Peter of New Amsterdam: A Story of Old New York

But I have said that in order to tell of what other things were done in New Amsterdam I must make of what should be a long story, a short one.

Now, whether it was the building of this wonderful ship that displeased the directors of the West India Company, or other matters of Master Minuit's government that offended them, I cannot say. And indeed it is not to be expected that he who plays the part of clerk in a storehouse should know much concerning affairs of state.

MASTER MINUIT'S SUCCESSOR

I am certain, however, that in six years after we arrived in the _Sea Mew_, when New Amsterdam was a town of which to be proud, Master Minuit set out for Holland, taking with him in the same ship no less than five thousand beaver skins.

When Master Minuit left us, it was our belief that he would soon come back; but there must have been in his mind some doubt regarding it, for he gave me much farewell advice on the night before the ship sailed, declaring, that so far as anything he might do, I should be advanced in the West India Company's employ as rapidly as was best.

It must be that my master seriously offended the Council of the Company, for I went in their employ no further on the road to fortune, or to fame, than where he left me.

During the year the affairs of New Amsterdam were looked after by the Council of the town, and then came a new Director by the name of Wouter Van Twiller. Of him I can tell you very little, for, unlike Master Minuit, he showed no interest in the welfare of those who were serving him.

A short, fat man, who was overly fond of good dinners, and if I, who am nothing but a clerk in the employ of the Company, may say it, with not of brains enough to look after the concerns of such a town as New Amsterdam was becoming, yet withal he accomplished somewhat toward making this place beautiful.

As I have said before, my duties kept me in the storehouse, and so rapidly had the trade with the Indians increased, that instead of having only Kryn Gildersleeve to help me, there were now five men under my charge, while I myself was doing much of the bargaining with the Indians. Therefore it is that I know but little concerning what this new Director did or did not do.

It was told in New Amsterdam that he had been no more than a clerk in the employ of the West India Company in Holland; but he knew somewhat regarding trading, for we set up posts here and there in such number that all the gentlemen traders who had come over with Master Minuit were needed to look after them, which accounts for my being allowed to conduct the business affairs in the fort.

TROUBLE WITH THE ENGLISH

I do know this, however, that an English vessel came to anchor one certain day off the town, and her captain said it was his purpose to go up the river to one of our posts called Port Orange, there to trade with the Indians on his own account.

Master Van Twiller forbade his doing so; but after remaining five days, the English captain sailed up the river, and then it was that our new Director, calling together all the men in the town, armed three vessels and drove the English out of the river.

I also know that he brought trouble to himself and to the West India Company, by doing that which the English people in Plymouth claimed he had no right to do, and it was much like this:

Our Dutchman, Adrian Block, had sailed up a river to the east of us, which he called the Fresh River, and Master Minuit had traded there with the savages to the extent of near ten thousand beaver skins, besides other furs, each year.

Now it seems the English of Plymouth claimed that this land had been given them by King James, and so notified Master Van Twiller; but he sent his secretary with a lot of toys, and bought from the savages that piece of land called Connittecock, building thereon a trading post, in which we mounted two cannon, and called it the House of Good Hope.

Because of this the English of Boston, together with those in Plymouth, set about driving the Dutch away from Fresh River by building another post a short distance above them, and there, so I learned from the traders who came to New Amsterdam, we were having considerable trouble.

Master Van Twiller contrived also to get himself into trouble with the English at Jamestown, and did have a pitched battle with them at our forts at Nassau, on the Delaware River, gaining a victory, but giving the Dutch a bad name with their neighbors.

MASTER VAN TWILLER DISCHARGED

This much I know, Master Van Twiller did much that was unwise; but out of the harm he accomplished considerable of good, so far as concerned New Amsterdam.

He strengthened and beautified the fort, building within its limits a goodly house of brick where he himself might live. He also laid out a farm on the East River equal to any in Holland. On this he put up a barn, a brewery, a boathouse, and a good stable, together with two mills, and dwellings for a blacksmith, a cooper, and such soldiers as might be lodged there to protect the place.

Master Van Twiller also built us a wharf on the easterly side of the point; a church which would have been an ornament to any town, as well as a house for the minister, for by this time we had a licensed clergyman.

But with it all, so it was charged against him, he was making himself rich at the expense of the Company, for he bought of the Indians, to be held as his own property, three of the large islands nearby, as well as a farm of sixty-two acres, which lay between the fort and the swamp.

In some way the Council of the Company in Holland heard that Master Van Twiller was working more to his own advantage than theirs, and before he had been in New Amsterdam five years, a ship called the Blessingcame into the harbor, having on board Master Wilhelm Kieft, who had with him papers to show that he had been appointed Director of New Netherland. Master Van Twiller was ordered to return at once to Holland, and there give an account of his proceedings.

