volume 1, chapter 7.

DELAWARE: A. D. 1632. Embraced in the Maryland grant to Lord Baltimore.

See MARYLAND: A. D. 1632.

DELAWARE: A. D. 1634. Embraced in the Palatine grant of New Albion.

See NEW ALBION.

DELAWARE: A. D. 1638-1640. The planting of the Swedish colony.

"William Usselinx, a distinguished merchant in Stockholm, was the first to propose to the Swedish government a scheme for planting a colony in America. He was a native of Antwerp, and had resided in Spain, Portugal and the Azores, at a time when the spirit of foreign adventure pervaded every class of society. ... In the year 1624 he proposed to the Swedish monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, a plan for the organization of a trading company, to extend its operations to Asia, Africa, America and Terra Magellanica. ... {655} Whether Usselinx had ever been in America is uncertain, but he had, soon after the organization of the Dutch West India Company, some connection with it, and by this and other means was able to give ample information in relation to the country bordering on the Delaware, its soil, climate, and productions. ... His plan and contract were translated into the Swedish language by Schrader, the royal interpreter, and published to the nation, with an address strongly appealing both to their piety and their love of gain. The king recommended it to the States, and an edict dated at Stockholm, July 2d, 1626, was issued by royal authority, in which people of all ranks were invited to encourage the project and support the Company. Books were opened for subscription to the stock ... and Gustavus pledged the royal treasure for its support to the amount of 400,000 dollars. ... The work was ripe for execution, when the German war [the Thirty Years War], and afterwards the king's death, prevented it, and rendered the fair prospect fruitless. ... The next attempt on the part of the Swedes to plant a colony in America was more successful. But there has been much difference among historians in relation to the period when that settlement was made. ... It is owing to the preservation, among the Dutch records at Albany, of an official protest issued by Kieft, the Governor at New Amsterdam, that we do certainly know the Swedes were here in the spring of 1638. Peter Minuit, who conducted to our shore the first Swedish colony, had been Commercial Agent, and Director General of the Dutch West India Company, and Governor of the New Netherlands. ... At this time Christina, the infant daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, had ascended the throne of Sweden. ... Under the direction of Oxenstiern, the celebrated chancellor of Sweden, whose wisdom and virtue have shed a glory on the age in which he lived, the patent which had been granted in the reign of Gustavus to the company formed under the influence of Usselinx was renewed, and its privileges extended to the citizens of Germany. Minuit, being now out of employment, and probably deeming himself injured by the conduct of the Dutch Company [which had displaced him from the governorship of the New Netherlands, through the influence of the patroons, and appointed Wouter Van Twiller, a clerk, to succeed him], had determined to offer his services to the crown of Sweden. ... Minuit laid before the chancellor a plan of procedure, urged a settlement on the Delaware, and offered to conduct the enterprise. Oxenstiern represented the case to the queen ... and Minuit was commissioned to command and direct the expedition."

_B. Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, part 1, chapter 2-3._

"With two ships laden with provisions and other supplies requisite for the settlement of emigrants in a new country, and with fifty colonists, Minuit sailed from Sweden late in 1637, and entered Delaware Bay in April, 1638. He found the country as he had left it, without white inhabitants. Minqua Kill, now Wilmington, was selected as the place for the first settlement, where he bought a few acres of land of the natives, landed his colonists and stores, erected a fort, and began a small plantation. He had conducted his enterprise with some secrecy, that he might avoid collision with the Dutch; but the watchful eyes of their agents soon discovered him, and reported his presence to the director at New Amsterdam. Kieft [successor to Van Twiller] had just arrived, and it became one of his first duties to notify a man who had preceded him in office that he was a trespasser and warn him off. Minuit, knowing that Kieft was powerless to enforce his protest, being without troops or money, paid no attention to his missive, and kept on with his work. ... He erected a fort of considerable strength, named Christina, for the Swedish queen, and garrisoned it with 24 soldiers. Understanding the character of the Indians, he conciliated their sachems by liberal presents and secured the trade. In a few months he was enabled to load his ships with peltries and despatch them to his patrons. ... The colony had to all appearance a promising future. ... Within two years, however, their prospects were clouded. The Company had failed to send out another ship with supplies and merchandise for the Indian trade. Provisions failed, trade fell off, and sickness began to prevail. ... They resolved to remove to Manhattan, where they could at least have 'enough to eat.' On the eve of 'breaking up' to carry their resolution into effect, succor came from an unexpected quarter. The fame of New Sweden, as the colony was called, of its fertile lands and profitable trade, had reached other nations of Europe. In Holland itself a company was formed to establish a settlement under the patronage of the Swedish Company." This Dutch company "freighted a ship with colonists and supplies, which fortunately arrived when the Swedish colony was about to be broken up and the country abandoned. The spirits of the Swedes were revived. ... Their projected removal was indefinitely deferred and they continued their work with fresh vigor. The Dutch colonists were located in a settlement by themselves, only a few miles from Fort Christina. They were loyal to the Swedes. ... In the autumn of the same year, 1640, Peter Hollaendare, who had been appointed deputy governor of the colony, and Moens Kling, arrived from Sweden with three ships laden with provisions and merchandise for the straitened colonists. They also brought out a considerable company of new emigrants. New Sweden was now well established and prosperous. More lands were bought, and new settlements were made. Peter Minuit died the following year."

_G. W. Schuyler, Colonial New York, volume 1, introduction, section 2._

ALSO IN: _I. Acrelius, History of New Sweden (Penn. Historical Society Mem., volume 11) chapter 1._

_Documents relative to Colonial History of New York,