History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 2

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150

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" He then showed ne the place where our people had set up a column to which was festened a piece of tin, whereon the arms of Holland were painted. One of their chiefs took this off, for the purpose of making tobacco-pipes, not knowing that he was doing amiss. Those in com- mand at the house made euch an ado about it that the Indiens, not knowing how it was, went sway and slew the chief who had done it, and brought a token of the dead to the house to those in command, who told them that they wished that they had not done it ; that they should have brought him to them, as they wished to have forbidden him not to do the like again. They went away, and the friends of the murdered chief incited their friends, as they are a people like the Indians, who are very revengeful, to set about the work of vengeance. Observing our people out of the house, each one at hie work, that there was not more than one inside, who was lying sick, and a large mastiff, who was chained,- had he been loose they would not have dared to approach the house,- and the men who had command standing near the house, three of the etontest Indians, who were to do the deed, bringing a lot of bear-skins with them to exchange, songht to enter the house. The man in charge weut in with them to make the barter, which being done, he went to the loft where the stores ley, and in descending the stairs one of the Indians seized an axe and cleft his head so that he fell down desd. They also relieved the sick man of life, and shot into the dog, who was chained fast, and whom they most feared, twenty-five arrows before they could dispatch him. They then proceeded towards the rest of the meu, who were at work, and, going amongst them with pretensions of friendship, struck them down. Thus was our young colony destroyed, cansing 16 serious loss."

On Jan. 1, 1633, De Vries, who by divers presents had so won the good opinion and friendship of the Indians that they concluded a treaty of peace with him, sailed up the river, and on the 5th of the same month reached the abandoned Fort Nassau, where he was met by a few Indians, who seeing him approach- ing, had gathered there to barter furs. The Dutch

captain told them he wanted beans, and that he had no goods to exchange for peltries, whereupou the sav- ages told him to go to Timmerkill (now Cooper's Creek, opposite Philadelphia), where he could get corn. An Indian woman to whom he had given a cloth dress secretly informed De Vries that if he went there he would be attacked, for the natives had mur- dered the crew of an English boat which was ascend- ing the Count Earnest (Delaware) River. Thus fully on his guard, the next day when De Vries went to Timmerkill he permitted the Indians to visit his vessel, at the same time informing the savages that their evil designs had been revealed to him by Manitou, the Indian god. After making a treaty of permanent peace with them, being unable to obtain corn in any quantity on the Delaware, De Vries sailed to Vir- ginia, where he purchased provisions and received from the Governor a present of six goats for Swanen- dale, to which he returned, and subsequently taking the colonists on his vessel, sailed to New York and thence to Europe. Hence, in the summer of 1633 no settlement of Europeans was located at any point along the shores of Delaware Bay and River.

In 1635 a party of Englishmen from the colony on the Connecticut River, consisting of George Holmes, his hired man, Thomas Hall, and ten or twelve others, attempted to make a lodgment on the Delaware, of which fact the Dutch authorities in New York seemed to have had information, and made preparation to thwart their design, for when the English squatters made an effort to capture Fort Nassau they found it garrisoned. The English party were taken prisoners and sent to Manhattan, where they were permitted permanently to settle. Thomas Hall, at the latter place, rose to some eminence, and was active in all the movements in the early days of New York while it was a Dutch province.

In 1624, William Usselincx visited Sweden, and as as it was he who had drafted the first plan for the Dutch West India Company, he was invited by Gus- tavus Adolphus to remain in Sweden. Although ad- vanced in years, in 1626, Usselincx obtained from the king a charter for the Swedish West India Company, a commercial organization, whose project of forming a colony in "foreign parts" received the earnest sup- port of Gustavus Adolphus and Axel Oxenstierna, the great chancellor of Sweden. But nothing beyond the consent of Adolphus to the organization of the com- pany seems to have been done, and even the official royal signature to the charter was never procured. Hence after the death of the king the company was dissolved aud the whole project apparently was aban- doned, notwithstanding a publication of the privi- leges granted by charter, although unsigned by the late monarch, was made by Chancellor Oxenstierna. This was the external appearance merely, for several persons were still earnest in the effort to establish the Swedish West India Company. It is a peculiar cir- cumstance that as late as the middle of the year 1635

