USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware (history of Old Swedes Church of Philadelphia) > Part 3
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"About eight or ten years ago, the governor, William Penn, petitioned the Swedish Ambassador at London for ministers and books for you; but for some cause or other, the request was not carried into effect.
"Be not negligent in the things which belong to your everlasting happiness; for you may cer- tainly see that the Great God doth as soon help through friends that are humble as through those that are great and powerful. I commend you to the holy protection of Almighty God, both in soul and body. I shall expect to hear from you by the
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first opportunity that may offer, and remain your most loving friend and servant,
JEAN THELIN. " Gothenburg, 16th Nov. 1692.
"P. S. I send a duplicate of this letter, that you may be the more certain of receiving it."
The receipt of this letter caused great joy to the Swedes, who determined on a speedy answer. But, as they were now living under the laws of England, they deemed it prudent and advisable, to lay the whole mat- ter before the English governor, William Markham. The governor expressed himself much gratified, and wished them not to delay answering the letter. He also offered to write in their behalf to the Proprietor, William Penn, and to Lejoncrona, the Swedish minis- ter in London. With these favourable auspices, Charles Springer wrote for the Swedes their answer to Mr. Thelin's letter. Upon the receipt of it in Sweden, it was copied by many persons, and drew tears from the eyes of many who heard its contents. It was dated May 31, 1693, and was as follows :-
"Honoured, loving, and much respected friend, John Thelin, his majesty's loyal subject, and Postmaster at Gothenburg.
"Your unexpected and welcome letter, dated Goth- enburg, 16th Nov. 1692, came to hand the 23d of
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May, 1693, and made us heartily rejoice that it hath pleased Almighty God, through that young man Andrew Printz, to make known our condition to our friends in Sweden. We rejoice that his majesty doth still bear unto us a tender and a christian care. There- fore do we heartily desire, since it hath pleased his majesty graciously to regard our wants, that there may be sent unto us two Swedish ministers, who are well learned in the Holy Scriptures, and who may be able to defend them and us against all false opposers ; so that we may preserve our true Lutheran faith, which, if called to suffer for our faith, we are ready to seal with our blood. We also request that those ministers may be men of good moral lives and char- acters ; so that they may instruct our youth by their example, and lead them into a pious and virtuous way of life.
"Further, it is our humble desire that you would be pleased to send us three books of sermons, twelve bibles, forty-two psalm-books, one hundred tracts, with two hundred catechisms, and as many primers; for which, when received, we promise punctual payment at such place as you may think fit to order. We do promise also a proper maintenance to the ministers that may be sent us; and when this our letter is gone, it is our intention to buy a piece of land, that shall belong to the church, and upon which the ministers may live.
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"As to what concerns our situation, in this country, we are for the most part husbandmen. We plough and sow, and till the ground; and as to our meat and drink, we live according to the old Swedish custom. This country is very rich and fruitful, and here grow all sorts of grain in great plenty, so that we are richly supplied with meat and drink ; and we send out yearly to our neighbours on this continent and the neighbor- ing islands, bread, grain, flour and oil. We have here also, all sorts of beasts, fowls, and fishes. Our wives and daughters employ themselves in spinning wool and flax, and many of them in weaving; so that we have great reason to thank the Almighty for his mani- fold mercies and benefits. God grant that we may also have good shepherds, to feed us with his holy word and sacraments. We live also in peace and friendship with one another; and the Indians have not molested us for many years.
"Further, since this country has ceased to be under the government of Sweden, we are bound to acknowl- edge and declare, for the sake of truth, that we have been well and kindly treated, as well by the Dutch, as by his majesty the King of England, our gracious sovereign : on the other hand, we, the Swedes, have been and still are true and faithful to him in words and in deeds. We have always had over us good and gracious magistrates ; and we live with one another in peace and quietness. So that we desire, as soon as
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this our letter comes to hand, that a speedy attention may be paid to our request; for we believe that God has certainly his hand in this christian work, and pray that he may bring it to a happy termination."
