Whereas we Credibly ware Informed that one John Jongh hath directed and sent unto you a seditious Letter, these are to require you, to sent the received Letter by the Bearer, our Schout Resolveerd Waldron, Wherein Confeydeinge I shall Rest Youre Lovin friend and Governour P. STUYVESANT. No letter was written to Eastdorp or West Chester, because it is reported, that the people of Hartford do not lay claim to it, but one Mr. Peel is said to claim it. However to the people of Hemstead, where John Jongh had come himself, the following was written: Lovinge Friendes Whereas we by Relations ware Informed that one John Jongh vppon a pretended Commission off the Generall Court off Herfort hath bin in your Towne for to disswade and revoce you off the oaght off fidellitie ware under your are We doe wonder that you have given no notice vnto vs off his demands, these are therefore to ordre and require you as Magistraats off the Towne off Heemstead to make your appyrancy before us uppon Monday, at the least uppon Thousday next for to Informe us, both by Word off Mouth and in Writinghs, wath the aforementioned Jongh hath spoocken and Acted in your Towne In Confeydinge whereoft I shall rest Amsterdam in N. N. Your lovinge friend & Governour the 11th of November 1662. P. STUYVESANT. ; After the foregoing letters had been delivered in the several English villages, their Magistrates either brought or sent the letters, received by them from John Jongh, to the Director-General Vlissingen, Middelburgh and Rustdorp forwarded them by the Schout Waldron. Gravesend had not yet received any, but they promised to send it, as soon as it came, which they did a few days. later. The Magistrates of Hemstead brought the letter, given them by John Jongh himself. Questioned as to their conversation with said Jongh, they said that nothing special had been talked of, as he had been only a few hours in Hemstead. He had said in substance, what his letter contained, whereupon they had replied, that if he had anything to say concerning jurisdiction, he should address himself to the Director-General and Council of New Netherland. Mr. William Lowrance, whereas it hath pleased his Magesty to Involve Long Island within Connectecut Patten: By virtue whereof the Generall Assembly at Hartford have ordered mee to give notice to every Towne upon Long Island, that they are under ye Jurisdiction of Connectecut, Therefore y said General Assemble's pleasure is, that all the Inhabitants of Long Island aforesaid shall forbeare from taking any Oath that may bee Imposed upon them by any other Prince or State whatsoever, therefore my desire is that you would Informe yo' Neighbours Concerning ye p'mises as yo" shall have Occation. Hempsted yo 27th of October. All the other letters were of the same tenor and date. JOHN YOUNGS. The letter for Middelburgh was addressed to Captain John Coo, the younger, for Rustdorp to Mr. Coo the elder,* for Gravesend to Sergeant Hubbard and for Gravesend to Mr. John Hicks.* * These letters are among the Records. As an opportunity now offers, to write to the people of Hartford, the following letter was sent by Mr. Nicolas Varleth: Honoured & Worthy Srs By this Occasion off me Brother in Lawe (beinge Necessitated to make a Second Voyage for aide his distressed Sister Judith Varleth Imprisoned as we are Informed uppon pretend accusation off Wicherye, wee realy beleeve & out her knowne education, Lyfe Conversation & profession off faith we deare assure, that Shee is innocent of such a horrible Crimen & therefore I doubt not he will now as formerly fynde your honn's favour & ayde for the Innocent :) I can not omit to acquaint yow (which should be done soener iff my absence had not hindered it) that one John Younge, whether uppon your orders (: as he pretends :) I doubt, had undertaken as by his seditious Letters may appeare to divert & revoake the English Towns in this province vnder the protection off the high and mighty Lords, the Estaets Generall off the United Belgick Provinces and in the jurisdiction off the Right honnourable Lords off the West India Comp1a Setled, off their Oath & due obediance vnto vs their Lawful Gouvernour, wch his unlawful proceedings, amongst the Silly & Common people, without any acknowledgement or addresses vnto vs as Governour off this province, iff you wil nowne as we doe not hope, yow may take notice that is a absolute Breatch & a Nullification off the agreement about the Limits 1650 made at Hardfort Betweene the honnourable Commissioners of New England & us as Govern' Generall off this province & that by that meanes the aforementioned high and mighty Lords the Estaets Generall & the Right honnourable Lords off the West India Compa ware given just grounds & Reasons to demand & by such meanes as they in wisdome shal thincke meete to Recover all that tract off Land betweene Greenwich & the fresh River, soo Longe vnjustly as it