Sven Gunnarsson
Encyclopedia
Sven Gunnarsson was a founder of the New Sweden
colony, owner of land which today is most of present-day Society Hill
in Philadelphia, and a progenitor of the Du Pont family
in modern-day Delaware
.
against the Dutch invasion, but after the colony was surrendered, removed with his family north. They settled on 1125 acres (4.6 km²) at a place called Wicaco, a former Indian settlement, which would become what is modern-day Society Hill in Philadelphia. His land was home to the first log church in the area, built in 1677, today known as the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church.
Sven Gunnarsson died in 1678 and was one of the first buried at the church. He had five children: Anders, Olle, Gertrud, Sven, and a daughter of unknown name. His son Sven Svensson
would go on to serve in the government at Upland Court
and the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, while the son of Anders, Andrew Swanson, would become a progenitor of the Du Pont family
in modern-day Delaware. The old patronymicon would be anglicized to Swanson in many instances.
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
colony, owner of land which today is most of present-day Society Hill
Society Hill
Society Hill may refer to:* Society Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a neighborhood in Philadelphia* Society Hill, South Carolina* Society Hill, Middlesex County, New Jersey, an unincorporated community in Middlesex County, New Jersey...
in Philadelphia, and a progenitor of the Du Pont family
Du Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
in modern-day Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
.
New Sweden colony
Gunnarsson was sent by the Swedish government in 1639 to work in the new colony, and by 1645 had become a freeman. In 1653, he was one of 22 signers of a petition of grievances against Gov. Johan Printz, which ultimately led to his removal. He volunteered to defend Fort ChristinaFort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...
against the Dutch invasion, but after the colony was surrendered, removed with his family north. They settled on 1125 acres (4.6 km²) at a place called Wicaco, a former Indian settlement, which would become what is modern-day Society Hill in Philadelphia. His land was home to the first log church in the area, built in 1677, today known as the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church.
Sven Gunnarsson died in 1678 and was one of the first buried at the church. He had five children: Anders, Olle, Gertrud, Sven, and a daughter of unknown name. His son Sven Svensson
Sven Svensson
Sven Svensson was a prominent citizen of the New Sweden colony and was from one of the colony's founding families.-Early life:Svensson was born in 1636 in Sweden to Sven Gunnarsson, a forefather of the New Swedish colony. His father was sent to the New Sweden colony by the Swedish government to...
would go on to serve in the government at Upland Court
Upland Court
Upland Court was the governing body of the New Sweden colony following Dutch West India Company annexation from Swedish colonial rule. In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant, governor of the Dutch colony, allowed the colonists to remain an independent Swedish nation through Upland Court, allowing freedom of...
and the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, while the son of Anders, Andrew Swanson, would become a progenitor of the Du Pont family
Du Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
in modern-day Delaware. The old patronymicon would be anglicized to Swanson in many instances.
Other sources
- Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. Swedes in America, 1638-1938 (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1938) ISBN 978-0838303269