And now, because of this same Master Kieft's having worked much harm to us in New Amsterdam, causing the Indians to rise against us, I am minded to tell you more concerning him than I have thought well to say regarding Master Van Twiller.

DIRECTOR KIEFT

First, the seamen of the _Blessing_ whispered here and there stories concerning him which were not to his credit; that he had failed in business in Holland, and as a punishment his portrait had been nailed to the gallows; again, that when he was sent by the king to Turkey, having been given charge of money to be paid for the release of some Dutch people who were held in slavery there, he put it in his own pocket, allowing the poor men to wear out their lives as slaves to the Turks.

He was a small man, with a sharp nose, sharp chin, and a face generally that gave one the idea of a weasel, or of a person who is ever ready to shed blood even though he does not benefit thereby.

Perhaps I am overly severe in describing this new Director of ours, because of the trouble which we in the storehouse had with him.

Under Master Van Twiller we had conducted the business as we thought best; but all that was changed before Director Kieft had been with us eight and forty hours, for he soon gave the people in the employ of the West India Company to understand that matters in New Amsterdam would, from then out, go according to his liking, and with no reference whatsoever to the Council, or to any other officers in the town.

And all this he did with a high air, which chafed us the more because of Master Van Twiller and Master Minuit having ruled us with kindly hands.

He set himself up almost as a king, by discharging the members of the town Council, and by appointing all the public officers, even so important an one as the schout-fiscal.

He decided, without heed to judge or jury, all cases which were brought up in court, and, in fact, took upon himself the entire government, regardless alike of Council or of the West India Company.

But, in justice to Master Kieft, I must say that he took heed to that which was wrong among us, for straightway he caused all our vessels to be repaired, and indeed they were in sore need of attention.

He enlarged and beautified the storehouse, of which I was in charge, and, what was more to my liking, put an end to the trading with the Indians by the people of the town, which had become, as I believed, a serious evil, for almost every man in New Amsterdam was buying furs of the savages on his own account, which was much to the loss of the West India Company, and served greatly to cheapen our goods.

UNJUST COMMANDS

It would be useless for me to try to tell you all with which our people charged Master Kieft before he had been in New Amsterdam a year. It is better I should spend my time relating what he did which cost the lives of so many white men, for to his door may be laid much of the suffering which we knew while he ruled over us, although we were in the meanwhile called upon to answer for the crime of the negroes who had killed the Indian, as I have told you.

First let me say, that on a certain morning, very shortly after Master Kieft came among us, we found posted on the trunks of trees, on rocks, and on the corners of the houses, written notices, signed by the new Director, stating that whosoever traded with the Indians, save while doing so at the command of the West India Company, should suffer death; and that the Company's servants must begin work at a certain hour very shortly after daybreak, and not cease labor until sunset.

Also, among many other things, it was declared that the Indians themselves should pay a certain amount of wheat, wampum, or furs toward the support of the soldiers employed by the Company in different parts of the country.

There were many matters in these written notices that it is not necessary for me to speak about. The last was that which caused us the most trouble, for the Indians openly refused to obey any such command, and Master Kieft went so far as to hang four whom he accused of trying to persuade others of their tribe not to do as he had ordered.

Now you can well fancy that such cruel acts served to make enemies of those Indians who had been our friends.

MASTER MINUIT'S RETURN

It was while we were all in a turmoil with this new order of things, that we had startling proof that my old master, Peter Minuit, was again in the New World.

It appears, although I cannot explain exactly why, that the West India Company had turned him out of their employ, and Queen Christina of Sweden had offered him a high office if he would build in America a town for the Swedish people, such as he had built for the Dutch.

This Master Minuit agreed upon, and at the time when, as I have said, we were in the greatest turmoil because of the savages, he came over from Sweden to the South River, not more than an hundred and thirty miles from our town of New Amsterdam, and began building a fort.

This news plunged me into a state of most painful excitement, for I burned to see the good man once more, and to beg that he take me into his service; but Master Kieft had given orders that no person be allowed to leave New Amsterdam, save with his permission. Therefore how could I, in charge of the Company's storehouse, expect to be allowed to go among those who were considered enemies to the Dutch, for speedily had our Director declared war against these Swedish people led by Master Minuit?

Perhaps it is enough if I say that Master Kieft did not drive Master Minuit away, and that the latter continued to build up a trading post for the Swedish people until it became a stronghold in this New World.

THE REVENGE OF THE SAVAGES

While he was striving against the Swedes, word was brought Master Kieft that some hogs, which had been turned out in the forest on Staten Island, were no longer to be found there, and our sharp-nosed Director immediately made up his mind, without any proof whatsoever, that the savages who called themselves Raritans, had stolen them.

