Early memoirs of the Stilwell family, comprising the life and times of Nicholas Stilwell, the common ancestor of the numerous families bearing that surname, with some account of his brothers John and Jasper and incidentally a sketch of the history of Manhattan island and its vicinity, under the Dutch, with some contributions to a genealogy of the family

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EARLY

MEMOIRS OF THE STILWELL FAMILY,

COMPRISING THE

LIFE AND TIMES

Nicholas Stilaa^ell,

THE COMMON ANCESTOR OF THE NUMEROUS FAMILIES
BEARING THAT SURNAME.

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF

HIS BROTHERS JOHN and JASPER,

AND INCIDENTALLY

A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MANHATTAN ISLAND AND
ITS VICINITY, UNDER THE DUTCH,

WITH SOME CONTRIBUTIONS TO

A GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY.

BY

BENJ. MARSHALL STILWELL

NEW YORK:

THE NATIONAL PRINTING ^'OMPAWY,
13 Chambers Street,

1878. ['ii ''> '

j uUL

\ \ 1883

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the j'car 1877.

By KENJ. M. STILA^'ELL.

In the oflice of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.

PREFATORY.

It has been given to but few, m any age, to
achieve greatness; while to have had greatness
thrust upon them, has been the lot of a still less
number. The mass, therefore, of those who claim
superiority over their fellows, must base their pre-
tensions upon the fact that they were born great ;
that though they have not themselves contributed
anything to the treasury of history, they are heirs
or of kin to those who have; and with the blood
and estates of the latter, they have inherited a
portion of the credit due them for their achieve-
ments.

Genealogical research, having for its object the
investigation and recording of the grounds upon
which such claims are founded, is not without its
value ; for the knowledge that one has even such
vicarious claims to superiority, will incite in him a
laudable ambition to follow those who have re-

IV PREFATORY.

fleeted honor upon him, and thus "leave his own
footprints on the sands of time."

What it was in the lives of one's progenitors that
has been deemed worthy of remembrance, is appar-
ently of little moment, for the whirligig of time
brings its revenges, and acts, which in one age are
branded as crimes, in the next are lauded as vk-
tues ; and deeds, which in former times were done
with prayer, by pious men, who hoped thereby
to merit the favor of heaven, are looked upon by
us with abhorrence.

"Vulgar crimes and criminals are soon forgotten ;
it is only when those who have defied the law,
and suffered its terrible penalties, have done so in
support or defence of what they beheved to be
rights or principles, that theu^ names and acts are
embalmed in history; and posterity honors them
none the less, though time may have shown that
they were in the wrong, or that the cause in which
they suffered was unworthy of the sacrifice.

Those who, in the reign of Charles the Second,
were executed as malefactors — as murderers of their
khig — are now honored, as patriots who defended
the liberties of their country at the expense of their
lives; and those who, in the early days of our
history were ignomiuiously whipped at the cart's-

PREFATORY. V

tail, and put to death as " Quakers," are now
revered as " men of whom the world was not
worthy."

The Stilwell family may justly be i)roud that
they inherit the blood of John Cooke, who, in IGGO,
was tried and executed as a traitor; for he was
one of those known in history as the regicides,
who, in 1648, delivered English liberty for a time
from the incubus of the house of Stuart. But
like all great reformers, they were in advance of
their age, and it was not until many years after
their death, that England discovered they were in
the right, and ratified and consummated their acts
by the revolution of 1688.

And with equal pride we trace descent from.
Nicholas Stilwell, whose opinions in matters of re-
ligion, and as to the authority of the i)riesthood, —
equally intolerable to the Puritans of New England
and to the Conformists of Virgiuia,-made him " an
outcast of each church and state," and compelled
him to seek refuge in the wilderness, among the
savages then inhabiting Manhattan Island.

Nor need we blush that our blood was early
mingled with that of Obadiah Holmes, whose cruel
persecutions and patient sufiferings as a " Quaker,^
have given him a place in history.

\l PREFATORY.

But if there were notliiiig in the lives of our
progenitors specially calculated to minister to our
pride of ancestry, their history would still concern
us ; for they were among the pioneers of civiliza-
tion, who first penetrated these wilds, then known
as iN'ew JsTetherlands, and prepared the foundations
upon which has been built the metropolis of the
western world; and a relation of their sufferings
and trials, their contests with the wilderness and
its savage inhabitants, and their acts and doings
in the infancy of the country, could not be with-
out interest to thek descendants.

Down to a recent period, there were but few and
indistinct traces to be found, by which we might
follow the footsteps of our forefathers, the fii'st
English settlers upon Manhattan Island, and their
history rested chiefly in tradition; but the docu-
ments relative to the early history of New York,
which by the liberality of the State government,
and the intelligent industry of its agents, have
been gathered from the archives of Holland and
England, and placed within our reach, have given
us full and precise information in regard to all
public affairs in which they took part in those
early days ; while the translation of the Dutch
records of the Colony of New Netherland, in the

PREPATOKY. Vii

office of the Secretary of State at Albany, and of the
records of New Amsterdam, in the public ofiiccs of
the City of 'New York, have furnished us the means
of becoming as well acquainted with the local
affairs and transactions of our ancestors upon
Manhattan Island and its vicinity, as if we had
lived in their midst.

From these sources, and from the general history
of the times, in which they acted no inconsider-
able part, as well as from private records and re-
ceived traditions of the family, this account of its
early liistory has been compiled. That portion now
submitted, " The life and times of Nicholas Stilwell,"
its common ancestor, with a sketch of the principal
events in the life of his brother John, and some
incidental reference to the third brother, Jasper,
comprises the history of the first generation of the
family in this country, bringing it down to the
year 1671, the date of the death of Nicholas Stil-
well, the first of the name.

But om' forefathers were not only among those
who prepared the foundations, they also assisted
at each step in building the superstructure of that
magnificent fabric, which now fitly weai'S the title
of the " Empire State."

Among the fii'st judges appointed to interpret

Vlll PREFATORY.

and administer the Colonial laws of New York,
were three sons of Nicholas — Eichard, Thomas, and
Nicholas Stilwell, the second of the name, who
respectively held commissions from Charles the
Second, James the Second, and William and Mary.
The earliest records of our courts, still preserved,
bear witness to the wisdom and imj3artiality with
which they performed their duties; and continu-
ously since, for now two hundred years, some of
their descendants have held, and still hold, judi-
cial stations of more or less prominence.

In the legislative and political history of the State
the family have occupied no inconsiderable i)osition
from the earliest times to the present day Nicholas
Stihv'cll, the second of the name, was a prominent
member of the first Colonial Assembly, convened
in 1691, the acts passed at which, are the earUest
recognized laws of the State of New York.

Richard Stilwell of Gravesend, as a delegate from
Kings County, took part in the deliberations of the
lirst Provincial Congress, which met in New York in
May, 1775; and since the organization of the State
government the name of some member of the fam-
ily has at all times appeared upon the roll of the
legislature ; and we may well point Avith pride to
the fact, that it is to a member of this family that

PREFATORY. IX

the world is indebted for that great legislative act
which will make the niueteenth century consi)icuous
in the history of the ijrogress of civilization, the
" Act to abolish imprisonment for debt," passed in
1831, which, in honor of its author, the Hon. Silas M.
Stilwell, is called the " Stilwell Act." Nor will pos-
terity forget its great indebtedness to him for that
system of finance, by which the country was enabled
to sustain the burthen of the great rebellion.

The reputation of Nicholas Stilwell, the first of
the name, as a soldier, has been worthily supported
by his descendants. The achievements of General
Garrett Stilwell, and of Col. Eichard Stilwell, who
respectively held important commands during the
revolutionary war, will be read with pride and in-
terest, by those of their blood or kin ; and whenever,
since, the country has called upon its sons to defend
her, upon the rolls of honor, have always been
found the names of many of the family.

The mantle of John, the regicide, as a preacher,
has fallen upon the shoulders of many of his de-
scendants, who have worn it not imworthily. His
grandchildren were among the founders of the
Baptist Church in America; and the " silver tongue"
of his grandson, Eichard Stilwell, of Staten Island,
was Iieard in the First Baptist Church in New York,

X PEEFATOEY.

built in 1724, on Golden Hill, in the City of New
York.

John Stilwell, the grandfather of the Hon. Silas
M. Stilwell, was one of the first and most noted
preachers of the Methodist persuasion.

William Stilwell, the grandfather of the Hon.
Sanuiel Stilwell Powell, twice Mayor of Brooklyn,
is still remembered among the Quakers as a " great
preacher," when the spirit moved him. And it has
been the good fortune of many still living to have
listened to the eloquence of the late William Stil-
well, who for thirty years occupied the pulpit
of the Methodist Church, and whose light last
shone in the Christie Street Chm'ch, 'Ne^Y York;
a slight measure of whose popularity is found in
the fact, that dm^ing his ministry he was called
upon eight thousand times to i^erform the marriage
ceremonj^, and seven thousand times to i^erform the
last solemn rites over the graves of those who, while
living, had listened to his teachings.

A mass of materials has been collected for the
subsequent history of the family, and particularly
of the second generation, — those who swarmed
from the parent hive and founded the niunerous
branches of the family, now widely scattered ; but
the arrangement of these materials for publication

PREFATORY. xi

has becMi deluycd in the lio[)c tluil the apiHiariUice
of tbe present volume would induce otliers of tlio
family, having' records or information in regard lo
the early history of their respective branches, to
communicate the same to the inidersigned, in order
that tbe bistory of tbe second and subsequent gen-
erations of tbe family may be made as complete as

possible.

BENJ. M. STILWELL.

New York, Jau., 1876.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Page
Three Brothers, driven IVoiu England by Persecution, first
find Refugo in Holland— Assume the Name of Still-'well
— Traditions 33 to Origin of Name, Original Surname
and Early History of the Family 25

CHAPTER II.

1638.

Religious Differences of the Three Brothers — Emigrate to
New Haven in Search of Civil and Religious Liberty —
Disappointments — They Separate — Jasper Settles at Guil-
ford, Conn., and Dies there — John and Nicholas remove
to New Netherlands, under the Dutch ^^

CHAPTER in.

1639.

Arrival in New Netherlands— John Settles on Stateu Island,
at Dover — Driven away by Indian Hostilities — Finds
Refuge in Fort Amsterdam — Returns to England — Re-
sumes Original Name — Appointed Solicitor-General —
Officiates at the Trial of Charles First— Appointed Chief
Justice — Airested for Treason 30

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

1660.
John Tried for Treason— Condemned and Executed— Last
Speech and Prayer on Scaffold— Letter to his Daughter
firom Newgate— She Emigrates to America— Marries her
Cousin, Judge Eichard Stilwell, and Dies on Staten
Island „

Page

47

CHAPTEE V.
1639.
Manhattan Island in 1626— Purchased for Twenty-four Dollars
— Reserved for the Use of the West India Company-
Governor Kieft arrives in 1638, and Foreigners Permitted
to Settle in New Netherlands— Nicholas Stilwell one of
the First English Settlers on Manhattan Island— Tohacco
Planters at " Hopton," on Turtle Bay in 1639— Law Suit
with his Neighbors, George Holmes and Thomas Hall-
How the Company's Boweries on Manhattan Island were
Appropriated — Jan Jansen Schepmoes 55

CHAPTEE VI.
1641.
Murder at Turtle Bay— Schepmoes Frightened— Seeks Safer
Quarters— Sells Out the Bowery to George Baxter and
Walter Ilartfoot on Credit— They Secure a Patent for it,
and Sell it to Nicholas Stilwell for Cash— Ho Builds the
Stono House at Hopton, on Turtle Bay— Life There in
1642— Eumors of Indian Uprising under Sliantonomah —
Nicholas Organi.'.es a Troop of English 67

CHAPTEE VIT.
1643.
Indian Onil.roak of 1613— Savages Sock Slid for muler Fort
Amsterdam— Treacherously Murdered by the Dutcli at
Favoiiia and CorJeav's Hook— Do Vries' Account of Mas-

CONTENTS.

XV

PftW

Racro — Gonoral Uprisiiij; of liidhnis— ITopton Destroyed —
Settlers Escape to Fort Aiusterdaiii — Niclwdas CoiimiiH-
sioned to Enrol the Eiij^lisli for Dcfeuco — Indians Sock
Teacc— Treaty of March, 1G43 7H

CHAPTER VIII.

1043.
Nicholas Purchases New Residence near the Fort — Settlers
now Permitted to take up Lots on Manhattan Island —
New Amsterdam, iu 1042 — Arrival of Lady Deborah
Moody — She lays out Settlement on Long Island — Grav-
enzando — English from Hoptou Remove there S'.>

CHAPTER IX.

1043-4.
Kieft Embezzles Presents duo Indians on Treaty of Peace —
Hostilities Renewed — Settlers of Gravenzande Organize
a Military Force under Nicholas Stilwoll — Savages Attack
Anno Hutchinson and Murder her Family — Destroy Vre
desland and Mcspat — Attack Gravenzande and are Re-
pulsed by Force Under Nicholas — Settlors Abandon the
other Villages and Flock into New Amsterdam — Taken
into Service of the Comj^any — John Uuderhill given the
Command — Indian Massacre at Horse Neck — Treaty of
Peace of 1044 96

CHAPTER X.
1044-5.
News of Massacre by Indians in Virginia — Nicholas Enters
Service of that Colony — Precautions taken against Sav-
ages— Account of Massacre of 1044 — Opcchancanagh, the
Great King — Old and Decrepid — Captain Flecto Opens
Pretended Negotiations for Peace — Discovers Retreat of
King-^Expeditiou Organized to Carry him Olf— Troop
Under Roger Marshall and Nicholas Stilwoll Capture the
King— His Death lor)

Xvi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XI.

1646.

• Page

Governor Calvert Driven Out of Maryland by Claybourne —
Is Protected by the Governor of Virginia — Nicholas Re-
cruits a Company in Virginia, and goes to assistance of
Claybourne in Maryland — Proclamation of Governor of
Virginia^Captain Hill sent Ambassador to Maryland —
Secures Private Property of Lord Baltimore, and Sur-
renders Kent Island and Palmer's to Claybourne—
Nicholas' Company Disbanded in August, 1646 — He Re-
turns to New Netherlands 114

CHAPTER XII.

1646-7.

Affairs in New Amsterdam during the Absence of Nicholas
in Virginia — Indian Depredations continued — Colony in
Ruin — People complain to States General, and demand
Recall of Kieft — Patent Granted for Gravenzande — Nicho-
las Returns to Turtle Bay — Plantation claimed by Schep-
moes — Nicholas settles his Claim by giving him House
on Beaver Graft — Arrival of Peter Stuyvesant as Director
General — His Arbitrary Conduct and Imposition of Tasea
cause dissatisfaction — The Nine Men forward Complaints
against him to the States General, Holland — Stuyvesant
desires Support of English — Nicholas Determined to Sup-
port him and Removes to Gravenzande 123

CHAPTER XIII.

1648-9.

Patent Granted to Lady Moody and Associates for Graven-
zande— Town Laid Out — Settlers, Refugees from Religious
Persecution — No Location Resers-ed in the Town for a
Church — Nicholas Stilwell Purchases House and Lot in
the Town, and in January, 1649, is Elected Magistrate —
Address in Support of Stuyvesant prepared and for-

COXTKNTS. \vii

w;uilf(l li> Slates (Jeiioral in llollaiiil — .Stnyvcsaul Delay.'*
Vessel ranyiiijj; Coiiiphiiiit of Nino Men, tliat tlio Letter
of the English may fust reach Holland 1 {.-^

CHAPTER XIV.

1(549-00.

Meholas bnya a Plantation in Gravcnzaude for his Son
Kiehard — Is re-elected Magistrate of Town — AnotlxT Ad-
dress in support of Stuyvesant against complaint of the
Nine Men — Modifications in Goven:ment proposed by
States General— Not Approved by Directors in Amsterdam
— Stnyvesant moots Commissioners of United Colonics at
Hartford — Treaty of 1G50 — Dissatisfaction of the Dutch
thereat — Proposed League against the Indians — Nicholas
Stilwell Negotiates Treaty "with Long Island Indians 14>

CHAPTER XV.

1651-2.

Directors in Holland compliment the Magistrates of Graven-
zande and encourage them to ask Favors — Thoy ask
privilege of Exclusive Trade from Holland— Importation
of Laborers— Ask Company to send them Negroes— Pro-
jects defeated by breaking out of war between England
and Holland — Municipal Government granted to New
Amsterdam— Stuyvesant cautioned against employing
Disloyal Persons— Directed to engage tho Indians in the
War, if necessary— Scheme of Baxter and others of
Gravenzande to throw off their allegiance, and estab-
lish an Independent Colony under Protection of Connec-
ticut— Baxter Dismissed from Office If'-

CHAPTER XVL

1652.

Stuyvesant Proposes Neutrality between Now Netherlands
and New England and Virginia—No Response Received —
Stuyvesant prepares to Defend the Province — City Gov-

2

Page

173

XViii CONTENTS.

eminent called Together, and Committee Appointed to
Fortiiy it — Bargaining for the Logs for Palisades — Price
asked too high, and Committee will not pay it — Matter
referred to Stnyvesant — He builds Palisades and a Breast-
work— People of Gravenzande undertake to defend
themselves — ^Nicholas Negotiates with the Indians for
assistance, if necessary — ^Ninigret reports that Stuyve-
sant is Plotting with Savages to cut off the English —
Commissioners of United Colonies take action npon re-
ports— George Baxter and Captain Underhill excite
Insurrection in English Villages

CHAPTEE XVn.

1653-4.

Meeting of Delegates to devise measures to Arrest Eobheries
and Piracies — Baxter and Hubbard propose that people
shall pay no more Taxes — Eemonstrance drawn up and
Presented to Stnyvesant — Categorical Answer demanded
— Stnyvesant Disperses the Convention — Stilwell Author-
ized to Organize Court-Martial to tr^\' Marauders — Prepa-
rations for Defence — Threatened Attack of English Fleet
— Disloyal English offer to assist the Enemy — Preparations
for Defence — News of Peace — Baxter and Hubbard ar-
rested— Baxter escapes 184

CHAPTEE XVIII.

1655.

Stnyvesant sets out with Troops to recapture Fort Casimer
on South Eiver, and leaves the Colony Defenceless — Sav-
ages learning this, determine to Massacre the Dutch
in Eevenge for a Squaw Killed for Stealing Peaches — In-
daius send Warning to the English of Gravenzande —
They notify the Dutch of their danger — 2,000 Indians
make descent on New Amsterdam, Sept. 15, 1655 — Citi--

CONTENTS. xi\

Pago
fens preparotl to Defend aiul Savages retire — Descent

on Pavonia and Staten Island— En orlish of Gravcnzando

not disturbed — 'Jiierefore suspected of Complicity with

Natives— Stuyresant recalled with Troops— Negotiations

for Peace — Ransom of Prisoners 194

CHAPTER XIX.

1G5G-9.

First Esopus War — Colonists required to Live Together and
Form Villages — Neglect to do so — Settlers at Esopus
Sell Spirituous Liquors to Savages and Outrages Follow
— Stuyvesant Builds Redoubt at Esopus for Protection of
Settlers — Dastardlj^ Attack by some of the Dutch upon
the Indians stupified with Liquor — Retaliation, Dutch
Prisoners Captured and Burned, and the Fort Besiegetl
— Appeal to Stuyvesaut for Relief— Volunteers called for
in New Amsterdam but not forthcoming— Appeal to the
English — Nicliolas Stilwell Raises a Troop iu Graven-
zando and Induces Indians to join him — Goes to the
Relief of Besieged of Esopus — Indians Retreat, carrying
off Prisoners with them — Heavy Rains Flood the Country
— Impossible to Follow Them 201

CHAPTER XX.
1660-1.

Anthony Jansen Von Salee First Settler on West End of
Long Island — Receives Grant of Bowery — Declaration
of War by Stuyvesant against Esopus Indians — He is
frightened and exchanges his Bowery Avith Nicholas
Stilwell for a House in Graveuzande — Nicholas not
disturbed by Savages, and Jansen afterward complains
to Directors that ho made a bad bargain and asks to
be Relieved— Rumors of Further Indian Troubles and
Jansen withdraAvs his Complaint — Nicholas Receives

^^ COXTE^'TS.

Pa^e
news of John's Execution— Sends ]ns Son Richard to

England to Recover Estates of John — Also his own j)ro-

perty as Heir of .Sir Ralph Hopton— Meets there Ex

Queen of Bohemia 212

CHAPTER XXI.
16(32-3.

Second Esopus War, 1663— Incorporation of "Wiltwyclc, and
Building of the New Village some miles inland — Savages
Discontented — Waiting to Avenge their Warriors held in
Slaverj' by the Dutch — Indian Uprising t)f June 7, 1663
— Destroy the New Village — Kill Many and Capture
Forty-five Prisoners — Stuyvesant sends up forty-two Sol-
diers from the Fort, and calls for Volunteers to Rescue
the Prisoners — Again obliged to Appeal to the English
— ^Nicholas Raises a Troop of English, and also Forty
Indians — Savages hold Captives in a Fort nine or ten
Dutch miles in interior — Esi)edition for their Rescue —
Find Fort Abandoned and Prisoners Removed — Return to
Wiltwyck -219

CHAPTER XXII.

1663.

Indian Auxiliaries Return Home — Stuyvesant negotiates Avith
Eso^jus Indians for Surrender of Cajitives — Sends Lieu-
tenant Cowenhoven with Wappinger Sachem to have a
talk with them — Tempts them Avith Brandy — Negotia-
tion Fails, but Wappinger Sachem discovers locality of
New Fort where Prisoners are Confined — New Expedition

Sent Out, fifty-five Picked Men — Nicholas with Twenty-
four English, when near the Fort, are Discovered — Charge,
and effect an Entrance — Esopus Triljc destroyed and Cap-
tives Rescued — Return to Wiltwyck with the Captured
Christians •.... 229

CONTENTS. XM

CHAPTER XXIII.

1GG3.

Pan..
Trouble with Connecticut — That Colony obtains from Charlis
II. a Patent untlor ^Yllicll it Claims Long Island — Notilics
Stuyvesaut not to Molest Inhabitants — Sends Talcott, Com-
missioner, to tako Possession of AVestehester — Stnyvesant
Protests — Taleott's Pro(ee(linj;s not l)is.ii»i)r(»\('d, and h<^
Notifies English aii<l Dutch Towns on i.oiig Island of
Change of Government — t'hristie Arrives at Gravenzande,
as Herald, with Proclamation— Attempts to read it — Nich-
olas Stilwell, the .Sherilf, Arrests him — Attempts to Rescue,
and Prisoner Removed l)y Night to Fort Amsterdam — Eng-
lish Threaten to Seize Nicholas as Hostage for Safety of
Christie— 150 Men Surround his House at Night, but he
Escapes to New Amsterdam — Correspondence between Peo-
ple of Gravenzande and the Council — Stihvell's Action Ap-
proved 23f>

CHAPTER XXIV.

166:5.

Petition of Gemeco, Middleburgh, and Hemestedo to be taken
under Protection of Connecticut — Forwarded to Hartford —
Stuyvesant sends Commissioners to Oppose it — Agreement
for Mutual Forbearance of Jurisdiction over Long Island —
John Coe and Anthony Waters raise Force and Proclaim
the King — Nicholas Stilwell charged to Oppose them, but
his Force Insufficient — They change names of the Towns —
Capt. John Scott, Comnussiouer, appointed by Connecticut
to Settle their Troubles — Comes over, but ignores his Com-
mission and forms " Combination" of English Towns — Is
Elected President — Is Arrested and Sent to Hartford .lail
— Governor Winthrop Comes over and Induces Inhabitants
to Submit to Connecticut — Takes Possession of Long Island
— End of Dutch Power on Long Island -■"'

XXil CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

1664.

Page
Nicholas Stilwell and others refusing to live under a Puritan

Government — Remove to Staten Island — Build Town of
Dover and fortify it — Rumors of English Expedition
against New Netherlands— Nicholas and other able-bodied
Men from Dover ordered to New Amsterdam to assist in
Defence of City — Fleet arrive and capture Dover — Capitu-
lation and Surrender of New Amsterdam — Its name chang-
ed to New York — All New Netherlands submits to the
Dutch — Long Island restored to New York — Nicholas dies
at Dover, on Staten Island, December 28. 1671 241

THE STILWELL FAMILY.

MEMOIRS

STILWELL FAMILY.

CHAPTER I.

THREE BROXnERS, DRIVEN FROM ENGLAND BY PERSECUTION, FIRST
FIND REFUGE IN HOLLAND, ASSUME THE NAME OF STILL-WELL—
TRADITIONS AS TO ORIGIN OF NAME, ORIGINAL SURNAME, AND
EARLY HISTORY OF THE FAMILY.

Among the pilgrims who, in the early part of the
seventeenth century, sought in these western wilds
a refuge from civil and religious i)ersecution, were
three brothers, respectively known as Nicholas, Jas-
per and John Stillwell. One of these, Nicholas Still-
well, was the common ancestor of the numerous
families bearing that surname, now widely scattered
through the world.

Driven from their ancestral home in England,
during the reign of Charles the First, by those tyran-
nical and oppressive measures through which that
monarch and his prelates sought to impose upon an
unwilling people, uniformity in religion and des-
potism in the state, those brothers had wandered
as fugitives and in disguise, until they found
means to escape to the Mendlv shores of Holland.

2G MEMoiKS OF thp:

There, under the mild i)roteetioh of the Batavian
Government, they had enjoyed that freedom, for the
sake of which they had resigned many of the com-
forts and enjoyments of home ; but their hearts had
still yearned toward the land whicli had given them
birth ; and it was only when the increasing troubles
in England had left them no prospect of being able
to return in i)eace to their native land, that they had
turned their eyes toward the Xew World.

In the Colonies then lately planted by their coun-
trymen in ]^ew England, they had seen a means of
reconciling, in a measure, their ideas of civil and
religious duty, with their affection for their country ;
for there, while living under the protection of their
own government, they had hoped to be free from its
IDcrsecutions. Those distant settlements had seem-
ed to hold out their hands, and invite the weary
pilgrims to come over and share their fertile fields,
and plant and sit under the shade of their own vines
and fig-trees, with no one to molest or make them
afraid.

Allured by this prospect, they had gathered up the
wreck of their fortunes, and, bidding a final adieu to
the home and the haunts of their childhood, their
kindred and friends, and all the associations and
refinements of civilized life, had set out to seek a
new hohie, with civil and religious liberty, in the
wilds of America.

There is a tradition in the different branches of
the family, that it was at this time their x^resent

STILWKLL FAMILY. 27

siirDamc, (indiilereiitly spelled Stilwell,()r Slill-
wcll,) was u(]o[»t('(l. 'I'liat wIkmi, hy llicir jjarlici-
piitioii in some of the religions ori)olitical lionhles of
the time, these brothers had rendered themselves oh-
noxions to the government, or to tlie ccelesiastical
authorities, and were c()mi)elled to seek safety in
lliglit, not knowing whither they should direct their
steps, they had arranged witli their friends on leav-
ing liome, that w'henever either of them found
a safe retreat, he would send a messenger to his
family, and the watchword should be " Still-well."
That during their w^anderiugs, they had thus com-
municated with each other, and in their subsequent
exile, had corresponded with their friends at home,
under that signature ; and when they finally deter-
mined to abandon their retreat in Holland, and again
place themselves within the jurisdiction of their
own government, they had sought the shelter of this
name, which they thenceforth assumed, and by
which their descendants have since been known.

Tradition gives the original surname of these
brothers as Cooke; but this is not universally re-
ceived in the family, the Staten Island branch,
known as the "Eoyal Family," claiming that it was
Stuart, and that these brothers were of royal blood.
But their mother was of the family of Still, of Grant-
ham, in Lincolnshire, which first attained i)rominenee
in the latter jiart of the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
when John Still was preferred to the See of Bath
and Wells. The family then removed to the city of

28 MEMOIKS OF THE

Wells, where the Bishop died in 1607, and was buried
iu the cathedral of that city. They were also allied
to the Hoptons, of Wytham, in Somersetshire, a
noble family originally from ISTormandy, who came
over with the Conqueror, and settled at Hoptou, in
Shropshire ; but, upon the suiopression of religious
houses, they received a grant of the priory at
Wytham, built by Henry the Third as a nunnery,
when they established a seat there, which has ever
since been known as HojDton Priory.

It is not improbable that the name originally
assumed by the three brothers, was that of their
mother's family, Still — to which, in foreign parts,
the name of their residence would naturally attach
— as Still of Wells, which might easily be corrupted
into Still O' Wells— Stili-well.

Or, the name may have been suggested by the
epigrams and equivocations said to have been per-
petrated upon John Still by his contemporaries,
which are referred to by the writers of his time. His
friend, Sir John Harrington, speaking of them in his
" Nugae Antiquae," says, " About twenty years ago,
when the great dyet or meeting should have bene in
Germanic, for composing matters in religion. Dr. Still
Avas chosen for Cambridge, and Dr. Humphreys for
Oxford, to oppose all comers for defence of the
English chm'ch. For this, his knowne sufiiciencie,
he was not long unfurnish't of double honour" (two
benefices). " The Puritans in Cambridge woed him,
and would fayne have wonne him to their part ; and

STILWELL FAMILY. 29

seiiig they could not, they forbare not in the pulpit,
after their fashion, to glaunce at him with their
equivocations and epig^ranis." One of them said in a
sermon, "that some could not be contented with two
livings, one worth one hundred pounds a yeare, and
another worth six score, but Still-ivill have mor*'."
But however they snarled, Queen Elizabeth counted
this Still., ivell worthy of more, for in the thirty-fourth
year of her reign, 1592, she promoted him to the See
of Bath and Wells, which had lain vacant for three
years.

Soon after entering upon his new dignity, it is
said, that in searching upon his lands for springs, for
which the neighborhood is fauKms, valuable lead
mines were discovered ; and at the solicitation of his
relative. Sir Arthur Hopton, a Knight of the Bath,
it is said he was induced to contribute sufficient of
their product,to restore the leaden roof to the Cathe-
dral ; when the latter truly, as well as wittily, re-
marked, that " Stiirs well, though dry, had still well-
ed a greater stream than any of the famous springs
of Bath or Wells ; for it was the only one that had
ever covered the roof of the Cathedral."

We learn from the traditions of the family that in
the early part of the 17th century, these three broth-
ers, under this assumed name of Stillwell, escaped
from the persecutions of the Star Chamber or High
Commission Court, by flight. That they first foimd
refuge in Holland, and subsequently emigrated to

30 MEMOIRS OF THE

America, lauding at, or near, New Haven, where
they separated.

That Jasper, one of the brothers, who had been
educated for the Church, there joined the company
of the Eev. Henry A^Tiitflekl, and settled at Guilford,
Connecticut; and that the other two brothers re-
moved to ]\Ianhattan Island, then under the dominion
of the Dutch.

That one of the latter, John, who had been bred
to the hiw, returned to England, upon the. breaking
out of the revolution in 1641, where he became So-
licitor General, and oflQciated as such ui)on the trial
of Charles the First. That he subsequently became
Chief Justice, and upon the restoration of Charles
the Second, was tried for treason, and executed
amoug the regicides.

That Nicholas, the tlurd brother, who had adopted
the i^rofession of arms, had in his youth offered his
services to Elizabeth, the unfortunate Queen of Bo-
hemia, in support of the protestant cause, represented
by her husband, Frederick Y., the Elector Palatine.
That upon the defeat of the latter at the battle of
Prague, Nicholas, with his relative Ealph Hopton,
and a number of other young Enghsh gentlemen,
chivalrously volunteered to escort the Queen and her
ladies in their flight to Breslau. That the royal party
were pursued, and being likely to be overtaken, from
the bad state of the roads, were compelled to aban-
don their carriages and share the horses of their
escort; when the Queen placed herself on horseback

STILWELL FAMILY. ol

behind Ealpli Iloplon, while one (tf licr Maids «»1'
Honor, Abigail lloptoii, a sislcr of IJalpli, inoiiiitcd
behind Nichohis and thus escaped.

That subse(inently, and after the cause of (lie
unfortunate Queen liad been k)st, and her comi
which she had been permitted to maiiitain in the
low countries broken up, Nicholas married this hnly
whom lie liad so gallantly rescued, ami had by liei-
two sons, Mhom he brought with him to this coun-
try, shortly after the treaty of Prague in KJ:),"), when
the Protestant arnues were disbanded.

That soon after his arrival in New Xetherlands
Nicholas, being a widower, married and locate(l
himself permanently upon ]Manhattan Island, where
he was one of the tirst English settlers. That he was
a man of great strength, and distinguished himself
in the wars against the Indians, first under the Dutch
and afterward in Virginia, where he was said to
have brought the war to an end, by captuiing the
Indian King, and carrying him otf bodily ui)on his
shoulders.

That upon the surrender of New Netherlands to
the English, after the restoration of Charles the
Second, Nicholas, in consequence of some suspected
complicity with his brother John, was obliged to
conceal himself upon Staten Island, where he died.

While the traditions of a fandly, whose members
have frequently reached the age of four-score yeai-s
and ten, might well be relied upon, as to events

32 MEMOIRS OP THE STILWELL FAMILY.

which have occurred within two hundred and fifty
years, we are not dependent upon that source alone,
nor even ui3on private records, for any material facts
in the early history of the family : for each of these
three brothers filled suflflcient space in the world's
history to enable us, even at this distance of time,
to verify the traditions of the family, and to trace
the coiu-se of their lives and their deaths, by the his-
torical records which have come down to our times.

See MS. Correspondence of Lydia "Watkins with President Stiles —
Yale College Library.
Stiles' Judges, p. 354.

Miss Benger s Memoirs of Queen of Bohemia
Jane Porter's Duke Christian of Luueberg.

CHAPTER 11.

1638.

KELlGIOtTS DIFKKKENCKS OK THK TIIUKK HKOTIIKJJS — KMKMtATK TO
NKW IIAVKX IX SKAKCII OP CIVIL AM) UKLIfilOUS MBKUTY—
DISAPI'OINT.MKXTS — TIIICY KEPAUATK — .TASPKU .SKTTI.KS AT GUIL-
l-OKDj CONN., AND DIKS THIORE — JOHN AND NICHOLAS UEMOVE
TO NEW NETUEKLANDS, UNDER THE DUTCH.

Two of llie brothers, Joliii and Jasper, liad been
friends and followers of the Eev. Henry AVliitliehl,
in London, a portion of whose eon<>regation, driven
ont of England by the tyranny of .Vrehbisho]) Land,
had found an asylum among' their friends m ho had
then lately planted the Colony of New Haven ; and
when their pastor soon after followed them, the
three brothers determined to leave Holland, and
join their former neighbors in exile.

During their residence in the low" countries, John
had become convinced that infant baptism was not
an ordinance of God, and had adopted the tenets of
the Anabaptists; while Nicholas had imbibed the
doctrines of the Antinomians — the principal of w hich
was, that the laws promulgated under the IMosaic
dispensation, including the ten commandments, were
enacted especially for the Jews, and w^ere not obliga-
tory upon Christians, except so far as they had been
aflBrmed and taught by Christ and his Apostles, in
the New Testament ; they therefore refused to rec-
ognize the obligation of the Jew ish Sabbath, or the
authority of any priesthood. 3

34 MEMOIES OP THE

But among the briglit anticipations which had
ku'cd the three brothers to these shores, had been
the prospect of being permitted, in these remote re-
gions, to follow their own ideas in religious matters
without disturbance, and of being governed by laws,
in the framing of which they would have a voice.
For this they were willing to sacrifice the comforts
and enjoyments of civilized life, and to brave all the
dangers and hardships of a new settlement in the
wilderness ; but their anticipations in this respect
were sadly disappointed ; they found, upon their
arrival here, that those whom they had followed to
these shores had not come hither to establish civil
or religious lil)erty, but to enjpy unmolested the
l^eculiarities of their own faith.

Under the influence of the wild delusion sv^hich
prevailed among the enthusiasts of that age, that
the Scriptures contained a complete system, not only
of si)iritual instruction, but of civil law and i)olity,
those who first sought refuge here, had determined
to be governed by its provisions, not only in mat-
ters of religion, but also in civil affairs.

From a resemblance which they fancied to exist
between the circumstances of their emigration to
til is country, and the exodus of the children of Is-
rael from the land of bondage, the first settlers
imagined that the kiws which had been x)romulgated
for the government of that peox)le,were particularly
adapted to their own condition ; and they had there-
fore framed a civil government founded ui)on the

RTILWELL FAMIXY. 35

laws of Moses. But, for<>etting that tlio same causes
wliicli lijid (Irivcni tliem into exile W(ae still in oper-
ation, and were daily driving others of their coun-
trymen to seek the same asylum, and that these lat-
ter had the same rights witli thcnisclvcs to enjoy
religious liberty, juid tl'e right of self-government — •
in the intoleraut spirit of the times, the first settlers
resolved to force a conformity to their views, on
the part of all new-comers ; and for that i)urpose
they adopted the same unhallowed measures, the
use of which against themselves, had driveu them
from their liomes.

Going even beyoud the extremes of those civil and
ecclesiastical rulers, from whose tyranny they had
sought a refuge in this wilderness, they rigidly ex-
cluded, not only from church communion, but also
from all the rights and privileges of citizenship,
all those who differed from them, either in matters
of doctrine, the discipline of the chiu'ch, or the rites
of worship.

By their fundamental laws, none but freemen
could be admitted to any share or voice in the gov-
ernment, or be eligible to any oflice, or even serve
upon a jury ; and as no one could become a freeman,
exctipt by being received into a church as a mem-
ber, and no one could be admitted into the church
but by the ministers and elders of the congregation,
the most valued of civil rights were made to depend
-upon the decision of churchmen in respect to mat-
ters purely ecclesiastical. And as these latter pro-

36 MEMOIRS OF THE

ceeded, not by any established rules, but exercised
a discretionary judgment in all cases, it was not long
before tlie clergy acquired and exercised despotic
power, not only In the church, but in the State.

The ideas prevalent, in that day, of the liberty
that should be permitted, have come down to us in
the sermons of their leading divines.

" The Gospel of Christ," says the venerable Hig-
ginson, of Salem, " hath a right paramount to all
other rights in the world. It hath a Divine and
Supreme right to be received in every nation, and
the knee of the magistrate is to bow at the name of
Jesus. This right carries with it liberty, for all such
as possess the Gospel, to walk according to the faith
and order of the Gospel. That which is contrary to
the Gospel hath no right, and should therefore have
no liberty."

In the exercise of their recognized prerogative,
the clergy first determined what was agreeable or
contrary to the Gospel, and their followers then
I)assed laws accordingly, not only defining the opin-
ions upon ecclesiastical matters which might law-
fully l)e held or expressed, but also regulating the
conduct of the settlers in all the relations and alfairs
of life.

By these laws, which were executed with a rigor,
in coni])arison with which, the persecutions which
liad dri\ en them out of their own comity, were mild
and indulgent, the penalty of banishment, and of
death in case of return, was denounced against any

STIIiWI'.LL FAMILY. .'^7

one who did iiol coiiloiiii lo llic csljiMislicd mode ol'
keepiiiii' tlie Sabbwlli, who (h'liicd Ihc \;didil\ ol'
infant bnpdsni, or the aulliority oT Ihccixil ma^is-
ti'iitv to nsc coercive measures in mailers of r<'li<;i<«n.

With tlie relijuions views wliieli John and Xichohts
Stilwell entertained, the church of iSew ILiven would
not permit them to remain witliin its jurisdiction,
and they found llieniselves a^ain exik's, driven fai'-
ther into tlie wiklerness, to seek an asylum tVoiii Ihc
intok'rance of tlieir own exiknl c(mntrymen.

Sliaking- tlie dust from tlieir feet, tli(;y a,iiain took
ui) their pilgrims' staves, and turned their faces to-
ward Manhattan Ishmd, wliere, under the protec-
tion of the Dutch Government, tliey lioped again
to till d tliat freedom ^Ahich they had so vainly souglit
among the jieople of tlieir own race.

Jasjier Stilwell still adhered to the teacliings of
the l\ov. Henry Whitlield, and, Joining his congre-
gation, was one of the little flock which that pastor
ledfortli into the wilderness, in the w inter of lGo9-4(),
and which settled at Menunketuck, a location which
the Company purchased from the Indians, and named
Guilford, in commemoration of the place in Surry
in England, from which many of the settlers had
emigrated.

Here Jasper ended his wanderings, and died in
N^oveudier, lOHt), leaving only the record of his name
as one of the founders of the church, and tirst set-
tlers of the town.

Two daughters survived him. Eebecca, who, on

38 MEMOIKS OF THE STILWELL FAIVnLT.

the 23d of Marcb, 1644, was married at the Dutch
Church in New Amsterdam to James Graves, of
Hartford; and Elizabeth, who on the 26th of Novem-
ber, 1657, married John Graves, a son of George
Graves, one of the original settlers and proi)rietors
of Hartford.

Jasper Stilwell having left no male issue, the
name became extinct in that branch of the family.

Trumbull's Connecticut.

Robertson's America.

Hutchinson's Massacliusetts.

Winthrop's Jourual.

Rnggles' MS. History of Guilford.

Records Dutch Church, New Amsterdam.

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of New England

on AFTER III.

1689-48.

AltniVAt. m NEW NKTIlKlil.AXDS— JOHN SETTLES ON 8TATEN ISLAND,
AT DOVER — DRIVEN AWAY BY INDIAN IIOSTILIHES— ITNDS liE-
FUGE IN FORT AMSTERDAM — RETURNS TO ENGLAND— RESUMES
ORIGINAL N.VME — APPOINTED SOUCITOR GENERAL — OIFICIATE3
AT THE TRIAL OF CUARLE3 FUtST— APPOINTED CHIEF JUSTICE-
ARRESTED FOR TREASON.

Upon their arrival iu New Netherlands, John se-
lected for his future home a beautiful spot upon the
eastern shore of Staten Island, immediately below
the Narrows, to which he gave the name of Dover —
the commanding heights overlooking it, now sur-
mounted bj' Fort Tompkhis, probably remindiug him
of the last glimpse he had had of his native land,
when fleeing from his persecutors over the narrow
sea which separated his home from liberty, he had
seen the coast of England gradually sink beneath
the waves, until the towering heights of Dover
Cliffs, were all that remained visible, to remind him
of the country he had left.

This tract of land, which was subsequently granted
by the government to his grandson, John Stilwell,
in consideration of the improvements originally
made thereon by his ancestors,* was the site of the
fortified town of Dover, subsequently built nnd oc-
cupied by Nicholas and his children, and whieli was

* Petition and grant— Secretary of State's Ollieo, AU)aiiy.

40 MEMOIPtS OF THE

for many years tlie most important and populous
settlement upon Staten Island ; but, upon the extinc-
tion or removal of its savage neighbors, its palisades
fell into disuse, and were converted to more i^eaceful
purposes ; and the j)lace has jjassed into such utter
oblivion, that its mention here is, probably, the first
reference to its existence, which has been made for
upward of a hundred and fifty years. It is, how-
ever, frequently referred to in the old records of the
courts, still preserved in Kiugs County Clerk's office,
and in the Surrogate's office, ^ew York. The only
memento of it now remaining upon the Island, is
the road which led to it, and which still bears the
name of the " Old Town Eoad." Portions of this
tract have ever since been, aud still are, in posses-
sion of the descendants of John and Nicholas Stil-
well.

John had hardly settled himself upon his Staten
Island x)lantatioii, when he was driven away by the
hostilities provoked by the injudicious attempt of
Kieft, the Director General of New Ketberlands, to
levy contributions of beaver and wampum from the
neighboring savages, in return for the i)rotection
which, he claimed, w^as afforded them against their
enemies, by Fort Amsterdam, and the trooi^s main-
tained tliere by the Dutch.

John sought refuge in the fort upon Manhattan
Island ; but Kieft, soon afterward, in retaliation for
some mm'ders connnittcd upon Staten Island, having
incited a general Indian war, by an appeal to the

STILWELL FAMILY. 4 J

cupidity of the fiiendly tribes, olleiiug them a re-
ward of ten fathoms of Avam])um for tlje head of
every Karitau Indian killed — John, \\]n> had been
bred to peaceful pursuits, resolved to abandon the
colony and return to Holland at the lirst opportunity.

While affairs were in this uniH'omising- condition
in New Netherlands, news reached him from
England of the fall of Archbishop Laud; and that
a revolution was imminent there, which would i^rob-
ably bring his friends into power ; and learning that
Hugh Peters, and others who had been his fellow
exiles in Holland, were about to return to England,
John determined to accompany them.

Nicholas, however, had brought with him to this
country his two young sons, Eichard and Nich-
olas, and having married into one of the Dutch
families, and located himself upon Manhattan
Island, as a tobacco planter, he concluded to remain.

The changes which had taken place in England
during John's absence, rendered concealment on his
part no longer necessary, and upon his return, he
resumed his original name of Cooke; but the dis-
turbed condition of affairs there, not being congenial
to his tastes, he soon retired again to the continent,
where he spent several years in visiting the principal
capitals of Europe.

Ludlow, in his "Memoirs," tells us that " while in
Eome, John Cooke spoke with such liberty and abil-
ity against the corruptions of the court and church,

42 MEMOmS OF THE

that great endeavors were used to bring him into that
interest ; but he, being resolved not to yield to their
solicitations, thought it no longer safe to continue
among them, and therefore dejjarted for Geneva,
where he resided some time in the house of Signer
Gio.Deodati, the Minister of the Italian Church in
that city, and the learned friend of Milton."

Upon his return to England he was admitted to
Gray's Inn, and being called to the Bar, soon acquired
considerable reputation in his profession as a bar-
rister. Through his intimacy with Oliver Cromwell,
who had also been a follower of Henry Whitfield,
and his association with John Bradshaw at Gray's
Inn, he was drawn into the political controversies of
the time, and becoming identified with the popular
party, took an active part in the contest then culmi-
nating between the King and Parliament. And when
the usurpations of Charles the First and his prelates
had driven the nation into civil war, and there
seemed no middle ground of accommodation be-
tween the surrender of the liberties of the people of
England and the overthrow of the King, John Cooke
was one of that glorious band of j^atriots who stood
forth as the champions of civil and religious liberty,
and dared to arraign their King as a traitor.

