Chapter VI (2)

Printz Hall was also rebuilt “very splendidly ... with an orchard, a pleasure house and more such things.” Churchill states in one of his novels that the bricks used in building Carvel’s house were brought from England, and legends have been circulated that Old Swedes Church (_Gloria Dei_) was built of Swedish bricks. It has likewise been said, as late as 1909, that Printz Hall was built of bricks imported from Sweden. On the other hand it has been denied that bricks were shipped here at all. We have already seen that about 500 bricks were carried over on the first journey, and in 1643, “6,000 bricks together with half a last of lime were consigned to Governor Printz for the need of the country in New Sweden.” A few bricks were taken here as ballast on some of the expeditions, but these were used for making fireplaces and chimneys, and Swedish bricks were in no case used for building houses. Printz Hall was built of logs. It was two stories high and so arranged that it could be defended against attack. The lumber shipped over on the _Fama_ was used for the interior of the mansion, and ovens and two or more fireplaces with chimneys were constructed of bricks. The mansion had several rooms lighted by “windows of glass,” and it was not devoid of comfort, we may even say of luxury. The governor’s library was estimated at 200 R. D., and curtains and the like were valued at 120 R. D. ($780, a respectable sum for such decorations in those days).

There was no cause for friction between Printz and the Dutch agents when he arrived in 1643. On account of his troubles with the New Haven people he sought the friendship of the Dutch, who reciprocated his advances, as it was also to their advantage that the English be kept out of the river. The English had already caused trouble on the northern boundaries of New Netherland. Their intrusions in the South River tended to restrict the territory and hem in the colony of the Dutch and might form a basis for future operations of a more dangerous kind. For this reason the Dutch realized the importance of keeping out the English even with the aid of the Swedes. Printz secretly distrusted them, however, and foresaw that trouble was sure to come; but he was a shrewd diplomat, and expressed himself in the highest terms of friendship and good will towards them. When he arrived Willem Kieft protested against the Swedes, and claimed the entire river for the Dutch West India Company; but Printz in turn refuted these claims “with as good reasons as he could and knew how,” and the Dutch governor finally dropped the “protesting.” The two governors corresponded with one another frequently, and Governor Printz wrote to Sweden in 1644, that “the Dutch have been on friendly terms with us since I came here, especially their commander at Manhattan, Willem Kieft.” Jan Jansen, the commander of Fort Nassau, was likewise on good terms with the Swedes. He was one of the commissioners in the court which tried Lamberton, and he joined readily in all actions undertaken against the English.

In spite of this friendship Printz complained that the Dutch did not have proper respect for Her Royal Majesty’s power. They usurped as much as they could with all authority and advantage, and carried on their traffic without restraint. They traded at Fort Nassau and on the Schuylkill under commission from the Dutch West India Company. They were allowed to pass freely up and down the river, but were compelled to strike their flags before the Swedish forts. Printz could have prevented them from passing Fort Elfsborg by his cannon, but he had no instructions to keep them out of the river nor to hinder their trade. He also endeavored not to offend the Dutch in his dealings with the Indians, and he managed to erect a trading post on the Schuylkill, where he conducted an extensive beaver trade, without exciting their ire. “At times they loosened their tongues and protested vigorously against these encroachments,” but it never went beyond words. The Dutch were not strong enough to drive out the Swedes, and the two nations were on friendly terms in Europe.

In 1643 and again in 1644 the governor asked for more definite instruction in regard to the Dutch, but none were sent him. As soon as the danger of English encroachments was removed, he observed less caution in his dealings with his nearest neighbors, but while Jan Jansen was in command at Fort Nassau the relations between the rival settlements continued to be friendly. For form’s sake the Dutch commissary protested against the activities of Printz, and the Swedes went on building block houses and extending their Indian trade, paying little heed to the Dutch protests. The Dutch garrison (of twenty men) at Fort Nassau remained about the same. Jan Jansen did not try to extend the territory of the West India Company, and Governor Kieft was satisfied with the limits of his colony, giving Printz little cause for complaint.

But complaints against Kieft’s leniency in his treatment of the Swedes began to be heard in Holland, and he was accused of allowing his southern neighbors to usurp the South River. Other things also foreboded a change in the Dutch regime on the Delaware. The change came in the autumn of 1645. Jan Jansen was recalled, and on October 2 (12), Andraes Hudde was appointed his successor. Hudde arrived at Fort Nassau on November 1 (11), 1645, and now begins a new era in the Dutch-Swedish relations in America. He was a more active and aggressive commissary than Jansen and Governor Kieft now showed more concern about his trading posts on the South River.

