More on Why Natives Sold Lands Including Today's Pelham First to the Dutch and then to Thomas Pell

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Local historians long have wondered why Natives sold lands including today's Pelham first to the Dutch and then to Thomas Pell.  Indeed, I have written about this very issue before (and about evidence of a number of so-called "Indian Deeds" that may have covered Pelham lands).  See:

Mon., Sep. 07, 2015:  Why Did Native Americans Sell Lands Including Today's Pelham First to the Dutch and then to the English?  

Thu., Aug. 02, 2018:  What We Know of Early So-Called "Indian Deeds" Transferring Pelham Lands.

In such articles I have noted previously that as Kieft's War in the mid-1640s became increasingly brutal, Wiechquaeskeck Natives fled the area, leaving sachems or representatives of the group to participate in treaties or to execute deeds to sell land that the group once controlled.  For example, on August 30, 1645, Dutch authorities and local Natives appeared at Fort Amsterdam to sign a peace treaty.  No Wiechquaeskeck sachem appeared at the ceremony.  Instead, a Native referenced as "Aepjen" appeared "personally, speaking for the Wappinox, Wiquaeskeckx, Sintsings and Kichtawanghs."  Aepjen was described in the Council Minutes recording the agreement and signing ceremony as "Aepjen, sachem of the Mahikans."  See Scott, Kenneth & Stryker-Rodda, Kenn, eds., New York Historical Manuscripts:  Dutch -- Translated and Annotated By Arnold J. V. Van Laer, Volume IV Council Minutes, 1638-1649, pp. 278-81 (Baltimore, MD:  Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974).

Similarly, no evidence yet has been uncovered that any Wiechquaeskeck participated in the July 14, 1649, sale by Natives of lands including today's Pelham to Dutch authorities. See Mon., Sep. 07, 2015:  Why Did Native Americans Sell Lands Including Today's Pelham First to the Dutch and then to the English?  In that transaction, the Wiechquaeskecks purportedly were represented by a non-Wiechquaeskeck Native referenced in the deed as "Seyseychkimus" who was described as "chief" and signed the deed as a "witness."

In addressing the question regarding why Natives sold lands including today's Pelham first to the Dutch 1n 1649 and then to New Englander Thomas Pell in 1654, I previously have posited:

"[O]ne hypothesis, yet to be proved or disproven, is that the 1649 sale of lands including today's Pelham to the Dutch was made by Native Americans who did not have a true claim to those lands and had no consent from its Wiechquaesgeck owners to sell those lands. Only six years later, true Wiechquaesgecks sold the same lands to Thomas Pell."

There is additional evidence that the Wiechquaeskecks who sold the land to Pell never consented to any earlier sale of the lands by Seyseychkimus and the other sachems who executed the 1649 deed.  It turns out that Seyseychkimus was also present at Fort Amsterdam and signed the peace treaty four years earlier on August 30, 1645.  He is referenced in the Council Minutes reflecting the agreement as "Sesekemu" and "Sesekenins."  Perhaps significantly, during that ceremony and in the peace treaty, Seyseychkimus did NOT represent the Wiechquaeskecks.  He is listed with "Willem" as "chiefs of Tappaens and Rechgawawanck."  Instead, Aepjen (listed in the same material as "Aepjen, sachem of the Mahikans").

In short, in 1645 when the Wiechquaeskecks required representation for action by proxy on the peace treaty, Seyseychkimus did NOT represent them despite the fact that he was in attendance at, and participated in, the peace treaty signing ceremony.  It is, therefore, at least possible that four years later when Wiechquaeskeck lands including those that later became the Manor of Pelham were sold to the Dutch, Seyseychkimus and the other non-Wiechquaeskeck sachems were not true "representatives" of the Wiechquaeskecks.

View of Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, 1651. Note The Native
Americans in a Variety of Canoes. Source: Hartger, Joost, Befchrijvinghe
Van Virginia, Nieuw Nederlandt, En d’Eylanden Bermudes, Berbados,
en S. Christossel (Amsterdam, 1651) (Original in The Lenox Library, The
New York Historical Society, The Andrews Collection).
NOTE: Click on Image To Enlarge.

*          *          *          *           *

For more about Seyseychkimus, see:  Mon., Aug. 31, 2015:  Seyseychkimus, The Native American "Chief" and Signer of 1649 Indian Deed Encompassing Pelham.


August 30, 1645 Announcement of Terms of Peace Treaty with Natives Including Wiechquaeskecks

"[232] August 30, 1645

Whereas there is a fair promise of obtaining a firm and durable peace with the Indians, it is resolved and concluded in council in Fort Amsterdam to order Philip de Truy, the court messenger, to notify the burghers all around to come to the fort when the flag shall be hoisted and the bell rung and there to hear the terms which shall be agreed upon and, if any one should have any good advice to offer, freely to express his opinion.

Philip de Truy, court messenger, having been ordered to notify the burghers pursuant to the foregoing resolution, appears and reports that he served on all the burghers round about on the Manhatens, from the highest to the lowest, no one excepted, the order which he received from the director and council their good advice in the matter.  He, the court messenger, says that all the burghers gave them their kind attention and a favorable answer, except one Hendrick Kip, tailor.

Articles of peace concluded in the presence of the Mohawks between the Dutch and the River Indians.