In the act creating the "High Court of Justice" for
the trial of this august criminal, the twelve Judges of
England Avere originally named as members of the
Com't ; but thej^ declined to act, affirming that it was
contrary to all the ideas of English law, to try the

STILWELL FAMILY. 43

King for tivasoii, — in whose name, and l)y whose
authority alone, all prosecutions for treason must
necessarily be conducted. It was in answer to this
objection that the great principle was tirst pronud-
gated in an authoritative form, that the peoi'le

ARE, under god, THE ORIGINAL OF ALL JUST POWER;

and that the Commons, in Parliament assenil)h'(l,
being chosen by, and representing the people, have
the supreme power in the nation. x\.nd it was
therefore ordered that the prosecution against the
King should be conducted in the name and on
behalf of the people of England.

The Court was then re-organized, and John
Bradshaw having been chosen to preside at the trial,
John Cooke was offered and accepted the perilous
position of Solicitor General to conduct the prose-
cution.

The annals of the human race may be searched
in vain for a more sublime spectacle than was then
presented, of the delegates of a great people sitting
in solemn judgment upon their Supreme Magistrate,
and trying him for his misgovernment and breach of
trust.

With a pomp, dignity and ceremony con'espond-
iug to the grandeur of the transaction, the Commons
of England, representing the majesty of the people,
arraigned their King, and in the person of their So-
licitor General, charged that he, " Charles Stuart,
being admitted King of England, and entnisted with
a limited power, yet nevertheless, with a wicko<i

44 MEMOIRS OF THE

design to erect an nnlimited and tyrannical govom-
ment, liad traitoronsly and nialicionsly levied war
against the Parliament and tlie people wlioni they
represented," and therenpon " the said John Cooke
did, for the said treason and crimes, on behalf of the
people of England, impeach the said Charles Stnart,
as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public and im-
placable enemy to the commonwealth of England,"
and prayed "that the said Charles Stuart, King of
England, might be -put to answer all and every one
of the premises, and that such proceedings, trial and
judgment might thereafter be had, as should be
agreeable to justice."

The i)risoner denied the authority of the Court,
claiming that he was their hereditary King, and de-
rived his dignity neither from Parliament nor the
people, but from the Supreme Majesty of Heaven;
and refused to submit to their jurisdiction by an-
swering the charges.

Three several times he was brought before the
Court aud required to answer. Still declining to do
so, it was ordered that witnesses be called and exam-
ined as to the charges; and it was only after a number
of witnesses had proved that the King had appeared
ill arms against the forces commissioned by the Par-
liament, that judgment was rendered against him,
upon which sentence of death was pronounced ; and
upon the 30th day of January, 1649, Charles the
First expiated upon the scaffold, his crimes against
the i)eople of England.

STILWELL FAMILY. 45

As a reward for his services in (heir cause, Hk;
Parliament voted Jolni Cooke tli(; tiianks of tlic iki-
lion, and three liundred i)onuds jxt annum in llic
County of Wexford, Ireland, and also counnissioncd
him Chief Justice there. Soon afterward, in consid-
eration of his losses in the late troubles, Tarliament
made him a further grant of the lands of St. Cross
Hospital, near Winchester, then worth a thousand
pounds a year.

The history of his career as Chief Justice may be
i-ead in the records of his Court ; and even the malig-
nant writers of the restoration, failed to lind any
ground for impeaching his character as a Judge, or
for questioning his integrity or his learning. He
continued to act in his judicial cai)acity until the
restoration of Charles the Second, when he was
arrested for his participation in the trial of the late
King, and sent j^risoner to England, to be tried with
the other regicides for treason.

The chroniclers of the time of Charles the Second,
speaking of Chief Justice Cooke, declare, " That
neither the height of his preferment, nor the chnnge
of his country, could deliver him from the lashes of
a troubled conscience. Though he was a Judge, he
could not absolve himself, but upon the very bench
would fall into strange sighs and groans, and break
out into this lamentation — ' Oh ! poor Charles ! poor
Charles!' showing thereby how much lie was op-
pressed with the guilt of innocent blood."

But so far from having any compunction for the

46 MEMOmS OF THE STILWELL FAMILY.

part he had acted upon the trial of the King, he
shortly afterward wrote and published a book, en-
titled, "Monarchy, no creature of God's making —
in which it is proved that the execution of the lat/C
King was one of the fattest sacrifices that Queen
Justice ever had."

But the utter groundlessness of these aspersions
may best be learned from the record of his conduct
upon his own trial, his bearing in prison, and his
speech delivered in the immediate presence of death
upon the scaffold.

During his imprisonment, before his trial, he
wrote many letters, which have come down to our
times in the history of the regicides, leaving no
room for doubt that he gloried in tlie act for which
he was called upon to suffer, and willingly offered
up his life as a sacrifice upon the altar of civil
and religious Uberty.

Ludlow's Memoira, Vol. Ill, p. 69, «S:c.
Brodie's British Empire, IV, p. 190, &c.
Cobbett's Parliamentary History, 1G48.
Grauger's Biographical History of England, V, 127.
History of King-Killers, London, 1719.

CHAPTER IV.
1660.

JOHN TRIED FOR TREASON — CONDEMNED AJS'D EXECUTKD — LAST
SPEECH AND PRAYER ON SCAFFOUD — I^TTER TO HIS DAUGIITEB
FROM NEWGATE — SHE EMIGRATES TO AMERICA — MARRIES IIER
COUSIN, JUDGE RICHARD STILWELL, AND DIES ON STATEN ISLAND.

After a confinement of four niontlis in the Tower
of London, Jolin Cooke was brought to trial at the
Old Bailey, on tlie 14th of October, 1600, when he
defended himself upon the ground that he had acted
throughout as a barrister, exercising his profession
on behalf of his clients, the i)eople of England,
by order of the Parliament, which was at the time
the only de facto authority. That he had acted
conscientiously and according to the best of his
judgment. *

He was, however, found guilty, and sentenced to
death, and two days afterward was di-awn upon a
hurdle from Newgate to Charing Cross, the place
appointed for the execution. In order to intimidate
him, and disturb his thoughts, the bloody head of
his cousin, Major General Harrison, who had been
executed the day before, was fixed upon the front of
the hurdle,witli the naked face toward him. But
notwithstanding this dismal sight, wo are told that
he " passed through the streets rejoicingly, as one
borne up by that spuit which men cannot cast down."

48 MEMOIES OF THE

He ascended tlie scaffold dieerfully, and after a fe^A-
moments , spent in x^rayer, and saying a few words
of ericom-agement to Hngh Peters, wlio was with Mm
in tlie inclosure, and was to be executed immedi-
ately after him, he addi-essed the sheriff and specta-
tors as calmly as if before a jury.
■ "Mr. Sheriff and gentlemen," said he, "the most
glorious sight that was ever seen in the world, was
our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross ; and the most
glorious sight next to that, is to see any poor creature
suffer for Him in His cause. I desire to sx)eak a few
words, briefly, to let you know what a glorious work
the Lord has been pleased to accomplish ux)on my
spirit. I bless the Lord that I have ransacked into
every corner of my heart, and have searched into all
my sins, so far as the Lord hath discovered them to
me, and I have coufessed them all with a x^eniten-
lial and bleeding heart and a contrite sx^irit. Blessed
be His name. He hath been x^lcased to come in an
abundant manner, and show me that the only remedy
is the blood of Christ, and I have ax)X>lied that x)recious
blood to my x^oor soul, and have laid hold upon
Christ, and there is a sweet calm and serenity in my
soul and conscience. Blessed be His name, I desire
to glorify God and to give Him the glory of all, and
to take shame upon myself for any sins I have
committed, that I know to be sins. I do not ex-
pect salvation for any thing I have ever done, but
only lay hold upon Christ, and there bottom my
faith. * * * *

STILWELL FAMILY. 40

"I can truly say, that I liave always ciKlcavoicd
iu my place, and to my power, to do tliat which
might be to (Jod's gh)ry, to the best of my im-
derstandiiig. 1 have stood u]) for a ^^ospel ma-
gistracy and ministry, and that the dehiys in the
hiw miglit be removed, and justice speedily and
cheaply administered, and for liberty of conscience,
that all might walk humbly but boldly before the
Lord.

" As to that I have been charged with, T do con-
fess, T am not convinced that ] luiA'e done amiss,
and r desire never to repent of anything I have
done therein, and I am here to bear witness to my
faith—"

The sheriff here interrupting him with some offen-
sive expression, Mr. Cooke replied: "It hath not
hitherto been the manner of Englishmen to insult a
dying man, nor in other countries, not even among
the Turks. If there be any here of that congregation
to which I was related, in the time that I lived here,
I would commend to them that Scripture, Phil., 2
chap., 17th and 18th verses.

" I bless the Lord that I have nothing on my con-
science. I have endeavored to do nothing but with
a good conscience — "

The sheriff again interrupting him, he said : " If
you will believe the words of a dying man, I say, as
I must soon render an account, I have nothing upon
my conscience. I have a poor wife and child and
some friends left. I desire you, that came along

4

50 MEMOIRS OF THE

with me, to commend to tliem Isaiah, 54th chapter,
5th and 10th verses.

"The Lord knows I have no malice against
any man or woman living, neither against the jury
that found me giiilty, nor the cornet that passed
sentence upon me. I freely forgive them all, from
the bottom of my heart. I shall speak a few words
to the Lord in prayer, and shall not trouble you
farther."

He then prayed aloud as follows :

"Most Glorious Majesty ! I beseech Thee to warm
my heart, and fill it so fidl of the love of Jesus
Christ, it may never be cool any more. Oh, that
the Lord would now appear graciously to show
Himself, a wonder-working God, in bearing up the
heart and spirit of His poor creature. It is no mat-
ter how bitter the cup is, if the Lord gives strength
to drink it. It is no matter how hea^^ the burthen
is, for the Lord will lay no more upon his poor chil-
dren than they are able to bear. The Lord give
strength to all that are yet to suffer in this cause.
If any did pursue power or interest, and did not
look after the good of God's poor people, or the good
of the nation, the Lord forgive them. The Lord
knows the simplicity of the hearts of his poor ser-
vants J hell) them to continue faithful unto death, so
that we may receive a crown of life, for the sake
of the Lord Jesus Christ.

" Lord hear me for my poor wife and child. Unto
thee I commend them — and so I come, Lord Jesus.

STLLWBLL FAMlLf. 51

Oh, receive my sonl ! Into thy hands F romiiiit iriy
spirit. Blessed l)e tliy iiaiiie, nu'lhinks I see, with
Stephen, even by tlie eye of faith, Heaven open, and
the Lord Jesus ready to receive my soul I (.)ii,that I
nii<'ht with Ezckiel see the glory of God, and with
Isaiah see the Lord sitting- on tlu^ throne of his
glory ; and oh, that the love of the Father, Son and
Spirit may warm my heart, and carry me up from
the begining of this passage, to the end and close
of it.

"Lord, let it be well with England. When Elijah
was taken away, his spirit rested on Elisha, who
stood up in his stead ; and when John the Baptist
was cut otf, the Lord had his apostles to supply that
office. The Lord will have profit in the death of his
children. As for those that brought me hither, Lord
forgive them; may the blessing of the Father, Son
and Spirit be with them — and oh, that no more might
suffer.

"And so, dear and blessed Father, I come to the
bosom of thy love, and desire to enter into thy
glory, which is endless and boundless through Jesus
Christ."

When he had finished his prayer, the executioner
did his office ; his body was quartered — his head set
upon a pike in front of Westminster Hall, and the
fragments of his body upon the gates of the city of
London ; and as far as the partisan writers of that
day could do it, his memory was consigned to
everlasting infamy — as one of the " murtherers of

52 MEMOmS OF THE

his most sacred Majesty, King Charles the First, of
glorious memory."

But time, which at last sets all things even, has
done justice to the memory of these patriots ; and
now, after two hundred years, when the deliberate
judgment of mankind has superseded the passions
and prejudices of the time, Oliver Cromwell, whose
bones were then dragged from their coffin to be
hanged, and whose head was also placed upon
a pike in front of Westminster Hall, as one of
the murderers of Charles the First, now occupies
an equal niche with that monarch, among the
sovereigns of England, whom x^osterity is proud to
honor.

And the descendants of John Cooke, whose at-
tainted blood could not transmit Ms estates to his
chikben, still cherish that i)riceless legacy, which
neither King nor Parliament could sequester — his
GLORIOUS MEMORY. And among the choicest heir-
looms of the family, is that letter which he Avrote to
his little daughter from Xewgate prison, a few hours
before his execution, when, looking though the
clouds which then surrounded him, into the clear
sky of the future, he wrote :

" My JDear^ Sweet Child :

" So soon as God gives thee any understanding,
know that thou art the child of one whom God
counted worthy to sutFer for his sake, and to seal
to the truth of his law and gospel with his blood;

STlLWIiljL FAMILY. n.'i

which will be a great honor (o I lice, iu (lir judg-
ment of all that truly love and fear (iod.

"Know that thy dear lallicr has i-one to Heaven
to thy dear brother, and be sure so to live that by
God's grace thou niay'st follow after. L leave thee
to the Lord, who I know will take care of thee and
be thy portion, so thou shalt never want. So I leave
God's blessing with thee, and rest

" Thy dear and loving father,

"John Cooke."

Nor was the laith of this good man vain ; for when
the death of her remaining parent left this child a
friendless orphan, surrounded by those who counted
her an outcast — the daughter of a felon — He who
had sustained her father in his last agony, did not
leave his daughter to despair, but guided her stei)s,
and protected her, until, in this Western World,
she also found a refuge, and became the wife of
her cousin, Eichard Stilwell, one of the Justices
of the West Eidhig of Yorkshire, in the province of
New York.

And when, full of years, she went to her rest,
and her remains were placed beside those of her
honored husband, in the beautiful cemetery upon
Staten Island, where they now repose, she was
followed to the grave by a numerous progeny,
whose chief pride and boast it was — as it still is
of their descendants — that in their veins runs
the attainted blood of that martyr of liberty, John
Cooke.

54 MEMOIES OF THE STLLWELL FAMILY.

John Cooke left no male issue, and his only daugh-
ter, Freelove, having intermarried with Eichard, a
descendant of Nicholas, the line of John merged into
that of his brother iXicholas, whose career we now
propose to follow.

Trial of XXIX Regicides, London, 1660.

LIFE AND TIMES

OK

NICHOLAS STILWELL.

CHAPTEE Y.

t639.

MANHATTAN ISLAND IN 1626— PURCHASED FOR T\n:NTY-rOCR DOL-
LARS—RESERVKD FOR THE VSE OF THE WEST INDIA COMPANY
— GOVERNOR KIEFT ARRIVES IN 1638, AND FOREIGNERS PERMIT-
TED TO SETTLV: IN NEW NETHERLANDS— NICHOLAS STILWELL
ONE OF THE FIRST ICNGLISH SETTLERS ON MANHATTAN ISI.AND —
TOBACCO PLANTERS AT " IIOPTON." ON TURTLE BAY, IN 1639 —
LAW SUIT AVITII HIS NEIGIinORS, GEORGE HOLMES AND THOMAS
HALL — HOW THE COMPANY'S BOWERIES ON MANHATTAN ISLAND
WERE APPROPRIATED— JAN JANSEN SCIIEPMOES.

Even those tvIio have witnessed the nnparalleled
rapidity of the growth of the City of New York
during the last fifty years, can hardly realize that it
is but two centuries and a half since Manhattan
Island was a primitive wilderness, inhabited only by
the aboriginal savages. But when, in 1G09, Henry
Hudson, in the yacht " Half-lVIoon," of Amsterdam,
searching for a North-west Passage to China,
entered the P>ay of New York, and came to anchor
at the mouth of the noble river which now bears
his name, it is believed that the eye of civilized
man first rested upon its virgin wilds, " as i)leasaut

56 LIFE AND TIMES OF

with grasse and flowers and goodlie trees, as ever
was seen."

The magnificent forests which then fringed the
shores of the Island, and were tlie admiration of
Henry Hudson and his companions, may still be
seen ; but now shorn of their leaves and branches,
and transformed into the masts of huge admirals,
which have supplanted the canoes, fashioned from
hollow trees, which then thronged the Bay, as the
followers of these hardy adventurers have sup-
planted the savage inhabitants which flocked around
them upon their arrival.

The rocky ledges which then traversed the Island
still remain, but now transformed into long lines of
warehouses for trade, or fashioned into j)alaces, the
abode of luxury and refinement; or hewn into comely
shapes, and piled in towering spires, they stand as
perpetual monitors, pointing man to his hereditary
skies.

Amsterdam, whose merchants were then sending
their fleets to explore these unknown seas, was as
rich and populous a city as it is to-day, when one of
her trading companies, in 1626, i^urchased for sixty
Holland guilders, equal to twenty-four . dollars, the
whole of Manhattan Island, the site of a city beside
whicli Amsterdam is now but a pigmy.

The only permanent structure then existing upon
the Island, was the counting house of the Dutch
West India Company, a stone building thatched
with reeds, around which were clustered some thirty

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 57

huts, constructed chiefly of the bark of trees, in which
a handful of Ilolhnuleis, comprising tlie entire popu-
lation of the place, found shelter,until the fort, then
staked out by the Engineer of the Company, could
be built; when it was intended Ihat all the settlers
should betake themselves witliin its walls, so as to
be secure against any sudden attack of the savages.

Wlien, twelve years later, in INIarch, 1638, William
Kieft succeeded Wouter Ton Twiller as Director-
General of New Netherlands, New Amsterdam, the
germ from which has sprung the city of New York,
was still but a trading post of the Dutch West India
Company, a corporation which, by its charter,
granted by the States General of Holland in 1621,
had the exclusive right to trade in these parts for
twenty-four years, to plant colonies, make and
administer the necessary laws for the government
thereof, and, for the protection of its commerce, to
erect forts and maintain fleets.

The company having originally determined to
reserve the whole of Manhattan Island for its own
use as a trading mart, had as yet made no grants
of land thereon to settlers, although mechanics and
traders had been permitted to build and occupy
houses in the vicinity of the fort. And upon the
arrival of Kieft in 1638, the settlement still consisted
only of Fort Amsterdam, finished in 1635, which
covered the square now boimded by Bowling Green,
State street, 'Whitehall, and Bridge street, and
the few thatched dwellings around it, which had

58 LIFE AITD TEMES OF

been erected by the traders or servants of the
Company.

Six boweries or farms had, however, been laid out
upon the Island by the Company for its own use.
Two of these were upon the Korth Eiver, comprising
the lands afterward known as the King's farm, now
in possession of Trinity church, and the Dominies'
Bowerie, as it was afterward called, extending from
the vicinity of the fort, north, to the swamp subse-
quently known as Lispenard's Meadows. This latter
tract is the one in which the heirs of Anneka Jans
still claim to have an interest.

The other four boweries were on the East Eiver,
extending along the river side, from the stream
which formed the outlet to the Kolk or fresh water,
about Eoosevelt street, to the vicinity of Hell Gate.

These six farms or boweries had been cultivated
by the officers or servants of the Company, and from
them, and the Company's stores, the traders and
settlers around the fort had been supplied at fixed
prices, with whatever goods or provisions they re-
quired ; but during the latter years of the adminis-
tration of Wouter Yon Twiller, they had been
suffered to run to waste ; and irpon the arrival of his
successor, five of the six boweries of the Company
were without tenants and were open in common.

The population of the Island, consisting chiefly,
if not entirely, of persons who had come here only
for the purpose of trade, and who intended, as soon
as they had made juoney enough, to return, and

NICHOLAS STLLWELL. 59

enjoy tbeir "/«s^ in riist^^ in the fatlierland, little, if
any attention bad been paid to permanent improve-
ments of any kind upon tbe lands occupied by them.

But a few months after the arrival of Kieft, the
attention of the home government having been
called to the unsatisfactory condition of the Colony,
as compared with the neighboring English settle-
ments, which, with much less natural advantages,
but with free trade, had outstripped it in wealth
and population — the Directors of the West India
Company deemed it prudent to surrender some of
the exclusive privileges it had hitherto enjoyed — the
most important of which was that of trading with
the Indians for fiu-s — and by a proclamation issued
in Seiitember, 1638, Xew Netherlands was thrown
open for free trade, as well as for colonization, to all
the inhabitants of the United Provinces, and to all
other friendly nations, imder certain general regula-
tions, imposts and restrictions.

As an inducement to colonists to bring their fam-
ilies with them, and make permanent settlements,
every emigrant was freely offered by this proclama-
tion as much land as he or his family could properly
cultivate ; the Company reserving only a quit rent of
one-tenth, to commence after four years' cultivation
or pasture of the land, which exemption was soon
afterward extended to ten years.

The adoption of this liberal policy on the part of
the West India Company, marked a new era in the
history of the Province. Large accessions to its

60 MFB AKD TIMES OP

population and wealtli immediately followed. Set-
tlers as well as traders were attracted thither from
the mother country, as well as from the neighboring
colonies, who built houses, laid out plantations, and
spread themselves far and wide, seeking the best
land and most favorable locations for trade ; and the
colony entered at once upon a career of prosperity.

Nicholas Stilwell was one of the first of the Eng-
lish nation to avail himself of the privilege extended
to foreigners by the proclamation of September, 1638,
to settle in New Netherlands.

As early as 1639 he is foiuid located as a tobacco
planter upon Manhattan Island, in the ^icinity of
Tiurtle Bay, at a place called "Hopton," a name
which he had probably given it from some fancied
resemblance of the locality to the site of Hopton
Priory, in England, with which many pleasant mem-
ories of his early life were associated.

The earliest record evidence, corroborating the
tradition of the family that he was one of the first
English settlers ujjon Manhattan Island, is found in
the Council Minutes, still preserved at Albany
among the manuscript archives of the Dutch do-
minion, from which it appears that on the 24th day
of November, 1639, Nicholas, the tobacco planter of
Hopton, was summoned before the Director and
Council to answer to one Laurens Haen, for the value
of a canoe which the latter had lent him, and which
had been lost ; and on the same day Nicholas, the

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 61

tobacco planter, had cited his iieiglibors, Thomas
Hall and (leorge Holmes, before the Director aud
Council, to answer to him for an anker of brandy,
belonging to him, and which tliey had appropriated.

Thomas Hall and George Holmes, who appear
thus early upon the records of New Amsterdam,
were two Englishmen, who with a party of twelve or
thirteen others, had been sent out from Point Com-
fort, in Virginia, in 1()35, by Gov. West, of that col-
ony, to seize the Dutch Fort Nassau, upon the South
river. The exi)edition had been betrayed by Hall
aud captured ; and Holmes and the other English
engaged therein had been taken as prisoners to
Manhattan Island, but were soon afterward re-
leased, and returned to Virginia. Hall, however,
had remained in New Netherlands, and seeing that
the virgin soil was well adapted to the culture of
tobacco, with the raising and curing of which he had
become familiar in Virginia, had induced Wouter
Von Twiller, then the Director General, to lay out a
tract of land upon Long Island, belonging to the lat-
ter, as a tobacco plantation, aud to engage him to
take charge of it.

Finding the business very i)rofitable, and that Von
Twiller was disposed to extend it, Hall, by way
of atonement for his former treachery to George
Holmes, had induced the Director General to lay
out one of the Company's boweries upon Manhattan
Island as a tobacco plantation, and to allow him and
George Holmes to cultivate it on shares ; but before

62 LIFE A^TD TIMES OF

the arrangement had been carried into effect, Wouter
Yon Twiller was superseded in his office by William
Kieft, the new Director General, who arriA^ed in ISTew
Netherlands on the 28th of March, 1638.

A good understanding appears to have been at
once established between AVouter Ton T wilier and
his successor, for Eaeft had not been in the colony
thirty days before he leased to Yon Twiller the two
best boweries of the Company upon Manhattan
Island, for three years, at the rent of 250 guilders a
year, and one-sixth of the i)roduce of the land.

Upon one of these farms, on the ISTorth Eiver, all
the cattle and other movable property which had
disappeared from the other boweries of the Company
in Yon Twiller's time, api)ear to have strayed, an^
were now claimed by Yon Twiller as his private
property, which claim was not seriously disputed by
Kieft. But Yon Twiller's good fortune did not stop
there, for he had hardly taken possession under his
lease, when Kieft, by an order in Council promul-
gated on the 24th of June, 1638, gTaciously released
him from the payment of any rent for ten years, by
granting to all freemen the right to patents for the
land they wej'e occupying and cultivating, on con-
dition of their agreeing to pay, after the ten years,
one-tenth of the product as rent, and also a couple
of capons yearly for a liouse and garden.

Yon T^^'iller having thus acquired a plantation,
improved and stocked at the expense of the Com-
pany, and free of rent for ten years, proceeded to

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 63

carry out liis arrMiiiicniciit with (J(M)r<i«' IIoliiics and
Thomas Hall, by Icnsino (lie saiuc !<► tlioiu as a
tobacco plantation, taking- tiicir notes in advance for
the rent, as well as for the stock fnrnishcd ; one of
which notes for 905 lbs. of tobacco payable out of
the first crop raised on the land, appears to have
been immediately transferred by Yon T wilier to
Kieft.

The other foiu" boweries of the Company, upon
the East Eiver, seem to have fallen into the hands
of other parties, upon equally easy terms. Jacobus
Von Corlear, the Commissary who, like Yon Twiller,
in virtue of his relationship to one of the Directors
of the Company, appears to have been recognized as
a privileged jjerson, took possession of and occupied
a large tract of land on the East Eiver, comprising
what has ever since been known as Corlear's Hook,
opposite the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Andreas Hudde, another officer of the Company
appropriated an adjoining plantation, containing 100
morgens, or 200 acres of land, and being the sur-
veyor of the Company, he at once secured his title
to it by a ground brief, or patent.

Barent Dirckson, a soldier, who had served in
the Low Countries under Count Wallenstein, had
possessed himself of another of the Company's bow-
eries, and, in honor of that great Captain, who had
then lately been assassinated, had named it "Wal-
lenstein."

It was upon the upper bowery of the Company,

64 LIFE AND TIMES OF

in the vicinity of Dentil or Turtle Bay, opposite
the lower end of Blackwell's Island, that we find
Mcholas Stilwell thus located at this early day.

Jan Jansen Schei)moes, a Hollander, who had
kept a public house in the vicinity of the fort, had
been complained of for " tapj^ing " for sailors at
unreasonable hours, and had been "recommended
to turn his attention to agriculture." Acting upon
this hint, he had taken jiossession of this abandoned
bowery ; but the raising of goats, which required no
exertion, and for which the rocks around Dentil Bay
Avere well adapted, and the gentle industry of fishing,
appear to have been more congenial to his taste
than the cultivation of the soil. He had therefore
contented himself with these occupations, while
Nicholas, under some arrangement with him, had
entered into possession of that x^ortion of the bowery
adapted to agriculture, laid it out as a tobacco plan-
tation, and given it the name of Hopton.

But a grant for these lands upon Manhattan
Island, which had been reserved by the Company
for its own use, was only to be obtained through the
favor of the Director-General, and Nicholas had
never been in the good graces of Kieft ; for he had
from the first disapproved of, and, as far as possible,
opposed, the inhuman policy adopted by the latter
in his intercourse with the Indians, Avhich was based
upon the idea that they were wild beasts, and should
be exterminated. Nicholas believed and maintained
that the savages were governed by the same influ-

NICHOLAS STILWI'.IJ-. (1.")

ences as other men ; tliat they recognized their
friends, and Mould injure oidy those whom tliey
looked upon as tlieir enemies ; and lie had given
evidence of his faith, by openly abandoning the
protection of the Fort, and taking up his residence
on the extreme out^josts of the civilized settlements
upon the Island, where his safety depended upon his
maintaining friendly relations with his savage neigh-
bors. It was not therefore until nearly two years
afterward, in 1041, that circumstances enabled him
to obtain, through other i^arties, a grant for the
bowery ux)on which he had thus settled.

George Holmes and Thomas Hall were, however,
more fortunate. On the 7th of September, 1G39, a
contract was entered into between them, " to begin
a tobacco plantation near Hopton, on Dentil Baj^,
on the Island of Manhattan, and to build a dwelling
and a tobacco house thereon, at their joint exi)ense,"
with a proviso, however, that if "either of them
should desire to return to England or Holland, or
in case a disagreement should arise between them,
the plantation should be appraised, and the, one re-
maining should retain it at such valuation."

When the buildings were finished, on the 15th of
November, 1G39, a ground brief or i>atent was issued
to them, " for a tobacco plantation on the East
Eiver, extending in breadth along the river from
Dentil Bay, Avhere the beach tree lays over the
water, to the hill of Schepmoes, and in depth 100
rods into the woods."

\

66 I^IFE AJ^D TIMES OF laCHOLAS STILWELL.

This is the first recorded patent for land upon
Manhattan Island issued to foreigners, and was
doubtless procured by Hohnes and Hall, through
the influence of their i^atron, Wouter Yon Twilier.

They had been but ten days proprietors of the
land, when the differences between them and their
neighbor Mcholas required the interposition of the
Director and Council, as already referred to. ISTor
do they appear to have agreed any better among
themselves, for, at the expiration of the first year,
on the 6th of September, 1640, they separated —
Hall selling his half of the dwelling house and plan-
tation to Holmes; " except a boat, a gun, and a dog,
which Thomas Hall reserves to himself, and nothing
more."

Hall, however, continued to reside in the vicinity,
and several other English families from Xew Eng-
land having also settled in the neighborhood,
Hopton soon became known as the " English settle-
ment " upon Manhattan Island. But all the settlers
appear to have held their possessions only upon
sufferance, for this patent to Holmes and Hall was
the only one issued to foreigners for land upon the
Island prior to 164:1.

Dutch Historical MSS., Secretary of State's office, Albany,
O'Callagban's New Netherlands.
Brodhead's History of New York.

OHAPTEE VL

1641.

ML'KDKR AT TURTLE BAY — SCIIKPMOKS FRIGHTENED — SEEKS SAFKU
Ql'AKTKRS — SELLS OUT TIIK BOWKKY TO GEORGE BAXTER AND
WALTER HARTFOOT ON CRKDIT — THEY SECL'RE A PATENT FOR IT,
AND SELL IT TO NICHOLAS STILWELL FOR CASH — HE BUILDS THE
STONE HOUSE AT HOPTON, OX TURTLE BAY — LIFE THERE IN 1042 —
RUMORS OF INDIAN UPRISING UNDER MIANTONOMAH — NICHOLAS
ORGANIZES A TROOP OF ENGLISH.

In the summer of 1641, an old man named Olaes
Schmidt, a wheelwright, who had settled in the vicin-
ity of Dentil Bay, was murdered, and his house
plundered hy a young- Indian whose uncle had been
killed by some Dutchmen, near the fresh water or
Kolk, many years before, when the fort was building.
The murderer had escaped to his tribe in what is
now Westchester County, and some soldiers who had
been sent from the fort to arrest him having returned
unsuccessful, the Director had made a demand for
his surrender upon the sachem of the tribe to which
he belonged, and had threatened, in case of refusal,
to destroy their whole village.

Jan Jansen Schepmoes, who still occupied, and
raised goats upon a portion of the bowery upon
which Nicholas had located, and who, as a freeman,
under Kieft's proclamation of June 24, 1638, might
l)erhaps have claimed a patent for the whole of it,
fearing further trouble with the savages, determined

68 LIFE A^D TIMES OF

to remove and seek safer quarters at liis former
residence, near the fort in l^ew Amsterdam.

Two Englishmen, named George Baxter and Wal-
ter Hartfoot, had lately arrived in the neighborhood
from New England, and having their families with
them, comprising five grown persons, they were,
under the jirovisions of the new Charter of 1640,
entitlecf to claim a patent for one hundred morgens
of land,

KjQOwiug the anxiety of the Director at this
juncture to retain all new settlers, and of Mcholas
Stilwell to secure for himself a grant for the Com-
pany's bowery at Deutil Bay, upon which he was
residing, Baxter and Hartfoot saw an eligible oj^por-
tunity of obtaining a small capital u])oii which to
commence business, by purchasing from Schepmoes,
upon a long credit, his improvements and his pos-
sessor}^ interest in the land, obtaining a patent for
it, and selling the same to Mcholas for cash.

Under the circumstances, Baxter and Hartfoot
had little difficulty in inducing Schepmoes to dispose
of his interest in the premises upon credit ; and on
the 2()th of August, 1641, the contract was signed by
which they agreed to i)urchase it for " five hundred
and twenty guilders, payable in tobacco or corn, at
the price at which the Governor in New Netherlands
will receive the same. One half to be paid in No-
vember, 1()42, and the other half in November, 1643."

All attempts to secure the murderer of Claes
Schmidt having proved ineffectual, the Director now

NICHOLAS STILWKIJ.. 69

determined to avenge^ 11k; crime upon llic tribe to
which lie belon^'ed, l)y destroying- their whole villa<^e.
But as this miiilit involve the cohmy in another
Indian war, nnd the rei)nt:itioii of Kieft was such as
not to place hiiii above the suspicion of desiring- a u ar
for his own ])rolit, "in order that he might render
false reckonings to the (/ompany," he was anxious to
secure the concurrence of the Commonalty at large
in his designs.

With this view, all the heads of families upon Man-
hattan Island and its vicinity were summoned to
meet at Fort Amsterdam on the 29th of xVugust, 1()41,
when the Director subndtted to them the questions
whether this nuirder should not he avenged ; and in
case the Indians should j)ersist in their refusal to
surrender the criminal upon further requisition,
wliether it would not be just to destroy the whole
village to which he belonged; and if so, when, how,
and by wh(mi should this be done ?

At this meeting, the first popular assemblage e^-er
convened on Manhattan Island, the Commonalty
were invited to choose twelve men as their represent-
atives, to consider the jn-opositions submitted, and
advise and act in their behalf in concert with the
Director.

Although the English settlers, living in exposed
situations, would be the first and severest sufterers
in case hostilities should be determined upon, in
the selection of the i)opular representatives, they
were not consulted or represented, and the entire

70 LIFE AXD TIMES OF

twelve men were cliosen from among the Hol-
landers.

Mter consultation, tlie twelve men determined
that in the present condition of the Colony, it was
not advisable to adoiDt any hostile measures against
the savages ; and recommended that kind inter-
course and trade should he continued as usual, in
order to throw the Indians oif their guard until the
hunting season, when many of the warriors would
be absent on the chase ; by which time, preparation
could be comi)leted to send out two exxDeditions
from different jioints to sm^prise them and destroj^
their village ; and, in the meantime, it was recom-
mended that further friendly demands should be
made for the surrender of the murderer.

Kieft had not called the peojjle together for their
advice, but only to obtain their endorsement of the
proceedings which he had already determined upon;
and when he found himself thus thwarted by the
popular representatives in a measure ui^on which he
had set his heart, he determined to conciliate and
favor the English settlers, and thus enlist them, and
perhaps others of that nation, in his support.

George Baxter, who understood the Dutch lan-
guage, immediately availed himself of this favor-
able disposition of the Director to i^ress his claims,
and those of his i)artner, for a grant of the lands
they had purchased from Schepmoes, and with such
effect that, on the same day, a ground brief or patent
was issued, granting to George Baxter and Walter

Nr(MTOLAS sriLWKLL. 71

Hartfoot, "the ]>l;nilati()n or l^owcrir Ix'loiiiiin;;-
to the Cominniy, tovmcrly occiiiticd 1>\ .hiii Jaiison
Scliepinocs, situated 111)011 Maiili;itt;m Is1;iih1, upon
the East Kiver, exteiuliiijj;' aloiii; llic river between
two creeks, to wit : that Avliere tliey cross the water
over the stones, and that where tlie beech tree hiys
over the Avater, where (icoriic IToliiies is next
adjoining, and with that width ji('('ordiii<;- to said
creeks, running- back into tlie woods."

This i)atent Avas immediately transferred by Bax-
ter and Hartfoot to Nicholas Stilwell, who thus at
last found a home which he could call his own.

This bowerie, or farm, extended from a creek run-
ning into Kipp's Bay, as it was nfterward called,
about, yhere East 34th street now reaches the East
River, "where they cross the water over the stones,"*
to a large stream enii)tying into Turtle Bay, about
the foot of East 47th street, " where the beech tree
lays over the water," t and from the East Elver it
extended back to the Indian trail, which subse-
quently became the Highway, knoA\ n as the " Old
Boston Post Eoad," leading from the lower part
of the Island through its centre to AVestchester
County.

Having thus become the proprietor of the soil,
Nicholas at once prepared to defend it ; and upon a

* This stream was crossed upon stepping stones, as it is still marked
on old maps.

t Probably from the fact that a beech tree Avas thrown over tho
creek, forming a rude bridge upon the line of the principal trail, which
hero crossed the stream.

72 LIFE AXD TIMES OF

projectiug point of land on the southerly shore of
Dentil Bay, he erected a stone building, as a dwel-
ling for himself and his family, and into which, iu
case of necessity, his neighbors also might retreat,
and defend themselves against any attack of the
savages.

This building, which stood, until a few years ago,
on the shore near the foot of East 45th street, after
Narious changes was taken possession of by the gov-
ernment, shortly before the commencement of the
Eevolutionary war, enlarged and used as a mag-
azine for military stores. Its gallant capture by the
" Sous of Liberty," on the night of the 20th of July,
1775, and the transfer of its stores to Cambridge for
the use of the x>i'Ovincial army there, were among
the stirring incidents which marked the commence-
ment of hostilities, and have made the " Old Store
House " on Turtle Bay memorable in the history of
the war.

Dissatisfied with the result of his first experiment
with popular representation, Kieft, on the 18th of
February, 1642, issued a proclamation dissolving the
twelve men, and x)roceeded to carry out his project
of destroying the village ^^hicll had given shelter
to the murderer of Claes Schmidt.

For this purpose he dispatched a force of eighty
men, with a guide who professed to know the country,
expecting to come upon the doomed village una-
wares and surprise the savages. But the guide lost
his way, night came on, and fearing that they would

NICHOLAS STII.W KLL. 73

tlieiusclves bo siiri)i'is('d, the expedition rcturm'd lo
Manhattan Island without acconiplishinfi: its o])ject.
But it was not without its effect, tor the Indians,
learning that a serious attemx^t had l)een made by
the Director to carry out his tlneats, came in and
sued for i^eace ; and in March, 1042, a treaty was con-
cluded, by the terms of whicli the uuu'derer was to
be surrendered.

Apprehensions of danger from the savages being
now happily removed, Nicliolas prepared to devote
himself to the imi)rovement of his estate and the
culture of tobacco. And here, upon this beautiful
spot which he had chosen for his home, although in a
primitive wilderness, he lived amid nature's richest
profusion.

Dominie Megapolensis, writing from personal ob-
servation in New Ketherlands about this time, says :
" In the forests, by the water side, and on the neigh-
boring islands, there grew wild, abundance of luits
of every kind — chestnuts, hazel and walnuts — and
plums in great variety. The hills were covered with
thickets of bilberries — the flats with strawberries,
which grew in such plenty that the people Avent
there to lie down and eat them. Vines clambered
over the trees, bearing grapes in abundance, as good
and sweet as those of Holland.

" Deer were plenty, and so fine, that in harvest
time, there was sometimes two inches thick of fat
ui)on their ribs. Turkeys also were abundant, while
partridges, pheasants and ingeons, were found in

74 LLPE AND TIMES OF

sucli flocks tliat a man might stand in his own door
in the morning and evening, and shoot them in
great numbers.

" The brooks and rivers, as well as the bay, were
alive with fish of various kinds ; i^erch, cat-fish, sun-
fish, also shad, bass, &c. In the spring, perch were
so plenty that a boy with a hook could catch fifty
in an hour. Oysters of the finest flavor, and clams,
abounded uiDon the shores. Game was so cheap as
to be hardly worth powder and shot. The Indians
sometimes selling a stag for a loaf of bread, or even
a tobacco ijipe."

The land was well provisioned with all the neces-
saries of life; only European goods, cloths, woolens,
and linens were scarce and dear ; but the soil and
climate were well adapted to the raising of tobacco,
which formed a circulating medium not less current
among their English neighbors of ]N"ew England
and Virginia, than among the Dutch.

The spirit of religious intolerance, which still
prevailed in ISTew England and A'^irginia, was con-
stantly causing new accessions to the number of
English settlers in Kew Netherlands; for many of
the emigrants to the English Colonies, when first
driven from their homes in England by the fires of
persecution, had sought religious freedom in Hol-
land; and when the intolerance of their own country-
men liere again drove them out of their midst, they
naturally turned to the Dutch, to find again the
liberty they had enjoyed in the parent country.

NICnOLAS STLLWELL. 75

During the loUowing year the emigration from
New Englaud to the Dutch attained such propor-
tions, that the General Court of Massachusetts took
notice of it, and sought to dissuade their people
from removing thither, on the ground that they
were " thereby strengthening the Dutch, their
doubtful neighbors;" but the inducements offered
to emigrants were so great, that even Rhode Island
was considered a less desirable place of residence
for absolute freedom of conscience than New
Netherlands.

By these new settlers, during the year 1642,
several considerable English colonies were estab-
lished imder the Dutch in the vicinity of Manhattan
Island ; and by similar accessions the population of
Hopton, the English settlement around Dentil
Bay, increased during the same time to some thirty
fandlies.

These large additions of English-speaking people,
and the necessity of constant intercourse between
them and the Director General, who was but imper-
fectly acquainted with their language, rendered it
necessary for the latter to employ an assistant,
familiar with both languages ; and in December,
1642, George Baxter was appointed English Secre-
tary, "to assist the Director now and then with
advice, and to write his letters," at a yearly salary
of two hundred and fifty guilders.

Soon after the treaty with the AVestchester sav-
ages, the quiet of the community had been again

76 LIFE ANB TIMES OF

disturbed by the news of another murder, com-
mitted by an Indian near Hackensack ; but the
English of Hopton were now so strong in numbers,
that, with the stone house of JSTicholas on Dentil
Bay as a place of refuge, they had little appre-
hension of danger from the natives.

But a few months afterward, the colony was
thrown into the utmost consternation by rumors
which reached it from various sources, that Mianto-
nomah, the Great Sachem of the Karragansetts, had
contrived to draw all the Indians throughout the
country into a general conspiracy to exterminate
the whites, and that a time had been fixed for the
assault, wliich was said to be after harvest.

The authorities of Hartford and New Haven had
given credit to the rumors, and concerted measures
for their defense. The Governor and Magistrates of
Massachusetts had ordered all the Indians within
their jurisdiction to be disarmed, and had called a
meeting of the General Court of that colony, before
which Miantonomah was summoned to attend and
answer.

The danger seemed so imminent that no time was
to be lost in preparing for defense. Nicholas, having
organized the people employed upon his Turtle Bay
plantation, and the neighboring settlers, into a mili-
tary company, they were prepared to defend them-
selves ; but the prompt and decided action taken by
Massachusetts upon the discovery of the plot, pre-
vented its execution.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. i 4

The fact, 1i()w<'V(m-, was (\stablislM'<I, lluit siicli ;i
conspiracy had actually exist cd ; it was thcrct'orc
deemed advisable to keep up tlu' in ilitaiy organiza-
tion, and rc^lax no ])recautions to i)revent a surjmse.
The discovciy of the i)lot, and tlie knowledge on
the part of the savages that the whites were i>re-
j)ared to defend themselves, Avonld nndonbtedly
have pnt an end to all danger from that source,
and afltairs would soon have resumed their usual
course, had not an act of unparalleled barbarity
and brutality on the i)art of Keift, the Director
General, and his few blood-thirsty follow^ers, tired
the Indian blood, and united all the neighboring
tribes as one man, in a determination to extermi-
nate a race which could perpetrate crimes at which
even savages shuddered.

Dutcli Records, Albany.
Hazard's Historical Collections.
O'Callagliau's New Netherlands.
Riker's Aunals of Newtown.

CHAPTEE yil.

1643.

IXDIAN OUTBREAK OF 1G43 — SAVAGES SEEK SHELTER UNDER FORT
A:\ISTERDAJI — treacherously murdered by the dutch AT
PAVOXLV AXD CORLEAR'S HOOK — DE VRIES' ACCOUNT OF MAS-
SACRE—GENERAL UPRISING OF INDIANS— IIOPTON DESTROYED —
SETTLERS ESCAPE TO FORT AMSTERDAM — NICHOLAS COMMIS-
SIONED TO ENROLL THE ENGLISH FOR DEFENSE — INDIANS SEEK
PEACE — TREATY OF MARCH, 1643.

About the first of February, 1643, a party of the
brave aud warlike Mohawks, tlie terror of the other
tribes, whom they had subjugated and rendered trib-
utary, " each with a gun upon his shoulder," made a
descent upon the Indians inhabiting the shores of
the lower Hudson Eiver, who had been induced by
some of the Long Island Indians to withhold the
tribute of dried clams and wampum, which they had
agreed to pay their conquerors ;* and although the
assailants were less than a hundred in number, the
populous tribes in Westchester and its vicinity fled
before them, like sheep before wolves. Half dead
with cold, hunger and fright, four or five hundred of
the fugitives sought the i^rotection of the whites
upon Manhattan Island.

In this pitiable plight, the kind-hearted colonists
forgot all their animosities and gave them food and
shelter J and for fourteen days the savages rested in

* Gabriel Furmau — Notes to Denton, p. 37.

LIFE AND TIMKS OF MCIKH.AS STI LNVKLL. 7'.>

security under Uie walls of llic loH in New Anistei-
dam ; then ventuiini;" lorlli, sonic ciosscd the river
to Piivonia on tlicir way to tlicir IViciKls, the llack-
ensacks ; otliers removed to a place behind Corlear's
ITook, where a number of lloekaway Indians had
hitely set up their wigwams.