Governor Printz had warned the company that if supplies were not speedily sent to Fort Christina the losses would run into thousands, but he waited, months passed and not even news came from Sweden. Accordingly the Indian trade was very poor the first half of 1646, partly on account of the severe weather but more particularly due to the Dutch traders, who had merchandise in plenty; and some deer skins and a few bushels of corn were the only purchases made from the savages from January until June. During the spring and autumn grain and other supplies were bought from the English, and Printz sent his sloop to New Amsterdam for provisions, although he was on unfriendly terms with the Dutch. In addition the crops were so poor that it was necessary to buy winter rye in New Netherland for seed.

In spite of unfavorable circumstances, however, new land was occupied, and some improvements were made. The old windmill was unsatisfactory and became quite insufficient, when the fields increased. Accordingly the governor built a dam, and erected a water mill on a convenient place, a short distance north of New Gothenborg, “no doubt at Cobb’s Creek, a tributary of Darby Creek,” where the water offered sufficient power for the driving of a water wheel, large enough to turn a pair of mill stones. A miller was stationed there continuously for a number of years. The colonists took their grain to the mill, where it was ground for a certain toll. A blockhouse was built near the mill to protect the colonists, who settled in the neighborhood, and the place was called Mölndal, “because the mill was there.” A short distance south of Mölndal another blockhouse was erected at this time which was called _New Vasa_.

IV.

In October, 1646, there was joy in the settlement. The _Gyllene Haj_ cast anchor before Fort Christina. The ship carried large supplies for the Indian trade and for the colony’s need. Some new settlers and soldiers also arrived. These were all ill on account of the troublesome journey, but they recuperated quickly after landing. The governor had hoped to be released from his post, as soon as his term of three years service had expired, but the government could find no one suitable for the place, and the Queen commanded him to remain in the country. He had now managed the colony for nearly five years, and “these years were longer and more arduous to him than all the previous twenty-four years he had served his fatherland.” Therefore, when he read the Queen’s letter he “became sad, but as he saw the signature by her Royal Majesty’s own hand he was so happy that he no longer remembered his former sadness.” A special day of thanksgiving was ordered, and the colonists came together in the new church at Tinicum to praise God with a holy “_Te Deum_ for His grace in having given the fatherland a Queen who was of age.”

The outlook was now brighter. The inhabitants of New Sweden could prepare for the winter with more eagerness than formerly, and could celebrate their Christmas with more joy in their hearts than in 1645. Duffels, corals, axes, kettles and a thousand other trinkets and valuables were available for the beaver trade. Several presents were given to Indian chiefs shortly after the arrival of the ship, and not many weeks later Henrick Huygen and Van Dyck with eight soldiers and an Indian guide marched 230 miles into the Minquas country to renew the old friendship with the Minquas and to re-establish the trade. Rich gifts of mirrors, corals, combs and the like were presented to the chiefs, who promised to traffic freely with the Swedes and to discontinue the beaver trade with the Dutch entirely. A few purchases of beaver skins and corn were made from the savages in the beginning of 1647, and the sloop was sent down the bay “to try to trade”; but the success was small and the traffic was slow in recuperating. It was therefore necessary to buy tobacco for the cargo of the _Haj_. The sloop was sent to Manhattan twice for the victualling of the ship on its long voyage and for provisions in the colony. The preparations for the return of the vessel were completed about the middle of February, and a little later the vessel set sail. The Rev. Fluviander[16] who arrived with Governor Printz in 1643, and a few colonists returned home, and Johan Papegoja was again sent to the mother country at the request of the officers and soldiers to report. Printz made a list of articles which he needed, and again suggested many improvements. He requested the company to send over a brickmaker as well as carpenters and other laborers, for he had a large barge almost ready, but was forced to postpone its completion until the arrival of more skilled workmen.

