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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
BOSTON
LIBRARY
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ORIGINAL NARRATIVES
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY
REPRODUCED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
General Editor, J. FRANKLIN JAMESON, Ph.D., LL.D., LlTT.D.
DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN THE
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON
Narratives of Early Virginia
Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation
Winthrop's Journal "History of New England"
(2 vols.)
Narratives of Early Carolina
Narratives of Early Maryland
Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey,
and Delaware
Narratives of New Netherland
Early English and French Voyages
Voyages of Samuel de Champlain
Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States
Spanish Exploration in the Southwest
Narratives of the Insurrections
Narratives of the Indian Wars
Johnson's Wonder-Working Providence
The Journal of Jaspar Danckaerts
Narratives of the Northwest
Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases
The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot
ORIGINAL NARRATIVES
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY
NARRATIVES OF
EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
WEST NEW JERSEY
AND DELAWARE
1630 — 170"?
EDITED BY
ALBERT COOK MYERS
New York
BARNES & NOBLE, INC.
r
MIS
Copyright, 1912
Bt Charles Scribners Sons
Copyright renewed by Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1940
All rights reserved
Reprinted, 1959
MW. OF MASSACHUSETTS
AT BOSTON - LIBRARY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NOTE
The first of the illustrations in this volume is a facsimile of a por-
tion of an excellent map entitled " Novi Belgii Novseque Anglise nec-
non Pennsylvania? et Partis Virginia? Tabula," by N. J. Visscher,
a prominent Dutch map-engraver of the middle of the seventeenth
century. The whole map embraces, as the title implies, all those
parts of New England, the Middle States, and Maryland which at
that time had been settled by white men or had become known,
more or less accurately, through their explorations. The whole
map measures twenty-two by nineteen inches. The part which
has been selected for reproduction in this volume covers the regions
especially involved in the narratives printed therein. The map is
chosen as representing the state of things at the time when Swedish
occupation of the Delaware River region gave way to Dutch. Its
date cannot be later than June 28, 1656, since a copy of it accom-
panied a report of that date from the directors of the Dutch West
India Company to the States General of the United Netherlands.
On the other hand it can hardly have been finished before February,
1655, since in that month the directors of the West India Company
authorized the publication of the first edition of Adriaen van der
Donck's Beschrijvinge van Niew Nederlant, which has no map,
while the second edition, published in 1656, has a map copied partly
from Visscher's. I am informed by Mr. Wilberforce Eames of the
New York Public Library, to whom I am indebted for much infor-
mation respecting the map, that, though the map was formerly re-
puted exceedingly rare, there are probably now in this country a
dozen or twenty copies of it in this form. Twenty-eight years later
Visscher's son published a reissue of the map from a plate retouched
with the addition of Philadelphia and other places and names be-
longing to subsequent history.
The second illustration in the volume is a reproduction of Thoma?
Holme's " Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia." Thomas Holme
▼i NOTE
(1624-1695), a captain in Cromwell's army, and afterward a Quaker
living in Ireland,1 was in April, 1682, appointed by Penn surveyor-
general of Pennsylvania, and sailed immediately for that province.
As one of the three "Commissioners for Settling the Colony," he
laid out the city of Philadelphia in the autumn of that year. He
also drew up this map or plan of the city, which was printed in Lon-
don in 1683 as part of the Letter to the Committee of the Free Society
of Traders. It will be seen (page 224) that the title of the pamphlet
refers to it, in the words, "with a Portraiture or Plat-form thereof
[i. e.y of Philadelphia], wherein the Purchasers Lots are distinguished
by certain numbers inserted, directing to a Catalogue of the said
Purchasors Names." The catalogue is not reproduced in this vol-
ume, but the explanation of the city's plan will be found in its place,
near the map. The original map measures 11 J x 17J inches; our
reproduction is reduced about two-fifths in each dimension.
The plan here presented did not in all details remain permanently
in effect. From the Delaware River to Eleventh Street, indeed —
counting the Delaware water-front, or Front Street, as the first —
it is substantially the plan of the corresponding area of the present
city. But as early as 1684, all the streets west of the eleventh were
moved eastward, and the street marked Broad Street on the " Por-
traiture," and still so called, became the fourteenth instead of the
twelfth; while the street next east of the Schuylkill water-front re-
mained, and still remains, Twenty-Second Street.
J. F. J.
1 A fuller account of his life may be seen on p. 242, note 1; a letter from
him on p. 292.
CONTENTS
NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA, WEST NEW JERSEY .
AND DELAWARE
Edited by Albert Cook Myers
PAOB
From the "Korte Historiael ende Journaels Aenteyckeninge," by
David Pietersz. de Vries, 1630-1633, 1644 (1655) ... 1
Introduction 3
De Vries becomes a Patroon of New Netherland .... 7
The Patroons send the Swanendael Colony to South Bay ... 8
De Vries's Voyage to America, 1632 9
In the West Indies 10
Arrives in South Bay 15
Indian Story of Ill-fated Swanendael 16
Peace with the Indians there; Whaling 17
De Vries sails up South River for Corn 18
Sees Deserted Fort Nassau 18
Beaver Trading with the River Indians 19
Return to Swanendael for more Goods 21
Sails up the River a Second Time 21
Meets the Inland Minquas Indians at Fort Nassau .... 23
Report of Minquas Victories over River Indians 24
Description of the River and Bay 25
Sails for Virginia 26
De Vries's Second Voyage to South Bay, 1644 26
Sails up the River a Third Time; Swedish Fort Nya Elfsborg . . 27
Fort Nya Goteborg; Hospitality of Governor Printz .... 28
Sails to Virginia 29
Relation of Captain Thomas Yong, 1634 31
Introduction 33
Yong's Quest for Northwest Passage; to Delaware River ... 37
Defeated River Indians in Hiding from Minquas .... 38
The Minquas come aboard with Presents of Green Corn ... 39
They promise Beaver Trade 40
Yong takes Possession of the Country for the English .... 41
vii
viii CONTENTS
pass
Makes Peace with the River Indians .40
Promises them Aid against the Minquas 41
Trades with the River Indians for Beaver 43
Arrives within Nine Miles of the Falls of Delaware .... 44
Asserts his English Claim against the Dutch from Manhattan . . 44
His Lieutenant explores the New Jersey Coast 46
The Indians describe the Sources of the Delaware .... 47
Description of the River; Animals and Plants 47
The Dutch appear a Second Time 49
From the "Account of the Swedish Churches in New Sweden," by
Reverend Israel Acrelius, 1759 51
Introduction 53
The Dutch in North America 57
William Usselinx's Proposition for a Swedish Trading Company . 58
Confirmed by King Gustavus Adolphus 58
Peter Minuit's Renewal of the Project; Support from Oxenstierna . 59
Minuit brings Swedish Colony to the Delaware 60
The First Swedish Settlement at Fort Christina, 1638 .... 61
The Dutch Protest against the Swedish Colony 62
Peter Hollender Ridder, the Second Governor of New Sweden . . 64
Johan Printz, Third Governor of New Sweden, arrives, 1643 . . 65
Further Protests of the Dutch 66
They build Fort Casimir, 1651 67
Its Rival Swedish Fort Nya Elfsborg 67
Other Swedish Forts and Settlements 68
Relations of the Swedes with the Indians 69
Their Land Dealings with the Indians 72
Indian Customs 73
Governor Printz's High Hand with the Dutch 74
Dutch and Swedes eject New Englanders from the Delaware . . 76
Weakness of the Dutch on the Delaware 77
Finances of the Swedish Colony 78
Governor Printz leaves the Colony 78
Early Swedish Ministers; Madam Papegoya and Tinicum ... 80
Affidavit of Four Men from the " Key of Calmar," 1638 . . 83
Introduction 85
The Four Men 86
Their Arrival with Minuit in the Minquas Kill 87
How Five Indian Sachems ceded Land to the Swedes ... 87
The Country called New Sweden; Fort Christina built ... 88
Report of Governor Johan Printz, 1644 91
Introduction 93
Goods for the Indian Trade 95
Cargo of Beaver Skins and Tobacco sent to Sweden .... 96
The Virginia Tobacco Trade 97
CONTENTS ix
PAQB
State of the People of New Sweden 98
The Colony's Crops 99
Description of the Settlements 99
Relations with the Dutch and Puritans 100
Misadventures of Sir Edward Plowden in Virginia .... 101
Depredations of the Indians in Manhattan, Virginia, and Maryland . 102
Distrust of River Indians; Uncertain Peace with them . . . 103
Beaver Trade with the Minquas, not with River Indians . . . 104
Boat Building 105
Printz desires Assistant for Latin Correspondence with Neighboring
Governments 106
Desires Instructions as to Free and Criminal Settlers .... 106
Desires Provision for Entertainment of Guests of Consequence . . 107
Cattle brought from Manhattan 107
Desires Recall 108
Suggests Swedish Privateering on the Spanish Main . . . .110
List of the Inhabitants of New Sweden 110
Register of Deaths 115
Report of Governor Johan Printz, 1647 117
Introduction 119
Returns Cargo of Tobacco ... 120
Improvements; Possibilities of Country 120
The People; Fort Nya Goteborg burnt; Church built there . . 121
First Grist Mill; Journey to Minquas Land, 230 Miles . . .122
Dutch Obstruction of the Indian Trade 123
Cattle; Barge built; Needs of the Colony 124
Indians at Peace 125
Renewal of Previous Recommendations 126
Another Appeal for Recall 128
Johan Papegoya sent Home to report 129
Report of Governor Johan Rising, 1654 131
Introduction 133
Colony recovering from Mutiny and Illness; Provisions needed . . 136
Desires full Judicial Authority; Colonists' Complaint of Ex-Governor
Printz 137
Great Advantages of the River; Andreas Hudde's Map of it . . 138
Commercial Possibilities; Plans for Fostering Agriculture . . . 139
Advocates Trading Passage from Elk River to Christina Kill . . 140
Mill Sites in Christina Kill; Advises Occupation of Hoere Kill . . 140
Suggests other Industries, and a Supply of Artisans .... 141
Town Lots surveyed at Christina; Trinity's Twenty Houses . . 142
Trade Conditions; Cargo needed for Minquas 143
Sloop in New England for Supplies . 145
Excise Duties 146
Military Affairs 146
Full Records of Colony's Property kept 147
x CONTENTS
paob
Land Titles; need for Closer Supervision 148
Population, 370 Souls 149
Church Affairs 150
Report of Governor Johan Rising, 1655 153
Introduction 155
Hopes for Relief; Necessitous Conditions; Threatening Lenape . . 156
Maryland ruining Minquas Trade 157
Menaces of Dutch and English 158
Elk River Land purchased from Minquas 159
Abortive Industrial Plans; Long Delays will be Fatal . . . 160
Shipping and Commercial Possibilities 161
Supplies of Last Year from New Haven 162
Cleared Land doubled and planted with Corn 163
House-building at Christina; Forts there and at Trinity strengthened . 164
Relation of the Surrender of New Sweden, by Governor Johan
Clason Rising, 1655 167
Introduction 169
Governor Stuyvesant with Dutch Fleet descends upon New Sweden . 170
Recaptures Fort Casimir 171
Siege of Fort Christina . . . . . . . . .173
Pillage of the Swedish Settlements 174
Surrender of Fort Christina and New Sweden 176
The Epistle of Penn, Lawrie and Lucas, respecting West Jersey, 1676 177
Introduction
Description of West Jersey disclaimed and corrected .
Land Title of West Jersey; Penn, Lawrie, and Lucas, Trustees
Quakers receive First Offer of Lands ....
Settlers cautioned not to make heedless Removals
The Present State of the Colony of West-Jersey, 1681
Introduction
Flourishing Towns and Farms; Abundant and Varied Products
Industries and Trades; Soil and Climate ....
Laws made by Proprietors and Freemen; Religious Freedom
Method of Land Sales; Information for Emigrants
179
182
183
184
185
187
189
191
192
192
193
Some Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, by William Penn,
1681 197
Introduction 199
Colonies of the Ancients 202
Benefits from Colonies 203
True Causes for Decrease of Population 204
Colonies a Market for the Mother Country 206
Pennsylvania and its Advantages 207
The Constitutions; Conditions as to Purchasers, Renters, Servants . 208
CONTENTS xi
PAGB
Desirable Kinds of Colonists 209
Equipment; the Voyage; First Work 210
Abstract of Penn's Charter for Pennsylvania 211
Penn desires Settlers not to come inconsiderately . . . .215
Letter from William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society
of Traders, 1683 217
Introduction 219
Description of the Province of Pennsylvania 225
Animals and Plants 228
The Indians 230
The Dutch and Swedes 237
Topography, Population, Government 238
Philadelphia; Situation and Improvements 239
The Free Society of Traders 240
A Short Advertisement of the City of Philadelphia .... 242
Letter of Thomas Paschall, 1683 245
Introduction 247
Healthful Country 250
Extent and Character of Settlements 251
The Swedes and Finns; Products and Prices 252
Plants and Animals; Indians 253
Markets; the Land 254
A Further Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, by William
Penn, 1685 255
Introduction 257
Progress of the Province; Extent and Variety of Population . . 259
Philadelphia and its Improvements 260
Country Settlements; Townships 263
Products of the Earth; Soil, Crops, Fruits, the Vine .... 264
Products of the Water; Whales, Varieties of Fish .... 265
Prices, Grain Crops, Stock, Dairying, Brewing 266
Robert Turner's Letter, 1685 268
Orchards, Crops, Fruits 268
Philadelphia's Advancement; First Brick House, 1684;
Other Building Operations 269
Whaling and Fisheries 272
Germantown's Linen Manufactures 272
Prospective Staples of Trade 273
How Adventurers may best invest 273
Indians; the Government; the Voyage 276
Letters of Doctor Nicholas More, and Others, 1686 . . . 279
Introduction 281
Pennsylvania's Rich Crops and Provisions; Prices; Exports . . 285
Vineyards; Wine 287
xii CONTENTS
Fin
Letters of James Harrison and Penn's Gardener; Penn's Flourishing
Plantation 289
Of Robert Turner; Crops, Prices, Building .... 290
Of David Lloyd; Ships and Passengers arriving; Penn's
Vineyard 291
Of Thomas Holme; Purchase of Indian Lands . . . 292
Of James Claypoole; Whale Fishery 292
A Short Description of Pennsilvania, by Richard Frame, 1692 . 295
Introduction 297
Wild and Domestic Animals 300
Crops; Plants; Fruits 301
Metals; Timber 302
Inhabitants; Indians 302
Felling the Primitive Forest; Houses 303
Towns and Townships; Germantown and its Linen and Paper . . 304
An Historical and Geographical Account of Pensilvania and of
West-New-Jersey, by Gabriel Thomas, 1698 . . . 307
Introduction 309
Dedication to William Penn 313
Preface 314
Pennsylvania; Bounds; Indians; Dutch, Swedes, Finns . . . 315
English Conquest; Penn's Grant 316
Philadelphia; Houses, Streets, Fairs, Markets; Other Towns . . 317
Climate; Agriculture; Streams; Metals; Coal 318
Fowl, Fish, Wild Animals, Fruits, Herbs 321
Counties; Varieties of Grain, Harvests, Stock, Bees .... 323
Land; Exports and Imports 324
Cheap Lands for Sale in City and Country 325
Artisans and Tradesmen; High Wages 326
Little need for Lawyers and Physicians 328
Cheap Food and Clothing; Causes for High Wages .... 328
Philadelphia; Wharves, Shipping, Stairs; Germantown Manufactures 329
Country-seats of the Gentry 332
Gardens; No Old Maids; Thomas's First Arrival .... 332
The Indians; Their Language exemplified 333
Religions; George Keith and his Schism 334
An Historical Description of the Province and Country of
West-New- Jersey, 1698 338
The Epistle 338
Preface to the Reader 339
West New Jersey; Bounds; Indians; an Indian Dialogue . . 340
The Dutch; First English Settlements; Salem 344
Burlington; Market, Wharves, Houses; Country-seats . . . 345
Gloucester 347
Religions; Climate; Products, Vegetable and Animal . . . 347
Timber; Rivers . . 349
CONTENTS xiii
PAOB
Thomas's Purpose in Writing 351
Special Commodities of the Counties 351
Circumstantial Geographical Description of Pennsylvania, by
Francis Daniel Pastorius, 1700 353
Introduction 355
To the Gentle Reader 360
Preface; Pastorius's Autobiography; Divisions of the Globe . . 361
The Fourth Division, America; Columbus, Vespucius . . . 365
Pennsylvania; the Swedes; William Penn and his Grant . . . 368
Penn's Charter 371
His Method and Terms for the Sale of Land 374
Pastorius buys Land for the German Company 375
His Report to the Company 375
Penn's Laws and Province 377
His First Arrival 379
Rising Towns; Germantown; Pastorius's Settlement .... 380
Indian Trade; Currency 382
Exports; the Vine; Weaving 383
Indians 383
Religions 387
The German Company; Pastorius's Voyage to Pennsylvania, 1683 . 388
Pastorius's "Positive Information from . . . Pennsylvania,"
1684 392
His Voyage in Detail; Crefelders 392
Meets William Penn; Penn's Character .... 396
The Land ; Poor Farming of the Swedes ; Immigration ; Products 397
Towns; Frankford; Germantown 399
Earlier German Inhabitants; the Indians; the German Com-
pany's Lands 400
Pastorius's Philadelphia House and its Inscription . . 404
The Company's Germantown Tract; Its Needs in the Province 406
Penn's Popularity; Indian Withdrawal Inland; Caution . 409
Pastorius's Letter on Leaving the Old World, 1683 . . . .411
His Letter to Doctor Jacob Schutz of Frankfort, 168o . . .412
To his Father, 1691 413
Becomes First Mayor and Judge and draws up Laws of Germantown . 414
Further News from Germantown, 1693; Penn's Loss of Pennsylvania 416
Pastorius's Plea in Verse for Political Harmony 418
The Indians * 419
Pastorius's Marriage 421
His Latin Verse to Tobias Schumberg 422
His Letter of 1694; Quietism; Answers about the Indians . . . 424
Letter from Germantown, 1695; Restoration of William Penn . . 427
Letter from Germantown, 1697; Hope for French Peace . . . 429
Surviving Members of the German Company 430
Letter of Pastorius's Children to their Grandfather in Germany . 1697 . 431
Pastorius to his Father, 1697; French Seizure of Letters . . . 432
xiv CONTENTS
PAGB
To the Rector at Windsheim, Germany; Indians; Indian Dialogue . 433
To his Father, 1698; Perm's Government; Special Germantown
Government 435
Occupations of the Germantown People 436
Indian Government 437
Religious Worship in Germantown; Pastorius's Religious Views . . 438
History and Present Status of the German Company .... 440
William Penn's Accessibility 442
Latin Letter of Pastorius's Father to William Penn, 1698 . . . 443
Penn's Response in Latin, 1699 444
Still Further Information from Pennsylvania, 1699 .... 445
Another Letter from Pastorius's Children to their Grandfather, 1699 . 447
Letter of John Jones, 1725 449
Introduction 451
Migration of Thomas John Evans, Welshman, to Pennsylvania, 1681 . 455
He finds a Temporary Home with the Swedes 456
Arrival of Edward Jones and Other Welsh, 1682 .... 456
Evans's Settlement in Radnor, the Welsh Tract 458
Index 461
NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
WEST NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE
FROM THE "KORTE HISTORIAEL ENDE JOUR-
NAELS AENTEYCKENINGE," BY DAVID
PIETERSZ. DE VRIES, 1630-1633, 1643 (1655)
INTRODUCTION
The scene of action of the collection of narratives assem-
bled in this volume is Delaware Bay and River, that broad
waterway which lies central to what is not only the domain of
three great commonwealths but in a deeply significant his-
torical sense the keystone region of the American Nation.
Of the twenty pieces selected, covering a period of three-
quarters of a century, this first narrative, as well as the
succeeding one by Captain Yong, brings clearly to view the
low-lying forest shores of the great estuary in its primitive
simplicity of the red man's day, untouched as yet, save for
two abandoned sites, by the oncoming, all-transforming com-
plexities of the white man's civilization. Explorers, traders,
and adventurers, in the main under the auspices of the enter-
prising Dutch, had made more or less brief visits to the ter-
ritory, and the Dutch laid claim to it as a part of New
Netherland. An economic incentive, the lure of the enriching
beaver trade with the Minquas Indians of the Susquehanna
and Allegheny River valleys, a traffic which was readily
tapped from the Delaware, was the prime cause, in general,
for this earlier interest, and, later, for settlement prior to the
Dutch conquest. Very soon the expanding Swedish and
English nations were to seek locations on the river and at
intervals to come into effective competition with the Dutch
for this profitable trade.
The following extracts are translated from a quaint little
Dutch book, a small black-letter quarto of [8+] 192 pages,
published at Alkmaar, Holland, in 1655. It bears this some-
what lengthy title, so characteristic of books of that age:
3
4 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
Korte Historiael, ende Journaels Aenteyckeninge van verscheyden
Voyagiens in de vier deelen des Wereldts-Ronde, als Europa,
Africa, Asia, ende Anwika gedaen, Door D. David Pietersz. de
Vries, Artillerij-Meester vande Ed: M: Heeren Gecommitteerde
Raden van Staten van West-Vrieslandt ende H Noordenquartier.
Waer in verhaelt werd wat Batailjes hy te Water gedaen heeft:
Yder Landtschap zijn Gedierte, Gevogelt, wat soorte van Vissen,
ende wat wilde Menschen naer H leven geconterfaeyt, ende van de
Bosschen ende Ravieren met haer Vruchten. V Hoorn. Voor
David Pietersz. de Vries, Artillerij-Meester van H Noorder-
quartier. Tot Alckmaer, by Symon Cornelisz. Brekegeest,
Anno 1655.
This title, as turned into English by the general editor in
his sketch of the work and its author, in Narratives of New
Netherland (1909), pages 183-185, reads: "Short Historical
and Journal-Notes of various Voyages performed in the Four
Quarters of the Globe, viz., Europe, Africa, Asia, and America,
by David Pieterszoon de Vries, Artillery-Master to the Noble
and Mighty Lords the Council of West Friesland and the North-
ern Quarter [of the Province of Holland], wherein is set forth
what Battles he delivered on the Water, Each Country, its
Animals, its Birds, its Kinds of Fishes, and its Wild Men
counterfeited to the Life, and its Woods and Rivers with their
Products."
The illustrations, which seem to be etchings on copper,
comprise an interesting portrait of the author and eighteen
other plates, twelve of which depict American scenes but are
for the most part appropriated from the earlier work of
Champlain.
David Pieterszoon de Vries, the author, wrote these
reminiscences of a quarter of a century of world voyaging, in
the leisurely retirement of later years in his ancestral city of
Hoorn, in North Holland. He was born in 1593 in Rochelle
on the west coast of France, whither his father went from
INTRODUCTION 5
Hoorn, after the murder of William of Orange in 1584. His
mother was of Amsterdam origin. When he was four years
old his parents returned to Holland, and there De Vries chiefly
lived, apparently in Hoorn, although he states that he was
experienced in merchandising from his youth both in Holland
and in France. He refers to partners in Amsterdam and
Rochelle as concerned with him in his mercantile voyages.
A religious man of strong Calvinistic convictions, he writes in
a plain but vivid style and his book both internally and ex-
ternally has well stood the tests of trustworthiness. His part
in the voyages, although sometimes as commander, was usually
as a supercargo. He was a bold and skilful seaman, and a
considerable portion of the work is given to navigating and
sailing directions.
The six voyages which De Vries describes began in 1618
— when he was a young man of twenty-five — with a voyage
for grain to the Mediterranean, in which he took part in a suc-
cessful engagement with some Turkish galleys off the coast of
Greece. In his second voyage, 1620-1623, he went to New-
foundland and carried a cargo of fish to the Mediterranean,
where he won a notable fight against privateers off the Spanish
coast and accepted a brief service under the Duke of Guise,
admiral of France. From 1627 to 1630 he was occupied with
his third voyage to the East Indies, of which he gives a long
account.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth voyages were made to the
New World. The first and last of these American voyages
include accounts of two visits to the Delaware, both of which
are here presented. The first of these extracts covers the first
part of the fourth voyage, from the formation of the patroon-
ship in 1630 to the departure of De Vries from the Delaware,
March 6, 1633. The remainder of the voyage, the part omit-
ted from our text, relates to Virginia and Manhattan and
the return to Holland in midsummer of the same year. The
6 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
fifth voyage, 1634-1636, was taken up with the planting of a
colony in Guiana and with trading trips to Manhattan and
Virginia. In the sixth voyage, 1638-1644, De Vries was
chiefly employed in vain attempts to establish settlements on
Staten Island and at Tappaan (Vriesendael).1 Then he sailed
again to the Delaware and from October 12 to 20, 1643,
made a briefer visit to the river, as recounted in the second
of the extracts of our text. After wintering in Virginia he
arrived in Holland in June, 1644. Having now passed his
fiftieth year, he withdrew from the adventurous life of the
sea. Nothing seems to be known of him after the publication
of his book.
All the parts of De Vries's book relating to Newfoundland,
New Netherland, and Virginia, as translated and edited by
Henry C. Murphy, were published in 1853 by James Lenox,
and in 1857 by the New York Historical Society in its Collec-
tions, second series, III. 1-129. The extracts concerning the
Delaware, as here given, are taken from the Collections, pp.
15-32, 121-123, and carefully revised from the original Dutch
text, pp. 94-107, 183-185, by Mr. A. J. F. van Laer, archivist
of the state of New York.
A. C. M.
*For this period and the preceding visit to Manhattan, see Narratives of
New Netherland, in this series, pp. 186-234.
FROM THE "KORTE HISTORIAEL ENDE JOUR-
NAELS AENTEYCKENINGE," BY DAVID
PIETERSZ. DE VRIES, 1630-1633, 1643 (1655)
After I had been at home from the Indies two months, I
met, at Amsterdam, Samuel Godyn, a merchant, who bade
me welcome, as an old acquaintance, and asked me where I
came from? I said from the East Indies. In what capacity?
I told him as supercargo. He inquired whether it was my
intention to remain at home. I said, yes. But he asked me
if I wished to go as a commander to New Netherland; they
wanted to plant a colony there, and would employ me as sub-
patroon, according to the privileges [approved] by the Lords
States [General], and granted by the [Council of] Nineteen
of the West India Company to all patroons. I gave him
for answer that the business suited me well, but I must be a
patroon, equal with the rest. He said that he was content
that it should be so. So we five first took steps to establish
this patroonship ; namely, Samuel Godyn, Gilliame van Rens-
selaer, Bloemaert, Jan de Laet, and myself, David Pietersz.
de Vries. But more were afterwards admitted into the com-
pany; namely, Mathys van Ceulen, Nicolas van Sittorigh,1
Harinck Koeck,2 and Heyndrick Hamel, and we made a con-
tract with one another, whereby we were all placed on the
same footing. We then equipped a ship3 with a yacht for the
1 Given as Nicolaes van Sitterich in list of Directors of the x\msterdam
Chamber of the West India Company, in de Laet, Historie ofte Iaerlijck Verhael.
3 Johan van Harinck-houck in the same list.
8 The ship De Walvis, of about 150 lasts, commanded by Captain Peter
Heyes, with a cargo of bricks, provisions, a large stock of cattle and twenty-eight
colonists, arrived in the Delaware in the spring of 1631. They made a settlement
on the bank of the Hoorn (or Hoere) Kill, calling it Swanendael. "They engaged
in whaling and farming and made suitable fortifications, so that in July of the
same year their cows calved and their lands were seeded and covered with a fine
crop." Five additional colonists joined the colony, probably from New Amster-
dam, making the total number thirty-three. They built a brick house inside the
palisades. Van Rensselaer Bonner Manuscripts, p. 240; Amandus Johnson,
The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, pp., 170-171.
7
8 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1630
purpose of prosecuting the voyage, as well to carry on the
whale fishery in that region, as to plant a colony for the culti-
vation of all sorts of grain, for which the country is very well
adapted, and of tobacco. This ship with the yacht sailed
from the Texel1 the 12th of December, with a number of
people and a considerable number of animals, to settle our
colony upon the South River, which lies in the thirty-eighth
and a half degree, and to conduct the whale fishery there. As
Godyn had been informed that many whales kept before the
bay, and the oil was worth sixty guilders a hogshead, they
thought that they might realize a good profit thereon and at
the same time cultivate that fine country.
The 20th of the same month, we understood that our
yacht was taken by the Dunkirkers the day after it ran out of
the Texel, through the carelessness of the large ship, which
had lagged behind the yacht, in which there was a large cargo,
intended for exploration of the coast of New France. The
large ship proceeded on the voyage, having on board some
people to land at the island of Tortugas in the West Indies,
which island we had made a contract with sixty Frenchmen
to hold for us as a colony under their High Mightinesses the
Lords States [General] and the West India Company.
Anno 1631. In September our ship returned from New
Netherland and the West Indies. It was said to have dis-
embarked a number of people on Tortugas, but [to have]
found that the French had been killed by the Spaniards, and
further [to have conveyed] the rest to the South River2 in
New Netherland, and [it] brought a sample of oil from a dead
whale found on the shore. [The captain] said that he arrived
there too late in the year. This was a losing voyage to us;
because this captain, Peter Heyes, of Edam, whom we had
put in command, durst not sail by the way of the West Indies
with only one ship of eighteen guns, where he must have
made good the expense of this voyage. He was a person who
was only accustomed to sail to Greenland, where they make
the voyage in three or four months, and then come home.
1 The Texel, the island at the mouth of the Zuyder Zee in Holland.
2 This was the colony at Swanendael, present Lewes, Delaware, thus brought
there in 1631 by the ship De Wcdvi*, and shortly after destroyed by the Indians »a
hereafter recounted by De Vries.
1632] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES tf
Anno 1632. The 12th of February we again entered into
an agreement to equip a ship and yacht for the whale fishery,
to which many objections were raised because we had had
such a losing voyage, and no returns from the whale fishery,
and saw no prospect of any. But Samuel Godyn encouraged
us to make another attempt. He said the Greenland Com-
pany had two bad voyages with Willem van Muyen, and after-
wards became a thrifty company. It was therefore again re-
solved to undertake a voyage for the whale fishery, and that I
myself should go as patroon, and as commander of the ship
and yacht, and should endeavor to be there in December, in
order to conduct the whale fishing during the winter, as the
whales come in the winter and remain till March.
Before sailing out of the Texel, we understood that our
little fort1 had been destroyed by the Indians, the people
killed — two and thirty men — who were outside the fort
working the land.
The 24th May, sailed out of the Texel with the ship and
yacht, with a northeast wind.
The 26th of the same month, at night, we ran aground
through the carelessness of the mates, to whom I gave par-
ticular directions, before I went to bed, to throw the lead fre-
quently, and keep the freighter, which was a large ship, and
drew full three feet more water than we did, upon our lee;
but they not following their orders, we grounded upon the
Bree-Banck2 before Dunkirk. We fired a shot, so that our
companion came to anchor. My yacht came under my lee,
but could not stand it there on account of the surf. I then
made our crew lower the boat and also two Biscayan shallops3
and they fled the ship. But I would not leave, and kept both
of the mates by me, who dared not leave me for shame, seeing
that I remained aboard. Eight or nine plain sailors remained
also and I then learned to know the crew well. Those men
who had appeared fierce as lions, were the first to escape in
the boat. Bumping and tossing along, we got into four
fathoms water, where I let the anchor fall, and set to pump-
1 At Swanendael.
3 Bree-Banck, one of the largest shoals before Dunkirk, in France, about
four miles from the coast.
* Convenient rowboats used by Basque fishermen.
10 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1632
ing and got the ship dry. At the same time, the day broke,
when we saw our boat and the two sloops tossing about ; but
when they saw the ship once more afloat they came on board
again, and told us that had the night continued two hours
longer, they would have headed for the lighthouse and rowed
into Dunkirk. We weighed anchor again and sailed for the
coast of England, and, on the 28th, ran into Portsmouth, and
hauled the ship into the king's dock, where we repaired her.
The 10th of July, we sailed from Portsmouth to Cowes in
the Isle of Wight.
The 12th of the same month, the ship New Netherland, of
the West India Company, arrived here — a large ship, which
was built in New Netherland, and which was bound for the
West Indies, whither I had good company.
The 1st of August, with a good northeast wind, weighed
anchor, and made sail with my ship and yacht, in company of
the ship New Netherland.
The 2d, passed Land's End, and laid our course for the
Canary Islands.
The 13th, we saw Madeira on our larboard, and a Turk
came towards us, but as soon as he observed that we were
stout ships, he hauled off from us, and we sailed for him.
The evening growing dark, I fired a shot for my yacht to come
by me. When night came on, we pursued our course, but the
New Netherland followed the Turk by night, which seemed to
us folly, because we had not got near him by day. We then
separated from the New Netherland.
The 14th, towards evening, we saw the Isle of Palms on
our lee, and set our course from thence to Barbados.
The 4th of September, we came in sight of Barbados, and
the next day, the 5th, towards evening, arrived at the Island
of St. Vincent. The Indians put out with their canoes and
came on board of us. I observed the great astonishment of
this people. Their canoes or boats getting full of water, they
sprang overboard, and with great dexterity lifted up both
ends with their shoulders in the water, emptied out the water,
and then clambered in again ; many of our people, in such cir-
cumstances, would have drowned, if their boat got full of
water, and they had no other aid than their bodies and the sea.
While here, we had fifteen good [supplies of] refreshments,
1632] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 11
bananas, pine-apples, and various Indian fruits. We anchored
in the Great Channel in 23 fathoms.
On the 5th, arrived here also the ship New Netherland,
which was separated from us at Madeira.
On the 8th, we weighed anchor, and passed by the islands
of Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Redonde,
and Nevis, arrived the 20th1 before St. Christopher, where we
found some English ships, and obtained a supply of water.
The 11th, weighed anchor, in order to sail to St. Martin.
Half-way between St. Martin and St. Christopher, we met a
French ship with a large sloop in company, which veered con-
siderably towards us, as if he sought to commit some hostility
towards us, but I kept my course and spoke him not. I let
the prince's flag2 fly aloft, and the red flag behind. When he
saw this, he hauled off and passed at a good distance on my
lee. Towards evening, we arrived at the roadstead of St. Mar-
tin and let our anchor fall. We found before the fort three
flutes3 under Dirck Femmesz. of Hoorn, two from Water-
land,4 and the third an Englishman.
The 11th of September, as I lay before the fort with my
yacht, the above-named master of the flutes came on board,
and inquired if I had not met a French ship. I said, "Yes,
sir." And whether he had not attacked me? I said, "No."
Had we been a small ship, he perhaps would have done so : for
he [Femmesz.] said that he [the Frenchman] had sworn to pay
off the first Hollander whom he should meet, because they
had shot and killed two of his men from the flute, which was
not creditable to them. He told me that this French ship had
come into the harbor some days ago, and that the captain was
a Knight of Malta, and the vessel a royal yacht of the King of
France, in search of Spaniards. When he was taken ashore
by the commander of the fort, he inquired whether there was
any one who could speak French. The captain of the soldiers
understanding French, he requested that the captain might
1 Evidently a misprint for the 10th.
2 The flag of Prince Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassau, stadtholder of the
Dutch republic.
3 A fluit (flute) is a three-master of about 600 to 700 tons burden.
4 Waterland, a district in the province of North Holland, between Amsterdam
and Monnickendam.
12 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1632
go with him to interpret what should be said. So the cap-
tain went from the fort with this knight in his skiff to the
flutes. Having reached them, the Knight desired that they
should sell him a barrel of tar, for money and kind words, as
they had enough and he had long sailed in the West Indies;
but they gave him a rude answer — that they did not wish
to have him in their ships — if the captain of the fort wished
to come on board their ships he might, but he must depart
with the boat. The Knight stood perplexed at such an
answer, when he had met them with every courtesy. At
length he said to the captain, his interpreter, that they would
return to the fort, [as] he wished to make his complaints to
the commander-in-chief. Coming to the commander, he ex-
hibited his royal commission, and inquired of the commander
whether he had not as much right to go in the roadstead
where these flutes were, as they? — that they were friends; —
that all the ports and harbors in France were open to us.
The commander said, "Yes." Then the Frenchman weighed
anchor, and wished to come to anchor by them in order to ca-
reen his ship a little, as the water was shallow there. When
they saw the Frenchman had weighed his anchor, they hauled
one behind the other, and began to fire upon him, and shot
two of his men; when the Frenchman again let his anchor
fall, went to the fort and complained of the hostilities which
these brutes had committed against him, and desired that the
commander, with his officers, should take note thereof; and
made his protest. But he was lost on his return voyage, with
his ship, people and all, which has caused great comfort to
these shipmasters, as he would otherwise have made sport
enough for them; but the quarrel was thereby terminated.
This we learned afterwards.
The 12th of September, I had room made in the ship [to
take in salt], in case the whale fishery in New Netherland
should fail, as salt brought a good price in the Fatherland.
This day the ship New Netherland arrived here, which I had
left lying at St. Vincent to refresh. With her arrived the ship
Gelderia, which belonged also to the Company, and also
two flutes from Hoorn; of one of these, Cornells Jansz. Niels
was master; the other flute was the Falcon, and the master
was named Gerrit Jansz.
1632] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 15
The 27th of this month, we had our cargo of salt, as much
as we wanted, and made ourselves again ready to sail to Nevis,
to take in wood and water, because they were both better
there than at St. Christopher, and there is also a fine sandy
bay for the boats to land. The captains of the flutes, who had
committed the hostilities against the Frenchman, inquired of
me whether they might sail with me to Nevis, in order to pro-
vide themselves with wood and water, so as to sail directly
for Holland, as they were afraid of the Frenchman, who had
called out to them that he wished to meet them when they
went to take in water; and they did not mount more than
six or eight guns. I gave them for answer, that I was willing
that they should sail with me, because they were our citizens,
but that I could not prevent any hostility of the Frenchman
happening to them, since my ship was no more defensible than
theirs. If they wished, however, to sail with me, they could.
The 29th, weighed anchor with my yacht to get under sail,
but they remained. By evening I arrived before the island of
Nevis. I went ashore to the governor, an Englishman, named
Luttelton.1 He requested me to take aboard some captive
Portuguese, and to put them, on my way to St. Christopher,
on board an English ship called Captain Stoon's;2 which I
could not refuse him, if I had them only three or four hours
in the ship. Maerten Thysz.,3 from Zeeland, had put these
Portuguese ashore here.
The 1st of November, took my leave of the governor of
Nevis, and weighed anchor. At noon, came to the great road-
stead where the English are. There was a governor, named
Sir Warnar.4 Here I immediately got rid of the Portuguese
1 Littleton.
2 Captain John Stone (d. 1634), who figures also in the narratives of William
Bradford, of Plymouth, and John Winthrop, of Boston, was an Englishman
living for a time on the island of St. Christopher in the West Indies and later in
Virginia, whence he engaged with his vessel in the intercolonial trade He was
not over-scrupulous in his conduct and dealings; for instance, he made the Dutch
Governor Van Twiller drunk in order to secure consent to seize a Plymouth bark
laden with furs. His murder by the Indians on his own ship in the Connecticut
River was one of the immediate causes of the Pequot war in New England.
■ Probably Admiral Maarten Thijssen, who later became famous in Swedish
naval service under the name of Martin Thijson Anckarhjelm.
4 Sir Thomas Warner (d. 1649), the English governor of the island of St.
Christopher, appointed to that office in 1627 and knighted in 1629.
14 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1632
prisoners, gave them over to the Englishman, who wished to
sail in company with me to St. Martin.
The 2d, weighed anchor, with my yacht and the English-
man, of London, who had the Portuguese prisoners, whom he
was to carry to Porto Rico. He left his barge behind, to
follow him with some goods to St. Martin. We arrived in the
evening at the anchorage before St. Martin, where we found
the whole fleet there still which we had left there. I asked
the captains of the flutes why they had not followed me when
I weighed anchor. They answered that they thanked me for
the offer which I had made them, but they had determined
to remain by each other, and expected that they would be
ready together, and the Gelderland would go with them.
The 4th, the Englishman, expecting his boat from St. Chris-
topher, knew not what it meant that it staid so long, as
it should have followed us at noon. This Englishman wished
much to sail with me to the latitude of Porto Rico, which I
must pass.
The 5th of this month, took my leave at the fort of our
governor and the captains, and weighed anchor with my
yacht also; having a fair sail set, I could not wait longer for
the Englishman's boat. We understood afterwards that this
boat was placed in great distress; that it was driven to the
leeward by a strong wind, and being in want of provisions and
water, the men cast lots whom they should first kill for the
others to eat for food; having at length felled one, they fed
themselves therewith, till they finally reached the island of
Saba, where they subsisted on what they found there, and
were afterwards recovered in great distress, but he who was
eaten up for their subsistence was gone.
The 14th, in the thirty-second degree of latitude, the Ber-
mudas to the east of us, encountered a severe storm from the
northwest, and it was sheer luck that we managed to take in
our sails; all around the waters swirled as if it were an hurri-
cane; it blew so, that standing beside each other we could not
understand each other. I feared when I saw the yacht, that
it would finally capsize, so dreadful was it to see so small a
yacht, of ten lasts, save itself from such a storm. This storm
continued until the 18th, but towards the last the wind veered
entirely west.
1632] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 15
The 1st of December, threw the lead, in the thirty-ninth
degree of latitude, in fifty-seven fathoms, sandy bottom; found
out afterwards that we were then fourteen or fifteen leagues1
from the shore. This is a flat coast. Wind westerly.
The 2d, threw the lead in fourteen fathoms, sandy bottom,
and smelt the land, which gave a sweet perfume, as the wind
came from the northwest, which blew off land, and caused
these sweet odors. This comes from the Indians setting fire,
at this time of year, to the woods and thickets, in order to
hunt; and the land is full of sweet-smelling herbs, as sassafras,
which has a sweet smell. When the wind blows out of the
northwest, and the smoke is driven to sea, it happens that
the land is smelt before it is seen. The land can be seen
when in from thirteen to fourteen fathoms. Sand-hills are
seen from the thirty-fourth to the fortieth degree, and the
hills rise up full of pine-trees, which would serve as masts
for ships.
The 3d of the same month, saw the mouth of the South2
Bay, or South River, and anchored on sandy ground at ten
fathoms; because it blew hard from the northwest, which is
from the shore, and as we could not, in consequence of the
hard wind, sail in the bay, we remained at anchor.
The 5th, the wind southwest, we weighed anchor, and
sailed into the South Bay, and in the afternoon lay, with our
yacht, in four fathoms water, and saw immediately a whale
near the ship. Thought this would be royal work — the whales
so numerous — and the land so fine for cultivation.
The 6th, we went with the boat into the river,3 well armed,
in order to see if we could speak with any Indians, but coming
by our house,4 which was destroyed, found it well beset with
palisades in place of breastworks, but it was almost burnt up.
Found lying here and there the skulls and bones of our people
whom they had killed, and the heads of the horses and cows
which they had brought with them, but perceived no Indians
and, without having accomplished anything, returned on board,
1 "Fourteen or fifteen [Dutch] miles," or English leagues; forty-two or
forty-five English miles, the Dutch mile being equal to three English miles.
* Called Delaware Bay by the English.
• The Hoorn or Hoere Kill, the present Lewes Creek, in Delaware.
! At Swanendael, now Lewes, Delaware.
16 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1032
and let the gunner fire a shot in order to see if we could find
any trace of them the next day.
The 7th, in the morning, we thought we saw some smoke
near our destroyed house; we landed opposite the house, on
the other side of the river, where there is a beach with some
dunes. Coming to the beach, looked across the river towards
the house where we had been the day before, and where we
thought in the morning we had seen signs of smoke, but saw
nothing. I had a cousin of mine with me from Rotterdam,
named Heyndrick de Liefde, and as a flock of gulls was flying
over our heads, I told him to shoot at it, as he had a fowling-
piece with him, and he shot one on the wing, and brought it
down. With it came a shout from two or three Indians, who
were lying in the brush on the other side of the river by the
destroyed house. We called to them to come over to us.
They answered that we must come into the river with our
boat. We promised to do so in the morning, as the water
was then low, and that we would then talk with them, and we
went back to the ship. Going aboard, we resolved to sail in
the river with the yacht, as otherwise in an open boat we
might be in danger of their arrows.
The 8th of December, we sailed into the river before our
destroyed house, well on our guard. The Indians came to the
edge of the shore, near the yacht, but dared not come in. At
length, one ventured to come aboard the yacht, whom we
presented with a cloth dress, and told him we desired to make
peace. Then immediately more came running aboard, ex-
pecting to obtain a dress also, whom we presented with some
trinkets, and told the one to whom we had given the cloth
garment, that we had given it to him because he had most
confidence in us — that he was the first one who came in the
yacht, and should they come the next day with their chief
called Sakimas, we would then make a firm peace, which they
call rancontyn marenit. An Indian remained on board of the
yacht at night, whom we asked why they had slain our people,
and how it happened. He then showed us the place where
our people had set up a column, to which was fastened a
piece of tin, whereon the arms of Holland1 were painted. One
1 Hollandtsche-Thuyn, literally, Holland yard, or enclosure, referring to the
emblem of the Seven United Provinces, which shows the Dutch lion defending
1632] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 17
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 such an ado about it, that the Ind-
ians, not knowing how it was, went away 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
they had not done it, that they should have brought him to
them, as they wished to have forbidden him to do the like
again. They then went away, and the friends of the mur-
dered chief incited their friends — as they are a people like the
Italians, who are very revengeful — to set about the work of
vengeance. Observing our people out of the house, each one
at his 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 man who had command, standing near the house, three of
the bravest Indians, who were to do the deed, bringing a lot
of beaver-skins with them to exchange, asked to enter the
house. The man in charge went in with them to make the
barter; which being done, he went down from the loft where
the stores lay, and in descending the stairs, one of the Indians
seized an axe, and cleft the head of our agent who was in
charge so that he fell down dead. 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
despatch him. They then proceeded towards the rest of the
men, who were at their work, and going among them with
pretensions of friendship, struck them down.1 Thus was our
young colony destroyed, causing us serious loss.
The 9th, the Indians came to us with their chiefs, and
sitting in a ring, made peace. Gave them some presents of
duffels,2 bullets, hatchets, and various Nuremberg trinkets.
They promised to make a present to us, as they had been out
a-hunting. They then departed again with great joy of us,
that we had not remembered what they had done to us, which
Dutch territory, represented by a Hon rampant inside a stockade, the lion holding
in his right paw a sword and in his left paw a bundle of seven arrows, with the
motto: Eendracht maakt Macht (In Unity is Strength).
1 The colonists were all killed save one Theunis Willemsen.
a A kind of coarse cloth.
18 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1633
we suffered to pass, because we saw no chance of revenging it,
as they dwelt in no fixed place. We began to make prepara-
tions to send our sloops to sea, and to set up a kettle for
whale-oil, and to erect a lodging-hut of boards.
Anno 1633. The 1st of January, at about eight o'clock in
the morning, I sailed with the yacht, the Squirrel, up the
South River, to see whether I could obtain any beans from the
Indians, as our stock-fish was consumed, and the porridge,
now doubled, began to grow short. Towards evening we
stopped, as it was calm, and the ice, which the tide brought
down, opposed us, and we cast anchor in eight fathoms. Saw
a whale at the mouth of the South River.
The 2d, in the morning, fine and pleasant, saw two large
whales near the yacht. Wished much that we could have had
the shallops, with the harpooners, which were lying at Swan-
endael. We weighed anchor with the tide, and by evening
came a good mile before Reed Island,1 where we cast anchor,
and saw fires on the land. Supposed that they were made by
Indians out a-hunting; but an hour afterwards a canoe came
alongside. They said that they were a-hunting, but would
not come aboard, from which we drew unfavorable conclu-
sions; but they answered they would come aboard early in
the morning.
The 4th, after we had chopped some wood, as it began to
freeze, weighed anchor with the tide, made sail, and entered
about a cannon-shot past Red Hook,2 where we anchored
before a kill, because it began to freeze; so that in case
the ice should stop us, we could haul in there to secure the
yacht.
The 5th, we weighed anchor in the morning, and sailed
before the little fort named Fort Nassau,3 where formerly
some families of the West India Company had dwelt. Some
Indians had begun to gather there and wished to barter furs,
1 Evidently the present Reedy Island.
3 Red Hook, near Mantes, now Mantua Creek, New Jersey. "Mantaes
hoeck . . . about a long half league below the destroyed " Fort Nassau (Andreas
Hudde, in 1662).
« Fort Nassau, built by the Dutch in 1623 and occupied by them at intervals
until the building of Fort Casimir, 1651, was on the Delaware River near the
•outh side of the mouth of the present Big Timber Creek, Gloucester County,
New Jersey.
1633] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 19
but I desired to trade for their Turkish beans,1 because we had
no goods to exchange for peltries, and our stores had been
given away at Swanendael for the purpose of making the peace,
so that there were not more than two pieces of cloth left of
our goods, and two kettles, for which we wanted corn. As
far as we could observe, the Indians were very scrupulous.*
They told us that we ought to haul into the Timmer Kill.8
There was a squaw of the Sanki tans,4 who cautioned us not to
go entirely into the kill, as she knew that they intended to
make an attack upon us. When we told her that if she would
relate to us everything in regard to the attack, we would give
her a cloth garment, as we did, she confessed to us that in
Count Ernest's River5 they had seized a shallop with Eng-
lishmen and killed the Englishmen.
The 6th, we weighed anchor, and came before the Timmer
Kill, where we made everything ready, to see what the Indians
would do. While lying there, a crowd of Indians came march-
ing up, bringing beaver-skins with them, and boarding the
yacht forty-two or forty-three strong. A portion of them
began to play tunes with reeds, in order that they might not
cause in us any suspicion, but we kept ourselves strictly upon
our guard, as there were only seven of us in the yacht, and
there were forty-two or forty-three of the Indians. When we
found the traffic at its height, we ordered them to go ashore
immediately, or we would shoot them all. Their sachem took
an armful of beaver-skins which he wanted to present to us
in order to tempt us, but we desired them not, and gave him
for answer that they must make their way to the shore, as we
knew that they had evil designs in their heads, that Manetoe
(that is, the Devil, whom they call Manetoe) had told us so.
They went ashore again, and their villainy was frustrated,
God be praised and thanked! If one is a little on his guard
against this people, there is, with God's help, no difficulty
with the Indians. But, as far as I can observe, those that are
in the Company's sloops give the Indians too much liberty,
and so accidents occur which otherwise, with friendship, might
1 Indian corn. ■ Shy.
' The present Big Timber Creek, in Gloucester County, New Jersey.
1 Or Sankikans. Delaware Indians, living at the falls at Trenton, and above.
* Not identified.
20 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1633
be prevented. These Indians were from Red Hook, otherwise
called Mantes, and had a number of English jackets * on, which
gave me more cause of suspicion, as those were not clothing
for them, or trading goods. When they were all on land
again, there soon came three or four others, who desired
that we would trade for their goods; but we answered them
that we did not want any beaver-skins, but wished corn
for food.
The 7th, the chief, whom they call sackima, of the Arme-
wanninge, another but neighboring nation, came to us. His
name was Zee Pentor, and to him we interpreted our advent-
ure. He said he had heard that they had been on board of
our boat strong. He requested us to return soon to the Timmer
Kill with the yacht, whereat I was suspicious. I told my in-
terpreter to ask him why he was not willing to bring the corn
here. He answered that where we were lying, it was too
muddy and low to get on board, and it was too cold to go
through the mud. So we said to him that we would go to
the fort again, where it was hard and dry to come aboard,
with which he was well content, and was again conveyed to
the shore, saying that when we arrived at the fort, he would
come aboard again.
The 8th, weighed anchor early in the morning, and came
to again before the fort, which we saw was full of Indians, and
more and more constantly coming. This gave us no favorable
impression, because of the great numbers of the Indians.
When they had all assembled in the fort, a canoe— which is a
boat hollowed out of a tree— came at last from the fort to
board us, in which were nine chiefs, sachems from nine different
places. I saw among them the one who had intended to de-
stroy us; he had thrown off the English clothes, and put on
those made of skins, of which I immediately warned my inter-
preter. The nine seated themselves in a circle and called us
to them, saying they saw that we were afraid of them, but that
they came to make a lasting peace with us, whereupon they
made us a present of ten beaver-skins, which one of them gave
us, with a ceremony with each skin, saying in whose name he
presented it; that it was for a perpetual peace with us, and
that we must banish all evil thoughts from us, for they had
1 Kaesjacken, probably intended for "cassocks."
1633] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 21
now thrown away all evil. I wanted to make presents to
them through the interpreter, to each one an axe, adze, and
pair of knives, but they refused them, declaring that they
had not made us presents in order to receive others in return,
but for the purpose of a firm peace, which we took for truth.
The 8th of January, we wished to give them something for
their wives, but they said we must give it to them on shore.
As it was late, they went ashore again, and said they would
come the next day with corn, and they sent aboard that
evening seven or eight youth, which showed a good peace
with them.
The 9th, they came aboard again in the morning, and
brought Indian corn of different colors, for which we ex-
changed duffels, kettles, and axes. We also obtained some
beaver-skins, all in good feeling. There came that day about
fifty of them into the yacht, but we kept ourselves constantly
on our guard.
The 10th, in the morning, traded for some beaver and corn;
and in the afternoon drifted off with the ebb tide, and in the
evening went aground on the shoal near Jaques Island,1 where
we remained one tide.
The 11th, weighed anchor in the morning, and by evening
arrived about a league and a half above Minqua's Kill,2 where
we anchored, and saw a whale there that evening, which
spouted six or seven times. We were surprised to see a whale
seven or eight leagues up into fresh water.
The 12th, weighed anchor again, and arrived at the mouth
of the river; in the evening we came to anchor where the
thicket is.
The 13th, weighed anchor with the ebb, and at noon came
to the ship at Swanendael, where our men were rejoiced to see
us. We found that they had shot two whales, but they fur-
nished little oil.
The 18th, the goods were placed in our yacht, and we
sailed again up the South River. By evening arrived between
Minqua's Kill and Reed Island, where we came to anchor. It
1 Jaques or Jacob's (James's) Island, as given on Lindstrom's map of 1655,
was probably Chester Island.
2 Minquas Kill, now Christina Creek, which flows into Delaware River at
Wilmington, Delaware.
22 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1633
began to freeze. We anchored here because the tide was
running down.
The 19th, weighed anchor with the tide, and came within
a league of Jaques Island. As it began to freeze, and it was
difficult to go on, it became necessary to haul into a kill
which was near us. Found it a fine creek, where the water
was two fathoms deep at high tide; but the current was
strong, and [the creek] not above thirty feet wide. The ice
began to trouble us some by the rubbing of the current. We
quickly cut a number of trees, and fastened them in the ground,
before and behind, in order to lie clear of the ice. This is a
fine country, in which many vines grow wild, so that we gave
it the name of Wyngsert's Kill.1 Went out daily, while here,
to shoot. Shot many wild turkeys, weighing from thirty to
thirty-six pounds. Their great size and very fine flavor are
surprising. We were frozen up in this kill from the 19th to
the 3rd of February. During this time, perceived no Indians,
though we saw here and there, at times, great fires on the land,
but we saw neither men nor canoes, because the river was
closed by the ice.
The 3d of February, we hauled out of the kill, as the river
was open again, and sailed to Fort Nassau, where we had left
the Indians before, but found no one there now, and saw no
Indians. It began to freeze again, and we hauled into a kill
over against the fort, as we were apprehensive, if we should
be frozen in there, we might be in danger. When we had
lain in this kill eight days to avoid the ice flow, there came a
canoe, in which sat an old Indian with a squaw, who brought
with them some maize and beans, of which we bought a quan-
tity. We could not understand from the Indian how it was
that we saw no Indians. It seemed as if he were unwilling to
tell us; he always looked frightened as if he were fleeing, ran
frequently ashore, looked to and fro, so that we could perceive
there must be something. They hauled the next day out of
the kill, and passed between the cakes of ice and the shore,
which we could not do with our yacht.
The 11th, full fifty Indians came over the river from the
1 Wyngaert's Kill, if Jaques Island is correctly identified as Chester Island,
was evidently Chester Creek, within one Dutch or three English miles of Jaques
Island.
1633] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 23
fort upon the ice, with pieces of canoes, directly to our yacht,
into which they could step from the shore, and spoke to us.
They were Minquas,1 who dwell north of the English of Vir-
ginia [colony]. They came on a warlike expedition, and six
hundred more were to come. They are friendly to us, but it
would not do to trust them too far, as they do anything for plun-
der. I determined, as the flood-tide began to make, that we
must haul into the mouth of the kill, so that they could not
come upon us on foot and master us, which would never do.
Hauling out of the kill about five-and-twenty paces, we could
not get any further, because there was not water enough. I
told the master of the yacht that he must direct the crew to
throw some ballast overboard, but he could not induce them
to do it. I then went to them, and asked them whether they
would rather trust to the mercy of these barbarians, or throw
away the ballast. They answered that while we were in the
river, our lives were at the mercy of the ice. I replied that
God, who had so long aided us, would help us. Finally, I
said that I had three flasks of brandy in my locker, and would
give them one of them, if they would throw the ballast over-
board, and we would all help to do it. When the yacht got
afloat, we were driven by the current and with the ice and the
ebb tide, which was almost spent, a thousand paces below the
kill, between two high pieces of ice, which had fallen on the
shore; this happened at nightfall. They all raised a great
shout, when they saw that we were driven nearer to the river.
In the morning, at daybreak, they saw that we were lying
between the two pieces of ice, with the bowsprit over the
shore, and came running to the yacht. We stood, eight of us,
on our arms.
The 12th, we kept them off, as they sought to come into
the yacht by the bowsprit, while we were lying, bow on land,
between the two pieces of ice. At length the water rose, so
that the yacht and the ice floated, and we were to be driven
at God's mercy with the ice, which was our great enemy, while
the land was our enemy on account of the Indians. We were
finally driven up the river, where there was a dry sand-bar
1 The regular habitat of these Indians was about the heads of Chesapeake
Bay in Maryland, and in the lower part of the Susquehanna River Valley and
beyond to Lake Erie. See post, pp. 70, 103.
24 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1633
running almost to the middle of the river. We were afraid
we should be driven upon it by the ice, when God provided
two canoes to float by us, which we immediately hauled be-
fore the bow, one on each side, and broke the ice with them.
Then setting the foresail, as there was a good wind, in order to
sail up the river with the tide, we passed, by the aid of God,
the Vogel-Sant,1 which was our great peril at this place, and
arrived at the beautiful island when the tide began to run, and
we managed to get to the shore, with the side to the shore
lengthwise with the bow. At last, the water began to fall
rapidly, and we found that there was a sand-bank along the
shore. We immediately set about making the mast fast to
[some] good stout trees on land, by means of a rope, and to
protect ourselves against arrows. The next day, the 13th,
three Indians of the Armewamen came before the yacht.
They told us that they were fugitives — that the Minquas had
killed some of their people, and they had escaped. They had
been plundered of all their corn, their houses had been burnt,
and they had escaped in great want, compelled to be content
with what they could find in the woods, and came to spy out
in what way the Minquas had gone away — the main body of
their people lying about five or six hours' journey distant,
with their wives and children. They told us also, that the
Minquas had killed about ninety men of the Sankiekans; that
they would come to us the next day, when the sun was in the
southeast, as they were suffering great hunger, and that the
Minquas had all left and gone from us, back to their country.
The 14th, at night, it began to rain hard, and the wind
was from the southwest, which makes it warm there. In the
morning we had high-water, which caused the yacht to float
finely. We loosened the rope from the tree, to which it had
been made fast, in order to prevent the yacht from falling
over, because the shore was so shallow there, and let her drift
into the river, as the ice was already very soft, like snow. We
resolved not to wait for the Indians, as they had been driven
away, and could not assist us in those things for which we had
1 Probably Egg Island, or Reedy Island. It may be identified with the
island referred to in the grant of the Dutch Governor Kieft, in 1646, to Planck
and others for a tract of land on the west side of the Delaware River "almost
over against the little island 'T Vogelssant."
1633] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 25
come, so that it was a hopeless voyage for us. Going down
the river, we arrived below the Minqua's Kill, where we took
in some stone for ballast, which we could not obtain elsewhere
in the morning. This is a very fine river, and the land all
beautifully level, full of groves of oak, hickory, ash, and
chestnut trees, and also vines which grow upon the trees.
The river has a great plenty of fish, the same as those in our
fatherland, perch, roach, pike, sturgeon, and similar fish. Along
the sea-coast are codfish, the different kinds of fish which are in
our fatherland, and others. After we had taken in some bal-
last, we went further down the river, and came to its mouth.
We fished with our seines, and caught in one draught as many
as thirty men could eat of perch, roach, and pike.
The 20th, we weighed our anchor, and with a northwest
wind sailed out of the bay, which is ten leagues long, and so
wide, that in the middle of it you can hardly see from one
shore to the other. It is full of shoals between which are
channels, from six to seven fathoms deep, but the deepest
channel is on the west side. In order to run up by soundings,
as you come from sea to Cape Hinloopen, which lies in thirty-
eight degrees and twenty minutes, the shoal of the bank,
which stretches from Cape Hinloopen over the bay, reaches
Cape May, and when you have passed this a league and a half,
and come into the river, so that Cape Hinloopen is south of
you, run in then northwest along the west shore, and you will
be out of danger of the banks, and keep the west side, where
you should keep sounding, but do not get nearer to it than a
depth of two fathoms, if the ship be a large one, and this will
take you directly to the South River. When you come to the
mouth of the river, where it is full two leagues wide, there is a
shoal before it, on which, at low tide, there is not more than
six or seven feet of water. This you must keep to starboard,
and you will see a bushy point ahead on the west side, along
which you must hold your course; that is the right channel,
the water being three and a half fathoms at low tide, but in-
side, in the river, it is six or seven fathoms. The tide rises
and falls here from five to six feet. By evening, we arrived
again at the ship, in which there was great rejoicing to see us,
as we had been gone over a month. They did not imagine
that we had been frozen up in the river, as no pilot or astrologer
26 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1643
could conceive, that in a latitude from the thirty-eighth and
a half to the thirty-ninth, such rapid running rivers could
freeze. Some maintain that it is because it lies so far west;
others adduce other reasons; but I will tell how it can be,
from experience and what I have seen, and that is thus:
inland, stretching towards the north, there are high moun-
tains, covered with snow, and the north and northwest winds
blow over the land from these cold mountains, with a pure,
clear air, which causes extreme cold and frost, such as is felt
in Provence and Italy, which I have often experienced when I
was at Genoa, when the wind blew over the land from the
high mountains, making it as cold as it was in Holland. I
have found by experience in all countries, during winter, that
when the wind blows from the land, the hardest frost makes.
It is so in New Netherland also, for as soon as the wind is
southwest, it is so warm that one may stand naked in the
woods, and put on a shirt.
The 5th of March, determined to make a voyage to the
English in Virginia, as we had failed to obtain corn in the
South River, in consequence of the war among the Indians,
as before related, by which we were placed in such danger,
and the grain of the Indians was destroyed ; and as we thought
that we should not be able to find a sufficient store of it at
Fort Amsterdam, on the great [North] river, to serve us on
our return voyage to Holland, we therefore deemed it advis-
able to sail to the English in Virginia. Although there had
never been any one there from this quarter, I said, as I had
escaped the danger in the South River, I would be the first
one of our nation to venture to the English in Virginia, from
these parts, as the distance is not more than thirty leagues
from the South River or Cape Hinloopen.1 ....
[Anno 1643, October.] The 12th, at daylight, the wind from
the southeast straight on a leeshore, and it began to blow hard.
We were in twelve fathoms water. When it was day, the skipper
1 De Vries sailed out of Delaware Bay, March 6, 1633, for Virginia, as he
proposed above, and was hospitably received by Sir John Harvey, Governor of
Virginia. Returning to Swanendael March 29 he found that his people had
caught seven whales, but had obtained only thirty-two cartels of oil. The expe-
dition then departed for New Amsterdam and finally arrived in Holland by
midsummer. The remaining paragraphs are from the narrative of 1643-1644.
1643} DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 27
asked me if I knew where I was. I told him we must run into
eight or nine fathoms, when we should be able to distinguish the
land; but he was afraid of the shore, as he had never been here.
Finally ran into shallower water, when he asked me if I knew the
country. I said, Yes; and I saw that we were by Cape May,
before the South River. He then inquired of me whether we
could not sail straight in. I said, No; that it was all over
full of shoals, that we must enter at the southwest side. He
then threw the lead, and had four fathoms, at which he was
startled. I told him he must lay down the lead ; that we must
now depend on my knowledge to get in; that it was all a
shoal there. We then came by Cape Hinloopen in deep
water, when I told him he might throw the lead, and he would
find eight to nine fathoms, as he ran into the South Bay, close
by the shore. We sailed in by the shore, and he said: "I
was in this same place over seven weeks, and there were Ind-
ians here on land, and a-fishing, and I went ashore with my
skiff and spoke Spanish to them, but they could not under-
stand me. It was so full of shoals, I ran again out to sea and
proceeded to New England." Then I said to the skipper:
"Had you known the Indian language as I know it, you would
not have sailed to New England. This land is called Swanen-
dael, and these Indians destroyed a colony in the year 1630,
which I began. Had you been able to speak to them, they
would have taken you up the river to the Swedes, or to our
people, who would have informed you that you had passed by
the Virginias.' ' I sailed up the bay west by north along the
west shore; at evening came before the river by the wild
thicket, where we anchored in four fathoms, hard bottom,
and in the morning weighed anchor.
The 13th, sailed by Reed Island, and came to the Verckens
Kill, where there was a fort1 constructed by the Swedes, with
three angles, from which they fired for us to strike our flag.
The skipper asked me if he should strike it. I answered him,
"If I were in a ship belonging to myself, I would not strike it
because I am a patroon of New Netherland, and the Swedes
are a people who come into our river; but you come here by
contrary winds and for the purposes of trade, and it is there-
1 Fort Nya Elfsborg, built by the Swedes in 1643, a short distance below
the mouth of Varkens Kill (now Salem Creek, New Jersey).
28 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1643
fore proper that you should strike." Then the skipper struck
his flag, and there came a small skiff from the Swedish fort,
some Swedes in it, who inquired of the skipper with what he
was laden. He told them with Madeira wine. We asked
them whether the governor was in the fort. They answered,
No; that he was at the third fort1 up the river, to which we
sailed, and arrived at about four o'clock in the afternoon,
and went to the governor, who welcomed us. He was named
Captain Prins,2 and a man of brave size, who weighed over
four hundred pounds. He asked the skipper if he had ever
been in this river before, who said he had not. How then had
he come in where it was so full of shoals? He pointed to me,
that I had brought him in. Then the governor's trader, who
knew me, and who had been at Fort Amsterdam, said that I
was a patroon of Swanendael at the entrance of the bay, de-
stroyed by the Indians in the year 1630, when no Swedes were
known upon this river. He (the governor) then had a silver
mug brought, with which he treated the skipper with hop
beer, and a large glass of Rhenish wine, with which he drank
my health. The skipper traded some wines and sweetmeats
with him for peltries, beaver-skins, and staid here five days
from contrary winds. I went to Fort Nassau, which lies a
league higher up, in which the people of the West India Com-
pany were. I remained there half a day, and took my leave
of them, and returned at evening to the governor of the
Swedes.
The 19th, I went with the governor to the Minckquas
Kil, where their first fort3 was, with some houses inside, where
they carried on their trade with the Minqua Indians; our ship
came down the river also. In this little fort there were some
iron guns. I staid here at night with the governor, who
treated me well. In the morning, the ship was lying before
the Minckquas Kil. I took my leave of the governor, who
accompanied me on board. We fired a salute for him, and
thus parted from him; weighed anchor and got under sail,
and came to the first fort. Let the anchor fall again, and
went on land to the fort, which was not entirely finished; it
was made after the English plan, with three angles close by
1 Fort Nya Goteborg or New Gothenburg, on Tinicum Island.
a Governor Johan Printz. 3 Fort Christina.
1643] DAVID DE VRIES'S NOTES 29
the river. There were lying there six or eight brass pieces,
twelve-pounders. The skipper exchanged here some of his
wines for beaver-skins.
The 20th of October, took our departure from the last fort,
or first in sailing up the river, called Elsenburg. The second
fort of the Swedes is named Fort Christian; the third, New
Gottenburg. We weighed anchor and sailed from the river;
arrived at noon at Cape Hinloopen, and put to sea. Set our
course along the coast southwest, quite southerly at first.
RELATION OF CAPTAIN THOMAS YONG, 1634
INTRODUCTION
Captain Thomas Yong, an Englishman, the author of the
narrative which follows, was one of the many early seekers
for the northwest passage from Atlantic to Pacific waters. It
was mainly in pursuit of this famous quest that he explored
Delaware Bay and River. Before leaving the river he wrote
these observations, and sent them as a report to the English
Secretary of State, one of the members of the government
giving moral support to the undertaking.
Thomas Yong was born in 1579, in the parish of St. Peter's,
Cornhill, in the city of London, of a family, it would seem, of
the higher sort of merchants, who had attained, apparently,
to some affluence and position. The father, Gregory Yong,
who figures in the registers of the parish as "Grocer," with the
title "Mr.", significantly respectful in that day, was a native
of Bedale, in the north riding of Yorkshire, but early in his
career had made his appearance in London, and at the time
of his death in 1610 was dwelling at the northwest corner of
Leadenhall Street. Captain Yong's elder sister Susanna mar-
ried Robert Evelyn, of the landed family of the Evelyns of
Wotton in Surrey — thus becoming aunt by marriage to the
accomplished John Evelyn, the diarist — and the relations of
her father's family with the Evelyns, as shown by certain
of the Evelyn letters, were intimate.
Of the other facts of Yong's life nothing further has been
learned beyond those respecting his American exploring expedi-
tion. He is first heard of as the promoter of this enterprise in
1633, when as a man of the mature age of fifty-four, possessing,
it is presumed, wealth and leisure, he petitioned Charles I. for
33
34 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
full powers to equip and lead, without expense to the Crown*
but in its behalf, an expedition to America for the discovery,
occupation, and exploitation of uninhabited lands. With the
support of the group of Catholic1 sympathizers influential at
court in those days of the personal government of the King,
his request received favorable consideration, and a royal com-
mission, in which he is mentioned as of London, gentleman,
was issued, in September, 1633, granting him authority to
carry out his proposals.
In company with his nephew Robert Evelyn, jr. (b. 1606),
who served him as lieutenant, and with a cosmographer and
a surgeon, he sailed from England with two vessels in May,
1634. He reached Virginia early in July and during the re-
pairing of one of his leaky ships and the building of a shallop,
remained for over two weeks at Jamestown as the guest of
Governor Sir John Harvey. While in Virginia he talked with
leaders on both sides of the controversy between William
Claiborne and Lord Baltimore over the conflicting claims of
Virginia and Maryland to Kent Island, and wrote what seems
to be a fair report of the situation. This report, with an ac-
count of his journey, he sent in a letter from Jamestown, dated
July 13, 1634, to Sir Toby Matthew, one of his Catholic patrons
about the English court.2 His expressed sympathies, however,
are for Lord Baltimore, who was another of his Catholic patrons.
On July 20 Captain Yong set sail from Virginia. From
*hat time the story as he tells it of his experiences in the
Delaware can be followed in the text and notes until after
the middle of October. He then sent Lieutenant Evelyn to
England, by way of Virginia, with this report, along with a let-
ter, dated October 20, 1634, written from Charles River — he so
1 Although Yong was so closely associated with Catholics in his undertaking,
no evidence has been found to support the intimations of some writers that he
was himself a Catholic and the agent for the promotion of a scheme of Catho-
lic settlements in America.
'See Narratives of Early Maryland, in this series, pp. 47—61.
INTRODUCTION 35
named the Delaware in honor of the King — in which he states
that despite the obstructing falls of the river, he determines
"against the next summer to build a vessell, which he will"
launch above the falls and "goe up to the Lakes," whence he
hopes "to find a way that leadeth into that Mediterranean
Sea. . . . From the lake I judge that it cannot be lesse than 150
or 200 leagues to our North Ocean, and from thence I purpose
to discover the mouths thereof which discharge both into the
North and South Seas." He adds that he will undergo all
hazards and dangers and will "be at much charge for the ser-
vice of his Matie and honor of my country."
Evelyn returned to England and in the latter part of
May of the following year, 1635, sailed again for America in
the ship Plain Joan to join his uncle, it is stated, upon "special
and very important service." How much further exploration
was made in the Delaware is not clear but apparently that
field was soon abandoned for northern New England. In
1636, according to Samuel Maverick, Yong and his companions
went up the Kennebec River, bent upon discovery. "By carv-
ing their canoes some few times" they "came into Canada
River very near" Quebec, "where by the French Captain
Young was taken, and carried for France but his Company
returned safe." Here Yong disappears from history.
Lieutenant Robert Evelyn, the nephew, whose elder
brother Captain George Evelyn (b. 1593) had gone out to
Maryland in 1636, seems to have appeared in Virginia in the
latter part of the same year, and in 1637 was made surveyor-
general and a councillor of that province. In the ensuing year
he was a member of the Maryland assembly, probably residing
with his brother, who had served for a few months early in the
year as commander of Kent Island, and had a plantation at
Piney Point in his manor of Evelynton on the Potomac. In
1641, under the title of Directions for Adventurers (reprinted
in chapter III. of Plantagenet's New Albion, in 1648), was pub-
36 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
lished his description of the Delaware, in which he supplements
somewhat his uncle's account and states that a draft of the
region as supplied by him had been incorporated in a printed
map of New England. In 1642 he was appointed commander
of the Maryland forces at Piscataway against the Indians, and
represented St. George's Hundred in the assembly.
The original manuscript of Yong's Relation, and the two
accompanying letters of which mention has been made, are in
the Virginia State Library at Richmond. The papers were
purchased at the sale of the collection of the late Samuel L.
M. Barlow, of New York City, who obtained them in the Aspin-
wall papers, once for the most part in the possession of George
Chalmers, the historian. They are simple unassuming state-
ments, and believed to be in every way reliable. They were
first published in P. C. J. Weston's Documents connected with
the History of South Carolina (London, 1856), pp. 25-60;
again in 1871 in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, fourth series, IX. 117-131, and then (in 1876) re-
printed in Fund Publication No. 9 of the Maryland Historical
Society, pp. 300-312. The present issue has been collated
with the original manuscript.
A. C. M.
RELATION OF CAPTAIN THOMAS YONG, 1634
A breife Relation of a voyage lately made by me Captayne Thomas
Yong, since my departure from Virginia, upon a discovery,
which I humbly present to the Right Hoble Sr Francis Winde-
banke, knight, Principall Secretary of State to his MatU.1
The particulars of all occurrents, that happened unto mee,
from my departure out of England till my arrivall in Virginia;
and likewise, what passed while I was there; I sent in a
Relation to Sr Tobie Matthew,2 entreating him to present it
to yor Honor; wch I presume, is already come to yor handes;
And therefore I omitt to trouble yor honor, wth a second
repetition thereof, and now only intend humbly to give yor
honor account of such thinges, as since that time have passed
in my voyage.
As soone as I had stopped the leakes of my ship, and fin-
ished my shallopp, I sett sayle from Virginia, the 20th of
July, coasting along the Coast from Virginia to the Northward,
faire by the shoare, and the 24th of the same month, I made
that great Bay, wherein I purposed at my departure from
England, to make triall for the Passage. I came to an Anchor
that night in the mouth of the Bay and the next morning, I
entered the same. This Bay is in the mouth thereof 6 leagues
broad, and hath in the entrance thereof 12 fathome water.
When I was gott into the Bay, I came to an anchor, and sent
my Leiuitennant in my shallop ashore, on the Southwest part
of the Bay, to see if he could speake with any of the Natives,
and to learne what he could of them, concerning this Bay,
and the course thereof, who after he had spent most part of
the day in searching up and downe, for the Natives, returned
towards night, without speaking wth any of them. The next
1 Sir Francis Windebank (1582-1646), Secretary of State, of Catholic inclina-
tions. Later he was forced to leave England.
2 Sir Tobie Matthew (1577-1655), English courtier, diplomatist, and writer,
in religion a Roman Catholic.
37
38 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
morning, being the 26, 1 sayled some tenne leagues higher up
into the Bay, and then came to an Anchor, and agayne sent
out my shallopp, to see if I could meet wth any of those na-
tives ; but they returned as they did the day before, without
speaking with any of them. The 27 in the morning I weighed
to proceed yet further into the Bay and after I had passed some
7 leagues up the Bay, my shallop being then on head of me,
espied certayne Indians on the West side of the Bay, to whome
they made presently, but the Indians made away from them,
as soon as they came neere the shoare; soe I sayled along in
the middest of the Bay, and they coasted along by the shoare,
till about two in the afternoone; and then there came an
Indian running along the shoare, and called to my shallop;
The shallop presently made towards him, who stayed till
theire arrivall, but would not come aboard, wherefore they
landed, and went to him, to whome presently also came three
or foure more. At last they perswaded one of them to goe
aboard my ship, and so they brought him to mee. I enter-
tained him curteously, and gave him buiscuit to eat, and strong
water to drinke, but the water he seemed not to rellish well. I
also gave him some trifles, as knives and beades and a hatchett,
of which he was wonderfull glad. Then I began to enquire of
him, (by my Interpreter, who understood that language) now
farr the sea ran, who answered me that not farre above that
place I should meet with fresh water, and that the River
ranne up very farre into the land, but that he had never bene
at the head thereof. He told me further that the people of
that River were at warre with a certaine Nation called the
Minquaos, who had killed many of them, destroyed their corne,
and burned their houses; insomuch as that the Inhabitants
had wholy left that side of the River, which was next to their
enimies, and had retired themselves on the other side farre up
into the woods, the better to secure themselves from their
enimies. He also told me that not long since there had bene
a ship there, and described the people to me, and by his de-
scription, I found they were Hollanders, who had bene there
trading for furrs; Towards night he desired to be sett on
shoare, which accordingly I commanded to be done. The next
day being the 28, there came aboard of my ship an Indian,
with a Canoa with store of Eeles, whereof I bought some for a
1634] RELATION OF THOMAS YONG 39
knife and a hatchett, and whilest I was discoursing with him
concerning the River, for now I was entered into the mouth
thereof, on a suddayne he fell into a great passion of feare and
trembling; I wondered what the matter was, and comforted
him, and bad him feare nothing, he then shewed me a Canoa,
a good way of, making towards the ship, in which, he said,
were some of the Minquaos and that they were enimies to him,
and to his Nation, and had already killed many of them, and
that they would kill him also, if they saw him, and therefore
he desired me to hide him from them; I told him, I would
defend him, and that they should not hurt him, and that if
they should dare to offer him any violence, I then would kill
them, he seemed very glad to heare me say so, and gave me
thankes, but yet was very earnest to be hid from them, saying,
that if they saw him, they would watch for him ashore, and
there murther him, then I caused him to be putt into a cabbin,
betweene deckes, where he could not be seene. The Minquaos
rowed directly to my ship, and as soone as they gott neere her,
they made signes for a Rope, which was cast out to them,
with which they made fast their Canoa, and presently came
aboard without any difficultie. Our Interpreter understood
but only some few words of their language, so as wee were
forced for the most part to gather their meaning by signes the
best wee could. They told us, they were Minquaos, and that
one of them was a king, (for soe all the Indians call them, who
are most eminent among themselves, and they are in nature of
Captaynes or Governors of the rest, and have power of life and
death, of warre and peace, over their subjects, Some have
1000, some 500, some more, some lesse) and madt signes to
us, that they were lately come from warre with the other Ind-
ians, whome they had overcome, and slayne some of them,
and cutt downe their corne, (which is of the same kind with the
corne of Virginia which they commonly call Maiz). They
brought a good quantitie of greene eares thereof with them, and
some they presented to mee, and others they roasted and eate
themselves. I used them curteously, and gave them each of
them a hatchett, a pipe, a knife, and a paire of sizers, for which
they were very thankfull to mee, and then desired to see my
trucke,1 whereof I shewed them samples. The King desired
1 Articles of barter.
40 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
some of my cloath, but having nothing to give me in exchange
thereof, I gave him two small peices, one of redd and the other
of blew. They made signes to us, that about 10 dayes (as wee
thought, but wee were mistaken for they meant weekes, as
wee perceaved afterwards), they would come to us agayne,
and bring with them great store of trucke of beavers and
ottors, and therefore they desired to know where wee would
bee; soe I told them that about that time I would send my
shallop to meet them there, soe they departed, and as soone
as they were gone, I called for the Indian who all this time lay
hid in my cabbin, who stayed aboard of me till night, and then
departed a contrary way to that which the Minquaos went,
promising to be with me the next day. Some two days after
I being then gotten some tenne leagues up the River there
came to the shoare side 5 or 6 Indians, and haled us. I sent
my boate for them; when they were arrived, they told me
they came to see me from a king, who lived not farre of, and
that if I pleased to morrow he would come and visitt mee. I
answered them, he should be welcome, and so after they had
stayed awhile, and refreshed themselves aboard my shippe,
they departed. The next day wee expected him but he came
not, soe wee departed up a little higher up the River, and on
the second of August this king came aboard us about noone,
accompanied with 40 or 60 Indians. After he had sate still
awhile, which they are wont to doe upon the ground, he then
told mee I was welcome into the Countrey, and that he came
to see me with desire to make peace with me, in regard he
understood by an Indian that I was a good man, and that I
had preserved him from the Minquaos, who would otherwise
have slayne him, and withall asked, if wee had any trucke.
He also presented mee with two Otters skinnes, and some
greene eares of corne, excusing himself that he had no better
present for me, in regard the Minquaos had lately harrowed
his countrey, and carried much beaver from him and his sub-
jects, and that the rest they had trucked away to the Hol-
landers, who had lately bene there. I told him that I was sent
thither by a great king in Europe, namely the king of England,
and that I came thither to discover that Countrey and to make
peace with them, if they desired to imbrace it and that if they
would soe do, I would defend them from their enimies, he
1634] RELATION OF THOMAS YONG 41
was very joyfull to hear this, and desired me to tarry two
dayes there, for he would bring thither another king, who was
his father in law, to make peace with mee, and another king
also who was his neighbour, and the proprietor of that part of
the River, wherein I then rode. I condiscended1 with him to
stay two dayes. In the meane time, I tooke possession of the
countrey, for his Matie, and there sett up his Maties armes
upon a tree, which was performed with solemnities usuall in
that kind. I enquired of this king how farre this River ranne
up into the Countrey, and whither it were navigable or no, he
told me it ranne a great way up, and that I might goe with
my shippe, till I came to a certaine place, where the rockes2
ranne cleane crosse the River, and that there he thought I
could not goe over with my great Canoas, (for soe they call all
vessells that swimme upon the water). I then desired him
to lend me a pilott to goe up to that place, which he most
willingly granted. I presented him with a Coate, a hatchett,
and a knife, wherewith he was very well contented, and so
after he had stayd some 4 or 5 houres he tooke his leave. About
some 3 or foure dayes after, this king returned to me, and in
company with him two other kings, whome I mentioned be-
fore, with whome I also made peace. Of the old king I en-
quired if he had ever bene at the head of the River, he an-
swered me no, but that he had heard that the River ranne
farre up into the land, and that some few dayes journey
beyond the rockes of which I spake before there was a moun-
tainous countrey where there were great store of Elkes and
that before the warr with the Minquaos, they were wont to
goe thither to hunt them, but he said that neither he himself
nor any of his people had ever bene further then those moun-
taines. These kings prayed me that I would do them the
curtesie to stay foure or five dayes with them, because they
were certainly informed, that the Minquaos would within that
time passe over the River to assault them, wherefore they
desired me not to suffer them to passe over. I told them I
would at their request stay five dayes, and that I would labour
to procure them peace, and that if their enimies refused the
same that then I would joyne with them against them, and
1 Agreed.
a The Falls of Delaware, at what is now Trenton, New Jersey.
42 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
I would lend them souldiers to goe to warre in company with
them, and that I would also, if occasion were, invade the Min-
quaos within their owne countrey, upon this condition, that
they shall renounce all trade or alliance with all other per-
sons, save only his Matie3 Ministers and subjects, and that
they shall be wholy dependant on him, of which they were
very joyfull and accepted the conditions and soe wee made
a solemne peace, they not long after departed, and it was
spread all over the River, that I had made peace with them,
and that I was a just man, and would defend them against
their enimies the Minquaos. Upon the report heer of some
three dayes after, there came to me messengers with a present
from two other kings, who lived in a lesser River,1 which falleth
into this great River, somewhat neerer the rockes. They told
me that their kings desired to make peace with me, according
as the other kings their neighbours had done, and that they
had some Beaver and Otter skinnes, which they would trucke
with me for such commodities as I had. I sent them word
that some three days after I would come up to the mouth of
that River, where I would desire them to meet mee, and that
I would entreat one of those messengers to stay with me, till
I were ready to goe, whome I would send to them as soon as
I was arrived, and one of them presently offered himself to
stay with mee. When the five dayes were expired I sent to
the former kings, to let them understand that now I had tar-
ried five days expecting the Minquaos and that seeing they
came not, I had sent my shallop to seeke them out, but it was
returned without any notice of them, and therefore that I
thought they were not in the River, wherefore now I would
goe up higher into the River to meet with the other kings,
whither if they had occasion they should send to mee, and I
would send to assist them, desiring them withall to send me a
pilot to carrie me to the Rockes. They sent me word they
were sorry I was departing from them, neverthelesse they
hoped I would shortly returne thither againe, and that if they
had occasion they would send to mee, and moreover one of
them sent me his Brother in company of my messenger, and
commanded him to goe up along with me, and to attend mee,
and remayne with me till my returne thither againe, which he
1 Possibly the Schuylkill River.
1634] RELATION OF THOMAS YONG 43
did accordingly. As soone as my messengers were come backe,
I sett forward and arrived at the mouth of the said River, and
not long after I was come to an anchor, about 8 of the clocke
in the evening, came the two kings aboard of mee, attended
only with some foure or 5 of their principall men, for the rest
of their company in regard it was night, I desired them to leave
on shoare, till the morning. I entertained them aboard all
night, and in the morning early being the 23 of August, the
rest of their company came aboard. I gave each of them a
present, as I had done to the other kings, which when they had
receaved, first the ancient king, and afterward the yonger,
called together all their people, and made to them a long ora-
tion to this purpose. That wee were a good people. That
wee were just. That wee were ready to defend the oppressed
from the crueltie of their neighbours. That wee were loving
people, as a testimony whereof they shewed the presents I had
given them. That wee had brought thither such things as
they stood in need of, for which wee desired only Beaver and
Otter skirmes, whereof they had to spare. That therefore
they comanded them to trade lovingly and freely with our
people, that they should be carefull that no injuries were either
privately or publikely done to them. That they should use
them as friends and Brothers, and that for me in particular
they should honor and esteeme of me as a Brother of their
kings, and that they should be carefull to carrie themselves
dutifully towards mee, with a great deale more complement,
then I expresse. This being done my company and the In-
dians fell a trucking, while these two kings entered into the
same league with me, which the former had done, and then
towards evening the elder king went ashore, the yonger
remayning aboard with mee. Thither also came two other
neighboring kinges, with whom also I made peace. Heere also
was the first place, where some of their weomen came aboard
our shippes, and heere during the space of five dayes that wee
tarried we had continually store of Indians aboard us. One
night about one of the clock in the night, there rose an alarme
amongst the Indians that lay ashore, that the Minquaos were
come upon them; the yonger king was then aboard my ship,
who desired me to receave his people aboard till the morning,
which I did. setting a good guard upon them and disarming
44 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
them. In the morning I found this to proceed of nothing else
but their pollicie to trie whether, if occasion were, I would re-
ally assist them or no. But howsoever the king gave me
great thankes for my love to him and his people. After I had
stayed there some five dayes, I departed towards the head of
the River, and many Indians as I passed along came aboard
my shippe, with such commodities as they had, some with
furrs, some with victualls. On the 29 of August I had gotten
up with my shippe as far as I could goe with her for now the
water beganne to be shoaly, so I came to an anchor, neere to
the dwelling of one of the principall kings of this Countrey, who
that same night hearing that I was come to his Countrey, came
aboard of me to visitt me, with whome also I made peace as
with the former. This king and his Brother are the greatest
Travaylors that I mett among all the Indians, in the River,
for they have bene by land at the lower fort of Hudsons River,
and likewise very farre up the River, beyond the rockes, I
spake of. On the first of September I sent my leiuetennant
in my shallop up to the Rockes, both to sound the water as he
went, and likewise to trie whether my boates would passe
those rockes or no. The Hollanders of Hudsons River having
gotten some intelligence of our being heere by the Indians,
who in some places live not above a dayes journey from them,
overtooke me heere within sixe houres after I had sent away
my leiuetennant to the rockes. They came to an Anchor close
by me. I sent my boate presently aboard them to know what
they were, and from whence they came, and to bring the
master to mee, who soone after came together with his Mar-
chant in their owne boate. When they were come aboard of
me, I sent for them into my cabbin, and asked them what
they made heere, they answered mee they came to trade as
formerly they had done. I asked them if they had any comis-
sion from his Matie to trade in the River or no, they answered
they had none from the King of England, but from the Gov-
ernor of new Netherlands they had, to which I replyed that
I knew no such Governor, nor no such place as new Nether-
lands. I told them that this Country did belong to the crowne
of England, as well by ancient discovery as likewise by posses-
sion lawfully taken, and that his Matie was now pleased to
make more ample discovery of this River, and of other places
1634) RELATION OF THOMAS YONG 45
also, where he would erect Collonies, and that I was therefore
sent hither with a Royall Commission under the great Seale
to take possession heereof. I perceaved by their countenance
that this newes strooke them could at heart, and after a little
pawse they answered me, that they had traded in this River
heeretofore. I then replyed that therein they had done his
Matie and his subjects the greater injurie, for supposing, as
some of the Dutch pretended, that they had by his Maties
leave traded and planted in Hudsons River, yet ought they
not to usurpe upon other trades and Countreyes of his Maties
without his leave, and since that he is now pleased to make
use of this River, either for himself, or his subjects, it would be
good manners in them to desist. Then they desired to see my
Commission, which I shewed them, and after they had read it,
and considered well thereof, apprehending the power I had, if
they should trade without licence, to make them prize, they
desired me to give them a Copie thereof. I answered them
that it was not the custome of England for his Matie8 Ministers
to give Copies of their Commissions, they then desired to know
how I would proceed with them, which they hoped would be
the better in regard they knew not of my commission, I told
them I would let them know that heereafter, when my leiue-
tennant was returned which perhaps would be the next
morning.
The next day my leiuetennant being returned, I sent for
the Hollanders to dine with me, and this day I spent in mak-
ing them wellcome, and after dinner one of their company
dranke to me saying, Heere Governor of the South River, (for
soe they call this) I drinke to you and indeed confesse your
Commission is much better then ours, how say you Copeman1
(who is the head marchant) said he is it not. To whome
the Copeman answered yes indeede, I have not seene a larger
Commission. The next day about 8 of the clocke I sent for
them to give them an answerre which was this. That in re-
gard they were subjects to so ancient allies of my Prince, and
that they were neighbours heere, and since they had carried
themselves civilly, I had used them with all curtesy, that I
might lawfully use. That since I had also shewed them my
commission, I made no question but that they knew suffi-
1 Dutch Koopman, (pron. Copeman), merchant,
46 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
ciently well what they had to doe, neverthelesse, I was willing
they might stay at Anchor two dayes longer, to provide them-
selves of whatsoever they should need, and that I would not
suffer any thing to be taken from them during their stay.
They then asked me if I would command them to be gone, I
answered I command you not to be gone, but you may looke
into my Commission, and there you may see whether it be
lawfull for you to vizitt or trade into any places I shall pos-
sesse, where upon they read over the second time that part
of the Commission, and then they answered they would be
gone, but they desired a note under my hand for their dis-
charge, unto their Governor, to shew the cause why they re-
turned without trading. I answered it was not the custome of
England and that they had no need of any such note, since
they had seene the Commission under the great Seale, and that
I could not beleeve but that their Governor would both creditt
and be satisfied with their Relation. Soe they parted civilly
though very sadly from mee. Before the time of two dayes
was expired, they weighed Anchor and went downe the River,
I sent my Leiuetennant in my pinnace to see them cleareof
the River, and to watch them least they should doe me ill
offices with the Indians, in their way homewards. In their
going downe they sometimes went aboard of one another after
the manner of the Sea, and the Merchant of the Ship upon
some discourse said, that if they had bene in possession at my
arrivall they would not have removed, for all my Commission,
and not long after he said I would we were in possession of it
agayne, yet if the West India Company had been ruled by me,
they had planted this River, rather than Hudsons River, and
whilest my Leiuetennant commended Hudsons River, for a good
place, he replyed, yea so it is, but this is better, and further
said were I sure we should loose this River, I would tell you
something that would please you. I gave my leiuetennant
order that after he had watched these Hollanders out of the
Bay he should then goe, and discover all along the Coast, as
farre as Hudson's River and so on towards Cape Cod, to see
if there were any probability of a passage through. Hee ac-
cordingly discovered along the coast as farre as Hudsons
River, where he was overtaken with foule weather, and con-
trary windes, where he endured the stormes till he was forced
1634] RELATION OF THOMAS YONG 47
by the incommodiousnes of his vessell, and want of victualls
to retume. In this voyage he lost two men who were killed
by the Indians, but found nothing worthy of particular
Relation.
As soone as he was returned I sent him presently up once
more to the falls to trie whether he could passe those rockes at
a spring tide, which before he could not doe in a neap tide, but
it was then also impassable with any great boate, wherefore
he returned backe to mee agayne. When he saw he could not
passe over the rockes, he went up the River side some five
miles above the rockes, to see whither the River were passable
or no, who informeth me [it] is deepe and likely to runne very
farre up into the Countrey. Heere also is the Brother of the
king of Mohigon, who is the uppermost king that wee have
mett with who relateth that he hath bene in a Canoa 20 dayes
journey up the River, above the rockes which1 he describeth
to runne northwest and westnorthwest, that he was sent
thither by his brother to a king of his Alliance, and that there
he heard that this River some five dayes journey higher
issueth from a great Lake, he saith further that four days
journey from this River, over certayne mountaines there is a
great mediterranean sea and he offereth to goe him self along
in person the next sommer with myself or my leiuetennant to
shew us the same, he saith further that about two dayes
journey above the falls or rocks, the River divides itself into
two branches, the one whereof is this wherein wee are, and the
other trendeth towards Hudsons River, and that the farther
you goe up the River the broader.
I beseech yr honor give me leave by the way to give you a
short relation of the commodities2 and scituation of this River.
This River dischargeth itself into a great Bay in the North
part of Virginia, in 39 and almost a half of latitude^ The
river is broad and deepe, and is not inferior to any in the
North of America, and a ship of 300 Tonnes may saile up
within three leagues of the rockes. The River aboundeth
with beavers, otters, and other meaner furrs, which are not
only taken upon the bankes of the mayne River, but likewise
in othev lesser rivers which discharge themselves into the
1 J. e., the river.
'Advantages or good qualities.
48 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
greater, whereof I thinke few Rivers of America have more or
more pleasant. The people are for the most part very well
proportioned, well featured, gentle, tractable and docible.
The land is very good and fruitfull and withall very healthfull.
The soyle is sandy and produceth divers sorts of fruites, es-
pecially grapes, which grow wild in great quantity, of which
I have eaten sixe severall sorts, some of them as good as they
are ordinarily in Italy, or Spaine; and were they replanted I
thinke they whould be farre better. Heere also growes the
fruite which in Italy they call lazarroli,1 plumms, divers sorts
of berries and divers other fruites not knowne in Europe.
The climate is much like that of Italy and all sorts of fruites
of that Countrey will thrive heere exceedingly. The earth
being fruitefull is covered over with woods and stately timber,
except only in those places, where the Indians had planted
their corne. The Countrey is very well replenished, with deere
and in some places store of Elkes. The low grounds of which
there is great quantitie excellent for meadowes and full of
Beaver and Otter. The quantity of fowle is so great as can
hardly be beleeved, wee tooke at one time 48 partriches to-
gether, as they crossed the river, chased by wild hawkes.
I myselfe sprang in two houres 5 or 6 covies in walking of a
mile, there are infinit number of wild pidgeons, black birds,
Turkeyes, Swans, wild geese, ducks, Teales, widgins, brants,
herons, cranes etc. of which there is so great abounclance, as
that the Rivers and creekes are covered with them in winter.
Of fish heere is plentie, but especially sturgeon all the sommer
time, which are in such aboundance in the upper parts of the
River, as that great benefitt might be raysed by setting up a
fishing for them, for in the spring and beginning of summer
the weather is so temperate, that they will keepe very well.
Heere are also great store of wild hops yet exellent good and
as faire as those in England, heere are also divers other things
which with Industrie will prove exellent good commodities,
1 Lazarola or lazzerola, i. e., the azarole or Neapolitan medlar (Crataegus
azarolus), a fruit-bearing shrub allied to the white thorn. "At this spot [on the
south side of Christiana Creek, opposite the site of Fort Christina] there are many
medlar trees which bear good fruit from which one [Jan] Jaquet, who does not
live far from there, makes good brandy or spirits, which we tasted and found
even better than French brandy" (In 1679; Journal of Bankers and Sluyter, p. 188).
1634] RELATION OF THOMAS YONG 49
and for my part I am confident that this River is the most
healthfull, fruitefull and commodious River in all the North
of America, to be planted.
Hither also very lately came the Hollanders a second time,
sent hither by the Governor of the Dutch plantation, with a
Commission to plant and trade heere, but after much discourse
to and fro, they have publikely declared, that if the king of
England please to owne this River, they will obey, and they
humbly desire that he will declare to them their limitts ir
these parts of America, which they will also observe.
FROM THE "ACCOUNT OF THE SWEDISH
CHURCHES IN NEW SWEDEN," BY REV-
EREND ISRAEL ACRELIUS, 1759
INTRODUCTION
In 1638 the Swedes, impelled by the spirit of territorial and
commercial expansion aroused under their late King, the great
and victorious Gustavus Adolphus, founded the colony of New
Sweden, thus planting the first permanent white settlement on
the Delaware. This foundation was laid under the personal
direction of Peter Minuit, the first governor, at Fort Christina,
on a creek of the same name, where the present city of Wil-
mington, Delaware, now stands. Thence, during the next dec-
ade, especially under the vigorous rule of the warrior Governor
Printz, who arrived in 1643, a thin fringe of settlement in the
form of forts and trading posts — barely a dozen in all — with a
population at no time exceeding a few hundred souls, was ex-
tended, mainly on the western shore, about thirty-five miles
up and down the river between the sites of Philadelphia and
Elsinborough, New Jersey, and not more than three or four
miles inland.
The Swedish government supported the enterprise through
the medium of a trading company organized, under the in-
spiration of certain Dutch promoters, on the model of the
Dutch and English trading corporations. The Indian fur
trade, along with the lesser traffic in Virginia and Maryland
tobacco, was the chief business of the colony, and for the
most part sustained the somewhat dilatory and wavering in-
terest of the people at home. The colonists gave some atten-
tion to tobacco culture and grazing, and occasionally raised
small crops of grain, but the evidence thus far available shows
that they had no particular success in agriculture; frequently
they were largely dependent upon their English and Dutch
neighbors for necessary provisions.
53
54 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
The Dutch, who in 1623 had erected Fort Nassau on the
eastern shore of the river near the present Gloucester, New
Jersey, claimed the Delaware region as part of New Nether-
land, and protested from time to time against the Swedish
occupation. Vigorous action, however, was delayed on ac-
count of the close political and economic relations between the
two mother countries, Sweden as the great Protestant power in
the Thirty Years' War aiding the Netherlands, and the Nether-
lands, in turn, favoring Swedish shipping and trade. After the
Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, these conditions were changed.
The Swedes having made a rapid commercial development
came into effective competition with the Dutch. The Dutch,
with their political independence conceded by Spain as well by
the other leading powers of Europe, now sought to curb this
dangerous northern rival. They built other forts on the
Delaware. In 1655, the Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvesant,
from New Amsterdam, attacked New Sweden. Swedish rule
was brought to an end and the Delaware became once more
in fact a part of New Netherland. It so remained until the
English conquest of New Netherland in 1664.
The details of the history of New Sweden, as recounted by
the Swedish historian, the Reverend Israel Acrelius, may be
followed in the extracts from his work hereafter presented.
Born in 1714 in Osteraker, in Roslagen, near Stockholm,
Sweden, Acrelius was educated at the University of Upsala
and ordained as a Lutheran clergyman in 1743. In 1749 he
was sent out from Sweden as provost of the Swedish congre-
gations on the Delaware. He took up his residence at Chris-
tina, now Wilmington, as pastor of the Old Swedes' Church,
and thence made periodical visits to the other churches.
After an efficient service of seven years he went back to
Europe, and during the winter of 1756-1757 devoted himself
to study in England. He then returned to Sweden, received
a pension from the King, and retired to the living of Fellings-
INTRODUCTION 55
bro, in Westerns, near Stockholm. There he completed his
history which he had begun in America, and died in 1800.
His book, a quarto of xx+534 pages, published at Stock-
holm in 1759, is written in Swedish and bears the title
Beskrifning om de Swenska Forsamlingars forna och ndrwarande
Tilstdnd uti det sd kallade Nya Swerige which in English is
"Description of the Former and Present State of the Swedish
Churches, in the so-called New Sweden."
