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Johan (Grelsson) Cornelius (1615 - 1683)

Johan "Jan" Cornelius formerly Grelsson aka Gregersson
Born in Fryksdalen, Värmland, Swedenmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 1650 (to 1683) in Swedenmap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 68 in Chester, Pennsylvaniamap
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Profile last modified | Created 2 Dec 2011
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Johan (Grelsson) Cornelius belongs to a New Sweden family.
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Värmland, Sweden.

Biography

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Johan (Grelsson) Cornelius migrated from Sweden to New Sweden in 1656 aboard the Mercurius.
Flag of New Sweden in 1656 aboard the Mercurius

Johan Grelsson, his wife Helena and their three children arrived in New Sweden on the ship Mercurius in 1656[1]. The Mercurius was a pinnace purchased in Holland. She sailed from Gothenburg on November 25, 1655 and arrived in New Sweden on March 14, 1656, carrying 14 Swedes and 92 Finns. After the Dutch refused to allow the ship to pass Fort Casimir on the Delaware, some Indians climbed aboard and guided the ship to Tinicum Island, where the passengers were safely landed. Mercurius, including its commander (Johan Papegoja), then safely returned to Sweden[2].

He was described as a Finn from Fryksdalen, the valley of the Fryken Lakes in Sweden. Otherwise, little is known about Johan Grelsson's life in Sweden. His patronymic, Grelsson, indicates that his father was named Gregor[1].

Once in America, both the Dutch and English had difficulty spelling Johan's patronymic surname. The Dutchman Ephraim Herrman called him Jan Cornelissen. In 1671, the English census taker Walter Wharton named him John Gilsaw[1].

Johan settled in the Finnish community known as Ammansland and shared a large tract of land along Mill (now Darby) Creek in what later became Ridley Township, Chester (now Delaware) County, Pennsylvania. Johan's family worked together with the family of Matthias Matthiasson (another Mercurius passenger from Fryksdalen) and the family of Mårten Mårtensson (who had arrived aboard Örn in 1654). The Matthias Matthiasson family abandoned its interest in this tract in late 1671 when it moved across the Delaware to Boughttown (present Penns Grove in Salem County, New Jersey). But both Johan Grelsson and Mårten Mårtensson remained at Ammansland until their deaths. A contemporary survey placed the cabin of Mårten Mårtensson on the site now occupied by the Morton Homestead. Grelsson's cabin was a stone's throw to the west, on a small creek called Stony (now Amosland) Creek[1].

Johan Grelsson led a quiet and unassuming life. He last appeared in public records on 27 June 1683, when (as "John Cornelius") he served on the new Chester County court's grand jury. He died shortly thereafter and his widow Helena married, by 1685, the widower Mårten Mårtensson. She also survived her second husband and was buried on 8 February 1713 at Gloria Dei Church at the reported age of 97 (probably somewhat exaggerated)[1].

Johan and Helena had five children:

  1. Elisabeth Johansdotter
  2. Anna Johansdotter
  3. Anders Johansson
  4. Arian Johansson (John Archer)
  5. Eric Johansson

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig. "Johan Grelsson and his Archer, Urian and Culin Descendants." orig. pub Swedish Colonial News, 1, no. 11 (Spring 1995). Retrieved from http://colonialswedes.net/Images/Publications/SCNewsF01.pdf
  2. Passenger List for the Mercurius 1655-6 https://www.geni.com/projects/Mercurius-Passengers-1655/9038

See also:

Acknowledgements

  • WikiTree profile Grelsson-16 created through the import of Callahan, Wiley, Plotner, Powell Family Tree - 2009.ged on Dec 2, 2011 by Ron Callahan.




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Comments: 2

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Cornelius-527 and Grelsson-16 appear to represent the same person because: Johan Grelsson led a quiet and unassuming

life. He last appeared in public records on 27 June 1683, when (as “John Cornelius”) he served on the new Chester County court’s grand jury.

Source: http://colonialswedes.net/Images/Publications/SCNewsF01.pdf

The birth and death places match

I was a little surprised that I could merge John Cornelius into Johan Grelsson, but I did it anyway, with some trepidation. The Craig article explains his name variations very well, He was born in Sweden as Johan Grelsson and then there were a bunch of variations of his name when he lived in New Sweden, some of them (Gilsaw and Cornelius?) should probably go in his Other Names.

Most of what was in the Cornelius profile could just be deleted, I think - but I left it all, for the time being.

posted by Eva Ekeblad

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Categories: New Sweden | New Sweden Forefathers