This day, being the 30th of August 1645, appeared before the director and council in Fort Amsterdam, in the presence of the entire community, the following sachems or chiefs of the Indians, as well for themselves as in the capacity of attorneys of the neighboring chiefs, to wit:  Oratany, chief of Achkinckeshacky; Sesekemu and Willem, chiefs of Tappaens and Rechgawawanck, Pacham [and] Pennekeck having been here yesterday and emp;owered them to act for them, and answering further for those of Onany and their neighbors; Mayauwetinnemin, for those of Marechkawieck, Nayeck and their neighbors; as also Aepjen personally, speaking for the Wappinox, Wiquaeskeckx, Sintsings and Kichtawanghs.  

1.  They agree to and conclude a firm and inviolable peace with us, which they promise, as we likewise do, to maintain and nevermore to break.

2.  If it happen, which God forbid, that any dispute should arise between us and them, no war shall be commenced on that account, but they shall come to our governor and we to their sachems to make complaint and if any one be killed or murdered the slayer shall be promptly brought to justice [233] and both sides shall henceforth live together in amity.

3.  They shall not be allowed to come with arms to the houses of the Christians on this island of Manhatans; neither shall we come to them with guns, without being accompanied by an Indian who can warn them.

4.  Whereas there is still an English girl among them [i.e., Susanna Hutchinson, a daughter of murdered settler Anne Hutchinson who was abducted and held captive after the attack], whom they promised to take to the English at Stamfort, they agree to do so and, if she is not taken there, they promise to bring her here and we shall pay them the ransom promised therefor by the English.

We promise that all that is above written shall be strictly observed throughout New Netherland.  Thus done in the fort, under the blue canopy of heaven, in the presence of the council of New Netherland and the entire community called together for the purpose, in the presence of the Maquas ambassadors, who were requested to assist as mediators in this peace negotiation, and of Cornelis Antonisen, their interpreter and co-mediator in this matter.  Dated as above.  The original was signed with the mark of Sisiadego, the mark of Claes Noorman, the mark of Oratamin, the mark of Auronge, the mark of Sesekenins, the mark of Willem of Tappaen, Willem Kieft, La Montangne, the mark of Jacob Stoffelsen, Jan Onderhil, Francis Douthey, Go:  Bacxter, Ritchert Smith, Gysbert Opdyc; the mark of Aepjen, sachem of the Mahikans, Jan Eversz Bout, Oloff Stevensz, Cornelio vander Hoykens; the mark of Cornelis Tonisz.  Below was written:  Acknowledged before me, and was signed, Cornelis van Tienhoven, secretary.

Proclamation ordering a day of themskgiving to be observed 

On August 31

It is resolved in council to issue a proclamation for a day of general thanksgiving, which thanksgiving shall take place on the sixth of September next in all the Dutch and English churches within the limits of New Netherland.  the proclamation reads as follows:

Whereas it has pleased Almighty God in his infinite grace and mercy, in addition to many previous blessings, to let us come to a long desired peace with the Indians, it is deemed necessary to send notice thereof to all the people of New Netherland, in order that [234] in all the places in the aforesaid country where Dutch and English churches are open to the public God Almighty may be especially thanked, lauded and praised on Wednesday next, being the 6th of September, in the forenoon, the text to be chosen accordingly and the sermon to be applicable thereto.  You will please announce the same to the congregations next Sunday, in order that they may be informed thereof; upon which we shall rely. . . ."

Source:  Scott, Kenneth & Stryker-Rodda, Kenn, eds., New York Historical Manuscripts:  Dutch -- Translated and Annotated By Arnold J. V. Van Laer, Volume IV Council Minutes, 1638-1649, pp. 278-81 (Baltimore, MD:  Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974).

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Pelham's Thriving and Living Memorial to the Pell Treaty Oak That Once Stood on the Grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion

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On June 27, 2004, hundreds of Pelhamites gathered on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum for a dinner, party, and dance to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Thomas Pell's purchase of the lands that became the Manor of Pelham on June 27, 1654.  The celebration, held only a few dozen feet from the site that according to tradition was where the Pell Deed was signed by Native Americans and Englishmen, was part of a year-long celebration that included dozens of major events, gatherings, and commemorations.  According to tradition, the Pell Deed was signed beneath the spreading branches of a massive White Oak that came to be known as the Pell Treaty Oak.

During the celebrations on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum that day, a few dozen attendees were given White Oak seedlings a few inches tall to take home after the festivities and plant as a living memorial to, and reminder of, the great White Oak once known as the Pell Treaty Oak.  Immediately below is a photograph of the seedlings that day, collected on a table next to the mansion, awaiting their new owners.

White Oak Seedlings Given to Some Attendees

of the 350th Anniversary Celebration of the Pell

Deed Held on the Grounds of the Bartow-Pell

Mansion Museum on June 27, 2004.  Photograph

by the Author.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

It is not known how many of the seedlings were planted nor, among those, how many flourished and have survived.  At least one seedling awarded that day has thrived and serves as a living memorial to the Pell Treaty Oak.  That seedling, as one might suspect, was given to the author and was planted in his yard where the White Oak now has grown to a height of about twenty feet, standing as a silent reminder of the history of Pelham.  An image of the White Oak appears immediately below.

White Oak in the Author's Yard Grown from

a Seedling Given During the 350th Anniversary

Celebration of the Pell Deed Held on the Grounds

of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on June 27,

2004.  Photograph by the Author.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

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I have written extensively about the legend of what came to be known as the "Pell Treaty Oak" including a book on the topic published in 2004 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Pell purchase.  For examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2004). 

