USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume One > Part 6
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with neighboring seas; at the death of Gustavus, in November, 1632. nothing of practical importance had been accomplished. He had indeed heartily approved the plan ; if it languished during his absence in the wars it revived when he returned to Stockholm;
Lord Baltimore
Proprietor of Maryland; born about 1582; died 1632. Photographed especially for this work from an old engraving
he hoped to increase the wealth of his country by the profits of exterior commerce, and to train at the same time a body of sea- men who might even cope upon the great oceans with those of Spain. It was at Nuremberg, in the last of his conferences with his wise and trusty counsellor, the Chancellor Axel Oxenstiern. that he considered afresh the whole plan, and expressed his ap- proval of a new and enlarged charter, designed to enlist the inter- est of the North German and other cities. Three weeks later he
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The Swedish Settlement
fell at Lutzen-at the very time when the ships of DeVries were approaching the Delaware.
Upon Oxenstiern, burdened with all the other difficult affairs of Sweden, devolved the execution of the American scheme. Faithful to the thought of Gustavus in this as in other particulars, he was himself heartily in favor of it. No statesman of his time viewed more sagaciously the problem of Europe's relations with the New World. But the times were unpropitious ; he was forced to wait five years, until practicable plans could be matured. Late in the autumn of 1637 two ships at last left Sweden for America. They were under the command of Peter Minuit, he who had been the Dutch company's director at Manhattan from 1626 to 1632. The expedition was bound, not to the Guinea Coast, or fabulous regions in the South Sea, but to the South River. The western side of this river, as Minuit knew, had remained unoccupied by Europeans since the abandonment of the Colony of DeVries at Swanendael, and he undoubtedly knew and appreciated the ad- vantage for the Indian trade of occupancy upon that shore.
The two ships were the Kalmar Nyckel, a man of war, and the Gripen, a sloop. The crews and cargoes were from Holland; of the three-score persons in the expedition not more than a half- dozen were Swedes. Capital for it had been secured in equal parts from Holland and Sweden. In the latter country Oxen- stiern had raised 12,000 florins, and in Holland a group of per- sons, headed by Minuit and Blommaert, connected with Swedish interests, had provided a corresponding sum. The whole enter- prise was therefore a private venture; nothing of the "South Com- pany" of 1626, or the enlarged company of 1633, appeared in it, except that this was at last a resolute effort to express in action something of what had so long been under discussion.
After leaving Gottenburg, baffling winds detained the ships in the North Sea, but about the end of December, after having re- fitted and obtained more provisions at the Dutch port of Medem- blik, they quitted the familiar shores and took the ordinary south-
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ern route across the Atlantic. Toward the end of March they had entered the Delaware. Though it was scarcely spring, the river seemed beautiful to men who had left the north of Europe in the depths of winter, and one place at which they briefly landed, perhaps the mouth of Mispillion creek, they called "Paradise Point." Passing on upward, they cast anchor at last where a large stream came in on the left hand-the Minquas-kill of the Dutch. Here the ships lay while Minuit went ashore to confer with the Indians. He knew well, of course, the story of the catas- trophe at Swanendael, and realized that above all he must avoid the conditions which had caused it.
The Indian chief whom Minuit now met was Mattahoorn, the same who has been mentioned as joining in the conveyance of the lands on Schuylkill to Corssen, the Dutch agent. Apparently he was the principal sachem of the region. He had his lodge near the Minquas-kill. He claims our remembrance both because he seems to have been a worthy character, and because he is practi- cally the only one of the Lenape distinguishable by name before the time of Penn. Other Indians of the Delaware in the early period are a mass, in which none has individuality.
Mattahoorn was probably an elderly man. He was living, however, thirteen years later. for he joined in a Council held at Fort Nassau, in July, 1651, by Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor. It is possible that Minuit, from his acquaintance with the trade on the South River during his administration at Manhattan, may have had some previous knowledge of the chief. There was no difficulty in concluding an agreement. Minuit explained what he wanted-ground on which to build a "house," and other ground on which to plant. For the former he offered "a kettle and other articles," for the latter half the tobacco raised upon it. Matta- hoorn seems to have yielded cheerfully, as the Indians generally did until they began to see that land taken by the whites passed from common enjoyment into private and exclusive use. The land for the planting was defined to be, as Mattahoorn afterward
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The Swedish Settlement
said, that bounded "within six trees"-marked, no doubt, by the surveyor, as "line trees." Thereupon the ships came up the kill, which later became known as the Christina, in honor of the girl queen at Stockholm, and passing on the right hand the mouth of a clear and rapid stream, the Brandywine of our day, reached a natural wharf of rocks and fast land which rose from the lower ground, and formed a landing-place so bold that the ships came alongside in deep water. Here they disembarked all that was intended to remain, and the erection of a place of security, which Minuit named Fort Christina, was quickly begun. The time was the beginning of April; it was alike the season for planting and for trade with the Indians for the skins of animals taken during the winter. As to this, Minuit had carried out his plans effectively.
