USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592.
3 Haz. Ann. 46.
2 N. Y. Ilist. Col. N. S. i. 410.
4 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 588. Van Der Donk, in his Description of New Netherland, designates the Colony as a " small band of Holland Swedes," N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 141.
5 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 593.
6 Acrelius says, " Immediately, land was bought from the Indians, a deed was given written in Low Dutch, (as no Swede could yet interpret the Indian.) By this agree ment the Swedes obtained all the western land on the river, from Cape llenlopen to the Falls at Trenton, then called by the Indians Suntican, and as much inward from it in breadth, as they might want," 409.
24
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1638.
the falls, near the present site of Trenton. Besides giving the Swedes some show of an equitable title to the country, against the legal claim set up by the Dutch, it enabled the Swedish set- tlers to occupy their lands in a manner much more satisfactory to the natives.
It is but fair to state, that this purchase by the .Swedes was called in question by the Dutch authorities of Manhattan at a subsequent period, on the flimsy testimony of certain Indians procured in a very questionable manner. These Indians denied " that the Swedes or any other nation had bought lands of them as right owners" except a "small patch," embracing Christina fort. These savages, of whom Mattehoorn was one, claimed to be the "great chiefs and proprietors of the lands, both by own- nership and descent, and appointment of the Minquas and river Indians."!
There is still other evidence of this early Swedish purchase. Captain Israel Helm, who was a justice of Upland Court, in- formed the Rev. Mr. Rudman of the purchase, to the extent that has been mentioned, and that the " old people" had informed him that they often had seen there "fixed stakes and marks." " The purchase was formerly stated in writing, under which the Indians placed their marks." This was seen by Mr. Helm when at Stockholm.2
This digression, to establish the Swedish purchase from the natives, will be excused, as it was the first effort of civilized man to extinguish the Indian title to the district of country that is to claim our particular attention. It will be seen that it embraced Swanendael, for which the Dutch had already acquired the Indian title, and also the lands about the Schuylkill to which, on account of prior purchase, they set up a rather doubtful claim. The lands within the limits of our County, were free from any counter claim on this account; and it follows, that to the wise policy of the Swedes we are really indebted for the extinguishment of the
1 This denial of the Swedish purchase might be entitled to some weight, had it been procured in a proper manner. It is said to have been elicited at Fort Nassau many years subsequently, (1651,) by Director-general Stuyvesant in person. The follow- ing extraet from the Dutch, and of course the only account of the transaction, giving the first answers of the Indians, will satisfy the reader how little reliance should be placed on an answer obtained at a later hour in the conference, from an unskilled native of the forest, in an ex-parte transaction, at a period too when eustom would forbid the absence of intoxieating drinks.
Question .- " What and how much lands the Swedes had bought from the sachems or chiefs on this river ?"
" Mattahoorn, the Saehem, answered by asking another question. Why was not the sachem of the Swedes present, that they might ask himself, and hear him? The General's reply was that being invited, he was apparently unwilling to come."
"The chief Mattahoorn answered, secondly,- that all nations coming to the river, were welcome to them, and that they sold their land indiscriminately to the first who asked it," see N. Y. Col. Doe. i. 597.
2 Extract from Rudman's Notes in Clay's Ann. 17.
25
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1640.]
Indian title to our lands,-a policy first introduced by the Dutch as a matter of expediency, and subsequently adopted by William Penn on the score of strict justice to the natives.
But it cannot be contended, that in accordance with national law, this purchase from the natives, gave to the Swedish govern- ment any legal claim to the country. They had no legal right to make purchases from the Indians. To the Dutch, as discover- ers of the river, belonged the right of pre-emption, or if any doubt existed on this point, it would be in favor of the English. As against the Swedes, the Dutch claim rested not only on dis- covery, but the exercise of preemption and occupancy.
The Rev. Reorus Torkillus, accompanied the Swedish expedi- tion and remained with the Colony at Christina as its pastor, where he died about five years afterwards. The Dutch who had a small garrison at Fort Nassau at the time of the arrival of the Swedes, continued to maintain it there, as well for the purposes of trade, as to keep a strict watch on the movements of the new comers, of which Director Kieft was kept constantly advised. It is from his rather ill tempered communications1 to the West India Company that we have the little that is known in respect to the Christina Colony, for the next two years.
