Samuel Peterson

Samuel Peterson (Abt 1639 - 20 November 1689[1]) was an early settler of New Sweden and one of the founders of present-day Wilmington, Delaware.

Samuel Peterson
BornAbt. 1639
Bogen, Värmland, Sweden
DiedNovember 20, 1689(1689-11-20) (aged 50)
New Castle, Delaware
NationalitySwedish
Known forFounder of Wilmington, Delaware

Life

Peterson was born in the province of Värmland, Sweden. He departed Sweden on the ship Örn ("The Eagle") on February 2, 1654, and arrived in New Sweden on May 22, 1654.[2] As he may have been only 15 years old, he was possibly part of the contingent of twelve boys on the ship from the Building College of Stockholm.[2]

On April 16, 1675, Johan Anderson Stalcop conveyed half his land in Wilmington to Peterson and Lars Cornelison.[1][3] Peterson erected a "humble cabin" on a hill overlooking Wilmington and cleared away the forest covering the southern declivity of the hill.[1]

It was near Peterson's cabin where, as Peterson tilled the land with oxen,[4] Quaker leader Elizabeth Shipley took in a view that she had earlier reported seeing in a dream, and determined that the Quakers were destined to settle the Delmarva Peninsula.[1][5]

Peterson gave "30 feet" toward the construction of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Wilmington (now Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)).[6]

In order to provide for his wife Brita, who outlived him, Peterson left his land "to that son who should live longest with his widow."[1] Therefore, his son Peter took over the plantation and his son Matthias released all claim to the land by a deed dated December 4, 1702.[1] Peter left the land to his son Peter Peterson (by will dated January 29, 1714), who on May 8, 1727, sold the part of the land lying along the Christina River to Andrew Justison, who formally laid out the city of Wilmington in 1730.[1]

Notable descendants
  • Charles Shreeve Peterson
gollark: This is empirically false given graduate income statistics.
gollark: Their course *is* substantially cooler-sounding than the other ones.
gollark: I'm not even utterly sure if I want to go to Oxford (or Imperial) since they apparently are very hard work, and many of my useful* skills come from having had lots of free time to do whatever.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Well, obviously my choices are perfect and optimal.

References
  1. Ferris, Benjamin. A History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware from its Discovery by Hudson to the Colonization under William Penn. Wilmington, Delaware: Wilson & Heald. pp. 197–202, 256. OCLC 124509564.
  2. "New Netherland and Beyond, Delaware River Settlements 1637-1682, Immigrants to New Sweden". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  3. Delaware Federal Writers' Project, ed. (1938). Delaware: A Guide to the First State. Delaware: The Viking Press. p. 266. OCLC 1925849.
  4. Weslager, Clinton Alfred (1947). Delaware's Forgotten River: The Story of the Christina. Christina River (Del.): Hambleton Co. p. 53. OCLC 847685.
  5. Gerona, Carla (2004). Night Journeys: The Power of Dreams in Transatlantic Quaker Culture. Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press. p. 121. ISBN 0-8139-2310-7.
  6. Eckman, Jeannette (1958). Crane Hook on the Delaware, 1667-1699: An Early Swedish Lutheran Church and Community with the Historical Background of the Delaware River Valley. Newark, New Jersey: Institute of Delaware History and Culture, University of Delaware, for the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society. p. 48. OCLC 4142345.
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