Albany County ,Rensselaerswyck NyArchives Court.....Introductory, Materials 1648
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Source: Minutes Of The Court Of Rensselaerswyck
Written: 1648
MINUTES OF THE COURT OF
RENSSELAERSWYCK 1648-1652
Translated and edited by
A. J. F. VAN LAER
Archivist, Division of Archives and History
ALBANY
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
1922
The University of the State of New York
Division of Archives and History
December 21, 1922
Dr. Frank P. Graves
President of the University
DEAR SIR:
I herewith transmit and recommend for publication the volume entitled Minutes of
the Court of Rensselaerswyck, April 2, 1648 to April 15, 1652, translated and
edited by A. J. F. van Laer, Archivist of the Division of Archives and History.
In point of view of date this volume precedes the Minutes of the Court of Fort
Orange and. Beverwyck already published. Reference to the preface by the
translator and editor will show the position which these minutes occupy in
relation to the previous publication. Their importance in giving a picture of the
legal, institutional and economic conditions of the time has already been called
to your attention in the volume to which reference has been made.
Very truly yours
JAMES SULLIVAN
State Historian and Director
Approved for publication FRANK P. GRAVES,
President of the University and
Commissioner of Education
PREFACE
The court of the colony of Rensselaerswyck, whose minutes for 1648-1652 are
published herewith, formed from an early date an important part of the judicial
organization of the province of New Netherland. The court was erected by Kiliaen
van Rensselaer by virtue of the power conferred upon him by the charter of
Freedoms and Exemptions of 1629, which provided that members of the Dutch West
India Company who within four years after giving notice to the company should
plant in New Netherland a colony of fifty adults should be acknowledged as
patroons and should hold their land from the company as a perpetual fief of
inheritance, with "high, middle and low jurisdiction." By these terms the patroons
were authorized to administer civil and criminal justice, in person or by deputy,
within the limits of their respective colonies and to erect courts whose
jurisdiction should extend to matters affecting life and limb, although article 20
of the charter provided that from' all judgments given by the courts of the
patroons above 50 guilders there should be appeal to the director general and
council of New Netherland. [1 - See Endnotes]
The first step to organize a court in the colony of Rensselaerswyck was taken by
the patroon on July 1, 1632, when he appointed Rutger Hendricksz van Soest schout
and empowered him to administer the oath of schepen to Roelof Jansz van
Masterland, Gerrit Theusz de Reus, Maryn Adriaensz, Brant Peelen and Laurens
Laurensz, all of whom, with the exception of de Reus, were then residing in the
colony. The patroon issued instructions for the schout and schepens on July 20,
1632, and sent these to the colony by his nephew Wouter van Twiller, the newly
appointed director general of New Netherlahd, who also took with him a silver
plated rapier with baldric and a hat with plumes for the schout, and black hats
with silver bands for the schepens.
Van Twiller sailed from the island of Texel, on the ship "Soutberg," shortly
after July 27, 1632, and arrived at New Amsterdam in April of the following year.
He had with him a power of attorney from Kiliaen van Rensselaer to administer the
oath of schout to Rutger Hendricksz van Soest, but as far as can be judged from
the meager information that is available did not administer the oath.
Conditions, just then, were not favorable for the erection of a court in the
colony. Differences had arisen in the board of directors of the Dutch West India
Company in regard to the fur trade and efforts were made by those who were opposed
to the agricultural colonization of New Netherland to deprive the patroons of the
privileges granted to them by the charter of Freedoms and Exemptions. Van
Rensselaer complains of this in a memorial presented by him to the Assembly of the
XIX on November 25, 1633, [2] in which he makes the statement that in July, 1632,
he had people and animals enough to start five farms, but that his efforts were
frustrated because the Company refused to let him have carpenters, smiths and
other mechanics and also declined to furnish his people with supplies, in exchange
for grain and dairy products.
Taking this statement in connection with the facts that Rutger Hendricksz' term
of service as a farmer was about to expire and that his name does not appear in
the records of the colony after 1634, it seems safe to conclude that when Van
Twiller arrived in New Netherland Rutger Hendricksz had determined to leave the
colony and declined to accept the position of schout.