Reports of the new arrivals on the river quickly reached the Dutch. Fort Nassau was at this time occupied, and the Commis- sary there sent his assistant, Peter Mey, to observe Minuit's oper- ations. Mey accomplished little. Minuit, according to his re- port, said he was on a West Indian voyage, and was getting wood and water. Shortly after, when the up-river observers made a second visit, they found the strangers remaining, and that they had made a garden, in which plants were set out ; while upon a third visit, they had "made a settlement," and built a fort. These reports, covering little more than a month, show the order and the promptitude of Minuit's proceedings.
There was now a new Director-General at Manhattan, Willem Kieft, successor to Van Twiller. He had reached his seat of government nearly at the time the Swedes came to Minquas-kill, his ship, the Herring, an armed vessel belonging to the West India Company, arriving on the 28th of March.1 Kieft was nat- urally disturbed over this intrusion. He wrote on the 28th of April to the Company in Holland, reporting the situation. A few days later, probably May 6, he addressed to Minuit a formal
1This is the Dutch date, and is "New
Style." In the Swedish calendar, it would
have been March 18.
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protest against his settlement, declaring that both banks of the river belonged to the Dutch. "The whole South River in New Netherland," he declared, "has been many years in our possession, and has been secured by us with forts above and below, and has been sealed with our blood, which has happened even during your direction of New Netherland, and is well known to you."
This claim by the Dutch to the west bank was based, of course, on DeVries's adventure at Swanendael. Minuit apparently made no formal reply, but the practical answer was that the settlement there was wholly abandoned, and that no white man had for over six years been living on the west side of the river. Paying no attention to Kieft, he pushed work on his fort. He knew that his force was equal or superior to any the Dutch could then send from Manhattan, and that besides it was not the present policy of Holland to offend a power like Sweden, whose generals and sol- diers were bearing the brunt-as they had done since 1630-of the Protestant cause in the still continuing Thirty Years' War. The fort was regularly laid out by Mans Kling, a Swede and an engineer, who was apparently second in command, and was called Fort Christina. So it continued to be known until Stuyvesant's bloodless siege and capture, seventeen years later.
Minuit proceeded energetically to other work. One or two log-houses were built. The goods for the Indian trade were landed. A store of Indian corn and meat was collected. A second treaty with the Indians for the purchase of land was made, extending down the river and bay, and northward as far as the Falls at Trenton. Posts were set up with the letters declaring the Swedish Queen's sovereignty, "C. R. S." The Gripen was sent to Virginia to dispose of her cargo, but being refused per- mission to do so, returned still laden, though she was allowed to stay ten days to procure wood and water. By midsummer Minuit was ready to return to Europe. On July 31, Kieft wrote to the Company, "He has departed with the two vessels he had with him."
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The Swedish Settlement
Twenty-four persons in all were left at Christina. They were under the command of Mans Kling, with Hendrik Huyghen as "commissary," to conduct the trade with the Indians. The party thus formed the first permanent settlement by white men on the Delaware bay or river, on either side. It was the beginning of
AS CHT
PAROLE
Calvert Arms
what is now a large and prosperous city, and the kernel as well of a sovereign State.
The labors of Minuit closed here. He had sent the Gripen first to the West Indies; he followed himself in the Kalmar Nyckel. Reaching St. Kitts, he sold his merchandise, bought tobacco, and was on the eve of sailing for Sweden, when a hurri- cane burst upon the roadstead and drove all ships out to the open sea. He, as it chanced, had been visiting on board a Dutch vessel, the Flying Deer, and this was lost. Neither it nor he was ever seen again. The Kalmar Nyckel rode out the storm, and came
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back for him, but in vain. Giving him up at last, she was forced to resume her homeward voyage.
