09/29/2026
Pastor Andreas Rudman and his Family
by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig
Fellow, American Society of Genealogists
Fellow, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Historian, Swedish Colonial Society
originally published in Swedish Colonial News,
Volume 2, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
Andreas Rudman, founder of Gloria Dei Church, was born 3 November 1668 in Gävle, Gästrikland Province, Sweden, the son of Johan Augustison Rudolph and Magdalen Nilsdotter.
After completing his studies and securing a degree at the University of Uppsala and being ordained, Rudman was chosen by Archbishop Swebelius and Dean Jesper Swedberg in February 1696 as the pastor to lead the delegation being sent by King Carl XI to serve the Swedish Lutheran congregations on the Delaware.
At first, Rudman was reluctant to accept the offer. But, after being assured by the King that he would be rewarded with a good post in Sweden after his time in America, Rudman agreed to take on the job.
During the next several months, there were frustrating delays while two other ministers (Eric Björk and Jonas Aurén) were selected and ordained and all of the religious books were assembled for the
trip to America. Finally, in late July 1696, the party left Stockholm on the ship Palmboom, destined for London.
Arriving in London in early October 1696, Rudman and his party were detained there for four months. During this time, on 3 December 1696, they called on Governor William Penn. As
Rudman wrote in his diary, "He very graciously gave us his opinion and promised us his protection. He also gave much good advice as to our management and conduct there, and promised us a recommendation to his deputy governor [William Markham]."
Sails to America
Rudman, Björk, Aurén and their assistant, a lad named Jonas Bjürström, boarded the ship Jeffries at Blackwell, 4 Feb. 1697. After four months at sea, the ship anchored in the James River in
Virginia on 3 June 1697. The four Swedes stayed with the ship until it reached Annapolis on the 19th of June. Then, after being generously entertained by Governor Francis Nicholson for four
days, they departed on a smaller ship for the Elk River. On the 24th, they arrived at the Swedish settlement known as Sahakitko, located at the Head of Elk (present Elkton, Maryland).
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The residents of Sahakitko quickly sent word to their Swedish neighbors on the Delaware of the ministers' arrival. Soon, men, horses and carts assembled to es**rt Rudman and his colleagues to
Crane Hook, where Rudman and Björk conducted a short prayer and thanksgiving for their safe arrival on June 27th. On the next day, they journeyed to Philadelphia, where they called on Vice
Governor Markham on the 29th.
Rudman Chooses Wicaco
On the 30th of June, Rudman and Björk met with the Wicaco congregation to read the messages they carried from the King and the Archbishop. They did the same at Crane Hook on 2 July 1697.
Rudman, as the senior pastor, chose the Wicaco congregation as his own. Björk, therefore, became pastor at the other church, then located at Crane Hook. Both of them gave their first sermons at
their respective churches on 11 July 1697. One of Rudman's first duties was to become acquainted with his new congregation. In the course of this, he met Elisabeth, the daughter of Peter Mattsson and Catharina Rambo. Rudman and Elisabeth Petersdotter were married at her home on Mantua Creek in West Jersey on 4 May 1698. She was then twenty years old.
Builder of Gloria Dei
It was evident to both Rudman and Björk that the old, dilapidated log churches at Wicaco and Crane Hook were not adequate for the congregations that they served. It was therefore decided, with the consent of the congregations, to replace them with new stone and brick edifices. The "lower congregation," led by Björk, soon agreed to build its new church at Christina (present Wilmington), but Rudman's "upper congregation" split into factions, with some favoring Wicaco, others Passyunk.
Unable to bring unity to his congregation, Rudman concluded his sermon on 31 July 1698 with the announcement that he had decided to leave them. He bid them farewell and moved to Christina, planning to return to Sweden.
This announcement, plus an impassioned sermon by Björk at the Wicaco church on 28 August 1698, caused the "upper ongregation" to agree to end their internal differences, to renew their pledges to build a new church and to leave the decision-making on the new church to the pastors.
Rudman thereupon returned to Wicaco and resumed his duties.
For the next two years, Rudman labored hard to bring the new church into being at Wicaco. The first contracts were signed in October 1698. The church was sufficiently finished to permit its
formal consecration on Sunday, 2 June 1700. Rudman had consecrated Holy Trinity Church at Christina the year before. Björk did the honors at Wicaco. The new church was christened Gloria
Dei (Glory to God).