But while one portion of tlie conununity, by acts
of kindness to the poor fugitives, had been estab-
lishing a lasting claim to their gratitude, another
portion had been plotting their destruction. A
number of blood-thirsty wretches who had found
refuge in New Amsterdam, headed by Cornelius
Van Tienhoven, the Secretary, now api)roached the
Director General, while heated with wine at a
Shrovetide feast, and reminded him that the nuuder
at Hackensack was still unavenged ; that the West-
chester tribe had not yet surrendered the murderer
of Claes Schmidt, according to the terms of the
treaty ; and declared that the people cried for re-
venge. Tan Tienhoven and Corporal Stein had
already been to Pavonia and Corlear's Hook, and
marked the positions of the Indians, and found
that they could be surprised in their sleep, and
murdered without danger to the assailants ; and
daring to raise their imx)ious hands to Heaven,
these miscreants declared "that God had evidently
delivered the enemy into their hands," and asked per-
mission from the Director to attack the savages, now
resting in securitv under the niemorv of the kind-
ness so recently extended to them by the whites.

80 LITE A^D TIMES OP

Kieft, equally blood-tliirsty, and gloating over the
prospect of wholesale murder, was deaf to the re-
monstrances of the Council, and of David Pieterson
De Vries and others, who saw the madness of the
act; and ambitious to perform a deed which he de-
clared was worthy of the heroes of ancient Eome,
gave the requisite orders, and in the dead of night
between the 25th and 26th of February, 1643, two
expeditions went forth — one party, of volunteers,
fitly headed by Mayrn Andrieson, a noted pirate
and free-booter, proceeded against the Indians be-
hind Corlear's Hook ; and the other, consisting of a
company of soldiers under the command of Ser-
geant Eodolph, crossed over to Pavonia, under the
guidance of Corporal Hans Stein, who, with Van
Tienhoven had planned the attack.

We are not left to imagination, to picture the
horrors of that night, when eighty Indians were
murdered in their sleep at Pavonia, and forty more
were ruthlessly slaughtered in cold blood at Cor-
lear's Hook.

David Pieterson De Vries, who with Dominie
Bogardus and La Montague, a member of the Coun-
cil, remained with the Governor to the last, hoping
to dissuade him from his bloody designs, has given
us an account of the doings of that night, Avliich
threatened to put an end to the rule of the West
India Comxiany in New Netherlands.

"I remained that night at the Governor's," says
DeVries, "and took a seat in the kitchen near the

JJK TIOLA.S 8TILAVELL. SI

fire. At inidiiiiilit 1 lu-nril loiid sliiicks, .-md wont
out to the i)arai)('t of the Vovi juhI hiokcd loAvard
Pavouia. 1 saw iiotliiii.<»- bul llic ilasliino of ihc
guns. J heard notliin<2," niorc^ of tlie yells an<l
elaniors of the Indians. They had been butelieied
dni'inii- their sleep. I went baek to the fire, and
shortly after, an Indian man and woman whom I
knew, entered and told nie that they had fled I'rom
Pavonia ; that the Indians of Fort Orange had sur-
prised tliem, and that they came there for shelter.

" I told them immediately to go away, that that
was no place of refuge for them ; that it was not
the savages of Fort Orange who were murdering
those of Pavonia, but it was the Swannikins, the
Dutch themselves.

" They then asked me how they could get away
from the fort. 1 led them out of the gate where
there was no sentinel, and they Aveut into the
woods. About day-break, the soldiers returned
again to the fort, having murdered eighty Indians."
"And this," exclaims De Vries, " was the feat worthy
of the heroes of Old Eome !" To massacre a parcel
of Indians in their sleep, to take the children from
the breasts of their mothers, butcher them in the
presence of their parents, and throw their mangled
limbs in the tire or water. " Some of the sucklings
fastened to their little boards (cradles) were cut in
pieces. Some were thrown alive in the Avater, and
when their parents rushed in to save them, the
soldiers prevented their landing, and let both i)ar-

6

82 LIPE AND TEVIES OF

ents and cMldren drown. Children of five or six
years of age, and some old and decrepid men,
wlio had escaped in the darkness, and found shelter
in the bushes and reeds, crawling out of their hiding
places in the morning to beg for some food, or per-
mission to warm themselves, were killed in cold
blood and thrown in the water. Some came running
to us in the country-, with their hands cut off; some
who had their legs cut off, were supporting their
entrails in their arms ; others were mangled in
other various horrid ways too shocking to be re-
corded. And these miserable wretches, as well as
some of our own people, did not know but that they
had been attacked by the Indians of Fort Orange."

A few days afterwards, a number of Dutch
farmers on Long Island, thiuldng they could now
plunder the trembling savages ■with impunitj',
undertook to carry off two wagon loads of corn,
belonging to some neighboring Indians. The
natives attempting to defend their property, two
of them were killed.

By this outrage, the Long Island tribes, who had
always been friends and allies of the Dutch, were
also estranged from them, and now formed an
alliance with the River Indians and other neigh-,
boring tribes, who were burning to avenge the
massacre of their people ; and who, upon discover-
ing that it was the Dutch, and not the Mohawks^
who had attacked them at Pavonia and Corlear's
Hook, had combined to exterminate the Dutch.

]S'IC110LAS STILWELL. 83

Eleven tribes, numbering over two thousand
warriors, llo^^ rose in open war, and every white
man upon whom they eouhl hiy hands was killed.
Thej' burned the dwellings, fences and out-houses,
killed the eattk', destroyed the ^irain, haystacks
and tobacco, and laid waste the whole country,
from the T\aritan Eiver to the banks of the Con-
necticut; driving- the panic-stricken settlers to the
same refuge the Indians themselves had lately
sought, in Fort Amsterdam. Eoger Williams,
whom the people of Massachusetts would not i)er-
mit to cross their territory to take ship at Boston
for England, coming to Kew Amsterdam to find
l)assage from this port, arrived in the midst of
the panic. " Mine eyes," says he, " saw the flames
of the towns, the fright and hurries of men, women
and children, and the present removal of all that
could, to Holland."

"But even maddened by the slaughter of their
own wives and children," Be Vries says, " the sav-
ages did not kill any females or children," and
even in their blind rage, distinguished between
their friends and their enemies. They had attacked
the dwelling of De Yries, but as soon as they
learned that it was the property of their fi-iend,
they desisted.

De Vries says, "They burned my farm and barns,
destroyed my cattle, tobacco, and everything they
found. My people saved themselves by taking
refuge in my dwelling, which being constructed

84 LIFE AKD TIMES OF

«^itli embrazures, they defended themselves through
these. While we were thus stationed for defense,
the very same Indian who came to me that horrid
night in the fort, when I was sitting near the fire
at the Governor's, and whom I had conducted
out of the fort, made his appearance. He told
the other Indians that I was a good chief, and
how I had assisted him, and was much opposed
to the murdering of their people." They cried
out to my i)eople not to fire, that if they had
not destroyed my cattle and farm, they would
not do it now, but would leave everything as it
was; and so they broke up the siege of my house."
Mcholas had anticipated that a terrible reckoning
would be exacted from the Dutch by the savages,
for the blood of their friends, and he was therefore
not surprised when the sound of the war-whoop
told him that the avengers of blood were upon the
path of the mm^derers; but from the good relations
which he had always maintained with the natives,
he had little apprehension of danger to himself or
his property. He had lived for three years upon the
line of the iirincipal trail followed by the Indians
who visited New Amsterdam ; but although in daily
intercourse with the Dutch and Indians, he had not
taken i)art in any of the troubles which had arisen
between them, and was well known as an English-
man, and one of the party among the settlers, of
which Do Yries was the leader, who had always
counseled forbearance, kindness and justice, as the

iriCHOLAS STILWELL. 85

policy to be {nirsucd by the wliitos in their (h'alin^s
with the natives ; and if lie eoiihl have had an opixn'-
tnnity of parleying with the Indians before the de-
struction of his plantation, he might have saved it.

Nicholas knew that the animosity of the savages
was partienlaily din^eted against Kieft and his
secretary, Van Tienhoven, and their special adher-
ents ; but he had not been blind to the fact that the
appointment of George Baxter, one of the settlers
of Hopton, as English Secretary, had so far iden-
titied him with Kieft as to cast suspicion upon thu
other English, and that this might counteract in a
measure the good feelings the savages had enter-
tained toward them ; and therefore, although confi-
dent of the good will of the natives toward him,
Nicholas had neglected no precautions to prevent
a sur^jrise, or for defense ; but these were of little
avail against the overwhelming horde of infuriated
savages, who now swarmed over the Island, and
like locusts, in a few hotirs consumed or destroyed
everything in their way.

Of Hopton, the first English settlement upon
IVIanhattan Island, nothing renuiined but the stone
building on the shore of Turtle Bay, in which Nicho-
las Stilwell and the survivors of the colony now
found refuge. kSurrounded by desolation, fortunately
the bay and river still furnished them the means of
escape ; and with all that remained for them to de-
fend— their lives, which they still held by a tentire
as frail as the light canoes in which they now en-

80 LIFE AlfD TniES OF

trusted themselves— they sought the protxietion of
Fort Amsterdam.

All the settlers upon Manhattan Island and its
vicinity, who had escaped the vengeance of the sav-
ages, were now huddled together in the fort, bewail-
ing their utter ruin,. through the folly and criminal-
ity of Kieft, and they now threatened to abandon the
colony in a body.

In this emergency, the Director saw no resource to
prevent a depopulation of New Amsterdam, but to
take all the settlers into the service of the Company,
for two months, until peace could be re-established,
"as he had not suflBcient soldiers for public defense."
As few of the English understood Dutch, Nicholas
Stilwell was commissioned to command a company
of English, composed of the late settlers at Turtle
Bay, aud others of that natiou who, in the general
enrollment, now found themselves in the military
service of the Dutch.

But the savages had now glutted their revenge,
the season for planting, huntmg, and fishing was
approachiug, aud they were willing to make peace.
Three messengers from the great chief Pennawitz,
the sachem of the Oanarsies, then the most numer-
ous and powerful of the tribes of Long Island,
approached the fort with a white flag. They had
been sent to inquire why the Dutch had murdered
their people, who had always been their friends.

Kieft eagerly seized the olive branch thus held
out. De Vries and Jacob Olfertzen volunteered to

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 87

return with the ine.sseni>-ers to Ikockaway aiid have
a "talk" Mith the Indians.

The ambitssadors from the Dulcli ani\ed in the
evening at the Avigwam ol the " one-eye<l cliief,"
where they were ]u)si)itably entertained, and the
next morning at day-break they met in eouneil
sixteen ehiefs, who were awaiting their arrival.

After hearing a statement of their grievanees,
De Yries invited the saehems to aeeompany him
to Fort Amsterdam, where lie pronused they should
receive presents and satisfaction for their injuries.
Some of the savages hesitated to trust themselves
in the power of those who had so treacherously
nnudered their friends. But Ue Yries pledged his
word for their safety, and they were satisfied and
went; "for he had never lied to them as the other
Swannikins had, and they could trust him."

On the 25th of March, 1043, at 3 o'clock, P. M.,
the chiefs of the Long Island Indians, some twenty
in luimber, assembled at Fort Amsterdam, and a
treaty was concluded between them and the Dutch
which was ratified as usual by presents to the
chiefs. But the Eiver Indians, who had suflferec'
more deeply, were not so easily induced to forget
the treachery of the Dutch, and it was only through
the representations of their brethren of Long Island
that they were finally induced to lay down their
arms and consent to the peace.

On the 22d of April, 1G43, a treaty was also
concluded with the river tribes, but the presents

88 LIFE AND TIMES OF 2sICHOLAS STILWELL.

by which it was ratified, were not considered by the
latter sufficient to wipe out the memory of their
great wrongs; and although they consented to bmy
the tomahawk, their evident discontent showed
that it had not been buried entirely out of sight,
and that they had only signed a " hollow i)eace."

Dutch Record, Albany.

De Vries' Voyages, N. Y. Historical Society Col., 2d series, vol. 1.

OCallaghan.

Brodliead,

CHAPTER Vm.

1643.

NICHOLAS PURCHASES NEW RESIDENCE NEAR TILE FORT — SETTLERS
NOW PERMITTED TO TAKE UP LOTS ON MANHATTAN ISLAND-
NEW AMSTERDAM, IN 1043 — ARRIVAL OF LADY DEBORAH MOODY
—SHE LAVS OUT SETTLEMENT ON LONG ISLAND — GRA\'ENZANDE—
ENGUSH FROM HOPTON REMOVE THERE.

Nicholas had never despaired of his adopted
country, even in its darkest days ; he had pur-
chased his Turtle Bay plantation on the eve of a
threatened Indian war, for which the colony was
totally unprepared ; and now that he was houseless,
he was not one of those who proposed to abandon
the country, but set about to provide a new home
for his family.

Having- no faith in the " peace " lately con-
cluded, with Avhicli the savages were so evidently
dissatisfied, he prudently chose his new residence
near the fort in New Amsterdam, and purchased
the house and lot on the northerly side of the
present Beaver street, about midway between
Broadway and Broad street, where the stores Nos.
23 and 25 Beaver street now stand.

This lot is described as "situated upon the north-
erly side of the Beaver graft, between the lot of the
Deacon's on the west, and of Toussaint Briell, on the
east ; being three rods in front, and three rods and

90 LIFE JlKD times OE

three feet in the rear, and fourteen rods in deptli,
extending back to the sheep pasture."

Prior to the late Indian troubles, no deeds or
grants had been made to private persons, for lands,
below what is now Wall street, the Company
having reserved that portion of Manhattan Island
for its own use. But since the abolition of the
exclusive privileges of the West India Company,
in 1638, persons desirous of engaging in trade
had been permitted to occupy lots for building
purjDoses in the vicinity of the fort, around which
a considerable tillage had thus grown up.

When, during the late terrible events, they had
threatened to abandon even this spot, which had
come to be considered the only place of safety, the
Director and Council had deemed it prudent to
attach the inhabitants to the colony, by giving
them a title to the laud which they had settled
upon and imjiroved ; and the earliest j)atents for
lots in ISTew Amsterdam bear date, April, 1643.

Up to this time, no formal plan had been adopted
for laying out the city, and the original settlers had
located their houses without any regard to regu-
larity, each one consultmg only Ms own convenience
or fancy. There were no established streets or
roads; but circumstances, and the natm'al geog-
raphy of tlie Island, had led to the selection of
several convenient thoroughfares, which, when the
town was subsequently laid out, were adopted, and
became permanent streets, and have remained so.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 91

The i)iiiici]»al of these, was that called the Iligli-
way ; this letl IVoiii the fort, and the parade ground
in front of it, now known as Bowling Green, through
the fields owned by the West India Company, to
the lower end of the present City Ilall Park. This
was afterward adopted as Broadway. The trail
leading to the upper end of the Island here branched
off to the east, and following what is now Park-row
and Chatham street, led through Chatham square
and the Bowery, along what subsequently became
the Boston Post Eoad to Westchester County.

A second road ran from the fort, along the shore
of the East Eiver, which was on the present liao of
Pearl street, to a stream of water or creek, which
ran through the center of what is now Broad street.
This creek formed a natural outlet to the marsh,
which spread over a considerable portion of the
"sheep pasture," a meadow then extending from
Beaver street to the present line of Wall street,
and from the rear of the lots fronting on the High-
way— now Broadway — to near the present line of
South William street.

This creek, which was navigable for small boats
as far as Beaver street, was called " the graft," or
ditch ; a branch of it extended through Beaver
street nearly to Broadway, and was called the
Beaver graft.

A road ran from the river, along the side of the
graft or ditch, occupying the present position of
Broad street, as far as Beaver street, and along the

1)2 LIFE a:nd tevies of

Beaver graft to Bowling Green. An open space
east of the fort, below Bowling Green, compriMng
the present Whitehall street, was called the Market
Field. Three streets connected this with the graft
in Broad street ; one, called the oblique road, after-
ward known as Petticoat lane, now Market-field
street ; the second, called the common Highway,
and subsequently named Stone street, from the
fact that it was at the time the only paved street ;
and the third called Bridge street, as it led from
the fort to the bridge over the gTaft, where it
joined a road running along the shore or strand, to
the ferry to Long Island, at the foot of what is
now Peck slip.

These were the only thoroughfares in Kew Am-
sterdam in 1643, and the settled portion of the
town was comprised between Broad street on the
east, and the fort on the west, Beaver street on
the north, and Pearl street, then the Strand, on
the south.

The lots laid out on the west side of Broadway,
as far north as Morris street, extended to the !North
Eiver ; Greenwich, Washington and West streets
having been filled in from the Hudson, while
Water, F]'ont, and South streets have been gained "
by accretion from the East Eiver.

Nicholas had just located himself in his new
home near the fort, when in June, 1643, Lady
Deborah Moody arrived in Xew ^Netherlands. This
lady, according to Governor Winthrop, "a wise and

NICHOLAS STILWELL. ♦).'')

.anciently religious woman, hciiii;- lakcii with the
(^rror of dciiyiii^' l)a[)ti,siii to infants, and lia\ini;-
Ijocn dealt Avitli, by many of (lie elders and <>tli('rs,
and admonished by the ehureh of Salem whereof
she Avas a. member, but i>ersistinft' still in her errors,
to avoid further trouble, ^:e., removed to the Dutch,
against the advice of all her friends. Many others,
infected with Anabaptism, removed thither also."

The arrival of tliis lady, accompanied by her son.
Sir Henry INIoody, and a nund)er of other En;;lish
families of good condition, intending to settle in
New Netherlands, was at this moment a most
auspicious event, and was looked ui)on as a i)resage
of future prosperity for the colony. She was hos-
l)itably received by the Director, and invited to
select from any of the unoccupied lands of the
Company, a location for her settlement.

Having examined the neighboring country, she
tixed uiK)n a beautiful tract upon the westerly end
of Long Island, adjoining that granted to Anthony
Janseu Yon Salee ; a large portion of which had
been cleared by the Indians for the pur])ose of
cultivation, and where the wood had been left
standing, it had been cleared of underbrush ; * and
here, by the express will and consent of the Di-
rector and Council, her ladyship and her associ-
ates determined to form a settlement, to which
the Director General, gave the name of "Graven-
zaude," after the ancient city of that name, in

"Silas Wood's Long Island.

94 LITE A2»'D TIMES OP

Holland, near the mouth of the Maas, where the
ancient counts of Holland held their court, pre-
vious to their removal to the Hague in 1250. *

Lady 3Ioody and her son, Sir Henry, soon
attracted to their new settlement the greater num-
ber of the English settlers, who prior to that time
had taken refiige among the Dutch upon Man-
hattan Island, from the religious intolerance of
Xew England, as well as some who had been
attracted thither for piu-poses of trade.

]Sricholas Stilwell, George Holmes, Thomas Hall,
George Baxter, and in fact all the English who
had previously located themselves around Turtle
Bay, and whose plantations had been destroyed
in the late troubles, took up lots in the new set-
tlement, which it was believed would soon su-
persede Xew Amsterdam, as the chief city of the
Province.

In its proximity to the sea, the possession of a
fine sheltered harbor, now known as Gravesend
Bay, the creek, connecting which with Sheepshead
Bay, furnished a convenient means of internal
communication by water, Gravenzande seemed to
possess advantages over any other location; and
these, it was believed, would in time secure to it
the position of the commercial capital of the
Province.

It was therefore originally proposed to lay out
the tovra in proximity to the bay, and with refer-

O'C'allaghau's Xew Xetherland.

I

1

I

NICHOLAS STILWKLL. «>.■»

ence to its futuiv as a place of trade, rather tluiLi
as the centre of an agricultnral (•oimiiiinity.

The spot however selected by Lady Moody and
her son for their residence, was that where the
town wjis subsequently built ; and here the first
building- was erected of logs, which might serve
for protection in case of an attack by the savages.

Valentine's History of City of New York.
Thomson's Long Island.
New Amsterdam Eecords.

OHAPTEE IX.
1643-4.

KIEFT EMBEZZLES PRESENTS DUE INDIANS ON TREATY OF PEACE —
HOSTILITIES RENEWED — SETTLERS OF GRAVENZANDE ORGANIZE
A MILITARY FORCE UNDER NICHOLAS STILWELL — SAVAGES ATTACK
ANNE HUTCHLNSON AND MURDER HER FA3IILY — DESTROY VREDES-
LAND AND MESPAT — ATTACK GRAVENZANDE AND ARE REPULSED
BY FORCE UNDER NICHOLAS — SETTLERS ABANDON THE OTHER
VILLAGES AND FLOCK INTO NEW AMSTERDAM — TAKEN INTO
SERVICE OF THE COMPANY — JOHN UNDERBILL GIVEN THE COM-
MAND—INDIAN MASSACRE AT HORSE NECK — TREATY OF PEACE
OF 1644.

AVilliam Kieft, who, as Director General, now
controlled the affairs of Xew Xetherlands, had years
before at Eochelle, where he had been engaged as a
merchant, suffered the ignominy of having his por-
trait affixed to the gallows of the city as a fraudulent
bankrupt. Subsequently he had been employed to
ransom some Christians who had been captiu'ed by
the Turks and consigned to slavery, and was said
to have embezzled the funds raised by the friends
of the captives for their redemj^tion, and intrusted
to him, and to have left the Christians in bondage.

But all his other crimes were comparatively venial
beside that of which he had now been guilty — in
embezzling the presents by which the late treaty
with the Eiver Indians should have been ratified,
and the withholding of which, threatened to involve
the whole community in the horrors of an Indian
war.

LIFE A^'D TIMKS OF NICHOLAS STILWELL. '.»7

He had rcci'ivcd Nvarniii^.s I'voni a IViciidly cliict
of the discontent of the savages at bis inadequate
presents, and that tlie vonnii' braves were elaniorons
for war. Instead of alhiying tlieir diseonlent, as
lie niiiiht even then have done, by timely presents,
nieasuiin<i' this friendly chief by his own groveling
standard, he sought to bribe him by an ofier of 200
fathoms of wampum, to kill the young men who
wished to dig up the hatchet.

Those, whom the offer of a few beaver skins as
l)resents, would have made firm friends, enraged at
the niggardly conduct of Kieft, now, as enemies,
seized a boat laden with four lunidred of those
coveted ])eltries, and killed one of the persons in
charge of it. Other savages, tempted by this rich
booty, made similar attacks, and two other boats
were captured, and nine more Christians lost their
lives in attempting to defend their i)roperty.

And now came war in the most terrible shape
it could assume. The wild whoox) did not ring
through the woods or along the shori? to announce
the deadly attack. The Indians did not only hide
behind trees or rocks, or creep stealthily at mid-
night to fire the dwellings, and lay in wait for the
escaping inmates, but retaliating the treachery of
the Dutch, who, while pretending to protect, had
lulled their people into security, and then nwirdeied
them in tlieir sleep, not sparing even their wives
and children, the savages now approached in the
open face of day, with the hand of friendshix) ex-

98 LIPE AND TEVTES OF

tended, and at the first favorable moment, buried
tlie tomahawk in the brain of their entertainers.
Even the sacred garb of gratitude was assumed to
cover an attack; some who pretended to have been
befriended by the whites, visited them under the
pretense of warning their benefactors against ap-
proaching danger, and murdered them.

Consternation again seized the community. Kews
came in from all quarters, of ravages committed by
the Indians, and the colonists were again called
together to consult upon public affairs.

Eight men were now chosen by the Commonalty
to act in their behalf, in concert with the Director;
and of these, two were now selected from among
the English settlers. One of these, Isaac Allerton,
*was one of the i)ilgrims of the " May FloAver." He
had been trading with Is^ew ISTetherlands for some
time, and soon after the close of the Indian trou-
ble, in the spring of 1643, had received a ground
brief, or patent, for a lot in Xew Amsterdam, and
had settled among the Dutch. Hoping through
his influence to obtain some assistance from the
neighboring English colonists in the present emer-
gency, he was chosen one of the eight men, and
with Thomas Hall, late of Turtle Bay, represented
the resident English.

Lady Moody and her associates had but fairly
commenced their new settlement on Long Island,
when the Indian war thus broke out anew. But
the company of English, originally organized by

1

NICPIOLAS ST1LWT5LL. 90

Nicliolns Stilwdl at Tiu^tle Bay, and who, after the
destniction of Hoptoii, had been taken into the
service of the Dutch, for two months in the spring,
had, at the expiration of that time, removed in a
body to Gravenzande; and as the necessity of being
prepared at all times to defend their homes against
the savages had never been lost sight of, they had
kept np their organization in their new locality.
At the first news of the Indian hostilities, antici-
pating an attack upon their settlement, they had
prepared to give the savages a fitting reception.
Other inhabitants of the West End of Long Island
now joined their ranks, and the force was thus
increased to forty able-bodied men.

Nicholas Stilwell was appointed Lieutenant,
George Baxter, Ensign, and James Hubbard, Ser-
geant, and with such hasty preparations, and dis-
positions for defense, as the experience of their
officers in Indian warfare enabled them to suggest,
they awaited the appearance of the savages.

The first oi)en attack of the red men, was upon
the settlement of the celebrated Anne Hutchin-
son, who, fiying from her persecutors in New
England, had finally found a refuge among the
Dutch, by whose permission she had settled upon
a point of land, called after her "Anne's Hoeck,"
now known as Pelham Neck, near New Eochelle,
in Westchester County. This lady, her son-in-law,
Mr. Collins, and all the family were murdered,
except one child, who was carried into captivity.

100 JjTfb and times op

The Indians then proceeded to Yredeland — the
land of peace — now Throg's IS'eck, where John
Throckmorton, with thirtY-five English families
had made a settlement under the Dutch. The
opportune i^assage of a boat, enabled a number of
the settlers of this place to escape, but as many
as remained, were slaughtered, their cattle killed,
their barns and houses destroyed.

Thence, crossing over to Long Island, the sav-
ages attacked the settlement of the Eev. Francis
Doughty at Mespat, now Xewtown ; drove the
settlers from their lands, " with the loss of some
men, and many cattle, besides almost all their
houses, and whatever j)roperty they had." They
then fell upon the settlement of Lady Moody, at
Gravenzande.

Then* easy victory over the defenceless widow
and her children at Anne's Hoeck, and over the
panic-stricken settlers at Vredeland and at Mes-
pat, had led the Indians to expect little resistance
in their attack upon Lady Moody ; but they soon
discovered that they had now a ditferent enemy
to deal with. The Colonists living in a great
measure by hunting, had become expert marksmen,
and having engrafted on the tactics of civilized
warfare the wiles which they had learned from
savages themselves, they were iDrepared at all
points to meet them.

Concealed in the log hut of Lady Moody, which
was built some distance inland, and with no

NICnOLAS STIL"\VELL. lUl

apparent preparation lor defenee, a s(roii<^ parly
of tlu' dorciidcrs awaited tlic onslaught ol" the
savages, wlio approaelied (lie house stealthily,
thinking- that the unearthly yell with whieh they
pounced upon their vietinis, would be the first
intimation of their approach. But they were de-
ceived, and when their prey seemed almost within
their reacli, they were themselves surprised by a
volley of bullets, whicli made such sad liavoc
among them that they were glad to seek safety
in tlight.

The oj)en, cleared land, around, afforded them no
shelter, and they had not yet learned to stand up
before fire-arms in the open field. Thej' therefore
sought the nearest cover, but before they had
reached it, the unerring aim of the resolute colon-
ists had laid so many warriors in the dust, that
they w^ere only too glad to get beyond the reach
of their fire ; and Gravenzande thus escaped the
fate which overwhelmed all the neighboring settle-
ments on Long Island.

In order, how^ever, to guard against surprise, it
was considered advisable to erect a stockade or
fortification, into which the settlers might retreat
with their cattle in case the savages should renew
the attack. An apx^lication was accordingly made
for a patent to authorize this ; but matters of a
more urgent nature now occupied the attention
of the Director and Council, and the settlers of
Gravenzfinde w^ere left to defend themselves by

102 'LTFB AND TIIMES OF

tlieir oAvn strong arms. But the receptioi tv^Mcli
the savages had met with, on their first Hostile
visit to that town, had not been of a character to
encourage a second, and they never relocated it.

Of the English, who had been driven from all
the neighboring villages, except Gravenzande, over
a huncbed families flocked into IS'ew Amsterdam,
and sought refuge from the savages under the
walls of the fort ; and unless protection was ac-
corded to them on their plantations, they threat-
ened to leave jSTew Netherlands.

The Director General, so far from being in a con-
dition to defend the outlying settlements, needed
force to protect Xew Amsterdam, and therefore
gladly took into the public service all the able-
bodied English inhabitants of the neighboring
villages, the Commonalty of IS'ew Amsterdam hav-
ing agreed to provide for one-third of their pay;
and a company of fifty was immediately enrolled
from their number, armed and drilled, after having
taken anotlier oath of allegiance to the Prince of
Orange, and sworn that " they would die in the
ser\ace of the Company."

Upon the recommendation of Isaac Allerton,
Cai)tain John Underbill, one of the heroes of the
Pequot Avar, was invited to take the command of
the troop thus raised, but the wages otfered by the
Director were not satisfactory, and Underbill de-
clined ; he subsequently, however, accei)ted the
command, upon the personal promise of Isaac

NICHOLAS STILNVKLL. 103

Allcrtou, as he ni'tcnvju'd allcucd, lliai he slioiild
receive higher wages than the Director liad oll'trcd
biiii.*

Uuder the command of Captain Undciliill, this
force made several successful expeditions against
tlie Indians, hut it was not until 31arch, 1()44, that
an <)p])()rtunity was lonnd, of striking a decisive
blow, which wouhl ])ut an end to the war.

At Strickland's Tlain, on Horseneck, near Green-
wich, Oonnecticut, over live hundred savages had
assembled at an Indian village, to ceh^brate one of
their festivals. Captain Underhill with his English,
and also some Dutch soldiers, under Ensign Van
Dyck, attacked their village by night, surrounded,
it and set it on fire ; and as the wretched victims
endeavored to escai)e from their burning wigwams,
they were mercilessly shot down, or driven back
into the flames. Of the entire assemblage, but
eight savages escaped alive, and of those, three
were badly wounded. Throughout the entire car-
nage, it is said, "not one of the sufferers, man,
woman or child was heard to utter a cry, shriek
or groan."

Upon the return of Captain Underhill and his
force, to New Amsterdam, the Director General
proclaimed a general thanksgiving for the "bril-
liant victory."

Some of the neighboring tribes which had suf-

* Umieiliill afterwards sued Allerton on this promise, but failed
to recover. See Council Minutes, Albany, vol. 2, p. 372.

104 LITE AND TniES OF NICHOLAS STLLWTILL.

ferecl most severely, wisliing to bury the hatcliet,
solicited Captain Uuderliill to intercede in tlieir
behalf, and on the Gtli of Ai)ril, 1044, Mamaroneck,
the chief of the Croton Indians, and also the
sachems of several other tribes in Westchester
County, and the vicinity of the recent slaughter,
presented themselves at Fort Amsterdam, and
through the intervention of Captain Underhill, a
treaty was concluded with them.

Ten days afterward, several of the Long Island
chiefs also appeared at the fort, supplicants for
peace, with whom a similar treaty was concluded,
and jjeace seemed once more about to smile upon
the land.

De Vries' Voyages.

Wintlirop's Journal, 308.

Dutch. Eecords, Albany. *

CHAPTER X.

1644-5.

NEWS OF MASSACKK JSY INDIANS IN VIUGINIA— NICHOLAS ENTERS
SERVICE OF THAT COLONY — PItKCAUTIONS TAKEN AGAINST SAV-
AGES— ACCOUNT OF MASSACRE OF 1644 — OPECHANCANAGII, THE
GREAT KING, OH) AND DECREPID — CAPTAIN FLEETE OPENS
PRETENDED NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE — DISCOVERS KETREAT OF
KING-- EXPEDITION ORGANIZED TO CARRY HIM OFF — TltOOP
UNDER ROGER MARSHALL AND NICHOLAS STILWELL CAPTURE THE
KING — HIS DEATH.

While the people of New l^etherlands were in
the midst of their coiigratulations at the return
of peace, messengers from Virginia i)assing through
New ^Vmsterdam, on their way to New England,
brought the sad news of another terrible mas-
sacre committed by the Indians upon the English
in Virginia, on the 18th of Ax)ril, 1044, and an
appeal from the panic-stricken settlers there, to
their neighbors of New Netherlands for assistance
against the savages.

Nicholas Stilwell, who had so lately experienced
the horrors of Indian warfare, could not listen with
indifference to this appeal of his sutfering country-
men, and his services being no longer recjuired for
the protection of Gravenzande, he availed himself
of the invitation of Sir William Berkely, Governor
of Virginia, to enter the service of that colony ; and
in a few days found himself upon the banks of
York Jiiver, in Virginia, in command of a troop

106 LIFE AM) TIMES OF

raised for the protection of the settlement, as well
as for offensive operations against the Indians.

Since the first great massacre in Virginia, in
1G22, the savages had been engaged in a constant
snccession of hostilities with the whites. The ex-
tension of the English settlements had gradually
driven the red men from the rich soil, bordering
upon the livers, back into the interior, and was
daily driving them still further from the home of
their fathers; but they had contested, step bj^ step,
each encroachmeut, and in the incessant warfare
which had been the result, although the number
of their warriors had been greatly reduced, they
had acquired a familiarity with fire-arms, and a
skill in partizan warfare, that more than compen-
sated for the diminution in their numbers.

The precautions which the previous massacre
had shown the whites to bo necessary, in their
intercourse with the Indians, trading with them
only in particular places, and always going armed,
had almost destroyed any hopes of the savages of
attacking them unawares. But a long period of
comparative security had rendered the settlers in-
different, and they were only awakened to a sense
of their danger, by the discovery of the plot of
1G42, before referred to, of which Miantonomah
was said to have been the head, and which had
included the tribes of Virginia.

Thus reminded of their danger, the Greneral
Assembly, in March, 1043, had enacted that "the

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 107

22(1 (lay of March, be yearly kv\)\ in coiiiincnio-
ratioii of t)nr deliverance from tlic Indians, al tlie
bloody massacre, on the 22d day of March, 11122;"
and the minister of each parish was nuiuircd
to give notice of it, the Sabbath preceding that
day.

At the same session, another law was passed,
requiring the master of every family, to " bring
with him to church on Sunday, one fixed and
serviceable gun, with sufficient powder and shot,
upon penalty of ten pounds of tobacco," and every
servant, who, being commanded, omitted so to pro-
vide, was to receive twenty lashes.

It was probably owing to these timely warnings
and i)recautions, that the whites of Virginia were
not utterly exterminated upon the occasion of the
second massacre.

Upon the death of Powhattan, Ope-chan-ca-nagh,
the inveterate enemy of the whites, had succeeded
to his power, and had enlarged the Indian con-
federacy which had been organized by his prede-
cessor, mitil it now embraced all the tribes within
a circuit of over six hundred miles.

He had long waited for an opportunity to exter-
minate the whites, and when he was now 81^^ "by
some English, informed, that all was under the
sword in England, and such di\ision in our own
land, that now was the time, or never, to root out
all the English," — combining all the tribes under
his control, he fell suddenly, at noon-day, upon all

108 LIFE AND TIMES OF

the settlements at once, and cut off upward of
three hundred Christians." "And all the colonists
had shared the same fate, if God had not abated
the courage of the savages, in that moment of
time they so traitorously slew the English; for they
were, presently, after the first blow, so affrighted
in their minds, that they bad not the heart to fol-
low the counsel their king had commanded, and
prosecuted not their opijortunity, but allowed the
English to gather themselves together and find a
way to defend themselves, and then offend their
enemies, which by the great mercy of God was
done and effected."*

In these few lines are comprised the meagre
contemporary records of the second great massa-
cre of Virginia. Of the war which followed, and
which was ended by the cai)ture and death of the
great king, the cotemporary accounts which have
survived the ravages of time are almost equally
brief.

So dreadful and unexpected a calamity of course
put an end at once to all operations of industry,
and every man able to bear arms was called ui)on
to assist in the defense of the colony. All ])er-
sons lining in isolated and exposed districts were
required to abandon their dwellings and remove
into settlements or gather into large families, con-
taining not less than ten able-bodied men, with
proper arms and ammunition.

* Perfect DeKcii[i1i()ii of Virginia. London, 1649.

iriCnOLAS STILWKLL. 100

Aftov tlic firsl i);nrK' Imd siihsidcd, in orcN-r lo
])r()\'i<l(' n ]M'rm;iiHMil lorcc lor llic in'olcct ion ol'
the colony, ;m act was jKisscd, i('(|iiiriim- cxcrv
fifteen tithable jtcrsons to raise and snpjxtit n
soldier; in ap])oi'lioninn- wldcli hni'tlicn, it was
declared, that every nei^ro man or woman, and
every white male, between the ai^cs ol" HI and (JO
shonkl be adjudged tithable.

Several forts were also bnilt at designated
points along- the rivers, in which (roops were
posted to prevent the Indians from tishing, and
also to cut down their corn, and (k'stroy any of
their habitations in the vicinity. In one of these
forts, npon York lliver, near its head, Nicholas
Stilwell was i)osted with his conii)any.

By these means, the savages had been dis-
l)ersed, and driven from all their towns and
habitations, but they still continued to lurk up
and down the woods in small parties, and for
two years the colony were compelled to keep u])
this defensive force at a great expense, and with
little prospect of any speedy relief from it.

It was said that Oi)e-chan-ca-nagh had now be-
come so decrepid, by his great age, and the exces-
sive fatigue he had endured in the war, as to be
unable to walk alone; and that he was carried
about by his men when he had a mind to move.
That his tlesh was all macerated, his sinews slack-
ened, and his eye-lids had become so heavy that
he could not see, unless they were lifted up by his

110 LITE AND TIMES OE

servants; yet, by the force of his great will, he
was still able to control the confederate tribes.

Sir William Berkeley, the Governor, had long
been satisfied that no peace was possible with the
Indians so long as this aged monarch maintained
his sway over them; and now hearing of his for-
lorn condition, the governor determined, if possi-
ble, to ascertain his whereabouts, seize his person
and carry him off, which it was believed would
destroy the confederacy and i)ut an end to the
war.

The only hope of accomplishing this object, was
through pretended negotiations for i)eace, and
there was considerable difference of opinion in
the colony, as to the propriety of making use of
such menus, even to attain this desired end. But
the Eoman maxim that "Faith is not to be kept
with heretics," finally prevailed; and it was de-
termined to send messengers with pro^iosals for
peace, who would ascertain the whereabouts of
the king, and if they should fail in etfecting a
peace, a force was to be at hand to carry him
off.

An Englishman, known as Captain Henry Fleete,
had settled among the Indians at Piscataway Creek,
several years before the arrival of Lord Baltimore,
and liad been found by the latter, in 1G34, living
among them in great esteem. He was known to
possess great influence with Ope-chan-ca-nagh and
the principal chiefs among his confederates, and

NJCllOLAS; STILWKLL. HI

soon after the last inassaci-c had i)r()j)<)s('(l lo the
Government of IMaryhind to biiiin about a jteace
between that eok^ny and the Indians, ]>robal)ly l)y
means simihu- to those subsecjuently adopted by
Sir William Berkeley. The authorities of Maryland
at iirst entertained his project, .iiid prepared to
carry it out, but afterward abandoned it, and he
then made a similar proposition to tlie (loveiiior
of Virginia.*

The anxiety of the latter, to put an end to the
war upon almost any terms, induced him to give
the matter a favorable consideration, and an agree-
ment was entered into between him and Captain
Fleete, by which the latter was to be supplied with
a force of sixty men with proper arms and supplies,
with which he was to penetrate the Indian country
and endeavor to bring about a i)eace with Ope-chan-
ca-nagh; for which, if successful, Captain Fleete
was to receive a reward of fifteen thousand pounds
of tobacco.t

The exijcdition started in boats from Kickotan,
now Hampton, and ascended the York river to its
head, the junction of the Mattapony and Pamunkey
rivers, now called West Point, which was known to be
the residence of Ope-chan-ca-nagh and his tribe.
Here Captain Fleete learned that the aged king was
at a fort called Powhattan, built by the king of
that name, in Henrico County, near the Falls of the
James river. Thither Fleete followed him ; but as

* Bozman. t Hening's Statutes, Act XVIII, 1G45.

112 LIFE AXD TniES OF

had been auticiiDated, Ms mission was fruitless, so
far as its avowed purpose was concerned; but it
was successful in its real object, for it pointed out
the road, which being followed, led to peace.

For the i:)urx)ose of capturing the king, in case the
peace negotiations should prove abortive. Sir AVil-
liani Berkeley had organized a force of x^icked men,
with a company of cavalry, commanded by Captain
Roger Marshall. This force set out from Jamestown
by land, led by Sir William in person, and proceeded
to AYest Point where it was joined by Xicholas Stil-
well and his troop of horse. The expedition then
followed the trail of Captain Fleete until it came
upon the place of the king's retreat, when, as had
been previously arranged, Captain Eoger jNIarshall
by a sudden charge of his cavalry dispersed or killed
the guards and attendants of the king, while Nich-
olas Stilwell seized the x^erson of the aged monarch
and carried him off bodily to the English camp, and
the exj^edition retm'ned safely with the prisoner to
Jamestown.*

Sir AVilliam desired to send his royal cajitive to
England, hoi)iug to gain reputation by presenting to
his sovereign, a monarch who, at his i)leasure, could
have called into the field ten times as many Indian
waiTiors as there were English in the whole colony.

But although the Governor had given strict orders
that the prisoner should be treated with all respect
and tenderness, lie could not protect him from the

* Beauchamx) Plantagenet's New Albion, 1648.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 11.",

violence of those who liad siiflered so many calami-
ties tbrougli his means. One of \\w colonists, seeing-
in the prisoner only the savage monster who lia«l
wronght such ruin and bloodshed in the colony,
fearing that he might escape, or, being given up by
some treaty, might thus evade punishment, could
not resist the opportunity for revenge; and shot
him in the back, giving him a mortal wound.

But, although borne down by the weight of years
and intirmities, wounded and a captive, Opechancan-
agh could not forget that he was a king ; and av hen
the rumors of his approaching death had drawn to-
gether a curious crowd, wiio were permitted to gaze
upon his dying couch — feeling keenly the indignity
— without noticing the intruders, lie commanded
the Governor to be called; and when Sir William
made his apjoearance, the captive monarch, with
diflQculty raising his head, uttered that noble reproof
— " Had it been my fortune," said he, " to have
taken Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I should not
have exposed him as a show to my people."

As had been anticipated, the death of the king-
was speedily followed by the dissolution of the In-
dian confederacy, which his great genius alone had
so long maintained ; and overtures of peace having
been made separately to the several tribes, were
gladly accepted, and solemnly ratified, in the pres-
ence of the Commissioners of the colonists and of
the different tribes.

Beverley. Burk. Bozman.

OHAPTEE XI.

1646.

GOVERNOR CAXVERT DRIVEN OUT OF MARYLAND BY CLAYBOTJRNE —
IS PROTECTED BY THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA — NICHOLAS
RECRUITS A COMPANY IN VIRGINIA, AND GOES TO ASSISTANCE
OF CLAYBOURNE IN MARYLAND— PROCLAMATION OP GOVERNOR
OF VIRGINIA — CAPTAIN HILL SENT AMBASSADOR TO MARYLAND
— SECURES PRIVATE PROPERTY OF LORD BALTIMORE AND SUR-
RENDERS KENT ISLAND AND PALMER'S TO CLAYBOURNE — NICHO-
LAS' COMPANY DISBANDED IN AUGUST, 1646— HE RETURNS TO
NEW NETHERLANDS.

By the terms of the treaty of peace, all the lands
between the York and the James river were finally
ceded to the whites, and no Indian was to set his
foot thereon under penalty of death, unless bearing
the badge of a messenger.

The delightful climate and fertile soil of this
peninsula, with which Nicholas had become ac-
quainted during his campaigns, offered strong in-
ducements, in addition to those held out by the
Governor, for him to locate himself i^ermanently
in Virginia. But the prevalence of the same spirit
of intolerance which had driven him out of l^^ew
England, now again prevented him from settling
among his own countrymen.

So long as the torch, the tomahawk, and the
scalping knife of the savage threatened them, the
colonists had seen in every new comer, only an ac-
cession to their available strength, and had gladly

LIFE AND TIMES OF NICUOLAS STILWELL. 1 1 ."i

welcoiiRMl ;in ;il)lo-bo(lio(l man, Avitlioul st()i)i)iiig
to iiKinirc ^^■hetlle^ lie was a i)uritaii or a heretic, a
partizau of the king, or of the parliament.

But the laws requiring a strict conforniitj^ to the
canons of the church of England, were still in force
in Virginia, and none but conformists in the strictest
and most absolute sense, were permitted to reside in
the Colony " lest they should introduce the heretical
contagion of their principles." *

AVhen therefore peace was again restored, and
the laws resumed their sway, Nicholas found that
if he wished to acquire a residence in Virginia, it
would be necessary for him to conform his views in
matters of religion to those of his neighbors ; and
this he was not disposed to do, for it was not in
ecclesiastical matters alone, that his views differed
from those i)revalent in the colony. In the civil war
then raging in England, his sympathies were entirely
with the Parliament, while the people of Virginia
were among the firmest adherents to King Charles
the First ; and although by the recent defeat of his
forces at Naseby, on the 14th of June, 1645, the
royal cause had become utterly desperate, Sir Wil-
liam Berkeley, the Governor, had found means still
to retain the Province in the obedience of the king.

But Governor Calvert, of Maryland, had not been
so fortunate, and was then a fugitive from his gov-
ernment, living in Virginia under the protection of
Sir William Berkeley.

* Hening'a StatntcB.

116 LIFE AND TIMES OF

After the battle of Marston-moor, fought on the
3d day of July, 1644, with such disastrous results to
the royal cause, the estates of those who had sided
with the king were considered by the friends of the
Parliament here, as liable to confiscation and se-
questration whenever they were enabled to lay
their hands upon them.

