Anthony Janse van Salee, and van Vaes of New Amsterdam and Long Island

PART II

Annica, or in Dutch Annetje, one of the daughters of Anthony Janse van Salee, married Thomas Southard, who is sometimes called "Schondtwart" and "Suddert" in New Amsterdam records. He brought suit against his father-in-law before the magistrates of Gravesend, demanding the fulfilment of what he claimed was a marriage settlement. Anthony appealed to the Dutch authorities on the ground that the Gravesend magistrates had no jurisdiction in cases involving more than fifty Dutch guilders. The case was apparently dropped by Southard when he found that the action of the magistrates in imprisoning his father-in-law was illegal. Probably their action had been more drastic than anything he had expected or desired, and doubtless he felt more than a little ashamed of himself.

On land between the Narrows and the bouwery of Anthony Jansen van Salee, several Dutch families settled what became the village of New Utrecht soon after 1650. On August 27, 1657, Director-General Stuyvesant and the council granted to them 130 morgens (250 acres) of valley (meadow) opposite Coney Island, bounding with the west end on the land of Anthony Jansen from Salee, northeast on the kil where the Gravesend mill stands, east southeast and south abutting on said kil, southeast on the bay of the North river [Gravesend bay]. [Patents and Land Papers, H.H., Part II, 90.]

The line between New Utrecht and that part of Gravesend that belonged to Anthony Jansen strikes the bay at the old church in the extreme northwest part of the present Unionville. Anthony had land on both sides of this line, and his house stood near to the line and close to the sea. New Utrecht included, eventually, the land of Fort Hamilton and the entire region of the Narrows; in recent years all of the enlarged New Utrecht Township became a part of the city of Brooklyn, and is now covered with dwellings. The following record shows that Anthony Janse van Salee had purchased some of this meadow from the Indians, but had neglected to perfect his title by securing a grant from the Dutch Government:

[Council Minutes of New Netherland, VIII, 941. Translation]: August 13th, 1658. Tuesday. Received a petition of Anthony Jansen from Salee, showing that the meadow, now granted to the new village of Utrecht, had been bought by him from the Indians and paid for on the 26th of September 1651. He requests that a part of it near his house may be given to him.

After a vote had been taken, it was answered: This is to be placed into the hands of the people of Utrecht and if it is found that, if petitioner has no meadow for making hay, a part of the aforesaid land shall be given to him.

On their part, the people of New Utrecht filed the following petition:
[Het Bouk Van Het Durp Utrecht A� 1657, Lib., A-3A. Kings County Court House; translation from the Dutch original record]: 1659. PETITION TO THE NOBLE, RIGHT HON. LORDS DIRECTOR GENERAL AND COUNCIL OF N.N. . . .
4. That Antony Jansen Van Sal be ordered to drive his horses, hogs and cattle into the woods like the others, inasmuch as the meadow is ruined by them and the pasturage consumed, which tends to the injury of the entire town. We beg, therefore, we be authorized to put in pound the animals found in the meadow.

5. That Antony Jansen, who claims the meadow is his since he bought it from the Indians, which could not be except with Your Noble Right Honorables' consent, which has not been granted, may be ordered to allow us peacable use and possession of said meadow granted by Your Noble Right Honorables. And the inhabitants of the Town promise to him, Antony, to let him share like one of them, provided he draw lots and accept his share, wherever it may be, and bear the expense thereof with the rest.

To these remonstrances the Noble Right Hon. Lords Director General Petrus Stuyvesant and the Councillors Necasius de Sille, first councillor, and Petrus Tonneman and Johan de Deckkre upon the 12th of May 1659 made the following reply . . .

As to the fourth and fifth points, the Fiscal [Procureur General] was ordered to summon Anthony Van Zalee and inform him that he must keep his cattle and hogs out of the common meadow, or, if he intends to claim any further title in the meadow, he must make it known to the Director General and Council. And they add that, if in the future any cattle or hogs are found in the meadow, they shall be impounded as is befitting.