With this letter was sent a separate account of all the people, mentioning the heads of families, and the number of persons in each, and a mark to dis- tinguish those who were born in Sweden .* It was thus headed,-" An accurate list of all the men, women, and children now found living in New Sweden, at present Pennsylvania, on the river Delaware." Among those born in Sweden, Peter Rambo and Andrew Bonde (now Boon) had been in the country fifty-four years.
The above letter to John Thelin was signed by thirty persons. When received by that gentleman, it was forwarded to the court. At a period when there was so little intercourse between this country and Europe, and scarcely any that was direct between here and Sweden, it took a long time for an interchange of letters between the Swedes of the mother country and those of Pennsylvania. This may explain the long interval that elapsed between the writing of the above letter, in May, 1693, and the date (Feb. 7, 1696) of the first measures taken in Sweden towards furnishing the desired spiritual relief. According to Campanius, there was no delay in taking those meas-
* See Appendix Page 115.
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ures; and he says, "as soon as the letter arrived at Stockholm, his majesty Charles XI., of glorious memory, in order to promote the preservation of our holy religion among this small number of settlers in America, wrote on the subject to the late Doctor Olaus Suebilius, archbishop of Upsala."
This interesting letter we here lay before the reader :
"Charles, by the grace of God, king of Sweden, &c., &c.
" Our faithful and well-beloved archbishop. We send you herewith a letter from the Swedish colony on the river Delaware, to John Thelin, the postmaster at Gothenburg, and by him delivered to our depart- ment of state. From which we have seen, with great pleasure, that this people have a very pious zeal for the preservation to themselves and their children, of the pure evangelical religion. We are by this moved to grant them aid, and to favour their petition for obtaining two clergymen. It is, therefore, our pleas- ure that you will carefully select for them such good and learned pastors as they desire to have; and it is our will that, as soon as they shall be ready for their voyage, they be provided with a passage, and the necessary funds to defray their expenses. You will also procure the bibles, homilies, common-prayer and hymn-books, catechisms, primers, and spiritual trea- tises which are desired; so that the ministers may take
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these books along with them, which we will present free of expense. We are persuaded that you will be solicitous to procure faithful labourers in this vine- yard of the Lord. In so doing you will promote the glory of God, and also give us great satisfaction. We commend you kindly to Almighty God. Given at Stockholm, the 18th of February, 1696.
,
CHARLES.
" By the King. C. PIPER."
On the receipt of this letter from his majesty, the archbishop laid the matter before the consistory, and consulted the members of it. "He afterwards," says the Rev. Mr. Rudman, " called me, without any pre- vious notice, and by many pathetic motives urged my acceptance of this mission. I desired some days for consideration, and agreed. But, foreseeing the neces- sary troubles of this enterprise, I requested of him to lay before the king, my humble petition for leave to return, in due time, and promotion at home. He did so, and received the following answer:"
"'Charles, by the Grace of God, &c. Trusty and well-beloved archbishop. We have received your let- ter, dated the 21st inst., in which you promise to pro- cure, according to our mandate, pious and learned clergymen, for preaching the pure evangelical re- ligion to the Swedish people in America. We grant your request in their behalf, that they may have per-
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mission to return after some years, and obtain suit- able preferment ; as it would otherwise be a great hardship to leave their native country. You will, therefore, assure them of this our gracious intention. Given at Stockholm, the 22d of February, 1696.
CHARLES.
"'By the King. C. PIPER.'"
The king having thus given his consent that the ministers to be sent to America, should, in due time, if they desired it, be permitted to return to their native land, the Rev. Mr. Rudman obtained leave to choose a suitable colleague. Several persons were thought of, but at the suggestion of Professor Jesper Swedberg, the Rev. Eric Biork, a native of the prov- ince of Westmanland, was selected as highly qualified for this important work. The king saw fit to appoint a third clergyman to accompany the other two, and fixed on the Rev. Jonas Auren, of the province of Wermland. He was commissioned to view the coun- try, and in a short time to return, and make his re- port. These two were accordingly ordained at Upsala. The king provided for them the necessary outfit ; and having taken leave of their friends and relatives, they felt anxious to be gone, but were for a while detained by the printer not being ready with the Indian catechisms.