Bell, Blake, Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak, The Westchester Historian, Vol. 28, Issue 3, pp. 73-81 (The Westchester County Historical Society, Summer 2002). 

Wed., Aug. 24, 2016:  Washington Post Report of the Final Destruction of the Pell Treaty Oak in Pelham Bay Park in 1909.

Tue., Jan. 05, 2016:  Donation of a Piece of the "Pell Treaty Oak" to the Manor Club in 1940.

Tue., Oct. 16, 2007:  Information About Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak Published in 1912.

Tue., Jul. 24, 2007:  Article About the Pell Treaty Oak Published in 1909. 

Mon., Jul. 23, 2007:  1906 Article in The Sun Regarding Fire that Destroyed the Pell Treaty Oak. 

Wed., May 2, 2007:  Information About Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak Published in 1922.

Fri., Jul. 29, 2005:  Has Another Piece of the Treaty Oak Surfaced? 

Tue., Jun. 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

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Washington Post Report of the Final Destruction of the Pell Treaty Oak in Pelham Bay Park in 1909

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According to legend -- likely apocryphal -- Native Americans signed the "Indian Deed" granting to Thomas Pell the lands that became the Manor of Pelham under the branches of a massive oak tree that continued to stand on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum for nearly three hundred years thereafter until the dying tree was destroyed by fire in the early twentieth century.  I have written extensively about the legend of what came to be known as the "Pell Treaty Oak" including a book on the topic published in 2004 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Pell purchase.  For examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2004). 

Bell, Blake, Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak, The Westchester Historian, Vol. 28, Issue 3, pp. 73-81 (The Westchester County Historical Society, Summer 2002). 

Tue., Jan. 05, 2016:  Donation of a Piece of the "Pell Treaty Oak" to the Manor Club in 1940.

Tue., Oct. 16, 2007:  Information About Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak Published in 1912.

Tue., Jul. 24, 2007:  Article About the Pell Treaty Oak Published in 1909. 

Mon., Jul. 23, 2007:  1906 Article in The Sun Regarding Fire that Destroyed the Pell Treaty Oak. 

Wed., May 2, 2007:  Information About Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak Published in 1922.

Fri., Jul. 29, 2005:  Has Another Piece of the Treaty Oak Surfaced? 

Tue., Jun. 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

It is, of course, a misnomer to call the oak "The Pell Treaty Oak."  Even assuming there is some kernel of truth to the story, the document signed on June 27, 1654 was not an agreement between two nations but, rather, was a simple deed, often referenced in the literature as an "Indian Deed."

In any event, for much of the history of Pelham, the story has been told that the deed was signed beneath the spreading branches of the Pell Treaty Oak.  That mighty oak, however, was near the end of its life in the early twentieth century when a fire near its base roared into the hollow of the tree and killed it.  Not long thereafter, in 1909, a windstorm blew the remnants of the tree down.  Curiosity-seekers descended on the site, sawing off pieces of the oak, many of which made their way into local collections including those of the New-York Historical Society and the Manor Club in Pelham.

The final destruction of the Pell Treaty Oak captured national attention.  Articles with photographs of the tree appeared in newspapers throughout the United States.  Indeed, today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text and provides an image from one such article that appeared in The Washington Post on April 25, 1909.  The text and the image are followed by a citation and link to the source.

"TREATY OAK AT BARTOW-PELL MANSION

Where Thomas Pell Met with the Indians

By John M. Shinn"

Fragment of the Pell Treaty Oak in the Collection of the

Manor Club.  Photograph by the Author

Taken on January 24, 2004.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail from the Image Immediately Above Showing the

Silver Plaque Affixed to the Fragment of the Pell Treaty

Oak in the Collection of the Manor Club.  The Plaque Reads:

"A piece of the 'Treaty Oak' under which Thomas Pell made

a treaty with the Indian Sachems for the Manor of Pelham.

Nov. 14, 1654.  Wm. Cruger Pell from Howland Pell.  -- 1890 --"

Photograph by the Author Taken on January 24, 2004.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"BRONX BOOM TREE BLOWN DOWN

-----

After taking the blows of the elements for several hundred years the old Pell treaty oak in Pelham Bay Park tumbled over a month ago, the victim of a gale, and there remains now nothing but an old stump to mark the spot where it is believed the first Westchester real estate deal was put through two and a half centuries ago.  

It was under the leafy shade of the old tree that Thomas Pell negotiated this little real estate deal, standing there with a few companions who had journeyed with him from Connecticut while the sachems inspected gravely his collection of beads, blankets, and 'gunnes,' and decided that they were worth a large part of what is now Westchester county.  The sachems took the blankets and the beads and Pell took the real estate.  He was thus apparently the first speculator in suburban real estate.  And a pretty successful one at that for those times.  

The old tree under which Pell is supposed to have driven his bargain with the Indians in 1654 made a valiant fight for life in the two centuries and a half that have since passed.  Decapitated and dismembered a good many generations ago, it defied the attempts of the elements to complete its destruction, and with its days seemingly done for, it surprised all those who watched it in recent years by putting out new branches to be covered with green leaves each spring like the youngsters around it.  It seemed to be making another attempt to grow and reassume the place it once had as one of the monarchs of the primeval wilderness.

