Thomas Paul Niedermeier - living in our memory

Family lineage: ¹ Thomas Paul Niedermeier and Linda Jean Hayward, ² Timothy Hayward Niedermeier and Deanna Lynn Niedermeier

1943 - 2005

Linda and Tom with niece and nephew, Lisa and Scott

Their wedding was a legend - with stories often told;  those stories bring back memories made of solid gold:

• of a lost ring and wedding cake;
•  a tonsil-stricken bride; 
• a wrongly tailored jacket;

They took it all in stride.

Tom's deep voice carried far and wide with laughter, songs and groans.

You could always see him coming and hear the floor boards moan.

His big hands seemed gigantic as they neared our pain-filled teeth,

And yet he'd gently fix those holes and soon there'd be relief.

 




So as the years went racing by, he added to his story - with tales of kids, Air Force days and times of fun and glory. We knew him as a kindly man, but surely not an angel. We learned from him and watched in awe as problems he’d untangle.

We must admit that in our hearts we'd always had the hope

That though his life might hit some bumps, he could always cope.

We learned the frailty of that dream when illness closed his eyes,

The helplessness we felt that week created heartfelt cries.

Tim, Linda, Deanna and Tom Niedermeier - 2004

It’s no surprise his Lord knew best, and beckoned him to go.

For surely if he'd stayed on earth, his problems soon  would grow,

This giant of a man would wilt and pain would cloud his eyes

Instead his spirit flew away, his cares left far behind.

We're thankful for his time with us, we remember well those years,

and celebrate the good times, while sometimes shedding  tears.

Yes, our family had a loss: a strong man full of fun,

But we know he'll hover near 'til our own time is done.

Written in memory of my brother-in-law who left us on October 22, 2005 before he had a chance to know and love his new daughter-in-law or the  four grandchildren who joined the family after his death.   But as the years go by, his story will continue to enrich and entertain all those who  hear them, and if they listen carefully, they might even hear the echo of his deep laughter..

Judy Copeland 

Peter Callaway (aka Kellaway) and Elizyabeth Johnson - forbidden lovers

Peter: (abt 1630 – 1713)

 Elizyabeth (aka Elizabeth): (1654 – 1739)

Family lineage: ¹ Peter Callaway, ² William Callaway, ³ Zachariah Callaway, ⁴ Sarah Callaway, ⁵ Eliza Frances Walker,

 ⁶ Emarine Bartram,  ⁷ Queen Rebecca Dickerson, ⁸ Edna Bethel Franklin, ⁹ Judith Ann Hayward

Like several other family legends who got their start in England, 19 year old Peter Callaway craved adventure in a land he thought was calling his name.   But turning that dream into reality was something else again, especially when he experienced the stomach-turning fact that the cost to finance such a dream would far outweigh his ability to pay for it.   And he certainly couldn't use a Visa card or drop in for a heart to heart visit with an astute banker, who would certainly question how the loan would be repaid – and when.  
 

So Peter went to “Plan B” and sold himself to a sea captain, who first agreed to provide him with transportation to America and then sold him to an American settler for 6 pounds.  In return, the young man was legally bound to serve the investor for up to 7 years in some capacity.  Both sides profited from this arrangement because: 

• Peter would be able to fulfill his dream of building his life in America;
•  his new master would be getting fairly inexpensive labor to work in his home and fields; and in addition
•  would be granted at least 50 acres of prime land for each  headright he sponsored (person transported to America). 

The plan was not without its potential downside, however, since the travelers often became ill and died at sea, leaving the colonist with nothing to show for his investment - unless he could convince the land office that he should still be granted the land because he had lived up to his part of the bargain. 

Early Virginia House of Burgess's

Peter Callaway's contract was awarded to William Pressley, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses  in Northumberland County, Virginia  (although English kings had always reserved the right to decide the fate of their colonies, the colonists themselves drew upon their traditional English rights and insisted on raising their own representative assemblies. Such was the case with the Virginia House of Burgess's, the first popularly elected legislature in the New World.) http://www.ushistory.org/us/2f.asp

Mr. Pressley must have been quite wealthy by the standards of that time.  After all, he could not only pay 6 pounds for Peter's passage, but he was able to invest 136 more pounds to pay the passage for 22 additional headrights, which included Mrs. Pressley and their three sons.  It was a good deal for him!  Besides bringing his family to America for a fairly minimal cost, his labor force had grown and he had been awarded more than 1,150 of acreage to add to his holdings.
 

