Chapter 02 - Tomys Swartwout, Schepen of Midwout, 1607-1662, pp 29-89

CHAPTER 11.

TOMYS SWARTWOUT, SCHEPEN OF MIDWOUT.

1607-1662.

THE baptismal registers of the Reformed Church {doopregistcrs dcr Gercformecrde-kcrk), in nine volumes, preserved in the Old Archive of Groningen, contain the names of the persons baptized by its ministers, and those of the sponsors, and the dates of the administration of the sacrament, from the year 1640 to August, 181 1. The barm and marriage-registers (proclamatic en trouivregisters’), in thirty-five volumes, date from the year 1595 to that of 1 81 2. Information relating to people residing in Groningen prior to the close of the sixteenth century is now only obtainable from a few rare histories and ancient manuscripts, and the early records of the city. As has been remarked, two of the precious parchments treasured in the Old Archive are the original record in Latin of the awards made in 1338 by the Arbitration Commission of which Otto Swartewold was a member, and the certificate given in 1459 by the burgomaster and council of Groningen, in which Willem Zwartcwolt is titled the warden of a city-tower. Earlier than the elates with which the records of baptisms and proclamations of marriage-banns in Groningen begin there are no existing sources there of genealogical information.

The impossibility of accurately tracing to an earlier period the lineage of the representatives of the Swartwout family, living in Groningen at the beginning of the seventeenth century, necessitates the recognition of Rolef 1 Swartwolt as the progenitor historically of the persons differently named Swartwout, Swarthout, Swartout, and Swartwood, who were numbered among the settlers of New Netherland and those who by residence and by birth became subsequently inhabitants of the United States of America. Rolef Swartwolt and his wife Catryna, with their children, were on September 21, 16 16, residing in Groningen, on the Straight Passage {Jiet RccJitc JatJi), now identified by the sculptured face ofa bearded man, embellishing the front wall ofa brick house stand1English,

Ralph;written anciently in Dutch, Rolf; in the fifteenth century, Relof;inthe seven;

teenth century, Rolef, RoleJJ\ Rochf RoelcJJ and later Rolf and Roelof.

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ing” on the cast side of the street, and an inscription engraved below the effigy: •ickkickiXOCH.int (Istillpeep into it).1 As elicited from different records, Rolef Swartwolt had four sons severally named Wybrandt, Tomys, Herman, and Aldert ; Tomys having been born in

SITE OF THE RESIDENCE OF ROLEF SWARTWOLT. (‘1he house is outlined south of the x on Lamhuiugeitraat, having three window-marks in a row visible on the rear wall.)

1607, and Herman (or Hermanns) in 1608. In 1616, their father was the owner of one-half of a house standing on the east side of the Rechte Jath, in which he was then living, and of one-fourth of a dwelling, on the west side and at the north end of Lamhuingcstraat, now Aa-kcrkstraat.

By conveying, by a deed of partition, on June 4, 1617, his right, title, and interest in the building and lot on the east side of the Rechte Jath, to the

1 The house stands on the southeast corner of the Omit’ Kijk en V Jatstraat (Old Peep into the Passage Street) and the l.oopauiediep (the Running-deep canal). The bas-relief “is said to commemorate a siege 1)) the Bishop of Minister and the electoral troops of Cologne, in 1672, when the besiegers were compelled to retreat, as they were unable to prevent supplies being brought into the town by the Rciiidii’fy. The inscription impoits that as long as the harbor is free from enemies no real danger from besiegers need be apprehended.” Baedeker’s Handbook of Belgium and Holland. 1894, p. 364.

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owners of the three-fourths of the dwelling, at the north end of Ltxmhuiugcstraat, and by paying one hundred and eighteen dalers, three Brabant stivers, and six and a quarter plackcu, he obtained entire possession of the house

AA-KERK, GRONINGEN, 1896.

on Lamkuiiioestraat, of which he had been one-fourth an owner ; the property being then valued at one thousand and ninety four dalers, sixteen Brabant stivers, and one plack}

Standing as the building was at the junction of Lamhuingcstraat and the

1 \ ridc ‘ Dutch text and translation of the partition deed in the Appendix. Document Xo. 4.

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Cromme Jatk (Crooked Passage) — the first-named running-from—the point of intersection southwestwardly and the second northwestwardly permitted the occupants of the house easy access to the main thoroughfares crossing the central part of the city. Looking down the short stretch of Lamhuingcstraat to its termination at Bruggestraaf, they saw the lofty tower of Aa kcrk in hisfh relief above the tiled roofs of the contiguous houses.

When the quaintly-proportioned two-story brick dwelling was demolished in 1884, an iron plate was removed from the back masonry of the fireplace of the lower front room bearing the figures 1446, which were accepted as denoting the year of the erection of the building. The site of it, next north of the Sedentary-Poor Hospital (Arme-huiszittcn-gasthuis)> founded in 1634, is now occupied by a two-story building, on the lower floor of which is a grocery.

There are no other particulars extant concerning Rolef and Catryna Swartwolt excepting the meagre information that she died some time prior to his decease in 1634. They both were probably well-advanced in years when they died, for three of their sons —Wybrandt, Tomys, and Hennan — were married and engaged in business in the city of Amsterdam, distant one hundred and thirty English miles, by railroad, from Groningen.

At that time the beginnings of the history of New Netherland, in North America, were frequent topics of conversation at most of the marts and ports of Holland. Twenty years prior to the residence of the three sons of Rolef Swartwolt in the city of Amsterdam, or more definitely, on Saturday, March 25, 1609 (old style), Henry Hudson, the English navigator, had sailed from the harbor of Amsterdam, in the ship the Half-Moon (de Halve Maaii), in the interest of the Dutch East-India Company, to seek in the Arctic Ocean, toward Novaya Zemlya, a navigable route to Eastern Asia. Meeting in his course thither an impassable barrier of ice, he proposed to his officers and crew to make a voyage to New France, in North America, between Florida and Labrador, and to explore the river now bearing his name, delineated on maps made in the previous century, as had been suggested to him by Captain John Smith of the Virginia colony, who had sent him certain maps of that part of New France in the belief that the indomitable mariner could find a waterway extending westward from that river through which he might sail to the Indian Ocean.

The project was favored, and he sailed to New France and explored the Great {Grand) River to its navigable height, northward as far as the mouths of the Mohawk, without finding any stream or inlet sufficiently deep by which he could pass westward from it in the Half-Moon. He sailed homeward in the month of October, having his ship freighted with beaver and otter skins and a

Sp3p_-“e5=”3->•rP?gt””T-“

The engraving embellishes an elaborate cartographic representation of the place, made that year, which bears the followingLatin title:

Hanc Tabulam Floretissimae Urbis sum ma diligentia et arte pinxit atque acre expressit, Balthazar Horentius Batavus sumptibub.

Philippi Molevlieti Zclandi apud quern prostant exemplaria. Amstelredami CI3LHXXV. Cum privilegio sexennium. Balthazar

Ilouzzoon n. Berkenrode.

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quantity of tobacco, for which he had exchanged beads, knives, hatchets, and

other things of littlevalue, with the Indians, with whom he had friendly intercourse

while his ship lay at anchor at different places in the Great River.1

The hicrh commercial value of the furs brought in the little vessel to Amsterdam

influenced a number of merchants to send several ships to trade for

peltry to the Great River, on which the Hollanders had bestowed the name of

Mauritius, in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau. 2

By a plea of having discovered “certain new lands situate in America,”

“

lying between the fortieth and forty-fifth parallels of north latitude,” called by them New Netherland {Nieu Nedcrlandt), and delineated on a map, a copy of which is preserved in the General Library of the State of New York, at Albany, these adventurers obtained a special license from the Lords States-General of the Netherlands to trade in New Netherland during a period of

“

three years, beginning on the first day ofJanuary, 1615, or earlier.”

The commercial advantages of opening a number of distant fields of traffic, particularly in North and South America, having been perceived by certain Holland merchants, they obtained, on June 3, 1621, a charter incorporating the Dutch West-India Company, by which they secured the exclusive jurisdiction

of New Netherland, and the privilege of solely enjoying all rights of trading with the natives and future settlers of that country. To them was also granted the liberty of supporting and paying bodies of troops to be provided by the Lords States-General of Holland to garrison the forts and protect the property of the company.

The administration of the affairs of this guild of wealthy Dutch merchants was intrusted to five chambers of managers, represented by a college of nineteen directors, of which number, eight were from the Amsterdam Chamber, four from the Zeeland, two from the Maas, two from the North Holland, two from the Friesland, and one from the government of the United Netherlands.

The successive steps taken by the Dutch West-India Company to advance its interests in New Netherland were, between the years 1622 and 1633, substantially set forth in a series of annually printed compilations, entitled: Historical account of all memorable events here and there in Europe {Historisch

1The Discoveries of America to the Year 1525. By Arthur James Weise. 1884, pp. 318, 319.

-‘ Belgische ofte Nedcrlantschc Oorlogen ende Gheschicdenissen beginnende van’tjacr 1598 tot 161 1 mede varvatende einghe haer der gebucrcnhandelinghe. Bcschrcvcn door Emanucl van Meteren. By hem voor de leste oversie vcrbetcrt edc vcrmcerdcrt na die Copie. Gcdruckt op Schotlant buytcn Danswyck, by Hermes van Loven, voor den Autheur. Anno 161 1, fol. 346.

Beschiyvmghe van der Saymoyeden l.uidtinTartarien. Nieulijcks onder ‘t ghebiedt der Moscoviten gebracht. \Vt de Russchc tale ovcrghest, Anno 1609. Met een verhael van dc opsoeckingh ende ontdeckinge van de nieuwe deurgang oftc straet in’t Noordwesten na de Rycken van China ende Cathay. Ende ccn Memorial gepresenteert aan den Coningh van spaengien, bclanghende de ontdeckinge ende gheleghen 1.heyt van’t Land ghenaemt Australis Incognita. T”Amsterdam by Hessel Gcrritsz, Boeckvercooper, opt Water, in de Pascaert. Anno 16 12.

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verha el alder ghcdcnckivcerdichstc gcschiedcnisse die hicr en daer in Europe), by Doctor Nicolaes a Wassenaer ; the first volume of which was published at Amsterdam, in 1622. The well-informed writer of this rare and valuable work,

“

describing that part of New France, in North America, called Virginia,”

says : “Itwas first peopled by the French,” and that “the Lords States-General, observing the large number of their [Holland] people as well as their desire to plant other lands, allowed the West-India Company to settle that same country. Many from the United Provinces did formerly and do still trade there ; yea, for the greater security of the traders, a castle, Fort Nassau, had been built on an island [now within the corporate limits of the city of Albany |,

in forty-two degrees, on the north [west ?] side of the River Montague, now [in 1624] called Mauritius. But as the natives there were somewhat discontented and not easily managed, the projectors abandoned it, intending now [February, 1624 | to plant a colony among the Maikans [Mohegans], a nation lying twenty-five [Dutch] miles on both sides of the river upwards.

“This river, or the bay, lies in forty degrees, running well in, being as broad or as wide as the Thames, and navigable fifty [Dutch] miles 1

** * *

up. “This country, now called New Netherland, is usually reached in seven or

*** *

eight weeks from here. The trade of the natives consists mostly

****

in peltries. In exchange for peltries, they receive beads, with which they decorate their persons, knives, adzes, axes, case-knives, kettles,

****

and all sorts of iron-ware which they require for housekeeping.

“

Among these almost barbarous people, there are few or none cross-eyed, blind, crippled, lame, hunch-backed, or limping. All are well-shaped people, strong in constitution of body, well-proportioned, without blemish.” ” The circumspect author, under date of”February, 1624,” further observes:

To plant a colony near these natives, a ship is fitted out by order of the West-India Company, freighted with families.” The vessel did not depart from the port of Amsterdam until March, that year, in order not to arrive at the Mauritius River before it was clear of ice

“

and navigable. Wassenaer, under the date of April, 1624,” remarks:

“

The West-India Company, being chartered to navigate these rivers [the Mauritius, and the South or Delaware], did not neglect so to do, but made ready in the spring a vessel of one hundred and thirty lasts [about two hundred and fifty English tons], called the Nicu Nedcrlandt, of which Cornelis Jacobsz May, of Hoorn, was captain, with thirty families, mostly Walloons,-to plant a colony there.

1A Dutch mile is about equal to three English miles. -‘French refugees.

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“They sailed in the beginning of March, and, directing their course by the Canary Islands, steered toward the Wild Coast [of Africa], and gained the west [trade ] wind, which luckily [bore | them into the river, first named River

of the Mountains, now the River Mauritius, lying in forty and one-half degrees.

“

He [the captain of the ship ] found a Frenchman lying in the mouth of the river who would erect there the arms of the King of France, but the Hollanders would not permit him, opposing it by order of the Lords States-General and the directors of the West-India Company. In order not to be frustrated therein, they caused a yacht of two guns to be manned, and with the help of those on board the yacht, the Mackerel, that had lain above, convoyed the Frenchman out of the river, who would have done the same thing in the South River, but by hindrance of the guards there it was prevented.

“

This being accomplished, the ship ascended forty-four [Dutch| miles near the Maykens |Mohegans]. Having cast up and completed, on the island by them called Castle Island, a fort with four points, they named it Orange. Immediately thereafter they put the spade into the ground and began to till it, and before the yacht, the Mackerel, sailed away, the corn was nearly as high as a man.”

Writing under the date of “December, 1624,” he speaks of the profitable returns derived by the West-India Company from the trade in furs at Fort Oranee :

“t>

As regards the prosperity of New Netherland, we learn by the arrival of the ship of which Jan May of Hoorn was captain, that everything there was in good condition. The colony began to advance bravely and continues in friendship with the natives. The fur, or other trade, remains in the West-India Company, others being forbidden to trade there. Rich beaver, otter, marten, and fox skins are found there. This cargo consists of five hundred otter and fifteen hundred beaver skins, and a few other things, which were in four parcels, [that were sold, on December 20, 1624, at Amsterdam] for twenty-eight thousand, some hundred guilders.” !

