. Tales of old New York ... G-1632 Up to the year we have now reached, that is 1623,there was no real settlement on Manhattan Island—no houses or farms or families. But during 1623,thirty courageous fathers and mothers took their chil-dren and household goods, and left their homes in Hol-land to brave the dangers of the ocean and face a new,strange life in the wilderness. They were not realHollanders, these newcomers. The Dutch called themWalloons, meaning strangers. They were French-speaking people of the Protestant faith who hadsought refuge in Holland so as to be free from reli-gious persec
. Tales of old New York ... G-1632 Up to the year we have now reached, that is 1623,there was no real settlement on Manhattan Island—no houses or farms or families. But during 1623,thirty courageous fathers and mothers took their chil-dren and household goods, and left their homes in Hol-land to brave the dangers of the ocean and face a new,strange life in the wilderness. They were not realHollanders, these newcomers. The Dutch called themWalloons, meaning strangers. They were French-speaking people of the Protestant faith who hadsought refuge in Holland so as to be free from reli-gious persecution. In Holland, everyone was allowedto pray to God as he pleased. The Walloons wanted to find a place where theycould make a permanent home for themselves; andhaving heard good reports of the new country fromthe Dutch traders, they asked permission of the DutchWest India Company to go there. This permissionwas granted. They sailed from Holland in a ship called NewNetherland, and in due course of time arrived on this 24. 26 TALES OF OLD NEW YORK side of the Atlantic. Some remained on ManhattanIsland, and some settled near the present navy-yardsection of Brooklyn. Others made their home nearwhat is now Albany, another party settled near theplace where Hartford now stands, and the rest occu-pied a piece of land opposite the present site of Phila-delphia. The name Wallabout is a reminder of the means W^alloon Bay. Of the doings of the first settlers we know very lit-tle ; but we can imagine what it meant to come to a wil-derness, and there build homes and obtain food. Thecountry yielded enough good things, but they werewild and unfit to be used. There was a lack of breadand of fresh butter, milk and cheese. As to the houses,they were little more than huts. The date 1626 is an important one because in thatyear Peter Minuit became the Director-General of thecolony. There had been tw^o Directors before him butthere is nothing important to be said of them. Minuitwas a
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