In 1639 they had so much interfered with the Dutch trade on the river, as to reduce it to "a small amount," and "by under- selling, had depressed, and continue still, to keep down the market." Up to October of that year, the Dutch trade had " fal- len short full 30,000 (beavers,)" but hopes were entertained, " that they must soon move off, if not reinforced." The location of Fort Christina was not very favorable to health, and it is pro- bable that the despondeney incident to ill-health had something to do with the projected removal of the Colony. That it did not happen was owing to the timely arrival of fresh settlers, we learn from a letter of Director Kieft, dated the last of May, 1640, of which the following is an extract.
" The Swedes in the South river were resolved to move off and to come here. A day before their departure a ship arrived with a reinforcement."2 The same in substance is repeated in another letter from the Dutch Director, dated on the 15th of October, following. This timely arrival at once revived the confidence of the Colony, and blasted the hopes of the Dutch.
On the 24th of January, 1640, a passport was granted by the Swedish government to "Captain Jacob Powellson, with the vessel under his command, named Fredenburg, laden with men,
1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. For a translation from " Beschrijving Van Virginie, Nein Nederland, &c." published at Amsterdam in 1651, of an account of the first settlement of the Dutch and Swedes on the Delaware, see Haz. Reg. i. 4.
2 Ib. 593.
26
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1640.
cattle and other things necessary for the cultivation of the country ; (who,) designs departing from Holland to America or the West Indies, and there establishing himself in the country called New Sweden."1
The Fredenburg was doubtless the vessel, whose opportune arrival, saved the colony of Fort Christina from its impending fate. This relief, so absolutely necessary to the salvation of the colony, was a mere incident, as the Fredenburg was not dispatch- ed for that purpose, but as a pioneer in the establishment of a kind of patroonship of Hollanders under the authority of the crown of Sweden. The grant for this purpose, which bears even date with the passport of Captain Powellson, was made to Henry Hoehhanmer & Co., and embraced lands on both sides of the Delaware without bounds, except that they were to "limit their possessions to four or five German miles from Fort Christina."2 We learn from a letter of the same date, addressed "to the Commandant or Commissary and other inhabitants of Fort Christina in New Sweden," that a grant of lands was at first made to a Mr. De Horst and others, whose operations were re- strieted to the north side of the river, and "to there found a colony." The "gracious intention" is also expressed, in this letter, of sending to the colonists of Fort Christina from " Got- tenburg next spring, if it pleases God, one or two vessels with all sorts of provisions." God's pleasure, in giving relief to the infant colony, seems, in this instance, to have anticipated the " gracious intentions" of her Swedish Majesty.
Passports for other vessels connected with the Hochhanmer settlement or patroonship were granted in blank at the same time, and an agent named Jost De Bogardt was appointed, who accompanied the expedition. From his commission and the obligation he assumed, it appears that he was to act as the gene- ral agent of the government on the river, and was not to let any opportunity pass, " of sending to Sweden all information which may be useful to her Majesty and the crown of Sweden." As he was under the pay of the government, at the rate of 500 florins or 200 rix dollars per annum, with a promised increase of 100 florins in case of new proofs of his attachment and of his zeal to promote the welfare of the Swedish erown, and also re- compense " in a royal mnner," according to circumstances, it is fair to infer that Mr. De Bogardt went out in the capacity of a spy ; and as he was a Dutchman, it is most probable that one important part of his duty was to watch over the doings of the government of New Netherland.
1 English translation of Swedish documents in possession of the American Philo- sophical Society, procured by the Hon. Jonathan Russell when Minister of the U. S. to the Court of Sweden. Haz. Reg. iv. 177, &c. 2 Haz. Reg. iv. 177.
27
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1641.]