“

The eligibility of the Island Manhates,” accessible to sailing vessels in winter as in summer, and a suitable place for the residence of the director-general in charge of the property of the West-India Company, led to the purchase of it, in 1626, from the Indians inhabiting it. The report of the transaction transmitted in the fall of that year to the Amsterdam directors is

1 Historisch \cihael alder ghedenckwcerdichstc gcschicdcnissc, die hicr en daer inEurope, als in

Duijtsch-lnnt, Vrancknjck, Enghelant, Spaengicn, Hungarijcn, Polcn, Scvcn-bcrghen, Wallachicn,

Molda\ien, Turckijen, on Xeder-lant, van de beginne dcs ‘jaers 162 i:to den Herfs toe, voor gevallen

sijn door Doct.* Claes Wassenaer. 1622. T’ Amstrelreclam. ‘/ seste dccl of 7 vervolgh van het Historisch

‘Verhacl. h *h Win* Ot tobri dcs jaers 1623 tot April dcs jaers 1624, voorgevallcn sijn. fols. 144, 146.

*’

Tsevende dccl Win Aprildescs jaers 1624, tot Octobrcnc voor^cvallen sijn. fol. 11. Tachete

dccl. folb. 84, 85.

THE

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CHRONICLES.

“

strikingly laconic :

Our people

have

bought

the

Island Manhates from the

wildmen forthe value of 60guilders [$24.00];itis 11,000 morgcn A [22,000 acres] large.” 2 Pieter Minuit, the third director-general to be intrusted with the manage”

ment of the company’s affairs in New Netherland, arrived at the Island Manhates,” on May 4, 1626. Shortly afterward the construction of a rude fortification of earth and logs was begun on the south end of the island. A number of French and Dutch colonists, who had been brought there from Holland by the West-India Company, built for themselves during the summer and fall about thirty bark dwellings contiguous to the site of the fortifications. The seat of this second colony obtained that year the name of New Amsterdam.

Describing the beginnings of this colony, Wassenaer, writing under the date of “November, 1626,” says: “The colony was planted at this time on the Manhates, where a fort was staked out by Master Krijn Frederijke, an engineer. It willbe of large dimensions. The ship which has returned home this month brings samples of all the different kinds of produce there. The cargo consists of seven thousand two hundred and forty-six beaver, six hundred and seventy-five otter, forty-eight mink, and thirty-eight wild-cat skins, and various other sorts ; |besides] several pieces of oak and hickory timber.

“

The counting-house there is kept in a stone building, thatched with reed ; the other houses are ofbark of trees. Each has his own house. The director and the store-keeper (coopmaii) live together. There are thirty ordinary houses on the east side of the river, which runs nearly north and south.

“The Honorable Pieter Minuit is director there at present; Jan Lempo, sheriff; Sebastien Jansz Crol, and Jan Huyck, [are] visitors of the sick, who while awaiting a clergyman, read to the congregation there on Sundays Scripture lessons with explanatory notes. Francois, the mill-wright, is busy building a horse-mill, over which willbe made a room sufficiently spacious to accommodate a large congregation, and then a tower willbe erected in which

*** *

the “bells brought from Porto Rico willbe huno-.

Ithappened this year that the Mayleans [Mohegans], being at war with the Maquacs [Mohawks], requested to be assisted by the commander of Fort Orange and six others. Commander Krieckebeck went up with them a [Dutch] mile from the fort, and met the Maquacs, who peppered them so bravely with a discharge of arrows that they were forced to fly, leaving many

****

slain, among whom were the commander and three of his men. “There being no commander [at that post], Pieter Barentsen assumed

1Morgoi, about two acres ofland. -‘ Holland documents, vol. i., p. 155.

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the command of Fort Orange by order of Director Minuit. There was eight families there, and ten or twelve seamen in the company’s service. The fort was to remain garrisoned by sixteen men without women, and the families were to leave there this year in order to strengthen with people the colony near the Manhates [Indians], who were becoming more and more accustomed

to the strangers.”

;->

“”

Under the date of October, 1628,” Wassenaer further remarks : There are now no families at Fort Orange, situated higher up the river among the Maykans. They are all brought down. They keep as traders there five or six and twenty persons. Sebastien Jansz Crol is under-di rector there. He has remained there since the year 1626, when the others came down.”

Concerning 1 the growth of New Amsterdam, Wassenaer observes : “In the year 1628 there already resided on the island of the Manhates two hundred and seventy souls, men, women, and children.” !

In order that the colonists might enjoy the preaching and religious instruction of a minister of the Reformed Church, the West-India Company induced the Classis of Amsterdam to send the Reverend Jonas Michaelius to New Netherland. Arriving at New Amsterdam, in April, 1628, he began organizing the first church established within the limits of the province.

In a communication, dated at New Amsterdam, on August 11, 1628, and addressed to the Reverend Adrianus Smoutius, dwelling on the Heerengracht (Lords’ Canal), in Amsterdam, not far from the house of the West-India Company, he details with evident gratification the success of his initial efforts to better the spiritual condition of the people of the small settlement :

“

We have first established the form of a church {gemcente) ; and, as Brother Bastiaen Crol very seldom comes down from Fort Orange, because the directorship of that fort and the trade there is committed to him, it has

****

been thought best to choose two elders for my assistance. One of those whom we have now chosen is the Honorable Director himself, and the other is the store-keeper of the company, Jan Huyghen, his brother-in-law, persons of very good character as far as Ihave been able to learn, both having been formerly in office in the church, the one as deacon, and the other as elder in the Dutch and French churches, respectively, at Wesel.

“

We have had at the first administration of the Lord’s Supper full fiftycommunicants -not without great joy and comfort for so many—Walloons and

* ***

Dutch. The Walloons and French have no service on Sundays otherwise than in the Dutch language, of which they understand very little.

” ‘

1Thuacljde dee/ of ‘T vervolgh van hct Historiscli verluxel. fol. 38 ; TsestJiiende dec/, fol. 13; ‘7 <n hteende dec!, fol. 94.

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Some of the Walloons are qr-oincr back to Fatherland, cither because their years here are expired, or because some are not very serviceable to the company. Some of them live far away, and could not come on account of the heavy rains and storms, so that it was neither advisable nor was it possible to appoint any special service for so small a number with so much uncertainty. Nevertheless, the Lord’s Supper was administered to them in the French language and according to the French mode, with a preceding discourse, which Ihad before me in writing, as Icould not trust myself extemporane****

ously.

“

The trade in furs is dull on account of a new war of the Maechibaeys |Mohawks] against the Mohicans [Mohegans] at the upper end of this river. There have occurred cruel murders on both sides. The Mohicans have fled and their lands are unoccupied, and they are very fertile and pleasant. It grieves us that there are no people and that there is no intention on the part of the Lords-Managers [ofthe West-India Company | to occupy them.

“

They fell much wood here to carry to the Fatherland, but the vessels are too few to take much of it. They are making a windmill to saw the wood, and we have also a grist-mill. They bake brick here, but of a poor quality.

There is good material for burning lime, oyster-shells in large quantities.

The burning of potash has not succeeded ; the master and his laborers are

greatly discouraged. We are now busy in building a fort of good quarry****

stone,” which is found not far from here in abundance.

Ihad promised [to write] to the Venerable Brothers, Rudolphus Petri, Joannes Sijlvius, and Dominie Cloppenburg, who with your Honor were charged with the

[ecclesiastical]

superintendance of these regions, but as this would take long, and the time is short, and my occupations at the present time many, willyou, Right Reverend, be pleased to give my friendly and kind regards to their reverences, and to excuse me, on condition that Iremain their debtor to fulfillmy promise, God willing, by the next voyage.” 1

Not long after the beginning of the pastorate of the Rev. Everardus Bogardus, at New Amsterdam, in 1633, a plain wooden church was built, on the north side of Pearl Street, midway between Broadway and Whitehall Street. In 1642, the building having become dilapidated and unsafe, a stone edifice, seventy-two feet long, fifty wide, and sixteen high, was erected inside the fort. The site of the new church, selected by Director-General William Kieft, dissatisfied the greater part of the congregation, particularly when it was discovered that the building intercepted the wind when blowing from the southeast, thereby stopping the revolution of the four-armed windwheel

1Documents relating to the colonial history ofthe state ofNew York, vol.ii,pp.763-770.

Amsterdam’s oldk.st estate, and distinct enlargements, hv is. tirion. 1760.

(The seven kinds of points and lines mentioned in the inscription are not shown on this copy of the original diagram.)

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operating the public grist-mill standing at the northwest side of the fort, and alarming the inhabitants lest the quantity of flour needed by them should not be ground.

The cultivation of tobacco by the colonists of New Netherland was beinm as soon as their tilled fields provided them with food-products sufficient for themselves and cattle. It is said that, as early as the year 1616, when the English colony on the James River comprised three hundred and fifty-onesouls, a law was enacted to prevent the settlers there from neglecting the

cultivation of food crops in order to engage in that of tobacco. As the indigenous plant grew vigorously in the rich soil of the cleared-forest land of New Netherland, the colonists soon discovered that it would be profitable for them to cultivate it for shipment and sale in Holland, where it then commanded high prices. In 1629, the West-India Company, in a memorial enumerating its financial benefits to Holland, called attention to the fact that

“

its ships had brought there a considerable quantity of tobacco, which is now an important article of commerce.”

The engagement in 1629 of Wybrandt, Tomys, and Herman Swartwout as a firm in the wholesale business of buying and selling tobacco in the city of Amsterdam evidently gave the three brothers no little prominence among its merchants, insomuch as the importation of tobacco into Holland was stillin its incipiency at that time. It may also be inferred that their transactions associated them with traders going to and returning from New Netherland. which country had been known by that geographical title fifteen years prior to their residence in Amsterdam.

The site of the city of Amsterdam at the conjunction of the Amstel River, and an estuary of the Southern Sea (Zuiderzee), called the Ij,1 was originally the site of a castle, built in 1204, by Gysbrecht 11., Lord of Amstel, near which he constructed a dam that in time obtained the name of Amsterdam. Two centuries later a flourishing city was attracting there merchants and ships from other marts and ports. In 1490 Maximilian 1., Emperor of German}’, conferred the right upon the city of using the imperial crown of that country as the crest of its armorial insignia. In the seventeenth century Amsterdam was recognized as the greatest commercial city in Europe.

The peculiar horseshoe-like curvature of the broad canals, bending southward from the Ij, margined by streets and spanned by bridges, conduces greatly to the picturesqueness of the city. These and other intersecting canals, or grachten as they are styled in Dutch, now divide the city, it is said, into ninety islands connected by nearly three hundred bridges. As described

1 Pronounced as I.

Nlr.W OK Till. NOT 111 SIDF. OK I!IK. OLD CHLRCK, AMVIT.RDAM,I765.

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by Baedeker: “The depth of water in the gnuhtcn is about three or three and a half feet, below which is a layer of mud of equal thickness. To prevent malarial exhalations the water in them is constantly renewed by an arm of the North Sea Canal while the mud is removed by dredgers. The chief concentric canals within the city are the Priiiscugracht, Keizersgraclii and /lecrcugrackt (forty-nine yards wide), flanked with avenues of elms. The finest buildings, including-many in the peculiar Dutch-brick style of the seventeenth

* ** *

century, are on the Keizersgracht and Hccroigvacht.

“

The houses are all constructed on foundations of piles, a fact which gave rise to the jest of Erasmus of Rotterdam, that he knew a city whose inhabitants dwelt on the tops of trees like rooks. The upper stratum of the natural soil is loam and loose sand, upon which no permanent building can be erected unless a solid substratum be first formed by driving piles (from fourteen to sixty feet in length) into the firmer sand beneath. The operations of the builder below the surface of the ground are frequently as costly as those above it.” The Merchants’ Exchange (Koopwansbcurs), on the north side of the square, known as the Dam, may be instanced as substantiating these assertions, for it rests on a foundation of three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine piles, requiring the expenditure of a large sum of money.

The most ancient church in Amsterdam is the Old Church {Ondc-Kerk), standing in the northern part of the city between Warmocsslraat and the Oude-zijds-Voorburgival (old side city rampart).

The Gothic edifice, erected about the year 1300, and later enlarged, is two hundred and ninety-four feet long and two hundred and thirteen wide. The steeple (in which there is a large chime of silvery-toned bells on which tunes are played by automatic machinery on the striking of the clock) is two hundred and forty feet high from the ground. The lofty arched wooden ceiling of the auditorium is supported by forty-two columns. A high window, on the right side of the main doorway, displays in colored glass the armorial insignia of all the burgomasters of the city holding office between the years 1578 and 1767. The rich emblazonments of the Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Death of the Virgin, in the windows of the Our Lady’s Choir (Lieve Vnnvcn-Ckoor), and the Cross-bow Shooters’ Choir ( -ire exquisite in execution. The mortuary monuments and mural tablets in different parts of the spacious building set forth in Latin epitaphs the famous exploits of a number of eminent navigators and soldiers whose remains are there entombed.

The New Church {Nicuwc-Kcrk), dating the laying of its first foundation in the year 1408 and the beginning of the erection of its original walls in the year 14 14, stands between the Dam and the Nicuivc-ziuis-Voorbiirgioal (the new

VII-W OF THE INTKRIOK Ol’ THE NEW CHURCH, SOUTH END, A.MSTI-KDAM, 1765.

An open grave in the foreground.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

side city rampart). Despoiled and damaged by fires at different times, the present restored Gothic cruciform structure is considered to be one of the most attractive churches in Holland. It is three hundred and fifteen feet long, and two hundred and ten feet through the transepts. The arched wooden ceiling of the nave and the groined stone ceilings of the aisles arc supported by fifty-two clustered columns of stone. The building is lighted by seventy-five large windows. In the middle of the church hang” five large and twelve smaller brass chandeliers ; the first having respectively thirty and the others sixteen or twenty branches with sconces. The elaborately carved wooden pulpit (/>rcdikstocl), with its massive canopy, is a conspicuous feature of the spacious interior. A number of memorial pillars and monuments in different parts of the auditorium serve to preserve the fame of the achievements of some of the

great admirals of Holland whose bodies arc buried beneath them.

