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CHAPTER   XVII.

BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES   OF   PROMINENT   MEN   IN   THIS   CITY,   TOWARD   THK
CLOSE   OF   THE   SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.

William ,/ltwood, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in
the time of Governor Bellamont, resided in this city but a
short period; after the death of that nobleman, he presided
at the trial of Nicholas Bayard, for treason, and exhibited
the strongest prejudice against the accused, who was con¬
victed. The party of Mr. Bayard coming into power
shortly afterward, Atwood fled the country, to escape the
retaliating power of his political adversaries.

JYicholas Bayard came to this city while a youth, soon
after the arrival of Governor Stuyvesant, of whose wife
he was a relative. In 1665, he was appointed clerk of the
Court of Mayor and Aldermen, and kept the minutes in
both the Dutch and English, being conversant with both
these languages. He afterward engaged in business as a
brewer and merchant, establishing his residence on the
present north side of Stone street, near Hanover square.

Mr. Bayard was an active politician, and soon rose
to the highest offices in the province. , In the time of
Leisler's movement against the government of Dongan,
Mr. Bayard was a member of the Governor's Council, and
took the most conspicuous part in opposition to Leislei