Of the eight parts into which the work is divided, parts I.,
II., and III., comprising the first third of the book, form a
history of the respective Swedish, Dutch, and English govern-
ments in the Pennsylvania and Delaware region up to and
including Acrelius's residence there in the middle years of the
eighteenth century. The remaining two-thirds of the work
are devoted to a full account of the Swedish church on the
Delaware for the same period.
Although writing a century after the Swedish regime on
the Delaware, Acrelius had the advantage over later historians
of a certain intimacy with his subject, not simply by reason
of nearness to the earlier period, but because of his knowledge
of the topography of the field concerned and the informa-
tion obtained in religious visits among surviving families of
the colonists of New Sweden. On the whole he made careful
and intelligent use of some of the chief original sources, a few
of which are not now available. Some errors, it is true, have
crept in; parts of the book are antiquated, in the light of
modern research; and the writer's views, especially with re-
spect to the Dutch, are obviously colored by his Swedish
sympathies. Nevertheless, the work has independent value
and interest. Such of its shortcomings as have been observed
in the present text are pointed out in the notes.
The whole of the book was translated and edited by the
Reverend William M. Reynolds, and published in 1874, in the
Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, volume XL
56 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
Our extracts are from this translation, pp. 20-29, 43-61, and
85-87, as revised by Dr. Amandus Johnson, of the University
of Pennsylvania, from the Swedish of the original edition,
pages 5-16, 36-55, and 85-88. The text thus selected and
here printed is confined to the three chapters constituting
Part I. "Of the Swedish Administration." All of Chapter I.,
"Of the First Arrival of the Swedes, under Commander
Menewe [Minuit]," is given, excepting a few introductory
pages on America in general. Of Chapter II., "The Admin-
istration under Governor Printz," a few sections are omitted.
Only the references to the Swedish Church are chosen from the
latter part of Chapter III., "The Administration of Director-
General Rising." Thus this eighteenth-century narrative
serves in the main to fill gaps in those records which are more
strictlv contemporary in their origin.
A. C. M.
FROM THE "ACCOUNT OF THE SWEDISH
CHURCHES IN NEW SWEDEN/' BY REV-
EREND ISRAEL ACRELIUS, 1759
[Chapter L] 3. The Entrance of the Hollanders into North
America.
About the same time the Hollanders undertook to explore
these American harbors. They took a fancy to the shores of
the bay called by the Indians Menahados, and the river
Mohaan. Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of
the Holland East India Company, had first discovered those
places, and called the bay after himself, Hudson's Bay. The
East India Company, in the year 1608, sold its right to the
country, which it based upon its priority of discovery, to some
Hollanders. These obtained from the States General an ex-
clusive privilege to the country, and took the name of "The
West India Company of Amsterdam." In the year 1610 they
began to traffic with the Indians, and in the year 1613 they
built a trading post at the place now called Albany, and in the
following year placed some cannon there. Samuel Argall,
the governor of Virginia, drove them out in 1618, but King
James I. gave them permission to remain, that their ships
might obtain water there in their voyages to Brazil.1 From
that time until 1623, when the West India Company obtained
its charter,2 their trade with the Indians was conducted entirely
on shipboard, and they made no attempts to build any house
or fortress until 1629.3 Now, whether it was done with or
without the permission of England, the town of New Amster-
dam was built and fortified, as also the place Aurania, Orange,
now called Albany, having since had three general-governors,
one after the other. But that was not enough. They wished
1 This is legendary.
1 The Dutch West India Company was chartered in 1621.
'Thej built a fort at Albany as early as 1615.
57
58 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1626
to extend their power to the river Delaware also, and erected
on its shores two or three small forts, which were, however,
immediately destroyed by the natives of the country.
4. Arrangements in Sweden for a Colony.
It now came in order for Sweden also to take part in this
gain. William Usselinx,1 a Hollander, born at Antwerp in
Brabant, presented himself to King Gustaf Adolph, and laid
before him a proposition for a Trading Company, to be estab-
lished for Sweden, and to extend [its operations] to Asia,
Africa, and Magellan's Land, [with the assurance] that this
would be a great source of revenue to the kingdom. Authority
was given him to carry out so important a project ; and there-
upon a contract of trade was drawn up, under which the
Company was to unite, and subscribe it. Usselinx published
his explanation of this contract, wherein he also particularly
made the country on the Delaware known as to its fertility,
convenience, and all its imaginable advantages. To strengthen
the matter, a charter was secured for the Company, and espe-
cially for Usselinx, who was granted a royalty of one thou-
sandth part upon all articles bought or sold by the Company.
5. The Execution of the Project.
The great king, whose zeal for the honor of God was not
less ardent than for the welfare of his subjects, availed himself
of this opportunity to extend Christian doctrine among the
heathen, as well as to establish his own power in other parts
of the world. To this end he sent forth letters patent, dated
at Stockholm, on the 2d of July, 1626, wherein all, both high
and low, were invited to contribute something to the Com-
pany, according to their means. The work was continued in
the Diet of the following year, 1627, when the estates of the
1Willem Usselinx (1567-c. 1647), the founder of the Dutch West India
Company and of the Swedish South Company, was a native of Antwerp. He re-
ceived a business education in Antwerp and spent several years abroad in Spain,
Portugal, and the Azores, returning to Holland about 1591, a wealthy man.
From 1600 until his death he was engaged in the promotion of great projects and
plans of colonization and trade.
1628] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 59
realm gave their assent, and confirmed the measure. Those
who took part in this Company were: His Majesty's mother,
the Queen Dowager Christina, the Prince John Casimir, the
Royal Council, the most distinguished of the nobility, the
highest officers of the army, the bishops and other clergymen,
together with the burgomasters and aldermen of the cities, as
well as a large number of the people generally. The time
fixed for paying in the subscriptions was the 1st of May of
the following year (1628). For the management and work-
ing of the plan there were appointed an admiral, vice-admiral,
chapman, under-chapman, assistants, and commissaries, to-
gether with soldiers and officers.
6. Renewal of these Plans.
But when these arrangements were now in full progress
and advertised everywhere, the German war and the King's
death occurred, which caused this important work to be laid
aside. The Trading Company was dissolved, its subscriptions
nullified, and the whole project was about to die with the
King. But just as it appeared to be at its end, it received
new life. Another Hollander, by the name of Peter Menewe,1
sometimes called Menuet, made his appearance in Sweden.
He had been in Dutch service in America, where he became
involved in difficulties with the officers of their Company, in
consequence of which he was recalled home and dismissed
from their service. But he was not discouraged by this, went
over to Sweden, and renewed the representations which Usse-
linx had formerly made in regard to the excellence of the
country, and the advantages that might be derived from it.
1 Peter Minuit (1580-1638), the first governor of New Sweden, brought over
the initial Swedish expedition to the Delaware in 1638, built Fort Christina at
the site of Wilmington, Delaware, and thus began the first permanent white
settlement on that river. Born of Huguenot parents at Wesel in western Ger-
many, he went over to New Netherland in 1626 as third Director General. Ap-
parently his rule was successful but he was recalled in 1631. Becoming concerned
in the Swedish plans of expansion he suggested to Chancellor Oxenstierna and to
Spiring the first plan for the settlement of the Delaware, proposing the name New
Sweden. On his way home from the new colony he was lost in a storm near the
island of St. Christopher in the West Indies. See Amandus Johnson, Swedish
Settlements, pp. 93-117, 182-186, 191-192, 684-685.
60 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1634
7. Under Queen Christina.
Queen Christina, who succeeded her royal father in the
government, was glad to have the project thus renewed.
The royal chancellor, Count Axel Oxenstierna, understood
well how to put it in operation. He took the West India
Trading Company into his own hands, as its president, and
encouraged other wealthy noblemen to take shares in it.
King Charles I. of England had also, in the year 1634, upon
representations made to him by John Oxenstierna, at that
time Swedish ambassador in London, renounced,1 in favor of
the Swedes, all claims and pretensions which the English had
to that country, growing out of their rights as its first dis-
coverers. Hence everything seemed to be settled upon a firm
foundation, and all earnestness was employed [in the prosecu-
tion of the plans for a colony].
8. Menewe's Outward Journey.
As a good beginning the first colony was sent off, and
Peter Menewe was placed over it, as being best acquainted in
those regions. They set sail from Gothenburg in a ship-of-war,
called the Key of Calmar, followed by a smaller vessel, bearing
the name of the Bird Griffin, both laden with people, provisions,
ammunition, and merchandise suitable for traffic and gifts
to the Indians. The ships successfully reached their place of
destination. The high expectations which our emigrants had
conceived of that new land agreed exactly with the first views
which they had of it. They made their first landing on the
bay or entrance to the river Poutaxat,2 which they called the
river of New Sweden, and the place where they landed they
called Paradise Point.3
9. Purchase of Land.
A purchase of land was immediately made from the Ind-
ians, and it was determined that the land on the western side
1 No records confirming this have been found.
2 Evidently the South (later Delaware) Bay and River.
3 A little south of the present Murderkill Creek, in Kent County, Delaware.
1638] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 61
of the river, from the entrance called Cape Inlopen, or Hin-
lopen,1 all the way up to the fall called Santickan2 and then all
the country inland, as much as was desired, should belong to
the Swedish crown forever.3 Posts were driven into the
ground as landmarks, which were still seen in their places
sixty years afterwards. A deed was drawn up for the land
thus purchased. This was written in Dutch, because no Swede
was yet able to interpret the language of the heathen. The
Indians subscribed their hands and marks. The writing was
sent home to Sweden, to be preserved in the royal archives.
Mans Kling4 was the surveyor. He laid out the land and
made a map of the whole river, with its tributaries, creeks,
and capes, which was sent to the royal archives in Sweden.
Their clergyman was Reorus Torkillus5 of East Gothland.
10. Christina the First Place of Abode.
The first abode of the newly arrived emigrants was at a
place called by the Indians Hopokahacking. There, in the
year 1638, Peter Menuet built a fortress, which he named Fort
Christina,0 after the reigning queen of Sweden. This place,
situated upon the west side of the river, was probably chosen
so as to be out of the way of the Hollanders, who wished to
usurp the eastern shore — a measure of prudence, until the
arrival of a greater force from Sweden. The fort was built
1 Henlopen.
s The Falls of Delaware at what is now Trenton.
'The north and south bounds of this first purchase from the Indians by
Minuit in 1638 extended only from Christina Creek to the Schuylkill.
4 Mans Nilsson Kling, who is frequently mentioned in these narratives,
came over in the first expedition to New Sweden in 1638 and was the commander
of Fort Christina until 1640, when he returned to Sweden. He came back to
the colony as lieutenant the following year. Later he was stationed at the fort
near the mouth of the Schuylkill River where he continued until his final return
to Sweden in 1648.
6 Rev. Reorus Torkillus (1608-1643), a native of Molndal, near Gothenburg,
Sweden, attended school at Lidkoping and Skara. He was a lecturer at the
high school of Gothenburg and chaplain to the superintendent. He arrived with
the second expedition in 1640, conducting services in Fort Christina, thus be-
coming not only the first minister in New Sweden, but the first Lutheran pastor
!n the present United States. See Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, p. 697.
e Now Wilmington, Delaware.
62 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1638
upon an eligible site, not far from the mouth of the creek, so
as to secure them the navigable water of the Maniquas, which
was afterwards called Christina Kihl, or Creek.
11. The Country Empty and Unoccupied.
The country was unoccupied and free from the Hollanders.
They had had two or three forts on the river — Fort Nassau,
where Gloucester now stands, and another at Horekihl, down
on the bay. But both of these were entirely destroyed by the
Americans, and their people driven away. The following ex-
tract from the History of the New Netherland, which Adrian
van der Donck published in the year 1655, with the license
and privilege as well of the States General as of the West In-
dia Company, will serve as proof of this :
The place is called Hore-kihl, but why so called we know not.
But this is certain, that many years back, before the English and
the Swedes came hither, it was taken up and settled as a colony by
Hollanders, the arms of the States being at the same time set up in
brass. These arms having been pulled down by the villany of the
Indians, the commissary there resident demanded that the head of
the perpetrator should be delivered to him. The Indians, unable
to free themselves in any other way, brought him the head, which
was accepted as a sufficient atonement. But some time afterwards,
when we were at work in the fields, and unsuspicious of danger,
the Indians came as friends, distributed themselves according to
the number of the Hollanders [at the various plantations]; fell upon
them and completely exterminated them. Thus was the colony
exterminated, though sealed with blood, and dearly enough pur-
chased.
12. The Hollanders Protest.
Notwithstanding all this the Hollanders believed that they
had the best right to the Delaware River, yea, a better right
than the Indians themselves. It was their object to secure at
least all the land lying between said river and their New
Amsterdam, where was their power, and which country they
immediately called "The New Netherlands." But as their
forces were still too weak, they always kept one or another of
1638] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 63
their people upon the east side of the river to watch any one
who might visit the country. As soon, therefore, as Menuet
landed with his Swedish company, notice of the fact was given
to the Dutch Director-General in New Amsterdam. He
waited for some time, until he could ascertain Menuet's pur-
pose; but when it appeared that a fortress was being erected
for the Swedes, the following protest arrived:
Thursday, May 6, 1638.
I, William Kieft, Director-General of the New Netherlands,
residing upon the island of Manhattan, in the Fort Amsterdam,
under the government subject to the High and Mighty States General
of the United Netherlands, and the WTest India Company, chartered
by the Council Chamber in Amsterdam, make known to you, Peter
Menuet, who style yourself Commander in the service of Her Royal
Majesty, the Queen of Sweden, that the whole South River of the
New Netherlands, both above and below, has already, for many
years, been our property, occupied by our forts, and sealed with
our blood; which was also done when you were a servant in the
New Netherlands, and you are, therefore, well aware of this. But
whereas you have now come between our forts to build a fortress
to our injury and prejudice, which we shall never permit; as we
are also assured that Her Royal Majesty of Sweden has never given
you authority to build forts upon our rivers and coasts, nor to settle
people on the land, nor to traffic in peltries, nor to undertake any-
thing to our injury: We do, therefore, protest against all the injury
to property, and all the evil consequences of bloodshed, uproar,
and wrong which our Trading Company may thus suffer: And that
we shall protect our rights in such manner as we may find most
advisable.
Then follows the [usual] conclusion.
13. Another Proof of this.
In his history of the New Netherlands, at the place already
cited, Adrian van der Donck likewise relates how protest was
made against the building of Fort Christina, but there also he
gives evidence that the strength of the Hollanders in the river
on the first arrival of the Swedes consisted almost entirely in
great words. He says:
64 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1638
On the river lies, first, Maniqua's Kihl, where the Swedes have
built Fort Christina, where large ships can load and unload at the
shore. There is another place on the river called Schulkihl, which
is also navigable. That, also, was formerly under the control of
the Hollanders, but is now mostly under the government of the
Swedes. In that river [Delaware] there are various islands and
other places formerly belonging to the Hollanders, whose name
they still bear, which sufficiently shows that the river belongs to
the Hollanders, and not to the Swedes. Their very commencement
will convict them. For in the year 1638 one Minnewits, who had
formerly acted as Director for the Trading Company at Manhatans,
came into the river in the ship Key of Colmar, and the yacht called
the Bird Griffin. He gave out to the Hollander, Mr. van der
Nederhorst, the agent of the West India Company in the South
River, that he was on a voyage to the West India islands, and that
he was staying there only to take in wood and water. Whereupon
said Hollander allowed him to go free. But, some time after, some
of our people going thither found him still there, and he had planted
a garden, and the plants were growing in it. In astonishment we
asked the reasons for such procedure, and if he intended to stay
there ? He tried to escape from answering by various excuses, and
gave us thus no information. The third time they found them
occupied with building a fort. Then we saw their purpose. As
soon as he was informed of it, Director Kieft protested against it,
but in vain.
14. Peter Hollendare Menewe's Successor.
Thus Peter Menuet made a good beginning for the settle-
ment of the Swedish colony in America. He guarded his
little fort for over three years/ and the Hollanders neither at-
tempted, nor were able to overthrow it. After some years of
faithful service he died at Christina.1 In his place followed
Feter Hollendare, a native Swede, who did not remain at the
head of its affairs more than a year and a half.2 He returned
home, to Sweden, and was a major at Skepsholm, in Stock-
holm, in the year 1655.
1 These are errors; Minuit remained only a few months in New Sweden and
died the same year, 1638, in the West Indies on his return voyage to Sweden.
2 Peter Hollender Ridder, the second governor of New Sweden, 1640-1642.
See post, p. 98.
10423 ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 66
CHAPTER II
The Administration under Governor Printz.
1. The Second Swedish Colony.
The second emigration took place under Lieutenant-Colonel
John Printz, who went out with the appointment of Governor
of New Sweden. He had a grant of four hundred rix-dollars1
for his travelling expenses, and one thousand two hundred dol-
lars, silver money, as his annual salary. The Company was
invested with the exclusive privilege of importing tobacco
into Sweden, although that article was even then regarded as
unnecessary and injurious, although indispensable since the
establishment of the bad habit of its use. Upon the same
occasion was also sent out Magister John Campanius Holm,2
who was invited by His Excellency, Member of the Royal
Council and Admiral, Claes Flemming, to become the govern-
ment chaplain, and watch over the Swedish congregation.
The ship on which they sailed was called the Fama. It
went from Stockholm to Gothenburg, and there took in its
freight. Along with this went two other ships of the line,
the Swan and the Charitas, laden with people and other neces-
saries. During the period of Governor Printz ships came to
the colony at three different times. The first ship was the
Black Cat, with ammunition, and merchandise for the Indians.
Next the ship Swan, a second time, with emigrants, in the
year 1647. Again two [other] ships, the Key and the Lamp.3
During these times the clergymen, Mr. Lawrence Charles
Lockenius 4 and Mr. Israel Holgh, were sent out to the colony.
5. Intrusion of the Hollanders.
The Hollanders intruded upon the Swedes in their traffic
with the Indians, and Printz, therefore, sought to keep them
under. In the name of the High and Mighty States General
1 About $500, United States currency, or nearly $2,500 in an equivalent value
•of our time; the Swedish riksdaler being equal to about $1.25 at that period and
about five times as much now. 2 See post, p. 110, note 2.
■ No Lamp is known and the order of the ships is incorrect.
* Rev. Lars Carlsson Lock. See post, p. 150.
66 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1646
and of the West India Company, under which all their trans-
actions were carried on, they had never bought as much as a
foot's breadth of land; but from time to time sent in some
private persons, to treat with the heathen on their own ac-
count, and thus tried to find out how the Swedes would like it.
In the year 1646 came one Thomas Broen with a permit from
Peter Stuyvesant, the Holland Director at New Amsterdam,
to settle himself at Mantas Huck,1 on the other side of the bay,
directly opposite Tenakongh. This permit he showed to
Governor Printz, and desired his aid in the building of his
abode. The Governor promised this upon condition that he
would place himself under the Swedish government. But
when he saw beneath this the trick of the Hollanders, he him-
self bought of the Indians the land from Mantas Huck to Nar-
ration's, or Raccoon's Kihl,2 and raised upon it a post to
which the Swedish coat-of-arms was affixed, whereby the plan
of the Hollanders was frustrated for the time.
6. Further about this Matter.
Andries Hudde, appointed commandant ad interim at Fort
Nassau on October 12, 1645, protested in writing against
Printz 's land-purchase of September 8, 1646, and gave infor-
mation of the same to the Director, Peter Stuyvesant, namely,
that Governor Printz sought to procure for himself all the
land east of the river also; that if he could make himself master
of both sides, it was probable that he would export annually
thirty or forty thousand beaver skins. Now, as the Holland
Company's treasury was entirely empty, and the Hollanders
saw that they had no time to lose, they resorted to another
plan. Some freemen— Simon Ruth, Cornelius Marizen, Peter
Hermansson, Andries Hudde, Alexander Boyer, and David
Davids— united together and purchased of the Indians a piece
of land extending from Ancocus Kihl 3 to Tenakongh Island,4
another place higher up on the river than where the Governor
1 Mantes, or Mantua Hook, on the east side of the Delaware, a long half
league below Fort Nassau, but above Tinicum.
1 Raccoon Creek, in New Jersey, opposite Marcus Hook, in Pennsylvania.
• Now Rancocas Creek, New Jersey.
4 This island is near the present Burlington, New Jewey
1651] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 67
had his residence, and also took a title therefor; but with the
reservation that if the Company wished to purchase it for
themselves for the same amount, they would renounce their
claim. Governor Printz protested against this as an unbecom-
ing proceeding, which protest also Hudde sent over to New
Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, in his answer, complains of
their inability to maintain their rights, and promises money
to buy all the land from Narraticon's Kihl * to the bay, which,
however, was never done.
7. The Hollanders7 Purchase of Land, and Building of Fort
Casimir.
Governor Printz had blocked up the passage of the Hol-
landers to Fort Nassau by water, but they devised another
method of evading his superior power. They entered into a
treaty with the Indians for the land which lies between Mani-
qua's or Minqua's Kihl and the river, as far as Bombe's Huck
or Bambo Hook 2 (Canarosse), and concluded the purchase on
July 19, 1651. That agreement was the only one which had
yet been made in the name of the States General and the West
India Company. But by that they bought the land which
the Minquesses had already, in Menewe's time, sold to the
Swedes, and it is therefore unreasonable to believe that the
true owners of the land subscribed that bill of sale. Imme-
diately after this Fort Casimir 3 was built at Sandhuk. Gov-
ernor Printz protested strongly against it; but either he had
not the means of hindering it, or had not time for it, and so
the matter rested.
8. The Injury Remedied by the Building of Elfsborg.
To remedy the injury which the Hollanders inflicted by
Fort Casimir, Governor Printz erected upon the place called
Wootsessung Sing another Swedish fort, [which he called]
Elfsborg,4 one Swedish mile below Sandhuk, and two miles be-
1 Narraticon's Kill, now Raccoon Creek, New Jersey.
8 Bombay Hook. 3 Now New Castle, Delaware.
4 Fort Nya Elfsborg was built by the Swedes in 1643, eight years before the
Dutch built Fort Casimir-
68 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
low Christina, [but] on the eastern shore, from which that dis-
trict of country was in former times, and even now is, called
Elsingborg. From this was fired a Swedish salute upon the
arrival of Swedish ships. But its principal object was to
search the Holland ships which came before it, and (which
stuck very hard in their maw) to make them lower their flag.
The fort was afterwards abandoned by the Swedes and de-
stroyed, as it was almost impossible to live there on account
of the gnats (myggor); whence it was for some time called
Myggenborg.
9. Other Forts.
Besides these there were Fort Korsholm,1 at Passayunk,
where the commander, Sven Schute,2 had his residence. Mana-
yungh,3 on the Skorkihl, or Skulkihl, [was] a fine little fort of
logs, having sand and stones filled in between the woodwork,
and surrounded by palisades, four Swedish miles 4 from Chris-
tina, eastwardly. * Mecoponacka, Upland 5 [was] two Swedish
miles from Chnstina, and one mile from Gothenburg, upon the
river shore, a level plain, with some houses and a fort.
10. Other Places.
Other places were only well known, and not fortified.
Chinsessing,6 a place upon the Schuylkill, where five families
of freemen dwelt together in houses two stories high, built of
whitenut tree, which was at that time regarded as the best
material for building houses, but in later times was altogether
1 Fort Nya Korsholm (1047-1653) was not at Passayunk but on the present
Province or Fisher's Island, to the west of the mouth of the Schuylkill River.
2 Sven Skute. See post, p. 112, note 1.
3 Another name for Fort Nya Korsholm or its site.
4 About twenty-seven English miles, a Swedish mile being slightly more
than six and a half English miles.
6 Now Chester, Pennsylvania, about thirteen English miles from Christina
but rather less than half a Swedish mile— say three English miles— from New
Gothenburg, or Fort Nya Goteborg, on Tinicum Island.
6 Kingsessing, the district about the creek of that name, also at a later time,
at least, called Minquas Kill or Creek, a western affluent of the Schuylkill, near
the mouth of the river. Wasa or Nya Wasa (c. 1645) was on the north side of
this creek.
1655] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 69
disapproved of. Karakung ' [had] the watermill,2 which the
Governor had built for the people, which was the first in the
country. Chamassung,8 also called Finland, a district where
the Finns dwelt by the waterside, and Neaman's Kihl,4 one
and a quarter miles from Christina. Manathaan,5 or Cooper's
Island, was an island below Fort Christina, so called by a
cooper, who dwelt there with two Hollanders, and made casks,
or wooden vessels and small boats. Techoherassi 6 — Olof
Stille's place— Gripsholm,7 Nya Wasa,8 etc., which are marked
upon the oldest maps, were places laid out and planned, but
did not get established under the Swedish administration.9
11. To what Land the Swedes had a Right, partly by Purchase
and partly by Agreement.
The land on the west side of the river, which the Swedes
had purchased of the heathen, already in Menewe's time, and
afterwards under Governor Printz, or had acquired a right to
by agreement, stretched from Cape Hinlopen to the Falls of
the Delaware, and thence westward to the Great Fall in the
river Susquehanna, near the mouth of the Conewaga Creek.10
1 Karakong, now Cobbs Creek.
2Molndal, or the Swedes mill, on the Karakong Kill, or present Cobbs
Creek, was erected in 1645 and was the first water mill within the limits of Penn-
sylvania or Delaware. Its site may still be seen at the rocks on the east bank of
the stream near the Blue Bell Inn on the road from Philadelphia to Darby.
3 Chammassungh or Finland, where the Finns dwelt, was on the west side
of the Delaware River, between the present Marcus Hook in Pennsylvania and
the mouth of Naaman's Creek just over the circular state line in Delaware.
4 Now Naaman's Creek; about eight English miles from Christina.
5 Now called Cherry Island Marsh, but no longer an island.
6 On the Delaware at the north side of the present Ridley Creek, now Eddy-
stone Borough.
'Thought to be a corruption of Korsholm (Fort Nya Korsholm); it first
appears on Visscher's (a Dutch) map of about 1655.
8 On Minquas Kill or Kingsessing Creek, a western affluent of the Schuylkill
near the mouth of the river.
9 These places were established by the Swedes.
10 It is doubtful if the Swedes purchased land from the Indians thus far from
the Delaware. The Great Falls of Susquehanna River or Conewago Falls
are a manifestation of the river's cleavage of the South Mountain range, the
southeastern wall of the Great Valley of Pennsylvania and Virginia. They begin
on a line directly opposite the mouth of Conewago Creek, the boundary between
70 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
These Indians were called, by Europeans in general, Delawares,
but within a circle of eighteen miles l around the Swedes, there
were ten or eleven separate tribes, each having its own Sackhe-
man, or king. Among these were especially the Minesinkos,2
the Mynkusses, or Minequesses,3 upon the so-called Maniquas,
or Minqua's Kihl (Christina), with whom the Swedes formed
a special friendship. These extended twelve Swedish miles 4
into the interior of the country, on to the Conestoga and the
Susquehanna, where they had a fort 5 which was a square sur-
rounded by palisades, with some iron pieces on a hill, and
some houses within it. But some of them were with the
Swedes every day, who also, once or twice in a year, made
a journey up into the country among the Minequesses, with
their wares for sale. The road was very difficult, over sharp
gray stones, morasses, hills, and streams, which can still be
very well seen by those who travel between Christina and
Lancaster.
the presem Lancaster and Dauphin counties, on the east side of the river, and
extend about three-quarters of a mile down the river, not quite so far as the mouth
of the other Conewago Creek in York County on the west side of the river. The
total descent of the falls is fifteen feet.
1 If Swedish miles are implied the distance would be 118 English miles.
2 The Minsi or Minisinks, a sub-tribe of the Lenni Lenape or Delawares,
occupied the northern region of the Delaware River with its affluent, the Lehigh
River. The Swedish activity did not reach into this region.
8 The Minquas Indians were not regular inhabitants of the Delaware River
and the Minquas Kill or Christina Creek, as Acrelius indicates. They were of
Iroquoian stock, as previously stated, living in the lower Susquehanna Valley and
to the northwest and from time to time held the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware River
Indians in subjection, travelling at intervals from the Susquehanna to the Dela-
ware for hunting and fishing, for war or for trade with the whites. See ante, p. 23,
and post, p. 103.
4 About seventy-eight English miles.
6 The important fort of the White Minquas or Susquehanna Indians during
the Swedish and Dutch regime on the Delaware, was on the west side of Susque-
hanna River, near the present Mount Wolf, York County, Pennsylvania, at the
south side of the mouth of Conewago Creek, just below the stoppage of navigation
by the Great Falls. The "present" fort of the Susquehanna Indians is depicted
at the above place as a group of wigwams in a circular stockade, on Augustine
Herrman's map, of 1670. Doubtless it was from this fort that the Great Trading
Path of the Minquas led across what is now Lancaster, Chester and Delaware
counties to Kingsessing Creek or the Upper Minquas Kill at Schuylkill River.
Another fort of these Indians was lower down the Susquehanna on the east bank,
on the north side of Octoraro Creek, in Cecil County, Maryland.
1655] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 71
12. Proof of this.
The old Indians still remember the treaties which their
forefathers made with the Swedes, as also how far they were
disposed to open their land to them. Of this it may serve as
evidence to introduce the following extract from the minutes
of the treaty made in Lancaster:
The Court-House in Lancaster,
June 26, 1744, p. M.
Present. — Hon. George Thomas, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of
Pennsylvania, etc.; the Hon. Commissioners of Virginia; the Hon.
Commissioners of Maryland; the Deputies of the Six Nations of
Indians. Conrad Weiser, Interpreter.
Canasatego, the Indians' spokesman, spoke as follows:
Brother, the Governor of Maryland: When you spoke of the
condition of the country yesterday, you went back to old times, and
told us you had been in possession of the province of Maryland
above one hundred years. But what is one hundred years in com-
parison to the length of time since our claim began ? — since we came
up out of this ground? For we must tell you that, long before one
hundred years, our ancestors came out of this ground, and their
children have remained here ever since. You came out of the
ground in a country which lies on the other side of the big lake;
there you have claim, but here you must allow us to be your elder
brethren, and the lands to belong to us long before you knew any-
thing of them. It is true that, about one hundred years ago, a Ger-
man ' ship came hither and brought with them various articles,
such as awls, knives, hatchets, guns, and many other things, which
they gave us. And when they had taught us to use these things, and
we saw what kind of a people they were, we were so well pleased
with them that we tied their ships to the bushes on the shore. And
afterwards, liking them still better, and the more the longer they
stayed with us, thinking that the bushes were too weak, we changed
the place of the rope, and fastened it to the trees. And as the trees
might be overthrown by a storm, or fall down of themselves, (for the
friendship we had for them) we again changed the place of the
rope, and bound it to a very strong cliff. Here the Interpreter*
1 "The Dutch came here in a ship" is the version in the official report in
the published Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, IV.
3 At this point Acrelius has omitted a bit of the speech which is supplied from
the official Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, IV., as follows: "[here the inter-
preter explained that they meant the Oneida country.] And not content with this,
for their further security, we removed the rope to the big mountains."
72 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
said, They mean the land of Onondago. There we fastened it very
securely, and rolled wampum around it. For still greater security,
we stood upon the wampum, and sat upon it to guard it, and to
prevent all injury, and we took the greatest care to keep it unin-
jured for all time. As long as that stood, the newly-arrived Germans1
recognized our right to the country, and from time to time urged us
to give them portions of our land, and that they might enter into a
union and treaty with us, and become one people with us.2
That this is more correctly said of the Swedes than of the
Hollanders can be inferred from this, that the Hollanders
never made such a purchase from them as to include their
whole country, which the Swedes did; yet the English are
rather disposed to explain this in favor of the Hollanders.
The savages regarded both the Swedes and Hollanders, being
Europeans, as one people, and looked upon their quarrels as
disagreements between private families.
13. How Purchases of Land were made from the Heathen.
Purchases of land from the savages were made in this way:
Both parties set their names and marks under the purchase-
contract. Two witnesses were also taken from among the
Christians. When these made their oath that they were
present at the transaction, and had seen the payment made,
then the purchase was valid. If the kings or chiefs of the Ind-
ians signed such an agreement in the presence of a number
of their people, then it was legitimate on their side. In for-
mer times they were quite faithful, although oaths were not
customary among them. But it was not so in later times, after
they had had more intercourse with Christians. Payments
were made in awls, needles, scissors, knives, axes, guns, powder
and balls, together with blankets of frieze or felt, which they
wrap around themselves. One blanket suffices for their dress.
The same wares they purchased for themselves, for their skins
of beavers, raccoons, sables, gray foxes, wildcats, lynxes, bears,
and deer.
1 Dutch, according to Colonial Records, IV.
a Acrelius omits the remainder of the speech.
1654] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 73
14. The Indians a Dissatisfied People.
It is true the savages sold their lands at a low rate, but
they were a discontented people, who, at no great intervals,
must have new gifts of encouragement, if their friendship was
to remain firm. Such they always have been, and still are.
As they regarded the Swedes and the Hollanders as one people,
it was all the same to them which of them had their land, pro-
vided only that they frequently got bribes. Three years after
Governor Printz's arrival, as gifts were withheld, and Swedish
ships came but seldom, the Indians murmured that they did
not receive more, and that the Swedes had no more goods for
their traffic. Then there came out a rumor that the savages
had a mind to fall upon and exterminate them. This went so
far that in the year 1654 their sackkernan sent out his son,
called his elders together, and had a consultation as to what
was to be done. But as they regarded the Swedes as a war-
like people, who had better not be irritated, as also that they
had dealt justly with them, and were shortly expecting other
ships with costly wares, they therefore laid aside all hostile
thoughts, and confirmed anew their former friendship.
15. They frequently visited the Swedes.
After the Christians came in, and the savages gave over
their country to them, the latter withdrew farther into the
forests in the interior of the country. But it was their habit
and custom, at certain times of the year, to come forth in
great numbers to visit the Swedes, and trade with them.
That was done for the most part after they had planted their
maize, namely, in the month of June, and so they remained
for some time of the summer, when they gathered wild pease,
which grew along the river, and dried them. These pease, in
their language, were called Tachy. The Indians were not
troublesome, as in the meantime they supported themselves
by fishing and hunting, which custom they kept until within
fifty years since. These tribes were the Delawares and Myn-
quesses, or Minnesinks, who called the Swedes their brothers.
Sometimes there came with them some of that race which
the Swedes called Flatheads, for their heads were flat on the
74 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
crown. These were dangerous, and murdered people, when
they found anyone alone in the woods. They first struck the
person on the head, so that he either died or swooned, after
which they took off the skin of the head, after which some
persons might revive again. That is called scalping, and is
still in use among all the American Indians, and the skin of
the head is called a scalp, which is their usual token of victory.
An old Swedish woman, called the mother of Lars Bure", living
at Chinsessing,1 had the misfortune to be scalped in this man-
ner, yet lived many years thereafter, and became the mother
of several children. No hair grew on her head again, except
short down. On their account the people were compelled to
live close together, as also to have stories on their houses pro-
vided with loop-holes.2 By their intercourse with the savages
the Swedes became well acquainted with the Indian language,
and there are still a few of the older ones who express them-
selves quite well in it. The savages stayed much with Olof
Stille at Techoherafrl, and were very fond of the old man ; b#ut
they made a monster of his thick black beard, from which also
they gave him a special name.3
16. Governor Printz chastises the Hollanders , and searches
their Ships.
Governor Printz, for some time, played the master in the
river of New Sweden, and held the Hollanders under him, al-
though he did not exterminate them. Adrian van der Donck,
in the passage before cited, testifies how he chastised them at
Fort Elfsborg:
The Swedish governor, thinking that now is the right time,
has built a fort called Elsingborg. There he holds a high hand
over each and all, even over the vessels of our Trading Company,
1 Kingsessing.
2 Apparently blockhouses.
s Olof or Olle Stille, millwright, of Techoheraffi, at the mouth of Olle Still's
Kill, now Ridley Creek, at the present borough of Eddystone, Pennsylvania, was
a native of Roslagen, in the parish of Lanna, and Penningsby Court, in Sweden,
and came over in 1641. His descendant the late Charles J. Stille was provost
of the University of Pennsylvania, and president of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
1646] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 75
and all those who sail up into the South River, compelling them to
strike their flags, without exception. He sends two men on board
to inquire where they come from. Which is scarcely better than
searching us, to which we expect it will come at last. We cannot
understand what right those people, the Swedes, have to act so; or
how the officers of another power, as these give themselves out to
be with full powers, can take upon themselves such high authority
over another people's lands and wares, which they have so long had
in possession, and sealed with their own blood : especially as we hold
it by a charter.
17. Causes the Arms of the States General to be torn down.
The Holland commander had erected the arms of the States
General upon the shore of the river, but the Swedish Governor
ordered them to be torn down. A Swedish lieutenant was bold
enough to perform this errand at Santhickan, now the town of
Trenton, where the falls of the river are. When the Hollanders
asked him, "How dare you do such a thing?" he answered,
"If the very standard of the States General stood there, it
would be treated in the same manner." This was done on
September 8, 1646.
Adrian van der Donck refers to this in the passage before
cited, where he says:
A further proof: Above Maghchachansie or Mechakanzjiaa, at
Santhickan, the arms of their High Mightinesses were erected, in
consequence of Director Kieft's orders, as a token that the river and
all its parts belonged to the dominion, and were the property of the
States. But what advantage had we from this? Nothing else
than shame, and a diminution of our honor. For the Swedes, in
their intolerable haughtiness, threw them down, and now, whilst we
keep quiet, they think that they have performed a manly deed. Al-
though we have protested against that and various other trespasses,
they regard it no more than as if a crow should fly over their heads.
If the Swedish Governor gets reinforcements in time, we should
have more to fear from him than from the English, or any of their
governors. That is in brief what relates to the Swedes, whereof
the Company's servants could give fuller information, to whose
journals and documents we appeal,
76 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1642
18. The Swedes and Hollanders unite in driving out the English.
However jealous the Hollanders were of the Swedes for the
advantages which they thus gained, and however they con-
tended with each other for these things, yet they were united
as often as it came to shutting the English out of the river.
Already in those times the Englishman sought to settle him-
self on those coasts, and had so far a claim to it as the western
shore was regarded as the rear of Virginia, although the times
then gave him the best right who had the most strength. The
year before Governor Printz landed, the English had fortified
a place upon the Schulkihl, to drive out whom the commis-
sary at Fort Nassau received the following orders:
May 22, 1642.
Instructions for Jan Jansson Ilpendam, commissary of the West In-
dia Company, how to conduct himself upon the South River of
the Netherlands:
So soon as the sloops Real and S. Martin arrive, he, the said
Jan Jansson Ilpendam, shall repair to both or either of the said
sloops (and, if he finds it necessary, he shall collect as great a force
as he is able), and go into the Schulkihl, to the place which the
English have lately taken possession of, and immediately land
there, and demand their orders, and by what authority they under-
take to rob us of our land and trade. If they have no royal au-
thority, which expressly commands them to set themselves down
upon our boundaries, or a copy of the same, he shall compel them,
in a polite manner, to remove, so that no blood may be shed. If
they refuse this, he shall take them in custody, and convey them on
board the sloops, and in other respects see to it that he may main-
tain the supremacy, and protect the honor of their High Mighti-
nesses, as also of the Most Honorable the West India Company.
When the English are either taken or driven away, he shall com-
pletely demolish the place. The said Jan Jansson shall also see
to it that the English are not injured in their property, of which a
full inventory shall be made out in their presence. Done in our
Council in the Fort of Amsterdam, and given as aforesaid.
19. Proof thereof \
That the Swedes at such occasions gave assistance [to the
Dutch] and probably did the most [for its accomplishment],
1646] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 77
is also testified by Adrian van der Donck in the place often
referred to, although he is greatly mistaken as to the situation
of the place.
There lies another creek on the eastern shore, three miles down
below the mouth of the river, called Varckens Kihl, where some
English settled, but Director Kieft drove them away, and protested
against them, being in part supported by the Swedes; for they had
both agreed to drive the English away (page 39). The English
have, at various times, and in various places, striven to master that
river, to which they insist that they have the best right. This has
thus far been prevented by protests and forcible expulsion, well
knowing that if we allow them to establish themselves, the river will
be lost, or we shall be put to great inconvenience, as they will swarm
into it in great crowds. It is given out as certain, that many English
families are now on their way thither. But if they once get a firm
footing, it will soon be all over with both Hollanders and Swedes;
at all events, we shall lose part [of the land}, if reinforcements are
not speedily sent.
20. The Weakness of the Hollanders.
It now seems that it may be reasonably concluded that the
strength of the Hollanders in the river was considerable, seeing
that they could effect so much; but these movements did not
mean much. A few unarmed English families might be driven
out of the country by a small force. On the contrary, they
neither drove any trade at that time, nor had they any mili-
tary force, which reflected the least honor on the commandant.
21. Proof of this.
The commandant and commissary, Jan Jansson Ilpendam,
who commanded at Fort Nassau, was, on October 12, 1646,
called to New Amsterdam, to render an account of goods
which he had on hand, for both the West India Company and
some private persons. Andries Hudde was sent to Fort Nas-
sau to examine his books, and return such goods as were un-
necessary, but was himself to remain as commandant until
further orders, and repair the fort that same year. The maga-
zine was in no better condition than that Ilpendam in his
78 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
account specifies [the receipt of] only two bales of Harlem
cloth, and two beaver-skins, which he had on hand during
his time, and that was all that he was now to account for.
22. Further Proof.
Neither could that command have been of much honor or
revenue. Andries Hudde, who had been appointed as com-
mander ad interim at Fort Nassau, petitioned the Governor
and his Council in New Amsterdam, on December 31, 1654,
that he might be employed as schoolmaster for New Amster-
dam, but the matter was referred to the preachers and their
consistory. A singular change from commander to school-
master! But neither would that take shape, for in the year
1660 he was secretary to the Governor at Altona [Christina],
and at the same time sexton of the church.
23. The Maintenance of the Budget.
The support of the Governor and of the garrison amounted
annually to twenty-six hundred and nineteen rix-dollars,1 to be
drawn from the excise on tobacco in Sweden, and as the income
from this did not amount to so much, the Crown's third of all
confiscated tobacco was added to it, as also the fines for the
offence. If any loss occurred in the management, it was to be
made up out of the department of the excise. All the merchan-
dise which was brought from Holland to Gothenburg, to be
shipped to New Sweden, together with all the tobacco and pel-
tries from New Sweden, were to go free of duty. But the
tobacco which the Company imported from Holland was to
be subject to a duty.
24. Governor Printz returns Home, and leaves the Administra-
tion to John Papegoija.
Governor Printz indeed saw the weakness of the Hollanders,
but prudence suggested to him doubts as to how long that
might continue, and what might follow thereafter. He looked
1 About $3,273 United States currency, in values of that period, or about
$15,368 now.
1648J ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 79
upon New Amsterdam as a place from which a sudden thunder-
ing and lightning might burst forth. No doubt he was strong
enough to drive the Hollanders out of the river, but how he
was afterwards to preserve his advantages he did not know.
He had not for a long time had a message from home. The
reinforcements which he expected were delayed until his hope
turned into despair. Neither were the Indians a people to be
much relied upon. As long as the Swedes had anything that
they wanted, everything was well; but without that, mur-
murs and misunderstandings were heard. Some persons were
sent home to Sweden with representations in regard to the
existing state of affairs, together with complaints concerning
the intrusions by his neighbors, among whom the old Skute l
was one. But Governor Printz was afraid that he should have
to wait too long; he had not patience to wait for either answer
or reinforcement, and therefore, in the year 1652, returned
home to Sweden, after he had been in the country ten years.
In his place he appointed his son-in-law, Mr. John Papegoija,
as Vice-Governor
Chapter III. 18. The Fortune of the Priesthood.
The Christian work which had been aimed at by the send-
ing out of five ministers, at the same time received a lamentable
check. The Rev. Reorus Torkillus, of East Gothland, who
came over with Commandant Menewe, ended his days in Fort
Christina, on September 7, 1643. The Rev. John Campanius
Holmensis remained no longer than six years, during which
time, however, he was very zealous in learning the nature of
the country and the language of the heathen, and since he had
much intercourse with the wild people, therefore a tradition is
still circulated that he travelled up into the interior among
them, and so went by land home to Sweden. From his journal,
it is seen that he sailed from Elfsborg, in New Sweden, on May
18, and reached Stockholm on July 3, 1648, an uncommonly
quick voyage. The Rev. Israel Holgh and Mr. Peter3 followed
some years after. Mr. Lars Lock was the only one who re-
mained in the country, and took care of the poor and scattered
1 Swen Skute. ■ Rev. Peter Hjort.
80 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1688
Swedes, preaching at Tenakong and Fort Christina until the
day of his death, in the year 1688.
19. The Fortune of the Tenacon Church.
Vice-Governor John Papegoija's wife was a daughter of
Governor Printz. She lived for many years in the country,
residing upon her father's estate at Tenacongh, and preferred
calling herself Armegot Printz rather than Madame Papegoija.
They still tell of the lady at Tenacong, how haughty she was,
and how she oppressed the poor when she was in prosperity,
although it is uncertain whether or not she deserved these re-
proaches. It is, however, true that she, for a considerable
time before her return to Sweden, enjoyed a pension from the
Holland government. It is reported that, out of contempt
for the Swedes, she sold along with her farm the church which
was built upon it, as also the bell, to a Hollander. However
that may be, they had to buy their bell back again by two
days' reaping in harvest time, after Madame Armegot had gone
away. The church was used without hindrance until 1700.
Perhaps the bell was not excepted in the bill of sale, although
the following obligation was given:
Copy. Laus Deo, May 24, 1673.
I, the undersigned, Armegot Printz, acknowledge to have
transferred to the congregation of the adherents of the Augsburg
Confession in this place, the bell that has been on Tennakong, that
they may do therewith what pleases them, and promise to keep
them free from all claims that are made. Before the undersigned
witnesses. Given as above.
Armegot Printz.
His mark,
P. K.
Peter Kock.
His mark,
X
Jonas Nilsson.
The English, during these changes, had not forgotten their
pretensions to the country, but were in the way of coming to
an understanding with Sweden in regard to the trade with
1655] ACRELIUS'S NEW SWEDEN 81
America, which now, by the intervention of the Hollanders,
was entirely broken off. Finally it came to pass that the Crown
of Sweden had to relinquish its West India trade entirely to
the English, from which it can be concluded that they did not
at that time think of leaving the Hollanders much longer upon
the Delaware. In like manner, also, arrangements for peace
were made with the Republic of Holland, after which no
Swedish flag was ever again seen upon the coast of America,
and it is a question, whether or not Sweden was ever given
satisfaction for the losses she suffered on the Delaware.
AFFIDAVIT OF FOUR MEN FROM THE KEY
OF CALMAR, 1638
INTRODUCTION
This graphic bit of narrative, the sailors' own tale of how
the first Swedish expedition arrived in Christina Creek, and
how the Indians ceded their land to the newcomers, was
sworn to before an Amsterdam notary in the same year, 1638,
and is prime historical evidence. The original manuscript,
which is a German translation of the Dutch original made at
the same time and signed by the same notary, was found
in the Kammararkiv (Archives of the Exchequer) in Stock-
holm, Sweden, by Dr. Amandus Johnson, who translated it.
It is here printed for the first time in translation, but a fac-
simile of the original German manuscript is given in Dr.
Johnson's Swedish Settlements, between pp. 184 and 185.
Of the four men of the Key of Calmar making this report,
two were Dutchmen. The one, Michell Simonssen, the mate,
"a fine honest man, well acquainted with the coast of North
America from previous voyages/7 was from Zaandam; the
other, Peter Johanssen, the upper boatswain, was from the
Beemster. The gunner, Johan Joachimssen, was also probably
Dutch. Jacob Evertssen Sandelin, the second mate, was a
Scotchman, and later figures in New Sweden as the mate of
the ship Charitas on the third expedition to the colony in 1641-
1642. About 1644 he seems to have come into a ship of his
own, called the Scotch Dutchman, in which he traded to New
Amsterdam, bringing a large cargo of goods to Governor Printz
in 1645.
A. C. M.
85
AFFIDAVIT OF FOUR MEN FROM THE KEY
OF CALMAR, 1638
Be it known by the contents of this open instrument, to
everyone, especially however to him whose business it is to
know, that on the 29th of December, in the year sixteen hun-
dred and thirty-eight, appeared personally in the presence of
the witnesses named below, before me Peter Ruttens, the re-
siding public notary in the city of Amsterdam, admitted and
sworn by the Supreme Court in Holland, the mate Michell
Simonss., from Sardam,1 about the age of fifty-four years; the
gunner Johan Joachimss., about the age of thirty years; the
second mate, Jacob Evertss. Sandelin from Scotland, about
the age of thirty-eight years; the upper boatswain, Peter
Johanss., from the Bemster,2 about the age of twenty-seven
years; all four of whom, in the abovementioned respective
capacities, have lately served on the ship called the Key of
Calmar, and have come with her from West India to this coun-
try. And the testimony was produced [at the instance of
Peter Spiring] 3 that the abovementioned mate, together with
the director Peter Minuit, the skipper Johan von de Water and
the former upper boatswain Andress Lucassen and still other
officers of the ship's-council, were on this ship, and an examina-
tion was made by order of the honorable Mr. Peter Spiring,
Lord of Norsholm, financial councillor of the worshipful crown
of Sweden, and resident of the same in the Hague, and [the
above witnesses] have on their manly word and on their con-
1 Zaandam in Holland, a town about six miles northwest of Amsterdam.
2 Beemster, a town twelve miles north of Amsterdam, in Holland, in the
midst of a district called the Beemster, formerly a lake, which by 1612 was re-
claimed from the sea largely through the active interest of Willem Usselinx, later
the leader in the initial steps of the New Sweden movement.
3 Peter Spiring Silfverkrona (d. 1652), son of a wealthy Dutch merchant,
went into the service of the Swedish government. In 1035 he was sent as a repre-
sentative of Swedish interests to Holland. See Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settle-
ments, pp. 695-696, and passim.
1638] AFFIDAVIT OF FOUR SAILORS 8?
science without and by the confirmation of a sworn oath,
affirmed it to be true [as here related]. And at first the above
mentioned Michell Simonss. and Johan Joachimss. related in
what manner they, in this now ending year, sailed on the
abovementioned ship so far into the South River that they
came to and by another river, the Minquas Kil,1 which they
also in like manner sailed into. And they made their presence
known with all kinds of signs, both by the firing of cannon and
otherwise, and also sailed several miles into the same [Minquas]
river, and went into the country, but neither found nor ob-
served any sign or vestige of Christian people. Neither did
they meet nor see any Christian people ; whereupon the above-
mentioned Director Peter Minuit requested and caused the
nations or people to whom the land really belonged to come
before him, whom he then asked, if they wished to sell the river,
with all the land lying about there, as many days' journeys as
he would request. This they agreed to with the common
consent of the nations. The parties were therefore agreed
with one another, and thereupon, on the twenty-ninth of
March of the above year, appeared and presented themselves
before the abovementioned ship's council, in the name of
their nations or people, five Sachems or princes, by the name
of Mattahorn,2 Mitot Schemingh,3 Eru Packen, Mahamen, and
Chiton, some being present [on behalf] of the Ermewormahi,4
the others on behalf of the Mante 5 and Minqua 6 nations.
And these sachems or princes, at the same time and place, in
the presence of the whole ship's council and hence also of the
two first-named witnesses, ceded, transported, and transferred
1 Now Christina Creek.
3 Mattahorn, also Amattahorn, possibly of the Delaware Indians of the sub-
tribe of the Ermewarmoki mentioned below, who is said to have sold land at the
Schuylkill to the Dutchman Arent Corsen in 1633, granted land at the Sandhook,
later Fort Casimir, to Stuvyesant in 1651.
8 Mitotschemingh or Mitasemint was a chief mentioned in several land
transactions with the Dutch and Swedes. He was dead by July, 1651.
* The Ermewarmoki, also called Eriwoms, Arwames, Ermomex, and Armeo-
mecks, apparently a tribe of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware River Indians
located near the present Gloucester, New Jersey.
8 The Mantes of the Delaware or Lenni Lenape tribes were doubtless lo-
cated on or near the Mantes Kill, the present Mantua Creek, New Jersey, nearly
opposite Tinicum Island.
6 The Minquas or Susquehanna Indians.
88 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1638
all the land, as many days' journeys on all places and parts of
the river as they requested; upwards and on both sides. Be-
cause, however, they did not understand our language, the
abovementioned Andress Lucassen, who had before this lived
long in the country and who knew their language, translated
the same into their speech. Thereupon they all unanimously
with one another declared in what manner they transported,
ceded, and transferred the said land with all its jurisdiction,
sovereignty, and rights to the Swedish Florida Company1
under the protection and patronage of the most illustrious and
most mighty Princess and Virgin Christina, elected Queen of
the Swedes, Goths and Wends. At the same time they acknowl-
edged that they, to their satisfaction, were paid and fully com-
pensated for it by good and proper merchandise, which was
delivered and given to them in the personal presence of the
abovementioned witnesses and of others of the [ship's] coun-
cil. The two first-mentioned witnesses and attestors affirm
that they have heard and seen all this, and were present as
witnesses. Thus the abovementioned Jacob Evertss. Sandelin
attests that he with the often-mentioned director himself had
[gone] up the Minquas Kill, and also journeyed several miles
into the country; but they had nowhere seen nor observed
any sign or vestige of Christian people. And he further de-
poses and says, together and in company with the above-
mentioned upper boatswain Peter Johanss., that both of them
and the rest of the ship's people, all together, saw the princes
of the abovementioned nations enter the cabin of their ship,
whereupon they heard and understood that the said princes
had ceded and transferred the land in the above-described
manner. And thereupon they give testimony, and all four
with one another affirm that, after the completion of the said
ceding and transference, followed the erection of the arms of
Her Illustrious Majesty of Sweden, accompanied by the firing
of cannon and other solemn ceremonies, in the presence of
said sachems or princes, and the country was called New
Sweden. Then a fort was built on the bank of the river, and
the same river was given the name of the Elb-River 2 under
1 1, e., the New Sweden Company, founded in 1637 for trade on the South or
Delaware River.
2 Now Christina Creek.
1638] AFFIDAVIT OF FOUR SAILORS 89
other solemnities; the fort, however, was called Christina.
Here the attestors, closing this account of theirs, after the re-
lation perseveringly insisted in its veracity and hence that it
was to be considered as true. They also offered to confirm
the same with an oath of grace before me the aforesaid notary.
Accordingly, permission was granted to the exhibitor [Peter
Spiring], to use and to make, concerning this, one or more open
documents in due form, when and wherever it is proper,
which in part has been done in this city of Amsterdam, in the
lodging and writing-room of my office, in the sight and pres-
ence of the honest Cornelius Vignois and David dc Willet,
called in for this purpose as credible witnesses.
Attested, upon request, by the abovementioned.
P. Ruttens, Nots. Pub.
1639o
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN PRINTZ,
1644
INTRODUCTION
This report, like the other Swedish narratives that follow,
is an orderly official statement, and thoroughly reliable. The
Swedish original is strongly and clearly expressed ; it contains
fewer of the Dutch and other foreign words found in Rising's
reports, and the sentences are shorter and less involved than
in most similar contemporary documents. The author, Johan
Printz, governor of New Sweden, had spent only a little over
a year on the Delaware, yet he had secured a firm grasp of the
situation, and he affords us an intimate view of the problems
and conditions of the colony at the end of its first six years of
existence.
Johan Printz was bom in Bottnaryd in Smaland, in the
southern part of Sweden, in 1592. He received a liberal edu-
cation in the universities of Rostock, Greifswald, Leipzig,
Wittenberg, and Jena. After an adventurous youthful career
in Germany and Italy, and in the armies of France and Austria,
he returned to Sweden in 1625. Entering the Swedish army
he saw service in the German campaigns, and in 1638 was
raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Forced to surrender
the Saxon city of Chemnitz in 1640, he was removed from his
command. Receiving knighthood, in November, 1642, at the
age of fifty, he sailed for America with his family, to assume
the governorship of New Sweden.
Arriving in the colony in February, 1643, he established
his household on Tinicum Island and made that the capital.
For the next ten years he ruled the Delaware with the strong
arm of the soldier, maintained the supremacy of the Swedish
crown against the Dutch and English, extended the bounds of
the colony, carried on the Indian trade, and in general, seems to
93
94 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
have governed in the manner best suited to the rough fron-
tier conditions. Under him New Sweden saw its best days.
Physically he was a huge man, weighing over four hundred
pounds; the Indians called him the "big tub." His hospitable
side, as we have seen, is depicted in the pages of De Vries.
In 1653, dissatisfied with the outlook for the colony, Printz
returned home. In 1658 he was made commander of the
castle of Jonkoping, in southern Sweden, and in the following
year governor of Jonkopingslan, where he died in 1663. Fur-
ther references to him may be obtained in Johnson's Swedish
Settlements, especially pp. 688-690.
The original manuscripts of this report, two in number,
one in Swedish and the other in German translation, both
signed by Printz, are in the Riksarkiv (Royal Archives) at
Stockholm. The Swedish manuscript, which is defective in
parts, has been printed with some omissions in the appendix
of Claes Theodor Odhner's Swedish book, Kolonien Nya
Sveriges Grundldggning (The Founding of the Colony of New
Sweden), 1637-1640, (Stockholm, 1876), pp. 27-36. Our text
is a translation by Dr. Amandus Johnson from Odhner in com-
parison with transcripts of the Swedish and German manu-
scripts in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsyl-
vania, the defective parts of the Swedish being supplied from
the German transcript. The brief portion relating to Sir
Edward Plowden, as translated by Dr. Gregory B. Keen, has
been previously published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of
History, VII. 50-51 (1883), and in Justin Winsor's Narrative
and Critical History of America, III. 456-460 (1884); the list
of colonists and of the dead is printed in Johnson's Swedish
Settlements, pp. 700-709. The remainder of the report is now
published for the first time in English.
A. C. M.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN PRINTZ,
1644
Relation to the Noble West India Company in Old Sweden i
sent out of New Sweden on June 11, Anno 1644.
1. The ship Fama arrived here in New Sweden at Fort
Christina the 11th of March, and is now sent away in the name
of God on the 11th 2 of June. The reason for this long delay
has especially been this, that we have this past year not had
any special cargoes and therefore no returns to send home
again, but now the trade went well with the savages, [and we
delayed in order] that the ship might not go back again empty,
and that the goods which now were bought might not lie for
years and days and be eaten and destroyed by moths, mice,
and other vermin (which are very plentiful and destructive)
but be sent over with the ship as now has happened. God
grant hereto luck and His gracious blessing, that the ship,
goods, and people may arrive well preserved and in a right
time at the place to which they are destined, etc.
2. The goods sent from Sweden are safely delivered, as the
receipt shows, except a good deal of the linen, and the stock-
ings, which are moulded and entirely ruined, as the skipper
and his people have seen, yet the abovementioned articles were
not (as one observes) ruined on the ship, but in Gothenburg
in a cellar or in some other damp house, where they were care-
lessly allowed to stand. And this loss, due to Timon von
Schotting,3 can be searched and examined there through him,
who is more able to write about it than I am, and ought to be
held to account for so considerable a loss.
3. Timon von Schotting has also forgotten to put the price
1 Or, the New Sweden Company.
1 Really sailed about July 20. Cf. Printz's next report for 1647, post, p. 120.
1 Timon van Schotting (1603-1674), a native of Flanders, at the age of about
twenty-four accompanied his father to Sweden, settling at Gothenburg, appar-
95
96 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
on the articles, which he has now sent here, which was done
last year, and always used to be done. And it ought not
to be otherwise, in order that one may know how to make
up the bill for each one of those, who are later discharged,
and what amount they have received here, and that it may
then be subtracted from their salary on their return home.
But probably this is done with a purpose, in order that, as it
happened last year, both the proof and the price of all kinds
of goods should be sent back again. And to this paragraph
also belongs the remark that one ought not to give to the wives
or authorized representatives of these people [in Sweden] any-
thing on their salaries before they have been informed from
here how much they have received, because part of them have
spent so much money during their sickness that they have
very little to claim, or nothing at all.
4. The returns which it has been possible to bring together
in a hurry are herewith sent over, namely, whole beavers,
1300, one-third-part beavers, 538, half-beavers, 299, and one-
fourth-part beavers, 5, total, small and large beavers alto-
gether, 2142 pieces. The tobacco which is now sent over
makes all together 20467 lbs. And how the trade has pro-
gressed here in the last year as well as now, since the ship was
here, the commissary's account and written relation will fully
show. And it is necessary that we have ships here again next
December with all sorts of cargoes, according to the specifica-
tions enclosed. If this does not happen the Company will in
the future suffer no less damage than it suffered in the past
year, which cannot be repaired with 20,000 florins. One does
not send the beavers now as formerly and as happened before
my time, all mixed, large and small together, but, both to
prevent fraud and also on account of the customs collector,
each kind, as has been said, is packed and strongly sealed by
itself, according to which the commissary, both now and here-
after, ought and shall make his account. In the same manner
it can also be seen from the bills that [15476] lbs.1 of the tobacco
ently in mercantile business. In 1639 he was appointed factor for the New Sweden
Company, and served until 1645 when he was compelled to resign for negligence
in office. Later he became burgrave of Gothenburg, and died there. See Amandus
Johnson, Swedish Settlements, especially p. 695.
1 See Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, pp. 317, 318.
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 97
is Virginian tobacco, bought for 6 and 7 stivers ' a pound.
The rest [4991] lbs. were planted here in New Sweden, one part
by our English at Varken's Kil, one part by our Swedish free-
men, for which we have paid eight stivers a pound; the
reasons for giving our own more than the strangers are, first,
that one would make them in the beginning more industrious ;
secondly, in order that people, both of our own nation and
strangers, may in larger numbers come here and settle under
Her Royal Majesty. When the land, with the help of God,
has thus been populated, then one could easily regain the
damage which is not very large ; yet I have presented this as
well as all other things to the Honorable Company's gracious
consideration. But our Swedish freemen request humbly that
they may be allowed to send their tobacco to old Sweden,
where it can be sold to the Company with greater advantage
than here.
5. God grant success to the Caribbean trade, and we hope
in case it is rightly administered and faithfully managed that
it will become a large means for the continuation of this work.
Thus the tobacco trade was last year made free in Virginia to
all strangers by the payment of toll; if we had here suitable
goods which could be taken to Virginia then one could yearly
bring from there a considerable quantity of tobacco with our
sloops and increase the supply of the same on the arrival of
our ships, and twice as good tobacco for as good a bargain, I
suppose, as can be obtained from Cribitz,2 and the toll be
paid at the residence seat Kekathan,3 50 4 miles up in the river.
But we could have a good deal of tobacco from Heckemak 5
yearly and would not need to give toll, but we could arrange
with the merchants that they pay the duty, which they can
do with practically nothing.
6. Of the people twenty-five have died during the year at
1 About 16 cents then or about 80 cents now, the stiver equalling about 2
cents then, or 10 cents now.
2 The Caribbees or Lesser Antilles in the West Indies.
s Kecoughtan, on the James River, in Virginia, near Hampton and Old Point
Comfort.
4 I.e., apparently, fifty German miles or two hundred and thirty English
miles from Fort Christina or the Swedish settlements to Kecoughtan in Virginia.
5 Accomac, near the end of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, in what is now
Northampton County.
98 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 11644
different places, as the daily register shows—twelve laborers,
eight soldiers, two freemen, two women.1 The others who are
preserved, officers and common people, have no longer any
desire to remain here, but since I have caused some provisions
to be bought from the English and Dutch sloops and given it
to them on their request as part of their salary, they have had
better health and have become more willing and have allowed
themselves to be persuaded to remain here yet for some time.
One observes indeed that it is more for the harm than for the
benefit of the Company to give to the people here a part of
their salary from those goods which have been bought to be
used in trade, from which sum the gain will be subtracted at
home, yet rather than that the people should leave, as has now
happened, I have at all events thought it more advisable to
preserve the people than to look upon the small gain ; one sees
that the amount and the damage are moderate and will not
become in the end altogether too great. But if Her Royal
Majesty and the Honorable Company should graciously de-
cide to erect a trading-place and a shop with all sorts of pro-
visions, small wares, cloth, and other goods, placing over it a
wise and faithful man, who would have both that and other
provisions under his charge and in his care, from which they
could be given on their salary as much as each one should re-
quest, then the people could month after month be paid out
of the gains alone, and the Honorable Company would prob-
ably retain the capital and a large part of the profit for its
benefit, for everything is fearfully dear here. One barrel of
malt, Swedish measure, is worth seven, yes even eight, rix-
dollars, a pound of hops, half a rix-dollar, a pound of pork ten
stivers, a pound of butter ten stivers, a barrel of grain six rix-
dollars, which here could be sown, brewed, and baked and then
sold for the highest price to the people. For one barrel of
meat I have paid to the English 135 florins, which makes 54
rix-dollars; in short everything is expensive.
7. I planted last year maize all over, thinking, according
to the representations of Peter Hollander,2 to receive yearly
1 Add, to make 25, the preacher, Rev. Reorus Torkillus.
3 Peter Hollender Ridder (1607-1691), the second governor (1640-1643) of
New Sweden, succeeding Peter Minuit, was of Dutch or German origin, but had
entered the Swedish service as early as 1635, being employed by the Admiralty in
various capacities in Finland and Sweden. He arrived in the colony with the
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ. 1644 99
food for nine men from the planting of one man, but I received,
as well on the one place as on the other, from the work of nine
men hardly a year's nourishment for one man. Immediately
I sent the sloop to Manathans1 and caused to be bought there
for the company seven oxen, one cow, and [75]2 bushels of
winter rye. And although they arrived a little late in the
year yet I have caused three places to be sown with rye, also
a little barley in the spring. It looks very fine. In addition
to this, maize can be bought cheaply from the savages here in
the river, so that I hope that the nourishment of the people
shall not be so expensive hereafter as it has been before. And
therefore I have appointed the people to plant tobacco on all
places and have engaged a special master or tobacco planter
for a monthly wage of 35 florins ; 3 who made good proof of his
competence last year. How this will turn out will depend on
God and the weather; one must hope, with the help of God,
for the best. But as concerns salt-making, oil manufactories,
whale-catching, minerals, or silk worms, I must report that I
have not been able to find an opportunity for these things,
as is reported in my former letters.
8. The places which we now possess and occupy are: 1.
Elfsborg, which now (especially on the one side) is so secure
that there is no need to fear any attack (if it is not entirely too
severe); 2. Christina; 3. Tinnakongh; these two places are
also in like manner made so strong that those who are therein
need not fear for any savages, even if they were several thou-
sands; 4. Upland; 5. Schylenkyll;4 these two places are now
open, yet strong wooden houses are built upon them with small
stone-cannon. In the Schylenkyll there have now been bought,
since we received a cargo, three hundred beavers for the Hon-
orable Company, yet with such discretion that the Hollanders
second expedition, in 1640. Upon his return to Sweden he was advanced in the
naval service from lieutenant to captain and to major, finally in 1663 receiving
the command of the castle of Viborg in Finland. See Amandus Johnson, Swedish
Settlements, pp. 691-692.
1 Manhattan, or New Amsterdam.
2 See Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, p. 313.
8 About $17 United States currency in values of that period, or about $87 in
terms of present day values; the florin, a Dutch coin, being equal to about 50
cents at that time, or about $2.25 to-day.
* Evidently Wasa, or Nya Wasa, at Kingsessing.
100 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
are not in any manner offended, and although they do not
gladly see us here, but always protest and in the meantime
loosen the tongue, yet they have nevertheless since I came
here kept and yet keep with us good friendship, especially
their commander in Manathans, Willem Kiefft, who often and
in most cases, when he has been able, has written to me and
advised me about what has happened in Sweden, Holland, and
other European places. He reminded me indeed in the begin-
ning in his letters about the pretension of the Dutch West
India Company to this entire river, but since I answered him
with as good reasons as I could and knew how, he has now for
a time relieved me of this protesting. Now a new commander
is about to arrive and in that case probably a new action may
follow. But how hard the Puritans * have lain upon my neck
and yet do lay can be seen from the acts which are enclosed
here. I believe that I shall hardly get rid of them in a peace-
ful manner because they have sneaked into New Netherland
also with their Pharisean practices. Now they are so strong
there that they have chased the Hollanders from that place
called Fort River,2 and now keep it with violence although it
1 Printz had difficulties with New Haven as well as Boston Puritans. The
people from New Haven, who in 1641 had made a settlement on the Varkens Kill,
now Salem Creek, New Jersey, under the leadership of the agent, George Lam-
berton, secured yet another location higher up the Delaware River, at the eastern
terminus of the great trading path of the Minquas Indians, from the Susquehanna
Valley and beyond, so as to participate in the valuable beaver trade with them.
There in 1642, on the present Fisher's or Province Island at the south side of
the mouth of the Schuylkill River, as Dr. Amandus Johnson makes clear in his
Swedish Settlements, p. 213, the New Englanders built a blockhouse, the first edifice
definitely recorded as erected within the present limits of Philadelphia. Both the
Dutch and the Swedes vainly protested against this competition, and finally the
Dutch descended upon the place, burned the blockhouse and adjacent dwellings,
and carried the settlers to New Amsterdam. Lamberton escaped with his vessel,
but later was tried in the Swedish court at Fort Christina. In 1647 the Swedes
built Fort Xya Korsholm (1647-1653) on the site of this devastated English post.
The Boston Puritans who caused Printz some anxiety, were a company of
merchants interested in promoting the search for the inland lake where the beavers
were supposed to be plentiful. Believing that this lake might be reached from
the upper waters of the Delaware, in the early summer of 1644 they sent an ex-
pedition to the river under William Aspenwall. In spite of Printz's suspicions, he
was allowed to pass the Swedish forts but was halted by the Dutch at Fort Nassau
and obliged to return to Boston.
* Connecticut River.
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 101
is the land of the Hollanders. And now neither protest nor
good words will avail, but if the Hollanders wish to obtain the
place again it must be done with other and stronger means. I
look at least a hundred times a day in this mirror, God knows
with what meditation, for I am here alone and there are hardly
thirty men, of all that are here, upon whom I can rely in such
cases.
In a like manner I have also in my former writings spoken
about the English knight,1 how he last year wished to go from
Heckemak 2 in Virginia to Kikathans 3 with a bark and his
people, about sixteen persons, and when they came into the
Virginian bay4 the skipper, who had conspired beforehand
with the knight 's people to destroy him, took his course, not
towards Kikathanss but to Cape Henry. When they had
passed this place and had come close to an island in the big
ocean called Smeed's 5 Island, they counselled together how
they should kill him and they found it advisable not to kill
him with their own hands but to put him on the said island
without clothes and guns, where there were no people nor any
other animals but where only wolves and bears lived, which
they also did, but two young pages of the nobility, whom the
knight had brought up and who did not know of this conspiracy,
when they saw the misfortune of their master, threw them-
selves out of the bark into the sea and swam ashore and re-
mained with their master. On the fourth day after that an
English sloop sailed near by Smeed's Island, so that these
young pages could call to it. This sloop took the knight (who
1 Sir Edmund Plowden (d. 1659), knight, a Catholic, of Wansted, Hampshire,
England, second son of Francis Plowden, of Plowden, Herefordshire, is "the
English knight" whose misadventures are here related by Governor Printz.
Having received a patent, in 1634, from the viceroy of Ireland, under Charles I. —
with vague and inconsistent bounds and without the necessary great seal of
England — for a great domain on both sides of the Delaware, called New Albion,
the Earl Palatine of New Albion, as he styled himself, had come over to America
to try to secure his claim. Befriended by Governor Berkeley, he made Virginia
his base of operations, staying with his people apparently at Accomac on the
Eastern Shore, in present Northampton County. From here at intervals during
the next six years he engaged in hazardous cruising vainly seeking to induce the
dislodgment of Printz and the Swedes. His means failing, and his followers de-
serting him, he went back to England to return no more.
2 Accomac. s Kecoughton. 4 Chesapeake Bay.
• Smith's Island at Cape Charles, off the end of the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
102 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
was half dead and black as earth) on board and brought him
to Haakemak where he recovered again. But the people be-
longing to the knight, and the bark, came to our Fort Elfs-
borgh on May 6, 1643, and asked for ships to Old England.
Then I asked for their passport and whence they came, and
since I immediately observed that they were not right in their
designs I took them with me (with their own consent, however)
to Christina in order to buy flour and other provisions from
them, and I examined them until a servant maid (who had
been employed as washerwoman by the knight) confessed and
betrayed them. Then I caused all the goods they had on
hand to be inventoried in their presence, and I kept the people
prisoners until the same English sloop which had saved the
knight arrived here with the knight's letter, written not only
to me but to all the governors and commanders of the whole
coast from Florida northwards. Then I delivered the people
unto him, bark and goods all together, according to the inven-
tory, and he paid me my expenses, which amounted to 425 rix-
dollars. The principal men among these traitors the knight
has caused to be shot, but he himself is yet in Virginia and (as
he represents) is expecting ships and people out of Ireland and
England. He gives free commission to all sloops and barks
which come from there to trade here in the river with the
savages, but I have not allowed any one to pass by and will
not do it, until I receive a command and order from Her
Royal Majesty, my Most Gracious Queen.
The savages here in West India set themselves up against
the Christians in one place after another. The Hollanders
have fought the whole year with the savages around Mana-
thans, as they are still doing, and although they have chased
them from the one place to the other, yet the Hollanders have
lost more than a thousand men at it and the company has re-
ceived so great a damage from it that (as they themselves
admit) it cannot be repaired with a few barrels of gold. In
Virginia more than a thousand savages banded themselves to-
gether about six weeks ago and attacked and fearfully mur-
dered over six hundred Christians. The Marylanders have also
suffered great damage from the Minquas and have lost two
cannon and some people. Our savages also become very
proud here in the river. I have told them the whole year
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 103
that we shall receive much people with our ships, but three
days after the ship arrived and they observed that there was
only one ship and no people they fell in between Tinnakungh
and Uplandh and murdered a man and a woman on their bed,
and they killed a few days afterwards two soldiers and a ser-
vant. When their commanders found out that I drew the
people together in order to prevent a future and a greater
damage, then they feared and came together from all places
excusing themselves in the highest manner, and said that this
had happened without their knowledge, and asked for peace,
which was granted them on the following conditions: that in
case they hereafter practised the smallest hostilities against
our people then we would not let a soul of them live, upon
which they gave their writing and all their sachems signed
their names to it and (according to their custom) gave us
twenty beavers and some sewant l and we presented them
with a piece of cloth. But yet they do not trust us and we
trust them much less.
Nothing would be better than that a couple of hundred
soldiers should be sent here and kept here until we broke the
necks of all of them in the river, especially since we have no
beaver trade with them but only the maize trade. They are
a lot of poor rascals. Then each one could be secure here at
his work, and feed and nourish himself unmolested without
their maize, and also we could take possession of the places
(which are the most fruitful) that the savages now possess;
and then, when we have not only bought this river but also
won it with the sword, then no one whether he be Hollander
or Englishman could pretend in any manner to this place
either now or in coming times, but we should then have the
beaver trade with the black and white Minquas 2 alone, four
1 Wampum.
'These Indians were by race and language of Iroquoian stock. There
were two divisions, the Black Minquas and the White Minquas. Black Min-
quas, also called the Black Indians, believed to be the ancient Eries, or Nation
du Chat (Cat People) of the Jesuit Relations and the Utchowig (" like a wild
cat") of John Smith's map of 1608, had their general habitat in western Penn-
sylvania, in the beaver region of the Allegheny River and its affluents, be-
tween Lake Erie and the Allegheny Mountains. "The beavers," wrote Van der
Donck in his New Netherland of 1655, "are mostly taken far inland, there being
very few of them near the settlements — particularly by the black Minquas, who
104 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
times as good as we have had it, now or at any past time.
And if there is some delay in this matter it must nevertheless
in the end come to this and it cannot be avoided; the sooner
the better, before they do us more harm. They are not to be
trusted, as both example and our own experience show, but if
I should receive a couple of hundred good soldiers and in addi-
tion necessary means and good officers, then with the help of
God not a single savage would be allowed to live in this river.
Then one would have a passage free from here unto Manathans,
which lies at a distance of three small days' journeys from here
across the country, beginning at Zachikans.1
9. The Honorable Company is also not ignorant of the
fact that if sevant is not always on hand here, together with the
other cargoes for the savages, it is difficult to trade with the
savages; but half or at least the one-third part of the cargoes
must be sold for sevant (which also does not happen without
are thus named because they wear a black badge on their breast and not because
they are really black." Augustine Herrman, a dweller near the Elk River in Mary-
land as early as 1660, and an excellent authority, writing in 1670, calls the Ohio or
its northern branch the Allegheny River, "the Black Mincquaas River," and states
that the Black Minquas were accustomed to trade to the Delaware River by a
water route which led, according to his description, from the Conemaugh River
by the short portage over the Allegheny Mountains to the Juniata River, and
thence down the Susquehanna River. The Swedes also, in their turn, made
visits from their settlements on the Delaware to the Minquas country, even to the
remote wilderness of the Black Minquas, in 1646, especially, when Huygen and
Van Dyck with eight soldiers, as may be observed above, penetrated the Minquas
land a distance of fifty German, or two hundred and thirty English miles, which
would bring them to the Allegheny River about fifteen miles northeast of the site
of Pittsburgh. The Swedes had no " trade or intercourse with any Indians farther
in the interior than with the black and white Minquesser," writes Lindestrom, in
1654, in his manuscript journal ("Geographia," in H. S. P.), "who don't know
the limit of the country, although their nation or tribe has occupied the country
such a length of time." The Jesuit Relations report the practical extermination of
the Eries by the Iroquois proper in 1654-1655, yet as late as 1662 the White
Minquas were expecting the assistance against the Iroquois, of "800 black Min-
quas," "200 of this nation" having already arrived.
The White, True, or Southern Minquas, known to the Virginians and Mary-
landers as Susquehannas, or Susquehannocks, and to the French as Andastes,
occupied the lower Susquehanna River Valley and the country at the head of
Chesapeake Bay. After prolonged conflict with the Iroquois they were driven
from the Susquehanna to the Potomac, and in 1675 were almost wiped out by the
English.
1 At the Falls of Delaware, now Trenton, New Jersey.
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 105
profit to the Company). Now, as has been stated, our savages
are poor, so that one can secure from them only little or hardly
any sevant, hence we must buy sevant from Manathans and of
the North English,1 where sevant is made, and it can be bought
cheaply there from the savages. If we now had among the
North English or at Manathans a faithful man stationed year
out and year in, who could buy up sevant for us there so that
sevant would not be lacking here in the river for the Swedish
trade, the Company would have yearly a great profit. Like-
wise one can secure beavers for gold and rix-dollars in Mana-
thans as well as here in the river of the Dutch freemen, at the
rate of seven florins apiece for the good ones, and the small
profit would help to increase the capital at home without no-
ticeable cost.
10. We have not been able to put into execution our plans
concerning the keel-boat which we had in mind to build here,
the reason being that two of the carpenters have been sick
almost the whole year and one man alone has not been able to
do such heavy work. Then the savages set a fire on the island
in the night and burnt part of the material which had been
sawed and cut for the boat. Yet the one carpenter who has
been well has not been idle. He has built two fine gates, one
at Elfsborgh the other one at Tinnakungh. But since the car-
penters have recovered somewhat they have built two beauti-
ful large boats, one to be at Elfsborg, the other at Christina,
and they have likewise repaired and made ready both sloops.
No pains shall be spared hereafter, to have them accomplish
whatever they can. But the cordage, wThich was sent here for
the keel-boat, since we do not need it so soon, would be good
merchandise to sell for beavers and tobacco, but I do not know
the price, therefore I have sold, for a test, a piece of it weighing
597 pounds, according to Holland weight, for 26 beavers, less
two florins, paying seven florins apiece, or nine stivers a pound,
according to Holland weight. I will not sell any more before
I have been informed if I have done well or ill in this.
11. And since I often receive Latin letters from different
places concerning this work and I can not properly do other-
wise than to answer them in the same language, in which I
now do not find myself very competent, but when need so re-
1 The New Englanders.
106 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
quires I must sit and laboriously collect together an epistle,
and when it at last is accomplished it is only patchwork,
especially since I have more often for the last twenty-seven
years had the musket and the pistol in my hands than Tacitus
and Cicero, I therefore humbly request that a man may be
sent over to me who is not only able to prepare the mentioned
writing but could also give good counsel and when it was
necessary could be sent to foreign places.
12. It seems to me that it would not yet be advisable to
recall Commissioner Hindrik Hiigen1 and to appoint Carl Jo-
hansson2 to receive the cargoes and the trade, this for several
reasons, but mostly on account of the language of the savages.
But Hindrich Hugen has a Holland servant 3 who knows the
savage languages and understands well how to carry on the
trade. If the said boy could remain here together with Carl
Johansson for the sake of the trade, then Hindrich Hugen
could probably be recalled from here. Hindrich Hughen does
not like to miss the servant (because he is his relative), but if
the Honorable Company should find it convenient to command
this with the arrival of the next ship, then indeed Hindrich
Hugen will be satisfied, especially since he himself desires to
leave here and will in no case remain longer than until the
arrival of the next ship.
13. And since I sent home in 1643 not only a list of the
people but also described the condition and opportunities of
each and every one with the humble request to be informed
what difference there was between the free people and those
1 Hendrick Huygen, a relative of Peter Minuit, was from Wesel, on the lower
Rhine, in Germany. He came over with the first expedition in 1638 and on the
departure of Minuit was left in charge of the civil and economic affairs of the colony.
From the arrival of Governor Printz in 1643 and the establishment of the seat
of government on Tinicum Island Huygen, as chief commissary, had the care of
the stores of the colony deposited there. In 1646 he and Sergeant van Dyck
penetrated the wilderness to the Minquas country to the westward, and induced
further trade between the Indians and the Swedes. Returning to Sweden with
Governor Printz in 1654, he brought out the last Swedish expedition, arriving in
1656 after the Dutch conquest. He then entered the Dutch service, settling on
Tinicum Island, where he seems to have continued until 1663.
3 Mentioned in Printz's later report of 1647 as the bookkeeper who had been
sent over on account of some difficulty which had occurred at Kexholm, in Finland.
1 Gotfred Hermansson or Gotfred Hermer (Harmer), a kinsman of Hendrick
Huygen.
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 107
who had been sent here on account of crimes, how long each
one of the criminals should serve here for his crime and when
his time was past how he should either be sent from here or
be kept here with salary and clothes, likewise what should be
done with the free people who in nowise wish to remain here,
and in like manner a part of the freemen, Finns, and others
(especially those who have their wives in old Sweden) desire
to leave, and since it is difficult for me to dispose both in this
and other cases without orders, I now as before humbly ask
that I may be informed about it.
14. I will not omit humbly to relate that when the emis-
saries of the Hollanders and English arrive here on (as they
imagine) missions of great consequence, concerning this work,
they expect to receive a considerable entertainment, and are
not ashamed to speak about it themselves, that they wish to
be treated in a princely manner. There are also other ex-
penses,1 occasioned by the visits of merchants, with whom we
trade, and of others, and we do not know who is to pay for
such expenses. Therefore we have until now been as econom-
ical as we could, yet have caused each one to be treated and
entertained according to his rank. And we have used for
this purpose the extra income, namely sixty beavers which the
English paid as recognition, and twenty-one beavers which
the savages presented at the peace-treaty. This, however, is
not sufficient, as the bills show. I therefore humbly request
that this in like manner may be taken into consideration and
decided for my information.
15. The cattle, seven oxen and one cow (which I referred
to in paragraph 7) were bought in Manatans for the Honorable
Company, as the bill of the commissary shows, for [146] 2
florins, and although they are quite large beasts, yet when one
adds the expense to it, it is very dear. But it is impossible to
colonize the land without cattle. I ask humbly that I may
be informed how this matter shall be conducted hereafter,
and on what conditions the freemen shall be supplied with
cattle by the Honorable Company. The rye and barley, which
1 The Swedish copy is defective here, so that the translator has been com-
pelled to use the German translation for the rest of this and the next paragraph.
a /. e., 124 florins for the oxen and 22 florins for the cow. Johnson, Swedish
Settlements, p. 313.
108 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
were sown here in the autumn and spring, stand, as has been
remarked, in very fine condition, and I hope to be able to
sow so much, that the Company's people and soldiers who
are now here may, with the help of God, have their nourish-
ment for the coming year. We should indeed have been able
to sow more in the fall if the oxen had not come here too late.
16. In my former relation under date of April 13, 1643,
and in paragraph 23, I humbly requested information concern-
ing the privileges of the nobility and the common people who
take up land here in New Sweden each one according to his
quota, how they and their descendants should own, enjoy, use,
and keep it. Also in paragraph 26 I asked how I should con-
duct myself in the river against the Hollanders, who usurp to
themselves all authority and advantage to such a large degree,
as Her Royal Majesty my Most Gracious Queen can see from the
enclosed resolution of Commander Kieft. They trade and traffic
freely and will not even lower their flags and sails before the flags
and forts of Her Royal Majesty, but one must remind them of
it with a couple of cannon. All this I can easily forbid them to
do at our fort Elfsborg, but not before I have received complete
orders from Her Royal Majesty and the Honorable Company.
17. The expenses, which I had on account of the knight's
people, being paid by my own means, as I have mentioned in
paragraph 8, amounted to 425 rix-dollars, mostly paid me in
tobacco. I have also bought some for cash from a Virginian
merchant, and part of it I caused to be planted myself, so that
the total amounts to 7300 lbs., in twenty-eight hogsheads,
which I do not send to any other place (I will add), than to the
Honorable Company, with the humble expectation and re-
liance that the Honorable Gentlemen will agree to it, and allow
it for my profit, especially since my expenses here are so great,
that I indeed can not defray them with twice my salary. I will
gladly do my faithful service for the furtherance of this work
as far as the grace of God and my understanding will allow.
18. And as I have, here in New Sweden, in the short time
since I came here and with this small and weak people, begun
to lay the foundation, which I hope to continue during the
time that remains for me here and to bring it so far that Her
Royal Majesty shall get so strong a foothold here in New
Sweden that (in case the means will not be lacking) it will in-
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 109
crease more and more as time goes on through God's gracious
help and will be incorporated as an everlasting property under
Her Royal Majesty and the Swedish Crown, so I have likewise,
in as good manner as I could, tried to oppose the pretensions
of the Hollanders and the Puritans and the other Englishmen
in this place and brought it so far that they suffer us now
among themselves and have no more special foundation accord-
ing to which they can act, or are able to stand by their former
pretensions, but correspond and trade with us and do our will
and bring to us what we ask for, we hoping that they in the
future will not press so hard, but to be contented with what
has passed. It is therefore my humble prayer and request that
when this my term of three years is over I may be relieved and
allowed to return again to Her Royal Majesty my Most Gracious
Queen and my Fatherland, especially since I am no longer
young and since the greatest part of my days have been hard
and toilsome. Yet I do not desire to withdraw myself in any
manner from the service of Her Royal Majesty and the Father-
land, but I desire gladly to serve Her Royal Majesty and the
Fatherland under other circumstances as long as I am able
and as I live. I hope that, with God's help, the one who suc-
ceeds me will have less toil than I have had.
19. The things which have been written for with this ship
I have not referred to among the articles here, but have caused
a special list to be made of them, and will allow it to remain
this time with what has been referred to here. Only this I yet
once again humbly repeat, that I might receive at least a
hundred soldiers on account of the arrows of the savages, also
twelve-, six-, four- and three-pound cannon-balls, more pow-
der and lead. And this is thus ended, in humility. Dated at
Christina. June 20, 1644.
JOHAN PRINTZ,
manu propria.
P. S. One should not let it pass unnoticed that the Hol-
landers at Manathans have this year had a privateer with ten
cannon and 40 men in the sea between Spanniola1 and Cribitz,2
which has twice brought four Spanish prizes to Menathans
this last year, worth (as they themselves admit) over 50,000
1 The island of Hispaniola or Santo Domingo, in the West Indies.
2 The Caribbees or Lesser Antilles.
110 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
rix-dollars, and since we are situated nearer to the Spanish
places than they are, we have therefore much better oppor-
tunity for such an advantage. We have here also, when need
should demand it, a clean entrance and good ports as well as
sufficient opportunity to provision the ship, year in and year
out; and the booty, which God would grant, our ships could
yearly bring away with the return cargo. The privateer could
remain in these places as long as God would see fit to preserve
it. It must be a well-fitted ship, manned with good people,
and if one should be compelled to have a Holland skipper and
mate, yet a Swedish captain should be in command to prevent
fraud, for when skipper Adrian cruised about here for a few
months with the sloop the Grip, it was for his own profit (as
his acquaintances . . . admit and say).1
[List of the Colonists.]
List of all that people which is now in New Sweden, how
they are distributed in all places and plantations, as specified
below, for the year 1644.
ui
At Fort Christina.
The officers:
Johann Paapegaia 1
The commissary Hindrich Hugenn 1
The pastor Mr. Johann Campanius2 1
1 MSS. defective.
2 Rev. John Campanius Holm. (1601-1683), a native of Stockholm, had re-
ceived his theological training at the University of Upsala, and had served as
chaplain to the Swedish legation of Russia, as schoolmaster at Norrtalje, near
Stockholm, and as preceptor and clergyman at the orphans' home of Stockholm.
He arrived in New Sweden in 1643 with Governor Printz and remained more than
five years acting as minister to the colonists and as missionary to the Indians. In
1646 he consecrated a Lutheran Church on Tinicum Island, the first house of
worship erected within the present limits of Pennsylvania. Having learned the
Indian language, he began in this same year the translation of Luther's catechism
into the idiom of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, a work which later he
completed in Sweden. Upon his return in 1648 he was for a short time preacher
to the Admiralty on the island of Skeppsholm in Stockholm; then in 1649 was made
rector of Frosthult and Hernevi, where he continued the remainder of life. See
Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, pp. 372-374, 678-679. Holm, is an aLr
breviation of Holmiensis, meaning, " of Stockholm."
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 111
The barber Mr. Hanns 1
The trumpeter Erich Andersonn 1
The constable Matz Hansonn 1
The blacksmith Mr. Hanns 1
The marshal-provost Johan Oluffzonn 1
The following people employed by the Company plant to-
bacco on the plantation at Christina:
Knut Marthensonn 1
Perr Gunnersonn Rambo 1
Marthenn Gottersson 1
Lars Andersonn Ulff 1
Manns Andersonn 1
Lars Kackin 1
Svann Gunnersonn 1
Marthenn Glaasere 1
Joenn Torsonn 1
OluffTorsonn 1
Anders the Carpenter 1
The following are carpenters on the island :
Claas Claasonn 1
Tommas the Carpenter 1
The following are appointed to be on the sloop continually :
The skipper Andress 1
Lars Tommesonn 1
Bengt Torsonn 1
The laborers listed below make tobacco casks and other
cooper's articles:
Lauriss the Cooper 1
Lukass Personn 1
}
The swineherd:
Anders Minck with his son .
Claas Andersonn
The boy who herds the cattle:
Swenn Swensson 1
The miller, who is continually at the mill:
Anders Dreyer 1
112 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA ,1644
The servant of Com. Hindrick Hugen:
Gaatfreedh Hermansonn .... .... 1
Soldiers at Christina :
Erich Taatt 1
Marthen Hansonn
Lars Jacobsonn 1
[II]
At Fort Elfsborg.
Officers:
Lieutenant Swann Skuuta1 1
The watchmaster Gregorius van Dicke2 1
The gunner Johann Matzonn 1
The drummer Swann Andersonn 1
Common soldiers:
Nicklaus Bock 1
Johann Gustaffzonn 1
Petter Meyer 1
Isack vann Eissenn 1
Constantinos Gronebergh 1
Petter Jochim 1
Anders Joensonn 1
1 Sven Skute, who next to the Governor was the foremost military leader in
the later history of New Sweden, is first mentioned in this report of Governor
Printz in 1644 as lieutenant in command of Fort Elfsborg. In 1648 he success-
fully opposed the settlement of the Dutch on the Schuylkill. Returning to Sweden
in 1650 he reported the condition of the colony before the Queen and Council in
1652. The next year he was engaged in enlisting soldiers and securing emigrants
for another expedition to New Sweden. Receiving the commission of captain
he came over with the expedition of 1654. Landing with his soldiers at the Dutch
Fort Casimir, he captured the stronghold for the Swedes, its name being changed
to Fort Trinity (Trefaldighets Fort). At the Dutch conquest of New Sweden in
1655 he surrendered the fort to Stuyvesant, but continued to reside on the Dela-
ware, being mentioned by the Dutch in 1658 as holding the position under them
of captain of the Swedes.
2 Gregorius van Dyck came over in the second expedition to New Sweden,
in 1640. In 1646 he accompanied Commissary Hendrick Huygen in penetrat-
ing the wilderness to the west, as far as the country of the Minquas, and indu-
cing trade between the Indians and the Swedes.
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 113
Bengt Hindrichsonn
Anders Andersonn
Jacob Swensonn
Walle Looer
Joenn the Tailor
Knut Liliehock
Officers:
Lieut. Manns Klingh
[in]
At the Skyllerkill [Plantation],
The working-people, who plant tobacco on the planta-
tion in the Skyllerkill:
Pafvell Jonsonn
Swenn Larsonn
Hindrich Matzonn
Matz Pipere
Ambrosius Erichsonn
Anders Daalbo
Pader Kack
8
[IV]
At the Upland [Plantation].
Officers :
Pader Liliehock 1
Elias the Tobaccoplanter 1
Mickell Nilsonn the Blacksmith 1
The following laborers plant tobacco on the plantation at
Upland :
Hindrich Matzonn 1
Matz Hansonn 1
Iffwer Hindersson 1
Johann Andersonn 1
Hanns Mansonn 1
Eskill Larsonn 1
114 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
Lars Bior[n]sonn
Bertill Eskilsonn
Johann Erichson
Jacob Spaniol
Cleme[n]t Jorensonn
14
[V]
At Tinnakumgh
Officers:
Governor Johann Printz 1
Placed over the provisions and accounts:
Carll Johansonn 1
The secretary Knut Personn 1
The gunsmith Master Niklaus 1
The gunner, in charge of the small copper cannon on Tinna-
kungh:
Swenn Waass 1
The soldiers who daily follow, travel [with], and serve the
governor:
Elias Gyllenngrenn 1
Hanns Liineburger 1
Jorann Snohuitt 1
Lars Andersonn 1
Anders Andersonn 1
Nils Anderssonn 1
Johann Andersonn 1
Manns Nilsonn 1
The laboring-people, who are appointed to cut hay for the
cattle, and also in the meantime to follow the
governor in the little sloop :
Anders Bonde
Perr Andersonn
Antoni Swart
Oloff Erichsonn
1644] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1644 115
The following have died in New Sweden in 1643, 1644.
Officers:
Sept. 7, 1643, the preacher Mr. Regardh1 at Kirstina
July 18, 1643, the corporal Carll Hackensonn at Elfz-
borg
Soldiers:
June 10, 1643, Mickell Kyrssner at Kirstina .
July 3, 1643, Mans Larsonn at Elfzborgh . .
" 5, 1643, Erich Hindersonn at Kirstina .
Aug. [3], 1643, Rutkiert the German at Kirstina
Nov. [?], 1643, Johenn Hartman at Tennakungh
March 4, 1643, the following soldiers were killed by
the savages between Kirstina and Elfzborgh:
Marthenn Bagge
Marthen the Finn
The following laborers of the Company have died :
July 9, 1643, the freeman Jonns Pafvelsonn at Uplandh
Carll Marckusonn at Elfzborg
Marthenn Bior[n]sonn at Up-
landh
Matz Jorensonn at Kirstina .
Joen Isacksonn at Elfzborgh
the peasant Per Mickellsonn at Elfzborgh
the peasant Larss Andersonn from Alandh
at Elfzborgh
[the peasant?] Pafvel Pafvelson at Elfzborgh
Jacob Tommesson at Kirstina
Peder Oloffzon from Giefle at
Elfzborgh
Joen Jerpe at Elfzborgh . .
Zachriss Andersonn at Kirstina
Pafwell Personn at the Skyl-
lerkill 1
Rev. Reorus Torkillus, the first preacher among the Swedes and the first
o serve in America. See Amandus Johnson, Swedish
It
10, "
(C
12, "
tt
29, "
((
30, "
((
31, "
((
31, "
Aug.
13, "
a
14, "
it
30, "
a
31, "
Dec.
10, "
a
11, "
i
Rev. Reorus
Lutheran clergym
Settlements, p. 697
116 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1644
March 1, 1644, the freeman called Johann the Finn was
drowned at Uplanndh 1
" 7, " an Englishman, with a Swedish wife, was
murdered by the savages 2
" 4, " Giert Elekenn, killed by the savages be-
tween Fort Kirstina and Elfzborgh ... 1
The following return home to Sweden:
Officers :
Christer Boije 1
The preacher Mr. Israeli x 1
The barber Mr. Zim2 1
Soldiers :
Esbiorn Marthensonn 1
PafvellSmaal 1
Total 121
Dated, Christina, June 20, 1644.
Johen Printz.
*Rev. Israel Fluviander. 3Timon Stidden, barber-surgeon.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN PRINTZ,
1647
INTRODUCTION
For the greater part of the interval of three years between
the writing of the preceding and of the present report by Gov-
ernor Printz, the colony of New Sweden had been allowed to
shift for itself, the people at home being largely occupied in a
war with the Danes. Yet, in spite of these handicaps, the
work of the settlement, it will be observed, made a fair degree
of progress.
This report exists in two manuscript forms, in Swedish,
as signed by Printz. They are in the Riksarkiv (Royal Ar-
chives) in Stockholm. Three transcripts of these are in the col-
lection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, one of each
being used in a translation made by Dr. Gregory B. Keen,
published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, VII. 271-
281 (1883). The translation, as revised by Dr. Amandus
Johnson from these transcripts, is here reproduced.
A. C. M.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN PRINTZ,
1647
Report to the Right Honorable West India Company in Old
Sweden, sent from New Sweden, February 20, 1647.
1. From June 20, in the year 1644, when the vessel Fama
went from hence, to October 1, 1646, when the vessel Haij1
arrived, two years and four months elapsed ; and the whole of
this time we received no letters, either from the Kingdom or
from Holland. This last vessel was four months on the way,
losing her sails, topmasts, and other implements, and fared
very badly. The master of the ship, the mate, and all the
people, except one man, were sick ; so that, according to their
report, they would have despaired, if they had not reached
land when they did. Not until the month of December was
the vessel in repair, and the people recovered ; and, the winter
commencing at the same time, they were obliged to stay here
until the ice broke up. Now, however, on the subscribed date,
the ship is dispatched with 24,177 pounds2 of tobacco, in 101
casks, of which 6,920 pounds were planted in New Sweden, and
17,257 pounds were purchased. May God Almighty grant her
a happy passage home !
2. The cargo has been safely delivered, according to the
invoice accompanying it from Peter Trotzig, excepting eight
kettles, one plank, three axes, and fourteen ells of frieze want-
ing in the measure; fourteen pairs of stockings and 180 ells of
frieze were ruined on shipboard; likewise, part of the Norren-
berg goods were much rusted, which (except what the com-
missary has received to sell amongst the savages) are to be
sent at the very first opportunity to North England3 for sale.
3. Concerning the improvements of the country: (1) Fort
Elfsborgh has been tolerably well fortified. (2) Fort Chris-
tina, which was very much decayed, has been repaired from
1 Shark. 'Swedish pounds. •New England
120
1647] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1647 121
top to bottom. (3) The Fort in Skylenkyll, called Karsholm
is pretty nearly ready. We are rilling and working at it every
day. So that, if we had people, ammunition, and other neces-
sary resources, we should certainly not only be in a position
to maintain ourselves in the said places, but also be enabled
to settle and fortify other fine sites. Again, 28 freemen are
settled, and part of them provided with oxen and cows, so
that they already begin to prosper; but women are wanting.
Many more people are willing to settle, but we cannot spare
them on account of the places wanting them. The country is
very well suited for all sorts of cultivation; also for whale fish-
ery and wine, if some one was here who understood the busi-
ness. Mines of silver and gold may possibly be discovered, but
nobody here has any knowledge about such things. The Hol-
landers boast that three years ago they found a gold mine be-
tween Manathans and here, not in any place purchased by us,
but nearer to New Sweden than to New Netherland. Hitherto,
however, they have not got any gold out of it. There is no
appearance here of salt, or of silkworms, because the winter is
sometimes so sharp, that I never felt it more severe in the
northern parts of Sweden.
4. The people have all the time been in good health; only
two men and two small children have died. The reason that
so many people died in the year 1643 was that they had then
to begin to work, and but little to eat. But afterward we gave
them, besides their regular rations, board to apply on their
wages, and they have done well from it. Still, all of them
wish to be released, except the freemen. And it cannot be
otherwise. If the people willingly emigrating should be com-
pelled to stay against their will, no others would desire to
come here. The whole number of men, women, boys, girls,
and children now living here is 183 souls, according to the
annexed roll.
5. In the year 1645, November 25, between ten and eleven
o'clock, the gunner Swen Wass, set Fort New Gothenburg on
fire; in a short time all was lamentably burnt down, and not
the least thing saved, except the barn. The people escaped
naked and destitute. The winter immediately set in, bitterly
cold; the river and the creeks froze up; and nobody was able
to get near us (because New Gothenburg is surrounded by
122 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1647
water). The sharpness of the winter lasted far into the month
of March; so that, if some rye and corn had not been un-
threshed, I myself and all the people with me on the island
would have starved to death. But God maintained us with
that small quantity of provision until we got the grain from
the field and were again relieved. By this sad accident the
loss of the Company, testified by the annexed roll, is 4000 rix-
dollars. The above-mentioned Swen Wass who caused the
fire, I have brought to court, and caused him to be tried and
sentenced; so I have sent him home in irons, with the vessel,
accompanied by the whole record concerning him, submis-
sively committing and referring the execution of the verdict
to the pleasure of Her Royal Majesty and the Right Honorable
Company.
