Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 8

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1482

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"OLD SWEDES' CHURCH."

The Swedes were eminently a pious people. One of their first duties in making a settlement on the Delaware was to establish a church; and to-day the most sacred landmark in the city of Wilmington is what is known as "Old Swedes' Church." It is a veritable shrine, and attracts thousands of visitors annually. The corner-stone for this sacred edifice was laid by the Rev. Eric Bjork, pastor of the original Swedish Lutheran colony on the Delaware River, May 28, 1698. There is a well preserved tradition that when the con- gregation set out to build it two hundred years ago, the pious women carried small stones to the masons in their aprons. This was their contribution to the edifice that has

outlived many generations, and is still used as a temple of worship.

Owing to the sacred character of this vener- able edifice, and the associations which cluster around it, the two hundreth anniversary of its founding was reverently observed on the 28th of May, 1898, under the direction of Rev. II. Ashton Henry, rector of Trinity Church, and Rev. Martin B. Dunlap, rector of Old Swedes' Church.

This church building is the most important relic of the Swedish-American colonial enter- prise inspired by King Gustavus Adolphus, the third of the great Vasa sovereigns of Sweden. It connects local church history with the great religious reformation of Europe, of which Martin Luther was the theological leader, and Gustavus Adolphus the royal mili- tary champion. The building, simple as it is in architectural conception, and rough as it is in workmanship, is a growth of two cen- turies duration. In its growth it has become beautiful. Fortunately, the exterior additions to the building have been in harmony with the original design. In its rough picturesque simplicity, no less than in its sacred character, it is a fitting monument commemorating the zealous and industrious piety of the Swedish colonists in America, the impetuous piety of Luther, and the glorious achievements of Gus- tavus Adolphus in behalf of civil and religious liberty.

In American history, and especially in the history of Delaware, this venerable church commemorates great events. It marks the site of one of the earliest European colonies upon the North American continent. Includ- ed in the conception and planning of the col- ony of which the church is the oldest remains, were greater projects-higher ideals and grander anticipations-than were included in the planning of any other of the early Ameri- can colonies. The people who came here were not exiles fleeing from political or religious persecution. They came to America as wards of the most enlightened government, and citi- zens of the most powerful nation in Europe. Their mission was not a merely sordid one.

Those early colonists were not gold seck- ing, race exterminating adventurers, but mis- sionaries sent forth for the "spread of the Holy Gospel," and for the founding of a new nation upon the broad principles of civil and religious liberty-a nation the marked characteristics

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STATE OF DELAWARE

of whose charter was tolerance in civic and re- ligious affairs; a New Sweden in which there should be no slaves, and where every citizen should enjoy freedom of conscience.

The attempt to work out this great project in America began at what is now the site of "Old Swedes' " Church, in the city of Wil- mington. There were no such just concep- tions of government, nor yet of religious free- dom, behind the efforts of the English colo- nists at Plymouth or Jamestown, the Dutch at Manhattan, or the Spaniards in South and Central America. The Swedish colonial pur- pose was unique; and there is no record in the history of its attempted realization of a serious departure from that purpose. These colonists had anticipated William Penn's pacific policy toward the Indians, and his idea of religious tolerance by half a century. Ile found when he arrived here that they had begun the movement for those high ideals that were to spread over the continent and be- come the glory of American civilization. They had made the little Swedish town of Christianahamn, (the name they gave the place in their language, and what is known as Christiana in English), the seat of the first military occupation of territory, in what is now the territory of Pennsylvania, New Jer- sey, Delaware and Maryland; made it the seat of the first permanent European colony; of the first ecclesiastical organization, and of the first court of justice.

This is what "Old Swedes' " Church com- memorates in American history, and what made its bi-centennial anniversary a matter of very great historie importance, as well as of interest to religious denominations through- out this country.

