Making a Narrative out of the Past: The Jacob Leisler Institute for Early New York History
While working at the Jacob Leisler Institute, not surprisingly I have come across a plethora of material regarding Jacob Leisler himself, the rogue governor of New York. My job does not always call for me to read the actual contents of certain folders, articles, and town records, but sometimes titles of the folders are helpful in piecing together bits of the story of his life. Sometimes I am required to read the contents of folders while categorizing and archiving. For example, I was going through our catalog and matching it against a list of the readings that we should have, given to us by the National Archives in London. Usually, the names of our folders are much more specific than their Cryptic and general descriptions. I had to devote some time reading letters from an officer to an English nobleman, describing his encounters with the Leisler rebels, Native Americans, and French.
What came across to me was the relative success of Leisler’s rise to power in 1689, and how serious a threat the Native Americans and French posed to upstate New York at the time. Dutch lower-class people were behind Leisler in his ascent, and I’d venture to guess that those of other backgrounds would have been too, as the conflict was between the landed and wealthy of the colony versus everyone else. It is so fascinating to me to think of the history of the state of New York and remind myself that we were once not a democratic republic, and my state had once been ruled over very unfairly. A place so far from Europe, an ocean away from a millennium-long tradition of feudalistic and conservative rule, was simply implanted with that ruling style on the outset. We tend to think of the trajectory of American history as beginning with our revolutionary war, and it is easy to take for granted the precedents that the “founding fathers” had set for the country. In reality, these colonies were very much part of a European socio-political system of aristocracy, landed elites, and kings, bound in a concept of subject-ruler relations mandated by the 17th century concept of sovereignty.
I also found the Leisler had an exceptional relationship with his in-laws: they were his bitterest opponents when he took power. He married into wealth, and his new family was not at all pleased by this popular revolt. They were among the many people that wished to see Leisler hang, and by 1691, would get their wish. Hung half to death and then guillotined publicly, Jacob Leisler was treated as a traitor when proven guilty by a jury stacked against him. Many of our documents involve court proceedings from the1690’s were Leisler’s children would attempt to clear his name, and reverse the effects of attainder. Attainder refers to when the state or ruler takes away a citizen’s rights or land on the grounds of treason. Eventually the ruling would be reversed and Leisler’s children would see justice and the undoing of such a great shame. Nothing would be able to bring back their dead father, though.