No one knows for sure whether Peter was  a carpenter before he sailed for America or learned the trade during his indenture period.  What is known is that he used that skill to make a living after completing his obligation to Mr. Pressley.  And it's also likely that before he left the Pressleys, the 24 year old was awarded “freedom dues” (a pre-arranged termination bonus which often included 50 acres of land perhaps granted through a headright, money, a gun, clothes and/or food.). 1664 was his "freedom" year, during which time he took whatever skills and treasure he might have gained and traveled across the Chesapeake Bay into Maryland where he settled on the Wicomico River, a 13 mile tributary of the Patawomeke (or Potomac) River 
 http://www.wicomicotourism.org/explore/historic-sites.html#sthash.hjgDaOuD.dpuf

The timing was good for an entrepreneur such as Peter  because Europeans were just beginning to realize the territory's great potential.  That change might have been good news for the early settlers with land and services to buy and sell, but it wasn't so great for the resident Indian tribes, including the Wicomicas, whose land holdings were being chipped away by ambitious settlers.  
 
This tribe had gained fame when, in 1608, Captain John Smith had written about his discovery of the 130 Indian men living in the Wicomica village on the mouth of the Patawomeke (Potomac) River.  Compared to other Europeans of that time, the Captain seemed to be open-minded toward the natives and described them in glowing terms as comely and civil.  He even referred to their chiefs as kings and emperors.

If there were women in his life during his first six years on the Wicomco, they are unknown to this day.  But he was obviously ready for love when he met 15 year old Elizybeth

Johnson who – even in those days - was too young to marry but old enough to get pregnant and thrown out of her home by her embarrassed family.  Somehow the desperate - and suddenly homeless - girl connected with the local Wicomica Indians, who offered her shelter and support during her pregnancy.  Even before her baby girl was born, Elizabeth knew that the child would suffer terribly for her mother's "sins" and be an outcast in the community.  So following her daughter's birth, she left her with the Indians and returned to town and the man she loved, knowing that more heartache awaited them. 

That fear soon became a reality.  Even though Peter wasn't a Quaker, he and Elizabeth were subjected to Quaker courts, known for giving harsh sentences – especially to couples who had not waited for their wedding to take place before having a child. 

During the court hearing on March 26, 1667,  Elizabeth Johnson named Peter Callaway as the father of her baby, and Peter did not deny his responsibility.  After hearing their pleas, the court delivered a shockingly harsh sentence - especially on Elizabeth, who was a minor at that time.  According to the Somerset County Judicial Records of  1671-1675:

• Both Peter and Elyzabeth were to be publicly whipped unless Peter paid 1,000 pounds of tobacco to the court and Elizabeth paid 100 pounds as security for future good behavior.  In addition, Peter was to give the girl  one hundred pounds of tobacco for the "abuse" he had caused her (which could be used to pay her fine), and he had to deposit securities for the maintenance of their child so that no one else would be responsible for her financial requirements (lucky for him he had earned some money after arriving in Maryland and was able to pay the fines).
  
  They both were required to sign a bond of matrimony which would bind them to each other for a lifetime, which didn't seem to be a problem since that was their intention to begin with.. 
  The sentencing didn't sound too bad until one gets to the the next part of the penalty which decreed that Elizabeth was to be sold  to a Maryland settler, Thomas Ball, as an indentured servant and during her seven years with  Mr. Ball, she would be cut off from her new husband.

Stories about Elizabeth's life during those seven years say that she often wandered off to visit the Indians (no one seemed to know why she did that, but it seems pretty obvious to me that she needed to see her child and spend time with her Indian friends who offered her friendship and acceptance)  Poor Thomas Ball didn't get a good bargain when he accepted Elizabeth as his servant. Every time she wandered off  he was ordered to bring her back and deliver her to the Magistrate for disciplining (which didn't seem to stop her from wandering off again).

The punishment was obviously not the same for males and females at that time.  By 1672, while poor Elizabeth was only into her fifth year of servitude, Peter was given 50 acres of land for service to the province and was able to accumulate other large holdings of land and build his wealth.  Finally, at age 22, she completed her 7 year sentence and returned to Peter.

