Peter of New Amsterdam: A Story of Old New York

by Harry Castlemon

  I was lodged in the fort, where were women who did by me as best theymight; but my heart was sore because of disappointment.

  TWO DAYS IN PLYMOUTH

  The Secretary was received into the house of the governor, MasterBradford, and I neither saw nor heard from him, save when he sent meword next morning, which was the Sabbath, that he expected I would showmyself at the meeting-house.

  All this would I have done even though he had not been so thoughtful,for I was burning to hear the preachers my father had known: but thesermon was overly long; I was tired from the journey of the day before,and, without meaning so much disrespect to the minister, I fell asleep,nor did I awaken until one of the tithing-men struck me a sharp blow onthe head with a long pole, at the end of which was affixed a wolf'stail.

  It can well be supposed that from then on I sat bolt upright, my facecrimsoned with shame, and after such moment I had no desire to makemyself known to any who had met my father and mother, lest they reproachme for the crime I had committed.

  We stayed in Plymouth the first two days of the week, and I had goodopportunity to see the town; but did not fall in love with it. Althoughthe people had been living there more than seven years, save for themanner in which the houses were built, they were not so comfortablysettled as we of New Amsterdam, who had been in America no more thanfourteen months.

  I had a good look at that valiant soldier, Miles Standish, who hadfought in the Dutch army, as I well knew, and was much pleased with hisappearance, though I made no effort to have speech with him because ofwhat I had done in the church.

  It was Wednesday morning when we set out on our return, and I mustconfess that I was happy, rather than sad, at turning my back upon theEnglish to meet the Dutch, for while we have less of preaching in NewAmsterdam, there is more of friendliness shown to strangers, or, so itseemed to me whose heart was sore.

  Neither Hans nor Kryn had been called upon to take my place in thestorehouse, and within ten minutes after the _Nassau_ had come toanchor off the fort, I was at work showing goods to the savages, as if Ihad seen no more of this New World than those who labored with me.

  By this time our church was set in order, being, as I have said, in theloft of the horse-mill, and you may be certain I did not allow my eyesto close in slumber when I went to hear the zeikentroosters explain theholy words next Sabbath day. We had no such pulpit as they at Plymouth,but our benches were fairly comfortable to sit on, and Master Minuit'schair had in it a red cushion that made a braver show than anything Isaw among the English.

  FORGING AHEAD

  Now, as the days went on, our town of New Amsterdam grew amazingly fast.It was soon learned that there was good farming land along the easternside above the swamps, and within two years no less than six farms,boweries,--the Dutchmen call them,--were laid out with good promise ofbountiful crops.

  The fort had been rebuilt of good stone, in the same shape as when firstmade, and the storehouse for the trading goods had been finished asMaster Minuit promised. In addition to what we bartered with theIndians, stores of all kinds that could be brought from Holland were puton sale for the benefit of the laborers, and, because of my not beingable to do all the work, Kryn Gildersleeve was sent to me as anapprentice.

  If that was not a rise in the world, then I do not know what it may becalled, and for it all I have to thank Master Minuit, who ever dealt bythe orphan lad as if he had been the son of a director in the West IndiaCompany.

  It was no longer necessary for us to heap up stones to serve aschimneys, for the laborers were making good bricks. To get lime weburned the shells of oysters, of which there are in this land so manythat all the world may feed upon them till the youngest man has growngray-headed, without lessening the supply.

  Ships were coming to us from Holland nearly every month to take away thefurs that had been bought, and the timber cut from the forests. Ofbuilding stone we had all that could be used, no matter how many otherpeople might make their homes in New Amsterdam.

  Truly it was wonderful how soon we made of that wilderness a countrythat kings might covet, which indeed they did, as I came to know beforeI was at an end of my service with the West India Company.

  If I give so much time to telling you of what we did in New Amsterdamwhen Master Minuit was at the head of the government, you will not beinclined to listen when I speak of what the other governors, sent by theWest India Company, accomplished for the good or ill of the country.

  THE BIG SHIP

  Therefore it is, that instead of pleasing myself by telling of all mymaster did, I will come directly to that time when he left us. Accordingto my belief, the West India Company could not have found in all theworld any other man who would have served so faithfully, both the peopleand the Company, as did Master Minuit.

  The last thing of moment which Director Minuit did, was to have built,so that the merchants of Holland might see what we of New Netherlandcould do, one of the finest ships, so I have heard it said, that wasever put together. She was called the _New Netherland_. She measuredeight hundred tons, and carried thirty guns.

  At the time she was launched, I said to myself that never in this worldwould be found men who could build a larger or more beautiful ship thanthis, and yet I made a mistake in saying so, as I have made many othersduring my life.