Printz also prepared a long report, dated February 20, 1647, to the New Sweden Company concerning the condition of the colony at this time. The population was still very small, only 183 souls in all. The freemen had improved their conditions since 1643, but the soldiers and servants were dissatisfied and desired to go home. Twenty-eight freemen were settled on farms or plantations, but we do not know the extent of their fields nor the number of cattle, sheep and other domestic animals they had. Sixteen oxen, one cow and a horse had been purchased at New Amsterdam for the company, but two of the oxen had either died or been sold to freemen, for in February the company owned only fourteen of these animals. The cattle imported from Sweden by the company had increased to ten. As to the swine, goats and sheep belonging to the company we know nothing, but it is probable that there was a good supply of them at this time. The horse purchased from the Dutch fared well, and was used for work on the land and by Printz in going about the settlements. In the previous autumn he ran away, but he was caught by an Indian, who was richly rewarded for his trouble.

Ever since the arrival of Hudde the relations between the Dutch and Swedes had been strained. Hudde bought land from the Indians, which had been purchased by the Swedes, and traded with the savages without any consideration for Printz. In the autumn of 1646 the Dutch attempted to make settlements north of present Philadelphia. A letter instructing Hudde to buy this land was received, while the owner was absent hunting; but Hudde, who would not risk being anticipated by Printz, took possession of the lands two weeks before the purchase was made. When the owner returned from his hunt on September 12, deeds were drawn up and signed. “Having concluded the purchase, the proprietor went with Hudde in person, and the honorable company’s arms being fixed to a pole was set in the ground on the extreme boundary.” The purchase included Wicacoa (Philadelphia), and stretched northward along the river for some miles. The Dutch freemen soon erected a dwelling and a blockhouse on the land; but when Printz became aware of it he built a guard house in the neighborhood of the Dutch, and sent “his quartermaster and other Swedes to tear down and destroy the Dutch buildings.”

Protests and counter protests followed in rapid succession. On October 13 (23), Hudde sent a final answer to Printz’s counter protest. The protest was delivered to the Swedish governor by Alexander Boyer and two soldiers, who appear to have been treated rather uncivilly by Printz. According to the Dutch the governor did not even answer Boyer’s salutation of “Good morning,” and threw the document to the ground, commanding one of his inferiors to take care of it. Paying no attention whatever to the Dutch deputation, he proceeded to consult with some English from New Haven, and when Boyer requested an answer to carry back to his superior “he was pushed out of doors, the governor having taken a gun from the wall, as he could see, to shoot him.” Hudde’s account, however, must not be taken too literally, and there is no likelihood that the gun incident has any foundation in truth. The events were reported to Governor Kieft, but nothing could be done. The garrison at Fort Nassau was too weak to allow anything but words to be employed against an adversary like Governor Printz, and the force at New Amsterdam could not be diminished.

In the fur trade, however, the Dutch continued to have the upper hand, but when the ship arrived Printz improved his opportunities. The blockhouse on the Schuylkill, which had been built as a protection against the Indians, could not oppose the Dutch nor keep out their trading vessels. The Swedish governor therefore decided to build a fort by which he could regulate and monopolize the Indian trade, and maintain his jurisdiction against his neighbors. The stronghold was erected near the blockhouse “on the south side of a very convenient island about a gunshot from the mouth of the Schuylkill”. Logs and timbers had been cut in the previous autumn and the early part of 1647, and in February the fortress was almost finished. It was called _Fort New Korsholm_ as it was located on an island (_holm_, meaning island), and Måns Kling, the commander of the old blockhouse, was given charge of it. A gunner and a few soldiers were also stationed there.

Some new dwellings were built by the Swedes in the spring, and on the twenty-first of May, Printz purchased a certain tract of land from the Minquas. The land extended “on the west shore from Philadelphia to Trenton Falls and twenty-four yards of cloth, sixty-five yards of _sewant_, six axes, four kettles, seven knives, five pounds of corals, two silvered chains, four hundred and fifty fishhooks, besides a number of other trinkets, were given for the district. It was bought from two chiefs, Siscohoke and Mechekyralames, of the Minquas (Mantas?) Indians, and Printz “set his fence thereupon.”

It appears that tobacco raising was discontinued after 1646, as it proved unprofitable. Grain and Indian corn were now the staple products, and New Sweden had become an agricultural rather than a commercial colony, due to lack of support from the mother country and the nature and inclination of the settlers. The Indian trade, which had been of small account during the winter, was renewed in the early spring. Huygen was again sent into the country of the Black Minquas with merchandise. The good will of the chiefs was as usual bought by handsome gifts, and the journey was very successful, resulting in the purchase of several hundred skins. The sloop was sent into the Schuylkill and down to the bay, and the peltry traffic was continued throughout the summer with good profits. The English merchants who visited the river exchanged their wares for quantities of beaver skins, supplying new merchandise to the Swedes, with which they could buy peltries. An English bark valued at 200 florins was purchased by Governor Printz for 98 skins. Another journey was made to New Amsterdam to buy Indian corn, and Knut Persson was sent to New England to exchange merchandise for _sewant_ and oxen. Persson returned to Christina in the early autumn.