1 " Voyages of De Vries." New York Historical Society Collection (new series), vol. iii. page 23.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the objective-point of the proposed expedition seemed to have been undetermined, the coast of Guinea and that of Brazil being under consideration, while the eastern coast of North America apparently offered no attractions whatever. In the summer of 1635, Peter Minuit, who had some knowledge of the territory on the Delaware, entered into correspondence with the Swedish authorities, and early in 1637 he went to Sweden, where, after many difficulties, on Aug. 9, 1637, the Admiralty issued a passport for the ships "Kalmar Nyckel" and "Gripen," the former a man- of-war, and the latter a sloop, or tender, which vessels comprised Minuit's fleet, the first Swedish expedition. It is stated in a Dutch state paper that Minuit's col- onists were "Swedes, the most of whom were ban- ditti."1 Unforeseen delays followed, until the winter was near at hand before the expedition finally made sail for the New World, after having put into the Dutch harbor of Medemblik for repairs. It is stated by Professor Odhner,2 of Sweden, that documentary evidence seems to establish the fact that the fleet ar- rived in the Delaware in March or early in April, 1638. Minuit about that time, it is known, purchased from the Indians a tract of land several days' journey in extent, located on the west bank of the river, whereon he set up the arms of Sweden, and with a salvo of artillery christened the fort he began build- ing, near the present site of Wilmington, the " Kris- tina," in honor of the youthful queen whose flag he was the first to unfold on the American continent. The river Christiana retains the name thus bestowed on the fort-for Minuit called that stream the Elbe- to this day. Within the palisade were built two log houses, for the accommodation of the soldiers and for the storage of provisions. After the little settlement had been provided with all necessaries to sustain life, and for barter with the Indians, Lieut. Mäns Kling was placed in command of the garrison, and Minuit, in July, 1638, sailed for Sweden, touching in his homeward voyage at the West Indies, where the sloop " Gripen" had preceded him. At St. Christo- pher he sold all the merchandise on the "Kalmar Nyckel," and in place of the cargo he had taken to the island loaded the vessel with tobacco. When ready to sail Minuit and the captain of his vessel were invited to visit a Dutch ship, "The Flying Deer," and while on board of the latter a furious hur- ricane arose, compelling all the vessels in the road- stead to go to sea. Several of the ships were dis- masted, while others were lost, among the latter " The Flying Deer." She was never afterwards heard from. The " Kalmar Nyckel" made search for the missing Swedish officers, but, learning no tidings of them, after several days sailed for Europe. The sloop " Gripen" subsequently returned from the West

Indies to the Delaware, where she was loaded with furs, and sailed for Sweden, reaching there in the latter part of May, 1639, having made the passage in five weeks.

The same year Cornelius Van Vliet, a Dutch cap- tain, was ordered to proceed in the " Kalmar Nyckel" to New Sweden, learn the condition of the colony, and make report of the country, no report having been made by Minuit, as it was the purpose of Queen Christina to people the land with Swedes. To the latter end an effort was made to obtain willing emi- grants, but failing in that, the government ordered the Governors of Elfsborg and Värmland "to lay hands on such marriaged soldiers as had either evaded ser- vice or committed some other offence, and transport them, with their wives and children, to New Sweden, with the promise to bring them back, if required, within two years ; to do this, however, 'justly and dis- creetly,' that no riot might ensne." 3

The "Kalmar Nyckel" on her second voyage to the colony sailed for Gottenburg, where she arrived in June, 1639. There she was detained more than three months, occasioned by the difficulty of procuring emi- grants, cattle, horses, swine, implements for hus- bandry, and partly because of the negligence of the new commander of the second expedition. Rev. Reo- rus Torkillus, the first Swedish clergyman in New Sweden, is believed to have been one of the passengers on the vessel, which left Gottenburg in the early autumn of 1639. The ship was obliged to stop at Medemblik to be overhauled, she having sprung a leak, and, afterward, when having put to sea, she was twice compelled to return for repairs, until the crew stated they were not willing to sail in such a vessel and under such a captain. Van Vliet was thereupon discharged, a new crew procured, and Capt. Pouwel Jansen, a Dutchman, given charge of the ship. The "Kalmar Nyckel," after encountering a remarkable storm, that intercepted all navigation in the Zuider-Zee, finally, on Feb. 7, 1640, sailed from the Texel for New Sweden. Lieut. Peter Hollandare, who had been appointed Governor of the province, accompanied the expedition, which, after a voyage of over two months, landed at Christiana on the 17th of April of the same year, where they found the colony planted by Minuit in good condition.4 The emi- grants who accompanied the second expedition were of the most unpromising character, since Peter Hol- landare records that "no more stupid, indifferent peo- ple are to be found in all Sweden than those who are now here," and the domestic animals transported in | the ship were few and of poor quality. On Nov. 2, 1640,

1 Penna. Archives, 2d series, vol. v. p. 236.

2 " The Foundlog of New Sweden" (Penn. Mag. of History, vol. iii. p. 279) Is a mine of Interesting information on the early settlements of the Delaware River.

