PREFACE. Professor Pearson, of Union College, enjoys a well earned reputation as student, translator and writer on the colonial history of Northern New York. During the past forty or more years, he has been a constant worker at the records of the ancient county of Albany and has accumulated a vast store of information, which has fortunately been put in writing and embraces many thousand pages of legal cap manuscript. This herculean task was a labor of love without hope of pecuniary profit; as Professor Alexander aptly expresses it-the recreation of a busy life. His friend, the late Joel Munsell, of antiquarian fame, induced him to print much of this matter and Early Records of the county of Albany," translated from the original Dutch, "Contributions toward the Genealogies of the First Settlers of Schenectady," "Genealogies of the First Settlers of Albany," "History of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in Schenectady" besides very many magazine and newspaper articles have been given to the public from Munsell's Press. There remain more than four thousand pages of unpublished manuscript and notes, much of which was written many years ago. Professor Pearson's unique collection of facts has been at the service of all who sought to write on the subject and much has appeared from time to time from others, which was strictly his work. In the study of the subject he is unquestionably the best guide and it is doubtful if any facts essential to a history of the ancient Schenectady Patent have been overlooked by him. He gave the writer free use of most of his manuscript and notes, and they are in the main printed here that due credit may be given to the author and that the data may be at the service of the general historian. In the preparation of these contributions toward a history of the early settlements along the Mohawk river, Professor Pearson translated all known official records pertaining to the subject; he made a careful and thorough search for all names of settlers in the "Doop" and "Trouw" books (baptismal and marriage records), in the early churches of Albany and Schenectady, translated the "City Records"-the "Mortgage" and "Notarial" books of Albany county; searched and transcribed all pertinent matter from records. of secretary of State and of the clerk of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, which he was able to find, as well as collated similar extracts from records of the office of secretary of State of Massachusetts, where there is much pertaining to this subject. He has also gone over the old landmarks with the aid of copies of ancient deeds, wills, and surveys in the public offices, and the assistance of very old men whose distinct memory included the colonial times, when few changes had taken place. There are few Mohawk Dutch family chests whose old letters have not furnished a quota of data and every known tombstone has contributed its facts. There may be much he did not reach, but it is marvelous that he gleaned so much from obscure and scattered sources of information and is only understood when one knows of his knowledge of the Dutch language and its local dialects, his special fitness for the work and the long years of patient labor he has given it. During several years the writer has carefully searched out his authorities and compared the manuscript notes with original records. In the years since they were written, many new facts have come to light and additions have been made in many places but they amount to so little compared with the original work of the author, that they are seldom separated. Indeed, details have been so frequently discussed, that it would be difficult to separate his changes from the writer's. There are some matters of conclusion which have been changed and many additions, mainly however, in form of notes. Most of these occur in the condensation of more extended accounts. There are also additions by the writer and others, of separate chapters. In the early period of settlement of the Schenectady Patent, land was plenty and the value small, the methods of survey very crude and the descriptions vague. Land was stepped off, or measured with a pole, a rope, or pair of harness reins, which represented an approximate scale of measurement. Courses were run "northerly" "north-by-west," etc., or from some evanescent tree to an equally indefinite pool, or dove gat. So incorrect were the descriptions of the bounderies of lands granted or conveyed, that almost as much land lay in the gores where descriptions overlapped or underlapped, as in the undisputed portions. The labor involved in retracing these old lines and defining "how the lands were divided " was almost incalculable and required many years of patient toil. One of the sources of complication which the author had to contend against was the variation in form of names of the inhabitants. As a rule a man in those days had but one name, modified by that of his father, his birthplace or residence, his occupation or some personal characteristic and he was usually so spoken or written of whatever his name might properly be. HARME JANSE KNICKERBACKER, i. e., Harme son of John the Knickerbaker, maker of knickers (or childrens' marbles,) or small china ware in general; de STEENBACKER, i. e., brick maker. STORM VAN DER ZEE was Storm Bratt, who was born during a storm at sea, on the voyage to America. KLEYN ISAACK meant little Isaac Swits, even when he was a man of mature years. SANDER LEENDERTSE GLEN, probably was Alexander, (or Sandy for short) Lindsay of the Glen near Inverness, Scotland. VAN NESS, derived probably from Inverness,* Scotland. It is not until late in English colonial times, that it became customary to use the full name even in official and church records. It is very fortunate for history that Prof. Pearson has made so full an analysis of these early names and fixed the connection between names now scarcely known and those of their descendants. Pearson's history of the Dutch Church of Schenectady, which was prepared as part of this series, has been published quite fully in the memorial of the 200th anniversary (1881) of the church. Such parts as are of general interest *The word ness meaning promontory or head land occurs all along the east coast of Great Britain, especially in Scotland; as Dungenness, Foulness, Sheerness, in southern England; and Fifeness, Buchanness, Clytheness, Odinness and numberless others in Scotland,where also whole counties take the name, as Caithness, Inverness. Holland traded extensively through the seaport town, Inverness with the highlands and the Glen country along Loch Ness. Scotchmen escaping from the strife and sterility of their own country to Holland, readily found ships there to convey them away to the Dutch colonies and they were known as from the Ness or "Van Ness" or of the "Glen," etc. “'t Ness,” indicated the point in the river Y, at Amsterdam. The Van Ness, Van Nes, Van Est, Van Nest families, seems to have been of different origin. |