Before their departure the following royal man-
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date was issued :- " It is the gracious will of his majesty, that the three clergymen, Andrew Rudman, Eric Biork, and Jonas Auren, chosen by the arch- bishop of Upsala, for the Swedish congregations in America, shall take with them the religious books, mentioned in the annexed catalogue, as a donation from the king, with a declaration of his great satis- faction in their prosperity, and their faithful con- stancy in the pure evangelical religion. Given at Stockholm, the 15th of July, 1696.
CHARLES."
The books sent were the following :-
30 Bibles-10 printed by Vankis and 20 by Keiser. 6 Books of Homilies; 2 Cabinets of Treasure; 2 of Moellers ; 2 of Lutherman's.
150 Manuals.
100 Religious treatises of different kinds, viz. 12 by Kellingius; Garden of Paradise; Atlice, &c.
100 Books of Common Prayer and Hymns.
2 Ecclesiastical Acts.
2 Church Regulations.
100 Catechisms of Archbishop Suebilius.
300 Compends of do. do.
400 Primers.
500 Catechisms in the Indian language.
The king appropriated three thousand dollars for the expenses of the missionaries: and the director of
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the custom house was appointed to provide a good ship for their passage. The ship Palmboom, Capt. Hogen, was selected for the purpose. The three clergymen then waited on the king, with the most respectful and affectionate thanks for his favours. He gave them his hand, and said, "Go now, in the name of the Lord, to the place whither I send you. God be with you, and prosper your undertaking. If any opposition or injury befall you, return, and I will remember you." Then addressing Mr. Auren, in whose father's house he had often been, he said, "you will soon come back; salute your parents." Auren went to Gothenburg to take leave of his friends, in- tending to sail from that port, and meet his colleagues in London. The Rev. Messrs. Rudman and Biork embarked on the 4th of August, 1696.
After encountering a violent storm in the North Sea, and being in danger, in the English Channel, of losing the ship on a shoal called the Onion, on which the vessel struck several times, they arrived safely in London on the 10th of October. They had letters to the court requesting permission to proceed to America. There was some hesitation in granting such permission, but it was after a while obtained. This delay proved in the end of advantage to the mis- sionaries. They had engaged their passage in the ship Happy Union, but being detained in the manner just mentioned, that vessel was obliged to sail without
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them. This ship was overtaken by a storm, and after losing sails, masts, and rudder, with difficulty reached a port in Portugal, and did not arrive in America until a year after the landing there of the missionaries. The first opportunity these had of leaving England was on the 4th of February, 1697, in the ship Jeffris, Capt. Cooper. After a long detention in the English Channel, waiting for their convoy, they put to sea, and in ten weeks reached the coast of Virginia. En- tering the Chesapeake Bay they proceeded up to Annapolis in Maryland, where lived the governor of that province, Francis Nicholson, who received them with the greatest hospitality and kindness. After remaining there two weeks, they took a shallop, and on the 24th of June, being St. John's day, arrived in the Elk river, and landing, found some of their countrymen residing there. These immediately sent word of the circumstance to the Swedes in Pennsyl- vania, who, going thither, received them with tears of joy, and conveyed them and their baggage to the Swedish settlement. Before mentioning what took place on their arrival there, we here give the letter addressed to the Swedes in America by the archbishop of Upsala.
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"To the respectable Swedish congregations in America, grace, peace, and blessing from God the Father, through Jesus Christ.
