1660
Jul 15
The colony and the Esopus Indian tribe agree to trade the natives' land for peace and food, ending the first Esopus War.
Aug 6
The widow of Chief Wyandanch, in gratitude for the kindness shown to her late husband and his people by Maidstone (East Hampton), ratifies an early deed of land and makes an additional allotment to the town, for a payment of 10 pounds sterlingand ten bushels of Indian corn, paid annually over a ten-year period. By forfeiting the payment the Indians are given permission to live on the land at Montauk.
September
Maidstone and the Montauketts petition the New England commissioners for a zone of safety, six miles in all directions, protecting themselves from marauding Naragansetts.
Sep 25
Maidstone residents are told that none of the recently-purchased high land at Montauk Point called Meantaquit (Mantack, Meantaucutt, Meantucket, Meantauk, or Munnawtawkit) is to be resold to outsiders, on pain of a £30 fine.
Oct 10
Maidtone (East Hampton), Southamption and Southold are given permission by Connecticut to defend themselves against invading Indians.
State
Kingston's first church, the Dutch Reformed, is established.
Albany
Harmen Gansevoort settles here.
Indians
Due to adoptions from conquered peoples the Iroquoian population peaks at about 25,000.
Long Island
The Montaukett Indians move west to the Maidstone (East Hampton) area to avoid marauding Naraganetts and are permitted by pastor Thomas James to camp near the parsonage. ** The first black slaves arrive on the island.
1661
Jun 26
Heavy rains cause the Mohawk River west of Schenectady to overflow its banks, preventing local communication and delaying land sales for nearly a month. A large portion of grain crops are spoiled for planting purposes and will be used instead for fodder.
Jul 18
Arent Van Curler (Corlear) appears before the Council of State and applies for permission to purchase the site of Schenectady from the Mohawk Indians, and for a patent from the government.
July 27
Van Curler and 14 associates buy the site of Schenectady from the Mohawk Indians. Settlement begins later in the year. Erection of a stockade begins later this year.
Sep 2
Maidstone (East Hampton) Long Island levies an annual £10 assessment on all cattle owners using the Montauk grazing lands, to finish paying off the purchase price of the land.
New Netherland
A slave in the
colony successfully petitions for his freedom. [nyslawcvr] ** The
Dutch settlement in “the Esopus” is given the name Wildwjick (the English will change
it to Kingston in 1669).
1662
Feb 6
In appreciation for East Hampton settlers' aid given against the Narragansett Indians the Montauketts deed land lying west of Fort Pond to the town.
May 16
East Hampton makes an agreement with John and Stephen Hand and Isaak Hedges for the men to tend the cattle herd at Meantaquit for the equivalent of 20 shillings a week.
Oct 9
The Connecticut General Assembly institutes imprisonment and fines for any settlers, including those on Long Island, leaving to live with the Indians.
Nov 7
East Hampton gets a dog pound when they agree to pay John and Stephen Osburne £8 a year for keeping two older dogs of the village and to build the Osburnes a shed on their barn for the animals.
State
Arent Van Curler takes possession of his land near Schenectady, begins moving settlers in as the stockade is completed. ** The Dutch West India Company grants Fort Orange (Albany) municipal privileges. ** The approximate date the name of Maidstone, Long Island, is changed to East Hampton. ** Jan Fransen van Hoesen joins recent Dutch settlers, buying land from the Indians at Claverack Landing.
New England
Charles II grants a charter uniting the Connecticut River towns with New Haven and towns on Long Island.
1663
Jan 17
East Hampton divides into three parts for the purpose of processing whales. The Reverend Thomas James and Lion Gardiner will give a quart of liquor to each whale cutter in exchange for freedom from cutting the catch themselves.
Feb 11
The Proprietors of East Hampton and Southampton approve the selection of Quashawam (Heather Flower) as chief of the Montauk and Shinnecock tribes.
Mar 2
East Hampton orders Montauketts to stay out of the village until they are free of smallpox. ** Early East Hampton settler Lion Gardiner dies at the age of 64.
April
Citizens of Wiltwijck (later Kingston) New York, petition the government to pay the Esopus for Indian land settled on. Nothing is done.
Jun 7
After raiding Nieu Dorp (Hurley) Esopus Indians raid Wiltwijck, burning the 12 houses of the village, slaughtering 18 inhabitants, among them the wife of court secretary Matheus Capito, and taking 10 prisoners. Catherine DuBois, an ancestor of George S. Patton, Jr., annoys the Indians and is singled out to be burned at the stake. She fends off her captors by loudly singing hymns until help arrives. The Second Esopus War has begun.
Jun 10
Magistrates of the Wiltwijck region report the massacre to Stuyvesant in New Amsterdam.
State
Cornelius Viele opens Schenectady’s first tavern, on the southwest corner of Mill Lane and State Street.
North America
A major earthquake strikes the area between the Adirondack Mountains and the St. Lawrence valley.
1664
Mar 12
Charles II grants his brother James, the Duke of York, the land between the Delaware River and the Connecticut River, including all of Long Island. Annual payment is forty
beaver skins, payable if demanded. Charles transfers all feudal power to James.
Mar 21
East Hampton's Isack Hedges agrees with the town to maintain a drum and drummer at the rate of forty shillings a year.
Mar 25
After a lengthy debate the town of East Hampton decides the purchase costs of the patent should be borne by all, in proportion to the amount of land each owns.
September
Dutch forces engage the Esopus Indians on their own territory. The battle ends with the death of Chief Papequanaehen, along with several other men, women, and children. The remaining Indians flee, and the Dutch, led by Captain Martin Cregier pillage their fort before retreating, along with supplies and prisoners – ending the second Esopus War
Sep 24
Albany surrenders to the British.
Oct 4
Nicolls looks on as East Hampton reaches an agreement with the sachem Quashawam, granting the Indian 4000 acres east of Fort Pond on Montauk Peninsula.
Dec 1
Long Island is removed from Connecticut's jurisdiction and placed under the Duke of York's. ** Lion Gardiner's widow Mary dies at the age of 64, leaving New York's Gardiner's Island to her son David, to be passed down from oldest son to oldest son.
Dec 21
East Hampton declares laws promulgated under Connecticut shall stand until replaced by New York Laws. Also, that it will be first-come-first-served at the mill for grinding corn.
Dec 25
East Hampton's Samuel Dayton family contracts out son Jacob to Thomas and Alice Baker for a 14-year period.
State
Early in the year governor Peter Stuyvesant orders Schenectady lands surveyed and apportioned among its settlers. ** Mahican Indians on the upper Hudson River move to the Stockbridge, Massachusetts, area under pressure from the Mohawk.
Sport
Governor Nicolls establishes Newmarket race course at Hempsted Plains, Long Island, for horse races.
Connecticut
Commissioners sent over from England set the southwest corner of the colony at the Mamaroneck River, twenty miles east of the Hudson.
© 2011 David Minor / Eagles Byte