Van Twiller wrote to the patroon and recommended Brant Aertsz Van Slichtenhorst
for the post, [3] but before his letter was received the patroon had already made
other arrangements and entered into a contract with Jacob Albertsz Planck, whereby
the latter was engaged as schout for the period of three years. Planck received
his instructions on April 27, 1634, and soon after sailed for the colony, where he
arrived on or just before the 12th of August. His instructions provided that on
his arrival in New Netherland he was to. present himself before Director Van
Twiller and to request him to administer to him the oath of office "instead of to
Rutger Henrickssz, according to previous power of attorney" and, furthermore, that
at the first opportunity he was to choose three schepens from among the fittest of
the colonists, so that he could hold court if need be. Presumably, therefore, the
court of the colony was first organized shortly after August 12, 1634.
The court as then constituted corresponded to the usual courts of schout and
schepens as they at that time existed in most of: the manors of the Netherlands.
It was evidently intended to be a court of limited civil and criminal
jurisdiction, for the patroon, in a letter to Wouter van Twiller, dated April 23,
1634, distinctly states that Michiel Pauw,. in his colony of Pavonia, calls
Cornelis van Vorst his "chief officer," but that for his own reasons he desires
that "Jacob Planck shall as yet not be otherwise entitled than as officer,"
thereby indicating, it seems, that, he was not to have the rank of a city schout,
or the presiding officer of a superior court having power to inflict capital
punishment. [4]
Planck not only held the position of schout, but also that of commies, or
trading agent and administrative officer of the colony. His services were not
satisfactory, so that at the expiration of his term, in August 1637, he was not
reappointed. The patron, however, had difficulty in finding a suitable successor
and requested Planck to remain until the arrival of Arent van Curler, who was sent
out as his assistant in the latter part of December of that year. Planck was back
in Holland in August 1639, and probably left the colony shortly after May 12th,
when the patroon wrote to Director General Kieft: "I am negotiating about sending
some people of capacity to my colony, but they were not able to make up their
minds so quickly and to get ready, and in the former officer, Jacob Planck, I do
not find a proper manager. He knows more about trading furs, which have been of
greater profit to him than to me; however, I wish to part with him in friendship
and not to give the least occasion for dissatisfaction among my people, for they
stir one another up." Having failed to find a successor to Planck, the patroon,
the same day, entrusted the administration of justice and the general management
of the colony to three gecommitteerden, or commissioners, namely, Arent van
Curler, Pieter Cornelisz van Munnickendam and Cornelis Teunisz van Breuckelen. Of
these, the first was made secretary and bookkeeper of the colony and until further
order was also to act as officer and commies, the second was made receiver of
tithes and supercargo of the vessel, and the third was appointed the patroon's
voorspraecke, or attorney, to defend his interests. These three commissioners
managed the affairs of the colony until the arrival of Adriaen van der Donck, who
was commissioned officer of justice on May 13, 1641. Just how long Van der Donck
held the post of officer is not known. He arrived in the colony in August 1641,
and like Planck and other officials of the colony was probably appointed for a
period of three years, so that his term of office would seem to have expired in
August 1644. [5]
Just about this time word must have reached the colony of the death of the
patroon. An entry in the minutes of the director general and council of New
Netherland under date of August 8, 1644, [6] in which reference is made to "the
heirs of Mr Renselaer, deceased," shows, namely, that Kiliaen van Rensselaer died,
not in 1646, as stated by O'Callaghan, Brodhead and all other writers, but some
time prior to August 1644, and perhaps as early as the fall of 1643, when the
patroon's letters to the colony, published in the Van Rensselaer Bowier
Manuscripts, ceased.
The patroon's estate and title now: descended to his eldest son, Johannes, who,
being a minor, was with his property placed under the guardianship of his uncle
Johan van Wely and his cousin Wouter van Twiller. Upon these guardians, therefore,
devolved the duty of appointing a successor to Van der Donck. The latter had been
lax in the performance of his duties, so that many abuses had sprung up in the
colony and a firmer hand was needed in dealing with the colonists. The man chosen
for this purpose was Brant Aertsz van Slichtenhorst, the same person who in 1633
had been recommended by Van Twiller for the position of schout of the colony.
Van Slichtenhorst was appointed director of the colony on November 10, 1646, but
before this appointment was made, Van der Donck had already left the colony and
Nicolaes Coorn, the commander of Rensselaers-Steyn; a small fort on Beeren Island,
at the southern entrance to the colony, had taken his place. Coorn acted as
officer of the colony until Van Slichtenhorst's arrival in March 1648, but was
then given the title of Oficier Luytenant, or deputy sheriff, and made Van
Slichtenhorst's assistant, in which capacity he was soon succeeded by the latter's
nephew, Gerrit van Wenckum.