now doeth appeare, without any pattent or Commission possessed & detained from the aforementioned first possessors & owners, whereoff the monument off the house the Hope, by Commission off the aforesaid Lords built and without molestation vppon the fresh and Connecticut River possessed many yeares, before any off the English nations did come there. But Confeydinge & trustinge more in the Words & promises of the honnourable Gouvern' Winthrop, as he did depart from hence, we shal with more discretion expect his deseyred arrival & Leave the matters to our Superiors in Europe & shall after my Respects Love & Service presented, Expect with the Bearer your Categoricall answer over and about the aforementioned John Youngs seditious doeings & Remaine Amsterdam in New Netherland Your lovinge friend & Neighbour the 13th off xbre 1662. P. STUYVESANT. LETTER FROM THE DIRECTORS TO STUYVESANT: SALTWORKS ON CONEY ISLAND. The 6th of December 1662. 66 Honorable, Prudent, Dear, Faithful. As the unexpected frost does not allow us at present to reply to your letters by the "Trouw," Hoop," and "Wapen van Stuyvesant," this is only to inform you of the complaints, received from Dirck de Wolf, who had our permission to erect saltworks there. We believe, these complaints are not without foundation, because the place, which you allotted to his representative, at Coney Island &c, has now again been taken away from him by your sentence upon apparently frivolous claims, made by the English in the village of Gravesend, and his labors rendered fruitless, to the great detriment and loss of said de Wolff, who had already built there a house and fenced in a garden, also erected a salthouse. All this is said to have encouraged these English and they were afterwards bold enough to destroy all he had done, especially the garden, which they laid waste, pulling down the fences and then burning them; threatening to throw the refiner on the burning pile, when he warned them off. It appears to us very strange and uncalled for, partly because it seems to have been caused by sheer carelessness in allotting and conveying a piece of land which had already been given to others or upon which they pretended to have a claim; partly because this assault by the English was not resisted, which certainly should have been done on account of the consequences. We are therefore compelled to direct, that you send us by the first opportunity a detailed report of this matter with all such documents and papers, as both parties have used in their lawsuits or whieh may be produced. As we do not like, to see the English pushing any further in that direction and as the good location of the island is highly praised by many, you must send us a map or chart of it with your opinion of it and we further order, that two or three soldiers shall be sent there, to take possession in the name of the. Company of the buildings, which de Wolff has erected there, so that further spoliations may be prevented. * * * December 28th, 1662 COUNCIL MINUTES. BUSHWICK AFFAIRS. The Commissaries of Boswyck came before the Board and represented, that they required in their village a suitable person to act as reader and schoolmaster, to teach the children; as Boudewyn Maenhout from Crimpen on the Leck* had been proposed as such person, they had made an agreement with him, that he should act as reader and also keep a school for the instruction of the children, for which he is to receive a yearly salary of 400fl in wampum and free lodgings. They request, that their action may be approved by the Director-General and Council and that the Company may contribute something towards the salary every year. A vote having been taken, The Director-General and Council of New Netherland have approved the engagement of and the contract made with said Boudewyn Maenhout, on condition that the same be first examined by the reverend clergy of this city and declared fit for the performance of the said duties. On behalf of the Company 25f heavy money shall be paid to said Boudewyn, to make the payment of the salary more easy. The Director-General and Council elected to-day as Schepen of the village of Boswyck Jan Tilyez in place of Jan Catjouw, who sailed for the Fatherland by the last ships. Fort Amsterdam, December 28th 1662. * In the Province of South-Holland. COUNCIL MINUTES. CHURCH AFFAIRS IN MIDWOUT, L. I. MAGISTRATES FOR NEW Utrecht. January 4th 1663. Noble, Very Worshipful Director-General and Upon your Honors' order the undersigned began to erect a church edifice at Midwout in September 1658 and with God's help they have accomplished so much, that all debts have been paid. Having borne the burden for some time and desiring to be freed from it, also considering, that we are mortal, we respectfully request, that we might be discharged and an order made to that effect by your Honors. This 17th of December 1662. Your Honors' obedient