USA > Delaware > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 12
USA > New Jersey > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 12
USA > Pennsylvania > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 12
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' Manhattan or New Amsterdam.
"The Lenni Lenape, or Delawares.
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debts of the Company (which are now presented) and, lastly, to build forts and necessary houses, which are few here, so that, besides that I and the others hardly have room here, a good many of the workmen have been compelled to go idle on account of lack of houses. But although there cannot follow a complete gain from this ship's cargo (and probably not from the next coming ship) on account of the many ex- penses which now in the beginning must be made as a founda- tion, yet if now an early succor follows upon this, and con- tinues all along, these preparations will not be found fruitless in the future. Accurate accounts shall be kept for everything, and it will be rightly handled, as far as is in my power and understanding. No other return of goods can be sent from here at this time, except only this that it can be reported that the country and the river, as far as is possible, have been taken into our possession.
Concerning any navigation which we can carry on from here I am not able to report, for until we receive some ships here we have, so to say, our hands and feet tied, and must see with regret how this beautiful ship, which Governor Printzen has caused to be built, must lie without employment in its place. It is well built; only a few things are to be changed and finished. Wherefore, a ship's carpenter would be greatly needed, and P. Trotzigh or H. Hügen might be able to secure Claes the Carpenter from Holland, the same who built this ship. The ropes which we have brought with us are pre- served in the store-house on Tinnakonck and are very good, but almost too large for this ship. If, however, we had smaller vessels they would be serviceable for us to sail to the neighbor- ing countries as well as in the river, in the bay, and outside, for fishing purposes.
A wise and faithful merchant such as Hindrich Hugen has been reported to have been, is much needed, as also a book- keeper. Jacob Svensson' is now almost the only one whom
1 Jacob Svensson came over with Governor Printz in 1643 and was stationed as a common soldier at Fort Elfsborg. He was a gunner at Fort Christina in 1649 and later served as assistant commissary of the colony for some years, procuring supplies from New England, notably in personal visits with a sloop in 1653 and 1654. He also was an Indian interpreter. Upon the Dutch conquest he became an ensign of New Netherland.
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we can use, but we are always having to send him to the sur- rounding places, for our necessaries and on other commissions. And he is not yet returned from N. England, but we await him every day with the sloop, if Stuffwesandht shall not by ill luck intercept him on the way, which he has threatened, yet we hope that he will get through. I have, therefore, had no one who has been able to carry on any trade in the storehouse, nor has as yet any savage arrived with goods. Therefore, we have no goods to send home with the ship Eagle for the Com- pany, but we hope to be able to do it better another time, when our affairs can be brought into better working order. I have indeed used all my diligence to secure some freight home- ward for the ship, as well in Virginia as at Manathans, but it could not be done. And since I was instructed by Your Excellency and the worthy College' to seek in Gothenburg for some good men who would venture their goods hither on the ship to begin a trade with, I did my best, but found no one who had any suitable cargo in store, or who dared to risk it. Since then I have got a quantity of Virginian tobacco on credit from an Englishman, Mr. Allerton,' on the condition that it be paid for at the next arrival of cargo, but at a high price; wherefore I would submissively and humbly request that the Honorable College would let me enjoy the favor which it has
1 Petrus Stuyvesant (1602-1672), the capable and energetic but tyrannical last Dutch governor of New Netherland (1647-1664), and the conqueror of New Sweden, was a Frieslander, the son of a clergyman. Trained in the military ser- vice, he lost his leg in an unsuccessful encounter of the Dutch with the Portu- guese on the island of St. Martin, in 1644, while he was governor of the Dutch colony of Curacao, in the West Indies. After the English conquest of New Netherland in 1664, he was summoned to account in Holland, but soon returned to spend his later days in New York.
"The Royal Commercial College.