Lord Baltimore, the patentee of Maryland, had in
the early stages of the civil war in England, taken
part with the king, and his estates here, were there-
fore looked upon as lawful prize by the friends of
the Parliament.

Prior to the issuing of Lord Baltimore's patent for
the Province of Maryland, William Olaybourne,
the Secretary of State of the Kingdom (as the an-
cient dominion of Virginia was then called), under
a royal license to trade with the Indians, had ex-
plored Chesapeake Bay, and discovered and planted
the Island of Kent, and had also made a settlement
on an Island, at the mouth of the Susquehanna riv-
er, named Palmer's Isle.

He and his partners in this enterprise claimed to
be the proprietors of Kent Island, "having pur^
chased the same from the Kings of the Country,"
and had established there, and at Palmer's Isle, a
profitable trade with the Indians for beavers and
other commodities.

These islands, however, were within the territorial
limits of the patent, subsequently granted to Lord
Baltimore ; but as that instrument purported to

NICHOLAS STILWKLI. 117

grant only lands theretofore uncultivated Jind un-
occupied except by the savages, Claybourne and his
partners claimed that Kent Island and Palmer's
upon wliich they had already made settlements,
were not included in the patent, and they there-
fore attempted to letain possession thereof by force.
But in this they were unsuccessful, and Lord Balti-
more having succeeded in ousting them, Claybourne
had retired to Virginia and afterward proceeded
to England to lay his grievances before the king.

Failing to obtain redress in that quarter, upon the
declining of the royal cause, he had applied to the
Commissioners appointed by Parliament to superin-
tend the aflPairs of the colonies, and having obtained
their countenance to his proceedings, he returned to
Virginia, and from among the friends of the Parlia-
ment there, raised a military force for the avowed
object of taking possession of the property of Lord
Baltimore in Maryland, as an enemy of the Com-
monwealth. With these troops, Claybourne not
only succeeded in re-possessing himself of Kent
Island and Palmer's, but drove Governor Calvert,
the representative of Lord Baltimore, out of the
whole province, the government of which Clay-
bourne assumed, Calvert escaping to Virginia, where
he placed himself under the protection of Sir Wil-
liam Berkeley.

The successful termination of the Indian war in
Virginia, in the spring of 1G46, had set at liberty
many of the soldiers and adventurers who had

118 LIFE AND TIMES OF

been employed therein, and Governor Calvert en-
deavored to organize from among them, a military
force for the purpose of attempting to regain the
possession of his government.

In this he had the countenance, if not the assist-
ance of Sir William Berkeley ; but Claybourne and
his friends, among whom were counted all the ad-
herents of the Parliament, were not idle, and finding
that Mcholas Stilwell, who had taken so active a
part in the late war, had no sympathy with the king
or his cause, they determined to enlist him in their
support. Nicholas seeing no prospect of fm^ther
employment in active service in Virginia, was easily
induced to recruit a company of his late soldiers
to assist Claybourne and the friends of Parliament,
in maintaining their authority in Maryland ; and
long before Governor Calvert had succeeded in
raising a force sufficient to justify an attemjjt on
his part to re-capture his rebellious Province,
Nicholas Stilwell had organized a company of
veterans, escaped with them from Virginia, and
jjlaced his and their services at the disposition of
Claybourne, on Kent Island.

This important accession to the ranks of the
rebels, as Governor Calvert designated his oppo-
nents, caused no small disturbance not only to
him, but also to Sir William Berkeley. The gen-
eral assembly of the province being in session,
the Governor communicated the facts to that body,
and an act was immediately passed, reciting that

. NICHOLAS STILWELL. Ill)

"Lieut. ISTicliolas Stihvdl jiiid ollicis of tlic ('<>l<)iiy
bad secretly conveyed themselves to Maryland and
Kent Island, and divers other persons uerc likely
to follow, if timely prevention were not had therein."
It was therefore enacted that captain Thomas Wil-
lon«?hby, and Captain Edward Hill, two members of
the house of Burghesses of Virginia "be authorized
to go to Maryland and Kent, to demand the return
of such persons as had already departed from the
Colony, and to follow such further instructions as
should be given by the Governor and council ; and
that a proclamation forthwith issue to i)revent the
further departure of the inhabitants of his Colony
under penalty of severe censure to be inflicted by
the Governor and council."*

When Capt. Edward Hill, a few days afterward,
made his appearance in Maryland as a messenger
from the sister province, he found William Clay-
bourne in full possession of the Government, and
with the addition to his military force made by
Nicholas Stilwell and his veterans from Virginia,
there seemed little doubt of his ability to maintain
his authority.

In view of the possibility of such a condition of
affairs, Governor Calvert had requested Capt. Hill, if
he could make no terms with Claybourne for the
surrender of the government, to endeavor to secure
the large private property of Lord Baltimore in the
province ; and under the circumstances, Capt. Hill

* Hening's Statutes.

120 LIFE AND TIMES OF

deemed it advisable to open negotiations at once
for that puri)Ose. He was not long in discovering
that Claybourne was not inclined to be the cham-
pion of the Parliament any further than was
necessary to secure his own possessions — the Island
of Kent and Palmer's Isle — and upon those being
assured to him, he was willing to surrender the
remainder of the Province to any new Governor
who might be aj^pointed under Lord Baltimore's
commission — ^but he would not treat for the return
of Governor Calvert.

The result of these negotiations, was an agree-
ment between Captain Hill and Claybourne, that
the latter should retain the Island of Kent and
Palmer's Isle, and that the rest of the Province
should be surrendered to Gapt. Hill, as Governor,
under Lord Baltimore's commission ; with authority
to take and receive into his possession and custody,
for his lordship's use, and his heirs, all stocks of
cattle, rents of land, profits of customs, escheats,
fines, forfeitures and confiscations ; one-half of
which, except the cattle. Captain Hill was to
retain to his own use, as a reward for his services
to his lordship.

There was a slight diJEculty, however, in carrying
this arrangement into effect, arising from the fact
that Lord Baltimore's commission for the Govern-
ment of the Province had not jirovided for the sub-
stitution, in this manner, of the Oflfice of Governor
under it. Governor Calvert was still living, and
when absent, had sole authority to designate his own

NICHOLAS STILWKLL. 121

substitute or successor, and upou his failure to do so,
the Council of the Province were only authorized to
name one of their own number to till the oflice.

It was, however, considered necessary for the safe-
ty of the Province and for the security of Lord Balti-
more's private property, that Captain Hill should be
appointed to the oflBce, in order to carry out his
arrangement with Claybourne, and several of the
members of the Council who still remained at St.
Mary's, undertook to obviate the difficulty, by
issuing to Capt. Hill a commission as governor of
the province, purporting to have been signed by
Governor Calvert himself in Virginia, reciting that
he, Calvert, was absent from the province on liis
lordship's business.

Captain Hill, having thus secured a commission,
valid upon its face, as Governor under Lord Balti-
more, by virtue thereof, proceeded to carry out his
arrangements with Claybourne, and formally sur-
rendered to him the Island of Kent and Palmer's
Isle, retaining under his own Government the rest
of the Province, out of the revenues of which he had
so handsomely provided for himself.

Claybourne, now feeling himself secure in the
peaceable possession of his own domains, the ser-
vices of Nicholas Stilwell and his troop were no
longer required. His company was therefore dis-
banded in August, 1646, and Nicholas soon afterward
returned to his home in New Netherlands.

The news had no sooner reached Virginia that

122 LIFE AND TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL.

Clayboume was no longer prepared to maintain his
authority by force of arms, than Governor Calvert,
repudiating this action of Captain Hill on his behalf,
took steps to recover the possession of his govern-
ment. By holding out promises of unrestrained
pillage, in case of resistance on the part of his
rebel subjects, Calvert soon succeeded in enlisting a
considerable force from among the adventurers in
Tirginia, with which, in December, 1646, he returned
to Maryland, and falling upon the unsuspecting
settlement of Claybourne on Kent Island, and on
Palmer's Isle, at a blow reinstated himself in his
government in jNlaryland.*

• Bozman's Maryland, Second Edition

CHAPTER XII.

1646-7.

AFFAIRS IN NEW AMSTERDAM DURING THE ABSENCE OF NlClIOtAS IN
VIRGINIA — INDIAN DEPREDATIONS CONTINUED — COLONY IN RUIN
— PEOPLE COMPLAIN TO STATES GENERAL, AND DEMAND RECALL
OF KIEFT— PATENT GRANTED FOR GRAVENZANDE — NICHOLAS RE-
TURNS TO TURTLE BAY— PLANTATION CLAIMED BY SCHEPMOES
— NICHOLAS SETTLES HIS CLAIM BY GIVING HIM HOUSE ON BEAVER
GRAl'T — ARRIVAL OF PETER STUYVESANT AS DIRECTOR GENTERAL
—HIS ARBITRARY CONDUCT AND IMPOSITION OF TAX.ES CAUSE
DISSATISFACTION—THE NINE MEN FORWARD COMPLAINTS AG^UNST
HIM TO THE STATES GENERAL, HOLLAND — STUYVESANT DESIRES
SUPPORT OF ENGLISH — NICHOLAS DETERMINES TO SUPPORT HIM
AND REMOVES TO GRAVENZANDE.

When Nicholas Stilwell left New Amsterdam for
Virginia, in April, 1G44, although the Colony had
suffered greatly from the effects of the war, it was
hoped that the return of peace, would soon enable
it to recover its prosperity. But the semblance of
peace which had been patched up by Captain Un-
derbill with the Indians at Stamford, Westchester,
and Long Island, had borne little fruit for the
Colony. Their principal enemies had been left un-
molested, and all the following summer they had
been allowed to gather in their crops undistiu-bed.
The Indians had no sooner " stowed their maize
in pits" than they recommenced their depredations,
murdering the Dutch in every direction. Parties of
Indians roved around Manhattan Island night and

124 LIFE AXD TIMES OP

day, killing people, not a thousand yards from the
fort, and matters finally arrived at such a pass that
no one dared to move a foot even to go for a stick of
firewood without an escort.

For the protection of the few cattle which still re-
mained to the settlers upon the Island, it had been
found necessary to erect a palisade — " a good, solid
fence " — across the lower end of the Island, near the
present line of Wall street, extending from the great
bowery on the Xorth Eiver, to the plantation of
Emanuel on the East Eiver. The Indians, finding
themselves unopposed, had soon grown so bold
and insolent that the few remaining boweries on
the Island were in danger of being destroyed, and
the colony seemed on the verge of utter ruin. To
raise money to pay the English who had been
taken into the Company's service as soldiers, the
Director General had arbitrarily imposed an excise
upon beer and beavers. This had been bitterly
opposed by the eight men who represented the
commonalty, and there seemed a prospect of the
Colony being left entirely defenseless, by the dis-
banding of this force, when the Dbector General
was happily relieved by the opportune arrival of
one hundred and thuty Dutch soldiers, who had
been driven out of Brazil by the Portuguese, and
coming to Curacoa, where the inhabitants could
not maintain them, had been sent to Manhattan
Island by order of Peter Stuyvesant,. the Com-
[)any's Director at Curacoa.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 12.">

An arraiigfement was at ouce made wiin the coin-
mander of this ucwly arrived troop, by wliicli
Director Kieft was enabled to dispense witli the
services of his English auxiliaries, who were there-
upon " dismissed in the most civil manner."

With this force, the- Director might with proper
activity have i)unished the Indians so severely that
they would themselves have gladly made advances
for a general i)eace. But nothing was done ; the
soldiers were billeted on the inhabitants, the favor-
able season was allowed to pass, and the eight men,
foreseeing the utter ruin of the colony under the pres-
ent administration, addi'essed a memorial to the
Directors at Amsterdam and to the States General,
demanding the recall of Director General Kieft,
otherwise the colonists themselves threatened to
abandon the colony, and return with their wives
and children to the fatherland.

Upon these complaints reaching the States Gen-
eral, Kieft and his Council, who were charged
with having provoked the Indian wars, were or-
dered to repair immediately to Holland, to vindi-
cate their administration before the authorities at
home.

Kieft now began to realize the extent of the ruin
in which his folly and dishonesty had involved the
colony, and by the advice of his Council, determined
at once to bring about a general peace with the
Indians upon any terms. For this purpose he en-
gaged the services of a number of the chiefs of

126 LIFE AND TIMES OF

the friendly tribes, and through their influence, on
the 30th of August, 1645, the Sachems of the
various tribes with which the Dutch had been at
war, were assembled in front of Fort Amsterdam,
and there, "in the open air, in the sight of the
sun, and of the ocean, seating themselves in grave
silence, in presence of the Director General and
Council of 'New Netherlands, and the whole com-
monalty of Xew Amsterdam, called together for the
purpose, they solemnly smoked the great calumet
of peace, and pledged themselves to eternal amity
with the Dutch."

Upon the return of Nicholas Stilwell to New Am-
sterdam, in 1616, he found the colony in utter ruin.
Although peace had now prevailed for a year the
sad effects of the war remaiued. His family, which
during his absence had occupied his house on the
north side of Beaver Graft, within the inclosure of
the palisades, had not been disturbed, but outside of
this line only two or three boweries were left upon
the Island; and the entire population had become
so reduced, that not over a hundred men remained^
and these were clustered in and around Fort Am-
sterdam.

The English settlements in the neighborhood had
been entu-ely destroyed by the war, except that of
Lady Moody, at Gravenzaude. In recognition of
the gallantry of the defense made by the settlers
of that place during the late war, the Director Gen-
eral and Council had granted them a patent for a

NICHOLAS STILWELIi. 127

large tract of land upon which they had commenced
building a town.

Nicholas having been absent in Virginia at the
time, had not been included among the patentees ;
and the new village having been already organized,
he determined to return to his ruined plantation on
Turtle Bay, and resume his occupation as a tobacco-
planter. But he now found that during his ab-
sence Jan Jansen Schei)moes had reclaimed and
taken possession of the plantation, in consequence
of the non-payment by Baxter and Hartfoot, of the
five hundred and twentj^ guilders, which they had
agreed to pay Schepmoes, upon the original pm--
chase of his improvements.

In settlement of this claim of Schepmoes, I^icho-
las now agreed to convey to him, the house and lot
on the north side of the Beaver Graft, in which
Nicholas then resided ; and on the 25th of Novem-
ber, 1G46, the arrangement was consummated in
the usual manner, by being acknowledged before
the Secretary of the Province, who made a minute
of the transaction in the records of his office.

By the terms of this contract, Nicholas stipulated
to move out of his house on the Graft next May
day, but in case the house should be burned before
that time, Schepmoes was to retain the jjlantation ;
showing that even at that early day the fashion of
moving on May day prevailed in this city, and that
fires were not of infrequent occurrence.

Nicholas had hardly settled himself a second time

128 LIFE A2ST) TIMES OF

on Ms Turtle Bay plantation, -when, on the 11th May,
1647, the drooping spirits of the colonists were re-
vived by the joyful news of the arrival of Peter Stuy-
vesant, the new Director General of the Province.

The administration of Kieft, thus brought to a
close, had been so disastrous, that the advent of his
successor was hailed by all classes as that of a de-
liverer ; and the exuberant joy of the j)eople found
vent in such an extravagance of salutes, that almost
the entire stock of powder in Kew Amsterdam was
exhausted.

Stuyvesant had been sent here as " Eedresser
General" of grievances, and upon his arrival had
promised to govern the people as his children, and —
" under the blue heaven " — had loudly declared,
that every one should have justice done to him.

Taking him at his word, soon after his inaugu-
ration, Joachim Peterson Kuyter, and Cornelius
Melyn, two of the eight men chosen during the
late administration, preferred charges of oflQcial
misconduct against Kieft, and desired that testi-
mony should be taken in regard to his conduct of
the affairs of the colony during the late Indian
wars, in order that it might be sent to Holland with
the charges.

Stuyvesant foresaw that if an investigation was
permitted into the alleged misconduct of his prede-
cessor, it would become a precedent, which might be
cited against him, in case any complaints should be
made of his administration; he therefore put a sum-

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 12". t

mary stop to the ])ro(MMMliii*Ts; mid Kicft tlicii turn-
ing- upon the coni])hunants, iiiuU'r tlic countenance
of the Dh'ector, juosecuted them for niaking tliese
charges. Stuyvesant (U'clared that in liis oijinion
''it Avas treason to ('oini)hiin jigainst one's magis-
trates, Avliether there was cause for it or not," and
the late ])opuhir representatives were condemned
and sentenced to hanislunent from tlie cokmy, and
to pay hea^^^ tines.

These harsli proceedings, and the general arbitra-
ry conduct of Stuyvesant, soon clouded the bright
anticipations which had been formed upon his tirst
arrivaL He however, immediately proceeded in his
own vigorous manner to reform some of the most
flagrant abuses in the municipal affairs of New Am-
sterdam— regulating the sale of liquors to the
whites, and prohibiting entirely their sale to the
Indians — laying out streets and roads, appointing
surveyors of buildings to regulate the erection of
new houses in New Amsterdam, and also fire ward-
ens to take measures to prevent fires.

A Court of Justice wjis also organized, witli Lub-
bert Yan Dincklage as presiding judge ; but with
the important reservation that the opinion of the
Director Cieneral should be asked upon all import-
ant questions, and that he sliould have the right to
preside in person whenever he should see fit to
do so.

The low condition in which the new director
found the colony on his arrival, rendered it neces-

130 LIFE AND TIMES OP

sary for liim to retain, and even increase the excises
and taxes, the imposition of which had been among
the chief canses of complaint against his prede-
cessor. The fort was in ruins, and he was required
to repair it with all disx)atch. Presents, which had
been promised to the Indians upon the late i)eace,
were still in arrear, endangering the i3ublic safety,
and no money or goods in the treasury ; and the
people had now determined that they would not be
taxed without their own consent.

Under these cu'cumstances, Stuyvesant, after con-
sulting his council, determined to conciliate the
peoijle by conceding to them a limited right of rep-
resentation in the government ; and ordered an elec-
tion for eighteen of the " most notable, reasonable,
honest and respectable persons " in the common-
alty, from whom the Director and Council were to
choose nine men, who were to confer with the coun-
cil when called upon, and to act as tribunes of the
people, in all means to promote the welfare of the
Province.

The election having taken place, from the eigh-
teen so nominated, nine were chosen, and their
powers and duties defined by a proclamation issued
on the 25th of September, 1647, which is worthy of
remembrance, as being the first charter granting
popular representation to the inhabitants of !New
Amsterdam.

In addition to giving advice and assistance to the
Dii'ector and Council, the nine men were to exer-

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 131

cise limited judicial powers, us three of their num-
ber Avero to sit, in rotation, on the usual Court days,
with the Council, and act as arbitrators upon such
matters as should be referred to them.

The taxes recommended by Stuyvesant were ap-
proved by the nine men ; but for the past five years
the colony had been almost constantly involved in
war with the Indians, by which all industry had
been interrupted, and the people had no money to
pay the taxes; many of the settlers were still in
debt to the Company for stores fiu-nished them dur-
ing the war ; and had also allowed their dues and
rents to the Company to fall in arrears. But the
requirements of his treasury were so pressing, that
Stuyvesant was compelled to call upon all, not only
to pay the new taxes, but to settle up their arrears
although the company itself could not pay its own
dues to the colonists.

This demand fell at this time with great hard-
ship upon many who had nearly lost their all, dur-
ing these troubles, and they appealed to the nine
men for relief, but all that could be obtained, was
an extension of time to meet these onerous dues
by paying interest upon them at the rate of eight
per cent.

To supply his exhausted treasury, heavy custom
duties upon imports were also imposed, amounting
in some instances to nearly thirty per cent.; and the
avidity with which the Director, upon the slightest
pretence of under- valuation, or of a violation of the

132 LIFE AND TIMES OF

port or harbor rc\2:ulations, confiscated the cargoes,
and sometimes the vessels themselves, tended to di-
vert trade from the colony ; for these " evil reports "
spread to the English colonies, north and south, and
even to the West Indies and Caribae Islands, and
soon not a ship dared venture here from those parts.

These proceedings soon resulted in retaliatory
measures being taken by Xew England, by which
the inhabitants of New N'etherlands were prohibited
from trading with the Indians within the jurisdiction
of the Xew England Colonies, under penalty of con-
fiscation of their goods ; and the Dutch found them-
selves thus cut ofi" from this i^rofltable trade.

The desolate and ruinous state of I^ew Netherlands,
contrasting so strongly with the flourishing condition
of the neighboring English colonies, had been the
subject of frequent complaints to Stuyvesant, who
had laid the blame upon the Lord Directors of the
Company, whose orders he claimed to have followed.

He had promised reforms and relief from some of
their burthens, but none had come ; and the causes
of dissatisfaction, not only continuing, but increas-
ing, Stuyvesant, as a means of allaying the general
discontent, i^roposed that two delegates should be
chosen from New Amsterdam, and a like number
from each of the other settlements in the neighbor-
hood, English as well as Dutch, who should meet
and projiose a remedy for their grievances to be sub-
mitted to the Director.

But the nine men, believing that many of their

NICnOLAS STMAVKM.. 133

causes of coiiii)laiiit \vcn! cliai'^cahlc to (iovcrnoi
Stiiyvesant himself, deteriniiied not to act in concert
with him, Init to embody tlieii- grievances in a re-
monstrance and forward tlie same directly to tlir
Government of the fatherland, with an ai)i)eal to the
States General, for redress.

To add to the annoyance of the (Jovernor, Cor-
nelius Melyn, one of the former eight men who
had been sentenced to banishment by Stnyvesant
for making charges against Kieft, now returned
to New Netherlands from Holland, with a reversal
of his sentence and an order for restitution of his
property, tmd a numdanuis commanding Stnyvesant
himself to repair to Holland and answer for his
proceedings.

The remonstrance which the nine men had deter-
mined to send to Holland on behalf of the common-
alty, had been drawn up by Adrian Van der Donck,
one of their nund)er, and he, with Jacob Van Cowen-
howen and Jan Evertsou Bout, two others of the
nine men, were deputed to proceed with it to the
Hague, and lay their grievances before the States
General of Holland, and urge a radical change, not
only in the administration, but also in the govern-
ment of the colony, removing it entirely from the
control of the West India Company.

This remonstrance contained a full description of
New Netherlands, showing its great natural advan-
tages over the neighboring colonies, and attributing
Its present U w condition "iitirely to the mismanage-

134 LIFE AXD TIMES OF

ment of the company and its ofiScers. It also re-
^iewed in detail, tlie administration of Governors
Kieft and Stiiyvesant, exhibiting that of the latter
in so unfavorable a light, as to render it exceedingly
doubtful whether either the Company or the people,
had any cause of congratulation upon his substitu-
tion for Kieft as Director General.

Stuyvesant used every means in his power to sup-
press this remonstrance, seizing the rough draft of it
and arresting the author ; but finding his efforts to
prevent its reaching Holland unavailing, he sought
means to coimteract its effects. For that purpose, it
became important for him to have a good understand-
ing with the English settlers, who were the most
prosperous of all the colonists, and having suffered
the least from his arbitrary measures, or the bm'-
thens which he had found it necessary to imx)ose,
might be the more easily induced to detach them-
selves from the ijopular party, and, by an address en-
dorsing his administration, counteract in a measm'e
the complaints of his own people, through their rep-
resentatives, the nine men.

George Baxter, who had been retained by Stuyve-
sant as English secretary, was one of the patentees of
Gravenzande, which had now become one of the
most important of the English settlements under the
jurisdiction of the Dutch ; but his duties required his
presence in New Amsterdam, and his otBcal connex-
ion with the Director was such, that any action in
which he prominently appeared, would lose much of

NUWrOLAS STILWELL. 135

its effect as ihc iiide pendent act of tlie KnoTish coiii-
monalty.

Soon after tlie arrival of (Jovernor Stnyvesant,
Nicholas Stilwell had removed from liis Tiirth.' Bay
phmtation to New Amsterdam, and had pnreliased
the house and "grounds of Pliilip De Troy, situated
in Smith's Valley, about the present corner of
Maiden lane and Pearl street, then upon the shore
of the East Eiver, where he now resided.

Although his sympathies had always been with
the cause of popular liberty, his experience had
shown him the necessity, in cases of emergency, of
resorting to extraordinary measures. He had seen
in the circumstances by which Stnyvesant had
been surrounded, a justification of many of his arbi-
trary acts, and had admired his energetic govern-
ment. He could not forget that the Company,
whose government it was now sought to overthrow,
had given him shelter and a home in their domin-
ions, when lie was driven out from among his own
people. And now, when his influence might have
weight in favor of his benefactors, he determined
to give them his full supi)ort, and to sustain, as
far as possible, the administration of Stnyvesant
and the government of the West India Comi)any in
New Netherlands.

With this view, in 1G48, he made his arrangements
to remove to Gravenzande, and sold his liouse and
grounds at Smith's Valley to Henry Brazier. His
Turtle Bay plantation, Nicholas continued to own

136 LIFE AND TIMES OF

until 1653, wlieu he conveyed it to Lubbert Yon
Dincklage.

This last conveyance is still preserved among the
Dutch manuscripts at Albany, and is curious, as
showing the form and mode of conveying lands in
the city at that early date ; it is as follows :

" Appeared at the day of the date hereof, before
us, the Director General and Ooimcil in behalf of
their High Mightinesses the Lords States General of
the United ^Netherlands, and the Honorable Lords
Managers of the Incorporated West India Company,
residing in New ]^etherlands, Nicholas Stillwell, and
declared to have conveyed and granted unto Lub-
bertus Von Dincklage, a certain piece of land lying
upon the Island of Manhattan, formerly occupied
by Jan Jansen Schepmoes, extending in breadth,
between the two creeks, to wit : that where they
cross the water over the stones, and that where the
beach tree lays over the water, where George Homes
is next adjoining, and with that breadth according
to said creeks straight into the woods. And that,
by virtue of a ground brief, dated August 29th, 1641
granted to George Baxter and Walter Hartfoot
and which Baxter and Hartfoot then conveyed to
Nicholas Stillwell aforesaid, which said piece of land
the said Nicholas Stillwell declares in true and right
ownership to convey to the said Lubbertus Von
Dincklage, with all such rights and property, as he,
the grantor, hath occupied and possessed in the
same."

Nicnoi.As sriiAVKLL. 337

"A\lierefon' lie, Nicholas Stillwcll, is desisting- from
all property, riji^lit, or pretense, which lie nii<j:ht, or
could claim to the aforesaid piece of land, promis-
ing thereof to keep this deed jirm and irrexocahic,
accordiii]t>' to the style and custom of laws thereto
staudiu^'.

"Done tin; ISth day of April, 1053, at New Amster-
dam in New Netherlands, in the presence of

" La Montagne,

Buy AN Newton."

O'Callaghan.

Brodheatl.

Albany Records.

Colonial History of N. Y.

Docimientary History olN. Y.

New Amsterdam Records.

CHAPTEE XIIL
1648-9.

PATENT GRANTED TO LADY JIOODY AND ASSOCIATES FOIl GRA\':EN
ZANDE — TOWN LAID OUT — SETTLERS, REFUGEES FROM RELIGIOUS
PERSECUTION — NO LOCATION RESERVED IN THE TOWN FOR A
CnLTlCn — NICHOLAS STILWELL PURCHASES HOUSE AND LOT IN
THE TOWN, AND IN JANUARY, 1G49, IS ELECTED MAGISTRATE-
ADDRESS IN SUPPORT OF STU YVES ANT PREPARED ANT) FOR-
WARDED TO STATES GENERAL IN HOLLAND— STUY^'ESANT DELAYS
VESSEL CARRYING COMPLAINT OF NTCXE MEN, THAT THE LETTER
OF THE ENGLISH :MAY FIRST REACH HOLLAND.

On the 19tli of December, 1645, a patent was issued
by the Director General and Council of Xew Neth-
erlands to the HoDorable Lady Deborah Moody, and
Sir Henry Moody, Baronet, Ensign George Baxter,
and Sergeant James Hubbard and their associates,
their heirs, successors or assigns, for a certain quan-
tity or parcel of land lying upon, or about the west-
ernmost part of Long Island : beginning at a mouth
of a creek adjoining Coney Island, bounded on the
westernmost part thereof with the lands of Anthony
Jansen, and Eobert Pennoyer, and running as far as
the most westerly part of a pond in an old Indian
field ; thence easterly as far as the valley at the head
of the fly or marsh, sometime of Hugh Garretson ;
and bounded south by the main ocean; with the
right of putting their cattle to graze upon Coney
Island; and with full authority to build a town, with
such necessary fortification as to them shall seem ex-

I

LIFE AND TEMES Or XICUOLAS STIL"\VELL. l.)!)

pedieiit ; and to have and to enjoy iull liberty of
conscience according- to the ciistonis and manners of
Holland, without molestation or disturbance from
any magistrate or any ecclesiastical minister, who
may pretend jurisdiction over them ; and the right
to erect a body politic, and civil combination among
themselves, as free men of the Province, and of the
town of Gravenzande : and to make such civil ordi-
nances, as the major part of the inhabitants free of
the town may see fit ; and to nominate and api)oint
a Schout and Magistrates, subject to the ax)proval
and confirmation of the Governor General; and to
establish courts, and to try causes without appeal
not exceeding fifty guilders, with full liberty of hunt-
ing, fishing, &c., and the right to use, exercise, and
carry on all manner of trade and commerce; and
with all and singular the immunities and privileges
already granted or hereafter to be granted to the
inhabitants of the colony as if they were natives of
the United Belgic Provinces.

"Always provided, that the said patentees shaK
faithfully acknowledge the high and mighty Lord?,
the States General, &c., as their superior Lords and
Patroons in all loyaltie and fidelitie ; and shall at
the expiration of ten years from the date hereof, pay
to the officers deputed to receive the same, by the
Governor General for the term being, the tenth part
of the revenue of all lands manured by the plough
or hoe ; and for grazing lands, such reasonable
satisfaction in butter and cheese, as other inhabit-

140 LIFE A^ny TIMES OP

ants of other towns pay in like cases." " Likewise
enjoining the said patentees, in dating tlieir public
instruments to use the new style with the weights
and measures of the place."

As soon as the patent was secured, a meeting
was held at Amersfoort of the patentees and their
associates, at which a site and plan were agreed
upon for a central fortified village; and also cer-
tain regulations for the division of the lands, and
the government of the settlement.

The town having been laid out by a committee
appointed for the purpose, in the spring of 1646,
a general assembly of the patentees and their
associates was held upon the site of the village,
and the plots distributed by lot.

The first entry in the Book of Minutes of the
town still preserved by a descendant and name-
sake of JS^icholas Stilwell, records the proceedings
of the meeting. The date of it has been lost by
the dilapidation of parts of the first leaves of the
book. It recites, however, the granting of the
patent, and that " it had been agreed at a meeting
held at Amersfoort of the patentees and those who
proposed to settle in the town of Gravenzande,
that each of the proposed settlers should then pres-
ently be accommodated with a certain quantity
of land witliin the fence that Avas to be erected."

That the lots on the exterior street of the town
had been divided into eight and twenty equal shares
CT parts, and each settler was to have such share or

NICHOLAS STILWKLL. 141

part as fdl to liim by lot, for the erection of a house.
The inside k)ts to be reserved for any new comers
who should be admitted by the owners and freemen
of the town.

It also records that eight and twenty lots out-
side the palisades, had been disposed of by lot,
and gave the distribution of the plots ; but this
has also been lost by the mutilation of some of
the leaves by long use. It was further provided
that every one should build and inhabit in the
town, by a certain day agreed upon, " for their
mutual strengthening of one another, for the i)eace
with the Indians being new and rawe, there was
still fear of their uprising to warre."

" And that no man should sell away his lot until
such time as he had built a habitable house upon
it, for otherw'ise he might have taken up ground
only to sell to advantage, and the town never the
more be populated ; and that none should sell
without tirst ottering the lot to the town in gene-
ral ; and in case the town did not buy it, he might
sell it to any one else, except to one notoriously
detected for an infamous person or a disturber <.f
the common ])eace."

The owner of each exterior lot was to build an<'
keel) ^'P the fence or palisade across the head of hi.*-
lot, and three persons were appointed to view the
fence, and give warnings to the neighbors in case
of any neglect ; the party complained of to pay a
fine of five guilders the fh'st time, and six guilders

142 LIFE AXD TIMES OF

the second, and so on increasing, till the fence was
made good.

It was further ordered, that whoever should kill
any foxes or wolves within the jurisdiction of the
town, should have for every fox two guilders, for
every wolf, three guilders, to be i:)aid by the rest of
the inhabitants.

'' And houses being likely to be fired in the win-
ter time by means of the great fires then kept, where-
by the whole town might be undone, it was ordered
and agreed upon, that each man should make a lad-
der twenty feet long, by a time fixed, or pay two
guilders, and six stivers a week thereafter, until he
has one ;" and that each man should, at his own
charge, provide complete arms, and have one pound
of powder, two pounds of lead or bullets always by
him, upon the ijenalty of paying whatever the oifi-
cers of the town thought fit.

The plan of the town as agreed upon, and accord-
ing to which it was built, was as follow.; : An exterior
fence or stockade was built of palisades or half-
trees, nine feet long, and standing seven feet above
the ground. This inclosed the houses of the town, '
and outside of this, the land was laid out in narrow
strips, " extending, so as to make up five and twen-
ty morgens of land, with suflicient upland for six
liead of catth^ and meadows proportionate." Each
settler Avas to haA'e the lot outside the i)alisade, op-
posite and corresponding to the lot which he might
draw upon the exterior street within the palisade.

mc

.ST1L^YELL.

ii;j

The plan of the . \> s still preserved, and is aa
follows :

PLAN OF GRAVENZANDE.

to

lO

•^

c^

l^

c»

00

o

o

o

s

"^

00

oj

r^

<U2

m

«*

rt

J <

rs

T L'5

~

CJ

t^

X

r.

-

C
1-1

C5

o>

1^

M

-^

.-.

-

I I

One peculiarity of this plan is, that it provides no
special place for a h^nse of worship, or church. One
lot, No. 1, in the soi';i ■ j.it corner, was set apart for
a Magistrate or To^\ it's office, and is still occu-

pied for that purpoh )^ remaining thirty-nine

lots were appropriate v ellings.

144 LIFE AND TIMES OF

In explanation of this, it has been said that the
first settlers of the town, were Quakers. But George
Fox, the recognized founder of that sect, was bom in
1(324, and was an unheard of grazier's boy, tending
liis master's sheej) in Leicestershire, at the time Lady
Moody was being dealt with by the church at Salem,
and excommunicated for denying that infant bap-
tism was an ordinance of God.

A number of the settlers subsequently became
Quakers; but at this time, they eyidently had no form
of religion in common. " 3[any of them not only
rejected infant baptism, but also the institution of
the Sabbath, and the ofBce of preacher altogether,
saying, ' that through them, entered all sorts of
contention in the world.'"

Most of the settlers were refugees from the re-
ligious intolerance of other places, and the full liber-
ty of conscience secured them by the patent was one
of its most yalued pro^^sions. In laying out the town,
therefore, it had been determined that no proyision
should be made for any i)lace of public worship, nor
was there any church organization, or any church
building erected in the town, for upward of fifty
years after its first settlement.*

Among the first orders and regulations agreed
ui)()n ill general assembly of the inhabitants of the
tf)wn was, that " notice should betaken of all burials
and marriages, and of all that should be born in the
town, and a record thereof kei)t." ^Marriages, how-

* Prime's L. I.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 145

ever, were recognized simply as civil contracts,
entered into by consent of tlu^ ])arties in tlie jn-es-
ence of the civil magistrates of the town. Such,
however, as jireferred to have them solemnized by
ministers, were at liberty to do so ; but when such
marriages are entered in the town records, the
fact is also noted, that they took place elsewhere, or
were solemnized by the ministers from other towns.

As banns were required to be published before
marriage in the Dutch Church, Gravenzande soon
became the Gretna Green for impatient swains of
New Amsterdam, and the other neighboring Dutch
settlements.

In the original distribution of the town lots,
Ealph Cardell who was a surveyor, and one of the
committee who had laid out the town, had drawn
a desirable lot upon the south side of the village,
which he had agreed to sell to Richard Dunn,
another of the settlers, at a premium of three hun-
dred guilders.

When Nicholas Stilwell determined to become
an inhabitant of Gravenzande, he purchased from
"Richard Dunn "his bargain," as it is called in the
records of the town, and Ealph Cardell thereupon
conveyed the lot to him.

Having thus become eligible to office, at the first
•'general assembly of ye Inhabitants of the town"
thereafter, in January, 1649, " for the choice of men
according to the patent. Lieutenant Nicholas Still-
will, Ensign George Baxter, and Willam Wilkius,
lb

146 I^tFE AND TIMES OP

were cliosen magistrates for the ensuing year, and
Sargeant James Hubbard was chosen to execute the
place of schout."

Living, as the English of Gravenzande were,
and prospering, under a i^atent allowing them full
liberty of conscience, the right to choose their own
magistrates, and to establish ciiil ordinances for the
government of their local affairs, privileges which
were not enjoyed by any of the Dutch, it is not
surjjrisiug that they did not desire any change.

They had felt the tyranny of x>opular government
in Xew England, and wanted none of it ; so long as
they were in a minority, they were satisfied with
the present condition of affairs in Xew Netherlands,
fully appreciating the danger of any change in the
administration, which might result in the substi-
tution of another adventurer like Kieft as Director
General, whose rapacity might involve them in
another Indian war, or who might in some manner
burthen them more than Stuyvesant had done. It
was therefore at once determined, that whatever
influence the town possessed, should be exercised
in oi)posing any change in the administration, or
in the government ; and for that fnupose, as soon
as it was learned that the remonstrance of the
nine men was about to be forwarded to Holland,
the uuigistrates of the town prei^ared an address,
declaring the full confidence of the community in
Governor Stuyvesant, and in the wisdom and jus-
tice of his administration, and showing that he

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 1 17

was in nowise responsible for the low condition of
aflEairs in New Netherlands.

This address, whicli was signed by Nicholas Stil-
well, George Baxter, and William Wilkins, magis-
trates, on behalf of the town, with a mass of other
excnlpatory documents, Governor Stuyvesant for-
warded to Holland, by Cornelius Van Tienhoven,
the secretary of the province, who was acknowl-
edged to be one of the most cautious and sharp-
witted of the Dutch colonists, whatever his other
failings may have been.

In order to insure his earlier arrival in Holland,
the vessel in which he sailed was sent off imme-
diately, while that which was to convey the depu-
ties of the commonalty with their complaint, was
delayed for fourteen days afterward.

But notwithstanding this advantage. Van Tien-
hoven did not reach Holland until some weeks
after the popular deputies had arrived, and had
laid their complaint before the Government at the
Hague, and after the Committee of the States
General, to which the remonstrance had been re-
ferred, had already decided that there were griev-
ances in New Netherlands which should be redressed.

Gravesend Records-

OHAPTEE XIV.

1649-80.

'.■nCHOLAS BUYS A PLANTATION IN GRAVENZANDE FOR HIS SON
RICHARD — IS RE-ELECTED MAGISTRATE OF TOWN — ANOTHER AD-
DRESS IN SUPPORT OF STUYVESANT AGAINST COMPLAINT OF THE
NINE MEN — MODIFICATIONS IN GOVERNMENT PROPOSED BV
STATES GENERAL — NOT APPROVED BY DIRECTORS IN AMSTERDAM
— STUYVESANT MEETS COMMISSIONERS OF UNITED COLONIES AT
HARTFORD — TREATY OF 1650 — DISSATISFACTION OF THE DUTCH
THEREAT — PROPOSED LEAGL"E AGAINST THE INDIANS — NICHOLAS
STELWELL NEGOTIATES TREATY WITH LONG ISLAND INDIANS.

Mcliolas Stilwell was dow approaching that time
of life when men, even of the most active tempera-
ment, are disposed to seek repose. His children
were growing up around him, and he had at last
found a haven where he could enjoy a greater
measiKe of civil and religious liberty than had
been accorded to him elsewhere, and here he con-
cluded to fix his permanent home and raise his
family. He was not ungrateful for the protection
which he had received, nor for the privileges which
had been accorded to him, a stranger and a for-
eigner, and he now determined formally to trans-
fer his allegiance to the country of his adoption,
and so far as his influence extended, to main-
tain therein the authority of the West India
Company, under whose protection he had found
shelter.

His eldest son, Richard, whom he had brought

LIFE AND TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL. 11!)

with liiiu to this country, an iiilaiit, amis now ap-
proaching lujiturity, and Nicholas, desirous of estab-
lishing him in life, and of procuring him a settle-
ment in the town, proposed to purchase for liis use,
the plantation of George Holmes, situated on the
south side of the town.

But the ownership of land in those primitive set-
tlements, carried with it the feudal obligation to
bear arms in defense of the colony ; and the com-
munity would not consent to the transfer of this
farm to a boy, except upon conditions that his
father should engage to keep an able-bodied man
upon the i)lace, until his son shoidd arrive at an
age to bear arms, which among the Dutch, was
fixed at sixteen years.

Nicholas having agreed to do this, the consent of
the town was given to the purchase, and it Avas con-
summated on the loth of October, 1G49 — the town
record of that date reciting — that " Lieftenant Nich-
olas Stilwell bargained and agreed with George
Homes for his whole plantation, for ye use of his
Sonne Eichard Stilwell; ye said Lieftenant Stilwell
has to paye for yt unto ye sd George Homes, ye
summe of Nine hundred weight of good merchanta-
ble tobacco in leaf. One hundred weight to be
paid yt present, and je other eight hundred weight
to be i)aid at Christmas tyme twelve months, which
will be in ye year 1650.

"Ye said Lieftenant Stilwell being to have all ye
crops upon ye land, also ye housings, houses, ye

150 LIFE AND TIMES OF

garden, and all other privileges and appurtenances
any wise appertaining or belonging thereto.

"For ye said summe of tobacco, as above speci-
tied, Ye said George Homes is to bring him one
freight of goods from ye fort in his boat to ye
plantation aforesaid.

"Ye said George Homes has in his agreement
excepted one bed'd parsnij^ps.

" Ye said Lieftenant Nicholas Stillwell hath prom-
ised upon ye purchase of the plantation for his
Sonne, to place a sufficient able bodied man upon
it, to keep it distinctly by itself, according to ye
order of the town."

An entry on the margin recites, " That Lieft. Still-
well had paid William Golding by George Homes
his apportment the eight hundred weight of tobacco
Nov. 22d, 1650, as expressed, and George Homes
is satisfied therewith."

This farm, which is situated upon what is now
known as the Coney Island road, still remains in the
family; being now owned and occupied by C. J.
Striker, A\'ho inherited it from his mother who was a
sister of Eichard Stilwell, from whom she derived it,
he having died a bachelor. This Eichard was a
lineal descendant of Eichard Stilwell, the son of
Nicholas, the first of the name.

At the next election, held in January, 1650, the
same [xn-sons were re-elected magistrates of the
to\\n for the ensuing year, and, the comi^lications in
which Governor Stuyvesant had become involved

NICHOLAS STILWELL. i.'>]

with tho States General, Ihrou*;^]! the coiiiphiints
of the nine iiieu, soon called upon them a^ain
to interpose their influence to sustain his julniin-
istratiou against the attacks of the popular repre-
sentatives.

The committee of the States General, to whom
their complaints, as well as the exculpatory docu-
ments forwarded by Stuyvesant liad been referred,
after hearing the delegates of the nine men in sup-
port of their complaints, and Van Tienhoven in be-
half of Governor Stuyvesant, had submitted the
draft of a provisional order, making important mod-
ifications in the Government of New Netherlands,
which they recommended that the States General
should enact with the advice and consent of the
West India Company. But in order to give validity
to the act of the States General, it was necessary
that a majority of the Directors of all the several
chambers of which the company was composed
should assent to it.

This order provided that in futiu^e no war should
be waged by the colony, without the knowledge of
the States General. That the trade with the Indians
for fire-arms should be abolished. That all the in-
habitants should be armed and enrolled as militia
and the fort repaired in such a manner as to afford
protection. That schools should be maintained.
That the commonalty should be convened and in-
duced to consent to the imposition of taxes and
duties, upon the collection and expenditure of the

152

LITE JlND times OF

same being placed upon a satisfactory footing.
That a court of justice should be erected, and a
Burgher Government, consisting of a Schout, two
Burgomasters, and five Schepens, should be estab-
lished in the City of New Amsterdam. That the au-
thority of the nine men should be extended for three
years longer, and lastly — though not least to his
friends here — that Stuyvesant should be instructed
to return to Holland and report.

But the Directors of the chamber of Amster-
dam, to whom had been specially delegated the
control of the affairs of New Netherlands, did not
consent to this order, but opposed it; and it was
therefore referred back to the committee of the
States General. A copy of it was however for-
warded by the Directors to Stuyvesant for his ad-
vice, and — "to show him how full of danger it
was to irritate a furious multitude."

Two of the three Deputies who had proceeded to
Holland with this remonstrance, having procured
from the States General an order forbidding Stuy-
vesant to molest them, returned to New Amsterdam
in June, 1050, bringing with them an authenticated
copy of this provisional order, and although it was
not legally operative, not having received the con-
currence of the Directors of the Amsterdam chamber
of the West India Company, the nine men insisted
that it should be promulgated and acted upon, by
the Director General; which the latter of course
refused to do.

NICHOLAS 8TELWELL. 153

The Ooiiinionalty haviiitr, however, learned from
the nine men tliat the IStates (ieneral had taken
measures to remedy some of the grievances com-
I)hiined of, and liad ordered the Pirector home, but
that Stuyvesant had refused to recognize the order,
popular feeling was greatly excited against him,
and the authority of his Government endangered.

Tlie Director General in his turn now complained
to the States General, that these two i)opular Dele-
gates, sheltered under their letter of protection, were
endeavoring to alienate the people from their allegi-
ance, and to dispossess the Company and its ofll-
cers.

