Document: Letter from Cornelis van Werckhoven concerning purchase of the Raritan country

[1] [ Copy. ]

[ Sir. ]

[ Arriving at Utrecht from Gelderland I received a letter ] from Q. van Seventer, [ chief clerk of the ] West India Company, dated the [ 11th of March, ] and with it an extract from a letter [ written by Baron Hendrick van der ] Capelle to your honor and the honorable Edward May, which said that his honor asserted to have bought the Raritan from the natives of the country (while this place has been granted and surrendered by your honors to me as a colony). I request therefore to be informed whether I am to look for another colony.

But I cannot omit to address myself to your honor in regard to it and to request with great respect that I may be sustained in the privileges of a colony, which has been granted to me, since no previous purchase had been made, his honor would not be able to maintain his claim, for his honor himself declares that he has given directions to buy the Raritan and believes or thinks that it is already purchased. This is not certain, while on the other side I have not only given directions two years ago to buy that district for me, but I have also received papers and communications about it, which I shall show to your honor that the same has been purchased for me and paid for to the lawful owners and natives of the country (as I stated to your honors in my request for the grant), [ and I cannot believe that, even though they are savages, they will sell a piece of property twice, but rather think that some persons have made his honor believe that this was a good piece of land, most convenient for his purposes, and have therefore acted in this manner to oust me. ] But I trust that the most honorable lords directors will uphold me in the grant given by them, in which your honor will please to support my interest, to have my privileges confirmed, for I shall not cede nor surrender my claim to Baron van der Capelle. His honor has himself written to me, to which I answered as you honor may see by the enclosure. Commending your honor with my very dutiful respects to the the protection of the Almighty I remain, as ever,

Utrecht, 18/8 March

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 York (Colony). Council. Dutch colonial administrative correspondence, 1646-1664. Series A1810-78. Volume 11, document 46, side 1.