Timeline of Delaware’s
Colonial & Revolutionary Era
Before the Europeans arrived, there were two main Native American tribes that inhabited the area: the Lenni-Lenape (also called the Delaware) and the Nanticoke.
1400
The Lenni-Lenape, part of the Algonkians, settle along the Delaware River
1600
The Minquas, from the Susquehanna River Valley, began to attack the villages of the Lenni-Lenape
1609
English explorer Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch East India Company in the Half Moon, visits the Delaware Bay and explores the coastline while seeking the Northwest Passage
1610
Sir Samuel Argall, an English sea captain, names the Delaware Bay after Virginia governor Thomas West, Lord De La Warr
1631
The first European settlement is built by the Dutch at what is now Lewes; they are massacred within a year by Native Americans due to a dispute over a property marker installed by the Dutch and torn down by an Indian
1638
The first permanent white settlement, Fort Christina, is established on the Minquas Kill (renamed Christina River) by 23 Swedes, including Finns, led by Peter Minuit; it is the first permanent settlement on the Delaware and the beginnings of the New Sweden colony; it will become the city of Wilmington
1639
• The first American log cabin is introduced at Fort Christina
• The first African on the Delaware, Black Anthony, is hired from the Caribbean to advise on tobacco growing and act as coxswain on Gov. Printz’s shallop
1640
The first Lutheran minister in America, the Reverend Reorus Torkillus, arrives at Fort Christina
1643
Johan Printz, an army major, becomes governor the New Sweden Colony, and moves the capital to Tinicum to better control the river and be closer to his tobacco plantation
1651
Peter Stuyvesant, peg-legged governor of New Amsterdam, builds Fort Casimir at Sandhoek (now New Castle) just few miles south of Ft. Christina on the Delaware; the Dutch thus control the Delaware River
1654
• Hearing that the Dutch are out of powder, the Swedes capture Fort Casimir and rename it Fort Trinity
• The tenth Swedish expedition misses the Delaware Bay, arrives in Manhattan and is seized by the Dutch
1655
The Dutch return to the Delaware River with seven armed ships and 300 soldiers, besiege Fort Christina for 12 days, and defeat the Swedes on the Delaware without bloodshed, ending the New Sweden Colony; Delaware becomes part of New Amsterdam; the Swedes pledge allegiance to the Dutch king but are allowed to keep their religion and law courts
1656
Ship Mercuriius from Sweden arrives with 110 new settlers, but the Dutch refuse permission to land so they disembark at Tinicum
1659
A trading post is established at Lewes; New Amstel (New Castle) now has 100 houses but dissatisfaction, hunger an disease causes it to depopulate
1659
Lord Baltimore claims ownership of the western shore of the Delaware River, but testimony by the “old Swedes” Peter Gunnarson Rambo and Peter Larsson Cock as to who arrived first frustrates him
1662
Peter Plockhoy from Holland establishes a Mennonite colony at Cape Henlopen; destroyed by the English in 1664
1664
Sir Robert Carr subdues the Dutch on the South (Delaware) River by firing two broadsides by two ships and storming Fort Casimir with three Dutch killed and 10 wounded; he claims the land for James, Duke of York, so Delaware becomes an English colony as a result of an Anglo-Dutch war
1669
The first American jury trial was held in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson (aka Konigsmark “the Long Finn”) was captured by magistrate Peter Larsson Cock, condemned for insurrection against the English and sentenced to flogging, branding and hard labor in Barbados
1673
War between England and Holland; the Dutch fleet re-takes New York and regains control of the Delaware
1674
The Treaty of Westminster returns New York and Delaware to the English, so the English regain control of the Delaware; so ends Dutch rule on the Delaware
1681
Pennsylvania granted to William Penn by King Charles II
1682
The Duke of York transfers control of the Delaware colony to English Quaker William Penn, who receives possession in New Castle by tokens of a twig, water and soil
1684-1736
The colonial government of Maryland lays claim to southern and western Delaware, so Col. George Talbot builds a small fort near the present town of Christiana
1689
Immanuel Episcopal Church, New Castle, founded; built in 1704
1697
Erick Biork, Andreas Rudman and Jonas Aureen come from Sweden as Lutheran missionaries
1698-1700
Pirates including Captain Kidd sail along the Delaware, sack Lewes, and capture a vessel off New Castle
1699
Old Swedes Church dedicated on Trinity Sunday, July 4th
1701
Delaware is formally separated from Pennsylvania, but they share a governor; Isaac Taylor and Thomas Pierson, surveyors, establish the 12 Mile Circle boundry
1703
Welsh Baptists settle on Welsh Tract between Newark and Glasgow
1707
Fort built at New Castle to compel all vessels to “report and receive leave to pass”; Philadelphia businessmen protest this control
1710
Scots settle in Appoquinimy, Kent County, known as Drawyer’s Settlement
1717
The city of Dover is established
1731
Thomas Williing founds Willingtown on land received from his father-in-law Andrew Justison between French and West Streets
1732
Commissioners appointed by Penn and Lord Baltimore agree on boundaries between Delaware and Maryland
