New-York tribune., 1902-02-23
~ ,TBUSH COLONIAL DAYS.
nn BARGAIN OF INDIANS WITH
n nrrcH-oLDTrIE AGREEMENT WITH
.c,,oOI MASTER R-CELEBRATION
OF PINKSTER DAY.
OF PINKSTER DAY.

,Lref
hs .rT ~ skins in his wigwam, which was pitched
UN' distance back from the shore Even his
s0D' 80 hat which came to him as part of the
s1fS..s nrice Of many Long Island acres was
pD Ne had traded it for twelve drinks of fire
soIe from jug which his brother Ahawaham
.s5 sUcceeded III op''iiiiiis ii"i ~ " ~ Du'cH
,srs at Flatbush
ssl' ,oled as If Eskemoppas would have to go to
u EJe frowned until there were burrows all
Eofh' f,ce when he thought of employing his
o'e lands In the making of seewant or wampum
',s was no hope of levying on the tribe. for in
~ 1eace the sachem of the Rockaways was
Ulv a fgurehead. and no one could remember
last time the tribe had taken the path of war.
w &c, they had almost forgotten their
..n and when Indian tribe reaches that
,ose Of degeneracy IL Is hlsh urne TOT the sachem
= institute a reform
.suss not the degeneracy of his tribe that caused
Issnoupas 10 think out scheme by which he
"a .buuco'' the settlers At Flatbush. It was the
O,ect Of having to begin manual labor
P-be Dutch no longer rule at Manhattan" he
"a 20 his brother Kinnarimas. "Old Silver Leg
ssring Governor StuyvesanD is longer a
hem. The English have driven him out"
T1nnarinas did not see what all this meant TO
.,rr nor did Ahawaham, the other brother who
- ioned the council, and for whose benefit the
chem repeated his statement.
The Dutch bought from us the lands which
-, uhiteskins live continued Eskemoppas. but
=. English have paid us nothing. We go Flat
,s because the English now own the country;
.ror fight. Dutchmen much afraid of Rockaway
ssyss: they pay before they fight
s,H was that cay two later Eskemoppas
,s his two brothers. blazing with red and yellow
,pt appeared in Flatbush and demanded
,ssnoe with the men of the town. They put their
,,Dositon without any evasion. They must be
- for their lands there would be trouble. The
80 going beers replied that they had purchased
n town from the Canarsee Indians. and wanted TO
.,ox what possible claim the Rockaways could
,.ye 10 lands which they had never owned. Eske-
.,oas said he would show them. and with
vboop invented on the spur Of the moment, but
rune the less inspiring on that account. he
su-ried out of the palisade which the Dutchmen
had built around the church. and his brothers fol-
bsed
There was a hurried conference between ''boers"
sri RENTERS or mechanics, and the conclusion
Ess reached that 1t would be better to buy the
ands over again than risk an Indian uprising
messenger sent after the sachem and he was
asged 10 return 10 the council The Dutchmen asked
Ehat the Indians wanted for the lands.
Twenty fathoms of black and white seewant"
hsgsn the sachem Five coats OF Duffells,' added
Knnarimas. "A fat of strong beer. declared the
third brother Nor did this satisfy them In turn
hev added items until the final list was imposing
Il included four blankets. two gunner.s' sight guns
rEo pistols five double handfuls of powder. hve
bars Of lead. knives. two aprons OF Duhels,
three cans Of brandy and six shirts. This was as
much as they had paid for the lands In the first
mace but Adrian Hegeman and three other citizens
signed the deed. The Indians made their marks in
be presence of Governor Francis Lovelace The
tribe lost the chance rebuilding its shattered
strength, which would have been the result OF q
spocessful war but summer OF ideness was as
sured the lazy sachem. So what did he care?
T,e .ov,, scboo, in these early Dutch days was a
renarkably interesting institution 1t first held
little stone building erected in the centre OF the
iogn and by combining school and church duties
the support of teacher was assured AS the scnool
grew a wooden building was attached 10 che END OF
the original stone structure The roo WIS very
s,sen in front and sloped toward the until IL
nearly reached the ground. Finally a third WOODEN
building was added TO the string. IN some respects
IL resembled the second addition. but there was
enough Of variety to give the whole decidedly un-
dignifed appearance; yet the building served ts
purpose well until 1903.
II was 1852 that the Dutch fathers OF Flatoush
decided It might be wise for their children TO
learn English as well as Dutch In the person of
Petrus Van Steenburgh they found teacher VINO
seemed TO III the requirements. 1t was no easy
task which he undertook. The children spoke
nothing but Dutch at home and II was difncut 10
get them to leave off when they were in school
Every English scholar who speaks Dutch
word in school will receive taste OF my ferule'
he announced morning.
The words we're hardly out OF his mouth before
fat faced youngster uttered exclamation In
tie prohibited language. He was called TO the
front and paid the penalty with many Dutch soos
and tears So many broke the new rule that the
sturdy Van Steenburgh worn out when the
noon recess came at II o'clock. and half the
scholars we're nursing swollen hands. 1t was evil
dent that the scheme would not work, and as ne
smoked his pipe during the recess ne htt upon an
other which tradition las been Kind enough 10
preserve.
dollar and in the morning handed il to the first
boy who spoke in Dutch. 1t was passed on to the
room during the day The boy who possessed it
Ghen school closed was me & b ;d % not soon
forget. There only drawback TO the plan;
the token would offer bribes to his neghbors TO
speak out in Dutch and take the consequences In
:pite OF this however, the scheme worked well and
tasre ss are families in Flatbush today who owe owe
EsSs esSty Their f f 3 Of the pro-
SHE The schoolmasters had other troubles as Is
oh oShich they signed on entering into their duties
yne u o. these was translated by the Rev Thomas
an @ F1ge hume 10 long s spSe & out Of print Ws II
follows: " ~ '' anu -O' %
,Flrst-The school shall begin and end in Chris
ssn, oesin with the morning prayer and end at IL
oeOek with prayer for dinner At O'Clock in the
eIternoon IL shah begin with the prayer after meat
IN IN a. O'Clock IN the afternoon end with the even
seeond-rhe above named schoolmaster shall teach
snioren and adult persons low Dutch and English
who may desire request such instruction.
Co. lnldIThe above named schoolmaster shall have
Ut tne instruction Of every child person I'm low
tDutch spelling. reading and writing the sum of
lg9r shillngs for those who Instructed in Eng
sn sfs spelling reading and writing the OF five
eiillhhgs. and for those who instructed In
sttpnering the sum of six shillings. and that for
aAfee months instruction; and also load of fire.
mooo shall be brought for each scholar every nine
nggIths for the of the school.
teurth-The above named schoOlmaster shall keep
sscnool hye days in every week: once in each week
"a tne afternoon the scholars shall learn the ques-
sgss ana answers In Borges Catechism with the
SSerlpture texts thereto belonging, II may be
scholar guardian
:. .sr ~ day in the week TO be most beneficial
70 tne one instructed.
ttffh-Tha hove Daned scbooIroas,er shall m