MySource:Quolla6/Thompson, 1839:437-447

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p. 437-447 TOWN OF GRAVESEND. This town occupies the most southerly part of King's County, including also Coney Island, which is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. It is centrally distant from New York city about ten miles; hounded east by Flatlands, south by the sea, and west by New Utrecht, of a triangular shape with its base upon the oicean, and terminating northerly in a point adjoining Flatbush. Much of the territory consists of salt-marsh, not more than one third being returned as improved land; the surface generally level, but near the sea-shore are some' ridges of sand-hills. This town, unlike the rest of the county, was settled by English people, mostly from Massachusetts, as early as 1640, who gave it the name of Gravesend, they having sailed from a place of that name in England on their departure for America. They were joined soon after by a small colony of English Quakers, accompanied by Lady Deborah Moody, a woman of rank, education and wealth, who, with several others residing at Lynn, Sandwich, and other towns in New England, had imbibed the religious Sentiments of George Fox, and being objects of jealousy and persecution with the Puritans there, determined to settle elsewhere.

Considering the situation of this town calculated for the site of a commercial village, they proceeded almost immediately to lay out ten acres of ground near the centre into streets and squares, which they enclosed with a palisado defence. The plan of the village is still preserved in the clerk's office of the town, and is worthy admiration for its simplicity and beauty. It seems the project was soon after abandoned on discovering the insufficient depth of the water for the approach of large vessels. One of the original squares of the contemplated city was occupied by the court-house of the county so long as the courts continued to be held here; another contained the first Dutch church; and a third has long been used for a public cemetery. On the same plot are a considerable number of graves of the first Quakers, the whole of which have been levelled by the plough, except that of Peter Sullivan and his wife, at the head of which is a large granite slab, containing only the names of the deceased. As this particular sect make no use of such memorials, it was probably placed here by some friend or relative who was not a Quaker.

The first patent or ground-brief was granted by Governor Kieft in 1643 to Antonie Jansen Van Sale (or Anthony Johnson) for one hundred morgen of land, which was afterwards known as the Old Bowery. A morgen was a Dutch measure of little less than two acres, consisting of six hundred square Dntch rods. On the 24th of May, 1644, a patent was also granted to Guisbert Op-Dyck for Coney Island, called in the patent Cunny Island, and by the Dutch Conynen-Eylandt, probably from the name of an individual who had possessed some part of it. Pine Island, then called Conyne-Hook, was at that time separated from the former by a creek, which has since disappeared. The latter was doubtless the spot upon which the discoverer Hudson and his crew landed in 1609 before entering the bay of New York.

A general patent for this town, written both, in Dutch and English, was obtained from Governor William Kieft on the 19th of December, 1645. The patentees named therein are the Lady Deborah Moody, Sir Henry Moody, Ba onet, Ensign George Baxter, and Sergeant James Hubbard, with their associates; and is for:

A certain quantity of land lying or being upon or about the westernmost part of Long Island, beginning at the north of a creek adjacent to Conyne Island, and bounded OH the west part thereof with the lands belonging to Anthony Johnson and Robert Pennoyre; and to run as fir as the westernmost part of a certain pond in an old Indian field on the nnrlh side of the plantation of the said Robert Pennoyre; and from thence to run directly east as far as a valley, being at the head ofafiy or marsh some time belonging to the land of Hugh Garretson; and being bounded on the south with the main Ocean, with liberty to put what cattle they shall see fitting to feed or graze upon the aforesaid Cony ne Island, and with liberty to build a town, mith. such necessary fortifications as to them shall seem expedient; and to have and enjoy the free liberty of conscience according to the customs and manners of Holland without molestation, and to establish courts, and elect magistrates, to try all causes not exceeding fifty Holland guilders.

The circumstance of this patent being granted to a female, and her being; also first-named, is a matter of some curiosity; and, in connection with events hereinafter mentioned, exhibits the Lady Moody in a conspicuous light. She being a considerable personage in the early history of the town, it is important to ascertain, as far as possible, the particulars of her history. We find it mentioned in the very interesting publication by Mr. Alonzo Lev/is, entitled " History of Lynn," that the Lady Deborah Moody came to that town in the year 1640. That in 1635 she went from one of the remote counties in England to London, where she remained in opposition to a statute which directed that no person should reside beyond a limited time from their own homes. On the 21st of April of that year, the court of Star-Chamber ordered that "Dame Deborah Mowdie" and others, should return to their hereditaments in forty days, in the good example necessary for the poorer class. That soon after her arrival at Lynn, on the 5th of April, 1640, she united with the church of Salem; and on the 13th of May the court granted her four hundred acres of land. In 1641 she purchased the farm of the deputy-governor, John Humfrey, called Swamscut, for which she paid £1100. That some time afterwards she became imbued with the erroneous doctrine that the baptism of infants was a sinful ordinance, and was thereupon excommunicated; and that in 1643 she removed to Long Island. Governor Winthrop, in his journal, says, that

"in 1643 Lady Moody was in the colony of Masscichusetts, a wise and anciently religious woman; and being taken with the error of denying baptism to infants, was dealt withal by many of the elders and others, and admonished by ths church of Salem, whereof she was a member; but persisting still, and to avoid further trouble, Dutch, against the advice of her friends."

