The Swedes were the first white men to settle in the area of SE Pa, beginning in 1637-8, with an expedition to the Schuylkill River. From then, till 1655, Sweden equipped 13 passenger ships , with the destination of the South Delaware River. Altogether about 800 settlers started out, and 600 actually reached their destination, the settlement that came to be known as New Sweden. The colony almost ended in 1651, when Governor Peter Stuyvesant erected a fortified town, in present New Castle, under the auspice of the Dutch West India company...... ( What we tend to forget is that never were we dealing with a large group of people, and those that signed petitions or joined mutinies, etc, were groups of 50 and 60 men), and by 1654 the population of New Sweden had been reduced to 70. Later that year the Governor reported back to Sweden that the population of the colony, "including the Dutch and all" was then 368, including both Dutch and the influx of new Swedish emigrants. One group of Swedes made the serious error of landing near Manhatten, where the ship was promptly seized and the cargo confiscated....only 10 of the passengers reached New Sweden, the others remaining in Dutch New Netherland . So, it is apparent that relations with the Dutch neighbors was touchy, to say the least. In Aug 1655, Governor Stuyvesand sailed up the Delaware with 7 armed ships and 317 soldiers, while the Swedish colony on shore had but 300 settlers. What few Swedish forces there were, were divided between 2 forts, and the governor knew fighting was useless. Thus Fort Trinity and Fort Christina were surrendered, and after this, the governor and several of his aides, plus a few soldiers, returned to Sweden....however, 90% of the settlers remained, with the promise of the Dutch Governor, who agreed to recognize what was known as the "Up-River Swedish Nation".
After numerous problems in New Sweden, the fate of the colony was finally sealed with the coming of the Quakers, and the William Penn Charter for Pennsylvania. In a letter to England, in 1683, Wm.. Penn observed: "The Swedes inhabit the freshes of the river Delaware...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 just enough than plenty or traffic. 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 much needs commend their respect to authority and kind behavior to the English; they do not degenerate from the old friendship between both kingdoms. As they are people proper and strong of body, so they have find children, and almost every house full; rare to find one of them without 3 or 4 boys, and as many girls; some 6, 7, and 8 sons. And I must do them that right, I see few young men more sober and aborious.
All this information is from a wonderful book, THE 1693 CENSUS OF THE SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE by Peter Stebbins Craig. It is readily available and a must for anyone interested in the Swedish community in Chester County
Swedish Patronymic Naming Patterns
1653 petition to the Swedish Gov. and those who signed it
Swedish names AND their English substitutes, given and surnames
1693 Swedes on the Delaware River and # in each household
Swedish Colonial Society (New Sweden Colony in America of the Delaware River valley) http://www.ColonialSwedes.org/
American Swedish Historical Museum http://www.americanswedish.org
Cornell University Library - information on New Sweden http://historical.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cul.nys/docviewer?did=nys171&view=50&frames=0&seq=3