Anthony accepted the settlement proposed by the Council, and received lots 23 and 24 in the division of the meadow made by the town of New Utrecht. The site of Anthony's house on his Long Island bouwery which extended along the shore from Coney Island northwestward through the present Unionville and Ulmer Park to Guntherville, and across the present boundary line between Gravesend and New Utrecht, is referred to thus by Tunis G. Bergen in his Register of the Early Settlers of Kings County, page 155:

In 1879, in levelling the sand-dunes on the upland on the edge of the bay a little southeast of the buildings of Mr. Gunther at Locust Grove, which dunes had been blown up from the beach, and which had been gradually extending back with the abrasion of the shore or coast, the remains of two separate pieces of stone wall about two feet high and one foot wide, made mainly of unbroken field-stone laid in clay mortar, with a clay floor between them, were exhumed. These remains were covered with from four to ten feet of sand, and are probably those of the barn or other farm buildings of Anthony Jansen . . . Anthony's patent was known as "Turk's Plantation," from his being designed as "Turk" on some of the old records.

The bouwery of Anthony Jansen van Salee is said by historians to be the first landing place on the continent of North America of Hendrick Hudson on September 3, 1609, when he anchored the Half-Moon in what became Gravesend Bay. On September 3, 1664, Richard Nicoll from his English ships of war, also anchored in the same water, sent his demand to Stuyvesant for the surrender of New Netherland. In August, 1776, Sir William Howe's fleet anchored off the Gravesend-New Utrecht shore. Here he landed his troops, and attacking Brooklyn from the eastern side, won the Battle of Long Island.

Van Salee's name often appears in the records of the court of the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam (also called the Manhattoes-Manhattans). His house stood on the New Utrecht side of the original line of that town, near where the line reaches the sea. He is called in the records "of Gravesend," never of New Utrecht, the former town first asserting its jurisdiction over his estate, particularly as to taxes. In February, 1660, he sold his Gravesend plantation:

[Gravesend Town Records. Deeds, Leases 1653 to 1670, liber II, 127, abstract from the English original]: ffeburay the 9th 1660: Anthonie Johnson and Nicholas Stillwell did come before mee John Tilton, Clerke of the Corporation of Gravesend, and he the said Anthonie . . . sould all his Rite unto a Certain pcell of Land with ye houseing Barricke Guarden Orchard; as allsoe all that Hooke of land from the usuall place of his landing with his Bote to the Secant which was graunted unto him from the Govrnour Genll of this Province . . . unto Nicholas Stillwell for Sixteen hundred guilders and one plantation, number Twenty Nyne, with houseing Guarden . . . in Gravesend . . . this 1 of Aprll Ano 1660 in gravesend in the Pvince N. Neatherld.

sign ANTHONIE A: I JOHNSON NICHOLS N STILLWELL his mark
In the presence of us JACOBS CURLER JOHN JOHNSONN, JOHN TILTON

Deceember 28th 1660. Anthonie Johnsonn rec'd of Nicholas Stillwell the summe of 8 eighte hundred gilders--I saye rec'd 800 G. teste mee JOHN TILTON.

Perhaps the following order issued because of fear of the Indians may have had some effect in inducing him to sell the farm to Stillwell, though plantation No. 29, taken in part payment, was equally subject to it:

February 1660, the Director General and Council . . . ordered the people living alone outside . . . to give up their separated dwellings and to demolish or at least to unroof their houses and to move with their goods to the nearest settlement . . . by the 18th of May upon the penalty of fifty guldens:

Thereupon summonses were served . . . among them, one upon Mr. Stilwell who bought the land of Antoni Jansen Van Sale, the Turk, etc. [A Het Bouk Van Het DVRP Vtrecht A� 1657. Liber A-16.]

Stilwell, at least, perceived that the edict would not be permanent and might possibly be circumvented.  "April 26, 1660. Received and read a petition from Nicolas Stillwell, a farmer living on his bouwery between Gravesend and the village of New Utrecht, who asks for permission to remain living by himself and to be excused from moving his house, pursuant to the placat, stating, that with his four farmhands and three sons he is able to defend his bouwery. It is answered: 'Petitioner shall appear before the Director-General and Council with his sons and farmhands.' "

Discontented at seeing Stilwell continue in possession, while still owing him eight hundred guilders for the property, Anthony sought to recover what he had sold:

February 9, 1662. Order on a petition of Anthony Jansen from Salee, praying that he be released from a sale to Nicholas Stillwel of some of his land near Gravesend, on the ground that it was sold too cheap. [Council Minutes of New Netherland, X, 48.]

