 59 a great measure filled np, yet its remains are still visible and partly flowed at high water. It was constructed by Mongotuc'isee (or Long Knife), who then reigned over the nation of Montank. Although that nation has now dwindled to a few miserable remnants of a powerful race, who still linger on the lands which were once the seat of their proud dominion, yet their traditional history is replete with all those tragical incidents which usually accompany the fall of power. It informs us that their chief was of gigantic form, proud and despotic in peace, and terrible in war. But although a tyrant of his people, yet he protected them from their enemies and commanded their respect for his savage virtues. The praises of Mongotucksee are still chanted in aboriginal verse to the winds that howl around the eastern extremity of this island. The Narragansetts and the Mohocks yielded to his prowess, and the an- cestors of the last of the Mohicans trembled at the expression of his anger. He sustained his power not less by the resources of his mind than by the vigor of his arm. An ever watchful po- licy guided his counsels. Prepared for every exigency, not even aboriginal sagacity could sur- prise his caution. To facilitate communication around the seat of his dominion for the purpose not only of defence but of annoyance, he con- CO LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. structed this canal, which remains a monument of his genius, while other traces of his skill and prowess are lost in oblivion, and even the nation whose valor he led may soon furnish for our country a topic in contemplating the fallen great- ness of the last of the Montauks. After his death the Montauks were subjugated by the Iroquois or Five Nations, and became their tributaries, as did all the tribes on this island. The strong attach- ment and veneration which the Montauk Indians entertained for their chief is evidenced by the following fact : Within a short distance of Sag Harbor, in the forest by the roadside, is a shal- low excavation, which the Indians were formerly very particular in keeping clean ; each on pass- ing stopped to clean it out. The reason they gave for their so doing, was, that a long time ago a Montauk chief having died at Shinecoc, the Indians brought him from that place to Amma- gansett to be interred in the usual bury iiig-pl ace, and during their journey they stopped to rest, and placed the body of their dead chieftain in that excavation during the meanwhile ; in consequence of which the spot had with them acquired a spe- cies of sacred character. About forty years ago, there were upwards of 130 families of Indians on Montauk ; now (1827) they have dwindled to four or five families. THE SACHEM WACOMBOUND. 61 Some of their squaws are very handsome women. The royal familj- of the Montauks were distin- guished among tlie Engh'sh by the name of Faro. The last of the family, a female, died a year or two ago. The authority or pre-eminence of the Montauk chieftain, as the head of the Mohegan family on this island, appears not only to have been claimed by them, but also to have been ac- knowledged by the other tribes, and his assent seems to have been required to any treaty or con- veyance made by any of tlie tribes upon Long Island with or to the white men. In the deed of confirmation given to the white settlers of Hempstead on the 4th of July, 1647, by tlie Mas- eapeage, Merioke, and Rockaway tribes of In- dians, they mention the fact of the Montauk Sachem "being present at the contirmation." And again, in another deed of May 11th, 1658, by which the Indians acknowledge to have re- ceived full payment of the balance due for the lands purchased by the settlers of Hempstead, the payments being made by instalments, at the bottom, after signatures of all the chiefs of the tribes, it is said, " Subscribed by Wacombound, Montauk Sachem, after the death of his father, this 14th of February, 1660, being a general town meeting at Hempstead." Plis allowance or con- firmation of the deed appearing to be esteemed 62 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. necessary to its validity. The Montauk chief was also styled the Grand Sachem of Paunian- acke, or Long Island ; no inconsiderable dignity in that day. Manetta Hill. — About thirty miles from Brooklyn, and midway between the north and south sides of this island, is a hill known by the name of Manet ^ or Manetta Hill. This, however, is a corruption of the true name, which was Man- itou Hill^ or the Hill of the Great Spirit ; which appellation is founded on the tradition, that many ages since, the aborigines residing in those parts suffered extremely from the want of water. Un- der their suffering they offered up prayers to the Great Spirit for relief. That in reply to their supplications, the Good Spirit directed that their principal chieftain should shoot his arrow^ into the air, and on the spot where it fell they should dig, and would assuredly discover the element they so much desired. They pursued the direction, dug, and found water. There is now a well situ- ated on this rising ground, w^hich is not deep, and the tradition continues to say that this w^ell is on the very spot indicated by the Good Spirit. This hill was undoubtedly used in ancient times as the place of general offering to the Great Spirit in the name and behalf of all surrounding peo- ple ; and was of the character of the hill-altars SLOrGHTER AND THE INDIANS. 63 SO common among the early nations. It is from this circumstance that the name was most proba- bly derived. This is another of oar Long Island Indian traditions, all of which are now fast fading from the recollections of our oldest inhabitants, and which, most generally, are not deemed of suffi- cient importance by tlie younger portion of the community to be preserved in memory. This is the reason why we have sought to preserve those of which we have heard, in our plain and homely language. The Long Island Indians possessed all that pe- culiar eloquence which has so long distinguished the aborigines of the West ; and it was mainly from them that the Europeans first obtained their ideas of Indian oratory, and of the strong and bold imagery which characterize tlie Indian speeches. The aborigines of this island had all that singular tact, which still marks the Indian, of discovering at once, in their intercourse with white men, wdio are really the men of power and consequence, and wdio are not ; and to the former they pay their respects, taking no notice of the others. The following official account of an inter- view which took place at Flatlands, upon Long Island, between Governor Sloughter and a Long Island Indian Sachem and his sons, will afford 64 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. an instance of their eloquence and their sagacity — they saw that Leisler, however powerful he might have been only a few weeks previous, was then a fallen man, without power, and at the mercy of his inveterate enemies. This extraordinary interview took place on the 2d of April, 1691, between the Governor of New York and a Sachem of Long Island, attended by two of his sons and twenty other Indians. The Sachem, on being introduced, congratulated Gov- ernor Sloughter in an eloquent manner upon his arrival, and solicited his friendship and protec- tion for himself and his people ; observing that he had in his own mind fancied his Excellency was a mighty tall tree, with wide-spreading hranches, and therefore he prayed leave to stoop under the shadow thereof. Of old (said he) tlie Indians were a gi-eat and mighty people, but now tliey were reduced to a mere handful. He con- cluded his visit by presenting the Governor with thirty fathoms of wampum, which he graciously accepted, and desired the Sachem to visit him again in the afternoon. On taking their leave, the youngest son of the Sachem handed a bundle of brooms to the officer in attendance, saying, at the same time, that, " as Leisler and his party had left the house very foul, he brought the brooms with him for the purpose of making it clean again." P. REVEREND PAUL CUFFEE. 65 In the afternoon the Sachem and his party again yisited the Governor, who made a speech to them, and on receiving a few presents they departed. Some of the Indians npon this island have evinced considerable talent in other respects as well as in oratory. The Rev. Samson Occom, the celebrated Mohegan minister, was for a con- siderable time a missionary among the Indian tribes on this island. Some of his sermons and other pieces, which have been printed, are well written, and exhibit an edncated mind, to snch an extent as wonld nnqnestionably snrprise those who have not thought mnch upon the subject of these people. Paul Cuffee was also an Indian minister, a native of tlie Shinecoc tribe, and a man of con- siderable powers of mind, with some elocpience, who formei-ly labored among the Indians of Montauk and his native tribe ; and although not possessing mnch education, he was a useful and respectable man. lie was buried about a mile west of Canoe place, where the Indian church then stood, and over his grave a neat marble slab has been placed, having upon it the following in- scription : " Erected by the Missionary Society of New York, in memory of the Rev. Paul Cuffee, an Indian of the Shinecoc tribe, who was em- ployed by that society for the last thirteen years 66 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. of his life on the eastern part of Long Island, where he labored with fidelity and success. Humble, pious and indefatigable in testifying the Gospel of the Grace of God, he finished his course with joy on the 7th day of March, 1812, aged 55 years and 3 days." In the early period of the settlement of this colony under the Dutch Government, the In- dians upon Long Island were far from preserv- ing uniformly peaceful relations with the colo- nists, and the latter suffered from their incursions upon their settlements, and were not unfre- quently under serious apprehensions from attacks by the Indians. This fact is abundantly shown by a reference to the minutes of the proceedings of the Dutch Colonial Government, still preserved in the ofiice of our Secretary of State, at Albany. The Council minutes of March 25, 1643, has the following entry, narrating a previous state of hostility, and the concluding of a peace between the Long Island Indians and the Dutch Govern- ment. " Whereas, in some time past, several misun- derstandings have taken place between the savages of Long Island and our nation, by which, from both sides, blood has streamed upon the land, the houses have been robbed and burned, 67 with the killing of the stock and carrying off the corn by the Indians, so it is, that between us and them who already follow the banner of their great chief, Pennowits^ a solid peace has been established, so that all injuries, from whatsoever side, are hereby forgiven and forgotten." The hostile spirit manifested by the Indians in what is now Kings County, in the year 1644, was such that the Dutch government stationed soldiers in the town of New Utrecht to defend the inhabitants from the aborigines. The "Eng- lish soldiers" mentioned in the following official document, describing an Indian attack upon New Utrecht, in which their conduct is complained of, were not foreign soldiers brought into the colony, but were the inhabitants of the adjoining English toion of Gravesend, who had been enrolled by the Dutch authorities in this emergency. " March 9th, 1644:, appeared before the Se- cretary, Cornells Cornelissen, from Utrecht, twenty-two years old, and declares that being a sentinel at night before the house of Jochem Pietersen; being about two o'clock, near the cow-rick, about fifty paces from the barn, he saw approaching a burning pile "^ (an arrow), the * The Indians are still in the habit of shooting arrows hav- ing tow, hemp or other inflammable substance on fire against buildings, so as to destroy them, in their wars. 68 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. flames as blue as the flame of brimstone, about twenty paces from the house, between the dung- hill and cherry-tree door, which pile or arrow fell on the reeden cos-er of the house, which was soon in full flame by the violence of the wind. A little after he heard the firing of a gun from the same spot from which the arrow came. The English soldiers would not leave the cellar where they slept, wherefore obtaining no assistance the house was consumed. " Jacob Lambertsen, aged twenty, declares that going at night, about two o'clock, on patrol, around the house of Jochem Pietersen, he saw a flaming arrow, the flame resembling much the color of brimstone, etc. When the house was in full flame he heard the report of a gun, which they suspect- ed was fired by the Indians whom they heard yet the next morning hallooing and firing. During the fire the English soldiers did not stir from the cellar where they slept. '^ John Hagaman, Peter Jansen,and Dirk Ger- ritsen also declared that the English soldiers offered not the least assistance." The Dutch government seem to have considered this Indian attack, and the circumstances attend- ing it, a very important matter, and had the same under advisement, and were collecting testimoiiy about it late in the month of May following. < ^w THE FORT ON FOKT NECK. 69 tlie 19tli of May, 1644, Cornelis Cornelissen was aorain exainiiied, and he " certifies that some time before the house was burned he asked Jochem leave to go to the Manhattan, etc." The only battle which the English settlers upon Long Island had with the Indians was in 1653, in the storming of the Indian fort upon Fort Neck, in Queens County. The Indians had for some little time previous shown a very unfriendly dis- position towards the English settlers in that part of the island ; at last they garrisoned tliis fort upon Fort Keck, from which they at times issued forth in parties, destroying the crops of the colo- nists and driving off their cattle and horses, and eventually killed some two or three of the set- tlers. The colonists at once assembled, and all of them being armed, they put themselves under the command of Capt. John Underbill ; who at once stormed the Indian fort, and in doing which destroyed so many of their people that the Indians were very peaceful towards the English colonists on Long Island ever after. The following extraordinary circumstance con- nected with the battle is related by Samuel Jones, Esq., in his communication addressed to John Pintard, Esq., Secretary of the New York Histor- ical Society, and printed in the third volume of the collections of that Society. 70 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. " After the battle at Fort I^eck, the weather being very cold, and the wind northwest, Capt. Underbill and his men collected the bodies of the Indians, and threw them in a heap on the brow of the hill, and then sat down on the leeward side of the heap to eat their breakfast. " When this part of the country came to be set- tled, the highw^ay across the Neck passed directly over the spot wdiere it was said the heap of Indi- ans lay, and the earth in that spot was remarkably different from the ground around it, being strongly tinged with a reddish cast, w^hich the old people said was occasioned by the blood of the Indians." Mr. Jones, speaking of this tradition, observes : " This appearance was formerly very conspicuous. Having heard the story above sixty years ago (that is before the year 1752), I frequently viewed and remarked the spot with astonishment. But by digging down the hill for repairing the highway the appearance is now entirely gone." The ancient Indian name of Long Island is said to have been Mattenwake / and that this word is compounded of the word Mattai^ which in the Delaware or Lenape language signifies an island (see Heckewelder), and the word wake marking its peculiar characteristic. All the In- dian names of places, so far as we know them, de- rive their origin from local circumstances; are THE NAME OF L02sG INLAND. 71 peculiarly and graphically characteristic of the places to which they were applied, and were there- fore composed of two or more words. It is, however, a difficult matter to ascertain at the present day, what the true Indian name of this island was. In the early settlement of the eastern part of the island, the Montauk chieftain in his deed to the settlers, styles himself Sachem of " Paumanacke^ or Long Islmuir Hubbard, in his History of Xew England, says : " That at the time of the grant to the Earl of Stirling in 1G35, it was called by the Indians Mattan- wakeP In Beauchamp's " Description of the Province of Kew Albion," etc., London, 164:8, this island is called by the Indian name of Pamiinhe ; and in the patent of Charles 11. to his brother the Duke of York in 1664, it is called Meitowax^ as being its Indian name. It is probable that the name as given by Hubbard is the true one. In the jS^arra- gansett language, Mattan was a term used to signify anything fine or good, and duhe^ or ahe^ meant land or earth, thus the whole w^ord would mean the good or pleasant land, which was cer- tainly highly characteristic of Loiig Island, even at the period of its early settlement, as abundantly appears from the description of it by Yander- donck, Denton, and other writers. 72 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The celebrated Indian war in ISiew England, called ^' King Philip's War," caused much excite- ment and apprehension in this city and colony, from the fear lest the Indians upon Long Island and near 'New York, being of the same great Mo- hegan family with the Peqnots and Narragansetts, might be induced to join Philip's league against the English, as they knew he had sent his envoys among them for that purpose. Under this view of the case the Court of As- sizes of this Colony, then being the legislative power, at their term held in New York on the 18tli day of October, 1675, "ordered, that in case there should happen a war with the Indians in this Government (which God forbid), for the bet- ter carrying on of the same, one or more rates shall be levied, according as there shall be occas- ion, an account whereof to be given to the follow- ing Court of Assizes." To take away all excuse for any such war on the part of the Indians within this colony, they also ordered : " That in all cases the mao^istrates throup:h the whole government are required to do justice to the Indians as well as Christians." At the same session this Court of Assizes, to prevent if possible all excitement among the Long Island Indians, ordered, " That the law be ob- served which prohibits selling strong liquors to THE colonists' PRECAUTION. 73 tlie Indians in Yorkshire, upon Long Island and Dependencies." *■' And that, pursuant to the law, the constables of the several towns take care no powder or lead be sold to the Indians, but by them as directed, or by their consent." It then became a question of the utmost mo- ment how these two great branches of the Mohe- gan family should be separated, and the branch upon Long Island kept from uniting with that in New England, and the Court of Assizes at this session adopted the following regulations : " Upon a proposal whether it will not be con- venient at this juncture of time of the Indians' disturbance to the eastward, to bring all tlie ca- noes on the north side of Long Island to this place, or to have them all destroyed, to prevent any intercourse with the Indians on the main and our Indians ; or that these canoes be brought to the next towns and secured by the officei's : It is resolved that all canoes whatsoever belonging to Christians or Indians on the north side of Long Island to the east of Hell Gate, shall, within three days after the publication hereof, be brought to the next town and delivered into the constables' (custody, to be laid up and secured by them near their block houses ; and that whatever canoe shall be found upon the sound after that time be de- stroyed." 4 74 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The enforcing of these regulations prevented the apprehended Indian war in this colony, and secured the neutrality of the Long Island Indi- ans during the Indian war of Khig Philip in New England. CHANGES IN THE ASPECT OF THE COUNTET. That the greater part, if not all, of this island on the south side of the range of hills called the Backbone of Long Island, is that kind of soil called alluvial, and has been formed from the ocean's bed, must be apparent to attentive observ- ers of the face of the country, and its geological formation. Several years since, in di^rsfino; a well on some of the highest ground in Brooklyn, a hemlock board was found at the depth of thirty feet ; and again at the depth of seventy-three feet oyster and clam shells were met with, which crumbled on being exposed to the air. It is l)elieved that Governor's Island and Red Hook Point, on this island, were connected to- gether. It is said to be an established fact tliat inany years since cattle were driven from Bed Ilook to Governor's Island, which places at that time were only separated by a very narrow chan- nel, which is called Buttermilk Channel, and is THE BUTTERMILK CHANNEL. 75 now wide and deep enough to admit the passage of merchant vessels of the largest size. ' Mr. Charles Donghty, formerly a very respectable in- habitant of the town of Brooklyn, who has been, dead about twenty-live years, and was about eighty-five years of age when he died, used to say that when he was a young man he had been told by old people that they recollected when an In- dian squaw waded from Governor's Island to Long Island with her papoose. This is rendered the more probable from a state- ment we received from a gentleman in the close of the year 1846, now residing in the city of Xew York, who informed us, the summer of 1821 he crossed from the extensive flats south of Cor- nell's Red Mills, and between those Mills and Red Hook in Brooklyn, to Governor's Island, and back again, and that he walked the whole dis- tance except about twenty -five feet, which he was obliged to swim. He says he is certain it was not over twenty-five feet, and he thinks it was less. Gravesend, in Kings County, was at its first set- tlement laid out in streets crossing each other at right angles and intended for a city, and had a bold shore with a good depth of water. Old Mr. Barry, an inhabitant of N^ew Utrecht, now (1822) eighty-nine years of age, says that he perfectly 76 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. recollects of old people telling him when he was young, that they remembered when the sea broke against the land at Gravesend, which now breaks upwards of a mile distant ; the beach having been formed since that time, as well as the meadow between the beach and the main land. Mr. Kiit- gert Yan Brunt, who is now about sixty years of age, says that the beach is decreasing, and he doubts not but the time will arrive when both the beach and meadow will be washed away, and the sea again break on the land. In the township of Flatbush (which is very level), in sinking a well on the place of William I. Furman, Esq., distant about five miles from the Jamaica Bay, at the depth of one hundred feet two petrified clams were found, one of which appears to be of the species called sand clams, and is in the cabinet of Judge Furman of l^ew- town. The other is of the species called the mud chim, and is in the possession of the compiler. Hempstead Plains is composed of small pebble stones, such as are found on the seashore, and there is not a stone larger than your fist, if so large, to be found in all Hempstead. All their biiildino: stone is brousfht from the rids^e of hills before referred to as the Backbone of Lono' Island. There is a tradition (whether correct or not, I OYSTERS OF BLUE POIXT BAY. 77 am unable to say) that Blue Point Bay Avas for- merly a swamp, in which wild allspice grew in large quantities ; and it is said that the oy stern len frequently draw up with their rakes decayed pieces of that wood. This l)ay was formerly famous for its very large and very line oysters. The people on this island have a curious account of the disappearance of these oysters. They say, that the poor people from all the coun- try round used to support themselves in a great measure by the oysters which they took here for their owm consum])tion and to sell. The town of Brookhaven, in which the bay is situated, at last determined they would derive a revenue from these oysters, and passed a law, in town meeting, that no one should take them without a license, for which they should pay a certain sum. This was resisted for some time, but at last the town raised a body of armed men and fitted out two or three armed boats, and drove off the poor people : and that as soon as this was consummated, not an oyster was taken, the rakes brought up noth- ing but empty shells. And this continued to be the case until, about 1839, when the whole bottom of the bay, for some feet in thickness, was found to be covered with young oysters about the size of a dollar, which the poor now take up in great quan- tities. A similar circumstance also occurred in 78 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITLES. Southampton Bay. The town there laid a tax on the taking of oysters by the poor people, and the oysters which were before very abundant at once disappeared. And the people, to this day, in both instances, say that God killed the oysters because they would not let the poor have them. The town of Southampton seems to have been anxious to secure that and similar powers to themselves beyond the possibility of dispute, and although they claimed to exercise them as a corporation, under their charter from Governor Dongan in 1686, yet they sought a confirmation of them under an act of the State Legislature, declar- ing the powers and duties of " the trustees of the freeholders and commonalty of the town of Southampton," passed April 25, 1831, which act declares that they " are and shall continue to be a corporation," to be elected at the annual town meeting. And it further provides that, " the said trustees shall have the sole control over all the fisheries, fowling, seaweed, waters and pro- ductions of the waters, within said town, not the property of individuals, and all the property, connnodities, privileges and franchises granted to them by the charter of Governor Dongan in 1686, except so far as abrogated, changed and altei-ed by the laws of this State, passed in conformity to the Constitution, and not now belonging to indi- CHANGES IN THE SHORE OF THE ISLAND. 79 viduals nor to tlie proprietors, by virtue of an act entitled ' an act relative to the common and undivided lands and marshes in Southampton, in the County of Suffolk,' passed April 15, 1818 ; " and also gives them authority to make rules and bye-laws in the premises, under penalties not to exceed fifty dollars for any one offence, to be sued for and recovered by said trustees. We never before saw a charter so loosely referred to in an act or public document ; not even its date, or the full name of the Governor, is given ; we should think from this that the charter itself is not in existence. Mr. John Yelsor, who lives about two miles southwest of Cold Spring Harbor in 0/ster Bay, in digging a well some years since, at the depth of one hundred and ten feet, found part of a tree about four feet in length and several inches in diameter, entire, with the usual marks distinct, but which soon decayed on its being exposed to the open air. — See Wood's Geograiyhy of Hun- tington. The shores of Loner Island have undergone frequent, and at times very rapid, changes. This arises from their consisting of a loose sand- beacli exposed to the action of the waves of the ocean. In the case of Nicoll vs. the Trustees of Huntington, tried in the Court of Chancery of 80 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. this State, in 1814, the following testimony was given : Jacob Seaman says that about fifty years ago the ocean broke through the beach, betw^een Fire Island Gut and Gilgo Gut, with great vio- lence, and formed what was called Cedar Island Gut, but w^hich in a few years w^as filled up and gone. Isaac Thompson speaks also, but loosely, of a gut called Huntington Gut, between Cedar and Oak Islands, now disappeared ; and he says that within his memory the water has several times broke through the beach, and that the inlets after- wards closed up. John Arthur says he lias always undei^tood from a boy (he said this in 1770, and was then seventy-four years old) that Fire Island inlet broke through after Nicoll set- tled there (which was in 1688), and that it used to be called the New Gut. Eichard Udall says that old Mr. AVillis told him that he had been informed by his ancestors that Fire Island Gut broke tln-ough in the winter of 1690 or 1691, in a storm. The Chancellor said tliat this Gut w^as a passage for the priva- teers during the Revolutionary war. About a century ago, the father of Samuel Jones, the late Chancellor of this State, accom- panied some old people, he being then a boy, to the south side of this island, to view a new inlet which had then just broke through the beach dur- FORMATION OF JONES INLET. 81 ing a very heavy storm. This inlet was afterwards known as " Jones inlet," and was in Oyster Bay south. When they came to the spot it was low water, and where the sand was washed away they discovered a meadow soil very many feet below high- water mark, and which had, appar- ently, been covered by the beach sands for many ages. The most extraordinary fact connected with it was, that on this meadow soil they found the tracks of cloven-footed animals, which it was impossible could have been made after the inlet was washed through, for they could not by any means get there, and which they supposed at the time were buffaloes' tracks, there having been no neat cattle on this island at the period when they thought those tracks must have been made. At which period the large expanse of water between the outer beach, through which the inlet was formed, and the mainland must have been an extensive meadow, exhibiting a most extraordin- ary change. This inlet is now nearly closed, and it is proba- ble that in a few years it will again be a sand beach. For a long time after it was thus opened it was navigable for small schooners. On the north side of this island, in the town of Oyster Bay, Queens County, about one and a half miles from the upland, is a small island of salt-mea- 4* 82 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. dow called Squaw'^s Island. There is now be- tAveen it and the main meadow a channel which is navio-able for the small schooners which usu- ally navigate the bays and inlets of Long Island, and which at the lowest water is too deep for a man to wade across. The tradition is, that it ac- quired its name from the fact that when the In- dians inhalnted this part of the country, the squaws were accustomed to wade across this chan- nel, which was then very shallow, with their pa- pooses on their backs, to this small island, for the purpose of taking clams on the flats and sand bars which were around it. There are a great number of shell banks on this main meadow, on the banks of the creeks^ many of which shell banks are from five to six rods in length. They are formed principally of clam shells, many of which, from the great length of time they have lain there, are broken up quite fine. They form an excellent manure foi* land, and from these beds have been carted many thousands of wagon-loads for that purpose, and they still continue to use them. The laro-est of the shell banks in this county are situated in a southerly direction below Mer- rick, on a creek in Hempstead Township. The inhabitants have been digging for very many years from these banks, and say they have never THE GREAT SOUTH BEACH. 83 as yet come to the bottom of tliem. Thousands and thousands of loads have been taken away, and still remains a sufficient quantity for many generations. The best wampum is formed of the heart of the clam shell, and even at this day wampum is manufactured on this island to be sent to the Indians in the Western States and Territories for the purposes both of a circulating medium and of conventions and treaties. In the summer of 1S31, several bushels of wampum were brought from Babylon, on this island, and the person who had them stated that he had procured them for an Indian trader, and that he was in the habit of supplying them. This wampum was bored, but not strung. Extraordinary changes — extraordinary in their extent and character — are frequently occurring upon Long Island ; and especially upon that part of it known as the Great South Beach, extend- ing from Southampton to Sandy Hook. At that part known as Fire Island, one of these changes has happened within the last few years, and is still in progress. This island, at the southerly end, where the channel of the inlet is, is contin- ually washing away, and the channel continually progressing slowly to the northward ; while the beach on the opjiosite side of the inlet is as con- 84 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. tinually receiving additions to it, the effect of which has been snch tliat, where forty 3'ears ago there was depth of water sufficient to navigate one of the coasting schooners that trade along the south side of Long Island, is now a solid sand bea(;h, in some places elevated from twenty to twenty-fivo feet above the ordinary wash of the ocean. The northei'n extremity of Fire Island has within that period received an addition of be- tween forty and fifty acres; and what is still more curious is, that this new-made ground, which, forty years ago, was under the waves of the ocean, is now covered with a scrnbby white oak tree, and there are no trees of the kind at any other place witliin many miles of that spot. How did they come there ? Some will say tlie seed was carried there by birds. But if that be so, why do we not find some other trees and plants there ; the birds do not live alone upon the seed of the scrub white oak, and the soil is quite as well adapted for the growth of several other kinds of plants as it is for that species of tree? But that is not the explanation of that phenome- non. The earth is filled, even under the sea, and at very great depths, with the seeds of nu- merous trees and plants, which will retain their germinating properties for an indefinite period of time ; and it may even be from a period an- ISRAEL CAELl's WELL. 85 terior to the great deluge ; and they require only to be brought up to within a certain depth of the surface to have the vivifying principles of the sun and air to operate upon tliem to develop those germinating properties. This continual progressing of the beach and inlets from south to north affords the oppcM'tuni- ties, at long intervals of time, of tlie land becom- ing submerged by the ocean, with all its seeds of trees and plants in it, and of being cast up again to reproduce them. That seeds will retain their power of germi- nating wlien not subjected to the action of heat, is within the knowledge of gi-eat numbers of people, who often see it without thinkiiig at all about it. Kot to refer to the instance of the Egyptian wheat, which after being buried with a mummy in air-tight enclosure, for a period of three thousand years, was found to germinate and grow well, and is now cultivated in many parts of Europe, and also in this country; you may dig down a hill of mere sand, fifty or an hundred feet, and the year subsequent to the ex- posure of this new surface to the action of the atmosphere, it will be covered with a growth of plants and grasses peculiar to itself. Some years since, Israel Carll, Esq., of Suffolk County, hav- ing a large number of young cattle, which he 86 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. kept in an extensive pasture by themselves, find- ing it very inconvenient to his herdsmen to drive them some distance for water, determining to sink a well on that pasture lot, near its centre, did so. They obtained water sufficient at the depth of about forty feet ; but several feet before obtaining that depth, they passed through noth- ing but gravel ; this gravel was spread out in a circle around the well at a regular declination from it on every side. The summer of the second season, after digging that well, the circle thus covered with that gravel stood as thick with a luxuriant crop of white clover as possible, and not a blade of that grass could be seen in any other part of that field. We have heard Mr. Carll say, that he could stand at his well and point out the circle in which that gravel was strewn by the circle formed by that white clover, none of it being seen beyond the line of the gravel. He was a man of sound sense and much observation, and at once explained this phenomenon by stating, that the seeds of the white clover had been buried in the earth among this gravel to the depth of between thirty and forty feet; and that when the gravel was thus cast up and spread, the germinating principle of the seeds was brought into activity, which had before been dormant for a Ion 2^ and an indefinite j)oriod of time. . SAND BATHS OF FIKE ISLAND. 87 This Fire Island is a place of great resort in the pleasant season of the year, both for the sportsman, the pleasure seeker and the valetudi- narian. The latter go there in search of relief from the healthful breezes of the ocean ; and those affected with rheumatic complaints to en- joy the benefit of the sand-bath. The patient if able to help himself walks, otherwise he is car- ried down to the beach just as the water is fall- ing ; and four or five feet above the water-line, a hole is excavated large enough to bury him, all but the head, and the right arm if that is not affected is left out. He then strips his clothes and gets into the hole and is covered over with the sand.' Yery soon he is in a profuse perspira- tion, and continues so as long as he remains thus covered ; they are advised not to continue in this bath longer than fifteen minutes, the action is so violent ; but ver^^ few would be willing to con- tinue even that time, unless it was deemed neces- sary, the heat is so great, and the pricking sensa- tion through the limbs so intense. There is no instance, I believe, where it has been used with- out effecting a cure. It is necessary to be very careful and to go warmly clad for a day or two after taking this sand-bath, because the pores of the body are so open, and the whole system so relaxed, that they would be very liable to take a 88 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. severe cold, and to be again laid up with their old complaint much worse than they had it before. We heard a gentleman about sixty years old say, that he had been much troubled with rheu- matism so that he could scarcely move. He went down to Fire Island and tried this sand- bath, and was at once relieved. But that was not all : he said the next day he felt in such spir- its and so Hght, that he was continually wanting to jump and skip like a boy. A ver}' striking alteration in the coast since the first settlement of the country, is mentioned in Smith's History of New Jersey (see page 58). But as this does not refer particularly to Long Island, we only mention it. The State Legislature found it necessary, very soon after the close of the Revolutionary contest, to make provision for the preservation of the Great South Beach of Long Island. And on the 24th of April, 1784, they passed an act to pre- vent feeding the grass, or burning it, or cutting the timber, "on any of the beaches or islands lying between a certain gut or inlet, called Mastick Gut, to the eastward, and another certain gut or inlet called Huntington West Gut, to the westward," under the penalty of five pounds to any one who would sue for it, to their own THE GREAT SOUTH BEACH. 89 proper use. The reason of this enactment was, that the sand forming those beaches and isLmds is so loose, and the particles have so little adhe- sion to each other, tliat if the grass is remove 1, either by cattle eating it, or by burning it, or the tind3er is cut off so that the surface is exposed to the action of the terrible gales of wind which often blow there, the beach or island would soon blow away to near the water-level, and then very soon after be washed away hj the sea in a storm. With the same view the State Legislature again, on the 21st of April, 1831, passed " An act respecting the Great South Beach of Long Island," by which they authorize any three or more persons owning, or thereafter to own, " that part of the Great South Beach on the south side of Long Island, in the County of Suffolk, lying between the South Bay on the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the south, and extending from the United States line near the light-house at Fire Island, on the west, easterly to Ilorsefoot Creek," to maintain suits at law or in equity in their own names, in behalf of themselves and all other joint owners and tenants in common of the premises, for any injury done thereto, or for the protection of the rights of the owners thereof. But this act provides that nothing in it " shall au- thorize any suit to be brought, as herein provided, 00 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. against aii}^ person or persons who shall come or remain iijDon the premises aforesaid for the pur- pose of rendering assistance to any vessels driven ashore, or wrecked, or to any persons or property in such vessels, or to secure any property driven ashore." Again, on the 8th of April, 1834, they found it necessary to pass another " Act to preserve the grass on part of the South Beach in the County of Suffolk," which part they defined to be that lying between Ilorsefoot Creek^ otherwise called Long Cove J on the west, and Smith's inlet on the east. The object of this act was to protect the grass on a still greater extent of the South Beach, and on a part not included in the act of April 21, 1831 ; the proprietors having experienced the beneficial effects of that act upon that portion comprised within its operation. Timber is not protected by this last act, because there is none upon this last mentioned extent of the South Beach. Under this head, referring more particularly to the natural history of Long Island than any otlier, we have thought it best to introduce the following interesting facts connected with the early history of this island : In the year 1762, no rain fell on this island or in the city of New York from early in the month THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 91 of May until November ; and this is recorded as the most remarkable drought ever known in this collntr^^ It of course caused great distress not only upon this island but throughout the province of N'ew York, as Long Island then produced more of the means of human sustenance than all the rest of the province put together; and it was this unlooked-for event which probably gave birth to the first association established in this colony for improving its agriculture. A society mainly for that purpose, but also embracing within its scope the encouragement of domestic industry and manufactures, was formed in the city of Ts^ew York the following year, 1763, em- bracino' the most talented and distino^uished nien of the colony. We have now before us the cir- cular issued by that association upon its organi- zation, signed in their proper handwriting, by William Smith, the historian of New York; John Morin Scott, afterwards major-general in the Continental Army ; James Duane, the celebrated banker, and others. At a meeting of this society held in the city of New York on the 21st of December, 1767, ten pounds premium was awarded to Thomas Young of Oyster Bay, on Long Island, for a nursery of 27,123 apple trees. And at the same meeting the fact was es- tablished to the satisfaction of the society that 93 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Joshua Clark and Francis Furnier, both of Suf- folk County, had been very successful in setting out the grape, and making it grow in the eastern part of this island ; that from the year 1762, to the first day of April, 1767, Clark had set out three thousand two hundred grap)e vines, and Furnier had set out fifteen hundred and fifty-one grape vines — the description of these grapes is not stated. The society had not offered any premium for raising the grape, no one then be- lieving it possible to do so with any success, they having already forgotten that their Dutch ances- tors in and about New York had, at the early settlement of the colony, been very successful in th*eir attempt to introduce the vine ; and having no discretionary premium at their command, they did the next best thing in their power — they gave Messrs. Clark and Furnier certificates of the fact, commending them to the favorable notice of a similar association then existing in England, at London, which had among their more extended list of premiums, offered one or more for the cultivation of the grape. That the vine was cultivated in l^ew IN'ether- land, we have the evidence of Yanderdonck, in his history, who tells us that several persons in this colony had vineyards and " wine hills " under cultivation ; and also that " Providence blessed ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS AND REMAINS. 93 their labours with success, by affording fruit ac- cording to the most favorable expectation." They introduced foreign grape stocks, and induced men to come over from Heidelberg, who were vine-dressers, for the purpose of attending to the cultivation of the vineyards and the manufacture of wine. ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS AND REMAINS. The most ancient fortification on this island is one on Fort Neck, which was garrisoned by the Indians in 1653, and taken from them by the English, under the command of Captain John Underhill, during that year. The storming of this fort was the only battle between the English and Indians on this island. On the subject of this fortification, or rather these fortifications, for there were more than one of them, Samuel Jones, Esq., of Oyster Bay South, on this island, addresses a letter to John Pintard, Esq., Secretary of the New York Historical So- ciety, enclosing the following memoranda, writ- ten by him in the year 1S12 (see Collections of New York Hist. Society, vol. 3). " When this part of Long Island was first set- tled by the Europeans they found two fortifica- tions in this neighborhood, upon a neck of land 94 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. ever since called, from that circumstance, Fort Keck. One of them, the remains of which are yet very conspicuous, is on the southernmost point of land on the neck, adjoining the salt meadow. It is nearly, if not exactly a square, each side of which is about thirty yards in length. The breastwork or parapet is of earth ; and there is a ditch on the outside which appears to have been about six feet wide. The other was on the southernmost point of the Salt Meadow, adjoining the Bay, and consisted of palisadoes set in the meadow. The tide has worn away the meadow where the fort stood, and the place is now part of the bay and covered with water ; but my father lias often told me, that in his memory, part of the palisadoes were standing." This last described work was a true Indian fort, as is shown by all the plates and sketches of snch works accompanying Smith's History of Vir- ginia, De Bry's Voyages^ and all the early works on this country ; but no instance has ever been shown of the Koilh American Indians having, either in ancient or modern times, erected for the purposes of defence, or for any other purpose, a four-square fort of earth, with regular walls and ditch, or such a work of such materials in any other form. When the ancient fortifications, and other erections of this character, scattered over ANCIENT FOKTIFICATIONS AND KE^NIAINS. 95 onr country, first attracted public attention, they were, without any examination, or much thought, attributed to the Indians, and were called Indian FuHs j for then no idea existed in the niiuds of any that there had ever been, at any time, any other people upon this continent but the Indians and the modern European settlers. With this belief evidently operating upon his mind, Mr. Jones regards these fortifications upon Fort ISTeck as a strong proof that the extensive and syste- matic works of the AVest (some of which Carver, himself a military officer, in his travels, charac- terizes as evincing a skill in engineering that would not have discredited even Yauban) were erected by our aborigines. lie seems not to have seen any of these ancient Western works, or his error would have been apparent to him at once ; and he would have realized the utter impossibility of keeping together a sufficient number of people, who, like the Indians, subsist by the chase, the length of time that must have been required for the erection of those fortifications. This fact, together with their character and the ability manifested in tlieir construction, have satisfied all who have visited them, and reasoned in the least degree upon the question involved in their existence, that they are the results of the labor of a race of men who were numerous in popula- £6 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. tion, and who subsisted by the cultivation of the soil. All this view of the case brings us to the con- clusion that the two forts upon Fort Neck were constructed at different periods of time, and it may be far remote from each other ; tliat the one first described, regular in its form, and built of earth, was the work of a people entirely different in the modes of living and in other respects from the aboriginal race found here by our fore- fathers ; and the last described work was a true In- dian fort, such as they were in the habit of build- ing long before the European settlement of this hemisphere, and which they continued to erect long after that event ; and that the two have only been confounded together from the want of the proper knowledge to enable us to discriminate between them. There are many remains of fortifications erected by the Americans and English during the Revo- lutionary war ; the most of them are in the town of Brooklyn, on the west end of the island. In 1782, a fortification was erected in the centre of the public burying-ground of Huntington, by Colonel Thompson (since Count Rumford), who commanded the British troops there at that time. Throughout the island are scattered relics of the aborigines. At Bergen's Island, in Kings County, ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS AND REMAINS. 