6. Again, I have caused a church to be built in New Goth-
enburg, decorating it according to our Swedish fashion, so far
as our resources and means would allow. Also in the same
place I have rebuilt a storehouse, for the provisions and as
many cargoes as may be sold there on the Company's behalf.
Further, to prejudice the trade of the Hollanders, I have built
a fine house (called Wasa)1 on the other side of Karsholm, by
the road of the Minquas,2 so strong that four or five men, well
provided with guns, balls, and powder, will be able to defend
themselves there against the savages; seven freemen, sturdy
fellows, have settled in that place. Again, a quarter of a
mile3 higher up, by the said Minquas' road, I have built another
strong house, five freemen settling there. This place I have
called Mondal,4 building there a watermill, which runs the
whole year, to the great advantage of the country, particularly
as the windmill, formerly here, before I came, would never
work, and was good for nothing. Now, when the great traders,
the Minquas, travel to the Dutch trading-place or house, Nas-
1 So named for the royal family of Sweden.
2 The Great Trading Path of the Minquas Indians led from the Susquehanna
River, doubtless from the White Minquas or Susquehanna Fort on the west side
of the river at the mouth of Conewago Creek, York County, just below the stop-
page of navigation at the Great Falls, across Lancaster, Chester, and Delaware
counties to Kingsessing Creek or the Upper Minquas Kill at Schuylkill River.
* About one and two-thirds English miles.
4 On the present Cobbs Creek near the Blue Bell Inn on the road from
Darby to Philadelphia.
1647] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1647 123
sau,1 they are obliged to pass by those two places, which (please
God) hereafter shall be provided with cargoes.
7. Concerning trade, in the year 1644, when the ship Fama
went from here, there was very little of the cargo left in store;
and, as we have been without merchandise ever since, not only
has the Right Honorable Company suffered the great damage
of losing 8000 or 9000 beavers, which have passed out of our
hands, but also the Hollanders have drawn the principal
traders (the White and Black Minquas) from us; and we shall
be able only with great difficulty to regain them. But as
soon as this vessel2 arrived I dispatched Commissary Hindrik
Hughen, with the watchmaster Gregorius van Dyk and eight
soldiers, to the country of the Minquas, fifty German miles3
from hence, offering them all sorts of presents, by which
means they were induced to negotiate, and we received assur-
ance from" them that they would trade with us as before,
especially as the commissary promised them to give more
than the Hollanders. Whether they keep their word will be
seen in the future.
8. It is of the utmost necessity for us to see how we can
get rid of the Dutch from the river, for they oppose us on
every side: (1) They destroy our trade everywhere. (2) They
strengthen the savages with guns, shot, and powder, publicly
trading with these against the edict of all Christians. (3) They
stir up the savages to attack us, which, but for our prudence,
would already have happened. (4) They begin to buy land
from the savages within our boundaries, which we had pur-
chased already eight years ago, and have the impudence here
and there to erect the seal of the West India Company, calling
it their arms; moreover, they give New Sweden the name of
New Netherland, and are not ashamed to build their houses
there, as can be learned more at length from the Dutch Gov-
ernor's letter, here annexed, and from my answer to it; in
1 The Dutch Fort Nassau (1623-1651), near the mouth of Big Timber Creek,
in the present Gloucester County, New Jersey.
3 The Haij.
8 About two hundred and thirty English miles. It is given as five German
miles (or about twenty-three English miles) in one transcript, but that seems an
error. In 1648 the Swedes carried goods from Fort Christina thirty German
miles (about one hundred and thirty-eight English miles) into the country of the
Minquas.
124 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1647
short, they appropriate to themselves alone every right, hoist
high their own flags, and would surely not pay the least atten-
tion to Her Majesty's flags and forts, were they not reminded
by a couple of cannon. So that if they are not kept out of
the river, either by mutual agreement or other means, they
will disturb our whole work. The better to accomplish this
intention of theirs, some of the Hollanders have entirely
quitted the Christians, resorting to the Minquas, behaving
with much more unseemliness than the savages themselves.
I have several times written to their Governor about all these
improprieties, and also caused their arms to be cut down,
but it did not make any difference : they see very well that we
are weak; and, with no earnestness on our side, their malice
against us increases more and more. And all the people, who
are doing this mischief, are merely Dutch freemen, provided
with their Governor's passport, and trading on their own ac-
count, paying duties therefor, the Company itself not trading
at all, and deriving very little advantage from this. As to the
English Puritans, with whom I had most to do at first, I have
at last been able, with the authority of Her Majesty, to drive
them from hence; and they have not been heard from for a
long time, except that one Captain Clerk1 was sent here last
year, from North England, to try to settle a few hundred
families under Her Majesty's flag, which I, in a civil way, re-
fused, referring the matter to Her Majesty's further resolution.
9. The commissary's report will show our provisions and
state here in New Sweden. It is a pity that for a long time
we have had very little traffic and profit, while the expenses
and the wages are the same. Still, could we get rid of the
Hollanders, and be left alone in our trade, by successive car-
goes the loss would be easily repaired in a short time. What
profit we have derived from foreign cargoes, besides our own,
can be seen in the commissary's account; I think it may be
about 10,000 rix-dollars.
10. The cattle roll will give information about the offspring;
the two head of cattle which were here before me, and the
three I brought with me. It shows they have increased to
ten in all, that the purchased cattle are fourteen oxen and one
cow, and that one part is divided amongst the freemen, and
1 Not identified.
1647] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1647 125
the other part is in the use of the Company. And, whereas
the freemen need cattle as the principal instrument for the
cultivation of the land, I intend next May to buy some in Vir-
ginia, particularly as the Governor there has written to me,
also offering his assistance in other ways.
11. I have caused the barge to be fully constructed, so
that the hull is ready and floating on the water; but the com-
pletion of the work must be postponed until the arrival of a
more skilled carpenter, the young men here declaring they do
not know enough to finish it. Again, we want a good engineer,
house-carpenter, mason, brickmaker, potter, cooper, skilful
gun- and locksmiths, and blacksmiths, a chamois-dresser,
tanner, tailor, shoemaker, ropemaker, wheelwright, and exe-
cutioner; all these are of great necessity here, and, above all,
a good number of unmarried women for our unmarried free-
men and others, besides a good many families for cultivating
the land, able officers and soldiers, as well as cannon and
ammunition, for the defence of the forts and the country.
And, when the Hollanders and other nations are aware that
Her Royal Majesty has such a royal earnestness in this behalf,
I think they will be careful, because when I came here, four
years ago, they immediately abandoned the bad intentions
ihey had formerly exercised against our people, but afterward,
since so little has been done for the affair, they have once
more grown overbearing.
12. The savages in Virginia, New Netherland, and North
England have made peace with the Christians, and our own
savages have been quiet ever since. Thus, if the Hollanders
were not here, we should soon be on good terms with them;
but the savages now have war amongst themselves, more to
the prejudice than to the advantage of the beaver-trade.
13. As before stated the officers, as well as the common
soldiers, not settled in the country and not yet willing to settle,
want to be released; particularly Commissary Hindrik Hugen,
whom I myself now, for the third time, have with great diffi-
culty persuaded to stay until the arrival of the next ship; he
ought to be replaced by a very able commissary. Again, the
minister Magister Johan Campanius wishes to be dismissed,
and we need at least two clergymen in the places already
settled. Again, the freemen desire to know something about
126 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1647
their privileges, for themelves and their descendants; likewise
the criminals, how long they must serve for their crimes ; as to
all which I humbly asked to be informed more circumstantially
in my former Reports of 1643 and 1644.
14. Whereas a letter from Postmaster-General Johan Beijer,
dated Stockholm, March 17, 1645, apprises me that the ves-
sels Calmar Nyckel and Fama had arrived in Holland, and
that my Report was lost on the way (if this really be the fact),
I only recapitulate herein what goods were sent home in re-
turn by the Fama, annexing a copy of Captain Peter Pawel-
son's receipt for the said goods. These were: 1300 whole
beavers, 299 half-beavers, 537 third-parts of beavers — great
and small together, 2136 beavers; again, tobacco, 20,467 lbs.
in 77 hogsheads; again, my own tobacco, which partly I re-
ceived in payment from foreigners, and partly I planted my-
self, 7200 lbs. in 28 hogsheads, sent home to the shareholders
in Sweden, that they may either reimburse me at eight stivers
a pound, or graciously allow me to sell it elsewhere.
15. In the sixth paragraph of my above-mentioned Report,
sent from here in 1644, I mentioned the necessity of erecting
a trading-house for various kinds of merchandise, namely, for
clothing, shoes, different sorts of stuffs, linen cloth, thread,
silk, fine and coarse cloth, divers colors for dyeing, buttons,
Ley den ribbons, hats, belts, swords, tanned leather, etc. Those
goods are very vendible here, and in Virginia and New Eng-
land, and can be sold at a profit of 100 per cent. The house
is also needed for all sorts of provisions, both for our own
people, and for foreigners. A judicious and faithful man,
however, must be put over it and all provisions, who may
give each of our people what he wants, on account of wages.
Thus the people can be paid every month entirely out of the
profit, without the Right Honorable Company's diminishing
its principal, but perhaps making money, everything here
being extremely dear: for example, one barrel of malt (Swedish
measure) costs seven to eight rix-dollars, one pound of hops
half a rix-dollar, one pound of pork ten stivers, one barrel of
corn six rix-dollars, which last could be sown in this country,
brewed, baked, and afterwards sold to the people with advan-
tage ; I have paid 54 rix-dollars to the English for one barrel
of beef: in short, everything is dear.
1647] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1647 127
16. In the ninth paragraph of my above-mentioned Report
I also spoke about the zewandt trade in North England, and
said that a trusty man ought to be sent to purchase zewandt
for us there, because it can be had cheap in that country,
while here we are obliged to pay to the English and Holland-
ers a double price in good beavers, and yet we cannot always
get it. It is not possible to keep up the Indian trade by
means of cargoes only, because the savages always want
zewandt besides, this being their money.
Again, I have several times before solicited a learned and
able man: first, to attend to the judicial business, sometimes
very intricate cases occurring, in which it is difficult, and never
ought to be, that one and the same person appear in the court
as plaintiff as well as judge; and, secondly, to act as secretary,
especially in the Latin language, for many times it has hap-
pened (as is proved by the annexed paper) that I have re-
ceived Latin letters from all parts; these it would be well to
answer in Latin, as really I have done as best I could, but I
submissively entreat if it is possible, for the future, to be re-
leased from such work through the assistance, as above stated,
of a competent person.
17. I have caused some waterfalls to be examined suitable
as a site for saw-mills, below the dam by the newly built grist-
mill, as well as in three other places, where there is plenty of
oak. But we want a man who can superintend the saw-mill;
also, windlasses and blades for saws. If such saw-mills were
erected (which might easily be done), every year we might cut
and make ready a goodly quantity of planks, besides making
compass and pipe timber, which could be very advantageously
bartered in the Flemish Islands for wine, which might be either
carried to the Kingdom, or sold in Virginia for tobacco. But
for this purpose a proper vessel ought to be kept here by the
year, which at times could cruise to the West Indies, and by
this means the country could be annually provided with
victuals.
18. If we are able to renew our friendly relations with the
White and Black Minquas (as we are assured and may hope
we shall), the trade with these will commence next April, and
continue the whole summer until fall. Our present cargo
may be sold during that time ; therefore, it will be a matter of
128 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1647
necessity, to be provided with new cargoes next November,
and about that time we may be able (with God's help) to have
on hand a great deal of goods for the return cargo.
19. In the fourteenth paragraph of my former Report I
submissively asked in what way the extra entertainment of
foreign guests coming here shall be paid. We have in such
things been as sparing as possible; however, the amount of
the disbursement increases more and more, and the accidental
revenues which are collected here and which have been assigned
for this use will in no wise suffice.
20. The freemen already settled want to be paid the rest
of their wages; and, whereas their intention is to continue to
cultivate the land with that money, I think it advisable to
pay them for the good of the country, and as an example for
others. But their wives and relations in the old country
should not be allowed to draw any of their wages, unless these
can show the account from here, because every day we are
obliged to give them more or less, according to their wants,
and some are already fully paid.
21. The bookkeeper, Carl Johansson, who chanced to get
into a misfortune in Kiexholm,1 and for that reason was sent
over to New Sweden, has been here six years, and has behaved
very well the whole time. Three years ago I not only ap-
pointed him to take care of the stores, but also trusted him
to receive and revise the commissary's monthly accounts, pay-
ing him ten rix-dollars a month as wages (to be ratified
graciously by the Right Honorable Company), which service
he in like manner has ever since faithfully performed. Now
his submissive request is, by Her Royal Majesty's and the
Right Honorable Company's favor, to be allowed to go home
to the Kingdom for a while, with the next ship, to stay as long
as it may please Her Royal Majesty, to settle his affairs there.
His purpose for the future is to serve Her Royal Majesty and
the Right Honorable Company willingly and faithfully, to the
best of his ability, so long as he shall live, either here in New
Sweden, or wheresoever else he may be assigned to dut}r.
22. Again, I humbly repeat the eighteenth paragraph of
my last Report, purporting how I for a great while (namely
1 Kexholm, a small town of Finland, fifty miles northeast of Viborg, on the
west shore of Lake Ladoga.
1647] REPORT OF GOVERNOR PRINTZ, 1647 129
twenty-eight years) have been in the service of my dear native
country, constantly accompanying her armies to the field, and
now have served in New Sweden one year and seven months
beyond my prescribed term and brought everything into such
order that Her Royal Majesty has obtained a strong footing
here and that the work does not require anything but sufficient
means, to be continued with greater success. Thus (with
God's help) this country will forever be subject to Her Royal
Majesty, who sent us here, maintained us among all the sur-
rounding provinces, and brought the trade into good condi-
tion, and satisfactory relation with that of our neighbors, in-
somuch that, if means fail not, they will remain satisfied with
what has happened. Wherefore, my humble request to Her
Royal Majesty and their Right Honorable Excellencies now
is, that I be relieved, if possible, and sent home by the next
ship to my beloved native land. Yet, I in no wise withdraw
myself from the service of Her Royal Majesty and my native
country, but I am desirous of doing duty on other occasions,
seeking approval in nothing but for faithful service of Her
Royal Majesty and my country, in accordance with my duty,
so long as I shall live. My successor here (with God's help)
will see and comprehend the diligence I have applied in every-
thing, agreeably to my obligation.
23. The officers and soldiers here have frequently solicited
that a faithful and proper man be sent home to the Kingdom,
not only for the purpose of giving an oral account of the whole
enterprise here, but also to procure an answer to the individual
communications they have sent over. Not thinking it proper
to refuse them this, I have deputed for that business the noble
and valiant Johan Papegaja, hoping that he will both humbly
deliver a good report to Her Royal Majesty and the Right
Honorable Lords, and faithfully and diligently do his best in
everything intrusted to him for the good of this work. Given
at New Gothenburg, February 20. 1647.
Johan Printz.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN RISING,
1654
INTRODUCTION
This report, which is addressed to the newly established
Swedish Commercial College in whose hands the direction of
the affairs of New Sweden, through the chartered company,
had recently been placed, was written by Johan Classon Rising,
the last governor of the colony, barely two months after his
coming to the Delaware. Governor Printz had departed in
the fall of 1653. Rising on his arrival, the following May,
found the settlements in a discouraged and sadly depleted
condition. No word had come from Sweden for nearly six
years and the population had dwindled by desertions to
Maryland and Virginia, and by other causes, to less than a
hundred persons. Rising brought with him an accession of
over two hundred settlers, and soon infused new life into the
languishing colony. Despite the adverse circumstances he
writes in a hopeful constructive spirit, describing the situa-
tion ; and with an eye trained under the influences of the new
Swedish commercial development, he points out the indus-
trial possibilities of the Delaware.
Johan Classon Rising was born in 1617 in Risinge, Oster-
gotlandslan, in south central Sweden. After courses at the
gymnasium at Linkoping in Sweden and at the universities of
Upsala and Leyden, he travelled with the aid of the Swedish
government and certain patrons among the nobility, through
many of the countries of Europe for purposes of culture and
for special information with respect to commerce and trade.
In these subjects he became a foremost authority, and from
1651 to 1653 held the office of secretary of the Commercial
133
134 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
College of Sweden. He wrote the first treatise on trade and
economics ever compiled in Sweden, a large part of the ma-
terials having been collected and partly arranged by the
autumn of 1653. Receiving knighthood, being then in his
thirty-seventh year, he set out from Sweden early in 1654, to
take up his duties in New Sweden.
His first act was, before landing, to cause the seizure of the
offensive Dutch Fort Casimir (now New Castle), which the en-
ergetic Stuyvesant, as one of the first steps in his campaign of
aggression against the Swedes, had erected in 1651, just below
Fort Christina. Of the subjugation of the Dutch settlers at
Casimir to Swedish rule, of the Indian relations, of the vainly-
hoped-for succor from the Fatherland, and of the further
events and progress of the colony, as well as finally of the
Dutch conquest of New Sweden — all may be read in full de-
tail as chronicled by Rising himself in this and the two suc-
ceeding reports.
After the surrender, Rising and the other officials, the sol-
diers, and such colonists as were unwilling to become Dutch
subjects, were taken back to Europe. Rising after some wan-
derings returned to Sweden, but led a precarious existence
in devotion to the continuance of his great work on com-
merce. He died in poverty at Stockholm in 1672. See John-
son's Swedish Settlements for a more detailed life.
His reports, and a manuscript journal for the period 1654-
1655, extending over the greater part of his American experi-
ence, are replete with succinct and accurate information,
plainly and clearly expressed, constituting the most valuable
sources for the history of New Sweden under his administra-
tion.
A contemporary manuscript copy of this report in Swed-
ish is in the Riksarkiv (Royal Archives), in Stockholm. It
was printed in Swedish at Stockholm, in 1878, in the appendix
of Professor Carl K. S. Sprinchorn's Kolonien Nya Sveriges
INTRODUCTION 135
Histvria (History of the Colony of New Sweden), pp. 92-102,
and is now published for the first time in English from a
translation of Sprinchorn's text made by Dr. Amandus
Johnson.
A. C. M.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN RISING,
1654
Most honorable Count, honorable gentlemen, powerful
benefactors, and friendly patrons.
Although it can well be seen from the diary, which I now
send over, how our long journey hither proceeded, and also
what our condition is here now, nevertheless I have thought it
necessary to relate certain things more at length to the Royal
College,1 in order that Your Excellency and Lordships, observ-
ing from it our disadvantages, may be able through your good
directions, to dispatch to us here all needed succor, so that
this highly-profitable work may not, after so good a begin-
ning, receive any set-back or henceforth lack necessary as-
sistance, but that everything, as time goes on, may be aided
in a becoming manner. And although, indeed, several diffi-
culties have befallen us, ever since we came here, bringing
with us a lot of sick and weak people, finding before us an
empty country, disturbed partly by despondency, partly by
mutiny and desertion; nevertheless, God be praised, we still
prosper. The people are now recovering. Would to God that
we had provisions for them, now and during the winter. We
are awaiting some provisions from the Fatherland and some
with our sloop, winch is daily expected from N. England;
some also from the savages and other neighbors, until, God
willing, we are able to harvest the crops of one or twoyears.
Then we hope to be able to get along, as far as food is con-
cerned. The mutiny here is now fully suppressed; but still
there is some smoke after the fire. I hope that good discipline
and vigilance will prevent all such disturbances.
As to the government of the country, I am able to report
that I have, according to Her Royal Majesty's most gracious
orders and the desire of the College, taken as assistants the
good men whom I found suitable thereto, since I found that
1 The then recently established Royal Commercial College.
136
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 137
the Governor had departed from here. These assistants are
Captain Sven Scuthe1 and Lieutenant Johan Pappegoija,* with
whose counsel and co-operation I have managed everything,
which has so far been done here. I expect a complete gracious
regulation by the next ship, according to which I will live and
direct myself submissively in all obedience, and all respect for
the faithful service of my Most Gracious Sovereign and the
advantage of the Fatherland ; which will be dearer to me than
any of my own profit or reputation, whatever hereafter may
be ordained by my Gracious Sovereign for the government of
this work.
Meantime I would desire that full authority might as soon
as possible be given here in judicial matters, in higher and
lower trials (especially in order to put down the mutiny) ; and
that for this purpose an executioner with sword be sent here.
Through this, much disorder would be prevented, which other-
wise might hereafter break out through secret plots.
The greater part of the colonists indeed complain of the
severity with which they claim to have been treated by
Governor Printzen.3 But many of them may have caused
him much trouble, therefore I handle the case as moderately
as I can. I could not refuse to hear the matter in the court,
and then I requested them to draw up their complaints them-
selves. This they did later and I herewith send them over.
Since Governor Printzen is now there himself, he is able, in
the proper place, to answer them and explain himself.
Meantime, I shall exert myself so to direct things here in
that matter that neither our Swedes, nor the Hollanders dwell-
ing here, nor others, can rightly complain of injustice in legal
proceedings. If a law-reader could be sent here, it would be
desirable. It might for this purpose be ordained that all the
fines, which are here imposed, should be divided into three
parts, one-third for the accuser (with which a fiscal under the
name of substitute could be paid), the second third for the
1 Sven Skute.
3 Johan Papegoja arrived in New Sweden in 1643 where he was married
about 1645 to Armegot, daughter of Governor Johan Printz. On his return to
Sweden he became a captain in the navy, about 1661. About 1667 he was ad-
vanced to major. He lived at Ramstorp, where he owned an estate. Amandus
Johnson, Swedish Settlements, especially pp. 686-687.
8 I. e.9 Printz, en being the Swedish definite article.
138 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
court, and the third third for the government, for the pay-
ment of the law-reader, the support of the poor, or other such
things.
As to the culture and improvement of this country, I will
pass this over briefly, since it is known to Your Countly Excel-
lency1 already, what splendid advantages this river has and
what conveniences this land possesses (which I have caused to
be mapped, as well as it could be done in a hurry, all the way
from the bay even up to the falls, by one A. Hudden),2 where-
fore it is well worth while, in order to get this land into some
state of prosperity, to employ a liberal expenditure, which
later would pay itself a thousand fold. For both goods and
blood are often spent on land which cannot by far be com-
pared with this. Wherefore should one not risk expense of
mone}^ and goods, without bloodshed (as we have reason to
hope), since we now, God be praised, have free opportunity
to settle it, and so to fortify it against all attack, that it, by
the help of God, will endure, and later, in case of need, will
give good assistance to the Fatherland, and be a jewel in the
royal crown, if only succor can now early be sent here? And
at the same time this advantage is also to be expected, that
our sailors thereby will become trained for the sea, our ships
put into motion, the inhabitants here and there animated to
trade, our trade so extended, that all the good designs which
might be entertained for the improvement of commerce will
be carried out, and ship-building and navigation be thereby
increased.
I will leave it to a more suitable time to discuss, how our
commerce to Africa and America, yes, into the West and
1 Count Eric Oxenstierna was president of the college.
a Andries Hudde came to New Amsterdam with Governor Kieft in 1638.
For some years he acted as surveyor there. In 1645 he was sent to the Delaware
River, where he was actively concerned in upholding Dutch interests, and served
as commissary, first at Fort Nassau, 1645-1651, then at Fort Casimir, 1651-1654.
After the capture of Fort Casimir in the latter year he was employed by Rising,
as stated, in making a map of the Delaware River, his compensation from the
Governor, according to the notes of Dr. Amandus Johnson, being twenty florins
for "some maps of the river and other drawings." Hudde promised to remain
with the Swedes but soon slipped away to New Amsterdam. After the Dutch
conquest in 1655 he was made surveyor and secretary and later commander at
New Amstel. He died in 1063 at Appoquiminy in Maryland whither he had
gone to settle.
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 139
East-Sea1 can be combined, through good means, for the great
increase of navigation, and the great utility of our dear Father-
land, which then could seize the advantage derived from the
goods which come into the East-Sea — and much of that in the
West Sea — but this belongs to its proper time and place. But
as far as time and convenience allow I will here use all dili-
gence, that as much of this land as possible may first be cleared
and planted by our colonists, since very little has been sown
this year. For the continuation of this work, I have an ad-
vantage in this, that a part of the old freemen have requested
new lands, being encouraged thereto by the freedoms which
Her Royal Majesty has now given, and have wished to transfer
their cleared land to the new-comers; but no new-comers have
means to redeem them, therefore I intend to buy them for the
Company (payment for only the clearing being understood),
and then set young freemen upon them, lend them oxen for
working their lands, give them grain for seeding, and each
year take one-half of the grain from the field, and give them
cows for half of the increase, on condition that if the cow dies
before the Company gets any increase from her then the tenant
must pay for her. By this means they are immediately and
imperceptibly brought under a reasonable tax. So, if this
gets started, they will both clear the land and supply it with
cattle, and also give the Company a good income, so that it
seems to me (with all deference) in this case, that it could not
be taken into better use, without any hazard, inconvenience
or cost. It also seems to be more necessary at this time to
settle the land along the river itself, than up in the creeks.
Therefore I intend to put most of this people between Trinity2
and Christina, near which place a large piece of land ought to
be taken up for the property of the Company, and it were
good to provide that this should not be alienated. Hereafter
it would be well worth while to settle Christina Kill, in order
that one might be the more secure against Virginia, and be-
1 North Sea and Baltic Sea.
2 Fort Trinity or Sandhoeck, now New Castle, Delaware. The place experi-
enced several changes of name just after the middle of the seventeenth century,
as follows: Fort Casimir, so named on its founding by the Dutch, in 1651; Fort
Trinity, upon its seizure by the Swedes in 1654; New Amstel, in 1656, upon the
Dutch conquest of New Sweden, in 1655; New Castle, in 1664, upon the English
conquest of New Netherland.
140 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
sides to carry on trade with them, making a passage from
their river1 into the said kill, by which we could bring the Vir-
ginian goods here and store them, and load our ships with
them for a return cargo. If we could buy Sakakitqz2 and
Amisackan3 from the Minquas, then this could well be brought
about, and we could also carry on the best trade with them
[the Minquas] there. And the Englishman, referred to, Mr.
Ringoldh,4 presented it to me and exhorted us thereto, yet
probably more for the purpose of discovering our intention
about it than because the English would gladly see it accom-
plished ; still the sooner it were done the better. In this said
kill and near here there are some water-falls; and at the most
important one, called the great fall,5 many waterworks could
be placed, for the great benefit of the Company. About this
I will use all zeal, as far as is possible with this people and at
this time, intending, as soon as everything is harvested and
sown, to construct there a good dam, with all the ability of the
country, and then a flour-mill, a saw-mill, and a chamois-
dressing mill; wherefore it would be good that this fall were
not given away nor alienated. But the others are of small
value.
Apoquenema Kill,6 below Trinity, which runs nearest the
English river,7 would also be well worth occupying at the first
opportunity, also the Hornkill,8 since the savages now at this
time and before this have often requested this of us; other-
wise their mind will cool, and probably the English9 who are
1 Elk River.
2 /. e., Chakahilque or Chakakatique Fall. See post, p. 159, note 3.
' I. e., Amisackan Fall. See post, ibid.
* Thomas Ringgold (b. 1610), one of the county commissioners, resided on his
plantation of 1,200 acres, called "Huntingfield," on a creek of that name flowing
into Rockhall Creek, on the northeastern part of the Chesapeake in Kent County,
Maryland.
6 Apparently in Christina Creek, although the great fall in the Brandywine
may be the one referred to.
6 Appoquinimink Creek, in Kent County, Delaware.
7 The present Bohemia River, in Maryland, a branch of Elk River, which is
an affluent of the northeastern part of Chesapeake Bay. From its head waters
to those of Appoquinimink Creek in Delaware, was the shortest and usual portage
path between the Chesapeake and the Delaware.
8 The Hoorn or Hoere Kill, now Lewes Creek, Delaware.
• Of Maryland and Virginia.
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 141
now beginning some trade from their own river in this direc-
tion, will slip in there, which it would indeed be well to fore-
stall. What other districts there may be in the river, which
now call for settlement into large estates, yea, even prince-
doms, Mr. Pappegoija will probably be able to tell, who has
good knowledge about it, and who now returns home for the
service of the Company and to report concerning our condition.
And since cattle are very necessary for agriculture, there-
fore I will use all possible diligence in securing some here for
the people. And it is sure that if a cargo were here of shoes,
stockings, linen stuff, etc., then we could get as many cattle
from Virginia as we wish, and could obtain them for a good
price, and give them out or sell them to the freemen with ad-
vantage. The fisheries we shall gradually (God granting
grace and success) practise and carry on with diligence, for
there are sturgeon and other fish in the river, but in the creeks
there are eel, salmon, thickhead and striped bass in the bay,
and outside the bay the codfish and other kinds, — provided
only that a few good fishermen with all sorts of implements
were sent here.
With brewery and distillery and alehouses and well-fitted
inns there would be a good profit for the company to be made,
provided only we in the beginning had a number of liquors on
hand and provided an order were made that on all foreign
drinks a duty about equal to their value should be paid, accord-
ing as might be found necessary here for moderation, but that
if the importers sold their drinks to the Company they should
not pay more than two per cent.
N. B. It is better to grant a free import, but afterwards
to collect double excise, of which the buyer and the seller
should each pay half to the magistrates.
We will also in the future see what advantage can be had
from woods and timber, with planks and clapboards, pipe-
staves, etc., with which a profitable trade could be carried on
in the Caribbee Islands and our own ships could be loaded
from here, which now, on account of the sickness of the people
and because it is not now the season for cutting logs, could
not be accomplished.
What advantage various trades could bring here into the
country is self-evident, especially if one could make all kinds
142 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
of things from these good trees, which could be sold to advan-
tage. Besides timber-cutters, we need some one who can burn
tar and make shoemaker's wax, which is here an expensive
article; also a soap-maker, since we have a potash-burner
with us. Besides this there are other materials of the land,
which could be taken up and manufactured, as saltpeter, for
which we have a good man who can seek for it, and if we could
here establish powder-mills it would bring us great profit. A
powder-mill we could cause to be built on the abovementioned
stream, but we should wish that skilled masters and people
should be sent here. Of blacksmiths (aside from gunsmiths)
we have enough for our needs, as well as cordwainers and
leatherdressers, tailors, skinners, swordmakers, glass makers,
masons, house-carpenters, etc. But we have need of pottery-
makers, brick-makers, lime-burners, cabinet makers, wooden-
basin makers and wooden-plate turners, shoemakers and tan-
ners. An assayer would be needed here. He ought to take
the proofs and send them home as soon as the works had been
started, in order that the neighbors, who have always tried to
get up a copper mine, might not gain possession of one, but
that strict orders should be given about it. For here are
surely to be found many of the best minerals in the countr}r.
A French hat-maker could do much good here; also a wine-
grower and a bird-catcher who could capture geese and ducks
in nets on the low places in spring and fall, since these birds
come here by thousands in the fall and spring. Also, if
some Dutch farmers could be brought here and settled on the
company's own land it would be very useful, and more such
things.
Upon these and other considerations, it does not seem un-
wise to lay out a town here at Christina and to place there a
good deal of the abovementioned or other laborers, as it is
most convenient to establish staple and resident places. To
this end I have already caused the field adjoining Christina to
be divided into lots by Lindestrohm1 and he has made a plan
1 Peter Martensson Lindestrora (d. 1691) was educated in the University of
Upsala, where he specialized in mathematics and the art of fortification. In
1654 he went out to New Sweden as engineer, remaining until 1655. On his re-
turn to Sweden he secured the position of engineer of fortifications. His final
settlement was at Brosater, Sweden. In his later years while bedridden he
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 143
of it, which he in humility sends home, and we intend (God
granting success) to build houses there in the autumn. And
here are suitable places for establishing towns, trading-places
and villages, as the time shall give opportunity, but there is
now, besides Christina, also Sandhook or Trinity, where there
are about 22 houses built by the Hollanders.
Concerning the trade, it can be said, that it would be the
most important thing in the country, if we only had enough
cargo to draw the beaver trade to us from the Minquas and
from the Black Minquas, which buy up both our ordinary
cargo and also silk and satin cloth, hats and other things;
likewise the trade of the Maquas1 and other surrounding sav-
ages could now be drawn to us, since the Dutch formerly used
to buy up yearly at Fort Orange2 from fifty to sixty thousand
beavers, and the English are not loved by these savages nor
are they accustomed to carry on trade with them. In addi-
tion it is thought that the English are about to attack Mana-
thes.3 Wherefore if the work would be taken hold of with
power this trade, which is of great importance, could be drawn
here into the river, since no Christian nation is in better credit
with the savages than we now are. But in case such a large
trade could not yet be brought about, we should indeed get
along with the common trade with the Minquas and with our
own river savages.4 The other sources of income in the
country, such as agriculture, logging and handicraft, would,
besides this, next unto the help of God, well support us.
Specifications of the necessary cargoes, I send enclosed here-
with, for which we shall be able to buy up from our near
Christian neighbors good return cargoes as well as cattle and
victuals for the people and the preparation of the ships.
This cargo which we now have brought with us cannot be
used for much else at this time than to enlist and hold the
savages in good friendship and for the buying of provisions
and necessaries, without which we could not subsist here; also
to pay the old and newly enlisted people, and to pay the old
wrote his valuable Geographica, an unpublished manuscript in the Swedish ar-
chives, which contains his maps of the Delaware, and of the American colonies
for the period of his visit. Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, pp. 682-683.
1 Mohawks. 2 Now Albany, New York.
* Manhattan or New Amsterdam. * The Lemii Lenape, or Dela wares.
144 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
debts of the Company (which are now presented) and, lastly,
to build forts and necessary houses, which are few here, so
that, besides that I and the others hardly have room here, a
good many of the workmen have been compelled to go idle
on account of lack of houses. But although there cannot
follow a complete gain from this ship's cargo (and probably
not from the next coming ship) on account of the many ex-
penses which now in the beginning must be made as a founda-
tion, yet if now an early succor follows upon this, and con-
tinues all along, these preparations will not be found fruitless
in the future. Accurate accounts shall be kept for everything,
and it will be rightly handled, as far as is in my power and
understanding. No other return of goods can be sent from
here at this time, except only this that it can be reported that
the country and the river, as far as is possible, have been taken
into our possession.
Concerning any navigation which we can carry on from
here I am not able to report, for until we receive some ships
here we have, so to say, our hands and feet tied, and must see
with regret how this beautiful ship, which Governor Printzen
has caused to be built, must lie without employment in its
place. It is well built; only a few things are to be changed
and finished. Wherefore, a ship's carpenter would be greatly
needed, and P. Trotzigh or H. Hiigen might be able to secure
Claes the Carpenter from Holland, the same who built this
ship. The ropes which we have brought with us are pre-
served in the store-house on Tinnakonck and are very good,
but almost too large for this ship. If, however, we had smaller
vessels they would be serviceable for us to sail to the neighbor-
ing countries as well as in the river, in the bay, and outside, for
fishing purposes.
A wise and faithful merchant such as Hindrich Hiigen has
been reported to have been, is much needed, as also a book-
keeper. Jacob Svensson1 is now almost the only one whom
1 Jacob Svensson came over with Governor Printz in 1643 and was stationed
as a common soldier at Fort Elfsborg. He was a gunner at Fort Christina in
1649 and later served as assistant commissary of the colony for some years,
procuring supplies from New England, notably in personal visits with a sloop
in 1653 and 1654. He also was an Indian interpreter. Upon the Dutch conquest
he became an ensign of New Netherland.
ji654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 145
we can use, but we are always having to send him to the sur-
rounding places, for our necessaries and on other commissions.
And he is not yet returned from N. England, but we await
him every day with the sloop, if Stuffwesandh1 shall not by ill
luck intercept him on the way, which he has threatened, yet
we hope that he will get through. I have, therefore, had no
one who has been able to carry on any trade in the storehouse,
nor has as yet any savage arrived with goods. Therefore, we
have no goods to send home with the ship Eagle for the Com-
pany, but we hope to be able to do it better another time,
when our affairs can be brought into better working order. I
have indeed used all my diligence to secure some freight home-
ward for the ship, as well in Virginia as at Manathans, but it
could not be done. And since I was instructed by Your
Excellency and the worthy College2 to seek in Gothenburg for
some good men who would venture their goods hither on the
ship to begin a trade with, I did my best, but found no one
who had any suitable cargo in store, or who dared to risk it.
Since then I have got a quantity of Virginian tobacco on credit
from an Englishman, Mr. Allerton,3 on the condition that it
be paid for at the next arrival of cargo, but at a high price;
wherefore I would submissively and humbly request that the
Honorable College would let me enjoy the favor which it has
1 Petrus Stuyvesant (1602-1672), the capable and energetic but tyrannical
last Dutch governor of New Netherland (1647-1664), and the conqueror of New
Sweden, was a Frieslander, the son of a clergyman. Trained in the military ser-
vice, he lost his leg in an unsuccessful encounter of the Dutch with the Portu-
guese on the island of St. Martin, in 1644, while he was governor of the Dutch
colony of Curacao, in the West Indies. After the English conquest of New
Netherland in 1664, he was summoned to account in Holland, but soon returned
to spend his later days in New York.
* The Royal Commercial College.
'Isaac Allerton (c. J 588-1658), one of the commercial leaders of the New
World of that day, was a native of England, removed to Leyden in Holland and
in 1620 came over with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower to Plymouth in New Eng-
land. After service as deputy-governor, and as agent for the Plymouth Colony in
several visits to England, he engaged in fishing and trading ventures with his
vessels on the upper New England coast. Later he removed to New Amsterdam
and finally as early as 1646 to New Haven. His chief warehouses seem to have
been in New Amsterdam whence his vessels traded to Massachusetts Bay, Dela-
ware Bay, Virginia, and Barbados. He made several personal trading visits to
♦he Swedes and Dutch on the Delaware, as early as 1644. In July, 1651, he wit-
Hs^d an Indian deed at Fort Nassau.
146 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
granted to others, namely, that I might be allowed to bring
the abovementioned tobacco into Gothenburg free of duty
and freight, since many would be encouraged thereby to risk
their ship[s] and goods for the increase of the trade in the
river; for which I dare to have a sure hope, especially since the
ship in any case would have to go from here empty. I should
be found to acknowledge this privilege with all faithful service.
The moderate duty which has been placed here as well as
the other favorable conditions for those who wish to trade
here or to settle and live under the protection of Her Royal
Majesty, will without doubt draw many here, if only the matter
can be pushed forward and brought into effect. Yet it seems
(without question) that it would be best if the said duty should
be so favorable that all Swedish ships should pay only two
per cent, on outgoing and incoming goods and all strangers
four to six per cent., except on provisions, which, for a time,
in the beginning, might be brought in free, save that all liquors,
which are not sold or brought for the good and need of the
Company, might pay about as much as the wine costs. And
if any ship should arrive here with a cargo and then should
not sell it all, that it might in that case not pay any duty on
that which was not sold here. But whatever else could be of
service here in that regard, is all referred to the Honorable
College, either to have it drawn up, or to give power to estab-
lish such ordinances here as might be best for the furtherance
of the trade or the advantage of the Company; then they would
here be diligently observed and put into execution.
Our military affairs and defense are managed in general
like the others, but Captain Skuthe has to give account for
the ammunition, shot, and guns, and he is especially now en-
gaged to fortify Fort Trinity, which is as a key to the river.
And if the office of commandant for the military forces should
be given to anyone, he is considered a much more suitable
man than Hans Amundsson;1 and the greatest part of those
1 Hans Amundsson — the news having not yet reached Governor Rising — had
died at Porto Rico, on July 2, 1654, just eleven days prior to the writing of Ris-
ing's report. Amundsson had been the commander of the ill-fated expedition of
1649, which had been shipwrecked, and maltreated by the Spanish and French
in the West Indies. He met his death while coming over on his second voyage
to recover his claims in Porto Rico and then to settle on lands granted to him on
the Schuylkill.
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 14?
serving here have said that they will leave the service if such
a one as the latter shall get the command, which I only men-
tion in passing. It seems proper that the military force and
all other things should be kept under one direction and not
be split up, on account of the evil consequences, which in this
matter may follow out of jealousy.
Cannon, iron as well as brass cannon, are here greatly
needed by us, as well for service on the sea as on the forts,
especially for the defense of the river at Trinity, where the
cannon which the Hollanders left are mostly useless, and we
do not know whether Her Royal Majesty will give them the
cannons back again with everything else found in the fort
or not. We have therefore borrowed four fourteen-pounders
from the ship and placed them in an entrenchment before the
fort, the better to sweep the river straight across. At Chris-
tina other guns are also needed, for most of the old ones are
useless. We need a large quantity of powder and bullets,
lead and other ammunition. Muskets and guns we have
enough at this time, but good French fusils are much more
used here in the country and in addition bags of leather with
three or four compartments, in which one could place cart-
ridges; these are many times better in the rain in the woods
than bandeliers and match-lock muskets, and they are much
sought after by the savages. We also intend to put flint-locks
on a large number of our muskets.
Whatever the Company's finances and property may be
here in the country I will use all diligence to list carefully and
will cause it to be valued approximately as soon as I can secure
any suitable man for it, as for instance land, cleared and un-
cleared, woods, streams, fishing-waters, fortresses, buildings,
equipments, implements, boats, ships, mills, cargoes for trade
and for return voyages, grain, cattle, goods and provisions,
ammunition and guns, and especially the means by winch the
Company can gain some income, also a list of those who wish
to buy land and property from the Company, and a list of the
lands which have been rented for half of the crops or which
have been forfeited for non-payment of taxes. I would also
present an account of the industries, namely [stenckery ?], of
the powder and saltpeter manufactories, of the saw-mills and
logging., of breweries and taverns, of the mill toll, of tanneries
148 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
and shoemakers and leatherdressers and other such things,
also concerning dues on Swedish and foreign shipping, etc.
Good and suitable men for this purpose are much needed
by us.
I also humbly request that the visits which here must daily
be received may be provided for either by a certain appropri-
ation by the Company or otherwise according to reasonable
allowances.
It is also very necessary, in order to avoid much trouble
out here, that no donations be given or any land assigned to
anyone, unless he occupies it effectively or settles it himself,
or in this either serves the crown or the Company. Otherwise,
much confusion will result from the fact, that the land of the
Company is given away or land which in reality belongs to
the savage sachems, as for example, Marikens Point.1 This
land, together with Finland 2 (on which about five or six free-
men of the Company have until this been living), I intend now
to buy from them for the Company, the improvements only
being compensated for, as also Printztorp,3 all the way up
to Upland's Kill.4 Hans Amundsson has received Her Royal
Majesty's patent for the piece of land which now for the first
time last Sunday was given to the Swedes, in exchange for
gifts, by the sachem Peminacka as the rightful owner. The
sachem Ahopameck also gave to us all the land which Captain
Scute had received in donation, only excepting for himself half
of the Schuylkill and the land called Passayungh.5 It would
therefore be advisable to give authority out here to encourage
such donations and to reserve that which ought not to be
divided, either because such land might be found necessary for
the uses of the Company or of the country; and all donations
not accompanied by a proper certificate should be held back.
I have therefore not been able to give a certificate to Captain
Scuthe both because the greatest number of the Company's
1 Now Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
3 Finland or Chammassungh, between the present Marcus Hook in Penn-
sylvania and the mouth of Naamans Creek in northern Delaware.
8 Printztorp, on the Delaware, on the south side of Upland Kill, now Chester
Creek, just over the creek from Upland, later Chester.
* Now Chester Creek.
8 On the east side of the Schuylkill River near the Delaware, within the
present city of Philadelphia.
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 149
freemen dwell on that land and also because the savages have
only lately presented the land to me, and lastly because I
have no authorization from the Honorable Company, but am
awaiting one concerning it. For the same reasons a certificate
cannot be given to Hans Amundsson. At least it seems that
one should withhold that which the freemen have occupied,
and that it might now, this year, be taken under the Com-
pany's management together with Printztorp, to which the
Company has a good claim, as is to be seen from the documents
of the freemen presented herewith.
The pretensions which the English and the Dutch have to
this river will fall of themselves, when a complete settlement
is made here, especially since our own people have secured for
themselves from the rightful owners the first right, and since
occupation has followed upon this, although the work has
stopped for a time. The Virginians who were here requested
to be allowed to buy land and plant colonies. I said that I
could not now allow it, since I had no orders. And I do not
know whether it is advisable, since we are still so weak, for in
N. Netherland the English have thus bought and borrowed
land from the Hollanders with the result that they have later
pressed them out. But whether or not a man may be allowed
to do this on his written oath to Her Majesty's service and the
good of the land, I submit to the Honorable College. It
would be very well for us to have a good man on our side in
Virginia who could settle his servants here. But as to any
stranger who wishes to buy land and to settle here I will honor
the express orders and permission concerning this from Her
Royal Majesty and the College.
Concerning our people I can say that they are, (God be
praised), mostly well, and altogether three hundred and
seventy souls, and the Swedes were only seventy when we ar-
rived here. The old people largely remain (a number of old
men go home again); one of them is better than any of the
new-comers, who are weak and a good part of them lazy
and unwilling Finns. The best men went away from here
with the Governor, of whom a great number would gladly
have remained here who at this time could have done
much good, which now must stand undone until a more
proper time.
150 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1654
Lastly, as to our church affairs, we are indeed in need of a
learned priest, although we now have three of them, namely,
Matthias Nertunius,1 who indeed is the best one, and Lauren-
tius Caroli Lock,2 who has been here before, and is accused of
mutiny, wherefore I have intended to send him home to defend
and free himself, but he is now become very ill. The third pne
is Peter Laurentii Hiort 3 and he is both materially and spiritu-
ally a poor priest. He is stationed in Trinity Fort.
" If now [the land at] Upland 4 which belongs to the Com-
pany, and is large enough for the sowing of twenty or thirty
bushels of grain, might be given to the parsonage for Ner-
tunius, together with the small houses there, it would be very
well; then he would need no other salary from the Company.
If one could obtain willingly from the people tithes of grain
and cattle, half of them could be assigned for the salary of the
ministers, the other part for the maintenance of schools and
church buildings. In addition a piece of land should be set
aside for the maintenance of the poor and the education of
young children, with revenues and some part of the confisca-
tions, that might be made and of alms and other things,
concerning which orders are awaited. Priestly vestments,
an altar painting, and two or three bells would also be
very serviceable here, if we could receive them by the next
ship.
This is what I have considered to be the most important
to present, this and everything that could serve for the build-
1 Rev. Matthias Nertunius, a man of education, came over to New Sweden in
1653 and remained until the conquest by the Dutch in 1655, when he returned
home with Rising and was made pastor of a parish in Helsingland. Amandus
Johnson, Swedish Settlements, p. 685.
3 Rev. Lars Carlsson Lock (d. 1688), a native of Finland, for forty years
Lutheran pastor of the Swedes on the Delaware, came over with the seventh ex-
pedition in 1647, relieving the Rev. Johan Campanius of his pastorate. After the
Dutch conquest of New Sweden he was the sole pastor among the Swedes, offici-
ating, alternately, in the church at Tinicum, in Fort Christina, and, from 1667,
at Crane Hook, Delaware, until the arrival of Fabritius, in 1677, after which he
confined his services to Crane Hook.
3 Rev. Peter Laurentii Hiort (d. 1704) arrived with the expedition of 1654,
and returned to Sweden the following year with Governor Rising, after the
Dutch conquest, and became associate minister in Wimmerby and Pelarne,
Sweden.
* Now Chester.
1654] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1654 151
ing up of the land being submitted to Your Excellency and
Their Lordships. I remain always
Your Excellency's and Their Lordships'
faithful and obedient servant,
Johan Rising.
From Fort Christina in New Sweden, July 13, Anno 1654.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN RISING,
1655
INTRODUCTION
Notwithstanding the threatening dangers from whites
and red men, Rising, emboldened by the hope of relief from
home, writes with much of the same optimism in this second
report, which is dated nearly a year after the first one.
The text of the report is from a contemporary manuscript
copy in Swedish in the Kammararkiv (Archives of the Ex-
chequer) in Stockholm, found by Dr. Amandus Johnson, and
is now published, for the first time, in English translation by
him. The Swedish text, edited by him, has been published
(1910) in German American Annals, viii. 87-93, 288.
A. C. M.
REPORT OF GOVERNOR JOHAN RISING,
1655
Honorable Count, Most Gracious Master and Mighty Patron,
Honorable High, Noble, and Well-born Lords:
After I had sent a relation a year ago with the ship 6rnl
concerning the condition of this country and necessary means
for its advancement, I also reported last fall about various
things, among others concerning the prize [made of] the Gyl-
lennhay2 by Stuvesand in Manathas and sent the letter through
Mr. Lord3 in Harford to Ben. Bonell4 in London. I will now
also humbly report concerning our present condition, namely,
that everything is still in a fairly good state and especially
since all here have the sure hope that a good succor from the
Fatherland will soon relieve and comfort us, especially through
Your Excellency and the assistance of the High Lords.5
If the people were not animated by this hope, there would
be danger that a part of them would go beyond their limits,
or that indeed a large number of them would desert from here,
not only because many necessaries are lacking, but also be-
cause both the savages and the Christians keep us in alarm.
Our neighbors the Renappi6 threaten not only to kill our people
in the land and ruin them, before we can become stronger and
1 Eagle. 2 Golden Shark.
3 Captain Richard Lord (c. 1611-1662) went from Massachusetts to Hartford,
Connecticut, in 1638 and was one of the most energetic and efficient men in the
latter colony. He held various public offices and was a commander in the Ind-
ian wars. He made trading voyages to New Sweden as early as July, 1643, and
was also there in 1654 and 1655, in June of the latter year being present at the
treaty made by the Swedes with the Minquas Indians at Fort Christina.
* Benjamin Bonnell, an Englishman, had been sent from Sweden to London
in 1651 to look after Swedish interests in England. Previously he had lived in
Amsterdam as a merchant, had spent about twenty years in Spain and Portugal,
and in 1625 had gone to Sweden to engage in glass manufacture. In 1640 he
had received the appointment of factor of the New Sweden Company at Stock-
holm. Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, especially pp. 676-677.
• Of the College of Commerce. • Lenape.
156
1655] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1655 157
prevent such things, but also to destroy even the trade, both
with the Minques and the other savage nations, as well as
with the Christians. We must daily buy their friendship with
presents, for they are and continue to be hostile, and worse
than they have been hitherto. If they buy anything here,
they wish to get half on credit, and then pay with difficulty.
They run to the Minques, and there they buy beavers and elk-
skins, etc., for our goods, and then they proceed before our
eyes to Manathas, where the traders can pay more for them
than we do, because more ships and more goods arrive there.
Yet we associate with them to a certain extent, and they are
fond of us, because we do not do them any harm or act hostile
towards them. Otherwise, they would indeed ruin our cattle,
yes probably the people on the land, as they vex them daily
and take away whatever they can. Last winter one of them
killed a woman not far from here and robbed what there was.
Later indeed they promised that they would make amends for
it, but have not as yet given more than ten fathoms of sevan.
Then the English draw our people to themselves over to
Virginia (Saverne)1 as much as they are able and keep those
who deserted thither last year. They largely ruin our trade
with the Minques, especially Scarborough who gives them 7
to 8 lbs. of powder for one beaver, where we are accustomed
to give at the highest from 3 to 4 lbs. and cannot give over 5
lbs. except at a loss. During Easter-time two more freemen
deserted, leaving their children and wives behind, and prob-
ably many were about to run, if I had not presented to them
so seriously their proper duties, assuring them that the Eng-
lish would certainly at a later time deliver these up to us and
that they would be condemned here and be killed in the sight
1 Severn River at Annapolis, Maryland.
1 Edmund Scarborough or Scarburgh (d. 1670-1671) was not only the lead-
ing planter and merchant of the Eastern Shore of Virginia but one of the prin-
cipal figures in seventeenth century Virginia. He resided in Accomac County,
at Occahannock, on the north side of a creek of that name flowing into Chesa-
peake Bay and dividing Accomac from Northampton County. He acquired a
large property by planting and trading, his vessels venturing as far as Delaware
River and New Amsterdam. He was not only concerned in the fur trade, but
had salt works, and in 1662 was employing nine shoemakers. He served as
sheriff and justice of the county court, was speaker of the House of Burgesses
in 1645, and was made surveyor general of Virginia in 1655.
158 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
of everyone. I keep a close watch on those worthy of sus-
picion.
The Hollanders at Manathes likewise hinder us as much as
they can, and threaten strongly that Stufvesand, when he
returns from W. India and Curacos, where he went last fall
with three ships (among which the G[yllene] Haye was one) will
come here and capture Fort Casimir, which we now call Trinity.
But if he comes we will see to it that he is received in the
manner of S. Martens1 (where he lost one of his legs), and we
are in no wise afraid about this. But the savages alarm our
people with it, the savages being thus informed by the Hol-
landers, when they come to Manathes. It accomplishes, how-
ever, God be praised, very little against us.
The N. English bring us our provisions, but we have had
the disadvantage in this trade. Those of New Haven (indeed
the whole republic of the N. England, as may be seen by the
enclosed copy of their letter) lay claim stoutly to a large part
of this country (concerning which I also wrote and reported
last fall) ; and last spring they had about a hundred men ready
to come here to take possession of it. But they gave up their
design in the hope that the English would capture Cuba, His-
paniola, etc., whither then a good many of them intended to
transport themselves.2 And the factor Elsvic3 had a con-
ference with Mr. Croutier,4 vice-governor in N. Haven, last
spring in Manathes, where he had gone, sent there as though
he intended to go back to Sweden, to secure some provisions
for us; and he then gave him so good reasons and answers
that I have not considered it worth while to answer them be-
fore Your Lordly Excellency and the directors please to send
orders to me. My humble idea would be that a good keel-boat
1 Governor Stuyvesant lost his leg in 1644, in an engagement with the Portu-
guese on the island of St. Martins, in the West Indies.
3 See Frank Strong, "A Forgotten Danger to the New England Colonies,"
Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1898, pp. 77-94.
3 Hendrick Elswick, originally a Lubeck merchant, removed to Stockholm,
and in 1654 was sent over to serve as factor of New Sweden. He returned to
Sweden in 1656. Amandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, 491-526.
4 Stephen Goodyear (d. 1658), deputy governor of New Haven, had been a
London merchant. From New Haven he engaged extensively in foreign com-
merce, sometimes in company with Governor Eaton and others. In 1654 he
was sent to Delaware Bay to treat with the Swedes about the New Haven settle-
ment near present Salem Creek, New Jersey.
1655] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1655 159
ought to be kept at Rieten Island ! with cannon to keep out
one or another party, who wish to come in with force, and it
would be a good means to prevent injustice when power
should be needed ; yet it would seem best to come to some sort
of an agreement with them, for it seems indeed that they will
never quit their pretensions, especially since Governor Eaton2
has contributed most to the English colony and plantation
here in the river.
All this alarms us indeed somewhat, but it is borne in upon
us that we are placed here just as on a theatre ; and if we re-
ceive succor we will with the help of God play our part accord-
ing to our power as well as the other nations do according to
theirs. But now we lack power for so large a design, where
such a splendid land and river now stand open for us at this
time, and which could be planted and secured with a reason-
able expense. The Minques, who are yet faithful to us and
call themselves our protectors, were recently here and presented
me with a very beautiful piece of land 3 beyond (utom) the
1 Reedy Island.
a Theophilus Eaton (c. 1591-1658), the first Governor of New Haven, was a
native of Stony Stratford, Oxfordshire, England. He had been an agent in Den-
mark and a successful London merchant before his coming to New Haven, in
1637. He was the leader in the governmental as well as in the commercial affairs
of his colony. He was one of the largest investors in the New Haven settlement
at the Varkens Kill on the Delaware.
8 Governor Rising in his unpublished manuscript journal states, that in
1655 "they [the chiefs] ... on behalf of the entire council of the Minquas
and their united nations presented to us Swedes all the land which is located
on the east side of (wydh) the Virginia River (called Elk River in English), all
[the way] from the beginning of the Chakakitque-fall all the [way] unto the
ends of Amisackan-fall; a land . . . of choice soil and endowed with beautiful
fresh rivers, so that many thousand families, who might settle there, can find
nourishment." Another Swedish manuscript, of 1667, says that "the warlike
Minquas presented to us two beautiful rivers and land situated near their limits,
called Cheakakitquate and Amihakan 22 Dutch miles in length and 12 [Dutch]
miles in width." The piece of land thus secured from the Indians extended
apparently from the "fall line" on Big Elk Creek in Cecil County, Maryland,
well up into Pennsylvania. Chakahilque or Chakakitque Fall was possibly the
first stoppage of navigation at what is now the town of Elkton, Cecil County.
Amisackan Fall may have been in a creek of nearly the same name entering
Cobbs Creek, in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania*
160 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
English river, namely, all the way from Chakahilque to Am-
isackan, which we have long desired, and it is said to be very
suitable for drawing to us the trade with the Minques, like-
wise the tobacco trade from Virginia, and for making a staple
here in Christina. Jacob Swensson has accomplished this
with them, and has done good service this year and is entirely
indispensable in the country. But the Minques stipulated
that we should soon build there and keep there all sorts of
cargoes for as good price as others give them and have black-
smiths and artisans for [the mending of] their guns. All this
I promised them, when our ships arrive.
All such could be placed in good condition with moderate
resources, and it would be possible now to do more with one
or a half barrel of gold than could be done in the future with
millions, when other nations have put their foot there. If
succor now is long delayed, then our affairs will have a short
end and we shall all be ruined among so many jealous people
and persecutors, for we sit here already as though we had
hands and feet tied. The newly built ship lies in its place and
rots. Our sloop is leaking and has been drawn up on the land
for lack of timber, and our good intentions of erecting useful
manufactories in the country, namely, saw-mills, powder-mills,
timbering and logging, brick-making, etc., have not been car-
ried out. Our trade is lessening and is already very small,
and it is unspeakably hard to supply all this people with food
and clothes in a desert, yet if they lack anything they are im-
mediately disposed to run away from here. If large succors
do not come soon we shall miss all our credit and respect with
the savage nations, who will on that account insult us and do
us harm. The Christians will also do us more harm than good,
for we sit here as a beam in the eye unto them, and this work
cannot be carried on with little succor sent at long intervals,
for in that case it is as it was in the beginning, lost expense and
work, and in the end it will all go to ruin.
But on the other hand, as has been said before, our courage
among ourselves and our reputation among the others are sus-
tained by the belief that we shall indeed receive a complete
succor, for we assure ourselves that Your Noble Highness and
\he Well-born Lords will not allow their work to go to pieces,
which can become so great. And if now in the" beginning a
1655] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1655 161
half barrel of gold should be employed as a capital, then the
land (with God's blessing) would be improved to the value of
many barrels of gold, and would bring in fifty per cent, when
it has become well established, as the factor Elswic will humbly
represent in his proposal. Then the people here would cul-
tivate the land with pleasure. Sweden would be freed from
many indolent people, who in this place would have to work
or starve. Much goods would be produced and a good profit
would be derived from them. Many skilled workmen would
get work and sustenance here and there, and increase the sup-
ply of manufactured goods; our sailors would become experi-
enced, our ships and our commerce, and also the building of
ships, would increase, trade and produce would develop, and
our own goods and the profits of them would remain in our
own hands and not be chased into the purses of strangers, as
often happens. Indeed, if it could be advanced so far that
shipping and commerce could be instituted here in N. Sweden,
then a good part of the West Indian merchandise could be
stored here and be brought back with our ships for much
better price than now happens, especially if our ships would
take the proper course to these coasts (according to the course
which the English sail from England) which can be accom-
plished at the most in five to ten weeks, and in this manner
they sail in a cold climate and thus lose less people from heat
and sickness, and lose less time, have less expense, and indeed
run less risk than is the case with our ships, which come hither
by way of the Canaries and Caribbean Islands, and thus sail on
the W. Indian coast, a course many hundred miles longer than
hither to the North English1 or these coasts.
Moreover, all the cargoes needed here, concerning which
Your Excellency and High-born Lords have already been in-
formed, can also be made up from the supplies of the Com-
pany at home in Sweden; and since linen, fine and coarse,
can be bought for a cheap price, and wadmal2 and hards3
also, then it would be well if it would be continued a hundred-
fold, for there would be a splendid gain to be secured from
these goods from every country, especially here in America,
1 /. e., New Englanders. ■ A kind of coarse woolen cloth.
3 The coarser parts of flax or hemp separated in hackling, a coarse fabric
being made therefrom.
162 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
since there is no linen either in the North or in the South.
And we wish with the next ship one or two barrels of good
flax-seed, and the same amount of hemp-seed, since the
former is entirely ruined. If now through the Grace of God
and the assistance of Your Excellency and the Well-born
Lords this river could be brought into a prosperous condition,
then the Fatherland could be supplied from here with tobacco,
calmus, sassafras, sugar, figs and other goods, and our ships
could be supplied with provisions homeward, which would
save much expense, if the ships could bring more freight.
All this I suggest in all humility and good intention, well
knowing that the good knowledge of Your Excellency and
your regard for the whole work will support me as well as the
others.
And as we have been compelled for the sustenance of the
people to buy provisions and other goods from the above men-
tioned Richard Lord, merchant in Harfort in New England,
and we have not in this predicament had means with which
to pay him, therefore we have jointly found no other counsel
to satisfy him than that we should draw a draft on the Com-
mercial College as our principals amounting to [2196 J]1 rix-
dollars, humbly requesting that said draft might be paid to
him, (iron necessity has compelled us to this), and we hope
that it will be easier for the Company to pay there, for he as
well as all the English do not take beavers in any other way
than by the pound, which is an unspeakable injury to us; the
same also with the elk-skins and deer-skins. We hope the
draft can be paid without any loss. The bills for this will be
sent over at the first opportunity as well as the draft.
Last year we should have been in lack of bread and pro-
visions if he had not come to our rescue; we could not have
subsisted with so many poor people in a desert country among
so many enemies. He offers every good thing to us, promises
to bring us sheep of the English breed, bees, fruit trees, and
other things for the good of this colony, barley and grain for
seed of every kind, and gives directions concerning plantations
and our trade and where we can bring lumbering and other
things to a good condition. He also says that he will place
his brother here under Her Royal Majesty's authority.
^mandus Johnson, Swedish Settlements, p. 530.
1655] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1655 163
He has also promised to send our letters to Holland and
therefore I address these to P. Trotzigh1 in Amsterdam, re-
questing humbly that Your Excellency and the Well-born
Lords would also send our letters the same way, that Trotzigh
may send them to London to the correspondent of Lord.
Then they will be delivered safely into our hands, especially
if the envelope shall be addressed to him as follows: "To the
Hounorable Richart Lord, Marcht. ath Hareforth i Niew
England." And I would regard it as the greatest benefaction
if I could at least receive letters and news, what we have to
expect for the advancement of our work, and how things
stand at home. In this manner we could write twice a year
and receive letters twice, and be sure of receiving them, for
otherwise they will be intercepted.
Further, as to what concerns us here in the country, [I can
report] that we are in good courage, and each one does his best,
and there is not one in the country who has not been put to
his work. We now hope for a complete and early assistance
as well as a good success in our undertaking, and we have this
year cleared more land, and occupied as much again as there
ever was in the country, and have planted it all with maize,
so that the Company should be relieved for the year from
furnishing rations for the people, since they can obtain their
own. We have also good hope that the Fatherland will supply
a capital for it liberally since, with God's help, it will be re-
warded with gain. The sum which the factor Elswic has se-
cured in P.[orto] Rico to be paid in Spain for the loss of the ship
Katt, will also help to increase this. The original documents
concerning the transaction are still lying here and he will give
a report about it. He is an indispensable man here, and does
his work with diligence and faithfulness. For here are as
many who will scatter, as there are who will hold things to-
gether, so that I had with difficulty striven to keep things
together before his arrival. May God help and grant that
1 Peter Trotzig, a native of Sweden, removed to Amsterdam and was a mer-
chant there. In 1642 he became agent of the Swedish government and in 1661
commissary, his duties including the hiring of Dutch sailors, officers, and skilled
laborers for the Swedish service, the purchasing of ships and the like. As factor
of the New Sweden Company in Holland he purchased many of the cargoes sent
to the Delaware. About 1666 he returned to Sweden. Amandus Johnson,
Swedish Settlements t especially p. 697.
164 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA £1653
good people may come over, whereby the madness and ex-
cesses of some of those who are now here might be remedied.
And at this time a few [law] cases could not be tried, be-
cause our small power will not allow that the cases be fully
examined into and the punishment executed, especially since
the door of flight stands open.
Here at Christina the people are building houses as far as
they are able and six or eight lots are now occupied. I expect
that when more people come there will be more buildings, in
the form of a city, where it seems best to place the staple
town, since a port can be made and the place can be fortified
against attack, so that ships can lie there in the winter away
from the ice of the spring, and at no other place in the river.
Fort Christina was built up last autumn with good ramparts
of turf, on two sides where it had mostly fallen down. In the
spring it was surrounded by palisades, so that one can dwell
there securely against the attacks of the savages. Yet one
side is greatly dilapidated, which like the forementioned is
made of turf. This I have it in mind to mend as soon as the
hay and the grain have been harvested, with which the people
are now occupied. Commandant Schute is diligently working
on Fort Trinity, where already two bastions with the curtain
are ready, as also a fine rampart on the water side in front of
the fort. He is hurrying the work forward with speed.
The Hollanders dwelling there who took the oath are now
gone off to Manathans, two or three weeks ago. Yet they
have been compelled to pay 14 days' work each upon the said
Fort Trinity, of which I according to the agreement could no*
relieve them, and they were out of their element here in the
river. The land is now practically clear of the Hollanders.
It would be well if the same thing could be said of the Eng-
lish, concerning whom I am awaiting orders as well as concern-
ing other things which should be regulated for us, as for ex-
ample concerning the rule of the country, its improvement
and progress.
Regarding these I have indeed made some ordinances ac-
cording to the commission given to me by the College of Com-
merce and have had them examined and discussed by the
principal men here in the country, but I have not published
them before, God willing, a further supply of people shall ar-
1655] REPORT OF GOVERNOR RISING, 1655 165
rive here. And we especially await ordinance concerning the
donations, about which I have written before, and which with-
out further orders will cause much bad confusion here, the
basis and organization of the trade, the freedoms of the in-
habitants, when and how they can in the future be taxed, and
other things.
Skilled workmen would be very useful to us, especially the
following which are now needed — saltpeter-makers and powder-
makers, ship-carpenters and house-carpenters, those who un-
derstand how to cut all kinds of timber (yet we expect to ob-
tain them best from New England), cabinet-makers, brick-
makers, potters (for here is very beautiful clay of every kind,
red as bolusf?], white to whitewash houses with, as good as lime,
yellow, blue, etc.), and clay workers, millwrights, gardeners,
and hop-garden masters, etc., which I have enumerated before.
Whatever else may be found necessary for the advance-
ment of this country according to the desire and pleasure of
Your Noble Countly Excellency and Well-born Lords expressed
in the memorial, this I shall and will strive to do and to accom-
plish according to my small ability with all faithfulness and
diligence and I remain ever,
Your Noble Countly Excellency's and Well-born Lordships'
faithful and most humble servant,
JOHAN RlSINGH.
Dated, Christina in New Sweden,
June 14, Anno 1655, in greatest haste.1
'It was received by the Commercial College in Stockholm on Nov. 15, 1655.
RELATION OF THE SURRENDER OF NEW
SWEDEN, BY GOVERNOR JOHAN CLASON
RISING, 1655
INTRODUCTION
An eighteenth-century manuscript copy of this report in
Swedish is in the library of the University of Upsala, Sweden.
It was first published in Swedish, at Upsala, in 1825, by Carl
David Arfwedson, in the appendix of his Latin dissertation,
De Colonia Nova Suecia (Concerning the Colony of New
Sweden), pp. 23-30. It was again printed, in a translation
by George P. Marsh, in the Collections of the New York His-
torical Society, second series, I. 443-448 (1841); and thence re-
printed in Samuel Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania (1850)
and in Pennsylvania Archives, second series, V. (1890), pp.
239-244. The version in the Collections is the basis of the
present text, as collated and revised from Arfwedson by Dr.
Amandus Johnson.
A Dutch account of the same episode, the absorption of
New Sweden into New Netherland, will be found in another
volume of this series, Narratives of Neiv Netherland, pp. 279-
286. A. C. M.
RELATION OF THE SURRENDER OF NEW
SWEDEN, BY GOVERNOR JOHAN CLASON
RISING, 1655
Relation concerning the unexpected and hostile Attack on the
Swedish Colony in Nova Suecia, by the Dutch, under the
Command of P. Stuyvesant, Governor of the New Nether-
lands, wherefore the Faithful Subjects of His Royal Majesty
of Sweden,1 who have endured such Violence, do most humbly
appeal to His Royal Majesty' 's Most Gracious Shelter and
Protection, to the Intent that they may be sustained and in-
demnified for the Wrongs and Injuries which they have suf-
fered.
In the year 1655, on the 30th day of August, the Dutch
from the North River, where Manhattan or New Amsterdam
is situated, with seven ships or vessels, under command of the
said P. Stiivesant, having on board 600 or 700 men, arrived in
the South River, where N[ova] Suecia lieth, and anchored be-
fore the fortress of Elfsborg, which then lay in ruins; the next
day, they passed Fort Casimir, and bringing to a little above,
they landed, and immediately summoned Swen Skuthe, who
was in command, to surrender the fort, enforcing their sum-
mons both with menaces and persuasion; and proceeded to
throw up some works. And although some time before this,
when we learned from the savages that the Dutch were about
to assail us, we had caused Fort Casimir to be supplied with
men and munitions to the best of our ability, and had drawn
up a resolution in writing to defend the fort in case the Dutch
should attack it, ordering Captain Schutte, the commandant,
to send on board their ships, when they approached, and de-
mand of them whether they came as friends, and in any case
1 King Charles X. Gustavus, who had succeeded Queen Christina upon the
latter's abdication in 1654.
170
1655] THE SURRENDER OF NEW SWEDEN 171
to warn them not to run by the said fort, upon pain of being
fired upon, (which in such case they could not reckon an act
of hostility); but if they were minded to treat with us as
friends concerning our territory and boundaries, he should
compliment them with a Swedish national salute, and assure
them that we were well disposed to a fast friendship; never-
theless, Captain Swen Schiite not only suffered the Dutch
ships to pass the fort without remonstrance or firing a gun,
whereby they gained the command both of the fort and of
the whole river, and cut off the communication between the
forts, by posting troops between them, as high up as Christina
Kill, but also surrendered the fort to Stuvesant by a disad-
vantageous capitulation, in which he forgot to stipulate a
place to which he, with his people and effects, might retire;
he also subscribed the capitulation, not in the fort or in any
indifferent place, but on board a Dutch ship. So Stuvesant
detained the people, and transported most of them to Mana-
hatans, whereby we were greatly reduced in strength and left
destitute, and not even knowing as yet that Fort Casimir had
so suddenly fallen into the enemy's hands, we had sent thither
in the mean time, September 1, nine or ten of our best freemen
to strengthen the garrison. This detachment, when they had
crossed Christina Kill betimes in the morning, found the
Dutch posted there, who immediately attacked them, fifty or
sixty men strong, and summoned them to surrender; but they
put themselves in posture of defence, and after a skirmish
with the Dutch, were all taken prisoners, except two, who re-
treated to the boat, the Dutch firing many shots after them,
but without hitting. Upon this we fired upon the Dutch from
the sconce, with a gun, whereupon they retired into the woods,
and afterwards treated harshly and cruelly such of our people
as fell into their hands.
The same day the factor Hendr. Elzvii ' was sent down from
Fort Christina to Stuvesant to obtain an explanation of his
arrival and intention, and to dissuade him from further hos-
tilities, as we could not be persuaded that he seriously pur-
posed to disturb us in the lawful dominions of His Royal
Majesty and our principals. But as Stuvesant had so cheaply
obtained possession of Fort Casimir, whither we before had
1 Hendrick Elswick.
172 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1655
sent our best soldiers, thus depriving ourselves in a great
measure both of men and munitions, he would give Elzvii no
satisfaction, but claimed the whole river and all our territory,
and had well nigh detained Elzvii as a spy. When we learned
this we collected all the people we could for the defence of
Fort Christina, and labored with all our might, by night and
by day, on ramparts and gabions. The next day, being Sep-
tember 2, the Dutch shewed themselves in considerable
strength on the upper bank of Christina Kill, but seemed to
undertake nothing special. On the morning of the 3d, they
hoisted a flag on our shallop, which lay drawn up on the
beach, and appeared to be about establishing themselves in a
house. We therefore sent over Lieutenant Swen Hook,1 with
a drummer, to find out what they purposed, for what cause
they posted themselves there, and for what we should hold
them. When he had nearly crossed the creek, he asked them
from the boat, whether he might freely go to them? They
answered yes; and whether, after discharging his commission,
he might freely return? to which also they answered yes, as
we could all hear in Fort Christina, and can bear witness
accordingly. So the drummer rowed the boat to the shore,
without beat of drum, because the lieutenant already had
their parole, and knowing no cause of hostility, he supposed
this ceremony to be unnecessary. They then both went on
shore, and an officer met them, and conducted them some dis-
tance to a house, where the enemy had already taken up a
position. The Dutch then sent our lieutenant down to Stu-
vesant, pretending that he was a spy, and Sttivesant arrested
him and threw him into the ship's hold, but Captain Fridr.
Konich detained the drummer and his drum in his own custody,
and thus they treated our messengers, contrary to the laws
and customs of all civilized nations.
On the night of the 4th they had planted gabions about
the house on the opposite bank of Christina Kill, above [the
fort], and afterwards threw up a battery under cover of them,
and entrenched themselves there. Some of our people inter-
1 Sven Hook came over from Sweden in the ship Hay, in 1653, and served
as lieutenant in the colony. After the Dutch conquest he returned to Sweden
and entered the navy, in 1658 commanding the vessel Postryttaren*. Amandus
Johnson, Swedish Settlements, pp. 596, et seq., 681.
1655) THE SURRENDER OF NEW SWEDEN 173
preted all this as indicating the purpose of the Dutch to be to
claim and hold all our territory up to the creek, and to con-
struct a fort there, not yet believing that they would, in con-
tempt of public peace, and without any known cause, com-
mence hostilities against us, until they had set up some claim,
or promulgated some protest against us, whereas up to this
time we had received from them neither message nor letter as-
signing any manner of cause or complaint.
On the 5th, the Dutch ships went up to Third Hook1 where
they landed their men, who then passed over to Timber Island,2
and thence over the great falls3 and so invested Fort Christina
on all sides. They brought their ships into the mouth of the
creek, and planted their great guns on the western side of the
fort, and when we burnt a little powder in a couple of pieces
to scale them, they fired several shots over our heads from
Timber Island, where they had also taken post in a house,
and announced to us, that they had taken up a position on
the west side, by regular volleys. We continued to prepare
ourselves to make the best defence which our strength would
allow, if we should be attacked, for we were not yet satisfied
what the Dutch intended ; but in a short time an Indian came
in to us with a letter from Stuvesant, in which he arrogantly
demanded the surrender of the whole river, and required me
and all the Swedes either to evacuate the country, or to re-
main there under Dutch protection, threatening with the
consequences in case of refusal. Hereto I answered briefly, by
letter, that, since so strange a demand was sent by him to me,
I would reply by special messengers, and sent him my answer
by the same Indian. We then held a general council of war,
as to what should be done, if the Dutch assaulted us by storm
or battery; and it was determined that we should in any case
maintain the defensive, and make the best resistance we could,
but should not commence or provoke hostilities, on account of
our weakness and want of supplies ; that we should wait until
they fired upon us, or began to storm the works, and then de-
1 An elevated piece of firm land on the north side of Brandywine Creek, be-
low the railroad bridge in Wilmington, Delaware.
2 Timber Island, on the north-east side of the Brandywine Creek, near Fort
Christina.
• Of Brandywine Creek, at present Wilmington, Delaware.
174 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
fend ourselves as long as we could, and leave the consequences
to be redressed in the future by our gracious superiors.
The Dutch now began to encroach upon us more and more
every day. They killed our cattle, goats, swine and poultry,
broke open houses, pillaged the people outside the sconce of
their property, and higher up the river they plundered many,
and stripped them to the skin. At Gothenburg they robbed
Mr. Papegoija's wife of all she had, with many others, who had
collected their property together in the Hall there. They
daily continued to advance their approaches to Fort Christina,
(which was a small and feeble work, and lay upon low ground,
and could be commanded from the surrounding heights), and
threw up two batteries besides those on the opposite bank and
on Timber Island, and hoisted their flags on all of them, as
well as on our ship in Fish Creek,1 all which hostile acts, in-
juries, and insults we were, to our great mortification, com-
pelled to witness and suffer, being unable to resist them, by
reason of our want of men and of powder, whereof our supply
scarcely sufficed for a single round for our guns. Notwith-
standing all this, we still trusted that they would at length
be persuaded to hear reason, and accordingly on the 7th we
sent messengers down to Stuvesant at Fort Casimir^ with a writ-
ten commission, whereby we sought to dissuade him from fur-
ther hostilities, protesting against his invasion and disturbance
of our proper territory without cause assigned, or declaration
denying, as far as they could, our right of possession in the
river; also suggesting to him the displeasure of our respective
sovereigns, and other consequences of great moment which
would ensue; that we were determined to defend our rights to
the utmost of our strength, and that he must answer for all
consequences, and finally required him to cease hostilities,
and to retire with his people from Fort Christina. But all
this availed nothing with him, and on the contrary he per-
sisted in his claim to the whole river, and would listen to no
terms of accommodation, declaring that such were his orders,
and that those who had given them might answer for the con-
sequences. He then wrote me a letter on the 9th, in which
he anticipates all terms of accommodation, will not allow that
we have any rights to the said river, seeks to refute our argu-
1 Now Brandywine Creek, near the site of Fort Christina.
1655] THE SURRENDER OF NEW SWEDEN 175
ments, and styles our possession a usurpation, and so interprets
every point to his own advantage.
As we still determined to maintain our own defence, and
abide the result, the enemy continued to carry on their ap-
proaches day and night, and with our little force of about
thirty men we could make no sorties, or prevent him from
gaining positions from which he could command the sconce
so completely, that there was not a spot on the ramparts
where a man could stand in security, and as he now daily
advanced his works, and summoned us to capitulate, with
threats of giving no quarter, our men proposed to us to go
out and try to bring Stuvesant to reason, both on account
of our want of supplies, and the advanced condition of the
enemy's works, and especially because our provisions were
scanty and would soon be exhausted. Besides, our few and
hastily collected people were getting worn out, partly sick,
and partly ill disposed, and some had deserted. — From these
considerations, and the fear of a mutiny, it was agreed, that I
and Elzvii should go out the next day and hold a parley
with Stuvesant, and endeavor to restrain him from forcible
measures, and to bring him to reason. We accordingly went
out for this purpose on the 13th, and Stuvesant and Nicatius
de Sylle1 met us between the sconce and their most advanced
work. We solemnly protested against his procedure and his
hostile conduct, and replied verbally to his last mentioned
letter, confirmed our title with the best arguments we could,
and held a long discussion with them; but all this produced
no impression upon them, and they maintained their first
ground, and insisted upon the surrender of Fort Christina and
the whole river; to which we replied that we would defend
ourselves to the last and would await them, clearly showing
them that they were unjustly invading our possessions, and
declaring that we would appeal to our government to redress
our wrongs, and protect our rights thus forcibly trenched upon,
j Nicasius de Sille (b. 1610), a member of the council of New Netherland,
ranking next to Stuyvesant in the expedition, was a native of Arnheim, in the
eastern part of the Netherlands, his father being a native of Namur, in Belgium.
He had served as advocate to the court of Holland, and as captain in the forces
of the States General. He came to New Netherlands in 1653 and was actively
concerned in the governmental affairs of the colony until 1660.
176 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1655
and so we went back to the sconce, exhorted our men to a
manly defence, and encouraged them as well as we were able.
As soon as the Dutch had nearly completed their works,
they brought the guns of all their batteries to bear upon us,
and on the 14th instant, formally summoned Fort Christina,
with harsh menaces, by a drummer and a messenger, to capitu-
late within twenty-four hours. We then assembled a general
council of the whole garrison, and it was found to be their
unanimous opinion, that inasmuch as we had not sufficient
strength for our defence, (the Dutch having completed their
works against the sconce, and neither the sconce nor the gar-
rison being able to stand an assault), and were in want both of
powder and other munitions, and had no hope of relief, there-
fore they were all of opinion, that we should make the best
terms we could obtain with the Dutch ; all which may be seen
by the documents. So the next day we announced to the
enemy, that we would consider their summons within the
time prescribed, and being now reduced, by our want of sup-
plies and weak condition, to yield to the violence practised
upon us, we concluded a capitulation with Stiivesant, as may
be found by the original among the documents, and surren-
dered Fort Christina to him on the 15th instant, stipulating
that the guns and all the effects belonging to the crown or the
Company should be restored by the Dutch, according to the
inventory, upon demand, and reserving the restitution of our
sovereign's rights in time and manner fitting; providing also,
that the Dutch should freely transport to Sweden both us,
and as many Swedes as chose to accompany us, for we held it
better that the people should be restored to their Fatherland's
service than to leave them there in misery, without the neces-
saries of life, in which case they would have entered the ser-
vice of the Dutch or English, and never again advantaged their
country.
THE EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS,
RESPECTING WEST JERSEY, 1676
INTRODUCTION
The preceding narratives have to do with the Dutch and
Swedish period. The narratives that follow concern the Eng-
lish period alone. The two groups differ, moreover, in that
while the accounts in the first group are mainly official reports
addressed to superior authority with no intent of publication,
those of the second were contemporaneously put into print,
for the most part to attract European immigrants to the shores
of the Delaware — an object which they accomplished with
great success.
In the two decades that intervene between the two parts
thus defined, the region of the Delaware had experienced some
extensions of settlement and had come under the successive
control of two great rival powers. During nearly the whole of
the first decade the Dutch held sway. Then the English, with
their revival of interest in trade and colonization after the Res-
toration, which resulted in endeavors to deprive the Dutch of
their commercial supremacy and of their American opportu-
nities, began war, in 1664, and seized New Netherland. This
acquisition supplied the one link hitherto missing in the chain
of England's American colonies. The Delaware region, along
with the remainder of New Netherland, acquired by the
English, was transferred by their king, Charles II., to his
brother, James, duke of York.
Of the Duke's tenure and government, of his grants of ter-
ritory, and of the later sub-grants with their tedious and in-
volved recitals, the essentials for our purpose may be found
in the succeeding pages. Let it suffice here to state that the
large portion of the English conquest on the east side of the
179
180 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
Delaware, the moiety of New Jersey called West New Jersey,
came as a trust into the hands of three eminent members of
the persecuted sect of English Quakers (the joint authors of
this Epistle) : and it is this territory that is the theme of their
disquisition as here reprinted.
The Quakers, whose leaders for years had been on the
lookout for a home of refuge in the New World, first became
directly concerned in the founding of colonies there in the
year 1673-1674, when two of their number, John Fen wick
and Edward Byllynge, old Cromwellian soldiers in England,
purchased this tract of West New Jersey. A dispute as to the
land arising between Fenwick and Byllynge, the foremost of
all Quakers was called in as arbiter. This was William Penn,
son of the Duke's favorite admiral in the Dutch War, and the
future Founder of Pennsylvania, who thus made his first entry
into the field of American colonization.
"The present difference between thee and E. B. fills the
hearts of Friends with grief," wrote Penn to Fenwick. "I
took care to hide the pretences on both hands as to the original
of the thing, because it reflects on you both and which is worse
on the truth" [i. e., on the profession of Quakerism]. Fen-
wick endeavored to evade the award, but finally submitted to
it. Byllynge accepted his allotment, but meeting business
reverses, was compelled for the satisfaction of his creditors to
convey his rights (February 14, 1675) to the above-mentioned
trustees, William Penn and two creditors, Gawen Lawrie and
Nicholas Lucas.
Fenwick, also, notwithstanding extensive sales of his share
of the land, fell into debt and had to lease those parts yet unsold
to two other Quakers, Eldridge and Warner, as security for
money borrowed. They in turn conveyed their claim to Penn,
Lawrie, and Lucas, so that the latter secured control of prac-
tically the whole of West New Jersey. In 1675 Fenwick brought
over the initial Quaker colony in the ship Griffin, and planted
INTRODUCTION 181
Salem, the first permanent English settlement on the east side
of the Delaware.
Gawen Lawrie has been ascribed to Hertfordshire, but in
1676-1677 he is mentioned as a merchant of King's Court,
Lombard Street, London. In 1684 he came over with his
family to East New Jersey as Deputy Governor, and took up
his residence at Elizabethtown. There he died in the fall of
1687. He wrote several accounts of East New Jersey. Nich-
olas Lucas was a maulster, of Hertford, suffering persecution
in that town for his Quaker belief as early as 1658. In 1664
he was the joint author of a Quaker tract and in the same year
was confined in Hertford jail, under sentence of banishment,
being kept there for eight years.
The Epistle may be accepted as a careful statement of the
facts. Judging especially from the use of the first person
under the tenth heading, it was evidently composed in large
part by Penn himself, although the other two men doubtless
had a hand in the draft. It is mentioned in Joseph Smith's
Catalogue of Friends7 Books (1867), volume II., p. 295, as a
broadside, with no title, dated 1676. It was reprinted in
1775 in Samuel Smith's History of New Jersey (Burlington,
N. J.), pp. 88-91. Our text is from Smith's book. It also
appears in Robert Proud's History of Pennsylvania, I. 141-
142 (1797), and in New Jersey Archives I. 231-235 (1880).
A. C. M.
THE EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS,
RESPECTING WEST JERSEY, 1676
Dear friends and brethren,
In the pure love and precious fellowship of our Lord Jesus
Christ, we very dearly salute you : Forasmuch as there was a
paper printed several months since, entitled, The description
of New-West- Jersey,1 in the which our names were mentioned as
trustees for one undivided moiety of the said province :2 And
because it is alledged that some, partly on this account, and
others apprehending, that the paper by the manner of its ex-
pression came from the body of friends,3 as a religious society
of people, and not from particulars,4 have through these mis-
takes, weakly concluded that the said description in matter
and form might be writ, printed and recommended on purpose
to prompt and allure people, to dis-settle and transplant
themselves, as it's also by some alledged: And because that
we are informed, that several have on that account, taken
encouragement and resolution to transplant themselves and
families to the said province; and lest any of them (as is
feared by some) should go out of a curious and unsettled
mind, and others to shun the testimony of the blessed cross of
Jesus, of which several weighty friends have a godly jealousy
upon their spirits; lest an unwarrantable forwardness should
act or hurry any beside or beyond the wisdom and counsel of
the lord, or the freedom of his light and spirit in their own
hearts, and not upon good and weighty grounds: It truly
laid hard upon us, to let friends know how the matter stands;
which we shall endeavor to do with all clearness and fidelity.
1. That there is such a province as New- Jersey, is certain.
2. That it is reputed of those who have lived and have
1 The Description of the Province of West-Jersey is mentioned in Joseph
Smith's Catalogue of Friends' Books, II. (1867), 295, as a large broadside [c. 1676].
* I. e., of the province of New Jersey.
• Or Quakers. * Individuals,
182
1676] EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS 183
travelled in that country, to be wholesome of air and fruitful
of soil, and capable of sea trade, is also certain; and it is not
right in any to despise or dispraise it, or disswade those that
find freedom from the Lord, and necessity put them on going.
3. That the duke of York1 sold it to those called lord
Berkeley, baron of Stratton, and sir George Carteret, equally
to be divided between them, is also certain.
4. One moiety or half part2 of the said province, being the
right of the said lord Berkeley, was sold by him to John Fen-
wick, in trust3 for Edward Byllinge,4 and his assigns.
5. Forasmuch as E. B. (after William Penn had ended the
difference5 between the said Edward Byllinge and John Fen-
wick) was willing to present his interest in the said province
to his creditors, as all that he had left him, towards their
satisfaction, he desired William Penn (though every way un-
concerned) and Gawen Lawrie, and Nicholas Lucas, two of
his creditors, to be trustees for performance of the same; and
because several of his creditors, particularly and very import-
unately, pressed William Penn to accept of the trust for their
sakes and security ; we did all of us comply with those and the
like requests, and accepted of the trust.
6. Upon this we became trustees for one moiety of the said
province, yet undivided : And after no little labor, trouble and
cost, a division was obtained between the said sir George
Carteret and us, as trustees: The country is situated and
bounded as is expressed in the printed description.
7. This now divided moiety is to be cast into one hundred
parts, lots, or proprieties; ten of which upon the agreement
made betwixt E. Byllinge and J. Fenwick, were settled and
conveyed unto J. Fenwick, his executors and assigns, with a
1 James, duke of York, who received the grant of New Jersey from his
brother Charles II. in 1664, at the time of the English conquest of New Nether-
land, reconveyed it the same year to his two favorites, John lord Berkeley and
Sir George Carteret.
'West New Jersey. The sale, for £1,000, took place March 18, 1673/4.
8 As later alleged.
4 Edward Byllynge (p. 1684-16S5), a Quaker brewer of Westminster, and a
former Cromwellian soldier.
5 Fenwick and Byllynge disputing the title to West New Jersey, William
Penn had been called in as arbiter. Fenwick, then, February 10, 1674/5, re-
linquished to Byllynge's assignees nine-tenths of his purchase for £400.
184 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1676
considerable sum of money, by way of satisfaction for what he
became concerned in the purchase from the said lord Berkely,
and by him1 afterwards conveyed to John Edridge and Ed-
mond Warner, their heirs and assigns.
8. The ninety parts remaining are exposed to sale, on the
behalf of the creditors of the said E. B. And forasmuch as
several friends2 are concerned as creditors, as well as others,
and the disposal of so great a part of this country being in
our hands; we did in real tenderness and regard to friends,
and especially to the poor and necessitous, make friends the
first offer; that if any of them, though particularly those
that being low in the world, and under trials about a comfort-
able livelihood for themselves and families, should be desirous
of dealing for any part or parcel thereof, that they might have
the refusal.
9. This was the real and honest intent of our hearts, and not
to prompt or allure any out of their places, either by the credit
our names might have with our people throughout the nation,
or by representing the thing otherwise than it is in itself.
As for the printed paper sometime since set forth by the
creditors, as a description of that province; we say as to two
passages in it, they are not so clearly and safely worded as
ought to have been ; particularly, in seeming to limit the winter
season to so short a time; when on further information, we
hear it is sometime longer and sometime shorter than therein
expressed; and the last clause relating to liberty of conscience,
we would not have any to think, that it is promised or intended
to maintain the liberty of the exercise of religion by force and
arms; though we shall never consent to any the least violence
on conscience; yet it was never designed to encourage any to
expect by force of arms to have liberty of conscience fenced
against invaders thereof.
1 John Fenwick, after his settlement with Byllynge, having sold over 100,000
acres of land to about fifty purchasers, Fenwick leased all his unsold tenth, July
17-19, 1675, for 1,000 years to Eldridge and Warner as security for money bor-
rowed. Eldridge and Warner shortly after conveyed the same to Penn, Lawrie,
and Lucas. John Edridge, or Eldridge, Quaker, was a tanner of Gravel Lane,
St. Paul's Shadwell, county Middlesex, in 1676. Edmond Warner (d. 1683), also
a Quaker, was a citizen and poulterer of London, and is said to have come over
to Pennsylvania with his family as early as 1683.
1 Quakers.
16761 EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS 185
10. And be it known unto you all, in the name and fear of
Almighty God, his glory and honour, power and wisdom, truth
and kingdom, is dearer to us than all visible things; and as our
eye has been single, and our heart sincere to the living God,
in this as in other things; so we desire all whom it may con-
cern, that all groundless jealousies may be judged down and
watched against, and that all extremes may be avoided on all
hands by the power of the Lord; that nothing which hurts or
grieves the holy life of truth in any that goes or stays, may be
adhered to; nor any provocations given to break precious
unity.
This am I, William Penn, moved of the Lord, to write unto
you, lest any bring a temptation upon themselves or others;
and in offending the Lord, slay their own peace: Blessed are
they that can see, and behold him their leader, their orderer,
their conductor and preserver, in staying or going: Whose
is the earth and the fullness thereof; and the cattle upon a
thousand hills. And as we formerly writ, we cannot but re-
peat our request unto you, that in whomsoever a desire is to
be concerned in this intended plantation, such would weigh
the thing before the Lord, and not headily or rashly conclude
on any such remove ; and that they do not offer violence to the
tender love of their near kindred and relations; but soberly
and conscientiously endeavour to obtain their good wills, the
unity of friends where they live; that whether they go or
stay, it may be of good favour before the Lord (and good
people) from whom only can all heavenly and earthly bless-
ings come. This we thought good to write for the preventing
of all misunderstandings, and to declare the real truth of the
matter; and so we commend you all to the Lord, who is the
watchman of his Israel. We are your friends and brethren,
William Penn,
Gawen Lawrie,
Nicholas Lucas.
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COLONY OF
WEST-JERSEY, 1681
INTRODUCTION
In the gap of five years from our last document the Quake!
settlements of West New Jersey made marked progress.
Byllynge's trustees soon effected sales of large tracts of land
to two Quaker companies in England, one in southern York-
shire and contiguous territory and the other in London.
Much of the land being resold, the number of proprietors
rapidly increased. Preparations for sending over another
Quaker colony were then energetically forwarded, in connec-
tion with which a thoroughly democratic constitution embody-
ing the Quaker ideals was drawn up in England. This was
the famous Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors,
Freeholders and Inhabitants of West New Jersey, a document of
deep import in American constitutional history. It was signed
by Penn, who has been credited with its drafting, and one
hundred and fifty other persons representative of the groups
mentioned in the title. By this instrument the government
was placed in the hands of a board of ten commissioners — to
be chosen at first by the proprietors — and in a law-making
assembly freely elected by the inhabitants.
The second colony of two hundred persons, bearing this
constitution, went over in the ship Kent in 1677 and laid the
foundations of the town and settlement of Burlington, more
than fifty miles up the Delaware from Salem. The Yorkshire
and London tracts were located respectively north and south
of the new town. Questions having arisen as to the validity
of the West New Jersey title, particularly as concerned the
power of government, which, it was asserted, had not been in-
cluded in the original real estate transfer, the commissioners
189
190 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
for the first three years managed the affairs of the settlement
under authority of Andros, the Duke's governor at New York.
Penn, in the meantime, with persistence and skill, finally in-
fluenced the Duke to recognize the Quaker title in both the
land and government, the latter however being vested solely
in Byllynge. It is this reconveyance of the Duke, dated
August 6, 1680, that is here announced in The Present State.
Byllynge, on assuming control, sent over Samuel Jenings as
the first Deputy Governor and authorized the call of the As-
sembly, which met for the first time in November, 1681.
Several hundred more immigrants followed those who
came on the Kent, and gradually extended the bounds of the
two original settlements of Salem and Burlington.
The author of The Present State is unknown, but obviously
the pamphlet was sent out by the trustees and proprietors.
It seems to be a fair and truthful statement of the existing
conditions. The original, a single sheet printed on both sides
(11 J X 6f inches), is in the collection of the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania. It was published in 1681, probably in Lon-
don, and was reprinted in 1894, in the Pennsylvania Magazine.
XVIIL 158-162. The text which follows is from the original.
A. C. M.
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COLONY OF
WEST-JERSEY, 1681
The Present State of the Colony of West-Jersey, in America.
September, Anno Dom. 1681.
1. Some few Years since, there were several Printed Papers
published, giving Account of this Colony, which gave Encour-
agement to many Persons to Purchase Lands, and Transport
Themselves, Servants, and Families thither, who have settled
Themselves in that Colony, upon the Great River of Delaware,
and the Creeks and Harbors thereof; and have Built some
Towns apt for Trade, with Convenient Ports, where large Ships
of Considerable Burthen have already unloaded, especially at
Burlington, Scituate about a Hundred and Fifty Miles1 from
the Sea up the said River.
2. And there are also many Families, who have settled
Themselves in that Country; some about Husbandry, others
have Erected Mills for Grinding Corn, and several other neces-
sary Tradesmen have There settled Themselves in Towns, and
in the Country, fit for their Respective Undertakings.
3. The Husband-Men have good Increase, as well in large
Cattle and Hoggs; as also, in all such sorts of Grain which
grow in England; and the same are Sold at Easie and Reason-
able Rates: The Increase of their Corn being considerably
Greater than in England; of which they Make good Bread,
and Brew good Beer and Ale for their Use. And as for other
Provisions, they are Plentiful; as Fish, Fowls, Deer, Pork,
Beef, and many Sorts of Fruits; as Grapes, Peaches, Apri-
cocks, Cherryes, and Apples, of which Good Syder is made.
4. The Country also produces Flax and Hemp, which they
already Spin and Manufacture into Linnen: They make sev-
eral Stuffs and Cloath of Wool for Apparrel : They Tan Leather,
Make Shooes and Hats.
1 Only about a hundred miles.
101
192 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
5. They have also Coopers, Smiths, Carpenters, Brick-
layers, Wheel-Wrights, Plow-Wrights, and Mill-Wrights, Ship-
Carpenters, and other Trades, which work upon what the
Country produces for Manufacturies.
6. For the Soyl it is Good, and capable to produce any
thing that England doth: [and] the Yearly Increase is far
Greater. The Air Temperate and Healthy; Winter not so
long as is in England : Few Natives in the Country ; but those
that are, are very Peaceable, Useful, and Serviceable to the
English Inhabitants.
7. There are many Creeks and Bayes adjoining, and be-
longing to Delaware-River, beside other Rivers and Creeks
along the Sea-shore, which are Navigable.
8. For Minerals within the Earth, they have not had Time
to search; only, there are Iron-Mines, — and a Furnace, and
Forging Mill already set up in East- Jersey, where they Make
Iron.
9. Their Houses are some Built of Brick, some of Timber,
Plaister'd and CeiPd, as in England : So that they have Mat-
terials within the Country, to set Themselves at work, and to
make all manner of Conveniency for Humane Life : And what
they do not Spend, or have to Spare, they sell to their Neigh-
bours, and Transport the Rest to the other American-Planta-
tions.
10. There is variety of Trees in the Country, and many of
them; as Oak, Cedar, Chesnut, Wallnut, Mulberry, etc. and
several sorts that are not in England.
11. For the Title of the said Colony, it stands thus: Some
Years since, the King granted under the Great Seal of England,
unto the Duke of York, His Heirs and Assigns, several Tracts
of Land in America, (in which Jersey is included) with full
Power of Government, making Laws, Peace, War, and all
other Things whatsoever, for Settling and Governing the
same. The Duke of York, (in Affirmation of former Grants
and Conveyances thereof) by Conveyance Inrolled in the
High-Court of Chancery, Grants and Conveys the Whole
Colony of West- Jersey, with all Lands, Rivers, Bayes, Creeks,
Royalties, and Priviledges thereunto belonging, unto William
Pen, Gawen Lawry, and Nicholas Lucas, In Trust for Edward
Billinge, His Heirs and Assigns for ever: And by like Convey-
1681] THE PRESENT STATE OF WEST-JERSEY 193
ance, the said Duke Granted the Power of Government of the
said West-Jersey unto the said Edward Billinge, His Deputy
or Deputyes, Commissioner or Commissioners, for Governing
and Settling the said West-Jersey; And that in as full and
ample Manner, to all Intents and Purposes, as the same was
Granted to Him by the King.1 All which Laws and Settle-
ments are, and are to be Made and Done with the Consent
and Approbation of the Proprietors and Free-holders thereof.
So that, neither Customs, Charge, Imposition, nor any other
Services or Taxes whatsoever, are to be Imposed upon the
Inhabitants, but by their own Consent in a Free and General-
Assembly of the Proprietors and Free-Holders of the said
Colony; which Assembly is to meet once every Year.
12. There is likewise Certain Provision made for the Lib-
erty of Conscience, in Matters of Religion, that all Persons
living Peaceably, may in joy the Benefit of the Religious
Exercise thereof, without any Molestation whatsoever.
13. The Method laid down for Sale and Division of the
Country of West-Jersey, is by Proprieties, (that is to say)
One Propriety contains the Hundredth Part of the Whole
Country: Of which Proprieties, many are already Sold, and
disposed of to Purchasers; and several of the same remains
yet to be Sold. In each of these Hundred Parts or Proprieties,
the Quantity of Acres, cannot be absolutely Ascertained; but
its generally judged to be Twenty Thousand Acres, and up-
wards; but some have accounted each Propriety to contain
much more. And if any Person be not minded to deal for a
Whole Propriety; Two, Four, Six, Eight, or more, may joyn
in the Purchase thereof; There being Land enough in one of
these Proprieties for many Families.
14. The Dividing, and Laying out the Land, is done by
Commissioners appointed upon the Place. And there is a
large Tract of Land, containing above Sixty English Miles,
lying along the River of Delaware, taken up, and Bought of
1 The validity of the grant of Charles II. to his brother the Duke of York
having been questioned because of the Dutch reconquest of 1673, Charles II.
issued a new patent to the Duke for the region including New Jersey, June 29,
1674. The Duke, then, August 6, 1680, confirmed West New Jersey to Penn,
Lawrie, and Lucas, also specifically empowering Byllynge with its government,
a prerogative which, it was held, had not accompanied the grant of Berkeley tS
Fenwick, March 18, 1673/4.
