June 7. Jonas Walraven and his wife, Annika, also the daughter of Brita. June 21. Johan Goiding and his wife, Annika. July 5. Herr(7) Eric [Ericus] Biork and his wife(8). Mans Gustafson [Justis. Justice, Justison] and his wife Catharina. July 19. Anders Gustafson and his wife, Brita. Aug. 2. Elisabet von Neeman [Vanneman],, also the daughter of Elisabeth. Aug. 30. Peter Mag.[ister] Hesselius and his wife Sara.(9) Herr Abr.[aham] Lidenius.(10) Brita Stalcop. Johan von Culen. Kerstin Palssen [Paulson, Poulson]. Maria Palssen. Oct. 18. Peter Maansson's wife Carin. Olof Mansson. Annika Tossawa [Tussey]. Nov. 1. Conrad Constantin[e] and his wife Kerstin.(11) Nov. 8. Peter Caupony and his wife, Helena. (12) Nov. 22. Herr Eric Bjork and his wife. Pastor Mag.[ister] Hesselius and his wife Sara. Maria Stalcop. Nov. 29. Judith van de Wer [Vandever], in her illness. Dec. 2 Johan Cock, at St. George's, in his illness. Dec. 25. Jacob Hindersson [Hindricson, Hendrickson] and his wife Malin [Magdalen, Magdalena], Georg Litien and his wife Kerstin. Jacob van de Wer and his wife. Hans Petersson and his wife Sara. Gabriel Petersson and his wife Kerstin, Hans Sher [Shere, Shiere] and his wife, Anna. Henric Roisko. Christian Petersson. Olof Nilsson and his wife Margareta. (These members of the congregation, living on the other side of the (Delaware) River were given Connunion by Herr Lidenius)14 Dec. 26. Johan Gustafsson and his wife Brita .(15) Mans Gustafsson and his wife Catharina. Johan Van de Wer. Judith van de Wer. --------------- (7) The degree of respect and dignity implicit in the use of "Herr" in these early records is not conveyed by modern translation. (8) Eric Biork and Christina Stalcop, daughter of Peter Stalcop, were married on Oct. 6, 1702, by Andreas Sandel who had come from Sweden not long before to succeed his friend Andreas Rudman as pastor at Wicaco (Philadelphia). From Sandel's diary: "1702, July the 15th. Came Mag. Biork, with his intended bride, to Mag. Rudman [at Wicaco]. I did come there too. the 16th. Again I walked from Passajung (Passyunk) to Mag. Rudman in order again to pay my respects to Mag. Biorks [sic] [and] Mag. Rudman, and I did then escort his sweetheart to show her the town, as she had not seen it before. Sept. the 20th. Under a heavy rain, I went down to Christina [Old Swedes, Wilmington, DE] to say the banns for Mag. Biork and his sweetheart, Stina Stallkapp, who afterwards were joined in marriage Oct. 6th. I was very ill in the intervening time...so it was with the very greatest ado I was able to marry them." Biork himself wrote to the Swedish Resident in London, a letter preserved in the Swedish Royal Archives, to tell of his marriage: "Especially is my situation much changed in that a good man's child of my congregation, now in her sixteenth year, Kristina Stallcop by name, has, by her modest ways and unusual proficiency in all things, at length bound my heart unto herself, although she, because of her shyness toward me and my office, did for a time politely decline, but all the more pleased me thereby." When Andreas Sandel preached Christina Stalcop Bjork's funeral sermon in Sweden, he gave the date of her birth as Apr. 19, 1686. (9) On May 3, 1713 "the fourth Sunday after Easter", and the first day of his regular pastorate at Christina, Andreas Hesselius was married to Sara, daughter of Jonas Walraven. (Holy Trinity Records, First Book, pg. 96). (10) Abraham Lidenius, who had come from Sweden with Hesselius to be his assistant, was assigned charge of the families "over the river" [New Jersey], to their great satisfaction. While those living in the Raccoon Creek area were generally considered a part of the Wicaco congregation, and those of Penn's Neck a part of the Christina congregation, Mr. Lindenius ministered to them all. (11) In October, 1684, Conrad Constantine, on behalf of his wife, Christian, late widow and relict of Pella Perker [Parker?], deceased, testified that he had duly and legally proved a certain noncupative will of said Pella which made provision for the widow and eight children. New Castle Wills, book A-1, pg. 65. (12) Peter Petersson, called