The Callaway marriage, despite its rough start, lasted for many years - once Peter and Elizabeth were finally able to live together as a married couple.  The first of their six legitimate children was born almost 8 years after their marriage, which confirms the 7 years they had to spend apart after their marriage.  There is no record of what happened to their first child, but it is believed she was raised by the Indians and lived with them her whole life. http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/s/t/o/Diana-Stoll-FL/GENE3-0001.html


Both of the Callaways lived long lives, with Peter dying in 1719 in his late 80s (several months after his death, Elizabeth Callaway registered her own cattle mark, which showed that she was now the owner of their property.).  She died in 1739 at age 85.
 
For more information on this interesting couple see  Clayton Torrence's book, "Old Somerset on the Eastern Shore of Maryland: A Study in Foundations and Founders."  and http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/o/Diana-Stoll-FL/GENE3-0001.html

William S. Copeland, a young soldier for the Confederacy

Family lineage:  Son of Robert Hatten Copeland  1 , Charles Mabry Copeland  2, 
Charles Thomas Copeland, Sr. 3, Charles Thomas Copeland, Jr. 4

1847 - 1914

"They do not know what they say. If it came to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians will not appreciate the determination and pluck of the South, and Southern politicians do not appreciate the numbers, resources, and patient perseverance of the North. Both sides forget that we are all Americans. I foresee that our country will pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation, perhaps, for our national sins."-----   Robert E. Lee, May 5, 1861.

Robert Hatten Copeland

If you've been following the stories in this blog over the last year or so, you've probably already met the "Snakeman",  Robert Hatten Copeland, his wife, Sara Minerva (last name unknown)  and two of their sons, Asberry and Dickson.  Robert's family was not without its challenges, which included Robert's physical deformities, but nothing could have prepared them for the death of 49 year old Sara, who suffered "dropsy" (today's congestive heart failure) and died  two years before the Civil War broke out, leaving behind her husband,  nine sons, ranging in age from 6 to 19, and one 18 year old daughter, Nancy. 

Asberry or Asbury Copeland

Dickson Copeland

Except for Andrew, his youngest child,  all Robert's sons joined the war effort, but didn't fight together.  Dickson, Robert's second son, fought with the 1st Georgia Regiment and was able to return home after the war ended; but  two others didn't live to see the war end.  They were 27 year old George, killed in a train wreck, and 25 year old Asberry, who died of injuries received while fighting with the 56th Regiment Georgia Volunteers and was buried as an "unknown soldier" in Lauderdale, MS (until 1999 when his great grandson, Col. Billy Copeland, proved that he was not unknown, and his headstone finally was given a name).

Robert and Sara's seventh son, William, was a young teenager when war broke out, and of course he couldn't see any reason why he couldn't join his brothers in the fight.  Needless to say, his father would have considered 14 much too young to leave home, let alone go to war.   It's not known whether he manipulated his father into giving him permission to join up or, after packing some supplies and clothes, ran away during the night to join the 9th Georgia Volunteer Infantry which had been formed in 1861 and was commanded by General James Longstreet.

The battle flag of the 9th Georgia

Captain George Hillyer

George Hillyer, who became the Mayor of Atlanta after the Civil War ended,  was a Captain on the morning of July 2, 1863, but finished the day as a senior officer after the leadership of the regiment turned over six times during the battle of Gettysburg  (his first-hand experiences during that battle were described in his book "My Gettysburg Battle Experiences").   By the end of the day not only Confederate officers had been lost in the section of Gettysburg known as the "Wheatfield", but there were only 151 men left of the 340 who had picked up their muskets that morning.  Fortunately for the Copeland family, William was one of them.

General James Lonstreet

General; Ulysses S. Grant

The remnants of the 9th went on to fight in the “Knoxville Campaign, (a series of battles and maneuvers in East Tennessee during the Fall of 1863), and the “Battle of the Wilderness” in the heavily wooded area of northern Virginia in May of 1864 (which was the South's first battle against Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant). During that battle, heavy casualties were suffered on both sides and looked like a certain loss for the Confederacy -  until General Longstreet brought in his troops, including the 9^th Georgia, and sprung a surprise flanking attack. Ironically, General Longstreet was wounded by friendly fire.

General G.W.C. Lee

When comparing General Robert E. Lee's 1861 reasoned call for calm and action (quoted above) to the following frantic message written by his oldest son, General George Washington Custis Lee, in 1863, it is obvious that the mood in the South had changed and tension had increased dramatically.

