The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-16
BEGINNINGS OF NEW YORK
GROWTH or THE CITY FROM THE
FIRST COMING OF THE DUTCH.
A Chapter of Interesting History
Called out by Recent Events-HOxv
the Early Settlers Lived.
New York Mail and Express.


| When the Half Moon, bearing Hendrick
| Hudson and his Dutch navigators, entered
| the upper harbor in 1909. Manhattan island
was inhabited by a branch of the Lenni
| I.enspe or Algonquin, nation, the great
| family of savages who roamed the gloomy
| forests from the Penobscot to the Potomac.
| The island has been built out on either river
| front, but at that time continuous marshes
| extended along the shores of the North and
East rivers, and at Canal street turned in
| ward, almost meeting from either side.
| There was a fresh water pond or collect on
! the site of the old Tombs, a swamp at Beck
| man street, a marsh of some seventy acres
| north of Canal street and a range of high
| sand hills in the neighborhood of Charlton,
| Lewis and Greene streets. To the north
ward was the unbroken forest, the haunt
| OF the bear, the wolf, the panther and the
| deer.
| In the pursuit of these animals and in
| fishing, claiming and oystering, the abo-
| riginal citizens of the metropolis gained q
| precarious livelihood. They dwelt in COM
munal villages of bark tenements. some
| times a whole village under single roof
| The Manhattoes were the most warl1ke OF
| the Algonquns hereabouts, and were en-
| gagged in frequent struggles with their kins-
|
| New JERSEY. and the Massapequas, Mon
| tauks, Shinnecocks, Chincoteagues and
other clans in Long island. as well as the
| fierce Mohawks, who upheld the power Oh
| the hostile Five Nations in the region west
| of the upper Hudson.
The Dutch got along fairly we'll with their
| savage neighbors. For a consideration
| equivalent to $24 Governor Minuit pur-
| clio
| colony was founded to trade for furs with
the Indians, and until the English conquest
that was the sole source of its revenues.
| There were several wars with the natives,
| after one of which the rampant was built
| from which Wall street has derived it's
name For a century after Hudson's day
| drunken Indians were a familiar figure of
| the streets.
| New Amsterdam was founded as pro-
| prietary colony by a trading company hold
| ing charter from the States General. IN
| like the New England colonies, there was
no intent to establish permanent settle
| ment A dozen bark huts surrounded by a
| stockade were built at the toe of the ISL
| and. In 1894 a group of Hollanders en-
| gagged in the fur trade for a Greenland
| company had encamped in the same place.
| and, two generations before their day,
| Verrezano had entered New York bay with
| an Expedition from the King of France. 1t
| was not until 1924 that any families were
| brought over. In 1923 the Dutch West In
| dian Company inaugurated its grants OF
| lands to colonists who would bring nIty
persons with them THOUSANDS 4Is,d OF squ uare
| ceded to single PATRONS or the manor, ds
| they were called from whom In later gem
erations descended the great historic 1aml-
Dutch rule in the little dorp lasted but, a
single generation. The governors or the
| province of New Netherlands, of which New
| Amsterdam was the leading colony, were
appointed by trading company instead or
| by the central government, and their rune
| tions were to return revenue, not 70 pre-
| side at the beginnings of state. Inc peo-
pie elected their burgomasters and schep-
| ans, who roughly corresponded TO the Two Two
| chambers of the municipal assembly, ana
| also a schout-fiscal with many or the
powers of a high sheriff. With sturdy
Dutch spirit they. resisted any arbitrary
| The first director Peter Minuit, Swede,
was the most just and equable of the colon
| ia1 executives. Wouter Van Twiller who
| followed him, was a good-natured, jovial
! and heavy wine-bibber, not averse to get
| ting rich by devious ways-a sort of Dutch
| liam Kieft, called 1.-THE Testy," who fol-
| lowed him, was irascible, narrow and arbi-
trary: His successor was Peter Stuyvesa "a n
perhaps the strongest character that Hol-
| land gave to the colonial New York. lie
| was just and kind-hearted, but naughty and
| aristocratic His administration and Dutch
| rule ended when an English fleet IN l664,
| trained it's guns on the fort at the Battery.
When New Amsterdam became New York
/ it was by no means a typical Dutch colony.
| OF it's 1900 inhabitants the English contrib
| uted considerable portion. and at least
| one-third were neither Dutch nor English.
| This was exclusive of the negro slaves, in
which a profitable trade had just begun.
| In the first batch of families to reach Man
| haitian island were a number of WalloOns.
| The HuguenOtS were nearly as numerous as
| the English. There were few Swedish and
| German sailors, and it is said that seven
| teen languages were spoken in the village.
| With it's successive accretionS OF immigra-
| ton from the north and south of Europe,
| than was the New Amsterdam of Peter
| Stuyvesant. Indeed, there has never been a
! time when the majority OF New Workers
| The mixed nature of it's population ex-
| plains the fact that there was no real break
when the colony passed from Dutch to Eng
| racial lines. The cleavage was on issues of
| popular rights, the PATRONS and wealthy
merchants. with the EpscopalianS and the
and the Puritan English and the artisans of
| all races joining the popular party. When
| the colony returned in 1864 for brief period
| to the sovereignty of Holland it had 5000
| inhabitants
LARGE TRADE
Under the Dutch governors New York was
| essentially a trading colony, and it's ac-
| tivities and revenues lay inland. Under the
English governors it became what it is still
| a seafaring community. The majority of it's
| citizens gained Their livelihood on the waves
| of the ocean, as privateers, slavers Red sea
| traders, and, until the end of the seven
| tecnth century, as pirates, pure and simple.
| Their swift boats We're upon every sea and
| the protracted continental wars permitted
| them as privateers to prey in turn upon the
| commerce of all nations. The African slave
| trade was enormously profitable, and before
| long the blacks formed almost a majority
of the population. Piracy ended With the
| hanging Of William Kidd on Execution
dock but before that time the sea StealerS
had made this port notorious throughout
| Christendom.
From the forcible suppression of piracy by
| the Earl of Bellomont to the outbreak of
| the revolution the growth of the city was
unbroken. In 1710 it had 5000 inhabitants,
in 1850 it had IL 900, and in 1776 1t had 5000,
it's population being only exceeded by Bos-
ton and Philadelphia. The distinguishing
features of the town, as compared with
other American communities, were its di-
verse ethnic elements, the presence and
dominance of a powerful aristocratic class
and the turbulence of its lower and criminal
classes. The aristocracy was led by the
PATRONS, who lived in feudal estate in the
country and had town houses in New York
and Albany, and by the merchants, whose
ships went to every port. The sailors
formed the substratum of the criminal class,
which was swelled by the imported bond
servants. apprentices and convfcts.
At the bottom of the social heap were the
negro slaves not tractable as the African