de Halve Maen
Journal of The Holland Society of New York Vol. 93, No. 1 2020
The Holland Society of New York requests the pleasure of your company at the 134th Annual Dinner on Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 at the Lotos Club 5 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
2020 Annual Medalists Carolyn McCormick and Byron Jennings will receive the Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Cocktails 6:00 PM Dinner 7:00 PM A Reading from Noel Coward's "Private Lives" 6:30 PM Presentation 8:30 PM $80 for Members and Fellows $190 for Friends and Guests Dress: Black tie optional
Please respond no later than September 25, 2020; make check payable to: The Holland Society of New York. Please mail your response and payment to 1345 Avenue of the Americas, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10105, or visit our website at www.hollandsociety.org and pay via Paypal. I will attend the Holland Society Annual Dinner on October 3rd, 2020. Enclosed is my check for payment. Name:___________________________________________________________________________ Address:_________________________________________________________________________ Tel:_________________________________Email:_______________________________________
de Halve Maen
The Holland Society of New York 1345 SIXTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10105 President Col. Adrian T. Bogart III Vice President Richard Van Deusen Treasurer David Conklin
Magazine of the Dutch Colonial Period in America VOL. XCIII Secretary James J. Middaugh Domine Rev. Paul D. Lent
Advisory Council of Past Presidents Kenneth L. Demarest Jr. W. Wells Van Pelt Jr. Robert Schenck Walton Van Winkle III Peter Van Dyke William Van Winkle Charles Zabriskie Jr. Trustees Thomas Bogart Christopher M. Cortright Eric E. DeLamarter David W. Ditmars Sarah Lefferts Fosdick Andrew A. Hendricks Kenneth G. Winans Trustees Emeriti Adrian T. Bogart John O. Delamater Robert Gardiner Goelet David M. Riker Kent L. Stratt
Sally Quakenbush Mason David D. Nostrand Gregory M. Outwater Andrew Terhune Stuart W. Van Winkle Laurie Bogart Wiles
David William Voorhees Ferdinand L. Wyckoff Jr. Stephen S. Wyckoff Donald Westervelt Rev. Everett Zabriskie
Burgher Guard Captain Sarah Bogart Vice-Presidents Connecticut-Westchester R. Dean Vanderwarker III Dutchess and Ulster County D. David Conklin Florida James S. Lansing International Lt. Col. Robert W. Banta Jr. (Ret) Jersey Shore Stuart W. Van Winkle Long Island Eric E. DeLamarter Mid-West David Ditmars New Amsterdam Eric E. DeLamarter New England Niagara David S. Quackenbush Old Bergen-Central New Jersey Gregory M. Outwater Old South Pacific Northwest Edwin Outwater III Pacific Southwest (North) Kenneth G. Winans Pacific Southwest (South) Paul H. Davis Patroons Robert E. Van Vranken Potomac Christopher M. Cortright Rocky Mountain Adrian T. Bogart IV South River Walton Van Winkle III Texas James J. Middaugh Virginia and the Carolinas James R. Van Blarcom United States Air Force United States Army Col. Adrian T. Bogart III United States Coast Guard Capt. Louis K. Bragaw Jr. (Ret) United States Marines Lt. Col. Robert W. Banta Jr., USMC (Ret) United States Navy LCDR James N. Vandenberg, CEC, USN Editor David William Voorhees Production Manager Sarah Bogart Editorial Committee Peter Van Dyke, Chair Christopher Cortright John Lansing
Copy Editor Rudy VanVeghten
Spring 2020
NUMBER 1
IN THIS ISSUE: 2
Editor’s Corner
3
The Origins of New Netherland Rural Terminology
9
Rethinking Hoogebergh: Early Rensselaerswijck’s Most Elusive Farm
19
Book Review: Dienke Hondius, Nancy Jouwe, Dineke Stam, JenniferTosch, eds., Dutch New York Histories: Connecting African, Native American and Slavery Heritage
21
Here and There in New Netherland Studies
23
Society Activities
24
In Memoriam
by Jan Stroop
by Rudy VanVeghten
by Vincent DeMarco
The Holland Society of New York was organized in 1885 to collect and preserve information respecting the history and settlement of New Netherland by the Dutch, to perpetuate the memory, foster and promote the principles and virtues of the Dutch ancestors of its members, to maintain a library relating to the Dutch in America, and to prepare papers, essays, books, etc., in regard to the history and genealogy of the Dutch in America. The Society is principally organized of descendants in the direct male line of residents of the Dutch colonies in the present-day United States prior to or during the year 1675. Inquiries respecting the several criteria for membership are invited. De Halve Maen (ISSN 0017-6834) is published quarterly by The Holland Society. Subscriptions are $28.50 per year; international, $35.00. Back issues are available at $7.50 plus postage/handling or through PayPaltm. POSTMASTER: send all address changes to The Holland Society of New York, 1345 Sixth Ave., 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10105. Telephone: (212) 758-1675. Fax: (212) 758-2232. E-mail: info@hollandsociety.org Website: www.hollandsociety.org Copyright © 2020 The Holland Society of New York. All rights reserved.
David M. Riker Rudy VanVeghten
Cover: Paulus Potter, “The Young Bull,” (1647), Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands, www.mauritshuis.nl.
Spring 2020
1
Editor’s Corner
W
ORDS MATTER. Language is mankind’s most powerful way of communicating. But how we use words and their intent can vary greatly between cultures. Linguists have long noted, for example, that following the English takeover of New Netherland two distinct dialects of spoken Dutch emerged in New York and New Jersey: one called “HudsonMohawk Dutch,” or simply de Tal (literally “the language”), and the other “Jersey Dutch,” and propose that a third dialect was spoken on Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island. Each dialect contained a variation of Dutch with English as well as Native American loan words, Iroquoian in de Tal and Algonquian in Jersey and Long Island Dutch. But what of the variations within the core Dutch language spoken in New Netherland and its pronunciation? In this issue of de Halve Maen we take a look at the use of words, both spoken and written, as a step toward answering these questions. In the first article published here, Dutch linguist Jan Stroop explores the variety of a number of agricultural terms found in the Dutch colonial manuscripts housed at the New York State Archives in Albany. “While the contents of the Register of the Provincial Secretary have been widely used by historians,” he tells us, “the actual language in which the documents are written has not received much scholarly attention.” Stroop thus focuses on documents drawn up by provincial secretary Cornelis van Tienhoven from 1638 to 1649 and 1651 to 1652. He notes that while Van Tienhoven employed an “official” written Dutch uniform throughout the Dutch Republic, there is great difference in the agricultural terms. When drawing up a farm inventory, Stroop suggests that Van Tienhoven “most likely records the agricultural terminology used by the farmers appearing before him.” And, for Stroop, “that’s were it gets linguistically interesting.” The agricultural terms found in Van Tienhoven’s manuscripts reveal a considerable variation that reflects the variety of dialects found in the Dutch-speaking areas of the Low Countries. Although Stroop cautions “changes may have occurred in the language’s geographical situation since the seventeenth century,” he believes that agricultural terminology has not changed much “because farming is by definition traditional.” That the Register of the Provincial Secretary reflects this diversity in Europe opens up an interesting linguistic perspective not only on the regional dialects in New Netherland but on the very origins of the colonists and where they settled in New Netherland. In doing so, we gain greater insight into New Netherland and the people who inhabited it. In his essay, Rudy VanVeghten looks at a historic farm homestead at the lower end of Papscanee Island about five miles south of Albany. The farm and house, he notes, have been known for over three centuries by the intriguing name Hoogebergh, the Dutch word for “high hill.”
Yet, neither the farm nor the homestead are located on a geological feature that could result in this designation. VanVeghten thus postulates that the name existed both as a farm and as a geologic feature several decades before it found a permanent residence on Papscanee Island in the late seventeenth century. Tracking Hoogebergh’s history and original location thus provides “an exercise in the importance of studying resources critically, scrutinizing primary source materials, and analyzing how errors often occur in the composition, duplication, transcription, publication, and understanding processes.” Historians, VanVeghten notes, “frequently confront new discoveries that contradict previously understood interpretations.” Through a carefully constructed yet delightfully readable argument, VanVeghten first suggests that there are a number of references to Hoogebergh that are especially useful in determining the original geographic location of the farm. Here is where linguistic analysis is useful. When the region’s farmers came to America from the Rhine delta region of the Dutch lowlands, he writes, “such natural wonders as clean water, game-filled forests, and mountains were largely unfamiliar to them.” By analyzing early manuscript references to Hoogebergh, VanVeghten thus proposes a different location for the original site through the use of the term. Though, as with linguistic change, modern topography has changed the landscape. To determine how researchers came to reject the original location for the origin of the term Hoogebergh, VanVeghten takes a critical look at the primary source materials. Through critical reading, or textual criticism, he explains how analyzing and interpreting written texts can result in “reinterpreting previously accepted understandings.” To reach his conclusions is a dramatic adventure in the exploration of words and texts. Understanding how words are used is particularly important today as a world-wide pandemic forces us into quarantine and learning new techniques and methods in order to communicate. Words and their meaning can easily be misinterpreted through cultural and linguistic differences. The power of words comes not only from the choice of which words we use but how and in what context they are said and written. Examining the dynamic processes that shaped the dialects of our New Netherland ancestors makes understanding the processes which are occurring in today’s world easier to comprehend and more palatable. Moreover, it can result in a more compassionate way in which we communicate with each other. Yes, words do matter.
2
David William Voorhees Editor
de Halve Maen
The Origins of New Netherland Agricultural Terminology by Jan Stroop
T
HE ORIGIN AND development of the Dutch colony of New Netherland is covered in a number of historical publications. Prime examples are The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto and New Netherland: A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America by Jaap Jacobs.1 Both authors made extensive use of the collection of Dutch-language colonial manuscripts housed at the New York State Archives in Albany. The first three volumes in this collection comprise the Register of the Provincial Secretary. They contain a wide range of documents, including depositions, contracts, estate inventories, leases, deeds, wills, bonds, powers of attorney, and other private instruments. Together these provide ample information about farming, households, environment, people, quarrels, and so on, and are a rich source for the economic and social life of the colonists.2 Jan Stroop obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Nijmegen in 1977. From 1966 to 1974 he was employed by the Meertens Institute, a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam. In 1977 he became a senior fellow in the Dutch linguistics department of the University of Amsterdam. Stroop is known for his discovery in 1997 of Poldernederlands, a popular new variant of the Dutch standard language. He wrote a book about it and composed the website Poldernederlands. In 2010 he published Hun hebben de taal verkwanseld: over Poldernederlands, fout Nederlands en ABN, about wrong and so-called “wrong” Dutch. His articles appear regularly on the blog http://www. neerlandistiek.nl/. His personal website is http://www.janstroop.nl/. The author thanks Dr. Charles Gehring and Dr. Jaap Jacobs for their advice.
While the contents of the Register of the Provincial Secretary have been widely used by historians, the actual language in which the documents are written has not received much scholarly attention. Most of these documents were drawn up by Cornelis van Tienhoven, provincial secretary from 1638 to 1649 and 1651 to 1652. Van Tienhoven employed the “official,” written Dutch which was commonly used in the Dutch Republic. For
the most part, this is boilerplate legalese, drawn from manuals for notaries. But Van Tienhoven was a bookkeeper and administrator, not a farmer. When, for example, drawing up an inventory of a 1 Jaap Jacobs, New Netherland A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America (Leiden, 2004); Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World (New York, London, 2004).