In August the beaver trade was renewed with the Black Minquas, and a supply of maize was bought from the river Indians. It seems that the crops were poor in 1647, for in October 100 bushels of peas, 120 bushels of rye and a quantity of corn-flour were purchased from William Whiting. Little is known of the internal history of the settlement from March, 1647, until the beginning of 1648. A Christian Indian named Ondaaiondiont, from the Catholic mission of New France, visited the Swedes on his way to the Andastoes in 1647. He is said to have criticised the life of the Swedes and to have reproached them of thinking more of the beaver trade than of converting the savages to Christianity.

In January, 1648, the _Swan_ anchored in Christina harbor with one of the largest cargoes ever sent to New Sweden. Johan Papegoja returned on this ship, and Rev. Lock was among the passengers. Printz now confidently expected his recall, as he had made new appeals to the government; but he was again disappointed and directed to remain, until another could be found for his place.

The supplies which arrived on the ship for the colonists and soldiers greatly improved their comfort. Printz displayed his usual activity. New land was allotted to the freemen, and large quantities of timber were prepared at the Schuylkill during the winter months. The island of Mekekanckon near Trenton Falls was bought from an Indian chief, and three different trading journeys were made inland into the Minquas country for over 150 miles. This trade was so successful that more than 1,200 skins were obtained for the cargo of the _Swan_.

In the spring “a list of the people who were still alive in New Sweden” was prepared. It contains but 79 names including the slave, since only the adult male inhabitants are enumerated. The officers and soldiers were all anxious to return home; but the life of the freeman was more tolerable than before, and many seem to have reached a certain degree of prosperity. In May the _Swan_ returned to Sweden. The colony now lost two or three of its most faithful servants, and a few freemen and soldiers. Printz sent his _fourth relation_, and other documents (all of which seem to have been lost), and on the day before the vessel sailed Papegoja wrote to the chancellor, requesting permission to leave the country and enter the naval service, unless more colonists soon arrived. The account books and journals in which the monthly salaries of the officers, soldiers and servants and their accounts with the company and with the governor were entered and in which the sales, purchases and transactions with the laborers and savages were recorded from 1643 until May, 1648, were also sent to Sweden on the _Swan_. The account book, which contains a record of all goods bought and sold in the colony and given to the Indians in the above mentioned five years, is now preserved in the Archives of the Exchequer at Stockholm in good condition. The _Schuldtboeck_ (written in Dutch) in which the individual accounts of the colonists were entered is now preserved in the Royal Archives. The book is defective, the upper front corners of the pages being moulded away and other parts being unreadable. It contains several facts not found elsewhere and many interesting details concerning the trade of the colony.

The Reverend Johan Campanius Holm, who after serving “well nigh five years with great danger of death night and day in a heathenish country among ferocious pagans,” was granted a benefice in Sweden, “able to support him with his wife and numerous little children,” and he returned to the mother country on the _Swan_. He has deservedly become the best known of the early Swedish preachers in America. He performed his ecclesiastical duties with seriousness and zeal, and was often “obliged without any regard to the weather to go from one place to the other to visit the settlers with the Word and the Sacrament”; he labored for the conversion of the Indians, who came to listen to his sermons in silent wonder, and he translated the Lutheran Catechism into their language for the first time. Being a man of a broad education, he had wide interests; he made “astronomical observations,” noted the length of the day, collected facts about the climate and other phenomena, and gathered material for a _Description of America and the Indians_, and was a farmer as well. It is therefore not surprising that he left a lasting memory in the settlement, and for nearly two centuries a legend was circulated “to the effect that ... he journeyed into the country among the [savages] and made his way to Sweden by land.”[17]

V.

Governor Printz had seen his happiest days on the Delaware, and the remaining years of his rule were full of troubles and disappointments. Peter Stuyvesant had replaced Governor Kieft as director of New Netherland. He was a man of tremendous energy, scrupulously faithful in discharging his duties and over zealous in promoting the interests of his superiors, and he was not to be accused of allowing the Swedes to usurp the river without a protest. He supported his commissary at Fort Nassau with all power, and encouraged the Dutch trade there.

