The sun., 1897-12-05
AN OLD PROMISE BROKEN.
sUIT FoR BREACH BROUGHT BF THE
MAN, 'WAI BACK IN 1864.

MAN, pWAl bACkk IN 1864.
ACause Ceiebre OF New Amsterdam. with Some |
Accounts OF Other EntnnE Elements OF the |
Ola Time and Notes OF Marriage Customs |
and Runernry UsaEes or the EariJ Dutch. |
Suits for breach OF promise brought by ag- |
grieved males arc still so rare as TO occasion |
particular rcmark Whenever the story OF one ia |
disclosed but the Dutch records, which tho city |
Is printing, bear evidence that there woro men |
hardy enough to institute them as far back as |
the early days of New Amsterdam. One OF them |
turns up in 1854, within q year of tho beginning
of tho earliest of tho records which have been |
preserved. It was before the public for a long
time, at intervals, and as may not be wondered
at 1t was begun in tho sprinPtimo. After hev.
ing had extended consideration in the court 1t
came up again In tho merry Maytime in the re-
port Of a commission TO which II had been re-
ferrod but even then It was not ended.
The suit was brought by Pietcr Kock Of Now
Amsterdam bachelor, against Anna van Worst.
spinster, of Ahasimus, N. J. The commission
reported that it found the defendant in no wise
disposed to marry Kock, in consequence of
certain misbehavior, and that she had proved
by two witnesses that he had released her from
her promise. The commission found. and recon.
mendod the finding as the courts judgment,
that the promise having beef. given and made
before the eyes OF God should remain in force
30 JnHb ne1Jn8T nor ueIcnuHnU BnOulQ
be at liberty, without the knowledge and appro.
baton Of the Worshipful Magistrates and the
other Of tho Interested parties to enter into
matrimony with any other person."
Itwas recommended that all presents be or.
dored left with the defendant until the parties
in good pleasure marry together" with tho
knowledge of the MAGISTRATES set each other
free. Wherein IL may DO seen that tho courts
commissioners intended that nothing sly should
;,,p ot,i
monial miX.ups The court, however directed
that the matter be held in abeyance.
The courts, us q general thing, took care to
conserve tho institution of matrimony. and dis
couraged equally opposition to 1t and dangerous
deferring of it, though they sought diligently, at
the same time. to hold young folk amenable
to parental discipline and to deter them, where
practicable, from runaway matches.
When n maid was brought into court at her
| lovers instance. to the end that her mistress
might be compelled to cease her opposition to
the marriage of the two. the court ordered that
the girl be permitted to wed, notwithstanding
indentures by which she was bound in service
| to the matron.
There was n case which sore distressed the
worthy burgomasters and schepens OF the court
| at the very beginning of the year 1854. The
ancient worthless had to face at one hand the
| pernicious example OF a runaway couple, at the
ObutT du lIlTlIlRculcub VI tuelT OWu pTCTO0a-
| tives by the neighboring jurisdiction of Graves
end whittier the eloping couple had fled to secure
| the PRONUNCIATION OF the banns. and before and
above all the possible consequences of the touch
| of nature that makes the world akin; wit
| ness the several various deductions particu-
case of Johannes van Beck and Maria Var
leth. Time: January. February. 1854.
Pleter Kock and Anna van Worst, st was was ca cause
ceie6re Of the period. 1t ran through many ses-
| known which occurred as rule. weekly. The
| trouble. at the stage at which cognizance of it
parental wishes. or at least without the parental
and and governmental permission had gone to
dv On the 6oa s End there
had expressed their desire to marry. and to that
end asked that tho banns be published: which
| seems to have been done. So much at least
| sorry glance at the New Amsterdam records at
The sehout cornelis Van Tienboven of New
Amsterdam made complaint in the New Am
| on the double ground that the integrity OF the
| worshipful court was threatened by such light
thus going away ro ther sdvsers
| and governors, and that the secret marriages of
prevented. or at the least dscountenanced. in
| the interest OF the public welfare. Tho wor-
shipful court took the matter under advise
| ment. cogitated at leisure after the manner OF
| tine phlegmatic old burghers, and on Feb 10
the official chronicer:
After due consideration for several days of n
petition regarding Observation-Disclosures the banns
Beecl and Maria Vareth. the court notes:
| .FirstIWh IN the beginning instituted mar
| rlaRe; also what the apostle 10 tho Gentiles
| teaches therein
%,seeondly- propsr and attained ago of
| Johannes van Beck and Maria Varlcth.
"Thirdly-The consent OF the father and
mother on the daughters side.
| places between this and our atherland. together
with the difficulty between Holland and Eng
| "Fifth-The danger that in such circum-
stances matters by long delay might come to be
| disclosed between these aforesaid young people,
which would bring disgrace on both families, as
| well on one side as the other.
| "'Tis true that our theologians say. and that
| correctly, that we must not tolerate or permit
| lesser sins in ordcr thereby to avoid greater
SION that BY proper s"emnzation % % uP of marrinEe
| flor the apostle to the Hebrews calls the mar
riago bed honorablc) the lesser and greater sins
"rheretore, the Burgomasters and Schcpens
are Of opinion that the proper ecclesiastical
ought to be made at tho earliest opportunity, to
be followed afterward by their marriage"
| These curious old records disclosed an odd
| feature of resemblance in the marriage customs
Of the Dutch OF the latter part Of the seventeenth
century nnd those OF the English Of the, early
part of the eighteenth. In England at the be-
ginning Of the eighteenth century, as the law
held husband responsible for certain personal
lowly walks Of life for women to be married in
husbands from liability for Whatever they might
| wear at the time OF marriage for which, other
wise. the Benedicks might be held. 1t transpircs in
| New York Dutch records that among tho later
seventeenth century New Amstcrdamers it was
the custom for widows marrying again to wear
their shifts at the wedding. thereby showing,
not that the new husbands were to be free of
liability for their wives apparel. but that the
warm and loving widows brought to their sec
ond husbands nauRht OF the first spouse's pos.
sessions or belongings. 1t seems probable that
In New Amsterdam these brides of warmed
over affections may have worn other clothing
bcneath the shift.
With widows as a connecting link between
marriage and death, II may not be amiss to nd
vert to peculiar custom OF tho honest New Am
sterdamers, attendant upon the burial of a mar
red man who died In debt. The queer usage comes
TO light in the record OF "A man who went out TO
the woods; up the Hudson Valley, and was
killed by the Indians. His body was recovered
and brought home, and in tho account of tho
funeral AZ 1t appears in the set lcment of tho
estate. u is written that the widow laid the