Page:Historic towns of the middle states (IA historictownsofm02powe).pdf/377



WILMINGTON

"Her mingled streams of Swedish, Dutch and English blood."

When the adventurous William Usselinx, native of Antwerp and merchant of Stockholm, was growing old, he proposed to King Gustavus Adolphus that Sweden organize a trading company to operate in Asia, Africa, America, and Terra Magellanica. The King lent ear to Usselinx, and Usselinx was able to picture to the Swedish people the beauty and fertility of the region bordering on the Delaware, "a fine land, in which all the necessaries and comforts of life are to be enjoyed in overflowing abundance." The proposed plans sped well for a time; the King pledged a great sum from the royal treasury in aid of the new company, and the Swedish people, nobles and commons, subscribed to the