Fellow Soldiers! Men of Georgia!
A ruthless foe is on your borders-almost at your very doors, and if not repelled, will desecrate the soil of our beloved State with his polluted and unhallowed tread; Will you suffer your homes to be desolated, your wives, sisters and mothers insulted and outraged by the vandal hordes of the North, who are destitute of humanity and strangers to all the laws and practices of civilized warfare? Our hope, our safety, our freedom, and all that men hold most dear, depend upon the stalwart arms and unflinching courage of our people. Rally, I beseech you, to your country's call! Go and battle side by side with your comrades in the field! Let none point the finger of scorn at you or your descendants after you, but rather live cherished in the memory of your country and the pride of your children's children; or be numbered with the once gallant and ever honored dead, whose names and memories will adorn the pages of future history.                    "Daily Intelligencer", Atlanta, 1863

Thankfully, 17 year old William survived all these deadly battles and returned home no longer a callow and innocent youth, but a man who had lived through blood and defeat. Eventually he and his first wife, Otelie, and their 2 children settled in Coweta County, where he became a successful farmer who was always striving to better farming conditions in the area. After Otelie's early death, he married Alice Allen with whom he had another child. From comments made in his obituary, it is obvious that he was not shy about sharing his convictions and was highly thought of until his death at age 66 in 1914.

For a full description of the 9th Georgia Volunteer's people and battles during the war, see http://www.9thgeorgiainfantry.org)

Stephen Bartram - a Revolutionary soldier (maybe)

Family lineage: ¹ Stephen Bartram, ² James Bartram, ³ Lewis Bartram, ⁴ Emarine Bartram,

⁵ Queen Dickerson, ⁶ Edna Franklin, ⁷ Judith Hayward

1751 - 1821

Meet Stephen Bartram, the “Father of the Bartrams in America”, at least according to the southern branch of the family.  Everything written about him reveals a strong, but admittedly mysterious man who continues to frustrate the efforts of family researchers to document some of his most intriguing stories! 

Granted, there are plenty of records available about his property transactions and his efforts to either make a claim against debtors or protect himself from their claims.  None of this tells us much except  that he knew how to use the court system.  Actually, the only hints indicating who Stephen (aka Stevie) really was as a person came through family stories passed orally from generation to generation or those that were written in fraying family Bibles. 

The Seemingly true facts are:

• He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1751 and moved to Dublin, Ireland when young;
  
• In 1773, while still in Ireland, 22 year old Stevie met and married an Irish lass,  Elizabeth (aka Betty) Swearingen or Swangran (the American version of the name).

• Stevie and his bride sailed to America sometime in 1775 or 1776 and their first child, John, wasn't born until 1784. 

•  Betty was an excellent marks-woman, known for having shot a raven on the wing and often wearing a bright red hunting shirt. 

• The family moved often after the Revolutionary War ended, reportedly because of frequent Indian attacks.   
  
• After giving birth to 3 boys and at least one daughter, Betty died in the early 1790s. 
  
  
• Sometime after Betty's death, Stephen married Jane Peery and they soon started moving north and west, until finally settling in unsettled land which contained abundant wild game, plenty of water and virgin timber but is now the bustling city of Huntington, WV.

Unproven stories integrated into the oral histories:

• Stephen was a Protestant preacher in Roman Catholic dominated Ireland, whose message was not well received, leading the Bartrams to decide to look for a more receptive audience in America.
  
  
• In order to pay their passage to America, it makes sense that they would have contracted with a sea captain to sell their services to a wealthy settler who would pay their fares and usually receive 7 years of labor in return. (About half of the white immigrants to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were indentured. Some men worked in the fields while the women helped the farm wives; and others were apprenticed to craftsmen. Both the master and the servants were legally obligated to meet set terms, which were enforced by local American courts. Runaways were sought out, punished and returned to their owners.)
  
  
• An undocumented story consistently passed from generation to generation was that Stephen fought in the Revolution as a member of General Washington's staff at Valley Forge for 7 years, 2 months. There are several obvious problems with this story,the major one being that the war only lasted 6 years, 6 months (a big difference!). 
  
  
  But there's always a chance that he actually served in the war if:
  
  
  
  • he was indentured for 7 years and worked the first 8 months or so on the plantation until voluntarily (or involuntarily) taking his master's place as a soldier (a not uncommon practice). 
    
    
    If that was the case, it could explain why Stephen Bartram's name was not shown on the military roster. Instead, it would have been his master who received credit for the time in service.
    
    
    It's also possible that Elizabeth remained in indentured servitude in Virginia until after the war ended, which finally freed her to head north toward Valley Forge to find Stephen.  
     