Making no inquiry into the matter, he sent out a company of soldiers who surrounded the unfortunate Indians in their village, and slaughtered them as if they had been wild beasts, killing men, women, and children, after which everything in the way of property was either destroyed or carried away.

The embers of the Raritan village had hardly more than grown cold, when it was discovered that some of our own people had taken the hogs from Staten Island, thus showing that the terrible murders had been committed without any cause whatsoever, save Master Kieft's own suspicious, evil imaginings.

Then it was that instead of the people of New Amsterdam going out peacefully, earning money for the West India Company, as they were in duty bound to do, all were the same as shut up on Manhattan Island with enemies on every hand; for, as may be supposed, such of the Raritan Indians as remained alive sought every opportunity to gain revenge, beginning by killing four planters on a farm at Staten Island, and burning the buildings.

This caused Master Kieft to shut his eyes to his own crime, and at once every man was called upon to aid in killing the Raritans. Trade was neglected, and our Director went so far as to offer such of the Indians as remained friendly, ten long strings of wampum for the head of every Raritan Indian which should be brought to him, and twenty strings for each head of those who had been concerned in the murders on Staten Island.

As if blood did not flow in sufficient quantity, the people of the boy who had escaped when the negro slaves murdered his father, or, as some say, his uncle, declared war against us by killing poor old Claus Schmidt, the wheelwright, who lived nearest the swamp; and we of New Amsterdam had good reason to fear that all the savages roundabout might take part, either with the Raritans, or with these new enemies, and we should be murdered at the very time when our town was becoming of importance.

MASTER KIEFT'S WAR

Master Kieft, taking no council save with his own evil thoughts, announced that he would declare war against every brown man in the country, and there is no question in my mind but that such might have been the case to our utter destruction, had not the chief men of New Amsterdam, and among them those who had been in the Council during Master Van Twiller's reign, risen up against the Director, so far as could be done without laying themselves open to a charge of mutiny.

Our sensible men claimed, and with good reason, that war ought not to be declared because of the crops being still unharvested, and because of our having to gather in the cattle, swine, and sheep still roaming the woods. They declared also, that the farmers who had settled some distance away, had a right to be given warning in time for them to save a portion of their property.

To this Master Kieft agreed; but only for a certain time. He took it upon himself to make preparations for war, and when winter was fully come did actually begin it, setting himself, with no more than two hundred and fifty Dutchmen, against two thousand savages who, because of our greed for furs, as shown both by the people in their private trading, and by the West India Company, were armed with the same kind of guns we were using, as well as supplied with an ample store of powder and ball.

I would not, if I could, tell you all that followed. It is too cruel a story; it has more to do with murder and death by torture, and with keenest suffering, than would be well for you to hear while we have gathered to listen to my poor tale of how the town of New Amsterdam was built, and how it grew.

It was a time when the bravest man's cheeks might well grow pale; when women and children shrieked with fear, or trembled in silent terror at the slightest unusual sound; when it was as if all the country roundabout had been stained the color of blood; when we could no longer lie down at night, or rise up in the morning, without fear; when we ceased to live the lives of peaceful, honest traders, but were become the same as hunted beasts, – and all through the evil of one man.

Master Kieft was sent for by the West India Company none too soon, and the pity of it is that he ever came to New Amsterdam, with his hatchet-shaped face, to plunge us into a war with the savages, who had all the right on their side.

Hans Braun claimed because of Kieft's having built the great stone tavern, which was the largest and most beautiful in all America, that he had left behind him a monument which would ever keep his memory green. But I question if any one, after Director Stuyvesant turned the building into a town hall, ever cared to remember that it had been built by Wilhelm Kieft.

DIRECTOR PETRUS STUYVESANT

On the eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1647, a fleet of four large vessels sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam, bringing the new Director, Petrus Stuyvesant, his family, servants, soldiers, and many laborers.

A one-legged man was Master Stuyvesant, who had been a brave soldier, and, later, a governor of the island of Curaçoa, wherever it may be. That he believed he was of considerable importance in the world, could be told by his manner of moving about and of holding speech with any who was lower in station than himself.

It was as if he were too high and mighty to concern himself with what might or might not be done in the storehouse, even though through that building came the greater portion of all the money the West India Company received from the New World.

Do not understand me as saying that he gave no heed to such portion of the Company's business as was under my charge. He took note of it, but not as Master Minuit would have done, by coming daily in person to see for himself that I, and all under me, were doing full duty.

Director Stuyvesant sent the secretary, Master Van Tienhoven, to learn what was being done, and that gentleman, as if believing I was not making the best bargains for the Company, spent a goodly portion of his time in the office of the storehouse, under the pretext of allowing me to go here or there as I pleased.

While Master Kieft was in office, I had so much of labor to perform that two or three weeks, even a month on a certain time, would pass without my having been outside the building.

