USA > Delaware > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 6
USA > New Jersey > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 6
USA > Pennsylvania > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 6
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' Evidently the South (later Delaware) Bay and River.
' A little south of the present Murderkill Creek, in Kent County, Delaware
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ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN
1638]
of the river, from the entrance called Cape Inlopen, or Hin- lopen,1 all the way up to the fall called Santickan2 and then all the country inland, as much as was desired, should belong to the Swedish crown forever.' Posts were driven into the ground as landmarks, which were still seen in their places sixty years afterwards. A deed was drawn up for the land thus purchased. This was written in Dutch, because no Swede was yet able to interpret the language of the heathen. The Indians subscribed their hands and marks. The writing was sent home to Sweden, to be preserved in the royal archives. Måns Kling' was the surveyor. He laid out the land and made a map of the whole river, with its tributaries, creeks, and capes, which was sent to the royal archives in Sweden. Their clergyman was Reorus Torkillus® of East Gothland.
10. Christina the First Place of Abode.
The first abode of the newly arrived emigrants was at a place called by the Indians Hopokahacking. There, in the year 1638, Peter Menuet built a fortress, which he named Fort Christina," after the reigning queen of Sweden. This place, situated upon the west side of the river, was probably chosen 80 as to be out of the way of the Hollanders, who wished to usurp the eastern shore a measure of prudence, until the arrival of a greater force from Sweden. The fort was built
1 Henlopen.
" The Falls of Delaware at what is now Trenton.
"The north and south bounds of this first purchase from the Indians by Minuit in 1638 extended only from Christina Creek to the Schuylkill.
'Måns Nilsson Kling, who is frequently mentioned in these narratives, came over in the first expedition to New Sweden in 1638 and was the commander of Fort Christina until 1640, when he returned to Sweden. He came back to the colony as lieutenant the following year. Later he was stationed at the fort near the mouth of the Schuylkill River where he continued until his final return to Sweden in 1648.
" Rev. Reorus Torkillus (1608-1643), a native of Mölndal, near Gothenburg, Sweden, attended school at Lidköping and Skara. He was a lecturer at the high school of Gothenburg and chaplain to the superintendent. He arrived with the second expedition in 1640, conducting services in Fort Christina, thus be- coming not only the first minister in New Sweden, but the first Lutheran pastor in the present United States. See Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements. p. 697. .Now Wilmington, Delaware.
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
[1638
upon an eligible site, not far from the mouth of the creek, so as to secure them the navigable water of the Maniquas, which was afterwards called Christina Kihl, or Creek.
11. The Country Empty and Unoccupied.
The country was unoccupied and free from the Hollanders. They had had two or three forts on the river-Fort Nassau, where Gloucester now stands, and another at Horekihl, down on the bay. But both of these were entirely destroyed by the Americans, and their people driven away. The following ex- tract from the History of the New Netherland, which Adrian van der Donck published in the year 1655, with the license and privilege as well of the States General as of the West In- dia Company, will serve as proof of this:
The place is called Hore-kihl, but why so called we know not. But this is certain, that many years back, before the English and the Swedes came hither, it was taken up and settled as a colony by Hollanders, the arms of the States being at the same time set up in brass. These arms having been pulled down by the villany of the Indians, the commissary there resident demanded that the head of the perpetrator should be delivered to him. The Indians, unable to free themselves in any other way, brought him the head, which was accepted as a sufficient atonement. But some time afterwards, when we were at work in the fields, and unsuspicious of danger, the Indians came as friends, distributed themselves according to the number of the Hollanders [at the various plantations]; fell upon them and completely exterminated them. Thus was the colony exterminated, though sealed with blood, and dearly enough pur- chased.
12. The Hollanders Protest.
Notwithstanding all this the Hollanders believed that they had the best right to the Delaware River, yea, a better right than the Indians themselves. It was their object to secure at least all the land lying between said river and their New Amsterdam, where was their power, and which country they immediately called "The New Netherlands." But as their forces were still too weak, they always kept one or another of
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ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN
1638]
their people upon the east side of the river to watch any one who might visit the country. As soon, therefore, as Menuet landed with his Swedish company, notice of the fact was given to the Dutch Director-General in New Amsterdam. He waited for some time, until he could ascertain Menuet's pur- pose; but when it appeared that a fortress was being erected for the Swedes, the following protest arrived:
THURSDAY, May 6, 1638.
