(5-^^ GENEALOGY , liiliii 1833 01772 5802 975.102 [ J N43H0 SKETCH OF Early Ecclesiastical Affairs ;v xKW CAlSTLE, DELAWARE, HiSiory of f iniiianuel Ktiurcl] Thomas Holcomb. WRrn^EN BY REQUEST OF THE CHURCH CLUB, OF DELAWARE. WILMINGTON, DEL.: DELAWARE PRINTING COMPANY. 1890. v^'f' ^Jf^ji^- SKETCH OP Early Ecclesiastical Affairs IN NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE, History of Iinmaiiuol KhurGt] Thomas Holcomb WRITTEN BY REQUEST OF THE CHURCH CLUB, OF DELAWARE. WILMINGTON, DEL.: DELAWARE PRINTING COMPANY. 1890. PREFACE. The early history of Immanuel Church, running back, as it does, into the seventeenth century, has been but little known, and it required much research, here and there, to gather the facts which make up this book. It has been my desire to write a true and entirely relia- ble history. Through publications made in recent years by the State of New York many data relating to the early history of New Castle have come to light; and the publication by Bishop Perry of the documentary history of the London "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," relating to Delaware and Maryland, has been a source from which I have derived much that is of interest. Besides Bishop Perry's valua- ble work, I have drawn upon "O'Callaghan's History of New York;" "Brodhead's History of the State of New York;" "Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York," vol. 12; "Hazard's Annals;" "Journal of George Keith, Missionary;" "Hill's History of the Church in Burlington;" "Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit;" Acrelius' "History of New Sweden;" Volumes A and B of New Castle County Records, etc. The New Castle County Records are especially valuable for their historical contents, and our Legislature should secure the preservation of these books by having them printed. They will be of increasing value as the time to which they refer becomes more remote, and the people take greater interest in colonial history. Volume C of these records has been lost, or destroyed, and so is gone forever the record it contains of a very important period of the history of New Castle County, i. e.^ the early years of Penn's proprietorship. There is still wanting for a complete history of New Castle a translation of the papers relating to the colony while it belonged to the city of Amsterdam. The records are preserved by the city of Amsterdam, and the time will come when the value of those documents will be appreciated and copies secured by our State. THOMAS HOLCOMB. New Castle, Delaware, October 8, 1890. CHAPTER L 1651-1671. First Dutch Settlement. Fort Casimir. Domine Grasmeer. Fort Captured by Swedes under Risingh. Recapture by Stuy- vesant. Petrus Hjori first Swedish Mifiister. Domiiie Mega- polensis. Condition of DiUch Clergy and People. Swedish Clergy and People. Rev. Lock or Lokenius. Evert Pieterson, School Master. Domine Everardus Welius. Distress i?i the Colony. JVelius' Death. Great desire for a Minister. Domine Warnerus Hadson. Loke?iius in Trouble. Abelius Zetscroon. Capture of New Amstel by English, and Name Changed to New Castle. Rev. facobus Fabritius. New Fort in Centre of Town. New Castle was first settled by the Dutch. The Swedes had claimed dominion over the locality, which they called Sandhuken, but there is no good evidence that they had made any settlement there. The first settle- ment of the Dutch on the South or Delaware river was at the mouth of Timmerkill, now within the limits of the city of Gloucester, New Jersey. They built a fort, which was called Fort Nassua, as early as 1623. After the arrival of the Swedes in 1637, the authorities at New Amsterdam (New York) began to realize that they had established their post too far up the river, and in view of the fact that the Swedish power was rapidly increasing, determined, that to hold their own, it was necessary to take a position below the Swedes, and thus command the river and the approach to the settlements. With this object in view, Stuyvesant, the Dutch Director 6 EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS General at New Amsterdam, organized an expedition to the South river in 1651, and after abandoning and demol- ishing Fort Nassau, a colony was established and fort built at Sandhuken, which they called Fort Casimir. This was done much to the chagrin and disgust of the Swedes, and against the judgment of the directors of the Dutch West India Company in Holland. The name given to the new fort was that of a Swedish prince, and the West India Company in a letter to Stuyvesant, were curious to know why that name was chosen. The Dutch minister, Grasmeer, accompanied Stuyvesant on this expedition, so that he was probably the first minister of the Gospel who visited New Castle. There is no record of any religious services conducted by him at the new post, but