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THE
SOCIAL HISTORY
OF
FLATBUSH,
AND
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF TEE DUTCH
SETTLERS IN KINGS COUNTY.
BY
GERTRUDE LEFFERTS VANDERBILT.
" To Holland they felt a deep, unalterable, hereditary attachment.
Nor have the vicissitudes of time extinguished that sentiment, in their
descendants. Two centuries have scarcely weakened the veneration
which citizens of New York of Dutch lineage proudly cherish toward the
fatherland of their ancestors."
— History of the State of New TorJc. J. Romeyn Brodhead.
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
1899.
COPTRIGIIT BY
GERTRUDE LEFFERTS VANDERBILT.
1881.
TO
THE DESCENDANTS
OF THE
DUTCH SETTLEES IN KINGS COUNTY
THESE PAGES AEE
PREFACE.
The Rev. Thomas M. Strong, D. D., for nearly
forty years beloved pastor of the Reformed Church,
FJatbush, collected, as far as practicable, facts pertain-
ing to the early settlement of the town.
These facts were in the first instance brought
before the public in the form of lectures delivered
before the Flatbush Literary Association.
Subsequently, at the request of his friends, these
lectures were collected in a volume, entitled "The
History of the Town of Flatbush," and published
in 1842.
Since the publication of this interesting volume,
there have been great changes in this little town.
The day is probably not far distant when it will
become a part of the adjoining city of Brooklyn ; then
all traces of its village life and its individuality as a
Dutch settlement will be lost.
In all love and respect for the memory of Dr.
Strong, I have taken up the pen which he laid down,
6 PREFACE.
not so much in continuation of his subject as to give
it from a different standpoint. As a woman, I have
inclined to the social side of life, and have endeavored
to record the changes which time has made among
the people in their homes and at the fireside.
I have undertaken this as a pleasant task, bringing
to the work at least so much of fitness for it as may
be caused by familiarity with those changes, and a
knowledge of the traditions, customs, and manners of
the Dutch.
At an early period all the families in this county
were united through marriage and intermarriage, thus
forming one large family circle. I have assumed
with greater confidence the preparation of this work
because, as I do not address the great world beyond,
I may, for that reason, escape unfriendly criticism ;
these simple annals being only intended for this
family circle of the descendants of the Dutch settlers,
who alone can find an interest in the record.
Gertrude L. Vanderbilt.
Flatbush, 1880.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. Introductory . . . . .9
II. Early Settlement of Kings County . 11
III. Characteristics op the Holland Settlers . 17
IV. Gradual Change from Dutch to English 24
V. Name of the Village of Flatbush . . 31
VI. Dutch Names .... 38
VII. Use of the Dutch Language . . .50
VIII. Exterior of Dutch Houses . . 58
IX. Interior of Dutch Houses . . .66
X. Furniture ..... 79
XI. Preparation of Winter Stores . . 102
XII. Cooking Utensils . . . • HI
XIII. Sllver and China . . • . .115
XIV. Musical Instruments and Pictures . 121
XV. Dress . . . . . .127
XVI. Weddings ..... 149
XVII. Funerals . . . . .152
XVIII. The Graveyard op the Reformed Dutch
Church ..... 158
XIX. Healthfulness of Flatbush, and Morality
of the Inhabitants .... 169
XX. Farms and their Owners . . . 175
XXI. Domestic Service .... 249
XXII. Agriculture . . . . .269
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
XXIII. Fruits and Vegetables . . . 277
XXIV. Gardens, Wild Flowers, and Woods . 284
XXV. Village Roads .... 299
XXVI. Churches in Flatbush . . . 305
XXVII. Religious Societies .... 319
XXVIII. War op the Revolution — 1776 . . 322
XXIX. Work for the Soldiers . . 327
XXX. Town-Hall . . . 328
XXXI. Our Dutch Forefathers . . . 330
XXXII. Miss Sally. . . . . 356
XXXIII. Rest after Strife .... 364
Appendix ..... 370
THE
SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Our Dutch ancestors were slow to accept innovations.
It is probable that before the beginning of this century
their manners and habits had remained for generations
the same. Such is no longer the case. We need only
go back a few years to find customs which have now
ceased to exist. Neither Flatbush, nor any of the towns
on Long Island settled by the Dutch from the Nether-
lands, differ for that reason from other towns and vil-
lages in the State.
Nearly every trace of Dutch descent has been swept
away ; there only remain the reminiscences and tradi-
tions, while the old family names mark the localities
still, as the projecting peaks mark the submerged rock.
All that relates to home and kindred has its interest,
especially when we know that the home is soon to be
broken up and the ties of kindred sundered. In this we
find our excuse for calling together the family circle of
Dutch settlers in Kings County, to talk with them of
changes which have taken place in social life, and to
review customs and habits which are almost forgotten.
10 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
It seems presumptuous to dignify with the name
of history this fragmentary account of old and familiar
things ; perhaps we might offer it as the "landscape of
the age" in which the actors of Dr. Strong's History
lived. As such it may help us to understand some
things which time is every day rendering more indis-
tinct.
Dr. 'Stiles, in his history of Brooklyn, apologizes for
giving comparatively unimportant minutiae with the
plea that it is "for those who are to come after us,
and to whom these matters may be to a considerable
extent unattainable except through our pages." He con-
tinues : " 'Posterity,' it has been said, 'delights in de-
tails,' and to many of our readers themselves, if they
should live to a good old age, years will bring a truer
appreciation of the value of these little points, which
are now unheeded in the rush and bustle of the active
present."
We may plead in the same words for the many appar-
ently unimportant things which we have related ; they
may be so familiar now as to be almost unworthy the
record, but they will grow in importance as the years
pass on.
As one gathers a leaf or presses a flower from a spot
which is full of pleasant memories, so we gather these
leaves, and present them as memorials of the pleasant
garden spot of which, in time, there will be little left
save these mementoes which we here offer.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF KINGS COUNTY.
Comparatively few of the towns and cities of the
United States have a history which extends far into the
past. They are of to-day ; they glory in their rapid
and vigorous growth. Last year there was the stillness
of the unbroken forest ; this year is heard the pioneer's
axe ; next year you may find a thriving and populous
town.
Such is not the case with the villages of Kings
Countj^. Their place is among the earliest of Amer-
ican settlements. The uncouth ships, which in slow and
perilous voyages brought our ancestors from the Nether-
lands, sailed at a time just after the second William of
Orange had died, when De "Witt was made Grand Pen-
sionary of Holland, Oliver Cromwell held rule in Eng-
land, and Louis XIV reigned in France.
As long ago as that, our ancestors left their homes
in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in Utrecht and Dor-
drecht, in Leyden and Delft, and embarked in the ships
that sailed from the ports of North Holland for the, as
yet, unsettled shores of the New World.
They came of a race of soldiers and sailors ; they
had fought against their Spanish oppressors, and had
obtained the freedom they desired. They had wrestled
12 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
with the tides of the strong North Sea, and they had
conquered their land from its dominion. The sailors
among their people were found in every port and on
every coast.
But these men came to the new world neither as sol-
diers nor sailors, not even as traders ; agricultural pur-
suit was their aim. They were attracted toward the new
territory beyond the sea by the descriptions of the rich
soil and the abundant harvests that repaid the culture of
the unappropriated lands. They were not driven out
by oppression, as were the Puritans ; for there was no
country in the world that was so liberal as to religious
opinions at that period, and so tolerant, as was Holland.
They came, a hardy, energetic race, at the freedom of
their own choice, in the strength of an independent
manliness, to earn an honest living by their own indus-
try. They brought their families with them and all
their household effects ; for they looked forward to
making the New World a permanent home for them-
selves and their children.
Following the route taken by Hendrick Hudson, they
steered toward the island called Manhattan, Avhere al-
ready the home government had offered inducements for
them to settle, and from which friends had written
beckoning letters. For a while they may have lingered
among their countrymen there, but, casting their eyes
southward toward the wooded heights beyond the swift-
running river that divided Manhattan from the island
called by the natives Seawanhacka, influenced by their
agricultural proclivities, they sought a richer soil than
New Amsterdam afforded.
And now the little towns began to spring up in the
wilderness.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF KINGS COUNTY. 13
In 1636 there were a few settlers along the shore line,
and in time, as a house here and there appeared, their
settlement got to be known as Breuckelen. In the
same year Ex-Governor Van Twiller had a tobacco farm
on the opposite shore ; and the houses that gathered in its
vicinity, and the farms that gradually were brought un-
der cultivation, became another town called Amersfoort,
after the birthplace of the good patriot Oldenbarneveldt.
Greatly must we regret the descriptive propensities that
forced the original names of Amersfoort and Medwoud
into Flatlands and Flatbush.
In 1643 the English held a patent from the Dutch,
under allegiance to the States-General, and Governor
Kief t calls their seaside home s'Gravensande (the Count's
Beach), and Lady Moody introduced some English names
and English blood into the settlement ; but the good
Baxters and Hubbards and Stilwells intermarried with
the Dutch after her ladyship went away, and s'Graven-
sande became as thoroughly Dutch as any of us.
In 1654 some families from Holland, still following
the coast line, took up their abode in another little
settlement, in which they also commemorated their
love for the fatherland by calling it New ITtrecht. It
was not until 16 GO, or later, that they obtained a patent,
and the little town began to grow.
Midway between Amersfoort and Breuckelen in 1651
there lay a tract of land which gladdened the heart of
the Hollander, because, with its level surface, it also
gave promise of rich soil ; a small portion southward
was even a level flat without trees. They soon found,
however, that the densely wooded was the richer land.
Here the farmers began their work of forming homes
in the primeval forest by cutting down the great trees
14 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
of hickory and white oak and black oak. Perhaps it
was in memory of the hard labor that the heavy timber
cost them that they gave the name of Midwood to that
little clearing. It lay on an inclined plane, elevated
some fifty feet above the level of the ocean, toward
which it gently sloped southward.
Thus it was that, looking here and there, and bar-
gaining for patents or formal grants, and perhaps get-
ting a little angry now and then, and having their
plucky nature tried to the utmost by disputes between
various claimants, and as to the limits of various boun-
daries, they finally came, each one, into possession of a
certain allotment of land, and here and there grew fam-
ily homes, and under the names of Breuckelen, Med-
woud, Amersfoort, Utrecht, and s'Gravensande appeared
the five Dutch towns of Kings County.
Silas Wood, in his " Sketch of the First Settlement
of Long Island," says that "the western part, if not
the whole of it, was in a great measure bare of timber. "
This may possibly be true of some portions of the
island, but it was not true of Flatbush. Dr. Strong
says that the " lands in and about Flatlands were level
and free from woods " ; but, in speaking of Flatbush, he
says, "it comprised a tract of woodland bounded on the
north by hills, on the south by Flatlands, and extend-
ing east and west in one continual forest. " Elsewhere
he says : "At time of purchase it was heavily covered
with timber."
In the orders and proclamations of the Governor to
the different towns at various times there is inferential
proof that Dr. Strong is correct, for in 1656 the inhab-
itants of Flatbush were ordered to inclose their village
with palisadoes, within the inclosure of which they re-
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF KINGS COUNTY. 15
tired for mutual protection during the night ; the first
church was also fenced in with strong palisadoes.
A law was passed commanding the inhabitants of
New Utrecht to cut down the belt of trees around their
settlement, which formed a hiding-place for lurking sav-
ages. Also in 1646 the people of the town of s'Graven-
sande, by a vote of the first town meeting, ordered " every
inhabitant to make poles of fence to inclose a common
field of corn." In like manner, they voted in 1648
to make a common pasture for their calves. As these
palisadoes were probably young trees, it would have
been difficult to enforce these laws if the island had been
so wholly destitute of timber.
In the Journal of the Labadists, translated by Hon.
H. C. Murphy, they refer, in 1679, to the woods seen
on approaching the land at the Narrows.
They distinctly mention passing through woods on
their first visit to Breuckelen, and when they enjoy the
hospitality of the settlers at Gowanus they make marked
reference to the free use of fire-wood, which could
scarcely have been the case unless the woodland had
been not only abundant, but very accessible. They say :
"We found a good fire, half way up the chimney, of
clear oak and hickory, of which they make not the least
scruple of burning profusely."
Hence we judge that the axe rather than the plow
first gave employment to the settlers. To those who
in the Netherlands had toiled hard to reclaim their land
from the ocean, this must have been unaccustomed,
but it could not have seemed like hopeless or discour-
aging work. They were now to cultivate a wilderness
that had never been plowed or planted before, but these
men brought to the task the energy they had gained in
16 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
their labor among the dikes and dunes of Holland, and,
because they came of a stalwart race, they were not afraid
of work.
The west end of this island was described by Hen-
drick Hudson's men as being " full of great tall oaks,
and the lands were as pleasant with grass and flowers
and goodly trees as they had ever seen, and very sweet
smells came therefrom."
Surely the land " so pleasant with grass and flowers
and goodly trees " has been true to the promise it gave
to its discoverers, and has, for these two hundred years,
borne rich harvests.
Under their careful cultivation, the beautiful gar-
den and farming land of Kings County has supported
many generations ; their industry has given it as a leg-
acy to us, and we surely owe them the slight tribute
which may be included in a recognition of their toil.
CHAPTER III.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOLLAND SETTLERS.
It has been the fashion to laugh at the Dutch set-
tlers. They have been held up to ridicule, and their
manners and customs have been considered an excellent
subject for a jest. But a caricature is not a true pic-
ture ; it would be folly to consider that intended as a
likeness which was acknowledged to be an exaggerated
representation.
It has been said by a great historian that "the Eng-
lish courtiers sneered at the honest Dutchmen of the
Netherlands, whose virtues were a reproach to them
and their king, and whose national prosperity caused
them intense jealousy." That was in the distant past,
but lingering echoes of these sneers long followed the
Hollander ; perhaps they were heard the more dis-
tinctly for the silence that followed, neither the Dutch-
men in the Old World nor their descendants at a later
period in the New pausing amid their industries to lis-
ten and retort.
Honesty, industry, economy, prudence, self-reliance,
truthfulness, patience, and forbearance were character-
istics of these people ; but, as some one has wisely said,
" these are not flashy virtues, they are not even attrac-
tive to thoughtless youth, and they are despised thor-
18 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
oughly by reckless adventurers. Nevertheless, they are
the virtues which make good and happy homes, a sta-
ble government, and a prosperous community." Such
were the characteristics of these men, and upon these
as a foundation they laid the corner-stone of their home
in the New World.
"The New Englanders," says a popular writer,
"have had full justice done to their colonial and their
subsequent enterprising achievements in building up
the new republic of America. . . . With the people of
Holland it is different, and until recently compara-
tively little has been known in this country of their
national heroic history and character."
When Motley, the great historian of the Dutch re-
public, placed before the world the national history of
our ancestors, he laid us, in common with all others of
Dutch descent, under infinite obligations to the culture
of New England that produced the historian so entirely
worthy of this theme. We find it now easier to prove
that these original settlers of our Dutch towns were not
the boors which they are sometimes called, because it
has been shown to the world that, in the country from
which they came, "political and religious freedom was
most highly prized, popular education nearly universal,
and regard for law and order was most prof ound ; where
the rewards of industry were widely shared, the neces-
sities of life most abundantly secured, and the blessings
of civilization were equally diffused."
We have every reason to believe that the Dutch de-
sired to perpetuate the political and religious freedom
to which they had been accustomed ; for, says Brod-
head, speaking of the colony, "Up to this time (1688)
New York had always been differently governed from
CHARACTERISTICS OF HOLLAND SETTLERS. 19
any other British American colony. She had never
been a chartered or a corporate government under
Dutch or English authority. Her eclectic people never
wished to be ruled by incorporated oligarchies like those
of New England. What they desired, and what for a
season they enjoyed, was a * Charter of Liberties,' secur-
ing to every inhabitant a share in local legislation, free-
dom of conscience, and equality of all modes of Chris-
tianity. While a Dutch province, New York, with the
comprehensive liberality of her fatherland, had invited
strangers of every race and creed to nestle among her
own early colonists."
When Governor Stuyvesant undertook to drive the
Quakers from the colony, he was reprimanded by a let-
ter from the Dutch West India Company in 1663, in
which it is asserted that "the consciences of men ought
to be free and unshackled." Furman says that this is
the only instance in which the Dutch colonial govern-
ment attempted to exile a man for his religious princi-
ples. It is said that in after-years the old Dutch Gov-
ernor admitted his mistake, and offered as his excuse
that he thought it was intended to make political use
of the liberty sought.
The Dutch Government refused to recognize witch ^
craft or to inflict the death penalty upon those who
were suspected by others ; in this respect they were
surely in advance of an age which gave the fullest cre-
dence to this superstition, and persecuted unto death
the poor victims who might be suspected.
The Eev. George W. Bethune, D. D., said, in speak-
ing of Holland : " The world, especially this country,
owes Holland a large debt of gratitude for the earliest
lessons of modern freedom, the foremost lessons of re-
20 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
ligious toleration, and the finest exhibition of the influ-
ence which general education and simple religious hab-
its have upon the character and happiness of a people. "
Another writer on colonial times, speaking of the
Dutch settlers, says : "If there be any who, in looking
back to the period and persons we are sketching, feel a
sort of compassion for their supposed inferior chances
and lower development, we advise them to spare their
benevolence and apply it where it would be more truly
needed. The comparison of merit between the inhabit-
ants here during the last century, or of the years pre-
vious, with the present time and all its vaunted educa-
tional and fashionable advantages, is not a whit in favor
of our own day in all the important respects that make
manly and womanly excellence."
We may question the educational advantages of that
period if the writer has reference to those derived
from books and study, schools and colleges ; but there
are other sources for the development of character, and
these may have had greater power and efficiency in pro-
ducing a sturdy manhood then than many of the mold-
ing influences to which young men and women in this
age are subjected.
As to the religious training, its results upon charac-
ter may have been as efficient as that of to-day. It was
certainly all that the age could give. The fruit of
October may have been advanced by the May sunshine
proportionately with the more perceptible mellowing
of the August heat.
The Dutch were a religious people. They prized
highly the services of the sanctuary, and established
their churches with their first settlement. In New
York as early as 1626 they assembled together for wor-
CHARACTERISTICS OF HOLLAND SETTLERS. 21
ship, and for forty years theirs was the only church in
that settlement. At the recent quarter-millennial an-
niversary of the Collegiate Church, the dates upon the
walls, interwoven with flowers, were 1628-1878.
Even before the new colony was supplied with a
minister, his duties were undertaken by men known as
"Krank-besoeckers," or " Ziekentroosters," i.e., con-
solers of the sick, whose duty it was also to read the
Scriptures to the people on Sunday.
As to the estimation in which they held learning,
Brodhead says: "Neither the perils of war, nor the
busy pursuit of gain, nor the excitement of political
strife, ever caused the Dutch to neglect the duty of ed-
ucating their offspring to enjoy that freedom for which
their fathers had fought. Schools were everywhere pro-
vided, at the public expense, with good schoolmasters to
instruct the children of all classes in the usual branches
of education."
A church was built in Flatbush as early as 1654, and
we have the records of schoolmasters from 1659 ; but
there was a school even before this date. This early
attention to the education of the children is what we
might expect of settlers from a country which, says
Charles Sumner, " is placed in the very front rank as the
land which first established common schools, and threw
the doors of its universities open to all." " And," says
another historian, speaking of this time, "it is not too
much to say that they [the inhabitants of the Nether-
lands] were far in advance of all other nations in every
element of civilization, whether material, intellectual,
artistic, moral, or religious."
Says T. W. Field, writing of Brooklyn and its vicin-
ity : "In every town of the New Netherlands which
22 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
was settled under the Dutch Government a school was
established, which was taught by a competent teacher
under a license of the Government, which paid him a
small salary in addition to his other emoluments. . . .
After the conquest by the English in 1664 the teachers
received no salary from the Government, which did little
to encourage education. . . . The liberality of the pa-
ternal Dutch Government was thus strongly contrast-
ed with the stinginess of the English authorities, who
never dreamed of such extravagance as paying salaries
to teachers."
T. G. Bergen says that this liberality was not that
of the paternal Dutch Government, but of the Dutch
Church.
Furman says, in reference to this, that Governor
Stuyvesant recommended a suitable person for the
schoolmaster in Breuckelen, because they regarded it as
being so important, not only "to establish schools, but
to secure the service of proper men to conduct them,"
and therefore they would select no one unless " the Gov-
ernor was satisfied of his competency. " Furman adds,
speaking of schools among the Dutch, "With them it
was a cardinal principle to diffuse the means of educa-
tion as widely as possible."
The prestige of the Latin School of Dordrecht was
such that, in 1635, it was considered the best in north-
western Europe.
The advantages for obtaining an education in the
Netherlands were so general that the most of those
who came from there to settle here could read and write.
They brought not only their great Dutch Bibles and
Psalm-books with them, but many a little parchment-
covered volume, in heavy black-letter, with here and
CHARACTERISTICS OF HOLLAND SETTLERS. 23
there quaint pictures on its pages, that still remain to
attest their love of reading, notwithstanding the neces-
sity for their constant, plodding labor. They not only
established Dutch schools at an early date, but they
encouraged the study of English, when a knowledge of
that language gave greater advantages to their children.
In the old, worn Dutch dictionaries that lie on our
upper shelves we find the proof that even the older peo-
ple endeavored to improve themselves in English by the
study of the "Groot Woordenboek," the great word-
book, as the dictionary was aptly called : the " Groot
Woordenboek der Engelsche en Nederduytsche Taalen ;
nevens eene spraakkonst derzelver."
The children were thoroughly drilled in lessons upon
the Bible, so that from their youth up they might be
a God-fearing as well as a moral community. They
were also thoroughly indoctrinated in the articles of
their faith by the study of the catechism.
We find in the inventory of an estate of an old land-
owner, born 1684, that among his other properties he
had in his house eleven Dutch catechisms. Under the
discipline of such training as this grew up the children
of successive generations in the homes of our Dutch an-
cestors, and, if they were not morally sound and hardy,
there must have been great waste of precept and ex-
ample. *
CHAPTER IV.
GEADUAL CHANGE FROM DUTCH TO ENGLISH.
Around these early settlers on Manhattan and on
Long Island stretched an unknown continent in un-
broken wilderness, save as here and there along the coast
glimmered the lights of some small and widely separated
settlements like their own. But it was not by these,
nor yet by themselves, that their destiny was shaped.
It was the cabinet intrigues of the Old World that
gave them Dutch rulers or made them the subjects of
an English king. The political broils, the international
feuds and jealousies, or the open wars of Europe, were
the pebbles thrown into the stream that in ever-widening
circles reached and agitated the little towns that lay
close to the shores.
The effect of change from Dutch customs, manners,
and form of government to English was so slow as to
be in process of growth almost imperceptible. At first
the settlers built their houses of brick imported from
Holland, and in many other ways, from force of habit,
attempted the useless task of trying to make their new
homes conform to those which they had left.
What is said in Bryant's " Popular History of the
United States " about New York, in its period of transi-
tion under the early English governors, was equally
true of the little towns and villages around that city,
CHANGE FROM- DUTCH TO ENGLISH. 25
settled at the same period and by the same people : "Its
customs long remained those which its first settlers had
brought with them out of the Dutch fatherland. Its
architecture, most of its local names, and even its more
common speech, were Dutch. Its domestic and social
life was regulated by the customs of Holland. If it was
simple and somewhat heavy, it was at the same time
healthy, virtuous, and full of kindliness and hospitality.
If the stout burghers moved slowly, thought only of the
practical side of things, and went to bed at nine o'clock,
they also worked steadily, governed their households
wisely, and persecuted nobody. If they introduced for
a brief period into their new home the law they brought
from Holland of the great burgher-right and the lesser
burgher-right, those who received the former were
worthy of the dignity, and those who were confined to
the latter valued their citizenship and educated their
children none the less carefully."
Says one, sketching this period : " The settlement of
Kings County and Manhattan Island was essentially
Dutch, not only in its social, but in its political customs
and institutions. . . . From 1620 to the close of the
century Long Island was solely Dutch, and when after-
ward the English took possession there was no social or
domestic change."
It is probable that the energies of these pioneers were
taxed to the utmost to obtain the comforts to which the
civilization of the Netherlands had accustomed the Hol-
lander ; for rude and meager as their surroundings were,
compared to the luxurious abundance in the reach of
every industrious householder of tliis age, yet they were
far in advance of those of the same social status in many
other countries of Europe.
26 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
On this account they had the less time to waste upon
the political changes, which had, after all, little per-
ceptible effect upon their liberty and prosperity. Their
language, their schools, their religious privileges were
not interfered with. It was expressly stipulated that
the Dutch, in capitulating to the English in 1664,
should enjoy "liberty of their conscience in divine
worship and church discipline." Also that they should
" enjoy their own customs concerning their inheritance."
The Dutch are essentially a law-abiding people, and as
their English rulers secured to them all which their own
home government had granted, they were willing to
recognize their power and acknoAvledge their sovereignty.
As open rebellion or unwilling submission would have
done very little to change matters, we must admit that
peaceful acquiescence was the wiser policy.
Says Dr. Morgan Dix, speaking of this period in the
history of the Dutch settlers: " New Amsterdam was
taken ; it became New York ; and the Church of Eng-
land was planted where the Classis of Amsterdam had
been the supreme and only ecclesiastical authority.
But observe how scrupulously the rights of your fore-
fathers were respected. There is nothing like it in his-
tory ; never did conquerors treat the conquered with
such deference and consideration. As far as possible
the old customs were preserved ; private rights, con-
tracts, inheritances were scrupulously regarded ; and, as
for the Reformed Dutch Church, it seems almost to
have been treated as a sacred thing. It was more than
protected ; it was actually established by law by an
English governor under English auspices. This was,
perhaps, no more than a fair return for the good deeds
done by your people. AVhen your turn came to be un-
CHANGE FROM DUTCH TO ENGLISH. 27
der the yoke, it was said to you in substance: 'You
shall still be free ; not one of your old customs shall be
changed until you change them yourselves ; by us you
shall not be meddled with ; keep your places of wor-
ship, your flocks, and all you have, in peace.' And so
to their old church of St. Nicholas inside the fort did
your people continue to wend their way in absolute
security, though English sentries were at the gates ;
and within the walls over which the standard of Eng-
land waved did the good Dutch dominie speak his
mind as freely as ever to his spiritual children ; nor was
it until they had finished their devotions and with-
drawn that the English chaplain ventured within the
same house of worship to read his Office from the Book
of Common Prayer. I see in this what does credit to
humanity — kind consideration, mutual respect, and on
both sides a study of the things that make for peace."
Speaking of this, Brodhead says that the Reformed
Church was virtually " established " in New York by its
English rulers. The same generosity was extended to
the Dutch on Long Island, and with similar results.
Under the English laws a constable and overseers
were added to the town officers ; it was one of their
duties "frequently to admonish the inhabitants to in-
struct their children and servants in matters of religion
and the laws of the country." This could not have
been considered an unusual thing for those who were so
eminently law-abiding, and who were accustomed to the
same admonitions from their own rulers.
Thus it happened that gradually, and almost uncon-
sciously, they glided along the s.mooth current which,
from that day to this, has been changing them from
Dutch to English.
28 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Looking back to their daily life, we find that they
had many things to contend against which must have
given them more uneasiness than this change, which
was attended with so little inconvenience to themselves.
The cutting down of the forest and making their
clearings was very different work from the agriculture
to which they had been trained upon the polders, the
rescued lands, of Holland ; nor was a knowledge of the
dikes and drainage of the Zuyder Zee available in the
dry and sandy farms "op 't ijlant Nassau."
A still greater cause of anxiety, however, must have
come to them from contact with the savages who at
this period peopled the continent. The uneasiness
of the pioneer settlers in Plymouth and Jamestown
must also have been felt in a slight degree by the set-
tlers on Long Island, for in 1656 an order was given to
erect palisadoes, so as to protect the town against the
Indians, who lurked in the forest with tomahawk and
scalping-knife.
It may have been that the peaceful Dutchmen of
Kings County did not provoke the aboriginal settler to
retaliation ; for, says B. F. Thompson, in his history :
"The Indians on Long Island were less troublesome
to their white neighbors than the Indians north of
the Sound, nor does it appear that any formidable
conspiracy ever existed among them to destroy the set-
tlers."
George William Curtis, who can not be regarded
as one biased in favor of the Dutch, said, in an address
recently delivered at Deerfield, Massachusetts, that
"the Dutch settlers, who never broke faith with the
aborigines, suffered from them comparatively little
trouble. "
CHANGE FROM DUTCH TO ENGLISH. 29
The land in the Dutch towns of Kings County was
not wrested from the native tribes, but amicably ob-
tained by regular purchase from its owners, the Canarsee
Indians, who, in 1609, were the first to welcome Hen-
drick Hudson to the shores of the New World.
Governor Stuyvesant, in 1647, prohibited the sale of
strong drink to the Indians under a heavy penalty, to-
gether with the "responsibility for all the misdemean-
ors that might result from its use." He was also very
peremptory in his charge that justice should be shown
in all cases to the Indians.
" Both the English and the Dutch on Long Island
respected the rights of the Indians, and no land was
taken up by the several towns, or by individuals, until
it had been fairly purchased of the chiefs of the tribes
who claimed it," says another historian of Long Island.
There may have been less distrust on this account,
for the inhabitants of Midwood did not keep even the
vigilant guard which the law required ; and when, in
1675, the English held their court of sessions over this
district, called by them the " West Eiding of Yorkshire,"
and which included the five Dutch towns, we read that
Midwood was much censured for having neglected to
keep up the fortifications as safety demanded to insure
protection against the savages.
In 1658 Flatbush was the county market-town.
Here, also, was the seat of justice for the county ; here
the courts were held ; here the sheriff lived, and the
county clerk. Here also the schoolmaster dwelt, and the
minister who preached at stated times in the five Dutch
towns, and who from respect to his office was considered
a most influential member of the settlement.
The change in regard to the civil importance of
30 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLAT BUSH.
Flatbush has been recorded in Dr. Strong's history. In
these pages we only propose to refer to the public rec-
ords when they reflect light upon the home life of the
people.
In regard to language, manners, and customs, the
change has been in accordance with the progress of the
age, as the people have been called to keep step in that
advancing line of onward march in civilization in which
the Anglo-Saxon race has led the world.
CHAPTER V.
NAME OF THE VILLAGE OF FLATBUSH.
At its settlement in 1651 Flatbush was variously
called Midwout, Midwoud, and Medwoud ; it is difficult
to say why or when the change was made to Flatbush.
Various opinions have been offered as to the meaning of
the name.
In a paper read before the Historical Society of the
State of New York, December 31, 1816, there is a con-
jecture offered to the effect that, as Breuckelen and
Amersfoort were, from their proximity to the water,
earliest settled, and a space intermediate and about equi-
distant between them remained as woodland, it was there-
fore designated by the Dutch words " woud " or " bos,"
signifying woods, thereby becoming, " med woud," or
middle woods. Or, as it was a plain — "vlachte," in
order to distinguish it from the wooded heights — " Ge-
bergte " — between this plain and Brooklyn, it was called
the "Vlachte bos," or the wooded plain.
Teunis G-. Bergen says that Medwoud and Oost-
woud, now Flatbush and New Lots, were both named
after villages in North Holland. There are others who
give the name a different derivation, and say that it
does not come from " woud," a forest, but from " woon "
32 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
or "woo-nen," to dwell, having reference to the people
who lived in the middle district between the two settle-
ments of Breuckelen and Amersfoort.
In the town records of 1681, New Lots is called Oost-
woud, and Flatbush, Medwoud.
At a convention, held at Hempstead in 1665, Long
Island and Staten Island were erected into a shire, and
divided into districts called Ridings ; * Flatbush was in
the West Riding of Yorkshire. It has been said that
the name of Medwoud was changed at that convention.
If so, the change was not generally accepted, for it was
called Medwoud after that on many public occasions,
and in many public documents.
All these names, Medwoud, Midwoud, Midwout, and
Vlachte Bos, appear upon the old town records ; and in
all the public writings they seem to be used interchange-
ably, as we shall see.
On an old grant, signed by Governor Stuyvesant,
bearing date 1661, and still in possession of the family
to whom the land was given, the name of the town
appears as Midwout. The first provincial seal of the
New Netherlands is upon this grant : a shield bearing a
beaver, proper, surmounted by a count's coronet, and
encircled by the legend " Sigillum Novi Belgii." In
another old Dutch writing of the same character, bear-
ing date 1677, Flatbush is called Vlackebos. In a dis-
pute as to the boundaries between Flatbush and Brook-
lyn, which occurred in 1678, our people call Flatbush
" onse Dorp Midwout." In a dispute as to the bounda-
ries between Flatbush and Flatlands, which took place
* In 1633 the province was divided into counties, and the " ridings "
were abolished.
NAME OF THE VILLAGE OF FLATBUSH. 33
in 1688, the two towns are spoken of respectively as
Midwout and Amersfoort.
In other papers relating to the boundaries of the
Dutch towns, bearing date 1677, our people "von het
bos," say, "Wij, gemeentevon Midwoud," i. e., we, the
commonalty, or community, of Midwoud. In other
disputes relative to boundaries, bearing date 1666, the
town is called Flackebos. In an old Dutch deed, among
the town papers relating to taxes, dated 1676, the place
is called Flackebos. In 1677, in an old paper written in
in English, as few among the town records are, the set-
tlement is called "Flatbush, alias Midlewood"; and
subsequently through the paper it is called Midlewood.
In a paper among the old town records signed by
Pieter De la Noy, and bearing date 1680, the village is
called " Het Dorp Midwout," In another old paper,
dated 1681, found among the town records, being a
receipt for certain books transferred to the town by
Joseph liegeman, the date is given from Midwout.
In April, 1693, the Colonial Legislature passed an
act changing the name of Long Island to Nassau Island,
but the act did not affect the old name or make it per-
manent, although sometimes in the old writings Flat-
bush is spoken of as " op 't ijlant Nassau." The Indian
names of this island were Paumanacke, Mattouwack,
and Seawanhacka,* each of which names is variously
spelled.
* Seawan-backy means the " island of shells." Sea-wan was the name
of their money, made from the shells which are abundant on the south-
ern coast; the wampum, or the white, was made from the periwinkle;
the black was made from the quahaug. F. F. Thompson says, speaking
of its value : " Three beads of black and six of white were equivalent to
an English penny or a Dutch stiver."
3
34 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
In a bill among some old family papers we read :
" I Bekome ontfangen te hebbe von R. Hegeman de
somme von vyf pondt, etc.
"Jacobus Beekman.
"Flackebos, Den 20 AgH, a. d. 1717."
In an old will, written in 1715, in English, we find
tlie modern name appears :
" In ye first y r reign of our Sovereign Lord, George
of Great Brittain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender
of ye faith, etc., etc., and in ye year of our Lord Christ
one thousand seven hundred and fifteen, , of
Flatbush, in Kings County, on ye Island of Nassau, m
ye Province of New York," etc. An old agreement, of
more value than the above, we find dated, " Midwout,
Oct. 1, 1718." In 1732 we still find the name of Mid-
woud :
" Midwoud, Den 21 Augustes, a. d. 1732. Ont-
fangen de somme dertigh gulden, etc.
(Signed) "Pieter Strycker."
Another old paper, dated "Anno dom 1745," speaks
of the signer as being a resident of " Flatbush in King's
County, on Nassau Island, in the Province of New
York." A more intelligible, because not faded, writing,
bearing date " Anno dom 1748," calls Flatbush Flacke-
bos. In a will bearing date 1759 the town is called Flat-
bush and the island Nassau.
We have copied from old writings these different
ways of naming the village, not because the particular
sources of information are in themselves of any value,
but because they show how long, and upon what various
occasions, the names seem to be used interchangeably
NAME OF THE VILLAGE OF FLATBUSTI. 35
and somewhat at random. Through all these years the
name might be written Midwout, Midwoud, Medwoud,
Flackebos, Vlactebos, until it became Flatbush ; either
name being at the option of the writer.
Thus for a century the names in their variations
came down the stream of time together, side by side.
We do not know upon what petty obstruction in the
channel foundered at last the sweet rural name of Mid-
wood, but some of the early years in the last century
proved the bar over which it did not pass. It has been
gradually lost sight of in the distance, and now we can
only find it when we look back to the days when the
village was shut in by the primeval forest, and the
name so aptly described it as Midwood.*
Flatbush had at an early period names for its differ-
ent sections. The north end was called " Steenraap " ;
the center, "Dorp" ; the south end, " Rustenburgh."
The English of "steenraap" is stone-gathering,
from steen, a stone ; raapen, to reap, implying that it
was rough and stony, or a place where stones could be
gathered. As the meaning of the word "raap" is a
turnip, it may also mean, not a wild and rocky place,
but where small stones, like turnips upon a cultivated
* It is curious to observe the changes in the Dutch names given by
the Dutch settlers :
Hell Gate, supposed to be named from dangerous navigation, was
formerly " Hellegat," after a river in Flanders. Breuckelen was named
after a village in the province of Utrecht. Gravesend was not named
by the English under Lady Moody, but was called s'Gravensande by
Governor Kieft, after a seaport near the river Maas, signifying the
Count's Sea-beach : graf or graven, counts ; sande, a sandy beach.
Just as the Hague, at first a hunting-seat of the Counts of Holland, was
called s' Graven Hague, or the Counts' hedge or woods.
36 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
field, lay thick upon the surface. This suggestion as
to the derivation of the word is given by Teunis G.
Bergen, whose close attention to Dutch names and their
derivations makes it worthy of attention. The soil in
the northern part of the town is rich, but the fields did
at one time present a surface covered with small stones,
such as might be described very properly by a word with
such a derivation.
This name may, for another reason, have been applied
to this portion of the town. There was at one time a
brick kiln, "steenbakkery," upon the farm owned by
Mr. John Lefferts. The name of steenbakkery was still
applied as late as 1876 to the large pond formed by the
digging out of clay for the bricks. The clayey soil
made it almost impossible to drain the pond, and it was
used by the school-boys in the town as a skating pond
in winter, and always was known by them as the
" steenbakkery." It was not until the hollow was filled
up to make a causeway for the railroad from Nostrand
Avenue to Flatbush Avenue that the pond began to dis-
appear.
The land on the southern side of Kings County is
remarkably free from rocks ; beyond the central ridge
of the island there are none. There is said to be an
Indian tradition to the effect that Satan threw all the
rocks from Long Island across the Sound to Connecti-
cut in a fit of anger ; if so, he certainly cleared this part
of the island very effectually.
The middle of the town was called " Dorp," a village
or country town ; that is, the village proper and the
business center. The south end, of the town was known
as "Rustenburgh," or the resting-place. With what
peculiar fitness this name was given we can not say,
NAME OF THE VILLAGE OF FLATBUSH. 37
unless the calm rcstfulnoss and repose of the landscape)
was impressive. It may have been, as the earliest set-
tlers had each a portion of the open and unwooded land
while the forest was being cut down in Dorp and Steen-
raap, that they had their first homes in Rustenburgh ;
thus this portion of the town may have been their tem-
porary resting-place. But history in this instance, as
is often the case in more important things, gives no
answer to our questions.
The present name of the village is not an im-
provement upon that first given ; and it is much to be
regretted that the pretty village should not have re-
tained the title applied so aptly by the old settlers —
Midwood. It was appropriate in all its significations,
whether referring to the people who lived in the middle
district, or the little town in the midst of woods.
Looking down upon it from the highest point in
Prospect Park, it is so shut in by trees and shrubbery
that we might say, almost as appropriately now as two
hundred years ago, it is Midwood still.
CHAPTER VI.
DUTCH NAMES.
Until this century the Dutch names from the
fatherland were still given by the descendants of the
settlers to their children. Some of us can remember
names which were once household words in every fam-
ily, as being the names of parents and grandparents, but
which now are never heard. We can trace them through
the county in their English translations ; but the origi-
nals, like the old people who bore them, have died out.
We here furnish some of the names which are found
constantly recurring in the old records of the town, to
which we add the translations under which they now
appear :
Aart (Arthur), Aries (Aaron), Arian (Adrian), An-
dries (Andrew), Bornt (Barent or Bernard), Christoffle
(Christopher), Claes or Nicolaes (Nicholas), Dirk or
Diederick (Richard), Guilliam (William), Hans, the
nickname for Johannes (John), Joris (George), Jaco-
bus (James), Lucas (Luke), Paulus (Paul), Pieter (Pe-
ter), Roelef (Ralph), Wouter (Walter), Wilhelmus (Wil-
liam), Yacob (Jacob), Jacques (James), Joost (George).
There are other names which were never changed by
translation ; some of them are probably family names :
DUTCH NAMES. 39
Wolfert, Gysbert, Volkert, Wynand, Lambert, Ger-
brandt, Rynier, Myndert, Baltus, Rutgert, Harmanus,
Ulpius, Jurian. Rembrandt was abbreviated to Rem,
and under that form it was a name frequently given.
There are other names which might have been trans-
lated, but are still continued in their original form, viz. :
Coert is probably Courtland ; Gerret is Gerhard or Ger-
rard ; Evert is Everard ; Laurens is Lawrence or Loren-
zo ; Tennis is Anthony.
The family name Denyse is from Denis, and is the
contraction of Dionysius. St. Denis is Dionysius the
Areopagite, converted by Paul's sermon on Mars Hill.
The family name Tiebout, at one time numerous in
Kings County, is, in its translation, Theobald.
The English rendering of some of these names seems
to us somewhat arbitrary. Cobus was a common nick-
name for Jacobus ; it would seem natural to have the
English translation of it, Jacob ; but we find that it has
been always translated into James. In the patent ob-
tained from James, Duke of York, by Governor Sir
Edmond Andros, the Duke is called " Jacobus, Hertzog
von York and Albany." Erom this we judge that this
translation was the general one, and not a local render-
ing by the farmers.
The names of the women seem to have undergone
even a greater change than those of the men. The di-
minutive je, pronounced as we do ia, is attached to most
of the feminine names. In a dictionary published in
Amsterdam, 1749, there are some pages devoted to
"Naamen van Mannen en Vrouwen" — names of men
and women. In this the author gives a most uncompli-
mentary reason for the fact in the explanation that,
"since the Female Sex is lookt upon as inferior to the
40 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Male, these diminutives are applied to women." As
these diminutives were also expressive of endearment,
in view of the strength of family ties among the Dutch,
we find a stronger reason in the expression of affection
by father and husband, rather than in attributing their
use to an arrogation of superiority.
The following names of our grandmothers and
great grandmothers appear upon the baptismal records
of the past century :
Aaltje (Aletta or Alida), Annetje (Anne), Arriantie
(Adrianna), Beletje (Bella), Dirkje or Dortie (Doro-
thea), Elsie (Alice), Evau (Eve), Femmetia (Phebe),
Gertje (Gertrude), Grietje or Margarietje (Margaret),
Engeltie (Ann), Helena (Helen), Jannetje (Jane), Lam-
metje (Lemmian), Lysbet (Elizabeth), Katrina or Tri-
entje (Catharine), Morritje (Mary), Neeltje (Cornelia,
sometimes Nelly), Pieterneltje (Petronella), Willimentje
(Wilhelmine), Leentje (Magdalena), Seytia (Cynthia),
Yda (Ida), Motje (Martha). Hieltie, also spelled Hil-
letie, is probably the abbreviation of Hildegonda, Tiesie
(Letitia), Gashie (Garrita).
There are some names which are nearly obsolete, if
not entirely so ; these are : Hildegonda, Geradina, Pe-
tronella, Wilhelmina, Lemmian, Alida, Garetta, Adri-
anna, Blandina. There are other names which have
gradually fallen into disuse, such as Phebe, Cynthia,
Dorothea, Catalina.
Family names were strictly adhered to, and the eld-
est son was given either that of his father or one or the
other of his grandparents. Thus it happened that cer-
tain names were found descending from father to son
through many generations ; there are names in this
county always to be found in certain families. Some of
DUTCH NAMES. 41
these appear in the documentary history of this State
at a very early period, and are repeated upon the town
records through successive years to this present time.
The Van Brunt family have never been without a Rut-
gert or Rulif ; Wynant is the family name in the Ben-
nett family ; Coert and Lucas in the Vorhees family.
As early as 1700 the names of Domenicus and Cor-
nelius appear among the Vandeveers ; there is the rec-
ord of Englebert Lott in 1666 : these names are not yet
extinct.
Jacques has been a family name in the Cortelyou
family since the first settlement of New Utrecht.
Gerret has been the family name in the Stryker fam-
ily ; Hendrick has been in the Suydam family since
1663, when the ancestor of that name came to this
country ; Adrian, Marten, and Gerret have been names
in the Martense family for an equal length of time.
Jan, and formerly Douwe, were names generally found
in the Ditmas family.
The unusual name of Leffert occurs constantly in the
family bearing that surname ; wherever the family name
of Lefferts is found, there may be seen its repetition, in
the old family custom of calling one of the sons Leffert
Lefferts.
This name also appears frequently in connection
with other families : as early as 1700 it was used in the
AValdron family ; in 1720, in the Martense family ; in
1768, in the Eyerson family; in 1776, in the Polhemus
family ; in 1783, in the Lloyd family ; in 1789, in the
Bergen family ; in 1792, in the Gerretson family ; in
1807, in the Schenck family. The above names were
probably given through intermarriage, but, as Leffert
Pieterse was the name of the ancestor of this family who
42 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
settled in Flatbush in 1661, it is probable that, origi-
nally, Leffert was a given and not a surname.
There are names on the assessment roll of 1676 which
still appear in Flatbush :
Jan Jansen van Ditmersen (ancestor of Ditmas
family), Pieter Loott (ancestor of Lott family), Leffert
Pieterse (ancestor of Lefferts family), Jan Streycker,
Hendrick Streycker, Aris Jansen Van de Bildt, Jacob
Janse Van de Bildt, Abraham Hegeman.
From a record of the heads of families in Flatbush
in 1687, we select the following names of those whose
descendants are still living in the town, many of them
bearing the same names as their ancestors :
Englebert Lott, Pieter Strycker, Pieter Lott, Joseph
Hegeman, Lefferd Pieterse (in the next generation,
called Peter Lefferts), Jan Van Ditmaertz (now spelled
Ditmas), Aris Vanderbilt, Jacob Vanderbilt, Marten
Adrianse (Marten de Boer, ancestor of the Martense
family), Jan Oake, Jacob Remsen, Pieter Williamson,
Jan Cornelissen Vander Veer, Gerret Janse Strijker.
In the year 1698 there were in the whole of Kings
County : men, 308 ; women, 332 ; children, 1,081.
There were also at this time 296 negroes in the
county.
From " a list of the inhabitants of the township of
Flatbush," in the year 1738, we give the following names,
still represented by families in the town :
Dominicus V. D. Veer, Peter Leffertz, Jan Van der
Bilt, Abraham Lott, John Vanderveer, Oornelis Sudam,
John Sudom, Adrian Hegeman, William Bennett, Hen-
drick Wickoff, John Lot, John Striker, Laurens Detmas,
John Detmas, Isaac Oakey, Dom. Antonidus, Rem Mar-
tense, Adrian Martense, Gerret Van Duyne.
DUTCH NAMES. 43
There is great difficulty in tracing names of our
Dutch ancestors, from the fact that on the earliest rec-
ords the names were not fixed. Thus, Peter's son being
named Jan, he wrote his name as Jan Petersen, but, he
in turn calling his boy after his father, the boy's name
in time came to be Peter Jan sen. Also, the same name
is spelled in so many different ways, by members of the
same family not only, but by the same person, that it is
at times difficult to identify it.
As an example of the first, we may refer to the an-
cestor of the Lefferts family, who appears upon the
record of 1676 as Lefferd Peterse, and in the next gen-
eration it was changed again to Peter Lefferts, ever since
remaining as Lefferts. The same change was made with
the name of the Martense family.
In the old family Bible in the possession of the de-
scendants is the record that " 1659, July 29, es Adrian
Reyerz getrout met Annetje Martense."
1660, Marten Adrianse (son of Adrian) was born,
and his children were called Marten's sons, which name,
at first as Martensen and afterward under the contrac-
tion of Martense, has continued to be the patronymic
of the descendants of Marten Adrianse, son' of Adrian
Reyerze.
As to the spelling of names we find the following
changes in the same family name :
Stryker, Striker, Strycher, Streycker, Strijcker,
Streicker ; Martens, Martense, Maertense, Maerthense ;
Loot, Loott, Lot, Lott ; Conover, Couwenhoven, Kou-
enhoven, Von Couwenhoven, Von Couwenhooven, Cou-
venhoven, Koowenoven ; VanderbRt, Van Der Bilt, Van-
derbildt, Van de Bildt ; Cortelyou, Corteljou, Cortelliau,
Corteljouw ; Vorhees, Voris, Van Voorhuys, Von Voor-
44 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
liuijs; Wyckoff, Wijkoff, Wickhof, Wycoff ; Lefferts,
Loffert, Leffertt, Leffertze.
The birthplace has in many cases furnished the name
of the family. The prefix Van, like the German Von,
undoubtedly refers to the place whence the family came.
In some cases it has become incorporated in the name,
as : Vanderveer, Vanderbilt, Vandervoort ; in other cases
it was more properly written with distinctive reference
to its derivation, as : Van De venter, Van Arsdalen, Van
Dyck.
Mr. Teunis G. Bergen says that the name of Van
Brunt is an exception, and that a family, and not a
place, is referred to.
Barkeloo, Deventer, Wyck, Antwerp, Buren, and
many other towns, in and near the Netherlands, have
furnished names to the families who, leaving there, have
settled in America. The name of Ditmas was derived
from the place in Holland whence the family came ; for
the early settler is recorded upon the assessment roll as
Jan Van Ditmarsen.
In a list of those coming over in 1657, is Claes Pou-
welson from Ditmarsum, and Jan Petersen from Dit-
marsen, showing it to be the name of a place.
The letters " se " which, in many of the Dutch names
were the final letters, are an abbreviation of "sen."
Thus, Martense is the the son of Marten ; Lefferts
was the son of Leffert ; Denyse was the son of Denis ;
Janse was the son of Jan.
There are probably very few towns in this country,
if any, in which the farms have been held in the same
names so long as they have in Flatbush. Living in a
land where everything seems in almost perpetual change,
the old homesteads yet shelter the families by whom
BUTCH NAMES. 45
they were built, and the farms belong to the children of
those by whom they were settled, while before the bap-
tismal bowl in the old Dutch church the same names
have been repeated from father to son for two hundred
years.
We copy the following from a letter published in 1859
by Hon. H. 0. Murphy, of Brooklyn. It was written
during his stay in Holland, and is dated from the
Hague : *
"In order to show what difficulties the peculiar systems
adopted in this country [Holland], and continued by the settlers
in our own, have thrown in the way of tracing genealogies, it is
to be observed that the first of these in point of time was the
patronymic, as it is called, by which a child took, besides his
own baptismal name, that of his father with the addition of
Zoon or Sen, meaning son. To illustrate this : if a child were
baptised Hendrick and the baptismal name of his father were
Jan, the child would be called Hendrick Jansen. His son, if
baptised Tunis, would be called Tunis Hendricksen. The son of
the latter might be Willem, and would have the name of Willem
Tunissen. And so we might have the succeeding generations
called successively Garret Willemsen, Marten Garretsen, Adrian
Martensen, and so on through the whole of the calendar of
Christian names; or, as more frequently happened, there would
be repetition in the second, third, or fourth generation of the
name of the first ; and thus, as these names were common to the
whole people, there were in every community different lineages
of identically the same name. This custom, which had pre-
vailed in Holland for centuries, was in full vogue at the time of
* Wc were not awai'e at the time of taking this letter from the
newspaper in which it was published that it had been copied in Stiles's
" History of Brooklyn." We shall not withhold the portions of it selected
for use here, however, on that account, as it verifies much that we have
said, and may interest those of our readers who have not seen it else-
where.
46 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLAT BUSH.
the settlement of New Netherland. In writing this termination
sen, it was frequently contracted into se or z or s. Thus the
name of William Barentsen, who commanded in the first three
arctic voyages of exploration, in 1594, 1595, and 1596, is given
in the old accounts of tliose voyages Barentsen, Barentse, Ba-
rentz, Barents ; sometimes in one way, sometimes another, in-
differently. Or, to give an example nearer home, both of the pa-
tronymic custom and of the contraction of the name, the father of
Gerritt Martense, the founder of a family of that name in Flat-
bush, was Martin Adriense, and his grandfather was Adraen
Ryerse, who came from Amsterdam. The inconveniences of
this practice, the confusion to which it led, and the difficulty of
tracing families, led ultimately to its abandonment both in Hol-
land and in our own country. In doing so, the patronymic
which the person originating the change bore, was adopted as
the surname. Most of the family names thus formed and exist-
ing among us may be said to be of American origin, as they
were first fixed in America, though the same names were
adopted by others in Holland. Hence we have the names of
such families of Dutch descent among us as Jansen (anglice
Johnson), Garretsen, Cornelisen, Williamsen or Williamson,
Hendricksen or Hendrickson, Clasen, Simonsen or Simonson,
Tysen (son of Mathias), Arendsen(son of Arend), Hansen, Lam-
bertsen or Lambertson, Paulisen, Rem sen, Ryersen, Martense,
Adrian, Rutgers, Everts, Phillips, Lefferts, and others. To
trace connection between these families and persons in this
country, it is evident, would be impossible, for the reasons
stated, without a regular record.
