This is the last of the late Peter Craig’s forefather articles, drafted a few months before his death Thanksgiving Day 2009 and published in the Swedish Colonial News, Vol. 4 No. 2 (Summer 2010) . For years Dr. Craig puzzled over the origins of the King and Toy families and finally suggested the scenario that follows as being the most likely, based on circumstantial evidence as well as documented fact. Technically, Christina Tay’s story remains a mystery, and research continues, primarily in the Dutch records, in the hope of finding proof of her marriages, the births of her children and still unanswered questions.

Ellen T. Rye, Chair
Publications Committee
Swedish Colonial Society

The Toy and King Families
of Senamensing, New Jersey
by Dr. Peter S. Craig

One of the major mysteries of the 17th century Swedes on the Delaware is the origin of two apparent half-brothers who joined old Hans Månsson to be among the first settlers in present Burlington County, NJ. They lived at Senamensing, NJ–now known as Palmyra and Cinnaminson – across the Delaware opposite Philadelphia, north of Pennsauken Creek.

In February 1674, Hans Månsson, progenitor of the Steelman family, purchased rights for 500 acres from the New Jersey government. Later, Hans Månsson recruited his stepson Peter Petersson Yocum and Frederick King, fellow residents of Aronameck in Kingsessing, PA, as his partners in this endeavor. Yocum sold his interest to Jonas Keen, and acquired the Aronameck plantation from Hans Månsson as the place to raise his family. By June of 1680, with the establishment of Burlington County, Månsson, Keen and King laid claim to 500 acres bordering the Delaware River, north of Pennsauken Creek. In 1689, King divided his portion with Elias Tay, later known as Elias Toy. In 1693, they jointly purchased another 150 acres.

From the court records of Burlington County we learn that the full name of Frederick King was Frederick Fredericksen de Coninck [“the king” in Dutch] and that the full name of Elias Toy was Elias Jansen Tay. In 1750, descendants of the early Swedes informed Per Kalm that the Toy family came from Holland.

Nevertheless, both were active members of the Swedish church. Their names appeared in the 1693 petition for new Swedish ministers. They were active in making gifts to Pastor Andreas Rudman for the construction of Gloria Dei Church and for the payment of his salary.

When visited by Rudman in July 1697, Frederick King said he was born in September 1659 and that he had married Christina, daughter of Jonas Nilsson of Kingsessing, in 1686. Their eldest surviving child was a son named Elias King, born in September 1690. Next door, Elias Tay reported that he was born in October 1664 and that he had married Gertrude, daughter of Anthony Nilsson of Gloucester County, NJ. Their eldest child was a son named Frederick Tay, born 30 July 1690.

The connecting thread between the King and Toy families was Christina, identified as the mother of Elias Tay and his sister Susannah Tay. If, as the author suggests, she was also the mother of Frederick King, the answer to our mystery emerges.

Frederick Fredericksen de Coninck was clearly the son of Captain Frederick de Coninck, who was captain of the warship de Waegh (the scales), which had been dispatched by the burgomeisters of Amsterdam in 1655 to lead an attack on New Sweden.

The pretext for the attack was that Governor Risingh had violated orders from Sweden in capturing the Dutch Fort Casimir in 1654. When the Dutch siege of Fort Casimir began, Frederick de Coninck led a force of 78 soldiers that landed north of the fort with Governor Peter Stuyvesant. Hopelessly outnumbered, the Swedish  captain Sven Skute met with Stuyvesant and de Coninck in a clearing north of the fort. At this meeting, de
Coninck informed Skute that he had been to Sweden and had been told by King Charles that Risingh had no orders to capture Fort Casimir.

Skute surrendered the fort without a fight on 1 September 1655. The fort was then seized by Captain de Coninck and his Dutch soldiers.

Stuyvesant did not stop there. He ordered the Dutch troops to lay siege to Fort Christina at present Wilmington, DE. Governor Risingh in his diary reported: “On September 3rd, noticing the Dutch presence south of the fort, I sent Lieutenant Sven Höök under a flag of truce to inquire of their intentions. Höök was ushered to the quarters of one of their captains, Frederick de Coninck who sent the lieutenant down to Fort Casimir to Stuyvesant, who imprisoned him as a traitor and threw him into the hold of the ship. They thus treated our envoys contrary to the law, custom and manner of all honorable people.”

Subsequently, Governor Risingh also surrendered. Part of the surrender agreement of 25 September 1655 was granting permission to Governor Risingh and the commissary Hendrick von Elswick “to remain in their lodgings at the fort with four or five servants in order to attend to their affairs.” Among such servants was Risingh’s maidservant named “Kerstin,” a variant of the name Christina.

The Dutch did, however, strike a deal with the New Sweden settlers that they could retain sovereignty over the area north of the Christina River, having their own militia, their own religion and their own court, as long as they remained loyal to the Dutch government in New Amsterdam. The Dutch also offered to transport, at no cost, any of the Swedes wishing to return to Sweden.

