The daily gazette., 1879-11-18
FIRST EDITION.
FUe Hundred Acrey,

~'so WI shO OnTlbtlAIlA, W8S one.
Charles Christopher Springer, the de-
scendant Of al Old Swedish family,
whose members are reasonably presuni-
ed 10 have been wealthy members of
the gentry Of that land and day. By
Parchase and lease Of lands by Charles
Christopher Springer and his descend :
ants, they came into po, sess on of much
of the property on which WILMINGTON 10
built, and This property, by q, means
easily explained, in time was sold TO
other parties by those who had previous
ly held . deed for the land, which was
Al erwsrd forfeited.
fears psssed without the Sprlngen
asserting their right to the land, and
only recently they took the matter IN
hand aud commenced 10 work IL up.
People never realized what vast fami.
ly was that Of the Springers, until the
matter became talked Ol. When the
iirst step MAS taken Springers focked
from ali parts oi the country, and as
sembled In solemn conclave and in
mass nesting. Old aud young, rich
and poor, learned and illitera e, of all
conditions and In all parts, a. once
opened negotiations. Meetings were
held In the %est and attended by hun-
dreds OF the family conventions were
held in New York aud Providence, and
attended by persons In numbers ap-
preaching y thousand. The result of all
this was that system attic course of pro-
cedure wss entered upon; keen attor-
neys were employed u search the re-
cords, and look into the legality of the
alleged claim, well-informed persons
were secured TO trace up the Springer
genealogy, and . common fund was
created " bear all expenses tnat might
be incurred In the Investigations.
Wilmin.tOn has been hO0drd with
heirs aud seif-deciared heirs ever since
that time, who have been eager for the
search. As q general thing they grew
discouraged after hunting for . lew
days without success, and went to their
homes, content TO live withou, the vis-
ionary millions, II the recovery Of them
depended upon their individual efforts.
But on the 10Th cay Of last July there
came To this city a western lawyer,
whose card read, "a. Jole, Attorney at
Law, Mt. Ayre, Iowa" Mr.. Cole was
different from the majority Of the search
ers, ard be went at the work so deter
minedly, and intelligently, that, since
then, he has brought "ordsr out Of
chaos" and has made tolerably clear
case, so far as the right OF the opringers
to the land Is concerued. He has really
been the only very successful person
who has entered upon the mission. A
GAZETTE reporter talked with Mr.. Cole
and received from that gentleman some
interesting facts.
Charles Christopher Springer, in 1903,
appears as q trustee Of Old Swedes
Church, and effected purchase, for the
church, .uf five hundrsd. acres Of lsnd
from John .Stahlkupp. This land was
situated on the present site Of Whining
ton. 1t was long strip of land, pro-
badly eighteen or twenty hundred feet in
width, which extended diagonally across
the city map In . northwesterly dhec-
tion. The line commences at Church aud
Second streets and runs down along the
bank of Chrlstiana creek nearly to
Frspch street up French 70 Third out
Third to King up King TO Fourth; out
Fourth 10 Shipley. From this point the
line extends In northwesterly direction
70 Adams and Eighth streets, aud then
runs IN . westerly direction, with .
slight northeriy inclination, to q distance
sf several squares beyond the city limits.
The line then cuts across for probably
six hundred yards to near DuPont's
powder mills, when IL starts in a south
earterly direction, running parallel with
the northwesterly line, forming the
soulhHrn boundry, and keeping about
the same distance from 1t until Church
street is reached. The line, where it
crosses Market street, is between Elev-
enth and Twelfth streets, and therefore
the Court House lot Is included in the
| track.
Well, the land owned by Old Swedes
Church at that time, and not by Charles
Christopher Springer - has been sup
posed by the Springer heirs, before VIM.
Cole made his researches, remained in
the hands Of the church for long time
before . deed Yves made and the Court
finally ordered one. In 1887 Charles
Christopher Springer, one year before
his death, and acting in connection with
other church wardens, leased this land
for certain ground rents upon condition
that ii the lessee failed TO improve the
land and pay rents, the land should re-
| turn back to the trustees and tho lease
declared null and void. In 1861, the
rents not being paid, the church revoked
all leases. The first lease was made to
Daniel Calvert and counter leased to his
sons aud othefs.
Another change occurred In 1777, the
trustees then in Office, (the first ones had
long been dead), leased the land uncOn-
ditiOnally to Joseph Townsend, for 2, ,OOO
years. Subject 10 this lease the land was
sold, and all spoken of in the old rec
ords as vJOhn SpriSgeF, the hat-Inaker," "
and supposed TO be The son Of the Origi-
nal Springer mentioned here, bought the
greater part of the land, and other por-
lions of the same 500 acres that had been
leased TO other parties for he same
period. This purchase was made In the
period extending from. 1850 TO 1910.
Under the title which was transferred
from Townsend 10 Springer. small por-
ton of the land continues in his name to-
day. The Townsend lease, which by
virtue Of the sale and transfer, became
the property of John Springer was never
repealed, and the heirs claim 1t is their
property. From time to time the Trus-
tees Of old Swedes Church, disregardfng
the lease, sold the land, and in time 1t
nearly all passed into other hands, The
church wardens giving deeds for every
tract sold. 1t il claimed BY. the heirs
that the land really belongedto Spring
er, byS<he lease Of Tow nsend, for 2,0OO
years, and after that time the church
would have the right of possession
q 4 k..,t =.