Stories of Old New Castle • • • • • .' Compiled by ANNE R. JANVIER Stories of Old New Castle In the number and variety of namcs bestowed upon this little lawn of New Castle. we read the history of the place . • It begins when the milld of man "runneth 110t to the con­ trary; this Indian village on the !.>..,nks of the stream of which Aresapha is the most mclodious name and Mackerish-Kittoll the worst. The village they called T3ma konck (place of the Bea\'er) the Indian deed for this is still extant. A few more of the names which meant home to tllOSC who dwelt on this poiTlt of land, were Sand hukcn, Grape Vine Point, Windruffe-uddcn, Ft. Casimir, Fe Traf.ddighects (or Trinity Fort), Ft. Casimir again, New Amstcl. New Castle. The River besides the naJllcs mentioned was called the Poutaxat, Lenni!>i Whittock. the Zuydt or South River, (in distinction from the l'\orth River or the Hudson) , and lastly the Delaware. On Augusr, 28, 1609, the first ship winged its way up the river. The Half Moon, with Hendrick Hudson looking for the North \Vest Passage to China-on past this sandy hook jutting out intu the great river. The Indians of the Lenni-Lenape tribe were peacefully fi shing and plying their canoes. The Half Moon sailed swiftly down again without landing here, having decided that this \\'as no thoroughfare to China. Upon such slight grounds as this hasty trip with twu temporary scttlements, one at Swaanendalc and one at Ft. Nassau, rt!Sts the Dutch claim to the whole Delaware River and shores and hy this was the claim of Lord Baltimore refuted, his grant calling for land not previously settled. The Swedes came up lhe ri ver in 1638. As to when they really landed here there is some doubt. Some historians claim that the Fredenllllrgcstablished a colony here on Nov. 2nd, 16..\0. " being 3 Swedish miles frOlll Ft. Christina." • There was almost certainly a hamlet here of Swedes and Dutch mingling and fig-hting when Governor Petrus Stuyvesanl decided lo bui ld a fort here to assert the Dutch possession. The Swedes already had olle furt above and olle below hut this was a commanding position and Stuyvesant's efficient eye had been c"Hlght hy the site ..... hen he I)'''lid a visit of remonstrance to the Swedish Governor, Johann Printz, at Tinnicum . I lie named the fOrl Casimir, which C'd.used some crilicir.m as which we are told, all his ac(]Uainlances forc\'cr "considercd him Casimir was n Swedish noble. There is a drawing of Fort as a shoe- ra"." Casimir by the Swedish engineer Lindstrom printed in 1702. Gov. Stuyvesant. stilting 011 his wooden leg, no doubt had It is a sturdy litlle forI huilt of logs planted far oul on the shore; his tonguc in his check as the Swedes marched out "bullet in the now the river has made in and washed away the site. A marker mouth" for no sooncr werc they Oll t, than S tuyves.."lut demanded erected by the Colonial Dames in Delaware marks the approxi­ " Where go you?" "Ft. C hristina" s.."1}"S Schute. "'l\"ay," So."lys matc spot. StuY\'esalll, "it is not so written," and clapped a ll into prison Gerrit Bikker was placed in command and it was fortified amidst the laughtcr o f the Dutch. Poor outwitted "Shoe-rag." wilh cannon, becoming the centre of Dutch power south of Stuyvcsant remained here long enough to rellame the fort :Xc\\' Amsterdam. S tuyvesant and the Swedish Governor, Casimir. and the to\\'Il , which he bid Olll with care, he t."llled Printz, had Jllany interviews here, some peaceful, many 1I0t. :\ew Amstel: to bc his CilY on the South Ri\·er. as New Amster­ Printz had a romantic life. and was a just and able Governor. dam was on the North. \)(' Vries ~<l llcd Printz "the great l.uh of a mall and s.."1ys he The namcs of Jacoh Alrick and \\"illiam Beekman arc con­ weighed 400 lbs. and took 3 drinks at every meal." He was politic nected with the go\'ernment of New Amstel at this time. Engle­ enough with StuyvCStml, but when an inferior rcmonstrait..'(1 with bert Lott was a propcrty owner and the first Cordwainer or him thai the Dutch claim was prior, he said " The Devil was first shoemaker. Vcry strict rules werc made, such as that pigs and in Ilcll, but sometimes admitted a superior." goats must he securely yokcd. No onc could enter or lea\'e thc Sunday was a great day in :\ew Castle history. On Trinit y town without li cense, which irritated the people. No ship couln Sunday, Yla y 31,1653, Gerrit l3ikker, the Dutchman, sawa great come. up thc river without permission from New Amstel, though Swedish ship comc up thc fivcr and anchor in thc harbor. 