New Sweden, at the very outset, thus suffered a hard stroke of fortune. Minuit was a capable leader. He was much the ablest man who had yet been sent to the South River, unless we except DeVries, and as Director-General at Manhattan he had proved himself superior to either Van Twiller or Kieft. He had been born, probably about 1580, at Wesel, on the right bank of the Rhine, and hence was a man nearly sixty years old at his death.
The Kalmar Nyckel had a long voyage home. Going first to Holland, she did not reach Gottenburg until June of the following year, 1639, with her tobacco. Meantime the Gripen had sold her cargo in the West Indies, had returned to Christina, loaded there the furs which Huyghen had secured, and after a marvellously quick voyage of five weeks had returned to Gottenburg in May.
The Swedish colony on the Delaware, the "New Sweden" to which so many hopes and endeavors had been given, had a life- time of but seventeen years-1638 to 1655. Yet it was of large importance, because it was the actual and systematic beginning of the life of white people on the west bank of the Delaware. And out of it came the first planting of Pennsylvania. A year before William Penn was born, the Swedes had already begun the settle- ment of the State which was to bear his name.
We know little with certainty as to the individuals who com- posed the company of twenty-four whom Minuit left at Christina. Two of them, Mans Kling, the engineer, and Hendrik Huyghen, the commissary, have already been mentioned. Kling became later a familiar figure on the Delaware, and Huyghen we shall meet again. Ten others have been identified who came either with Minuit or two years later, 1640, in the "Second Expedition" from Sweden. We shall speak of six of them here. They de- mand our attention, because a little later they had their homes up the Delaware from Christina, north of the Pennsylvania line, and hence were among the first white settlers in Pennsylvania.
The Swedish Settlement
One of the number was Anders Svensson Bonde. He was born in Sweden in 1620, and so was but eighteen if he came with Minuit, or twenty if he came in 1640. In 1644, the records show, he was at Tinicum, in what is now Delaware county, Pennsyl- vania, employed in "making hay for the cattle" and in sailing the Governor's "little yacht." In 1648 he was gunner at the fort, New Gottenburg, which Printz built on Tinicum Island, and in 1680 he was living at "Kingsess"-Kingsessing-in what is now West Philadelphia. On the first Tax List of Philadelphia county, 1693, he appears as the richest man west of the Schuyl- kill. He lived probably until 1696, a widow, Anneka, and six sons and four daughters surviving him. His descendants changed the family name to Boon.
Peter Andersson was engaged similarly with Bonde, in 1644 and 1648. Anders Larsson Daalbo, was in 1644 cultivating to- bacco for the Swedish Company, on a plantation "near the Schuylkill." Sven Larsson was engaged in 1644 similarly to Daalbo.
Peter Gunnarsson Rambo was cultivating tobacco for the Company in 1644, in Christina, and came later into Pennsylvania. He held several offices under the Dutch and English governments on the Delaware, and died in Philadelphia county in 1698, being, it is said, the last survivor of those who came in the first two Swedish expeditions, 1638 and 1640. He had four sons and two . daughters, all of whom married and left descendants.
Sven Gunnarsson is a notable figure. He was occupied as Rambo, in 1644, but he and his three sons, known as Swensons, later Swansons, obtained in 1664 from Alexander d'Hinojossa, then the Dutch Governor on the Delaware, a patent for land above Moyamensings-kill, within the present city of Philadelphia-at Wicaco, after called Southwark. These Swansons are well known figures in the early history of Philadelphia. Their cabins were standing at Wicaco when Penn came in 1682, though the father had died a little earlier. He, when he came to the Dela-
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ware, in 1638 or 1640, was probably accompanied by his wife, and if so she was the first white woman who came to live permanently on the west side of the Delaware.
The fur trade engaged, of course, the early efforts of the Christina settlers. They planted, the first year, we may be sure, or even the second, very little. By peaceable means they drew the trade of the Indians of the region, and doubtless of those on the Susquehanna. Their Dutch neighbors and competitors at Fort Nassau watched them with increasing dissatisfaction. The reports sent to Manhattan, and thence by Governor Kieft to Hol- land, tell a doleful story of the early success of the Swedes in capturing the trade. The injury done the first year to the Dutch, Kieft writes in one letter, is thirty thousand florins; in another he flatly says that the Company's trade in South River is "entirely ruined." He charges the Swedes with paying higher prices, with giving presents, and in general with out-doing the traders at Fort Nassau.
