USA > Pennsylvania > Annals of Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware > Part 6
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" April 28, 1638 .- The assistant commissary of Fort Nassau writes that Minuit was on the Delaware, and that he had sent his sloop below the fort .; afterwards he wanted to send her up again, but this we prevented. Peter Mey went on board, requesting to see his license or commission, which he refused to show, saying the intention was to build a fort there, and that his queen was as justifiable in building a fort there as the company. I sent Jan Jansen, clerk of the fort, there, and ordered him, in case Minuit intended to do any thing to our disadvantage, immediately to protest against it in proper form. Expecting further news from there, &c."
May 6.
Notwithstanding the previous notices given to Minuit, it appears he was progressing with his operations, which was probably the occasion of the following " formal" protest sent to him by Director Kieft, and which is afterwards alluded to in the extract below. There is some uncertainty as to the date; it is found recorded in the "Albany Documents," between May 6, (immediately preceding it,) and May 17, (directly following it;) the former has usually been considered by historians, when they refer to this protest, as its date.
Director Kieft pro- tests against the proceed- ings of Peter Minuit.
" I, William Kieft, director-general of New Netherland, residing on the island of Manhattan, in Fort Amsterdam, under the sovereignty of their High Mightinesses the States- General of the United Netherlands, and the privileged West India Company department at Amsterdam, make known to the Hon. Peter Minuit, who calls himself commissioner in the service of her royal majesty of Sweden, that the whole South River, in New Netherland, has been many years in our possession, and has been secured by us with forts above and below, and sealed with our blood, which has happened even during your direction of New Netherland, and is well known to you. Whereas you now do make a beginning of a settlement between our forts, and art building there a fort, to our prejudice and disadvantage, which we shall never endure or tolerate, and which we are persuaded it never has been commanded by her royal majesty of Sweden, to build for- tresses on our rivers, and along our shores, so is it, that we, if you proceed with the building of forts, and cultivating the lands and trading in furs, or engage further in any things to our prejudice, protest against all expenses, damages, and
45
ARRIVAL OF THE SWEDES.
losses, and will not be answerable for any mishap, effusion 1638. of blood, troubles, and disasters which your company might suffer in future, while we are resolved to defend our rights in all such manner as we shall deem proper. This done .? '1
Minuit, however, still persevered in the erection of his Minuit per- fort, and it appears from the other extract before alluded to, that Director Kieft again wrote to the company in Holland, fort. informing them of the fact of its being built. He says,
" July 31, 1638 .- Minuit has built a fort near the Dela- Letter from ware, five miles below our fort, and draws all the skins towards him by his liberal gifts; he has departed with the two vessels he had with him, leaving twenty-four men in the fort, provided with all sorts of merchandise and provisions, and has put down posts, on which are the letters C. R. S. Jan Jansen has, according to my orders, protested against this, on which he gave an answer, a copy of which goes here- with. We afterwards sent him a formal clause of protest, which was read to him, but he did not feel inclined to answer it, and his proceeding is a great disadvantage to the com- pany," &c.2
Another extract referred to, (without date, but probably 1639,) says, " the affairs on the Delaware remain in the same state as last year; the trade there suffers considerably, be- cause the Swede has spoiled it, and still does, and which we are forced to submit to. The trade being taken from us and our country, is felt very sensibly by us."3
The foregoing extracts, therefore, enable us, we think, to Conclusion decide very nearly the time of the arrival of the Swedes, and of their building their first fort. Minuit, according to Haw- Swedes. ley's letter, arrived at Jamestown shortly after the 20th of March, 1638, bearing a commission from the " young Queen of Sweden ;" he remained there ten days, and then sailed for the Delaware, where he was on the 28th of April, and even previously, for that was the date of the letter of Kieft to the company from Manhattan, before which time he must have been informed of the fact from Delaware, so that he probably arrived here early in, or about the middle of April, appa- rently for the purpose of refreshment, but he soon announced to Peter Mey, who was sent from Fort Nassau to see his
I Albany Records, vol. ii. p. 7. Reg. Penns. vol. iv. p. 82. Breviat in Penn's Case, p. 35. Smith's N. Y. &c.
2 Holl. Doc. vol. viii. p. 32-50.
3 Ibid.
severes to complete the
Director Kieft to the company, re- specting Minuit's fort, and other pro- ceedings. Gets all furs. He leaves there.
