Eastern New York Timeline - 1610 through 1619

1610

The Dutch name the future Hudson River as the Mauritius (Prince Maurice) for their Stadtholder (place holder, or steward) the Prince of Orange. ** Dutch navigators Hendrick Christiaensen, or Corstiaensen, and Adrian Block make a successful trading voyage to the Hudson River.

1613

Apr 21

The Iroquois sign the Treaty of Taagonshi with the Dutch, agreeing to treat each other as brothers. The Two Row wampum belt is made to symbolize the pact.

France

An installment of Champlain's Voyages carries the engraving Defaitte des Yroquois au Lac du Champlain (Defeat of the Iroquois at Lake Champlain).

1614

Mar 20

The Netherland states of Holland and West Vriesland make a joint resolution to give four-voyage monopolies (rather than the six requested) to those discovering new rivers and other trading sites in the New World.

Mar 27

The Ordinance of 1614 is passed. The Dutch Congress promises a trade monopoly to discoverers of new countries.

Oct 11

The United New Netherland Company is chartered by the States-General, giving merchants a three-year fur-trading monopoly.

State

Block settles Fort Van Nassoueen (Nassau, later Fort Orange, then Albany) on Castle Island. ** The Dutch build a trading post at Flatbush, in the future Ulster County.

New Jersey

Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey sails into Delaware and New York bays and names Cape May.

1615

Oct 8

Samuel de Champlain discovers Oneida Lake.

Canada

Champlain, accompanying Etienne Brulé, traces the St. Larwence and Ottawa rivers to Lake Huron, becomes the first white to discover the Great Lakes. He reportedly mets some Ojibwe at a Huron camp. When he returns to the New York area he accompanies a band of Hurons on an attack against the Iroquois near Oneida Lake at Nichols Pond, and is wounded. He winters over with the Hurons.

1616

Adriaen Block publishes his map of New York Harbor and Long Island. ** Dutch explorer Hendrick Christiaensen is murdered while anchored in the Hudson River - near the future Albany - aboard the Swarte Beer, by Orson, an Indian he'd adopted and taken to Holland and back.

1618

Jan 1

The charter of United New Netherland Company expires; they are unable to renew it.

State

After arranging a peace between the Mahicans and the Mohawks, the Dutch rebuild Fort Nassau (later Fort Orange, then Albany) on Castle Island. ** Spring floods destroy the trading post on Castle Island. ** The Dutch acquire land from the tribes around Albany at the treaty of Tawasentha, signed at Norman's Kill.

(c) 2010 David Minor / Eagles Byte

NEW YORK CITY TIMELINE / 1680 - 1684

1680

Apr 16

When his horses bolt unexpectedly while he's plowing his mid-western Manhattan farm the owner, Theunis Idens Van Huyse, becomes positive he’s cursed and he tries to hang himself. Passing missionaries convince him he’s in error, preventing a tragedy. He will live until about 1720.

May

A New York City jury, considering the legality of East Jersey governor Philip Carteret's title, approves his right to rule.

June

Colonial governor Edmund Andros attends a session of the East Jersey assembly, then dissolves it.

Jun 31

New Amsterdam minister Olave Stevens convenes church and local officials at his home to determine methods of raising money to build the new Dutch church recommended by Governor Andros.

Nov 4

John King, captain of the trading vessel Deliverance, is found dead aboard ship in New York City, his head bashed in. The case is never solved.

Nov 11

An inventory is made of the materials on board the Deliverance.

City

William Dyre is appointed mayor for the year. ** Colonial governor Edmund Andros claims that a quarter of the city's houses serve as taverns and tobacco shops. ** West Indian free black Swan Jansen Van Luane purchases a farm in New Utrecht, Brooklyn's future Owl's Head Park. ** The approximate date land-owning Dutch immigrant Egbert Woutersen dies (birth date unknown).

Queens

Additions are made to John Bowne’s 1661 house, a Quaker place of worship.

1681

Aug 5

Five-year-old Dutch boy Richard Churcher dies in Manhattan, is buried on what will later become the site of Trinity Church; its oldest tombstone will mark the grave.

City

The Duke of York's charter for the colony is granted. ** William Dyre is appointed mayor for the second year in a row. ** The flour trade revenue over the past three years totals £2,000. ** A site for a Jewish graveyard, Beth Haim (Place of Rest), is purchased near Chatham Square.

1682

City

Former mayor Cornelius Van Steenwyck is appointed mayor again. He will be reappointed next year as well. ** The city's second Jewish burial ground is established, south of Chatham Square.

1683

Mar 7

New York City petitions the Crown to have East Jersey re-annexed, to fend off a competing colony across the Hudson.

Oct 17

New York holds its first English representative assembly and adopts a charter of liberties.

Oct 30

New York City's first Roman Catholic services are held.

Nov 1

New York's Queens (including Hempstead and Oyster Bay), and Richmond (Staten Island, including Shooter's Island) counties are chartered by Royal Governor Thomas Dongan (Richmond named for the Earl of Richmond). ** Kings County (Brooklyn) is formed, with the towns of Brooklyn, Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend and New Utrecht.

