Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 Part 11

Jan Evertsen-Bout, formerly an officer of the Company, came the last time in the year 1634, with the s.h.i.+p Eendracht [Union], in the service of the Honorable Michiel Paauw, and lived in Pavonia until the year 1643, and prospered tolerably. As the Honorable Company purchased the property of the Heer Paauw, the said Jan Evertsen succeeded well in the service of the Company, but as his house and barn at Pavonia were burnt down in the war, he appears to take that as a cause for complaint. It is here to be remarked, that the Honorable Company, having paid 26,000 guilders for the colony of the Heer Paauw, gave to the aforesaid Jan Evertsen, gratis, long after his house was burnt, the possession of the land upon which his house and farmstead are located, and which yielded good grain. The land and a poor unfinished house, with a few cattle, Michiel Jansen has bought for eight thousand guilders.

In brief, these people, to give their doings a gloss, say that they are bound by oath and compelled by conscience; but if that were the case they would not a.s.sail their benefactors, the Company and others, and endeavor to deprive them of this n.o.ble country, by advising their removal, now that it begins to be like something, and now that there is a prospect of the Company getting its own again. And now that many of the inhabitants are themselves in a better condition than ever, this is evidently the cause of the ambition of many, etc.

At the Hague, 29th November, 1650.

LETTER OF JOHANNES BOGAERT TO HANS BONTEMANTEL, 1655

Letter of Johannes Bogaert to Hans Bontemantel, 1655. In J. Franklin Jameson, ed., Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (Original Narratives of Early American History). NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.

INTRODUCTION

THE chief military exploit of Director Stuyvesant was the conquest in 1655 of the Swedish settlements on the Delaware River. New Sweden had been founded in 1638 by a party of settlers under Peter Minuit, sent out by the Swedish South Company, with private help from Dutch merchants.

The history of this little colony belongs to another volume of this series, but some account of its absorption in New Netherland should find a place in this.

At first the Dutch and Swedes on the Delaware, the former with their Fort Na.s.sau on the east side, the latter with their three forts, Nya Elfsborg on the east side, Christina and Nya Goteborg (New Gottenburg) on the west, dwelt together in amity. But compet.i.tion for the Indian trade was keen, conflicting purchases of land from the Indians gave rise to disputes, and from the beginning of Stuyvesant's administration there was friction. This he greatly increased by proceeding to the South River with armed forces, in 1651, and building Fort Casimir on the west side of the river, near the present site of Newcastle, and uncomfortably near to Fort Christina. In 1654 a large reinforcement to the Swedish colony came out under Johan Rising, who seized Fort Casimir. But the serious efforts to strengthen the colony, made by Sweden in the last year of Queen Christina and the first year of King Charles X., were made too late. The Dutch West India Company ordered Director Stuyvesant not only to retake Fort Casimir but to expel the Swedish power from the whole river. He proceeded to organize in August, 1655, the largest military force which had yet been seen in the Atlantic colonies. The best Dutch account of what it achieved is presented in translation in the following pages; the Swedish side is told by Governor Rising in a report printed in the _Collections of the New York Historical Society_, second series, I. 443-448, and in _Pennsylvania Archives_, second series, V.

222-229.(1)

(1) Rising's dates are given according to Old Style, Swedish fas.h.i.+on, Bogaert's according to New Style, as customary in the province of Holland.

Of Johannes Bogaert, author of the following letter, we know only that he was a "writer," or clerk. Hans Bontemantel, to whom the letter was addressed, was a director in the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company, and a schepen (magistrate) of Amsterdam from 1655 to 1672, in which last year he took a prominent part in bringing William III. The letter was first printed in 1858 in _De Navorscher_ (the Dutch _Notes and Queries_), VIII. 185-186. A translation by Henry C. Murphy was published the same year in _The Historical Magazine_, II. 258-259, and this, carefully revised by the present editor, appears below. For a history of New Sweden, see Professor Gregory B. Keen's chapter in Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, IV. 443-488.

LETTER OF JOHANNES BOGAERT TO HANS BONTEMANTEL, 1655

n.o.ble and Mighty Sir:

Mr. Schepen Bontemantel:

THIS is to advise your Honor of what has occurred since the 5th of September, 1655, when we sailed with our seven s.h.i.+ps,(1) composed of two yachts called the Holanse Tuijn (Dutch Frontier), the Prinses Royael (Princess Royal,) a galiot called the Hoop (Hope), mounting four guns, the flyboat Liefde (Love), mounting four guns, the yacht Dolphijn (Dolphin), vice-admiral, with four guns, the yacht Abrams Offerhande (Abraham's Offering), as rear-admiral, mounting four guns; and on the 8th arrived before the Swedish fort, named Elsener.(2) This south fort had been abandoned. Our force consisted of 317 soldiers, besides a company of sailors.(3) The general's(4) company, of which Lieutenant Nuijtingh was captain, and Jan Hagel ensign-bearer, was ninety strong.