The Hochhanmer Company probably resulted from the dis- putes and jealousies that occurred among the Directors of the Dutch West India Company. The privileges1 granted to him and his associates were ample and liberal in respect to trade and commerce, very much more liberal than the Dutch West India Company granted to their patroons. In addition to the office of general agent of the crown of Sweden, it is highly probable that Jost De Bogardt held the post of commander of this new colony, as he is mentioned as occupying that position, in the in- structions to Governor Printz, issued in 1642.2
Peter Hollandare, a Swede, appointed to succeed Peter Minuit as governor of New Sweden, arrived in the first of the vessels that brought out the Dutch colony,3 or what is more probable, came in one of the vessels sent shortly afterwards for the relief and reinforcement of the colony at Christina. His administra- tion continued but one year and a half, when he returned to occupy a military post in his native country.4
Since the unsuccessful effort of George Holmes and his small company in 1635, we have no notice of any attempt by the English to make a settlement on our river till about this period. Their operations, even now, are involved in much uncertainty. Mr. Samuel Hazard, whose investigations have thrown so much light on the early settlements on the Delaware, after diligent search among the ancient records of New England, " can collect but little definite information on the subject," except that several attempts at settlement were made.5 In a Dutch document, characteristically long, descriptive of New Netherland, publish- ed in 1649, the efforts of the English "at divers times and places to annex this South river," is adverted to. According to this authority they had, previously to that time, been prevented from making actual settlements "by divers protests and by being ex- pelled by force, well knowing if they but once happened to settle there, the river would be lost, or cause considerable trouble."6
In the records of the United Colonies, evidence exists that an effort was made in 1640 to plant a colony from New Haven. A Captain Turner, agent for New Haven made a large purchase " on both sides of Delaware bay and river." Besides trade, the object of the purchase "was for the settlement of churches in gospel order and purity."7
In the year 1641, against the anxious admonition of Director General Kieft,8 a company of emigrants from New Haven, pro-
1 For an English translation of this grant, see Haz. Reg. iv. 178.
2 Ib. 220. 3 Hist. New Netherland, i. 365.
4 Acrelius, N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 410; Clay's Ann. 18.
5 Haz. Ann. 57.
6 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 292.
7 Haz. Ann. (as extracted from Haz. Hist. Col.) 57; also Trumbull Ilist. Con. i. 116.
8 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 144; Hist. New Netherland, i. 253.
28
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1642.
ceeded to the Delaware in a barque fitted out by a Mr. Lamber- ton and placed under the command of Robert Cogswell. Not- withstanding the purchases of land made the previous year, these emigrants made others, and located themselves on Varkens kill near the present town of Salem, N. J., in direct violation of a promise made by the captain of their vessel to Director Kieft. New England history and records establish the fact that such a settlement had been commenced on the Delaware ; but the actual existence of English settlers, at the locality mentioned, is first officially noticed in the instructions of John Printz, the third Governor of New Sweden. The instructions, which are drawn up with ability and with a very correct knowledge of the river, are dated at Stockholm on the 15th of August, 1642. They left it to the discretion of the Governor, either to attract these English families (numbering about 60 persons) under the authority of the crown of Sweden, or what the government thought better, to secure their removal. To effect the latter alternative, the Governor had the sanction of his sovereign, "to work underhand as much as possible, with good manners and with success."!
In another attempt by the English to make a settlement on the Delaware, they did not even keep at a respectful distance from other settlements, "but had the audacity to land in the South river" opposite Fort Nassau, " where they made a begin- ning of settling on the Schuylkill, without any commission of a potentate."2 This intrusion, in the estimation of the Dutch, was an affair of "ominous consequence," that might eventually result in the ruin of their trade on the South river.
No time was to be lost in getting rid of these dangerous rivals ; and in consequence of a resolution of the authorities of New Amsterdam, that this was to be done, " in the best manner possi- ble," two yachts were placed under the charge of Jan Jansen Van Ilpendam, with particular instructions for that object.3 These instructions were promptly carried out in respect to those located on the Schuylkill, who, it appears, were only a company of traders, and their whole establishment a single trading house. This house was burnt, and those in charge of it subjected to in- dignities and losses, by the attacking party. Smith, in his history of New York,4 supposes these English intruders to have come from Maryland, but this is not credited by Bozman the historian of that province, because " no Maryland records have been found that mention any such an attempt from that quarter."5
1 For a translation of these instructions entire, see Haz. Reg. iv. 219, &c.
2 These purchases were made by the agents of the Commissioners of New Haven, N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 224.