I, William Kieft, Director-General of the New Netherlands, residing upon the island of Manhattan, in the Fort Amsterdam, under the government subject to the High and Mighty States General of the United Netherlands, and the West India Company, chartered by the Council Chamber in Amsterdam, make known to you, Peter Menuet, who style yourself Commander in the service of Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Sweden, that the whole South River of the New Netherlands, both above and below, has already, for many years, been our property, occupied by our forts, and sealed with our blood; which was also done when you were a servant in the New Netherlands, and you are, therefore, well aware of this. But whereas you have now come between our forts to build a fortress to our injury and prejudice, which we shall never permit; as we are also assured that Her Royal Majesty of Sweden has never given you authority to build forts upon our rivers and coasts, nor to settle people on the land, nor to traffic in peltries, nor to undertake any- thing to our injury: We do, therefore, protest against all the injury to property, and all the evil consequences of bloodshed, uproar, and wrong which our Trading Company may thus suffer: And that we shall protect our rights in such manner as we may find most advisable.
Then follows the [usual] conclusion.
13. Another Proof of this.
In his history of the New Netherlands, at the place already cited, Adrian van der Donck likewise relates how protest was made against the building of Fort Christina, but there also he gives evidence that the strength of the Hollanders in the river on the first arrival of the Swedes consisted almost entirely in great words. He says:
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1638
On the river lies, first, Maniqua's Kihl, where the Swedes have built Fort Christina, where large ships can load and unload at the shore. There is another place on the river called Schulkihl, which is also navigable. That, also, was formerly under the control of the Hollanders, but is now mostly under the government of the Swedes. In that river [Delaware] there are various islands and other places formerly belonging to the Hollanders, whose name they still bear, which sufficiently shows that the river belongs to the Hollanders, and not to the Swedes. Their very commencement will convict them. For in the year 1638 one Minnewits, who had formerly acted as Director for the Trading Company at Manhatans, came into the river in the ship Key of Colmar, and the yacht called the Bird Griffin. He gave out to the Hollander, Mr. van der Nederhorst, the agent of the West India Company in the South River, that he was on a voyage to the West India islands, and that he was staying there only to take in wood and water. Whereupon said Hollander allowed him to go free. But, some time after, some of our people going thither found him still there, and he had planted a garden, and the plants were growing in it. In astonishment we asked the reasons for such procedure, and if he intended to stay there ? He tried to escape from answering by various excuses, and gave us thus no information. The third time they found them occupied with building a fort. Then we saw their purpose. As soon as he was informed of it, Director Kieft protested against it, but in vain.
14. Peter Hollendare Menewe's Successor.
Thus Peter Menuet made a good beginning for the settle- ment of the Swedish colony in America. He guarded his little fort for over three years,1 and the Hollanders neither at- tempted, nor were able to overthrow it. After some years of faithful service he died at Christina.1 In his place followed Peter Hollendare, a native Swede, who did not remain at the head of its affairs more than a year and a half.' He returned home, to Sweden, and was a major at Skepsholm, in Stock- holm, in the year 1655.
1 These are errors; Minuit remained only a few months in New Sweden and died the same year, 1638, in the West Indies on his return voyage to Sweden.
' Peter Hollender Ridder, the second governor of New Sweden, 1640-1642. See post, p. 98.
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ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN
16420
CHAPTER II
The Administration under Governor Printz.
1. The Second Swedish Colony.
The second emigration took place under Lieutenant-Colonel John Printz, who went out with the appointment of Governor of New Sweden. He had a grant of four hundred rix-dollars1 for his travelling expenses, and one thousand two hundred dol- lars, silver money, as his annual salary. The Company was invested with the exclusive privilege of importing tobacco into Sweden, although that article was even then regarded as unnecessary and injurious, although indispensable since the establishment of the bad habit of its use. Upon the same occasion was also sent out Magister John Campanius Holm,' who was invited by His Excellency, Member of the Royal Council and Admiral, Claes Flemming, to become the govern- ment chaplain, and watch over the Swedish congregation.
The ship on which they sailed was called the Fama. It went from Stockholm to Gothenburg, and there took in its freight. Along with this went two other ships of the line, the Swan and the Charitas, laden with people and other neces- saries. During the period of Governor Printz ships came to the colony at three different times. The first ship was the Black Cat, with ammunition, and merchandise for the Indians. Next the ship Swan, a second time, with emigrants, in the year 1647. Again two [other] ships, the Key and the Lamp." During these times the clergymen, Mr. Lawrence Charles Lockenius ' and Mr. Israel Holgh, were sent out to the colony.