During the winter Printz was active collecting building material in the Schuylkill. News about it reached Governor Stuyvesant, who at once ordered his commissary to settle down beside the Swedes, in case they should come to build and settle on any new and unoccupied places. Accordingly Hudde secured new titles to certain lands from two Indian chiefs, who told the Swedes in the Schuylkill to depart from their homes, as they had come there “in a sneaking way” without permission from the right owners. He also prepared to build a fort. Printz having obtained information about the doings of his neighbors, sent seven or eight men the same day under command of Huygen to deliver a protest against the Dutch, and to enquire on what authority and by what orders they presumed to build there. But the Indians were ill disposed towards the Swedes, who were unable to remove the Dutch, and Hudde “pushed forward the unfinished work and had the house surrounded by palisades.” The new stronghold was called Fort Beversreede, as it was to control the beaver trade in the Schuylkill. Some freemen also prepared to settle there and fruit trees were planted near the blockhouse. Måns Kling, however, soon approached the place “with 24 men” fully armed with loaded guns and lighted matches, “destroyed the fruit and cut down the trees in front of the fort.” Stuyvesant finally determined to go to the South River himself, but his journey was deferred. In his place he sent two officers, next to himself in command, “Vice-Director van Dincklage and Mr. de la Montagne with orders and commands to transact the business [on the South River] to the greatest benefit and advantage of the Honorable Company.” Old titles were renewed, and several Dutch freemen were assigned land on the Schuylkill. Hans Jacobsen prepared to build there in June, but Gustaf Printz, who had been instructed to prevent him, went there and ordered him to tear down with his own hands what he had built. On his refusal to do so Printz tore it down himself and burnt the material. In the autumn Governor Printz built a log house in front of the Dutch fort, which was thus completely shut off from the river. He also gave strict orders to his commander at Fort Korsholm “not to allow any post or stake to be set in the ground and to prevent by friendly words or by force” any attempts of the Dutch at building. He also stationed two men in the river to keep a close watch. The Swedish governor was clearly holding more than his own in these quarrels. The Dutch appealed to New Amsterdam, but received no aid.

In 1649 Governor Printz bought a small district on the eastern shore of the Delaware, a narrow strip north of the former limits of New Sweden, between the Mantas and Raccoon Creeks. The commercial activities, if we are to believe in Dutch reports, were very lively at this time. Hudde writes in 1649 “that the trade in beavers with the savages amounts at present to 30 or 40 and more thousands of beavers during one trading season.” Since the Swedes monopolized the trade (to the exclusion of others) it is to be inferred that their beaver traffic approached the above sum in 1649; but these estimates must be greatly exaggerated, and the Indian trade in New Sweden could hardly have reached one-fourth of the above mentioned sum annually.

In 1650 the troubles with the Dutch increased, and neither news nor supplies came from Sweden. But the year proved prosperous, as the weather was favorable to the grain. The Dutch abandoned Fort Beversreede, and Stuyvesant was somewhat uneasy, as he was aware that a ship with a large cargo was expected by the Swedes. In July, however, Augustine Herrman brought news that the ship had stranded at Porto Rico and been captured by the Spaniards. Stuyvesant took pains to inform the Swedes of the disaster. But Printz did not lose heart. At this time a Dutch vessel was in the river ready to return to Europe, offering him an opportunity to write letters to the Queen, to the chancellor, to Brahe and to Trotzig in which he urged them to send over new supplies, additional soldiers and more colonists. He had written five times to Sweden in the last two years and three months, but had received no reply either from the mother country or from the company’s agents in Holland. He reported that large territories had been purchased from the Indians, although the Dutch protested against it daily, but there were entirely too few colonists to improve the land. He had the upper hand in the quarrels with the Dutch, and had resisted their attempts at settlements within the Swedish boundary line. The freemen were in a prosperous condition and “all well except in a few cases”; they were mostly provided with oxen and other domestic animals, which were increasing and growing more numerous yearly; they cultivated the land in earnest and could sell over one hundred barrels of grain; they not only had fields of rye and barley, but also prepared orchards and planted valuable fruit trees which grew spendidly; their greatest trouble was the lack of servants and some of them desired wives. In addition to these letters Sven Skute was sent to Sweden to explain the conditions more fully and, if possible, to awaken the company and government to action.

