Hendrickson Family Origins

The Hendrickson Family starts with the following story:

www.colonialswedes.org

 From the above website:

The history of this old stone house began in 1653 when Sweden's Queen Christina agreed to answer Johan Printz's repeated pleas for more men and supplies. Two vessels, Örnen (Eagle) and Gyllene Hajen (Golden Shark), were recruited for duty, and preparations were made to replenish the far-off New Sweden colony. 

Sven Skute was commissioned to recruit 50 soldiers and 250 colonists for the voyage. He was especially successful finding colonists in the forested area of northern Värmland, where he encountered skogsfinnarna (the so-called Forest Finns). These Finnish-speaking people had come to Värmland from Savo, a border province between Protestant Finland (then part of Sweden) and Orthodox Russia. They practiced huuhta (the cultivation of rye in the ashes of burned spruce forest) and had been encouraged by Swedish monarchs during the 1500s and early 1600s to clear the ground for eventual farm use. By 1640, however, their Swedish neighbors complained about the burnings, and soon the Forest Finns eagerly volunteered for the voyages to New Sweden. 

The Golden Shark was damaged and unable to make the Atlantic crossing. The Eagle set sail from Gothenburg harbor on the icy, winter morning of 2 February 1654. Aboard were 350 souls, including Peter Mårtensson Lindeström, who would describe this voyage in his famous work Geographia Americae, and Johan Risingh, who was destined to become the last governor of New Sweden.

Overcrowding, poor sanitation and illness combined to take their toll on the ship's passengers and crew. When the Eagle, after a four month voyage, dropped anchor at Fort Christina on 22 May 1654, more than 100 people had perished.

Among those who survived the voyage were Johan Hendricksson and his sons, Hendrick and Johan Johansson. The father was sick on arrival, but still living in September 1655 when he signed an affidavit describing the surrender of Fort Trinity to the Dutch. He made a purchase of linen and sewant (wampum) from a Dutch trader on the Delaware in April 1657, but he is lost from the record thereafter.

By 1671, Hendrick Johansson owned (together with Bärtil Eskilsson) nearly 600 acres of land in Ammansland (later Ridley Township). By 1673, Johan Johansson owned property on Marcus Kill. Hendrick Johansson and Bärtil Eskilsson partitioned their joint property into four separate parcels (each taking two). By November 1676, Hendrick was dead.

Hendrick Johansson was survived by three minor sons, Johan, Anders and Matthias Hendricksson. Hendrick's brother, Johan Johansson, and his neighbor Mårten Mårtensson were appointed overseers of Hendrick's estate and guardians of his minor children. When Hendrick's eldest son, Johan Hendricksson, came of age, he took possession of his father's homestead in Ammansland, the eastern parcel on Darby Creek. When Anders Hendricksson came of age, he took possession of his father's other tract of land - the western parcel facing Crum Creek. It was here, at the confluence of Crum Creek and the Delaware River, that the Hendrickson House was built in 1690, and there it remained for 270 years.

In Crum Creek, the authors propose that Johan Hendricksson, as the eldest son and new family leader, inherited not only the family homestead but also the task of supporting his younger brothers, which, in Anders' case, meant helping him build a good house to live in when he was ready to marry. The presence of a good supply of freestone dictated the material of choice. Thus was constructed a stone house for Anders Hendricksson and his bride, Brigitta, the daughter of Mårten Mårtensson, Anders' old guardian and neighbor whose great-grandson, John Morton, would sign the Declaration of Independence as a representative of the colony of Pennsylvania.

The Crum Creek history reports that the stone house measured 30 by 20 feet and faced southwest overlooking Crum Creek and the Delaware River across to New Jersey. In the center of each of the two longer walls, front and back, was a door, flanked by a window on either side. The gambrel roof was supported by the end walls and by heavy, hand-hewn pine beams which extended two feet beyond the face of the front and rear walls to form protective eaves over the first floor doors and windows. Inside, the northwest wall was completely filled by a huge fireplace, an adjacent wood closet (fed by a hatchway to the outside), and in the right-hand corner, a narrow, winding stair leading to the second floor. The large upstairs room was used for sleeping quarters and was heated by a second fireplace.