97 an excellent road has l)een formed of clam-shells and oyster shells. At Maspeth Kills, in Queens County, Indian corn-grinders, axes, and arrow- heads have been frequently ploughed up. In Suf- folk County there are numerous shell banks and other remains, as axes, arrow-heads, etc. The shell banks in the western towns of Suffolk County are much larger and more numerous than in the eastern towns, where shell-fish are as abundant, which pi-oves that the western part of the island had been the longest settled, and that the Indian emigration proceeded from west to east. — See Wood^s History/. Among other ancient remains may be reckoned the two venerable oak-trees at Flushing, in Queens County, under the shade of which the famous George Fox preached in the year 1672. I visited these trees, August 4th, 1825, in com- pany with Messrs. Spooner and Bruce, and as- sisted Mr. Bruce in measuring them, which we did around the trunk, six feet from the ground. We found one to be thirteen feet in circumfer- ence, and the other to be twelve feet four inches in circumference. In the month of July, 1841, eleven human skeletons were unearthed in excavating the ground to run a road through the LinnoBU Garden, at Fhishing, in Q.ieens County. The place where 5 98 - LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. they were found has been for fifty years used as a horticultural nursery. They were within a circle of thirty feet, their heads all lay to the east, and some nails and musket-balls were found with them. Conjecture has been foiled in speculating upon the circumstances under which they w^ere inhumed. In the Tillage of Brooklyn, in Kings County, upon Long Island (1826) is a barren sand hill which exhibits many interesting curiosities to the antiquary as well as the natural philosopher. This hill scarcely affords support for even the coarsest and most hardy kind of grass, but on the top of it are three old Buttonwood or plane trees, and on each side of it the hills are covered witli verdure. The surface of this sand hill, which is about seveiity feet high, is covered w^ith stones, many of which are completely vitrified, and others nearly decomposed, l)y the action of fire ; and about a foot and a half, and in some places between three and four feet, below the surface is a distinct layer or stratum of ashes and cinders, interspersed with pieces of coarse earthenware and the stone heads of Indian arrows. Among the other articles found here have been the rem- nants of rough tobacco pipes formed of clay, and we have had in our possession one of these to- bacco pipes almost entire, which we found in the sand on this hill. The oldest inhabitants of ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS AND REMAINS. 99 Brooklyn have no tradition that there was ever any building erected on this spot. For a long w HAMILTON STREET. time previous to the American Kevolutionary war, it constituted part of the farm of the Ka- palye family. 100 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The preceding diagram will show the situa- tion of this hill with reference to the streets of the village of Brooklyn, as they are laid out upon the village map, and intended hereafter to be opened. This sand-hill extended beyond and east of Bridge street, which was dug through it nearly at its highest elevation ; but the part exhibiting the appearances above described, and containing the articles above-mentioned as having been found, is that bounded by Jay street, Front street, Bridge street and York street. Similar remains may have existed to some extent east of Bridge street, but the examination was not made there. FOUNDATION OF CHUKCHES. The first church founded on this island was Congregational or Preshyterian, and w^as built by the English at Southampton in 1645. In 16S0, the salary of the minister of that church (Rev. Joseph Whiting) was £100. Congregational or Presbyterian churches were founded in differ- ent parts of this island at the following times. The first church in Hempstead was also raised in lG-15, but not completed until 1648. It was a four-square edifice, like some of the early churches in the Kew England towns. Their first minister THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES. 101 was the Rev. Richard Denton, the father of the first historian of Xew York. Cotton Mather de scribes this Rev. Mr. Denton as " a little man, yet he had a great soul ; liis well accomplislicd mind in his lesser body was an Iliad in a nnt-shell,'' Salary of the minister in 1682 (Jeremiah IIo- bart), £66, 14s. Od. At East Hampton in 1651. Salary of the minister in 1659 (Thomas James), £60. The church in East Hampton, finished in the year 1717, being the second one built in tliat town, \vas, when erected, the largest and liaiid- somest building of the kind on this island, and it is still a noble structure ; althougli more than one hundred and thirty years old, it promises to continue in use for very many years to come. It had, what is not very common, a sccoiid gallery, and was furnished with a bell and a clock more than one hundred years ago. At Jamaica in 1662. Salary of the minister in 1663 (Zachariah AValker), £60. At Huntington in 1665. The first minister of this church w^as William Leveridge. These churches weie not large buildings, in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining proper materials. The first Presbyterian Church in the County of Kings dates its foundation no further back than the year 1822. It was established in the 102 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. village of Brooklyn, and incorporated on the 13th of March, 1822, under the name of the " First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn," and placed under the government of nine trustees. The corner-stone of the first church edifice was laid on the 15th of April, 1822. The church is of brick, and stands on Cranberry sti-eet. When it Avas erected, a large portion of the ground in the innnediate vicinity was vacant lots'; Orange, the next street south of Cranberry street, w^as only opened a short distance ; and the ground south of it was in large lots, used for agricultural purposes, surrounded by posts and rail fences. Hicks street was opened up to the northerly line of Clark street, wdiere a fdnce crossed it. Henry street was partially opened to Orange street. All the other streets south of Orange street, and to Jorale- mon street, were unopened. FOIJNDATION OF DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES. Dutch Reformed churches were founded on this island at the following dates : The first indication of the establishment of any chui-ch of any denomination on the western end of Long Island is an entry in the Dutch Colonial Government Kecords, now preserved in the oftice of the Secretary of State at Albany, under the THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES. lO'd date of October loth, 1654, that the Rev. Joannes Theodorus Polhenuis, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, was permitted by the Gov- ernor to preach at Midwout (now Flatbush), and Amersfort (now Flatlands). And, subsequently, on the 17th of December, 1651, the Governor or- dered a church to be built at Midwout (Flat- bush), to be sixty feet in length, twenty-eight in breadth, and fourteen feet in height below the beams. As this church was designed for the accom- modation of the colonists in Brooklyn and Amers- fort, as well as those in Midwout, the Governor, on the 9th of February, 1655, ordered the people of J3rooklyn and Amersfort to cut timber to aid Midwout in building that church. The cost of it was 4,637 guilders, of which sum 3,437 had been collected in New Amsterdam, Fort Orange, and on Long Island. The Go\ernor added 400 more, and 800 remained to be raised to discharo:e the debt. The fii^t minister was the Rev. Joannes Theodorus Polhemus. The year following the erection of this church at Flatbush, it was found not to afford the conve- nient accommodation anticipated to Brooklyn and the other towns, and on the 15th of March, 1656, tlie Governor, to accommodate the four vil- lages of Gravesend, xlmersfort, Midwout, and 104 LONG I -LAND AJVTIQUITUJS. Bi'ooklyii, directed that the E-ev. Mr. Polheiiins should preach every Sunday morning at Mid- wont, and Sunday evenings, aUernately, at Anaers- fort and Brooklyn. Tlie inconveniences attending even this latter arrangement became more apparent every year, until at last, in 1659, the colonists in Brooklyn determined that they would establish a churc^li for themselves ; and they petitioned Governor Stuyvesant for leave to call a minister, assigning as a reason for their request, the badness of the road to Flatbnsh, the difficulty of attending Di- vine service at New York because of the East Kiver, and the old age and inabilit}^ of the Bev. Mr. Polhemus to perform his services at Brook- lyn. The Governor, upon this petition, sent Ni- casius de Sille, Fiscal of New Netherland, and Martin Kregier, Burgomaster, of New Amster- dam (New York), as a committee to Brooklyn to examine into the matter ; and upon their favor- able report, he granted the desired permission ; upon which the inhabitants of this town prepared the necessary call, and sent it to Holland for a minister. The Bev. Ilenricus Selwyn, or Solinus, was sent out to the New" Netherlands pursuant to this request — one of the best scholars ever in this country, and one of the best preachers in his day. Tie afterwards became the personal friend THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES. 105 of the celebrated Cotton Mather of ^ew Eng- land ; and a Latin poem, of much elegance, writ- ten by Selwyn, addressed to Mather, is in the Magnalia Christi Americana. The Rev. Hen- ricns Selwyn, in 1660, was installed as the min- ister at Brooklyn by order of Governor Stuy- vesant, by the Fiscal de Sille and Burgomaster Kregier, at a salary of six hundred guilders a year ; three hundred of which were to be paid by tlie inhabitants of Brooklyn, and three hundred by the fatherland, Holland. On the 7th day of September, 16G0, four days after the installation of the Rev. Mr. Selwyn, a letter was written to the Rev. Mr. Polhemus of the fact, and thanking him for his labors and at- tention to the congregation. This letter was sent by a " respectable person," to whom the Rev. Mr. Polhemus returned his thanks for the atten- tion which the church of Brooklyn had paid him, and furnished the messenger with a list of the names of the church members in that town, twen- ty-five in number. The popularity of Mr. Sel- wyn's preaching soon became such that the Gov- ernor was anxious to have him preach at his chapel on his Bowery or plantation (New York), and he offered, on consideration that Mr. Selwyn should preach at the Bowery on Sunday evenings, to pay two hundred and fifty guilders of that 103 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. part of his salaiy which was to be paid by the in- habitants of Brooklyn. The proposition was acceded to, but Mr. Sel- wjii had preached at the Bowery only a short period before the ^^eople of Brooklyn became dis- satisfied with the arrangement, and desired to have him to themselves. And on the 25th of May, 1662, the inhabitants of that town peti- tioned the Governor that Mr. Selwyn should re- side permanently with them. When the first church was erected at Brooklyn in which Mr. Selwyn ofiiciated, it is now impossi- ble to say, no record existing which speaks of it. But the old stone Dutch Church which stood in the middle of the public highway, now Fulton Street, in the City of Brooklyn, just one mile from the old or Fulton Ferry, opposite the present Dutch church burying-ground on the southerly side of that street, was built in the year 1666. It was a square edifice with very thick walls, and small high windows, filled with stained glass, rep- resenting large flower-pots at the base of the win- dows, from which ran up through the panes, to the top of the windows, numerous vines laden with a profusion of brilliant flowers of every im- aginable hue. On the top of the church was a short, open steeple, in which hung a small bell brought from Holland, as was also the window THE DUTCH REFOKMED CHtlKCUES. 107 glass. The inside of the chureh was panneled to a great height, and that work, together with the pews and pulpit, were of oak and were either very dark from age or painted some sombre col- or, probably the former. The effect of which was, in connection with the s;iiall windows, that even in midsummer, after four o'clock in the afternoon, it was extremely difficult to see to read in that church ; in consequence of which their m(jrning service in the summer was at nine a.m., and their afternoon service at two p.m., and be- tween the first of September and the first of May the morning service was at half past ten o'clock, and there was no afternoon service. This church continued to be used until about 1810 ; the peo- ple seemed reluctant to abandon their ancient edifice ; but the incorporation, by the State Legis- lature, of a company to convert the old highway, filled as it then was with ruts, holes, small ponds of water, immensely large rocks, and tortuous windings to avoid them, rendered the removal of the old church imperatively necessary. So they built a new stone church on Joralemon street, partly on the site of the present edifice ; which they continued to use until a few years ago, when, not being suited with its appearance and condi tion, they erected the present beautiful edifice, in the form of a Grecian temple, on the square of 108 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. gronnd formed by Joralemon, Court, and Living- ston streets. The Rev. Mr. Selwyn, on the 23d of July, 1664, took leave of his congregation at Brooklyn, and sailed in the ship Beaver, for Holland, from whence he designed never to have returned. Af- ter his departure Charl6s Debevoise, the school- master of the town, and sexton of the church, was ordered to read prayei-s, and a sermon from an approved author, every Sabbath in the church, for the improvement of the congregation, until another minister was called. During the ministry of Mr. Selwyn the mar- riage fees do not seem to liave been a perquisite of the minister, as appears by an account rendered by him to the Consistory on the 29th of October, 1662, when he paid over to the Consistory the sum of 78 guilders and 10 stuyvers for fourteen mar- riage fees received by him. After the establishment of the English govern- ment in this colony, the Dutch congregation in that city remembering Mr. Selwyn's acceptable services iuthis country, sent him an invitation to come over and take charge of their churcli in the city of New York, which he declined accepting. Again, in the year 1681, that church sent him an- other call, with many ui-gent solicitations that he would accept it ; to which he assented, and came THE DUTCH KEFOKMED CHURCHES. 100 to ~New York in 16S2, and continued the pastor of the Dutch Reformed church in that city until his death in 1701. A catalocrue of all the members of the Dutch He- formed church in the citj of IN'ew York, in the year 1686, with the names of the sti*eets in which thev resided, taken from the oric^inal manuscript of the Ilev. Ilenricus Selwyn, their pastor, will be found in the first volume of the second series of the Collections of the New York Historical Society. To those who derive their ancestry from the old Dutch burghers of this venerable city, this record will be looked upon with something of the pride and attachment manifested for the roll of Battle Abbey. At the period of his ministry tliere were but two Dutch Reformed churches in that city, the Soutli Dutch or Garden street church, and the chapel at Governor Stuyvesant's Bowery (on the site of the present St Mark's church) ; the Dutch church in the Fort being considered government property, went w^ith the Fort to the English, and became an Episcopal church. With it there w^ere then five churches in the city, two Episcopal, two Dutch Reformed, and one French Huguenot. In the month of April, 1708, fifty-seven of the inhabitants of Brooklyn, being probably all the meml^ers of the church, entered into an agree- no I-ONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. ment (which is written in Dutch) to call a minis- ter from' Holland, to preach in the church of this town. The elders of the church at that time w^ere Daniel Rapalje and Jores Hanse. This connection with the classis of Holland con- tinued long after this period. Kotwithstandinfy the establishment of the new o church in Brooklyn, the church at Flatbush con- tinued to flourish, and the Rev. Mr. Polhemus found full emjDloyment for all his services in the ministry. On the 29th of January, 1658, Midwout pe- titioned the Governor that the one hundred morgen of land reserved in that town for the public use might be appropriated as follows: Twenty-live morgen to complete the church. Twenty-five morgen for a school. Fifty morgen for the minister's house and other purposes. The first two the Governor granted ; the other he de- nied, and reserved the land for the benefit of the vicarage. In every town patented by the Dutch Govern- ment in the New^ Netherlands (now New York and New Jersey), there was one hundred morgen of land reserved for the public use. In some cases, like that above mentioned, the Dutch Colonial Government authorized the disposition of it, but always for some use considered a pub- THE DUTCH KEFOKMED ClIUECIIES. Ill lie use at that time. The English Colonial Gov- ernment do not seem to liavebeen ever aware of the existence of this public property, and they made no regulations or disposition of it ; and the probability is that in very many cases these pub- lic lands have by long continued possession be- come private property. The church at Flatbush does not appear to have been entirely finished at the time when the new church was established in Brooklyn, although it liad been used for three years or over. On tlie 20th of December, 1659, the Eev. Mr. Polhemus requests of Governor Stuyvesant, that paint may be furnished, at the expense of the Government, to paint the church at Midwout. And, again, in September, 1660, the Kev. Mr. Polhemus and Elder Stryker petition the Governor for glass for a window for the same churcli. This was un- doubtedly stained glass they wished the Gover- nor to send to Holland for, for the pi'incipal win- dow of the church ; for then all the windows were of glass, unless it might be in the poorest small houses and cottages, set in lead in small diamonds ; and " a glass window " for the church meant something different from those in common use ; which could be nothing other than stained glass, there being then only those two modes of glazing windows. 112 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIER. In this application for the window thej state that the}^ had received 3,437 guilders and 12 stny- vers towards the cost of erecting that church, in New Amsterdam (New Yoi'k), Fort Orange (Al- bany), and on Long Island ; and that they still wanted 1,200 guilders to discharge the expenses attending the completion of that edifice. Upon which Governor Stuyvesant gave them 400 guil- ders. — The Rev. Mr. Polhemus died in June, 1676. The people in Flatbush have a tradition that their secoiid church in that town was erected in the year 1663. This can scarcely have been the fact, unless the first edifice was destroyed by fire, or the elements, which is not said to have been the case; for the first church was still in an unfin- ished state in the latter part of the year 1660 — only two years before. It may be that an addi- tion was made to the church in 1663, but I do not even think that was done, and am rather in- clined to the opinion that this first church was not entirely finished and did not get up its stained- glass window until the year 1663, and that the people, many years after, not bearing in mind how long this first church was in building, and w^hat a long period intervened before it was com- pleted, the Government records showing over six years, they, when the date of its completion was referred to, came to believe it the time when a THE DTJTCIT REFORMED CIIURCilES. 113 second church was built, and subsequently to speak of it as such. The Dutch Colonial Government, as a general rule, followed the practice of their liome govern- ment in the Fatherland in allowing the fi-ee exer- cise of all forms of religion, so long as they did not endanger tlie public peace. But the excite- ment in New England against the Quakers liad arisen to such a high pitch, and so much had been said and written and printed by the leading men of those colonies against the principles and prac- tices of the Quakers as being highly dangerous to all forms of civilized government, and utterly subversive of Christianity, that it was next to an impossibility that some of their feeling and tem- per should not manifest itself in the Xew Neth- ei'lands, an adjoining colony, and one with which they had frequent intercourse ; it, however, show- ed itself in a very mild and modified form in this colony. In this spirit Governor Stuyvesant had, in the year 1662, directed a Quaker, by the name of John Bowne, to be transported from the colony to Holland, on account of his religious tenets. The Dutch West India Company, to whom Governor Stuyvesant was subject, writes thus to the Governor in a letter from Amsterdam, dated in 1663 : — " We perceive, from your last letter, 114 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. that you had exiled and transported hither a cer- tain Quaker named John Bowne. Although it is our anxious desire that similar and other sec- tarians may not be found among you, yet we doubt extremely the policy of adopting rigorous tneasaies against them. In the ^^outli of your ex- istence, you ought rather to encourage than check the population of the colony. The consciences of men ought to be free and unshackled, so long as they continue moderate, peaceable, inoffensive, and not hostile to the government. Such have been the maxims of prudence and toleration by which the magistrates of this city (Amsterdam) have been governed, and the consequences have been, that the oppressed and persecuted, from every country, have found among us an asylum from distress. Follow in -the same steps and you will be blessed." These are certainly noble sentiments, worthy of being written in letters of gold, and while we cannot but feel high pleasure in awarding the meed of applause to men who could thus think and act worthy of the station in which they were placed, we cannot at the same time avoid la- menting that the same liberality of sentiment had not distinguished the early settlers of the Kew England Colonies, who, if they fled from persecution, were themselves the first to persecute THE DUTCH REFOKMED CHURCHES. 115 in this new empire of freedom of conscience, which they claimed to have founded. This Joim Bowne the Quaker, thus exiled by Governor Stuyvesant, resided at Flushing, upon Long Island, and his house is now in existence, or was very recently. The tradition is, that when he landed in New York in the spring of 1665, after having remained abroad several years, upon his return from his exile to Holland, he waited upon Governor Stuyvesant, then a private citizen, the colony having passed to the English, who welcomed him back, and expressed his regret for having used so much severity towards him and some others of his particular faith, some of whom he frankly admitted to be among the most valu- able citizens of the colony ; and assured him that the course of policy which he had theretofore felt it his duty to pursue had been based upon what he had ascertained to be an erroneous representa- tion of the view^s and intentions of Bowne and his friends, and that he felt it an act of conscien- tious duty to make such declaration to him. This, if it be true (which it has always been asserted to be), is highly honorable to Governor Stuyvesant as a man ; who must indeed, from the accounts of him, have been very high souled and honorable, one well calculated for the important and dignified office he held. 116 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Great injustice will be done to the memory of Gov. Stnyvesaiit if he is ranked as a persecntor of the Quakers, and others differing from him in religions sentiments. No ruler was ever more tolerant of the religious opinions of others than was Stu}' vesant ; and if in any case he appeared to deal harshly with any man, or any set of men, differing from the Dutch Established Church, it will be found on examination not to have been from their religions faith, but for the political tise which they w^ere believed to make of it. And we should bear in mind that very many of the Quakers of his daj^ were a very different kind of peojDle from those of onr time, and men who were almost the opposite of George Fox in every- thing but name. In place of the mild, inoffensive conduct and strict attention to their own business, without intermeddling with the concerns of others, wliich now characterize them as a sect, and as amono: the most useful and valuable of our citi- zens, there were then too many of them who were fond of seeking eveiy opportunity to abuse, in public assemblies, by the most pointed language, the magistracy and laws of the land ; represent- ing them not only as anti-Christian, but as origi- nating from the Evil One, and of declaring all the ministers of religion out of their own creed, to be hirelings, wolves in sheep's clothing, base, THE DUTCH EEFORMED CITURCITES. 117 Avicked creatures, who were leading the people astray ; and at the same time declaring it their settled intention to resist the laws which they asserted had no controllinoj force or effect over them, who were governed by a new light which they received from Heaven itself as their guide and law-giver, and which was confined within their own bosoms ; and that they actually reduced these principles to practice, by refusing obedience not only to the laws in relation to an uniformity of religious worship, but also to all civil regula- tions, whether made by the superior government of the colony, or the towns in which they resided ; refused the payment of taxes, or the performance of any of the duties of citizens, unless matters were done according to their peculiar notions. All this is lost sight of by those who condemn Guv. Stuyvesant for his proceedings against the Quakers. The ei'ror he committed was in notic- ing them at all ; but in the principles and policy of government, he had not then the experience to guide him which we now possess, and it is therefore unjust to judge him not only by the light of the present day, but also by assuming that the Quaker character of his time possessed the same estimable uniformity which marks it in our age, which is very far from being truth. Governor Stnyvesant's character appears to 118 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. have been siiigiilarlj misiiiiderstood by some mo- dern writers; and which, in onr judgment, has mainl}^ arisen from the error of regarding it in the lights and principles of the science of govern- ment as nnderstood and practised in our day, rather tlian in tliose which were common and re- ceived in the age in which he lived. It could alone be from an opinion thns formed that the talented author of Thompson's History of Long Island (second edition, vol. i., page 108) charges that Governor Stuyvesant persecuted and dis- couraged those whose religious tenets differed from his own, and that he exercised his preroga- tive in a capricious and arbitrary manner. Charges w^hich are certainly scarcely supported by the fact mentioned by the same author, that the Knglish who settled the towns of Gravesend, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and Hempstead, and who reluctaiitly hecciTne Dutch subjects, icere allowed to hold their lands\ to enjoy liberty oj conscience, and to em/ploy their own ministers / rights which they w^ould not have been permitted to enjoy at home in England, and those which they had little reason to expect here, from their reluctance to submit to the Dutch Government, the then undoubted authority of the country, and made so by a treaty between the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England and the THE CASE OF BOWNE THE QUAKER. 119 Dutch Colonial Government. All which affr,Tcls an evidence of tolerant principles on the part of Governor Stuyvesant, and a forbearance for the views and tenets of others conflictino; with his own, not onlj in religion but also in government, rarely found in any age, and certaiidy not to be discovered in the proceedings of the most civil- ized nations of Europe in his time, except it might be in the case of Holland. This house of Bowne, in Flushing, is built of wood, in the old-fashioned Dutch style, and w^as said to have been erected in the year 1661, only one year previous to his exile. Opposite this house, in front of it, are two large old oak trees, under the shadow of which the celebrated George Fox, a preacher of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, in 1672, preached a ser- mon to the people assembled around them. These trees are still standing. Fox was then on a preaching tour from Yorkshire, in England, and was travelling through the colonies ; he was then stopping at Bowne's Tiouse. The case of Bowne the Quaker was the only instance in which the Dutch Colonial Govern- ment attempted to exile a man for his religious opinions. But its general course, and particu- larly the administration under Governor Stuy- vesant, was marked by a series of measures cal- 120 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. dilated to advance the interests of the settlers, and to build np the little insignificant colon}^ on the banks of the Hudson into a city of that char- acter and importance, and a colony of that value as to attract the attention of the English Govern- ment, and upon the first opportunity that offered to induce them to fit out an expedition for its cap- ture. To t'he encouragement offered by Governor Stuyvesant is to be attributed the first emigration of the French Huguenots to this country, whose descendants now, and for many generations past, have been some of our most respectable and in- telligent citizens. It appeal's from the Council records that on the 24tli of January, 1664, M. Yan Beeck, a merchant in New Amsterdam, in- formed the Governor that he had received letters from Rochelle, in France, signifying the wish of several persons professing the Protestant religion to emigrate to New Netherland, as their churches had been burnt, etc. Upon which the Governor and Council resolved to receive them hospitably, and to allow them land gratuitously. They at once came over upon receiving this information, and a considerable number of them received grants of land in what is now Westchester county, and settled a town there, which they named after their old home in France, New Rochelle. This THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES. 121 was in accordance with the settled policy of the Dutch AVest India Company; which evinced a more enlightened view of the advantages to re- snlt from the commerce of the Fatherland, from the establishment of a prosperous colonial system, than appear to have been eritertained by any other nation of Europe, and it was the success whicli at- tended this Dutch commercial policy that led to the celebrated navio^ation act of Eno-land. To the good character which this colony thus obtained abroad, throughout Europe, we may attribute the continuance, in some measure, of the same policy under the English Colonial Government, although a different policy was at the same time pursued in England itself. Thus in 1710, 3,000 Palatines, who had the yeai* previous fled into England from persecution in Germany, emigrated to Xew York under the guidance of Gov. Robert Hunter ; some of them settled in JSTew York City, others on Livingston Manor, and the remainder in Pennsyl- A'ania, where their descendants continue to this day. During the prevalence of the terrible witch mania in New England, great exertions were made to enlist the officers of this government and the clergy of this colony in that horrible persecution of poor infirm old men and women. They, however, refused to entertain the sul)ject 123 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. in any manner, and were in consequence of that refusal very freely denounced as infidels by the wise leaders in Kew England, wlio were, accord- ing to tlieir own showing, almost daily receiving and acting upon the evidence of the evil one against their neighbors and fellow-Christians, members of the same church with themselves, and whose walk in life had been consistent with their Christian professions. There was then no Presbyterian church in the City of Kew York, and the whole population was nominally divided among the Episcopalian, the Dutch Reformed, and the French Protestant Churches — the latter was also under the ecclesiastical government of the Episcopal Church. The clergy in New Eng- land, who had been active in the mattei- of witch- craft, addressed a letter to the Butch Reformed ministers of this colony, as approaching nearest to them in form of church government, desiring their judgment in reference to spectral evidence, and other matters connected with prosecuti(jns for witchcraft ; and the Dutch clergy, in reply, cautioned them against the use of such testimony, as coming from an improper and evil source, and more likely to be available against good than against bad persons of evil lives ; it is very strange that this did not occur to them before. The only trial for witchcraft which ever took THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES. 123 place in this colony was that of Ralph Hall, and Alaiy his wife, from the eastern part of Long Island, in the conrt of assizes held in the City of New York, on the 2d of October, 1GG5. The jury who tried them for this alleged offence, con- sisted of twelve men, five of whom were selected from this island, and seven from the Cit}^ of New York ; and they fonnd a special verdict, " ac- quitting the man, and that there were some sus- picions against the woman, but nothing to take away her life." Upon which Hall was dis- charged, and his wife also, on his giving security for her good behavior, and that she should appear at the next assizes ; and at the following term the recognizance was discharged, and this ended the first and only trial for witchcraft in this colony or state. Although the New York government exhibits but this solitary instance of a trial for witchcraft, yet w^hen some of the eastern towns on this island annexed themselves to the United Colonies of New England, and came under the Govern- ment of Connecticut, as a necessary consequence, all the peculiar notions of the inhabitants of the mainland in reference to demonology and witch- craft began to manifest themselves in that part of the island. And in the year 1657, the wife of Joshua Garlick being suspected of witchcraft, 124 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. was arrested iijion that charge in Easthampton, a proceeding which caused great excitement in that town ; as usual, in most other cases of a simihir character, witnesses were not wanting in this instance who deposed to facts, which, in the minds of an excited and credulous people, fully established the truth of the accusation. But the town court before whom she was brought, being- composed of persons not very deeply versed in the science of demonology, and feeling them- selves incompetent to decide upon so grave a question, sent the unhappy woman a prisoner to Hartford, in Connecticut, to be tried by the Gen- eral Court at that place. AYhat became of her is not known, but she was probably subsequently discharged, or her name would appear among those who fell victims to that awful mania. Prior to the American Revolution, sermons were preached, and also printed, in the Dutch language, in the City of Kew York. We have seen two sermons which were printed in the Dutch language, in 4:to form, at Xew York, by " Ilendricus De Foi-est, in't Jaar 1752." In Kings County, upon Long Island, sermons in Dutch were preached in the towns of Flatbush, Kew Utrecht, Gravesend and Bush wick, until- about the year 1818. The last Dutch clergyman, or parson, as the English called him, or dominie, as THE DUTCH REFOEMED CHUKCHES. 125 the Dutch styled him, for tliose towns, was old Dominie Martinus Schoonmaker, who officiated alternately in the churches of those towns until he was nearly, if not quite, ninety years of age ; he also used, about the commencement of the present century, occasionally to preach a Dutch sermon in the church at Brooklyn. lie was the last connecting link of the chain which had bound together the churches of Flatbush and Gravesend from the year 1654, and which had united the other churches named with that of Flatbush from a period long anterior to the American Revolution ; at his death this tie was severed, and ever since the churches have each had their ministers and formed independent con- gregations. Before the commencement of the present cen- tury, it was v^ery common on the west end of Long Island, in the burying-grounds of the Dutch Reformed congregations, to put Dutch inscrip- tions on the monumental or grave-stones, both prose and poetical ; but this has now ceased to ])e the practice. Inscriptions in this language on grave-stones, are in the Bush wick burying-ground of as late date as the year 17S0. The Dutch Reformed church of Flatbush, in Kings County, was incorporated July 31, 1784, under a 2:eneral act of Leo-islature of the State of 12() LONG ISLAND ANTIQUiriES. X ew York, entitled, " An act to enable all the religious denominations in this state to appoint trustees, who shall be a body corporate, for the purpose of taking care of the temporalities of tlieir respective congregations, and for other pur- poses therein mentioned," passed April 6th, 1784. The first trustees of this church, named in the certificate, were Jeremias Yander Bilt, Joris Mar- tense, Cornelius AVyckoff, Hendrick Suydam, and Peter Lifferts. This was one of the first, if not the first church upon Long Island, incorporated under this general law. A Dutch Reformed church was erected in Jamaica, on this island, in 1715 ; in Newtown shortly after ; and in the towns of Xorth Hemp- stead and Oyster Bay about the year 1732. These churches were supplied with ministers from Kings County until about the middle of last cen- tury. Many of the Dutch churches on this island w^ere of a curious style of architecture ; either circular, six-square, or eight-square, with high roofs, and a belfry or cupola springing from the top of the six-square or octagon roof, with a small bell in it. The churches at Jamaica, ^ew Utrecht, and Bushwick, were of this character. The latter, which was six-square, was taken down in the year 1827. A few months previous to its THE EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 137 destruction, a lady of our acquaintance, who liad a fine taste for sketching, at our request made a drawing of this antique church, which we now possess, and prize highly as an accurate represen- tation of those curious old churches which have now all disappeared from our island before the march of modern improvements. FOUNDATION OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. It is generally supposed, and so stated, that the first attempt to establish the Episcopal Church in this colony was by the act of 1693. This is an error. The code of laws for the government of the colony of l^sew York, known as the Du/ce^s Xaws, adopted by the convention of deputies at Hempstead, on Long Island, March 1, 1664, evi- dently contemplated the establishment of that church, as will be seen upon reference to its pro- visions. This code, after stating that " the pub- lic worship of God is much discredited for want of painful and able ministers to instruct the peo- ple in the true religion, and for want of conven- ient places capjible to receive any number or assembly of people in a decent manner for cele- brating God's holy ordinances," then proceeds to provide that, ^' in each parish within this gov- ernment, a church be built in the most convenient 128 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. pai't thereof, capable to receive and accommodate two hundred persons." " That, for the making and proportioning the levies and assessments for building and repairing the churches, provision for the poor, maintenance for the minister, as well as for the more orderly managing of all parochial affairs in other cases expressed, eight of the most able men of each parish be, by the major part of the householders of said parish, chosen to be overseers." Out of this number of overseers, the constable and the eight overseers were annuall}^ to make choice of two to be churchwardens. These churchwardens had very much the same powers possessed by those ofhcers in England ; and were recpiired twice in each year to make written presentments to the court of sessions of all of- fences coming within their knowledge against good morals. " To prevent scandalous and ignorant j)1'g- tenders to the ministry from intruding them- selves as teachers, no minister shall be admitted to officiate within the government but such as shall produce testimonials to the Governor that he hath received ordination, either from some Pro- testant bishops or minister within some part of His Majesty's dominions, or the dominions of any foreign Prince of the Keformed Peligion ; upon THE EPISCOPAL CHITECriES. 129 which testimony the Governor shall induct the said minister into the parish that shall make pre- sentation of him, and as duly elected by the major part of the inhabitants, honseholders." It is not a little curious that this code of laws, which are understood to have received the sanc- tion of tlie Duke of York, afterwards King James II. of England, and which were framed for the government of a colony of which he was the proprietor, should have so i-igidly excluded the Koman Catholic religion, and allowed no ministers from any part of the world to exercise their calling here unless the}' were Protestants ; and not even Protestants who had been ordained in a foreign country under a Poman Catholic monarch ; and that, too, when James himself was such a rigid Poman Catholic, and made such ex- traordinary exertions to introduce that faith into England, where he had the opposition of a power- ful and wealthy Establishment to contend with, and eventuall}^ lost his crown in the contest ; and here, where he had no Establishment to encounter, and might easily have introduced it under the general toloration which was from the establish- ment of his government here allowed, it is truly strange and wonderful. The same code declares that : " Ko person shall be molested, fined, or imprisoned, for differ- 130 LONG ISLAND AKTIQriTIES. inty in judgment, in matters of religion, who pro- fesses Christianity." The regulations in relation to the ministers, as established by this code, were as follows ; " The minister of every parish shall preach constantly every Sunday, and shall also pray for the King, Queen, Duke of York and the Royal family." '' Xo minister shall refuse the sacra- ment of baptism to the children of Christian pa- rents, when they shall be tendered, under pen- alty of loss of preferment." " Ministers are to marry persons after legal publication, or sufficient license. Legal publication shall be so esteemed when the persons to be married are three several days asked in the church, or have a special license." " 'No person of scandalous or vicious life shall be admitted to the holy sacrament, who hath not given satisfaction therein to the minister." The court of assizes, which, previous to 1683, formed the legislative authority of the colony under t]ie Duke of York, at their term commencing Sep- tember 28, 1665, ordered the churches in each parish to be erected within three years after that term, and provided " to which end a town rate may be made to begin this year." The same authority, the court of assizes, at a term commencing October 2, 1672, ordered " that the laws of the government be duly ob- THE EPISCOPAL CHUKCHES. 131 served as to parish cliiirclies ; and that although divers persons may be of different judgments, yet all shall contribute to the minister established and allowed of ; which is no way judged to be an infringement of the liberty of conscience to which they may pretend." Again, this court of assizes, at the term of Octo- ber 13, lG75,had the establishment of the church under their consideration, and seem particularly desirous that some maintenance for the minis- try in each town or parish should be actually real- ized. The record of their j)roceedings upon this point is to the following purport : " The church affairs being taken into consid- eration, and particularly the maintenance of the ministry, it is ordered, that towards the mainte- nance of the ministry', besides the usual country rate, there shall be a double rate levied npon all those towns that have not already a sufficient maintenance for a minister." The Government appears to have been truly anxious that churches should be established, and a minister of the gospel called and settled in each town of the colony ; and the difficulties wdiich they encountered in effecting this object seem to have mainly arisen from the disrelish of the people to subject themselves to the neces- sary taxation for those purposes* 132 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. All these provisions and regulations show that while the colonial government intended to allow the free exercise of any particular form of the Christian religion used by Protestants, it was at the same time their wish that the churches to be erected in each parish might be supplied with clergymen of the Established Church of England, and they, therefore, to facilitate that, gave those churches, as near as possible, the officers and form of government of the parish churches of Eiigland ; and when such a minister should be settled in any church they intimated it to be their intention to compel all the inhabitants of the parish to contribute to his support, however much they might difPer from him in judgment upon the matters of religion ; and stated it as the conclu- sion which they had arrived at, that this was no infringement of the liberty of conscience j)i'evi- ously granted. They had precedent for this regulation in the uniform practice of the ^ew England colonies, which had then uniformly for years obliged the Episcopalians, or members of the Church of England, to contribute rateably to the support of their Congregational and Pres- byterian ministers, and that even where they had a church and ministry of their own to support. The first Episcopalian minister upon this island was the Rev. George Keith, who had formerly THE EPISCOPAL CHUKCHES. 133 been a Quaker. He was sent here by the Eng- lish Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, soon after its formation in 1701, in order that he might ascertain the best mode of fulfill- ing the object of the association. He was styled the Rector of Queens County, and was accom- panied by the Rev. Peter Gordon, as a missionary for this island, who was afterwards settled at Jamaica in 1702. The act of 1693, in place of being tJie first attempt to establish the Episcopal Church on this island, was in some measure a revival of the regulations of 1601:, somewdiat extended ; but this a':t, in its operation, was confined, on this island, to Queens County. In the year 1700, the peo2:)le of Jamaica, in that county, who were then gen- erally Presbyterians or Independent, erected a aUme edifice for public worship, by a general subscription throughout the town, without re- stricting it to any particular denomination. After a year or more, they having no minister, the church was not used for Divine service ; and Governor Cornbury considering it, from the manner in which the cost of its construction had been raised, as one of the parish churches which had previously been required to be erected at the public expense, delivered possession of it to the Episcopalians, w^ho continued to use it, very much 134 XONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. against the will of the Presbyterians, until the year 1735, wlien they abandoned it, and erected themselves another church in that town, which new church was, in 1761, incorporated by the name of Grace Church. When the seats in this new church were sold, in the year 1737, the con- gregation consisted of twenty-four families. The above is one way in which the history of this church is narrated. Another is, that the stone church was actually occupied in 1702 by the Itev. John Hubbard, a Presbyterian minister, and his congregation ; and that on Sunday after- noon, coming to the church, he found the pulpit occupied by the Pev. Peter Gordon, an Episco- palian minister, and the body of the church in possession of a number of Gov. Cornbury's friends and others, from the City of New York ; that this led to a bitter controvei*sy, which, after a pro- tracted and expensive litigation on the trial of the cause before Chief Justice Lewis Morris, re- sulted in favor of the Presbyterians, and restored the church to them in 1728. Whichever is the true history of this matter, it is certainly to be regretted that any such controversy ever took place. The Episcopalians were established and a church built in Hempstead in 1704; and the Pev. John Thomas, a missionary of the Society THE EPISCOPAL CHI IICIIES. 