Stilwell's defense, as laid before Stuyvesant, is recorded in the register of Solomon Lachaire (City Clerk's Office of New York), pages 228-231. Stilwell's declaration contains data of genealogical importance and must be quoted (translation):

No. 2. The declaration of Thomas Morrel. Deponent saith that he was at the house of Mr. Nicolaes Stillwil with Anthony Jansen, and the said Anthony went with them out by the old barn, and showed or explained to them all the hook of land from the usual landing place down to the seashore to Coney island, saying that it belonged to him. In the presence of the Magistrates of Gravesend, the 23d January 1661. [Signed] The mark H of Thomas Morrel. Will Goulden, Clerk . . .

No. 4. This witnesseth for whom it may concern That I, Gerrit Seggers, being formerly employed on the land of Anthony Jansen, to wit, that land or bouwery which the above named Anthony lately sold to N: Stillwil, that he, the said Anthony Janse had leased to me a certain portion of land to plant thereon, to cultivate and to make use of for a certain time, in which was included the Hook of land lying near by the seashore, which is at present in dispute between the above named Anthony and Nicolaes Stillwil which aforesaid hook of land he, the aforesaid Anthony, had further leased to me, claiming it at that time as his own land, which I also declare to be the truth, and in testimony of the truth have signed on the 31st January 1662. [Signed] GERRIT SEGERS.

1662, 10 February. The Declaration of Nicolaes Stilwil concerning the difference or point in dispute between him and Anthony Jansen of Gravesend exhibited before the Director General and Council of New Netherland

HONORABLE: The above named Declarant says that said Anthony Jansen came to his house about one month before the last payment, being Eight hundred guilders, fell due and asked what the Declarant will give for pay; if corn he would go to the Manathans and agree with the Brewers: Whereupon Declarant answered, You can well save the trouble of agreeing with any of the brewers, for, I said, your money is ready--and thereupon showed him about six hundred guilders in Wampum, saying, the balance being two hundred guilders, I shall immediately point out to you where to receive it, on condition that you give and deliver to me what you have sold to me according to the bill of sale thereof signed by you.

About three weeks afterwards the above named Anthony returned for the second time, with two or three others, when the Declarant again said, the Money is now ready for you, provided that you on your side, perform all that you are bound to do according to the bill of sale. Whereupon the said Anthony showed his patent which was read aloud before the friends present; after which the Declarant said to Anthony Jansen, Is there any mention in the patent of the hook of land on the seashore, which is particularly specified in the bill of sale. Whereupon the above named Anthony Jansen replied that the above named hook was his own land, having obtained a patent thereof which is in the hands of Jacus, [Jacques Cortelyou.] the surveyor. Whereupon his brother in law [Meaning son-in-law] there present said, "Father, you have made over your right out of your hand and now it appears that the differences stand upon trifles."

Finally, the Declarant offered that if he, the abovenamed Anthony, would choose two impartial men on his side, he would in like manner, name two, and refer the matter to them, to be decided wholly between them, which Anthony Jansen refused. Further the Declarant, on the 27th December, 1661, accompanied by the Schout and clerk of Gravesend went to the house of the abovenamed Anthony Jansen, saying to him that his pay was then ready, and would be now ready if, and so soon as he performed the condition according to the bill of sale; telling him again in the presence of the aforesaid Schout and Clerk that he would unwillingly go to law, and would rather if he would leave their difference to the decision of four impartial men. The Declarant offers to prove by sufficient witnesses the truth of all that is hereinabove mentioned, if necessary.