  • Lending some credence to the above suggestion is that there were no children born to the Bartrams until 11 years after their marriage. Perhaps that was because there was no privacy on the ship during the long voyage America. Or it's possible that they were indentured to different masters so weren't living together when war broke out and he was sent north to fulfill his master's obligation.

On September 20, 1820, Stephen wrote his will, which listed his “loving wife”, Jane, sons John, David and James, and a married daughter, Polly, giving special attention to Jane and a girl named Betsy, whose relationship to the couple has never been defined.  Stevie described her in the will as a “delars child” (a term that has puzzled historians, but some believe it meant that she was "slow" and unable to live on her own.)  It is interesting that although she was mentioned often in the will, she was never included in family histories, and one can't help but wonder if she was one of those "embarrassing" family secrets who Stephen refused to ignore. (See Cabell County West Virginia Will Book 1, pg 2). 

Stevie died at age 70 in 1821 – eight months after writing his will -  and Jane Peery Bartram died a few years later.

In 2010, an article entitled “Who is Buried Beneath this Grand Old Tree??" described a special meeting held by the Wayne County Genealogical and Historical Society on the Fort Gay High School football field, the purpose of which was to identify, honor and protect the graves of those buried under a giant hackberry tree before the land was torn up in order to build a new elementary school. Years earlier, the headstones had been removed by either vandals or the nearby railroad, but testing verified that there are at least two – and probably 5 – people buried there. Stevie Bartram's grave was one of them. The others were members of the Wellman family. During the meeting, the decision was made to enclose the area around the graves with a fence but leave the maintenance of the site to the families and general public. http://wcghs.com/John%20Wellman%20Cemetery/John%20Wellman%20Cem..htm

--------------------------------------------------------

For more detailed information on the Bartrams, refer to“Bartram Branches – Genealogy of the Families of West Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania” ,written by Violet W. Bartram and D. Kent Bartram, Jr and .published by Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore in 1984. This is an amazing book – all 699 pages of it. Among the oral history contributors was my grandmother, Queen Rebecca Dickerson Franklin, a woman who lived for 107 very full years and who appeared in 3 previous Legends of the Family posts.

William Smoot - Bringing boat building to a new level in America

1596 – 1670

¹ William Smoot, ² Thomas Smoot, ³ Elizabeth Barton Smoot, ⁴ John Jacob Philpott, ⁵ Charles Philpott,  ⁶ David Philpott,  ⁷ Enos Philpott,  ⁸ Rebecca Philpott,  ⁹ Lula Jane Johnson,  ¹⁰ Charles Thomas Copeland, Sr, ¹¹ Charles Thomas Copeland, Jr.

Even though the life of William Smoot and his role in the early years of our country has  been researched throughout the centuries, there are still questions about the man, such as: the year of his birth (1596 or 1597), where he was born (Scotland or England), the correct spelling of his last name (Smoot, Smaut, Smute, etc.) and the name of his first wife (who had at least one child before dying in England). We do know that his roots were planted in the seafaring Dutch "House of Smoot" before they spread their branches into Scotland and England.

What is also known is the road he had to travel in order to eventually attain recognition and honors in his chosen profession.  He lived in a time when there were no trade schools and the only way for a young man to learn a trade was to serve as an unpaid servant and errand boy for an expert craftsman and whose parents had signed a contract in which they gave up control of their son.  In return,  the apprentice received food, clothing and training in the chosen trade from the ground up, so that - after a number of years - he would be able to earn a living as an expert himself.  

Apprenticeship was the accepted educational system for transferring the knowledge and experience gained by one generation of tradesmen to the next, and was not a new concept. 4,000 year old records found in Egypt, Greece and Rome reveal that trade skills had been passed on in this fashion even then; and it was only after the students had finally achieved the status of craft workers that they became respected members of society. http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Apprenticeship/About/History/ 

Coming from the family he did, it's no surprise that young William Smoot became an apprentice in the boat building industry.  During those formative years, he was taught the intricacies of design and construction of strong, sea-worthy boats, and was probably in his 20s before he could qualify for membership in the Boatwright Guild as a certified  professional boatwright.

By 1633,  this 37 year old man  had earned a reputation for quality workmanship and received an offer to work for 50 days in Virginia for Colonel Thomas Burbage, an officer in the local militia.  He readily accepted the proposal, especially since a terrible king, Charles I,  had just been crowned and life in England was tumultuous at best. The contract with Colonel Burbage might not have been of long duration, but it definitely was life-changing for William, who never lived or worked in England again. 

