Correspondence, 1647-1653 / Translated and Edited by Charles T
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Correspondence 1647-1653 New Netherland Documents Series Volume XI Correspondence 1647-1653 Translated and Edited by CHARLES T. GEHRING sly SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright © 2000 by The Holland Society of New York ALL RIGHTS RESERVED First Edition 2000 00 01 02 03 04 05 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48-1984. OOTM Produced with the support of The Holland Society of New York and the New Netherland Project of the New York State Library. The preparation of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. This book is published with the assistance of a grant from the John Ben Snow Foundation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Correspondence, 1647-1653 / translated and edited by Charles T. Gehring. p. cm. — (New Netherland documents) Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 0-8156-2792-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Stuy vesant, Peter, 1610-1672—Correspondence. 2. Colonial administrators—New York (State)—Correspondence. 3. New York (State)—Politics and government—To 1775—Sources. 4. New York (State)—History—Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775—Sources. 5. Dutch—New York (State)—History—17th century—Sources. 6. New Netherland—Politics and government—Sources. 7. New Netherland—History—Sources. I. Gehring, Charles T., 1939-11. Series. F122.1.S78C67 1999 974.7'02'092^c21 99-049179 Throughout the administrations of both Kieft and Stuyvesant, Johannes La Montagne demonstrated the attributes of constancy and allegiance. These qualities lived on in his direct descendant Doris G. Quinn steadfast supporter of the New Netherland Project to whom this volume is dedicated. Charles T. Gehring was born in Fort Plain, an old Erie Canal town 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- Universitat 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 concentration in Netherlandic Studies. His dissertation (1973) was a linguistic investigation of the survival of the Dutch language in colonial New York. He is presently director of the New York State Library's New Netherland Project, which is responsible for translating 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 September of 1994 Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred on him the distinction of Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Committee on Publication Ralph L. DeGroff, Jr., Chairman Trustee, Holland Society of New York Walton Van Winkle III President, Holland Society of New York Florence A. Christoph Editor of New York Historical Manuscripts Peter R. Christoph Editor of New York Historical Manuscripts Charles T. Gehring Director, New Netherland Project New York State Library Peter J. Paulson President, Friends of New Netherland Martha Dickinson Shattuck Assistant Editor, New Netherland Project Jansje Venema Assistant Editor, New Netherland Project Contents Petrus Stuyvesant Acknowledgments Map of New Netherland Introduction Key to Abbreviations Correspondence, 1647-1653 Appendix A Appendix B Bibliography Index Acknowledgments Iwish to express my gratitude to the staff of the New Netherland Project: Jansje Venema for producing the transcriptions from which the translations were made and Martha Dickinson Shattuck for editing and indexing the manuscript. Both contributed so much to every phase of production that it would be impossible to enumerate here without neglecting something. Special thanks goes to the Holland Society of New York for its steadfast support of the translation and publication of records relating to our Dutch heritage; to the New York State Library for treating the Project as one of its own programs and to the library staff for its highly professional assistance; to the Friends of New Netherland for their tireless efforts in promoting the work of the Project and maintaining its financial stability; to the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities whose financial support through a matching grant made this publication possible; to the Netherland- America Foundation, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, the Schenectady Foundation; to the Doris G. Quinn Foundation; and to all the other contributors to the Project, too numerous to list here. XI Introduction Volume XI of the Dutch Colonial Manuscripts contains the corre spondence of Petrus Stuyvesant from 1647-1653. It represents the first six years of his seventeen-year tenure as director general of New Netherland, spanning the final years of the war with Spain through the first war with England. Stuyvesant arrived in the West India Company province which had experienced years of desolation under the previous director, Willem Kieft. The destructive Indian wars pursued by Kieft had created an atmosphere of despair and discontent among the population which led to his recall. Stuyvesant was sent as Kieft's replacement to restore order and discipline in New Netherland. Petrus Stuyvesant was born in Weststellingwerf, Friesland in 1610 the son of a Reformed domine. He entered the service of the WIC at the age of twenty-five after attending the University of Franeker. His first assignments were as commissary of stores on the rat-infested island Fernando de Noronha in the South Atlantic and at Pernambuco in Dutch Brazil. A transfer to the island of Curacao off the coast of Venezuela in 1639 led to his appointment as governor of the Dutch possessions in the Caribbean less than three years later. Stuyvesant's rapid rise in the Company's service reflected high regard for his administrative and military abilities. He executed his new responsibilities with considerable energy and ingenuity. As a military commander obligated to a policy of aggressive engagement with Spanish interests in the Caribbean, he attacked the Spanish settlement of Puerto Cabello on the coast of Venezuela in retaliation for the seizure of a Dutch fort on the island of Bonaire. Despite near starvation conditions on Curacao he was able to assemble a military force strong enough to attack Sint Maarten. During the seige of the Spanish fort Stuyvesant's right leg was struck by a cannon ball. The injury was severe enough to require amputation. When Stuyvesant's wound failed to heal properly his surgeons recommended that he leave the tropics for the cooler climate of his homeland. While recovering in the Netherlands Stuyvesant was fitted with a wooden leg and successfully wooed Judith Bayard, the daughter of the Walloon domine in Breda. Shortly after his marriage he was appointed to the position of director general of New Netherland, Curacao, Bonaire, Xlll XIV INTRODUCTION and Aruba. He was only thirty-six years old when the directors showed their confidence in his abilities. Stuyvesant became director general of these possessions of the West India Company at a critical time in the history of the United Provinces. Major changes were taking place in European affairs. The thirty years war in Germany and the eighty years Dutch revolt against the Spain were both to be resolved within a year. England had overthrown the monarchy and was about to embark on an experiment with republicanism which would have grave implications for the Dutch nation. Stuyvesant also became director general at a time of change and reorganization within the West India Company. Previously, New Neth erland's successes and failures were shared by all chambers in the Company; under Stuyvesant the chamber of Amsterdam would have sole responsibility. The new director was reminded of this fact early in his administration when he agreed to pay off outstanding debts of his predecessor Willem Kieft. He was reprimanded sternly by the directors for having accepted payment of debts incurred while New Netherland's financial losses were being absorbed by the Company's general fund. Such an error in judgment could be expected of a young director; however, such administrative miscues paled in the face of several major problems inherited from his predecessor: one internal, two external, all linked to a certain extent, and all resolved by Stuyvesant within the first five years of his administration. We will look at these problems in turn, followed by the manner in which Stuyvesant confronted these challenges to his administration and how he managed to resolve them. All three take up a major portion of this volume of correspondence. Let us first consider the problems. A Tense Beginning Connecticut Since the explorations of Henry Hudson in 1609, New Netherland was defined by three major water courses: the Connecticut in the east, called the Versche Rivier; the Hudson in the north, called the Noort Rivier; and the Delaware in the south, called the Suyt Rivier. Such water arteries were critical for commercial purposes, allowing Dutch merchants access to areas rich in natural resources. In North America, the resource was fur. Although navigable water was necessary for commercial interests organized around fleets of merchant ships, it often made poor and unpredictable boundaries. Soon after Hudson gave the Netherlands a basis to claim rights to the fertile territory between New England and Virginia, the area was visited INTRODUCTION XV by a succession of Dutch commercial ventures. Most important for the future of commercial developments of New Netherland was the series of voyages commanded by Adriaen Courtsen Block. Representing a group of Lutheran merchants in Amsterdam, Block headed for the same drainage system now carrying Hudson's name.