135 for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts (of England), was their first minister. They erected a new church at that place in 1734, and were then incorporated, and constituted a parish, by the name of " St. George's Church, Hempstead." On a tombstone now standing in the burying- ground of this church is the following inscription : " 11 June 1764 Died Samuel Seabury Eector of St. George's Church at Hempstead set. 64." This Rector Seabury was the father of the Right Rev. Samuel Seabury, the first Bishop of Connecticut, and the first who was consecrated for the United States. He was consecrated by the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church, before the English bishops were authorized by act of Parliament to consecrate any bishops for the United Colonies. The old church of St. George at Hempstead is still (1846) standing, and is one of the most ven- erable churches in our country ; it is beautifully situated, few more so. Other Episcopal churches were founded on this island at the following named places, and at the periods mentioned : — At Brookhaven, Caroline church, in 1730. At Xewtown, St. James' church, in 1734. At Flushing, St. George's church, in 1734. At Huntington, St. John's church, in 1784. 136 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The first Episcopal church in the town of Brooklyn (which now^, 1846, lias in it eleven Episcopal churches, and two of them among the most splendid in the country), and, indeed, the first in Kings County, w^as established in the year 1784, soon after the conclusion of the Revo- lutionary war. It scarcely took the form of a church ; there were but few, very few. Episcopa- lians in this town or county at that period, so few that they were not able to settle ,a minister among them, and were supplied with occasional services from the clergymen of the City of New York; for which purpose they assembled in a room of the old one-and-a-half story brick house, known as ]N"o. 40 Fulton street, Brooklyn, then called the Old Ferry Road, owned by Abiel Titus, Esq. There is no reason to believe that this little congregation was ever incorporated as a church, or had any regular ofiicers. The first regularl}^ established Episcopal church in this town or county w^as that formed in the year 1786. The congregation was at first very small, not having in it more than fifteen or sixteen families, and they were not al^le to go to much expense about erecting a church. They there- fore hired the old and long one-story house, owned by Marvin Richardson, on the north-west- erly corner of Fulton street and Middagh street, THE EPISCOPAL CHUKCIIES. 137 (which old building, or a considerable portion of it, still remains in the interior of the frame build- ings now upon that corner,) and taking out the partitions, they seated it with seats with backs to tliem, and put in a pulpit. The pews they sold, and the tradition is, that a dispute which arose about the sale of one or two particular pews in this little church, was the origin of the Methodist Episcopal church in Brooklyn ; and they con- tinued in this edifice about a year or a little over, and their first minister was the Rev. Mr. Wright. This chui'cli does not appear to have had any paiticular name. A few months before the establishment of the Episcopal church in Brooklyn, a frame building of considerable size for that day had been erected on the present Fulton street, upon what is now the Episcopal burying ground, and was used by a congregation of " Independents." It was in- corporated on the ISth of September, 1TS5, under the name of the " Independent Meeting House," with John Matlock, pastor ; George Wall, assistant; John Carpenter, treasurer; Georo-e Powers, secretary ; and five trustees. After they had used it for Divine worship something over a year, Mr. John Carpenter, and two or three other gentlemen who had a claim upon the land and building for the money ad- 138 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. vanced for its purchase and erection, ejected the Independent congregation bj fastening up the church, and refusing them admission ; and they subsequently transferred the land and chur{;h to the Episcopalian congregation, who thereupon left their room on the corner of Fulton and Mid- dagh streets, and occupied it as their church, upon which, on the 23d of April, 1787, they were incorporated under the name of " The Episcopal Church of Brookl^m," and their temporalities placed under tlie direction of seven trustees^ the first of whom were Whitehead Cornell, Joshua Sands, Joseph Sealy, Aquila Giles, Matthew Gleaves, John Van Xostrand and Henry Stan- ton. The form of government which they had thus inadvertently adopted, not being that suited to the churches and congregations of the Episco- palian church, but intended for the Presbyterian and other congregations, the church was reorgan- ized, and the 22d of June, 1795, newly incorpo- rated, under the name of " St. Ann's Church," and placed under the government of church- wardens and vestrymen. Many have supposed, and now believe, that the name of " St. Ann's Church " was for the first time applied to the stone church erected on Sands street ; but this is an error : it was applied ST. Ann's ciiuecii. 139 to the old frame cliurch about nine years before the stone church was built. They remained in this church until the stone Episcopal church on Sands street was erected; also known as St. Ann's church, when the old frame church was taken down about 1805, and from its materials the dwelling house 'No. 11 Prospect street was erected. The first organ in any church in Kings County was that in St. Ann's church, Brooklyn, which was first opened April 11th, 1810, and a number of fine pieces of music performed and anthems sung. A sermon was delivered on the occasion by tlie Rev. R. C. Moore, on the importance of church music. St. Ann's Episcopal church was occupied until the close of the summer of 1825, when it was taken down in the month of Septem- ber of that year. The first clergyman wdio ofiici- ated in that church was the Rev. John Ireland, a man of a most violent temper, and who was event- ually silenced from preaching, or acting as a minister, for some very unseemly exhibitions of it, a restriction after some years removed, and he was appointed chaplain to the United States Xavy Yard in this town, w^hich situation he held until his decease. The new St. Ann's cliurch, constructed of brick, on Washington street, in the rear of the 140 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. old charch, was consecrated in the latter part of the suinnier of 1S25, by the Kight Rev. John Croes, Bishop of New Jersey, assisted by the Bishops of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. At that time it was the only Episcopal church in the town of Brooklyn, or in the County of Kings, ex- cept that the chaplain of the Navy Yard then be- ing an Episcopalian, the service in that chapel was of the Episcopal form. At North Hemj)stead, in Queens County, an Episcopalian church was founded by the name of " Christ Church " in the year 1803. FOUNDATION OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. The first congregation of this denomination was formed in Brooklyn about the year 1787, but it was some three or four years before they became sufficiently numerous to erect a church or meeting-house, but they had frequent preach- ing supplied by the itinerant preachers of their connexion, in a small building of one story about thirty-five feet long, and twenty feet broad, which they built on the northerly side of High street, and afterwards used for many years as a school-house. Their first church on Sands street, near Fulton street, was probably erected in the autumn of the year 1793, as we find it to have been incorporated EOlklAN CATHOLIC CHUECHES. 141 on the 19th of May, 1794, iiiicler the name of the " First Methodist Episcopal Clmrch," and placed under the government of six trustees. This cl lurch continued to be used until tlie year 1810, when being found much too small for the con- gi-egation attending there, it was taken down, and a temporary slied of large dimensions erected in the burying-ground immediately in the rear of the cliurch ; under wdiich the pnlpit and seats were placed, and Divine service performed tiiere until the new cliurch was erected. Which new church was erected upon the site of the old one, and extending much beyond it, both in length and breadth — it was also a frame building, as well as the old church. This new Methodist church was opened for the first time after its completion, on the 18th of August, 1811, and a dedication sermon preached on the occasion. This Methodist church erected on Sands street, Brooklyn, in 1793, was not only the first church of that denomination in this town, but also the first erected in Kings County. FOUNDATION OF ROMAN CxVTIIOLIC CHURCHES. The first Komaii Catholic church founded upon Long Island takes its date from the year 1822. 143 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Tlie corner-stone of this church was laid in the yiljage of Brooklyn, on the 25th of June, 1822, on the corner of Jay street and Chapel street, which was then a large extent of vacant ground, there being then no buildings nearer that spot than High street, and not a single building between the site of the church and the mead- ows of Wallaboght mill-pond. This church was incorporated on the 20th of November, 1822, by the name of " St. James Roman Catholic Church," and placed under the government of seven trustees. The church has been very much enlarged every way ; the nave of the church, as now used, was all that consti- tuted the original edifice ; the front, the tower and sj^ire, the transept and the chancel have all been added. The church, as first erected, was a plain brick edifice, with unfinished walls inside ; now it is a very showy building. OLD HOUSES. There are several houses still remaining on this island venerable for their antiquity, and for incidents connected with their history. One of them is the house in Southold, known as the " old Young's place," which was built in 1688. It was the mansion house of the descendants of THE PIRATE S GKAVE. 143 the Rev. John Youngs, the first Christian minis- ter in that part of Long Island. In the same town is also the edifice known as " Cochran's Hotel," which was erected in the year 1700 ; and there are several others in the eastern part of this island which might be noticed, if time and space permitted. Approaching westwardly through the island, we meet, on Fort N'eck, with an old-fashioned brick house, which was many years ago owned and occupied by a Captain Jones, wlio is reputed to have been a pirate, and in it he died. Tradition says that at the time of his death, a large black crow (which the people supposed to be a demon) hovered over his bed, and when life was extinct, the crow made his exit through the west end of the house. This story is still told by the oldest inhabitants as a fact, and they also state that the hole through which the crow made his departure cannot be stopped, and that as often as it is closed it is opened by some unknown means. I saw the house in Julj^, 1827 ; it was a venera- ble-looking building, but fast hastening to ruin. It was then pointed out to me as the " haunted house," by persons in the vicinit}^ Capt. Jones was buried not far from the house, and his grave is designated to this day as the " Pirate's Grave." 144 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. This grave is about half a mile south of the house, on the banks of a creek, in a small piece of p-round surrounded bv an earth wall. The tombstone is of red freestone. The ground also contains the graves of his wife, his sou, and his son's wife. There are no other persons interred there but these four. It is quite a solitary spot. The mansion of the Hon. George Duncan Ludlow, at Hempstead Plains, now called Ilvde Park, was one of the largest and best houses of its da}^ on this island. It was destroyed by fire accidentally, in the month of December, 1773, and the loss sustained was estimated at not less than £3000. With it was also consumed a library estimated to be worth twelve hundred pounds, which must have been a very large and valuable library for the colonies. This house was immediately rebuilt upon the same spot, and again destroyed by fire in 1817, while in the occupation of the celebrated William Cob- bett. In the town of Flatbush are several of these relics of former days ; among them is an old one- story brick dwelling-house erected in the year 1G96, situate at the corner of the Flatbush turn- pike road and the road leading to New Lotts. This house has the following figures and devices, containing the date of its erection, and the initials THE OLDEST HOUSE IN BROOKLYN. 145 of its original proprietor, on its front, formed with bine bricks inserted between tlie red bricks. c? Q <$. o Q In the same town is a very old frame house, covered with cedar sliingles, the date of which is unknown, but we should not be surprised, judg- ing frOm its appearance, if the date of this build- ing was prior to tliat of the one above mentioned. The oldest liouse in the town of Brooklyn is supposed to be the house which was known as Tn^o. ()4 Fulton street, in the village of Brooklpi, and owned and occupied by Mr. Jacob Patchen. Mr. Charles Doughty, who has been dead about twenty-five years, and was about eighty-five years of age when he died, said that this was an old liouse when he Avas a bo}^ Mrs. Eapalje, the mother of John E-apalje, whose property in Brooklyn was confiscated during the Iwevolution- ary wai-, said that this house was built by a family of the Hemsens who came from Holland. This 7 146 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUFJIES. house was removed by order of the corporation of the village of Brooklyn, for the purpose of opening Market street in that village, and now stands on Jackson street in said village, now city. There was also recently an old brick honse standing on Fulton street, in Brooklyn, near tlie corner of Nassau street, which was occupied by the Colonial Legislature as a sessions house dur- ing the prevalence of the small-pox in New York in 1752 ; and at this house, on the 4th of June, 1752, 2,541 bills of credit issued by this Colony, amounting to £3,G02. ISs. 3d., were cancelled by the Colonial Connnissioners. This house was sub- sequently occupied by General Israel Putnam as his headquarters during the stay of the American army on Long Islaiid, in the summer of 1776. The house was taken down in May, 1S32, and its timbers, which were all of oak (as were those of all the old buildings of that early period), were so perfectly sound and hard that they could not be cut without much difficulty ; and most of them were worked into the new brick buildings which now occupy the same site. What an idea does this simple fact afford us of the strength and permanency with which every thing was done by our ancestors. They did not build in haste, or run up houses during the frosts of winter, but all was done \7ith muph care and Washington's headquarters. 147 forethoTiglit ; tliey were building for their pos- terity as well as for themselves. In building, as in every other matter, much time was spent in examining the project in all its probable bearings before it was adventured upon ; and wlien once undertaken, it was persisted in with a force and spirit almost unknown to the present age. To this peculiar characteristic of our foi-efathers we owe all the blessings arising from our institutions of government. A slight and even partial exam- ination of the history of the United States for the half century preceding the Kevolntion of 1776, will show us how many years of patient thought and unwearied toil were deemed necessary by the patriots of that day to precede the great event of the Declaration of Independence, and to give to it the desii-ed stability. They did not dream of getting up a revolution in a few hours, days or months, now so common in tliis world, and whose effects, of course, are as evanescent as were the deliberations which gave them birth. The house on Brooklyn Heights recently owned by Henry AVaring, Esq., was at the same time occupied by General AVashington as his headquarters. There is a very old stone dwelling house near the water at Gowanus Bay, and next to tiie house of Simon Bergen. It was formerly the old Ber- gen mansion house, and near the well of tliis 148 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. house, Mr. Bergen, the proprietor, was shot dur- ing the Revohitionary war by an English soldier. Another memorial of antiquity which still remains to us in Brooklyn is an old stone house owned by the family of Cortelyou, at Gowanus, which bears on its gable end, in iron figures, the date of 1699. It is a venerable looking edifice ; and when A^ewing it, our minds are imperceptibly led to think how much of human joy and sorrow, wdiat scenes of happiness and misery, must have occurred under the roof -tree of that old mansion since the date of its erection ; and if it were in our power to learn its entire history without the slightest embellishment, what a strange romance would even the plainest narrative of the facts which have transpired within its walls now ap- pear to us ! So true it is that fact is often much stranger than any romance which the mind of man ever conceived. This house was the resi- dence of the American general. Lord Stirling, prior to his capture by the British forces in the battles of Long Island. The house 'No. 27 Fulton street, opposite Front street, in Brooklyn, and for many years occupied as a tavern, was built in 1780, entirely of Long Island timber, and the frame of oak, as was for- merly the case with many houses ; it was taken down about the year 1830. In digging the cellar THE DUTCH MODE OF BUILDING. 149 of this house a Large rock was found, which in endeavoring to sink slipped, and one of the men fell under it and was crushed to death, and his bones reraam under it to the present day : so says tradition. The houses mentioned were amono; the larfi:est and most important dwellings in the colony at tlie time of their erection, and serve to show us what the more wealthy and noble of the land then thought sufficient for all their wants, and for the accommodation of their families and friends. In the centui'V followino- there was an evident change in sentiment in this respect ; the houses were lariJ^er, and from beino^ lono- and narrow, o " o Id ' with two front doors, not unfrequently side by side, and one or one and a half stories high, they became square and two stories in height, aiford- ing double the amount of room, and often more, than in the old st3de of building in the century im- mediately preceding. Of this more modern style, many of the houses would even now be regarded highly respectable in appearance ; it was an adap- tation, to some extent, of the English style, as its predecessor was of the Dutch mode of building ; there are however but few, very few, of this second order of our old mansions now in existence : a few of them are mentioned in the following pages. The first Lighthouse erected on Long Island 150 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. was tlie Lighthouse on Montauk Point, which was built in 1796. It is a very massive and dur- able tower of stone, and it is said to be one of the best lights in the United States. Prior to the Revolution of 1776, Governor Martin, of the province of South Carolina, came on from that province to Xew York, and built the large old house at Rockaway Beach, now (1S38) occupied as a boarding-house, where he resided with his family. In the large room on the lower floor, now used as a dining-room, there is a painting on a panel over the fire-place, representing a child playing with a dog. It is a splendid piece of painting, the dog especially is admirable : it is a spotted dog. This painting was done by Sir John Copley, then without his title, and an inhabitant of Boston, in Massachu- setts, and the child represented a member of Governor Martin's family. The house is a very fine specimen of the old style of mansion-house building. Mrs. Martin, the widow of Governor Martin, lived and died in the city of Kew York, in Broadway, on part of what is now the site of Astor's great hotel ; she was a daughter of Sir John Copley, and sister of Lord Lyndhurst, the PAINTINGS BY COPLEY. 151 English Lord Chancellor ; she says the painting before mentioned was from the pencil of her father. She died about the year 1825, and quite wealthy ; she gave eight thousand dollars by her will to Bishop Ilobart of New York. In the com]3troller's office of Trinitj^ Church, on the corner of Fulton and Church streets, New York, is another painting by Sir John Copley. It is a likeness of the Eev. Mr. Ogilvie of Trinity Church, assistant minister with the Rev. Mr. Auchnmty, tlie rector of that church. Mr. Ogilvie died before the Eevolutionary war, on Fulton street, in Brooklyn, near its junction with Jackson street, and about fifty feet southerly of that junction, on the east side of the street, is (1830) a relic of the olden time which has been there some considerable time before the Revolu- tionary war. It is a wood medallion, but profile likeness of King George III., of England, crowned with a laurel wreath. It is well done and a creditable specimen of wood carving not only for that day, but for any day, and judging from the engraved likeness of that monarch, it is a very good representation of him. It is now, and I believe always has been, on tlie front of tlie hay scales, near the top, which are now kept by Charles Poling. It should be preserved as a memento of our ante-lie vol utionary history. In 153 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. 1820 there was another of these old-fasliioiied haj-scales in Brooklyn ; it stood on the westerly side of Fidton street, a little southerly of the corner of that street and Buckbee's alley, and be- tween the front of those hay-scales and the oppo- site side of the street was only about thirty-five feet. On the top of these hay-scales was a small cupola in which hung the fire-bell of Brooklyn, then the only bell in the village for an alarm in such cases, except the bell of St. Ann's churcli, which was bnt a poor one, and the small bell of the old Dutch Church, which then hung in the belfry of the Dutch Reformed Lecture-room in Middagh street. At this period all the houses on Fulton street, between the corner of Front street, and the junction of Fulton street and Main street, were old frame buildings of one and tw^o stories high, with the exception of the stone dwelling- house of two stories, occupied by Jacob M. Hicks and John M. Hicks, on the corner of Hicks street and Fulton street ; and the two-story brick dwell- ing of Burdett Stryker, opposite Front street ; and the long old one-story brick dwelling of Abiel Titus, on the east side of Fulton street. Hicks street then was only about fifteen feet wide at its junction with Fulton street, and was a steep, ugly hill to get up with a loaded cart, and gullying very much with every rain. About this time the THE "COEPORATION HOUSE. 153 trustees of the village attempted its first regula- tion, by building a high stone wall along from the rear of the Messrs. Hicks' house for 600 or 700 feet (outside of it being then all vacant ground, used for garden purposes), and then cutting off the top of the hill some four or five feet, they filled in the bottom and along even with that stone wall; and then, to prevent its gullying, paved it with a gutter in the centre of the street. On the westerly corner of Front and Fulton streets stood the old Rapalje mansion-house, a large stone building of two stories, about forty feet front on the street. This house was second to none upon Long Island, when it was built, for size and elegance. It was taken down about 1807. The next house west of that upon the Old Ferry street, now Fulton street, was the large, old, stone two-story building, occupied as a tavern, known as the " Corporation House ; " it belonged to the Corporation of the City of IN'ew York, and was originally erected by them as an iim or tavern some twenty or thirty years l:)ef()re the He volu- tion, and was occupied as such all through that war, and was a noted resort of the British officers stationed in New York, and many of them men- tion it in their published travels in this country. 154 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. That house was destroyed by fire in the year 1815, and its desolate walls remained standing for some two or three years after, when the Cor- poration of Xew York had a new survey made of their property there, and new division of lots, upon which they leased the same, and brick stores and dwellings were erected. Another noted house in Brooklyn was the mansion-house of Philip I. Livingston, afterwards a member of the Continental Congress. This was a large frame building, actually forming two dwellings. The larger part, wdiich was about forty feet square, Mr. Livingston erected for his son, who was a young man then travelling in Europe ; who, upon his return, was to be married to a lady to whom he w^as engaged before he left liome, and occupy that new house ; but he was taken sick, and died abroad only a few months before his return was expected. This mansion, both the old and the new part, was finished throughout in the best and most costly style of that period, having much beautiful carved wood-work and ornamented ceilings, and also Italian marble chimney-pieces sculptured in Italy. Most beautiful specimens they were ; we have often admired them. This house, upon tht^ death of its last owner and occupier, Judge Jorale- moii, in 181:2, was about to be taken down, and MONUMENTS AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 155 these marble chimney-pieces were packed up for removal, when it took fire, and they, with the house, were destroyed. The gardens attached to this mansion, when the British took possession of it and converted it into a naval hospital in 1776, are said to have been among the most beautiful in America. OLD MONUMENTAL STONES AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS. The oldest monumental tombstones bearing inscriptions are to be found on the east end of the island, although there were settlements made on the west end at an earlier date than on the east. The reasons for this we conceive to be these : Among the Dutch settlers the art of stone-cutting does not appear to have been used until within comparatively a few years, with but few exceptions, and their old burying-grounds ai-e strewn with rougli headstones which bear no inscriptions ; whereas the English people imme- diately on their settlement introduced the pirac- tice of perpetuating the memories of their friends by inscribed stones. Another reason for not find- ing any very old toinbstones in the Dutch settle- ments is, that they early adopted the practice of having family burial-places on their farms, without monuments, and not uufrequently private burials, lod LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. both of which the Governor and Colonial Legis- lature, in 1664 and 1684, deemed of sufficient im- portance to merit legislative interference, and declared that all persons should be publicly buried in some parish burial-place ; but as there was no specific penalty attached to the l)reach of these laws, the custom of burying in private burial-places still continued, and is practised to a considerable extent at the present day. In the old grave -yard at East Hampton are said to be several ancient tombstones, and that in that grave-yard are buried many of the first set- tlers. The first English settlement in the town of East Hampton (excepting Gardiner's Island) w^as made in the spring of 1648, and the first intei-- ments were made in the south bui-ial-ground of that town, where yet nmy be seen monuments of red (-edar wood, which are probably as ancient as any other now existing. The public cemeteries on the east end of the island were uninclosed, indicating that the set- tlers regarded with no religious veneration the resting-jDlaces of the dead ; not that they had no respect for t/ie rnemories of their deceased rela- tives and friends, but that they esteemed all measures for setting apart the final resting-place of the body, by enclosures and other acts, as relics WILLIAM WELLS OF SOUTHOLD> 157 of superstitious observances, which should, as an act of duty, be avoided, and they, therefore, in their great care to abstain from anytliing wliich might have the appearance of acceding to the ceremonies and requirements of Prelacy and Papacy, ran into the opposite extreme. On the west end of the island, on the con- trary, care was taken to secure the burial-places from all intrusion, by fencing them, and allowing but one place for their entrance ; and although no particular ceremony was used in setting them apart, or upon interring the dead in them, except b}' the few members of the Church of England, or Episcopalians, yet all here regarded the grave- yard as a species of hallowed ground, not to be trod upon lightly or without caiise. In the church burying-ground at Southokl is a tombstone bearing the following inscription : " Here lies ye body of William AYells of South- old, gent, justice of ye peace, and fii-st Sheriff e of New Yorkshire upon Long Island, who departed this life November 13th, 1671, aged 63." " Yea here hee lies, who speaketh yet, tho' dead, On wings of faith his soule to Heaven is fled, His pious deedes and charity was such, That of his praise no pen can write too much. As was his life so was his blest decease. He lived in love and sweetly dy'd in peace." 158 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The oldest tombstone in the Dntch church-yard at Biooklyii, having any mark, is one which bears the date of 1730. The oldest tombstone at present in the Bush- wick buiying-ground is one erected to the mem- ory of Cornelius Bogart, and bears the date of 1769. There are inscriptions in Dutch on tomb- stones in this burial-place bearing date as late as 1780. In the burying-ground in Flatbush \dllage, among the earliest grave-stones, is one now stand- ino^ about eiu^hteen inches in heia^ht from the ground, made of the white sandstone which is nsu- ally found in the woods. It is inscribed to the memory of Helen Yanderbilt, wife of one of the Martenses, and has cut on it, near the top, a rough representation of a chernb's head. There is a tradition in the Martense family, that this monu- mental stone cost ten pounds of the currency of the colony at that period. A most enormous sum, being equal to the whole salary of the Clerk of Kings County for a 3'ear, that being also ten pounds currency at that time, and explaining to a certain extent the reason why so few grave- stones of an ancient date are to be found in the burying-grounds on the west end of the island ; and taken in connection with the fact of the pri- vate burial-places, affords, perhaj^s, a complete THE FLATBUSII NIGIIT-WATCII. 159 solution to the whole question. There were un- questionably but few persons who here followed the business of stone-cutting, and consequently the price was too high for any but those w4io were comparatively wealthy, and the most of tliose having been interred in their private ceme- teries, but few of those stones are to be found in the public grave-yards. The Legislature of the State of Kew York, on the 6th of April, 1796, passed an Act authorizing the inhabitants of Flatbush to establish a night w^atch in that town. The object designed by this watch was to prevent the taking up of recently buried dead bodies from their graves in the church- yard, to be used for anatomical examinations in the city of IN^ewYork and elsewhere ; which it was said had been previously done in some instances, and caused much excitement in the community, as well as grief to the surviving relatives ; for there is nothing that the old-fashioned Dutch people so much dread and abhor as the idea of having their own bodies, or those of their friends and relatives, subjected to the dissecting knife of the surgeon for any such purpose. This watch was usually kept every night in the burying-ground, for eight or ten days after the interment, depending on the season of the year. The friends of the deceased supplied the watch 160 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. each night with provisions and refreshments to be consnmed during their vigils. Formerly the funerals upon this island were of a very expensive character, and it was a custom in the old families to lay up a stock of superior wine to be used on such occasions ; and fre- quently at those funerals you would meet with wine so choice and excellent that it could scarcely be equalled by any in the land, although our country has always been celebrated throughout the world for its excellent Madeira wine. Chris- topher Smith, Esq., of Jamaica, on this island, who died about half a century since, had stored away a large quantity of the most superior wines in the country, which were used at his funeral ; and an old friend of ours who attended the fun- eral of General Curtenius, in the city of Xew York, several years ago informed us that from the great profusion of excellent wines, liquors, segars, etc., it resembled more a wedding feast than it did a funeral ; this, however, was not pe- culiar to this instance ; it was the general custom at that period and for a very longtime previous upon Long Island and in the cit}' of ~New York. Also, and not very many years since, among us a cus- tom universally existed of handing around w^ine to all persons attending a funeral ; and it was also usual, when the estate of the deceased would THE EAKL OF BELL AMOUNT. IGl afford it, and even in many cases where it could not, to give to each of the pall-bearers, clergymen and physicians attending, a scarf of white linen (sufficient in quantity to make a shirt), which was worn by them across the shoulder; and also a pair of gloves, either of silk or kid. If the de- ceased was old or married, the scarf was tied with a black ril)l)on, and the gloves were black; but if the deceased was young and unmarried, the scai-f was fastened with a white ribbon and the gloves were white. The custom of giving gloves and scarfs at funerals is not yet entirely gone out of existence. At a still earlier period it was the custom, at the more superior order of funerals, to give gold mourning rings to each person who attended, and we have seen still pre- served on Long Island, in the family of the gen- tleman to whom it was presented, a ring which was thus given at the funeral of the Earl of Bel- lamont, who died the Governor of the Colony of New York; it was a very heavy, massive gold ring, and lias upon it the inscription, " Comes De Bello-mon." And even within the present century it was likewise the custom at funerals in the country parts of Long Island, for the relatives of the de- ceased, at the house from which the funeral was to proceed, to prepare a large quantity of cold 162 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. provisions, such as roast turkeys, boiled hams, roast beef, etc., which were set upon a table in a room opened for the purpose, and every one went there and helped himself as he pleased. Also rum, brandy and gin, with 23ipes, tobacco and segars, were handed around among the people during their stay at the house, it being considered inhospitable not to do so ; and it was not an un- usual thing to see the farmers congregate together, in warm weather, under the shade of trees, about the vicinity of the house, smoking their long pipes and drinking, hearing and telling the news, and lautyhinp: and talkino- too:ether for two or three hours before the funeral would move. This long stay at the house previous to proceeding to the place of interment, together with the great plenty of spirituous liquors distributed about, sometimes occasioned scenes of much noise, and very inap- proj)riate to the purjDose for which they had as- sembled. The change which has since been pro- duced in this practice is mainlj^ to be credited to the exertions of one gentleman, the Kev. Evan M. Johnson, then the Rector of the Episcopal church at ^N^ewtown, who some years since pro- posed to the vestry of that church, that thereafter, at all funerals in that congregation, the friends should be bidden or invited at one hour, and the interment should take place the next succeeding LUCAS WYNGAARd's FUNERAL. 163 hour, so as to allow them sufficient time to as- semble and no more, and to induce its accep- tance the rector agreed to relinquish his claim to a scarf on such occasions ; he also proposed that the use of spirituous liquors at funerals should be discontinued ; to all these propositions the vestr}" assented, recommending that in place of spirituous liquors, wine should be handed around among tlie people; this was a great reform, when we consider that it was long before the tem- perance movement commenced. This plan being seen to work well in that congregation, was also adopted bj other congregations in other parts of the island, and after a while the use of wine itself at funerals was dispensed with. But expensive as was the character of the funeral on this island, and in New York, thej could not compare in that respect with those among the Dutch inhabitants of the city of Albany. Judge Benson, in his memoir read before the Xew York Historical Society, describes the funeral of Lucas Wyngaard who died in that city in the year 1756, a bachelor, leaving some estate. The invitation to that funeral was verv general, and those who attended returned after the interment, as the custom then was, to the house of the deceased, towards the close of the day ; and a large number of them never left it 164 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. until the dawn of the ensuing day. In the course of the night a pipe of wine, which had been stored in the cellar for some years before the occasion, was drank ; dozens of papers of tobacco were con- sumed ; grosses of pipes broken ; scarce a whole decanter or glass was left ; and, to crown the whole, the pall-bearers made a bonfire of their scai-fs upon the hearth of the room where they were car- ousing. This may have been a little more uproari- ous than most of the funerals of that period, as the deceased was a bachelor, and had no widow and children in the same house to control, and, in some degree, to modify their proceedings; bat jet all the funerals of that time were more than enough so under any circumstances. Even down to within the last fifty years Albany was noted for the expensive character of its funerals ; a funeral, in a respectable old Dutch family at that place and especially of the head or any principal member of it, often cost from three to four thousand dollars. That of the first wife of the late Patroon, Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, it is said, cost him not less than twenty thousand dol- lars ! All his tenants were invited, and most of them were in Albany two or three days at his expense, and tw^o thousand linen scarfs were given on that occasion. It was formerly the custom there for a young man immediately pre- 165 vions to his raarriao^e, to send to the Island of Madeira for a pipe or two of the best wine ; a portion of which being used in the rejoicings consequent upon his marriage, and the remainder stored away for his funeral and that of his wife. It was also the practice in that city to send out special funeral invitations for all the friends and acquaintances of the deceased, being about the same age, and likewise for all the clergy and professional men of the city and neigliboring country, and general invitations from the pulpits of the churches for the citizens at large. To the house of each person thus specially invited was sent a linen scarf, a pair of black silk gloves, a bot- tle of old Madeira wine, and two ^^ funeral cahes^'' which were round, and about the size of a dinner phite ; this was done previous to the funeral, and was in addition to the great quantity of spiced wine and other liquors, which, with tobacco and pipes, were distributed and used at the hous' of the deceased immediately preceding and after tlie interment. Wlien General Schuyler died in that city, all the clergy, lawyers, physicians, and even students, in Albany and its neighborhood for many miles, were invited speciall}^, and a scarf, gloves, a bottle of wine, with funeral cakes, given to each one of them. So particular were they about the linen of which to make these scarfs. 166 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. that ill several instances they sent down by land to Kew York, in the depth of winter, to purchase it, and paid two dollars a yard. Common linen would not answer; the finer it was the better it was liked for that purpose. These customs have now all died away in that city ; the only relic of them remaining we noticed at a funeral there dur- ing the winter of 1840, when the persons attend- ing in large numbers, after the interment, accom- panied the relatives of the deceased in procession on their return to the house, and when they had arrived at the door they all dispersed without going in. Among the Dutch inhabitants on Long Island, it was recently, and had been from time im- memorial, if it is not even yet, customary to con- vert the first money that a young man obtained by his labor or services, after he became of age, into gold coin, and then lay it by for the purpose of burying him, until a sufiicient sum was thus procured to bear the expense of a " respectable funeral " — they esteeming it a great reproach to have it said that either of them died after attain- ing about the age of twenty -three years, without leaving money sufficient to pay the expenses of their burial, unless under very peculiar circum- stances. We have seen a large number of guineas of the reign of George II., and Spanish FUNERAL OF A DUTCH FARMER. 1G7 gold pieces of a later date, which had in one family been collected from one generation to another, and laid by for that purpose, being esteemed as something sacred, and not to be dis- posed of in any other way, but to be preserved for the emergency, if required. It was also formerly the custom w^ith them, the Dutch far- mers, when the head of a family died, to kill an ox or steer, and to buy a barrel of wine, upon which they had a great feast among the relatives and friends. We have been informed by a gen- tleman now living, that some years ago, he had charge of the funeral of one of the old Dutch inhabitants of this island, a very respectable farmer, and that the expense attending that funeral was between seven and eight hundred dollars, and that it w^as the particular request of the surviving relatives that it should be so, their attachment for the deceased impelling them to desire that liis funeral sliould be a generous one, and have nothing mean or inhospitable about it. It was also the practice on this island, and still is so, to appropriate a new linen shirt, handker- chief, etc., for each member of the family, for the purpose of burying them in, and which arti- cles are never worn, but are left clean for that use. And in the country parts of Long Island it is usual, or was until very recently, when a K)8 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. woman died in childbed, to carry the corpse to the grave, with a white sheet spread over the coffin, in place of a pall. This last-mentioned custom gave rise to tlie onl}^ instance of second-sight we have ever heard of upon this island. A gentleman, who is now deceased, a man of veracity and high standing in the community, and who for many years of his life was in public office, informed us that some years previous, coming up a. road leading into the village of Flatbush (we think that from Xew Utrecht), he met or rather overtook, within about a mile of the village, a funeral of a female who had died in childbed, for the white sheet was spread over the coffin ; the road being quite wide he passed them, and some time after, in the same day, he inquired what female had been buried in the church-yard that day. He was told there liad been no interment on that day, and that ii<:> funeral had passed through the village ; he also inquired along the road on which he had seen the funeral procession moving, and all the people, to his great surprise, declared that no funeral liad passed on that day, or they would have seeu it, nor was any one dead in the neighborhood, or they would have heard of it. He now began to think his eyes might, have deceived him, but could not imagine how that could be, when the SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 169 following day he heard of the death of the w'Pe ')f otie of his friends not far from Flatbiishj who liad died that morning in childbed ; and the next day at the same hour in which he had seen it, the funeral procession did come akmg the same road on which he had thus before seen it, with the wliite sheet spread over the coffin ; and then he began to conclude that he had experienced an instance of that nature called by tlie Scotch second- sight, lie said he was in good liealth at the time, and was in no way excited, for he had no idea it was a vision he was looking upon, but be- lieved it to be a real funeral. SCnOOLS AND EDUCATION. The reputation of the schools in Xew York under the Dutch government was so high that it was not an unfrecpient occurrence for the Eng- lish settlers in Virginia, and other southern colo- nies, to send their children to ^ew Amsterdam, now New York, for the purposes of education. One of the very first regulations made by the Dutch government upon the settlement of the colony of the New Netherlands was to provide for the education of the youth, as well as for the religious instruction of the colonists. In the " Conditions offered by the Burgomasters of the City of Amsterdam, etc., to all who are willing 8 170 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. to settle in Kew I^etherland," that city having, under the Dutch West India Company, the ar- rangement of the terms and conditions upon which the colonists should he transported to, and seated in the new colony, was the following on the subject of schools: — " The City of Amsterdam shall send there a pro- per person for a schoolmaster, who shall also read the Holy Scriptures in public, and set the Psalms." " The City of Amsterdam shall also, as soon as they conveniently can, provide a salary for the said schoolmaster." The colonists were probably very soon after their settlement in a situation to relieve the Fath- erland from this engagement on their behalf, and to provide a salaiy for their schoolmaster them- selves. For we find that by 1G50, and probably some time earlier, thei-e was a school estal)lished in each town under the Dutch government, and the schoolmaster's salary formed part of the re- gular town expenses. In each of these towns the schoolmaster was also the chorister and sexton of the church, and in the absence of the minister was required, by the terms upon which he was engaged, to read prayers and a sermon in the church to the con- gregation. Thus, when the Rev. Henricus Sel- wyn, on the 23d of July, 1664, took leave of his THE DUTCH SCHOOLMASTER. 171 cliiirch at Brooklyn, on this island, to return to Holland, after his departure Charles Debevoise, the schoolmaster of this town, was required to read prayers and a sermon from an approved author every Sabbath, in the church, for the im- provement of the congregation, until another minister was called. This connection between the schoolmaster and the church in the Dutch towns existed not only under the Dutch administration in this colony, but was also continued under the English govern- ment for a long period after its establishment in the colony, as will be seen by a reference to the agreement made between the Consistory of the Dutch Keformed church at Flatbush, and Johan- 11 is Yan Eckellen, the schoolmaster of that town, on the Sth of October, 1682. Who is it that does not see that the peculiar aptitude always manifested by our people for self-government, from a period long anterior to our Revolutionary contest, resulted mainly, under Providence, from the c^reat care manifested bv our forefathers for the establishment of schools, and their support in each town, both under the Dutch and English governments ? Long Island, at a very early period of its set- tlement, was peculiarly blessed in this respect. By the articles of agreement for establishing the 172 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. boiiiidarv line between the United English Colo- nies of ^ew England and the New Netherlands, made at Hartford by the Commissioners of tlie New England Colonies and Governor Stnyvesant, on the 19th of September, 1650, and which was rati- fied and confirmed by the States General of Hol- land, on the 22d of Febrnarj^, 1656, it was agreed that the boundary line on Long Island, between the Dutch and English, should be " a line drawn from the westermost part of Oyster Bay, and thence in a dii^ct course of the sea-shore, shall be the line of division between the Dutch and English on Long Island, the eastern part for the English, and the western part for the Dutch." By this arrangement, the eastern part of this island came under the government of the colony of Connecticut, and received the benefit of the New England common-school system, which was established at that early peri(Kl ; and the western part, remaining under the Dutch government, had the advantage of their system of establishing a school in each town. Few, and indeed none but those who have niade our early history their study, can duly ap- preciate the causes which led to the American Hevolution, and gave us existence as an indepen- dent nation. None tended more to that event than the universal diffusion of education among SCHOOLS AND EDUaVTION. V/i onr people, which enabled them to judge accu- rately of public measures and foresee their conse- quences. With any other people upon earth at that pe- riod the British Ministry might have success- fully tried their experiments of arbitrary govern- ment without meeting with resistance, and have effectually enslaved a whole country before its inhabitants would have been aware of their nlti- mate design. That the Dutch colonists were very particnlar in all their arrangements about their schools, and in makinfT their asrreements with their school- masters, is clearly shown by the following: " Articles of agreement made with Juhannis Yan Eckellen, schoolmaster and clerk of the church at Flatbush," translated from the Dutch lano^nao-e. "Art. 1st. The school shall begin at 8 o'clock in the morning, and go out at 11 o'clock.