As a side note, 20 years later, Colonel Burbage sued William in a Maryland court, claiming he had not fulfilled the requirements of the 1633 contract.  William, who was now 56 years old and well known for his expert craftsmanship, defended himself, stating that he had discharged all conditions of the contract. He must have been convincing! The case was dismissed and he was awarded 150 pounds of tobacco for his trouble and expense in having to travel 40 miles to appear in court!

Shortly after completing his contract with the Colonel, William had married a widow, Grace Wood, who had come to America with her late husband and daughter.  But he couldn't consider his family complete until he could bring all of his children to his side. It took nine years to fulfill that dream, during which time he and Grace lived in Hampton (now Elizabeth County City), Virginia, where he continued to build his reputation as a top-tier boat designer and builder.

Finally, in 1642, he had earned enough money to achieve his goal. The timing was good because settlers and laborers were badly needed to work on rapidly growing plantations.  In response to this need, a “head rights”program was instituted which promised that anyone paying the fares of immigrants would be granted a specific acreage per head.  It was a good deal for William, who paid the fares for 8 travelers  (who were probably his family and servants) and was granted 400 acres in York County, Virginia, where he built his home and continued to pursue his trade.

It must have been a surprise for new immigrants, who thought they had left violence behind, to discover that life in Virginia wasn't all that peaceful either.  Only the enemy was different.  A bloody war broke out when a large population of Pamunky and Chickahominy Indians took exception to being moved out of the land which had been theirs for more than 12,000 years.  As a result, in 1644, they banded together to fight the pesky intruders.  http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Chickahominy Tribe

Finally, after two years of violence and destruction,  the Indian tribes admitted that these “white men” were tough fighters and weren't going to slink away.  As a result, a peace treaty was signed in 1646, setting aside land for Virginia's Indians in the Pamunkey Neck area of present-day King William County. The treaty remained in effect until the Indians, recovering their swagger in 1677, made new demands, and another, more generous, treaty was signed, http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Chickahominy_Tribe

Another note of interest: Thanks to his participation in those early Indian wars, all of his proven male descendants who maintain the position today of “gentlemen" are eligible for membership in the Society of Colonial Wars in America. 

Shortly before that first treaty was finalized in 1646 -  and perhaps because of his experiences during those wars - a disenchanted William decided that he didn't want to live in Virginia anymore. So he transferred his 400 acre estate to his neighbor, Ashwell Batten, in payment of a debt, and left for Maryland in the hope of finding a more peaceful setting to pursue his career and raise his family. 

Lord Baltimore

One of his first duties upon arriving in Maryland was to pledge his allegiance to Lord Baltimore.  In return for his pledge of loyalty, he was  awarded 300 acres of land on the Potomac River (good property but not exactly where he wanted to be). 

Wicomico River today

He finally found the perfect location to ply his trade on the 24 mile long Wicomico River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the eastern shore of Maryland. Later that year, he made arrangements to transport his wife, children and a maid from Virginia where they had been biding their time.

Josiah Fendal

It may have been his personality - or just the times - but even after settling in Wicomico, he found himself embroiled in conflict when, in 1655, he openly supported - and tried to rescue by force - Josias Fendal, the former Governor of the Province (Annapolis today) and his secretary, who had been jailed after instigating an attack on the Puritan settlers in the area. This had come about because,
surprisingly, those very Puritans who had been victims themselves of religious persecution, supported the Old World theory that religion needed to be uniform throughout the territory, and were even willing to impose capital punishment on anyone who insisted on worshiping in their own way. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel01-2.html.  (William, a lifelong member of the Church of England, was also in trouble with the Puritans because of his religious beliefs, which made the cause more personal for him).

The result for all this religious animosity became known as the “Battle of the Severn” and was the first battle ever fought  between American soldiers on American soil; as well as the first time  "dum-dum" bullets were ever used. Even after the fighting was over, William  almost lost his life when he and  twelve others were arraigned and sentenced to death for:

“mutinously, seditiously and at the instigation of the Devil . . . assembled at the house of Josias Fendal and attempted by force to rescue Josias Fendall and his secretary.”. 

Lucky for him, only four of the leaders were actually executed, while  the rest were saved after 200 members of the Puritan community presented a strong defense for the prisoners, saying that a judgment of guilty of treason would make their Puritan community just as guilty because the same accusations had been wrongly made against them in Virginia. The War Council responded to this argument, reversed the sentences and the prisoners were released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias_Fendall

William continued to design and construct many of the early vessels used in the inter-colonial trade between Maryland and Virginia and he was often called upon to appraise various vessels.  His wife, Grace, died on January 14, 1666 and he died a couple of years later. It's amazing that, despite having bought and sold many large tracts of land during his years in America, he seems to have died intestate, leaving his heirs having to fight/work it out.
.