Fur trade destroyed by Swedes.
as to the ar- rival of the
46
ARRIVAL OF THE SWEDES.
1638.
commission, that he intended to build a fort, against which the clerk of the fort (Nassau) is directed to protest. Minuit however proceeds, and on or about the 6th of May, Director Kieft formally protests, in which he notices the beginning to build the fort, which does not produce the effect of stopping his progress. Accordingly, on the 31st of July, we find by the letter of the director to the company, from Manhattan, that the fort had actually been built, and the Swedish arms raised ; so that between April and July the Swedes arrive, and Fort Christina is built, having been, as was naturally to be expected, the first object of attention; and as all the early writers agree that this was the first fort erected by the Swedes, it seems to follow as a consequence that this must have been the period of their first settlement on the river. The vessels, too, had departed. We therefore assume it to be the fact. Peter Minuit, or Minnewit, as we have seen, was a Hollander, who first visited America as director of the West India Company, in 1624, and remained at Manhattan till 1633, when he took his departure for Holland. Becoming dissatisfied with the company, or, as is generally supposed, being dismissed for some reason from their service,1 he went to Sweden, and offered his services to the Swedish govern- ment, or company,2 which had been several years previously established for the purposes of trade and colonization, and which design was now about being carried into effect. The name of Usselincx, the original suggester of both the Dutch and Swedish companies, does not now appear in connection with it. Minuit's services are accepted, and under the favour- able patronage of the queen, and her efficient minister, Oxen- stiern, two vessels, a man-of-war named "Key of Calmar," and a tender, the "Griffin," amply furnished with suitable merchandise, and necessary provisions and ammunition, set sail late in 1637, or early in this year, destined to the South River, where, as we have seen, after touching for a short time at Jamestown, in Virginia, they safely arrived, during the month of April, 1638. It is said they first landed near Cape Henlopen, and from the beauty and apparent fertility of the country, they called it Paradise Point, now Mispillion Creek.
Arrival of the Swedish ships under Minuit.
It is supposed that his company did not exceed fifty per-
1 Bancroft, vol. ii. p. 250, 251. Reg. Penns. vol. iv. p. 374. O'Call. vol. i. p. 189. 2 Holl. Doc. vol. viii. p. 32-50.
ERECTION OF FORT CHRISTINA.
sons, of whom many are said to have been criminals, in 1638. accordance with the practice of the Swedish, as well as other governments, at that time, to transport convicts and labourers to the colonies, where they were sold or indented as servants.1 His first interviews with the Dutch, after his arrival, and the interruptions to his schemes of trade with his sloop, up the pany. river, by their Fort Nassau, have been already noticed above. He early proceeded to select a location for a fort. An Indian sachem named Mattehoorn, declared that "when Minuit came into the country with a ship, he remained lying before the Minquas kill, (or creek,2) near which, at that time, the sachem had a house, in which he lived. Minuit offered and Minuit pur- gave him a kettle and other small articles, and requested of him as much ground as to enable him to put up a house, and land for a also as much land as was contained within 'six trees,' which house and garden. the sachem sold Minuit, who promised half the tobacco which would grow upon it, which, however, the sachem says he never gave him."3
On this creek Minuit commenced and erected a fort and trading house, which, in honour of his queen, he called Christina. It was about five Dutch miles below Fort Nassau, Fort Chris- on the west side of the river, and near the present Wilming- ton. It is described, in 1645,4 as being "about half a mile described. Dutch, or 24 miles English, within the creek, and nearly encircled by a marsh, except on the north-west side, where it can be approached by land; at its south-west it touches the kill." A late writer, well acquainted with that neighbourhood, supposes it to have been about two miles in the creek, "at the point long well known by the name of the Rocks, which here form a natural wharf of stone, at that time being one of the capes of Christina, and so called in the ancient records of the country."" It is said the first colonists lived near to- A church gether about this creek, and had their public worship in the fort and town. there, afterwards constituting a town called "Christina- ham."6
The Rev. Reorus Torkillus came over with Minuit, and was
1 Acrelius, 408.
2 Christina Creek was also called, by the Indians, Paghaghacking, and Hopo- kahacking ; also, Suspecough. Campanius, Duponceau, &c., p. 79.
3 Translation of a Dutch note, in O'Call. vol. i. p. 190.
4 Hudde's Report, p. 428. See also description of it, by Acrelius, in note to Campanius, p. 85.
5 See Ferris, p. 42.
6 Ibid. p. 45.
47
Convicts and labourers in his com-
chases of an Indian some
tina built. Its location
48
PURCHASES BY THE SWEDES.