For the Provincial Register see https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/research/online-publications/register-ofthe-provincial-secretary-1638-1660/
2
The provinces of the Netherlands.
Spring 2020
3
bouwerij (“farm”) and its various animals and implements, he most likely recorded the agricultural terminology used by the farmers appearing before him. And that’s where it gets linguistically interesting. The official written Dutch language as used by officials like Van Tienhoven was uniform over all the Dutch Republic. In contrast, the agricultural terminology shows a considerable regional variety within the seven Dutch provinces. Examples are merrie and marry paert (“mare”), coebeest and coybeest (“cow”), and sug, soch, and seug (“sow”), each with different vowels.3 This variety is reflected in the Register of the Provincial Secretary, opening up an interesting linguistic perspective on the regional origins of the New Netherland colonists and their language. This article explores the linguistic variety of a small number of agricultural terms found in the 1638–1649 and 1651–1652 Register of the Provincial Secretary. According to Jacobs, the colonials or colonizers, especially the farmers, came mostly from the poor provinces of Gelderland, Drenthe, and Overijssel.4 Because the farmer’s terms, of course, emigrated with the settlers, they are the same as those used in old Netherlands. Some of these terms appear throughout the Dutch language area: hengst (“stallion”), merry (“mare”), geyten (“goats”), varckens (“pigs”), schapen (“sheep”), rogge (“rye”), garst (“barley”), mays (“corn”), erreten (“peas”), zicht (“sight”), and so on. A number of words only occur in a certain part of the Dutch language area. This offers opportunities to determine where the speaker of a certain word came from. If one can determine where such a word originated, one can cautiously dare to conclude that the word in New Netherland came from that region. Caution or some “wiggle room” is required because I use dialect maps from the twentieth century. Changes may have occurred in the language’s geographical situation since the seventeenth century, although I do not think that agricultural terminology has changed very much, because farming is by definition, traditional. 1. Butter (butter) My first case is not specifically agricultural, it is the word “butter.” All variants of the word butter, including the English form, descend from the
Latin word butyrum.5 In New Netherland a special pronunciation of the word butter was in use, namely botter. Botter has the same vowel [ɔ] as in English hot. It also occurs in the Netherlands but in a limited area. This can be seen on the map below from the Phonological Atlas of the Dutch (FAND). The form botter is marked with a blue dot in the legend. The places with the pronunciation botter are represented on the map by a horizontal red dash (hard to see for those who have
difficulty with colors, but magnified, it is possible). If I am seeing correctly, the form botter appears in the provinces of Utrecht and Gelderland, but not in Holland. The word botter is frequently found in New 3 For merrie, marry paert (“mare”) see https://www. meertens.knaw.nl/kaartenbank/proxy/image/13110. For coebeest, coybeest (“cow”) see https://www.meertens. knaw.nl/kaartenbank/proxy/image/13076. For sug, soch, seug (“sow”) see map 5 in this article. 4
Jacobs, New Netherland, 91.
5
https://www.etymonline.com/word/butter
This map by Jac. Van Ginneken, as well as the rest of the maps in this, article, is from the digital Kaartenbank (Bank of Maps) of the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam. See Joep Kruijsen and Nicoline van der Sijs, compilers (2016), Meertens Card Bank, at www. meertens.knaw.nl/ kaartenbank/; first version launched in 2014.
4
de Halve Maen
Netherland documents because butter was used as a means of payment in the absence of hard currency. 2. Keu (piglet) With the name for a young pig, a piglet, we get to actual farming terminology. In the documents from New Netherland I found the name keu for “piglet”: sugge, die van dese somer een ceue is geweest (21 July 1639) (sow, which was a piglet last summer)6 7 ceuen out 2 maenden daervan 3 sochgins ende 4 beertins (7 July 1651) (7 piglets 2 months old, of them 3 small sows and 4 small boars).7 The word keu still occurs in an UtrechtGelders area in the Netherlands. Exactly in that area keu is used as a call word for “pig in general.” The transition from call word to the name for a “small pig,” which has taken place in Dutch, seems logical. The map was made by Jacob van Ginneken (1877–1945), a prominent linguist in the Netherlands. The map was never published; it is in the archive Jac van Ginneken at the Meertens Institiute in Amsterdam. The word keu is related to kodde; probably the original meaning is “something round.” Dr. Charles Gehring at the New Netherland Institute notes that in English, the development has gone the other way around. That’s where the Old English noun swin [svi:n] diphthongizes into swine, but survives in the pig call “sooey” [sui:].8
paert ende 2 hengsten, een jarige soch, twee wagens, een nieuw ende gangbare ploech, een egge ende vorder alles wat nu by de bouwery bevonden sal worden. . . . Den verheurder sal oock aen de heurders leveren drie oude soggen, seven beertjes ende een jonge sogge. (18 Mayo 1639) Barent Dircksz shall be bound to deliver to the lessees four milch cows, two heifers, 1 heifer calf, three bull calves, one mare and 2 stallions, one farrow sow, two wagons, one new plow in working order, one harrow, and furthermore all that is now to be found on the farm. . . . The lessor shall also deliver to the lessees three old sows, seven little boars and one young sow. (18 May 1639)10 Bul, with this vowel, occurs in the provinces of North Holland (including the island of Tessel) and South Holland and in Utrecht. Bul is represented on the map by a drop with the tip down. This includes also the drops that include a vertical dash that stands for another word, namely stier. This means that in a location both words are in use, bul and stier. Dutch bul is the same word as English bull. Bull probably comes
from an Indo-European verb *bhel- which means “to swell.”11 4. Berg (barrow) In the following quote the names for pigs of different gender stand together: 2 vercken sijnde bergen 1½ Jaer out; 2 soggen Item; 1 burgh ende een beertin out ½ Jaer; 7 Ceuen out 2 maenden daervan 3 sochgins ende 4 beertins (7 July 1651) (2 barrow pigs, 1½ year old; 2 sows, ditto; 1 barrow and one little boar, ½ year old; 7 piglets, 2 months old, of which 3 little small sows and 4 little Bond of Gerrit Jansen from Oldenburg to Jonas Bronck, July 21, 1639, Reg ister of the Provincial Secretary, 1638–1642, New York Colonial Manuscripts Vol. 1: 140, New York State Archives, Albany [hereafter NYCM]; translation in A. J .F. Van Laer, trans. and ed., 3 vols., Register of the Provincial Secretary (Baltimore, 1974), 1: 195 [hereafter NYHM].
6
Inventory of the Estate of Jan Jansen Damen, July 7, 1651, NYCM 3: 87e; NYHM 3: 275.
7
Author’s correspondence with Charles Gehring, May 2020.
8
9 Nicoline van der Sijs, Yankees, cookies en dollars (Amsterdam 2009). 10 Contract of sale of a tobacco plantation from Barent Dircksen to Gerrit Jansen and Volckert Evertsen, May 18, 1639 NYCM 1: 119; NYHM 1: 166. 11
https://www.etymonline.com/word/bull.
3. Bul (bull) In New Netherland, the term bestiaal was common for “herd, all animals of a farm together.” In addition, bestiaal was also used for a single head of cattle. In those two senses, the word in the Dutch language region has fallen into disuse. Bestiaal seems to be one of the terms that the West India Company introduced, such as bouwerij (bowery).9 An important animal of the bestiaal was the bull. The Dutch name in New Netherland is bul; see this quote: Barent Dircksz sal gehouden wesen te leveren aen de heurders vier melckcoyen, twee veers pincken, 1 veers calff, drie bul calveren, een mary
Spring 2020
5
boars (7 July 1651)12 There are two heteronyms for barrow (castrated male pig) in this passage: berg and burg. They exist in different Dutch areas. Berg is a bit more general with its spread in North Holland, South Holland, and Zeeland. Burg can be found in the western part of the province of Gelderland and in some places in Utrecht and Drente. Two different names in one text suggest that there have been two informants, although the text—a comprehensive estate inventory—does not indicate that. Berg, burg, and also English barrow are connected with an old verb berian which means “to beat.”13 5. Zeug (sow) The most common name for the female pig (“sow”) in Dutch is zeug, at least when I measure all the sound variants and there are quite a few: zoog, zog, zoeg, zeug, zeu, zug. English sow and Dutch zog (and variants) have the same origin: the Proto-Germanic reconstructed form *sugô-, which is a derivation of IndoEuropean root *su-.14 Jan Goossens wrote a fascinating article about the interesting, complex origins of these variants in 1999. His description of the spread of the variant zog is: “The term zog, roughly drawn, is
Noordbrabant’s, Kleverland’s, Utrecht’s, and reaching into the south via an offshoot along the Schelde to the southeastern part of East Flanders.”15
Of all the zog areas mentioned, only one can be connected to the colonization of New Netherland and that is Utrecht. It is nice to see that zog/sog/soch also appears as a variant in New Netherland: drie oude soggen, . . . ende een jonge sogge (18 May 1639); een jarige soch (1644); 2 soggen (1651); 3 sochgins (1651); Twee soggen (1651). (three old sows, . . . and a young sow (18 May 1639); one-year-old sow (1644); 2 sows (1651); 3 sows (1651); Two sows (1651).16 Two other variants, sug and seug, also occur in New Netherland and we also find them in regions that could have provided settlers: zug in ‘t Gooi and in North-West Veluwe, and zeug sporadically in Utrecht but frequently in West Friesland and on Tessel, which can be seen on map 5. 12 Inventory of the Estate of Jan Jansen Damen, July 7, 1651, NYCM 3: 87e; NYHM 3: 275. 13 14
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bearg#Old_English. https://www.etymonline.com/word/sow.
J. Goossens, “Het vocalisme van zeug,” Taal en Tongval 51 (January 1999), 154–65. 15
16 Inventory of the Estate of Jan Jansen Damen, July 7, 1651, NYCM 3: 87e; NYHM 3: 275.
6
de Halve Maen
6. Sein (scythe) Most tools for the “bowery� have a name in New Netherland that is in use throughout the Netherlands and probably it was also in the seventeenth century. A number of agricultural names that we find in New Netherland refer to the center of the Netherlands, the province of Utrecht and also more to the east. These are areas known as the homeland of some settlers. Other areas also supplied settlers at some point, as seen in the names for the scythe. It is also called a sein in New Netherland. For example, in the following deed of sale: Jacobus van Curler vercoopt in presentie van de naerbes. getuygen aen Tienhoven voornt. de voorgemelte bouwery groot hondert morgen lants, de huysing daerop staende, alle gereetschappen op de bouwery wesende welverstaende wagen, ploech, egge, seynen, zichten (mitsgaders vorder alles tot boeren werck nodich). (1639) Jacobus van Curler, in the presence of the subscribing witnesses, sells to Tienhoven the above mentioned farm, containing one hundred morgens of
land, the house standing thereon, all the implements being on the farm, to wit, a wagon, a plow, a harrow, scythes and sights (together with all that is needed for farm work).17
That word sein, also written zein, appears on the map only in the provinces of North Holland and on the northern Wadden Islands, including on the island of Tessel. In the first half of the seventeenth century there must have been at least one person in New Netherland who came from one of these areas. Jacobus van Curler probably had heard that word from a person, because he himself came from Nijkerk, which is located in the province of Gelderland. And that’s where the scythe is called a zeis. Further information is missing. 7. Veulen (foal) The names for the young horse, foal in English, show the following variants: een volingh paert (18 May 1639) (a foal)18 hengst vool (22 September 1643) (stallion foal)19 in the same text: merry veulen (22 Deed from Jacobus van Curler to Corneli van Tienhoven, [May] 1639, NYCM 1: 106; NYHM 1: 147. 17
18 Contract of sale of a tobacco plantation from Barent Dircksen to Gerrit Jansen and Volckert Evertsen, May 18, 1639, NYCM 1: 119; NYHM 1: 166. 19 Inventory of Vredendael, September 22, 1643, NYCM 2: 60a. Nicoline van der Sijs, Yankees, cookies en dollars (Amsterdam 2009).
