52 Week Ancestor Challenge - LARS CARLSSON LOCK

Lars Carlsson LOCK is another of my direct line ancestors. Lars is my 7th great-grandfather. He is the first of the LOCK line on my mother's side in the New World, leaving Sweden in September 1647. Originally, Lars's surname was not LOCK. He, like others of his time, used the patronymic method of naming. In other words, since he was Carl's son, he was Carlsson. The surname of LOCK he derived from his Swedish town of origin, Lockerud, upon coming to this land. My great-grandmother was the last direct LOCK descended from him on our line.

It is estimated that he was born around 1624 in Sweden, his year of birth based on his age when he died. Lars was a minister in the New Sweden Colony, replacing John Carpanius upon arrival. His wife Catharina, born around 1635, married him here and they settled to live into the New Sweden glebe lands. Their church, a log building, was located on Tinicum Island which was the first Swedish settlement in the Americas. It was here that Lutheranism was established in the New World.

Unfortunately, though, Catharina was not happy with her lot in life as Lars's wife on this marshy island in the Delaware River. In 1661, she ran away with a man named Jacob Jongh who had arrived in the area in 1654 as a "soldier and commisary" and moved to Westchester County, NY. By 1677, they had returned to Philadelphia County. Jongh, the wife stealer, was sexton and schoolmaster of the new log church established at Wicaco until his death in April 1686. In the meantime, Lars had met and married Beata Lom, an 18 year old who was living with another Swedish family, the head of whom was named Olof Stille. Beata became the mother to all of Lars's children, while the runaway Catharina had only one child with Mr. Jongh (now spelled Young).

Because Lars was the only minister in the immediate area, he performed both of his own marriages. In the early days of this country, law as we understand it today was sparse, if in existence at all, so Lars used his biblical knowledge and considered her adultery to be a divorcement. There were some who took issue with this, but what else could be done with the main source of both legal and religious authority several thousand miles and months away.

It is interesting to note that Beata Lom, whose father was Måns Lom, is reputed to be the first non-native European infant born in what would eventually be known as the Delaware Valley. Dutch authorities claimed that Beata's marriage to Lars was not legal because a divorce had not yet been granted by Governor Stuyvesant, but Olof Stille, with whom Beata had lived, told them in court it was none of their business.

A number if Finnish families who had settled in the area with the Swedes moved off of Tinicum island to Crane Hook, which was under Dutch rule, and established another log church after being granted religious freedom by the Dutch governor of New Amstel, Alexander d'Hinojossa. Lars ministered there as well until he died.

In 1664, the British took control of the Delaware River region and in 1669, the Finns decided to fight back. Lars was a supporter of this cause and ended up being fined for taking part in the "Long Finn Rebellion" - so named because the organizer was a tall Finn.

Lars was the only minister in the area along the Delaware River until 1667 when the log church at Wicaco was built and Rev. Jacob Fabritius was hired. The hiring of Jacob Jongh, his first wife's "bill of divorcement", as sexton only added insult to injury for Lars who remained the minister for both the Tinicum and Crane Hook congregations until his death in 1688 at age 64, suffering "lameness" by that time. Beata followed him the following year. Their minor children moved across the river to Gloucester County, New Jersey, and lived with their aunt Maria Lom and her husband Johan Mattson. Most of the family settled in and around the area known today as Swedesboro. And, that is where the family remains today.

If you look at the map of New Sweden, you will see Kristina (where Wilmington, Delaware is today), Fort Nassau (where Gloucester City, New Jersey is now located and where I currently live) and the current location of Philadelphia directly across from Fort Nassau. Gloucester County once encompassed the area that includes Fort Nassau, but the modern boundary begins at the creek immediately below Fort Nassau.

As you can see, my family has been part of this area for a very long time. I have learned more about the history of this country because of tracing my family than I ever learned in high school history class.

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Image credit - Map of New Sweden: This image was first published in the 1st (1876–1899), 2nd (1904–1926) or 3rd (1923–1937) edition of Nordisk familjebok. The copyrights for that book have expired and this image is in the public domain.

More information can be obtained by visiting the Swedish Colonial Society website.

