COMMISSION TO HOLD A COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER. WILLIAM by the grace of God of England, Scotland, france & Yreland &c King defendr of ye faith To Peter de Lanoy Esqr Judge of or Court of Oyer & terminer & Gen1 goall delivery Gerardus Beeckman Johannes vermilje John Hendrickse Bruyn Benjamin Blagge Hendrick Johnson John Spratt Cornelis Plevier & Johannis Provoost GREETING KNOW YEE that we have assigned you or any five of you whereof ye sd Peter de Lanoy Judge of or sd Court of Oyer & Terminer to be one to enquire by the Oath of Good & Lawfull men of our City & County of N York & by other ways manners and methods by wch the trueth may be ye Better Knowne as well within Libertyes as out of all mannors of treasons misprisons of treasons murthers homicides * fellonyes Burglaries and all other Crimes offences & Injuries whatsoever & of their accessaries within sayd City & County aforesd by whome soever or in what manner soever had done Perpetrated or Comitted & by whome to whome or with whome when in what manner & if how & of other articles and Circumstances aforesd and any thing Concerning the same and ye sd treasons fellonyes and all other ye Prmisses for this time to hear try & determine According to ye Lawes of this our Province, the Lawes & Customs of or Kingdome of England And therefore Wee Comand you that you or any five of you whereof ye sd Peter De La Noy Judge of or Court of Oyer & Terminer & Genl Goall delivery to Be one on Wednesday next Being ye 22th day of January Instant to Be held at ye City hall of the said City & County of N York make diligent Enquiry unto ye Prmisses & all & singular ye said Prmisses to here try & determine in manner & forme aforesd so farr as it appurtaineth to Justice according to ye Lawes of this or Province & ye Lawes & Customes of or Kingdome of England Wee have therefore Comanded ye Sheriffe of or said City & County on ye sd 22 of day of January as aforesd to Cause to Come before You such and so many good & Lawfull Men of his Baylewicks as well without Libertyes as within by whome ye truth of things may be ye better knowne & Inquird. In testimony whereof wee have caused ye seall of or said Province to be affixed att fort William the 18th day of January 1689 & in ye first yeare of or Reigne JACOB LEISLER ** Here follows another Commission to hold a Court of Oyer and Terminer in Queens County on 29th Jan'y 1689. It is of similar tenor & date to the above & is addressed to Peter De La Noy Mathias Harvey, John Tredwell, Nathaniel Denton, Nathaniel Coole, John Townsend Senior & John Simmons Senior or any five of them. * LEISLER TO JACOB MELYN. Anno 1689: the 24th January in will: fort MONS: JACOB MALLINE-Yours by the pretended post peri is come to myne hands with the printed papers, for your brother which shall be send I give you many thanks for the charity you have towards me, that you receive no reports to any prejudice agt me, I have stopt peri in his returne home, and found myne letter to your Governor broke open & abused, I intend he must keep me here company for a while, therefore send one post of purpose that his letters may goe forward I have found amongst his letters severall seditious one which hes caused me to secure & confine Bayard, William Nicholls & the ferry mans wife Van Cortland & his wife have made their escape, the bearer Mr Elkona pembrock hes the coppy of some of their letters to whom I crave reference of what is past since he hes been present, & for the service of the Country undertakes this voyage to inform the honest well meaned people verbally what is passed I desire if you please the continu ance of your intelligence Either to me or the Mayer, wee are soe occupied by the wicked people that I must breake of and after myne respect remaine To the Honorable Jacob Leisler Esqr Lt governor of the province of New York & the Honble Council The Humble petition of Nicholas Bayard Humbly Sheweth-That the petitioner & Prisoner since this two days, has been taken with an extreme sickness in Body, & humbly craves your Honorable Commisiration, the Petitioner acknowledging his great Error in disgrading the authority which he humbly ownes & Craves pardon for-Praying that he may be releaved from his dismal detention, promising to behave himself from henceforth with all submission & perform Whatever your honours shall be pleased to adjudge against him, Praying that his Errors may be attributed depriving from his impatience & vents of his foolish passion, & therefore that the honours will be pleased to remit his fault at least by rising from this misserable Confinement. & the Petitioners as in duty bound shall Ever pray & remain your Honours Humble Servt. 