" Another mode of nomenclature intended to obviate the diffi-
culty of an identity of names for the time being, but which ren-
dered the confusion worse confounded for the future genealogist,
was to add to the patronymic name the occupation or some other
personal characteristic of the individual. Thus Laurens Jansen,
the inventor of the art of printing, as the Dutch claim, had
affixed to his name that of Coster, that is to say sexton, an office
of which he was in possession of the emoluments. But the same
addition was not transmitted to the son; and thus the son of
DUTCH NAMES. 47
Hendrick Jansen Coster might be called Tunis Hendricksen
Brouwer (brewer), and his grandson might be Willem Tunissen
Bleecker (bleacher). Upon the abandonment of the old system
of names this practice went with it ; but it often happened that
while one brother took the father's patronymic as a family
name, another took that of his occupation or personal designa-
tion. Thus originated such families as Coster, Brower, Bleecker,
Schoonmaker, Stryker, Schuyler, Cryger, Snediker, Hegeman,
Hoftnan, Dykman, Bleekman, Wortman, and Tieman. Like the
others, they are not ancient family names, and are not all to be
traced to Holland as the place where they first became fixed.
Some of them were adopted in our own country.
" A third practice, evidently designed, like that referred to, to
obviate the confusions of the first, was to append the name of
the place where the person resided — not often of a large city,
but of a particular limited locality, and frequently of a particu-
lar farm or natural object. This custom is denoted in all those
family names winch have the prefix of Van, Vander, Ver (which
is a contraction of Vander), and Ten, meaning, respectively, of,
of the, and at the. From towns in Holland we have the families
of Van Cleef, Van Wyck, Van Schaack,Van Bergen, and others ;
from Guelderland, those of Van Sinderen, Van Dyk, and Van
Buren ; from Utrecht, Van "Winkel ; from Friesland, Van Ness ;
from Zeeland, Van Duyne. Sometimes the Van has been dropped,
as in the name of Boerum, of the province of Friesland ; of Co-
vert, of North Brabant ; of Westervelt, of Drenthe ; of Brevoort
and Wessels in Guelderland. The prefixes vander, or ver, and
ten were adopted where the name was derived from a particular
spot, thus : Vanderveer (of the ferry), Vanderberg (of the hill),
Vanderbilt (of the bildt, that is, certain elevations of ground in
Guelderland and near Utrecht), Vanderbeck (of the brook), Van-
der voort (of the ford), Vanderhoff (of the court), Verplanck (of
the plank), Verhulst (of the holly), Verkerk (of the church),
Ten Eyck (at the oak), Tenbroeck (at the marsh). Some were
derived, as we have observed, from particular farms ; thus, Van
Couwenhoven (also written Van Cowdenhoven — cold farms).
The founder of that family in America, Wolphert Gerrissen Van
48 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Cowenhoven came from Amersfoort, in the province of Utrecht,
and settled at what is now called Flatlands, in our county, but
what was called by him New Amersfoort. Some names in the
classification which I have attempted have undergone a slight
change in their transfer to America. Barculo is from Borculo,
a town in Guelderland ; Van Anden is from Andel, in the prov-
ince of Groningen ; Snediker should be Snediger ; Bouton, if of
Dutch origin, should be Bouten (son of Boudwijn, or Baldwin),
otherwise it is French. Van Cott was probably Van Oat, of
South Holland. The Catti were the original inhabitants of the
country, and hence the name. There is one family which has
defied all my etymological research. It is evidently Dutch, but
has most likely undergone some change, and that is the name
of Vaa Brant. There is no such name now existing in Holland.
There are a few names derived from relative situation to a place ;
thus Voorhees is simply before, or in front of, Hess, a town in
Guelderland, and Onderdonk is below Donlc, which is in Brabant.
There are a few names more arbitrary, such as Middagh (midday),
Conrad (bold counsel), Hagedorn (hawthorn), Bogaert (orchard),
Blauvelt (blue field), Rosevelt (rosefield), Stay vesant (quicksand),
Wyckoff (parish court), Hooghland (highland), Dorland (arid
land), Opdyke (on the dike), Hasbrook (hares' marsh), and af-
ford a more ready means of identification of relationship. The
names of Brinkerhof and Schenck, the latter of which is very
common here, may be either of Dutch or German origin. Mar-
tin Schenck was a somewhat celebrated general in the War of
Independence.
"Ditmars is derived from the Danish, and Bethune is from a
place in the Spanish Netherlands near Lille. Lott is a Dutch
name, though it has an English sound. There is a person of that
name from Guelderland residing in the Hague. Pieter Lots
was one of the Schepens of Amersfoort in 1676, and I infer from
the patronymic form of his name that Lott is a baptismal name,
and is derived from Lodewyck or Lewis, and that Pieter Lots
means Peter the son of Lodewyck, or Lot, as the former is often
contracted. Some names are disguised in a Latin dress. The
practice prevailed at the time of the emigration to our country
DUTCH NAMES. 49
of changing the names, of those who had gone through the uni-
versity and received a degree, from plain Dutch into sonorous
Roman. The names of all our early ministers were thus altered.
Johannes or Jan Meckelenburg became Johannes Megapolensis ;
Evert Willemse Bogaert became Evarardus Bogardus ; Jan Do-
ris Polheem became Johannes Theodorus Polhemius. The last
was the founder of the Polhemus family of Brooklyn. The rec-
ords here show that he was a minister at Meppel, in the prov-
ince of Drenthe, and in 1637 went as such to Brazil under the
auspices of the West India Company, whence he went to Long
Island. Samuel Dries, who, by the way, was an Englishman,
but who graduated at Leyden, was named Samuel Drisius. It
may, therefore, be set down as a general rule that the names of
Dutch families ending in us have thus been Latinized.
" There were many persons who emigrated from Holland who
were of Gallic extraction. When the bloody Duke of Alva came
into the Spanish Netherlands, in 1567, clothed with despotic
power over the provinces by the bigoted Philip II, more than a
hundred thousand of the Protestants of the Gallic provinces fled
to England under the protection of Queen Elizabeth, and to their
brethren in Zeeland and Holland. They retained their language,
that of the ancient Gauls, and were known in England as Wal-
loons, and in Holland as Waalen, from the name of their prov-
inces, called Gaulsche, or, as the word is pronounced, Waalsche
provinces. The number of fugitives from religious persecution
was increased by the flight of the Protestants of France at the
same time, and was further augmented five years later by the
memorable massacre of St. Bartholomew. When the West In-
dia Company was incorporated, many of these persons and their
descendants sought further homes in New Nether! and. Such
were the founders of the families of Rapelye, Cortelyon, Dubois,
Debevoise, Duryea, Crommelin, Conselyea, Montague, Fountain,
and others."
CHAPTER VII.
USE OF THE DUTCH LANGUAGE.
Dr. Strong states in his history that the first school
established in Flatbush was in 1659. Mr. T. G. Bergen
places the date at one year earlier. There is also a dif-
ference of opinion as to the person who first filled the
office of schoolmaster. Dr. Strong heads the list with
the name of Adrian Hegeman ; Mr. Bergen says it was
Rynier Bastiansen van Giesen who first accepted the
position at an annual salary of two hundred florins.
O'Callaghan says that in 1683 the schoolmaster in Flat-
bush was paid his salary in wheat, "wampum value."
The instruction given at that time was entirely in
the Dutch language. Petrus Van Steenburgh, who
was appointed schoolmaster in 1762, was the first who
taught English ; he had pupils in both languages. An-
thony Welp, his successor in 1773, was the last teacher
who was required to teach Dutch. "We have found two
of the original school bills of these teachers ; it is not
often that school bills are preserved for more than one
hundred years. The handwriting of Master P. V. Steen-
burgh is very distinct, and abounds in flourishes, par-
ticularly in his signature.
USE OF THE DUTCH LANGUAGE. 51
Evert Hegeman, Dr.
To P. V. Steenbergh.
1773, August 5th.
To schooling from the 15th March to this day ... 9*. 5tZ.
For half a load of wood 2 6
£0 11 11
Eeceived the full contents :
P. V. Steenbergh.
The following, from Mr. Anthony Welp, is perfect as
to its penmanship, which is as regular and legible as
print ; but we find that Mr. Welp, who, in Article 2d
of his agreement, engages to teach English spelling, is
himself a little careless in that respect :
Flatbush, March ye 24, 1774.
Mr. Hegeman,
To Anthony Welp, Det.,
To Teaching of Polly Sebree, 3 ms.,
The English spilling 4s.
To one load of wood 6s.
. £0 10
Eeceived in full per me :
Anthony Welp.
The load of wood referred to in each bill is in ac-
cordance with the requisition in Article 3d, that "a
load of firewood shall be bought for each scholar every
nine months for the use of the school."
The price of tuition, according to the agreement Mr.
Welp signed, amounted to the sum of four shillings for
three months' instruction in low Dutch spelling, read-
ing, and writing ; five shillings for the same in English ;
52 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
six shillings for instruction in ciphering. The position
of schoolmaster was no sinecure in those days. Let us
hope that he faithfully discharged his duty ; but if, in
its multitudinous requirements, he sometimes proved
delinquent, the most exacting must surely have forgiven
him.
The children were to be instructed in the ordinary
branches of a Dutch education, although we confess
ignorance as to what may have been comprised therein.
In addition, there was to be a thorough course of cate-
chism ; and the schoolmaster was required, when these
little ones were publicly catechised, to encourage them
"to be friendly in appearance." We regret that the
method for accomplishing this is not designated. He
was to keep the church clean and ring the bell. Before
the sermon he was to read a chapter out of the Bible,
the ten commandments, the twelve articles of faith, and
then take the lead in singing.
The afternoon duties were of a similar nature. When
the minister preached in some other village he was re-
quired " to read twice before the congregation, from the
book commonly used for that purpose, and also to read
a sermon on the explanation of the catechism." He
was to provide the bread and wine for the celebration
of the Lord's Supper and the water for the administra-
tion of baptism. He was to invite to funerals, being
paid extra if required to go to New York for that pur-
pose ; he was to dig the grave and toll the bell. As at
that time the practice of burying under the church was
quite general, the schoolmaster was to see that the grave
was seven feet deep, and he was required "to remove
all the dirt out of the church. "
The person who was capable of accomplishing all
USE OF THE DUTCH LANGUAGE. 53
this must have been a most energetic schoolmaster.
Such a position at the present day would involve the
use of multipled talents. He would relieve the minister
of half the church service ; he would supply the place
of choir, organist, and organ-blower ; he would fill the
place of the principal of Erasmus Hall ; he would as-
sume the responsibilities of all the Sunday-school teach-
ers, and would perform the duties of the sexton. This
was required of the schoolmaster a hundred years ago.
But even these were not all his duties ; for, during the
session of the court, he was employed for the service of
" court messenger for the village of Midwout, to serve
citations," etc., for which, however, he was " entitled to
proper compensation," in addition to his ordinary pay.
In 1776, in order to oblige the children to learn
English, they were compelled to converse in that lan-
guage in school, and were punished if they spoke
Dutch.
At home, however, where no compulsory measures
were used, they naturally fell into the old familiar
words, and their language there was still that of the
fatherland. At the fireside, on the farm, in the
street, they spoke Dutch ; the colored people in the
kitchen, the master and mistress in the house, neigh-
bor to neighbor and friend to friend, all conversed in
Dutch. Business was transacted in that language, wills
were written and agreements made in that familiar
tongue ; and on the Sabbath-day they read from their
Dutch Bibles, sang from their Dutch Psalm-books, and
listened to sermons in Dutch from ministers who, as
late as 1746, came from Holland. > They had their store
of old Dutch books, bound in parchment, and meant to
last, as they faithfully have done. We have some of
54 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
them still on the upper shelves and in the old chests of
the capacious garrets. Many of them are illustrated
with quaint old plates.
There is "Batavische Arcadia," published by "Jo-
hannes van Ravesteyn, Boekverkooper en Ordinaris,
Druker defer stede 1602."
There are religious books by "Michiel de Groot,
Boekverkooper, Anno 1G63."
Others are published by " Cornells Jacobsz Naenaart,
Boekverkooper woonende op het Oude Kerkhof, in't
jaar 1675," and others published by "Jacobus Wolffers,
Boekverkooper in de Beursstraat 1724."
These were all purchased in Amsterdam ; some of
them doubtless were brought over by the early settlers
themselves, and others were subsequently sent for.
There are books on the knowledge or science (" wee-
tenschappen ") of arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry,
and algebra, by Christian Wolff, published " Te Amster-
dam by de Janssoons van Waesberge, 1738," and other
books, from the same publishers and by the same author,
on architecture (de Boukonst), on fortifications, and
hydraulics.
"Drie Parabolen ofte Gelykenissen," etc., is the
title of a large parchment-covered volume published in
Amsterdam in 1665 which is still in possession of a lady
in Flatbush, and which has descended to her through
several generations. It was probably brought from Hol-
land when her ancestors first settled here.
It was not until 1792 that the afternoon services in
the congregations of Brooklyn, Flatbush, and New
Utrecht were in English.
As late as 1830, and even 1840, when elderly people
met together socially, it was quite common for them to
USE OF THE DUTCH LANGUAGE. 55
drop gradually into the use of the Dutch tongue, even
when the conversation had begun in English ; a little
confidential talk between old ladies was sure to be in
Dutch. So gradual was the change that the elderly
members of a family would often consult with eacli
other on any important matter in Dutch, and, turning
to their children, address them in English. This inter-
changeable use of the two languages may have been the
means of prolonging a knowledge of the Dutch, and of
having caused the young children to catch many a quaint
word and odd expression ; for the mother tongue of so
many generations could not pass away without leaving
some sign, or dropping some phrases into the memory of
the children who stood looking up, eager-eyed, as father
and mother talked together.
For a long time, in this mingling of two languages,
neither of them was grammatically spoken ; bad Eng-
lish and worse Dutch were the result, until finally the
Dutch was vanquished and the tongue of the Anglo-
Saxon was triumphant. But there were many words
which lingered and fell behind the ranks of the retreat-
ing army. Some of these were caught by the children,
others were imprisoned in the memory of those older,
so that, long after Dutch sentences were forgotten,
Dutch words and quaint expressions might be heard in
the family.
A child who was querulous was said to be " krankie,"
from "krank," weak, sick. One who complained with-
out sufficient cause was said to be " kleynzeerig." A
thriftless person, one who could with difficulty earn a
livelihood, was called an "arm sukkelaar." One who
was sad and downhearted was spoken of as "bedroefd."
The word " begryp " was often used instead of the English
56 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
"comprehend," as being more forcible, and that which
was comprehensive was, from the same verb " begrypen,"
called " begrypelyk." "In doods nood," was to be in
danger of death. Easter was long known as Paasch,
and Whitsuntide was Pingster. A child who was rest-
lessly creeping on the floor was said to be "kriewelen."
The tin dipper that hung at the well curb was a " blik-
ke," from the Dutch word "blik," for tin.
We remember to have heard children call their grand-
mother "Grootje." Kelder was cellar; Opperzolder
was garret ; little cakes, Koekjes (the sound of j is
that of i) ; Zoetekoek was a kind of sweet cake raised
with yeast, which had sometimes currants and raisins in
it. The wife of the minister was always called "Jof-
frouw." The word Sprookjes was used for stories which
tended to the ghostly and marvelous.
Even many of the proverbs of this period are ours in
their translations :
" De pot verwyt den ketel dat by zwart is," alluding
to the proverbial jealousy of pot and kettle.
"As you have brewed, so you must drink " : " Dat gy
gebrouwen hebt moet gy zelf drinken," is the proverbial
expression for bearing the evils we bring upon ourselves,
and which has its counterpart in an English proverb,
which says, "As you make the bed, so you sleep in it."
" The burned child dreads the fire," we say of the
wisdom we gain from bitter experience, and the old
Dutch people expressed it in the same figure: "Een
gebrond kind schroomt het vuur."
" Die dat opstaan zyn plaats vergaat," was also a
common saying.
These words and sentences have lingered in the
memory of the generation that is not yet past. There
USE OF THE DUTCH LANGUAGE. 5?
are aged people still living in Flatbush who keep in
mind the Dutch language, and a few of the old colored
people remember some familiar words and expressions,
but these all are only as the rustling leaves upon the
dead oak, which will be swept away when the tree falls,
if not loosened before that time, as the withering branch
loses its power to hold them.
CHAPTER VIII.
EXTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES.
Introductory to what we have to say about Dutch
homes and customs, we would here state that some of
the changes recorded we give from personal recollec-
tion, others from memory of what was told by the old
people at the fireside. The information gathered has
been from varied, but, in every case, from reliable,
sources. In sympathy with the antiquarian, it has been
a pleasant task to search among relics of the past. AVe
have found many a remnant from which to learn what
were the colors of the garment when it was new ; we
have collected the broken fragments to judge of the
shape of the vessel when it was whole ; aged persons
have opened to us the storehouse of their memory, from
which we have gathered things forgotten by the world.
We have ransacked old garrets, which have for genera-
tions' held their treasures fast with human penurious-
ness, and we have loosened from their grasp many a
babbling bit of furniture and many a garrulous old ac-
count-book. Old chests and old desks have offered us
their treasures, and we have taken what each had to
give. But, as we survey our booty, we greatly fear that
the most we have gathered will prove, like a reliquary
filled with bones of a saint, only valuable for the sake
of those to whom they once belonged.
EXTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 59
Stiles, in his " History of Brooklyn," says : " The
farmhouses on Long Island were more generally con-
structed, in a rough but substantial manner, of stone,
lighted by narrow windows containing two small panes
of glass, and protected against the ' overloopen,' or
escalading, of any savage foe, by strong, well-painted
palisades. Snugness, economy, safety, were the char-
acteristics of these country dwellings." This was in
1GG5 ; we do not propose to go so far back as that.
There are no houses now remaining in Flatbush which
were built before the eighteenth century. The house
now owned by the heirs of the late John C. Bergen was
standing during the War of the Revolution. If it was
built by Dominie Freeman, as there is reason to suppose
it was, then it must have been erected some time between
1714 and 1741. The house lately occupied by the fam-
ily of Dr. Robinson, at the corner of Winthrop Street
and Flatbush Avenue, was erected about 1740 or 1750 ;
both of these are still standing and in tolerably good re-
pair. About thirty years ago the old brick house of
the Stryker family was pulled down ; the date marked
upon that was 1696.
The style of these old houses on Long Island was
different from any of those which are built in this age.
The architect of to-day does not model his plans after
these. The young couple just starting in life do not
build after the pattern of the old homestead. And yet,
at the time in which they were built, they were capa-
cious and comfortable ; but they are not suited to the
change in our mode of living. The low ceilings were
necessary where the rooms were^ only heated by open
wood fires ; the great cellars were indispensable where
they were required for the storage of the whole winter's
60 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
provisions ; the roomy garrets were a convenience when
the great spinning-wheels were to be temporarily set
aside. But we require different arrangements now.
The old houses were long and low, rarely more than
a story and a half high. The roof was heavy ; some-
times it was broken by dormer windows, but oftener it
sloped from the ridge-pole in unbroken descent, and
extended so as to form a front piazza, while at the rear
the slope in some of these houses extended so low that
it reached to six or eight feet from the ground.
We have good authority for saying that the houses
with an unbroken sweep from the ridge-pole to the
eaves were those of earliest construction ; the roof was
not built in a straight slant downward, after the style
of a heavy Gothic roof, but curved slightly in the de-
scent. The houses with a double pitch in the roof, both
with and without dormer windows, were erected either
just before the American Revolution or about the year
1800.
Extension rather than height was the aim in the
construction of these old homesteads ; they were long,
low, rambling houses, to which an addition might be
made in any direction at the will of the owner, adding
to its picturesqueness as well as to comfort.
This manner of building suggested the idea that land
in those days was not very expensive ; the extension of
the homestead was not skyward ; there was plenty of
room upon the solid earth. These old Dutchmen be-
lieved in going about upon a plain without the tiresome
climbing of long stairs, just as in the fatherland they
were not accustomed to climb hills, but moved about on
an unvarying level.
It is not probable that the houses of the early set-
EXTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 61
tiers had window-shutters ; at a later date all the houses,
whether brick or wood, had wooden shutters opening
outward and turning upon heavy iron hinges. These
hinges, extending nearly across the shutter, were made
the more conspicuous by being painted black.
For holding back these heavy shutters against the
house when open, there was an awkward iron, some-
what in the shape of an elongated letter S, projecting
some two inches beyond the house.
Some of the old houses had openings cut in the up-
per portion of the shutters, in the shape of a crescent,
to admit the light in the early dawn.
Tin spouts to the gutters extended some two feet
beyond the house at each corner. The water fell from
these upon a flat stone below. At the rear of the house
there were large casks frequently placed so as to catch
the flow from these spouts ; especially was this the case
after a drought, when the cisterns were nearly empty.
Previous to and about the year 1800, many houses
had a projecting beam above, to which tackle might be
fastened to hoist up any heavy article into the roomy
garret. The grist from the mill was thus raised from
the wagon, to be stored away. We have this informa-
tion from elderly people in whose memory the custom
still existed, and we can the more readily give credence
to it as being very general, because this manner of rais-
ing heavy articles into the house is common at the pres-
ent day in Holland.
The first houses of the old settlers which were built
of brick usually had the date of their erection upon the
front ; sometimes the figures were made of iron and fas-
tened across the front, or they were built in with darker-
colored brick. The modern fashion of two or four large
62 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
panes of glass was then unknown, and six or nine panes
filled each upper and lower half in the windows. The
frames were broader and heavier that held these sashes,
and the glass was by no means clear. It had seams and
inequalities which tended to produce irregular outlines
in objects seen through it.
The back of the fireplace was indicated by brick or
stone-work on the exterior wall of the house, and the
chimneys rose, broad, huge, and firm, from each gable-
end.
The front door in these houses was always divided
into an upper and lower half. The upper half was usu-
ally lighted by two round glasses, called bulls'-eyes.
These served to light the halls in place of the sidelights
introduced afterward. Round lights in the upper doors,
such as these, are still used in Holland. The knockers
on these were of brass or iron. Sometimes they were
ponderous, and wrought with quaint device. The de-
sign most frequently seen was that of a lion's head
holdinc: a ring in its mouth. When the knocker was of
iron, the door knob was of the same material, and so,
also, when it was brass, the door knob was of brass.
The oldest fastening was a latch raised by the exte-
rior knob ; but, even when the usual style of lock and
key was used, it was not inserted in the door as it now
is, but fastened against it on the inner side.
When brass was the material used for the lock and
the knocker, it was kept polished brightly with the as-
siduous care that the Dutch matron lavished upon every
object in her domain which required manual labor.
The old houses in this village were built almost di-
rectly upon the street. Some of them, in order to have
any inclosure in front, were fenced upon the sidewalk.
EXTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. G3
Being built when there was but little travel, and when
settlers were few, they were naturally so placed as to
bring them as near to their neighbors as the extent of
their farms would allow.
The only old house which forms an exception to this
rule is the one until recently occupied by Dr. Robin-
son, corner of Flatbush Avenue and Winthrop Street,
and this was not built by the Dutch.
Probably at the early settlement of the town there
were in the old houses built at that time two front doors,
each opening from the " stoop" into the separate front
rooms ; in such cases there was no hall. There have
been, until a recent date, very old houses, almost going
to decay, so arranged.
A southern exposure was almost a necessity in this
peculiar style of Dutch architecture, because the unu-
sual length of the house in proportion to its breadth
made it desirable that it should be so placed as to re-
ceive the sunshine upon this long side. It was, there-
fore, quite customary to place the gable-end of the
house to the street where that ran north and south, as
is the case with the main street in Flatbush.
The long "front stoop" was an important feature
in these Dutch houses. It was here the family gathered
at the close of the day ; here the neighbors met to-
gether, and the men smoked their pipes and talked of
colonial politics or, later, discussed the question as to
who should be appointed to the Continental Congress.
When the pipe needed replenishing, the little negro
boy brought the brass chafing-dish filled with hickory
coals.
In some houses a long seat ran the length of the
" stoop" ; in others, there were seats at both ends.
64 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
The flat stone next to the stoop on the walk that led
from the gate to the door was often a millstone, no
longer required for its legitimate use. Upon this lay the
mat, made of corn husks, crisp and bushy when new,
and when flattened down by use consigned to some less
conspicuous place.
It is probable that the addition of wings was the im-
provement of a comparatively modern era ; the oldest
houses were without these, and only when enlargement
was necessary were wings added. A back kitchen at
the rear formed the quarters for the colored people at
the time when the slave population was large ; this
stood close to the house, but was detached from it. The
material of which the Dutch houses were built was
brick or wood ; they were rarely built of stone ; the
most ancient were undoubtedly of brick. For some of
these, the brick was brought from Holland, but there
was at an early period a brick-kiln in Flatbush. The
large pond on the southern side of what was once Mr.
John Lelferts's farm, called the Steenbakkery, was
formed by the digging out of the clay for bricks and
pottery, as its name indicates.
Sometimes the lower portion of the house at the
gable-end was of rough unhewn stone ; or the lower
story as far as the projection of the piazza was of stone
and the remainder shingled, and at other times the
front of the house was covered with a smooth stucco ;
but the majority of the earliest homesteads were built of
brick, and these were in turn superseded by the frame
houses of a succeeding generation, many of which still
remain. The roofs were of shingles, and the sides the
same. The "clapboards" in use at present were not
then made. Although we can not definitely specify the
EXTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 65
exact year, we are safe in saying that it is only within
the second quarter of this century that houses were
boarded in Flatbush ; up to that time they were covered
with shingles.
Thus stood those old Dutch houses, unpretentious,
unostentatious, yet comfortable and roomy, just the
picture that comes to mind when one thinks of an old-
fashioned pleasant home ; just what is expressed by that
phrase " the old homestead."
CHAPTER IX.
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES.
The furniture which we are about to describe was
not peculiar to Dutch houses. The articles in house-
hold use were probably the same as those in the homes
of the Puritans, or in the houses of the English people
of the same class in society. A certain degree of con-
formity to a particular style marks the household ef-
fects of each succeeding age ; this is varied and modi-
fied to suit the manner o£ living of the people by whom
it is adopted.
There were in the dwellings built in Flatbush during
the last century certain characteristics common to them
all. The ceilings were low, even when the rooms were
large, and the rooms for this reason seem out of propor-
tion. This may be accounted for in the fact that the
only method of heating the apartments was by means of
the large open fireplace ; the only mode of lighting them
was by the dim yellow flame of tallow candles.
Our climate in winter is not mild and genial, so that
draughts through the loose, rattling sashes and from
the cracks and crannies in the heavy doors would have
made it almost impossible to warm the rooms, had the
ceilings been high in proportion to their size.
In many of the old houses the heavy hewn beams
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 67
which supported the upper story were projected across
the ceiling of the rooms upon the first floor ; these were
left the natural color of the wood. There are houses
still standing in Flatbush in which these cross beams
may be seen ; all such were built previous to the War of
the Revolution.
Wainscoting was the finish of the lower half of the
walls in many of the houses, but it was not general ; a
wooden molding, called a "chair board," often supplied
its place ; this extended around the room, about three
feet from the surbase.
In the old house, alluded to in Dr. Strong's history,
which stood at the southern extremity of the farm of
Mr. John Lefferts, and which was burned down by the
British in the battle of Flatbush, the surbase was made
of tiles, the same as those around the jambs of the chim-
ney. We state this to show that the use of tiling as an
ornamental finish to the best apartments was more com-
mon than is generally supposed.
The old lady, in whose memory this room was most
tenderly held, thus described the method of cleansing
these tiles : they were first whitewashed ; this coating of
lime was allowed to become perfectly dry, and was then
rubbed off with a woolen cloth. Through this means,
not only did the tiles remain clean, but the interstices
were kept white.
The fireplace in houses of an early date occupied
nearly the entire side of the room, and was, as to im-
portance as well as size, more conspicuous than the sham
chimney-piece which at present takes its place.
The delightful associations of the family gathering
have been felt even through less attractive surroundings,
so that the fireside has come to stand for the very home
08 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
itself. How strong, then, must have been the association
of home and kindred with this broad, blazing chimney,
around which all the family gathered through the long
winter evening, the circle enlarged at times by neigh-
bors and friends !
There were no libraries within their reach at that
time from which they could procure a variety of books ;
nor, had they such, were there good lights to attract
the children to the reading-table ; the dark and un-
paved roads did not tempt them to walk out, neither
were there public amusements to divert them from the
social gathering around the blazing fire. No wonder,
then, that the prominent picture associated with the
thought of home was the fireside.
The natural economy of the Dutchmen was not ex-
ercised in a direction that would curtail the comfort of
their families, and the woodland, which formed a part
of all the large farms, rendered the supply of fuel such
as to be only limited by the wants of the household or
the leisure to pile up the wood-yard.
We are not surprised that travelers visiting them
should make allusion to their " fires of oak and hickory
half way up the chimney."
Whittier, in " Snow-Bound," has given a descrip-
tion of the way in which the wood-fires were laid. The
arrangement of the logs in the Long Island homestead
was exactly the same as in his New England home :
" The oaken log, green, huge, and thick,
And on its top the stout back-stick :
The knotty fore-stick laid apart,
And filled between with curious art
The ragged brush ; then, hovering near,
We watched the first red blaze appear."
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 69
The hearth was brushed clean of ashes with a wing.
Wings of ducks and geese, carefully prepared, served
this purpose, and the ashes were never, in a neat house-
hold, allowed to be scattered over the hearth-stones.
The same use was made of wings in New England.
Whittier alhides to this when he says :
" Shut in from all the world without,
We sat the clean- winged hearth about."
These old fireplaces were tiled in the best rooms;
the tiles were of chocolate-color, a reddish pink or pale
blue, and generally represented Scripture scenes. At a
later period cast-iron jambs were inserted, the fireplaces
being smaller.
The kitchen andirons were large and of cast iron ;
in the best rooms the shovel and tongs, fender, and
andirons were of brass and kept brightly polished.
During the summer the bricks within the fireplace
were painted with red-lead, to look fresh and tidy, and
then a jar holding asparagus and other ornamental green
branches took the place of the winter's log.
The mantel-pieces which were built in the beginning
of this century were also of wood. They were some-
times over six feet high, and the shelf was very narrow.
They were ornamented more or less with fluting and
some fancy designs, but there was no fine wood-carving
upon them. Marble mantel-pieces were in use in New
York as early as 1772, for we find an advertisement in
the "New York Gazette," as follows :
"to be sold.
" A negro man, an organ, two marble chimney-pieces and
a marble slab for a hearth, and some sheets of gilt leather."
70 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
There were no "marble chimney-pieces" so early as
that in Flatbush.
Anthracite coal was brought into use in Flatbush
about 1830. The grates in which it was burned differed
somewhat in construction from those subsequently used.
The iron grate was hung between two brass columns,
which were surmounted with large brass knobs. These
columns were connected and stayed by a broad, curved
band of brass below the grate. The grate-pan, which
held the ashes, extended upon the hearth like a fender,
and its outer curve was also of brass.
The huge, old-fashioned chimneys were not cleaned
after the manner of the narrow flues which are now in
use for the fires of hard coal, that, by means of fur-
nace or grate, heat our modern rooms.
In earlier years little colored boys used to ascend
the chimney from the open fireplace with scraper and
brush. Poor little fellows ! theirs was a hard life. It
had, however, this alleviation, in the fact that they soon
outgrew the possibility of its continuance, for only
small children could creep up the chimney. When they
reached the top, they were expected to thrust out their
heads, like chimney swallows, and to sing their melan-
choly song from that height. This was the announce-
ment that they had really reached the top before they
began their descent. The song which they sang was
the same by which they called the attention of house-
wives to their passing in the street ; it was a mournful
song, and resembled the " yodeling " of the Swiss moun-
taineers if the sweep had a good voice. A man gener-
ally accompanied these little sweeps ; he it was who
hired them and to whom the money for their work was
to be paid ; but they were often very cruelly treated by
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 71
their employers, and in this country, as well as in Eng-
land, this manner of sweeping chimneys was finally for-
bidden by law.
There was, however, a more primitive method of
cleansing chimneys, which was common in the country
towns, but which from force of circumstances could
not have been available in large cities.
A very rainy day, on which there was little or no
wind, was taken advantage of as most suitable for the
occasion. A huge bundle of straw tied on a pole was
brought in from the barn, the fire in the fireplace was
allowed to go out, and then this fagot of straw was
lighted and held up the chimney. One man was sta-
tioned outside to watch if the rain extinguished every
floating particle of straw or soot, for sometimes the
flame reached beyond the chimney top ; the roaring was
like distant thunder, and, when the pole was withdrawn,
a shower of fiery flakes and smutty tips of burning
straw followed, like a dull, red shower, in the fireplace.
There have not been many chimneys swept in that way
in this town for the last thirty years, and yet it was at
one time the only method of getting the chimneys clean.
While upon the subject of chimneys and fires, we must
digress to say that, during the last century, and even
during the early part of the present, in case of the de-
struction of a house or barn by fire, or in any accident
which occasioned pecuniary trouble, the neighbors and
friends always came forward to assist in making up the
loss. There is on record, as early as 1675, the recom-
mendation of Governor Andros to the people to assist
by a day's work in repairing the loss, " through misfor-
tune by fire," sustained by Jacques Corteleau.
It was also very common, when a building was to be
72 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
erected, for the farmers to be invited to assist in raising
the frame. A branch of evergreen was placed upon the
topmost point as a trophy of the completion of the
work. Then a table was spread, and this was the occa-
sion of feasting and merriment.
These pleasant, helpful acts certainly showed kind
feeling between friends and neighbors, for there were
no insurance offices and no fire alarms then ; they de-
pended upon each other, and it Avas a dependence which
did not fail.
WALLS.
Most of the houses at an early period were wainscot-
ed ; above the wainscoting, they were plastered. Some
of the walls in the houses built about 1800 were made
with a smooth, clouded surface, as if to represent black-
and-white marble.
The use of wall-paper in Flat-bush probably dates
from about 1830 ; but there is one house where, judg-
ing from the style of the paper, which is still in a state
of good preservation, it must have been introduced be-
fore that date. This paper represents scenes in out-door
life — chateaux surrounded by Lombardy poplars, gay
ladies and gentlemen, evidently French, enjoying them-
selves upon a lawn, etc. The design is probably in imi-
tation of tapestry hangings.
The ground-color of the papering at first used was
darker than that which afterward came into fashion ;
these deep shades were in turn cast aside for delicate
tints of fawn-color, pearl, and a shade known as " ashes
of roses."
A DUTCH GARRET.
Although the heavy Dutch roof contracted the height
of the second-story chambers, it was generous in the
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 73
space afforded to the garret, which usually extended in
undivided length from end to end of the house.
Huge beams, hewn from the woods when the house
was built, and which seem heavy enough to support a
castle, hold up the broad roof, which here sloped down
to the floor. There was an attractive mystery about the
dim corners under these sloping eaves, for this was the
receptacle for all the articles which had gradually come
into disuse through the changes of fashion or the wear
of time.
Here might be seen a corded bedstead with, perhaps,
a dislocated leg, serving to support the feather-beds not
needed in ordinary use, the huge pile being carefully
covered with a faded but clean patchwork quilt. Here
we may find long chests on ball feet ; the cradle and the
crib outgrown by the children ; bags of feathers for fu-
ture pillows ; the quilting-frame ; boxes of old news-
papers or Congressional documents ; old hairy trunks,
which look as if the animal that furnished the leather
had been mangy ; old bandboxes, used at a time when
the ladies' bonnets were huge in size ; furniture in all
stages of dilapidation. All these things were placed in
orderly rows along the roof between the beams, which,
like watchful policemen, gave a rap on the head to the
intruder who unwarily came too near the slope which
they supported.
On each gable-end ran up two brick chimney-stacks,
roughly mortared, joining at the upper end before they
pierced the roof. The window within the peak thus
formed not even the neatest housekeeper could always
keep clear of the webs the busy spiders were ever hang-
ing across the panes. Wasps were fond of this quiet re-
treat, although it was always a mystery how they got in ;
74 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLAT BUSH.
but there they were, buzzing angrily with extended
wings against the glass, or sitting in motionless clusters
along the molding.
It was in this roomy garret that the careful house-
wife had the week's washing hung in stormy weather ;
the clothes-lines were stretched from side to side, and
thus, when in winter the ground was covered with snow,
it was a convenience to have the great basket of wet
clothes carried up and hung out here, to freeze and dry
undisturbed and out of the way ; for in those days the
laundry was not a room apart, the washing and ironing
being done in the kitchen.
The shingled roof which overarched the garret in
all its length and breadth was discolored by time, and
streaked and stained with the leakage occasioned by hard
northeast storms ; there were tin pans and sea-shells,
apparently placed at random over the floor in a purpose-
less way, but which were intended to catch the drip
where the warped shingles admitted the rain. In win-
ter there were little drifts of snow here and there which
had sifted through nail-holes and cracks. A ladder rest-
ing upon the beams led from the floor to the scuttle in
the roof. The boards of the floor were not the smooth,
white boards we use now for flooring ; they were dark
and heavy, and looked as if they might have been sawn
from the same trees that furnished the hewn beams sup-
porting the rafters of the roof.
The great spinning-wheels, which have been unused
for so many years, were also stowed away close to the
eaves in these capacious garrets. Near them remnants
of flax hang on projecting wooden pegs, and hanks of
thread are tucked between the beams and the time-
stained shingles of the roof, as if the good old dames
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 75
proposed to come back soon and resume their spin-
ning ; bat, meantime, the Fates who spin the thread of
human existence had taken the distaff, and Atropos had
cut their thread of life before they, our dear old grand-
mothers, could return to their spinning-wheels.
A DUTCH KITCHEN.
A Dutch kitchen ! what a comfortable-looking place
it was ! Not an underground apartment, with win-
dows half darkened by area steps, but on the same
level with the rest of the house, and made pleasant
and cheerful by the combined influences of sunlight
and firelight.
There is no doubt that in early times the principal
kitchen was also the family sitting-room, and that a
smaller kitchen was at the rear of the large one for the
use of the servants, who at that time were slaves.
We know of several Dutch houses in which there
were these back kitchens ; they were probably attached
to every house of any pretension to style or belonging
to the more wealthy farmers.
The kitchen fireplace, with the oven attached, occu-
pied nearly the entire space on one side of the room,
so wide was the opening of the chimney.
The back-log was the unsplit boll of a hickory-tree ;
it required the strength of two men to carry it in from
the wood-pile and place it back of the andirons. A front-
log, about one fourth as large as the back-log, was placed
next upon the andirons, and the interstices were filled
in with chips and corn-cobs.
There was a brilliant light when this wood was first
kindled ; the sparks went snapping and crackling up the
chimney ; the fire curled and spread, and broadened
76 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
upon its bed, until it went up in a sheet of flame that
sent its glow across the kitchen.
After a while there was a rich bed of glowing hick-
ory coals ; then the sap began to bubble out of the ends
of the back-log and drip into the ashes, adding its mo-
notonous undertone to the quiet singing of the tea-
kettle.
At night the coals were covered with ashes ; for the
fire in the kitchen, like the sacred fire on the altar of
some of the heathen gods, was never allowed to go out.
The floors of these Dutch kitchens were kept sanded
with white sea-sand ; this was scattered over the floor
on one day, and on the next formed into various pat-
terns with the broom. The boards of the floor, the
tables, and the pails with brass hoops were assiduously
scoured. Upon the walls were hung tin pans and pew-
ter vessels of various sorts, while the kitchen " dresser "
looked tasty and neat with its burden of blue or brown
dishes, plates, bowls, and large pewter platters, each re-
flecting the firelight or throwing back the flashes from
the bright tins on the opposite walls.
The huge kitchen fireplace was high as well as wide,
and across the top was hung from side to side a blue or
pink check valance, which was put on clean every Satur-
day afternoon. By the old people these were known
as "schoorsteen valletje."
CELLARS IN OLD DUTCH HOUSES.
The kitchens of these old Dutch houses, as we have
stated, were never in the basement ; that portion of the
building was always adapted to the preservation of the
provisions for winter use. Nothing was ever made
or purchased by the old-time householders in small
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSES. 77
quantities at retail. Notwithstanding their habits of
careful economy, they laid in a very bountiful winter
store.
There was no convenient grocery just around the
corner at that time ; no butcher making his daily
rounds ; no stall where fresh vegetables could be pur-
chased at a short notice, and, more than all, there were
no canned fruits, vegetables, or meats.
The stores upon which the family depended for their
winter use were carefully provided in the autumn, and
the cellars of these old homesteads, broad as the house
itself, were capacious enough and of a temperature fit-
ted for the preservation of all the beef, pork, butter,
fish, and vegetables which might be needed through the
long, cold winters.
The cellars were carefully built, with a view to being
cool in summer and warm in winter ; to accomplish
this they were of rough, unhewn stone, with brick or
earthen floors. To insure perfect cleanliness, the neat
housewife had them thoroughly whitewashed semi-
annually ; but, in spite of all her efforts, there was
sometimes an unpleasant odor coming up from the
great heaps of potatoes, turnips, and parsnips. This
was especially the case toward spring, when the farmer
set his men at work turning the potato heaps and pull-
ing off the sprouts which the warmth of the cellar may
have caused to grow. This sometimes was occasioned
by the want of ventilation in the cellars, for it was cus-
tomary in the autumn to close up the windows and
gratings with salt hay, which was tightly packed against
every opening, leaving only toward the southern expo-
sure some entrance for a gleam of sunshine. A candle,
or the open cellar-door, gave the visitor to these apart-
78 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATS US II.
ments the only means of picking his way there from
December to March.
The furnaces with which we heat our dwellings
would render such storage of winter provisions at the
present time impossible, even were there not other rea-
sons which make such a course unnecessary.
Here in these cellars might be seen huge hogsheads
of salted beef, barrels of salted pork, hams in brine be-
fore they were smoked, firkins of salted shad and mack-
erel, firkins of home-made butter and lard, stone jars of
pickles, and little kegs of pigs' feet in vinegar, called
souse. Festoons of sausage hung in the cold-cellar
pantry, " rolHches " and head-cheese were on the swing-
ing shelf, which was constructed as a protection against
the foraging mice.
In another portion of the cellar were bins for the
potatoes, turnips, and parsnips. There were great heaps
of apples for cooking or common use, barrels of apples
of more choice varieties ; barrels of vinegar, and of
cider, and at the foundation of the kitchen chimney
there was a receptacle for wood-ashes from the fireplaces
above, to be used for ley in the making of soap.
These cellars were invariably entered from without
by means of sloping doors over the steps. The doors
were left open in dry and sunny weather, and fastened
with a padlock at other times.
Thus the cellar in the Dutch homestead was the
great storage-place for the provisions of nearly the entire
year.
CHAPTER X.
FUENITUBE.
We know of no better way of giving the proximate
value of housekeeping articles and furniture than to
publish the list of prices paid for such when purchased.
We are enabled to do this by means of the possession
of a bill of sale of the household effects of an old inhab-
itant of Flatbush, whose death occurred in 1767.
This faded document is an inventory of the articles
sold at auction, probably held for the division of prop-
erty among the heirs.
The following extracts show the cost of such articles
more than one hundred years ago.
The family clock sold for £12. Laurence Ditmaerse
bought " een kas" (a clothes press, or chest. of drawers)
for £8. Adraen Hegeman bought "een Brand-yzer, en
een Tang, en een Aschchap " (a pair of andirons, a pair
of tongs, and an ash shovel) for 155. Jannetje Cornell
bought "een deken" (a blanket) for lis. M. "Een
spiegel " (a looking-glass brought £2 5s. " Een zilver-
gevest degen" (a silver-handled sword), £4 10,9. " Een
plaat," £2. A large looking-glass was purchased by
Douwe Van Duyn for £3. A pewter platter was
bought by Hendrick Suydam for 4=s. 6d., and another
for 7^. 6d. Adraen Hegeman bought for 15s. " Een
80 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
knaap," a small stand such as was used for the evening
candle. ('•' Zet de kaers op de knaap/' to put the candle
on the stand, was to begin the evening.) "Een tafel"
a table, brought £1 12s. Whether this "tafel" was of
deal, or of some more expensive wood, the inventory
does not say. " Een bruyn tafel " (a dark table) brought
16s. "Drie dassjes en een suykeremmerjes," three
small boxes and one small sugar pail or box, brought 3s.
It was the custom to have a full, deep valance across the
front of the kitchen chimney, as these open fireplaces
were nearly as high as the ceiling ; it is that which is
meant by the following : "Een schoorsteen valletje" (a
chimney valance), 5s.
This inventory and appraisement was made by two
neighbors of the deceased, as they certify by their signa-
tures :
u Opegenomen en geprecert by ous,
Leffert Lefferts.
Leffert Martense. 1 '
At another auction sale of about the same period, in
which the inventory is taken in English, which, how-
ever, scarcely renders it more intelligible, we find the
following list of prices :
£ a. d.
Evert Hegeman, a psalm-book G
Evert Hegeman, a psalm-book 2 5
Hendrick Suydam, Jr., a basket of books. ..016
Samuel Garretsen, one frying-pan 4
Jan Suydam, an earthen dish 3 9
John Lefferts, half a dozen pewter plates. . . 9 9
Gulian Cornell, half a dozen pewter plates.. 10 5
Peter Lott, knives and forks 1 7
Peter Vanderbilt, Jr., one looking-glass. ... 18
Douwe Van Duyne, one large looking-glass. .300
FURNITURE. 81
Then follow a great number of farming implements,
for all of which the prices are stated, and the whole is
certified as correct by Jer. Vanderbilt and Gerret Kou-
wenhoven.
In the year 1792 an appraisement of the property of
Peter Leiferts, deceased, was made by John Van Der
Bilt and Samuel Garretsen for division. We find the
yalue of the articles thus given. We select a few from
a long list :
£ s. d.
25 pewter plates, 1*. each 1 5
37 earthen plates 10
9 pewter dishes, 4s. each 116
8 earthen dishes, 2s. 6d. each 1
2 waffle-irons, 6s. each 12
1 musket 16
1 saddle and bridle 3
10 keelers (wooden tubs used for milk) 1
6 spinning-wheels, 12s. each 3 12
1 pair kitchen andirons 8
2 bookcases, Is. Qd. each 3
1 bed, bedstead, and curtains 10
1 dining-table 16
1 looking-glass 110
15 Windsor chairs, 6s. each 4 10
12 rush-bottom chairs, 2s. each 14
4 mahogany chairs, 8s. each 112
8 old chairs, 6d. each 4
1 mahogany dining-table 4
1 writing-desk 10
1 cupboard 16
1 large chest 16
1 looking-glass 1
1 large Dutch cupboard % 4
1 bed, bedstead, and curtains. . . . • 15
1 wild-oherry dining-table 1
6
82 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
£ s. d.
1 looking-glass 1 5
1 eight-day clock 14
1 looking-glass 5
1 desk and bookcase 20
1 mahogany tea-table 2
1 bed, bedstead, and curtains 10
1 Dutch Bible 2
1 English dictionary 1
1 parcel of books 7
6 sets of china cups and saucers 3
27 Delft plates 13 6
1 silver tankard 15
1 silver sugar-cup 14
1 silver milk-pot 4
13 silver table-spoons 13
CHAIKS.
The chairs which, a century ago, were used in the
best rooms, were of hard dark wood. The seats of these
were very broad, and were generally covered with a
durable silk and worsted brocade. The backs were high
and straight ; the legs terminated in claw-feet clasping
a ball. These chairs were of such good workmanship
and good material that many of them may still be
found in families in which, although in daily use, they
have been preserved for more than a hundred years.
Age has turned the wood of which they were made al-
most black, or of a dark walnut color.
There are kitchen chairs which have also survived a
century of service ; some of these may still be seen, be-
ing used as garden chairs, their durability, and the fact
of their being entirely of wood, fitting them for such a
purpose.
FURNITURE. 83
A low chair, with a seat of twisted osier, on which
was tied a loose feather-filled cushion, covered with some
gay material, was generally placed in the corner near a
sunny window with a southern exposure. In front of
this stood an array of favorite plants— roses, geraniums,
or stock-gillies. On the back of these chairs hung the
bag of knitting, the little red stocking, and the shining
steel needles plainly visible, indicating that this was
the favorite seat of the industrious mother of the fam-
ily, and that this was the work she took up in her leis-
ure moments— "between times," to express it idiomat-
ically and forcibly, for, with these industrious people,
time represented work ; or a basket of patchwork held
its place upon a low stool (bankje) beside the chair, also
to be snatched up at odd intervals (ledige tyd).
In the corner of the fireplace stood the large arm-
chair of father or grandfather : these were circular and
broad-seated. They held their places in convenient con-
tiguity to the narrow mantel- shelf on which lay crossed
the long pipes, ready for use.
In the best bedroom was generally to be found a spa-
cious stuffed chair, the back some five feet high, and
padded throughout. This was for times of convales-
cence after sickness, or it may be that it was a pleasant
retreat in which to take a midday nap ; the good moth-
er rose at such an early hour she might be excused for
this indulgence. These last-mentioned chairs, however,
do not date farther back than the first years of this cen-
tury.
WINDOW-CURTAINS AND BLINDS.
In the oldest houses, those of the first settlers, there
were probably no blinds at the windows. The light was
shaded by closing or bowing the outside wooden shut-
84 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
ters. Succeeding generations used chintz curtains, and
the remnants of these remain to offer hints, but not to
furnish us with any assurance, as to whether they were
hung in parlor or bedroom.
At no very distant period, green blinds, known as
Venetian blinds, hanging inside of the window, served
to soften the sunlight. They were formed of slats strung
together with cords, and divided by a ladder of green
worsted braid, depending from a green and gilt heading.
They were opened at a greater or less angle by a green
worsted cord and tassel at the left side, and were
raised or lowered by a cord on the right side, which
cord was wound round a gilt knob in the window-frame.
This style of blind may still be found in England, but
in this country they have fallen entirely into disuse,
and with reason, for they were troublesome at best ; at
the most inopportune times the strings would break, or
the divisions of the braid ladder would become loosened,
the broad swathe of light upon the carpet suddenly re-
vealing their dilapidated condition.
As the ordinary outside blind took the place of the
heavy wooden shutter, the convenient inside blinds have
come into fashion ; these have displaced those formerly
used.
CLOCKS.
The tall eight-day clock is to be found in all the
families in this village. We are safe in saying that in
every house in which live descendants of the Dutch
settlers they can point to these old timepieces which
once belonged to grandfather or great-grandfather, and
which, old as they are, keep good time and need very
little repair, although they have measured the hours of
the past century.
FURNITURE. 85
In most of these clocks the face is of brass ; some-
times it is of porcelain ; but it is doubtful whether these
fresh faces are the original ones. During the Revolu-
tionary War the families who left the village took with
them the works and left the case of the clock ; in con-
sequence, there were many of the original cases broken
or burned by the British.
Some of these clocks indicated the day of the month,
as well as the hour of the day, and some showed the
changes in the moon ; a few of them were musical, and
played tunes at given hours. The mechanical arrange-
ments for such performances have been worn out, how-
ever, and at present they make no higher pretension
than do the cheap and common clocks which mark the
hours with noisy ticking. The oldest clocks were orna-
mented at the top with brass balls. The most common
devices for the embellishment of the face were the sun
and moon rising above the horizon, or a representation
of the antiquated Dutch galleon which swayed to and
fro over the mimic waves with the movement of the
pendulum.
We have the feeling that these old timepieces assume
a peculiar dignity of their own, as they stand in such
marked contrast to the fanciful French clock that orna-
ments the mantel-piece, or to the cheap and noisy bit
of mechanism which flippantly hurries through the an-
nouncement that it has measured off another period of
sixty minutes. There seems to be in the tall Dutch
clock a realization of the importance of the hours, and
a recognition of solemnity in the flight of time. It has
marked so many changes that we almost invest it with
a human sympathy for us mortals, whose short period
of life it has so often measured. The key of the old
86 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
clock has been handed down from generation to genera-
tion, as Time, the conqueror, has taken it from the fin-
gers that were accustomed to wind up the weights, and
lias passed it on to a younger hand ; and when that, too,
has fallen, nerveless and helpless, it has handed it on to
the next ; and there stands the old clock still, ticking,
ticking — counting the moments of time while we pass
into eternity.
DUTCH CUPBOARDS.
In an age when pantries were not considered a ne-
cessity in a well-planned house, the great cupboard sup-
plied the convenience which we now find in the numer-
ous closets designed by the architect in, and as part of,
the house.
The dresser in the kitchen held the pewter and
earthen platters in daily use ; the cupboard held the
more expensive china and the silver.
It is probable that the word cupboard, however,
came to be applied eventually to any large piece of
furniture of the same shape, and that the table-linen
and bed-linen were also kept in what were called cup-
boards, so that they were not used exclusively for dishes,
but were filled with the family treasures, in whatever
such consisted.