5. Intrusion of the Hollanders.
The Hollanders intruded upon the Swedes in their traffic with the Indians, and Printz, therefore, sought to keep them under. In the name of the High and Mighty States General
1 About $500, United States currency, or nearly $2,500 in an equivalent value of our time; the Swedish riksdaler being equal to about $1.25 at that period and about five times as much now. ' See post, p. 110, note 2.
" No Lamp is known and the order of the ships is incorrect.
"Rev. Lars Carlsson Lock. See port, p. 150.
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
[1646
and of the West India Company, under which all their trans- actions were carried on, they had never bought as much as a foot's breadth of land; but from time to time sent in some private persons, to treat with the heathen on their own ac- count, and thus tried to find out how the Swedes would like it. In the year 1646 came one Thomas Broen with a permit from Peter Stuyvesant, the Holland Director at New Amsterdam, to settle himself at Mantas Huck,1 on the other side of the bay, directly opposite Tenakongh. This permit he showed to Governor Printz, and desired his aid in the building of his abode. The Governor promised this upon condition that he would place himself under the Swedish government. But when he saw beneath this the trick of the Hollanders, he him- self bought of the Indians the land from Mantas Huck to Nar- raticon's, or Raccoon's Kihl,' and raised upon it a post to which the Swedish coat-of-arms was affixed, whereby the plan of the Hollanders was frustrated for the time.
6. Further about this Matter.
Andries Hudde, appointed commandant ad interim at Fort Nassau on October 12, 1645, protested in writing against Printz's land-purchase of September 8, 1646, and gave infor- mation of the same to the Director, Peter Stuyvesant, namely, that Governor Printz sought to procure for himself all the land east of the river also; that if he could make himself master of both sides, it was probable that he would export annually thirty or forty thousand beaver skins. Now, as the Holland Company's treasury was entirely empty, and the Hollanders saw that they had no time to lose, they resorted to another plan. Some freemen-Simon Ruth, Cornelius Marizen, Peter Hermansson, Andries Hudde, Alexander Boyer, and David Davids-united together and purchased of the Indians a piece of land extending from Ancocus Kihl ' to Tenakongh Island," another place higher up on the river than where the Governor
1 Mantes, or Mantua Hook, on the east side of the Delaware, a long half league below Fort Nassau, but above Tinicum.
' Raccoon Creek, in New Jersey, opposite Marcus Hook, in Pennsylvania.
" Now Rancocas Creek, New Jersey.
"This island is near the present Burlington, New Jersey.
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ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN
1651]
had his residence, and also took a title therefor; but with the reservation that if the Company wished to purchase it for themselves for the same amount, they would renounce their claim. Governor Printz protested against this as an unbecom- ing proceeding, which protest also Hudde sent over to New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, in his answer, complains of their inability to maintain their rights, and promises money to buy all the land from Narraticon's Kihl 1 to the bay, which, however, was never done.
7. The Hollanders' Purchase of Land, and Building of Fort Casimir.
Governor Printz had blocked up the passage of the Hol- landers to Fort Nassau by water, but they devised another method of evading his superior power. They entered into a treaty with the Indians for the land which lies between Mani- qua's or Minqua's Kihl and the river, as far as Bombe's Huck or Bambo Hook' (Canarosse), and concluded the purchase on July 19, 1651. That agreement was the only one which had yet been made in the name of the States General and the West India Company. But by that they bought the land which the Minquesses had already, in Menewe's time, sold to the Swedes, and it is therefore unreasonable to believe that the true owners of the land subscribed that bill of sale. Imme- diately after this Fort Casimir" was built at Sandhuk. Gov- ernor Printz protested strongly against it; but either he had not the means of hindering it, or had not time for it, and so the matter rested.
8. The Injury Remedied by the Building of Elfsborg.
To remedy the injury which the Hollanders inflicted by Fort Casimir, Governor Printz erected upon the place called Wootsessung Sing another Swedish fort, [which he called] Elfsborg,' one Swedish mile below Sandhuk, and two miles be-
1 Narraticon's Kill, now Raccoon Creek, New Jersey.
" Bombay Hook. ' Now New Castle, Delaware.