Tried to Preserve Tree.

A few years ago some of the patriotic societies decided to do what they could to preserve it, and at their expense they erected an iron fence around it, but this did not suffice to keep off the vandals.  Last fall somebody built a fire near it and it roared up the hollow trunk.  That fire ended the old tree's fight.  There was no more life in it after that, and with its trunk scorched and its new branches withered it fell an easy victim to one of the last month's storms, taking part of the fence with it as it fell.

In recent years, with the iron fence marking its nobility, the old tree has been visited by many who have seen it in passing along the Eastern boulevard.  It stood only a short distance from the road on the grounds of the old Bartow place, now occupied as a hospital for crippled children.

That it was no common tree one could easily tell from its size.  Its diameter several feet above the ground was over 2 feet, and the stumps of some of its mighty branches 26 feet or more from the ground, were 2 feet through.

Too Old to Estimate.

Sawed off fresh, these stumps showed so many rings that it was hopeless to ascertain its age by any such method.  Once the park department tried it, but the man who essayed to count the rings, first trying to distinguish them, gave it up in despair.  They have part of this enormous branch preserved up in Commissioner Berry's office now, so that any one who wants to try it again can do so.

The tree experts of the park have guessed at its age at anywhere from 300 to 500 years.  How many years its trunk had been hollow nobody knows, for hollow it was, and one could climb up to the very top of the huge cylinder.

In the case of a good many trees supposed to mark historical spots, there have been some who have had doubts as to the authenticity of the old oak and its connection with the Pell treaty, but near it are some of the graves of Pell's descendants [sic], and if there is anything in the legends of that part of Westchester, the old tree saw the bargain driven.

A short distance to the southeast from where the tree stood is the old Bartow mansion, and behind this is the Pell graveyard, containing six moss-grown tombstones.  They are the graves of Pells born years after the man who decided to take a chance on Westchester real estate, descendants who no doubt came to respect their ancestor's judgment and were glad of his shrewdness.  The oldest tombstone bears the inscription:  'Here Lyes Isec Pell D. Dec. 24 No. 1748.'

Original Land Speculator.

At a time when most men were thinking of hewing their own homelands out of the wilderness old Thomas Pell apparently was animated by the same object which today leads many a man to invest in property above the Bronx.  He didn't want a home; he bought land to sell.

That Pell was the original speculator in Westchester real estate is borne out in history.  One of the histories of Westchester county says of him:

'Pell himself does not even appear to have become a resident of Westchester.  He evidently regarded his purchase as a real estate speculation, selling his lands in parcels, at first to small private individuals and later to aggregations of enterprising men.'

A good many similar deals have been made since with some of the land Pell bought, only you pay a little more for it now.

Pell had tried several other ventures in the way of land purchases before what is now West Chester caught his eye, and his home was really at Fairfield, Conn., according to the best accounts.  Like a lot of the Englishmen in those parts, he decided that New York and its vicinity were altogether too good for the Dutchmen.

Followed the Fishhawks.

Perhaps he saw with the eye of the shrewd real estate speculator what splendid villa sites lay along the sound.  At any rate he and a few companions in 1654 made their way through the wilderness, took a look at the country lying between Bronck's River, as it was then called, and the Sound, and told the sachems that they wanted to buy some of it.

According to one of the West Chester legends concerning the old treaty tree he and his friends saw a lot of fishawks making their nests in the trees there and made up their minds that the birds would bring them good luck.  That was why they got the sachems Ann-Hoock and Wampage to meet them there and talk business.

The treaty provided that Pell was to get 'all that tract of land called West Chester, which is bounded on the East by a brook called Cedar Tree Brook, or gravelly brook, thence northwest, as the said brook runs, into the woods 10 English miles, thence west to Bronck's River to a certain bend in said river, thence by marked trees until it reaches the Sound.'

This land extended from East Chester to New Rochelle, and Pelham, Pelham manor, and Pelham bridge have taken their names from the purchaser of it.  Pell was made a lord of the manor by royal grant in 1666, and before he died he had already unloaded several parcels, presumably at a handsome profit.  One of the first sales he made was that consisting of the old settlement of East Chester.

Although Lord Thomas Pell as he afterward became, didn't settle on this property himself, his nephew and heir, John Pell, did, and he carved up more of the property, selling New Rochelle to some of the Huguenots.

According to Randall Comfort, one of the local historians, the old Pell manor house stood near the old tree facing what is now a thoroughfare for automobiles, and for years was supposed to be full of ghosts, so that lonely travelers along the lane gave it a wide berth.

Mr. Comfort and others who have taken an interest in the old tree have asked the park department to mark the spot where it stood with a tablet, telling the story of the little real estate deal supposed to have taken place there."

Source:  BRONX BOOM TREE BLOWN DOWN, Washington Post, Apr. 25, 1909, p. 4, cols. 1-4.  

"The Pell treaty oak in Pelham Park before it was blown down."

Source:  BRONX BOOM TREE BLOWN DOWN, Washington

Post, Apr. 25, 1909, p. 4, cols. 1-4.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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1656 Deed Witnessed by Thomas Pell, Founder of the Manor of Pelham

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Thomas Pell may have acquired the lands later known as the Manor of Pelham, but he never resided on those lands.  He made his home in Fairfield where he became a prominent citizen.  