Spring 2020
7
1 hengst vool van een tot 2 jaer (1 stallion colt between and 2 years old). 1 merry veulen van tien weken (1 filly of ten weeks). From “Inventory of the goods and effects delivered by Mr. La Montagne to Bout Francen” (1643), Register of the Provincial Secretary, document 60a, lines 9 and 10.
September 1643) (mare foal)20 een hengst veulen van may lestleeden (1643) (a stallion foal of last May)21 een hengst vullen (6 September 1646) (a stallion foal)22 merry vool (November 1651) (mare foal)23 jonck merry veul (6 July 1651) (young mare foal)24 Those variants can all be linked to a region in the Netherlands. Volingh paert I equate with vulling, used in Utrecht and in the Veluwe. On the border between Utrecht and Gelderland, one form of volling is seen. Vool appears in North Holland. Veulen in the region south of Amsterdam, but also in several other areas. We find vullen in the district Gooi, Utrecht, and in the Veluwe, which can be seen on map 7. Veulen, vullen, and voling are etymologically considered diminutives of vool. Because that diminutive suffix of the word contained an i-vowel, the root vowel of the stressed syllable, the oo was umlauted to eu. The forms hengst vool (stallion foal) and merry veulen (mare foal) are in the same document of September 22, 1643; in fact they are written together.25 The thought that merry veulen (mare foal) is smaller than a hengst vool (stallion foal) and therefore gets that diminutive,veul+en, I have to put aside because elsewhere a stallion foal is also called a hengst veulen. In berg and burg (Part 4), we saw something similar: they are also both in the same document. One would think there might be two different speakers or informants. But that is not likely because the words are, in both cases, in an inventory of a “bouwerij” (farm).
8. Conclusion Taking stock of the concepts discussed, my conclusion is that the dissemination of New Netherland terminology in the Netherlands corresponds in most parts to the origin of the migrants observed by Jaap Jacobs “from the less wealthy provinces of the Republic, Gelderland Drenthe, and Overijssel.” 26 His observation concerns emigration in the later period, which is from about 1650 until the end of the New Netherland in 1674. No Drentse words were found in the documents that have been reviewed. A relationship with Gelderland and especially the Veluwe appeared several times, but Utrecht in particular is frequently represented. A region which Jacobs does not mention and which is particularly present in the terminology is North Holland. It concerns the following words: vool,
8
vooltje (foal) exclusively in NorthHolland; fooltje (foal) on the island of Texel; sein/zein (scythe) exclusively in North Holland, also on Texel; berg (barrow in North-Holland (but not exclusively). 27 The fact that these words also occur in New Netherland is an indication that settlers also came from the mentioned areas, although we do not know their names. 20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
Lease of a farm on Long Island from Anthony Jansen to Edmund Adley, September 6, 1646, NYCM 2: 148b. 22
23 Lease from the Agents of Anna Bogardus to Evert Pels, November 1, 1651, NYCM 3: 97. 24 Inventory of the estate of Jan Jansen Damen, July 6, 1651, NYCM 3: 87d(1). 25 Inventory of Vredendael, September 22, 1643, NYCM 2: 60a. 26
Jacobs, New Netherland, 91.
Taalatlas van Noord- en Zuid-Nederland (Leiden, 1938–1952). 27
de Halve Maen
Rethinking Hoogebergh: Early Rensselaerswijck’s Most Elusive Farm by Rudy VanVeghten
Hudson River Landmark—Perched at the foot of a low promontory about five miles below Albany, the Staats house on the Hudson River has been known for over three centuries as Hoogebergh. That name, however, originated with one of Rensselaerswijck’s earliest farms several miles to the north.
T
HERE IS A historic home about five miles south of Albany gracing the east shore of the Hudson River. Located at the lower end of Papscanee Island at the foot of a forty- to fifty-foot knoll, the farm and homestead have been known for over three centuries by the intriguing Dutch name Hoogebergh. Owned for many generations by the Staats family, the farm and its owners are the topic of a relatively recent book by the late William L. Staats titled Three Centuries on the Hudson River: One Family . . . One House–The story of Hoogebergh (1696–2009) and the eleven generations of the Staats family who have lived there. But Hoogebergh (Dutch for “high hill”) Rudy VanVeghten, a former community newspaper editor, is a frequent contributor to de Halve Maen as well as serving as the journal’s copy editor. This essay is a supplement to a series arising from Mr. VanVeghten’s research on Gerrit Teunisse van Vechten and his family that appeared in the Winter and Spring 2018 issues of de Halve Maen.
existed both as a farm and as a geologic feature several decades before it found a permanent residence along New York’s principal river in the late seventeenth century. Tracking Hoogebergh’s history and original location provides an exercise in the importance of studying resources critically, that is by scrutinizing primary source materials and analyzing how errors often occur in the composition, duplication, transcription, publication, and understanding processes. Hoogebergh in the Sources. There are a number of references to Hoogebergh in the record books. Listed below are a selection that are especially useful in determining the original geographic location of the farm: Reference 1: In the winter of 1651, Rensselaerswijck Director Brant van Slichtenhorst, also serving as sheriff and head prosecutor, charged Jacob Lambertse with assaulting and failing to show proper respect to the director. During the previous October when he and other farm hands observed Slichtenhorst’s party approaching
below, Lambertse strapped a sword to his side and marched down the hill to intercept Slichtenhorst. “Jacob Lambertsz, being armed with a sword on his side, dared by word and deed, on the Hoogen Berch, in the highest manner to insult the director,” reads the court account of the incident.1 Reference 2: By the summer of 1651, Rensselaerswijck Director Brant van Slichtenhorst was detained by New Netherland Director-General Pieter Stuyvesant, and a Captain Slijter was temporarily in charge of the patroonship. He compiled a list of working farms in the colony, including one leased to Gysbert Cornelisse van Breuckelin located “aende Hooge barch Van Cristal (on the high hill of crystal).”2 An explanation of this “crystal” is included later in this essay. Reference 3: On June 23, 1654, Jan Baptist van Rensselaer, who replaced SlichtenA. J. F. Van Laer, trans. and ed., Minutes of the Court of Rensselaerswijck 1648–1652 (Albany, 1922), 142 [hereafter MCR].
1
A. J. F. Van Laer, trans. and ed., Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts (Albany, 1909), 741 [hereafter VRBM].
2
Spring 2020
9
Source of Crystal—Known variously as Mill Creek, Red Mill Creek, or in the 1630s as de Laet’s Kill, the stream that drains into the Hudson opposite old Albany was the source of crystals discovered by early residents of Rensselaerswijck. Patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer encouraged his administrators to locate “the mountain from which the same drops into the creek.” horst as colony director, renewed Gysbert Cornelisse’s lease “of the farm called de Hoogeberch.” In a footnote describing the farm’s location, editor A. J. F. Van Laer explained that the farm “was situated on the east side of the river, near the present Mill Creek.” This muellenkill was earlier called de Laets Kill by Jan Baptist’s father, Kiliaen. Today it empties into the Hudson just below the Dunn Memorial Bridge (Routes 9/20).3 Reference 4: In 1660, Jeremias van Rensselaer, who replaced his brother Jan Baptist as director, reported that Sander Leendertse “has also cleared a good part of the Bergh, opposite the fort.” Contrary to his earlier assessment, translator Van Laer added a footnote identifying Hoogebergh with the farm at the bottom end of Papscanee Island rather than along the Mill Creek.4 Researcher Shirley Dunn voiced doubt about Van Laer’s note: “This identification seems rather doubtful,” Dunn said in an earlier de Halve Maen essay on Hoogebergh, “because the small hill on Papscanee is not immediately opposite the fort.”5 Fort Orange was located near the west end of today’s Route 9/20 bridge. Reference 5: In the spring of 1666, a disastrous flood damaged many farms along the upper Hudson River. Two years later Jeremias van Rensselaer described
the partial success of recovering from the catastrophe. “Jan Tyssen’s farm is still in fair condition, as is also that on the Hooge Bergh (although the land was largely spoiled by the ice drift, as in some places the sand deposited on it is knee deep).” Editor Van Laer in his 1932 publication of Jeremias’ letters adds a footnote that Hoogebergh is located “On Papscanee Island,” again contradicting his earlier Mill Creek description.”6 Reference 6: On September 28, 1678, Gerrit Teunisse, who had received a patent from Gov. Edmund Andros for land lying inland from Papscanee Island, leased some of that land to Jan Roose. In the lease, the property is described as “twenty-two morgens of woodland lying behind the farm of the Hooghen Bergh where Gysbert Cornelisz now dwells.” Here again, Van Laer in 1918 (before his thinking had changed) added a footnote about Hoogebergh that “This farm was situated on the east side of the Hudson river, near the Mill creek in the present town of East Greenbush.”7 Reference 7: Residents of Albany about November 1679 witnessed a major fire that destroyed the Hoogebergh farmhouse and barn. A description of the spectacular blaze comes from a letter by Maria van Rensselaer:
10
Friday, toward noon, cries were heard that the farm of the Hooge Berg was on fire, so that many people at once ran toward it and found it to be true. Before any one could get there, everything was burned, the house, barn, two barracks full of grain, yes even the pig sty. The man himself [farmer Gysbert Cornelisse] was so badly burned that Mr. Cornelis [van Dyck, a doctor] doubts whether he will live, and this because he was so busy with the animals. The woman’s face is burned because she tried to get her blind mother out of the burning house, which she just managed to do. Eleven cows were burned, but the milch cows and the horses they got loose. Everything else was burned, the linen, woolens, bed and household effects, yes, even the pots and kettles were melted.8 In a footnote to this letter, editor Van Laer in 1935 reported that Hoogebergh is “A farm on Papscanee Island, afterwards known as Staats Island, which since 1648 had been leased to Gysbert Cornelissen van Breuckelen, often referred to as Gysbert Cornelissen van den Berg.”9 Note again how this description disagrees with Van Laer’s earlier understanding from the third and sixth references above. Gysbert Cornelisse did survive and following his recovery was involved in a fencing dispute with neighboring farmers, indicating the location of his farm had by 1681 moved to the lower end of Papscanee Island.10 Reference 8: Kiliaen van Rensselaer, son of Jeremias, confirmed Gerrit Teunisse’s ownership of the land known as Schonevelt that Gov. Edmund Andros had patented to 3
Ibid., 769, 769n.
A. J. F. Van Laer, ed. and trans., Correspondence of Jeremias van Rensselaer (Albany, 1932), 228, 228n [hereafter CJVR].
4
Shirley Dunn, “Settlement Patterns in Rensselaerswijck: Tracing the Hoogebergh, a Seventeenth-Century farm on the East Side of the Hudson,” in de Halve Maen (Spring 1995), 16–17.
5
6
CJVR, 406–407, 406n.