Meanwhile the Swedes looked for another ship from home. It was two years before one came. The Kalmar Nyckel, after her bad news of Minuit's loss had been digested, had been ordered to return, and Peter Hollender, a lieutenant, a Dutchman, and perhaps a "knight," since he added "Ridder" to his name, was commissioned governor in Minuit's place. But the ship had many · detentions, including a leak and a dishonest captain, and it was February of 1640 before she got away, and April 17 of that year before she again sailed into the Christina. How gladly she was greeted may be imagined. She brought, it is believed, the first minister of the gospel on the Delaware, the Rev. Reorus Torkillus, a clergyman of the Swedish Lutheran church.
The rule of Peter Hollender as Governor of the Swedes, and so of all others on the West Bank of the Delaware, extended from April, 1640, to February, 1643, when his successor, John Printz, arrived. The events of this period may be succinctly stated. The Kalmar Nyckel, quickly loaded with furs, sailed for home in
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David Pietersen DeVries
Leader of a colony of traders and emigrants from Holland, who settled on the Delaware river in 1632
The Swedish Settlement
May (1640), and arrived in July. At the beginning of Novem- ber of the same year there arrived at Christina, from Holland, the ship Fredenburg, with a company of Dutch colonists, headed by Jost de Boghardt. They were mostly from Utrecht, and being unable to agree, as it seems, with the Dutch West India Company, 'had obtained permits and a grant of privileges from the Swedish authorities. They settled south of Christina-at New Castle, as some think, perhaps further down the river, in what are now St. George's and Appoquinimink hundreds.
The English again made their appearance on the river in 1640. This time they came from New England, from the Colony of New Haven. That young town had large ambitions and corre- sponding energy. One of its citizens, George Lamberton, trading to Virginia in his bark, the Cock, in the winter of 1638-39, had learned of the fur-trade of the Delaware, with which nothing at New Haven could compare. It was resolved thereupon to make a settlement on the Delaware, and late in 1640, Captain Nathaniel Turner was sent from New Haven to open the way. He, it is said, and also a little later Captain Lamberton, already named, secured land from the always-obliging Indians, the purchase in- cluding much of the east bank of the bay, from Cape May north- ward, and besides this a tract at Passyunk, within what is now Philadelphia. To occupy the New Jersey purchase a move was promptly made; a colony of some sixty persons left New Haven and settled at Varken's kill, near the present town of Salem, and about the same time, as the English later claimed, "a fortified trading-house was built or occupied at Passyunk." If this latter statement has validity, it would seem that it might be connected with the alleged activities of Captain Thomas Yong and Master Robert Evelin, who professed, as we have seen, to have been build- ing an English fort somewhere on the river, about 1640 or 1641, and perhaps may have been concerned in some work at Passyunk.
This English enterprise, however, did not seriously disturb either the Dutch or Swedes. It came to an end at Varken's kill
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in less than three years, and the Passyunk enterprise also failed. We shall mention these collapses in their proper place.
Hollender wrote to Sweden that his people at Christina were too few, and that they were little skilled in husbandry or handi- craft. Indeed his letters to Chancellor Oxenstiern speak of them with painful candor; "no more indifferent people are to be found . in all Sweden than those who are now here," he says in one place. Perhaps they thought equally ill of him. We shall see, as we proceed, that governors and people, like schoolmasters and schol- ars, were apt to see each others' faults very distinctly. An insuffi- cient supply of horses and cattle was one of the troubles at Chris- tina; we are not to forget that whatever domestic animals they had must be brought in ships, either from other American colonies or from Europe.
The "Third Expedition" from Sweden (the Fredenburg with her Dutch passengers not being counted), came to the Delaware sometime in 1641. The precise time seems obscure. It consisted of two ships, the Kalmar Nyckel once more, and a consort, the Charitas. They brought a considerable company of colonists, including numerous Finns. Names of some of these colonists have been preserved. Among them was Lieutenant Mans Kling, who had gone home in 1640, and who was now accompanied by his wife, and their little child, and a maid. Another who came at this time was Olaf Persson Stille, ancestor of a family of dis- tinction in Pennsylvania, including the late Dr. Charles Janeway Stille of Philadelphia. He was a settler, soon, at the mouth of Ridley creek, in Delaware county.