The Palace {Jut Palcis), opposite the Nicuwc-Kcrk, is one of the most imposing buildings in the city. Itis two hundred and eighty-two feet broad, two hundred and thirty-five deep, and one hundred and forty-six high, exclusiveofthetower,whichisforty-one feetinheight. AfterNapoleonI.hadmade his brother, Louis Bonaparte, King of the Netherlands, the building (the erection of which had been begun, in 1648, as a city hall (Stad/nns), and was finished, in 1655, at cost of eight million florins), was presented, in 1808, to King Louis, by the city, for his majesty’s residence. The great hall {dcgrootc zaal ) on the second floor, now the royal reception room, is one hundred feet high, one hundred and seventeen long, and fifty-seven wide. The walls of this magnificent chamber are lined with white marble brought from Italy. “In the centre of

“

the marble floor,” as described by Baedeker, is a representation of the firmament, inlaid in copper, which, however, is covered by a thick carpet manufactured in Deventer, and is not shown to the public. Above the entrance to the throne-room is a representation of Justice, with Ignorance and Quarrelsomeness at her feet; to the left is Punishment, to the right a skeleton (now concealed), and above, Atlas with the globe.” From a set of bells, in the clock-tower surmounting the building, is elicited, at the end of each quarter of an hour, a popular tune, by automatic machinery. The foundation of the weighty edifice rests on thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty-nine piles.

The enlargement of the city’s commerce in the beginning of the seventeenth century necessitated the erection of several public weighing-houses. The brick, towered structure, erected in 1488 as a part of the city wall, and used as a gateway, called Saint Anthony’s gate (Sint Antouis-Poort), was, in the spring of 1 6 r7, modified and reconstructed for a weighing-house, which obtained the name ofSaint Anthony’s weighing-house (Sint.lu£/ioiiieswaag) . Its situation at the south end of the Zeedij/c, where now is the open space

I’lIK SOUTH SIDK OK TUT. OLD ARCHIVE, OR SAINT ANTHONY’S \VHIGHIXG-HOLSK, A.\ The New Market in the foreground.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

titled the New Market {Nicuwc Markt), between the Gelder sche Kaai and the Kloveuicrsburgzual, being somewhat central, certain rooms in the building were for many years used by several societies, one of which was Saint Luke’s Guild (Suit Lucas-Gilde), an association of painters, glaziers, and sculptors. The chamber of the Surgeons’ Guild (7 Chinirgijns-Gildc) was in the upper part of the building, as also was the dissecting room (dc Siiijkauicr), which

was made famous by Rembrandt van Rijn’s painting, the Anatomical Lecture, in which Doctor Nicholaas Tulp and seven other members of the guild were so notably pictured in 1632.

The antique structure, now known as the Old Archive (tie Oud slrchicf), has become a depository for the preservation of historical manuscripts, and ecclesiastical and civic records of the city of Amsterdam. The baptismal and marriage registers of the different churches of the city, shelved in the stack-rooms, are highly valued sources of genealogical information.

At the time of the extension of the city westward, undertaken in 161 1, the large canals, the Hecrcngracht, Kcizcrsgracht, and PrinscngracJit, running southward from the Brouzversgracht toward the site of the later-made Lcidschegracht, were constructed. Westward of the first-mentioned three, another canal, which extended southward along the inner side of the new wall of the city, was excavated and called the Lijubaau or Baangracht. A little north of the junction of this canal and the Brouwcrsgracht, the new Haarlem gate (Nicuwe Haarlcmmcrpoort), was built in 1615. Between the Hecrcngracht (once a part of the old city wall) and the new city wall, bordering westward the Lijnbaansgracht, streets were laid out and named, along which, in that and the following decade, a laro-e number of dwellings and warehouses were erected.

The ease of access and egress to and from the Kcizcrsgracht, for sailing

vessels crossing the //’, in all probability led the three members of the firm of

the Swartwout Brothers to select this recently laid-out part of the city as their

place of business and residence. Standing, as their dwellings and warehouse

were, on the street running along the west side of the Kcizcrsgracht and

within sight of the Brouwersgracht north of them, they were not far from

either the Oude-Kcrk or the Nicuczvc-Kcrk.

Wybrandt Swartwout, probably the eldest of the three brothers, may have

been the first to marry. Herman Swartwout had, on May 1, 1629, become, at

Amsterdam, the husband of Geertruijt Schutte, of Lockum, a village in the

province of Geldcrland.

In Holland, at that time, a public announcement of an intended marriage

was required to be made in the places where the affianced persons then

resided and had recently been residing. It was therefore in compliance with

ATTESTATION FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE BANNS OF TOMYS SWARTWOUT AND AURIJETJEN SIJMONS.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

this legal enjoinment that Tomys Swartwout, on becoming betrothed to Adrijetjen, daughter of Sijmon Sijmons, a broker (mahc/acr), dwelling on the Prinscngracht, in the city of Amsterdam, had their proposed nuptials proclaimed in Groningen, whence he had moved to Amsterdam. As entered upon the Proclamation Register, preserved in the Old Archive of Groningen, the following attestation was made concerning the publication of the banns in that city:

“4 Februariy 1630. “Dc Erbare Tomas Swartwolt van Gronyngen in de Lammc Ifuingestrate ende de docchsavic dochtcr Aerijaentijen Sijmcns van Amsterdam wort dc proclamatic Jiicr conscntccrt myts dat sc dacr occk motcn proclaniccrt worden, dacr van attestatic vcrtoneu.”

“

February 4, 1630.

“The Honorable Tomas Swartwolt of Groningen | living recently] in Lamhuinge Street, and the virtuous maiden Aerijaentijen Sijmens of Amsterdam ; the publication was allowed here inasmuch as it must also be proclaimed

there, as the attestation hereof shows.”

The attestation for the publication ofthe banns at Amsterdam, dated March 21, 1630, contained in the Church Registry Book (Kcrkeiij/c Intcckening Bock), and presented here by photography, has a special value as a memorial, inasmuch as it displays the signatures of the man and the woman who were about to be united by the holy bonds of matrimony as husband and wife:

‘

“

Comparcerden hiervoor Thomas Swartwout van Groningen out 23 yacrcn vertoonende actc van het oaen van dc geboden tot Groningen, woonende op dc Kcyscrsgracht, tabakskooper, en Ariacntjc Sijmons van A. out 22 Jacrcn ocassis tccrt mit Sy111011 Symonsz haer vacder en Tryn Grcbbers Jiacr mocder woonende op dc Prinsengracht.

“Dcr socckende hare drye Sondaeghse itytrocpingcn, omme naer de sclvc dc voorsz, trouivc te solcnniseren en in alles tc voltrecken, so verrc dacr anders geve vbettige vcrhinder ingc voor en vatic. Ende nacr dien zy bydc loacrlicyt vereiacrden datsc vryc pcrsoonen wareu, ende malcandcrcn in blocde.

“

IVaar door ecu Christelijck huivclijck mochte verhindcrt worden, niet en bestonden, zijn htcn Jiaer gheboden vcriuiltigliet. “Tomys Szvartwout. Adrijetjen Sijmons.”

“

For this appeared Thomas Swartwout of Groningen, twenty-three years old (presenting proof of the publication of the banns at Groningen), a tobacco merchant [now], residing on the Kcyscrsgracht, and Ariaentje Sijmons of Amsterdam, twenty-two years old, assisted by her father, Sijmon Sijmons, and by

THE SWAKTWOUT CHRONICLES.

her mother, Catryna Grcbbers, residing on the Prinsengracht, seeking the crying out of their banns on three Sundays in order to obtain the solemnization of the aforesaid marriage, and to have it wholly consummated, so far as otherwise before granted, changed, hindered, and interpreted. And for that they truly declare that they arc free persons and together in extraction.

“Nothing existing where a Christian marriage should be prevented, they here proffer their compliance. “

Tomys Swartwout. Adrijetjen Sijmons.”

As recorded in the marriage book (Jiet trouivboek) of the Nieuzuc-Kerk, Tomys Swartwout and Adrijetjen Sijmons were joined in holy matrimony on April 7, 1630, by the Reverend Rudolphus Petri, in the venerable edifice still standing on the west side of the Dam, but now greatly changed architecturally

of their marriage.

inside and outside since the celebration t>

Their conjugal happiness was unfortunately brief, for, in giving birth to a son, on the seventeenth of December, that year, the earthly life of the suffering mother abruptly ended. Jan, their son, who was baptized in the month of January, 1631, having inherited the sum of four hundred florins, the money was placed in the hands ofhis father, who, on the fifteenth ofMay gave bonds that he would pay the same to his son at his majority ; the grandfather of the child, Sijmon Sijmons, and his uncle, Wybrandt Swartwout, being accepted as sureties. Whether the boy lived through childhood, or died while stillan infant, there is no information extant to determine the one or the other of these alternatives.

It was Tomys Swartwout’s good fortune to become acquainted with Hendrickjen, the amiable daughter of Barent Otsen, a prominent book-publisher of the city of Amsterdam. They became engaged shortly thereafter, and as required by law they subscribed their names to an attestation for the publication of the banns of their intended marriage as is recorded in the Kcrkclijk

Intcckening Bock of the Nieuwe-Kerk, on

” the tenth of May, 1631.

Appeared before the Commissioners Heyndrick Coppit and Dirk de Graef, Thomas Swartwout, of Groningen, widower of Arijaentje Sijmons, residing on the Kcysersgracht, and Heyndrickje Barents, of Amsterdam, twenty years old, assisted by her father, Barent Otsen, residing in Brcestraat, at the

****

Ossemarct. ” Tomys Swartwout, Hendrickjen, Barents daughter.” On June 3, 1631, Tomys Swartwout and Hendrickjen Otsen were married, in the Nicuxve-Kcrk, by Domine Joannes Cornelius Silvius. “

1 The Dutch text, Hendrickjen Barents doc/ier” translated, means Hendrickjen, Barents daughter.

“”

“4T , “4T , f—V f—V

*..

“. “.

AU-BLfc^”

**<

•

ATTESTATION FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE P.ANNS OF TOMVS SWARTWOUT AND HENDRICKJEN BARENTS OiSI-N.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

The joyous event was followed by a supper which was made memorable by the reading-of an cpithalamium composed by the bride’s brother, Otto, and the singing of two wedding songs of which he was also the author.

…

jt |

RKCORI) OF THE MARRIAGE OF “‘l’OMAb SWARTWOUT AND lIENRICKJE ISARKNTS.

The nuptial poem and the bridal sonnets were published by her father. A translation of the text of the title page of the uniquely-embellished and rare souvenir reads :

Nuptial Poem

in honor of the desired

marriage, between the honorable,

worthy, wise, prudent bridegroom,

Thomas Swartwout,

and the modest, virtuous, well-

mannered, intelligent, discreet young lady,

Hendrickjen, Barents daughter,

joined in holy matrimony on the

third of June, at Amsterdam, in the year 163 1.

¦X-¦X ¦X •fc

At Amsterdam.

Printed by Barent Otsz, book-printer, residing

outside of the Old Regulator’s Gate, in the new Printing-house, 1631. 1

The epithalamium, comprising one hundred and twenty-six thirteen-syllable trochaic verses, is printed in large and attractive script covering five prettily-bordered pages. The first marriage-song (brtcylofts liedt) is a composition of six four-line stanzas, and the second of six, each of eight lines. Both are set in script and are appropriately ornamented. The tunes to which they were sung are named beneath the titles. The custom in the Netherlands of singing at wedding festivals songs composed by relatives and friends of the bride and bridegroom is one ofearly origin and isstillfollowed. The copies ofthe prints

1 The inscription encircling the Eden scene in the vignette, Gclyk Adams sonde dc doot ter ivcrelt

brocht so heeft Cliristus ons met syn bloet gecocht, translated reads :As Adam’s sin brought death into

the world so Christ has redeemed us withIIis blood.

Vide:Photo-engraved pages of the Dutch text of the poem and songs and translations of them

in the Appendix. Document No. 5.

.4 (@ ;t k,

V1»

i*f

t.xj3 ”TTT” DUTCH

>: BRVILOFTS GHEDICHT,

€er wen Set sftetoenftt f«

3tt()bi£tttll

THOMAS SVYARTWOVT, \

S^rtiwiwbaawettcfitTijifeetod

HENDRICKIENBARENT&D”

t^etTaemtinden l^.^cltmnaet ten y

? 3mmsMmtnMkftexmfflnnoi6)L,

«” y

tL,

ToIAMSTELKKDAM,

bujbni>’i3i^ifilc3clKrsJ)oujl/itvicttt«a«wa>jucl(«-^i(»?i

f./

“».„.” •»..• ‘••¦’ ‘•••• >’• > TEXT OF THE TITI.K ]’\CE OK ‘I11 K NL’I’IIAI.J>OE.M.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

VIKW OF TIIK RKC.rUKRSI’OORT, KNOWN LATKR AS THE MUNT (jMINt).

of the nuptial poem and the songs are about one-third less than the size of the original.

The place of business of Barent Otsen (or Otsz), was then on Broad Street {Brecstraat), on which was the space called the Ox Market (Osscmarct), south of the Old Regulator’s gate {Oudc Rcgulierspoorf). He had established himself in Amsterdam as a printer in 1612, and in 1614, published the once popular but now rare work (a small octavo), titled the Great Riddle Book (‘ T Groote Raedtccl Bock). In 1626 he printed for C. L. van der Plasse the precious duodecimo, the Golden Harp (dc Guide Harpe), containing the Little Songs (de Licdckcns), composed by Karel van Mander. On October 2i, 16 19, he was enrolled a member of the Booksellers’ Guild {Bockverhooper s-gilde) of Amsterdam. His trade device is embellished with his initials and several ecclesiastical symbols.

The birth ofTomys and Hendrickjen Otsen Swartwout’s first child, Roeloff, was followed by his baptism in the Oudc-Kerk, on June 1, T634. -As was a common custom in Holland, he was given as the first-born son the name of his father’s father. Their second son, Barent, baptized in the Oude-Kerk, on

PART OF A MAP OF THE CITY OF AMSTERDAM MADE IN 1625.

Showing the situation of Regulterspoort, the Osic Marct, and Breestniat, west of the Amstel River.

THE SWAkTWOTT CHRONICLES.

July 15, 163cS,was called so inhonor ofhis mother’s father, and their daughter,

Trijntjc (Catrijna), baptized in the same church, on December 15, 1639,

received the name of her father’s mother, and Jacomijntje, baptized in the

Nicuzvc-Kerk, on February 10, 1646, that of her mother’s mother.

