| Notes |
- #142 John Hansson Steelman (Sahakitko, Cecil County< Maryland): The eldest son of Hans Mansson and Ella Stille (see #54), John Hansson, Later John Hans Steelman, was born in 1655 at Aronameck and then moved with his parents to Senamensing, Burlington county. In the mid 1680s he recrossed the Delaware to New Castle County where he married Maria, youngest daughter of John Andersson Stalcop (see #101). In partnership with his brother-in-law Peter Stalcop *(#150), he obtained land on the east side of Red Clay Creek and embarked on an Indian trading career which induced him to move to Sahakitko, where he resided in 1693. In 1895 he was naturalized by Maryland and by 1697 was Maryland's chief interpreter in its dealings with the Indians of the upper Chesapeake Bay and Pennsylvania. He also negotiated important Indian treaties for Pennsylvania in 1701 and 1737.
As his Indian customers migrated westward, so did John Hans Steelman. By 1724 he was a resident of the Monocacy River valley in present Carroll County, Maryland. In the 1730s he moved into Lancaster (now Adams) County, Pennsylvania. In 1740, at the age of 85, he testified for the Penn family in its boundary dispute with Maryland and was rewarded by a grant of 200 acres. At one time, around 1700, John Hans Steelman gave the impression of having considerable wealth. He provided £320 for the purchase of land for the church at Christina and for the building of Holy Trinity Church, £220 by loans and £100 by gift, receiving in return the choicest pews and the promise that he would be buried within the church. By the time of his death in 1749 west of the Susquehanna in present Adams County he had little left. His meager possessions were sold at an estate auction for £23. His household of five in 1693 included his wife Maria and two sons, John and Mans. Peter Hans Steelman, another son or a grandson, was the principal purchaser of his property at the estate sale.
The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware. By Peter Stebbins Craig.
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- news article about monument marking Steelman's cabin
This Morning's Comment
by Henry W. Shoemaker
The Two Battles Of Bull Run; The Field Is Admirably Marked Thanks To Efficient Virginia Historical Commission.
It has been asserted in many quarters if Dr. Albert Cook Myers had been continued as secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission the historic sites of Pennsylvania would be as well marked as those of Virginia, the model of its kind. Of late the warlike, peppery little Quaker historian has appeared in the limelight again to protest against the moving of the John Hanson Steelman monument, by the present Historical Commission, stating with emphasis the marker should remain where the heroic Swedish pathfinder's cabin stood, and not on a broad highway miles away.
[article continues onto other subjects[
Altoona Tribune, Altoona, Pennsylvania. Friday, 10 July 1942.
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- John Hansson Steelman Monument
The monument is located on Steelman Marker Road in southern Adams County, Pennsylvania, near the Maryland State Line.
The original monument was erected in 1924. A second monument was made in 1977 following the theft of the original four years earlier.
1924 Inscription
INSCRIPTION ON ORIGINAL MONUMENT TO
CAPTAIN JOHN HANSON STEELMAN
Dedicated on November 29, 1924
CAPTAIN
JOHN HANSON STEELMAN
1655-1749
INDIAN TRADER AND INTERPRETER
OF MARYLAND
AND PENNSYLVANIA
FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLER
IN PENNSYLVANIA
WEST OF SUSQUEHANNA RIVER
LIVED IN THIS VALLEY
ON PAXTON INDIAN TRAIL OR ROAD
LEADING FROM PRESENT HARRISBURG
BORN OF SWEDISH PARENTS
AT WHAT IS NOW GRAY’S FERRY BRIDGE
IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TOWARD
ERECTION OF OLD SWEDES LUTHERAN CHURCH
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, 1698
GUEST AND CORRESPONDENT
OF
WILLIAM PENN
DEPONENT IN CHANCERY SUIT
OF THE PENN HEIRS
VERSUS LORD BALTIMORE, 1740
MARKED BY
THE PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
THE SWEDISH COLONIAL SOCIETY
AND CITIZENS OF ADAMS COUNTY
1924
* * * *
1977 Inscription
INSCRIPTION OF SECOND MARKER ERECTED TO
JOHN HANSON STEELMAN
JOHN HANSON "HANCE"
STEELMAN
1655-1749
INDIAN TRADER AND INTERPRETER
OF MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA
FIRST SETTLER IN
THIS VALLEY
BORN OF SWEDISH PARENTS
ALONG THE DELAWARE
THIS TABLET ERECTED
BY
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP AND FAIRFIELD
AREA BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE
FIRST MARKER PLACED IN 1924
BY PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
1977
Steelman Genealogy
http://www.steelmangenealogy.com/monument.html
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1655 - 1749 (94 years)
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