Laurentius Carels (1624–1688) was one of the first settlers of

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylv ...

and one of the first Swedish Lutheran clergyman in

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

. As was typical among Swedish ministers, he generally used a Latinized version of his name Laurentius Caroli Lockenius. He is listed in historical records under several different names, most commonly as Lars Carlsson Lock.

Biography

Lars Carlsson was born in Sweden during 1624. In September 1647, at the age of 23, Lars Carlsson sailed from

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

to New Sweden. He subsequently adopted the surname Lock from his place of origin, Lockerud, near

Mariestad Mariestad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,611 inhabitants in 2019. Until 1997 it was the capital of the former Skaraborg County and an episcopal see in the ...

, in

Skaraborg County Skaraborg County ( ) was a Counties of Sweden, county of Sweden from 1634 until 1997. It was disestablished at the end of 1997 when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus County, Gothenburg and Bohus and Älvsborg County, Älvs ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In the colony, he replaced the veteran minister,

John Campanius John Campanius (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Johannes Jonæ Holmiensis Campanius''; August 15, 1601 – September 17, 1683), also known as Johan Campanius and Johannes Campanius, was a Church of Sweden, Swedish Lutheran priest assigned to the New ...

. He was based at a church built by

Johan Björnsson Printz Johan Björnsson Printz (July 20, 1592 – May 3, 1663) was a Swedish military officer who was the 3rd governor of New Sweden, the Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish colony in North America, from 1643 until 1653. Early life in Sweden ...

, governor of

on Tinicum Island. At the start of his ministry, he served about 200 members. The Swedish colony of New Sweden ended during the summer of 1655. The Swedish settlement was incorporated into Dutch

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

on September 15, 1655. the Swedish settlers were allowed to retain a pastor of their confession. Reverend Lars Lock remained, but the other pastors returned to Sweden. His congregation was widely scattered, extending from the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

on the north to

Christina River The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware. It also flows through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth, the river ...

on the south. His role as the only minister on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

did not end until 1677 when the Swedish settlers living northeast of Darby Creek built a new log church at

Wicaco New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

(now

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes, is a historic church located in the Southwark, Philadelphia, Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Chris ...

) and invite
Jacob Fabritius
to be their pastor. Jacob Fabritius, a native of Grosglogau in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, had arrived in New York in 1669 to serve the Dutch Lutheran churches along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. Lars Carlsson Lock continued to serve in the pulpits of both the Tinicum church and the
Crane Hook church
until his death at Upland Creek in September 1688 at the reported age of 64.

Legal matters

In 1674 Lars Lock bought the former Tequirassy estate of

Olof Persson Stille Olof Persson Stille (1610–1684) was a pioneer settler of New Sweden, a colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in North America claimed by Sweden from 1638 to 1655. Stille served as the first chief justice of the Upland Court, the go ...

in what is now

Eddystone, Pennsylvania Eddystone is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,410 at the 2010 census. History The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans in the ...

. Lars Lock was involved in several legal disputes and was rumored to have had an "overfondness for intoxicating drinks." Lars Carlsson Lock also got into trouble for selling liquor to Native Americans and was involved in at least one lawsuit over a horse. On September 20, 1661, another early settler, Jacob Jough, ran away with his first wife, Catharina, which led to Lars Carlsson Lock (in his words) to fall "from one misfortune to another." In response, Lars Carlsson Lock, after finding out where a trunk of Jough's was being kept, trespassed into a house and broke the trunk open and took some of his wife's property (and left a "memorandum of what he had done"). Within a month of his wife's desertion, Lars Carlsson Lock sought to remarry, but first tried in vain to obtain a divorce. He decided to marry Beata Lom, the 18-year-old daughter of Måns Lom. For his unauthorized marriage and for breaking into another's home, charges were brought against Lars Lock and he was fined 280 guilders. Together Lars Carlsson Lock and Beata were the parents of seven known children.

References

Other sources

*Barton, H. Arnold (1994) ''A Folk Divided: Homeland Swedes and Swedish Americans, 1840—1940'' (Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis). *Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. (1938) ''Swedes in America, 1638-1938'' (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press) *Johnson, Amandus (1927) ''The Swedes on the Delaware'' (International Printing Company, Philadelphia) *Munroe, John A. (1977) ''Colonial Delaware'' (Delaware Heritage Press, Wilmington) *Ward, Christopher (1930) ''Dutch and Swedes on the Delaware, 1609-1664'' (University of Pennsylvania Press) *Weslager, C. A. (1988) ''New Sweden on the Delaware 1638-1655'' (The Middle Atlantic Press, Wilmington )

External links

Some History of Eddystone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carels, Laurentius Swedish Lutherans People of New Sweden People from colonial Pennsylvania People from New Netherland 1624 births 1688 deaths People from Mariestad Municipality