Jonas Nilsson and Gertrude Svensdotter - Settlers of New Sweden in America

¹ Jonas Nilsson, ² Judith Jonasdotter Nilsson, ³ Johann “Jonas” Yocum,  ⁴ John Yocum, ⁵ Mary Yocum, ⁶ Margaret Bell, ⁷ Isaiah Custer, ⁸ John William Custer, ⁹ Corda Bell Custer, ¹⁰ William Frederick Franklin, ¹¹ Edna Bethel Franklin, ¹² Judith Ann Hayward 

Children taking American history classes today learn, of course, about the Revolutionary War and, to some extent, what led up to it.  But their lessons might lack details about  the brave people who left their friends and family behind in order to build a new future in a new land many years before the defining Revolutionary War began.  

These brave souls didn't have the benefit of fancy printed brochures, Facebook or TV to give them a "heads up" on what to expect once they reached America.  And they couldn't have begun to picture the primitive living conditions they would experience on these  fragile ships which were either paralyzed because of lack of wind or were thrown around while being buffeted by heavy seas.

Some of these early travelers did know that their future would hold years of slavery after  having been convicted of crimes and transported across the vast sea as punishment. Or, lacking financial resources at home, passengers often sold themselves into indentured servitude in the hope that their masters would treat them kindly and they would eventually be able to earn their freedom.  
 

Complicating matters even further was that this lush land was already populated by tribes of Indians who not only had a completely different culture and language than their own, but weren't always thrilled – with good reason – to share the land on which they had lived for countless generations with these odd looking, sometimes aggressive strangers. 

After coming face to face with these and other perceived realities, it's amazing that the travelers didn't “come to their senses” and jump on the next ship heading home!

Flag of England

Our family history has been enriched by some of those early settlers who (luckily for us)  survived the journey and the hard years that followed.  One was Henry Adams (great great grandfather of John and Samuel Adams and featured in an earlier post), who sailed from England and settled in Massachusetts in 1638 (only140 years after Christopher Columbus had made his discovery).
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Flag of Sweden

Around the same time, shiploads of Swedes were sailing into the Delaware Bay where they became the first white men to claim southeast Pennsylvania. One of these men was Jonas (Joen) Nilsson, a former tailor, who had been born in Skaraborg, Sweden in 1620 and was said to have been over six and a half feet tall. 

As a restless teen, Jonas soon tired of the career that had been chosen for him and enlisted at age 17 in the Royal Swedish Army - a decision that was to change his life forever.  It isn't known whether he continued as a tailor for the Army, but what is known is that  a few years later, he was assigned to support and protect Johan Bjornsson Printz, who had been granted a charter by King Gustavus Adolfus (aka the "Lion of the North"), and given the title of "Governor of New Sweden".  As such, he was tasked with recruiting future settlers, transporting them and establishing a viable Protestant settlement in “New Sweden".  

It was while Printz was organizing his fourth expedition that Jonas Nilsson came on the scene.  No one knew at the time that this would be Prinz' final expedition because, after the death of his sponsor, King Adolfus, who had been killed in battle, his successor, Queen Christina, was much too young and immature to oppose the wishes of Sweden's powerful ruling party.  It wasn't long before interest in this ambitious project had waned, financial support was withdrawn and there was a strong push to withdraw completely from the project.  

Fortunately for us, there are still readable records which describe this last expedition which left Sweden on August 16, 1642. There is no way of knowing which of the two ships, Fama (Fawn) or Svanaten (Swan), became Jona's home during the trip, but we do know that the journey was neither swift nor easy!! 

Soon after setting sail, the ships' navigators had become concerned that the ships might get stuck on the sand banks around Newfoundland, so they altered course and sailed south along the coast of Portugal before finally crossing the Atlantic (which was called the "Spanish Sea" at that time). After passing south of the Canary Islands they arrived in Antigua - just in time to celebrate Christmas.  

