DISCUSSION on Ann Skute

Purported to be wife of John Adamson, by Ruth Adkinson and Harry Egan Adamson Jr.

NO SUCH PERSON EVER EXISTED.     IT'S A MYTH!

Postings:

http://genforum.com/adamson/messages/68.html -dated November 20, 1998 by Ruth Adkinson

http://genforum.genealogy.com/adamson/messages/370.html - dated July 21, 2000 by Harry Egan Adamson Jr.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/adamson/messages/870.html - dated May 12, 2004 by Harry Egan Adamson Jr.

http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.adamson/400/mb.ashx - dated April 3, 2004 by Harry Egan Adamson Jr.

Ever since it was reported that Ann Skute may be wife of John Adamson I have been curious on many aspects of this conclusion. It was purported that Ann was the daughter of Johan Svensson Skute(1654-1722) and Armegot Martensdotter Garretsson(1664-1755!). Some of the questions I had were:

How did a Swedish Lutheran girl meet and marry John Adamson, a Quaker?

When did Ann convert to Quakerism and Why?

Who are other siblings of this Ann?

Who were other members of the Newton Monthly Meeting during this time period and what is the connection to the Skute family?

Did Ann and John name any of their children after their siblings?

Prior to year 2000, why did so many other Adamson Researchers not proclaim this Ann Skute as their Ancestor and believe that their Grandmother was named Ann Skew? I know several score researchers that believed that their ancestor to be Ann Skew. I too believed this for the eighteen years that I had researched.

I have always believed that both John and Ann were of the Quaker faith, came to the Haddonfield New Jersey area because of immigration and support of William Penn.

So as the poster remarked, I too find that the history of Sven Skute is well documented in records of the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia.

With the increasing library of records on Ancestry.com, I find that many of these records also exist and accessible to the public on the internet.

I find that prior to 20 November 1998, no Adamson researcher mentions the name of Ann Skute. All previous references were to Ann Skew / Ann Skuce. A posting on GenForum by Ruth Adkinson states:

“Ann SKEW....was the daughter of Johan SKUTE b. 4 Sept 1654 m. abt. 1680 ____Armgott b. 1669 Sweden d. 21 Mar 1755

Grandaughter of Sven SKUTE b. Sweden m. Christian ____ abt 1650

Sven was deeded land by Queen Christina of Sweden in the late 1650's (now south Philadelphia area) The Swedish-American Museum in Philadelphia is located on Sven SKUTE's land. Sven's land is located near the Gynedd Monthly Meeting site, where our first records of ADAMSON line begin.

(This information is on the internet and was provided by Bruce and Alexa Wilson of Manassas, VA) “

This posting was somewhat questioned in July of 1999 by Adamson researcher and Descendant, Donna (Crabb) Adamson, however no followup was provided.

Then on 21 July 2000 a more detailed posting was made by Harry Eagan Adamson Jr. This posting supported the earlier posting by Ruth Adkinson. His posting was challenged in November 2000 by veteran Adamson researcher and Descendant, Evelyn Young.

The posting on Genforum on 20 November 1998 and 21 July 2000, seems to be the genesis of “Ann Skute”. Between November 1998 and April /May 2004, a few researchers adopted this theory and published their lineage on public web sites. In April and May 2004, Mr. Eagan did redact his findings as not being certain of his assumption to Ann Skute being the wife of John Adamson.

Since 2004 several (probably less than a dozen) researchers have also adopted this theory with many referencing the 21July 2000 posting on Genforum. They somehow accepted/believed the first postings, but did not find the redaction or believe it. Or perhaps they have other information that supports the theory. The researchers I ask, only state that their reference is the internet, but have no particular referenced source.

During my internet search I found several statements of interest and I quote or excerpt these:

I find Seven Skute is mentioned as primary immigrant from Sweden in 1643..

Sven Skute and his wife, Anna Johansdotter, made their home at the former Dutch Fort Casimir which had been renamed Fort Trinity after its capture. Here Skute assumed the difficult task of rebuilding the fort. He also served on Governor Rising's Council which governed the colony and heard court cases.

On 30 August 1655, Governor Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherland appeared in the Delaware with seven armed ships and 317 soldiers. The outnumbered Swedish forces recognized that fighting was useless. Their 50 soldiers were divided between two forts. Captain Sven Skute surrendered Fort Trinity on 1 Sept. 1655 and Governor Rising surrendered Fort Christina two weeks later.

After the surrender of New Sweden, Governor Stuyvesant agreed to allow the Swedes to retain their lands north of the Christina River and to establish their own government. This new "Swedish Nation," later known as the Upland Court, was established in 1656.