After her arrival at Long Island, (says Mr. Lewis.) she experienced much trouble from the Indians, her house being assaulted by them many times. Her wealth enabled her to render assistance to Governor Stuyvesant in some trouble with the neighboring settlers in 1654; and so great was her influence over him, that he conceded in part the nomination of the magistrates to her. In the quarterly court records her son is styled Sir Henry Moody. At the same court, December 14, 1642, the Lady Deborah Moodie, Mrs. King, and the wife of John Tilton, were presented, for holding that the baptism of infants is no ordinance of God." From these historical relations we learn the reason why the Lady Moody, her son Sir Henry Moody, Ensign Baxter, Sergeant Hubbard, John Tilton, and many others of her associates and friends, left New England, and planted themselves at Gravesend, where they hoped to enjoy the most perfect freedom of opinion, unawed by the civil power, and he allowed unmolested to propagate those religious principles which to them seemed most agreeable to their principles of reason and justice. All this, it would seem, was intended to be secured by the patent above-mentioned; how far it was realized under the governor's successor will appear hereafter, when we view the persecutions practised upon the Clunkers of this and other towns under the Dutch jurisdiction. Lady Moody probably retained a portion of her large real estate in New England; for Governor Winthrop says, that in 1646 the house of Lady Moody at Salem was injured by a tempest, the roof being torn off; which fact he likewise mentions in a letter to his son John, then living at Fisher's Island. A release or conveyance from the Canarsee Indians was obtained for Gravesend-Neck and Conyne Island, on the 7th of May, 1654. Other conveyances in different parts of the town were procured at different times, both by the town and by individuals, which in the end occasioned no small difficulty, in consequence of the clashing of boundaries, the description of which, in deeds, were frequently inconsistent and obscure.

On the 1st of January, 1643, a soldier was convicted before the court of sessions at Gravesend of having left his station while on guard, and was punished by being compelled to sit upon a wooden horse during the parade, with a pitcher in one hand and a drawn sword in the other; to show that he loved beer more than his duty, and that his courage was always to be determined by the quantity consumed. "At a town meeting, September 27, 1644, it was voted that those as should have Boweries, (farms,) should have fifty morgen of upland, with meadow proportionable to their stock; and it was further ordered, that if any did not build a habitable house by the last of May next, should be defaulted, and forfeit their land to the town." The records of this town, which were kept uniformly in the English language, are still preserved almost entire. They commence with the year 1645, and for a series of years are chiefly occupied with records of wills, inventories, letters of administration, and a variety of private contracts, bargains, sales, &c. In January, 1648, the town elected Sergeant James Hubbard, a man of respectability and influence, to execute the office of a scout or constable, which was considered of much importance. On the 14th of April, 1649, John Furman agreed with the town to keep their calves three months for twenty guilders a month, to be paid in money, tobacco, or corn, and some bitters, if desired. In March, 1650, it was required of every owner of a lot of ground to pay one guilder toward the common charges of the town, to be collected and paid by Mr. Stillwell and Jos. Tilton. In December of the same year it was ordered that every man should fence the head of his lot upon the town square, with a sufficiency of palisades, by the middle of April next. Within this palisade enclosure, which included the original town-plot of ten acres, the inhabitants secured their cattle during the night, and themselves also, when apprehensive of danger from the natives; in which case an arm 'd guard was employed. That wolves were hoth plentiful and mischievous at that time, appears from the fact, that on the 8th of August, 1650, three guilders were offered for each wolf killed in the town, and two guilders for a fox. It was ordered also that every man he provided with a gun, a pound of powder, and two pounds of lead or bullets. Every owner of a house was likewise required to provide himself a ladder of twenty feet or more in length. It was also voted and agreed in town meeting, that whoever should transgress, in word or deed, in defaming, scandalizing, slandering, or falsely accusing any, to the breach of the peace and the reproach of the place, should suffer condign punishment according to his demerit, as should be thought meet by the magistrates, by fine, imprisonment, stocking or standing at a, public post.