Of the records of the court, from its organization in 1634 to the end of
Nicolaes Coorn's term as officer, nothing has been preserved and little is known
of what actually happened in the colony beyond what may be gathered from the
patroon's correspondence, Which stops in 1643.
Several facts, however, are known which show, not only that court was held
between 1643 and 1648, but that during or even before this period the court had
ceased to be a court of limited civil and criminal jurisdiction. One of these
facts is that on February 4, 1644, and again on August 28, 1647, sentence of
banishment was pronounced on Willem Jeuriaensz; anbther, that on August 13, 1644,
a similar sentence was pronounced on Adriaen Willemsz; and still another that,
apparently in 1646, Wolf Nyssen, a native of Fulda, in Hessen, [7] was executed
for a crime which is not mentioned in the accounts. This execution is the only
case of capital punishment in the colony of which we have any record. The sentence
was carried out by a negro named Jan, who received 38 guilders for the task, The
name of the negro does not appear in the account books of the colony except under
the date mentioned above, It is probable that he was a slave belonging to the
Company, who had been hired for the special purpose, for on March 9, 1643, in
connection with the arrest of refractory colonists, the patroon wrote to Van der
Donck: "I am almost thinking of asking some of the negroes (with consent of the
honorable Director Kieft) or even to employ for your assistance some Indian of
good courage and obedience who would then also be of service to you in other
things." [8]
Van Slichtenhorst, as already stated, was appointed on November 10, 1646. He
received his instructions and took the oath of office on September 4, 1647, [9]
and on the 26th of the same month sailed for his post. He landed in Virginia on
December 12th, thence proceeded by another ship to Manhattan, which he reached on
February 7, 1648, and finally arrived in the colony on March 22d. Van
Slichtenhorst was then 59 years of age. [10] He was born at Nykerck, in the
province of Gelderland, where his ancestral estate, known as the Aert-Brantsgoed,
extending on both sides of the Slichtenhorst road, adjoined the property of the
Van Twillers and was situated not far from Corlaer, the original seat of the Van
Curlers. Thus, long before his coming to New Netherland, he must have been well
acquainted with both Wouter van Twiller and Arent van Curler, the latter of whom
was at the time of his appointment in Holland and returned with him to New
Netherland.
Van Slichtenhorst married early in January 1614, at Nykerck, Aeltje van Wenckum,
a distant relative of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, by whom he had nine children,
namely, four sons and five daughters, of whom Arend, the historian of Gelderland,
and a daughter Goudje, or Hillegonda, remained in Holland. A younger daughter,
Margaret, and his son Gerrit [11] accompanied him to New Netherlands and the other
children died young. He was a deacon of the Dutch Reformed Church at Nykerck from
1619 to 1622, and from 1621 to 1627 was subcollector at the same place for Joncker
Carel Bentinck ten Berencamp, one of the representatives of the nobility of the
district of the Veluwe, who held the lucrative office of collector or receiver.
Van Slichtenhorst's name first appears in connection with New Netherland under
date of June 25, 1632, when he was appointed commissary of stores by the Amsterdam
Chamber of the Dutch West India Company. [12] He was to sail in that capacity to
New Netherland in the company of Director Wouter van Twiller, but was unexpectedly
detained by his former employer, Bentinck, owing to a litigation in which the
latter was involved with the inhabitants of Nykerck. Having, in view of his
appointment, already disposed of his property at Nykerck, Van Slichtenhorst first
removed to Harderwyck, [13] where his son Arend attended the university, but soon
after changed his residence to the city of Amersfoort, where from 1636 to 1644 he
held the position of lieutenant schout, and where he remained until his departure
for New Netherland in 1647. Before coming to New Netherland, therefore, Van
Slichtenhorst had considerable experience, both as an administrative officer and
as deputy schout.
His contract with the guardians of the young patroon provided that he was to
hold the positions of hoofd-officier and director of the colony for the period of
three years from the date of his arrival in the colony. As hoofd-officier, he was
to preside over the court, to act as public prosecutor and to perform the combined
duties of a modern sheriff and chief of police. As director, he was the chief
administrative officer of the colony and as such was to collect the patroon's
revenues derived from farms, mills, licenses to trade, etc., of which he was to
render a strict account, with the understanding, however, that he was not to
engage in the fur trade, or to act as commies. For the performance of these
various duties he was to receive a salary of 900 guilders a year, of which 150
guilders were to be paid in Holland to his daughter Hillegonda, who shortly after
his departure married at Nykerck Pieter van der Schuer. In addition to this
salary, Van Slichtenhorst was to receive one third of the fines and the proceeds
from confiscated property, above the amount of ten guilders ; below that amount,
he was to have the entire sum, provided that one half was to go the deputy schout.
