Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/267

Rh VAN CURLER, or CORLEAR, Arendt, pioneer, b. in Holland about 1600 ; d. in Lake Cham plain in 1667. He was a cousin of Killian Van Rensselaer, came to this country in 1630 r and rose through subordinate offices to be the superintendent of the manor and colony of Rensselaerwyck, having juris- diction from Beeren island in the Hudson to the mouth of Mohawk river, controlling nearly a thou- sand square miles of fur-bearing territory. By his energy, talents, and character he made the pa- troon's colony more prosperous than that at New Amsterdam. He early mastered the language and learned the nature of the Iroquois Indians, and often visited their towns, either to ransom Christian captives or to make covenants of amity. He may be considered as the real founder of that Dutch policy of peace with the Indians that was after- ward followed by the English, which, by making an invincible obstacle to French ambition, aided so powerfully to secure this continent to Germanic instead of Latin civilization. In 1646 (the same year in which the patroon died) he married An- tonia, widow of Jonas Bronck (who founded Bronxville, N. Y.), and visited Holland. On his return he lived on his farm near West Troy, N. Y., using all his influence to keep peace between the whites and Indians and to check the trade in " fire-water." He greatly assisted Gov. Peter Stuy- vesant in treating with the Indians, especially at Esopus, in 1660. In 1661, having outgrown the semi-feudal ideas of the patroon system, he led a company of free settlers from Holland to Sche- nectady, which he had first bought from the Mo- hawks, and founded an agricultural settlement, in which all purchasers could hold land in fee simple. He several times assisted French individuals or companies when in straits of captivity, starvation, or ambuscade ; yet, by simple honesty of character, kept the friendship and unbounded confidence of the savages. In 1664, on the English conquest of New Netherlands, Col. Richard Nicolls sent for him to consult as to the Indian policy, and Van Curler's propositions were adopted. In 1667, while on a visit to Canada, by invitation of the French governor, Tracy, he was drowned in the middle of " Corlear's lake," or, as it is now called, Lake Champlain. The Mohawk Indians always ad- dressed the governors of New York and of Can- ada as " Corlear," and the Indian title of Queen Victoria is Kora Kowa — " the Great Corlear." He left about 2,000 letters and papers, which are pre- served chiefly in Albany, N. Y. A biography of Arendt Van Curler is in preparation. — Two others of the same name are Anthony Van Curler, the trumpeter, and Jacobus Van Curler, who was sent by Gov. Van Twiller, of New Netherlands, to oc- cupy territory in what is now Connecticut. He purchased land from Sassacus, sachem of the Pe- quots, and on 8 June, 1633, landed with a company of soldiers at what is now Dutch Point, Hartford, and erected a trading-factory, called the House of Hope. Hans Janse Eencluys, being in charge of the artillery, forbore to fire on the Englishman, Will- iam Holmes, while sailing past the fort to make a settlement at Windsor, and the Dutch finally evacuated the Connecticut valley. Van Curler was the first school-master in New York city, and his farm was on the point of land near the foot of Grand street, on East river, still called Corlear's hook. He afterward removed to Long island. VAN DAM, Rip, colonial governor, b. in Al- bany, N. Y., about 1662 ; d. in New York city after 1736. He became a prominent merchant in the West India trade, resisted Lord Bellomont's re- strictions on commerce, and, in consequence of the seizure of some of his vessels for supposed infrac- tion of the custom laws, engaged in politics, en- tered the assembly in 1699, and became a leader of the opposition party. With other merchants he signed a petition to the king protesting against Bellomont's acts. Lord Corn- bury, who removed some of the council- lors for promoting political disorder, appointed Van Dam to one of the vacan- cies. He continued in the council for nearly thirty years, and as its senior member and presi- dent assumed the administration and acted as governor from the death of Gov. John Mont- gomery on 1 July, 1731, till the arrival of his successor on 1 Aug., 1732. He was opposed to courts of chancery, and refused to take the oath as chancellor. When Gov. William Cosby on his arrival exhibited an order for an equal division of the salary, emoluments, and per- quisites, Van Dam refused to pay over any part of the salary that he had received unless Cosby divided the larger sum that he had obtained in England for pretended expenditures in the colony. They each brought suits, which were finally dropped without a settlement, after arousing intense parti- san feeling between the aristocratic friends of the governor and the popular party, which supported Van Dam. Van Dam absented himself from the meetings of the council, and Gov. Cosby, on his death-bed, secretly suspended him from office in order to prevent his succeeding again to the direc- tion of the government. George Clarke, who was next in length of service, was sworn in, but Van Dam claimed the office, and the rival governors each called a meeting of the council. Van Dam was sustained by the chief justice, and his adher- ents were ready to support his claim with arms, when the arrival from England of despatches that were addressed to Clarke put an end to the contro- versy. He published " Heads of Articles of Com- plaint against Gov. Cosby" (Boston, 1734).

VAN DEN BROEK, Theodore, clergyman, b. in Alkmaar, Holland, in 1783; d. in Little Chute, Wis., 5 Nov., 1851. He belonged to the order of St. Dominick, and came to the United States in 1832. After spending some time in studying the language and customs of the country at the Dominican convent of St. Rose, Ky., he determined to devote himself to the Indian mission. After laboring at Green Bay in 1834-'6 he went to Little Chute and established a school for the Indians', but his mission embraced almost the entire state of Wisconsin for several years. He visited the more distant stations generally in winter, often slept on the snow, and was frequently called to visit sick persons at a distance of 200 miles. He taught the savages agriculture and trained them to use carpenter's tools, as well as instructing them in the arts of masonry and plastering. With their aid he built a fine church in 1839. Between 1834 and 1842 he converted more than 600 Menominees. In 1844 he established the mission of St. Francis on Wolf river or Lake Powahegan, which in 1846 numbered 400 Indians, with a good church