^ It shall begin again at 1 o'clock, and end at 4 o'clock. The bell shall be rung before the school begins. '' 2d. AV.hen the school opens, one of the chil- dren shall read the morning prayer, as it stands in the catechism, and close with the prayer before dinner. In the afternoon it shall begin with the prayer after dinner, and close with the evening 174 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. prayer. The evening school shall begin with the Lord's Prayer, and close by singing a Psalm. " 3d. He shall instruct the children in the com- mon prayers and the questions and answers of the catechism, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to en- able tliem to say their catechism on Sunday after- noons in the church before tlie afternoon service, otherwise on the Monday following, at which the schoolmaster shall be present. He shall de- mean himself patiently and friendly towards the children in their instruction, and be active and attentive to their improvement. " 4th. lie shall be bound to keep his school nine months in succession, from September to June, one year with another, or the like period of time for a year, according to the agreement with his predecessor ; he shall, however, keep the school nine months, and always be present him- self." His predecessor, John Tebout, was not bound to keep the school the three summer months, un- less twenty scholars attended ; he was, however, at liberty to keep the school for ten or a less num- ber at the stated price. CHUKCH SEKVICE. Art. 1st. He shall be chorister of the church, ring the bell three times before service, and read DUTIES OF tup: SCHOOLMASTER. 175 a chapter of the Bible in the church, between the second and third ringing of the bell ; after the third rino^in^: he shall read the ten command- ments and the twelve articles of Faith, and then set the Psalm. In the afternoon, after the third ringing of the bell, he shall read a short chapter, or one of the Psalms of David, as the congrega- tion are assemblino-. Afterwards he shall asrain set the Psalm. 2d. When the minister shall preach at Brook- lyn or New Utrecht, he shall be bound to read twice before the conc^reo-ation a sermon from the book used for the purpose. The afternoon ser- mon will be on the catechism of Dr. Yander Ha^ gen, and thus he shall follow the turns of the minister. lie shall hear the children recite the questions and answers of the catechism, on that Sunday, and he shall instruct them. When the minister preaches at Flatlands, he shall perform the like service. 3d. He shall provide a basin of water for the baptisms, for which he shall receive twelve stuy- vers, in wampum, for every baptism, from the parents or sponsors. lie shall furnish bread and wine for the communion, at the charge of the church. He siiall furnish the minister, in writ- ing, the names and ages of the children to be bap- tized, together with the names of the parents and 176 LOXG ISI.AND ANTIQUITIES. sponsors ; he shall also serve as a messenger for the consistories. 4th. He shall give the funeral invitations, and toll the bells, for which service he shall receive, for persons of fifteen years of age and upwards, twelve guilders ; and for persons under fifteen, eight guilders. If he shall invite out of the town he shall receive three additional guilders for every town ; and if lie shall cross the river to New York, he shall have four guilders more. SCHOOL MONEY. He shall receive for a speller, or reader, in the day school, three guilders for a quarter, and for a writer, four. In the evening school, he shall receive for a speller or reader four guilders, and five guilders for a writer, per quarter. SALARY. The residue of his salary sliall be four hundred guilders in wheat, of wampum value, deliverable at Brooklyn Ferry ; and for his service fi-om October to May, two hundred and thirty-four guilders, in wheat, at the same place, with the dwelling, pasturages, and meadow appertaining CHARLES DEBEVOISE, S( IIOOLMASTEK. 177 to the school, to begin from the first day of Octo- ber. Signed by the Constable and Trustees. Done and agreed on in Consistory, in the pres- ence of the Constable and Trustees, this 8tli day of October, 1682. Signed by Casper Yan Zuren M. and the Consistory. I agree to the above articles, and promise to observe the same to the best of my ability. JoHANNis Yan Eckellen. Under the Dutch government of this colony, great care was used in the selection of the school- master for each town ; and no man was appointed to that office unless upon the recommendation of the Governor. Thus we find, in the month of May, 1661, Governor Stuyvesant recommended Charles Debevoise as a suitable person for the schoolmaster of the town of Brooklyn, and clerk and sexton of the church in this town ; and upon that recommendation he was employed in those ofiices. It may seem a matter of surprise to us, that the Governor of the colony should employ his time in selecting suitable persons for such an ofiice as a schoolmaster ; but our Dutch ancestors entertained a different view of the matter ; they, from the first period of their settlement, were fully convinced that an intelligent and educated community could alone make the colony of any 173 lo:;g island antiqitities. value to themselves or to the Fatherland ; and that crime and nnhappiness among a people re- sulted in a great measure from ignorance. AVitli them, therefore, it was a cardinal principle to dif- fuse tlie means of education as widely as possi- ble ; but to establish schools was not of itself sufficient, unless they also secured the services of the jDroper men to conduct them. To effect this latter pui-pose, which they regarded as all impor- tant to the successful advaucement of the colony, the policy was adopted of employing no one as a schoolmaster who did not previously satisfy the Governor as to his competency, and procure his recommendation for his appointment to that office. When once appointed the records show that the schoolmasters retained their situations, almost without exception, for a number of years in succession. ANCIENT NAMES OF PLACES. The following is a list of ancient names upon Long Island, with the dates affixed opposite to them, of the time when they were used, viz. : IN THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. 1667. GowanuSy which still retains the same name. ANCIENT NAMES OF PLACES. 179 1667. Cripplehush. which still retains the same name. 1686. Wallaboghtj which still retains the same name. 1686. MarchwiGh, and in 1722 called Martyrs Hook, which was the point of land forming the present United States Navy Yard. 1689. Luhhertse^s N'eck, which was sold by Peter Corsen to Cornelius Sebringh, March 28, 1698, for £250, and Sebringh to find Corsen in meat, drink, washing, lodging, and apparel daring his life. In 1690 the same place was called Graver'^ s Kill. This place was recently known as CornelVs Red Mills, and is about five hundred feet north of the Atlantic dock. 1700. Gowaniis Mill Neck, sometimes called Mill Neck, and known by this latter name in 1785. In 1680, a lot of land in this town was called an Erffe, About the period of the Revolution the people were in the habit of distinguishing the large lots into which their farms or plantations were divided, by particular names, and these names they re- tained for many years. Thus in this town, near the road leading from Brooklyn Ferry to Flat- bush, were the " Geele Water's Caump," the " Erste Caump of Derrick's land," the " Kline Caump," 180 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. the ^'Twede Caump of Derrick's land," the " Middleste Caump," the " Eenen Caump," and the " Agterse Caump." 1660. Canarsee Landing, Canarsee Woods, which places still retain the same names. 1679. Third Kill. 1687. Minsehoele Hole. 1698. Kush Swamp. IN THE TOWN OF BUSHWICK. 1690. The Norman Kill. IN THE TOWm OF AIVIERSFOKT, OK FLATLANDS. 1636. Kashiitenstikin^ the westernmost flat of land of the three flats. 1646. Mutelar's Island. 1687. Stroom Kill. 1687. Jurianses Hook. 1687. Fries Hook. 1690. Hogg's Neck. 1694. Albertse's Island. 1695. Majise laud. 1704. Fresh Kill. 1711. Bestevaar's Kill. 1712. Craven Yalley. ANCIENT NAMES OF PLACES. 181 IN THE TOWN OF NEW UTKECHT. 1660. Na3^ack, which name it still retains. 1685. The Fountain at Yellow Ilook. 1690. Turk's Plantation, afterwards called Brujnenbergh. IN THE TOWN OF GRAVESEND. 1692. Hoogh Penne Keck. 1693. Gysbert's Island. 1695. Ambrose Strand. 1697. Garretsen's Neck. 169S. Cellars Neck. 1704. Great Woods, 1718. ITarbie's Gat. 1718. Brown's Creek. 1718. Kobin Poyneer's Patent. IN THE TOWN OF NEWTON. 1656. The west branch of Mespatt JTillSjCSiWed Quandus Quobricus. Dosaris^ the name of a place on this island, has its origin from the circumstance of the original owner of it, as a farm, or plantation, having obtained it through his wife, and he being a scholar, called it Dos uxoris, the Wife^s Gifiy 183 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. which the people subsequently corrupted to its present name of Dosoris. Quogtte, in Suffolk County, is probably a cor- ruption of the Indian name of a favorite shell-fish known to us as the clam, Quohaiuj — these shell- fish having been verj abundant, and probably of a choice kind, as is indicated by the immense an- cient shell banks in all the surrounding region. A.t this place is the only point from wdiich the Great South Beach can be reached on foot from the mainland of the island, for the immense stretch of coast reaching from Fire Island to the inlet of Shinecoc Bay. In all other places you have to pass in a boat over many miles of water ; and it is this circumstance which renders a ship- wreck upon that beach in winter so frequently dreadful in its consequences from the loss of life ; for even if the crew and passengers should suc- ceed in reacliing the beach alive, they will find no shelter there, and having from ten to twenty miles of water to cross before they can experience any relief, and their boats being almost invariably destroyed or lost in the shipwreck, if the storm is very heavy and the cold severe, as is frequently the case, they perish from the exposure. It may be asked by those not acquainted with this beach, Why is this not provided against ? The answer is. It is almost, if not quite impossible to do so, the THE NAMES OF FAMILIES. 188 character of the beach being such, and the dis- tance from the mainland, and the difficnlties and dangers of communication often so great that men could not live there at the times when their services would be most required. The formation and position of this beach is, however, such that the great loss of life is usually sustained before the shipwrecked persons have the chance of reaching the land, from the immense seas thrown over them by the whole swell of the Atlantic Ocean, which, by the rapid evaporation it causes, comparatively soon chills them to death. NAMES OF FA^riLIES IN BKOOKLTCf. Ancient. Modern. Courten. Defforest, Deforest. Ffilkin. Gulick. Hansen, Johnson. Harsen. Houghawout, Lefferts. Abranse. Aerson. Amertman, Amerman. Blaw. Beeckman, Beekman. Casperse. 184 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Ancient. Deliart. Depotter. Ewetse. Hooghland. Jaiise, Jarisse. Jurianse. Lambertse, LeFoy. Lubbertse. Middagh. Scliaers. Seberingh. Symonse, Staats. Van Cortlandt. Yan Eckellen. Modern, Johnson. Lambertson and Lamberson. Simonson. Of all these families there are now but seven remaining in Brooklyn, viz. : Beekman, Deforest, Johnson, Lambertson, Lefferts. Middagh and Sim- onson. Within the last five or six years the emi- gration from Continental Europe has brought back some of the old names as in Kew York, merchants of the name of Courten. The name of Middagh is Dutch, and means, in English, mid- day or noon. NAMES OF FAMILIES. 185 Ancient. Yan Westervelt. Mattjse, Coorteu. Saloin. Smack, Van Thinhoven. NEW UTKECHT. Modern, Martense. original of Martense. GRAVESEND, Garretse, Garretson and Gerritson. Remmerson, Henison. Tiehuynon, Lncasse. Kenne. Elbertse. Harmanse. FLATLANDS. Terhune. Yanderschaez. Schainp. Loysen. Ditinarse, BTJSHWICK. FLATBUSH. Ditmas. 186 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The practice of giving people what would now be called niciaiames^ by which they became known, not only to the public generally, but also in the official records, was very common under the Dutch Colonial Government, and it also con- tinued for a considerable period under the Eng- lish administration in this colony. In 1644, in the Dutch records we have John Pietersen, alias Friend John. In the INewton purchase from the Indians, dated April 12, 1656, one of the bound- aries is, " by a Dutchman's land called Hans the Boore / " and in tlie Bushwick patent, dated Oc tober 12, 1667, one of the boundaries is " John the Swedes Meadow." In 1695, in the Kings Coun- ty records a man is named living at Gowanus, as " Tunis the Fisher." And we also find that by the records of the Common Council of the City of New York, on the 25th of March, 1691, they ordered that " fish be brouglit into the dock, over against the City Flail [then standing in Pearl street, at the head of Coenties slip], or the house that Long Mary formerly lived in." And also on the 9th of April, in the same year, they directed " that Old Bush deliver into the hands of the treasurer, the scales and w^eights that he hath in his liands belonging to the city, being first satisfied for the making of them." DUTCH NICKNAMES. 187 Again, on the same day, the order " that Tup Knot Betty and her children be provided for as objects of charity, and four shilhngs a week allowed." And further, that "the treasurer let Scarehouch have a new suit, and assist him in what's wanting." All the preceding orders, from the date of April 9th, inclusive, were made in one day, so that our city functionaries of that period seem to have had a most charitable disposition, as well as a strange propensity for giving nicknames to people. But we are not yet done ; this Common Council were not so mean as to apply such nick- nanjes to those only to whom they afforded charit- able relief, as some might otherwise suppose — • they also used them when discharging their debts. Tims, on the Sth of December, 1691, the city records contain an order that " the treasurer pay English Smith, £1, 13s. for three cords of wood, which he bought for the use of the city this day." Strange as it may now seem to us for the Com- mon Council of a city to place such names upon the public records, yet we have seen that this practice extended to the highest functionaries of the Colonial Government, and that the Govern- ors, both Dutch and English, used it in their patents for towns, and other official documents. 188 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. The explanation of it, in many cases, undoubt- edly was, that in many instances the parties either had no surname, or family names (for family names were not so common then as now), or if they had, they did not themselves know it, and that which now appears like a nickname was from necessity adopted as a means of distinguish- ing them, and was usually taken from some personal characteristic, and which subsequently became, some part or other of it, the surname of the children as Long and Betty. The manner in which names of families some- times become changed in this country is truly curious. There was previous to tlie middle of the last 'century, among the Dutch settlers in the southern part of this colony, and particularly upon Long Island, a regular systematic change of the family name with every generation, so that the son never bore the family name of his father; thus, if the father's name was Lefiert Jansen, and he had a son named Jacobus, this son's name would not be Jansen, but it w^ould be written Jacobus Leffertsen — suppose the old gen- tleman would have a grandson by his son, who was christened Gerrit, his whole name would be Gerrit Jacobsen. Tlius we would have in the three generations of that one single family, the following different names, viz. : CHANGE IX FxOIILY NAMES. 189 1. The father, named Leffert Jansen. 2. The son, named Jacobus Leffertsen. 3. The grandson, named Gerrit Jacobsen. This strange custom does not seem to have prevailed among the Dutch in Albany; there tliey preserved their family names from the first settlement, and many of them may therefore be traced back without difSculty. In other parts of our country, as well as among the Dutch, great changes have occurred in family names. Edward Livingston, Esq., in his answer to Mr. Jefferson, in the case of the New Orleans Batture, furnishes us with the following singular instance of this nature : An unfortunate Scotchman, whose name was Eeyerston, was obliged, in pursuit of fortune, to settle amongst some Germans in the western ]>art of the State of New York. They translated his name literally into German and called him Four- stein. On his returning to an English neighb(>r- hood his new acquaintances discovered that Four- stein, in German, meant Flint in English; they translated, instead of restoring his name, and the descendants of Feijerston go by the name of Flint to this day. I ought, however, says Mr. Livingston, to excej^t one of his grandsons who settled at the Acadian coast, on the Mississippi, whose name underwent the fate of the rest of the 190 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. fainily ; he was called, by a literal translation into French, PievTe-a-fusil^ and his eldest son returning to the family clan, his name underwent another transformation, and he was called Peter Gun ! This is about equal to the Dutch transmutation of names, although wanting its system. Here we have the following result : 1. The father's 1st Name, Feyerston. 2d Name, Fourstein. 3d Name, Flint. 2. The son's Name, Flint. 3. The grandson's 1st Name, Flint. 2d Name, Pierre-a-fusil. 3d Name, Peter Gun. The old practice formerly so common among the Dutch settlers on Long Island, seems a^^o to have been at one time in use in Iceland. Mr. Hooker, who was there in the summer of 1809, speaking of the family of Olaf Stephenso) -, the former ofovernor of that island, observes : " In naming his children, the Stiftsamptman (gov- ernor), as well as his sons, have abolished the custom, which is otherwise, I believe, ver}^ gen- eral in Iceland, of calling the child after the Christian name of the father, wath the addition sen or son to it ; thus the son of the Etatsrced j[chief justice) Magnus Stephenson ought by this ORIGINAL DUTCH NAMES. 191 rule to have been Magnusen^ to which any Christian name might be subjoined. If it had been Olaf JSLtgnusen^ his son would bear the name of Olavsen^ or j-ather Olafsen, as I believe it is generally written. The females had the addi- tion of flatter to the Christian name of the father." This was precisely the old Dutch custom in this colony ; and it has led to great difficulty in tracing the descent of our early Dutch families, and also in examining our old records, as there are but few who are conversant with this peculi- arity in their change of names. Thus, amongst the Dutch the original name of the present family of the Lefferts was Hoiighawout . Leffert Houghawout's son James was called Jacobus Leifertsen, or Leffertse, as it was often written, dropping the letter n ; and when this custom was al)olished about the middle of tlie last cen- tury, this latter name Leffertse was retained as the family name. So also the original family name of the Martenses was Smack. Mattyse Smack's son received Mattyse as his surname, which eventually became the present name of Mnr tense, although as now written only within the last half century. This is also the origin of the present family names of Johnson, or Jansen (which are both the same name), Remsen, Gerrit- seu, etc. It is strange that such a custom should 192 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. have been identically the same with those two different nations ; but it shows their common origin. Upon this island, and especially in the cential portions of it, are very many families of the name of Smith, and so numerous did they become at an early period of the settlement, that it was thought necessary to distingiiish the various ori- ginal ramilies by some peculiar name. Thus we have the Rock Smiths ; the Blue Smiths ; the Bull Smiths ; the Weight Smiths, and the Tan- gier Smiths. Of the Kock Smiths there are two distinct families : one originally settled between Kockaway and Hempstead, some ten or fifteen years before the settlement of the first white in- habitant in Setauket, who derived their name from their contiguity to Hockaway ; and the other located themselves in Brookhaven, and ob- tained their appellation from their ancestor erect- ing his dwelling against a large rock which still remains in the highway of that town. The Blue Smiths were settled in Queens County, and obtain- ed their peculiar designation from a blue cloth coat Avorn by their ancestor ; whether because a cloth coat was then an uncommon thins; in the nei£:h- boi-hood, or that he always dressed in a coat of that color, does not appear. The Bull Smiths of Suffolk County are the most numerous of all the THE SMITHS OF LONG ISLAND. 193 families of the name of Smith upon tliis island; it is said there are now at least one thousand males of that branch on this island. The ances- tor of this branch of the Smith family was Major Richard Smith, who came from England to New England, with his father Richard, in the early part of the seventeenth century ; and afterwards came to this island, and became the patentee of Smithtown. The sobriquet of this class of Smiths is said to have arisen from the circumstance of the ancestor having trained and used a Ball in place of a horse for riding. The Weight Smiths de- rived their name from being possessed of the only set of scales and weights in the neighborhood of theii" residence, to which all the farmers of the country around resorted for the purpose of weigh- ing anything they wished to sell or buy ; at least so says the tradition. The Tangier Smiths owe their origin to Colonel William Smith, who had been the English Governor of Tangier, in the reign of Charles the Second,"^ and emigrated to this colony in the summer of the year 16S6, where he settled in the town of Brookhaven, on the Xeck known * Tangier, in Africa, was about that period an English colony, having come to the British Crown as part of the dowry of Queen Catharine of Portugal; and was, in 1683, tibaudoned hj the English to the Moors, in consequence of the gL-eat expense and small value of the colony. 9 194 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. as Little Keck, and afterwards as Strong's Neck, which, together with his other j^urchases, were e:iected into a manor by the name of St. George's Manor, by a patent granted to him in 1693, by Governor Fletcher. Most of the Tangier Smiths are now^ in that town, scattered throngh it from the north to the south side of the island. These different appellations of the families of the Smiths became as firmly settled as if they w^ere regular family names ; so that ^vhen any in- quiiy was made of any person on the road, man, woman, or child, for any particular Smith, they would at once ask whether he was of the Hock breed, or the Bull breed, etc. ; and if the person desiring the information could say w^hich hreed^ he at once was told of his residence. In truth there are so many of the same name in that most numerous family of the Smiths upon this island, that without adopting some such plan it would be almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. Among these Smiths, and at Smithtown, upon this island, have occurred two of the most marked instances of longevity known in this country. Richard Smith, the patentee of Smithtown, of the Bull breed, purchased at Kew^ York a negro man named Harry, w^ho lived wdth him, with his son, and then with his grandson, and died at MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 195 Sinithtown in the mouth of December, 1758, aged at least one hundred and twenty years. This re- markable individual said he could remember wlien there were but very few houses in the city of New York ; his memor}^ must have extend- ed back to the administration of the Dutch Gov- ernor Kieft. His health and strength of body continued almost unimpaired until very near his death, and he could do a good day's work when he had passed one hundred years. There appears to have been another negro man in the same town, who even exceeded him in the point of age. In a note to Moulton's History of JS'ew Yorh^ it is stated, that an obituary article appeared in a newspaper, printed in 1739, of the death of a negro man at Smithtown, on Long Island, reputed to have been one hundred and forty years old ; who declared that he well re- membered when there were but three houses in New York. The memory of this man must there- fore have extended back to the founding of New Amsterdam, in the year 1626, as New York was then called, and he must have come into this country with some of the first Dutch settlers. MxVNNEES AND CUSTOMS. There are a number of interesting facts con- nected with the antiquities of tliis island, which 196 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. are not easily reducible under any of the pre- vious heads, which we have thought should be preserved, as matters of considerable moment connected with the first settlement and condition of Long Island, and we have therefore made for them this distinct head. Among them is the fc^llowing extract from the official records of Rhode Island, which show how early a jealous and unfriendly feeling sprang up between the English and Dutch colonies in this country. We have alwa^'s viewed it as an unfortunate circum- stance for the preservation of this colony to the Dutch, that Peter Stuyvesant was not the gover- nor here when that ill-feeling began first to mani- fest itself, some considerable time anterior to the period referred to in the following record. His mode of conductino^ the difficult neo^otiation with the English commissioners at Hartford ; the manner in which he settled the disputes between the Dutch and English colonists, and also between their respective governments in this country, in reference to the settlement at Hartford and in its vicinity, which had been for years a serious and acrimonious controversy between his predecessor hi the Colonial government and the United Colo- nies of Kew England ; and his settlement and defining of an established boundary, in which all acquiesced, between the New Netherlands and STU YVES ANT'S CHARACTER. 197 the English colonies, all serve to show, in our judgment, that if he had had the control and management of those controversies in the first instance, they would have been all adjusted in an amicable and satisfactory manner long before they attained that violent and hostile character which had induced in the minds of the leading men of New Eno-land the settled conviction that it was necessary to theii* peace to get rid of the Dutch government in the colony next adjoining them ; and by such a course the colony ^vo^ld have been preserved to Holland, at least for very many yeai's to come. But Governor Stuyvesant unfortunately arrived here after the commis- sioners of the United Colonies of New England had not only come to that conclusion, but had also made representations to that effect to their home government, and the whole effect of Governor Stuyvesant's peaceful and wise admin- istration of affairs was to procrastinate for some few years the English attempt at the subjugation of this colony; a design which the latter, how- ever, never abandoned, as is clearly shown from the communication which Gov. Stuyvesant made to the church of Brooklyn, on this island, on the last of June, 1663, directing tire fourth day of July following, to be observed as a day of thanksgiving, because, among other things, the 198 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. English had been defeated in their attempt to take possession of the whole of Long Island bj the timely arrival of a Dutch fleet of armed ships in the bay of New Amsterdam (Xew York) — this occnrrence, it will be observed, is more than a year anterior to the actual capture of New Netherland and the taking of New Amsterdam (New York) by the English fleet and forces under Gov. Richard Nieolls. Here follows the Rhode Island record, above mentioned : "Acts and orders of the General Assembly, held at Newport, May 17, 18, 19, 1653— Mr. Nich. Eaton, moderator." 11. A committee of two men of each town, or eight men, be chosen, for ripening matters that concern Long Island, and in the case concerning the Dutch. Mr. Rich. Eaton, Mr. John Eaton, Mr. Rich. Burden, Mr. Randall Ilolden, Mr. John Smith, Mr. Robert Eield, Richard Few, John Roome, act upon these. " 12. First, That we jndge it to be our duty to afford our countrymen on Long Island what help we can safely do, by virtue of our commission from the Right Honorable the Council of State, either for defending themselves against the Dutch, the enemies of the commonwealth, or for offend- ing them, as by us shall be thought necessaj-y. " Second, That they shall have two great guns, RHODE ISLAND AID. 199 and what murtlierers are with us, on promise of returning tlieni, or the due vahiation, and to be improved as by instructions given by this As- sembly's authority, this or wliat else, provided they engage to the Connnonwealth, and confirm by subscription to do their utmost to set them- selves in a suitable posture of defence against all enemies of the Commonwealth of England, and to offend them, as shall be ordered. " Third, That there be allowed twenty volun- taries out of the colony, provided they be such as be under no fixed relations or engagements. " 13. That for trial of prizes brought in ac- cording to law, the general ofiicer, with three jurors of each town, shall be authorized to try it; the President and two assistants shall have au- thority to appoint the time, but if any fail at the time appointed, either officers or jurors shall be made up in the town of Newport (where they shall be tried) ; in case any of the officers fail, then they that appear shall proceed according to the law of allaroon. "13. Commissions granted to Capt. John Ui> derhill and Mr. William Dyre. " 14. Tiiat Edward Hall shall have a commis- sion, granted him to go against the Dutch, or any enemies of the Commonwealth of Eng- land." 200 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Tl:e following notes are necessary to a full understanding of this interesting record: — The two great guns here spoken of were can- non, and the mnrtherers, or murderers^ were pieces of small cannon, fitted into a wooden stock for the convenience of being carried about, and were used for firing stones instead of balls. Thej are also sometimes called in the old record " stone- piece s.*' The muskets of that day were of a very mnch heavier and more clumsy make than those of the present day, and of a larger bore ; they were at this period fired by laying upon a rest, with a slow match, as they had no locks ; the rest was an upright rod of iron, about five feet long, with a pike end to stick into the ground, and a crotch at the other end for the musket to lie in. The soldier, when marching, carried this rest in his right hand, and the musket upon his left shoulder. The present cartridge-box was supplied by a bandalier, as it was called, being a belt over the shoulder and across in front ; attached to it hung a dozen small leather or copper cases, each con- taining one charge of powder and ball for the mus- ket : he also carried a sword. A man thus armed was considered a part of the stationary or heavy force of an army of that day, as much so as the ■artillery, and they were both certainly sufticiently EITODE ISLAND YOLUNTARII^S. 201 iiinvieldy. It is only in comparatively modern times that soldiers armed with muskets have been considered as infantry, or light troops. The "engagement to the Commonwealth" means the Commonwealth of Eno-land, under Oli- ver Cromwell; and they also required that the Long Islanders should enter into a similar written subscription as that required from all the func- tionaries in England, to support the Cromwellian administration. The meaning of the provision cciicerning " twenty voluntaries " is that twenty volunteers were authorized to be raised in Rhode Island for this service upon Long Island; but that they must be particular, and enlist no men who were married, or engaged to be married, or who were bound to service. The " trial of prizes " is believed to be the first admiralty court established in the New England colonies ; the establishment of which courts by the English government about a century later, was a source of great dissatisfaction in those colonies. But there was this difference between the two cases ; in tlie first, the people themselves, by their own immediate representatives, organized and made choice of its judges and officers from their own people, and directed that it should proceed with a jury ; and in the last case tlie 203 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. courts were organized by the British Parliament, in which the colonies had no representation what- ever; the judges and officers were most of them strangers, selected and chosen by the King in Council from abroad, or from other colonies, and they were required to proceed without the inter- vention of a jury ; differences enough assuredly to give reason for dissatisfac^tion to the full as strong as anj- shown on the subject. The laws of Allaroon referred to as tlie code for the govern- ment of this admiralty court in its proceedings, is undoubtedly meant for the laws of Oleron. It was undoubtedly under the Edward Hall Commission from Rhode Island, and with the volunteer force from that colony, joined by some of the Long Islanders, that Caj)t. John Underhill, in this same year, 1658, stormed and captured the Indian fort upon Fort Neck, in Queens County, and broke up and dispersed the Indian force, which had seriously threatened the desola- tion of this part of Long Island. William Dyre seems to have remained upon Long Island until near the period of the arrival of the English expedition under Gov. Richard Nicolls, when he joined that force and accom- panied it to the capture of New Amsterdam (New York). After which he settled in tliis colony, and became one of its distinguished men. I THE DUKES LAWS. 203 He was for a long period one of the Governor's council, and frequently acted as the President of the Court of Sessions for the West Eiding of Yorkshire upon Long Island. The Convention of Deputies assembled at Hempstead, on this island, during the year 1664, for the adoption of the code of laws afterwards known as the Duke's Laws^ after concluding their labors, adopted the following address, which they sent to James the Duke of York and Albany, subsequently King James II. of England : " We, the deputies duly elected from the several towns upon Long Island, being assembled at Hempstead in general meeting, by authority derived from your Itoyal Highness unto the Honorable Colonel Nicolls, as Deputy-Governor, do most humbly and thankfully acknowledge to your Koyal High- ness the great honor and satisfaction we receive in our dependence upon your Royal Highness, according to the tenor of his sacred Majesty's patent, granted the 12th day of March, 1664, wherein we acknowledge ourselves, our heirs and successors forever, to be comprised to all intents and purposes as therein is more at large expressed. And we do publicdy and unanimously declare our cheerful submission to all such laws, statutes, and ordinances which are or shall be made, by virtue of authority from your Royal Highness, your 204 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. heirs and successors forever ; as also that we will maintain, uphold, and defend to the utmost of our power and peril of us, our heirs and succes- sors forever, all the rights, title, and interest granted by his sacred Majesty to your Royal Highness, against all pretensions or invasions, foreign or domestic, we being already well assured that in so doing we perform our duty of alle- giance to his Majesty, as free-born subjects of the kin«;dom of England, inhabitino; in these his Majesty's dominions. We do further beseech your Royal Highness to accept of this address as the first-fruits in this general meeting, for a memorial and record against us, our heirs and successors, when we or any of them shall fail in our duties. Lastly, we beseech your Royal High- ness to take our poverties and necessities, in this wilderness country, into speedy consideration ; that by constant supplies of trade, and youi- Royal Highness' more particular countenance of grace to us, and protection of us, we may daily more and more be encouraged to bestow our labors to the improvement of these his Majesty's western dominions under your Royal Highness, for whose health, long life, and eternal happiness we sliall ever pray, as in duty bound." The people of Long Island were so much ex- asperated against the deputies of the convention 205 at Hempstead, for making that address to the Duke of York, which tliey regarded as too base and servile to come from representatives of free- men, and expressed their d'sgiist in such a plain, open manner, that the court of assizes (compos- ed of the governor and his council, and a justice of the peace of each town), at a term held at New York, in 1666, in order to save those de[)uties from abuse, if not in some instances from person- al violence, deemed it expedient to declare, that, " AYhosoever hereafter shall any ways detract or speak against any of the deputies signing the ad- dress to Ris Hoyal Highness, at the general meet- ing at Hempstead, they shall be presented to the next court of sessions, and, if the justices shall see cause, they shall from thence be bound over to the assizes, there to answer for their slander, upon plaint or information." The deputies, also, subsequent to their address to the Duke of York, made one to the people, in which they set forth their reasons for agreeing to the code called the Duke's Laws, and endeavor to show that they had done nothing in that, or in their address, incompatible with the duty they owed to their country as freemen ; they were not, however, veiy successful in this attempt to ward off the public indignation, which they certainly r'clilv merited for their address to the Duke. 206 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Ill consequence of a serious dispute wliich ex- isted between Governor Nicolls and the colony of Conuecticut relative to the boundary-line between New York and Connecticut (Connecticut seems to have thought if she and the other colonies of New England could dispossess the Dutch, she could then extend her boundary towards the south, which she much desired to do), in the month of December, 1664, Connecticut sent commissioners to New York to settle this difference, which ap- peared materially to affect the peace of both col- onies. By the arrangement entered into on this occasion, the eastern part of Long Island, which became a part of Connecticut by the treaty made with the Dutch, on the 19th of September, 1650, was surrendered by Connecticut to New York, and the Mamaroneck river, and a line drawn from it north-northwest to the boundary line of Massa- chusetts, w^as declared to be the eastern boundary of New York. So that Connecticut, instead of being the gainer, was the loser, by dispossessing the D 11 tell from the government of the colony of New Netherlands. Govei-nor Richard Nicolls, in the month of No- vember, 1665, wrote a letter to the Duke of York, in which he informed him : " My endeavors have not been wanting to put the whole go\ernmeiit into one frame and policy, and now the most fac- NICOLLS AND THE SOLDIEES. 207 tioiis republicans cannot but acknowledge them- selves fully satisfied with the way and method they are in. My resolutions are, to send over to your Koyal Highness this winter, a copy of the laws as they now stand, with the alterations made at the last general assizes, which, if you shall confirm and cause to be printed at London, the country will be infinitely obliged to you." The laws were ac- cordingly sent and confirmed by the Duke of York, being the code adopted by the convention at Hempstead, and the alterations and amend- ments made to that code by the court of assizes, in September, 1665, but whether they were printed or not, we do not know, never having seen or heard of a copy ; if they were printed, it must be a very rare book, indeed. Governor Xicolls, in a letter which he addressed to the Duke of York two or three months after the capture of New York in August, 1661, says : " Such is the mean condition of this town (New York) that not one soldier to this day has lain in sheets, or upon any other bed than canvas or straw." Soldiers must have had much more dainty lodgings in those days, and must have been much nicer in their taste than at present, if a bed of canvas and straw in the warm season of the year is complained of, as from this letter seems to have l^een the fact. It is not, however, 208 LO^'G ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. in this view of the case that we have adduced this extract from Gov. Ni colls' letter, but to show something of the situation of the citj when it passed from the liands of the Dutch, and came under the English government. The changes which have taken place since that period in the city of New York, and on the west end of Long Island, are without example in history ; and these become the more marked and strikhig when we extend our comparison some twenty-five years further back, when Kieft became the Dutch governor of this colony, and a full and minute examination into its condition was made and recorded, showing us changes truly wonder- ful, and all occurring in about two centuries, a period during which many of the important cities and towns in Europe and Asia have re- mained, in comparison, almost stationary. Here, on this little spot, then known as New Amster- dam, where in the year 1639 there w^as but one magazine, or store-house, for wares and merchan- dise, but one small church, one blacksmith shop, two saw-mills and a grist mill, and whei-e one hundred and twelve years later there were but ten thousand souls, is now congregated a popula- tion of about four hundred thousand, engaged in a commerce w^hich sends its messengers to the ends of tlie earth, and is now a place which THE GROWTH OF ^'EW YOliK. 209 might well be characterized, as was ancient Egypt by the inspired prophet and poet Isaiah, as '*the land shadowing with wings," ''that send- eth ambassadors by the sea; " for the sails of its shipping overshadow the ocean, and there is no part of the habitable globe, and scarcely of that portion locked np in the eternal frosts of the arctic and antarctic zones that is not visited l)y tliose sent on missions of trade or peace from this city. The immense increase of the trade or com- merce of this city has occnrred in such a short space of time, that we now have its whole history in our existing public records. We find that at the period first referred to, 1639, the revenue of the entire colony amounted to $31,220 per an- num, wiiile the annual expenses of the colonial government, civil and military, were $10,500, leav- ing a yearly deficit of about nine thousand dol- lars to be made up by the Dutch West India Company, and which they could well afford to bear, as they had all the commerce of the colony in their own hands, and from the single article of beaver alone (then exported in large cpiantities) were realizing a profit of one hundred and twenty per cent. Xow this city carries on more than half of the foreign commerce of the whole United States, and now collects more than half of all the duties paid upon imports into the same, 210 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. being the main revenue of the general govern- ment. This will become apparent from the fol- lowing statement derived from official sources : In 1836 the whole amount of im- ports into the United States was $189,980,035 Of which amount there was im- ported at JSTew York 118,253,416 Leaving to be imported in all the other j)ortions of the United States 71,726,619 In 1837 tlie whole amount of im- ports into the United States was $140,989,217 Of which amount there was im- ported at Xew York 79,301,772 Leaving to be im23orted in all the other portions of the United States 61,687,445 This great commercial preponderance of l^ew York has grown up within the last thirty-five years. At the middle of the last century, New- port, in Rhode Island, was a much more impor- tant place in a commercial point of view than New York ; and Boston was very much its supe- rior in ever}' resj)ect. As regards Philadelphia, PIIILADELPIIIA AND NEW YORK. 211 ill point of size, appearance or trade, there was then no comparison, and no one thought of mak- ing any ; Philadelphia was then a city, and New York, in comparison, but a village. And thus continued the relative positions of the two places until some time after the close of the Kevolution- ary war ; evidence of any jealousy on the part of the former did not begin to manifest itself until about 1806, and even then no Philadelphian would ever believe that Xew York could ever equal Philadelphia in population. But when every succeeding census of the General and State Governments show^ed a rapid and steady increase of New York in population, in a ratio far beyond that of Philadelphia, and the reports of the Sec- retary of the Treasury showed an annual and great increase of her trade, so that at last she equalled and then far outstripped Philadelphia in both cases, the Philadelphians at first vented their mortification in bitter sarcasms against New York and its inhabitants, and in ill liberal com- parisons between the two cities. But finding these unheeded and disregarded both by the New Yorkers and the inhabitants of the great West who went to New York to trade, that city from its immense foreign commerce offering them a better market to make their choice in, Philadelphia induced the State of Pennsylvania 212 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. to embark in the immense system of railroads and canals traversino^ that State in various direc- tions, and which ahnost entirely, from their great cost, prostrated the credit of that powerful State, and has crippled their resources for a long period of time yet to come, in order to divert that West- ern trade from New York, and to bring it to Philadelphia, where the nu^st of it formerly was transacted ; and yet, strange as that may seem, although those works have undoubtedly bene- iited both that State and city, scarcely a rail- road or canal has been made by them that has not materially increased the trade of l\ew York ; has brought their coal to New York at a cheap rate, where it was much wanted, and by coimect- ing with the Ohio river, has, by means of the Alleghany river and the Ohio canal, opened the western part of their own State to the trade of New York. But these are all changes in our own days : when we look back for about a century and a half, a period scarcely recognized by change in many portions of the old world, and we find our Dutch progenitors assembled in this goodly city of New Amsterdam, goodly then in prospect, if not in fruition, declaring, in 1G56, that, " The widow of Hans Hansen^ the first-horn Christian daxighter in New Netherlands burdened with THE GROWTH OF NEW YOEK. 213 seven children, petitions for a grant of a piece of meadow, in addition to the twenty morgen granted to her at the AVaale-Boght," in the town (now city) of Brooklyn, opposite Usew York, we can scarcely realize that in this, and the examina- tions made into tlie state and condition of ^ew Amsterdam in 1639, before referred to, we are looking npon the beginning of the great City and State of New York ; and when we cast our eye over the assessment roll of that city for rais- ing the sum of five thousand and fifty guilders from her wealthier citizens in 1653, and com- pare it with the assessed value of her real and personal estates in 1838, amounting to two hun- dred and sixty-four millions of dollars, it seems more like the story of some minstrel of Arabia or Ilindostan, than sober matter of fact. All this immense increase of New York City, and the western extremity of this island, dates from the year 1817 — its main commencement. From the close of the Revolutionary war to 1812, Boston was the first importing city of the United States, and there it was that the New York mer- chants purchased the most of their goods of British and India manufacture. From 1812 to 1815, that city maintained its commercial pre- ponderance, from the policy which the British (xovernment imagined it their interest to adopt, 214 LONG- ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. in leaving Boston comparatively a free port. Whatever may have been their reasons for this policy, or the canses operating to produce, which it is no part of our object or design to inquire into, it is certain that Boston during the war was the market from whence the Union principally derived their supplies of European and East India goods. After the peace of 1815, the foreign trade of our entire country manifested a ten- dency to centre in that city, and the greater part of the capital of the United States engaged in commerce collected in Boston and its vicinity. The general decrease of business in the City of ^ew York, caused by the accumulation of this trading capital in Boston, induced the merchants of our city to inquire into the reasons of this state of affairs; and upon making this inquiry they arrived at the conclusion, that the auction business w^as highly injurious to the trade of New York, and that if this branch of business was destroyed, the trade and commerce of this city would become prosperous, and with that view they petitioned the Legislature to impose a duty of ten per cent, on all auction sales, which would, in fact, amount to a prohibition of them. There were some few j)ersons, however, who en- tertained a different opinion as to the causes of this depression of trade in New York ; and among BOSTON AND NEW YORK. ^ 215 them one of the promuieiit was Abraham G. Thompson, Esq., who had been for many years an enterprising and successful merchant in tliat city. lie saw that one reason operating in favor of Boston was that India goods could be sold in that city and pa}^ a duty of only one per cent., while at the same time, if those goods were sold at New York, they would be obliged to pay a duty of two and a half per cent., and that to in- crease the duty upon auction sales was only to increase more widely tlie difference in favor of Boston and against Xew York, and the existing duties should be, on the contrary, diminished in this State. With that view he went to Albany and submitted the result of his experience and judgment to the Legislature, assuring them that by establishing the duties at one per cent, upon East India, and one and a half per cent, on European goods, the interests of tlie City of ^ew York, and also of the State, would be greatly pro- moted, and the revenue increased by this reduc- tion. It was difficult at first to satisfy those with Avhom the matter rested that this effect would result from the proposed change; so many hun- dreds of the mercliants and citizens of Xew York had petitioned for this great increase of duties upon auction sales, that it was ahnost impossible to think that they could be mistaken in their view 216 , LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. of the subject. Eventually, however, Governor Tompkins did become satisfied that the project of Mr. Thompson was the correct one, and gave his influence to secure the enactment of the law reducing the rates of duties as j)]-oposed, in place of increasing them. Previous to the passage of the law reducing the rates of duties, for the two best years between 1783 and 1812, this State had re- ceived from duties upon auction sales of India goods between five and six thousand dollars, aver- aging between twenty-five hundred and three thousand dollars per annum ; and to show his con- fidence in the opinions he had expressed, Mr. Thompson offered the Governor, that upon the passage of the law reducing the rate of duties, if the State would convey to him the duties alone upon India goods, he would pay into the State treasury, in advance, for the first year the sum of six thousand dollars, being more than the State had received for duties for any two years subsequent to 1783. The results following that reduction of duties more than, justified all his antici23ations, and more than fulfilled all his l)redictions; for soon after the passage of that law, in place of selling all East India cargoes in Boston, as had been previously the case, a Boston r.hip from the East Indies was sent to New York, Mud the auction duties upon hei* cargo alone THE EAST IXDIA TRADE. 