In the year 1650 the following persons are ascertained to have been inhabitants and freeholders of the town:

In 1654 Governor Stuyvesant rejected certain persons who had been nominated by the town for magistrates, and submitted for his approbation; these were Baxter and Hubbard, who had rendered themselves obnoxious to his displeasure by their fidelity to the people, and their opposition to the arbitrary measures of his administration. This produced great offence, and the popular indignation rose to so high a pitch, that his Excellency found it expedient to go in person to Gravesend' In order to allay the general excitement, he was induced to avail himself of the popularity and influence of the Lady Moody, and even committed the appointment of the magistrates to her discretion. Whether this remarkable woman continued here till her death, or returned again to New England, is not certainly known. It is supposed, that while she remained here, she occupied the farm of the late Van Brunt Magaw,now owned by Samuel Smith, Esq., and one of the best in the county. It appears that the neighboring Indians were sometimes troublesome to the white settlers; and on one occasion a considerable body of Indians from the Main attacked the place, assaulting the house of the Lady Moody, and would have destroyed her and her family, (as they did Lady Ann Hutchinson and her party a short time before at Throg's Point,) had they not been overpowered by the number and courage of the inhabitants. Upon the Dutch records in the office of the secretary of the state, is the following entry, bearing date March 25, 1643:

Whereas, in some time past, several misunderstandings have taken placa between the savages of Long Island and our nation, by which, from both sides, the blood lias streamed upon the land, the houses have been robbed and burned, with the killing of the stock nnd carrying off the corn by the Indians, so it is, that between us and them, who already follow the banner of their great chief, Pciinoaits, a solid peace has been established, so that all injuries, from whatever tide, are hereby forgiven and forgotten."

A confirmation patent for this town was obtained from Governor Nicolls on the 13th of August, 1668, in which the boundaries do not vary from those described in the patent of Governor Kieft in 1644. An additional patent was issued on the 1st of July, 1670, by Governor Francis Lovelace; which, after reciting the most material parts of the original Dutch patent, and the bounds therein-mentioned, proceeds as follows:

"Know ye, that by virtue of the commission and authority unto me given by his Royal Highness, I have ratified, confirmed, and granted, and by these presents do ratify, confirm, and grant unto Thomas Delavall, Es}. Mr. James Hubbard, Ralph Cardall, William Bowne, John Tilton, William Goulding, and Samuel Spicer, as patentees, for and or. behalf of themselves and their associates the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town, their heirs, successors, and assign*, all the fore-mentioned quantity, tract, and parcel of land, together with the inheritance of all Coney Island, (reserving only the privilege of erecting huts for fishing and drying of nets there upon occasion for all persons who shall undertake that design for the public good.) Including all the land within a lino stretching from the uuermon part of the laid Island, unto the southernmost part of Antony Jansen's Old Bowry; their east bounds being the Strorae Kill, which comes to the marsh or Fly of Mathew Gerritsen's land aforementioned. As also the meadow-ground and upland not specified in their former patent; concerning which there have been several disputes and differences between the inhabitants of the said town and their neighbor Francis Brown, the which in part were issued both by my predecessors and myself, but since fully concluded and determined between them by articles of agreement; the which articles I do hereby confirm and allow, with all havens, quarries, rirers, &c. Given under my hand, and seal of the Province at Fort James in New-York, this first day of July, in the 22d year of his Majesties Reign, Anno Domini, 1670. "

FRANCIS LOVELACE."

Mathias Nicolls, Sec."

On the 26th of March, 1777, an agreement was entered into between the towns of Gravesend and New Utrecht in relation to their boundaries, which was confirmed in the patent granted by Governor Dongan on the 10th of September, 1686. The boundaries mentioned in this instrument are as follows:

Beginning at the westernmost part of a certain place called Coney Island, and from thence to the westernmost part of Anthony Jansen and Robert Pennoyer's land; and so from thence by New Utrecht fence, according to agreement, to the bounds of Flatbush, and from thence along John Uitmas his land unto the bounds of Flatlands, upon a line agreed upon between Flatlands and Gravesend, which from John Ditmas his land, runs to a certain bound stake, and from thence to a white-oak tree marked and standing near New-Utreaht wagon path, and so to the north-west corner of Albert the weaver's field, and so going to a certain marked white-oak tree that stands by the highway side in the Hollow, and from thence running along the Hollow to the head of a certain creek commonly called and known by the name of the Strome Kill, and along the said creek to the main Ocean, and so along the sea-side to the westernmost part of Coney Island."

