34 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



resolved to quit the Menatans and, thus Wronged and plundered, 

 to join with wife and children my people in my colony on Staten 

 Island . . . and further intending to repair my above mentioned 

 losses, and attend to the support of my wife and children, which 

 has again been assiduously undertaken by myself and my people, 

 and commenced to cultivate the land which had been laying so 

 long fallow to clear, plow, sow, mow, thresh, make a harbour to 

 build houses, racks, barns for the purpose of lodging the people, 

 and the cattle we were using . . . and there had been commenced 

 i6 handsome farms as well by myself as by my children as also 

 by the people taken along by me for the Lord Van der Capelle 

 and sent over by His Honor ; which farms were covered with 27 

 buildings ; houses, racks and barns, each well provided with cattle 

 as well beautiful plow oxen, milch cows, as calves for increase, 

 so that everything began to be abundant on Staten Island." 

 Melyn was in prison in Manhattan when the Indian massacre 

 occurred on the " i6th of September [1655] when the savages 

 set fire to all buildings around the Menatans and killed and mur- 

 dered a large number of our people " ; his friends procured his 

 release, however. " I then immediately departed for the Staten 

 Island to see whether I could save my people, houses and goods 

 from the savages ; but in vain ; for a few days later the savages 

 arrived there in great numbers and commenced to attack our 

 people, to set fire to the houses, stacks, barns mostly full of grain, 

 so that the people were obliged to seek safety in my house which 

 they (the savages) also succeeded in setting afire. And when the 

 cinders began to fall down on us we were forced to leave it and 

 obliged to break through the savages to enable us to retire to an- 

 other small house standing close to the shore. Here we held out 

 for some time longer, hoping meanwhile to receive some assistance 

 from the Menatans. But all in vain. At last the savages called 

 out to us that if we desired quarter they would grant the same to 

 us, whereupon we resolved as we saw no other refuge (here 

 nearly an entire line obliterated) because from among our num- 

 ber already 15 or 16 persons, among whom my son 22 years old, 

 my son in law and two nephews had been shot dead, besides some 

 wounded ; and thus fifty-one in number went into captivity among 

 the savages, where we remained during thirty one days until I 

 had raised a ransom of about 1400 guilders for myself, wife, son 

 and son-in-law, which was to be paid if we did not want to be 

 burnt alive in a fire which for this purpose had been already pre- 

 pared and was burning. ... 



