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- PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, MARYLAND ERECTED ON ST. GEORGES DAY, APRIL 23,1696
| NEWS AND NOTES FROM
The Prince George's County Historical Society Vol. XVII, No. I and 2 January‑February 1989 There will be no meeting of the Prince George's Historical Society during the months of January and February. We have learned from experience that these meetings are often cancelled by winter weather or if not cancelled are attended by cruel winds and ice‑covered streets and walkways. For years, therefore, we have begun our meetings for the year with the March meeting. The March meeting will be held on March 11th, a Saturday, at the County Administration Building, Council Auditorium, Upper Marlboro, at 2:00 P.M. You may wish to enter from the lower level where there is parking on Gov. Oden Bowie Drive, then go up to next floor. Our speaker is to be Don Creveling, Archeologist for the Maryland‑National Capital Park and Planning Commission. His subject will be "Recent Archeological Discoveries in Prince George's County." Mr. Creveling brings to us a wide range of experience. He was formerly with the archeological program, Alexandria, Virginia; has done survey and excavation in Tennessee, D. C., Maryland, North Carolina and Delaware. He has worked in St. Mary's City and Annapolis. His particular interest is the archeological history and pre‑history of the Middle Atlantic region. A graduate of the University of Maryland in anthropology, he is completing work on a Master's degree there in applied anthropology. Bring a guest if you wish to this interesting lecture. Refreshments will be served. PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND ERECTED ON ST. GEORGE'S DAY, APRIL 23,1696 FROM THE NORTHERN SHORE: FINNS AND SWEDES IN COLONIAL MARYLAND By Alan Virta [In previous installments, we learned about the first settlers to the Delaware Bay area, Swedes and Finns, who landed there in 1638. Even under other governments, these early settlers clung to their homes, culture and languages. Within a generation, however, they were numerically overwhelmed by a tide of British immigration. Gradually the Swedes and Finns began to speak English and to use Anglicized names for places.] PART III Perhaps the most prominent Swedish inhabitant of Maryland during the 18th century was the artist Gustavus Hesselius, a resident of Prince George's County. Hesselius was born in Sweden in 1682, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1712, but soon removed to Prince George's County. He lived in the county from about 1719 to 1734 and became a renowned portrait painter. His most important work, however, was not a portrait; it is his depiction of the Last Supper (1721‑22), commissioned by Queen Anne Parish. "The Last Suppoer" is important in American art history, for before its execution, American painting had been limited to portraiture, "The Last Supper: is the first American painting to depict more than one figure, and the first commissioned for a public building (a church). It hangs in the sanctuary of St. Barnabas Church, Leeland, Maryland. Few other Scandinavians ventured into Southern Maryland during the colonial era. Gunder Erickson of Prince George's County was one of the few. On September 4, 1721, Erickson and Arthur Nelson were granted 450 acres of land in the county which they named Denmark. Erickson soon received another grant which he named Norway. A naturalized British subject, Erickson was a merchant in Nottingham and Queen Anne Town. He married Mary Hall, daughter of the Rev. Henry Hall and Mary Duvall Hall (daughter of Mareen Duvall). Erickson and his wife had one daughter, Martha, whose married name was to be Martha Roundell. It is believed that a brick vaulted tomb, on property once owned by Martha Roundell near Nottingham, contains her remains and those of her Scandinavian‑born father. And what of the Maryland patriot John Hanson, whose remains are believed to rest at Oxon Hill Manor? Was he a descendant of the settlers of New Sweden? The documentary record is inconclusive. A number of individuals named Hanson came to Southern Maryland in the 17th century; Hanson is both a Scandinavian and an English surname. Randle Hanson, who patented Hansonton, on Piscataway Creek, in 1662, is believed to be the same man who immigrated to New Sweden in 1642; he may have been accompanied by kinsmen to Maryland. Other Hansons in Southern Maryland at the time and in succeeding generations bore less distinctive Christian names, such as John and Samuel. The frequency of common forenames, incomplete documentation, and vague references in the official record make it almost impossible, with complete certainty, to determine the European origin of the patriot's Southern Maryland ancestors. Nevertheless, Swedish Americans proudly claim the first president of the United States under the Articles of Confederation as one of their own. Today the memory of the Finns and Swedes in colonial America is kept alive in museums, churches, and historic sites in the Delaware River region. The oldest of these‑‑‑ perhaps the oldest standing structure in Pennsylvania ‑‑‑ is the Morton homestead in Prospect Park, Pennsylvania, between Philadelphia and Chester. The log and stone house, which dates to the mid‑17th century (before William Penn's arrival) was built by Morten Mortenson, a native of Finland and great‑grandfather of John Morton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. The homestead has been restored and is operated as a