  I would I might tell you of the merrymaking and the feasting when the_New Netherland_ was sent from the land into the water. I wish it mightbe possible to describe the astonishment of the savages as they saw thishuge vessel being built up timber by timber, until she was fit toencounter the tempests, and the waves, and the manifold dangers of thesea.

  But I have said that in order to tell of what other things were done inNew 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 displeasedthe directors of the West India Company, or other matters of MasterMinuit's government that offended them, I cannot say. And indeed it isnot to be expected that he who plays the part of clerk in a storehouseshould know much concerning affairs of state.

  MASTER MINUIT'S SUCCESSOR

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

  When Master Minuit left us, it was our belief that he would soon comeback; but there must have been in his mind some doubt regarding it, forhe 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 inthe 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 tofame, than where he left me.

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

  A short, fat man, who was overly fond of good dinners, and if I, who amnothing but a clerk in the employ of the Company, may say it, with notof brains enough to look after the concerns of such a town as NewAmsterdam was becoming, yet withal he accomplished somewhat towardmaking this place beautiful.

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

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

  TROUBLE WITH THE ENGLISH

  I do know this, however, that an English vessel came to anchor onecertain day off the town, and her captain said it was his purpose to goup the river to one of our posts called Port Orange, there to trade withthe 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 newDirector, calling together all the men in the town, armed three vesselsand drove the English out of the river.

  I also know that he brought trouble to himself and to the West IndiaCompany, by doing that which the English people in Plymouth claimed hehad 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 withthe savages to the extent of near ten thousand beaver skins, besidesother furs, each year.

  Now it seems the English of Plymouth claimed that this land had beengiven them by King James, and so notified Master Van Twiller; but hesent his secretary with a lot of toys, and bought from the savages thatpiece of land called Connittecock, building thereon a trading post, inwhich 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 anotherpost a short distance above them, and there, so I learned from thetraders who came to New Amsterdam, we were having considerable trouble.

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

  MASTER VAN TWILLER DISCHARGED

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

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

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

  But with it all, so it was charged against him, he was making himselfrich at the expense of the Company, for he bought of the Indians, to beheld as his own property, three of the large islands nearby, as well asa 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 VanTwiller was working more to his own advantage than theirs, and before hehad been in New Amsterdam five years, a ship called the _Blessing_ cameinto the harbor, having on board Master Wilhelm Kieft, who had with himpapers to show that he had been appointed Director of New Netherland.Master Van Twiller was ordered to return at once to Holland, and theregive an account of his proceedings.

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

  DIRECTOR KIEFT

  First, the seamen of the _Blessing_ whispered here and there storiesconcerning him which were not to his credit; that he had failed inbusiness in Holland, and as a punishment his portrait had been nailed tothe gallows; again, that when he was sent by the king to Turkey, havingbeen given charge of money to be paid for the release of some Dutchpeople 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 generallythat gave one the idea of a weasel, or of a person who is ever ready toshed 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 thoughtbest; but all that was changed before Director Kieft had been with useight and forty hours, for he soon gave the people in the employ of theWest India Company to understand that matters in New Amsterdam would,from then out, go according to his liking, and with no referencewhatsoever 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 ofMaster Van Twiller and Master Minuit having ruled us with kindly hands.

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

  He decided, without heed to judge or jury, all cases which were broughtup 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 thatwhich was wrong among us, for straightway he caused all our vessels tobe 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 theIndians by the people of the town, which had become, as I believed, aserious evil, for almost every man in New Amsterdam was buying furs ofthe savages on his own account, which was much to the loss of the WestIndia 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 peoplecharged Master Kieft before he had been in New Amsterdam a year. It isbetter I should spend my time relating what he did which cost the livesof so many white men, for to his door may be laid much of the sufferingwhich we knew while he ruled over us, although we were in the meanwhilecalled upon to answer for the crime of the negroes who had killed theIndian, as I have told you.

  First let me say, that on a certain morning, very shortly after MasterKieft 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 newDirector, stating that whosoever traded with the Indians, save whiledoing 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 veryshortly after daybreak, and not cease labor until sunset.

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

  There were many matters in these written notices that it is notnecessary for me to speak about. The last was that which caused us themost 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 tryingto 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 ofthose 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 againin the New World.

  It appears, although I cannot explain exactly why, that the West IndiaCompany had turned him out of their employ, and Queen Christina ofSweden had offered him a high office if he would build in America a townfor 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, wewere in the greatest turmoil because of the savages, he came over fromSweden to the South River, not more than an hundred and thirty milesfrom our town of New Amsterdam, and began building a fort.

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

  Perhaps it is enough if I say that Master Kieft did not drive MasterMinuit away, and that the latter continued to build up a trading postfor 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 Kieftthat some hogs, which had been turned out in the forest on StatenIsland, were no longer to be found there, and our sharp-nosed Directorimmediately made up his mind, without any proof whatsoever, that thesavages who called themselves Raritans, had stolen them.

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