Document: Indictment of Thomas Gridy for driving off George Baxter's cattle

To the honorable lord director general and councilors of New Netherland residing at Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland.

My lords,

Tomas Gridy, residing at Gravesande, and presently a prisoner, was publicly punished on the scaffold with rods several years ago for acts of thievery. Since that time he has been living on Long Island, and from time to time there have been a reports that he has been involved with some vagabonds on the aforesaid island in the killing and stealing of hogs, which until now we have been unable to prove. Nevertheless the aforesaid Grijdi was so bold in the company of a Negro, at the request (so he says) of George Baxter, at that time imprisoned for serious crimes, very early in the morning and before daybreak, without previous knowledge or consent of the aforesaid magistrates from the enclosure of Gems Hubert, to take away and indeed feloniously to steal the same animals that were placed in the hands of the magistrate of Gravesande by the fiscal, and drive the animals from the aforesaid village to a place where the imprisoned Baxter had no jurisdiction over them, and consequently could give no order to recover them; as a result of this the fiscal having apprehended and interrogated the aforesaid Gridij, learned through his confession that Gridij stole and drove away the aforesaid animals at daybreak. Whereby the aforesaid Baxter’s creditors have been significantly injured, because of his escape from confinement and the expenses incurred in prison; especially since Baxter’s effects will not even come close to covering his debts. Therefore, the fiscal requests that Tomas Grijdi, as a thief of detained animals, who drove them out of an enclosure and the village during the night, or at least daybreak, shall be brought to the place where justice is customarily done, and there to be hanged by the neck until dead.

Rights: This translation is provided for education and research purposes, courtesy of the  New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections, Mutual Cultural Heritage Project. Rights may be reserved. Responsibility for securing permissions to distribute, publish, reproduce or other use rest with the user. For additional information see our Copyright and Use Statement Source: New York State Archives. New Netherland. Council. Dutch colonial council minutes, 1638-1665. Series A1809. Volume 6.