Council Minutes 1656–1658

Council Minutes 1656–1658 New Netherland Documents Series Volume VIII Adriaen van der Donck’s Map of New Netherland, 1656 Courtesy of the New York State Library Council Minutes 1656–1658 Translated and Edited by CHARLES T. GEHRING and JANNY VENEMA SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright © 2018 by The Holland Society of New York Syracuse University Press Syracuse, New York 13244-5290 All Rights Reserved First Edition 2018 18 19 20 21 22 23 6 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. ISBN: 978-0-8156-3431-7 (hardcover) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: New Netherland. Council, issuing body. | Gehring, Charles T., 1939– editor. | Venema, Janny, editor. | Holland Society of New York, sponsoring body. Title: Council minutes 1656–1658 / translated and edited by Charles T. Gehring and Janny Venema. Description: First edition. | Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, [2018] | Series: New Netherland documents series ; volume 8 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017028620 | ISBN 9780815634317 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: New York (State)—History—Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775— Sources. | New York (State)—Politics and government—To 1775—Sources. | Dutch—New York (State)—History—17th century—Sources. | Dutch Americans—New York (State)—Genealogy. | New Netherland—Politics and government—Sources. | New Netherland—History—Sources. | New Netherland—Genealogy. | New York (State)—Genealogy. Classification: LCC F122.1 .N4713 2017 | DDC 974.7/02—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017028620 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA De appel valt niet ver van de boom Like father like son Ralph Lynn DeGroff Jr Continues the steadfast support Of the translation project To him this volume Is dedicated Charles T. Gehring was born in Fort Plain, an old Revolutionary War and Erie Canal village in New York State’s Mohawk Valley. After completing his undergraduate and graduate studies at Virginia Military Institute and West Virginia University he continued with post-graduate work at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Germany. There he began his study of the Dutch language and first realized that his future research lay much closer to home. He eventually received a Ph.D. in Germanic Linguistics from Indiana University with a concen- tration in Netherlandic Studies. His dissertation (1973) was a linguis- tic investigation of the survival of the Dutch language in colonial New York. He is currently director of the New Netherland Research Center, a component of the New York State Library responsible for translat- ing the official records of the Dutch colony and promoting awareness of the Dutch role in American history. He has been a fellow of the Holland Society of New York since 1979. In 1994 Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred on him the distinction of Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. In 1995 he received the gold medal of the Netherlands Society of Philadelphia. In 2004 he received gold medals from the Holland Society and the St. Nicholas Society of New York. Janny Venema was born in Nijeveen (Dr.), the Netherlands. After her studies in Groningen she taught Dutch and history at a high school in Haarlem. She has worked for the New Netherland Project (now the New Netherland Research Center) since 1985, where she has complet- ed the transcription of the Dutch documents held by the New York State Archives. A short version of her master’s thesis from the State University of New York at Albany was published in the Netherlands under the title Kinderen van weelde en armoede. Armoede en liefda- digheid in Beverwijck/Albany, c. 1650–1700 (Hilversum, 1993). She has also published two volumes of high school educational materials, a translation of deacons’ account books of Albany’s First Dutch Church, and various articles on New Netherland, Beverwijck, and Rensselaerswijck. Her dissertation from the Vrije Universiteit at Amsterdam, the Netherlands, published as Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652–1664 (Hilversum/Albany, 2003), describes the founding of Albany in 1652 and the city’s development during the Dutch period and won the New York State Archives Award for Excellence. Her biography of Kiliaen van Rensselaer (Hilversum/ Albany, 2010) won the 2011 Hendricks Manuscript Award. In 2017, she received the honor of Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Committee on Publication Ralph L. DeGroff Jr., Chairman Trustee Emeritus, The Holland Society of New York Peter Van Dyke The Holland Society of New York David W. Voorhees, Ph.D. Director, Jacob Leisler Institute Charles T. Gehring, Ph.D. Director, New Netherland Research Center Janny Venema, Ph.D. Associate Director, New Netherland Research