lated an Agreed that by the decease of the one or the other that the whole Estate Shall be Devided into two Equall Partes and in Six weeks afther the Decease of the one or the other (of the Partyes) all debts belonging to the said Estate the Longest Surviver with the heires of the first deceased shall Part and Devide the whole Estate into two Equall Partes and Take Possession of the same an doe Wishe the Same According & their owne Pleasure and Consent and afther Following the one an the other shall be free an Discharged for any Further AlimaMaintainances of any of the aforesaid first Children all which aforesaid Articles or Points with all which is depending thereunto the aforesaid Parties with their Assistances doe Promisse by the Every one an Particular so much itt Concernes him to Sattisfy an that Each other shall have the full beneffitt of the said Effected under bound According to Law thereunto belonging in Wittnesse of this signed in New Yorke this 15th of March Anno 1678 Whas signed Dirck Claesen with the mark of X Mettye Elbertsen John Raye John Elwelle Boele Roelofsen Hugh Barents the klyn (as wittness Bay Croesfeld and Cornelis Vanderburgh as Assistan Lower Stood with Knowledge of my Will, Bogardus Publick Notary.

Agrees with the Originall The which Testifies

WM. BOGARDUS Not. Publick

A DIVISION OF PROPERTY.

Apeared before me William Bogardus Publick Notary Resident in New Yorke Admitted by the Right Honble Sir Edmond Andross Knight Leiftenant Governor Generall and Laftenant Admirall unther his Royal Highnesse James Duke of Yorke and Albany &c. and from New Yorke an dependencies of the Same and America and for the afther Following Witnesses

Dirick Clasen Polltebacher Deceased Weduer of Annetye Dirckson of the one Party and John Ree as being married with Claesion the Dockter of his first wife of the aforesaid Dirck Claersen (viz) Wynte Rolofs and Giving him Power Also for Jametye Married with Cornelis Dickman and Geertye Married with Barent Christians as also of John Everts being a Sonn of

his Second wife Annetye Dircks being assisted by Mr Bole Roless and Hugh Barents Clyne requested in this Same Alsoe an by this desire alsoe to speak for Gisberte a maid under age of the aforesaid Dirck Clasen Procreated by the Aforesaid Annetye Clasen the which did declare to have agreed in frindly Love each with the other Concerning the agreement and for the Legacyes of the aforesaid Childrens their Mothers Estate in Manner as following (viz) that the aforesaid Weduer deceased shall keep and have Possession the whole Estate and goods movable & immovabble with all Out Standing debts (to Pay out the Estate and to receive Such debts due to the Said Estate as they at Present do apeare and that after his decease the three first Children Procreated by the aforesaid Winty Rolofs for all Deviding of the Estate that the aforesd first Children Shall have the have of the whole Estate, the which Estate shall be in Comune with his Present wife, Metty Elberts; that the aforesaid Children shall have three hundred Gilders, Wampum Vallue, and then the Remainder which shall be Left of the Said Estate, and the Remainder over an above the hallve of the said Estate, that it shall be Equally with the Children of Second wife Annetyen Dircks (vist), John baer her Sonn, an Gisberta or Geetee, by her Procreated, that they shall Share Equally together and by decease of any of them their next heires. For this shall John an Gersee aforesaid have Each the Right halfe of a Certaine Corner called Pott Baker Corner, with all which is Depending upon it, And to the same being Situated, near the outwattering of the fresh water in the East River, and next unto Henry Breasier, an then alsoe with the aforesaid first three Children to devide Equally the over Plus of the aforesaid Estate, head for head, and Inherit the same, and John shall have halfe of the said hook or Corner. Six months after the date hereof Shall be Transported unto him in full and free Possession, for to doe an' Act with the Same as with all other his proper goods, and As for Geesie not before she Shall be at age or that she, with the Consent of her father, might be married, to which time She must be maintained in her fathers house accordingly

And John is bound in consideracon of what is above to Server his father in Law from this date Six Months as he hath don be

fore for Such Maintaineing as he hath untill this date, and that time being expired to be Releast an free of any Further Servitude, an may goe where he Pleased, being the above said Partys on boad sides well Contented an in full Sattisfaction of this above said Writing, doe Each Party themselfs Generally and Particular his Person and goods moveable an Inmoveable, at the Present or to Come, Submitting the same to the Judicature of all Judges and Lawes. in wittnesse hereof is this signed in New York the 15th of March 1678 Wittnesse

Agreed with the Origenall the which does Wittenesse

WILLIAM BOGARDUS Not. Pubb

CHRONOLOGY OF NEW YORK.