While Tomys Swartwout was associated with his brothers at Amsterdam as a tobacco dealer, the tulip craze, “Tulipomania” phenomenally distempered for a time the minds of the stolid Netherlanders. A bulbous plant, called by the Turks tulbend, from the resemblance of its flower to a turban, was brought from Constantinople, and was so finely cultivated in Holland that from the rare beauty of its flowers it began shortly to command exorbitant prices. In 1635 so enormous a sum as 100,000 florins ($40,000) was recognized as the value of forty choice bulbs. A plant of the superb species called Semper Augustus. was sold, a year or two later, at Amsterdam, for 46,000 florins ($1,840), a fine carriage, two high-priced horses, and a double set of handsome harness.

“”

Large fortunes,” an historian remarks, were acquired by speculations on this article, which, in Amsterdam alone, involved, it is said, no less a sum than 10,000,000 of guilders. Persons of all ranks, sexes, and ages neglected their ordinary vocations to amuse themselves with this novel species of gambling; but as those who purchased were often of slender means and unable to fulfiltheir engagements, the speculation became so unsafe that men lost their confidence

‘

in it, and in course of time it died away of itself.”

The commercial enterprise at that time of the merchants of Amsterdam was returning them great wealth. In 1638 the siege of Antwerp was about to be undertaken by Prince Fredrik Henrik, the stadtholder of the United Provinces. While preparations were making for beleaguering the Belgian city,

Comte d’Estrades, the French ambassador, complained to the prince, as is related by Davies, “that the merchants of Amsterdam transmitted to Antwerp constant supplies of arms and ammunition. Fredrik-Henrik, having sent to inquire concerning the matter, one Beyland was brought before the magistrates of the town, accused of having freighted four fly-boats with powder, muskets, and pikes, for Antwerp. Beyland boldly confessed the fact, saying that the merchants of Amsterdam had a right to trade where they pleased, and there were a hundred commissioners from Antwerp in the town, of whom he was

‘

one ; and he added, that ifanything were to be gained by trading to hell, he would risk burning his sails.’ The magistrates acquitted him, on the ground that he had done his duty to his employers ; a decision which roused the prince

”

into a transport of rage : You see,’ said he to d’Estrades, what patience I

must have with these brutes of merchants ;Ihave no greater enemies than

the town of Amsterdam ;but ifIonce gain Antwerp,Iwillbring them so low

1 lliston of Holland. Davius, vol. ii., p. 607.

–

¦>

\||\\ mi Mil IXMKIOK o| Mil Oil) l111 K( 11, WI I II)I, \MMIKIMM,\”j()^

VIEW OF THE FRONT OF THE CI’IY HALL, AMSTERDAM, I765.

A part of the east wallof the New Church seen on the west side of the building.

tiii<; swwßTworr chronicles.

‘

that they shall never rise again ; a speech, affording, perhaps, the best possible explanation of the motives which actuated the citizens on this occasion. The city of Amsterdam, the most influential member of the States of Holland, which, in their turn, were; predominant in the States-General, became thus the virtual head of the Union, and as such was ever viewed with a jealous eye by the stadthoklers, to whom it appeared as a rival in authority and consid’

eration. 1 1

“

Adverting to the influx of multitudes of refugees of different nations who sought shelter within her boundaries,” as causing the rapid advancement ol Holland in the esteem of the other nations of Kurope, Davies further remarks :

“

Fugitives from the Spanish Netherlands, from Spain itself, Protestants driven from Germany by the miseries of the Thirty Years’ War, jews from Portugal and Huguenots from Prance, found here welcome, safety, and employment. Nor was it more in the numbers than in the sort of population she thus gained that Holland found her advantage. The fugitives were not criminals escaped from justice, speculators lured by the hope of plunder, nor idlers coming thither to enjoy the luxuries which their own country did not afford ; they were generally men persecuted on account of their love of civil liberty, or their devotion to their religious tenets ; had they been content to sacrifice the one or the other to their present ease and interest the)-had remained unmolested where the)-were ; it was by their activity, integrity, and resolution that they rendered themselves obnoxious to the tyrannical and bigoted governments which drove them from their native land ; and these virtues they carried with them to their adopted country, peopling it not with vagabonds or indolent voluptuaries, but with brave, intelligent, and useful citizens. Thus not only was the waste in the population of the provinces consequent on the war rapidly supplied, but, by means of the industry and the skill of the new comers, their manufactures were carried to so high a pitch of perfection that in a short time””‘ they *were* able to surpass and undersell the traders of every other

“‘

nation.

“At the time of the peace, this nook of land (the province of Holland containing scarcely 700,000 souls, and the others proportionally less) found itself mistress of the island of Amboyna and its dependencies ; Handa, a part

of the Moluccas; Minado, in the Island of Celebes; Timor, the town of Malacca; Tenasserim and Gudjansalang ; the fort of Gucldria and the towns of Paliacatte and Ulegapatnam, on the coast of Coromandel ; with the town of Batavia and the surrounding country in the Island of Java ; the fort of St. George, in Africa; and the town and colon)’ of New Amsterdam, in North

1 History of Holland. I).i\ics, \ol. n., \)\). noS, 609.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

America. In South America the possessions of the West-India Company comprised a few years before this period three hundred leagues of territory from Siara to the Hay of All Saints, but were now much diminished by the revolt of the Portuguese. The Dutch had likewise discovered portions of New 1lolland and Van Diemcn’s Land, but had not as yet attempted to form a colony”on any part of this continent.

To enumerate the various articles which were the objects of trade in these settlements, as well as almost every country of the globe, would be tedious ; everything conducive to the support, convenience, and luxury of man was brought in abundance to the shores of the United Provinces, where, however, but a comparatively small portion was consumed ; the remainder being again exported to supply the demands of other nations, while the inhabitants, retaining just sufficient for social decencies and comforts, were content to live in their ancient style of simplicity ; nor was the increase of riches among them followed by the usual consequences of luxury, ostentation,

or extravagance.

“

From another vice, often attendant on increased wealth, that of avarice, they cannot be judged equally free. An excessive greediness of gain began to pervade all ranks of men ; which, though not displayed in acts of dishonesty or rapacity, led them to devote themselves with too much passion to pursuits of traffic and speculation. The avarice of the Dutch, however, never interfered with the love of their country ; and the same individual whose habits of economy in private life amounted almost to parsimony, was found to contribute cheerfully a portion of his income to the wants of the state and to lavish without grudging large sums to forward the progress of any work having for its object the relief of the poor or the improvement of his native city in strength, beauty, or commodiousness.” !

At the beginning of the fifth decade of the seventeenth century, the mercantile and commercial prosperity of Holland began exhibiting signs of a general decline in vigor and magnitude. Davies, commenting upon the great

“

blight that had fallen upon the country in the year 1653, remarks : Among the Dutch the causes of anxiety for the termination of hostilities [between England and Holland] were increased in ten-fold proportion. The whole of the eighty years’ maritime war with Spain had neither exhausted their treasury nor inflicted so much injury on their commerce as the events of the last two years. The province of Holland alone paid from six to seven millions annually as interest of her debt, and while the taxes began to press severely on all ranks of the people, their usual sources ofgain were nearly closed ; the

History of Holland. Davies, vol. ii.,pp. 663-665.

THE SWAKTWOUT CIIRONICLKS.

‘

Greenland fishery was stopped, the herring fishery, the gold mine of Ilolland,’ unsafe and almost worthless, the English having captured an immense number of the boats ; and the decay of trade so great, that in Amsterdam

‘

alone 3,000 houses were lying vacant.”

The gradual disruption of the channels of trade had been circumspectly viewed by Tomys Swartwout, who, on seeing the growing stagnation of general business in Amsterdam and the rapid lessening of the value of property in the city, began to entertain fears respecting the welfare of his family should he continue to invest his means there in business as a merchant under the adverse circumstances then attending trade and commerce in the Netherlands. He and his wife were also seriously concerned, at that time, in determining the character of the advantages which they might afford their offspring before their sons and daughters reached manhood and womanhood. The enticing accounts heard by them of the climate and the productions of New Netherland naturally directed their thoughts to the benefits to be realized by settling within its limits. They pondered the issues of this change of residence with mingled feelings of ambition and affection. They could not debar from their minds thoughts of a separation from their kindred in Holland and an exclusion from the social, educational, and religious privileges so long enjoyed by them in Amsterdam. They mentally surveyed the self-denials to which they would be subjected on becoming denizens of the remote country, where most of their surroundings would be primitive in character, where they would be destitute of many household comforts and conveniences, and be compelled to inure themselves and their children to various hardships incidental to their settlements in “the bush.”

At that time the government of New Netherland was administered by General Petrus Stuyvesant, resident director-general of the West-India Company, who had assumed the responsibilities of his office at New Amsterdam, in May, 1647, as successor to Director-General Kieft. In a letter addressed to him on March 21, 1651, the directors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the West-India Company disclose in part the will and purpose of the corporation in opening the territory of New Netherland for the settlement of colonists :

****

“We direct you herewith, not to grant land to any one without his acknowledging properly the authority of the West-India Company, and you will especially take care that henceforth not more land is granted to people than what in your opinion, after a thorough examination of their means, they will be able and intend shortly to populate, cultivate, and bring into a

***

“ood state of tillage.

1listory ofIlolland. D.vics, vol. 11,[)[).721, 722.

tiii<: swartwout ciironiclks.

“

We direct you therefore expressly not to allow or grant any more land to anybody except under the conditions stated above, and keeping Long-Island (which we believe to be the most important and best piece) for the company, to be divided upon occasion for the accommodation of farmers and planters, until a rule shall have been made, how much land shall be allotted

* *•**

to each colonist.

“

Itis astonishing that the delegates |who had been sent to Holland from New Netherland] dare spread the report in the community [on their return to New Netherland | that the company owned no other soil in New Netherland then Manhattans Island, while it can be clearly proved that they [the members of the company] have bought vast tracts of land on the South [Delaware]

River, on the Fresh [the Connecticut] River, on Long Island, and at many other places in the neighborhood.” 1

After many perplexing doubts and interchanges of opinion regarding the advantages accruing to them and their children by becoming colonists of New Netherland, Tomys Swartwout and his wife finally determined to dispose of their property in Amsterdam and engage in such preparations as were necessary for them to make before leaving Holland.

At the beginning of the month of March, 1652, on the day for the sailing of the ship in which they had taken passage for themselves and their children to the Mauritius River, they sorrowfully parted with their kindred and acquaintances gathered on the wharf overlooking the //’, and embarked, and were borne away from the seat of their first connubial home and earl)-domestic joys. The events oftheir voyage to New Amsterdam were specialized by no remarkable incidents.”

On landing at Manhattans Island,” they were cordially greeted by Director-General Stuyvesant, who graciously expressed a desire to assist them in such ways as would enable them to settle speedily and comfortably upon a boitwcrij or farm, which they might select under his direction and approval.

The colonists in the little city of New Amsterdam also hospitably welcomed them, and they were soon provided with a temporary abiding-place and adequate comforts while sojourning there. The rude character of the wooden buildings, stretching across the south end of the island eastward of Fort Amsterdam, ceased in a short time to impress them as a novelty, as also did the dilapidated condition of the fort, partly constructed of stone, logs, palisades, and earth, in which were the church and one or two buildings occupied by the officials of the West-India Company. In their intercourse with the inhabitants they obtained considerable information concerning the growth of New Netherland and the prosperity of the different settlements.

1Documents 1elating to the colonial hibton of the State of New York, \ 01. xiv.,pp. 132. 133.

TIIR SWWRTWOI’T CHRONICLES.

Looking-southwardly across tlie East River (Oosf Rivicr), they could see on Long Island {Latigc Eylandl) most of the buildings of the settlement to which had been mven the name of Breukelen, that of a village in the province ofUtrecht, in Holland, about fifteen miles south of the city of Amsterdam. Six English miles southeast of Breukclen, they learned was another small collection of houses and barns which had acquired the name of Amersfoort, that of another well-known village in the province of Utrecht, twenty-nine miles distant from the city of Amsterdam. They were further told that eight miles

\IL\V OF lilK CITY OF NEW AMSTERDAM

•

I’.ic-similc of the cnj^i\i\mi; in A \’n m<.<e 01 O/ihrkrin/, U’,;/</</ of IU\t In vtiii^ tii// Iniiiim //(/’//.iiitl-land. /)(!<>/ Ainolilu\ A/on/iiniis. 7″Am\L)dam. 1671

south of the hamlet of Breukelen was another called Gravesande, and seven northeastward of Breukelen was the site of a number of colonists’ houses denominated Middelburcr the name of a village on the island of Walcheren, in the province of Zeelancl, in the Netherlands ; and that, three miles northeast of it, was still another settlement which had been called Vlissingen after a seaport on the south side of the island of Walcheren. They were likewise told that twenty miles eastward of Breukelen lay a sixth hamlet, distinguished by the name of Heemstede, the title of a village in the province of North Ilolland. (See map, page 2.)

One hundred and thirty-four miles north of the city of New Amsterdam, beginning at Bears’ Island {Bccrcn Jiylandt), in the Mauritius or Noorrf Rivicr, the extensive manor of Rensselaerswijck stretched northward along both sides of the river as far as the northermost mouth of the Mohawk River (A/aquaa Kill). Small sections of this vast estate, as Tomys Swartwout and his wife were told, had been divided into farms which were cultivated by colonists

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TIIK SWARTWOI’T CHRONICLES.

planted on them by Kiliaen van Rensselaer, under certain privileges granted him as a patroon of New Netherland, on November 19, 1629, by the West-India Company. They also learned that, in consequence of an order issued byDirector-General Stuyvesant, in March, 1652, for the removal of the buildings erected near the walls of Fort Orange, a village, bearing-the name of Bcverswijck, had been founded, a little north of the company’s fort. They were further informed that certain colonists were cultivating farms on States Island (Statcn Eylandt) lying south of Manhattans Island.