" Whereas, beloved friends, you have, with a laud- able zeal for the preservation of the pure evangelical religion, and by it the promotion of your spiritual welfare, supplicated his majesty, my gracious king, to send over to you two pious and learned clergymen ; and whereas his majesty has been pleased to grant your humble request, and has commissioned me to procure two such clergymen-I have, in obedience to his mandate, and in compliance with my official duty, selected the Rev. Andrew Rudman, Master of Phil- osophy, and Mr. Eric Biork; who, on examination, are found competent to the office, and who are known to be of pious and orderly character, and willing to take upon themselves this long and hazardous voyage. They are supplied by the king's royal favour, with the necessary funds for that voyage; which I wish, by God's grace, may be safe and prosperous. I, there- fore, recommend them to you as proper teachers for the Swedish congregations. They will do their best to promote your spiritual welfare, by preaching God's word as contained in the Old and New Testaments, teaching the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian creeds, and the true doctrines contained in the Augsburg Confession of Faith, free from all human superstition and tradition. They will administer the holy sacra-
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ments according to God's ordinances, and they will instruct your children in the catechism. , They will also, it is hoped, set before you examples in all Chris- tian graces and virtues, by a godly, sober, and irre- proachable life; that they may give a good account to the Supreme Shepherd, when he shall come. On your part, beloved friends, I have full confidence that you will receive these gentlemen as your true spiritual guardians, and render to them all the honour and obedience due to their sacred function; also recom- pensing their official labours by a sufficient mainte- nance, according to the commandment of God, and your own promise.
" Whereupon we commend you to the protection of Almighty God, with faithful wishes of prosperity, increase in religious wisdom, and constancy in the way of salvation.
"Given under our hand and the seal of the Cathe- dral Consistory of Upsala, the 25th of June, 1696. "OLAUS SUEBILIUS,
" Archbishop of Upsala."
As to what took place in the Swedish settlements, and in what condition the missionaries found the pco- ple, we cannot do better than lay before the reader the following extracts of letters written by the Rev. Eric Biork to the Right Rev. Superintendent, Doctor Israel Kolmodin, dated Christina Creek, the 29th of October, 1697.
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"I had the pleasure of writing to you on the 4th of February, to inform you that we were about to leave London. We went on board that day, but were detained some time at Deal and Portsmouth, until the convoys and the captains could be cleared; at last, on the 22d of March, we weighed anchor at Portsmouth, and having passed Plymouth, the last land that we saw on the 24th was the Lizard, and from that time we saw no land until we reached Virginia. I shall not detain you with the particulars of our voyage, which was as usual, made up of storms and fair weather, but shall at once tell you, that on the 31st of May, in the afternoon, we found ourselves in thirty-four fathoms depth, and were delighted to see land before us, which we were informed was Smith's Island. We tacked about until the 2d of June, in the morning, when we cast anchor in seven fathoms depth, with joy and gladness. We went afterwards to seek a safe harbour in James river, in which we remained some days, while the captain was making his arrange- ments; thence, on the 10th of June, we sailed by Maryland, Newport, Rappahannock, Potomac, Point Lookout, the first point in Maryland, and Patuxent to a town on the river Severn, called Annapolis, where resides the governor, Francis Nicholson, and there we cast anchor, on the 19th of June. I would fain relate to you all the attention that we received from the said governor, but suffice it to say, that he treated
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us with the greatest kindness and respect. Our gra- cious sovereign, and his royal family, were duly re- membered, and had we been sent recommended to that gentleman directly from Sweden, he could not have done more for us. We remained four days in his house, during which time he did all in his power to entertain us, and show us everything worth seeing; when at last, we were obliged to go on board our ship, to continue our voyage, he took all the trouble upon himself, to see everything properly done; and when we took leave of him, he accompanied us part of the way, gave us a sum of money, and sent two men with ' us, to put on board as many bottles as they could carry, filled with all kinds of liquors. The governor is a single man, looks like a brave soldier, and is greatly attached to his king, of whom he is a faithful servant. On the 23d of June, we went on board with all our things; and we can never forget the captain's goodness, who carried us through such a long voyage without charging any freight, or passage money. At last, with a fair wind, we sailed about seventeen English miles, to a place called Transtown,* situated on Elk river, at the distance of an English mile from our Swedish settlement, where we joyfully landed, returning thanks to God, for having safely brought us through such a long voyage.
" Before we had been there a day and a night, the
* Probably Frenchtown.
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people flocked in great numbers to see us ; they came from the distance of ten or twelve Swedish miles,* in order to conduct us to their places of meeting. They welcomed us with great joy, and would hardly believe we had arrived until they saw us. They were, indeed, in great want of spiritual assistance; for at the same time that I, though unworthy, was appointed to this high office, they were deprived by death, of their venerable teacher, the Rev. Jacob Fabritius ; and since that time, have had nobody but their reader, Charles Christopher Springer, a plain, honest, pious man, but devoid of talents ; however, by the grace of God, who can produce great things out of little ones, they did tolerably well with him, as he was very zealous, and spared no pains to promote their spir- itual welfare, as I have myself always witnessed.
