OF OLD NEW YORK

First Woman Suffrage Bill

Fifty years ago the Legislature of the Territory of Wyoming
passed a bill granting equal civil rights to women—the first leg¬
islation of the kind adopted in America.

First White Men Land at Coney Island

On September 3rd, 1609 the first white men to set foot on the
soil of New York landed at Coney Island. Hendrik Hudson
who was just entering on his great discovery of the Hudson
river despatched a boat's crew from the Half Moon for the pur¬
pose of getting a haul of fish which were so abundant in the
waters of the bay. The crew landed on the lonely beach at
Coney Island little dreaming of the stirring and exciting scenes
which a later time would witness.

When New York Became New York

When the English took possession of New Amsterdam in 1664
the Dutch form of government was revoked and the name of the
Province and the Burgh changed to New York in honor of the
royal proprietor James, Duke of York who later became James
II. This took place Sept. 8, 1664. The government of the
municipality was placed in the hands of a mayor and five alder¬
men appointed by Governor Richard Nicolls who himself had
been appointed first English governor of the colony. Thomas
Willett was the first mayor and took his seat 1665.

The First White Child Born on Manhattan

The first white child born on Manhattan Island was Isaac du
Trieux son of Philip and Susanna du Trieux. The date of his
birth was April 21, 1642. Philip du Trieux was a Walloon hail¬
ing from the French section of the Netherlands and was one of
the first company of colonists who came to Manhattan to settle.
He became a respected burgher of the little settlement. After
1664 when the colony was ceded to the English many of the
Dutch names took on an English form. The name of du Trieux
became Truax and has come down to us in this form. It has
been claimed that Isaac Bedlew was the first white child born
in New Amsterdam but the records of the Reformed Dutch
Church in New Amsterdam bear out the facts as given above.
Isaac Bedlew's birth did not take place until the following year,
namely 1643.

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