Caupony, Caupany, Caupeny, to distinguish him from Peter Petersson, Smith. This odd nickname, which has aroused a great deal of interest and conjecture, actually has a very simple explanation. It is derived from the Swedish word "kåpa" meaning, the the usage of the day, "a short cloak. To English ears, the broad "å" had almost the sound of "au", as in "caught"; hence, the wearer of the short cloak became Peter Caupany. (cf. the transition from Pålsson to Paulson). Another nickname, Stalcop, (see footnote 15), unlike Caupany, has been preserved as a family name. (13) Johan Cock died two weeks later, and was buried in his garden on December 16. Mr. Hesselius went down to St. George's again "about 20 English miles" to preach the funeral sermoon and had a difficult time getting home. "When I now returned to my usual ferry place," he wrote in his Journal, "with the idea of being brought across the [Christina] river, with my horse, and now had my home in sight, it was impossible to get over the water in any manner, because it was all covered with ice...too strong for the barge to cut through, but too weak for me to walk over." (14) Further mention of some of these families "over the River" may be found in "The Records of Swedish Lutheran Churches at Raccoon and Penns Neck, 1713-1786" (American Guide Series, Federal Workers' Project, 1938). (15) Andreas Sandel's "Diary", p. 135:"1704, Nov. the 11th. Along with Giosta Giastashon's [Justa Justis'] son Jean [John, Johan] I went down to Christina, where he was married to Petter Stacko's [Stalcop's] daughter." Mr. Sandel did not recognize the familiar Swedish words "stål kofta", literally "steel jacket", which had grown, in half a century on the Delaware, into the surname Stalcop. Johan Andersson Stålkofta, a gunner, first member of the present Stalcop/Stalcup family to come to New Sweden, appears in the 1654-55 roll of the freemen in the colony. He died "on Christina Creeke" before Sept. 22, 1685, when the Provincial Council in Philadelphia, having had information of "ye Indians' Willingness to sell all their Right and Claime to the land between Upland [Chester] & Apoaquinamy [Appoquinimink], as farr backward as they have any Claime thereunto. and that they proposed a meeting at Widow Scalcop's [Stalcop's] on ye 29th Inst., in order to treat about ye same", appointed certain persons to be "at ye place aforesd, with full power to treat and compleat ye purchase with them," (Minutes of Prov. Council of Penn.) Of the five named sons in John Anderson Stalcop's will. dated Aug. 24, 1679, probated Feb. 3, 1685/6, three, Andrew, John and Peter, are known to have had descendants: Charles is mentioned later in a deed as having died without issue [New Castle County Deeds, Book M1: p. 286; there is no further word of Jonas. One daughter had married, before her father's will was made, Luloff (not Lucas] Stedham, as his first wife. Luloff, or Lyloff, Stedham remarried before Oct. 5, 1695, "Katherine" Catherina, widow of Andrew Stalcop. [NCC Wills, B:1, p. 29, administration of the estate of Andrew Stalcop.] Another daughter, doubtless the Mary mentioned in her father's will, married Captain John Hance Steelman, merchant, Indian Trader and Interpreter. [NCC Deeds, B: H-1, p. 150.] On Aug. 29. 1700, the Indian Owechela, called "King of the Delaware", signed a treaty of friendship with three Maryland commissioners at "John Hans Steelman's" trading house in Cecil County. As late as Jan. 12, 1721/2, Steelman is referred to as being form "Ceecill County" but by Oct. 8, he is "of Menawkos, in Prince George's County". [NCC Deeds, B: G-1, pp. 161, 372.] In 1744, John Hans Steelman, then living in Lancaster Co., PA, disposed of land and marsh in MD [or DE, as the boundaries were still not defined]. He died in Lancaster, now Adams, Co. in 1749 and in 1924 the PA Historical Commission, the Swedish Colonial Society and the citizens of Adams Co., placed a marker on the site of his frontier home, about ten miles southwest of Gettysburg and three miles northwest of Emmitsburg, MD. The inscription on the marker commemorates Steelman's early appearance as a settler west of the Susquehanna River.