As a third source of income, he was to have the toepachten, or fees paid in
addition to the annual rent and tithes of the farms.
The contract further provided that with his daughter Margaret, his son Gerrit,
and his nephew Gerrit van Wenckum, the director was to enjoy free passage and
board to New Netherland [14] and that in addition he should receive 150 guilders
for moving expenses. After his arrival in the colony, he was to have, rent free,
the house and garden formerly occupied by the commies, Arent van Curler, and,
furthermore, four cows and two horses on shares, 8 acres of plowed land and as
much pasture as was needed for the horses and cattle. Finally, he was to receive 5
per cent of the profits of the trade which the guardians expected to carry on
between Amsterdam and New Netherland, but in regard to which they at that time did
not wish to commit themselves definitely.
Van Slichtenhorst's instructions, dated September 4, 1647, consisted of 24
articles. They provided in substance that upon his arrival at the island of
Manhattan he was to present his respects to the director general and deliver to
him a letter from the guardians of the patroon. At the first opportunity he was to
proceed to the colony, call upon Domine Megapolensis, make known his official
capacity and ask his advice in regard to the administration and redress of the
colony. He was then to present his commission to the council, thank the members
for their services and summon Anthony de Hooges and Abraham Staets, in order to
notify them of their appointment as gecommitteerden by the patroon. He was
furthermore to make regulations for the proper observance of the "Sabbath of the
New Testament," to enforce the contracts and the ordinances, to collect the
revenues, and to attend to the proper administration of justice, taking care not
to keep persons for a long time in detention at the expense of the colony, but to
bring them speedily to trial and, whenever required, to inform the court of the
names of the persons who were in custody and the cause of their arrest.
The court as organized by Van Slichtenhorst consisted at first of four and
afterwards of five persons, of whom two were designated as gecommitteerden, or
commissioners, and two, or afterwards three, are in the record indiscriminately
referred to as raden, raeispersonen, gerechtspersonen, or rechtsvrienden. The
duties of the gecommitteerden were primarily of an administrative nature, while
those of the raden, contrary to what one might expect from the title, seem to have
been chiefly judicial. The gecommitteerden represented the patroon and acted under
definite instructions from the guardians. The raden, on the other hand, were
appointed by the director, but represented the colonists, it being at that time
held sufficient if persons who were to represent others were chosen from among
them, so as to represent their class. The only requirement was that they should
not be in the patroon's service. Goossen Gerritsz made a point of this on October
22, 1648, when as one of the reasons for his being unable to accept the office of
gerechtspersoon he stated that he was "not yet on a free basis with the patroon."
The objection, however, was overruled, so that he was obliged to serve.
The members of the court were as a rule chosen from among the most prominent
residents of the colony. De Hooges, one of the first commissioners, had been sent
out in 1641 as assistant to Arent van Curler. Upon the latter's departure for the
Netherlands, in October 1644, he was put in charge of the colony and given the
title of commies. After the arrival of Van Slichtenhorst, he became secretary of
the colony, a position which he occupied until his death in October 1655. Staets
was a surgeon and trader, who came to the colony in 1642. He held the office of
raetspersoon from February 5, 1643, to April 10, 1644, and from the latter date to
April 10, 1648, was Presideerende,or presiding officer of the council. As
gecommiiteerde, he was before June 5, 1649, succeeded by Jan van Twiller, whose
place in turn, on January 5, 1651, was taken by Arent van Curler.
The office of raet, or gerechtspersoon, was held by such men as Andries de Vos,
Rutger Jacobsz van Schoonderwoert, Goossen Gerritsz van Schaick, Jan Verbeeck and
Pieter Hertgers, all of whom were prominent members of the community, and who
afterwards became members of the court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck.