museum by the State of Pennsylvania. Also located in Pennsylvania is the American Swedish Historical Foundation Museum, on Pattison Avenue in Philadelphia. One venerable shrine of New Sweden is Old Swedes Church in Wilmington, Delaware, built as a Lutheran chapel in 1698. Swedish pastors offered Swedish‑language services here until 1791, when the congregation (by then almost entirely English‑speaking) agreed to accept the Episcopal form of worship. The church is now known as Holy Trinity Episcopal; its historic burying‑ground holds the remains of Swedish, Finnish, and English colonials. Nearby is the Andrew Hendrickson House museum, built in 1690 by a son of New Sweden. Maryland also boasts an Episcopal church of Swedish‑Finnish origin. In 1706 the General Assembly created the parish of North Elk in Cecil County. The church (now known as St. Mary Anne's) was organized by the Rev. Jonas Auren, a Lutheran clergyman who ministered to a congregation of English, Finns, and Swedes. Four generations of the Auren family, as well as the names of other Swedish and Finnish Marylanders, appear in the early parish registers. The present church structure, built in 1742, is located in the town of North East, Maryland. Cultural historians have long studied Swedish and Finnish contributions to colonial America's material culture, from weaving patterns (the Finnish "summer and winter" technique, for example) to boat design (the Swedish forssbat, transformed into the American keelboat). Perhaps no contribution of the Finns and Swedes, however, is as celebrated as the house they introduced to America: the log cabin. This type of shelter, so well suited to the Northern forests of Scandinavia, was rare in Great Britain. Most of the early English inhabitants of New England, the Chesapeake region, and the Carolinas built homes of frame construction. But pioneers of all nationalities found the Scandinavian log cabin admirably suited to the American frontier. Historians have traced the spread of the log cabin from the Swedish and Finnish settlements on the Delaware into Pennsylvania and thence into the Midwest and South. The Scots‑Irish, who knew of no such construction in their native Ulster, quickly adopted the log cabin as their own. With the Germans they took the technique of log construction to the interior of Pennsylvania and down the migration road to the Southern Piedmont frontier. Thus did the log cabin, a traditional form of shelter in Finland and Sweden, become for Americans the very symbol of the frontier experience. Today most Americans bearing Swedish and Finnish surnames descend from immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries rather than from the pioneers of New Sweden. The Swedes and Finns of the colonial era long ago Anglicized their names and assimilated into the general population. Ironically, hundreds of thousands of Americans of colonial stock descend from the Swedes and Finns of New Sweden, but most (save for those still residing on the Delaware) are unaware of it. The celebration of the 350th anniversary of the landing of the Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip serves to remind Americans of the story of New Sweden. The 350th year was concluded in Washington with an exhibition in the fall of 1988, at the' Smithsonian Institution which honored the pioneering efforts of the Swedes and Finns in America, documented the history of those who (according to a contemporary Swedish ballad) came to America “av norden strant"‑‑‑that is, from the Northern shore. Sources Federal Writers Project. Swedes and Finns in New Jersey. 1938. From Northern Shore: The Swedish and Finnish Presence in Colonial Maryland (exhibition program) Maryland Historical Society, 1984. Johnson, Amandus. The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware. 1911. Reprint: Burt Franklin. 1970. Kremer, J. Bruce. John Hanson of Mulberry Grove. Albert and Charles Boni, 1938. (The case for John Hanson's Swedish ancestry.) Walker, Lester. American Shelter. Overlook Press. 1981. Westlager, C. A. The Log Cabin in America. Rutgers. 1969. Wuorinen, John. Finns on the Delaware. Columbia University. 1938. ELECTION RESULTS At the November meeting of the Prince George's County Historical Society, the nominating committee presented to the membership the slate of officers for the coming year. These were unanimously voted in by the membership as reported in the December newsletter. The editor wishes to apologize for failing to include a most important officer, Corresponding Secretary, Cheryl B. Adams. A WINNER Marla Stripling of Greenbelt was the winner of the fine quilt, made and donated by Julie Rhoads, which was raffled for the benefit of the Marietta furniture fund. [Fred DeMarr] BOOK AVAILABLE Robert Ware Straus with Eleanor B. Straus have authored The Possible Dream. This book is the story of “saving George Washington's View." It speaks to the seemingly impossible problems associated with obtaining land in perpetuity to cause the view from Mount Vernon to remain much the same as it was in George Washington's time. Certainly all of us can benefit from the experience gained by the Accokeek Foundation and many benefactors who worked together to gain a scenic easement across the river from Mount Vernon on our Maryland side of the Potomac. To obtain a copy of the book, write the Foundation at 3400 Bryan Point Rd., Accokeek, MD 20607. BILL XXII IS GONE The title of the article in the December 15, 1988, Prince George's Journal read, "Bill XXII is dead; long live Bill XXVI." Is this history getting