The old cupboards have been banished to the garret
or consigned to the cellar ; only a few of them still re-
main with paneled doors and dark cherry-wood shelves,
seeming to bid defiance to the ravages of time and to
mock by their endurance the veneering of model fur-
niture.
Those which have not been altered have very heavy
overhanging moldings upon the top, and stand on huge
ball feet. The inconvenience of moving such heavy
FURNITURE. 87
pieces of furniture resulted in the cutting off of all un-
necessary ornamentation, and thus many of these curi-
ous old articles of furniture have been remodeled into
ordinary clothes-presses.
OLD CHESTS.
Long chests, also standing upon huge bail feet, were
considered by our Dutch ancestors as a necessary and
valuable bit of property to the householder. They were
made of cherry or some dark, hard wood, and were
about five or six feet long and two and a half feet wide.
These were similar in size and shape to the elaborately
carved coffers which one sees in the museums of the
German and Italian cities, but, in the simple homes of
our Dutch ancestors, they held no costly treasures of
jewels and gold ; they were receptacles for the rolls of
homespun linen, from which the bed-linen, table-linen,
and toweling were cut. When the young wife was about
to leave her father's house, it was from these stores that
she received the linen for her new home, and, if some of
it was not of her own spinning, it was because she was a
bride too early in life to have assisted her mother and
sisters at the spinning-wheel. There are some of these
chests still remaining in the old houses ; they have been
banished to the garret or to the linen closet ; but the
housekeeper of to-day finds them as useful as they ever
were, as they form a commodious receptacle for the cur-
tains, the blankets, and whatever storage the changing
seasons make necessary.
One of these old chests in the wide garret of the
house of Mr. John Lefferts was found to have a false
bottom. When the discovery was made, it contained a
large amount of Continental currency. At the time it
88 THE SOqiAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
was so carefully secreted it was, of course, redeemable,
but when found it was about as valuable as are now the
bills of the Southern Confederacy.
It is probable that these chests are referred to in the
old English story of the bride who playfully hid in the
great chest in the lumber room, and was made prisoner
by the spring-lock until, a century after, her bones were
found and identified by her wedding finery.
CHESTS OF DRAWERS.
A style of bureau, made more recently than the chests
and cupboards above described, consisted of inclosed
shelves in the upper portion, a writing-desk with pigeon-
holes and secret compartments in the central division,
and drawers below. It was ornamented with plates of
brass around the key-holes of the locks, and there were
brass handles and plates upon the drawers. The brass
mounting was kept brightly polished, which made this
piece of furniture quite showy in appearance. The desk
portion had frequently secret divisions and hidden
drawers, to be opened by unseen springs, which revealed
places for concealing valuable papers and money.
At a time in which there were no safe-deposit com-
panies and no patent safes, the old parchment wills,
bonds, and mortgages were generally kept within these
secret compartments. While on the subject of writing-
desks, it is in place to state that the writing paper was
very different from the fine sheets which we can now
procure at such a low price ; it was of a yellowish hue,
not by any means smooth and clear. Envelopes were
never used for letters ; the sheets were large enough to
fold in such a way that the address could be written on
the exterior of the last page. Pens were made of quills ;
FURNITURE. 89
these were sharpened every time they were used, the
penknife being- as necessary as the pen itself. Sand was
sifted over the fresh ink, instead of using blotting-paper
such as is now prepared for the purpose. Letters were
sealed with reel wafers or sealing-wax. If the family
were in mourning, black wafers or black sealing-wax
was used.
TOILET-TABLES.
Says one, writing for " Scribner's Magazine" on
" New York fashions in 1814-1830 " : " Our toilet-tables
I used to consider very pretty ; they were of half -moon
shape, the top stuffed and covered with white, the frills,
reaching to the floor, of transparent muslin over some
bright color."
There were many of this kind also in the houses
here ; some of them were covered with white dimity ;
these were trimmed witli ball fringe. Toilet-tables such
as these were placed in small bedrooms under a hanging
glass.
There were other styles of dressing-tables and bu-
reaus, but they did not differ essentially from those
made at the present day.
BEDSTEADS.
Until within the last fifty years it is not probable
that there was in use any other style of bedstead than
the high, four-post, rope-corded bedstead. What un-
wieldy things they were to manage in the semi-annual
house-cleaning !
It required a man's strength to turn the machine
that tightened the ropes in cording these beds when
they were put together ; some one was stationed at each
post to keep it upright, while a man — it might be pater-
90 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
familias himself — was exhausting his strength, and per-
haps his stock of patience and good temper, in getting
the ropes sufficiently tight to suit the wife or mother
standing at one of the posts inspecting the work.
When the bedstead was duly corded and strung to
the tension required, then a straw bed, in a case of brown
home-made linen, was first placed over these cords, and
upon this were piled feather beds to the number of three
or four, and even more if this was the spare-room bed-
stead.
The sheets and pillow-cases were always of linen ;
homespun open work or knit lace often ornamented
the end of the pillow-case ; this was made the more
conspicuous by a strip of some bright color beneath it.
The blankets were home-made, and were woven from
the wool of the sheep sheared upon the farm. They
were not so soft and white as those which we may now
purchase, yet probably cost more for the spinning and
weaving. There were other coverings for beds besides
the blankets ; these were made in the family, by dye-
ing the wool or flax and weaving the cloth in figures ;
they were generally blue and white, as the dye was in-
digo, and, being used for upper coverings, went by the
name of " beddekleeden." The various intricate designs
of patchwork quilts occupied the spare moments of our
grandmothers, and were an expression of their love of
design and fancy work, just as worsted work or embroid-
ery expresses a similar taste in their grandchildren.
It is a mistake, however, to think that these patch-
work quilts, however neatly made or elaborately designed,
were considered for the last sixty years as the suitable
upper covering on the best bed. There was a heavy
white coverlet used for such a purpose, which bore some
FURNITURE. 91
resemblance to what is called now a Marseilles quilt ;
the figure upon it was more puffed out, being stuffed
with cotton, and the coverlet itself was heavier than the
modern material, which it somewhat resembled.
This white coverlet was used when white dimity
curtains were upon the bedstead ; these were generally
trimmed with ball fringe, and the hanging, festooning,
and arranging of these curtains required a great amount
of skill, patience, and labor. Another coverlet, much
used, we might describe as a white cotton rep ; the
figure was woven on the surface in little knots or knobs.
The bedsteads, particularly those which were in the best
bedroom, had the four posts richly carved ; these reached
to the ceiling and were surmounted with a tester. Bed-
steads similar to these are frequently seen in England,
but now are rarely found here, they having been gen-
erally replaced by French bedsteads.
A material also much used for curtains and cover-
lets in the beginning of this century was of linen,
printed in gay colors, with an India pattern of palm,
trees and Oriental birds, with interlacing vines and foli-
age. "When this was used as curtains, the coverlet was
of the same piece. This material was expensive, but it
was very durable, and no amount of washing, or even
boiling, could make it fade.
We have seen a set of chocolate-colored curtains,
which found great favor just after the close of the War
of the Revolution, from the patriotic sentiments ex-
pressed thereon. They contained medallion heads of
all the heroes of the war, while winged cherubs were
blowing from their puffy cheeks substantial lines, sup-
posed to be the breath of fame. Apparently in an
ecstasy of cherubic delight, these little winged creatures
92 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
pointed to scrolls which contained couplets in praise of
the military heroes, whose staring eyes were not very
suggestive of repose or slumber.
These canopied bedsteads varied in shape ; some had
square tops reaching to the ceiling, with an upper valance
on three sides and long curtains at the posts. Others
were rounded over the top ; the posts, not being so tall,
were finished by an ornamental knob or ball ; the cur-
tains were festooned below the canopy, which, spring-
ing from the posts, made an arch covered with chintz
like the curtains.
For young children a small bed called a "trundle
bed," in Dutch "een slaapbank op rollen," was fre-
quently used. This was, as the name implies, a low bed-
stead upon rollers, which during the day was rolled
under the great high post bedstead and hidden by the
valance. At night this was rolled out at the side of the
mother, and was convenient for her watchful care over
the little ones ; for the Dutch mother never gave up
the care of her children to others, even in families where
the colored peopb in the kitchen were numerous enough
and willing to relieve her.
The cradles were not the pretty, satin-lined, rattan
baskets such as those in which the children of this gen-
eration are rocked. They were of heavy, solid mahogany,
with a mahogany roof, if we may so call it, which extend-
ed one third of the length above, to shield the light from
the eyes of the little sleeper. These cradles were handed
down from generation to generation ; some of them are
still in existence. With the cradle there has also sur-
vived an old Dutch lullaby. As it is a sort of tradi-
tional "Mother Goose" among our Dutch families, we
give it here, but we are not willing to vouch for the
FURNITURE. 93
spelling, as we have never seen the words jn'inted ; prob-
ably it has never before been in print. We feel sure,
however, that it is a familiar sound to the descend-
ants of every Dutch family, and that grandpa and
grandma have trotted many a little four-year-old upon
their knees to the little song of
" Trip a trop a tron jes,
De varkens in de boonjes,
De koejes in de klaver,
De paarden in de haver,
De eenjes in de waterplass,
So groot myn kleine was."
A free translation of the above being that, to climb
up to father's or mother's knee was for the child a little
throne upon which he might be as happy as were the
little pigs among the beans, the cows among the clover,
the horses among the oats, and the ducks splashing in
the water.
At the last line the singer is supposed to toss up the
child as high as he could reach, giving the real name in
the blank left above in saying, " So great my little
was."
As a nursery rhyme it is certainly more rational than
"Old Mother Hubbard," "The Cat's in the Fiddle,"
" Little Jack Horner," or the rest of the Mother Goose
melodies with which the English babies of the same age
were tossed up by mother or nurse.
We find upon inquiry that this little cradle song
was everywhere in use in the Dutch settlements, from
Albany to Long Island. It is familiar, and is recognized
as the nursery song in the Dutch towns along the Hudson,
so that, upon application, it has been sent to us from
94 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
different sources, with only the slight variation occa-
sioned by the loss of one line in the Long Island version.
Following
should be
" De eenjes in de waterplass,"
" De kalf es in de long gras."
This is the only theft that time has succeeded in
making for, perhaps, two hundred years, for we can
give no date to the bit of rhyme ; there is nothing in
the words which makes it improbable that it came with
the children from the fatherland.
Sometimes, instead of the child's name in the last
line, it was altered thus :
" So groot myn kleine poppetje was."
That is, so tall is my little puppet, doll, or baby, as it
may be translated — a term of endearment.
There is another little rhyme which we may also
take as a sample of Dutch " Mother Goose." As it has
been preserved in the memory of the Dutch people in
Albany during these two centuries, we give it another
toss onward to the coming years by placing it, probably
for the first time, in print :
" Duur zat een aapje op een stokje
Achter myn moeder's keuken deur ;
Hy had een gaatje in syn rokje,
Duur stok dat schelmje syn kopje deur."
The translation of this is : "A little monkey sat on a
bench behind the kitchen door ; he has a hole in his
jacket, and through that the little rogue (schelmje)
sticks his head."
FURNITURE. 95
Under the faint disguise of " een aapje " we see lit-
tle Hans himself, mischievously bent upon increasing
the size of the hole in his jacket, while the reproof,
rather insinuated than expressed, implied that the child
surely would not care to be like a little monkey !
As we have wandered from cradles to cradle-songs,
we will so far continue the subject as to copy from the
" History of New York," by Mary L. Booth, a Christmas
address of the children to Santa Claus, said to be re-
peated on Christmas-Day ; but it was not so widely
known as " Trip a trcp a tronjes " :
"St. IsTicholaas, goed heilig man,
Trekt u\v' besten tabbard aan
En reis daamee naar Amsterdam,
Von Amsterdam naar Spanje,
"Waar appellen von Oranje,
En appellen von Granaten,
Rollen door de straaten,
St. Nicholaas, myn goeden vriend
Ek heb uwe altyd wel gediend
As gy my nu wat wilt geben
Zal ik uwe dienen als myn leven."
We would here remark in parentheses that we think
the writer from whose pages we have transcribed the
above scarcely appreciates the stern Calvinism of the
Dutch, when, in another chapter, we read that "at nine
o'clock they commended themselves to the protection
of the good St. Nicholas and went to bed." The old
worthies, brought up on the doctrines of the Heidelberg
Catechism and the Synod of Dordrecht, would scarcely
have appreciated the jest, so abhorrent to them was
anything like prayers to the saints.
90 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
WARMING-PANS.
At a time when there were no furnaces nor stoves,
and the cold was only moderated by the wood fire upon
the hearth, the temperature of the halls and sleeping
apartments was such that water froze if left in the
room. One can imagine under such circumstances the
comfort afforded to the chilled occupant of these apart-
ments by having the bed warmed. A large copper or
brass covered pan was used for this purpose. The
warming-pan, as it was called, was filled with glowing
hickory coals, and when sufficiently heated was passed
rapidly to and fro between the sheets, thus taking off
the chill from the cold linen, and preparing a grateful
warmth for those who had been shivering while un-
dressing in the atmosphere of a room which in mid-
winter was not many degrees warmer than the open air.
LOOKING-GLASSES.
People generally think that the old Dutch farmers
had nothing more than the bare necessaries of life. We
should have inclined to believe that they had no look-
ing-glasses whatever, had we not abundant proof to the
contrary. The large mirrors of the present day were
of course unknown among them, but, as early as 1684,
there is mention made of looking-glasses in the colony.
In the inventory of the household effects of Nicholas
Rutgersen Van Brunt, made at that date, two looking-
glasses are mentioned. In 1732 a toll of four pence
was imposed upon every looking-glass of two feet high
and upward which was carried across the Fulton Ferry.
We find advertised in 1773, "an assortment of oval
looking-glasses ; pier ditto ; sconces and dressing-glass-
es," for sale on Hunter's Quay, New York. So that even
FURNITURE. 97
handsome mirrors must have been in general use in the
colonies at that time. Under the date of 1776 we find
the following advertisement :
" An elegant assortment of looking-glasses in oval and
square ornamental frames ; ditto mahogany, etc., etc. I flatter
myself from the assurance of my correspondent in London, when
the difference is settled between England and the colonies, ot
having my store so constantly supplied with the above article
as will give general satisfaction."
By reference to the prices upon the bill of sale in
1767, to which we have referred previously, we find that
a large looking-glass (een spiegel) sold for three pounds.
In the appraisement of the property of Peter Lef-
ferts, in 1792, there are at least three looking-glasses
mentioned, one of which was valued at five pounds,
one at one pound ten shillings, and one at one pound.
The glass in the mirrors of a later period was rarely
in one plate ; there was usually a division across the
top, making it a plate and a quarter ; in some this up-
per quarter was a gilded landscape, instead of glass. The
gilt frames of these mirrors were sometimes elaborately
ornamented with gilded balls, chains, eagles, or foliage.
The mirrors which were first used as mantel-glasses
had two divisions, one near each end, thus dividing the
plate-glass into three divisions, one large and two
smaller.
There were also frames of dark wood, or of mahog-
any ornamented ; these were sometimes adorned with
gilt-embossed figures along the borders of the frame.
TABLES.
Of the tables used previously to the Eevolution we
know little ; there are probably none now remaining in
7
98 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
the village which were in use at that early date. The
oldest which have come under our notice are not nearly
so convenient as the extension dining-tables of the pres-
ent day.
They had "leaves," which hung down when not
used, and were held up, when extended, by legs drawn
from under the central portion of the table. These
were found to be very heavy when moved, and uncom-
fortable when in use unless the leaves were opened.
These dining-tables were usually square ; the oval
and round tables now in use were only occasionally to
be seen ; there were semicircular tables placed in the
halls, or under looking-glasses which were formed to
make part of the dining-table, and thus increase its size
when needed ; these were joined to this table by a small
brass fastening made for the purpose.
These semicircular halves, when added to the two
extended leaves, formed the largest-sized table around
which guests could be seated. We can not offer them
unqualified praise, for the legs of the table made some
of the seats uncomfortable ; but they have been the cen-
ters of much hospitality, and a genial, true-hearted wel-
come to the abundance spread upon them was never
lacking ; neither was there wanting the expression of
gratitude to God for the goodness that provided the
feast ; before and after every meal there was grace said
by the head of the household, while the whole fam-
ily bowed in reverent silence until the blessing, wheth-
er silent or audible, had been asked and thanks re-
turned.
There were small tea-tables, the four legs of which
were stayed and joined by a cross-piece terminating in
claw-feet holding each a ball. The leaves of these ta-
FURNITURE. 99
bles were semicircular, and could be raised or lowered at
pleasure. There were round tables called " stands," of
about a yard in diameter ; these stood upon a tripod,
which branched off from the main pedestal. These
could be turned up like a screen, and were in this form
placed to fill and furnish a vacant corner.
Smaller tables, known also as "stands," less than
half a yard in diameter, were in every family. They
were used to hold the candle at night and for the great
family Bible. There is one of these little stands still in
use which, before the Eevolutionary War, served as a
rest for the old Dutch Bible.
The Dutch for a table was een tafel ; these small
stands, on which the candlestick was placed, went by
the name of kaers-knaap.
SIDEBOARDS.
The old-fashioned cupboard was replaced in the be-
ginning of this century by the mahogany sideboard,
which has in turn given way at this present day to the
French buffet of black walnut, an article more grace-
ful than either of its predecessors in the dining-room in
shape and appearance.
In the days when the feeling as to temperance had
not as yet discountenanced in the household the display
of spirituous liquors, the sideboard was usually orna-
mented with an array of decanters, cut-glass tumblers,
china pitchers, and square, high-shouldered glass bot-
tles ornamented in gilt figures. These sideboards had
compartments for wine bottles, for china and glass, and
also drawers for table-linen ; ""some of them had an
arched open space below in the center, in which two or
three salvers of graded sizes were placed. The oldest
100 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
sideboards had high boxes at each end, designed for
knives and forks.
The pretty bric-a-brac treasures which adorn the
parlors of modern houses were not to be found in our
homes in Flatbush many years ago. With a moderate
income a room can be tastefully furnished to-day, and
made cheerful with the many little knickknacks which
it would have been quite impossible to procure in the
past age.
APPLIANCES FOR LIGHTING HOUSES.
The candles in common use in the household, prior
to 1825 or thereabout, were made in the family. The
tallow, which had been collected after preparing the
winter's supply of beef, was melted in a caldron ; rat-
tans, on which the wicks, cut of the required length,
were hung, were in readiness, and these were dipped in
the hot tallow until by repeated dipping and cooling
they had acquired the proper size.
Tin molds were in occasional use to make these can-
dles, but generally, when other than this common arti-
cle was needed, wax candles were purchased.
The lamps in use at that period were made with
small tubes, through which the cotton wick ran down
to the oil in the bulb below. As these were without
shade or chimney, the wick could not be raised very
high without smoking.
The lamps which were introduced into general use
for the center-table about 1831 had a tall chimney and
ground-glass shade to soften the light ; they were called
Astral lamps. The wick used in this lamp was circu-
lar. The two arms, which served as supporters to the
shade, also served as leaders to the oil cup in filling the
FURNITURE. 101
lamp with oil. As kerosene was unknown at this time,
sperm and whale oil were in use.
This style of lamp was superseded by an improved
pattern known as the solar lamp, which from some
improvement in its construction gave a more brilliant
and steady light.
After the discovery and introduction of kerosene oil,
this same style of lamp, with very little alteration, was
continued in use for the parlor table. Hand lamps,
with flat wicks and shades, student lamps, which could
be raised or lowered on a standard, and a variety of hall
lamps, parlor lamps, and night lamps were invented
and improved upon after the discovery of kerosene ; but
the introduction of gas into every house, and its use in
the streets and public buildings, quickly followed the
formation of the village gas-works in 1867.
In the earliest Dutch houses the space between the
fireplace and the ceiling was sometimes paneled. The
mantel-piece in this paneling was scarcely more than a
broad molding ; a wide mantel-piece was rarely seen.
Candlesticks of highly polished brass were placed upon
this shelf, or, if in the best room, they were of plated
ware, sometimes of silver.
A tray of the same metal was placed between the
candlesticks to hold the snuffers.
Tenderly as we cling to the memory of the past, we
none the less willingly admit the superior advantages
of the present. The laboring-man to-day may have his
house more thoroughly warmed and more easily lighted,
and in many ways made more comfortable, than the
richest farmer of that time.
CHAPTER XL
PREPARATION" OF WINTER STORES.
There was more work to be done at home in the
housekeeping of earlier days than there is at the pres-
ent time. This arose from the fact that certain articles
of food could not be purchased as they can be now ;
many things could not be purchased at all, and conse-
quently they were prepared in the family.
All the butter for winter use was made and packed
down in firkins, for every farmer kept a herd of cows,
which were driven up the farm lane in the morning, or
were turned out to pasture in "the wood lot." The
oldest in the drove wore the brass bell about her neck ;
in the evening, on their return, they would stand low-
ing at the " swing gate " until it was opened, and they
were driven into their quarters, to be milked for the
night. If, after the bars were let down in the field, a
young heifer loitered in the lane to crop the clover,
the sharp call of "Cobus, cobus, cobus!" from the
farmer, or " Cusha, cusha, cusha ! " from the milk-
maid, speedily hurried the loiterer into an uncouth
gait that raised a cloud of dust upon the narrow farm
road.
In the autumn came the busy season called "kill-
ing time," which brought with it an amount of labor
such as would almost startle the inexperienced house-
PREPARATION OF WINTER STORES. 103
wife of to-day, whose sole duty now is to purchase the
articles which at this earlier period were prepared in
the family.
In the month of November arrangements were made
by the farmer for killing the swine and oxen which he
had fattened for the winter's stock of provision.
Sometimes a dozen or more were, by previous weeks
of fattening with corn, prepared as one farmer's pro-
portion of the great hecatomb of the season ; but usu-
ally some six or eight swine were considered sufficient
for the use of a family of ordinary size, with the farm
laborers, who might be required as extra help during
the harvest season. The day appointed for this pur-
pose by the farmer was a busy one for his wife.
These Dutch people were always early risers, but at
this time the dawn of day saw all the family prepared
for the work which was before them, as it was necessary
that the slaughtered animals should be cold and hard,
for they were cut up and salted on the afternoon of the
day on wiiich they were killed. The colored servants
took a most prominent part in the bustle of the oc-
casion, and, as all the old families employed a large
number of these, there was more or less of that hilarity
which characterizes that race when engaged in conge-
nial labor.
Before the close of the day the "pickle pork" was
salted in huge casks in the cellar ; the hams and shoul-
ders were also laid in salt. After five or six days water
was added ; remaining for seven or eight weeks in this
brine, they were then hung up in the smoke-house,
of which every farmhouse had one, either partitioned
off in the garret and connected with the kitchen chim-
ney, or built apart from the house.
104 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
The hams, prepared with the greatest care on the
part of the farmer as to the feeding of the animals and
the subsequent treatment of the meat, were superior to
those which we now purchase in the public market.
Sausage-making followed. The Dutch farmer and
his wife could never have been induced to purchase sau-
sage from the butcher, even had it been offered for sale
(as it was not), for they were particular as to the manner
of making it. In the primitive days they did not have
the mechanical appliances to relieve them in the chop-
ping and stuffing of the meat which in after-days was
afforded them.
Some of the products of their labor were given away
by those who were first engaged in it to friends and neigh-
bors who had not yet undertaken it, and they, in turn,
gave back of theirs when freshly made. By this inter-
change the tables were supplied with fresh sausage, spare
ribs, head-cheese, and tenderloin of pork, until all the
neighbors had prepared each their share of the winter's
pro vision.
It was also the custom, when a calf, sheep, or lamb
had been killed, to send what was not needed for im-
mediate use to the neighbors, who, in their turn, felt
obliged to return an equal portion upon a like occa-
sion. By this means their diet was varied, and salt pro-
visions were not the monotonous fare they might other-
wise have been.
At a period when the coming of the butcher was not,
as now, a weekly occurrence, the convenience of this mu-
tual interchange of provisions was an assistance such as
we, who do not need relief of this kind, can scarcely
estimate. The poor found this a season of plenty, for
they were large sharers in the general abundance.
PREPARATION OF WINTER STORES. 105
Immediately after the sausage-making was com-
pleted, the fatted cows were killed for the winter's sup-
ply of beef. The proper pieces for smoked beef were
selected to be hung up in the smokehouse, with the
hams and shoulders. Some of the best pieces were
reserved to be eaten while fresh, and the remainder
were kept in brine, to be used through the year as corned
beef for the table.
" Head-cheese" and " rolliches " were articles of food
so exclusively Dutch that it is doubtful if they were
ever seen except in Dutch families, and they have al-
ready almost passed out of the knowledge of the present
generation.
"Kolliches" were made of fat and lean beef cut in
pieces somewhat larger than dice, highly seasoned, sewed
in tripe, and boiled for several hours. These were then
placed under a press and were eaten cold. When cut in
thin slices, and the dish ornamented with sprigs of
parsley, its marbled appearance made it not only an
attractive-looking dish, but it was justly esteemed by
the epicure as being a great delicacy.
" Head-cheese " was somewhat similar, except that
it was made of the fat and lean of pork chopped as fine
as for sausage-meat. It was then highly seasoned, tied
up in a piece of linen and boiled. This also was put
under a press, and eaten when cold.
Doughnuts hold such a prominent place on the New
England table that they have ceased to be thought a
Dutch cake. Under the name of "olekoek,"they were,
however, to be found on all Dutch tea-tables, and we insist
that the art of making them was learned by the Puritan
housewives while they were in Holland previous to the
embarkation of the Pilgrims. We may imagine those
106 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
English dames seated at the Dutch tea-table, and asking
for the most approved receipts for making the articles
which they found so nice, and that our great-great-
grandmothers most cheerfully copied off the contents of
their cook-books for their visitors. Thus these receipts
came over in the Mayflower with the many other things
which are supposed to have been brought hither in that
good ship.
There is this difference in the Dutch and the New
England use of doughnuts : our New England sisters
make them in every season of the year, and use them,
at least the farmers' families do, at every meal. Not so
with the Dutch ; they only made them from November
until January, because at that period the lard in which
they were cooked was still fresh. After January they
were rarely, if ever, found in a genuine Dutch family,
and they were never used except on the tea-table, or be-
tween meals by the children.
It has been said that " suppawn," or Indian-meal por-
ridge, made very thick, was a favorite dish among the
settlers. As corn was raised on the Long Island farms
in great abundance, this may have been, probably was,
an article of diet much used. But it was not, of course,
a Dutch dish, for, on coming to this country, they were
not accustomed to the use of corn meal. They must
have acquired the knowledge of its use from the Indians.
We incline to believe that even its name was Indian,
unless we derive it from the word sop, broth, or soppen,
to dip in. We do not pretend to a knowledge either of
its derivation or its spelling, and only offer this as a
suggestion.
"Suppawn" was also made from pumpkins boiled,
to which was added wheat flour, making it of the con-
PREPARATION OF WINTER STORES. 107
sistency of Indian suppawn ; this, like the other, was
eaten with cream or milk, and was often used for a late
supper.
A bit of doggerel in reference to this dish, partly in
Dutch and partly in English, still clings in memory as
many a useless tattered remnant will do, held by its
strongest thread — that of being repeated by an aged
negro in the chimney-corner introductory to stories of
''old times":
" With their round-scooped ladles they eat their suppawn,
Calling, 'hoe vaarje Hansein, Yvaar komt ye von daag? ' "
We should not like to be held responsible for the
spelling of the above, but we venture to give the lines
as showing that suppawn was a dish used by the Dutch
settlers at a very early period.
There was a Dutch dish of apples and pork, but
how it was made we are unable to say.
Poultry of all kinds was raised on the farms in great
abundance for winter use.
The turkey was not so great a favorite with the Long
Island farmer as were ducks and geese. Ducks roasted
before the lire in the Dutch oven, and brought to the
table on a large platter, encircled by raised dumplings,
as light as a sponge, were a dish greatly in favor.
Eoast goose was the chosen dinner for the winter
holidays, Christmas and New Year's day.
Paasch, or Easter, was the season in which the chil-
dren collected the fresh eggs from the barn-yard and
had them colored, to be used freely in the family, both
by master and mistress, the children and the slaves.
Easter (Paasch) and Whitsuntide (Pingster) were al-
ways kept in old Dutch families.
108 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Large quantities of shad and mackerel were caught
in the bays by the farmers in the adjoining towns, who
had this right ; these were purchased from the boats
coming to shore, and were salted to add to the variety
of winter provision. As great pains were taken with
the preparation of these fish, they were far more rich,
juicy, and palatable than the dry, briny material which
is purchased now under the name of salt shad and
mackerel.
Game was also abundant in former years on Long
Island. Wild ducks and wild geese were frequently
brought down by the farmer's gun in his visits to his
salt meadows, most of the farms in Flatbush having a
piece of salt meadow, which was considered as much a
part of the farm as if it lay contiguous to it.
If we go back to a distant period, it is probable that
game was very abundant on Long Island. A law was
passed " for the more effectual preservation of deer and
other game, and the destruction of wolves, wild cats,
and other vermin" in the year 1708, or in the "sev-
enth year of Queen Anne," as the old law book dates it,
which shows what game was to be had in Kings County
at that time. It was enacted that no "Christian or
Indian, freeman or slave," within the given time for
the protection of game, should, under penalty named,
kill "any buck, doe, or fawn ; any wild turkies, heath
hens, partridges or quails, in the counties of Suffolk,
Queens and Kings."
There was a law passed in 1695 forbidding the prof-
anation of the Lord's Day by "shooting, fishing, sport-
ing," etc.
A law was passed in 1717 "to encourage the de-
stroying of wild cats and their catlings, and foxes and
PREPARATION OF WINTER STORES. 1Q9
their puppies, in the County of Suffolk, Queens County,
and Kings County." This was also for the better pres-
ervation of game.
Within ten years quail have been shot in Flatbush ;
wild rabbits, squirrels, quail and partridges were quite
numerous some twenty-five years ago.
At the present time there is no game in Flatbush,
unless we except the robins and the migratory birds that
in their flight from north to south come within range
of the sportsman's gun. The farmers of Flatbush rely
upon the markets of the adjacent cities to vary their
larder, rather than upon anything they may chance to
find in the circumscribed limits of their present farm-
ing lands.
BREAD.
"When circumstances were such that the housewife
herself did not make the bread for the family use, there
was usually some well-trained colored cook to take her
place in doing this duty. Bread making was no easy
task when a dozen or more loaves were to be made at one
time, particularly as one of those loaves was fully equal
to two of modern size.
Bread was always raised with a leaven of the dough
made at a preceding occasion. It was kneaded in
great wooden kneading-troughs. There were loaves of
wheat flour occasionally made, but for daily use it is
probable that rye bread was the supply of the family
until the slaves were all freed, and the size of the family
in the kitchen was diminished. Large bins of wheat
and rye flour and Indian meal, each capable of holding
a quantity equal to the contents of two or three barrels,
were kept well filled for family use. The farmers never
purchased flour, but sent the grain raised upon the
110 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
farm to the mill, the miller retaining a certain propor-
tion for his payment.
The bread was light and nice. The loaves were
large, and the slices were cut alternately from the upper
and the lower half of the loaf. In the kitchen, the ser-
vants, who were at that time slaves, used lard instead
of butter on their bread ; it was also used in families
in which poverty made the most rigid economy neces-
sary, for even the poor were unwilling to be dependent
upon public charity, and learned to have their wants
conform to their circumstances.
It will thus be seen that, from necessity, the comfort
of the family depended upon the skill of the house-
keeper. For this reason, the Dutch matron gave vigi-
lant oversight, and of tener still took an active part in
the preparation of the meals in her household. She
knew that those whom she loved so well must look to
her for many things which now even moderate means
can purchase. So identified did she become with these
household duties that the language betrayed the fact,
and the word "huysvrouw" was a synonym for our
word wife. Is there not great significance in this fact
as to the domestic habits of the women, that in these
old homesteads the wife and mother stood the central
figure in the home life ? She was the "huysvrouw."
CHAPTER XII.
COOKING UTENSILS.
The cooking utensils in the old Dutch kitchens dif-
fered as much from those in present use as the great
open fireplace differs from the modern range, to which,
with its various appurtenances, it has given place.
The roasting of meats and poultry was done before the
open fire, in what was called a Dutch oven. This was
cylindrical in form, but stood on four feet, and the
joint to be cooked was held in place by a long spit
which projected at each end, so that the meat could be
turned without opening the door of the cylinder. It
was of course open to the front of the fire, and there
was a door at the back for convenience in basting.
When more than this was needed, then the great brick
oven was heated.
For the baking of hot biscuit for tea, or a single loaf
of bread or cake, a flat iron pot was used, which was
called a "bake-pan" or a "spider." This was placed
in the corner of the fireplace upon hot coals, and a layer
of hot coals covered with ashes was placed upon the
tight-fitting iron lid. A larger " bake-pan " than this,
but similarly formed and used, .was sometimes called a
pie-pan. For boiling meats and vegetables cast-iron
pots were used.
112 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLAT BUSH
A large-sized iron pot at one side of the fire was al-
ways kept filled with hot water, as the pipes at the back
of the chimney, which now supply that need, were then
unknown. From a long iron crane, which was fastened
in the brickwork of the chimney, there were links of
heavy iron chain, known as trammel and pot-hooks, on
which the vessels for cooking were hung over the fire.
These vessels were of iron, copper, or brass ; usually
they were of iron. The tin or the porcelain-lined ket-
tles, such as are now used on the modern range, were
not known. The great brick ovens of those days were
quite different from the small stove and range ovens in
present use. They filled the corner of the kitchen next
to the fireplace, and when the fireplace took up more
space than usual, instead of contracting the size of the
oven, it was placed in a shed adjoining the kitchen. The
Dutch housewife expected to have at least a dozen loaves
of bread baked at one time, with, perhaps, as many pies,
before these brick ovens cooled after being heated.
The loaves of bread were not baked in pans, but on the
stone floor of the oven. There was this large baking of
bread, cakes, and pies every time the oven was heated,
because the families, including the slaves, were large,
and there was no bakery to supply a deficiency, should
there be such.
In order to heat these ovens, the farm hands brought
in a quantity of light wood which had been thoroughly
dried for oven wood. This was lighted in the oven, and
when it was entirely consumed the ashes were swept
out, and the floor was cleansed with a wet towel fastened
on the end of a pole, forming a sort of mop which was
kept for that purpose, or with a brush called a "boen-
der " ; for the Dutch women were neat to an extreme.
COOKING UTENSILS. 113
Every family owned a waffle-iron ; these were larger
and deeper than those now made, and had two long
handles for the purpose of holding them with more ease
over the beds of hickory coals on which the waffles were
baked.
We find in an old newspaper of March 16, 1772, an
advertisement, as follows :
Hard and soft waffle-irons for sale by Peter Goelet, at the
Golden Key, Hanover Square, New York.
There was another tea cake which we must consider
exclusively Dutch, as we have never seen the irons for
cooking them anywhere except in families who are de-
scendants of the Dutch settlers. These cakes were so
thin as sometimes to be called wafers ; they were also
known as split cakes, because, thin as they were, they
were split open and buttered before being sent up to
the table. The name by which they were correctly
known was " Izer cookies " ; this might have refer-
ence to the iron in which they were baked — Yzer, or it
may be a corruption of " Eitzaal," a dining-room. On
going to housekeeping, it was customary to have one
of these wafer-irons made with the united initials, and
the date upon it, so that the impression of the letters
and figures was made on the cakes when baked. The
letters P. L. and F. L., with the date 1790, are to be
seen in an iron which is still in use among the great-
grandchildren of P. L. and F. L.
From what we have said, it will be inferred that the
Dutch enjoyed the good things of this life, and that their
household arrangements were such as to provide the table
with abundant and wholesome food. This is strictly
true, with only the limitation of that proper moderation
114 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
which is characteristic of the Dutch under all circum-
stances.
A letter quoted in Stiles's " History of Brooklyn"
gives such a false representation of the Dutch manner
of living that simple justice should have impelled the
historian who published the letter to follow it with an
explanation, instead of offering it as a " portrait of most
of the Dutch families of that day." It seems that an
officer who was billeted in Fiatbush during the War of
the Revolution wrote a letter complaining of his very
poor fare and the extreme poverty of the table appoint-
ments. The letter is called by Stiles " a humorous
sketch," and he leaves his readers to infer that the mode
of living and the food offered at that period in Fiatbush
were hardly those of civilized life. As the historian
quoted the letter, he should have followed it with the
explanation that Fiatbush at that period had been rav-
aged by the lawless hordes that follow an army ; that
their crops had been burned, and their cattle driven
away, while they were left with scarcely subsistence for
their own families ; and that these soldiers were billeted
upon them not only against their wishes, but in spite
of their representations as to their poverty. The board
promised for the support of each soldier was two dollars
per week, or a little more than nine cents for each
meal, and the payment of even that was doubtful. We
are glad that the writer of the letter is obliged to notice
the " extreme neatness of the house and beds," and that
there was grace said over their food, although this ad-
mission is accompanied with a sneer. But it is obvi-
ously gross injustice to take a period in which all their
resources were exhausted as the typical one of the Dutch
manner of living.
CHAPTER XIII.
SILVEE AND CHINA.
Every Dutch family in Flatbush owns some piece of
silver which has been handed down as an heirloom ; to
one, the family tankard has come through many gener-
ations, passing to the oldest son or the only daughter ;
to another, it may be only some quaint old spoon, a
cream- jug, or a sugar-bowl.
Upon the marriage of a daughter it was quite cus-
tomary to purchase, in connection with her wedding
outfit, and as a wedding present for her, a tea service,
consisting of a teapot, cream-pitcher, sugar-bowl, and
slop-bowl. These were usually of heavy, solid silver, and
varied in price according to the means of the family.
The old farmers have had the reputation of being
very close in their expenditure, except for the mere ne-
cessaries of life. This is unjust, and the charge has been
made by those who do not understand the character of
the Dutch people nor appreciate their economy, pru-
dence, and wise provision for an unforeseen exigency in
the future. They were generous to their children and
relatives, helpful and kind to their neighbors ; because
they were not wasteful, they had the more to give, and
when they gave it was not grudgingly.
They were fully capable of appreciating that which
was beautiful and ornamental, but their preference lay
116 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
in the direction of that which was solid and substan-
tial, and their selection in the way of gifts was always
in favor of that which was supposed to be durable. This
was characteristic, for they abhorred shams and cheap
imitations, and, when an article was purchased in ac-
cordance with their taste, it was the best of its kind,
and that which would last. We can easily see, there-
fore, why they gave plate the preference, and why al-
most every family has some silver heirloom in posses-
sion.
There are still bills to be found among old papers,
which we give to show the cost of such articles at time
of date. There are silver pieces of an earlier period
than these, the value or age of which we do not know.
As money was more scarce then than now, the sums paid
indicate a larger amount compared to their general ex-
penditure than the same outlay would at the present
day.
New York, 25th July, 1792.
Phebe Lefferts
Bo't of John Vernon,
1 silver teapot, engraved in cypher £16 5s. Sd.
Received the above in full,
Jno. Vernon.
New York, Oct. 8, 1787.
Judge Lefferts, Esq.
Bo't of Tnos. Daft,
£ *. d.
1 silver teapot 12
Sugar basin and engraving 9 13
Milk-pot 4 12
26 5
Received at the same time the full contents,
Thos. Daft.
SILVER AND CHINA. 117
New York, Sept. 4, 1802.
John Lott, Esq.,
Bo't of John Vernon,
£ a. d.
1 teapot, sugar-dish, and milk-pot 45
1 dozen table spoons, engraved in cypher 16 5 4
■J dozen tea " u " " 2 12 8
1 sugar-tongs 1 6
65 4
Received payment.
Jno. Veenon.
In an inventory of estate, dated 1776, we find nine
silver spoons valued at nine pounds ; six small tea-
spoons at eighteen shillings.
We find, from a record which has been preserved,
that at a private sale of the household effects of Rev.
M. Schoonmaker, June 9, 1824, the following prices
were paid for a silver tea service :
1 silver teapot, sugar-dish, and milk-pot, weighing
4H oz., at 9s. per oz $46.69
6 silver teaspoons, 2£ oz., at Ss. per oz 2.25
A silver tankard was at one time in possession of al-
most every family in Flatbush. These were sometimes
not only heavy but were of curious workmanship, and it
is probable that they were brought from Holland. It
is much to be regretted that some of these valuable pieces
have been exchanged for modern silver. Others have
been stolen or lost through the many vicissitudes which
time brings to every family.
The following advertisement, taken from the " New
York Gazette" of October 8, 1733, shows that such
property was not safe from the predatory tramp even at
that early period :
118 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Stole at, Flatbush, on Long Island : One Silver Tankerd, a
piece of money in the Led [lidj of King Charles II, and the led
all engraved. A coat of arms before (in it a man on a waggon
with two horses), marked on the handle L. P. A.
One silver Tankerd, plain, with a piece of money in the led,
marked on the handle A. P., or A. L.
One cup, with two twisted ears, chased with 'scutchens,
marked L. P. A.
One tumbler marked L. P. A.
One Dutch Beker, weighs about 28 ounces, engraved all
round.
(This word "Beker" is a Dutch term, signifying a
cup, a chalice, the same as the English word " beaker.")
All the above was made by Mr. Jacob Boele, stamped J. B.
(trade mark).
One large cup with two cast ears, with heads upon them,
and a coat of arms engraved thereon.
One cup with tw o ears ; a small hole in the bottom.
Two pairs shoe-clasps, new cleaned.
For the above a large reward is offered and no questions asked.
By reference to the sales for division of property,
already given, it will be seen that, in 1792, silver tan-
kards, sugar-cups, milk-pots, tablespoons, etc., were
among the articles in household use. The price of the
tankard upon the bill is given as £15. The price of a
tankard on the inventory of an estate, bearing date
March 11, 1776, is given as £22.
There was formerly a great deal of blue china in
Flatbush. There are still single pieces which are duly
authenticated, and known to be a hundred years old,
and are probably older. There are also pieces of Spode
bearing the name of the maker.
Some articles of old china have outlasted the tradi-
tion of their purchase or their age.
SILVER AND CHINA. 119
For ordinary use at the dinner tables of two hundred
years ago, pewter plates and platters served the family.
They varied in price. Upon a bill of sale we find that
a pewter platter brought four shillings and sixpence
(English). Another, at the same sale, brought seven
shillings and sixpence. Six pewter plates sold for nine
shillings and ninepence ; an earthen dish for three shil-
lings and ninepence.
At the appraisement of the property of an old inhab-
itant, Peter Lefferts, born 1G80, we find that the value
of his table service of dishes and plates was as follows :
£ s. d.
Twenty-five pewter plates 1 5
Thirty-seven earthen plates 10
Nine pewter dishes 1 16
Eight earthen dishes 1
Six setts china cups and saucers 3
Twenty-seven Delft plates 13 G
We find by an appraisement, made 1714, in a neigh-
boring town, that one china dish and cup were valued
at seven shillings and sixpence, and one pewter dish at
five shillings. From these prices we infer that the
plates and dishes in daily use were not very expensive,
although the sums given implied a greater relative
amount of wealth than the same sums would at the
present day.
Tall china vases were very frequently the ornaments
of the mantel-piece. Some of these which have been
preserved are now very valuable.
They were generally of dark blue, or of white ware
ornamented in various ways. The antiquarian or the
learned in ceramics would be delighted with many a
tall vase which we remember to have seen consigned
120 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
to the kitchen, or, hidden in upper shelves, disappear
for ever in that mysterious manner which inanimate
matter seems to have the gift of doing when not closely
watched. These tall vases were sometimes cylindrical
and without covers, at other times they were more
curved and swelling in their outlines, with dragons
at the handles and on the cover. Sometimes five of
these vases constituted a set, or if they were large
there were but three.
It is to be regretted that so few of these china jars
have outlasted the changes of fashion, as they were un-
doubtedly of more value than many of the mantel orna-
ments by which they were displaced.
CHAPTER XIV.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND PICTURES.
We have no knowledge as to the musical taste of
the early colonists. It is doubtful if it was developed
in any direction except that of church psalmody ; even
their best efforts in that line would probably have not
been considered a success by the connoisseurs of this
day. In the silver-tipped Psalm-books, which they car-
ried to church every Sunday, the words were interlined
with quaint-looking bars of musical notes, from which
they sang.
Legends and traditions place the violin in the hands
of the negro, and tell how the children gathered around
him in the summer evening or the winter " schemer-
avond " (twilight) to listen to the tones which he drew
from its strings.
When we come down to Revolutionary days, we
have authority for a band of music in the town, but
that was not native talent or property. The young
people danced to the band of the regiment, and the
pretty girl who was selected by^Ethan Allen as his part-
ner in the dance transmitted the knowledge of that fact
122 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
to her grandchildren, and with it the very natural
opinion that the music on the occasion was the best
in the world. How much an opinion given under
such circumstances is worth we do not venture to
decide.
In a number of the " Daily Advertiser/' New York,
dated Saturday, May 10, 1788, we find the following ad-
vertisement :
Jacob Astor,
No. 81 Queen Street,
Has just imported an elegant assortment of piano-fortes, which
he will sell on reasonable terms.
He also buys and sells for cash all kinds of furs.
We do not cite this as a proof that " piano-fortes"
were numerous in our village at this period, but, as the
full cup overflows, so we may conjecture that the ad-
joining towns were not entirely without these instru-
ments if Mr. Jacob Astor could offer such an elegant
assortment on reasonable terms.
While exploring in childhood the recesses of an old
garret, we found under the eaves the dilapidated remains
of what was once a harpsichord. It was larger than
the melodeons in present use, and resembled them some-
what in general appearance, except that it was a stringed
instrument.
We find in an old newspaper, printed in 1773, the
following advertisement :
John Sheybli, Horse and Cart Street, New York, makes,
repairs, and tunes all sorts of organs, harpsichords, spinnets,
and forte-pianos on the most reasonable terms.
The sparsely settled miles between Horse and Cart
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND PICTURES. 123
Street, New York, and the little town at the foot of
the hills beyond Breukelin, must have made a jour-
ney which might well have deterred Mr. Sheybli when
called upon to tune the spinets there " upon reasonable
terms."
It is probable that there were but few instruments
in Flatbush. The ivory keys of this one were yellow
and loose, and, as with childish fingers we ran over the
scale, the keys rattled to the touch without a sound,
save as one or two, still connected by a rusty wire, jingled
and vibrated in most unmusical sibilant echoes. The
fingers that once brought melody from these time-
stained keys have been motionless for more than ninety
years. It almost seems as if no musical sound should
linger upon the broken strings, when it was written
upon her tombstone who once sang to the accompani-
ment of these notes that she died August 30, 1786,
aged twenty-four years.
There were pianos in Flatbush about 1812, if not
earlier. We speak from knowledge of one which we re-
member to have seen in its old age. It was scarcely
six octaves in length, and had a spindling, attenuated
appearance, arising from the shallowness of the body
and the thin gilded legs. On the front, above the
key-board, were inscribed the name and residence of the
maker, "Geib, New York" ; this was surrounded with
a wreath of painted rosebuds.
A drawer to hold music opened below the body of
the instrument. It is needless to say that no great vol-
ume of sound was produced from these pianos, and that
their notes were thin and weak. .,
The price of this instrument we are enabled to give,
as the bill has been preserved.
124 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
Mr. L .
To John Geib & Son, Dr.
1812.
Sept. 19.
To an Elegant patent Piano-forte with drawers
and two pedals $270 00
$270 00
Received payment,
John Geib & Son.
To show what money it cost to take lessons in music
seventy years ago, we copy the following from the
"New York Weekly Museum," of March, 1809 :
LESSONS ON THE PIANO-FOETE.
Frederick W. Dannenberg
Proposes to give Lessons on the Piano-forte, at his residence,
No. 60 Maiden LaDe, on the following
Terras.
1. To enable him to pay the utmost attention to the pro-
gress of his Pupils, he will engage with only twelve scholars.
2. Six scholars to form a class, and to be taught at a time.
3. Each class to receive their lessons twice a week, from 10
a. m. to 1 P. M.
4. Each class to consist of scholars of equal capacity, so as to
render the instructions in their progress equally beneficial to all.
Terms, $12.50 cents per quarter for each scholar.
A musical instrument maker from London advertises
that he makes and repairs "all sorts of violins, tenors,
base violins, guitars, kitts, mute violins, aBolian harps,
spinnets, and spinnet-jacks. "
The "New York Gazette" of the same year (1772)
also sets forth that a maker from Philadelphia "makes
and repairs all kinds of organs, spinnets, harpsichords,
and pianos." But this man apparently had no shop in
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND PICTURES. 125
New York, for, to use the words of his advertisement,
" he is to be spoke with at Mr. Samuel Prince's, Cabi-
net Maker, at the sign of the Chest of Drawers in New
York." He concludes his advertisement with a post-
script to the effect that he makes " hammer spinnets
that never wants quilling as other spinnets do."
paintings.
It is doubtful if there were any works of art worthy
of the name in Flatbush for many years after its settle-
ment.
Family traditions tell us that some of the old
houses burned down in the Battle of Long Island con-
tained oil paintings which had been sent from Hol-
land ; how valuable these were there is no means of
knowing.
There were at one time in the village many small
pictures on glass ; these were of dark colors, and have
been in possession of the families who own them for
very many years. They are, however, more valuable as
relics than for their skillful workmanship. The glass
seems to be gradually scaling off, and, as the painting
is upon the glass, the pictures are slowly disappearing.
We know of one miniature painted about 1780, and
there are others of more or less value ; but we have seen
none which are worthy of mention as works of art.
In a number of the " Daily Advertiser " for 1788,
we find that an artist of that day in New York was not
above advertising his skill. We would draw attention
to the fact that he, singularly enough, offers to "take
back the likenesses should they not meet with approval."
Remembering some old, stiff portraits, we wonder that
such permission was not taken advantage of :
126 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
A MINIATURE PAINTER,
Lately arrived from France,
Presents his respects to his friends and the public in general,
and informs them that he draws likenesses of ladies and gentle-
men at the lowest price, and engages the painting to be equal
to any in Europe. Should the likeness not be approved of after
drawing, it will be taken back.
This artist gives liis residence as "42 Hanover
Square, opposite Mr. Peter Goelet's."
On inquiry we gain traces of portraits which have
been lost through the lapse of time, and pictures which
have been destroyed ; but there are none old enough to
be valuable as relics or worthy of notice.
CHAPTER XV.
DRESS.
Of this chapter on dress we must say, as we did of
that on furniture, that we describe nothing peculiar to
this locality ; it is the fashion of the period, and not of
the Dutch people, which we here attempt to portray.
DEESS OF GENTLEMEN".
The dress of gentlemen about the year 1770 was in
the style with which we have been made familiar by the
pictures of General Washington. In full dress, gentle-
men appeared in long coats, often of a light color, vel-
vet breeches, silk stockings, and knee-buckles ; they wore
low shoes, which were fastened with shoe-buckles. The
hair was powdered and tied in a queue. Some of these
knee-buckles and shoe-buckles are still preserved in
Flatbush, as also some other portions of a dress of this
style.
We find a tailor's advertisement in the "New York
Gazetteer" for May 13, 1773, which glitters like a rain-
bow. Behold what is offered as the fashionable spring
colors for gentlemen :
A general assortment of scarlet, buff, bine, green, crimson,
white, sky-blue, and other colored superfine cloths.
Superfine scarlet, buff, sky-blue, garnet, and green cassi-
mirs.
128 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Superfine Genoa velvets ; striped velverets for breeches of
all colors. . . .
A neat assortment of gold and silver lace, gold and silver
spangle buttons ; gold buttons with loops and bands ; silver-
ground gold brocade for hats. . . .
Any gentleman that chooses to have his buttons made of
the same cloth can have them worked with pearl and spangles,
with any sprig or flower he may choose, as neat as those made
in London.
All these elegant things are offered for sale by John
Laboyteaux at his fashionable establishment at Beek-
nian's Slip.
We can not say if our Flatbush ancestors were rowed
in a small boat over the ferry to purchase any of these
flashy dresses, for, if they ever owned such finery, it has
as entirely disappeared as the rainbows of that summer.
The hats worn at this period by gentlemen were
cocked hats. In the same newspaper a hatter advertises
his stock as excelling all others in " cut, color, and cock."
If we may judge from the advertisement of a fash-
ionable tailor at the corner of Wall Street, in the year
1773, the vests worn by gentlemen in full dress must
have been showy. He offers for sale a " curious assort-
ment of vest patterns," such as :
White and buff tambour embroidered cassamar.
White silk, embroidered with gold.
White silk, " " silver.
White satin, " " gold.
White satin, " " silver, etc.
Since gentlemen assumed the style at present worn
they have only varied their dress slightly. Sometimes
the coat-collar has been cut to stand higher in the neck
or to roll farther back : the waist has been made shorter
DRESS. 129
or longer, or a button has changed its place here and
there ; otherwise there has been no perceptible differ-
ence in the dress of gentlemen for many years.
