Beschreibung:

Manuscript vellum document signed by the Colonial Governor of New Amsterdam "C. W. Van Twiller," written in Dutch, confirming the purchase of 3600 acres of land from Indians on Long Island by Wolfert Gerritsz van Couwenhoven and Andries Hudde .
Eÿlandt Manhatans,” 6 June 1636. 1 page (13x18 inches, 327x460 mm). Countersigned below Van Twiller by Jacob van Corlear and with extensive docketing on verso dated 1658 signed by Peter Stuyvesant. Condition: Minor soiling, small hole affecting two words of text, other minor holes, usual folds. the first deed for land on long island and among the earliest surviving colonial new york documents in private hands. The Dutch document reads: “We, director and council of New Netherland, residing on the island of Manhattan at Fort Amsterdam … herewith testify and declare, that today, date underwritten, before us personally appeared Tenkirau, Ketaun, Ararikan, Awackouw, Warinckehinck, Wappittawackenis, Ehettin, as owners; Penhawis, Kakappeteno being present as chiefs of the district, … have transferred, ceded, surrendered and conveyed as lawful, true and free possession, as they therewith transfer, cede, surrender and convey to and for the behalf of Andries Hudde and Wolphert Gerritsz the westernmost of the flats called Keskateuw belonging to them on the island called Suan Hacky between the bay of the North river and the East River of New Netherland…” On 6 June 1636, Wolfert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven and Andries Hudde purchased jointly this tract of land containing 3600 acres from the Lenape Indians. The same day Jacobus Van Corlear bought an adjoining tract, and ten days later a third was purchased. Together, these three tracts in present day Brooklyn constituted, according to Stokes, “a large tract called, variously, 'Castuteeuw,' 'Kestateuw' and 'Casteteuw'” ( Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, vol 6, p 17). The name is said to be derived from the Lenape word for “where grass is cut.” The sale of these lots was a significant event and constitutes among the earliest examples of private land ownership in new netherland . At the time, it was highly unusual for land to be owned by anyone except the Dutch West India Company, with most ground briefs calling for the land to be leased. The first private purchase of land in the colony of New Netherland occurred in 1629, in present day Delaware. “The purchase of the three flats called Keskateuw, in the summer of 1636…taken as one purchase may be counted as the seventh purchase of land in New Netherland, and the third to be made in private ownership in the present state of New York” ( Van Wyck, Keskachauge, or the First White Settlement on Long Island .). The first example of private land ownership on the island of Manhattan would occur two years after this purchase. Unlike Corlear, who purchased the land on a purely speculative basis, Gerritsz van Kouwenhoven actually settled on the westernmost of the three plots and “immediately constructed a dwelling and laid out a plantation from which the settlement and town of Flatlands sprung. The pioneer called his estate Achterveldt and his dwelling stood near the junction of Kouwenhoven Place and Flatbush Avenue” ( Thompson, History of Long Island) . Indeed, Kouwenhoven's settlement is identified on the famed Manatus Map which depicts the region in 1639 (extant in two slightly different manuscript versions dating from circa 1665). Interestingly, Van Wyck presents a compelling argument that Hudde - Kouwenhoven's co-owner of this plot - may have been the original cartographer of the Manatus Map. this deed endorsed on verso by peter stuyvesant , re-ratifying the deed and amending it to be the sole property of Kouwenhoven. The endorsement was a result of the proclamation by the Dutch West India Company in July of 1652 which annulled all the private land purchases. This deed is published in Gehring, New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Land Papers . See Van Wyck, Keskachauge, or the First White Settlement on Long Island (New York, 1924) for a lengthy discussion of this purchase, the original settlement, the many legal disputes which arose over the boundaries of Flatlands, etc.