In 1656, various prominent citizens of Fairfield, including Thomas Pell, were called upon to witness the execution of an important "Indian deed" confirming ownership of the ands that comprised the settlement of Fairfield.  The ceremony and execution of the deed were necessary given disputes that had arisen between the English settlers of Fairfield and local Native Americans who remained in the are.

In 1639 and 1640, Native Americans sold lands in the region to Roger Ludlow.  Thereafter, however, occasional disputes arose between English who settled on the lands and the Native Americans who had sold the lands regarding the extent of the land rights granted.  Consequently, local Native Americans occasionally laid claims to a considerable portion of the lands that formed the settlement of Fairfield.

On March 20, 1656 (old-style Julian Calendar), Thomas Pell gathered with Alexander Knowles, Henry Jackson, Nathan Gold, and George Hull to execute as English witnesses a so-called "Indian deed" signed by the following Native Americans:  "Umpeter Nosset," "Nimrod, or Pocunnoe," "Matamuck," "Authonyes, alias Lotashau," and "Washau."

Thomas Pell, of course, was experienced in the diplomatic necessities of negotiating, finalizing, and executing such an "Indian deed."  Less the two years before on June 27, 1654, he had negotiated, finalized, and executed an "Indian deed" for the lands that became the Manor of Pelham."

"Thomas Pell.  Drawing by Thom Lafferty from an

original by an unknown artist.  From Pelliana:  Pell

of Pelham, new series, vol. 1, no. 1, September 1962."

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"DEED OF PEQNONNOCK & UNCOWAY.

Whereas there have been several Indians who have made claims to much of ye land yt ye Town of Fairfield have & doe possess, ye Town of Fairfield having taken ye matter into consideration, ordered & appointed Alexandre Knowles, Henry Jackson, Francis Purdy, with several others, should treat with Poquanuck Indians concerning, & upon ye treaty with those Indians, whose names are underwritten in ye behalf of all ye Poquanuck Indians, they have agreed as followeth:  First, they owne ye land yt ye Town is built upon, from ye Creeke yt ye Tide-mill of Fairfield, South Westward is called Sasqua which they owne, have been purchased from ye Indians & is now ye Englishe's Land:  Secondly, ye sd. Indians have acknowledged, consented to & granted yt all that tract of land which they call Unceway (which is from the above sd. Creek Eastward unto ye bounds between Fairfield & Stratford) from ye sea, to run into ye Country seven or eight Mils:  for ye future it shall bee ye land & propriety of ye Inhabitants of ye Town of Fairfield:  Giveing & granting to ye sd. Town of Fairfield all ye above sd. tract of Land called Unceway with all ye Creekes, Rivers, Ponds, Woods & privileges thereto belonging or appertaining to bee to ye sd. Fairfield, ye Inhabitants thereof & to their heirs forever, quietly to enjoy & possesse it:  & they doe promise & engage yt neither they nor their heirs nor any other Indians shall for ye future molest or trouble ye sd. English in ye quiet possesion of ye sd. land:  Only it is to bee noted yt ye feild which ye Indians now possesse, called ye Indian feild, which is a small neck of land or ye other side of ye Creek, is excepted, ye Indians still keeping their propriety in that small neck or feild:  only they are not to set any traps within ye sd. tract of land:  In witness of all which ye sd. Indians have hereunto set to their hands this 20th March, 1656.

Whereas ye above sd. Land is granted to yet town of Fairfield by ye sd. Indians, we also manifest or respects unto them, yt wee doe engage upon sufficient warning, to cart them their stuffe for them to erect & builld a fort, & upon this consideration ye sd. Indians have acknowledged ye above grant.

Umpeter Nosset, X his mark.
Nimrod, or Pocunnoe, X his mark.
Matamuck, X his mark.
Authonyes, alias Lotashau, X his mark.
Washau, X his mark.

Signed & delivered in presence & witnesses of us,

Alexander Knowles.
Thomas Pell.
Henry Jackson.
Nathan Gold.
George Hull.

This is a true copy according to the original, compared by me & recorded this 25. February, 1685.

NATHAN GOLD, Recorder.*

*  Book A, Town Deeds, p. 437."

Source:  Schenck, Elizabeth Hubbell,  The History of Fairfield -- Fairfield County, Connecticut From the Settlement of the Town in 1639 to 1818 by Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbell Schenck, Vol. I, , p. 94 (NY, NY:  J. J. Little & Co.,1889 ).

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Seyseychkimus, The Native American "Chief" and Signer of 1649 Indian Deed Encompassing Pelham

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The earliest so-called "Indian Deed" yet discovered conveying lands that later became Pelham was a deed signed on July 14, 1649.  See Wed., Aug. 12, 2015:  Significant Research on the First "Indian Deed" Reflecting the Dutch Purchase of Lands that Included Today's Pelham.  That deed conveyed to the Director General and Council of New Netherland lands identified as "Wiequaes Keck" on the east bank of the Hudson River between the Byram and Mianus Rivers along Long Island Sound.  These lands encompassed all of today's Town of Pelham.  The deed was signed by several Native Americans including one named Seyseychkimus who was designated as "the chief" and who signed the deed as "witness."

Who was Seyseychkimus?