1739
Williingtown receives a royal charter and is renamed Wilmington
1740
Presbyterian Church and first sea-going vessel built in Wilmington
1742
Oliver Canby builds a flour mill on the Brandywine River at Wilmington, beginning a large commercial flour milling industry
1743
New London Academy, forerunner of the University of Delaware, established by Rev. Francis Alison
1747
French and Spanish privateers commit depredations along the Delaware River in the War of Austrian Succession
1748
Nanticoke Indians migrate to Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania
1754
General Assembly passes bill to raise one company of troops for His Majesty’s service and to establish militia for defense in the French and Indian War
1758
Men are raised for an expedition to Canada in the French and Indian War
1758
Charter granted for a town at Newark; fair to be held in April and October and also weekly market
1760
35,000 people lived in the Delaware region
1761
James Adams sets up the first printing press in Delaware at Wilmington
1763
Lord Baltimore and Thomas and Richard Penn employ Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyors, to establish boundaries
1764
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon survey Delaware’s western boundary
1765
Caesar Rodney and Thomas McKean represent Delaware the the Stamp Act Congress to protest against the Act
1766
Rodney, McKean and Read appointed as committee to draw up an address to George III expressing loyalty of the Delaware Counties and gratitude for repeal of the Stamp Act
1767-68
Dover’s John Dickinson writes “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania,” an influential protest against British policies towards the colonies; for this he is known as the Penman of the Revolution
1774
Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean and George Read represent Delaware at the First Continental Congress; meetings to protest British tyranny held in Lewes, Dover and New Castle
1775
The Revolutionary War begins
1776
• The Delaware Assembly declares independence from England; this is the origin of the June 15 holiday called Separation Day
• Delegate Caesar Rodney rides 80 miles through the night from Dover to Philadelphia to cast the deciding vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence; in 1998 the ride is commemorated by the US Mint on the back of a new quarter
• The brig Nancy of Wilmington, Captain Hugh Montgomery, is the first ship to hoist the American flag in a foreign port; British warships, Roebuck and Liverpool, in Delaware River, fight small boats off Wilmington then withdraw to bombard Lewes
• The Three Lower Counties had broken away from Pennsylvania, adopted a constitution and become the Delaware State, the first of all the colonies call themselves a state
• Picture of George III burnt on Dover Green; First State troops mustered in, Col. John Haslet, Lt. Col. Gunning Bedford, Major John McPherson and 800 men, and leave Dover for war; Delaware troops nicknamed “Blue Hens”, a breed of fighting cock; Delaware troops, in defeat in the Battle of Long Island are among the last to leave the field—not until “an express order from the General commanded them to retreat”
1777
• John McKinly elected first President of Delaware State
• General Samuel Patterson’s militia mutinies in Philadelphia, demanding higher wages; Col. Haslet killed in the Battle of Princeton; British, 18,000 strong, under General Howe. land at Elkton MD and advance through Delaware; Washington’s army, 12.000 strong, is posted near Stanton; American light infantry under General Maxwell, meets advance British forces at Cooch’s Bridge
• The Battle of Cooch’s Bridge takes place on September 3, the only engagement of the Revolutionary War in Delaware
• Washington withdraws to Chadds Ford; British army passes through Newark; Battle of the Brandywine, Col. Hall’s Delaware regiment engaged, Major Lewis Bush of Delaware killed, Americans defeated; Wilmington occupied by British troops; President McKinly captured; Thomas McKean becomes acting President then George Read; Colonel Hall severely wounded in the Battle of Germantown
1778
Caesar Rodney elected President of State, succeeding McKinly
1779
Delaware ratifies the Articles of Confederation; Capt. Allen McLane’s Delaware company in capture of Powles Hook
1780
First Delaware Regiment of Continental Army, Lt. Col. Vaughn, Major John Patten, Senior Capt. Kirkwood, 800 men, in DeKalb’s army in Southern Campaign; in disastrous Battle of Camden, Delawares withstand Lord Rawdon’s furious charge; DeKalb on his death-bed writes of “the gallant behavior of the Delaware regiment,” who stood their ground although 265 were killed or wounded; Lt. Col. Vaughn and Major Patten captured
1781
At Cowpens, when the front line breaks, Smallwood’s brigade stands fast and saves the day; British defeated; At Guilford Court House the brigade again holds the line when the militia retreats, and again wins the battle; special mention in dispatches of “the Old Delaware company under brave Capt. Kirkwood; after the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, Delaware again cited for “gallant behavior”
1787
Delaware ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the First State in the Union
Prepared by John B. Tepe, Jr., Historian of the Delaware Society of Colonial Wars