"On the 27th of June, we had only a small meeting of prayer and thanksgiving, at the lower congrega- tion. On the 29th, we went up to Philadelphia, a clever little town, ¡ and waited on the lieutenant gov- ernor William Markham, who, when he saw our cre- dentials, received us with great kindness.
"On the 30th of June, we visited the upper con- gregation at a place called Wicaco, ¿ which is the nearest to Philadelphia, and where the Swedes have a
* A Swedish mile is equal to 634 English miles.
t Then about 14 years old.
# Where the Swedish church now stands, which was then out of town.
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church,* in which we gave them an account of our voyage and objects, beginning with their own letter to the postmaster at Gothenburg, then his royal majesty's orders given thereupon, &c., &c. We did the same thing on the 2d of July, to the lower con- gregation at Tranhook,¡ where they also have a church. On the 11th of July, I, their unworthy min- ister, clad in my surplice, delivered my first discourse to them in Jesus' name, on the subject of the right- eousness of the Pharisees, (de justitia Pharisæorum. )
" And now, to say something more respecting our congregations, I must confess that they did not en- tirely comply with what they had promised in their letter: the reason was, that they were most uncom- fortably situated, the land which led to their church, being then overflowed with water, and yet they would not abandon the place, until they should have minis- ters, to whom they could commit the work, in which, through God's grace, I have succeeded, and agreed with them to fix on a more convenient place, to build a stone church, to be called Christina Church. I hope it will be done within a year, for the congregations are rich, and easily persuaded, by good reasons, such as I have given them. In comparing the religious
* This church was built in 1669, on the spot where the present church stands. It had loop-holes, that it might be used as a place of defence against surrounding or invading enemies. t Near Christina.
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situation of these people, their divine service, atten- tion to the ordinances, and instruction of their youth in the catechism, and other things, with the congre- gations in Sweden, I must say, that these are quite irregular, and that makes us fear that we shall have great labour and difficulty; but we remember our oaths, which are always before our minds, and will endeavour to bring them as nearly as possible, to the state of the congregations in Sweden. This state of things is not to be wondered at; for their ministers, particularly the last, were old and infirm, and could not pay proper attention to the education of youth ; but we hope, if God grants us life, to mend these matters; so that there will be churches, dwellings, and gardens for the ministers ; and that divine service will be performed, the ordinances administered, the youth taught their catechism, and regular examinations take place, so that those who come after us, will find that a plain, easy road, which we now find rough and diffi- cult. This difficulty is so much the greater, that we are alone, and the young people are numerous; but we hope that our superiors at home, will not let us sink under the labour, particularly if God grant life to our most gracious king, whom we never cease to remember in our prayers. The country here is de- lightful, as it has always been described, and over- flows with every blessing ; so that the people live very well without being compelled to too much, or too
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severe labour. The taxes are very light ; the farmers, after their work is over, live as they do in Sweden, but are clothed as well as the respectable inhabitants of the towns. They have fresh meat, and fish in abundance, and want nothing of what other countries produce: they have plenty of grain wherewith to make bread, and plenty of drink. May God continue them in the enjoyment of these blessings. There are no poor in this country, but they all provide for them- selves; for the land is rich and fruitful, and no man who will labour can suffer want.
" The Indians and we are as one people; we live in much greater friendship with them, than with the English : they call the Swedes in their language, their own people; they were very glad when we came, as they see now that Sweden does not abandon them. They are also very fond of learning the catechism, which has been printed in their language; they like to have it read to them, and they have engaged Mr. Charles Springer to teach their children to read it. Who knows what God has yet in store for them, if our lives should be spared, when we shall have ac -. quired their idiom? We shall spare no labour to attain that object. They go mostly naked, but many of them are clothed; they are very courteous in their behaviour, and fond of obliging the Swedes; they take great pains to help them, and prevent any harm happening to them. In order to forward our designs,
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