Throughout the decades and around the world, winter holidays feature many different traditions. From Kwanzaa to Hannukah to St. Lucia Day to Three Kings Day, you can find celebrations centered around special foods, religious events, and more. In early New York, traditions of the Iroquois, Dutch, English, German, French, and enslaved Africans existed side by side and intermingled. Residents of Montgomery County (Fulton was not created until 1838) would not have escaped the influences of the many cultures that settled here.
Although what we know as present-day Fulton County wasn’t the Dutch cultural stronghold that Albany and the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys were, there is still evidence of Dutch heritage to be found here. Looking in early records reveals a smattering of Dutch names: Vroonlan, Fonda, Dow, Hance. The men listed on the deed for land that encompasses the modern Town of Johnstown are a combination of Iroquois, Dutch, and English names: Cechehoana, Seth, Hance Ranceer, Abraham Dow, Jacob, Hendrick, Petuis Hance, Wild Deaf Hendrick, and Daniel Sayengarghta. The parcel was purchased from local Iroquois for “three peices of Showde [cloth], six pieces of galling linnen, three barrels of Beer, six gallons of Rum, and a fatt Beast.” 1
Still, there was not a huge Dutch presence in the area partially, it is assumed, because of the strong influence of Sir William Johnson. There was no love lost between the Irish servant of the English Crown Johnson and the Dutch (who lost their New Netherland colony to England in 1664). Still, Beverwijk, renamed Albany, remained largely culturally Dutch. Johnson earned the ire of these powerful Albany merchants – and his uncle Peter Warren – when he built Mount Johnson (Fort Johnson) along the Mohawk River in 1739 and began working directly with businessmen in New York City, cutting out the Albany middlemen altogether.
References to the Dutch and their perceived unscrupulous ways are littered throughout the Johnson Papers. In a letter to Cadwallader Colden in 1761, Johnson wrote: “There is no Justice to be expected by any Englishman in this country, nor never will, whilst the Bench of Judges and Justices is composed entirely of Dutch,” underscoring the “partiality, cruelty and oppression of those in authority here, who call themselves the Dutch.” A letter to Johnson from Witham Marsh the following fall called the Dutch “Rascals,” and an earlier letter to Johnson from John Lyne read: “I have no news to write you from this remote place only to acquint you yt [that] I thought since the Rebellion in Scotland ye Devil had been a Scotah Man but I find him to be a Dutch Man.”
After the Revolution, “a third and mingled race, from New England, and also Scotch, German, and Dutch, came on the great wave of immigration.” Writing in 1892, Washington Frothingham acknowledged the continued influence of these early groups, stating it “is still felt in the throbbing life about us, and their history is our inheritance.” 2 Most of these newcomers making their homes in the Kingsborough settlment were Yankees, specifically from Connecticut. It’s no accident that the configuration of the area was modeled after a New England town, with a green in the center. In May 1803, Reverend Elisha Yale (whose statue stands on that green today) took a rough census of the settlement: “Kingsborough is a pleasant society, five by seven miles in extent, about fifty miles from Albany, nine north of the Mohawk, containing 233 families, and about 1,400 souls. Of the families, 191 are of English descent, 23 Scotch, 14 Dutch, and 5 Irish . . . 15 Methodist families, 7 Baptist, and 5 families of Friends [Quakers].” A decade later, Spafford’s Gazetteer included a passage reading: “The present inhabitants are a mixture, rather than a compound, of Yankees, Scotch, Dutch, German, and other immigrants and their descendants.”
So what does any of this have to do with Santa Claus? Our notion of a jolly old elf with a snowy white beard and magic sleigh of flying reindeer is a relatively modern concept, but it’s based in tradition going back centuries.
Saint Nicholas is believed to have been the Bishop of Myra, the present-day town Demre (Turkey). The historic figure of Nicholas most likely died on December 6th between 340 and 350 CE. He was connected to many miracles and was especially revered by sailors. Perhaps St. Nicholas’ most famous miracle revolves around the poor father of three daughters. He had no money for dowries and had chosen to sell them. When St. Nicholas heard of this, he brought a gold ball the night before each daughter came of age to help with the dowry.
The Dutch celebrated Sinterklaasavond on December 6th, creating a contraction of “Sint” (Saint) and “Nikolaas” (Nicholas). The idea of Sinterklaas traveled with missionaries throughout Europe. Sinterklaas was more of a secular, all-purpose saint – a folk hero. 3
So Sinterklaas came to the New World. It’s evident from records left by New Netherland settlers that they celebrated Sinterklaas, despite the fact that the Dutch Reformed Church, supported by the West India Company, banned these types of celebrations. It was an important holiday for children, who would put their shoes or stockings near the hearth on December 5th with hopes that they would be filled with goodies upon waking. Common treats included fruits, like apples, pears, and oranges, special breads and cakes such as Deventer koek (spice cake), gingerbread, and duivekater, a buttery lemon-flavored bread baked throughout the season. Children might also receive dolls and other toys and trinkets.4 A Dutch children’s song included the lyrics: “wie zoet is krijgt lekkers, wie stout is de roe” – “good children get sweets, naughty ones get switches for spanking.” 5
In 1809, Washington Irving wrote a spoof called A History of New York, which included a description of St. Nicholas moving across rooftops and “drawing forth magnificent presents from his breeches pocket.” Clement C. Moore and Thomas Nast each contributed to our modern version of Santa Claus – Moore through A Visit from St. Nicholas and Nast through his illustrations.
With Dutch and English families living so closely in early Kingsborough, there was sure to have been some cultural exchange. Early Dutch settlers may have celebrated St. Nicholas Day in the beginning of December while their English neighbors observed the more religiously-based day of Christmas. St. Nicholas Day is still celebrated all over the world today. Not only that, but the influence of the Dutch is prevalent in our every day lives – for example, in the words “cookies” and “coleslaw,” in the sport of bowling, and in many of our place names: Bleecker, Amsterdam, Kinderhook, Watervliet, Catskill… the list goes on.
On December 15th at 1pm, Sinterklaas will be making a special visit to the Fulton County Historical Society during the Festival of Trees. Enjoy some hot chocolate and other holiday treats while listening to Sinterklaas read some of his favorite seasonal stories. This event is free, though donations are appreciated.
