Bergen, New Netherland

An American Beaver

Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties. The name was given by the first European settlers to it, who had originally sailed from the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and were mostly Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, Huguenot, German, and Scandinavian. Many may have been motivated by the ufavorable treatment of Protestants by rulers of the Catholic Spanish Netherlands.

Halve Maan on the Hudson

They were later joined by other Europeans and West Africans (some of whom were slaves), who arrived via the Caribbean and South America. It officially existed from 1661, with the founding of a village (at Bergen Square), until 1674, when it was finally relinquished to the British with the last Treaty of Westminster. Bergen, which encompassed the plantations and ports that were first settled as early as 1633, retained their "Dutch" character for many years. There are various opinions as to the naming of Bergen. Some say that it so called for the city in Norway or any of number of towns in the Netherlands Others believe it comes from the word bergen, which in the Germanic languages of northern Europe means mountains, and could describe a most distinct geological feature of the region, The Palisades.

Map c.1635, Early names for Bergen were Oesters Eylandt (Oyster Island) and Achter Kol. The three structures likely represented Communipaw, Paulus Hook, and Harsimus.

Lenape

Superficially explored by Giovanni da Verrazzano, sailing on French expedition in 1524, the area was visited by Spanish and English seafarers during the next century. It was claimed in 1609 by the Dutch East India Company, who had commissioned the Englishman Henry Hudson to find a navigable passage to Asia. During this journey his ship, the Halve Maen (Half Moon), laid anchor at Sandy Hook, Harsimus Cove, and Weehawken Cove, among other places. At the time the existing population were bands of semi-nomadic people who spoke different dialects of the Algonquian language Lenape and became known as the Hackensack, the Manhattan, the Raritan, the Tappan, and the Wappani and were later called Delaware Indians (after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr). These related peoples circulated in the region, setting up seasonal encampments where they practiced slash and burn agriculture, hunting, and fishing, and shellfishing (in the vast, easily-harvested oyster-beds source that would last until the late 19th century). The trapping of rodents (particularly beaver) for pelts would play a crucial role in their interaction with the Europeans. The first settlers and their ancestors procured the land from them through "purchases" that were misconstrued by both parties.

Pavonia

Pavonia is the Latinized form of Pauw, which means "peacock".

In 1621, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was founded to exploit trade in the Western Hemisphere, and by 1625 had established a colony at New Amsterdam (Lower Manhattan). In the hope of encouraging settlement the company, in 1629, started to offer vast land grants and the fuedal title of patroon and . In 1630, Michael Pauw, a burgermeester of Amsterdam and a director of the company, purchased two tracts from the native population, one at Hopoghan Hackingh (Hoboken) and at Ashasimus (Harsimus), though the patroonship likely included the entire peninsula between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers [and possibly his holdings on Staten Eylandt (Staten Island)]. It was given the Latinized form of his surname (which means "peacock"), Pavonia. It is said it was sold to him by the Manhattans after they had retreated there after the sale of their home island (by the Canarsees) to Peter Minuit some years before. Initially, a small hut and ferry landing were built at Arresick, called Powles Hoek (Paulus Hook), but Pauw failed to fulfill the other conditions set forth by the company (which included populating the area with at least fifty adults,), and was later required to sell his interests back to it. In 1633, the WIC commissioned a house to be built for an appointed superindendent, Jan Everstsen Bout (aka Jan de Lacher), at Gemoenepaen (Communipaw). Another homestead was built at Ahasimus by his replacement, Hendrick Van Vorst, in 1634. Abraham Issac Planck (aka Verplank) received a land patent for Paulus Hook on May 1 1638. These homesteads grew into small communities as the land around them was leased to other settlers. Trade between the indigenous and settling populations consisted mostly of wampum, European manufactured goods, and beaver pelts. Though the settlements were small, they were strategic trading posts with a good harbor and foot-hold on the west bank of what had been named the Noort Rivier (North River).

Achter Col

Map (c1639) showing settlements on Noort Rivier and environs with numbered key showing: 27. Farm of Van Vorst; 28. v [sic): 29. Farm of Evertsen; 30. Plantation at Lacher's Hook; 31.Planatation at Paulus Hook; 32. Plantation of Maerytensen

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Expansion of the colony slowly continued along the Upper New York Bay, the western bank of the Hudson, and into the Hackensack River Valley, which was called the Achter Col. As was typical of placenaming in 17th century Europe, Achter Col (Meadowlands/Newark Bay), was so called because of its location in reference to other places, its shape, its topography, and other geographic features as seen by them. "Achter", meaning behind, and "kol", meaning neck, can be translated as the "back (of the) peninsula", in this case Bergen Neck.

