Peter of New Amsterdam: A Story of Old New York

A BRUTAL MURDER

Finally, a certain Indian, having with him a small boy, came down to trade twenty-two beaver skins for red cloth. Because of none of the gentlemen traders being near at hand when he arrived, I was forced to ask him to wait until nearly nightfall, and by the time he had finished his bargaining, darkness was come.

Now it was usual for these brown men, who lived at a distance, to shelter themselves for the night nearabout New Amsterdam in the dwellings of the Manhattan Indians; therefore no one gave heed to the fact that these two visitors went out from the fort at quite a late hour in the evening.

Exactly what happened, no one, excepting those concerned directly in it, could say; but certain it is that between the fort and the settlement of the Manhattan Indians, within an hour from the time I saw them last, this Indian and the boy were set upon by four negroes, who beat the man so brutally while robbing him of the goods he had just purchased, that he died before mid-night.

The boy escaped, as we learned later, so terrified that he dared not even trust himself among the Manhattan Indians, but hid in a swamp during a certain time, after which he rejoined his people.

The negroes were brought before the council; but only one was proven guilty, owing to lack of evidence, and this fellow was hanged off-hand, while the others, although declared innocent of the murder, were soundly flogged as a warning to others of their kind.

Not until several years had passed, did the Dutchmen hear further concerning this most brutal murder, and then it was that the boy, whose father, or uncle, had been killed, aroused the people of his tribe to wreak vengeance upon the white men, thus aiding and bringing about a most terrible Indian war, although we of New Amsterdam did not suffer through it as did others who, coming to this New World years afterward, were wholly innocent of doing any wrong to the brown men.

However, save that the trouble which resulted in much bloodshed, began there, the war has but little to do with New Amsterdam, and I shall say no more regarding it at present.

THE VILLAGE CALLED PLYMOUTH

I had thought that, having been given the office of storekeeper, I was like to remain all my days in the town, without having the privilege of going even on a trading ship, and yet matters so came about that I became a great traveler, so far as seeing the New World was concerned.

Shortly after we were come to New Netherland, Master Minuit heard from the savages that at a place called Plymouth, many miles from us, a company of Englishmen had made for themselves a village which was fair to look upon, and growing exceeding fast.

Now you may suppose that I had not been dumb during this time, when I was showing goods to the savages while our gentlemen made the bargains, but so I must have been had I not learned a word now and then of their speech, until, by using many signs in addition, I could carry on quite a conversation with such of the brown men as would stoop to make talk to a boy.

Therefore it was I understood Indian words far better than I could speak them, and when these stories were told concerning a company of English people at this new village of Plymouth, my heart went out to them, for was I not an English boy, and these my countrymen?

I had known, of course, that those of my race who once lived in Leyden, came to this New World; but that we might be anywhere near them never entered my head, until the savages told us of Plymouth, and then I said to myself that there could be no greater pleasure than to see these people who had been friendly with my father and mother.

I GO ON A VOYAGE

I also knew, because of hearing him speak of it to some of the gentlemen traders in my presence, that Master Minuit had sent a letter to the governor of Plymouth by one of the Indians, and a reply had come back; but more than that I heard nothing until the Secretary told me, one certain morning, that I was to make a sea voyage with him.

It was a direct command from Master Minuit, and I made ready without asking to what land we should go, because it was for me to obey, not to question; but I had a great hope that Hans Braun might not be put into the storehouse in my place, fearing lest he would not willingly give up the position, after learning how much more pleasing it was to handle the toys than the ill-smelling furs.

"We are to journey as far as Plymouth, where is a village in which English people live," the Secretary, whose name was that of a Frenchman and bothered my tongue, said to me when I went on board the pinnace Nassau, which had been made ready for the voyage.

One might have knocked me down with a breath, so astounded and overjoyed was I at the possibility of seeing my father's friends, and it was a full five minutes before I could set down an account of the goods that were being brought on board, for Master Minuit counted on sending a present to the governor of Plymouth, of no less value than a chest of sugar, near to an hundred strings of wampum, and three rolls of best cloth, each of a different color.

If it had been in my power to provide the wind for the voyage, it could not have been more favorable, and the _Nassau_ sent up a jet of spray from her bow, as we sailed down the river on the eastern side of New Amsterdam till we were come to what is called Long Island Sound, which is a vast inland sea.

Then we crossed the bay which is called Narragansett, because of the Indians of that tribe living along the shores, and afterward were come to a trading post belonging to the people of Plymouth.

A LUKEWARM WELCOME

It was as if my heart came into my mouth when I saw these English people, and I made no doubt they would welcome me warmly on knowing that my father was of the same religious faith; but they gave little heed to my words, and because of being received so coldly, I felt shame that I had rejoiced when the Secretary told me where our voyage was to come to an end.

However, we were not then at Plymouth, but nearly twenty miles away. That the Englishmen might have warning of our coming, word was sent ahead by one of the savages who had journeyed with us, that a messenger from the West India Company wished to visit Plymouth, and would do so if the governor of the town would send a boat to a point four or five miles from where we then were.

All this was done as the Secretary wished, and we walked across a neck of land, some of the people from the trading post carrying the chests of gifts, until coming to where a boat was in waiting.

Before another night had come we were in Plymouth; but it was to me as if I had met entire strangers, for none gave me the hearty welcome I had been hungering for, although my story was not doubted. I suppose there were too many like me in this wide world, and those who were battling against the wilderness and the savages, as were these people, could give but little heed to a lad who had no standing among men.

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

TWO DAYS IN PLYMOUTH

The Secretary was received into the house of the governor, Master Bradford, and I neither saw nor heard from him, save when he sent me word next morning, which was the Sabbath, that he expected I would show myself 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 the sermon 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 on the head with a long pole, at the end of which was affixed a wolf's tail.

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

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

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

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

Neither Hans nor Kryn had been called upon to take my place in the storehouse, and within ten minutes after the Nassau had come to anchor off the fort, I was at work showing goods to the savages, as if I had 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 the loft of the horse-mill, and you may be certain I did not allow my eyes to close in slumber when I went to hear the zeikentroosters explain the holy 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's chair had in it a red cushion that made a braver show than anything I saw 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 eastern side above the swamps, and within two years no less than six farms, boweries, – the Dutchmen call them, – were laid out with good promise of bountiful crops.

The fort had been rebuilt of good stone, in the same shape as when first made, and the storehouse for the trading goods had been finished as Master Minuit promised. In addition to what we bartered with the Indians, stores of all kinds that could be brought from Holland were put on sale for the benefit of the laborers, and, because of my not being able to do all the work, Kryn Gildersleeve was sent to me as an apprentice.

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

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

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

Truly it was wonderful how soon we made of that wilderness a country that kings might covet, which indeed they did, as I came to know before I 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 Amsterdam when Master Minuit was at the head of the government, you will not be inclined to listen when I speak of what the other governors, sent by the West 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 my master did, I will come directly to that time when he left us. According to my belief, the West India Company could not have found in all the world any other man who would have served so faithfully, both the people and 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 Netherland could do, one of the finest ships, so I have heard it said, that was ever put together. She was called the New Netherland. She measured eight hundred tons, and carried thirty guns.

At the time she was launched, I said to myself that never in this world would be found men who could build a larger or more beautiful ship than this, and yet I made a mistake in saying so, as I have made many others during 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 might be possible to describe the astonishment of the savages as they saw this huge vessel being built up timber by timber, until she was fit to encounter the tempests, and the waves, and the manifold dangers of the sea.

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.