The Illustrated History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, by William H. Egle, M.D.,[1003] imparts no fresh information on the early Swedish settlements on the Delaware; but it records the discovery in the autumn of 1873, in a grave near Washington, Lancaster County, in that State, of certain so-called “Indian relics,” one of which, now in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (represented in a cut in the book), so nearly resembles the helmet of the Swedish soldier of the seventeenth century (shown in a figure at the late Centennial Exhibition of Philadelphia), as to suggest the possibility that it may have been worn by a soldier of New Sweden. The book reproduces Campanius’s map of New Sweden after Nicolas Visscher.
In Historiskt Bibliotek, Ny Följd, I.,[1004] appeared a paper entitled “Kolonien Nya Sveriges Grundläggning, 1637-1642,” by C. T. Odhner, Professor of History in the University of Lund, which gives the most complete account of the founding and early history of the colony of New Sweden yet written, based on the Oxenstjerna manuscripts and numerous other documents preserved in several departments of the archives of Sweden. At the end of this invaluable contribution to our knowledge of the settlement is given nearly the whole of Printz’s Relation to the Swedish West India Company of 1644, with its accompanying Rulla of all the people then living on the Delaware.
Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, vol. xii.,[1005] edited by B. Fernow, Keeper of the Historical Records of New York, consists of “Documents relating to the History of the Dutch and Swedish Settlements on the Delaware River, Translated and Compiled from Original Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State at Albany, and in the Royal Archives at Stockholm,”—a title sufficiently indicative of the scope and value of the book.
Pennsylvania Archives, second series, vol. v.,[1006] comprises a reprint of some papers concerning New Sweden extracted from Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, vols. i., ii., and iii., and other sources; and the same series, vol. vii.,[1007] embraces a selection of similar matter from the twelfth volume of the same New York Documents.
Historiskt Bibliotek of 1878 contains “Kolonien Nya Sveriges Historia,” by Carl K. S. Sprinchorn,[1008] constituting a very worthy complement to Professor Odhner’s Kolonien Nya Sveriges Grundläggning, already spoken of. After briefly capitulating the statements of the latter treatise with regard to the origin of the enterprise, and the history of the first four Swedish expeditions to the Delaware, and the one from Holland under Swedish auspices, the author proceeds to give the only account yet written of the equipment of the last six expeditions from Sweden, with fresh details as to their fate, drawn chiefly from unpublished manuscripts in the archives of his country. He also supplies the Swedish version of the difficulties with the Dutch and English, and recites the several endeavors of Sweden either to recover possession of her colony or to obtain satisfactory compensation for her loss of it. In the Appendix are printed documents relating to purchases of land from the Indians, and the Report of Governor Rising, dated July 13, 1654. A map of New Sweden, which accompanies the dissertation, indicates the principal places and the boundaries of the settlement.
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,[1009] vols. ii. et seq., contains a series of articles, by the writer of this essay, on “The Descendants of Jöran Kyn, the Founder of Upland,”—the only genealogical account of the posterity of an early Swedish settler on the Delaware yet printed. Besides speaking of persons who bore the family name, it includes sketches of, or references to, Captain Sven Schute, Lieutenant Anders Dahlbo, the Rev. Lars Carlson Lock, Doctor Timon Stiddem, and Justices Peter Rambo, Peter Cock, and Olof Stille, inhabitants of New Sweden whose offspring intermarried with members of the Kyn (or Keen) family, and supplies instances of matrimonial alliances between the latter and many distinguished Americans of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, and German ancestry, as well as noblemen and gentlemen of Europe.
Benjamin H. Smith’s Atlas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania,[1010] affords accurate maps of Tinicum, Upland, Marcus Hook, and their vicinities, indicating tracts of land originally held by Swedes, as publicly recorded. It also includes an excellent essay on land titles in the county, with translations of Swedish grants to Governor Printz and other settlers.