Anders and Brigitta had four children (Hendrick b. 1691; Jacob b. 1693; Helena b. 1696; andCatherine b. cir. 1700) before Brigitta died in December 1702. Anders soon remarried. With his second wife Catharine he had six more children (John, Peter, Gabriel, Maria, Christina and Rebecca).

Anders Hendricksson died in late Summer 1722 and was buried "in Christian and decent manner ... at Wicaco (Philadelphia)." The stone house and surrounding 164 acres on Crum Creek were devised jointly to the three youngest sons, John, Peter and Gabriel. 

By 1726, John Hendrickson had reached majority. By 1735, he had married Magdalena and was considered the head of the household, where also lived his mother and his unmarried brothers. John and Magdalena had two known children, Isaac and Gabriel. In 1741, Peter Hendrickson purchased land in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey and left Crum Creek, perhaps by 1747, when he married Catharina Lock, granddaughter of the immigrant pastor Lars Carlsson Lock. 

Late in 1746, John Hendrickson, and then his youngest son Gabriel, died. John's only child and sole heir, Isaac, was scarcely more that five years old. With no family member to care for the plantation, the land, but not the stone house, was leased.

Not long after John Hendrickson's untimely demise, his widow Magdalena married Charles Grantum, a justice of Chester County, whose first wife, Catherina Morton, was a granddaughter of Mårten Mårtensson. Magdalena and Isaac left Crum Creek to live at their new home in Ammansland. On 4 January 1753, Magdalena Grantum died and was buried in the churchyard at Wicaco. 

In 1763, Isaac Hendrickson became sole owner of the stone house and the 161 acre Crum Creek plantation. On 31 October 1769, Isaac married Margaret Nethermark, the widow of Luke Nethermark of Tinicum Island and daughter of George and Margaret (Justis) Webb. Isaac and Margaret had no children.

On 30 June 1788, Isaac Hendrickson sold the stone house on Crum Creek and the family plantation, which had grown to 182 acres of land and meadow, to John Crosby. Thus ended nearly 120 years of Hendrickson family ownership.

Now more than one century old, the Hendrickson House was in dire need of repair. Around 1798, the size of the original house was increased fifty percent (to 45 by 20 feet) by the addition of a new section, matching the existing section in both material and construction.

The house and grounds passed through a succession of owners until 1868, when the Ward family of Ridley acquired the property and operated a successful quarry business and brickyard for the next fifty years. In 1918, a large portion of their property, including the stone house, was acquired by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, who owned it until 1956. 

In the summer of 1958 the new owners, the Vertol Aircraft Corporation (now The Boeing Company), offered the "Old Swedes House" on their property to Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church Foundation with the provision that the structure be removed as soon as possible. Plans were made to create a combination museum-library and church office on the grounds in Wilmington. Careful drawings were made and every structural detail was photographed before the house was painstakingly dismantled, stone-by-stone.

Rebuilding presented many challenges. Where original wood and hardware were no longer serviceable, proper reproductions were crafted or replacement materials secured. The beams (which had been damaged by fire) served as templates for duplication. The original door-frame and two window frames were retained as patterns. The original mantel and frame of the great fireplace are now in place in the restored house. Modern utilities, heat and air conditioning, a fire-proof storage vault and a new straight stairway were installed.

For the past forty years the Old Swede's house has served as an integral part of the Holy Trinity Church/ Hendrickson House/Christina Community Center triad of buildings that form the Swedish presence in Wilmington, not far from Fort Christina Park. In 1960, the house saw the first of its royal visitors when H. R. H. Princesses Brigitta and Desiree admired the rebirth of the ancient Swedish structure. On 29 March 1963 (to coincide with the 325th Anniversary of the Swedes landing at "the Rocks"), this area hosted Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, H. R. H. Prince Bertil, Governor Carvel and other dignitaries who designated Fort Christina and Holy Trinity Church as national historic landmarks, accepted the presentation of the Stallcup log cabin, and officially dedicated the Hendrickson House. In 1976, H. M. Carl XVI Gustaf visited the Swedish landmarks as part of America's Bicentennial celebration and in 1988 the Swedish King returned with Queen Silvia to mark the 350th Anniversary of the ancient Swedes' arrival in the New World.