Seyseychkimus was a Munsee who, specialists believe, first appeared in colonial records in 1637 with his name spelled as "Heyseys."  He appeared as "one of two Mareychkewikingh (Marechkawieck) sachems in the July 16, 1637 sale of two islands in the Hell Gate between Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx (Book GG:28-29).  The Marechkawieck inhabited the downtown Brooklyn area."  Grumet, Robert Steven, "ON THE IDENTITY OF THE RECHGAWAWANCK" in The Bulletin and Journal of Archaeology for New York State, No. 83, p. 4 (Spring 1982).  

Seyseychkimus was considered a "lower River Indian leader" who spoke the Munsee dialect, not the Mahican language.  Grumet, Robert S., The Munsee Indians:  A History, p. 296 - Notes to Page 14, n.16 (Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2009).  According to Grumet, the Marechkawieck sachem who resided on Long Island in the Brooklyn area in about the mid-1630s sold all of his remaining Brooklyn lands to the Dutch in two separate deeds dated September 10, 1645 (a deed that later was canceled) and November 1, 1650.  See supra, Grumet, ON THE IDENTITY OF THE RECHGAWAWANCK, p. 4.  

Clearly Seyseychkimus was an important Munsee leader in the lower Hudson River area.  He appears to have departed Brooklyn at about the time of the sale of his Brooklyn lands and next was located, apparently, in the Wiechquaeskeck region on the mainland northeast of Manhattan -- an area that included today's Town of Pelham.  On July 14, 1649, he witnessed the Indian Deed that conveyed lands including today's Pelham and Northeast Bronx to the Dutch.  (For a full transcription of a translation of that deed, see below.)

As further evidence of the prominence of Seyseychkimus as a Munsee leader in the region, only five days after witnessing the July 14, 1649 Indian Deed, Seyseychkimus "participated as Seysegeckkimus in the treaty that ended hostilities between the Dutch and unreconciled elements of the Wiechquaeskeck and Raritan groups who did not sign the August 30, 1645 treaty ending the Governor Kieft War."   See supra, Grumet, ON THE IDENTITY OF THE RECHGAWAWANCK, p. 4 (citing "NYHM(4):607-609)").  Seyseychkimus was among the only representatives not assigned to a specific group at the time the treaty was executed.  Although we will never know why, we can speculate that his recent move from the Marechkawieck section in Brooklyn to the Wiechquaeskeck region on the mainland northeast of Manhattan left his designation -- but not regional prominence -- somewhat in question.

By 1651 (three years before English settler Thomas Pell acquired much of the same lands conveyed to the Dutch on July 14, 1649), Seyseychkimus seems to have moved northward to, or to have asserted his influence as far north as, northwestern Connecticut.  He "signed a deed to land in northwestern Connecticut as Sasskum on February 15, 1651 (Bolton 1848(1):392) and was mentioned as Sasse in an incomplete manuscript dated March 25, 1652 (NYCM(5):32)."  See supra, Grumet, ON THE IDENTITY OF THE RECHGAWAWANCK, p. 4.  

After analyzing the various deeds, the treaty, and the incomplete manuscript mentioning Seyseychkimus, Robert S. Grumet summarizes as follows:

"The collective weight of this documentation supports the identification of this man as a Marechkawieeck chief from Brooklyn who moved to the mainland east of the Hudson River following the sale of his land holdings on Long Island.  These data would thus place both Sesekimu and Seyseychkimus in Westchester and Fairfield Counties."  See supra, Grumet, ON THE IDENTITY OF THE RECHGAWAWANCK, p. 4. 

The colonial documentation seems to provide a partial glimpse of the life of the Munsee leader of the lower Hudson River region known as Seyseychkimus.  Seyseychkimus, a Marechkawieck sachem who resided on Long Island in the Brooklyn area in about the mid-1630s, apparently exercised influence over or served as a Munsee sachem representative in connection with lands extending from Brooklyn through today's Westchester and Fairfield Counties.  For about a sixteen-year period from 1637 until 1652, Seyseychkimus participated in successive sales of lands located successively northeastward as local Native Americans slowly deeded their lands to Dutch and, later, English settlers.  In at least one such instance he was designated as "chief" and also participated in an important treaty with the Dutch by which "unreconciled elements of the Wiechquaeskeck and Raritan groups who did not sign the August 30, 1645 treaty ending the Governor Kieft War" ended their hostilities with the Dutch. 

View of Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, 1651.  Note

The Native Americans in a Variety of Canoes.  Source:

Hartger, Joost, Befchrijvinghe Van Virginia, Nieuw Nederlandt,

En d’Eylanden Bermudes, Berbados, en S. Christossel

(Amsterdam, 1651) (Original in The Lenox Library, The

New York Historical Society, The Andrews Collection).

NOTE:  Click on Image To Enlarge.

Below are transcriptions of a wide variety of research items relating to the identity of, and the life of, Seyseychkimus.  Each is followed by a citation to its source.  Given that some materials are available only in print format, links are provided only when available.  Research so far has revealed a variety of spellings of the name "Seyseychkimus."  Those are listed immediately below, followed by some of the research on which this brief article is based.  


ALTERNATIVE NAMES / SPELLINGS

Heyseys
Sasham
Sasse
Sassian
Sasskummu
Seiseis
Ses-Segh-Hout
Seseke
Seysegeckkimus
Seyseychkimus
Segseychkimus
Seysey
Seyseys

*          *          *          *          *

Seyseychkimus was considered a "lower River Indian leader" who spoke the Munsee dialect, not the Mahican language.  Grumet, Robert S., The Munsee Indians:  A History, p. 296 - Notes to Page 14, n.16 (Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2009).

