The Johan Anderson Stalcop History
Neal Ekengren's 9th-great-grandfather.
All Stalcops are descended from a Swedish immigrant named Johan Andersson (see the History of Stalcop Research). Johan was born about 1627 at Strängnäs, Sweden. He was hired by Måns Kling to plant tobacco in the Upland, Sweden area. He later emigrated to America May 3, 1641 aboard the “Charitas” with 35 other people. He was to have a salary of 10 R.A. a year and he received 10 D. copper money on departing. The ship arrived in November at Fort Christina, New Sweden Sweden (see the History of New Sweden ) after the 6 month voyage1 and was one of the first ships to colonize the Atlantic coast of North America. He worked as a servant here for 5 years until age 19.
From Oct. 1, 1646 to Sept. 1, 1653 Johan served as Gunnery Sergaeant for New Sweden at Tinicum. He was one of 15 officers for a contingent of probably 70 soldiers. Armor had all but disappeared by this time because it was heavy, cumbersome, and mostly ineffective. The men who fired cannons, however, found it useful to continue using the breastplate since it provided protection from the powder flash. Johan apparently wore his armor all the time and because of this he was frequently identified as Stalkofta or Steelcoat (the one who wears armor). This was later anglicized to the many variations of the Stalcop surname.
In 1653, Printz resigned as Governor and returned to Sweden, ending Johan’s military career.
In 1656, the “Mercurius” arrived with many Finnish immigrants including Christina Carlsdotter. She married our John Anderson soon after arriving. By 1677, John had become father to eight children who had all taken the Stalcop name.
In 1654, the Swedes expelled the Dutch from Ft. Casimir near what is now New Castle. In retaliation, a Dutch force led by Peter Stuyvesant arrived at Fort Christina in 1655 with several hundred men and occupied this “South River” territory. It became part of the greater New Netherlands territories. Peter quickly returned to Manhattan, New York to defend the Dutch colonists there from an Indian uprising. He appointed Jean Paul Jacquet as Vice-Director. Jean’s descendents were to later become involved with the Stalcop family. Jean’s first court session was held 1655 and the first matter to be considered concerned our Johan.
“The commandant, Dirick Smit (the Dutch military commander), appears to petition for a certain table and wardrobe which he allegedly bought from the gunnery segeant, Jan Staelcop; the aforesaid gunnery sergeant was heard and declared to have sold the same to him, and whereas the aforesaid Dirck Smit was offered payment for the table to be used by the vice-director, he would not, however, give up what belonged to him.”
This account is confusing but it appears our Johan was mentioned only to prove ownership issues. Smit had bought these items from Johan and they were then simply taken from him by Jacquet for his own personal use. Smit refused later offer for payment and wanted the return of both pieces of furniture. This was the first of many problems Jacquet was to cause and he eventually lost his job because of such acts.
Other court cases very clearly show that Johan had wasted no time at all in making the most of his new opportunities available under Dutch rule. Within a year he had formed partnerships and was taking an active part in the business affairs of the community.
In 1664, New Netherlands was seized by the English. This territory became part of the lands held by the Duke of York. Johan resisted authority by becoming involved in an ill-fated attempt against English rule on the Delaware. This insurrection was led by a Finn in 1669 and became known as the Long Finn Rebellion.
The plan of rebellion came to the ears of the English authorities before its execution, and the leader Marcus Jacobsen was apprehended and placed in prison to await trial. The punishment for the "simpler sorts" was requested as labor. Johan was to be secured in like manner as the lone Swede, since he was perceived as a chief instigator of this tragedy.
The trial was held quickly and the prisoners were sentenced. The Long Finn was sentenced to be whipped, branded on the face, and transported from the colony. The rest of the prisoners were fined. Heading this list was Johan Andersson, whose fine was 1500 guilders.
In 1682, the Duke of York conveyed his lands to William Penn. Immediately, the inhabitants of the Delaware territories were invited to take an oath of allegiance to the new form of government. Johan took this oath in 1683 along with several other members of his family.
Surprisingly, it was after the British takeover and failed revolt that Johan came to most prominence. The Stalcop families would maintain central roles during the colonial period throughout the bay area in Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. Family memebers were large land owners and operated businesses that were vital to the community. By the time of the American Revolution there were no Stalcops found in Delaware. Perhaps due to these Loyalist political leanings, they had decided to move to more hospitable locations. Most of the Stalcops moved westward prior to 1800 and in years following have settled in nearly every state throughout the United States.