The old church, with its ivy-covered walls, which may be seen from the car windows of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, as the train sweeps by, is the third of the Swedish Lutheran churches erected by the colonists at Christianahamn. The first of these three buildings was erected inside the fort built immediately after their arrival. This fort was situated upon the top of a hill, which overhung what was long after known as "The Rocks." This was a rocky point ex- tending out to tide-water between the Brandy- wine and Christiana creeks. The rocks formed a natural wharf with deep water in front, and around to the east side of the high-

land of which "The Rocks" were the base, was a deep and commodious harbor for the mooring of their ships, while the top of the hill was a level plateau, affording an excel- lent outlook and making a splendid site for their first fortification.

Here the colonists built the fort, and in- side of it the first Swedish Lutheran church in America. It was around this fort that the first military engagement between European soldiers in America was fought. This was the place invested and captured by Stuyvesant in 1655, as narrated in this introduction.

When the Swedes marched out, the Dutch were disgusted to find that the enemy they had spent so much time and trouble in dis- lodging, numbered but a score. The Dutch had conquered, and were the masters in New Sweden, and continued in power-much to the disgust of the Swedes-until finally dis- possessed by the English.

Tradition says that one of the Swedish colo- nists, a young woman, died on shipboard at "The Rocks," or shortly before the arrival there, and one of the first things the colonists did was to bury this woman in what is now the cemetery around "Old Swedes' " Church. This first necessary action fixed the site of the Swedish cemetery at Christianahamm, and in- cidentally decided a question much discussed by their successors sixty years afterward- that of locating the present church edifice.

The second church building was erected at Crane Hook, half a mile south of "Old Swedes' " Church, and close upon the shore of the Delaware River. Crane Hook Church was built in 1667. It was abandoned in 1699. The site of the church building is marked by a monument recently erected by the Histori- cal Society of Delaware, as the result of 4 movement started by Pennock Pusey, to mark the places made memorable by the Swedish colonists on the Delaware.

The ercetion of a new church building was made desirable: first by the decay of the old building at Crane Hook; secondly, by the growth of the settlement on the north side of the Christiana. This was the condition of things, when Rev. Eric Bjork, pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Congregation in America, by appointment of Charles XI, of Sweden, arrived in Christianahamn in 1697. He be- gan immediately to talk and work for the ereo- tion of a new church building. He became

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

the architect and builder of Holy Trinity Church, now known as "Oldl Swedes'." A whole year elapsed before any visible progress was made.

After deciding to build, the most difficult problem to solve seems to have been the se- lection of the site for the new building. The .Swedish settlements had extended southward along the Delaware River to St. George's on the Delaware side and to Salem on the New Jersey side. These people objected to having the church erected at a greater distance from their homes. The crossing of the Christiana was a matter of interest to both the south side and north side residents. Neither party wanted to pay ferry tolls every Sunday morn- ing to go to church. It was finally agreed that the church should be on the north side, and the north side residents agreed to furnish a new boat for the free use of the south side folks when they came to church.

In the sixty years that had passed since the first grave was made in what was then a lonely spot, and the Swedish girl, far from home and kindred, was laid at rest, many other graves had been made there, and this fact finally settled the matter of locating the build- ing. The site was a historie "God's Acre" to the Swedish colonists even then. For nearly a century and a half since then, the burial of the Swedes, their descendants and successors has been going on in this burial place, until it is crowded with the remains of the good and the great of their material and spiritual posterity.

The graves of their early priests, their wives and children, and of prominent church- men of the early days of its history have oc- cupied nearly every foot of the church floor, while outside lie the remains of bishops and priests, statesmen and soldiers, side by side; aye, and perhaps in the former graves of the forgotten men and women who gathered the materials and buildled this old church edifice as a grateful offering to the God, who had led them to a new and strange land, for "the spread of the Holy Gospel."

The church building as originally planned by the Rev. Eric Bjork, was a simple enclos- ure, within rough stone walls, of a space of about 40x20 feet; the walls were to be 12 feet high to the square. These dimensions were changed several times, and once after the contract for the buikdling had been made. No

one seemed to have a definite idea about how big the church should be. It was finally fixed, however, that the dimensions should be 60 feet long and 30 feet wide inside the walls, and 20 feet high. The height, however, the priestly architect stipulated in the contract, "shall remain uncertain till we see how it will compare with the other dimensions."

