A History of the City of Brooklyn. Stephen M. Ostrander

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СКАЧАТЬ circumstances attending the settlement of Breuckelen as a town were associated with a critical turn in the affairs of Kieft's administration.

      Kieft's tyrannical methods of government, a form of self-willed procedure absolutely grotesque in many respects, had been sufficiently recognized before the Indian war. After his infamous blunder at Corlaer's Hook his unpopularity increased. Before the war began, Kieft had been compelled to call a Council of Twelve13 from the people. The Twelve, being chosen by the people, constituted the first illustration offered in New Netherland of representative government. This board, soon after the war began, was abolished in a peremptory way; and not long afterward Kieft undertook once more to call upon its advisory aid. When the board objected to certain taxes (on wine, beer, brandy, and beaver skins), he remarked that he still was master, and published his proclamation levying the tax, with the statement that this was done by advice of the council chosen by the commonalty.

      To these elected representatives of the people such acts naturally were intolerable, and it was not surprising that they should set themselves to secure the removal of Kieft. A memorial sent to the West India Company asked for his recall and for the introduction of the system of government prevailing in Holland. The College of Nineteen made a report upon the case to the States-General, mentioning incidentally that the colony, started as a commercial enterprise, had cost the West India Company, over all profits, more than 550,000 guilders. The resulting reform considerably modified the theory if not the practice of government in New Netherland. The College of Nineteen decreed a "Supreme Council" for New Netherland. Government was placed in the hands of a council consisting of the Director, a Vice-Director, and a Fiscal. The people were to have a right to representation in the council, such being desirable "for mutual good understanding, and the common advancement and welfare of the inhabitants."

      In the code of general instructions which the West India Company had sent for the guidance of the Provincial Council, those in authority were urged "to do all in their power to induce the colonists to establish themselves in some of the most suitable places, with a certain number of inhabitants, in the manner of towns, villages, and hamlets, as the English are in the habit of doing." It was pursuant to the policy of this code that Bout and his associates declared their intention to "found a town at their own expense."

      It fell to the people who were to organize the town of Brooklyn to choose schepens;14 and at this first election they selected as their representatives Jan Evertsen Bout and Huyck Aertsen. Bout was a well-to-do farmer and one of the original settlers. In 1646, he was chosen a schepen to decide questions which might arise in Breuckelen. He took a patent from Governor Kieft "of land at Marechkaweick, on the kill of the Gowanus, as well the maize land as the wood land, bounded by the land of Huyck Aertsen." It adjoined the land of Van Cowenhoven, and embraced within its limits the mills which were designated as Frecke's and Denton's. Those mills, situated near each other, are vividly remembered by many Brooklyn citizens. They were reached by a bridge from Butler street. Crossing over the bridge and passing the first mill the road wound around the water's edge.

      The commission from the Colonial Council read, as follows:—

      "We, William Kieft, Director General, and the Council residing in New Netherland, on behalf of the High and Mighty Lords, States-General of the United Netherlands, His Highness of Orange, and the Honourable Directors of the General Incorporated West India Company. To all those who shall see these presents or hear them read, Greeting:—

      "Whereas, Jan Evertsen Bout and Huyck Aertsen, from Rossum, were on the 21st May last unanimously chosen by those interested of Breuckelen, situate on Long Island, as Schepens to decide all questions which may arise, as they shall deem proper, according to the Exemptions of New Netherland granted to Particular Colonies, which election is subscribed by them, with express stipulation that if any one refuse to submit in the premises aforesaid to the above mentioned Jan Evertsen [Bout] and Huyck Aertsen, he shall forfeit the right he claims to land in the allotment of Breuckelen, and in order that everything may be done with more authority, We, the Director and Council aforesaid, have therefore authorized and appointed and do hereby authorize the said Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen to be Schepens of Breuckelen; and in case Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen do hereafter find the labor too onerous, they shall be at liberty to select two more from among the inhabitants of Breuckelen to adjoin them to themselves. We charge and command every inhabitant of Breuckelen to acknowledge and respect the above mentioned Jan Evertsen and Huyck Aertsen as their Schepens, and if any one shall be found to exhibit contumaciousness toward them, he shall forfeit his share as above stated. This done in Council in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland."

      Before the ensuing winter had passed, the schepens found their labors sufficiently arduous to justify an appeal to the Director, which resulted in the appointment of a schout, or constable. The new commission said:—

      "Having seen the petition of the Schepens of Breuckelen, that it is impossible for them to tell cases occurring there, especially criminal assaults, impounding of cattle, and other incidents which frequently attend agriculture; and in order to prevent all disorder, it would be necessary to appoint a Schout there, for which office they propose the person of Jan Teunissen. Therefore we grant their request therein, and authorize, as we do hereby authorize, Jan Teunissen to act as Schout, to imprison delinquents by advice of the Schepens, to establish the pound, to impound cattle, to collect fines, and to perform all things that a trusty Schout is bound to perform. Whereupon he has taken his oath at the hands of us and the Fiscal, on whom he shall especially depend, as in Holland substitutes are bound to be dependent on the Upper Schouts or the Bailiff or Marshal. We command and charge all who are included under the jurisdiction of Breuckelen to acknowledge him, Jan Teunissen, for Schout. Thus done in our council in Fort Amsterdam, in New Netherland, the first December, Anno, 1646."15

      Thus began the official existence of Breuckelen, which at this time was distinct from the hamlets of Gowanus, the Ferry, and the Wallabout. Governor Kieft saw on the Breuckelen shore signs of agricultural activity at various points from Gravesend to beyond the Wallabout. In March, 1647, Hans Hansen Bergen bought a large tract of land adjoining the farm of his father-in-law, Joris Jansen de Rapalje. The water frontage of this tract was from the Wallabout Creek to the line of the present Division Avenue. Other purchases on the shore probably completed the chain of private ownership along the river and bay fronts between the points above named. A second tier of patents represented land back of the river parcels, and sometimes running in very eccentric lines.

      Although these patents antedated in many instances by several years the actual settlement by the owners,16 the increasing number gave indication of the stimulus that came with the end of organized Indian hostilities. The cessation of these hostilities brought new life to the people of New Netherland, and induced them to look more critically at the urgencies of their political as well as their domestic situation.

      The movement looking to the removal of Kieft, which first resulted in modifications in the form of government, and which had never slumbered, at last succeeded, and in May, 1647, Kieft was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesant.

      CHAPTER V

       DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE UNDER THE DUTCH

       1647–1664

       Table of Contents

      Beginning of Stuyvesant's Administration. Condition of the Colony. Character of the Early Dutch Houses. Household Arrangement. Dress. Funerals. Marriages. The Mixture of Races. Slavery. Religion. Attitude of Stuyvesant toward Sects other than Dutch Reformed. Triumph of Liberal Ideas. First Churches in Kings County. Troubles over the Church Tax. First Schools. The Dutch and Popular Education. End of Dutch Rule.

      When Stuyvesant, followed by the principal burghers, made his first public appearance in New Amsterdam, СКАЧАТЬ