 
But this, of course, was not expected to be their final destination so, after the Holidays, they continued their journey north (not a good time to travel on the Atlantic!). During that last leg of their journey, they experienced such heavy rain and snow that one of the ships became severely damaged. Finally, despite their condition, both ships managed to make it to Fort Christina  on February 15, 1643 – six long months after the journey had begun. This fort in the Delaware Bay had been built just a few years before and was located near what is now Wilmington, Delaware.  http://pennsylvaniapeople.weebly.com/johan-printz-level-2.html

Governor Johann Printz

Documents of that time reported that Governor Prinz was a very large man (at least 6 feet tall and thought to have weighed over 400 pounds). In fact, the Native Americans called him "Big Tub." He was hotheaded and sometimes pompous. But on the positive side, he had a lot of energy and a talent for getting things done. After dropping anchor in the Christina River during  his first expedition, he had explored the territory, built forts, assigned land to settlers for farming, established trade relations with the Native Americans, the English, and the Dutch, and strongly upheld Swedish claims to the land; and he built on those successes during his next 3 expeditions,.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/printz-johan-bjornsson.html  

Ft. Elfsborg

While serving in the Royal Swedish Army and stationed with the Swedish garrison in Fort Elfsborg, Jonas threw his energies into building a fort in a very swampy area near the mouth of Salem Creek in New Jersey, which soon was  nicknamed "Fort Mosquito".  The atmosphere was definitely not "people friendly"!  In fact, one commander even wrote the following to a friend:  "From the continued stinging and sucking of the mosquitoes, the people were so swollen, that it appeared as if they had been affected with some horrible disease."  Fort Mosquito was finally abandoned.

Three years later, Governor Printz was ordered to return to Sweden and, without his strong hand or the support of the Swedish ruling body, New Sweden remained  independent for only one year before it was incorporated into the Dutch "New Netherlands" and then taken over by the English in 1664. And Jonas?  He might have begun his life as a tailor, but it is obvious that he had developed additional skills over the years, and although remaining  loyal to the overbearing Governor, his loyalty did not extend to accompanying Printz back to his homeland after the recall.  

Armegott Printz

Despite that decision, however, Jonas continued to have close ties to  the Governor's family, even serving as a protector and business adviser to the Governor's daughter, Armegott Printz.  Armegott was described as a "blonde giantess, haughty, domineering, willful and quarrelsome" (obviously her father's daughter!), who later married her father's successor.  Over the years she became the best known woman in New Sweden and was responsible for managing her father's extensive holdings in New Sweden.  http://articles.philly.com/1992-11-22/news/26006898_1_untimely-death-tinicum-swedish-colony

It had to have been a heart breaking time for this Swedish tailor/soldier when everything he had worked for seemed to fall apart with the downfall of Governor Printz.  But after all those years of assuming leadership roles in America, he was able to set a new direction for himself by first applying for a discharge from the army and then becoming  a "freeman" (which meant he could own land and even become a member of the governing body which made and enforced laws, as well as passing judgment in civil and criminal matters).

About that same time, he married 17 year old Gertrude Svensdotter, who had been only 2 years old when she was brought to New Sweden aboard the ship Kalmar Nyckel by her father, Sven Gunnarsson. Sven had been convicted of committing a minor crime, and had been "relocated" to the colonies to serve out his sentence. Finally, after earning his freedom, he was one of 22 signers of a petition of grievances against Governor Printz, which served to strengthen the case for recalling the governor.

Prototype of a Swedish cabin in the 1600s

Jonas did eventually return to Sweden to collect back wages due him from the Swedish Royal Army. After two years of getting caught up with his family and friends in Sweden, he returned to Gertrude and the baby who had been born shortly after he'd left. They now had enough funds to build their home in what is now West Philadelphia, (interestingly, there is a story saying that they lived in a cave for some time before their home was built).

He built his wealth by trading for furs with the Minquas Indians, while running a storehouse and trading post from his home. They were an interesting couple who were not known for keeping their opinions to themselves. For instance, after Gertrude honestly and openly criticized defamatory remarks made by the English against the Swedes, she became the subject of a court notice at least once. Jonas also had his day in court when he testified how he'd had to bury two servants of Peter Alrichs, a neighbor who had been murdered by Indians.

Gloria Dei Old Swedes Church

 As adults, Jonas and Gertrude's seven sons originally carried the surname “Jonasson” in the Swedish tradition for several years until eventually Americanizing it to Jones. Their four daughters, however, kept Jonasdotter in their names. Jonas died in Kingsessing (the Southwest section of Philadelphia) in October 1693, and Gertrude died a couple of years later. They were buried at Old Swedes (Gloria Dei) Church in Philadelphia, which is still standing and now a national historic treasure.