Active operations began in May, 1698. The preliminaries of a church erection, pos- sibly, have never before or since given a priest so much trouble in Delaware, as did these. He seems to have been a man of marvelous patience, resource and zeal. Ile had an ob- stinate set of people to deal with. The ves- trymen were not saints. They promised and failed to fulfil. They gave and they took back. Still with marvelous patience and with always apparent meekness, gratitude to and faith in God, he continued to solicit help and to parcel out the labor and the contribu- tions for building.

The stone and lime and wood, and the labor of gathering it having been assured, with the understanding that every one should have due credit for whatever he did, the foundation of the building was begun; and on May 28, 1698, the first stone was laid. The corner stone was laid on that day by the priest. A whole year was now consumed in the building. The work was completed the following May or June, and on Trinity Sunday, 1699, which by an apparent error in the priest's record is said to have occurred on July 4, 1699, the building was dedicated, and named "Holy Trinity Church."

That Trinity Sunday was a great day in the Swedish village of Christianahamn. It was a feast day and great preparations were made for the entertainment of the Swedes who were expected from all parts of the colony. The whole mumber of these in the colony was, per- haps, less than five hundred. In 1643, when Governor Printz arrived at Christianahamn, the muuuber of Swedes was only one hundred and eighty-three. In 1654, a census of the Swedish and Dutch residents made their mum- ber but three hundred and sixty-eight, an in- crease of one hundred per cent. in about eleven years. It is not improbable, however. that this rate of increase was maintained for any length of time. Pastor Bjork says, in his records of Holy Trinity Church, that the dedi- cation services were attended by hundreds of

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STATE OF DELAWARE

people; and as with the materials for the church building, so the people contributed the food for feeding the visitors. A full account of these contributions is preserved in the records. Among the articles put down were five sheep, two calves and one quarter of veni- son; seven bushels of malt, six and a half bushels of wheat and four hundred pounds of flour. There were also three gallons of wine. The dedicatory services were conducted by the Rev. Erie Bjork, assisted by Rev. Andrew Rudman, and the Rev. Jonas Aureen. A de- tailed account of these services in the church record shows them to have been very solemn and impressive.

The original church edifice was very dif- ferent from the present picturesque "Old Swedes'." It was only a rectangular barn-like structure with a pitched roof, arched doors and windows. The auditorium was paved with brick and furnished with plain deal benches. The walls, on the outside, were em- bellished with inscriptions formed in letters of forged iron. There were neither porches nor belfry on the outside, nor gallery inside.

The first belfry was on the south side of the building; tradition says the bell was hung in a tree. The bell was so low that the roof of the church broke the sound of it, so that the people on the north side could not hear it when rung. A new bell for the church was received from England in November, 1772, and it was proposed then to build a new belfry. Subscriptions were solicited for it, but the old one was retained. The present bell tower at the west end of the church was erceted in .1802.

Anent this matter of the belfry, there is a picture extant, copyrighted, in Towa, which represents the belfry as erected on the roof of the building at the west end. It is not a correct picture of "Old Swedes' " at any period of its history. The bell tower and belfry have always been outside the end wall of the building. The gallery at the west end of the church was erected in 1773, and con- tained twenty-five pews. The porches or side arches, two on the north and one on the south side, were built to strengthen the side walls, in 1740.

Rev. Eric Bjork served as pastor of "Old Swedes'" Church for seventeen years, or from 1697 to 1714, when he was recalled to Sweden. He sailed from Christianahamn ou

June 20, 1714, and on his arrival in Sweden was appointed pastor of a church at Fahlun, in Dalecarlia, where he died in 1740. The secessor of Rev. Erie Bjork was the Rev. Andreas Harquinins. Ile died during his preparations for his voyage to America. Rev. Andreas Hessilins and Rev. Abraham Liden- nius were appointed by the Bishop of Skara to serve the congregations in America, and ar- rived at Christianahamn in May, 1713. Rev. Lawrence Girelius was pastor of "Old Swedes'" Church during the war of the Revolution, and was dispossessed of his church property during August and September, 1777, the year of the disastrous battle of the Brandy- wine, by two companies of British soldiers, who took up quarters there. The priest was evidently an American patriot, as the records of the church show that it required an order from Colonel MeDonald, commandant of the troops, to get him to conduct a service for the soldiers.

