The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-02-02
States of Which Holland
Was the Mother.
Four Were Claimed by the
Early Dutch COlOniStS.
South Kingstown Was the Place of
Commodore Perry'S Birth.

Among the recent communications re-
ceived by the Gossiper are the following:
The historian Bancroft states, Vol. ii,
page 325 (twentieth ed. 64) that Holland
is the mother of four of our states, with
out giving the names. Can you? New
York was one, bat which were the other
three? IL. V. Is.
The four states referred to are undoubt-
edly New York, Connecticut, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania to which the Dutch
in the earlier colonial days laid claim as
a part OF New Netherlands under char.
ter granted by the States General OF Hol-
land in 1914. 1t was only year before
the granting OF this charter that what
may be termed the discovery Of Connecti-
cut was made by Adrian Block. Tne
Dutch as once made claim to the territory
by right Of discovery and not very long
a'terward the English also clsimed 1t
under patent granted Dy the King OF
England. An agent of the Dutch West
India Company took formal possession Of
the Connecticut valley in the name of the
States General of Holland in 1923, and for
some time a considerable trade was car
ried on with the Indians. Friendy rela-
tions were broken of however, when the
thrifty Dutchmen sized an Indian chief
and demanded heavy ransom for his re-
lease. That the Dutch were the pioneer
settlers in Connecticut Is amply dem ID
s,rsted by the fact that they sent an en-
bassy to Plymouth for the purpose OF in
ducing the Pilgrims to abandon their
settlement and TO make their homes III
the fertile valley of the Connecticut.
Cherries 1 granted the territory to Robert
Earl of Warwick in 1880 and five or six
years sfterward the Dutch withdrew and
emigrants from Masssc husetts soon after
ward established permanent settlement
at Hartford.
New Jersey like Connecticut was
claimed as apart of the New Netherlands.
| 1t appears that Dutch traders from New
| Amsterdam settled at Bergen In 1920 and
three years after a company Of Dutch OF
| which Captain Jacobus May was the
| leader built Fort Nassau at the Noith of
the Thinner Kill. Four young married
couples and a few Others began a settle
| ment there the same year. Later some
Swedish colonists made a settlement there
| and when the English attempted
to gsiu a foothold they were driven
| of by the Dutch and Swedes. Subse-
| quentiy the English secured and held
possession Of the territory permanently
| though the Dutcn settlers did not all
| withdraw under the new order of things.
Pennsylvania also was claimed by the
| Dutch and the first TO attempt to settle
| in the territory was party. of Swedes.
these the Dutch proceeded forthwith to
suooue though they appeared to have
| lived in harmony aflerwerd for when Will
| liam Penn arrived in 1852 to take posses
sion OF his grant ne was welcomed by
Dutch and Swsdes as well RS by the EGG
lish.
Another question that comes to the
Gossipsr is the following: Where wss
Commodore Perry born? Encyclopedia
says Newport. Some say South Kings
town.
The statement that Commodore Perry
was born In Newport Is an erroneous one.
| The hero of the Battle of Lake Erie was
born in South KiDgstown, August 23, 1876
and he died at Trinidad, West Indies, of
| yellow fever August %, 1919. AT the iime
OF bis magnificent victory over Commo-
dore Barclay, September 10, 1913 on Lake
Erie of which he wrote TO General Har-
rison: "Ws have met the enemy and
they are ours: Two ships, two brigs, one
schooner and one sloop," Perry held
only the rank Of master commodore.
He was Immediately promoted, however,
to the rank of captain and was voted the
thanks OF Congress and a gold medal.
There are very few Rhode Islanders who
have not viewed the Perry statue at
Newport and very few who have visited
Cleveland during the last three and a half
| decades have returned to these plantations
without paying a visit TO the magnificent
mart BILE memorial erected In 1850 TO
| the memory OF Little Rhody's heroic
naval commander. The unveiliDg of this
Cleveland memorial was nota ple event.
| George Bancroft the historian deli sered
an I'D dress; DIR. Usher Parsons who was
Perry's surgeon at the battle OF Lake Erie
read an historical discourse, while at q
| dinner which followed the dedicatory
| exercises three hundred surviving soldiers
OF the war Of Is12-15 were gathered around
tue tables. The average OF their ages was
seventy years and the aggregate Of the
venerable company was about 10000
years. The last survivor OF the battle OF
lake Erie was John Norris Who died at
Petersburg, Va, in January. 1879.
Beware OF Oinlments for Catarrh