In this crisis, on the 20th of August, IGoO, the
magistrates of Gravenzande again came forward
with an address to the Directors at Amsterdam,
expressing the grateful acknowledgments of the
inhabitants of tbat town for the many benefits which
they had received and still enjoyed under the au-
thority of the West India Comi)any, who were the
lawful proprietors of the place, and their desire to
remain without any change, residing under the
Government of the Company and of the Director
General authorized by them, and to evince their
submission and fidelity to the Company on all occa-
sions.

"We shall consider ourselves," say the magis-
trates— "unworthy to enjoy the benefits and free-
doms kindly granted us by your honors Gover-
nors, should we, in the least, desire or endeavor

154 LIFE AKD TDtlES OP

to abridge your riglits. We are therefore sorely
grieved at the false reports sijread by the Dele-
gates, who came back from Holland on the Yalk-
ener, and which have given birth to manifold
strifes, schisms, factions, and internal tumults, not
respecting the Government, but trampling it under
foot."

" The remedy for these inconveniences, we hiunbly
conceive will be found in maintaining and uphold-
ing our present governor against all malignant per-
sons, om' superiors in Holland paying no attentiou
to the reports of disaffected persons. We who have
been entrusted with the government of the x)ublic
affairs of this place, have had such experience of his
affection for the general welfare of this place, and of
his carefulness over us in the execution of the public
service committed to him, that we are anxious that
he be still continued, so that we may live imder his
Government."

This letter signed by Nicholas Stilwell and the
other magistrates of Gravenzande was forwarded to
the directors at Amsterdam, and by them laid be-
fore the States General, with a further brief state-
ment in defense of the company, its management
and its officers, which had been i)repared for the pm-
pose, l)y Van Tienhoven, the secretary of the Prov-
ince.

This latter document closed by gi^ing a short de-
scription of the private characters of the nine men
who had signed the original remonstrance not more

NKIIOLAS STILWELL. 155

coiiipliinentary to tlu'in, Hum luul been tLi(;ir refer-
ence to the character of Vau Tieuhoven, in the re-
monstrance.

While affairs were in this position, Stuyvesant set
out on a mission which he had long contemplated, of
a meeting with the commissioners of the United
Colonies of New England, at Hartford, for the pur-
pose of settling the boundaries between the Dutch
and the English, procuring the repeal of the retali-
atory acts in regard to trade, and arranging the
other matters in difference between them.

George Baxter, his English secretary, accompanied
him, and a large suite. Upon their arrival at Hart-
ford, negotiations were oj^ened in writing, and after
considerable correspondence, it was agreed that all
differences between them should be referred for ad-
justment to four Delegates or arbitrators ; two, to be
named by each party.

Simon Bradstreet, of Boston, and Thomas Prince,
of Plymouth, having been chosen on the part of the
New England Colonies, Stuyvesant, on his part,
also appointed two Englishmen, Capt. Thomas
Willet and George Baxter.

Tlie selection of two foreigners to represent the
Dutch in so important a matter, was resented by the
latter as an affront — a direct insult by Stuyvesant
to his countrymen. And when upon the rendition
of their award the next day, it was found that
these English Delegates, chosen to protect the in-
terest of the Dutch, had yielded everything to the

156 TjTFB A5fD TIMES OP

English, and in fixing the boundaries, had surren-
dered to the latter, all of Long Island east of Oys-
ter Bay, there was universal dissatisfaction among
the Dutch, which was made the subject of another
complaint against the Director, and forwarded to
Holland.

One of the chief ends sought to be attained by
Stuyvesant by this meeting, had been the forma-
tion of an alliance between the Dutch and the
English Colonies against the savages. In this, how-
ever, he was unsuccessful, although he remained
two weeks after the general negotiations had closed,
with a view to its accomplishment.

Since the first troubles with the Indians, in
Director Kieft's time, the colonists had been divided
in opinion as to the proper policy to be pursued by
the whites, in their intercoiu-se with their savage
neighbors ; one party claiming that they should
be treated as wild beasts and controlled only by
their fears, and if possible exterminated ; but an-
other, and the larger portion of the community,
counseled a policy of conciliation and kindness.

Van Tienhoven had been a leader in the extermi-
nating class, and George Baxter, his associate, had
sided with him. Stuyvesant however had been in-
structed to make use of pacific measures, as far as
possible, in his intercourse with the savages, and to
endeavor to gain their confidence, and control them
as children. This course accorded with the dispo-
sition, as well as with the judgment of the Director

^^cuoLAS stilwt:ll. 157

General, and this attempt to tonii a lea<iiie against
them, was (hmbtless the snt»<j;esti()n of his bhKxly-
minded Secretaries, Van Tienhoveii and liaxtcr, w ho
were less solicitous for the safety of tlic colonists,
than for an opportunity of exterminating- the sav-
ages, whenever -the encroachments or barbarities of
the whites should drive them into armed resistance.

But while George Baxter, one of the magistrates
of Gravenzaude, had been thus endeavoring to se-
cure protection against the Indians, by a league of
the whites against them, his colleagues in the mag-
istracy of that town, had been, there, seeking the
same end, by a different means.

Nicholas Stilwell had been negotiating with the
neighboring Indians to bring about an amicable and
satisfactory adjustment of all their causes of com-
plaint, and particularly to satisfy all claims which
the savages fancied they had to the lands within the
bounds of the town, and covered by the Patent.

The Indian title to these lands had, long before
been extinguished in the usual manner by Gov-
ernor Kieft, who had purchased the same for the
company, before the original location, thereon, of
Lady Moody and her associates. But the Indians
had since learned that land had an actual value,
of which they had before been ignorant, and be-
lieving that they had been overreached in the
transaction, were not satistied. In their .various
contests with the natives, the whites had shown
their ability to maintain their titles by force, but

158 LIFE AND TIMES OF

tlie experience of Nicholas Stilwell had taught him
that the reputation of being their friend, and of
always dealing justly with them, was a better
l)rotection against the Indians than arms or pal-
isades.

He had learned from Eoger Williams, how, pro-
tected only by his reputation as a just man, and a
friend to the savages, he passed safely among them,
even when they were most exasperated and frenzied
by the encroachment of the whites; how, when the
bold and warlike Pequots were endeavoring to
bring about a league with Canonicus, and Mian-
tonomah,for the extermination of the w^hites, Eoger
Williams alone, in his canoe, had hastened among
them, and for three days and nights had moved
safely among the Pequot ambassadors, even while
endeavoring to thwart their projects.

And in the war of 1643, when the Long Island
Sachems hesitated to come to the fort, even to treat
for peace with Kieft, he had seen, how, relying
upon the word of one good man, David Pieterson de
Vries, who, as the savages said, had never deceived
them, they had freely trusted themselves in the
power of those whom they considered as their
treacherous enemies.

Satisfied of the true policy to be pursued to insure
a permanent i)eace, he invited the chiefs and princi-
pal men of the neighboring tribes to attend a gen-
eral meeting of the inhabitants of the town, and
there in open assembly they were informed by Nich-

NICHOLAS STILWKI.L. 159

olas that tho new Director (iciieral dcsiicd to do
tlicm justice; and tliat the Eii^lisli o\' (rravenzandc
who hehl their hinds innh'r liiiii, wished to remove
all causes of conijdaiiit and dissatisfaction, and lo
live with tht; Indians as i^ood neiiililtors and friends.
The severe punishment which the Indians had re-
ceived in their attack upon Gravenzande, in ]043,
had made the name of Lieut. Stihvell, well known
among them as a soldier, and now, when he a})-
proached them in the character of a friend, and, as
a mediator between them and the Dutcli, ottered to
procure redress for all their fancied wi'ongs, tliere
was no room for suspicion that liis action was intiu-
enced by fear, or by any other consideration than
his sense of justice and his friendly disposition to-
ward them.

All their claims to the lands within the bounds
of the town were then considered and fairly pur-
chased, and the price agreed upon, paid to the
savages upon the spot, who acknowledged full sat-
isfaction therefor, and executed a release of all
their rights and claims. This instrument, which is
still preserved among the records of the town is as
follows :

"Know all men whom these presents may in any
wise concern. Wee, Johosietum, Airemakamus, Aera-
marka and Assanched, Sachems, anil ye right and
true proprietors of the laiuls, called by ye Indians,
Massabarkem, now possessed by ye English, and
formerly purchased and i)aid for, to ye then right

160 LIFE AND TIMES OP

proprietors, ye Cippoliuks, doe hereby acknowledge
and declare yt for and in consideration of two
ouuns, fifteen Ells of cloth, three fathoms of warn-
pum-peage, one kettle, two hatchetts, two hoes,
three knives, one long cloth coat, one pair of scissors,
two combs, one sword and thirty blankets, all re-
ceived, paid and delivered unto us by the new Gov-
ernor General Petrus Stuyvesant, do by virtue here-
of absolutely, sell, assign, and make over, all ye said
lands, called Massabarkem, for us, our heirs, execu-
tors, administrators and assigns forever ; Unto ye
Right Honorable, ye Lords bewient hebers of ye
West India Company, of ye chamber of Amster-
dam, and their assigns, for them and their assig-
nees, ye English, now inhabitants of Gravenzande,
to enjoy and ijossess as their own free land of
inheritance, to dispose of, as to them shall seem
expedient."

The Sachems signed this deed by their respec-
tive marks, and an entry in the books of the
town, recites, that "at a Court held at Graven-
zande on the first day of November, 1650, the said
Indians in o^jen Coiu't acknowledged the said sale
in presence of the Court and their neighbors, who
signed as witnesses thereto, likewise some Indians;"
which is certified by ISTicholas Stilwell, and the other
magistrates of the town.

The high estimation in which Nicholas Stilwell
was held among his neighbors, is also .api)arent
from the frequency with which he ai)pears to have

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 101

])ecn chosen .is arbitrator to decide dillenMices hr-
twccii the settk'rs.

The awards, M-hich appear generally to luuc Ix'en
in favor of both parties, are usually entered at
large upon the records of the town, in the follow-
ing form :

" 1(550, March 5th. Whereas, a certain difference
being between Thomas Cornell, and ye Lady Moody,
about a i)iece of ground, ye said Thomas Cornell
broke up ; and it being by the consent of both
parties, i)ut to ye judgment and arbitration of
Nicholas Stilwell, Thomas Goodyear, Francis Weeks,
and Eichard Gibbons. All of us having agreed to
issue the thing according to equity and rite, do
therefore judge and award: yt the said Cornell sh'd
possess and employ ye said quantity of new 'land
for ye incoming crop — afterwards, ye said Lady
Moody shall pay him fifteen guilders in money, att
ye surrender up of ye ground at that time.
"This being our arbitration, and award and joint
judgment : Witnesseth our hands here subscribed,
ye day and year aforesaid,"

Holland Docurueuts, Col. Hist, of N. Y.
Graveseiul Kccortls.
Dutch Recorda, Albany.

CHAPTER XY.

1651-2.

DIRECTOKS IN HOIXAND COMPLIMENT THE MAGISTRATES OF GRAVEN-
ZANDE AIO) ENCOURAGE THEM TO ASK FAVORS — THEY ASK PRIVI-
LEGE OF EXCLUSIVE TRADE FROM HOLLAND — IMPORTATION OP
LABORERS— ASK COMPANY TO SEND THEM NEGROES— PRO.IECTS
DEFEATED BY BREAKING OUT OF WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND
HOLLAND — MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT GRANTED TO NEW AMSTER-
DAM— STUYVESANT CAUTIONED AGAINST EMPLOYING DISLOYAL
PERSONS — DIRECTED TO ENGAGE THE INDIANS IN THE WAR IF
NECESSARY — SCHEME OF BAXTER AND OTHERS OF GRAVEN-
ZANT)E TO THEOW OFF THEIR ALLEGIANCE AND ESTABLISH AN
INDEPENDENT COLONY UNDER PROTECTION OF CONNECTICUT-
BAXTER DISMISSED FROM OFFICE.

The two addresses which the Magistrates of
Graveuzande had forwarded to Holland in de-
fense of the administration of Governor Stuyve-
sant, had not only been influential in determin-
ing the Directors of the West India Com[>any
to sustain their Governor against the complaints
of the nine men, but they had also been of ser-
vice to the Directors themselves, in enabling them
to oppose the sweeping measures advocated before
the States General by the popular delegates, who
had presented the remonstrance of the nine men.

In recognition of these services, on the 21st of
March, 1G51, the Directors of the Company at
Amsterdam', forwarded to Governor Stuyvesant, a
complimentary letter addressed to the English at
Graveuzande, acknowledging the satisfaction with

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 163

which these thiiely coininuiiicatioiis Ii;h1 been re-
ceived, and declaring the (Ujterniinalion of the
Directors to sustain Governor Stuyvesant, and an
assurance, that they were not only willing to hear,
and redress all just grievances in the province, but
that they would specially maintain the people of
Gravenzande in all the privileges granted them by
their patent ; and authorized the latter, on all
future occasions, to " apply directly to the com-
pany, as their Lords and Patroons, for the im-
provement of whatever they should consider out of
order, or to obtain any further just privileges."

The dissatisfaction of the Dutch, at the proceed-
ings of Governor Stuyvesant, in nominating two
Englishmen to represent the interests of his coun-
trymen, in the conference at Hartford, had found
expression in another formal remonstrance forward-
ed to the Directors at Amsterdam, complaining
that " Stuyvesant had not only surrendered to the
English more territory than might have founded
fifty colonies, but that he had ceased to consult
those of his own nation in public affairs, and had
taken only foreigners into his contidence."

The Magistrates of Gravenzande had no sooner
heard of this new complaint, than they again stepped
forward in defense of their patron, and on the 14th
of September, 1G51, addressed another letter to the
Directors at Amsterdam, expressing their great sat-
isfaction that the company " had sifted the truth in
regard to (he actual government, and had resolved

164 TjIfe and times of

to support and maintain its own authority, and the
administration of Governor Stuyvesant.

" We clearly acknowledge," said they, " that the
frequent changing a Government, or the power of
electing a Governor among ourselves, which we un-
derstand is the aim of some among us, would be our
ruin and destruction, by reason of our factions and
various opinions ; many, among us, being unwilling
to subject themselves to any sort of Government,
mild or strong.

"It must, on that account, be compulsory or by
force, until the Governor's authority be well con-
firmed ; for such persons will not only scorn and
disobey all authority, and by their evil example
drag other persons along, whereby the laws would
be powerless, but every one would desire to do
what would please and gratify himself. In fine,
the strongest would swallow up the weakest, and by
means of elections and choosing, we would be in-
volved in like inconveniences.

"It is not with us, as in Holland, or in Kingdoms,
or Eepublics, which are established and settled by
long and well experienced laws and fundamentals,
best agreeing with the condition of the people ; but
in our own little body, made up of divers members,
and of people of divers nations, many things occur
in the laying of a foundation, for which there are no
rul(\s or oxnm])los, ])ut which must bo fixed at the
discretion of a well experienced Governor.

" Seeing therefore that we have nothing to com-

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 165

plain against our present Governor, but on the con-
trary, approving his public deportment in bis ud-
ministration, we request that lie may still bo con-
tinued over us, and that no change be made."

The settlers of Gravenzaude, still had faith in the
destiny of the town, to become the commercial
capital of the province, and to supersede New Am-
sterdam in that respect; and the Directors of the
Company, having encouraged them to make direct
application for any further just privileges for the
welfare of the Province, this was considered a
favorable opportunity of initiating measures which
might tend to its commercial advantage.

The magistrates of the town therefore took occa-
sion, in this letter,' to submit to the Directors, two
propositions, " which, if carried out, it was believed
would avail considerably to the strengthening of the
Country, and to the Company's profit.

" First : Considering the impositions of the traders,
and the little strength added to the security and in-
crease of the Province, by the shipping belonging to
that class of men, inasmuch as they come and go
solely for their individual profit and advantage — by
the advice and approbation of our Governor and
others, we have bethought ourselves of chartering
some ships in Holland, for the benefit of this Coun-
try, to bring over what we stand in need of, viz. :
farmers and laborers, which we mostly lack, pro-
vided your Honors will consent and permit these
ships, and none others to trade here.

160 LIFE AND TIMES OF

"In case your Honors will consent, for a cer-
tain time, that our agents may hire and engage
servant men in Holland, to be distributed here, at
the pleasure of the Governor and Council, the
masters paying 50 per cent, of the expense of the
passage and outfit, besides the wages agreed upon
in Holland, this country will be able to absorb
yearly, five or six hundred, whereby it will be
greatly strengthened, and your revenues increased."

Second: "We request your Honors to expend in
Negroes or blacks, whatever means you, in your
wisdom shall deem prudent, for your Honors can
best do that, in consequence of your interest in this
place, on condition of our paying you for the same,
whatever ijrice you will order.

" We humbly conceive that your Honors will
thereby have double profits ; first, from what we
shall pay for the ISTegroes, and secondly, from the
tenths."

This letter, instead of being signed as usual by the
Magistrates of the town, bore the signatures of ISTich-
olas Stilwell, George Baxter, and William Wilkins
and three others, representing the people of Gra-
venzand(^ — and their grateful recognition of the
kin(hiess of the company to them, found exx)ression
in the address of the letter, which w as — " To the
Honorable, oiu- special good Lords and Protectors,
the Lord Directors of the AVest India Company at
Amsterdam."

r>ut tlie war, which had been for some time brew-

NICHOLAS STILWELL. Ifi7

iiilj, botwooii tlic coiimioiiwcMltli of liiinlniMl and the
Statos (ioiieral of llollaiid, and wliicli at last ln-oko
out, in INIay, K'm'J, in the "^rcat na\al l)atllt' in tlie
Straits of Dover, between a J)ut('li fleet, nnder .Vd-
miral Tronip, and the English, under Admiral Blake,
settled, at once, the (luestion of Stuyvesant's reten-
tion as Governor of New Netherlands ; for whatever
complaints liad been made of his civil administra-
tion, there Avas no doubt that he was a Imive and
experienced soldier; and in the present aspect of
affairs, his services Avere indispensable, not only to
the Oonipany, but to the States General.

To allay the dissatisfaction of the i)eople of New
Amsterchim, the Directors of the company now
ma<U> some concessions in their ffivor in regard to
taxation and trade, and also granted them a charter
for a numicipal government, to consist of a Sellout,
two Burgomasters and five Schepens: to be selected
in the manner usual in the City of Amsterdam, in
Holland ; to act also as a Court of Justice, with the
right of appeal, in certain cases, to the Supreme
Conrt. The establishment of a public school was
also assented to, and the City tavern appropriated
for the purpose of a school house.

Stuyvesant, at the same time, received an ample
supply of ammunition, and was instructed to take
immediate steps to i)lace the province in a con-
dition of defense; and while maintaining his good
relations with the neighboring English colonies, he
was directed to keep a careful watch upon the

TOR LIFE AXD TriTES OF

Eno^lish inhabitants, and not to be deceived through
their sinister machinations, and " to employ no per-
son in the public service, civil or military, of whose
loyalty and devotion to the fatherland he was not
assured," and "if it should happen that the people
of New England were inclined to take part in the
broils of the mother countries, and injure the Dutch,"
Stuyvesant was advised to engage the Indians in
his cause, who, as the Directors had been informed,
were not partial to the English.

The situation in which Nicholas now found him-
self placed, was particularly embarrassing. Al-
though his colleagues in the magistracy of Graven-
zande, George Baxter and William Wilkins, as well
as James Hubbard, the schout or sheriff, had sworn
allegiance to the Dutch Government, it was evident
that their sympathies were now with their own
countrymen ; and in case hostilities should break
out between the English colonies and the Dutch,
there was little doubt that they would be found en-
listed against their adopted country, and would
probably carry the majority of the people of the
town with them.

Nicholas Stilwell, however, had long since re-
nounced liis allegiance to England, had married
among the Dutch, and having a family of four chil-
dren l^rought up among them, had definitely deter-
mined to unite his fortunes Avith that nation, and
with the company to which he was indebted for shel-
ter and protection. Stuyvesant, therefore, naturally

NICHOLAS STTLWELL. I(i!>

looked to him, ;is his Lieutenaut, to rclaiii the sctlic-
meiit ill its alk\niuiice.

Tlic popnlatioii of the neighboring Englisli col-
onies, was so greatly in excess of that of the Dutch,
that in case of any hostile intentions on the part of
the formei", or even of a revolt of the settlers of that
nationality against their adoi)te(l country, there
seemed little prospect of the Dutch being able to
sustain their authority in the town by force of arms.

But it was hoped that the English of Graven-
zande would find it to their interest to continues un-
der a jurisdiction in which they had been so highly
favored. The privileges secured to them by their
patent were greater than were allowed to any of the
Dutch, and equal to those enjoyed by any of their
English neighbors ; but the time was now approach-
ing, when they would be called upon to pay for the
privileges they had enjoyed; for, by the terms of
their patent, they were to hold their lands, free of
rent or taxes, for ten years, but after the expiration
of that time, they were to pay the company one-
tenth of their production, by way of rent or return
for the lands granted to and occui)ied by them.
A release from this debt, was all that could be
gained by a change of government.

The only restriction which had existed upon the
privileges of choosing their own Magistrates, had
been the right reserved by the Director General to
approve of the nominations made by them. While
the commonalty in New xVmsterdani had been clam-

170 LIPE A^m TIMES OF

oroiis for even the slightest voice in the Administra-
tion of their own affairs, which had been strenuously-
opposed by Stuyvesaut, and in which opposition the
people of Gravenzande had so effectually aided him,
the English of the latter town had quietly assumed
and exercised the right of electing their own magis-
trates in their own way, irrespective of the provis-
ions of their patent.

Soon after the return of George Baxter from the
conference with the commissioners of the United Col-
onies at Hartford, in 1650, it became evident that he,
NNdth some of the other prominent settlers of Graven-
zande, had concocted a scheme to throw off their
allegiance to the West India Company, and form an
independent colony, under the protection of Con-
necticut. With a view to facilitate this change, it
had been proposed that instead of electing three
magistrates for the town, for the ensuing year, one
only should be chosen, who should select a second,
these two, a third, and in this manner six persons
were to be chosen, three of whom were to be Mag-
istrates for the first year, and the other three to act
as assistants when required, and to succeed to the
Magistracy the following year, unless the town ob-
jected, " one sett, the other alternately succeeding,"
and if any of the six should die or leave the town,
the remainder of them should fill the vacancy, " as
is the custom and manner of the moste wisest cor-
porations to go on."

At the general assembly of the inhabitants, on the

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 171

9th of January, 1051, a resolution to adoi)t that
mode of selecting their Magistrates was agreed to,
and six persons were chosen accordingly; but Baxter,
who had counted upon being chosen as the first
man, had over-estimated his i)opularity in the town,
and the same persons who had held the office of
Magistrate for several years previously, were, un-
der the new system, chosen again, with three others.
When their names were presented to the director
for confirmation, Baxter, although the author of the
innovation, took occasion to call the attention of
the Director General to it, and requested him not
to confirm the nominations ; but he was again dis-
appointed, and when the letter of September 14th,
1651, hereinbefore referred to, signed by these six
persons, as representatives of the town, was received
by Stuyvesant and forwarded to the Directors at
Amsterdam, as the voice of the town, the innova-
tion received a quasi otficial recognition.

The chief obstacle to the consummation of Bax-
ter's project of forming an independent colony,
had been the flattering i)rospects which had been
held out to the inhabitants of Gravenzande, in the
letter which the Directors of the company had
addressed them from Amsterdam, on the 21st of
March, 1G51, upon which the settlers had built
hopes of obtaining a grant for the special commer-
cial privileges for which they had applied ; and
which would doubtless have resulted in making
Gravenzande the chief city of the pro v nice.

172 LIFE AND TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL.

But the breaking out of the war between the
mother countries, and the jealousy of English in-
fluence, which had been aggravated by Stuyvesant's
imprudent choice of arbitrators at Hartford, in 1650,
destroyed all hopes of the peojile of Gravenzande
of receiving from the company, any special privi-
leges, and also put an end to the influence of George
Baxter, whose services as English Secretary were
now dispensed with.

At the same time, the energetic measures adopted
by Stuyvesant, showing his determination to make
a stubborn defense of the possession of the company
in New Netherlands, rendered hopeless, any projects
entertained by the disaffected English of Graven-
zande, of transferring the allegiance of the town to
Connecticut, without a trial of strength in war.

Holland Documents, Col. Hist. N. Y.
Gravesend Eecords.
New Amsterdam Eecords.

OnAPTER XVI.
1653.

STUYVESANT PUOPOSKS NKT'TRAUTY BKTWEEN NEW NETnEKLANDS
ANI> NEW ENGLAND, AND VIKGINIA — NO UESPONSE DECEIVED —
STUYVESANT PREPAUES TO DEFEND THE rUf)VINCE — CITY GOV-
ERNMENT CALLED TOGETHER AND COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO
FORTIEY IT — HARGAIN^NG FOR THE LOGS FOR PALISADES —
PRICE ASKED TOO HIGH, AND COMMITTEE AVILL NOT PAY IT —
MATTER REFERRED TO STUYVES,VNT — HE BUILDS PALISADES
AND A RREASTWORK — PEOPLE OF GRAVENZAXDE UNDERTAKE TO
DEFEND THEMSELVES— NICHOLAS NEGOCIATES WITH TILE INDIANS
FOR ASSISTANCE, IF NECESSARY — NINIGRET REPORTS THAT STUY-
AESANT IS PLOTTING AVITH SAVAGES TO CUT OFF THE ENGLISH —
COMMISSIONERS OF UNITED COLONIES TAKE ACTION UPON REPORTS
— GEORGE BAXTER AND CAPTAIN UNDERHILL EXCITE INSURREC-
TION IN ENGLISH VILLAGES.

Upon receiving the first news of the commence-
ment of hostilities between England and Holland,
Stuyvesant had written to the Governments of New
England and Virginia, proposing a continuance of
the friendly relations and intercourse between them,
notwithstanding the war between the mother coun-
tries ; but no definite response had been received;
and soon afterwards, learning through Isaac Aller-
ton, that the New England Colonies were making
warlike preparations, although it was uncertain
whether Cor ofiensive or <lefrusive war, the Dircilor
called logeilier the ncAvly constituted nnnii(i|i:il ( i<>v-
ernment of New Amsterdam, and in consultation

174 LIFE AJ^J) TIMES OF

witli them, proceeded to make preparations to de-
fend tlie Province.

As the danger of an attack was supposed to be
imminent, it was at once resolved by the Bm*go-
masters and Schepens —

1st. " That all the biu^ghers of the city should in
a body keep watch every night, at such places as
should be determined by the Director and Council,
and in the first place, in the city tavern."

2d. " That the fort should be repaired and made
sufiiciently strong, and as all the x>opulation could
not find shelter within its walls, in order to jjrotect
them, and their houses, and habitations, that the
city should be inclosed with palisades, and a small
breastwork erected, so that in case of necessity all
the inhabitants might retire therein, and as far as
practicable, defend themselves and their property
from attack."

3d. "It being considered impossible at the same
time to enclose and fortify the outside villages,
where the inhabitants lived scattered and apart
from each other, it was judged most expedient to
collect all the strength of New Netherlands upon
Manhattan Island, so as to make a better defense in
one place."

Commissioners were thereupon api^ointed to pro-
vide for the construction of the proposed fortifica-
tion for tlie protection of the. city. But even the
imnrmcni danger which tbreatened them. could not
overcome the x>iirsimony of the newly fledged city

NICnOLAS STILWELL. ' ' '

fathers, who would hiivc h'ft the city (Icleiisclcss,
rather than pay too higli a price for the tiLub(5r
required for the jjalisades to defend it.

A week was consumed in bari;ainin^ for the lo^s,
at the expiration of wliieh time, on the IStli of
March, 1G53, a meeting of the Bm'gomasters and
Scheijens was called at the City Hall; when the
honorable, the commissioners appointed to take
charge of the works for the defense of the city,
re])orted that " they had advertised for proposals
to furnish the palisades and x>ut them up, but had
found no one disposed to undertake the work at a
reasonable i)rice. They had offered 25 guilders a
rod for the work, but Thomas Baxter, aud Thomas
Lenderson, who were the lowest bidders, demanded
forty-five guilders a rod, which would amount to a
large sum of money, and the commissioners had
therefore provisionally suspended the work."

They further reported " that after consultation
they considered it more profitable and advanta-
geous to set off the palisades with planks, instead
of half trees spilt for the pm-pose, as had been
proposed; but having ascertained that this would
cost between 3,000 aud 4,000 guilders, they had
tef erred it to his Honor, the Director General, to
know what was to be done."

Stuyvesant disposed of the matter, in his usual
summary maimer, by ordering a line of fortifications
to be erected at once, across the Island, from the
East to the North Eiver, along the present line of

170 LIFE AND TIMES OF

Wall street where the old stockade had been built, iu
1644, and a contract was immediately made with
Thomas Baxter, to provide palisades, twelve feet in
length and seven inches in diameter in the middle,
and pointed on the end. These were to be set three
feet in the ground, and i)lanked up on the outside,
and every inhabitant of the city, without exception,
was required to work upon the fortifications until
they were completed.

A sodded breast-work, four feet high, was thrown
up against the palisades, with a breadth of four feet
at the bottom, and three feet at the top, forming a
platform upon which the defenders could stand and
overlook the stockade. Two feet and a half behind
this, was a ditch three feet wide and two feet deep.
The pahsade was also continued along the shore oi"
the East Eiver to the fort.

Gravenzande being already fortified, the inhabi-
tants were jjermitted to remain and defend their
I30ssessions, with such assistance as they could ob-
tain from the neighboring Indians, with whom they
lived on the best of terms.

Nicholas Stilwell, John Tilton, and the others of
the English settlers of the town who subsequently
developed into Quakers, had already acquired con-
siderable influence over the savages, by whom they
were recognized as friends upon whom the Indians
could depend for protection against the imposition
of the whites : and Stuyvesant now availed . himself
of their influence, not only to maintain the friendly

NICHOLAS STILWELL.

relations then existing with the neighboring liihcs,
but to engage their assistance to the Dnteli, "

•f^"r>

in

case the hitter should be attacked by tlu; English
colonies."

Ninigret, one of the sachems of the Narragansetts,
who had spent the winter at the Manhattans " to be
cured of a disease," visiting his friends at Graveu-
zande, and at the neighboring hamlet at Nyack,
heard of these negotiations, in behalf of Stuy vesant,
with the Indians of those jjarts, and upon his return
home spoke of them to the other sachems of his
neighborhood ; and the rumors reaching Uncas, the
Mohegan ally of the English, the latter reported
to Governor Haynes of Connecticut, that Stuy-
vesant was plotting with the Narragansetts to cut
off all the English.

A meeting of the commissioners of the United
Colonies of New England had been called, to be
held at Boston on the 21st of May, 1G53, to con-
sider their relations with the Dutch ; but upon these
startling rumors reaching them, an extraordinary
meeting was called for the 23d day of April,
to consider what steps it was necessary to take
to secui'e the common safety imder these circum-
stances.

As soon as Stuyvesant heard of these charges
against him, of plotting with the Indians, he wrote
to the Governors of New Haven and Massachusetts,
denying the imputation, and offering to come or
send to clear himself, and desiring that some person

12

178 LIFE AND TIMES OF

might be sent to New Amsterdam to investigate the
matter.

Four days before the time fixed for the meeting of
the commissioners of the United Colonies, the Gen-
eral Court of Massachusetts sent two messengers to
interrogate the ]^arragansett sachems as to the
truth of the rumors. The testimony of Ninigret and
the other chiefs clearly disproved the existence of
any such plot ; but at the meeting of the commis-
sioners, New Haven and Connecticut being still in
doubt, three persons were delegated to visit ISTew
Xetherlands and take evidence on the subject. They
were furnished with a letter to Stuyvesaut and a
commission, and full instructions as to their duties
in taking testimony.

Upon the arrival of these delegates in New Neth-
erlands with their commission, the Director General
and Council, proposed that three additional commis-
sioners should be named on behalf of New Nether-
lands, men, who understood the Dutch and English,
as well as the Indian tongue, to be i)resent at the
taking of the testimony; and that any witnesses
produced, should be cross-examined by the Dutch
Commissioners, according to the laws of New Neth-
erlands.

But the English delegates imagining api^arently
that they had been sent as judges to try Stuyvesant
and his council upon the charges, declined to admit
this accession to their number; and suddenly re-
membering that an election was to take place at

NICHOLAS RTTLWELL. 179

Boston in tlio following week, at which they desinxl
to attend, they left abruptly for that place; hut de-
layed at Flushing and Stamford long enough to
take the depositions of several Indians and others,
and to collect all the floating reports of the in-
trigues of the Dutch with the Indians.

Immediately upon the departm-e of the dele-
gates, Stuyvesant wrote to the commissioners of the
United Colonies, declaring that " there had never
been any appearance of truth in the charges of
conspiracy." That " what your worships lay to our
charge, are false reports and feigned informations.
Your honored messengers might, if they had pleased,
have informed themselves fully of the truth of the
matter, if they had inquired at Gravenzande or
Nyack, and might also have obtained friendly sat-
isfaction, concerning our real intentions, if they
had pleased to have stayed, a day or two, or three,
with us."

The refusal of the Director General and Coun-
cil of New Netherlands to defend the inhabitants
of the villages on Long Island in their settle-
ments, and requiring them, in case of danger, to
remove for protection to Manhattan Island, had
greatly increased the discontent among the Eng-
lish towns on the west end of Long Island; and
the grave action taken by the New England au-
thorities, upon the faith of the rumors of plots
between the Dutch and the Indians, and the hos-
tile attitude assumed by New Haven and Connect-

180 LIFE A2JD TIMES OP

icut, in consequence of them, now gave Baxter,
and the other discontented English, hopes of re-
ceiving countenance and assistance in that quarter,
in their traitorous designs of throwing off their
allegiance to the Dutch.

Pretending therefore, to believe in the reality of
the plot, and that a general massacre was in-
tended, in which even the inhabitants of the Eng-
lish towns imder the jurisdiction of the Dutch
were to be included, they sent messengers to the
adjoining villages to apprise the people of the lat-
.ter, of this new danger which threatened them;
and inviting them, as the authorities of New
Netherlands had declined to protect them in
their settlements, to unite in an application to
the United Colonies of New England for protec-
tion and assistance.

By these means, the dissatisfaction of the peo-
ple of Gravenzande, soon extended to the adjoin-
ing towns. Captain John Underhill, of Flushing,
who had been one of the most active in circu-
lating the reports of the pretended plot, was ar-
rested and taken to New Amsterdam, but soon
released without a trial, and returning to Long
Island, furious at the indignity to which he had
been subjected, issued an inflammatory address, call-
ing upon all the English settlers "to abjure the
iniquitous Government of Petrus Stuyvesant over
the people of Long Island, and to submit to the
Parliament of England."

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 181

As soon a« the news of liis operations reached
New Anistenhmi, Unch'rhill was onk'red to quit
the Province, whicli he did, and repairing to Hart-
ford, presented himself to the Coniinissioners of the
United Colonies, then in session, and offered his
serviees "to vindicate the ri<^hts of the English
nation."

The delegates who had been sent to take testimo-
ny in New Netherlands in regard to the plot, upon
their return, laid before the Commissioners of the
United Colonies the reports which they had picked up
at Flushing and Stamford in regard to Stuyvesant's
negotiations with the Indians, and at the same time
submitted the application of the disaffected English
of the towns on the west end of Long Island, asking
for i)rotection and assistance in their scheme of
throwing off their allegiance to the Dutch.

New Haven and Connecticut were in favor of
taking up arms against the Dutch, but the dele-
gates of Massachusetts declared that they did not
see sufficient grounds to justify this course, and
refused to join in it. The Dutch, with such Indian
allies as they could count upon, were more than a
match for New Haven and Connecticut, even if
Plymouth Colony should join them, so long as Mus-
•sachusetts remained neutral. In view of this fact,
Stuyvesant had always made it a point to maintain
friendly relations with the latter colony, and to
encourage trade between Boston and New ^Vmster-
dam, and had kept up a constant correspondence

182 LIFE AI5T) TIMES OP

with the Governors of Massachusetts, whose faith
ill Stuyvesant's honesty and piety, as well as his
bravery, was not easily shaken.

After deliberation, Plymouth also falhng in with
New Haven and Connecticut, six of the eight com-
missioners voted for immediate war, but the General
Court of Massachusetts resolved " that no determin-
ation of the Commissioners of the United Colonies,
though they should all agree, should bind this
colony to join in an offensive war, which should
appear to this general court to be unjust." The
commissioners were therefore obliged to content
themselves with a message to Stuyvesant, reiter-
ating their charges, and demanding satisfaction and
security.

Captain Underhill's offer of his services having
been declined by the commissioners of the United
Colonies, he repaired to Ehode Island, where his
proi)Osals were received with more favor. The
general assembly of that colony, having shortly
before, received authority from the Parliament " to
defend themselves against the Dutch, the enemies of
the Commonwealth of England, and also to offend
them," granted a commission to Captain John Un-
derbill, and Captain William Dyer, reciting — " that
by true information and great complaint of the ser-
vile condition to which many of their countrymen,
Englisli natives living on Long Island, are subjected
i)y the cruel tyranny of the Dutch jjower at the

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 1H3

Maubattoes, by the bloody i)lottiii«,^ of the (lovcr-
uor aud liscal there, wlio are (h'elaied to liu\<'- drawn
in and engaged the Indians by bribes and |)roniises
to cut otit' aud destroy the English natives in these
parts; they therefore authorized Captain William
Dyer, aud Captain John Uuderhill, to wage war
against the Dutch by land and sea. Dyer to be
Coiuniauder-iu-chief by sea, and Captain Under-
bill to be Commander-in-chief upon laud ; yet to join
in council, and assist each other for propagating
the service, for the honor of the Commonwealth ot
England ; provided, however, that all vessels taken
be brought into the harbor of Newi)ort, accord-
ing to law, to be there tried, and the state's i)art
secured. And j)rovided also, that Uuderhill and
Dyer render an account to the Khode Island
authorities of their proceedings."

Armed with this commission. Captain Uuderhill
organized a force of adventurers, and patrolled
Long Island for the avowed i)urpose of maintain-
ing the authority of the Commonwealth of England,
but evidently for the purpose of private i)lunder.
Ca|)tain AVilliam Dyer, Thomas Baxter, and other
disaffected English, also under the authority of the
Ehode Island Commission, prowled around the
shores of the Sound in armed yachts, committing
depredations indiscriminately on Dutch and English
property.

New Amsterdam Records — Hazard — O'Callari^bau — Brodliead.

CHAPTER XVII.

16S3-4.

MEETING OP DELEGATES TO DE^^SE MEASURES TO ARREST ROBBERIES
AND PIRACIES — BAXTER AND HUBBARD PROPOSE THAT PEOPLE
SHALL PAY NO MORE TAXES — REMONSTRANCE DRATVN UP AND
PRESENTED TO STUY\rESANT — CATEGORICAL ANSWER DEMANDED
— STUT%TESANT DISPERSES THE CON^'ENTION — STILWELL AUTHOR-
IZED TO ORGANIZE COURT-MARTIAL TO TRY MARAUDERS AXD
SUMMARILY PUN^SH THEM— THREATENTID ATTACK OF ENGLISH
FLEET — DISLOYAL ENGLISH OFFER TO ASSIST THE ENEMY — PRE-
PARATIONS FOR DEFENSE — NEWS OF PEACE— BAXTER AND HUB-
BARD ARRESTED — BAXTER ESCAPES.

The commissioners of the United Colonies, in the
face of the position assumed by the General Court
of Massachusetts, did not deem it advisable to take
any action upon the petition of the disaffected Eng-
lish of Long Island, for assistance and protection in
throwing off their allegiance to the Dutch. But
George Baxter and James Hubbard, who had now
become the recognized leaders of the movement,
encouraged by the countenance given to them by
New Haven and Connecticut, as well as Plymouth
and Rhode Island, resolved to take advantage of
the general feeling of insecimty, and lack of con-
fidence in the ability of the West India Company
to protect the settlers, to attempt to carry out
their project of forming a confederacy of the towns
on Long Island as an independent colony.

A meeting was therefore arranged, of dele-

LIFE AND TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL. 1 Sr>

gates from Flus]iin<>-, Tr('iii])stca(l, jNriddlchurjjrli, iuid
Graveuzjiudo, who assembled at Flushing lor the
avowed purpose of consulting upon the welfare of
the country and its inhabitants, and particularly to
devise some wise and salutary measures to arrest
these robberies and ])iracies. The newly appointed
muniei})al authorities of I^ew Amsterdam were also
invited to take part in their deliberations ; and they
having assented to the proposition, a meeting was
liehl at the City Hall, in New Amsterdam, on the
25tli day of November, 1G53, at which the city
authorities, and also the provincial council, w^ere
represented.

Upon the organization of the convention, a letter
was received and read from Governor Stuyvesant,
requiring the delegates severally to communicate to
him in writing, their oj)inions as to the best method
of protecting the settlers from the robbers and
pirates.

Baxter and Hubbard, intent upon their revolu-
tionary projects, proposed, that as the West India
Comi^any was no longer able to protect them iu
their settlements, the Director General should not
be iDcrmitted to interfere with their deliberations ;
but that the settlers upon Long Island should form
a union among themselves, for mutual protection ;
and proposed that the Burgomasters and Schepens
of New Amsterdam, should unite with them, and
that they should pay no more taxes to the com-
pany.

18() LIFE AND TIMES OF

A majority of the delegates however, disap-
proved of this, and avowed their determination to
maintain their allegiance to the Company and to
the States General, and recommended an ai)i:)eal to
the Directors in Holland. In order that all the
neighboring villages might be represented in so
important a matter, an adjournment was had until
the 10th of December, 1653 ; on which day, dele-
gates regularly summoned according to the ancient
custom of Holland, attended from Kew Amster-
dam, Breuklen, Flushing, Middleburgh, Hempstead,
Amersfort, Midwout, and Gravenzande.

Baxter and Hubbard now found no support for
their secession views, but after a general discussion
an address was agreed upon, to be presented to the
Director and Council of New Amsterdam, as well
as to the Government of the fatherland. This docu-
ment was by direction of the convention drawn up
by George Baxter, setting forth, in the form of a
remonstrance, under six heads, the grievances of
which the colonists complained; but which contain-
ed not the slightest allusion to the subject with
reference to which they had met to consult, the
prevention of robberies and piracies from which
they had suffered so severely.

A copy of the remonstrance, signed by all the

delegates, was presented to Stuyvesant the next

day, and a categorical answer demanded to each of

its six x>oints.

The Director General did not see lit to give a

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 187

categorical answer to this communication, Imt sent
a lengthy reply, in which he expressed his surprise,
that the convention could not find among the Dutch
members, one capable of drawing up a remonstrance,
but must allow an Englishman to dictate what they
had to say ; reminding them, that the chief object
for the consideration of which they had been called
together — the best mode of protecting the inhabi-
tants against j)irates and freebooters — had been
entirely overlooked; and that this remonstrance,
setting forth their pretended grievances in other
respects, had been instigated by the dissatisfied
English of Gravenzande, who were actually enjoy-
ing greater privileges than had been granted to
any of the Dutch nation ; but as the time was
now approaching when, by the terms of their patent,
these English were to commence paying for the
privileges they had enjoyed for ten years past, they
desired to rei)udiate their debt, by establishing a
new form of government, under the pretense that
the Company could not or would not protect them.

The convention threatened, in case the Director
General refused to answer the six points of their
complaints, to ai)peal to their common superiors, the
High and Mighty, The States General of Holland,
and the privileged West India Company.

But Stuyvesant'S only answer to this, was a i)er-
emptory order dissolving the convention, and com-
manding its members to disperse at once, and not
meet again " uuder pain of severe correction;" and

188 LIFE AND TIMES OP

calling to Ms counsels, his own trusted adherents
the Director General proceeded in his own energetic
manner to correct the evils complained of, and to
protect the company and its subjects and their
proi)erty.

The defense of Gravenzande was confided to
Nicholas Stilwell, and with the other officers charg-
ed with the defense of the neighboring towns, he
was authorized to organize a Court Martial, summa-
rily to try and punish any marauders who might be
apprehended, who, under color of military opera-
tions or otherwise, were committing depredations
upon land and water.

A meeting was immediately called of the mem-
bers of the Ooiu?t Martial with the Magistrates of
Breuklen,Midwout and Amersfort, which was held
at Breuklen, April 7th, 1654, when it was ordered
that " for the defense of the Dutch possessions on
Long Island against these pirates and freebooters,
as well as against invasion and sudden attack by
the English, the entire population should be enrolled
and every person should go on guard in his turn ;"
and that " no person, of whatever station or condi-
tion, should be exempt from uniting in a general
resistance, when required, within his district." Lots
were ordered to be drawn in every village and ham-
let, to designate every third man, who should be
kept armed, and ready at a moment's notice to
follow his officer. Each inhabitnnt of Long Island
was required, under a penalty, if ho observed an

mCHOLAS STTLWELL 1S!I

enemy at iiiij^lit "to fire tliroc tinios liis frmi, to
warn liivS next nci^libors, avIio sliall llicii execute
the same order; and, if any person tin^ a ^miii at
ni<il)t, excejit in case of alarm, sucli a one shall
pay a fine or submit to arbitrary correction, at
the discretion of the Court."

These orders were presented to, and ai)proved by,
the Directors and Council, who at the same time
commissioned several yachts to operate against the
pirates by water. A proclamation was also issued,
oft'ering a reward of one hundred thalers for each
pirate arrested, and threatening confiscation of prop-
erty, and banishment, as a punishment of any per-
son harboring them.

To prevent any misunderstanding with the neigh-
boring governments as to the object of these pro-
ceedings, Stuyvesant immediately dispatched a mes-
senger to Governor Eaton, to explain that these
preparations of the Dutch were not warlike, but
were only directed against pirates and freebooters.
But news now reached the colony, of a still more
serious danger which threatened Xew Netherlands.