1638.
therefore the first Swedish clergyman; he died in four or five years after.1
The Swedes, early after their arrival, purchased all the lands from Cape Henlopen to Santickan, (the falls at Tren- ton,) and then fixed up stakes and marks. The original deeds for these lands, with the marks of the Indians, were sent to Sweden, and preserved in the archives of Stockholm, where they, as well as a map of the country, made by Magnus Kling, their surveyor, were seen by Israel Helm, and a copy of the map made and brought over by a clergyman who arrived here in 1697.2 It will be recollected that a portion of the land in this purchase had previously been sold by the natives to the Dutch patroons, and afterwards by them to the West India Company.
Minuit's de- parture. Was he not first gover- nor of the Swedes ?
By the extract above, under date of July 31, 1638, it appears that Minuit had " departed with the two vessels he had with him, leaving twenty-four men," &c. We are left to conjecture whither he went ; it is said, by a late writer,3 "he went home;" if so, who did he leave in charge of the fort and men ? did he again return ? He has usually been considered the first governor of the Swedes, and Acrelius says he did a great service to the first Swedish colony. During three years he protected this small fort, (Christina,) which the Dutch never attempted; after some years he died there."4 Although considered by historians as the first go- vernor of the Swedes, we believe no records of his official acts have reached us ; yet next year the effects of the colony are complained of by the Dutch. But whoever was governor, the permanent settlement of the Swedes seems to have been maintained.
Settlement of New Ha- ven com- menced.
In this year, also, commenced the settlement of the town and colony of New Haven, from which a colony was attempted afterwards to be established on the Delaware.5
It appears from a long remonstrance of the commissioners of the Assembly of XIX., that infractions of the laws of trade, "by self-interested persons, in New Netherland, are complained of, and that great frauds in the fur trade are committed against the company," by embezzling and appro-
1 Notes to Campanius, p. 109. Clay, p. 149.
2 Rudman's Notes, in Clay, p. 17.
3 O'Call. vol. i. p. 190.
4 Acrelius, p. 410.
5 Professor Kingsley's Interesting Address, at the 200th Anniversary, 1838.
Swedes pur- chase lands from Cape Henlopen to falls at Tren- ton. Deeds and map in Sweden.
49
REGULATIONS FOR TRADE ON THE DELAWARE.
priating to their own profit and benefit the largest and 1638. choicest assortment of furs, far superior to those which have - been negotiated for the company, shipping them clandes- tinely on board the company's vessels, to the exclusion of the Frauds in company's cargoes, and those of the patroons, and even some- times defrauding the company of the freight ; exchanging too, of by the " their worst skins for the best skins of the company, or at least purchasing the best for themselves and not for the com- furs prohi- pany." They also complain of the expenses of fortifications, servants, and fitting out vessels, "through which the state of New Netherland is on the decline ;" they therefore forbid all persons from freighting any wares or merchandise without the knowledge and consent of the company. A resolution is passed that "no person, for themselves or others, may trade in furs in any place, directly or indirectly," unless authorized, under penalty of " correction at discretion of the department, or director and council, and losing all their monthly wages." The director-general and council of New Netherland, and all other officers, are to see this executed, " without any connivance or compact," and " publish this command in all places, and affix it in all the colonies."1
Jan Petersen, from Alfendolft, is mentioned as " barber," (as surgeons were then denominated,) on South River, at ten guilders per month, from 10th July, 1638.2
1639.
A judgment is obtained, before the authorities at Man- February 3. hattan, against one Coinclisse, for wounding a soldier at Fort Convicts Amsterdam. He is condemned to serve the company, along sent from Manhattan
with the blacks, to be sent by the first ship to South River, to Delaware. pay a fine to the fiscal, and damages to the wounded soldier.3 This seems to be the first intimation of blacks being in this part of the country.
Director Van Twiller having been charged, after Kieft's March 22. arrival, with mismanagement and neglect of the company's Fort Nassau concerns ; among other things, with expenditures at Fort in a decayed state. Re- Nassau ; a witness by the name of Gillis Pietersen Vander pairs, &c. Gouw, a carpenter, certifies that he aided in all buildings, &c.,
Charge against Van during Van Twiller's administration, at Manhattan, Fort Twiller.