Among the colonists with whom they became acquainted was Jan Snedekcr,

who had settled at New Amsterdam, in 1642. Circumspect and resolute, he disclosed to them privately many particulars of his experience which greatlyenlightened them respecting the administration of the affairs of the West-India Company in New Netherland, and enabled them to understand what was necessary

to be done by them to obt? ;n in an eligible and accessible locality the quantity of land they desired to pi. .c under cultivation.

They also formed a lasting friendship with Jan Stryker, then thirty-seven years of age, a recently arrived colonist from Rumen, a village in the provinceof Drenthe, about sixty-five miles south of Groningen and eight north of Meppel. He also was waiting the grant of a bouwerij on which he might reside with his family.

Individually possessing qualities of heart and mind to attach them strongly to one another in lasting fellowship, Jan Snedekcr, Jan Stryker, and TomysSwartwout solicited ofDirector-General Stuyvesant the right of settling together

on the level reach of wildland (de vlackc bosch) or the flat bush, adjacent the outlying

farms at Breukelen and Amersfoort. The privilege was granted them, and they were forthwith apportioned the areas of ground severally desired by them. Clearing away the trees, thickets, and vines growing upon the spaces of land intended to be placed under immediate cultivation, they speedily preparedthem for seeding with such grain as would mature crops before the season of destructive frosts. The preparation of timber for the construction of their log-houses then engaged their attention. The rude architecture of their reed-thatched dwellings, having the back and sides of thick-walled fireplaces and chimneys constructed of stone or roughly made brick on the outside of one or both their gable-ends, soon began to diversify the features of the level landscape.

Barns and other wooden structures also multiplied the conspicuousfeatures of the cultivated stretches of wildland.

Through Tomys Swartwout’ s suggestion, it would seem, the settlement was given the name of the village of Midwout or Midwolde, lying about twenty-five miles eastward of the city of Groningen, where certain of his ancestors had long resided.

66 THE SWART WOUT CHRONICLES.

Having brought with them from Holland certificates of church membership, Tomys Swartwout and his wife were formally admitted to the communion and fellowship of the church at New Amsterdam. As entered on page 506 of the Hook of Members, or Register of Members hereat since the year 1649 (‘7″ Lcdcniatcn Boeck oft Register der Lcdcmatcn al/iier C seder t dc jarc /6jcj)

their names are severally the two hundred and eightieth and the two hundred and eighty-first : Thomas Swartwoudt and Hcndrickjc Barents, his wife (” Thomas Sivartwoudt, enllcndrickje, sijn huijsvr). \huijsvrouiv\.” x

Members of the Canarse tribe of Indians often roved over the unoccupied land around Midwout, and the recently settled colonists soon became accustomed to the presence of the ranging Wild People ( JVildai) as the savages inhabiting the territory of New Nethcrland were called by the Dutch. The aboriginal owners of the western part of Long Island were exceedingly friendly in their intercourse with the settlers, although the warriors frequently complained to them of the treatment to which they had been subjected by the officials of the West-India Company. Repeated promises, as they alleged, had been made them by the provincial authorities that they should be remunerated for the tracts of land allotted the colonists, and yet no evident intention had been manifested to fulfilthese declarations.

The founders of Midwout, nevertheless, became greatly alarmed on learning that a party of aggrieved Indians had slain, in May, 1652, four colonists on a bouwcrij, near Hell-channel (Hellcgat), because the company had not paid the tribal chiefs anything for it. Their fears were the more intensified a few days later by a report that the Wilden intended massacring them should the promised indemnification for the tracts of land embraced in the farms at Midwout be withheld much longer by the director-general and council of New Netherland. The principal men of the settlement at once commissioned Jan Snedeker to importune the director-general to liquidate this claim of the Indians at his earliest practicable opportunity. The value of the land ingoods,

which the tribe demanded in payment, was estimated at five hundred guilders, equal to two hundred dollars, money of the United States of America.

Jan Snedeker 1s mission was not an agreeable one. He, as other colonists, had felt the heavy pressure of the demands of the West-India Company for payments of exorbitant duties and taxes ; and he, as they, had also observed

1 On pa^e 500, the one hundred and sixth name registered is that of”Thomas Swai twout,” which

seems 10 li.nc been entered theie fust but was afterward rewritten with that of his” wife.

On pa^e 506, the two hundred and nmel\” -fourih name le^istcied is that of Cornelius Sw artwout,”

which was evidently intended” for that of “Cornelius Swart,” who is assumed to be the son of ”Jacob

Hellakets,” otheiwise called Jacob Swut and “Jacob Swartwout,” who was not related to the members

of the Swartwout family.

Till* SWARTWOI’T CIIRON ICLKS.

that the wealthy company was usually remiss in fulfilling its promises of assist ance and protection to settlers when such service was attended with outlays ol money ; and he, as they, had also seen well-born, highly-educated, and patriotic men so bitterly persecuted in New Nctherland that his own manhood seemed debased in witnessing the public humiliations of the fair-minded and virtuous settlers who had dared to criticise openly the sordid selfishness of the directorate

of the avaricious corporation.

Confident that the director-general would deny the charge that the West-India Company was indebted to the Indians for the land conveyed to the settlers at Midwout, and would resort to subterfuges of specious reasoning in

order to make it appear that the corporation was in no way responsible for the antagonistic attitude of the JVildeu, the courageous emissary sought an immediate interview with him. Discovering that he would not concede the fact that the people at Midwout were occupying land for which the previous Indian owners had not been paid, Jan Snedeker thereupon vehemently declared that, should no immediate recognition be taken of the perilous position of the inhabitants of Midwout, upon him as the executive officer of the West-India Company would rest the guilt of recklessly placing an unprotected body of men, women, and children at the mercy of a band of exasperated and revengeful barbarians. Unwilling to be reQ-arded as the author of hostilities that might be inaugurated by the Indians detrimental to the company’s interest, the wary official promised to make good whatever money or commodities Jan Snedeker and his associates nwht contribute to satisfy for a time the savages demanding immediate payment for the land at Midwout.

The provoked delegate, confident that the promise would not be fulfilled should he accept it, surlily quitted the presence of the diplomatic director-general. On disclosing the result of his conference with the irascible agent of the West-India Company, the troubled colonists, compelled by the adverse circumstances attending their settlement at Midwout, determined to arrange as quickly as practicable with the Canarse chiefs the terms upon which they might be compensated for the land of the rlacke bosch farms.

The double-dealing servitor of the covetous corporation was not a little terror-stricken by the grave accusations which Jan Snedeker had made in charo-Jno-him with breaking faith with the friendly Indians and affording them a pretext for massacring innocent and peaceable settlers and eventually involving the West-India Company in an unnecessary and expensive war. In a letter, dated at New Amsterdam, on Monday, June 17, 1652, and addressed to the members of the Council of New Netherland, Director-General Stuyvrsant plausibly endeavored to exonerate himself from any culpability in the matter of seating colonists on land not owned by the West-India Company, and yet

68 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

“

admitted that he had allowed Jan Snediger to give or to promise secretly a

“

gratification to the savages claiming the ownership of the land at Midwout. The purpose inciting him to write this communication was, as he too truthfully remarked, to influence the members of the council to draw up and place

“

on record a resolution by means of which he should have in the future a

“

better defence before the Lords-Directors of the West-India Company,

and which, as he further explained, should “prevent any blame of negligence

falling upon us.”

“Jan Snediger has been pleased to address us in a most unmannerly way, saying among other things, that upon me and mine should |fall] the losses and damages hereafter

[caused]

by the natives. These words were shouted so loud that every one could hear them, which is derogatory not only to our person but also to our official position, and not willing to submit to such insult, we have been compelled to inform your Honors of the occurrence and call for your advice and assistance.

“As to the matter itself, your Honors should know that shortly before the last murder |of colonists by the Indians] the said Jan Snediger came tome and reported in the presence of the Reverend Doctor Megapolensis that some savages had come to see him demanding payment for the land at the vlacke bos, but the discussions had about it, our proposals and the consequences resulting from it cannot be known to you. They can be brought under two heads as follows :

“i. Is it expedient and advantageous to uphold the savages in their unmannerly and impudent demand so far as to buy and pay again upon their threats the lands which previously they have of their own good will sold, given, ceded, and received payment for, and which partly have since been

occupied ?

“

2. Would it not lead to serious consequences, ifit can be proved, that there is in the midst of the purchased land some which has not been bought, (although we are not quite convinced of it), or what would be the consequences at this conjuncture ifwe gave a small gratification to the savages, or would their ionoble and insatiable avarice not take advantage of it and consider it as an inducement to murder more Christians, imagining them to be faint-hearted, and threatening a massacre that later on they may obtain money and goods for another piece of wild and waste land ?

“

Concerning these points, Iam somewhat in doubt whether the savages had a better claim to the wild and waste bush, upon which God and nature had grown trees, than any other Christian people ; and what proof and assurance could be produced that the savages had a better right and title to this parcel of land than other savages, even than the greatest sachem or chief who

THE SWARTWOI’T CHRONICLES. 69

a long time ago had sold, given and ceded the whole piece of land and its dependencies to the former officers of the Honorable |West-India | Company, and had received according to the declaration of the late director and council satisfactory payment for it in goods.

“

Nevertheless and notwithstanding it was improper and contrary to all reason and equity, we have agreed for the sake of preventing blame and new troubles to allow the said Jan Snediger to give or to promise secretly a gratification to the savages, and to make a report to us that in time we might refund it, but we never thought, much less absolutely directed |any one | to promise for so small a piece of land so large a sum at the expense of the company or of our own funds, especially not on such uncertain conditions and terms.

“

To have in future a better defence before the aforesaid Lords-Directors

of the West-India Company], and to prevent any blame of negligence falling upon us, we refer this purchase to your Honors’ knowledge and discretion that a proper resolution may be drawn up concerning it.”!

The jeopardy of the people at Midwout soon became a topic of conversation in the neighboring settlements on Long Island, and the general judgment of the colonists rightly burdened the despotic director-general with the authorship ofit. Ina summary ofcomplaints and censures formulated inJuly, 1652, respecting the maladministration of the affairs of the province, the following particulars regarding the inauspicious beginnings of Midwout were concisely detailed :

“The director began on his own authority to found a hamlet in the flat bush {ylacke bos), on Long Island, between Amersfoort and Breukelen, named by him Middlezvout, where Jan Snediker, one of his commoners, settled. The }Vildcn complained that they were not compensated for that land, but no regard was paid to their claim. Discontented, they threatened Jan Snediker [with an intention] to burn his bouwcrij, who complaining thereof to the director, arranged, with his approbation, with the Indians, on the second day of June last, about the payment for the land. The director should do the paying, but there comes nothing of it, so that the man remains imperilled, and the village {dorp) does not thrive. The director willnot pay for the land nor suffer others to do it.”~

The occupation and cultivation of the wildland forming their farms necessitated irksome and prolonged labor. The tillage of grassy, vine-matted

1 New York colonial manuscripts. New Netherland Council minutes, 1652—1654, vol. \., p. 43. Documentb relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, 1883, vol. xi\., p. 183.

‘-‘ “

De Dircctcur Jicej’/op si/n cygen aut/iotiteyteen bum.wliaf> be^inncn te fouderen opt Lan^c >•/’/land

in1111 \ rlatke bos, tussc/icn Avwrsfort ende Jlreukelen, b/ hem Middehi’out ‘, aluuuir sich Jan

—

S/h’difct’r, t’t’/t Tan sijn liceft nee> gesct ;de IT/ldeu c /amende, dat dat hint Jiaer nit t

THE S\\\\RT\V(HTT CHRONMCLF.S.

ground, the felling of large forest trees for suitable timber for their houses, barns, and fences, the exertion of erecting them, the oversight required to keep their cattle from straying while their bouiverljs remained unenclosed, the watchfulness

exercised to protect their seeded land and maturing crops from the ravages of insects, birds, and graminivorous animals, these and many other urgent duties and multiplying cares allowed them no time during the summer and fall months to engage in less exacting and less exhausting occupations. Walking, and occasional riding by turns on horseback, to and from New Amsterdam on Sundays, and worshipping with the colonists residing there and in the neighboring settlements, afforded the older members of the households at Midwout enjoyable respites from agricultural and domestic toil. When obstructing depths of snow and the severe cold of winter restricted them to the immediate vicinity of their farms, the cadence of beating flails, the sound of hewing axes, and the lowing of sledge-drawing oxen often revealed the locality and nature of the daily tasks of the busy farmers.

In the summer and fall of [653, certain colonists on Long Island were robbed of horses and other movable property. The sufferers repeatedly made known their losses to Director-General Stuyvesant, but failed in bringing about the arrest and punishment of the thieves. The indifference of the provincial authorities to their appeals for protection caused them to seek the advice of the people of the neighboring settlements regarding the means to be employed to free themselves from further losses of property. In order to obtain an adequate-expression of the views of the other settlers respecting the action to be taken to protect the outlying farms from thieves and marauders, they invited the property-holders of Gravesande, Vlissingen and Middelburg (New Town), to send representatives to New Amsterdam, on November 24, to meet with those of the burgewecsters and schepens o{ that city.

In order to forestall any action taken at the meeting criminating him for inattention to the appeals of the colonists for protection, and to overrule it in such a manner as would frustrate the purpose for which the delegates were to convene, the crafty director-general, on the twenty-fourth of November, issued the following speciously worded announcement :

“

Whereas several complaints have been made to us concerning the incursions

and robberies of a certain Thomas Haxter, a fugitive from this province, and his companions, by which among others, Jochim Pietersen Cuyter, Wilbefae/de/i is, ii’c? t mi/i 1 met lit;si/ /’ o/n’rede/i si/n de Jiebben “Jan Snedi/cer si/ne bouiocri/e

–

inbrand te sfmLn, dae/oiu/ In/ dt’iiDirecteur ila^ende J/eeft met si/// o/> den id ‘Jn/ii/ too/

/(den niif d< ll’i/den ever de beta/in^ voor V hint <;< aetordee/ t. I)e Direiteur so/ide dc betalin^e doe//,

niaer daer 10/nt n’nt i>a/i,soo dat de man in />eri/ti/l b/yst, t/i het dorp niet voorten^aet ;de Dueiteur

unit lant //iitbetae/e/i, tun lili/dt/i dat ter anderen dot//.”