For a long time it was considered very foppish and
undignified to wear a beard. A mustache allowed to
grow was the sign of a dandy ; a gentleman must be
smoothly shaven, unless he chose to be looked upon as
foppish or eccentric. A full beard was never seen in the
pulpit, never in general society, except when worn by
foreigners or those aping foreign manners and customs.
Incredible as this seems, now that gentlemen allow
their beards to grow as nature intended, yet it is true
that an elderly gentleman some thirty years ago would
not have appeared in church or in the street unless he
was fresh from the process of shaving. It would have
been the subject of censure from the consistory had
the clergy appeared in the pulpit as they do now with
whiskers, mustache, or beard.
We have Richard Grant White for authority in say-
ing that "from 1700 to 1825 the appearance of a beard
on any part of an Englishman's or an American's face
was, strangely enough, so rare as to be regarded as a
monstrosity."
DRESS OF LADIES.
At the early settlement of Long Island it is proba-
ble that the short gowns and petticoats of our great-
great -grandmothers were made of material spun and
woven in the family. Durability rather than beauty
was the chief consideration in preparing the cloth. They
were fond of gay colors, and, as they were not confined
to somber hues because of the simplicity of their dress,
bright red and dark blue must have given a pictu-
resque effect to their costume.
9
130 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Up to the time of the War of the Revolution the
ordinary dress of the women when engaged in their
household duties was a shoit gown and petticoat, of a
color and material to suit the taste of the wearer.
The full dress of that period was that which is seen
in representations of the costume of Mrs. Washington.
There are some dresses of this style in Flatbush, still
preserved by those whose ancestors wore them about
ninety years ago. One of these dresses, worn as a bridal
dress, August 7, 1780, is a fawn-colored satin-damask,
without a train, and open in front ; it was worn with a
blue satin-damask petticoat. The vest of the bride-
groom was made from the same piece of blue satin-da-
mask. The sleeves of the bride's dress reached to the
elbow, and were probably trimmed with a deep ruffle of
lace falling over the arm. Another of these dresses of
the same age is of silk, embroidered, and with a train.
After that style of dress, also well known through the
pictures of Mrs. Washington, had passed out of fashion,
it was followed by another, its opposite in almost every
respect ; the ladies of the next generation wore absurdly
short waists and scant skirts. This French fashion did
not retain its hold upon the taste of the ladies as did
that which had preceded it.
There are some of these scant, short-waisted dresses
still preserved by the descendants of those who had
worn them in the early part of this century.
After this, dating from 1825 or thereabouts, a more
simple style of dress came into general use. The skirt
and waist were united, forming one garment ; this was
called a frock, a word which has almost passed into dis-
use, except that in a gentleman's dress it is used to des-
ignate the garment called a "frock coat." At this date,
DRESS. 131
also, there was a marked difference in the dress of young
people and of elderly people.
Old ladies wore silver-rimmed, round-eyed specta-
cles, and Swiss-muslin caps, with narrow borders neatly
crimped. A white lawn kerchief was crossed over the
breast, with a black silk one neatly folded above it.
They wore plain skirts without tucks, flounces, or trains,
and by their simple and unostentatious garb impressed
the beholder with the idea of a serene and placid old
age. That they showed no wish to adopt a youthful
dress seemed significant of a peaceful acknowledgment
of the age they had reached, with no frivolous longing
for the youthful pleasures unsuited to their years. Their
old age was not one of idleness ; every moment not other-
wise occupied was employed in knitting ; this work was
always close at hand, and the needles moved briskly and
mechanically without the necessity of watching them.
A knitting sheath was used by these old ladies, pinned
at the waist, and their method of holding their needles
differed from that of the knitting of the present time
in the use of this knitting sheath. A remnant of the
style of a bygone age also remained in the round, ball-
like pincushion which hung suspended at the side, un-
less they were dressed for visiting or for church-going.
Perhaps we credit these old ladies with a simplicity
of dress which was, after all, nearly as much the fashion
of the period as their own peculiar selection, for the
dress worn by ladies of whatever age was more simple
fifty years ago than it is to-day. New dresses were not
so frequently purchased, and, as fashions did not vary so
constantly, an expensive dress- could be worn longer
without getting to be out of fashion.
The ordinary dress of a lady in her own home was
132 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
not as costly as it is now, because, being simpler, it
required less material, and, as it was less elaborately
trimmed, it did not require so much of a dressmaker's
time ; consequently a lady could be tastefully and pret-
tily dressed at much less expense. This is going back
some thirty or forty years ; at that period the vari-
ations in the style of dress were for a long time very
slight. Sometimes a belt was worn in the dress, some-
times it was a bodice ; for one season the sleeve was
loose and flowing, the next it was tightly fitting ; the
bishop sleeve was adopted in one year, and the "leg of
mutton " in the next. This name had reference to the
shape, which fitted closely to the arm from the wrist to
the elbow ; above the elbow it puffed out, and was sus-
tained in this form either by stiff muslin or by down
undersleeves. These large down or feather undersleeves,
fastened in the armholes of the dress, were very warm
and uncomfortable.
For young ladies, the dress was then worn low in the
neck ; a round or a pointed cape of the same material
as the dress was worn with it if needed. The waist was
always buttoned or hooked up at the back. The intri-
cacies of overskirts had not yet been adopted, except in
thin material worn as ball-dresses. The skirts of the
walking-dresses were not gored, but were worn full, of-
ten without trimming. A dress could be made by one
person without a sewing-machine in one day ; some-
times assistance was given by the young ladies in the
family, but, even without it, it was not unusual for the
entire dress to be completed between the hours of 7 A. m.
and 6 p. m. Sometimes the skirt was tucked, or folds
were laid on it, or it had ruffles upon it, or it was
flounced up to the hips ; such dresses of course required
DI2FSS. 133
more time in the making. Bows of the same material
or of ribbon were worn, or any other ornament, to vary
the skirt ; but the weighty overskirt of heavy material,
with its tight tieback, interfering with the free motion
of the limbs, is an invention of a later day. Anything
more entangling and illy adapted to free and easy move-
ment than this it would be difficult to suggest. Upon
every style of sleeve except the "bishop" and the "leg
of mutton " a cap was worn. It was of the same mate-
rial as the dress ; sometimes it reached from the arm-
hole, into which it was sewed with the sleeve, nearly to
the elbow ; generally it was three or four inches in
length, and was trimmed to match the skirt. This fin-
ish to the sleeve has been so long out of date that now
it seems useless, but, undoubtedly, it was introduced
because young ladies often wore short sleeves, and by
this device the long sleeve could be ripped out, and the
cap, which remained, formed a short sleeve complete in
itself.
The custom of wearing low-necked dresses and short
sleeves was very common with children ; their frocks
were always worn thus. Little girls, those who were
such between 1825 and 1845, wore very short dresses and
long pantalettes reaching below their ankles. Infants
appeared with bare neck and bare arms. They were very
lovely, and the child looked much prettier ; but this
fashion began at last to be carried to such an unhealthy
extent that the evil corrected itself, and children are
now more comfortably and healthfully attired in long-
sleeved and high-necked dresses. Proud mothers, anxious
to exhibit the fair white necks and dimpled shoulders of
their little ones, often made their dresses so low that the
wonder was how the child ever kept the dress on. They
134 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
seemed almost able to slip out of the bit of garment
altogether, had it not been tied on at the waist by a sash,
which, in its amplitude, seemed broader and larger than
the dress itself. This was carried to such an extreme by
foolish mothers that infants often seemed smaller than
the huge sash-bow to which, apparently, they were tied.
Some thirty years ago, infants always wore caps with
a lace ruffle surrounding the face. This was a pretty
and a becoming fashion. There is no style of dress so
unnatural and unhealthy but there are found some fool-
ish women who accept it, and it is a sad truth that
many fond but weak mothers have sacrificed the health
and strength of their little ones to some of these foolish
fashions.
We claim for the present style of dressing children
in moderately long dresses without tieback or sash, high
at the neck and with sleeves reaching to the wrist, that
it is the most sensible fashion which parents have ever
adopted. Let us hope it may long continue, and that
we may have healthier girls and boys, and stronger men
and women, in the next generation.
The corsets worn by the ladies of the present day
are certainly an improvement as to health and comfort
upon the "stays" which were worn by the ladies a
hundred years ago, and, strange to say, were worn also by
children. An advertisement of a stay-maker in an old
paper is so curious that we copy it in confirmation of
our statement as to the article being worn in 1772 by
children :
John Bfrciiett,
From London and Paris,
Takes this method to inform the ladies and the publick in gen-
eral that he has removed to Burling's Slip at the sign of the
DRESS. 135
Crown and Stays, where lie makes all sorts of stays, jumps,
packthread, turned and single ; likewise children's stays (to give
and preserve a shape truly perfect, and not drooping or falling
in before) in the neatest and newest fashions. He has also a
number of good ready-made stays of the best quality, cheaper
than can be imported, prices from ten shillings to five pounds,
and by a system to himself to exceed in fineness and quality.
Farther, said Burcbett will take from any lady who shall employ
him half cash for stays and the rest in dry goods. He also re-
turns his most hearty thanks to all who have countenanced him
with their esteem, tho 1 undeserved ; but for the future will use
all possible endeavors to merit their interest, and as he has
obtained a certificate from the Queen's stay-maker, London, he
flatters himself fully capable to satisfy any ladies who shall
please to favor him with their commands.
A dress-maker was called formerly a mantua-maker.
The dictionary gives the meaning of the word mantna as
"a gown or dress worn by females." As no part of the
dress of the present day is so called, the change of name
has followed both the maker and the thing made.
We here insert a genuine bill of a mantua-maker
of seventy years ago :
Mrs. Dr. to Jane White :
£ *. d.
For cuting and making three frocks, 9s 9
For cuting and making two frocks 040
For cuting two under coats 2
[Illegible] 3
Two pair wooling stockings 7
For cuting and making a great coat 04
19
As we read the descriptions accompanying the fash-
ion plates of the present day, or if we turn to the maga-
136 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
zines which furnish the names of the material for the
latest style of ladies' dresses, the variety of goods in the
market seems almost incredible. But the ladies of the
olden time were certainly not the less favored as to
variety in their choice of material. We do not recognize
the goods comprised in the following list, but we copy
it as advertised under the head of "India Goods," of-
fered for sale by the firm of Francis Lewis & Son,
"near the Fly Market," New York (1775). We copy
the advertiser's list :
Taffeties, Persians, Damasks, Lutestring, Padusoys, Sattens,
Amozeens, Modes and Peelongs Dowlas, Garlix, Tandems, Plat-
tilas royal, Pistol lawns, Minionets.
Also in Horse and Cart Street, a large assortment of Printed
Linens, Shalloons, Pattinets, Kentings, Tamies, Durants, Oalli-
mancoes, Alapeens and Silverets.
We surely can not say, after this list of material,
that our grandmothers had no choice of the wherewithal
to make their dresses and petticoats.
HOOP-SKIRTS.
History tells us that in the year 1709 the petticoats
worn by the ladies of fashion in England had attained
an enormous size. The "Tatler," the great "censor
of the morals and manners of the day," jestingly speaks
of it as a " silken rotunda, not unlike the cupola of St.
Paul's."
This fashion seems to have reached its most absurd
height in 1745. A pamphlet was at that time published
against the fashion, entitled, "The Enormous Abomi-
nation of the Hoop Petticoat," because the garment
"had become of so enormous a circumference that it
could not be longer endured. "
DRESS. 137
Slowly and gradually this unnatural fashion passed
away, but its extinction was not to be final. Somewhere
about 1858 it was revived in a more moderate form, and
hoop-skirt making became an industry that gave em-
ployment to thousands of workmen. There were man-
ufactories in all the large cities. The ribs were made
of steel or tin, with a woven cover over each rib. They
were pliable and not expensive.
It is probable that through the invention and im-
provement of machinery the hoop-skirts of this century
were much lighter and less cumbersome than the " stiff
hoops" which Pope denounces in his "Rape of the
Lock."
The fashion held sway for nearly twenty years, only
varying in the size and shape of the framework. Then
the modern hoop-skirt passed into disuse, and woman
once more presents herself in the size of her natural
figure.
STOCKINGS.
Even articles so simple as stockings have been sub-
ject to the mutations of fashions. We read that Queen
Elizabeth had them "of black knitted silk." There is
little doubt but that at an early period they were of
bright colors. In 1737, or thereabout, white stockings
were first worn. At first they occasioned some dispute
as to whether they were modest and lady-like. White
stockings, however, continued to be worn, even in the
deepest mourning, we are told, until 1778 ; at that time
black silk stockings were introduced as the usual wear
in England.
Black silk stockings were always worn in our recol-
lection in this country by ladies in mourning until
about 1855, when the fashion of wearing high boots hid
138 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
the stocking, and unbleached cotton hose were worn
with all dresses, whether dark or light. At that same
period, also, children always wore white stockings with
white dresses ; a dark stocking with a white dress would
have been considered in very bad taste. At present that
has been changed ; colored hose of the deepest, or of the
most brilliant, dye are worn with white dresses, and
white or unbleached cotton hose are worn only at the
will of the owner.
The knitting of stockings was an important industry
in the family in the last century and in the beginning
of this. The ball of gray and dark-blue woolen yarn
was always in the knitting-basket ; the stockings for the
whole family were knit by hand at that time ; the chil-
dren's were often of red yarn ; the men's were of gray
or blue, and the women's of any color to suit the fancy
of the wearer. To-day, when a good pair of unbleached
cotton hose can be purchased for twenty-five or thirty
cents, and coarse cotton at even a less price, we can not
advise the resumption of the knitting-needle, although
it seems like a pleasant, home-like way of spending the
long winter evening, when conversation, or even reading,
offers no interruption to the industrious fingers.
SHOES.
If Fashion stoops to select the color of the stocking,
we can not expect to have the shape of the shoe exempt
from her tyranny.
With the bridal dress, to which we have referred as
having been worn in 1780, there were also preserved
two pairs of shoes. We may judge from these of the
style worn in full dress at this period. One pair was of
dark, maroon-colored silk, embroidered ; the other was
DXESS. 139
of pink satin. Both pairs were very pointed at the toe,
and the heels were at least two inches high, and some-
what in shape of a flattened hour-glass.
Probably that shape was out of fashion for some
eighty years ; to-day we find an approximation to it in
the high heels placed almost under the instep, which
one sees in the window of the fashionable shoemaker.
High-heeled shoes passed out of fashion when that ex-
treme was reached.
Slippers were always worn in full dress some thirty
years ago, and high boots were only used in the street.
Afterward boots for ladies were made with paper soles
and of handsome material to match the dresses, and
then slippers were for a time out of fashion. These thin
boots were laced up at the side. Buttoned boots were
first used some fifteen or twenty years ago.
The thick, coarse shoes worn before India-rubber
overshoes were made were not sufficient to keep the
feet dry in stormy weather, and it is only since the pres-
ent perfected use of gum overshoes that there is entire
protection afforded.
India-rubber shoes and boots were unknown in the
time of our grandmothers ; they are comparatively a
recent invention. They were at first bulky and stiff,
but now such a degree of elasticity has been attained
that, whether in the shape of sandal or high shoe, they
are pliable, light, and strong.
Before and even a few years later than 1800, the
shoes for the farmer's family were made in his house.
The skins of the calves killed on his farm were sent to
the tanner, who reserved a certain share for his own
pay, and of the remainder the boots and shoes were
made by a shoemaker who came to the house for that
140 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
purpose. At such times the whole family, including
master and mistress, children and slaves, were supplied
with common shoes for ordinary use.
APRONS.
About the close of the last century fancy aprons
were not considered out of place even in full dress,
although it is not probable that they were worn at balls
and parties.
We find in a newspaper bearing date April, 1773,
an advertisement in which there is a great variety of
these offered for sale :
Spotted and figured Scots lawn aprons.
Spotted and figured silk "
Plain and flowered, figured and spotted, black
gauze "
Figured and flowered black and white silk. ... "
Needle-worked lawn "
Fancy aprons, more or less trimmed, were worn by
young ladies, and formed a very pretty addition to their
afternoon dress. Until within some ten or fifteen years
they were not considered inconsistent even with a silk
dress. At present they are only worn by children, or,
if used by ladies, only to serve the temporary purpose
of neatness, and not an ornamental part of their gen-
eral costume.
GLOVES
are an expensive and necessary part of a lady's equip-
ment, but they have not, from the nature of things,
been subjected to the same changes as have other arti-
cles of dress, except as to improvement in color and
quality.
DEFSS. 141
The buttoned gloves worn in full dress were not so
common a few years ago as they are now.
When children and young misses all wore short
sleeves, there were long kid gloves which could be
drawn up above the elbow ; for school-children these
long gloves were made of "nankeen." For weddings
and parties, long kid gloves reached half way to the
elbow, and were trimmed with lace, swan's-down, or
quilled satin ribbon ; when they were not worn so long,
then buttoned gloves came in fashion.
Silk gloves and mitts were in more general use for-
merly than they are at present. As long ago as in the
past century they were worn of colors selected to match
the rest of the dress.
We copy the following advertisement from a news-
paper published in 1773 :
"Women's silk and worsted gloves and mitts.
" white and purple kid w "
" purple " " "
" crimson " " "
blue " " "
black " " "
" white " "
" cloth-coloured " " "
This last-named color is as much a puzzle to us as
some of the fancy names which are now given to various
colors may be to those of the next generation.
WORK-BAGS.
A work-bag, or reticule, carried on the arm, was at
one time fashionable ; the article itself seems to be
revived at this present time, but it is now most fre-
quently worn appended to the waist, upon the belt.
142 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
Bead-bags were made of canvas entirely beaded over
in designs of flowers, etc. ; others were of velvet, silk,
or of cloth to match the rest of the dress.
These bags were used for the pocket-handkerchief,
instead of a pocket in the dress ; perhaps they also held
the snuff-box when that habit was indulged in.
JEWELRY.
If there was much jewelry worn by the young men
and maidens in Flatbush before the Revolutionary War,
there is very little of it now remaining except some
few rings, brooches, and the knee- and shoe-buckles
which formed so important a part of the gentlemen's
dress.
The jewelry worn in New York in 1770-1780 may
be judged from the jewelers' advertisements, one of
whom speaks of himself as "the only real Maker in this
city of Ladies Sett Shoe buckles, Ear rings, Egrets,
Sprigs and hair pins, Seals, Necklaces, Combs, Crosses
and Lockets, Sleeve buttons and Braslets, etc. Gen-
tlemen's Setts shoe, knee, and stock buckles, Seals,
Brooches, Buttons and rings. The above articles done
in the neatest and best manner and sold as cheap as in
London, wholesale or retail."
HATS AND BONNETS.
There is in this present day an improvement in the
covering worn upon the head. Hats and bonnets are
more tasteful and pretty than those formerly worn.
For children the Normandy cap is comfortable and
child-like, as also are the round straw hats worn in sum-
mer. The shade hats used by young ladies, and the
stylish shapes of their dress hats, are also very pic-
DRESS. 143
turesque and becoming. Even the bonnets of elderly
ladies, when not overladen with trimming, are more
tasteful than the poke bonnets formerly worn.
When children were out at play in the summer they
wore gingham sun-bonnets ; as these were made over
stiff pasteboard, they were heavy and very uncomfort-
able. A child has been many a time punished for
throwing off these scoops in its out-door games, when
the fault really lay with the parent who required the
child to wear such an uncomfortable covering upon the
head.
The elaborate bonnets worn some thirty years ago
consisted of a front piece, a crown, and a cape at the
back of the neck ; they were varied in their general out-
line every season — the front flared more or less, the
crown was at a greater or less angle of inclination, the
cape was very full and deep, or it was scant ; it was
plain, or it had frill trimming. The face trimming in
these fanciful results of the milliner's art was an elabo-
rate semicircle of lace, ribbons, and flowers. There
were generally tabs of lace against the cheeks, and flow-
ers above the forehead ; or there were lace and flowers
intermingled at the sides, and bows of pink, blue, or
yellow ribbon above, like the keystone uniting the arch.
These bonnets met under the chin, and were tied there
with broad ribbon, but, in some of the senseless changes
of fashion, were worn so far back upon the head that
the strings were useless ; the bonnet almost rested upon
the back of the neck, and if it was not apt to drop off,
it had at least that appearance.
There is a picture of Queen Victoria in one of these
large bonnets, of the style when they were drawn for-
ward over the face.
144 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
On or about 1835 a covering for the head, known as
a caleche, was much worn while walking or driving.
These were somewhat in shape of a gig-top. They were
made of reeds covered with silk ; black was the color
for elderly ladies, green for young ladies ; they were
lined with white. When laid aside, they were perfectly
flat ; when worn, they were drawn forward over the face
with a ribbon fastened on both sides about three inches
from the top, which was held in the hand.
A writer in " Scribner's Magazine " for August, 1879,
on New York fashions in 1814-1830, says : " Chip and
Leghorn bonnets were the favorites for summer wear.
Twenty dollars, or even more, were paid for an un-
trimmed Leghorn bonnet. But then we expected a
nice thing, once bought, would last a long time ; our
bonnets were done over and retrimmed, and came out
again as good as new next season — or, if we were of a
frugal mind, for several seasons.
". . . . Merino or raw-silk underwear, or anything
resembling it, had not yet been heard of.
" . . . . Merino long shawls, with a broad border at
the ends, and a narrow one along the length, came up
during the war, and were considered a part of a nice
toilet. At first they were white, but black and scarlet
soon appeared.
" Tortoise-shell combs and thread-lace were among
the desirable possessions of ordinarily well-dressed peo-
ple ; of jewels we heard but little. A person had a set
of pearls, perhaps, or sometimes you saw a ruby or a
diamond finger-ring, but precious stones of a high rank
were very infrequent."
Water-proof cloaks, whether of the rubber silk or
the water-proof cloth, were unknown until within the
DKESS. 145
last twenty years. They are now almost a necessary
part of a lady's outfit, and we hope there may be some
significance in the fact that these modern inventions of
women's wear are in the direction of the comfortable
and the useful.
The long trains and tieback style of overskirt which
are at present worn may soon be followed by some other
absurdity ; but it is, at least, a cause for congratulation
that that which is fantastic and arbitrary does not re-
tain its hold as long as that which, is natural and grace-
ful.
Now that intercourse between this country and Paris
is so easy and frequent, the fashions of France are
adopted almost as quickly here as they obtain favor
abroad.
In the beginning of this century, instead of the
fashion-plates, with their full directions as to the changes
in costume, a doll was dressed in Paris in the height of
the prevailing mode, and sent by the " regular fast-sail-
ing packet " to the mantua-makers in New York as a
model to be copied.
As early as 1712, these dolls, dressed in the fashion
of the period, were sent from Paris to London ; it was
by this means that the changes of fashion were intro-
duced before steam opened up the facilities for constant
intercourse. We have a vivid remembrance of the old
age of one of these fashion-dolls which had been sent
from Paris to a fashionable mantua-maker in New York.
When the dress had changed as to style, the dressmaker
sold the doll to one of her customers, and " Miss Nancy
Dawson " passed into the obscurity of humbler dollies
who had never been sent as ministers plenipotentiary
from the court of fashion.
10
146 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
Let us hope that in time women will not be subser-
vient to the dictates of French modistes, but will select
for themselves that which is healthful, becoming, taste-
ful, and simple.
To spend so much thought, time, and money upon
the garments which we wear is a wasteful expenditure
of time which might be better employed, and of money
which might be better spent, especially if the result is
the cumbersome and tasteless dress which women, in
some seasons, have been led by fashion to adopt.
We here insert an extract from a historian of the
Dutch in New York, which may be of interest in this
connection :
"Every household had from two to six spinning-wheels for
wool and flax, whereon the women of the family expended every
leisure moment. Looms, too, were in common use, and piles
of homespun cloth and snow-white linen attested the industry
of the active Dutch maidens.
" Hoards of home-made stuffs were thus accumulated in the
settlement, sufficient to last until a distant generation. . . .
"There Avas a good deal of wealth and intelligence here,
and the necessities of their occupations did not prevent them
from devoting time to mental, social, and religious matters. . . .
" The Dutch ladies wore no bonnets, but brushed their hair
back from their foreheads and covered it with a close-fitting
cap; over this they wore, in the open air, hoods of silk or taf-
feta, elaborately quilted. Their dress consisted of a jacket of
cloth or silk and a number of short petticoats of every conceiv-
able number or material, quilted in fanciful figures. . . . The
wardrobe of a fashionable lady usually contained from ten to
twenty of these, of silk, camlet, cloth, drugget, India stuff, and
o, variety of other materials, all closely quilted, and usually
costing from five to thirty dollars each.
" They wore blue, or red, or green worsted stockings of their
flwn knitting, with parti-colored clocks and high-heeled shoes.
DRESS. 147
" Considerable jewelry was in use among them in the shape
of rings and brooches. Gold neck and fob chains were un-
known. The few who owned watches attached them to chains
of silver or steel, though girdle chains of silver or gold were
much in vogue among the most fashionable belles. For neck-
laces they wore strings of gold beads."
In an autobiography of Mrs. Sigourney, she de-
scribes the food and clothing of children in New Eng-
land during her childhood. Her description agrees in
every particular with the manner in which the children
on Long Island were trained during the same period.
We prefer to give her words, rather than our own, for
we could not reproduce a more perfect picture of house-
hold life such as it was with us than that which she
shows us of her New England home :
"The diet allotted to children in those days was judicious
and remarkably simple. 'Well-fermented and thoroughly baked
bread of the mingled Indian and rye meal, and rich, creamy
milk were among its prominent elements. I never tasted any
bread so sweet as those large loaves, made in capacious iron
basins. Light, wheaten biscuits, delicious gold-colored butter,
always made in the family, custards, puddings, delicate pastry,
succulent vegetables and fruits, gave sufficient variety of condi-
ment to the repasts allotted us. The extreme regularity and
early hours for meals — twelve being always the time for dinner
— obviated in a great measure the necessity of intermediates,
and saved that perpetual eating into which some little ones fall
until the digestive powers are impaired in their incipient action.
If sport, or exercise in the garden, led me to desire refreshment
between the regular meals, a piece of brown bread was given
me without butter, and I was content. Candies and confec-
tionery were strangers to us primitive people. The stomach,
that keystone of this mysterious frame, not being unduly stimu-
lated, no morbid tastes were formed, and no undue mixture of
saccharine or oleaginous matter caused effervescence and dis-
148 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
ease. The name of dyspepsia, with its offspring stretching out
like the line of Banquo, I never heard in early years. Spices
were untasted, unless it might be a little nutmeg in the sauce of
our nice puddings, which I still counted as a foe, because it
' bit my tongue.' When seated at the table I was never asked
whether I liked or disliked aught that appeared there. It never
occurred to me whether I did or not. I never doubted but what
I should be fed ' with food convenient for me.' I was helped
to what was deemed proper, and there was never any necessity,
like poor Oliver Twist, to ask for more. It did not appear to
me, from aught that I saw or heard, that the pleasure of eating
was one of the main ends of existence.
" My costume was simple, and unconstrained by any ligature
to impede free circulation. Stays, corsets, or frames of whalebone
I never wore. Frocks, low in the neck, and with short sleeves,
were used both winter and summer. Houses had neither fur-
naces nor grates for coal, and churches had no means of being
warmed, but I can not recollect suffering inconvenience from
cold. Thick shoes and stockings were deemed essential, and
great care was taken that I should never go with wet feet.
Clear, abundant wood-fires sparkled in every chimney, and I
was always directed, in cold seasons, to sit with my feet near
them until thoroughly warmed, before retiring for the night,"
CHAPTER XVI.
WEDDINGS.
Weddings among the old Dutch people were cele-
brated at the house of the bride's parents. There may
have been instances in which the ceremony was per-
formed in the church, but we have never known of
such. It was not until some twenty years ago that a
bridal party assembled in the church for the marriage
service. It is now quite common.
Furman says that the marriage fees were not the
perquisite of the minister, but were paid over to the
consistory. Dominie Solyns paid 78 guilders, 10 stivers,
as the sum which he had received officially for this
duty, this being the amount of fourteen marriage fees.
In the account of subscriptions received for the building
of the first church in 1660, we find an item which is ex-
plained by this fact, viz., " 43 guilders for marriage fees."
As far back as we have any personal recollection of
the matter, or as we have been informed by others, the
service was performed early in the evening, in the pres-
ence of the immediate relatives of the bride and groom ;
the invited guests assembled soon after.
A table was bountifully spread with very substantial
refreshments, and as no expense was spared to entertain
the wedding guests, the good things prepared were in
characteristic abundance. The elderly people left at a
150 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
comparatively early hour, but the younger guests con-
tinued the festivity until after midnight, as they are
wont to do even at the present day.
The office of groomsman and bridesmaid was not the
sinecure then that it is now ; they were expected to as-
sist at the serving of the supper, to carve, to see that
the guests were ail helped, to entertain the company,
and to feel a certain responsibility that everything went
off well. The cutting and giving the guests the bridal
cake was also the work of the bridesmaids, and the
guests all expected to be provided with a piece to take
home.
The custom of having a large circle of friends and
relatives present at a wedding was very general, particu-
larly if the choice of the young couple about to be mar-
ried was acceptable to the parents. It was considered
as the proper time for rejoicing and merry-making, for
the Dutch, although quiet and sober in their family
life, were not as austere as their Puritan neighbors ;
they were very willing upon tli3 proper occasion to
throw open their houses for festivity and rejoicing, and
a wedding was considered very emphatically as the
proper time.
There were no wedding journeys undertaken by the
bridal party whose marriage was celebrated before steam
made traveling easy and opened so many places of re-
sort. The day after the wedding the bridal party went,
accompanied by the bridesmaids and groomsmen, to the
house of the parents of the groom, where the bride was
welcomed by her husband's parents, and where it was
very frequently the case that the festivity of the pre-
vious day was continued.
A great deal of visiting followed upon the occasion
WEDDINGS. 151
of a wedding ; at one time it was customary for the
bride and groom to drive about on horseback, the bride
upon a pillion ; the happy couples of a later date paid
and exchanged their visits in a chaise. They were in-
vited by their relatives and friends, and entertained at
tea drinkings and evening suppers in a continued round
of gayety.
It was customary for the bride to wear her bridal
dress to church on the Sunday following her marriage.
The young couple were accompanied to church by the
bridesmaids and groomsmen, who took seats with them.
Some rich and handsome fabric was chosen for the
bridal dress, which could be worn upon other occasions,
this practical view of everything showing itself among
our Dutch ancestors even in their festivities. We refer
now to the customs of the last century. As bright
colors and rich fabrics were worn by gentlemen as well
as by ladies in that age, it was considered a delicate
compliment to the bride for the groom to recognize her
taste in dress by adopting the same color in his. In
the wedding dress to which we have referred as being
worn in 1780, the petticoat of the bride and the waist-
coat of the groom were from the same piece of blue
satin damask.
To the full bridal dress of a more recent date orange
blossoms and the bridal veil are indispensable, and white
must be the only color worn by the bride.
The engagement ring which the maiden expects
from her lover in this a^e was not looked for in the
last century, or it was left optional as to whether it
should be given or not. A gold ring was generally a
wedding gift, although it was not used in the ceremony
of the Dutch Church.
CHAPTER XVII.
FUNERALS.
There are certain fragrant flowers which have be-
come associated with funerals from their constant use on
such occasions ; we are sometimes inclined to turn away
from them for the painful memories they bring. Still,
the custom of placing floral offerings upon the coffin
and on the grave is a very beautiful one, and it is to
be regretted that, from their indiscriminate profusion,
the sentiment that might be expressed is so frequently
lost. Equally at the funeral of the aged saint and
the little child, we find the cross, the anchor, the harp,
or the crown, and these emblems of love, hope, faith,
and victory have nearly lost their significance in their
promiscuous use, and are too often objects of display
rather than touching tributes of affection. But the
practice of sending flowers as gifts in memoriam at the
time of a funeral is so touching and beautiful that, even
when carried to excess, it is like some lovely but un-
trimmed vine, over which we express regret, not at its
existence and growth, but rather that its wasteful luxu-
riance has not been pruned and trained, so as to be kept
within its proper limit.
There was a custom which formed part of the fu-
FUNERALS. 153
neral preparations of the last century that was as baneful
as this practice of sending flowers is beautiful, and
which grew in proportionate rankness, like the noxious
growth of some poisonous weed. We have reference to
the amount of liquor provided by the family of the de-
ceased at the time of a funeral. It seems almost incred-
ible now that it should ever have been done, so entirely
has the custom passed away, leaving nothing but the
tradition of its existence and the corroborating bills
among the items of funeral expenses.
When the country was thinly settled, and friends and
relatives came from a distance to pay the last tribute of
affection to the dead, some refreshment was necessary
for them, and thence arose the custom of setting a table
and preparing a bountiful supply of provisions for such
as lived at a long distance. There was the free use of
liquor on all occasions at that period ; the decanter was
always filled on the sideboard, and it was considered
inhospitable not to offer it to visitors. We need not
wonder, then, that it was abundantly offered on wedding
and funeral occasions.
The following is an exact copy of a bill of certain
funeral expenses of a wealthy and highly respected resi-
dent of Flatbush, whose death occurred in 1789 :
An account of Funeral Expenses of P. L , Esq.
20 gallons good wine.
2 " spirits.
1 large loaf of lump sugar.
\ doz. nutmegs.
\ gros long pipes.
4 lbs. tobacco.
\\ dozen of black silk handkerchiefs.
6 loaves of bread.
154 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
Probably the bread referred to was wheat bread pur-
chased for the occasion ; the rye bread was baked in the
house at the same time that the other provisions were
made ready.
It is certainly significant of a marked change for the
better that while in 1789 such articles were deemed ab-
solutely necessary and respectable, not a single item on
that bill would be called for on a similar occasion by
those of the same social status at the present date.
It has been said that the very choicest wines were
held in reserve for funeral purposes.
The funeral services were never held in the church
in the past century, and rarely until after the middle
of this; but always at the late residence of the de-
ceased.
Upon the occasion of a death in the family, the sex-
ton of the church was immediately sent for, and to him
was committed the business of inviting the friends to
the funeral. He went from house to house and person-
ally gave an invitation to every family. If any one was
known to be seriously ill, the distant approach of the
sexton, as he proceeded on his melancholy errand, was
as certain an indication of death as if he had already
announced the summons to the funeral.
The news of a death and the invitation to friends at
a distance were generally given through the assistance of
the neighbors. Two or three young men volunteered
for this purpose, and divided between themselves the
routes through the different county towns to which
they were requested to drive and deliver the announce-
ment.
After the funeral a notice of the death was inserted
in the weekly newspapers, there being no daily papers
FUNERALS. 155
taken by the people in the country. The daily distri-
bution of morning and evening papers is part of the
progress of the last twenty years.
There was at that time no undertaker prepared to
furnish all the requisites for a funeral. The cabinet-
maker was called upon to make a coffin, and he came to
measure the dead for that purpose. Some woman in
the neighborhood was expected to make the shroud, if
it was not in the house, ready made years before, as was
often the case. This may seem remarkable, but it is
nevertheless strictly true that most persons having
reached middle life felt it to be their duty to see that
they had a shroud made, so that in case of their sickness
or sudden death their family would not be obliged to
have it made in haste for them. We have known persons
to have a shroud laid by for so many years that it be-
came so discolored and yellow by age as to have it thrown
aside and replaced by another.
The announcement of death in a house by a drapery
hung upon the door-bell, of white for a child and of
black for a grown person, was not customary until a
recent period.
Funerals were very generally attended, to show re-
spect to the deceased, so that the houses were on these
occasions much crowded. On the morning of the funer-
al, chairs were carried in from the houses of the fam-
ilies living near, to seat the numerous relatives and
friends who were expected. Long after the services of
the undertaker provided the necessities in other direc-
tions, the chairs were supplied by the neighbors, for
the convenient camp-chairs which now it is a portion
of the undertaker's duty to provide were then not
known.
156 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
Neither the casket nor the oblong burial-case, with
its heavy silver handles and rich mounting, was then
in use. The coffins of those primitive days were more
in the shape of the human frame, broad at the shoul-
ders and tapering toward the foot. The pall-bearers,
of whom there were eight, and who were usually friends
of the same age as the deceased, carried the coffin out
to the hearse, and from the hearse to the grave ; now,
the coffins being so much heavier, that work is per-
formed by paid assistants. In case of the death of elder-
ly persons, white linen scarfs containing three yards of
linen were presented to the pall-bearers. When scarfs
were not presented, the gift consisted either of black
gloves or black silk handkerchiefs. The clergyman
officiating at the burial service, and the family physi-
cian who had been in attendance, were included in the
number of those who received these gifts.
Not only were the ladies of the family clothed in
crape upon the death of a friend, but the gentlemen
wore heavy bands of crape upon their hats. This was
not, as now, merely a close-fitting band, but, after en-
circling the hat from crown to brim, a long piece of the
same was left hanging to reach almost to the shoulder.
As time passed on this was shortened by pinning it into
a fold at the back, which fold stood out at a right angle
to the hat, and, finally cutting off all superfluous length,
it appeared only as the band of crape at present worn.
Interments were usually made the third day after
death, as the preserving of the body on ice was not then
practiced. A bier was used to carry the dead when the
funeral was not too far from the village graveyard.
There was a strange, superstitious custom said to
have been prevalent generations since. It has only sur-
FUNERALS. 157
vived in its practice among the colored people in this
neighborhood at the present day. All the looking-
glasses in the house were carefully covered at the time
of a death in the family. It is within the memory of
those now living that this has been done.
There was another superstitious custom of which we
have heard, but, as it was told by one who has since
died at a great age, there is no means of ascertaining if
it was very general, and how long ago it existed. For
those Avho owned many hives of bees, it was usual, in
case of a death in the family, to knock on the hives
and inform the bees of the fact, "lest," said the nar-
rator of this superstition, " the bees should leave."
It has been said, also, that a coffin was never placed
near a mirror ; but this may have been an individual
rather than a general superstition. The diffusion of
light and knowledge has driven these old notions skulk-
ing into the dark corners where they properly belong,
and it is difficult now to trace them distinctly, even
in their outlines.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE GKAVEYAKD OF THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH.
Dr. Strong says that in 1698 a document was pre-
pared containing certain laws and ordinances, among
which were regulations and restrictions in regard to in-
terments in the church, a practice which seems to have
been quite general. Those whose friends could afford
to incur the extra expense connected with this privilege
were laid to rest beneath the church in which they had
worshiped.
"This accounts," says Dr. Strong, "for the fact
that the graveyard contains so few tombstones of ancient
date."
The custom of burying the dead under the church
was common formerly in Holland as well as in Eng-
land ; the Dutch settlers had therefore a precedent in
the usage of their fathers for placing their dead within
the inclosure of their place of worship, but they had
also an additional reason for doing so in the security it
afforded them at that period from molestation ; the In-
dians were said, we know not with how much truth,
not infrequently to disturb the graves.
There are very few tombstones which bear the date
of Revolutionary times, because this part of the country
was in a very disturbed state, and it was difficult to ob-
tain the brown stone slabs which were then used.
GRAVEYARD OF REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 159
Long ago the consistory refused permission to dis-
turb the ground immediately surrounding the church,
on account of the bones which were disinterred in do-
ing so, for the graves are far more numerous than the
gravestones in this old burial-place, and the irregular sur-
face of the ground indicates many an unmarked grave.
More recently the consistory resolved to refuse per-
mission for interments in any part of the ground ; ex-
ception was only to be made in case of elderly persons
whose relatives were sleeping there, or for whom vacant
spaces had been reserved at their own request.
A substantial iron railing has replaced the wooden
fence which formerly inclosed the graveyard, and it is
kept in good order. The weeds are not allowed to
grow, or the grass to cover the mounds in tangled
masses, as is sometimes the case in old burial-grounds.
This churchyard has been enlarged from time to
time, as the passing away of successive generations re-
quired more room, but it would not now be desirable to
change its limits, as most of the Flatbush families have
purchased plots in Greenwood Cemetery.
There are no monuments in this graveyard expres-
sive of a desire for ostentatious display, and no inflated
epitaphs upon the old tombstones exaggerating the vir-
tues of the deceased. It is noticeable that a large ma-
jority of these tombstones only give the name and
age of those who sleep beneath ; sometimes this is so
worded as to express a belief in immortality, or to the
inscription is added some simple expression of faith
and hope. There is a certain solemnity about these
old Dutch words, a dignity that is impressive ; it may
be the reflection of the graves which they overshadow,
or it may be that the silence of the long years since
160 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
they were the written or the spoken language invests
them with the somber grace and tenderness which char-
acterizes the record of that which has for ever passed
away.
" Hier leyt begraven" (" Here lies buried ") are the
simple words that precede the name, and then the age
follows ; or the wording is this: " Hier leydt het stoff'e-
lyk deel " (' ' Here lie the earthly remains of ").
Sometimes the expression is, " Hier rust het lighaam"
("Here rests the body") ; or it is thus: "In den Heere
ontslapen " (" Sleeping in the Lord ").
These words, simple and unaffected, seem a pleasing
contrast to the pompous eulogies and epitaphs which
are so often found engraven on tombs.
"Gedachtenis," in remembrance, from gedacht,
thought, is a word which frequently appears on these
headstones.
The birth and death of a young girl are thus ex-
pressed :
Zy kwam in de waereld . Zy es wader nyt verhuys-
den . She came into the world (date) ; she removed to an-
other home (date).
The ugly skeleton heads and cross bones which may
be found in some old graveyards are not found here, but,
instead, upon nearly every stone are carved a head and
wings, supposed to represent a cherub ; more crude and
grotesque representations it would be difficult to find.
Time, for so many years weaving through long sum-
mers her green coverlet over the beds of the silent
sleepers, has also been slowly hiding these hideous faces
under her mosses and lichens, until they seem to ap-
peal, through their very indistinctness, to our forbear-
GRAVEYARD OF REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. Id
ance. So we will not criticise the skill that carved,
but acknowledge the love that decorated with tender-
ness, a memorial to the husband or to the "huys-
vrouw " who here in " den Heere ontslapen."
Some of the inscriptions are scarcely legible from
the crumbling of the brown stone and the growth of
moss and lichens upon the lettering.
The following are copies of the Dutch headstones.
Should mistakes appear, they must be attributed to the
defacement of time upon the yielding surface of the
gravestones :
Hier leyt begraven het lighaem von Hendrick Suydam,
overleden den 9 de July 1805 oude zynde 73 jaren, 3 m., en
20 d.
Hier is begraven het lighaem von Adrieantie Hubbard
Huysvrouw von de overleden Adriaen Voorhees, overleden de
23 e,e dag von July 1810. In het 80 Jaar haar levens.
Hier leyt het lichaern von Gerrit Leffert3 overleden den 14
May 1773. . . . {illegible].
Hier leght t' lighaara von Eebecca Emons huysvrouw von
Hendrick Suydam geboren 1729. Sept. . . . overleden Oct
1797.
Hier leyt Begraven t' lighaam von Englebert Lott, Sen.
Overleyden de 17 daag von Nov. 1779. . . . Out synde 60 jaar.
Hier leydt begraven het lighaam van Mary tie Ditmas huys-
vrouw von de overleden Englebert Lott, Sen. overleyden de 27
dag von April 1797.
Hier leyt het Lichaam von Abraham Lott Overleden op
den 29 July 1754. In t' 70. . . .
Hier leyt begraven het Lichaam von Hendrick Suydam over-
leden den 16 May 1792 oudt zinde 60 Jaaren 3 maanden en 7
dagen.
Hier rust het lighaam von Maria Amermon huysvrouw von
Hendrick Suydam, geboren May 29, 1755 overleden Nov. 14
1795 out synde 40 jaaren 5 maanden, 16 dagen.
11
162 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSII.
Hier Rust het ligbaam von Leffert Martense geboren in net
jaer 1725 den 17 ste Janunnre. Overleden den 6 de September
1802 oudt synde 77 Jaaren 7 maanden de 20 dagen.
Hier leyt bet ligbaam von Hilletie Van der Bilt huysvrouw
von Leffert Martense overleden 20 Sept anno 1779 oude zynde
58 jaaren.
Hier leydt het ligbaam von Adriantie Ryder, Huysvrouw
von Adrian Martense Es geboren in bet jaar 1747 den 2 Feb.
Es overleden den 27 May 1770.
Hier leyt begraven bet lichaam van Joris Martense, Geboren
Mey 27 st 1724 O. S. Overleden Mey 23 8t 1791 oudt zynde GO
Jaren 11 maanden, en 15 dagen.
Hier Lyt bet ligbaam van Rem Martense Geboren Den 12 st
von Dec r 1095. Gestorven den 14 tle von June 1700. Out zynde
64 jaaren 5 maanden en 21 dagen.
Hier rust bet lighaam van Garret Martense geboren den 30
Jannuwary 1745 overleden den 1 June 1808 oudt synde 63 jaaren
4 maanden en 2 dagen.
Hier leyt begraven het lichaam von Adrian Martense ge-
boren den 9 de December A. D. 1742 overleden den 13 March
A. D. 1817 oudt zynde 71 jaaren 3 maanden 7 dagen.
Hier leyt het lichaam van Jannetie Monfoort huysvrouw
von Adrian Martense overleden den 28 dagh Oct. A. D. 1804 en
es geboren den 27 dagh Dec. A. D. 1750.
Hier leyt het lichaem von Joris Martense Overleden den 9 de
dagh von Nov. A. D. 1804 en es geboren de 8 de dagh von Maert
A. D. 1737.
Hier rust het stoffelick diel von Philipus de son von Johannes
& Jannetie Ditmas overleden den 20 October 1797 oude zinde
een jaer ses maanden 13 dagen.
Hier leydt Begraven bet lichaem von Jeremyas Von Der
Bilt overleden den 12 d dag von November 1785 oudt zynde 70
jaer.
Tot gedacbtenis van Leffert Lefferts die geboren es den 20 9te
February 1723 en overleden .... oude zynde 77 jaaren 7
maanden 4 daagen.
Hier leyt het lichaam von Catharina VanderVeer Huys-
GRAVEYARD OF REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 163
vrouw von Jacob Lefferts. Zy es overleden den 2 d Nov. en t'
yaer 1773. . . . [illegible].
Hier leydt het stoffelyk deel von Adriantie Lefferts dochter
von Jacob Lefferts. Haar ziel zy hemels waarts heeft Begraven
Zy leyt hier zonder pyn De ziel is in haar rust. Zy kwam in
de waereld den 3 Maert 1761. Zy es wader uyt verhuystden 2
Miey 1775. Memento Mori. U. V. S.
Hier leyt begraven het lighaam van Cornelius Yanderveer.
Geboren den 5 de Dec 1731 O. S. Overleden den 13 de Feb.
1801 oude zynde 72 jaaren 1 ruaand en 21 dagen.
Hier leyt Begraven het lighaam von Jannetie Wyckoff, Huys-
vrouw von Cornelius Vanderveer overleden den 31 Oct 1774
oude zynde 73 jaer .... [illegible].
Tot Gedachtenis van Femmetia Vanderveer Overleden den
3 d June 1801 oude synde 79 jaaren 7 maanden en 3 dagen.
Hier leyt begraven het Lichaam von Cornelius Vanderveer
Overleden de 22 9te Jan, anno 1782 Oudt zynde 85 jaren ....
Hier leyt het lighaam von Gilijam Cornel geboren den 23 9te
Augustus 1679 Gestorven den l s,e Augustus 1754 Oude zynde
74 jaren 11 maanden en 9 dagen.
Tot gedachtenis von Jacobus Van Deventer overleden den
14 de Nov. 1799 oude zynde 67 jaaren 5 maanden en 24 daagen.
Hier leyt begraven het lichaam von Michael Stryker geboren
den 1 March 1725. O. S. overleyden den 26 September 1807
oude zynde 84 jaaren 6 maande 21 daagen.
Hier leyt begraven het lighaam von Johanna Stryker huys-
vrouw von de overleden Michael Stryker geboren den 13 Feb.
1733 O. S. overleden den 1 Oct. 1807 oudt zynde 74 jaaren, 7
maanden, en 18 daagen.
Hier leyt begraven het lighaam von Femmetia Schenck huys-
vrouw von Peter Stryker geboren den 29 July 1740 Overleden
den 14 Dec 1814 oude zynde 75 jaaren 4 maanden en 16
daagen.
Hier leyt begraven het lighaam von Peter Stryker geboren
den 22 December 1730 overleden den 14 December 1814 oud
zynde 84 yaaren 11 maanden en 22 daagen.
Hier leyt het lighaam von Seytie Suydam huysvrouw von
164 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
de overleden Evert Hegeman overleden den 11 July 1802 oude
76 jaaren 9 maanden en 13 dagen.
Hier leydt het Lichaam von Jan Leffertse Jun. overleyden
den 28 October, Anno 1776 oude zynde 19 jaer 10 maanden. 13
dagen.
Hier rust het lichaam van Jan Lefferts in den Heere ont-
slaapen October 20 1776 oude synde 57 jaaren 7 maanden en 4
dagen.
Hier est begraven het lichaam van Sara Martense huysvrouw
van Jan Lefferts overleden in het 36 jaar . . . . [illegible].
Hier leyt het Lichaam van Peter Lefferts overleden den 13
March 1774 oude zynde 94 jaaren.
Hier rust het lichaam van Peter Lefferts geboren Dec 27.
1753 in den Heere ontslapen Oct 7. 1791. Voorbeeldig in syn
leven heest hy de welvoort van Landt, en Kerk bevorderd: en
in syn laaste uuren (die hy met lydzaamheyd heest vervult) syn
geist Godt aanbevolen in de hope van een salige opstandinge.
The following is the inscription upon the brown
stone over the grave of Dominie Rubel :
Tot gedachtenis van Joh" Casp 8 Rubel V. D. M. Geboren
den 6 Maert O. S. 1719. Overleden den 19 Meii 1797.
In "Furman's Notes" we read that there is in this
graveyard a tombstone of some Helen Vanderbilt, the
wife of a Martense, which cost £10, a sum at that time
equal to the year's salary of the county clerk of Kings
County. We have found nothing that answers to this
description, unless it be the following :
Hier leyt het lichaam von Hilletie VanD'Bilt, huysvrouw
van Leffert Martense overleden den 26 Sep r Anno 1779 oude
synde 58 jaar.
This is, however, only a neat granite headstone, with
nothing to indicate that it was costly, unless it might
be that, at that period, gray granite slabs were rare.
All the old tombstones are of brown stone ; some of
GRAVEYARD OF REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 165
the older ones slowly disintegrate, so that it is difficult
to trace the lettering ; others split lengthwise. Time
has set his strongest workman here ; the winter rain-
drops lodge in the crevices, and the hammer of the
frost king enters after them. These old memorials will
not much longer withstand the defacement ; they are
yielding to Time the conqueror, more slowly, but none
the less surely, than those whose names they vainly
strive to commemorate. We give a few inscriptions in
English of a later date.
There are four large white marble tombs in this old
graveyard, two of which are over the graves of John
Vanderbilt and his wife, and two are over the graves of
his daughter and son-in-law, N. K. Cowenhoven.
On the tomb of John Vanderbilt, who died in 1796,
in the fifty-seventh year of his age, is the following in-
scription :
He was a merchant of distinguished probity, a real patriot,
an affectionate relative, a sincere friend, and a worthy man.
Blessed with affluence, he displayed a spirit of munificence in
promoting the interests of his country, of religion, and virtue.
The moderation and conciliatory disposition which accompanied
and conducted his virtues secured him through life an esteem
almost unrivaled, and rendered his death a great loss to the
public, and to his family irreparable.
On the tomb of N. R. Cowenhoven is the following
inscription :
Sacred to the memory of Nicholas R. Cowenhoven, Esquire.
Born April 14, 1768. Departed this life Aug. 25, 1809, aged
41 years, 4 months, 11 days.
Calm conscience first his soul surveyed
And recollected toils endeared his shade,
Till Nature called him to the general doom,
And Virtue's sorrows dignified his tomb.
166 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Beside this is the tomb of his wife, on which the
following is inscribed :
In memory of Catharine Cowenhoven, the beloved wife of
Nicholas R. Cowenhoven, of Brooklyn, by whom her earthly
remains are here deposited. She was born Oct. 3, 1768. Ami-
able in manners, gentle in deportment, affectionate to her rela-
tives, and kind to all, her virtues acquired her universal esteem.
She long and patiently endured a complication of bodily in-
firmities, and exchanged a mortal existence for an immortal
life Aug. 23, 1801.
Here lies the body of Philip ISTagle, Esq. Born 1 st January
O. S. 1717, and died the 11 of May N. S. 1797, aged 80 years
and 4 months.
Behold and see as you pass by,
As you are now so once was I.
As I am now you soon will be :
Prepare for death and follow me.
The name of Philip Nagle appears frequently in Dr.
Strong's history ; there are none of that name at pres-
ent in Flatbush.
To the memory of John Hegeman, who departed this life the
16 ,h of Sept. 1769, aged 66 years. This stone was erected by his
friend Andrew Gautier as a testimony of his regard.