Stuyvesant declined to render a verdict in behalf of either party, leaving them to settle out of court; so the opinion of Anthony's son-in-law that the "differences stand upon trifles" prevailed. Anthony and Stilwell composed their differences, but the particulars are not of record. Stilwell, on February 28, 1664, sold the land adjoining Gravesend to Francois de Bruynn, who obtained a confirmatory patent for it from Nickolls, the first English Governor of New York, and named it "Bruynnsberg." A subsequent owner, Jan Hansen of New Utrecht, on June 1, 1696, in transferring his half, one hundred acres, of that estate to Barent Joosten, described it as one-half of the "Turk's Plantation"--this nineteen years after the death of its first owner, Anthony Jansen van Salee. As an indication of the ancient value of this half of the estate, 38,750 guilders wampum value, about $15,340, was paid for it when Albert Coerten van Voorhies bought it on December 11, 1693. The present value of the same land is reckoned in millions of dollars. In 1756 this half of the original bouwery was held by the Voorhees family.

Two months after Anthony's failure to recover the property from Stilwell, he obtained a warranty deed from Stilwell for the plantation that he had accepted in part payment for the land that adjoined the bay and Coney (Guisbert's) Island. This deed was witnessed by one of Anthony's sons-in-law, our ancestor, Willem Jansen from Borculo in Holland, whose children used Van Borculo (Barkelo) as their surname, though their father did not always use it, being frequently recorded as Willem Janz, Janse, and Jansen. In his signature to this deed he did not write Borculo after the "Van," though the omission may well be the fault of the recorder:

Aprll 28th Anno dmo: 1662 st: no: Nicholas Stillwell and Anthony Johnsonn comeing before us. . . . The said Nicholas then . . . sould all his rite . . . unto a certain parcell of Land with the houseing Guarden Orchard . . . in Gravesend in the Province of niewe Neatherlands . . . knowne by the name of Number twentie nyne . . . unto Anthony Johnson.

The marke of NICHOLAS STILWELL. ANTHONYE AI JOHNSON his marke. In the presence of WILLEM JANZ VAN [and] JOHN TILTON. [Gravesend Town Records, 1653 to 1670, liber II, 149.]

Anthony Jansen van Salee also sought to acquire title to the western part of Coney Island. This part was known as Guisbert's, and was once separated from the central and eastern part of the present Coney Island by a small creek. A patent was granted on May 24, 1644, to Guisbert Op Dyck for Conynen Eylandt, as the Dutch called it. This was after Anthony Jansen had settled on the mainland near to that western part of Coney Island. With three of his four sons-in-law (the other son-in-law, Thomas Southart, having removed to Hempstead, Long Island), Anthony petitioned Director-General Stuyvesant and the Council of New Netherland for the island, Guisbert having vacated it, with the following result (translation):

"March 31, 1661. Received and read the petition of Anthony Jansen of Faes, Willem Jansen of Berkeloo, Jan Emans [This Jan Emans came with his father, Andries Emans, an Englishman, in the ship St. Jean Baptist in 1661 from Leiden in Holland to Gravesend, Long Island, and had a son recorded as an adult in 1699 as "Jan Emans Jr." The father married Sara, daughter of Anthony Jansen van Salee, prior to August, 1676, and had a daughter Cornelia and other children {T. G. Bergen, The Emmans Family MS.}] of Cologne, and Ferdinandus Jansen of Sechelen [He was usually called Van Sicklen, which appellation became the fixed surname of his children, none of them being recorded as Jansens.]  who ask for a certain small island south of Gravesend called Gysbert's Island, and the meadows belonging to it." The answer was: "The request is denied for good reasons." [Council Minutes, IX, 576.]

Ferdinandus Jansen van Sicklen probably was living at the time with his wife's father, Anthony. Jan Emans was also at Gravesend, and William Jansen van "Berkeloo" lived at Flatlands some two miles away from Anthony's house. An illuminating side light upon the mind and character of Anthony Jansen van Salee, at this time about sixty years old, is afforded by the petition which ten men, of whom he and his son-in-law, Jan Emans, were two, prepared and signed two months after Anthony had sold his farm to Nicholas Stilwell and had taken up his residence on plantation No. 29. Although Gravesend was an English settlement, of the ten petitioners Nicholas Stilwell was the only one known to be a native Englishman. The others were Dutch, save Jan Emans whom the ancient record previously quoted calls of Cologne, but who is stated in Bergen's Register of the Early Settlers of Kings County to have been a son of Andries Emans from Leyden, Holland, and who is "entered as of English extraction on the assessment rolls of Gravesend of 1693 and in the census of 1698." [Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, XIV, 460, translation from the Dutch]:

PETITION FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A CLERGYMAN AND ANSWER THERETO.
To the Noble, very Worshipful, Honorable Director-General and Council in New Netherland:
Some of the undersigned inhabitants of the village of Gravesend, your honors' subjects, very respectfully show the licentious mode of living, the desecration of the Sabbath, the confusion of religious opinion prevalent in this village, so that many have grown cold in the exercise of Christian virtues and almost surpass the heathens, who have no knowledge of God and his commandments: the words of the wise King Solomon are applicable here, that where prophecy ceases, the people grow savage and licentious and as the fear of the Lord alone holds our promises of temporal and eternal blessings and as we, your petitioners, to our sorrow and constant regret see no means by which to make a change for the better, we have concluded to address ourselves to your Honors, as being the only hope for us and the wellbeing of this community, and humbly and respectfully to ask and pray, that a preacher or pastor be sent here that then the glory of God may be spread, the ignorant taught, the simple and innocent strengthened and the licentious refrained. Then we shall be able to live in greater peace and in the fear of the Lord under your Honors' wise administration and government; whereupon relying we await your Honors' favorable reply and so doing &c.

The marks XX--XX made by ANTHONY JANSEN and his brother-in-law(*) JAN EMANS. April 12th 1660. [Signed by the marks of four others and by four more men by written signatures.]

(*) Meaning, in this case, son-in-law, for this Jan Emans is proved the husband of Sara, daughter of Anthony Jansen van Salee. The same mistake or inexact rendition occurs again in O'Callaghan's modern translation of "The Declaration of Nicolaes Stilwil" of February 10, 1662, originally written in English for Stilwell by some scribe, and translated therefrom into Dutch in 1662 by Notary Lachaire (whose Register reveals his charge for the translation) and from whose old Dutch copy the modern translation into English, again, was made. In this latest translation of Stillwell's declaration, the latter in referring to another of Anthony's sons-in-law (probably Willem Jansen) is made to say: "Whereupon his brother-in-law there present said 'Father, you have made over your right out of your own hand,' " etc. Thus the word "Father" contradicts the translation that calls that speaker "brother-in-law." Both Jan Emans and Willem Jansen were schoonzoons (sons-in-law) of the said Anthony, but each appears in modern translations of separate records as "brother-in-law." The most eminent translator of ancient Dutch records in America, A. J. F. van Laer, clears up this contradiction by explaining that it arose because of the old use of the word swaeger, which in the 17th century meant son-in-law as well as brother-in-law.

Received the foregoing petition, whereupon the following reply was given: The Director-General and Council of New Netherland are well pleased with the remonstrance and the request made therein, and upon the first opportunity shall make such arrangements, as circumstances admit. April 12th 1660.

The petition that Anthony signed did not result in any improvement, and within four years the Dutch dominion of New Netherland had become the English province of New York. The minutes of the Council of New Netherland bear an entry dated May 24, 1663, to the effect that Anthony Jansen from Salee had inquired whether he was indebted to the West India Company in any way in the matter of the land he held near Gravesend. This referred to plantation No. 29 that he had received from Mr. Stilwell in part payment for his original bouwery of 1639. It seems that the title was clear.

Although he must have chiefly resided on this plantation No. 29, the records of New Amsterdam show that he was frequently on Manhattan Island, where he owned land, and that he carried on much business there. Consequently it is impossible to determine whether his wife Grietje died there or at Gravesend. She had died before 1669. Her death and his second marriage may have led to his permanent removal to New Amsterdam about 1669. The change on September 6, 1664, from Dutch to English authority does not seem to have materially affected Anthony on Long Island, though he may have regretted the fall of Dutch power. It was in the year 1669 that he conveyed to his son-in-law, Ferdinandus Jansen van Sichelen [Sicklen], who had married his daughter, Eva Antonise, plantation No. 29 at Gravesend. This deed was written and recorded in English, since Gravesend was an English town and kept its records in that language. Naturally in this deed his name is given in the English style.