TIME FOR SIGHT-SEEING

When the Secretary proposed that I take some time for pleasure, claiming to do so only for my good, – although, as a matter of fact, I believe it was but his purpose to learn whether or no I had been doing my full duty by the Company, – I took advantage of the offer.

If any could do better for New Amsterdam than I, then it was time a change was made in the office of storekeeper and trader, this being my title at the time, as can be shown by the records in Holland. I had nothing to conceal, having ever done my work to the best of my ability, and Master Van Tienhoven had free permission, so far as I was concerned, to search for flaws.

I may as well say at once, that he never found anything in my conduct deserving of blame, although I did not hold my office quite so long as the West India Company did business in America.

However, Master Tienhoven was so far my friend that he gave me many an opportunity of wandering about the town, which was almost strange to me, after having been kept at work in the storehouse so long.

The Indian village was no longer to be seen. When Master Kieft stirred up so much trouble with the savages, the last one of the Manhattans fled to the forest, there, most like, to join with our enemies against us, nor did we see any of them save when they came in with furs or wild fowl for barter.

Where the village of the Manhattans had stood were gardens and houses, many built of stone in the Dutch style, and in front of the fort, from the lower bastion to the water's edge, was the green, or the common, where the soldiers paraded on feast days that people might admire them.

Inside the fort, and not far from my storehouse, was the church of stone built by Master Kieft, the jail, the dwelling of the Director, concerning which I have already told you, and low stone barracks, or quarters for the soldiers, while on the northernmost bastion was a wind-mill, made after the fashion of those in Holland.

HOW THE FORT WAS ARMED

It may interest you to know that our fort was well armed, having mounted and ready for service, eight bombards, by which I mean heavy cannon with wide, flaring mouths; six culverins, or exceedingly long, slim guns with handles on either side for carrying; and seven serpentines, these last being thin, long guns with grooves on the inside to throw the shot in a whirling manner. As missiles for the serpentines, two balls were chained together, being sent among the enemy in such way that they swung round and round, oftentimes inflicting much damage.

The palisade, which had been built straight across the island while the savages were thirsting for our blood, was to me a wonder in those days when Master Tienhoven gave me an opportunity for strolling about the town.

It was made of cedar logs full twelve-feet high, and less than a quarter-mile back from the fort, stretching across the island for a distance of nearly twenty-five hundred feet. Here and there, say every three hundred feet, was a small fort built of logs, where the soldiers could be protected while beating back an enemy, and at the water's edge on the river to the eastward, was what is called a half-moon battery, set well out into the stream, where were mounted two guns.

The same kind of fortification stood at the other end of the palisade, on the shore of that river discovered by Master Henry Hudson, and near each battery was a gate giving entrance to the town, while an arch with heavy barriers, formed with much ornamentation of carving, stretched across the Broad Way.

Following this palisade was a wide lane, along which were built the huts of the slaves, servants, or people who were poor because of being lazy.

VILLAGE LAWS

It was on this palisade that I read the first of Director Stuyvesant's messages, and during that stroll I saw so many of them that I can even now repeat the words. They ran like this, and, to my mind, it would have been well if Master Kieft had given his attention to the same matter:

"Whereas, we are informed of the great ravages the wolf commits on the small cattle; therefore to animate and encourage the proprietors who will go out and shoot the same, we have resolved to his island, on this side Haarlem, shall be promptly paid therefor by them, for a wolf twenty florins, and for a she-wolf thirty florins in wampum, or the value thereof."

When the farmer's bell tolled from the belfrey of the church within the fort, all the gates in the palisade were closed, and no person might enter or leave the city from that time, which was nine of the clock in the evening, until sunrise of the next morning.

I have heard it said that there were many living beyond the palisade who claimed that this was all too early for them to leave the houses of their friends in the town, when there for a visit of pleasure; but I hold to it that he who would remain out of his bed longer than that is little better than a night-brawler, because of honest people being ready for sleep when the day's work is at an end.

OTHER THINGS ABOUT TOWN

A thing which displeased me, though perhaps I was easily put out by anything Director Stuyvesant did, was that he should have set up the gallows in front of the stone tavern built by Master Kieft, after it had been turned into the town hall.

To me that instrument of justice was a blot on the fair building, even though it be something necessary in all towns; the whipping-post and the stocks seem to be there by right, and do not cast such a horror upon him who passes them, but to have ever in sight that which had been built for the taking away of men's lives is, in a way, brutal.

The hooft, or city dock, was ever a pleasant lounging place to me, particularly when there were many ships in the roadstead. It was pleasing to sit there idle, thinking Master Tienhoven was poring over my accounts when the day was so fair that one enjoyed being in the sunshine, and to watch the ships or the small boats that flitted to and fro. It was enough to make one believe that in the days to come this New Amsterdam of ours might grow to be even as large as Amsterdam in Holland.