Hudson river, and Manhattan or New York island, were discovered by Henry Hudson, an intrepid English navigator, September 3d, 1609. He had previously explored the North Sea, in the fruitless attempt to discover a northwest passage, and Hudson's Bay received its name from him. Although Sebastian Cabot had previously discovered the coast, he knew nothing of Hudson river. Henry Hudson set sail from the Texel in a vessel called the Half Moon, navigated by a crew of twenty men, English and Dutch; and, after doubling the cape of Norway, proceeded toward Nova Zembla, until, being impeded by ice, he determined to proceed south toward Virginia, in doing which he discovered and explored the harbor of New York, and the river which bears his name, which he penetrated with his ship as far as he thought

prudent, and thence in a boat above Albany. He returned to Dartmouth, in England, November 7th, 1609, whence he sent an account of his discoveries to the Dutch West India Company, in whose employ he sailed. The point of the island where New York now stands he found possessed by the Manhattans, a brave and savage tribe; the Indians on the east, or Jersey shore, were more friendly; but were the deadly enemies of the Manhattans. The Dutch West India Company sent a second vessel to Hudson river for trade in 1610; and, finding the Indians more friendly in that quarter, they obtained permission of the natives to build a small fort on an island lying a little below Albany, on the west side of the river. In 1612 the Dutch had a fort on York island, which consisted of a redoubt near the corner of Garden street and

Broadway, overlooking Hudson river. In 1614 an expedition from Virginia, under Captain Argal, took possession of New Amsterdam, as New York was then called; there were then but four houses outside of the fort. An arrangement was soon after made with the English government, by which the Dutch remained in the peaceable possession of the place for fifty years. The establishment was made for the purpose of trade, which they successfully prosecuted with the Indians, receiving furs in exchange for beads, trinkets, blankets, and hatchets. The Dutch had frequent quarrels with the New England colonies on Connecticut river, and the Swedes on Delaware river; the former claiming all the country between these two rivers. The Dutch were not able to obtain permission of the Manhattans to build a fort on the island for some time; but in 1623 they obtained leave to build a better one than that which previously existed, and made a purchase of the present site of the south portion of New York, and erected a fort. Most of the settlers resided in the fort; but, the colony increas ing, some houses were built on the outside near it, which formed the commencement of Pearl street. The fort was in a square form, with four bastions, at the junction of Hudson and East rivers, near the present site of the Bowling Green and the north part of the Battery. It was from time to time strengthened, by building additional walls on the outside of the first wall. It contained the houses of the Dutch Director General, the commandant, and other officers.

The Dutch resolving to establish a permanent colony at New Amsterdam, in 1629 appointed Wouter Van Twiller Governor, who held the office for nine years. In 1635 he erected a more substantial fort, with four bastions, which mounted 42 cannon, mostly brass, 12 and 18 pounders. In 1643 a church was built in the southeast corner of the fort. This church was 72 feet long, 52 wide, and 16 feet high. The Governor's house, also within the fort, was 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 24 feet high. These buildings were burned in 1741, and not afterward rebuilt. It appears that in 1638 tobacco was produced to a considerable extent on the island, and negro slavery had been introduced. In 1644 the City Hall, or Stadt House, or tavern, was built, on the corner of Pearl street and Coenties slip, and was a very important house in those days, being the place where the courts and the public meetings of the citizens were held. May 11th, 1647, Governor Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch governors, arrived, and held the office for 17 years, until the colony was captured in 1664. He was a military character, and had lost a leg in the capture of Tobago. In 1652 the first public school was established in the city. In 1653 a wall of earth and stones was built from Hudson river to the East river, running between Wall and Pine streets, with a gate near the present corner of Wall and Pearl streets, called the water-gate, and another in Broadway, called the land-gate. The walls and palisades were designed as a defence against the Indians. In 1665 Governor Stuyvesant captured Fort Casimir, now Newcastle, from the Swedes on Delaware river, then called South river, whence probably the Hudson river received the name of North river. In 1656 a market house was built at the present corner of Pearl and Broad streets, then called by other names. The city had 120 houses and 1,000 inhabitants, including the garrison. In 1658 the first public wharf was built by the burgomasters of the city, where Whitehall street now is. The Governor's house stood opposite, at the beginning of Water street. In 1660 the first map of the city was sent to Holland by Governor Stuyvesant. In 1662 a wind-mill was erected near the site of the present City Hotel. In 1664 a patent conveying the colony to the Duke of York was issued, and Colonel Nichols, with four frigates and 300 soldiers, arrived from England, where