' Isaac Allerton (c. 1588-1658), one of the commercial leaders of the New World of that day, was a native of England, removed to Leyden in Holland and in 1620 came over with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower to Plymouth in New Eng- land. After service as deputy-governor, and as agent for the Plymouth Colony in several visits to England, he engaged in fishing and trading ventures with his vessels on the upper New England coast. Later he removed to New Amsterdam and finally as early as 1646 to New Haven. His chief warehouses seem to have been in New Amsterdam whence his vessels traded to Massachusetts Bay, Dela- ware Bay, Virginia, and Barbados. He made several personal trading visits to the Swedes and Dutch on the Delaware, as early as 1644. In July, 1651, he wit- . med an Indian deed at Fort Nassau.
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granted to others, namely, that I might be allowed to bring the abovementioned tobacco into Gothenburg free of duty and freight, since many would be encouraged thereby to risk their ship[s] and goods for the increase of the trade in the river; for which I dare to have a sure hope, especially since the ship in any case would have to go from here empty. I should be found to acknowledge this privilege with all faithful service.
The moderate duty which has been placed here as well as the other favorable conditions for those who wish to trade here or to settle and live under the protection of Her Royal Majesty, will without doubt draw many here, if only the matter can be pushed forward and brought into effect. Yet it seems (without question) that it would be best if the said duty should be so favorable that all Swedish ships should pay only two per cent. on outgoing and incoming goods and all strangers four to six per cent., except on provisions, which, for a time, in the beginning, might be brought in free, save that all liquors, which are not sold or brought for the good and need of the Company, might pay about as much as the wine costs. And if any ship should arrive here with a cargo and then should not sell it all, that it might in that case not pay any duty on that which was not sold here. But whatever else could be of service here in that regard, is all referred to the Honorable College, either to have it drawn up, or to give power to estab- lish such ordinances here as might be best for the furtherance of the trade or the advantage of the Company; then they would here be diligently observed and put into execution.
Our military affairs and defense are managed in general like the others, but Captain Skuthe has to give account for the ammunition, shot, and guns, and he is especially now en- gaged to fortify Fort Trinity, which is as a key to the river. And if the office of commandant for the military forces should be given to anyone, he is considered a much more suitable man than Hans Amundsson;' and the greatest part of those
1 Hans Amundsson-the news having not yet reached Governor Rising-had died at Porto Rico, on July 2, 1654, just eleven days prior to the writing of Ris- ing's report. Amundsson had been the commander of the ill-fated expedition of 1649, which had been shipwrecked, and maltreated by the Spanish and French in the West Indies. He met his death while coming over on his second voyage to recover his claims in Porto Rico and then to settle on lands granted to him on the Schuylkill.
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serving here have said that they will leave the service if such a one as the latter shall get the command, which I only men- tion in passing. It seems proper that the military force and all other things should be kept under one direction and not be split up, on account of the evil consequences, which in this matter may follow out of jealousy.
Cannon, iron as well as brass cannon, are here greatly needed by us, as well for service on the sea as on the forts, especially for the defense of the river at Trinity, where the cannon which the Hollanders left are mostly useless, and we do not know whether Her Royal Majesty will give them the cannons back again with everything else found in the fort or not. We have therefore borrowed four fourteen-pounders from the ship and placed them in an entrenchment before the fort, the better to sweep the river straight across. At Chris- tina other guns are also needed, for most of the old ones are useless. We need a large quantity of powder and bullets, lead and other ammunition. Muskets and guns we have enough at this time, but good French fusils are much more used here in the country and in addition bags of leather with three or four compartments, in which one could place cart- ridges; these are many times better in the rain in the woods than bandeliers and match-lock muskets, and they are much sought after by the savages. We also intend to put flint-locks on a large number of our muskets.
Whatever the Company's finances and property may be here in the country I will use all diligence to list carefully and will cause it to be valued approximately as soon as I can secure any suitable man for it, as for instance land, cleared and un- cleared, woods, streams, fishing-waters, fortresses, buildings, equipments, implements, boats, ships, mills, cargoes for trade and for return voyages, grain, cattle, goods and provisions, ammunition and guns, and especially the means by which the Company can gain some income, also a list of those who wish to buy land and property from the Company, and a list of the lands which have been rented for half of the crops or which have been forfeited for non-payment of taxes. I would also present an account of the industries, namely [stenckery ?], of the powder and saltpeter manufactories, of the saw-mills and logging, of breweries and taverns, of the mill toll, of tanneries
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and shoemakers and leatherdressers and other such things, also concerning dues on Swedish and foreign shipping, etc. Good and suitable men for this purpose are much needed by us.