Remaining at Fort Casimir (New Castle) under Dutch rule became intolerable for the Skute family. They sold their lots and grain in the spring of 1656 and moved to the west bank of the Schuylkill River, on the northeast side of Kvarn Kill (Mill Creek), adjacent to Hans Månsson's Aronameck plantation, in the vicinity of present Woodlands Cemetery. There is a 1658 Dutch reference to "Sven the miller," which is probably a reference to Sven Skute's occupation in his forced retirement. He also, however, was captain of the militia for the new "Swedish nation."

Captain Sven Skute died at his Schuylkill plantation c. 1665. He was survived by three known children:

1. Johan Skute, born 4 Sept. 1654 at Fort Trinity (New Castle), moved further up the Schuylkill to lands bought from the Indians by William Warner, Sr., at Nitapkung (present Fairmount Park). He married Armegot, daughter of Mårten Garretson and Christina Lom. A warden and trustee of Gloria Dei, he died in 1722, and had three known children, Christina, Sven and Jacob. The surname continued with Jacob under the name of Schooten.

2. Christina married William Warner, Jr., who moved to Woodbury Creek, Gloucester County, NJ, by 1681. He died there in 1714, survived by his wife and five children, William, Sven, Isaac, Hannah and Jacob.

3. Magdalena, born 25 March 1660, married Peter Rambo, Jr., 12 Nov. 1676. They made their home on Pennypack Creek in Lower Dublin Township, where her husband died in 1729. They had 7 children: Swan, Brigitta, Peter, Andrew, Elias, Jacob and John.

I find a Johan Skute is first mentioned in 1654.

Johan (John) Skute, born 4 Sept. 1654 at Fort Trinity (New Castle), moved further up the Schuylkill to lands bought from the Indians by William Warner, Sr., at Nitapkung (present Fairmount Park).  He married Armegot, daughter of Marten Garretson and Christina Lom.  A warden and trustee of Gloria Dei, he died in 1722, and had three known children, Christina, Sven and Jacob.  The surname continued with Jacob under the name of Schooten

The Fairmount Park (Nitapkung) area is in the Northwest quadrant of Philadelphia. Swedish settlements in the area and with members belonging to Parish of Gloria Dei Church were Pacquessung, Wicacoa, Nitapkung at Schuylkill, Tahokaning, Nishammeni Creek, Hollander Creek near Moyamensing, Calkoon Hook, Tennicum Creek and Crum Creek. In New Jersey, the settlement at Senamensing, Trumpeters Creek, On the Sea Shore Great Egg Harbor, Tulokan, near Little Great Egg Harbor. In the book Early Swedish Records-Extracts from Parish Records of Gloria Dei Church, Philadelphia, it is noted that Mr. Rudman was anxious for a speedy and accurate knowledge of his congregation that was formed in 1697 and 1698, included a listing of all the families and classed them in local districts. In these pages, one can find listed John Skute with his family.

In 1698, Johan Skute, with his family, wife Armegot; Children , Swan and Christina, and a servant girl of English Religion; lived at Nitapkung at Schuylkill (present Fairmount Park).

Swan Skute was born 10 Jan 1692 and his sister Christina was born 4 September 1687.

Also at Nitapkung was Brother in Law, Morton Garret and wife Magdalen. Others at Nitapkung were the Nicholas Justis Family; Mouns Jones Family; Peter Jocom family; Thomas Jenderman family; Gustavus Justis Family; and Peter Lock.

John Skute was a member and Vestryman of the Swedish Lutheran Congregation at Wicacoa (today South Philadelphia), and, doubtless, was buried in Gloria Dei Churchyard. Armegott Skutte survived him, dying at the Schuylkill, March 22, 1755, aged ninety-one years and was buried in Gloria Dei Churchyard.

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Episcopal Church in South Philadelphia is the oldest church building in Pennsylvania and among the oldest in the country. After serving as the Swedish Lutheran Church for almost 150 years, Gloria Dei became part of the Episcopal Church in 1845.

Gloria Dei Church is located on South Columbus Boulevard (previously known as Delaware Avenue) at Christian Street, on the west bank of the Delaware River near Downtown Philadelphia and less that a mile from historic Penn’s landing and Independence Hall. This church was established in 1697, just prior to William Penn’s arrival with his family in December 1699.

In 1701, 10,000 acres of land along the Manatawny Creek were sold to Swedish Lutheran Pastor Andreas Rudman and other Swedish settlers. Manatawny Creek joins the Schuylkill River at Pottstown about 40 Northwest of Philadelphia. On February 23, 1704, King Carl XII of Sweden, issued an order formally confirming Andreas Rudman as Superintendent of the Swedish Lutheran Church in America. The settlement of Southeast Pennsylvania was well on its way.

