The Third Annual Report of the Associate Committee of Women

THE THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATE COMMITTEE OF WOMEN. BEAD AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, MARCH 5TH., 1923. To the Board of Directors and Members of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania: Your Associate Committee of Women has, during the past year, duly functioned in its assigned avenues of work. In the matter of adding to the Society’s membership it has maintained its record of former years and no stated meeting of the Committee has failed of nominations. Miss Anna J. Magee, a member of the Committee, made a gift to the Society’s permanent fund of five thousand dollars and a like sum to The Historical Society. This unsolicited contribution is a notable ad¬ dition to the Society’s resources, particularly so, when it is remembered! that it represents one hundred life memberships therein concentrated into one, and that, by such means, is the permanency of the organization insured against the varying tides of time. Other members of the Committee have contributed to the different activities of the Society more than thirteen hundred dollars. The grace! of all this lies not so much in the creditable amount as in the spirit of loyalty to the Society, good fellowship and spontaneity of giving. By the courtesy of the Corinthian Yacht' Club and with the co-operation of the Entertainment Committee of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial) Dames, your Associate Committee arranged for a Commemoration oil the early Swedish Settlements on the Delaware as the Spring outing of the Society. Critically considered, the coming of the Swedes to the Delaware in the twelve expeditions sent out by Sweden during the years 1638 to 1655, and the establishment in 1643, on Great Tinicum Island, of the seat of that sovereignty of which Governor Johan Printz was the per¬ sonal and actual representative in America, was one of, if not the most important event in the development of early Colonial Pennsylvania. The Swedes came through the years 1638-1655, and they remained on the shores of the Delaware through the Dutch occupation, 1655 to 1664, when the Dutch flag was lowered. There, too, they remained until the coming of the great Proprietary, William Penn, affiliating with his Colonists until they became an integral part of the warp and woof of the state fabric of Pennsylvania. There were Swedes in the first Council of Governor Markham’s, Penn ’s deputy, and they and their descendants continued to hold various Third Annual Report of Associate Women. 325 offices at various times until the Revolution. It will be recalled that it was John Morton, a descendant of these Swedes of the Tenth Ex¬ pedition, who, casting the deciding vote in favor of Independence gave to Pennsylvania the opportunity to be called the “ Keystone State Pennsylvania's debt to these Colonists cannot well be over emphasized. Massachusetts had her Phymouth Colony and Connecticut her New Haven Colony, and these were no more important, and certainly no more picturesque than Pennsylvania 's Colony of Swedes on the Delaware. This then was the event celebrated, on Thursday, May 25th., 1922, at the historic grounds of the Corinthian Yacht Club, on Tinicum Island, near Philadelphia. The inscription on the marker at the entrance to the Club House graphically tells the story of the fitness of the place for the commemora¬ tion: “The Land and River Front of the Corinthian Yacht Club at this spot were part of the seat of the Swedish Government, during its occupation of the Delaware River, 1538-1655. The Swedish Chapel was situated to the eastward, near the line between the Club's property and the property of the Rose dale Inn. The Bury¬ ing Ground was near the Chapel, on what is now a part of the Club lawn. The large stone step beneath this plate was the step of the Chapel. Directly in front of the Roeedale Inn was the house of John Printz, the Swedish Governor, who had a Yacht on the river and was the first American Yachtsman. The Fort, called New Gothenborg, is believed to have been on the shore some two hundred yards to the westward of the Club House. An Indian Council was held here and a Treaty was made with the Indians on the 17th of June, 1654." From the flag staff of the Club, the Stars and Stripes of the United States, with Sweden 's flag of blue and gold, flew to the Delaware breezes during the Commemorative exercises. It was the first time in 266 years that Sweden 's flag had been raised in the seat of its ancient sovereignty on Tinicum Island. Some five hundred of the membership of the two celebrating bodies assembled in the Club House and on the grounds. In addition, there were delegates from the learned societies and patriotic-hereditary or¬ ganizations of this and other cities. The especial guest of the occasion was His Excellency, Axel F. Wallenberg, Minister from Sweden to the United States. The orators spoke from the broad veranda facing the Delaware, that highway on which every ship, that passed between the years 1638 and 1655, had to stop and pay its toll to Governor Printz, who is said to have weighed four hundred pounds and to have drunk three horns of wine with every meal ". Mr. Wallenberg, in a short and graceful address, said the Swedish colonization on the Delaware had bequeathed an invincible bond be{t 326 Third Annual Report of Associate Women. tween his country and this which had never been broken, but had strengthened with increasing years. He stressed the freedom-loving kinship that existed between the peoples of Sweden and America and the similarity of ideas that would unite them for all time. Hon. J. Willis Martin, in his address of welcome on behalf of the Corinthian Yacht Club, expressed the hope that some permanent mem¬ orial would be erected on the island in honor of the Swedish Colonists. Other Speakers were: Hon. Hampton L. Carson, who made the formal address of the afternoon, Thomas Willing Balch, Esq. and Thomas Lynch Montgomery, Litt. D. The attractive musical program consisted of the National Anthems of Sweden and this Country, led by the Gloria Dei Choir, Old Swedes, Philadelphia, and a collection of old Swedish songs, charmingly rendered by Miss Greta Torpadie of New York. Preceding the exercises the Chairman of your Associate Committee gave a luncheon at the Acorn Club in honor of the Swedish Minister and Mrs. Wallenberg. To this were invited the speakers and their wives, the officers of The Genealogical Society and The Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames and the committees in charge of the Com¬ memoration. This is a somewhat lengthy resume of this Commemoration. It was however a Commemoration which drew considerable favorable attention to The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, due no doubt to the wide range of invitations to those of Scandinavian birth and descent within the borders of our land. In this connection it may be mentioned that, there are 24 United States Congressmen of Scandinavian birth or descent. It would be of great interest to such a Society as this to know how many, if any, "of these descend from any of the twelve expeditions sent out by Sweden 1638 to 1655. So much for the past. For the near future your Committee has in preparation two general gatherings for the Society to which your at¬ tention will be duly drawn. At the Annual meeting in February, following the stated monthly meet¬ ing, the Chairman appointed the following three standing sub-com¬ mittees : Membership: Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Pemberton, Mrs. Rogers. Entertainment: Mrs. Parker, Miss Gilpin, Miss Magee, Miss Grundy, Mrs. Oolket, Mrs. Ball. Records: Mrs. Gummere, Mrs. Scott, Miss Leach. Respectfully submitted, NINA LEA, Chairman. MAY ATHERTON LEACH, Recording Secretary.