217 amounted to upwards of six thousand dollars ; and the revenue received bv this State upon India goods, for the first year after that reduction of duties, amounted to between thirtj-two and thii-- tj'-three thousand dollars. All tlie India ships after the enactment of that law were sent to New York ; and from that time to within the last four years, but one attempt has been made to sell a cargo of India goods east of Kew York, and that was a failure, nothing being sold but the sample packages, and the bulk of the cargo was after- wards sent to this city and sold here. The re- duced rate of duties being still continued, the revenue arising from that source to tlie State treasury has gradually increased until it has reached to between two hundred and three hun- dred thousand dollars. The effect of this reduc- tion of the duties upon auction sales has not only multiplied the business of this city to the ship- per, tlie importer, tlie jobber, and the mechanic ; it has not only by this increase of business made ^e\v York the commercial emporium of the na- tion, and thus has drawn to us merchants and purchasers from all parts of our widely extended country; and tended directly to enhance the \ alue of houses, stores, and lots, and filled our city with palaces, and made our merchants l)rinces ; it has not only materially aided the 10 218 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. State in the payment of lier debt incurred from the system of .internal improvements ; bat it also afforded an impetus to the prosecution of the project for the gi-eat Erie canal, without which it would probably have been delayed for very many years. When the friends of the Erie canal urged the comiecting of the waters of Lake Erie with those of the Hudson river, they were met not only with the sarcasms and ridicule of those who would not bestow the time requisite to a proper examination and understanding of the subject, but also b}^ the unanswerable objection, that the State had no settled revenue upon whicii it could rely for the payment of the interest of the debt that must be incurred in the making of this canal ; and that it would be an unwise step to rely alone upon tlie prospective revenues of an untried project, and that, too, through a region of country entirely unsettled and in its native forest state, as was a large portion of the coun- try at that period now traversed by the Erie canal. When this act was passed reducing the auction duties, and the successful result that iiumediately followed, placed into the State treas- ury such an immensely increased amount of duties, compared with the previous receipts from the same source, that objection was obviated, and the State at once embarked upon the prosecution 219 of this canal, which has poured and continues to pour untold wealth into the city and State of Isew York. The following is a copy of Governor Sir Ed - mond Andros' proclamation, issued upon taking the surrender of the colony of New York from the Dutch authorities in November, 1674, taken from an official copy sent to Long Island. ^' By the Goverxor. Whereas it hath pleased his Majesty and his Royal Highness to send me with authority to receive this place and govern- ment from the Dutch, and to continue in the command thereof, under his Royal Highness, who hath not only taken care for our future safety and defence, but also given me his com- mands for securing the rights and properties of the inhabitants ; and that I should endeavor by all fitting means the good and welfare of this province and dependencies under his govern- ment. That I may not be wanting in any thing that may conduce thereunto, and for the saving of the trouble and cliarge of au}^ coming hither (to New York City) for the satisfying themselves in such doubts as might arise concerning their rights and properties upon this change of gov- ernment, and wholly to settle the minds of all in general, I have thought fit to publish and declare that all former grants, privileges or concessions 320 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. heretofore granted, and all estate legally pos- sessed bv any under his Hoyal Highness, before the late Dutch government, as also all legal judi- cial proceedings during that government, to my arrival in these parts, are hereby confirmed ; and the possessors by virtue thereof to remain in quiet possession of their rights. It is hereby further declared, that the known book of Laws, formerly established and in force under his Roy- al Ilighness's government, is now again confirmed by his Royal Highness, the which are to be ob- served and practised, together with the manner and time of holding courts therein mentioned, as heretofore ; and all magistrates and civil ofiicers belono^ins: thereunto to be chosen and established accordingly. Given under my hand, in New York, this ninth day of November, in the twenty- sixth year of his Majesty's reign, Annoque Domi- ni 1674. " E. Andkos." The first general market for the sale of com- modities, upon the principle of the English fairs and Markets overt ^ was established at Brooklyn on this island in 1675, by an order of the court of assizes (then the legislative authority of the col- ony) at their session held in the City of New York on the 13th of October, in that vear, as follows : BROOKLYN FAIR AND MARKET. 221 " Upon a proposal of having a fair and mar- ket in or near tliis citv, it is ordered that after this season there siiall yearly be kept a fair and mai'ket at Brooklyn, near the ferry, for all grain, cattle, or other produce of the country, to be held the first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Xovember ; and in the City of Kew York the Thursday, Friday and Saturday following." Slavery : The following exhibits one of the regulations which the existence of slavery amongst us rendered necessary npon tlie x e^t end of this island, as early as the summer of 1706: " By his excellency, Edward Lord Yiscount Cornbury, Captain-General and Governor in Chief of the ProNinces of ^ew^ York, New Jersey, and the territories depending thereon, in America, and Yice- Admiral of the same, etc. Whereas, I am informed that several neo-roes in Kinoes County have assembled themselves in a riotous manner, which, if not prevented, may prove of ill consequence; you and every of you are there- fore hereby recpiired and commanded to take all proper methods for the seizing and apprehending all such negroes in the said county as sliall be found to be assembled in such manner as afore- said, or have run away or absconded from their 223 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. masters or owners, whereby there may be reason to suspect them of ill practices or designs, and to secure them in safe custody, that theii- crimes and actions may be inquired into ; and if any of them refuse to submit themselves, then to fire on them, kill or destroy them, if they cannot otherwise be taken ; and for so doing this shall be your suffi- cient warrant. Given mider my hand at Fort Anne in New York, the 22d day of July, 1706. " CoFvNBUEY. *' To the Justices of the Peace in Kings County, and to any or every of them." Although there were some instances of unruly slaves upon this island, as is indicated by the preceding proclamation of the Governor, yet as a general thing they were a peaceable, orderly race, much attached to the families in which they were owned, and where they would remain from generation to generation ; the only separation that was known was when some of the younger members of the family would marry and leave the homestead to keep house for themselves, one or two of the younger slaves would voluntarily accomj^any them to form tlie new household, and in some instances where an old negro wencli had acted as the dry nurse of her young master or d SLAVERY IN NEW YORK. 223 » mistress, she would insist upon accompanying them, Avhich was almost invariably consented to, althouirh her services would be of little value, un- less it might be as a kind of oracle for the family in all matters of old family history, or of the weather, which she w(jidd deliver with great show of importance and no little pri h-, from the kitchen chimney-corner, a seat appropriated to her use, knowing that all the other members of the household were too young to know much, if anything, about it. And she, together with the other old negroes of the family, would become high authority in all the numberless superstitions which are accustomed to congregate about a far- mers kitchen fireside ; where the younger mem- bers of the household, white and colored, would delio:ht to assemble on the lono; winter evenino-s to hear their stories. ' An intimate association with nature, with an ex- clusion from the more busy haunts of men, insensi- bly tends to make people superstitious, as the world calls it, and we have observed that the more pure and virtuous the mind under such an association of circumstances, the more likely it is to be su- perstitious. So that we have learned to look with great respect on this trait of human charac- ter, as an indication that the heart is right, and most pi'(>1)ably worthy of our high esteem. 234 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. This is no imaginary picture, as any one can assure us who has been brought up on the west- ern part of Long Island, even within the last forty years. The general docility of these slaves, and their long coimection with the families, caused them to be highly valued when an occa- sion did offer for a sale or a valuation, as upon the event of the death of the proprietor. In an in ventory taken on the 16th of December, 1719, in Kings County, on this island, of the estate of a deceased person, a negro wench and child are valued at £60, while five milch cows, five calves, three .young bulls and two heifers were collectively valued at £20. Previous to our Revolutionary war there were, besides negro slaves, a species of white servants from Europe, who, upon emigrating to this coun- try, sold their services for a certain number of years. By some they were called apprentices, but that term, as now used, will not convey a proper idea of the situation of those persons. They were as much the subject of sales during the period of tlieir service as the negro slaves. So we find in the New York Gazette of Decem- ber 24, 1767, the following advertisement : " To be disposed of, the remaining time, being about three years, of three German servants, one a baker by trade, one a butcher, and the other a laborer. SOLD INTO SEKVICi:. 225 They are very iiidustrions, good men, whose hon- esty has been tried, and may be had on reasonable terms. Inquire of the printer hereof." (3n ex- amining the old journals of the General Assem- bly of the Province of New York, from 161)1 to 1763, I found, particularly between 1691 and 1725, many regulations in relation to " negro and Indian slaves." Before meeting with these pro- visions we had no idea that the Indians were ever made slaves, and indeed had all along supposed the Indian character would not brook slavery. We are satisfied that they were never treated as slaves under the Dutch government in this colony, and that they were not subjected to that state un- til man}^ years after the conquest of this colony by the English, in August, 1661: ; and we still be- lieve that none of the Indians in the immediate vicinity of New York, or under the English gov- ernment, were ever made slaves, as that would have been contrary to the policy which they pur- sued toward* the aborigines in conciliating them, and forming alliances with them for the j^rotection of their frontiers from the French in the Canadas, and through the valleys of the Ohio and Missis- sippi rivers; and that these slaves were probably French Indians captured by the Iroquois iu their excursions, and sold by them to the English in- habitants. If so, it was a humane arrangement, 220 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. by which the lives of the captives were preserved, and tliej were saved from a death of the most excruciating torture, which, as is well known, it was then the custom of the Iroquois and many other Indian nations, to inflict upon their captives unless redeemed. Samp Porridge. — It is now, and has been for very many years j^ast, customary on Long Island, in the latter part of the week in autumn, to pound their Indian corn in samp mortars. The corn thus pounded is called samjp j they put the corn the night before in a weak ley of w^ood ashes, to take off the husk of the grain. This preparation they use in making their celebrated " samp por- ridge," a high favorite among culinary articles on this island. It is formed by boiling the samp with salted beef and pork, with potatoes, and such other vegetables as may be desired, accord- ing to the taste. It requires much boiling to make it perfect, and is said to be better on the second day, after another cooking, tlian it is on the first, and that it even improves in taste and goodness to the third or fourth day, being heated up and partially re-cooked on each day. In order to provide for this, they make it in a very large pot or kettle ; and we have heard of people having enough cooked for a week. By these various processes of cooking, the porridge SAMP MORTARS AND PORRIDGE. 227 acquires a very stout crust on the outside next the pot ; so much so that we have been told of the porridge, towards the end of the week, being lifted out of the pot bodily by the crust, which was then nsed as a dish or bowl to eat the interior from. The samp mortar is constructed by selecting the sound stump of a large white oak tree — if rooted in the ground, so much the better; then burning it out until the cavity is formed of the desired size and shape, which is carefully scraped U) remove all the charcoal. This being done, a block of ^vhite oak, weighing some fifty pounds, is selected, which is rounded at the lower end to fit the mortar, through which block a hole is bored near the top, and through it is a pin, pro- jecting about a foot on each side, by wdiich to take hold of. A sapling is then selected conti- guous to the mortal', which is bent over without breaking, and its top attached by a strong wythe or cord to the upper end of that block, and this completes the pestle. The spring of the sapling assists in raising the pestle, but is not so strong as to prevent a man or a stout boy from bringing down the block or pestle with sufficient force upon the Indian corn in the mortar, to break it and pound it fine enough for the purpose designed. Some captains of vessels, well acquainted with 228 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. the harbor of Kew York and the sniTou]idii]g c(;uiitry, and with the manners and cnstoms of the people, j(3cnlarl3' say they can tell when they are coming upon the .Long Island coast during a fog in autumn, by hearing the sound of the sam/p mortars when the breeze is wafted oif the shore. Their faculty of hearing is equally acute with that of the strollei'S on the Battery in the City of Kew York, mentioPxed by the worthy Diedrich Knickerbocker in his veritable History of the JYeiv ^Netherlands, who, on a calm summer even- ing, just after the sunset had dyed our westei-n horizon with all the gorgeous colors of the famed Italian skies, could hear the joyous laugh of the negioes at the little primitive Dutch settlement of Comnumipaw wafted across the bay when its waters were scarcely disturbed by a ripple. When the w^estern and south-western portions of this State were tirst settled, there being but very few mills, and in many places none for grinding the grain of the inhabitants, they adopted as a substitute these samp mortars, which were found to answer a valuable purpose. This pro- cess, however, was slow, it being a day's work to convert half a bushel of corn into coarse meal. The settlers who owned a few slaves employed them in this work ; and hence, this process was vulgarly called in that part of the State " nigger HABITS AT iio:me. 229 ing corn." On Long Island, however, this clutj was performed by the young men and stont boys in the family, although in some cases there it was also done by the negroes. Slavery existed upon Long Island, and also in most other parts of this State, only in name, for no distinction as to the kind of work to be perfoi-med Avas made between the slaves and the white young men and boys of the houseliold. Tliey were almost uni- versally treated with great kindness, and were a careless, happy race of moj-tals, and when they became too old for work, they were not cast off, but cherished and taken care of by the family, in whose service they had spent their best days. Home Habits. — For a long period anterior to the Revolution, and down to within the last forty vears, the stvle of furnishino; their houses aniono; the most wealthy and the most respectable on this island, was the acme of simplicity compared with the present style. Then a white floor sprinkled with clean sand drawn into various figures by the broom, large tables, and heavy high-backed chairs of walnut or mahogany, de- corated with brass nails along the edge of the leathern back and cushioned seat, furnished the parlor genteelly enough for anybody ; and most comfortable chairs they were truly, as all know wlio have ever seen or tried them. Sometimes a 230 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. carpet was seen upon the dining-room, not, how- ever, covering the whole floor. This room, although called the dining-room^ was, in reality, a show parlor, and only used on great occasions, and then not to dine in. The houses, then, were abundantly provided with necessary and substantial furniture ; but with nothing that was merely for show, and not for use. Pewter-plates and dishes were in general use, and it was a long time after china and earthenware had been in- troduced into this country before they super- seded the pewter; very many of the inhabitants, and especially among the elderly and old-fash- ioned, preferring their pewter dining-sets, and urging as a reason for that preference that they could not keep their knives sharp and in good order if they used the new-fangled plates and dishes, but it was otherwise if they continued the pewter. It does one's heart good to see the sets of bright pewter-plates, dishes, porringers, tank- ards, etc., still kept among some of the old Dutch families. There was no trade f]-om the colonies to China or the East Indies, and the porcelain of the former country came from Europe, and mux^h of it had been preserved in the families for several gener- ations. It was not unfrequently in the shape of beautiful plates, highly ornamented ; of which a BEVEKAGES OF THE DL'TCn. 2;U strange use was sometimes made hy dnlVmo^ twv> lioles ill the edge of the plate, through which a ribbon was passed, and it was hung np against the wall as a picture ; we have seen over half a dozen beautiful china plates thus hanging in a single room. Occasionally a very beautiful ar- ticle, known in that early period as burnt China, was to be seen in some families, but always in the form of plates ; all the [)orcelain, if seen at all on the dinner table, was only displaj^ed on very extraordinary occasions. Silver-plate, more or less, was to be seen in every family in any- thing like easy circumstances ; it was a matter of pride to possess it, and once in, it scarcely ever went out of the family, but descended as an heirloom. This plate was not in all the various shapes you will now see it, but in massive wait- ers, b<.)wls, tankards, cans, etc. Glass was then but little used. Punch was the most common beverage, and was drank by the company from one large bowl of china or silver; and beer or cider fi*om a silver tankard. Many of the wealthy old Dutch families on this island had casks ex- pressly^ made to contain their wines and liquors, with bi'ass hoops and much ornamented, which were placed upon permanent racks in their cel- lars ; and when they bought a cask of Holland gin, Jamaica rum, sherry and Bordeaux wines, 233 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. and English beer or porter, or the latter from Philadelphia, where it was made very good long before the Revolutionary war, it was turned into tlie cask appropriately marked ; for all liquors were then used from the wood, and they did not know the distinction of wines in wood, and wanes in glass. The preceding w^ere the liquors in com- mon use ; Madeira wine was only used on extra- ordinary occasions, as on the birth of a child, a marriage, and at a funeral. When a young man of any wealth among the Dutch settlers was about to be married, the first thing to be done was to send to Madeira for a pipe of the best Madeira wine, a portion of which was drank on the occasion of his marriage, another portion on the birth of his first son, and the remainder was stored away in the cellar, to be consumed at his funeral. At the close of the last century, on the west end of this island, at an invitation to dinner at the house of the wealthy and respectable inhab- itants, the entertainment w^ould be as follows : Punch, warm and cold, before dinner, excellent beef and pork, with the table abundantly and solidly served in other res})ects ; and at the din- ner, spruce beer, cider and Philadelphia porter were the drink. After the meats a dessert of puddings and pies, with sherry and Bordeaux wines. INTKODUCTION OF TEA-DKINKING. 233 About tlie period alluded to a matron would driuk tea with her friends, return home by can- dle-light in rr, tie on her check cqyron, and put her children to bed, and then pass lier evening by her fireside in company with her husband, to- gether with some friend or neighbor who might casually drop in to chat away an hour with tliem. Tea-drinking in our cities was a great favorite among the ladies about the middle of the last century. Its introduction and progress in this country are easy to be traced ; in 1720, Bohea tea was selling at Philadelphia for fifty shillings a pound, and for some time after it was varying in price, from twenty to thirty shillhigs a pound, so that it is evident but little of it could have been used in this country at that time. It was not until some twenty-five or thirty years later that its use became anyway general in the com- nmnity. It may with some be difficult to imagine what substitute they used in its place ; they in- deed used no substitute ; our ancestors had no such meal as we know by the name of tea. An old gentleman, wdio was living on Long Island in 1820, aged eighty-seven, recollected perfectly well that when he was a young man, just grown up, tea-drinking was first introduced in the town of Gravesend an.d its vicinitv on this island. The 234 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. original china tea-cups, then first brought there, were some of them still, preserved in that year. They Avere for some considerable time after their introduction passed around from r.eighbor to neighbor when their friends visited them, for the convenience of tea-drinking ; for tea was then considered the greatest treat which could be offer- ed by one friend to another. These cups, as were all other tea-cups of that period, were very small, being not much, if any, larger than an egg- shell. From a very early period until within the last twenty-five years, a custom existed on Long Island of visiting each other in parties on Sunday afternoon ; wdiicdi, coming to be regarded as an evil demanding a speedy change, and the clergy and some of the strictest of the sect insisting upon it, a change was effected, and the custom is now to a great extent broken up, if not entirely so. In extenuation of this practice it may be observed that the people, necessarily engaged in their agricultural pursuits during the week for a large portion of the year, had little time to visit their relatives and friends, who not unfrequently lived at a considerable distance from them; and that, after attending to the religious services of the day, being dressed in tlieir best apparel, and havinic been obbVed to use their vehicles and PRICES OF FOOD AND LABOR. 235 liorses in traiis}30rting the family to church, it seemed almost natural, in meeting their friends, that they should go with them, or take them to their own residences, to enjoy the pleasant and important meal in the country of taMng tea^ and also to pass the early evening in social inter- course ; and it might also be urged that consider- ing the manner in which the Sabbath had been kept under the wdiole Jewish economy, and also its observance by the entire Christian Churclifrom the earliest period of the Church down to the sixteenth century, it seems more like modern Pni'itanic rigor, than as an exhibition of Christian feeling, to break up such kindly and social meet- ings as these, after the religious services of the day have been performed. It may probably be said that it was not so much this j^art of the cus- tom which induced this visiting to be regarded as an evil, as it was the later evening visits of the young men to see the girls, which had been en- grafted on it. If this be so, why was not the dis- tinction made; there was certainly ample room for it 'i The following table exhibits the prices at which the articles enumerated were sokl on this island at the various periods mentioned, and will enable the reader to form some idea of the expense of living in former times. 236 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. Mason's work, per day Carpenter's work, do Common laborers, do Beef, per pound Pork, do Butter, do Eggs, per dozen Labor, per day, for mowing and getting in hay Labor, per day, in harvest Wheat, per bushel Indian corn, per bushel Rye, per bushel In 1770. In 1 790. $0 44 $0 60 40 56 25 37 03 04 03 04 06 09 04 06 30 37 37 50 50 75 30 37 37 50 In 1815. $1 75 50 1 00 10 30 18 1 00 1 25 2 00 1 12 1 25 At the beginning of the present centnry a very large tulip, or white wood tree, existed in Brook- lyn, on the bank of the East river, a short dis- tance northeasterly from the Main street ferry. It was a very old tree and hollow, large enongh inside to hold eight men comfortably ; and was a sjjlendid sight in the spring when in blossom, with its large flowers evaporating their perfume over most of the then little settlement of Brooklyn. Under this tree was a beautiful green sward, and the tree being full of large lea^'es it cast a most extensive and grateful shade in the warm season. It was so well known in the city of INew York, that it was usual among the old-fashioned inhabi- THE OLD TULIP TREE. 237 taiits of that city, to make np parties of three or fonr families, to cross the East river in their own boats, carrying their provisions with them, di- rectly after their early dinner hour of tw^elve or one o'clock, and to pass the long summer after- noon in laughing, talking, smoking, and drinking under the shade of this ti*ee. The women would boil their tea kettle in the hollo w" of the tree ; and then between four and five o'clock they would sit down to drink tea, with the smooth grass for their tea-table, after which the men would again smoke their long pipes, and after some social chat, and planning another excursion into the conntry (as it was then called, but how different now !), they would return to the city about sunset, without the fear of being run o^er by steamboats in their long and slow^ row across the river, amus- ing themselves with looking at the gentlemen playing at bowling upon the smooth lawn in tlie front of the Belvidere club-house, on the height of land south of Corlears Hook ; and w'ondering whether the fishermen in the small boats, anchored a little way fi-om the beach, between the foot of George street (now Market street) and Corlears Hook, had caught any fish ; also admiring the gorgeous beauties of the sunset ; but at times they would hasten their S2:>eed as they looked upon this splendid scene, because the lower cloud 238 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. that the sun has just disappeared behind, ard tinged its edges with living gold, exhibited a ve^y black and ominous appearance, as if it had a thunder shower in its bosom, which idea became strengthened by seeing, almost directly after, the crinkling lightning playing along its surface ; and they were also startled by the rushing past them of several porpoises, every few miuutes showino: their curved backs far above the surface of the Avater, which, smooth and still as if it were glass, reflected upon its surface all the heights of land, the wharves, buildiugs, and even lamps of the neighboring city, all which they say to each other is a sign that the storm is near at hand ; but they reach home in safety just as the first drops of rain begin to fall. Snch parties as these were of very frequent occurrence during the sum- mer. Some may feel an interest in knowing what became of this interesting tree, so identified as it was with many of the purest and most pleasurable enjoyments of our ancestors. One Sunday morning, in the early part of summer, about forty years ago, wdien the few people who lived at " Brooklyn feVry" (as a large part of the present city was then called) were at church, an alarm of fire was given by the only bell in the place (the Dutch church was then at Brooklyn parish, or Brooklyn proper), which was the fire KNTCKERBOCKEK SMOKING PARTIES. 239 bell hanging on the Old Ferry road. All ran out to see wliere the fire was, and observing a smoke in that direction, they passed on until they dis- covered it was the great tree in flames. For a long time no one dared go near it, under the ap- prehension that a powder magazine, which then stood in the vicinity, would blow up. The tree was so large and the smoke so great, that for near an hour the inhabitants were much alarmed lest the fire might be connnunicated to the magazine, and all their houses, if not their lives, destroyed by the explosion, they believing a large quantity of gunpowder to be stored there. After some time, four or five of the most courageous taking pails, and dipping water from the river, threw it into the hollow of the tree and extinguished the fire. It was supposed to have originated from the carelessness of some fishermen, who, having cooked their breakfast there, as was then not an imf i-equent occurrence, had neglected afterwards to put out tlie fire with as much care as was usual. This, however, did not destroy the old tree ; it still continued in leaf, and was resorted to during the warm season by the Knickerbock- ers for their accustomed tea and smoking parties. But when the gales and storms came in the au- tumn, the tree was so much weakened by the loss of tlie wood wdiich had been burnt from the in- 240 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. side, that it was blown down, to the great regret 01 all the inhabitants of Brooklyn and also of ISTew York, to whom, and especially the latter, it had long been a very pleasant resort. The habits and manners of the people on this -island were qnite pi-imitive nntil a very recent period. This arose in a great measure from their seclusion from the travelling world, by reason of the imperfect modes of conveyance throughout a large portion of the island. Old Mr. John Moore, of Newtown, in Queens County, who was aged ninety-seven years in 1826, says, that his mother was the lirst white woman who came by land fi'om Newtown to Brooklyn. She came with her husband on horseback, riding on a pillion behind him (as was then the custom), through an Indian path, then the only road, and at that time this journey was considered a very arduous under- takincr, and her friends wondered much that she should have the courage to think of it. As late as 1793, there was no post-office on any part of Long Island and no mail carried on it ; the people on the west end received all their letters and sent them (and few they were) through the post-office in New York, except those on the east end of the island who used the tri-weekly mail from New London to New York, they having frequent communication with New London and other MR. DUNBAR, THE POST RIDER. 241 parts of Connecticut, by means of their small sailinoj vessels, a communication kept up to the present day. The first post-route upon Long Island, with the first post-ofhcGS, was established on the memorial i)i Abraham G. Thompson and Jonathan Thomp- son, Esqs., with a few others of the other inhabi- tants of this island, about the commencement of the present century ; and Abraham G. Thompson, Esq., was the first postmaster at Babylon, and held that office for about six years, until he re- moved to the city of Kew York and commenced his successful mercantile career in that city. About ten or twelve years previous to the estab- lishment of the post-route on this island, a re- spectal)le old Scotchman, named Dunbar, was in the habit of riding a voluntary post betw^een the city of Xew York along the south road to Baby- lon, and from thence a few miles to the east, and then across the island to Brookhaven. lie thus brought the inhabitants of the central p.ortion of this island their letters and newspapers about once a week or once a fortnight, depending upon the state of the weather. Mr. Dunbar appears to have ridden his volun- tary post even as early as near the commencement of the Revolution. Rivingtoii's Royal Gazette^ l)rinted in Xew York, for February 16tli, 1778. 11 243 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. establishes this fact by the following article of news : " At two o'clock last Thursday morning a party of twelve rebels seized, at Coram, in Suf- folk County, two wagons loaded witli dry goods, the property of Obediah Wright of Southampton, These maurauders had been several days on the island, visited most parts, and committed many robberies, especially at the house of Colonel Floyd, Setauket, which they robbed of goods and cash to a considerable amount, and took some property of Mr. Dunhar, who rides down the island oc- casionaUy^ and happened to lodge in the house that night." It would not answer to be more explicit about Mr. Dunbar, for although there was no mail-route upon the island, yet the king had his deputy postmasters for JSi ortli America, who were alone authorized to transmit letters to any part of the country, and the people of Long Island, from one end to the other, were pi-esumed to receive their letters at the post-office in the city of New York; Mr. Dunbar's business being an illegal one subjected him to severe penalties, and was only winked at by reason of its absolute neces- sity. A mighty change has been produced in Long Island within the last few years, by the introduc- tion of the railroad ; now by its means travellers JOIJKNETING IN OLDEN TIME. 243 leave IN^ew York citj^, after breakfasting, and arrive in Boston between five and six o'clock the same evening. Only as late as 1835, the regular mail-stage left I>rooklyn once a week, on Thurs- day, having arrived from Easthampton and Sag Harbor the afternoon of the previous day ; and this was the only conveyance travellers could then have through this island, unless they took a private carriage. The practice then was to leave Brooklyn about nine o'clock in the morning — they were not, however, pai-ticular as to a half hour — travel on to Hempstead, where they dined ; and after that, jog on to Babylon, where they put up for the night. A most delightful way this was to take a jaunt — there was no hurry, no fuss and bustle about it ; no one was in haste to get to his journey's end, and if he was, and intended going the whole route, he soon became effectually cured of it. Every thing went on soberly and judici- ously, and you could see all there was to be seen, and hear all that was to be heard, and have time enough to do it all in ; no mode of travelling ever suited our taste better ; it was the very acme of enjoyment. The next morning you left Babylon just after daylight — which in the summer was of itself worth living for — journeyed on to Patch- ogue, where you got your breakfast between nine and ten o'clock, with a good appetite for it, we 244 LONG ISLAND ANTIQUITIES. warrant you. You would get no dinner this day, nor would you feel the want of it after your late and hearty breakfast; but travel along slowly and pleasantly until you reached the rural post- office at Fire Place, standing on the edge of a wood ; here, if you have a taste for the beautiful in Nature, you would walk down the garden to look at the trout stream filled with the speckled beauties. Here you need give yourself no un- easiness about being left by the stage, as is the case in some of the go-ahead parts of our country — in this particular region the middle of the road is sandy, and the driver, like a considerate man, gives his horses an opportunity to rest, so that they may the better travel through this piece of heav}^ road. You might, therefore, after enjoy- ing yourself at this spot, walk on leisurely ahead of the stage, with a friend, and some one who is conversant with the country and its legends, and this walk would prove by no means the least pleasant part of your excursion, for many are the tales that you would hear of awful shipwrecks, of pirates and their buried wealth, of treasures cast u]^ by the sea, and of all those horrors and won- ders of which the ocean is the prolific parent. After walking for some two or three miles upon the green sward at the edge of the road, gather- infy and eating the berries as you strolled along, THE COACH TO EASTHAMPTON. 245 until YOU were tired, you would find the stage a short distance behind you, the driver very com- plaisant, for you have much eased his horses in their journey tln-ongh the heavy sand, and the passengers pleased to see you back in your seat again, that is, if you have done as every ti-aveller ought to do, studied the comfort and convenience of your fellow-passengers as well as y^. " Kichard Nicolls, Esq. Governor Gene- ral under his Hoyal Highness James Duke of Yoi-ke and Albany, &c. of all his Terretorys in America, To all to whom these presents shall come, sendeth Greeting. — Whereas there is a cer- tain town within this government, situate lying and being in the West Riding of Yorkshire upon Long-Island, commoidy called and known by the name of Breuckelen, which said town, is in the tenure or occupation of several freeholders and inhabitants who having heretofore been seated there by authority, have been at very con- siderable charge, in manuring and planting a considerable part of the lands belonging there- unto and settled a competent number of families thereupon. Kow for a confirmation unto the THE NICOLLS PATENT. 285 said freeholders and inhabitants in their })os- sessions and enjoyment of the premises, Know ye, That by virtue of the commission and autho- rity nnto me given by his E,oyal Highness, I have given, ratified, confirmed, and granted, and by these presents, do give, ratify, and (confirm and grant, nnto Jan Everts, Jan Daman, Albert Cornelissen, Panlns Yeerbeeck, Michael Eneyl, Thomas Lamberts, Tuenis Guysbert Bogart and Joris Jacobson, as patentees, for and on the be- half of themselves and their associates, the free- holders and inhabitants of the said town their heirs successors and assigns, all that tract to- gether with the several parcels of land which already have or hereafter shall be purchased or procured for and on behalf of the said town, whether from the native Indian proprietors, or others, within the bounds and limits hereafter set forth and exprest, viz. that is to say, the town is bounded westward on the farther side of the land of Mr. Paulus Yeerbeeck, from whence stretching south-east, they go over the hills, aud so eastward along the said hills to a south- east point which takes in all the lotts behind the swamp, from which said lotts they run north-west to the Tliver"^ and extend to the farm, on the ♦According to the New- York doctrine, this boundary of the town can only be correct when the tide is flood, for when 286 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. t'other side of the hill heretofore belonging to Hans Hansen over against the Kicke or Looke-out, including within the said bounds and limitts all the lotts and plantations, lying and being at the Gowanis, Bedford, Wallaboncht and the ferry. — All which said parcels and tracts of land and premises within the bounds and limitts afore- mentioned, described, and all or any plantation or plantations thereupon, from henceforth are to bee appertaine and belong to the said town of Breucklen, Together with all havens, harbours, creeks, cpiarryes, woodland, meadow-ground, reed- land or valley of all sorts, pastures, marshes, runs, rivers, lakes, hunting, fishing, hawking, and fowl- ing, and all other profitts, commodities, emolu- ments, and hereditaments to the said land, and premises within the bounds and limits all forth belonging, or in any wise appertaining, — and withall to have freedome of commouaofe for range and feed of cattle and horse into the woods as well w^ithout as within these bounds and limitts with the rest of their neio^hbours * — as the water is low, the town is bounded by property belonging to the Corporation of the City of New- York, and not by the River. * This town enjoyed this privilege in common with the other towns on Long-Island, and their cattle which ran at large were marked with the letter N. THE NICOLLS PATENT. 287 also one-tliird part of a certain neck of meadow ground or valley called Sellers neck, lying and being within the limits of the town of Jamaica, purchased by the said town of Jamaica from the Indians, and sold by them unto the inhabitants of Brencklen aforesaid, as it has been lately laid out and divided by their mutual consent and my order, whereunto and from which they are like- wise to have free egress and regress, as their oc- casions may require."^ To have and to hold all and singular the said tract and parcell of land, meadow ground or valley, commonage, heredita- ments and premises, with their, and every of their appurtenances, and of every part and par- cell thereof to the said patentees and their asso- ciates, their heirs, successors and assigns, to the proper use and behoof of the said patentees and their associates, their heirs, successors and as- * At the annual town meeting, Ai^ril, 1823, a committee was appointed to inquire if this town at present had any, and if any, what right to the above-mentioned tract of meadow ground called Sellers neck ; what progress this committee made in their investigation, the Compiler is uninformed. This meadow called Sellers neck, the Compiler thinks was apportioned among the patentees and freeholders, and what leads him to this conclusion is, that on the 10th of May, 1G95, John Damen, who was one of the patentees of this town, sold to William Huddlestone all his interest in the said meadow. 288 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. signs forever. Moreover, I do hereby give, ratify, confirm and grant nnto the said Patentees and their associates, their heirs, snccessors, and assigns, all the rights and privileges belonging to a town within this government, and that the place of their present habitation shall continne and retain the name of Breuckelen, by which name and stile it shall be distingnished and known in all bargains and sales made by them the said Patentees and their associates, their heirs, successors and assigns, rendering and pay- in o- such duties and acknowledo:ments as now are, or hereafter shall be constituted and estab- lished by the laws of this government under the obedience of his Royal highness, his heirs and successors. Given under my hand and seal at Fort James, in New York, on the Island of Man- hattat, this 18th day of October, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, Charles the second, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the faith, &c. Annoque Domini, 1667. RICHARD KIGOLLS. Recorded by order of the Governor, the day and year above written. Matthias Nicolls, Sec'ry. LOVELACE'S LICENSE. 289 1670. The inhabitants uf this town desirous of enlarging the bounds of tlieir common hinds, and extinguishing the Indian claim to the same, ap- plied to Governor Lovelace, and obtained f rum him the following permission to purchase of the Indians. ^'Z. S. AVhereas the inhabitants of Breuck- lyn, in the west Hiding of Yorkshire upon Long- Island, who were seated there in a township b}^ the authority then in being, and having bin at considerable charo-es in clearing: ifencino; and manuring their land, as well as building If or their convenience, have requested my lycense for tlieir further security to make purchase of the said land of some Indians wdio lay claim and interest therein ; These are to certify all whom it may concerne, that I have and doe hereby give the said inhabitants lycense to pui'chase their land according to their request, the said Indians con- cerned appearing before me as in the law is re- quired, and making their acknowledgments to be fully satisfyed and payed for the same. Given under my hand and seal at ffort James, in !New- Yorke, this ffirst day of ^fay, in the 22nd yeare of his Majesty ies reigne, Annoque Dom. 1670. FFKANCIS LOVELACE." 13 290 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. The purcliase was accordlnp^ly iimde and the following is a copy of the deed from the Indians for the same. '' To all people to whom this present writing shall come, Peter, Elmohar, Job, Makaqniquos, and Shamese, late of Staten Island send Greet- ing : Whereas, they the said Peter, Elmohar, Job, Makaqniquos, and Shamese, afore-mentioned, doe lay claime to the land now in the tenure and oc- cupation of some of the inhabitants of Ereuck- lyn, as well as other lands there ad j ascent as the true Indian owners and proprietors thereof, Know Yee, that for and in consideration of a certaine sum of wampum and diverse other goods, the which in the Schedule annext are exprest unto the said Sachems in hand payd by Monsieur Machiell Ilainelle, Thonuis Lambertse, John Lewis, and Peter Darmantier, on the behalf of themselves and the inhabitants of Breuckly]i, the receipt whereof they doe hereby acknowledge, and themselves to be full}' satisfyed and payed therefore ; have given, granted, bargained and sold, and by these presents doe fully, freely and absolutely give, grant, bargain and sell, unto the said Monsieur Machiell Ilainelle, Thomas Lam- bertse, John Lewis and Peter Darmantier, ffor and on behalf of themselves, and the inhabitants aforesaid, their lieyrs and successors ; all that THE INDIAN DEED. 391 parcell of land and tract of land, in and about Bedford, within the jnrisdiction of Brucklyn, be- ginning ffrom Ilendrick Van Aarnheras land by a.swamp of water and stretching to the hills, then going along the hills to the port or entrance thereof,"^ and soe to Rockawaj ffoot path as their purchase is more particularly sett fforth ; To have and to hold all the said parcell and tract of land and premises within the limits before described unto the said Monsieur Machiell Ilainella, Thomas Lambertse, John Lewis, and Peter Darmaiitier, ffor and on the behalf of the inhabitants aforesaid, their heyres, and suc- cessors, to the proper use and behooff of the said inhabitants, their heyers and succes- sors forever; In witness whereof the partyes to these presents have hereunto sett their hands and scales, this 14th day of May, in the 22nd yeare of his Majestyes reigne, An- noque Dom. 1670. Sealed and Delivered in the presence of Ma- * This " port or entrance," as it is called, is situate in the valley on the Flatbush Turnpike, near the "Brush" or "Valley Tavern," and a short distance beyond the 3 mile post from Brooklyn ferry. — A freestone monument has been placed here, to designate the patent line between Brooklyn and Flatbush. 