194 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
the Natives: The Commissioners lay out (at present) about
Five or Six Thousand Acres of Land for a Propriety out of
this Tract, as People come over that have Bought : By which
Means, the People settle near together, for their Con veniency
of Trade and Commerce. And when this Tract of Land is all
Settled, then it's intended to take up another Tract of Land,
and proceed in the same Method; and so in like manner to
continue, until the Whole Country is Divided. And the said
Commissioners, for dividing the same, are to be Chosen by the
General-Assembly of the Colony, with Approbation of the Gov-
ernor, or His Deputy, upon the Place.
15. As for the Deeds or Conveyances, signed, or to be
signed by Edward [Billinge] and His Trustees, they were at
first drawn up by able Counsellors at Law, and are [all] after
one manner: So that, every Purchaser hath alike Priviledge.
16. For Transportation of Passengers to West- Jersey, Ships
set Sail from London generally Once in Three Months, some-
times in Two Months: The Master gives Notice Six Weeks
(or more) of his Going before-hand.
17. The Price for every Passenger, (that is to say) for Men
and Women, Meat, Drink, and Passage, with a Chest, is Five
Pounds sterling per Head: For Children of Twelve Years of
Age, and under, Fifty Shillings per Head; Sucking Children,
Nothing: For Goods, Forty Shillings a Tun Freight, to be
Landed at Burlington, or elsewhere upon Delaware-River.
18. Sometimes, ships go from Dublin, sometimes from
Hull : But if any Persons, to the Number of Thirty, or more,
in Scotland or Ireland, desiring to be taken in There, the Ship-
Master will take them in at Leith, Dundee, or Aberdeen on the
East, and at Aire on the West of Scotland, and at Dublin
or Waterford in Ireland; so as they order some Person in Lon-
don, to agree, and give Security for so many Passengers to be
ready at the Time and Place agreed upon, to be taken Aboard,
with Account how many Tun of Goods they intend to Ship.
And the Commodities fit to be carryed to New- Jersey, are such
as are usually carryed to Virginia, New- York, or Mary-land.
19. Thus far it is thought meet (in short) to inform all
Persons, to whose Hands the several former Printed Papers
and Testimonies concerning New- Jersey may not come: But
if any Desire to have further Information, there are several
1681] THE PRESENT STATE OF WEST-JERSEY 195
Letters from Persons settled in West Jersey to their Friends
in England, lately Printed, and are to be had at Benj amine
Clarks, in George- Yard in Lumbord-Street, London; and Rob-
ert Turners, at Dublin in Ireland; David Falkner, at Edin-
burgh; Hugh Woods, at Hamilton; John Cowey's, at Aber-
deen in Scotland. And for such who desire to be Purchasers
of Land in West- Jersey, or to be satisfyed concerning any
thing relating thereto, they may Repair or Write to Thomas
Rudyard,2 in the afore-said George- Yard in Lumbard-Street;
where they may be further Treated with therein ; where, it's
doubted not, but they will have Full Satisfaction both as to
the Holding, Division, Concessions, and Settlements of the
said New Jersey.
1 An Abstract or Abbreviation of some Few of tlie Many (Later and Former)
Testimonys from the Inhabitants of New-Jersey and other Eminent Persons who
have Wrote 'particularly concerning that Place. London, Printed by Thomas
Milhourn, in the Year 1681. Pp. 32, quarto (John Carter Brown Library).
2 Thomas Rudyard (d. about 1692), a lawyer, of George Yard, Lombard
Street, London, originally from the town of Rudyard, in Staffordshire, had been
concerned in the famous trial of the Quakers, William Penn and William Mead,
in London in 1670. It was in his office that William Penn's first deeds granting
Pennsylvania lands were drawn up and signed. He became one of the New Jersey
proprietors, ancf in 1682 went over as Deputy Governor of East Jersey, serving
until the close of 1685, when he set out for Barbados.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCE OF
PENNSILVANIA, BY WILLIAM PENN, 1681
INTRODUCTION
The founding of the province of Pennsylvania by William
Penn was the direct result of his active participation — begin-
ning, as we have seen, in 1675 — in the management of the
affairs of the New Jersey settlements. He had thus become
fully acquainted with the conditions and possibilities not only
of the latter region but of the whole domain of the English
America of that day, and particularly of that portion of it
contiguous to West New Jersey on the west side of the
Delaware. A keen desire (evolved under the influence of his
Quaker viewpoint and experiences from a germinating idea,
as he tells us, of his youthful days at Oxford University), had
grown up in him to plant in the New World a colony all his
own, where he might exemplify his altruistic ideals of the
government and development of such a settlement and estab-
lish a democracy, under his paternal care, which while essen-
tially Quaker in character, would nevertheless attract other
desirable European immigrants seeking religious freedom and
economic opportunity. Along with these great purposes, but
subordinate to them, William Penn as an Englishman of rank
and influence in the realm, with the traditions of his class, had
also a concern for his material interests and for the perpetuity
of an estate for his family.
The realization of his dream of a Quaker commonwealth
was made practically possible through a claim of £16,000,
which as his father's heir he held against the crown. He could
rely also upon the sincere friendship of the royal brothers.
Having vainly sought the direct recovery of the debt, he now
made this loss to his estate, as he phrases it, the basis of a
199
200 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
petition to King Charles, in June, 1680, requesting the grant
of the Pennsylvania tract. The King's favor brought the de-
sired result, and on March 4, 1681, the charter, after going
through the usual stages of preparation, received the royal
signature and Penn was duly vested with a great domain
nearly as large as England itself.
Early the next month Penn appointed his cousin William
Markham to serve as Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania and
sent him over with instructions to call a council, to receive
the allegiance of the people, to settle boundaries, to survey
and distribute lands, and to keep the peace. Markham ar-
rived there about the latter part of June, 1681, and assumed
control of the government, which he administered until Penn
himself came over.
Penn in the meantime began energetically the exploitation
of his new province, giving chief attention to the preparation
of Some Account of the Province of Pennsilvania (a folio of [2]
+10 pages). This was the first of his series of immigration
pamphlets in the interest of his project. He did not seek to
entice intending settlers by misleading accounts, as did some
promoters of early — not to speak of later — American emigra-
tion, but with that scrupulous regard for true statement that
characterized Quaker writings, he was careful in this as in other
similar publications to present the simple facts without exag-
geration. Having as yet no personal knowledge of America,
his data for the parts of his work relating to it were acquired
at second hand, yet before issuing the pamphlet he first took
the precaution to read it, as he states in a letter of April 12,
1681, "to Traders, Planters, and Shipmasters, that know
those parts, and finally to the most eminent Friends, hereway
[London], and so [it] comes forth. I have foreborne pains and
allurement, and writt truth." Published in London, early in
April, as it would seem from the above letter, Some Account
was immediately issued on the Continent, under the direction
INTRODUCTION 201
of Penn's Pennsylvania agent there, the learned and well-to-do
merchant, Benjamin Furley, an English Quaker, resident in
Rotterdam. Two such editions appeared, one in Dutch at
Rotterdam (a quarto of 24 pages), and the other in German
at Amsterdam (a quarto of 31 pages). To these translations
was added Penn's letter to the burgomaster and council of
the city of Emden, dated London, December 14, 1674, and
originally printed in Dutch in 1675. The German edition
contains an additional short explanation or glossary, cover-
ing three pages, of some of the English words retained in the
translation. The pamphlet in its respective forms was widely
circulated among those most likely to respond to it, especially
in those communities and countries where Penn had travelled
or was known, notably in England, Ireland and Wales, and in
Holland and Germany, and it had considerable influence in
inducing the emigration that followed.
Some Account was reprinted in Samuel Hazard's Register
of Pennsylvania, I. 305-308, (May 17, 1828), with the omis-
sion of the abstract of the charter, and also, but with less full-
ness, in his Annals of Pennsylvania (1850), pp. 505-513. It was
again reprinted, without the abstract, in Thompson Westcott's
History of Philadelphia {Sunday Dispatch, Philadelphia, 1867),
chapter xvn. The complete text is here reprinted for the
first time, it is believed, in English, from an original copy
of the book in the collection of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
A. C. M.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCE OF
PENNSILVANIA, BY WILLIAM PENN, 1681
Some account of the province of Pennsilvania in America;
Lately Granted under the Great Seal of England to William
Penn, etc. Together with Priviledges and Powers necessary
to the well-governing thereof. Made publick for the Infor-
mation of such as are or may be disposed to Transport
themselves or Servants into those Parts.
London: Printed, and Sold by Benjamin Clark Bookseller in
George-Yard , Lombard-street , 1681.
Since (by the good providence of God) a Country in Amer-
ica is fallen to my lot, I thought it not less my Duty than
my honest Interest to give some publick notice of it to the
World, that those of our own, or other Nations, that are in-
clin'd to Transport themselves or Families beyond the Seas,
may find another Country added to their choice, that if they
shall happen to like the Place, Conditions and Constitutions,
(so far as the present Infancy of things will allow us any pros-
pect) they may, if they please, fix with me in the Province
hereafter describ'd. But before I come to treat of my par-
ticular Concernment, I shall take leave to say something of
the benefit of Plantations or Colonies in general, to obviate a
common Objection.
Colonies then are the Seeds of Nations begun and nour-
ished by the care of wise and populous Countries; as conceiv-
ing them best for the increase of Humane Stock, and beneficial
for Commerce.
Some of the wisest men in History have justly taken their
Fame from this Design and Service: We read of the Reputa-
tion given on this account to Moses, Joshua and Caleb in
Scripture-Records; and what Renown the Greek story yields
to Lycurgus, Theseus, and those Greeks that Planted many
parts of Asia : Nor is the Roman account wanting of instances
2Qe
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 203
to the Credit of that People; They had a Romulus, a Numa
Pompilius; and not only reduc'd, but moraliz'd the Manners
of the Nations they subjected; so that they may have been
rather said to conquer their Barbarity than Them.
Nor did any of these ever dream it was the way of decreas-
ing their People or Wealth : For the cause of the decay of any
of those States or Empires was not their Plantations, but their
Luxury and corruption of Manners: For when they grew to
neglect their ancient Discipline, that maintained and rewarded
Virtue and Industry, and addicted themselves to Pleasure
and Effeminacy, they debas'd their Spirits and debauched
their Morals, from whence Ruine did never fail to follow to
any People : With Justice therefore I deny the vulgar Opinion
against Plantations, That They weaken England; they have
manifestly inrich'd, and so strengthened her; Which I briefly
evidence thus.
1st. Those that go into a Foreign Plantation, their Indus-
try there is worth more than if they stay'd at home, the Prod-
uct of their Labour being in Commodities of a superiour
Nature to those of this Country. For Instance; What is an
improved Acre in Jamaica or Barbadoes worth to an improved
Acre in England? We know 'tis threetimes the value, and
the product of it comes for England, and is usually paid for in
English Growth and Manufacture. Nay, Virginia shews that
an ordinary Industry in one man produces Three thousand
pound weight of Tobacco and Twenty Barrels of Corn yearly:
He feeds himself, and brings as much of Commodity into
England besides as being returned in the Growth and Work-
manship of this Countrey, is much more than he could have
spent here: Let it also be remembred, that the Three thou-
sand weight of Tobacco brings in Three thousand Two-pences
by way of Custom to the King, which makes Twenty five
Pounds; An extraordinary Profit.
2dly. More being produc'd and imported than we can
spend here, we Export it to other Countries in Europe, which
brings in Money, or the Growth of those Countries, which is
the same thing; And this is the Advantage of the English-
Merchants and Seamen.
Sdly. Such as could not only not marry here, but hardly
live and allow themselves Cloaths, do marry there, and bestow
204 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
thrice more in all Necessaries and Conveniencies (and not a
little in Ornamental things too) for themselves, their Wives
and Children, both as to Apparel and Household-stuff; which
coming out of England, I say 'tis impossible that England
should not be a considerable Gainer.
£thly. But let it be consider'd, That the Plantations imploy
many hundreds of Shipping, and many thousands of Seamen;
which must be in divers respects an Advantage to England,
being an Island, and by Nature fitted for Navigation above
any Countrey in Europe. This is followed by other depending
Trades, as Shipwrights, Carpenters, Sawyers, Hewers, Trunnel-
makers, Joyners, Slopsellers, Dry-salters, Iron-workers, the
Eastland-Merchants,1 Timber-sellers, and Victuallers, with
many more Trades which hang upon Navigation: So that we
may easily see the Objection (That Colonies or Plantations
hurt England) is at least of no strength, especially if we con-
sider how many thousand Blacks and Indians are also accom-
modated with Cloaths and many sorts of Tools and Utensils
from England, and that their Labour is mostly brought
hither, which adds Wealth and People to the English Domin-
ions. But 'tis further said, They injure England, in that they
draw away too many of the people; for we are not so popu-
lous in the Countries as formerly: I say there are other rea-
sons for that.
1st Country-People are so extremely addicted to put
their Children into Gentlemens Service, or send them to
Towns to learn Trades, that Husbandly is neglected; and after
a soft and delicate Usage there, they are for ever unfitted for
the Labour of a Farming Life.
2dly. The Pride of the Age in its Attendance and Retinue
is so gross and universal, that where a man of 1000Z. a year
formerly kept but four or five Servants, he now keeps more
than twice the number; He must have a Gentleman to wait
upon him in his Chambers, a Coach-man, a Groom or two, a
Butler, a Man-Cook, a Gardner, two or three Lacques, it may
be an Huntsman, and a Faulkner,2 the Wife a Gentlewoman,
and Maids accordingly: This was not known by our Ancestors
of like Quality. This hinders the Plough and the Dairy, from
1 Merchants engaged in the Baltic trade.
* Falconer.
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 205
whence they are taken, and instead of keeping People to
Manly-labour, they are effeminated by a lazy and luxurious
Living; But which is worse, these people rarely marry, tho'
many of them do worse; but if they do, 'tis when they are in
Age; And the reason is clear, because their usual Keeping at
their Masters is too great and costly for them with a Family
at their own Charge, and they scarcely know how to live
lower; so that too many of them chuse rather to vend their
Lusts at an evil Ordinary than honestly Marry and Work:
The excess and sloth of the Age not allowing of Marriage and
the Charge that follows; all which hinders the increase of
our People. If Men, they often turn either Souldiers, or
Gamesters, or Highway-men. If Women, They too frequently
dress themselves for a bad market, rather than know the
Dairy again, or honestly return to Labour, whereby it happens
that both the Stock of the Nation decays and the Issue is
corrupted.
Sdly. Of old time the Nobility and Gentry spent their
Estates in the Country, and that kept the people in it; and
their Servants married and sate at easie Rents under their
Masters favour, which peopled the place : Now the Great men
(too much loving the Town and resorting to London) draw
many people thither to attend them, who either don't marry;
or if they do, they pine away their small gains in some petty
Shop ; for there are so many, they prey upon one another.
ithly. The Country being thus neglected, and no due Bal-
lance kept between Trade and Husbandry, City and Country,
the poor Country-man takes double Toil, and cannot (for want
of hands) dress and manure his Land to the Advantage it
formerly yielded him, yet must he pay the old Rents, which
occasions Servants, and such Children as go not to Trades, to
continue single, at least all their youthful time, which also
obstructs the increase of our people.
5thly. The decay of some Country-manufactures (where no
Provision is made to supply the people with a new way of
living) causes the more Industrious to go abroad to seek their
Bread in other Countries, and gives the lazy an occasion to
loiter and beg or do worse, by which means the Land swarms
with Beggars: Formerly 'twas rare to find any asking Alms
but the Maimed, or Blind, or very Aged; now thousands of
206 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1681
both Sexes run up and down, both City and Country, that are
sound and youthful, and able to work, with false Pretences
and Certificates; nor is there any care taken to imploy or deter
such Vagrants, which weakens the Country, as to People and
Labour.
To which let me add, that the great Debauchery in this
Kingdom has not only rendred many unfruitful when married,
but they live not out half their time, through Excesses, which
might be prevented by a vigorous execution of our good Laws
against corruption of manners. These and the like evils are
the true grounds of the decay of our People in the Country, to
say nothing of Plague and Wars : Towns and Cities cannot com-
plain of the decay of People, being more replenish' d than ever,
especially London, which with reason helps the Country-man
to this Objection. And though some do go to the Plantations,
yet numbering the Parishes in England, and computing how
many live more than die, and are born than buried, there goes
not over to all the Plantations a fourth part of the yearly in-
crease of the People. And when they are there, they are not
(as I said before) lost to England, since they furnish them with
much Cloaths, Houshold-stuff , Tools, and the like necessaries,
and that in greater quantities than here their condition could
have needed, or they could have bought, being there well to
pass, that were but low here, if not poor; and now Masters of
Families too, when here they had none, and could hardly keep
themselves; and very often it happens that some of them, after
their Industry and Success there have made them wealthy,
they return and empty their Riches into England; one in this
capacity being able to buy out twenty of what he was when he
went over.
This much to justifie the Credit and Benefit of Plantations;
wherein I have not sought to speak my Interest, but my Judg-
ment; and I dare venture the success of it with all sober and
considering men. I shall now proceed to give some account
of my own concern.
1st. I shall say what may be necessary of the Place or
Province.
2dly. Touch upon the Constitutions.
Sdly. Lay down the Conditions.
ithly. Give my sense what persons will be fit to go.
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 20?
othly. What Utensils, Furniture and Commodities are fit
to carry with them, with the charge of the voyage, and what
is first to be done and expected there for some time.
And lastly, I shall give an Abstract of the Grant by Letters
Patents under the Great Seal of England, that an account may
be given of the Estate and Power granted to me thereby.
I. Something of the Place.
The Place lies 600 miles nearer the Sun than England; for
England begins at the 50th Degree and ten minutes of North
Latitude, and this Place begins at fourty, which is about the
Latitude of Naples in Italy, or Mompellier1 in France. I shall
say little in its praise, to excite desires in any, whatever I could
truly write as to the Soil, Air and Water: This shall satisfie
me, that by the Blessing of God, and the honesty and industry
of Man, it may be a good and fruitful Land.
For Navigation it is said to have two conveniences; the
one by lying Ninescore miles upon Delaware River; that is to
say, about three-score and ten miles, before we come to the
Falls,3 where a Vessel of Two hundred Tuns may Sail, (and some
Creeks and small Harbours in that distance, where Ships may
come nearer than the River into the Country) and above the
Falls, for Sloops and Boats, as I am informed, to the extent of
the Patent. The other convenience is through Chesapeak-Bay.
For Timber and other Wood there is variety for the use of
man.
For Fowl, Fish, and Wild-Deer, they are reported to be
plentiful in those Parts. Our English Provision is likewise
now to be had there at reasonable Rates. The Commodities
that the Country is thought to be capable of, are Silk, Flax,
Hemp, Wine, Sider, Woad, Madder, Liquorish, Tobacco, Pot-
ashes, and Iron, and it does actually produce Hides, Tallow,
Pipe-staves, Beef, Pork, Sheep, Wool, Corn, as Wheat, Barly,
Ry, and also Furs, as your Peltree, Mincks, Racoons, Martins,
and such like; store of Furs which is to be found among the
Indians, that are profitable Commodities in Europe.
The way of trading in those Countries is thus: they send
to the Southern Plantations Corn, Beef, Pork, Fish and Pipe-
1 Montpellier. * Now Trenton, New Jersey.
208 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
staves, and take their Growth and bring for England, and re-
turn with English Goods to their own Country. Their Furs
they bring for England, and either sell them here, or carry
them out again to other parts of Europe, where they will yield
a better price : And for those that will follow Merchandize and
Navigation there is conveniency, and Timber sufficient for
Shipping.
II. The Constitutions.
For the Constitutions of the Country, the Patent shows,
first, That the People and Governour have a Legislative Power,
so that no Law can be made, nor Money raised, but by the
Peoples Consent.
2dly. That the Rights and Freedoms of England (the best
and largest in Europe) shall be in force there.
3dly. That making no Law against Allegiance (which should
we, 'twere by the Law of England void of it self that moment)
we may Enact what Laws we please for the good prosperity
and security of the said Province.
4thly. That so soon as any are ingaged with me, we shall
begin a Scheam or Draught together, such as shall give ample
Testimony of my sincere Inclinations to encourage Planters,
and settle a free, just and industrious Colony there.
III. The Conditions.
My Conditions will relate to three sorts of People: 1st.
Those that will buy: 2dly. Those that take up Land upon
Rent : 3dly. Servants. To the first, the Shares I sell shall be
certain as to number of Acres; that is to say, every one shall
contain Five thousand Acres, free from any Indian incum-
brance, the price a hundred pounds, and for the Quit-rent but
one English shilling or the value of it yearly for a hundred
Acres; and the said Quit-Rent not to begin to be paid till 1684.
To the second sort, that take up Land upon Rent, they shall
have liberty so to do, paying yearly one peny per Acre, not
exceeding Two hundred Acres. To the third sort, to wit, Ser-
vants that are carried over, Fifty Acres shall be allowed to the
Master for every Head, and Fifty Acres to every Servant when
their time is expired. And because some engage with me that
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 209
may not be disposed to go, it were very advisable for every
three Adventurers to send an Overseer with their Servants,
which would well pay the Cost.
The Divident may be thus; if the persons concern'd please,
a Tract of Land shall be survey'd; say Fifty thousand Acres
to a hundred Adventurers; in which some of the best shall be
set out for Towns or Cities; and there shall be so much Ground
allotted to each in those Towns as may maintain some Cattel
and produce some Corn; then the remainder of the fifty thou-
sand Acres shall be shar'd among the said Adventurers (casting
up the Barren for Commons, and allowing for the same) where-
by every Adventurer will have a considerable quantity of
Land together; likewise every one a proportion by a Navigable
River, and then backward into the Country. The manner of
divident I shall not be strict in; we can but speak roughly of
the matter here; but let men skilful in Plantations be con-
sulted, and I shall leave it to the majority of votes among the
Adventurers when it shall please God we come there, how to
fix it to their own content.
IV. These persons that providence seems to have most fitted
for Plantations are,
1st. Industrious Husbandmen and Day-Labourers, that
are hardly able (with extreme Labour) to maintain their
Families and portion their Children.
2dly. Laborious Handicrafts, especially Carpenters, Ma-
sons, Smiths, Weavers, Taylors, Tanners, Shoemakers^ Ship-
wrights, etc. where they may be spared or are low in the
World: And as they shall want no encouragement, so their
Labour is worth more there than here, and there provision
cheaper.
3dly. A Plantation seems a fit place for those Ingenious
Spirits that being low in the World, are much clogg'd and
oppress'd about a Livelyhood, for the means of subsisting
being easie there, they may have time and opportunity to
gratify their inclinations, and thereby improve Science and
help Nurseries of people.
4thly. A fourth sort of men to whom a Plantation would
be proper, takes in those that are younger Brothers of small
210 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
Inheritances; yet because they would live in sight of their
Kindred in some proportion to their Quality, and can't do it
without a labour that looks like Farming, their condition is too
strait for them; and if married, their Children are often too
numerous for the Estate, and are frequently bred up to no
Trades, but are a kind of Hangers on or Retainers to the elder
Brothers Table and Charity: which is a mischief, as in it self
to be lamented, so here to be remedied; For Land they have
for next to nothing, which with moderate Labour produces
plenty of all things necessary for Life, and such an increase as
by Traffique may supply them with all conveniencies.
Lastly, There are another sort of persons, not only fit for,
but necessary in Plantations, and that is, Men of universal
Spirits, that have an eye to the Good of Posterity, and that
both understand and delight to promote good Discipline and
just Government among a plain and well intending people;
such persons may find Room in Colonies for their good Counsel
and Contrivance, who are shut out from being of much use or
service to great Nations under settl'd Customs: These men
deserve much esteem, and would be harken'd to. Doubtless
'twas this (as I observ'd before) that put some of the famous
Greeks and Romans upon Transplanting and Regulating Colo-
nies of People in divers parts of the World; whose Names, for
giving so great proof of their Wisdom, Virtue, Labour and Con-
stancy, are with Justice honourably delivered down by story
to the praise of our own times; though the World, after all its
higher pretences of Religion, barbarously errs from their ex-
cellent Example.
V. The Journey and it's Appurtenances, and what is to be
done there at first coming.
Next let us see, What is fit for the Journey and Place, when
there, and also what may be the Charge of the Voyage, and
what is to be expected and done there at first. That such as
incline to go, may not be to seek here, or brought under any
disappointments there. The Goods fit to take with them for
use, or sell for profit, are all sorts of Apparel and Utensils for
Husbandry and Building and Household Stuff. And because
I know how much People are apt to fancy things beyond what
they are, and that Immaginations are great flatterers of the
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 211
minds of Men ; To the end that none may delude themselves,
with an expectation of an Immediate Amendment of their Con-
ditions, so soon as it shall please God they Arrive there; I
would have them understand, That they must look for a Winter
before a Summer comes; and they must be willing to be two
or three years without some of the conveniences they enjoy
at home; And yet I must needs say that America is another
thing then it was at the first Plantation of Virginia and New-
England: For there is better Accommodation, and English
Provisions are to be had at easier rates: However, I am in-
clin'd to set down particulars, as near as those inform me, that
know the Place, and have been Planters both in that and in the
Neighbouring Colonys.
1st. The passage will come for Masters and Mistresses at
most to 6 Pounds a Head, for Servants Five Pounds a Head,
and for Children under Seven years of Age Fifty Shillings, ex-
cept they Suck, then nothing.
Next being by the mercy of God, safely Arrived in Septem-
ber or October, two Men may clear as much Ground by Spring
(when they set the Corn of that Country) as will bring in that
time twelve month Forty Barrels, which amounts to two Hun-
dred Bushels, which makes Twenty Five quarters of Corn. So
that the first year they must buy Corn, which is usually very
plentiful. They may so soon as they come, buy Cows, more
or less, as they want, or are able, which are to be had at easy
rates. For Swine, they are plentiful and cheap; these will
quickly Increase to a Stock. So that after the first year, what
with the Poorer sort, sometimes labouring to others, and the
more able Fishing, Fowling, and sometime Buying; They may
do very well, till their own Stocks are sufficient to supply them,
and their Families, which will quickly be and to spare, if they
follow the English Husbandry, as they do in New-England,
and New- York; and get Winter Fodder for their Stock.
VI. and Lastly, An Abstract of the Patent granted by the king
To William Penn, etc. The Fourth of March, 168*.
I. WE do Give and Grant (upon divers considerations) to
William Penn his Heirs and Assigns for ever all that Tract of
Land in America with all Islands thereunto belonging That is
212 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
to say from the beginning of the fortieth degree of North Lati-
tude unto the forty third Degree of North Latitude whose
Eastern bounds from twelve English Miles above New Castle
(alias Delaware Town) runs all along upon the side of Delaware
River.
II. Free and undisturb'd use and passage into and out of
all Harbours Bays Waters Rivers Isles and Inlets belonging
to or leading to the same Together with the Soyl Fields Woods
Underwoods Mountains Hills Fenns Isles Lakes Rivers Waters
Rivulets Bays and Inlets Scituate in or belonging unto the
Limits and Bounds aforesaid Together with all sorts of Fish
Mines Mettles, etc. To have and to hold to the only behoof of
the said William Penn his Heirs and Assigns for ever To be
holden of us as of our Castle of Windsor in free and common
soccage paying only two Beaver Skins yearly.
III. And of our further Grace we have thought it fit to
erect and we do hereby erect the aforesaid Countrey and Is-
lands into a Province and Seigniory and do call it Pennsilvania
and so from henceforth we will have it calFd.
IV. That reposing special confidence in the wisdom and
justice of the said William Penn we do grant to him and his
Heirs and their Deputies for the good and happy Government
thereof to ordain and enact and under his and their Seals to
publish any Laws whatever for the publick uses of the said
Province by and with the Advice and Approbation of the Free-
holders of the said Countrey or their delegates so as they be
not repugnant to the Law of this Realm and to the Faith and
Allegiance due unto us by the legal Government thereof.
V. Full power to the said William Penn, etc., to appoint
Judges Leiutenants Justices Magistrates and Officers for what
causes so-ever and with what Power and in such Form as to
him seems convenient Also to be able to Pardon and Abolish
Crimes and Offences and to do all and every other thing that
to the compleat Establishment of Justice unto Courts and Tri-
bunals forms of Judicature and manner of proceedings do be-
long And our pleasure is and so we enjoyn and require that such
Laws and Proceedings shall be most absolute and avuilable
in Law and that all the Leige People of us Heirs and Successors
inviolably keep the same in those parts saving to us final
appeals.
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 213
VI. That the Laws for regulating Property as well for the
discent of Lands as enjoyment of Goods and Chattels and like-
wise as to Felonies shall be the same there as here in England
until they shall be altered by the said William Penn his Heirs
or Assigns and by the Freemen of the said Province or their
Delegates or Deputies or the greater part of them.
VII. Furthermore that this new Colony may the more
happily encrease by the multitude of People resorting thither
therefore we for us our Heirs and Successors do hereby grant
License to all the leige People present and future of us, etc.
(excepting such as shall be specially forbidden) to Transport
themselves and Families into the said Countrey there to In-
habit and Plant for the publick and their private Good.
VIII. Liberty to Transport what Goods or Commodities
are not forbidden paying here the legal Customs due to us,
etc.
IX. Power to divide the Countrey into Counties Hundreds
and Towns to Incorporate Towns and Burroughs and Bur-
roughs into Cities to make Fairs and Markets with convenient
Priviledges according to the merit of the Inhabitants or the fit-
ness of the place And to do all other thing or things touching
the Premises which to the said William Penn his Heirs or As-
signs shall seem meet and requisite albeit they be such as of
their own nature might otherwise require a more special com-
mandment and warrant then in these presents is express'd.
X. Liberty to Import the Growth or Manufactures of that
Province into England paying here the legal duty.
XL Power to erect Posts Harbours Creeks Havens Keys
and other places for Merchandizes with such Jurisdictions and
Priviledges as to the said William Penn, etc., shall seem ex-
pedient.
XII. Not to break the Acts of Navigation neither Governour
nor Inhabitants upon the penaltys contained in the said Acts.
XIII. Not to be in League with any Prince or Countrey
that is in War against us our Heirs and Successors.
XIV. Power of safety and defence in such way and manner
as to the said William Penn, etc., seems meet.
XV. Full power to Assign Alien Grant Demise or Enfeoff
of the premises so many and such parts and parcels to those
that are willing to purchase the same as the said William Penn
214 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
thinks fit to have and to hold to them the said Persons their
Heirs or Successors in fee Simple or fee Tail or for term of Life
or Lives or years to be held of the said William Penn, etc., as
of the said Seigniory of Windsor by such services Customs and
Rents as shall seem fit to the said William Penn his Heirs and
Assigns and not immediately of us our Heirs or Successors and
that the said Persons may take the premisses or any Parcel
thereof of the said William Penn, etc., and the same hold to
themselves their Heirs and Assigns the Statute Quia emptores
Terrarum in any wise notwithstanding.
XVI. We give and grant License to any of those Persons
to whom the said William Penn, etc., has granted any Estate
of Inheritance as aforesaid with the consent of the said William
Penn to erect any parcel of Lands within the said Province
into Mannors to hold Courts Barron and view of Francke-
pledge, etc., by Themselves or Stewards.
XVII. Power to those Persons to Grant to others the
same Tenures in fee Simple or otherwise to be held of the
said Mannors respectively and upon all further Alienations
the Land to be held of the Mannor that it held of before the
Alienation.
XVIII. We do covenant and Grant to and with the said
William Penn his Heirs and Assigns that we will not set or
make any Custom or other Taxation upon the Inhabitants of
the said Province upon Lands Houses Goods Chattels or Mer-
chandizes except with the consent of the Inhabitants and
Governour.
XIX. A charge that no Officers nor Ministers of us our
Heirs and Successors do presume at any time to attempt any
thing to the contrary of the premisses or in any sort with-
stand the same but that they be at all times aiding to the said
William Penn and his Heirs and to the Inhabitants and Mer-
chants their Factors and Assigns in the full use and benefit of
this our Charter.
XX. And if any doubts or questions shall hereafter arise
about the true sense or meaning of any Word Clause or Sen-
tence contained in this our Charter We will ordain and com-
mand that at all times and in all things such Interpretation be
made thereof and allowed in any of our Courts whatsoever as
shall be adjudged most advantageous and favourable unto the
1681] SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSILVANIA 215
said William Penn his Heirs and Assigns so as it be not against
the Faith and Allegiance due to us our Heirs and Successors.
In witness whereof we have caused our Letters to
be made Patents. Witness our self at West-
minster, etc.
To conclude, I desire all my dear Country-Folks, who may
be inclin'd to go into those Parts, to consider seriously the prem-
ises, as well the present inconveniences, as future ease and
Plenty, that so none may move rashly or from a fickle but
solid mind, having above all things, an Eye to the providence
of God, in the disposal of themselves. And I would further
advise all such at least, to have the permission, if not the good
liking of their near Relations, for that is both Natural, and a
Duty Incumbent upon all; and by this means will natural
affection be preserved, and a friendly and profitable corre-
spondence be maintained between them. In all which I be-
seech Almighty God to direct us, that his blessing may attend
our honest endeavour, and then the Consequence of all our
undertaking will turn to the Glory of his great Name, and the
true happiness of us and our Posterity. Amen.
William Penn.
POSTSCRIPT.
Whoever are desirous to be concerned with Me in this
Province, they may be treated with and further Satisfied, at
Philip Fords1 in Bow-lane in Cheapside, and at Thomas Rud-
yards or Benjamin Clarks in George Yard in Lumbard-street.
The End.
1 Philip Ford, Perm's steward, who later brought the Founder into financial
difficulties.
LETTER FROM WILLIAM PENN TO THE
COMMITTEE OF THE FREE SOCIETY OF
TRADERS, 1683
INTRODUCTION
William Penn had been an extraordinarily busy man in
the two years prior to the writing of this Letter. By July, 1681,
his plans for the sale and settlement of his Pennsylvania lands,
as foreshadowed in Some Account, having been more fully
developed, were published on the 11th of that month under the
caption Conditions and Concessions. With the issue of the
latter document, which may be regarded as a form of contract
between Penn and those who were to join in his enterprise,
the sale of lands began. Journeying between the two great
English cities of that day, London and Bristol, Penn, in the
next three months, disposed of over 300,000 acres of unlocated
lands in amounts of from 10,000 to 250 acres, to about 250 per-
sons. These grantees, who were called First Purchasers, with
special privileges as to the choice of allotment, were largely
well-to-do Quakers of southern England. Two-thirds of the
territory sold was about equally divided between purchasers
in London and Bristol, the other third being taken chiefly in
some of the intervening counties.
In October, 1681, the Proprietor sent over three commission-
ers to assist Governor Markham in the work of organizing the
colony, especially with respect to the laying out of grants of
land and to the choice of a site for the capital city. Along
with the commissioners went Penn's advance-guard of immi-
grants, one group sailing from London in the ship John and
Sarah, and the other from Bristol in the Factor.
The Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania, the land and
trading company, to which the present Letter is addressed, and
of which great things were vainly expected, was incorporated
219
220 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
by Penn in March, 1682. In the following month he sent over
the surveyor general, Thomas Holme, who laid out Philadel-
phia that summer. The same month witnessed the completion
and signing of the elaborate Frame of Government, the fa-
mous first constitution of Pennsylvania, to which were ap-
pended certain laws agreed upon in England.
All these activities in the furtherance of the undertaking
delayed the Proprietor's visit to his new province. He was
unable to depart until August, 1682. At that time the roll
of First Purchasers, as kept in the London office, was closed;
more than 600,000 acres of land had thus far been sold. Just
before sailing Penn once more prevailed upon his old friend
the Duke of York to make him another American grant, that
of the Three Lower Counties of Delaware.
It was on October 28, 1682, that William Penn first stepped
upon American soil. On that day amidst the joyful acclama-
tions of the inhabitants he disembarked from the good ship
Welcome at New Castle and received turf, twig, and water,
symbols of his feudal possession of the country. After devoting
several weeks to affairs at Upland (Chester), New Castle, and
his rapidly rising city of Philadelphia, he journeyed to New
York and paid his respects to the officials of government there.
From December 4 to 7 he sat with the first legislative assembly
at Chester. A series of important measures known as the
Great Law, including the code of laws agreed upon in England,
and embodying Penn's ideas and principles, was enacted, thus
laying broadly and deeply the constitutional foundations of
the Province. The boundaries between Pennsylvania and
Maryland, which were long to be a bone of contention, were the
subject of a conference between Penn and Lord Baltimore, in
Maryland, during the latter part of December, and again at
New Castle in the following May. Early in March, 1683, as one
of the proprietors, Penn met for a few days with the council of
East New Jersey. He then attended, in Philadelphia, the ses-
INTRODUCTION 221
eions of the second assembly of Pennsylvania, and at the
instance of that body issued a second Frame or Constitution,
which lessened the number of representatives in the council
and assembly.
Penn's first residence was at Chester, but with the develop-
ment of the capital town he took up his abode in a house which
had been especially erected for him there; he made occasional
visits, however, to Pennsbury, a country-seat he was estab-
lishing on the shores of the Delaware in Bucks County.
The movement of population to Pennsylvania under Penn
was truly remarkable; in no previous period had it reached
such proportions. Beginning with the spring of 1682 a steady
stream of immigration had set in. More than thirty ships
bringing to the province several thousand settlers arrived in
the next twelve months, so that in a little while the older
inhabitants of Swedish and Dutch origin were far outnumbered.
A fringe of settlement, in some instances reaching several
miles into the interior, notably along the tributary rivers and
creeks, now extended, at the date of this Letter, along the
Delaware from Lewes to above the Falls. The majority of
the newcomers were English Quakers; but an initial wedge of
Welsh settlement, which in the general advance was destined
in after years to cleave the English area of population in twain,
had found lodgment west of the falls of the Schuylkill.
This Letter , which is in Penn's characteristic, descriptive
style, is very properly regarded as the most important and
interesting of his series of Pennsylvania pamphlets. He had
but recently returned from a general tour of his dominions and
he had also been much occupied for some months in treating
with the Indians for their lands. He was thus fully informed
by personal observation of the events and conditions which he
here so faithfully and vividly chronicles.
The original draft of the Letter is still preserved in the col-
lection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. This manu-
222 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
script is a folio of thirty pages, of which twenty-three pages
(pp. 3-24 and 29-30) are in the handwriting of Penn himself;
the first part (pp. 1-2) and the latter part (pp. 25-27) are in
two other hands. The Letter was published the same year in
which it was written, 1683, in London (a folio of ten pages),
apparently in two editions, since to one copy is appended a
list of property-owners in the city of Philadelphia, with num-
bers affixed to the names designating the lots on the accompany-
ing plan of the city.1 The next year, 1684, the Letter was pub-
lished in three continental languages: in Dutch as Missive van
William Penn2 (two editions), at Amsterdam; in German,3
as a translation of the latter, included in Beschreibung der in
America neu-erfundenen Provinz Pensylvanien, issued at Ham-
burg; and in French, as translated with the other pieces of
Beschreibung, under the title, Recueil de Diverses pieces con-
cernant la Pensylvanie,* printed at the Hague.
Reprints of the Letter — in some instances not in full — have
appeared in Richard Blome's Present State of his Majesty's
Isles and Territories in America (London, 1687), pp. 91-111;
the Works of William Penn (London editions, 1726, 1771,
1782, 1825); Edward Rack, Caspipina's Letters (Bath and
London, 1777), I. 154-209; Robert Proud's History of Penn-
sylvania (Philadelphia, 1797), I. 246-264; Thomas Clarkson's
Memoirs of William Penn (London, 1813), I. 375-406; Samuel
Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1828), I. 433-
1 A copy of this plan may be seen in the New York Public Library.
2 A contemporary manuscript copy in Dutch from the Konneken manu-
scripts of the Ministerial Archives at Liibeck, Germany, is reproduced in facsimile,
at pp. 10-19 of Julius F. Sachse's Letters Relating to the Settlement of German-
town (Philadelphia, 1903).
■ Another early German translation in manuscript was found by Professor
Marion Dexter Learned, in 1909, in the Royal Privy Archives in Munich, and
printed by him in German American Annals, new series, VIII. 51-75, (March
and April, 1910); also by Emil Heuser in Pennsylvanien im 17. Jahrhundert
und die ausgewanderten Pfdlzer in England (Neustadt a. H., 1910).
'See English translation by Samuel W. Pennypacker in Pennsylvania
Magazine, VI. 311-328 (1882).
INTRODUCTION 223
437; Samuel M. Janney's Life of William Penn (Philadelphia,
1852), pp. 227-238; Thompson Westcott's History of Philadel-
phia (Sunday Dispatch) chapter xxv. ; and Old South Leaflets,
no. 171. A facsimile of the original English edition of 1683
was produced by James Coleman, of London, in 1881, and
from this the text which follows is taken.
A. C. M.
LETTER FROM WILLIAM PENN TO THE
COMMITTEE OF THE FREE SOCIETY OF
TRADERS, 1683
A Letter from William Penn, Proprietary and Governour of
Pennsylvania in America, to the Committee of the Free
Society of Traders of that Province, residing in London.
Containing a General Description of the said Province, its Soil,
Air, Water, Seasons and Produce, both Natural and Arti-
ficial, and the good Encrease thereof, of the Natives or Abor-
igines, their Language, Customs and Manners, Diet, Houses
or Wigwams, Liberality, easie way of Living, Physick,
Burial, Religion, Sacrifices and Cantico, Festivals, Govern-
ment, and their order in Council upon Treaties for Land,
etc., their Justice upon Evil Doers, of the first Planters, the
Dutch, etc., and the present Condition and Settlement of the
said Province, and Courts of Justice, etc.
To which is added, An Account of the City of Philadelphia,
newly laid out, its Scituation between two Navigable Rivers,
Delaware and Skulkill, with a Portraiture or Plat-form
thereof, wherein the Purchasers Lots are distinguished by
certain Numbers inserted, directing to a Catalogue of the
said Purchasors Names, and the Prosperous and Advan-
tagious Settlements of the Society aforesaid, within the said
City and Country, etc.
Printed and Sold by Andrew Sowle,1 at the Crooked-Billet in
Holloway-Lane in Shoreditch, and at several Stationers in
London, 1683.
1 Andrew Sowle (1628-1695) was the Quaker printer and bookseller in Lon-
don for the Friends of England. He had just removed in this year, 1683, to the
above location from his old shop in Devonshire New Building, without Bishops-
gate. Upon his retirement in 1691 his daughter, Tacie Sowle, carried on the
business. Another daughter, Elizabeth, married her father's apprentice, William
Bradford (1663-1752), who brought his wife over to Pennsylvania, and in 1685
established his printing-press in Philadelphia, the first in America south of New
England and north of Mexico.
224
1683) LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 225
My Kind Friends;
The Kindness of yours by the Ship Thomas and Anne, doth
much oblige me; for by it I perceive the Interest you take in
my Health and Reputation, and the prosperous Beginnings of
this Province, which you are so kind as to think may much
depend upon them. In return of which, I have sent you a
long Letter, and yet containing as brief an Account of My self,
and the Affairs of this Province, as I have been able to make.
In the first place, I take notice of the News you sent me,
whereby I find some Persons have had so little Wit, and so
much Malice, as to report my Death, and to mend the matter,
dead a Jesuit too. One might have reasonably hop'd, that this
Distance, like Death, would have been a protection against
Spite and Envy; and indeed, Absence being a kind of Death,
ought alike to secure the Name of the Absent as the Dead;
because they are equally unable as such to defend themselves:
But they that intend Mischief, do not use to follow good Rules
to effect it. However, to the great Sorrow and Shame of the
Inventors, I am still Alive, and No Jesuit, and I thank God,
very well: And without Injustice to the Authors of this, I
may venture to infer, That they that wilfully and falsly Re-
port, would have been glad it had been So. But I perceive,
many frivolous and Idle Stories have been Invented since my
Departure from England, which perhaps at this time are no
more Alive, than I am Dead.
But if I have been Unkindly used by some I left behind me,
I found Love and Respect enough where I came ; an universal
kind Welcome, every sort in their way. For here are some of
several Nations, as well as divers Judgments: Nor were the
Natives wanting in this, for their Kings, Queens and Great
Men both visited and presented me; to whom I made suitable
Returns, etc.
For the Province, the general Condition of it take as fol-
loweth.
I. The Country it self in its Soyl, Air, Water, Seasons and
Produce both Natural and Artificial is not to be despised.
The Land containeth divers sorts of Earth, as Sand Yellow
and Black, Poor and Rich: also Gravel both Loomy and Dusty;
and in some places a fast fat Earth, like to our best Vales
in England, especially by Inland Brooks and Rivers, God in
226 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
his Wisdom having ordered it so, that the Advantages of the
Country are divided, the Back-Lands being generally three to
one Richer than those that lie by Navigable Waters. We have
much of another Soyl, and that is a black Hasel Mould, upon
a Stony or Rocky bottom.
II. The Air is sweet and clear, the Heavens serene, like the
South-parts of France, rarely Overcast ; and as the Woods come
by numbers of People to be more clear'd, that it self will Refine.
III. The Waters are generally good, for the Rivers and
Brooks have mostly Gravel and Stony Bottoms, and in Number
hardly credible. We have also Mineral Waters, that operate
in the same manner with Barnet1 and North-hall,2 not two
Miles from Philadelphia.
IV. For the Seasons of the Year, having by God's goodness
now lived over the Coldest and Hottest, that the Oldest Liver
in the Province can remember, I can sa}r something to an Eng-
lish Understanding.
1st, Of the Fall, for then I came in: I found it from the
24th of October, to the beginning of December, as we have it
usually in England in September, or rather like an English
mild Spring. From December to the beginning of the Moneth
called March, we had sharp Frosty Weather; not foul, thick,
black Weather, as our North-East Winds bring with them in
England; but a Skie as clear as in Summer, and the Air dry,
cold, piercing and hungry; yet I remember not, that I wore
more Clothes than in England. The reason of this Cold is
given from the great Lakes that are fed by the Fountains of
Canada. The Winter before was as mild, scarce any Ice at
all ; while this for a few dayes Froze up our great River Dela-
ware. From that Moneth to the Moneth called June, we en-
joy'd a sweet Spring, no Gusts, but gentle Showers, and a fine
Skie. Yet this I observe, that the Winds here as there, are
more Inconstant Spring and Fall, upon that turn of Nature,
than in Summer or Winter. From thence to this present
1 Chipping Barnet, or High Barnet, a town in Hertfordshire, eleven miles
north of London, having on the town common a mineral spring, the water of
which contains a considerable portion of calcareous glauber, with a small portion
of sea salt.
2 Northaw, in Hertfordshire, about four miles northeast of Chipping Barney
W a fine saline spring, formerly much resorted to.
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 227
Moneth, which endeth the Summer (commonly speaking) we
have had extraordinary Heats, yet mitigated sometimes by
Cool Breezese. The Wind that ruleth the Summer-season, is
the South- West ; but Spring, Fall and Winter, 'tis rare to want
the wholesome North Wester seven dayes together : And what-
ever Mists, Fogs or Vapours foul the Heavens by Easterly or
Southerly Winds, in two Hours time are blown away; the
one is al wayes followed by the other : A Remedy that seems to
have a peculiar Providence in it to the Inhabitants; the multi-
tude of Trees, yet standing, being liable to retain Mists and
Vapours, and yet not one quarter so thick as I expected.
V. The Natural Produce of the Country, of Vegetables, is
Trees, Fruits, Plants, Flowers. The Trees of most note are,
the black Walnut, Cedar, Cyprus, Chestnut, Poplar, Gumwood,
Hickery, Sassafrax, Ash, Beech and Oak of divers sorts, as
Red, White and Black; Spanish Chestnut and Swamp, the
most durable of all : of All which there is plenty for the use
of man.
The Fruits that I find in the Woods, are the White and Black
Mulbery, Chestnut, Wallnut, Plumbs, Strawberries, Cran-
berries, Hurtleberries and Grapes of divers sorts. The great
Red Grape (now ripe) called by Ignorance, the Fox-Grape (be-
cause of the Relish it hath with unskilful Palates) is in it self
an extraordinary Grape, and by Art doubtless may be Culti-
vated to an excellent Wine, if not so sweet, yet little inferior
to the Frontimack, as it is not much unlike in taste, Ruddiness
set aside, which in such things, as well as Mankind, differs the
case much. There is a white kind of Muskedel, and a little
black Grape, like the cluster-Grape of England, not yet so ripe
as the other; but they tell me, when Ripe, sweeter, and that
they only want skilful Vinerons to make good use of them: I
intend to venture on it with my French man1 this season, who
shews some knowledge in those things. Here are also Peaches,
1 Andrew Doz, Perm's French vigneron, with his wife Ann, were among the
Huguenot exiles naturalized by royal letters patent at Westminster, London,
March 8, 1682. They were brought over to Pennsylvania that same year, and
he was placed in charge of Penn's vineyard, on the east bank of the Schuylkill,
north of Fairmount, in the manor of Springettsbury, on what is now Lemon Hih,
in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. "Be regardfull to Andrew Doze the french
man," writes Penn, in 1685, "he is hott, but I think honest and his wife a pretty
228 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1683
and very good, and in great quantities, not an Indian Plan-
tation without them; but whether naturally here at first, I
know not, however one may have them by Bushels for little;
they make a pleasant Drink and I think not inferior to any
Peach you have in England, except the true Newington. 'Tis
disputable with me, whether it be best to fall to Fining the
Fruits of the Country, especially the Grape, by the care and skill
of Art, or send for forreign Stems and Sets, already good and
approved. It seems most reasonable to believe, that not only
a thing groweth best, where it naturally grows; but will hardly
be equalled by another Species of the same kind, that doth not
naturally grow there. But to solve the doubt, I intend, if
God give me Life, to try both, and hope the consequence
will be as good Wine as any European Countries of the same
Latitude do yield.
VI. The Artificial Produce of the Country, is Wheat, Bar-
ley, Oats, Rye, Pease, Beans, Squashes, Pumkins, Water-
Melons, Mus-Melons, and all Herbs and Roots that our Gar-
dens in England usually bring forth.1
VII. Of living Creatures; Fish, Fowl, and the Beasts of
the Woods, here are divers sorts, some for Food and Profit,
and some for Profit only: For Food as well as Profit, the Elk,
woman in her disposition." The vineyard with 200 acres of land was patented
to Doz in 1690, he paying the Proprietor 100 vine cuttings yearly on demand.
His grandson, Andrew Doz, was a well-known citizen of Philadelphia. The Vine-
yard Hill was occupied from 1770 to 1798 by "The Hills," the country mansion of
Robert Morris, the Financier of the American Revolution, and later by the Lemon
Hill mansion which yet remains.
1 "Note, that Edward Jones, Son-in-Law to Thomas Wynn, living on the
Sckulkil, had with ordinary Cultivation, for one Grain of English Barley, seventy
Stalks and Ears of Barley; And 'tis common in this Country from one Bushel
sown, to reap forty, often fifty, and sometimes sixty. And three Pecks of Wheat
sows an Acre here."
The above foot-note appears in the original text. Dr. Edward Jones (1645-
1737), from near Bala, in Merionethshire, Wales, was one of the leaders of the
first company of Welsh settlers, which, sailing from Liverpool in the ship Lyon,
arrived in the Schuylkill River in August, 1682. Their settlements were made
on a tract of 5,000 acres of land, stretching from the Falls of the Schuylkill westerly
of Merion Meeting House (built 1695), in the present Lower Merion Township,
Montgomery County. Dr. Thomas Wynne (died 1692), a native of Caerwys,
Flintshire, Wales, came over to Pennsylvania in the ship Welcome, with William
Penn, in 1682. He was speaker of the first provincial assembly held in Phila-
delphia.
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 229
as big as a small Ox, Deer bigger than ours, Beaver, Racoon,
Rabbits, Squirrels, and some eat young Bear, and commend it.
Of Fowl of the Land, there is the Turkey (Forty and Fifty
Pound weight) which is very great; Phesants, Heath-Birds,
Pidgeons and Partridges in abundance. Of the Water, the
Swan, Goose, white and gray, Brands, Ducks, Teal, also the
Snipe and Curloe, and that in great Numbers; but the Duck and
Teal excel, nor so good have I ever eat in other Countries. Of
Fish, there is the Sturgeon, Herring, Rock, Shad, Catsheacl,
Sheepshead, Ele, Smelt, Pearch, Roach; and in Inland Rivers,
Trout, some say Salmon, above the Falls. Of Shelfish, we
have Oysters, Crabbs, Cockles, Concks, and Mushels; some
Oysters six Inches long, and one sort of Cockles as big as the
Stewing Oysters, they make a rich Broth. The Creatures for
Profit only by Skin or Fur, and that are natural to these parts,
are the Wild Cat, Panther, Otter, Wolf, Fox, Fisher, Minx,
Musk-Rat; and of the Water, the Whale for Oyl, of which we
have good store, and two Companies of Whalers, whose Boats
are built, will soon begin their Work,1 which hath the appear-
ance of a considerable Improvement. To say nothing of our
reasonable Hopes of good Cod in the Bay.
VIII. We have no want of Horses, and some are very good
and shapely enough; two Ships have been freighted to Bar-
badoes with Horses and Pipe-Staves, since my coming in.
Here is also Plenty of Cow-Cattle, and some Sheep; the People
Plow mostly with Oxen.
IX. There are divers Plants that not only the Indians tell
us, but we have had occasion to prove by Swellings, Burnings,
Cuts, etc., that they are of great Virtue, suddenly curing the
Patient : and for smell, I have observed several, especially one,
the wild Mirtle; the other I know not what to call, but are
most fragrant.
X. The Woods are adorned with lovely Flowers, for colour,
greatness, figure, and variety: I have seen the Gardens of
London best stored with that sort of Beauty, but think they
may be improved by our Woods : I have sent a few to a Person
of Quality this Year for a tryal.
Thus much of the Country, next of the Natives or Abor-
igines.
1 The whaling activity centred about the entrance to Delaware Bay.
230 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
XI. The Natives I shall consider in their Persons, Language,
Manners, Religion and Government, with my sence of their
Original. For their Persons, they are generally tall, straight,
well-built, and of singular Proportion; they tread strong and
clever, and mostly walk with a lofty Chin: Of Complexion,
Black, but by design, as the Gypsies in England: They grease
themselves with Bears-fat clarified, and using no defence
against Sun or Weather, their skins must needs be swarthy;
Their Eye is little and black, not unlike a straight-look't Jew:
The thick Lip and flat Nose, so frequent with the East-Indians
and Blacks, are not common to them; for I have seen as comely
European-like faces among them of both, as on your side the
Sea; and truly an Italian Complexion hath not much more of
the White, and the Noses of several of them have as much of
the Roman.
XII. Their Language is lofty, yet narrow, but like the
Hebrew; in Signification full, like Short-hand in writing; one
word serveth in the place of three, and the rest are supplied by
the Understanding of the Hearer: Imperfect in their Tenses,
wanting in their Moods, Participles, Adverbs, Conjunctions,
Interjections: I have made it my business to understand it,
that I might not want an Interpreter on any occasion: And I
must say, that I know not a Language spoken in Europe, that
hath words of more sweetness or greatness, in Accent and Em-
phasis, than theirs; for Instance, Octorockon,1 Rancocas*
Ozicton* Shakamacon,4 Poquerim, all of which are names of
Places, and have Grandeur in them: Of words of Sweetness,
A?ma, is Mother, Issimus, a Brother, Netap, Friend, usque
ozet, very good; pone, Bread, metse, eat, matta, no, hatta, to
have, payo, to come; Sepassen,5 Passijon, the Names of Places;
1 Doubtless Octorara Creek, an eastern affluent of the Susquehanna.
2 Rancocas Creek, in Burlington County, New Jersey.
3 Oricton, in Penn's handwriting in the original manuscript, i. e.s Orectons,
now Biles Island, was near to the Falls of Delaware, and to Penn's country-seat,
Pennsbury, in Bucks County.
4 Shackamaxon, now in Kensington, Philadelphia, where Penn lived in the
house of Thomas Fairman, early in 1683, and where he is said to have held treaties
with the Indians.
* Sepassing Land was the name applied to that part of what is now Bucks
County which included Penn's manor and country-seat of Pennsbury.
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 231
Tamane,1 Secane,2 Menanse, Secatereus,* are the names of Per-
sons. If one ask them for anything they have not, they will
answer, matta ne hattd, which to translate is, not I have, in-
stead of I have not.
XIII. Of their Customs and Manners there is much to be
said; I will begin with Children. So soon as they are born,
they wash them in Water, and while very young, and in cold
Weather to chuse, they Plunge them in the Rivers to harden
and embolden them. Having wrapt them in a Clout, they lay
them on a straight thin Board, a little more than the length
and breadth of the Child, and swadle it fast upon the Board to
make it straight; wherefore all Indians have flat Heads; and
thus they carry them at their Backs. The Children will go
very young, at nine Moneths commonly; they wear only a
small Clout round their Waste, till they are big; if Boys, they
go a Fishing till ripe for the Woods, which is about Fifteen;
then they Hunt, and after having given some Proofs of their
Manhood, by a good return of Skins, they may Marry, else it
is a shame to think of a Wife. The Girls stay with their
Mothers, and help to hoe the Ground, plant Corn and carry
Burthens; and they do well to use them to that Young, they
must do when they are Old; for the Wives are the true Ser-
vants of their Husbands: otherwise the Men are very affec-
tionate to them.
XIV. When the Young Women are fit for Marriage, they
wear something upon their Heads for an Advertisement, but
so as their Faces are hardly to be seen, but when they please :
The Age they Marry at, if Women, is about thirteen and four-
teen; if Men, seventeen and eighteen; they are rarely elder.
xTamany is the form in the original manuscript draft of the Letter in Penn's
own handwriting, but other variations, as appearing in Indian deeds and official
documents for the period, 1GS3-1697, are Tamene, Tamine, Tamina, Tamanee,
Tamanen, Tamanend, and Taminent. During the above period, to which his
authentic history is confined, he was one of the leading chiefs of the Lenni Lenape
for the region of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
2 Siccane, the form in Penn's hand in the original draft of the Letter, but
usually Secane. He was one of the two chiefs granting the region between Schuyl-
kill River and Chester Creek to Penn in 1683. In 1685 Penn writes that he sends
a cap as a present for "Shikane."
8 Secatareus, in the original manuscript draft of the Letter, in Penn's hand.
To "Secetareus," Penn was sending a cap as a present in 1685.
232 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
XV. Their Houses are Mats, or Barks of Trees set on Poles,
in the fashion of an English Barn, but out of the power of the
Winds, for they are hardly higher than a Man; they lie on
Reeds or Grass. In Travel they lodge in the Woods about
a great Fire, with the Mantle of Duffills they wear by day,
wrapt about them, and a few Boughs stuck round them.
XVI. Their Diet is Maze, or Indian Corn, divers ways pre-
pared: sometimes Roasted in the Ashes, sometimes beaten
and Boy led with Water, which they call Homine; they also
make Cakes, not unpleasant to eat: They have likewise several
sorts of Beans and Pease that are good Nourishment; and the
Woods and Rivers are their Larder.
XVII. If an European comes to see them, or calls for Lodg-
ing at their House or Wigwam they give him the best place and
first cut. If they come to visit us, they salute us with an Itah
which is as much as to say, Good be to you, and set them down,
which is mostly on the Ground close to their Heels, their Legs
upright; may be they speak not a word more, but observe all
Passages: If you give them any thing to eat or drink, well, for
they will not ask; and be it little or much, if it be with Kind-
ness, they are well pleased, else they go away sullen, but say
nothing.
XVIII. They are great Concealers of their own Resent-
ments, brought to it, I believe, by the Revenge that hath been
practised among them; in either of these, they are not ex-
ceeded by the Italians. A Tragical Instance fell out since I
came into the Country; A King's Daughter thinking her self
slighted by her Husband, in suffering another Woman to lie
down between them, rose up, went out, pluck't a Root out
of the Ground, and ate it, upon which she immediately dyed;
and for which, last Week he made an Offering to her Kindred
for Attonement and liberty of Marriage; as two others did to
the Kindred of their Wives, that dyed a natural Death: For
till Widdowers have done so, they must not marry again.
Some of the young Women are said to take undue liberty before
Marriage for a Portion; but when marryed, chaste; when with
Child, they know their Husbands no more, till delivered; and
during their Moneth, they touch no Meat, they eat, but with
a Stick, least they should defile it; nor do their Husbands fre-
quent them, till that time be expired.
1083] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 233
XIX. But in Liberality they excell, nothing is too good for
their friend; give them a fine Gun, Coat, or other thing, it
may pass twenty hands, before it sticks; light of Heart, strong
Affections, but soon spent; the most merry Creatures that
live, Feast and Dance perpetually; they never have much, nor
want much: Wealth circulateth like the Blood, all parts par-
take; and though none shall want what another hath, yet exact
Observers of Property. Some Kings have sold, others pre-
sented me with several parcels of Land; the Pay or Presents
I made them, were not hoarded by the particular Owners, but
the neighbouring Kings and their Clans being present when the
Goods were brought out, the Parties chiefly concerned con-
sulted, what and to whom they should give them? To every
King then, by the hands of a Person for that work appointed,
is a proportion sent, so sorted and folded, and with that Grav-
ity, that is admirable. Then that King sub-divideth it in like
manner among his Dependents, they hardly leaving themselves
an Equal share with one of their Subjects: and be it on such
occasions, at Festivals, or at their common Meals, the Kings
distribute, and to themselves last. They care for little, be-
cause they want but little; and the Reason is, a little con-
tents them: In this they are sufficiently revenged on us; if
they are ignorant of our Pleasures, they are also free from our
Pains. They are not disquieted with Bills of Lading and Ex-
change, nor perplexed with Chancery-Suits and Exchequer-
Reckonings. We sweat and toil to live; their pleasure feeds
them, I mean, their Hunting, Fishing and Fowling, and this
Table is spread every where; they eat twice a day, Morning and
Evening; their Seats and Table are the Ground. Since the
European came into these parts, they are grown great lovers
of strong Liquors, Rum especially, and for it exchange the
richest of their Skins and Furs : If they are heated with Liquors,
they are restless till they have enough to sleep; that is their
cry, Some more, and I will go to sleep ; but when Drunk, one
of the most wretchedst Spectacles in the world.
XX. In sickness impatient to be cured, and for it give any
thing, especially for their Children, to whom they are extreamly
natural; they drink at those times a Teran or Decoction of
some Roots in spring Water; and if they eat any flesh, it must
be of the Female of any Creature; If they dye, they bury them
234 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
with their Apparel, be they Men or Women, and the nearest
of Kin fling in something precious with them, as a token of their
Love: Their Mourning is blacking of their faces, which they
continue for a year; They are choice of the Graves of their
Dead; for least they should be lost by time, and fall to com-
mon use, they pick off the Grass that grows upon them, and
heap up the fallen Earth with great care and exactness.
XXI. These poor People are under a dark Night in things
relating to Religion, to be sure, the Tradition of it; yet they
believe a God and Immortality, without the help of Meta-
physicks; for they say, There is a great King that made them,
who dwells in a glorious Country to the Southward of them,
and that the Souls of the good shall go thither, where they shall
live again. Their Worship consists of two parts, Sacrifice and
Cantico. Their Sacrifice is their first Fruits; the first and
fattest Buck they kill, goeth to the fire, where he is all burnt
with a Mournful Ditty of him that performeth the Ceremony,
but with such marvellous Fervency and Labour of Body, that
he will even sweat to a foam. The other part is their Cantico,
performed by round-Dances, sometimes Words, sometimes
Songs, then Shouts, two being in the middle that begin, and
by Singing and Drumming on a Board direct the Chorus:
Their Postures in the Dance are very Antick and differing,
but all keep measure. This is done with equal Earnestness and
Labour, but great appearance of Joy. In the Fall, when the
Corn cometh in, they begin to feast one another; there have
been two great Festivals already, to which all come that will:
I was at one my self; their Entertainment was a green Seat
by a Spring, under some shady Trees, and twenty Bucks, with
hot Cakes of new Corn, both Wheat and Beans, which they
make up in a square form, in the leaves of the Stem, and bake
them in the Ashes: And after that they fell to Dance, But
they that go, must carry a small Present in their Money, it
may be six Pence, which is made of the Bone of a Fish; the
black is with them as Gold, the white, Silver; they call it all
Wampum.
XXII. Their Government is by Kings, which they call
Sachema, and those by Succession, but always of the Mothers
side; for Instance, the Children of him that is now King, will
not succeed, but his Brother by the Mother, or the Children
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 235
of his Sister, whose Sons (and after them the Children of her
Daughters) will reign; for no Woman inherits; the Reason
they render for this way of Descent, is, that their Issue may
not be spurious.
XXIII. Every King hath his Council, and that consists
of all the Old and Wise men of his Nation, which perhaps is
two hundred People: nothing of Moment is undertaken, be
it War, Peace, Selling of Land or Traffick, without advising
with them; and which is more, with the Young Men too.
'Tis admirable to consider, how Powerful the Kings are, and
yet how they move by the Breath of their People. I have
had occasion to be in Council with them upon Treaties for
Land, and to adjust the terms of Trade; their Order is thus:
The King sits in the middle of an half Moon, and hath his Coun-
cil, the Old and Wise on each hand; behind them, or at a little
distance, sit the younger Fry, in the same figure. Having
consulted and resolved their business, the King ordered one
of them to speak to me ; he stood up, came to me, and in the
Name of his King saluted me, then took me by the hand, and
told me, That he was ordered by his King to speak to me, and
that now it was not he, but the King that spoke, because what
he should say, was the King's mind. He first pray'd me, To
excuse them that they had not complyed with me the last
time; he feared, there might be some fault in the Interpreter,
being neither Indian nor English; besides, it was the Indian
Custom to deliberate, and take up much time in Council,
before they resolve; and that if the Young People and Owners
of the Land had been as ready as he, I had not met with so
much delay. Having thus introduced his matter, he fell to
the Bounds of the Land they had agreed to dispose of, and
the Price, (which now is little and dear, that which would
have bought twenty Miles, not buying now two.) During the
time that this Person spoke, not a man of them was observed
to whisper or smile; the Old, Grave, the Young, Reverend in
their Deportment; they do speak little, but fervently, and with
Elegancy: I have never seen more natural Sagacity, con-
sidering them without the help, (I was agoing to say, the spoil)
of Tradition; and he will deserve the Name of Wise, that Out-
wits them in any Treaty about a thing they understand.
When the Purchase was agreed, great Promises past between
236 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
us of Kindness and good Neighbourhood, and that the Indians
and English must live in Love, as long as the Sun gave light.
Which done, another made a Speech to the Indians, in the
Name of all the Sachamakers or Kings, first to tell them what
was done; next, to charge and command them, To Love the
Christians, and particularly live in Peace with me, and the
People under my Government: That many Governours had
been in the River, but that no Governour had come himself
to live and stay here before; and having now such a one that
had treated them well, they should never do him or his any
wrong. At every sentence of which they shouted, and said,
Amen, in their way.
XXIV. The Justice they have is Pecuniary: In case of
any Wrong or evil Fact, be it Murther it self, they Attone by
Feasts and Presents of their Wampon, which is proportioned
to the quality of the Offence or Person injured, or of the Sex
they are of: for in case they kill a Woman, they pay double,
and the Reason they render, is, That she breedeth Children,
which Men cannot do. 'Tis rare that they fall out, if Sober;
and if Drunk, they forgive it, saying, It was the Drink, and
not the Man, that abused them.
XXV. We have agreed, that in all Differences between us,
Six of each side shall end the matter: Don't abuse them, but
let them have Justice, and you win them: The worst is, that
they are the worse for the Christians, who have propagated
their Vices, and yielded them Tradition for ill, and not for
good things. But as low an Ebb as they are at, and as glorious
as their Condition looks, the Christians have not out-liv'd their
sight with all their Pretensions to an higher Manifestation:
What good then might not a good People graft, where there is
so distinct a Knowledge left between Good and Evil? I be-
seech God to incline the Hearts of all that come into these
parts, to out-live the Knowledge of the Natives, by a fixt
Obedience to their greater Knowledge of the Will of God, for
it were miserable indeed for us to fall under the just censure of
the poor Indian Conscience, while we make profession of things
so far transcending.
XXVI. For their Original, I am ready to believe them of
the Jewish Race, I mean, of the stock of the Ten Tribes, and
that for the following Reasons; first, They were to go to a
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 237
Land not planted or known, which to be sure Asia and Africa
were, if not Europe; and he that intended that extraordinary
Judgment upon them, might make the Passage not uneasie to
them, as it is not impossible in it self, from the Easter-most
parts of Asia, to the Wester-most of America. In the next
place, I find them of like Countenance and their Children of
so lively Resemblance, that a man would think himself in
Dukes-place1 or Berry-street1 in London, when he seeth them.
But this is not all, they agree in Rites, they reckon by Moons:
they offer their first Fruits, they have a kind of Feast of Taber-
nacles; they are said to lay their Altar upon twelve Stones;
their Mourning a year, Customs of Women, with many things
that do not now occur.
So much for the Natives, next the Old Planters will be con-
sidered in this Relation, before I come to our Colony, and the
Concerns of it.
XXVII. The first Planters in these parts were the Dutch,
and soon after them the Sweeds and Finns. The Dutch ap-
plied themselves to Traffick, the Sweeds and Finns to Hus-
bandry. There were some Disputes between them some years,
the Dutch looking upon them as Intruders upon their Purchase
and Possession, which was finally ended in the Surrender
made by John Rizeing, the Sweeds Governour, to Peter Sty-
vesant, Governour for the States of Holland, Anno 1655.
XXVIII. The Dutch inhabit mostly those parts of the
Province, that lie upon or near to the Bay, and the Sweeds
the Freshes of the River Delaware. There is no need of giving
any Description of them, who are better known there then
here; but they are a plain, strong, industrious People, yet
have made no great progress in Culture or propagation of
fruit-Trees, as if they desired rather to have enough, than
Plenty or Traffick. But I presume, the Indians made them
the more careless, by furnishing them with the means of Profit,
to wit, Skins and Furs, for Rum, and such strong Liquors.
They kindly received me, as well as the English, who were
few, before the People concerned with me came among them;
I must needs commend their Respect to Authority, and kind
Behaviour to the English; they do not degenerate from the
Old friendship between both Kingdoms. As they are People
1 Then as now these streets were in the centre of a Jewish quarter.
238 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
proper and strong of Body, so they have fine Children, and
almost every house full; rare to find one of them without
three or four Boys, and as many Girls; some six, seven and
eight Sons: And I must do them that right, I see few Young
men more sober and laborious.
XXIX. The Dutch have a Meeting-place for Religious
Worship at New Castle, and the Sweedes three, one at Chris-
tina, one at Tenecum,1 and one at Wicoco, within half a Mile
of this Town.
XXX. There rests, that I speak of the Condition we are in,
and what Settlement we have made, in which I will be as short
as I can; for I fear, and not without reason, that I have tryed
your Patience with this long Story. The Country lieth bounded
on the East, by the River and Bay of Delaware, and Eastern
Sea; it hath the Advantage of many Creeks or Rivers rather,
that run into the main River or Bay; some Navigable for great
Ships, some for small Craft: Those of most Eminency are
Christina, Brandy wine, Skilpot,2 and Skulkill; any one of which
have room to lay up the Royal Navy of England, there being
from four to eight Fathom Water.
XXXI. The lesser Creeks or Rivers, yet convenient for
Sloops and Ketches of good Burthen, are Lewis, Mespilion,3
Cedar, Dover,4 Cranbrook,5 Feversham,6 and Georges,7 below,
and Chichester,8 Chester, Toacawny,9 Pemmapecka, Port-
quessin, Neshimenck and Pennberry in the Freshes; many
lesser that admit Boats and Shallops. Our People are mostly
settled upon the upper Rivers, which are pleasant and sweet,
and generally bounded with good Land. The Planted part
of the Province and Territories is cast into six Counties, Phila-
delphia, Buckingham,10 Chester, New Castle, Kent and Sussex,
1 Tinicum Island. Wicaco was the Swedish settlement, at what is now Front
Street and Washington Avenue, Philadelphia.
3 Shelpot Creek. * Mispillion Creek. * Now Murderkill Creek.
6 Now St. Jones Creek, in Kent County, Delaware.
6 Not definitely identified, but probably between St. Jones and St. Georges
Creek, in Kent County, Delaware. Feversham is a place-name in the county of
Kent, England, not far from Penn's home in Sussex.
7 St. Georges Creek. 8 Now Marcus Creek.
BTacony Creek, Philadelphia County. The next three are Pennypack,
Poquessing, and Neshaminy Creeks, respectively.
10 Bucks County.
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 239
containing about Four Thousand Souls. Two General As-
semblies have been held, and with such Concord and Dispatch,
that they sate but three Weeks, and at least seventy Laws were
past without one Dissent in any material thing. But of this
more hereafter, being yet Raw and New in our Geer : However,
I cannot forget their singular Respect to me in this Infancy of
things, who by their own private Expences so early consider'd
Mine for the Publick, as to present me with an Impost upon
certain Goods Imported and Exported: Which after my Ac-
knowledgements of their Affection, I did as freely Remit to
the Province and the Traders to it. And for the well Govern-
ment of the said Counties, Courts of Justice are establisht in
every County, with proper Officers, as Justices, Sheriffs, Clarks,
Constables, etc., which Courts are held every two Moneths:
But to prevent Law-Suits, there are three Peace-makers chosen
by every County-Court, in the nature of common Arbitrators,
to hear and end Differences betwixt man and man ; and Spring
and Fall there is an Orphan's Court in each County, to inspect,
and regulate the Affairs of Orphans and Widdows.
XXXII. Philadelphia, the Expectation of those that are
concern'd in this Province, is at last laid out to the great Con-
tent of those here, that are any waves Interested therein ; The
Scituation is a Neck of Land, and lieth between two Navigable
Rivers, Delaware and Skulkill, whereby it hath two Fronts
upon the Water, each a Mile, and two from River to River.
Delaware is a glorious River, but the Skulkill being an hundred
Miles Boatable above the Falls, and its Course North-East
toward the Fountain of Susquahannah (that tends to the
Heart of the Province, and both sides our own) it is like to be
a great part of the Settlement of this Age. I say little of the
Town it self, because a Plat-form1 will be shewn you by my
Agent, in which those who are Purchasers of me, will find their
Names and Interests: But this I will say for the good Provi-
dence of God, that of all the many Places I have seen in the
World, I remember not one better seated ; so that it seems to
me to have been appointed for a Town, whether we regard the
Rivers, or the conveniency of the Coves, Docks, Springs, the
1 The map or plan of Philadelphia made by the surveyor general Thomas
Holme, in 1683, and first published the same year at the end of this pamphlet, as
A Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia.
240 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
loftiness and soundness of the Land and the Air, held by the
People of these parts to be very good. It is advanced within
less than a Year to about four Score Houses and Cottages, such
as they are, where Merchants and Handicrafts, are following
their Vocations as fast as they can, while the Country-men are
close at their Farms ; Some of them got a little Winter-Corn in
the Ground last Season, and the generality have had a handsom
Summer-Crop, and are preparing for their Winter-Corn. They
reaped their Barley this Year in the Moneth called May; the
Wheat in the Moneth following; so that there is time in these
parts for another Crop of divers Things before the Winter-
Season. We are daily in hopes of Shipping to add to our Num-
ber; for blessed be God, here is both Room and Accommoda-
tion for them; the Stories of our Necessity being either the
Fear of our Friends, or the Scare-Crows of our Enemies; for
the greatest hardship we have suffered, hath been Salt-Meat,
which by Fowl in Winter, and Fish in Summer, together with
some Poultery, Lamb, Mutton, Veal, and plenty of Venison
the best part of the year, hath been made very passable. I
bless God, I am fully satisfied with the Country and Enter-
tainment I can get in it; for I find that particular Content
which hath alwayes attended me, where God in his Providence
hath made it my place and service to reside. You cannot
imagin, my Station can be at present free of more than ordinary
business, and as such, I may say, It is a troublesom Work;
but the Method things are putting in, will facilitate the Charge,
and give an easier Motion to the Administration of Affairs.
However, as it is some mens Duty to plow, some to sow, some
to water, and some to reap ; so it is the Wisdom as well as Duty
of a man, to yield to the mind of Providence, and chearfully,
as well as carefully imbrace and follow the Guidance of it.
XXXIII. For your particular Concern, I might entirely
refer you to the Letters of the President of the Society;1 but
'The Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania, a joint stock company,
which had been planned and discussed in London throughout the year 1681, and
of which great results were expected, received a liberal charter from Penn in
March, 1682. Over two hundred persons in the British Isles, largely from among
those most interested in the new colony, became subscribers to the stock, which
had reached £10,000 in June, 1682. A purchase of 20,000 acres of land in the
province was made. The first officers were Dr. Nicholas More, of London.
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 241
this I will venture to say, Your Provincial Settlements both
within and without the Town, for Scituation and Soil, are with-
out Exception; Your City-Lot is an whole Street, and one side
of a Street, from River to River, containing near one hundred
Acers, not easily valued, which is besides your four hundred
Acers in the City Liberties, part of your twenty thousand
Acers in the Countery. Your Tannery hath such plenty of
Bark, the Saw-Mill for Timber, the place of the Glass-house
so conveniently posted for Water-carriage, the City-Lot for a
Dock, and the Whalery1 for a sound and fruitful Bank, and
the Town Lewis by it to help your People, that by Gods bless-
ing the Affairs of the Society will naturally grow in their Repu-
tation and Profit. I am sure I have not turned my back upon
any Offer that tended to its Prosperity; and though I am ill
at Projects, I have sometimes put in for a Share with her
Officers, to countenance and advance her Interest. You are
already informed what is fit for you further to do, whatsoever
tends to the Promotion of Wine, and to the Manufacture of
Linnen in these parts, I cannot but wish you to promote it ; and
the French People are most likely in both respects to answer
that design : To that end, I would advise you to send for some
president, at a salary of £150 per annum, John Simcock, of Cheshire, deputy,
and James Claypoole, of London, treasurer, the latter two at £100 per annum.
These officers removed to Pennsylvania, the president with about fifty servants
of the society arriving at Philadelphia in the ship Geoffrey in October, 1682.
The principal trading house and offices were erected on the Society tract in the
infant city, on the west side of Front Street — the main street — near the south side
of Dock Creek, and at the foot of Society Hill, so named from the location of the
company. Thence the society's city tract of about one hundred acres extended
westerly in a tier of lots from Front Street on the Delaware to the Schuylkill,
flanked by Spruce Street on the north and Pine Street on the south. This main
station was the centre for the various activities of the society. From here whalers
went fishing for whales to the entrance of Delaware Bay, preparing their oil and
whalebone on the shore near Lewes. At Frankford a grist-mill and a saw-mill
on Tacony Creek, a tannery, brick kilns, and glass-works were conducted. Car-
goes of English goods were brought in and sold at a profit, but collections being
difficult, and the officers tending to look after their private affairs to the detriment
of those of the society, it suffered severe losses, and in a few years practically went
out of business except as an owner of real estate.
1 "Advise what commodity whale oyl may be with you [in Barbados] for we
[the Free Society of Traders] have 24 men fishing in the [Delaware] bay that are
like to make a good Voyage." James Claypool's letter, dated Philadelphia,
10 Mo (December) 2, 1683.
242 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
Thousands of Plants out of France, with some able Vinerons,
and People of the other Vocation: But because I believe you
have been entertained with this and some other profitable
Subjects by your President, I shall add no more, but to assure
you, that I am heartily inclined to advance your just Interest,
and that you will always find me
Your Kind Cordial Friend,
William Penn.
Philadelphia, the 16th of the
6th Moneth, calFd August,
1683.
A Short Advertisement upon the Scituation and Extent of the
City of Philadelphia and the Ensuing Plat-form thereof
by the Surveyor General.1
The City of Philadelphia, now extends in Length, from
River to River, two Miles, and in Breadth near a Mile; and
the Governour, as a further manifestation of his Kindness to
the Purchasers, hath freely given them their respective Lots
in the City, without defalcation of any their Quantities of
purchased Lands; and as its now placed and modelled be-
tween two Navigable Rivers upon a Neck of Land, and that
Ships may ride in good Anchorage, in six or eight Fathom
Water in both Rivers, close to the City, and the Land of the
City level, dry and wholsom: such a Scituation is scarce to be
paralleled.
The Model of the City appears by a small Draught now
made, and may hereafter, when time permits, be augmented;
1 Captain Thomas Holme (1624-1695), the first surveyor general of Penn-
sylvania, probably of a gentle Yorkshire family of the name, apparently went over
from England to Ireland in Cromwell's army, and by 1655 was living in Limerick.
Later he removed to Waterford. By 1657 he had become a Quaker, and subse-
quently was fined and imprisoned. He was a First Purchaser of 5,000 acres of
land in Pennsylvania, and a subscriber to £50 of stock of the Free Society of
Traders. Early in 1682, with his commission as surveyor general, he came over
to Pennsylvania with his family in the Amity, and laid out country lands and the
city of Philadelphia, the latter as exhibited in the Plat-Form here referred to,
published in 1683. By 1686 he had gathered connected surveys of the lands as
granted, and compiled an important map of the province, which was sent to
London and printed in 1687. He was a member of the first assembly, and of
the provincial council.
1683] LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF TRADERS 243
and because there is not room to express the Purchasers Names
in the Draught, I have therefore drawn Directions of Reference,
by way of Numbers, whereby may be known each mans Lot
and Place in the City.
The City is so ordered now, by the Governour's Care and
Prudence, that it hath a Front to each River, one half at Dela
ware, the other at Skulkill; and though all this cannot mak$
way for small Purchasers to be in the Fronts, yet they are
placed in the next Streets, contiguous to each Front, viz. all
Purchasers of One Thousand Acres, and upwards, have the
Fronts, (and the High-street) and to every five Thousand
Acres Purchase, in the Front about an Acre, and the smaller
Purchasers about half an Acre in the backward Streets; by
which means the least hath room enough for House, Garden
and small Orchard, to the great Content and Satisfaction of all
here concerned.
The City, (as the Model shews) consists of a large Front-
street to each River, and a High-street (near the middle) from
Front (or River) to Front, of one hundred Foot broad, and a
Broad-street in the middle of the City, from side to side, of the
like breadth. In the Center of the City is a Square of ten
Acres; at each Angle are to be Houses for publick Affairs, as
a Meeting-House, Assembly or State-House, Market-House,
School-House, and several other Buildings for Publick Con-
cerns. There are also in each Quarter of the City a Square of
eight Acres, to be for the like Uses, as the Moore-fields1 in
London; and eight Streets, (besides the High-street, that run
from Front to Front, and twenty Streets, (besides the Broad-
street) that run cross the City, from side to side; all these
Streets are of fifty Foot breadth.
In each Number in the Draught, in the Fronts and High-
street, are placed the Purchasers of One Thousand Acres, and
upwards, to make up five Thousand Acres Lot, both in the
said Fronts and High-street) and the Numbers direct to each
Lot, and where in the City; so that thereby they may know
where their Concerns are therein.
1 Moorfields, a moor or fen without the walls of the old city of London to
the north. It was first drained in 1527, laid out into walks in 1606, and first built
upon late in the reign of Charles II. The name has now been lost in Finsbuiy
Square and adjoining localities.
244 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1683
The Front Lots begin at the South-ends of the Fronts, by
the Numbers, and so reach to the North-ends, and end at
Number 43.
The High-street Lots begin towards the Fronts, at Number
44, and so reach to the Center.
The lesser Purchasers begin at Number 1, in the second
Streets, and so proceed by the Numbers, as in the Draught;
the biggest of them being first placed, nearest to the Fronts.
LETTER OF THOMAS PASCHALL, 1683
INTRODUCTION
A Bristol pewterer, Thomas Paschall, is the author of
this Letter. He came over to Pennsylvania as a settler in the
summer of 1682 and writes from Philadelphia several months
after his arrival. Paschall was a native of Bristol, having
been baptized in the great church of St. Mary Redcliffe in
1634. His father William Paschall (c. 1608-1670) was also a
pewterer by trade and to him the son in 1652, at the age of
eighteen, was apprenticed for a term of seven years. In 1661
Thomas Paschall was admitted a freeman of the city, and
there he followed his occupation until the time of his migra-
tion to America. His account book, containing a number of
business transactions in Bristol, along with his copy of Agricola
on Metals, is still preserved by Philadelphia descendants.1
Before 1665 he was married to Joanna Sloper, by whom he had
at least seven children, as mentioned in the city registers from
1668 to 1682. On May 4 of the latter year his son of the same
name was apprenticed to him in Bristol, and on the 22nd of
that month the father purchased from William Penn 500 acres
of land, to be located in Pennsylvania. Soon after this date
Thomas Paschall with his family embarked, probably at the
port of Bristol, for the New World, reaching Philadelphia
somewhat before early September, 1682.
His land was laid out to him about five miles from the in-
fant town of Philadelphia and west of the Schuylkill River,
within the county of Philadelphia, near the present Delaware
County line; his land warrant was issued by Governor Mark-
The family of the late Israel W. Morris, of South Eighth Street.
247
248 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
ham, September 13, 1682. What are now Angora and Mount
Moriah Cemetery mark respectively its approximate northern
and southern limits. He lodged his family in a rented dwell-
ing for the first winter but erected a small house on his land
for his servants. About six acres of his purchase, he informs
us, were cleared at the time of his writing. His house with
its single chimney at one end is depicted on a survey of 1684
as about one and a quarter miles from the Schuylkill, between
Mill or Cobbs Creek and its branch Ameaseka Run. It was
in the old Blockley Township. Paschallville, which is a little
to the south of the site, commemorates the family name.
Peter Yocum and other Swedish neighbors lived between Pas-
chall and the river, and it is from them doubtless that he
generalizes as to the Swedes.
Thomas Paschall was elected to the provincial assembly
of Pennsylvania from Philadelphia County, in 1685 and in
1689. Within a few years after his arrival he had taken up
his residence in Philadelphia proper. He is named in the first
charter of the city in 1691, as one of the twelve common coun-
cillors, and was also holding the same office in 1701, 1704, and
1705. Although he uses the "thee " and "thy " of the Quakers
in the first part of the Letter, it is thought that he was not a
Friend; his children were baptized in parish churches of Bris-
tol and both he and his wife were buried as non-Quakers in
the Friends' burial ground in Philadelphia. She died in 1706
and he in 1718. Numerous descendants, some of the name,
still remain in and near Philadelphia.
The Letter is, to be sure, the raw production of an unlettered
tradesman; nevertheless it conveys a true picture of pioneer-
ing in the initial months of Penn's colony. It was addressed
to a friend at Chippenham, in Wiltshire, about twenty miles
east of Bristol. It was first printed as a two-page folio by
the Quaker publisher, John Bringhurst, at the Sign of the
Book, in Gracechurch Street, London, in 1683. This text is
INTRODUCTION 249
the one here reproduced. Translations appeared in Dutch1
in Missive van William Penn (i. e., Letter to the Free Society of
Traders), (Amsterdam, 1684), pp. 20-23 of one edition, pp. 25-
28 of the other; in German, in Beschreibung der in America
neu-erfnndenen Provinz Pensylvanien (Hamburg, 1684), pp.
29-32; and in French in the translation of the latter, under the
title Recueil de Diver ses 'pieces concernant la Pensylvanie (Hague,
1684). In a translation of the Recueil by Samuel W. Penny-
packer in the Pennsylvania Magazine, VI. 311-328 (1882), the
Paschall Letter emerges once more into English (pp. 323-328)
somewhat smoothed and improved in the order of its arrange-
ment but lacking the quaint crudeness of the original edition.
A. C. M.
1 Julius F. Sachse's Letters relating to the Settlement of Germantown (Phila-
delphia, 1903; ten copies made) contains a contemporary copy in Low Dutch
script, photographically reproduced, pp. 21-24, from the Konneken manuscript
in the Ministerial Archives of Liibeck, Germany; a shipping notice, which is not
in the original London edition, has been added as a postscript to this version.
LETTER OF THOMAS PASCHALL, 1683
An Abstract of a letter from Thomas Paskell of Pennsilvania
To his Friend J. J. of Chippenham.
My kind love remembred unto Thee, and thy wife, and to all
the rest of thy Family, hoping that you are all in good health,
as through the goodness of God we all are at this present writ-
ing, Excepting one of my servants, who was a Carpenter, and
a stout young man, he died on board the Ship, on our Voyage.
I thank God I, and my Wife, have not been sick at all, but con-
tinued rather better than in England; and I do not find but
the Country is healthfull, for there was a Ship that came the
same day with us into the river, that lost but one Passenger
in the Voyage, and that was their Doctor, who was ill when he
came on board, and those people that came in since continue
well. William Penn and those of the Society1 are arrived.
W. P. is well approved of, he hath been since at New Yorke,
and was extraordinarily entertained, and he behaved himself
as Noble. Here is a place called Philadelphia, where is a Mar-
ket kept, as also at Upland.2 I was at BridlingtonMair, where
I saw most sorts of goods to be sold, and a great resort of people ;
Where I saw English goods sold at very reasonable rates ; The
Country is full of goods, Brass and Pewter lieth upon hand,
That which sells best, is Linnen cloath, trading Cloath for the
Indians; I bought Kersey and it doth not sell, Broad Cloath
is wanting, and Perniston,4 and Iron-potts; and as for the
Swedes, they use but little Iron in Building, for they will build,
and hardly use any other toole but an Ax ; They will cut down
a Tree, and cut him off when down, sooner then two men can
saw him, and rend him into planks or what they please ; only
1 The Free Society of Traders. See p. 240, n. 1, supra.
2 Chester. ' Burlington, New Jersey.
* Penistone, a kind of coarse woollen cloth formerly used for garments and
the like, made at Penistone, a small town in the West Riding of Yorkshire,
England.
250
1683] LETTER OF THOMAS PASCHALL 25!
with the Ax and Wooden wedges, they use no Iron ; They are
generaly very ingenous people, lives well, they have lived here
40 Years, and have lived much at ease, having great plenty
of all sorts of provisions, but then they weer but ordinarily
Cloathd; but since the English came, they have gotten fine
Cloaths, and are going proud. Let all people know that have
any mind to come hither, that they provide Comfortable
things for their passage, and also some provitions to serve
them here, for although things are to be had at reasonable
rates here, yet it is so far to fetch, that it spends much time,
so that it's better to come provided for half a Year then to
want one day, I thank God we have not wanted, but have
fared well beyond what we did in England.
The River is taken up all along, by the Sweads, and Finns
and some Dutch, before the English came, near eight score
miles, and the Englishmen some of them, buy their Planta-
tions, and get roome by the great River-side, and the rest get
into Creeks, and small rivers that run into it, and some go into
the Woods seven or eight Miles; Thomas Colborne1 is three
miles in the Woods, he is well to pass, and hath about fourteen
Acres of Corne now growing, and hath gotten between 30 and
40 li. by his Trade, in this short time. I have hired a House
for my Family for the Winter, and I have gotten a little House
in my Land for my servants, and have cleared Land about six
Acres; and this I can say, I never wisht my self at Bristol again
since my departure. I live in the Schoolkill Creek, near Phila-
delphia, about 100 Miles up the River. Here have been 24
Ships with Passengers within this Year, so that provisions are
somewhat hard to come by in some places, though at no dear
rate, there is yet enough in the River, but it is far to fetch, and
suddainly there will be an Order taken for continuall supply.
Now I shall give you an impartial account of the Country as
I find it, as followeth. When we came into Delawarebay we
saw an infinite number of small fish in sholes, also large fish
leaping in the Water; The River is a brave pleasant River as
1 Thomas Coebourn (d. 1698-99), carpenter, Quaker emigrant, from Lamborn
Woodlands, Berkshire, England, came over to Pennsylvania early in 1682 and
settled on Chester Creek, about three miles northwest of the town of Chester.
About 1687 he built a mill — the second on Chester Creek — which gave great
offence to the proprietors of the Chester mills farther down the creek.
252 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
can be desired, affording divers sorts of fish in great plenty, it's
planted all along the Shoare, and in some Creeks, especialy in
Pensilvania side, mostly by Sweads, Finns, and Dutch, and
now at last, English throng in among them, and have filed all
the Rivers and Creeks a great way in the Woods, and have
settled about 160 Miles up the great River; some English that
are above the falls, have sowed this Year 30 or 40 bushels of
Wheat, and have great stocks of Cattel ; Most of the Sweads,
and Finns are ingeneous people, they speak English, Swead,
Finn, Dutch and the Indian; They plant but little Indian
corne, nor Tobacco; their Women make most of the Linnen
cloath they wear, they Spinn and Weave it and make fine Lin-
nen, and are many of them curious housewives: The people
generally eat Rye bread, being approved of best by them, not
but that here is good Wheat, for I have eaten as good bread
and drank as good drink as ever I did in England, as also very
good butter and cheese, as most in England. Here is 3 sorts
of Wheat, as Winter, Summer, and Buck Wheat; the Winter
Wheat they sow at the fall, the Summer Wheat in March,
these two sorts are ripe in June; then having taken in this, they
plow the same land, and sow Buck Wheat, which is ripe in
September: I have not given above 2s. 6d per skipple,1 (which
is 3 English pecks) for the best Wheat and that in goods which
cost little more then half so much in England, here is very
good Rye at 2s per skipple, also Barly of 2 sorts, as Winter,
and Summer, at 4 Guilders per skipple ; also Oats, and 3 sorts
of Indian Corne, (two of which sorts they can Malt and make
good bear of as of Barley,) at four Guilders per Skiple, a Guilder
is four pence halfpenney. I have bought good Beef, Porke,
and Mutton at two pence per pound and some cheaper, also
Turkeys and Wild-geese at the value of two or three Pound of
Shot apeice, and Ducks at one Pound of Shot, or the like value,
and in great plenty: here is great store of poultry, but for
Curlews, Pidgons, and Phesants, they will hardly bestow a
shot upon them. I have Venison of the Indians very cheap,
although they formerly sold it as cheap again to the Sweads;
I have four Dear for two yards of trading cloath, which cost
five shillings, and most times I purchase it cheaper: We had
Bearsflesh this fall for little or nothing, it is good food, tasting
1 The Dutch schepeL
1683] LETTER OF THOMAS PASCHALL 253
much like Beef; There have been many Horses sold of late to
Barbadoes, and here is plenty of Rum, Sugar, Ginger, and
Melasses. I was lately at Bridlington-fair,1 where were a great
resort of people, with Cattle and all sorts of Goods, sold at very
reasonable rates.
Here are Gardens with all sorts of Herbs, and some more
then in England, also Goose-beries and Roasetrees, but what
other Flowers I know not yet: Turnips, Parsnips, and Cab-
bages, beyond Compare. Here are Peaches in abundance of
three sorts I have seen rott on the Ground, and the Hogs eate
them, they make good Spirits from them, also from Corne and
Cheries, and a sort of wild Plums and Grapes, and most people
have Stills of Copper for that use. Here are Apples, and Pears,
of several sorts, Cheries both Black and Red, and Plums, and
Quinces; in some places Peach Stones grow up to bear in three
Years: the Woods are full of Oakes, many very high and
streight, many of them about two foot through, and some
bigger, but very many less; A Swead will fell twelve of the
bigger in a day; Here are brave Poplar, Beach, Ash, Lyme-
trees, Gum-trees, Hickary-trees, Sasafras, Wallnuts, and Ches-
nuts, Hazel, and Mu liberies : Here growes in the Woods abun-
dance of Wortle-beries or Whorts, Strawberies and Blackberies,
better then in England, as also three sorts of Grapes and
Plums; Here is but few Pine-trees, and Ceder; Here is good
Firestone2 plenty enough in most places: and the Woods are
full of runs of water. I have lately seen some Salt, very good
to salt meat with, brought by an Indian out of the Woods:
they say there is enough of it: but for Minnerals or Mettals,
I have not seen any, except it be Marcasite,3 such as they make
Vitriol or Copperis with in England. Here are Beavers, Rac-
koons, Woolves, Bears, a sort of Lyons, Polecatts, Mushratts,
Elks, Mincks, Squirills of several sorts and other small Crea-
tures, but none of these hurt unless surprised: also Rattle
Snakes and black Snakes, but the Rattle Snaks I have not seen,
though I have rambled the Woods much these three Months,
since the beginning of September. The Indians are very quiet
and peaceable, having their understandings, and qualifications,
and when abused will seek revenge, they live much better since
1 In Marginal note, " New- Jersey."
• Iron pyrites. ■ Iron pyrites.
254 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
the English came; getting necessarys as cheap again as for-
merly, and many of them begin to speake English, I have
heard one say Swead no good, Dutch man no good, but English-
man good. William Penn is settling people in Towns. There
are Markets kept in two Towns viz. Philadelphia, being Chief-
est, Chester, formerly called Upland. To write of the Seasons
of the Y'ear I cannot, but since I came it hath been very pleas-
ant weather. The Land is generally good and yet there is
some but ordinary and barren ground. Here are Swamps
which the Sweads prize much, and many people will want:
And one thing more I shall tell you, I know a man together
with two or three more, that have happened upon a piece of
Land of some Hundred Acres, that is all cleare, without Trees,
Bushes, stumps, that may be Plowed without let, the farther
a man goes in the Country the more such Land they find. There
is also good Land, full of Large and small Trees, and some
good Land, but few Trees on it. The Winter is sharp and the
Cattel are hard to keep. The people that come must work
and know Country affairs; They must be provided with some
provisions for some time in the Country, and also some to help
along on Board the Ship. I have more to write, but am
shortned in time. Vale.
Thomas Paskell.
Pennsilvania, the last of January, 16Sf.
London, Printed by John Bringhurst, at the Sign of the
Book in Grace-Church-Street. 1683.
A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCE OF
PENNSYLVANIA, BY WILLIAM PENN, 168.5
INTRODUCTION
After an absence of over two years in America William
Penn had reached England in October, 1684. He had been
called home for the defence of the boundaries of the province
against the aggressions of Lord Baltimore and also for inter-
cession on behalf of his persecuted Quaker brethren. The ac-
cession of his old friend the Duke of York to the throne of
England as James II., in the following February, gave Penn
great influence as a courtier and patron at court, and was
especially opportune for the furtherance of the two chief ob-
jects of his return. These objects he pressed forward most
actively. Thus, by October, 1685, only a few days before the
writing of A Further Account, he obtained a favorable report
regarding the Three Lower Counties to which Baltimore laid
claim; and a few months later he secured the release of more
than 1,200 Quakers, imprisoned as Dissenters.
Of Penn's Pennsylvania pamphlets A Further Account ranks
next in importance to his Letter to the Free Society of Traders,
and is really a sequel to the latter. It was written at Worm-
inghurst Place, the Proprietor's country-seat in Sussex, in the
south of England, and was printed in 1685, in two editions of
small quarto, one of twenty pages and the other of sixteen
pages, probably from a London press. A Dutch translation
entitled Tweede Bericht appeared the same year at Amsterdam.
A large portion of the English text was reprinted in Richard
Blome's Present State of His Majesties7 Isles and Territories
in America (London, 1687), pp. 122-134; in Thompson West-
cott's History of Philadelphia (Sunday Dispatch, Philadelphia)
chapter xxxi., and in William J. Buck's William Penn in Amer-
257
258 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
tea (Philadelphia, 1888), pp. 174-180. It was reprinted in
full from the original English editions in the collection of the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in the Pennsylvania Maga-
zine, IX. 68-81 (1885). It is this text that follows.
A. C. M.
A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCE OF
PENNSYLVANIA, BY WILLIAM PENN, 1685
A Further Account of the Province of Pennsylvania and its
Improvements, for the Satisfaction of those that are Adven-
turers , and enclined to be so.
It has, I know, been much expected from me that I should
give some farther Narrative of those parts of America where
I am chiefly interested, and have lately been; having con-
tinued there above a Year after my former Relation,1 and re-
ceiving since my return the freshest and fullest Advices of
its Progress and Improvement. But as the reason of my com-
ing back was a Difference between the Lord Baltimore and
myself, about the Lands of Delaware, in consequence reputed
of mighty moment to us, so I wav'd publishing anything that
might look in favor of the Country, or inviting to it, whilst
it lay under the Discouragement and Disreputation of that
Lord's claim and pretences.
But since they are, after many fair and full hearings before
the Lords of the Committee for Plantations justly and happily
Dismist, and the things agreed; and that the Letters which
daily press me from all Parts on the subject of America, are
so many and voluminous that to answer them severally were
a Task too heavy and repeated to perform, I have thought it
most easie to the Enquirer, as well as myself, to make this
Account Publick, lest my silence or a more private intimations
of things, should disoblige the just inclinations of any to Amer-
ica, and at a time too when an extraordinary Providence seems
to favour its Plantation and open a door to Europeans to pass
thither. That, then, which is my part to do in this Advertise-
ment is:
First. To Relate our Progress, especially since my last of
the month called August, '83.
Secondly. The Capacity of the Place for further Improve-
ment, in order to Trade and Commerce.
1 /. e ., Letter to the Free Society of Traders, ante.
259
260 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
Lastly. Which way those that are Adventurers, or incline
to be so, may imploy their Money, to a fair and secure Profit ;
such as shall equally encourage Poor and Rich, which cannot
fail of Advancing the Country in consequence.
I. We have had about Ninety Sayl of Ships with Passen-
gers since the beginning of '82, and not one Vessel designed to
the Province, through God's mercy, hitherto miscarried.
The Estimate of the People may thus be made : Eighty to
each Ship, which comes to Seven Thousand Two Hundred Per-
sons. At least a Thousand there before, with such as from
other places in our neighbourhood are since come to settle
among us; and I presume the Births at least equal to the
Burials; For, having made our first Settlements high in the
Freshes of the Rivers, we do not find ourselves subject to those
Seasonings that affect some other Countries upon the same
Coast.