The general's second company, of which Dirck Smit was captain, and Don Pouwel ensign-bearer, was sixty strong. Nicolaes de Silla the marshal's company, of which Lieutenant Pieter Ebel was captain, and William van Reijnevelt ensign-bearer, was fifty-five strong. The major's second company, which was composed of seamen and pilots, with Dirck Jansz Verstraten of Ossanen as their captain, boatswain's-mate Dirck Claesz of Munnikendam as ensign-bearer, and the sail-maker Jan Illisz of Honsum as lieutenant, consisted of fifty men; making altogether 317 men. The 10th, after breakfast, the fleet got under way, and ran close under the guns of Fort Casemier, and anch.o.r.ed about a cannon-shot's distance from it.

The troops were landed immediately, and General Stuijvesant dispatched Lieutenant Dirck Smit with a drummer and a white flag to the commandant, named Swen Schoeten,(5) to summon the fort. In the meantime we occupied a guard-house about half a cannon-shot distant from the fort; and at night placed a company of soldiers in it, which had been previously used as a magazine. The 11th, the commander, Swen Schoeten, sent a flag requesting to speak with the General, who consented. They came together, and after a conference the said commander surrendered Fort Casemier to the general, upon the following conditions:

(1) Six are named below. The seventh (or first) was the "admiral" or flag-s.h.i.+p De Waegh ("The Balance"), on which the writer sailed. The Hoop was a French privateer, L'Esperance, which had just arrived at New Amsterdam and was engaged for the expedition.

(2) Nya Elfsborg.

(3) Rising states the total number of the force as 600 or 700.

(4) I.e., Stuyvesant's. In the military organization of that day, one or two companies were usually given a primary position as the "general's own" or "colonel's own." Of the persons mentioned below, Nicasius de Sille was a member of the Council, and De Koningh was the captain of De Waegh.

(5) Sven Schute.

First, The commander, whenever he pleases and shall have the opportunity, by the arrival of s.h.i.+ps belonging to the crown, or private s.h.i.+ps, shall be permitted to remove from Fort Casemier the guns of the crown, large and small: consisting, according to the statement of the commander, of four iron guns and five case-shot guns, of which four are small and one is large. Second, Twelve men shall march out as the body-guard of the commander, fully accoutred, with the flag of the crown; the others with their side-arms only. The guns and muskets which belong to the crown shall be and remain at the disposition of the commandant, to take or cause them to be taken from the fort whenever the commander shall have an opportunity to do so. Third, The commander shall have all his private personal effects uninjured, in order to take them with him or to have them taken away whenever he pleases, and also the effects of all the officers. Fourth, The commander shall this day restore into the hands of the General Fort Casemier and all the guns, ammunition, materials, and other property belonging to the General Chartered West India Company. Done, concluded and signed by the contracting parties the 11th September, 1655, on board the s.h.i.+p De Waegh, lying at Fort Casemier. (Signed) Petrus Stuijvesant, Swen Schuts.(1)

(1) This agrees with the official text in _N.Y. Col. Doc._, XII. 102.

The 13th, was taken prisoner the lieutenant of Fort Crist[ina], with a drummer, it being supposed that he had come as a spy upon the army, in consequence of the drummer's having no drum. The 14th, the small fleet was again under sail with the army for Verdrietige Point,(1) where they were landed. The 15th, we arrived at the west of Fort Christina, where we formed ourselves into three divisions; the major's company and his company of sailors were stationed on the south side of the creek, by the yacht Eendraght (Union), where the major constructed a battery of three guns, one eight-pounder and two six-pounders; the general's company and the field marshal's were divided into two. The marshal threw up a battery of two twelve-pounders, about northwest of the fort. The general placed a battery about north of the fort, opposite the land entrance, one hundred paces, by calculation, from the fort, and mounting one eighteen-pounder, one eight-pounder, one six-pounder, and one three-pounder.(2)

(1) On Augustin Herrman's excellent map of Maryland and Delaware, "Virdrietige Hoeck" (Tedious Point) appears as a name of a promontory about where Marcus Hook, Pa., now is.

Rising, however, reports the Dutch as landing at Tridje Hoeck ("Third Point"), just north of Christina Creek.

(2) For a plan of the siege, derived from that made by the Swedish engineer Linstrom, see Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History of America_, IV. 480.