292 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. tliias I^icolls, E. Longh, Samuel § Davies, John Garland. his marke The mark of P Peter. (l. s.) The mark of o Elmohar. (l. s.) The mark of x Job. (l. s.) The mark of ^ Makaquiquos. (l. s.) The mark of 7 Shamese. (l. s.) " This Deed was acknowledged by the within written Sachems, before the Governor in the presence of us, the day and jesiY within written. MATHIAS NICOLLS, Secretary. The mark of § SAMUEL DAYIES. " Recorded by order of the Governor. MATHIAS NICOLLS, Secretary. The Inventory^ or Schedule referred to in the Deed. '^ The payment agreed upon ffor the purchase of the land in and about Bedford, within the jurisdiction of Breucklyn, conveyed this day by the Indian Sachems, proprietors, is, viz. : — 100 Guilders Seawant, Half a tun of strong Beer, 2 half tuns of good Beer, 3 Guns, long barrells, with each a pound of powder, and lead proportionable — 2 bars to a gun, 4 match coates." GOVERNOR DONGANS PATENT. 293 May 13, 1686. Governor Dongan granted to the inhabitants of Brooklyn the following con- firmatory patent : L. 8. "Tliomas Dongan, Lientenant Gover- nor, and Vice Admiral of Kew York, and its de- pendencies under his Majesty James the Second, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. — Supreme lord and proprietor of the Colony and province of Kew York and its dependencies in xlmerica, &c. To all to whom this shall come sendeth greeting, whereas tlie Honorable Richard Nicolls, Esq. formerly Governor of this province, did by his certain writing or patent under his hand and seal, bearing date the eighteenth day of October, Annoque Domini, one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven, ratifie, confirm and grant unto Jan Evarts, Jan Damen, Albert Cor- nelissen, Paulus Yerbeeck, Michael Enyle, Thom- as Lamberts, Tunis Gisberts Bogart, and Joris Jacobsen, as patentees for and on behalf of them- selves and their associates, the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of J>reucklen, their heirs, successors, and assigns forever, a certain tract of land, together with the several parcels of land which then were or thereafter should be purchased or procured for and on behalf of the said town, 294- NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BEOOKLYN. vvliether from the native Indian proprietors, or others within the bounds and limitts therein sett forth and expressed, that is to sav, the said town is bounded westward on the further side of the land of Mr. Pauhis Yerbeeck, from whence stretching south east they go over the hills, and so eastward along by the said hills to a south-east point, which takes in all the lotts behind the swamp, from which said lotts they run north-west to the River, and extend to the farm on the other side of the hills heretofore belono^ino- to Hans Hansen, over against Keak or Look-out, includ- ing within the said bounds and limitts all the lots and plantations, lying and being at the Gauwanes, Bedford, Wallabocht and the ferry, all which said parcells and tract of land and premises with- in the bounds and limitts aforementioned de- scribed, and all or any plantation or plantations thereupon, from henceforth are to be, appertain and belong to the said town of Breucklyn, To- gether with all harbor, havens, creeks, quarries, woodland, meadow ground, reed land or valley of all sorts, pastures, marshes, waters, rivers, lakes, fishing, hawking, hunting, fowling, and all other profits, commodities, emoluments and heredita- ments to the said lands and premises within the bounds and limitts set forth, belonging, or in any wise appertaining, and with all to have freedom GOVERNOR DONGAN S PATENT. 295 of commonage for range and feed of cattle and horses, into the woods with the rest of their neighbours, as also one tliird part of a certain neck of meadow ground or valley, called Seller's neck, lying and being within the town of Jamaica, purchased by the said town of Jamaica from the Indians, and sold by them unto the inhabitants of Breucklen aforesaid, as it was laid out aforesaid, and divided by their mutual consent and order of the Governor. To have and to hold unto them the said patentees and their associates, their heirs, successors and assigns forever, as by the said patent reference being thereunto had, doth, fully and at large appear. And further, in and by the said patent, the said Governor, Hichard Nicolls, Esq., did erect the said tract of land into a town- ship by the name of Breucklen aforesaid, by that name and style to be distinguished and known in all bargains, sales, deeds, records and writings whatsoever ; and whereas the present inhabitants and freeholders of the town of Breucklen afore- said, have made their application to me for a con- firmation of the aforesaid tract of land and prem- ises in their quiet and peaceable possession and enjoyment of the aforesaid land and premises. Kow Know Ye, That I, the said Thomas Dongan, by virtue of the commission and authority derived unto me. and power in me residing, have granted, 896 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLl'N. ratified and confirmed, and by these presents do grant, ratifie and confirm, unto Tennis Gjsberts, Thomas Lamberts, Peter Jansen, Jacobus Yan- der Water, Jan Dame, Joris Jacobs, Jeronimus Rapelle, Daniel Kapelle, Jan Jansen, Adrian Bennet, and Michael Hanse, for and on the be- half of themselves and the rest of the present freeholders and inhabitants of the said town of Ereucklen, their heirs and assigns forever, all and singular the afore-recited tract and parcels of land set forth, limited and bounded as aforesaid ; to- gether with all and singular, the houses, mes- suages, tenements, fencings, buildings, gardens, orchards, trees, woods, underwoods, ])astures, feedings, common of pasture, meadows, marshes, lakes, ponds, creeks, harbors, rivers, rivulets, brooks, sti-eams, highways and easements what- soever, belonging or in any wise appertaining to any of the afore-recited tract or parcells of land and divisions, allotments, settlements made and appropriated before the day and date hereof. To Have and To Hold, all and singular, the said tract or parcels of land and premises, with their, and every of their appurtenances unto the said Tunis Gysberts, Thomas Lamberts, Peter Jansen, Jacobus Yander Water, Joris Jacobs, Jeronimus Pappelle, Daniel Pappelle, Jan Jansen, Adrian Bennet and Michael Hanse, for and on behalf 297 of themselves and the present freeliolders and inhahitauts of the town of Breucklen, their and every of their heirs and assigns forever, as ten- ants in common without any let, hindrance, mo- lestation, rig] it of survivorship or otherwise, to be hoklen in free and common socage according to tlie tenure of East Greenwich, in tlie county of Kent, in his Majesty's kingdom of England. Yielding, rendering and paying therefor yearly, and every year, on the five and twentyeth day of March, forever, in lieu of all services and demands whatsoever, as a quit rent to liis most sacred Ma- jesty aforesaid, his heirs and successors, at the city of New York, twenty bushels of good mer- chantable wheat. In testimony whereof, I have caused these presents to be entered and recorded in the Secretary's office, and the seal of the Pro- vince to be hereunto affxed this thirteenth day of May, Anno. Domini, one thousand six. hundred and eighty-six, and in the second year of his Majesty's reign. . THOMAS DONGAK" Quit rents to the following amounts and at the follow^ing periods have been paid on the Brook- lyn patents. June 8, 1713. Paid to Benjamin Yan de 13* 298 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Water, Treasurer, the sum of £96 7s Id. for up- wards of 16 years quit rent. April 6, 1775. Charles Debevoise, Collector of the town of Brooklyn, paid to the Keceiver Gen- eral of the Colony of New York, 20 bushels of wheat, for one year's quit rent, due from said town. November 9, 17S6. Fernandus Suydam, and Charles C. Doughty, two of the Trustees of the town of Brooklyn, paid to the Treasurer of the State of New York, the sum of £105 10s. in full for arrears of quit rent due from the said town. TOAVN EIGHTS AND FERRIES. The difference between this town and the city of New Yoi-k relative to the water rights of the former, has deservedly excited the attention and interest of our inhabitants, as involving property to a great amount, and unjustly withholding from our town a revenue which would enable it to improve with almost unparalleled rapidity. In order tliat each person so interested may form a correct opinion of the subject matter in dispute, the Compiler has thought proper, under this head, to lay before them the foundations of the claims on both sides of the question. October 18, 1667. In the reign of Charles 2d Kichard Nie question that now is put, is, whether this Bill shall pass ; I must beg leave to give my reasons for opposing its passage. The first is, it is alleged by this bill, that the people of Brooklyn had a right, prior to the act passed in the year 171:2, which was not proved, nor attempted upon the hearing before this House ; but if we pass this Bill, we allow that right to be proved, and then it becomes our allegation, which I conceive inconsistent with the honor and justice of this House, to allege anything in such a case, but what has been proved. The second is, it implies that the act in 1732, took COLONEL MORRIS MOTION. 315 away unjustly, a right from the people of Brook- lyn, that they were entitled to. Thirdl}^, it im- plies, that the House have fixed the two points before mentioned, and then it will necessarily follow, that we have considered the rights of the Corporation,"^ as well as those of the people of Brooklyn ; that we have not, I appeal to the House, who must allow that no such right ever appeared to us, at least as a House, and for us to declare certain facts by a bill, which has never been proved, will be doing what I conceive we ought not to do, if we make justice and equity the rule of our conduct. For these reasons, I move, that the Bill may be rejected. The ques- tion being put thereon it was carried in the negative, in the manner following, viz. — For the negative, Messrs. Chambers, Lott, Cornell, Hardenberg, A. Lott, Bradt, Lecount, Gale, and Harring, 9. Affirmative, Messrs. Cruger, Morris, Richards, Van Home, Clarkson, Verplank, Phil- ipse, and Thomas, 8. Eesolved, That the Bill do pass. Ordered, that Colonel Harring, and Mr. Hardenberg do * For what purpose was it that the Coi-p ovation's counsel was heard at the bar of the House, if not to advance and support their rights? If it was not done at that time, the plain inference would be, that they were aware they had no right. 316 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. carry the Bill to the Council and desire their concurrence. By which it appears that it was considered by the House, as well as subsequently by the Supreme Court, that the right of the town was sufficiently proved, notwithstanding the assertions of Colonel Morris. This Bill by some means was stifled in the Council,* and never became a law. During the Revolution the Old ferry was kept by Messrs. Yan Winkle and Bukett; at which period the usual charge for crossing was six pence for each passenger. August 1, 1795. The ferry from the foot of Main street, Brooklyn, to the foot of Catharine street, ]N"ew York, commonly called the New ferry, was established by Messrs. William Fur- man and Theodosius Hunt, lessees from the Cor- poration of the City of New York. In consequence of the prevalence of tlie Yel- low fever in Brooklyn, in the month of August, 1809, the old ferry was removed to the foot of Joralemon street, and the boats plied from there to Whitehall, New York. * The Council was appointed by the King's mandamus and sign manual, and all their privileges and powers were contained in the Governor's instructions. The tenure of their places was extremely precarious, — See Smith's Hktory of New York, p. 364. THE FIKST STEAM FEKRY. 317 Oil the 4th clay of March, 1814, the Legisla- ture of tliis State passed an act allowhig William Cutting and others his associates, to charge four cents for each passenger crossing in the Steam-boat to be by them placed on the Old ferry. Pre- vious to this, the fare was two cents for each passenger. May, 1814, the Steam-boat com- menced plying on the old ferry between Brook- lyn and 'New York. This Ferry Company derive their interest in the old or Fulton ferry, from a lease executed January 24tli, 1814, by the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, to Robert Fulton and William Cutting. The rent reserved l)y the Corporation on this lease is $4,000 per annum for the first 18 years, and $4,500 per an- num for the remaining 7 years.* It is a difficult matter to speak correctly of the present income of this ferry. At its first establishment the divi- dends were made on a capital estimated at $45,- 000, divided into shares of $1,000 each, and were made at the rate of 5 per cent, for six months, and what remained after this 5 per cent, taken out, formed the surplus dividend. From May, * The Corporation of New York, during the year 1824, have received from the ferries the sum of $12,003.75 — more than three -fourths of which sum is from the ferries on the East River. 318 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOEXYN. 1814, to November, 1815, tlie regular dividends on one share amounted to $157.11|, and during tlie same period the surplus dividend amounted to $228.21-1-, making a dividend of $385.33, on one share for about 18 months, equal to about 25 per cent, per annum. At the Session of the Legislature in the winter of 1818, the Corporation of Kew York presented a petition praying that they might have the regu- lation of the rates of ferriage between this town and the city of New York — against which the Trustees of the village of Brooklyn, and the in- habitants of this town strongly remonstrated, statin o" that " thev had full confidence that the Legislature of this State would never increase the rates of ferriage, nor permit the same to be in- creased, beyond what is necessary to support the ferries in the best manner ; they therefore prayed that the Legislature would not surrender to the Corporation of New York a right which had been reserved by the Legislature, and which the petitioners deemed of the greatest importance to the inhabitants of Nassau Island." EOADS AND PUBLIC LANDING PLACES. This town appears to have entered early into the contest respecting roads. There are many ROADS AND PUBLIC LANDING PLACES. 319 instances on record previous to 1683, of tlie Con- stable of Brooklyn being ordered to repair the roads, and in case of neglect, fined ; and in one instance he was ordered by the Court not to de- part until further order. The main road, or as part of it is now called, Fulton street, in the village of Brooklpi, was laid out March 28th, 1704, by Joseph Hagaman, Peter Cortelyou, and Benjamin Yandewater, Commis- sioners, appointed by an act of the General Assem- bly of the colony of New York, for the laying out, i-egulating, clearing and preserving of public highways in the colony. The record of this road is as follows : — " One publique, common and gen- eral highway, to begin ffi-om low water marine at the ferr}^ in the township of Broockland, in Kings county, and ffrom thence to run ffour rod wide up between the houses and lands of John Aerson, John Coe, and George Jacobs, and soe all along to Broocklaiid towne aforesaid, through the lane that now is, and fProm thence straight along a certaine lane to the Southward corner of John Yan Couwenhoven's land, and ffrom thence straight to Bedfford as it is now staked out, to the lane where the house of Benjamin Yandewater stands, and ffrom thence straight along through Bedfford towne to Bedfford lane, running between the lands of John Garretse, Dorlant and Claes ■d20 NOTES ON TOE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Barnse, to the rear of the lands of the said Cloyse, and ffrom thence southerly to the old path now in use, and soe all along said path to Philip Vol- kertses land, taking in a little slip of said Philip's land on the south corner, soe all along said road by Isaack Greg's house to the Filackbush new lotts ffence, and soe all along said ffence to the eastward, to the north-east corner of Eldert Lu- cas's land, lying within the IN'ew lotts, of Fflatt- bush aforesaid, being ffour rod wdde all along^ to be and continue forever." This road, or " king's highway," as it was then called, leading from the ferry to the old Dutch Church, or Brooklyn parish, was the cause of much contention. At the April term of the Gen- eral Sessions of tlie Peace for Kings County, in 1721, indictments were found for encroaching on the " common high way of the King, leading from the ferry to the Church at Brookland," against John Rapalje, Hans Bergen and James Harding, and others. — By which indictments it appears that the road should have been four rods Avide. These indictments appear to have been predi- cated as well on the following application of John Rapalje and Hans Bergen, as on complaints from several of tlie inhabitants : " Filatbush, April 19, 1721. John Eapalje and 331 Hans Bergen of the fferry, desires of tne grand jury that the Commissioners now being should be presented for not doing their duty in laying out the king's highway according to ye law, being the King's highway is too narrow from the ferry to one Nicalus Cowenhoven, living at Brooklyn and if all our neighbours will make ye road according to law, then ye said John Rapel}e and Hans Bero^en is willing: to do the same as afore- said, being they are not willing to suffer more than their neighbours. As- witness our hands the day and year first above written. JAN KAPELJE, HANS BERGEN." Some of the persons indicted considering them- selves aggrieved, and others who feared being placed in the same situation, applied to the Colonial Legislature, and July 27th, 1721, ob- tained the passage of a law to " continue the conmion road or king's highway, from the ferry, towards the town of Breuckland, on the Island of Nassau, in the Province of New-York,'^ with the following preamble : " Whereas several of the inhabitants on the ferry, on the Island of Nassau, by their petition preferred to the General Assembly, by setting forth, that they have been molested prosecutions, occasioned by the con- 323 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. trivance and instigations of ill and disaffected persons to the neighbourhood, who would encroach upon the buildings and fences that have been made many years, alledging the road was not wide enough, to the great damage of several of the old inhabitants, on the said ferry ; the said road as it now is, has been so for at least these sixty years past, witliout any complaint, either of the inhabitants or travellers." The law then proceeds to establish the road " forever," as it then was, from the ferry upwards to the town of Breuckland, as far as the swinging gate of John Rapalje, just above the house and land belonging to James Harding. These pro- ceedings will readily account for Fulton-street, in the present village of Brooklyn, being so nar- row and crooked in many places. Tlie point, however, to which the Compiler wishes to draw the attention of his fellow citizens, is to the existence and location of several public highways and landing-places in this town which at present are known to very few. There is a public landing-place at or near the mills of Neliemiah Denton, Esq., and a public highway leading thereto. — The record of which is as follows : — *' One common highway to Ga- wanus mill, to begin ffrom the north-east corner of Leffert Peterses ffence, and soe along the roade THE ROAD TO GOWANUS. 323 westerly, as it is now in use to the lane }i: parts tlie lands of Ilendrick Yeclite, and Abraham Bi'ower, and Nicholas Brower, and soe all along said lane as it is now in ffence to the house of Jurian Collier, and from thence all along the roade now in use to the said Gowanos mill, being in all four rod wide to the said lane ; and that there be a convenient landing place for all per- sons whatsoever, to begin ffrom the southermost side of said Gowanus mill house, and ffrom said house to run ffour rod to the southward, ffor the transportation of goods and the commodious pass- ing of travellers; and that said highway to said Gowanos mill ffrom said house of said Jurian Collier shall be but two rod only and where it is now in use ; said common highway to be and continue forever; and ffurther that the ffence and gate that now stands upon the entrance into said mill neck, ffor the inclosing and securing of said neck, shall soe remaine and be alwayes kept soe inclosed with a ffence and hano^ino^ srate : and the way to said mill to be thorow that gate only and to be alwayes shutt or put to by all persons that passes thorow." The Commissioners laid out the above road and landing place, March 28th, 1704. In 1709, the Commissioners laid out another road and landing place, at or near the mill of 834 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. John C. Freeke, Esq. The record of Avhich is as follows : — " One common hio-hwav to bes^in ffrom the honse of Jurian Collier to the New mill of Nicholas Brower, now sett np on Gowanos mill neck soe called, as the way is now in nse along said neck to said mill to be of two rod wide ; and that there shall be a landing place by said mill in the most convenient place ffor the transporta- tion of goods and the commodious passing of travellers ; and said highway and landing place to be, remaine and continue forever." This town has a public landing place seven rods in length, near the foot of what is now called Dis- trict-street, in the village of Brooklyn. — This landing place is mentioned in the record of a road three rods wide, leading to the same, which record the Compiler omits inserting in conse- cpience of its length and the multitude of entries connected therewith. It is believed by many, and not without very good reason, that this town has a public landing place a short distance to the North of the Old or Fulton ferry, and which landing place is now in the possession of the Corporation of New- York. There is a very distinct tradition of a road to near where this landing place is supposed to have been, at the foot of which road w^as the public slaughter house, where the butchers of Brooklyn DIVISION OF COMIVION LANDS. 325 dressed their meats. The road referred to, came out where the hoiise of the Fire Engine No. 4 now stands, and the existence of that road gives the town its title to that small piece of ground. COMMON LANDS, AND THE DIVISION THEREOF. The town having acquired so great an extent of Common land bj the purchase of 1670, from the Indians, the inhabitants thought proper to take some order for the division and defending thereof, together with their other lands — accord- ingly, " at a town meeting held the 25th day of February, 109f, att Breuklyn, in Kings County. Then Kesolved to divide their common lands and woods into three parts, in maimer following to witt. 1. All the lands and woods after Bedford and Cripplebush, over the hills to the path of New- lotts shall belong to the inhabitants and free- holders of the Gowanis, beginning from Jacob Brewer and soe to the uttermost bounds of the limits of New Utrecht. 2. And all the lands and woods that lyes be- twixt the abovesaid path and the highway from the ferry towards Flattbush, shall belong to the freeholders and inhabitants of Bedford and Crip- plebush. 3. And all the lands that lyes in common after 323 NOTES ON^ THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. the Gowanis, betwixt the limits and bounds of Flattbush and N'ew Utrecht shall belong to the freeholders and inhabitants of Brooklyn, fred. neck, the ferry and the Wallabont." This pro- ceeding of the Town meeting was allowed of by the Court of Sessions, held at Flatbush, on the 10th day of May, 1693. The following will serve to shew the manner in which the inhabitants of this town elected the Trustees of their common lands, and the duties of those Trustees. " Att a towne meeting held this 29th day off Aprill, 1699, at Breucklyn, by order off Justice Machiel Hanssen, ffor to chose townsmen ffor to order all townes business and to deffend tlieire li mitts and bounds and to dispose and lay out sum part thereoff in lotts, to make lawes and orders ffor the best off the inhabitants, and to raise a small tax ffor to defray the towne charges, now being or hereaffter to come, to receive towns revenues and to pay townes debts, and that with the advice off the Justices off" this said towne standing the space and time off two years. Chosen ffor that purpose by pluralitie off votes. Benjamin Yande Water, Joores Hanssen, Jan Garretse Dorian t. By order of inhabitants affbresaid. J. YANDE WATEE, Clarke." PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC WOODS. 827 These proceedings were recorded by order of tlie Court of Sessions, on the 9tli day of May, 1699. The following proceeding is cnrions, setting forth the ancient practice of tradesmen cutting down timber in the public woods, and the regu- lations made respecting the same. It appears that directly after the Trustees were chosen by the above meeting they together with the Jus- tices, lield the following meeting. '' Att a meet- ing held this 29th day off Aprill (1699) in Breucklyn, Present, Benjamin Yande Water, Jooris Ilanssen, Jan Geritse Dorlant, being choisen townsmen in the presence and with the advice off the Justices off this towne. Considering the greate inconvenience, lose and intrest that the inhabitants off this towne have by reason that the tradesmen here living in this towne doe ffall and cutt the best trees and sully the best of our woods and sell the worke thereoff made the most part to others living withoute the towne, and that the shoemakers and others doe cutt and fall all the best treese ffor the barke, and the wood lyes and rott, and that some per- sons doe cutt and ffall trees for timber and ffens- ing stuff, and leave the trees in the woods soe cutt until they are spoilt, and that people off other towns come and cutt and fall trees ffor 328 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLYN. timber, ffensing stuff, and ffire woods, and trans- port the same away out off our townes bounds and li mitts, and that without leave or consent off the towne, soe that in tlie time off ffew veares there shall bee no woods leaved ffor the inhabitants ffor timber or ffensing stuff to the mine off the said towne. It is thereffore ordered. That ffrom the date hereoff no tradesman shall make any worke ffor to sell to others without thee towne, ffrom wood soe cutt as afforesaid as only ffrom old wood. That no shoemaker or others shall cutt or ffall any trees ffor to barke in the common woods upon the penaltie off fiive pound ffor every tree soe cutt. That no men shall leave any timber, ffensing stuffe, or other wood in the woods longer as six weeks affter itt is cutt, uppon the penaltie, that itt shall be ffree ffor others to' take and carry the same away as theire owne wood. And that iff any one off other townes shall be ffounden within our townes limitts to cutt or carry away any sorts off woods ffor timber, ffensing stuff or ffire wood, that itt shall bee ffree ffor any one off this towne to take it away and to take out writt to ar- rest, or to apprehend such offender or offenders presently, and that the Justices off this towno shall answer the action as iff itt were done by theirt> DIVISION OF COMMON LANDS. 329 • owneselves.* These proceedings were also re- corded by order of the Court of Sessions. '' Towne meeting held this 5th day off May, 1701, by order off Justices Cornel is Sebringh and Machiell Ilanssen. We the major part off the ffVeeholders off Breucklyn doe hereby nominate, constitute and appoint Capt. Jooris Hanssen, Jacob Ilanssen and Cornells Yan Dnyn, to bee trustees of our Common and undivided lands, and to deffend and maintaine the rights and privileges off onr General pattent, as well within as without.*' " Towne meeting held this 2d day off Febru- ary, 1701-2, by order off Justice Cornelis Se- bringh. Purposed iff the order off" Bedford, made tlie 12th day off Apiil, 1G97, shall bee con- fiirmed concerning the lying out of the common or undivided lands or that the said land shall bee lyed out according to the last tax, concerning the deffending off our limitts. Resolved by the ffreeholders aforesaid, that the chosen townsmen shall ley out the commens ac- cording as by the said order off" Bedford was con- cluded, with the fiirst opportunitie, and that all * The idea intended to be conveyed by this regulation, I understand to be, that the justices of the town of Brooklyn shall have cognizance of the offence, as much as if the offend- ers resided within the town. 330 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BEOOKLYN. the lotts joyning to the common woods shall be surveyed according to their grants." The following Resolution was passed for de- fending those inhabitants to whom portions of the Common lands were allotted, in their enjoy- ment of the same. " Att a Towne meeting held att Brookland, in Kings County, this 14:th day of March, 1701-2. Present, Machiel Ilanssen, Cor- nells Sebringh, and Hendrick Yechten, Esquires, Justices. — Eesolved, by the major part of the freeholders of the said towne of Brookland, that every man that lias now a right, lott, or lotts laid out in the quondam Common and undivided lands of Brookland aforesaid, shall forever free liberty have for egress and regress to his said lotts for fetching off wood or otherwise, over all or any of the said lott or lotts of the said free- holders in the lands aforesaid. And further, that if any of the said freeholders shall at any time or times hereafter, come by any loss or trouble, cost or charges by lawe or otherwise, of, for or concerning the title of any of their said lott or lotts, by any person or persons, either within the township of Brookland aiforesaid, or without, that it shall be defended and made goode, (if lost) att all the proper costs and charges of all the freeholders of said towne equally." It appears that all the Common lands of this DIFFERENCES AS TO BOUNDS. 331 town had been divided among the freeholders, and a portion annexed to each house in the town. — A deed dated the 17th of April, 1705, after conveying a house and lot of land in this town, conveys " alsoe all the rights and priviledges in tlie common woodlands of the towne of Broock- land aforesaid, to said house, belonging as j)er record of said towne may appear."^ These lands, in the month of February, 1701- 2, were surveyed by Fieter Corteljeu and S. Clowes, two surveyors, and divided by them into three divisions. The first or west division consisted of 62 lots, containing about 5 acres each, about 310 acres. The second or middle division of 62 lots, containing about 10 acres each, about 620 acres ; and the third or east division also of 62 lots, containing about 10 acres each, about 620 acres. — Total number of acres about 1550. DEFFEKENCES AS TO BOUNDS. The difference between this town and the city of New York, having been treated of under the head of Town Rights and Ferries, the compiler will confine himself to the disputes which for- merly existed between this town, and the towns * The records referred to, together with all our other town records, were destroyed during the Revolution. 333 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. of, Bnshwick, Flatbush and Is"ew- Utrecht, re- specting their bounds. The following proceeding relates generally to the defence and settling of the limits of this town. " Towne meeting held this 7th day of February, 1701-2, by order of Ilendrick Yechten, Justice. — The Justice Ilendi-ick Yechten, brings in that the towns men were nott well authorised con- cerninge the lying out and defending of our bounds by reason that they have no power to compounde or agree with any of the neighbouring townes, &c. — These are thereifore, that the free- holders and inhabitants doe give full power to the said Intrusties, for to agree and compounde with any of the neighbour townes concerning our bounds, and all what our said Intrusties shall doe and agree with them, we shall stand to itt." This proceeding was recorded by order of the Court of Sessions, on the 13th of May, 1702. DIFFERENCE AVFTH BUSHWICK. The difference as to the bounds of these two towns seems generally to have been contested between individuals. The following is the only, general order on record respecting the same : At a Court of Sessions, held at Flatbush for Kings County, May 10, 1699. '' Uppon the de- sire of the inhabitants of Breucklyn, that accord- DIFFERENCE WITH FLATBISH. 383 ing to use and order every three jeare the lim- mitts betweene towne and towiie must be riimi, tliat a warrant or order may be given, that upon the 17th off May, the line and bounds betwixt said townes of Breucklyn and Boswyck, shall be runn according to their pattents or agrements." Ordei-ed, " That an order should be past accord- ing to theire request." DIFFEEENCE WITH FLATBUSH. The dispute between this town and Flatbush, respecting their bounds appears to have been of more importance than that with any other place, excepting New- York. At a Court of Sessions, held for the West Eiding of Yorkshire, upon Long-Island, the 18th of De- cember, 1678, the following order was made : " There being some difference between the townes of Flat Bush and Breucklyn concerning their bounds, the which thev are both willino- to refer to Captain Jaques Cortelyou and Captain Richard Stillwell to decide. The Court doth approve thereof, and order their Report to be de- terminative." Messrs. Cortelyou and Stillwell complied with the requisition of the above order a« will appear by the following report : but subsequent disputes shew that the same was not " determinative." 334 NOTES ON TPIE TOWN OF BEOOKLYN. " To the worsliipf nil Court of Sessions, now sit- ting at Gravesencl, June 21, 1683. These may certiffie that in obedience to an order from said Court, and by consent of both towns of Breuck- lyn and Flatbush, to runn the line betwixt the said townes which are we underwritten have done and marked the trees betwixt towne and towne, as wittnesse our hands the daye and yeare above written. JACQUES COETELYOU, . RICIIAED STILLWELL." It appears by the following Certificate, that a subsequent survey was made in 1684, of the divi- sion line between this town and Flatbush. " To satisffie whom itt may concerne, that I be- ing with Mr. Jacobus Cortland, about the twenty- eth day off November, 1684, employed by Breuck- land and Fflackbush, to vew and run out the line between e the two towns to the south of the hills found that the line run fformerly by Capts. Jaques, Cortelyou and Mr. Stillwell, is right and just, which wee both being agreed, gave in our approbation of the same. PHILIP WELLS, Surveyor." Staaten-Island, in the County of Rich- "> mond, this 4th day of April, 1687." > DIFFEIIENCE ^^^TH FLATBUSH. 335 The above Certificate was recorded bj order of several of the inhabitants of Brooklyn. At a Court of Sessions for Kings Comity, held the 4th day of October, 16S7, the following pro- ceeding was had : " Complaint off Jan Oake, and Cornelis Bar- dnff, anthorised by the inhabitants of Fflackbush being read against Pieter Cronwer, concerning the building uppon the land in question, betwixt Breucklyn and Fflackbush, Itt is ordered, that none off the partys shall meddle themselves with the said land before the question off the said land shall be finished." December 4, IGSO. Jooris Bergen, Jan Dorlant and 11. Claes Yechte, Commissioners of this town, together with Jurrian Bries, Constable, granted to Jeronimius Bemsen, a piece of land lying at Bedfoi'd, in lieu of a piece of land which they had formerly sold him, lying at the Port or entrance, and which was claimed by the town of Flatbush. At a town meeting, held in this town the 11th day of April, 1702, by order of Justices Machiel Ilanssen, and Cornelis Seberingh ; it was " Purposed to choise townsmen in place off George Ilanssen, Jacob Ilanssen, and Cornelis Yan Duyn, by cause theire times being past the 29th off this instant. Besolved to prolong the 836 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. old townsmen's time to tlie twenty-fifth of May next, by reason they are in action off lawe with them off Fflackbush, to be tryed this May court." The differences between these two towns have been amicably settled, and proper monuments placed on the boundary lines, to prevent, if pos- sible, all future disputes. DIFFERENCE WITH NEW UTRECHT. February 14, 1702, George Hansen, Jacob Hansen and Cornelius Yan Huyn, Trustees on the part of the town of Brooklyn, and Cornelius Yan Brunt, Peter Cortelyou, and Aert Yan Pelt, Trustees on the part of the town of ]S"ew Utrecht, entered into an agreement, which, after setting forth the said Trastees' powers to enter into the same, proceeds to say, " that the courses and lines hereafter specified shall be the exact bounds be- tween the said two towns of Brooklyn and New- Utrecht and soe to continue to perpetuity without any alteration ; viz. The bounds to begin in the sloott or pond lying and being by and between the house of Argyes Yan dyke, of the said towne of Brookland and the house of Thomas Sharax, of the said towne of N"ew Utrecht, where the water runns into the salt water Kiver, by a certaine fence from thence stretching away south-east one DITTERENCE WITH NEW UTRECHT. 337 degree southerly, two hundred eighty and eight Engh'sh rod, to a winter white oake tree markt on the south and north-west side ; and from thence running east eight and twenty degrees northerly to a white oake tree, heing on tlie east side of the path leading to Kew-Utrccht, afore- said, to the Gowanos soe called in the towneship of Brookland abovesaid, said tree being markt on two sides, and being formerly the old markt tree betweene the said towns, tfec." At the time of the execution of the above- mentioned agreement, the Trustees of the town of Brookland, gave a bond to the Trustees of the town of New Utrecht, in the sum of one thousand pounds " currant money of Kew Yorke." — The condition of which Bond or obligation was, " That if the above bounden George Hansen, Jacob Hansen and Cornelius YanDuyn, severally and their severall heires and assigns, doe and shall from time to time and at all times hereafter, well and truly observe, performe and keepe, all and every the covenants, articles of agreements, which on their and every of their parts, are or ought to be observed, performed and kept, con- tained and specified in and by certain articles of agreements of the date hereof and made betweene the above bounden George Han-sen, Jacob Han- sen and Cornelius Yan Huyn of the one part, and 15 338 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLYN. the above-named Cornelius Yan Briint^ Peter Cor- tilljon and Aert Yan Pelt of the other part, of, in and concerning the linimitts and bonnds of their townes pattents, and that in and by all things according to the true meaning of the said articles of agreement in snch wise that no breache be made of the premises in said articles of agree- ment by the towne of Brookland aforesaid, at any time or times hereafter, then this obligation to be void and of none effect, otherwise to stand and remain in full force, virtue and power in law." In the year 1797, a survey was made of all the bonnds of this town, and a map thereof trans- mitted to the Surveyor General of this state. EEVOLU'nONAKY INCIDENTS. This town had a full share of the militar}^ op- erations during the Pevolutionary war ; and was for a long time in the possession of the British army. It is covered with the remains of for- tifications which were thrown up by the Ameri- cans'^ and English for their defence against each other. In this town was fouc^ht the most san- * The fortifications at Red Hook were erected by a regi- ment of Continental troops, the night of April 8, 1776. INCIDENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 339 guinarj part of the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776 ; wliicli took place on the retreat of the American army within their lines, and the at- tempt of a portion of them to ford the mill ponds at Gowanus ; in which attempt nearly the whole of a Regiment of young men from Maryland were cut off. Many of the minor events connected with this battle, and the Revolutionary contest, are fast sinking into the shades of oblivion : the compiler has therefore thought proper to give place to the following piece of history, not with an idea, that he can immortalize any event w^hich he relates ; but with a hope, that his efforts will call forth some nobler pen to do justice to the memories of many of the almost forgotten heroes of those hard fought battles and arduous contests. In the battle above-mentioned, part of the British army marched down a lane or road leading from the Brush tavern to Gowanus, pursuing the Ameri- cans. Several of the American riflemen, in order to be more secure, and at the same time more effectually to succeed in their designs, had posted themselves in the high trees near the road. One of them, whose name is now partially forgotten, shot tlie English Major Grant ; in this he passed unobserved. Again he loaded his deadly rifle, and fired — another English oflicer fell. He was 340 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BEOOKLYN. then marked, and a platoon ordered to advance, and fire into the tree ; which order was immedi- ately carried into execution, arid the rifleman fell to the ground, dead. After tlie battle was over, the two British officers were buried in a field, near where they fell, and their graves fenced in with some posts and rails, where their remains still rest. But " for an example to the rebels," they refused to the American rifleman the rites of sepulture ; and his remains were exposed on the ground, till the flesh was rotted and torn off his bones by the fowls of the air. After a considera- ble length of time, in a heavy gale of wind, a large tree was uprooted ; in the cavity formed by which, some friends to the Americans, notwith- standing the prohibition of the English, placed the brave soldier's bones to mijigle in peace with their kindred earth. August 28, 1776. Before day break, in a very thick foo:, General Washinorton retreated with his army from near the old ferry, Brooklyn, to Xew York. As the last boat of the Americans left the shore, the fog dissipated, and the British made their appearance on the hills above the place of embarkation, when a shot or two from an Ameri- can Battery on the hill near the house of Col. Henry Rutgers, in New York, compelled the British to desist in their march to the ferry. CAPTx\IN KATIIAN IIALP:. 341 A short time after the retreat of the Americans, Captain Hale, of the American army, was dis- patched by General AYashington, to see if the English had taken possession of his camp at Brooklyn, and what their situation was. This unfortunate young officer was taken by the Eng- lish and hung as a spj^, without even a form of trial ; and not allowed a clergyman at his execu- tion. It is believed he was executed somewhere along the Brooklyn shore, to the south-west of the old ferr}'. In our pity for Major Andre we have almost entirely lost sight of this meritorious officer, whose claims on our gratitude ought ever to be remembered, in proportion as his sufferings were greater than those of the former. During the stay of the American army on Long Island, the head quarters of General Wash- ington were at the house on Brooklyn Heights, now owned and occupied by Henry Waring, Esq. The house now owned and occupied by Tennis Joralemon, Esq., was used by the English as a Hospital during the Bevolution, and in its vicinity hundreds of British soldiers and sailors are buried. Most of the records of this town w^ere destroyed by the English when they came in possession of it after the battle of Long Island. In the month of November, 1776, one of the British prison ships, called the Whitby, was 342 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLYN. moored in the Wallaboglit, near Eemsen's mills. On board this vessel great mortality prevailed among the prisoners, and many of them died. Those of the prisoners who died from this ship, and from the others, which were afterwards brought to this place, were interred in the hill at the present Navy -Yard ; where their remains were found, and in the year 1808, deposited in a vault erected for that purpose. March, 17Y7, two other prison ships anchored in the Wallaboght, one of which bore the name of Good Hope ; which vessel, in the month of October, in the same year, took fire and was burnt. The prison- ers were saved and transferred to the other ves- sels. — The hull of this ship lies under a dock at the Navy- Yard, in this town. In the month of February, 1778, on a Sunday afternoon, another British prison ship was burnt in the Wallaboght. The hull of this vessel lies in the mud in that Bay. 1778, the Jersey ship of the line, having arrived at New York, was condemned as unfit for the service, and converted into a prison ship. As such she anchored in the Wallaboo-ht durino^ the month of April, in the same year, together with the Falmouth and Hope, for Hospital ships ; where they remained till the close of the Eevolu- tionary war. October 22, 1779, An act of attainder was LOOSLEY'S LOTTERY. 343 passed by the Legislature of this State, against John Rapalje, Esq., of this town, by which his property was confiscated to use of the State. That part of his property lying within the bounds of the present village of Brooklyn, was on the 13th of July, 1784, sold by the Commissioners of Forfeitures, to Comfort, and Joshua Sands, Esqrs. for £12,430. In the year 1780, the British being apprelien- sive of an attack from the American army under General Washington, commenced fortifying the high grounds about Brooklj'n ; which works they continued until the peace in 1783. In this town the British had their army yard, where their for- age department, and blacksmith's shops, &c. were kept. The enti-ance to this yard was near the junction of Main-street with Fulton-street, in the present village of Brooklyn. During the Bevolution, this place, was much resorted to by the officers of the English army, and the fashionables of the day, as a scene of amusement. In the Boyal Gazette of August Sth, 1781, published at IS^ew-York, Charles Loos- ley advertises a Lottery of $12,500, to be drawn at " Brooklyn Ilall." The same paper contains the following advertisement : ^* Pro bono publico. Gentlemen that are fond of fox hunting, are re- quested to meet at Loosley's Tavern, on Ascot 344 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Heath, on Friday morniiig next, between the hours of five and six, as a pack of hounds will be there purposely for a trial of their abilities : Breakfasting and Relishes until the Races com- mence. — At eleven o'clock will be run for, an elegant saddle, &c., value at least twenty pounds, for which upw^ards of tw^elve gentlemen will ride their own horses. — At twelve, a match wdll be rode by two gentlemen. Horse for Horse. — At one, a match for thirty guineas, by two gentle- men, who will also ride their own horses. — Din- ner will be ready at two o'clock, after which, and suitable regalements, racing and other diversions, Avill be calculated to (;on(Jude the day with pleas- ure and harmouy. Brooklyn Hall, 6th August, 1781." Lieutenant Anberry, in a letter from ^N'ew- York, to a friend in England, dated October 30th, 1781, saySj "on crossing the East River from Tsew York, you land at Brooklyn, which is a scattered village, consisting of a few houses. At this place is an excellent Tavern, whei'e parties are made to go and eat fish ; the landlord of which has saved an immense fortune this war." The public house referred to in the above adver- tisements, and letter, was the same house, which after the Revolution, and in the Compiler's re- collection, was called the " Corporation House." THE FIKST PUBLIC OFFICER. 345 It was a large, gloomy, old fashioned stone edi- fice ; and was destroyed by fire, September 2od5 1812. This town was left by the British troops, the same day that they evacnated ^ew-York. ANCIENT GOVERNMENT. The first public officer appointed by the Dutch Government for this town after its settlement in 1625, was a " Superintendant," whose duties w^ere to preserve the peace, and regulate the police of the town. A few years after the office of Super- intendant was abolished, and the offices of Schout, Secretary, and Assessor, created ; these officers were also appointed by the Governor. In 16-10, the town having considerably increased, the in- habitants w^ere permitted to elect two magistrates; subject, however, to the approval or rejection of the Governor. These magistrates had increased powers : they were authorised to give judgment in all cases as they might think proper ; provided that the judgment so given be not contrary to the charter of IS^ew IS^etherland. Subsequently this Town Court was new modelled by the Dutch Government, and its power and authority more clearly defined. 