! Albany Records, vol. ii. p. 10. 2 Ibid.
3 Albany Records, quoted in the Breviat in Case of Penn and Lord Balti- more, p. 35. 7
the fur trade complained
Dutch Co. Dealing in bited with- out permis- sion. June 7.
Barber em- ployed on Delaware.
50
CHARGES AGAINST VAN TWILLER.
1639.
Orange, and at Fort Nassau, on the South River, where he assisted in the repair of the fort, "which was much decayed," and also in building " one large house in the fort." Another witness asserts he had in his custody for Van Twiller, at Forts Hope and Nassau, twenty-four to thirty goats, and that three negroes bought by the director in 1636 were since employed in his private service.1
March 31. Permits ne- cessary be- tween Man- hattan and South River.
Several regulations were made by the Dutch respecting the trade on South River. It was prohibited to sell powder, balls, and guns to the Indians there, on pain of death. No person shall dare to sail with boats or any other vessel, to South River, except by a permit from the director-general, and on their return by a passport of the commissary there residing and representing the company. If any person is discovered to have been there. without permit, vessel and cargo to be confiscated, besides a fine. Notice to be fixed up, so that none shall plead ignorance.2
October 2. Complaints against the Swedes. Loss of trade.
The directors complain that " Fort Nassau is a heavy bur- den to the company, as regards garrison, provisions, and the vessel ; nor do we see any means to reduce it, owing to the Swede, who lies five miles from us, in our jurisdiction, although it is so well known that the mouth of the river, which we sealed with our blood, and took possession of below and above; they have, since they have been there, done about 30,000 florins' injury to our trade, and are doing it yet daily. Taking it for granted that they will break up, which they will be forced to do shortly, if they don't receive any suc- cours, and we will not grant, (if we are powerful enough to prevent it,) that anybody establish himself in our limits, which we likewise ought to have done with those."3
Tribute from the Indians pro- posed.
Affairs at Manhattan, also, about this time, were discou- raging, from their heavy expenses, &c., and they resolved to demand a tribute in maize, furs, or seawan,4 from the Indians, whom they had defended against their enemies.
Success of the Swedish trade.
The Swedes, notwithstanding the opposition of the Dutch, appear to have been very successful in their beaver trade, as it is said they exported 30,000 skins in the first year after their arrival, having managed, in their trade with the Indians, to undersell the Dutch.
1 Albany Records, vol. i. p. 85. 2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 47.
Document from Director Kieft to the Co., Holl. Doc. vol. viii. p. 52, 53. 4 Albany Records, vol. ii. p. 65.
51
A NEW SWEDISH COMPANY FORMED.
1640.
A vessel named Fredenberg, commanded by Captain Jacob Powelson, was despatched this year from Holland, under the sanction of the Swedes, by Mr. De Horst and others, as we learn from a passport given him, dated January 24, 1640, at Nykoping, in which it is said his vessel is "laden with men, cattle, and other things necessary for the cultivation of the Holland to country ;" that Captain Powelson designs departing from Holland to America or the West Indies, and there establishing himself in the country called "New Sweden." He is com- mended to the kind attention of all monarchs and republics, or their officers and servants, to whom he may address him- self; and it is requested of them, and commanded of Swedish subjects, that he and his vessels, and every thing on board, may be permitted, freely and without obstacle, to pass, and according to circumstances, to return to his country. Two other similar passports for vessels were at the same time fur- nished, blanks being left to be filled with the names of the captains and vessels.
A letter of the same date, directed to the commandant or Letter to commissary, or other inhabitants of Fort Christina, in New Sweden, is furnished, in which it is mentioned that " we have tants of granted and permitted to our very dear Gothart de Rehden, Mr. De Horst, and Fenland, &c., to send to New Sweden two or three vessels laden with men, cattle, and other things necessary for the cultivation of the country, to establish themselves on the north side of the South River, and to there found a colony." " We have accorded to them a grant and privilege, with several other rights. What we exact from you is, that you place no obstacle to their project, and more- over, for your own advantage and common safety, that you be with them on good terms." They mention also "their gracious intention of sending from Gottenberg, next spring, if it pleases God, one or two vessels, with all sorts of provi- sions, and to detail more fully to you our views and inten- tions, according to which you will have to conduct yourselves in both cases."
Both these documents are signed by the two Oxenstierns, and several other officers.
