Johan Björnsson Printz was a Swedish colonial governor.
Background
He was born on July 20, 1592 in the parsonage at Bottnaryd, Småland, Sweden, the son of the Rev. Bjorn Hansson and his wife, Gunilla Svensdotter.
According to ordinary Swedish usage he would have been known as Johan Björnsson; the name Printz he adopted from his maternal grandfather, the Rev. Sven Benedictus Putt (died 1587), who had assumed it on being raised to the nobility by King Johan III. His father, who died about 1616, was pastor at Bottnaryd for over seventy years.
Education
Printz attended schools at Jonkoping and Skara, entered the Linkoping Gymnasium in 1608, and went to Germany in 1618 to study theology at the universities of Rostock and Greifswald. The next year, as a candidate for ordination, he delivered some sermons from his father's old pulpit. Granted a stipend by King Gustavus Adolphus, he returned to Germany in 1620.
Career
While he visited the universities of Leipzig, Wittenberg, Helmstedt, and Jenaon he was seized by a band of roving soldiers and forced to enlist in a regiment marching toward Italy. This sudden, apparently ruinous, change of fortune suited his temperament exactly. For the next few years he was a mercenary in the service of Archduke Leopold of Austria, Duke Christian of Brunswick, and King Christian IV of Denmark.
In 1625 he received an appointment in the Swedish army. In 1638 he attained the grade of lieutenant-colonel, and in 1639 Gen. Johan Banér placed him in command of Chemnitz. The next year, after a short but spirited resistance, he surrendered to a superior Saxon force and returned to Stockholm without asking leave. A court martial exonerated him for the loss of Chemnitz, but for absenting himself without leave the Council of State removed him from his command.
In April 1642 he was appointed director (governor) of New Sweden to succeed Peter Hollender Ridder; he received his commission and instructions in August and was knighted by Queen Christina; and on February 15, 1643, his ships, the Fama and Swan, dropped anchor at Fort Christina (Wilmington). Printz was governor of New Sweden for ten years and six months. He was handicapped from the outset by a shortage of men and supplies, and during the last five years of his administration the Swedish government left him to shift for himself.
Within two weeks of his arrival he had inspected his domain from Cape Henlopen to Sankikan (Trenton, New Jersey) and on March 1 he began the construction of Fort Elfsborg at Varkens Kill. For his residence he chose Tinicum Island, naming it New Gothenborg, and erected a commodious house. Printz assigned land to settlers for farming, maintained peaceful relations with the Indians, sent an agent to trade at New Amsterdam, conducted diplomatic correspondence with the English to the South and North of him, and built a blockhouse, a church, a wharf, a gristmill, and other works, among them a brewery that probably entitles him to rank as the Gambrinus of America. His pleasure yacht makes him the first American yachtsman.
He was undoubtedly a harsh ruler. Disputes between him and his subjects came to a head on July 27, 1653, when a group of them petitioned for the right to send two men to Sweden to present their grievances to the government. Printz treated this move as rebellion and promptly hanged the leader of the good-government movement, Anders Jonsson.
In September 1653, having turned the government over to his deputy and son-in-law, Johan Papegoja, he departed, sailing in October from New Amsterdam. In 1657 he was made commander of Jonkoping Castle and the next year he was appointed governor of his native district, Jonkoping Län. A few miles from his native place he built a manor, "Gunillaberg. " He died as a result of a fall from his horse.
Achievements
Johan Bjornsson Printz was governor of the Swedish colony on the Delaware River in North America for 10 years. During his administration, he was famous as he built Fort Nya Elfsborg on the east bank of the Delaware, and Fort New Gothenburg on Tinicum Island, thus secured a monopoly of trade. He also built Printz’s Mill on Cobbs Creek, established harmony with the local Indians and English settlers.
Governor Printz Park is located just south of I-95 at the Route 420 in Essington. The Johan Printz Sculpture is in the park Rådhusparken in Jönköping, Sweden.
Personality
He was a giant in height and girth, was reputed to weigh four hundred pounds, and ate and drank like a hero out of Rabelais. The Indians called him "Big Guts, " but respectfully. His profanity was famous from Massachusetts Bay to Old Point Comfort.
He was a gentleman born and bred, an intrepid soldier, an intelligent, versatile, energetic administrator, and a wily diplomat.
Connections
In 1622 he married Elizabeth von Boche, daughter of the Ducal Privy Councilor Lydeche von Boche of Brunswick. His wife died about this time, and in 1642 he married Maria von Linnestau, widow of Colonel Von Stralendorff. His son Gustaf had predeceased him, but his widow and five daughters survived.
