The hartsfield family

Jurian Hartsfielder of Y^e River of Delaware–Husbandman

The name of Jurian Hartsfelder first appeared in recorded history on March 1, 1675 (1676). On that date an English surveyor, Walter Wharton, laid out for him a tract of land described as follows:

March y^e first: 1675:

Surveyed for Jurian Hartsfelder a Parcell of Land Called Hartsfield scituate and being on y^e Westward side: of Delaware River at the lower Side of Cohocksinks Creek: begining at y^e mouth of a small Creek: or Run Called Coo-ah-que-nau-que: and from thence Running Up y^e severall Courses of the said Runn to the North end of Cooah-que-nauque bridge: and from thence North by West: along the West side of a piece of Meadow ground, one hundred and twelve perches to a Corn^r marked black oak standing at the uper end of the said Meaddow Ground: from thence North East; one hundred Eighty and four perches (By a line of Marked trees; to a Corn^r Marked white oak; Standing at y^e South West side of a branch: of Cohocksinks Creek: from thence downe by the River Side to the place of begining Conteyneing and laid out for three hundred and fifty acres of Land.⁶

Three weeks later, by a document dated March 25, 1676, Governor Edmund Andros officially granted this tract to Urian Hartfield’r, the document repeating the description of the property given in Wharton’s survey.⁷

When Jurian received this grant he was a resident of Marcus Hook, a community of farmers located on the northwest side of the Delaware River between Naaman’s Creek and Marrietties Kill, the latter creek being at the time also known as Marcus Hook but subsequently as Chichester Creek. Evidence of his presence here is found in a tax list of November 13, 1677, which names “136 Tydables in upland Jurisdiction.” Of these, nineteen lived at Marcus Hook and one of these was “Jurian Hertsveder.”⁸

Marcus Hook was about eight miles above Fort Christina, the latter now being Wilmington, Delaware. Originally a part of New Sweden which extended from Fort Christina to the Schuylkill River, it was under Swedish sovereignty from 1638 until 1655. It was captured by Dutch forces under command of Peter Stuyvesant, Governor-General of New Netherland, in 1655. Nine years later it was wrested from the Dutch by British troops. In 1677 this territory was under British jurisdiction, its chief officer being Governor Edmund Andros of New York whose authority locally was delegated to Sheriff Edmund Cantwell of Newcastle, Delaware.

Jurian’s neighbors in Marcus Hook and in the other settlements of Upland jurisdiction—Tacony, Calkoens Hoek, Carkoens Hoek and Upland—were chiefly Swedes and Finns, some of whom had lived in and about Upland since 1641.⁹ Scattered among them were several English families. A few of the English were old settlers but most of them had arrived in the area in 1676 or early 1677 planning to settle in Fenwick’s colony just across the river in West Jersey.¹⁰ Many Dutch families lived just below Naaman’s Creek as well as further south around Fort Christina (Wilmington) and Fort Casimir (Newcastle). This area was cosmopolitan in character, numbering among its inhabitants Germans, Danes, Swiss, French, Poles and men of other nationalities.¹¹

Evidently Jurian was a man of good reputation in his community for in 1676 the “high Sheriffe for the Towne of New Castle” had been authorized to appoint an “Under Sheriffe” who must be a “fitt person and for whom hee will bee responsable, to be approved by the Court.”¹² Under this authorization Sheriff Edmund Cantwell had appointed Jurian as his deputy sheriff for Upland and Dependencies.

Jurian’s tenure as deputy sheriff was brief. This is shown by an entry in the record of Upland Court of 13 June 1677:

Jurian Hartswelder appearing in Co^rt desiered to bee discharged of his place of undersherrife, he Remooveing his Living higher upp the River. The Co^rt did Grant unto the said Jurian hartswelder his Request, and w^th the approbacon of the Co^rt The High Sherrife Captⁿ Cantwell did appoint Michill Ysard as undersherrife to this Co^rt In the Rooms of the said Jurian hartswelder.¹³

Although, as shown above, Jurian was still listed as a taxable in Marcus Hook in November of 1677, he evidently moved to his tract called Hartsfeld in that year. Presumably he spent the next two years developing his land for his grant was conditioned upon his “makeing Improvement On the said Land According to the Laws of this Government, yielding and Paying y’rfore yearly to his Royal Highness 3 1/2 Bus’ls Good Winter Wheat…”¹⁴

Watson’s Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, In the Olden Time comments on Jurian’s development of this tract at this time:

But of all the settlers prior to Penn, I feel most interested to notice the name of Jurian Hartsfielder, because he took up all of Campington, 350 acres, as early as March, 1676, nearly six years before Penn’s colony came. He settled under a patent from Governor Andros. What a pioneer, to push on to such a frontier post! But how melancholy to think, that a man, possessing the freehold of what is now cut up into thousands of Northern Liberty lots, should have left no fame, nor any wealth, to any posterity of his name.¹⁵

