. A landmark history of New York; also the origin of street names and a bibliography . dam began to look something like the thriftytowns of Old Holland. Stuyvesant, as you know, had a town houseat the foot of Whitehall Street; he also had a coun-try residence in the neighborhood of FourteenthStreet. The place was known as the Great Bou-werie, or farm, and covered many acres of ground,extending from Fourth Avenue over to the EastRiver. Quick of temper was Stuyvesant aud quarrel-some, and often he brought his wooden leg down onthe floor with an angry thump when people disagreedw^ith him. But he
. A landmark history of New York; also the origin of street names and a bibliography . dam began to look something like the thriftytowns of Old Holland. Stuyvesant, as you know, had a town houseat the foot of Whitehall Street; he also had a coun-try residence in the neighborhood of FourteenthStreet. The place was known as the Great Bou-werie, or farm, and covered many acres of ground,extending from Fourth Avenue over to the EastRiver. Quick of temper was Stuyvesant aud quarrel-some, and often he brought his wooden leg down onthe floor with an angry thump when people disagreedw^ith him. But he was full of energy, never shirkedwhat he considered his duty, and, soldierlike, was a-tthe front whenever there was danger. So when, in 26 A LANDMARK HISTORY OF NEW YORK 1664, Captain ISTicolls, in the name of the Dnke ofYork, sailed np the bay at the head of a fleet of Eng-lish war vessels, Stujvesant stood at an angle of thefort, next to a gnnner, ready to die in the defense ofthe town. jSTicolls, knowing that he conld easily cap-ture the almost defenseless island, sent a hanghty. Stiiyv(siiit s coiiiitiv li(His( 1 Kiiii .111 (lid punt. message demanding surrender. I had rather becarried a corpse to my grave than to surrender thecity, replied Stuyvesant. Such was his courageousnature, but to have opposed the guns of the Englishwould not only have meant terrible destruction ofproperty, but the slaughter of many innocent womenand children. Thus the dominie and the leadingburghers argued with the determined fighter, and at A LANDMARK HISTORY OF NEW YORK 27 last he gave in, his proud spirit broken at the ideaof hoisting the white flag. With bent head hestumped out of the fort at the head of his sokliers,never more to govern or to regulate the laws, Stuyvesant now retired to his Bouwerie. Hisorchards and gardens, kejDt in perfect order by a num-ber of negro slaves, were the finest on ManhattanIsland. Shortly after the surrender, the authoritiesin Holland, wishing to throw the blam
Size: 1980px × 1261px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecthistori, bookyear1901
