Document: Ordinance against cutting sods or digging oyster shells on Manhattan Island within certain limits

[ Whereas the director general and councilors of New Netherland see and ] observe [ by their own experience ] that some [ persons undertake to ] dig and cause to have dug sod, not only between the walls of this city and the Varse water,[i] but also here and there [ on the highway ] within this city, and which, except for making the roads defective and useless, also would cause a want of sod when the fortifications of this city shall be put up and repaired; which then, for the common good, needs to be taken care of.[ii]

Therefore, the aforesaid director general and councilors hereby prohibit and forbid expressly that anybody, of whatever rank he may be, shall undertake to dig or cause to have dug any sod between the walls of this city and the Varse Waeter on the common pasture, much less on common roads within this city, without knowledge or consent of the director general and councilors, on pain of 25 guilders for the first time, and 50 guilders for the second time. Further, the aforesaid director general and councilors prohibit and forbid [ all persons from continuing to dig or dredge any oyster shells on the East River or on the North River between ] this city and the Varse Water on pain of a similar fine, as the director general and councilors consider such appropriate for the public benefit. Thus done at the meeting of the honorable lord director general and councilors in Fort Amsterdam in N: Netherland, the 11th of April 1658.

P. Stuyvesant Nicasius de Sille Pieter Tonneman

J. de Decker

Rights: This translation is provided for education and research purposes, courtesy of the  New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections, Mutual Cultural Heritage Project. Rights may be reserved. Responsibility for securing permissions to distribute, publish, reproduce or other use rest with the user. For additional information see our Copyright and Use Statement Source: New York State Archives. New Netherland. Council. Dutch colonial council minutes, 1638-1665. Series A1809. Volume 8.