Reorus Torkillus
Encyclopedia
Reorus Torkillus was the first Lutheran clergyman to settle in what would become the United States
.
, near Gothenburg
, Sweden
in 1608. He studied for the ministry at Lidköping
and Skara
in Sweden. After completing his education, he served as a chaplain and lecturer at the high school
in Gothenburg
.
Torkillus sailed with the second expedition of Swedish
settlers to New Sweden
, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel
. He arrived at Fort Christina
near present-day Wilmington, Delaware
on April 17, 1640. Initially, Torkillus officiated at church services held in a blockhouse
at Fort Christina. Planning for and construction of the first log churches in the New Sweden settlement was probably begun during his tenure. Torkillus died at Fort Christina in 1643 and was succeeded in his pastorship to the New Sweden colonists by John Campanius
.
Today Holy Trinity Church
, also known as Old Swedes', is a National Historic Landmark
. It was built from local blue granite and Swedish bricks that had been used as ship's ballast on the site of the Fort Christina's burial ground. The church is stated to be the nation's oldest church building still standing as originally built. Lutheran services were held in the Swedish language well into the 18th century.
.
, near Gothenburg
, Sweden
in 1608. He studied for the ministry at Lidköping
and Skara
in Sweden. After completing his education, he served as a chaplain and lecturer at the high school
in Gothenburg
.
Torkillus sailed with the second expedition of Swedish
settlers to New Sweden
, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel
. He arrived at Fort Christina
near present-day Wilmington, Delaware
on April 17, 1640. Initially, Torkillus officiated at church services held in a blockhouse
at Fort Christina. Planning for and construction of the first log churches in the New Sweden settlement was probably begun during his tenure. Torkillus died at Fort Christina in 1643 and was succeeded in his pastorship to the New Sweden colonists by John Campanius
.
Today Holy Trinity Church
, also known as Old Swedes', is a National Historic Landmark
. It was built from local blue granite and Swedish bricks that had been used as ship's ballast on the site of the Fort Christina's burial ground. The church is stated to be the nation's oldest church building still standing as originally built. Lutheran services were held in the Swedish language well into the 18th century.
.
, near Gothenburg
, Sweden
in 1608. He studied for the ministry at Lidköping
and Skara
in Sweden. After completing his education, he served as a chaplain and lecturer at the high school
in Gothenburg
.
Torkillus sailed with the second expedition of Swedish
settlers to New Sweden
, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel
. He arrived at Fort Christina
near present-day Wilmington, Delaware
on April 17, 1640. Initially, Torkillus officiated at church services held in a blockhouse
at Fort Christina. Planning for and construction of the first log churches in the New Sweden settlement was probably begun during his tenure. Torkillus died at Fort Christina in 1643 and was succeeded in his pastorship to the New Sweden colonists by John Campanius
.
Today Holy Trinity Church
, also known as Old Swedes', is a National Historic Landmark
. It was built from local blue granite and Swedish bricks that had been used as ship's ballast on the site of the Fort Christina's burial ground. The church is stated to be the nation's oldest church building still standing as originally built. Lutheran services were held in the Swedish language well into the 18th century.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Torkillus was born at MölndalMölndal
Mölndal is a part of the Gothenburg urban area on the west-coast of Sweden, and constitutes the administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live here.-Geography:...
, near Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 1608. He studied for the ministry at Lidköping
Lidköping
Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 27,941 inhabitants in 2005.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", possibly to distinguish itself from Linköping near...
and Skara
Skara
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...
in Sweden. After completing his education, he served as a chaplain and lecturer at the high school
Vocational university
A vocational university is an institution of higher education and sometimes research, which provides both tertiary and sometimes quaternary education and grants academic degrees at all levels in a variety of subjects...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
Torkillus sailed with the second expedition of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
settlers to New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
. He arrived at Fort Christina
Fort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...
near present-day Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
on April 17, 1640. Initially, Torkillus officiated at church services held in a blockhouse
Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
at Fort Christina. Planning for and construction of the first log churches in the New Sweden settlement was probably begun during his tenure. Torkillus died at Fort Christina in 1643 and was succeeded in his pastorship to the New Sweden colonists by John Campanius
John Campanius
John Campanius , also known as John Campanius Holm, was a Swedish Lutheran clergyman assigned to the New Sweden colony.-Background:...
.
Today Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)
Holy Trinity Church, also known as Old Swedes is a church in Wilmington, Delaware that is a National Historic Landmark. It was dedicated on July 4, 1699.-History:...
, also known as Old Swedes', is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. It was built from local blue granite and Swedish bricks that had been used as ship's ballast on the site of the Fort Christina's burial ground. The church is stated to be the nation's oldest church building still standing as originally built. Lutheran services were held in the Swedish language well into the 18th century.
Additional reading
- Johnson, AmandusAmandus JohnsonAmandus Johnson was an American historian, author and founding curator of the American Swedish Historical Museum...