3 Aerelins, 413. 4 Page 6. 5 Hist. Maryland, ed. 1837, 206.
29
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1642.]
The English Colony on Salem creek was also got rid of. In effecting its removal, the Swedes have the credit of lending a helping hand to the Dutch.1 The only measures, in which the Dutch and Swedes could unite harmoniously in carrying out, were such as would keep the English from gaining a footing on the river.
Our narrative has now reached a period in which the citizens of Delaware County will feel a local and more direct interest. The government of New Sweden, and substantially that of the whole river, now passed into the hands of John Printz, who established his seat of government within the limits of our County. This was the first settlement made by civilized man within its limits, and the first permanent settlement within the bounds of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of which any record exists.
The new Governor was a military man, and held a commission as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. His instructions,2 which are dated at Stockholm, on the 15th of August, 1642, are very care- fully prepared, with a full knowledge both of the geography and the condition of the country. They enjoin upon him to see that neither violence nor injustice was done nor permitted to be done to the Indians, and that in order to secure their trade and good- will, he should " furnish them with the things they require at lower prices than those they receive from the Dutch of Fort Nassau, or from the English their neighbors." If he felt able to protect himself in Fort Christina, he was to engage the people to give themselves to agriculture with zeal, "especially sowing enough grain, to support the people under his orders ;" after which his attention was to be given " to the culture of tobacco." Besides the cattle and sheep sent out, he was at liberty to purchase others from his English neighbours, and, " before all," he was to direct his attention to the sheep, "in order to have a good species," so that a considerable portion of good wool might in future be sent to the mother country. The trade in peltries was to be supported in a good condition, and the manufacture of salt, the culture of the grape, and the raising of silk-worms suggested. Metals and minerals were to be sought after, and how fisheries may be established " with profit," was to be inquired into, " as according to report they may, at certain times of the year, establish the whale fisheries in Godyn's bay and its neighborhood."
Whatever regarded police, government, and the administration of justice, was to be done, " in the name of her Majesty and of
1 Acrelius, 413 ; Hist. New Netherland, i. 253. Unfounded charges were made by the Dutch agent and Swedish governor against the English, that they had plotted with the Indians " to cut them off." They needed some exeuse for their conduet, see N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 225.
2 For the instructions at length from the MSS. in possession of the American Philo- sophieal Society, see Haz. Reg. iv. 219, and for a good abstract, Haz. Ann. 63.
30
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1643.
the crown of Sweden." From the necessity of the case, it was not possible to give " perfeet and detailed instructions," but much was left to the discretion of the Governor. Great offenders might be punished " with imprisonment and other proportionate punish- ments, and even with death," but not otherwise " than according to the ordinances and legal forms, and after having sufficiently considered and examined the affair with the most noted persons, such as the most prudent assessors of justice that he can find and consult in the country."
The Dutch Colonists, sent over two years before and settled below Fort Christina, were to be permitted to exercise the re- formed religion-all others were to be subject to the Augsburg Confession, and the ceremonies of the Swedish church. Thus it will be seen that the settlement of our County commenced with an established religion, though it cannot be said that conformity to it was ever rigorously exacted.
As has been mentioned, the Swedes based their claim to the country wholly upon their purchases made from the Indians, followed by occupation. The extent of that elaim is estimated at thirty German miles in length-its width in the interior, as had been stipulated and deereed in the contracts with the savages, " that the subjects of her Majesty and the members of the Navi- gation Company, might take up as much land as they wished."
The Swedish Dutch Colony is referred to in the instructions to Printz, as subject immediately to Commander Jost De Bogardt, but the Governor is enjoined to see that the stipulated conditions under which the settlement was made, are complied with, and their removal to a greater distance from Fort Christina is sug- gested.
Previous to the issuing of these instructions to Governor Printz, the two vessels the Stoork and the Renown which were to bear him and his fellow adventurers to New Sweden, had sailed from Stockholm for Gottenburg to complete their equip- ments. According to the Rev. John Campanius,1 who accom- panied the expedition, they sailed from Gottenburg on the 1st of November, 1642, and after a tedious voyage by the way of Antigua, arrived at Fort Christina on the 15th of February, 1643, having experienced a severe snow storm off the Hooern kill, from which one of the vessels sustained great damage.
