PATROONS AND LORDS OF THE MANOR 39

Very soon after the purchase of the land on the
west shore of the North River, Pauw bought,
under the same elaborate legal forms, the whole of
Staten Island, so called in honor of the Staaten or
States-General. To the estate he gave the title
of Pavonia, a Latinized form of his own name.
Staten Island was subsequently purchased from
Pauw by the Company and transferred (with the
exception of the bouwerie of Captain De Vries) to
Cornelis Melyn, who was thus added to the list
of patroons. Other regions also were erected into
patroonships; but almost all were either unsuccess-
ful from the beginning or short-lived.

The patroonship most successful, most per-
manent, and most typical was Rensselaerswyck,
which offers the best opportunity for a study of
the Dutch colonial system. Van Rensselaer,
though he did not apparently intend to make a
home for himself in New Netherland, was one of
the first to ask for a grant of land. He received,
subject to payment to the Indians, a tract of
country to the north and south of Fort Orange, but
not including that trading-post, which like the
island of Manhattan remained under the control of
the West India Company. By virtue of this grant
and later purchases Van Rensselaer acquired a