Upon the refusal of Massachusetts colony in Dec,
1G53, to unite with Connecticut and IN^ew Haven in
making war upon the Dutch, the latter colonies had
appealed for assistance to Cromwell, who had then
just assumed the protectorate of England. Glad of
an opportunity of securing to himself the sup])ort of
the iiiunerous and ])owerful friends of New England
in England, and at the same time of extending the

100 LIFE A1?D TIMES OF

Dominions of the Commonwealth, mider color of
vindicating the English rights to New ^Netherlands,
the Protector announced his intention of sending a
formidable fleet to drive the Dutch out of Kew
Netherlands, and requested the assistance of the
New England Colonies.

Early in May, news of this i^rojected English
expedition reached Boston, and was immediately
communicated to Stuyvesant, who took measures
without delay to defend the Province against this
new danger.

The disaffected English at Gravenzande, rejoic-
ing in the anticipation of the success of their trai-
torous projects, added not a little to the anxiety of
the Director General in this emergency. Sir Henry
Moody, and others of the town, undertook to com-
mission a vessel as a privateer against the Dutch
in the service of the Commonwealth of England.
Baxter and Hubbard, and their adherents, tendered
their services to the English authorities at Boston,
and offered to surprise, cut out and carry off the
"King Solomon," an armed Dutch vessel, then ly-
ing at New Amsterdam, At the same time, twelve
men were appointed to manage the affairs of Grav-
enzande and to choose magistrates and local offi-
cers ; and the authority of the Director and Coun-
cil of New Netherlands to interfere in the appoint-
ment, was openly repudiated.

A portion of the English settlers of the town, how-
ever, still rem uined true to their allegiance, and

NICHOLAS iSTLLWELL. 11>1

these, under the leadersliip and coininaiHl of Nich-
olas Stihvell, with the Dutch .scttk'is of tli(5 neigh-
borhood, held the dissatlslied population in cifcck ;
and animated by the spirit of Stuyvesant, were pre-
pared to make a stubborn defense of the Dutch
possessions on Long Island, against this traitorous
combination, even if backed bv the overwhelminir
force, which it was understood was being prepared
in New England, to make a descent upon them.

But when the storm which had been lowering
over them, seemed about to break over their heads
with resistless violence, sunshine suddenly api)eared
and in a moment the clouds were dispersed.

While the New England Colonies had been urging
armaments for offense, and New Netherlands had
been straining every nerve to prepare for a brave
but almost hopeless defense, negotiations for a peace
between the mother countries had been vigorously
prosecuted, and on the 23d of June, 1654, when the
English fleet and the barges for transportation of
the soldiers were on the eve of sailing from Boston,
the Commissioners of the United Colonies received
" the happy tidings of a long-desired peace between
the two countries, England and Holland," and a
proclamation by the Lord Protector, forbidding all
English subjects from committing any further acts
of hostilities upon the Dutch — " by which," in the
quaint language of the Connuissioners, " All the
aforesaid intentions and prei)arations on the part of
the United Colonies ceased from being employed,

102 LIFE AND TIMES OF

and improved into the carrying on of the aforesaid
enterprise."

When the news of the peace reached ^N'ew Amster-
dam, it was published from the City Hall with ring-
ing of bells, and the exultant joy and pious grati-
tude of Stuyvesant, found expression in the proc-
lamation which he immediately issued, appointing
a day of general thanksgiving, opening in the fol-
lowing terms : " Praise the Lord ! Oh ! England's
Jerusalem ! and ^Netherlands' Zion ! Praise ye the
Lord ! He hath secured yoiu? gates, and blessed
your possessions with peace; even when the threat-
ened torch of war was lighted, when the waves had
reached our lips, they subsided only through the
power of the Almighty. "

But it was sad news to the disaffected at Graven-
zande, for the same vessel which brought it, brought
also, in a letter to Stuyvesant, the answer of the
Directors of the West India Company to the re-
monstrance drawn up by Baxter, bj^ direction of
the convention which the Director had dispersed
on the 12th of December, 1G53, and which document
had been subsequently forwarded to Holland, by
the hands of Le Blew, the ISTotary.

This comnumication was so little to the taste of
the Company, that the messenger who brought it
was forbidden to return to New Netherlands. To
Stuyvesant, they wrote — " You ought to have acted
with more vigor against the ringleaders of the
gang. It is therefore our expressed command that

NTCnOLAS STHiWELL. 103

you punisli whiit has occurred, as it (Icservcs, so
that others may be deterred in future from follow-
ing such example. As to the s(ulitious of (jiraven-
zande, let them be punished in an exami)lary man-
ner."

Baxter and Hubbard were immediately removed
from the Magistracy of the town, but continuing
their machinations, they soon found themselves pris-
oners in the keep at Fort Amsterdam, where they
were kept in close confinement until the next year,
when, ni)on the intercession of their neighbors at
Gravenzande, Hubbard was released, and Baxter
was transferred upon bail to the debtors' room in the
Court House, until the Directors should decide upon
his case. But he soon afterward escaped, carrying
off' whatever of his property he could lay his hands
upon, leaving his bail in the lurch, as well as his
creditors — among whom were the poor of the town,
whose funds, to the amount of 200 guilders, had
been entrusted to him.

Albany Records.

Hazard's Historical Collection.

Holland Documents.

New Amsterdam Records.

O'Callaghau.

Brodhead.

CHAPTEE XVIII.

1655.

STUYVESANT SETS OUT WITH TROOPS TO RECAPTURE FORT CASI-
MER ON SOUTH RIVER, AND LEA%':ES THE COLONY DEFENSELESS —
SAVAGES LEARNING THIS, DETERMINB TO MASSACRE THE DUTCH
IN REVENGE FOR A SQUAW KIIXED FOR STEALING PEACHES — IN-
DIANS SEND WARNING TO THE ENGLISH OF GRAVENZANDE —
THEY NOTIFY THE DUTCH OF THEIR DANGER — 2,000 INDIANS MAKE
DESCENT ON NEW AMSTERDAM, SEPT. 15, 1655 — CITIZENS PRE-
PARED TO DEFEND AND SAVAGES RETIRE — DESCENT ON PAVONIA
AND STATEN ISLAND — ENGLISH OF GRAVENZANDE NOT DIS-
TURBED, THEREFORE SUSPECTED OF COMPLICITY WITH NATIVES
— STUYVESANT RECALLED WITH TROOPS — NEGOTIATIONS FOR
PEACE — RANSOM OF PRISONERS.

In the midst of Stuyvesant'g preparations for the
defense of ]^ew Netherlands agaiDst the expected
invasion of the English, news had reached him that
the Swedes, who had some time before commenced a,
settlement upon the South Eiver, taking advantage
of the complications in which he was involved, had
made an attack upon, and captured Fort Casimir,
upon that river, belonging to the Dutch.
■ Circumstanced as he then was, the Director Gen-
eral could only protest against the outrage and re-
port the facts to his superiors in Holland. The
latter immediately upon receiving the news, ordered
him not only to avenge the injury, but to drive the
Swedes entirely out of the river. It was not how-
ever until the following year that Stuyvesant found
himself in a position to obey the order; when, hav-

LIFE AND TIMES OP NICHOLAS STILWBLL. 1!)5

iiig raised a force of 600 or 700 men, and fitted out
a fleet of seven vessels, on the <Stli of September,
1G55, he set out upon his mission.

A short time previously Hendrick Van Dyke, the
late sellout fiscal, had shot and killed a squaw
whom he had detected stealing peaches from, his
garden on the North Eiver, in !N^ew Amsterdam.
This brutal outrage had caused intense excitement
among the neighboring savages, and when they
learned of the in'ojected expedition against the
Swedes, and that it would x)robably leave the Pro-
vince in a comparatively defenseless condition, they
determined to take advantage of Stuyvesant's ab-
sence with his troops, to avenge this murder, by a
general massacre of the Dutch.

And now, the wisdom of the policy adopted by
Nicholas Stilwell and his associates, in their in-
tercourse with the Indians around Gravenzande, was
signally illustrated. Dealing fairly with the simple
natives at all times, and ever ready to assist them
by acts of kindness and humanity, the loyal English
of that town had gained not only the confidence,
but the affection of their savage neighbors ; and the
first intimation the people of New Amsterdam and
its vicinity, had of the danger which threatened them,
was from a cautionary message which, immediately
after Stuyvesant's dep.arture, was sent by the In-
dians to their good friends, the English of Gra-
venzande, advising the latter to separate them-
selves from "the Swanuekins," lest in killing the

196 LIFE AND TIMES OF

Dutch, some of tlie savages miglit injure their
English friends.

The Magistrates of Gravenzande at once notified
their Dutch neighbors of their danger, and advised
them to take refuge in Eort Amsterdam. The lat-
ter immediately wrote to the Director and Council
in j^ew Amsterdam, informing them of the warn-
ing they had received from the Magistrates of
Gravenzande, and requested that a vessel might be
sent to Anthony Jansen's bowery, to save and em-
bark their furniture, and other effects, as far as pos-
sible.

The Director being absent, this communication
was laid before the Council, who, after deliberation,
advised the Dutch to remain with the English and
keep watch ; and although doubts were expressed
as to there being any real cause for apprehension,
yet, if the Dutch of Gravenzande thought it neces-
sary, the Council promised that some soldiers should
be sent to assist them.

But on the morning of the 15th of Sept., 1655, the
people of New Amsterdam awoke to a terrible real-
ization of their danger, when they found that be-
fore daylight that morning, some two thousand
savages had landed in the town, five hundred of
whom, fully armed, were prowling about, imder pre-
tense of searching for some northern Indians. The
citizens were quickly assembled in the fort, and after
;i ])arl('y, Ihe Indians ])rctending to be satisfi(ul as
to the object of their search, retired, crossing over to

NICHOLAS STILWBLL. 11»7

Nutten, now Governor's Island. In Die cvcninLr
they returned to the city, and liiinlcd up and sliot
schout fiscal Van Dyke, who was the particular
object of their vengeance; but tlie burghers b('in<;
now under arms and prepared to resist, after a
skirmish in which two men of the Dutcli were
killed, the luitives retreated to their boats, and
crossed over to Pavonia, where tlie bloody scenes
of 1G43 were re-enacted, except that the savages
were now the assaihmts.

In a few hours th(i thrift of ten peaceful years was
destroyed, and the entire i^opulation of Pavonia
was killed or carried into captivity. Passing thence
to Staten Island, the Indians again ravaged it, and
left it without an inhabitant or a house. In three
days over a hundred of the Dutch were killed, and
a hundred and fifty more were taken captive, and
property to the amount of two hundred thousand
florins was destroyed.

A large body of the savages then crossed over
the East Eiver, and for several weej^s continued
prowling around the villages, on the Avest end of
Long Island, rendering it unsafe for any of the
Dutch to move out of the settlements, except in
large parties; and even in their own houses they
were in nightly dread of a repetition of the atroci-
ties which had depopulated Pavonia and Staten
Island.

The English of Gravenzande alone had been left
undisturbed, and cAcn now moved al»out freely,

198 LIFE AND TIMES OP

without apprehension of danger, but continually
cautioning their Dutch neighbors to be on their
guard. The latter, suspecting from this, that the
English were in collusion with the savages against
them, appealed to Governor Stuyvesant, who had
been recalled in haste from the South Eiver, ask-
ing his protection.

"Honored General," wrote the Dutch of Graven-
zande — " We are at present surrounded by savages.
Those who only are permitted to approach, viz.,
Englishmen, say that the savages do not confide
in them (the English). That the Indians do not
intend to delay long, but perhaps may execute their
l)lan to-night, and that we ought to solicit a re-
inforcement as soon as possible. As to the English,
whatever they pretend to the contrary, they per-
mit the savages to go and return, and there is
no doubt that the blow is intended to strike our
heads. We do not, at any rate, expect any assist-
ance from the English, so that we all remain with
our A\ives and children in a dreadfal anxiety.
Wherefore we solicit your honor, with all earnest-
ness and hmnility, to assist us as speedily as pos-
sible."

This letter was signed by Jacob Swart, Anthony
Jausen, and three others — "hi the name of all
the Dutch," Upon the receijjt of it, the Director
jind Council ordered a force of twenty men to be
sent from the fort, to assist the people of Graven-
/nndr, and that tliey depart immediately.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. l''*.>

But tlio services of tliese tr()()])s were not re-
quired, for tlie Indians, having- fully avenn^ed the
murder of the squaw, were now willini; to bury
the tomahawk. They desired, however, first to
make the best bari^ain they could for the captive
Dutch in their liands, whose scalps and lives had
been si)ared, only because the savages had learned
from their good friends, the English of Gravenzandc,
among other useful lessons, that it was extra\a-
gant folly to sacrifice prisoners, when they could
be traded off for articles which the savages so
much needed, and so highly prized, as guns, powder
and lead, or even for brandy ; and negotiations
were therefore at once opened for the ransom of
the prisoners in their hands.

A party of six Dutchmen had been captured a
few days before on Long Island, one of whom
had been badly woundetl in the back by an arrow,
and unless this was soon extracted, the natives
saw they were likely to lose his exchangeable value;
they therefore allowed him to visit Is'ew Amster-
dam, for the double i)uri)ose of receiving surgical
assistance, and of demanding from the Director, as
the price of the liberty of the rest of the party, the
following articles, "which the savages had marked
upon a small stick:" 20 ells of cloth, 20 handfuls
of gunpowder, 10 staves of lead, 10 kettles, 2 guns,
3 swords, 20 yards sew ant, 40 knives, 10 pairs of
shoes, 10 pairs of stockings, 10 chisels, 10 axes, and
20 tobacco pipes.

200 LIFE AITD TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL.

The Director and Council, after deliberation, de-
cided that it would not be advisable to ])aj this
extravagant ransom for these few prisoners, as the
other savages at Pavonia, and on Staten Island,
who held over seventy captives, hearing of it, would
demand a proportionably exorbitant price for the
liberty of those in their hands. But while refusing
to ransom the prisoners, Stuy^'esant sent a present
of some powder and ball to each of the chiefs,
and a message "that if the savages would freely
release and return all the Christian captives in
their hands, he would not be behind them in gen-
erositj', and would reciprocate their kindness by a
substantial recompense."

As the troops had now returned from the South
Eiver, and the Director was in a position to punish
them, the savages deemed it prudent to acceiDt his
offer, and released and returned all their prisoners ;
and Stuyvesant then made satisfactory jDresents to
the Indians, and -peace was again restored.

New Amsterdam Records.

CHAPTEE XIX.

16S6-9.

FIRST ES0PU8 WAR — COLONISTS REQUIRED TO LIVE TOGETHER AIO)
FORM VILLiVGES — NEGLECT TO DO SO — SETfLERS AT ESOPU8 SELL
SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS TO SAVAGES AND OUTRAGES FOLLOW —
STUYVESANT BUILDS REDOUBT AT ESOPUS FOR PROTECTION OF
SETTLERS — DASTARDLY ATTACK BY SOME OF THE DUTCH UPON
THE INDLVNS STUPIFIED WITH LIQUOR — RETALIATION, DUTCH
PRISONERS CAPTUliED AND BURNED, AND THE FORT BESIEGED —
APPEAL TO STUYVESANT FOR RELIEF — VOLUNTEERS CALLED FOR
IN NEW AMSTERDAM BUT NOT FORTHCOMING — APPEAL TO THE
ENGLISH — NICHOLAS STILWELL RAISES A TROOP IN GRAVEN-
ZANDE AND INDUCES INDIANS TO JOIN HIM — GOES TO THE RE-
LIEF OF BESIEGED OF ESOPUS — INDIANS RETREAT CARRYING OFF
PRISON'ERS ^\^TH THEM — HEAVY RAINS FLOOD THE COUNTRY —
IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW THEM.

The great damage whicli the savages had been
able to inflict upon the colonists in the late out-
break, had been owing, in a great measure, to the
fact that the settlers in the country lived so far
apart that they were unable to assist each other
against a sudden attack. In order to prevent tlie
recurrence of a similar calamity, on the IStli of
January, 1(J56, a proclamation was issued, com-
manding all persons living in secluded places in
the country to collect themselves together and form
villages " after the fashion of our neighbors of New
England."

But now that Stuyvesant had returned with tlie
troops, whose absence alone, it was believed, had

202 LIFE AND TIMES OF

induced the late attack, it was not easy to convince
tliose who for ten years had lived in safety in the
neighborhood of the savages, that the danger of
another outbreak was sufficient to necessitate the
destruction or removal of the few dwellings which
had been left standing. Little attention was there-
fore paid to the proclamation ; and upon peace
being declared, the settlers generally returned to
their former homes, and such of their buildings as
had been destroyed were re-built upon the same
sites, and the colonists continued to live apart, each
upon his own farm.

The purchase of furs from the Indians was one of
the principal sources of profit to the farmers, and
particularly to those of the frontier settlements;
but the competition in this, had latterly become so
great, that some of those at Esopus, now Kingston,
with a view to influence trade in their favor, and
perhaps to enable them to obtain more advan-
tageous bargains from drunken men, were in the
habit, in open violation of law, of supplying the
Indians with brandy and other intoxicating liquors.

The result which might have been anticipated
quickly followed. Some savages who had no pel-
tries to offer in exchange, demanded liquor, and
upon its being refused, murdered one of the settlers
and burned the dwelling and out^houses of another.
Several others of the Dutch were compelled by
threats, to plough the lands of the indolent natives,
the latter holding lighted fire-brands to the dwell-

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 203

ings of tlie settlers, and threatening to lire them in
case of refusal.

To prevent the destruction of their crops and
houses, and in fear of their lives, the farmers com-
plied with the demands of the savages, but immedi-
ately sent an express to the Director General, ac-
quainting him with the condition of atfairs, and
requesting that forty or fifty soldiers should be sent
to protect them. The fertile lands of the Esopus, it
was asserted, " could supply all New Netherlands
with provisions, and already had a population of
between sixty and seventy families employed in
agriculture, who then had over a thousand schepels
of wheat in the ground."

Stuyvesant had previously received instructions
from the home authorities to build a redoubt at
this point, for the protection of the inhabitants,
and a special force, with a supply of ammunition,
had been sent out for the purpose; and immedi-
ately ui)on receiving information of the disturb-
ance there, he proceeded to the spot with a force
of fifty men. Upon his arrival, finding the set-
tlers still widely scattered, he declared his ina-
bility to protect them, unless they would come to-
gether and form a village and fortify it.

He pomted out to them a tract in the bend of
the creek near its mouth, which could be easily de-
fended, as it M'as surrounded on three sides by
the water ; and promised if they would form a vil-
lage there, inclose it with palisades, and build a

204 LIFE AND TIMES OF

guard-house within it, that he would remain with
them until it was finished, and would detail a gar-
rison to defend it.

The settlers assented to this and entered into
the project so heartily, that in three weeks, time
the stockade was completed, their dwellings re-
moved within the inclosure, and the guard-house
finished ; when the Director returned to N"ew Am-
sterdam, leaving twenty-four soldiers to protect
the settlement. But the relations between the In-
dians and the Dutch were so unsatisfactory that
it was found necessary within a few months to
increase the force to fifty men. These were placed
under the command of Ensign Dirck Smidt, with
positive instructions to the latter to allow no sav-
ages inside the palisades, and, if necessary, to
detail soldiers to protect the settlers while at work
in the fields ; but in all cases to act only on the
defensive.

But the Dutch no sooner found themselves be-
hind defenses, and with troops to protect them,
than some of their number who had been com-
pelled to submit to the imposition of the savages,
determined to take the first opportunity of being
revenged upon them. Thomas Chambers, one of
the settlers who cultivated a large tract of land,
had emijloyed seven or eight Indians to husk his
com. After their work was over in the evening,
he gave them some brandy, which they imbibed
freely, and under its influence began " making a

NICHOLAS RTILWELL. 205

terrible noise." This they kept up till near niid-
niglit, when one of the savages fired a gun, which
was charged only with powder. The soldiers in
the fort had heard the outcries, and at the report
of the gun, the sergeant of the guard was ordered
out to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. Upon
his return he reported, that it was only a lot of
drunken savages in the midst of their carousals.

Jacob Jan sen Stol, one of the settlers, who had
lately suffered at the hands of the Indians, seeing
an opportunity of revenging himself upon them
without danger, induced several of his neighbors to
join him in an attack ; and contrary to the orders of
Ensign Smidt, they sallied out of the fort at mid-
night, and coming uxjon the savages sleeping, stupi-
fied with liquor, fired a volley of musketry among
them, killing and wounding several, and then " fin-
ishing their bloody work with axes and sabres, re-
turned to the fort with great speed."

The commanding officer finding that he could
not control the settlers, and knowing that this das-
tardly outrage would provoke a terrible retribution,
immediately announced that he had received orders
to return to New Amsterdam with his soldiers, and
would depart the next day. To prevent this, the
settlers took possession of all the boats in the neigh-
borhood, and Smidt, unable to procure transporta-
tion for his troops, was obliged to remain; but
immediately dispatched an express to New Am-
sterdam to acquaint Stuyvesant with the condition

206 LIFE Aim TIMES OF

of affairs, and request his presence with reinforce-
ments.

Smidt's anticipations of the disastrous effects of
this night's work were speedily realized. A sergeant
and eight soldiers, with some sixteen or eighteen of
the colonists fully armed, who had been detailed as
an escort to protect the courier from the fort to the
banks of the river, where he was to take boat for the
Manhattans, on their way back to the fort, found
themselves in an ambuscade, and fifteen of their
number, including the sergeant and six of the sol-
diers, fell into the hands of the savages.

War was now openly declared, and in a few
hoiu?s over five hundred Indians, thirsting for re-
venge, swarmed around the fort. All the houses,
barns, and out-houses in the vicinity were burned,
the crops destroyed, the horses and cattle killed.
They also attemj^ted to set fire to the fort, but
failing in this, they erected stakes, to which the
Dutch prisoners in their hands were affixed, and
eight of them, after suffering all the tortures that
savage ingenuity could devise, were burned alive.
Several of the other prisoners, youths, only es-
caped the like fate, by being adopted into the
tribe. For three weeks the fort was so closely
invested that not a white person dared venture
outside the palisades, which the drenching rain
alone saved from destruction by fire.

The arrival at New Amsterdam of the courier
from Esopus with the news of the outbreak and of

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 207

the critical situation of the iriliahitants and soldiers
there, besieged in the fort, caused intense excite-
ment throughout the colony. Then? were only some
eight or ten men left in Fort Amsterdam, sixty
soldiers, all that could be spared, having just been
sent to the South Eiver, to defend the Dutch pos-
sessions there, against the claims of Maryland.

The farmers upon, and in the vichiity of Manhat-
tan Island, having a vivid recollection of the terrible
scenes through which they had passed but three
years before, received the news from Esopus with
the utmost consternation ; and apprehending a re-
newal of the massacre of 1G55, they fled in every
direction, abandoning their houses, their harvested
grain, and their cattle, deeming themselves fortu-
nate to escape with their lives. Even the villages
on the west end of Long Island, except Graven-
zande, were in the first i)anic abandoned, the in-
habitants flying to New Amsterdam, where an
epidemic fever was then raging, but which was
forgotten in the presence of the greater danger.

Stuyvesant, who was himself sufiering from the
fever, rose from his sick bed, and visiting the neigh-
boring settlements, to which the inhal)itants luid
returned on finding that they were not i)ursued,
endeavored to re-assure them, and persuade them
to come together and form villages, and inclose
them with palisades.

He at once ordered into service for the protection
of the colony, all persons in the employ of the Com-

208 LIFE AIO) TIMES OP

pany, the clerks in tlie stores and offices, and even
a number of his own servants, and of the hands
employed in his brewery; and then called for
volunteers to accompany him to the relief of their
friends and neighbors in such imminent danger at
Esopus.

The city authorities and officers of the militia of
New Amsterdam exerted themselves to raise re-
cruits for the expedition, but the Burghers of the
city declared that "they were only obliged to de-
fend their own homes, and would not go out of the
city and jeoi)ardize their lives in fighting barbarous
savages," and at the end of three days only six or
eight men had been enlisted for the service.

In this emergency the Director General, weak
from illness, and almost disheartened by the apathy
of his owu peoi^le, appealed to his trusty friends, the
English. Captain Bryan iS'ewton, and Lieutenant
l^icholas Stilwell were immediately dispatched to
the neighboring English and Dutch villages to call
for volunteers. They met however but with little
success, except at Gravenzande, for each settler
urged the necessity of his remaining at home to
defend his own ffi^eside.

The English of Gravenzande had no fear of mo-
lestation from the savages, but hesitated to engage
in the expedition, from a belief that the Indians of
ii)sopus had not commenced hostilities without suf-
ficient jn'ovocaHou, AVhen, however, jSTicholas Stil-
well, whose counsels they had so long followed, in

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 201)

peace as well as in war, assured them that Stny-
vesant would see that justice was done betAveen the
colonists and their savage assailants, and called
for volunteers to follow him to tlu? relief of their
friends and neighbors of Esopus, there was a hearty
response from those who under his leadership had
become veterans in Indian warfare, and a comi)any
of twenty-five Englishmen, with IS'icholas at their
head, at once offered their services to Stuyvesant.

To allay any apprehension of the Dutch, of a gen-
eral uprising of the natives, diu'ing the absence of
the troops, twenty-five warriors of the tribes in the
vicinity were at the same time induced to volun-
teer for the expedition, and marched with their
good friends, the English, to New Amsterdam,
where they were gratefully received by Stuyvesant
and taken into the service.

It was now nearly two weeks that those of
Esopus had been besieged, and no further time was
to be lost in seeking volunteers. The Director
therefore ordered an immediate draft of one hun-
dred men from the city militia, and with these,
the twenty-five English, and the like nimiber of
the friendly Indians, and the few volimteers from
New Amsterdam, on ''Sunday evening, after the
second sermon," the Director sailed for Esopus.

Upon his arrival, Stuyvesant learned that the
siege had been raised thirty-six hours previously,
the savages finding, after having stormed the works
several times, that they could make no impression

14

210 LIFE AND TIMES OF

upon the defenses of the place. In retiring, the
Indians had carried with them several of the prison-
ers they had captured ; but the heavy rains which
had protected the besieged from the most eifectual
weapon of the savages, had inundated the country
around, so that it was impossible to follow them ;
and -Stuyvesant having therefore no employment
for the large force he had brought with him, or-
dered them back to the Manhattans.

Tlie good understanding which the Director Gen-
eral had maintained with the Mohawks and Mohe-
gans had prevented the Esopus Indians from obtain-
ing the co-operation of those powerful tribes against
the whites, and now a number of their chiefs j^roved
their friendship for the Dutch by i)roceeding to the
Esopus, and procuring the release of several Chris-
tian prisoners, and compelling the sachems there
to agree to a truce. But the latter refused to con-
sent to a permanent peace, or to surrender the
young prisoners in their hands who had been adoi3t-
ed into the tribe; nor would they come to 'New
Amsterdam with the sachems of the other tribes
to treat for the retiu?n of their prisoners.

In the spring, Stuyvesant therefore i)ut an end to
the truce, and formally declared war against the
Esopus Indians and their adherents ; and in March,
16G0, sent Ensign Smidt out against them, with a
large force, with which he attacked and routed
them, capturing a number of prisoners, fifteen or
twenty of whom were, by an order of council, on

NICHOLAS 8TILWELL. JU

the 25th of Maj^, banished and transported to thd
insalubrious climate of Curar-oa, to be employed
there, or at Buonaire, with the negroes in the Com-
pany's service.

In July following, the Esopus Indians having be-
come weary of the war, in whicli they could find no
allies, solicited the mediation of the chiefs of the
friendly tribes, through whom a conference was ar-
ranged with Stuyvesant, and terms of peace agreed
upon, by which all the lands of Esoi)us were ceded
to the Dutch, " to wipe out the remembrance of the
injuries they had suffered at the hands of the sav-
ages;" and the latter, by way of ransom for the
christian captives, were to receive 800 schepels of
wheat. The mediating parties having agreed to be
responsible for the good faith and future good con-
duct of the Esopus Indians, the treaty was signed
and formally ratified — "under the blue sky of
Heaven."

Doc. History of New York.
Albany Eecords.
O'Callaghan.
Brodhead.

CHAPTEE XX.

1660-1.

AirrHONY JAXSEN VON SAT.KE FIEST SETTLER ON WEST END OF LONG
ISLAND — RECEIVES GRANT OF BOWERY — ON DECLARATION OF
WAR BY STUYVESANT AGAINST ESOPUS INDIANS IS FRIGHTENED
AND EXCHANGES HIS BOWERY WITH NICHOIAS STILWELL FOR A
HOUSE IN GRAVENZANDE — NICHOLAS NOT DISTURBED BY SAV-
AGES, AND JANSEN AFTERWARD COMPLAINS TO DIRECTOR THAT
HE MADE A BAD BARGAIN ANT) ASKS TO BE RELIEVED — RUMORS
OF FURTHER INDIAN TROUBLES AND JANSEN WITHDRAWS HIS
COMPLAINT — NICHOLAS RECEIVES NEWS OF JOHN'S EXECUTION —
SENDS HIS SON RICHARD TO ENGLAND TO RECO"\'ER ESTATES OF
JOHN — ALSO HIS OWN PROPERTY AS HEIR OF SIR RALPH HOPTON
— MEETS THERE EX-QUEEN OF BOHEMIA.

The first settler upon the south side of Long
Island, was Anthony Jansen Yon Salee,* an African,
who, after a course of life as a pirate and free-
booter, had found refuge in ^N'ew Amsterdam, at
an early day.

On the first of August, 1639, Kieft gave him a
lease for ten years, at a nominal rent, for a tract of
one hundred morgens, about two hundred acres, of
hmd on the south-west corner of Long Island, lying
over against Coney Island, having a frontage on
the bay of 253 rods. Jansen having built a house
upon the land, and otherwise improved it, on the
27th of May, 1643, after the termination of the first
Indian outbreak of that year, Kieft issued to him a

* For an account of this worthy by Teunia G. Bergen,"Esq., see
r.rooklyn Eagle, Feb. 20, 1851.

LIFE AND TITVIES OF NTOHOLAS STTTiWET.L. '_' 1 ".

gromul brief or patent for it. This fine tract, wliicli
was long known as "Anthony Hansen's bowery,"
immediately adjoined that afterward granted to
Lady Moody and her associates, the successful de-
fense of which against the savages, a few months
later, gave this bowery an additional value, as being
comparatively safe from Indian attack.

But Jansen was one of the most notorious of the
blood-thirsty crew of which Van Tienhoven was
the leader, who were in some manner responsible
for most of the outrages by which the savages
had been driven into acts of hostilities against the
whites; and in the troubles of 1G55, if he had not
been in a measure shielded by the English of Grav-
enzande, he would probably have been one of the
first victims of savage vengeance.

Upon the declaration of war, by Stuyvesant,
against the Esopus Indians, in the spring of IGGO,
Jansen, fearing that hostilities might again extend
to Long Island, was extremely anxious to obtain
the shelter of the palisades by which Gravenzande
was smTOunded. Nicholas lived within this inclo-
sure, but he did not rely upon arms or palisades for
protection ; and when Jansen proposed to exchange
his bowery for a house in the village, Nicholas
gladly made the exchange, and in April, 10(10,
conveyed to Jansen the house and lot which the
former had purchased from Ealph Oardell, in 1()48,
with 1,000 guilders to boot, in exclumge for Jansen's
bowery, and the latter slept soundly behind the pal-

214 LIFE AND TIMES OF

isades of the town, while ]!!Ticholas removed to, and
occupied his unprotected bowery.

Soon afterward, in view of the unsettled condi-
tion of affairs with the savages, the Director and
Council deemed it advisable to enforce the order
which had been made some time before, requiring
the occupants of all isolated dwellings to destroy
them, and remove into villages and fortified places ;
but Nicholas Stilwell who, upon his removal from
the town, had been appointed by Stuyvesant his
lieutenant and sheriff of the Dutch possessions on
Long Island, declared that he needed no assistance
other than his own family and servants, to defend
himself and his possessions ; and by a siDCcial order
of the Director and Council he was permitted to
retain his dwelling and remain upon his bowery.

He had resided there for two years, unmolested by
the savages, and Anthony Jansen, seeing with how
little trouble and expense ITicholas had defended
himself, concluded that he might have done the
same, and that he had made a poor exchange. He
therefore i)resented a petition to the Governor and
Council, representing that in " April, 1660, he, Jan-
sen, had sold his bowery and house, in the vicinity of
Gravenzande, to Nicholas Stilwell, for a house in
the village, and sixteen hundred guilders to boot,
but that he, the suppliant, was of opinion that by
the sale he had lost more than half the real value
of the bowery, and he therefore prayed to be
relieved fi'om the sale."

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 'Jl.")

It was ordered that a, co])y of t lie ix'tilioii Ix; dc;-
livered to Nicholas Stihvell, and that hv, apjx.'ar he-
fore the Director and Council to answer it. lint
before the case was finally disi)ose(l of, rumors
came of another Indian outbreak. The trouble was
now at a distance, between the English upon the
Kennebec, and the powerful tribe of the ]Mohawks ;
and although the latter were friends and allies of
the Dutch, Jansen fearing that hostilities might ex-
tend to Long- Island, concluded that palisades might
not, after all, be without their value, and that per-
haps he had not made so bad a bargain, lie there-
fore withdrew his petition, and retiring within the
fortifications of Gravenzande, left Nicholas to brave
the dangers of savcige outbreaks in his isolated
dwelling, Avhicli the latter was well contented to do.

For several years jjrior to KJGO, John, the brother
of Nicholas, had filled A\ith honor the position of
Chief Justice in Ireland, where he had acquired
large estates ; and the future had seemed to i)roniise
that in the ease of his last years, he should find
comijensation for all the hardships and trials of the
earlier portion of his life; but his prospects were
now suddenly clouded by the news of the restora-
tion of Charles the Second.

The King, while an exile at Breda, negotiating for
his return to i)Ower, had been so lavish in i)romises
of oblivion for all i)ast acts, that even his restora-
tion to the throne of his ancestors was not looked

216 LIFE AND TIMES OF

upon as an event from whicli clanger was to be an-
ticipated to those who had been concerned in the
transactions of the last twelve years ; bnt one of his
first acts, upon his return to power, was to bring to
trial and puDishroent, those who had been instru-
mental in the death of his father ; and with such
expedition had this been done, that the first inti-
mation which Nicholas received of the sad fate of
his brother John, was a letter written by the latter,
from Newgate prison, the day before his execution,
conveying to Nicholas his last farewell — but in no
desi)onding terms.

" My Dear Brother," wrote he :
"I am condemned to die, and this is my cordial
farewell to you, froni my Jeremiah's prison. To-
morrow I shall be in eternal glory, in the bosom of
Christ, where oar father Abraham is, and a guard of
Angels will convoy my soul thither."

After giving an account of his trial, he continued :
" I intend by God's assistance, upon the scaffold,
to bear my testimony for Jesus Christ to all his
oflicers, and for a gospel magistracy and ministry ;
and to speak something, so far as God shall enable,
and will be permitted, for the good old cause of
righteousness and holiness. I can at present only
leave my dear love and respects for you and my
dear sister, beseeching God, and not doubting, but
that we shall shortly meet in eternal glory. Com-
pany so spends me, that I can write no more. I
shall suddenly enter iuto the joy of the Lord. 0

NICHOLAS STTLWELL. 2 1 7

blessed be His name, blessed be the Comforter.
My soul is full of consolation. Farewell ! farewell I
farewell ! I will meet you in Paradise.
" Yours for ever,

" John Cooke."

John had left a widow, and one daughter, who in
case his estates were confiscated, would be entirely
destitute ; but in giving directions in regard to his
affairs while in prison, he had declared, that even
in case of his attainder, his estates in Ireland could
not be forfeited without an act of Parliament to that
effect.

The Hoptons, to whom Nicholas was nearly allied,
had rendered important services to King Charles the
First during the civil war, and had made great sac-
rifices in his cause ; and Nicholas therefore had
hoiVes, through their influence, of being able not
only to save these Irish estates to the family of his
brother John, but also to secure to his own eldest
son, Eichard, some portion of the proi)erty in Eng-
land, to which it was believed he was entitled, in
right of his deceased mother, Abigail Hopton, as
one of the heirs of Sir Ealph Hopton, her brother,
who had died without issue.

Nicholas had intended that his son Eichard should
adopt the profession of the law, but the limited op-
portunites afforded in New Netherlands of acquir-
ing the special education requisite for that career,
and the slight prospect of attaining either reputa-
tion or wealth by its practice in the colony, had

218 LIFE AISTD TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL.

not encouraged the idea ; but now that his son could
return to England, as the scion of a noble house, hav-
ing strong claims upon the gratitude of the king, the
road to favor and fortune seemed open to him, and
Mcholas did not hesitate to take advantage of it.

Eichard was therefore at once dispatched to Eng-
land, where he arrived opportunely to meet the dis-
crowned Queen of Bohemia, the early friend of his
mother, who had been permitted to return, after her
long exile, to i)ass the last years of her eventful life
at the court of her nephew, Charles the Second.
From her, and the few but powerful friends whom
her misfortunes had left her, it would have been
strange indeed if the son of Mcholas and of Abi-
gail Hopton, who had been sharers in her first trou-
bles, had failed to find a welcome ; and under such
distinguished patronage, Eichard entered upon his
new career in life.

Upon the appointment of Mcholas to the oflBce Of
sheriff, the peoi)le of Gravenzande chose his second
son, Mcholas Stilwell, Jr., to succeed him in the
magistracy of the town. The youngest son of Mch-
olas, who was born in October, 1660, while John
was suffering in his "Jeremiah's prison," upon his
baptism, in the Dutch church in New Amsterdam,
on the 13th of January, 1661, was appropriately
named, Jeremiah.

Albany Records.

LycTia AVatkiDs' Correspondence witli President Stiles — ^Yale Col-
lege Library.

Lives of Kegicides. Loud., 16G0 — Clarendon.

CHAPTER XXI.

t663.

SECOND ESOPrS WAR, IGG^i — INCOKPORATION OF WILTWTOK AND
lUILDING OV THE NEW VILLAGE SOME MILES INLAND— SAVACW'h
DISCONTENTED — WAITING TO AVENGE TIIEIK WAIUUOKS HELD IN
SLAVERY BY THE DUTCH — INDIAN UPRISING OF JUNE 7, IGfilJ —
DESTROY THE NEW VILLAGE — KILL MANY ANT) CAPTURE FORTY-
FIVE PRISONERS— STUYVESANT SENDS UP FORT^'-TWO SOLDIERS
FROM THE FORT, AND CALLS FOR VOLUNTEERS TO RESCUE THE
PRISONERS — AGAIN OBLIGED TO APPEAL TO THE ENGLISH- NICH-
OLAS RAISES A TROOP OF ENGLISH, AND ALSO FORTY INT)IANS —
SAVAGES HOLD CAPTIVES IN A FORT NINE OR TEN DUTCH MILES
IN INTERIOR — EXPEDITION FOR THEIR RESCLTS — FtND FORT ABAN-
DONED AND PRISONERS REMOVED — RETURN TO WILTWYCK.

The severe measures which Stuyvesant adopted
against the Indians captured at Esopus, banishing
fifteen or twenty of their number to Curaooa or
Buenaire, to be there worked with the Company's
negroes, although not without precedent, were ex-
ceedinglj' impolitic, and sowed the seed for another
Indian war ; for tlie savages never forgot their ban-
ished braves, and only waited a favorable opportu-
nity to avenge them.

The fertile lands of the Esopus, which had been
ceded to the Dutch by the treaty of 1 iUM), were soon
taken up by farmers, and in the following year a
charter of incorporation was granted for a village
which was named AViltwyck, irom the fact that
the lands upon which it was built were a free gift
from the savages. During the three years fol-

220 LiEFE AXD TIMES OF

lowing the peace, the population had increased so
greatly, and the area of cnltivated land extended
so widely, that another fortified village was found
necessary to accommodate the inhabitants. This
was erected some miles inland, upon " the great
flat," and was called the New Village.

The precautions which had been adopted for se-
curity against the savages, had gradually been
relaxed, and they had latterly been permitted to
visit the villages freely, for the purpose of selling
their peltries or provisions, or bartering the same for
supplies. The soldiers who had been detailed to
protect the colonists had been withdrawn, except a
few who remained at the old fort or redoubt, near
the mouth of Esoj^us Creek, some miles distant from
the new settlements.

The Indians had watched with evident dissatisfac-
tion, the erection of this " new fort." The ground
upon which it was built, they said, had never been
X^aid for ; and they never ceased to bewail the hard
fate of their brethren held in slavery by the Dutch ;
and when under tlie influence of brandy, with which
they were now sujiplied more freely than ever, half-
uttered threats of vengeance had at times escaped
them.

The discontent of the savages had been reported
to Stuyvesant as early as April, 1663, and the col-
onists had requested him to hear their complaints
and endeavor to satisfy them. On the 5th of June,
following, the sachems had been notified through

NICHOLAS STILWELL. L>21

Captain Thomas Chambers, tliat the Director Gene-
ral would visit them in a few days, make them
satisfactory presents, and "renew the i)eac<\" To
which they had replied, that " if Stny vesant in-
tended to do this, he should come witli some im-
armed persons, and sit with them in the open field,
without the gate, as was theii* custom in renewing
peace among themselves."

Ee-assured by this, on the morning of the 7th of
Jime, 16G3, the colonists left their homes as usual,
to pursue their labors in the fields. Between 11
and 12 o'clock, a considerable number of Indians
entered Wiltwyck without exciting particular at-
tention, as they scattered themselves among the
dwellings, which they entered in a friendly manner,
as usual, under pretense of selling some maize and
beans, which they had brought for the purpose.
But shortly before noon, several horsemen came
dashing through the Mill Gate into the village,
crying out, " The savages have destroyed the new
village."

The alarm bell was immediately soimded, and the
few villagers who had remained at home rushed to
secure their arms ; but in a moment, the savages
who had entered the houses commenced the work
of death, with axes and tomahawks, but " so silently,
that the people in different parts of the town were
not aware of it, initil those who had boon woundinl
ha])i)enod to moot each other in thoir flight," .Kiiollior
body of the Indians set fire to the villago to the

222 LITE AXD TIMES OF

winclTrard, and the alarmed liusbandmen rushing
from the fields to save their homes, were shot down
by the savages, who laid in ambush at each corner,
until " the dead lay as sheaves behind a mower."

The settlers at length rallied, and with the en-
ergy of desperation, drove the savages out of the
village and secured the gates. The wind, which
had been blo\\ing from the south, having fortu-
nately changed to the west, thej were enabled to
arrest the progress of the conflagration, but only
after twelve houses had been destroyed, the wound-
ed or helpless occupants of which had perished in
the flames.

Upon being mustered in the evening, it was
found that, including those from the new village
who had found refuge in TTiltwyck, they niunbered
sixty-nine able-bodied men. Twenty-one had been
killed, nine more wounded, and forty-five (among
whom were a number of women and children) had
been taken captive by the savages. The burned
palisades were at once replaced hj new ones, and
the entire jiopulation was distributed to keej) watch
during the night.

Upon recei^'ing intelligence of this new outrage,
a reinforcement of forty-two soldiers from Fort
Amsterdam, under command -of Ensigii Christian
Niessen, was at once dispatched by Stuyvesaiit to
Wiltwyck, and a messenger was also sent to the
]\[()hawks and Scnecas, calling upon them to take
up arms against the Esopus Indians, for whom the

NICnOLAS STILWELL. 223

former had become sureties to the Dutch, upon the
treaty of IGGO. A prochimatiou was also issued,
calling upon the colonists of Manhattan Island, and
its vicinity, for volunteers to assist their friends
at Esopus, and to rescue the prisoners in the hands
of the savages, and offering extraordinary induce-
ments for them to enlist.

But with the terrible picture before their eyes, of
the still smoking ruins of the dwellings, and the
mutilated and unburied dead of the Esopus, every
settler felt the necessity of his remaining at home to
protect his own family; and although Stuyvesant
made a personal visit to Hempstead, and sent spe-
cial messengers to each of the neighboring villages
appealing for assistance, not over half a dozen
persons could be induced to volunteer, except from
Gravenzande; where the appeal of Nicholas Stilwell
to his now celebrated troop, met with its wonted
response, and the next day thirty Englishmen from
that town, with Nicholas at their head, and followed
by about forty friendly Indians, presented them-
selves before the Director General, as volunteers
prepared for the expedition.

This last unprovoked massacre sealed the fate of
the Esopus savages, and even those who had hither-
to been their apologists or defenders, could not im-
pugn the justice or necessity of the decree which
now^ went forth, denouncing them as enemies of the
human race, who could be bound by no treaties or
obligations, and should be exterminated. But they

1

224 LIFE AND TIMES OF

had in their hands some forty Christian captives,
whose safety it was first necessary to secure 5 and
for this purpose an expedition was determined upon, ,
the conduct of which was entrusted to a military
council, consisting- of Martin Kregier, one of the
burgomasters ol New Amsterdam, as Captain Lieu-
tenant commanding in chief, Lieutenant Nicholas
Stilwell, commanding the English Volunteers, Lieu-
tenant Peter Wolfertsen Von Cowenhoven, the leader
of the friendly Indians of Long Island, and Ensign
Christian Messen, under whose command the sol-
diers sent from Fort Amsterdam to Wiltwyck had
been placed.

" The Director and Council not having been able
to obtain sufficient and satisfactory information as
to what assistance the Esopus savages might have
obtained from other tribes, and what force they
had in their fort, or what force they might bring
into the field, it was left to the discretion of the
Captain Lieutenant, and his military council, to
determine, in what manner, and with what force,
the savages ought to be attacked: and also in
case it was considered advisable to treat with the
Indians for the release of their Christian cap-
tives, the Captain Lieutenant and his Council
were authorized to agree upon an armistice, and
terms of ransom, but not in any event to conclude
a peace."

All military movements and affairs were to.be de-
termined upon in council, and by a majority vote,

NICnOLAR STTLWELL. 22.")

and in case of an equal division, Captain-Lieutenant
Kregier was to have a double vote.

