writs

Writ of mandamus, April 28, 1648, concerning the case of Cornelis Melyn and Jochem Pietersz Cuyter, Dutch settlers who suffered losses due to the war "waged by Director Kieft unjustly and contrary to all international law" against the Native Americans. Willem Kieft was the Director of the New Netherlands from 1638 to 1647. He persecuted and massacred Native Americans, and subsequent retaliations led to Kieft's War, with devastating losses on both sides. When Melyn and Cuyter sent a petition to the Netherlands complaining about Kieft, they were banished by Peter Stuyvesant.

This collection contains papers relating to the Duane family and associated families. The bulk of the collection concerns the papers of James Duane, a prominent New York lawyer, patriot, and land developer. James Duane (1733-1797) became the ward of Robert Livingston after his father's death around 1734 and married Livingston's daughter Mary in 1759. He made a number of profitable real estate investments and was a prominent lawyer by the time of the American Revolution.