William Penn had been involved with the settlement of Pennsylvania as far back as 1682. Penn received a hearty welcome upon his arrival and found his province much changed in the intervening 18 years. Pennsylvania was growing rapidly and now had nearly 18,000 inhabitants and Philadelphia over 3,000. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, as a safe place for Quakers and others to live and practice their faith. Despite persecution, the movement grew steadily.

A note that I found in the booklet about Sven Skute:

Many historians, beginning with John F. Watson, have erroneously assumed that the patent issued by William Penn to the three Swanson brothers at Wicaco was a confirmation of land owned by their father, Sven Skute, under Queen Christina's 1653 patent.  These Swanson brothers were the sons of Sven Gunnarsson, not Sven Skute.

What’s In a Name??

I have found that most families named their children after parents, siblings, and trusted friends.

In researching this article I reviewed hundreds of Swedish Families in this time frame. I did not find one female named “Ann”. It seems that the name “Anna” is more proper for Swedish as I did find eleven such occurrences. Popular Swedish female names are: Christina, Maria, Helene, Brigitta, Catharine, Ingabor and Margaret. I did find that the name “Ann” is very popular among those from England, Ireland and Wales. I also found in researching names that the popular English female names are: Elizabeth, Mary, Ruth, Margaret, Ann, Susanah, Hester, Jane and Sarah.

John Adamson and Ann “Skew” probably named their children after their relatives. Their surviving children names were Thomas, Betty, Hester, John, Ann, Susanna and Simon. Not one Swedish name is the family.

I conclude that the Skute Family and the settlement of New Sweden is well documented and available on the internet. The listing of membership of the Gloria Dei Church by Pastor Andreas Rudman shows Johan Skute and wife Armegott, with children Swan and Christna. The listing shows that Johan Skute did not have a daughter of a age named Ann or Anna that could have been the wife of John Adamson. It is a myth that an Ann Skute married John Adamson. No such person ever existed.  Quakers records of the Newton Monthly Meeting refer to an Ann Skew as being the wife of John Adamson and her parentage has not been determined. I feel for those whom have accepted the name of Skute (Sven, Johan) as being their lineage and hope that they continue their research more diligently.

Jerry F. Adamson, September, 2009

Recommended links and searches to referenced materials:

Google Maps:

http://maps.google.com/

Gloria Dei Church

Fairmont Park Philadelphia

Woodlands Cemetery Philadelphia

Moyamensing Philadelphia

Senamensing Philadelphia

Little Egg Harbor

Manatawny Creek

Wikipedia.

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Church Philadelphia

Fairmount Park Philadelphia

Woodlands Cemetery Philadelphia

Google or Bing Search:

Captain Sven Skute

Johan Skute

Armegot Garretson

Wicacoa (Weccacoa) http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1074

Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx

Wicacoa (Weccacoa) http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1074

The Swedish Colonial Society:

http://www.colonialswedes.org/History/History.html

Article -Brief History of New Sweden in America with Map

showing Fort Elfsborg, Fort Trinity, Fort Christina and Wicaco

Find A Grave:

http://www.findagrave.com/

Glora Dei (Old Swedes) Church Burial Ground

238 Burials, No Skutes are listed, most likely because of no markers or records for earlier burials

Behind the name

http://www.behindthename.com/

Ancestry.com

http://www.ancestry.com/

If you have membership:

Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500’s-1900s about Sven Skute

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pili354&h=907931&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t9607473_p-726303916_g32768

Article on Captain Sven Skute

http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/ViewStory.aspx?tid=3958802&pid=-1668772719&did=be3f30f1-095c-486c-a92b-1cc7fccc1830&src=search

Early Swedish Records-Extracts from Parish Records of Gloria Dei Church -page 12-Showing Johan Skute family at Nitapkung. Be sure to see Note at bottom of page 14.

http://search.ancestry.com/browse/bookview.aspx?dbid=48382&iid=PAVitalRecordsI-000243-12&rc=776,179,860,204;1011,278,1095,303;1017,409,1104,436;1221,867,1305,893;708,933,803,959;585,934,701,958;1001,1065,1086,1091;474,1096,556,1122;1087,1098,1170,1127;923,1296,1004,1322;1035,1525,1123,1554;577,1786,664,1815;186,1850,258,1876;184,1917,257,1942;149,1949,224,1974&pid=322205&ssrc=&fn=Johan&ln=Skute&st=g

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