I also humbly request that the visits which here must daily be received may be provided for either by a certain appropri- ation by the Company or otherwise according to reasonable allowances.
It is also very necessary, in order to avoid much trouble out here, that no donations be given or any land assigned to anyone, unless he occupies it effectively or settles it himself, or in this either serves the crown or the Company. Otherwise, much confusion will result from the fact, that the land of the Company is given away or land which in reality belongs to the savage sachems, as for example, Marikens Point.1 This land, together with Finland ' (on which about five or six free- men of the Company have until this been living), I intend now to buy from them for the Company, the improvements only being compensated for, as also Printztorp,' all the way up to Upland's Kill. Hans Amundsson has received Her Royal Majesty's patent for the piece of land which now for the first time last Sunday was given to the Swedes, in exchange for gifts, by the sachem Peminacka as the rightful owner. The sachem Ahopameck also gave to us all the land which Captain Scute had received in donation, only excepting for himself half of the Schuylkill and the land called Passayungh." It would therefore be advisable to give authority out here to encourage such donations and to reserve that which ought not to be divided, either because such land might be found necessary for the uses of the Company or of the country; and all donations not accompanied by a proper certificate should be held back. I have therefore not been able to give a certificate to Captain Scuthe both because the greatest number of the Company's
1 Now Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
" Finland or Chammassungh, between the present Marcus Hook in Penn- sylvania and the mouth of Naamans Creek in northern Delaware.
' Printztorp, on the Delaware, on the south side of Upland Kill, now Chester Creek, just over the creek from Upland, later Chester.
'Now Chester Creek.
'On the east side of the Schuylkill River near the Delaware, within the present city of Philadelphia.
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freemen dwell on that land and also because the savages have only lately presented the land to me, and lastly because I have no authorization from the Honorable Company, but am awaiting one concerning it. For the same reasons a certificate cannot be given to Hans Amundsson. At least it seems that one should withhold that which the freemen have occupied, and that it might now, this year, be taken under the Com- pany's management together with Printztorp, to which the Company has a good claim, as is to be seen from the documents of the freemen presented herewith.
The pretensions which the English and the Dutch have to this river will fall of themselves, when a complete settlement is made here, especially since our own people have secured for themselves from the rightful owners the first right, and since occupation has followed upon this, although the work has stopped for a time. The Virginians who were here requested to be allowed to buy land and plant colonies. I said that I could not now allow it, since I had no orders. And I do not know whether it is advisable, since we are still so weak, for in N. Netherland the English have thus bought and borrowed land from the Hollanders with the result that they have later pressed them out. But whether or not a man may be allowed to do this on his written oath to Her Majesty's service and the good of the land, I submit to the Honorable College. It would be very well for us to have a good man on our side in Virginia who could settle his servants here. But as to any stranger who wishes to buy land and to settle here I will honor the express orders and permission concerning this from Her Royal Majesty and the College.
Concerning our people I can say that they are, (God be praised), mostly well, and altogether three hundred and seventy souls, and the Swedes were only seventy when we ar- rived here. The old people largely remain (a number of old men go home again); one of them is better than any of the new-comers, who are weak and a good part of them lazy and unwilling Finns. The best men went away from here with the Governor, of whom a great number would gladly have remained here who at this time could have done much good, which now must stand undone until a more proper time.
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Lastly, as to our church affairs, we are indeed in need of a learned priest, although we now have three of them, namely, Matthias Nertunius,1 who indeed is the best one, and Lauren- tius Caroli Lock,2 who has been here before, and is accused of mutiny, wherefore I have intended to send him home to defend and free himself, but he is now become very ill. The third one is Peter Laurentii Hiort' and he is both materially and spiritu- ally a poor priest. He is stationed in Trinity Fort.