Today the Hendrickson House serves as headquarters for the Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church Foundation and principal meeting place of the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society. Its vault contains the Church's treasures, including the 1718 Communion silver presented by the grateful parish in Sweden where Holy Trinity's first pastor, Ericus Björk, served after leaving New Sweden. In the upper floor gallery may be viewed the altar cloth, bearing a central cross embroidered by H. M. Gustav V, and presented to Holy Trinity in 1950. Students of the earliest settlers visit the library's holdings and throughout the house visitors enjoy Swedish-American antiques and furnishings. Perhaps its proudest role, however, arrives each December when the gift shop offers delightful Swedish treats and the Hendrickson House is decorated for Lucia and a traditional Swedish Christmas. 

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More information on how the Hendrickson forefathers came to America:

The Delaware Finns of Colonial America

Dr. Peter S. Craig

Fellow of American Society of Genealogist Washington, D.C.

Published in:

Wedin, Maud (red): Rapport från Finnbygdskonferensen i Härnösand/Viksjö 26-29 augusti 1999.Rapporter från Geografiska Föreningen Mitthögskolan i Härnösand. 2000. ISSN 1650-2132

Scope of lecture: The history of the Forest Finns who came from Sweden to the Delaware River in the 1600s, first as settlers of the New Sweden colony and later, during Dutch rule, via Norway and Amsterdam. Their integration into the Swedish society on the Delaware. Examples of particular families, such as the Morton, Sinnickson, Mullica families, and a few notorious ones, such as Lasse and Karin, Ivar the Finn and Marcus Jacobsson (the “Long Finn”) and Thomas Jacobsson's son who became an Indian chief.

Finn defined: When I speak of Finns, I am not referring to one's place of birth, but rather one's primary language. Indeed, virtually all of the Finns who came to the Delaware in the 1600s came from Sweden as we know it today. Although Finland was then a part of Sweden, most settlers who came from Finland came from port cities and their primary language was Swedish. In this category were settlers such as Captain Sven Skute from Kronoby, Matz Hansson from Borgå, who were ethnically Swedish. To meet my definition of a Finn, it must be a person whose primary language was Finnish.

Most scholars before me have sought to identify the Finns in New Sweden by looking at their last

names. This is dead wrong. All of the Finns who came to America in the 1600s had no surname

or family name. They followed the same patronymic naming system as used by most Swedes at

the time.

To identify who was a Finn, who was a Swede, and who was Dutch or German or otherwise, one has to look at how they were described by their contemporaries. It is only through a meticulous study of the lives of each settler, especially how he or she was described, that one can safely conclude that a person was a Finn or not. This I have sought to do.

The New Sweden Colony, 1638-1655: The colony of New Sweden was founded on the Delaware in 1638, when Fort Christina was built at present Wilmington, Delaware, and manned by 24 soldiers. Throughout the period from 1638 until 1654, only twelve adult males in New Sweden can be identified as Finns from contemporary records. The first was named Lars Svensson. He arrived in New Sweden in 1640.

The third expedition to New Sweden, which arrived in 1641, brought Ivert Hendricksson (Ivertthe Finn), who volunteered to come as a laborer from the port of Stockholm, leaving his wife and little son behind. Also on this expedition were seven Finns, boarding at Göteborg, convicts who had been found guilty of forest-burning - Clement Jöransson, Eskil Larsson and his son Bärtil Eskilsson and Jöns Pålsson from Sunne Parish, Värmland; and Måns Jöransson, Hendrick Mattson and Johan Hendrickson, whose home parishes are unknown.