"Originally from Long Island, Seyseychkimus moved to Wiecquaesgeck and later farther upriver to Wappinger country after selling his lands in Brooklyn."  Id.

"This brings us to the primary Haverstraw sachem and the problem of the identification of the Rechgawawanck sachem Sesekemu.  A man named Sessikout was identified as the sachem of Haverstroo and the brother of an Esopus leader in a document dated March 15, 1664 (NYCD (13):363-364).  If saccis was Sessikout, then he signed the January 30, 1658 sale of the Bayonne Peninsula as Saghkaw (Liber 1:34) and the May 19, 1671 conveyance of the Palisades to the south of Haverstraw, New York as Saghtow (Liber 1:115-116).  He was far more recognizable as Sessikout when he appeared as the signatory Seskiguoy in the June 8, 1677 sale of land to the west of the Palisades (Liber 1:254(85-253)86).  Next listed as Sakaghkemeck, 'Sachem of Averstraw' in the July 13, ,1683 conveyance of land directly south of the Hudson Highlands and the Catskill Mountains as Sackewagzein, 'Sachem of Heardstroo' (Liber N:  folio 86-88:23).  These documents strongly support the assertion that Sessikout was the most important Haverstraw sachem of the period.  They themselves do not, however, establish that Sesekemu was Sessikout.

The most likely candidate for that role is a man name[d] Seyseychkimus.  He first appeared as Heyseys, one of two Mareychkewikingh (Marechkawieck) sachems in the July 16, 1637 sale of two islands in the Hell Gate between Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx (Book GG:28-29).  The Marechkawieck inhabited the downtown Brooklyn area.  He was next mentioned as Sassian in a document dated September 11, 1642 (NYHM(3):325-326).  He subsequently sold his remaining land holdings in Brooklyn as the chief Seysey on September 10, 1645 (Book GG:60) and as Sasham on November 1, 1650 (MacLeod 1941).  He evidently moved to the mainland to the east of the Hudson River sometime before 1649.  On July 14th of that year he appeared as Seyseychkimus, a chief who witnessed the sale of land identified as Wiequaes Keck on the east bank of the Hudson River between the Byram and Mianus Rivers along Long Island Sound (Book GG:323-324).  Five days later, on July 19, 1649, he participated as Seysegeckkimus in the treaty that ended hostilities between the Dutch and unreconciled elements of the Wiechquaeskeck and Raritan groups who did not sign the August 30, 1645 treaty ending the Governor Kieft War (NYHM(4):607-609).  Although not listed as such, it can be inferred that he represented the Remahenonck at these proceedings, as both he and the latter group were the only individuals or groups not assigned leaders or corporate identities in the document.  He subsequently signed a deed to land in northwestern Connecticut as Sasskum on February 15, 1651 (Bolton 1848(1):392) and was mentioned as Sasse in an incomplete manuscript dated March 25, 1652 (NYCM(5):32).  The collective weight of this documentation supports the identification of this man as a Marechkawieeck chief from Brooklyn who moved to the mainland east of the Hudson River following the sale of his land holdings on Long Island.  These data would thus place both Sesekimu and Seyseychkimus in Westchester and Fairfield Counties.  They would also support the possible location of the Remahenonck in the same area.  Together by themselves they would seem to validate Ruttenber's assertion that the Rechgawawanck lived along the east banks of the Hudson River.  Data contained within the May 15, 1664 treaty ending the Esopus Wars seriously challenges this assertion."

Source:  Grumet, Robert Steven, "ON THE IDENTITY OF THE RECHGAWAWANCK" in The Bulletin and Journal of Archaeology for New York State, No. 83, p. 4 (Spring 1982).

Seyseychkimus was consanguineal or blood kin of Mamanuchqua, the prominent female Esopus leader who appeared among sachems representing the Mahicans, Catskills, and Esopus in July 1682 in Albany to hear complaints against them, to renew the famed "Covenant Chain bonds," and to present a beaver pelt "in token of a promise to travel farther westward beyond Maryland and Virginia when again 'going out a hunting beaver.'"  

Source:  Grumet, Robert S., First Manhattans:  A History of the Indians of Greater New York, pp. 128-30 & p. 130 Figure 4 (Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2011).

"Mattano tried to manipulate suspicions that divided rival Dutch and English claimants to Indian lands in Brooklyn.  His first efforts to exploit this rivalry in Brooklyn met with limited success.  The Dutch claimed what amounted to nearly all his people's lands on Long Island under the terms of both Tackapousha's broad conveyance of November 13, 1643, and Seyseychkimus's later cancelled September 10, 1645, deed to the most westerly portion of lands within the bounds covered by the 1643 deed.  A small patch in this latter area was also claimed by yet another group of New England exiles led by Lady Deborarh Moody, who settled at Gravesend with Dutch permission during Kieft's War.  After the war, English settlers there secured their claim in a sale, again arranged with Dutch approval, concluded with Seyseychkimus and Mattano's father, Emerus, on November 1, 1650. 31  [Footnote "31" states in part as follows:  "Emerus signed the first state of the November 1, 1650, deed in the GTR Patent Book 1:15 as Arremathanus, perhaps the fullest transcription of his name; later states of the same deed (in GTR Patent Book 1:43, 45, and 47) spell the name as Arremackanus; Seyseychkimus's name is the last in the list of sachems, appearing in the form of Sasham, a variant of Sassian, Seiseis, and other forms documented in transactions concluded on Long Island."].