Explanatory of the above, we remember to have
been told, when a child, that John Hegeman was never
married, and left his property to his friend Gautier,
who, however, only reserved sufficient to erect this stone
"as a testimony of his regard," and returned the re-
mainder to the brothers and sisters of the deceased,
who were, he thought, in need of it. It was an unselfish
act, to which we would pay the tribute of this notice.
Beyond the western boundary of the graveyard,
GRAVEYARD OF REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 167
separated by the high fence, is a small inclosure not
much larger than the grave itself, where lies buried a
colored woman by the name of Flora, who lived to a
great age in the family of Mrs. A. L. Loyd. The fol-
lowing inscription is upon the tombstone :
Sacred to the memory of Flora, a colored woman, who died
Jan. 5, 1826, aged 104 years. Strong faith . . . trusting in her
Saviour . . . [illegible].
Two other colored persons, Diana and Cato, are
buried in this inclosure, who were also domestics in the
same family.
A small building, known as the guard-house, for-
merly stood on the northern boundary of the grave-
yard. Near the close of the last century, or about the
beginning of this, some of the graves had been dis-
turbed in this and the neighboring villages, and in con-
sequence great excitement had prevailed ; and an act of
the Legislature was passed in 1796, authorizing the in-
habitants of Flatbush to establish a night watch. For
this reason a building was erected, in which watch was
kept for a time over new-made graves.
In some of the adjacent towns, instead of a guard-
house, such as was built in Flatbush, a structure was
erected which required a dozen men in order to raise
it, and this was placed in turn over each newly made
grave.
After a time all cause for alarm in this direction
abated ; the guard-house was then diverted from the
use for which it was originally constructed, and used to
hold the bier on which coffins were carried.
Some aged colored people, who were supported by
the town, were at one time allowed to live in this build-
168 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
ing, there being no almshouse in Flatbush until 1830.
It would seem a melancholy fate to live in a church-
yard with a bier in the house !
Subsequently it was converted into an engine-house
for the protection of the first Flatbush fire-engine, be-
fore the present house of the company was built.
CHAPTER XIX.
HEALTHFULNESS OF FLATBUSH, AND MORALITY OF
THE INHABITANTS.
Although, like most other country towns in this
State, there are seasons when cases of fever and agne
occur in Elatbush, yet it would be difficult to find a
town of the same size in which so many persons have
attained a great age. In 1876 there were five aged
couples living south of the church, each individual
being over seventy years of age ; these had always en-
joyed good health, were all born in Elatbush, and had
always lived there. One old gentleman and his wife
living in this town had each of them attained the age of
ninety-four years, when the wife died, apparently of old
age ; the old gentleman is still vigorous.
Looking back through many years, we can not recol-
lect a family in which we do not remember an aged per-
son as being one of its members.
We can recall by name forty-nine persons whom we
knew personally, each one of whom reached the age of
seventy years, and many of them were more than eighty
years old at the time of their ^ death. They were all
old residents of the town, and were born, lived, and died
here.
170 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
The physicians in practice some fifty years ago were
Dr. Adrian Vanderveer and Dr. John Zabriskie. These
were succeeded by Dr. John L. Zabriskie, son of Dr.
John Zabriskie, Dr. H. L. Bartlett, and Dr. T. Ingra-
ham. The adjoining towns were included in their prac-
tice, there being for many years no resident physician
except in Flatbush, this village being central in the
county and also most thickly populated.
In Revolutionary times and after that period the
physicians were Dr. Samper, Dr. Van Buren, Dr. Sage,
and Dr. Schoonmaker. Among a file of old papers we
find some bills, which we give as being curious, and
showing what was paid for professional skill at the dates
given.
The bills were evidently those of physicians sent
for from New York in consultation with the village doc-
tor. As the country road was at the date of visit un-
paved from Fulton Ferry to the village, and as the wide
river running between was crossed in a skiff or a row-
boat, the bills for professional services were certainly not
extravagant.
Mr. , Deceased, his heirs,
To Dr. Benjamin Lindner, Debt.
£ s. d.
1767. Feb. 28th. To Visiting to Flatbush 2 10
April 23. Received the above sum in full by me,
Benjamin Lindner.
Feb. 28th, 1767.
Mr. , Dr.
To Dr. Peter Middleton, N'ew York. £ s. d.
A visit to Flatbush 340
Received the above in full of all demands,
Peter Middleton.
HEALTHFULNESS OF FLATBUSH. \^\
Mrs.
To A. Bainbridge, Dr.
Sept. 1779.
Visiting your husband, and consultation with £ s. cl.
Doctor Samper 1 17 4
Madam: Above you have your account, hope it will prove
agreeable.
I am yr Humble Servt,
A. Bainbkidge.
A bill for medicine and attendance from August 14,
1789, to April 17, 1790, in which twenty-eight items
and visits are mentioned, amounts to £4 9s.
The date of each visit and the amount due on each
mark the difference between the custom of the medical
faculty at the period in which this old time-stained bill
was presented and that of the brief summing up of the
bills "for professional services" to-day. There seems
to have been no regular price for each visit, but the
amount charged was regulated by the requirement of
the occasion. It is also in marked contrast to the pres-
ent treatment of diseases that this bill is principally
made up of items such as this :
£ s. d.
To bleeding in the arm 2
To a purge \ 2
To an emetic 2
Etc., etc.
ISTot only are the healthfulness of the village and the
longevity of the inhabitants noticeable, but the moral
sentiment of the community is such as conduces to the
prevalence of virtue and good .order. Great crimes in
the past were unknown. There is no record of a single
instance of deliberate murder, or of homicide, among
172 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
the old settlers in Flatbush or their descendants, through
a period of a hundred or a hundred and fifty years.*
Filial love and obedience have always been shown,
and the family life has been peaceable and harmonious.
The standard of domestic virtue has been so high, and
the marriage relation so honored and respected, that we
can not recall one single instance of separation or legal
divorce, and we know of no record of such through the
annals of the past century.
Between man and wife there has been the exhibition
of love and respect, the display of mutual confidence
and kindness, and that deep sympathy for each other
in all the cares and anxieties of life which makes the
marriage relation a realization of what God intended
man and woman should be to each other.
* Says Thompson, in his " History of Long Island," published 1843,
speaking of Kings County : " In 1786 a man was hanged in this county
for forgery, and was the last person executed in a community so popu-
lous, which, considering the mixed character of the inhabitants, and
their proximity to one of the greatest commercial cities in the world, is
quite a phenomenon in the history of morals, while the more distant
and proverbially peaceful county of Suffolk has exhibited five capital
executions in the same period."
The writer of a historical sketch, published 1840, says: "E. Hub-
bard, Esq., of Flatlands, states that he has held the office of justice of
the peace therein for more than twelve years, and during that period
has transacted most of the judicial business for Flatlands, Flatbush,
New Utrecht, and Gravesend, and during the whole time he has scarcely
had a dozen trials, and only two suits at law in which a jury was de-
manded ; that another gentleman held the office of justice in the town
of Gravesend for eight years, and during that period there was but one
trial by jury, and even in the case alluded to the difference was com-
promised by the parties before the jury had delivered their verdict into
court. Such a peaceable disposition in the people is highly creditable
and honorable to them."
HEALTHFULNESS OF FLATBUSH. 173
It speaks well for the religious and moral sense of
the community that entire peace and harmony in the
household were taken for granted ; it was the normal
condition of things. The reverse would have been com-
mented upon as something of unusual occurrence.
There have been aged couples who have lived to-
gether through their silver to the date of their golden
wedding whose love and tenderness for each other have
been beautiful beyond expression ; there is even an ele-
ment of pathos in their feeble endeavors to assist each
other in the feebleness of old age, and a protest against
the charge of fickleness when such a feeling can thus
outlive all outward change.
The business men of the town have been character-
ized by honesty when intrusted with public funds, and
fidelity in the discharge of their duties, together with
that steadfastness of purpose, that stability, and that
strict adherence to what they consider right, which were
characteristic of their Holland ancestors. Their char-
acter was made of strong material and it has worn well.
As in every country town there have been feuds be-
tween separate families, and party feeling has at times
raged to an extent altogether disproportionate to its
cause, yet it has never culminated in violence, and by
those not immediately interested it has been the subject
for a smile rather than for reproof.
In this emphatic statement of the morality of this
people, and of their freedom from the commission of
any crime for more than a hundred years, we have ref-
erence solely to the descendants of the Dutch settlers.
The old Dutch Church has reason to rejoice over the
impression she has made upon the religious sentiment of
the community, and the training which has led her chil-
174 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
dren into the ways of honor and virtue through so many
generations.
If there are those who think that this assertion of
the morality of the Dutch is from one who is strongly
biased in their favor, we would say in reply that it is
substantiated by the characteristics accorded to this na-
tion for two hundred years.
Says Brodhead, speaking of the Dutch in the Neth-
erlands in 1648 : " The purity of morals and decorum
of manners for which the Dutch have always been con-
spicuous may, perhaps, be most justly ascribed to the
happy influence of their women.
" . . . With all their economy and thrift, the Dutch
were neither mean nor sordid. . . . The wealth which
their industry gained was liberally expended in acts of
humanity and charity. ... Of all the moral qualities
which distinguished the Dutch, the most remarkable
was their honesty," etc.
We take pleasure in recording the statement of this
historian as to the character of the Dutch as a race, for
it corroborates what we have said of them as a com-
munity.
CHAPTER XX.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS.
Nearly all the landed proprietors in Flatbush are
those to whom the titles of their farms have been trans-
mitted for several generations, dating in many cases
from the settlement of the Dutch on Long Island.
Now the land is passing out of the hands of its
former owners, the old names are disappearing, and the
descendants of the first settlers are comparatively few.
As long as it was possible to do so, the landowners re-
tained their farms as such ; they were not anxious to cut
up their beautiful fields into city lots, or to widen the
green lanes and country roads into dusty avenues and
wide boulevards.
The southern borders of Flatbush bound the towns
on which the ocean waves measure the rise and fall of
the tides ; toward the north lies the ridge of hills that
long kept back the ebb and flow of the tide of human
life in the adjoining city. In past years Flatbush slept
as quietly between the two as if the waves of the one
could no more reach it than could the waves of the
other. But the separating hills have been leveled, and
the village has been awakened by the noise of approach-
ing voices. The tide of increasing population within
the city boundary has risen higher and higher, and has
176 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
swept hitherward in larger and ever-increasing circles.
The first ripple of this rising tide has touched our
borders, and before long the sudden rush of some great
wave will sweep away every trace of village life.
Anticipating these changes, we propose to show what
the size and appearance of the village are at this present
time, and to measure its growth since 1842, the time
at which Dr. Strong's history was written. The map
attached to that history gives us the streets and houses
at that date ; following down the course of the main
street through its whole extent, we shall be enabled to
note the changes which have taken place.
We will also give such information as we have been
enabled to obtain relative to the original ownership of
the farms.
Beginning at the southern boundary of Flatbush, the
first change we meet is that in the highway itself. In
1877 the road at the boundary between Flatlands and
Flatbush was straightened, and the avenue was extended
down to the bay.
The irregular curves upon an old road may not be
convenient for business purposes, but its picturesque-
ness as it winds among grain-fields and orchards is en-
tirely lost when it is converted into a straight, broad
avenue, with nothing to relieve the monotony of its
barren, dusty expanse. The level extension of the
fields in southern Flatbush and Flatlands is very favor-
able to agriculture ; when these highly cultivated farms
were seen through the trees by the wayside, they formed
a pleasant rural landscape. This effect is almost lost in
the change recently made ; it may have been necessary,
but, remembering the quiet beauty of the old road, we
hesitate to call the change an imjDrovement. The straight-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 177
ening of the road also changed the door-yards of those
living near it. At present both the old road and the
new are open to travel ; sometimes the two run parallel,
sometimes they blend, and sometimes they cross each
other or are separated by the rough and unsightly hum-
mocks left by the removal of the dividing fences.
The land called on Dr. Strong's map " The Little
Flat " contained two dwelling houses ; that on the east
side of the road is marked as the residence of J. Antoni-
des : it has since been pulled down to give place to
the modern structure which was built by the son of the
occupant of the old house. This family are descendants
of the Kew. Vincentius Antonides, who was sent out
from the classis of Amsterdam, Holland, to preach in
the Dutch towns on Long Island in 1704. After this
generation this old and respected name will become
extinct in Flatbush, as the present Mr. Antonides is
the only male representative of the family.
On the west side of the road the old-fashioned farm-
house is still standing which was occupied by Mr. All-
geo when Dr. Strong w r rote his history. His father, old
Mr. Allgeo, was a cabinet-maker by trade. The making
of coffins was at that time part of a cabinet-maker's
work, and it is said that many years before his death he
made his own coffin and placed it in the loft of his work-
shop. This act was significant of the fact that death
had no terror for him, and that he was in every sense
prepared for the change which came to him at the end
of a long and peaceful life. The long, snow-white hair
of Mr. Allgeo, and a certain peacefulness in the expres-
sion of his countenance, reminded one of the pictures of
Charles Wesley. Mr. Allgeo wast>orn in 1766, of Eng-
lish parentage, in the city of Montreal. He married a
12
178 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
daughter of Mr. Anton ides, and settled in Flatbush.
His grandson, Mr. William Henry Allgeo, still lives in
this house and works this farm, which is the property
of the heirs of the late Hon. John A. Lott.
On the same side of the road, north of this farm,
stands a large house which was built by Mr. David John-
son. After the death of Mr. Johnson, his widow, a
lady who was much respected in the village, removed to
Brooklyn. She sold the property to Mr. Eobert Fox,
who afterward purchased Fisher's Island, in Long Island
Sound, and the land again changed owners. It is at
present the property of Mr. Giroux, president of the
Lafayette Insurance Company.
Adjoining the garden of Mr. David Johnson was the
residence of his father-in-law, old Mr. Parmalee, after
whose death it was sold, and has since had various
owners.
Newkirk Avenue was opened in 1868 upon this prop-
erty, running from Flatbush Avenue westerly to the
Coney Island road.
On the corner of this and Flatbush Avenue Mr.
Charles Baxter, of Brooklyn, erected a neat dwelling-
house in 1870.
North of this is a house upon the farm of Mr. Henry
S. Ditmas, which has been through successive years
rented to various persons.
Adjoining is the pleasant homestead of Mr. Henry
S. Ditmas. It stands with the gable-end to the road,
and, judging from its appearance, it must have been
built in or before the year 1800, as it had before altera-
tion many of the characteristics of that period. The
front door was divided into an upper and a lower sec-
tion, with the circular glasses known as " bulls'-eyes "
M
ABRAHAM I. DITMAS.
Born March 14, 1850. Died September 3, 1894.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 179
in the upper half to light the broad hall. The slope of
the roof also marks it as one of the Dutch houses of that
period.
The Ditmas family are the descendants of Jan Jan-
sen, from Ditmarsum, in the Duchy of Holstein, who
came to this country at an early period— about, or pre-
vious to, 1647. His wife was Aaltje Douws. This farm,
originally the property of Douwe Ditmas, extended
southward, embracing the land on which Mr. David
Johnson built his house, before referred to ; northward
it extended to the farm of the Suydam family. We
have been informed that the former homestead of the
Ditmas family was an old stone house, south of the pres-
ent residence of Mr. Henry S. Ditmas.
The antiquated appearance of the house on the next
farm north, the home of Mr. John Ditmas, proclaims
at once its age. There are very few dwellings of this
style still remaining in this county. This is a long,
low house with a heavy roof and no front windows in
the second story.
We look upon these venerable houses with respect
akin to that which we entertain for old friends, particu-
larly when, as in this case, and the residence of Mr.
Henry S. Ditmas, these have been the homes of those
who, through many generations, have been prominent
in the church and respected in the town.
This house was formerly the homestead of the Suy-
dam family. The farm, after the death of Jacobus Lott,
an early settler, was purchased by Hendrick Suydam.
The late Mrs. John Ditmas was the daughter of Mr. An-
drew Suydam. Hendrick Rycke, the ancestor of the
Suydam family, emigrated in 1663 from Suytdam, or
Zuytdam, in Holland. He married Ida Jacobs, and set-
180 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
tied in Flatbush. Mr. John Ditmas bnilt houses for
two of his sons adjoining his own : that at the south for
Mr. Abraham Ditmas, that at the north for Mr. Henry
Ditmas.
Returning to the southerly extremity of the village,
on the east side of the old Flatbush road, we find upon
Dr. Strong's map the large adjoining farms of Mr. Ger-
ret and Mr. John C. Vanderveer. These were both
elderly gentlemen when Dr. Strong wrote his history,
and they furnished him with much information in re-
gard to the War of the Revolution. They were broth-
ers, and were wealthy and prominent men in this town,
and both reached an advanced age. Mr. Gerret Van-
derveer had no sons. His daughter was the wife of Mr.
Simon Cortelyou. The old farm and homestead have
been sold for division among the heirs, and none of the
descendants of this family now live upon the place.
The Vanderveer family still occupy the house of Mr.
John C. Vanderveer, and cultivate the farm upon which
their ancestors settled. The present head of the fam-
ily is the son of the old gentleman mentioned in Dr.
Strong's history. In May, 1878, he celebrated his gold-
en wedding, and is still happy in being able to say that
not a death has ever occurred in his family of children
and grandchildren.
Adjoining this venerable homestead, on the south,
is the house built for his son ; on the north is the house
built by Mr. Henry Vernon Vanderveer, also a grand-
son of old Mr. John C. Vanderveer, and son of Dr.
Adrian Vanderveer.
The Vanderveer property extended over a large tract
of land, and the family were among the oldest settlers
in Flatbush. They are the descendants of Cornells
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 181
Janse Vanderveer, who emigrated to this country from
Alkmaar, a free city on the North Holland Canal, in
1659. He bought a farm of Jan Janse in Flatbush, and
settled there.
An old mill formerly stood on this farm in sight
of the road. It was recently destroyed by fire. We
give the history of it from the newspaper account pub-
lished at that time.
" VANDER VEER'S MILL.
"Last Tuesday night [March 4, 1879], about a quarter be-
fore seven o'clock, a tire broke out in the ' Vauderveer Mill,'
on the farm of Messrs. John Vanderveer & Sons, between
Canarsie Lane and Pardaegat Pond. The spectacle of its de-
struction was such as has rarely been witnessed, and, mingled
with the many people of the town who had gathered, were
those who had been attracted for miles by the flames which lit
the sky. The strong oak timbers stood up until the very last,
while the shingles which covered it fell away, sending up showers
of sparks, which, against the sky, looked like gold-dust sprinkled
on a cloth of blue. Still the flames burned on till nothing re-
mained but the bare timbers raising gaunt arms appealingly
against destruction ; but the element did its work, and after a
couple of hours had passed, that which it had taken years to
build, and which had stood time's ravages for three quarters of
a century, was laid in ruins.
" It was the first windmill erected on Long Island. It was
completed in 1804, having been begun about three years before
by John 0. Vanderveer, father of the present owner. It was
of immense strength, the main timbers being twenty-eight feet
high and two and a half thick, hewn from trees grown on the
farm. The carpenter was Abijah Baldwin, Joseph Mead being
the millwright. John Oakey, Sr., .father of the present Assist-
tant District Attorney, worked on it as an apprentice. It was
four stories high, with a stone foundation of about three feet.
182 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
The arms and sails were twenty-six feet long, and it had three
run of stone. The sails were first blown off in the famous Sep-
tember gale of 1821, and repaired by Baldwin. About ten years
after the sails were again blown off, since which time they have
not been repaired, the building being used as a storehouse for
hay, etc. It was full at the time of the fire. When it was
working, farmers came from the adjoining counties with their
grist for the famous mill. The view from the upper windows
was very fine, including Coney Island, the Narrows, Jersey, and
Kockaway, and all places within a radius of twenty miles. Dur-
ing the draft riots of 1863 it was a refuge for the colored peo-
ple of the village, and they will hold it in grateful remem-
brance."
Opposite to the road leading eastward to Canarsie is
the road leading to New Utrecht called "the little
lane."
The property between this "little lane" and the
farm of Mr. John Ditmas was the property of the
late Mr. Jeremiah Lott. This gentleman was for
many years the leading, if not the only, surveyor in
Kings County. He is spoken of as such as early as
1816.
We here give the copy of a manuscript written by
Mr. Jeremiah Lott in 1858 by request. It is the gen-
ealogy of the large and influential family of which he
was a member :
"Peter Lott, from whom all the families of that name in this
country have descended, emigrated from Europe in the year
1652, and settled in Flatbush on Long Island. He was one of the
patentees named in the patent granted by Lieutenant-Governor
Dongan in 1685 to the inhabitants of Flatbush. It is the gen-
erally received opinion that the family came originally from
England, but by subsequent intermarriages soon became fully
identified with the Dutch. His wife's name was Gertrude:
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 183
neither the date of their birth nor their marriage is known.
They both died in Flatbush, and the death of the wife occurred
in 1704.
"Engelbert Lott, their eldest son — my great-grandfather —
was born in December, 1654, in this country, and was settled
at New Castel, on the west bank of the Delaware River, about
thirty-five miles below Philadelphia. He was united in mar-
riage with Cornelia De la Noy, the daughter of Abraham De la
Noy, who was of French extraction and a resident of the city
of New York. At the time of his marriage he owned a con-
siderable tract of land and marsh on Christiana Creek, in New
Castel County, and two lots in the town of New Castel. This
property he continued to hold for several years subsequent to
his removal to Long Island, but he eventually disposed of it by
deed, September 1, 1707, to Abraham Santford, John Harba-
dink, and Jane Tuttle. Toward the close of the year 1682,
New Castel, with the adjacent territory, became united with
the province of Pennsylvania, under William Penn. Shortly
after this union was effected, he took the oath of allegiance
and promising fidelity and lawful obedience to William Penn,
the Proprietor and Governor of that province, in compliance
with an act passed at Chester by the Colonial Legislature of
Pennsylvania. He was on terms of intimacy and friendship
with Governor Penn, who held out strong inducements for him
to remain at New Castel ; but the unhealthiness of the place
and surrounding country, together with an ejectment suit
which had been several years depending before the Court of
Sessions, then held at Gravesend, in the West Riding of York-
shire, on Long Island, in which Derick Jansen Hoghlant was
plaintiff, and his father, Peter Lott, defendant, caused him to
remove. In 1682, with his wife Cornelia, he came to Flat-
bush, on Long Island, with a view to make it his permanent
residence, and purchased a house and about two acres of land
situated on the easterly side of the road and a short distance
south of the Erasmus Hall Academy, near the property of Tunis
J. Bergen. In the month of December, in the same year of his
removal, he and his wife Cornelia were admitted on certificate
184 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
as members in full communion of the Reformed Dutch Church
of Flatbush, then under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Cas-
parus Van Zuren. In 1688 he hired for farming purposes from
the church of Flatbush a tract of land situated on the south
side of the road leading to New Lots, and north of the land of
John Stryker, with the salt meadows thereto appertaining, for
the term of seven years, at the yearly rent of two hundred and
twenty-five guilders, payable in sewant, or in wheat, to be de-
livered at Brooklyn Ferry at the current price. In 1709 he dis-
posed of his house and two acres of land, and purchased from
Daniel Polhemus and Neltje, his wife, the southerly one third
part of the farm of the Rev. Johannes Theodoras Polhemus,
the first minister of the Reformed Dutch churches in Kings
County. In 1698 he was appointed high sheriff of the County
of Kings by Richard, Earl of Bellamont, Governor of the Prov-
ince of New York. He lived on his farm until the time of his
death, which I am inclined to think occurred in the year 1728,
at the age of seventy-four years. Engelbert Lott left two sons,
Abraham and Johannes.
"Abraham was born in Flatbush, September, 1684. In the
early part of his life he went several voyages on board of a
trading vessel to the West Indies as supercargo, and probably
part owner. In 1709 he was united in marriage to Catherina
Hegeman, daughter of Elbert liegeman, of New Lots, and from
that time lived with and cultivated the farm of his father, En-
gelbert Lott, in Flatbush. Catharina, his wife, was born No-
vember 11, 1691, and died November 19, 174-1.
"At his fathers death he became the owner of his father's
farm, which he had previously cultivated. This farm was by
him afterward devised to his son, Jacobus Lott, who held it
during his lifetime, and upon his death it was sold to Ilendrick
Suydam, and is now in possession of Sarah Suydam, the wife
of John Ditmas. In May, 1730, Abraham Lott obtained by
purchase from the widow and children of Daniel Polhemus,
then deceased, the northerly two thirds parts of the Polhemus
farm, and by this purchase, with the previous devise to him of
his father's farm, he became possessed of all the land, wood-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 185
land, and meadows originally patented by Governor Stuyvesant
to the Rev. Johannes Theodorus Polhemus.
"In the year 1743 he was elected a representative from the
County of Kings in the Colonial Legislature of New York, and
served in that capacity one legislative term of seven years, and
upon his reelection commenced another term, but did not live
to see its termination. He died July 29, 1754. He left three
sons, Jacobus, Engelbert, and Abraham, and one daughter,
named Cornelia, who was married to John Vanderveer, of Ren-
ter's Hook.
" Jacobus Lott, his eldest son, married Teuntie De Ilarte, the
daughter of Simon De Harte, and lived in Flatbush on the farm
purchased by his grandfather, Engelbert Lott, of Daniel Polhe-
mus, and died in possession of the same, leaving several sons
and daughters.
"Engelbert Lott, his second son and my grandfather, mar-
ried Maritje Ditmas, daughter of Johannes and Helena Ditmas,
and lived on the farm purchased by his father, Abraham Lott,
of the widow and children of Daniel Polhemus, deceased, leav-
ing children as hereinafter mentioned.
" Abraham Lott, his youngest son, married Gertrude Coey-
man, daughter of Andrew Coeyman, and commenced mercan-
tile business in the city of New York, which he carried on for
many years. He occasionally officiated as Clerk of the Colonial
Assembly, and was subsequently appointed Treasurer of the
Colony of New York, which office he held until the year 1776.
He died in New York at an advanced age, leaving one son,
named Andrew, and four daughters. Andrew married a daugh-
ter of Peter Goelett; Catharine was married to Colonel Wil-
liam Livingston, and Cornelia to Comfort Sands. The two
other daughters died unmarried.
"Engelbert Lott, the son of Abraham Lott, my grand-
father, was born in Flatbush, May 17, 1719, and lived with his
father, who, when he purchased the northerly part of the Pol-
hemus farm, removed with him thereon and continued to culti-
vate it during his father's lifetime, and upon the death of his
father he became the owner thereof. December 4, 1742, he
186 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
was united in marriage with Maritje Ditinas, daughter of
Johannes and Helena Ditmas, who was born January 8, 1723,
and died April 27, 1797. He was at one time the principal
land surveyor in the County of Kings, and also held the office
of one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in the
county. During his lifetime he conveyed to his son, Johannes
E. Lott — my father — his farm in Flatlands, which he, with his
father, had purchased of Aert Willemse, and by his last will and
testament devised to my father the residue of his real estate.
He died in Flatbush, November 17, 1779. He left three sons,
Johannes, Abraham, and Engelbert. His son Johannes E. Lott,
my father, upon his first marriage removed to the farm in Flat-
lands purchased of his father, Engelbert Lott, leaving children
as hereinafter mentioned. Abraham E. Lott and Engelbert
Lott, his two remaining sons, were merchants in New York,
and continued the mercantile business until the commencement
of hostilities between this country and Great Britain in 1776,
and returned to Flatbush a few months previous to the landing
of the British army in that year. Upon the capture of Long
Island by the British forces under General Howe, the greater
part of the inhabitants of Flatbush left their homes and went
into Queens County. In this flight Abraham E. Lott and En-
gelbert Lott were pursued and overtaken in Flushing. Engel-
bert was taken prisoner and brought back to Flatbush, then in
possession of the British army, and confined in Flatbush church,
but was soon set at liberty on his parole. He remained in Flat-
bush and attended to the public business of the town and
county, and was occasionally engaged in surveying and convey-
ancing. While engaged on public business at the tavern of
Dr. Hendrick Van Beuren, he was suddenly attacked with
apoplexy, and died there, November 29, 1779, in the twenty-
sixth year of his age, and only twelve days after the death of
his father, Engelbert Lott.
" Abraham E. Lott, the remaining brother, escaped from his
pursuers by secreting himself in a cornfield, and when they
had abandoned their search he went to the shore and crossed
Long Island Sound to the Westchester side. Thence he pro-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 187
ceeded through the city of New York, and, on his journey meet-
ing with the late Elkanah Watson, they both went south to
Edenton, North Carolina. At that place he carried on the
mercantile business under the firm of Lott & Payne. After
the termination of the war he was about making preparations
to leave Edenton for New York, but was suddenly cut off by
death before his designs were accomplished. lie died in Eden-
ton, at the house of Mr. John Green, March 4, 1785, in the
thirty-seventh year of his age.
"Johannes E. Lott, the eldest son of Engelbert Lott, my
father, was born in Flatbush, September 1, 1746. During his
minority he lived with his father and assisted in the cultivation
of his farm, having previously received such education as the
country schools at that time afforded. May 3, 1766, he was
united in marriage with his first wife, Adriantje Voorhees,
daughter of Adrian Voorhees, and moved on the farm in Flat-
lands which he then purchased of his father. Adriantje Voor-
hees was born September 4, 1746, and died October 21, 1773.
By this first marriage he had one son, named Engelbert, and a
daughter named Phebe. His son Engelbert on his marriage
was settled on a farm in New Utrecht, near the Bath House,
where he died, leaving a widow, four sons, and three daugh-
ters. His daughter Phebe died unmarried. After the death of
his first wife, Adriantje, he was again united in marriage, Janu-
ary 12, 1775, to Catharine Vanderbilt, daughter of Jeremiah
and Sarah Vanderbilt. Catharine was born February 13, 1757,
and died October 23, 1840, aged eighty-three years.
"He lived in Flatlands, on his farm there, until the death of
his father, Engelbert Lott, in 1779, when he removed to the
farm of his father in Flatbush, which his father had devised to
him by will. He was chosen one of the six delegates from the
county of Kings to attend the Provincial Congress held in the
city of New York in the year 1776. In the year 1784 he was
chosen a member of Assembly from this county. He was ap-
pointed the first Surrogate of the County of Kings under the
Constitution of the State of New York, which he held with
that of the office of one of the Judges of the Court of Common
188 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Pleas, until his appointment to the office of First Judge of the
Court. He held the office of First Judge from the year 1793
until his resignation in 1801. From that time he attended to
his domestic duties, and died August 13, 1811. By his wife
Catharine lie left three sons, Jeremiah, John, and Abraham,
and two daughters, Maretje and Sarah. Jeremiah Lott and his
wife and children are hereinafter mentioned.
"John Lott, the second son, after receiving his education at
Erasmus Hall Academy, was brought up as a farmer, and, on
his marriage with Elizabeth Garretson, the daughter of Samuel
Garretson, of Gravesend, in 1799, settled on the farm in Flat-
bush purchased by his father of the heirs of Philip Nagel, de-
ceased, and of which he became fully possessed on his father's
death. John Lott died in February, 1858, in the eightieth year
of his age. He had two sons, Johu I. Lott and Samuel G. Lott.
John I. Lott died previous to his father. The other son, Sam-
uel G. Lott, is still living, and resides on his farm in Flatbush,
purchased of Abraham Vanderveer.
"Abraham Lott, the third son, was also brought up and
educated like his brother John, and on his first marriage, with
Maria Lott, the daughter of Jeromus Lott, of Flatlands, in 1805,
settled on the farm in Flatlands, of which he became the owner
on his father's death.
"By this marriage he had one son, John A. Lott, who, after
receiving a collegiate education, was bred to the law, and which
profession he diligently followed until he was elected one of
the Justices of the Supreme Court.
"Upon the death of his first wife, Maria, Abraham Lott
married a second time, Jane Voorhees, the widow of Lawrence
Voorhees, deceased, and daughter of Samuel Garretson, and
then purchased the farm on which she lived of Yan Brunt
Magaw and Adriana Voorhees, his wife, and on which he then
moved.
" Upon the death of his second wife he was again married
to Lavinia Betts. He died November, 1840.
"Maretje (oldest daughter of Johannes E. Lott) was born
October 10, 1781, and was married to Jacob Van Pelt, of New
JV r 4H0|
Hon. JOHN A. LOTT.
Born February n, 1806. Died July 20, 1878.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 189
Utrecht, August 19, 1802. She died in 1852, leaving one son,
John L. Van Pelt, and a daughter, Gertrude Van Pelt.
" Sarah (youngest daughter of Johannes E. Lott) was born
October 10, 1795. She was married February 10, 1817, to
John Vanderbilt, and lived on the place in Flatbush where her
mother, Catharine Lott, was born. Her husband, John Van-
derbilt, died in 1842, leaving her a widow with three sons and
two daughters : John, Jeremiah Lott, Abraham L., Catharine,
and Sarah.
"Jeremiah Lott, eldest son of Johannes E. Lott by his sec-
ond marriage, was born October 14, 1776. At the age of
twenty years he commenced the business of land surveying and
conveyancing, which he followed for about thirty-rive years,
and was at one time the only county surveyor. In 1801 he was
appointed Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of the County of
Kings, and held that appointment uninterruptedly for a period
of forty-two years. In the year 1814 he was the member of
Assembly representing this county in the State Legislature.
In the years 1821, 1822, and 1839 he served in the same capacity.
He held the office of surrogate, to which he was appointed in the
year 1814, successively for the period of nineteen years. In the
War of 1812 with Great Britain, he held a captain's commis-
sion in the Flatbush company of militia. In September, 1814,
he was called with his company into the United States service
under Brigadier-General Johnson, and stationed at Fort Greene,
in Brooklyn. During this time he lived on and cultivated the
farm in Flatbush on which he now lives, and which was de-
vised to him by his father, Johannes E. Lott, and which is the
same farm which his great-grandfather, Abraham Lott, obtained
by purchase from the widow and children of Daniel Polhemus
in 1730, having been owned and occupied by four successive
generations in direct lineal descent.
"January 17, 1805, he was united in marriage with Lydia
Lloyd, the daughter of Bateman Lloyd, formerly of Woodstown,
Salem County, West New Jersey. _,
" His eldest daughter, Catharine L. Lott, was born October
17, 1807, and was married February 16, 1829, to her cousin
190 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLAT BUSH.
John A. Lott, the son of Abraham Lott, deceased. Their chil-
dren are Abraham, John Z., Jeremiah, Abby, and Maria.
" Abby LefTerts Lott, the second daughter, was born April
12, 1811, and was married October 13, 1830, to John B. Za-
briskie, son of the late Rev. John L. Zabriskie, of Millstone,
New Jersey. Her husband, Dr. John B. Zabriskie, died Febru-
ary 8, 1848, leaving her a widow with five children, John Lloyd
Zabriskie, Jeremiah L., Nicholas Lansing, Harriet Lydia, and
Sarah Berriea.
" Jeeemiah Lott.
" Platbush, June 1, 185S."
Mr. Lott lived to be eighty-five years of age, and to
the time of his death he was active and. vigorous.
On the east side of the road, north of the road lead-
ing to Canarsie, is the house in which Mr. Cornelius
Duryee lived at the time Mr. Strong's history was pub-
lished. Mr. Duryee w T as in the New York Custom-
house for many years, and so punctual was he in his
movements that, as his gig was seen driving leisurely
homeward in the afternoon, it was considered as surely
the signal for the hour of four as if the clock had
struck. This house is said to have been at one time
the residence of Lord Stirling ; portions of it are very
old, but the additions of after-years have taken from its
exterior appearance the characteristics of an old Dutch
house.
The house of Mr. Jacob Duryee was next to that
of his brother Mr. Cornelius Duryee, toward the north.
It was sold for division of property, and passed into
possession of the Brooklyn City Railroad Company.
The car stables of the Flatbush Avenue line are built
here at the terminus of the road. This house is very
old, and fast falling to decay. It was the old homestead
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 191
of the Van Beuren family, none of whom are left to
represent the name in this town.
Dr. Strong in his history tells us that north of the
house of Mr. Jacob Duryee once stood a public brew-
ery. This brewery was divided into shares which were
apportioned to the several farms, and gave the possessor
the right of brewing in the establishment.
Upon the southerly corner of Vernon Avenue and
Flatbush Avenue stands the Willink House, a hotel
built by two ladies, Mrs. Willink and her sister Miss
Ludlow. They proposed to make this an agreeable
summer residence, but it was never an attractive place ;
pecuniarily and in every way it proved a failure.
Retracing our steps to the " little lane" on the west
side of the road, we find upon this corner a house for-
merly occupied by Mr. Teunis Bergen ; at his death it
was purchased by Mr. Jeremiah Lott.
Next northward is the comfortable, old-fashioned
dwelling-house of the late Mr. Jacobus Schoonmaker,
who died in 1877 at an advanced age ; his widow sur-
vived him but two years. Their three sons still occupy
the old homestead in happy demonstration that the old
adage which says that "no house is large enough for
two families " is not always true. This is a pleasant,
home-like Dutch house, with the gable-end to the road.
Dr. Strong says that the timber with which this house
was built was that taken from the court-house which
was pulled down in 1792. The house was moved a short
distance southward in 1879 to allow for the opening of
a street north of it.
The Schoonmaker family on Long Island are descend-
ants of Rev. Martinus Schoonmaker, who was in 1785
placed over the united congregations of Kings County.
192 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Joachim Schoonmaker and Antje Hussey, his wife, of
Kingston, New York, were the parents of Joachim, fa-
ther of Martinus Schoonmaker, who was born March 1,
1737. He married Mary Basset, 1761, and died in
Flatbnsh at an advanced age.
Next northward is the property at present owned by
Mr. William Matthews ; the house is rented and occu-
pied by Dr. T. Ingraham. This was formerly the farm
of Mr. Samuel G. Lott. Mrs. Lott was the daughter
of Mr. Theodoras Bergen ; she died of yellow fever,
caught while unselfishly devoting herself to the care
of her brothers and sisters at Gowanus during the preva-
lence of that fearful epidemic in the autumn of 1856.
Mr. Lott died some few years after. An old stone
house stood upon this spot in earlier times ; it was
pulled down to give place to the modern house at
present standing, which was built for Mr. Lott ; the
stone house and farm belonged to Mr. Abraham Van-
derveer, and extended southward toward the little lane
leading to New Utrecht, the southern portion of the
farm being the share of the sister of Abraham Vander-
veer, Charity, wife of Stephen, and mother of the late
Jacobus Schoonmaker.
Mr. Theodore Lott, son of Mr. Samuel G. Lott, re-
sides in the pleasant dwelling-house south of what was
formerly his father's place. The extreme neatness of
the house and grounds makes this a cheerful and at-
tractive spot.
Waverly Avenue runs westward from this point, sep-
arating the land which once formed the farms of Mr.
Samuel G. Lott and Dr. A. Vanderveer.
The house indicated on the map as belonging to Dr.
Vanderveer was an old-style, cozy-looking house, and
'
ADRIAN VANDERVEER, M. D.
Born December 21, 1796. Died July 5, 1857.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 193
stood so close upon the road that the front door yard
formed an ellipse upon the sidewalk.
This house was standing during the Revolutionary
War, and was one of the oldest in the village. It was
formerly the property of Dr. Schoonmaker, a son of old
Doniine Schoonmaker, from whom the house, with
about five acres of land, was purchased for Dr. Vander-
veer by his father.
Rev. Dr. Livingston, at some period previous to
1794, either owned or rented the house, and lived here
for many years.
Dr. Adrian Vanderveer, one of the sons of Mr. John
C. Vanderveer, before alluded to, sold this property on
the west side of the Flatbush road to Mr. Henry Lyles,
and built for himself a large house on Vernon Avenue,
with greenhouses and graperies attached. Being very
fond of arboriculture and horticulture, he devoted much
time to the cultivation of his grounds. He planted a
great variety of trees, and the shrubbery about the house
was selected with great care.
Two of the sons of the Doctor, Mr. John and Mr.
Adrian Vanderveer, have erected neat and tasteful
houses upon Vernon Avenue, which they at present oc-
cupy.
Near the site of the old house last occupied by Dr.
Vanderveer, Mr. Henry Lyles, Jr., built a large and
comfortable house. After this the old landmark, which
had antedated Revolutionary times, was pulled down.
The well-kept lawn in front of Mr. Lyles's house
has been planted with fine trees, and it presents a pleas-
ant appearance.
Mrs. M. C. Lyles was the only -daughter of Mr. Sam-
uel G. Lott. Mr. Lyles recently held the responsible
13
194 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
position of president of one of the largest savings banks
in New York.
The house on the north side of Vernon Avenue and
on the east of the Flatbush road is the property of Mr.
Edwin Garvin. This house, which was built by Mr.
David Johnson, has been greatly enlarged and improved,
so much so that it could scarcely be recognized as the
same building. Like the march of improvement in oth-
er directions, the old has given place to the new, with
comforts, conveniences, and appliances which were un-
known in earlier days.
Before Vernon Avenue was opened this was a Van-
deventer farm. It ran back eastward a long distance to
the farms of Mr. Michael Stryker and Mr. Suydam.
The old house of Mr. Jacobus Vandeventer stood
close upon the roadside. South of it was a large pond.
There were formerly many of the name of Vandeven-
ter in Flatbush, but it has now entirely died out.
North of and next to Mr. Garvin's place is the old
house marked "R. Crommelin " on the map of Dr.
Strong. This house is now rapidly going to decay. It
was owned by Mr. John Hess through his wife, who
was a Miss Van Beuren.
It was purchased for a parsonage in 1711, and used
for that purpose when there were two ministers, Rev.
Mr. Freeman and Rev. Mr. Antonides, preaching in
the Dutch towns on Long Island. For a long time
it was in possession of Domine Lowe. This house
was built on a portion of the front of the Vandeventer
farm.
The late Mr. Teunis J. Bergen erected a large house
on his property, adjoining that in which his family had
formerly lived for many years. That house he then sold
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 195
to Dr. H. L. Bartlett. Afterward it passed into the
possession of Mr. Joseph Gray, who is still its owner.
This land, formerly owned by Mr. Tunis Bergen,
also that on which the new house still owned by
his heirs now stands, was at an early period the prop-
erty of Mr. Adrian Hegeman, for many years school-
master in Flatbush, and afterward County Clerk in
Brooklyn.
Grant Street is a new street, opened 1876, leading
easterly to that portion of the village called the "Eng-
lish Neighborhood." This locality was thus named be-
cause the land was purchased and cut up into lots by
some English mechanics, who built small houses and
settled there with their families.
On the westerly side of the road next adjoining the
grounds of Mr. Lyles is the old house marked "J. C.
Bergen" on Dr. Strong's map. There is every rea-
son to believe that this house was built by Domine
Freeman.
Stiles, in his " History of Brooklyn," says : " In 1735
he (Domine Freeman) purchased seven acres of land in
Flatbush, and built a house which is still standing, al-
though altered. . . . His only child, Anna Margaretta,
married her cousin David Clarkson."
The Clarkson family, during and before the War of
1776, lived in this house, and it is probable that it came
into their possession through their mother, the daugh-
ter of Bev. Mr. Freeman.
This house is referred to on page 144 of Dr. Strong's
history. It was here that during the War of the Revo-
lution the British soldiers found the costly wine which
had been stored under the eaves by Mr. Clarkson.
This, which is one of the oldest houses in Flatbush,
196 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
has the low ceilings and the heavy cross-beams charac-
teristic of the houses built by the early settlers, and
probably few have been left so entirely free from mod-
ern improvement.
The heirs of Mr. J. C. Bergen have had the good
taste to leave the house as it Avas built, without attempt-
ing to modernize it.
Although this was the homestead of the Clarkson
family, the name was subsequently transferred to the
land north of the church, on which they (the heirs of
the Clarkson family) at present reside, by the marriage
of one of the sons to the daughter of Hon. John Van-
derbilt, so frequently mentioned in Dr. Strong's his-
tory.
The ancestor of the Bergen family on Long Island
was Hans Hansen Bergen. He was a native of Bergen,
in Norway ; he went to Holland, and from thence to
America in 1633.
The ancestor of this family was Cornelius, born
1761 ; married April, 1785, Gertrude, daughter of Hen-
drick Suydam of Flatbush, and resided on the farm his
wife inherited from her father.
The handsome new house next adjoining this old
time-honored place was built by the heirs of Mr. John
C. Bergen ; it is at present occupied by his son-in-law
and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. William Story.
The house marked on the map " D. Wiggins " was at
that time a public-house. At the death of Duryee Wig-
gins, the property was purchased by the late Hon. John
A. Lott, and the house was remodeled for his eldest
son, Mr. Abraham Lott, to whom it at present belongs.
Mr. Abraham Lott married the second daughter of Mr.
Bergen, whose land adjoined his own.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 197
This property was formerly known as "the court-
house lot." Here stood the county court-house and
jail, which was burned down in November. 1832.
In November, 1692, the Court of Sessions for Kings
County ordered that each town in the county should
have "a good pair of stocks and a good pound," and
that "the clerk of the court should issue a warrant to
the constable of every town, requiring them to see this
order complied with at their peril."
On this lot, in front of the jail, stood the stocks and
whipping-post. It is thus described by a gentleman
who still remembers it :
" The tall post on one end was the whipping-post ;
from this extended a horizontal beam in which were
semicircular excavations graded from larger to smaller
circumferences, to fit larger or smaller limbs ; the other
half of this horizontal beam, rising upon a hinge when
lowered in its place, fitted exactly over the lower half,
and, when fastened down, secured the prisoners' legs in
the rings thus formed."
It is probable that the stocks and whipping-post
were destroyed when the jail was burned ; there is no
record made of it.
The first county court-house was built in Graves-
end in 1668. In 1686 the courts were removed to Flat-
bush, where a court-house was erected, which was in
1758 replaced by one which was burned down in 1832.
The county court-house after this was removed to
Brooklyn. This had been long desired by the inhab-
itants of that place, and there had been for some time
previous much dissatisfaction at the location of the
court-house.
In an old newspaper called the "Long Island Pa-
198 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
triot," "published every Thursday at 99 Fulton Street,
near Sand Street," we find, in a number issued March 3,
1825, a memorial to the Legislature, " showing the pro-
priety of erecting a new court-house, and naming Brook-
lyn as the only desirable location." The arguments for
the removal occupy two columns of the newspaper, and
it is probable that there was much excitement occa-
sioned. We copy a few lines from the "Memorial to
the Legislature " in favor of the removal :
" A remonstrance against the removal of the court-house
has been circulated in the county, in which it is stated that
Flatbush is nearer the center of the county. The fact we ad-
mit ; but we think the center of population of infinitely more
importance than the center of territory — it being the people
who attend court, and not the acres of land; and that in a
county extending but eleven miles the center can be of little
importance."
In 1826 a law was passed by the Legislature that
henceforth the Courts of Common Pleas and General
Sessions of the Peace should be held alternately at the
Court-house at Flatbush and at the Apprentices' Li-
brary, Brooklyn.
In 1829-30 a law was passed empowering the Board
of Supervisors to raise by tax a sum of money to devote
to the purchase of lots in the village of Brooklyn, to
erect a suitable building thereon for the accommodation
of the courts of the said county.
But in 1832, the old jail being burned, an end was
put to any complication which might have arisen from
conflicting interests. In the next year another law was
passed to the effect that the court-house and jail in and
for the County of Kings should be erected in the village
of Brooklyn.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 199
After this, as we have stated, the land was sold, and
" the court-house lot " finally came by purchase into
possession of Judge Lott.
Near this spot is where the old Van Beuren tavern
stood, kept as such afterward by Mr. Simon Voorhees
for many years. All these inns have now given place
to family homes. The residences of Mr. Abraham Lott
and of Mr. John Z. Lott, with neat gardens and adjoin-
ing lawn, kept with so much taste and care, present a
delightful contrast in their present aspect as compared,
to that which they presented when Dr. Strong wrote
his history.
On the easterly side of Flatbush Avenue, corner of
Grant Street, stands the new and beautiful chapel of
the Reformed Church, completed in 1871. It occupies
nearly the site of the old house marked "J. Vancler-
veer " on Dr. Strong's map, near the blacksmith-shop ;
both the house and the shop were pulled down some
years ago. The property at that time belonged to the
Antonides family.
The chapel is used as a Sunday-school room and
also for prayer-meetings. It was a costly building, and
has been much admired. A large and graceful elm
shaded it when first built ; unfortunately, this tree died
and was cut down in 1877.
Erasmus Hall Academy stands next north of the
chapel. It is the third oldest academy in this State. It
was built in 1786, and was incorporated by the Regents
of the University in 1787.
We here copy the subscription list for the building
of Erasmus Hall as it is given by Dr. Strong ; it shows
that many well-known persons, non-residents of Flat-
bush, were interested in it :
200
THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
John Vanderbilt £100
Peter Lefferts 60
John Vanderbilt 50
Gerret Martense 50
M. OJarkson 50
Joris Martense 50
Aa Giles 50
Jacob Lefferts 50
Johannes E. Lott 50
Cornelius Vanderveer 50
James Duane 15
Richard Varick 10
Brockholst Livingston. ... 10
Alexander Hamilton 10
William Duer 15
Walter Rutherford 10
Carey Ludlow 10
Edward Livingston 10
William Wilcocks 10
D. C. Verplank 10
McCombe 10
The money thus raised was not sufficient to defray
all the expenditure, and the following plan was adopted
to increase the fund.
There was at that time a tract of land called Twillers
and Corlear Flats, held by the inhabitants of Flatbush
in common. Consent was obtained for the sale of this
land. The founders of the Academy agreed that their
respective proportions should be applied toward paying
the debt. The land sold at sixteen dollars per acre.
Fifteen hundred dollars were given toward the Academy.
The remainder was divided among the property owners
who would not relinquish their claim in behalf of Eras-
mus Hall. Subsequently the remaining part of the
commons wac sold, and the money applied to liquidate
Adriantie Vorhies £30
Hendrick Suydam 25
William B. Gifford 20
Philip Nagle 15
Peter Cornell 15
Johannes Waldron 5
George Clinton, for any
place in Kings County. . 15
John Jay 15
Robert R. Livingston 15
John Sloss Hobart 5
James Giles 5
John fl. Livingston 5
Comfort Sands 20
Samuel Franklin 10
Francis Cliilds 5
Richard Piatt 10
W.Edgar 5
Sampson Fleming 5
Aaron Burr 10
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 201
the debt, but it was not fully accomplished until
1825.
The above account is taken from Dr. Strong ; he
says, also, that at this time it was proposed to locate here
the theological seminary of the Reformed Church. It
is much to be regretted that Flatbush was not selected,
instead of New Brunswick, as the site of the college and
seminary buildings.
In an old leather-bound book, published in Boston
in 1791, we find the following allusion to this Academy :
" In th^ state [New York] there are several academies.
One of them, Erasmus Hall, is in the delightful and
nourishing village of Flatbush." Coming from the
source whence it does, the recognition of this venerable
seat of learning, without mention made of the rest, im-
plies some degree of celebrity.
North of Erasmus Hall is the house formerly used
as the parsonage of the Dutch Church ; this was built
for Dr. Strong. He lived here when he wrote his his-
tory of Flatbush.
The land on which this house stood, however, be-
longed to the public school. It was sold, and when the
old parsonage next to the church was pulled down, a
new building, the present parsonage, was erected upon
that land ; then this lot was purchased from the trus-
tees of the public school by Mr. Richard L. Schoon-
maker, youngest son of Mr. Michael Schoonmaker. He
died in 1876. Miss S. Ella Schoonmaker, his daughter,
now owns the house and land.
This lot of ground is referred to in Dr. Strong's his-
tory. He says it was a triangular piece of ground, on
which stood three distinct buildings, joined together,
but evidently erected at different times. In this build-
202 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
ing the village school was held until the year 1803. Dr.
Strong says that the oldest portion of this building was
of stone, the subsequent additions being of wood. We
infer, from his description of this building, that this was
the first village school-house erected by our ancestors in
Flatbush. As Dr. Strong gives the list of schoolmasters
from the year 1659, we are also led to believe that this
old stone school-house may have dated back to that
time.
When this school-house was pulled down, the lot
of ground remained vacant until, during the last war
with Great Britain, the Government erected a gun-house
upon it.
About the same time, the old store, still standing,
was built by Mr. Michael Schoonmaker, and in the year
1823 the house was built which, during the early por-
tion of Dr. Strong's ministry, was the parsonage.
Next adjoining the old store, a new building was
erected by Mr. Richard L. Schoonmaker, the second
story of which was intended for use as a public hall.
Until the erection of the town hall, this room was used
for purposes of entertainment, business assemblages, etc.,
and was found very useful for any public gathering. It
was known as Schoonmaker's Hall.
The upper story of this building has for many years
been rented as a Masonic lodge to the large and highly
respected body of Freemasons in Flatbush.
On the east side of the road, near the corner of what
is now called East Broadway, formerly stood one of
those long, low, old-time houses such as we have already
alluded to as being in the Dutch style of architecture of
the past century.