Jonathan Pearson, Early Records of the City and County of Albany and Colony of Rensselaerswyck, revised and edited by A. J. F. Van Laer, 4 vols. (Albany, 1918), 3:458, 458n [hereafter ERA]. 7
A. J. F. Van Laer, trans. and ed., Correspondence of Maria van Rensselaer (Albany, 1935), 27 [hereafter CMVR].
8
Ibid., 27n. Curiously, Van Laer cites Munsell, Annals of Albany vol. 7, 101–102, which deals not with the sale of the lower end of Papscanee Island, but with the farm of Cornelis Teunisse Van Vechten at the top end of the island.
9
10 A. J. F. Van Laer, Minutes of the Court of Albany, Rensselaerswyck and Schenectady, 3 vols. (Albany, 1928), 3:108–109 [hereafter MCARS].
de Halve Maen
him in 1677. A deed recorded on August 6, 1696, described the land as situated “near the South end of the Island called Paeps Knee, beginning from the Road or highway between the farm belonging to Saml Staats and Barent Reynders att the South end, and the aforesaid Schonevelt, and so Easterly to the foot of the Hill just behind said land which lies to the Eastward of the farm called the Hoogebergh as also that small Island lying in Paeps Knees Creek on the west side of the aforesaid farm, known by the name of Hendrick Frederickes Island with a certain Island called Mooermans Island with their appurtenances lying and being in the Manor and Colony aforesaid near the East side of Hudsons River and to the Northward of Berren Island as the farms are now in the possession of him the said Gerrit Tunissen according to his Patent.”11 Parsing the Story. Historians frequently confront new discoveries that contradict previously understood interpretations. Such was apparently the case for early twentiethcentury New York Archivist Arnold Van Laer in attempting to determine the location
of the Rensselaerswijck farm known as Hoogebergh. As noted in the third and sixth references above, Van Laer in his earlier years determined this “high hill” farm was located in the vicinity of the stream now called Red Mill Creek that flows through the town of East Greenbush and the city of Rensselaer and into the Hudson. In two of his publications in the 1930s, however, he presented a contradictory determination that Hoogebergh was located on the south end of Papscanee Island. Was one location correct and the other not? And if so, what caused him to change his mind? It appears Van Laer’s reasoning for his earlier Mill Creek opinion has to do with the crystal noted in reference 2. Gysbert Cornelisse van Breuckelin, according to the 1651 inventory of colony assets, leased a farm “on the high hill of crystal.” Patroonship founder and Amsterdam jeweler Kiliaen van Rensselaer had been dead for eight years by the time this inventory was compiled. His excitement over the discovery of crystals, however, had clearly passed down to those who followed in ownership and management of the colony.
Reference to Hoogebergh —This confirmation deed between Kiliaen van Rensselaer (son of Jeremias and grandson of the first patroon) and Gerrit Teunisse mentions Hoogebergh, but leaves it in doubt whether the name refers to the Staats’ new farm on Papscanee Island or the steep hill on the mainland to the east.
Crystals were originally found in the early 1630s along the mill stream dubbed de Laets Kill by the patroon. In a letter to fellow investor Johannes de Laet, Van Rensselaer wrote, “As to the east side [of the Hudson], we have the lands situated opposite Fort Orange and Castle Island, from paep Sickenees kil northward past the falls of de laets kil thus named by me, which creek runs far inland and in which rock crystal is found, according to Director [Peter] Minuit, to which we must pay more attention in the future.”12 In the summer of 1632, Van Rensselaer enlisted Rutger Hendricksz van Soest as colony schout or sheriff. In a list of instructions to the officer, the patroon specified, “The officer is hereby warned that rock crystal is found in de Laets kil opposite Fort Orange, above and inland from the dwelling of Roeloff Jansz, and that care should be taken to see whether the mountain from which the same drops into the creek can not be found.”13 Van Soest didn’t work out, and in 1634 the patroon sent over Jacob Planck as his new sheriff. In an October 1636 letter, Van Rensselaer wrote to him instructions regarding the gemstones. “I have received your samples; the crystal is the best,” he wrote. “Now that so many people come there, take at once a trip into the country to find out whether there are any minerals, especially, as I hear, that there is a rock of crystal above de laets Kiel where the mill stands. Inquire about this some time and write me whether there is a great quantity of it and send me of the purest, instead of a piece as large as a hazelnut, a couple of barrels as a sample. It is said to extend as far as two or three leagues upwards.”14 By this time, Van Rensselaer likely knew from the previous samples that this crystal was nothing but common quartz, but his hope for something more valuable persisted. Van Rensselaer was always searching for new farmers to populate his remote patroonship. In 1637 he sent over Cornelis Maasen van Buren, a former farm hand on the de Laetsburg farm, and Simon Walichs, both of whom took assigned farms at the north end of Papscanee Island. A year later, Albany Institute of History and Art, McKinney Library, Deeds and Indentures Collection, William Patterson Van Rensselaer Papers, BM 400/5/12; Shirely Dunn, “Settlement Patterns in Rensselaerswijck: Locating SeventeenthCentury Farms on the East Side of the Hudson,” in de Halve Maen (Fall 1994), 72.
11
12
VRBN, 198.
13
Ibid., 210.
14
Ibid., 330.
Spring 2020
11
he had Planck establish three additional farms. Best of these was a farm stretching just south of the nascent Greenbush village and the greynen bosch (pine woods), from which it derived its name, down to the upper portion of Papscanee Kill. This farm the patroon assigned to his cousin Mauritz Jansen van Brockhuysen. Planck was then to establish a second farm “south of the farm of mauris Jansen, where there is room enough.” Assigned to former West India Company apprentice farmer Teunis Dirckse van Vechten, this farm was wedged between Papscanee Kill and the ridge of hills to the east.15 “Because You Came Last.” A third farm established in 1638 was even less desirable. Instead of being situated on the silt-washed Hudson River lowlands, it was perched on top of the forested ridge back from the river. Michiel Jansen van Scrabberkercke was the farmer assigned to this backland parcel. Not only did he have poorer soil on which to establish crops, he would have faced the added task of clearing trees and rocks from the land before he could even plow. A literate young man, Michiel Jansen respectfully expressed displeasure over his assigned farm. In a June 1640 letter, the patroon answered him, “Because you came last I have given you this farm, but do right, be honest and do not let them [other farmers] stir you up; I shall remember you in such way that you will get along well.”16 It should be noted that when these farmers came to America from the Rhine delta region of the Dutch lowlands, such natural wonders as clean water, game-filled forests, and mountains were largely unfamiliar to them. Although a ridge rising only two to three hundred feet above river level might seem rather diminutive to us, to the Netherlands immigrants they were all high. It is likely the term hooge bergh was used to define the entire ridge back from the east bank of the Hudson, starting across from Fort Orange and extending several miles south-southeast, well before it became associated with a farm situated on that ridge. This explains why Michiel Jansen’s farm was subsequently referred to as “on the high hill” (aende Hoogebergh) and its farmers as “of the hill” (van den Bergh). One way the patroon suggested rewarding Michiel Jansen focused on the potential value of the area’s crystal. It seems the hilltop farmer had located the elusive source of the gems on his farm. In May 1640, the patroon wrote to his nephew Arent van
Curler, “Send me without fail some barrels of the crystal found in the hill of michiel jansz. Have the expense of digging it noted down, I can see then whether there is any money in it or not, for it is of little importance; yet if it is large, white and clear, it is worth something. But send me good and bad as it comes and let no one pick out the best pieces and hold them back. It would be best in Michiel did it himself and got some profit from it too; I think he is one of the most upright farmers in the colony, and when there is an opportunity I shall have an eye to his advantage. He writes most politely of all; let him do what is right and he will be treated well by me.”17 Michael Jansen, however, didn’t follow Van Rensselaer’s suggestion. In a June 16, 1643, letter, Van Curler responded to his uncle, “Regarding the crystal near Machiel [Jansen’s house, of which your Honor] writes me that I should send over some more samples, I have urged M[achiel Jansen] and others sufficiently to dig it up, but they do not care to do it, apparently
because they dread the labor, and it will [not] come out [by it]self.”18 Van Rensselaer died late in 1643, and Michiel Jansen left Rensselaerswijck colony in 1646, later becoming a leading citizen of New Amsterdam. Although the mineral finds on the high hill farm never amounted to anything, the dream of Inca-like fortunes persisted for several years as the location retained the moniker Hoogebergh van crystal at least through 1651.19 Eventually the 15 When Mauritz Jansen proved to be a disappointment, his farm was offered up for auction in 1640 (Ibid., 493). Bidding was won by Teunis Dirckse, who thereby greatly increased the size of his own farm (Ibid., 563). 16 Ibid., 499. Michiel Jansen and his descendants later adopted the surname Vreeland. 17
Ibid., 489.
A. J. F. van Laer, “Arent van Curler and His Historic Letter to the Patroon,” in The Dutch Settlers Society of Albany Yearbook 1927–1928 vol. III (Albany, 1927), 22. Here, Van Laer uses brackets to indicate gaps in the firedamaged original letter that he filled in from a previous translation by Edmund O’Callaghan. 18
18
VRBM, 741.
19
Dunn, “Hoogebergh,” 15.
The Original “High Hill”?—Earliest references to Hoogebergh, as well as some later mentions, pertain to a hill rather than to the farm located on the hill. As multiple references designate the hill was opposite Fort Orange, the most likely possibility was the ridge that begins at the northern edge of present-day East Greenbush and extends several miles south parallel to the Hudson River. Note the stream running along the northeasterly side of the ridge.
12
de Halve Maen
crystal dropped out of the description, and locals shortened the name to simply Bergh or Hoogebergh. Van Laer had good reason to conclude early on that the Hoogebergh farm was located on the Mill Creek or de Laet’s Kill, since that is where the crystal stones were first discovered. But why did the famed archivist change his thinking in the 1930s to believe the farm was instead located at the lower end of Papscanee Island? Most likely, this is because the Staats family who have resided there for numerous generations have called it Hoogebergh since at least the turn of the eighteenth century. There are a couple other clues, in addition to the link between the crystal and Mill Creek, that prove the farm did not originally exist on Papscanee Island. Researcher Shirley Dunn, in her Hoogebergh essay, determined as much. “The precise location of the farm of Michiel Janse van Schrabberkercke and his early successors is not known,” she notes. Although she agrees Hoogebergh did not start out on Papscanee Island, she rejects Mill Creek as a possible location. “The site of the farm in the early years was on a mainland hill, not far from the Hudson River, in present-day Schodack,” she writes.20 By taking a closer look at some of the references itemized above, it looks like Van Laer’s early understanding of a more northerly location is actually closer to the mark than either Schodack or lower Papscanee. Gysbert Cornelisse Takes Over. After Michiel Jansen left Hoogebergh in 1646, interim colony director Anthony de Hooges assigned Teunis Cornelisse van Vechten in charge by means of two successive one-year leases. Teunis Cornelisse (not to be confused with his older first cousin and neighboring farmer Teunis Dirckse) was head farmer on the hill when Brant van Slichtenhorst arrived in 1648 to take over as patroonship director. Early in his tenure, Van Slichtenhorst replaced Teunis Cornelisse with new arrival Gysbert Cornelisse, who emigrated from the Vecht River village of Breuckelen north of Utrecht, Netherlands.21 One of the earliest documented references to Hoogebergh comes from an October 1650 incident involving then colony director Brant van Slichtenhorst and farm worker Jacob Lambertse (reference 1 above). Working in the cleared fields on the hill, Lambertse and others were able to see the director and his party crossing over
from the growing village that later became Beverwijck (Albany) and approaching the farm, whereupon Lambertse descended the hill to annoy Van Slichtenhorst. A likely location for this to have occurred was the hill directly back from the ferry landing in Greenbush. According to court records, neighboring farmer Teunis Dirckse was present during the incident, apparently assisting Gysbert Cornelisse in spreading manure on his fields.22 Teunis Dirckse had formed a neighborly friendship with former Hoogebergh farmer Michiel Janse and carried that relationship forward to new owner Gysbert Cornelisse. In addition to helping with farm chores as noted above, Teunis Dirckse backed his neighbor as surety for the renewal of his lease in 1654.23 “Gysbert Cornelise,” as Shirley Dunn notes, “seemed to be quite closely associated with Teunis Dirckse.”24 This close association with both Hoogebergh farmers Michiel Jansen and Gysbert Cornelise suggests the closeness of the hill farm to Teunis Dirckse’s farm, located along the south edge of the grenen bosch (pine woods) that gave the Greenbush village its name.25 Through the next couple of decades, Gysbert Cornelisse seems to have dedicated himself pretty much to his farm work, appearing in court records far fewer times than his brother Claes Cornelisse, who worked as a laborer on the farm. One notable transaction involving the Hoogebergh farmer came in 1662, when he purchased the farm buildings and structures of a Marten Cornelisse. “On this day, the 20th of May 1662,” reads the deed, “Marten Cornelisz acknowledges that he has sold and Gysbert Cornelisz van den Berch that he has purchased of him the house, barn, [hay]rick and fences erected on the land of the plantation by him hitherto occupied, standing and lying in the colony of Rensselaerswyck on this side of Betlehem.” The farm was at the time occupied, not by Marten Cornelisse, but by Thomas Coninck, who in 1663 agreed with Gysbert Cornelisse about disposition of the farm’s harvest.26 Based on information from nineteenthcentury historian Jonathan Pearson, Dunn assumes the seller of this property was Marten Cornelisse van Buren. She also supposes that “this side of Betlehem” equates to “on the east side” of Bethlehem, or in other words, across the Hudson on lower Papscanee Island or the hills east of the island.27 Both conclusions, however, are suspect.