In 1643, three more arrived: Hendrick Olofsson, Governor Printz's young page, Mårten Thomasson from Storkyro, Österbotten, and another convict, Anders Andersson the Finn, a former soldier imprisoned at Fort Älfsborg, near Göteborg. After 1643. no more Finns arrived until the arrival of the Eagle in 1654. This marks the first year in which a significant number of Finns came to the colony. They were all freemen, recruited by Captain Sven Skute and came from Västerås, Värmland and Dalsland. Including women and children, there were about 100 Finns on this voyage.

Again, in 1656, another large contingent of about 100 Finns arrived on the Mercurius. These, like

the 1654 group, were all volunteers who wanted to come to New Sweden as freemen. They almost didn't make it. By the time the ship arrived on the Delaware, New Sweden had surrendered to New Netherland, and the Dutch did not look favorably on further immigration from Sweden. However, the Lenape Indians, who were friendly with the Swedes and the Finns, intervened. They boarded the Mercurius and sailed past the Dutch guns at Fort Casimir (New Castle) and allowed the new settlers to land safely at Tinicum Island. The Dutch didn't dare intervene, for fear of antagonizing the Indians.

Under Dutch Rule, 1656-1664: The arrival of more Finns on the Mercurius in 1656 changed the course of history on the Delaware River. This influx of new settlers made the former New Sweden colony populous enough to deal more effectively with their Dutch conquerors. An agreement was reached with the Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, to allow the Swedes and Finns to govern themselves on the

land which had traditionally been New Sweden - that is, all the land north of the Christina River,

including all of present Pennsylvania. Thus, from the ashes of New Sweden, there arose the Upland Court, which ruled Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware and West New Jersey until the court was abolished by the English in 1682. In the Upland Court, class distinctions were apparent between the Swedes and the Finns. All of the court justices and all of the officers of the militia were Swedes.

The arrival of Finnish families in 1654 and 1656 also drastically changed the ethnic mix on the Delaware. Now there were about as many Finnish men as there were Swedish. Prior to 1654, the ratio of men to women was quite lopsided, so that it was difficult for Swedish men to marry. Now, however, with the influx of young Finnish women, there were many marriages of Swedish husbands and Finnish wives. Historically, in New Sweden, the Finnish minority had been looked down upon by the Swedish

majority. The Finns were also brutally harassed by Governor Printz. Indeed, his harsh treatment of the Finns led to a freemen's petition in 1653, which included many grievances - principally his treatment of the Finns - leading to Governor Printz quitting his job and returning to Sweden.

Governor Rising, Printz's successor, was much more lenient toward the Finns. Previously, the Finns had been limited to living in the area south of Upland Creek, an area named Finland. Rising opened up other areas for Finnish settlement, including Ammansland (Ridley Township, Chester [now Delaware] County, Pennsylvania) and Bochten (in Brandywine Hundred, New Castle County).

After the establishment of the Upland Court in 1656, many Finns continued to feel like second class

citizens. A number of them moved to northern Maryland, where they settled along the Sassafras and Elk rivers. Others were lured by the Dutch to Crane Hook, south of the Christina River, where the Dutch government promised them an independent colony.

Mårten Mårtensson and the Morton Family: Of the Finnish families, perhaps the most famous, is that of Mårten Mårtensson, who also arrived in New Sweden on the Eagle in 1654 with his wife and children. According to burial records of Gloria Dei Church, he was born in Finland and was about 100 years old when he died in 1706 and his son Mårten Mårtensson, Jr., was born in Sweden. These records indicate that Mårten Mårtensson was born in Finland and moved to Sweden, where his eldest son was born, before coming to America.

A number of Finnish writers have claimed that Mårten Mårtensson's real name was Martti Marttinen and that he came from Rautalampi, Finland. I have found nothing that verifies this. To the contrary, Mårten Mårtensson was always called by that name, a patronymic, not a family- or surname. His sons were named Mårtensson because they, too, were the sons of a Mårten. He was Finnish and he was born in Finland, but the place of his birth is not shown in any record of which I am aware.

Mårten Mårtensson's principal claim to fame was that he lived to an older age than any other resident of New Sweden. But he also is the ancestor of countless Americans, among them his great-grandson John Morton, who in 1776 cast the deciding vote for the Pennsylvania delegation in favor of declaring independence from England.