24 Jan'y 1689-90. On the Indorsement was written The petition of Colonel Nicholas Bayard Jan'y 24, 1689. Read the 26th Ibid. To the Honbl Jacob Leisler Esq' Lieut Gouenor of the Province of New York & the Honbl Council The Humble Petition of Nicholas Bayard Humbly Sheweth, that the distressed Petitioner is Still continuing very sick in Body and to his great sorrow was heard of the Slaughters & Murders which the french and Indians of Cannida have lately committed at Schaneghtede, but that which releaves the distressed Petition to the heart is that the Petition should be accused of being the occasion thereof—by writing of letters to Albany, for to create seditions, which some Malitious persons desighning the destruction of the Petitioner, undoubtedly has aspersed, for the petitioner has since his departure from Albany not wrote to any there but only to Mr Peter Schuyler & Mr Levinston, at his first comming down, the contents whereof, are no more but to thank them for their civilities & that the petitioner was forced to Abscond himself here Since at his landing, a State search was made for him, which Letters were sent by his Cousin Casper Teller, & one to His Brother Teller relating his private affairs, & to thank him and his family for the kindness received at the Petitioners being there, which is all that Petitioners has wrote to any persons whatsoever either in the County of Albany or Ulster, Your Petitioner therefore humbly Prays that the honors will not be pleased to give such credit to said aspersion, as to Cause the distressed weak, Prisoner, to be continued in Irons within this dismal confinement as the petitioner Keeper has by the Honors orders put the Petition', whereby he is Quite disabled to help himself & must unadoubtly Perish in this Condition unless Your Honors will be pleased to have commiseration of Your honours distressed Petitioner, And Since it has been Your honors pleasure to Recommend Your Petitioner to inform Your honours of the truth of his behavour at Albany last summer, the Petitioner shall therefore inform Your Honours, of the full and Sincere truth, as he will answer before his god, that he went up to Albany upon no other design, but to shun the trouble and hazard of being destroyed here, as your Petitioners was informed threatens were made & that during his abode in Albany aforesaid, he found all the Magistrates of that place or Such with whom Your Pettir conversed withall, upon all occasions to manifest their utmost Zeal for the Interest of our gracious Sovereigns Lord & Lady King William & Queen Mary & for the preservation of the peace, & Administring of Your Laws in Your said County but were of the oppinion as they Several times declared that they were not in any wise Subordinate to the City of New York (nor the power then exercised therein) but that government of that County, was only lodged within themselves, Untill their Maties pleasure should be known persuant to their Maties gracious Proclamation of the 14th of February An Dom 1688 & Your Petitioners Acknowledge that he himself was also of the same opinion, and that he in private company with several of them has declared himself in that manner in which if your Petitioner has done amiss he humbly craves your honours pardon for; but that your Petitioner was cal'd to be a Member of their Court or made privy to the affairs of the Court or County more than he might hear was publick to others Private Persons, or was ever present in any of their Courts of Meetings (as your Petitioner is accused withall) is altogether a false aspersion, except only that Your Petitioner with Mr Stephanus Van Cortland were only sent for to enquire what they both would be willing to contribute or lend to the said County for the raising of some forces in defence of the said County, against any attempt of an enemy from Canada in which your petitioner expressed his Willingness and was thereupon without any further dismist & as your Petitioner was retired for Albany with no other intrust but as before express'd to which he calls god to witness, and would have also stayed there untill the arival of a Governor or some orders from our gracious Sovereigns-in answer to the Letters which your Petitioner in Conjunction with the Lieut. Governor Nicholson & the Council had wrote to his Lordship Charles Earl of Shrewsberry, principal Secretary of State, & to the Honorable William Blathwait Esqr Secretary of the Plantations sent by the ship beaver, & with the said Lieut. Governor, with duplicates