Evening star., 1909-06-24

vsionally. a comforter of the sick, who
could also act as schoolma ster
A surgeon, provided with medicines.
| "A blacksmith, who Is conversant with
the treatment OF horses and cattle.
Three or four house carpenters who
| can lay brick
| "Oue cooper.
"One wheelWright.
/ "Other tradesmen such as tailors and
shocnakers, follow with time.
a necessary supply of the munitions
! Of war for the defense of the colonists
| in case of misunderstanding with the
natives
Bought Land From Indians.
1t is to the honor of these American
beers that they obtained their land from
| the Indians by purchase, and 1t Is. an
actual fact that Peter Minuit bought the
Island of Manhattan, upon which the
city of New York now stands. for sum
equivalent to about S2i. An old docu-
ment, written in 1891 concludes de-
srrption Of the settlement which had
been located there permanently eight
years previously with the following words:
Not only were the above named forts
enlarged and renewed. but the said COM
pany purchased from the Indians, who
were the indubitabie owners thereof, the
Island of Manhattes. situated at the
entrance of said river. and there laid the
foundation of the city,.
And il is evident that they 'buided
better than they knew"
| All of the great manors and patroon-
ships on both sides of the river were
| acquired by purchase from the natives
and afterward confirmed by grant from
the government. There is still in exist
| ence an Indian deed conveying tract OF
| land which includes the present town of
kinSsbridce in Wesrchester county. l
believe this is the oldest title to real es-
tate in North America. 1t Is dated 1919
The owners of many estates on the Hud-
son still hold the original Indian titles,
which have been inherited from genera
tion to generation without transfer.
The oldest settlements We're III the
neighborhood of forts and trading sta
tions, which afforded the settlers protec-
tion from the Indians, with whom there
were frequent .'misunderstandings" SINH
lar to those which occurred between the
beers of South Africa and the aborigines
of that continent.
Albany. or Rensselaerwyk. as it was
originally known, was the first fortified
settlement; Kingston. Rondout and ESQ
pus followed soon after. The rolling hills
and fertile valleys around those towns at
tracted the attention of the Dutch farm
ers at an early date. Lower down nearly
all of the settlements were on the east
bank of the river, and followed each other
closely. that protection could be prompt
and effective.
Brave But Uncultured.
No matter how proud the descendants
of the first families of the Hudson may
be of their ancestry, it is not possible for
them TO conceal the fact that only few
of the PATRONS were educated or cultured
persons 1t would have been strange If
they were. Scholars and men of refine
ment do not make good colonists.
pioneer has no time to cultivate his man
ners his mind, and people who under
take to Subdue a wilderness care more for
adventure than for culture. Furthermore.
men who undertake such risks as the
PATRONS of New York faced SO bravely,
always have more to gain than TO lose.
But there is no need to speculate upon
the subject: the facts are known that
all of the noble families represented in
the colonization of New York sent need
lest cadets.
The first of the Van Rensselaers was a
man of prominence and wealth in Hol-
land, but he did not reside upon his Amer
ecan estate, and came to this country only
occasionally. The Schuylers, who ruled
for miles and miles around Poughkeepsie,
were of gentle blood, and Robert Living
ston, the father of all the LivingstonS,
was the son of a Scotch dissenting minis
ter.
Oloffe Stevanson Van Cortlandt is said
to have been descended from a noble
Russian family, the Dukes of Courland,
and we are told that his ancestors emf
grated TO Holland for political reasons
when they were deprived of their duchy
by Ivan the Terrible. Oloffe or Orion.
one of the sons of the exile, emigrated to
America in 1857, with a patent for
large tract of land which lies between
Yonkers and the Harlem river. His
grandson, John Van Courtland, erected
what is known as the Van Courtlandt
manor house, about three miles south of
Yonkers, which is still preserved and
used a museum in the center of Van
Cortlandt Park, where tens of thousands
of the working people of New York city
go to roll on the grass and enjoy all
kinds of outdoor sports every pleasant
day from April to November. Orlof
Van Cortlandt was the first brewer in
New Amsterdam, and amassed a great
fortune by selling beer to the immi
grants.
Some of the First Families.
His descendants intermarried with all.
the nearly leading families of New York,
the Van Rensselaers. Schuylers. Living
stons, Beckmans De Peysters, De Lam
ceys and others of high degree.
Frederick Phillipse. who owned the next
tract, which included the city of Yonk
ers. where his beautiful old manor house
is still used for municipal purposes, ac-
life as a carpenter. Experts in heraldry
provided him with pedigree and crest.
and by business ability, industry and en-
ergy he became not only one of the most
influential but one of the wealthiest
men in the colony. His land ran from
Tarrytown, where his original manor
house was built. as far south as Yonkers.
The Van Der Doncks inherited their
wealth and their pride from
Adrien Van Der Donck, the first lawyer
in the New Netherlands. who purchased
4,GUO acres of land in 1916 from the In
dians and had it confirmed to him BY
grant from the Dutch West India Com
pany with the title and privileges of pa
troon. He was always kicker. He
made the governors great deal of trou-
bic with his criticisms. and every poor
settler could command his legal services
whenever they needed him.
The most proud and prominent of New
York society leaders, not only in the city
but throughout the state, trace their de-
scent from the PATRONS of the original
Dutch settlements of the Valley of the
Hudson, and their pedigree is equivalent
to patent of nobility, Notwithstanding
| the obscure origin and humble occupation
of these early lords But aristocracy has
got to tsart somewhere and it cannot be
denied that they, these brave and endur-
| ing adventurers, were the first on the
ground.
Overhauling Power Launches.
The power launch r and D. owned by