48 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

CHAPTER II.

THE EARLY SETTLERS AND PATENTS OF BROOKLYN.*

UNLIKE the English towns at the eastern end of Long IslandÑwhich were generally settled by congregations or companies of individuals, bringing with them established religious and civil organizations--the Dutch settlements in the neighborhood of New Amsterdam mostly began as individual enterprises. The new-comers took up such tracts of land as best suited them, and commenced their cultivation. These lands were either selected from those of which the title had already been secured by the West India Company, or were purchased directly from the Indian proprietors themselves. In either case, their occupation was duly sanctioned by a patent or it “ground-brief” from the Company, and confirmatory patents were also granted after the lands had been under cultivation for a certain number of years. Official transcripts of most of these patents yet exist in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, from which, together with town and county records, we are enabled to locate the farms or "bouweries" of the early settlers with a considerable degree of accuracy. The dates of these patents mostly range from 1640 to 1646, in which latter year the period of incubation may be said to have terminated by the incorporation of the village of Breuckelen.

* NOTE.—In the preparation of this chapter we have received great assistance from Hon. Teuis G. Bergen, of New Utrecht. His well-known interest in all that relates to the history and antiquities of King's County, together with an extensive fund of local information, acquired in the long practice of his profession as a Surveyor, abundantly qualify him for the important services which he has so kindly rendered us in this portion of our work. To the late J. M. Grumman, City Surveyor, Messrs. Silas Ludlam, Henry H. Pierrepont, Barnet Johnson, Nicholas Wyckoff, Daniel Richards, and others, we are also indebted for facilities for examining maps, family MISS., etc., for which we desire to return our grateful acknowledgments.