The mecca of the Morton family is the Morton Homestead on Darby Creek in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The Morton Homestead features two log structures, now joined by masonry. The north unit was built in the 1690s by Matthias Mårtensson, a son of Mårten Mårtensson. It is the oldest log house in America. The south unit, built about 1760 over the remains of Mårten Mårtensson's original log house, served as an inn for travelers using the ferry between the Morton Homestead and Tinicum Island.

>>>> The Hendrickson House is still standing, but has been moved from its original location.

606 N Church St, Wilmington, DE 19801 is the current location.

Hendrick Johansson's son Anders (Andrew) Hendrickson was born in Wicaco, Philadelphia, PA which is currently know as Southwark, Phila.

The Gloria Dei Church (one of the Old Swede's Churches) is still located in the area at 916 S Swanson St, Philadelphia, PA 19147.

The family proceeded to move north to an area known as Ammansland, in Ridley, Philadelphia, PA which ran along Crum Creek

Anders married Brigitta Mortenson in 1691. She was the daughter of the previously named Mårten Mårtensson.  They had at least 4 children before her death in 1702. He then married Catherina Cock.

Anders and Brigitta's first son was named Hendrick Hendrickson, born in 1693. He was also the first to move to New Jersey when he settled in Greenwich Township directly across the Delaware river from his parents. This move occurred shortly after his marriage to Regina Peterson, daughter of Hans Peterson and Christina Fiske. They subsequently had at least 10 recorded children. 

Their fifth child (second son) was Jonas Hendrickson who married Mary Helm, daughter of Israel Helm. Israel Helm was named after his grandfather Israel Akelson who later changed his surname to Helm.

(From Wikipedia: Israel Åkesson was born around 1630 and would later adopted the surname Helm. He came to New Sweden with his father, Åke Vilhelm Karl Israelson, in 1641. His father died during the trip and he probably became a ward ofGovernor Printz when he arrived at New Sweden in 1643. He became a soldier in 1648, and accompanied Printz back to Sweden in this capacity in 1653. ^[2]

The Swedish settlement was incorporated into New Netherland in 1655. Åkesson subsequently returned and probably settled on Tinicum Island in Pennsylvania. The island was sold to Dutch merchant Joost de la Grange (1623-1664) in 1662. Åkesson later traveled back to Sweden where he recruited settlers and returned with them in 1663. Thirty-two Finns arrived on board the "Purmerlander Kerck " and were settled at Feren Hook on south side of Christina River. ^[3] [4]

As a reward, he received from the Dutch governor a monopoly on the fur trade in Pennsylvania and in 1664 was entitled to become a justice replacing Mats Hansson (1612-1663) on the Upland Court where he served until 1681. By this time, his military rank had risen to captain, and he had adopted the surname Helm.^[5] [6]

In his trading with the local American Indians, he learned their language, and was frequently employed as an interpreter. He acted as such in 1675 at the conference between English Gov. Edmund Andros, the magistrates of New Castle, Delaware, and the Lenape sachems of New Jersey, when their treaty of peace was renewed.

In 1677, he was living in Gloucester County, New Jersey, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died during 1701 and was buried with his wife in the cemetery at Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church on Tinicum Island.)

Tinicum Island is currently the location of the Philadelphia International Airport and also the location of the Hendrickson's property on the east side of the Darby River.

Jonas Hendrickson and Mary Helm had a son, also named Jonas Hendrickson, who was born on August 2, 1769. This Jonas lost both his parents by the time he was 18 years old. In 1800 he married Rachel Friend, daughter of Lawrence Friend and Sarah Cock, who was born in nearby Woolwich Township. Between these two townships and neighboring Logan Township is still a road by the name of Hendrickson Mill Road. Jonas and Rachel moved to Bridgeport where they had their son Andrew before finally settling back in Swedesboro, Woolwich Township, NJ.