There were half-doors, with round glasses in the up-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 203
per half to light the room into which the front door
opened. A large linden-tree stood upon the sidewalk
before the door, shading the long stoop. • A side view of
this house may be had in the picture of the Dutch
Church taken for Dr. Strong's history.
This house, soon after the settlement of Flatbush,
belonged to the Waldron family. The last of the name,
being an old bachelor, left it to his nephew, John Fish,
who married a daughter of Peter Strycker, from New
Jersey.
Mrs. Fish's sister, another of the Strycker family,
took her niece to live with her. This niece, to whom
she left this property, married Mr. Michael Nefus. The
descendants of this family have left the village, and the
house has since been partly taken down and partly con-
verted into an addition to the large store built upon the
corner of this street by Mr. Randolph, who at one time
held it as a large grocery store. It has now been rented
as an apothecary shop. There are one or two smaller
shops between this and the building known as " Schoon-
maker's Hall," so that this corner of the street does not
present a vestige of its former appearance.
The liberty-pole, near the site of a former one which
was erected at the close of the war, may also be seen in
the picture of the old Dutch Church, where the two
roads cross each other.
This liberty-pole was raised when Henry Clay ran
for President. It was taken down some years after, to
prevent accident in case of its falling, as it was in a de-
cayed state.
To return to the west side of the street : next, south
of the two houses built for his -sons, stands the late resi-
dence of Judge John A. Lott, in which his widow still
204 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
resides. It is spoken of in Dr. Strong's history as being
at that time (1842) a new house, built on the spot where
once stood the " long, gloomy, but time-honored house
of Barent Van Deventer."
On this same lot at one period was a building erected
by Abraham Vanderveer, and used as a grocery store
and post-office.
Judge Lott died here in the summer of 1878. We
here insert a sketch of his life, taken from the " Chris-
tian Intelligencer" of July 25, 1878 :
" John A. Lott was born February 11, 1806. His preparatory
education was obtained at Erasmus Hall Academy, in Flatbush,
and when about twenty years of age he entered Union College,
from which he graduated with high honor. He studied law
with Henry E. Warner, Esq., of this city, at the time a distin-
guished member of the bar. After practicing a short time in
this city he formed a partnership with the Hon. Henry C. Mur-
phy, and transferred his office to Brooklyn. Judge John Van-
derbilt was afterward admitted to the firm, which became the
leading one in the city and county. The firm, Lott, Murphy &
Vanderbilt, was well known throughout the country among the
profession, and was held in the highest esteem. It was for
many years a famous office, and one of the chief centers of local
political movements, and also influential in State affairs. In
those days, when there was not, as at present, a body of irre-
sponsible, vicious voters, who could be bought, sold, and deliv-
ered, the political conflicts in the State were campaigns in a war
of giants. In those conflicts this powerful firm was often con-
spicuous, and for many years the chief combatants. Their legal
business was very large, and included cases of the highest im-
portance. Judge Lott applied himself with untiring energy and
devotion to the business of his profession, and soon took his
place among the foremost lawyers of the State. His great
knowledge of the law and his strict integrity led to his election
as County Judge in 1838, an office which was held for four years,
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 205
during a part of which time, in 1841, he was also a member of
the Assembly. In 1842 he was elected to the State Senate, in
which he served for four years with great ability. lie then re-
turned to the practice of his profession, to which he devoted
himself with great earnestness and assiduity, and became one of
the leaders of the bar, especially in cases involving large inter-
ests and requiring the most profound and accurate knowledge of
the law. He was a great lawyer. In 1857 he was elected a
Judge of the Supreme Court, to fill the unexpired term of Judge
Rockwell, and when the four years of the term had passed, so
general was the confidence of men of all parties in his integrity
and ability, that he was reelected without opposition for a full
term of eight years. In 1869 he was elected a Judge of the
Court of Appeals, the highest court of the State, to fill an unex-
pired term, and not long after, when a Commission of Appeals
had been authorized to clear away the enormous accumulation
of cases in this court, he was made the Chief Commissioner, an
office which was held until 1874 or '75, when the commission
expired by limitation. In the election of 18G9 signal proof of
the popular confidence was afforded in the remarkable fact that
he ran ahead of his ticket, when usually the vote for a judge is
smaller than that for other candidates, the interest in such ap-
pointments being less general.
u Within a short time Judge Lott resigned as a director of
the Atlantic Bank, Brooklyn, and at the time of his death was
President of the Long Island Bible Society, a trustee of Rutgers
College, a member of the Board of Domestic Missions of the
Reformed Church, the president of the Long Island Safe Deposit
Company, the president of the Flatbush Gas Company, presi-
dent of the Village Board of Improvement, director of the Nas-
sau Insurance Company and of the Long Island Insurance Com-
pany, a director in the Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad, of
which he w T as president during its construction, a work that
was completed without a single lawsuit in connection with the
purchase of the right of way, all concerned accepting his judg-
ment and relying upon his integrity". He was also a trustee and
the treasurer of the venerable Erasmus Hall Academy. Although
206 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
beyond three score and ten years, the duties of these various re-
sponsible positions were performed by him regularly, promptly,
and vigorously. Indeed, at every meeting he was a source of
life and movement.
"During this long and eventful career Judge Lott was dis-
tinguished for intellectual power, thoroughness, decision, but
especially for integrity and industry. His application was won-
derful; it was a devotion to the work in hand, prompted and
maintained by a conscientiousness of remarkable strength and
constancy. Judge Lott was a great man, a great lawyer, a great
judge, whose decisions will stand unchallenged, but he was espe-
cially great as a man of the highest integrity in thought, pur-
pose, and action. His was the greatness of goodness. This led
him to put his whole strength upon any work intrusted to him.
A sense of duty, a consciousness of the responsibility resting
upon him, impelled him to master all the facts and all the law
of any case, however trivial, committed to his care. As a judge,
though sometimes brusque and even harsh, he was noted for the
dispatch of business. He made the attorneys work hard, but he
worked harder than any of them. So strictly upright himself,
he had no patience with those who were t untrue, or unfair, or
given to tricks, and sometimes on the bench manifested his con-
tempt for lawyers guilty of such faults. But to men of charac-
ter and sincerity, though sometimes abrupt, he was always fair
and respectful, and often helpful. About twenty-five years ago
Judge Lott became a member of the Reformed Dutch Church of
Flatbush, by a profession of his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was at the time in the height of his ability, having a vigorous
mind sustained by an equally vigorous body. The conviction of
such a legal mind is a proof of the power of the truth. Before
that one of the best of men, he had since been becoming more
and more estimable in character. The Gospel softened asperi-
ties, set free more and more the large and generous heart which
had been in a degree repressed. He became active in the service
of the Church, and in various capacities and gratuitously gave
her work the benefit of his ability and experience. His generosity
is too well known to need repetition here. All the charities and
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 207
all the institutions of the Church received liberal gifts again and
again from his hand. He loved the Church with an intelligent,
hearty, and self-denyiug love, and was keenly alive to her suc-
cesses or disasters. 1 '
North of and adjoining the garden of Judge Lott
once stood a little country inn, which was a favorite
resort for families driving out from New York and
Brooklyn during the summer, at a period when an af-
ternoon's drive and a country tea took the place of the
present excursion by steam or by rail. The house is
still standing, although it is no longer an inn as for-
merly.
The sign, which swung between two high poles in
front of the door as late as 1842, bore the English coat
of arms, the same which had been there since the old
colonial times. Although so blackened by time and
dimmed by age as to be scarcely distinguishable, yet
there the lion and the unicorn were fighting for the
crown until Time, the conqueror of all things, impar-
tially reduced them both to indistinctness.
Where the present parsonage of the Dutch church
now stands, there was previously an old house which
probably from about 1711 had been the parsonage
for all the Dutch towns ; subsequently Flatbush, by
purchase, came into the sole possession of the prop-
erty.
It was a long, low building, without front windows
on the second story, and w T ith a steep, heavy roof, after
the pattern of the first Dutch houses.
Dr. Strong says of this old house: "It is proba-
ble that about the year 1698, when the first church
was pulled down, in which there was accommodation
for the minister and his family, the first parsonage
208 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
was built. This is the south part of the present
building."
The "present building" of that period has given
place to the large and roomy parsonage where Dr.
Strong lived at the time of his death, and where his
successor, the present pastor, Dr. Wells, resides.
Dr. Strong was the pastor of this church for a pe-
riod of thirty-nine years. As a minister he had the
respect of the church ; as a true and firm friend he was
beloved by his people ; as a Christian gentleman he was
remarked for his courteous manners and the quiet dig-
nity of his deportment. In time of trouble he was ever
ready with sympathy, and the cordiality witli which he
met those who sought him for pastoral instruction
served to bind him to them in affectionate regard.
After the death of Dr. Strong the pulpit of the
Dutch Reformed Church was temporarily filled by Rev.
Mr. Howard, an English clergyman, who was at that
time principal of Erasmus Hall Academy.
Rev. C. L. Wells, D. D., soon after accepted the
call to the place left vacant by the death of Dr. Strong,
and has since 1862 been the occupant of the parson-
age.
Rev. Dr. Wells was preaching in Jersey City at the
time of receiving the call, and from that to the present
time he has been the stated preacher of the Reformed
Church in Flatbush and a zealous guardian of its inter-
ests. In 1878 the title of Doctor of Divinity was con-
ferred on him by Rutgers College.
The old consistory room, standing between the
church and the parsonage, was built in 1830. It was
formerly used for the Sunday-school, for prayer meet-
ings, and lectures.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 209
After the chapel was built, on the corner of Flat-
bush Avenue and Grant Street, the use of the consistory
room for such purposes was abandoned, and it is now
only occasionally required, and is beginning to show
signs of falling into decay.
The street running east and west, and crossing Flat-
bush Avenue here at right angles, is known on the
east as East Broadway and on the west as Church Lane.
At the easterly extension of this street, and of those
parallel to it, lie some large and finely cultivated farms
belonging to the old Dutch families of Schencks, Suy-
dams, Williamsons, Bemsens, and Kouenhovens ; some
of these farms extend into Flatlands. The ancestors
of the Kouenhoven family (variously spelled by the dif-
ferent branches) came from Amersfoort in the Nether-
lands in 1630.
The Suydams were descendants of Hendrick Rycken,
from Suytdam, who settled in Flatbush about 1663.
The Schenck family were descendants of Johannes
Schenck, who settled here in 1683. The family history
has been published recently by Dr. P. L. Schenck ; it
is a work of much interest, and contains facts of impor-
tance relating to the early settlement.
Fronting southward on the corner of Flatbush Ave-
nue and Church Lane formerly stood the house of Dr.
Zabriskie, which was pulled down in November, 1877.
This was one of the old landmarks ; there were none
who could furnish a record of the time when, or by
whom, it was built. In its heavy, sloping roof, its
long, narrow front stoop, and the low ceilings of its
roomy first floor, it showed the characteristics of the
houses which were built at an early period.
It was almost with a feeling of pain that we saw
14
210 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
this old homestead pulled down ; this, that had been
the happy home of generations dead and gone. With
every other sign of age, even yet its hospitable roof
showed no visible mark of decay, as if, stanch and firm,
it would fain show itself to be faithful to the end.
The old tree referred to in Dr. Strong's history as
the one under which Major Lenox parted from his
brothers stood on this corner, opposite the gable-end
of Dr. Zabriskie's house. " When asked by his brothers
to abandon the American cause, although the tears were
in his eyes, he replied with Eoman firmness, 'I will
never do it.'"
It is quite remarkable that this old tree, an English
linden, stood erect until the centennial celebration of
the freedom of which it had witnessed the daAvn. A
dead or dying branch was the only sign it gave of capit-
ulation to Time, the great conqueror, until the full
century of freedom was completed ; then, upon a quiet
day when there was scarcely a breeze to account for its
fall, it slowly yielded to the power of decay, and, as if
of its own consent, without the compulsory power of
the external elements, it gave up its life and fell to the
ground.
When Dr. Strong's history was written, Dr. John
Zabriskie, father of the present Dr. John Lloyd Zabris-
kie, was the head of the family in this venerable house.
He was a man of fine physique and noble appearance.
His tastes indicated refinement and intelligence, for he
devoted his leisure from professional duties to the cul-
tivation of music and to books. Fond of reading him-
self, he was ever anxious to encourage young people to
study, and he endeavored to promote a love of learning
in the village. He was in the habit of lending out
I
JOHN L. ZABRISKIE, M. D.
Born August 26, 1831. Died November 11, 1895.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 211
books from his private library, and was ever willing to
direct the course of reading among his young friends
and the children of his neighbors.
At one of the windows in the easterly gable-end of
the old house of Dr. Zabriskie, we distinctly remember
seeing the grandmother of Mrs. Zabriskie, old Mrs.
Lloyd. This was her favorite seat. She lived to a
great age, and used to vary her daily reading and knit-
ting by cutting pictures of fruit and foliage, which she
frequently handed out to the school children as they,
passing her window, stopped to say " Good morning."
We have still in our possession a specimen of the old
lady's skill. It was cut in her eighty-third year, and
represents a neatly outlined tracery of twining leaves
and branches, and is pasted upon one of the leaves of
the old linden-tree which shaded her window. The
motto upon it and the date — "We all do fade as a
leaf, 1839" — is the more impressive as the passing
years have in their changes seen the old lady borne to
her grave, the tree fall from age, and the house in which
she lived leveled to the ground.
Next to the old house, on this corner, was the store
which was built by Mr. Bateman Lloyd in 1805 from
the timber of the first school-house.
We can not say if the school was held continuously
in the same building, but it is probable that it was, and
if so, then this timber must have been felled somewhere
about 1660. The first school building was removed in
1803, Erasmus Hall Academy being then the school
which the village children attended.
The store built from the timber of the old school-
house was pulled down in 1825, and was converted by
Dr. Zabriskie into a barn.
212 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
A large and handsome house was erected by Dr. John
L. Zabriskie, in 1876, northwest of the old homestead
pulled down in 1877.
Adjoining this, and within the inclosure of the same
lawn, is the tasteful and comfortable residence of his
mother, Mrs. A. L. Zabriskie, widow of the late Dr. J.
Zabriskie. This house was built in 1865.
The property on the west side of the road, from the
Dutch church on the south to what is now East New
York Avenue on the north, was once held entirely in
the names of the Lefferts, Martense, and Vanderbilt
families. Beginning at Church Lane, the present prop-
erty of Dr. Zabriskie, as far as Mr. Clarkson's lawn,
was in the Lefferts family. Mr. Clarkson's was the
Vanderbilt place. From Caton Avenue to the boun-
dary line north of the residence of Dr. and Mrs. J. M.
Ferris was the Martense farm, one of the largest, if not
the largest, in the village. Next was another Lefferts
farm, and adjoining that the Vanderbilt farm extended
as far north as the present residence of Mr. J. Lott Van-
derbilt. The property adjoining, north of the Vander-
bilt farm, was owned by a Lefferts family.
No male representatives of these families at present
hold this property, except in the case of Mr. John J.
Vanderbilt and Mr. J. Lott Vanderbilt. The Zabriskie
family, through Miss Abby L. Zabriskie, are the lineal
descendants of the Lefferts family who once held that
place. The Clarkson family, through Mrs. Clarkson,
represent the former owner of the Vanderbilt property.
The children of General Crooke, through their grand-
mother, and the heirs of Judge Martense, Mrs. Ferris
and Mrs. Wilbur, represent the Martense farm.
The handsome lawn and grounds of Mr. Matthew
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 0^3
Clarkson were, in the early settlement, the property of
Senator John Vanderbilt. Dr. Strong says of him that
he was a man of "great nobleness of mind, of liberal
views, and of enlarged public spirit." He was among
the deputies from Kings County who met in New York
in convention, April 10, 1775, for the purpose of choos-
ing delegates to the first Continental Congress.
The large and showy mansion in which Mr. Matthew
Clarkson and his family reside was built about 1836.
The beautiful lawn surrounding it was carefully planted
under the supervision of the late Mrs. Matthew Clark-
son.
For the extent of its grounds, the handsome trees,
and the situation and size of the house, this is consid-
ered the finest place in Flatbush.
When the house was completed in which the family
of Mr. Clarkson still reside, the old house was sold and
moved by Captain Story across the street. It has under-
gone so many alterations and improvements as to be
scarcely recognized by those who remember its former
appearance. A printing-offic.e, owned by Mr. Riley,
formerly stood on the north side of what is now Mr.
Clarkson's lawn.
It was occupied by soldiers in the "War of 1812. It
was subsequently pulled down and carried to Brooklyn,
where it still forms a part of the present "Mansion
House," in Hicks Street.
The property of Mr. Clarkson has been separated
from that of General Crooke on the north by the open-
ing in 1876 of a street called Caton Avenue, from Flat-
bush Avenue to Coney Island road.
We now return from the west to the east side of the
street, beginning from the cross-road running from east
214 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
to west beside the church. This road has of late years
been called East Broadway, but at an earlier period it
was known as Cow Lane, probably from the fact that
there was much pasture land in this portion of the
town.
The store at this northeast corner still remains very
much the same in appearance as it did some twenty
years ago, except that toward the east its length has
been extended by useful if not ornamental additions.
An old brewery formerly stood near where the cor-
ner grocery now stands, upon the Stryker property.
The Stryker homestead was a long, low, brick house,
close upon the road. The date upon the front was
marked in colored brick as 1696. This venerable house
was pulled down to give place to the cottage in which
Mr. Garret Stryker now lives.
Mr. Peter Stryker and his wife Mrs. Maria Cornell
Stryker, who lived in this old house, had no children.
They perpetuated their name by giving the Stryker and
Cornell scholarships to Kutgers College, New Bruns-
wick, New Jersey.
The Stryker family were among the earliest settlers
in Flatbush. Their ancestor, Jan Stryker, came from a
province of Drenthe, in the Netherlands, in 1652. His
son Peter resided in Flatbush, and was one of the paten-
tees named on Dougan's patent.
Old Mr. Garret and Mrs. Anne P. Stryker formerly
lived in the house next to this, which was also at one
time the property of the Stryker family, and stood upon
the large tract of land formerly in their possession.
It was sold in 1840 to Mrs. Helen Martense, who
occupied the house for some time, and then gave it up
to her son, Mr. Jacob V. B. Martense.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 215
Mrs. Helen Martense and her daughter, Miss Esther
Martense, removed to the residence of her son-in-law,
Mr. J. D. Prince, where they lived until the death of
Mrs. Martense, which occurred in 1875.
Mr. J. V. B. Martense still resides with his family
in this house. His wife was a daughter of Dr. Adrian
Vanderveer.
The Martense family in Flatbush are the descend-
ants of "Martin de Boer," or Martin the Farmer, so
called because he owned so large a tract of land in the
town.
This farm extended somewhat as follows : From
Caton Avenue as the southern boundary to the northern
boundary on the limits of the property of Mrs. L. Wil-
bur and Mrs. J. M. Ferris, heirs of Judge Martense,
deceased ; and from Flatbush Avenue westward to an
irregular line extending as far as the boundary of the
town of New Utrecht.
The homestead of "Martin de Boer "was situated
on what is now the Parade Ground.
A small dwelling also stood on this farm, near where
General Crooke's house now stands, which was pulled
down when that house was completed in 1800.
The division of this large farm to the sons was as
follows : Eem, the father of George Martense, inherited
the farm on which General Crooke's house now stands,
extending from Caton Avenue on the south to Franklin
Avenue on the north. Gerret inherited the farm from
Franklin Avenue to a point where the toll-gate now
stands, or nearly opposite Hawthorn Street. The west-
erly division descended through Adrian Martense to
the heirs of the late George and Helen Martense. The
remainder descended to the family at present repre-
216 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
sented by the heirs of Mrs. Story, a daughter of Mrs.
Deborah Martense.
The birth of the three sons of Martin Adrianse,
who, according to the custom of the age, reversed the
name of their father and were called Martin's sons, or,
as it has now become, Martense, is thus recorded in the
Dutch Bible, still in possession of the family of General
P. S. Crooke :
Rem Martense es geboren en et jaar 1695 der 12 Dec.
Gerret Martense es geboren en et yaer 1698 der 24 Oct.
Adrien Martense .... 24 Oct 1707.
Then appears the record of the death of their pa-
rents as follows :
1723 den dertigste April es overleden Sara, huysvrouw von
Marten Adrianse en es begraaven den tvveede dagh von Mey.
1754, Oct 30 es onze vader Marten Adrianse overleden ende
begraaven de erst dagh von November.
The house adjoining that of Mr. J. V. B. Martense,
and also the one next to that, are the property of the
heirs of Mrs. Deborah Martense, deceased.
The house owned and occupied by Mrs. Story,
widow of the late Captain Story, formerly stood on the
opposite side of the road, and is the house to which
allusion has already been made as having formerly be-
longed to Mr. Clarkson.
A small farmhouse, owned by Judge Gerret L. Mar-
tense, stood near the street on this property ; this was
sawed into two and moved to the rear, forming barns
for each of the two houses. It is said that Lord Stir-
ling lived for a short time in this house during the
Revolutionary War.
JACOB V B. MARTENSE.
Born February 20, 1825. Died December 16, 1881.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 217
A wide street called Linden Boulevard has been
opened north of this property, running eastward from
Flatbush Avenue.
North of this street, on the property adjoining,
stood the house once occupied by Mrs. Anne Stryker,
widow of Gerret Stryker.
This house at one time stood close upon the road,
and was used as a hotel by Duryea Wiggins. After-
ward it was moved back from the road by Mrs. Stryker,
and occupied for a time by herself and her daughter.
It has passed through various hands, and at present
it is owned by Mr. Voit, a German gentleman.
The small house opposite Caton Avenue was for
many years the property of Wilhelmus Stoothoff. Pass-
ing successively into the ownership of various persons,
it at present belongs to Miss S. Ella Schoonmaker.
The printing-office of the "Bural Gazette" is upon
what was formerly the farm of Mr. John Lott. The
building itself was at one time an inclosed summer-
house, built by Mr. Willink within his grounds at the
north end of the village. After the Willink place was
sold, the editor of the "Rural Gazette" purchased and
removed this summer-house to its present locality,
where it has formed the nucleus of several additions
which have since been made to it.
The first number of the " Eural Gazette " was issued
in April, 1872. It has the largest circulation in the
rural towns of any newspaper except the "Brooklyn
Eagle." The editor is Mr. Egleston ; the assistant edi-
tor is Mr. Green.
Diamond Street, a fine, wide street, with an as-
phalt pavement, was opened eastward from this point
in 1868.
218 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Mr. Westfall has erected a large and showy dwelling
upon this street, near the corner of Flatbush Avenue,
and east of the Methodist church Mr. Rust has also
built for himself a neat and tasteful residence.
The Methodist church was built upon this street
after the congregation had outgrown the small church
in East Broadway in which they first worshiped.
The first dwelling-house erected upon this street was
that of Mr. Furman Nefus, son of Mr. Peter Nefus, of
New York.
Opposite the junction of Diamond Street and Flat-
bush Avenue is the residence of General Philip S.
Crooke. It is marked on the map as the house of Mrs.
Caton. This was originally part of the large Martense
farm. Mrs. Caton was a daughter of Mr. George Mar-
tense, mentioned in Dr. Strong's history. This house
was built about the year 1800 ; it has undergone some
alterations, but not such as to materially alter its style.
The large tree in front of the door is the last one of
the four English lindens of which Mr. Strong speaks in
his history as being venerable trees at that time. He
says of these : " One stood in front of the house which
was taken down to make room for the present dwelling
of Judge John A. Lott. About the period of the Amer-
ican Revolution a limb of this tree became broken, and
Colonel Matthews, Mayor of New York, who then lived
on the premises, had it leaded up, and it grew again.
But after a while it was split by the wind, and he then
sent to New York for riggers, who bound it up with
ropes and so preserved it."
The second linden stood opposite the Dutch church,
on what is now the corner of Flatbush Avenue and East
Broadway. The third was the one we have referred to
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 219
as standing at the eastern gable of Dr. Zabriskie's house
which fell in the summer of 1876. This, in front of
General Crooke's house, is the last of these four vener-
able trees. It has been hooped and banded with iron in
various places to strengthen and preserve it, but it be-
gins to show signs of age.
Clarkson Street and Franklin Street have been opened
westward from Flatbush Avenue, through the farm for-
merly owned by Mrs. Caton, which extended at that
time in unbroken length to what is now Franklin Street.
Several fine houses have been erected in this vicinity,
in the western part of Flatbush. One of these was built
by Mr. William Matthews, who was born in Scotland.
It presents an imposing appearance at the approach
from Ocean Avenue, and is a picturesque feature in the
landscape, as seen, inclosed in trees, from the south side
of Prospect Park. Mr. Matthews's eldest son married
Miss Gertrude Prince, a descendant of the first settler,
Marten, the large landed proprietor who, in 1646,
owned the farm upon which Mr. Matthews's house now
stands. A cottage was also built on Irving Place by
Mr. Matthews for his daughter, Mrs. Mackenzie.
Mr. Wall, Mr. John H. Bergen, and other gentle-
men have built cottages in this part of Flatbush which
are now pleasantly shaded by elms and maples, so that
for the quiet and seclusion of summer residences this
is the most desirable part of the town.
Mrs. John II. Bergen is a daughter of General
Crooke, and through her mother a descendant of the
Martense family who originally owned this farm.
Mr. Longmire, living upon Irving Place, married a
granddaughter of Mr. Henry S. Ditmas, to whose old
homestead reference has been made.
220 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLAT BUSH.
Mrs. "William Robinson, on Franklin Street, was a
member of the Duryee family, settlers in the southerly
side of Flatbush.
The rectory of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal
church is situated pleasantly in this portion of the
town.
The land on the east side of the road, from opposite
Caton Avenue to Clarkson Street, was the farm pur-
chased by Johannes E. Lott, in 1799, from the heirs of
Philip Nagle. There are no longer any of the Nagle
family living in Flatbush. The long, old-fashioned
house, still standing, has all the characteristics of the
houses built in or about the year 1800.
The genealogy of Mr. John Lott, for whom this
house was built, is included in that of the Lott family
given by his brother, Mr. Jeremiah Lott.
This farm was sold for division of the property about
1865. It was afterward cut up into lots, some of which
were sold, and the pleasant rural appearance of this
part of the town was in consequence lost. Heavy brick
stores, red and warm-looking in summer and scarcely
more attractive in midwinter, loom up upon the corner
lots. They are the harbingers of the changes which in
time must come, but which might have been for some
years deferred. The owners of these stores have an-
ticipated a future in which they may be needed rather
than a present in which they are.
A large brick building stands at the south corner of
Diamond Street, and other stores, including the post-
office, stand at the southeast corner of Clarkson Street,
upon what was once this beautiful stretch of level farm-
ing land .
From the south corner of Clarkson Street to the
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 221
south corner of Winthrop Street was a farm owned,
probably, by Jan Aertsen Vanderbilt, about the year
1720. The old house stood near the spot where Mr.
Prince's house now stands. The first portion of this
sold was the twenty-five acres at the north corner of
Flatbush Avenue and Winthrop Street, on which was
built the old house recently occupied by Dr. Robertson.
The remainder of the land fronting, on Flatbush Av-
enue was first sold to William Gifford, and by him to
Charles Clarkson, father of Mrs. Matthew Clarkson,
and, passing through various owners, has at length come
into possession of its present proprietors. The southern
half now belongs to Mr. J. D. Prince, the remainder to
Mr. William Brown. The house owned and occupied
by Mr. Prince was built by Mr. Peter Nefus, and the
house owned and occupied by Mr. Brown was built by
Mr. Robert Oommelin.
On the corner Avhere Mr. Prince's house now stands
was formerly an old house kept as a tavern or stage
house. In the rear of it was Crommelin's mustard fac-
tory.
Frederic and Richard Crommelin married the
daughters of Tennis Bergen, who lived in a house (since
burned down) corner of Flatbush Avenue and the "lit-
tle lane " leading to New Utrecht.
Mr. J. D. Prince is a grandson of Dr. John Duffield
and Margaret Debevoise, a descendant of Carel Debe-
voise, first settler of that name in Brooklyn.
Mrs. Prince was a daughter of Mr. George Martense,
a descendant of "Martin de Boer," or the farmer, of
whom mention has been made ; Mrs. Helen Martense
was a descendant of Rutger Joesten Van Brunt, who
emigrated from the Netherlands in 1653,, and was among
222 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
the first settlers in New Utrecht in 1657. Mrs. Mar-
tense was public-spirited and generous, taking an active
part in whatever tended to the public good and to the
cause of benevolence.
Mr. William Brown owns and occupies the house ad-
joining that of Mr. Prince. The grounds of these two
gentlemen are exceedingly ornamental to the village.
The separating fences have been removed and the gar-
dens thrown into one, an act significant of much
friendly feeling and neighborly intercourse.
Upon the land which was sold by the heirs of Mrs.
Caton Mr. George Stillwell erected a neat and pleasant
house on the northwest corner of Clarkson Street. Mrs.
Caroline Stillwell was a daughter of Mr. Jeremiah Van-
derbilt.
The small but neatly kept house of Mr. J. Smith ad-
joins that of Mr. Stillwell.
At the southwest corner of Franklin Street and the
Flatbush Eoad stands a house built by the late Mrs.
Jane Rhodes. Mrs. Rhodes was a daughter of Mr.
Peter Leake, one of the old inhabitants of Flatbush, who
lived for many years on the "church lane."
Her eldest son, Mr. John Rhodes, studied for the
ministry, but ill health compelled him to resign his
work, and he died soon after.
Upon the completion of Prospect Park, Franklin
Avenue, opened, widened, and planted with shade-trees,
became one of the handsomest streets running westward
from Flatbush Avenue. This street was named after
old John Franklin, along whose property it ran. John
Franklin and Charity, his wife, were members of the So-
ciety of Friends. This property was formerly part of
the Martense farm ; the house was built by the grand-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 223
father of the late Judge Martense, and was sold to
John Franklin ; it remained in possession of his heirs
until a comparatively recent date, when it was pur-
chased by Dr. Norfolk, who has made some altera-
tions and improvements in the house ; he still OAvns
it, and has made it for a few years past his place of resi-
dence.
Opposite the junction of Franklin Avenue is one
of the oldest houses in Flatbush ; it belonged until re-
cently to Dr. John Kobinson. It is pleasantly situated
some distance from the road, and is approached through
a handsome walk overshadowed by pine-trees. These
pine-trees are of comparatively recent growth. Before
the ^Revolution it is probable that the house could be seen
from the street more plainly than it is at present. This
house belonged during the War of the Ee volution to
Colonel Axtell, and is frequently referred to in Dr.
Strong's history as a great resort of the Tories of New
York. It was an unusually large and convenient house
for one built at that period, and is not in the old Dutch
style of architecture. It contained hidden closets and
rooms almost inaccessible of approach in ordinary ways.
Colonel Axtell himself was obliged to remain secreted
in some of these hiding-places, so that there came in
time to be an air of romance about the place, and it
got to be looked upon as the haunted house of the
town.
There is no house in Flatbush which has had so
many different owners as this, and none of which so
many fanciful stories have been told.
The real history of the place is this : This was the
remainder of the twenty-eight acres forming part origi-
nally of a Vanderbilt farm to which we have already
224 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
referred. This portion of it was purchased by an Eng-
lishman by the name of Lane.
In 1749 he built what was, for that age, a large and
showy house ; it had a greenhouse at the rear. The
cornices in the drawing-rooms were gilded, the rooms
wainscoted, and the halls wide. The grounds were laid
out in flower-beds ; beyond the garden was a handsome
lawn. Mr. Lane was an Englishman of a good family
who was banished from his home on account of the wild
life he led. He had married a woman of low parent-
age, and they lived here on an annuity which ceased at
his death ; after that she could not support the style in
which they had lived, and the house was offered for
sale, and purchased by Colonel Axtell.
This gentleman was a Tory, and most of the friends
whom he entertained — the Mayor of New York was one
— were kindred spirits, and drank toasts to the King
and success to his army.
It is said that Colonel Axtell built some of these
secret closets for the concealment of his Tory friends ;
they were just the dark corners in which ghost stories'
take their rise.
Colonel Axtell liked gay and convivial guests, as did
the young Englishman who had lived there before him.
The ghosts said to have haunted the house gave no
sign as to which family they belonged, but long after
the War of the Revolution no one liked to venture after
dark within the haunted premises. But time quiets
even ghosts, and when the old people were all dead who
had seen the apparitions that made the mysterious in-
terest of this locality, then the ghosts too began to dis-
appear.
They say that human remains, bones, hair, and mili-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 225
tar} T buttons have been found on digging upon the
premises, but we spoil the mystery by explaining that
it was known that some English soldiers who died during
the war were buried here.
Mrs. Axtell, who was said to be a very haughty
lady, brought with her to this house a poor, pale,
sickly-looking child ; it was her sister or her niece,
who, they used to say, was always crying with home-
sickness and longing to go back, but was never allowed
to go.
She was taken very ill, and the neighbors came in
to assist in watching at night beside her. Her heavy
masses of beautiful hair were wet from the dew of death
upon her forehead, and she turned her dying eyes upon
Colonel Axtell, they said, and not toward her sister.
Her gravestone was never put up at the head of her
grave ; it lay for years resting against the churchyard
fence, with this inscription : " Sacred to the Memory
of Susannah Shipton, who died Sept. 9th, 1793."
Another sister lived with Mrs. Axtell, and she was
of a different mold. She could bear up against what-
ever burden may have been placed upon her shoulders.
She was wooed and won by General Giles, of the Amer-
ican troops ; he was forbidden to enter upon the domain
of Colonel Axtell, but the lady met him at the gate,
beyond which, upon the open highway, the Colonel's
rule could not extend, and one day they ran away and
were married.
By strange poetic justice, or by what has been called
by some one the " irony of fate," when the estates of
Colonel Axtell were confiscated at the close of the war,
they became the property of General Giles, and the lady
who had forbidden the young American officer to enter
226 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
her doors was now obliged, if she entered at all, to come
as his guest. Colonel Axtell died in England, 1795,
aged seventy-five.
Mrs. Mowatt, at one time an actress upon the stage,
but better remembered in the village as a young and
beautiful woman, the daughter of Mr. S. G. Ogden, of
New York, lived in this house. She frequently alludes
in her autobiography to this village, in which she spent
many happy years. She was very graceful and fascinat-
ing, and shone like such a bright figure upon the som-
ber background of the old house, that perhaps it was
her presence that came, like the sunshine, to dispel the
shadowy visitants.
The property has since passed through many own-
ers, but none have held it so long as its recent propri-
etor, the late Dr. John Eobinson, a physician who prac-
ticed medicine for many years in New York city. He
finished his course of study in Dublin University, and
coming to this country settled in 1844 in Flatbush,
upon this property, where he lived with his family until
his death in 1879.
North of Dr. Kobinson's place a street was opened
in 1831 which has been recently called Winthrop Street.
The Cortelyou farm lies north of this street. It for-
merly belonged to the Hegeman family. When, in
1794, John Cortelyou, of New Utrecht, married Catha-
rine Lefterts, her father, Peter Lefferts, purchased this
farm for her as a wedding gift. Isaac, only son of John
and Catharine, lived on this property with his family
until his death. It Avas at a later period offered for
sale, to effect a division of the estate. The house, with
a few lots of ground, was retained by Mrs. Cortelyou ;
after her death this place was purchased by her oldest
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 227
daughter, Catharine, wife of Mr. William K. William-
son, of Flatlands.
Mr. Isaac Cortelyou, the father of Mrs. Catharine
Williamson, was a descendant of Jacques Cortelyou, a
Huguenot, who came to this country in 1652, and set-
tled in New Utrecht in 1657.
Opposite Winthrop Street, on Flatbush Avenue, west
side, lies a portion of what was formerly the large Mar-
tense farm, of which we have already given the outlines.
Mrs. Ferris and Mrs. Wilbur hold this portion of the
property, being direct descendants of the rich farmer
who first settled here.
The handsome house of Mr. Lionel Wilbur, com-
pleted in 1878, is highly ornamental to this section of the
village. Mrs. Wilbur is the only grandchild of Judge
Martense ; Mrs. Ferris, his daughter, lives in the house
built by her father, and is the only one of his children
now living.
Judge Martense pulled down the old house of Kevo-
lutionary memory, referred to in Dr. Strong's history,
after building the present mansion to which his family
removed, and where his daughter, Mrs. Ferris, still
lives.
" This very ancient house of Leffert Martense," as
Dr. Strong called it, stood facing southward, with the
gable end to the road. It had two front doors opening
upon the long front stoop. The projecting roof ex-
tended over the front, but at the rear the steep slant
extended to some five or six feet from the ground. The
fireplaces were large, and tiled in chocolate and blue.
Had it been possible to preserve this house as a relic
of pre-Eevolutionary times, it would have been curious
and interesting ; but, apart from the gradual decay con-
228 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
sequent upon its age, it was much injured in the Battle
of Flatbush, standing as it did upon the very borders
of the fight. Many bullets were picked up upon the
grounds afterward, and were kept as relics.
North of this house stands the cottage which Judge
Martense erected for his eldest son.
Next, southward on the map, is marked the house
of J. Birdsall. This house still stands, although much
out of repair and fast falling to decay. It was built
about the year 1800. This farm, in the early settle-
ment of Flatbush, belonged to Leffert Lefferts. The
old house was burned down during the Battle of Flat-
bush, and the present building was erected upon the
same site. Passing through the hands of various own-
ers, it has not for many years been occupied by descend-
ants of the family by whom it was first held. The
farm originally comprised the land between the farms
of Judge Martense on the south, and Mr. Jeremiah Van-
derbilt on the north. It was owned for some time by
the family of Mr. Murphy.
Next, northward on Dr. Strong's map, is marked
the house of Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt. The old Van-
derbilt homestead stood where the house next on the
map is marked as that of Mr. John Vanderbilt. This
old homestead was burned down during the battle of
Flatbush, and the family remained in this house of
Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt until the new house, built in
its place, was finished, which was about the year 1800.
Upon the marriage of the oldest son, Jeremiah, to Ann,
daughter of Mr. J. C. Vandeveer, he moved to this
house, which bears his name on Dr. Strong's map.
Here he lived with his family until his death ; some years
after, the house and a portion of his farm were sold.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 229
The old house, since it has gone out of the possession
of its first owners, has not been kept in repair, and it is
at present scarcely habitable.
The oldest son of Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt, Mr.
John J. Vanderbilt, erected a pleasant dwelling-house
next north of what was formerly the residence of his
father, where he and his daughter, Miss Charlotte S.
Vanderbilt, still continue to reside.
The house and grounds are neatly kept, and glimpses
of the garden in the rear give evidence of a taste for
flowers on the part of the proprietor. Some fine elms
on the sidewalk are ornamental to this place, and give it
a pleasant summer shade.
Upon the spot where the old homestead was burned
in the Battle of Flatbush the present house was built,
which was occupied by Mr. John Vanderbilt, who died
in 1842. His widow, Mrs. Sarah L. Vanderbilt, who
was a daughter of Mr. Johannes E. Lott and sister of
Mr. Jeremiah Lott, died in 1859. Since her death the
house has been rented to various persons. It is at pres-
ent occupied by Rev. Eobert G. Strong, son of Dr.
Strong.
An old paper, bearing date 1661, conveying the farm
on which he lived to Jan vande Bilt, signed by Govern-
or Stuyvesant, is still in possession of the family.
The pleasantest portion of the original Vanderbilt
farm is now inclosed within the boundaries of Prospect
Park. The highest point there was formerly known as
Vanderbilt's Hill. It commands a more extended view
than any other spot in the Park. The hill next, on
which is the carriage-drive or Concourse, was also a
portion of the Vanderbilt farm.
This family are descended from Jan Aertson Vander-
230 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
bilt, or Jan Aerson from the Bild or Bilt. This, accord-
ing to Mr. T. G. Bergen, was a manor in the province
of Friesland, in the Netherlands. The family tradition,
however, is to the effect that this ancestor came from
the Baltic — Jan van de Belt having that signification.
This is strengthened by the fact that his first wife, An-
neken, whom he married February 6, 1650, was from
Bergen in Norway.
We now retrace our steps, and return as far back as
Winthrop Street.
The large farm of Mr. John Lefferts was unbroken
by streets at the time that Dr. Strong's map was made.
It then contained three hundred acres, stretching from
the Cortelyou farm on the south to the Clove road on
the north, and from the Flatbush road on the west be-
yond the road leading to Canarsie on the east.
Mr. Lefferts sold some lots on the southwest corner
of his farm to Mr. Jeromus J. Johnson, who built there
the handsome house of Milwaukee brick standing south
of Fenimore Street. This property again changed
owners, and, passing from one person to another, finally
was purchased by Dr. Homer L. Bartlett, in whose pos-
session it still remains.
Dr. Bartlett has a good practice as a physician, and
is a gentleman of cultivated taste. Mrs. Margaret S.
Bartlett, his wife, was a niece of Dr. Strong. Coopers-
town, New York, was her native place, and when the
street next to their house was opened, it was she who
gave it the name of Fenimore Street, after the great
novelist Fenimore Cooper, who was an intimate friend
of her father.
Close upon the road in front of where Dr. Bartlett's
house now stands, there once stood one of the earliest-
JOHN LEFFERTS.
Born August 12, 1826. Died April 18, 1893.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 231
built houses in Flatbush. It was burned down during
the Battle of Long Island. It would have been a curi-
ous relic of the past could it have been preserved, as it
was built of brick, and was up to that time in an excel-
lent state of preservation. The surbase in the principal
rooms was tiled to match the fireplaces ; the heavy beams
above crossed the ceilings. It had two front doors open-
ing upon the long stoop in front ; indeed, all the char-
acteristics of the old Dutch houses were peculiarly
brought into prominence. The furniture would have
been no less curious than the house itself, as some of it
came from Holland. This house is mentioned in Dr.
Strong's history. It is also spoken of by Mr. T. W.
Fields, in his allusion to the Battle of Flatbush, as
( ' the heavy old Dutch structure built in the ponderous
style in fashion among the Dutch colonists."
Had it been still standing, it would have descended,
as did the land on which it was built, to Mr. John Lef-
ferts, through his grandmother, Mrs. Femmetia Lefferts,
who was born in this house in 1753.
Upon Fenimore Street Mr. Lefferts built a large
and convenient house, which he sold, together with a
few lots of ground surrounding it, to Mr. Doremus, of
New York City, in whose possession it remains, and who
occupies the house.
The house next south of Mr. Lefferts's present resi-
dence was enlarged from an ordinary farmhouse and
altered to its present size for Mrs. Cynthia Lefferts, who
resided here until her death.
It is at present occupied by Mrs. Spofford, formerly
of New York, widow of Mr. C. N. Spofford. Through
her long residence in this village^ this lady has formed
a large circle of warmly attached friends. Hon. John
232 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
Oakey married her eldest daughter, since deceased.
Her second daughter is the wife of Mr. Charles Walden,
grandson of Mr. John Franklin, from whom Franklin
Street, Flatbush, was named. Her third daughter is
the wife of Mr. LefFerts Vanderbilt.
Mrs. Maria L. Lefferts, whose name and residence
appear next upon the map of Dr. Strong, lived in this
old homestead until her death, which occurred in 1865.
Her son, the present owner, Mr. John Lefferts, has not
modernized the house, although many of the present
improvements and conveniences have been introduced.
This is one of those long, low, heavy-roofed houses
which were built prior to the War of the Revolution.
It was burned at the Battle of Flatbush, but not wholly
destroyed, and it was rebuilt subsequently upon the
old timbers, so that the form of it remains as before.
The Lefferts family are descendants of Leffert Pieter-
sen, who came to this country from North Holland in
1660. The name sometimes appears as Leffert Pietersen
van Haughwaut, referring to the town whence he came.
The large farm on which this house stands has been in
possession of the family since 1661, as is stated upon the
parchment deed, which is signed by Governor Peter
Stuyvesant. This family, like many others in Flatbush,
have lived upon the same estate for more than two hun-
dred years.
On the west side of Flatbush Avenue, opposite the
old homestead of Mr. Lefferts, Mr. J. Lott Vanderbilt
built a house in 1876, upon his share of the front of his
father's farm.
The very neat appearance of the grounds and garden
reflects great credit upon the taste and care of their
owner.
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FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 233
Mrs. Elizabeth Vanderbilt, wife of Mr. J. L. Van-
derbilt, was a granddaughter of Mr. John Lott, who
owned the farm corner of Clarkson Street.
Next to the farm of the late Mr. John Vanderbilt,
who died in 1842, lay a strip of land belonging to the
heirs of Elsie Gerretsen, daughter of LefTert Lefferts.
This land was known in old records as the "Compie,"
and was purchased by the late Judge Vanderbilt about
1840. On this property he built the house in 1847 in
which his family now reside. He subsequently added
by purchase to the land in the rear, which extended
northward and westward some distance into what is now
Prospect Park. When this house was built by Judge
Vanderbilt, neither Ocean Avenue nor East New York
Avenue had been opened, so that on the north the prop-
erty adjoined the Willink place. Judge Vanderbilt had
been paralyzed for some years previous to his decease,
which occurred May 16, 1877.
We copy from the " Brooklyn Eagle " the following
notice of his life :
" THE LATE JUDGE JOHN VANDERBILT.
" The death is announced to-day of John Vanderbilt, who,
twenty years ago, was County Judge of Kings, who was after-
ward elected to the State Senate, who was then nominated for
Lieutenant-Governor with Amasa J. Parker running for the first
place, and who, for many years before and after these honors be-
fell him (and during the entire period of the honors as well), was
the junior partner in the distinguished and very representative
law firm of Lott, Murphy & Vanderbilt. The mention of John
Vanderbilt's name would at anytime start many thoughts in
the mind of any Brooklynite whose memory or whose reading
takes hold on the men and methods of this county in the times
preceding the war between the States. The announcement of
234 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
his death to-day will revive and intensify those memories, and
to a very large number of the younger inhabitants of Brooklyn
be as much a surprise as it is a matter of news, because the
departed gentleman's retirement from affairs and general society
for years was so complete as to render him as little thought of
by the mass of men as if he had long since ceased from the
world, instead of merely ceasing from its activities and obser-
vation. He occupied, however, too large and too busy a place
in the life of Brooklyn, and, indeed, in the life of the State, not
to have left a deep mark upon the history of both. The older
readers of the 'Eagle' have hardly required the reminder
which the announcement of ex-Judge Yanderbilt's death is, to
enable them to recall the days and the deeds when he was easily
the most popular and one of the most considerable men at this
end of the Empire State. The time seems long since then, and
by any calculation of the life of men and of the epochs of poli-
tics it is not short. Yet the painridden, aged-looking, helpless
gentleman who has just exchanged worlds died at fifty-eight,
and had won more recognition before forty than most men
attain at all, though their days extend beyond the limit of the
Psalmist, and beyond the period when philosophy would rate
'life not worth living for.' Moreover, the suffering, decrepit,
and feeble gentleman who had long preferred solitude to so-
ciety, and whose movements, voluntarily limited to his grounds,
had been dependent on crutches for years, was in the prime of
his energy certainly the most vigorous and handsome man in
public or private life in this county, if not in the State. His
strong, manly beauty mated with and was the exponent of
qualities of mind and heart as attractive as his gifts and graces
of person. In a time when rings were unknown he was a
Democrat; in a time when sectionalism was hardly an appari-
tion and when the State had its full rights, whether it was
weighed or counted as a factor, he was a patriot, and one who
gloried in his whole country ; in a time when shysters had not
been evolved, and when pettifoggers were limited to a satirical
stage or a sarcastic literature, he was a lawyer ; in a time when
gentlemen were as dominant in politics and scholars as domi-
Hon. JOHN VANDERBILT.
Born January 28, 181 9. Died May 16, 1877.
-
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 235
nant in council as they now are not, he was a scholar and a
gentleman. His rapidity of public development, his activity in
affairs, his not surpassed qualities of good-fellowship, the mag-
netism of his mind and manners, and the impressive appeal
which he could address to the people, early made him and long
kept him what he was fondly called, ' Kings County's Favorite
Son,' when that appellation was forcible by its rarity, signifi-
cant in its meaning, and when it had not been vulgarized by its
application to the politicians by profession and to the place-
hunters by occupation.
" It will be well remembered by those familiar with Brook-
lyn politics and society that in the better led but less ' or-
ganized ' years of the local Democracy, the law firm of Lott,
Murphy & Vanderbilt was as thorough a political as it was an
eminent legal power in this county. These three gentlemen
named, of whom the youngest has died first, brought into local
politics the principles of statesmanship, and to civil service the
habits of fidelity, independence, and diligence, and that grade
of culture, force, and knowledge which have made their public
records a bright part of the history of their country, just as
their private careers have been a most honorable part of the
social and intellectual history of their city. In the times when
Democracy was responsive to itself, and when the measure of
his influence on the party was dependent on the character and
brain of the individual Democrat, Henry C. Murphy, John A.
Lott, and John Vanderbilt became leaders without difficulty,
and by the very necessity that made leaders in politics out of
the same elements which wrought influence in every other
department of society. The people demanded their service as
well as their direction. They raised Mr. Lott to the highest
judicial positions in their gift. They retained Mr. Vanderbilt
in this county, but insisted on his appointment to the judge-
ship of the county, and they sent Mr. Murphy to represent
them in Congress, being afterward themselves honored in the
honor the nation conferred on him in sending a scholar and
statesman of his ability to represent this republic at the court
of the country whose people founded this city, and whose sturdy
236 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATS USH.
virtues are, to this day, the best characteristic and bulwark in
one of its life. Of the legal eminence of the firm iu those days
it is not needed to speak at length. That eminence is attested
by the high station its members attained when the bar was the
school of statesmen and the preserve which yielded fit men for
tit functions. At the same time the records of our courts his-
torically show that in every case of magnitude, and for every
institution or person of influence, the firm were counsel by a
principle of natural selection or conceded leadership."
There was much woodland northwest of the place of
Judge Vanderbilt at the time he built his house.
This woodland, north of "the Compie" and adjoin-
ing it, was divided into sections among different owners.
Going northward toward Brooklyn, the house of Mr.
Lefferts was, as late as 1842, the last in Flatbush, on the
east side of the road, with the exception of a small house
rented to the tenant who worked part of the farm.
Where now East New York Avenue crosses Flatbush
Avenue the old Clove road to Bedford branched off to
the northeast, and the Flatbush turnpike curved toward
the northwest. The triangle formed by these roads was
an inclined plain sloping southward. It was at that
date a beautiful pasture-field, crowned at the crest,
where now Malbone Street runs, with a dense wood.
Here were noble hickories, gum-trees, and oaks, with
an undergrowth of dogwood and clumps of hazel. It
was surrounded with a mossy post-and-rail fence with
a stone foundation, tangled with running blackberry
vines.
Here the sheep and cows grazed, resting at noon-
day under the shade of the row of beautiful locust-trees
that formed the southward boundary of this sloping
pasture-land. How peaceful and quiet it seemed ! the
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 237
very picture of rural and pastoral life ! This was at the
time Dr. Strong closed his history in 1842.
Can anything be in greater contrast than the scene
which this locality now presents ? It was then the
most secluded and quietest portion of the village, now
it is the most noisy.
The cars of the Franklin Avenue and those of the
Nostrand Avenue line stand here day and night at the
terminus of their route. The Matbush Avenue cars
stop here to gather in the multitudes of pleasure-seekers
from Prospect Park, and to the shrieking locomotives
of the Brighton Beach troop the still more numerous
pleasure-seekers to and from Coney Island. Carriages
of funerals to the cemetery of the Holy Cross turn on 2
in long lines toward Ocean Avenue or to Flatbush Av-
enue, and the heavy cars from Hunter's Point thunder
past without stopping at the depot for additions to their
long and crowded trains.
Streets and avenues have been opened, and innumer-
able lines of small houses are dotted all over the once
peaceful fields.
At the time in which Dr. Strong's map was made,
the quiet of this retreat had only begun to be broken ;
but as yet there was no possible sign from which the
busy future could have been predicted. Only three
small houses had then been built on the curve of the
road before reaching the place now called the Battle
Pass, in Prospect Park, this side of the bowl-shaped
hill where the old toll-gate stood.
Opposite to these, on the west side of the road, there
was still the natural and unbroken growth of forest.
The woods here were particularly beautiful because clear
of undergrowth, and through the tall trees the western
238 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
sun fell across the quiet country road in oblique lines
all through the pleasant summer afternoons.
Washington Avenue now cleaves this once beautiful
slope of pasture land through the center. The prop-
erty, as an undivided whole, had belonged to the estate
of Mrs. Elsie Gerretsen, daughter of Leffert Lefferts.
When it was offered for sale by her heirs, it was divided
into lots, and thus became built up with a class of
small, cheap houses.
At the time of sale, Judge Vanderbilt purchased the
southern terminus of the property and built a house
there, which he afterward sold to Mr. Benjamin S. Nel-
son, who opened it as a hotel. It was, however, quiet
and orderly, and caused no disturbance to the neigh-
borhood. This hotel was moved farther easterly, to
give room for Washington Avenue when that street was
opened, and it now stands directly upon what was once
the old Clove road. After the death of Mr. Nelson it
was closed as a hotel. His widow, Mrs. Nelson, a daugh-
ter of Mr. Elsworth, still continues to reside here.
