Johan Björnsson Printz
Encyclopedia
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedish colony
Swedish colonization of the Americas
The Swedish colonization of the Americas included a 17th-century colony on the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, as well as two possessions in the Caribbean during the 18th and 19th century....
of New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
on the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Early Life in Sweden
He was born in BottnarydBottnaryd
Bottnaryd is a locality situated in Jönköping Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 723 inhabitants in 2005....
, Jönköping County
Jönköping County
Jönköping County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The capital is Jönköping.- Provinces :...
, in the province of Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...
. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor, Björn Hansson, and Gunilla Svensdotter. Printz received his early education in Sweden followed in 1618 by theological studies at German universities. While on a journey in about 1620, he was pressed
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
into military service. The involuntary change in occupation turned out to suit him.
During the Thirty Years’ War, he initially became a mercenary for Archduke Leopold of Austria, Duke Christian of Brunswick, and King Christian IV of Denmark. Printz entered the Swedish army in 1625 rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel under King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
. He was dismissed from service for surrendering the Saxon
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
town of Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
.
Life in New Sweden
By 1642, he was restored to royal favor, ennobled and appointed to be the third governor of New Sweden. He arrived at Fort ChristinaFort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...
in the colony on 15 February 1643 with two ships, Fama (Fawn) and Svanen (The Swan).
Under his rule the Swedish colony initially prospered. He built Fort Nya Elfsborg
Fort Nya Elfsborg
Fort Nya Elfsborg was a fortification and settlement established as a part of New Sweden. Built in 1643 and named after the Älvsborg Fortress off Gothenburg, Fort Nya Elfsborg was located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, between present day Salem and Alloway Creek.-History:Fort Nya...
on the east bank of the Delaware, and Fort New Gothenburg on Tinicum Island
Tinicum Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Tinicum Township, more popularly known as "Tinicum Island" or "The Island", a census-designated place and township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,353 at the 2000 census. Included within the township's boundaries are the communities of Essington and Lester...
(to the immediate SW of today's Philadelphia). He thus secured a monopoly of trade with the Indians that inhabited both sides of the bay and river as far north as Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
.
On Tinicum Island, he also built his own manor house which he called The Printzhof
The Printzhof
The Printzhof, located in Governor Printz Park in Essington, Pennsylvania, was the home of Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden....
. It was two stories high, made of hewn logs and fire places of brick imported from Sweden. The manor contained a finished lumber interior made from lumber sent from Sweden, glass windows and lavish draperies. The location was chosen with an eye to controlling the trade of the river and because it was close to the Dutch at Fort Masson.
Printz, who was an energetic and conscientious governor, established harmony with the local Indians. He was a very large man, reputably over 400 pounds, which earned him the nickname "Big Belly," from the native people, the Lenni Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
tribe. During his tenure of office, seven expeditions, containing more than 300 emigrants, sailed from Sweden. The influx of settlers was made up of farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s who dealt fairly with the Indians and established a precedent of kindliness and justice. William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
and his followers later became indirect beneficiaries of this treatment when they were received in a friendly manner by the Indians.
Printz arranged amicable relations with English settlers, initiated trade connections with the Dutch in New Netherlands, and directed several commercial enterprises within New Sweden.
In time, problems with the surrounding Dutch and English
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
colonies became increasingly severe. Short of supplies from Sweden, Printz was unable to prevent the Dutch and the English from practically monopolizing the beaver fur trade in the area. His main adversary was Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
, Director General of New Netherlands.
Printz also was an autocratic administrator and his growing quarrels with the settlers led several of them to petition to take their grievances directly to the Swedish government. Printz had the ringleader of the dissident colonists, Anders Jönsson, hanged, but tensions continued to grow. In the end, Printz found his position impossible, and in 1654 he returned to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. His son-in-law Johan Papegoja
Johan Papegoja
Johan Papegoja was the fifth governor of the Swedish Colony of New Sweden.Johan Papegoja had been one of the early Swedish settlers on the Delaware. Papegoja is the Swedish word for parrot. He served as a Lieutenant at New Sweden under governor Johan Björnsson Printz...
succeeded him as the governor of New Sweden.
Later Life in Sweden
On his return to Sweden, Printz was made a general. Several years later, in 1658, he was appointed governor of JönköpingJönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
. The information on this period in his life is very limited.
Family
He was survived by five daughters and his second wife, Maria von Linnestau, who he had married in 1642. He was predeceased by his son, and also by his first wife, Elizabeth von Boche, who he had married in 1622.Memorials
- Governor Printz Park is located just south of I-95 at the Route 420 in Essington, PA.
- The New Sweden Marker at 2nd Street & Taylor Avenue in Essington, Pennsylvania acknowledges the role of Johan Printz.
- The PrintzhofThe PrintzhofThe Printzhof, located in Governor Printz Park in Essington, Pennsylvania, was the home of Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden....
in Essington, Pennsylvania is listed on National Historic LandmarkNational Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
Register Number: 66000661. - U.S. Route 13 in DelawareU.S. Route 13 in DelawareU.S. Route 13 is the main north–south highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. It traverses the entire length of the state from the Maryland border in Delmar, Sussex County to the Pennsylvania border in Claymont, New Castle County. U.S. Route 13 connects many important cities and towns in...
Business Route was named Governor Printz Boulevard. - The site of Printz's Mill on Cobbs CreekCobbs CreekCobbs Creek is an tributary of Darby Creek in Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It forms an approximate border between Montgomery County and Delaware County. After Cobbs Creek passes underneath Township Line Road , it forms the border between Philadelphia County and Delaware County...
in Blue Bell, PA is indicated by a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Marker. - The Johan Printz Sculpture is in the park Rådhusparken in Jönköping, Sweden.
- The Johan Printz Plaque is in the church yard of Bottnaryd kyrka in Jönköping, Sweden
Sources
- Johan-Bjornsson-Printz (Encyclopedia Britannica)
- Johan Printz (by Dr. Eric G. M. Törnqvist. adapted from an article written for the Chatauqua Institution of New York. August 1987)
- Before Pennsylvania was Pennsylvania, the Delaware Valley was New Sweden (Jim Thorpe PA Today. June 2006)
- Chronology of Colonial Swedes on the Delaware, 1638-1713 (Dr. Peter S. Craig. Swedish Colonial News. Volume 2, Number 5, Fall 2001)
- Johan Printz, Governor of New Sweden (Pennsylvania People. Researched and written by Melissa Yates. Updated August 3, 2006)
- The Swedish come to America. (Order of the Founders and Patriots of America)
Other Reading
- Johnson, AmandusAmandus JohnsonAmandus Johnson was an American historian, author and founding curator of the American Swedish Historical Museum...
. Instruction for Johan Printz, Governor of New Sweden, "The First Constitution or Supreme Law of the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware". (translated from the Swedish. Philadelphia: The Swedish Colonial Society, 1930) - Weslager, C. A. New Sweden on the Delaware: 1638-1655 (Wilmington, DE: The Middle Atlantic Press, 1988).