52 Week Ancestor Challenge - Jesse Chew

I found another Bubbler was doing a weekly post for something called the "52 Week Ancestor Challenge" and, since I've been working on my family history since 1974, I just knew I had to take that challenge as well. Here is my first week's post, some four weeks later than the original challenge began. But, I will catch up.

JESSE CHEW (1738 - 1812)

Jesse Chew was my 6th great grandfather. He was born 25 November 1738 and, at the time of the Revolutionary War, was considered a Loyalist. Jesse was the 3rd great grandson of John Chew who emigrated to the America Colonies from Whalley Parish, Lancashire, England in the early 1600s to James City, Virginia. John's son John moved to Long Island where he met and married Ann Gates. Their son Richard was born on Long Island but eventually moved to Gloucester County, New Jersey where the family has remained.

There is a story told of Jesse that I have always found humorous. How much truth there is in the details depends on how accurately it was passed down through the generations, but the date of the event was recorded in the Quaker Meetinghouse records in Woodbury, NJ. On January 3, 1800, Jesse, a Methodist minister of some renown, interrupted a service of the Quakers to preach to them the errors of their ways. These peace-loving Quakers summarily removed Jesse from their service bodily and locked the doors to prevent his return.

Jesse died 26 January 1812 and is buried in the family cemetery within 100 yards of the home that he built.

The house you see in the photo is Jesse's home built in 1772 of Jersey Sandstone. It is in good condition with all original hardware in place as well as the original fireplaces. It is currently a private home, but they do occasionally rent out the carriage house on the property. This house is located 1.7 driving miles (probably closer to a mile as the crow flies) from the house where I grew up and is in the same township.

Jesse was only one of many Methodist ministers in my family, most of them on my father's side of my family.

Photo credit - This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 72000797. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

I'm back! Did you miss me?

I backed off my three writing challenges for a while because I was focusing on some heavy genealogical research for the last month. I had gained temporary access to Ancestry.com and all those wonderful digitized original documents that can make or break your research. I was in heaven!! (Of course, so are they, so it worked out!)


I was able to get back to the 1600s on my ex-husband's line (back to when Spain had control of the Southwest), several generations on my landlord's line (his didn't take long - he's a second generation American), found a couple new generations on my childhood friend's father's line and found some new information on my own tree. I may have even found the missing link in my own "brick wall", although it remains to be proved.


I have been using the laptop my kids gave me for Christmas to do all this, faithfully saving all pertinent document images as I found them. But, I have had to do this on the dining room table - the very same dining room table I used to do all my homework when I was in high school. My daughter has a desk upstairs for her desktop computer, but I don't really have a specific place for my laptop. And, the dining room chairs do get pretty hard after several hours of sitting. 


That is why I began looking for some ideas to solve the problem, something that would look nice, but allow me to clear the table of my computer and other items (I'm also taking an Excel class this semester) that add to the clutter. Maybe something like a laptop couch table. I actually found several things that I think would work on Become.com. There are even a couple like the adjustable tables my mother had when she was hospitalized. I never even gave those a thought as being really ideal. They have wheels, they adjust up and down depending on where you're sitting and they're constructed in a way that the base can slip under the chair or couch you're sitting on so you can actually sit more comfortably. There are loads of  great ideas there that I think would work.


They have far more than just tables, too. Let's say you are wanting to find pink and green comforter sets because that girly girl you're raising just loves those colors. You can have it search just for that and voilá - there are your selections!


Just for fun, I went looking for lounge couches and chairs. WOW! Prices from $30 to $18,000!!! Seriously. But, heck - you can't say they aren't touching base with all income levels. I really like the inflatable one - doesn't look at all inflatable, does it? I also like the chaise lounge - I've liked them since I was little, actually. I've never had opportunity to own one, though. And, the Dulset convertible leather textile sofa - I really like the way it looks (no arms for the cats to hang on - works for me!) 


Maybe down the road I'll be able to place an order for just what I want. They've got some really cool things that fit all tastes and budgets. 


Anyway, it's time to hit the books. I just wanted to let everyone know where I was and that I'll be trying to return something in the next week with the challenges (Grandma's Goulash, TGIBBF and GBE2). So, I hope you haven't all forgotten me too quickly!