A member of Captain de Coninck’s crew on the de Waegh wrote a letter on 31 October 1655 reporting that on the “11th of October Governor Risingh and Commissary Elswick with some Swedes, came on board, whom we carried with us to Manhattan.” Among these was probably the governor’s maidservant, Kerstin (Christina). It was during this trip, which took ten days, that presumably de Coninck and the maidservant had their courtship.

Tending to confirm the theory that Christina was Risingh’s maidservant is her later connection with Hans Månsson. Hans could not have been her father, as her own daughter married Hans’s son James Steelman. However, Hans Månsson had close ties with Governor Risingh, who used his services for major visits to Maryland and to Manhattan in 1654 and 1655. On at least four occasions, Risingh mentions meetings with Hans Månsson in his journal. Undoubtedly, Hans became acquainted with the maidservant Christina as a result.

Captain Frederick de Coninck spent the winter of 1655-1656 in Manhattan, where he lived aboard de Waegh while preparing a street plan for the city. On orders from Governor Stuyvesant, he also acted to remove the English from Westchester, NY. He came back to Fort Casimir in May 1656 on the return voyage of de Waegh to Amsterdam. The ship de Waegh made a second round trip to New Netherlands in 1657, but de Coninck was not aboard this voyage.

It is uncertain when Christina returned to former New Sweden with her children. It most likely happened in 1673 when the Dutch briefly retook the Delaware from the English, only to have it returned to English rule by the Treaty of Westminster in 1674. Soon thereafter, in 1677, the name of Frederick "Koning" appeared next to that of Hans Månsson in a petition seeking new land. Frederick was then 18 years old. By that time, Christina and her children were living on Hans Månsson's plantation at Aronameck in Kingsessing, next to the land of Jonas Nilsson.  

Christina was soon to marry for a third time. She became the third wife of Marcus Laurensen, a Holsteiner, forefather of the Swedish Huling family. He lived at Putshack, NJ, just south of Pennsauken Creek, where he died on 4 May 1689. Witnesses to his death reported he asked his wife whether she would care for his children. She answered that she would have to check first with her own son, Elias Tay. Marcus said he could not wait for this, so would she agree to have his estate and children managed by three Englishmen. She agreed and subsequently went to live with her daughter Susannah, who moved to Great Egg Harbor, NJ with her husband, Jöns Steelman, second son of Hans Månsson and Ella Stille.

It is likely that Christina, presumed mother of Frederick King and Elias and Susannah Toy, was of Finnish descent. Morton Garrett of the Schuylkill, in the lone dissent from the claim that the Toy family had its roots in Holland, informed Per Kalm in 1750 that the Toy family was Finnish. Garrett had married Brigitta Jonasdotter, a younger sister of Frederick King's wife, in 1703. It is likely that both the majority and Garrett were right, Christina Toy was accepted as a member of the Swedish church. This meant that she had to be Swedish or Finnish, since her husbands were not.

The Frederick King Family

Frederick Fredericksen de Coninck, alias Frederick King, had the misfortune of dying at the age of only 39. An able carpenter, he had agreed with Pastor Rudman on 30 August 1697 to provide 402 board feet of lumber to increase the seating capacity of the old log church at Wicaco. He had also been appointed constable of Chester Township, Burlington County, on 21 February 1698. However, he drowned in the Delaware River on 24 September 1698 and his body was buried at Wicaco five days later. Elias Tay then completed the contract for lumber for the old church.

Christina Jonasdotter, the widor of Frederick King, returned to Kingsessing, where she married 2nd Niclas Lindemeyer, a recent immigrant from Stockholm, Sweden. Her second husband was buried on 9 September 1705. She then married again, this time to Frederick Schaffenhausen, a German, who in 1712 acquired from Christina's brother, Mounce Jones, a 102-acre tract at Aronameck in Kingsessing. She lived there until 1728, when the property was sold by the sheriff to John Bartram to satisfy a judgement against her deceased third husband. The suit had been brought by her own son Christopher Lindemeyer. That tract is now an historic site known as Bartram's Gardens.

Christina Jonasdotter then moved to Brandywine Hundred, New Castle County, DE, to live with her daughter Anna Maria Schaffenhausen Tussey. Christina died there on November 1731.