If now [the land at] Upland ' which belongs to the Com- pany, and is large enough for the sowing of twenty or thirty bushels of grain, might be given to the parsonage for Ner- tunius, together with the small houses there, it would be very well; then he would need no other salary from the Company. If one could obtain willingly from the people tithes of grain and cattle, half of them could be assigned for the salary of the ministers, the other part for the maintenance of schools and church buildings. In addition a piece of land should be set aside for the maintenance of the poor and the education of young children, with revenues and some part of the confisca- tions, that might be made and of alms and other things, concerning which orders are awaited. Priestly vestments, an altar painting, and two or three bells would also be very serviceable here, if we could receive them by the next ship.
This is what I have considered to be the most important to present, this and everything that could serve for the build-
1 Rev. Matthias Nertunius, a man of education, came over to New Sweden in 1653 and remained until the conquest by the Dutch in 1655, when he returned home with Rising and was made pastor of a parish in Helsingland. Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, p. 685.
" Rev. Lars Carlsson Lock (d. 1688), a native of Finland, for forty years Lutheran pastor of the Swedes on the Delaware, came over with the seventh ex- pedition in 1647, relieving the Rev. Johan Campanius of his pastorate. After the Dutch conquest of New Sweden he was the sole pastor among the Swedes, offici- ating, alternately, in the church at Tinicum, in Fort Christina, and, from 1667, at Crane Hook, Delaware, until the arrival of Fabritius, in 1677, after which he confined his services to Crane Hook.
' Rev. Peter Laurentii Hiort (d. 1704) arrived with the expedition of 1654, and returned to Sweden the following year with Governor Rising, after the Dutch conquest, and became associate minister in Wimmerby and Pelarne, Sweden.
"Now Chester.
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ing up of the land being submitted to Your Excellency and Their Lordships. I remain always Your Excellency's and Their Lordships' faithful and obedient servant, JOHAN RISING. From Fort Christina in New Sweden, July 13, Anno 1654.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN RISING, 1655
INTRODUCTION
NOTWITHSTANDING the threatening dangers from whites and red men, Rising, emboldened by the hope of relief from home, writes with much of the same optimism in this second report, which is dated nearly a year after the first one.
The text of the report is from a contemporary manuscript copy in Swedish in the Kammararkiv (Archives of the Ex- chequer) in Stockholm, found by Dr. Amandus Johnson, and is now published, for the first time, in English translation by him. The Swedish text, edited by him, has been published (1910) in German American Annals, viii. 87-93, 288.
A. C. M.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN RISING, 1655
Honorable Count, Most Gracious Master and Mighty Patron, Honorable High, Noble, and Well-born Lords:
AFTER I had sent a relation a year ago with the ship Örn" concerning the condition of this country and necessary means for its advancement, I also reported last fall about various things, among others concerning the prize [made of] the Gyl- lennhay' by Stuvesand in Manathas and sent the letter through Mr. Lord' in Harford to Ben. Bonell' in London. I will now also humbly report concerning our present condition, namely, that everything is still in a fairly good state and especially since all here have the sure hope that a good succor from the Fatherland will soon relieve and comfort us, especially through Your Excellency and the assistance of the High Lords."
If the people were not animated by this hope, there would be danger that a part of them would go beyond their limits, or that indeed a large number of them would desert from here, not only because many necessaries are lacking, but also be- cause both the savages and the Christians keep us in alarm. Our neighbors the Renappi" threaten not only to kill our people in the land and ruin them, before we can become stronger and
' Eagle.
' Golden Shark.
' Captain Richard Lord (c. 1611-1662) went from Massachusetts to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1638 and was one of the most energetic and efficient men in the latter colony. He held various public offices and was a commander in the Ind- ian wars. He made trading voyages to New Sweden as early as July, 1643, and was also there in 1654 and 1655, in June of the latter year being present at the treaty made by the Swedes with the Minquas Indians at Fort Christina.