These vessels probably arrived during the spring, and very
January 24. Passport or sea letter to Capt. Powel- son, of ship Fredonia, going from New Sweden.
commissary or inhabi-
Fort Chris- tina, in fa- vour of a company of adventurers to New Swe- den.
52
PRIVILEGES GRANTED TO THE NEW COLONY.
1640.
seasonably for the relief of the Swedish colony, which had preceded them under Minuit.1
It appears that the privileges at first intended for Mr. De Horst, for some reason not assigned, were transferred to Henry Hockhammer, and are as follows.
The following is a summary of the conditions of the grant and privilege alluded to above, to Henry Hockhammer and Co., they " having the intention of establishing a new colony in New Sweden :"
1st. Permission to cause to depart from Holland, at their New Sweden. expense, under our royal protection, and in our name, two or three vessels, with men, cattle, and other necessaries, for the purpose of landing them below Fort Christina, on the north side of South River, and there take up as much land on both sides of the river as is necessary for their purposes, to place it under actual cultivation in ten years, and to be at least four to five German miles from Fort Christina. 2d. If the land first chosen does not suit them, they may choose another situation, with the consent of the crown, or that of our go- vernor in that country, so that no person may receive damage. 3d. The possession of all they may thus occupy is guarantied, by royal authority, to them and their descend- ants, and shall never be taken away. 4th. All within their districts, whether "fruit of the surface, minerals, springs, rivers, woods, forests, fish, chase, even of birds, the establish- ments upon water, windmills, and every advantage and utility which they find established, or may establish," shall remain to them and descendants as " allodial and hereditary property," they only to pay to the crown and successors, as an acknowledg- ment of sovereignty, per annum, three florins for each family established in their territory. 5th. The right of exercising in their district high and low justice, of founding there cities, villages, and communities, with a certain police, statutes, and ordinances, to appoint magistrates and officers, to take the title and arms of their colony or province, "it being under- stood that they and their descendants shall receive of us and
1 These documents, with several others which will follow, were furnished by Jonathan Russel, while minister to Sweden, to the American Philosophical Society of this city, and may be found at lengthi in Reg. of Penns. vol. iv. p. 179. The dates are those given in the documents, which we suppose to be the true ones, from the reference made to the arrival in the Holland extracts hereafter furnished. A late writer places the arrival as in 1641, which would be cor- rect, if the dates are O. S.
Grant and privileges to Henry Hock- hammer to - establish a colony in
PRIVILEGES GRANTED TO THE NEW COLONY.
our successors, that jurisdiction, and these royal rights, as an 1640. hereditary fief, and that they must conform themselves, in this case, to all which concerns the ordinary justice of fiefs." 6th. The statutes and ordinances which they intend to esta- blish, to be communicated to the governor for approbation and confirmation, in order to discuss and execute with him in all which may most contribute to the advantage and welfare of the whole country. 7th. " As regards religion, we are will- ing to permit that, besides the Augsburg Confession, the exercise of the pretended reformed religion may be esta- blished and observed in that country, in such manner, how- Liberal pro- ever, that those who profess the one or the other religion live in peace, abstaining from every useless dispute, from all scandal and all abuse. The patrons of this colony shall be obliged to support, at all times, as many ministers and schoolmasters as the number of inhabitants shall seem to require, and to choose, moreover, for this purpose, persons who have at heart the conversion of the pagan inhabitants to Christianity." 8th. They may establish all sorts of manu- factures and industry ; engage in all commerce, in and out of the country, with the coast of the West Indies and Africa, belonging to friendly powers, but only with vessels and yachts built in New Sweden, under promise of the government's assistance. 9th. The depôt for all merchandise caused to be transported from New Sweden to the countries of Europe, shall be Gottenberg, not requiring the merchants to pass the Sound if they wish to go to some other part of the kingdom. They shall not enter foreign ports not dependent on the crown of Sweden, except in case of necessity, and then proceed to Gottenberg, there to show the reasons which compelled them to enter a foreign port, to pay duty on the merchandise which they have sold elsewhere, and to equip their vessels anew. " And we wish that all shall conduct themselves in such a manner that there accrue no damage to the revenue heretofore granted and made to the commercial company of New Swe- den, to which they must conform themselves." 10th. To be exempt for ten years, "from all impost, duty, excise, and every other contribution and charge, whether real or per- sonal, of whatever name, except as mentioned in 4th article, " the three florins on goods and merchandise transported into our states," which, if exported again, shall be free of duties
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