The People are a Collection of divers Nations in Europe:
As, French, Dutch, Germans, Sweeds, Danes, Finns, Scotch,
Irish and English; and of the last equal to all the rest: And,
which is admirable, not a Reflection on that Account: But
as they are of one kind, and in one Place and under One Al-
legiance, so they live like People of One Country, which Civil
Union has had a considerable influence towards the prosperity
of that place.
II. Philadelphia, and our intended Metropolis, as I for-
merly Writ, is two Miles long, and a Mile broad, and at each
end it lies that mile upon a Navigable River. The scituation
high and dry, yet replenished with running streams. Besides
the High Street, that runs in the middle from River to River,
and is an hundred foot broad, it has Eight streets more that
run the same course, the least of which is fifty foot in breadth.
And besides Broad Street, which crosseth the Town in the
middle, and is also an hundred foot wide, there are twenty
streets more, that run the same course, and are also fifty foot
broad. The names of those Streets are mostly taken from the
things that Spontaneously grow in the Country, As Vine Street,
Mulberry Street, Chestnut Street, Wallnut Street, Strawberry
Street, Cranberry Street, Plumb Street, Hickery Street, Pine
Street, Oake Street, Beach Street, Ash Street, Popler Street,
Sassafrax Street, and the like.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 2G1
III. I mentioned in my last Account that from my Arrival,
in Eighty-two, to the Date thereof, being ten Moneths, we had
got up Fourscore Houses at our Town, and that some Villages
were settled about it. From that time to my coming away,
which was a Year within a few Weeks, the Town advanced to
Three hundred and fifty-seven Houses; divers of them large,
well built, with good Cellars, three stories, and some with Bal-
conies.
IV. There is also a fair Key1 of about three hundred foot
square, Built by Samuel Carpenter,2 to which a ship of five
hundred Tuns may lay her broadside, and others intend to
follow his example. We have also a Ropewalk made by B.
Wilcox,3 and cordage for shipping already spun at it.
V. There inhabits most sorts of useful Tradesmen, As Car-
penters, Joyners, Bricklayers, Masons, Plasterers, Plumers,
Smiths, Glasiers, Taylers, Shoemakers, Butchers, Bakers, Brew-
ers, Glovers, Tanners, Felmongers, Wheelrights, Millrights,
Shiprights, Boatrights, Ropemakers, Saylmakers, Blockmakers,
Turners, etc.
1 Samuel Carpenter's wharf, the first in Philadelphia, was built into the
Delaware River from his bank lot, which was 204 feet wide, about 100 feet north
of Walnut Street, and facing his house and lot on the west side of Front Street.
The lot was leased to him by Penn in 1684, for a term of fifty years.
2 Samuel Carpenter (1647-1714), a native of Horsham, Sussex, England,
after the death of his father in 1670 removed to Barbados, and successfully en-
gaged in mercantile pursuits. Having joined the Quakers he suffered severe dis-
traint of his property, and about 1683 migrated to Philadelphia. As a man of
considerable capital and of remarkable enterprise he was a very valuable addi-
tion in the economic and governmental beginnings of the city and province. He
not only erected the first wharf of the city, above Walnut Street, as recounted by
Penn, but built stores and was concerned in milling and other undertakings in
and near the city. In 1693, his assessable property in the province ranked in
value next to that of the Proprietor. Furthermore, he actively participated in
governmental affairs, serving as assemblyman, councillor, commissioner of prop-
erty, treasurer, and finally as deputy governor of the province. The mansion
built by him, later called the Slate Roof House, was considered the most suitable
for the occupation of Proprietor Penn and his family on the occasion of his second
visit to the province, in 1699. "That honest and Valluable man [Samuel Car-
penter] whose Industry and Improvements," wrote Isaac Norris, from Phila-
delphia, in 1705, "has been the Stock whereon much of the Labour and Success
of this Country has been Grafted."
» Barnabas Wilcox (d. 1690), Quaker, came over from Bristol, England,
with his family to Philadelphia in 1682. His rope-walk was then at the north side
of the town, running westward from Front to Third, north of Vine Street
262 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
VI. There are Two Markets every Week, and Two Fairs
every year. In other places Markets also, as at Chester and
New-Castle.
VII. Seven Ordinaries for the Intertainment of Strangers
and Workmen, that are not Housekeepers, and a good Meal to
be had for sixpence, sterl.
VIII. The hours for Work and Meals to Labourers are fixt,
and known by Ring of Bell.
IX. After nine at Night the Officers go the Rounds, and
no Person, without very good cause, suffered to be at any
Publick House that is not a Lodger.
X. Tho this Town seemed at first contrived for the Pur-
chasers of the first hundred shares, each share consisting of
5000 Acres, yet few going, and that their absence might not
Check the Improvement of the Place, and Strangers that
flockt to us be thereby Excluded, I added that half of the
Town, which lies on the Skulkill, that we might have Room for
present and after Commers, that were not of that number,
and it hath already had great success to the Improvement of
the Place.
XL Some Vessels have been here Built, and many Boats;
and by that means a ready Conveniency for Passage of People
and Goods.
XII. Divers Brickerys going on, many Cellars already
Ston'd or Brick'd and some Brick Houses going up.
XIII. The Town is well furnish'd with convenient Mills;
and what with their Garden Plats (the least half an Acre), the
Fish of the River, and their labour, to the Countryman, who
begins to pay with the provisions of his own growth, they live
Comfortably.
XIV. The Improvement of the place is best measured by
the advance of Value upon every man's Lot. I will venture
to say that the worst Lot in the Town, without any Improve-
ment upon it, is worth four times more than it was when it
was lay'd out, and the best forty. And though it seems un-
equal that the Absent should be thus benefited by the Improve-
ments of those that are upon the place, especially when they
have serv'd no Office, run no hazard, nor as yet defray'd any
Publick charge, yet this advantage does certainly redound to
them, and whoever they are they are great Debtors to the
Country; of which I shall now speak more at large.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 263
Of Country Settlements.
1. We do settle in the way of Townships or Villages, each
of which contains 5,000 acres, in square, and at least Ten
Families; the regulation of the Country being a family to
each five hundred Acres. Some Townships have more, where
the Interests of the People is less than that quantity, which
often falls out.
2. Many that had right to more Land were at first covetous
to have their whole quantity without regard to this way of
settlement, tho' by such Wilderness vacancies they had ruin'd
the Country, and then our interest of course. I had in my view
Society, Assistance, Busy Commerce, Instruction of Youth,
Government of Peoples manners, Conveniency of Religious
Assembling, Encouragement of Mechanicks, distinct and beaten
Roads, and it has answered in all those respects, I think, to
an Universall Content.
3. Our Townships lie square; generally the Village in the
Center; the Houses either opposit, or else opposit to the mid-
dle, betwixt two houses over the way, for near neighborhood.
We have another Method, that tho the Village be in the Center,
yet after a different manner: Five hundred Acres are allotted
for the Village, which, among ten families, comes to fifty Acres
each: This lies square, and on the outside of the square stand
the Houses, with their fifty Acres running back, where ends
meeting make the Center of the 500 Acres as they are to the
whole. Before the Doors of the Houses lies the high way, and
cross it, every man's 450 Acres of Land that makes up his
Complement of 500, so that the Conveniency of Neighbourhood
is made agreeable with that of the Land.
4. I said nothing in my last of any number of Townships,
but there are at least Fifty settled before my leaving those
parts, which was in the moneth called August, 1684.
5. I visitted many of them, and found them much advanced
in their Improvements. Houses over their heads and Garden
plots, Coverts for their Cattle, an encrease of stock, and several
Enclosures in Corn, especially the first Commers; and I may
say of some Poor men was the beginnings of an Estate; the
difference of labouring for themselves and for others, of an
Inheritance and a Rack Lease, being never better understood.
264 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
Of the Produce of the Earth.
1. The Earth, by God's blessing, has more than answered
our expectation; the poorest places in our Judgment produc-
ing large Crops of Garden Stuff and Grain. And though our
Ground has not generally the symptoms of the fat Necks that
lie upon salt Waters in Provinces southern of us, our Grain
is thought to excell and our Crops to be as large. We have had
the mark of the good Ground amongst us from Thirty to Sixty
fold of English Corn.
2. The Land requires less seed: Three pecks of Wheat sow
an acre, a Bushel at most, and some have had the increase I
have mention'd.
3. Upon Tryal we find that the Corn and Roots that grow
in England thrive very well there, as Wheat, Barly, Rye, Oats,
Buck- Wheat, Pease, Beans, Cabbages, Turnips, Carrets, Pars-
nups, Colleflowers, Asparagus, Onions, Chariots, Garlick and
Irish Potatos; we have also the Spanish and very good Rice,
which do not grow here.
4. Our low lands are excellent for Rape and Hemp and
Flax. A Tryal has been made, and of the two last there is a
considerable quantity Dress'd Yearly.
5. The Weeds of our Woods feed our Cattle to the Market
as well as Dary. I have seen fat Bullocks brought thence to
Market before Mid Summer. Our Swamps or Marshes yeeld
us course Hay for the Winter.
6. English Grass Seed takes well, which will give us fatting
Hay in time. Of this I made an Experiment in my own Court
Yard, upon sand that was dug out of my Cellar, with seed that
had lain in a Cask open to the weather two Winters and a
Summer; I caus'd it to be sown in the beginning of the month
called April, and a fortnight before Midsummer it was fit to
Mow. It grew very thick: But I ordered it to be fed, being in
the nature of a Grass Plott, on purpose to see if the Roots lay
firm: And though it had been meer sand, cast out of the Cellar
but a Year before, the seed took such Root and held the earth
so fast, and fastened itself so well in the Earth, that it held fast
and fed like old English Ground. I mention this, to confute
the Objections that lie against those Parts, as of that, first,
English Grass would not grow; next, not enough to mow;
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 265
and, lastly, not firm enough to feed, from the Levity of the
Mould.
7. All sorts of English fruits that have been tryed take
mighty well for the time: The Peach Excellent on standers,
and in great quantities: They sun dry them, and lay them
up in lofts, as we do roots here, and stew them with Meat
in Winter time. Musmellons and Water Mellons are raised
there, with as little care as Pumpkins in England. The Vine
especially, prevails, which grows every where; and upon ex-
perience of some French People from Rochel and the Isle of
Rhee,1 Good Wine may be made there, especially when the
Earth and Stem are fin'd and civiliz'd by culture. We hope
that good skill in our most Southern Parts will yield us several
of the Straights Commodities, especially Oyle, Dates, Figgs,
Almonds, Raisins and Currans.
Of the Produce of our Waters.
1. Mighty Whales roll upon the Coast, near the Mouth
of the Bay of Delaware. Eleven caught and workt into Oyl
one Season. We justly hope a considerable profit by a Whal-
ery; they being so numerous and the Shore so suitable.
2. Sturgeon play continually in our Rivers in Summer:
And though the way of cureing them be not generally known,
yet by a Receipt I had of one Collins, that related to the Com-
pany of the Royal Fishery, I did so well preserve some, that
I had them good there three months of the Summer, and
brought some of the same so for England.
3. Alloes,2 as they call them in France, the Jews Allice,
and our Ignorants, Shads, are excellent Fish and of the Big-
ness of our largest Carp: They are so Plentiful, that Captain
Smyth's Overseer at the Skulkil, drew 600 and odd at one
Draught; 300 is no wonder; 100 familiarly. They are excellent
Pickled or Smokt'd, as well as boyld fresh: They are caught
by nets only.
4. Rock are somewhat Rounder and larger, also a whiter
fish, little inferior in rellish to our Mallet. We have them
almost in the like plenty. These are often BarrelPd like Cod,
and not much inferior for their spending. Of both these the
1 Rochelle, France, and the Isle de Re, just off that city. 2 Ale wives.
266 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1686
Inhabitants increase their Winter store: These are caught by
Nets, Hooks and Speers.
5. The Sheepshead, so called, from the resemblance of its
Mouth and Nose to a Sheep, is a fish much preferr'd by some,
but they keep in salt Water; they are like a Roach in fashion,
but as thick as a Salmon, not so long. We have also the Drum,
a large and noble fish, commended equal to the Sheepshead,
not unlike to a Newfoundland Cod, but larger of the two.
Tis so calPd from a noise it makes in its Belly, when it is taken,
resembling a Drum. There are three sorts of them, the Black,
Red and Gold colour. The Black is fat in the Spring, the Red
in the Fall, and the Gold colour believed to be the Black, grown
old, because it is observed that young ones of that colour have
not been taken. They generally ketch them by Hook and
Line, as Cod are, and they save like it, where the People are
skilful. There are abundance of lesser fish to be caught of
pleasure, but they quit not cost, as those I have mentioned,
neither in Magnitude nor Number, except the Herring, which
swarm in such shoales that it is hardly Credible; in little
Creeks, they almost shovel them up in their tubs. There is
the Catfish, or Flathead, Lampry, Eale, Trout, Perch, black
and white, Smelt, Sunfish, etc.; also Oysters, Cockles, Cunks,
Crabs, Mussles, Mannanoses.
Of Provision in General.
1. It has been often said we were starved for want of food;
some were apt to suggest their fears, others to insinuate their
prejudices, and when this was contradicted, and they assured
we had plenty, both of Bread, Fish and Flesh, then 'twas
objected that we were forc't to fetch it from other places at
great Charges: but neither is all this true, tho all the World
will think we must either carry Provision with us, or get it
of the Neighbourhood till we had gotten Houses over our
heads and a little Land in tillage, We fetcht none, nor were we
wholly helpt by Neighbours; The Old Inhabitants supplied
us with most of the Corn we wanted, and a good share of Pork
and Beef: 'tis true New York, New England, and Road Island
did with their provisions fetch our Goods and Money, but at
such Rates, that some sold for almost what they gave, and
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 267
others carried their provisions back, expecting a better Market
neerer, which showed no scarcity, and that we were not totally
destitute on our own River. But if my advice be of any Value
I would have them to buy still, and not weaken their Herds,
by Killing their Young Stock too soon.
2. But the right measure of information must be the pro-
portion of Value of Provisions there, to what they are in more
planted and mature Colonies. Beef is commonly sold at the
rate of two pence per Pound; and Pork for two pence half
penny; Veal and Mutton at three pence or three pence half
penny, that Country mony; an English Shilling going for
fifteen pence. Grain sells by the Bushel; Wheat at four shil-
lings; Rye, and excellent good, at three shillings; Barly, two
shillings six pence ; Indian Corn, two shillings six pence ; Oats,
two shillings, in that money still, which in a new Country,
where Grain is so much wanted for feed, as for food, cannot
be called dear, and especially if we consider the Consumption
of the many new Commers.
3. There is so great an encrease of Grain by the dilligent
application of People to Husbandry that, within three Years,
some Plantations have got Twenty Acres in Corn, some Forty,
some Fifty.
4. They are very careful to encrease their stock, and get
into Daries as fast as they can. They already make good
Butter and Cheese. A good Cow and Calf by her side may be
worth three pounds sterling, in goods at first Cost. A pare of
Working Oxen, eight pounds: a pare of fat ones, Little more,
and a plain Breeding Mare about five pounds sterl.
5. For Fish, it is brought to the Door, both fresh and salt.
Six Alloes or Rocks for twelve pence; and salt fish at three far-
dings per pound, Oysters at 2s. per bushel.
6. Our Drink has been Beer and Punch, made of Rum and
Water: Our Beer was mostly made of Molosses, which well
boyld, with Sassafras or Pine infused into it, makes very tol-
lerable drink; but now they make Mault, and Mault Drink
begins to be common, especially at the Ordinaries and the
Houses of the more substantial People. In our great Town
there is an able Man,1 that has set up a large Brew House, in
1 William Frampton (d. 1686), Quaker merchant and brewer, justice and
provincial councillor, owner of extensive lands in Pennsylvania, had removed
268 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
order to furnish the People with good Drink, both there, and
up and down the River. Having said this of the Country,
for the time I was there, I shall add one of the many Letters
that have come to my hand, because brief and full, and that he
is known to be a Person of an extraordinary Caution as well
as Truth, in what he is wont to Write or Speak:
Philadelphia, the 3d of the 6th month [August] 1685.
Governour,
Having an opportunity by a Ship from this River, (out of
which several have gone this Year) I thought fit to give a
short account of proceedings, as to settlements here, and the
Improvements both in Town and Country. As to the Country,
the Improvements are large, and settlements very throng by
way of Townships and Villages. Great inclinations to Plant-
ing Orchards, which are easily raised, and some brought to
perfection. Much Hayseed sown, and much Planting of Corn
this Year, and great produce, said to be, both of Wheat, Rye
and Rise; Barly and Oates prove very well, besides Indian
Corn and Pease of several sorts; also Kidny Beans and English
Pease of several kinds, I have had in my own Ground, with
English Roots, Turnaps, Parsnaps, Carrets, Onions, Leeks,
Radishes and Cabbidges, with abundance of sorts of Herbs
and Flowers. I have but few seeds that have mist except
Rosemary seed, and being English might be old. Also I have
such plenty of pumpkins, Musmellons, Water Mellons, Squashes,
Coshaws, Bucks-hens, Cowcumbers and Simnells of Divers
kinds; admired at by new Commers that the Earth should so
plentifully cast forth, especially the first Years breaking up;
and on that which is counted the Worst Sort of Sandy Land.
from New York to Philadelphia in 1683, and at this time (1685) was living in his
house at the west side of Front Street, between Walnut and Spruce streets, on a
lot purchased in the early summer of 1684. He had there at his death in 1686 a
well-stocked shop of general merchandise. His "great brew-house," built in
1683, was on the next lot to the rear, on the west side of Second Street by the south
side of Dock Creek, a plot acquired from Penn in the beginning of the latter year.
Here also he had a bake-house and a dwelling-house, the latter evidently his
earlier residence, but now rented as an inn; and here in 1685 he erected the
brick house hereafter mentioned by Robert Turner. Facing his Front Street
residence was his wharf, one of the first three wharves of the city in Delaware
River, built on a lot which he bought from the Proprietor in midsummer, 1684.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 269
I am satisfied, and many more, that the Earth is very fertil,
and the Lord has done his part, if Man use but a moderate
Dilligence. Grapes, Mulberies and many wilde Fruits and
natural Plums, in abundance, this vear have I seen and eat of.
A brave Orchard and Nursery have I planted, and thrive
mightily, and Fruiu the first Year. I endeavor choice of Fruits
and Seeds from many parts ; also Hay Seed ; and have sowed
a field this spring for try all. First, I burned the leaves, then
had it Grub'd, not the Field but the small Roots up, then sowed
great and small Clover, with a little old Grass seed, and had
it only raked over, not Plowed nor Harrowed, and it grows
exceedingly; also for experience I sowed some patches of the
same sort in my Garden and Dunged some, and that grows
worst. I have planted the Irish Potatoes, and hope to have
a brave increase to Transplant next Year. Captain Rapel l
(the Frenchman) saith he made good Wine of the grapes (of
the country) last Year, and Transported some, but intends to
make more this Year. Also a French man2 in this Town in-
tends the same, for Grapes are very Plentiful.
Now as to the Town of Philadelphia it goeth on in Planting
and Building to admiration, both in the front and backward,
and there are about 600 Houses in 3 years time. And since I
built my Brick House,3 the foundation of which was laid at
thy going, which I did design after a good manner to incourage
others, and that from building with Wood, it being the first,
many take example, and some that built Wooden Houses, are
sorry for it : Brick building is said to be as cheap : Bricks are
exceeding good, and better than when I built: More Makers
fallen in, and Bricks cheaper, they were before at 16 s. English
per 1000, and now many brave Brick Houses are going up, with
1 Captain Gabriel Rappel, a Protestant, from St. Martin, in France, was a
fugitive in England in November, 1682, petitioning the Privy Council for liberty
to plant in English America. He arrived in the Delaware in 1683, purchasing
for the use of a London merchant a plantation of 1,000 acres called the Exchange
in Reedy Point Neck, in New Castle County, along with certain live stock and a
servant man. He probably conducted this plantation for a few years, and may
have made there the wine referred to by Turner.
2 Possibly Monsieur Jacob Pellison, of Philadelphia.
3 On his lot at the southwest corner of Front and Mulberry (now Arch)
streets.
270 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
good Cellars. Arthur Cook l is building him a brave Brick
House near William Frampton's, on the front: For William
Frampton hath since built a good Brick house, by his Brew
house and Bake house, and let the other for an Ordinary.
John Wheeler,2 from New England, is building a good Brick
house, by the Blew Anchor; and the two3 Brickmakers a
Double Brick House and Cellars; besides several others going
on: Samuel Carpenter has built another house by his.4 I am
Building another Brick house by mine, which is three large
Stories high, besides a good large Brick Cellar under it, of two
Bricks and a half thickness in the wall, and the next story half
under Ground, the Cellar hath an Arched Door for a Vault to
go (under the Street) to the River, and so to bring in goods, or
deliver out. Humphery Murry,5 from New York, has built
a large Timber house, with Brick Chimnies. John Test fl has
almost finished a good Brick House, and a Bake House of
1 Arthur Cook (d. 1699), speaker of assembly, provincial councillor, and
chief justice, formerly of New Gravel Lane, in St. Paul's Shadwell, London, was
building his brick house on the west side of Front Street below Walnut Street.
By 1697 he had "a most Stately Brick-House," near Frankford, hereafter men-
tioned by Gabriel Thomas.
2 John Wheeler (d. 1691), merchant and distiller, ship-owner and trader
with the West Indies and Europe, a resident as early as 1667 of New London,
Connecticut, where he died. He made only a brief sojourn in Philadelphia,
building his brick house on the west side of Front Street, below ^Walnut Street,
near the Blue Anchor Inn, on a lot purchased by him from Penn in midsummer,
1684. This property he sold in 1686 to Edward Shippen, then of Boston, but
later of Philadelphia.
'Thomas Smith and Daniel Pegg (d. 1702).
4 On the west side of Front Street, a hundred feet north of Walnut Street.
6 Humphrey Morrey (d. 1715-6), was a merchant in New York early in
1684, but by 1685 had become a resident of Philadelphia and had built the
"Timber house" at the southwest corner of Front and Chestnut streets. He
was the first mayor of Philadelphia (1691-1692) and served as assemblyman
and provincial councillor. In his will of 1715 he is described as yeoman, of
Cheltenham Township, now Montgomery County.
6 John Test (d. 1718), a non-Quaker merchant, from London, had probably
come over to West New Jersey with John Fenwick's colony in the Griffin, in 1675.
He was a resident of Upland (Chester) as early as 1677, and as late as 1679. In
1681 he was made sheriff of Pennsylvania by the court of Upland, and in 1682
the first sheriff of the newly-constituted Philadelphia County. His brick house
was at the northeast corner of Third and Chestnut streets. In later life he re-
moved to Darby, and died there as an innkeeper.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 271
Timber; and N. Allen1 a good house, next to Thomas Wynns,2
front Lot. John Day3 a good house, after the London fashion,
most Brick, with a large frame of Wood, in the front, for Shop
Windows ; all these have Belconies. Thomas Smith and Daniel
Pege are Partners, and set to making of Brick this Year, and
they are very good; also, Pastorus,4 the German Friend, Agent
for the Company at Frankford, with his Dutch5 People, are
preparing to make Brick next year. Samuel Carpenter, is our
Lime burner on his Wharf. Brave Lime Stone found here, as
the Workmen say, being proved. We build most Houses with
Belconies. Lots are much desir'd in the Town, great buying
one of another. We are now laying the foundation of a large
plain Brick house,6 for a Meeting House, in the Center,7 (sixty
1 Nathaniel Allen (d. 1692), Quaker, a cooper of Redcliffe Street, Bristol,
England, was one of the three commissioners who preceded Penn to Pennsylva-
nia, in 1681, to lay out Philadelphia and the lands of the First Purchasers. His
house was on the west side of Front, above Chestnut Street. He finally settled
with his family on his plantation "Allenbury," on the west side of Neshaminy
Creek in Bensalem Township, Bucks County.
2 Dr. Thomas Wynne (1627-1692), Quaker, a native of Bronvedog, parish
of Yskewiog, Flintshire, Wales, came over in the ship Welcome with William
Penn in 1682 and was the first speaker of the assembly of Pennsylvania held
in Philadelphia. His lot was on the west side of Front Street, about midway
between Chestnut and High (Market) streets.
3 John Day (d. 1696), carpenter, from the parish of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey,
London, his brick house with adjoining orchard being on Front, between
Sassafras (now Race) and Mulberry (now Arch) streets.
4 Francis Daniel Pastorius.
5 The " Crefelders," from Crefeld, Germany, near the Dutch border. See
post, p. 393, note 3.
6 "Our first [Quaker] Meeting-house in the sd City," writes Pastorius, who
came in 1683, "was nothing else than a Lodge or Cottage, nailed together of Pine-
boards, Imported from New- York, and sold a hundred foot at 10. Shill. And
never the less the Lord appeared most powerfully in that Tabernacle of Shittim
wood." Learned, Pastorius, pp. 212-213.
7 The Friends' Meeting House in the Centre Square of the city, midway be-
tween the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, where the City Hall now stands, was
built of brick, in 1685-1686, and was used for a time for the more important
First-day (Sunday) morning and business meetings of the society. The location
being in the midst of the forest some little distance without the town, and its two
or three streets along the Delaware, the meeting was not well attended ; the Friends
preferred to wait for the afternoon meeting at the Bank Meeting House, near at
hand, within the town proper; consequently, in a few years the Centre Square
meeting was abandoned.
272 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
foot long, and about forty foot broad) and hope to have it
soon up, many hearts and hands at Work that will do it. A
large Meeting House,1 50 foot long, and 38 foot broad, also
going up, on the front of the River, for an evening Meeting,
the work going on apace. Many Towns People setling their
liberty Lands. I hope the Society will rub off the Reproaches
some have cast upon them. We now begin to gather in some
thing of our many great Debts.
I do understand Three Companies for Whale Catching are
designed to fish in the River's Mouth, this season, and find
through the great Plenty of fish they may begin early. A Fish-
erman this Year found the way to catch Whiteins in this River,
and it's expected many sorts of fish more than hath been yet
caught may be taken by the skilful. Fish are in such plenty
that many sorts on tryal, have been taken with Nets in the
Winter time: The Sweeds laughing at the English for going to
try, have since tried themselves. The River so big, and full
of several sorts of brave fish, that it is believed, except frozen
over, we may catch any time in the Winter. It's a great pity,
but two or three experienced Fishermen were here to Ply this
River to salt and serve fresh to the Town. A good way to
Pickle Sturgion is wanting; such abundance in the River, even
before the Town: many are Catcht, Boyld and Eaten. Last
Winter great plenty of Dear brought in by the Indians and
English from the Country. We are generally very Well and
Healthy here, but abundance Dead in Maryland this Summer.
The manufacture of Linnen by the Germans2 goes on finely,
and they make fine Linnen: Samuel Carpenter having been
lately there, declares they had gathered one Crop of Flax, and
had sowed for the Second and saw it come up well: And they
say, might have had forewarder and better, had they had old
seed, and not stay'd so long for the Growth of new seed to
sow again. And I may believe it, for large hath my experience
1 The Bank Meeting House of the Friends, built in 1685-1686 for the after-
noon meetings, was at the north end of the town on the west side of Front Street,
then the principal thoroughfare, just above Mulberry (now Arch) Street. This
structure was replaced, evidently in 1703, Isaac Norris writing in that year that
there was "a new house built in tta place where the old bank meeting House
Stood."
* In German town.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 273
been this Years, though in a small peece of Ground, to the ad-
miration of many.
I thought fit to signify this much, knowing thou wouldst
be glad to hear of thy People and Provinces welfare; the Lord
preserve us all, and make way for thy return, which is much
desired, not only by our Friends but all sorts. I am, etc., thy
truly Loving Friend,
Robert Turner.1
Of Further Improvements for Trade and Commerce.
These things that we have in prospect for Staples of Trade,
are Wine, Linnen, Hemp, Potashes and Whale Oyle; to say
nothing of our Provisions for the Islands, our Saw Mills, Stur-
geon, some Tobacco, and our Furs and Skins, which of them-
selves are not contemptible ; I might add Iron (perhaps Copper
too), for there is much Mine; and it will be granted us that we
want no Wood, although I must confess I cannot tell how to
help preferring a domestick or self subsistance to a life of much
profit, by the extream Toy of forraign Traffick.
Advice to Adventurers how to imploy their Estates, with fair profit.
It is fit now, that I give some Advertisement to Advent-
urers, which way they may lay out their Money to best advan-
tage, so as it may yield them fair returns, and with content to
Robert Turner (1635-1700), one of the wealthiest and most prominent mer-
chants of the Philadelphia of that day, was a native of Cambridge, England;
joined the early Quaker movement in Ireland, suffering in consequence fines and
imprisonment; acquired large means as a Dublin linen draper; became one of the
New Jersey proprietors by the purchase (1) in 1677, with other Irish Friends, of
a share of West New Jersey and, (2) in 1681, along with the Earl of Perth, Penn,
Barclay, and others, of the whole of East New Jersey. As a friend of Penn he
entered largely into the Pennsylvania enterprise, buying 5000 acres of land in
the province and subscribing £500 for stock of the Free Society of Traders. In
1683 with his family and seventeen servants he came over to Pennsylvania in the
ship Lyon and established his residence on his Philadelphia lot at the southwest
corner of Front and Mulberry (Arch) streets, where in 1684, as he states, he
built the first brick house in the city, as well as a wharf, called Mount Wharf,
on his lot facing the river, one of the first three wharves of Philadelphia. He
served as judge, receiver general, commissioner of property, provincial councillor,
and as one of the five commissioners governing the province. In the Keith
schism he joined the Keith ites.
274 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 11685
all concerned, which is the last part of my present task; and
I must needs say so much wanting, that it has perhaps given
some occasion to ignorance and prejudice to run without
mercy, measure or distinction against America, of which Penn-
sylvania to be sure has had its share.
1. It is agreed on all hands, that the Poor are the Hands
and Feet of the Rich. It is their labour that Improves Coun-
tries; and to encourage them, is to promote the real benefit
of the publick. Now as there are abundance of these people
in many parts of Europe, extreamly desirous of going to
America; so the way of helping them thither, or when there,
and the return thereof to the Disbursers, will prove what I
say to be true.
2. There are two sorts, such as are able to transport them-
selves and Families, but have nothing to begin with there;
and those that want so much as to transport themselves and
Families thither.
3. The first of these may be entertained in this manner.
Say I have 5000 Acres, I will settle Ten Families upon them,
in way of Village, and built each an house, an out house for
Cattle, furnish every Family with Stock, as four Cows, two
Sows, a couple of Mares, and a yoke of Oxen, with a Town
Horse, Bull and Boar; I find them with Tools, and give each
their first Ground-seed. They shall continue Seven Year, or
more, as we agree, at half encrease, being bound to leave the
Houses in repair, and a Garden and Orchard, I paying for the
Trees and at least twenty Acres of Land within Fence and im-
proved to corn and grass; the charge will come to about sixty
pounds English for each Family: At the seven years end, the
Improvement will be worth, as things go now, 120 I. besides
the value of the encrease of the Stock, which may be neer as
much more, allowing for casualties; especially, if the People
are honest and careful, or a man be upon the spot himself, or
have an Overseer sometimes to inspect them. The charge in
the whole is 832 I. And the value of stock and improvements
2400 1 I think I have been modest in my computation. These
Farms are afterwarde fit for Leases at full rent, or how else the
Owner shall please to dispose of them. Also the People will
by this time be skilled in the Country, and well provided to
settle themselves with stock upon their own Land.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 275
4. The other sort of poor people may be very beneficially
transported upon these terms: Say I have 5000 Acres I should
settle as before, I will give to each Family 100 Acres which in
the whole makes 1000; and to each Family thirty pounds
English, half in hand, and half there, which in the whole comes
to 300 I. After four years are expired, in which time they may
be easie, and in a good condition, they shall each of them pay
five pounds, and so yearly for ever, as a Fee-farm rent ; which
in the whole comes to 50 I a Year. Thus a man that buys
5000 Acres may secure and settle his 4000 by the gift of one,
and in a way that hazard and interest allowed for, amounts
to at least ten per cent, upon Land security, besides the value
it puts upon the rest of the 5000 Acres. I propose that there
be at least two working hands besides the wife; whether son
or servant; and that they oblige what they carry; and for
further security bind themselves as servants for some time,
that they will settle the said land accordingly and when they
are once seated their improvements are security for the Rent.
5. There is yet another expedient, and that is, give to ten
Families 1000 Acres for ever, at a small acknowledgement, and
settle them in way of Village, as afore; by their seating thus,
the Land taken up is secured from others, because the method
of the Country is answered, and the value such a settlement
gives to the rest reserved, is not inconsiderable; I mean, the
4000 Acres; especially that which is Contiguous: For their
Children when grown up, and Handicrafts will soon covet to
fix next them, and such after settlements to begin at an Im-
proved Rent in Fee, or for long Leases, or small Acknowledge-
ments, and good Improvements, must advance the whole con-
siderably. I conceive any of these methods to issue in a
sufficient advantage to Adventurers, and they all give good
encouragement to feeble and poor Families.
6. That which is most advisable for People, intended
thither, to carry with them, is in short all things relating to
Apparel, Building, Housholdstuf, Husbandry, Fowling and
Fishing. Some Spice, Spirits and double ear, at first were
not a miss: But I advise all to proportion their Estates thus;
one-third in Money, and two thirds in Goods. Upon pieces of
eight, there will be almost a third gotten, for they go at 6 s.
and by goods well bought, at least fifty pounds sterl. for every
276 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
hundred pounds; so that a man worth 400 I. here, is worth
600 I. there, without sweating.
Of the Natives.
1. Because many Stones have been prejudicially propa-
gated, as if we were upon ill terms with the Natives, and some-
times, like Jobs Kindred, all cut off but the Messenger that
brought the Tidings; I think it requisite to say thus much,
that as there never was any such Messenger, so the dead
People were alive, at our last advices; so far are we from ill
terms with the Natives, that we have liv'd in great friendship.
I have made seven Purchasses, and in Pay and Presents they
have received at least twelve hundred pounds of me. Our
humanity has obliged them so far, that they generally leave
their guns at home, when they come to our settlements; they
offer us no affront, not so much as to one of our Dogs; and
if any of them break our Laws, they submit to be punisht by
them: and to this they have tyed themselves by an obliga-
tion under their hands. We leave not the least indignity to
them unrebukt, nor wrong unsatisfied. Justice gains and aws
them. They have some Great Men amongst them, I mean for
Wisdom, Truth and Justice. I refer to my former Account
about their Laws Manners and Religious Rites.
Of the Government.
The Government is according to the words of the Grant,
as near to the English as conveniently may be : In the whole,
we aim at Duty to the King, the Preservation of Right to all,
the suppression of Vice, and encouragement of Vertue and
Arts; with Liberty to all People to worship Almighty God,
according to their Faith and Perswasion.
Of the Seasons of Going, and usual time of Passage.
1. The Ships go hence at all times of the Year, it must be
acknowledged, that to go so as to arrive at Spring or Fall, is
best. For the Summer may be of the hottest, for fresh Com-
mers, and in the Winter, the wind that prevails, is the North
West, and that blows off the Coast, so that sometimes it is
difficult to enter the Capes.
1685] A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 277
2. I propose therefore, that Ships go hence about the mid-
dle of the moneths calFd February and August, which allowing
two moneths for passage reaches time enough to plant in the
Spring such things as are carried hence to plant, and in the
Fall to get a small Cottage, and clear some Land against the
next Spring. I have made a discovery of about a hundred
Miles West, and find those back Lands richer in Soyl, Woods
and Fountains, then that by Delaware; especially upon the
Sasquehannah River.
3. I must confess I prefer the Fall to come thither, as be-
lieving it is more healthy to be followed with Winter then
Summer; tho, through the great goodness and mercy of God
we have had an extraordinary portion of health, for so new
and numerous a Colony, notwithstanding we have not been so
regular in time.
4. The Passage is not to be set by any man; for Ships will
be quicker and slower, some have been four moneths, and
some but one, and as often. Generally between six and nine
weeks. One year, of four and twenty Sayl, I think, there was
not three above nine, and there was one or two under six weeks
in passage.
5. To render it more healthy, it is good to keep as much
upon Deck as may be; for the Air helps against the offensive
smells of a Crowd, and a close place. Also to scrape often the
Cabbins, under the Beds; and either carry store of Rue and
Wormwood; and some Rosemary, or often sprinkle Vineger
about the Cabbin. Pitch burnt, is not amiss sometimes
against faintness and infectious scents. I speak my experience
for their benefit and direction that may need it.
And because some has urged my coming back, as an argu-
ment against the place, and the probability of its improv-
ment; Adding, that I would for that reason never return; I
think fit to say, That Next Summer, God willing, I intend to
go back, and carry my Family, and the best part of my Per-
sonal Estate with me. And this I do, not only of Duty, but
Inclination and Choice. God will Bless and Prosper poor
America.
I shall conclude with this further Notice, that to the end
such as are willing to embrace any of the foregoing proposi-
tions for the Improvement of Adventurers Estates, may not
278 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
be discouraged, from an inability to find such Land-Lords,
Tennants, Masters and Servants, if they intimate their desires
to my friend and Agent Philip Ford, living in Bow-Lane in
London, they may in all probability be well accommodated;
few of any quality or capacity, designed to the Province, that
do not inform him of their inclinations and condition.
Now for you that think of going thither, I have this to
say, by wa)r of caution ; if an hair of our heads falls not to the
ground, without the providence of God, Remember, your
Removal is of greater moment. Wherefore have a due rever-
ence and regard to his good Providence, as becomes a People
that profess a belief in Providence. Go clear in yourselves,
and of all others. Be moderate in Expectation, count on
Labour before a Crop, and Cost before Gain, for such persons
will best endure difficulties, if they come, and bear the Success,
as well as find the Comfort that usually follow such considerate
undertakings.
William Penn.
Worminghurst Place, 12th )
of the 10th Month 85. )
LETTER OF DOCTOR NICHOLAS MORE:
1686
INTRODUCTION
Of the collection of seven letters from Pennsylvania put
forth by Penn in the pamphlet here reproduced, the initial one
by Dr. Nicholas More, which appears in full, occupying nearly
one-half of the space, is of most interest and deservedly gives
title to the piece. The other letters, however, although simply
in the form of abstracts, contain items of value and — barring
that of the Pennsbury gardener — are by men of like prom-
inence in the governmental affairs of the province ; but notice
of them is reserved for the notes. Attention now is devoted
to the writer of the most important letter alone.
Dr. More was a personage. He was not only the first
speaker of the provincial assembly, held at Chester in Decem-
ber, 1682, but he has even the greater distinction of being the
first (1684-1685) of the long and illustrous line of chief jus-
tices of Pennsylvania. In 1686 he was appointed by Penn one
of the five commissioners to govern the province. He was,
moreover, a great landowner, having in his tenure the manor
of Moreland, a tract of 10,000 acres of land in Philadelphia
County, adjacent to the Bucks County line. This territory,
which now covers the greater part of Moreland Township,
Montgomery County, was granted to him as a barony, entitling
him to hold a court baron and a court leet and to take view of
frankpledge. These feudal privileges, however, he never exer-
cised. Adjoining his manor on the south was his country-
seat " Green Spring," located about thirteen miles northeast
of the Philadelphia of that day and about a half mile west of
the present Somerton. It was here on September 13, 1686,
that he wrote his letter and it was here that he obtained the
agricultural results he describes.
2S1
282 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
Concerning Dr. More's parentage and other details of his
early life nothing is really known, although the evidence seems
to point to origin from an armigerous family. Born about
1638, probably in London, he became a physician of that city,
living there until his removal to Pennsylvania. In 1670 he
was a resident of the parish of St. Gregory's, London, his
marriage occurring that year, in the church of St. Dunstans-
in-the-East. His bride, a girl of sixteen, only one half his
years, was Mary Hedge, of St. Catherine Coleman, daughter
of Samuel Hedge, merchant .
His brother-in-law, Samuel Hedge, had preceded him to
America in 1675, as a settler with John Fen wick at Salem in
West New Jersey, becoming the husband of the latter's daugh-
ter Ann. Doubtless thus early through this relative Dr. More
would become familiar with the possibilities of the region of
the Delaware and would thus be all the more disposed six years
later to take up with Penn's project. At all events, before
October, 1681, Dr. More had acquired the title to the 10,000
acres of land, which later was located as his manor of Moreland,
and early in 1682 he had subscribed £ 300 to the stock of the
Free Society of Traders. Of this company he was made the
first president at a salary of £ 150 per annum.
In September, 1682, with his family and fifty servants of
the Society, he sailed from London in the ship Geoffrey or
Jeffries, and after a quick passage of nearly a month, reached
Pennsylvania about the time of William Penn's arrival. He
made his first location on the Society lot in Front Street,
Philadelphia, but by the early part of 1684 had given up his
office as president, and soon settled upon his plantation of
"Green Spring."
Although a man apparently of good abilities he was a non-
Quaker, out of sympathy with members of that sect, who then
made up the majority of the governing class. After the early
part of 1685 he suffered from ill health. He was, besides, a
INTRODUCTION 283
man of a somewhat haughty and arbitrary temper. Those
handicaps, for a time at least, made his tenure of office very
uncomfortable. In 1685 he fell so much under the displeasure
of the assembly that the latter body presented articles of im-
peachment against him to the council, charging him with
"assuming to himselfe an unlimited and unlawful Power."
Towards the close of his life he became financially embarrassed
and at his death in 1687 his estate was disposed of by the sheriff.
An original copy of the pamphlet, which was printed in
London, in 1687, as a quarto of nine pages, is in the John Carter
Brown Library at Providence. A reprint, appearing in the
Pennsijlvania Magazine, IV. 445-453 (1880), is the basis of
that which follows.
A. C. M.
LETTER OF DOCTOR NICHOLAS MORE,
1686
A Letter from Doctor More with Passages out of Several Letters
from Persons of Good Credit, Relating to the State and Im-
provement of the Province of Pennsilvania. Published to
prevent false Reports. Printed in the year 1687.
The Preface.
Divers false Reports going about Town and Country, to
the Injury of the Province of Pennsilvania, I was prevailed
with by some concerned in that Province, and others that
desire the truth of things, to Publish such of the last Letters
as made mention of the State of the Country; to serve for
answer to the Idle and Unjust Stories that the Malice of some
invent, and the Credulity of others prepare them to receive
against it ; which is all the part I take in this present Publica-
tion.
William Penn.
A Letter from Dr. More.
Honored Governour.
I have seen a Letter from your hand, directed to me, among
many in this Province, which came by Captain Richard Di-
mond :* It was in all respect welcome to me, and more particu-
Vrly, for that you make mention of your coming to us again,
with your Family; a thing so much desired by all in these
parts, and more particularly by my self. But I fear that
Madam Penn should give too much credit to the evil Reports
that I do understand are given out by many Enemies to this
new Colony, as if we were ready to Famish, and that the Land
1 Captain Richard Diamond, or Dymond, of the parish of Bermondsey,
Surrey, England, master of the ship Amity, of London, voyaging to Pennsylvania
in 1682, 1685, and 1686, arrived in Pennsylvania 5 mo. 15th of the latter year.
284
1686] LETTER OF DOCTOR MORE 285
is so barren, the Climet so hot, that English Grain, Roots and
Herbs do not come to Maturity; and what grows, to be little
worth. How untrue all these things are you well know; but
we that have seen our handy Work, accompanied with God's
blessing upon it, since your departure from us, are able to say
something more to encourage you to return to us again. You
know, that when you went for England, there was an indif-
ferent plenty of most things, and that many hundred Families
were clearing of Land to Sow and Plant, as I was also doing;
since that, our Lands have been grateful to us, and have be-
gun to reward our Labours by abounding Crops of Corn this
Year. But to give you to understand the full of our Condi-
tion, with respect to Provision in this Province; we had last
Fall, and the Winter, abundance of good fresh Pork in our
Market at two Pence half-penny per pound, of this Country
Money, which is an English two Pence; Beef at the same
rate; the like is this Year; and Butter for six Pence per
Pound; Wheat for four Shillings per Bushel ; Rye three Shill-
ings; and now all this Summer Wheat is at three Shillings,
and three Shillings 6 Pence; Rye at eight Groats, and half a
Crown; Indian-Corn seven Groats, and two Shillings this
Country Money still; so that there is now some Corn Trans-
ported from this River. Doctor Butler has bought two hun-
dred Bushels of Wheat at three Shillings six Pence, to Trans-
port, and several others, so that some Thousands of Bushels
are Transported this Season, and when this Crop that now is
gathered is Threshed, it is supposed that it will be abundantly
cheaper than now it is, for there has been abundance of Corn
this Year in every Plantation.
The last year I did plant about twelve Acres of Indian
Corn, and when it came off the Ground, I did only cause the
Ground to be Harrowed, and upon that I did sow both Wheat
and Rye, at which many Laughed, saying, That I could not
expect any Corn from what I had sowed, the Land wanting
more Labour ; yet I had this Year as good Wheat and Rye upon
it, as was to be found in any other place, and that very bright
Corn. I have had a good Crop of Barley and Oats and whereas
my People did not use my Barley well, so that much was shed
upon the Ground, I caused it immediately to be Plowed in,
and is now growing, keeping a good Colour, and I am in hope
286 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1686
of another Crop of Barley, having good Ears tho the Straw be
shorter. I did plant an Hopp-Garden this Spring, which is
now exceeding full of Hopps, at which all English People
admire. Richard Collet l and Samuel Carpenter,2 etc., hav-
ing had some Fields of Rye the last Summer, and plowed the
Stuble in order to sow other Corn, by some Casualty could
not sow their Fields ; yet have they had considerable Crops of
Rye, in the said Fields, by what had been shed on the Ground
in Harvest time. I have had seventy Ears of Rye upon one
single Root, proceeding from one single Corn; forty five of
Wheat : eighty of Oats ; ten, twelve and fourteen of Barley out
of one Corn: I took the Curiosity to tell one of the twelve
Ears from one Grain, and there was in it forty five Grains on
that Ear; above three Thousand of Oats from one single Corn,
and some I had, that had much more, but it would seem a
Romance rather than a Truth, if I should speak what I have
seen in these things.
Arnoldus de la Grange3 hath above a Thousand Bushels of
English Grain this year, there is indeed a great increase every
1 Richard Collett (d. 1717), yeoman, of Byberry Township, Philadelphia, a
neighbor of Doctor More, was a son of Richard Collett, husbandman, of Binton-
on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire, but had lived for a time prior to his emigration in
Fenchurch Street, London, as serving man to William Mead.
3 Samuel Carpenter held land not far from Dr. More.
3 Arnoldus de la Grange (c. 1650-c. 1694), Labadist, had a considerable
tract of land on Christiana Creek in New Castle County, Delaware, where evidently
the grain mentioned was raised. Near by on the same stream was a mill owned
by him in partnership with two Swedes. Doubtless born of a Huguenot family
sometime resident in Holland, he was living with his wife Cornelia nee de la
Fontaine as a shopkeeper in New York in 1679 when visited by Labadist mis-
sionaries who describe him as "dressed up like a great fop as he was." He
seems to have made frequent business trips to the Delaware, as early as the later
date, holding title to several tracts of land, along with a claim, through an in-
complete purchase by his father, to Tinicum Island. In the latter part of 1681,
apparently, he located with his family in New Castle, having in that year built a
windmill for grinding grain in the town. The following year he was one of the
residents of New Castle to welcome William Penn to the new domain on the Pro-
prietor's first landing at the town, and was thereupon constituted one of the jus-
tices of the court of New Castle and naturalized. In 1684-1685 he was concerned
in the purchase from Augustine Herrman of over 3000 acres of land on Bohemia
River in Bohemia Manor in southern Cecil County, Maryland, for the commu-
nistic settlement of the Labadists, and by 1692 he was a regular inmate of that
community.
1686] LETTER OF DOCTOR MORE 287
where, I had the last year as good Turnops, Carrots and Par-
snops as could be expected, and in no wise inferior to those
in London, the Parsnops better, and of a great bigness; my
Children have found out a way of Rosting them in the Em-
bers, and are as good as Barbadoes-Potatoes, insomuch that
it is now become a dish with us. We have had admirable
English Pease this Summer; every one here is now persuaded
of the fertility of the ground, and goodness of the climate, here
being nothing wanting, with industry, that grows in England,
and many delicious things, not attainable there; and we have
this common advantage above England, that all things grow
better, and with less labour. I have planted this Spring a
Quickset, of Sixscore Foot long, which grows to admiration;
we find as good Thorns as any in the World.
We have had so great abundance of Pigeons this Summer,
that we have fed all our Servants with them. A Gentlewoman
near the City, which is come into this Province since you
went for England (Mrs. Jeffs1 from Ireland) Cured Sturgion the
last year, and I have eaten some this Summer at her House,
as good as you can get in London; Some Barbadoes Merchants
are treating with her for several Barrels for the Barbadoes,
and will give her anything for them. We are wanting of
some more good Neighbours to fill up the Country. There
is a French Gentleman2 who made the last Year some Wine
of the wild Grapes, which proved admirable good, and far above
the best Mader as that you ever tasted, a little higher coloured.
And one thing I must take notice of that we strove to make
Vinegar of it, but it is so full of Spirit that it will not easily
turn to Vinegar; a certain evidence of its long keeping. Your
Vig[n]eron3 had made a Barrel of the same Wine, resolving to
keep it for your Entertainment; I being one day there, and
speaking of what I had tasted at Monsieur Pelison's,2 he shewed
me a Barrel, which he said was of the same sort that he had
1 Mary Jeffes (d. 1709), wife of Robert Jeffes. They lived at this time in
Frankford or Oxford in a house rented from Thomas Fairman in 1684, shortly
after their arrival from Ireland. Later they removed to the Falls, in Bucks
County, where he died in 1688. In 1702 she was living in Philadelphia.
1 Monsieur Jacob Pellison, of Philadelphia, who was legatee of the will of
Charles de la Noe, in 1686.
• Andrew D02.
288 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1686
taken a great deal of care to secure from being meddled with,
he tapping the head, it sounded empty, at which the man
was so amased, that he was ready to Faint; afterwards look-
ing about, it had leaked underneath, to about two Quarts;
I tasted it, and it was yet very good Wine, so I left the poor
man much afflicted for his loss. But I must acquaint you with
one thing, that he having planted some French Vines, the
twenty fourth of March, the last year, the same Vines have
brought forth some Grapes this year, and some of them were
presented to President Lloyd1 the 28th of July, fully Black
and Ripe, which is a thing unheard of, or very extraordinary.
I thought that this short account of our present State and Con-
dition, and Improvement would not be ill news to you, con-
sidering that you know me not forward to put my hand to
Paper slightly; wherefore I hope that your Lady will not
despise what I do here report, as being the very truth of things;
and if I could contribute thereby to her full Satisfaction, I
should have my end, as being willing to see you and her in
this place, where I shall not fear being rebuked for mis-repre-
senting things, I shall conclude,
Governor,
Green-Spring the 13th J
of September, 1686. J
Your truly affectionate Friend and Servant,
Nicholas More.
Madame Farmer2 has found out as good Lime-Stone, on the
School-kill, as any in the World, and is building with it; she
1 Thomas Lloyd (1640-1694), the highest officer in the province, then presi-
dent of the provincial council, which included the deputy governorship, 1684-1688,
and 1690-1691. He also served alone as deputy governor, 1691-1693. Born of
the gentle family of the Lloyds of Dolobran, Montgomeryshire, Wales, he was
graduated with the degree of B. A. from Jesus College, Oxford, in 1661, and be-
came a practising physician. Joining the Quakers he suffered persecution and
imprisonment. He brought his family over for settlement in Philadelphia in
1683, on the voyage having the congenial companionship of another university
man, the learned Francis Daniel Pastorius, with whom he conversed in Latin.
lMaryFarmar (d. 1687), widow of Major Jasper Farmar (d. 1685). They
migrated from Arderolaine, County Tipperary, Ireland, to Philadelphia in 1685
and settled on a large tract of 5000 acres of land, on the east side of Schuylkill
River at a place they called Farmars Town, in what is now Whitemarsh Town*
1686] LETTER OF DOCTOR MORE 280
offers to sell ten Thousand Bushels at six Pence the Bushel,
upon her Plantation, where there is several considerable Hills,
and near to your manner of Springfield.1 N. M.
In a Letter from the Governors Steward,2 Octob. 3, 1686.
The Gardiner is brisk at Work. The Peach-Trees are much
broken down with the weight of Fruit this Year. All or most
of the Plants that came from England grow, (being about four
Thousand.) Cherries are sprung four and five Foot. Pears,
Codlings and Plumbs three or four Foot. Pears and Apple
Grafts, in Country Stocks, and in Thorns, are sprung three and
four Foot. Rasberries, Goosberries, Currans, Quinces, Roses,
Walnuts and Figs grow well. Apricocks from the Stone four-
teen or sixteen Inches sprung, since the Month called April.
Our Barn, Porch and Shed, are full of Corn this year.
In a Letter from the Governers Gardiner,5 dated the Uth of the
Month, calVd May, 1686.
As for those things I brought with me, it is much for People
in England to believe me of the growth of them; some of the
Trees and Bulbes are shot in five weeks time, some one Inch,
some two, three, four, five, six, seven, yea some a eleven
ship, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The tract, which even yet is among
the most important for limestone and lime burning in the vicinity of Philadelphia,
is almost the eastern terminus of that underlying belt of limestone that stretches
away continuously southwesterly through the Chester Valley of Chester County,
and spreads out into the great limestone area of central Lancaster County.
1 The proprietary manor of Springfield, to the east of the Farmars' tract.
3 James Harrison (c. 1628-1687), Quaker minister, speaker of assembly, and
provincial councillor, had been appointed steward at Pennsbury on Penn's de-
parture from the province in 1684 and held that office until death. Born near
Kendal, Westmoreland, England, he learned the shoemaker's trade, joined the
Quakers, became a minister, and travelled in that service all over England, ex-
periencing imprisonment and distraint of property. Living some years at Stiall
Green, Cheshire, he removed, in 1668, to Bolton-in-the-Moors, near Manchester,
thence in 1682 migrating with his family by way of Maryland to Pennsylvania
and settling in Bucks County between the Falls and Pennsbury House.
3 James, the second gardener for Pennsbury — Ralph Smith, the first gardener,
having died in 1685 — was a Scotchman bred in Ireland. His surname is un-
known. "A good gardner," writes Penn to the steward at Pennsbury in sending
James over from England the latter part of 1685, "counted a rare Artist at it,
lett him have at least three hands, for he will put things, I hope, in a very good
290 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1686
Inches; some of them not ten days set in the Ground before
they put out Buds. And seeds do come on apace; for those
Seeds that in England take fourteen days to rise, are up here
in six or seven days. Pray make agreement with the Bishop
of London's Gardiner or any other that will furnish us with
Trees, Shrubs, Flowers and Seeds, and we will furnish them
from these places; for we have excellent Trees, Shrubs and
Flowers, and Herbs here, which I do not know I ever saw in
any Gardens in England.
In a Letter from Robert Turner, a Merchant in Philadelphia
and one of the Councel, the 15th of October, 1686.1
I also advise, that, blessed be God, Corn is very cheap this
Season; English Wheat sold here, to carry for New-England
at three Shillings six Pence per Bushel, and much Wheat-
Flower and Bisket for Barbadoes. Things prosper very well,
and the Earth brings forth its encrease; God grant we may
walk worthy of his Mercies. Of other Grains, plenty. As
to the Town, Building goeth on. John Readman2 is building
one Brick House for Richard Whitpain,3 of sixty Foot long,
and fifty six Foot wide. For the Widow Farmer, another
Brick House. For Thomas Barker and Samuel Jobson4 two
method, thou wilt have the tryall of him." "Thou Knowst his country: " he
adds, "he must be kept to the Seed, for if he be lett up, they want not for head.
The man has lived well." The gardener was indentured for three years, having
his passage paid, and was to receive a month to himself each year and at the end
of his term £30 and 60 acres of land.
1 See his previous letter, pp. 268-273, supra.
3 John Redman (d. 1713), bricklayer, of Philadelphia.
3 Richard Whitpain (c. 1631-1689), Quaker butcher, of St Leonards, East-
cheap, London, remained in London, but his sons John (b. 1663) and Zachariah
(b. 1665) came over to Philadelphia; in 1690 there is mention of "the great house
they Live in." "Taking into consideration the great expense of Richard Whit-
pain," writes Penn, in 1687, " to the advancement of the province, and the share he
taketh here (in England) on all occasions for its honour, I can do no less than
recommend to you for public service his great house in Philadelphia, which, being
too big for a private man, would provide you a conveniency above what my cot-
tage affords." In 1695 the assembly met there. The house stood on the bank
or bluff on the east side of Front, below Walnut Street.
'Thomas Barker (d. 1710), wine merchant, of London, and Samuel Jobson,
fellmonger, of St Mary Magdalen, London, sent over Jacob Chapman to act as
their agent in Pennsylvania, in 1685.
1686] LETTER OF DOCTOR MORE 291
Brick Cellars, and Chimnies for back Kitchings. Thomas
Ducket1 is Building a Brick House at the Skulkil, forty eight
Foot long and three Stories high; there are two other Brick
Houses to be built this Summer.
In a Letter , of the 2d of October [1686], from David Lloyd,2 Clerk
of the Peace, of the County of Philadelphia.
1 shall only add, that five Ships are come in since our ar-
rival, one from Bristol, with 100 Passengers; one from Hull
with 160 Passengers; one from New-England for Corn, and
two from Barbadoes; all of them, and ours (of above 300 Tun)
had their loading here, ours for New-England, and the rest
for Barbadoes; and for all this, Wheat (as good, I think, as
any in England) is sold at three Shillings six pence per Bushel,
this Country Money, and for three Shillings ready Money
(which makes two Shillings five pence English Starling) and
if God continues his blessing to us, this Province will certainly
be the Grainary of America. The Governours Vineyard goes
on very well, the Grapes I have tasted of; which in fifteen
Months are come to maturity.
Thomas Duckett (d. 1699), Quaker minister, a bricklayer, from Wiltshire,
England, came over to Philadelphia in 1683 and settled on the west side of the
Schuylkill, opposite the town.
2 David Lloyd (1656-1731), the Welsh Quaker lawyer, destined a few years
later to become one of the great lawgivers and agitators for popular rights in the
early history of the American colonies, had been a resident of the province but a
little more than two months, having arrived with his family at Philadelphia, in
the ship Amity, from London, July 15, 1686, to take up his duties as attorney
general of Pennsylvania. A native of the parish of Manoron, in Montgomery-
shire, Wales, he was a kinsman of the most prominent man in the province,
Governor Thomas Lloyd. He probably received his legal training at the Inner
Temple in London and — so Governor Gookin stated in 1709 — "under my Lord
Chancellor Jefferies." He lived for some years in Philadelphia and then about
1700 removed to Chester. He was a member of the provincial council, 1695-1700,
but accomplished his most important work thereafter as a member of assembly,
serving for more than a quarter of a century, frequently as speaker. He was the
leader of the popular party in that body, tenaciously contending for the privileges
and liberties of the common people in opposition to the proprietary interests
as defended by James Logan, the proprietary secretary and agent. To him
"liberal government in Pennsylvania," says Pennypacker, "owes more than
to any other man among our early lawgivers, unless we except Penn himself."
In 1718 he was made chief justice and served until death.
292 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1686
In a Letter, of October last [1686], from Thomas Holmes1
Surveyor General.
We have made three Purchases of the Indians, which,
added unto the six former Sales they made us, will, I believe,
be Land enough for Planters for this Age; they were at first
High, and upon their Distances; but when we told them of
the Kindness our Governour had always shown them; that
the Price we offer'd far exceeded former Rates, and that they
offered us the Land before we sought them, they agreed to
our last Offer, which is something under three hundred Pounds
sterling. The Kings salute our Governour; they hardly ever
see any of us, but they ask, with much affection when he will
come to them again; we are upon very good terms with them.
I intend to send the Draughts for a Map2 by the first
In a Letter from James Claypole3 Merchant in Philadelphia and
onz of the CounceL
I have never seen brighter and better Corn then in these
parts, especially in the County of Chester. Provisions very
cheap; Pork at two Pence, and good fat fresh Beef at three
half -pence the Pound, in our Market. Fish is plentiful; Corn
cheap; Wheat three and six pence a Bushel ; Rye half a Crown;
Indian Corn two Shillings, of this Money: And it is without
1 For Thomas Holme, see p. 242, note 1.
2 This was Thomas Holme's well known wall map of Pennsylvania (32|x55
inches), the most important of the early maps of the province, giving the south-
eastern part with the streams, counties, townships, towns, the individual surveys
or plots containing the owners' names and the like. It was engraved by E.
Lamb, and published without date in London. But the date was 1687, for William
Penn on his way from London to Bristol Fair in September of that year stopped
at Marlborough in Wiltshire and exhibited a "Mapp" showing lands in Penn-
sylvania.
3 James Claypoole (1634-1687), a native of London, son of a justice and
member of Parliament, and brother of John Claypoole, who married Oliver
Cromwell's daughter Elizabeth, was a prosperous Quaker merchant. Previous
to his migration he had lived in Scots Yard, in Bush Lane, London. Having
social, religious, and business relations with William Penn he became actively
concerned in the Pennsylvania project from its beginning, purchased 5,000 acres
of land in the province, was elected the first treasurer of the Free Society of
Traders in 1682, and in the following year came over with his family to settle,
16863 LETTER OF DOCTOR MORE 293
doubt that we shall have as good Wine as France produces.
Here is great appearance of a Trade, and if we had small Money
for Exchange, we should not want Returns. The Whale-
Fishery1 is considerable; several Companies out to ketch them:
There is one caught that its thought will make several hundred
Barrels of Oyle. This besides Tobacco and Skins, and Furs,
we have for Commerce.
arriving at Philadelphia in the ship Concord in October. He located on his lot
at the southwest corner of Front and Walnut streets, and during the remaining
four years of his life was busily engaged in attending to his duties as treasurer of
the Free Society and promoting his private trading enterprises, at the same time
holding important public offices as justice of the courts, register general, assembly-
man and provincial councillor. His manuscript letter-book (1681-1684), printed
in part in the Pennsylvania Magazine, X. (1886), is a valuable historical source
for the period.
1 "I have been 3 weeks from home," Claypoole writes from Philadelphia,
2 Mo. (April) 4, 1684, "about 150 miles of [off] whare they take the whales, they
took 2 while I was there, they had killed about 12 in all and lost 3 of them and
they intend to stay till the end of this month and may expect to gitt 5 or 6 more
they fish for the Society [Free Society of Traders] but must be pd. the Markett
prise for § of the oyle and bone besides some other Charges we are at so we are
like to gett no great Matter by it this time, this is the first year of their fishing
and they were not provided with Nessesarys in time else they might have made
1001b each man, here being great plenty of whales and very easy to take them
here is abundance of Sturgeon and other fish."
A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PENNSILVANIA.
BY RICHARD FRAME, 1692
INTRODUCTION
In 1692, William Bradford, the Quaker printer, of Philadel-
phia, published a small quarto (6f x4| inches) of eight pages en-
titled A Short Description of Pennsilvania. This little book
is in verse and is believed to be the first metrical composition
printed in Pennsylvania. The only known copy of the work
is in the Ridgway Branch of the Library Company of Phila-
delphia, to which it was bequeathed by Charles A. Poulson
some sixty years ago.
An element of uncertainty hangs over the authorship of
the verses. The title and last page of the book assign them
to one Richard Frame. Yet strange to say a thorough search
of all Pennsylvania sources likely to be fruitful of results has
failed to reveal a single reference — other than these citations
in the book itself — to substantiate the existence of a person
of this name here at that time.
It is true that some of the public and many private records
for the period have perished or are otherwise defective; never-
theless those that survive are so full and of such a varied
character that it is rare indeed to find entries lacking of settlers
of even the most humble position. The observing intelligence
discernible in this writer would seem to raise him far out
of the obscurity of the latter class. The suggestion that the
author may have made only a brief sojourn here and so have
escaped record or chronicler finds no support from the internal
evidence, which indicates an extended acquaintance with the
province. This absence of data, then, respecting the presence
of Richard Frame raises the question whether this was not an
assumed name.
Be that as it may, we are confined to the book itself for
297
298 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
biographical facts as to its author. From it may be deduced
the somewhat scanty conjectures that he was a native of Eng-
land, that he had come to Pennsylvania at the beginning of
the Penn era, had actively participated in the felling of the
forests and the clearing of the land, and had joined in the
pioneer farming of which he writes so familiarly. Despite
his manifest defects of education he was a man of sense and
good powers of observation. He seems to know whereof he
writes, evidently having a personal acquaintance with the
settled part of Pennsylvania proper.
His verse, to be sure, falls far short of poetry; it will never
find a place in the American Anthology: yet what it lacks in
poetical form it makes up in the quaint interest and valuable
information of its content. It conveys a truthful and not un-
pleasing impression of the state of Penn's colony— of its flora,
its fauna, products and the like— after a decade of prosperous
growth.
Granting that Richard Frame was the author's real name,
he may have been related to the family of Fream or Freame
of Gloucestershire, England. A Thomas Fream, from Avon,
in that county, was a settler in Bucks County, Pennsylvania;
his will dated September 5 was probated October 10, 1682,
being the first will recorded in Philadelphia. Again, a Robert
Freame, of Cirencester, supposed to be Penn's First Purchaser
of this name in 1681, was the father of Robert and John Freame,
prominent Quakers, of London, in the latter part of the seven-
teenth century. Both the latter held shares of stock in the
Pennsylvania Land Company of London. Thomas Freame,
son of Robert, jr., married William Penn's daughter Margaret
in 1727 and lived for a time in Pennsylvania.
A Short Description was reprinted in a small edition (118
copies) by Samuel J. Hamilton (Dr. James Slack), at the Oak-
wood Press, a private press, in 1867, with an introductory
letter by Horatio Gates Jones. The present issue is from a
INTRODUCTION 299
careful copy of the unique original book compared by the
editor. The title-page is worn and broken in places and the
first page of the text has been trimmed so closely for binding
that the first one or two letters of each line have been cut off;
a tear also appears in the sheet. These defective parts have
been supplied in brackets as well as may be from portions of
letters remaining, or from the obvious sense. Doubtful words
are so indicated.
a. a m.
A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PENNSILVANIA,
BY RICHARD FRAME, 1692
A Short Description of Pennsilvania, Or, a Relation What things
are known, enjoyed, and like to be discovered in the said
Province. [Presen(?)]#ed as a Token of Good Will [to
the People(?)] of England. By Richard Frame. Printed
and Sold by William Bradford in Philadelphia, 1692.
A short Relation of what things are Known, Enjoyd, and like to
be Discovered in the Province of Pennsilvania.
TO all our Friends that do desire to know,
What Country 'tis we live in, this will show.
Attend to hear the Story I shall tell,
[N]o doubt but you will like this Country well.
We that did leave our Country thought it strange,
[T]hat ever we should make so good Exchange:
[I(?)] think 'tis hard for me for to express,
[H]ow God provideth in a Wilderness,
[ torn ]arge a wo[torn]
[torn] Wolves, and Bears, and Fa[torn]
[Fo]xes, Raccoons and Otters dwelleth here,
[Bejside all these the Nimble footed Dear;
[T]he Hare so lightly runs for to escape;
[Y]et here are things of a more stranger shape,
[T]he Female Possum, which I needs must tell ye,
[Is] much admired with her double Belly;
[T]he Belly for her Meat, she hath beside
[A]nother where her Young Ones use to hide.
[0] strange! 'tis hard, I think, for me to name
[T]he Multitudes of Beasts, both Wild and Tame:
[B]evers here are, whose Skins are soft as Silk,
[H]orses to Ride on, Cows to give us Milk,
[Bejsides the Beasts, whose Nature is so Rude,
300
1692] A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PENNSILVANIA 301
[To] speak of them, I think I must Conclude.
[Al]so the Flocks of Fowle, and Birds, pray mind,
[The] Swans, and Geese, and Turkyes in their kind,
The Turky-Buzard, and Bald-Eagle high,
Wild Ducks, which in great Company es do fly;
More sorts of fowle here are, than I need [tell],
Yet here are other things, which do excell.
The Fields, most fruitful, yield such Crops of Wheat,
And other things most excellent to eat.
As Barley, Rye, and other sorts of Grain;
In peace we plow, we sow, and reap again,
Good Indian Corn, which is a larger breed,
It doth our Cattle, Swine and Horses feed,
Buck- Wheat and Oats, beside, good store of Reed,
A plentiful Land, 0 plentiful indeed,
For Plants, and Roots, and Herbs, wee'l let them be,
To name the Fruit that grows upon each Tree:
The fruit Trees do flourish, and are green,
Where Apples, Peaches, Quinces, Plumbs are seen,
With other Fruits, whose glittering Faces shine.
The Grapes grow plenty on the fruitful Vine:
Wall-Nuts, Chest-Nuts, Hazel-Nuts appear,
These things are plenty with us every Year.
More things I can relate, for all is true,
And yet, not give the Country half his due.
Also, here is of divers sorts of Fish,
So good, so pleasant as a man need wish,
Within our Rivers, swiming to and fro.
Great ones we catch, but small ones let them go.
Here are more things than I can well express,
Strange to be seen in such a Wilderness.
By Day we work, at Night we rest in Peace,
So that each Day our Substance doth increase:
O blessed be his Name, who doth provide
For you, and us, and all the World beside.
The first part that I writ is good indeed,
But yet perhaps the second may exceed :
The Truth in Rhyme, which I do here compose,
It may be spoken thus, as well as Prose:
302 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1692
Therefore unto my words once more attend,
Here are more Properties I shall commend.
The Riches of this Land it is not known,
What in the after Ages may be shown;
My words are true, for here was lately found
Some precious Mettle under-neath the Ground,
The which some men did think was Silver Oar,
Others said Copper, but some think 'tis more.
They say there is a vein of Lead or Tin,
Where choicer Mettle lodgeth further in;
So divers men have divers judgments spent,
And so the matter lies in Argument.
If men would venture for to dig below,
They might get well by it, for ought I know:
Those Treasures in the Earth which hidden be,
They will be good, whoever lives to see.
A certain place here is, where some begun
To try some Mettle, and have made it run,
Wherein was Iron absolutely found,
At once was known about some Forty Pound.
We know no end of this great Tract of Land,
Where divers sorts of Timber Trees doth stand,
As mighty Oaks, also, here's Cedars tall,
And other sorts, 'tis hard to name them all,
The strong Hickery, Locust and lofty Pine,
'Tis strange to see what Providence divine
Hath in the World ordained for to be,
Which those that live at home do never see.
I also give you here to understand
What People first inhabited this Land:
Those that were here before the Sweeds and Fins,
Were Naked Indians, Cloathed with their Skins,
Which can give no account from whence they came;
They have no Records for to shew the same,
But I may think, and others may suppose
What They may be, yet I think few men knows,
1692] A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PENNSILVANIA 303
Unless they are of Esau's scattered Seed,
Or of some other wild corrupted Breed.
They take no care to plow, nor yet to sow,
Nor how to till their Land they do not know,
Therefore by that we may observe it plain,
That this can hardly be the Seed of Cain;
Some Men did think they were the scattered Jews,
But yet I cannot well believe such News :
They neither do New Moons nor Sabbath keep,
Without much Care they eat, they drink, they sleep;
Their care for Worldly Riches is but light,
By Day they hunt, and down they lie at Night.
Those Infidels that dwelleth in the Wood,
I shall conclude of them so far so good.
You that will seek a Country strange,
Attend to what is true,
All that are willing to exchange,
An Old place for a New.
We that our Country did forsake,
And leave our Native Land,
Will do the best we can to make
Our Neighbours understand.
Although I have a good intent,
Yet hardly can express,
How we, through Mercy, were content
In such a Wilderness.
When we began to clear the Land,
For room to sow our Seed,
And that our Corn might grow and stand,
For Food in time of Need,
Then with the Ax, with Might and Strength,
The Trees so thick and strong,
Yet on each side, such strokes at length,
We laid them all along.
So when the Trees, that grew so high,
Were fallen to the ground,
Which we with Fire, most furiously
To Ashes did Confound,
304 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1692
Then presently we sought for Wood,
I mean (not Wood to burn,
But for) such Timber, choice and good,
As fitted well our turn.
A City, and Towns were raised then,
Wherein we might abide,
Planters also, and Husband-men,
Had Land enough beside.
The best of Houses then was known,
To be of Wood and Clay,
But now we build of Brick and Stone,
Which is a better way.
The Names of Some of our Towns.
Philadelphia, that great Corporation,
Was then, is now our choicest Habitation.
Next unto that there stands the German-Town,
Also, within the Country, up and down,
There's Haverford, where th' Welch-men do abide,
Two Townships more, I think, they have beside :
Here's Bristol, Plymouth,1 Newtown, here doth stand,
Chester, Springfield, Marple in this Land,
Darby, and other famous Habitations,
Also, a multitude of New Plantations.
The German-Town2 of which I spoke before,
Which is, at least, in length one Mile and More,
Where lives High-German People, and Low-Dutch;
Whose Trade in weaving Linnin Cloth is much,
There grows the Flax, as also you may know,
That from the same they do divide the Tow ;
Their Trade fits well within this Habitation,
We find Convenience for their Occupation.
One Trade brings in imployment for another,
So that we may suppose each Trade a Brother;
From Linnin Rags good Paper doth derive,
1 Near present Norristown, in Montgomery County.
2"A Town of Dutch and German People that have set up the Linnen Manu-
factory, which weave and make many Hundred Yards of pure fine Linnen Cloath
in a Year."— Letter of John Goodson, Philadelphia, 1690.
1692] A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PENNSILVANIA 305
The first Trade keeps the second Trade alive:
Without the first the second cannot be,
Therefore since these two can so well agree,
Convenience doth approve to place them nigh,
One in the German-Town, 'tother hard by.
A Paper Mill l near German-Town doth stand,
So that the Flax, which first springs from the Land,
First Flax, then Yarn, and then they must begin,
To weave the same, which they took pains to spin.
Also, when on our backs it is well [worn],
Some of the same remains Ragged and Torn;
Then of those Rags our Paper it is made,
Which in process of time doth waste and fade :
So what comes from the Earth, appeareth plain,
The same in Time returns to Earth again.
So much for what I have truly Composed,
Which is but a part of what may be disclosed,
Concluding of this, and what is behind,
I may tell you more of my Mind ;
But in the mean time be content with this same,
Which at present is all from your Friend
Richard Frame.
1 The first paper-mill in America, erected in 1690, on a branch of Wissa-
hickon Creek, in Germantown, by William Rittinghuysen or Rittenhouse (1644-
1708), a Mennonite paper-maker, with the assistance of a company consisting of
William Bradford, the first printer of the middle colonies, and the wealthy Phila-
delphia citizens, Samuel Carpenter, Robert Turner, and Thomas Tresse. Brad-
ford obtained his paper from this mill. Rittenhouse was a native of the prin-
cipality of Broich, near the city of Miilheim-on-the-Ruhr, Germany, not far from
the borders of Holland. His ancestors for generations had been paper-maker*
at Arnheim. In 1678 he was a resident of Amsterdam; thence he came to Nev*
York, and in 1688 to Germantown, where he served as a minister in the Mennon*
ite congregation.
AN HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AC-
COUNT OF PENSILVANIA AND OF WEST-
NEW-JERSEY, BY GABRIEL THOMAS, 1698
INTRODUCTION
The book here reprinted was the largest and most preten-
tious that had yet appeared descriptive of the twin provinces on
the Delaware. The author was a Welsh yeoman who, having
been a pioneer in Penn's colony during the fifteen years of his
young manhood, the very period of its rise and development to
this time, had returned to the Old World, and in 1697 prepared
this account from his experiences and observation. The work
was published the following year in London. The first part,
which has to do with Pennsylvania, is dedicated to William
Penn, and apparently was issued with his knowledge and en-
couragement, although Penn's recent removal to Bristol and
subsequent travels in Ireland doubtless gave him no oppor-
tunity to read either the manuscript or proof of the book.
Gabriel Thomas was the author. He had his origin in the
extreme southeastern part of Wales, in Monmouthshire, not
far from the English border and at no great distance from
Bristol. Pontemoil, a little place nestling at the foot of a spur
of the Drynos mountains, was his birthplace. There he first
saw the light in March, 1661. His parents, Lewis and Grace
Thomas, who had lived at the place as early as 1650, were
Quakers. One Lewis Thomas, a dissenting Quaker liberated
from Monmouth jail in 1671, was probably the father. No
further records of Gabriel Thomas in Wales have been found.
In the fall of 1681, being then in his twenty-first year,
Gabriel Thomas set out for Pennsylvania, sailing from London
with the first company of Penn's emigrants in the ship John
and Sarah. At Philadelphia, he informs us, "I saw the first
Cellar when it was digging for the use of our Gouvernour
Will Penn." His parents with nearly all of their eight chil-
309
310 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
dren also came over to the province, but the time of their
arrival is unknown. In 1688 two of his sisters were married
by the Quaker meeting in Philadelphia, his younger sister
Rachel at that time becoming the bride of Thomas Wharton,
the founder of the distinguished Philadelphia family of that
name. In the same year the father died, being mentioned in
one of the papers of his estate at Philadelphia, as "late of
West Jersey" and in another as "late of Philadelphia." The
mother died in Philadelphia in 1694. The records indicate
Thomas's presence in the city in 1692 and in 1693 and that was
probably in general his place of residence in Pennsylvania.
Proceeding to London about 1697, being then aged thirty-
six, he saw his book through the press and remained there as
late as 1702. In this year he figures in an acrimonious con-
troversy with William Penn. With the plea, as he states, that
his book on Pennsylvania had "proved to the province's great
advancement by causing great numbers of people to goe over
to those parts," he sought the proprietary post of collector of
quit-rents for New Castle County. Penn failing to meet these
expectations, Thomas took sides with Colonel Robert Quarry,
judge of admiralty in the middle colonies, in the latter's cam-
paign of aggression against Penn and the government of Penn-
sylvania, and finally invoked the aid of the British Board of
Trade in his endeavors to secure the place. In his petition
to this body Thomas complains that he is now "reduced to
great poverty by reason" of Penn's "unjust dealings" and is
persecuted because of assistance given to Colonel Quarry. He
then declares that he is ready to appear as evidence for the
Crown against Penn. The incident closes with Penn's re-
sponse to the board under date of August, 1702, in which he
characterizes Thomas as "so beggarly and base a man, that
I am sorry to finde time lost upon him."
By 1706 Thomas had come back to America and was living
as a yeoman in Sussex County in the present state of Delaware,
INTRODUCTION 311
where he possessed a plantation of about a thousand acres
called "Pleasant," located on the north side of Prime Hook
Neck. In 1712 he was again a resident of Philadelphia and
there he doubtless continued until his death, which occurred
in December, 1714, at the age of fifty-three.
Gabriel Thomas, as we have seen, was not only a birth-
right Quaker, but he used the Quaker form of speech in his
dedication to Penn, and is so named in the records of the
British Board of Trade. In later life, however, his membership
was discontinued, as both the burial records of the Philadelphia
Friends and the manuscript " Beehive," kept by Pastorius, the
contemporary German Quaker, enter him as a non-Quaker.
The intent of Thomas's history, like that of our other nar-
ratives for this English epoch, was chiefly to incite the move-
ment of European population to the Delaware. The book is
written in a simple, descriptive style, but with an undercurrent
of playfulness and occasional touches of satire that lend a
certain charm and quaint pleasantness to the account. Along
with these evidences of the Cymric temperament of the writer
is a tendency to exaggerate in some of the passages; these
lapses, however, are easily discernible. Where he writes what
he himself knows he is in general reliable, but he falls sadly
into error with respect to some of the dates and places that
are without his own experience. These inaccuracies are cor-
rected in the notes.
An Historical and Geographical Account Is a sextodecimo
book published in London in 1698. The part dealing with
Pennsylvania comprises 8 + 55 pages. The second part con-
cerns West New Jersey, and is inscribed to the proprietors of
that province. Although bound up with the first part, it has
its own title-page and separate pagination, numbering 11+34
pages. A map covering the region of both provinces is in-
cluded in the volume. A German translation forming part
of the Pastorius Continuatio der Beschreibung der Landschafft
312 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvaniae (2 + 40 pages) was published at Frankfort and
Leipzig about 1702. Our text is from a lithographic facsimile
of the original London edition, published in New York in
1848 by Henry Austin Brady. The original edition was also
reprinted in the Philadelphia Daily News, in August and De-
cember, 1864, and again by Burrows Brothers of Cleveland,
Ohio, in 1903 (pp. 83), with an introduction by Cyrus Town-
send Brady.
A. C. M.
AN HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AC
COUNT OF PENSILVANIA AND OF WEST-
NEW-JERSEY, BY GABRIEL THOMAS, 1698
An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and
Country of Pensilvania; and of West-New- Jersey in Amer-
ica. The Richness of the Soil, the Sweetness of the Situation
the Wholesomness of the Air, the Navigable Rivers, and others,
the prodigious Encrease of Corn, the flourishing Condition
of the City of Philadelphia, with the stately Buildings, and
other Improvements there. The strange Creatures, as Birds,
Beasts, Fishes, and Fowls, with the several sorts of Minerals,
Purging Waters, and Stones, lately discovered. The Na-
tives, Aborogines, their Language, Religion, Laws, and Cus-
toms; The first Planters, the Dutch, Sweeds, and English,
with the number of its Inhabitants; As also a Touch upon
George Keith1 s New Religion, in his second Change since he
left the Quakers, with a Map of both Countries.
By Gabriel Thomas, who resided there about Fifteen Years.
London, Printed for, and Sold by A, Baldwin, at the Oxon
Arms in Warwick-Lane, 1698.
The Dedication.
Friend William Penn,
I Here present Thee with a succinct (yet compleat) Account
of the late Improvement, and Present State of the Noble Prov-
ince, and Fertile Countrey of Pensilvania; with the strange
things that have been found there, as the Salamander-Stone,1
and several others, mentioned in this Treatise; discovered
since thou earnest out of those Parts. I desire Thee to excuse
me for addressing to Thee, such a Plain and Peasant-like Piece;
yet however homely or coarse it may appear, Thou wilt find
here a true and genuine Description of that (once) obscure,
1 Asbestos.
313
314 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
tho' (now) glorious Place. So considering how generous and
candid a Man Thou art, I know thou wilt bear with my weak
and imperfect Performance, and accept of my good Meaning
and kind Intention, which may encourage me, in time to come,
to add some more Memoirs to this rough Essay of mine. Being
unwilling to tire Thee with any long or tedious Epistle, I take
my Leave of Thee,
(Most Noble and Excellent Governor) and am
Thy hearty Well-wisher, ever ready to
serve Thee on all Occasions, (in
the way of Truth,)
Gabriel Thomas.
The Preface.
Reader,
There never having been any fair or full Account given to
the World of Pensilvania, I thought the Curious wou'd be
gratified with an ample Description thereof.
For tho' this Country has made little Noise in Story, or
taken up but small room in Maps, yet thus much with great
Justice may be said of it, that notwithstanding the Difficulties
and Inconveniencies the First English Colonies met with before
they were well settled there, yet the mighty Improvements,
Additions, and Advantages that have been made lately there,
are well worth Communicating to the Publick, and I am sensible
they will be well received.
The late Tedious, Hazardous, and Expensive War1 (in
which England, in Conjunction with the Allies was so deeply
engaged) was without doubt no small Bar or Obstacle to the
Flourishing of this New Country. The great Discouragements
the Traders thither lay under, (together with the frequent
Capture of their Ships out and home, cou'd not chuse but
baulk them in their honest Endeavours, which (now Peace is
restored) they may pursue with greater Security and Satisfac-
tion.
Nor is there the least question or doubt to be made, but
this Noble Spot of Earth will thrive exceedingly, and that in a
short time too, and advance considerably to the mighty Ad-
1 Known in the colonies as King William's War, 1689-1697, ending with the
treaty of Ryswick in the latter year.
GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 315
vantage of the Present and Future Propietors, who have, and
are willing to give all due Encouragement to any that shall
Transport themselves thither.
I cou'd say much here in Praise of that sweet Tract of
Land, but having spoken so largely and particularly thereof
in the Book it self, I shall forbear the least mention in this
place. Nor will I Anticipate or forestal thee, by presenting
thee here with what thou wilt find there, with the greater
Satisfaction. And so I bid thee heartily farewel.
Gab. Thomas.
The History of Pensilvania, etc.
Pensilvania lies between the Latitude of Forty and Forty
five Degrees;1 West- Jersey on the East, Virginia on the West,
Mary-Land South, and Canada2 on the North. In Length
three hundred, and in Breadth one hundred and eighty Miles.3
The Natives, or first Inhabitants of this Country in their
Original, are suppos'd by most People to have been of the Ten
Scattered Tribes, for they resemble the Jews very much in the
Make of their Persons, and Tincture of their Complexions:
They observe New Moons, they offer their first Fruits to a
Maneto, or suppos'd Deity, whereof they have two, one, as
they fansie, above (good,) another below (bad,) and have a
kind of Feast of Tabernacles, laying their Altars upon Twelve
Stones, observe a sort of Mourning twelve Months, Customs of
Women, and many other Rites to be toucht (here) rather than
1 Although several of the boundaries of Pennsylvania were then either not
fully determined or in dispute, yet Thomas even for that period had very errone-
ous and inconsistent notions as to some of them. His absurd extension of the
northern boundary to the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, the present northern
line of the state of New York, included the province of New York in Pennsylvania,
a claim at no time made by Pennsylvania; while his restriction of the southern
boundary of Pennsylvania to the fortieth parallel, as contended by Maryland,
left out Philadelphia, which is in 39° 57', and half of the province as then settled,
not to speak of the Three Lower Counties of Delaware (now the state of Delaware),
at that time constituting a part of Pennsylvania. The present state of Penn-
sylvania lies between 39° 43' and 42° 15' north latitude.
3 The province of New York not Canada was on the north.
3 The present state of Pennsylvania is 307 miles long in its greatest length
from east to west, and 177 miles wide from north to south. If "forty-five" is a
misprint for "forty-three" Thomas has these directions in mind.
316 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1623
dwelt upon, because they shall be handled more at large at
the latter end of this Treatise.
They are very Charitable to one another, the Lame and the
Blind (amongst them) living as well as the best ; they are also
very kind and obliging to the Christians.
The next that came there,1 were the Dutch, (who calFd
the Country New Neitherland) between Fifty and Sixty Years
ago, and were the first Planters in those Parts; but they made
little or no Improvement, (applying themselves wholly to
Trafique in Skins and Furs, which the Indians or Natives fur-
nished them with, and which they Bartered for Rum, Strong
Liquors, and Sugar, with others, thereby gaining great Profit)
till near the time of the Wars between England and Them,
about Thirty or Forty Years ago.
Soon after them came the Swedes2 and Fins, who apply'd
themselves to Husbandry, and were the first Christian People
that made any considerable Improvement there.
There were some Disputes between these two Nations some
Years, the Dutch looking upon the Swedes as Intruders upon
their Purchase and Possession, which was absolutely terminated
in the Surrender made by John Rizeing,3 the Swedes Governour,
to Peter Styreant,4 Governour for the Dutch, in 1655. In the
Holland War about the Year 1665,5 Sir Robert Carr took the
Country from the Dutch for the English, and left his Cousin,
Captain Carr,6 Governor of that place; but in a short time
after, the Dutch re-took the Country from the English, and
kept it in their Possession till the Peace was concluded between
the English and them, when the Dutch Surrendered that
Country with East and West-Jersey, New- York, (with the
whole Countries belonging to that Government) to the English
Evidently here referring not simply to Pennsylvania proper but to the
larger Delaware River region which was first occupied by the Dutch at least
seventy-five years before 1697, Fort Nassau in New Jersey being built in 1623.
* The first Swedish settlement was made at present Wilmington, Delaware,
in 1638.
5 Rising. * Stuyvesant 6 1664.
6 Captain John Carr accompanied his brother, not his cousin, Sir Robert
Carr, on the conquering expedition of the English against the Dutch on the Dela-
ware in 1664 and after the departure of his brother remained in command at
New Castle (the new name for the New Amstel of the Dutch), until the reconquest
by the Dutch in 1673.
16811 GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 317
again.1 But it remain'd with very little Impovement till the
Year 1681, in which William Penn Esq; had the Country given
him by King Charles the Second, in lieu of Money that was due
to (and signal Service done by) his Father, Sir William Penn,
and from him bore the Name of Pensilvania.
Since that time, the Industrious (nay Indefatigable) Inhab-
itants have built a Noble and Beautiful City, and called it
Philadelphia, which contains above two thousand Houses, all
Inhabited ; and most of them Stately, and of Brick, generally
three Stories high, after the Mode in London, and as many
several Families in each. There are very many Lanes and
Alleys, as first, Huttons-Lane,2 Morris-Lane,3 Jones 's-Lane,4
wherein are very good Buildings; Shorters-Alley,5 Towers-
Lane,6 Wallers-Alley,7 Turners-Lane,8 Sikes- Alley,9 and Flowers-
Alley.10 All these Alleys and Lanes extend from the Front
Street to the Second Street. There is another Alley in the
Second Street, called Carters-Alley.11 There are also besides
these Alleys and Lanes, several fine Squares and Courts within
this Magnificent City, (for so I may justly call it,) As for the
particular Names of the several Streets contained therein, the
Principal are as follows, viz, Walnut-Street, Vine-Street, Mul-
berry-Street,12 Chesnut-Street, Sassafras-Street,13 taking their
Names from the abundance of those Trees that formerly grew
I In 1674.
3 The second alley above Walnut Street, Thomas Hooton being owner of an
adjacent lot.
3 Possibly opposite the bank lot of Anthony Morris (1654-1721), the emigrant,
a rich Quaker brewer, mayor and provincial councillor.
4 The first alley above High (now Market) Street, running from Front to
Second Street, adjoining a lot of Griffith Jones (d. 1712), a Welshman, one of the
wealthiest citizens.
6 Not located, but Elizabeth Shorter owned a lot above Chestnut Street.
6 Ewers Lane, above Chestnut Street, adjoining Robert Ewer's lot.
7 Not located.
8 The first below Mulberry (now Arch) Street, adjoining Robert Turner's
property.
9 May have been opposite the bank lot of Nathaniel Sykes, below Chestnut
Street.
10 Doubtless named for Enoch Flower, Quaker, who taught the first school in
Philadelphia, in 1683.
II The first below Chestnut Street, William Carter owning an adjoining lot
on Second Street.
n Now Arch. a Now Race.
318 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
there; High-Street/ Broad-Street, Delaware-Street, Front-
Street, with several of less Note, too tedious to insert here.
It hath in it Three Fairs every Year, and Two Markets
every Week, They kill above Twenty Fat Bullocks every
Week, in the hottest time in Summer, for their present spend-
ing in that City, besides many Sheep, Calves, and Hogs.
This City is Situated between Schoolkill-River and the
great River Delaware,2 which derives its Name from Captain
Delaware, who came there pretty early : Ships of Two or Three
Hundred Tuns may come up to this City, by either of these
two Rivers. Moreover, in this Province are Four Great Mar-
ket-Towns, viz, Chester, the German Town, New-Castle, and
Lewis-Town,3 which are mightily Enlarged in this latter Im-
provement. Between these Towns, the Water-Men constantly
Ply their Wherries;4 likewise all those Towns have Fairs kept
in them, besides there are several Country Villages, viz. Dublin,5
Harford,6 Merioneth,7 and Radnor in Cambry; 8 all which
Towns, Villages and Rivers, took their Names from the several
Countries whence the present Inhabitants came.
The Air here is very delicate, pleasant, and wholesom; the
Heavens serene, rarely overcast, bearing mighty resemblance
to the better part of France ; after Rain they have commonly
a very clear Sky, the Climate is something Colder in the depth
of Winter and Hotter in the height of Summer; (the cause of
which is its being a Main Land or Continent; the Days also
are two Hours longer in the shortest Day in Winter, and shorter
by two Hours in the longest Day of Summer) than here in
England, which makes the Fruit so good, and the Earth so
fertil.
1 Now Market.
2 So named by one of the Virginia adventurers, Captain Samuel Argall, who
visited the Bay in 1610, in honor of the then Governor of Virginia, Thomas West,
Lord de la Warr, of whose alleged visit there no evidence is known.
8 Lewes, in Sussex County, Delaware.
* Light boats used on rivers.
6 Now Ogontz, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
8 Haverford. 7 Merion.
• Cambria, i. e., the Welsh Tract, that area extending northwesterly from
Schuylkill River and embracing at that time the townships of Merion, Haverford,
and Radnor, occupied by Welsh people, many of them from the northern counties
of Wales — principally Merioneth, Denbigh, Montgomery, and Flint.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 319
The Corn-Harvest is ended before the middle of July, and
most Years they have commonly between Twenty and Thirty
Bushels of Wheat for every one they Sow. Their Ground is
harrowed with Wooden Tyned Harrows, twice over in a place
is sufficient; twice mending of their Plow-Irons in a Years time
will serve. Their Horses commonly go without being shod;
two Men may clear between Twenty and Thirty Acres of Land
in one Year, fit for the Plough, in which Oxen are chiefly us'd,
though Horses are not wanting, and of them Good and well
shap'd. A Cart or a Wain may go through the middle of the
Woods, between the Trees without getting any damage, and
of such Land in a convenient place, the Purchase will cost
between Ten and Fifteen Pounds for a Hundred Acres. Here
is much Meadow Ground. Poor People both Men and Women,
will get near three times more Wages for their Labour in this
Country, than they can earn either in England or Wales.
What is Inhabited of this Country, is divided into Six
Counties, though there is not the Twentieth Part of it yet
Peopled by the Christians: It hath in it several Navigable
Rivers for Shipping to come in, besides the Capital Delaware,
wherein a Ship of Two Hundred Tuns may Sail Two Hundred
Miles up. There are also several other small Rivers, in num-
ber hardly Credible; these, as the Brooks, have for the most
part gravelly and hard Bottoms; and it is supposed that there
are many other further up in the Country, which are not yet
discover'd; the Names of the aforesaid Rivers, are, Hoorkill-
River, alias Lewis River, which runs up to Lewis Town, the
chief est in Sussex County; Cedar-River, Muskmel Ion-River,1
all taking their Names from the great plenty of these things
growing thereabouts; Mother-kill alias Dover-River, St. Jones's
alias Cranb rook-River, where one John Curtice2 lives, who hath
Three Hundred Head of Neat Beasts, besides great Numbers
of Hogs, Horses, and Sheep; Great Duck-River, Little Duck-
River, Black-Bird-River, these also took their Original Names
from the great Numbers of those Fowls which are found there
1 Mispillion.
2 John Curtis (d. 1698), who was of the Whorekill, now Lewes, in 1679, soon
after located on a plantation on St. Jones Creek in Kent County, Delaware. He
represented Kent County in the Pennsylvania assembly and in the provincial
council.
320 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA {1698
in vast quantities: Apequinemy-River,1 where their Goods
come to be Carted over to Mary-Land,2 St. George 's-River,
Christen-River,3 Brandy-Wine-River, Upland alias Chester-
River, which runs by Chester-Town, being the Shire or County-
Town; Schoolkill-River, Frankford-River,4 near which, Arthur
Cook hath a most Stately Brick-House ; and Nishamany-River,
where Judge Growden5 hath a very Noble and Fine House, very
pleasantly Situated, and likewise a Famous Orchard adjoyning
to it, wherein are contain 'd above a Thousand Apple Trees of
various sorts; likewise there is the famous Derby-River,6 which
comes down from the Cumbry by Derby-Town, wherein are
several Mills, viz. Fulling-Mills, Corn-Mills, etc.
There is curious Building-Stone and Paving-Stone, also
Tile-Stone,7 with which latter, Governor Penn covered his
Great and Stately Pile, which he call'd Pennsbury-House,8
the Name it still retains. There is likewise Iron-Stone or Oar,
(lately found) which far exceeds that in England, being Richer
and less Drossy; some Preparations have been made to carry
on an Iron- Work : There is also very good Lime-Stone in great
plenty, and cheap, of great use in Buildings, and also in Manu-
ring Land, (if there were occasion) but Nature has made that
of it self sufficiently Fruitful; besides here are Load-Stones,
Ising-Glass, and (that Wonder of Stones) the Salamander-
Stone, found near Brandy- Wine-River, having Cotton in Veins
within it, which will not consume in the Fire; though held there
a long time.9
1 Appoquinimink.
2 To Bohemia River, a northeastern affluent of Chesapeake Bay. This was
the shortest and usual portage between the Delaware and Chesapeake.
s Christiana. 4 Now Tacony Creek.
5 Joseph Growden (d. 1730), gentleman, justice of the provincial supreme
court, speaker of assembly, and provincial councillor, was a son of Lawrence
Growden, of Trevose, parish of St. Merryn, Cornwall, England. As one of the
First Purchasers of Pennsylvania he brought over a ship loaded with his own
cargo in 1683 and located on his purchase of 5,000 acres of land on the Neshaminy
Creek in Bensalem Township, Bucks County. "Trevose," his "Noble and Fine
House," although altered is still standing. His daughter Grace became the
second wife of David Lloyd.
6 Darby. 7 Slate.
8 Pennsbury House, Penn's country-seat, was in Pennsbury Manor, a tract of
over 6,500 acres of land, in Bucks County, about twenty-seven miles up the Dela-
ware River from Philadelphia. •Asbestos.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 321
As to Minerals, or Metals, there is very good Copper, far
exceeding ours in England, being much Finer, and of a more
glorious Colour. Not two Mile from the Metropolis, are also
Purging Mineral-Waters, that pass both by Siege and Urine, all
out as good as Epsom; And I have reason to believe, there are
good Coals also, for I observed, the Runs of Water have the
same Colour as that which proceeds from the Coal-Mines in
Wales.
Here is curious Diversion in Hunting, Fishing, and Fowling,
especially upon that Great and Famous River Suskahanah,1
which runs down quite through the heart of the Country to
Mary-Land, where it makes the Head of Chesepeck-Bay, in
which place there are an Infinite Number of Sea and Land Fowl,
of most sorts, viz. Swans, Ducks, Teal, (which two are the most
Grateful and most Delicious in the World), Geese, Divers,
Brands, Snipe, Curlew; as also Eagles, Turkies (of Forty or
Fifty Pound Weight) Pheasants, Partridges, Pidgeons, Heath-
Birds, Black-Birds; and that Strange and Remarkable Fowl,
call'd (in these Parts) the Mocking-Bird, that Imitates all sorts
of Birds in their various Notes. And for Fish, there are pro-
digious quantities of most sorts, viz. Shadds, Cats Heads,
Sheeps-Heads, Herrings, Smelts, Roach, Eels, Perch. As also
the large sort of Fish, as Whales (of which a great deal of Oyl
is made), Salmon, Trout, Sturgeon, Rock, Oysters (some six
Inches long), Crabs, Cockles (some as big as Stewing Oysters
of which are made a Choice Soupe or Broth), Canok and Mussels,
with many other sorts of Fish, which would be too tedious to
insert.
There are several sorts of wild Beasts of great Profit, and
good Food; viz. Panthers, Woolves, Fither, Deer, Beaver,
Otter, Hares, Musk-Rats, Minks, Wild Cats, Foxes, Rackoons,
Rabits, and that strange Creature, the Possam, she having a
false Belly to swallow her Yonng ones, by which means she
preserveth them from danger, when any thing comes to dis-
turb them. There are also Bears some; Wolves are pretty well
destroyed by the Indians, for the sake of the Reward given them
by the Christian for that Service. Here is also that Remark-
able Creature the Flying-Squirrel, having a kind of Skinny
Wings, almost like those of the Batt, though it hath the like
1 Susquehanna.
322 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
Hair and Colour of the Common Squirrel, but is much less in
Bodily Substance; I have (myself) seen it fly from one Tree
to another in the Woods, but how long it can maintain its
Flight is not yet exactly known.
There are in the Woods abundance of Red Deer (vulgarly
called Stags) for I have bought of the Indians a whole Buck
(both Skin and Carcass), for two Gills of Gunpowder. Excellent
Food, most delicious, far exceeding that in Europe, in the
Opinion of most that are Nice and Curious People. There are
vast Numbers of other Wild Creatures, as Elks, Bufalos, etc.,
all which as well Beasts, Fowl, and Fish, are free and common
to any Person who can shoot or take them, without any lett,
hinderance or Opposition whatsoever.
There are among other various sorts of Frogs, the Bull-
Frog, which makes a roaring noise, hardly to be distinguished
from that well known of the Beast, from whom it takes its
Name : There is another sort of Frog that crawls up to the tops
of Trees, there seeming to imitate the Notes of several Birds,
with many other strange and various Creatures, which would
take up too much room here to mention.
Next, I shall proceed to instance in the several sorts of
Wild Fruits, as excellent Grapes, Red, Black, White, Muscadel,
and Fox, which upon frequent Experience have produced
Choice Wine, being daily Cultivated by skilful Vinerons; they
will in a short space of time, have very good Liquor of their
own, and some to supply their Neighbours, to their great ad-
vantage; as these Wines are more pure, so much more whol-
som; the Brewing Trade of Sophisticating and Adulterating
of Wines, as in England, Holland (especially) and in some other
places not being known there yet, nor in all probability will
it in many Years, through a natural Probity so fixed and im-
planted in the Inhabitants, and (I hope) like to continue.