In 1640, David de Vries, another patroon, established Vriessendael, a plantation sometimes called Tappan (Edgewater). In 1642, Myndert Myndertsen, who carried the title Heer van Nederhorst, recieved a large land grant that included most of contemporary Bergen and Passaic County. He contracted construction of a farm on the Hackensack where he wished to establish a colony called Achter Col (Bogota). The crew hired to build the homestead soon engaged the Hackensack in fatal confrontations known as the Whiskey War. In 1643, Hoebuk (Hoboken), was leased by Aert Van Putten, where he built North America's first brewery.

Kieft's War

Willem Kieft was appointed Director of New Netherland by the Dutch West India Company in 1639, with one of his orders to increase profits from pelts for the fur trade at Acther Kol (Newark Bay/Meadowlands) and its port at Pavonia. Kieft levied a tax on the surrounding native population, claiming it would buy them protection from rival tribes, particularly Mohawks and Mahicans in the north. When opting to take advantage of this "insurance", groups of Wappani, fleeing from attacks, sought refuge at Fort Amsterdam. They were dispersed to Pavonia and Corlears Hook. Kieft ordered they be attacked on February 25 1643. The initial strike was a slaughter: 129 Dutch soldiers killed approximately 120 people (including women and children): eighty at Pavonia and thirty at Corlear's Hook (Lower East Side). Overcoming their other rivalries in face of a common enemy, the indigenous populations united and retaliated in October of the same year, attacking the plantations at Pavonia, with survivors fleeing to the fort at the tip of Manhattan. The brewery at Hoebuk survived, its roof not being made of thatch. De Vries, with interest in and better contact with the local population, was able to negotiate temporarily holding off attacks at his farm and the Achter Kol Colony, from which settlers were evacuated. Eventually in August 1645, a tenuous truce was declared.

Peter Stuyvesant was selected to replace Kieft, as Director-General of New Netherland, arriving in New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647. Further colonialization of the colony slowly proceeded. In 1646 a land patent at Konstapel's Hoeck (Constable Hook) was granted to New Amsterdam's chief constable, Jacob Jacobsen Roy, who declined to settle it, and 1647, Maryn Andriansen (who had led the attack at Corlear's Hook) received land patent (of 169 acres) at Awiehaken (Weehawken). It was incidents farther afield that led to the area being more serious settled. In 1654, the Netherlanders lost the colony in northern Brazil known as New Holland to the Portugues. Many of its residents emigrated to New Netherland. It was in that year, a series of land patents were made at Communipaw and Pavonia extending to Achter Col (Newark Bay).

Peach Tree War

In 1655, the settlers again came in fatal conflict with the native population in The Peach Tree War. According to popular belief, it started when a young Indian girl was shot by a Dutchman as she attempted to pluck fruit from a peach tree in an orchard on Manhattan (though there were other larger political events taking place at the time). Her murder sparked a violent reaction and calls for revenge from the native population. While Stuyvesant and his troops were on an expedition to the Zuydt Rivier (Delaware Bay), five hundred Indians attacked Pavonia, killing 100 settlers. One hundred fifty hostages were taken and held at Paulus Hook. When later ransomed they returned to New Amsterdam, and once again the settlements on the west shore of the Noort Rivier were de-populated.

Bergen Square

Responding to lobbying by settlers who wished to return to the lands west of the North River and to re-establish their claim there, Peter Stuyvesant, in 1658, re-purchased territory "by the great rock above Wiehacken." which encompassed all the lands along the peninsula south to Kill van Kull. For her work as an emissary and tolk, Sarah Kiersted was deeded a large tract at Achinigeu-hach (or "Ackingsah-sack") (Hackensack River) by Oratam, a shrewd and sage sagamore of Hackensack Indians. This purchase paved the way for the founding of the village at Bergen (Bergen Square). Concerted efforts were made to ensure the success of the new settlement, situated atop the hill west of Communipaw, which was made "distinct and separate" village. It was laid out following a design by Jacques Cortelyou, who was Surveyor General of New Amsterdam: 800 feet on each side, to be surrounded by wooden palisade. In Sept of 1661, a court of justice was granted to Bergen, establishing the oldest autonomous municipality in New Jersey. (The square is also home to the longest continuously used school site in the state). Within its jurisdiction fell the communities at Pavonia, Communipaw, Hoebuck, and Achter Col. In December of the same year, a charter for ferry between Bergen (at Communipaw) and Manhattan was granted. In February 1663, an ordinance regarding a common well was effected. The settlers were sluggish building a palisade to protect the village and in November 1663 a ordinance was passed to see it completed. so that farmers and fishermen could retreat if threatened by attack.