The known children of Christina Jonasdotter, by her three husbands, were:
            1. Elias King, born in September 1690, married Elsa Cobb, daughter of William Cobb and widow of Charles Hoffman, on 5 May 1719. They lived in Penn’s Neck, Salem County NJ, where all three of their children were born. Elsa died by 1728, whereupon Elias moved to Brandywine Hundred to join his relatives. In partnership with Elias Tussey, he became a mill operator. He married 2nd Annika, daughter of Måns Pålsson, widow of John Tussey and mother of Elias Tussey, 22 October 1735. They had no children. After her
death, Elias married 3rd the widow Mary Lucasdotter Stedham Bean, 1 January 1744/45. In his will of 14 February 1746/7, Elias King gave his third wife his “Cold Spring” plantation and his half of the mill. After her death the same property was to go to his son. The will was proved 10 March 1746/7. His widow was buried 10 December 1755.
            Elias’s surviving children were: Christina, born 15 February 1720, who married 1st Elias Tussey, and John King, born 27 May 1726.
            2. Julia King, born in September 1693. Not further traced.
            3. & 4. Andrew King and John King, twins, born 11 December 1694, died in their childhood.
            5. Alexander King, born 31 March 1697, married Brigitta Hoffman on 4 January 1721. He owned extensive lands in Piles Grove, Salem County. His will of 20 December 1753, was proved 22 May 1754. His widow Brigitta died 1 February 1769. His will named three surviving children: Christina, Frederick and Elisabeth.
            6. George Lindemeyer was born in Kingsessing c. 1701. On 30 June 1731, he married Judith Justis, daughter of Swan Justis and Judith Yocum. They lived in Kingsessing and were active members of Gloria Dei Church, where they were buried. He died 10 March 1765 and she died exactly four years later. They had six children: Christina, Maria, Sarah, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Alexander.
            7. Christopher Lindemeyer was born in Kingsessing c. 1703. By 1729 he had married Ann Longacre, daughter of Anders Petersson Longacre. Christopher was a planter in Kent County, DE, in 1735 when he executed a deed conveying his wife’s share of the Longacre estate to Andrew Longacre of Philadelphia. He soon moved to New Castle County, DE, where his first wife was buried on 25 November 1740. In 1741 he married the widow Ann Hays. They moved to Upper Penn’s Neck where they became members of the Moravian
Church. Christopher Lindemeyer died there 7 November 1756. All his children; Andrew, George, Sarah and Christopher, were also members of the Moravian Church.
            8. Anna Maria Schaffenhausen, born in Kingsessing in 1708, married William Tussey of Brandywine Hundred by 1727. He was the son of Matthias Tussey and Sarah Stedham. Anna Maria had ten children: Catharine, John, Christina, Sarah, Frederick, Matthias, William, Anna Maria, Isaac and Rebecca. William Tussey died at the age of 66 on 13 December 1771. His wife Anna Maria died 7 March 1786 at the age of 78. Both were buried at Holy Trinity Church, Wilmington, DE.

The Elias Toy Family

            Elias Tay, alias Toy, had two wives. His first wife, Gertrude, died about 1706. To replace her  household services, Elias hired Maria Gästenberg, born 18 January 1690, the daughter of the late Nils Gästenberg and Maria Danielson, as his housekeeper. On 22 November 1708, Elias Tay conveyed to her part of his lands. They married soon thereafter.
            Throughout his life, Elias Tay remained a very active member of Gloria Dei Church in Philadelphia. He was among the top contributors to the new church’s construction, giving £15 for this purpose. He pledged £3 annually for the pastors’ salaries and gave another £3 for the addition of the church porches in 1704. He served as both a churchwarden and vestryman under Pastor Andreas Sandel and accompanied Sandel on his trips to Great Egg Harbor in 1704 and 1710, staying overnight at the house of his brother in-law James Steelman.
            After his death in February 1720, the estate of Elias Tay was inventoried under the name of Elias Toy. His personal property was valued at £112 and included a trunk full of books.
            By his two wives, Elias Tay had nine known children:
            1. Frederick Toy, born 30 July 1690, was married c. 1711 to Brigitta Gästenberg, born 11 April 1691, the sister of his father’s second wife. He maintained his membership in Gloria Dei Church until his death in Senamensing in February 1742/3. He was survived by his wife and nine children. By his will of 27 January 1741/2, he named his two eldest sons as executors. His children were: Elias Toy (1712-1762), who built the famous Toy house in present Palmyra, NJ, which still stands; Mary Toy, who married Philip Wallis, Jr.; Nicholas Toy (1717-1753), a carpenter, who lived in Gloucester County; Frederick Toy, Jr. (1720-1745), a mariner in Philadelphia; Margaret Toy (d. 1784) who never married; Rebecca Toy; Gertrude Toy; Peter Toy, a ship carpenter, who died in Philadelphia in 1748; and Daniel Toy (1729-1767), a shoemaker, who died in Mount Holly, Burlington County on 21 May 1770.
            2. Margaret Toy, born 14 December 1691, never married. Her will was proved in Burlington County on 21 May 1770.
            3. Mary Toy, born 4 September 1693, married Turlass Sullivan, Jr., whose father had been an investor in the spoils of the pirate Billy the Kid’s ship Dolphin. Her husband, a laborer, died in Burlington County by 27 February 1732/3 when the widow Maria requested that the principal creditor administer his estate. Sullivan’s meager goods were sold to Mary’s father, Frederick Toy. Her son Benjamin Sullivan of Trenton, NJ, died by January 1744 when Mary again renounced administration in favor of the principal creditors.
            4. Christina Toy, born in 1694, never married. She was still alive in 1745 when named in the will of her brother Isaiah.
            5. Isaiah Toy, born 20 June 1697, never married. He was a faithful member of Gloria Dei Church. His will of 11 July 1745 left his land, bought from Elias King, to his two unmarried sisters, Margaret and Christina.
            6. Andrew Toy, born c. 1699, moved to Pennypack in Lower Dublin Township, Philadelphia County, PA where he first married Annika Keen, daughter of George Keen and Anna Gästenberg, c. 1724. They had one son,
Elias, before her death. He then married 2nd Mary Boon, daughter of Nils Boon. They had nine children before his death on 12 August 1752 at age 53. His widow died 29 January 1753. Andrew Toy was very active in Gloria Dei Church, serving as warden and vestryman. His children were: Elias, Nicholas, John, Jacob,
Sarah, Susannah, James, Eleanor, Margaret and Isaiah.
            7. Daniel Toy, born c. 1709, married Rebecca [LNU] by 1741, when he bought 78 acres of land in Bristol Township, Philadelphia County. His eldest child Eleanor was born there in September 1743. His youngest child, John, died at the age of six months and was buried at Gloria Dei Church on 30 August 1751. Daniel Toy died 7 May 1751 and was buried at Gloria Dei. His widow Rebecca administered his estate.
            8. Nicholas Toy, born 1711, married Susannah [LNU], but the had no children. He became a shoemaker in Bridgetown, Burlington County. He died 6 October 1758 at the age of 47, leaving his entire estate to his wife Susannah.
            9. James Toy, born c. 1714, was married four times: to Patience Wallis on 14 May 1748, to Mary Jorden by 1750, to Eleanor Fish on 25 August 1759 and finally to Elizabeth [LNU]. He died in Chester Township, Burlington County, in 1787. He had seven known children: Patience, Richard, James, Caleb, Andrew, Peter and Elijah.