Wallnuts, Chesnuts, Filberts, Heckery-Nuts, Hartleberries,
Mulberries, (white and black) Rasberries, Strawberries, Cram-
berries, Plumbs of several sorts, and many other Wild Fruits,
in great plenty, which are common and free for any to gather;
to particularize the Names of them all, would take up too much
time; tire, not gratifie the Reader, and be inconsistent with the
intended Brevity of this little Volume.
The common Planting Fruit-Trees, are Apples, which from
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 323'
a Kernel (without Inoculating) will shoot up to be a large Tree,
and produce very delicious, large, and pleasant Fruit, of which
much excellent Cyder is made, in taste resembling that in
England pressed from Pippins and Pearmains, sold commonly
for between Ten and Fifteen Shillings per Barrel. Pears,
Peaches, etc. of which they distil a Liquor much like the taste
of Rumm, or Brandy, which they Yearly make in great quan-
tities: There are Quinces, Cherries, Goosberries, Currants,
Squashes, Pumpkins, Water-Mellons, Muskmellons, and other
Fruits in great Numbers, which seldom fail of yielding great
plenty. There are also many curious and excellent Physical
Wild Herbs, Roots, and Drugs of great Vertue, and very sana-
tive, as the Sassafras, and Sarsaparilla, so much us'd in Diet-
Drinks for the Cure of the Veneral Disease, which makes the
Indians by a right application of them, as able Doctors and
Surgeons as any in Europe, performing celebrated Cures there-
with, and by the use of some particular Plants only, find Rem-
edy in all Swellings, Burnings, Cuts, etc. There grows also
in great plenty the Black Snake-Root, (fam'd for its sometimes
preserving, but often curing the Plague, being infused only
in Wine, Brandy or Rumm) Rattle-Snake-Root, Poke-Root,
called in England Jallop, with several other beneficial Herbs,
Plants and Roots, which Physicians have approved of, far ex-
ceeding in Nature and Vertue, those of other Countries.
The Names of the Counties are as followeth; First, Phila-
delphia County; Second, Bucks County; Third, Chester County;
Fourth, New-Castle County; Fifth, Kent County; Sixth, Sus-
sex County.
The chiefest and most commodious places for raising To-
bacco, as also for Breeding and Improving all sorts of Cattle,
are the Counties of Kent and New-Castle; the other chiefly
depend upon Raising and Improving English Grain, of which
they have a prodigious Encrease, which I have particularly
instanced in the beginning of this Book, both as to their
Quality and Quantity: All those Counties also very much
abound in all sorts of Cattle, both small and great, for the Use
and Service of Man.
Their sorts of Grain are, Wheat, Rye, Pease, Oates, Barley,
Buck- Wheat, Rice, Indian-Corn, Indian-Pease, and Beans, with
great quantities of Hemp and Flax; as also several sorts of
324 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
eating Roots, as Turnips, Potatoes, Carrats, Parsnips, etc.,
all which are produced Yearly in greater quantities than in
England, those Roots being much larger, and altogether as
sweet, if not more delicious; Cucumbers, Coshaws, Artichokes,
with many others; most sorts of Saladings, besides what grows
naturally Wild in the Country, and that in great plenty also,
as Mustard, Rue, Sage, Mint, Tanzy, Wormwood, Penny-
Royal and Purslain, and most of the Herbs and Roots found
in the Gardens in England. There are several Husband Men,
who sow Yearly between Seventy and Eighty Acres of Wheat
each, besides Barley, Oates, Rye, Pease, Beans, and other
Grain.
They have commonly Two Harvests in the Year; First, of
English Wheat, and next of Buck, (or French) Wheat. They
have great Stocks both of Hogs and Horses, kept in the Woods,
out of which, I saw a Hog kilPd, of about a Year old, which
weigh 'd Two Hundred weight; whose Flesh is much sweeter,
and even more luscious than that in England, because they
feed and fatten on the rich (though wild) Fruits, besides those
fatned at home by Peaches, Cherries and Apples. Their Horses
are very hardy, insomuch that being very hot with riding or
otherwise, they are turn'd out into the Woods at the same
Instant, and yet receive no harm; some Farmers have Forty,
some Sixty, and from that Number to Two or Three Hundred
Head of Cattle: Their Oxen usually weigh Two Hundred Pound
a Quarter. They are commonly fatter of Flesh, and yield more
Tallow (by feeding only on Grass) than the Cattle in England.
And for Sheep, they have considerable Numbers which are
generally free from those infectious Diseases which are inci-
dent to those Creatures in England, as the Rot, Scab, or Mag-
gots; They commonhr bring forth two Lambs at once, some
twise in one Year, and the Wooll is very fine, and thick, and
also very white.
Bees thrive and multiply exceedingly in those Parts, the
Sweeds often get great store of them in the Woods, where they
are free for any Body. Honey (and choice too) is sold in the
Capital City for Five Pence per Pound. Wax is also plentiful,
cheap, and a considerable Commerce. Tame Fowls, as Chick-
ens, Hens, Geese, Ducks, Turkeys, etc., are large, and very
plentiful all over this Countrey.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 326
And now for their Lots and Lands in City and Countrey,
in their great Advancement since they were first laid out,
which was within the compass of about Twelve Years, that
which might have been bought for Fifteen or Eighteen Shil-
lings, is now sold for Fourscore Pounds in ready Silver; and
some other Lots, that might have been then Purchased for
Three Pounds, within the space of Two Years, were sold for a
Hundred Pounds a piece, and likewise some Land that lies
near the City, that Sixteen Years ago might have been Pur-
chased for Six or Eight Pounds the Hundred Acres, cannot now
be bought under One Hundred and Fifty, or Two Hundred
Pounds.
Now the true Reason why this Fruitful Countrey and
Florishing City advance so considerably in the Purchase of
Lands both in the one and the other, is their great and extended
Traffique and Commerce both by Sea and Land, viz. to New-
York, New-England, Virginia, Mary-Land, Carolina, Jamaica,
Barbadoes, Nevis, Monserat, Antego,1 St. Cristophers, Bar-
mudoes, New-Found-Land, Maderas, Saltetudeous, and Old-
England; besides several other places. Their Merchandize
chiefly consists in Horses, Pipe-Staves, Pork and Beef Salted
and Barrelled up, Bread, and Flower, all sorts of Grain, Pease,
Beans, Skins, Furs, Tobacco, or Pot-Ashes, Wax, etc., which
are Bartered for Rumm, Sugar, Molasses, Silver, Negroes, Salt,
Wine, Linen, Houshold-Goods, etc.
However there still remain Lots of Land both in the afore-
said City and Country, that any may Purchase almost as cheap
as they could at the first Laying out or Parcelling of either City
or Country; which is, (in the Judgment of most People) the
likeliest to turn to account to those that lay their Money out
upon it, and in a shorter time than the aforementioned Lots
and Lands that are already improved, and for several Reasons.
In the first place, the Countrey is now well inhabited by the
Christians, who have great Stocks of all sorts of Cattle, that
encrease extraordinarily, and upon that account they are
obliged to go farther up into the Countrey, because there is the
chiefest and best place for their Stocks, and for them that go
back into the Countrey, they get the richest Land, for the best
lies thereabouts.
1 Antigua.
326 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
Secondly, Farther into the Countrey is the Principal Place
to Trade with the Indians for all sorts of Pelt, as Skins and
Furs, and also Fat Venison, of whom People may Purchase
cheaper by three Parts in four than they can at the City of
Philadelphia.
Thirdly, Backwards in the Countrey lies the Mines where
is Copper and Iron, besides other Metals, and Minerals, of
which there is some Improvement made already in order to
bring them, to greater Perfection; and that will be a means to
erect more Inland Market-Towns, which exceedingly promote
Traffick.
Fourthly, and lastly, Because the Countrey at the first lay-
ing out, was void of Inhabitants (except the Heathens, or
very few Christians not worth naming) and not many People
caring to abandon a quiet and easie (at least tolerable) Life in
their Native Countrey (usually the most agreeable to all Man-
kind) to seek out a new hazardous, and careful one in a Foreign
Wilderness or Desart Countrey, wholly destitute of Christian
Inhabitants, and even to arrive at which, they must pass over
a vast Ocean, expos'd to some Dangers, and not a few Incon-
veniencies: But now all those Cares, Fears and Hazards are
vanished, for the Countrey is pretty well Peopled, and very
much Improv'd, and will be more every Day, now the Dove is
return'd with the Olive-branch of Peace in her Mouth.
I must needs say, even the present Encouragements are
very great and inviting, for Poor People (both Men and
Women) of all kinds, can here get three times the Wages for
their Labour they can in England or Wales.
I shall instance in a few, which may serve; nay, and will
hold in all the rest. The first was a Black-Smith (my next
Neighbour), who himself and one Negro Man he had, got Fifty
Shillings in one Day, by working up a Hundred Pound Weight
of Iron, which at Six Pence per Pound (and that is the common
Price in that Countrey) amounts to that Summ.
And for Carpenters, both House and Ship, Brick-layers,
Masons, either of these Trades-Men, will get between Five and
Six Shillings every Day constantly. As to Journey-Men Shooe-
Makers, they have Two Shillings per Pair both for Men and
Womens Shooes: And Journey-Men Taylors have Twelve
Shillings per Week and their Diet. Sawyers get between
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 327
Six and Seven Shillings the Hundred for Cutting of Pine-
Boards. And for Weavers, they have Ten or Twelve Pence
the Yard for Weaving of that which is little more than half
a Yard in breadth. Wooll-Combers, have for combing Twelve
Pence per Pound. Potters have Sixteen Pence for an Earthen
Pot which may be bought in England for Four Pence. Tanners
may buy their Hides green for Three Half Pence per Pound, and
sell their Leather for Twelve Pence per Pound. And Curriers
have Three Shillings and Four Pence per Hide for Dressing it ;
they buy their Oyl at Twenty Pence per Gallon. Brick-
Makers have Twenty Shillings per Thousand for their Bricks
at the Kiln. Felt-Makers will have for their Hats Seven Shil-
lings a piece, such as may be bought in England for Two Shil-
lings a piece; yet they buy their Wooll commonly for Twelve
or Fifteen Pence per Pound. And as to the Glaziers, they will
have Five Pence a Quarry1 for their Glass. The Rule for the
Coopers I have almost forgot ; but this I can affirm of some who
went from Bristol (as their Neighbours report), that could
hardly get their Livelihoods there, are now reckon 'd in Pen-
silvania, by a modest Computation to be worth some Hun-
dreds (if not Thousands) of Pounds. The Bakers make as
White Bread as any in London, and as for their Rule, it is the
same in all Parts of the World that I have been in. The Butch-
ers for killing a Beast, have Five Shillings and their Diet; and
they may buy a good fat large Cow for Three Pounds, or there-
abouts. The Brewers sell such Beer as is equal in Strength to
that in London, half Ale and half Stout for Fifteen Shillings
per Barrel; and their Beer hath a better Name, that is, is in
more esteem than English Beer in Barbadoes, and is sold for
a higher Price there. And for Silver-Smiths, they have be-
tween Half a Crown and Three Shillings an Ounce for working
their Silver, and for Gold equivalent. Plasterers have com-
monly Eighteen Pence per Yard for Plastering. Last-Makers
have Sixteen Shillings per dozen for their Lasts. And Heel-
Makers have Two Shillings a dozen for their Heels. Wheel
and Mill- Wrights, Joyners, Brasiers, Pewterers, Dyers, Fullers,
Comb-Makers, Wyer-Drawers, Cage-Makers, Card-Makers,
Painters, Cutlers, Rope-Makers, Carvers, Block-Makers, Turn-
ers, Button-Makers, Hair and Wood Sieve-Makers, Bodies-
1 A square or lozenge-shaped pane of fljlass.
328 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
Makers, Gun-Smiths, Lock-Smiths, Nailers, File-Cuters, Skin-
ners, Furriers, Glovers, Patten-Makers, Watch-Makers, Clock-
Makers, Sadlers, Coller-Makers, Barbers, Printers, Book-
Binders, and all other Trades-Men, their Gains and Wages are
about the same proportion as the forementioned Trades in
their Advancements, as to what they have in England.
Of Lawyers and Physicians I shall say nothing, because
this Countrey is very Peaceable and Healty; long may it so
continue and never have occasion for the Tongue of the one,
nor the Pen of the other, both equally destructive to Mens
Estates and Lives; besides forsooth, they, Hang-Man like,
have a License to Murder and make Mischief. Labouring-
Men have commonly here, between 14 and 15 Pounds a Year,
and their Meat, Drink, Washing and Lodging; and by the
Day their Wages is generally between Eighteen Pence and
Half a Crown, and Diet also; But in Harvest they have usually
between Three and Four Shillings each Day, and Diet. The
Maid Servants Wages is commonly betwixt Six and Ten Pounds
per Annum, with very good Accommodation. And for the
Women who get their Livelihood by their own Industry, their
Labour is very dear, for I can buy in London a Cheese-Cake for
Two Pence, bigger than theirs at that price when at the same
time their Milk is as cheap as we can buy it in London, and
their Flour cheaper by one half.
Corn and Flesh, and what else serves Man for Drink, Food
and Rayment, is much cheaper here than in England, or else-
where; but the chief reason why Wages of Servants of all
sorts is much higher here than there, arises from the great
Fertility and Produce of the Place; besides, if these large
Stipends were refused them, they would quickly set up for
themselves, for they can have Provision very cheap, and Land
for a very small matter, or next to nothing in comparison of
the Purchace of Lands in England; and the Farmers there,
can better afford to give that great Wages than the Farmers in
England can, for several Reasons very obvious.
As First, their Land costs them (as I said but just now)
little or nothing in comparison, of which the Farmers com-
monly will get twice the encrease of Corn for every Bushel they
sow, that the Farmers in England can from the richest Land
they have.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 329
In the Second place, they have constantly good price for
their Corn, by reason of the great and quick vent ' into Bar*
badoes and other Islands; through which means Silver is
become more plentiful than here in England, considering the
Number of People, and that causes a quick Trade for both
Corn and Cattle; and that is the reason that Corn2 differs now
from the Price formerly, else it would be at half the Price it
was at then; for a Brother of mine (to my own particular
knowledge) sold within the compass of one Week, about One
Hundred and Twenty fat Beasts, most of them good handsom
large Oxen.
Thirdly, They pay no Tithes, and their Taxes are incon-
siderable; the Place is free for all Persuasions, in a Sober and
Civil way; for the Church of England and the Quakers bear
equal Share in the Government. They live Friendly and Well
together; there is no Persecution for Religion, nor ever like to
be; 'tis this that knocks all Commerce on the Head, together
with high Imposts, strict Laws, and cramping Orders. Before
I end this Paragraph, I shall add another Reason why Womens
Wages are so exorbitant; they are not yet very numerous,
which makes them stand upon high Terms for their several
Services, in Sempstering, Washing, Spinning, Knitting, Sew-
ing, and in all the other parts of their Imployments; for they
have for Spinning either Worsted or Linen, Two Shillings a
Pound, and commonly for Knitting a very Course pair of Yarn
Stockings, they have half a Crown a pair; moreover they are
usually Marry'd before they are Twenty Years of Age,' and when
once in that Noose, are for the most part a little uneasie, and
make their Husbands so too, till they procure them a Maid
Servant to bear the burden of the Work, as also in some meas-
ure to wait on them too.
It is now time to return to the City of Brotherly-Love (for
so much the Greek Word or Name Philadelphia imports)
which though at present so obscure, that neither the Map-
Makers, nor Geographers have taken the least notice of her,
tho she far exceeds her Namesake of Lydia,3 (having above
1 Sale. 2 Grain.
3 Philadelphia in Lydia, Asia Minor. A marginal note in the original
'Three German Miles from Smyrna."
330 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
Two Thousand ' Noble Houses for her Five Hundred Ordinary)
or Celisia, or Cselesyria; yet in a very short space of time
she will, in all probability, make a fine Figure in the World,
and be a most Celebrated Emporeum. Here is lately built
a Noble Town-House or Guild-Hall, also a Handsom Market-
House, and a convenient Prison.3 The Number of Christians
both Old and Young Inhabiting in that Count rey, are by a
Modest Computation, adjudged to amount to above Twenty
Thousand.3
The Laws of this Countrey, are the same with those in Eng-
land; our Constitution being on the same Foot: Many Dis-
putes and Differences are determined and composed by Arbi-
tration; and all Causes are decided with great Care and Expe-
dition, being concluded (generally) at furthest at the Second
Court, unless they happen to be very Nice and Difficult Cases;
under Forty Shillings any one Justice of the Peace has Power
to Try the Cause. Thieves of all sorts, are oblig'd to restore
four fold after they have been Whipt and Imprison 'd, accord-
ing to the Nature of their Crime ; and if they be not of Ability
to restore four fold, they must be in Servitude till 'tis satisfied.
They have Curious Wharfs as also several large and fine Tim-
ber-Yards, both at Philadelphia, and New-Castle, especially at
the Metropolis, before Robert Turner's Great and Famous
House, where are built Ships of considerable Burthen; they
Cart their Goods from that Wharf into the City of Philadelphia,
under an Arch, over which part of the Street is built, which is
called Chesnut-Street- Wharf/ besides other Wharfs, as High-
Street Wharf, Mulberry Street Wharf; and Vine-Sreet Wharf,
and all those are Common Wharfs; and likewise there are
very pleasant Stairs, as Trus5 and Carpenter-Stairs,6 besides
1 This number doubtless is an exaggeration.
2 The prison was in the centre of High (now Market) Street, a short distance
east of Second Street. "The Cage," a small jail, built in 1683, was still stand-
ing at the intersection of High and Second streets.
8 Probably an excessive estimate for that period.
4 An error; Robert Turner's wharf was at Mulberry (now Arch) Street.
6Tresse's Stairs, built by Thomas Tresse from the bank or bluff of Front
Street down to King Street, between High (now Market) and Mulberry (now
Arch) streets.
6 Carpenter's Stairs, built by Samuel Carpenter from Front to King Street,
between Chestnut and Walnut streets.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 331
several others. There are above Thirty Carts belonging to
that City, Four or Five Horses to each. There is likewise a
very convenient Wharf called Carpenter's Wharf/ which hath
a fine necessary Crain belonging to it, with suitable Granaries,
and Store-Houses. A Ship of Two Hundred Tun may load
and unload by the side of it, and there are other Wharfs (with
Magazines and Ware-Houses) which front the City all along
the River, as also a Curious and Commodious Dock2 with a
Draw-Bridge to it, for the convenient Reception of Vessels;
where have been built some Ships of Two or Three Hundred
Tuns each : They have very Stately Oaks to build Ships with,
some of which are between Fifty and Sixty Foot long, and
clear from Knots, being very straight and well Grain 'd. In
this famous City of Philadelphia there are several Rope-Makers,
who have large and curious Rope- Walks especially one Joseph
Wilcox.3 Also Three or Four Spacious Malt-Houses, as many
large Brew-Houses, and many handsom Bake-Houses for Pub-
lick Use.
In the said City are several good Schools of Learning for
Youth, in order to the Attainment of Arts and Sciences, as
also Reading, Writing, etc. Here is to be had on any Day in
the Week, Tarts, Pies, Cakes, etc. We have also several
Cooks-Shops, both Roasting and Boyling, as in the City of
London; Bread, Beer, Beef, and Pork, are sold at any time
much cheaper than in England (which arises from their Plenty)
our Wheat is very white and clear from Tares, making as good
and white Bread as any in Europe. Happy Blessings, for
which we owe the highest Gratitude to our Plentiful Provider,
the great Creator of Heaven and Earth. The Water-Mills far
exceed those in England, both for quickness and grinding good
Meal, their being great choice of good Timber, and earlier
Corn than in the aforesaid Place, they are made by one Peter
Deal/ a Famous and Ingenious Workman, especially for in-
venting such like Machines.
All sorts of very good Paper are made in the German-Town;
as also very fine German Linen, such as no Person of Quality
1 See p. 261, notes 1 and 2, supra. 2 /. e., Dock Creek.
• Joseph Wilcox, previously mentioned as having succeeded to his father's
rope-walk at the north end of the town. He was mayor in 1706.
« Peter Daile (d. 1703) of Pennypack Mills in 1703.
332 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
need be asham'd to wear; and in several places they make
very good Druggets, Crapes, Camblets, and Serges, besides
other Woollen Cloathes, the Manufacture of all which daily
improves: And in most parts of the Countrey there are many
Curious and Spacious Buildings, which several of the Gentry
have erected for their Count ry-Houses. As for the Fruit-
Trees they Plant, they arrive at such Perfection, that they
bear in a little more than half the time that they commonly
do in England.
The Christian Children born here are generally well-fa-
voured, and Beautiful to behold; I never knew any come into
the World with the least blemish on any part of its Body, being
in the general, observed to be better Natur'd, Milder, and more
tender Hearted than those born in England.
There are very fine and delightful Gardens and Orchards,
in most parts of this Countrey; but Edward Shippey1 (who
lives near the Capital City) has an Orchard and Gardens ad-
joyning to his Great House that equalizes (if not exceeds) any
I have ever seen, having a very famous and pleasant Summer-
House erected in the middle of his extraordinary fine and large
Garden abounding with Tulips, Pinks, Carnations, Roses, (of
several sorts) Lilies, not to mention those that grow wild in
the Fields.
Reader, what I have here written, is not a Fiction, Flam,
Whim, or any sinister Design, either to impose upon the Ig-
norant, or Credulous, or to curry Favour with the Rich and
Mighty, but in meer Pity and pure Compassion to the Num-
bers of Poor Labouring Men, Women, and Children in England,
half starv'd, visible in their meagre looks, that are continually
wandering up and down looking for Employment without
finding any, who here need not lie idle a moment, nor want due
Encouragement or Reward for their Work, much less Vaga-
1 Edward Shippen (1639-1712), a wealthy Quaker merchant, mayor, speaker
of assembly, chief justice, and president of the provincial council when it was
vested with the deputy governorship. Born in Methley, Yorkshire, England, he
removed to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1668 and thence to Philadelphia in 1693-
1694. His "Great House," which was on Second Street, north of Spruce, and
overlooked Dock Creek and the river beyond, was occupied for a time in 1699 by
William Penn and his family at their first arrival on the occasion of the Proprietor's
second visit to his province.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 333
bond or Drone it about. Here are no Beggars to be seen (it is
a Shame and Disgrace to the State that there are so many in
England) nor indeed have any here the least Occasion or Temp-
tation to take up that Scandalous Lazy Life.
Jealousie among Men is here very rare, and Barrenness
among Women hardly to be heard of, nor are old Maids to be
met with; for all commonly Marry before they are Twenty
Years of Age, and seldom any young Married Woman but hath
a Child in her Belly, or one upon her Lap.
What I have delivered concerning this Province, is indis-
putably true, I was an Eye- Witness to it all, for I went in the
first Ship that was bound from England for that Countrey,
since it received the Name of Pensilvania, which was in the
Year 1681. The Ship's Name was the John and Sarah of
London, Henry Smith Commander.1 I have declined giving
any Account of several things which I have only heard others
speak of, because I did not see them my self, for I never held
that way infallible, to make Reports from Hear-say. I saw
the first Cellar when it was digging for the use of our Governour
Will. Penn.2
I shall now haste to a Conclusion, and only hint a little
concerning the Natives or Aborigines, their Persons, Language,
Manners, Religion and Government; Of Person they are ordi-
narily Tall, Straight, well-turn;d, and true Proportioned; their
Tread strong and clever, generally walking with a lofty Chin.
Of Complexion Black, but by design, Gypsie-like, greasing
themselves with Bears-Fat Clarified, and using no defence
against the Injuries of the Sun and Weather, their Skins fail
not to be Swarthy. Their Eyes are small and black. Thick
Lips and flat Noses so frequent with Negroes and East Indians,
1 Of 100 tons burden. She departed from London in October, 1681, and
arrived in Pennsylvania before December 15.
3 Governor William Penn's house, built in 1682 in the centre of a large lot
between Front, High (Market), and Second streets, patented in 1701 to his
daughter Laetitia. After his first visit (1682-1684) the house was occupied by
some of the provincial offices for several years, the council meeting there. Robert
Turner's letter of 1685 (see p. 269, ante), stating that his house, built the year
previously, was the first brick house erected in Philadelphia, would seem to dis-
credit the generally accepted view that the so-called Laetitia House, the brick
structure in Fairmount Park, removed thither from the above lot some years ago,
is the house built for Penn in 1682.
334 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
are rare with them. They have Comely Faces and Tolerable
Complexions, some of their Noses having a rise like the Roman.
Their Language is Lofty and Elegant, but not Copious;
One Word serveth in the stead of Three, imperfect and un-
grammatical, which defects are supply'd by the Understanding
of the Hearers. Sweet, of Noble Sound and Accent. Take
here a Specimen.
Hodi hita nee huska a peechi, nee, machi
Pensilvania huska dogivachi, keshow a peechi
Noma, huska hayly, Chetena koon peo.
Thus in English.
Farewel Friend, I will very quickly go to
Pensilvania, very cold Moon will come presently,
And very great hard frosts will come quickly.
I might Treat largely of their Customs and Manners, but
that will not agree with my proposed Brevity.
As soon as their Children are born, they wash them in cold
Water, especially in cold Weather. To harden and embolden
them, they plunge them in the River, they find their Feet
early, usually at Nine Months they can go. The Boys Fish
till Fifteen, then Hunt, and having given proof of their Man-
hood, by a large return of Skins, they may Marry (else 'tis a
shame to think of a Wife) which is usually at the Age of Seven-
teen or Eighteen; the Girls stay with their Mothers, and help
to hoe the Ground, Plant Corn, bear Burdens, and Marry
about Thirteen or Fourteen.
Their Houses are Matts, or Barks of Trees set on Poles,
Barn-like, not higher than a Man, so not exposed to Winds.
They lie upon Reeds or Grass. In Travel they lodge in the
Woods about a great Fire, with the Mantle of Duffils they wear
wrapt about them, and a few Boughs stuck round them.
They live chiefly on Maze, or Indian Corn rosted in the
Ashes, sometimes beaten and boyFd with Water, called Homine.
They have Cakes, not unpleasant ; also Beans and Pease, which
Nourish much, but the Woods and Rivers afford them their
Provision; they eat Morning and Evening; their Seats and
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 335
Tables are the Ground; they are reserved, apt to resent and
retain long: Their Women are Chaste (at least after Marriage)
and when with Child, will not admit of their Husbands Em-
braces any more till Deliver'd. Exceeding Liberal and Gen-
erous; Kind and Affable; uneasie in Sickness, to remedy
which, they drink a Decoction of Roots in Spring- Water, for-
bearing Flesh, which if the}- happen to eat, it must be the Fe-
male; they commonly bury their Kettles and part of their
Goods with their Friends when they die, suspecting (poor
Souls) they shall make use of them again at the Resurrection.
They Mourn a whole Year, but it is no other than blacking
their Faces.
Their Government is Monarchical, and Successive, and
ever of the Mothers (the surest) side, to prevent a Spurious
Issue. The Distaff (as in France) is excluded the Regal In-
heritance. Their Princes are Powerful, yet do nothing with-
out the Concurrence of their Senate, or Councils, consisting
chiefly of Old, but mixt with Young Men : slow and deliberate
(Spaniard-like) in resolving, naturally wise, and hardly to be
out-witted. Their Punishments are Pecuniary. Murder may
be aton'd for by Feasts and Presents, in Proportion to the
Quality of the Offence, Person, or Sex injur'd; for if a Woman
be kilPd, the Mulct is double, because she brings forth Children.
They seldom quarel, when Sober, and if Boozy, (which of late
they are more apt to be, having learn'd to drink, a little too
much Rum of the Christians, to their shame) they readily
pardon it, alledging the Liquor is Criminal not the Man.
The way of Worship the Sweeds use in this Countrey, is
the Lutheran; the English have four sorts of Assemblies or
Religious Meetings here : as first, The Church of England, who
built a very fine Church in the City of Philadelphia in the Year
1695.1 Secondly, the Anabaptists :2 Thirdly, the Presbyterians,
and two sorts of Quakers (of all the most numerous by much)
one Party held with George Keith;3 but whether both Parties
1 The site now occupied by Old Christ Church. 2 Baptists.
8 George Keith (1639 ?-1714), a Scotchman, probably native of Aberdeen-
shire, holding the degree of M. A. from the University of Aberdeen, originally a
rigid Presbyterian but by 1664 a persecuted Quaker minister, one of the ablest
and most active of the age of Penn and Barclay, a companion of Penn and Fox
in the tour of Germany in 1677, had removed to New Jersey in 1684-1685, serving
336 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
will joyn together again in one I cannot tell, for that Gentle-
man hath alter'd his Judgment since he came to England, con-
cerning his Church-Orders in Pensilvania, by telling and shew-
ing them Precepts that were lawful in the time of the Law, but
forbidden under the Gospel to pay Tithes, or Ministers to
Preach for Hire, etc. As also to sprinkle Infants; and he
tells the Presbyterian Minister, That he must go to the Pope
of Rome for his Call, for he had no Scripture for it, and that
Water-Baptism and the Outward Supper are not of the Nature
of the Everlasting Gospel; nor essential Parts of it, see his
Truth Advanced page 173. He gives likewise a strict Charge
concerning plain Language and plain Habit, and that they
should not be concerned in the compelling part of the Worldly
Government, and that they should set their Negroes at Liberty
after some reasonable time of Service; likewise, they should
not take the Advantage of the Law against one another, as to
procure them any Corporeal Punishment : These Orders he tells
his Followers, would make Distinction between them and Jews
and Moral Heathens, this was in the Year 1693. in Pensilvania:
But now the Year 1697. since he came to England, his Judg-
ment is chang'd, for he tells his Disciples, that Water-Baptism
is come in the room of Circumcision; and by so doing, they
would distinguish themselves from either Jews, Pagans or
as surveyor-general of East Jersey and in 1687 locating the boundary line between
the east and west divisions of that province. Coming to Philadelphia in 1689
he had served but a year as teacher of the Friends' School when his restless and
aggressive spirit began to stir up trouble among the Friends. Feeling himself
leader of the denomination in America he was offended by the disregard by the
Philadelphia Friends of his proposed amendments to the code of "discipline" of
the Society. He questioned the orthodoxy of leading ministers and importuned
for a confession of faith. A ready writer and a keen polemic he raised a bitter
doctrinal controversy with stormy disputations and a pamphlet war which dis-
rupted the Society for a time, and was largely responsible for Penn's loss of his
province, 1693-1694. Keith was expelled from the Society, but not before he
had drawn to his side a considerable body of followers, including a few men of
prominence. He formed a separate body of "Keithites," which in breaking up
resulted in the growth of the Baptist denomination and the establishment of the
oldest Episcopal churches. He returned to England in 1693 and in 1700 re-
ceived ordination in the Church of England. He revisited this country in 1702
upon a special mission of reclaiming the Quakers to the mother church. After
two years he went back to England and was given the small living of Edburton
in Sussex, where he ended his days as an Episcopal clergyman.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 337
Moral Heathens: He keeps his Meeting once a Week at Turn-
ers-Hall in Fill-Pot-Lane, London, on Sundays in the After-
noon ; he begins between Two and Three of the Clock and com-
monly ends between Four and Five.
Friendly Reader, by this thou mayst see how wavering
and mutable Men of great Outward Learning are, if the Truth
of this be by any Body question'd, let them look in the Creed,
and the Paper against Christians being concerned in Worldly
Government, and the Paper concerning Negroes, that was given
forth by the Appointment of the Meeting held by George
Keith at Philip James's House in the City of Philadelphia, in
Pensilvania; and his Letter also in Mary-Land against the
Presbyterian Catechism, Printed at Boston in New-England in
1695. with the Answer to it bound up together in one Book and
in Truth Advanced, page 173. And for what relates to him
since in England, let them look into the Quakers Argument Re-
futed, Concerning Water-Baptism and the Lord's Supper, page
70. And now Reader, I shall take my leave of thee, recom-
mending thee with my own self to the Directions of the Spirit
of God in our Conscience, and that will agree with all the Holy
Scriptures in its right place; and when we find our selves so,
we have no need to take any Thought or Care what any Body
shall say of us.
The End of the History of Pensilvania.
338 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
An Historical Description of the Province and Country of West-
New-Jersey in America. A short View of their Laws,
Customs and Religion: As also the Temperament of the
Air and Climate; The fatness of the Soil, with the vast
Produce of Rice, etc. The Improvement of their Lands
(as in England) to Pasture. Meadows, etc. Their making
great quantities of Pitch and Tar, as also Turpentine, which
proceeds from the Pine Trees, with Rozen as clear as Gum-
Arabick, with particular Remarks upon their Towns, Fairs
and Markets; with the great Plenty of Oyl and Whale-Bone
made from the great number of Whales they yearly take: As
also many other Profitable and New Improvements. Never
made Publick till now.
By Gabriel Thomas. London: Printed in the year 1698.
To the Right Honourable Sir John Moor, Sir Thomas Lane,
Knights and Aldermen of the City of London, and to the
rest of the Worthy Members of the West-Jersey Proprietors,
Worthy Friends,
To whom can the History of West. Jersey with more Justice
pertain, than to you the Noble and Generous Proprietors.
That was the chief Motive that inclined me to this
Dedication, which I hope will be the more acceptable to
you, because the Account of that Country is so Sincere and
Candid.
I have endeavour'd (by setting forth) the great Encourage-
ments there are) to persuade the Poor, the Idle, the Lazy, and
the Vagabonds of these Kingdoms and of Wales to hasten
thither, that they may live plentifully and happily, and I
doubt not but they will hearken to it, because it is their true
Interest. I have done my best endeavours to possess them
and others of the great Fertility and Plenty in those Parts,
which I need not repeat to you, who must needs be well ac-
quainted with the State of that Place. That it may Flourish
and mightily tend to your Advantage, as also to the Benefit
of England, the hearty desire of your Friend,
Gabriel Thomas.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 339
The Preface to the Reader.
Courteous Reader,
My Chief Design in writing this short Account of West-
New- Jersey, is to inform all (but especially the Poor) what
Ample and Happy Livelihoods People may gain in those Parts,
whereby they may subsist very well without either Begging or
Stealing, for if they Steal, they are Whipt, and oblig'd to pay
Four Fold; and if they are not of Ability to do that, they must
abide in Servitude till they have made Satisfaction to the in-
jured Person: And if they should be Lazy and turn to Beg,
they will get nothing by that Base and Scandalous Imploy-
ment ; But if they be so Poor that they have not of their own
to supply their Wants and Necessities, nor are able to Work,
they will have no need to Beg, for People out of their own free
Compassion and pure Charity will relieve them in their Ne-
cessities. Now if this were all, (though it is not) it wou'd be
a sufficient Encouragement to the Idle, the Sloathful, and the
Vagabonds of England, Scotland, and Ireland to hasten thither,
where besides this, they have a fair prospect of getting con-
siderable Estates, at least of living very Plentifully and Hap-
pily, which Medium of Life is far better than lingering out their
Days so miserably Poor and half Starved ; or Whipping, Burn-
ing, and Hanging for Villanies, they will have little Tempta-
tion, nay or Inclination to perpetrate here. The French Ref-
ugees or Protestant People, wou'd soon find it their Interest
to remove thither, where they wou'd live far better than in
Germany, Holland, Ireland or England. Written by one
who earnestly wisheth thy Wellfare and Prosperity in the
ways of the Lord, and then thou canst not do amiss in this
World.
Gab. Thomas.
340 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
The History of West-New-Jersey.
West-New-Jersey lies between the Latitude of Forty, and
Forty two Degrees;1 having the Main Sea on the South, East-
Jersey on the North, Hudson's2 Bay on the East, and Pensil-
vania on the West.
The first Inhabitants of this Countrey were the Indians,
being supposed to be part of the Ten dispersed Tribes of Israel ;
for indeed they are very like the Jews in their Persons, and
something in their Practices and Worship, for they (as the
Pensilvanian Indians) observe the New Moons with great De-
votion, and Reverence: And their first Fruits they offer, with
their Corn and Hunting-Game they get in the whole Year, to a
False Deity or Sham-God, whom they must please, else (as
they fancy) many Misfortunes will befal them, and great In-
juries will be done them. When they bury their Dead, they
put into the Ground with them some House-Utensils, and some
Money, (as Tokens of their Love and Affection) with other
Things, expecting they shall have Occasion for them again in
the other World. And if a Person of Note dies very far from
the Place of his own Residence they will carry his Bones home
some considerable time after, to be buried there. They are
also very curious, nay, even nice in preserving and repairing
the Graves of their Dead. They do not love to be asked twice
their Judgment about one Thing. They are a People who gen-
erally delight much in Mirth, and are very studious in observ-
ing the Vertues of Roots and Herbs, by which they cure them-
selves of many Distempers in their Bodies, both internal or
external. They will not suffer their Beards to grow; for they
will pluck the Hair off with their own Fingers as soon as they
can get hold of it, holding it great Deformity to have a Beard.
They are very loving to one another; for if three or four of
them come into a Christian's House, and the Master of it
1 West New Jersey extended from Cape May on the south in about 39° N. to
what was called, by the deed of agreement of 1676, the northernmost branch of
the Delaware River. The line of division between West and East New Jersey
■ — although a subject of dispute — ran from the latter point on the Delaware
southeasterly to Little Egg Harbor.
2 On the east of East Jersey but not of West Jersey.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 341
happen to give one of them Victuals, and none to the rest, he
will divide it into equal Shares among them: And they are
also very kind and civil to any of the Christians; for I my self
have had Victuals cut by them in their Cabbins, before they
took any for themselves. Their chief Imployment is in Hunt-
ing, Fishing, and Fowling, and making Canows, or Indian
Boats, and Bowls, in all which Arts they are very dexterous
and ingenious: Their Womens Business chiefly consists in
planting of Indian Corn, and pounding it to Meal, in Mortars,
with Pestils, (as we beat our Spice) and make Bread, and dress
their Victuals, which they perform very neatly and cleanlily.
They also make Indian Mats, Ropes, Hats, and Baskets (some
of curious Workmanship) of their Hemp, which there grows
wild, and Natural, in the Woods, in great Plenty. In short,
the Women are very ingenious in their several Imployments
as well as the Men. Their Young Maids are naturally very
modest and shamefac'd: And their young Women when newly
married, are very nice and shy, and will not suffer the Men to
talk of any immodest or lascivious Matters. Their Houses are,
for the most part, cover'd with Chesnutt Bark, but very close,
and warm, insomuch that no Rain can go through. Their
Age in Computation may be compared with the Christians.
Their wearing Habit is commonly Deer-Skins, or Duffles.
They don't allow of mentioning the Name of a Friend after
his Death; for at his Decease, they make their Face black all
over with black Lead; and when their Affairs go well with
them, they paint their Faces with red Lead, it being a Token
of their Joy, as the other is of their Grief. They are great
Observers of the Weather by the Moon. They take great De-
light in Cloaths of various Colours. And are so punctual that
if any go from their first Offer or Bargain with them, it will
be very difficult for that Party to get any Dealings with them
any more, or to have any farther Converse with them; And
moreover it is worthy of Remark, that when a Company of
them are got together, they never interrupt or contradict
one another, 'till two of them have made an end of their Dis-
course; for if never so many be in Company only two must
discourse at a time, and the rest must keep Silence. The
English and they live very peaceably, by reason the English
satisfies them for their Land.
342
NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
As to the manner of their Language, it is high and lofty,
with a Short Sentence. Their way of counting is by Tens, as
to say Two Tens, Three Tens, Four Tens, Five Tens, etc.
I shall now proceed to show something of the manner and
way of Discourse that happens between them and the Neigh-
bouring Christians that use to deal and traffick with them, or
when they meet one another in the Woods accidentally, one
a looking for his Cattel, and the other a Hunting the Wild
Deer, or other Game, by way of Questions and Answers. I
shall put the Indian Tongue on one side of the Leaf, and the
English just opposite. Their Discourse is as followeth.
The Indian Tongue,
Quest. Hitah takoman?
Answ. Andogowa nee week-
m.
Quest. Tony andogowa kee
weekin?
Answ. Arwaymouse.
Quest. Keco kee hatah kee
weekin?
Answ. Nee hatah huska
wees youse og huska chetena
chase og huska orit chekenip.
Quest. Chingo kee beto nee
chase og youse etka chekenip.
Answ. Hadopa etka nisha
kishquicka.
Quest. Keco kee hata kee
weekin?
Answ. Nee hata orit poonk
og huska horit haloons etka
nesket og marchkec ochqueon.
The English of it.
Quest. Friend, from whence
com'st?
Ansio. Yonder.
Quest. Where yonder?
Answ. My House.
Quest. Where is thy House?
Answ. Arwaymouse,
which is the Name of an In-
dian Town.
Quest. What hast got in thy
House?
Answ. I have very fat Veni-
son, and good strong Skins,
with very good Turkeys.
Quest. When wilt thou
bring me Skins and Venison,
with Turkeys?
Answ. To morrow, or two
days hence.
Quest. What hast thou got
in thy House?
Answ. I have good Powder,
and very good Shot, with red
and blue Machcots.1
Match-coats, made of match-cloth, a coarse kind of woollen cloth
1698]
GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT
343
(0 huskia orit.)
Quest. Kee namen neskec
kabay og marchkec moos etka
opeg megis?
Answ. Mat a namen megis
nee namen neskec kabay un-
dogwa tekany.
Quest. Kee namen march-
kec moos undogwa tekeny?
Answ. Mogy.
Quest Kee squa og eny-
chan hat ah?
Answ. Mogy.
Quest. Kacha hatah?
Answ. Neo.
Quest. Benoingtid etka
squatid?
Answ. Nisha benointid og
nisha squatid.
Quest. Tongtid enychan ha-
tah?
Answ.
Quest.
Answ.
Quest.
Answ.
Mogy.
Etka aroosise?
Neo kishow.
Etka aroosise kee?
Pelenacheenckan ka-
tingan aroosis.
(Very well.)
Quest. Did'st thou see black
Horses and red Cows, with
white Sheep?
Answ. I saw no Sheep: I
did see black Horses yonder in
the Woods?
Quest. Did'st see red Cows
yonder in the Woods?
Answ. Yes.
Quest. Hast thou a Wife
and Children?
Answ. Yes.
Quest. How many hast?
Answ. Four.
Quest. B03-S or Girls?
Answ. Two Boys and two
Girls.
Quest. Hast got a young
Child?
Answ. Yes.
Quest. How old?
Answ. Four months.
Quest. How old art thou?
Answ. Fifty years old.
In the next Place I shall give an account of their way in
counting or numbering; which is as followeth.
The Indian Counting.
Kooty, nisha, nacha, neo,
pelenach, Kootash, nishash,
choesh, peskonk, telen.
Nishinchkan, nachinchkan,
neochinchkan, pelenchinch-
kan.
The English of it.
One, Two, Three, Four,
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine,
Ten.
Twenty, Thirty, Forty, Fif-
ty, etc.
344 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1673
The Names of some of the Indians.
Anachkooting, Bussabenating, Okonycan, Potasko, Quin-
damen, Lames, Alpoongan, Kohonk, Hiton, Temeny.
The Dutch and Sweeds inform us that they are greatly de-
creased in number to what they were when they came first into
this Country: And the Indians themselves say, that two of
them die to every one Christian that comes in here. Reader,
I shall not insist any farther upon this Subject, because what
is deficient or short here, is inserted already in the preceding
History of Pensilvania; for the Natives both of that, as well
as of this Country, speak the same Language, and live after
the same manner; for my chief aim, in the next place, is to ac-
quaint thee how, and after what manner the Christians live
there. And I hope I have pleased thee so far, as it may prove
a means to encourage me to give a larger Description here-
after.
The next who came there were the Dutch; which was be-
tween Forty and Fifty Years agoe,1 though they made but
very little Improvement, only built Two or Three Houses, upon
an Island (called since by the English) Stacies-Island; 2 and
it remained so, till about the Year 1675, in which King Charles
the Second (or the Duke of York, his Brother) gave the Coun-
trey to Edward Billing,3 in whose time, one Major Fen wick 4
1 At least seventy-five years before.
2 Matinneconk, Stacys, or Burlington Island of about 400 acres in the Dela-
ware River, just opposite Burlington, New Jersey. It is mentioned in the records
of the Swedes and Dutch on the Delaware. Peter Jegou, a Frenchman, seems to
have acquired it about 1668. In 1678 Robert Stacy, one of the Yorkshire com-
missioners, leased it from Governor Andros for seven years. In 1682 it was vested
in the town of Burlington for the support of education.
3 Edward Byllynge, who did not acquire West New Jersey directly from
Charles II. or James, the Duke of York, about 1675, nor yet so simply as
Thomas states, but by the more involved chain of title, with consequent disputes:
(1) Charles II., the whole of New Jersey to the Duke, at the English conquest of
New Netherland, in 1664; (2) the Duke, the same to his favorites Berkeley and
Carteret, in 1664; (3) Berkeley, his moiety, West New Jersey, to John Fenwick,
in 1674, intrust, as later alleged, for Byllynge. Cf. pp. 179, 180, ante.
4 Major John Fenwick (1618-1684), the Quaker founder of Salem and Fen-
wick's colony, the first permanent English settlement in West Jersey, in 1675,
was the second son of William Fenwick (1581-1647), of Stanton Hall, lord of a
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 345
went thither, with some others, and built a pretty Town, and
call'd it Salam;1 and in a few Years 2 after a Ship3 from London,
and another4 from Hull, saiFd thither with more People, who
went higher up into the Countrey, and built there a Town, and
called it Burlington, which is now the chiefest Town in that
Countrey, though Salam is the ancientest; and a fine Market-
Town it is, having several Fairs kept yearly in it; likewise well
furnished with good store of most Necessaries for humane
Support, as Bread, Beer, Beef, and Pork; as also Butter and
Cheese, of which they freight several Vessels, and send them
to Barbadoes, and other Islands.
There are very many fine stately Brick-Houses built, and
a commodious Dock for Vessels to come in at, and they claim
equal Privilege with Burlington for the sake of Antiquity; tho'
that is the principal Place, by reason that the late Governor
manor in Northumberland. He studied law at Gray's Inn, London, 1639-1640,
and perhaps longer; was described in 1649 as a member for several years of John
Goodwin's Independent congregation in London, established in 1645; as early as
1648 he had married Elizabeth (d. about 1655), daughter of Sir Walter Covert,
knight of Slaugham, Sussex, and was located as a farmer dealing extensively in
sheep on an estate at Brockham, in Surrey. About this time he was commissioned
as major in the army of Parliament, but it is not clear that he saw much military
service. In 1652 he entered upon an additional estate at Worminghurst, in the
adjacent county of Sussex — to which he changed his residence — possibly as the
tenant of Gulielma Maria Springett, then aged eight, who had inherited from her
father, Sir William Springett, Worminghurst Place, the most important house
with large park and considerable lands in that parish, later (1677) the home of
her and her husband, William Penn. In 1662 Fenwick had taken a second wife,
Mary Burdett, and had become a Quaker. In 1674 (March 18, 1673/4) he
made the purchase of West New Jersey from Sir John Berkeley for £1,000. In
the subsequent settlement of the dispute with Edward Byllynge over the sale,
effected through the mediation of William Penn, Fenwick in 1675 (February 10,
1674/5) relinquished to Byllynge's assignees nine-tenths of his purchase. The
other tenth he retained and during the succeeding five months was busily en-
gaged in exploiting its sale and in arranging to emigrate. Having disposed of
over 150,000 acres, in tracts of from 500 to 20,000 acres, to about fifty purchasers,
chiefly in London, he set sail from London late in July, 1675, in the ship Griffin,
with a colony of about 150 persons, including his three daughters and ten ser-
vants. He arrived at the site of Salem in September of the same year, laid out
the town and for the remainder of his life was concerned with the development of
his colony.
1 Salem. » In 1677.
8 The Kent, Gregory Marlow, master. * The Martha.
346 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
Cox,1 who bought that Countrey of Edward Billing, encouraged
and promoted that Town chiefly, in settling his Agents and
Deputy-Governors there, (the same Favours are continued by
the New- West- Jersey2 Society, who now manage Matters there)
which brings their Assemblies and chief Courts to be kept there;
and, by that means it is become a very famous Town, having
a great many stately Brick-Houses in it, (as I said before) with
a delicate great Market-House, where they keep their Market :
It hath a noble and spacious Hall over-head, where their
Sessions is kept, having the Prison adjoining to it.
Likewise in the said Town there are very many fine Wharfs
and large Timber- Yards, Malt-Houses, Brew-Houses, Bake-
Houses; and most sorts of Trades-Men (whose Wages are upon
the same Foot with the Pensilvanians), viz. Cloath- Workers,
who make very good Serges, Druggets, Crapes, Camblets (part
Silk or Worsted, and part Camels Hair), and good Plushes,
with several other Woollen Cloathes, besides Linnen.
There are many Fair and Great Brick Houses on the out-
side of the Town which the Gentry have built there for their
Countrey Houses, besides the Great and Stately Palace of
John Tateham Esq; 3 which is pleasantly Situated on the North
side of the Town, having a very fine and delightful Garden and
Orchard adjoyning to it, wherein is variety of Fruits, Herbs,
1 Daniel Coxe (1641-1730), M.D., Cambridge, 1669, of London, physi-
cian to the queen of Charles II., and to Queen Anne, member of the Royal Society,
before which he read papers, was a large landed proprietor in the colonies and,
although he never came over, was one of the foremost promoters of undertakings
there. In 1687, after the death of Byllynge (d. 1685) he acquired the latter's
interest in West New Jersey and became the governor. He moved the seat of
government to Burlington, started whale and cod fisheries, and initiated other
helpful enterprises in the province. In 1692 he sold his West New Jersey prop-
erty to the West New Jersey Society.
2 The West New Jersey Society, to whose officers and members Thomas in-
scribes this History of West-New-Jersey, consisted of about forty-eight members,
largely non-Quaker London merchants with head-quarters in London. The
Society purchased West Jersey from Dr. Coxe in 1692, and governed it until 1702,
when the whole of New Jersey became a royal province.
3 John Tatham (d. 1700), gentleman, of Burlington, a rich man for that time
and place, evidently a Roman Catholic, having at his death seven slaves, a silver
crucifix, a silver plate of Saint Dominic, and other silver, a wooden cross with
the image of Christ, and a collection of books, many of them being of a Catholic
character. He was the New Jersey agent for Governor Daniel Coxe.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 347
and Flowers; as Roses, Tulips, July-Flowers, Sun-Flowers
(that open and shut as the Sun Rises and Sets, thence taking
their Name), Carnations, and many more; besides abundance
of Medicinal Roots Herbs, Plants, and Flowers, found wild in
the Fields.
There are kept also in this Famous Town several Fairs
every Year; and as for Provisions, viz. Bread, Beer, Beef, Pork,
Cheese, Butter, and most sorts of Fruit, here is great Plenty
and very Cheap; all those Commodities are to be bought every
Market-Day.
A Ship of Four Hundred Tuns may Sail up to this Town in
the River Delaware ; for I my self have been on Board a Ship
of that Burthen there: And several fine Ships and Vessels (be-
sides Governour Cox's own great Ship) have been built there.
There are also two handsom Bridges to come in and out of
the Town, called London and York-Bridges. The Town stands
in an Island, the Tide flowing quite round about it. There are
Water-Men who constantly Ply their Wherry Boats from that
Town to the City of Philadelphia in Pensilvania, and to other
places. Besides there is Glocester-Town, which is a very Fine
and Pleasant Place, being well stor'd with Summer Fruits, as
Cherries, Mulberries, and Strawberries, whither Young People
come from Philadelphia in the Wherries to eat Straberries and
Cream, within sight of which City it is sweetly Situated, being
but about three Miles distance from thence.
There are several Meetings of Worship in this Country, viz.
the Presb}rterians, Quakers, and Anabaptists: Their Privilege
as to Matter of Law, is the same both for Plaintiff and Defend-
ant, as in England.
The Air is very Clear, Sweet and Wholesom; in the depth of
Winter it is something colder, and as much hotter in the
heighth of Summer than in England. Commonly (with them)
the Days differ two Hours in length from ours here. The
longest Day in Summer is shorter by two Hours than the long-
est Day in England, and the shortest Day longer by two Hours
than with us here.
As for Corn, they have Wheat, Rye, Pease, Oates, Barley,
Rice, etc., in vast quantities: Also Indian-Corn, Pease and
Beans, likewise English Hemp and Flax, which prospers there
exceedingly. Eating Roots, Pumpkins, Cashews, Water-Mel-
348 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
ons, Muskmellons, Cucumbers, Squashes, Carrots, Artichokes,
Potatoes, Turnips, Garlick, Onions, and Leeks grow there in
greater Plenty than in England. And for Herbs, they have
Cabbages, Coleworts,1 Savoys/ Lettice, Purslane, and other
Sallads in abundance; beside Wild Herbs which are there very
common, as Penny-Royal, Mint, Mustard, Sage, Rue, Tansey,
etc., and likewise there are choice Phisical Roots, as Sassafras,
Sarsaparilla, Black-Snake-Root, Rattle-Snake Root, and Poake
Root, with divers others, which there is great store of.
Of Fish, they have Whales, Sturgeon, Cod, Scale-Fish, Cole
and Hake-Fish, large Mackeril, Flat-fish, Rock, Shadds, Cattes,
Eels, Perch, and many other sorts in prodigious Shoals: And
Wild- Water-Fowl, as Geese, Ducks, Swans, Divers, etc., are
very numerous, even beyond all expectation. As to Land-
Fowl, Turkeys, Geese, Pheasants, Partridges, Pigeons, Wood-
cocks, Blackbirds, etc., they are there in extraordinary great
abundance, and very large. There is also that uncommon and
valuable Bird (being near the bigness of a Cuckoo) called the
Mocking-bird (known, but not very well in England, being so
very Nice and Tender, that they usually die by the way) with
several other Charming and Curious Birds, too tedious here to
specific
As to the Wild Vermin, There are Otters, Beavers, Foxes,
Mush-Rats Minx's, Wild-Cats, Rackoons, Pollcats, and also
that cunning Creature the Possom, particularly mentioned and
distinguish'd in the annexed Account of Pensilvania for its
remarkable Qualities, whither I refer the Reader, not in the
least being fond of Tautology. This Creature is about the
bigness of an English Cat, being of a light gray colour. Like-
wise there were some Wolves and Bears, but now they are
very rare to be seen, by reason the Indians destroy them (as
before). Also that strange Creature the Flying Squirril, men-
tion^ in the foregoing Book. There are great numbers of
Wild Deer, and Red Deer also; and these wild Creatures are
free and common for any to kill and take. And for Wild Fruits,
there are Chesnuts, Filberts, Hickery-Nuts, Grapes, Mulberries,
Strawberries, Rasberries, Huckleberries, and Craneberries, with
several sorts of Plumbs, and all those Fruits in great plenty be-
ing free for any Body to gather.
1 Of the cabbage family.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 349
Now I am a coming to the Planted Fruit-Trees, as Apples,
Pears, Apricocks, Quinces, Plumbs, Cherries, Gooseberries, Cur-
rants, and Peaches, from which last they distil a liquor as in
Pensilvania, much like Rumm or Brandy, in the taste; and
all those Trees will come to bear in a little more than half the
time, they do in England, the Soil is so rich; they have great
plenty of the aforementioned Fruits, which are exceeding de-
licious. These, as also many other Fruits that come not to
any pitch of Perfection in England, are the Natural Product of
this Country, which lies warmer, being more befriended by the
Sun's hot and glorious Beams, which without doubt is the chief
Cause and true Reason, why the Fruit there so far excells the
English. They have likewise great Stocks of Horses and Hogs,
raised in the Woods; of the latter of which I have seen some of
a Prodigious Weight that only fed there, their Horses are very
hardy, strong, and of good Spirit for Labour or Travelling;
they commonly go unshod (which in many Years saves much
Money). Their Plow-shears require but small Reparation,
wearing out but little. They Harrow their Ground with a
Wooden-tyned-Harrow, and twice over does the business.
Of Bees also they are well provided, and abound in Sheep
naturally very sound, and that stand well, the Rot, Scab, Mag-
gots, etc., rarely invading them; they usually bring forth two
Lambs at once, and their Wooll is very fine, white, and thick;
they have great Stocks of Cattle, as Cows, Oxen, etc. Their
Oxen commonly weigh well.
Tame Fowl there are (almost) incredible in numbers, viz.
Geese, Turkeys, Hens, etc.
In this Country also is great Plenty of working Timber, as
Oaks, Ash, Chesnuts, Pine, Cedar, Walnut, Poplar, Firr, and
Masts for Ships, with Pitch and Rosin, of great Use and much
Benefit to the Countrey. Here are several good Navigable
Rivers, besides that famous River Delaware (which I have
mentioned elsewhere, and where the Tobacco is excellent)
being deep enough for Vessels to come in: First, Prince Mor-
ise's River,1 where the Sweeds used to kill the Geese in great
numbers, for their Feathers (only) leaving their Carcasses be-
hind them; Cohansey River, by which they send great store
1 Maurice or Prince Maurice River, in the southern part of New Jersey,
flowing into Delaware Bay.
350 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
of Cedar to Philadelphia-City; Allaway-River; SalanV-River,
which runs by Salam-Town (of greatest Antiquity;) Naman-
River, Rackcoon-River,2 which had its Name from the great
numbers of those Creatures that always abound thereabouts;
Old Man's River; Manto-River;3 Woodberry-River; Great
Eggharbor River (up which a Ship of two or three hundred
Tuns may sail) which runs by the back part of the Country into
the Main Sea; I call it back, because the first Improvement
made by the Christians, was Delawar River-side: This Place
is noted for good store of Corn, Horses, Cows, Sheep, Hogs,
etc., the Lands thereabouts being much improved, and built
upon: Little Egg-Harbor-Creek, which take their Names from
the great abundance of Eggs, which the Swans, Geese, Ducks,
and other wild Fowls off those Rivers lay thereabouts: Tim-
ber-River,4 alias Glocester-River, which hath its Name (also)
from the great quantity of curious Timber, which they send in
great Floats to Philadelphia, a City in Pensilvania, as Oaks,
Pines, Chesnut, Ash, and Cedars. This River runs down by
Glocester-Town, which is the Shire-Town; And Newton-River,5
that runs by Newton; Cooper-River;6 Pensokin-River;7
Northampton-River,8 with several others, at a convenient dis-
tance upon the Sea, the Shores whereof are generally deep and
bold) of less Note, as Wissahiskonk-River,9 that runs down
into the great River Delaware, by Burlington. The Countrey
inhabited by the Christians is divided into four Parts or Coun-
ties, tho' the Tenth part of it is not yet peopled; 'Tis far cheaper
living there for Eatables than here in England; and either
Men or Women that have a Trade, or are Labourers, can, if
industrious, get near three times the Wages they commonly
earn in England.
Courteous Reader, As yet I have given thee no Account of
East- Jersey, because I never was there, so in reality cannot
properly or pertinently speak to that Matter. I will not pre-
tend to impose any thing on the World, but have all along, and
shall still declare nothing but Verity; therefore one Word of
that by and by. I might have given thee a much larger Ac-
1 Salem. 2 Raccoon Creek. 8 Mantua Creek.
4 Big Timber Creek. & Between Gloucester and present Camden.
• At present Camden, New Jersey. 7 Pensauken Creek.
8 Rancocas Creek. • Assiscunk Creek.
1698] GABRIEL THOMAS'S ACCOUNT 351
-eount of this Count rey, and have stretch 'd this (now) Pocket
Volume to an extraordinary Bulk and Size; and yet without
straining or deviating in the least from the Principles of my
Profession, which are Truth it self. I have no Plot in my Pate,
or deep Design, no, not the least expectation of gaining any
thing b}r them that go thither, or losing by those who stay
here. My End chiefly in Writing, nay, indeed my great Aim,
is to inform the People of Britain and Ireland in general, but
particularly the Poor, who are begging, or near it, or starving,
or hard by it (as I before took notice in my Preface) to encour-
age them (for their own Good, and for the Honour and Bene-
fit of their Native Countrey, to whom they are now a Scandal
and Disgrace; and whose Milk and Honey these Drones eat
up, and are besides a heavy Burden to the Commonwealth, in
the Taxes paid by every Parish in England, etc., to support
them.
Law-Causes are here (as in Pensilvania) speedily deter-
mined, in the second Court at least, unless in some difficult
Business. One Justice of the Peace hath Power to try a Cause,
and give Judgment therein, if the Original Debt be under
forty Shillings. And for Thieves and Robbers (as I hinted
before in the Preface) they must restore fourfold; which, if
tney are not able to do, they must work hard till the injured
Person is satisfied.
I shall conclude with a Word or two on New-East-Jersey.
This Countrey is exceeding fruitful in Cattel, of which I have
seen great numbers brought from thence, viz. Oxen, Cows,
Sheep, Hogs, and Horses, to Philadelphia, the Capital of Pen-
silvania. The chiefest Manufactory (besides English and In-
dian Grain) fit for Traffick that this Countrey affords.
Now I shall give thee an Account of the English Manufac-
tory, that each County in West-New- Jersey affords. In the
first Place I shall begin with Burlington-County, as for Peltage,
or Beavers Skins, Otter-Skins, Minks Skins, Musk-rats Skins,
Rackcoon, Wild Cats, Martin, and Deer-Skins, etc. The Trade
in Glocester-County consists chiefly in Pitch, Tar, and Rosin;
the latter of which is made by Robert Styles,1 an excellent
1 Robert Stiles (d. 1713), was living in 1711 on his farm of over 200 acres on
Pensauken Creek, in Chester Township, Burlington County, just over the line
from Gloucester (now Camden) County, New Jersey.
352 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
Artist in that sort of Work, for he delivers it as clear as any
Gum-Arabick. The Commerce carried on in Salam-County, is
chiefly Rice, of which they have wonderful Produce every Year;
as also of Cranberries which grow there in great plenty, and
which in Picle might be brought to Europe. The Commodities
of Capmay-County, are Oyl and Whale-Bone, of which they
make prodigious, nay vast quantities every Year, having
mightily advanced that great Fishery, taking great numbers of
Whales yearly.1 This Country for the general part of it, is
extraordinary good, and proper for the raising of all sorts of
Cattel, very plentiful here, as Cows, Horses, Sheep, and Hogs,
etc., likewise it is well Stor'd with several sorts of Fruits which
make very good and pleasant Liquors, such as their Neigh-
bouring Country before mentioned affords. Now Reader, hav-
ing no more to add of any moment or importance, I salute
thee in Christ ; and whether thou stayest in England, Scotland,
Ireland, or Wales, or goest to Pensilvania, West or East- Jersey,
I wish thee all Health and Happiness in this, and Everlasting
Comfort (in God) in the World to come. Fare thee well.
1 About 1690 Dr. Daniel Coxe established a town and an extensive whale
fishery on the bay side of Cape May.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIP-
TION OF PENNSYLVANIA, BY FRANCIS
DANIEL PASTORIUS, 1700
INTRODUCTION
Upon the most trustworthy estimate, one-fifth of the blood
of the United States is German. In Pennsylvania the propor-
tion runs even higher. The German contribution to American
civilization defies numerical estimate. Plainly, therefore, a
book which aims at presenting typical narratives of Pennsyl-
vania's foundation should include the chief writing relative to
the beginnings of German colonization in that province, and
especially if that principal writing should by chance have
emanated from the chief figure in that earliest movement of
German settlement. That classical position belongs so pre-
cisely to Pastorius's Umstdndige Geographische Beschreibung
PensylvanicB, that it is surprising that it has never before
been presented, save in fragments, in an English translation.
Francis Daniel Pastorius was born September 26, 1651, at
Sommerhausen in Franconia, the son of Melchior Adam Pas-
torius, legal counsellor to the Count of Limpurg,1 and of Mag-
dalena Dietz, his first wife. His father's removal to the city
of Windsheim, where the elder Pastorius became burgomaster
and judge, brought it about that Francis was educated first
at the gymnasium in that city, under a Hungarian schoolmaster
named Tobias Schumberg.2 In 1668 he proceeded to the univer-
sity of Altdorf, and for the next eight years was engaged in
studies, chiefly of law, there and at the universities of Strass-
burg, Basel, and Jena. Taking his degree of doctor of laws at
Altdorf in 1676, he practised law at Windsheim and at Frank-
fort-on-the-Main till 1680, when as the companion of a young
1 For a fuller account of Melchior Adam Pastorius, see below, p. 361, note 1.
8 A poem of Pastorius addressed to his former schoolmaster is printed below,
pp. 422-424.
355
356 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
nobleman he entered on a period of travel, lasting two and a
half years, and extending through Germany, the Netherlands,
England, France, and Switzerland.
Frankfort in 1682 was the very centre of the Pietists, who
wTere endeavoring by revival of devout and practical Chris-
tianity, tinged often with mysticism, to melt and vivify the
creed-bound theological and sacramentarian system of the
Lutheran Church. That Pastorius would by natural sympathy
be drawn into their circle is plain from the account of his spir-
itual development which he gives in the preface below. So
when a kindred spirit, the Quaker William Penn, who in 1677
had paid a memorable religious visit to the Frankfort Pietists,
became four years later a great landed proprietor in America,
and through German translations of some of the documents
already presented in this volume appealed to the Pietists and
Mennonites of Germany to take part in his "holy experiment,"
it was natural that Pastorius should be strongly attracted.
A Frankfort group bought 15,000 acres of land in the new
province. He was made their agent, sailed for America in
June, 1683, and arrived at Philadelphia in August. The main
section of the first body of German immigrants to Pennsyl-
vania, a Crefeld group, came in October. Uniting the inter-
ests of the German (Frankfort) Company and of the Crefelders,
Pastorius by skilful management obtained favorable terms
from Penn for the Germans, and before the end of October
founded Germantown.
The development of this first of German townships in Amer-
ica can be followed during its first sixteen years in the pages
which follow. Pastorius continued as agent for the German
Company till 1700 only, but throughout his lifetime remained
the chief citizen of Germantown, bailiff or clerk of the corpora-
tion in many years, justice of the peace, occasionally member
of the General Assembly of the province. He shared in, per-
haps wrote, the famou? protest (1688) of the German Friends
INTRODUCTION 357
or Mennonites of Germantown against slavery. From 1698
to 1700 he served as schoolmaster of the Friends' School in
Philadelphia, from 1702 till after 1716 he was master of the
school in Germantown. Add to these occupations that of
scrivener, in which capacity he was in much request, and it
will easily be seen that no one was better qualified to testify as
to the early days of the German village. In Germantown he
lived until his death, which occurred between December 26,
1719, and January 13, 1720. The chief account of his life and
writings, and an excellent one, based on most painstaking re-
searches, is The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder
of Germantown, by Professor Marion D. Learned (Philadelphia,
1908).
Pastorius was a man of wide learning, not only in legal and
administrative matters, but in science, medicine, agriculture,
history, theology, and business. His learning, his large library,
his skill with the pen, his eagerness to do good, and, we must
add, some willingness to display his talents, impelled him to
most copious writing, now in vivacious if not too orderly prose,
now in verses plainly meant to be, and thought of as being,
poetry. Half a dozen printed books and a great mass of manu-
scripts remain to attest his literary zeal. The chief of the latter
is the Beehive, a combination of commonplace-book and ency-
clopaedia which he wrote for his children. The chief of the
printed books is that which is here translated. From its pages,
though the great waves of German immigration into America
began several years after its publication, we can at least ob-
tain priceless and abundant data regarding the first small
beginning of that process.
The first printed account of Pennsylvania by Pastorius was
an eight-page tract, headed Sichere Nachricht auss America,
wegen der Landschafft Pennsylvania, von einem dorthin gereiss-
ten Teutschen, de dato Philadelphia, den 7. Martii 1684 (Posi-
tive Information from America, concerning the Country of
358 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania, from a German who has migrated thither, dated
Philadelphia, March 7, 1684).1 Of this excessively rare tract
there is a copy in the city library of Zurich. A longer state-
ment, entitled Francisci Danielis Pastorii Sommerhusano-
Franci Kurtze Geographische Beschreibung der letztmahls erfun-
denen Americanischen Landschafft Pensylvania (Short Geo-
graphical Description of the recently discovered American
Country Pennsylvania), was printed in Nuremberg in 1692
as an appendix to Melchior Adam Pastorius's Kurtze Beschrei-
bung Der H. R. Reichs Stadt Windsheim. This also is rare, but
there is a copy of it in the library of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania. The appendix fills only thirty-two pages. By
expansion of these to forty-five and by many additions Pas-
torius composed his final treatise, Umstandige Geographische
Beschreibung Der zu allerletzt erfundenen Provintz Pensylvanice,
In denen End-Grdntzen Americce In der West-Welt gelegen}
Durch Franciscum Danielem Pastorium, J. U. Lie. und Frie-
dens-Richtern daselbsten. Worbey angehencket sind einige nota-
ble Begebenheiten, und Bericht-Schreiben an dessen Herm Vat-
tern Melchior em Adamum Pastorium, Und andere gute Freunde.
Franckjurt und Leipzig, Zufinden bey Andreas Otto. 1700.
(Circumstantial Geographical Description of the Lately Dis-
covered Province of Pennsylvania, Situated in the Farthest
Limits of America, in the Western World, by Francis Daniel
Pastorius, J. U. Lie, and Justice of the Peace in the Same, to
which are Appended certain Notable Events, and Written Re-
ports to his Honored Father, Melchior Adam Pastorius, and to
Other Good Friends.) A second edition, without change of
1 A translation of this interesting document, by the general editor of the series,
has been substituted below, pp. 392-411, for those pages of the book of 1700 which
present merely a brief summary of the Sichere Nachricht. Other versions may
be seen in J. F. Sachse, Letters relating to the Settlement of Germantown (Phila-
delphia, 1903), and in S. W. Pennypacker, The Settlement of Germantown (Phila-
delphia, 1889), pp. 81-99. A photographic facsimile of the original may be
found in Learned's Pastorius, between pp. 128 and 129.
INTRODUCTION 359
substance, was issued under the same imprint in 1704. This
usually has, bound up with it, a German translation of Gabriel
Thomas's Historical and Geographical Account, and Daniel
Falkner's Curieuse Nachricht. Friedrich Kapp republished
Pastorius's part (Crefeld, 1884) with an introduction.
The Umstandige Geographische Beschreibung is a small book,
printed on paper 6 £ x 3 £ inches in size, and contains
xii+140 pages. It was edited for publication by the writer's
father, Melchior Adam Pastorius, and the last twenty pages
are occupied with his autobiography, supplied at the request
of his grandsons. It is a very interesting document, but as its
interest is wholly European, it has not been thought needful
to include it in the present translation, which accordingly
stops at page 120 of the original. As will be seen, the book
opens with seventeen chapters of a more or less systematic
treatise, but is continued by the printing, in nearly chrono-
logical order from 1683 to 1699, of various letters of Pastorius,
together with a few written by his sons, his father, or William
Penn. No one should look to it for a methodical history of
Pennsylvania or of Germantown, but surely no one can look
into it without catching vivid glimpses of early Germantown
and Pennsylvania, without seeing, to some degree, "the very
form and pressure of the time."
About a fifth of the book, in an imperfect English transla-
tion by Lewis H. Weiss, was printed in 1850 in the Memoirs
of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, volume IV., part 2,
and reprinted in 1898 in no. 95 of the Old South Leaflets. The
present version was made by the late Miss Gertrude Selwyn
Kimball of Providence; Professor M. D. Learned has kindly
revised it. The foot-notes are by the editor of the volume,
Mr. A. C. Myers.
J. F. •!»
CIRCUMSTANTIAL GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIP-
TION OF PENNSYLVANIA, BY FRANCIS
DANIEL PASTORIUS, 1700
Circumstantial Geographical Description of the Lately Discovered
Province of Pennsylvania, Situated in the Farthest Limits
of America, in the Western World, by Francis Daniel Pas-
torius, J. U. Lie, and Justice of the Peace in the Same, to
which are Appended certain Notable Events, and Written
Reports to his Honored Father, Melchior Adam Pastorius,
and to Other Good Friends.
Frankfort and Leipzig: To be found at the Shop of Andreas Otto,
1700.
TO THE GENTLE READER
I herewith present to you the province of Pennsylvania,
lately discovered by means of the expeditions sent out under
Charles Stuart the First of England, and likewise its inhabit-
ants, the Christians as well as the native savages, together with
the laws, form of government, customs and habits of both of
these, and also the towns which have already been settled, and
the commerce which has been established, all most faithfully
described, not only by the governor of the province, William
Penn himself, but also by the local authorized representatives
of the English and High-German Companies.
And it is worthy of remark that this province, as early as
the year 1684, contained four thousand Christian souls; there-
fore, at the present time, at the end of sixteen years, it must,
necessarily, have a much greater population, both because of
the yearly arrival of settlers, and because of the natural in-
crease of the Christian colonists, and must also have attained
to a state of greater prosperity in agriculture, in dwellings, and
in trade. This is especially the result of the inestimable vigil-
ance, admirable bearing, and prudent conduct of the above-
360
1700] PASTOR IUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 361
mentioned governor, William Penn, to whom the English
King, Charles Stuart the Second, gave this country in perpe-
tuity, as an English fief, upon the yearly payment of two
beaver-skins. All of which will be learned more in detail in
the proper place.
Good health to the reader, whom I am ready to serve fur-
ther, on receipt of further information.
N. B. The publisher received this from the hand of Mel-
chior Adam Pastorius,1 J. U. D., Councillor to the Prince of
Brandenburg and Historian, whose son now resides in Penn-
sylvania.
PREFACE
The method by which I have regulated the course of my
life, from the cradle, after laying-aside childish things, along
the path of this temporal state, toward a joyous eternity, is
well known to all my intimates; and also that in all my deeds
I have striven to learn the will of God, to fear His omnipotent
power, and truly to love, honor, and praise His unfathomable
1 Melchior Adam Pastorius (1624-1702), doctor of civil and canon law,
father of Francis Daniel Pastorius, was a native of Erfurt, in Thuringia, spring-
ing from a prominent Catholic family, whose name was originally Scepers or
Schaffer (shepherd or pastor), then Pastor, and finally under humanistic influ-
ences fully Latinized to Pastorius. The family was long resident in Warburg in
Westphalia, whence his father, Martinus Pastorius, a native of the latter town,
educated in the liberal arts and in the law, son of Fredericus Pastorius, town
councillor, had removed to Erfurt and become tribunal assessor. Receiving an
early training in the humanities M. A. Pastorius, in 1644, joined the train of
Cardinal Rosetti, then on his way to the election of a new pope, went to Rome,
studied in the German College, pursued a course in law at the University Alia
Sapienza, practised in the Roman trials with his brother and for a few months
in 1648 held his brother's place as resident at Rome for the Elector of Trier.
Having made a grand tour of observation — interestingly recorded by him —
through Italy, Germany, Austria, and France, under the patronage of the Elector
of Mainz, in 1649, he became counsellor to the Count of Limpurg at Sommer-
hausen, in Franconia. Here he changed to the Lutheran religion, married, and
had his son Francis Daniel born to him. In 1659 he removed to the imperial
city of Windsheim, serving as counsellor, elder burgomaster, superior judge, and
councillor to the Prince of Brandenburg. He was a man of much learning, know-
ing Latin, Italian, and French. He wrote a history of Windsheim and many
other works in prose and verse, some of which have never been published. His
later. vears were §pent at Nuremberg, where he died.
362 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
goodness and mercy. And although I have, besides the or-
dinary courses in the liberal arts, happily undertaken and
finished the study of law, and at the same time became suf-
ficiently skilled in the Italian and French languages, and in
good company made the so-called grande tour, through those
countries, nevertheless, in all countries and places, my great-
est industry and effort has been to endeavor to discover where
and amongst what people and nations a true devotion, love,
knowledge, and fear of God might be met with and acquired.
I found, in universities and academies, learned men almost
without number, but as many religions and sects as there were
individuals; [I found] sharp wits and keen questionings, but,
in fine, there was that great babbling and ostentation of frivo-
lous worldly wisdom of which the apostle says : Scientia inflat.1
But that I saw anywhere, in the Netherlands or in France,
a professor who, with the heart of a child and the soul of a dis-
ciple, earnestly pointed out the pure love of Jesus and a knowl-
edge of the Holy Trinity — that [is something] which I cannot
write with a clear conscience.
It is true that there is no lack of those Christians in name
and in speech, who go about conceited in their worldly wisdom,
and are really devoted to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eye, and the pride of life (the Trifolium of the devil). But
they who with fear and trembling thought to work out their
own salvation, who lived without guile, and who penetrated
to the centre to God, that highest good, with all the power of
their being — such were rara avis in terris.2
I found, indeed, at last, in the University of Cambridge
and in the city of Ghent, some in secret retirement who were
devoted men, resigned to the Heavenly Father with their
whole soul; these having perceived my earnest quest, taught
me many good doctrines and strengthened me greatly in my
purpose, and so aided me that the birth-chamber of the most
glorious Emperor Charles the Fifth, in the royal palace at
Ghent, was shown to me (it is four ells long and four ells wide),
with the reminder that to this newborn prince was given by
one of his god-fathers as* a christening-present a richly-bound
Bible with the inscription in gold: Scrutamini scripturas,* the
1 Knowledge puffeth up. *A rare bird in the lands,
•Search the Scripture
1700] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 363
which he had read diligently, and therein learnt that he must
die in the merits of Jesus Christ, which alone suffice.
I further saw, in my travels at Orleans, Paris, Avignon,
Marseilles, Lyons, and Geneva, many thousands of youths
from Germany, the greater part of them of noble rank, who
habitually imitate only the frivolities of dress, speech, foreign
customs, and ceremonies, and spend incredible amounts in
learning to leap horses, to ride, to dance, fence, swing a pike,
and wave banners; so that a large portion of their German
patrimony is spent on the useless frivolities of this world, while
no thought is given to the love of God, and to the wisdom of
an imitation of Christ, well-pleasing in the sight of the Lord. In-
deed, he who will discourse somewhat of the writings and com-
munings with God of the holy Augustine, Taulerus, Arndius,
and other men of godly wisdom, will be proclaimed a pietist,
sectarian, and heretic; nor will the man who has drunk deep
of the worldly wisdom of the school of Aristotle let himself be
persuaded, or be admonished by the Spirit of God.
For these reasons, when my tour was ended, I withdrew
into my study for a short retreat, and recalled to mind all
that this world-spectacle had brought to my view, and could
find no enduring pleasure in anything therein, and also I gave
up all hope that, in the future, any place could be found in my
native country, or in all Germany, where a man could abandon
the old habit of mere operis operati,1 and enter into the pure
love of God with his whole heart and spirit, and with his entire
strength, and love his neighbor as himself.
So the thought came to me that it might be better that I
should expound for the good of the newly-discovered American
peoples in Pennsylvania that knowledge given me by the grace
of the highest Giver and Father of Light, and should thus make
them participators in the true knowledge of the Holy Trinity,
and the true Christianity.
But since the province and country of Pennsylvania is
situated at the further limits of America, it is necessary that
some few words should first be premised and set forth concern-
ing the divisions of the globe, and in particular concerning
America (the fourth part of the world). I divide the globe
into four parts: the first is Europe, wherein are Spain, France,
lDead works.
364 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
Italy, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Sla-
vonic Bulgaria, Muscovy, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Eng-
land, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, etc. This division is the
smallest of them all, but because of its art and of the Christian
religion, it is the most famous.
The second division is Asia, which lies toward the rising
sun, or to the east, of Europe, and is almost as large as Europe
and Africa together. In this part of the world Paradise was
situated, and here Adam was created, and here too was the
promised land of Canaan, wherein dwelt the patriarchs, Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob. It also contains Arabia, wherein is
Mount Sinai, where God gave the law to Moses. In Asia are
likewise found Syria, Judsea, Galilee, Babylon, and Niniveh.
It also includes the East Indies, Tartary, and China, that land
which lies the furthest to the east, and which is separated from
its neighboring lands in part by lofty mountains, and in part
by a wall twelve hundred miles in length.
The third division is Africa, divided from the south of
Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, and from Asia by the Red
Sea. It is a very hot, unfruitful, and partly uninhabited land,
and full of venomous animals. It contains Egypt, Barbary,
and the country of Prester John.
The fourth division of the world is America, or the so-called
New World, which was discovered in part, A. D. 1492, by
Christopher Columbus, and in part by Americus Vespucius,
and by this last it was called America. It lies toward the
setting-sun, or to the west, of Europe, and comprises the largest
part of the globe, being almost as large as the entire Old World,
Europe, Asia, and Africa, together. This is the country where-
in are found in superabundance gold, silver, gems, sugar, spice,
and many other rarities, as the silver fleets, coming from there
every year, bear ample witness.
Besides these four principal divisions of the earth above
mentioned, there are also the cold countries lying toward the
North and midnight; such as Greenland, Nova Zembla, Ice-
land, etc. There is also that great unknown southern land,
otherwise called Magellanica, which lies far to the south, near
the south pole, and into which no man has dared to venture,
up to this time, where it seems at night as if the whole region
were on fire.
1700] fASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 365
Since, however, my design at the present time is to write
only of Pennsylvania, the newest portion of America, I forth-
with proceed to the matter in hand.
THE FOURTH DIVISION OF THE WORLD, AMERICA,
is Divided by me into Two Principal Parts,
The first of these, to the south, includes:
1. Castilia del Oro,1 comprising the provinces of Popayan,3
New Granada/ Cartagena,4 Venezuela,5 New Andalusia,6
Paria.7
2. The country of Guiana, belonging to the Dutch, from
which they chose to make a grant of a fief, in 1669, to the
Count of Hanau, of that part lying between the rivers Paria
and Amazon.
3. The country of Brazil, belonging to Portugal, wherein
are the cities of San Salvador, Olinda, and Pernambuco.
4. The country of Chile.
5. The country of Peru, in whose capital, Lima, the Span-
ish viceroy resides. This province is bounded by the Andes,
in which the largest supply of gold is to be found, and where
the aged men among the natives are gigantic in size, being
ten feet tall.
There are, in this southern division, two principal rivers,
the River Amazon and the River de la Plata. On the borders
of this southern division flows the River Panama, or the Isth-
mus, by which the wealth of America is carried to the sea and
thence to Spain.
1 The name applied at that and earlier times to northwestern South America,
including the present United States of Colombia and Venezuela.
2 In the southern part of the present United States of Colombia.
3 East of Popayan, and south of the then province of Venezuela.
4 North of Popayan, bordering on the Caribbean Sea, in the present United
States of Colombia.
6 In the northern part of the present country of that name.
6 East of the then province of Venezuela, on the Caribbean Sea, within
present Venezuela. It is also called Paria by some geographers of the seventeenth
century.
7 South of New Andalusia, although by some geographers of the period
made synonymous with the former. It is within present Venezuela.
366 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1492
The second Principal Division of America, to the North, in-
cludes:
1. The country of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chersonesus or
New Spain/ extends to the Gulf of Mexico.
2. The country of Florida.
3. The country of Virginia, belonging to the English.
4. New Netherlands whose capital is New Amsterdam.3
5. New England, where, in the city of Cambridge, the Bible
has been printed in the American language.4
6. Canada, New France, the land of Cortereal,5 Labrador,
and New Britain.6 Until the year 1441 there was very scant
information had in Europe concerning this entire division of
the world, America, because none of the inhabitants had ever
sailed over to us Europeans.
The first discoverer of this western world of waters was
Christopher Columbus, an Italian, born in the little town of
Cucurco,7 in the territory of Genoa, of the noble house of Pilus-
troli,8 a man of education and experienced in navigation.
After he had visited the island of Gades,9 and ascertained
that, at a certain season of the year, the winds blew steadily
from the west for many days, and from that had concluded
that they must come from some far-distant land, he resolved
to explore this foreign land, and to sail beyond the Pillars of
Hercules,10 provided that the Republic of Genoa would equip
some ships for him. Since the Republic was not willing to do
1 The name given at first to Yucatan and afterwards in general to the whole
of Mexico.
2 "Novum Belgium" in the original.
8 Called New York after 1664.
*I. e., in the dialect of the Massachusetts Indians; the translation by John
Eliot, the New Testament being published in 1661 and the whole Bible in 1663.
5 Or Corterealis, marked on maps of the sixteenth century as in eastern
Canada on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
6 The country lying around Hudson's Bay.
7 Cuccaro, in Montferrat, near Genoa, Italy, one of many towns claiming to
be the birthplace of Columbus.
8 The Pallastrelli or Perestrello family, originallj of Italy, but later of Por-
tugal, were ancestors not of Columbus but of his wife.
9 Cadiz, Spain.
10 Anciently applied to the two rocks on the respective African and European
shores forming the entrance to the Mediterranean at the Strait of Gibraltar.
1499] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 367
this, he went to King Henry VII.1 of England, and to King
Alphonso,2 and as in both these countries his quest proved
useless, he came to King Ferdinand,3 and Queen Isabella of
Castile. They furnished him with three ships and the neces-
sary equipment, with which he, together with his brother
Bartholomew,4 set sail, in the August of 1492, and after some
months they came to the island of Comera,5 where he refreshed
himself, and thirty days later he landed at the island of Guara-
glysne.6
" He also visited the island of Cumana7 and the island of
Hayti, which he called Hispaniola; and there he built a fort.
When he saw the wealth of this land he decided to carry the
good news to King Ferdinand, and returned in safety, without
even the loss of a man, and the King gave him the surname of
Admiranclus.8 After that he made other voyages, to the For-
tunate Islands,9 and to the Canary Islands, where there are
two miraculous springs, of which one has this property, that
whosoever drinks thereof begins at once to laugh, and never
ceases until he has laughed himself to death, but if he be given
to drink of the other spring, he is straightway set to rights again.
Columbus visited also the island of Teniriffa,10 where there
is a mountain that spouts fire. Finally he reached the Island
of the Cannibals, or Man-eaters, and as it was on a Sunday, he
called the place Dominica, and journeyed thence, by way of
the Islands of Cuma11 and Jamaica, back to Spain.
In the year of our Lord 1495, the above mentioned King
Ferdinand sent the noble Florentine, Vesputius Americus,12
1 There is no evidence of such a visit, although his brother Bartholomew did
go to England to enlist the interest and assistance of King Henry VII. in the
scheme.
8 Affonso V. of Portugal. It was more probably Joao II. 3 Of Aragon.
4 Bartholomew Columbus did not accompany his brother on the first voyage
to America in 1492, but brought out supplies to Santo Domingo on Christopher's
second voyage.
5 Gomera in the Canaries. 8 Guanahani. 7 Cuba.
8 Columbus received the office of high-admiral.
9 Of the ancients, i. e., the Canary Islands.
10 Teneriffe. u Cuba.
12 Amerigo Vespucci, according to the most competent scholars of this day,
did not visit the New World until 1499, then going over simply in a subordinate
position, under Ojeda, to the previously discovered northern coast of South
America.
368 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1664
with four great freight-ships, into this region, to search for
still other lands, and he sailed far beyond the Canary Islands,
and observed on the mainland men entirely naked, but turned
back again to other islands, and on October 15, 1498, came
happily back to Spain.
This new portion of the world was named America by this
Vesputius Americus, and as time went on various fine colonies,
cities, and trading-posts were built up by the Spanish, French,
English, and Dutch, and prosperous commerce was established,
as may be read more in detail in the Natura Novi Orbis, by
Joseph a, Costa.1
After having set forth these matters, we come now to the
last discovered province of America, Pennsylvania. This shall
be taken up, chapter by chapter, in the briefest manner possible.
Chapter I.
Concerning the Discovery of the Country of Pennsylvania.
Although from the time of Christopher Columbus and Ves-
putius Americus many colonies and plantations have been
successively built up, such as for example, New Spain, New
France, Brazil, Peru, Castilia del Oro, Spaniola,2 Cuba, Ja-
maica, New England, Florida, Virginia, etc., it has also further
come to pass that, in the year 1665, through the expeditions
under Charles Stuart I.,3 King of England, an extensive new
land, lying far beyond those already enumerated, was dis-
covered. The aforesaid king found, during his life-time, no
especial name to give this country, since the native inhabitants
of the land wandered about, naked, in the woods, and had no
civil assemblies, nor any established towns from which a
name could have been taken, but they lived (as now) in little
1 Jose* de Acosta (c. 1540-1600), a learned Spanish Jesuit, after having re-
sided many years in South America, returned to Spain, and in 1588-1589 pub-
lished at Salamanca his De Natura Novi Orbis, descriptive of the New World.
3 Northwestern part of South America.
3 Pastorius makes sad confusion of English and early American colonial his-
tory, of which obviously he had very erroneous notions. Here apparently he has
in mind Charles II., not Charles I., and the acquisition of New Netherland in
1664, not in 1665, not by discovery, but by conquest from the Dutch.
1665] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 369
huts made of turf or of trees, here and there, throughout the
wildernesses.
But since, at the time of this discovery of the country,
under the first Stuart,1 the Prince of York had in his dominions
many useless persons, the greater part being Swedes,2 he or-
dered that a settlement be built on the Delia Varra3 River,
and that it be strengthened as time went on, and to this he
gave the name of Neu-Castle, and gave the Swedes full author-
ity to dwell there and to cultivate the land round about until
more people should be brought over from England. These
Swedes began to establish a little community and to employ
themselves with agriculture and cattle-raising, until there
occurred the most dreadful and unheard-of tragedy of the
aforesaid King Charles I.,4 namely, that he was persecuted,
cast into prison, and finally beheaded, by his own subjects.
His son, Charles II., hastily collected an army in order to avenge
his father's death and to assert his own rights as king, and en-
gaged in battle, but he was defeated on the field and sought
for, that they might put him to death, and such would in-
evitably have been his fate had not his general, Lord Penn,5
disguised him and taken him by ship to France. Because of
this deed all of Lord Penn's manors, castles, and villages were
1 Charles II., who is really meant, was of course the third Stuart.
2 James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II., did not bring over the Swedes;
they had long been settled on the Delaware before he came into possession of that
region in 1664. The unfavorable allusion to the Swedes may be attributed to
the death of Pastorius's grandfather and the loss of the family property at the
hands of the Swedish soldiers at Erfurt during the Thirty Years' War.
8 Delaware.
4 In 1649, fifteen years before the English conquest of New Netherland with
its Swedish settlements.
5 Sir William Penn (1621-1670), knight, a native of Bristol, England, son of
Giles Penn, a draper, springing from a yeoman family of Minety, Wiltshire, as a
boy served in various mercantile voyages to the northern seas and to the Mediter-
ranean, and became a lieutenant in the royal navy, thenceforth passing the whole
of his life in that service. He attained the rank of admiral under the Parliament
and the Protectorate, and was a general in the Dutch War, 1652-1654, receiving
estates in Ireland from Cromwell in the latter year. Having secretly offered to
bring Charles II. back to England during the Dutch War, he returned with the
king at the Restoration in 1660, and was knighted at that time. He then became
commissioner of the admiralty and the navy, governor of Kinsale, Ireland, and
"great captain commander" under James, Duke of York, in the Dutch War of
1665. He died "in much peace," at Wanstead, in Essex.
370 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
laid in ashes, and he himself was driven into exile, where he
died before Charles II. was restored to the royal throne.1
After2 he had again obtained his sceptre and throne, William
Penn (the only son of Lord Penn) came to him, and was very
kindly received, and as a recompense for the loyal service
rendered by his father,3 this newly-discovered province, to-
gether with the fortress of Neu-Castle,4 was given him in per-
petuity, and by a public royal decree of the elate of April 21,
1681, all the inhabitants, present and future, were directed
to show him due obedience.
This William Penn caused it to be publicly proclaimed in
London that he purposed to found some colonies and cities
in this province, and that he was willing to sell land at no higher
price than an English crown [kopstuek, shilling (?)]5 an acre
to such as had the desire to journey thither with him. Accord-
ingly many persons entered their names in his book for a cer-
tain amount of land, and many families travelled with him to
that country, where he accordingly founded the city of Phila-
delphia there for himself and them. Especially, however, a
German Company,6 which purchased several thousand acres
1 To correct Pastorius's errors, Admiral Penn, it will be observed, (1) was
not a general under Charles at the latter's defeat at the battle of Worcester, in 1651,
but was then a naval commander under the Parliament; (2) he was not a " Lord,"
never receiving a higher title than knight; (3) he did not disguise Charles and
assist him to flee to France; (4) his property was not laid in ashes, as he had no
extensive estates at that time, but later received lands in Ireland from Cromwell;
(5) he did not die in exile before the Restoration, but passed ten years of honored
service under Charles II.
3 In 1681, twenty-one years after the Restoration.
8 And more especially for the debt of £16,000 due from the King to Penn's
father, the admiral.
4 Neither " the fortress of New-Castle " nor, in fact, any part of Delaware was
included in the grant of Charles II. to William Penn. That territory was con-
veyed to Penn in 1682 by James, Duke of York, who had it from his royal brother
Charles at the English conquest of New Netherland, in 1664. Nor, of course,
was this region a "newly-discovered" land.
5 Penn offered his land for sale (1) to First Purchasers, 5,000 acres at £100
and one shilling quit-rent per each 100 acres (i. e., 50s.); (2) to renters at one
penny per acre on tracts not to exceed 200 acres; (3) to servants and their masters
at the end of the given time of service 50 acres each at a yearly rent of a half-penny
per acre.
6 Of Frankfort-on-the-Main, for which Pastorius came ove» to Pennsylvania
as the agent.
1681] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 371
of land, combined to establish a German colony there. But
the entire province was named Pennsylvania (the wilderness
of Penn), because it was entirely overgrown with forest and
wilderness.
The Charter of King Charles Stuart II. to William Perm, etc.,
March 4, 1671.1
I. We give and grant, for various reasons, to William Penn and
his heirs forever, the entire tract of the land in America, with all the
islands thereto appertaining, That is to say, from the beginning of
the fortieth degree of north latitude, twelve English miles above
Neu-Castle, with its eastern boundaries running along the bank of
the De la Ware River.
II. Free and undisturbed use and passage into and out of all
harbors, bays, waters, streams, islands and mainlands belonging
thereto, together with the soil, fields, woods, underwoods, mountains,
hills, fens, swamps, islands, lakes, rivers, brooks, gulfs, bays, and
inlets, that lie therein, or that belong to the aforesaid limits and
boundaries. And all these the said William Penn shall hold and
enjoy for his use and profit, forever, and it shall be held of Us as of
Our castle of Windsor, for the delivery and payment every year of
two beaver-skins only, as a free and public acknowledgement of
his fief.
III. And of Our further favor We have thought fit to erect the
aforesaid land and its islands into a province and a seigniory,
wherefore We hereby erect and establish the same, and We do call
it Pennsylvania, and it is Our wish that from henceforth for all time,
it should be so called.
IV. By reason of the especial trust (and implicit confidence)
which we repose in the wisdom and justice of the said William Penn,
We grant to him and to his heirs, and to such persons as they shall
appoint, [the power] to make and enact laws for the better and
more prosperous ruling of the Province in general, and to publish
the same under his seal, by and with the advice and approbation
of the freemen, or freeholders so far as they do not run contrary to
the laws of Our kingdom.
V. Also full authority to the said William Penn, etc., to appoint
judges, magistrates, and other similar officials, by such means
and in such form as may seem convenient to him.
Likewise, he shall also have authority to pardon and to punish
misdemeanors and crimes, as is customary in well-regulated tri-
1 Erroneous date, the correct year being 1681.
372 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
bunals. And We herewith also will, enjoin, and require that such
laws and acts shall be fully observed and kept inviolable, and that
all liege subjects of Us, Our heirs and successors, shall keep them
inviolable, reserving only the final right of appeal to Ourselves.
VI. That the laws concerning individual property, whether in
the case of the decease of a landed proprietor, or in the case of the
inheritance of movable or immovable goods and chattels, shall be
the same there as in England, and shall remain in force until the
said William Penn, or his heirs, together with the freemen of the
said province, shall otherwise ordain.
VII. In order that this new colony may happily increase by the
multitude of people, We herewith grant to all Our liege subjects,
both present and future, in behalf of Ourselves, Our heirs and suc-
cessors, liberty to transport themselves thereunto.
VIII. Liberty to transport thither all sorts of goods and mer-
chandise, upon payment of the impositions due Us in this country.
IX. The authority to divide this country into small districts or
counties, of one hundred boroughs or smaller towns,1 and to con-
stitute markets and fairs with convenient privileges. All this [to be
done] as may seem meet and serviceable to William Penn and to his
heirs.
X. Permission to import the fruits of the soil, and the commod-
ities made there, into England.
XL Authority to establish ports, havens, bays, harbors, ports
of entry, and other places for trade, with such rights, jurisdictions,
and privileges, as the said William Penn may find expedient.
XII. The navigation laws shall not be broken, either by the
governor, or by the inhabitants.
XIII. No alliance shall be made with any prince or state that
wages war against Us and Our heirs.
XIV. Power for the security and defense [of the country] by
such ways and means as may seem good to the said William
Penn.
XV. Full power to assign, to grant, to lease, or to enfeoff, as
many portions of the land and to such persons as William Penn shall
consider fit to have and to hold the same, each person to rent it for
himself and the heirs of his body, either for life, or for a term of
years.
XVI. We give and grant to each of these persons to whom Will-
iam Penn has granted an estate, the privilege to hold his own courts
there, and [to make] regulations for better security.
^astorius mistakes the noun "hundreds" in the charter, meaning a sub-
division of a county, for an adjective modifying boroughs.
1681] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 373
XVII. Authority to these persons, that they may grant their
lands and privileges in turn to another person, either in fee simple,
or under certain conditions.
XVIII. We also covenant and affirm to the said William Penn,
his heirs and assigns, that We will declare or impose no tax or impo-
sition upon the inhabitants of the said province, nor upon the land,
property, and goods of the inhabitants, nor upon the merchandise
without the consent of the governor and inhabitants.
XIX. It is ordered that no one of Us or of Our heirs and suc-
cessors, or officers of high or low degree, shall presume at any time
to act contrary in the smallest thing to that herewith set forth, or
in any sort to withstand the same, but that they shall aid and assist
to the aforesaid William Penn, his heirs, and these inhabitants and
tradespeople, their factors and attorneys, in the full use and fruition
of this Our Charter.
XX. And, in case there should arise in the future any doubt or
question concerning the true sense or meaning of a word or expres-
sion, contained in this Charter, We hereby ordain and command
that at all times and in all things, such interpretation shall be made
thereof and allowed by Our superior courts as that the said William
Penn, his heirs and assigns, shall be judged in the most favorable
and advantageous manner possible, providing that it be not con-
trary to a due allegiance to Ourselves and to Our heirs.
In witness whereof, We have caused these letters patent to be
drawn up, and We Ourselves bear testimony thereto at West-Miin-
ster,1 4 March, 1681.
Carolus II.
After obtaining this princely gift William Penn caused
the following proclamation to be posted up and circulated :
All persons who desire to negotiate with me in regard to this
province may make their bargain here and obtain further satis-
factory information from: Philipp Ford,2 Thomas Rudyard,3 Ben-
jamin Klarc,4 Jan Roelofs van der Werf, etc.
On April 2, 1681, all the inhabitants and planters already
settled in this country were directed by the aforesaid King
Charles II., in a written order, to show due obedience to Will-
iam Penn, as the full lord and ruler of the property.
1 Westminster. J In Bow Lane, Cheapside, London.
* In George Yard, Lombard Street, London.
* Benjamin Clark, in George Yard, Lombard Street, London.
374 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1681
Chapter II.
The Manner and Method in which William Penn sought to pro-
cure Settlers for the uninhabited Province which he received
as a Gift. The Offer for Sale.
1. He sent out a notice to the purchasers that they should
send in their names to certain places in London and enter into
agreements, [and] there he sold 30001 acres of land (Dutch
measure) for 100 pounds sterling, with the reservation of a
perpetual yearly payment therefor of an English shilling for
each 100 acres. The money should be paid down for the re-
ceipt in London, and upon its presentation the amount of
land would be measured out for the purchaser.
2. To each person who has the necessary money for the
voyage, but has no means to establish himself upon his arrival,
and to buy land, William Penn gives fifty acres, with a per-
petual yearly fee of a penny for each acre. And this fee shall
give them as valid a claim as if they had purchased the land
for themselves and their heirs forever.
3. To the servants and children (to encourage them to
greater industry and obedience) he gives full permission to
take perpetual possession of a field of fifty acres, so soon as
they shall have worked out their stipulated time, and to pay
for each [acre] a yearly fee of only half a penny, and thus be-
come their own masters. Hereupon the book and register of
the purchasers was begun at the appointed bargain-place, and
the German Company, or Society, was the first to enter into
an agreement, and in the beginning paid down the money
in London for twenty thousand acres, upon the receipt of an
order of acquittance.
4. It is to be remarked that William Penn did not drive
forth the naked native inhabitants of the land with military
authority, but brought with him upon his arrival especial
clothing and hats for the principal Indians, and thereby se-
cured their goodwill, and purchased their land (and territory)
to the extent of twenty leagues,2 and they, thereupon, with-
drew that much farther back into the wild forests.
1 Five thousand acres (English). 2 Sixty English miles.
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 375
Chapter III.
How the Surveij of Lands for the German Company was Effected.
The entire German Company, or Association, had appointed
Francis Daniel Pastorius, Licentiate of both Laws,1 a man de-
sirous to travel, as their fully authorized attorney. He went
from Franckfurth-on-the-Mayn to London, where he con-
cluded a purchase, took the order for the assignment of the
land, and sailed, under the guidance of God, safely across the
ocean,2 and on March 7, 1684, sent back this report from Phila-
delphia:
The land which has been purchased is distributed in three dif-
ferent ways. First, fifteen thousand acres in one tract, and bor-
dering on navigable water. Second, three hundred acres in the
liberties of the city, which is the land between the rivers de la Ware
and Scollkill. Third, three lots in the city, for building houses
thereon.