December 6th 1669. This presents witneseth that I Anthony Jonson of gravesend one longe Island in the west Redeing of yorke sheire doe by vertue heare of Acknowledge absolutely to have sould Asigned and make over from mee my heares Excutors Administrators and asignes all my Reight title interest and Clame unto A Certaine percell of lands lying and being in gravesen as aforesayd with the housing garding and orchard with all the priviledges and appurtynances thereunto belonging the wch I am at present possesed withall and knowne by the name of nomber 29 unto fardinandoe from sickelen of the same towne his heares excutors administrats and asignes for ever and for him the sayd fardinandoe to enioy in as large and ample manner in every respect as I the sayd Anthony Jonson might or could doe by vertue of any purchase guift grant or towne order in witnise where of I the sayde Anthony Jonson have here unto sett my hand the day and yeare Above written.

ANTHONY XX JONSON his marke Wittnise WILL W WILKISE his marke, RALPH + CARDALL his marke, WILL GOULDING

Seventeen days after this sale, the three living daughters of "Anthony Jansen, commonly called Turk," petitioned the English Governor of the province of New York for relief, setting forth that they were likely to be deprived of their mother's estate. It was ordered that Anthony and the others concerned appear on the sixth of January next. [Colonial Records at Albany, cited in The Historical Magazine, VI, No. 6, 173.] These daughters were Anneke (Antonise) Southard, Sara (Antonise) Emans, and Eva (Antonise) van Sicklen, all children of Grietje (Reiniers), deceased wife of Anthony Jansen van Salee. The other daughter, our ancestress, Cornelia (Antonise), the first wife of Willem Jansen van Borculo, was then dead, but her daughters, Cornelia and Jannetje, were represented by their father in the petition as heirs by the death of their mother.

The marriage of Anthony to the widow, Metje Grevenraet (or Gravenradt) of New Amsterdam, had either occurred before this petition or was about to occur. It is evident that the daughters feared the second marriage would prevent their securing their part of their mother's estate; especially so since, before marrying Metje Gravenraet, he and she had entered into an agreement that if one of them should die, the survivor should have all of the estate of the other.

The house and lot (seventeen rods, six feet deep) in Brugh Straet, New Amsterdam, purchased May 24, 1643, by Anthony from Abraham Jacobsen van Steenwyck, was still owned by him as late as April 24, 1666, for on that date he sued the tenant for unpaid rent. Metje Gravenraet was still residing in the Bridge Street house in 1686, ten years after death of her second husband, Anthony Jansen van Salee, as is shown by her name and place of residence as given in the list of church members of New Amsterdam in 1686. [New York Historical Society Collections, 2 ser., I, 359.] It is highly probable that Grietje (Reiniers) Jansen died after April 24, 1666. Certainly Anthony Jansen van Salee did not marry his second wife till after 1665, for Metje Gravenraet lived in Marckveldt Street (which crossed the southern end of Bridge Street), in 1665 as a widow. She was assessed one florin toward paying for the lodging of English soldiers [ibid., 2 ser., I, 395].

Metje Gravenraet has been described, probably erroneously, as a Quakeress. The only suggestion of it is that she and her husband, Anthony Jansen, received a Quaker into the hospitality of their house in Bridge Street, though perhaps unaware of the man's religious status, as will appear. She is recorded as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. That she was an estimable woman is suggested by the fact that her son Isaac, by her first husband, had become a prominent man in New Amsterdam before her second marriage, and had been made a schepen (magistrate) of the city of New Amsterdam, being one of the last schepens under Dutch rule. He took the oath of fealty to the English Government in 1664, and in 1673 the Dutch Governor, Colv , appointed him sheriff of Swaenenburgh, Hurley, and Marbletown. [Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1852, p. 385.]

In addition to the land and house in Bridge Street bought in 1643, he secured a grant from Director-General Kieft of some land on the Graft, Manhattan Island, at the corner of Hoogh Street and "the Ditch" (now Broad Street). This lot was back of his house lot in Bridge Street. He did not improve this land by building upon it or cultivating it, as the terms of the grant required; so on September 16, 1647, it was patented to the prominent shipping merchant, Govert Loockermans, who sold it, before 1654, to Jacob van Couwenhoven, the brewer. This land is now the northwest corner of Broad and Stone Streets, extending up Broad to Mill Lane, near Wall Street. Upon the diagonally opposite southeast corner of Broad and Stone Streets in 1655 and thereafter stood the tavern of Solomon La Chaire. This property that Anthony lost by failure to improve it, became, after his death, worth far more than his Bridge Street house lot which anciently had a pleasant outlook over the East River.

