Swedish Colonial Society
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1909 at Philadelphia, Pa., by a group of 24 prominent academics The Swedish Colonial Society is America’s oldest Swedish historical organization. With the Society's official relationships to the Swedish Royal Family and the Swedish government, as well as the stature of the individuals involved in its founding, the early Society membership roles were filled with the names of many of Philadelphia and Wilmington’s leading families, scholars and industrialists.
Sweden's reigning Monarch is High Patron of the Society and Sweden's Ambassador is the Society's Patron continuing a tradition begun in 1909. While it may have been rather exclusive in its founding, the Society grew beyond those elite circles because the founders engaged themselves with historical research and the Society remains the foremost forum on New Sweden Colony. Rather than the role of the founding “blue bloods” the greater significance today is the Society’s devotion to research.
Over the past century, the Society’s research has become the foundation for the study of New Sweden Colony (1638–1655), the short lived effort by Sweden to claim a stake in colonial America. After 1655 the Swedish flag no longer flew overheard, but the Swedish and Finnish colonists remained as the majority population in Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey under successive Dutch and English rulers. They lived with a considerable degree of self government until the arrival of William Penn and the flood of several thousand English Quakers ended the so-called “Swedish Nation on the Delaware” (1655–1681).
New Sweden was unique among the American colonies because the colonists lived peaceably with the Lenape Indians and the friendship between the two communities continues into the 21st century. It was also in 17th century New Sweden where Swedes and Finns carved homes from the forest and introduced the most iconic symbol of the American frontier, the log cabin.
Over the years the Society has published 13 book beginning with Swedish Settlements on the Delaware (1911) by Dr. Amandus Johnson. Additionally the Society is in the midst of publishing the eight volume Colonial Records of Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania, edited by the Society’s renowned Historian the late Dr. Peter S. Craig, FASG and Dr. Kim-Eric Williams, a leading translator of 17th century Swedish and an expert on period church life.
The most public face of the Swedish Colonial Society is the national awarding winning website www.colonialswedes.org and the Swedish Colonial News the undisputed journal of record for New Sweden Colony, a brief but significant chapter in America’s colonial past.
In 2000 the Swedish Colonial Society moved its historical archives to the professionally managed Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia making scholarly research readily available on a daily basis.
Historical preservation has been a high priority over the years. The Society coordinated the effort leading to Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Church being the first religious building in American to win designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1942.
The Society established “Printz Park” honoring the Royal Governor John Printz, who lived on that site and worked with Pennsylvania State government to preserve the Morton Homestead with its ties to the Declaration of Independence Signer John Morton.
The Society coordinated the return of the Rambo Apple Tree to Sweden, where it had been extinct following a severe winter in 1709-10. The species survived because a New Sweden colonist took its seeds to America in 1640. The first planting in Sweden, financed by the King, was by the US Ambassador to Sweden and Swedish officials at the start of the Carl Linnaeus Tercentennial in Uppsala, Sweden in 2007.
For its Centennial Celebration in 2009, the Society commissioned the American Swedish Historical Museum to develop a major exhibit “The Story of New Sweden: From Colony to Community,” with the New Jersey State Museum and the Delaware Historical Society which has been displayed in many US locations.
Currently the Society is working with the American Swedish Historical Museum to develop an action plan to conserve the many historical artifacts at the New Sweden Colonial Farmstead at Bridgeton, NJ.The Society has committed to working with the City of Bridgeton Historic District Commission and a state legislator to develop a long term plan to restore and operate the recreated 17th Swedish farm built for the 350th New Sweden Jubilee in 1988.
In addition to being a historical organization, the Swedish Colonial Society has a hereditary program. Those able to prove their descent from Swedes coming to American between 1638 and 1783, are awarded Forefather Member status certifying them as among America’s oldest Swedish families.
A very unique aspect of the Swedish Colonial Society is its connection to Sweden’s Royal Family and recognition by the Swedish Government.