011 Printz's succcs~r, PaPI>cgoya. once crowded the deck of a newly board was thc new Swedish Governor, Johann Rising. and Captain arrived ship with Indians :lnd So."1i lcd past, as thc Dutch fcared Svcn Schute. With little opfX)sition they took Fort Casimir in to harm an Indian. thc name of Queen Christina of SWe<lcn, leaving- Bikkcr as hc The only road in U!;C at this time was a circuitous roule , says in his pat het ic report "ShUll out almost nakefl." to Ft. Christina and a mael to Bohemia Manor laid out by the They nameU thc fort Trafaldigheets-"Trinity"- in honor Bohemian Gentlcman. Augustine llerman. This road was of thc dar. called "The Old Man's Road" bv the Indians and settlers. II was not to he imagined t hat Pctrus StupeSo.... nt would A fragmen t of this road, afterwards called ;;King's Highway" permit Fort Casimir to slip through his fingers and remain a may be seen preserved on the estate of ro. lr. Selden Deemer. S\\'crlish for t. He was exhortetl by the Directors of thc West :'\ew Caslle. Indir. Co. to recovcr the fort and drivc the Swedes out of thc Soon a ftcr Stuyvesant reconquefCfl Ft. Casimir the Indians coun try. The roll of drums W·.IS heard in the s treets of old attempted to takc thc fort but were unsuccessful. New ru les A.mstcrdam. Bells wcre fung daily in Holland, praycrs were were made thai no frceman, es]>cciall y no Swede, might be in sent up to rt.>co\·cr "New Amstel"; five vessels \\'cre sent o\'cr to the fo rt at night " no Indians nor foreigner might look critically retake Ft. Casimir. In :'\ew Amsterdam there was "cess:ltion at. the Fortress." In CilM! any Swede "hould be though t d isloyal of all work, s;cwing, mowing. fi shing and hunting, no intoxication, he should "bc scn t away with all imaginahle civility." or lapping. only prayer and fasting." Stuyvcsant's aClion in taking the Fort roused the anger of On a bright Sunday morning, August 30, 1655, Go\'. P. Sweden. The Swcdish ('on~ul at the Ilague complained '"that Stuyvesant himself sailed up the river and drawing up in line of the Swedes had the title to the South Ri\er of Florida".;o lillIe hattIe in the harbor he besieged the fort with i ships and 600 did they know of Colonial gcography. Crcat wcrc the plans for soldiers. 1.indstrom the Swcde has writtcn an eyewitness' ac­ thc ncw town of Amste1. T he town was laid out in strttt.,> and (,ou nt of this affair which is full of unconscious humor. lots, Ye. Strand Street, Bca\er. Otter. J\-tary St., etc. Clothing, He says Stuyvesant landed at Strand Point and promised seeds and provisions werc givcn the .;etllers for the first. ycar. that the !{Hrrison of 47 men should march out with honors of war The Broad Dyke and the :\armw Dyke were built with. it must and crowning honor "with bu llet in the mourh" but ';""1ys Stuy­ be mnfessed. grul11bling and rioting. In church. Ogle says "he. ves....U1t "if you go not our. without further dilly-dally, wc spare will not make lI an~ Bloc's Dyke no nor Col Carr's either," but not the child i11 the cradle." Sc.hute accepted the. term.s; for he. din. 2 3 The first bridge oyer the I-Iorse Dyke was built; a smith, a wheelwright and a carpenter came, the first mill was built Oil with large fami lies of rosy childrt!n, li\'ing the pleasant life of Chestnut St. by Arnoldus de La Grange in \68 1. work and plenty of the Colonies. T hey ha\·e left their infl uence . A Dutch \\"~ite r assures the world that '· ma~l Y an epicure of clcan heritage upon the life of our communi t}'. will feast on caviare from New Amstel sturgeons. ' 'I'll E COLoRT HOUSE StllY\ ' ~U lt was d irected to buy up all the la nd po~ible between the Sou th and Korth Ri vers. .'\e\·crtheless, he was The Court I louse ill :\'ew Castle is undoubtedly one of the cautioned nOl 10 be too zealous in his cfforts for Xew Amstc1 oldest State buildings in the Country. Its stalel y archi tecture as its rapid grO\\ th might draw settlers from :\ew Amsterda m. and mellow beauty of color and line aUraet the attention of even New York pro]).,-,bl}' is relieycd of this anxiet y at present.