Benjamin Bonnell, an Englishman, had been sent from Sweden to London in 1651 to look after Swedish interests in England. Previously he had lived in Amsterdam as a merchant, had spent about twenty years in Spain and Portugal, and in 1625 had gone to Sweden to engage in glass manufacture. In 1640 he had received the appointment of factor of the New Sweden Company at Stock- holm. Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, especially pp. 676-677.
. Of the College of Commerce. · Lenape
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prevent such things, but also to destroy even the trade, both with the Minques and the other savage nations, as well as with the Christians. We must daily buy their friendship with presents, for they are and continue to be hostile, and worse than they have been hitherto. If they buy anything here, they wish to get half on credit, and then pay with difficulty. They run to the Minques, and there they buy beavers and elk- skins, etc., for our goods, and then they proceed before our eyes to Manathas, where the traders can pay more for them than we do, because more ships and more goods arrive there. Yet we associate with them to a certain extent, and they are fond of us, because we do not do them any harm or act hostile towards them. Otherwise, they would indeed ruin our cattle, yes probably the people on the land, as they vex them daily and take away whatever they can. Last winter one of them killed a woman not far from here and robbed what there was. Later indeed they promised that they would make amends for it, but have not as yet given more than ten fathoms of sevan.
Then the English draw our people to themselves over to Virginia (Saverne)' as much as they are able and keep those who deserted thither last year. They largely ruin our trade with the Minques, especially Scarborougho gives them 7 to 8 lbs. of powder for one beaver, where we are accustomed to give at the highest from 3 to 4 lbs. and cannot give over 5 Tbs. except at a loss. During Easter-time two more freemen deserted, leaving their children and wives behind, and prob- ably many were about to run, if I had not presented to them so seriously their proper duties, assuring them that the Eng- lish would certainly at a later time deliver these up to us and that they would be condemned here and be killed in the sight
' Severn River at Annapolis, Maryland.
' Edmund Scarborough or Scarburgh (d. 1670-1671) was not only the lead- ing planter and merchant of the Eastern Shore of Virginia but one of the prin- cipal figures in seventeenth century Virginia. He resided in Accomac County, at Occahannock, on the north side of a creek of that name flowing into Chess- peake Bay and dividing Accomac from Northampton County. He acquired a large property by planting and trading, his vessels venturing as far as Delaware River and New Amsterdam. He was not only concerned in the fur trade, but had salt works, and in 1662 was employing nine shoemakers. He served as sheriff and justice of the county court, was speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1645, and was made surveyor general of Virginia in 1655.
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of everyone. I keep a close watch on those worthy of sus- picion.
The Hollanders at Manathes likewise hinder us as much as they can, and threaten strongly that Stufvesand, when he returns from W. India and Curacos, where he went last fall with three ships (among which the Gyllene] Haye was one) will come here and capture Fort Casimir, which we now call Trinity. But if he comes we will see to it that he is received in the manner of S. Martens' (where he lost one of his legs), and we are in no wise afraid about this. But the savages alarm our people with it, the savages being thus informed by the Hol- landers, when they come to Manathes. It accomplishes, how- ever, God be praised, very little against us.
The N. English bring us our provisions, but we have had the disadvantage in this trade. Those of New Haven (indeed the whole republic of the N. England, as may be seen by the enclosed copy of their letter) lay claim stoutly to a large part of this country (concerning which I also wrote and reported last fall); and last spring they had about a hundred men ready to come here to take possession of it. But they gave up their design in the hope that the English would capture Cuba, His- paniola, etc., whither then a good many of them intended to transport themselves .? And the factor Elsvic' had a con- ference with Mr. Croutier,' vice-governor in N. Haven, last spring in Manathes, where he had gone, sent there as though he intended to go back to Sweden, to secure some provisions for us; and he then gave him so good reasons and answers that I have not considered it worth while to answer them be- fore Your Lordly Excellency and the directors please to send orders to me. My humble idea would be that a good keel-boat
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