In 1909, the Society’s founders sought the patronage of the Swedish King. An invitation to King Gustav V was engraved on a solid silver scroll and sent to Sweden through the Swedish Ambassador. The Stockholm Palace reply was brief but just, “The King Accepts.” King, Carl XVI Gustaf is the Society's High Patron upon taking the Swedish throne in 1974. Cown Princess Victoria became Deputy High Patron in 2003.
Governors of The Swedish Colonial Society
1909-2011 *
The Honorable Marcel A. Viti 1909-1921;
Gregory B. Keen, L.L.D. 1921-1927;
Colonel Henry D. Paxton, Esq. 1927-1932;
Dr. Albert Duncan Yocum, 1932-1936;
Colonel Frank W. Melvin, Esq. 1936-1946;
Branton Holstein Henderson 1946-1948;
Charles Sinnickson, Esq., 1948-1950;
Issac Crawford Sutton, Esq. 1950-1952;
Colonel Robert Morris 1952-1954;
Frederic Swing Crispin 1954-1956;
Dr. Samuel Booth Sturgis 1956-1958;
Dr. Amandus Johnson 1958-1960;
C. Colket Wilson, Jr. 1960-1962;
Alan Corson, Jr. 1962-1964;
Charles Paist, III 1964-1966;
Donald E. Hogeland, Esq. 1966-1968;
Allen Lesley. Esq. 1968-1970;
Conrad Wilson 1970-1972;
The Rev. Dr. John Craig Roak, 1972-1975;
David Hillman 1975-1977;
Dr. Erik G. M. Tornqvist 1977-1982;
Herbert E. Hanson Gullberg 1982-1984;
Dr. Benkt Wennberg 1984-1986;
Dr. Erik G. M. Tornqvist 1986-1989;
Wallace F. Richter 1989-1993;
John C. Cameron, Esq. 1993-1995;
Commander John W. Widfeldt 1995-1997;
William Benjamin Neal 1997-2000;
Herbert Ripley Rambo 2000-2003;
Ronald A. Hendrickson, Esq. 2003-2005;
The Rev. Dr. Kim-Eric Williams 2005-2009;
Herbert Ripley Rambo 2009-2010 and
Margaret Sooy Bridwell 2010-
The title was changed from President to Governor
in 1944.
Sweden's reigning Monarch is High Patron of the Society and Sweden's Ambassador is the Society's Patron continuing a tradition begun in 1909. While it may have been rather exclusive in its founding, the Society grew beyond those elite circles because the founders engaged themselves with historical research and the Society remains the foremost forum on New Sweden Colony. Rather than the role of the founding “blue bloods” the greater significance today is the Society’s devotion to research.
Over the past century, the Society’s research has become the foundation for the study of New Sweden Colony (1638–1655), the short lived effort by Sweden to claim a stake in colonial America. After 1655 the Swedish flag no longer flew overheard, but the Swedish and Finnish colonists remained as the majority population in Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey under successive Dutch and English rulers. They lived with a considerable degree of self government until the arrival of William Penn and the flood of several thousand English Quakers ended the so-called “Swedish Nation on the Delaware” (1655–1681).
New Sweden was unique among the American colonies because the colonists lived peaceably with the Lenape Indians and the friendship between the two communities continues into the 21st century. It was also in 17th century New Sweden where Swedes and Finns carved homes from the forest and introduced the most iconic symbol of the American frontier, the log cabin.
Over the years the Society has published 13 book beginning with Swedish Settlements on the Delaware (1911) by Dr. Amandus Johnson. Additionally the Society is in the midst of publishing the eight volume Colonial Records of Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania, edited by the Society’s renowned Historian the late Dr. Peter S. Craig, FASG and Dr. Kim-Eric Williams, a leading translator of 17th century Swedish and an expert on period church life.
The most public face of the Swedish Colonial Society is the national awarding winning website www.colonialswedes.org and the Swedish Colonial News the undisputed journal of record for New Sweden Colony, a brief but significant chapter in America’s colonial past.
In 2000 the Swedish Colonial Society moved its historical archives to the professionally managed Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia making scholarly research readily available on a daily basis.