The proceedings of the court presided over by Van Slichtenhorst cover the period
from April 2, 1648, to April 15, 1652. They form the most important source for the
history of the colony during that period; but unfortunately add but little to what
is known from other sources in regard to the outstanding event of that period,
namely, the controversy between Van Slichtenhorst and General Peter Stuyvesant
regarding the jurisdiction of the territory around Fort Orange, which forms one of
the dramatic episodes of the history of New Netherland. As is well known, this
controversy had its origin in the claim made by the patroon, as early as 1632,
that "all the lands lying on the west side of the river, from Beyren Island to
Moeneminnes Castle;" . . . "even including the place where Fort Orange stands,"
[15] had been bought and paid for by him. The Dutch West India Company, on the
other hand, maintained that the territory of the fort, which was erected several
years before the land of the colony, was purchased from the Indians, belonged to
the Company and consequently was not included in the patroon's purchase. The
question had remained unsettled during the lifetime of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, but
came to an issue When Van Slichtenhorst, soon after his arrival in the colony,
began to issue permits for the erection of houses in the immediate vicinity of the
fort. Stuyvesant objected to the erection of these houses on the ground that they
endangered the security of the fort and ordered the destruction of all buildings
within range of cannon shot, a distance at first reckoned at 600 geometrical paces
of 5 feet to the pace, but which afterwards was reduced to 150 Rhineland rods.
[16] The order called forth a vigorous protest from Van Slichtenhorst, who
regarded it as an unwarranted invasion of the patroon's rights, and he proceeded
with the erection of the buildings. A counter protest followed and in 1651 charges
were brought against Van Slichtenhorst, who was summoned to appear before the
director general and council at Manhattan and there detained for 4 months. The
controversy continued after his return, but was definitely settled on April 10,
1652, when a proclamation, drawn up by the director general and council of New
Netherland on the 8th of the same month, was issued in the colony for the erection
of a separate court for Fort Orange, independent of that of the colony.
The erection of this court was a serious blow to the colony of Rensselaerswyck,
from which it never fully recovered. By virtue of this proclamation, the main
settlement of the colony, which was known as the Fuyck, but which in the court
record is generally referred to as the byeenwoninge, or hamlet, was taken out of
the jurisdiction of the patroon and erected into an independent village by the
name of Beverwyck, which afterwards became the city of Albany. [17] As a result of
this action, the jurisdiction of the court of the colony was thereafter confined
to the sparsely settled outlying districts of the colony, so that the cases which
came before it must have been very few. No consecutive judicial record of the
court of the colony after April 15, 1652, has been preserved, but entries in the
minutes of the court of Beverwyck indicate that the court of the colony continued
to hold sessions.
Van Slichtenhorst vigorously protested against the erection of the court of Fort
Orange and Beverwyck and with his own hands tore down the proclamation which had
been posted on the house of the patroon. For this he was arrested on April 18,
1652, and taken to Manhattan, where he was detained until August 1653. With his
arrest, Van Slichtenhorst's administration came to a close. On July 24, 1652, he
was succeeded as director by Jan Baptist van Rensselaer [18] and as officer of
justice by Gerard Swart, so that thereafter the two functions were no longer
combined in one person. The latter had been commissioned schout on April 24, 1652,
[19] and continued to hold this position until 1665, when by order of Governor
Richard Nicolls the court of the colony was consolidated with that of Fort Orange
and the village of Beverwyck. The year 1665 therefore marks the end of the
existence of the first local court that was organized in the province of New
Netherland, outside of New Amsterdam.
Van Slichtenhorst returned to the Netherlands shortly after July 1655 and took
up his residence with his daughter Hillegonda, who at Nykerck had married Pieter
van der Schuer. Before his departure from the colony, the commissioners had
approved a debit and credit account covering the years 16481650, which showed
that for this period of his administration there was due to him from the patroon
the sum of 13,799 guilders, 2 stivers and 12 pence. [20] The patroon considered
this amount excessive and refused to pay it, whereupon Van Slichtenhorst brought
suit against him in the district court of the Veluwe, in the province, of
Gelderland. Judgment was given for the plaintiff, but on an appeal taken by Van
Rensselaer, to the Klaarbank, or court of appeals, at Engelanderholt the decision
was reversed, so that in the end the former director failed to recover any
considerable amount. The case dragged on in the courts from 1656 to 1661. The
following year, Van Slichtenhorst commenced a second action against the patroon,
but before any decision was reached Johan van Rensselaer died and further
proceedings were abandoned.
Van Slichtenhorst now turned his attention to the completion of an historical
work, entitled: Hoe en wanneer Gelderlandt tot eene voogdhye is afgesondert,
878-1666, which is ascribed to his son Arend. In 1664, he became feeble minded and
was no longer able to take care of his affairs. As his daughter had a large family
and his condition made quieter surroundings necessary, he was placed in the home
of Evert Elberts, a carpenter at Nykerck, where two years later, on or just before
September 26, 1666, he died at the advanced age of 78 years.
