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The director general and councilors of New Netherland, together with the magistrates of the village of Middelborch, having heard the charge of the fiscal against Jan Smith, presently a prisoner, concerning the stealing of hogs in the woods, tobacco, and various other thieveries, in addition to the prisoner’s confession, and having examined all there was to look at, condemn the aforesaid Jan Smith by a plurality of votes that he be whipped, branded, [      ] as an example [      ] presently no opportunity to send [      ] he shall be placed until that opportunity [      ] as long as [      ] in order to send him away. Denying [      ] his further request.

Done at Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, ady ut supra. (Was signed: P. Stuyvesant, Nicasius de Sille, La Montagne, Robert Coo, X this is the mark of Hazard.

Whereas Jan Smith, born in Willickschier in old England, presently a prisoner, has undertaken and not refrained from killing the hogs of other people with his own hands and stealing them in the woods (being the common pasture here for livestock) and seducing other persons and incite them to kill and steal hogs of other people; also, soliciting them to go steal tobacco with him at Taelman’s Hoeck, saying: “There are only two Negroes there in the house; we’ll go during the night and I’ll speak Indian to scare them away, and if they don’t run away we’ll kill them; they’re just Negroes; and then we’ll steal the tobacco and set the house on fire so that the people will think the Indians did it.” In addition, he, the prisoner, picked up goods from merchants here on behalf of other people, appropriating die goods for himself, which he later had to return. All of which not only leads to considerable loss and detriment for those who come to lose their animals and goods thereby, but also to the great damage of the commanalty, for which the fiscal has entered an indictment and conclusion against against the aforesaid Jan Smith. The honorable director general and councilors having seen the fiscal’s criminal indictment and heard the defense of the aforesaid Jan Smith and his confession, made without torture and chains, and having examined everything there was to examine in this case; therefore, the director general and councilors, after evoking God’s holy name, dispensing justice on behalf of the noble high and mighty lords, the States General of the United Netherlands and the noble lords directors of the chartered West India Company, condemn the aforesaid Jan Smith of Willickschier, as they hereby do, that he be brought to the place where justice is commonly done, and there to be beaten severely with rods, branded, and banished from this province forever, as an example to other such field and livestock thieves.

Thus done at Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland. Ady ut supra, 26 January 1656.

References

Translation: Gehring, C., trans./ed., New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vol. 6, Council Minutes, 1655-1656 (Syracuse: 1995). A complete copy of this publication is available on the New Netherland Institute website.