When I now, upon my arrival, applied to William Penn for the
warrants, to measure off the three portions, and take possession
[of them], his first answer was: That as for the three lots in the city,
and the three hundred acres in the liberties, the Company had no
legal claim thereto because they were purchased after he, Wrilliam,
had left England, and the books in London had been closed. How-
ever, after I represented to him that the Germans were entitled to
consideration because they were the first to conclude a compact with
him he immediately caused three lots to be measured off for me
from the portion of his younger son,3 on the border of the city, one
behind the other.
If now one counts in their order the houses situated on the Delu
Waro River, the dwelling and trading-house of the German Com-
pany is the ninth.4
1 Canon and civil law.
2 Sailed from Deal, England, early in June and arrived at Philadelphia in
August, 1683.
s William Penn, jr.
4 At the southern end of the Philadelphia of that day, on the west side of
Front Street, the lot being cut off from the lot of William Penn, whose remaining
portion lay next south at the northwest corner of Front and Cedar (now South)
streets.
376 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
The first of our lots in the city is one hundred feet wide and four
hundred feet deep. At the end thereof is a street;1 the second lot,
lying behind this, is of the same length and breadth, and behind
this is again a street.2 The third lot is of the same size, and on the
front of each lot two houses can be built side by side, and two on
the rear, so that altogether twelve houses with their yards can be
built, and all can front upon the streets.
At the end of November, 1684, Pastorius sent word to his
Company:
That for the first few years they could make but little profit
because of the notorious scarcity of money in the province, and be-
cause there was not yet any return cargo produced for England.
And since the Governor, William Penn, holds it of the first impor-
tance to establish weaving and the cultivation of the Vine, it would
be well for the Company to send out here a quantity of vine-stocks,
together with all sorts of field and garden-seeds; also some large
iron pots and nests of kettles; also an iron stove, some bed-clothes
and mattresses, and likewise a few pieces of fustian, and white
linen cloth, which may be sold to advantage in the trading-house.
On November 16th there was a fair held at Philadelphia, but
at the Company's trading-house little more than ten thalers3 worth
was sold, because of the aforesaid scarcity of money, and because
the new-comers from Germany and England for the most part
bring so many clothes with them that for several years they need
nothing more.
So far as concerns our newly-founded city, Germanopolis,4 it is
situated upon a rich black soil, surrounded by numerous pleasant
springs. The main street is sixty feet wide, and the cross-street
is forty, and each family has a farmyard of three acres in size.
1 Front Street. 2 Second Street.
3 About thirty shillings or $7.30, multiplied several times to equal present-day
values.
* Germantown.
16821 PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 377
Chapter IV.
Concerning the Laws of the Province.
William Penn established the first [of these] with the con-
currence of the public assembly:
1. The members of the council, and then the whole com-
munity come together each year upon a certain appointed day
and choose their presiding officers and other functionaries by
lot,1 so that none may know who has voted for, or against, him.
Thereby is prevented all improper use of money, and likewise
the secret enmity of the defeated candidate. And if anyone
has conducted himself improperly this year, a better man may
be chosen next time.
2. No tax, excise, or other impost may be laid upon the
public without the consent of two-thirds of the council.
3. In order to prevent litigation, law-suits, and quarrelling,
a record will be kept, wherein will be registered all estates,
mortgages, obligations, and rents. Thus all advocates and
attorneys who demand money for their services are discarded.
4 and 5. That no one sect may raise itself above the others,
each shall enjoy freedom of conscience, and no one shall be
forced to be present at any public services for the worship of
God, and no one shall be disturbed in his belief or religion.
6. In order to guard against whatever could tempt the
people to frivolity, wantonness, insolence, audacity, ungodli-
ness, and scandalous living, all worldly plays, comedies, games
of cards, maskings, all cursing, swearing, lying, bearing of
false witness (since an oath is not allowed), scandal-monger-
ing, adultery, lewdness, duelling, and stealing, are forbidden
under pain of the severest punishment.
7. If it should be discovered that one of the trades-people
has cheated his employer he shall be sentenced not only to
make full restitution, but also to pay a third more, as a punish-
ment for his deceitful dealings. Because of this, the Deputies
of the Provincial Council shall take care that upon the death
of every factor whatever amount he may have had from his
employer, which belonged to the employer, shall be assiduously
delivered up to him again.
1 Ballot.
378 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1682
Chapter V.
Concerning the Situation and the Rivers of the Province.
The situation of Pennsylvania is like that of Naples in
Italy. This province begins at the fortieth degree of north
latitude;1 its boundaries run to the east along the de la Ware
River. It is seventy-five German miles2 long and forty-five3
wide.
The adjacent islands are, Neu -Jersey, Marie-land, and Vir-
ginia.
In this province some new beautiful stars, whole and half,
are seen which constantly maintain the same pole, and have
not before been known to the European astrologers.
The dela Ware River is so grand that it has no equal in all
Europe. Thirty miles4 above Philadelphia ships of one hun-
dred tons burden can conveniently sail thereon. It separates
Neu-Gersey and Pennsylvania from one another. At Phila-
delphia it is two,5 and at Castle three,8 miles wide, it receives
the ebb and flow of the tide, and abounds with fish, as does the
Scolkil.
The fresh streams and springs are almost without number.
The shady underbrush and thickets are everywhere filled
with birds, whose rare colors and varied notes magnificently
set forth the praise of their Creator. And above all, there is
a superabundance of wild geese, ducks, turkeys, partridges,
wild pigeons, water-snipe, and similar game.
1 So erroneously believed at the time.
3 Two hundred and twenty-five English miles.
8 If German miles are meant, this would equal 135 English miles.
4 Evidently English miles, as the head of navigation is about thirty miles
above Philadelphia at the Falls of Delaware, at Trenton.
a Less than an English mile wide.
6 Slightly more than two English miles wide.
1682J PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 379
Chapter VI.
Concerning the Coming of William Penn.
On November 1, 1682,1 William Penn arrived in this prov-
ince with twenty ships/ having spent six weeks upon the voy-
age. Even while they were yet far from the land there was
wafted to them as delightful a fragrance as if it came from a
freshly blossoming garden. He found, upon his arrival, no
other Christian people save those alone who upon the discovery
of the province had been put there.3 Part of them dwelt in
Neu-Castle, and part upon separate plantations. Penn was
received as their ruler by these people with especial tokens of
affection, and they most willingly discharged their obligation
of submission to him. All that he required of them in return
was: A temperate life and neighborly love. On the other
hand, he promised to protect them in both spiritual and tem-
poral matters.
Chapter VII.
Concerning the Laws given by William Penn.
Firstly, no one shall be disturbed on account of his belief,
but freedom of conscience shall be granted to all inhabitants
of the province, so that every nation may build and conduct
churches and schools according to their desires.
2. Sunday shall be consecrated to the public worship of
God. The teaching of God shall be so zealously carried on
1 Penn arrived within the capes of Delaware Bay, October 24 (N. S., Novem-
ber 3); at New Castle, Delaware, October 27 (N. S., November 6); at Upland
(now Chester), Pennsylvania, October 29 (N. S., November 8), 1682.
2 Not as a convoy or fleet in company with Penn's ship the Welcome, but as
the number of vessels arriving during the summer of 1682, or the shipping season
of Penn's coming. "Here have come letters from Wm. Penn [in Pennsylvania]
above a month since . . . and there had been that summer 21 sayl Ships arrived
there with Passingers." (Letter of James Claypoole, London, January 16,
1682/3).
'Not true; Penn found a heterogeneous population of Indians, Swedes,
Dutch, French, and English; the whites had been coming there since the first
permanent settlement by the Swedes in 1638.
380 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1682
that its purity can be recognized in each listener from the fruits
which arise from it.
3. For the more convenient bringing up of the youth, the
solitary farmers living in the province shall all remove to the
market-towns, so that the neighbors may help one another
in a Christlike manner and praise God together, and that they
may accustom their children also to do the same.
4. The sessions of the court shall be held publicly, at ap-
pointed times, so that everyone may attend them.
5. Justices of the peace shall be appointed in the rising
cities and market-towns, to insure the observance of the laws.
6. Cursing, blasphemy, misuse of the name of God, quarrel-
ling, cheating, drunkenness, shall be punished with the pillory.
7. All workmen shall be content with their definite stip-
ulated wages.
8. Each child, that is twelve years of age, shall be put to
some handicraft or other honorable trade.
Chapter VIII.
Concerning the Rising Towns of the Province.
The Governor William Penn laid out the city of Philadel-
phia between the two streams de la Ware and Scolkis, and gave
it this name, as if its inhabitants should lead their lives there-
in in pure and simple brotherly love.
The river at the city is deep enough so that large ships can,
without danger, sail up to the bank within a stone's throw of
the city.
Another English Company1 has built the new city of Franck-
furt,2 at a distance of an hour and a half, wherein, in addition
to trading, they have set on foot some mills, glass-works, and
brick-kilns.
Neu-Castle lies forty English miles3 from the sea, on the de
la Ware River, and has a good harbor. The city of Upland
lies twenty English miles4 from Castle, up the river, and is
chiefly inhabited by Swedes.
1 The Free Society of Traders. 2 Frankford.
3 Nearer fifty miles. * Only about fifteen miles.
1683] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 381
On October 24, 1685/ I, Francis Daniel Pastorius, with the
good will of the governor, laid out another new city, of the
name of Germanton, or Germanopolis, at a distance of two
hours' walk from Philadelphia, where there are a good black
fertile soil, and many fresh wholesome springs of water, many
oak, walnut, and chestnut trees, and also good pasturage for
cattle. The first settlement consisted of only twelve families
of forty-one persons, the greater part High German mechanics
and weavers, because I had ascertained that linen cloth would
be indispensable.
I made the main street of this city sixty feet wide, and the
side streets forty; the space, or ground-plot, for each house and
garden was as much as three acres of land, but for my own
dwelling twice as much. Before this, I had also built a little
house in Philadelphia, thirty feet long and fifteen wide. Be-
cause of the scarcity of glass the windows were of oiled paper.
Over the house-door I had written :
Parva Domus, sed arnica Bonis, procul este profani,2
Whereat our Governor, when he visited me, burst into laughter,
and encouraged me to keep on building.
I have also acquired for my High-German Company fifteen
thousand acres of land in one piece, upon the condition that,
within a year, they shall actually place thirty households
thereon ; and for this reason, that we High-Germans may main-
tain a separate little province, and thus feel more secure from
all oppression.
It would, therefore, be a very good thing if the European
associates should at once send more persons over here, for the
common advantage of the Company; for only the day before
yesterday,3 the Governor said to me that the zeal of the High-
Germans in building pleased him very much, and that he pre-
ferred them to the English, and would grant them special
privileges.
1 Misprint for 1683.
aA little house, but a friend to the good; remain at a distance, ye profane.
'In this chapter Pastorius is drawing his account of Germantown and of
his activities from his report of March 7, 1684.
382 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
Chapter IX.
Concerning the Fruitfulness of this Province.
As this province is situated like Mompellier1 and Naples in
respect to latitude, but is furnished with many more rivers and
springs than either of the two, so it is not difficult to compre-
hend that such a country is well-adapted for many fine crops.
The air is clear and pleasant, the summer longer and warmer
than in Germany, and we have already in these parts satis-
factory supply of all sorts of crops, and our work of cultivation
is well rewarded.
We have also a large number of cattle, although, just now,
all run free in the pasture together, until we shall have made
better needful arrangements for them.
We get sugar and syrup from Barbados, and he who has
no money exchanges goods for goods, as he comes to an agree-
ment.
The trade between the savages and the Christians is in fish,
birds, deer-skins, and all sorts of peltry, such as beaver, otter,
fox, etc. Sometimes they barter for drink, sometimes they sell
for their native money, which is only oblong corals, ground out
of sea-mussels, sometimes white and sometimes light brown,
and fastened on strings.
They know how to string this coral-money in a very artistic
way, and they wear it in the place of gold chains. Their king
wears a crown or hood of it.
Twelve of the brown are worth as much as twenty-four of
the white pieces, which are equal to a silver penny of Franck-
furt. They take their own money far more readily than silver
coin, because they have often been cheated with the latter.
Besides this, the silver money, which we use here, consists
of Spanish pieces of eight and English shillings. We have no
precious stones found in these parts, nor do we desire them,
and we cannot ascribe great praise to that man who first
brought forth gold and precious stones out of the dark and
hidden places of the earth, for these noble creations of God,
1 Montpellier, France, which is in about the latitude of Lake Ontario, is too
far north for Pennsylvania.
1700] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 383
although good in themselves, are nevertheless terribly abused
by their misuse, and, against their will, are made to subserve
the uses of vanity.
Chapter X.
Concerning the Vegetation of this Province.
Although this far-distant portion of the world consisted of
nothing but wildernesses, and it only within a short time has
begun to be made ready for the use of Christian men, it is truly
matter for amazement how quickly, by the blessing of God, it
advances, and from day to day grows perceptibly. For al-
though in the beginning we were obliged to have our victuals
brought from Jersey, and to pay somewhat dearly for them
with money, yet we are now able, praise be to God! to serve
other neighboring communities.
We are supplied with the principal and most necessary
handicraftsmen; the daily wage is regulated on a tolerable
basis, and we have what is necessary in the way of mills and
brick-kilns.
We sell our superabundance of grain and cattle in Barbados
for brandy, syrup, sugar, and salt, but we send the fine peltries
over to England.
We are especially desirous to advance the cultivation of
the vine and the weaving of cloth in these parts, in order to
keep the money in the province, and on this account we have
already established yearly fairs, not for the sake of mere profit
and gain, but that any thing which one man or another has,
over and above his needs, may be made purchasable for the
others, so that they need not, on this account, journey to the
neighboring islands, and carry their money thither.
Chapter XI.
Concerning the Inhabitants of this Province.
Of these, three sorts may be found: 1. The natives, the so-
called savages. 2. The Christians who have come here from
Europe, the so-called Old Settlers. 3. The newly-arrived As-
sociations and Companies.
384 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
So far as concerns the first, the savages, they are, in gen-
eral, strong, agile, and supple people, with blackish bodies; they
went about naked at first and wore only a cloth about the loins.
Now they are beginning to wear shirts. They have, usually,
coal-black hair, shave the head, smear the same with grease,
and allow a long lock to grow on the right side. They also
besmear the children with grease, and let them creep about
in the heat of the sun, so that they become the color of a nut,
although they were at first white enough by Nature.
They strive after a sincere honesty, hold strictly to their
promises, cheat and injure no one. They willingly give shelter
to others, and are both useful and loyal to their guests.
Their huts are made of young trees, twined, or bent, to-
gether, which they know how to roof over with bark. They
use neither table nor bench, nor any other household stuff, un-
less perchance a single pot in which they boil their food.
I once saw four of them take a meal together in hearty
contentment, and eat a pumpkin cooked in clear water, with-
out butter and spice. Their table and bench was the bare
earth, their spoons were mussel-shells, with which they dipped
up the warm water, their plates were the leaves of the nearest
tree, which they do not need to wash with painstaking after
the meal, nor to keep with care for future use. I thought to
myself, these savages have never in their lives heard the teach-
ing of Jesus concerning temperance and contentment, yet they
far excel the Christians in carrying it out.
They are, furthermore, serious and of few words, and are
amazed when they perceive so much unnecessary chatter, as
well as other foolish behavior, on the part of the Christians.
Each man has his own wife, and they detest harlotry, kiss-
ing, and lying. They know of no idols, but they worship a
single all-powerful and merciful God, who limits the power of
the Devil. They also believe in the immortality of the soul,
which, after the course of life is finished, has a suitable recom-
pense from the all-powerful hand of God awaiting it.
They accompany their own worship of God with songs,
during which they make strange gestures and motions with
the hands and feet, and when they recall the death of their
parents and friends, they begin to wail and weep most piti-
fully.
1700] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 385
They listen very willingly, and not without perceptible
emotion, to discourse concerning the Creator of Heaven and
earth, and His divine Light, which enlightens all men who have
come into the world, and who are yet to be born, and concern-
ing the wisdom and love of God, because of which he gave his
only-begotten and most dearly-beloved Son to die for us. It
is only to be regretted that we can not yet speak their language
readily, and therefore cannot set forth to them the thoughts
and intent of our own hearts, namely, how great a power and
salvation lies concealed in Christ Jesus. They are very quiet
and thoughtful in our gatherings, so that I fully believe that
in the future, at the great day of judgment, they will come
forth with those of Tyre and Sidon, and put to shame many
thousands of false nominal and canting Christians.
As for their economy and housekeeping, the men attend
to their hunting and fishing. The women bring up their
children honestly, under careful oversight and dissuade them
from sin. They plant Indian corn and beans round about
their huts, but they take no thought for any more extensive
farming and cattle-raising; they are rather astonished that
we Christians take so much trouble and thought concerning
eating and drinking and also for comfortable clothing and
dwellings, as if we doubted that God were able to care for and
nourish us.
Their native language is very dignified, and in its pronunci-
ation much resembles the Italian, although the words are en-
tirely different and strange. They are accustomed to paint
their faces with colors; both men and women use tobacco with
pleasure; they divert themselves with fifes, or trumpets, in
unbroken idleness.
The second sort of inhabitants in the province are the old Chris"
tianSj who came here from Europe.
These have never had the upright intention to give these
needy native creatures instruction in the true living Chris-
tianity, but instead they have sought only their own worldly
interests, and have cheated the simple inhabitants in trade
and intercourse, so that at length those savages who dealt with
these Christians, proved themselves to be also for the most
386 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
part, crafty^ lying, and deceitful, so that I can not say much
that is creditable of either. These misguided people are wont
to exchange the skins and peltry which they obtain for strong
drink, and to drink so much that they can neither walk nor
stand; also they are wont to commit all sorts of thievery, as
the occasion may arise.
Owing to this, their kings and rulers have frequently com-
plained of the sins of falsehood, deceit, thieving, and drunken-
ness, introduced here by the Christians, and which were for-
merly entirely unknown in these parts.
If one of these savages allows himself to be persuaded by
a Christian to work, he does it with complaining, shame, and
fear, as an unaccustomed act; he looks about him all the while
on all sides, lest any of his people may find him working, just
as if work were a disgrace, and idleness were an especial inborn
privilege of the nobility, which should not be soiled by the
sweat of toil.
The third sort of inhabitants of this province are the Christian
Societies.
We, the latest arrivals, being Christians included in honor-
able associations and companies, after obtaining royal permis-
sion from England, in the year 1681, bought certain portions
of the country for ourselves from the governor, William Penn,
with the intention to erect new cities and colonies, and not
only to gain thereby our own temporal advantage and support,
but also to make the savages gentle and docile, and to instruct
them in the true knowledge of God, insomuch that I live in
the hope of being able to announce more good news of their
conversion to Christianity within a short time.
Chapter XII.
Concerning the Magistrates of this Province.
The native savages have their own little kings. We Chris-
tians acknowledge William Penn as our ruler of the country,
to whom this land was granted and ceded for his own by King
Charles II., and the Christian inhabitants were instructed to
1700) PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 387
give him personal allegiance. But this wise and God-fearing
ruler did not, upon his arrival, wish to accept this inheritance
of the heathen thus, for nothing, but he gave presents to the
native inhabitants and their appointed kings, and compen-
sated them, and thus bought from them one piece of land after
another, so that they withdrew ever further into the wilderness.
Penn, however, had bought all the land which he occupied by
just right of purchase, and from him I bought at the start, in
London, thirty thousand acres for my German Company.
And notwithstanding the aforesaid William Penn belongs to
the sect of the Tremblers, or Quakers, yet he constrains no one
to any religion, but leaves to each nation freedom of belief.
Chapter XIII.
Concerning the Religions in this Province.
The native naked inhabitants have no written articles of
belief, since no traces can be found that any Christian teachers
have ever come among them. They only know their native
language by means of which the parents instruct their children
through tradition, and teach them that which they have
heard of and learned from their parents.
2. The English and Dutch are for the most part adherents
of the Calvinist religion.
3. The Quakers are known in Philadelphia, through Will-
iam Penn.
4. The Swedes and High-Germans are Evangelical. They
have their own church, whose minister is named Fabricius, of
whom I must declare with sorrow, that he is much addicted
to drink, and is well-nigh blind in the inner man.
Here in Germanton, in the year 1686, we built a little
church for the community, but did not have as our aim
an outwardly great stone edifice, but rather that the tem-
ple of God which we believers constitute, should be built up,
and that we ourselves should be, all together, holy and un-
spotted.
The Evangelical ministers could have had a fine oppor-
tunity here to carry out the command of Christ: Go forth
throughout the world, and preach the Gospel, if they had pre-
388 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
ferred to be followers of Christ rather than servants of their
bodies, and if they had been devoted to the inner theology
rather than to verbal discourse.
Chapter XIV.
How the High-German Company is Managed in Pennsylvania.
The principal members of this Company were in the begin-
ning:
Jacob von de Walle, D. Johann Jacob Schiitz, and Daniel
Behagel, merchant, all three in Franckfurt am Mayn.
In Duisburg there was D. Gerhard of Maastricht.
In Wesel, D. Thomas von Wylich, and Johann Lebrunn.
In Roterdamm, Benjamin Furly.
In London, Philipp Fort.1
These send on from hand to hand the letters and goods
forwarded to them, until they reach the out-going ship ; they
also lend a helping hand by means of advice and assistance,
to those who, with honest intent, wish to journey over to
Pennsylvania.
At the present time the management of the affairs of the
Company, in Pennsylvania, is confided to my unworthy self.
Chapter XV.
Concerning the Time for a Voyage to this Province.
From the month of April until autumn ships are sailing
from England to Pennsylvania, especially from the port of
Deal, yet there is no definite time appointed, either for the de-
parture, or for the return, but one must wait for an opportunity.
As soon as from thirty-five to forty persons (not including the
ship's-crew) are at hand, a ship sails, and each grown person
must give six pounds sterling, or thirty-six thalers, for his
freight, the cost of his food, and one sailor's chest. For each
servant or domestic twenty-two reichsthaler. One pound ster-
ling is equal to six thalers.
1 Ford.
1683] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA
Chapter XVI.
Concerning my (Pastorius's) own Journey and Crossing-over.
After I had arrived at Deal from London I hired four men-
servants, and two maid-servants for myself, and set forth, in
the company of eighty persons.1 The ship drew thirteen feet
of water. Our treatment, as regards food and drink, was rather
bad, for ten people received three pounds of butter a week,
four jugs of beer and one jug of water a day, two dishes of
pease every noontime, and four times in the week meat at
noon, and three times, salt fish, which they must prepare for
themselves with the butter that they had received, and there
must always be enough saved from the noon meal to have some-
thing to eat at night. Now because this food is very tough,
and is wont to taste about as much like flesh as fish, each one
must provide himself with the means of nourishment when he
comes to the ship, or he must carefully stipulate with the ship's
master concerning the quality as well as the quantity of the
food which he shall daily receive. In order however to bind
him more precisely thereto, one must hold back some of the
passage-money, and promise to pay it here; also, when it is
possible, one should take passage in a ship that sails as far
as the city of Philadelphia, because in the other ships, that stop
at Upland, one is subjected to all kinds of inconvenience.
On the sixteenth of August, 1683, we came in sight of
America, but reached the de la Ware River on the eighteenth
of the same. On the twentieth of the same, we passed by Neu-
Castle and Upland, and arrived toward evening safely at
Philadelphia, where I was received by the Governor, William
Penn, with affectionate friendliness, whose Secretary, Johann
1 After attending to certain matters of business in London "I with Jacob
Shoemaker (who came with me from Mentz), George Wertmuller, Isaac Dilbeck,
his wife Marieke and his two boys Abraham and Jacob, Thomas Gasper, Cunrad
Backer (alias Rutter,) and an English Maid, called Frances Simson, went a
board of a Ship, which had the name of America, (the Captain whereof was Joseph
Wasey,) and being gone the 6th of June [1683] from Gravesend, we arrived the
7th ditto, at Deal, and left England the 10th of the sd month of June" (Pastorius,
Beehive, in Learned's Pastorius, p. 111). In his manuscript "Res Propriae," he
states that he arrived in Gravesend June 3.
390 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1700
Lehennmann,1 treated me with brotherly affection; also the
governor frequently had me invited to his table, and allowed
me to enjoy his edifying discourse. When I was absent lately
for eight days, he came himself to visit me, and bade me come
twice in the week to his table, and testified in the presence of
his council that he was very fond of me and of the High-Ger-
mans, and wished that they [the council] should feel the same.
Chapter XVII.
Concerning the Vocation of our Germans in this Place.
Besides the fact that the High-German Company has es-
tablished a commerce in this place, in woollen and linen cloth
and all conceivable wares, and has entrusted to me the super-
intendence thereof, it is still further to be remarked, that we
have also purchased thirty thousand acres of land in order to
establish a High German colony. Meanwhile, in my newly
laid-out city of Germanton, sixty-four households are already
in a flourishing condition. In order to support these present
inhabitants, as well as others who are arriving, the fields must
be cultivated, and the lands cleared. Let one turn, however,
in whichever direction he will, it is always true that: Itur in
antiquam sylva?n,2 and all is overgrown with forest, so that I
often wished for a few dozen stout Tyrolese who would have
felled the thick ash-trees, which we have been obliged to do,
little by little, for ourselves ; whereat I pictured to myself that
the very penance with which God punished the disobedience
of Adam, namely that he should eat his bread in the sweat of
his brow, was also, in this land, meted out and given to us
his descendants, for here it may be said: Hie opus, hie labor
*Not Johann, but Philipp Theodor Lehnmann (d. 1687), son of Johann
Georg Lehnmann, farmer-general of Saxony. In 1680 he and his wife Theophila
were living in St. Philip's parish, Bristol, England. He was Penn's private secre-
tary on the first visit of the Proprietor to Pennsylvania, 1682-1684, probably
coming over on the Welcome in 1682. He remained in Pennsylvania, being men-
tioned in 1685 as a Philadelphia merchant. The next year, however he took up
his residence on his plantation on Broad Creek, not far from Lewes, Delaware,
where he died.
1 One finds himself in the primitive forest.
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 391
est,1 and it is not enough to bring money, but we must also
bring an inclination to work, and take into consideration the
motto of the Emperor Septimius Severus, which is: Laboremus.
Absque labor nihil. Quo major, hoc laboriosior.2 For that man
is best off whom the devil does not find idle.
In the meantime we use the savages for work, hiring them
by the day; we are gradually learning their language, and little
by little instruct them in the teaching of Christ, invite them to
attend our worship of God, and hope soon to be able to an-
nounce with joy that the compassion of the Most High God
has permitted the light of His Holy Gospel to rise also over
these lands, and to shine forth, to the honor of His great
name, to Whom alone be praise, honor, thanks, and glory
without end.
Further News from Pennsylvania, of the 7th of January, 1684.
I had made known in my last how I was received upon my
arrival by the ruler of this province, William Penn, with most
affectionate friendliness. I must not now conceal how he per-
mitted his kindness to me to be perceived daily more and more
by his actions. Also this province pleases me better the longer
I stay, so that I often wish to have my most estimable parents
and dear brothers and sisters with me, knowing well that such
a change would not be regretted by them, whom I love con-
stantly and wish to serve. For although I am in the body de-
prived of their presence, I am nevertheless at times with them
in childlike love, and have them always in my mind and
thoughts. I live here in the labors of my calling, in singleness
of heart toward God and toward my fellow-Christians. I have
bought for myself six hundred acres of land, and brought a
good part thereof under cultivation, so that I am able to serve
others by giving of the superabundance granted me. I am
therefore heartily content with my condition, and have my
rest in God, the light of Whose grace I perceive more and more
in my heart from day to day, consequently I possess a gracious
1 Properly, "Hoc opus, hie labor est" — "This is the work, this the labor."
Virgil, Aeneid, VI. 129.
a Let us labor. Without labor there is nothing. The greater one is, the
more laborious he is.
392 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
God and an unscathed conscience, two things which I greatly
prefer to all the treasures of Egypt.
Whereby I can further truly assert that my soul is filled
with love, reverence, and a desire to serve you and my dear
brothers and sisters, whom I herewith greet and embrace
from the bottom of my heart, with the assurance that for their
sakes I would willingly make the journey once more to bring
them hither, if I should only receive some lines bidding me to
do so. In the meantime I remain ever under the all-ruling
protecting hand of our Emanuel, etc.
Positive Information from America, concerning the Country of
Pennsylvania, from a German who has migrated thither;
dated Philadelphia, March 7, 1684.1
To fulfill my duty as well as my promise made at my de-
parture I will somewhat more circumstantially state what I
have found and noted of these lands; and since I am not un-
aware that by imperfect relations many of you have been mis-
informed, I give my assurance beforehand that I with im-
partial pen and without deceptive additions will set forth
faithfully both the inconveniences of the journey and the de-
fects of this province, as well as that plentifulness of the same
which has been praised by others almost to excess; for I desire
nothing more in my little place than to walk in the footsteps
of Him who is the way, and to follow His holy teachings, be-
cause He is the truth, in order that I may ceaselessly enjoy
with Him eternal life.
I. Accordingly I will begin with the voyage, which is cer-
tainly on the one hand dangerous on account of the terror of
shipwreck,2 and on the other hand very burdensome on ac-
count of the bad and hard fare, so that I now from my own ex-
perience understand in a measure what David says in the 107th
Psalm, that on the sea one may observe and perceive not only
1This, to p. 411, is a full version of the unique Zurich print, Sichere Nach-
richt, substituted for the abridgment printed in the Umstdndliche Geographische
Beschreibung. Translation by the general editor of the series.
'In a later account he mentions their escape "from the Cruel, Enslaving
Turks, once supposed to be at our heels."
1683] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 393
the wonderful works of God but also the spirit of the storm.
As to my voyage hither,1 1 sailed from Deal the tenth of June
with four men servants, two maid servants, two children and
one young boy. We had the whole way over, for the most
part, contrary winds, and never favorable for twelve hours
together, many tempests and thunderstorms, also the foremast
broke twice, so that it was ten weeks before we arrived here;
yet sat citb, si sat bene,2 considering that it seldom happens
that any persons arrive here much more quickly. The Cre-
felders,3 who arrived here on October 6, were also ten weeks
upon the ocean, and the ship that set out with ours from Deal
was fourteen days longer on the voyage, and several people
died in it. The Crefelders lost a grown girl between Rotter-
dam and England, which loss however was made up between
England and Pennsylvania by the birth of two children. On
our ship, on the other hand, no one died and no one was born.
Almost all the passengers were seasick for some days, I how-
ever for not more than four hours. On the other hand I under-
went other accidents, namely, that the two carved lugs4 over
the ship's bell fell right upon my back, and on the 9th of July
during a storm in the night I fell so severely upon my left side
that for some days I had to keep to my bed. These two falls
reminded me forcibly of the first fall of our original parents in
1 Cf. Chap, xvi, ante p. 389.
2 "Quickly enough, if well enough."
3 A company of thirteen families, for the most part Mennonite or Quaker
weavers, from Crefeld on the lower Rhine in Germany, not far from the Dutch
frontier. A tract of 18,000 acres of land having been purchased from Penn by
Jacob Telner, a Crefeld Mennonite doing business in Amsterdam, and five of his
associates, these families came over to locate and to settle the land. Their pas-
sage having been engaged through the agency of Benjamin Furly of Rotterdam,
they went by way of the latter city to England, and sailed about July 25, 1683,
from Gravesend, on the ship Concord, of London, 500 tons burden, William
Jeffries master. After a voyage of nearly eleven weeks they arrived at Philadelphia
October 6. A large number of them found temporary shelter, as Pastorius
states, in his newly-erected "dugout" house, at the south end of the town. Then,
with the laying out of Germantown that same month, they took up their residence
there, thus becoming, along with Pastorius, the founders of that town and the
advance guard of the great German migration to America.
* "When the Lion fell upon my Back" is Pastorius's reference to the accident
in a poem addressed in 1715 to his fellow voyagers, tne daughters of Thomas
Lloyd.
394 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1683
Paradise, which has come down upon all their posterity, and
also of many of those falls which I have undergone in this vale
of misery of my exile. Per varios casus,1 etc. But praised be
the fatherly hand of the divine mercy which lifts us up again
so many times and holds us back that we fall not entirely into
the abyss of the evil one. Georg Wertmuller2 also fell down
extremely hard, Thomas Gasper had an eruption of the body,
the English maid 3 had the erysipelas, and Isaac Dilbreck,4
who according to outward appearance was the strongest, suc-
cumbed for the greatest length of time. So I had a small
ship-hospital, although I alone of the Germans had taken my
berth among the English. That one of the boatmen became
insane and that our ship was shaken by the repeated assaults
of a whale, I set forth at length in my last letter. The rations
upon the ship were very bad. We lived medice ac modice*
Every ten persons received three pounds of butter a week,
four cans of beer and two cans of water a day, two platters
full of peas every noon, meat four dinners in the week and fish
three, and these we were obliged to prepare with our own butter.
Also we must every noon save up enough so that we might get
our supper from it. The worst of all was, that both the meat
and the fish were salted to such an extent and had become so
rancid that we could hardly eat half of them. And had I not
by the advice of good friends in England provided myself with
various kinds of refreshment, it might perhaps have gone very
badly. Therefore all those who hereafter intend to make the
voyage hither should take good heed that they either, if there
xThe reference is to the Aeneid, I. 204. "Through various accidents,
through so many hazards, we go on toward Latium."
2 George Wertmuller, one of the four servants of the Frankfort Company
brought over by Pastorius. He was an elderly Switzer, apparently from in or
near Berne. A letter of his, dated March 16, 1684, descriptive of his new home,
was one of the two letters printed in Dutch in Rotterdam the same year, as Twee
Missiven geschreven uyt Pensiivania.
8 Frances Simson, servant of the Frankfort Company.
4 Isaac Dilbeck or Dilbeek, with his wife Marieke, servants of the Frankfort
Company, bringing with them two children, Abraham and Jacob. He was a
weaver. In 1700 he purchased 500 acres of land in Whitemarsh Township, now
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and in 1710 was a deacon of the Reformed
Church there.
• Medically and moderately.
1683] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 395
are many of them, procure their own provisions, or else agree
distinctly with the captain as to both quantity and quality,
how much food and of what sort they are to receive each day;
and to hold him down the more completely to this agreement,
one should reserve some small part of the passage money, to
be paid on this side. Also when possible one should arrange
with a ship which sails up to this city of Philadelphia, since in
the case of the others which end their voyage at Upland, one
is subjected to many inconveniences.
My company consisted of many sorts of people. There was
a doctor of medicine1 with his wife and eight children, a French
captain, a Low Dutch cake-baker,2 an apothecary, a glass-
blower,3 a mason, a smith, a wheelwright, a cabinet-maker, a
cooper, a hat-maker, a cobbler, a tailor, a gardener, farmers,
seamstresses, etc., in all about eighty persons besides the crew.
They were not only different in respect to age (for our oldest
woman was sixty years of age and the youngest child only
twelve weeks) and in respect to their occupations, as I have
1 Thomas Lloyd, later governor.
"Alone with him, I could in Latin then Commune:
Which Tongue he did pronounce right in our German way." — Pastorius
2 Cornelius Bom (d. 1688), Dutch cake-baker, who had lived in Rotterdam
(1675) and in Haarlem, came over to Pennsylvania in 1683 with Pastorius in the
America, and set up his bake-shop on the western outskirts of the little backwoods
town of Philadelphia, on a lot at the southeast corner of Third and Chestnut
streets. In 1684 he wrote a letter to Holland which way printed in Dutch at
Rotterdam the same year, along with another letter from George Wertmuller,
under the title Twee Missiven geschreven uyt Pensilvania. His letter was also
printed separately the following year at Rotterdam, with the title Missive van
Cornells Bom Geschreven uit de Stadt Philadelphia (only known copy in America
in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania). "I have here a shop
of many kinds of goods and edibles," he states, "sometimes I ride out with mer-
chandise and sometimes bring something back, mostly from the Indians, and deal
with them in many things. I have no servants except one negro whom I bought.
I have no rent or excise to pay. I have a cow which gives plenty of milk, a horse
to ride around, my pigs increase rapidly, so that in the summer I had seventeen
when at first I had only two. I have many chickens and geese, and a garden,
and shall next year have an orchard if I remain well; so that my wife [Agnes]
and I are in good spirits and are reaching a condition of ease and prosperity in
which we have great hopes."
■ Joshua Tittery, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, broad-glass blower, came over
on the America as a servant to the Free Society of Traders, to serve for four years
at £88 per annum.
396 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
mentioned, but were also of such different religions and be-
haviors that I might not unfittingly compare the ship that bore
them hither with Noah's Ark, but that there were more un-
clean than clean (rational) animals to be found therein. In
my household I have those who hold to the Roman, to the
Lutheran, to the Calvinistic, to the Anabaptist, and to the An-
glican church, and only one Quaker. On the 11th of August
we cast the lead for the first time and perceived that we were
close to the great sand bank, and so had to sail back and
around and consequently to run more than a hundred leagues1
out of our course.
On the 16th we came with joy in sight of America and on
the morning of the 18th arrived in Delaware Bay, which is
thirty English miles long and fifteen wide and is of such un-
equal depth that since our ship drew thirteen feet of water we
sometimes stuck upon the sand.
On the 20th we sailed past Neu Castle, Upland and Duni-
cum2 and arrived at evening, praise God, safely at Philadelphia;
where I on the following day delivered to William Penn the
letters that I had, and was received by him with amiable
friendliness; of that very worthy man and famous ruler I
might properly
II. write many things; but my pen (though it is from an
eagle, which a so-called savage lately brought to my house) is
much too weak to express the high virtues of this Christian —
for such he is indeed. He often invites me to his table and
has me walk and ride in his always edifying company; and
when I lately was absent from here a week, in order to fetch
provisions from Neu Castle, and he had not seen me for that
space of time, he came himself to my little house and besought
me that I should at least once or twice a week be his guest.
He heartily loves the [Germans], and once said openly in my
presence to his councillors and those who were about him,
I love the [Germans] and desire that you also should love them.
Yet in any other matter I have never heard such a command
from him. This however pleased me so much the better
because it was entirely conformable with the command of
God (see John xiii. 23). I can at present say no more than
that William Penn is a man who honors God and is honored by
1 Three hundred English miles. 2 Tinicum.
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 397
Him, who loves what is good and is rightly beloved by all good
men. I doubt not that some of them will come here and by
their own experience learn, that my pen has in this case not
written enough.1
III. Of the nature of the land I can write with certainty
only after one or more years of experience. The Swedes and
Low Dutch who have occupied it for twenty years2 and more
are in this as in most other things of divided opinions ; laudatur
ab his, culjpatur ab illis.3 Certain it is that the soil does not
lack fruitfulness and will reward the labor of our hands as
well as in Europe if one will duly work and manure it, both
which things are for the most part lacking. For the above
mentioned old inhabitants are poor agriculturists. Some of
them have neither barns nor stables, and leave their grain for
years together unthreshed and lying in the open air, and allow
their cattle, horses, cows, swine, etc., to run in the woods
summer and winter, so that they derive little profit from them.
Certainly the penance with which God punished the disobe-
dience of Adam, that he should eat his bread in the sweat of
his brow, extends also to his posterity in these lands, and
those who think to spare their hands may remain where they
are. Hie opus, hie labor est, and it is not enough to bring
money hither, without the inclination to work, for it slips out
of one's hands, and I may well say with Solomon: It has wings.
Inasmuch as in the past year very many people came hither
both out of England and Ireland and also from Barbadoes and
other American islands, and this province does not yet pro-
duce sufficient provisions for such a multitude, therefore all
victuals are somewhat dear, and almost all the money goes
out of the land to pay for them. Yet we hope in time to have
a greater abundance of both things, because William Penn
will coin money and agriculture will be better managed. Work-
ing people and husbandmen are in the greatest demand here,
and I certainly wish that I had a dozen strong Tyrolese to cut
down the thick oak trees, for in whatever direction one turns,
1 "How be 't nought in the World could mine Affection quench
Towards Dear Penn, with whom I did converse in French. "— Pastorius.
* Over forty years.
8 "It is praised by these, it is reproached by those." — Horace, Satires, 1. 2, 11.
398 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
one may say: Itur in antiquam sylvam.1 It is nothing but
forest, and very few cleared places are to be found, in which
respect as also in some others the hope I had previously formed
is deceived, namely, that in these wild orchards no apples or
pears are to be found, and this winter (which indeed has been
very cold) no deer, turkeys, etc., were to be had. The wild
grapes are very small and better suited to make into vinegar
than into wine. The walnuts have very thick shells, and few
thick kernels within, so that they are scarcely worth the
trouble of cracking. The chestnuts, however, and hazelnuts
are somewhat more palatable; also the peaches, apples and
pears are very good, no fault is to be found with them, except
that there are not so many of them as some desire. On the
other hand there are more rattlesnakes (whose bite is fatal) in
the land than is agreeable to us. I must also add this, tan-
quam testis oculatas,2 that on October 16 I found fine (March)
violets in the bushes; also that, after I had on October 24
laid out the town of Germantown, and on the 25th had gone
back there with seven others, we on the way found a wild
grape-vine, running over a tree, on which were some four
hundred clusters of grapes; wherefore we then hewed down
the tree and satisfied all eight of us, and took home with us a
hatfull apiece besides. Also as I on August 25 was dining with
William Penn, a single root of barley was brought in which
had grown in a garden here and had fifty grains upon it.3
But all grains do not bear so much and it is as we say in the
proverb, one swallow does not make a summer. Yet I doubt
not that in the future more fruitful examples of this sort will
present themselves, when we shall put the plow to the land in
good earnest. I lament the vines which I brought with me,
for when we were already in Delaware Bay they were drenched
with seawater and all but two were spoiled. The abovemen-
tioned William Penn has a fine vineyard 4 of French vines
planted; its growth is a pleasure to behold and brought into my
reflections, as I looked upon it, the fifteenth chapter of John.5
1 "We go into the primitive forest." 2 "As an eye-witness."
8 Cf. Penn's Letter to the Free Society of Traders, ante, p. 228.
4 Penn's vineyard on the east bank of the Schuylkill, on the present Lemon
Hill, in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
* "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman," etc.
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 399
IV. Philadelphia daily increases in houses and inhabitants
and presently a house of correction will be built in order that
those who are not willing to live in a Philadelphian manner may
be disciplined, for some such are to be found, to whom fittingly
applies what our dear friend [Van de Walle] mentions in his
letter, that we have here more distress from the spoiled Chris-
tians than from the Indians. Furthermore here and there
other towns are laid out; for the Society1 is beginning to build
about an hour and a half from here2 one bearing the name
of Franckfurt, where they have erected a mill and a glass fac-
tory. Not far from there, namely two hours from here,2 lies
our Germantown, where already forty-two people are living
in twelve dwellings. They are mostly linen weavers and not
any too skilled in agriculture. These good people laid out all
their substance upon the journey, so that if William Penn had
not advanced provisions to them, they must have become ser-
vants to others. The way from here to Germantown they have
now, by frequent going to and fro, trodden out into good shape.
Of that town3 1 can say no more at present than that it lies on
black fruitful soil and is half surrounded with pleasant streams
like a natural defence. The chief street therein is sixty feet
wide and the cross street forty. Every family has a house lot
of three acres.
V. As to the inhabitants, I cannot better classify them than
into the native and the engrafted. For if I were to call the
former savages and the latter Christians, I should do great in-
justice to many of both varieties. Of the latter sort, I have
already mentioned above, that the incoming ships are not
altogether to be compared with Noah's Ark. The Lutheran
preacher,4 who ought as a statua Mercurialis* to show the
Swedes the way to heaven, is, to say it in one word, a drunkard.
1 The Free Society of Traders. Cf. ante, chap, vni.of this Description, p. 380,
and Perm's Letter to the Society, xxxm.,p. 241.
3 From Philadelphia. 3 Cf. this Description, chap. \m., ante, p. 381.
4 Rev. Jacob Fabritius (d. 1693), a Dutch or Polish Lutheran minister, who
went from Holland to New York in 1669, and had charge for a time of a congre-
gation in Albany. In 1671 he came to the Delaware, and in 1677 was made pastor
of Gloria Dei, the new Swedish church at Wicaco, preaching the first sermon
there on Trinity Sunday. In 1682 he became blind, and thenceforth had to be
led to the pulpit.
* "Statue of Mercury," god and guide of travellers.
400 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
Also there are coiners of false money and other vicious persons
here whom nevertheless, it may be hoped, the wind of God's
vengeance will in his own time drive away like chaff. On the
other hand there is no lack of pious, God-fearing people, and
I can with truth affirm that I have nowhere in Europe seen
the notice posted up, as here in our Philadelphia, that such an
one has found this or that, and that the loser may call for it
at his house; often however the converse, Lost this or that;
he who returns it again shall receive a reward, etc.
Of these new engrafted strangers I will for the present say
no more than that among them some High Germans are to be
found who have lived already twenty years in this land and
consequently are, so to speak, naturalized, namely, Silesians,
Brandenburgers, Holsteiners, Swiss, etc.,1 also a Nuremberg
man named Jan Jaquet ; 2 but will briefly give my account of
those who are erroneously called savages.3 The first who came
before my eyes were those two who at Upland came in a canoe
to our ship. I presented them with a dram of brandy. They
attempted to pay me for it with a sixpence, and when I re-
fused the money they gave me their hands, and said, Thank
you, brother. They are strong of limb, swarthy of body, and
paint their faces, red, blue, etc., in various ways. In the sum-
mer they go quite naked, except that they cover their private
parts with a piece of cloth, and now in winter hang duffels
upon themselves. They have coal-black hair, while the Swed-
ish children born here have hair snow-white. I was once din-
ing with William Penn where one of their kings sat at table
with us. William Penn, who can speak their language fairly
fluently, said to him that I was a German, etc. He came ac-
cordingly on the third of October, and on the twelfth of De-
cember another king and queen came to my house. Also
many common persons over-run me very often, to whom how-
1 Chiefly in and near New Castle.
8 Jean Paul Jaquet (c. 1615-1620-1685), a native of Nuremberg, whose
father came from Geneva in Switzerland, had served the Dutch West India Com-
pany for some years in Brazil. In 1654 he brought his family over to New Amster-
dam, and in the following year was sent to Fort Casimir (now New Castle, Dela-
ware) as vice-director on the Delaware. In 1676 he was made a justice of the
court at New Castle, and continued his residence in or near the town until his
death.
1 Cf. this Description, chaps, ix., xi., xiii., xvn.
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 401
ever I almost always show my love with a piece of bread and
a drink of beer, whereby an answering affection is awakened
in them and they commonly call me "Teutschmann," also
"Carissimo" (that is, brother). N. B. Their language is
manly and in my opinion is little inferior to the Italian in
gravity, etc. As to their manners and nature, one must so
to speak sub-distinguish them into those who have associated
for some time with the so-called Christians and those who are
just beginning to come forth out of their burrows. For the
former are crafty and deceitful, which they owe to the above-
mentioned nominal Christians. Semper enim aliquid hceret.1
Such an one lately pledged me his strap2 as security that he
would bring me a turkey, but in its place he brought an eagle
and wished to persuade me that it was a turkey. When
however I showed him that I had seen many eagles he acknowl-
edged to a Swede who stood by that he had done it out of de-
ception, in the belief that because we had lately come into the
land I should not know such birds so accurately. Another at
my fireside tested the brandy thus: he stuck his finger into
it and then put the latter into the fire to see whether water
had been mingled with the liquor. Those of the second class,
on the contrary, are of a reasonable spirit, injure nobody, and
we have nothing whatever to fear from them. One thing lately
struck deeply into my heart when I pondered the sincere ad-
monition of our Saviour, that we His disciples should take no
thought for the morrow, because thus do the Gentiles. Ah,
thought I to myself, how entirely has all been now perverted !
When we Christians are not provided for a month and more
how displeased are we, while these heathen in so wonderful a
spirit of resignation refer their sustenance to God. Just at that
time I saw four of them eating together. The earth was at
once their table and their bench. A pumpkin, cooked in
plain water, without butter or spice, was all their food. Their
spoons were mussel-shells, with which they supped the warm
water. Their plates were oak leaves, which they had no need
to clean after the meal, nor, when they needed others, to give
themselves much trouble about them.3 Now, dear friend, let
us not hesitate to learn contentment from these people, that
1 "For always something adheres." 2 By which things are carried.
8 Cf. the same story in the Description, chap. XI., ante, p. 384.
402 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
they may not hereafter shame us before the judgment-seat of
Jesus Christ.
Of those persons who came hither with me a half dozen are
already dead. I and mine, however, have throughout the
whole time found ourselves in good condition and good appe-
tite, except that Isaac Dilbeck has for a week been somewhat
indisposed, and Jacob Schumacher1 on the first of October cut
his foot severely with an axe and was for a week unable to
labor. Of the Crefelders, no one has died thus far except Her-
man op de Graef V decrepit mother, who, soon after her arrival,
wearied of the vanities of the world, departed to enjoy the de-
lights of heaven. The wife of Abraham Tunesen,3 our farm-
tenant, has now lain for more than two months in my cottage
very weak, and was for some time quite unconscious but now
bids fair to get well.
Now as to the purchased land. It is divided into three
kinds.4 First, 15000 acres lying together in one piece, on a
navigable stream. Secondly, 300 acres within the city liber-
ties, which is the stretch of land between the Delaware and the
Schuylkill. Thirdly, three lots in the town, on which to build
houses. When after my arrival I applied to William Penn for
warrants, to measure off these three parts, and to obtain pos-
session of them, his first answer respecting this was :
1 Jacob Shoemaker (died 1722), one of the servants of the Frankfort Com-
pany, brought by Pastorius from Mainz, in Germany, was a turner by trade.
In 1693 he was sheriff of Germantown.
2 Herman op den Graeff, linen weaver, from Crefeld, son of Isaac, with his
mother and his two brothers, Dirck and Abraham and sister Margaret, as pur-
chasers of 2000 acres of land from Telner, arrived with the first German company
of Crefelders on the Concord, in 1683. "My mother died in Philadelphia on the
nineteenth of November, [1683], and was buried in that very place. My brother's
wife was delivered of a daughter here in Germantown, which was the first born
here." Thus wrote one of the brothers, evidently Herman, in the earliest known
description of conditions in that initial German settlement, in a letter, a copy of
which is in the Konneken manuscript at Liibeck, published by J. F. Sachse in
Letters relating to the Settlement of Germantown. Herman was one of the first
four burgesses of Germantown. His brothers were signers to the first public
protest against slavery in America, at Germantown in 1688. About 1701 he re-
moved to Kent County, Delaware, and died there about 1704.
3 Abraham Tunes, one of the first Crefeld company, was a burgess in Ger-
mantown in 1694.
4 Cf. the Description, chap. HI., ante, p. 375.
1684] PASTOR IUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 403
I. The three lots in the city, and the three hundred acres
in its liberties, could not rightly go to the [Frankforters] l
because they were bought after he, William Penn, had already
left England and the books at London had been closed. After
I had represented to him, however, that you were the fore-
runners of all Germans, and therefore to be regarded with
more consideration, he caused three lots to be measured off
for me at the beginning of the town, one after another, out of
his 3'ounger son's2 share.
etc. 12 It 10 9 S 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The double lines represent the Delaware River, on which
the town is situated. The numbers, however, represent the
following houses and farms: 1. Schwan, the Swede;3 2. the
Lutheran Church;4 3. the pastor's house;5 4. an Englishman;
5. Andres, the Swede;6 6. William Penn's youngest son;7
1 So given in the copy of the manuscript in the Konneken manuscripts at
Liibeck.
2 William Penn, jr. (1680-1720); the elder brother was Springett Penn (1675-
1696). William's lot, after the cutting off of the northernmost part for the German
Company of Frankfort, was on the northwest corner of Front and Cedar (now
South) streets.
3 Sven Svensson, or Swanson (d. 1696), a native of Sweden, husbandman,
living south of the town at Wicaco (now about Front Street and Washington
Avenue, Philadelphia, centring at the old Swedes' Church built in 1700) evidently
is meant. He was a son of Sven Gunnarsson, or Gonderson, who was a culti-
vator of tobacco at Fort Christina, in 1644, and who with his three sons, Sven,
Olave, and Andrew, all of Wicaco, held title to a large part of the site of Phila-
delphia under surveys from the Duke of York in 1664 and 1681. Penn effected
a surrender of their claims by an exchange for land on the west side of the
Schuylkill.
4 The Lutheran Church (Gloria Dei) of the Swedes at Wicaco, built as a
block-house in 1669, was made a place of worship in 1675. Its present site is
occupied by the quaint Old Swedes' Church, built of brick in 1700, the oldest
house of worship in the present city. The Episcopal service is now held there.
6 Of the Swedish Church at Wicaco.
8 Andrew Svensson, or Swanson, of Wicaco, brother of Sven above.
7 Simply the lot without buildings, apparently; William Penn, jr., was then
(1684) only three years of age-
404 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
7. the [Frankfurters]; 8. Philip Fort;1 9. the Society and its
trading-house;2 10. the Blue Anchor Inn;3 11. James Claypoole;
12., etc. There are other houses, to name which is needless
here. Thus in front lies the Delaware; then comes a broad
street,4 upon which falls our first allotment, a hundred feet
broad and four hundred long. At the end of this5 comes a
lane;6 then our second allotment, of the same breadth and
length; then comes another lane/ and finally our third allot-
ment. Upon each lot two houses in front and two behind can
suitably be built side by side, consequently upon the three lots
twelve houses with their appurtenant buildings; and yet all
these give upon the streets. Necessarily, however, if we do
not wish to lose these lots we must within two years build
three houses, that is, one house upon each lot. Upon the front
lot I have, with our man-servant, built already a small house,
half under the ground and half above, which indeed is only
thirty feet long and fifteen feet broad, yet, when the Cref elders
were lodging here with me, could harbor twenty persons. On
the oiled-paper window over the door I wrote: Parva domus
sed arnica bonis, procul este prophani.8 This William Penn
lately read, and was pleased.9 Also I have a cellar10 seven feet
1 Philip Ford never came over.
2 The Free Society of Traders, the trading-house being on the west side of
Front Street, below Dock Creek.
3 The Blue Anchor Inn, the first hostelry in Philadelphia, at this time (1684)
was in the middle of Front Street, the main thoroughfare of the little town, on
the high bank of the Delaware, and was about 146 feet north of Dock Creek, now
Dock Street. The inn was opened as early as 1682, its owner being Captain
William Dare. He sold the property on January 18, 1683, to Colonel Edward
Hill, of Shirley, on James River, Virginia. Colonel Hill in the same year, 1683,
sold to Griffith Owen, of Philadelphia, who was the owner at the time of Pas-
torius's writing. In 1686, Jones sold to George Bartholomew, who soon moved
the inn off the street to his lot in the rear, to the westward.
4 Front Street, the main street.
* 7. e., of the first lot, where Pastorius's house was built on the west side of
Front Street, north of the lot of William Penn, jr., at the northwest corner of
Front and Cedar streets.
6 Second Street. 7 Third Street.
8 "A little house, but a friend to the good; remain at a distance, ye profane."
Cf. Vergil's Aeneid, VI. 258.
9 Cf. the Description, chap, vin., ante, p. 381.
10 Probably the cave in the bank of Front Street described in his reminiscences
in after years, as follows:
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 405
deep and twelve broad and twenty long, dug on the banks of
the Delaware, and am now occupied with building a stable.
All three lots are cleared of the trees, and I shall immediately
fence them and plant them with Indian corn. N. B. It is
especially difficult and expensive to fence all the land, yet on
account of the horses, cattle, and swine running at large we
cannot dispense with doing it. Also one cannot, the first
year, plant either rye or wheat in such new land, but only Indian
(or as you call it, Turkish) corn, which however does not taste
nor satisfy so well.
II. As to the three hundred acres in the city liberties, I
have made various applications to William Penn in respect to
Uiem, and have especially urged that B. Furly1 had promised
them in the sale, etc. He however for a long time would not
agree to this, the reason being that not more had been reserved
for city liberties than that for which buyers of five thousand
had been found while he was yet in England; and among
these the [Frankforters] were not comprised. Finally a few
days ago, when I again delivered to him a memorial, he gave
me the pleasing answer that he out of particular regard for
you would allow me the said three hundred acres additional,
but would give no more to any man who had bought after the
"The caves of that time were only holes digged in the Ground, Covered with
Earth, a matter of 5. or 6. feet deep, 10. or 12. wide and about 20. long; whereof
neither the Sides nor the Floors have been plank'd. Herein we lived more
Contentedly than many nowadays in their painted and wainscotted Palaces, as I
without the least hyperbole may call them in Comparison of the aforesaid Sub-
terraneous Catatumbs or Dens. Vide Hebr. 11: 38. I myself purchased one of
the old Tho. Miller for 5£ then Currt. Silver Money of Pennsylvania in the midst
of the Front-street at Philada., whereas the Servants, I had along with me, could
have made a far better in less than two days, had they but known how to handle
the spade." — Learned, Pastorius, p. 212.
1 Benjamin Furly (1636-1714), a leading shipping merchant of Rotterdam,
an English Quaker and the chief agent of William Penn on the Continent for the
sale of lands, the issuing of descriptive pamphlets, and the general promotion of
the colonization of Pennsylvania. Beginning his career as a merchant in his
native town, Colchester, England, by 1660 he had removed to Amsterdam, thence
to Rotterdam. He was a prolific writer in English, German, Dutch, and French,
and gathered a remarkable collection of manuscripts and rare books. As a
patron of learning, his home became the rendezvous of Leclerc, Limborch, Al-
gernon Sidney, and Locke. Quaker meetings were held at his house, Fox, Penn,
Keith, and other leaders of the Society resorting there. Although a Quaker, he
was buried in the central aisle of the Groote Kerk, the chief church of Rotterdam.
406 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
closing of the books, no matter who he might be. It is
accordingly my intention, as soon as the Indian corn here
is in the ground, to make a beginning upon these three
hundred acres (which will not be more than a half-hour dis-
tant from this town), in order that I may better keep the cows
and swine, may raise more produce, and thereby help those
who come after me.
III. Concerning the fifteen thousand acres, two chief diffi-
culties arose, namely, that William Penn did not wish to give
them all together in one piece in order that so very large a
space in the land might not lie uncultivated and empty, nor
on the Delaware River, where indeed everything had already
been taken up by others. But after I had repeatedly rep-
resented to him both orally and in writing that it would be very
prejudicial to us and our German successors to be so completely
wedged in among the English, and likewise that B. Fiirly had
communicated to the [Frankforters] his, William Penn's, letter
in which he had promised otherwise to our nation, etc., he
finally gave me a warrant, to have our land in one tract, pro-
vided that we within a year would settle thirty families upon
the fifteen thousand acres, namely, three townships, each of
ten households, among which might be reckoned the three
which are already here (but in case thirty families do not come
he will not be bound to give the land in one piece). I for my
small part could indeed wish that we might have a small
separate province, and so might the better protect ourselves
against all oppression. Now if one of you could be free to
come hither and bring that number of families your own best
interests would be incomparably furthered thereby, for he,
William Penn, only the day before yesterday told me that in
that case he would give you the preference over all the English
who though they had bought earlier had not yet arrived here,
and would give you certain privileges in our new Francken-
land (for so he called the tract of land destined for us). If,
however, it is too difficult for you to transport so many fam-
ilies in so short a time, it would in my opinion, which of course
is not binding, be well that the friends of [Frankforters] should
take from you a few thousand acres and, out of the abundance
with which they have been blessed, send certain households
hither, in order that the fifteen thousand acres may come to us
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 407
undivided and without English neighbors intervening; es-
pecially as he will give these lands not too far away from this
town, namely, on the Scollkill above the falls, where he him-
self intends to build a house and to lay out a small manse for
himself. The land near the river is quite hilly, and not ill-
suited to the cultivation of the vine. Farther in, however,
it is level and fertile. The worst of it is, however, that one
cannot go in a boat over the falls and the ledges, except when
it has rained heavily and even then not without danger. Now
since I could not know what you might conclude to do in these
circumstances, and yet it was very important, and since more-
over these often-mentioned fifteen thousand acres would cost
28 pounds sterling to survey, namely, 5 shillings of the local
money for every hundred acres, which money however I did
not have in hand, I was obliged to let the matter stand until
I had received your decision, in order not to step over the
limits of a faithful agent. In order, however, that I might
settle the three families who had arrived upon their six hun-
dred acres I have, in conjunction with the Cref elders (who have
bought eighteen thousand acres, and though all here present
cannot obtain the whole in one piece) taken up six thousand
acres for a township, of which they have three thousand and
we three thousand. This town I laid out on October 24, and
called it Germantown. It lies only two hours' walk from here,
on fertile soil, and near pleasant springs, which I have mentioned
above. This I was obliged to do because William Penn will
not give any man his portion separately but all must dwell
together in townships or towns, and this not without weighty
reasons. Among these the chief is that in that way the chil-
dren can be kept at school and much more conveniently brought
up well. Neighbors also can better offer each other loving and
hdpful hands and with united mouths can in public assemblies
p raise and extol the goodness of God. N. B. You might ac-
cordingly assign only a hundred acres to the families that you
bring over here in the future and yet obtain almost as large
an estate.
As for my domestic establishment, I very much wished to
arrange it in the good High German manner and Jacob Schue-
macher and the old Swiss1 are very serviceable to me toward
1 George Wertmiiller.
408 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
this purpose. But the Hollanders whom I have with me adapt
themselves but ill to this, especially the maid,1 who cannot get
on well with the English one,2 so that I, to preserve the peace,
must send the latter away because the former with her two
children3 cannot so easily remove or attach herself to another
master. I greatly desire to obtain as soon as possible a High
German maid whom I can trust better than, I am sorry to say,
I now can do. If you wish not to be deceived in your hopes,
send only Germans, for the Hollanders, as troublesome ex-
perience teaches me, are not so pleasant, which in this new land
is a highly necessary quality. I have no carpenter among my
servants, so a few ought to be sent over hither for the building
of houses. In the making of the contract with them it may
serve for your information that their daily wages are now much
diminished, and beyond their board they receive not more
than [two] 4 shillings a day, though most of them for this
reason do not work and are preferring to leave the country.
N. B. A fixed price is set for all hand-workers, also not more
than fifty per cent, gain must be made on merchant wares,
though indeed perhaps three or four years from now there will
be little profit to be made on these, as the Society is sufficiently
aware. For (1) every newcomer brings so much clothing and
provisions with him that he for some years needs nothing.
(2) There is very little money here, although the desire for it
is in the case of many persons so much the greater. On No-
vember 16 occurred the annual fair in our Philadelphia, where
however I hardly took in a few pounds sterling. (3) One can
not yet obtain from this land any return-goods to send to
England. William Penn, to be sure, intends to establish weav-
ing and wine-making and for this reason on several opportuni-
ties sends us good vines on whose prospering one can count.
Also [send] all sorts of field and garden seeds, especially of
lentils, millet, etc. Also, N. B., some great iron cooking-pots
and nests of kettles.5 Also an iron stove, because the winter
1 Marieke, wife of Isaac Dilbeck. 2 Frances Simson.
3 Abraham and Jacob Dilbeck.
4 "The wages are one-half rix-dollar per diem, including their keep." Op
den Graeff's letter, dated Germantown, February 12, 1684.
6 "Let him, now, who has an earnest resolve to come over, and is ready and
fixed in this purpose, make use of this information: that he take with him butter,
1684] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 409
here is usually as cold as with you and the rough north winds
much harsher. Also some coverlets or mattresses, because I
did not bring more with me than I immediately needed yet
have already got an additional manservant. Finally, if you
would also send me some pieces of fustian and Osnabriick,1
linen cloth, it can be sold to good advantage.
A tanner can undertake his wrork with great profit, since
here and in the neighboring lands we can obtain hides enough
and indeed two raw for one dressed. Also the very best for a
pair of shoes. But a certain capital must be employed for
this, but since these sums of money thus expended would in a
short time bring a rich revenue, I leave the matter to your riper
reflection. The two most necessary things are: (1) upon the
lots in this town to build suitable houses, which are expensive
to rent and from which twelve per cent, per annum can be
obtained ; (2) to establish a brick-kiln, for which William Penn
has promised to give us an excellent place, for so long as we
make no bricks our house-building is only of wood. Other
artisans may well wait at home a few years yet.
To the four questions I give this succinct reply: (1) William
Penn has laid a good foundation for a righteous government
and from time to time he publishes useful laws. (2) He main-
tains neighborly friendship with all the adjoining governors
and hopes that the still-continuing contest with Baldimor2
may soon be settled and removed by royal sentence. (3)
William Penn is much loved and praised by all people, inso-
much that even the old vicious inhabitants have to acknowledge
that they have never before seen so wise a ruler. Ah, what
impressive and penetrating sighs this dear man sent forth the
first day of the new year to the heavenly heights and the
throne of our Immanuel, because true "Philadelphia" and
brotherly love is not yet so abundantly to be found in this
our Philadelphia as he for his part desired and for whose
advancement he has so earnestly busied himself as a true
father of the land. (4) The Indians, of whose nature a little
something has been said in a previous passage, grow less nu-
cheese, sugar, wine, brandy, spice, olive-oil, brain-sausage (Cerbaldr-Wiirst),
millet, rice, rolled barley, all kinds of field and garden seeds, iron pots, kettles,
flint-guns, to shoot game, etc." (In the abstract in the book.)
1 Osnaburg, a coarse linen. 2 Lord Baltimore.
410 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1684
merous here daily, retiring some hundred miles1 farther into
the country.
Now you might perhaps ask whether I with a pure and
undisturbed conscience could advise one and another of you
to come over to this place. I answer with good deliberation
that I would be heartily glad of your dear presence; yet unless
you (1) find in yourselves freedom of conscience to go, (2) can
submit to the difficulties and dangers of the long journey, and
(3) can resolve to go without most of the comforts to which
you have been accustomed in Germany, such as stone houses,
luxurious food and drink, for a year or two, then follow my
advice and stay where you are for some time yet. But if the
things I have mentioned do not come too hard for you, depart
the sooner the better from the European Sodom, and remember
Lot's wife, who indeed went forth with her feet but left her
heart and inclinations there. Ah, dear friends, I could well
wish that with this eagle's quill I could express the love I bear
you and could convince you indeed that it is not a mere lip-
love but one that desires more good for you than for myself.
My heart is bound to yours by the bonds of love. Then let
us now grow up together as trees which the right hand of God
has planted by streams of water, that we may bring forth not
only leaves but fruit in good season: fruits of repentance,
fruits of peace, fruits of righteousness. For what profits such
a useless tree, though the gardener spares it yet for some years,
digs about it with all diligence and cultivates it, yet finally,
no improvement following, cuts it down and casts it into the
oven? Forgive me this comparison, dear friend; we here en-
counter such unfruitful trees, hew them down and use them for
firewood. It is at least a good-hearted warning, that can do
no harm. I commend you all to the divine influence, without
which our fruitfulness is incomplete. May the Lord who has
given the desire give also the fulfillment! Amen.
Herewith I send a specimen of the Indian money used here,
of which six of the white and three of the black make an English
farthing; and these Indians will not sell anything more for
silver money but will be paid with their own money,2 since
for the most part they wish to quit this land and to withdraw
some hundred miles farther into the woods. For they have
1 English miles probably 3 Cf. Description, chap, ix., ante, p. 382.
1683] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 411
a superstition, that as many Indians must die each year, as
the number of Europeans that newly arrive.
Thus much I have to inform you, in order to comply with
my bounden duty, as one who has the greatest anxiety to be
found faithful, whereunto as well William Penn and other
reasonable people as my own conscience, which I value more
than thousands, can give an irreproachable witness. That it
falls quite hard upon me in this expensive and unprotected
land to care for so many men-servants and married couples,
you can easily judge. But trust in our heavenly Father over-
comes all. Give all other acquaintances hearty greetings from
me.
I remain ever your true and devoted servant,
N. N.1
Francis Daniel Pastorius takes Leave of his Father and Friends.
From Deal, June 7, 1683.
After examining to my satisfaction the European provinces
and countries, and the impending motus belli? and after taking
apprehensively to heart the vicissitudes and troubles of my
native country arising therefrom, I have suffered myself to be
moved by the special direction of the Most High to journey
over to Pennsylvania, living in the hope that this my design
will work out to my own good and that of my dear brothers
and sisters, but most of all to the advancement of the glory
of God (which is my aim above all else), especially as the au-
dacity and sin of the European world are accumulating more
and more from day to day, and therefore the just judgment of
God cannot be long withheld.
I had in all my acts taken this frivolity and wickedness
greatly to heart, and pondered upon the final outcome thereof
with profound meditation, namely, how life, worldly posses-
sions, honor, and lust will all once be subjected to death and
decay. But let the soul be once lost, and it is lost forever.
Semel periisse aeternum est.3
In order therefore to escape evil both here and hereafter,
I have entered so much the more willingly upon this journey
1 End of the Sichere Nachricht. 2 Movements of warfare.
■"To have perished once is to have perished forever."
412 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1685
and passage across the mighty ocean, under the holy guidance
of God; and, together with nine others of my people, sailed
from Deal on June 7, 1683, * in the company of various respect-
able families, with the hope that the Lord, Who up to this hour
had so richly blessed me, and commanded His angels to keep
watch over me, would so govern my incomings and outgoings
that His most holy Name would thereby be praised on the
further side of the sea, in unknown places.
I therefore commit my honored father and all my dear
ones to the protection of the Almighty, and as soon as the Lord
helps me over to Pennsylvania, I shall give a more detailed
account of everything. Should it however be His holy will
to call me to Himself while on the way, I am ready with all
my heart, and therefore I take leave of my honored father as
becomes a child, with reiterated dutiful thanks for all the love
and fidelity shown me in such abundance. May God reward
him for it in time and in eternity!
I remember that while on my travels I read an epitaph
which ran as follows:
I, who the lines on many a foreign grave have read
And in this book writ down those records of the dead,
Now know not where, how, when, I go from mortal sight,
And so, vain world, I say, a thousand times good-night.
If therefore we see one another no more on this side of the
grave, we shall meet in Heaven. But if we fulfil the will of
God here upon earth, which I desire from the depths of my soul,
I remain until death
My honored father's
Truly obedient son,
F. D. P.
A Letter from the Same to D. Schutz of Franckfurth-on-the-Mayn,
May 30, 1685.
It almost seems as if the greater number could not fully
carry out their good intentions (namely, to serve God and
righteousness in tranquillity of spirit, here in Pennsylvania),
but that some of them, as it were against their will, were en-
1 He did not sail from Deal until the 10th.
1691] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 413
tangled in various affairs of this world, with neglect of the one
thing needful.
I, for my part, can not now do otherwise than give my
attention partly to Philadelphia and partly to Germanopolis,
which I, nevertheless, would gladly turn ever toward the
heavenly Jerusalem, the future city of God, which is to be
sought for with every effort by me and by all who love the
Lord. But the duties of a loyal superintendent, which have
been confided to me, must also be administered with diligence
and fidelity. My hearty greeting to all friends in Franckfurth,
Wesel, and Duisburg. And let not my most worthy and dear
friend doubt that I shall remain, under the commendation of
the Most High, in unaltered affection until I die, etc.
Doctor Joh. Jacob Schutz made thereupon these sad com-
ments: Alas, that this so-called New World should soil itself
with unrighteousness and transgression, even as our Old World
is entirely covered therewith, and instead of cleansing itself
as is necessary, becomes each day more involved therein.
Nevertheless, the Lord knows His own, and this is surely a
valued seal for all who hold His coming dear.
Letters from Pennsylvania, October 10, 1691.
Dearly beloved and honored father:
I can not allow the present opportunity to go by without
briefly informing you of the prosperous condition of myself
and my associates, as well as conveying to you my cordial love
and respects, wishing from the bottom of my soul that all may
go well with jny honored father and those belonging to him,
and that the Almighty, according to His holy will, may pre-
serve and deliver them all from His judgment of destruction
which, in these our days, He is bringing upon the impenitence
of Europe, by means of the Turks and the French.1 Here,
in this country, we have listened with compassion to the bar-
barous proceedings of the French, the laying waste and burning
of so many beautiful cities, churches, and imperial sepulchres,
and thereby have been strengthened in our belief that we should
trust, not to our bodily strength and to fortified castles, but
1 Under Louis XIV.
414 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1691
entirely and solely to the protecting hand of God, for Whom it
is as easy to defend us against all assaults of the enemy as it
is impossible for mere bulwarks of stone to do so.
We know nothing indeed of the condition of affairs in
Upper Germany at the present time, for it is long since any
ships have come in,1 nevertheless we hold fast to the belief
that these calamities will hardly cease until a reformation of
life shall result therefrom.
In the meantime may the Most High grant to my honored
father a constantly blessed prosperity, until such time as our
correspondence can be again continued. May it only be vouch-
safed us to grow, in Christlike tranquillity as respects the inner
man, in upright love, and to embrace one another in heart-
felt affection, as being one in Christ, which neither the remote-
ness of places, nor the dangers of pirates, nor any other cir-
cumstances are able to prevent.
I inform you further that our governor, William Penn, has
sent us High-Germans certain concessions from England, and
appointed me to be the first mayor and justice of the peace
in this town,2 so that now we have our own council and laws,
provided that they are in accordance with the laws of England.
And as I drew up the proper regulations and laws for this,
and on June 2, 1691, began the first Council Records of Ger-
manton, I placed at the opening thereof the following holy
admonitions :
There is no power but of God. Romans, xiii. 1.
For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the
Highest, who shall try your works and search out your counsels.
Wisdom, 6.
And thou shalt take no gift. Exodus, xxiii. 8.
Ye shall not afflict anv widow, or fatherless child. Exodus, xxii.
22.
Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and
needy. Psalm lxxxii. 3, 4.
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the
small as well as the great. Deut. i. 17.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Lev. xix. 15.
Doing nothing by partiality. I Tim. v. 21.
1 Shipping being interrupted by King William's War.
' German town.
1691] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 415
Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your
tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. Deut. i. 13.
A fro ward heart shall depart from me : I will not know a wicked
person. Psalm ci. 4.
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them
likewise. Luke vi. 31.
The said Council thus instituted has likewise its own seal,
which is, as the impression bears evidence, a trefoil. On one
of the leaves a grape-vine is represented, on another a flax-
blossom, and on the third a weaver's spool, with the inscription :
Vinum, Linum et Textrinum,1 to signify that one may in this
place maintain himself by cultivating the vine, by growing
flax, or by manufactures, to the satisfaction of God and his
honor.
In the meantime we live peaceably and contentedly, with
no desire for transitory riches; provided we have sufficient
food and clothing for this our pilgrimage, for the rest we turn
our eyes ever toward the heavenly Jerusalem, our true father-
land.
I acknowledge it as an entirely unnecessary impulse of his
fatherly affection that my honored father should affirm, in
his letters to me, that he would gladly be able to do more for
me in this world, and now, that God has bestowed a child upon
me, I can judge of this far better than ever before, and com-
prehend far more deeply the axiom: Amorem descendere potiw
quam ascendere.' My respected father has given me more than
I have ever deserved, or than I shall ever be able to repay. So
that often when thinking of the past I say in my heart: Ah,
if only my dear father had saved those sums which he sent me
in cash at the universities to provide for himself in his old age,
etc. But that which is done cannot be altered by wishing.
May God on High most richly reward him with His heavenly
blessings, in time and in eternity, for all the love, fidelity, and
kindness he has shown me. With this petition, I remain unti1
death, etc.
Oct. 10, 1691.
1 "The vine, the flax, and weaving."
"'That love rather descends than ascends.'
416 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1693
[1692.] On June 7, 1692, there was such a terrible earthquake
in the island of Jamaica that it destroyed the greater part of
the capital city, Port Royal, and annihilated about twenty-
five hundred people, aside from the natives who have been
buried by the mountains and hills. Among others my good
friend and former fellow traveller, Mardochai Loyd,1 was
swallowed up in a hollow mountain, yet even in these circum-
stances he was saved through the miraculous providence of
God; for he crept out again by means of a hole below, bringing
forth his own life, as if it were a booty.
And at the time of this terrible earthquake, this marvel
also came to pass, that some women dressed a la mode, who
were going that way wearing high head-dresses and topknots,
so that they appeared to have double heads, were buried in the
earth up to the waist, and these it was not possible to dig out
in any way, or to remove from the place before they became
stiff in death, and were obliged to play the role as it were of
the devil's pillory-posts.
Further News from Germanton, June 1, 1693.
After a most filial greeting and the wish for all the blessings
of well-being, both for soul and body, I cannot refrain from
saying what unparalleled joy comes over me when I receive
letters bringing news of the good health and prosperity of my
honored father and of the dear ones belonging to him, and since
I suppose that similarly some in your country desire now and
then to know somewhat of our condition, and how it fares with
me in this new and somewhat desolate western world, on this
account I have thought that in the following lines, in accord-
ance with the request of my honored father, I would speak
somewhat at length concerning the public affairs of this region,
as well as of the private concerns of my own family. And first
concerning the general condition of things :
The most holy God has so graciously sheltered this province
under the wings of His mercy, during the ten years of my resi-
dence here, that no unfriendly clamor, whether of trumpet or
musketry, has broken in upon our daily toil and nightly rest.
1 Mordecai Lloyd (1669-1694), son of Governor Thomas Lloyd, came over
With the other members of his family in 1683, as a fellow-voyager with Pastorius.
1693] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 417
Indeed, in all these years, we have not been obliged to pay
a farthing for war or other taxes, until, about hve weeks past,
the new governor, Benjamin Fletcher,1 arrived in Philadelphia,
with the royal decree and authority to govern this province in
the name of King William III., until the vindication of William
Penn should be fought out by way of the law, in Old England.
To him, as compensation for the expenses of the journey, we
have granted the 240th penny. This governor confirmed our
Germanton charter anew, by virtue of which we are enabled
to hold our own courts and council-meetings, and appointed
me Irenarcha, or justice of the peace in the county of Phila-
delphia, after which he set forth from this place, with his ret-
inue, for New York, in which place he is likewise governor, as
also commander-in-chief over all the English islands and col-
onies in America.
I hope, and wish from my heart, that our former ruler,
William Penn, may soon clear himself of all unreasonable
suspicion of a treasonably-conducted correspondence with
King James, and that he will shortly return to us again, seeing
that his personal presence could prevent many contentions and
disputes, in political as well as in religious matters, and could
bring to naught the evil designs of many quarrelsome persons.
For the difference of belief 2 which arose here a year ago is
not yet calmed or adjusted, for each believes that he knows
the nearest and most direct way to Heaven, and can show it
to others, although truly there has been One only Who could
say of Himself with truth: I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life. Via rectissima (according to Thomas a Kempis) Veritas
suprema, Vita Beata, Via inviolabilis, Veritas infallibilis, Vita
interminabiliSy Via in Exemplo, Veritas in promisso, Vita in
praemio, etc.3 This narrow path of sorrows brings us finally to
so high a place that wTe shall have the stars under our feet.
1 Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, a professional English soldier who had served
under King William III. in the Low Countries and in Ireland, was Governor of
New York, 1692-1698, and the first and only royal governor of Pennsylvania,
1693-1694, during the time when Penn was temporarily deprived of the province.
2 The George Keith schism.
3 "I am the invariable and perfect way; the supreme and infallible truth;
the blessed, the uncreated, and endless life. I am the way thou must go, the
truth thou must believe, and the life thou must desire." Chap, xxxix of Payne's
ed. (London, 1842).
418 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1693
Although I have been requested by one party to suppress or
drive out the other, I preferred to put off the matter for the
arrival and decision of the proper governor, William Penn,
and in the meantime I exhorted both parties to gentleness
and harmony in the following verses — both in German and in
English.1
The error of my brother
Fills me with holy horror,
Yet may I not abide
That he by word of mine
Be forced to give some sign
That shall his thought deride;
For such enforced submission
Redounds to his perdition
And sets all truth aside.
II
Those who with pen or sword
Would prove their Master's word
Durst not upon me call
For aught save deeds of peace —
For this I strive, nor cease,
Whatever may befall.
Both friend and foe alike
I wish to serve aright,
And to turn harm from all.
Ill
May no remorse nor sorrow
Darken for us the morrow,
May naught arrive save joy.
Yes, joy that is of Heaven,
Where we from morn to even
Shall dwell without annoy.
For so the Lord hath taught us,
And to His fold hath brought us,
Where all is peace and joy.*
1 Pastorius gives only his German; the English version here given, in the
metre of the original, is by Miss Kimball.
'I Cor. xi. 16. (Note in original.)
1693] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 419
They who would serve the Lord
By empty deed and word
Look not within the heart;
But they who seek His will
In quiet to fulfil —
Such choose the better part.
N. B. The English verses are omitted here [i. e.> in the
original] since I am unfamiliar with the language.
I now come to the so-called savages. I can say little of
these native dwellers in these parts which will be satisfactory
to those whose aim is rather to gain outward and worldly in-
formation than to put into practical exercise the precepts and
prohibitions of Christ. In part they [the savages] are not un-
fitly to be compared with the son in the Gospel story, who went
to work in the vineyard without promises and protestations,
and nevertheless in real industry far surpassed his brother who
promised much. They live more contentedly and with less
thought for the morrow than we Christians. They over-
reach no man in business. They also know nothing of the
pride of life, and of the fashions in clothes to which we
cling so closely. They neither curse nor swear, are temper-
ate in their food and drink, and if one occasionally drinks
too much it is usually the nominal Christians who are to be
blamed, who for their accursed self-interest sell strong drink
to the savages.
In my ten years of residence here I have never heard that
they have attempted to do violence to anyone, far less mur-
dered anyone, although they have not only had frequent op-
portunity to do so, but also to conceal themselves in the thick
and extensive forest. Therefore, in view of the horrible wicked-
ness which is practised in Europe, among the nominal Chris-
tians, and, in mature comparison therewith, the candid sim-
plicity of these my present West-Indian countrymen, I am
always reminded of the sermon delivered before you by Herr
Johann Augustin Litzheimers, upon Christianity brought to
shame by a consideration of Heathendom, wherein the preacher
asserts, on page 45: The nominal Christians crucify the Son
of God, and scornfully spit upon their Holy Creator when they
value the money and goods of this world more highly than the
Word of God, or the well-being of this perishing life above
420 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
God and immortal bliss; on the other hand the heathen Seneca
professes: Semper magis nolo,1 quod Deo [Deus] vult, quam quod
ego, adjungar et adhaerebo Mi velut Minister et assecla. Cum Mo
appeto, cum Mo desidero. Nihil recuso omnium quce ipsi vide-
buntur. Tu Deus quocunque me voles, ducito, quam vestem lubet,
circumdato, si Magistratum me gerere vis, vel privatum in pau-
perie esse, ecce non tantum assentior, sed etiam apud alios te de-
fendam et tuebor.2 Listen and ponder and blush over these
things from the heathen.
But our nominal Christians are diametrically opposed to
these heathen virtues, and seek their pleasure in eating, drink-
ing, gambling, and debauchery, in usury, fraud, envy, cursing,
and quarrelling. Oh, thou heathen Christendom! and yet
thou dost nevertheless imagine to be even in such wise cleansed
from thy sins. To assume this hypothetically, forsooth, is,
unless improvement follow, a manifest error.
In conclusion, I must further add to the recommendation
of my unsavage savages, that they are much averse to war and
the shedding of human blood, and would far rather be at peace
with all men; while, in contrast, nearly the whole of Christen-
dom is under arms, and they rend and destroy one another
in offensive and defensive warfare, with barbaric cruelty far
exceeding that of the most horrid monsters. Concerning
which the German poet makes complaint:
Lion, wolf, and tiger still
Are loth to work their comrades ill ;
How then can a Christian bear
Fellowmen to rend and tear, —
While their Lord enjoins these three,
Love, and peace, and unity.3
1 Evidently a misprint for volo.
8 " I ever prefer that which God wishes to my own desires. I shall be joined
to him and cling to him as a follower and a disciple. I shall be united with him
in my strivings and longings. I refuse nothing, of what shall seem best to him.
Thou, God, shalt lead me whithersoever thou desirest, thou shalt throw around
me whatsoever garment thou wilt. If thou wishest that I should hold a magis-
tracy, or that I should live in poverty as a private citizen, behold, not only do
I assent thereto, but even in the presence of others I will defend thee, and main-
tain thy cause."
'John xiii. 34. (Note in original.)
1693] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 421
I now inform you briefly of the particulars relating to my-
self. On November 26, 1688, I was married, here at German-
ton, to the Jungfrau Anna Klostermannin, daughter of Hen-
ricus Klostermann, Doctor of Medicine, and a native of the
Duchy of Cleves.1 On March 30, 1690, my wife gave birth
to a little son, whose name is Johann Samuel, and on April 1,
1692, to a second son, to whom the name Heinrich was given
at the holy baptism.
May the Lord our God in mercy turn His holy countenance
upon these my children, and all others, and bestow his Holy
Spirit upon them, and may this lead them in the way of truth,
and preserve them from error and false teaching; may He
permit them to grow up in His service and obedience, may He
comfort and strengthen them in trouble and temptation, that
they together with us may fight a good fight, hold fast to the
faith until the end, and thus win the crown of life and glory.
That furthermore God in His compassion has even up to
this time preserved my honored father in His mighty protect-
ing hand, from utter ruin in these dangerous events (especially
now that the French Hannibal 2 has laid waste the Rothen-
burg frontier with fire and sword before your eyes), as also
[for the fact] that my honored father has been selected by the
regular election in the Council and by the gracious confirmation
thereof on the part of His Majesty the Roman Emperor, to be
chief justice of the city of Windsheim, for these things I con-
gratulate him, since he has now obtained greater opportunity
and power to render poor Windsheim beneficial service, ac-
cording to the admonition of Saint Bernhard : Vae tibi si praees,
et non prodes* On this account, may we unceasingly bear in
mind that the Most High Chief- Just ice of the living and the
1 Pastorius was married, November 6, 1688, to Ennecke Klostermanns (1658-
1723), a native of Miilheim-on-the-Ruhr, daughter of Jan (not Henricus) Klos-
termanns. (Learned, Pastvriiis, p. 191.). She had a brother Heinrich Kloster-
manns^
a Evidently Louis XIV.'s commander, General Feuquieres, the leader of the
French forces in their terrible ravaging campaign in Southern Germany in 1689.
Their operations extended to Rothenburg-on-the-Tauber, which, while surround-
ed by seventeen burning villages, made a valiant defense against the enemy.
Rothenburg is only about twelve miles southwest of Windsheim, where Pastor-
ious's father resided.
1 "Alas for thee, if thou art high in place yet conferrest no benefits."
422 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA (1W3
dead has not confided to us such judicial authority for our own
private advantage, but that it may be used for the good of all,
and that, in the great day of the last judgment He will demand
much from those to whom much was given. According to
the following words: Potentes potenter tormenta patientur.1
And this I write because of the compassionate desire which I
bear for the salvation of all our souls, considering that we as
followers of Christ are not obliged merely to pray for one
another, but also to encourage one another to holiness on all
occasions. Yes, even to true holiness! without which no one
can come to God. And I remain, under the true dispensation,
in the blessed hand of God, during my life's course, etc.
Letter of Francis Daniel Pastorius from Pennsylvania to Tobias
Schumbergius,2 his former Teacher.
De Mundi Vanitate.
Vale, Mundi gemebundi colorata Gloria.
Tua bona, tua dona sperno transitoria.
Quae externe, hodierne splendent pulchra facie,
Cras vanescunt et liquescunt, velut Sal in Glacie.
Quid sunt Reges, quorum leges terror sunt mortali-
bus?
Multi locis atque focis latent infernalibus.
Ubi vani, crine cani Maximi Pontifices?
Quos honorant et adorant Cardinales Supplices?
Quid periti, eruditi sunt Doctores Artium?
Quid sunt Harum vel illarum studiosi partium?
Ubi truces Belli Duces, Capita militiae,
Quos accendit et defendit rabies saevitiae?
Tot et tanti, quanti quanti, umbra sunt et vanitas,
Omne Horum nam Decorum brevis est inanitas:
Qui vixerunt, abierunt, restant sola Nomina,
Tanquam stata atque rata nostrae sortis Omina.
Fuit Cato, fuit Plato, Cyrus, Croesus, Socrates,
Periander, Alexander, Xerxes et Hippocrates,
^'The mighty ones will suffer terrible torments."
'Tobias Schumberg, a Hungarian, rector of the Latin school or gymnasium
at Windsheim. Pastorius came under his instruction as a small boy on the re-
moval of the Pastorius family from Sommerhausen to Windsheim.
1W3] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 423
Maximinus, Constantinus, Gyges, Anaxagoras,
Epicurus, Palinurus, Demonax, Pythagoras,
Caesar fortis, causa mortis, tot altarum partium.
Ciceronem et Nasonem nil iuvabat Artium.
Sed Hos cunctos iam defunctos tempore praeterito
Non est e re recensere. Hinc concludo merito:
Qui nunc degunt atque regunt Orbem huius seculi,
Mox sequentur et labentur velut Schema speculi.
Et dum mersi universi sunt in mortis gremium,
Vel Infernum, vel aeternum sunt capturi praemium
Hincce dei JESU mei invoco Clementiam,
Ut Is sursum cordis cursum ducat ad Essentiam
Trinitatis, quae Beatis summam dat Laetitiam.
[Translation in the same metre, by the general editor of the series.]
World of grieving, your deceiving glories bid I now adieu ;
All your cheating joys, and fleeting, turn me with contempt
from you.
Though you render bright with splendor the appearance of to-
day,
Day revolves, your charm dissolves, and sinks, like salt in ice,
away.
Rulers regal, striking legal terrors into human hearts,
Now are lying low and sighing, smitten through with hellish
darts.
Old and hoary Popes, whose glory cardinals proclaim, and bow
Lowly bending without ending — lords of Rome, where are ye
now?
Where the learning of discerning Doctors full of scholars'
pride ?
Where the hearty friend of party, blindly fighting for his side?
Where the famous chiefs, who shame us with the glory of their
deeds,
Whom the savage zeal to ravage ever on to warfare leads ?
All the mighty are but flighty, spectral forms, and shadows
vain;
All the glory transitory, honors brief, and joys inane.
All are banished, all have vanished, naught but names remain
behind,
Illustrations, adumbrations, of the fate of human kind.
Gone is Cato, gone is Plato, Cyrus, Croesus, Socrates,
424 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1694
Periander, Alexander, Xerxes, and Hippocrates,
Maximinus, Constantinus, Gyges, Anaxagoras,
Epicurus, Palinurus, Demonax, Pythagoras,
Caesar glorious, the victorious, laying many chieftains low;
Nor could glowing speech or flowing Ovid save or Cicero.
Needless is it to revisit with our censure those who've gone
Through those portals. Hear, ye mortals, the conclusion I
have drawn.
They that now are throned in power, they shall also pass away,
As there passes from our glasses imaged form or figure gay.
When Death's grievous hand shall leave us all beneath the
churchyard stone,
Pains infernal, life eternal, we shall reap as we have sown.
Hence, adoring and imploring, Jesu's mercy loud I call,
That his leading and his pleading bring me to that heavenly hall
Of the trinal God, where final joy awaits the blessed all.
Letters from Pennsylvania, of March 30, 1694.
In my last, of June 1, 1693, 1 have given detailed informa-
tion respecting the condition of public affairs in this country,
as well as the private concerns of my family. Since that time,
namely on February 8, 1694, I received your former letter as
well as that of my estimable brother, Augustine Adam,1 so
that I am now briefly answering both of them. I especially
rejoice on account of the endurable circumstances of my hon-
ored father, and I rejoice in the Lord as the sole and eternal
source of tranquil contentment, the more because, at the pres-
ent times of danger, many millions of our fellow-men are with-
out, and in want of, such well-being, both of soul and body.
May God, the only good and powerful guardian of His Israel,
permit you to dwell yet longer, safe and tranquil, under the
shadow of his wings. May He give you that which is profit-
able for your eternal souls' good, both on this and the other
side of the grave.
I and my dear ones have, as yet, the same health and happi-
ness, as I reported in my former letter, in a quiet and peaceful
mode of life, and although it is true that I am burdened with
the inspection of matters relating to the administration of
justice, in Germanton as well as in Philadelphia, nevertheless
1 A half-brother, then aged twelre.
1694] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 425
such external magistrate's business does not in the least hinder
that inward consciousness of the mild and humble personal life
in Jesus Christ, so that I can truly say, in the midst of each
occupation: reverter e anima mea in requiem tuam.1
An intimate friend wrote me from Franckfurt lately how
the cold Lutheran preachers had been assailed and tossed about
by the Pietists, and the Papist believers in good works by the
Quietists, all which I regard as undoubted precursors of the
speedy advent and appearance (God grant it!) of His dearly-
beloved and only-begotten Son. Well then, and eternally
well, for all those who have oil in their lamps, and are prepared
to meet this blessed Bridegroom, and to go in with Him to the
wedding-feast. I have, however, heard with astonishment,
that both sides, Molinas2 and his followers as well as the Pie-
tists, who lay emphasis upon an effective faith, are almost
violently persecuted as witnesses of the Heavenly truth, as if
men desired to oppose the guidance of God and to rule over
the consciences of men, which is the prerogative that God
has reserved for Himself alone. These will one day see Whom
they have assaulted. Verbum Domini manet in aeternum*
The Wxord of God and the Truth can not be suppressed.
Now to answer the questions of my dear brother Augustine
Adam, what is the nature of the royal household among the
savages here? It must be said that their royal residences are
so ill-conditioned that I can not easily describe them. There
is only one chamber, or room, in a hut made of trees and roofed
over with bark, having neither chimney, stairs, nor place of
retirement. These very kings go forth with the others to the
hunt, shoot the wild animals, and support themselves by the
work of their own hands. They have neither servants nor
lacqueys, neither housemaids nor court-ladies, and what use
has one for a master of horse who keeps no horse, but always
goes on foot? In like manner, no court-steward is needed,
where there is no one to be cared for besides one's self and one's
111 Return, my soul, to thy rest."
a Miguel de Molinos (1630?-1696), a Spanish mystic, author of an ascetical
treatise, The Spiritual Guide, and a leader among Roman Catholics of the Quiet-
istic movement. In 1685 he was cited before the Holy Office (Inquisition), and
later his writings were condemned by it.
'"The Word of the Lord endureth forever."
426 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1694
wife and children. They live in a poor way, and entirely in
harmony with nature, quae paucis contenta est.1 Their trade
with us Christians consists in this: they bring to market bear,
moose, deer, and other skins, likewise beaver, marten, otter,
and other furs, and also turkeys, game, and fish, and exchange
them for powder, lead, blankets, and brandy, the last of which,
and indeed all other strong drink, we are forbidden by our
laws to sell to them, because they misuse it, and it leads to
their hurt.
They use no ovens for baking, but cook their bread in the
ashes. A great many of these savages have died, even since
I came here, so that there are hardly more than a fourth part
of the number now existing that were to be seen when I came
to the country, ten years ago.
On February 8 of this year, 1694, 1 also received a few lines
from my godchild Franz Jacob Mercklein2 for whom I, in my
eighteenth year, stood as godfather, although I myself was then
unbaptized by the Holy Spirit, and had not yet put on Christ.
I beg you to greet him kindly for my sake, and earnestly to
admonish him that he shall keep with true zeal the bond into
which I entered with God on his behalf — renouncing in his name
the world, the flesh, and the devil — and that he shall not break
the same. For such vows go far, far before all other duties,
and the true baptism is not the laying aside of the impurities
of the flesh, but it is the compact of a good conscience with
God, etc.
Is his honored father, Johann Caspar, and the brothers of
the same, Johann Jacob and Abraham, still living? and like-
wise my cousin Lucas Klein and Doctor Grimm, etc.? I pray
you to give them my hearty love and most friendly greeting,
since I desire with Nazianzen that: Ne quis illorum pereat.*
And even though I do not count on seeing them in this mortal
dwelling or with the eyes of the body, on the other hand, it is
my sincere desire, and earnest supplication to God in Heaven,
that He may let His light shine upon all of us, give us new
birth through His Holy Spirit, and guide us toward all Truth,
and thus maintain us in His service and obedience, strengthen
x" Which is content with little."
1 Born 1670, son of Johann Caspar Mercklein, probably of Windsheim.
■ "That no one of them may perish."
1695] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 427
us in trouble and temptation, and comfort us in those afflic-
tions which are our due, so that we may grow in true faith,
and in active ardent love, and in Christ-like good works, and
finally, when we shall have finished our appointed course, that
we may attain to that glorious kingdom of His dearly-beloved
Son Jesus Christ, and that there we may thank Him with
eternal Alleluias and evermore sing Holy, Holy, Holy.
With this, as well as a filial greeting from myself, my wife,
and two little sons, I remain, so long as I live, etc.
Germanton, March 30, 1694.
A Letter from Germanton of the last of April, 1695. P. P.1
Several months ago various Germans arrived here, and
again, a week since, an Hungarian named Saroschy2 (who had
before that been staying for some time with Herr Schumberg),
but neither the one nor the other brought with him any letters
whatever from Windsheim, so that, in connection with medi-
tation upon my own mortality, I also sometimes think, Has
perhaps my honored father finished his pilgrimage, and thus
reached the time of rest from all sorrow and misery? For to
those who die in the Lord, Death is no more than the portal
of paradise, per quam itur ad Astra}
Our heaviest trouble and burden should pass lightly away
for this reason, that so long as the long-suffering God lengthens
our days in this earthly tabernacle, we are and live in Christ,
or rather Christ, by His holy and righteous Spirit, lives in us.
Therefore we should be well-assured that we should not die
without Him, nor be eternally destroyed.
Ah, may the Lord grant that we all, according to the meas-
ure of grace and understanding bestowed on us, may win the
imperishable crown of eternal glory by fulfilling the will of
God in patience and submission, and remaining steadfast unto
the end.
1 "Praemissis praemittendis," t. «., "titles to be supplied."
■ Isaac Ferdinand Saroschi, a Hungarian, who had been a preceptor under
his compatriot, Tobias Schumberg, rector of the Latin School at Windsheim,
came to Germantown and after wandering about for two years returned to Europe
by way of Maryland.
'"Through which one reaches the stars."
428 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1695
As regards the conditions prevailing in this country, I can
and must extol the benevolence and providence of God, for
we live in peace and tranquillity, abundantly provided for,
and supplied with all the necessaries of life.
King William III. of England has not only freely atoned to
our governor, William Penn, for all accusations of a treasonable
correspondence with King James, and once more re-instated
him in the government of this province, but he has also ele-
vated him to the rank of a prince,1 so that he can now sign
himself: William Penn, by the grace of God, and the favor of
the King and Queen, Prince in Pennsylvania. We hope now
for his speedy arrival. I and my two little sons are in as good
health as could be wished. We greet our honored father and
mother, our brothers and sisters, and all our acquaintances,
most kindly, hoping with our whole hearts, that it is well with
you all, in body and soul, wherewith, closing in haste, may we
all be commended to the protecting hand of God, and I remain,
etc.
A Missive from Germanton, of June 21, 1695.
May it please my honored father to receive the present
lines as an echo of my former letter, in case that should not
have been received in due course, concerning which the well-
known uncertainty of the sea makes me doubtful; and also
for that reason I dare not hope to receive many more letters
from that worthy hand, to which I, however, cling in child-
like fashion. Here, in this country, we are living in comfort-
able circumstances, in good health and in wished-for peace-
two priceless gifts of the Supreme Being. We are on very
good terms with our savage neighbors, whom I, in deed and
in truth, find melius moratos et hospitaliores in quoscunque ad-
venas,2 than are the Christians with you, who know how to re-
count the acts of Christ historically, but by their ungodly lives
disavow the power of the faith and the Imitation of Christ;
and there is, accordingly, a noteworthy difference between sane
Christians and vain Christians. The former are real, the latter
1 By a royal order of August 20, 1694, Penn's government of Pennsylvania
was restored to him, but he was, of course, not raised to the rank of prince as
Pastorius states.
'Better mannered and more hospitable towards all strangers."
> «
1697] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 429
nominal. The former are Christians in deeds, the latter are
Christians in profession only. I often pray to God that He,
in His infinite goodness and mercy, will pour out His Holy
Spirit over these innocent savages, and bestow upon them the
Light of the saving faith, in order to augment with them His
eternal Heavenly kingdom.
And now may this true Shepherd of men, Who neither
slumbers nor sleeps, henceforth graciously protect my honored
father and all the dear friends and acquaintances belonging to
your place from all destruction as well in regard to transitory
and visible things, as also especially in regard to the eternal
loss of the soul, and some time bring us together in the king-
dom of His Son, there to praise and to glorify him with eternal
songs of joy. Amen.
A Letter from Germanton, of March 1, 1697. P. P.
I inform you briefly that we, here in this province, live in
wished-for peace, through the undeserved mercy of God, and
find ourselves in good health, which we justly recognize and
extol as a wonderful mercy and gift of God. I can also scarcely
express with what joy I have learned from my honored father's
last letter, your good condition (since the dear God has kept
you unharmed in this ruinous flame of war); at the same time
I had patiently resigned myself therein, neither to behold that
honored person in this world, nor any letters by his hand, so
often beneficently opened to me. May God fill the same again
from time to time with His heavenly blessing, and reward most
abundantly, in this life and in the life to come, all that has
been done for me from my birth. May He protect my honored
father together with all his family, in the present dangerous
times from all harm and injury, according to the decree of
His holy will.
I have previously, on December 1, 1688, written very much
in detail to my good friend Herr Georg Leonhard Model,1
rector of the schools in Windsheim, to which letter I refer for
the sake of brevity. I had also suggested to him as respects
the education of youth that each boy, according to his ability,
1 Or Modelius, a native of Windsheim, with whom as a youth Pastorius was
matriculated at the University of Altdorf, in 1668.