by some of the other Ships about the beginning of June last past, but the mortal Sickness of your Petitioner's son & other pressing occurrences necessitated Your Petitioners return to New York the place of his abode & finding that at Your Petitioner's Landing a strick Search was made for his person for what reason, he knows not but was afraid that some hurt might befall him, he therefore ever since, absconded himself untill the arrival of their Majties Messinger Mr Jno Riggs when your Petitioner gave Notice to Mr Frederick Phillips of his being in town whereupon the said Mr. Phillips as being one of the late Council together with the said Riggs the same night of his arrival came to your Petitioners house & gave Your Petitioner the perusal of the subscriptions of the two Packets, which he declared were sent by him the said Riggs from White hall directed (to your Petitioners best remembrance) To our trusty and well beloved Captain Francis Nicholson Esqr our Lieut Govenor & Commander in Chiefe of our province of New York in America or in his absence to such as for the time being do take care for the keeping of the peace & administring the Laws of our said province of New York in America; & whit hall certified that altho, your said Council (with the said Lt Govenor Nicholson who was departed for England) had been hindered by other domestic troubles from officiating for some small time as a Council Yet since the Justices of the Peace by virtue of their Commission & their Maties said proclamation having performed the same, that it was his oppinion that the said Packets in the absence of the said Francis Nicholson did belong to your Petitioners, with the rest of the said Council, as an answer to their said letters, by the Ship beaver, & by them to be communicated to the several Justices of the Peace, with further Promise as from Mr Stephanus Van Cortland, being also a member of said Council Should come to town, & the Council should meet, that he would deliver the said Packets to them & take a receipt for them for the same, with further assurances that he did not believe that Captain Leisler (as he termed your honour) would open to receive the said Packets, tho the same were tendered to him, but the next morning before the said Council could meet, Your Petitioner was informed that the Packets were upon demand delivered to your honour, & your Petitioner must Confess that he has been so unhappy, as to be of the same oppinion that the said Packets did not belong to your honour but to the said Council & Justices, in which your Petitioner was also strengthened by several letters from Boston By the oppinion of such few persons, as he said that time conversed withall, which has occasioned that your Petitioner in his letters to John West has most unadvisedly and in his foolish passion has altered his oppinion, in such severe and unbecoming expressions, to the disgrading of your honours Authority, But your Petitioner never had the thoughts directly or indirectly to endeavour for to remove your honor's Authority, by any manner of force or with any the least danger of bloodshed, but was resolved to be passive and abscond himself till further orders from our gracious Sovereighn's Should arrive which your honours petition's declare to be the very truth as he is ready to advere upon Oath & therefore hopes & most humbly prayes that your honours will not be pleased to attribute the petition1 said unbecoming and disgrading expressions, otherwise, but as events of his foolish passion, neither that your honour will remember any of the Particular disjusts which heretofore have been between his honour the Govenor, & your distressed Prissoner, but that your honour, will be graciously pleased to have compassion with your Petitioners Misserable condition, having had all this day a great fever upon him, lying in Irons not able to help himself and destitute of all other aid or assistance in so much that your distressed prisoner must of necessity perish in this Calamity unless your honours will be pleased in Mercy to Consider his deplorable condition. Wherefore your distressed petitioner in all humble manner implores to your honours praying for your honours mercy in graciously pardoning the Petitioners said folly, or at least not to suffer your distressed sick prisoner to perish in this manner but to grant the said miserable Prisoner if possible to be bailed or otherwise, such relief as his deplorable situation require to preserve him from perishing in this Dismal Confinement, the God of Mercy will be pleased to dispose your honours for Mercy towards your Petitioner