15* 346 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOEXYN. The inhabitants suffering very much under the arbitrary exercise of power on the part of the government, frequently remonstrated against the same. Finally a convention of delegates from this, and the other towns under the Dutch gov- ernment assembled at Xew Amsterdam, Novem- ber 26th, 1653, on an invitation from the Gover- nor. Where they, on the 11th of December, following, entered into a remonstrance against the exclusion of the people from their share in legislation, and generally against their mode of government. The Governor and his Council sent them no answer, but entered one on the minutes ; in which they denied the right of this town, Flatbush, and Flatlands, to send deputies, and protested against the meeting, notwithstanding the same was held at the Governor's request. Entertaining a just sense of the responsibility attached to them, the deputies made another, but ineffectual attempt, to obtain a recognition of their rights, and on the 13th of the last mentioned month, presented another remonstrance, in which they declared, that if they could not obtain them from the Governor and Council, they would be under the necessity of appealing to their su- perior, the States General. — The Governor in a fit of anger dissolved their meeting, and sent them home. DESCENT OF THE NORTHERN INDIANS. 347 In 1654, it appears that the country was very much infested with robbers ; to disperse whom, April 7, 1654, the magistrates of this town, to- gether with those of Midwont and Amersfort, united in forming a company of soldiers to act against ^'robbers and pirates," and determined that there should be a military officer in each town, called a Sergeant. In order to prevent the depredations of the In- dians, the Governor in 1660, ordered the inhabi- tants of Brooklyn to put the town in a state of defence ; and commanded the farmers to remove within the fortifications, on the pain of forfeiting their estates."^ * In 1655, a large body of Northern Indians raade a descent on Staten Island, and massacred 67 persons; after which they crossed to Long Island, and invested Gravesend ; which place was relieved by a party of soldiers from New Amster- dam. It appears from the records that these Indians were on their way to commence a war against the Indians on the east end of Long Island. The inhabitants of Flatbush were ordered by Governor Stuyvesant, in 1656, to enclose their village with palisadoes to protect them from the Indians. These fortifications were required to be kept under the English government, as will appear by the following record of the Court of Sessions for the West Riding of Yorksliire upon Long Island, December 15th, 1675. " The towne of Fflatbush having neglected the making of ffortifications, the Court take notis of it, and reffer the censure to ye Governor. " 348 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. For the first two or three years under the Eng- lish government, the magistrates of this town were but temporary officers. Nearly all that we know about the government previous to 1G69, is, that Town Courts were established in this Colony. The inference would be, that as this town was granted " all the rights and privileges belonging to a town within this government," a Town Court was also organized here. The Town Clerk of this town was appointed by tlie Governor, and confirmed by the Court of Ses- sions, as will appear by the following record : At a Court of Sessions held at Gravesend for the AYest Riding of Yorkshire upon Long Island, December 15, 1669. " Whereas Derick Storm presented an order from his Hon. the Governor, for tlie approbation of the Court of Sessions, to allow him to be towme clerk of Breucklen, taking his oath, the Court having allowed thereof, and doe hereby confirme him of Gierke of said towne." In tlie year 1669, the first mention is made in the records of the " Constable of Breucklen ; " which office at that period was held by Michael Lenell. The duties of constable as laid down in the . Duke's laws were, holding town courts wuth the overseers, and with them making assessments, &C.5 whipping, or punishing offenders, raising the LIST OF CONSTABLES. 349 hue and cry after murderers, manslayers, thieves, robbers, burglars ; and also to apprehend without warrant such as were overtaken with drink, swear- ing, Sabbath bi-eaking, vagrant persous, or night- walkers ; " provided they bee taken in the man- ner, either by the sighte of the constable, or by present imformacon from others ; as alsoe to make searche for all such persons either on ye Sabbath daye, or other, when there shall bee oc- cation in all houses licensed to sell beere or wine, or any other suspected or disordered places, and those to apprehend and keepe in safe custody till opportunity serves to bring them before the next Justice of ye Peace for further exani- inacon." The Constable was chosen out of the number of Overseers, whose term of service had expired. The following is a list of the Constables of Brooklyn, from\669 to 1690 : 1669. Michael Lenell. 1671. Lambert Johnson. 1675. Andries Juriaensen. 1676. Cornelius Corsen. 1678. Thomas Lambertse. 1679. John Aeresen. 1680. Andries Juriaensen. 1682. Martin E-yersen. 350 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOEXTN. Brooklyn and l^ewtown were ordered to make a new clioice according to law. 1683. Jan Cornells Dam. 1684. Thomas Ffardon. 1687. John Aertsen. 1668. Yolkert Andriese. 1689. Jacobus Beavois. 1689. Jurian Bries. 1690. Jurian Hendrickse. Shortly after the conquest of this Colony by the English from the Dutch, the towns of Brooklyn, Bushwyck, Midwout, or Flatbush, Amersfort, or Flatlands, and New Utrecht, were formed into a separate district for certain purposes, by the name of the " Five Dutch towns." A Secretary was specially apj^ointed for these five towns, whose duties appear to have been confined to the taking acknowledgment of transports, and marriage settlements, and proof of wills, &g. This ofiice, in 1674, was held by " Nicasius De Sille, in the absence of Sir Ffrancis De Brugh." This same Mr. De Sille, was in authority under the Dutch government, in the year 1658, as Schout of the city of New-Amsterdam. He was styled, " Heer Nicasius De Sille." There was no uniformity in the title of those acknowledging ofticers of the THE OVERSEERS. 351 Five Dutch towns. In 1675, Michiel Hainelle exercised that office, and styled himself *' Clerk." In the same year the Court of Sessions for this Hiding, after setting forth the appointment of Hainell, and calling him " Secretary," said, " It is the opinion of the Court that for what pub- lique or private business he shall doe he ought to have reasonable satisfaction."^ There were also in this town, officers, w^ho were called " Overseers." The Duke's Laws provide for their appointment in the following manner. " Overseers shall be eight in number, men of good fame, and life, chosen by the plurality of voyces of the freeholders in each towne, whereof foure shall remain in their office two yeares suc- cessively, and foure shall be changed for new ones every yeare ; which election shall preceed the elections of Constables, in point of time, in regard the Constable for the year ensuing, is to bee chosen out of that number which are dismist from their office of Overseers." * There were also a " Clerk " in most if not in all of these towns, who seems to have been authorised to take proof of the execution of wills ; whether he was the Town Clerk does not appear. This officer was differently appointed in the different towns. In Bushwick he was appointed by the Commissioners of the town, and in New Utrecht he was elected by the people, and approved of by the Governor. 353 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. The following is a copy of the oath which was administered to the overseers elect. " Whereas you are chosen and appointed an Overseer for the Towne of Breucklen you doe sweare by tlie Ever-living God, that you will faith- fully and diligently discharge the trust reposed in you, in relation to the publique and towne affaires, according to the present lawes established, with- out favour, affection or partiality to any person or cause which shall fall under your cognizance ; and at time when you shall bee required by your superio]"S to attend the private differences of neighbours, you will endeavour to reconcile them: and iu all causes conscientiously and according to the best of your judgment deliver your voice in the towne meetings of Constable and Overseers, So helpe you God." These officers were com- monly sworn by the Court of Sessions ; but in the year 1671, the Constable of N"ewtown objected to the Court's swearing the overseers of that town, " alledginge that accordinge to the amendments of the law iff special occation required, itt is in the power of the Constable to sweare them, otherwise not, which is left to his Honor the Governor to decide." The inhabitants of the town for which the overseers were elected were authorised to de- termine by a major vote whether the said over- seers should, on admission to office, take the DUTIES OF THE OVEKSEERS. 353 oath prescribed as above ; and in case the said overseers were not sworn, it was a legal objection against their proceedings on the part of any per- son prosecuted in their court, unless the overseers immediately on objection being made, took the oath, which the Constable was permitted to ad- minister. It was the dutv of the Overseers, tos^ether with the Constable, to hold Town Courts, for the trial of causes under £5. Their other duties are con- tained in the following summary. On the death of any person, tliey were to repair with tlie Con- stable, to the house of the deceased, and inquire after the manner of his death, and of his will and testament ; and if no will was found, the Consta- ble in the presence of the Overseers was, witliin 48 hours, to search after the estate of the de- ceased, and to deliver an account of the same in writing, under oath, to the next Justice of the Peace. They, together with the Constable made all assessments. If any Overseer died during his term, the rest of the Overseers by a major vote, made choice of another in his place ; and if the person so cliosen refused to serve, he forfeited the sum of £10, tow^ards defraying tlie town charges. They were to settle the bounds of the town, within twelve months after the bounds were granted. They had tlie power of regulating 354 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BEOOKLTN. fences. They were authorised together with the Constable to make choice of two out of the eight overseers of the Church affairs. They and the Constable, were frequently to admonish the inhabitants " to instruct their chil- dren and servants in matters of religion, and the lavves of the country." They, with the Constable, appointed an officer " to record every man's par- ticular marke, and see each man's horse and colt branded." The Constable and two of the Over- seers were to pay the value of an Indian coat for each wolf killed ; and they were to cause the wolf's head to be '^ nayled over the door of the Constable, their to remaine, as also to cut of both the eares in token that the head is bought and paid for." The following is the only list that the Compiler could obtain of the Overseers of this town. 1671. Frederick Lubertse and Peter Pernied- eare. 1675. John Peterson Mackhike, and Jerome De Rapostelley. 1676. Tunis Guis Bergen, and Thomas Lam- bertson. 1679. John Harrill, and Martyn Peyandsen. 1680. Symon Aeresen, and Michael Ilarsen. 1683. John Aeresen, and Daniel Papellie. In the year 1683, the " Overseers " were THE TOWN COMMISSIOKERS. 355 chano^ed to " Commissioners." The " act for de- fraying the publique and necessary charge of each respective citty, towne, and county through- out this province ; and for maintaining the poore and preventing vagabonds." Passed by the Gen- eral Assembly of this colony, November 1st, 1683, provides — " That annually and once in every yeare there shall be elected a certaine number out of each respective citty, towne, and county throughout this province ; to be elected and chosen by the major part of all the ffreeholders and ffreenien ; which certaine number so duely elected shall have full power and authority to make an assessment or certaine rate within their respective cittys, townes and countys annually, and once in every yeare, which assessment and certain rate so established as aforesaid, shall bee paid into a certaine Treasurer, who shall be chosen by a major part of all the ffreemen of each re- spective citty, towne, and count}^ ; which Trea- surer soe duly chosen, shall make such payment for the defraying of all the publique and necessary charges of each respective place above-menconed, as shall bee appointed by the commissioners, or their President, that shall be appointed in each respective citty, towne, and county within this province, for he sujyervising the jpxiblique affaires and charge of each respective citty, towne and 356 NOTES OX THE TOWN OF BEOOKLYN. county aforesaid." And tlie said act proceeds further to say, " And whereas it is tlie custome and practice of his Majesties realme of England, and all the adjacent colonjes in America, that every respective county, citty, towne, parrish, and precinct, doth take care and provide for the poore who doe inhabit in their respective pre- cincts aforesaid ; Therefore it is enacted, &c., that for the time to come the respective commis- sioners of every county, citty, towne, parish, pre- cinct aforesaid, shall make provision for the maintainance and support of their poore respect- ively." ^ The following is a list of the Commissioners of this town from 16S4, to 1690, inclusive. 1684:, Thomas Lambertson, Randolph Emans, and John Aeresen. 1685. Tunis Guis Bergen, and Daniel Ea- palie. * This law provides, that any person not having a visible estate, or a manual craft or occupation, coming into any- place within this province, should give security, not to be- come chargeable within two years ; and the captains of ves- sels bringing passengers into this j)rovince, were required to report them to the chief magistrate of the place within 24 hours after their arrival. Under the Dutch govern- ment the poor were supported out of the fines imposed for offences committed, and by contributions taken up in. the Churches. LIST OF COMMISSIONERS. 357 16S6. Michael Hansen, and Jeromus De Ivapalie. The town made choice of Hansen and De Eap- alie ; and were ordered bj the Court of Sessions to make a new selection by the 12th of April, 1686, and return the same to one of the Justices of the Peace for Kings County. 1687. Adriaen Bennet, Thomas Lambertson, and Tunis Guysbert. The Court of Sessions ordered the town to make choice of a new Commissioner in the place of Tunis Gnysbert ; which they according did, and elected Jan Gerritsen Dorland. 1688. Simon Aertsen, Michael Hansen, and Claes Barense. The Court of Sessions refused to swear Michael Hansen. 1690. Joris Hansen, Hendrick Claasen, and Jan Gerbritse. The office of "Commissioner" continued until 1703, when a '^Supervisor" was elected. The Supervisors of Kings County had their first meet- ing on the first Tuesday of October, 1703 ; at which meeting Captain Joras Hansen was the Supervisor from Brooklyn. The duty of the Supervisors was, "to compute, ascertaine, ex- amine, oversee, and allow the contingent, pub- lick, and necessary charge of each county." Two 358 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. assessors were also elected for this town, whose names were, Peter Garabrantse and John E. Bennett ; and one Collector. This is not the first mention of the assessors and collectors of this town in our County Records. In 1688, Michael Hansen and Daniel Rapalie were chosen assess- ors, for the purpose of assessing this town's pro- portion of a tax of £308 83 Od, which was im- posed on King's County. It is the opinion of the Compiler, that these were distinct officers from the Commissioners, whose duty it was to assess the ordinary rates ; and that these assessors were but temporary officers, appoint- ed to assess this particular tax. In 1699, Jan Garretse Dorlant is mentioned as Collector of Brooklyn ; and in 1701, John Bybout held the same office. In 1691, a majority of the freeholders of the town were empowered to make orders for the improvement of their public lands ; and annually to elect three surveyors of liighways. The duties of these surveyors were to amend and lay out highways and fences. The town meeting at which these orders were made, and officers elected, were held by the direction and under the super- intendence of one or more justices of the peace. November 8, 1692. The court of sessions for Kings County ordered that each town within the LIST OF CONSTABLES. 359 county should erect " a good pair of stocks, and a good pound ; " and tliat the clerk of the court should issue a warrant to the constable of every town, requiring them to see this order complied witli " at their peril." The following is a list of the constables of this town, from the new organi- zation of the colony in 1691 to 1711, as far as the Compiler has been able to ascertain the same : 1693. Yolkert Brier. 1697. Volkert Brier. 169S. Jacob Hansen. [This man was complained of by the last constable for not making his appearance at court ; and the sheriff was or- dered to summon him to appear at the next court.] 1699. Jacobus Beauvois. 1700. Cornelius Yerhoeven. 1701. Jacob Yerdon. 1702. Thomas Davies. 1703. Thomas Davies. 1704. William Brower. 1705. Jacob Ffardon. [This con- stable refused to call a town meeting in 1706, in compliance with the requisitions of a warrant he had received from Justice Ffilkin,for the election of town officers ; and the inhabitants complained of him to the court of sessions, who ordered that a town meeting should be held for the election of town officers, and that Ffardon should hold 360 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. over until a new constable was elected and sworn in his stead.] 1707. Abram Sleghter. 1708. Cornelius Collier. 1709. William Brower. 1711. Thomas Davies. For some time previous and subsequent to the year 1693, the colony was in a very disordered state, arising probably from its new organization after the Revolution in Great Britain. At the same period, both the civil and military governments in this town, and also in the county, were very unpopular. In order to support their authority, the justices of the peace resorted to the exercise of very arbitrary measures: arresting and confining many persons under the pretence of their having uttered scandalous words against them and the government ; by which proceedings they completely alienated the jjeople's affections, and exasperated them to such a degree that they committed many excesses : all which will appear by the following extracts from the records : " October 11, 1693. At a meeting of the justices of Kings County, at the county hall. Present, .Roeleff Martense, Nicholas Stillwell, Joseph liege- man, and Henry Ffilkin, esqrs., justices. John Bibout, of Broockland, in the county aforesaid, we aver, being committed by the said justices to CASE OF HENDEICK CLAES VECIITE. 361 tlie common jail of Kings County, for divers scandalous and abusive words spoken by the said John against their majesties justices of the peace for the county aforesaid, to the contempt of their majesties authority and breach of the peace; the said John having now humbly submitted himself, and craves pardon and mercy of the said justices for his misdemeanour, is discharged, paying the officer's fees, and being on his good behaviour till the next court of sessions, in November next ensuing the date hereof." In another instance, during the same year, in the month of October, in the town of Bushwyck, a man named Urian Hagell, was imprisoned for having said on a training day, speaking jestingly of the soldiers, '' Let us knock them down, we are three to their one." The justices called these " mutinous, factious, and seditious words ; " which, with the like, appear to have been favourite terms with them. Again, in the same month and year, Ilendrick Claes Yechte, of the town of Brooklyn, was imprisoned by the justices, on a charge of " raising of dissension, strife, and mu- tiny, among their majesties subjects." And May 8, 109:1:, two women of Bushwick were indicted at the sessions, for having beat and pulled the hair of Captain Peter Praa, whilst at the head of his company of soldiers on parade. One of them 16 m2 NOTES ON THE TOWN OP^ BROOKLYN. was fined £3, and tlie cost, £1 19.5. 9d. ; and the other 406'. and the cost, £1 19.5. 9d. In the last mentioned year (1694) Yolkert Brier, constable of Brooklyn, was fined £5, and the costs of court amounting to £1, by the sessions, " for tearing and burning an execution directed to him as consta- ble." ^ Brier afterwards petitioned the govern- or to have the fine remitted ; a copy of which pe- tition is in the appendix, marked C. This town with respect to legal mattere was un- der the jurisdiction of the court of sessions held at Gravesend, for the West Riding of Yorkshire, upon Long Island,t until the year 1683 ; when an act was passed by the first legislative assembly of this colony, dividing the province into counties by which the ridings were abolished. The court however, continued to be held at G-ravesend until 1686, when it was removed to Flatbush, in con- formity to an act of the colonial assembly, passed * Sept. 14, 1696, about 8 o'clock in the evening, John Rapale, Isaac Bemsen, Joras Yannester, Joras Danielse Ra- pale, Jacob Reyersen, Aert Aersen, Tunis Buys, Garret Cowenhoven, G-abriel Sprong,Urian Andriese, John Williamse Bennet, Jacob Bennet and John Meserole, Jr. met armed at the court-house of Kings, where they destroyed and defaced the king's arms which were hanging up there. f The West Riding was composed of the towns of Brook- lyn, Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, New-Utrecht, and Grravesend, together with Staten Island and Newtown. THE TOWN GOVERNMENT. 363 in the year 1685. This town continued under the jurisdiction o£ that court and the court of common pleas, which was afterwards establislied, until the close of the revolutionary war. At tlie close of the war the courts were re-organized, and this town still continues under their jurisdic- tion. PRESENT GOVERKMENT. In 1816 the village of Brooklyn was erected out of the town, and constituted a distinct govern- ment ; thereby forming an hnperium in i7nperio. The present government both of the town and village, approach as near a pure democracy as that of any other place in this State. JSTo business of importance is undertaken without first having the sanction of a public meeting. Here these sterling principles, that all power emanates from the people, and that public officers are but public servants, are fully recognized and acted upon. This head the Compiler will divide into two divisions, in order to avoid confusion : First, the Town Government, and second, the Tillage Gov- ernment. First — the Town Government. The government of the town is administered by A Supervisor, elected by the people, at the an- nual town-meeting, on the first Tuesday of April. 3G4 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. The duties of this officer are principally coniiDed to the apportionment of taxes, presiding at elec- tions, &c. He is also ex-officio a commissioner of excise for granting tavern licenses in the town, and the general guardian of the town rights. There is no salary attached to this office : the su- pervisor receives a compensation of two dollars per day, for attending the general meeting of the supervisors of the different towns in the county, and a trifling amount for granting licenses. The present supervisor is William Furman, esq. A Town Clerk, also elected by the people. The duties of this officer are to call special town- meetings on the request of twelve freeholders, re- cord the proceedings of town-meetings, and pre- serve the records of the town. In 1G9S, Jacob Yandewater, town clerk of this town, received the sura of £6 5^. for two years and six months salary."^ In 1822, in order to make the town clerk's salary in some degree proportionate to the increase of business, the town voted him a salary of $50. In 1824, the town clerk's salary was in- creased to $75. The office is at present held by John Doughty, Esq., who has been successively elected since the year 1796. * At the same period, the salary of the clerk of the county was £10 per annum. THE TOWN JUDICIAKY. 365 Five Assessors, also elected by the people — whose duties are to assess all real and personal estate liable to taxation within the town, and to forward such assessment to the supervisors, that they may apportion the amount of tax on the same. The present assessors are Messrs. John S. Bergen, Richard Stanton, John Spader, Joseph Moser, and Andrew Demarest. Their compen- sation is one dollar and twenty-five cents per day during the time they are employed in making and completing the assessment. There are also elected two overseer's of the poor, Messrs. AA^illiam Corn well and Isaac Moser ; one constable and collector^ Mr. John McKenney ; two constahles, Messrs. John Lawrence and Sam- uel Doxsey ; and several other ofticers, whose names and duties w^ill be set forth in the subse quent parts of this work. The judicial business of this town is at present transacted by three justices of the peace, viz., John Garrison, John C. Murphy, and Sanmel Smith, Esqs. These magistrates are appointed by the judges of the com]non pleas and the super- visors of the county. Second — the Village Government. April 12, 1816, the village of Brooklyn was in- 336 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLYN. corporated by an act of the legislature of this state. By this act the freeholders and inhabi- tants are authorized annually to elect, on the first Monday of May, *' Five discreet freeholders, resi- dent within the said village, Trustees thereof ; " and these trustees are authorized to appoint a president and clerk. The first trustees, Messrs. Andrew Mercein, John Garrison, John Doughty, John Seaman, and John Dean, were appointed by the legislature, and continued in ofiice until the first Monday of May, 1817; when the first election was made by the people, and they made choice of Messrs. William Furman, Ilenrj^ Stan- ton, William Henry, Tunis Joralemon, and Noah Waterbury. The present trustees are Messrs. Joshua Sands, John Doughty, Joseph. Moser, John Moon, and Samuel James. Joshua Sands, Esq., president, and John Dikeman, Esq., clerk of the board. Tlie president, previous to 1824, re- ceived no salary ; at present, his salary is $300. The clerk formerly received a salary of $100, which, in consequence of the great increase of business, is now raised to $200. The powers of the trustees are principally "to make, ordain, constitute, and publish, such prudential by-laws, rules and regulations, as they from time to time shall deem meet and proper ; and such in par- ticular as relate to the public markets, streets, al- THE TILLAGE GOVERNMENT, 367 leys, and highways of the said village ; to di-aiiiiiig, tilling up, levelling, paving, improving, and keep- ing in order the same ; relative to slanghter- houses, houses of ill-fame, and nuisances gene- rally ; relative to a village watch, and ligliting the streets of said village ; relative to restraining geese, swine, or cattle of any kind ; relative to the better improvement of their common lands ; relative to the inspection of weights and mea- sures, and the assize of bread ; relative to erect- ing and regulating hay-scales ; relative to the licensing of public porters, cartmen, hackney- coachmen, gangers, weigh-masters, measurers, in- spectors of beef and pork, of wood, of staves and heading, and of lumber ; relative to public wells, pumps, and reservoirs or cisterns of water to be kept filled for the extinguishment of fires ; rela- tive to the number of taverns or inns to be licensed in said villao^e; and relative toanv thino^ 7 f O whatsoever that may concern the public and good government of the said village ; but no such by- laws shall extend to the reornlatino; or fixino: the prices of any commodities or articles of provision, except the article of bread, that may be ofiered for sale." The powers of the trustees in open- ing, regulating, and widening streets, are enlarged and defined by an act passed by the legislature of this state, April 9, 1824. 3G8 KOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOEXYN. The board of trustees have the appointment of several officei-s. The following is a list of the names of the officers at present holding under them. John Lawrence, Collector. Samuel Watts, 1 John Titus, K.,. . , A 1 mi r VVei^rhers. Andrew Tombs, ^ Robert W. Doughty, j Burdet Striker, Measurer. William A. Sale, Measurer of Lime. Three village Assessors are also elected by the people, for the purpose of making an assessment on which to apportion the village tax. The pres- ent assessors are Losee Yan l!sostrand, Gamaliel King, and John D. Conklin. The Trustees, by an act passed April 9th, 1824:, are constituted a Board of Llealth. The President and Clerk of the Trustees are ex- officio President and Clerk of the Board of Health. The salary of the President of this Board is §150. A Health Physician is appointed by the Board of Health ; which office is at present held by Dr. J. G. T. Hunt, with a salary of $200. The duties of the Board relate to the general conservation of the health of the village. As early as 1809, during the prevalence of the THE BOARD OF HEALTH. 309 yellow fever in this town, the inhabitants met to- gether in conseqnence of repeated solicitations from the Common Council of New York, and after stating in their proceedings that, " reports prevailed, that disease exists to an alarming ex- tent in the town of Brooklyn," they appointed the following gentlemen a committee "for the purpose of inquiring into the state of the health of the inhabitants of said town, and to act as the case in their opinion may require," viz., William Furman, John Gari'ison, Burdet Stryker, Henry Stanton, and Andrew Mercein. A sum of money was raised by subscription to meet the expense of this Committee. In the year 1819, the Trustees, although not strictly invested with power, yet feeling the necessity of acting with some degree of energy, in order to quiet the fears of the inhabitants, arising from reports of the existence of a pesti- lential disease in New York, published an address, in which they state, "that during this season of alarm, they have not been unmindful of that part of their duty incumbent on them as a Board of Health for the village," and that " measures have been taken to obtain from time to time a report of the state of health throughout the village, that the inhabitants may be early apprised of any change affecting their welfare." 16* 370 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLTN. PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS. This head will be divided into three divisions — first, Churches; second, Markets; and third Public Institutions. Mrst, Churches. The first Church established in Kings County, was, October 13, 1654, when the Rev. Joannes Theodoras Polhemus, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, was j^enniUed by Governor Stuyvesant, to preach at Midwout (Flatbush) and Amersfort (Flatlands).* The congregation was gathered at this time ; but the order of Governor Stuyvesant for building the Church is dated December 15, 1654. February 9, 1655, the Governor ordered the inhabitants of Brooklyn and Amersfort, which at that period, together with Gravesend, were one congregation, to cut timber for the erection of the Church at Midwout; which building was to be 60 feet in length, 28 feet in breadth, and 14 feet in height below the beams. In order to accommodate the four towns of Gravesend, Amersfort, Midwout, and Brooklyn, the Governor ordered that Mr. Polhemus should preach every Sunday morning at Midwout, and * This minister died in the month of June, 1676. ACCOUNT OF CIIUKCIIES. 371 Sunday afternoons alternately at Amersfort and Brooklyn. In the year 1659, the inhabitants of this town applied to Governor Stnyvesant for permission to call a minister for their congregation, assigning as their reason for their application, the badness of the road to Flatbush, the difficulty of attend- ing divine service at 'New York, and the extreme old age and inability of the Rev. Mr. Polhemus to perform his services at Brooklyn. The Governor deemed the request reasonable, and sent Nicasius de Sille, Fiscal of New Neth- erlancl, and Martin Kregier, Burgomaster, of New Amsterdam, to this town, as a committee of inquiry, who reported in favor of the application ; whereupon the request of the inhabitants was granted. The inhabitants prepared a call for the Rev. Ilem-y Solinus, alias Ilenricus Selwyn, from Holland, who was approved of by the classis of Amsterdam, on the 16th of February, 1660, when the classis also gave the Rev. Mr. Solinus a dis- mission, wishing hitn a safe and prosperous jour- ney by land and by water to his congregation in the New Netherland. The time of the arrival of this minister is not known. He was installed in his church on the 3d of September, 1660, in the presence of the Fiscal, and Burgomaster Kregier, by the order of Governor Stuyvesant, who ap- 372 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. pears to have been at the head of the eccleslastic^al, as well as the civil and military government of the colony. On the 7th of September, 1660, a letter was written to the E-ev. Mr. Polhemns, informing him of the installation of the Kev. Mr. Solinus in the Church of Brooklyn, and thanking him for his labom-s and attention to the Congregation. The letter was sent by a respectable person, to whom the Rev. Mr. PoUienius returned his thanks for the attention which the Church at Brooklyn had paid him, and furnished the messenger with a list of the names of the Church menibers, twenty- iive in number. Mr. Solinus' salary was 600 guilders per an- num, equal to $200. Three hundred guilders of which \vas to be paid by Brooklyn, and three hundred by Fatherland (Holland). Some time after, the inliabitants of Brooklyn objected to raising their proportion of the salary ; and May 25, 1662, petitioned the Governor that Mr. Solimis should reside amonor them; settins^ forth as a reason, that if their minister resided with them more people would go to church, and they would be better able to raise the salary. Gover- nor Stuyvesant, in order to accommodate this dispute, proposed to pay 250 guilders towards Mr. Solinus' salary, on condition that he would DESTKUCTION OF ESOPUS. 373 preach in the Bonweiy on Sunday afternoons. — This arrangement appears to have been entered intOy for a short time after Mr. Solinus preached at the Bouwery half the time. The Indians having on the 7th of June, 1663, attacked the town of Esopus, burnt the same, and destroyed many of the inhabitants, and took many prisoners; the event was communicated by Governor Stuyvesant to the church at Broolvlyn, in the following manner. " As a sorrowf ull accident and willf ull massaci-e has been committed by the Esopus Indians, who have with deliberate design under the insidious cover of friendship, determined to destroy Eso- pus, which they effected on the Tth instant, killing and wounding a number of the inhabi- tants, and taking many prisoners, burning the new^ town, and desolating the place. Whereupon the congregation is directed and desired by his Excellency the Governor General to observe and keep the ensuing AV'ednesday as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer to the Almighty, hoping that he may avert further calamities from the ISTew Netherlands, and extend his fatherly pro- tection and care to the country. And it is fur- ther ordered, that the first Wednesday in every month be observed in like manner. By order of the Director-General, and Council, &c. Dated at 874 NOTES ON THE TOW^N- OF BROOKLYN. Fort Orange, June 26, 1663." Wednesday the 4tli of July, 1663, was observed as a day of thanksgiving on account of a treaty of peace having been made with the Esopus Indians, and the release of the inhabitants who had been taken prisoners ; and also for the success obtained over the British, who attempted with flj'ing colours to take possession of all Long Island for the King of England, which was prevented by the timely arrival of the Dutch fleet. On the 23d of July, 1664, the Kev. Henry Solinus took leave of his congregation and sailed in the ship Beaver for Holland. After his de- parture, Charles Debevoise, the schoolmaster of the town, and sexton of the church, was directed to read prayers, and a sermon from an approved author, every Sabbath day in the church for the improvement of the congregation, until another minister was called. The first Dutch church in Brooklyn was built in the year 1666, although a minister had been settled to preach here for some years previous. — A second church was erected on the site of that built in 1666; which second church continued standing until about 1810, when a new and sub- stantial church was erected on Joi-alemon street, and the old one taken down. This old church was a very gloomy looking building, with small LIST OF DUTCH MINISTERS. 375 windows, and stood in the middle of the highway, about a mile from Brooklyn ferry. In removing it the workmen found the remains of a Hessian officer, who had been buried there in his uniform, during the Kevolutionary war. The Dutch congregations on this island formed but one church, although they had different con- sistories. The ministers under the Dutch government were not permitted to marry any persons without making the marriage proclamation on three suc- ceeding Sabbaths in their churclies. The same practice was observed after the Colony came un- der the British government. The last mentioned government however sold marriage licenses, which were granted by the Governor's Secretary in New York, for the sum of eight dollars each. The inhabitants generally preferred purchasing a marriage license, and thus contributed to the revenue of the Governor and Secretary. During the ministry of the Kev. Mr. Solinus, the marriage fees were not the perquisite of the Minister, as appears by his account rendered by him to the Consistor^^, on the 29th of October, 1662, when he paid over to the consistory the sum of seventy-eight guilders and ten stivers, for four- teen marriage fees received by him. The following is a list of ministers of the Dutch 876 N()Tp:3 on the town of Brooklyn. Reformed Church, who officiated in the church on tliis island (with the exception of Poliiemus and Solinus), taken from a manuscript of the Eev. Peter Lowe. Joannes Magapolensis, probably died. 1668 Casper us Van Zuren " " . 1677 Clark " " . 1695 William Lupardus " " . 1709 Bernardus Freeman,* from 1702 to. .. 1741 Yincintius Antonides, from 1715 to. . . 1744: Joannes Arondeus, probably died. . . . 1742 Anthony Curtenius, from 1730 to 1756 Ulpianus Yan Sinderin, from 1747 to. 1796 John Casper Rubeb, from 1760 to. . . . 1797 Martinus Schoonmaker, from 1785 to 1824 [This venerable pastor was eighty-eight years of age at his death ; and a short time previous of- ficiated in four congregations.] Peter Lowe, from 1787 to 1818 In the month of April, 1708, fifty-seven of the inhabitants of Brooklyn entered into an agree- ment (which is written in Dutch) to call a minis- ter from Holland to preach in the church of this town. The elders of the church at that time were Daniel Bapalie and Jores Hanse. * This minister was naturalized in the Court of Sessions for Kings County, November 8, 1715. CASE OF IIENDEICK YECIiTE. 377 The salary of the Clerk of the Clmrch in tliis town was f(jrmerly raised by a tax on the whole town. At a town meeting, held February 1, 1568, It was resolved, that the sum of £20 10s. should be raised and paid into the hands of the " church masters " for " the widow of Ilendrick Sleght, ffor 1 year and 8 months salary, and being Clarke off the churche." The following singular proceediug may be amusing to some readei'S, and will serve to show to what exti-emes both the people and the magis- trates carried themselves in former times. Ilen- drick Yechte, Esq., a Justice of the Peace, was pi-esented at the Kings County Sessions, May 11:, 1710, for coming into the Brooklyn Church, on Sunday, August 10, 1709, " with his pen and ink in his hand, taking of peoples names, and taking up one particular mans hatt up, and in disturbance of the minister and people in the service of God, &c." Yechte's plea was that in obedience to an order of the Gover^ior he did go into the church as alledged, " to take notice of the persons that were guilty of the forcible entry made into the Church, that by Abrom Brower, and others, by breaking of said Church doore with force and arms, forcibly entering into said Church, not- withstanding the forewarning of Mr. Freeman the minister, and his people to the contrary." 378 NOTES ON" THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. The Court found that Justice Yechte was not guilty of a breach of the peace, and discharged him. It must be remembered that Justice Yechte was a member of the Court. There was a con- siderable difference of opinion and m.any disputes among the inhabitants of this town, and of the County, as to the right of the Hev. Mr. Freeman to preach ; into the merits of which controversy it is not to be expected that the Compiler can enter at this distant day. Excepting the above proceeding of the Court, the only document which the Compiler has been able to obtain relative to this controversy is a letter from Henry Ffilkin, Esq., to the Secretary at New York, which will be found in the Appendix marked with the let- ter D. December 18, 1814, the Trustees of the Dutch E-eformed Church of the town of Brooklyn were incorporated. At which time the following gen- tlemen were officers of the Church. Martinas Schoonmaker, ) ^^^^^^^^^^ reter Lowe, j Elders. Fernandus ^uydam, Walter Berry, Jeremiah Johnson, John Lefferts. TKUSTEES OF DUTCH CHURCHES. 379 Deacons. Jeremiah Brower, Lambert Schenck, Abraham De Bevoise, Abraham Eemsen. The present officers of this Church are, Eev. S. S. Woodhull, D.D., Pastor. JElders. Leffert Lefferts, Tunis Joralemon, David Anderson, Nehemiah Denton. Deacons. Theodorus Polhemus, James De Bevoise, Adrian Hegeman, Adriance Yan Brunt. September 18, 1Y85, an " Independent Meeting House" was incorporated at this place. The officers of which were : John Matlock, Pastor, George Wall, Assistant, John Carpenter, Treasurer, George Powers, Secretary. Trustees. William Bunton, John Emery, Eobert Steath, William Hinson. Barnard Cordman, 380 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Their place of worship was a frame building Oil what is now the Episcopalian burying ground in Fulton street. This conOTCP-ation continued but a short time, in consequence of the seceding of its members to the Episcopalian Cliurch, which was soon after established in this place. The hrst celebration of Divine Service after the inanner of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in this town, subsequent to the Kevolution, was at the old brick house known as Ko. 40 Fulton street, and now owned by Mr. Abiel Titus. About the year 17S7, the Episcopal Church was established in Brooklyn, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Wright, at the house on the north-east corner of Fulton and Middagh streets; which house was fitted up with pews, etc. April 23, 17ST. "The Episcopal Church of Brooklyn" was incorporated. The following are the names of the first Trustees. Whitehead Cornell, Joshua Sands, Joseph Sealy, Aquila Giles, Mathew Cleaves, Henry Stanton, John Yan Nostrand. This congregation afterwards came into pos- session of the place of worship before used by the THE METHODIST CHUECHES. 381 Independent Congregation, and continued to wor- sliip in that edifice until they erected the Stone Chnrch called " St. Ann's Church," Sands street. June 22, 1795. The Episcopal Church in this town was re-organized and incorporated by the name of " St. Ann's Church." Church Wardens. John Yan Nostrand, and George Powers. Yestrymen. Joshua Sands, Aquila Giles, Paul Durel, John Cornell, Jose}>li Fox, Gilbert Yan Mater, William Carpenter, Robert Stoddard. The congregation at the same time resolved that Monday in Easter week should be the time of their future elections for Church officers. The stone church which was erected on Sands street, has continued to the present time ; but is now in bad repair, in consequence of the walls not liaving been properly erected. The Yestry passed a vote for erecting a new church to front on Washington street, the corner stone of which was laid March 31, 1824. The new edifice is fast 882 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. progressing, and promises to be a great ornament to the place. The present officers of St. Ann's Church are, Rev. Henrv U. Onderdonk, Rector. Church Wardens. William Cornwell, and Joshua Sands. Yestrymen. James B. Clarke, John H. Moore, Robert Bach, Robert Carter, Adam Tredwell, Losee Yan Nostrand, Fanning' C. Tucker, A. H. Yan Bokkelen. William Cornwell, Treasurer. May 19, 1794, the " First Methodist Episcopal Church " in this town was incorporated. The Trustees at which period were, John Garrison, Stephen Hendrickson, Thomas Yan Pelt, Richard Everit, Burdet Stryker, Isaac Moser. The present Meeting-house of this denomina- tion is erected on the site of their first place of worship, on Sands street ; and is a neat, plain edifice. The present officers are. Rev. William Ross, Pastor in charge. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHTJECH. 383 Trustees. John Garrison, George Smith, Isaac Moser, Isaac Nostrand, William Foster, John G. Miirph}^, Jacob Brown, R. Van Yoris. Andrew Mercein, Isaac Moser, Treasurer. January 12, 1818, the "African Wesley an Me- thodist Episcopal Church in the village of Brook- lyn," incorporated. First Trustees. Peter Croger, Benjamin Crogcr, Israel Jemison, John E. Jackson, Ceasar Sprong. The place of worship of this congregation is a frame meeting house situate on High street. March 13, 1822. The " First ^ Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn " was incorporated. First Trustees. Jehiel Jaggar, Elkanah Doolittle, Nathaniel Ilowland, Joseph Sprague, Silas Butler, Alden Spooner, John B. Graham, George Hall, Charles H. Pichards. 384 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. The corner stone of this church was laid, April 15, 1822. The Church is situate on Cranberry street ; and is a very handsome brick building, something in the Gothic style. The present offi- cers are : Hev. Joseph Sanford, Pastor. Elders. Zechariah Smith, Selden G-ates, Ezra C. Woodhull. Trustees. Alden Spooner, George Ilall, Edward Coope, Nathaniel Howland, Henry W. Warner, Benjamin Meeker, Elkanah Doolittle, Joseph Sprague, Silas Butler. Elkanah Doolittle, President of the Board, Silas Butler, Clerk, do Nathaniel W. Sandford, Treasurer. November 20, 1822. "St. James Eoman Catholic Church," incorporated. First Trustees. George S. Wise, Jr. William Purcell, Peter Turner, James Pose, Patrick Scanlan, Darby Dawson, William M'Laughlin. FIRST BAPTIST CHUECn. 385 The corner stone of this Church was laid, June 25, 1822. The edifice is of brick, and ap- proaches nearer to the Gothic architecture than any other building in this town. It is yet un- finished. This is the first Eoman Catholic Church erected on Long Island. The present Trustees are : , President,* Peter Turner, Secretary, William Purcell, Treasurer, James Kose, Darby Dawson, William M'Laughlin, Patrick Scanlan. October 15, 1823. The " First Baptist Church in Brooklyn," incorporated. Trustees. Eliakim Kaymond, Elijah Lewis, John Brown, Richard Poland, Charles P. Jacobs. March 24, 1824. Rev. William C. Hawley was ordained Pastor of this Church. This con- gregation have, as ^^et, erected no building for * This office was held by Greorge S. Wise, Jun., Esq., until his death in November, 1834. 17 386 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. public worship; but assemble for that purpose in the District School room, IsTo. 1. There are also in this town some of the de- nomination of Friends, and a small congregation of [Jniversalists ; neither of which have estab- lished places of public worship. The Universal- ists are nnder the pastoral care of the Hev. AVil- liam Mitchell, aiid assemble for Divine service in the District School-room, No. 1. In the present year, this town purchased ol Leffert Lefferts, Esq., a small farm situate at the "Wallaboght ; a portion of which was set off for a burying ground, and divided into convenient parcels; which were allotted in the following manner to the different congregations worship- ping in the town, viz. No. 1. Dutch Keformed, 6. Universalist, 2. Friends, 7. Episcopalian, 3. Presbyterian, 8. Baptist, 4. Roman Catholic, 9. Common. 5. Methodist Episco- palian, Second, Markets. A market was established in this town as early as the year 1676, which will appear from the fol- THE BROOEXTN MARKETS. 