Document: Summons of several residents of Hempstead to answer the complaint of the farmer of the excise

[Petrus Stuyvesant, by authoritie of the High and Mighty Staats-Generall of the United belgick provinces and the Hounorable Lords bewinthebberen off the Westindia Comp. Governor General of the Niew Netherlands, Curaçao, Bonairo, Aruba, and the Councell of Staet heere established doe order by these presence,] Claes van [ Elslant junior our messenger of Justice, ] [i]

Whereas the farmer of the excise on Long Island [ John de la Montaigne ] [ ] showed the nasty treatment given [ him ] and the opposition against our order by the magistrates and some inhabitants of the village of Heemsteede on Long Island, refusing to pay the usual tappers’ excise; therefore we order you to subpoena and summon the aforesaid persons, namely the magistrates who served last year and those who serve at present, as well as Tomas Safter, Simon Seron, Arij Forman, John H[ ickes ], Blu Jan Smith, Jan Harman, Aeltjen Pietersen, James Peijn, Tomas Gerlant, William Jeets, and Jeremij Wood, to appear next Thursday, being the 2nd of January, before us here in Fort Amsterdam and to listen to such claim as the fiscal ex officio shall make and take against them, reporting to us your experiences. Thus done and given under our hand and seal in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, the 19th of December, anno 1658.

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 8.