Looking first at the location of the farm in question, there is little likelihood the deed refers to Papscanee Island or anything on the east side of the river. Beverwijck (later Albany) was, in 1662, the administrative seat for both the city and Rensselaerswijck colony. Even though neither the name of the administrator who recorded the sale nor the location where the transaction took place appear in the deed, it is far more likely it occurred in Beverwijck than on the remote east side of the Hudson. A more reasonable interpretation is that “This side of Betlehem” indicates Marten Cornelisse’s farm was between Bethlehem and Beverwijck on the west side of the river. Secondly, the timing is off for thinking Van Buren had control of property and ownership of buildings and other structures in 1662. An orphan raised on Teunis Dirckse’s farm, he was only in his early twenties at the time and had not yet attained status as a farm lease holder. During the year 1662, he learned he and his siblings stood to receive an inheritance from a proverbial rich uncle back in the Netherlands. That knowledge, however, came in August, three months after the sale of the farm buildings to Gysbert Cornelisse.28 Also during that year (1662), according to genealogical resources, Marten Cornelisse married Marritje Quackenbush. Newly married and with little or no assets as he started out on his own, it is highly unlikely he had at that time leased a farm from the Van Rensselaers as well as accumulating his own personal equity in a farm house, barn, and other structures to give him the right to sell them. Records indicate, to the contrary, that Van Buren’s first position as a head farmer came sometime after partners Volkert Jansen Douw and Jan Thomas Witbeck purchased half of Constapel’s Island from the estate of the late Andries Constapel in 1663. Needing a farmer to manage this land, they selected 20
Dunn “Hoogebergh,” 15.
21
VRBM, 815, 837.
22
MCR, 142.
VRBM, 770. Teunis Dirckse also served as surety for Michiel Jansen in legal action brought against the latter by Van Slichtenhorst (MCR, 34). Later on, Teunis Dirckse’s son Dirck Teunisse married Michiel Jansen’s daughter Jannetje. 23
24
Dunn “Hoogebergh,” 15.
25
VRBM, 762, 762n.
26
ERA, 3:157, 253.
Jonathan Pearson, Genealogies of the First Settlers of the Ancient County of Albany from 1630 to 1800 (Albany, 1872), 116; Dunn “Hoogebergh,” 17. 27
28
VRBM, 181n.
Spring 2020
13
the young Van Buren as the lessee.29 Another important point is the presence of Thomas Coninck. He is identified as leasing the Marten Cornelisse farm buildings purchased by Gysbert van den Bergh in 1662, with Coninck continuing to reside there during the harvest of 1663. As noted above, Marten Cornelisse van Buren was on the lower rung of the Rensselaerswijck/ Beverwijck socioeconomic social ladder. It is unlikely he would have held the position as a lessor at this time when in the context of the next several decades he remained a lessee, first on the Constapel’s Island farm and immediately following that on a farm leased from Gerrit Teunisse.30 So who, then, was the Marten Cornelisse who sold the farm structures to Gysbert Cornelisse in May of 1662? Van Laer provides the answer in a footnote regarding the Van Buren inheritance. “Marten Cornelisz, has by Pearson and other writers been confused with Swarte Marten, or Black Marten, who from the mark he makes is readily identified with Marten Cornelisz van Ysselsteyn, one of the proprietors of land at Schenectady in 1663.”31 It is interesting that Marten Cornelisse van Buren also had a nickname related to his physical appearance. Whereas people called the dark-complexioned Van Ysselsteyn “Black Marten,” some sources refer to Van Buren as “Marten Cornelisse Vlas” denoting his flaxen-colored locks and fair skin, not unlike his famous descendant President Martin Van Buren.32 As Van Laer notes, later historians and genealogists have tended to conflate the two Martens based primarily on Pearson, and this conflation has included the incorrect assumption it was Marten Cornelisse van Buren rather than “Black Martin” who was in position to sell farm buildings on the west side of the Hudson north of Bethlehem. Up on his hilltop farm, Gysbert Cornelisse apparently had the same difficulties as his predecessor Michiel Jansen in coaxing crops from his fields. A tangential reference to a 1677 agreement between then colony director Nicholas van Rensselaer and Pieter “The Fleming” Winne mentions that Gysbert Cornelisse at that time had been using some additional cropland near the lower end of Papscanee Island. Van Laer, in an abstract of this agreement, reports, “The director of the colony leased to Pieter Winne a small piece of land on the east side of the river, opposite Bethlehem, formerly used by Pieter Quackenbush, and two small islands, lying south of the island then
used by the farmer of the Hoogebergh.”33 Whether this denotes Gysbert was using the two islands or the south part of the island— presumably Papscanee Island—is not clear, but it does show he was eager to use rivernourished cropland to supplement his own less-bountiful fields on the “high hill.” It is little wonder, then, that after the devastating fire on the Hoogebergh farm across from Albany in 1679, the aging Gysbert Cornelisse left that location and instead leased the lower end of Papscanee Island. His presence there was documented within the next couple of years when he found himself in a dispute with the other farmers on the Island, Cornelis Teunisse at the upper end, and partners Volkert Douw and Jan Thomasse in the island’s middle. These neighbors to the north apparently did little to prevent their cattle from freely wandering through Gysbert Cornelisse’s grain fields. In May 1681, he sought assistance from the court, which ordered the neighboring farmers to construct the needed fences.34 Following Gysbert Cornelisse’s relocation, there seems to have been no further attempts to farm the original farm aende Hoogebergh (on the high hill) across the river from Albany. Clues to Original Location. Sander Leendertse Glen’s harvesting of trees on the Bergh in 1660 (reference 4) provides another clear indication that this hill, and not just the farm on the hilltop, was within easy visibility of Fort Orange. Glen’s association with Hoogebergh seems to have been limited to this cutting, probably mill-
ing the trees into valuable building lumber. Glen was later associated with the new village of Schenectady along the Mohawk River. As Dunn suggests, this reference clearly precludes lower Papscanee Island as a possible Hoogebergh location at that point in time, as it was located well south of the fort. Certainly the most important clue for locating the Hoogebergh farm is the fire that caused Maria van Rensselaer such concern in the fall of 1679 (reference 7). Maria’s letter strongly indicates Hoogebergh was within easy visibility of Albany in 1679 when the farm buildings burned in such a spectacular fire. A blaze on lower Papscanee five miles to the south would not have been so remarkable to Maria and the residents of Albany, if noticed at all. As with the Glen tree-cutting reference, the location of the original Hoogebergh and the farm that adopted that name had to be directly across from Beverwijck/Albany at that time.35 29 ERA 3:435. This lease was dated December 27, 1675, and includes both the Douw/Witbeck half of the island plus the other half owned by Teunis Cornelissen Spitsenberg. A line in the lease notes that “the lessee shall use as much land there as he has hired for some years.” 30 ERA, 3:515–16. Marten Cornelisse and Gerrit Teunisse had been childhood companions growing up on the Van Vechten farm. 31
VRBM, 181n.
32
ERA 1:515–16.
33
CMVR, 28n.
34
MCARS, 3:119, 352.
Another indication that the fire occurred across from Albany comes from court records a month or two later when Albany officials discussed deficiencies in the community’s fire-fighting abilities. MCARS, 2:460–61. 35
Flaxen Hair—The late New York Archivist Arnold Van Laer identified two seventeenthcentury residents of the Rensselaerswijck-Beverwijck area named Marten Cornelisse. One had the surname van Ysselsteyn and was known as “Black Marten.” The other was a Van Buren. He was also referred to as Marten Cornelisse Vlas, indicating he had a lighter, flaxen-colored appearance, not unlike his famous great-great-grandson, President Martin Van Buren.
