344            HISTORY  OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Sr.

Having received the surprising news that the Inhabitants of Boston have sett
up a Gouvernment for themselves and disabled his Excellency the Capt. Generall
and Gouvernor in Chieff from acting in the gouvernment These are therefore
to desire you That you woiUd come with all expedition to advise and consult
with us what proper is to be done for the safety and welfare off the Gouvern¬
ment this Citty and part of the gouvernment being resolved to continue in
their station till further order.    Soe not doubting off y'' Complyance Uemaine
Y' friends & humble Servants
Fe. Nicholson
Fred. Philipse
Step. Van Coetlandt,
Nicm Bayard.
New Yorcke, 1689 ApriU the 27th.

The city militia consisted of si? free companies called train-bands,
embraced in a colonel's command. As many of the regular soldiers were
in Maine it was the oiUy defense of New York, with the exception of a
sergeant's guard of royal troops which garrisoned the fort. Nicholson
proposed that one of these train-bands should mount guard every night,
supposing it would give the people a greater sense of security. Bayard
was their colonel; and the six captains were Abraham De Peyster, Johan¬
nes De Bruyn,^ Gabriel MinvieUe, Charles Lodwyck, Nicholas Stuyves¬
ant, and Jacob Leisler. De Peyster was a rich and aristocratic merchant
■of fine intelUgence and exceUent parts, the son of Johannes De Peyster.
He was of French descent, as was also De Bruyn and MinvieUe. The
latter had been a resident of New York for about twenty years. His wife
was the daughter of John Lawrence; and he was at one time mayor of
the city. Lodwyck was an English "merchant and an old-time Whig of
the deepest dye. He was a man of ineproachable character, and of no
mean ability. Five years afterward he was elected mayor of the city
Stuyvesant was the son of the old govemor, and about forty years of age

1 Johannes De Bruyn was the first of the name in this country. He was of French descent
and the ancestor of the New York family of Brown. Indeed his name is sometimes spelled
both ways, De Bruyn, aud Broivn, in the same manuscript document. He was an educated
young man with considerable property. He commanded all the colonial forces in the wii with
the Indians just after the Colonial Revolution. His son, W. Brown, married Elizabeth
Taerling, the gi'anddaughter of Stephen Richards, and held many impoi-tant position^ Their
son Stephen Richards Brown, bom 1765, bad a daughter Slaria who married Oliver Du Bois
The children of the latter were as follows : Stephen; Richard ; Adeline ; Catharine. Ade¬
line married Samuel Russel, and her daughter Almira married Major-Genei-al Hancock.
Catharine married William Bennett, and her children were Helen, Emma, and Louisa. Helen
married General S. S. Carroll, of Carrollton, and Emma married Leopold Bonvia. The chil¬
dren of the latter are Laura, Maurice, and Bertha.