New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch
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NEW YORK HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS: DUTCH Volumes GG, HH & II LAND PAPERS Translated and Edited by CHARLES T. GEHRING Published under the Direction of The Holland Society of New York Baltimore G enealogical Publishing C o ., In c. 1980 Copyright© 1980 The Holland Society of New York All Rights Reserved Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1980 Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 73-14890 International Standard Book Number 0-8063-0876-1 Made in the United States of America T o the memory of NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER, late Vice President of the United States and former Governor of N ew York State, in view of his warm interest in and cordial support of historical research in the records of New Netherland, we of The Holland Society of N ew York dedicate this book with sincere respect. Cortland Van Rensselaer Schuyler, General, U.S.A. (Ret.) Copyright © 1980 The Holland Society of New York All Rights Reserved Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1980 Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 73-14890 International Standard Book Number 0-8063-0876-1 Made in the United States of America T o the memory of NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER, late Vice President of the United States and former Governor of N ew York State, in view of his warm interest in and cordial support of historical research in the records of New Netherland, we of T he Holland Society of N ew York dedicate this book with sincere respect. Cortland Van Rensselaer Schuyler, General, U.S.A. (Ret.) INTRODUCTION This volume of land papers from the “Colonial Manuscripts” in the New York State Archives comprises translations of three Dutch record books lettered GG, HH and II. Originally each volume of Dutch records was identified by a single or doubled letter; however, when E. B. O’Cal laghan compiled his Calendar to the “Colonial Manuscripts,”1 he decided to rearrange the records both chronologically and according to type. In the process he assigned volume numbers to the series of “Secretary’s Minutes,” “Council Minutes,” “Correspondence,” etc., retaining only the original letter markers of the land papers. Instead of keeping II as a separate volume, O’Callaghan decided to incorporate these land records into HH as “HH, Part 1.” His reasoning apparently was that because GG ends with a patent issued in 1651 and HH begins with a 1654 patent, II would fill the gap between these two volumes since it contains records for the years 1652 and 1653. However, II contains only conveyances for these years while GG and HH are almost exclusively patents. O’Callaghan’s arrangement attains a chronological continuity for the land papers in general, but offers the impression that conveyances were issued for two years only and that these are the only conveyances which exist. In actuality conveyances are recorded elsewhere for a period of almost thirty years. Initially, from 22 July 1638 to 20 June 1652, conveyances were recorded in the minutes of the provincial secretary (volumes I-III of the “Colonial Manuscripts”).2 However, on 5 September 1652 the secretary began to keep a separate record which he marked II. Conveyances were recorded in this book until 15 October 1653, when once again the secretary began to record them in his minutes (12 April 1654 to 27 July 1658). Overlapping these records in time are the conveyances in the “Records of New Amsterdam” at the New York City clerk’s office, which run from 1653 to 1665. Therefore, separate record books must be consulted in order to determine the chronological continuity of these conveyances. For this reason it has been decided to change “HH, Part 1” back to its original designation as book II, since maintenance of the integrity of the records outweighs any inconvenience in relating “HH, Part 1” in O’Callaghan’s Calendar to the translations in this volume desig nated “Land Papers: II.” The reordering of II still leaves a gap of about two years in the patents: GG ends with a patent dated 20 September 1651 and HH begins with one dated 26 February 1654. This hiatus in the land papers may be accounted for in at least two ways. The patents for this period may have been recorded in the book of “Council Minutes” for the years 1650 and 1651, which has been lost. It is also possible that no patents were recorded in the West India Company’s records at New Amsterdam in the years 1652 and 1653. During these years eleven extant patents were issued: nine for the Fort Orange- Beverwyck area and two for Long Island. Originals of these patents survive in various repositories other than the New York State Archives.3 If the Vll official copies of these patents were kept in the records at Fort Orange and Midwout on Long Island they probably would not appear in the records of the West India Company at New Amsterdam. The land papers in GG and HH are predominantly patents; however, GG also contains “Indian deeds” which record the purchase of land from the natives for the West India Company and several patroons. The first recorded patent is to Andries Hudden for 100 morgens of land, dated 