14
de Halve Maen
The Hoogebergh Fire – When Albany residents witnessed a fire on the Hoogebergh farm in November 1679, it could hardly have been at the lower end of Papscanee Island, some five miles to the south, where the house today called Hoogebergh now sits. As seen here, only the top half of today’s 42-story Corning Tower in Albany’s Empire Plaza (far left) is visible from the river near the house (far right). So where could Hoogebergh have been in relation to Van Rensselaer’s original planning concept and during the time period including the tree harvest and the spectacular fire? Modern topography has changed the landscape to some degree in today’s city of Rensselaer. Some of the lower end of Mill Creek, for example, is now situated under pavement. But the major features— the river, the flatlands along the river, and the ridge rising to the east—are still much as they were in 1638. When you cross the Dunn Memorial Bridge and continue along Routes 9/20, you soon find yourself climbing a hill that plateaus near the entrance to the University of Albany’s east campus. From there, the road continues along the plateau south-southeast to the current East Greenbush town center. A road connecting this road back to the River Road (Route 9J) is known as Hayes Road. The area within the triangle formed by these roads and the river roughly mark the early dimensions of Greenbush and Rensselaerswijck’s early east-shore farming community. Most farms were along the river, and it was the forested hill behind them that came to be known as the Hoogebergh. At the northerly end of this hill today is the college campus that is the most likely site of Michiel Jansen’s and Gysbert Cornelisse’s original Hoogebergh farm. Still today, the vantage point of this loca-
tion provides impressive views of the city of Albany across the river. From here, it would have been easy for Jacob Lambertsen to watch Sheriff Van Slichtenhorst cross the river and proceed along the road to the farm. And blazing farm buildings at this location would have been clearly visible to the denizens across the river, especially after the autumnal defoliation in November 1679. As later patroonship directors expanded Rensselarswijck into new riverfront neighborhoods along the flats north of Albany, in the area then known as Lubberton’s Land near present-day Troy, and in the area inland from Castle Island known then and now as Bethlehem, additional farms back from the river were less desirable and therefore slow in being developed. This provided Gijsbert Cornelissen van Broecklen liberty to continue expanding his Hoogebergh farm by clearing and sowing additional crop fields along the ridge. When Gerrit Teunisse, who received a grant of land in 1677 from Gov. Edmund Andros, leased acreage of that patent to Jan Roose in 1678, he identified it as land along the ridge “behind” the Hoogebergh farm (reference 6). From the vantage point of the farm on the northern end of the ridge, the land “behind” the farm would have been uncleared land to the southeast of Hoogebergh’s fields. But what about that crystal? If this is truly
the site of the Hoogebergh farm, where did Michiel Jansen discover the gemstones that excited the imagination of Kiliaen van Rensselaer? As it turns out, there is a small stream bordering the northern edge of the site. This brook drains runoff from the upper slopes of the ridge, washing any sentiment or loosened stones down into the old Greenbush village area below, where significantly it empties into the larger kil at the bottom of the hill—the same Mill Creek where the crystal was first discovered and announced by Governor Minuit. Sources of Confusion. If Hoogebergh was directly across the river, how did such esteemed researchers as Van Laer and Dunn come to reject that as it’s original location? There are, after all, a couple of references (numbers 5 and 8) that at face value specifically place the farm on Papscanee Island in 1666 and 1696, respectively. A critical look at these two primary source references, however, shows there are issues with each. A research tool known variously as critical reading or textual criticism is a technique for analyzing and interpreting written texts, and often reinterpreting previously accepted understandings. As defined by linguist and writing instructor Daniel J. Kurland, critical reading is “an examination of those choices that any and
Spring 2020
15
View Across the River—The grounds of the University of Albany’s east campus afford clear views of the Albany skyline. With the brush cleared on the banks of the hill, 17th century residents would have had an equally clear sightline down to the river and the old Greenbush ferry landing. From the Albany side, residents easily would have witnessed the spectacular fire that destroyed the Hoogebergh farm buildings in 1679.
all authors must make when framing a presentation: choices of content, language, and structure.”36 Historically, the technique dates back at least as far as Talmudic scholars of the late second century CE who used hermeneutics to debate, interpret, and document the meaning and intent of the Hebrew Bible. Perhaps the most significant critical reader in Western civilization was religious reformer Martin Luther, who devoted much of his life’s writings to his retranslation and reinterpretation of the Christian Bible in the sixteenth century.37 Over a century later, philosophers like René Descartes and Isaac Newton adapted the concept of religious exegesis to the secular disciplines
of physiology, mathematics, the sciences, and others. It was critical thinkers like John Locke, David Hume, Voltaire, and Benjamin Franklin who remolded political theory into the foundation of the eighteenthcentury Age of Enlightenment and the revolutions in America and Europe. Religion has continued to be a primary source of critical interpretation. One noteworthy early example was Thomas Jefferson, who famously re-edited the four New Testament gospels and removed sections he believed historically inaccurate to compile a single narrative more closely in tune with Jesus’ original teachings.38 The “quest for the historical Jesus” entered the twentieth century with studies by Albert Schweitzer
and, later in the century, a group of scholars including Robert Funk, John Dominic Crossan, and Marcus Borg known collectively as the Jesus Seminar. Using established criteria—such as author bias and religious agenda, chronological proximity between
36 Daniel J. Kurland, “How Language Really Works: The Fundamentals of Critical Reading and Effective Writing,” at http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_reading.htm, retrieved 7/7/2019. 37 See R. Larry Sheldon, “Martin Luther’s Concept of Biblical Interpretation in Historical Perspective,” doctoral dissertation for George Fox University, 1974; Carl L. Beckwith, ed., Martin Luther’s Basic Exegitical Writings (St. Louis, 2017). 38 Thomas Jefferson, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted from the Four Gospels, Charles M. Province, ed. https://www.nationallibertyalliance.org/ files/docs/foundingdocs/Jefferson%20Bible.pdf, retrieved 7/11/2019.
Crystal Runoff—Over the centuries and millenia, streams like this one on the east-northeast end of the Hoogebergh ridge drained cloudbursts and snowmelt from the Taconic foothills along the east side of the Hudson River. In the process, the stream eroded chunks of quartz crystal, dumping them into the larger Mill Creek, where in the 1630s they excited the hopes of Amsterdam jeweler Kiliaen van Rensselaer.
16
de Halve Maen
events and the writings that relate them, and conformity with established theologies— they consider passages of the New Testament and vote on whether they represent historical authenticity or interpolated religious dogma. Other independent religious scholars, including E. P. Sanders, John Meier, Bruce Metzger, Bart Ehrman, and others, have also advanced the discipline of biblical textual criticism to include compositional and reproduction errors among the ways early texts have become distorted over the centuries. In his book Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman studied differences between all known texts of the New Testament books up until Guttenberg’s invention of moveable type. He found an amazing statistic: there are more discrepancies between the texts than there are words in the New Testament.39 Many of the tools employed by these biblical textual critics are useful in nonreligious branches of history as well. These include: 1. Multiple attestation—when a historical event is documented by two or more independent sources. 2. Embarrassment—when a historical source admits something that would be considered embarrassing to him or her; such inclusions are considered to have increased historical accuracy. 3. Contextual conformity—whether historical statements fit the location and time period in which they are given.40 These criteria deal primarily with texts that underwent multiple stages of copying by professional scribes in the centuries prior to printing. To these we need to add consideration of errors and discrepancies made during the processes of composing, editing, transcribing, and translating in the post-Guttenberg period. Examples of this added criterion, which we can call 4. “compositional errors,” include misspellings, grammar errors, parapraxes or “Freudian slips,” and, in the days before typewriters and electronic word processing, edits and insertions that sometimes unwittingly alter the original meaning or intent.41 It is criteria 3 and 4 that are important in our study of Hoogebergh’s location, looking first at Jeremias van Rensselaer’s 1668 description of efforts undertaken in the two years since the major river flood of April 1666 (reference 5). A look at the original manuscript letter shows the writer edited one error in his original by making
Composition Error—When Jeremias van Rensselaer realized he had made an error in composing a letter in 1668, he made the edit highlighted in this image. In his haste, he didn’t notice that in correcting one error, he inadvertently made another, making it seem that a river flood two years earlier had deposited sediment on top of the Hoogebergh hill. a correction that, uncaught by him, created a new and different error. Jeremias, in explaining to his brother Jan Baptist which farms had survived, noted these included “Jan Tyssen’s farm on the Hooge bergh (although the land is largely spoiled by the ice drift, as in some places the sand deposited on it is knee deep).” From various other sources, we know that in 1666 Jan Tyssen Hoes managed the farm originally leased to Cornelis Maasen van Buren at the upper end of Papscanee Island, well north of the later Staats home at the island’s south end.42 When Jeremias noted his mistake, he inserted the words “as is also that” before the words “on the Hooge bergh” in an attempt to correct it. His intent was to explain that both Jan Tyssen’s farm (on the island) and Gysbert Cornelissen’s farm “on the Hooge bergh” remained in operation. In making the correction in his draft, however, he failed to relocate the parenthetical explanation of deposited sand back to Jan Tyssen’s farm, instead making it look like the river flood illogically deposited silt instead on the “high hill.”43 A similar compositional mix-up occurs in reference 8, where it appears the deed is referring to a “farm called the Hoogebergh.” An alternate reading of the legalese deed language, however, shows that Hoogebergh here is not the name of the farm, but the name of the “Hill just behind said land which lies to the eastward of the farm.” Confusion often arises when multiple prepositional phrases are stacked within a sentence, leaving the reader wondering what each phrase refers to. We commonly call such occurrences misplaced modifiers.
Such is the case here, where there are five such modifying phrases: 1) “to the foot,” 2) “of the Hill,” 3) “behind said land,” 4) “to the eastward,” and 5) “of the farm.” In this case, the string of phrases leaves it in doubt as to whether the name Hoogebergh refers to the farm, as has been widely accepted, or rather to “the Hill.” If you take out the last three of these phrases, the sentence then reads: “easterly to the foot of the Hill called the Hoogebergh.” Or stated a different way, if we reposition the confusing phrases, it becomes “easterly to the foot of the Hill called the Hoogebergh just behind said land which lies to the eastward of the farm.” Supporting evidence comes when considering the criterion of textual continuity. References 1 and 2 are termed in such a way to indicate Hoogebergh was the hill on which the farm was located rather than to the farm itself. From reference 4, we 39 Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (San Francisco, 2005), 10, 90. 40 For a discussion on these criteria, see the section on “Methods for Establishing Authentic Tradition” in Bart D. Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth (Harper One, 2013), Apple iBooks edition, chapter 8, “Finding the Jesus of History.” 41 Over the past three decades, this criterion has expanded to include autocorrect blunders from computerized text editors. 42 Jan Tyssen came to manage the upper Papscanee Island through his marriage to the widow of the previous lessee, Clase Cornelisse van Voorhout (CJVR, 271, 406; MCARS, 1:68). It is a notable coincidence of history that both the paternal and maternal immigrant ancestors of President Martin Van Buren worked the same farm at the top end of Papscanee Island. 43 For further explanation of this composition error, see my earlier essay “The Great Flood of 1666” in de Halve Maen 89:1 (Spring 2016).
Spring 2020
17
Will the Real Hoogebergh Please Stand Up—Although various researchers over the years have concluded the relatively low prominence overshadowing the Staats house is the original Hoogebergh, it seems unlikely when it is itself overshadowed by the much higher ridge just to the east.
see that Hoogebergh (or in this case, just the Bergh) continued to be the generally understood name of not just the farm, but the ridge on which the farm was located. With this in mind, it is more likely that when Jeremias van Renssealer recognized and confirmed Gerrit Teunisse’s patent, the name Hoogebergh as mentioned in the reference 8 deed refers to the mainland hill and not to the lower Papscanee farm. Added to this is that the deed’s obvious purpose is to define the Gerrit Teunisse patent, not the Staats farm. Putting this all together, the geographic feature called Hoogebergh by the seventeenth-century Dutch starts at the site of today’s college campus and continues southerly to the Clinton Heights section of East Greenbush and thence along today’s Ridge Road to its terminus at Hayes Road, reaching a height of over 500 feet at what is now known as Grandview Hill. The ridge then continues at a lower elevation down to Castleton-on-Hudson. Migration of the Name. So if the 1668 reference to Hoogebergh’s flood recovery was a composition error and the 1696 reference is a misinterpretation of misplaced modifiers, how then did the name Hoogebergh become associated with the Staats family home on Papscanee Island? Shirley Dunn offers one suggestion that has great merit. In her essay on Hoogebergh, she suggests that applying the name of Gysbert Cornelisse’s burned farm to his new location on the island touched the Dutch-Americans’ sense of humor. The relatively low knoll on the
island was certainly much less imposing than the high hill on which he had previously farmed, and dwarfed by the majestic 4,000-foot Catskills visible down river. But it was high enough for the boorish jesters of the day to joke about. “Gysbert Cornelise brought the name Hooge Berg with him from his high hill,” writes Dunn. “The humor of this contrast would be apparent to all.”44 Using the same textual criticism tools as before, this hypothesis passes the test of contextual conformity. Seventeenthcentury Dutchmen and women were quick to attach humorous nicknames to people and places, sometimes in good humor and other times maliciously. A local troublemaker named Claes Teunissen, for example, was branded with the name Uylenspeigel after the notorious German practical joker Till Eulenspiegel.45 If someone had a notable physical feature, it was fair game for the nightly tavern crowd to make it the focus of a nickname. Cornelise Segerse van Voorhout and his sons had the nickname “Wip” appended to their given and patronymic names, Seger Cornelisse Wip, Klaes Wip, and Kees (Cornelis) Wip. Van Laer theorized this name derived from their distinctive upturned noses. “The word also occurs in the term ‘Wip-neus,’ meaning a tilted, tipped-up nose and may, in that sense, have been applied as a nickname for father as well as the son.”46 A similar explanation seems to be the root of the name Groesbeck, which lampoons not only the largebilled evening grosbeak in your backyard, but also a Hudson River family.