8 " The Founding of New Sweden," hy Professor C. T. Odhner. Trans- lated by Professor G. B. Keen, Penn, Mag. of History, vol. iti. p. 396.

4 This statement, which appears from Swedish documents, is in marked contrast to the assertion of Director Kieft, whose letter, deted in the Intter part of May, 1640 (" New York Colonial Documente," vol. i. p. 593), states, "The Swedes in the South River were resolved to move off and to come here" (New York). " A day before their departure a ship arrived with a reinforcement."

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

the ship " Friedenburg," under the command of Capt. Jacob Powellson, having on board a number of Dutch colonists, with Jost Van Bogardt, who emigrated under the auspices of the Swedish crown, cattle, and " other things necessary for the cultivation of the country," arrived in New Sweden. These emigrants occupied land three or four Swedish miles below Christiana. Very little is known of the history of the colony from 1640 to 1643, saving that in 1642 a general sickness prevailed among the Swedish settlers on the Dela- ware.1

The "Kalmar Nyckel" returned to Sweden in July, 1640. The home government, in its anxiety to obtain settlers for its American colony, had ordered the Gov- ernor of Örebro to prevail upon the unsettled Finns in that province to emigrate with their wives and children to New Sweden, while Mäns Kling was in- structed from the mining classes, and particularly from among the roaming Finns, who lived free of charge in the houses of the inhabitants of the Swedish forests, to procure settlers to be sent abroad. The third ex- pedition, in the " Kalmar Nyckel" and the "Chari- tas," sailed for New Sweden in 1641, and a number of the Finns came hither in those vessels. Hence many of the early Swedish settlers were not of a class to be desired as founders of a new empire, for the ar- chives of Sweden disclose the fact that quite a number of criminals and forest-destroying Finns were trans- ported to the Delaware River settlements to rid the mother-country of their presence. The Finns men- tioned had, in violation of the mandates of the royal government, set fire to the forests in Värmland and Dal, that they might free the ground of trees to sow graiu in the ashes, and for this act they were banished to the New World. Professor Odhner directly asserts that in the province of Skaraborg, a trooper, who was condemned to death for having broken into the monas- tery gardens at Varnhem, was permitted to make his selection between being hanged or embarking for New Sweden, and as late as 1653 2 a criminal who had been convicted of killing an elk on the island D'Auland was sentenced to transportation hither.

The fourth colony, and the one whose history most intimately connects itself with Delaware County, was that which left Gottenburg on Nov. 1, 1642. This expedition, composed of the ships "Fama" and "Swan," was under the command of Lieut .- Col. John Printz, who had been commissioned Governor of New Sweden, Aug. 15, 1642, with an annual salary of one thousand two hundred dollars in silver and an allowance of four hundred rix-dollars for his ex- penses. The journey was a long one; "the watery way to the West was not yet discovered, and therefore, for fear of the sand-banks off Newfoundland, the ships which went under the command of Governor

Printz sailed along the coast of Africa until they found the eastern passage, then directly over to Amer- ica, leaving the Canaries high up to the north."3 They landed at Antigua, inhabited at "that time ' by Englishmen and negroes, with some Indians,' where they 'spent their Christmas holidays, and were well entertained,' " says Mr. Holm, ""'at the Governor's house.' After quitting this seat of 'perpetual sum- mer' (as the same gentleman depicts it) they en- countered 'a severe storm,' accompanied at the last ' with snow,' which 'continued about fourteen days,' by which they 'lost three large anchors, a spritsail, and their mainmast, and the ship was run aground ; but on the 15th of February, 1643, by God's grace, came up to Fort Christina, in New Sweden, Va.,' in the precise phrases of the historian, 'at two o'clock in the afternoon.' Here the first three Swedish expe- ditions had established their chief settlement, under Minuit and Hollandare, and here remained a short time also this fourth and greatest of the colonies, enjoying friendly intercourse with fellow-countrymen most glad to welcome them, and happily reposing from the distresses of their long and perilous voyage.' "+