Van Slichtenhorst, is one of the few New Netherland officials of whose complete
career we have any detailed knowledge. Mr Beernink sums up his character by
stating that he was "a man of many-sided knowledge and great ability, of
recognized integrity and proved fidelity, of rare courage and unfailing
perseverance, which at times amounted to obstinacy; an untiring champion for the
rights of others and of himself." [21] The present minutes of the court presided
over by Van Slichtenhorst contain many personal touches which testify to his
ability and devotion to duty, but the general impression left by these minutes is
that he was a man of aggressive temperament and arbitrary and unyielding
disposition, who frequently came into needless conflict with his associates and
the colonists.
One point in connection with Van Slichtdmiprst's administration on which much
emphasis has been laid by Mr Beernink is worthy of special notice. On the strength
of a statement made by Van Slichtenhorst in the course, of his litigation with
Johan van Rensselaer, that on his arrival in the colony there were but three
houses standing near the fort, that by August 1648, eight houses had been built,
and; that at the end of, his administration, in April 1652, there was a settlement
of about one hundred houses, Mr Beernink calls him "the founder of Albany." [22]
This title heeds qualification, for it is well known that in 1646 and 1647 severe
freshets had carried away a number of houses in the colony, so that the sudden
building activity during Van Slichtenhorst's administration may mean nothing more
than that people were replacing the buildings that had been lost. On the other
hand, there are various indications that before 1648 the main settlement of the
colony was not on the west, but on the east side of the Hudson river, in the
so-called Greenenbosch, afterwards corrupted to Greenbush, a pine grove opposite
the ferry. [23] It is possible, therefore, that at Van Slichtenhorst's initiative
this settlement was, either for greater security, or for other reasons, gradually
removed to the vicinity of Fort Orange, in which case there would be considerable
justification for regarding him as the real founder of the city of Albany. It is
interesting in this connection to read what Father Isaac Jogues, in his Novum
Belgium, has to say about the colony. Writing in 1646, but describing conditions
as he found them in 1643, he says:
"There are two things in this settlement (which is called Renselaerswick, as if
to say, settlement of Renselaers, who is a rich Amsterdam merchant) first, a
miserable little fort called Fort Orenge, built of logs, with four or five pieces
of Breteuil cannon, and. as many pedereros. This has been reserved and is
maintained by the West India Company. This fort was formerly on an island in the
river; it is now on the mainland, towards the Hiroquois, a little above the said
island.
Secondly, a colony sent here by this Renselaers, who is the patron. This colony
is composed of about a hundred persons, who reside in some twenty-five or thirty
houses built along the river, as each found most convenient. In the principal
house lives the patron's agent; the minister has his apart, in which service is
performed. There is also a kind of bailiff here, whom they call the seneschal, who
administers justice. All their houses are merely of boards and thatched, with no
mason work except the chimneys. The forest furnishing many large pines, they make
boards by means of their mills, which they have here for the purpose." [24]
While Father Jogues does not specify whether the houses stood on the east or on
the west side of the river, it is evident from his description that in 1643 there
was no compact settlement around Fort Orange. It would seem therefore that what
Van Slichtenhorst actually did, was to have the separate dwellings that stood on
both banks of the river removed to the vicinity of the fort. Such a concentration
of the settlement, for the greater security of the inhabitants, similar to that
which ten years later, at Stuyvesant's suggestion, was carried out at Wiltwyck,
[25] would satisfactorily explain the peculiar usage of the term byeenwoninge,
literally, "a dwelling together," by which the hamlet is repeatedly designated in
the court minutes. Mr Beernink considers the employment of this term in the sense
of a village so remarkable, that he cites it as a distinct proper name, which was
given to the settlement by Van Slichtenhorst, but which heretofore has been
overlooked. [26] This, however, does not seem to be the case, for the name never
became current outside of the locality and is not mentioned in the declaration
made by the directors of the Dutch West India Company in 1674, in which they speak
of "the hamlet, first called de Fuyck, afterwards Beverswyck, and now Willemstadt,
whereabouts Fort Orange is built." [27] The use, moreover, in Arend van
Slichtenhorst's defense of his father before the district court of the Veluwe, of
such a phrase as eene Byeenwoeningh van omtrent honderd huysen (a settlement of
about one hundred houses), cited by Mr Beernink, [28] sufficiently proves that the
word byeenwoninge was employed as a common noun.