387 lowing order of tlie General Court of Assizes, made in the month of October, 1675. " Upon proposall of having a fayre and Markett in or neare this City (Kew York), It is ordered. That after this season, there shall yearely bee kept a fayre and markett at Breucklen near the ferry, for all grayne, cattle, or other produce of the countrey, to be held the first Munday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, in November ; and in the City of New York, the Thursday, Friday, and Satur- day following." Previous to the year 1814, there were two mar- kets in this place ; one of w^hich was situate at the foot of the old ferry street ; and the other at the foot of Main street. Both these markets were taken down in 1814. At present we have no public market ; the in- habitants are supplied from several butchers' shops for the sale of meat, and stands for vege- tables, scattered about in different parts of the village. The people have been for some time past endeavouring to obtain a public market, and the great difficulty appears to be the location of a proper site. At a village meeting, held June 26, 1824, the sum of $10,000 was voted to erect a brick market liouse and Village Hall, with other offices. This amount it was resolved, should be raised by a loan for not less than ten years, at 388 NOTES ON TBffi TOWN OF BROOKLYN. six per cent; that the proceeds of the market arising from the letting of stalls, etc., should be appropriated to paying tlie interest of said loan ; and that if in process of time there should be a surplus, after paying the interest, the same should be converted into a sinking fund for ex- tinguishing the principal. These resolutions have not as yet been carried into effect. Third, Public Institutions, Of public institutions we have not many to boast — they may be strictly confined to one Bank, a Fire Insurance Company, and an Apprentices' Library. The " Long Island Bank " was incorporated, April 1st, 1824, with a capital of $300,000, di- vided into six thousand shares of $50 each. The present officers are, Leffert Lefferts, Esq., Presi- dent, and D. Embury, Cashier. The " Brooklyn Fire Insurance Company " was incorporated, April 3, 1824, with a capital of $150,000, divided into six thousand shares of $25 each. The present officers of this institution are William Furntan, President, and Freeman Hopkins, Secretary. There is also in this village a branch of the " Equitable Fire Insurance Company ; " of which Abraham Yanderveer, Esq., is Agent. THE MxiSONIC LODGES. 389 The Apprentice's Library Association, which has been formed but a short time, promises to be of great benefit to the apprentices of the phice, by introducing among them habits of reading and reflection, which, if properly attended to, will enable them to support the honourable char- acter of good citizens. The Library at present consists of about twelve hundred volumes, which have been presented by different individuals. About one hundred ap- prentices take books from it, regularly once a week. This institution was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, passed in November, 1S24:. The present officers are : Robert Snow, President ; Thomas Kirk, Yice- President ; Andrew Mercein, Treasurer ; Robert Nicholls, Secretary. Under this head it may be proper to notice, that there are two Masonic Lodges in this town, and a Post office. Fortitude Lodge, ]^o. 81. — W. Levi Porter, Master. Ilohenlinden Lodge, N"o. 338. — W. Abiathar Young, Master. The Post office is kept at Is'o. 97 Fulton street, by George L. Birch, Esq., Post Master. The mail is carried daily (Sundays excepted) between 390 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Bi'ooklyn and I^ew York, and closes at Brooklyn at 8 A. M. and arrives at 4c P. M. POPULATION AND INCKEASE. Within a few years this town, and particularly the village has increased very rapidly. In 1814, the town of Brooklyn contained 3805 inhabitants ; and in 1816, the town contained 4402 inhabitants. In 1820, the census was as follows (being almost two-thirds of the population of the Count}-). White males i, under 10 years of age, 876 do. between 10 and 16 376 do. between 16 and 26 717 do. between 26 and 45 961 do. between 45 and upwards,379 3309 White females, under 10 years of age, 876 do. between 10 and 16 398 do. between 16 and 26 705 do. between 26 and 45 961 do. between 45 and upwards,379 3319 Free blacks, 657 Slaves, 190 7475 POPULATION AND INCREASE. 391 Foreigners not naturalized - . - 252 Persons engaged in Agriculture, - - 264 do. in Commerce, - - 67 do. in Manufactures, - - 497 The following account of the population of Kings County at different periods, may not be uninteresting to many readers. The population of Kings Coun- ty in 1731 was 2150 1756 2707 1771 3623 1786 3966 1790 4495 1800 5740 1810 8303 1820 11187 ^ * Governor NicoUs, in a letter to the Duke of York, No- vember, 16G5, informed him "that such is the mean condi- tion of this town (New York), that not one soldier to this day has lain in sheets, or upon any other bed than canvas and straw." 1678. New York contained 843 houses, and 3430 inhabi- tants ; and there were owned in the city three ships, eight gloops and seven boats. 1686. The City of New York contained 594 houses, and 6000 inhabitants ; and there were owned in it 10 three-masted vessels of between 80 and 100 tons; 3 ketches or barques, of about 40 tons ; and about 20 sloops, of 25 tons. In the same year the militia of the colony consisted of 4000 foot, 800 horse, and one company of drag'oons. 392 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BEOOIvLYN. In 1706, there" were 64 f eeholders in the town of Brooklyn. In 1802 their number had only in- creased to S6, as appears from the list of Jurors 1696, There were owned in the City of New York, 40 ships, 62 sloops, and 62 boats. In 1697, the population of New York has considerably de- creased, from what it was in 1686 ; the census taken thia year was as follows : f Men, - - - 946 ' Women, - - 1018 Whites I Young men and boys, 864 I Young- women and girls 899 3727 (Men, - - - 209 Blacks ] Women, - - - 205 ( Boys and girls, - - 161 575 Total, 4303 1731. The City of New York contained White males, - - - 3771 White females, - - - 3274 7045 Black males, - - - 785 Black females, - - - 792 1577 Total, 8622 1756. The City contained 10,881 inhabitants. 1771. It contained 21,863 inhabitants. 1736. It contained 3,340 houses, and 23,614 inhabitants. 1790. It contained 33,131 inhabitants 1800. 60,489 18ia. 96,373 1820. 139,000 GROWTH OF BEOOKLYN. 393 at that period. In the year 1800, there were 253 votes given in this town, at a contested elec- tion for assemblyman. In 1824, on the same occasion 1013 votes were taken. At the close of the Eevolutionary war, the town of Brooklyn within the bounds of the pres- ent village contained 56 buildings. In 1821, the village contained 867 buildings; of which 96 were Groceries and Taverns, and several store- houses. These store-houses depend principally, on the operations of the Quarantine laws, in the months of June, July and August, for business. On the 23d of July in the same year, there were lying at the wharves in this village, 13 ships, 9 brigs, 8 schooners, and 14 sloops. July 1, 1824, there were lying at the wharves in this village, 8 ships, 16 brigs, 20 schooners, and 12 sloops. In 1822, 50 dwelling-houses were erected in this village. In 1823, 122 frame dwellings and 32 brick and brick front buildings were erected. January 1, 1824, the village of Brooklyn con- tained 113 stone, brick and brick front buildings. During the present year 143 frame dwelling- houses have been built in this village. The town contains 8 Ropewalks, which manu- facture 1130 tons of cordage annually ; 4 Distil- leries ; 2 Spirits of Turpentine Distilleries ; 1 Glue factory ; 1 Chain cable manufactory ; 2 17 394 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BUOOKLTN. Tanneries ; 2 White lead works ; 1 Whiting manufactory ; 1 Glass factory and 1 Furnace for casting iron. The manufacture of Hats is con- ducted on a large scale in this place. In the year 1703, a survey was made of " Broocklands improveable lands and meadows within fence," and the same was found to amount to 51Y7 acres. At that period the greatest holder of that description of land was Simon Aersen, who owned 200 acres. In 1706, all the real and personal estates of the town of Brooklyn were as- sessed at £3122 12s. Od. The tax on which was £41 33. 7^(1., and the whole tax of the county £201 16s. lid. In 1707, the real and personal estates of this town assessed at £3091 lis. Od., the government tax on which was for the same year £116 7s. 3d., payable in two payments ; and the whole tax of the county £448 3s. 7d. The present year the real estate in this town was as- sessed at $2,111,390. And the personal estate at $488,690 ; being considerably more than one half of the whole value of the county. The State, county and town tax on which amounts to $6,- 497.71. At this period there are in the village 1149 taxable persons, and the village tax amounts to $2,625.76, averaging about $2.29, each taxable person. This village tax includes $450 raised to meet the expenses of the Board of Health, and VALUE OF REAL ESTATE. 395 is exclusive of all local assessments for opening and improving streets, &c. The receipts of the overseers of the poor of this town for the year 1823, amounted to §3108.- Y7, and their expenditures to $3469.49, leaving a balance of $360.72 against the town. On the 22d of March, 1823, there were 54 persons in the Almshouse; 51 persons were ad- mitted during the year ending March 30, 1824. During the same period 34 were discharged, and 10 died. March 30, 1824, there w^ere in the almshouse 40 persons, viz., 11 men, 16 women, 5 girls, and 8 boys. In the winter of 1823-4, 93 loads of wood were distributed from this institu- tion among the poor of the town.* April 21, 1701, a piece of land about 100 feet square, lying within the present bounds of the village of Brooklyn, was sold far £75, " current money of the Province of ISTew York." 1720, a dwelling-house and lot of ground, containing 62 feet front, 61 feet rear, and 111 feet deep, near the ferry, on the north-east side of what is now called Fulton street, sold for £260, '' current money of New York." In the year 1784, all the property owned by the Corporation of the City of * The town is now erecting a very neat building for an almshouse, on the property lately purchased from Leffert Lefferts, Esq. 396 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF EKOOKLTN. New York in this town was assessed at £365, New York currency, which property is now worth $50,000 at the lowest calculation. August 30,1701, John Bybon sold to Cornelius Yanderhove, for £37 10s, the one equal half- part of a brew-house, situate at Bedford, in the town of Brookland, fronting the highway leading from Bedford to Cripplebush ; together with one equal half- part of all the brewing vessels, &c. In 1685, a windmill was erected in this town by John Yannise and Peter Hendricks, for Michael Ilainell. There is a great reason to be- lieve that this was the first mill erected in this town. August 19, 1689, an agreement was en- tered into between Cornelius Seberingh, of Brookland, and John Marsh, of East Jersey, relative to building a watermill on Graver's kill, in this town. At present there are in this town seven watermills and two windmills. From February 16, 1823, to February 15, 1824, 5,825 barrels of superfine flour, 260 barrels of fine flour, and 124 hogsheads of cornmeal were inspected in this county. The most, if not all, of which flour and meal was manufactured at the mills in this place. May, 1661, Charles Debevoise was recom- mended by Governor Stuyvesant as a suitable SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTEES. 397 person for schoolmaster of this town, and also for clerk and sexton of the church, who was employ- ed and received a good salary. Immediately previous to the Revolutionary war, that part of the town of Brooklyn which is now comprised in the bounds of tlie village, and for some distance without those bounds, supported but one school of nineteen scholars, five of whom were out of the family of Mr. Andrew Patchen. The school-house was situated on the hill, on property which was then owned by Israel IIoi-s- field, but now belongs to the heirs of Carey Ludlow, deceased. The teacher was Benjamin Brown, a staunch whig from Connecticut. District School, No, 1. — This school was or- ganized at a public meeting held January 2, 1816, at which meeting Andrew Mercein, John Seaman and Robert Snow were elected trustees, and John Doughty clerk of the school. The trustees were appointed a committee to ascertain a proper site for building a school-house, and re- port the probable expense thereof. At a meet- ing held January 12, 1816, the trustees reported that they could purchase four lots of ground on Concord street, of Mr. Noah Waterbury, for $550. The meeting thereupon resolved, that " the sum of $2,000 should be raised by tax on the inhkbi- tants of the said district, to purchase said lots and 398 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. to build a school-lionse thereon ; " and that in the meantime the ^'Loisian school be the common school of the said district;" and that "the trustees of the district be authorized to ex- onerate from payment of teacher's wages all such poor and indigent persons as they shall think proper, pursuant to the act of the legisla- ture ; " and that " it be recommended by this meeting, that the common school to be taught in this district, be on the Lancastrian plan of instruction." In the school of this district, which includes the village of Brooklyn, upwards of 200 children are taught. The price of tuition does not exceed four dollars per annum, and from that amount down to nothing, in proportion to the abilities of the parent. The School District No. 1, at present contains 1,607 children between the ages of five and fifteen years, of whom 1,157 go to the public or private schools. In 1821 there were eight private schools in the village of Brooklyn. In 1823 the town received from the State $418.13 for the support of common schools. The present officers connected with the com- mon schools of the town are : Commissioners : Jordan Coles, Robert Nichols, Josiah Noyes. BROOKLYN NEWSPAPEES. 399 Inspectors : Charles 1. DoTighty, Evan Beynon, Robert Snow. Trustees of District School Bo. 1 : "William Cornwell, Joseph Sprague, Charles I. Doughty. Clerk: Ralph Malbone. Newsjpajpers, Four newspapers have been published in this town in the following chronological order : June 26, 1T99. Tlie first number of The Cou- rier and New York and Long Island Adver- tiser^ published by Thomas Kirk, Esq. This was the first newspaper established on Long Island. May 26, 1806. The first number of The Long Island Weekly Intelligencer^ published by Messrs. Robinson and Little. June 1, 1809. The first number of The Long Island Star, published by Thomas Kirk, Esq. March 7, 1821. The first number of The Long Island Patriot, published by Geo. L. Birch, Esq. In the month of E^ovember, 1810, proposals were issued by Benjamin F. Cowdrey & Co. for establishing in Bix)oklyn a weekly newspaper, to be entitled The Long Island Journal and American Freeman. For some reason unknown to the Compiler this paper was not published. 400 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. During the month of May, 1820, Erockholst Livingston, Jun., issued proposals for publishing a weekly newspaper in this village, to be entitled The Long Island Hepiiblican. J^Tot meeting with sufficient encouragement, this attempt was abandoned. The only two papers now in existence in this town are The Star, published by Alden Spooner, Esq., and The Long Island Patriot, by George L. Birch, Esq. Moral Character. It is a delicate subject for a writer to treat of the morals of a people among whom he is a resident, lest by telling the truth too plainly, he awaken unpleasant feelings in the breasts of some whom perhaps he would not wish to offend. On the other hand, if glaring faults are slightly passed over, or palliated, it calls down on his de- voted head all the envenomed attacks of malicious criticism. The Compiler, however, flatters him- self that neither will be the case in this instance. The people of Brooklyn, it is true, cannot be considered as rigid in religious matters as the saints of Oliver Cromwell's army, whose very cannon had on the inscription of " O Lord, open thou our lips, and our mouth shall show forth thy THE FIEE DEPARTMENT. 401 praise ! " But they are far from being irre- ligious ; the churches are well filled, religious so- cieties are liberally supported, vice discounten- anced ; and for the more effectual suppression thereof, in 1815, a society for the suppression (if vice and immorality was formed, consisting of many of tlie most respectable inhal)itants of the town. By the exertions of our Sunday-school so- cieties, attached to the different congregations, the morals of the younger part of the community have been greatly reformed ; and it is highly gra- tifying to observe the improvement made in the general morals of the town, in consequence of their benevolent exertions. FIKE DEPARTMENT. Although this might with some propriety be placed under the head of Public Institutions, the Compiler has thought proper to make it a head of itself ; and he hopes that the following few his- torical facts relative to this valuable depai'tment, may be useful to such as feel an interest in its progression and improvement. By an act passed by the Legislature of this State, March 15, 17S8, '' for the better extinguish- ing of fires in the town of Brooklyn," the number 402 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. of firemen was limited to eiglit, who were nomi- nated and appointed by the freeholders and in- habitants of the fire district, which was comprised within nearly the same bounds with the present village. In the year 1794 the smn of £188 19^. lOcl was raised by subscription in this town, for pur- chasino^ a fire engine. On the 24tli March in the following 3'ear, an act was passed by tlie legisla- ture " for the better extinguishing of fires " in this town ; by which act the number of firemen was increased to thirty. 1796. The sum of £49 4:S. was raised by sub- scription for purchasing " a suitable bell for the use of the town of Brooklyn." This is the present fire bell. March 21, 1797, an act was passed by the legis- lature " for the prevention of fires, and for regu- latino^ the assize of bread in the town of Brook- lyn." This act authorized the inhabitants to choose not less than three, nor more than five freeholders, who might from time to time make such prudential by-laws as they judged necessary for the prevention of fires by the burning of chimneys, and for sweeping and otherwise cleans- ing the same. The inhabitants accordingly met on the second Tuesday of May, in the same year, and appointed Messrs. Henry Stanton, John THE ''WASHINGTON' FIRE-ENGINE. 403 Doiightj, Martin Boerum, John Yan Nostrand, and John Fisher, to carry into effect the provisions of the above act. In the execution of which duty the persons so appointed ordained, that from and after the 11th day of July, 1797, a fine of ten shillings should be levied on each person whose chimney should take fire through carelessness, or be set on fire for the purpose of cleansing ; and that " all penalties shall be received and recovered by tlie clerk of the fire company for the time being, if he be one of the persons so chosen ; if not, the said persons elected shall nominate and appoint one of their number to serve for and re- ceive in the same maimer that the clerk is at present authorized." From 1798 to August 6, 1806, the sum of £20 7s. was received for chimney fines. For a considerable length of time this town had but one small fire engine ; they subsequently purchased another, which was called Xo. 2. About 1810, Ko. 3, now styled the " Franklin," was purchased by the inhabitants of the Fire Dis- trict. The Fire Department of the village at present consists of four Fire Engines (of which three are new, namely, IN^os. 1, 2, and 4), and a Hook and Ladder Company, viz. : No. 1. "Washington," full complement 30 men. Foreman, Joshua Sutton. 404 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. No. 2. " Keptuiie," full complement 30 men, Foreman, Gamaliel King, No. 3, " Franklin," full complement 30 men, Foreman, Jeremiah Wells. No. 4, " Eagle," full complement 30 men, Fore- man, George Fricke. Hook and Ladder Company, full complement 30 men. Foreman, John Smith. There are also in the Navy Yard, two excellent fire engines, well manned, and which, together witli those from New York, generously come to our assistance whenever our place is visited by that dreadful calamity, fire. The receipts of the Fire Department, from 1794 to 1815, amounted to £89S 10s. Id. and the expenditures from July 7, 1795, to November 15, 1816, amounted to £964 3s. 3d. The office of Clerk and Treasurer of the Fire Department of this town, was held by John Ilicks, Esq., until 1796 ; at which time Jolm Doughty, Esq., was appointed, and held that office until the incorporation of the village in 1816, when he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Fire Department of the village, which office he held for one year. In 1817, William Furman, Esq, was appointed Chief Engineer, and of- ficiated in that capacity until 1821, when, on the resignation of Mr. Furman, John Doughty, Esq., THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. 405 was again appointed, and continues to hold the office. The present officers of the Fire Depart- ment are : John Doughty, Chief Engineer. Fire Warde?is, Joseph Moser, Edward Coope, Joseph Sprague. April 16, 1823, an act was passed by the Legis- lature of this State to incorporate the firemen of this village, by the name of the " Fire Depart- ment of the Village of Brooklyn." The act al- lows this corporation to hold, purchase, and con- vey any estate, real or personal, for the use of the corporation, provided such real or personal estate shall not at any time exceed the yearly value of $1,000. The following officers were appointed by the act of incorporation, viz. : John Doughty, President. Josliua Sutton, Yice-President. Richard Cornwell, Secretary. Trustees : Jeremiah Wells, Morris Simonson, Michael Trapple, Joseph Moser, George Fricke, Gamaliel King, Simeon Back, Parshall Wells, George L. Birch. The laudable object proposed by this institu- tion is to raise a fund for the relief of widows and children of deceased firemen. By an amendment to the act of Incorporation of the village of Brooklyn, passed April 9, 1824, 406 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. it is provided, " That all fines and penalties under any bj-law of the said village, in relation to the burning of chimneys, and for the preventing and extinguishing of fires, and also, all fines and pen- alties, either under such by-laws, or under any statute of this State, in relation to the manner of keeping and transporting gun-powder within the said village, shall be sued for in the name of the said Trustees (of the village of Brooklyn) by the fire department of the said village, and when re- covered shall be paid to the said fire department, for theii' own use. MISCELLANEOrS. June 7, 1625, Sarah De Eapalje, born in this town. Tradition says that she was the first white child born in the colony. Her parents were Walloons ; from whence is derived the name of Wallaboght, or Walloons Bay, where they lived.* She was twice married. Iler first husband was Hans Hanse Bergen, by wliom she had six children, viz. Michael Hanse, Joris Hanse, Jan * The first settlement in tMs town was made by George Jansen De Rapalje, the father of Sarah, in 1625, on the farm which is now owned by the family of the Schencks at the WaUaboght. TKANSPORTATION OF WHEAT. 407 Hanse, Jacob Ilanse, BrechjeHanse, and Marytje Hanse. Her second husband was Tennis Gnys- bertse Bogart, by whom she also had six children, viz. Aurtie Bogart, Antje Bogart, Neeltje Bo- gart, AnUje Bogart, Catelyntje Bogart, and Gnys- bert Bogart. The account of Sarah De Bapelje, in the archives of the New York Historical So- ciety, contains the names of the persons to whom eleven of her children were married, and tells the places where they settled. The twelfth, Brechje Hanse, went to Holland. March 1, 1665, Hendrick Lubbertson and John Evertsen, appeared as deputies from the town of Brooklyn, at the Assembly convened at Hemp- stead, by order of Richard IN^icolls, Deputy Governor under the Duke of York ; at which assembly the code of laws called the "Duke's laws" were adopted and published. In the appendix marked E. will be found the address which these deputies, together with the others, sent to the Duke of York ; and which occa- sioned so much excitement in the Colony at that period. 1671, This town, with five other towns in the West Biding of Yorkshire upon Long Island, petitioned the Court of Sessions " for liberty to transporte wheate," which petition was referred to the Governor. 408 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BEOOKLTN. 1687. The Clerk's office of Kings Comity was kept in this town, by the Depntj Register, Jacob Yandewater, who was also a Notary Public in this town at the same period. The Register, Samuel Bayard, Esq., resided in the city of New York. About the year 1691, there was a custom prev- alent in this town of calling a widow the " last wife of her deceased husband," and a widower " the last man " of his deceased wife. The following is an Inventory of the estate which a bride in this town brought with her to her husband in the year 1691. The husband by various records appears to have been a man of considerable wealth ; notwithstanding which, the following inventory was thought by both of them of sufficient importance to merit being recorded, viz. " A half worn bed, pillow, 2 cushions of ticking with feathers, one rug, 4 sheets, 4 cushion covers, 2 iron pots, 3 pewter dishes, 1 pewter bason, 1 iron roaster, 1 schuryn spoon, 2 cowes about five yeares old, 1 case or cupboard, 1 table." November 12, 1695, the Court of Sessions for Kings County, ordered that the Constable of this town, " shall on Sunday or Sabbathday take law king's county coukt house. 409 for the apprehending of all Sabbath breakers," and '^search all ale houses, taverns, and other suspected places for all prophaners and breakers of the Sabbath daye," and bring thcni before a Justice of the Peace to be dealt with according to law. This was to be done by the Constable un- der the penalty of six shillings for each neglect or default. The same Court also made an order, " that Mad James be kept by Kings County in general, and that the deacons of each towne within the said county doe forthwith meet togetlier and consider about their propercons for maintainence of said James." This is the first instance which has come to the Compiler's knowledge of tlie Court making an order for the county generally to sup- port a pauper. In the year 1758, the sum of £122 18s. 7d. was assessed in two assessments, by the Justices of the Peace, on this town, towards building " a new Court house and gaol " for Kings County. The whole amount assessed on the County was £41:8 4s. Id. The present Court house of Kings County, was built by contract in the year 1792, at an expense of $2944.71, under the superintendance of John Vanderbilt, Johannes E. Lott, and Charles Doughty, Esq'rs. The contractor was Thomas 18 410 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Fardon, and plans were furnished for the build- ing by Messrs. Stanton and Newton, and James E-obertson.* * In 1700 the Court House was let to James Simson for one year, at £3 "in money." In this agreement, "the Justices reserved for themselves the Chamber in the said house, called the Court Chamber, at the time of their pub- lique Sessions, Courts of Common Pleas, and private meet- ings ; as also the room called the prison for the use of the Sheriff if he hath occasion for it." APPENDIX. A. Deed from 'William liorris and wife to the Corjporation of New-Yorh, This Indenture made the twelfth day of Oc- tober, in the sixth year of the reign of our Sov- ereign Lord and Lady William and Mar}^, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King and Queen, defenders of the faith, &c. and in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and ninety-four, between William Morris, now of the ferry, in the bounds of the town of Bi-euchlen, in Kings County, on Long- Island, Gentleman, and Kebecca his wife of the one part, and the Mayor, Aldermen, and Com- monalty of the City of Kew York, of the other part, Witnesseth, that the said William Morris, by and with the consent of Rebecca his said wife, testified by her being a party to the sealing and delivery of these presents, for, and in consider- ation of a certain sum of good and lawful money 412 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BKOOKLYN. to him, at and before the sealhio- and delivery liereof, by the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Com- monalty, in hand well and trul}^ paid, the receipt whereof he the said William Morris doth hereby acknowledge, and thereof and therefrom and of and from all and every part thereof, he doth hereby, acqnit, exonerate and discharge the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, and their successors forever, hath granted, bargained, sold, assigned, conveyed and confirmed, and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, assign, convey and confirm unto the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the said city of New York, and their successors forever, All that messuage or dwellino^ house and lot of p^round thereunto ad- joining and belonging, with the appurtenances, situate, lying and being at the ferry, in the bounds of the town of Breucklen, in Khigs County aforesaid, now and late in the possession of him, the said William Morris; as also one small house, now in the possession of one Thomas Hock, lying in the said City of New York, over against the ferry aforesaid. Together with all and singular houses, barns, stables^ yards, backsides, wharfs, easements, benefits, emoluments, heredit- aments, and appurtenances to the same messuage or dwelling house and premises belonging, or in any wise appertaining, and the reversion and re- 413 versions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits of all and singular the premisses and the appurtenances, and all the estate, right, title, interest, property, possession, claim and demand of him the said William Morris and Kebecca his said wife, of, in, unto or out of, the said messuage or dwelling house and premises, or, of, in, unto, or out of, all or any part or parcel thereof, and all and singular grants, deeds, escripts, minuments, writings and evidences, touching, relating to or concerning the above-mentioned, to be bargained, messuao-e or dwellino- house and all and sino^ular, the premises with the hereditaments and appur- tenances to the same belonging, or any part thereof, unto the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the city of Xew York, aforesaid, and their successors unto the only proper use, be- nefit and behoof of the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York afore- said, their successors and assigns forever. In witness, &c.^ * The above deed to the Corporation of New York did not extend to the River. January 15, 1717, Samuel Garritsen, of Gravesend, quit-claimed to David Aersen of Brooklyn, all his right and title to a piece of land, ' ' lying next to tho house and land belonging to the City of New York, bounded north-west by the River, south-east by the highway that goes to the ferry, south-west by the house and land belong- ing to the City of New York, and north-east by the houso 414 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. A Warra7it for enforcing the payment of a town tax in the town of Brooklyn. "Whereas there was an order or towne lawe bj the ^Freeholders of the towne of Brooklyn, in Kinoes County aforesaid, the 5th day of May, 1701, ffor constituting and appointing of Trus- tees to defend the rights of their quondam com- mon wood lands, and to raise a tax ffor the same to defray the charge of that and theire towne debts, &c. which said lawe has bin since ffurther confirmed by said ffreeholdei-s at a towne meet- ing at Bedford, the 11th of April, 1702, and since approved of and confirmed by a Court of Sessions, held at Fflatbush, in said County the 13th day of May, 1702. And whereas by virtue of said lawe, a certaine small tax was raised on the ffreeholders in said towne proportionably to defray the charges aforsaid : And now upon complaint of the said Trustees to us made, that A. B. has refused to pay his juste and due pro- porcon of said tax wch amounts to L\ 16s Od, current money of New- York. These are there- and land belonging' to the said John Rapalje, containing one acre be the same more or less." On the 16th day of the same month, David Aersen sold this property to Gerrit Harsura of New York, Gunsmith, for the sum of ilOS current money of New York. BROOKLYN AND NEW YOKK. 415 fore in her Majesty's name, to command you to summons A. B. personally to be and appeare be- fore us, &c., then and there to answer C. D. E. F. Trustees of said towne of Brooklin, in an action of tresspass on the case, to the damage of the said C. D. E. F. LI 16s Od, current money as aforesaid, as it is said, and have with you then there this precept. Given, &c. B. Brookland, November 14, 1Y53. A Town meeting called by warrant of Carel Debevois, Esq. and Jacobus Debevois, Esq. two of his Ma- jesty's Justices for the township of Brookland, in the County of Kings, to elect and chuse Trustees to defend our Patent of Brookland against the Commonalty of the City of New York. — And the Trustees so elected and chosen by the freeholders and inhabitants of the township of Brookland aforesaid, are as follows: Jacobus Lefferts, Peter Yandervoort, Jacob Pemsen, Pem Pemsen, and Kicholas Yechte. And we the hereunder sub- scribers behig freeholders and inhabitants of the township of Brookland, by these presents do fully empower and authorize the abovesaid Trustees, Jacobus Lefferts, Peter Yandervoort, Jacob Pem- sen, Pem Pemsen. and Nicholas Yechte, elected 416 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. and chosen by the freeholders and inhabitants of the township of Brookland aforesaid, to defend our patent where in any manner our liberties, pri- vileges and rights in our patent specified is in- croached, lessened or taken away by the Com- monalty of the City of New- York. And that we hereunder subscribers of the township of Brook- land, oblige ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators to pay to the abovesaid Trustees, all cost that they are at in protecting of the pro- fits of our patent, and that money sliall be col- lected in by the constable of our town. And that the abovesaid Trustees do oblige themselves to render upon oath a true account of all such moneys they have expended in protecting or de- fending our patent, to any person or persons, as the hereunder subscribers shall appoint for that purpose. And in defending our patent so that verdict shall come in our favour, where incon:ie of money or other profits should arise concerning the premises, all such profits or income should be kept towards defraying of all the necessary cost and chai'ge of our township of Brookland, till such time as it is altered by the majority. And that the Trustees should have three shillings per day for their service and no more. ^-^ JUSTICE FILKIN S LETTER. 417 C. The Petition of VolJcert Brier. To HIS Excellency. — The humble peticon of Volkert Brier, inhabitant of the towne of Broock- lancl, on the island of Nassau. May it please 3-our Excellency your peticoner being lined five pounds last Court of Sessions, in Kings County for tearing an execucon directed to him as Constable. Your peticoner being ignorant of the crime, and not thinking it was of force when he was out of his office, or tliat he should have made returne of it as the lawe directs, he being an illiterate man could not read said execucon nor understand any thing of lawe : humbly prays yr Excellency yt you would be pleased to remit said fine of five pounds, yr peti- coner being a poore man and not capaciated to pay said fine without great damage to himself and family. And for yr Excellecy yr peticoner will ever pray, &c. D. A Letter from Justice Ffilhin to the Secretary at Neio TorJi. Sir, — I am in expectation of a complaint com- ing to his Excellency by Coll. Beeckman against 18^ 418 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOEXTN. me, and that his Excellency may be rightly informed of the matter, my humble request to you is, that if such a thing happen, be pleased to give liis Excellency an account thereof, which is as follows : A Ffriday night last, the Justices of the County and I came from his Excellency's ; Coll. Beeckman happened to come over in the fferry boat along with us, and as we came over the iferry. Coll. Beeckman and we went into the fferry house to drink a glass of wine, and being soe in compau}^, there happened a dispute be- tween Coll. Beeckman and myself, about his particular order that he lately made to Mr. Ffree- man, when he was President of the Councill, without the consent of the Councill ; Coll. Beeck- man stood to affirm there, before most of the Justices of Kino;s Countv, that said order, that he made then to Mr. Ffreeraan as President only, was still in fforce, and that Mr. Ffreeman should preach at Bi-oockland next Sunday according to that order ; whereupon I said it was not in fforce, but void and of noe effect, and he had not in this County, any more power now than I have, being equall in commission with him in the general commission of the peace and one of the quorum as well as he ; upon which he gave me affronting words, giving me the lie and calling me pittifull fellow, dog, rogue, rascall, 419 &c. wliich caused me, being overcome with pas- sion, to tell him that I had a good mind to knock him off his horse, we being both at that time get- ting upon our horses to goe home, but that I would not goe, I would light him at any time with a sword. I could wish that these last words had bin kept in, and I am troubled that I was soe overcome with passion and inflamed with wine. The works of these Dutch ministers is the occasion of all our quarrells.* And this is the truth of the matter, there was no blows offerred, nor noe more done. Mr. Ffreeman has preached at Broockland yesterday accordingly, and the church doore was broke open, by whom it is not yet knowne. Soe I beg your pardon ffor this trouble, crave your favour in this matter, and shall alwayes remaine. Sir, your ffaithful and humble servant, H. FFILKm. * The Compiler congratulates his fellow citizens on the ex- tinction of those national animosities which in former times existed between the Dutch and English in this our happy country. We may now truly ask, with Sterne, "are we not all relations ? " 420 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. E. The Address of the Deputies^ assemhled at Hemjpstead. "We the depnties duly elected from the several towns upon Long-Island, being assembled at Hempstead, in general meeting, by authority derived from your royal highness unto the honor- able Colonel Nicolls, as deputy governor, do most humbly and thankfully acknowledge to your royal highness, the gi-eat honor and satisfaction we receive in our dependence upon your royal highness according to the tenor of his sacred ma- jesty's patent, giJ^nted the 12th day of March, 1664 ; wherein we acknowledge ourselves, our heirs and successors forever, to be comprized to all intents and purposes, as therein is more at large expressed. And we do publickly and un- animously declare our cheerful submission to all such laws, statutes and ordinances, which are or shall be made by virtue of authority from your royal highness, your heirs and successors forever: As also, that we will maintain, uphold, and de- fend, to the utmost of our power, and peril of us, our heirs and successors forever, all the rights, title, and interest, granted by his sacred majesty to your royal highness, against all pretensions or ADDRESS OF THE DEPUTIES. 421 invasions, foreign or domestic; we being already well assured, that, in so doing, we perforin onr duty of allegiance to his majesty, as freeborn sub- jects of the kingdom oi England inhabiting in these his majesty's dominions. We do fartlier beseech your royal highness to accept of this ad- dress, as the first fruits in this general meeting, for a memorial and record against us, our heirs and successors, when we or any of them shall fail in our duties. Lastly we beseech your royal high- ness to take our poverties and necessities, in this wilderness country, into speedy consideration ; that, by constant supplies of trade, and your royal highnesses more particular countenance of grace to us, and protection of us, we may daily more and more be encouraged to bestow our labors to the improvement of these his majesty's western dominions, under your royal highness ; for whose health, long life, and eternal happiness, we shall ever pray, as in duty bound. List of the Dejputies. New Utrecht Jaques Cortellean Younger Hope Gravesend James Hubbard John Bowne Flatlands Elbert Elbertsen Roeloffe Martense Flatbush John Striker Hendrick Gucksen Bvishwick John Steahnan Gisbert Tunis Brooklyn Hendrick Lubbersten John Evertsen Newtown Richard Betts John Cos 433 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOKLYN. Flushing Jamaica Hempstead Oysterbay Huntington Brookhaven Southold Southampton Easthampton Westchester Elias Doughty Daniel Denton John Hicks John Underhill Jonas Wood Daniel Lane William Wells Thomas Topping Thomas Baker Edward Jessup Richard Comhill Thomas Benedict Robert Jackson Matthias Harvey John Ketcham Roger Barton John Youngs John Howell John Stratton Quinby The people of Long Island considered the language of this address as too servile for free- men ; and were exasperated against tlie makers of it to such a degree that the court of assizes, in order to save the deputies from abuse, if not from personal violence, thought it expedient, at their meeting in October 1666, to declare that "who- soever hereafter shall any wayes detract or speake against any of the deputies signing the address to his royall highnes, at the general meeting at Hempstead, they shall bee presented to the next court of sessions, and if the justices shall see cause, they shall from thence bee bound over, to the assizes, there to answer for the slander upon plaint or information. The deputies subsequently to the address made to the duke of York, made one to the people, in which they set forth their reasons for agreeing to the code styled the duke's laws. 423 APPENDIX, 1^0. 2. The following is a copy of the first charter by which the corporation obtained any color of title to the land between high and low water mark, on the Brooklyn side. "Anne, by the grace of God, of England, Scot- land, France and Ireland, Queen, defender of the Faith, (fee. To all whom these presents may in any wise concern, sendeth greeting. AYhereas the Ma^'or, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the city of 'New York, by their petition to onr trusty and well-beloved cousin Edward, Yiscount Corn- bury,"^ our captain-general and governor-in-chief in and over our province of New York, and ter- ritories depending thereon in America, and Yice * " Lord Combury came to this province in very indigent circumstances ; hunted out of England by a host of hungry creditors, he was bent on getting as much money as he could squeeze out of the purses of an impoverished people." He was infamous for his " excessive avarice, his embezzle- ment of the public money, and his sordid refusal to pay his private debts." Combury became so obnoxious to the in- habitants of this province, that they sent a complaint to Eng- land against him. The Queen, in consequence of this com- plaint displaced him. ' ' As soon as his lordship was super- seded, his creditors threw him into the custody of the sheriff of New York." See Smith's History of New York. Such was the man from whom the corporation of New York ob- tained the rights of the town of Brooklyn. 424 NOTES ON THE TOWN OF BROOIvLYN. Admiral of the same, &c., preferred in council ; therein setting forth, that they having a right and interest, under divers antient charters and grants, by divers former governors and com- manders in chief of our said province of New York,^ under our noble progenitors in a certain ferry from the said city of New York, over the East River, to Nassau Ishmd (alias Long Island), and from the said island to the said city again, and have possessed the same, and received all the profits, benefits, and advantages thereof for the space of fifty years and upwards ; and per- ceiving the profits, advantages, and benefits usu- ally issuing out of the same, to diminish, de- crease, and fall short of what might be reason a; * These "divers former governors," &c., are limited to two, viz. : McoUs, who in 1665 granted them a charter, if that may be strictly called so, which only altered their form of government from scout, burgomasters, and schepens, to Mayor and Aldermen, without a word about ferries or water rights, or indeed any other matter — the original of which paper is not in existence. There is nothing to warrant a belief that there was a charter of any kind granted to the corporation between Nicolls and Dongan, who is the second of these "divers former governors," .'d, 138. Santa Klaas, Festival of, 257. Sch >ols among the Shinecoc Indians, 47. Schools on Long Island, 169. School Commissioners, 402. Schoolmaster, the Dutch, 171. Schoonmaker, Douiinie Martinus, the last Dutch Preacher, 124. Schout, the. of New Amsterdam, 350. Schuyler, Gen. Philip, Funeral of, 165. Scott, John Morin. 91. Seaman, Jacob, noticel, 80. St;abury, Rev. Samuel, Death of, 135. Sebringh, Cornells, noticed, 330. Secataug Indians, the, 32. Second Sight, a Case of, 168. Sellers Neck, Account of, 286, 2S7. Sehvyn, Rev. Henricus, noticed, 104, 170. sails for Holland, 108. Sermons, preached in Dutch, 124. Setaaket Indians, the, 32. SheU Banks, the, 82. Roads on Long Island, 97. Shinecoc Indians, the, 33. Six Nations, the, 15. an independent government, 28. Long Island Indians pay Trib- ute to, 2'.). Slavery in New York, 221, 224. Slaves, Prices of, 224. Sloughter, Gov., Interview with the Indian Chief, 63. Small-pox, very fatal to Indians, 50. in Brooklyn, 277. Smiths, the, of Long Island, 192, 195. Smith, Christopher, Expense of hig Pumral, 160. John, of Suffolk Co., 42. Wil'iam. the Historian, 91. 313. Smith's History of New Jersey, no- ticed, 88. History of Virginia, quoted, 94. Smoked Goose, 253. Soliuus, Rev. Henricus, see Sehvyn, 104. Cotton Mather's Poems to, 105. noticed, 371, 373, 374. see Selwyn. Soo-nou-gize, or '"Tommy Jemmj'," Ti-ial of, 27. Southampton, the Fisheries of, 78. first Church at, 100. South Carolina Gazette, quoted, 24. Spencer, Chief Justice, presides at the Trial of Tommy Jemmy, 27. Spooner, Alden, noticed, 400. Sports and Amusements, 252. Sprague, Joseph, 399. Squaw's I.sla d, 82. *• Squeak the Fife and beat the Drum," 270. Stauton, Henry, noticed, 138, 402. Staten Island, descent of Northern Indi ms on, 20, 347. Steam Ferry, the first, 317. '' Stephen," King of the Montauks,46. Stillwell, Richard, 3:34. Stirling, Lord. Capture of, 148. Stonington Indians, the, 45. Street Commissioners, 319. Stryker, Burdett, noticed, 152. Scuy vesant, Peter, orders Flatbush to be •' palistidoed." 2S. prohibits the Sale "f strong Drink to Indians, 33. see Selwyn, 106. the Chapel at his Bowery, 109. 478 INDEX. Stuyvesant, Peter, as a Politician, 116. recommends Charles Debe- voise, 177. Character of, 196, 197. noticed, 284, 371. Suffolk Co., N. Y., Indians in, 32. Sunday Laws, 408. Sunday Visiting?, noticed, 2.34. Supervisor, Election of the, 363. Tadens, Machielle, 283. Tea Drinking, Introduction of, 233. Teibout, John, 174. Temperance, G-ov. Stuyvcsant's en- deavor with the Indians, 33. Thomas, Rev. John, noticed. 134. Thomson, Charles, noticed, 12. Thompson. Abraham G., noticed, 241. Isaac, noticed, 80. Jonathan, noticed, 241. Titus, Abiel, noticed, 136, 380. Tombstones, the Expense of, 155. " Tommy Jemmy," the Case of, 27. Tompkins, Gov., on the Trespass on Indian Lands, 45. Top-knot Betty, noticed. 187. Town Clerk, Election of the. 364. Town Commissioners, the, 355, 357. Tulip Tree, Account of the, 236, 237. Tuscaroras Indians, the, 15, Traditions of Long Island, 56. Treat, Rev. Mr., at Eastham, Mass., UdaU, Richard, noticed, 80. Underhill, Capt. John, his Battle with the Marsapeague In- dians, 32. noticed, 69, 93, 199. United States Navy Yard, Brooklyn, 276. XJniversalists in Brooklyn, 386. Van Beeck, M., noticed, 120. Van Cortlandt, Stephanus. 283. Vanderbilt. Helen, noticed, 158. Vanderdonck on the Culture of Wine, 92. Vander Hagen, Dr., noticed, 175. Vandewater, Benjamin. 319, 326. Vandewater, Jacobus " Clerk," 326, 434. Vanduyne, Cornelius, 433. Van Eckellen, Johannis, 171, 173,177. Van Home, Major, the Motion of, 311. the Vote on. 314. Van Nostrand, John, 138, 403, Van Rensselaer, Stephen, Patroon, 164. Vechte, Henry Claes, Case of, 361, 377. Veerbeeck, Paulus. 285. Velsor, John, Account of the dig- ging of his Well. 79. Village Hall, the, 387. " Vrouwen dagh," Account of, 263. Wacombound, the Chief, Account of, 61. Walker, Rev. Zachariah, noticed, 101. Wall, George, noticed, 137. Wampum, gathered at Babylon, L. I., 8:3. as Salary for School-teaching, 176. the Canarse Tribute of, 276. Waring, Henry, 147, 341. Washington, George, Headquarters of, 147. the Retreat of, 340. Water Lot Rents, 307. Watermills in Brooklyn, 396. Wells, Philip, Surveyor, 334. Wells, WilUam, of Southold, 157. West Riding of Long Island, 362. Whale Fisheries of Long Island, 247. Wheat, Liberty to transport, granted, 407. Whitby Prison Ship, 341. Whiting, Joseph, Rev., noticed, 100. Widow, how called, 408. Widower, Definition of the Word, 408. Willis, "Old Dr.," noticed, 80. Windmills in Brooklyn, 396. Wine, manufacture of, 92. Witchcraft, in New England, 121, 123, Woertman, Dirck Janse. 282, '28^i. Woman's Day, Account of, 263. Women, two fighting, of Bush wick, 361. Wyngaard, Lucas, his Funeral, 164. "Young's Place," Account of the old, 142. Young, Thomas, Nurseryman, 91. " Yule Cleugh," the, 253. ifsjc: 'R 4" o •» o •0 ^-'^^ i' -0.0- .0 "^^ ^^''^''-^J^"^' '^^ "o-o A- j^ljwvx^ > v' ^^^ * '^tyy/U^^ K. > Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process, ' >i^^ir^ • <) . *• ^^■CcAy'^^* _^^ Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide ^ o H «0 ^^ *•,■>• AV Treatment Date: s .^"^ >;A*i:-/-"^_ .«,^\^;ri jidiilu may i998 , MAY ?5?FRVATinM TFr:wMni nnrpc i p ^ e, C, ^/v 1/7/K. ^» PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, LP, ^^ -C,-" a% o 'w/ ^' A 1^ 11 1 Thomson Park Drive Y% .ajv ^'jX '^ * ^' I V«^\ Cranberry Township, PA 16066 ^^^ "" * <^ •" * • « ^r' /<;^,<., % .^ .*'^/'?% ■^0' '/^i^^;*- ^t.-^ o_ ->- -t<<. * -°^ ^ 6 O " « X ^i,^.,. "^. ^'•- "^o o 1V '^ ^ .0^ '*>>^,'^ °-'^. %■ ^1)^ ,^ 5>-' ^^ 1-Jv ss- 0^' .-^^ ^^^^ %. 4 ^ »r^^^ '-^0 ^^^x. ^ ,vFEB7 8 ^- e s • • , . r^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 430 723 9