The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664. (Philadelphia, PA: The Swedish Colonial Society. 1911) - McCullough, John W. Sacred Reminiscences in the Old Swedes' Church (Wilmington, Del.: Printed by Porter & Naff, 1842)http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/misc/mccullough_sacred1842.html
- Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. Swedes in America, 1638-1938 (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1938) ISBN 978-0838303269
Other sources
Reorus Torkillus (1608–1643) was the first Lutheran clergyman to settle in what would become the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Torkillus was born at MölndalMölndal
Mölndal is a part of the Gothenburg urban area on the west-coast of Sweden, and constitutes the administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live here.-Geography:...
, near Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 1608. He studied for the ministry at Lidköping
Lidköping
Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 27,941 inhabitants in 2005.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", possibly to distinguish itself from Linköping near...
and Skara
Skara
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...
in Sweden. After completing his education, he served as a chaplain and lecturer at the high school
Vocational university
A vocational university is an institution of higher education and sometimes research, which provides both tertiary and sometimes quaternary education and grants academic degrees at all levels in a variety of subjects...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
Torkillus sailed with the second expedition of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
settlers to New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
. He arrived at Fort Christina
Fort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...
near present-day Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
on April 17, 1640. Initially, Torkillus officiated at church services held in a blockhouse
Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
at Fort Christina. Planning for and construction of the first log churches in the New Sweden settlement was probably begun during his tenure. Torkillus died at Fort Christina in 1643 and was succeeded in his pastorship to the New Sweden colonists by John Campanius
John Campanius
John Campanius , also known as John Campanius Holm, was a Swedish Lutheran clergyman assigned to the New Sweden colony.-Background:...
.
Today Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)
Holy Trinity Church, also known as Old Swedes is a church in Wilmington, Delaware that is a National Historic Landmark. It was dedicated on July 4, 1699.-History:...
, also known as Old Swedes', is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. It was built from local blue granite and Swedish bricks that had been used as ship's ballast on the site of the Fort Christina's burial ground. The church is stated to be the nation's oldest church building still standing as originally built. Lutheran services were held in the Swedish language well into the 18th century.
Additional reading
- Johnson, AmandusAmandus JohnsonAmandus Johnson was an American historian, author and founding curator of the American Swedish Historical Museum...
The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664. (Philadelphia, PA: The Swedish Colonial Society. 1911) - McCullough, John W. Sacred Reminiscences in the Old Swedes' Church (Wilmington, Del.: Printed by Porter & Naff, 1842)http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/misc/mccullough_sacred1842.html
- Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. Swedes in America, 1638-1938 (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1938) ISBN 978-0838303269
Other sources
Reorus Torkillus (1608–1643) was the first Lutheran clergyman to settle in what would become the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Torkillus was born at MölndalMölndal
Mölndal is a part of the Gothenburg urban area on the west-coast of Sweden, and constitutes the administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live here.-Geography:...
, near Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 1608. He studied for the ministry at Lidköping
Lidköping
Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 27,941 inhabitants in 2005.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", possibly to distinguish itself from Linköping near...
and Skara
Skara
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...
in Sweden. After completing his education, he served as a chaplain and lecturer at the high school
Vocational university
A vocational university is an institution of higher education and sometimes research, which provides both tertiary and sometimes quaternary education and grants academic degrees at all levels in a variety of subjects...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
Torkillus sailed with the second expedition of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
settlers to New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
. He arrived at Fort Christina
Fort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...
near present-day Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
on April 17, 1640. Initially, Torkillus officiated at church services held in a blockhouse
Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
at Fort Christina. Planning for and construction of the first log churches in the New Sweden settlement was probably begun during his tenure. Torkillus died at Fort Christina in 1643 and was succeeded in his pastorship to the New Sweden colonists by John Campanius
John Campanius
John Campanius , also known as John Campanius Holm, was a Swedish Lutheran clergyman assigned to the New Sweden colony.-Background:...
.
Today Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)
Holy Trinity Church, also known as Old Swedes is a church in Wilmington, Delaware that is a National Historic Landmark. It was dedicated on July 4, 1699.-History:...
, also known as Old Swedes', is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. It was built from local blue granite and Swedish bricks that had been used as ship's ballast on the site of the Fort Christina's burial ground. The church is stated to be the nation's oldest church building still standing as originally built. Lutheran services were held in the Swedish language well into the 18th century.
Additional reading
- Johnson, AmandusAmandus JohnsonAmandus Johnson was an American historian, author and founding curator of the American Swedish Historical Museum...
The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664. (Philadelphia, PA: The Swedish Colonial Society. 1911) - McCullough, John W. Sacred Reminiscences in the Old Swedes' Church (Wilmington, Del.: Printed by Porter & Naff, 1842)http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/misc/mccullough_sacred1842.html
- Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. Swedes in America, 1638-1938 (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1938) ISBN 978-0838303269
Other sources