430 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1697
should learn an easy trade besides the knowledge of letters,
in order to carry on the same in foreign provinces in case of
necessity, and to assist himself therewith outside of the coun-
try, and to get his livelihood throughout the world, without
dissipating his patrimony to the distress of his parents. For
although in your country this is regarded as unimportant and
contemptible, it is nevertheless far more conformable to the
decree of God and the teaching of the apostles than all the
scholastic vagaries. I myself would give forthwith some hun-
dreds of reichsthalers if I had turned the precious time, which
I employed in the acquisition of the sparrow-like physic,
metaphysic and other unnecessary sophistic arguments and
quibbles, to engineering, or the art of printing, which would
be more useful to me now, and prove more profitable and more
entertaining to me and to my fellow-Christians than such
physic, metaphysic, and all the proofs and syllogisms of Aris-
totle, by means of which no savage or infidel can be brought to
God, still less can a piece of bread be earned. Now it is over
and done with, and I close. My two little sons greet their
dearest grandfather in childlike simplicity, in their little let-
ters which herewith are enclosed, and wish very much to see
him.
The members of the German Company or Society in this
country, still living, are: Abraham Behagel at Franckfurt-
am-Mayn, Doctor Gerhard in Mastrich, the syndic of Bremen,
Doctor Johann Petersen of near Magdeburg, Balthasar Ja-
bert at Lubeck. My good friend in particular is, however,
Pieter Hendricks living on the Keysers Graft 1 at Amsterdam,
a man of sincere loyalty, who will not fail to care most assid-
uously for all my honored father's letters which come to him,
and, further, to deliver them to me.
No more at this time, except that commending us all to
God's almighty protection, shelter, and mercy, I remain, etc.
Germanopolis, March 1, 1697.
1 Keisersgracht.
1697] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 431
Here follow two enclosures from the two young sons of Pastorius
to their honored grandfather, from the town of Germanopolis
in Pennsylvania.
March 1, 1697.
Dearly-beloved Grandfather:
We, the two brothers undersigned, greet you most affec-
tionately, and pray God that he will protect you from all mis-
fortune, and that he will, on the other hand, bless you with all
the rich gifts of Heaven, and will preserve you to a long life,
according to His holy will. We also hope, that if not both, at
least one of us will have an opportunity to see our dear grand-
father in this world; at last, however, in Heaven, to rejoice
with one another, and to remain near one another forever,
and always to praise and glorify God, with all the angels and
the elect, as Him to whose highest Majesty alone all praise,
all glory, all honor and love belongs, and is due.
Your dutiful grandchildren
Johann Samuel Pastorius. Henricus Pastorius.1
A Letter from Germanopolis of May 13, 1697.
I had already resigned myself (after I had received no
letters from my honored father for so long a time) to receive
nothing more from his dear hand, when by chance I received
his last in the street as I was going into our church-meeting,
and I could not read it through, without happy tears of affec-
tion. Above all, I was very glad to learn that my much loved
brother, Augustine Adam Pastorius, is inclined to come to
me, not doubting that we shall live together harmoniously in
brotherly love, and remain in unbroken, enduring, and un-
feigned heartfelt affection. But, however pleased I might be
to have him with me, nevertheless I herewith most kindly
entreat and beg of him, that he will not leave home without
the knowledge and consent of his honored parents, because in
such circumstances he would be extremely unwelcome to me.
It is almost repugnant to me to write long letters because the
French pirates plunder so many ships, and also those letters
1 Aged seven and five respectively.
432 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1697
which I sent over during the past year by Richard Penn1
(William Penn's cousin) got into their clutches as he informed
me upon his return here.
The printer2 who was here in Pennsylvania has removed
to New York. If I had a little more skill in such work, I
should myself establish a press here, for the use to the country.
If, now, my dear brother Augustine Adam is much inclined to
come here, with the consent of his honored father, he might
learn this trade in a fourth part of a year, and it would not be
difficult to teach the same later to others here.
This province still increases from day to day, in men and
in human depravity, since religious quarrels are beginning
with violence, and (in the absence of a Consistory) there is no
end of the disputes.
That Hungarian of the name of Isaac Ferdinand Saroschi,
who lived formerly with Herr Schumberg as tutor, and has
wandered about in these regions for two years now, has be-
taken himself to Maryland with the intention to sail across
to Europe once more. In case now he should speak slight-
ingly of these colonies, his remarks thereupon should not be
given entire credit, because he has not had a fixed abode in any
place, nor lived with any Society, but has always been given
to vagrancy which has become a fixed habit in him, and, after
the manner of the Hungarians, he gathers only alms and gifts
and has carried these away with him, but he did not wish
to play the role of an apostolic preacher without a fixed rec-
ompense and salary, which is mistrust of the providence of
God.
My two little sons thank their most dearly-loved and hon-
ored grandfather, with childish simplicity, for remembering
them so affectionately. They much desire to see him and to
be with him. They, together with myself, also commend
him to the faithful protecting hand of God.
Germanton, May 13, 1697.
*Not identified; 10 Mo. (December) 24, 1696, Richard Penn witnessed a
paper, Richard Lundy to Phineas Pemberton, two Bucks County men, of near
Pennsbury (Pemberton MSS., in Etting Papers, I. 65, Hist. Soc. Pa.)
'William Bradford.
1697] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 433
The Contents of a Letter of Francis Daniel Pastorius to Herr
George Leonhard Model, Rector of the School of Windsheim.
Praemissis praemittendis.1
In order that my friend may be able to find this region on
the maps, he must search thereon even to the 40° of latitude
for New Amsterdam (now named New Eboracum).2 One hun-
dred English miles to the east 3 he will find the River de la
Ware, thereon the capital of this province, Philadelphia, and
two hours' distance from there Germanton which began in
the year 1683 with thirteen families, and within five years saw
some fifty houses erected, in the hope that from year to year
more families and German workmen would come over here to
us. We have, to be sure, at present, no other city-walls save
such as Romulus made yonder with a plough, nevertheless
there is no mischief-making Remus with us, and we do not
need to apprehend any sudden hostile attack on the part of
our neighbors, those native inhabitants, or savages, as they are
quite humane and respectful to all strange guests coming to
them. But how, and in what manner, and at what time these
savages came across the Atlantic ocean hither? Of those
things no well-grounded information can be given (because
no single written document of this place is to be met with).
They are people of the forest who instruct and teach one
another by means of tradition, from the aged to the young.
They are generally tall of stature, with powerful bodies, broad
shoulders, and wide heads, hollow and austere foreheads, and
black hair. They besmear the face with bear's grease and
with various colors; they have no beards, are frank and in-
genuous in disposition, and use few words, which, however,
are emphatic. They can neither write nor read, but are never-
theless intelligent, cunning, serious, and fearless, hold fast to
their preconceived opinion; they bargain closely, but pay for
things with accuracy; they can long endure hunger, they
love drunkenness, they do not work willingly, but all support
themselves by hunting and fishing, and not one of them is
accustomed to ride a horse. In summer they do not cover
themselves at all, except what nature wishes covered, but in
> " The titles to be supplied." ■ New York. » Southwest.
434 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1697
winter they wrap themselves up in a coarse square cloth, and
cover themselves in their huts with bear and deer skins; in-
stead of shoes they use thin deer skin, and they have no
hats.
The women are frivolous, backbiting, and arrogant. They
fasten their hair together in a knot. They have full breasts
and black necks, upon which, as also upon their ears and arms,
they hang their coral money as decoration. While the men
pursue the game, the women sow beans and plant Turkish
[Indian] corn. They love their children passionately. They
bind them on shingles as soon as they are born. When they
cry the mothers move them rapidly to and fro, and so quiet
them, and although they are still small they plunge them into
the warm rivers that they may so much the sooner grow strong.
In their infancy they are made to catch fish with hooks; after-
wards, when they are grown stronger, they train themselves
in the hunt. The young women that are of a marriageable
age cover the face and thereby testify to their disposition to
take a husband. They punish all their crimes by fines, even
murder, and when one kills a woman he must give double the
penalty, because the women bring forth children, which the
men are not able to do. They believe that there is one God,
and that the souls of men are immortal, and that God holds
back the Devil from doing injury to human beings; they
say that God dwells in the most glorious southern land, to
which they also shall attain at some future time, after death.
Their religion consists in two kinds of worship, namely in
song and sacrifices. They slaughter the first fruits of their
hunting as a sacrifice with such vigor that the whole body
sweats.
When they sing, they dance around in a circle; while two,
in the centre, lead the dance and raise a dirge, the entire
chorus carries on a pitiful lamentation, weeps in addition, at
one time gnashing the teeth, at another snapping with the fin-
gers, at another stamping with the feet, and they execute this
laughable spectacle quite ardently and seriously. When they
become sick they eat of no animal that is not a female. When
they bury their dead, they throw something costly into the
grave with the dead by which they wish it to be understood
that their affectionate good will toward the dead shall not fail.
1698] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 435
They manifest their mourning (which continues for an entire
year) by their blackened faces. They build their dwelling-
huts of trees and bushes, and there is no one among them so
inexperienced in the art of building that he cannot build such
a hut for himself and his family, in three or four hours. Their
language may be judged from the following dialogue: Eitha-
nithap, Be greeted, good friend. A eitha, Be you greeted also.
Tankomi, Whence come you hither? Past ni unda qui, Not
far from here. Gecho luensi, What is his name? Arts. Fran-
ciscus. 0 letto, It is good. Noha matappi, Let him take a seat
here by us. Gecho ki Wengkinum, What would he like? Husko
lallaculla, I am very hungry. Langund agboon, Give me bread.
harness, Fish. Acothita, Fruit. Hittuck nipa, There is a tree
full. Chingo metschi, When do you journey again from this
place? Alappo, to-morrow. Nacha kuin, day after to-morrow;
and so on. Besides these, ana is mother; squaa, wife; hexis,
an old woman; Menitto, the devil; murs, a cow; kuschkusch,
a pig; wicco, the house; hockihockon, an estate; pocksuckan,
the knife. Whatsoever professor digs out of this the origin
and root of these Indian words, him will I praise. In the mean-
time the paper is becoming too small for me, the quills blunt,
the ink will not longer flow, there is no more oil in the lamp,
it is already late, my eyes are full of sleep. Fare you well.
I close.
Sent from Philadelphia, on May 30, 1698.
I received in proper condition, on April 25, 1698, my
honored father's latest, of August 15, and I was greatly rejoiced
by the sight of his dear handwriting. But to answer his
questions submitted, I would wish that my pen could reach
down to the uttermost depth of my soul, for so should I do the
same with more satisfaction than is the case now. Neverthe-
less I do not doubt that my honored father will supply by his
keen apprehension that which is not perfectly expressed on
this paper:
436 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
1.
Now as to the first question, concerning the ordering of the civil
government.
William Penn is and remains lord of the proprietary and
sanctioned prince over Pennsylvania, and although he has not
been here with us for some years, nevertheless he has done us
more service in England through his presence there, than prob-
ably might have been the case if he had remained here all the
time. The estimable man has very many enemies on account
of his religion, who however rather overdo matters, since they,
for their part, are not surely informed, much less can they
see into another's heart. We expect his arrival in this country
without fail, this summer, or next autumn, if no ill-health or
other hindrance occurs.
So far as relates to the form of the civil government here
at Philadelphia, as the capital city, I state briefly that each
year certain persons1 are elected from the whole people, who
make the necessary laws and ordinances for that year accord-
ing to the condition of the time and the people, and thereby
prevent encroaching vices and moreover, throughout the whole
year, in all circumstances, they help to care for the common
weal, by and with the governor of the province. At the same
time the aforesaid proprietary, William Penn, ordains a cer-
tain twelve, from among those thus elected, to be justices,
who decide all disputes occurring according to the laws thus
made, after the facts have been investigated by twelve neigh-
bors. And all this is done in open court, so that everyone,
great and small, may enter and listen.
In my German city, Germanton, there is an entirely dif-
ferent condition of things. For, by virtue of the franchise
obtained from William Penn, this town has its own court, its
own burgomaster and council, together with the necessary
officials, and well-regulated town laws, council regulations,
and a town seal.
The inhabitants of this city are for the most part trades-
people, such as cloth, fustian, and linen weavers, tailors, shoe-
makers, locksmiths, carpenters, who however at the same time
1 The assembly.
1698] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 437
are also occupied with the cultivation of the soil and the raising
of cattle.
This region would be sufficient to maintain twice as many
inhabitants as are now actually there.
This town lies two hours' distance from Philadelphia, and
includes not only six thousand acres (morgen) by the survey,
but twelve thousand morgen of land have also been assigned to
us by William Penn for the establishing of some villages. As
to the taxation and tribute of the subjects, in this country, it
is treated as it is with the English nation, where neither the
king himself nor his envoys, bailiffs, nor governors may lay
any kind of burden or tax upon the subjects, unless those sub-
jects themselves have first voluntarily resolved and consented
to give a specified amount, and, according to their fundamental
laws, no tax may remain in force for longer than a single year.
2. To come to my honored father's second question.
What form of government have the so-called savages and
half-naked people? Whether they become citizens and inter-
marry with the Christians? Again, whether their children also
associate with the Christian children and they play with one
another, etc.?
It may be stated in reply, that, so far as I have yet gone
about among them, I have found them reasonable people and
capable of understanding good teaching and manners, who
give evidence of an inward devotion to God, and in fact show
themselves much more desirous of a knowledge of God than
are many with you who teach Christianity by words from the
pulpit, but belie the same through their ungodly lives, and
therefore, in yonder great Day of Judgment, will be put to
shame by these heathen.
We Christians in Germanton and Philadelphia have no
longer the opportunity to associate with them, in view of the
fact that their savage kings have accepted a sum of money
from William Penn, and, together with their people, have
withdrawn very far away from us, into the wild forest, where,
after their hereditary custom, they support themselves by the
chase, shooting birds and game, and also by catching fish,
438 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
and dwell only in huts made of bushes and trees drawn to-
gether. They carry on no cattle-breeding whatever, and culti-
vate no field or garden; accordingly they bring very little else
to the Christians to market than the pelts, the skins of ani-
mals, and the birds which they have shot, and fishes, nor do
they associate much with the Christians; and certainly no
mutual marriage-contract between us and them has yet taken
place. They exchange their elk and deer-skins, beaver, mar-
ten, and turkeys, ordinarily, for powder, lead, blankets, and
brandy, together with other sweet drinks.
In the business of our German Company, however, we now
use in trade Spanish and English coins, as also the Dutch
thalers; with this difference only, that that which is worth
four shillings on the other side of the sea, passes for five here.
3. Concerning the third question: How our divine worship is
regulated and constituted in this place f
The answer is that, as experience testifies that by the co-
ercion of conscience nothing else than hypocrites and word-
Christians are made, of whom almost the entire world is now
full, we have therefore found it desirable to grant freedom of
conscience, so that each serves God according to his best under-
standing, and may believe whatever he is able to believe.
It is certain, once for all, that there is only one single un-
doubted Truth. Sects however are very numerous, and each
sectarian presumes to know the nearest and most direct way
to Heaven, and to be able to point it out to others, though
nevertheless there is surely no more than a single One Who on
the basis of truth has said: I am the Way, the Truth and the
Life.
Although now each sect, with us, is accustomed to hold
undisturbed its assembly on the seventh day of the week, it
is nevertheless proved by experience and trial, that the most
part serve a God unknown to them out of mere habit, concern-
ing Whom they have heard other people speak. But they
will neither feel nor listen to God Himself, nor taste His good-
ness; they are without spiritual apprehension, and their
fleshly senses do not comprehend what the Spirit of God is,
1698] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 43£
the verbal or historical narrative to which they listen does not
reach the heart, and therefore does not edify them; so soon as
the church-meeting is over, all is again forgotten; if the in-
tention of their hearts is set upon usury, finance, deceit, and
luxury before the service, it is still set thereon. Not once is
amendment of life kept in mind, or how one shall put on Christ,
or how Christ the Lord shall impress his image on them.
Such societies and sects one should reasonably avoid, and
on the other hand seek his companions among those holy ones
in the light of truth, who love the great goodness and truth of
God with all their heart, trust His holy providence and highly
extol His power, whose souls are in God and God is in them, of
whose souls the Holy Ghost bears witness that they are the
children of God.
We should follow yonder One our Master, Who has given
us those words which His Heavenly Father gave to Him.
His true disciples abide by this His W^ord, and He gives
His Spirit to these disciples, which the world neither perceives
nor is able to receive, which also could not be purchased by
Simon Magus for any money, but he who desires to have the
same must turn from the old path of sin, renounce the world,
cast himself into the father-heart of God, and resign himself
entirely to the dear Lord, and beseech Him humbly, that He
may draw him to Himself, for the Lord Christ says: No man
can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him. John vi., and Eph. i.1 It all depends on the mercy of
God, and not at all on any man's wish or deed.
I must acknowledge that our age and the religious disputes
are beyond my comprehension and understanding, and that
with all the individual churches there is wanting the life of the
inner man, and the life at one at Christ. Molinas and his sect
of the Quietists have much alarmed the Papal See, in that he
pointed out the way to Heaven through the inward faith of
the heart and love to God and our neighbor, and not through
works, pilgrimages, and penance. And because similar teach-
ings will be also urged at the present time here and there among
the Evangelical churches, by the Pietists, therefore, many of
them, both clergy and laymen, men devoted to a luxurious
life and to ease, are much alarmed, saying that man can not
1 John vi. 44; Ephesians i. 5, 11.
440 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
be without sin, that there must be bad and good men together,
that it may certainly be permitted to have a little Jesuitical
drinking-bout in good fraternal spirit.
I for my part hold this as my entire secure hope, that I
look up to God alone, and with my whole heart cling to and
trust Him, under Whose protection alone is safety, and without
Him there is neither safety nor Truth nor faith. He alone can
illumine the hearts of men, He can destroy the living, and bring
the dead to life again, and knows how to protect His own in
the midst of the fiery furnace.
But they that are joined unto the Lord are one Spirit with
him. I Cor. vi. 17. They may become partakers of the
divine nature. II Pet. i. And hereby know we that we dwell
in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
[I] John iv. 13. We behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.
II Cor. hi. 18.
And Luther, in vol. VI., Altenb., fol. 625, says clearly:
"Thou shalt therefore so hold by the faith that thou shalt
become by the same one with Christ, that out of thee and
Him shall be, as it were, one person, Who will never permit
them to separate or part from one another." And in the
Kirchen-Postill, fol. 243. "We should become filled with the
Spirit of God, so that, as respects the inner man, we may be
entirely consecrated and sanctified."
The holy name of this great God should be at all times held
in high esteem by us all, in the new as in the old world, and
kept holy above all else. And it is well with him, yes forever
well with all those who desire the speedy coming of Jesus, and
have oil in their lamps, and are ready to go in with the blessed
Bridegroom to His eternal wedding-feast.
4. Concerning the fourth question: How our German Company
and Brotherhood is at present constituted.
It should be stated that this same company was started by
some pious and God-fearing persons, not so much for the sake
of worldly gain, but rather to have a Pella or place of refuge
for themselves and other upright people of their country, when
the just God should pour out His cup of wrath over sinful
Europe
1698] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 441
With this intention they arranged to purchase from the
proprietor, through me, about thirty thousand acres of land in
this country, of which the third part is now cultivated, but
two-thirds still lie waste.
The principal members are, by name : Doctor Jacob Schiitz,
Jacobus von de Walle, Doctor Weilich, Daniel Behagel, Johann
Lebrunn, Doctor Gerhard von Maastrich, the Syndic of Bremen,
Doctor Johann Willhelm Peters of near Magdeburg, Balthasar
Jabert of Lubeck, and Joannes Kembler, a preacher at the
same place. Of these partners some were to have come over
here to me and helped to bring the undertaking to the desired
result, but up to this time that has not happened, because they
fear the solitude and tediousness, to all of which I, thank God !
am now well accustomed, and shall so remain accustomed until
my happy end.
However, that the merciful God has so graciously preserved
my honored father together with his dear ones in this recent
devastation of the French war, gives me occasion to extol
His everlasting goodness and fervently to beseech Him to
protect you still further, with gentle fatherly care, from all
chances of misfortune, but especially that He will bring us
ever more and more into His holy fear and obedience, so that
we may feel abhorrence to offend Him, and, on the contrary,
may strive to fulfil His holy will with happy hearts.
In the meantime, my honored father's calm resolve to
live his own life and to serve God, has much pleased and re-
joiced me. A blessed foretaste of those things whereof we
are to expect the fullness in eternity after laying aside this
earthly tabernacle!
0 blessed leading of the Holy Ghost! for what else should it
be, or what could it be called, save the holy grace of God, that
has also at last made my honored father (after he has become
gray in the service of many offices at Windsheimb) so white
in soul and temper that he has recognised the overwhelming
wickedness of mankind, and on that account has gone out from
Babel.1 May the Heavenly Father of all Light preserve this
gift of the Holy Spirit in my honored father's heart until his
departure from this life and entering into eternity.
1 Evidently refers to the father's retirement from Windsheim to Nurem-
berg.
442 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1698
5. Concerning the fifth question: Whether William Penn, the
proprietor of this country, is easy of access, and if one might
address some lines of compliment to him.
It may be stated, that this worthy man is a good Christian,
and consequently entirely averse to the idle compliments of
the world. But he who wishes to exchange sensible and truth-
ful words with him, either by mouth or by letter, will find him
not only easy of access, but also prompt in reply, since he is, from
his heart, sweet-natured, humble, and eager to serve all men.
Furthermore, my two sons greet my honored father affec-
tionately, and daily pray for his temporal and eternal well-
being, wishing ardently either to see him once in person, or at
least to obtain some information respecting the course of his
life and the occupations conducted by him.
Finally, that my honored father has had troublesome
dreams concerning me, and at the same time has regarded it
as a bad omen that my little tree, planted in his garden before
my departure, has withered, is truly not without [meaning], for
I, my wife and youngest son have gone through severe ill-
ness, yet, praise be to God, are fully restored again. But such
things are a reminder of our mortality. All must have an end,
and therefore this letter also, in closing which I greet my
honored father a thousand times, and kiss him (through the
air) with the heart of a child, perhaps for the last time, and
most trustingly commend you with us, and us with you, to
the beneficent protecting and guiding hand of God; and I re-
main
My honored father's
Truly dutiful son,
Philadelphia F. D. P.
30 May 1698.
Upon receiving all the above copious information I, Mel-
chior Adam Pastorius, desired to have intelligence from a third
person how it was faring with my son and his family in such a
far away country. For this reason I caused the letter placed
after this to be sent out from the city of Windsheim, to the
proprietor, William Penn, on June 20, 1698.
PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 443
Salutem ab ipso fonte Salutis Jesu
Christo quam plurimam.
Vir Praelustris Humanissime et in Jesu Dilecte.
Audaciam meam in scribendo facile condonabis cum in-
tellexeris ex paterna id fieri solicitudine et affectione erga
filium meum Franciscum Danielem Pastorium in Pensylvania
tua commorantem abs quo jam longo tempore nil literarum
accepi, ideo naturalis et Paternus affectus me impulit, ut de
statu ac vitae genere ipsius pauca sciscitarer.
Speraveram ego quidem me in senectute mea in ipso bacu-
lum et solamen habiturum, sed spe mea frustratus sum, dum
in Provinciam tarn longe a me dissitam ipse se contulit.
Vive in Jesu felicissime et per ministrum quendam de tuo
famulitio respondere desiderio et petitioni mea? dignare. Qui
ipse toto corde exopto esse
Tuae Humanissimae Dominationis
servus ad omnia Mandata
paratissimus
Windshemii 20. Jun. 1698. M. A. P.
In translation1:
Abundant salvation to you from the fountain of all salvation ,
Jesus Christ.
Most Illustrious and Beloved in Jesus:
You will readily pardon my boldness in writing when you
know that it arises from my paternal anxiety and affection
for my son, Francis Daniel Pastorius, who is living in Penn-
sylvania, from whom I have received no letter for a long time,
and therefore my natural and fatherly affection has impelled
me to make some inquiries in regard to his condition and
method of life.
I had hoped, indeed, to find in him a staff and consolation
in my old age, but I have been disappointed in my hope be-
cause he has betaken himself into a province situated so far
from me.
*The original gives a free translation into German; we have instead ren-
dered the Latin into English.
444 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [im
May you live most happily in Jesus, and deign to reply to
my longing and petition through some servant of your house-
hold.
With my whole heart I desire to be
Your most humane Lordship's servant,
very ready to execute all your commands,
M. A. P.
Windsheim,
20 June, 1698.
Thereafter came by post to Neustatt-on-the-Aysch, on
April 25, the following answer, in Latin:
Observande mi in Jesu Christo Amice.
Ex intimo amoris affectu te saluto praesentemque tibi et
futuram exopto felicitatem, quae constat in fida obedientia in
Lucem et Cognitionem illam quam tibi per Christum Jesum
impertiit Deus.
Nuper adhuc in vivis fuit films tuus, et jam nunc Phila-
delphiae agit. Irenarcha hoc anno est, aut nuperrime fuit,
alias Vir sobrius, probus, prudens et pius audit, spectatae inter
omnes, inculpataeque famae, Familias pater est, quot vero fili-
orum, ignoro. Amoris tui pignus, cum literis valetudinis tuae
nunciis pergratum illi accideret.
Brevi Provinciam istam juvante Deo visurus sum, interea
temporis quid velis et quid de eo expetas vel ad ipsum scribas
vel in Literis ad me dandis exprimas.
Cum Votis itaque ut Deus una cum salutis suae demon-
stratione dignetur seniles tuos annos sicuti olim Simeoni pro-
longare, valere te jubeo
sincerus tibi ex animo amicus,
Bristolii die 20. Mensis 2.
vulgo Februarii 1699. William Penn.
Inscriptio.
A Monsieur Monsieur Melchior Adam
Pastorius.
President, a Windsheim in Franconia.
1609] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 445
In translation:
Respected friend in Jesus Christ:
With a deep feeling of love I salute you and I desire for
your present and future that happiness which consists in faith-
ful obedience to that light and knowledge which God has im-
parted to you through Jesus Christ.
Your son was recently among the living and is even now
in Philadelphia. This year he is justice of the peace, or was
so very lately. Furthermore, he is called a man sober, upright,
wise, and pious, of a reputation approved on all hands and un-
impeached. He is the father of a family, but how many chil-
dren he has I do not know. An assurance of your love and
a letter announcing your good health would be very pleasing
to him.
With the help of God I shall, in a short time, visit that
province. In the meantime, either you may write to him
whatever you wish or what questions you desire to ask of him,
or you may state these in letters to be entrusted to me.
And so, with prayers that God together with the proof of
his grace, may deem it fit to prolong your aged years, as of
old in the case of Simeon, I bid you farewell.
Your very sincere friend
William Penn.
At Bristol, on the 20th day of the 2d month, commonly
called February, 1699.
Addressed:
To Monsieur Monsieur Melchior Adam Pastorius, President.
At Windsheim in Franconia.
Still further Information from Pennsylvania. March 4, 1699.
P.P.
I live here with my two little sons in the country, still in
good health. I am bringing them up in the fear and love of
God. They are always pleased when they hear anything con-
cerning their honored grandfather, and when his letters arrive
here they long to see him, and compel me to tell them fre-
quently something of the journeys he has made, and of the
446 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1699
course of the life he has led, which is however not especially
known to me as yet in all respects. So they are writing here-
with to their honored grandfather himself, and would like
very much to know the origin of his family.
For the rest, this country still increases daily in men and in
human wickedness, nevertheless I hope things here will never
be conducted in a way so unbecoming men, as in those uni-
versities of Europe, in which a man must learn for the most
part things which are to be utterly forgotten.1 Many professors
waste their time on useless questions and clever trifling tricks,
and while they detain the minds of the learners on empty
questions they prevent them from aspiring to more solid mat-
ters. They strive to investigate what Jupiter and Vulcan
may be, but not what Christ is. They also attempt to throw
light upon the most sacred Word of God by means of the syllo-
gisms of Aristotle, as if indeed that Holy Spirit (Who is the
only true Author and Dictator of the Scripture) could be
amended or explained by the accursed heathen mind of Aris-
totle wailing in the lower world.
Others pass the precious time with utterly useless ques-
tions and trickeries, as, Whether that sepulchral inscription at
Monte Fiascone is true: Propter Verbum est est Dominus metis
mortuus est.2 Others seek among the Greek declensions for
the ablative case, but wherefore they desire the same they
themselves know not.
Yea, the students now even begin to drink one another
(in actual fact one out of ten) to death, and to hand over the
miserable one to Satan in his kingdom of hell, which indeed is
much to be deplored, and it were to be wished from God that
the eyes of the understanding of those gentlemen, professors
as well as students, should be opened, that they might recog-
nize how vain it is to boast of the Light of the Gospel, and yet
remain amidst such abominable works of darkness.
On these grounds also I grieve for my dear brother John
Samuel,3 that when he has learned piety and the fear of God at
home from his dear parents and his house-tutor, he should lose
them again at the universities; and that he should learn, with
1 From here to the end of the paragraph the original is in Latin.
'"On account of the word 'est est' my master is dead."
•A half-brother, born in 1675.
1699] PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA 447
the utmost danger to his soul, so many things that are to be
forgotten, and I would far rather counsel him with brotherly
kindness that he should learn an agreeable and easy trade by
which he might serve God and his fellow-Christian; the which,
although it is considered contemptible and insignificant among
you, is nevertheless much more in accordance with the divine
command and the teaching of the Apostles than all the scho-
lastic trickeries; since for the most part the most highly
versed are the most highly perverted, and scientia mundana
infiat} Such high and haughty spirits are desirous to cut a
great figure afterwards and for this they require large amounts
of money, which they endeavor to obtain per fas et nefas2 to
the detriment of their neighbors, that their wives and children
may be always able to loiter about, a la mode.
In contrast to this, humble people wise in divine things
say with Antonius: Non data non cupio* and agree with Pal-
ingenius, contention vivere parvoy* with whom St. Paul agrees
in his Epistle to the Hebrews, xiii. 5.
I now close for this time. I have written this letter in the
confident hope that it will find you all together in prosperous
circumstances, but should the French take it on the way from
here to you, I am likewise contented with that if they only
suffer themselves to be satisfied with such small plunder, and
do not otherwise injure you. But should they, by the divine
fore-ordering, do this also, then pray for them, that God may
convert them, and give you a tranquil heart under all circum-
stances. To Whose all-powerful protecting hand I commend
you all together, and I remain, etc.
Letters from the two younger Pastorii, from Germanton,
March 4. 1699.
Dearly-loved Grandfather:
Our father tells us that to repay thine outpouring love and
affection for us is as impossible as to swim against the stream,
which neither one of us can do. For this reason we thank thee
heartily, and so far as relates to thy pictures sent over here,
none of which we had ever seen before, there appeared among
1 "Worldly knowledge puffeth up." a "By right or wrong."
• " I do not desire that which is not given." 4 " To live content with little."
448 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1699
them an unknown bird whose tail is larger than he is himself;
he represents, so we are taught, proud people, from which sin
may God defend us.
Further on, a boy in a red coat is falling down from the
globe. Whether this was slippery, or whether the poor child
did not know what to hold on by, subsequent experience shall
teach us when we have become somewhat older. Thy rhymes
written on the reverse side greatly please our parents, and they
wish that we shall never forget them, especially the end of the
poem:
May we love Jesus Christ aright
And be His service our delight.
We very often desire to be with thee. Oh, that thou wert
here and didst dwell in our house in Germanton, which has a
beautiful orchard, and at present stands empty because we
are living in Philadelphia, and must go to school for eight
hours every day, excepting the last day of the week, when we
may stay at home in the afternoon. Because we do not dare
to cherish the hope that we shall see thee, our dear and honored
grand-father, here with us, we earnestly request thee to give
us some information regarding thine origin and dear parents
so that if any one of us should one day go from here to Germany,
we could ask after our relatives. Wilt thou also greet our
dear cousins most kindly on our behalf, and suggest to them
to write letters to us frequently, which will also be very wel-
come to us, after our father's death, and we will not fail, with
the help of other pious people, to continue the correspondence.
In the meantime we greet you all once more most affec-
tionately, wishing from the bottom of our hearts that it may be
well with you all, in time and in eternity, and we remain to
the end of our lives, under the faithful guardianship of God,
dearly-loved grandfather, thy dutiful grandsons,
Johann Samuel and
Henricus Pastorius.1
1 Then aged respectively nine and seven. The remainder of the book, an
autobiography of Melchior Adam Pastorius, written in response to this request of
his grandsons, is omitted from the present translation as having no direct rela-
tion to American history.
LETTER OF JOHN JONES, 1725
INTRODUCTION
The number of persons of Welsh descent in the province
of Pennsylvania was much less than the number of the Ger-
mans. Yet they were a large body; the early Welsh settlers
were of a high grade; they furnished many leaders to the
province, in politics and in all three of the learned professions ;
and they for the most part settled as a compact body in one
large area, commonly known as the Welsh Tract. Therefore,
they made upon the life of the province so large a mark that
they deserve to be represented in such a volume as the present.
The narrative which follows, great as its interest is, was not
written by or concerning a member of the chief contingent of
Welsh settlers. Thomas John Evan seems to have been the
first Welsh colonist in Penn's province, arriving in April, 1682.
But the mass of the first Welsh settlers arrived in August of
that year. They were Quakers from Merionethshire who had
felt the hand of persecution. They had bought from Penn
in England five thousand acres of unsurveyed land, and had
been promised by him the reservation of a larger tract, which
they meant to keep exclusively for Welsh settlers. As the
royal charter permitted Penn to erect manors, they perhaps
expected to have a manorial jurisdiction. At all events, they
had for a time some special privileges of local self-government,
and the tract of forty thousand acres which they ultimately
secured was often called the Welsh Barony. After their
arrival in the province they found some difficulty in obtaining
a survey laying out their promised amount of land in one
tract, but finally received grants substantially covering six
townships. Their tract lay on the west side of the Schuylkill
451
452 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
River, north of Philadelphia. It is represented by the present
Welsh names of Merion, Radnor, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and
Uwchlan, and the vigor and industry of the Cymry began early
to give it the garden quality it has to-day.
The writer of the following letter alludes, at the middle of
his text, to this main body of Welsh colonists, but the story
he has to tell is that of an earlier and isolated Welsh settler,
his father, Thomas Sion (John) Evan. The son, after the
Welsh manner of giving patronymic names, was called John
Jones (i. e., John son of John, or, in Welsh, John ap John).
The letter, which internal evidence shows to have been written
in 1725, was first printed in Welsh in July, 1806, in a Welsh
magazine published in London called Y Greal (The Historical
Magazine), no. V., pp. 210-214. In this print nothing is said
of the source of the text, but a footnote says, "The editors
would be glad to receive information about the family of the
writer of the above letter, from any of his descendants, for
publication in the following number."
The letter was printed again at Bala, Wales, in January,
1831, in the Welsh magazine Y Gwyliedydd (The Sentinel),
VIII. 15-17. This text differs somewhat from the earlier
print, not in anything essential, chiefly in certain orthographic
peculiarities which are more likely those of the original letter
than are the forms used in Y Greal, The correspondent who
sent it to Y Gwyliedydd (his signature is simply "Gower," and
he writes from "Bryn yr Hydd"), had apparently not seen
the earlier print. He writes, in Welsh, "I got the following
letter in a manuscript of the works of the late reverend bard,
Rowland Hugh of Graienyn, near Bala. I have heard that it
was printed in the year 1806, in the publication called Y Great,
. . . but since that excellent and entertaining book is so very
unfamiliar in the land that not one in a thousand knows any-
thing about it I have not hesitated to send the letter for repub-
lication in Y Gwyliedydd."
INTRODUCTION 453
In April, 1831, an English translation of the letter was
printed in London in the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, III.
141-144. From this source it was reprinted, but with omis-
sions, in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, XIII. 227-231,
and in Mr. Thomas Allen Glenn's Merion in the Welsh Tract
(Norristown, 1896, pp. 41-44). In the following translation,
the passages omitted in these versions have been restored, and
incorrect dates not found in the original but supplied by in-
ference have been eliminated. In the process of revision of
the English translation, the general editor of the series has
been greatly aided by Dr. F. N. Robinson, professor of Celtic
at Harvard University, and by Mr. Jasper M. Lawford of
Baltimore. The foot-notes are by the editor of the volume,
Mr. A. C. Myers, to whom the determination of the correct
date of the letter is also due.
J. F. J.
LETTER OF JOHN JONES, 1725
My Kinsman, Hugh Jones:
I received a letter from you, dated May 8 last [1725]; '
and I was glad to find that one of my relatives, in the old land
of which I have heard so much, was pleased to recollect me.
I have heard my father speak much about old Wales; but I
was born in this woody region, this new world.
I remember him frequently mentioning such places as
Llanycil, Llanuwchllyn, Llanfor, Llangwm, Bala, Llangower,
Llyn Tegid, Arenig Fawr, Fron Dderw, Brynllysg, Phenbryn,
Cyffdy, Glanllafar, Fron Goch, Llaethgwm, Hafodfadog, Cwm
Tir y Mynach, Cwm Glan Lleidiog, Trawsfynydd, Tai Hirion
yn Mignaint, and many others.2 It is probably uninteresting
to you to hear these names of places; but it affords me great
delight even to think of them, although I do not know what
kind of places they are: and indeed I long much to see them,
having heard my father and mother so often speak in the most
affectionate manner of the kind-hearted and innocent old people
who lived in them, most of whom are now gone to their long
home. Frequently, during long winter evenings, would they
in merry mood prolong their conversation about their native
land till midnight; and even after they had retired to rest,
they would sometimes fondly recall to each other's recollec-
tion some man, or hill, house, or rock. Really I can scarcely
express in words how delighted this harmless old couple were
to talk of their old habitations, their fathers and mothers,
brothers and sisters, having been now twenty-four years3 in
'This date determined by reckoning from the internal evidence. 1705 as
supplied in the Welsh text in the magazine Y Givyliedydd is erroneous.
1 All these places are in North Wales; most of them are in Merionethshire,
near the town of Bala, or in adjacent Denbighshire. Nearly all are easily iden-
tified. "Llanfor" is Llanvawr. Arenig Fawr is a mountain west of Bala.
"Brynllysg" is Bryneglwys.
1 The son apparently was recalling the reminiscences of his parents of about
the year 1706, near the close of the father's life, or twenty-four years after 1682,
the year of the father's arrival in Pennsylvania.
7681] LETTER OF JOHN JONES 455
a distant and foreign land, without even the hope of seeing
them more. I fear this narrative will be irksome to you ; but
I cannot forbear when I think of these innocent artless old
people.
And now, my kinsman, I will give you an account of the
life and fortunes of my dear father, from the time when he left
Wales to the day of his death. Three weeks to the time
when he first heard tell of Pennsylvania, at St. Peter's Fair in
Bala he took leave of his neighbors and relatives, who were
taking account of his departure for London.1 He was waiting
three months2 for a ship; after boarding the first ship he set
out 3 from England by [or upon] the name of William Penn.4
He had a very tempestuous passage for several weeks; and
when in sight of the river [Delaware], owing to adverse winds
and a boisterous sea, the sails were torn, and the rudder in-
jured. By this disaster they were greatly disheartened, and
were obliged to go back to Barbadoes, where they continued
three weeks, expending much money in refitting their ship.
Being now ready for a second attempt, they easily accomplished
their voyage, and arrived safely in the river [Delaware] on
the 16th of April, being thirty weeks from the time they left
London. During this long voyage he learned to speak and
read English tolerably well.
xThis sentence, which is translated literally, may be taken in either of two
ways, but counting backward from the date of arrival in America — assuming
that date as well as the length of the voyage to be correctly stated — the following
would seem to be the acceptable interpretation: June 8, 1681, he first heard of
Pennsylvania. Three weeks later in Bala at St. Peter's Fair, which occurred
June 29, he took leave of his neighbors and relatives, who had gathered there to
take account of his departure for London.
2 Nearly three months, or possibly a week less than three months, to agree
with the other dates given, and to allow several days, after June 29, for the journey
from Bala, in Wales, to London.
• September 18, 1681, the day he left London, counting thirty weeks to
April 16, 1682, the time of his arrival in Delaware River.
4 That William Penn was the name of this ship is open to question. The
meaning is obscure in the Welsh text, which is here literally translated. No
vessel of that name, it may be stated, after some years' diligent search of printed
and manuscript sources, in the compiling a list of merchant ships sailing to the
Delaware in that period, has been found. The intention may be to state, as
Professor Robinson suggests, that a company sailed under Penn's orders or pat-
ronage.
456 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1682
They now came up the river a hundred and twenty miles/
to the place where Philadelphia is at present situated. At
that time there was, as the Welsh say, na thy nac ymogor
(neither house nor shelter), but the wild woods; nor any one
to welcome them to land. A poor outlook, this, for persons
who had been so long at sea, many of whom had spent their
little all. This was not the place for remaining stationary.
My father therefore went alone where chance led him, to en-
deavor to obtain the means of subsistence. He longed very
much at this time for milk. During his wanderings he met
with a drunken old man, who understood neither Welsh nor
English, and who, noticing the stranger, invited him to his
dwelling, where he was received by the old man's wife and
several sons in the most hospitable manner. They were
Swedes. Here he made his home, till he had a habitation of
his own.
As you shall hear, during this summer (1682) our governor,
William Penn, Esquire, arrived here, together with several
from England, having bought lands here. They now began
to divide the country into allotments, and to plan the city of
Philadelphia, (which was to be more than two miles in length),
laying it out in streets and squares, etc., with portions of land
assigned to several of the houses. He also bought the free-
hold of the soil from the Indians, a savage race of men, who have
lived here from time immemorial, as far as I am able to under-
stand. They can give no account of themselves, not knowing
when or whence they came here; an irrational set, I should
imagine; but they have some kind of reason, too, and extra-
ordinary natural endowments in their peculiar way; they are
very observant of their customs, and more unblamable, in
many respects, than we are. They had neither towns nor
villages, but lived in booths or tents.
In the autumn of this year several from Wales arrived here:
Edward ab Rhys, Edward Jones of Bala, William ab Edward,
and many others.2 By this time there was a kind of neigh-
1 It is only about ninety miles from the mouth of Delaware Bay to Philadelphia.
2 This was the company of Dr. Edward Jones, of Bala, Edward ap Rhys, or
Rees, of Bryn Lloyd, William ap Edward, of Ucheldri, and others— in all forty—
who came over from Wales in this same year, 1682, sailing from Liverpool in the
ship Lyon, John Compton, master, and arriving in the Schuylkill River, August
1682] LETTER OF JOHN JONES 457
borhood here, although as neighbors they could little benefit
each other. They were sometimes employed in making huts
beneath some cliff, or under the hollow banks of rivulets, thus
sheltering themselves where their fancy dictated.1 There were
neither cows nor horses to be had at any price. "If we have
bread, we will drink water, and be content/ ' they said; yet
no one was in want, and all were much attached to each other;
indeed much more so, perhaps, than many who have every
outward comfort this world can afford.
During this eventful period, our governor began to build
mansion-houses at different intervals, to the distance of fifty
miles2 from the city, although the country appeared a com-
plete wilderness.
The governor was a clever intelligent man, possessing great
penetration, affable in discourse, and a pleasant orator; a
man of rank, no doubt, but he did not succeed according to
his merit; the words of the bard Edward Morys3 might be
applied to him:
The old person did not keep a fragment of his sense;
He fell away to the pursuit of wealth.
At this time my father, Thomas Sion Evan, was living with
the Swedes, as I mentioned before, and intending daily to re-
turn to Wales; but as time advanced, the country improved.
In the course of three years several were beginning to obtain
a pretty good livelihood, and my father determined to remain
with them. There was by this time no land to be bought
within twelve miles of the city; and my father, having pur-
13. They settled on the west side of the Schuylkill River, in Lower Merion. Dr.
Edward Jones's interesting contemporary narrative of the voyage and settlement
of the party is printed in the Pennsylvania Magazine, IV. 314-317 (1880).
1 Many of Penn's first settlers made their temporary homes in caves or dug-
outs in the bank or bluff of the Delaware, in the town of Philadelphia, and in
other places on the Schuylkill and without the town.
8 Penn's country-seat, Pennsbury, up the Delaware River in Bucks County,
was only about twenty-seven miles from Philadelphia.
8 Edward Morris, Welsh poet, of Perthi Llwydion, near Cerryg y Drudion,
Denbighshire, Wales, was one of the best known writers of carols and ballads
during the second half of the seventeenth century in Wales. He died in Essex,
England, in 1689, while travelling, no doubt in the pursuit of his occupation as
drover.
458 NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA [1707
chased a small tract of land,1 married the widow of Thomas
Llwyd 3 of Penmaen.
You have heard tell in Dyffryn Clwyd
Of Thomas Lloyd of Penmaen.
He now went to live near the woods. It was a very rare
but pleasing thing to hear a neighbor's cock crow. My father
had now only one small horse; and his wife was much afflicted
with the tertian ague. We might suppose that many things
would be revolved in the mind of a man in such a situation as
this; but I never heard him complain of the difficulties under
which he labored. Everything was agreeable to these inno-
cent people; although in want of some present necessaries,
yet they were peaceable and friendly to each other. In pro-
cess of time, however, the little which he had prospered, so
that he became possessed of horses, cows, and everything else
that was necessary for him, or even that he wished ; indeed he
never coveted much. During the latter years of his life, he
kept twelve good milch cows. He had eight children, but I
was the eldest. Having lived in this manner twenty-four y ears,
he now became helpless and infirm, and very subject to diffi-
culty of breathing at the close of his day's labor. He was a
muscular man, very careful and attentive to his worldly occu-
pations. About the end of July [1707], eighteen years to last
July, he became sick, and much enfeebled by a severe fever;
but asthma was his chief complaint. Having been thus five
weeks indisposed, he departed this life,3 leaving a small farm
each for my brother and myself, a corresponding portion for
my sister, and a fair dower for my mother. My sister married
1 His farm of 300 acres was in the southern part of Radnor Township, in
Chester, now Delaware County, about midway between present Bryn Mawr and
Newtown Square. Ithan Creek flows through the eastern part, and Darby Creek
through the western part. The Radnor Hunt Club is located on the tract.
'Thomas John Evan was married in 1686 to Lowery Jones, of Merion,
widow of Thomas Lloyd. Thomas Lloyd, of "Penmaen," a township in the
parish of Llanvawr, Merionethshire, Wales, was a bard of note before he became
a Quaker. Some of his verses on the subject of his convincement were printed
in the Welsh magazine Y Gwyliedydd, for March, 1824.
» Thomas John Evan died in 1707, and was buried in the Friends' buria>
ground near Radnor Meeting House.
1707] LETTER OF JOHN JONES 459
Rhisiart ab Tomas ab Rhys, a man whom I much respected
prior to his marriage, and still regard. My brother and I con-
tinue to live with my mother, as before, endeavoring to imi-
tate our father in the management of his affairs; but we are
in many respects unequal to him. Our mother is seventy-three
years old, somewhat infirm, but enjoying pretty good health,
considering her age.
And now, my kind kinsman, I have given you the history
of my father and myself, and I hope you will be pleased with
it. Do send me some news; if you should have anything re-
markable to mention I should be glad to hear it. — I must con-
clude my letter.
Your kinsman,
Hugh Jones.1
1 By error in the Welsh magazines for John Jones.
INDEX
INDEX
Accomac, 97, 101-102.
Acosta, Rev. Jose* de, 368, 368 n.
Acrelius, Rev. Israel, life of, 54-55; his
book, 55.
Africa, 364.
Albany, trading post at, 57.
Allaway River, 350.
Allen, Nathaniel, 271, 271 n.
Allerton, Isaac, 145, 145 n.
America, Winsor's Narrative and Crit-
ical History of, 94; Blome's Present
State of . . . Isles and Territories in,
222, 257; first paper-mill in, 305 n.;
divisions and discovery of, 364, 365-
368.
America, ship, 389 n., 395 n.
Amisackan Fall, 159 n.
Amity, ship, 291.
Amundsson, Hans, 146, 146 n., 148.
Anabaptists, see Baptists.
Ancocus Kill, 66.
Anders, Carpenter, 111.
Anderson, Anders, 113, 114.
Anderson, Claas, 111.
Anderson, Eric, 110.
Anderson, Johan, 113, 114.
Anderson, Lars, 114, 115.
Anderson, Mans, 111.
Anderson, Nils, 114.
Anderson, Per, 114.
Anderson, Swen, 112.
Anderson, Zahris, 115.
Andress, skipper, 111.
Andros, Sir Edmund, 190.
Apoquenema Kill, see Appoquinimink
Creek.
Appoquinimink Creek, 140, 320.
Arf wedson, Carl David, De Colonia Nova
Suecia, 169.
Argall, Gov. Samuel, drives out Dutch,
57.
Armewamen, or Armewanninge, 20, 24.
Asia, 364.
Aspenwall, William, 100 n.
Assemblies, legislative, 239; at Chester,
220; at Philadelphia, 220-221.
Assiscunk Creek, 350.
Backer, Conrad, 389 n.
Bagge, Marten, 115.
Baltimore, Cecil, Lord, controversy with
Claiborne, 34.
Baltimore, Charles, Lord, confers with
Penn, 220; aggressions of, 257, 259.
Bambo Hook, see Bombay Hook.
Baptists, in Pennsylvania, 335; in West
New Jersey, 347.
Barbados, 10, 291.
Barker, Thomas, 290, 290 n.
Barlow, Samuel L. M., collection of, 36
Bartholomew, George, 404 n.
Behagel, Abraham, 430.
Behagel, Daniel, 388, 441.
Berkeley, John, Lord, 183, 183 n., 184.
Beschreibung der . . . Provinz Pensyl-
vanien, 222, 249.
Beschreibung der Landschafft Pensyl-
vania, by Pastorius, 358.
Beskrifning om de Swenska Forsam-
lingars . . . Nya Swerige, by Rev.
Israel Acrelius, 55.
Bible, translated by Eliot, 366, 366 n.
Big Timber Creek, 350.
Biornson, Lars, 114.
Biornson, Marten, 115.
Bird Griffin, see Grip, ship.
Black Cat, ship, 65.
Blome, Richard, Present State of . . .
Isles and Territories in America, 222,
257.
Blommaert, Samuel, 7.
Blue Anchor Inn, 404, 404 n.
Bock, Niklas, 112.
Boije, Christer, 116.
Bom, Cornelius, 395, 395 n.
Bombay Hook, 67.
Bonde, Anders, 114.
Bonnell, Benjamin, 156, 156 n.
463
464
INDEX
Boyer, Alexander, 66.
Bradford, William, 224 n., 297, 305 n.,
432.
Brady, Cyrus Townsend, 312.
Brady, Henry Austin, 312.
Brandywine Creek, 238, 320.
Brazil, 365.
Bree-Banck, wreck on, 9-10.
Bridlington-fair, see Burlington, N. J.
Bringhurst, John, 248, 254.
Bristol, Pa., 304.
Broen, Thomas, 66.
Brown, John Carter, Library, 283.
Buck, William J., William Penn in
America, 257-258.
Buckingham County, see Bucks County.
Bucks County, 238, 238 n., 323.
Bure", Madam, scalped by Indians, 74.
Burlington, N. J., 250, 253, 345, 346-
347.
Burlington County, fur trade of, 351.
Burlington Island, 344, 344 n.
Byllynge, Edward, 183 n.; dispute with
Fenwick, 180, 183; West New Jer-
sey vested in, 190, 192-193; acquires
West New Jersey, 344, 344 n.
Cambria, 318, 318 n.
Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, 453.
Campanius (Holmiensis), Rev. Johan,
65, 79, 110, 125.
Canada, 366.
Canary Islands, 10.
Canasatego, 71.
Cape Henlopen, 29, 61 ; shoals near, 25.
Cape Hinloopen, see Cape Henlopen.
Cape May, 25, 27.
Cape May County, whale-fisheries of,
352.
Carpenter, Samuel, 270, 272, 286, 286 n.,
305 n.; wharf of, 261, 271; life of,
261 n.; stairs of, 330, 330 n.
Carr, Capt. John, 316, 316 n.
Carr, Sir Robert, 316, 316 n.
Carter, William, 317 n.
Carteret, Sir George, 183, 183 n.
Caspipina's Letters, by Edward Rack,
222.
Castilla del Oro, 365.
Cedar Creek, 238, 319.
Ceulen, Mathys van, 7.
Chakahilque (Chakakitque) Fall, 159 n.
Chammassungh, 69, 148, 148 n.
Charitas, ship, 65, 85.
Charles I., of England, 60, 369.
Charles II., of England, 179, 368, 369,
369 n.; charter granted to Penn by,
371-373.
Charter, granted to Penn, 211-215, 371-
373; of Germantown, 417.
Chester, 99, 304, 380; list of colonists
of, 113; legislative assembly at, 220;
Penn's residence at, 221; market «x„,
250, 254, 262, 318.
Chester County, 238, 323.
Chester Creek, 238, 320.
Chichester Creek, see Marcus Creek.
Chile, 365.
Chinsessing, see Kingsessing.
Chiton, 87.
Christina, Queen of Sweden, 59, 60.
Christina, see Fort Christina.
Christina Creek, see Minquas Kill.
Church of England, in Pennsylvania,
335.
Claason, Claas, 111.
Claiborne, William, controversy with
Lord Baltimore, 34.
Clark, Benjamin, 373.
Clarkson, Thomas, Memoirs of William
Penn, 222.
Claypoole, James, treasurer of Free So-
ciety of Traders, 241 n.; letter of,
292-293; life of, 292 n.-293 n.; house
of, 404.
Coebourn, Thomas, 251, 251 n.
Cohansey River, 349.
Coleman, James, 223.
Collett, Richard, 286, 286 n.
Colonists, New Sweden, list of, 110-
116; see also, Cref elders; Dutch; Eng-
lish; German (Frankfort) Company;
Swedes.
Columbus, Bartholomew, 367, 367 n.
Columbus, Christopher, 364, 366-367.
Compton, John, 456 n.
Concord, ship, 293 n., 393 n., 402 n.
Connecticut River, 100, 100 n.
Cook, Arthur, 270, 270 n., 320.
Cooper River, 350.
Cooper's Island, see Manathaan.
Cortereal, Gaspar, 366, 366 n.
Count Ernest's River, Indian attack in,
19.
Coxe, Gov. Daniel, 345-346, 346 n.
Cranbrook Creek, see St. Jones Creek.
INDEX
465
Crefelders, 271, 271 n., 356, 393, 393 n.,
402, 407.
Criminals, 106-107.
Curieuse Nachricht, by Daniel Falkner,
359.
Currency, Indian, 234; of Pennsylvania,
338, 382.
Curtis, John, 319, 319 n.
Daalbo, Anders, 113.
Daile, Peter, 331, 331 n.
Darby, Pa., 304.
Darby Creek, 320.
Dare, Capt. William, 404 n.
Davids, David, 66.
Day, John, 271, 271 n.
Delaware, settlements in, 15, 37, 60;
soil, climate, fruits, and game, 48; first
water-mill in, 69, 69 n.; lands pur-
chased by Swedes in, 60, 69-70; Ind-
ians of, 70; supremacy in, 179; grant
to Penn of land in, 220; Falls of, see
Falls of Delaware.
Delaware Bay, De Vries enters, 15, 27;
Yong and Indians on, 37-38; whale-
fishing in, 241 n., 265; Pastorius ar-
rives in, 396.
Delaware Indians, 70, 73; see also
Lenape.
Delaware River, colony upon, 8, 369,
369 n.; whales in, 18, 241 n., 272;
Yong enters, 39; description of, 47-
49, 378; Dutch protest right to, 62-
64; English driven from, 76; navi-
gation on, 207; fish in, 251-252;
named, 318 n.
Diamond, Capt. Richard, 284, 284 n.
Dilbeck, Isaac, and family, 389 n., 394,
394 n., 402, 408, 408 n.
Directions for Adventurers, by Robert
Evelyn, 35-36.
Dock Creek, 331.
Documents connected with the History of
South Carolina, by P. C. J. Weston,
36.
Dominica, 11.
Donck, Adriaen van der, History of New
Netherland, 62.
Dover Creek, 238, 238 n., 319.
Doz, Andrew, 227, 227 n -228 n., 287,
287 n.
Dreyer, Anders, 111.
Dublin, see Ogontz, Pa.
Duckett, Thomas, 291, 291 n.
Dunkirkers, 8.
Dutch, meet Yong, 44-46, 49; relations
between Swedes and, 54; in North
America, 57-58; protest right to Del-
aware River, 62-64; intrude upon
Swedes, 65-66; purchase land from
Indians, 67; English driven from
Delaware by Swedes and, 76-77;
weakness of, on Delaware, 77; diffi-
culties with Indians, 102; privateer-
ing, 109; interfere with Swedish trade
123-124, 157-158; attack New Swe-
den, 170-176; in Pennsylvania, 237-
238, 260; in Delaware River region,
316, 316 n.; war with English, 316,
316 n.; in West New Jersey, 344.
Dyck, Gregorius van, 112, 112 n., 123.
Eagle, ship, see Orn.
East India Company, Dutch, sale of
country by, 57.
East New Jersey, 350, 351; council of,
220.
Eaton, Gov. Theophilus, 159, 159 n.
Edridge, John, see Eldridge, John.
Edward, William ap, 456, 456 n.
Egg Harbor (Little) Creek, 350.
Egg Harbor (Great) River, 350.
Eissen, Isaack van, 112.
Elb River, 88.
Eldridge, John, 180, 184, 184 n.
Elias, tobacco planter, 113.
Elk River, land on, sold to Swedes, 159-
160.
Elswick, Henrick, 158, 158 n., 161, 163;
detained as spy, 171-172; holds par-
ley with Stuyvesant, 175.
English, driven from the Delaware by
Swedes and Dutch, 76-77; secure
Sweden's trade, 81; interfere with
New Sweden's Indian trade, 157-158;
in Pennsylvania, 237, 251, 252, 260;
war against Dutch, 316, 316 n.; re-
ligious beliefs in Pennsylvania, 335-
337, 387.
Erichson, Ambrosius, 113.
Erichson, Johan, 114.
Erichson, Oloff, 114.
Ermewarmoki, 87.
Eru Packen, 87.
Eskilson, Bertill, 114-
Europe, 363-364.
466
INDEX
Evan, Thomas John, 451, 452; arrives
in Pennsylvania, 455, 456; marriage
of, 458; death of, 458, 458 n.
Evelyn, Capt. George, 35.
Evelyn, Robert, jr., life of, 34-36.
Ewer, Robert, 317 n.
Fabritius, Rev. Jacob, 399, 399 n.
Facsimile reproduction of title-page,
360.
Factor, ship, 219.
Falcon, flute, 12.
Falkner, Daniel, Curieuse Nachricht, 359.
Falls of Delaware, 41, 41 n., 61, 61 n.
Fama, ship, 65, 95, 120, 123, 126.
Farmar, Mary, 288, 288 n.-289 n., 290.
Femmesz, Dirck, flutes under, 11-12.
Fen wick, Maj. John, dispute with Byl-
lynge, 180, 183; heads colony, 180-
181; secures West New Jersey, 183;
leases land, 184 n.; Salem built by,
344-345; life of, 344 n.-345 n.
Feuquieres, Gen., 421 n.
Feversham Creek, 238, 238 n.
Finland, see Chammassungh.
Finns, in Pennsylvania, 237, 260.
First Purchasers, 219, 220, 370 n.
Fish Creek, 174.
Fisher's Island, 100 n.
Flatheads, 73-74.
Fletcher, Gov. Benjamin, 417, 417 n.
Florida, 366.
Flower, Enoch, 317 n.
Fluviander, Rev. Israel, 116.
Fogel Grip, see Grip.
Ford, Philip, 215, 215 n., 278, 373, 388,
404, 404 n.
Fort Casimir, building of, 67 ; seizure of,
134; threatened, 158; recaptured by
Dutch, 170-171; see also Trinity.
Fort Christina, 28, 28 n., 29, 95, 99;
New Sweden founded at, 53, 61; pro-
test against building of, 63-64, 89;
boat for, 105; list of colonists at, 110-
112; repaired, 120-121, 164; town lots
surveyed at, 142-143: siege of, 172-
173; surrender of, 175-176; Swedish
meeting-house at, 238.
jV>rt Nassau, 18, 18 n., 22, 28, 54, 62.
Fort Nya Elfsborg, 27, 27 n., 29, 67-68,
67 n., 74, 99, 102, 105; list of colonists
at, 112-113; well fortified, 120; de-
stroyed, 170.
Fort Nya Goteborg, 28, 28 n., 29; de-
stroyed by fire, 121-122; church built
at, 122.
Fort Nya Korsholm, 68, 100 n., 121.
Fort River, see Connecticut River.
Frame, Richard, A Short Description of
Pennsylvania, 297, 298-299, 300-305.
Frame of Government, signing of, 220.
Frampton, William, merchant and
brewer, 267 n.-268 n., 270.
Frankford, Pa., mills and factories at,
241 n.; building of, 399.
Frankford River, see Tacony Creek.
Frankforters, see German (Frankfort)
Company.
Fream, Thomas, 298.
Freame, Robert, 298.
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, flag
of, 11, 11 n.
Free Society of Traders, see Traders,
Free Society of.
French pirates, 431-432.
Friends' Books, Catalogue of, by Joseph
Smith, 181, 182 n.
Furley, Benjamin, 201, 388, 405, 405 n.,
406.
Gasper, Thomas, 389 n., 394.
Gelderia (Gelderland) , ship, 12, 14.
Geoffrey, ship, 241 n., 282.
Gerhard, Dr., 388, 430.
German American Annals, 222 n.
German (Frankfort) Company, land in
Pennsylvania purchased by, 356, 370-
371, 374, 381, 390, 402-407; Pas-
torius made agent of, 375; members
of, 388, 430, 441; deaths among, 402;
currency of, 438; history and status
of, 440^441; see also Germantown.
Germanopolis, see Germantown.
Germans, see German (Frankfort) Com-
pany.
Germantown, linen manufacture of, 272,
304-305; first paper-mill in America
in, 305 n.: market at, 318; mills of,
331-332; founded, 356; description
of, 376, 399, 433; laid out, 381, 407;
religion of, 387, 438; progress of
colony at, 390; council of, 414-415;
charter of, 417; government of, 436.
Germantown, Letters relating to the Settle'
ment of, by Julius F. Sachse, 222 n.,
249 n., 358 n., 402 n.
INDEX
467
Germantoum, The Settlement of, by S. W.
Pennypacker, 358 n.
Glaasare, Marten, 111.
Glenn, Thomas Allen, Mcrion in the
Welsh Tract, 453.
Gloria Dei, church, 403, 403 n.
Gloucester, 347.
Gloucester County, trade of, 351.
Godyn, Samuel, 7, 8.
Goodyear, Stephen, 158, 158 n.
Gottersson, Marten, 111.
Graeff, Herman op den, 402, 402 n.
Grange, Arnoldus de la, 286, 286 n.
Great, Y, 452.
Griffin, ship, 180, 270 n., 345 n.
Grimm, Dr., 426.
Grip, sloop, 60, 110.
Gripsholm, 69.
Gronebergh, Constantinus, 112.
Growden, Judge Joseph, 320, 320 n.
Guadeloupe, 11.
Guatemala, 366.
Guiana, 365.
Gunnerson, Sven, 111.
Gustaffzon, Johan, 112.
Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, 53;
confirms trading project, 58-59.
Gwyliedydd, Y, 452.
Gyllene Ha], ship, 120, 123, 156, 158.
Gyllengren, Elias, 114.
Hackenson, Carl, 115.
Haj, see Gyllene Haj.
Hamel, Heyndrick, 7.
Hamilton, Samuel J., 298.
Hans, barber, 110.
Hans, the blacksmith, 111.
Hanson, Marten, 112.
Hanson, Matz, 111, 113.
Harinck-houck, Johan van, 7, 7 n.
Harrison, James, letter of, 289; life of,
289 n.
Hartman, Johan, 115.
Harvey, Sir John, governor of Virginia,
26 n., 34.
Haverford, 304, 318.
Hazard, Samuel, Annals of Pennsylva-
nia, 169, 201; Register of Pennsylva-
nia, 201, 222.
Hedge, Samuel, 282.
Hendricks, Pieter, 430.
Hermansson, or Hermer, Gatfred, 106,
106 n., 112.
Hermansson, Peter, 66.
Herrman, Augustine, 104 n., 286 n.
Heuser, Emil, 222 n.
Heyes, Peter, 7 n., 8.
High German Company, see German
Company.
Hill, Col. Edward, 404 n.
Hinderson, Eric, 115.
Hindersson, Iver, 113.
Hindrichson, Bengt, 113.
Hiort, Rev. Peter Laurentii, 79, 150,
150 n.
Hoere Kill, 7 n., 15, 15 n., 62, 140, 238,
319.
Holgh, Rev. Israel, 65, 79.
Hollandtsche-Thuyn, emblem of Seven
United Provinces, 16, 16 n.
Hollendare, Peter, see Ridder, Gov.
Peter Hollender.
Holm, John Campanius, see Campanius.
Holme, Thomas, 220; map of, 239 n.,
292 n.; description of Philadelphia by,
242-244; life of, 242 n.
Hook, Lt. Sven, 172, 172 n.
Hoorn Kill, see Hoere Kill.
Hooton, Thomas, 317 n.
Hopokahacking, 61.
Hudde, Andreas, 66, 77, 78, 138, 138 n.
Hudson, Henry, discoveries of, 57.
Hudson's River, Yong and Dutch of,
44^6.
Huygen, Hendrick, 106, 106 n., 110,
123, 125, 144.
Ilpendam, Jan Jansson, instructions for,
76; called to New Amsterdam, 77.
Indians, destroy Swanendael colony, 9;
meet De Vries, 10; burn woods in
order to hunt, 15; negotiations be-
tween De Vries and, 16-18, 18-21;
meet Yong's party, 37, 40; Yong
makes peace with, 43; sell land to
Swedes, 60, 87-88; treaty at Lan-
caster made by, 71-72; customs of,
72-73; scalp Swedish woman, 74;
trade with, 95, 96; attacks in Man-
hattan, Virginia, and Maryland, 102-
103; attacks of, on Swedish Colony,
116; of New England, New Nether-
land, and Virginia, 125; of Pennsyl-
vania, 230-237, 276, 302-303, 315-
316, 382, 384-386, 400-401, 409-410,
410-411, 419-420, 425-426, 433-435,
468
INDEX
437-438, 456; sale of lands in Penn-
sylvania by, 292; of West New
Jersey, 340-344; Penn's treatment
of, 374; see also Armewamen; Dela-
ware Indians; Ermewarmoki; Flat-
heads; Lenape; Mantes; Minquas;
Minsi; Sankikans; Six Nations.
Isackson, Jon, 115.
Isle of Palms, 10.
Jabert, Balthasar, 430, 441.
Jacob's (James's) Island, see Jaques
Island.
Jacobson, Lars, 112.
Jamaica, earthquake in, 416.
James II., see York, James, Duke of.
James, Penn's gardener, letter of, 289-
290; sketch of, 289 n.-290 n.
Jameson, Dr. J. Franklin, translations
by, 392-411, 423-424.
Janney, Samuel M., Life of William
Perm, 222.
Jansz, Gerrit, master, 12.
Jaques Island, 21, 22.
Jaquet, Jean Paul, 400, 400 n.
Jeffes, Mary, 287, 287 n.
Jeffries, ship, 282.
Jegou, Peter, 344 n.
Jenings, Gov. Samuel, 190.
Jerpe, Jon, 115.
Joachimssen, Johan, 85, 86, 87.
Jobson, Samuel, 290, 290 n.
Jochim, Peter, 112.
Joen, the tailor, 113.
Johanssen, Peter, 85, 86, 88.
Johansson, Carl, 106, 106 n., 114, 128.
John and Sarah, ship, 219, 309, 333,
333 n.
Johnson, Amandus, The Swedish Settle-
ments on the Delaware, 7 n.; transla-
tions by, 56, 94, 119, 135, 155; man-
uscript found by, 85; revision by,
169.
Jones, Dr. Edward, 228 n., 456, 456 n.,
457 n.
Jones, Griffith, 317.
Jones, Horatio Gates, 298.
Jones, John, 452; letter of, 454-459.
Jones, Lowery, 458, 458 n.
Jonson, Anders, 112.
Jonson, Pafvel, 113.
Jorenson, Clement, 114.
Jorenson, Matz, 115.
Kick, Peder, 113.
Kackin, Lars, 111.
Kalmar Nyckel, see Key of Calmar.
Kammararkiv, Stockholm, manuscripts
found in, 85, 155.
Karakong, 69, 69 n.
Kecoughtan, 97.
Keen, Dr. Gregory B., translations by,
94, 119.
Keith, George, schism of, 335-337, 417-
418; life of, 335 n.-336 n.
Kembler, Joannes, 441.
Kennebec River, 35.
Kent, ship, 189, 190, 345, 345 n.
Kent County, 238, 323.
Kent Island, claims to, 34; Capt.
Evelyn commander of, 35.
Key, ship, 65.
Key of Calmar, ship, 60; affidavit of
four men from the, 85-89; arrives in
Holland, 126.
Kieft, William, director-general of New
Netherland, 63, 77, 100.
Kimball, Gertrude Selwyn, translations
by, 359, 360-392, 411-422, 424-448.
King William's War, 314, 314 n.
Kingsessing, 68, 68 n.
Klein, Lucas, 426.
Kling, Lieut. Mans Nilsson, 61, 61 n., 113.
Klostermanns, Ennecke, 421, 421 n.
Klostermanns, Jan, 421 n.
Kolonien Nya Sveriges Grundldggning,
by Claes T. Odhner, 94.
Kolonien Nya Sveriges Historia, by Carl
K. S. Sprinchorn, 134, 135.
Korte Historiael, ende Journaels Aen-
teyckeninge, by David Pieterszoon de
Vries, 3-6; extracts from, 7-29.
Kyrssner, Mickel, 115.
Labadists, 286 n.
Labrador, 366.
Laer, A. J. F. van, 6.
Laet, Johan de, 7.
Lamberton, George, 100 n.
Lamp, ship, 65.
Lancaster, Indian treaty at, 71-72.
Larson, Eskill, 113.
Larson, Mans, 115.
Larson, Swen, 113.
Lauris, cooper, 111.
Lawford, Jasper M., aid acknowledged,
453.
INDEX
Lawrie, Gawen, secures land in West
New Jersey, 180; life of, 181; epistle
of, 182-185; trustee, 183, 192.
Learned, Prof. Marion Dexter, 222 n.,
359; The Life of Francis Daniel Pas-
torius, 357, 358 n.
Lebrunn, Johann, 388, 441.
Lehnmann, Philipp Theodor, 389-390,
390 n.
Lenape, 156-157.
Lenox, James, 6.
Lewes, Del., market at, 318.
Lewes Creek, see Hoere Kill.
Lewistown, see Lewes, Del.
Liefde, Heyndrick de, 16.
Liliehock, Knut, 113.
Liliehock, Peder, 113.
Lindestrom, Peter Martensson, 142,
142 n.
Littleton, Gov., of Nevis, 13.
Litzheimers, Johann Augustin, 419.
Lloyd, David, letter of, 291 ; life of, 291 n.
Lloyd, Mordecai, 416, 416 n.
Lloyd, Thomas, 288, 288 n., 395, 395 n.,
458, 458 n.
Loccenius, see Lock.
Lock, Rev. Lars Carlsson, 65, 79-80,
150, 150 n.
Looer, Walle, 113.
Lord, Capt. Richard, 156, 156 n., 162.
Lucas, Nicholas, secures land in West
New Jersey, 180; life of, 181; epistle
of, 182-185; trustee, 183, 192.
Lucassen, Andress, 86, 88.
Lundy, Richard, 432 n.
Luneburger, Hans, 114.
Lutheran religion in Pennsylvania, 335,
387.
Lyon, ship, 228 n., 273 n., 456 n.
Maa8trich, Dr. Gerhard von, 441.
Madeira, 10.
Mahamen, 87.
Manathaan, 69, 69 n.
Manayungh, see Fort Nya Korsholm.
Manhattan, see New Amsterdam.
Manson, Hans, 113.
Mantes, see Red Hook.
Mantes Indians, 87.
Mantua Creek, 350.
Mantua Hook, see Red Hook.
Maps, 170, 242, 292 n.
Marckuson, Carl, 115.
Marcus Creek, 238, 238 n.
Marikens Point, 148.
Marizen, Cornelius, 66.
Markets, at Philadelphia, 250, 254, 262,
318; at Chester, 250, 254, 262, 318;
at Germantown, 318; at Lewes, 318.
Markham, William, deputy governor of
Pennsylvania, 200.
Marlow, Gregory, master, 345 n.
Marple, 304.
Marsh, George P., translation by, 169.
Martenson, Esbjorn, 116.
Martenson, Knut, 111.
Martha, ship, 345, 345 n.
Martinique, 11.
Maryland, dispute concerning bounda-
ries of, 220, 257, 259; commissioners
of, at treaty, 71; Indian attacks in,
102.
Maryland Historical Society, Fund Pub-
lication, 36.
Massachusetts Historical Society, Col~
lections of the, 36.
Matinneconk, see Burlington Island.
Mattahorn, 87, 87 n.
Matthew, Sir Tobie, 37.
Matzon, Hindrich, 113.
Matzon, Johan, 112.
Maurice River, 349, 349 n.
Mecoponacka, 68.
Menewe, Peter, see Minuit, Gov. Peter.
Mercklein, Franz Jacob, 426.
Mercklein, Johann Caspar and family,
426, 426 n.
Merion, 318.
Merion in the Welsh Tract, by Thomaf
Allen Glenn, 453.
Meyer, Peter, 112.
Mickellson, Per, 115.
Mills, on Cobbs Creek, 69 n., 122, 122 n.j
at Frankford, 241 n.; of Germantown,
272, 304-305, 331-332; first paper-
mill, 305 n.
Minck, Anders, 111.
Minisinks, see Minsi.
Minquas, trade of, 3, 28, 122-123, 143,
157; visit De Vries, 22-23; attacks of,
24, 38, 102; visit Yong, 39-40; Del-
aware River Indians and, 41, 42, 43;
in Pennsylvania, 70, 70 n.; treaty
with, 103; history of, 103 n.-104 n.:
negotiations with Swedes, 123> 159-
160.
470
INDEX
Minquas Kill, 21, 21 n., 238, 320; de-
scription of, 25; Swedish fort on, 28;
Swedes arrive in, 87; purchase pro-
posed, 139.
Minsi, 70, 73.
Minuit, Gov. Peter, 53, 59, 59 n., 86, 87;
brings colony to the Delaware, 60;
builds Ft. Christina, 61; death of, 64,
64 n.
Mispillion Creek, 238, 238 n., 319.
Missive van William Perm, 222, 249.
Mitotschemingh, 87, 87 n.
Model, or Modelius, Georg Leonhard,
429, 429 n.; letter to, 433-435.
Molinos, Miguel de, 425, 425 n., 439.
Montserrat, 11.
Moorfields, 243 n.
More, Dr. Nicholas, 240 n.-241 n.;
life of, 281-283; Letter of, 283, 284-
289.
Moreland, 281, 282.
Morrey, Humphrey, 270, 270 n.
Morris, Anthony, 317 n.
Morris, Edward, 457, 457 n.
Morris, Israel W., papers held by fam-
ily of, 247, 247 n.
Mother Kill, see Dover Creek.
Murderkill Creek, see Dover Creek.
Murphy, Henry C, 6.
Muyen, Willem van, 9.
Naaman River, 350.
Narraticons, see Raccoon Creek.
Nassau, see Fort Nassau.
Neaman's Kill, 69, 69 n.
Nertunius, Rev. Mathias, 150, 150 n.
Neshaminy Creek, 238, 238 n., 320,
320 n.
Netherlands, emblem of, 16, 16 n.
Nevis, 11,13.
New Amsterdam, built, 57; cattle
bought in, 107.
New Britain, 366, 366 n.
New Castle, Del., conference at, 220;
Dutch meeting-house at, 238; mar-
ket at, 262, 318; settlement, 369, 370,
380.
New Castle County, 238, 323.
New East Jersey, see East New Jersey.
New England, 366; cargo for, 120; Ind-
ians of, 125; trade with Pennsylva-
nia, 266-267, 291.
New France, 366.
New Jersey, see East New Jersey and
West New Jersey.
New Jersey, History of, by Samuel
Smith, 181.
New Jersey Archives, 181.
New Netherland, 125, 366.
New Netherland, History of, by Adriaen
van der Donck, extracts from, 62, 63-
64, 74-75, 77, 103 n.
New Netherland, Narratives of, 169.
ATeif Netherland, ship, 9, 11, 12.
New Spain, 366.
New Sweden, history of colony of, 53-
54, 87-89, 95; crops, 107-108; land
titles, 108, 148-149; list of colonists,
110-116; tobacco from, 120; im-
provements, 120-121; possibilities of,
121, 138-140, 161; Dutch interfere
with trade of, 123-124; cattle, 124-
125; needs of colony, 125, 126, 127,
128, 136, 141, 142, 144, 165; Indians
at peace, 125; agricultural plans, 139;
fish, 141; military affairs, 146-147;
property of, 147-148; population,
149; church affairs, 150; difficulties
with Indians, 156-157; Elk River
land secured from Minquas, 159-160;
surrender of, 170-176.
New Sweden Company, 88, 88 n.; trade
of, 95, 96-99, 105.
New York, trade with Pennsylvania,
266-267.
New York Historical Society, Collec-
tions, 6, 169.
Newton River, 350.
Newtown, 304.
Nicaragua, 366.
Niels, Cornelis Jansz, 12.
Niklaus, Master, 114.
Nilson, Mans, 114.
Nilson, Mickel, 113.
Northampton River, see Rancocas Creek.
Nova Suecia, Dc Colonia, by Carl Arf-
wedson, 169.
Nya Elfsborg, see Fort Nya Elfsborg.
Nya Goteborg, see Fort Nya Goteborg.
Nya Korsholm, see Fort Nya Kors-
holm.
Nya Wasa, 69, 99.
Octorara Creek, 230, 230 n.
Odhner, Claes Theodor, Kolonxen Nya
Sveriges Grundldggning, 94.
INDEX
471
Ogontz, Pa., 318, 318 n.
Old Man's River, 350.
Old South Leaflets, 223, 359.
Oloffzon, Peder, 115.
Oluffzon, Johan, 111.
Qrectons, 230 n.
Om, ship, 156.
Owen, Griffith, 404 n.
Oxenstierna, Count Axel, supports trad-
ing project, 60.
Oxenstierna, Count John, Swedish am-
bassador to London, 60.
Pafvelson, Jons, 115.
Pafvelson, Pafvel, 115.
Papegoya, Armegot, 80.
Papegoya, Vice Gov. John, 79, 110, 129,
137, 137 n., 141.
Paper-mill, first, 305.
Paradise Point, Swedes land at, 60.
Paschall, Thomas, life of, 247-248;
Letter of, 248-249, 250-254.
Paschallville, 248.
Pastorius, Augustine Adam, 424, 424 n.,
425, 431, 432.
Pastorius. Francis Daniel, 271, 288 n.;
life of, 355-357; writings of, 357-359;
Umstdndige Geographische Beschrei-
bung Pennsylvanice, 355, 358-359.
360-392, 411^48; Learned's Life of,
357, 358 n.; appointed attorney of
German Company, 375; reports of,
on Pennsylvania purchase, 375-376;
Germantown laid out by, 381, 407:
his voyage to Pennsylvania, 389-390,
391, 392-396; Sichere Nachricht,
translated, 392-411; takes leave of
his father and friends, 411-412; is
made mayor of Germantown, 414;
appointed justice in county of Phila-
delphia, 417; marriage of, 421, 421 n.;
children of, 421, see also Pastorius,
Henricus, Pastorius, Johann Samuel;
religious views of, 438-440; sickness
in family of, 442.
Pastorius, Henricus, 421; letters of, 431,
447-448.
Pastorius, Johann Samuel, 421; letters
of, 431, 447-448.
Pastorius, John Samuel, brother of
Francis Daniel, 446-447.
Pastorius, Melchior Adam, 355, 359,
361, 361 n., 421, 442; Latin letter of,
443; translation, 443-444; Penn's
Latin letter to, 444; translation, 445.
Pegg, Daniel, 270 n., 271.
Pellison, Jacob, 269 n., 287, 287 n.
Pemberton, Phineas, 432 n.
Penn, Richard, 432, 432 n.
Penn, Sir William, 369-370, 369 n.
Penn, William, settles dispute and ac-
quires land in West New Jersey, 180;
Epistle of, 182-185; trustee, 183, 192;
founding of Pennsylvania by, 199-
200; Some Account of the Province of
Pcnnsilvania, 200, 201, 202-215;
patent granted to, 211-215, 371-373;
Letter to Free Society of Traders, 219,
221-223, 224-244; land in Delaware
granted to, 220; arrives in America,
220, 379, 379 n., 456; controversy
with Lord Baltimore, 220, 257, 259;
country-seat of, 221, 320, 320 n.,
457 n.; Works of, 222; Clarkson's
Memoirs of, 222; Janney's Life of,
222; denies report of his death, 225;
activities of, after his return to Eng-
land, 257; A Further Account of the
Province of Pennsylvania, 257-258,
259-278; letter of Robert Turner to,
268-273; terms of settlement with
immigrants, 274-275, 370, 370 n., 374;
preface to Dr. More's Letter by, 284;
book dedicated to, 309, 313; contro-
versy with More, 310; acquires title
to Pennsylvania, 317, 370, 370 n.;
house of, in Philadelphia, 333, 333 n.;
proclamation of, 373; treats with Ind-
ians, 374; laws established by, 377,
379-380; Philadelphia laid out by,
380; Pastorius received by, 389, 396-
397; work of, reviewed, 409, 436;
Pennsylvania restored to, 428, 428 n.;
accessibility of, 442; letter to, 443;
Latin letter of, 444.
Penn, William, in America, by William
J. Buck, 257-258.
Penn, William, supposed ship, 455,
455 n.
Penn, William, jr., 375, 403, 403 n.
Pennberry Creek, 238.
Pennsbury, Penn's country-seat, 221,
320, 320 n., 457 n.
Pennsylvania, first water-mill in, 69;
description, language, manners, re-
ligion, and government of Indians of,
472
INDEX
70, 230-237, 276, 302-303, 316, 333-
335, 382, 384-386, 400-401, 40&-410,
410-411, 419-420, 425-426, 433-435,
437-438, 456; Proud's History of, 181,
222; founding of, 199-200; Hazard's
Register of, 201, 222; boundaries of,
207, 315, 315 n., 378; trees, fruits,
and produce of, 207, 227-228, 252,
253, 264, 265, 267, 268-269, 272, 273,
285-288 passim, 289-290, 291, 292,
301, 302, 322-324 passim, 383, 398;
trade and commerce of, 207-208,
266-267, 291, 325, 329, 382; gov-
ernment of, 208, 220, 239, 276, 329,
330, 377, 379-380, 386-387, 436, 437;
sale and division of land in, 208-209,
219, 274-275, 292, 325, 370, 370 n.,
374, 402-407; information for those
going to, 210-211, 273-276, 276-278,
388, 389, 394-395, 408-409, 410;
Penn's patent for, 211-215, 371-373;
commissioners sent to, 219; immi-
gration to, 219, 221, 260, 393, 393 n.;
assemblies of, 220, 221, 239; soil,
water, and climate of, 225-226, 268-
269, 318, 382, 397; fish and animals
of, 228-229, 252, 252-253, 253, 264,
265, 267, 272, 300-301, 321-322, 324;
grass, plants, and flowers of, 229, 264,
323, 332; Swedes and Finns in, 237-
238, 251, 252, 260, 316; English in,
237, 251, 252, 260; creeks and rivers
of, 238, 319-320; counties of, 238-
239, 323; minerals of, 253, 273, 302,
313, 320-321, 326; Penn's Further
Account of, 257-258, 259-278; coun-
try settlements of, 263, 268, 325-326;
provisions, 266-268, 285, 292-293,
328, 397; Penn's terms of settlement
with immigrants to, 274-275; false
reports concerning, 284-285; farming
in, 285-286, 319, 328, 397; Holme's
map of, 292, 292 n.; Frame's Short
Description of, 297, 298-299, 300-
305; Thomas's Historical and Geo-
graphical Account of, 311-312, 313-
359; Penn acquires title to, 317;
towns in, 318, 380, 381; hunting and
fishing in, 321; trades and wages in,
326-328, 328-329, 408; lawyers and
physicians in, 328; children, 332; re-
ligion in, 335-337, 387-388, 432, 438;
money used in, 338, 382; German
colonization in, see German (Frank-
fort) Company; Pastorius's Circum-
stantial Geographical Description of,
355, 358-359, 360-392, 411-448; other
works of Pastorius concerning, 357-
358; Penn's coming to, 379, 379 n.,
456; inhabitants of, 383-386, 399-
400; Pastorius's Positive Information
concerning, translated, 392-411; re-
stored to Penn, 428, 428 n.; Welsh in,
451-452; Thomas John Evan arrives
in, 451, 452; see also German (Frank-
fort) Company; Penn, William; names
of particular places.
Pennsylvania, Annals of, by Samuel
Hazard, 169, 201.
Pennsylvania, Colonial Records of, 71 n.
Pennsylvania, Historical Society of, col-
lections of, 94, 119, 190, 201, 221, 258,
358; Memoirs of the, 55, 359.
Pennsylvania Archives, 169.
Pennsylvania Land Company of Lon-
don, 298.
Pennsylvania Magazine of History, 94,
119, 190, 222 n., 249, 258, 283, 293 n.,
453, 457 n.
Pennypack Creek, 238, 238 n.
Pennypacker, Samuel W., translations
by, 222 n., 249; The Settlement of Ger-
mantown, 358 n.
Pensauken Creek, 350.
Person, Knut, 114.
Person, Lukas, 111.
Person, Pafwel, 115.
Peru, 365.
Peters, Dr. Johann Wilhelm, 441.
Petersen, Dr. Johann, 430.
Philadelphia, Wescott's History of, 201,
222, 257; laid out, 220, 380, 456;
visited by Penn, 220; second assem-
bly held at, 220-221; printing-press
established in, 224 n.; description of,
239-241, 242-244, 260-262, 269-272,
304, 317-318, 329-333, 339, 437; mar-
ket at, 250, 254, 262, 318; wharves of,
261, 261 n., 330-331; some early resi-
dences of, 270-271, 290-291, 403;
Quaker meeting-houses in, 271-272,
271 n., 272 n.; jails of, 330, 330 n.;
ship-building in, 331; schools and
shops of, 331; Penn's house in, 333,
333 n.; churches of, 335; Pastorius
arrives in, 375, 375 nv 389, 396; fair
INDEX
473
held at, 376, 408; first hostelry in,
404 n.; government of, 436; occupa-
tions of people of, 436-437; Welsh in,
456, 456 n.-457 n.
Philadelphia County, 238, 323, 417.
Philadelphia Daily News, 312.
Pietists, 356, 425, 439.
Pipere, Matz, 113.
Pirates, French, 431-432.
Plain Joan, ship of Lt. Evelyn, 35.
Plantations, general observations con-
cerning, 202-206; classes of persons
benefited by, 209-210.
Plowden, Sir Edmund, 101, 101 n.
Plymouth, 304.
Poquessing Creek, 238.
Port Royal, 416.
Porto Rico, Portuguese prisoners for,
14.
Poulson, Charles A., 297.
Presbyterians, in Pennsylvania, 335,
387; in West New Jersey, 347.
Printing-press, first south of New Eng-
land, 224 n.
Printz, Armegot, see Papegoya, Arme-
got.
Printz, Gov. Johan, 114; hospitality of,
28; appointment of, 65; the Dutch
and, 66-67, 74-75; returns to Sweden,
79; biographical sketch, 93-94; re-
ports of, 95-129; desires recall, 109,
129; colonists complain of, 137.
Printztorp, 148.
Privateering, Dutch, 109; Swedish, sug-
gested, 109-110.
Proud, Robert, History of Pennsylvania,
181, 222.
Puritans, of Boston, and Gov. Printz,
100, 100 n., 124.
Quakers, in West New Jersey, 180, 347;
in Pennsylvania, 221; released from
imprisonment, 257; religious parties
of, 335-337, 387; see also Penn, Wil-
liam; Pennsylvania.
Quarry, Col. Robert, 310.
Quietists, 425, 439.
Quit-rents, in Pennsylvania, 208, 370 n.
Raccoon Creek, 66, 350.
Rack, Edward, Caspipina's Letters, 222.
Radnor, 318, 458 n.
Rambo, Per Gunnerson, 111.
Rancocas Creek, 230, 230 n., 350.
Rappel, Capt. Gabriel, 269, 269 n.
Reciieil . . . concernant la Pensylvanie,
222, 249.
Red Hook, 18, 18 n., 20, 66.
Redman, John, 290, 290 n.
Redonde, 11.
Reed, or Reedy, Island, 18, 18 n., 21,
159.
Relations, Jesuit, 103 n., 104 n.
Religion, in New Sweden, 150; in Penn-
sylvania, 335-337, 347, 387-388, 432,
438; in West New Jersey, 347.
Rensselaer, Kiliaen van, 7.
Reynolds, Rev. William M., translation
by, 55.
Rhode Island, trade with Pennsylvania,
266-267.
Rhys, Edward ap, 456, 456 n.
Rhys, Rhisiart ap Tomas ap, 459.
Ridder, Gov. Peter Hollender, 64, 98,
98 n.
Riksarkiv, Stockholm, manuscripts in,
94, 119, 134.
Ringgold, Thomas, 140, 140 n.
Rising, Gov. Johan Clason, life of, 133-
134; reports of, 136-165; relation by,
170-176; surrender of, 316.
Rittenhouse, William, 305 n.
Robinson, Prof. F. N., aid acknowl-
edged, 453.
Rudyard, Thomas, 195, 195 n., 373.
Ruth, Simon, 66.
Rutkiert, Mr., 115.
Ruttens, Peter, notary, 86.
Saba, island, 14.
Sachse, Julius F., Letters relating to the
Settlement of Germantown, 222 n.,
249 n. 358 n., 402 n.
St. Christopher, island, 11, 13; English
governor of, 13, 13 n.
St. Georges Creek, 238, 238 n., 320.
St. Jones Creek, 238, 238 n., 319, 319 n.
St. Martin, island, 11, 14.
St. Vincent, arrival of De Vries at, 10.
Salem, N. J., built, 344-345.
Salem County, N. J., trade of, 352.
Salem River, 350.
Sandelin, Jacob Evertssen, 85, 86, 88.
Sandhook, 143.
Sankikans, or Sankitans, attack planned
by, 19, 19 n.
474
INDEX
Santhickan, Dutch arms torn down at,
75.
Saroschi, Isaac Ferdinand, 427, 427 n.,
432.
Scarborough, or Scarburgh, Edmund,
157, 157 n.
Schotting, Timon van, 95, 95 n.
Schumberg, Tobias, 355, 355 n., 422,
422 n.
Schiitz, Johann Jacob, 388, 412, 413, 441.
Schuylkill River, 238, 239, 320; list of
colonists of plantation on, 113.
Schylenkyll, see Nya Wasa.
Scotch Dutchman, ship, 85.
Secane, or Siccane, Indian chief, 231,
231 n.
Secatareus, Indian chief, 231, 231 n.
Sepassing Land, 230, 230 n.
Shackamaxon, 230, 230 n.
Shelpot Creek, 238, 238 n.
Shippen, Edward, 332, 332 n.
Shoemaker, Jacob, 389 n., 402, 402 n.,
407.
Shorter, Elizabeth, 317 n.
Sichere Nachricht . . . wegen der hand-
schafft Pennsylvania, by Pastorius,
357-358; translated, 392-411.
Silfverkrona, see Spiring, Peter.
Sille, Nicasius de, 175, 175 n.
Simcock, John, 241 n.
Simonssen, Michell, 85, 86, 87.
Simson, Frances, 389 n., 394, 408.
Sitterich, Nicolaes van, 7, 7 n.
Six Nations, at treaty, 71.
Skute, Sven, 68, 79, 112, 112 n., 137,
146, 148, 164; surrender of Ft. Casi-
mir by,o 170-171.
Smaal, Pafvel, 116.
Smith, Henry, commander, 333.
Smith, Joseph, Catalogue of Friends'
Books, 181.
Smith, Samuel, History of New Jersey,
181.
Smith, Thomas, 270 n., 271.
Smith's Island, 101.
Snohuitt, Joran, 114.
South Bay, see Delaware Bay.
South River, see Delaware River.
Sowle, Andrew, 224, 224 n.
Spaniol, Jacob, 114.
Spiring, Peter, 86, 86 n.
Sprinchorn, Carl K. S., Kolonien Nya
Sveriyes Historia, 134-135.
Springfield, 289, 289 n., 304.
Squirrel, yacht, 18.
Stacy, Robert, 344 n.
Stacys Island, see Burlington Island.
Stiles, Robert, 351-352, 351 n.
StillC, Olof, 74, 74 n.
Stone, Capt. John, dealings of, 13, 13 n.
Stuyvesant, Gov. Petrus, 54, 66, 145,
145 n., 158, 158 n.; Gov. Printz and,
66-67; attacks New Sweden, 170-
176; Swedes surrender to, 316.
Susquehanna Indians, see Minquas.
Susquehanna River, 321.
Sussex County, 238, 323.
Svensson (Swenson), Andrew, 403, 403 n.
Svensson, Jacob, 113, 144, 144 n.
Svensson, Olaf, 403 n.
Svensson (Swenson), Sven, 403, 403 n.
Swan, ship, 65.
Swanendael, 7 n., 8 n.; destroyed by Ind-
ians, 9; destroyed, 15; whaling at, 21,
26 n.
Swart, Antoni, 114.
Swedes, at Ft. Nya Elfsborg, 27-28; re-
lations with Dutch, 54; land pur-
chased by, 60, 69-70, 87-88; Dutch
intrude upon, 65-66; English driven
from Delaware by Dutch and, 76-77;
finances of colony on Delaware, 77-
78; lose trade, 81; murdered by Ind-
ians, 116; in Pennsylvania, 237, 250-
251, 260; on the Delaware, 369, 369 n.;
religion of, 335, 387; church of, 403,
403 n. ; see also New Sweden.
Swedish Commercial College, 133.
Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, by
Amandus Johnson, 7 n., 61 n., 86 n.,
94, 96 n., 99 n., 100 n., 134, 137 n.,
143 n., 150 n., 156 n., 158 n., 162 n.,
163 n.
Swedish Trading Company, 58-59.
Swenson, Jacob, see Svensson, Jacob.
Swenson, Swen, see Svensson, Sven.
Sykes, Nathaniel, 317 n.
Tacony Creek, 238, 238 n., 320, 320 n.;
mills on, 241 n.
Tamany, Indian chief, 231, 231 n.
Tatham, John, 346, 346 n.
Tatt, Eric, 112.
Techoherassi, 69.
Tenakongh Island, see Tinicum.
Test, John, 270, 270 n.
INDEX
475
Thijssen, Admiral Maarten, 13. 13 n.
Third Hook, 173.
Thomas, Gabriel, life of, 309-311; An
Historical and Geographical Account
of Pennsylvania and of West-New-Jer-
sey, 311-312, 313-352, 359.
Thomas, Lt.-Gov. George, of Pennsyl-
vania, 71.
Thysz., Maerten, see Thijssen, Admiral
Maarten.
Timber Island, 173, 174.
Timmer Kill, attack planned bv Indians
in, 19.
Tinicum, 66, 80, 99; list of colonists of,
114; Swedish meeting-house at, 238.
Tinnakongh, see Tinicum.
Tittery, Joshua, 395, 3^5 n.
Tobacco, trade with Virginia, 96-97,
108, 145-146, 160, 203; planters, 111,
113; from New Sweden, 120.
Toleration, in West New Jersey, 193.
Tommas, carpenter, 111.
Tommeson, Lars, 111.
Tommesson, Jacob, 115.
Torkillus, Rev. Reorus, 61, 61 n., 79,
115, lion.
Torson, Bengt, ill.
Torson, Jon, 111.
Torson, Olaff, 111.
Tortugas, colony on island of, 8.
Trade, fur, 3, 28, 95, 96, 107, 123, 143,
157, 207, 208, 316, 351, 382, 426, 438;
cattle, 107, 323, 329; corn, 291, 329;
pitch, tar, and rosin, 351; rice, 352;
see also Tobacco; Whale-fishing.
Traders, Free Society of, in Pennsylva-
nia, 219-220, 250; Penn's Letter to,
221-223, 224-244; history of, 240 n.-
241 n.; Frankford, built by, 380, 399;
trading-house of, 404, 404 n.
Treaties, Indian, for Delaware land, 67;
of Lancaster, 71-72; with Minquas,
103; for Elk River land, 159, 159 n.;
with Pennsylvania Indians, 292, 374.
Tresse, Thomas, 305 n., 330, 330 n.
Trinity, 143, 164; see also Fort Casimir.
Trotzig, Peter, 163, 163 n.
Truth Advanced, 336, 337.
Tunes, Abraham, 402, 402 n.
Turner, Robert, 305 n., 317 n., 330,
330 n.; letters of, 268-273, 290-291;
life of, 273 n.
Tweede Bericht, 257.
Ulff, Lars Anderson, 111.
Umstdndige Geographische Beschreibung
Pensylvanice, by Francis Daniel Pas-
torius, 355, 358-359, 360-392, 411-
448.
United Provinces, see Netherlands.
Upland, see Chester.
Upsala, University of, manuscript at,
169.
Usselinx, Willem, 58, 58 n.
Vaass, Sven, 114.
Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts, 7 n.
Varkens Kill, 27, 77, 100 n.
Vespucci, Amerigo, 367-368, 367 n.
Vignois, Cornelius, 89.
Virginia, 366; De Vries visits English
in, 26, 26 n.; Yong's party visits, 34-
35; commissioners of, at treaty, 71;
tobacco trade, 96-97, 108, 160, 203;
Indian attacks in, 102; Indians at
peace, 125.
Virginia State Library, manuscript in,
36.
Vogel-Sant, 24.
Vries, David Pieterszoon de, Korte His-
toriael, ende Journaels Aenteyckeninge,
3-4, 7-29; life of, 4-6.
Walle, Jacob von de, 388, 44 1.
Walvis, De, ship, 7 n., 8 n.
Warner, Edmond, 180, 184, 184 n.
Warner, Sir Thomas, English governor
of St. Christopher, 13, 13 n.
Wass, Sven, 121, 122.
Water, Johan von de, 86.
Waterland, 11, 11 n.
Weilich, Dr., 441.
Weiser, Conrad, 71.
Weiss, Lewis H., translation by, 359.
Welcome, ship, 220, 228 n., 271 n.
Welsh, in Pennsylvania, 221, 228 n.,
451-452; in Philadelphia, 456, 456 n.-
457 n.
Welsh Tract, 451-452.
Werf, Jan Roelofs van der, 373.
Wertmuller, George, 389 n., 394, 394 n.,
407.
West India Company, Dutch, 7, 7 n.;
colony under, 8; in West Indies, 10;
ships of, 10, 12; at Ft. Nassau, 28;
at Albany, 57; treatv with Indians,
67.
476
INDEX
West New Jersey, secured to Quakers,
180; described and divided, 182-184;
sales of land in, 189, 193-194; im-
migration to, 189-190; description of,
191-195; title, 192; liberty of con-
science in, 193; transportation to,
194; letters concerning, 194-195; Byl-
linge and, 190, 192-193, 344, 344 n.;
Thomas's Historical and Geographical
Account of, 311-312, 338-352; boun-
daries of, 340; description, customs,
and language of Indians, 340-344;
Dutch in, 344; colonies in, 344-345;
towns of, 345-347; religion in, 347;
climate of, 347; grain and produce of,
347-348; fish and animals of, 348,
349; fruits and trees of, 348, 349;
creeks and rivers of, 349-350; law in,
351; trade of, 351-352; whale-fish-
eries of, 352.
West New Jersey, Concessions and Agree-
ments of ... , 189.
West New Jersey Society, 346, 346 n.
Westcott, Thompson, History of Phila-
delphia, 201, 222, 257.
Weston, P. C. J., Documents connected
with the History of South Carolina, 36.
Whale-fishing, 8, 9, 21, 26 n., 229, 241 n.,
265, 272, 293, 293 n., 352.
Wharton, Thomas, 310.
Wheeler, John, 270, 270 n.
Whitpain, Richard, 290, 290 n.
Wicaco, Swedish meeting-house at, 238.
Wilcox, Barnabas, 261, 261 n.
Wilcox, Joseph, 331, 331 n.
Willemsen, Theunis, escapes Indian at-
tack, 17 n.
Willet, David de, 89.
Windebank, Sir Francis, secretary of
state, 37 n.
Winsor, Justin, Narrative and Critical
History of America, 94.
Wissahiskonk River, see Assiscunk
Creek.
Woodberry River, 350.
World, division of the, 363-364.
Wylich, Thomas von, 388.
Wyngaert's Kill, named, 22.
Wynne, Dr. Thomas, 228 n., 271, 271 n.
Yong, Capt. Thomas, biographical
sketch, 33-35.
York, James, Duke of, 179, 183, 183 n.,
369 n.; reconveys title to West New
Jersey, 190, 192-193; accedes to
throne, and assists Penn, 257.
Zee Pentor, Indian chief, 20.
Zim, Mr. 116.
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