East New York Avenue, Washington Avenue, Lef-
ferts Street, and Malbone Street are the highways al-
ready opened on the east side of Flatbush Avenue,
where once no open road led eastward after passing the
Bedford road until reaching what is now Atlantic
Avenue ! This was an unbroken stretch of wood and
farming land.
We now return on the west side of the road to East
New York Avenue. The opening of this street west-
ward to Ocean Avenue separated the lawn of Judge
Vanderbilt from the Willink property, which had pre-
viously extended in an unbroken line to what is now
called the Willink entrance of Prospect Park.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 239
The house once stood on a hill where the depot of
the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railway now
stands. It was built in or about 1835. The lawn sloped
down pleasantly toward the south and east, and a high
and expensive fence, with gates always locked, kept off
those who might be inclined to trespass upon the premises.
Mr. Willink was not one of the early settlers. The
mother of Mrs. Willink in her girlhood spent her sum-
mers here. The story of their residence in Flatbush is this :
Before the War of the Revolution, Mr. Van Horn, a
wealthy gentleman from New York, whose winter resi-
dence was opposite the Bowling Green, hired for many
summers a small house at the north end of Flatbush,
which stood on what is now the farm of Mr. John Leff erts.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Horn were of the old Dutch set-
tlers in this State. They possessed great wealth, and
moved in the first circles of New York in those days.
They had a large family of daughters, one of whom
married Mr. Ludlow. She seemed to have kept alive
pleasant memories of the days she had spent as a child
in this little rural retreat, and after her widowhood she
was accustomed to drive through the village from time
to time on bright spring afternoons, often alighting from
her carriage to rest on the smooth, grassy sidewalk, lean-
ing on her gold-headed cane, as the infirmities of age
rendered such support necessary.
She may have talked with the daughters who accom-
panied her of the summers of her happy childhood, when
she went skipping through these woods, or rambling to
the hilltop that overlooked the village, or of an occa-
sional sleighing party in midwinter when, with the
young girls of her own age, she. went to the Steenbak-
kery, on invitation of the American officers, who beguiled
240 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
the tedium of the days in which they were kept prison-
ers on parole with sliding, skating, and sledding par-
ties on that pond.
Be that as it may, there were lingering memories
that drew the old lady toward Flatbush in her declining
years, and induced her family to drive out in that direc-
tion. When, therefore, the round-topped hill, the most
southerly of those which marked the dividing ridge be-
tween Flatbush and Brooklyn, was purchased by her
son-in-law, and a house was erected there, the old lady
was pleased, and told her neighbors that she should be
glad to renew the acquaintances she had made there in
her youth.
But old age can not always effect its plans, any more
than can impetuous youth ; though it seemed a natural
thing that she should desire to visit those whom she had
known as young girls in her own youth, her daugh-
ters had decided upon a different plan of life. They
desired entire seclusion ; except in business relations,
they wished for no communication with the outer world.
Whether it was merely a freak which became afterward
a habit, no one can tell.
The result, from whatever cause, was an entire with-
drawal from society. No retreat could have been more
closely guarded against the intrusion of visitors ; whether
acquaintance, friend, or relative tapped at the door, the
rebuff was always given, and no one passed beyond the
portal of that stately mansion after once the carpenters
had left and the four elderly persons who comprised
the family took it as their home.
The windows were never opened. The furniture,
great crates of which stood in the parlors, was never un-
packed. The silver service on which had been given
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 241
the hospitable and stylish dinners of earlier times was
consigned to a vault in the cellar. In the basement
were kept great bull-dogs fed on raw meat, to guard the
premises at night, for it was whispered about that they
had such stores and hoard of silver.
The old lady did not live very long. She had al-
ready reached great age, and from the home in which
she thought to spend some happy days she was taken
to the better home above.
Her son-in-law, Mr. Willink, was in the decline of
life as well as herself, but strong and vigorous despite
his gray hairs. He boasted that his father, a wealthy
banker in Holland, had reached great age, and that he
came of a long-lived race. But neither age nor death
can be defied, and there are other means than the wear-
ing out of this mortal frame to cut short life.
The old gentleman, as the one pleasure he allowed
himself, was fond of gay horses. They ran away with
him one day. The vehicle in which he rode was entirely
inclosed with glass in front, as if even when out on the
street he would have something between himself and
the outer world. He could not control his horses under
this disadvantage. He was thrown out of his carriage
and picked up dead on the road just before the house of
his overseer.
After this the two remaining members of the house-
hold, Mrs. Willink and Miss Ludlow, secluded them-
selves from society more than ever, if that were possi-
ble. They went from time to time to Trinity Church,
New York, where they occupied their old family pew.
Miss Ludlow herself attended to the management of
their large estates or gave instructions to her lawyer.
She was a tall, gaunt woman. She must have been
16
242 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
fine-looking in younger days. She would have been
a stately-looking lady still, had she not rejected every-
thing that was tasteful in dress, and assumed the most
austere and rigidly plain style of garments.
She had almost an attorney's knowledge of the law,
and a shrewd, keen business tact, that enabled her to
keep as sharp a lookout over her property as if she had
had a fortune to earn instead of to spend.
What they did spend indeed was very little, except
in cases where unbounded generosity seemed at sudden
times to burst its ordinary bounds and flood some special
object. Many a time some peddler was surprised by
the purchase of his entire stock; a church charity
would have a gift of some thousands, or a munificent
sum would be expended for some favored individual.
But this overflow was like the spring torrent of some
mountain stream that all the rest of the year leaves its
stony bed parched and dry.
One would expect even the employment, the amuse-
ments, and the recreations of two beings so unlike the
world around them to be different from those of other
people ; we know not under which of these heads, if
under either, to class the building of a hotel at the
south end of the village. They had purchased some
property there ; it was unremunerative ; then they
undertook the building of the Willink House upon
it. They built, furnished, and gave a public recep-
tion at the opening. The landlord found that in keep-
ing the hotel he was constantly restricted by the old
ladies.
The terms were very liberal on which he rented the
house, but even on such terms the hotel could not be a
success, from their constant interference.
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 243
So it was locked up, and they kept the key in their
pocket. Feebler and more feeble grew the elder sister,
Mrs. Willink, until at last she also died, and the family
vault in Trinity churchyard was opened again.
Now Miss Ludlow was left alone. One would almost
irreverently like to draw aside the veil and see if there
were ever tears on that stern face. Was she ever sor-
rowing and mourning and crying, like weaker women ?
Now that she stood alone in the world, did her heart
yearn for the love which even the poor share with each
other ? She gave no sign if it did.
Now she went again regularly, Sabbath after Sab-
bath, to the family pew in Trinity Church. That tall
woman in a poke-bonnet and waterproof cloak moved
among the velvet-draped ladies of that wealthy church
like a ghost of the former century. They may have
mistaken her for a beggar, or perhaps the story of her
eccentricity was whispered to them ; or those who were
left of the old families there may have known she was
one of their number, "so eccentric, you know, and so
rich." What attentions she accepted she paid well for,
and her liberality to the rector was unbounded. But
the doors of her house were not opened ; and no one
seemed to find the key of her heart any more than
of her house. There may have been painful mem-
ories associated with that great bleak house on the hill-
top, with its windows boarded up, and the watch-dog's
bark echoing through the empty rooms ; for she did
not remain there so constantly as before. Now she
spent much time at the hotel, taking possession of a
suite of handsomely furnished rooms.
She may have felt a coming shadow, and if she did
not long for human sympathy, at least it seemed more
244 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
like living as other women did to have a cheerful room
furnished and carpeted.
One day an employee spent the evening with her,
making up accounts and handing in bills. They could
not finish the work. " Come to-morrow morning,"
she said to him, as she closed the door upon him. " I
will come early," he replied ; but Death came earlier,
and was there before him.
In the morning she was found dead in her bed. As
she had lived, so she had died — alone.
That was a strange funeral in Trinity Church the
day she was buried : a velvet-covered coffin, beautiful
music, an impressive service, but no mourners — not
one even to simulate grief. It seemed a cause for tears
that there were none shed. It was depressing that
there was no one even to counterfeit sorrow ! Had this
woman, gifted with such intellectual power, and hold-
ing such wealth in her hand, no capacity to draw any
heart to hers ?
The vault in Trinity churchyard was opened now
for the last of the family, and the passing crowds in the
street paused a moment to peer through the iron rail-
ings that separate that graveyard from Broadway, as the
coffin was lowered to its place among her kindred dead.
The house that had been so jealously closed was
now thrown open to the inspection of the world. As
if it had been a vault, the long festoons of dust-covered
cobwebs depended from all the ceilings.
There were hoarded things of no possible value, with
others of great cost. There were wardrobes stocked
with antiquated clothing, crates of furniture which
had never been unpacked, boxes of books, new baskets
purchased by the dozen from traveling venders, new
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 245
brooms— dozens of them— none of which had ever been
used upon those dusty walls. There were bottles of
wine so old that the decaying boxes fell to pieces as
they were carried from the wine-room.
As they had hoarded, so it seemed almost as if Time,
so long defied, was now avenging itself in the scattering.
No one had been allowed by them to enter yonder
door ; now every stranger foot had the right to climb
the staircase. No one should see the treasures, whether
valuable or otherwise, they guarded ; now there was no
secret drawer, no closet, that was not opened, for the
house was now to be sold. Perhaps no gates were ever
kept more sedulously locked against the public, and no
lawn had ever been more strictly kept free from tres-
passing feet than the beautiful lawn about this house,
and never has one been more entirely free to the public
than that spot is now.
The very earth that formed the sloping hill has been
carted away ; the hill has been leveled, and thousands
of footsteps now pour daily through what was once the
locked entrance to the Willink place ; for here on this
now level plain stands the depot of the Brighton Beach
Kailroad, and the great, white, ghastly-looking house
that stands where Ocean Avenue is lost in Flatbush
Avenue is the remodeled frame of the house which once
stood proudly perched upon the hill, seeming to have
no more sympathy than did its reserved inmates with
the village at its feet ; but leveling years have done
their work ; Death in his turn took the key and, turn-
ing it upon them, has opened to the world the gates of
what was once their guarded possessions.
We make no apology for dwelling so long on this,
one of the few romantic histories of our village, for has
246 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
not every old town its bit of romance ? And why
should not such be recorded along with other annals ?
Every word of this is veritable history, and it needs
not the adornment of fiction to give it interest.
Northward from the Willink property great changes
have been made in the road, and in consequence the
course of the old turnpike has become entirely obliter-
ated. Formerly this road curved slightly westward,
and, passing through a toll-gate which stood at the city
limit, it followed circuitously the line of the little bowl-
shaped hill, possibly called for that reason China Hill,
through the Battle Pass ; on the westward side was a
sandpit ; the denser shade of the valley caused this
spot to be called the Valley Grove ; a secluded little inn
stood at the junction of the Flatbush turnpike and a
narrow, stony road leading to Gowanus, called the Port
road. The Port road * turned westward and the turn-
pike turned eastward, winding around between the hills.
This Valley Grove House was an old, topple-down inn,
and stood in the lowest part of the road ; in a damp even-
ing one seemed to feel the chill of the heavy air in turn-
ing toward it on the way from Brooklyn to Flatbush.
Ascending the hill, there was a house to the right
that had never been finished. It had a lonely, dreary
look ; the willow that stood in the dooryard still re-
mains on the same spot in the Park, and serves to mark
the locality of the house as well as to help us recall the
line of the old road.
* The name " Port road " is said to be derived from an expres-
sion in the old deed or agreement between Governor Lovelace and five
Indian chiefs for extinguishing the Indian claim in 16*70 ; it is spoken
of as a boundary to a certain parcel of land to which this cleft through
the hills was " the port or entrance thereof."
FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS. 247
There were some pleasant rolling hills to the left on
which horses and cattle were generally grazing— those
on the brow of the hill outlined against the sky, for
there were no woods or shrubbery upon these pasture
fields. This was the southerly boundary of the Polhe-
mus farm.
The next curve in the road brought in view beautiful
glimpses of the bay of New York with the wooded
heights of the opposite shore. Here was a cluster of
pleasant country residences. Mr. Anthony Kerr's house
is still standing, also two houses built by Mr. Van
Antwerp^ and, still farther on, the place of Mr. Levi
Hart. At the highest point were two hotels ; the most
prominent was kept by Mr. Vonk, and was a great re-
sort for men with racehorses and the owners of " fancy
teams."
Only a few families lived here permanently, as this
locality was subject to malarial fevers, although one of
the highest points in the county. There were numer-
ous ponds in the hollows of the hills, and from these
arose miasmatic damps, poisoning the air of this beau-
tiful spot, which would otherwise have been so desirable
for private residences.
The view from this height was more beautiful then
than that from the plaza of Prospect Park is now, for
the city of Brooklyn was farther off, and was separated
by intervening meadows and shrubbery ; it was thus
softened by distance and framed in by woods.
This old road to Brooklyn was at an early period
known as "the King's Highway " from Flatbush to
New York Ferry ; it is called so in an old release dated
1748, quoted by Stiles in his i f History of Brooklyn."
It is strange that a portion of the Gravesend road should
248 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
be, even at this present time, known still as " the King's
Highway."
With the assistance of those now living whose mem-
ory reaches farther than we can recall, we might con-
tinue a description of this while it was yet a country
road almost to Fulton Ferry. But, as we desire to con-
fine ourselves to matters pertaining to Flatbush, we will
not attempt to trace the changes which time has made
beyond.
CHAPTER XXL
DOMESTIC SERVICE.
It is not probable that slavery ever exhibited its
worst features on Long Island.
A kindly feeling existed between the owner and the
slave. For the protection, the simple fare, and the
homespun clothing, which, in accordance with the cus-
tom of the age, the master provided, the slave returned
generally a cheerful obedience and a reasonable amount
of labor.
We do not credit our Dutch ancestors, in this re-
spect, with being more humane or wiser than the age
in which they lived ; but there are certain conditions
under which slavery assumes its most cruel aspect, and
these conditions did not exist in Kings County.
If a slave was dissatisfied with his master, it was
very common for the master to give him a paper on
which his age, his price, etc., were written, and allow
him to go and look for some one with whom he would
prefer to live, and who would be willing to pay the
price stated. When the slave found a purchaser, the
master completed the arrangement by selling his dis-
contented slave to the person whom, for some cause
best known to himself, he preferred. It may not have
been from ill-treatment or neglect that the negro de-
250 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
sired to change masters, but because of greater attrac-
tions elsewhere.
Valentine, in his "History of New York," says that
slaves had been held in that city from the earliest period
of the Dutch settlement.
Riker, in the "Annals of Newtown,'' tells us that
slavery "originated in the scarcity and consequent high
price of white labor, and extended not only to the negro,
but to the free-born Indian brought hither from the
South." He also confirms the statement that they were
treated with much humanity.
Judge Benson in 1816, speaking of negro slavery,
says : "A milder form of it than among the Dutch of
New Netherlands is scarcely to be imagined."
Furman says that they "were much attached to
the families in which they were owned, and where they
would remain from generation to generation."
O'Callaghan says: "Slaves [in New York] consti-
tuted, as far back as 1628, a portion of the population.
The introduction of this class was facilitated by the estab-
lishments which the Dutch possessed in Brazil and on
the coast of Guinea, as well as by the periodical capture
of Spanish and Portuguese prizes, and the circumstances
attendant on the early settlement of the country. The
expense of obtaining labor from Europe was great, and
the supply by no means equal to the demand. To add
to these embarrassments, the temptations held out by
the fur trade were so irresistible that the servants, or
'boere knechts,' who were brought over from Holland
were soon seduced from the pursuits of agriculture.
Farmers were consequently obliged to employ negroes,
and slave labor thus became, by its cheapness and the
necessity of the case, one of the staples of the country."
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 251
In confirmation of what we have said in regard to
the condition of the slave here, compared to what it was
later in other parts of the country, he adds : " The lot of
the African under the Dutch was not as hopeless as his
situation might lead us to expect. He was a chattel, it
is true, but he could still look forward to the hour when
he too might become a freeman."
Sometimes the slaves were given their choice of a
home among the married children of their master. In
a will in possession of the writer, dated 1759, the fol-
lowing clause appears : "If any of my slaves shall after
my decease have a mind [preference] to live with
any of my children, then it is my will, and I do order,
that the rest of my children shall consent to it, and
that he, or they, shall have him or her for a reasonable
price."
This is by no means a solitary instance of provision
made for allowing the slave to have his choice as to his
home ; it was frequently done. Although this does not
seem to us with our present views of slavery to exhibit
much generosity, yet it certainly did abate the evils at-
tendant upon his condition, and give him the opportu-
nity of choosing the home he preferred.
Stiles, in his "History of Brooklyn," says : " Slaves
were as a general thing kindly treated and well cared
for ; but, after all, the institution of slavery was one
that commended itself to the Dutch mind rather as a
necessity than as a desirable system." Speaking of a
public sale of slaves in 1773, he adds : "It was even at
that time considered an odious departure from the time-
honored and more humane practice which then prevailed
of permitting slaves who wished to be sold, or who were
offered for sale, to select their own masters."
252 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
The slave spoke the language of the family. Dutch
became the mother tongue of the Kings County negroes.
There are at present a few of the old colored people still
living who not only understand Dutch, but who speak
that language to each other when they meet.
In the newspapers published previous to 1822, about
the period of emancipation, in advertisements offering
a slave for sale, it was customary to state as a peculiar
advantage that he or she could speak English as well
as Dutch.
We find in the "New York Gazette" for February
22, 1773, an advertisement for a runaway slave, which
states, after giving a personal description of the man,
that he " can speak both English and Dutch, but sounds
mostly on the latter. He is very strong and nimble, and
does not want for wit. He can play well on the violin
and is fond of company."
Another advertisement, bearing date May 6, 1776,
gives the following curious description of a runaway
slave : "... he speaks good English and middling good
Low Dutch ; is a pretty likely fellow, apt to drink, wears
his own hair tied behind. Had on when he went away
an old, blue coat, lined with woolen check, the sleeves
partly torn off, a new striped flannel jacket, a streaked
woolen shirt, and a pair of superfine broadcloth breech-
es, mixed woolen stockings, half-worn beaver hat with
a silver loop and button."
The first slaves in Kings County were sent here by
Governor Stuyvesant in February, 1660. They never
increased rapidly in numbers on Long Island, as they
did in a more congenial southern climate, for the vari-
ableness of the weather and the extreme cold by which
some of our winters are marked were not favorable to
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 253
them. They easily succumbed to consumption, and had
very little power of resistance when attacked by disease.
The first public record of the number of slaves ap-
pears in 1698.
At that time there were 296 in Kings County. They
were distributed as follows : In Brooklyn 65, Bushwick
52, New Utrecht 48, Flatlands 40, Gravesend 17, Flat-
bush 71.
From this it will be seen that the largest number of
slaves was owned in Flatbush.
In following the census of the slave population
through successive periods, as we gather it from the
"Documentary History of New York State," we find
the returns in Kings County to be as follows :
1698
296
1723
444
1731
492
1737
564
1749 783
1756 845
1771 1,162
The names given the slaves were a curious mingling
of the nomenclature of the old Latin heroes with queer,
twisted nicknames.
The men were known as Caesar, Nero, Cato, Pom-
pey, and Plato. Flora, Diana, and Juno were the god-
desses whose names were most frequently assumed by
the women.
With these were mingled names which might have
come with them from the far-off native land of their
ancestors : Mink, Syne, Bass, Jafta, Roos, Kouba, Yaft,
etc.
All these appear upon the census list of 1755.
We find also such nicknames as these : Claes, Judey,
Gin, Peg, York, Cuffee, France.
254 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH '
The name Cuffee, which was at one time quite com-
mon among the colored people, was probably Indian,
for there was an Indian preacher of the Shinnecock
tribe, born in 1757, whose name was Paul Cuffee. He
labored among the Long Island tribes in the year 1800,
and was said to be eloquent and possessed of much in-
telligence.
There is a name which has been in use among the
colored people of Kings County for at least one hun-
dred and twenty-three years. It appears upon the cen-
sus of 1755, and it is still borne by more than one per-
son now living. This name is Commenie ; it is said to
be an Indian name. We have never known of its being
used except among the colored people.
O'Callaghan says that in 1646 the price of a negro in
New York averaged between one hundred and one hun-
dred and fifty dollars.
It may be curious to know what was once paid
for a slave on Long Island. We give some veritable
bills of sale, from which we only omit the names of the
parties :
Flatbush Aug \§ih 1763
Recv d of Mr. the sum of one hundred and ten
pounds in full for a negro man Ctesar.
Sold him this day. Which negro I oblige myself my heirs
Executors and Administrators to warrant and defend against
all persons whatsoever.
As witness my hand
In a similar bill of a few years later a less sum is
given :
April 23, 1773.
Rec'd of Mr. the sum of sixty three pounds Ten
Shillings in full for a negro man named Mink. Sold him this
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 255
day. Which Negro I oblige myself my heirs Ex 8 Adm 9 to war-
rent and defend against all persons whatsoever.
As witness my hand
From several old bills still preserved we find that it
was customary to have the account for the making and
mending of shoes for the slaves paid yearly. One of
these bills, from August 14, 1817, to June 13, 1818,
amounts to £8 17s. Gd. The bill runs through a long
sheet of coarse-grained, yellowish paper, peculiar to
that age, as follows :
s. d.
To mend a pair of shoes for Broin 2
« « « » " " Cato 3 6
u a u a « t( ]?} ora 3
To make a pair of shoes for Nan 5
u u u it " « Dick 16
etc. etc.
The physician's bill for professional services ren-
dered for the slaves is also somewhat of a curiosity, not
only as being a bill of items, but as showing that the
slave and the master had the same medical adviser. As
is here shown, the medicine prescribed by the physician
is also furnished by him :
, Esq. to Dr. M D r .
1789 £ s - &•
Aug 14 th To an Emetic for Brom — 9 —
Oct 6 ,h To bleeding in the arm Dick — 2 —
Nov 5 th To an aperient for Flora's child — 2 —
Nov 24 th To extracting a tooth for Miss Sally . . — 2 —
Dec 3 d To extracting a tooth for Ben — 2 —
Dec 19 ,h To an Emetic for Mrs. — 9 —
1790
Feb l 8t To dressing a wound on his lip and
ointment & attendance for Brom. . . — 9 —
etc. etc.
256 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
For sixteen visits, the dates of which are given, and
for the medicines needed, the amount of the bill is
£10 14s. Od.
Among other items for the slaves is the bill of a
cabinet-maker :
May 7 ,h 1817
To making a coffin for Flora $2 —
In the State of New York manumission of the
slaves was effected by the slow enactment of laws which
gradually gave them their freedom.
In 1781 a law was passed by which freedom was
given to such able-bodied men as served in certain regi-
ments for three years or until regularly discharged.
In 1788 a law was enacted to the effect that when
the owner of a slave under fifty years of age, and of
sufficient ability to provide for himself or herself,
should be disposed to manumit such slave, that previous
thereto he, she, or they should procure a certificate
signed by the overseers of the poor of the city or town,
and of two justices of the peace of the county, certify-
ing that such slave appeared to be under fifty years of
age and of sufficient ability to provide for himself or
herself; and when such a certificate of manumission
was registered, that the slave should be adjudged to be
free.
A number of slaves were freed in Flatbush under
this law.
To show the form of manumission, we copy some
of these from the old records :
' I Stephen B. Schoonmaker of the Town of Flatbush, Kings
County, State of New York, Do hereby certify that I have
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 257
manumitted and set free my negro man named Harry aged
twenty-eight years. Given under my hand this 16 th day of
April 1814.
STEPnEX B. ScnOONMAKER
NlCH 8 ScHOOXMAKER
William W. Stoothoff
Overseers of the poor.
Signed in presence of
CORNELIUS DlTRYEE Jr
Jacob Duryee.
We the subscribers being Overseers of the Poor for the said
Town of Flatbush Do hereby Certify that an application to us
made by Stephen B. Schoonmaker of Flatbush to approve the
manumission of a negro man named Harry and it appears to us
that the said Harry is under the age of fifty years and of suffi-
cient ability to provide for himself we do hereby approve of said
manumission.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this
19 th day of April 1814.
I, John Vanderbilt have manumitted and set free a certain
female slave named Isabella, April 10 th 1822.
(Signed) John Vanderbilt.
Sealed and delivered in presence of
Gerret Martexse.
She appears to be under the age of forty-five years and of
sufficient ability to provide for herself and her children Cor-
nelius and Thomas.
Witnesses
Adrian Vaxderveer
johaxxes eldert.
On the same day, April 10, 1822, John Vanderbilt
manumitted his slave Frances Yonng.
John Lefferts, August 17, 1822, manumitted his
slave Susan.
A law was passed to the effect that every child born
17
258 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
of a slave within this State after July 4, 1799, should
be free, but remain the servant of the former master
until the age, if a male, of twenty-eight years ; if a
female, until twenty-five years of age.
It will thus be seen that great care was taken lest
the slaves should become a public charge. The town
authorities were not willing to accept any liabilities by
which they might be obliged to support those who ought
to be supported upon the private means of their former
owners.
In order to secure the rights given them by this law,
it was necessary to have the date of birth of every one
applying for freedom thoroughly established ; this was
attended to by the town authorities. Among the town
records we find a large number of these notifications of
birth. We give a few as samples of the rest :
I Lawrence Voorhees of the town of Flatbush do hereby
certify that a female child named Sawr aged three months was
born of a slave belonging to me
Witness my hand this
21 8t day of Feb 1801.
I Abraham Ditmas of the Town of Flatbush, yeoman, do
certify that a female child named Sook aged eight months was
born the fifth day of July last of a slave belonging to me. Wit-
ness my hand March 5, 1803. . -,-,
J Abraham Ditmas.
I, John Van der Bilt of the Town of Flatbush in Kings Co.
do hereby declare that on the 15 lh day of Dec. last a male negro
child was born named Will.
In witness my hand this 29 th day of May 1802
Jonx Van der Bilt.
The dawn of greater freedom was, however, rapidly
approaching, and even the right to the services of the
children was being abandoned :
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 259
Sir, I do hereby notify you that I abandon my right of ser-
vice to a female child named Nancy, born Jan 20 th 1803, which
said child you have got on record in your office
Elsie Gerretsen.
May 6, 1S03
To the Town Clerk of Flatbush.
Sir I do hereby notify that I abandon my right of servitude
to a female child named Bett, which said child you have on
record in your office
Hendrick Vanderveeb.
To John C. Vanderveer, Town Cleric.
Flatbush Aug 4 1800
Sir This is to certify that I abandon all my right of servi-
tude to a negro child named Will, born Aug 5 th 1799.
Lefferts Martexse.
To Mr John C. Vanderveer
Town Clerk.
The early settlers on Long Island were not, however,
bound to slave labor exclusively ; there were also inden-
tured apprentices and laborers. Advertisements for run-
away apprentices appeared in the New York papers as
well as for runaway slaves.
An indenture paper, bearing date June 8, 1758, by
which a young girl from Queens County was bound out
to a family in Flatbush, is still extant. The terms are
very much like those of an indenture made for a child
bound out from an institution or by the county super-
intendent of the poor at this present time, except as to
the remuneration due her for her services at the expira-
tion of her term of indenture. In that respect they dif-
fer as widely as do the customs and manners of the cen-
turies in which they were written. " The master shall
give unto the said apprentice?" says this old document,
"a coiv, a new wrapper, calico, at five shillings per
260 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
yard, a new bonnet, a new pair of shoes and stockings,
two new shifts, two new petticoats, two caps, and two
handkerchiefs and her wearing apparel " — this last
probably referring to the clothing she had been wearing
previous to the limited outfit with which she was sup-
posed to start out in life.
We have also a copy of an indenture made in the
early part of the following century, in which no mention
is made of a cow, but a more generous provision of cloth-
ing is imperative in the terms of the indenture.
The girl at the age of twelve is indentured, volun-
tarily and with consent of her parents, until she reach
the age of eighteen.
During all of which time [thus quaintly reads this old,
time-stained paper] the said Lydia her said master faithfully shall
serve, his secrets keep, his lawful commands everywhere readily
obey: she shall do no damage to her said master nor see it done
by others, without letting or giving notice thereof to her said
master. She shall not waste her said master's goods, nor lend
them unlawfully to any: she must not contract matrimony
within the said term : at cards, dice, or any unlawful game she
shall not play whereby her said master may have damage : she
shall neither traffic with her own goods or the goods of others,
nor shall she buy or sell without license from her said master.
She shall not absent herself day nor night from her said mas-
ter's service without his leave, nor haunt ale houses, taverns, or
playhouses, but in all things behave herself as a faithful servant
ought to do during the term of service aforesaid.
The date of this indenture is "the nineteenth day
of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and fourteen, and in the thirty-eighth
year of American Independence."
We copy the following as a sample of an indenture
of an apprentice to learn a trade :
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 261
This Indenture, made the 22d of July, a. d. 1G95, is to cer-
tify to all and every one whom it may concern that Jonathan
Mills, senior, of Jamaica, in Queens Co., and Jacob Hendricksen
of Flatbush, in Kings Co., smith, are agreed and have made
covenant in manner and form following :
Imprimis, Jonathan Mills, Jr., son of the above-named Jon-
athan Mills, senior, is bound to serve his master, Jacob Hendrick-
sen, of Zuyt dam, above said, the time and space of three years
begun the 5th day of June last, to expire the 5th day of June,
1698, in which time the said Jonathan Mills, Jr., is to serve his
said master duly and faithfully, principally in and about the
trade and art of a smith, and also sometimes for other occa-
sions.
Secondly, Jacob Hendricksen, of Zuyt dam, abovesaid, is
bound to said Jonathan Mills, Jr., to find washing, sleeping,
victuals, and drink during said time of three years, and also to
endeavor to instruct said Jonathan in said art and trade of a
smith during said term of three years, and also that said Jona-
than may have the liberty to go in night school in the winter,
and at the expiration of said time his master is to give him a
good suit of clothes for Sabbath-day, and also two pair of tongs
and two hammers, one big and one small one.
In Testimony and performance whereof we have set here-
unto our hands and seals the day and year above written.
his
Jonathan + Mills
mark.
Jacob Hendreckse,
von Zuyt dam.
Witness
Johannes Van Ekelen.
In an indenture made by the overseers of the poor
in Kings County at a later period, there seems to be
nothing given to the girl when her time of indenture
expires except a Bible, which was rather a mockery if
262 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
she did not receive with it the just wages which the Bi-
ble enjoins should be given. This girl, Suzanne, born
1801, is indentured to Jacob Ryerson of the town of
Brooklyn as a servant.
He shall [says the indenture] cause her to be instructed in
the art of housekeeping and also of spinning and knitting. She
shall also he instructed to read and write, and at the expiration
of her time of service shall give unto the said Suzanne a new
Bible.
In 1812 there appears on record an indenture more
liberal as to its terms for the young girl :
Jane White [indentured as before] is to receive one new
suit of holiday clothes of the value at least of $5, and two other
good suits for everyday wear and one new Bible.
Intelligence offices for procuring domestics were es-
tablished in New York some time before slavery was
abolished.
That they were a more reliable dependence than
the establishments of the present day, we should judge
from the fact that premiums were offered — not to those
servants who were constantly returning to the offices —
but to those who remained a long time with the same
employer. Perhaps this method would be a relief to
the housekeepers of this age. We find the following
in a newspaper of May 13, 1809 :
warne's established and equitable office foe servants,
No. 2 Robinson Street, first door from Broadway, where fam-
ilies are supplied with servants of every description, and it
being the sincere wish of the proprietor that they would con-
tinue a long time in their places, both for the comfort of fami-
lies and themselves, he offers as an inducement to this laudable
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 263
end the following Premiums, which extend to such servants
only as are registered for that purpose at this office :
$5. Every servant that lives three years with one family ob-
tained at this office, shall, on having a good character from the
said family, receive the above Premium.
$7. Every servant living five years with one family, obtained
at the said office, shall on producing a good character receive the
above Premium.
$10. Servants that live seven years in one place obtained as
aforesaid shall, on having a good character from the said family,
receive ten dollars.
Also a gift according to merit to sober, industrious, civil,
and cleanly boys and girls, who live twelve months in one place.
The children of deserving poor parents shall be provided,
with places free of expense, and also entitled to a gratuity on
the aforesaid conditions.
It being a common practice at many offices to take sums of
money from servants, exclusive of their first charge for provid-
ing them with places, Mr. Warne assures servants that no more
than one shilling first paid (unless for a lucrative situation) will
be permitted to be taken at this office.
The proprietor is happy in having it in his power to relieve
servants who have a long time labored under great hardships by
falling into the hands of unprincipled persons who keep offices
in different parts of the metropolis and strip them of their all
under false pretenses.
Travelers, Taverns, Coffee-Houses, and Publicans supplied
with servants agreeably to their orders.
It is probable that there were few, if any, foreigners
employed as domestics in the family or as laborers on
the farms in Flatbush previous to 1822, the year in
which all traces of slavery ceased to exist.
At that time those who were formerly slaves, and
their descendants, still found employment in the fami-
lies of which they had once formed a part. They felt
264 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
a certain claim upon the master and mistress under
whose roof they were born ; this claim, if not legally
recognized after this period, was at least so far acknowl-
edged in the higher realm of duty that a kindly over-
sight was extended to the families of their former slaves,
and they were provided for in cases of sickness and des-
titution.
As there was no almshouse in Kings County until
1830, when the county supervisors purchased the poor-
house farm at Flatbush, those who needed help, or were
upon the town, were boarded and lodged in the private
houses of individuals at the public expense.
To show how the poor were provided for, we here
insert some bills which were found among some old
papers :
The Overseers of the Town of Flatbush
To Nich" Schoonmakee D r
For medicine & attendance on blk man named
Wall from Jan 6 ,h until 13, 1813 £2 5
Jan. 19, 1813. Kec d Pay 1
Nich 8 Schoonmakee M. D.
of Mr Lefferts one of the
overseers of the poor
of aforesaid Town.
Flatbush Feb 10th 1813
Overseers of the Poor of the Town of Flatbush
To Stephen B. Schoonmakee Dr.
For boarding and lodging a Negro man named
Wall, a pauper to the State, 9 days $4.50
Rec d Feb 12 th 1813 the above in full
for Stephen B. Schoonmakee
CoEN s DUEYEE Je.
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 2G5
Overseers of the poor of Jhe Town of Flatbush.
To William Algeo D r
Jan 12 th 1813.
For making a coffin for Wall a state pauper $3.25
Received the above in full of John Lefferts
one of the overseers of the poor of the
town of Flatbush.
William Algeo.
In some of the colored families on Long Island
there was a mixture of Indian blood with the African.
It was very plainly traceable in their straight hair and
in their lighter complexion ; but this mixture of the
two races was not an improvement upon the character
of the negro. The pure-blooded African was more
kindly in his nature, more cheerful in disposition, more
gentle and teachable. Those marked traits of the In-
dian character, the brooding over an injury with a view
to retaliation, vindictiveness, and vengeful temper, cloud-
ed the good-natured hilarity of the African and made
him unwilling to work, lazy, shiftless, and morose.
There is a strong tendency to superstitious belief in
the African race. Strangely enough, it may be found
to coexist with the acceptance of the purest Christian
doctrine, and in those who lead an exemplary Christian
life. It appears like some weed which is so natural to
the soil of a garden that no amount of cultivation will
wholly uproot it. They accept most readily not only
the little superstitions which are always afloat as to
dreams and signs and premonitions of coming events,
but they are very credulous as to the power of charms
and their antidotes. They believe in spells and poisons,
and in the power and control -which some persons may
obtain over others, even when widely separated from
266 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
them. They believe in the noxious power of certain
charms hidden in the ground which may affect the
passer-by, and in the potency of spells exercised upon
each other, to help or to harm, as either may be in-
tended.
In times gone by, they were a kind-hearted, quiet
people, fond of amusement, always looking upon the
bright side of things, never worrying over coming mis-
fortunes, but content to live in abiding faith upon a lit-
eral rendering of that Scripture which says : "Take no
thought for the morrow. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. Take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat ? or, What shall we drink ? or, Wherewithal shall
we be clothed ? "
Thus it happened too often that want came, and im-
providence brought with it many misfortunes ; and they
have begun to dwindle away and disappear before the
rugged industries in which neither their taste nor their
physical strength enables them to take a share.
In some instances colored families continued after
their manumission in the employ of those to whom they
had once belonged, and always found employment when
well and assistance when sick from their old master and
mistress.
Scarcely twenty-five years ago traces of this, the
only pleasant phase of that institution, still existed in
Flatbush. There were elderly persons who were always
called "old Mis'es" or "old Master" in certain colored
families, and the allegiance was not that compelled by
law, but tendered by affection.
If relief was needed in any one of the old colored
families who had been brought up in the town, they
knew at once where to find it ; if they applied elsewhere,
DOMESTIC SERVICE. 2G7
they were sure to be referred back to those with whom
either themselves or their parents had been reared.
Thus it happened that the miscellaneous appeals for
assistance which now come from every quarter for the
poor were in earlier days unknown. The foreign ele-
ment in our population which now preys so largely upon
our pity and our purse had not then come to our gates.
The housekeeper knew just who would apply at her
kitchen-door for help, and just how much would be re-
quired. She might be willingly blinded, and give more
or less than was necessary ; but she could not be igno-
rant of the amount that was needed, for their circum-
stances and the number in their families were as familiar
to her as those of her own household, of which they had
once formed a part.
It was considered in times gone by rather a sign of
a tv ell-to-do farmer to have a large family of colored
people in his kitchen. The elder members of these fam-
ilies had been so thoroughly drilled in the work required
of them, that they were almost invaluable to the mas-
ter and mistress as cooks, coachmen, and farm-hands.
There were always small boys of every age to do the
running of errands to " the store," bringing home the
cows from the field, and calling the reapers to their
meals, and such other work as required swift running
and young feet. There were little colored girls of every
age to help or hinder, as the case might be, in the vari-
ous household duties. In most of the old Dutch houses
there were small kitchens in which these families of col-
ored people lived. They were not so far from the house
as the slave-quarters on a Southern plantation, but the
building was a separate one, annexed to the main kitchen
of the house.
268 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
As a race, the colored people have strong religious
feelings. They are excitable and demonstrative under
the enthusiasm of a thoroughly aroused interest in re-
ligious duties ; but these feelings are variable, and apt
to fade out when the exciting cause is removed. There
have been, however, such noble examples among them
of strong and abiding faith, characterizing a long and
unspotted life, such steadfast adherence to duty amid
temptations and discouragements, that they have proved
themselves capable of reaching high Christian attain-
ment and of illustrating the strength and beauty of
Christian character.
This race for more than a century and a half formed
part of the family of every Dutch inhabitant of Kings
County. Speaking the same language, brought up to
the same habits and customs, with many cares and in-
terests in common, there existed a sympathy with and
an affection between them and the white members of
the household such as could scarcely be felt toward the
strangers who now perform the same labor under such
different circumstances.
We have given so much space to this subject, because
a history of the social life of our ancestors would be in-
complete if it did not include these people, who were so
closely associated with the family, and who formed as to
numbers so large a part of the household.
CHAPTER XXII.
AGRICULTURE.
The head of every family in Flatbush, with few
exceptions, was a farmer, until within the last thirty
years. They cultivated their land in the most careful
manner, and were among the best farmers in the State.
It was rarely that one saw old and dilapidated outhouses
or broken fences. The barns, wagon-houses, and hay-
ricks were kept in good repair, and all the outhouses
were covered with a heavy coat of dark-red paint. In
the southern section of the town stones were scarce,
so that the fences were post and rail. Only along the
central ridge, which has been called the "backbone of
the island," could stone be procured for walls to divide
the farms. It has been asserted that there are no rocks
south of that ridge.
There was formerly a stone wall running on the
easterly side of the road that led from Bedford south-
ward toward Canarsie, north of where the county build-
ings now stand. Little red chipmunks might be seen
skipping over and through the interstices of this wall,
for it was then a quiet nook, and the cultivated fields,
shut in from the cold winds by the woods at the north-
east, were always rich with the beauty of waving grain
in the various stages of growth as the season advanced.
270 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Here the running blackberry vines twined and inter-
laced themselves in arabesque figures across the stone
wall, their prickly stems and the toppling stones serving
to protect the enticing fruit. High stalks of the golden-
rod in the autumn, and celandine and wild roses hid
their roots in the soil, kept damp by the fallen stones,
under which numerous bugs might be at housekeeping,
or from beneath which a family of ants would scatter if
their homes were unroofed.
Here the children clambered among the nettles for
blackberries in the summer, and under the great nut-tree
which stood midway the field they went nutting in the
autumn. It was a pleasant, peaceful scene ; the robin and
the thrush, or meadow-lark, as it was called, here made
their nest, and sang their morning song in the apple or-
chards near ; crows flapped their heavy wings and cawed
from the tree-tops as they watched in the distance the
farmer dropping the corn. Fresh and green the fields,
with an almost imperceptible slope, rolled southward, and
from this, the dividing line between Flatbush and Brook-
lyn, the Flatbush farmers had an unbroken and beau-
tifully cultivated expanse of farming land to the limits
southward of the village. Upon this northern border
of the town, which was once so fair a picture of agri-
cultural prosperity, the change into a city suburb has
begun. To the northeast fences are thrown down, the
old stone wall is leveled, the sickly-looking cows of the
city milkmen endeavor to graze upon the short and dried
grass ; pigs and clogs and goats, rough men and dirty
women, scold and scream and bark in mingled confu-
sion from the shanties of the squatters that have taken
possession of the open commons. It is sad for us who
have been so fond of this country life to think that
AGRICULTURE. 271
this may be a precursor of the change which shall slowly
creep onward in advance of the city growth.
The cultivation of grain was found by the Long Isl-
and farmers to be less remunerative when the canals
and railroads opened up the competition of the Western
agriculturist ; then the increased demand for the prod-
uce of the market gardener by degrees changed the
whole character of the farm work on this island. Flat-
bush farmers, being so near to the city, began to rake
those vegetables which were to supply the markets of
New York and Brooklyn.
Where formerly wheat, rye, buckwheat, oats, corn,
flax, and barley were the products of the farm, with only
so much of cabbage, peas, potatoes, and turnips as were
necessary for the family use, all this is now reversed ;
only so much hay and grain as the farmer needs are
raised, while he depends upon his market produce for
remunerative sales.
Under this system of cultivation the farms are not
so picturesque as they were when the fields were wav-
ing with the graceful growth of grain. The market
gardens and the great fields of potatoes and cabbage
show signs of industry and thrift, but the farms are not
so beautiful as they were before this change took jflace.
BARNS AND OUTHOUSES.
The barns of the Dutch farmers were broad and
capacious. The roof, like that on their houses, was
very heavy, and sloped to within eight or ten feet of
the ground. There were holes near the roof for the
barn swallows that flitted in and out above the rafters,
surging to and fro in long, swift circles around the
barnyard. Through the chinks of broken shingles the
272 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
rays of the sun fell across the darkness as if to winnow
the dust through the long shafts of light, or, where the
crevice was on the shady side, the daylight glittered
through like stars, for there were no windows in these
barns ; there was light sufficient when the great double
doors, large enough to admit a load of hay, were open.
There were beams across the second story, support-
ing poles on which the hay was piled. What great hay-
mows they were, choice romping places for the chil-
dren ! Just the spot in which to hunt for hens' nests,
or from which to jump to the soft bedding of hay
thrown down on the lower floor ! And then what bois-
terous laughter followed the leap, as the frolicsome lit-
tle ones were almost buried by the downward plunge
into the fragrant clover hay !
The hens were sure to select places for their nests
in the farthest corners of the mow or in the mangers,
and many a hatful or apronful of fresh, clean eggs the
children would find and carry exultingly into the house,
If by mistake they frightened a setting hen from her
nest, what a noisy cackling was heard, followed by the
unnecessary advice from some of the farm-hands to "let
that hen alone ! "
The granary was usually boarded off in one corner.
Opening the door suddenly, there was apt to be a scam-
pering of mice and rats. If the pet dogs of the fam-
ily were the companions of the children, chase was
given at once. At it they went, scattering the threshed
grain upon the floor, tumbling down the wooden grain-
shovel and half-bushel measure, leaping over the wheat-
bags ready for the mill, and sliding down great heaps
of shelled corn, until the mischief was arrested by call-
ing off the dogs and closing the doors, leaving these
A GRIC UL TURE. 2 73
hunting-grounds to those more careful hunters, the
cats.
The stable for the farmer's horses formed part of the
barn ; it was entered by a smaller door at the side.
There were several pairs of horses and generally a pair
of mules owned by every farmer ; if oxen were kept,
there was a stable for their use on the opposite side.
In these huge barns the cereal wealth of the farmer
was stored. Eeaping and threshing machines were not
in use at the time that the land in Flatbush lay in
cultivated farms, and the process of separating the
wheat and chaff was more tedious than it is now.
The grain to be threshed was spread in a circle upon
the barn-floor. It was trodden out by the feet of the
horses which were driven round and round upon it,
the driver standing in the middle, and his assistants
keeping with their wooden forks the grain in its posi-
tion, if it happened to be displaced by the horses. Rye
was threshed out by the flail, a sound that one never
hears now ; then, on many an autumn or winter day,
one might hear from the open barn-door the regular
thump, thump ! thump, thump ! of the flail as the
farmer and his men threshed out the grain for winter
use preparatory to taking it to the mill.
The cobwebs, begrimed with dust, in tattered fes-
toons, ornamented with hayseed, hanging from the
beams ; the horses, stretching out their long noses from
their stalls ; the rough rope harness ; the detached bits
of wagons, board seats, tongue, or shaft ; the farming
implements, the bags of grain, and beside them the
iron-rimmed half -bushel measure ; the old knife or
broken scythe stuck in the shingled sides of the barn ;
the black bucket of tar for the wagon- wheels ; the ac-
18
274 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
counts chalked on the doors, and, above all, the sweet
smell of hay pervading the place — how these things
come back to memory as we recall the old barns in the
days when all the village was tilled as farming land !
There are not many of these old barns left ; here and
there one may still be found in Flatbush. Even in the
outskirts of Brooklyn, where the city has suddenly over-
grown an old farm, there are one or two standing. We
feel as if they were out of place in the unaccustomed
whirl in which they find themselves, for they belong not
to the living, busy present, but to a different order of
things that can never come back to us from the past.
Near the barn stood the wagon-house of the farmer,
in the loft of which were sheltered the wheelbarrow, the
grindstone, the plows and harrows, the rakes and hoes.
Corn-cribs, filled during the winter with cobs of golden
corn, formed the outer compartments of this building.
The farm wagons were in the open central space. Even
these wagons have changed in form during the last fifty
years ; those then in use were wholly without springs
and were painted red ; the sides were loose, and could
be separated from the rest of the body so as to unload
the more easily ; they sloped up both to the front and
to the back, but were highest behind. There are none
of this style of vehicle in use on the farms at present in
Kings County, but the traveler may find them in Hol-
land at the present day.
It may be interesting to" know the money value of
cattle raised by the old Dutch farmers. An old bill of
sale, bearing date 1767, having been preserved among
other and more valuable papers, its age has now given
it a value which it did not once possess. We give it
just as it was written :
AGRICULTURE. 275
Zeven beeste [seven cows] £25
Vif jong beeste [five young cows] 12
Vier kalveren [four calves] 6
HARVEST-TIME.
Before the invention of labor-saving machines, the
time of harvest was one of immense labor to the farmer.
The men who were useful with scythe and cradle were
all engaged in advance at good wages. The rich golden
grain was a beautiful sight, falling before the regular
and graceful sweep of the scythe as the mowers ad-
vanced in rows, marking their progress by long swathes,
while before them, with the slightest ripple of summer
breeze, the ripened wheat swayed gently, bending itself
like the lengthened undulations of the sea. As the reaper
whetted his scythe, and stood resting a moment to wipe
the perspiration that stood in beads on his forehead, his
red flannel shirt gave the bit of color the artist loves in
a picture.
At the bars let down in the lane his coat was thrown ;
under a bunch of fresh cut hay to keep it cool stood the
pail of drink for the thirsty reapers, and the tin cup. It
was watched by the dog that lay beside it, his tongue
hanging out of his mouth, panting from the heat, and
snapping lazily at the insects that buzzed about his head.
The men turned the hay over with long forks before
it was ready for the barn, and after that it was put up
in haycocks. If a heavy black cloud loomed up from
the western horizon, threatening a shower, then the
utmost haste was necessary to secure shelter lest the hay
should be wet, and the wagons were driven rapidly to
and fro between the barns and the hayfield. The men,
with their long forks beside them, rode high on the
276 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
top of the load. With the help of one man stationed
above and one below, the fragrant hay was pitched rap-
idly into the mow.
A framework, consisting of four heavy corner posts
and a thatched straw roofing, which could be raised or
lowered upon these corner posts, was called by the farm-
ers a barrack.
One or more of these barracks was in every farm-
yard for the straw and hay, and served to relieve the
overcrowded barns in seasons of a bountiful harvest.
There were also rows of haycocks of salt hay from the
meadows, of which every farmer owned a certain share,
and which was highly valued. This was harvested in
the months of September and October.
In the late autumn long rows of cornstalks were
stacked higher than the fences for the use of the cows
in the cattle-yard, and the great golden pumpkins which
grew between the rows of corn were laid along the sun-
ny sides of the corn-crib to ripen.
Thus on all sides there were signs of peace and plen-
ty. The returning seasons rarely failed to bring the
farmer an abundant return for the labor he had bestowed
upon his land. The smooth fields, under the careful
cultivation of their respective owners, were never un-
duly taxed so as to exhaust their fertility. They were
judiciously planted with a view to changing crops, and
they were enriched as the experienced eye of the farmer
saw what was needed.
Though the life was quiet and unostentatious, yet
the farmer had a peaceful, happy home, undisturbed by
the cares which to-day make the life of the citizen so
full of turmoil and disquiet.
CHAPTER XXIII.
FKUITS AND VEGETABLES.
The Dutch travelers who visited Long Island at the
time of its settlement, and to whom allusion has al-
ready been made, say of the peach-trees that they
" were so laden that one might doubt whether there
were more leaves or fruit on them."
This statement is corroborated by what the old peo-
ple tell us of the enormous quantity of peaches raised
even as late as 1776. At that period, and subsequently,
peaches were so abundant in Flatbush that they lay un-
gathered under the trees. The supply was greater than
the demand, and after the animals in the barnyard had
been abundantly fed on them, the remainder lay rotting
in the sun.
The reverse of this is true at this present time. For
some twenty-five years it has been impossible to culti-
vate successfully this delicious fruit upon the soil of
Flatbush. A worm or some disease attacks the tree,
and before they are in full bearing they look as if blight-
ed, turn yellow, and die.
The peach-tree continued to grow and bear fruit in
some of the adjacent towns long after it had ceased to
repay its cultivation in Flatbush.
278 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Plums and cherries were once very abundant ; the
trees were healthy and the fruit large and fine ; but
with these, as with the peach, some disease attacking the
tree, they were blighted, and the fruit, if the trees con-
tinued in bearing, was poor.
Grapevines were not so generally cultivated as they
are at present. The Isabella grape was the variety pre-
ferred, as being the most hardy.
Of the small fruits, there were currants, gooseber-
ries, strawberries, and raspberries ; but there were none
of the large varieties of these plants, such as are now the
result of careful selection and cultivation. Mulberry-
trees were once abundant, but this very sweet fruit is
now rarely seen.
Pears live to a great age on this soil. There were
trees standing in 1855 which are known to have been in
full bearing in 1776. Pears were formerly as abundant
as were peaches, and the trees being more hardy contin-
ued longer in bearing.
The first of this delicious fruit which led the contin-
uous procession of gradually ripening pears from Au-
gust to November was what was called the " sugar pear."
This was a small, yellow, sweet pear which ripened just
at the close of harvest. It was very nice when first ripe,
but apt to become mealy and decay if kept long after
being gathered.
Another variety of this pear was called the "sugar-
top." These were very nice, being more juicy than the
sugar pear and a little larger.
The "bell pear," named from its shape, was a rich,
juicy pear, and bore very abundantly.
A pear called "the Engelbert Lott," probably named
after the cultivator, w T as an excellent pear, and bore well.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 279
The last of the crop was gathered in October or
November; this late variety was called the "pound
pear," from its great size. They ripened in the house
after being gathered, but were used chiefly for sweet-
meats. The Dutch housewife valued these pears, be-
cause she could preserve them at her leisure during the
winter, as they were not apt to decay even if kept until
almost spring. Flavored with orange, lemon, or ginger,
they made very nice preserves.
There was a prolific bearer among the pear-trees called
the " Cornells Scooter " (we do not vouch for the correct-
ness of the spelling). Every farmer had a number of
these trees. The fruit ripened in the early autumn ;
they were juicy, but not highly flavored. The children
brought them to school in their dinner-baskets, for as
long as they lasted they were very abundant, but they
could not be kept late in the season.