Historical preservation has been a high priority over the years. The Society coordinated the effort leading to Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Church being the first religious building in American to win designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1942.
The Society established “Printz Park” honoring the Royal Governor John Printz, who lived on that site and worked with Pennsylvania State government to preserve the Morton Homestead with its ties to the Declaration of Independence Signer John Morton.
The Society coordinated the return of the Rambo Apple Tree to Sweden, where it had been extinct following a severe winter in 1709-10. The species survived because a New Sweden colonist took its seeds to America in 1640. The first planting in Sweden, financed by the King, was by the US Ambassador to Sweden and Swedish officials at the start of the Carl Linnaeus Tercentennial in Uppsala, Sweden in 2007.
For its Centennial Celebration in 2009, the Society commissioned the American Swedish Historical Museum to develop a major exhibit “The Story of New Sweden: From Colony to Community,” with the New Jersey State Museum and the Delaware Historical Society which has been displayed in many US locations.
Currently the Society is working with the American Swedish Historical Museum to develop an action plan to conserve the many historical artifacts at the New Sweden Colonial Farmstead at Bridgeton, NJ.The Society has committed to working with the City of Bridgeton Historic District Commission and a state legislator to develop a long term plan to restore and operate the recreated 17th Swedish farm built for the 350th New Sweden Jubilee in 1988.
In addition to being a historical organization, the Swedish Colonial Society has a hereditary program. Those able to prove their descent from Swedes coming to American between 1638 and 1783, are awarded Forefather Member status certifying them as among America’s oldest Swedish families.
A very unique aspect of the Swedish Colonial Society is its connection to Sweden’s Royal Family and recognition by the Swedish Government.
In 1909, the Society’s founders sought the patronage of the Swedish King. An invitation to King Gustav V was engraved on a solid silver scroll and sent to Sweden through the Swedish Ambassador. The Stockholm Palace reply was brief but just, “The King Accepts.” King, Carl XVI Gustaf is the Society's High Patron upon taking the Swedish throne in 1974. Cown Princess Victoria became Deputy High Patron in 2003.
Governors of The Swedish Colonial Society
1909-2011 *
The Honorable Marcel A. Viti 1909-1921;
Gregory B. Keen, L.L.D. 1921-1927;
Colonel Henry D. Paxton, Esq. 1927-1932;
Dr. Albert Duncan Yocum, 1932-1936;
Colonel Frank W. Melvin, Esq. 1936-1946;
Branton Holstein Henderson 1946-1948;
Charles Sinnickson, Esq., 1948-1950;
Issac Crawford Sutton, Esq. 1950-1952;
Colonel Robert Morris 1952-1954;
Frederic Swing Crispin 1954-1956;
Dr. Samuel Booth Sturgis 1956-1958;
Dr. Amandus Johnson 1958-1960;
C. Colket Wilson, Jr. 1960-1962;
Alan Corson, Jr. 1962-1964;
Charles Paist, III 1964-1966;
Donald E. Hogeland, Esq. 1966-1968;
Allen Lesley. Esq. 1968-1970;
Conrad Wilson 1970-1972;
The Rev. Dr. John Craig Roak, 1972-1975;
David Hillman 1975-1977;
Dr. Erik G. M. Tornqvist 1977-1982;
Herbert E. Hanson Gullberg 1982-1984;
Dr. Benkt Wennberg 1984-1986;
Dr. Erik G. M. Tornqvist 1986-1989;
Wallace F. Richter 1989-1993;
John C. Cameron, Esq. 1993-1995;
Commander John W. Widfeldt 1995-1997;
William Benjamin Neal 1997-2000;
Herbert Ripley Rambo 2000-2003;
Ronald A. Hendrickson, Esq. 2003-2005;
The Rev. Dr. Kim-Eric Williams 2005-2009;
Herbert Ripley Rambo 2009-2010 and
Margaret Sooy Bridwell 2010-
The title was changed from President to Governor
in 1944.