servants The foregoing petition was received and read. After a vote upon it, it was answered: The petition is granted and the Magistrates of Midwout are authorized, to nominate a double number, from which the Director-General and Council will select two other churchwardens in the place of the above. Date as above. Received and read the nominations, made and presented by the Schout and Schepens of Utrecht on Long Island. The Director-General and Council select and confirm as Schepen Jacob Pietersen, in place of him, whose term expires. Date as above. EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF STUYVESANT TO THE DIRECTORS: LONG ISLAND ANNEXED ΤΟ CONNECTICUT. JANUARY 8th, 1663. * * * * We were in hope that the peace between England and our country would be definitely concluded, but see now with considerable anxiety, that our success with the Crown is still uncertain, of which we have already experienced some results before the receipt of your favor of the 1st of September last. The people of Connecticut or Hartford, exalted by their newly obtained patent, have either by letter or verbally through their emissary John Young informed all the English villages on Long Island under this government, that his Majesty had been pleased, to include Long Island within their patent, that therefore they were in the jurisdiction and under the government of Connecticut, and should not acknowledge any other Prince or State or take an oath of allegiance to them. The enclosure No. 7 will tell you, what we have done in the matter and written to Hartford and what they have answered; for your better information we have added a copy of the patent, given by the King to the people of Hartford, which a good friend has procured for us, stating, that it was a true copy. If you will please to compare this patent with the letters and claims of the Boston people, sent us in 1659 and then forwarded to you, of which we send other copies to save you the trouble of looking for them, you will find and learn, that not a foot of land is left here to you, because Boston claims Fort Orange and the land thereabout from ocean to ocean and Hartford the remainder as far as Maryland and Virginia. You may easily imagine, how much all this discourages your people here. We must therefore urge you, to make all possible endeavors before it is too late, that the long desired settlement of the boundaries be seriously taken up and determined, so that we and your well meaning subjects and good inhabitants may know, what to do. COUNCIL MINUTES. MAGISTRATES APPOINTED FOR LONG ISLAND TOWNS; LAND GRANTED AND LAND MATTERS ON LONG ISLAND; FERRY TO LONG ISLAND. Right Honourable Gouvernor. According to our pattent and Custom wee have made Choice of six Men, whose names are hereunder subscribed, Leaving it to yo' Honours discression, which three of them you please to Confirm for Magistrates for the Next insuing yeare. Desiring your Honour according to your wonted favour to send us by the bearer hereof which of them yo" please to Confirme. So leaving yo" to the gracious guidance of the Almighty wee Rest yo' Loving subjects, the Inhabitants of Hempsted. Hempsted ye 18th of January 1663 John Hickes, Richard Gildersleve, Robert Ashman, January 20th. JONAS HOULDSWORTH, Clerk in the behalf of ye Towne. The foregoing nominations were presented to the Director-General, who selected as Magistrates of Hemstead for the ensuing year the following persons: John Hicks, Richard Gildersleeve, Robert Ashman. February 8th. To-day the Director-General and Council selected and confirmed as Churchwardens of the Church at Midwout Jan Strycker and Jan Snediker. Date as above. To the Noble, Very Worshipful Director-General and Honorable Council of New Netherland. Respectfully show the Commissaries of the village of Boswyck, that several persons have asked permission to come and settle with their families in said village; that at present no lots are unoccupied, nor can any other convenient lots be found, except at the East end of the village on the land of a Frenchman, Jean Mailiart by name. Your petitioners have asked said Mailiart for some lots on his land for the new comers, which said Mailiart would not give, to the great disadvantage of the village, although a new lot was given him on this account. Your petitioners therefore turn to your Honors for an order, that this village shall be laid out within the boundaries formerly determined. Awaiting your Honors' special directions, we remain Your Honors' faithful servants, PETER JANSEN Wit Answered: The mark of JAN CORN. ZEEUWS REYCK LEYDECKER The petitioners and Jean Mailiart shall personally appear before the Director General and Council. Mr. Paulus van der Beecq, From time to time many complaints are made to us, that you do not fullfil the conditions, under which the Ferry was let to you, to the great inconvenience of inhabitants and travellers, |