The fourth, and the most important, of the several Swedish "expeditions" came in 1643. It may be regarded as expressing the highest endeavor of the Swedes. There were again two ships, the Fame and the Swan. John Printz, bearing a commission to succeed Hollender, was in command. Leaving Gottenburg on the first day of November, 1642, and taking the usual southern route, they touched at the island of Antigua to celebrate Christmas, came
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公
HENNY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG
Pennsvivalia Colonial and Federal
in lesa chan Diyes yes aml the Passynnik colemprise also failed We Mell mention corte collapses in their proper mare
Hledlegoder write to Suelen what his people ac Charstina were too few and thar decy were Title skilled in husbeiotry ne brandi crair kleci: Fia Milers To Chancellor Ovenstiern speak of them with jainful ci re: "no wwire uniddifferent people are to be found in all Sweden than those wolves are now liere," he says in one place. Perhaps they thouglo equally ill of him. We shall see, as we proced, that goverrea's -nul people. Tie schoolmasters and schol- afe, were apt to see quel others" faults very d body. As insuffi Gjent supply of horses anil cattle was one of the troubles at Chris- Lina; we are tot 19 forget that whatever con r intossls they had must be brought in shins, either from offit Alsocm colonies or front Europe.
The "Third Expeditiony from Sweden (the /Hamburg with her Dutch passengers not being countel), came to ffe Delaware somelime in 1041, The joecise time seeme obscure. It consisted of two ships. the Kalma Nyckel nice more, and a consort, the Charlas They brought a considerable company of colonists. including pomerans Fions Names of some of these colonists have been preserved Among them was Lieutenant Mans Kling, who had gone home in 1640, and who was now accompanied by his wife, and their little child, aud a maid. Another who came t this time was Olaf Persson Stille ancestor of a family of die. tinction in Pennsylvania vidloding the late Dr. Charles Trigoay Silllé of Philadelphia. He was a seidler, soon, at the memult of Ridley creek, in Delaware county
The fourth, and the most important, of the sever /Swedish "expeditions' came in 1043. It may be regarded as pressing the highest endeavor of the Swedes There were again two chips, the Fame and the Stean Johr Printz, bedring a commesom 10 succeed Holleader, was in command. Leaving Gottenlarg on the first day of November, 1642, and taking the usual southern route, they touched ar the island of Antigua to celebrate Costmis, dime
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Etched by Max Rosenthal
From a Rare Print.
Copyright by The Pennsylvania Historical Publishing Viss. ..
The Swedish Settlement
into Delaware Bay in a storm the following month, and February 15, 1643, reached Fort Christina.
Printz, it may be here said, is the most conspicuous figure, if we except Minuit, connected with New Sweden. Lively descrip- tions of him have come down to us, as we shall presently see. He had been an officer, a lieutenant-colonel of a cavalry regiment engaged in the Thirty Years' War, and being charged with mak- ing an inadequate defense of the city of Chemnitz-which, how- ever, he declared due to the inhabitants-had been dismissed the service, but afterwards restored. His instructions, now, for the Delaware administration, were elaborate. He was to deal with the English at Varken's Kill, and the Dutch at Fort Nassau peaceably, if possible ; to treat the Indians with humanity, protect them, and "civilize" them-especially to sell them goods at lower prices than the English or Dutch. He might choose his residence as he saw proper, at Cape Henlopen, Christina, or "Jacques Island" (Tinicum) ; but he must particularly see that his fort should command the river, and have a good winter harbor for vessels. The sowing of grain, the planting of tobacco, the in- crease of cattle, and sheep, the inspection of the fur-trade, the manufacture of salt, the culture of the vine, search for metals and minerals, the fisheries, especially for whales, silk-culture, etc., etc., were among the many matters commended to his attention. "Be- fore all," he was to see that the worship of God was maintained, taking "good measures" that the divine service was "performed according to the true Confession of Augsburg, the council of Upsal, and the ceremonies of the Swedish Church."
How many came with Printz it is impossible now to say. His company included his wife, their daughter. Armgard, and a min- ister, the Rev. John Campanius. The names of some twenty- three others have been preserved. Some were soldiers, others clerks, mechanics and farm laborers. A large part were from Fin- land. The opening of spring found Printz busily at work. He lost no time in carrying out his instructions. Proceeding up the river
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