Rev. Lawrence Girelius was the last of the Swedish pastors of "Old Swedes'." He was recalled to Sweden in 1786. On his recall the vestry of the church petitioned the King of Sweden to send them an English speaking pastor. The increase of the English speaking population had caused the dropping out of the Swedish service, and the congregation was largely composed of English Churchinen; there being no church of the Church of Eng- land nearer than New Castle, the churchmen had turned to the Swedish Lutherans, because of the similarity of their Protestant creed and of the services. During the latter part of the Rev. Mr. Girelius' pastorate, Holy Trinity parish was rapidly becoming a Church of England parish.

Upon the close of the war of Independ- ence, and the full evolution of a state and na- tional government, the vestry of the church sought to settle some vexing questions relating to the church property by becoming incor- porated under the laws of the State of Dela- ware, and the church ceased to be a Swedish parish; and, although nominally so during the transition period, "Old Swedes'" was never really a Church of England parish. It was one of the earliest parishes of the Ameri- can Protestant Episcopal Church.

After the incorporation of the vestry under the laws of Delaware, the vestry called Rev. William Price, of Milford, a Church of Eng-

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

land clergyman, to the pastorate of the church, she is next to the smallest in area of all the and he became the first English rector of "Old Swedes'."

Thus was the ancient Swedish Lutheran Church transformed into an American Pro- testant Episcopal Church.

The congregation of Holy Trinity Church had at one time alnost deserted the old build- ing. They built a church at the corner of Fifth and King streets, Wilmington, in 1840. In 1883 they sold the King street church, or chapel, and removed to the new chapel on Adams street near Delaware avenue, and later into the splendid edifice at Delaware avenue and Adams street, which is the sixth church building erected by the congregation of Holy Trinity, or "Old Swedes'," parish since its founding, two hundred and sixty years ago -- in 1638.

There are very few other remains of the Swedish colonists' building left in Wilming- ton. There are several houses at the Walnut street end of Spring alley, which are said to be of Swedish origin. A very tall brick structure, for those days, formerly stood at the French street end of Spring alley, which was said to have been erected by Rev. Law- rence Girelius as a residence. It was torn down a few years ago to make room for a new building.

What is believed to have been the last of the Swedish frame houses in Wilmington, was for many years a quaint old landmark on French street above Front, where the police patrol stable is now situated. A part of this ancient building is embraced in the structure now used for police purposes. No stranger, without being informed of the fact, would suspect for a moment that the history of the old structure dates back to Swedish days.

DELAWARE TO-DAY.

Although it was not intended in this intro- ductory chapter to give a detailed and exhaus- tive history of the State, it was deemed best to give a pretty full account of the struggles of the Swedes and the Dutch for possession on the "South River," as the latter called the Delaware. This has been done, and it now remains to glance hurriedly at the State and her three counties as they exist to-day.

Delaware was one of the original thirteen States when the compact was formed, and

States that exist to-day. Owing to the lack of a careful official survey, there is a conflict of opinion as to the number of square miles the State contains. Some writers place the number at 2,002.6; others at 2,160. From north to south the State is ninety-five miles iu length. The width at the extreme southern boundary is thirty-five miles. At Cape Ilen- lopen, however, it is only twenty-five miles wide, and it diminishes by the water line of the bay, until at Red Lion Creek, in New C'astle county, it is only ten miles, while its northern end is twelve miles, caused by the radius of the twelve miles' circle. The line which separates Delaware from Maryland starts at the Atlantic Ocean, and after run- ning due west for thirty-four miles, turns at right angles due north to the tangental point on the New Castle circle. This boundary line, as has been stated, was run by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in 1763. They were English mathematicians and surveyors, and were sent here from England for that purpose.