Two yaclits were detailed to transport the expe-
dition, with the necessary supi)lies, to Rondout,
where it arrived on the 4th of July, 1663, and imme-
diately marched to "Wiltwyck where the military
council was established, and several days spent in
gathering such intelligence as could be obtained, of
the strength and position of the enemy.

From Madam Yon Imbroeck (a daughter of La
Montague, one of the council), who had been cap-
tured in the attack of the 7th of June, and had es-
caped, they derived the valuable information that
the savages numbered about two hundred warriors,
and occupied a strong square fort, some nine or ten
Dutch miles in the interior ; that the prisoners were
confined there, but were removed nightly to the
mountains for safety, as the savages counted upon
holding them as hostages, to secure immunity for
their late outrages.

Negotiations were first opened through the Mo-
hawks for the ransom of the captives, and several
of the women and children were restored to liberty ;
but the Esopus Indians refused to listen to any
terms for the remaining i3risoners, unless they could
secure peace thereby ; and threatened to kill them,
" unless Corlear and Eensselaer came to then* fort
with presents to ransom them, and conclude a
peace," for which the savages said they would wait
ten days, and demanded a truce during that period,

15

22G LIFE AND TIMES OF

declaring their intention to make a stand in their
fort.

The position of the savages having thus been dis-
covered, it was resolved in council to attack them
at once in full force, and the next day, leaving a
garrison of thirty-six soldiers and twenty-five free-
men for the protection of Wiltwyck, the expedition
set out, composed of Captain-Lieutenant Kregier's
company, ninety-one men. Lieutenant Stilwell's
troop of thirty men, Lieutenant Cowenhoven with
forty-one Long Island Indians, six volunteers from
the Manhattans, and thirty-five from the Esopus,
seven negroes, with two pieces of cannon and two
wagons.

They started about fom* o'clock in the afternoon
of the 26th of July, 1663, and after proceeding about
ten miles, halted, until the moon rose, when they
started anew ; but after half an hour's march, find-
ing that they could not get through the woods at
night, they bivouacked until daylight. At day-
break they continued their march, passing over
stony land, and hills so steei^, that they were
obliged to haul the cannon and wagons up and
down with ropes ; swamps and creeks, to cross
which, they had to cut down trees, and make
bridges, so that their progress was very slow.

When about two miles from the Indian fort, Lieu-
tenant Stilwell, with his troop of English, Lieuten-
ant Cowenhoven with his Indians, and Ensign iiTeis-
son with 40 men of Captain-Lieutenant Kregier's

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 2'J7

company, were sent forward to surprise it. On ar-
riving at the fort, it was found that tlie saiMf^'es liad
abandoned it; and from a squaw whom they caj)-
tured, it was ascertained tliat the Indians liad lied
two days before, to a higli mountain several miles
distant, which the squaw pointed out, and had taken
with them the x)risoners. The fort was inclosed
by three rows of palisades, and contained several
strongly-built houses, in M'hich the troops i)assed
the night.

The military council assembled at break of day,
and luianimously resolved to go in search of the In-
dians, leaving the Captain-Lieutenant with twenty-
four men to retain possession of the fort. But upon
arriving at the mountain pointed out by the squaw,
it was found that the savages had again retreated;
and they were directed now to another fort distant
some miles further, wiiither they followed, but with
no better success. All hopes of overtaking the sav-
ages were now abandoned, and the soldiers returned
to the captured fort. Here they found several hun-
dred i)its full of maize and beans, which had been
stored by the Indians and which they burne<l.
They also cut down and destroyed all their stand-
ing corn, covering over two hundred acres of land.

While the soldiers were engaged in this work of
de&ti'Uction, several of the savages appeared on I lie
sunnnit of the mountain, and cried out, " that they
would now come out and tight, as the Dutch had cut
dow.'i their corn, and burned their stoves of maize

228 LIFE AND TIMES OF NICHOLAS STILWBLL.

and beans, and they must die of hunger." The In-
dians, however, did not come ; and the next morning
at dawn of day, the fort and all the houses in it were
set on fire ; while they were in full blaze, the troops
marched out in good order, Lieutenant Cowenhoven
forming the vanguard. Lieutenant Stilwell and his
company in the centre, and Captain-Lieutenant
Kregier in the rear. After a toilsome march, the
exi3edition arrived safely at Wiltwyck, about nine
o'clock in the evening, with the cannon and wagons,
and three horses which they had captured at the
Indian fort.

Albany Records.

Dominie Blom, Doc. Hist, of N. 1.

O'Callaghan.

Brodliead.

CHAPTER XXII.

1663.

INDIAN AUXILIARIES RRTURN IIOMK — STUYVESANT NEGOTIATF.S WITH
KSOPUS INDIANS FOR SUUKKNDKR OV CAPTIVES — SENDS LIELTKN-
ANT COWENIIOVEN WITH WAPPINGEIJ SACHEM TO HAVE A TALK
WITH THEM — TEMPTS THEM AVITH I5RANDY — NEGOTIATION FAILS,
BUT AVAPPINGER SACHEM DISCOVERS LOCALITY OF NEW FORT
WHERE PRISONERS ARE CONFINED— NEW EXPEDITION SENT OUT,
FIFTY-FIVE PICKED MEN— NICHOLAS, WITH TWENTY-FOUR ENG-
LISH, WHEN NEAR THE FORT ARE DISCOVERED — CHARGE, AND
EFFECT AN ENTRANCE — ESOPUS TRIBE DESTROYED AND CAPTIVES
RESCUED — RETURN TO WILTWYCK WITH THE CAPTURED CHRIS-
TIANS.

The forty-one Indians from Long Island, who had
volunteered for the expedition, refusing to remain
any longer, upon their return to Wiltwyck, were
sent back to the Manhattans, Lieutenant Coweu-
hoven, their commander, accompanying them. A
few days afterwards the latter was directed by
Stuyvesant to return, and endeavor, through the
mediation of the Wappinger Indians, to obtain the
release of the Christian captives, still held by the
savages of Esopus.

Several days were spent in the negotiation, and the
Indians finally promised that they would bring in,
within two days, all the prisoners they had ; but they
did not keep their word, and Lieutenant Cowen-
hoven only succeeded in securing the release of :i
youth, by paying a ransom of eighty guilders ior

230 LITE AND TIMES OF

liiin ; and a woman, by promising in exchange foi
her, the squaw caijtured by the Dutch in the late ex-
pedition ; and with these he returned to Wiltwyck.

It was now determined by the military council to
adopt a diiferent basis for negotiation ; and Lieu-
tenant Cowenhoven having been supplied with an
abimdance of spirituous liquors, was instructed to
return and invite the Indians down for a " talk "
with the Wappingers, and endeavor by fair words
to induce them to bring their prisoners with them.
He was then to supply the natives freely with
brandy, and watching his time and opportunity, to
seize as many of the Esopus Indians as possible ;
or in case he could induce them by any means to
go on board his vessel, he was to detain them there
by intoxicating liquors or otherwise, while he sent
a yacht to the military council, who would send
down a force to secure them.

But the savages were wary, and were not to be
tempted even by brandy ; and on the 30th of August
Cowenhoven returned to Wiltwyck, without having
succeeded in releasing any more of the prisoners ;
but the Wappiuger sachem, who had conducted the
negotiation, reported that the Esopus Indians had
built a ncAV fort, about " four hours" further inland
than the old one, which had been burned by the
Dutch, and that the captive Christians were all
confined there.

Tlio military council resolved at once to send
ovA a force of i)icked men, under the guidance

NICHOLAS STILWT.LL. '_»;;i

of tlio Wappiiiger saclieiu to uttiU'k the sava/^cs,
in their new fort, and rescue the ])risoners. For
this iRU'pose a requisition was iiiadc iqxni llic
sheriff and commissary of Wiltwyck, for twenty
horses, for the use of any of the party who
might happen to be wounded. The dilliculty of
procuring these animals, and the bad weather, (U^-
layed the movement for a few days ; but on the
3d of September, 1G03, having obtained eight
horses, the expedition set out at one o'clock, P. M.,
composed of fifty-five men; twenty-two selected
from Captain Kregier's company, twenty-four
English under Lieutenant Stilwell, seven freemen
of Wiltwyck, and two negroes.

After a march of three hours, they reached " the
creek which runs past the redoubt," W'here they
halted and passed the night in a drenching rain.
The next morning they foiuid the stream so swol-
len, that they were unable to ford it, and six men
were sent back on horseback to Wiltwyck for
ropes and axes. On their return, they cut down
trees and made a raft, upon which they crossed
the Kill, having first passed the rope over and
made it fast to the trees on the opposite side,
to prevent the raft being carried down with the
current. They marched twelve miles further,
when, night coming on, they again bivouacked
in the open air, the rain still coming down in
torrents.

At daybreak the next morning, they continued

232 "LITE AiTO TIMES OF

their marcli, and about two o'clock in the afternoon
came in sight of the new stronghold of the sav-
ages, which was situated upon an elevated pJain,
about thirty-six miles southwest of Wiltwyck, and
probably in the present town of Mamakating, in
Sullivan county.* The fort was constructed of pal-
isades, of the thickness of a man's body, set three
feet in the ground, and extending fifteen feet
above it, with a double row of loop-holes, one
above the other, for musketry, and was built " so
solid, that Christians could not have done it bet-
ter."

After surveying the position, the attacking
force was divided into two parts. Captain Kregier
and Lieutenant Cowenhoven commanding the
right wing, and Lieutenant Stilwell and Ensign
Keissen the left. They crept stealthily along the
foot of the hill, so as not to be seen until they
came directly under the fort; but the ground
on the left, being somewhat level, Stilwell's com-
pany was discovered by a squaw, who was pil-
ing wood there, and who 'sent forth " a terrible
scream," which was heard by the Indians who
were standing and working near the fort. The
latter immediately rushed through the gates to
tlieir houses, which stood a stone's throw within
the palisades, to seciu-e their arms; but Stilwell's
men, upon their approach being discovered, made
" a brave charge" upon the savages, and followed

* Brodhead.

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 23.'5

them up so closely, that th(5 whole .ittackiii','
force were enabled to etlect an entrance inside
the palisades, before the natives had time to
close the gates or reach their houses.

The Indians stood but a few moments before the
murderous fire which was opened upon them, and
their chief, Pape-(iuan-clian, and several of their
warriors having fallen, they made a i)recipitate re-
treat through the opposite gates of the fort, leaving
many of their guns behind them, and followed by
the troops so closely, that to escape capture they
were obliged to leap into Shawangunk Kill, which
"ran in front of the lower side of their maize patch."
Upon reaching the oi)posite side of the creek, the
savages made a stand, and returned our fire, killing
and wounding several of the whites, when a party
was sent across to dislodge them, which was gal-
lantly effected, and the natives entirely routed.

The Indians lost in this attack, their chief and
fourteen warriors lulled, beside several women and
children, and thirteen or fourteen Avounded ; in ad-
dition to which, thirteen jmsoners fell into our
hands. The whites lost three killed and six wound-
ed. By this important victory, twenty-three Chris-
tian captives were restored to liberty, who informed
their deliverers that, through fear of the Dutch,
they had been removed every night into the woods,
each night into a different place, and brought back
in the morning; but that the day before this attack,
a Mohawk, who had visited the Esoi)us Indians,

234 LIFE AST> TIMES OP

and staid over night with them, had told them that
there was no fear of the Dutch, they would never
come there, and could not come so far without be-
ing discovered; and the savages had therefore al-
lowed the captives to remain in the fort that night.

The Esopus tribe was now virtually annihilated,
and the expedition prepared for its return. Consid-
erable plunder was found in the wigwams, consisting
of bear-skins, deer-skins, notassen, blankets, elk-
hides, and other articles sufficient to fill a sloop ; a
large portion of which was destroyed from inability
to carry it away, as the horses were requked for
the wounded. The kettles were broken in pieces,
twenty-four or five guns which the savages had
left behind, were broken up and the barrels scat-
tered in the stream. Twenty pounds of powder
was captured, and thirty-one belts, besides several
strings, of wampum.

Having one more wounded, than the number of
the horses, it was found necessary to transport him
in a blanket, on poles carried by the soldiers in
tm^u. One of the i)risoners, an old man, after ac-
companying them half an hour upon their return,
refused to go any fiu^ther, when Captain Kregier
directed some of his men to " take him on one side,
and give him his last meal."

After a toilsome march of two days, the expedi-
tion arrived safely at Wiltwyck about noon on the
7th day of September, 1663, bringing back the first
news of its ouii success, and the grateful booty of

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 235

twetby-tnree rescued Cliristiim captives, who were
welcomed by the inhabitants, tlicir neighbors, re-
latives and friends, as persons raised from the dead.
The special object for which Nicholas Stilwcll
and his company of English had volunteered, hav-
ing been accomplished, two days afterwards they
retui-ned home to Gravenzande.

Capt. Kregicr's Journal.
Documentary History of N. Y., IV.

CHAPTEE XXIII.

1663.

TROUBLE WITH CONNECTICUT — ^THAT COLONY OBTAINS FROM CHARLES
n. A PATENT UNDER WHICH IT CLAIMS LONG ISLAND — NOTIFIES
STtJYVESANT NOT TO MOLEST INHABITANTS — SENT)S TALCOTT,
COMMISSIONER, TO TAKE POSSESSION OF WESTCHESTER — STUT-
VESANT PROTESTS — TALCOTT'S PROCEEDINGS NOT DISAPPROVED,
AND HE NOTIFIES ENGLISH AND DUTCH TOWNS ON LONG ISLAND
OF CHANGE OF GOVERNJIENT — CHPJiSTIE ARRIVES AT GRAVEN-
ZANDE AS HERALD WITH PROCLAMATION — ATTEMPTS TO READ IT
— ^NICHOLAS STILWELL, THE SHERUT, ARRESTS HUM — ATTEMPT TO
KESCUE, AND PRISONER REMOVED BY NIGHT TO FORT AMSTER-
DAM—ENGLISH THREATEN TO SEIZE NICHOLAS AS HOSTAGE FOR
SAFETY OF CHRISTIE — 150 MEN SURROUND HIS HOUSE AT NIGHT,
BUT HE ESCAPES TO NEW AMSTERDAM — CORRESPONDENCE BE-
TWEEN PEOPLE OF GRAVENZANDE AND THE COUNCIL — SIXLWELL'S
ACTION APPROVED.

Connecticut consisted originally of two independ-
ent colonies — Connecticut and 'New Haven — both
of which were settled under the patent granted by
Charles the First to the Earl of Warwick, and by
him assigned to Viscount Say and Seal and Lord
Brooke, and their associates. ISTew Haven included
under its jurisdiction, besides the town of that name,
the villages of Branford, Milford, Guilford, and
Stamford, all situated upon the Sound.

Soon after the news of the restoration of Charles
the Second reached 'New England, the General
Court of Connecticut at Hartford, directed the gov-
ernor to prepare a loyal address to the king, and a

LIFE AKD TTlNrES OP NICHOI^S RTn^WELL. '2.".7

petition praying for a confinnalion of llic lilicitics
rights, and privileges wliieli they liad ciijoycd lor
many years under a "jurisdiction riglit m liidi tlicy
had imrchased from Mr. George Fenwick, and wliich
they were given to understand had b(?en (li'iiv<'d
from true, loyal authority, by letters patent graiit<'d
to certain lords and gentlemen therein nominated."

This document was said to have been " lost eitlier
by fire, at a house where it was sometimes kept, or
by some other accident ;" and as an evidence that
they had never wavered in their allegiance to tlie
crown during the late troubles, the colonists in
their petition declared that "your poor subjects
were willing to have contented themselves with this
loss in those afflictive times, rather than seek for
power or privileges from any other than their lawful
prince and sovereign."

John Winthrop, Jr., the Governor of Connecticut,
(a son of Governor Winthrop of INTassachusetts),
was delegated to present this address and petition
to the king, and as the agent of the colony, to
" agitate and transact its affairs in respect thereto,"
and if x)ossible obtain a charter for all the regions
eastward to Plymouth line, northward to IMassa-
chusetts, and westward to Delaware Bay, together
with the Islands adjacent; thus seeking to absorb
not only the neighboring colony of New Haven,
but Ehode Island and rrovidence ])lanta1ions, and
also New Ketherlands, including the whole of Long
Island.

238 LIFE AOT) TIMES OF

Wintlirop arrived in England at a propitious
time for Ms embassy. l!^ew Haven liad given great
offense at court by sheltering Colonels Goffe and
Whalley, two of the regicides, who had been traced
to that jurisdiction ; and for this offense it was not
considered too great a punishment to strike the
colony out of existence as an independent govern-
ment.

Viscount Say and Seal, with the management of
whose affairs in America, Governor Winthrop had
formerly been entrusted, was now in high favor at
court, having been particularly instrumental in the
Eestoration ; and through his influence Winthrop
was soon enabled to obtain a patent under the great
seal of England granting and confirming to the
" Governor and Company of our English Colony of
Connecticut in E'ew England" all the territory
bounded on the east by the Pawcatuck Eiver, nor-
therly by the line of Massachusetts Colony, south
by the sea, and extending westerly to the South
Sea or Pacific Ocean, " together with all the Islands
thereunto adjoining."

These boundaries, though much narrower than
had been asked for, included all the territory under
the jurisdiction of New Haven, a portion of Ehode
Island and Providence plantations, and also the
greater part of New Netherlands ; and under the
grant of " the Islands adjoining," gave Connecticut
a colorable claim to Long Island.

Immediately upon the receipt of the charter, the

NICHOLAS STILWTJLL. 230

General Court of nartford notified Governor Stuy-
vesant of it, and desired him not to "molest any of his
majesty's subjects within its limits, by any imposi-
tions, that thereby more tlian proliablo inconveni-
ences might be prevented."

Notice was also sent to Westchester, that it was
now included in Connecticut, and its inhabitants
were required to send delegates to Hartford. All
the towns on the west end of Long Island were like-
wise notified that they were no longer under the
jurisdiction of the Dutch, but were annexed to Con-
necticut, and were directed to attend to the laws of
that colony, requiring them to appear by their rep-
resentatives at the General Assembly to be held at
Hartford the next May.

No delegates having appeared from any of these
towns in obedience to tliese requirements, in July
following, the General Coiu?t of Connecticut dis-
patched Captain John Talcott, one of the Com-
missioners of the United Colonies, with sixteen or
eighteen armed men to Westchester, " to lead the
inhabitants in the choice of their officers, and to
administer the proper oaths to such as they should
elect ;" which Captain Talcott proceeded to do, by
proclaiming the people absolved from their alle-
giance to the Dutch, summarily dismissing the
magistrates whom they had chosen, and appointing
others in their places, and declaring his intention
of maintaining by force the authority of those he
had appointed.

240 LEFE A^TD TIMES OF

Stuyvesant complained of these proceedings as an
infraction of tlie treaty of 1G50, by wliich the boun-
daries between the possessions of the Dutch and the
English had been definitely fixed; and at the next
meeting, of the commissioners of the United Colo-
nies, held at Boston in Sept., 1663, he appeared in
person, and desired the commissioners to determine
whether they considered that treaty as binding upon
the parties to it or not.

Winthrop and Talcott, the commissioners from
Connecticut, pleaded that they had no instructions
upon the subject, and requested that the decision oi'
the question might be iDOstponed until their next
general meeting.

The commissioners, however, resolved that " sav-
ing their allegiance to his majesty, and his claim to
the lands in controversy, and the rights of Connecti-
cut under its charter," they held the treaty to be
binding, and would not countenance its violation;
but ad^dsed that the matter should be fully heard
at the next annual meeting, and " in the meantime,
that all things be and remain according to the true
intent and meaning of that treaty."

Captain Talcott, finding his proceedings in taking
possession of Westchester thus far countenanced,
determined to extend his mission to Long Island.
He therefore dispatched a messenger to Middle-
burgh, the inhabitants of which town had already
petitioned to be taken under the wing of Connecti-
cut, and authorised Captain John Coe, a miller of

NICHOLAS RTELWELL. 241

that place, to announce to the En«]:lisli of the
neighboring villages of Gravenzande, Ilcinestede,
Flushing, and Gemeco, that they were no longer
under the Dutch government, but under that of
Hartford.

Coe immediately sent James Christie, of jMiddle-
burgh, to the other villages on the west end of
Long Island, to proclaim the change in the govern-
ment; but his mission came to a sudden end, for
he had no sooner arrived at Gravenzande, and
commenced reading his proclamation to the peoi)le
of that toAvn, who had assembled at the sound of a
trumpet, than Nicholas Stilwell, the Sheriff, com-
manded him to desist, and upon his refusal to do
so, arrested him. The prisoner, by way of com-
mission, produced a copy of the letter written by
Capt. Talcott to John Coe, of Middlebiu'gh, and
proclaimed that by a patent under the great seal
of England, jurisdiction over the place had been
transferred to the Government at Hartford ; and
declaring that he was a herald, called upon the
English of the town "upon their allegiance" to
assist and protect him.

The inhabitants were evidently inclined to listen
to this appeal, and Nicholas therefore at once re-
moved the prisoner from the village, and confined
him in his own house upon the shore of the bay.
Complaint having been made to the magistrates of
the town, that the sheriff had acted without warrant,
they issued a summons requiring the latter to

16

242 lilPE AND TIMES OP

appear before them, the next morning at ten
o'clock, to produce his authority for making the
arrest. Anticipating an attempt at rescue, [Nicholas
immediately dispatched a messenger to l^ew Am-
sterdam with a report of his proceedings and of the
situation of affairs, and requesting assistance.

Stuyvesant not having yet retiu^ned from Boston,
.this communication was laid before the council,
who immediately sent a sergeant and eight men
with a letter to the magistrates of Gravenzande ex-
pressing suprise that the latter had given any coun-
tenance to the operations of Christie, and directing
them, if necessary, to assist the sheriff in secuiing
the prisoner, and transporting him to 'New Amster-
dam. It being now late in the day, it was deter-
mined to wait until the next morning before remov-
ing Christie to the Manhattans ; but the news of the
arrest had been sent to Middleburgh, and it was
reported that the people of that town were prepar-
ing to rescue him; Mcholas therefore directed the
sergeant and eight soldiers to leave with their
prisoner shortly after midnight ; and by nine o'clock
in the morning, he was safe in the keep of Fort
Amsterdam.

Upon hearing of the arrest of their townsman,
John Coe and Edward Jessup, of Middleburgh,
crossed over by night to Westchester, and returned
with Captain Panton, a commissioned officer under
Connecticut, and a company of men, " to beat up
arms against the Dutch." These having been joined

inonoLAa stilwell. '2i:]

by others in Mi(ldlcbui;i^li, in tli(3 luornin;^^ tlioy
proceeded to Gmvenzande, in anticipation of the
appearance there of l^icholas, willi liis i)risoner, in
obedience to the summons, which liad been issued
by the magistrates of the town, the day before.

It was not until late in the day, that it was
discovered that Christie had been removed to Fort
Amsterdam the night before, and the excitement
then became intense ; many were in favor of exe-
cuting summary vengeance upon the sheriff, and it
was finally determined to seize his person and hold
him as a hostage for the safety of Christie.

About nine o'clock in the evening, the English
force, which now numbered one hundred and fifty
men, proceeded to the bowery of Nicholas Stil-
well, upon the shore of the bay, and surrounding
the house, sent several of their leaders in to arrest
him. But Nicholas having received warning of their
approach, had left the house a few moments be-
fore their arrival, and from his place of conceal-
ment, a few rods distant, was watching their pro-
ceedings.

Seeing his dwelling .surroimded, and hearing
the threats of the enraged jieople, that they would
take him dead or alive, and finding that the force
was overwhelming, he escaped in the dark to the
residence of his son-in-law, Nathaniel Brittain,
who lived not far off upon the same bowery, and
sent the latter to see that his wife was not ill-
used. Brittain soon returned and reported that

244 lilFE AND TIMES OP

the assailants, after making themselves^ master of
the house, had searched every part of it, with
lighted candles, and opened every door, hut find-
ing the object of their search beyond their reach,
had captured two ankers of brandy, which they
found in the cellar, with which they had regaled
themselves, and then departed, without distm^bing
another article.

Mcholas immediately repaired to JS'ew Amster-
dam, and communicated the facts to the council,
who directly dispatched an express to the Director
General at Boston, acquainting him with the occur-
rences.

The next morning the i^eople of Gravenzande
hastened to clear themselves of any complicity in
this affair; and by a letter addressed to the coun-
cil, endeavored to show that Mcholas himself had
been the sole cause of the disturbance. They de-
clared that " Christie had come in a peaceable man-
ner with a message from Hartford addressed to the
people in general, and which he might well have
delivered to the government itself. But they had
no copy of the message, because the sheriff, as an un-
reasonable man, and in a violent manner, had seized
the messenger, declaring that he was a traitor ; and
when the oflBcers of the town refused to assist him,
Nicholas had threatened them also, and declared
that he had a commission to arrest all traitors, and
for that piu^)OSe was authorized to raise a force of
three hundred men. That in three days ho would

NICHOLAS s^lI,^vK^^. 2t."»

seize John Coe's iiiill, and would show the i)(m»i)Ic (.f
Middlebnrgli niider what «j;()V('niiii(ii( ihcy lived.
That the people of otlier towns who were present
and heard this, Iiad carried the news through the
country, hazarding the state and tlie Duteli power.

" As concerning our subjection and obedience to
you " (the letter continued) " in all lawful things wo
still remain ; but to Stilwell we owe no allegiance,
and shall not perform or acknowledge any, we
knowing him to be the greatest distiu-ber of the
peace that ever came among us ; and he alone caused
all the hubbub and fury in the town by his violent
and unreasonable conduct. Furthermore, we inform
you, that the large force of men which entered the
town last night, when asked wherefore they came,
answered, that it was for one of the king's subjects,
and for Stilwell, who had apprehended him, upon
the king of England's land " — some other words
being used about their so coming, whereby the peo-
I)le w ould be distm^bed, they replied, " that neither
man, woman or child should be disturbed by them ;
and when neither Christie nor Stilwell was found,
they presently retreated, and quietly and peaceably
went their ways; so if other report or relation be
given, neither believe or give credit unto it, this be-
ing not all we have to saye until the further oc-
casion is offered."

This letter was signed William Paulding, in the
name and behalf of the inhabitants of Gravenzande,
and was deUvered by Charles Morgan and William

246 LIFE a:kd times of

Wilkins, as a committee appointed for tlie purpose,
who on the same day received the following reply of
the council to be transmitted to the town.

" Trusty and well-beloved :

"We received your letter by j^our committee,
Charles Morgan and William Wilkins, and consider
it to consist in two parts, the first being a complaint
upon and against the person of Nicholas Stilwell our
Lieutenant. We have heard him and examined him
upon these, in the presence of the aforesaid commit-
tee, and compared the statements of the one with the
other, and consider the difference rather to consist
in some verbal dispute, than in any point of intrin-
sic value. Wherefore we recommend to you both,
unity and peace ; and if there might have been used
some harsh expressions, and exorbitant expostula-
tions, of which he denies a part, and a part ascribes
to the violent heat of passion, we will neither excuse
or approve of it, except what the aforesaid Stilwell
executed in detaining and apprehending the person
of James Christie. We should have seen with pleas-
ure that ye had anticipated in this the aforesaid
Stilwell, and released him from a great deal of
trouble, by which ye would have given us greater
content.

" The second part, is in relation to the report
concerning the perturbation of these mutinous strol-
lers; and as it ai)pears they have already dei^arted,
6o we shall not at this time make any fiulher reflec-

NICHOLAS ST IL WELL. 247

tion ui)Oii it; only recoiimiciKlin^ you not to itmnit
in future, similar messengers as .lames (Miristii^ to
address the community, but to secure tlieiu and
conduct them directly bitber; at least to detain and
inform us of it, witb all convenient speed; to pre-
vent by tbese means tbe trouble wbieb migbt otlier-
wise result from it; so that tbe inbabitants may
continue undisturbed in jieace and unity, so as tbey
did until now, under God's blessing. Of Mbicli not
doubting, and conliding at tbe same time, tbat you
will endeavor to i)rotect tbe person and i)roperty of
our aforesaid Lieutenant Nicholas Stilwell, so far as
it is in your power, against any insult and violence,
we will recommend you to tbe protection of tbe
Almighty; and remain, witli cordial salutation,
trusty and well beloved,

" Your affectionate friends,

" The Council of New NETHERLANDa

" Done at Fort Amsterdam,

" 27th September, 1GG3."

The council at the same time transmitted a cir-
cular letter to the other villages on the west end of
Long Island, warning them against tbe agents of
Connecticut, and requesting tbat all such i)ersous
be arrested and sent to New Amsterdam.

Palfrey's Now Englaml. — Gravosond Records.
Now Amsterdam Records. — HoUaud DoeumeutB.

CHAPTEE XXIV.

166a.

PETITIOX OF GEMECO, MTDnLEBURGH, AST) HEMESTEDE TO BE TAKEN
UNDER PKOTECTIOX OF CONNECTICUT — FOKWARDED TO HAET-
FORD — STUT^'ESANT SENTDS COMMISSIONERS TO OPPOSE IT —
AGREEMENT FOR MUTUAX FORBEARANCE OF JURISDICTION OVER
LONG ISLAND — JOHX COE AND ANTHONT WATERS RAISE FORCE
AXD PROCLAIM THE KING — NICHOLAS STILWELL CHARGED TO
OPPOSE THEM, BUT HIS FORCE INSUFFICIENT — THEY CHAXGE
NAMES OF THE TOWTsS — CAPT. JOHN SCOTT, COMJnSSIONER,
APPOrN"TED BY CONNTICnCUT TO SETTLE THEIR TROL'BLES —
C05IES OVER, BUT IGNORES HIS COMMISSIOX AXD FORMS "COM-
BINATION" OF EXGLISH TO"SVN^S — ^IS ELECTED PRESIDENT — IS
ARRESTED AXD SENT TO HARTFOPJ) JAIL — GOVERNOR WINTHROP
COMES OVER AND INDUCES IXHABITAXTS TO SUBMIT TO COX-
XECTICLT — TAKES POSSESSION OF LONG ISLAND — ^ENT> OF DUTCH
POWER OX LOXG ISLAXD.

Captain Pauton having been unsuccessful in his
attempts to rescue Cliristie, or to capture Mcliolas
Stilwell, returned to "Westchester with his company ;
but his mission was not without its effect, for it had
shown the disaffected English of Long Island, that
they could now count uijon material assistance
and protection, in any open attempt they might
make to throw off their allegiance to the Dutch;
and a few days afterward a number of the inhabit-
ants of Geineco, Middleburgh, and Hemestede,
joined in a petition to the General Court which was
to assemble at Hartford on the 9th of October,
16G3, complaining of their " bondage to the Dutch,

LIFE AND TITNIES OF NTCnOLAS STILWELL. '_> \\)

which a wofiil exporieiice maketh niaiiifcst, for a
countryman of ours, for carrying a message to a
neighboring plantation from some of yourselves, has
been imprisoned for several weeks, and how long it
will continue, we know not" and praying that
government to " cast the skirt of its protection over
them."

This communication was forwarded to Hartford
by the hands of Sergeant Hubbard of Gravenzande,
who laid it before the court, and at the same time
urged that body to take steps to reduce the adjoin-
ing Dutch towns.

Upon the report of these proceedings reaching
Stuyvesant at Boston, he returned in haste to New
Amsterdam, and dispatched Secretary Van Euj-ven,
Burgomaster Yan Cortland, and Mr. John Laurens,
as Commissioners, to Hartford, to endeavor to coun-
teract the effect of this petition, and come to some
understanding with Connecticut upon the subject of
boimdaries between the two colonies, imder the new
condition of things.

The General Court appointed a committee to con-
ferwith the Commissioners of New Netherland, butthe
most favorable proposition that the latter were able
to obtain, was, that Westchester and the country as
far as Stamford, should be surrendered absolutely to
Connecticut, and that the towns on the west end of
Long Island should be left to themselves ; Connecti-
cut agreeing to forbear exercising any authority over
them, if the Dutch would likewise abstain from any

250 liLPE Al^TD TIMES OF

attempt to coerce them, until the question of jurisdic-
tion should be settled between the mother countries ;
the General Court, however, declaring that in case
the Dutch should attempt to molest any of the
Enghsh settlers, it would not " see his Majesty's
natural-born subjects interrupted or injured, but
would use such just and lawful means as God in his
wisdom might offer for their protection, until their
sovereign lord the king should declare his pleasure
concerning their future settlements."

While these negotiations were being carried on at
Hartford, John Ooe, the miller of ]\Iiddleburgh, with
Anthony Waters, having raised a force of nearly
a hundred men, visited the neighboring villages,
convoked the inhabitants and proclaimed that they
were now under the government of England, and
that the peox)le should pay no more taxes or cus-
toms to the Dutch; at the same time they displaced
the Magistrates and appointed others in their stead ;
and also undertook to change the names of several
of the settlements, anglicising " Gravenzande " to
Gravesend, "Hemestede," to Hempsted, and "Gem-
eco," a name derived from that of a beaver pond
in the vicinity, was changed to "Crafford," but soon
afterwards, to its present name, "Jamaica."

A few of the English of Gravesend still remained
fii'm in their allegiance to their adopted country, and
with these, Mcholas had been charged to preserve
order on Long Island ; but with the small force at
his command, he could offer no effectual resistance to

NICnOLAS STILWELL. 251

the operations of Coe and Waters, hul reported tlicir
proceedings to Stuyvesant, who ininiedialely sent a
few soldiers to assist in ])rotecting the i)ersons and
property of the settlers, while he wrote to the
authorities at Hartford, declaring his willingness,
for the purpose of putting an end to tliese disorders,
to accept, provisionally, the proposition made to his
commissioners, for a surrender of Westchester to
Connecticut, and a mutual forbearance of jurisdic-
tion over Long Island.

The English villages on the west end of Long
Island were thus left altogether to themselves ; but
while many of the inhabitants of Gravesend were
in favor of annexation to Connecticut, others,
among whom were nearly all the original settlers
who had found refuge there from the religious
intolerance of IN'ew England, strenuously opposed it;
and rather than submit to a Puritan government,
these latter preferred to abandon their homes and
again seek a new location where they could enjoy
the liberty of conscience they so highly prized;
and a number of them therefore set out at once to
select a site for a new settlement.

Those of the English who had favored annexa-
tion, had expected, of course, to be received by Con-
necticut with open arms ; but they now found that
the government at Hartford, which " had sounded a
trumpet in their ears," hesitated to accept jurisdic-
tion over them, and gave them only " if-so-be's and
doubtings," and left them to defend themselves as

252 LIFE AKD TIMES OF

best tliey could, against the savages, or the irrespon-
sible forces now prowling about the island, under
the pretence of sustaining the authority of England.

In this dilemma Oapt. John Scott, of Ashford, Oon-
uecticut, was invited by some of the English inhab-
itants to come over and settle their troubles.

This adventurer, was one of those, who, with
George Baxter and other disaffected English of
Long Island, had made himself conspicuous in the
trouble of 1654, and had been arrested by Stuyves-
ant. He had subsequently gone to England, and
upon the restoration of Charles the Second, by
" bribing a potent gentleman, with a present of curi-
osities of the value of £60," had reached the ear of
those in power; and pretending that he had pur-
chased from the Indians, nearly one-third of all the
land on Long Island, had succeeded in obtaining a
royal letter, recommending his interests to the pro-
tection of the Governors of Kew England.

Eetuming with this, Scott had offered his services
to Connecticut, to "free those of Long Island,
enslaved by the Dutch, their cruel and rapacious
masters," which offer had been accepted, and a
commission issued to him for this purpose, under
the authority of which, he had been about to visit
Long Island, when he received this invitation ; but
seeing an opportunity of so advancing his private
interests, he concluded to ignore his commission;
and accepting the invitation as addressed to him-
self personally, proceeded to Long Island, where he
arrived about the first of January, 1664.

NTOHOLAR RTTLWELL. 253

Scott immediately announced that Kiiiir (liarlcs
the Second had granted Loni;- Ishmd nnd all New
Netherlands to his brothor 1]m> Duke of York, who
would soon send out to make known his intentions
towards them; and, in the nieantinio, lie rcconmicnd-
ed them to unite for their mutual protection, and
place themselves under his leadership, which would
insure them favorable consideration from the royal
commissioners, who would soon arrive. This was
assented to, and Gravesend, Ilenipstead, Flushin^^,
Middleburgh, Jamaica, and Oyster Bay thereupon
formed a "combination," with Scott as their Tresi-
dent, to govern themselves as an independent col-
ony, until his Eoyal Highness the Duke of York,
or his majesty, should establish i\ government
among them.

Scott had no sooner been installed in his Presi-
dency, than he raised a force of a hundred and
seventy, horse and foot, and proceeded to reduce
the neighboring Dutch villages which had not
joined the combination. He visited Brcuklen,
Midwout, Amersfort, Boswyck, and New Utrecht,
at each of which places he proclaimed the king,
and endeavored to withdraw the inhabitants from
their allegiance; but although he threatened to
pursue them with fire and sword, and to "run
through, those who say they are not seated on tln^
king's land," he did not succeed in shaking their
fidelity ; and the only recognition he could obtain
for his royal master, was from those who had ac-

254 LITE AI^D TIMES OF

comijanied him, who, upon their arrival at New
Utrecht, took possession of the block house there,
and raising the English flag over it, fired a royal
salute in commemoration of the event.

In the course of these proceedings many of the
Dutch settlers having been assaulted, beaten, and
mis-used, and some of them driven from their houses,
and thek jjroperty destroyed, a delegation from
these towns was dispatched to the Director General
to complain of the outrages and ask protection.
Stuyvesant, by his arrangement with the authorities
at Hartford, had tied his hands from any active in-
terference in then' behalf, but he immediately sent
several gentlemen to Captain Scott to endeavor to
make some arrangement with him, which would put
an end to these disorders; and after considerable ne-
gotiation, an agreement was effected through these
parties, which was subsequently ratified by Stuy-
vesant in person, by which the English towns on
Long Island were to remain, unmolested, under the
King of England, for twelve months, and until his
majesty and the States General should settle the
whole difference about the island and the places
adjacent ; and the Dutch towns were to remain,
during the same time, subject to the States General,
"his majesty's royalties excepted."

The authorities at Hartford, learning that Scott
was acting independently of the commission which
had been granted to him by that government, sent
a company of soldiers to arrest him ; when he pro-

NICHOLAS STII.WELL. 'J.")."»

duced a commission, iturporlin;; lo he under Ihn
hand and seal of the Uiii<;-, aiitlioii/in-; liim lo
govern Long Island. The soldiers, however, dis-
regarded this, as well as his thn^ats of royal
vengeance, seized his person, and lodged him in
Hartford jail.

Governor AVinthroj) soon afterwards came over
to Long Island, in person, and announced that
Connecticut now claimed all Long Island as one
of the "adjacent islands" referred to in its i)atenl ;
and promising the inhabitants full protection, in-
vited them to submit to that colony. As soon as
Stuyvesant learned of the arrival of Governor Win-
throp he hastened to meet him, and appealing to
their ancient friendshii), endeavored to induce him
to respect the Dutch title to these lauds, which
they had settled and so long occupied, and their
right to which, had been distinctly recognized by
the treaty of Hartford in 1050. But Winthrop,
now throwing off all api)earance of friendshij),
declared that the title of Connecticut to the island
was unquestionable, and that that colony was pre-
pared to maintain its claims by force of arms.

In the demoralized condition of theaifairs of New
Netherlands, with the majority of the settlers of
Long Island in favor of annexation to Connecticut,
and many of them actually in arms, ready to sustain
the claims of that colony, Stuyvesant could only pro-
test; and with a heavy heart, returned with his ad-
herents to New Amsterdam, leaving Governor Win-

256 LIFE AND TEVIES OF NICHOLAS STILWELL.

throp to take formal possession in the name of Con-
necticut ; wliicli he at once proceeded to do, removing
the officers of the towns and installing others in their
stead, after receiving from them an oath of allegi-
ance ; and the Dutch power on Long Island was at
an end.

The authorities at Hartford, having also purchased
from the Indians all the land between Westchester
and Spuyten Duyvil Creek, (which the savages had
sold to the Dutch fifteen years before,) also "an-
nexed" that, to Connecticut, leaving to the Dutch
only Manhattan Island, Staten Island and New
Jersey.

Hartford Records.

Palfrey's N. E.

Hazard's Hiet. Col. <

OHAPTEK XXV.

1664.

NICHOLAS STII-WELL AND OTHERS REFUSING TO LIVE UNDER A PTTRI-
TAN GOVKUNMKNT— REMOVE TO 8TATEN ISLAND— bflLD TOWN OB-
DOVER AND FORTIFY IT— RUMORS OF ENGLISH KXI'EDITION
AGAINST NEW NETHERLANDS— NICHOLAS AND UTllEK AllLE-BoDIED
MEN FROM DOVER ORDERED TO NEW AMSTERDAM TO ASSIST IX
DEFENCE OF CITY— FLEET ^VRRIVE A:SD CAPTURE DOVER— CAPITU-
LATION AND SURRENDER OF NEW AJISTERDAM— ITS NAME CHANG-
ED TO NEW YORK— ALL NEW NETHERLANDS SUBMITS TO THK
DUTCH— LONG ISLAND RESTORED TO NEW YORK— NICHOLAS DIES
AT DOVER, ON STATEN ISL.VND, DECEMBER 28, 1671.

Nicliolas Stilwell had now nearly readied the al-
lotted term of human life, and by many years of
honest, earnest toil, had earned a right to that re-
pose in his old age, Avhich should reward a well-
spent life ; but the same clouds which had darkened
his earlier days, now again threatened to overshadow
the evening of his career. AYhile yet in the full
vigor of manhood, he had found in New Nether-
lands, a refuge from the intolerance of New Eng-
land, and now in his old age, without any act of his
own, found himself again under a Puritan govern-
ment, to escape from which, he had, twenty-fivo
years before, fled into the. wilderness. He was not,
now, more inclined to submit to that jurisdiction,
than he had been then, and again he set out to find
a new home, where in jieace and quiet, he might pass
the declining years of his eventful life..

17

258 LITE AXD TIMES OF

In anticipation of the event which had now
transpired, the absorption by Connecticut of Long
Island, upon the first breaMng out of the troubles
with that colony, Mcholas, with a number of other
English of Gravesend and its vicinity, who had de-
termined not to live under a Puritan government,
had selected as the site of a new settlement, the
tract of land on the south-eastern shore of Staten
Island, below the IsTarrows, upon which John, the
brother of iN'icholas, had originally located, on his
first arrival in New ITetherlands twenty-five years
before, and to which he had given the name ol
Dover.

A number of French Huguenots from Eochelle,
who had arrived in New Netherlands a few months
before, had taken up lands in the neighborhood, and
for protection against any sudden attack of the
savages, had erected a small block house upon the
spot. Thither Mcholas now removed with his four
younger sons, Thomas, William, Daniel and Jere-
miah, and his son-in-law Nathaniel Brittain. Sev-
eral other English famihes from the west end of
Long Island having joined them, for their mutual
protection they laid out a fortified village, upon a
plan similar to that of Gravesend, with the block
house in the centre, around which they erected
their dwellings, and then enclosed the whole village
with a line of palisades ; and the town of Dover
became at once an important settlement.

For the defence of the block house, Cornelius

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 2r»0

Steinwyck, a iiicrcliaTit ofXow Auistcnlaiii, liad lent
them a small cannon, carrying a on(^ pound ])all,
and the Director and C<mncil now fnrnlslicd them
a small stone gun, and also detailed for llie pro-
tection of the settlement, a garrison of six suimt-
annuated soldiers, not active enough to follow the
savages, but who could defend the village, while the
able-bodied men of the place were away.

It was hoped that the rapacity of Connecticut
had been satisfied by the absorption of Long Island,
and the acquisitions which it liad made on the main
laud, by " i)urchase" from the Indians, and that the
Dutch would be permitted to enjoj-, in peace, the
narrow territories which now remained to them.
Little credence had been given to the declaration
of Capt. Scott, that the King had granted all Xew
Netherlands to his brother the Duke of York, and
although rumors were rife of the coming of hostile
fleets, it was not believed, that in a time of pro-
found peace between the mother countries, any
open attempt would be made on the part of
England, to seize the possessions of a friendly
power, to whose hospitality the king and his adher-
ents had been so greatly iudebted during their recent
exile; but the revenues which it was represented,
might be derived from the province, had excited the
cupidity of the Duke of York, and some libels,
which had been circulated against him in Ilolland,
had excited his anger against the Dutch; and hav-
ing bought up, for a trifling sum, the claims of the

260 LIFE A]SrD TIMES OF

Earl of Stirling under the New Plj^moutli patent,
lie induced the king, his brother, in March, 1664, to
seal a patent, granting him all the lands between
the Connecticut Eiver and Delaware Bay, with the
islands adjacent, thus including not only all ISTew
Netherlands, but also the territory which had been
granted to Connecticut two years before.

The Duke of York, as Lord High Admiral of
England, had command of the fleet, and determined
to lose no time in taking possession of his new
acquisition, andtherefore immediately set about pre-
paring a naval expedition for the purpose. To con-
ceal its object, it was given out that it was intended
only to put the internal affairs of New England
upon a more satisfactory footing ; and to remove
any suspicion as to its real destination, a com-
mission was prepared and issued to Col. Eichard
Nicolls, Sir Eobert Carre, George Cartwright, Esq.,
and Samuel Maverick, Esq., reciting that loyal
addresses had been received by the king from his
several colonies in New England, complaining that
differences had arisen between them, respecting
their several boundaries, out of which, unbrotherly
contentions had arisen; and that complaints had
also reached him, " that all his good subjects
residing there and being planters within the several
colonies, did not enjoy the liberties and privileges
granted to them by their several charters, upon
confidence and assurance of which, they had trans-
ported themselves and their estates unto those

NICHOLAS STILWELL. '-'H

parts; and to the end Ihal li(Mni«^lit be hctlrr in-
formed of tlio state and fondition of his ^ood .sub-
jects there, so that he might the Ix'lh r know how lo
contribute to the further improvement of Iheir
happiness and prosperity," such commissioners were
directed to visit the " several colonies of New
England, that is to say, Massachusetts, Conned icut,
New Plymouth, Khode Island and Providence
plantations, and all the other plantations, within that
tract of land, known under the appellation of New
England, and to hear and determine all com])laints
and i)roceed in all things for the settling the peace
and security of the said colonies, according to their
good and sound discretion, and from time to time to
certify to the privy council their acts and proceed-
ings."

