Page:Augustine Herrman, beginner of the Virginia tobacco trade, merchant of New Amsterdam and first lord of Bohemia manor in Maryland (1941).djvu/36

 Very friendly relations always seem to have existed between Herrman and the Hacks. Their lives and fortunes were united for a quarter century or more. The Verletts first settled in the Dutch Colony on the west bank of the Connecticut River, Good Hope, later Hartford; and if Anna was indeed the daughter of Casper Verlett she may have arrived in America around the year 1633; and it is possible that she was born at Good Hope. The Verletts subsequently became large land owners not only in Connecticut but also in New Netherland. Nicholas Verlett was among the early lawyers of New Amsterdam.

Joost Van Beeck was an agent in New Amsterdam for Herrman and engaged in the marketing of tobacco in his own name. On one occasion Herrman delivered four hogsheads of tobacco that had been inspected and passed. Later Van Beeck inspected the tobacco and found that the greater part of it was spoiled and not marketable, and proceeded to bring suit against Herrman. As we study the early history of the Dutch in New Amsterdam we find them to have been a rather quarrelsome folk and their daily transactions seem to have been filled with a continuous round of law suits. On this occasion Van Beeck lost the suit, the court claiming that he himself was present when the tobacco was inspected and if it was in bad condition he should not have received it. The Dutch at this period were careful that all the tobacco that left the port was inspected properly, and the court judging that the inspector had been careless in his duties gave Van Beeck leave to sue him.

The culmination of Herrman’s tobacco trade came about the year 1655. The price of Virginia and Maryland tobacco was low that year on account of the extensive culture of the