"Fort Nya Elfsborg was built by the Swedes in 1643, eight years before the Dutch built Fort Casimis
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
[1668
low Christina, [but] on the eastern shore, from which that dis- trict of country was in former times, and even now is, called Elsingborg. From this was fired a Swedish salute upon the arrival of Swedish ships. But its principal object was to search the Holland ships which came before it, and (which stuck very hard in their maw) to make them lower their flag. The fort was afterwards abandoned by the Swedes and de- stroyed, as it was almost impossible to live there on account of the gnats (myggor); whence it was for some time called Myggenborg.
9. Other Forts.
Besides these there were Fort Korsholm,1 at Passayunk, where the commander, Sven Schute,' had his residence. Man- yungh,' on the Skörkihl, or Skulkihl, [was] a fine little fort of logs, having sand and stones filled in between the woodwork, and surrounded by palisades, four Swedish miles * from Chris- tina, eastwardly. Mecoponacka, Upland ' [was] two Swedish miles from Christina, and one mile from Gothenburg, upon the river shore, a level plain, with some houses and a fort.
10. Other Places.
Other places were only well known, and not fortified. Chinsessing," a place upon the Schuylkill, where five families of freemen dwelt together in houses two stories high, built of whitenut tree, which was at that time regarded as the best material for building houses, but in later times was altogether
1 Fort Nya Korsholm (1647-1653) was not at Passayunk but on the present Province or Fisher's Island, to the west of the mouth of the Schuylkill River.
"Sven Skute. See post, p. 112, note 1.
' Another name for Fort Nya Korsholm or its site.
" About twenty-seven English miles, a Swedish mile being slightly more than six and a half English miles.
"Now Chester, Pennsylvania, about thirteen English miles from Christina. but rather less than half a Swedish mile-say three English miles from New Gothenburg, or Fort Nya Goteborg, on Tinicum Island.
· Kingsessing, the district about the creek of that name, also at a later time, at least, called Minquas Kill or Creek, a western affluent of the Schuylkill, near the mouth of the river. Wasa or Nya Wasa (c. 1645) was on the north side of this creek.
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ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN
1655]
disapproved of. Karakung 1 [had] the watermill,' which the Governor had built for the people, which was the first in the country. Chamassung,' also called Finland, a district where the Finns dwelt by the waterside, and Neaman's Kihl,' one and a quarter miles from Christina. Manathaan,' or Cooper's Island, was an island below Fort Christina, so called by a cooper, who dwelt there with two Hollanders, and made casks, or wooden vessels and small boats. Techoherassi -Olof Stillé's place Gripsholm,' Nya Wasa, etc., which are marked upon the oldest maps, were places laid out and planned, but did not get established under the Swedish administration."
11. To what Land the Swedes had a Right, partly by Purchase and partly by Agreement.
The land on the west side of the river, which the Swedes had purchased of the heathen, already in Menewe's time, and afterwards under Governor Printz, or had acquired a right to by agreement, stretched from Cape Hinlopen to the Falls of the Delaware, and thence westward to the Great Fall in the river Susquehanna, near the mouth of the Conewaga Creek."
1 Karakong, now Cobbs Creek.
' Mölndal, or the Swedes mill, on the Karakong Kill, or present Cobbs Creek, was erected in 1645 and was the first water mill within the limits of Penn- sylvania or Delaware. Its site may still be seen at the rocks on the east bank of the stream near the Blue Bell Inn on the road from Philadelphia to Darby.
" Chammassungh or Finland, where the Finns dwelt, was on the west side of the Delaware River, between the present Marcus Hook in Pennsylvania and the mouth of Naaman's Creek just over the circular state line in Delaware.
"Now Naaman's Creek; about eight English miles from Christina.
" Now called Cherry Island Marsh, but no longer an island.
. On the Delaware at the north side of the present Ridley Creek, now Eddy- stone Borough.
" Thought to be a corruption of Korsholm (Fort Nya Korsholm); it first appears on Visscher's (a Dutch) map of about 1655.
* On Minquas Kill or Kingsessing Creek, a western affluent of the Schuylkill Dear the mouth of the river.
. These places were established by the Swedes.