18
Another well-known example of nickname humor comes from a slanderous invention in 1655 giving satiric names to several homes in Beverwijck. “Cornelis Vos,” explains author Carl Carmer, “apparently applied nicknames so appropriate to the houses of various respected burghers that the whole town was bandying them about and getting many a mean laugh out of it. He had called one house The Cuckoo’s Nest and another The House of Bad Manners. One he had named Birdsong after a famous disorderly street in the town of Gouda in Holland, and another The Savingsbank because of its miserly inhabitants. Mr. Van Rensselaer’s house he called Early Spoiled and Mother Bogardus’s The Vulture’s World, and he had entitled the town eating house The Seldom Satisfied.”47 It is perfectly in context, then, that about 1680, the mischievous Hudson Dutch would have transferred the name Hoogebergh, along with the farmer, from its original location to a site marked by 44 Dunn “Hoogebergh,” 17. Although Dunn has a different theory of the location of the original Hoogebergh and the timeframe of the move, the point about the humorous reaction of the populace is nonetheless valid. 45
ERA, 1:423, 2:162; MCR, 173.
James Brown Van Vechten, Van Vechten Genealogy (Detroit, 1954), 330; CJVR, 228, 271; A. J. F. Van Laer, Minutes of Fort Orange and Beverwyck 1657–1660 (Albany, 1923), 39; In CJVR 228, Van Laer incorrectly identifies Kees Wip as Seger Cornelisse; as Kees is the common diminutive nickname for Cornelis, it is clear that Jeremias is referring to the father Cornelis Segerse by his nickname, and the son Seger Cornelisse by his given name. This is also consistent within the context of the passage. 46
Carl Carmer, The Hudson (New York and Toronto, 1939), 37; Charles Gehring, trans. and ed., Fort Orange Court Minutes 1652–1660 (Syracuse, 1990), 173.
47
de Halve Maen
a promontory along the river that was not only relatively low, but substantially dwarfed by the higher hills to the east. Although there is no specific historical evidence that this is the case, it is a reasonable conclusion that once the Dutch had their guffaws over the joke, the name stuck to the new riverside site for the next decade or so when Samuel and Jochim Staats first attempted to buy Rensselaerswijck lands from Richard van Rensselaer in 1688.48 Objections from other family members as
well as political turmoil during the Leisler Rebellion years of 1689–1691 held up this transaction until it was finally resolved in 1696 with the inclusion of the lower end of Papscanee Island. And when deeds related to that sale included the use of the name Hoogebergh as a misplaced modifier seemingly referring to the new Staats farm, it might well have been the launching point of a three-century naming tradition of this old Dutch landmark. Whatever the reason, the name was soon
used exclusively in reference to the Staats homestead. Several decades later, during a tour of the area in the pre-Revolution days of 1774, Abraham Lott recorded in his journal for July 6: “At 12 o’Clock crossed the Ferry, took a Ride in the Sulky to Mr J. Staats’s at the Hooge Bergh.”49 48
CMVR, 185–86, 186n.
“A Journal of a Voyage to Albany, Etc., Made by Abraham Lott, Treasurer of the Colony of New York, 1774,” in The Historical Magazine and Notes and Queries, Concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of America, vol. 8, second series (Morrisania, N.Y., 1870), 68. 49
Book Review Dienke Hondius, Nancy Jouwe, Dineke Stam, Jennifer Tosch, eds., Dutch New York Histories: Connecting African, Native American and Slavery Heritage (Volendam: LM Publishers, 2017).
W
HEN ONE IMAGINES New York, they are usually confronted by thoughts of a sprawling metropolis filled with diverse peoples who are, quite literally, from around the world. When one thinks of New York State’s history, they generally are drawn back to a time surrounding the American Revolution. The acts of the Sons of Liberty and the Battle of Long Island may spring to mind if one is versed in the subject. Very rarely though is one’s mind drawn to the slaves who were brought to the city during the Dutch rule. Even among historians, this topic is not well known and even less discussed. This is the point Dutch New York Histories Connecting African, Native American and Slavery Heritage is trying to make. Superficially, Dutch New York Histories appears as a travel guide. It is written in both English and Dutch and lays out various local landmarks and places of historical significance. The theme is carefully presented in the preface, written by Chris Moore. Moore tells of how the earliest slaves arrived in New Netherland, modern-day New York, in 1625 [p. v]. He also speaks of how the influences of his ancestors include remnants of a Dutch, African, and Native American past. The book explores the past of New York, both the city and the state, from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. It offers a wide range of interpretations and information on historic sites, landmarks,
and people. Dutch New York Histories is adorned with eight different images and is divided into five different themes, all meant to represent aspects of Dutch, Native American, and African cultures. There are four map sections, as well as a thematic essay section in the middle that provides a more narrow, insightful detail. The division into geographical areas is a great tool for inspecting these diverse cultures as it allows for a more succinct view on the influence they left. For example, the first section covers the island of Manhattan within New York City from the Battery to Harlem. In this section, two settings are described back to back, the New York slave revolt in 1712 and the burning of New York in 1741, both occurring in Manhattan. Another section covers the area from Harlem to the Hudson Valley with the third section focusing on locations in the former Fort Orange, present-day Albany, and the closing section covering broad swathes of territory over the former New Netherland. Each section is arranged chronologically. Dutch New York Histories features contributions by Travis Bowman, Nancy Jouwe, Dienke Hondius, Andrea Mosterman, Dineke Stam, and Dr. Gloria Wekker mid-way through. Each author contributes a unique piece solidifying the actions and highlighting the underrepresentation of African and Native American cultures during the Dutch colonial period. The contributors note that the 2009 celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage, the various texts contain almost no mention of the Dutch involvement with slavery despite multiple references to the West India Company, the organization that instituted it [p. 93]. As Wekker writes, the book is founded on the Mapping Slavery project, initiated
in 2013 at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. It seeks to find and tell the stories of those sold into bondage who most do not even know existed [pp. 95–98]. When portraying slavery in popular media, it is almost exclusively shown as a practice among Southern plantation owners of the United States. From 1650–1675 the Dutch were the dominant power in the triangular transatlantic slave trade with the first slave auction in New Amsterdam, present-day New York City, occurring in 1655 [p. 55]. Bowman notes that enslaved individuals were in the frontier village of Wiltwijck, now known as Kingston, by 1663; he also sheds light on the Native American conflicts in the region, known as the Esopus Wars [p. 78]. The essays help to further the narrative that this truly is a group history that is willfully ignored despite evidence and importance. At its core, Dutch New York Histories seeks to inform the general public of what is little known, as all history does. In this instance it goes beyond a simple message of learning and finding unfamiliar places to discover, although it still accomplishes this. The text is written so it is not a distraction to understand the book’s theme and still enjoy its contents and message. The writers have masterfully provided a history of more than ninety locations in no more than two or three paragraphs each. With this in mind, the overarching message of illuminating African and Native American histories is still easily seen, digestible, and not of any hindrance when reading. It only serves to enhance the text. —Vincent DeMarco Columbia Greene Commuity College
Spring 2020
19
Congratulations to Joyce D. Goodfriend, winner of the Hendricks Book Award given by the New Netherlands Institute
EVERY BOOK AT NNI IS $18.69 Avery. Treasures from Olana Bonomi. A Factious People Chambers. Memories of War Colden. The History of the Five Indian Nations Crouch. Nobility Lost Dixon. The Enlightenment of Cadwallader Colden Falk. Barns of New York Fels. Fire and Ice Fisher/Silverman. Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narragansetts Goodfriend. Who Should Rule at Home? Goodier/Pastorello. Women Will Vote Herrmann. No Useless Mouth Hoffer/Hoffer. The Clamor of Lawyers Jacobs. The Colony of New Netherland Klein. The Empire State Klooster. The Dutch Moment Klooster/Oostindie. Realm between Empires McCurdy. Quarters Midtrød. The Memory of All Ancient Customs Miller. Dangerous Guests Moyer. The Public Universal Friend Newell. Brethren by Nature Noorlander. Heaven’s Wrath Norton. Separated by Their Sex O’Donnell. Elizabeth Seton Otterness. Becoming German Peck. Thomas Cole’s Refrain Pichichero. The Military Enlightenment Rink. Holland on the Hudson Schlett. A Not Too Greatly Changed Eden Schuyler. Embattled River Schuyler. Sanctified Landscape Silverman. Red Brethren Stradling. The Nature of New York Trebilcock/Balint. Glories of the Hudson Wonderley. Oneida Utopia
Also winner of the Dixon Ryan Fox Manuscript Prize of the New York State Historical Association and a Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title
Congratulations to D. L. Noorlander on the publication of Heaven’s Wrath. His book is the first installment of the cooperative publishing agreement between the New Netherland Institute and Cornell University Press.
CORNELLPRESS.CORNELL.EDU 20
de Halve Maen
Here and There in New Netherland Studies New Netherland Institute establishes R. J. Jippe Hiemstra Annual Conference Travel Fund
T
HE NEW NETHERLAND Institute suffered a tremendous loss with the death of its president R. J. Jippe Hiemstra on April 12, 2020. Mr. Hiemstra passed away peacefully of pneumonia and congestive heart failure at his home in Buskirk, New York, with his loving wife, former Holland Society of New York executive director Annette van Rooy, by his side. Mr. Hiemstra played a prominent role in Dutch-related activities in the United States for decades. He served as president of the Manhattan-based The Netherlands Club from 1996–2002. For his role in helping to promote Dutch culture in the United States and abroad, Queen Beatrix bestowed upon him the honor of Membership of the Order of Orange-Nassau on April 30, 2005, at the Netherlands Club’s centennial ball. Mr. Hiemstra was also a Friend of the Holland Society of New York as well as an active supporter of the Jacob Leisler Institute in Hudson, New York. Mr. Hiemstra’s particular interest in the Dutch role in shaping American history caused him to join the New Netherland Institute’s board of trustees in 2007, serving as its president from 2012 until his death. He helped guide the Institute during a period of considerable growth. “Working with Jippe for seven years” said Marilyn Douglas, current president of the New Netherland Institute, “I can attest to his deep commitment to increasing NNI’s resources by acquiring grants and other financial contributions. Working closely with the board, he secured funding from corporations and garnered donations from private individuals that increased NNI’s endowment significantly.” In memory of their late president, the New Netherland Institute has established the R. J. Jippe Hiemstra Annual Conference Travel Fund to support the travel of a select group of students to our annual conference each fall. Mr. Hiemstra believed strongly in
The late R. J. Jippe Hiemstra, president of the New Netherland Institute from 2012 to 2020, inspires travel fund for scholars in New Netherland studies.
the importance of NNI’s engagement with the next generation of New Netherland scholars. Donations to the fund established in his name will help those scholars engage with the latest scholarship on New Netherland and make lasting connections with others in the field of New Netherland studies. Should you wish to donate to the R. J. Jippe Hiemstra Annual Conference Travel Fund, go to https://crm.newnetherlandinstitute.org/ civicrm/?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fc ontribute%2Ftransact&reset=1&id=14.
