John Colman was a crew member of the Half Moon

Halve Maen

The Halve Maen was a Dutch East India Company vlieboot which sailed into what is now New York harbor in September 1609. It was commissioned by the Dutch Republic to covertly find an eastern passage to China...

 under Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...

 who was killed by Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 by an arrow to his neck on September 6, 1609.

Biography

On September 6, 1609, only four days after the arrival of the first Dutch and English sailors, John Colman was reportedly killed by attacking Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 by an arrow to his neck. Colman was an "accomplished sailor" and served as second mate on Henry Hudson's ship. The Half Moon

Halve Maen

The Halve Maen was a Dutch East India Company vlieboot which sailed into what is now New York harbor in September 1609. It was commissioned by the Dutch Republic to covertly find an eastern passage to China...

 sailed into New York Harbor

New York Harbor

New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...

 and was anchored between Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

 and Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New JerseySandy Hook may also refer to:-Places:United States* Sandy Hook , a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut* Sandy Hook, Kentucky, a city in Elliott County...

. Colman was part of a 5 man crew that was aboard a rowboat that was scouting the area. Allegedly, two canoes filled with Native Americans attacked and fired a volley of arrows, killing Colman and wounding two others. The survivors of the attack returned to the Half Moon at 10 a.m. on September 7, 1609 with Colman's body. He was buried that day either at what is now Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

, Staten Island

Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

, Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New JerseySandy Hook may also refer to:-Places:United States* Sandy Hook , a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut* Sandy Hook, Kentucky, a city in Elliott County...

 or Keansburg, New Jersey

Keansburg, New Jersey

Keansburg is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 10,105.Keansburg was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 26, 1917, from portions of both Middletown Township and Raritan Township ,...

. The forgotten location was then named Colman's Point. A contemporary account of his death was written in the journal of Robert Jouet, the first mate of Half Moon

Halve Maen

The Halve Maen was a Dutch East India Company vlieboot which sailed into what is now New York harbor in September 1609. It was commissioned by the Dutch Republic to covertly find an eastern passage to China...

.

Legacy

The murder of John Colman was the basis for a poem by Thomas Frost

Thomas Frost

Thomas Frost is multiple Grammy Award-winning classical music producer, who won many of his awards for producing the albums of Vladimir Horowitz...

, "The Death of Colman", where he writes:

Then prone he fell within the boat,

A flinthead arrow through his throat

And now full many a stealthy skiff

Shot out into the bay;

And swiftly, sadly, pulled we back

To where the Half Moon lay;

But he was dead our master wept

He smiled, brave heart, as though he slept.

His death is commemorated by a mural at the Hudson County Courthouse

Hudson County Courthouse

The Hudson County Courthouse or Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Courthouse is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. The six-story structure was originally built between 1906 and 1910 at a cost of $3,328,016.56...

 in Jersey City. The New York Times has called it "the first recorded murder in what became metropolitan New York".