1º It is doubtful if the Swedes purchased land from the Indians thus far from the Delaware. The Great Falls of Susquehanna River or Conewago Falls are a manifestation of the river's cleavage of the South Mountain range, the southeastern wall of the Great Valley of Pennsylvania and Virginia. They begin on a line directly opposite the mouth of Conewago Creek, the boundary between
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[1655
NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
These Indians were called, by Europeans in general, Delawares, but within a circle of eighteen miles 1 around the Swedes, there were ten or eleven separate tribes, each having its own Sackhe- man, or king. Among these were especially the Minesinkos,' the Mynkusses, or Minequesses,' upon the so-called Maniquas, or Minqua's Kihl (Christina), with whom the Swedes formed a special friendship. These extended twelve Swedish miles ‘ into the interior of the country, on to the Conestoga and the Susquehanna, where they had a fort ' which was a square sur- rounded by palisades, with some iron pieces on a hill, and some houses within it. But some of them were with the Swedes every day, who also, once or twice in a year, made a journey up into the country among the Minequesses, with their wares for sale. The road was very difficult, over sharp gray stones, morasses, hills, and streams, which can still be very well seen by those who travel between Christina and Lancaster.
the present Lancaster and Dauphin counties, on the east side of the river, and extend about three quarters of a mile down the river, not quite so far as the mouth of the other Conewago Creek in York County on the west side of the river. The total descent of the falls is fifteen feet.
1 If Swedish miles are implied the distance would be 118 English miles.
'The Minsi or Minisinks, a sub-tribe of the Lenni Lenape or Delawares, occupied the northern region of the Delaware River with its affluent, the Lehigh River. The Swedish activity did not reach into this region.
" The Minquas Indians were not regular inhabitants of the Delaware River and the Minquas Kill or Christina Creek, as Acrelius indicates. They were of Iroquoian stock, as previously stated, living in the lower Susquehanna Valley and to the northwest and from time to time held the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware River Indians in subjection, travelling at intervals from the Susquehanna to the Dela- ware for hunting and fishing, for war or for trade with the whites. See ante, p. 23, and post, p. 103.
" About seventy-eight English miles.
"The important fort of the White Minquas or Susquehanna Indians during the Swedish and Dutch regime on the Delaware, was on the west side of Susque- hanna River, near the present Mount Wolf, York County, Pennsylvania, at the south side of the mouth of Conewago Creek, just below the stoppage of navigation by the Great Falls. The "present" fort of the Susquehanna Indians is depicted at the above place as a group of wigwams in a circular stockade, on Augustine Herrman's map, of 1670. Doubtless it was from this fort that the Great Trading Path of the Minquas led across what is now Lancaster, Chester and Delaware counties to Kingsessing Creek or the Upper Minquas Kill at Schuylkill River. Another fort of these Indians was lower down the Susquehanna on the east bank, on the north side of Octoraro Creek, in Cecil County, Maryland.
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ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN
1655]
12. Proof of this.
The old Indians still remember the treaties which their forefathers made with the Swedes, as also how far they were disposed to open their land to them. Of this it may serve as evidence to introduce the following extract from the minutes of the treaty made in Lancaster:
THE COURT-HOUSE IN LANCASTER, June 26, 1744, P. M.
Present .- Hon. George Thomas, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania, etc .; the Hon. Commissioners of Virginia; the Hon. Commissioners of Maryland; the Deputies of the Six Nations of Indians. Conrad Weiser, Interpreter.
Canasatego, the Indians' spokesman, spoke as follows:
Brother, the Governor of Maryland: When you spoke of the condition of the country yesterday, you went back to old times, and told us you had been in possession of the province of Maryland above one hundred years. But what is one hundred years in com- parison to the length of time since our claim began ?- since we came up out of this ground ? For we must tell you that, long before one hundred years, our ancestors came out of this ground, and their children have remained here ever since. You came out of the ground in a country which lies on the other side of the big lake; there you have claim, but here you must allow us to be your elder brethren, and the lands to belong to us long before you knew any- thing of them. It is true that, about one hundred years ago, a Ger- man 1 ship came hither and brought with them various articles, such as awls, knives, hatchets, guns, and many other things, which they gave us. And when they had taught us to use these things, and we saw what kind of a people they were, we were so well pleased with them that we tied their ships to the bushes on the shore. And afterwards, liking them still better, and the more the longer they stayed with us, thinking that the bushes were too weak, we changed the place of the rope, and fastened it to the trees. And as the trees might be overthrown by a storm, or fall down of themselves, (for the friendship we had for them) we again changed the place of the rope, and bound it to a very strong cliff. Here the Interpreter'
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