The 17th, the flyboat Liefde returned to the Manhathans with the Swedish prisoners. From the 17th to the 23rd nothing particular happened. Then, when we had everything ready, the governor of the fort received a letter from our general, to which our general was to have an answer the next day. The same day an Indian, whom we had dispatched on the 13th to Menades, arrived, bringing news and letters to the effect that some Dutch people had been killed at Menades by the Indians;(1) which caused a feeling of horror through the army, so that the general sent a letter immediately to the fort, that he would give them no time the next morning. Then Then the general agreed wit the Swedish governor to come together in the morning and make an arrangement. The general had a tent erected between our quarter and their fort, and there an agreement was made, whereby the governor, Johan Risingh, surrendered the fort on the 24th of September, upon the conditions mentioned in the accompanying capitulation.(2) On the 28th of September the general left with the s.h.i.+ps and yachts, and we were ordered to remain from eight to fourteen days, and let the men work daily at Fort Casemier, in the construction of ramparts.(3)

(1) A hundred were killed, a hundred and fifty taken prisoners.

(2) _N.Y. Col. Doc._, XII. 104-106.

(3) Fort Casimir was made the seat of Dutch administration on the South River. In 1657 it was named New Amstel, and the colony there was taken over by the city of Amsterdam.

The 11th of October, Governor Rijsingh and Factor Elswijck, with some Swedes, came on board, whom we carried with us to Menades. We ran out to sea for the Menades on the 12th, and on the 17th happily arrived within Sandy Hook. On the 21st we sailed for the North River, from Staten Island, by the watering-place, and saw that all the houses there, and about Molyn's house,(1) were burned up by the Indians; and we learned here that Johannes van Beeck, with his wife and some other people, and the captain of a slave-trader which was lying here at anchor with a vessel, having gone on a pleasure excursion, were attacked by the Indians, who murdered Van Beeck and the captain, and took captive his wife and sister. We found Van Beeck dead in a canoe, and buried him. His wife has got back. The general is doing all that lies in his power to redeem the captives and to make peace. Commending your Honor, with hearty salutations, to the protection of the Most High, that he will bless you and keep you in continued Health, I remain your Honor's

Obedient servant,

JOHANNES BOGAERT, Clerk.

Laus Deo, s.h.i.+p De Waegh (The Balance), The 31st October, 1655.

Hon. Mr. Schepen Bontemantel, Director of the Chartered West India Company, at Amsterdam.

(1) The house of Cornelis Melyn, on Staten Island.

LETTERS OF THE DUTCH MINISTERS TO THE CLa.s.sIS OF AMSTERDAM, 1655-1664

Reference material and sources.

Johannes Megapolensis, Samuel Drisius, and Henricus Selyns, Letters of the Dutch Ministers to the Cla.s.sis of Amsterdam, 1655-1664. In J. Franklin Jameson, ed., Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (Original Narratives of Early American History). NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.

INTRODUCTION

THE Dutch clergy of the Reformed Church, as has already been mentioned in a previous introduction, were men whose observations we must value because of their intelligence and their acquirements; and they also had a point of view which was to a large extent independent of the Director General and other civil officials. Hence the series of their reports to the Cla.s.sis of Amsterdam is worthy of much attention. In the absence of a continuous narrative of high importance for the years from 1655 to 1664 it has been deemed best to make use for those years of certain of these clerical letters.

Of their authors, Domine Megapolensis has been already treated, in the introduction to his tract on the Mohawks. He remained at New Amsterdam through the period of the English conquest, and died there in 1669. The Reverend Samuel Drisius (Dries) was born about 1602, of Dutch parents, but was throughout his earlier life a pastor in England, until the troubles in that country caused him to return to the Netherlands. Since he was able to preach not only in Dutch but also in English and even in French, it was natural that the Cla.s.sis should send him out to New Netherland in response to the urgent requests made for a.s.sistance to Megapolensis, especially in dealing with the non-Dutch population at New Amsterdam. He began his pastoral service there in 1653, and continued throughout the remainder of the period represented by this book. In 1669 he is reported as incapacitated by failing mental powers, and he died in 1673. Domine Henricus Selyns was examined as a candidate for the ministry in 1657, ordained by the Cla.s.sis in 1660, called to Breukelen and inducted there in that year. He returned to Holland in 1664, before the surrender, but came back to New York in 1682 as minister of the Collegiate Church, and died there in 1701.

John Romeyn Brodhead, at the time of his remarkable mission to the Netherlands (1841), included in his endeavors a search for Dutch ecclesiastical papers bearing on New Netherland. The letters which follow were among those which he found in Amsterdam, in the archives of the Cla.s.sis. In 1842 they were Lent, in 1846 given, by the Cla.s.sis to the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church in America. To this material large Additions were made by a further search carried out in 1897-1898, by the Reverend Dr. Edward T. Corwin, acting as agent of that church, who is responsible for the translations which follow. An account of all this ecclesiastical material, under the t.i.tle "The Amsterdam Correspondence," was printed by him in 1897 in the eight volume of the _Papers of the American Society of Church History_. He edited the material for publication in the first volume of the series called _Ecclesiastical Records, State of New York_, published by the state in 1901. The letters which follow are taken, with slight revision, from various pages (from page 334 to page 562) of that volume.