Thomas Morris Strong, a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Flatbush, wrote an early history of Flatbush that contained very little information about Native Americans. He did mention that “of late, some few farms have been purchased, and Flatbush property is now in the market.” He did not mention, however, that many of these lands were forcefully purchased from Native Americans. He also says that the book documents the “genealogy of most of the older families of Flatbush,” which should but does not include Native Americans.[i] The only times they are mentioned are as “Indian proprietors,” when land and farm purchases are made and in border disputes such as that of Flatbush and Brooklyn in 1678.[ii] This shows that Native Americans had little or no social involvement with European immigrants, and that it was limited to dealings with the land.
[i] Ibid.
[ii] Strong, The History of the Town of Flatbush in Kings County, Long-Island, 11.