Second Anglo-Dutch War

Stuyvesant's signature

Though not attacked, Bergen was threatened. On August 27, 1664, four English frigates entered the Upper New York Bay, demanding surrender of the fort at New Amsterdam, and by extension, all of New Netherland. After some days, Stuyvesant acquiesced, unable to rouse the population to a military defense. The indifferent response from the West India Company to previous requests for protection against “the deplorable and tragic massacres” by the natives had gone unheeded. Hence a lack of weapons, gunpowder, reinforcements and ships made New Amsterdam defenseless. Stuyvesant made the best of a bad situation and successfully negotiated good terms from his “too powerful enemies." In the Articles of Transfer, Stuyvesant and his council secured the principle of tolerance in Article VIII, which assured New Netherlanders that they “shall keep and enjoy the liberty of their consciences" in religion under English rule. The capture of the city was one out of a series of attacks on Dutch colonies that resulted in the Second Anglo-Dutch War between England and the Dutch Republic.

Elizabethtown Assembly

New Netherland was quickly divvied up, the lands west of the newly-named city of New York (execpt Staten Island) becoming part of proprietary colony of East Jersey. By-passing Bergen, the English chose as its capital a site close to Arthur Kill, naming it Elizabethtown, after the wife of one of its proprietors, Sir George Carteret. On October 28, 1664, the Elizabethtown Tract, taking in lands southwest of Achter Col was purchased from three Raritan. Soon after the Concession and Agreement was issued providing religious freedom and recognition of private property in the colony.For those living at Bergen and surrounding areas life was not much changed under English rule, though they were required to pledge loyalty to the new government. English speaking settlers, mostly from New England and Long Island came to the province, concentrating on the Elizabethtown Tract and lands that would become Greater Newark. The wide waterways and tidal flats that separated them geographically mirrored the cultural divide and allowed the New Netherlanders to retain their language, religion, traditions, and local political power. In 1665, a land grant was given to Nicolas Verlet at Hobuk (Hoboken) and a homestead established at Constable Hook.

During negotiations for The Treaty of Breda, English commissioners offers to return New Netherland in exchange for sugar factories on the coast of Suriname were refused. Upon its signing on July 31 1667, the de facto situation of English possession was formalized, and in 1668, they granted a charter for the "Towne and Coproration of Bergen". The English also made a series of land grants to both Dutch and English-speaking settlers.. The treaty proved to be ineffective, fighting contiuned (as the Third Anglo-Dutch War), and in August 1673 the Dutch "recaptured" New Netherland.In November of that year an assembly was held at Elzabethtown enacting "Laws and Ordinances" for towns Achter Col, as the area of Bergen and its surroundings were called. On December 18 1673 "Freedoms and Exemptions" were granted to towns in Achter Col

Province of New Jersey

First Dutch Reformed Church, Hackensack, 1696

News that New Amsterdam had been "re-taken" did not arrive in Holland until January 1674, at which point negotiations for The Treaty of Westminster were well advanced. Its ratification by the States-General of the Netherlands on March 5 1674 ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War, and control of New Netherland, including Bergen, was conclusively relinquished to the English.

On March 7 1683, East Jersey was divided into four counties: Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth and Bergen, which kept the name given by the New Netherlanders. Bergen ran from Bergen Point (Bayonne) between the North and Hackensack Rivers to the new and ambiguous New York-New Jersey state line (see seal of Bergen County), its administrative seat at the Towne of Bergen. Ten years later, in October 1693, the counties were re-aligned and Bergen grew to include more territories west of the Hackensack, though not the Lenape/Netherlander trading post that would grow into the city of the same name.