The energetic character of the new Governor is abundantly evinced during his administration ; and could his acts always have been tempered by prudence, his success would have been greater. The expedition under his command was the most form- idable that had entered the Delaware, and it required him but a very short time to give the Swedish establishment on the river a very imposing aspect.
1 Campanius, 70.
31
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1643.]
His instructions required that the river might "be shut" or " commanded." For this purpose, the position of Fort Christina, at once determined its insufficiency. The bold shore of the island of Tennaconk1 (Tinicum,) then extending further into the river than it now does, was wisely selected as the site for a new fortress; for while by its position it commanded the river, its proximity to Fort Nassau enabled the Governor more readily to control the operations of the Dutch. Its insular position also rendered it more secure from attacks by the Indians.
Besides the fort, which was named New Gottenburg, Governor Printz, "caused to be built there, a mansion for himself and family which was very handsome; there was a fine orchard, a pleasure house and other conveniencies. He called it Printz Hall."" The dilapidated remains, of what was said to be the chim ney of this mansion, were standing within the recollection of the author, and up to this time one of the small foreign made bricks, of a pale yellow color of which it was partly constructed, may be occasionally picked up in the vicinity.3 Its site was a short distance above the present Tinicum hotel, and on the opposite side of the road.
The fort, we are told by Hudde, was built of groenen logs,4 the one on the other, and " was pretty strong." Groenen has been translated hemlock, but as that timber did not grow within any convenient distance of the place, and that of a kind much better fitted for the purpose was at hand, there is evidently a mistake, either in the translation or in the statement of Hudde.
This vigilant Governor did not feel satisfied that he had quite " shut the river" by the erection of Fort Gottenburg; for before the expiration of eight months from the day of his arrival, he had completed another fortress near the mouth of Salem creek, which he called Elfsborg or Elsinborg, and on which were mounted eight brass twelve-pounders.5
Upon the arrival of Governor Printz, the only European population on the river were the few persons occupying the Dutch Fort Nassau, the Swedish colony at Christina, and the Dutch patroon colony established by the Swedish government at one or more points lower down. How many persons accompanied the Governor is not known, but the number though not large,
1 It seems probable that this word in the Indian language meant " Island."
2 Campanius, 79.
3 Ferris in his " Original settlements on the Delaware," says : "This Hall stood more than 160 years, and was at last burnt down by accident since the commencement of the present century."
4 Hudde's Rep. N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 429.
5 The guns were lying there, and the fort " not entirely finished" when visited by De Vries, October 20th, 1643, see his voyages, N. Y. Hist. Col. iii. 123. Campanius says this Fort "was erected by Governor Printz, when he first came into the coun- try," 80.
32
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1643.
was probably greater than the whole previous population of the river. He brought with him his wife and one daughter and probably other members of his family, a lieutenant-governor and secretary, a chaplain and surgeon, (barber,) besides twenty-four regular soldiers with officers sufficient for a much larger force. These, with an ample supply of military stores and provisions for the garrison, and a large stock of goods suitable for Indian traffic, which is known to have constituted part of the freight of the two vessels, would leave but little space for actual settlers, their household goods and implements of husbandry. Still a consider- able number of settlers accompanied the expedition, who doubt- less fixed their places of abode within a convenient distance of the newly erected forts. It was the first successful colony planted within the limits of Pennsylvania.
We are told by Campanius,1 that "on this island [Tinicum] the principal inhabitants had their dwellings and plantations.' From the limited extent of the island this could not have con- tinned long in respect to the plantations. In 1645, when Andreas Hudde, the Dutch commissary on the Delaware, made his examination of the river preparatory to making his report to the government, there were on the same side of the river with Fort Christina, and about two [Dutch] miles higher up, "some plantations," which, in the language of the report, "are con- tinued nearly a mile ; but few houses only are built, and these at considerable distances from each other. The farthest of these is not far from Tinnekonk. * Farther on, at the same side, till you come to the Schuylkill. being about two miles, there is not a single plantation, neither at Tinnekonk, because near the river nothing is to be met but underwood and valley lands."2
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.