Center Stephen T. McErlane Assistant Editor, New Netherland Institute Contents Map of New Netherland frontispiece Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Key to Abbreviations xxii Council Minutes, 1656–1658 3 Appendix 607 Glossary 609 Index 623 Acknowledgments The staff of the New Netherland Research Center expresses its grat- itude to the Holland Society of New York for its constant support of the translation project and the staff of the New York State Library for its professional assistance over the years. In addition to these two founding institutions, thanks also go to the New York State Archives for unlimited access to the colonial Dutch documents, and the New Netherland Institute, a not-for-profit organization that grew out of the Friends of the New Netherland Project. The NNI has assumed the task of publicity and dissemination, allowing the translation project to concentrate on publications. Special thanks go to NNI's Steve McErleane for his commitment to this volume and for his diligence in bringing it to publication. Thanks also to Kay Steinmetz at Syracuse University Press for her patience through the process. xi Introduction Recapitulation his volume follows a period in New Netherland which was full of Tsuspense and turmoil. New England had been threatening from the north and a full-scale war between England and the United Provinces threatened to spill over into their North American possessions. Other European powers were asserting international ambitions with possi- ble repercussions in the New World: Sweden’s attempt to establish a colony on the Delaware River brought about territorial problems in the south and caused Stuyvesant a major headache. Sweden’s capture of Fort Casimir in 1654 led to Stuyvesant’s successful takeover of New Sweden the following year. Almost all troops were brought into action for the Dutch invasion, and their absence at Manhattan had the unintended consequence of a simultaneous Indian attack on the heart of New Netherland, called the Peach War. The devastation inflicted on the population around the Manhattan rim during this war was some- what mitigated by the prospect of a renewed Company interest in New Netherland: Portugal’s recapture of its lost possessions in Dutch Brazil in 1654 had caused the WIC to reshape its trading patterns in the Atlantic and to concentrate more human and financial resources in its Caribbean and North American holdings. European Context lthough two major disruptions involving the United Provinces Ahad been resolved, namely, the 80 Years’ War in 1648 and the first Anglo-Dutch War in 1654, Europe was still not at peace. The Second Northern War between Sweden and its neighbors for control of the Baltic raged on from 1655 to 1660. In 1658 the United Provinces intervened on the side of Denmark to prevent Sweden from gaining control of the entrance to the Baltic. The Battle of the Sound, although judged a draw, was a strategic victory for the Dutch as it prevented the Swedes from controlling access to trade in the Baltic. Sweden was also involved in a war with Russia from 1656 to 1658, fought mostly in Livonia and Finland, while to the south the Franco-Spanish war was drawing to a close with the Battle of the Dunes in 1658. This battle was remarkable, as both sides featured English military units in their armies. In addition to continued military activity on the continent, xiii XIV INTRODUCTION there was also a serious outbreak of the plague in the kingdom of Naples from 1656–1658. The prospect of sudden death was still an unfortunate fact of life from one corner of Europe to the other. In England, Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell died in September of 1658 at the age of 59. He was succeeded by his son Richard, who was forced to resign the following year because of the lack of a power base in Parliament. The Situation at the South River he present volume opens with a series of documents related to Tthe takeover of New Sweden in 1655 involving a Swedish ship in Dutch waters. The Mercurius represented the twelfth relief expedition to New Sweden. As it had been a number of years since the fledgling Swedish colony had received a relief ship from home, its arrival with supplies and settlers would have been cause for celebration. However, when the ship left port in November of 1655, the crew and over 100 settlers (mostly Finns) were unaware that two months earlier New Sweden had been invaded and was now under Dutch control. When the Mercurius arrived in the Delaware River, the Dutch military at Fort Casimir refused to allow it to sail farther north. Ignoring permis- sion, the Mercurius sailed on to Tinicum Island near Fort Christina where the ship was offloaded. New Sweden had been a competing interest on the Delaware since 1638. After the takeover in 1655 it became a liability.

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