Notes |
- He was a churchwarden at Holy Trinity, Old Swede's Church in Wilmington, Delaware, where there is a memorial to him. He and his wife Maria had 11 children, of which Anna Elizabeth was the oldest.
He had in interesting story of his immigration which I've seen recounted in several places; it seems that he was pressed into servitude in Virginia, escaped after a few years, and made his way north to the Swedish establishments in Christiana Co., Delaware. Here is one telling of it:
"No preacher came, and the prospect became very dark and gloomy. The Rev. Mr. Lock had died in 1688, and Mr. Fabritius four or five years afterwards, so that they were now entirely without a clergyman. I n this extremity they resolved still to keep their churches open, and appointed two worthy and pious men to perform for them the office of Lay readers; who, besides the prayers and psalms, read homilies or sermons. The person who officiated in this capacity at Wicaco was Mr. Andrew Benktsen or Bankson; and at Christina they had Mr. Charles Christopher Springer. [This Mr. Springer wrote the letter to Thelin, presently to come under our notice. He was a native Sweden, and had come to America by a remarkable providence. He was in the family of the Swedish ambassador in London, Going home one evening in a post-chaise, he was seized, and carried on board of a merchant vessel, in the Thames, bound to Virginia. He was there sold as a servant for five years. When free, he went to the Swedes, and by his capacity and virtue acquired such influence as to be appoirted justice of the peace, in the district of Christina. He was afterwards, for many years, a useful member of that church.]"
Apparently this family has been the focus of hoaxed genealogies. Note that I've not examined this branch extensively, and caveat lector. Here are more sources on his family and the church:
* Peter Stebbins Craig. "Charles Springer and his Family." Swedish Colonial News 1.19 (Spring 1999): ___-___. Rpt. at http://colonialswedes.org/forefathers/springer.html.
* Jessie Evelyn Springer. Charles Springer of Cranehook-on-the-Delaware: His Descendants and Allied Families. 1959.
* Ruth L. Springer published a genealogical chart of the Springer family in the Delware Genealogical Soc. Journal in 1982 in two installments (Vol. 1, #2, and Vol. 1, #4).
* Baldwin Maull. Charles Springer Family in Swedish History. Wilmington: Delaware Swedish Colonial Society, 1978.
* Milton Rubicam. The Springer Genealogy: A Critical Review. CT: American Genealogist, 1941.
* Rev. Isaac E. Springer. The Springer Genealogy. Detroit, 1909.
* Coha J. Jolliffe, "Genealogy of the Springer Family." 1894.
* M.C. Springer. A Genealogical Table and History of the Springer Family in Europe and North America, for Eight Centuries. . . Phila: Sickson & Gilling, 1881.
* F. Edward Wright. Early Church Records of New Castle County, Delaware, vol. 2: Old Swedes Church. Westminster, MD: Family Line.
* Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church, an Abridged History, by the Rev. Gregory R. Johnson.
* The Records of Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church Wilmington, Del, From 1697 to 1773 and Catalogue and Errata of the Records of HolyTrinity (Old Swedes) Church Wilmington, Del., from 1697-1773, translated from the original Swedish by Horace Burr, with an abstract of the English records from 1773 to 1810. Reprinted as two volumes in one with errata and index. Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware; no. 9. Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1890.
* Catalogue and Errata of the Records of Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church. Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware; no. 9-A. Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1919.
* Early Church Records of New Castle County, Delaware, vol. 2, Old Swedes Church, translated from the original by Horace Burr, with an abstract of the English Records. Reprint of records only by Willow Bend Books, Westminster, MD, 2000. [2, 4, 5]
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