Under the instructions he had received from the home government, Printz, in the exercise of his dis- cretion, located the seat of government at Tinicum Island, where he built a fort, which he called New Got- tenburg, and resided for a time in the fortress, until he built his mansion-house, known in our annals as Printz Hall. On this island the principal inhabitants then had their dwellings and plantations.5 With the fort at that place, Printz controlled the passage of the river above Tinicum, and when he, shortly afterward, built Fort Elsenburgh, at Salem Creek, placing therein four brass and iron twelve-pound cannon and one " pots-hooft," 6 manned by twelve soldiers in command of a lieutenant, he rendered the Dutch fortress on the east side of the river above the mouth of the Schuyl- kill almost useless to the Holland colony, as was fully recognized by Hudde, who reported that Printz had closed "the enterance of the river."

We are told by Campanius that "In the be- ginning of Governor Printz's administration there came a great number of those criminals, who were sent over from Sweden. When the European inhab- itants perceived it they would not suffer them to set their foot on shore, but they were all obliged to re- turn, so that a great many of them perished on the voyage. This was related to me, amongst other things, hy an old, trustworthy man, named Nils Matsson Utter, who, after his return home, served in His Majesty's life-guards. It was after this for- bidden, under a penalty, to send any more criminals to America, lest Almighty God should let his ven-

1 Wiothrop, vol. ii. p. 76.

2 5 Peana. Archives, 2d series, p. 780, where ie given Queen Chris- tina's order of Aug. 11, 1653, directing that Henry D'Oregrund, a mule- factor uoder sentence of death, be sent to New Sweden.

3 Acrelius, " History of New Sweden," p. 41.

+ Professor G. B. Keen's summary of Printz's voyage, in " Descead- ante of Jöran Kyn," Penna. Mag. of History, vol. ii. p. 326. 5 Campsoins, " History of New Sweden," p. 79.

6 Hudde's Report, Penaa. Archives, 2d series, vol. v. p. 104.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

geance fall on the ships and goods, and the virtuous people that were on board." 1

This statement is in direct conflict with the report of Governor Printz in 1647, for therein he asked in- struction from the home authorities "how long the criminals must serve for their crimes,"2 and is told that nothing definite can be prescribed respecting that matter, that it is left to his discretion, but those who reform and perform their duty satisfactorily may be allowed the same wages as other free people. " But those who go on in the same wrong way as be- fore and do not exhibit any improvement may have their punishment increased by you, Sir Governor, or may continue to serve without wages."3

The voluntary emigrants to New Sweden were of two classes, the freemen, those who were privileged to settle where they chose in the colony and to return to the mother-country at pleasure, and the company's servants, those who were employed at stipulated wages for a designated term. "There was a third, consisting of vagabonds and malefactors ; these went to remain in slavery, and were employed in digging the earth, throwing up trenches, and erecting walls and other fortifications. The others had no intercourse with them, but a particular spot was appointed for them to reside upon.4

The first year under Printz's administration many of the settlers died, which the Governor states was due to hard work and the scarcity of food.5 In four years thereafter (1647) we learn from the report fur- nished the home government that the total number of whites in the Swedish settlements on the Delaware was one hundred and eighty-three souls. Twenty- eight of the freemen had made settlements, and part of them were provided with oxen and cows. Tobacco seems to have been chiefly the crop grown, for in the return cargo of the "Golden Shark," in that year,