Holland documents, vol. \ i.,p. 221 Documents reLUtny to the colonial history of the state of

Now York, vol. i., p. (.98.

THE SWAkTWOTT ClIRONICLES.

lcm Harck, and others have suffered, and particularly the secret and thievish abduction of ten or twelve horses from the village of Amersfoort ; and

” Whereas, we cannot but be incensed at this and other robberies and incursions committed by the said Thomas Baxter and his accomplices, which have been complained of by the damaged inhabitants,

“

Therefore we have resolved to send letters to and summon from each of the nearest subordinate colonies two deputies, who are to meet at the City-hall in this city, and to whom we think it advisable to join two respected members of our High Council, to wit: the Honorable Mr. Johan La Montague and Mr. Cornelis van Werckhoven, authorized to make in our name the proposal, and further to deliberate with the other delegates for the protection and greater security of the country and its good inhabitants upon some effective remedies and means to prevent and stop these incursions, of which deliberations they willgive us a report with all speed.” 1

The subtle director-general next attempted to control the proceedings of the convention by having one of his representatives preside over it and another present a resolution shielding him and his councillors from odium and reproach. In this he signally failed, for, as soon as the intention of the wilfuldignitary became apparent, the English delegates objected to the recognition of the emissaries of the director-general and his council by the convention. ” The evident chicanery of the strategic official is sufficiently outlined in the

Journal of the proceedings of the convention,” to afford a clear comprehension

“

of its character. Although the so-called “journal of the convention is not the real one, but an account of the proceedings written by the delegates of the burgemecsters and schepens of the city of New Amsterdam, and partly attested by the representatives of the director-general and his council, yet the reader willbe enabled to understand, after perusing the garbled compilation of the minutes of the convention, the immediate issues which led Tomys Swartwout to become a bold advocate of the rights of the oppressed colonists and historically distinguished with his associates for initially pleading at that early

“

day for a decent respect” to be paid to the willof a taxed people by those governing them. The so-called journal recites :

“

On November 26, 1653, the following named delegates from the High Council of New Netherland, Mr. J. La Montague and Cornelis van Werckhoven, met at the City-hall with the delegates from the Board of biirgcmeesters and schepens of this city of New Amsterdam, Martin Crigier and Paul us Lcendertsen van der Grift; the delegates from the village of Gravesande,

New York colonial manuscripts: New Netherland Council Minutes, 1652—1654, \ol. v., pp. 142, 143Documents

relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, vol. xiv., pp. 218, 219.

TIJI< SWARTWOTT CHRONICLES.

George Baxter and Sergeant Iluybert; from the village of Vlissingen, John Micks and Tobias Peeks; |and] from the village of Middelburg, Mr. Coe and

Gootman Ilasert.

“

Messrs La Montagne and Werckhoven propose verbally and in writing that the respective delegates should express their opinion how and by what means the robberies can be stopped.

“1. Ensign George Baxter and all the other English delegates asked whom Mr. Werckhoven represented, and, upon his answer that he was sent as a delegate from the High Council, they said they would have nothing to do with him and did not acknowledge him as a member of the council, nor would they agree that the director-general or his deputy should preside as he could not protect them.

“

2. The English delegates sent a written communication to the Honorable Director-General of the following tenor : that if the director, representing the Privileged West-India Company, willnot protect us, we shall be compelled to prevent our ruin and destruction, and it is therefore our opinion that we need not pay to him any more taxes and duties ; but they promised to remain faithful to the Lords States-General and the Honorable Company, offering the delegates from the [Board of | burgxmeestcrs and schepens of this city to enter into a firm alliance with them ; to which the delegates [from the Board of burgemeesters and schepeus’] gave no answer but left.

“

3. The delegates ofthe city of Amsterdam, summoned before the Honorable Director-General, reported to the council the foregoing [proceedings], to which his Honor said the answer was a prompt one, but he had no objection that the burgemccstcrs and schepens should make a union with them, but as they could not out-vote them, he intended to grant, at the next election, a court of justice to the people of Amersfoort, Breuckelen, and Midwout, so that on all future occasions there might be, with the votes of Fort Orange and the others, a sufficient number against them.

“In the afternoon the aforesaid delegates met again at the same place. van La Montao-ne and Werck”

4. C. Werckhoven testifies Messrs. ••^ that he had heard and understood hoven submitted an answer in writ-what was transacted verbally so far. ing from the Honorable Director-

General, wherein he expresses his willingness to protect his people, according to his commission, with the power and means entrusted to him by God and his superiors, [which the English delegates said was not quite satisfactory, for Jochim Pietersen [Cuytcr,] WT-illem Harck and others have already been robbed, and the director-general has as yet done very little to protect others against these robberies, therefore we

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

must defend ourselves, for ifhis Honor cannot deliver us from sixteen or seventeen men, what could he do against more |. “La Montamie testifies to the The meeting resolved to assemcorrectness thus far. ble again in the morning of the next day, with the exception of Messrs. La Montagne and Werckhoven, and consider what should be done.

“

On the 27th of November, at nine o’clock, a. m., all the aforesaid delegates met again with the exception of Cornelis van Werckhoven and La Montagne.

“5. The English delegates unanimously asked Martin Crigier and Paulus Leendertsen [van der Grift], the delegates from the [Board of ] buvgcmccslcrs and schepens of this city, whether they would live with them in peace like

‘

brothers and friends. They were answered, yes, but no firm alliance could be made with them until the Honorable Director-General, the High Council, and all the adjacent districts and villages had been informed of it.’ The English delegates answered: Should the burgcmccstcrs and schepens not join them, and the Honorable Director should not protect them, they would form a union with one another on Loner Island. The city delegates suo’^ested that it would be better to write about it to the Lords-Directors [ofthe West-India Company in Holland], and they promised that in the interval they would keep them [the colonists of Long Island] well-informed regarding and assist them against robbers and other evil-doers of that kind to the best of their ability, and live with them as friends. Regarding the letter to be written to the Lords-Directors [of the West-India Company], the city delegates however requested |that, before any further action were taken concerning it, they desired ] to hear the advice ofthe villages ofAmersfoort, Breukelen, Midwout, and [ofthe colonists] on Staten Island, for at this season of the year, when the ships are ready to sail Ito the Netherlands], they could not wait for the advice and opinion of the

people Rensselaerswyck, and the South River.

” at Fort Orange,

Hereupon it was unanimously resolved to come together again from the respective places on the tenth of December next, in order to write to the Lords-Directors, and then the delegates separated.

“Done this twenty-seventh of November, 1653, at New Amsterdam, in New Netherland.” With the marginal declarations of Cornelis van Werckhoven and Doctor

Johannes La Montagne 1, and the names of Martin Crigier and Paulus Leendertsen van der Grift subscribed to the compiled account of the proceedings of the convention, the over-confident director-general evidently thought that he had in itan open certificate attesting his common care of the colonists and his

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

general readiness to render such aid and protection as they might require of him from time to time.

In order that the convention to be held in the following month should sit under the sanction of the provincial authorities, the burgcmceslcrs and schepcus of the city of New Amsterdam addressed, on November 29, a communication

“

to them, saying : That on the tenth of next month, delegates from all the Knglish and Dutch towns and villages should meet to report the present state of the country here to the Noble Lords-Directors [of the West India Company] as masters and patrons of this province.” With due deference and respect

“

they further remarked : Therefore we, the bitrgcmccstcrs and schepcus of this city, make the friendly request to your Worshipful Honors to summon delegates from the respective Dutch towns and settlements to appear on the said day and make such a remonstrance to the Lords-Directors for the peace and welfare of the country as in their opinion they shall consider advisable. In expectation of your Worshipful Honors’ favorable decision, etc.” x

Although the provincial authorities consented to the holding of the conven”

tion, they did not accede to it except on the condition that the deputies of

“

the Iligh Council should be permitted to be present at its sittings. They,

“

however, did not refrain from declaring that they might adduce weighty

*¦**-*

reasons * * * * why this fashion of gathering and individual remonstrations should be discountenanced.” They undertook to exonerate themselves from public blame in not securing the arrest of the persons robbing the settlers on Long Island by adverting to the fact that an effort had once

“

been made to apprehend them, saying that the statements that Jochim Pietersen [Cuyter |, Willem Harcks, and others have been robbed without anything having been done, the director-general and council declare to be false and calumnious, for, on account of these robberies of Jochim Pietersen [Cuyter] and the theft of horses, immediately after the return of the director-general from Fort Orange, three yachts, under Paulus Leendertsen [van der Grift], and a land force of about sixty men, under the command of Captain Crigier, were sent out in pursuance of the resolutions and appointments passed and made for this purpose.” They also advanced the plea, under a guise of apparent truthfulness, that such robberies as had taken place would not have happened had the orders of the West-India Company and the provincial authorities been obeyed, remarking : “Ifthey add that these persons [who had been robbed | cannot be protected, it must be considered that the said persons and many others, contrary to the general order of the company, and

the warnings of the director-general and council, have settled separately far

from the villages, hamlets, or neighbors.”

•

1NewYoikcolonialmaiuisciipts NewXetheilandCouncilMmutes, 1652-1654,vol.\.,pp.152,153,

154. Documents 1elating to the colonial history of the state ofNew Voik, \ol.\iv.,pp. 223-225, 226,227.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

The false declarations embodied in the last sentence arc rendered conspicuous by the wording of the summons issued by the director-general on November 24, for the attendance of delegates at the convention to be held in New Amsterdam on the twenty-sixth day of that month, in which he refers to “the secret and thievish abduction often or twelve horses from ;-,

the villageof Amersfoort,” which as early as the year 1647 was recognized as a settlement of some importance ; and also by a communication addressed him by the Directors-General of the West-India Company, on July 24, 1650, in which they

‘ wrote: “Many free people have taken passage on these two ships, the Fortuyn’ and the ‘Jaagcr? as by inclosed lists, we desire that you may allot to each, according to his capacities and family, sufficient quantities of laud where they choose [to settle], but not on land reserved by the exemptions for the company, as for instance at Pavonia, which the company bought in for

*** *

certain reasons. * * * * It looks as if many people will come over by every ship, and we desire that you shall accommodate all newcomers as well as possible.” 1

Five days later the settlers at Midwout were notified to elect delegates and send them to the convention. “

Dear Friends :

“

As the Board of biirgcmccstcrs and schepens of this city have resolved with the knowledge of the Honorable Director-General upon calling for two delegates from each of the adjacent villages, to wit: Amersfoort, Breukelen, and Midwout, to write jointly to the Lords-Patrons concerning the condition of country, we request herewith our friends in the village of Midwout speedily to select two delegates and to send them to this place to-morrow, the ninth instant, provided with the necessary credentials, and directing them to report at the City-hall. Relying thereon, we remain, your affectionate friends.

“

“By order of the burgemccsters and schepens. “New Amsterdam, Decbr. 8, 1653. Jacob Kip, Secretary. To the Honorable, Dear, and Good Friends, the inhabitants of the vil~

lage of Midwout.”

The settlers at Midwout, upon the reception of this request, held a meeting and elected and accredited Tomys Swartwout and Jan Stryker to represent them at this first provincial assembly or landdag of the colonists of New Netherland.

1New York colonial manuscripts : New Netherland Council Minutes, vol. v., pp. 155-15H.

Documents relating to the colonial histoi y of the state of New Yoik, vol. \iv., pp. 22N, (So, 126.

-‘New York colonial manusci ipts New Netherland Council Minutes, 1652-1654, \ol. v.,p. 159.

Documents lclahny to the colonial history of the state of New Yoik, \ol. xi\.,p. 230.

7676 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

The Board of burgemccsters and schepens of the city of New Amsterdam sent as municipal delegates : Arent van Hattem, Paulus Leendertsen van der Grift, Martin Crigier, Willcm Beeckman, and Pieter Wolfertsen van Couwcnhoven ; Gravesande, George Baxter and James Hubbard ; Vlissingen (Flushing), John 1licks and Tobias Fecks; Middelburg (New Town), Robert Coe and Thomas ITazzard ; Heemstede (Hempstead), William Wasborn and John Seaman; Amersfoort, Elbert Elbertsen and Thomas Spicer ; and Breukelen, Frcderik Lubbertsen and Paulus van der Beecq.

“

The dangers to which the people were exposed,” as remarked by O’Cal”

laghan, affected all alike ; and the grievances of which they complained were no respecters of persons. The greatest harmony and concord therefore prevailed ; so true is it, that the fortuitous circumstances of birth or religion wcisrh but little with the right-thinking and unbiased masses, except when seized on by those interested in the existence of public abuses to lead tbe public mind astray so as to secure the continuance of a state of things from which the latter

derive either honor or profit.”

When the delegates assembled, on Wednesday, the tenth of December, at the City-hall, in New Amsterdam, a committee, with George Baxter for its chairman, was appointed to formulate a remonstrance and petition to be sent to the Lords-Directors of the West-India Company and their High Mightinesses the Lords States-General of the United Netherland Provinces. The expressive memorial adopted by the convention on the following day, to which all the delegates subscribed their names, ably sets forth the clearly defined purpose of the intelligent and patriotic representatives of the people of the eight settlements. In dispassionate and dignified language they presented their expostulations regarding the detrimental conditions under which the inhabitants of New Netherland held tenure to the farms allotted them by the West-India Company, and the inattention of the officers of the provincial government to the rightful complaints of the distressed colonists.

“We acknowledge,” they declared, “a paternal government which God and Nature have established on the earth for the maintenance and preservation of peace and the good of mankind, not only in conformity to Nature’s laws but in accordance with the rules and precepts of God, to which we consider ourselves bound by His word, and therefore submit.”

“

Conceiving their rio-hts and privileges “to be the same as those of the

“

inhabitants of the Fatherland, they being” no wise a conquered and subjected

people,” but settled in New Netherland on a mutual covenant and contract

entered into with the Lords-Patrons,” they humbly solicited that their remon1

Ilibton of Now Xetherlaiul. l>y K. 1>-O’Calla^han, \dl. v., j). 243.

TllliS\VART\V()1T CIIkOxNICLKS.

strance and petition might be “received and construed favorably, and be interpreted not sinistcrly but advantageously.”

