Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-04-28
TRINITY CHURCH, A! aI..,..,,,,
IN SNEDESDORO
Paper Read before the Gloucester
County Historical society by
Rev. Geo. c. Sutton, April
III, 1901.

Ladies and gentlemen: If may be per-
Mitted to occupy an hour of your time,
and can in the course Of it at all entertain
You and give little information about the
old days, the old folk and the old customs
OF this old Swedish Colony, I shall be
amply repaid for the labor and time have
given to the preparation of this lecture
Reynolds, in his introduction to Acrelius
says: The Swedish Colony on the Della
ware is undoubtedly an important element
in those movements of humanity out of
which the present position and character
lof the United States have been developed.
Although the number Of colonists thus set
tied there was small, and the territory of
which they took possession but limited, and
the political connection with Sweden soon
severed, yet the influence of that movement
is still felt not only upon the shores Of the
Delaware, but upon the banks Of the Miss
isssippi and the great lakes Of the North,
and from the Gulf Of Mexico to the Califor-
MIA shores of the Pacific Ocean. The de-
seendants Of the original Swedish Colonists
continue to cultivate the lands Of which
their ancestors to,sk possession, more than
two centuries since; and are an essential
portion Of the population of the three
States which now divide among them the
territory of the old Swedish Colony. ("
Many of you, ladies and gentlemen, have
running in your veins the blood Of these
cid settlers, and I say that you are right in
being proud of it.
sWe~n naturally ask "Who were these
Swedes,. who came across the Atlantic and
setfleS. here2 What of their ancestry, Of
tAeir 66untry2 ?" Why their history goes
far back Of written books. The old tradi-
tlons tell of Odin, who reigned in the time Of
POmpey over portion of Scythia, near the
Black Sea. Driven out Of his country, he
is said to have advanced into the Northern
countries Of Europe and ASIA, and to have
conquered Denmark and the Scandinavian
peninsula. The old myths made Odin the
principal God Of the Scandinavian people.
According to these myths be dwells in As
gard with the twelve Aesir. He rules the
heavens; the clouds and wind are subject to
him. Friga, the goddess of poetry, is his
offspring. Being the god of storm he is
also the god of war and directs the course
Of battles by the Valkyries, virgin god
desses, who take the slain to Valhalla to
lead an immortal life of joy and festivity
in the company Of Odin. All untrue, Of
course, but how full of poetry; and what
heroes those old Scandinavians were. They
fought hard and drank deep, but they we're
a yirtuous people withal; barbarians, so
The Romans said-but while the Romans,
representing the civilization of the period,
were sunk in vice and impurity, these old
Scandinavians were strong and clean. Hay-
ing fought their way across continent and
finding themselves on the shores of the
North Sea they took to the water as natur-
ally as young duck does, They knew no
laws of nations, so they went forth to plum
der Everthing was theirs if only they
were strong enough to take it, and they
generally were. BY and bye Chris
tianity found them. Harold, King Of Jut-
land was baptised a. d., 826, and at his re-
guest "a fresh mission to Denmark was
organized under Anskar, a monk of Corbey
near Amiens, who is often spoken of as
stthe APOSTLE Of the North y From Den
mark Anskar made his way to Sweden,
where CA. D. 831) he was favorably re.
ceiyed by the King. The light Of Che Cos
pei had been almost extinguished in Swed-
en- in the tenth century, but English mis-
sionaries were inYited over by King Olaf,
who had been baptized about the year 1908,
and the English priest Turgot became
Bishop Of the first sec established in Swed-
en-, that Of Skara, IN West Gothland. This
last fact is particularly interesting to US
because after there had been bishops OF
Skara for seven hundred years. it was the
Bishop Of that sec, DR.. Jesper Swedburg,
who was in charge Of the missions to this
country, who took the deepest interest in
the wefare Of the Colonists, and even sent
his son, Jesper swedburg over, and that
son taught school very near where we are
assembled to-day.
/ shall say no word about the six or
seven hundred years of national life that
intervened between the period we have
named and the time Of the emigration to
North America, save that it was on the
whole good strong life, and made good,
loyal, staunch Christian citizens Of the
people. The old viking spirit, was in them
still, although they had been long engaged
IN peaceful avocasions; 50 il i not surpris-