In 1702, East Jersey and West Jersey were united as a royal, rather than proprietary colony. New Jersey and New York shared one governor, the first being Lord Cornbury. It was not until 1738, when New Jersey petitioned the crown for a distinct administration from New York, that it was granted its own governor.

In 1710, Bergen County, by royal decree of Queen Anne of Great Britain was enlarged to include what had been part Essex County. The village of Hackensack (in the newly formed New Barbados Township) was seen as being more easily reached by the majority of the Bergen's inhabitants, and hence was chosen as the county seat.

The Town of Bergen was given a Royal Charter on January 4, 1714.

Hudson-Bergen Line

File:Hamiltonmonumentmap.jpg

An 1841 map soon after Hudson's County creation shows it's northern reaches as still very rural and still very 'Bergen'.

Bergen County was split into three parts when, by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, 104 newly formed townships were created throughout the state.

As originally constituted, Bergen Township began at Bergen Point and included the area between Hudson's River to the east and the Hackensack River to the west, north to the present-day Hudson-Bergen line. Why this particular point was chosen is not clear, as there is no clear geological or topographical feature indicating a natural separation. It may have been the place where the Lenape sub groups-the Hackensack and the Tappan-saw the extent of their territories. It may have also been the border between the patroonships of Pavonia and Vriessendael, and corresponds to Stuyvesant's re-purchase. As described in the charter for "Towne of Bergen" in 1668, the northern border of the town was determined by landmarks that no longer exist.

Hackensack Township included those lands east of the river, north of the contemporary Hudson-Bergen line. The present-day City of Hackensack, was part of New Barbadoes Township, which ran northward from Newark Bay, including New Barbadoes Neck between the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers and portions of contemporary Passaic County.

In September 1840, Hudson County was created by separation from Bergen County and annexation of New Barbadoes Neck. The place chosen for the county line atop the Palisades was the original northern border for Bergen Township. On April 10, 1843, by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature, Bergen Township was split in two, leading to the incorporation of Township of North Bergen. Bergenline Avenue, running from the Jersey City border to Fairview through the North Hudson communities, likely takes it name from this division.

Legacy

The original grid laid out for Bergen in 1661 can still be seen at Bergen Square, in the immediate vicinity of which are churches and cemeteries founded by the first settlers and their ancestors. A statue of Peter Stuyvesant (commerating its 250th anniversary) sits on the grounds of the longest continuously used school site in New Jersey, which had also been established by them. The square, with a geometry typical of small towns in the Lowlands, was the first in North America that would become known as a "Philadelphia" square.

Though there are no structures from the New Netherland era left, there are many buildings throughout the region built in the Bergen Dutch and Dutch Colonial styles, including numerous farm houses and Dutch Reformed Churches. The oldest standing building in Hudson (c 1742) was built by one of the region's first families, the Van Vorsts, on land that had been part of Pavonia (now Jersey City Heights).The Steuben House is a noted example of Bergen Dutch sandstone architecture, located at New Bridge Landing on the Hackensack River, built in 1752.

The Kill Van Kull is shown here in red. The vast oyster beds along the banks of the penisula may have inspired the original name "Oyster Island".

While they did intermarry with new immigrants, the New Netherlanders retained much of their language, religion, and tradition. When writing in the early 1800s, Washington Irving often referred to the west bank of the Hudson, particularly Communipaw, as being the stronghold of Dutch culture.Jersey Dutch was a variant of the Dutch language spoken in and around Bergen and Passaic counties until the early 20th century.

The region abounds in placenames often taken from Dutch surnames or geographical references, with Paulus Hook a combination of both. Lenape phrases, transformed through Dutch and English are still in use, such as Hoboken, Hackensack, Paramus, Secaucus, and Wykoff. Kill Van Kull retains its purely Dutch name.

The name Bergen is widely used, not only for the county itself but also in Bergen Point, Bergen Hill, Bergen Arches, Bergenline Avenue, Bergenfield, among many others. The patroonship of Pavonia lends its name to an avenue and PATH station in Jersey City.

The concept of religious freedom (as well as the recognition of private property) is often considered to be the most enduring legacies of New Netherland. Both the Articles of Transfer (outlining the terms of surrender to the English), and the Concession and Agreement.provided for the right to worship as one wished, and were incorporated into subsequent city, state, and national constitutions in the USA.