Note 71 — PETER KALM’s TRAVELS. (continued 3)

The inhabitants of Albany and its environs are almost all Dutchmen. They speak Dutch, have Dutch preachers, and divine service is performed in that language: their manners are likewise quite Dutch; their dress is however like that of the English. It is well known that the first Europeans who settled in the province of New York were Dutchmen. During the time that they were the masters of this province, they possessed themselves of New Sweden71, of which they were jealous. However the pleasure of possessing this conquered land and their own, was but of short duration; for towards the end of 1664, Sir Robert Carre, by order of King Charles the second, went to New York, then New Amsterdam, and took it. Soon after Colonel Nichols went to Albany, which then bore the name of Fort Orange, and upon taking it, named it Albany, from the Duke of York’s Scotch title. The Dutch inhabitants were allowed either to continue where they were, and, under the protection of the English, to enjoy all their former privileges, or to leave the country. The greater part of them chose to stay, and from them the Dutchmen are descended, who now live in the province of New York, and who possess the greatest and best estates in that province.