it is reasonable to suppose that there were such services. He returned to New Amsterdam with Stuyvesant. Fort Casimir was captured b}- a Swedish force under John Risingh on May 30, 1654 and called Fort Trinity. Stuyvesant at the head of a small fleet and army recaptured the place on September 11, 1655, and two weeks thereafter the Swedes' stronghold. Fort Chris- tina, surrendered to Stuyvesant and so the Swedish power on the Delaware was completely overthrown, although many Swedes remained, and receiving accessions from time to time, gave more character to the civilization of the colony than their rulers, the Dutch. During the Swedish occupancy of about sixteen months, a Swedish minister named Petrus Hjort resided at the fort, and he was the first minister of any denomination who was stationed at New Castle. Sprinchorn says concerning him : "Rising likewise exhibited zeal and circumspection in administering the religious interests of the colony, IN NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE. 7 of the ministers (already spoken of) who came out on the 'Ornen,' one Petrus Hjort, described by Rising as 'both temporally and spiritually a poor parson ;was assigned a home in Fort Trinity, also to be the centre of his parochial duties, while his companion, Matthias ' Nertunius, dwelt at Upland. ' After the recapture of the Fort by Stuyvesant the two clergymen above named wereltaken to New Amsterdam, to be conveyed thence to Europe in November with Rising, (i). The second expedition under Stuyvesant was accom- panied by his chaplain Rev. John Megapolensis, who preached a sermon to the troops on Sunday, September 1 2th, the day after the capture. The Dutch West India Company recognized the authority of the established Church of Holland over their colonial possessions, and the specific care of the transatlantic churches was early in- trusted by the synod of North Holland to the Classis of Amsterdam. By that body all the colonial clergy were approved and commissioned. The clergymen com- missioned by the Classis of Amsterdam were of course Calvanists. They were generally men of high scholar- ship and thorough theological training, ' 'for the people who at Leyden preferred a University to a fair, insisted upon an educated clergy. " (2) The Dutch people on the Delaware, unlike their pastors were as a rule uneducated, hard drinkers, turbulent and irreligious. The following extract from the appendix to Brod- head's History of New York at page 760 gives a curious picture of ecclesiastical affairs in Manhatan about the close of Kieft's administration: "What religion could men expect to find in a person (Kieft) who from the (i). Sprinchorn Hist. Colony of New Sweden, Pa. Mag. Vol. p. 136' andad 157. (2) Brodhead's His.. N. Y. 614. EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS 3rd of January, 1644, to nth of May, 1647, would never hear God's word, nor partake of the Christian Sacra- ments, doing all he could to estrange from the church all those who depended upon him. His ungodly example was followed, in like manner, by his fiscal Cornelius van der Hoyckens; his counselor, Jan de la Montaigne, who was formerly an elder; besides various inferior officers and servants of the company, to the soldiers inclusive, who all, not only no longer frequented the administration of the communion, but, also the congregation to hear God's word. During the sermon he allowed the officers and soldiers to practice all kinds of noisy amusements near and about the church, such as nine-pins, bowls, dancing, singing, leaping, and all other profane exercises; yea, even to such an extent that the communicants, who came into the fort to celebrate the Lord's Supper, were scoffed at by these blackguards. Here Director Kieft several times allowed the drum to be beat. The clergyman, Bogardus, having therefore requested that the drum might be beaten somewhat farther off, so as not to disturb the hearers, was answered that the drummer must keep on there, as the director had given him orders. The cannon were discharged several times during the service, as if he had ordered it out a Maying." As illustrating the hard drinking of the Dutch, we find Beekman in a letter to Stuyvesant from Fort Christina, August 7, 1661, writing that he "wants two ankers of brandy or distilled liquors to plant some more corn for the garrison, as it is easier to obtain workmen for liquors than for any other wares." *(i). The Swedes were Lutherans according to the Con- fession of Augsburg, and while their clergy in the * (i.) Hazard's Annals 327. IN NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE. 9 colony do not appear to have been so highly educated, nor so pious as the Dutch, their people were given to piety and less dissipated. They were generally tillers of the soil, while the Dutch were mostly traders and hunters.