As shown in the preceding pages, the minutes of the court presided over by Van
Slichtenhorst form the only record of the court of the colony of Rensselaerswyck
that has been preserved. The record breaks off on April 15, 1652, the very date on
which the first session was held of the newly created court of Fort Orange and the
village of Beverwyck. The present record, therefore, connects directly with the
first book of minutes of the last named court, of which a translation has recently
been published by The University of the State of New York.
The record, in its original form, was a paper covered volume of 114 leaves,
which on the front cover bore the title of "Gerechtsrolle der Colonie
Rensselaerswyck." It is repeatedly cited under this title in the second volume of
O'Callaghan's History of New Netherland and has been used extensively in the
compilation of the list of settlers of the colony which is printed at the end of
the Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts, but the complete text of the record has
heretofore not been available in print.
The record belongs to the archives of the colony which, together with the later
records of the manor of Rensselaerswyck, were for many years kept in the patroon's
office, a one-story brick building with a fireproof vault, which until recently
stood near the south west corner of Broadway and Tivoli street, in the northern
part of the city of Albany. It was with these records, in 1899, removed to the
Albany county clerk's office [29] and from there, in 1906, as part of the same
collection of records, transferred to the New York State Library. There, less than
5 years, later, it was severely, damaged in the fire which on March 29, 1911;
broke out in the western portion of the State Capitol and in a few hours destroyed
not only, the general contents of the Library but also many valuable records,
including the greater part of the Rensselaerswyck manuscripts.
As shown by the illustrations, the lower part of the record is completely
charred, the portion containing the last two or three lines; of every page being
severed, from the rest of the manuscript and in some cases lost. Wherever
possible, the writing,on these charred fragments has been carefully deciphered, so
that the text, as here presented is to a large extent complete.
The main body of the record is in the handwriting of Anthony de Hooges, who
throughout the period of Van Slichtenhorst's administration and until his own
death, in 1655, held the office of secretary. Here and there, however, pages occur
in another hand, which is probably that of Gerrit van Wenckum, Van Slichtenhorst's
nephew, who according to the account printed in the appendix did considerable
copying. Throughout the record there are many additional entries and marginal
annotations by Van Slichtenhorst. In the translation no systematic effort has been
made to indicate these changes of handwriting, which as a rule are without special
significance.
November 20, 1922
A. J. F. VAN LAER
Additional Comments:
ENDNOTES
[1] This appeal applied only to judgments in civil cases. According to the
Dutch criminal procedure of that period, conviction was had only upon confession
by the criminal, extorted by torture, if necessary. From sentences rendered upon
such conviction there was no appeal. The right of appeal was largely nullified by
a pledge which the patroon exacted from the colonists not to appeal to the supreme
court of New Netherland. Kieft and afterwards also Stuyvesant held that this was
an infringement of the charter, but the patroon, in a letter to Kieft, dated May
29, 1640, maintained that a clause to that effect was inserted in the contracts
with the colonists merely for the purpose of preventing them from wasting their
time and money in needless litigation. See Van Rensselaer Bowier Mss, p. 476, and
Doc. rel. to Col, Hist, N. Y., 1:423.
[2] Van Rensselaer Bowier Mss, p. 235-50.
[3] Van Rensselaer Bowier Mss, p. 281.
[4] Wassenaer, under date of November 1626; speaking of the court at Manhattan
as at first established by Minuit, says: "The council there administers justice in
criminal matters as far as imposing fines, but not as far as corporal punishment.
Should it happen that any one deserves that, he must be sent to Holland with his
sentence." J. F. Jameson, Narratives of New Netherland, p. 84.
[5] Cf. Doc. rel. to Col. Hist. N. Y. 1:431, 532-33.
[6] New York Colonial Mss, 4:99.
[7] "t'Stift Vol in Hessenlant;" N Y.Col Mss, 2:61a; 3:135a. Cf, Van
Rensselaer Bowier Mss, p. 830, where "t'Stift" has been interpreted erroneously as
referring to the Sticht, or bishopric of Utrecht.
[8] Van Rensselaer Bowier Mss, p. 642. September 27, 1646, ,a slave named Jan
Francisco, the younger, was manumitted by the director general and council of New
Netherland at the request of Domine Megapolensis. This may have been the negro who
was employed to carry out the sentence in the colony. See Laws and Ordinances of
New Netherland, p. 60.