Jurian, however, was not alone in his pioneer efforts for a number of his Swedish associates from the Upland area had also moved up the river, including the Cocks, Jansens, Kyns, Nelsons, Rambos and Swensons.¹⁶

On March 15, 1679/80, Jurian Hartsfielder sold 250 acres of his Hartsfield tract to Hannah Salter. In turn she sold the 250 acres to Daniel Pegg. Jurian’s deed to Hannah begins “I Jurian Hartsfielder of Ye River of Delaware Husbandman.” It records the sale price as “a valuable sum,” and it deeds to Hannah the 350 acres granted by Andros to Jurian but with the following reservation:

excepting and reserving one hundred acres of land out of ye same by me ye said Jurian Hartsfielder before ye date hereof given and granted unto Andreas Johnson next to Ye Creek Called Oxen so that all ye Land in this patent mentioned is made over unto Hannah Salter being two hundred and fifty acres Yt one hundred acres excepted…

The deed concludes as follows:

In witness whereof he ye said Jurian Hartsfielder hath set his Hand and seal in Delaware this 15 day of March 1679/80.

Georgius Hartsfieldr Seal

Margaret (Her Mark) Hartsfieldr

Signed sealed and Delivered in the presence of Witness Olle P. Nelson.¹⁷

Anna Salter’s deed to Daniel Pegg consisted of an endorsement and assignment of the above deed to Pegg. The endorsement was witnessed by Thomas Fairman, Georgius Hartsfeldr and Judith Noble.

These deeds of Jurian Hartsfielder and Hannah Salter are of interest in several respects. They show a continuing association of Jurian with Swedish families who had been his associates in the Upland area prior to his moving up the river. Andreas Johnson, whose part of the Hartsfield tract seems to have been initially developed by his son Paul, was probably Andreas Jansen Inckhoorrn—the person listed next to Jurian Hertsveder in the 1677 tax list of Marcus Hook.¹⁸ Olle P. Nelson may have been the Oele Neelson who was one of the five original grantees of the Marcus Hook tract where Jurian had formerly lived.¹⁹ In any event, as will be shown by the account of Edward Hartsfield to be given below, one of Jurian’s nearest neighbors in the 1680s was Nils Laiken (Neels Loycon), son of an early settler of New Sweden named Peter Nelson.²⁰ These associations suggest that Jurian’s rootage in the Swedish community was fairly deep, but this is not a sufficient reason for supposing that Jurian was Swedish.

The documents also show that Jurian was married to Margaret prior to March 15, 1679/80, that he was sufficiently literate to sign his own name, and that even though he was generally known as Jurian he used Georgius in signing deeds. The use of Georgius as his signature seems to have been habitual with him as it recurs on his last deed ten years later.

These deeds also leave the impression that Jurian disposed of all of his Hartsfield tract at this time—50 acres to Hannah Salter and 100 acres to Andreas Johnson. This impression, however, is not correct for later records show that Jurian subsequently had in his possession 245 acres above the 350 acres officially granted to him by Governor Andros, and there is no reason to doubt that Jurian continued to live on or near his Hartsfield tract until his death in 1689. Some, if not quite all, of this “over plus” land can be accounted for by Jurian’s later acquisitions.

One year before Jurian sold part of his Hartsfield tract to Hannah Salter he applied for and received from the Upland Court a grant of an additional 100 acres. This is shown by a record of the Court of March 13, 1678/79:

Upon the Peticon of Jurian Hartsvelder, The Co^rt doe grant him Liberty to take up one hundred acres of Land, w^ch heretofore is not granted taken up or Improved by others, hee seating & Improoveing the same according to Law Regulacons and orders.²¹

It may be surmised that at this time Jurian was nearing completion of the seating of his Hartsfield tract and that he was preparing to develop additional land in preparation for selling his first tract. This additional 100 acres joined Jurian’s Andros grant and it was surveyed for him a year later:

By virtue of a warrant from the Court at Upland:

Layed out for Jurian Hartsveld a tract of land called Alteno, situated and beeing on the west side of the Delaware River and on the west side of a small creek called Cohoksink, near Shakmaxen.

Beginning at a corner marked whit oak standing by the saide creek from thence NWbW up by the said creek [?] perches to a corner marked black oak standing by the creekside, from thence WbS by a line of marked trees 320 perches to a corner marked whit oak, from thence SbE by a line of marked trees [50, ?] perches to a corner marked Spanish oak from thence EbN by a line of marked trees [356, ?] perches to the first mentioned whit oak containing one hundred and five acres of land Surveyed the 24th of July 1680 by Richard Noble of Upland County²²

Apparently, this is the tract for which a warrant for 100 acres, listed under the heading “Old Rights,” was issued to him 25th 2mo., 1684 (April 25, 1684).

Jurian’s land acquisitions did not end here. On the same date that the warrant for his “Old Rights” was issued, viz., 25th day 2nd mo. 1684, a warrant was also issued granting him 150 acres in the tract set aside by William Penn for Germantown.

2.