its facts wrong? Does XXIII follow XXII? It seems that Bill XXII, an Angora goat that has been with the Naval Academy as its mascot since 1979, having reached a ripe old (goatly) age, passed away quietly in his sleep on December 13th. Young Bills XXIII, XXIV and XXV, however, couldn’t do the job of goading Navy teams to victory on the football field. They suffered from a normal, ornery, goatly disposition and were replaced by Bill XXVI, another longhaired Angora of more equable temperament. He will spend his time on the sidelines during football games and his remaining time at the academy’s dairy farm. FROM THE PEN OF R. LEE VAN HORN [Submitted by Paul Lanham, from Out of the Past, by Judge Van Horn.] "Sir Francis Nicholson (Governor) called the assembly into session in Anne Arundel Town, and at that session held Feb. 28, 1694 in the home of Major Edward Dorsey, it was decided to move the seat of government from St. Mary's to Anne Arundel Town to be renamed the town of Annapolis in honor of Princess Anne. ‑‑‑The State House was first called the Stadt House as a compliment to the Dutch, William of Orange. [P. 30.] "August 22, 1679‑‑‑A proclamation by Nathaniell Balckiston, Captain General‑‑‑'Divine Providence hath lately visited these parts by causing a most terrible and dreadful stroak [sic] of lightening and thunder to fall upon the State House which fired the roof and struck dead Mr. James Cradford and greviously [sic] wounded and hurt Lt.Col. Hanson, Mr. Thomas Hicks and Mr. George Ashman.' (August 27 was then proclaimed as a mandatory day of thanksgiving for deliverance and all church parishioners were to abstain that day from all bodily labor or answer to the contrary at their peril)." [P. 41.] "General Assembly session, Sept. 5 ‑ Oct. 3, 1704‑‑‑ (Prince George's County now having been 'erected' as of April 23, 1696) the General Assembly directed that each taxable therein was to be taxed 40 lbs. of tobacco annually to support the Church of England. Further, all freemen possessing 50 acres of land or 50 pounds in tangible property would assemble at Marlborough Town and elect Delegates to the General Assembly." [P. 44.] "Sept. 30, 1707 ‑‑‑ Governor John Seymour proclaimed, 'Her Majesty's subjects of the Province suffer extremely by the Corruption, Ignorance and Extortion of severall [sic] attorneys without any qualification of Honesty, Experience, or Learning in the laws to the greatr scandall [sic] of justice ‑‑‑‑‑‑ (An attorney qualification procedure was then‑established and that afternoon, William Bladen, Wornell Hunt, Robert Goldsborough, and Richard Dallam were certified and thus formed the first official Bar of Maryland.)" [P. 49.1 "March 28, 1721, the Court adjourned at Charlestown, proceeded to Marlborough and at 3 PM reconveaned [sic] to establish Marlborough Town as the County Seat thereafter, the old courthouse to be sold to the highest bidder." [P. 56.] DELIGHTFUL That is the word for our recent Christmas Party at Marietta. Thanks to the talents of many, Alice Skarda, Edith Bagot, Cheryl Adams, Fred DeMarr, Julie and "Dusty" Rhodes, Joyce McDonald and others, refreshments appeared, punches were prepared and the decoration of the old mansion was accomplished. It was a grand gathering of the membership and their friends. LIBRARY In the Society's library at Marietta, Fred DeMarr has placed on bulletin‑board screens the front pages of newspapers for many famous past election days. It is well worth a visit to see these. Also in the library, Librarian DeMarr has assembled back issues of many county newsletters that are of considerable interest. In fact, a visit to the library offers us a rich and varied treat. Assembled there, and well marked, are many fascinating items. GLENN DALE HOSPITAL The House and Senate have passed legislation to transfer the Glenn Dale Hospital property to the District of Columbia. Use of the property is not an option open to the District government, the future use of the property will be determined by a citizen board appointed by the County Executive. Proceeds from any sale of the property will, however, go to the District of Columbia. MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY The Marietta House Committee will host its second annual Mad Hatter's Tea Party, March 4, a Saturday. This is a fancy affair for children accompanied by an adult. Tea and refreshments will be served in the Dining Room and the Drawing Room at Marietta at 10 AM, 12 noon, 2 PM. Reservations may be obtained by calling 779‑2011. Admission is $3 per person. Dolls are admitted without charge. GAMES DAY SCHEDULED at Marietta for children and for the young-at‑heart, April 29th. More details will be furnished later. SOCIETY CONCERNS Our President, Bud Dutton has relayed information for the News and Notes on concerns of the Prince George's County Historical Society. He would like information and suggestions from the membership on the following items: The newsletter, news items welcome, format. The Library needs and development. Marietta, its operation and special events. The St. George's Day dinner meeting. Field trips and outings. New projects. Membership objectives.
March 11 Society Meeting at County Administration Building, Upper Marlboro, MD, 2 PM. April 8 Spring Bus Tour. Washington, D.C. points of interest. April 29 Childrens' Games Day. At Marietta. News and Notes From the PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY P.O. Box #14, Riverdale, MD 20737 President: Bud Dutton Editor: Vera F. Rollo 
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