Johan was engaged in an assortment of business ventures. A grant of land from the Dutch vice-director and the help of two other investors provided the backing to build a grist mill between 1658-1662 at "Turtle Falls-kil". This business stayed in the Stalcop family for three generations. Many land transfers and transactions were recorded during these years for Johan. The most lucrative was the eight hundred acres of land on which Wilmington, Delaware now stands; granted by the Duke of York to Johan about 1671.
Johan died about 1684 and his wife, Christina, died before 1697. By the time of his death he and his children were permanently known as Stalcop. Apparently, the continued allegiance to his military uniform was reason enough for Johan Anderson to take his Stalkofta nickname and anglicize it to John Stalcop. Most families bearing the Stalcop name today (or one of the many variations including Stalcup, Stallcup, Staulcup, Stallcop ) are descendants of this man (a few German immigrants may have taken this name in the late 1800’s). Stalcop seems to be the most common spelling today in the U.S. and is used as the spelling throughout most of this article. However, research on any member of this family will almost certainly reveal many various spellings that can be found for just that one person.
From the second generation through the fifth the Stalcop family was very active in the affairs of the Old Swedes’ Church. A portion of the land on which to build the church was given by John Stalcop Jr. Various other family members, from time to time, worked on the church or donated money and materials. John Stalcop later sold land for the glebe of the new church. There are many references in the records of the Old Swedes’ Church concerning the Stalcop family. There are twenty-three known Stalcop burials in the churchyard. Since the site of the church was the site of the Swedish burial ground perhaps even Johan Anderson Stalkofta is also buried somewhere nearby. Old Swedes’ Church has been designated as a National Historical Site. Regular services are still held there. The church is now in the care of the Holy Trinity (Old Swedes’) Foundation.
summarized story by Neal Ekengren.
The records of the Stalcup Reunions held in Greene County, Indiana 1919 through 1941 have proven invaluable.
L.D. Stallcup’s Outline of the Stallcup Family, 1937, was the first known published study of the Stalcup family. It charts the first six generations of Stalcups in the United States.
General Harry Garwood Staulcup, wrote a thesis for a requirement for a Masters Degree at the University of Delaware in 1946. It includes the early history of the Stalcops in Delaware and lists five generations.
Stallcop Family History and Genealogy 1641-1986 (3 vols) was authored by Earl E. Jones after more than 20 years of research. This is still the definitive Stalcop reference and is the largest family history ever published in Tennessee. It contains over 5,000 names. It has consolidated the previous Stalcop references and incorporated extensive additional research from many collaborators.
Sources at Balch Institute Library, Philadelphia, PA (also containing references to a second Johan Andersson which are easily confused)
Another book which has greatly confused Stalcop research is The Delaware Finns, E.A. Louhi, 1925, Humana Press. This book, a total fraud, apparently retrieved facts from many sources and than changed attribution to Finns. It also, claims that our Johan Andersson died from drowning while a young boy in Sweden.
Many thanks to Larry S. Stallcup for pulling together many parts of this research. Much of the story here is his account. His version of this story is also a good read..
For a proper understanding of the Stalcop family history some background information about the Delaware Colony is desirable. Henry Hudson discovered Delaware Bay for the Dutch in 1609. This is near the time that the first British colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia. The following year the Delaware area was named after Lord De la Warr, the governor of the colony. The name Delaware has endured. The Dutch did not.
Dutch West India Company financed the first settlement attempt in 1631. The colonist were soon massacred by Indians. A new effort was financed by New Sweden Company (with Dutch backing) and established a colony in 1638 at present day Wilmington. The town was called Fort Christina after the child Swedish queen and the entire territory was named New Sweden. These Swedish pioneers established the first of many homesteads in North America which would later be known as "log cabins".
Further investments were made in New Sweden and neighboring New Netherlands by mixed Swedish, Finnish, and Dutch interests over next 15 years. Frictions soon arose between these factions. This culminated in the capture of Fort Christina by the Dutch in 1655 and its incorporation into New Netherlands. Nine years later, New Netherlands was seized by the English and became part a permanent part of the greater British empire.
The Long Finn Rebellion in the New Sweden area in 1669 was one of the first against the British colonial empire. This was 7 years before the more famous and successful Bacons Rebellion against the original Jamestown colony.
Version 12/12/1999 by Neal Ekengren