who is in duty bound shall ever pray & remains Yours honours Most Humble Servant. N BAYARD BY THE LIEUT GOVERNOR &c. of Whereas Captn Gerbrunt Claessen of Gemoenepa hath desyred my Liberty & Lycence to purchase ye Indians a Certaine parcell of Land lying & Being at Kigtawangh upon hudsons River within Dutchess County' being bounded on the West wth the Great River & ye land of Sarah Kierstede on ye North side by a Rivolet or run of Water on ye East side bounded with ye great hills on ye South side with an arm of ye great River aforesd wch hath not yet been Legally purchased or bought of ye Indians: These may certify that ye sd Gerbrunts Claesson hath hereby liberty & license to purchase of ye Indians ye said parcell of Land, provided it hath not been legally disposed of to any others & ye said purchase to Be made before some of his Maties Justices of ye peace in ye sd dutchess County or West Chester on or before ye first day of July next Ensuing ye date hereof And the Surveyor Generall or his Deputy are hereby Required to Survey the Said Tract of Lands to make a Report thereof into ye Secys Office for wch this shall Be his warrant. Dated In New Yorke at Fort William This 25th day of Jany. 1689. JACOB LEISLER BY THE LIEUT GOVERNOR & COUNCILL &c. Whereas I am enformed that there is Severall Barrells of gun powder in ye Custody of Mr John Pell of Pelham within Westchester County These are to will & require you to make diligent Search and Enquiry for the same & what quan · tity you find to make a report unto mee forthwith. Given &c february 1st 1689. JACOB LEISLER 1 Now Putnam. LEISLER TO GOV. TREAT. N: york ffebruary 14th 1689. HONORABLE SIR-By these I am to informe your Honor of the insolencies of that part of this province namely Albany which is hightined & Improved by Captane Jonathan Bull & those under his command in subordinatione to such who terme themselves a Conventione, setting themselves up in defiance of his Maties Intrest, to the great abatement of his revenue & discouragement of such who pursue his orders & commands, and proclaiming him King of scotland & supreme Lord of this province who take care for preserving the peace & administering the lawes of this province which calls for immediate redress, to that purpose I advise your Honor of that forthwith Mr ffitch & such who are acquainted with our proceedings in his Maties King williams behalfe may conveen at such place within your Collony as shall to your discretione seeme meet without delay, the kings interest in this province depending solly upon the stating of such articles as shall be presented by three persons who will receive full power to conclude what shall be requisite concerning this affaire, whereupon such resolutiones will be taken & presented with that vigour & faithfullness that (by Gods blessing) I doubt not but will discover who are the faithfull subjects, & those that are otherwayes, to evince which I shall all wayes approve my selfe your Honors humble servant &c God willing the delegation may be at Milford upon Thursday next. * THE SAME TO THE SAME. Fort William Feb. 15th 1089. HoNble Sr-Since our other, the sad news of the French wth their Indians have killed most of the Inhabitants of Schanectede, burnt their houses and carryed their provisions, to a greater number as is to be feared, who are encouraged by that convention & Colonel Bayard's faction, who haue asserted the Commissioners of Sr Edmund Andross to remaine in full force; the consequence thereof is verry dangerous, for that King James and they espouse one cause, but when the persons advised of arrive [to] you weh may be some dayes longer than was before expressed, supposing Friday next it will be further dilated, hoping care will be taken that all convenient dispatch may be offered unto them, desiring the Lord to give us suitable supplyes of his assistance to doe our duty in this sad occasion and that all evil members may be discovered and accordingly censured Whereas John Jennings inhabitant in ye County of Westchester hath Spoken certaine words against the Title and dignity of or Gracious Soveraigne King William These are in his Maties name to Will & require you to apprehend the Body of said John Jennings the same forthwith to bring before me and my Councill to answer what shall be objected against him and for so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given &c. this 14th day of ffebruary Anno 1689. JACOB LEISLER There is another warrant to apprehend Samuel Palmer and Thomas Bedient of same County also for having spoken contemptuously of the Government. Dated 18 feb. 1689. |