Hans Månsson and his Steelman Family

by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig
Fellow, American Society of Genealogists
Fellow, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Historian, Swedish Colonial Society

originally published in Swedish Colonial News,
Volume 1, Number 10 (Fall 1994)

Hans Månsson chose to go to New Sweden with alacrity. His alternative was death by hanging.

In the autumn of 1640, a young trooper called Hans Månsson from Hanaskede, Skaraborg Iän, Sweden, entered the Crown's garden at the monastery in Varnhem "and there ruined six of the best apple trees and two of the best cherry trees in order to obtain material for some mane combs." At his sentencing on 31 May 1641 he was given the choice of being sent to New Sweden with his wife and children or of going to the gallows.

Born about 1612, Hans Månsson was not yet 30 years old when he departed from Göteborg on either the Kalmar Nyckel or the Charitas in July 1641. It is probable that his wife and children accompanied him, although no later reference to them has been found. Arriving in New Sweden in November, Hans served for at least five years as a convict laborer before gaining his freedom. He then settled on a tract of land on the west side of the Delaware known as Aronameck with Peter Jochimsson, a former Swedish soldier who married Ella Stille, daughter of Olof Stille.

In 1653 Hans Månsson joined Peter Jochimsson and 20 other freemen in signing a petition to Governor Printz raising objections to the harshness of his rule. Printz labeled the petition a "mutiny" and then abruptly returned to Sweden. When Governor Rising arrived in 1654 to assume command, both Hans and Peter joined other freemen in pledging their allegiance. Peter Jochimsson then agreed to go to New Amsterdam to deliver a letter of friendship from Rising to Governor Stuyvesant and to bring back the Dutch governor's reply. However, Peter became in in Manhattan and died there in the summer of 1654, leaving the young widow Ella and their two infant children, Peter and Elizabeth. Hans Månsson, then 42, married Ella Stille, then 20, and started his second family.

Hans Månsson became a respected leader of the up-river Swedes living within the jurisdiction of the "Swedish Nation," later known as the Upland Court. He succeeded Sven Skute as captain of the militia and served as spokesman for settlers in his area who in 1660 successfully opposed Stuyvesant's plan for them to move to a single, fortified village. His 1100-acre plantation fronted on the Schuylkill between present Woodlands Cemetery and about 60th Street and extended westward as far as Cobb's Creek.

In the mid-1670s, Hans Månsson also became the first white settler on Pennsauken Creek in present Burlington County. He moved permanently to this site by 1681 when he sold his Aronameck plantation to his stepson, Peter Petersson Yocum. Hans returned to Pennsylvania on occasion. On 25 June 1684, at the request of William Penn, Hans Månsson, aged "72 years or thereabouts," joined Peter Cock, 74, and Peter Rambo, 72, in signing an affidavit relating facts designed to show that Lord Baltimore recognized the right of New Sweden to occupy lands on the Delaware.

Hans Månsson died at Senamensing, Burlington County, about 1691. In the following year his property was taxed to "Widow Hance."

By 1693 Hans Månsson's widow and his six sons (known as Hansson, or son of Hans) adopted the surname of Steelman, undoubtedly derived from her maiden name of Stille. Old Ella Steelman, born in Sweden, was buried in Gloucester County, NJ, 22 Jan. 1718, at the age of 83.

Ella's known children, all but the first two born to Hans Månsson, were:

1. Peter Petersson Yocum, born 1652, who married Judith Jonasdotter, daughter of Jonas Nilsson of Kingsessing, in 1676 and had ten children, seven of them sons, before his death at Aronameck in 1702.
2. Elizabeth Petersdotter, born 1654, who married John Ogle, an English soldier. They resided on White Clay Creek in New Castle County and had two sons before Ogle's death in 1684. She died in the early 1690s.
3. John Hansson Steelman, born 1655, moved to New Castle County by 1687 and married Maria, daughter of John Andersson Stalcop. Moving to Cecil County, MD, by 1693 he became an Indian trader and died in present Adams County, PA, in 1749. He had at least two sons, possibly more.
4. Christiern Hansson Steelman followed his brother John to New Castle County. By 1708 he was the second husband of Mary Cann, a Quaker, widow of James Claypoole, Jr. Thereafter, until at least 1737, Christiern was an active communicant at Holy Trinity Church. Children, if any, are unknown.
5. James Hansson Steelman married Susannah Toy by 1690. In 1695 he acquired lands at Great Egg Harbor in the area of present Atlantic City. He died in 1734, survived by six sons and two daughters.
6. Peter Hansson Steelman, born c. 1674, married Gertrude Keen, daughter of Hans Keen, c. 1695. He, too, acquired lands in the Atlantic City area, where he died after 1737, survived by five sons and two known daughters.
7. Charles Hansson Steelman, born 1679, married Anna, daughter of Anthony Nilsson, c. 1702. He died six years later at Senamensing in Burlington County, NJ, survived by one son and two daughters, all of whom moved to New Castle County.
8. Eric Hansson Steelman, born 1681, married Brigitta [parents not identified] and acquired land in Gloucester County, NJ, from Gustaf Lock in 1715. He died of smallpox in 1731, survived by two sons and four daughters.

It is not unlikely that Ella Stille, who was bearing children for almost 30 years (1652-1681) had additional daughters who have not been identified.