Nov 25

Dongan confirms the 1666 letters patent granted for the Queens village of Flushing.

City

The city begins producing commercial grade flour, and is granted a monopoly. ** The city is divided into six wards - Dock, East, North, South, and West, and the Out Ward (north of the wall).

1684

June 16

James II names the Reverend Josias Clarke chaplain to the garrison at New York.

Sep 6

The New York governor and council grant a requested tax exemption for Lutheran Church premises, as is done with other congregations.

City

New and Beaver Streets are paved. The first watch is appointed. A Latin school is opened under the management of a Jesuit priest. ** Gabriel Minvielle is appointed mayor for the year. ** Area Indians sell the last of their Brooklyn lands to the British. ** French Huguenot settler Pieter Praa marries Maria Hay, daughter of the owner of the land in the future Greenpoint area of Brooklyn formerly belonging to Dirck (the Norman) Volckersten.

(c) 2011 David Minor / Eagles Byte

Eastern New York Timeline - 1000 through 1609

1000

The Indians' planting of beans and maize begins (date highly conjectural).

1535

French explorer Jacques Cartier hears of curative waters to be found in the future Saratoga Springs area, while exploring the St. Lawrence River. He may also hear of a great falls (Niagara) to the west.

1540

Traditional date the French abandon a small fort at what is now Albany.

1569

Belgium

Gerhard Kremer (Mercator) produces a cylindrical-projection map. It portrays the mythical New England land of Norumbega. It also shows the New York State site of Ticonderoga.

1586

Netherlands

The approximate date diamond merchant, land speculator and Dutch West India Company founder-director Kiliaen van Rensselaer is born in Hasselt (some sources say Nijkerk) to soldier Hendrick van Rensselaer and homemaker Maria Pafraet Rensselaer.

1600

Population of Algonkin (Algonquin) tribes is about 6,000. ** The approximate total population of Long Island's Metoac tribes is 10,000. A total of 13 tribes live on the island. ** From now on most kettles traded with the St. Lawrence area Indians are made of brass, rather than copper.

1603

State

Samuel de Champlain, exploring the St. Lawrence River Valley, learns of the Ticonderoga area.

1604

France

King Henry of Navarre grants a favorite all North American lands north of the 40th parallel (New France).

1606

Apr 10

Charters for the London Company and the Virginia Company of Plymouth (Council for New England) are issued by James I, to Ferdinando Gorges and John Popham, to settle the American coast between Cape Fear and mid-Maine. This is the area Henry of Navarre, the French king, had claimed two years previously. The colonies of Virginia and New England are to remain 100 miles apart. The region in between can only be colonized if no other European nation lays claim to it.

1609

Apr 4

Henry Hudson departs from Amsterdam in his three-masted Dutch carrack the Half Moon .

June

Samuel de Champlain and two French companions, along with 60 Indian warriors from various tribes, enters the lake that will bear his name.

Jul 29

Champlain, accompanied by two other Frenchmen, including his teen-aged servant Etienne Brulé, and 60 Algonquins and Hurons, encounter a group of 200 Iroquois in canoes. Everyone agrees to a ritual battle the next day.

Jul 30

Champlain’s party defeats the Iroquois near the future Ticonderoga, beginning a long period of French/Iroquois enmity.

Sep 6

Hudson sends a small crew ashore on Long Island to explore. On their return to the ship they are attacked by two canoes full of natives. Crewman John Colman is killed, two others injured. The survivors can't find the Half Moon in the dark.

Sep 7

The missing men return at daylight.

Sep 13

Henry Hudson anchors his Half Moon off Nappeckamack (today's Yonkers area). They trade with natives for oysters, all the time keeping the Indians off the Half Moon, in their canoes.

Sep 14

Hudson sails past high mountains, anchors off the West Point area.

Sep 15

Hudson arrives in the Kingston area. He predicts the Rondout area, just upstream, will be a prime spot for a trading port. Two Indian hostages taken previously escape and make their way to land.

Sep 16

Hudson arrives in the Hudson area. Indians come aboard and trade Indian corn, pumpkins and tobacco.

Sep 17

Hudson arrives in the Castleton area, location of the Mahican Indian village of Schotak (Schodack). They run aground in the evening, puling themselves off by their anchor, run aground again, but are freed by high tide.

Sep 18

The ship's masters' mate goes ashore with an elderly Indian and is entertained at the man's home.

Sep 19

Hudson arrives in the Albany area. Indians trade grapes, pumpkins, as well as beaver and otter pelts.

Sep 20

The Half Moon attempts to sail further north but runs into shallow water.

Sep 21

A second attempt to sail north again runs into waters too shallow to let them pass. The ship's carpenter goes ashore to construct a new foreyard for their vessel. A party of Indians, including one female, is permitted aboard ship, as a test of their intentions. They are entertained and fed, all with no ensuing trouble.

Sep 22

It's decided it would be pointless to attempt to sail further north.

Sep 23

Hudson leaves the Albany area. They run aground but are freed when the tide rises.

Sep 24

The Half Moon runs aground on Upper Schodack Island in the Castleton area. Before the tide releases them a number of the crew go ashore, gather chestnuts.