The Indians continued to be friendly, but the trade went almost entirely to the Dutch. Traders from Virginia and New Amsterdam visited the settlement as before, “daily offering for sale everything one’s heart can desire, although at treble prices”; and in 1650 English merchants from Barbadoes came to the Delaware with their goods. In December Gyllengren in company with other officers was sent to New Amsterdam to procure some supplies there, and he purchased “divers merchandise amounting to the sum of 158½ good winter beavers.”

The summer and autumn of 1650 and the winter of 1651 passed quietly, and there were few disturbing elements. The summer of 1651 was favorable for the crops, and the colony harvested “very beautiful grain besides all other valuable fruits, and nothing was needed but more colonists.”

The dispute with the Dutch, however, took a dangerous turn in the autumn. Stuyvesant had become tired of the many complaints which came from the South River. Twice he had determined to go there, but each time he had been hindered. In the spring of 1651 he again had in mind to proceed in person to Fort Nassau, but urgent duties once more detained him. He knew that the forces at the disposal of Printz were small and his resources limited. It was therefore likely that a single ship would be able to restore the balance of power to the Dutch, check “the insolence” of the Swedes and prevent merchants from trading in the river without a permit from the Dutch West India Company or from Stuyvesant. Accordingly a vessel was sent to the South River in the beginning of May. “On May 8,” says Printz, “a ship with cannon and people well armed arrived here from New Amsterdam. The vessel placed itself half a mile (about 3½ English miles) below our Fort Christina, closing the river so that no ship could proceed unmolested either up or down.” But Governor Printz was not daunted. He made ready his little yacht, and ordered it with people, cannon and ammunition down the river to meet the Dutch. It seems that the captain had been instructed by Stuyvesant not to provoke or begin hostilities, for when the Swedish yacht appeared “he tried no hostility against” it, but withdrew his ship, and returned to Manhattan. “And thus,” says Printz, “we secured the river open again.”

It was now clear to Stuyvesant that effective measures must be taken and a large force must be employed, if he were to be able to cope with the active and alert governor of New Sweden. He at once began to prepare a new expedition. He did it all on his own authority, however, without even advising the directors about it, and the preparations were conducted so secretly that Printz was unaware of his danger before the Dutch approached. Stuyvesant marched across the country with 120 men, and arrived at Fort Nassau on June 25, where eleven ships (four well armed), which had sailed around the coast, met him. To impress the Swedes with his strength he cruised with his little fleet up and down the river, “drumming and cannonading.” Against such a force Printz could accomplish nothing. He manned his yacht with thirty men, and followed the Dutch, but he “did not dare to attempt anything” of a hostile character. Governor Stuyvesant sent letters and messengers to Printz, claiming the entire river by first possession and discovery and certain lands by purchase, effected years before the Swedes arrived. Printz in turn answered these protests, and presented arguments for the Swedish claims.

In the meantime Stuyvesant arranged several conferences with the Indians, and gained their good will through gifts and promises. He also obtained title to the land on the west side of the Delaware from Minquas Kill down to the Bay. The chief Peminacka, “as the present and ceding proprietor,” speaking for the other chiefs, presented the land as a free gift; his only stipulation being that “whenever anything was the matter with his gun, it should be repaired for nothing, and when he came empty among the Dutch they should remember [to give] him some maize.” As this land had been bought by the Swedes, Printz at once called a conference of the Indians, who formerly owned it, and disproved the Dutch title. Protests and copies of deeds were thereupon sent to Governor Stuyvesant, but he paid no heed to these papers. Having ordered the force, which came across the country, on board his little fleet, he sailed down the river to a convenient spot on the west bank between Christina and Elfsborg, and landed 200 men there. The erection of a fort was immediately begun on a peninsula near the present New Castle. The stronghold was completed about August 1. It was about 210 feet long and about half as wide. 12 pieces of ordnance were placed on its bulwarks, and it was well provided with ammunition. It was called _Fort Casimir_, for what reason is not quite clear. Fort Nassau was demolished, and its cannon were taken to the new fort. Fort Casimir commanded the river, and from now on all traders were compelled to pay duty to the Dutch. Two warships were also stationed in the Delaware to aid the garrison in enforcing Stuyvesant’s decrees. During his stay Governor Stuyvesant broke down “Her Royal Majesty’s arms and pole, made prizes of Virginian barks, and compelled the English to pay duty or recognition on the goods they had sold to the Swedes for four years” past.