The James Steelman Family

            Susannah, the only known daughter of  Christina Toy, married Jöns [James] Steelman
by 1691. At the time of the 1693 church census there were four in their household, which then included Susannah’s son Andrew and her mother Christina. By 1697, when visited by Pastor Rudman, they had moved to Great Egg Harbor on the Atlantic coast, where James Steelman had purchased over 2,000 acres of land. This is the last glimpse of the mother Christina alive. Susannah Toy Steelman died by 1708. Her children who grew to adulthood were:
            1. Andrew Steelman, born in 1691, died at Great Egg Harbor in 1737. He married Judith LNU](English) and had eight children: Frederick, James, Mary, Susannah, Andrew, Peter, Judith and John. At his death, he owned over 1500 acres of land and had a herd of 83 cattle.
            2. Susannah Steelman, born in 1693, married John Keen of Oxford Township, Philadelphia County, in November 1713. She died 9 November 1753, after bearing eleven children.
            3. Hans Steelman, born c. 1697, married Elsa Jones, daughter of John Jonasson and
granddaughter of Jonas Nilsson, by 1716. He died in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, NJ in 1760, and was survived by five children: James, Susannah, John, Charles and Daniel.
            4. John Steelman, born c. 1699, died at Great Egg Harbor in 1762, naming eleven children in his will: sons John, Jeremiah and Zephaniah and eight daughters Catharine, Susannah, Jemima, Esther, Mary, Rebecca, Rachel, and Hanna.
            5. James Steelman, Jr., born c. 1701, married Rebecca Jones, sister of Hans Steelman’s wife Elsa, they had sons James and John and five daughters – Susannah, Catherine, Rebecca, Mary Ann and Sarah. He died at Great Egg Harbor in 1784.
            6. Elias Steelman, born c. 1703, married Sarah Lake, 10 August 1730. He died at Great Egg Harbor in 1739, survived by a daughter Sarah and a son Elias.
            7. Mary Steelman, born c. 1706, married Dan Allen, 25 December 1728; 2nd Andrew Blackman, 25 July 1733. In 1730, over twenty years after the death oo his first wife, James Steelman married a second time. She was named Catherine Ouster and bore him an eighth child, Peter Steelman, who died at Great Egg Harbor in 1775. James Steelman wrote his will on 2 August 1734, and died at Great Egg Harbor before 4 January 1734/5, when the inventory of his estate was filed. His personal estate was valued at £322, including cattle and sheep valued at £122.

Editor’s Note:
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions
to this article by SCS Forefather Member
Christina W. Lassen
a descendent and researcher of the Toy/King Families