The Directors of the West India Company in Am-
sterdam, still suspecting that the expedition was
directed against their possessions in America, com-
.municated their apprehensions to the States General
of Holland, and requested that three ships of war
should be at once dispatched for the protection of
New Netherlands ; but the Dutch ambassador at Lon-
don was assiu:ed that England had no hostile inten-
tions, and the terms of the commission which had
been issued to Colonel Nicolls and others, having
been communicated to him, he reported to the
States General, that the King intended to settle the
affairs of the New England colonies, in a manner
which would be greatly beneficial to the interests of

262 LIFE A^B TIMES OF

the West India Company ; and that the fears of the
latter, as to the safety of its possessions in New
Netherlands, were entirely groundless ; and the
States General therefore refused to fiimish the
means requested for their protection. *

Upon this avowedly peaceful errand, four ships of
the royal navy, the Guinea, of thirty-six guns ; the
Elias, of thirty ; the Martin, of sixteen ; and the
William and Nicholas, of ten, bearing the royal
commissioners, and a force of four hundred and fifty
regular soldiers and their officers, were dispatched
from Portsmouth in May, 1664, with orders to
rendezvous at Gardiner's Island, off the east end
of Long Island.

The refugees at Dover, on Staten Island, had fin-
ished their wooden walls, which were to protect
them against the savages, and had begun to con-
gratulate themselves upon their having at last
found a haven of rest, when, in the early part of
July, Nicholas Stilwell received a peremptory sum-
mons, requiring him to report at once to Stuyvesant
at New Amsterdam. Captain Thomas Willetts had
received intelligence from Boston, which he had
communicated to the authorities of New Netherlands,
that an English naval expedition for the reduction
of the Dutch possessions in America, had sailed
from Portsmouth six weeks before, and that its arri-
val was looked for daily.

The Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amster-

*C0CNT D'ESTKADES, 11, 459, 60.

NICHOLAS RTILWELL. 2<»3

(lam were immediately summoned to meet and
assist the Council with tlieir advice; and ujum con-
sultation, it was determined to put the city in a
state of defence, and provision it, ko that it could
hold oik; until the mother country could come to its
aid. Agents were accordingly sent oif in haste to
New Haven, to purchase provisions; — a re(pusition
was made on Kew Amstel for a supply of pow-
der— and ujion Kensselaerwick, for a loan of five or
six thousand guilders in money, as an inducement
to grant which, the Director ijromised to " repay it
satisfactorily, in good negroes or other goods ;" — sev-
eral ships which were in port, about to sail for Cura-
goa with supplies, v/ere detained ; — and as it was
expected that the enemy would approach through
Long Island Sound, spies were sent to Westchester
and Milford to watch for them.

But at this moment, a dispatch was received by
Stuyvesant, from the Directors of the West India
Company in Amsterdam, notifying him that no
danger was to be api^rehended from the English ex-
pedition, the objects of which had been communi-
cated to the home government, and were deemed
beneficial to the interests of the company ; and
" neither Director, nor Council, nor any individual,
now anticipating any difficulty," all preparations for
defence were abandoned ; the vessels with supplies
for Curagoa were permitted to sail, and Nicholas
returned to his new home on Staten Island, under
the pleasing delusion that the English and Dutch

264 LIFE AND TIMES OF

were henceforth to dwell together in the land as
brothers, in harmony and peace.

Stuyvesant, by the advice of his council, deter-
mined to take advantage of this peaceful condition
of affairs, to make a visit to Fort Orange, to settle
some difficulties that had lately arisen there, with
the Indians in that vicinity. But the authorities
and people of New Netherlands, were not permitted
long to enjoy these pleasurable anticipations of
peace, for a few days afterward came news from
Boston, that two vessels of the English fleet had
just arrived there, and that the commissioners had
made requisitions by Eoyal authority, upon the
governments of New England for troops, to assist
in an expedition to reduce the remaining posses-
sions of the Dutch in America, and that the force so
raised was to assemble immediately on the west end
of Long Island, whither the fleet was to proceed
with the first fair wind.

An express was immediately dispatched to Stuy-
vesant at Fort Orange to acquaint him of the dan-
ger ; and hurrying back, he endeavored with des-
perate energy to retrieve his lost time, and put the
city in a posture of defense. Every able-bodied
man in the province^ without exception, was at once
ordered into service, and every third man was
required to repair immediately to New Amsterdam,
with spade, shovel, or wheel-barrow, to assist in
the work upon the fortifications.

NICHOLAS STILTVELL. '_'(;,-)

But it was too hito ; for tbo next day after Stiiy-
vesant's return, the Guinea, the flag sliip of the fleet,
arrived and came to anchor in Gravesend Bay, where
she was soon joined by tlio other vessels of the fleet,
effectually blockading the mouth of the rlvor.

All the able-bodied men having been withdrawn
from Staten Island to assist in the defence of New
Amsterdam, the town of Dover, opposite which the
vessels had anchored, was left with only the six su-
perannuated soldiers to defend it; and a detach-
ment of fifty men having landed from the fleet, took
possession of the town without resistance, and raised
the English flag over its block house. The remain-
der of the troops were disembarked on the opposite
shore, in the vicinity of Gravesend ; and a day or
two afterward, two of the ships moved up in front of
the city, so as to cut off all communications between
Long Island, Bergen, Achter, Cul and the Manhat-
tans. The land forces contributed by Connecticut,
as well as some volunteers from the English town
on Long Island, under the command of Captain
John Younge, took up a i)osition near the ferry
landing at Breuklen.

Upon the landing of the troops on Long Island, a
proclamation had been issued by Col. Nicolls, and
scattered abroad through the neighboring villages,
promising all who submitted quietly to the king, the
safe and undisturbed possession of their property
and all the privileges of English subjects, and threat-
ening those who resisted, with all the miseries of war

26G LIFE AND TIMES OF

A copy of this proclamation had been communicated
to Stuyvesant with the summons to surrender ; but
he, having determined to defend the city to the last,
had suppressed it, and it had not been promulgated
in New Amsterdam. It was well known there, how-
ever, that there were but six hundred pounds of ser-
viceable powder in the city, and provisions for only
a few days ; aud as all supi)lies had been cut off by
the blockade, that any successful defence was hope-
less ; but the burghers were induced to coutinue
work upon the fortifications, by the assurance of
Stuyvesant, that it was only by making a good show
of defence, that favorable terms and conditions
could be obtained upon surrender; but when the
ships which had taken position before the city, were
about to open fire upon it, the inhabitants not dis-
posed to risk the destruction of their property by a
bombardment, refused to work any longer on the
defences of the city, and insisted upon a surrender.
At this jimcture Governor Winthrop visited the
city under a flag of truce, bearing a letter from Col.
Nicolls, and endeavored to induce Stuyvesant to
abandon his hopeless defence; but the latter was
obdiu?ate, and declared that he would rather be car-
ried out dead than surrender the fort. The citizens,
however, having learned the liberal terms which had
been offered, absolutely refused to take part in the
defence, and the regular soldiers having also become
demoralized by the action of the citizens, Stuyvesant
had no alternative but to submit ; but not, however

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 267

until he had obtahied from Col. NicoUs a, proinisii
that the city should be "delivered back to the
Dutch, iu case the diflerence of the limits of the
province should be agreed upon, betwixt his Maj-
esty of Ena^land and the High and Mighty States
General of Holland."

Oouimissioners were thereupon appointed to ar-
range the terms of surrender, who met at the Gover-
nor's Bowerie on the 6th of Sept., 1GG4, at eight o'clock
in the morning, and articles of capitulation having
been agreed upon, and ratiiied by Colonel ISTicolls,
and the Director and Council of iSTew Ketherlands,
on Monday morning, the 8th of September, 1GG4, the
Dutch forces, with Stuyvesant at their head, marched
out of the fort, with all the honors of war, and
proceeding along the Beaver graft, embarked on
board a vessel which was in waiting to transport
them to Holland.

A corporal's guard of the English then took posses-
sion of the fort, and hoisted the British flag over it ;
and the English Commissioners having entered with
their troops and taken possession of the city,
Stuyvesant retired to his Bowery, and the Burgo-
masters proclaimed Col. Nicolls Deputy Governor
for the Duke of York, in compliment to whom
Col. Nicolls directed that the city should be hence-
forth known as " New York."

By the articles of capitulation all private rights
were fully respected and full liberty of conscienct^ in
divine worship and church discipline guaranteed to

268 LIFE AXD TIMES OF

all ; and the refugees from the religious intolerance
of protestant New England, and the Huguenot
refugees from catholic France who had made their
homes at Dover, on Staten Island, now returned
thither, content to rest under the protecting folds
of the English flag which now floated over the block
house of the town. Such of them as had sworn
allegiance to the Dutch government were not re-
quired to renounce it, but were simply called upon
to take an oath to be true subjects of the king
of Great Britain, and to obey all commands of his
Majesty, the Duke of York, his governor or ofiicers,
so long as they lived in his majesty's territories.

The authority of the Duke of York was in a short
time quietly established over the rest of IS'ew [Nether-
lands ; the name of which was now changed ; that part
of it lying east of Hudson Eiver, being called New
York, and that lying west of it, and between the
Hudson and Delaware Eivers, was named Albania.
But his patent comprehended also Long Island and
the greater part of Connecticut, including all the
territory which the latter had lately " acquired"
from its neighbors.

New Haven had never acquiesced in its absorp-
tion by Connecticut, insisting that the charter of
the latter had been surreptitiously obtained ; but it
was in no condition to oppose the claims of the
Duke of York ; and if included under his govern-
ment, ungodly men, not members of its church,
might have an equal voice with the saints, in

NICHOLAS STILWELL. 2()0

the administration of its allairs. Willi this ter-
rible alternative before it, New ILivcn (Ictcrinimd
to submit to Conuecticiit, Mhich i-oloiiy, ii was
thought, would be able, through the iiilluenee of
Governor Winthrop, to maintain its autonomy, at
least within the former recognized bounds of the
two colonies.

Delegates were tliereupon appointed by Connec-
ticut, to meet the royal commissioners, " and issue
the bouuds between the Duke's patent aud ours,"
The meeting was held at New York, and after nnich
discussion, the boundaries between the two colo-
nies were established, by which all Long Island aud
the territory on the maiu land lately gained by
Connecticut from New Netherlands, were restored to
New York. Westchester, Long Island, and Staten
Island, were erected into a shire, and called " York-
shire," which was divided into three districts or rid-
ings ; the east riding, comprising that portion of
Long Island now known as Suffolk county ; the
west, including Kings county and Staten Island,
with New Town in Queens county ; the rest of
Queens county on Long Island with Westchester
formed the north riding.

A court of sessions was established in each riding
to be held by justices of the peace, nominated by the
governor and council. The court of assizes which,
under the Dutch, had consisted only of the governor
and council, Avas continued as the supreme tiihuiial
of the province, to meet once a year at New York,

270 LIFE AND TIMES OF

havmg full lef^islative and judicial powers, but the
justices from the ridings were now added to the
bench.

One of the first subjects to engage the attention
of the new government was the establishment of
good relations with the savages, and a treaty was
soon entered into with the Iroquois, the river tribes,
and those below the Manhattans, by which tranquil-
ity was assured, so far as it could be done by treaty
with the Indians.

The jmvileges and immunities granted to the
inhabitants of that portion of the province which
had surrendered under articles of cai3itulation, were
greater than those enjoyed in any of the other
colonies, and Nicholas now felt that he had at last
found the haven, in search of which he had spent so
large a portion of his life ; and all apprehension of
danger from the savages having been removed, he
determined to gather his family around him u])on
Staten Island, and beating his sword into a plough-
share, and his spear into a pruning-hook, pass the
remaining years of his life in the peaceful occupa-
tions of husbandry.

With this view, on the 24th day of the 8th month,
1GG4, Nicholas sold to Francis Brown of " Gravesend
ui)pon Long Island in Americha," his Bowery upon
the westerniost end of Long Island, to enjoy as his
own proi)erty without molestation, " always provid-
ed such reasonable, just, and full satisfaction be
made by him, the said Francis Brown, unto my son-

NICHOLAS STILWELL. -71

in-law Nathaniel Brittain, at or before tb(5 'J">ili day
of the first month, called March, next cnsuin;;, fur
the houses and housings, which Iho said Natlianirl
Brittain built upon the said land, and that, acconling
to the estimate and judgments of two iiidillcrcnt
mcQ chosen by them to appraise and value the
same."

His two eldest sons, Richard and Nicholas, Jr.,
were among the first justices appointed for the West
riding of Yorkshire; Eichard taking up his residence
at Dover, on Staten Island, and Nicholas, Jr., re-
maining at Gravesend, of which town he had been
a magistrate under the Dutch. William, Thomas,
Daniel, and Jeremiah, the four younger sons of
Nicholas, resided with him at Dover, and his two
sons-in-law, Nathaniel Brittain, who had married his
daughter Anne ; and Samuel Holmes, the husband
of his daughter, Abigail, having also taken up land
in the vicinity, on Staten Island, Nicholas found
himself in his old age, surrounded by his children,
and his children's children, who had grown up
around him ; and in this patriarchal state, his years
glided on in i)eace and contentment, until Decem-
ber 28, 1G71, when he quietly went to his rest.

GENEALOGICAL niSTORY.

FIRST GENERATION.

nriCIIOLAS STILWELl,, tho first of the name, find
common ancestor of tho laraily, born in England. Married, 1st,
Abigail, daughter of Robert IIopton, of Wytham, Somersot-
Bhire, by whom ho had two sons :
A' Ricn-vra), born 1G.34 ;
B> Nicholas, born 1636 ;

In 1638, in company with las two brothers, Joiiv and Jasper,
he emigrated to America, bringing with him his two sous, and
settled on Manliattan Island, where he married, 2d, Ann Van
Dyke, a Hollander, by wliom he had six children :

C. WiLLi.Mii, baptized May II. 1648;
D* TnoJiAs, baptized July 0, 1051 ;
•£• Daniel, baptized November 13, 1653;
F« Jeremiah, baptized Jnnnary 13, 1661 ;
C* Anne, born in 1643;
H> Abigail, born iu 1645.

Nicholas died at Dover, on Stateu Island, Dec. 28tli, 1671,
Ilis will, dated Dec. 22d, 1671, is recorded in the Surrogatt^'s
office, New York, Liber 1, of Wills, p. 168.

Ilis widow survived him; and from the Town liecoitls of
Gravescnd it appears that on tho 21st of June, 167-^. Ann Stilwcll
of Dover, upon Stnton Island, bought from John Jauscn his
house and grounds, at Gravosend ; and that on the 2t)th of De-

274 GEIfEALOGICAIi HISTOKY. '}

cember, 1672, she was there married to William Wilkina, one of
the first settlers, and for many years a magistrate of the town.
The record of the marriage is as follows :

"1672, Dec 29. William Wilkins and Ann Stilwell, widow,
both of Gravesend, were pronounced man and wife, by Capt.
James Hnbbard, Justice."

The record of the baptism of the children of Nicholas is
preserved in tli9 Dutch Church, New York.

For an account of the children of John Stilavell and Jasper
Stilwell, the two brothers of Nicholas — see ante, pages 5St-38. t> ^

SECOND GENERATION.

A. RICHARD STII.^IFEI.L„ called Captain Richard
^the eldest son of Nicholas, the first of the uame,) bom in Hol-
land in 1634, was brought to America by his father in 1638. lu
1649 his father puixhased for him a plantation at Gravesend,
Long Island, where he settled and married, 1st, in May, 1655,
Mart, daughter of Obauiah HoLirEs,'«of Salera ; 2d, his cou-
sin Feeelove (who subsequently assumed the name of Mercy),
daughter of John Cooke, the regicide.

In 1664 he was appointed, under the Duke of York, one of
the Justices of the West Riding of Yorkshire, comprising Stat-
eu Island and the western portion of Long Island. In 1630 he
removed to Stateu Island, where he took up 160 acres of land,
upon wliich his uncle and father-in-law, John Cooke, had
originally located. He died at Dover, on Staten Island, iu
1688-9, leaving six children :

1. John, bo.n May 18, 1660;

2. Nicholas, born January 11, 1664j
~~^. Thomas, boru December 4, 1666 ; " =^^

4. Richard, born June 25, 1671 ;

5. Jeremiah, bom October 26, J678 ;

6. Mary, born July 13, 1668.

GENEAIiOdK AL MlsroKY. 'It ft

RLcIiiiid iliud iutosUiLe, uiitl lii.s lauds descended to his elder
son, John, who, howovor, laado urovisiou for tbo yoiiufjor cliil-
drcn. (Soo duod, Ilichiaoud Comity Clork'a ofllco, Lil). IJ, i»ugo
575.) Tlio iiivoutory of hi.s ustatu was tiled Feb. 12th, IGdd-U.

B. IVICIIOLAS STILWELL, (socond son of Nicholas
Stilwell, tho first of the name), born in Holland in KJOiI, wus
brought to America by his father in IG3-3. In KJH ho settled at
Gravescud, Long Island, where he married, Ist, Nov. Gth, 1G71,
Cathakine Morgan, widow of his cousin, Charles Morgan ; xld,
Elizabeth Corwin.

In lGG-1 he was appointed one of tho Justices of the West
Riding of Yorkshire, under tho Duke of York. In 1064 he was
commissionodoneof the Justices of the Qnoruni, imderJaniesII.,
and in 1G89 received a similar commission under William and
Mary. (Commissions recorded in Kings County Clerk's oHice,
Lib. 1 of Deeds, pp. 48-123.) In 1G91 was a member of the lirst
Colonial Assembly, as a Delegate from Kings County.

He died at Gravesend, in 1715, leaving seven children :

1. NicuoLAS, boru April 25, 1G73 ;

2. Richard, born May 11, 1G77;

3. Elias, born December 13, 1G85 ;

4. Thomas, boru May IG, 1G88 ;

5. Reuecca, born in 1G75; married Aukaham Emmons,

of Gravesend ;

6. Anne Catharine, born May 15th, 1G81 ; married

Bauemt CniilSTOiMlEU, of Stateii Island ;

7. Mary, bom in 1G83; married IIesduick Juhnsun, t>f

Brooklyn.

His will, dated Jan. I9th, 1715, is recorded in Surrogate's
office, New York, Liber 8 of Wills, p. 334, March 5, 1715.

Letters testamentary wero granted to bis two sous, Nicholas
and Richard.

276 GENEALOGICAL HISTOKY.

C. l^VII^IilAM STIIiTTEIiL, (third son of Nicholas, first
of the name), born at Giavesend in 1648, removed to Staten Is-
land with his father in 1664. In 1677 a patent was granted to him
for 78 acres of land on Staten Island, half of whiclj he exchang-
ed, in 1680, with Obadiah Holmes, for the x)lantation of the lat-
ter, formerly occujiied by John Cooke. About 1691 he removed
to Cape May Town, Lower Townshij), with the company from
Gravesend, L. I., who established the first Bajitist Church at
that place. (Barber's Hist. Col. N. J., p. 126.)

He died about 1720, leaving six children :.

1. John, born 1681 j

2. Nicholas ;

3. Eebecca;

4. William, born May 11th, 1678 j

5. Daniel 5

6. Mart, who married Dr. Thos. Walton, of New York,

Feb. 20, 1698-9.

D. THOMAS STII^WEIili, (4th son of Nicholas Stib
well, the first of the name) , born at Gravesend, aboutJuly, 1651 ;
on the 8th of June, 1670, married M.AKTsK'yfn^mfs, of Staten
Island. Sept. 29, 1677, he took up 63 acres of land on the east
shore of Staten Island, (Lib. 1 of Patents, p. 143), and on the 4th
of Aiiril, 1685, 145 acres more ; in the j)atents for which, he is
described as of '' Old Town." (Liber 2, p. 63.)

In 1686 he was High Sheriff of Richmond County. In 1690
was commissioned one of the Justices of the Quorum. (See
Lib. B. of Deeds, p. 266, Richmond County.)

He died in 1705, haviug had chiklien as follows :

1. Thomas, born in 1071, died in 1703, during bis father's
life -time J

OEXEALOCIOAL IIISTOKY. 277

2. FUANCKS, boiii 111 1(1-' i; in.initd dn,. Nit'Hoi.AH

liuiTTKA'; (li«tl May 7(li, 17 IS;

3. Ann ic, born in K!/."). iiiaiiit(iJAconu3Hii.i.<»r, (IJilltaii)

of Stalin Inlantl ;

4. liACHiiL, born 1G77 j nianiiMl Wu.i.iam Uuittkn.
His will is recorded in New York, Liber 7 ofWillM, [uv^r IIM.

Ilia wife, Martha, survived him and married the liov. Davih
Du-iiON-KEPOS, of Statcu Islaml, who was sul)se<[ueully pu.stor
of the Freuch Colony of Ilugueuots which settled New Uoclu'lle.
Westchester County. She died in 1735 ; leaving u will, record-
ed iu New York, Lib. 13 of Wills, page 29.

E. DA]\IEL. STILiWEL-L., (5th sou of Nicholas Stilweli,
the first of the name), born at Gravesend, November 13th, 1(J53.
Removed to Stateu Island with his fatlusr in lGt)4. Married
Mauy, daughter of Adam Mott. December 27th, 1080, received
two patents for lauds on Staten Island; one for 80 acres, which
he subsequent!}' sold to Obadiah Holmes j the other of "Jl acres,
which he sold to his cousin, John Stilweli. Ho then removed
to Middlesex County, New Jersey.

He died about 1720, leaving four children :

1. Nicholas, born 1678, tlied 17.51) -^

2. Samuel, born 1G80, and settled at Upper Freeholds,

and died 1753,

3. Daniel, born Oct. 10, WS7 ; died in 17(J(> ;

4. KiciiAKD, who settled in Monmouth County, a phy-

sician.

F. JEREITIIAII STILWELI^, (youngest son of Nicholas
Stilweli, the liistof the name), b(.rii in Kliil, at Gravesend, Long
Island, went to Staten Island wiili bis father in Hit! I. llemov.d
to Gravesend after his father's death, and iu ItiDl was a Justice.

278 GENEALOGICAL HISTOEY.

He became a Quaker, and removed to Philadelphia, where he
purchased a large tract of land (250 acres). (See Lib. E. 7, vol.
9, p. 217, Philadeli)hia records.)

He died about 1720, leaving three children :

1. Thomas, born in 1701 ; married Sakah Van Name, of

Staten Island, and had a son, Thomas, baptized
Dec. 22, 1723 ; who married Nancy Fountain, and
had a son, Anthony, baptized February 16, 1758.

2. Nicholas, born in 1705 ;

3. Sophia, who married Abednego Thomas, of Phil-

adelphia.

C. ANNIE, (eldest daughter of Nicholas Stilwell, the first of
the name), born in New Amsterdam, in 1B43. In 1660, married
Nathaniel Brittain, and settled on Anthony Jansen's bowery
on Long Island, purchased by her father ; and in 1664, removed
to Staten Island, where her husband took up 144 acres of land,
for which a jtatent was granted him, September 29, 1677. (Lib.
1 Patents, p. 133.) ,

Nathaniel Buittain died in 1683, at Old Town, on Staten
Island, leaving five children :

1. Nathaniel Brittain, born 1662 J

2. Sarah, born 1664 ;

3. Kebecca, born 1668 ; married March 9, 1693, to Abra-

ham Cole. (See License, Lib. 5 of WiUs, p. 101,
New York) ;

4. Richard Brittain, born 1670 ;

5. A.BIGAIL Brittain, born 1674 ;

His will is recorded (Lib. B. of Wills, page 1, Eichpiond
County).

H. ABIOAILi, (second daughter of Nicholas Stilwell, the
first of the name,) was born in New Amsterdam, in 1645» married

QENRALOnirAI, IIISTOKV. 2l\i

OctolxM- 2fi. If!(;.'>, S.\Mi;i;i. JI.m.mks, who tUi-d in |(;7!». I.;i\iii;f
six children :

1. Samuel IIolmks, horn 3(1 day of 12lh nionih, (I'rl..

3) IGGS, half an hour after siiii risin;,' ;

2. IIbnry IIolmics, born .'JOth day of lOlh nioiilh. |(;7();

3. Joseph IIoLMics, Uoni I7lh day of Ist iinintii, li;72 ;

4. C.VTilAiuxr., born 15th day of 4th mouth, KJ/.'), bcforr

the sun rising ;

5. "Annie, born in 1C>77 ;
0. Mary, born in 1G79.

His will, dated May 23th, 1(179, was wilnoaaed by Jolin
Emmons and Jolm Tillon ; when it was presented for proof, at
the Court of Sessions, thoy, being Quakers, declined to swear,
although they declaied they saw itexecutotl. The Court there-
fore I'cferrcd the matter to the Governor, wiio received flieir
declaration without oath, and admitted the will. (See Minutes
Sessions, Kings County, June, 1(379.)

THIRD GENERATION.

A. 1. JOIIIV STILWELL,, (eldest son of Capt.llichard
Stihvell,) (A) born in ItJGO, settled on Staten Island. Aprils,
IG93, received patent for 1(50 acres of land on Staten Island,
taken up by his ancestor. (Liber 2 of Patents, p. 1.) In l(i:i3.
was High Sheriff of Richmond County. In 1702, was a Justice of
the Quorum. In 1710, was a Delegate to the General Assembly,
and continued .so until hisdeath. (See Record of Assi-mbly, 1724.)

He died in 1724, leaving his widow and ei.Liht ehildren :

A. KiciiABX), died 1748, leaving will, N. Y. :

B. JoUN, of Garratts' Hill (Lib. IG of Wills, p. 301) ;

C. Joseph, of Norroi)liyd ;

J). Thomas, died 17G0 ; ^'Zt'^t*^^^^'^^ ^

E. Daniel, boru AL>^ 10, 1720,^iiafa»t Providence, R. I.,

280 GEJTEALOGICAL HISTOET.

May 20, 1770 ; left a son, Daniel, bom June 8, 1747,
who married Lydia, daughter of Chkistopher
Sheldon, and died Sept. 3, 1805 ;

F. Rebecca, born 1693, married Ebenezer Salters ;

G. Mary, born 1696, married Daniel Seabrook, and in

1743 was a widow, living with her brother Richard ;
E. Abigail, born 1706.

His will, dated Feb. 19, 1724-5, is recorded in New York,
Liber 10 of Wills, page 140, Jan., 1725-6. His executors were
his brother Richard, and his sons John and Richard, who were
also trustees for his three youngest children.

A. 2. NICHOL.AS STII.\rEI.L., (second son of Capt.
Richard Stilwell,) (A) boru 1dj4, married Mary, daughter of
Gersham Moore, of Brooklyu, and died in 1725, leaving five
children :

A. Gersha:ii Stilwell, born August 17, 1633 or 5 ; died

June 24, 1752;

B. Richard Stilwell, born September 16, 1688 ;

C. John, born May 9, li590, and died August 9, 1750, at

Jamaica, L. I, j

D. Mary j

E. Elizabeth.

A* 3. THOMAS STTIL^WE!.!., (third sou of Capt. Rich-
ard Stilwell,; (A) 1^'o^n ill 1666; married Ann Hubbard, set-
tled at Graveseud. Was Captain of Militia there in 1700.

Removed to Staten Island, where he died in 1726, leaving
one son :

A. Daniel, born 1696, married Mary, daughter of Jaques
PoiLLON. of Staten Island, and had three sous :

GENEALOCICAL IMSToirV. 2R1

1. Joachim, born I7.'{(), in:inii'<l Ann 'I'r.NNUU.i, uml

li;i(l two sons:

A. John, l»:ii)ri/cil .Inly 'J-', I7.'>| ;

B. llioil.vitl), l):iptiz(>il M;iy 'S\, IT.'j!).

2. Danikl, born A\)v'\] I, \7:M\, who nianird Aimt-

ANTYK , and h:i<l Ibn-c i-bildn-n :

A. Jeuemiaii, born Dec I. I7(>:J;
15. SuzANNAii, born An;,', l^. 17(V2;
^ *. Jaques, born Manli 'M, 173d.

A* 4L. KICIIARD STILM'ELL,(fonrtli son of Cai.tain

Richard Stilwcll, (A) '"»•'" .Innc ^1."), Iii71 ; married, 1st, Sr|)t«in-
ber 'i, 170.'5, DEnouAii Uekd of New Jcr.scy ; settled in New
York, and engaged in mercantile pnrsnits, and married, xlnd, in
1722, Meucy Sands j died at Shrew.sbiiry, New Jj-r.sey, April
IG, 1743. Left him surviving, his widow and eight children :

A. KiciiAKD, who lijid three children ; I Mary, 2 Kieliard,

and 3 John ;

B. Mary, married Col. Thomas CLAiiKi: of the British
Army ;

G. DEnouAii, married Lient. liiciiAun Smith of the r>rit-

isli Army, died Jan. 23, 17;il ;
/). Catharine, married Ucv. Uiciiaud Pemi'.ei:t()N ;

E. Ann, married in 1744, 1st, Thi-.odosh s Uaktuw, wiio

died October 5, 174(i ; 2d, Phimi" De Vismk, of
New York, and was again a widow in I7<;2 :

F. Samuel, married Hannah Van Pei-t, Jnne !», 17.V.,

died in 17(12, left a will (Lib. 2.j of Wills, p. .VJ.J. N.-w
York County) ;

G. Elizabeth, married, 1st, Peter Wraxai.l; 2d,
Major General Maun^ell of tiie British Army ;

II. Lydia, married Dr. John Waticins, of New York.
Richard loft a will dated Nov. 17, 1742. Proved aud recorded

282 GENEAIiOGIOAL HISTORY.

March 3, 1746 (Lib. 16 of Wills, p. 89, New York County). He
was one of the fouuders of the First Baptist Church, in New
York City, on Golden Hill.

Mary, his wife, died Oct. 24, 1746, aged 53 years (s6e her will,
recorded in Trenton, N. J., Lib. 1.)

A. 5. JEREMIAH STItTVEEE, (5tli son of Cant. Rich
ard Stilwell,)(A) born 1676. May 24, 1708, received from his
brother John a conveyance of a tract of land at Acquackneck,
in New Jersey, between the Passaic and Saddle Rivers, and
subsequently removed to Hancock, in the State of Maryland,
where he settled, and died about 1750, leaving four children :

A. RiCHAKD, born 1712; settled at Mecklenburg, N. C. ;

B. William, born 1715;
G. John, born 1718 ;

D. Jerejiiah, born 1725 ; settled at Morgantown, Va.

A> 6. MARY, (eldest daughter of Capt. Richard Stilwell),
(A) born 1668, married, 1st, Nathaniel Briitain of Staten Is-
land, son of Nathaniel BuiTTAiN and Ann Stilwell (C)- Her
husband died in ,1703. Letters of administration were granted
to her by the name of Mary Dushau, she having married, 2d,
Valentine Dusiiau, Feb. 10, 1703-4. (See, License, Liber 7,
p. 131, New York County.)

B. 1. JVIC HOE ASS TIL WE tt (eldest son of Nicholas)
(B)) born 1673; married Elizabeth Cornell, daughter of
Richard Cornell, of Flusniug; settled at Jamaica, Long Is-
land, wliere, in 1 706, he i)urchased a farm fi'om his father-in-law.
(Deed recorded in Queens County, Liber B, p. 14JU)

He died prior to 1735, leaving four children ;
A. Marian, wife of Charles Marsh j

GENE.M.nC.ICM, IIISTnKY. 'JHil

J?. ErtTiiiCK, \vif«- of . Ions SvYiiK, ill I7.'t5, of Snxr York,

1111(1 ill 17.')^ «if lMii)iuli*l|tliiii, Hlin|ik«TiH'r ;
C M\uv. wile of Sami'ki, SoiTir \ui>.t»lH«-iiiiMtra«l, L. I.
1). lCi.i/A!ti;iii, wiff of .Iamih Mii.i.\vaki>.
His widow, Kli/.alK'th, Kiirvivcd liiin, :iii<l ili«-<l in I7.VJ, Imv-
ingiv will, Lib. Iri of Wills, i»:i;,'t- '.iiVJ, Now York.

B. tt. ItlCIIAICn STII.\Vi:i.I^. (hcooikI h«»ii of NliholiH)

(B), l>i)iii M;i.\ 11. I<i77. Ill I7U.'> wiM Ili^li SlicrilT of Kiii)(H
Couuty. Ill 171.') was Colonel of lir;;iini'nt Kin;;H (.'oiiiity
Militiii. In l7:ii!-7 was Uepn'.sitntativi* from Kiuj^H Couuty iu
the Colonial Assemlily.

Died Feb. (!, 17r>H, leaving five rliiidicn :

j1. Danii:l, bom July vl. I7lt2 ; married Oct. I I. I7:L'),
Catiiakine Johnson ;

B. NlCllOl.AS, born Dec. 2, 17()'J ; married De<^^. J-J, I7:W,

AlTIE DlTMARS ;

C. RlCHAUD, boru Ocf. 3,1718; married ANN CouTEL-

TOU.

D. Catiiauink, born Feb. bJ, 171»! ; married Ai>ril iJ,

1727, Jerome Ravei.ye ;

E. Maiiy, born Jan. 1, 1712; married, 1. Wim.ivm N'an

VOOUIIES, Sept. Ill, 17.'H ; 2. .Ivcxmvs I)i; IlKVol-iK,
Feb. 20, I7;J4.

B. ^' ELiIAS STII.\TEI.L, (third son of N'icholjw) (B).
born a( Cvraveseiid, Dec. Vi, bi-^.'i; married .Vnsi: llruiiANK »)f
Stateu Island, and left children :

A. Thomas, baptized June 30, 172(5; married Dkdobaii

Mauti.in'g, iind h.id a sou Ei.ias;
J5. Daniel, baptized .March 21, 1728 ;
(7. John, Imptiicd May 17,1730; married Mpi.knVvn
N.VME, of Statin Island, aud liiMla aoii, EuAi, bap-
tized June 21, 1752L

28^ GENEALOGICAL HTSTOEY.

B. 4. THOMAS STII.TFEI.L,, ( fourth son of Nicholas)

(B), horninlGSrf; married in 1709, 1st, At.ice Tiirockmoke-
Tox (see License, N. Y., Lib. 9 of Wills, p. 2) ; 2, Catuekine
D.vv, of Flatlands. Received from Governor Clarke grant of
laud at Yellow Hook, New Utrecht, fronting on the bay, with
a right to maintain a ferry to Staten Island. (Lib. 6 of Deeds,
1). 73, Kings County.)

Died in 1758, intestate, leaving four children :

A. John, born 1709; died Nov., 1794 j

B. Thomas ;
G. Nicholas;

D. Christopher, born Jan. 17, 1716; died April 15,
1780;
His children joined in a power of attorney, upon which letters
of administration were granted at Trenton, N. J., Oct. 26, 1759.

B. 5-- REBECCA STIL.WEI.L,, (eldest daughter of
Nicholas) ( B) born at Gravesend, 1675; married, Oct. 20th, 1693,
Abraham Emmons.

Died about 1715, leaving five children :

A. John Emmons, born in 1694 ;

B. Nicholas, bom in 1696 ;

O. Abraham, born in 1697 ; died in 1738, at Yonkers,
Westchester County ;

D. Isaac, born in 1699 ;

E. Catharine, born in 170L

B. 6. ANNE CATHARINE, (2d daughter of Nicholas
Stilwcll (B) and Catliarine Morgan) born 1681 ; married, in 1720,
Barent Christopher, of Staten Island.
Died 1728; left children:

OKNKAI.OC.inAI, IIISTOUY. '2f<t

A. Nkiioi.vs Ciiicisroi'iiiK, l».i|iii/.«l Aii;;tiMt I, 17<rj ;

manii-d CiiKisrrsA IIowmvn in I7j.'i ;
/•'. Ki;r.i;«( V, l>;ii»t i/.cd Apiil ijd. I7(H ;
('. .Maici \, liupli/cil 1710 -,
/>. I' \ III \uiNi:, ( , , . ,., ,-,.,

/;. I'.AUKNT, \ '"'"'*• '""" *^"f>'- ■•'• •'^'•' J

F. SU/.ANNAII, l>;ipti/c(l .Illlv II, l/l'.l.

C. I. JOII'V' STI I. \Vi:i.L, (oldoHt son of William mC) iM.r.i
on Stivli'ii IsIuihI ; scUUd at (JiiivcsciHl, iiiid alMint 1<W> n*-
moved to Cape May witli his father. Married KlizalH-th reriiiei
of Statcn Island. In I7r.* was a inemlM-r of tlie Baptist Cliurch
at Capo May Court llouso, Miildlo Township. Ixfl one sun :
A. John, baptized Nov. ».'>, 171*J.

C. a.IVICIIOLASSTII.WELMsccondson of William^
(C), horn on Statcn Island; nnioved to CajHi May with hin
father. In 17;it> bought Joseph (jolding's [daeo at JJeesely I'oiiit,
on Tuckah(Mi Uiver, (See IJarber'.s Hist. Col. N. J., p. IlKJ.) In
1750, opened a piililic house at (Jreat Egg Ilarbur, in up|>cr
township. (Do., p. l-'fci.)
Died in 1771, leaving seven children :

A. Enoch ;

i>. Nicholas ;

C Davis, who was underage in 1771 ;

D. SoriiiA, wife of IvIchakd Sommkus ;

U. Hannah, wife of Daniki, Couson ;

F. Reiiecca, wife of Thomah Wim.ett ;

G. Sauah, wife of Moses Guikkin.

liis will, proved May 4, 1771, is recorded at Trenton, N. J.,
LibcrJSof Will8,p. Id2.

286 GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.

C. 3. RICHARD STII.WEI.I., (third son of William)
(C) born at Graveseud ; removed to Cape May, where he died
in 1759, leaving five children :

A. Elijah ;

B. Phcebe ;

G. Zeniah, wife of Richard Stites ;

D. Elizabeth, who died intestate, in 1715 j administra-

tion was granted upon her estate to Richard Stites;

E, Mart, who married Daniel Foster, and died prior

to 1756, leaving one son, John Foster.

C. 4. WIL,1,IA:« STII^TVEIiL., (fourth son of WiUiam)
(C), horn May 11, 1G78 ; married Sarah Pekixe, of Staten
Island ;
Died in 1719, leaving two sons :

'b Daxiel^' \ *^^^' baptized Sept. 6, 1719.

C. '5. DANIEL. STIEWELIi, (youngest son of William,
of Cape May) (C) ; born at Cape May, where he died in 1793,
leaving two children :

A. Thomas Stilwell;

B. John Stilwell ;

Left a will, proved Dec. 4th, 1794; recorded at Trenton, Lib.
of Wills, page 101.

C. 6. MARY STILWEIiL. (daughter of William, of
Cape May) (C)> married Feb. 20, 1698-9, Thomas Walton.

OENKAIOfllc \I, IIISTOIIY. 'JS7

D. 1.TII0:TIAS S'I'II.\VI:I.I., Jr.,(iil.lc'.f H<.iiMf Thom-
as Sril.WKM,, of Slaliii Isliiutl,; (D) ; Ixuii I<I7I, inanictl
Martha, <laiij^hter of .Iacqijk.h Poiluon.

Died iut('stat(>, 17()M, Icaviu;^ (Iirct* rliililn-ii :
A. Niciioi-AH STii.wr.M. ;
2?. Mauv, who inaniid John IIoimt.u;
O. Annk, who manicil, Isi, I'aulMiciiaui); 2d, .Samtki.
Van Pklt.

Soo arhitratioii, Liber 15., p. Ci!), Kicliinoiul Co., ami will of
his motluM', Mautiia Du-bon-kei'OS, Lib. lU, ji. 2I», New York
Surrogate's office.

D. 2. FKAI^CES STII.WELL, (.eldest daughtor of
TiiOMAH .Stilwkll,) (D) born 1(J7.J, inarricd Nicholas IJkit-
TAiM, of Statcn Island, who died IVliU, by wh«)ni sin- had chil-
dren :

A. NiCnOLAS BUITTAIN ;

B. Nathaniel Hhittain, who died in I7;{(>, h-avinj,' two

children, 1st, ALvuY; 2d, FitANic Uuittain ; ,

C. Mautiia, wife of Samuel Mooue j

D. Raciikl Buittainj

E. Mauy Bkittain.

See will of Nicholas Brittain, proved Feb. 27th, 1 7:B». Lilwr
13 of Wills, p. 34.") ; also will of Nathaniel, his son, |Mi»v««d < K-t.
18th, 1726, Liber 13, p. 32.

D. 3. AIVIVE STILWELL,i«ecnnd dau;;htor of Tuom \s
Stilwkll, of Staten Island,) (D) married Jacou Hn.Lor
Was living in 1735, and had one daughter :
A. Rachel Billot.
See will of her mother, Maiitha Di'-noN-uiros, Liber 13 of
Wills, p. 29, Now York Surroguto's office.

f"

288 GENEALOGICAL HISTOET.

D. 4.'RACIIEI. STII.WEI.I., (youngest daughter of
Thomas Stilwell, of Staten Island,) (D) born 1677 j married
William BiiiTTAix, of Staten Island. In 1735, was living and
had two cliildrcn :

A. Martua 5

B. Mary.

See lier mother's will, Liber 13, page 29, New York Surro-
gate's ofi&ce.

E. 1. NICHOLAS STILTVELJL, of Shrewsbury, N. J.,
{eldest son of Daniel Stilwell, of Staten Island) (E) born
at Gravesend, L. T., 1G78 ; settled at Shrewsbury, N. J., where
he died in 1759, leaving nine children :

A. OliADIAUj

B. EnAS ;

G. William ;

D. Joseph ;

E. Martha;

F. Mary ;

G. Eebecca ;
E. Lydia;

I. Priscilla.
See his will, Tronton, proved May 15th, 1760, Liber G,
page 193.

E. 2. SAWUEI. STII.WEEE,(second son of Daniel, of
Staten Island) (E) born 1680, settled at Upper Freehold, N.
J., where he died in 17.53, leaving one son :

A. Daniel Stilwell, born June 8th, 1747.

See Ills will, proved at Trenton, N. J., Nov. 16, J 753, Liber 3
of Wills, p. 730.

(;i:m:vl<)(;ical iiisi'okv. liS9

E. :J. I>A.\li:i^S'ril.Wi:i.L, (tliir.l sMM..f Dwili.) (E).
born, Oct. 10, l<iS7, married Caiii vimni: L\uzAi,ii;it, Ki-Ukd
in .Monis County, New .loiscy, \vli»;r<i lir Micd intrslatc
in 17()(j. Soo letters of administration, LilxT I, p. 7, 'rn-nton,
N. J. Left one son :

-1. Kkiivim) Stii.wki.i,, born Nov.x!",', 17;{:i.

E. 1. KICIIARI»STII.WCI.L, (fourth son of I).vnii:l)
(E)) '■'etlh'd in .Moimioiitli County, N. J.j was a pliysiciau ;
died in 1730, leaving two cliildren ;

^■l. Thomas, born May 15tli, ^■^S;

B. Elias, born June lOtli, 17.'30; died 17ol.

F. 1. 1VICIIOL.AS STILAVELL, (sou of Jkuemiaii
Stil\vi:ll)(F)7 born at Gravcsend, 170.i; settled at Wliit,('liouse,
► j-^^jl ll4+«4+Hiiffrmr County, N. J.; died at Sussex County, N. J., in
1780, leaving seven children :

-1. John Stilwell, born in 1730 j

B. Samuel, born in 1734 ;

C. Daniel, born in 17.37 ;

D. RicnAun, born May 23tli, 1712;

E. Hannah, niariied Peteu IIenduicksok ;

F. Patty, manie<I Samuel Willitts, of Whitehoiise,

G. Chakity, b(»rn 174(5 ; died unmarried.

F. 2. SOPHIA STlI^WELfv, (dau^litrr of Joremiali
Stilwell.) (F) married Ai;ei)xE(;o Thomas, and settled at Pliil-
adelpliia.

19

Sherwood Park

Mrs. Mary D. Stilivvell. mother of
Alderniun Frederick H. titUwell
representing the ninth ward and
residing on North Trenchard tstreet.
and said to be the oldest woman
in this section of Yonlvers.. died
baturday morning at her home
bhe was in her 93rd year. Death
came peacefully and was due, her
j-physician, Dr. Stephen F. Leo said
to old age superinduced by a weak
heart. At her bedside when the
end came, were her son, the alder-
man and Mrs. Stilwell. and daugh- !
ter-in-law, Mrs. Minnie ytilwell. I

A year ago Mrs. Stilwell suffered
a slight illness, but recovered fully '
and without' seeming bad effects '
fishe enjoyed good health and was:
in high spirits until two davs prev-
ious to her death, when she was '<
stricken with a heart attack. Upoti I
the aavice of her phyi^ician she '
took to her bed but failed to rally
after the administration of restora-
tives.

Funeral services will be held at
her late home, 75 North Trenchard
street, this afternoon at ''-30
o'clock. Rev. Ludwig Seith, pastor
of the Mile Square Reformed
church, where Mrs. Stilwell had
been a communicant member for
years, will officiate. Interment will
follow in Oakland cemetery.

Mrs. Stilwell was born August 23,
1833, on a farm within a shado\v
of the family abode, which since
has given away to the Empire City
race track. She was a daughter of
the late Charles Archer. The Archer
.family was one of the pioneer set-
tlers in that section of the citv
Mrs. istilwell's late home, the first
in fiom Yonkers avenue, on the
north\ side of Trenchard street, was
built Avhen she was 19 vears old

4-