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Originally published in 1907
THIS WEB VERSION COPYRIGHT 2003 GET NJ
SOON after the discovery of the Hudson River in 1610 by
Captain Hudson, merchants of Holland were allowed by
the Dutch Government to take possession of its shores. Under
conditions stipulating that those who planted colonies of 50
adults would be entitled to 16 miles of river front, provided they
satisfied the Indians for the land taken, one Michael Pauw, in
1630, obtained from the Indians, through the Director of the
Council of New Netherlands, the right and title to the lands
which now comprise Hoboken.
In the deed conveying these lands they are named Hobocan
Hackingh, Hackingh signifying land and Hobocan being the Indian
word for tobacco-pipe. The natives were accustomed to
procuring a stone from these lands out of which they carved
pipes.
In the writings of Robert C. Sands, Vol. II, 1834, descriptive
of Hoboken, appears the following statement: "It is a fact
not generally known that there is or was an old town in Holland
called Hoboken, from which no doubt this place was named.
A copy of an old work on medicine by a Dutch physician of the
name of Hoboken is in the library of one of the eminent medical men of this city (New York)."
The ownership of Pauw became unpopular, and in 1635 the
title to the lands became vested in the West India Company upon
payment by them to Pauw of 26,000 florins or $1,040.
For nearly two years after this the settlers were at war with
the Indians, the result of the treatment they received from the
whites by whom they had been scorned in their social intercourse,
cheated in commercial transactions, and even plundered
and slain. This, the first Indian war, terminated in 1645 when
a treaty was signed. War with the Indians broke out again in
1655, in which year the Indians once more took possession of
the soil.
In 1658 the land now comprising Hoboken together with
other territory located between the Hackensack and Hudson
Rivers was deeded by the Indians to Petrus Stuyvesant for eighty
fathoms of wampum, twenty fathoms of cloth, twelve kettles, six
guns, two blankets, one double kettle and one barrel of strong
beer.
In 1664, even before these lands were captured by England,
they were included in a grant made by Charles II of England
to his brother, the Duke of. York. The latter theta deeded the
territory lying between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers to
John, Lord Berkeley, a brother of the Governor of Virginia,
giving it the name New Jersey. The war between England
and the Dutch at this time resulted in an agreement being made
by which the Dutch were permitted to retain possession of their
lands. In 1674, after the Dutch had recaptured New Amsterdam, Holland and England, by the treaty of Westminster, restored these lands to England, which country then remained in
possession until the Revolution.
In 1663, Petrus Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam, had
deeded the tract which comprised all the land within the
present city limits to his brother-in-law, Nicholas Verlet or Varlet.
The original deed, which was confirmed by Governor Carteret
May 12, 1068, is at present in the possession of the Stevens
family, and is preserved in excellent condition.
Charles II made a second grant, dated July 29, 1674, to the
Duke of York, who, in turn, the same year, granted to Sir
George Carteret what was afterwards known as East Jersey.
In a description in 1680 George Scott refers to Hoboken as
follows: "Further up is a good plantation in a neck of land almost on an island called Hobuck. It did belong to a Dutch
merchant, Aert Teunissen, who formerly, in the Indian war,
had his wife, children and servants murdered by the Indians, and
his house, cattle and stock destroyed by them. It is now settled
again, and a mill erected there by one dwelling in New York."
But few incidents appear in the history of the city until 1700,
when the inhabitants petitioned King William for relief from
the arbitrary powers exercised by the land proprietors. Land
troubles continued, however, until 1773, when the Legislature
provided for a complete survey and allotment of the, common
land among the freeholders. The survey, the original of which
is now on file in the Hackensack Court House, was very accurately made,
and is today the basis upon which all land titles are founded.
Nicholas Varlet died intestate in 1675, leaving two children,
Abraham and Susanna.
Abraham entered the service of the Dutch East India Company
and remained with this company until his death.
Susanna Varlet married John de Freest, and their daughter,
Susanna, married John Hickman. Hickman and his wife conveyed
the tract known as Hoboken to Samuel Bayard, a New
New York City merchant, in 1711 for 500 pounds.
It is supposed that Abraham, the son of Nicholas Varlet, conveyed
his interest in Hoboken to Nicholas Bayard, who was
probably a son of Samuel Bayard.
A commission appointed to examine into the Bayard title in
1764 reported that Hoboken belonged to William Bayard, who
is said to have been an heir of Nicholas Bayard.
The State of New Jersey, in 1780, confiscated all the lands of
William Bayard because he joined the army of the King of England.
A writ, dated Jan. 30, 1784, was issued out of the Common
Pleas of Bergen directed to Cornelius Haring, Agent of
Forfeited Estates in Bergen County, to sell and dispose of all
the lands belonging to Bayard. On March 16th, 1784, he sold
Hoboken to John Stevens, Jr., for 18,360 pounds, or about
$90,000.
In 1804 Col. Stevens advertised the sale of 800 lots, and May
6, 1839, his heirs conveyed the unsold property to the Hoboken
Land and Improvement Company, which was incorporated
Feb. 21, 1838.
Col. John Stevens, the founder of the present city of Hoboken,
was born in New York in 1749 and died in 1838. His grandfather
was a native of England, and came to New York as an
officer of the Crown. His father, John, became a resident of
New Jersey, and his son married Rachel, daughter of John Cox,
of Bloomsburg, N.J. He was for several years treasurer of the
State, and his sister married Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of
New York.
Early in 1774 a ferry was established beween New York and
Hoboken and was under the charge of Cornelius Haring, Agent.
for the State of New Jersey. During the war of the Revolution,
this, like all the other ferries, was under the control of the military.
Up to 1811 the Common Council of New York leased the
ferry to different parties, although all the years since 1784 John
Stevens had been the owner of Hoboken. 111 1802 he made
known the fact that he had successfully applied steam as a propelling
power in navigation, claiming that he was the first one to
do this. In April, 1811, John Stevens obtained a lease of the
ferry and immediately set out to complete his steam ferryboat.
It was called "Julianna," carried one hundred passengers,
and was the first steam ferryboat in the world.
In 1817 he disposed of his interest in the ferry to John, Robert
and Samuel Swartwout, who assigned it in 1818 to Philip Horne.
In 1821 the Stevens family repurchased the ferry, paying to the
city of New York $1,800 rent per annum. The ferryboats were
then propelled by steam, the first boat, the "Hoboken," making
regular trips every hour between, Hoboken and Barclay street.
The Christopher Street branch was started in July, 1836, taking
the place of the Spring Street landing which had been used
since 1774.
In 1814 Samuel Swartwout and his brother Robert purchased
from John Stevens the marsh portion of Hoboken, which is now
known as the "Coster Estate." They made a vegetable garden
of this section and attempted to reclaim a large portion of it.
They failed, however, and in 1819 their mortgagee, John G. Coster,
took title to the tract. In 186 Coster laid it out into building lots,
according to a map made by Daniel and Austin D.
Ewen, civil engineers, of New York.
Until 1849 Hoboken was a part of North Bergen and was then
organized as a separate township under the name of Hoboken.
In 1834 Hoboken was described as a place "built chiefly on one
street." It then contained about one hundred dwellings, four or
five stores and from six to seven hundred inhabitants.
The home of the New York Yacht Club which was founded in
1844, and which is now one of the most celebrated yacht clubs in
the world, was located for twenty years in Hoboken. Its first
club house was built in the Elysian Fields in the year 1845 and it
was not until 1868 that the club transferred its headquarters from
here to Staten Island.
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