Delaware is situated between 38° 28' and 39° 47' of north latitude, and between 74° 56' and 75° 40' of longitude west from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, the Delaware River and Bay; south by the State of Maryland; east by the Delaware River and Bay, from a point twenty- four miles from its northern boundary by a line of low water mark on the Jersey shore; thence to the radius of twelve miles north of New Castle; on the west by Pennsylvania and Maryland to the periphery of the circle drawn in a radius of twelve miles from the court house at the center of the town of New Castle, commencing at low water mark on the shore of New Jersey, north of New Castle, thence extending over the Delaware river and following its circumference until it again touches the shore of that state south of its radius of twelve miles from New Castle. Sole jurisdiction is given Delaware over the Dela- ware River and Bay by this circular line of boundary, from low water mark on the Jersey Shore, about a mile north of the mouth of Naaman's Creek on the Delaware state side, for twenty-four miles southward, nearly to where Silver Creek enters the river.

Within this circular boundary are one or two islands, on one of which Fort Delaware

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STATE OF DELAWARE

is situated. The jurisdiction of the state be- low the circle extends to a line running down the middle of the Delaware bay as far as Cape Henlopen; thence along the Atlantic Ocean to Fenwick's Island in about 28° 20' north latitude. Looking at the little state on the map it presents the appearance of a notch cut in the State of Maryland. These peculiar lines, the reader will bear in mind, were the result of the long and acrimonious quarrel between Lord Baltimore and William Penn, and their heirs, for more than a hundred years, regarding the right of possession of cer- tain territory in their grants.

The story of Delaware, therefore, is a pe- culiar one when viewed in all its aspects. Its early discovery and settlement; the struggle of its first settlers with the barbarians who in- habited its territory; the contrast and blend- ing of two races who sought a foothold on its shores; the transfer of old institutions to build up a new civilization; the intermingling of discordant adventurers; the progress of com- merce, having its beginning in a rude whaling enterprise; the establishment of churches and schools, the former of which still exist as a relic of the first colonists; the develop- ment of the principles of self-government from within and the active encroachment and conquest from without; the relations of Dela- ware with the Swedes, under the auspices of the famous Gustavus Adolphus, the Dutch of Holland, Great Britain, and the Quakers un- der the proprietary direction of the immortal William Penn. All these phases of Delaware history present picturesque scenes from real life, and afford the most instructive studies in national and personal character. The trials and vicissitudes of the early settlers were great, but at every period in their history they were first in patriotism, and among the earliest in every movement related to national defense and the establishment of a free and independent government. The "three lower counties" were represented in the Continen- tal Congress, which met at Philadelphia, Sep- tember 5, 1774, to consider the momentous questions which resulted in the adoption of the immortal Declaration of Independence less than two years afterwards. She was the first of the thirteen states to ratify the Con- stitution of the infant Republic. The position of Delaware has always commanded respect. and her integrity has never been questioned.

Her statesmen and heroes have been among the ablest known to our history, and their abilities and deeds have been of such a bril- liant character as to command the admiration of all who love liberty and admire honor and integrity.

THE THREE COUNTIES.

Delaware is divided into three political divisions or counties, New Castle, Kent and Sussex, running south in the order in which they are named. The total popula- tion of the three counties, according to the census of 1880, was 136,608; in 1890 the same authority gave them a total of 168,493, an increase in ten years of 31,885. At the same rate of increase the population of the State must now exceed 195,000.

New Castle county, which occupies the northern end of the State, first assumed its boundaries in 1673. In that year the court defined its territory as lying north of the "Steen Kill," or Stony Creek, now at Quarry- ville. The first courts under English au- thority were held at New Castle, which not only served for many years as the capital of the State, but was the county seat until 1880, when a magnificent court house was built and occupied in the city of Wilmington, costing, including the ground, $112,605.33; to this building the records were removed, and in it the courts have since been held. The move- ment to change the seat of justice to Wilming- ton was a source of political contention for many years. The old court house in New Castle still stands, gray and time stained, a sacred relic of colonial days. Adjoining it is a substantial stone prison. The court house and jail are about six miles apart, and they are connected by trolley cars. Criminals, therefore, are tried, convicted and sentenced in Wilmington, and serve their sentences in New Castle.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 8

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa. Number of Pages: 1482

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1482