Source:  Grumet, Robert S., The Munsee Indians:  A History, p. 100 & p. 338 n.31 (Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2009).

"Two deeds came out of these get-togethers.  The first, bearing a date of April 13, 1671, gave Bedloe and De Harte title to all land between the Hudson River and Overpeck Creek 'on the north side of the Sir Governor Philip Carteret's' from Hespatingh in present-day Jersey City to Tappan.  The second, finalized on May 19, 1671, gave De Harte a still larger tract taking in all lands north of the April purchase line from Tappan to Haverstraw between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers.  Together, these deeds turned the whole of the Palisades into the property of buyers from New York, who promptly registered their new purchases, written in Dutch, in Manhattan. [Footnote omitted]

As they had in Staten Island a year earlier, New Yorkers had purchased land coyly referred to in both deeds as 'under the jurisdiction of the province of New Jersey,' but not necessarily within its charter borders.  With patience and perhaps some well-placed payoffs, De Harte and Bedloe might use these deeds to help Lovelace extend New York's sovereignty over the desired land.  They certainly seemed to have the support of the Indians.  The list of sachems who signed the deeds for the New Yorkers included leaders from every major Indian community between the lower Hudson and upper Delaware rivers below the Highlands.  The primary signatory was Aroohikan, who identified himself in both documents as a Tappan sachem.  Like Seyseychkimus, whose interest in land at Haverstraw was represented in the May 19, 1671, deed, Aroorhikan was another expatriate from Brooklyn.  New York's faithful ally Pierwim also signed both deeds.  Tomachkapay put his mark on the April 13 conveyance as sachem of Minisink.  Among other signatories were Memshe, Waerhinnis Couwee, and a man  new to colonial records, who had a talent for languages named Towakhachi (Munsee for 'Mudpuppy'). [Footnote omitted]"

Source:  Grumet, Robert S., The Munsee Indians:  A History, p. 126 (Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2009).

"GG 222 INDIAN DEED TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE WEST INDIA COMPANY FOR LAND IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY

On this day, the date underwritten, appeared before us, the Honorable Lords, the Director-General and Council, Megtegichkama, Oteyochque, and Wegtakochken, the rightful owners of the land located on the east bank of the North River of New Netherland called Wiequaes Keck; extending in breadth through the woods until a stream called Seweyruc [Byram River], with a boundary line running north and south from Greenwich on the East River to a stream called Kechkawes [Mianus River].  This same land is located between the two streams, dissecting the woods between the North and East River, so that the western half remains with the aforesaid owners; while the other eastern half, which is divided by a north-south line through the woods, the aforesaid owners acknowledge in the presence of the chief Seyseykimus and all the remaining friends and blood relatives to have sold the aforesaid parcel of land to the honorable Petrus Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, for a certain amount of merchandise, which they acknowledge to have received  and accepted before approval of this document, namely 6 fathoms of duffels, 6 fathoms of seawant; 6 kettles, 6 axes; 6 adzes, 10 knives, 10 awls, 10 corals, 10 bells, 1 gun, 2 staves of lead, 2 lbs. of powder; 2 cloth coats.  

Therefore, the aforesaid owners transfer, cede and convey the aforesaid land to the Lord-General or his successors in true and lawful ownership, renouncing for themselves and their descendants now and forever all claims thereon, and resigning herewith all rights and jurisdiction, transferring it to the aforesaid Lord-General and his successors, to do with as they please, without being molested by them, the conveyors, or anyone of them, whether it be person or property.  It is further agreed that the western most half may be purchased for the same amount as above whenever the Director-General desires to pay for it; and they, the grantors, promise to sell the part still in their possession on the North River for that price and not to sell it to anyone without informing the Director-General.  They further promise to maintain and uphold this conveyance firmly and inviolably under the penalty prescribed by law.  Thus was this signed in the presence of the witnesses below on 14 July 1649 at New Amsterdam in New Netherland.

This is the mark

[Signed]

of Pomipahan, made himself.

This is the mark

[Signed]

of Meytehickhama.
This is the mark

[Signed]

of Wegtakachkey.

This is the mark made by

[Signed]

the chief, Seyseychkimus, as witness."

Source:  Gehring, Charles T., ed. & trans., New York Historical Manuscripts:  Dutch Volumes GG, HH & II Land Papers, pp. 62-63 (Baltimore, MD:  Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1980) (Published under the direction of The Holland Society of New York).

For another earlier translation of the same record, see:   

O'Callaghan, E. B., ed., History of New Netherland; Or, New York Under the Dutch, Vol. II, pp. 96-97, n. 1 (NY, NY:  D. Appleton and Company, 1848) (citing "Book of Patents, G. G. 507.").

"What with its hills and dales, once covered with dense woodlands, time was when Ward's Island, on the hither side of Hell Gate, was one of the loveliest spots in America, and it is yet so beautiful as to compel  the praise of all visitors.  It was called Tenkenas when Wouter Van Twiller bought it from the Indian chiefs Heyseys and Numers, and giving it the name of Great Barent's Island, convereted its two hundred and forty acres into a pasturage for his cattle."

Source:  Wilson, Rufus Rockwell, New York:  Old & New - Its Story, Streets, and Landmarks, Vol. II, pp. 354-55 (2d Edition - Philadelphia & London:  J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903).  

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