There were a number of fine apple and pear orchards
in the village. Some of these, set out at an early period,
have ceased bearing ; but many of the old residents paid
great attention to the cultivation of these fruits, and
there was not a farm without its choice orchard. Some
forty years ago these were in full bearing, and the fruit
ripened to greater perfection than it has done for the
past thirty years.
Every family had apples enough for winter use and
for cider-making. The surplus was sent to the New
York market; for at that period the markets were
chiefly supplied from the produce of the Middle and
Eastern States.
" Bough apples " began to ripen in harvest-time, and
they were followed by a regular succession of ripening
varieties until, latest of all, the russets were gathered.
280 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
What beautiful fruit, and how abundant it was in
the orchards upon every farm ! Great yellow apples
peeped from under the glossy green leaves ; bright red
apples shone from beneath gnarled boughs of old trees ;
Newtown pippins fell dead ripe upon the stubble of the
wheat-field, and swarms of bumble-bees and wasps and
golden-winged flies feasted on the ripened and decaying
fruit that had burst the mellow rind in falling. There
were "sheep apples," in shape like flattened cheeses,
that grew in the pasture-lots on low trees just high
enough to entice the boys to climb after them ; there
were great yellow apples streaked with red, the embroid-
ery of the sun ; there were "guelderlengs," beautiful to
look upon ; and there were many others, like the fruit
in the garden of Eden, "good for food and pleasant to
the eyes," but without the ban placed upon the apples
in Paradise, for as generously as they yielded, so freely
all partook of the enticing fruit. The very shape of
those old apple-trees was suggestive of a bountiful Na-
ture ; for even where the fruit was high up beyond the
reach, the tree stretched downward its sloping limbs as
if inviting the children to shake the boughs ; Avillingly
the response came ; plump the fruit fell, sometimes, as
if enjoying a practical joke, upon the very heads of the
little ones, whose upturned faces were scarcely prepared
for the sudden response. The pleasant sound of bees
humming among the pink-streaked apple-blossoms in
the springtime seemed to find its contrasted quiet under
those trees in the autumn, when only the stillness was
broken by the fall now and then of the ripened fruit
which hid itself under the clover or the nettles, or rolled
into the ridges of the plowed ground.
Even when the apple-tree has been blown down, it
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 281
will continue to bear if it has any connection with its
root for the supply of sap. Was there ever an old apple
orchard that did not have one or more trees in a recum-
bent posture, easy and inviting, for the children to
climb ? Under such circumstances, it seems almost
impossible that they should still blossom and bear fruit,
so gnarly and sapless the boughs seem to be ; and yet
there are well-authenticated instances of these gnarled,
recumbent trees in full bearing for many years.
An old apple-tree in an orchard of Mr. John Lefferts
blossomed and bore fruit in 1878, two years after it had
fallen to the ground, and was only connected with the
root by a small portion of the trunk. What made this
case remarkable was the fact that this tree was the last
of a large orchard which was full grown in 1776.
The holes in the decaying trunks of fruit-trees from
which large limbs have been twisted by sudden gusts
have always been favorite resorts of owls, from which
through the long summer twilight they hoot in reply to
each other, from orchard to orchard. Here also the
squirrels love to secrete their winter store of nuts, es-
pecially if these orchards be close upon the line of forest
from which they secure their food.
There was a severe gale in the year 1821, known as
the "September gale," which the old people used to
think, we can not say with how much of foundation for
the belief, was the cause of the destruction of many of
the old orchards. "At least," they would say, "the
fruit has never been so abundant since," for in that se-
vere and long - remembered storm the salt spray was
found upon trees far inland, and the south side of trees
turned black. Indirectly it may have had that effect,
but, on the whole, we incline to think it a mere coinci-
282 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
dence, and that there has been a constant and regular
decadence in the fruit orchards of Flatbush.
After the apples were gathered and assorted, cider-
making was part of the farmer's work. The cider-
presses were usually placed along the farm lanes, near
the orchards, and every farmer made from one to ten
or more barrels of cider. It was in almost daily use on
the dinner-table during the winter season, and in the
following summer was often diluted with water, sweet-
ened, and flavored with nutmeg, as a pleasant drink in
warm weather.
It formed the common beverage of the men in the
harvest field, and, as it was the pure and unadulterated
juice of the apple, without any of the doctoring which
it is to be feared it receives from retail dealers of the
article at the present day, it was doubtless a wholesome
drink.
The vinegar used in the family was this cider in its
later stages of fermentation, so that pure "cider vine-
gar " was not the doubtful material which often appears
now under that name.
Vegetables grew in abundance on the rich soil of
Long Island. Asparagus, peas, lettuce, beets, radishes,
beans, cabbage, parsnips, sweet-corn, turnips, cucum-
bers, squash, pumpkins, and potatoes were to be found
in the kitchen garden of every farm. Egg-plant and
tomatoes are the only vegetables of comparatively re-
cent introduction. Tomatoes first came into use upon
the table somewhere about 1840.
Spinach was covered with salt hay, to be cut for table
use in the winter. A narrow-leaved variety of dock
was used as "greens" when vegetables were scarce.
Pursley and dandelion were gathered in the spring
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 283
from the fields by those who had no vegetable gardens.
Melons were easily cultivated in localities where there
was sandy soil ; they could be purchased at a moderate
price through August.
While the revolving seasons brought an abundance of
fruit and vegetables to the tables, yet there were times
when the farmer was almost without them, for there
were then none of the foreign fruits which are now sup-
plied by every incoming steamer to complement the
period when the native varieties are out of the market.
Oranges and pineapples were rare and expensive ; ba-
nanas were not to be had ; lemons were not as abun-
dant as now. Raisins, dried currants, prunes, and figs
were by no means as cheap as they are at present ; white
grapes were only purchased for the sick or for special
entertainments. All the luxuries which steam naviga-
tion brings to the householder to-day formed no part
of the bill of fare of the farmer, who fifty years ago was
confined to the produce of his own farm.
CHAPTER XXIV.
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS.
There is a fashion even in the cultivation of flowers.
The greater or less demand for the propagation of dif-
ferent plants, or the ready sale for particular varieties,
brings certain flowers into prominence at one period
which a few years after are neglected for some newer
favorite.
There was a time when most exorbitant sums were
offered in Holland for the single bulb of a favorite tu-
lip. Now tulips hold a comparatively low place in the
estimation of the florist.
At one time the beautiful garden lily known as the
Annunciation lily was considered a common flower, al-
though it held its place by its hardy growth in our gar-
dens. Now these lilies, forced from their natural July
flowering to bloom at Easter, are cultivated by garden-
ers with the greatest care.
New varieties of roses bring large prices, and pre-
miums are paid for novelties in all kinds of plants, so
that, according to the gardeners estimate, plants are
valued not so much because they are beautiful as be-
cause they are rare or new.
There are many plants now cultivated in every gar-
den which some fifty years ago had not been intro-
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 285
duced ; some of these were even unknown in our green-
houses.
The dahlia was brought into the United States from
Mexico. At first it was highly prized as a rich and rare
plant ; every variety was eagerly sought and propa-
gated with care. Forty years ago our gardens were
planted with dahlia poles almost as soon as the bulbs
had sprouted ; these were anything but ornamental,
even when the long stalk stood like a twin growth
at the side ; but when the velvety petals began to un-
fold, and all the varieties of crimson, scarlet, yellow,
and purple unrolled their regal robes, they received un-
bounded admiration. At every agricultural fair there
was rivalry as to who should exhibit the greatest vari-
ety. But the cultivation of this flower no longer claims
attention from the florist, and the neglect is not to be
regretted, for it was a coarse flower, without odor, and
ungraceful in growth upon its straight, stiff stalk.
When the fuchsia was first introduced it was called
lady's eardrop, and the elongated, slender shape justi-
fied the name by its likeness to the long, pendent ear-
rings which were fashionable at that time. They were at
first crimson and blue ; cultivation has given us many
varieties both as to color and form, but none are as
graceful and pretty as those long crimson ones with
their blue centers from which the first were propagated.
Many plants are now successfully cultivated in this
country which were natives of China or Japan. These,
although at present we can scarcely call them new, were
not common here some thirty years ago ; among such
we can name the camellia Japonica, the pyrus Japo-
nica, dielytra, deutzia, wigelia,^ etc.
All the varieties of beautiful colored leaves — coleus —
286 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
were unknown in the horticulture of fifty years ago in
Flatbush. Now they form a very large part of the bril-
liant decoration of every garden spot. Whether varie-
gated, shaded, or the blending of one or more harmon-
izing tints, they are all so beautiful that they form a
rich and valuable addition to our flora.
There are many flowers to which protection is given
in the winter in the greenhouse that in the summer
give variety to our gardens ; these were wholly wanting
years ago, for the reason that there were fewer public
hothouses and conservatories, and only solitary speci-
mens of these plants found their way to the lover of
flowers. They were not, as now, for sale in the spring-
time at every street-corner. We never saw growing
in our gardens some thirty years ago heliotrope, abu-
tilon, salvias, begonias, bouvardia, verbenas, calceola-
rias, pelargoniums, etc., flowers which now make their
summer home in the beds with our native hardy plants.
The wisteria is also a stranger which has come to
feel at home with us ; its rich clusters were not seen
once as they are now, climbing from trellis to window.
The madeira-vine was then unknown. The trum-
pet-creeper, matrimony, woodbine, honeysuckle, and
climbing roses were the only vines which clustered over
the porticoes and clambered up the trellis.
But the memory of the pretty gardens throughout
Flatbush rebukes even the intimation that we were
without flowers ; and those which we had were quite
as diligently cultivated, perhaps more lovingly, than
the abundant beds which bloom in such luxuriance
around our houses to-day.
We used to have an abundance of what are now
called old-fashioned flowers.
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 287
Lilacs, white and purple, bloomed along the hedges.
How delicious their perfume, how beautiful their color,
how graceful their form ! Theirs was no scant and
penurious flowering ! They gave so abundantly of their
beautiful treasures that, even in the poor man's cottage,
one might find great bunches of them on the mantel-
piece in the spring-time ; children gathered them un-
restricted ; wayside pedestrians leaned over the paling
and broke off great stalks unrebuked, for no one
thought it stealing. They have been called common,
but they are so generous, so beautiful, so fragrant, that
they will ever be associated with sweet memories of plea-
sant things.
Syringas were also very abundant, and their per-
fume filled the air with fragrance in the latter part of
May and first of June.
Honeysuckles overhung many a trellis. The green-
ish-white snowball, that finally the sun bleached, as it
grew into fitness to its name, recalling the drifts of
January, had its place among the shrubbery.
Red peonies, huge and florid, thrust themselves for-
ward in every corner of the garden ; those more deli-
cately tinted did not come to our notice until a later
period, when the pink-and-white peony divided the
attention which had been given to the earlier and
deeply colored specimens of that hardy bulb.
The flower-de-luce, known as the blue flag, and
later as the fleur-de-lis, also formed a thicket with its
sword-shaped leaves, but the varieties in color which
may now be found were then unknown.
Pansies were abundant, but they were very small,
and, under the common name of "jump-up Johnnies,"
crept out from the garden-bed to the grass-plot unno-
288 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
ticed and almost uncared for. The huge velvet petals
and exquisite shadings of their successors were develop-
ments unthought of in connection with the simple pan-
sies which hid themselves under the box bordering or
crept under the shadow of taller plants.
There was a species of rose which was very hardy
and bloomed early in the season, called a May rose ; in
the Eastern States it bore the name of cinnamon rose :
the leaf was small, and the rose itself, crimped and
curly, did not unfold its leaves as fully as did the later
and larger varieties. This opened the season to the suc-
cession of beautiful roses which followed.
The pink monthly rose bloomed, as its name indi-
cated, all the season through, although the flowers were
most perfect in June and October. The color was ex-
quisite, the petals being somewhat the tint of the pink
in the sea-shell.
There was a bush of this species of "monthly rose"
which held its place in a well-known .garden in Flat-
bush for fifty years, the young shoots renewing the
bush from the same root as the old stalk was trimmed
out.
June roses of all shades of pink, dark-red, velvet-
leafed roses, great cabbage-roses, little yellow Scotch
roses, and small white roses were very abundant through
the summer.
There was a white climbing rose which was pe-
culiarly fragrant, having somewhat the odor of new-
mown hay ; it only bloomed in June.
All these were so far hardy that they only required
some little protection to live out in the garden all win-
ter ; they were generally thatched with straw or bent
down and covered with earth or compost.
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 289
We had tulips, chiefly red and yellow ones ; they
grew up without much care, often coming up year after
year in the same bed, even if it had been sodded and
no longer used as a garden. Crocuses and hyacinths
came also with the May sunshine, and lilies of the val-
ley strung their pale bells upon their slender stalks and
gave notice of their presence by the sweet odor which
rose up from their leaf-hidden flowers. Daffodils and
jonquils came as harbingers of the long procession of
the season, and the little pink roses of the flowering
almond held a conspicuous place in the early blooming
shrubbery. Pinks were abundant in June, and in that
season also the honeysuckle filled the evening air with
its luscious perfume.
In July the tall phlox — rocket, as it is sometimes
called — sent up its bushy-headed spires of purple or
white, favorite hiding-place for great humble-bees.
Ragged-robin made its appearance then, and sweet-
william, bachelor's buttons, the red balm of Gilead,
spiderwort, and yellow coreojosis made the beds gay
with their bright colors.
Tall stalks of white lilies rose up from the bed of
leaves at their feet, their stamens balancing the little
puff of yellow pollen which was ever ready to play its
innocent practical joke upon any unwary nose that ven-
tured to steal the perfume from its chalice.
Morning-glories ran in riotous profusion over any
tall object within their reach ; here poppies flaunted
their red petals, there was the purplish foxglove with
its uncanny flowers ; ice-plant, valerian, and bright-
hued four-o'clocks grew abundantly. There were beds
of lady's-slipper of many colors, larkspurs, prince's
feather, and perhaps near these a few favorite sweet
19
290 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
peas. Cockscombs held up their ugly stiff flowers, and
none the less stiff were the tall spikes of Canterbury
bells.
Hollyhocks stood in groups, generally near the
fence ; they were pink, lemon-color, and maroon, tall,
coarse flowers, but they had an honest way of trying to
do their best to make the garden look gay.
Marigolds of all shades, from the brightest orange
to the darkest maroon, stood in great, bushy plants,
and mourning-brides, hydrangea, and love-in-the-mist
showed the contrast of more quiet colors.
Later in the season the stockgillies bloomed, and the
fragrant wallflowers, and in the autumn a great vari-
ety of chrysanthemums — artemisias, as they were then
called — a plant that not all the spring sunshine nor
summer heat could coax into bloom ; only when all beau-
tiful things were on the wane, it came as if to throw
a garland of flowers upon the graves of its kindred.
There were other plants which were transplanted to
the garden after being sheltered during the winter,
such as geraniums, the fragrant Cape jessamine, a
glossy-leaved plant bearing a bright-red fruit known as
"Jerusalem cherry," and wax-plant; but, as we have
been recounting the glories of the garden, we have only
named the flowers which could stand the climate, and
which grew freely in the open air. The addition to
the summer glory which the house-plants might offer
was quite insignificant then, and was lost in the abun-
dant bloom of the hardy garden flowers.
Every careful matron valued the bed of herbs which
she cultivated for medicinal purposes in a secluded cor-
ner of her garden. As many a human being possessed
of useful homely virtues, but not particularly attractive
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 291
to the eye, gets pushed aside to make room for gayer
creatures, so these plants with their healing and health-
giving properties, useful as they might be, were not
beautiful to look upon, and therefore were confined
within the limits of the beds along the garden fence, or
where the huge beds of feathery asparagus marked the
boundary between the flower and the vegetable gar-
den.
There were bunches of tansy, rue, motherwort,
southernwood, catnip, boneset, wormwood, and penny-
royal. These formed the domestic pharmacy which
was the reliance of the family, and which was perhaps
quite as effective as the contents of the vials which serve
to run up the long bills of the apothecary.
In companionship with these medicinal herbs grew
others for culinary purposes : thyme, sage, sweet mar-
joram, mint, and summer savory. A corner of the gar-
den was reserved for the cultivation of mustard. To
prepare ifc for table use, the seed was thrown into a large
wooden bowl, within which a cannon-ball was dexter-
ously rolled round until the seed was pulverized.
The close-shaven lawns, such as now present a beau-
tiful velvety appearance, would have been almost an
impossibility for us before the invention of the lawn-
mower.
The whetting of the scythe might occasionally have
been heard during the season, though the grass was
not often cut. Clover, both red and white, grew rich
and abundant, as it would not be allowed to grow now.
It was intermingled with buttercups and daisies. It
swayed under the breeze like the undulations of the
sea ; yellow- jackets and humble-bees rocked themselves
to and fro upon the clover-heads, and little butter-
292 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
flies raised and lowered their pretty canary - colored
wings as they rested themselves upon the flowers in the
grass.
At the time of mowing the air was sweet with the
perfume of new-mown hay. Often in the second growth
white clover came up abundantly, so that the grass looked
as if sifted over with drifts of snow. This growth of
white clover was even more fragrant than the red. A
flower, called by its common name stariches (little stars),
or known as star of Bethlehem, grew wild in many of
the pasture-fields. Pretty as it was to look at when in
bloom in the spring, it was persistently regarded by the
gardener as his enemy, for where it once obtained hold
upon the soil it was impossible to eradicate it.
The dandelion was abundant in all the fields — beau-
tiful, whether in its tiny mimicry of the golden sun, or
in its gossamer state when, like a flower-spirit, it is
about to ascend and lose itself in the upper air.
Along the borders of the fields and in the woods
there grew abundantly wild flowers of every kind.
Jack-in-the-pulpit preached from every southern
slope in May ; the beautiful white bloodroot fluttered
its tender leaves in the shivering spring wind ; anemo-
nes were plentiful. Hepaticas looked up in little groups
from between the mossy roots of old trees, and wild vio-
lets, scentless but pretty, held up their heads amid the
drifts of the dead leaves in the hollows.
Later in the season the purplish-pink flowers of the
wild geranium appeared upon their slender stalks. The
fragrant pyrola, called sometimes wild lily of the val-
ley, threw up its single stem from the little green plate
of leaves below, and mitchella or partridge-berry mat-
ted the ground with dark-green leaves and coral beads.
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 293
Specimens of the Indian pipe have been found in the
woods, bnt the plant is very rare with ns.
May-apple, or "Pinkster bloomitje," as the Dutch
people called it, was abundant early in the season.
The trailing arbutus (mayflower) never grows at
this end of Long Island, although it is to be found in
the eastern counties.
In the autumn the gentian might be gathered in the
woods, and in the swamps the brilliant lobelia cardi-
nalis.
Celandine grew along the fences, and the running
blackberry added its tangle of prickly vines to the
thicket. These running blackberries were known as
dewberries, and were much larger and sweeter than the
" bush blackberry," as, for distinction, those were called.
The elder bloomed the first of July ; the flowers
were beautiful — a close examination could only reveal
how perfect the minute petals were — but the odor was
not pleasant, and they withered quickly from the warmth
of the hand in carrying them. The clusters of purple-
stemmed berries ripened in the early autumn, and con-
trasted with the brilliant yellow of the golden-rod which
nodded from the same thicket. Its feather-like plumes
were sometimes cultivated in the garden under the name
of amaranth.
Sumach, glossy-leaved and tough-stemmed, thrust
itself wherever a stone wall or post-and-rail fence offered
its protection from the farmer's axe, and held aloft stiffly
its maroon fruitage. Bitter-sweet vines also grew in the
tangle of unkempt hedges, and in the frosts of October
and November opened their bunches of curious berries,
which the housewife loved to- mix with cedar twigs in
her vases on the mantel-piece.
294 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
TREES.
There were formerly many locusts planted in the
gardens and along the village roadside. But these beau-
tiful trees with their delicate, pale-green foliage in
the spring-time contrasting with their furrowed, mossy
trunks, have no power to resist the wind, and are unsafe
by reason of the broken limbs and the lodgment of dead
branches among the foliage. This brittleness of stem and
branch is the result of the depredations of a worm which
infests the tree, and by its continuous boring weak-
ens the strength of the limbs so that they fall under the
slightest pressure of winter snow or summer wind. It
is feared that the locust will in time disappear entirely
under the ravages of this worm. This is to be regretted,
for the odor of the flower is almost equal to that of the
orange-blossom.
There were formerly many sycamore (or button-ball)
trees in Flatbush, but these have nearly all died, as also
have the Lombardy poplars, of which Dr. Strong says
there were many along the sidewalks when he first saw
the town.
In May the horse-chestnut held up its pyramidal
spires of pink and buff flowers ; but there were not many
of these trees in the village. They are not among our
trees of native growth, although we have no memory of
the time when they were introduced.
In midsummer the tulip-tree hides its green and sal-
mon-colored flowers among its abundant leaves.
The large and single althea — we used to call it the
" rose of Sharon " — was to be found in every garden. It
bloomed in August ; the flowers were large — some pink,
others purple or white.
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 295
Lindens and maples have always grown rapidly in
Flatbush and have attained a great size. Until re-
cently there were few, if any, elms. This beautiful tree,
however, grows freely in this soil, and well repays the
care in planting.
Our woods were not without a full supply of nuts.
Chestnut-blossoms spread their long green tassels upon
their outer branches in June, the green balls slowly
ripening until the frosts of October gave the watching
and waiting children the coveted treasures.
Hickory-nuts might be gathered in the woods in al-
most every direction. There was a nut-tree which grew
on a line with, and directly north of, what is now the
Almshouse. It bore nuts which were highly valued ;
they were thin-shelled, and were a superior species of
hickory-nut. They were called heart-nuts from their
shape. The tree was on the farm then owned by Mr. J.
Lefferts.
Butternut-trees also grew in Flatbush : one was on
the property of the Martense family, and stood about
where Mr. Wilbur's house now stands. From a nut
taken from that tree and planted, another grew in the
grounds of Mr. John Lefferts. There were one or two
in the south end of the town.
Black-walnut trees were numerous. One, which is
very old, still stands upon the property of General
Crooke. A grove of them once stood upon the land of
the late Mr. Willink, but were cut down when the
property was sold.
The roots of this tree are said to poison the ground
around them. Other trees die when their roots extend
in the same direction, possibly because the walnut ex-
hausts the fertility of the soil.
296 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Hazelnuts were to bs gathered in some parts of Flat-
bush, but there were not many of these bushes. There
were a number of persimmon-trees in the outskirts of
the village. This fruit was called " messerples" by the
old people ; the fruit was ripened by the frost, and was
only fit to be eaten when the leaves had fallen from the
tree.
The woods which formerly encircled Flatbush con-
sisted chiefly of hickory, gum, chestnut, and oak trees ;
hickory-trees predominated as to numbers.
There was a long belt of woodland southward, the
last remnant of which now lies just beyond the bound-
ary line between Flatbush and Flatlands. To the west
it extended from the line between Flatbush and New
Utrecht, and took in the high ground in Greenwood,
and the hill in Prospect Park, then known as Vander-
bilt's Hill. It bounded the road for the distance be-
tween Mr. Willink's house and the hill on the Polhemus
farm upon the old road.
On the east side of the old turnpike, the woods, un-
touched by the woodman's axe, extended from the point
opposite Mr. Willink's house both northward and east-
ward. The road known as the Clove road followed along
the southerly side of the woods, parallel to where the
Penitentiary now stands, to a point at which it was
intersected by a road which led to Canarsie, and then
continued in an unbroken line toward the north and
east to the limit of the village.
Thus Flatbush was pleasantly and picturesquely en-
circled with woods ; its little group of houses surrounded
by gardens and farms, its chimney-tops and roofs project-
ing from among the trees, and the spire of its church
forming the central object in the view, it presented a
GARDENS, WILD FLOWERS, AND WOODS. 297
beautiful picture of rural life, of peace, quiet, and com-
fort.
Looking down from the height of Yanderbilt Hill, or
farther northward to what used to be Prospect Hill, but
a few years ago it might still have been entitled to the
first name given it by the old Dutch settlers — Midwood.
There were formerly beautiful walks about the vil-
lage. The wood at the north had fine, large trees with
a brook running through, and was without underbrush.
The same might be said of the wood north of Mr. Wil-
link's, now in the Park. There was no underbrush, and
the grass was thick and soft. The most attractive walk
was that upon the high hill, Vanderbilt's Hill, as it was
called. The farm lane led round what is now the Plaza,
near the restaurant, and gradually mounted the hill
known now as Breeze Hill. From this spot an extent of
country could be seen that could scarcely be excelled as
a calm picture of pleasant farm-life. To the north ex-
tended unbroken woods ; eastward, at the foot of the
spectator, was a stretch of level and beautifully culti-
vated farms ; here were fields of waving grain ; there
the red clover wafted its perfume from acres ripening for
hay ; cattle were grazing in pasture-fields ; horses stood
under the trees along the fences, switching away the
flies, now stooping to eat, now raising their heads and
pointing forward their ears as the farmer's dog chased
up the birds from the hedges, or the farmer held out
to them some oats to decoy them within reach of the
bridle.
Perhaps the wagons, laden with hay, slowly wound
along the narrow Tarm lanes ; or it might be that the
plow was being guided up and down a field, making
broad, straight furrows. From the orchards below, the
298 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
robin's song arose ; the thrush whistled his sweet, wild
note ; the oriole, the bobolink, and the wren came out
to the field to add their snatch of song. From distant
tree- tops the crow flapped his wings, and with a loud
caw went to seek his mates.
A succession of highly cultivated fields stretched
still farther eastward until the eye reached the faint sil-
ver rim of the distant bays which, in irregular curves,
bound the shores. Southward, the ocean glimmered
under the sunlight, and the white sails of ships outward
bound could be distinctly seen. Farther to the south-
west the heights of Navesink loomed up faintly, and,
after twilight, the twin revolving lights threw out a
glimmering beacon from the lighthouse like the faint
sparks from the opening and closing of a firefly's light.
To the westward the woodland extended in an unbroken
background of forest. Such was the view from this
hilltop of the village, surrounded by woodlands inclos-
ing with their green circlet the golden grain-fields of
the farmers, like a ring of emerald upon embossed gold.
J
CHAPTER XXV.
VILLAGE ROADS.
Some thirty years ago there were two or three miles
of country road between Flatbush and Brooklyn, with
farms, meadows, and woodland upon the roadside.
Through all these years, however, Brooklyn has been
throwing: out vigorous branches in all directions, like
the spreading boughs of trees that have rapid growth,
and at last it has reached our very borders. Unlike the
budding of tree and shrub, however, this mingling of
urban and suburban presents an unsightly growth.
The sunken city lot, with its encampment of shanties,
its hummocks of refuse, its open, treeless commons,
the resort of goats and geese, its rocks flaunting pla-
cards for advertising quacks and speculators — all these
are the ugly pioneers of the advancing city.
On one side of the village these have been held in
abeyance by the intervening green slopes and shrubbery
of Prospect Park and their protecting barrier of hick-
ory, oak, and elm trees.
The distance between Flatbush and Brooklyn was
rendered more noticeable by the limited means of in-
tercourse in public conveyance between the two places.
300 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Most of the village residents kept their own carriages
and horses. The old-fashioned gig, the red farm-wagon,
the family barouche, and the time-honored stage-coach,
each held undisturbed possession of the dusty turnpike.
The old stage-coach, pleasantly associated with roads
winding between green hills and shady woods, was the
only means of public conveyance within the limits of
Kings County.
Until the year 1838 or '39 there were two regular
stage-coach lines running between Flatbush and Brook-
lyn. The oldest inhabitant well remembers Smith
Birdsall, the proprietor of one line, leaving his house,
which stood on what is now the corner of Flatbush and
Vernon Avenues, at eight o'clock in the morning, and
returning about four in the afternoon.
A loud blast from a horn announced the coming of the
coach. We can readily recall the picture, which now we
only see in the most secluded country towns, of the stop-
ping of the stage-coach, the door held open by friends to
"speed the parting guest." The last words are spoken
as the passenger leans over the half door ; the driver
shouts " All ready ! " and mounts his high seat ; there is
the waving of handkerchiefs, and the journey is begun ;
the children are frolicking in the gateway to enjoy the
excitement of the prancing horses, the cracking of the
long whip-lash, and the prolonged blast of the driver's
horn.
Soon after this stage had gone its way toward the
distant city, but scarcely before the whirl of dust had
altogether subsided, another opportunity was afforded
the traveler to reach town that morning.
The mail-stage came in at nine o'clock from Fort
Hamilton. This was more pretentious, if not more
VILLAGE ROADS. 301
comfortable, than the first. It was drawn by four
horses, and owned by Colonel Church, of New Utrecht.
With a still louder blast upon a bugle, its arrival was
announced as it turned the corner by the church from
the post road to New Utrecht, and drew up before the
little inn of the Widow Schoonmaker, opposite Eras-
mus Hall.
The mail-bag, not a very bulky one in those days,
was taken over to the post-office, nearly opposite the
Dutch church, and assorted by Mr. Michael Schoon-
maker, and then it was flung back to the driver, and
deposited under the boot at the foot of the driver's high
seat.
There was a prolonged snapping of the long whip-
lash over the heads of the leaders, the stage rocked to
and fro as the horses pranced hither and thither in the
long, loose traces, and finally started off gayly under the
inspiring flourish of a fresh blast and a final snap of
the driver's whip.
Then the village sunk into quiet, and the lookers-on
proceeded to their ordinary work for the day. If any
one through drowsiness, or for any other cause, missed
this last nine-o'clock stage, the unfortunate individual
must wait over until the next day, for there was no
other opportunity to reach Brooklyn by public convey-
ance for the next twenty-four hours.
At four o'clock in the afternoon the first stage re-
turned, and at five the mail-coach. Then the same
bustle was repeated ; the friends who were expected from
the city to visit in the country were looked for by these
returning coaches, and the members of the family who
had been to New York or Brooklyn for the day returned
home, tired and hungry, and were met at the gate by
302 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
the children who had been stationed there to await and
announce the approach of the stage-coach. Father had
brought, perhaps, the weekly paper at least ; he had the
latest news ; and mother had been shopping in Maiden
Lane or William Street.
Until the year 1842 or '43 these stages were the only
modes of public conveyance. They then gave place to
an omnibus line.
These omnibuses ran every hour, and as to conve-
nience, in this respect they were certainly an improve-
ment upon the stage-coaches.
Flatbush Avenue was opened from Fulton Avenue,
Brooklyn, to the entrance of the village in 1856. At
first the cars ran to the city limits, and were there
met by the omnibus, but when the whole line of rail-
road was completed, the old 'omnibus line passed into
disuse.
It was a strange sight for us to see the cars from the
city, associated as they then were with shops and city
life, passing to and fro upon the country turnpike, to
catch a glimpse of them through the shrubbery, and
to hear the unmusical tinkling of the bells upon the
car-horses amid suburban sounds.
TILLAGE ROADS.
Before the railway tracks somewhat incumbered the
country turnpike, the old road to Flatbush was a favor-
ite summer drive for the citizens of Brooklyn and New
York. As there were then no city parks for carriage-
driving, and the country had not been so widely opened
up for extended travel, the pleasant rural aspect of the
village made it an attraction toward which the large
majority of the people who lived down town in New
VILLAGE ROADS. 303
York turned for an excursion on a summer afternoon.
The shore road along the Narrows could be included,
making a long and pleasant drive in the country
suburbs.
The roads and sidewalks in this town have always
been kept in order. Dr. Strong speaks of a time when
there were low stone fences along the main street " sur-
mounted by primrose hedges." These have all passed
oat of the memory of even the oldest inhabitant. About
1840 the sidewalks were separated from the carriage
road by a slight fence made of posts joined either by
chains or by a top rail.
At this time every farmer owned several cows, which
were sometimes allow r ed to graze on the roadside, or
loitered there on their way home from their pasture-
fields. The cow-bell, tinkling on the neck of the leader,
was a rural sound which was always heard at sunset in
summer. These railings between the sidewalk and the
carriage road served to keep the cows from annoying
pedestrians, and were really a safeguard for children.
They also gave a finished appearance to the sidewalk,
as they were neatly painted and generally kept in good
repair.
THE TOLL-GATE.
When the road to Brooklyn was a turnpike, the care
of the road was paid for from the money collected at
the toll-gate. This, in or about 1842, stood near where
Flatbush Avenue forms the terminus of Hanson Place,
or between Hanson Place and Lafayette Avenue. Af-
terward it was removed to what is now called Atlantic
Street, somewhat easterly of the present intersection of
Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush- Avenue. Next it was
placed near the Battle Pass, south of the Valley Grove
304 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Hotel, on the old road. After this it was placed
opposite the Willink property. Finally, it was re-
moved within the limits of the Tillage, and at present
stands on the avenue between Feniruore and Winthrop
Streets.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHURCHES IX FLATBUSH.
There are seven churches in Flatbush. In their
order of erection, they are as follows : The Reformed
Dutch Church, St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal, the
Methodist, the Roman Catholic, the Mission Church,
the Baptist, and the German Reformed.
The name of the Dutch Church was first officially
given in the memorial which Domine Selyns, of New
York, and his consistory offered to Governor Dongan
in 1688. It was confirmed by a charter which Gover-
nor Fletcher granted to the metropolitan corporation
in 1696, under the title of " The Ministers, Elders, and
Deacons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in
New York." This is the oldest religious corporation in
this country.
The first church in Flatbush was built in 1654, by
order of Governor Stuyvesant. He directed that it
should be sixty or sixty-five feet long, twenty-eight feet
broad, and from twelve to fourteen feet under the beams ;
that it should be built in the form of a cross, and that
the rear should be reserved for the minister's dwelling.
The Governor also directed that the morning service for
Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Flatlands should be held at
Midwout ; the afternoon service alternately at Brook-
20
306 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
lyn and Flatlands. The first church was erected in
Flatlands in 1662, in Brooklyn in 1666. The second
church in Flatbush, on the same spot, was erected in
1698. It was of stone, facing the east, with a steep, four-
sided roof, in the center of which was a small steeple.
The site of the present Reformed Church was, there-
fore, that of the first church of any denomination in
Kings County ; on this spot there has been preaching
continuously since 1655, a period of two hundred and
twenty-five years.
The salary paid Eev. Johannes Theodoras Polhemus,
the first pastor, was a sum equal to about four hundred
and sixteen dollars. The Rev. Henricus Selyns was
sent over from Amsterdam in 1660, to have charge of
matters ecclesiastical in Brooklyn, upon complaint as
to "the difficulty of the road from Breucklin to Mid-
wout." Domine Selyns returned to Holland in 1664.
After the death of Domine Polhemus in 1676, the Rev.
Casparus Van Zuren was sent over by the classis of Am-
sterdam, and installed in 1677 as pastor of the four
churches, i. e., Breucklin, Midwout, Amersfort, and
New Utrecht. He returned to Holland in 1685. The
Rev. Rudolphus Varick was the next minister over the
Kings County churches ; he continued in office until
1694, and was succeeded by Domine Lupardus, who
died in 1702.
The church at Jamaica was now added to the num-
ber, and there seems to have been a little disturbance
upon the occasion of calling another minister. Some
of the people were anxious to have a call given to Rev.
Bernardus Freeman, of Schenectady ; others made a
formal application to the classis of Amsterdam, and, in
response to their request, Rev. Vincentius Antonides
CHURCHES IN FLATBUSH. 307
was sent out and installed in 1705. Meantime Domine
Freeman had also accepted the call, and party spirit ran
high as to the claims of the respective ministers. The
controversy increased in bitterness until the year 1714,
when a more Christian spirit prevailed, and the churches
agreed to accept both ministers and to lay aside their
differences. The charge of the two ministers consisted
of the churches of Breucklin, Bushwick, Flatbush, Flat-
lands, New Utrecht, and Jamaica. Breucklin, Bush-
wick, and Flatbush communed together, and Flatlands,
Gravesend, and New Utrecht ; Jamaica had a separate
communion.
The churches were, about this time, greatly agitated
upon the question of ordaining ministers. One portion,
called the " Castus party," claimed that, in view of the
inconvenience of sending for ministers from Holland,
there should be a regular organization into classes and
synods in this country. The " Conference party" be-
lieved that the ministers should be ordained and sent
out by the classis of Amsterdam. In 1746 the appro-
bation of the classis of Amsterdam was given, and the
first meeting of the new Csetus was held in September,
1747, in New York City, this being the. first judicial
organization, higher than a consistory, established in
the Dutch Church in America.
Mr. Freeman died in 1741. Johannes Arondeus
was appointed as his successor, but he does not seem to
have shown a Christian spirit, and was not held in high
esteem. He was deposed from his office, and Domine
Curtenius was installed in 1755. Rev. Ulpianus Van
Sinderin was called to fill the place of Rev. Vincentius
Antonides, who died in 1744 ; his colleague was Johannes
Caspar us Rubel.
308 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
Domine Eubel was a violent Tory during the Revo-
lution, and gave much offense for this cause. He had
also faults which were very inconsistent with his Chris-
tian profession.
There was nothing charged against the moral char-
acter of Mr. Van Sinderin ; but his eccentricity and his
advanced age made it desirable that he should withdraw
from active duty. He was declared emeritus, and a
stated salary was given him until his death, at Flat-
lands, in 1796. Rubel was deposed from office, and
his subsequent career proved that the people had acted
wisely in doing so.
Van Sinderin and Rubel were the last ministers sent
to America from the classis of Amsterdam.
The Rev. Martinus Schoonmaker and the Rev. Peter
Lowe were the colleagues next placed over the six col-
legiate churches of Kings County. The former preached
in the Dutch language until his death, which occurred
in 1824. At that time he was nearly ninety years of
age. "He was," says Furman, "the last connecting
link of the chain which had bound together the churches
of Flatbush and Gravesend from 1654." It is said that
Domine Schoonmaker never but once (in 1788) preached
in English. With his death, in 1824, the regular and
public use of the Dutch language in the pulpit ceased.
Until 1792, however, all the church service was in
Dutch ; at that date it was arranged that Mr. Lowe
should preach in English in the afternoon service at
Brooklyn, Flatbush, and New Utrecht. The combina-
tion of the six congregations composed of the towns of
Brooklyn, Bush wick, Flatbush, New Utrecht, Flatlands,
and Gravesend continued until 1805. As these towns in-
creased in size they gradually formed separate churches.
.
Rev. THOMAS M. STRONG, D. D.
Born April 28, 1797. Died June 14, 1861.
CHURCHES IN FLATBUSH. 309
After the death of Rev. Peter Lowe, Flatbush and Flat-
lands, the only remaining united congregations, called
Rev. Walter Monteith. In 1822, the Flatbush church
called Rev. Thomas M. Strong, he being the first pastor
settled over this church alone. The Rev. Dr. Strong-
died in 1861, and was succeeded by Rev. C. L. Wells,
who is still the pastor.
The present church is the third upon the same spot ;
it was completed in 1796. The temporalities of the
church were judiciously managed by church masters for
a period of one hundred and seventy years. The last
of these church masters were John Vanderbilt, Isaac
Snediker, and Johannes E. Lott. This church was the
first on Long Island incorporated under the general act
of the Legislature of the State in 1784. It continued
under this act until 1804, when, under a special act
providing for the incorporation of the Reformed Dutch
churches, the title became that of the " Trustees of the
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the Town of
Flatbush, in King's County." Dr. Strong says that
much of the labor in building the present church was
done by the congregation. So well did they love the
house of the Lord ! The cost, exclusive of the work
thus given, was £4,873 7s. 7d. The bell in present use
was the gift of Hon. John Vanderbilt, who imported it
from Holland.
In speaking of the interior arrangement of the sec-
ond church, Dr. Strong says : "The male part of the
congregation were seated in a continuous pew all along
the wall, divided into twenty apartments, with a suffi-
cient number of doors for entrance, each person having
one or more seats in one or the other of these apart-
ments. The residue of the interior of the building was
310 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
for the accommodation of the female part of the con-
gregation, who were seated on chairs. These were ar-
ranged into seven different rows or blocks, and every
family had one or more chairs in some one of these
blocks. This arrangement of seats was called ' De Ges-
toeltens.' Each chair was marked on the back by a num-
ber or by the name of the person to whom it belonged.
The windows of this church were formed of small panes
of glass ; those on either side of the pulpit were painted
or ornamented and set in lead."
The interior of the present church has been con-
stantly modernized in accordance with the changes of
fashion, and to keep pace with the appearance of sister
churches in the adjacent city. At first the aisles were
not carpeted, but were scrubbed when necessary and
sanded. Until 1836 the pew-doors were as high as, and
on a line with, the back and front, so that the level
pew-tops gave them the appearance of pens. The wood
was grained and of a very dark color. The galleries at
the north and south were never used ; the front of these
was so high that a person sitting there could not have
been seen from below. There was no gallery across the
east side of the church. There were a few pews between
the belfry and the side galleries which were given for
the use of the colored people. There were no blinds on
the windows. The pulpit, which was reached by means
of winding stairs on each side, was made of mahogany,
and was some five feet above the floor, supported on col-
umns. The church was heated by two cast-iron stoves,
but these were not sufficient to make the people com-
fortable, and foot-stoves were provided by every pew-
holder for the use of his family. These foot-stoves were
boxes about a foot long, made either of tin or wood per-
CHURCHES IN FLATBUSH 311
forated. Within this box was placed an iron cup con-
taining hickory coals. The colored servants carried these
foot-stoves to church. It was common to see a small
colored boy or girl preceding the mistress with her stove
and placing it in her pew. They were pushed from one
member of the family to the next when needed, and the
peculiar scratching noise upon the floor thus made was
quite a familiar sound in church. Sometimes a careless
child upset the stove, which occasioned some commotion
in the pew. In 1836 the gallery front was lowered, as
were also the tops of the pews ; a gallery was thrown
across the east side of the church, and the woodwork was
painted white. Back of the pulpit was a fluting of dam-
ask, forming a crimson arch behind the minister. Two
bronze lamps stood upon the desk. The next change
made in the church was to paper it to represent stone.
But this did not meet with general approval. Taking
the flimsiest material to represent the most durable was
not characteristic of the Dutch. In place of the crim-
son satin arch, a painting representing a curtain looped
back was inserted back of the pulpit. About this time
blinds were placed upon the north and south windows.
Unfortunately, the exterior of the church, although
stone, was painted like the front, which was stuccoed.
It was a great mistake, and has since been much re-
gretted. Somewhere about 1864 the church was again
renovated, and it still remains as it was at that time dec-
orated. After this renovation a new church-clock was
placed in the steeple, which has proved to be an excel-
lent time-keeper. It strikes upon the old bell given in
1796. The organ was purchased about 1860. Instead of
the cast-iron stoves, large heaters are now used, which
make the temperature very pleasant throughout the
312 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
building. Furnaces such as require pipes laid below the
flooring can never be placed under the foundation, for
fear of disturbing the graves of those who were buried
under the church.
While the service was in the Dutch language the
music was only vocal. Many of the old Psalm-books are
still extant ; the music was on every page beside the
words. The square notes look very odd compared with
the music of this age. The New Testament and Psalms
were bound together, and the books were usually mount-
ed and clasped in silver, and had small rings attached,
through which chains or ribbons were passed, so as to
hang the book, when not in use, on the back of the chair.
The earliest recollection which we personally have
of the singing during the church service is that of Mr.
John Antonides as precentor or " voorzanger." He was
an old man even then (somewhere about 1836) ; he was
very tall, with a strong frame, and a voice so powerful
that it filled the church without an effort. His place
was in the corner of the elders' seat, for then, as now,
the elders' bench was at the right side of the minister
and the deacons' at the left. When the Psalm was given
out he leisurely put on his spectacles, and, beating time
with his hand once or twice on the top of the pew, took
the proper key from his tuning-fork, and then slowly
rose from his seat and led some of those old tunes which
are now almost forgotten : Dundee, Lenox, Mear, Duke
Street, and St. Martin. When he struck the keynote,
the people all sang, not leaving the praise of God to the
choir alone.
At that time the metrical version of the Psalms was
used ; the old tunes adapted to them have a peculiar
power to recall vividly the past. How well are those
CHURCHES IN FLATBUSH 313
old hymns remembered ! and how often they come to
mind : " Teach me the measure of my days "; "0 God,
our help in ages past"; " Sweet is the day of sacred
rest" ; "Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear." They
recall the memory of the beloved minister whose lips
shall no more speak the words, and of the chorister who
has slept for more than a quarter of a century in the old
churchyard with the congregation whose hymns of praise
he led.
Thus we have rapidly passed over a period of two
hundred and twenty-six years. The fact that this ven-
erable church was the first organization in Kings Coun-
ty invests it with peculiar interest. Where now there
are so many places of worship that our adjacent city has
been called " the City of Churches," this one stands first
in the line, and is the oldest in the sisterhood. On the
very spot where the present building was erected, the
Indian tribes of western Long Island first saw an assem-
blage for worship in a house dedicated to God.
OTHER CHURCHES.
There were at one time in Flatbush many colored
children, the descendants of those who were once slaves
on Long Island. The majority of them did not attend
Sunday-school, and they were rarely seen at church.
The month of February, 1856, was ushered in by a
heavy fall of snow ; so severe was this storm that travel
was impeded, and even after the highways were cleared
it was almost impossible for those who lived off from
the main streets to make their way through the drifts.
At this time some of these colored children were gath-
ered into a small building upon a hillside in what is
now Prospect Park, but which was then the private
314 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
property of Judge Vanderbilt. A little whitewashed
room, about twelve feet square, in an unoccupied house
built for the use of a gardener, was the primitive
schoolroom. The school was opened with five scholars ;
it met the need of the people, and the number rapidly
increased.
In order to hold the money legally which was
raised to build a schoolroom, a society was organized
and duly incorporated under the general law. It was
called the" Society for the Amelioration of the Colored
Population of Flatbush," and was organized October
27, 1858.
The money raised through subscription by the man-
agers amounted to $939.75. A lot of ground was then
purchased, and a building erected at a cost of $1,000.76,
leaving a debt of $04.12, which was subsequently liqui-
dated by the managers themselves.
The school-house was neat and comfortable, and the
situation, on the old turnpike, was all that could be
desired for quiet and seclusion. A Sunday-school was
held here regularly, and at times public worship ; there
were also occasional prayer meetings and temperance
meetings, and, when necessary, the room was offered
for funeral services.
Another cause for anxiety soon disturbed the friends
of this little mission. At the opening of Prospect Park
the building was found to be within the park limits.
Owing to the increased value of property in the vicin-
ity, it was difficult to purchase desirable lots ; but for
the strenuous exertions of friends, the work would have
been abandoned.
At a meeting of the society held December 14, 1864,
Mr. John Lefferts was authorized to transact the busi-
CHURCHES IN FLATBUSH. 315
ness in regard to the sale and purchase of the building
and lots. He selected some land in Catharine Street,
a small street running through the center of what was
then called the " Point lot."
These two lots were purchased for $1,600. The
moving of the building cost $125, and to the Park
Commissioners, for the repurchase of the same, was
paid $250. A room for the infant department was now
added at the cost of $1,600. There were many other
items consequent upon the grading, laying gas-pipes,
etc., which increased the cost to $3,877.
To meet this, the funds in hand were $1,363, as the
award for the land taken by the Park Commissioners ;
$700, the result of a fair held by the ladies of the
Reformed Dutch Church ; $500, a legacy from the
estate of Mrs. Eliza J. Lefferts, and some donations
from friends, the sum total being $3,084. There re-
mained a deficit of $800, which was canceled by Mr.
John Lefferts as a gift to the society. A bell was at
this time kindly presented to the chapel by Miss Esther
J. Martense.
Upon the opening of Washington Ayenue and Mal-
bone Street, the successive assessments were paid for
with the returns of fairs held for that purpose.
At a meeting of the "Society for the Amelioration
of the Colored Population," it was resolved to transfer
the property to the Consistory of the Reformed Dutch
Church. As it was entirely free from debt, and the
building in good repair, it was a valuable gift. After
this transfer was made the society was dissolved, having
accomplished with a good measure of success the pur-
pose for which, years before, it.was organized.
The Consistory of the Dutch Church had upon re-
316 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
quest established regular church services in the chapel.
The ministers who have successively had charge of the
mission are : Rev. Mr. Gleason, Rev. R. G. Strong,
Rev. V. B. Carroll, Rev. J. A. Gerhard, and Rev. C.
S. Wright. On the first communion Sunday a neat
service, consisting of two goblets, two plates, a wine-
pitcher, and a baptismal bowl, was presented by Mr. J.
Lefferts. A beautiful pulpit Bible was also presented
"in memoriam" by Mrs. Eliza J. Zabriskie.
In 1878 the chapel was found to be on the proposed
line of the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Rail-
way ; it was purchased by the company for $2,500.
The Consistory of the Reformed Church appointed
Mr. J. Lefferts to transact the business of moving the
house once more. Lots were purchased, and the build-
ing was removed to Lefferts Street ; for this and other
expenses beyond the money in hand ($2,500) a debt
was incurred, which was once more defrayed by Mr. J.
Lefferts. The room was now newly furnished, a fine
organ was presented by some friends, two pulpit chairs
were given by Miss Mary J. Williams, and in July,
1878, the chapel was once more thrown open for the
use of the congregation ; it now presented a very neat
and cheerful interior, and offered ample accommoda-
tion for all in the neighborhood who might desire to
assemble there for worship.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church was built in 1836. The
Christian courtesy of the Dutch church was shown in
the fact that the first service preparatory to the organi-
zation of the Episcopal church was held in the lecture-
room, which was offered for that purpose by the Con-
sistory of the Reformed Church. Dr. Strong says,
alluding to this : "Although it was the first attempt
CHURCHES IN FLATBUSH. 317
to introduce the services of another denomination of
Christians in the town, the kindest feelings were enter-
tained and expressed, and such facilities were afforded
to further it as Christian courtesy dictated on behalf
of the officers and members of the Keformed Dutch
church. "
The building first erected by this congregation was
taken down some eight years since, and a smaller but
picturesque and tasteful edifice was erected upon the
same ground.
The Methodist church was at first a wooden build-
ing in the English Neighborhood. The congregation
afterward selected Diamond Street as the locality upon
which to build their new brick church. For want of
funds it has not yet been wholly completed, service be-
ing held in the lower story. The members of the
Dutch church have contributed large sums not only
toward the erection, but also toward extinguishing the
debt upon this church.
The Roman Catholic is the largest church in Flat-
bush. It is built of brick with stone coping ; the exte-
rior is varied in outline and presents an imposing ap-
pearance. The congregation is large, including those
of this faith from an extended area beyond the limits
of the village.
The Baptist society have erected a small building to
serve temporarily for their worship until their number
and their funds render enlargement advisable.
The German church is included in the South Clas-
sis of Long Island, as one of the churches in its care.
It was built for the Protestant Germans of this vicinity
who could not understand the service in the English
language.
318 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
As we are limited in the general scope of our work
to the subject of the Dutch settlers in this village, we
are obliged to forego reference to the other churches
beyond the mere statement of their order of organi-
zation.
CHAPTER XXVIL
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
Sunday- School.
The first Sunday-school in Flatbush was held Decem-
ber 17, 1816, in a barn, for the benefit of the slaves. It
was doubtless the philanthropic work of some Christian
heart, but the mere fact of its organization is all that is
known of it now. It was probably of short duration.
The Sunday-school of the Reformed Dutch church
was organized in 1823, and was first held in the galleries
of the church. In 1831 the consistory-room adjoining
the church was built, and the Sunday-school was held
there. When the new chapel, corner of Grant Street
and Flatbush Avenue, was completed in 1871, ample
accommodation was afforded to the increased size of
the school, which at present numbers about three hun-
dred scholars, with an able and efficient corps of teach-
ers.
Tract Society.
As early as 1815 a society for the distribution of
religious reading was organized, called "The Female
Religious Tract Society of Flatbush and Flatlands,"
these villages being united in the work. In 1816 the
Gociety enlarged its work, and changed the "name to
320 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH
" The Female Bible and Religious Tract Society of Kings
County," and the surplus funds were given to the
American Bible Society.
We realize the changes of half a century when we
read from the minutes of their meetings that in 1816
they distributed 1,493 tracts in the following places :
New Brunswick, Bergen, Allentown, Raritan, Millstone,
Middlebush, Monmouth, the garrison at Fort Lewis,
Hempstead Harbor, city of Hudson, N. Y. ; Cedar
Swamp, Long Island ; Staten Island ; Johnstown, N. Y.
This society is still in existence, but its work is at
present confined to the distribution of tracts and reli-
gious newspapers within the limits of the village of
Flatbush.
Weekly Prayer -Meetings.
During the pastorate of Dr. Strong, the prayer-
meetings of the Reformed Dutch church were held in
the homes of the members of the consresration.
Each house in turn was thrown open on Friday
evening for this purpose. A year was necessary to go
through the village, and no family, rich or poor, re-
fused their rooms for this meeting, and none were
omitted in their regular order of succession. At pres-
ent all prayer-meetings are held in the chapel, the con-
gregation being too large to have it otherwise.
For twenty years, dating from 1832, a Sunday-school
teachers' pra}^er-meeting was held weekly at the house
of Mrs. Mar 