“

We shall, therefore, frankly declare, with all humility, our fear and the alarm which for some time have broken our spirits and hurt us in our labors and callings, so that we, being in a wilderness, are unable to promote the prosperity of the country with the same energy and affection as heretofore ; the “causes being”:

i. Our apprehension of the establishment of an arbitrary government

****

among 1 us.

“

2. We are usually and every year expecting that the natives, by the murders they commit under a pretext that they have not yet been paid for their

* * **

lands, may begin a new war against us.

“

3 Officers and magistrates, although by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed to many places contrary to the laws of the Netherlands ; several acting without the consent or nomination of the people,

whom it most concerns. “4. Many orders and proclamations, made in days gone by, without the approbation of the country, solely by the authority of the director and council, remain obligatory. *-¦**•*

“

5. On the promise of deeds and general patents of privileges and exemptions, various plantations have been made at great expense to the inhabitants, through building houses, constructing fences, and tilling and cultivating the

* **

soil; especially by those of Middelburg and Midwout, ¦* wi10 took up many single farms, and solicited deeds for such lands, but were always put offand disappointed to their great loss. This creates a suspicion that innovations are in contemplation, or that other conditions willbe inserted [in the deeds” and letters-patent] different from the original stipulations.

6. Large quantities of land are granted to some individuals for their private profit, on which, here and there, might have been established a village or hamlet of twenty or thirty families. This, indeed, must in the end, cause an immense loss hereafter to the patrons by way of revenue, and at present greatly impair the strength of the province, which, under such circumstances, is incapable of defence, unless villages or settlements be planted or formed.”

The Remonstrance and Appeal having been written in English, a Dutch translation of the document was sent on the following clay to the provincial authorities, addressed and styled: “To the Very Worshipful Honorable Gentlemen, the Director-General and Council of New Netherland, on the part of Their High Mightinesses the Lords States-General of the United Provinces, an Humble Remonstrance and Appeal of the Colonies and Villages in the

7* Till’: SWAKTWOUT CIIRONICLKS.

Province of New Netherland,” with a request that answers to the different points set forth in the memorial be returned to the convention. The director-general and council, after reading the communication and

“

accompanying paper, sent a request to the remonstrants” that each member of the provincial council be provided with a copy of the Remonstrance and Appeal, which they criticised as being somewhat obscure in meaning and badly translated. The surly and captious request of the offended officials obtained the “following response from the convention :

The burgcmccslers and schcpe?is of this city, together with the respective delegates from the villages of Gravesande, Vlissingen, Middelburg, Hecmstede, Breukelen, and Miclwout, have seen the answer of the Honorable Director-General and Council to the Remonstrance delivered yesterday to the Honorable Director-General, asking, on account of some obscure or badly-translated passages in the Remonstrance, that a copy thereof be given to each member of the council. The said delegates reply thereto that they have submitted the original of which his Honor, the Director-General, may give copies to the council if he pleases, and they request once more to know whether the Honorable Director-General and High Council will condescend to give a definite answer upon each point or not, for the delegates are here at great expense, and wish to know how to govern themselves.” x

This communication drew from the officials an arraignment ofthe delegates peculiarly despiteful: “The Director-General and Council arc ignorant of any delegates from the respective villages, the more so as Midwout, Amcrsfoort, and Hreukelen have no court or jurisdiction and consequently no authority to send delegates. As to the other villages, the Director-General and Council declare the present gathering illegal, for it annulled and acted contrary to the resolutions passed by the Provisional Assembly as well as the order and decision made by the Director-General and Council at the request of the burgcwecstci’s and schcpois on the third instant. The Director-General and Council find themselves therefore compelled for the protection of the rights of the Lords-Patroons and their deputies to protest against the present gathering, as they herewith do.

“

As to the Remonstrance itself, the Director-General and Council do not know whether the original or a copy thereof have been submitted lo them ; the document shows and proves that it is a translation, and the Director-General and Council further state that they do not feel bound to give a definitive

‘New York colonial manuscripts: New Nethcrland Council Minutes, 1652-1654, vol. v., pp. 160-164, 165. Documents relating l>> the colonial history of the state ot” New Yoik, vol. i., pp. 550-555 :vol. \iv., pp. 231, 232. History of New Nelherland. O’Callaghan, \ol. 11., pp. 243-246.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

answer to a private and obscurely-styled remonstrance of a few unqualified delegates assuming 1 the rights and privileges of the whole.

“The Director-General and Council therefore charge and order the aforesaid so-called delegates not to address either them or anybody else under such name and title; but ifthe burgemccsters and schepens of this city or the magistrates and delegates of the villages have to make remonstrances or requests for their respective places, then they severally shall notify thereof the Director-General and Council, who will give them answer and such satisfaction as the circumstances and the case may require.” 1

Notwithstanding the delegates were restrained by their individual fortitude and wisdom from manifesting any reprehensible disrespect toward the provincial authorities, they were more strongly stimulated to persist in impressing upon the minds of the director general and the members of his council the lofty and patriotic sentiments which moved them to write again to the disputatious officials, saying:

“

On the eleventh of this month the delegates from the respective villages

of Gravesande, Vlissingen, Middelburg, Hcemstede, Amersfoort, Breukelen, and Midwout, and the deputies of the burgcmccslers and schepens of this city, convened at the City-hall, submitted to your Honorable Worships a Remonstrance

and Appeal to which they received on the following day in answer a demand for copies [of the document jin order that a well-considered reply might be given. The said convention made on the same day an answer in writing, whereupon the Honorable Director-General and Council were pleased, instead of giving a decision upon their request, to charge the convention with illegality because of a pretended lack of jurisdiction of the villages of Midwout, Amersfoort, and Breukelen, which in consequence thereof could not send properly qualified delegates [to the convention] ; and to protest against the convention. This appears strange, for the said villages were written to by the burgemecsters and schepens only with the knowledge and consent of the Honorable Director-General and Council ; besides, the convention had no other aim than the service and protection of the country, the maintenance and preservation of the freedom, privileges, and property of its inhabitants, but not an unlawful usurpation of the authority of the said Honorable Director-General and Council; on the contrary, their intention was to prevent illegal proceedings, inasmuch as the laws of Nature give all men the right to unite for the welfare and protection of their liberty and property.

“

The delegates, convened as above mentioned, request, with the burgcmecstcrs and schepens, that your Honorable Worships willplease, after having

New York colonial manuscripts :New Nethciiand Council Minutes, 1652-1654, vol. \., p. 167. Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, \ 01. xi\.,p. 232.

TIIR SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

declared the aforesaid convention lawful, to answer the points submitted in their remonstrance, inasmuch as they are willing, with due respect, to admit to their meetings and allow all such persons as your Honorable Worships may decide to depute to share in and advise upon all business which may arise.

“

In case of refusal, which they hope will not be given, they would find themselves compelled to protest against your Honorable Worships for all the inconveniences which have befallen or may befall the country in general or particular, and they intend to apply to their High Mightinesses, the Lords States-Generals as their sovereigns, and the Privileged West-India Company as their patrons, in order to submit to them a remonstrance on such matters as they believe are required for the service and welfare of the country.” This communication, dated at New Amsterdam, on December 10, 1653, was signed by all the delegates except William Wasborn and John Seaman, from Heemstede, who, it would seem, had returned to that settlement ; the letter being certified to be a true copy of the original by D. van Schelluync, a notary-public.

Upon the reading of this unequivocal expression of the criticism and purposes of the resolute representatives of the colonists, the director-general and the subservient members ofhis council sent a peremptory order, on the following

“

day, to the delegates at the City-hall commanding them not to assemble any more in such form and manner, but to separate on sight hereof under pain of our extreme displeasure and arbitrary correction.” 1

The guileful director-general, two days later, addressed an open letter to the colonists on Long Island, with which Cornelis van Ruyven, secretary of the provincial government, was sent to Breukelen, Midwout, and Amersfoort, to read to the inhabitants, and in which he said: “We are further informed that the buroxmecsters and scJiepeus of this city invited in our name delegates from your villages and told you that it had been done with our consent and approval. We hereby declare that it was not so, and therefore require and direct you not to allow such delegates to convene again or come here, especially during this crisis, because it can only be to your disadvantage and injury.”

As was the intention of the delegates, a copy of the Remonstrance, with explanatory papers regarding the action of the provincial convention, was sent to Holland in the hands of Francois Le Bleu, a counselor-at-law (advokaat), who was empowered to present them to the Lords-Directors of the West-India Company through the Amsterdam Chamber.

Apparently under compunctions of his guilt in disregarding the complaints

‘New Yoik coloni.il manuscripts: New Nctherland Council Minutes, 1652-1654, vol. v., pp.179, ISO, 181.

Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Voik, \ol. xiv.,pp. 237, 235.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. 8181

of the colonists, the double-minded director-general, in a paper, dated at New

Amsterdam, April 8, 1654, setting forth the commission of Cornells van

Tienhoven and Martin Crigier as envoys to the Honorable Theophilus Eton,

governor of New Haven, acknowledged it to be his duty to heed and prevent

their complaints, and to exert himself to secure the settlers in the possession

–

of their property, for he wrote: “Some rovers and pirates have appeared we do not know under what authority or whose commission— -who during last summer have uttered threats and committed several hostile acts, invasions, and attacks upon the good inhabitants in the country, Dutch as well as English, on land and sea, robbing and plundering Willem Harck and Jochim Pietersen Cuyter, stealthily taking away a vessel belonging to John Tobyn, stealing and leading off nine or ten horses from the village of Amersfoort on Long Island, and three or four negroes sent out to recapture and bring back some fugitive negroes. Havino-suffered these and other hostilities at the hands of the said robbers and pirates, not only last year but also again quite recently in the person of Willem Harck, when the)-added many threats of lire and massacre to be inflicted upon oilier good inhabitants of this province, we, the Director-General and Council, believe ourselves compelled by our official position and its duties upon the repeated complaints of our good subjects to

prevent them byallhonest and admissible means as far as zvc can’and toprotect our good subjects against all such rovers, pirates, and thieves. 1 x

The despiteful manner in which the director-general and the members of his council vented their reproaches upon the patriotic representatives of the colonists seems less reprehensible than the way taken by the officials of the Amsterdam Chamber of the West-India Company to debase them. Had the number of settlers been larger and more belligerent, probably their appeal would have been differently viewed by the avaricious corporation ; or, possibly a revolution might have been inaugurated by the oppressed colonists to acquire a right of representation in the government of New Netherland.

On May 18, 1654, the directors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the West

India Company wrote to the Honorable, Prudent, Pious, Dear, Faithful Director-General and Council in New Netherland, saying: “We have been amazed by the proceedings of the delegates from some colonies and villages, especially because in the whole remonstrance we cannot find anything that could have given them a reason for complaining of some wrong ; but from their conclusion and accompanying protestations it may be conjectured that the whole thing consists only of forged pretexts for an imminent factious sedition. We think that you should have proceeded rigorously against the ring1New

York colonial manuscripts :New Netherland Council Minutes. 1652-1654, vol. v., pp. 186; 242

245. Documents relatingtothecolonialhistoryofthestate ofNewYork,vol.xiv.,pp.240, 241;254, 255.

82 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

leaders of this undertaking, and not to have meddled with it so far as to answer protests by counter-protests and then let it pass without further notice ; for as it is highly arrogant for inhabitants to protest against their government so do the authorities prostitute their office when they protest against their subjects without punishing them according to the situation and exi*

gencies of the code. ¦* \ye charge you to mete out due punishment for what has passed so that in future others may not be led the same

way.

The patriotic embassador of the delegates was also made to feel the implacable resentment of the haughty and despotic lords-directors in a manner particularly disgraceful. Of this they remarked : “The attorney, Mr. Francois Le Bleu, has been informed by us that he need not calculate upon sailing [to New Netherland] this season. He willbe able to draw his own conclusions from that and from what has happened to him here, and report to his employers that we are not at all pleased with such commissions.”

A discourteous reprimand was at the same time addressed to the b7trgemeesters and schepens of the city of Amsterdam, who were threateningly admonished :

“

We cannot let this occasion pass without informing you that it has appeared strange to us that you or some of you have allowed yourselves to be instigated by some evil-minded persons so as not only to help arrange without order a meeting, but also to present remonstrances, which, we think, were at this time very much out of place, although represented differently. We write more in detail on this subject to the director-general and council, who willcommunicate with you in due time; meanwhile we recommend and charge you to behave quietly and peacefully, to obey the authorities placed over you, and by no means to join with the English or other private parties in holding conventicles, either for the sake of deliberating on affairs of state ; which is not your business, or, which is still worse, in order to make the changes in the province and its government. We have wished to warn you and giv.e you advice before we make other dispositions.” 1

The desire of having the burgemcesters and schepens of the city of New Amsterdam as well as all the other colonists obey the company’s officers and abstain from attempting to make changes in the government too strongly swayed the thoughts of the covetous men having the exclusive jurisdiction of New Netherland to allow them to think of parting with any of the privileges which they had acquired solely for the advancement and protection of their selfish and sordid interests. The self-seeking policy of these miserly capitalists

1New York colonial manuscripts : New Netherland Correspondence, et cet. 1654-1657, vol. xii.,pp. 3, 5. Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, \ol. xiv., pp. 261, 262 ;266.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

was the bane of the prosperity of the settlers of New Netherland and the source of nearly all the political evils afflicting-them during’ the West-India Company’s administration of the government of the province.