was six thousand nine hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco, grown in New Sweden, the rest having been purchased from Virginia. To stimulate this project those persons who cultivated land were exempted by the home government for ten years from taxation. A grist-mill had been erected by Printz in 1643, about a quarter of a mile in the woods at " Kara Kung," other- wise called the Water-Mill stream, " a fine mill, which ground both fine and coarse flour, and was going early and late. It was the first that was seen in that coun- try."6 This mill was located on Crum Creek, and the holes sunk in the rocks to receive the posts sup- porting the frame-work are still to be seen, near the Blue Bell Tavern, on the Darby road." Townsend Ward 8 tells us that in front of the old portion of the Blue Bell Tavern " is a carriage stepping-stone of considerable historical interest, for it is, perhaps, one of the first millstones used in what is now the terri- tory of Pennsylvania, and was in use before Penn's arrival. The stone is circular in form, with a square hole through its centre. Not far from the inn, and in the bed of the creek, only a few feet west of the old King's (Queen's) road bridge, may be seen the holes, drilled in the rocks, in which were inserted the sup- ports of the ancient mill wherein the stone was used. Mr. Aubrey H. Smith remembers finding, when a boy, a piece of lead weighing seventeen pounds, that had evidently been run, when melted, around an inserted post." Printz was much pleased with the mill, " which runs the whole year, to the great advantage of the coun- try, particularly as the windmill, formerly here before I came, would never work, and was good for nothing."9 Not only had he built this needed public improvement, but had caused some waterfalls to be examined as a site for saw-mills below the dam of the grist-mill, as well as three other places where oak-timber grew plen- tiful. But as he was without the saw-blades, and no person in the colony understood the management of such an establishment, Printz suggested to the home government that it would be worth considering, as a good trade in planking, pipe-staves, and timber could be made with the West Indies and other points, pro- vided a proper vessel was kept in New Sweden to transport those articles to market.10

It is not my purpose to relate the history of the dif- ficulties and trials which Printz had to contend with from the encroachments of the Dutch and English in their efforts to make a lodgment on the Delaware. That he was insolent in his manner to those whom he regarded as intruders on the Swedish territory cannot be questioned, if the statement of his enemies is to be credited. Hudde tells us that Printz replied to his

1 Campanine, " New Sweden," p. 73.

: Penna. Mag. of History, vol. vii. p. 277.

" Count Oxenstierna's reply to Printz, Penna. Mag. of History, vol. vii. p. 283. In fact, we have reason to believe that during all our colo- nial history criminals were sent to the American plantations. In & earies of articles on crimes and criminals, published in the New Castle (England) Weekly Chronicle, in 1883, the author says, " The statute of 39 Elizabeth was converted by James I. into an Act of Transportation to America, by a letter to the treasurer and council of Virginia, in the year 1619, commanding them ' to seod 100 dissolute persone to Virginia, which the Knight Marshall would deliver to them for the purpose.' Transportation is not distinctly meutioued by any English statute prior to Charles II., which gives a power to the judges, at their discretion, 'either to execute or transport to America for life the mosstroopers of Cumberland.' This mode of punishment, however, was not commonly practiced until the reign of George I. The courts were then, by Act of Parliament, allowed a discretionary power to order felons to be trans- ported to the American plantations. This lasted from 1718 to the decla- ration of American independence in 1776." The importation of crimi- nale into this colony in the character of redemption servants, who wera purchased from the officers in England, became such a public evil that on Feb. 14, 1729-30, the General Assembly by statute forbade masters of vessels, under heavy flues, landing auch persons in the province, and extended the penalties to merchants who should import, sell, or dispose of such convicte in the province in violation of the act.

4 Campanius, " New Sweden," p. 73.

6 Printz's Report, Penn. Mag. of Hist., vol. vil. p. 272.

G Campanius, p. 81. Of course the statement applies to the first mill ruu by water. We know, from Priutz's report, that a windmill hed preceded it. .

7 Record of Uplund Court, p. 88.

8 " A Walk to Darby," Penn. Mag. of Hist., vol. iii. p. 262.

" Report for 1647, Penn. Mag. of Hist., vol. vii. p. 274.

10 P'enn. Mag. of Hist., vol. vii. p. 279.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

suggestion that the Dutch were the earliest settlers on the Delaware, "that the devil was the oldest pos- sessor of hell, but he sometimes admitted a younger one." That on another occasion, Printz treated con- temptuously a letter he had sent him by a sergeant, in that he threw it towards one of his attendants who stood near him, saying, "There, take care of it," and that when the sergeant insisted on seeing the Gov- ernor, who left him to meet some Englishmen, he, the sergeant, was thrown out of doors, " the Governor taking a gun in his hand from the wall to shoot him, as he imagined, but was prevented from leaving his room," and that when the servants of the Dutch Company went to Tinicum, Printz unreasonably abused them, "so that they are often, on returning home, bloody and bruised," while John Thickpenny,1 of the New England colony on the Delaware, de- posed that, at Tinicum, Printz cursed and swore at the Englishmen, calling them renegades, and threw John Woollen, the Indian interpreter for the English settlers, into irons, which Printz himself fastened on his legs, and that he stamped with his feet in his rage. Despite all these statements, Printz was true to his sovereign's interest in the colony, even if he had failed in that respect in the Old World."

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 2

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150