Dr. Janny Venema Retires from New Netherland Research Center
J
ANNY VENEMA, associate director of the New Netherland Research Center, has retired from the Research Center at the end of April 2020. Dr. Venema arrived in Albany, New York, from The Netherlands thirty-five years ago with a teaching degree
Dr. Janny Venema at the New Netherland Research Center. Photo credit Albany Times Union.
Spring 2020
21
from Ubbo Emmius, then part of Groningen University. Learning that there was a translation project looking for Dutch speakers, she began assisting Dr. Charles Gehring, director of the New Netherland Project, in the translation of the colonial Dutch manuscripts held in the New York State Archives. She became formally associated with the New Netherland Project, now the New Netherland Research Center, in 1985. In addition to translating and transcribing thousands of pages of Dutchlanguage documents, she has published numerous books on Albany during the Dutch colonial period. With a background in education, she produced two sets of seventh-grade curricula with Mary Yencha, a school teacher: a 76page curriculum packet on daily life in seventeenth-century Albany, From the Old World to the New: Using Primary Sources in the 7th grade Classroom (Albany: New Netherland Publishing, 1993) and The People of New Netherland: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom, a 130-page curriculum packet on multiculturalism in New Amsterdam and New Netherland (Albany: New Netherland Publishing, 1994). At the same time she published a translation of her 1990 master’s thesis about poor relief in the Netherlands, Kinderen van weelde en armoede. Armoede en liefdadigheid in Beverwijck/Albany, c. 1650–1700 (Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren, 1993). (Dr. Venema is currently working on an English revision-translation for a larger publication on charity). In 1998, her translation of the Beverwijck church records including her research on charity appeared as Deacons’ Accounts 1652–1674 Beverwijck/Albany (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s Publishing, 1998). Dr. Venema is particularly known for two groundbreaking studies, Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652–1664 (Albany: SUNY Press, 2003), and a biography, Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586–1643): Designing a New World (Hilversum: Verloren, 2010). Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier received the 2004 Annual Archives Award for Excellence in Research Using the Holdings of the New York State Archives presented by the Board of Regents and the New York State Archives, and Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586–1643): Designing a New World won the New Netherland Insti-
tute’s Annual Hendricks Award in 2011. In addition, she is the author of numerous articles relating to Beverwijck/Albany during the seventeenth century. Dr. Venema received a master’s degree in history from SUNY Albany in 1990 and a doctorate from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2003. In September 2017 Dolph Hogewoning, consul-general of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, presented Venema on behalf of the Dutch government the Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau, a civil Dutch order of chivalry, for her efforts to raise awareness about the shared cultural heritage between the Netherlands and the United States. Venema, a Dutch native, is returning to the Netherlands.
New Netherland Historic Sites Temporarily Closed
O
n March 7, 2020, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in response to the rapid spread of the pandemic COVID19, and on March 20 directed that New York State museums and historic sites as “nonessential” be closed indefinitely to slow the virus’s spread. Despite official onsite public closures, most of these Dutch colonial historic sites are developing innovative ways to engage the pubic via digital media and the internet during this difficult period. A list of some of these historic sites is available on the New Netherland Institute website https://
www.newnetherlandinstitute.org and I Love New York’s Path Through History at https://paththroughhistory.iloveny. com/themes/colonial-history/. For further information on the current activities and future reopenings of New Netherland historic sites, go to the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation website https://parks. ny.gov/historic-sites or go to the historic sites’ individual webpages.
New Amsterdam History Center October Event
T
HE NEW AMSTERDAM History Center is planning an online event for October 2020. Join hundreds of others around the world on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, at 6 P.M. for an internet discussion “New York Is a Dutch City.” Journalist Russell Shorto, award-winning author of The Island at the Center of the World, and architectural historian Barry Lewis, noted for his walking tours of Manhattan, will come together for the first time for a lively discussion on the lasting legacy of the forty-year Dutch administration of New Amsterdam in 1624–1664. In this discussion they will posit that the Dutch influence is still evident in the twenty-first century metropolis of New York City. The program will be moderated by Robert Snyder, Manhattan Borough Historian. For additional information, please email events@newamsterdamhistorycenter.org or check their website, www.newamsterdamhistorycenter.org.
Crailo State Historic Site (also known as Fort Crailo) in Rensselaer, New York, is one of the numerous histoic sites temporarily closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
22
de Halve Maen
Society Activities Annual Meeting
O
N SATURDAYAFTERNOON, April 4th, 2020, the Holland Society of New York held its 134th Annual Meeting. Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the meeting was conducted via Zoom on the internet. The meeting was well attended with approximately seventy-five Members and Trustees linking in. President Andrew Terhune called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. Society Domine Rev. Paul D. Lent opened the meeting with an invocation. President Terhune followed with a motion to waive the reading of last year’s minutes. He then gave a brief address recounting the events that had occurred during his past year as Society President. Secretary James J. Middaugh reported that since the last Annual Meeting, nineteen new Members had joined the Society. Reminiscences about the departed Members were shared after the reading of the necrology, followed by Reverend Lent reading the poem “Gone from My Sight.” The main portion of the meeting was the election of the President and Trustees for the coming year. Laurie Bogart Wiles, Nominating Committee Member, gave a few brief remarks on new Trustees to be elected. President Terhune asked Dean Vanderwarker to act as election chair. Mr. Vanderwarker read the slate and announced the number of proxies received in favor and number against. The slate of the President and Trustees as presented was approved. The Society duly elected Col. Adrian T. Bogart III as President, Richard Van Deusen as Vice President, David Conklin as Treasurer, and James J. Middaugh as Secretary. New Trustees elected at the meeting were Sally Quackenbush Mason, Thomas Bogart, and Andrew Terhune. David Conklin said a few words regarding a proposed change clarifying the language of the Society’s bylaws relating to the Endowment Fund being voted on by Members. Dean Vanderwarker announced the number of proxies received in favor and number against, and that the bylaw change amendment was approved. President Terhune said a few words regarding two of our outgoing Trustees, Kip Durling and Dean Vanderwarker. President Terhune announced that the presentation of the President’s medal to
Newly elected Holland Society President Col. Adrian T. Bogart III. incoming President Col. Adrian T. Bogart III has been re-scheduled for this coming October 2020 due to the COVID-19 stay-athome orders. President Terhune adjourned the Annual Meeting.
Holland Society Lecture Series
D
UE TO THE social distancing policies as a result of COVID-19, Edward N. Tiesenga, a legal scholar of Dutch descent, gave a multimedia presentation Holland Society Lecture via Zoom on Friday, May15th, at 4 p.m. In a lecture-format titled “Piracy and Punishment: An Appreciation of Hugo Grotius with Special Recognition to Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, Barack Obama, and Preet Bharara,” Tiesenga traced the foundations of modern international law relating to piracy to seventeenthcentury Dutch lawyer Hugo Grotius and the contest between Holland and Portugal for
the maritime trade of the Far East. In Mare Liberum (1609), Tiesenga said, Grotius grounded his arguments on the Book of Genesis as being a common resource for all humanity. Tiesenga quotes Grotius’s statement “All peoples or their princes in common can punish pirates, who commit delicts on the sea against the law of nations.” He also noted the foundations of Grotius’s Law of Nations are incorporated into the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 9, and federal criminal law. Tiesanga concluded his discussion with the 2009 pirate attack on the U. S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, portrayed in the 2013 drama-thriller film Captain Phillips, and the government’s prosecution of the lone surviving pirate, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, in New York federal court. Hence the subtitle of his talk. In the government’s indictment of Muse, Tiesenga noted how President Barack Obama and the federal prosecutor, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, used the Dutch jurist Grotius’s 400-year-old work to justify the 2009 suppression of Somali piracy. Drawing on the diverse cultural backgrounds of these three principals involved in the Muse case, Tiesenga illuminated how Grotius’s work “transcends ethnic identity and historical circumstance to become a universal doctrine of international law.” A lively question-and-answer period followed the presentation. The presentaion is available to see on the Holland Society of New York webpage http://www.hollandsociety.org/.
Legal scholar Edward N. Tiesenga gave the Holland Society’s inaugural Zoom lecture on the internet on May 15.
Spring 2020
23
In Memoriam Barrie Thotrig Mabie Long-time Holland Society of New York Member Barrie Thotrig Mabie died peacefully at his Scarsdale, New York, home on April 27, 2020. Mr. Mabie was born on October 16, 1925, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Laurence Mabie and Ruth Verrinder. He claimed descent from Pieter Casparszen Mabie from Leiden, Holland in 1647. Mr. Mabie joined the Holland Society in 1994. Mr. Mabie was raised in New York City. He started working at age sixteen for the American Tobacco Company in Manhattan. At that time he lived in Long Island City, Queens. In October 1943 he entered the U.S. Navy at age eighteen. He served honorably as a communications operator in World War II, and was stationed for a time at Pearl Harbor. Following the war, he worked as an illustrator, graphic designer, and art director in Manhattan, for many years in advertising at Kudner
Agency, and then as a freelancer. Mr. Mabie married Gloria Jean Casamo on June 21, 1952, in Manhattan. The couple had three sons: Barrie Laurence Mabie, born on March 31, 1955, John Carl Mabie, born on April 11, 1957, both in Queens, New York, and Peter Christopher Mabie, born on March 7, 1962, in Bronxville, New York. Mr. Mabie was predeceased by his wife, Gloria, in 2008 and his oldest son, Barrie L. Mabie, in 2016. Mr. Mabie was a deacon and member of Hitchcock Presbyterian Church. For many years, he and his wife taught in the “Living in America� program at Hitchcock, introducing American customs and English to area newcomers from all over the globe. Mr. Mabie was a proud member of The Holland Society of New York, being a 10th generation New Yorker. In addition to the Holland Society, he was also a proud member of the American Legion Post 52. A voracious reader, Mr.
24
Mabie had a lifelong interest in learning. He had a great memory for historical facts and events, religious history, and classic movies. Mr. Mabie is survived by his son John, a Member of The Holland Society, and his wife, Valerie Stuart, of Brattleboro, Vermont; his son Dr. Peter Christopher Mabie, also a member of the Holland Society, and his wife, Elizabeth Fischer, of Larchmont, New York; his daughterin-law Denise (wife of his deceased son Barrie), of Davenport, Florida; as well as his grandchildren Ian and Alexander of Brooklyn, Lauren of South Royalton, Vermont, and Charlotte and Juliette of Larchmont. A private burial service with close family, friends and his minister from Hitchcock Presbyterian Church was held at Maple Avenue Cemetery in Patterson, New York, on June 27, 2020. A funeral service will be held at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, New York, as soon as it can be arranged safely.
de Halve Maen
The Holland Society of NewYork
Order the Membership Certificate of The Holland Society of New York. A Beautiful Full Color Lithograph. Order now for $55.00! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Order form
The Membership Certificate of The Holland Society of New York ______copy/ copies @ $55.00 each Name_____________________________________________________ Street_____________________________________________________ City______________________________State_____ Zip ___________ E-mail ___________________________________________________ Please make your check payable to The Holland Society of New York and mail to: 1345 Sixth Ave., 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10105. Full name as I would like it to appear on the certificate:_________________ _____________________________________________________________