The patentees in this instrument are James Hubbard, John Tilton, jun., William Goulder, Nicholas Stillwell, and Jocham Gihlock; and the quit-rent reserved was six bushels of good winter merchantable wheat, to be paid on the 20th day of March annually, for his Majesty's use, at the city of New York, for ever.

At a court of Sessions held at Gravesend, June 21, 1676, John Cooke and John Tilton, being Quakers, and refusing to take the oath, were ordered to give their engagement to Mr. Justice Hubbard to perform their office as overseers, under the penalty of perjury." "

At the same court, holden Dec. 17, 1679. Mr. Jos. Lee, deputy-sheriff, presented Ferdinandus Van Strickland for refusing to give entertainment to a stranger who came from Huntington about business at this court; upon which the court do order, that if the said Ferdinandus does not make his submission to the sheriff and the justices to-morrow, that he be dismissed from tapping. It is believed that many of the Friends who settled in this town removed to New Jersey at or about the time of the visit of George Fox to Long Island in the year 1672.

Coney Island, on the sea-board, is a place of great resort for strangers in the summer season, is constantly fanned by cool sea breezes, and affords an unlimited view of the ocean. It is separated from Long Island by a narrow creek or inlet, over which a handsome bridge has been erected. A large and spacious hotel is established here, called the Ocean House, and hitherto conducted in a superior manner. A rail-road is attached to the establishment, with cars leaving the hotel for the beach, a distance of eighty rods, at particular intervals during the day. The bathing at this place is not surpassed by any in the United States. The beach is a beautiful white sand. The island is about five miles long and one wide, and is entirely of alluvial formation. The effect of severe ocean storms has long been visible here, and much of what was once Coney Island has disappeared. It has been conjectured by some persons that Coney Island proper, two hundred years ago, lay at the entrance of Sandy Hook, and separated from the present Coney Island by a channel of considerable width, which is supposed to have been entirely demolished by a storm about the year 1715. It is well ascertained, that in 1643 there was a convenient harbor for vessels of a large size, which is now in a great measure filled up. The exposed situation of this island subjects it to the encroachments of the sea, and to be entirely destroyed at some future period. In the terrible gale which occurred upon the coast on the 26th of January, 1839, the whole of this island, with the exception of a few sand-hills, was completely inundated by the sea; the basement story of the Ocean House was filled with water; the bridge was carried away, several small vessels cast upon the shore, and in one instance carried to a considerable distance toward Flatlands.

The first church built here was by the Dutch in 1655. It was rebuilt in 1770, and stood till 1833, when the present church was erected. It is located in the village of Gravesend, upon one of the original squares of the town-plot made by the first settlers, and near the place where the court-house formerly stood. Here the court of sessions was held till the Ridings were abolished in 1685, after which it was removed to Flatbush. All the lands in this town were laid out in reference to the village plan, the exterior lines of most of the farms converging towards this centre like the radii of a circle. The soil of this town is light and sandy, yet it is generally well cultivated; and the surplus produce of the farms is supposed to exceed forty thousand bushels of different kinds of grain annually, which is a permanent mine of wealth and independence to its inhabitants, their number being seven hundred.

In many Dutch patents there was a clause requiring the patentees and their associates, after the expiration of ten years from the date thereof, to pay, by way of quit-rent, to the governor, or his agent lawfully authorized to receive the same, one tenth part of all the produce of the lands cultivated by them; and as difficulties and disputes sometimes occurred in reference thereto, Governor Stuy vesant issued a preremptory order, on the 6th of June, 1656, prohibiting the inhabitants of Flatlands, Flatbush, and Brooklyn from removing their crops of grain from the fields until the tythes reserved by their patents had either been taken or commuted for. The following is a true copy of the commission issued by the governor to the magistrates of the several Dutch towns:

" Fort Amsterdam, April 24, 1660.

Loving. Friendes.

Out of the nomination presented unto us we have maade choice, as you may knowe bee theese presents off Tunis Guisbert, the which wee for the y ear e. following e doe confirme and establish ffor magistraate off the towne called New-Amersforte, requrringe all and every one whome these may concerne to esteeme them as our elected and confirmed magestraateffor the towne, so after mee respects, I rest, your lovingefriende and Governor. P. Stuyvesant."

Form of a Commission from Lieut. Governor Liesler. " By the Lieut. Gov. and commander in chieff'e, etc. By virtue off the authoritie unto mee, I doe hereby authorise and empower you Jacobus Van De Water to be Clark and Register ffor Kings County, giving you full power and authoritie to acte and officiate therein as a Clark may and ought to doe, and this commission to continue till I receive further orders from his Magesty King William. Given under my hand and seal 20 off Dec. 1 689. " Jacob Liesler."