John Colman

John Colman (died September 6, 1609) was a crew member of the Half Moon under Henry Hudson who was killed by Native Americans by an arrow to his neck.

Biography On September 6, 1609, only five days after the arrival of the first Dutch and English sailors, John Colman was reportedly killed by attacking 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 sailed into New York Harbor and was anchored between Coney Island and Sandy Hook. Colman was part of a five-man crew that was aboard a rowboat that was scouting the area. Allegedly, two Lenape 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 at one of four possible locations (referred to by their present-day names): Coney Island, Staten Island, Sandy Hook or Keansburg, New Jersey. The now-forgotten location was then named Colman's Point. A contemporary account of his death was written in the journal of Robert Juet, the first mate of the Half Moon. The most likely point of Coleman's burial may have been Sandy Hook, or "Coleman's Point".

He was shot in the throat by an arrow: and as he had been a companion of Hudson's in his Polar adventures, having burind him on the beach, he named Sandy Hook "Coleman's Point," in honor of him — Excerpt from The Catskill Mountains and the Region Around, 1867

Evan Pritchard, author of Henry Hudson and the Algonquins of New York, speculates the attack on Colman occurred because he strayed too near a wampum making outpost, provoking a preemptive strike by wary Native peoples living near Manhattan.