Rachel (Friend) Hendrickson's father was a decendant of Nils Larsson Frande:

From: http://www.colonialswedes.org/forefathers/

One relatively unknown forefather, progenitor of the Friend family in America, is Nils Larsson, who arrived in New Sweden on the Swan in 1648 and served as a warden for Governor Rising 1654. Two years later, he married Anna Andersdotter (possibly the daughter of Anders Andersson the Finn) and settled at Upland (now Chester), where they raised a family of ten children. His house was also the location of the Swedes' quarterly court sessions after Armegot Printz sold the Printz family's Tinicum Island estate.

Nils Larsson played a very prominent role in the Swedish community until his death at Upland in the winter of 1686-87. He became known as Nils Larsson Frände, meaning "kinsman" or "blood relative" in Swedish, possibly because of his influence among the Indians who considered him a "blood brother." Under English rule, his adopted surname became anglicized to "Friend." In 1668, Nils and two other Swedes, secured a permit from the govemor of the new province of New Jersey to buy lands from the Indians in present Gloucester County. The resulting acquisition led to a large Swedish settlement centering around Raccoon Creek (present Swedesboro).

Nils Larsson Frände also acquired lands in present Bucks County, which he traded to William Penn in return for 800 acres east of Red Clay Creek in New Castle County. Penn built his Pennsbury estate on Frände's former land.

At the time of his death, Nils Larsson was serving as constable for Chester township. His wife Anna survived him by about 40 years and was said to be over 106 when she died. Their children, with approximate birth years, were:

1. Brigitta, born 1657, who married John Cock (son of Peter Larsson Cock) and had nine children.
2. Anders (Andrew), born 1659, whose first wife was probably a daughter of Israel Helm. Andrew Friend died in Maryland after 1740, and had at least four children, including Israel Friend, a well-known Indian trader and interpreter.
3. Catharine, born 1661, who married Olof (William) Dalbo, and died at Raccoon Creek in 1721, the mother of nine children.
4. Maria, born 1663, who married Gabriel Cock (son of Peter Larsson Cock) and had eight children.
5. John, born 1666, who married Anna (daughter of Hendrick Coleman), and died in Penn's Neck, Salem County, NJ in the winter of 1737-38; nine children.
6. Susannah, born 1670, who married Enoch Enochson and moved to Gloucester County, NJ; four surviving sons.
7. Sarah, born 1672, who married Amos Nicholas of Chester County; at least four children.
8. Gabriel, born 1674, who married Maria Van Culin of Chester County; at least five children.
9. Lawrence, born 1676, who married Sarah Jaquet in Penn's Neck; at least four children.
10. Barbara, born 1678, who married Peter Longacre (son of Anders Petersson Longacre); at least three children.

Descendants of Nils Larsson Friend have an active Friend Family Association which owns and operates a Friend Family Library in Friendsville, Maryland, where many records of descendants have been collected.

Their son Andrew moved to back to Bridgeport in Logan Township with his new wife Elma Armbruster. His birthplace, birthdate of August 4, 1817, and a slight description was recorded in 1843 on his U. S. Atlantic Port Seaman's Protection Certificate. The SPC was a way of tracking American merchant seaman in a time of continued distrust with Great Britain. They had at least 5 daughters and 2 sons. Their oldest son was Levi Madera Hendrickson whose middle name was the last name of his parents' good friends and neighbors, the Madera's of Bridgeport.

Elma A. (Armbruster) Hendrickson's gravesite in Pedricktown, NJ.

Levi Hendrickson was born on May 3, 1869 in Bridgeport. He married Mary Hewitt in 1891 and moved to Oldmans Township where they eventually settled in Pedricktown, NJ. Their only children to survive childhood were sons Francis Layman Hendrickson and James Alward Hendrickson.

Levi and Mary (Hewitt) Hendrickson

Francis Hendrickson was born June 7, 1894. He moved to Marcus Hook, PA and married Marlea Mollie Soles, daughter of Thomas and Lillie (Bradley) Soles of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. They had daughters Helen and Marion, and a son Francis. His wife, Marlea, passed on due to pneumonia a couple years after the birth of their last child. Francis soon remarried.

James Alward Hendrickson was born in February 1905. He married Caroline Rae Clouser, daughter of Aaron and Edith (Landis) Clouser.