Sep 26

They get together with a number of Indians. All goes well.

Sep 27

Further amicable meetings with local Indians. The crew fishes late in the day then their ship sails on into the night.

Sep 30

After further trade with the Indians the ship sails on to the south through the night.

Oct 1

After a failed attempt by the natives to steal from the Half Moon, Indians in Haverstraw Bay attack the vessel. The crew kills two.

Oct 2

Off Spuyten Duyvil Creek the vessel is attacked by local Indians in canoes. Two of the attackers are killed.

Oct 4

Hudson sails for England.

(c) 2011 David Minor / Eagles Byte

NEW YORK CITY TIMELINE - 1670-1674

1670

City

Staaten Eyelandt (Staten Island) is purchased for the third and final time from the Indians. ** Brewer Jacob Van Couwenhoven dies and creditors, including Oloff Stevenson Van Cortlandt, take over the brewery. ** English governor Francis Lovelace builds the King's House, a tavern, next to the Stadt Huys.

Bronx

The Morris family bring black slaves from Barbados to their home. ** Thomas Hunt settles the area to become known as Hunts Point

Brooklyn

The Rockaway Indian sachem Eskemoppas challenges the land claims of the settlers in the Midwout (later Flatbush) area. Dutch leaders repurchase the land.

1671

January

Benjamin Johnson is appointed executioner for New Amsterdam.

May

The approximate date wealthy New Amsterdam merchant Govert Loockermans dies, in his mid-fifties.

July

Benjamin Johnson, having been given the job of building a stone-lined well behind the Stadt Huys, at Pearl Street and Coentes Slip, is paid 195 florins for his work.

Aug 11

Royal governor Francis Lovelace grants a petition by Lutheran minister Jacobus Fabritius to deliver a farewell sermon to his New York City parishioners.

City

Dutch minister Samuel Driscus petitions for two years of salary in arrears, but is paid only £100 because he was sick one year. The council recommends that the church's elders and deacons supply him with further aid. ** Former mayor Thomas Delavall is appointed mayor for this year. ** Captain John Manning moves to the island in the East River which he purchased in 1666 (afterwards known as Manning's Island, later Minnahannock, Hog, Blackwell's, then Roosevelt Island).**A new road is run up the east side of Manhattan ending in the area of today's Third Avenue and 130th Street.

Staten Island

Richmondtown’s first building, the Britton Cottage – owned by botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton - is built at New Dorp Lane and Cedar Grove Avenue.

1672

February

Peter Stuyvesant dies in New York City, at the age of 62.

Dec 10

After receiving an earlier message from Charles II of England strongly recommending that the colonists establish a "close correspondency with each other" Governor Francis Lovelace announces monthly mail service between New York and Boston.

City

Matthias Nicholls is appointed mayor for the year. ** The population reaches 5,000. ** Traveling Quaker George Fox preaches under two white oak trees in Flushing township.

1673

Jan 1

Plans for once-a-month post service to Boston from New York, scheduled to begin today, are postponed.

Jan 22

The first mail run leaves New York City, heading for Boston, on the future route of the Old Post Road.

February

French immigrant Isaac Bedlow/e dies (probably in New York City) in his mid-forties (birth date ca. 1627)

Jul 30

A Dutch fleet captures New York City, retaking the colony and New Jersey, renaming the city New Orange. Fort George is taken.

Feb 5

The approximate date the mail reaches Boston.

Aug 9

Acting commander Captain John Manning surrenders Fort James to the Dutch.

City

John Lawrence is appointed mayor for the next two years. ** The approximate date the city executioner Benjamin Johnson is convicted of heading a gang of thieves. He's whipped, deprived of one ear, and banished. ** Carolus Allard's Orbis Habitablis, a Dutch pictorial tour of the world, contains a line engraving that includes a distance view of lower Manhattan.

1674

Feb 19

The Treaty of Westminster ends the Third Anglo-Dutch War, restores New Amsterdam and New Jersey to the English. The city's name reverts to New York.

Feb 24

Annetje Cornelis petitions city officials, who grant her possession of the house and issue a restraining order against her husband.

Jun 8

Fabritius is again ordered to not approach Annetje Cornelis without her consent.

Jul 11

Fabritius enters his wife's house without permission, to place a chest inside, pushes a woman named Barentie and her spinning wheel off the road, and physically resists soldiers sent to remove him.

Jul 17

Fabritius is fined 100 florins and made to apologize to the court, thus avoiding banishment.

City

Mayor William Dervall levies the colony's first tax. ** The sovereignty transfer ceremony is held at the State House (Stadt-Huys). ** Law courts are held at the State House. ** Augsburg Congregationists Vrit Wessels, Lauwerens Andross, Martan Meyers, and Casper Steinmets petition Governor Andros upon his arrival, to have a promised Lutheran minister sent from Holland and for a yearly salary to be paid to him. ** For having surrendered Fort James to the Dutch last year Captain John Manning is court-martialed, accused of cowardice and treachery. He is exiled to the East River island named for him (the future Roosevelt Island).

(c) 2011 David Minor / Eagles Byte