The first settlers of Flatbush were a group composed of Dutchmen and women, and men and woman slaves, all adept at different skill sets. The men were craftsmen who were knowledgeable of mechanical trades. Reverend Thomas M. Strong, pastor of the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church, wrote in 1842 that this was “calculated to promote their domestic comfort, to render themselves useful to one another and to make them quite independent of extraneous aid.”[vi] The women of Flatbush would keep the house, while the slaves were skilled in shoemaking, leather tanning, carpentry, and farming.[vii]
It was a rural life. When November came around, a season called “killing time,”[viii] housewives and farmers faced an extreme amount of labor. They killed pigs and cows, around six to eight of which were considered enough for the family to rely on for the winter. The slaughtered animals were cut up and salted as soon as they were killed and kept cold or frozen. The slaves took a prominent part in the preparations.
After the first shipment of slaves to New York in 1626, the settlers found themselves relying on slave workers more and more because of a lack of other workers. Slaves played an integral role in the colonial households, especially during “killing time” when they would make ham, sausages, head-cheese, and rolliches.[ix] Rolliches are pieces of fat and lean beef that the Dutch would cut into pieces slightly larger than dice before seasoning them well and eating them cold. “Head-cheese” is very similar to rolliches, made of pork instead of beef.
Rolled head cheese
In addition to the dishes listed above, the Dutch families in Flatbush often ate bread. The housewives usually baked the bread themselves, but when they were tired or busy, they would have their well-trained colored cooks bake it for them. Baking bread was an important yet heavy duty because the process usually entailed baking twelve loaves at once. Since Flatbush farmers never bought flour, the process of bread baking actually began with the raising of the grain on their lands before sending it to the mill to produce their own flour.[x]
Farmers in New York typically inherited their farmland from their families, and ownership could be transmitted for several generations. However, by the late nineteenth century, there were relatively few descendants of the first settlers residing in Flatbush, and farms were passed to new owners. Moreover, around this time, the town was developing into a more suburban community, and farm owners ultimately surrendered their lands. However, many farmers insisted on retaining their farmlands, reluctant to give up their means of living to make way for new avenues and boulevards.[xi]
Aside from farming, another important aspect of colonial life in Flatbush was religion. In Holland and England, it was customary to bury the dead under the church they worshipped in. The settlers in Flatbush continued this practice. Those who could afford to were therefore buried under the grounds immediately surrounding the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church.[xii] Religion was an important part of Flatbush in more day-to-day life as well. The book Historical Sketch of the Zabriskie Homestead by P.L Schenck provides a mini biography of Flatbush resident Jacob Lefferts, a distinguished member of the community during the eighteenth century. As is indicated by Lefferts’ reluctance to allow his daughter Abigail to marry Captain Lloyd, and Abigail’s involvement with the Female Religious Tract Society of Flatbush and Flatlands (which later became the Female Bible and Religious Tract Society of Kings County), religion had a strong role in social practices. [xiii]
Other important parts of Flatbush culture were pastimes including music and dancing. During the Revolutionary days, the people of Flatbush had a band of music in town, and the young people would dance as the band played. There was already at least one piano in Flatbush by 1812, and perhaps even earlier, that the author of The Social History of Flatbush, and Manners and Customs of the Dutch Settlers in Kings County remembers seeing during that time. “It was scarcely six octaves in length, and had a spindling, attenuated appearance, arising from the shallowness of the body and the thin gilded legs,” she writes. The author even provides a receipt for the piano that was bought in 1812, which cost $270, a huge price for that time period.[xiv]
The piano receipt for $270
The Dutch had a very family oriented culture. One of their customs was to set aside time each day to keep schemeravond (family time) in the twilight when they would speak to each other and tell spookjes (ghost stories) under the setting sun. The Dutch were complacent going about their daily lives, working, and spending time with their families. [xv]
The first census taken in the United States in 1790 shows a very high concentration of Dutch settlers living in New York. The Dutch had already begun settling New York as early as the 1640s,[xvi] and by 1790, the Dutch population in Kings County made up 45.7% of the area’s 3,021 residents. The remaining percentage was made up of white settlers of different nationalities, including English, Scottish, and Irish colonists. There were also some blacks in Kings County by 1790; 333 white families owned slaves at the time the census was taken, as well as one free black family.[xvii]
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