452 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



and then the spot which they cultivated before shall return again to Mr. Bronck 

 aforesaid, to dispose of according to pleasure ; they shall be further obliged to re- 

 turn the' held that they again surrender, that it is in proper order to be ploughed, 

 and sowed with grain j this lot of ground they shall have the use during three 

 years, for which Mr. Bronck shall have no other claim than that the land shall 

 have been cleared and brought into a proper manner of cultivation by the dili- 

 gence of Peter Andriessen and Lourent Dayts, who from their side shall be holden 

 to accomplish their task. 

 2ist July, 1639. MAUNT JANSSEN, witness. "a 



We find Jonas Bronck again leasing land on the 15th of August, 1639, 

 to Cornelius Jacobsen Stoll and John Jacobsen. 6 



Jonas Bronck must have died sometime prior to the year 1643, for we 

 find his widow, Antonia Slaghboom, at that date married to Arendt van 

 Curler. His descendants are said to be still numerous in the vicinity of 

 Coxsackie, Green County, and Coeymans, Albany County, New York. 



" His widow, Antonia Slaghboom, married Arent Van Corlaer, whose 

 name became with the Indians the representative of justice and good- 

 will; and their amity for 'Corlear' embraced all the Dutch, to whom 

 they gave his name, ' Bronck's, his land.' " c 



By the marriage of Antonia Slaghboom, Bronck 's land passed into 

 the Van Curler family. In a letter to the patroon Van Renssalaer, 

 dated, "The Manhattans, this 16th of June, 1643," Van Curler says: — 



' ; I am at present betrothed to the widow of the late Mr. Jonas Bronck. 

 May the good God vouchsafe to bless me in my undertaking, and 

 pleased to grant that it might conduce to His honor and to our mutual 

 salvation. Amen." (i 



On the 30th of October, 1644, Van Curler obtained a "grond brief" 

 for Bronck's land from William Kieft, Director General. I cannot for- 

 bear quoting an interesting sketch of this distinguished individual by E. 

 B. O'Callaghan, historian of the New Netherlands : — 



" Arendt Van Curler was one of those characters who deserve to live 

 in history. His influence among the Indians was unlimited, and in 

 honor of his memory these tribes addressed all succeeding governors of 

 New York by the name of 'Corlear.' He possessed feelings of the 

 purest humanity, and actively exerted his influence in rescuing from the 

 savages such Christians as had the misfortune to fall into their hands, 

 of whose danger he might receive timely notice. On his marriage with 

 Antonia Slaghboom, the widow of Jonas Bronck, he visited Holland, and 

 on his return moved to the Flatts above Albany, where he had a farm. 

 He was proprietor of a brewery in Beverwyck, in 1661. Being a cousin 



a AH). }:■ 



b Alb. 



c New York in thf Olden Time, by J. Barnitz Bacon.— Sunday Times. 



d O'Callaghan'a Hlflt. -V Y.,4W. " 