[9] For abstracts of Van Slichtenhorst's commission and instructions and the
form of the oath, see G. Beernink, De Geschiedschrijver en Rechisgeleerde Dr.
Arend van Slichtenhorst en zijn vader Brant van Slichtenhorst, Stichter van
Albany, Hoofdstad van den Staat New-York (Werken uitgegeven door de Vereeniging
Gelre, No. 12), Arnhem, 1916, p. 155-64.
[10] According to Mr. Beernink, Van Slichtenhorst was on January 1, 1656 more
than 67 years, old, and in 1664, 76 years of age. See his biography, p. 216, 255.
[11] Gerrit van Slichtenhorst married Aeltje Lansing. He had a daughter Aeltje,
or Alida, born at Beverwyck, who married, first, Gerrit van Schaick, and secondly,
Pieter Davidz Schuyler. In O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, 2:69, this
daughter Aeltje; is erroneously given as a daughter.: of Brant Aertsz van
Slichtenhorst. Margaret, or Grietje, van Slichtenhorst became the wife of Philip
Pietersz Schuyler. Cf. G. W. Schuyler, Colonial New York; 1:179, and also 1:171,
where Arent van Slichtenhorst is erroneously called Brant Aertsz van
Slichtenhorst's brother.
[12] For a facsimile of this commission and a printed copy of the text, see
Beernink, p. 69, 77.
[13] Mr Beernink, p. 83, states that the principal street at Harderwyck, called
the Donkerstraat, was on account of its many prominent residents dubbed the
Johkerstraat. It is not unlikely that the Jonker straet at Beverwyck, or Albany,
afterwards corrupted to Yonker street, derived its name from this nickname of the
corresponding street at Harderwyck.
[14] Van Slichtenhorst's wife died before January 1, 1645, and therefore did
not accompany him to New Netherland. See Beernink, p. 119.
[15] Instructions to Rutger Hendricksz van Soest, July 20, 1632; Van Rensselaer
Bowier Mss, p. 212.
[16] Doc. rel to Col. Hist. N. Y., 14:191. One Rhineland rod equals 12.36
English feet.
[17] The directors of the West India Company afterwards repudiated Stuyvesant's
action and on April 2, 1674, declared: "That the abovenamed Patroon Renselaer and
co-partners have been already, from the year XVIc and thirty, and are true owners
of the abovenamed hamlet named Beverswyck or Willemstadt, and that the possession
by their late Director could not take away nor diminish said ownership; declaring,
therefore, that the abovenamed Company has no right, action nor pretension
thereto, leaving the right of ownership in the abovenamed Patroon and associates"
Doc. rel. to Col. Hist N. Y., 2:558, 56061.
[18] Johan Baptist van Rensselaer had been in the colony since June, 1651. Van
Slichtenhorst's term as director expired on March.22, 1651, but,he continued to
exercise his functions until his arrest on April 18, 1652.
[19] Swart's commission, dated April 24, 1652, and his instructions, dated May
6, 1652, are printed in O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, 2:564-66.
[20] A translation of this account is given in the Appendix. April 4,
1652, the, directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant: "From
what we can learn here, the owners of the, Colony, of Rensselaerswyck have here
come to an agreement and will probably send over another manager, but we doubt
whether they will easily get rid of Slechtenhorst, for it is said here, that he
demands from the owners 14000 to 15000 guilders; we know not, how true, it may
be." Doc. rel. to Col. Hist. N. Y., 14:171.
[21] Beernink, p. 260.
[22] Beernink, p. 175, 202, 204.
[23] See, Van Rensselaer Bowier Mss, p. 454, 619. Also Van Curler's letter to
the patron, June 16, 1643, in O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, 1 :459, 462
464.
[24] J. F. Jameson, Narratives of New Neiherland, p. 261-62.
[25] See Resolution of the inhabitants of Esopus, May 31, 1658, at the
beginning of "The Dutch Records of Kingston," revised translation by Samuel
Oppenheim, in vol. XI of the, Proceedings of the New York State Historical
Association.
[26] Beernink, p. 139, 202, 204.
[27] Doc. rel. to Col. Hist. N. Y., 2:558.
[28] Beernink, p. 208, 253.
[29] See chapter 268, Laws of 1896, and chapter 471, Laws of 1899, making
provision for the safe keeping of the "Van Rensselaer papers" in the Albany county
clerk's office.
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