When the directors of the Dutch West India Company heard of Stuyvesant’s expedition, they were greatly surprised, and expressed concern about the consequences. “God grant,” they wrote, “that what your Honor has done may turn out for the best. We cannot express our opinion of it, before we have ... heard how the complaints of the Swedish governor will be received by the Queen.” The directors had made some overtures about fixing the boundaries on the South River by a treaty with Sweden, but no definite action seems to have been taken.

VI.

The Dutch were now masters on the Delaware. The two warships undoubtedly returned to New Amsterdam before the winter set in; but Printz had not a sufficient force to regain what the Dutch had taken and his instruction cautioned him to begin no hostility. He made the best of the situation, however, concentrated his forces, and awaited new arrivals from Sweden. Fort New Elfsborg was abandoned and left to decay, as it was no longer the key to the river. The garrisons of Mölndal and New Korsholm were also withdrawn. The Indians fell off from the Swedes on account of the activities of Stuyvesant. The beaver trade was monopolized by the Dutch, and the trade with foreign merchants was poor. The settlers were dissatisfied, and there were few on whom Printz could depend in an emergency. “For three years and nine months” the governor had had “absolutely no orders nor assistance” from the mother country, and he was becoming nervous about the situation. On the first of August he made reports, imploring the government and the company to send new cargoes by the following spring. But the spring of 1652 passed, bringing neither ship nor succor from Europe.

Printz, however, made use of every means at his command. The carpenters were kept busy, mending the forts and building boats, when they were not employed in the erection of houses. A sloop had been built at the wharf of Christina for which sails were brought over on the _Swan_ in 1648. It was used by Printz on official business, and the expenses connected with its construction and rigging out were charged to the admiralty. The governor had requested the company to station a vessel in the river, which could be used for various purposes; but his letters were not even answered. Consequently he determined to build a ship himself and in August, 1652, he wrote that “the ship was ready on the river except for sails, tackle, cannon and crew, that were too expensive to hire and buy here.” The vessel was of about 200 tons burden, a large boat for that time, and it seems that Printz intended to use her in defending the river, as well as for preying on Spanish commerce.

Heavy rains did damage to the grain in 1652, and “the troubles were daily increasing,” “but the freemen had bread enough.” On August 30 Printz again wrote to the authorities in Sweden. The Indian trade was ruined, since the Swedes had no cargoes to sell; the savages showed signs of unrest; the Hollanders pressed hard upon the settlement, and the foreigners expressed the opinion that the government at Stockholm had entirely forsaken its people in the wilderness. Printz was ill and unable to exert his former energy. The Swedes themselves were dissatisfied, and many deserted. In April and again in July the following year Printz dispatched new letters and reports. Supplies and people must be sent, he says, or “the labor and expense which has been applied on this well begun work will come to nought.” To emphasize the urgency of his needs he also sent his son Gustaf Printz to the fatherland.

In the autumn the situation reached a crisis, and a “revolt” arose against Governor Printz. Several colonists, who had real or imaginary grievances against the governor, presented a written supplication of eleven articles, signed by twenty-two settlers. The document states that the colonists were “at no hour or time secure as to life and property”; it complained that the settlers were prohibited from trading with either the savages or Christians, although the governor never neglected an opportunity of traffic with these parties; the governor was charged with and accused of passing judgment in his own favor against the opinions of the jury; he was accused of forbidding the colonists from grinding their flour at the mill, and of withholding from them the use of the “fish-waters, the trees in the woods, the grass on the ground and the land to plant on, from which they had their nourishment.” On account of these and other troubles the petitioners said they “were obliged to send two men to Her Royal Majesty and the Honorable Company in the mother country to ascertain if they were entirely neglected ... and what they should do, since they were not able to seek their sustenance in this country.” The petition kindled the wrath of the governor. Anders Jönsson, who appears to have been the leader of the opposition, was arrested, tried and “executed on a charge of treachery on August 1, 1653.” Rev. Lock was also involved in the disturbance, but for some reason his freedom and office were not interfered with.