The settlement of more colonists at Miclwoul largely expanded the area of its cultivated land. The increase of the number of its inhabitants was sufficient to justify the provincial authorities in establishing” there, on March 6, 1654, a local court of justice consisting of three magistrates (sc/icftcns), represented in the persons of Jan Stryker, Jan Snedeker, and Adriaen Hegeman. This court sat three-fourths of the year at Midwout and the remaining fourth at Amersfoort until March 31, 1661, when each place was granted a local court. David Provoost, who, in 1654, was sheriff (sc/ioul-Jiscaal } of the district of Breukelen, was then ordered to include Midwout and Amersfoort in his bailiwick. On January 25, 1656, Pieter Tonneman succeeded him in that office.1

The long distance between Midwout and New Amsterdam, which the peo1

ple of the village were obliged to traverse in o-oino-to and returning from Sunday and feast-day services at the church within the walls of Fort Amsterdam, led to the organization ofa religious society at the settlement, on February 9, 1654. A request was then sent to the Classis of the Reformed Church at Amsterdam, Holland, to select a suitable pastor for it. Shortly thereafter the

“

Reverend Johannes Theodorus Polhemius (written by him Polhcijm “), arrived in New Netherland, who had been compelled to leave his pastorate at Itamarcas, Brazil, in consequence of the abandonment of that country by the West-India Company in favor of the Portuguese. He was then fifty-six years old. Meanwhile his wife had gone to Holland to try to obtain from the Lords-Directors of the West-India Company the arrears of salary due her husband by that corporation. Finding that his services as a school-teacher and a minister were available, the people of Midwout and those of Amersfoort engaged him to instruct their children and to officiate as pastor of the two congregations. 2

The first steps taken to erect a building in which religious services might be conducted regularly by him at Midwout, were those consequent upon the authorization, on December 1 7th, that year, of the Reverend Johannes Mega”

polensis, minister of the Gospel in the city of New Amsterdam,” Jan Snede”

“

ker, and Jan Stryker to make public and private contracts for the building

“

of a house of about sixty or sixty-five feet in length, twenty-eight in width, and twelve to fourteen feet high under the crossbeams, with an extension in the rear, in which a chamber might be partitioned off for the preacher.” ;i

1The Register ofNew Netherland. 1626-1664. By I\. B. O’Callaghan, pp. 76, 77, 42.

‘

4 A Manual of the Reformed Church in America. 1625-1876. By the Rev. Kdward Tanjore C’oru in,

D.D. 1879, p. 406.

3Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, vol. xiv.,pp. 294, 310.

84 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

In the spring” of 1655, line erection of the building was begun. For want of timber the construction of the edifice advanced slowly during the summer. In the month of December, the Reverend Dominie Polhemius complained, in a letter addressed to Director-General Stuyvesant, that the planks he had sent him with which to finish the parsonage had been used for other purposes before he had any knowledge of the boards being in the village. As particular”

ized by him, twenty-four were delivered to Jan Eversen Meyer, six were put down at the church for benches; of the remainder sixty-nine were taken away with the consent of Jan Snedeker and Jan Stryker, and seventeen carried to Tomys Swartwout and his brother Aldert Swartwout.” ] However, as soon as the purpose for which the boards were intended was known, they were taken to the parsonage and used in completing it.

It would seem that the provincial authorities deemed it conducive to their own and the West-India Company’s interests to manifest a spirit of good-will ofintelligence

toward such colonists of Dutch extraction as were men <-> and integrity, even when their sentiments regarding the administration of affairs of the province were diverse and opposite their own. Thereupon recognizing the qualifications of Tomys Swartwout and the high esteem in which he was held by the people of the settlement, Director-General Stuyvesant and the Council of New Netherland appointed him, on April 13, 1655, a schepen to serve with Jan Snedeker and Adriaen Hegeman, who with him composed the Court of Midwout until the withdrawal of Jan Snedeker, on October

1 6th, that year, who was succeeded by Jan Stryker. Unwilling to be burdened another term with the responsibilities of a local magistrate, Tomys Swartwout in the spring of the following year declined a proffered appointment to the same office.~

The well-founded fears of the colonists, which were so urgently set forth by the Lauddag of 1653, that the Indians would at an early day inaugurate a war and attack the unguarded inhabitants, were suddenly verified on September 15, t65 ;, when a body of savages, estimated as numbering nineteen hundred, landed at daybreak at New Amsterdam and occupied the streets of the city.

The alarmed citizens prudently dissembled their terror in the presence of the insolent invaders. Having shot a citizen in the breast with an arrow and struck down another with an axe, they were fortunately driven to their canoes by the soldiers o-arrisonin<>-the fort, leaving-three of their number dead on the

1 Aldert Sw.irtwout is named as plaintiffin a trial in the City-hall, New Amsterdam, on October 31,

1656. l’/i/i:Records ofNew Anibleidam. Kdited by ISerlhold Kernou. 1597, vol. ii., p. 213.

-‘New \oik colonial manusci ipts: New Netherland Conned Minuter. 1656-1658, vol. \iu.,

p. 96. Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New York, \ol. xiv., pp. 370, 371, 376 ; 314. The Register of New Netherland. O’Callaghan, p. 76.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

east shore of the North River. Passing over to the west side of the river,

they burned at Hobokcn and Pavonia, and also on Staten Island, man)-houses

and “barns of the settlers.

” During the three days that this storm raged,” as related by O’Callaghan,

the Dutch lost one hundred people, one hundred and fifty were taken into captivity, and more than three hundred persons besides were deprived of house, home, clothes, and food. Twenty-eight bouweries and a number of plantations were burned, twelve to fifteen thousand schcpcls of grain destroyed, and from five to six hundred head of cattle killed or driven off. The damages inflicted on the colonists were estimated at two hundred thousand florins, or eighty thousand dollars.

“

A visitation so dreadful, it may easily be conceived, spread the greatest consternation abroad. All the country people except those of Amersfoort,

”

Breukelen, and Midwout, and the negro hamlets took wing and lied to the Manhattans.” J

The magistrates of Midwout, Adriaen Hegeman and Tomys Swartwout, then reduced to two by the withdrawal of Jan Snedeker, recognizing the insecurity of the place should the Indians attempt a massacre of the settlers there, began immediately to concert plans for their protection. Aware of the importance of having them reside near one another so that all their dwellings micrht be within the limits of a smaller area which miodit be fenced then with palisades with less expense and labor, the prudent schepens induced the householders to agree to do what seemed most imperative in view of their defenseless

situation.

In order

secure

the sanction of the provincial authorities,

they presented

the followin

g petition :

“

To the Noble and Respected Lords, the Director-General and the Honorable Members of the Council of New Netherland. Noble and Respected Lords:

“

The magistrates of Midwout, authorized and representing all the inhabitants of the aforesaid village, set forth to your Honors how dangerous it is in this critical juncture if each inhabitant should continue to reside on his own farm, wherefore the supplicants, having first consulted the other inhabitants who embraced their proposal, are of the opinion that it would be desirable for the security of their persons and property to concentrate the aforesaid inhabitants on a smaller space in such a manner as might be approved by your Honors, wherefore we solicit your Honors that it may please you as soon as it is possible to have the limits of our village fixed so that each inhabitant may

1 History of New Motherland. O’Callaghan, \ol. ii.,pp.291, 292.

86 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

ascertain without difficulty where to place his dwelling and what rule he has to follow.

“

Kxpecting soon a favorable answer, we remain

“

Your Honors’ obed’t servants,” ” Adriakn Hegeman, TOMYS SWARTWOUT.”

The memorial having-received the approval of the authorities of New Nctherland, who that day had appointed Jan Stryker a schepeu to succeed Jan Snedeker, the following order, dated October i6, 1655, was issued:

“

Whereas Jan Stryker, Adriaen Hegeman, and Tomys Swartwout, inhabitants and magistrates of the village of Midwont situate on Long” Island,

have this da)exhibited to us a certain plan and petition annexed, to be empowered to effect the concentration of the aforesaid village for the greater security thereof and for enabling the inhabitants in general, when necessary

the more readily and effectually to assist one another, which being examined by us the Director-General and Council of New Netherland, we have approved thereof and so deemed it proper and necessary.

“

We, therefore, do hereby authorize said magistrates, Stryker, Hegeman,

and Swartwout, to lay out the aforesaid village according to the exhibited

plan, provided that five or six lots be reserved for public buildings, such as for

the sheriff, the minister, the secretary, schoolmaster, village-tavern and public

court-house, hereby commanding the inhabitants of the said village in general

to submit themselves without opposition provisionally, and until further order,

to the” proposal of the aforesaid magistrates and this our good intention.

Done at the assembly of the Honorable Director-General and Council

of New Netherland, hoklen in Fort Amsterdam.”

In another ordinance, dated February 22, 1656, it was further ordered that

the sellout Pieter Tonneman” and the magistrates of the village be peremptorily

ordered and commanded to lay out the settlement and lots thereunto required

in the form agreeably to the aforesaid model, and allot them to the first

that is ready to build without distinction of persons and without making any

alteration in the plan ; hereby commanding at the same time all inhabitants

already residing or hereafter coming to live in the aforesaid village, to submit

themselves to the aforesaid order, model and survey, and to the taxes or assessments,

which the aforesaid sheriff and magistrates shall find necessary to

collect with the advice of the Director-General and Council, in order to promote

the setting offof the aforesaid village with palisades and a blockhouse.” 1

1 Laws and Oidmances of New Netherland. 1638 1674. By E. B. O’Callagh.xn. 1868, pp. 199, 213, 214, 229.

THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES.

The environment of the village with a fence of palisades was shortly thereafter begun, and continued until the fall of 1656, when it was completed.

Of the three villages, Amersfoort, Breukelen, and Midwout, the last-named settlement was not only then the most populous but also the wealthiest. Besides having the precedence of having a house for religious worship, the place contributed more generously than either Amersfoort or Breukelen toward the

–

FL\TBUSH, AS UK1.1NXVIXI) ON A “iM.OTT Ol-\’ Slll’XI’ION OK V IOWNS AM)

HACKS ON \’ WISIKRN I’M) OK I.ON(. ISLAM) ‘[() 1 1KMI’sTl-\I) I’.OI’NDS,

July 31), 1 666, r.v mr. iiniis \un.”

support of the Reverend Dominie Polhemius, for, on December 29, 1656, the people of Midwout agreed to give yearly four hundred florins toward his salary, those of Amersfoort three hundred, and those of Breukelen a like sum. The magistrates of the villages, in a communication addressed to the provincial authorities, on January 13, 1657, adverting to the way in which they hoped to

88 THE SWARTWOUT CHRONICLES. “

fulfil their part of the agreement, remarked : That after several meetings, the)’ could find no other way than to impose upon each lot and parcel of land, of which there arc about fort)-in Midwout, a tax of ten florins yearly in proportion. This tax of ten florins yearly for every lot proportionally would make up the sum of four hundred florins, which we of the Court of Midwout have promised in the presence of the Honorable Director-General to contribute to the yearly pay of the said Dominie Polhemius. But as each one of the inhabitants and neighbors has not the same amount of property, one having-less, the other more, we must and cannot tax all alike, but each in proportion to his

property and real estate.” 1

The church, which the people of Midwout began to erect in September, 1658, on the plot of ground where now stands the third edifice, built in 1796, was a plain wooden structure, which, as reported on September 30, 1660, had cost four thousand and fifty-seven florins and nine stivers, or, in present money, one thousand six hundred and twenty-three dollars and twelve cents. By order of the provincial authorities, the Building Committee was discharged

on January 4, 1663.

The burgomasters and magistrates of the city of New Amsterdam, having, on January 22, 1657, petitioned the Honorable Director-General and Council of New Netherland to grant them the privilege of conferring upon such of the inhabitants of the place as might desire to enjoy the rights and immunities derived from burghership {bui’gcr-rccht), they, on January 30, 1657, were empowered to invest any reputable citizen with either the great or small burgher-right whom they might adjudge worthy of possessing the one or the other. A citizen, therefore, who, by subscription or oath, had acknowledged himself a subject of the government of the West-India Company, and had covenanted to bear his share of the burdens, expenses, expenditures, and watches that were incumbent upon the burghers, and had paid fifty guilders for a great burgher”

right, was thereafter qualified to fill all the municipal offices and dignities within the city and consequently to be nominated thereto ; secondly, be exempt for one year and six weeks from watches and expeditions ; and thirdly, be free in his person from arrest by any subaltern court or judicial benches of the province;” and one, having paid twenty guilders for a small burgher-right, although not eligible to civil office and not permitted to enjoy the same exemptions as those granted to a citizen holding a great burgher-right, was

“

allowed to exercise within the city any public-store, business, or handicraft trade.” 3

1 Documents relating to the colonial history of the state ofNew York, vol. xiv.,pp. 379, 380.-‘/,W. pp.

! Records of New Amsterdam. Edited by Bcrthold Fernow. 1597, vol. ii., pp. 286, 287.

THE SWARTWOUT CIIRONTCLES.

It would seem that Tomys Swartwout, in 1658, intended to engage in a mercantile business in the city of New Amsterdam, for, on February 28, that year, he solicited the Hoard of Burgomasters and Magistrates to grant him

“

the small bur^fher-ripfht, and took the oath in court, siVninpf an obligation for twenty gilders, beavers payable for it.” ] Evidently, in order to reside there with his family, he purchased, in the following year, a lot on the corner of Broad and Beaver streets, which, by a miscarriage of other investments, he was compelled shortly thereafter to return to a creditor of the original owner.

Having for many years vainly solicited letters-patent for the land occupied and cultivated by him at Midwout, he received, on March 7, 1661, from Director-General Stuyvesant, the long-desired instrument of writing, placing him in legal possession of his farm of fifty-eight movgens, or about one hundred and sixteen English acres. 2 Intending to change his residence to Wiltwijck, he sold, on March 15, 1661, one-half of this farm to his friend and neighbor, Jan Snedeker. Tomijs Swartwout’s signature is found in the original record-book of the Reformed Dutch Church of Wiltwijck, attesting the former membership in Holland of a woman who became a member on that day of the church in that village, lying on the Esopus Kill.’3 He is also named in the baptismal register of the same church, as a sponsor, on January 8, 1662, for his son Roeloff’s second son, Antoni. Tradition relates that he returned to Holland (perhaps after the decease of his wife), where he died.

‘Records of New Amsterdam. Edited by Bcrthold Fernow. 1897, vol. ii.,pp. 342, 343. In lieu of money, a good merchantable beaver-skin had at that time a value of six guilder’s, or that of two dollars and forty cents, present money.

2 Ibid. vol. Hi., pp. 27, 48, 94, 95, 115.

History of New Nethcrland. O’Callaghan, vol. ii. Appendix, pp. 59, 592.

Flatbush records. Deeds, lib. C, pp. 1 1-14.

3 History of Ulster County, New York. By Nathaniel Bartlctt Sylvester. 1880, p. 62.

Swartwout Chronicles

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Chapter 02 – Tomys Swartwout, Schepen of Midwout, 1607-1662, pp 29-89

CHAPTER 11.

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CHAPTER 11.

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