OF THE ORIGINAL SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE, FROM ITS DISCOVERY BY HUDSON TO THE COLONIZATION UNDER WILLIAM PENN. TO WHICH IS ADDED AN ACCOUNT OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS OF THE SWEDISH SETTLERS, AND A HISTORY OF WILMINGTON, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME. ILLUSTRATED BY DRAWINGS. "Whatever draws us from the power of our senses,-whatever makes the past, the distant, BY BENJAMIN FERRIS. WILMINGTON: WILSON & HEALD, 107 MARKET STREET, District of Delaware, to wit: Be it remembered, that on the sixteenth day of August, Anno Domini 1845, Benjamin Ferris, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the title of which is in the words following, to wit: "A History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, from its discovery by Hudson, to the colonization under William Penn. -To which is added, An account of the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Swedish Settlers, and a History of Wilmington, from its first settlement to the present time, illustrated by drawings. "Whatever draws us from the power of our senses,-whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings."-DR. JOHNSON. By BENJAMIN FERRIS. The right whereof he claims as author, in conformity with the Act of Congress, entitled "An Act to amend the several acts respecting copy rights." T. BOOтH ROBERTS, Clerk of the District. MERRIHEW & THOMPSON, Printers, 7 Carter's Alley, Philad. PREFACE. As man is the only animal which manifests the least curiosity to know what will be hereafter, so is he equally distinguished by the desire to understand what passed before he came into the world. This propensity, in the former case, is the mainspring to religious inquiry; in the latter, it is the motive to historical research. Notwithstanding the diversity of character which marks our species, we find very few who do not feel a curiosity to know something of those who lived before them, and of the parts they acted on the great theatre of life. It is found in children at a very early age. Not only are they charmed with tales of wonder; they listen with delight to the simplest narratives of fact. So deep are the impressions thus made on the memory, that before the invention of letters, they were depended on as the conservatories of historical truths. But in the transmission of events by memory only, facts are liable to become mixed with fable, time is constantly curtailing the record, and death destroys the tablet. The aid of letters is necessary to preserve their just connection, and to rescue from oblivion the most important occurrences. Much of the matter for a complete history of our primitive settlements is irrecoverably lost. The early adventurers were too much engaged in duties of the first necessity to permit them to record passing events. For the means of giving any thing like a connected statement of them we are much indebted to official documents, and other writings left by our predecessors, without any view to that object. So few publications relating to the original settlements on the Delaware have yet appeared, that many, who are far from being indifferent to the subject, know very little of the interesting circumstances of our early history. No connected narrative, sufficiently comprehensive to convey a clear understanding of them, has ever been published in our language. Those authors who have incidentally treated of the subject have been too concise to satisfy a reasonable curiosity, and in most instances they have made so many mistakes as to mislead rather than inform the reader. The truth is, that much of the matter necessary to form a correct outline of our early history, has, until lately, been locked up in foreign languages, |