Two days after the execution of Anders Jönsson, the governor replied to the charges. The petitioners were addressed as rebels, and their petition was answered point for point. Only the fur trade with the savages was prohibited and only two islands belonging to the place of the governor’s residence were set aside for Printz (“and this was done ... before Kingsessing was colonized,” hence they had no right to complain); “everyone had liberty to grind on the mill for toll, but at certain times only, since the miller dared not remain at the mill continually on account of the savages.” Printz also denied all other charges, referring to the documents, minutes and judgments for a justification of his acts; and he was very willing to have two men go to Sweden, “the sooner the better.”

But the answer did not satisfy the petitioners, who were silenced only for the time being. In a later document presented the following year, the old charges against Governor Printz were repeated and new ones were put forth. The freemen, says the complaint, were set to work on his plantations; they built his houses and made planks, which he appropriated for his own use without remuneration; they were compelled to harvest his grain before their own, and their sleds were taken from them in harvest time, so that their grain was spoiled by the rain. “Thus,” continues the charge, “we have been treated more contrary to law than according to law. For example Clemet the Finn had a handmill together with Anders, Johan and Måns, the Finn. [Later] Clemet bought the mill from the other Finns; and, when he got the mill, he went after it and fetched it to himself in his house. As this [had happened] he immediately made it known to the governor. Then, when Clemet came to church, on a common day of prayer, the governor called Clemet to himself before the sermon, and asked him why he had taken the mill? Clemet answered: ‘the mill is mine.’ Then the governor said, ‘you rascal, shall you take the mill without asking me?’ With this he seized Clemet, struck him firstly in the hall and followed him with blows and strikes until he fell down, and yet further he struck him on the ground, so that he lost his health through it. In addition he threw him into the church, and the day after he let him be brought into the chest [prison] at Christina, where he lay for eight days. When he had recovered somewhat he [the governor] took him out and let him do work for some weeks.” Such and other equally grave or graver charges were laid against Printz, but we must make allowance. That some of the charges were true goes without saying, but the majority were undoubtedly unfounded. Acrelius gives the correct view when he says “that it is probable that the Swedes, after they came to this _Canaan_ and got a taste of an unknown good, tired of such labor as was nothing more than was usual at home, and thus conceived an unmerited hatred to their governor.”[18]

Printz discharged his office as governor with no small ability, but he was at a great disadvantage on account of inadequate and insufficient assistance. He petitioned several times for “a learned and able man who could administer justice and attend to the law business.” Very intricate cases came up and “it was difficult ... for one and the same person to appear in court as a plaintiff as well as a judge.” But Printz waited in vain for an assistant, and did his best under the circumstances. His government was at times harsh and probably tyrannical, but it required a strong hand to manage the rough and unruly element. The majority of the colonists were peaceful and law abiding, but there were those who had little regard for order and law. In 1650 Printz reported that he had not thirty men under his charge whom he could trust, and some time earlier Papegoja wrote that “it was very hard for him to remain here, for he received only rebuke and ingratitude for everything he did; and besides the soldiers cherished secret hatred towards him, and if they could find a small fault in him, they would likely murder him.” Papegoja’s plaints are undoubtedly exaggerated, but go far to prove that we must not take the accusations against Printz _too_ literally. Very serious charges were similarly made against Stuyvesant, Kieft and other governors of New Netherland, often without foundation.

Governor Printz, however, was finding his position quite untenable in the autumn of 1653, and at last determined to go to Sweden in person to present the needs of his settlement. Elaborate preparations were made for his departure. Indian chiefs were called to Printz Hall about the end of September. Speeches were made, small gifts were distributed among the savages, promises of friendship were renewed, and Printz gave the aborigines assurances that large supplies would arrive within a few months, for he went himself to the fatherland. When all arrangements had been completed, the people were assembled in the church for farewell services, after which Governor Printz formally delivered his authority to Johan Papegoja, promising the colonists to “present himself there in person or send over a ship with a cargo” within ten months from October 1. About the beginning of October he went to New Amsterdam with his wife and four daughters, and there he took passage on a Dutch vessel, hoping to be in Sweden in about two months. Henrick Huygen and about twenty-five settlers and soldiers also left the colony with Printz.

After the departure of Printz several Swedes applied for permission to remove to New Netherland, but Stuyvesant did not dare to accept them, before he had been advised about it by the directors of the company. Accordingly he wrote to Holland for instructions. The directors replied that they “could not see why it should be refused and denied ... for the influx of free persons ... should be promoted by all resolute and honest means.” Nevertheless it was left to Stuyvesant’s judgment to do what he saw fit.