20 July 1638. Up to this time colonists were allowed to “choose and take pos session of as much land as they [could] properly cultivate” with the approval of the director and council of New Netherlands This concession was granted to private persons under article XXI of the “Freedoms and Exemptions of 1629.” However, on 24 June 1638 the following order was issued by the council: “Various freemen having petitioned the council for grants of the land which they at present cultivate, the request of the petitioners is granted, provided that at the expiration of ten years after taking possession of their plantations they shall pay yearly to the Com pany one-tenth of all the produce which God shall grant to the soil; also, for the house and garden from now on yearly one pair of capons.”5 The patents in GG and HH thus allowed private individuals to take posses sion of land “in freehold” as opposed to the previous policy of only granting permission to hold land for cultivation. A first attempt at a translation of the land papers was made in the nineteenth century: in 1826 James Van Ingen completed work on HH and II, and Cornelis D. Westbrook submitted his translation of GG to the Office of the Secretary of State in 1841. Their translations, however, were never published. When Berthold Fernow undertook his series of translations of the “Colonial Manuscripts,” he incorporated many of the patents from GG and HH into his publications.6 The present volume represents a new and complete translation of the land papers following the exact order in the “Colonial Manuscripts.” Since it would have been repetitious to include the legal stipulations and conditions in every patent and conveyance, the full form is given only once and thereafter abbreviated. The numbers assigned to each document represent the original pagination of the record book. During Kieft’s administration the entire text of the patent was copied, sometimes requiring two pages; while under Stuyvesant many of the patents were abbreviated, allowing the secretary to copy two on one page. This numbering system has been maintained since the land papers are identified in this manner in O’Callaghan’s Calendar and in such standard reference works as Stokes’s Iconography of Manhattan Island. Proper names have been rendered exactly as they appear in the original. Material appearing in brackets has either been supplied by the translator or inferred from other sources. vm ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Maura Feeney, my assistant on the Dutch translation project, deserves a considerable amount of credit for this volume. Her patience in checking the accuracy of names and measurements in the original manuscripts and her painstaking care in indexing the text and proofreading the final draft were major contributions in completing this work. I wish to thank the Ashland Oil Company for its financial support and Ralph L. DeGroff, whose interest in making the Dutch land papers accessible to researchers assured the publi cation of this volume. I would like to express my appreciation to Mrs. A. C. Hofman-Allema for providing transcriptions of the originals, which facili tated work on the translation of the land papers. I also wish to thank my typist, Barbara Herbst, for producing a text of high quality. Charles T. Gehring New York State Library 1979 NOTES 1 Calendar of Dutch Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secre tary of State, ed. Edmund B. O’Callaghan (Albany: 1865). 2See New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vols. I-III, trans. A. J. F. van Laer (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974) for translations of these “Secretary’s Minutes.” 3 A Guide to Dutch Manuscripts Relating to New Netherland in United States Repositories, ed. Charles T. Gehring (Albany: The State Education Department, 1978). 4 Laws and Ordinances of New Netherland, trans. and ed. Edmund B. O’Callaghan (Albany: 1868), p. 9. 5 New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vol. IV, trans. A. J. F. van Laer (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974), p. 16. 6 Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vols. XII-XIV, ed. Berthold Fernow (Albany: 1877). LAND PAPERS: GG GG 1 INDIAN DEED TO MICHIEL PAAUW FOR LAND IN NEW JERSEY We, director and council of New Netherland, residing on the island of Manhattan at Fort Amsterdam under the jurisdiction of their High Mightinesses the Lords States General of the United Netherlands and of the Chartered West India Company, Chamber of Amsterdam, do herewith attest and declare that today, date underwritten, appeared before us personally Arommeauw, Tekwappo and Sackwomeck, inhabitants and co-owners of the land named Hobocanhackingh, located opposite the afore said island of Manhattan, acting for themselves and rato caverende for the rest of the co-proprietors of the aforesaid land they declare that for and in consideration of a certain quantity of merchandise, which they acknowledge to have re ceived in their hands and possession to their complete satisfaction before the approval of this document, and to have sold, transported, ceded, conveyed and transferred in just, true and free ownership, as they transport, convey and trans fer herewith to and for the behoof of Mr.