From the entries in the Dutch minutes of the court of the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam, for the period between 1653 and the time of Anthony's return to his Bridge Street house on Manhattan Island about 1669, we present some extracts. It is obvious from a study of Anthony's last seven years of residence in the Bridge Street house that he retired in 1669 from agricultural pursuits, but that he still continued in general trading, in money lending, and in conducting a tavern. Only brief extracts can be given concerning some of his appearances in court between 1654 and 1669, for each of which appearances he came to the city from Gravesend (translated from the Dutch):

CITY HALL, Monday, the First of June 1654. Anthony Jansen, mulattefarbig, pltf., vs. William Strengwits, deft; for payment of two months' services at 120 lbs of tobacco per month. Parties being heard on either side, it is decided that Will Strengwits shall pay Anthony Jansen for the two months he served in the place of Willem Shepmoes. [Court Minutes, I, 204.]

CITY HALL. Monday October 5, 1654. Anthony Jansen van Vaes, pltf. vs. Pieter Caspersen van Naerden, deft. Pltf. demands payment of rent both for the present and for the last year, announcing the seizure of the furniture as deft. intends to quit the house. Deft. acknowledges the debt and requests delay. Parties being heard, the Burgomasters and Schepens declared the arrest valid until deft. has paid the rent or satisfied the pltf. [Ibid., I, 248.]

This action seems to refer to the house in Bridge Street, New Amsterdam, at a time when its owner was residing near Gravesend.

TUESDAY, February 8, 1656. Extraordinary session. Jacon Teunissen pltf. vs. Anthony Jansen van Salee, deft. Pltf. complains that deft. has caused his goods at Gravesend to be arrested. Requests reason for arrest. Deft. acknowledges that he has arrested the goods because the pltf. hired as his servant for one year and absconded from his service. Antony Jansen says; After Jacob Teunissen had come to him and had hired with him Antony, he said, he should first learn if he were free, and Jacob Teunissen thereupon went to Gravesend and said he had settled with Lourens and was free, and that he thereupon hired him for one year. Jacob Teunissen denies same. Deft. undertakes to prove same, exhibiting (1) by declaration of William Wilkens that Jacob Teunissen has said he was free of Lourens and may hire with any one; (2) by declaration of two persons that Jacob acknowledged he had hired with Anthony as servant, but that he should not remain as he got no earnest money, Whilst deft., offering to prove he had hired him, the Court granted Anthony until the next court day to so prove. [Ibid., II, 37.]

MONDAY, March 13, 1656. And whereas the weather is bad and Antony Jansen cannot well come [from Gravesend] he was still granted eight days. [Ibid., II, 61.]

MONDAY, March 20, 1656. Jacob Teunissen appears in court requesting despatch, as Antony Jansen van Vaes has failed to this time to prove etc. according to previous order of the court. The Court discharge Jacob Teunissen from the claim which Anthony Jansen may make on this account, and declare the aforesaid arrest invalid. [Ibid., II, 169.]

This suit was followed on June 26, 1656, by another brought by Jacob Teunissen for forty florins for ten weeks' work.
And whereas the court messenger declares he has summoned the deft. who has now twice defaulted, he is condemned for his contempt, to deposit the demanded money within eight days from date with the Secretary here. [Ibid., II, 124.]

Anthony sailed in his boat from Gravesend to New Amsterdam on Sunday, July 2, 1656, and on the next day he appeared before the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam:

MONDAY, July 3, 1656. Jacob Teunissen, pltf, vs. Anthony Jansen van Zalee, deft. Deft., having paid two defaults, says he did not hire pltf. either by day, week, or month, but by the year, and if pltf. had put in his year, he should have paid him, but now that he has absconded from his service, maintains that he owes him no hire.

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