Another project receiving Rudman's attention was liturgical music. Rudman brought with him from Sweden a small spinet and devoted time to writing eight hymns which were printed and published
by Reynier Jansen, a German printer, in 1700 the first two hymnals to be printed in America.
Founder of Manatawny
While the new church was under construction, Governor William Penn returned to Philadelphia from London. On 7 Dec. 1699, Rudman, Björk, Aurén and "a large part of the upper congregation"
paid their respects to Penn, who assured them that he would thereafter continue to show the Swedes "all possible favor." Rudman soon put Penn to the test on his promise. Pointing out that
many of the Swedes felt cheated by the preemption of their lands for Quaker settlement, Rudman secured an order from William Penn in October 1701 setting aside 10,000 acres up the Schuylkill,
near Manatawny Creek, for members of his congregation. The resulting settlement in Amity Township, originally known as Manatawny, now Douglassville, later became the location of St.
Gabriel's (Old Swedes) Church, founded in 1720.
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With the completion of Gloria Dei Church, Rudman felt that his mission was completed and wrote to Sweden, asking that he be replaced. His health had suffered. He yearned to see his mother,
siblings and native land again. However, when his replacement (Andreas Sandel) arrived in 1702, Rudman was persuaded to postpone his return to Sweden and, instead, to serve as pastor of the Dutch Lutheran Church in New York City. He preached his farewell sermon at Gloria Dei on 19 July 1702 and left the next day for New York.
After a year in New York, Rudman decided he could not, because of his health problems, continue. He therefore recruited his own replacement, Justus Falckner, whom he ordained at Gloria Dei on 24 November 1703. Shortly thereafter, on 23 Feb. 1704, King Carl XII of Sweden, issued an order formally confirming Rudman as "Superintendent" (suffragan bishop) of the Lutheran Church in America.
Rudman's Final Years
Rudman remained in Philadelphia, residing on a lot between Cedar and Pine streets, between Front Street and the Delaware River. He now spent part of his time writing a history of the Swedish
church at Wicaco, which is still preserved in the records of Gloria Dei. In addition, however, he was persuaded by Rev. George Keith to assume the pastorate of Trinity Church near Frankfort in
Oxford Township, 8 miles from Philadelphia. He began serving this Anglican church on 2 April 1704. In 1707, he added the pastorate at Christ Church, Philadelphia, to his responsibilities during
the absence of its regular minister, Evan Evans, in England.
It had been Rudman's intention to move back to Sweden after Evans returned from England. But fate intervened. Rudman became mortally ill with "lung sickness" on 13 September 1708 and died
four days later. Björk and Sandel presided at Rudman's funeral on 20 September and he was buried in the floor of the church in front of the altar. "He was not yet 40 years old," lamented Eric Björk,
who delivered the funeral sermon before "an exceeding great number of people."
Rudman's will, dated 13 Sept. 1708, named his wife Elisabeth executrix and made bequests to his two surviving children, Magdalena and Anna Catharine. He also had at least two other children, both sons, who died in childhood. His widow Elisabeth did not remarry. She lived on the Schuylkill on land her husband had acquired in 1708 from her brother, Peter Mattson, Jr., until her
final year when she lived with her daughter Anna Catharine Tranberg. She wrote her will at Peter Tranberg's house in Piles Grove, Salem County, on 1 September 1736 and was buried by her son in-law on 5 September.
The two surviving children of Andreas Rudman and Elisabeth Mattsson were:
1. Magdalena Rudman, born 24 Feb. 1699 in Philadelphia, was married on 21 August 1718 at Gloria Dei Church to Andrew Robeson, Jr., born in 1692, the eldest son of Andrew Robeson
(Scotch) and Maria Helm (Swedish). They resided in Roxborough Township, Philadelphia and had five children, all of whom died without issue: Andrew, Elisabeth (who married William Vander-spiegel), Rudman (who married Margaret), William and Sarah. Magdalena's husband died in 1740. She outlived all of her children, excepting Elisabeth Vanderspiegel, and died on 25 Feb. 1769 at the age of 70.
2. Anna Catharine Rudman, born about 1705 in Philadelphia, was married in 1726 at Gloria Dei Church to Pastor Peter Tranberg, newly arrived from Sweden. They lived from 1726 until 1742 at Piles Grove, Salem County NJ, during which time Tranberg served as pastor of the Swedish churches at Raccoon (Swedesboro) and Penns Neck. In 1742, Tranberg became pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, which he served until his death in November 1748. Anna Catharine Tranberg died in Wilmington on 25 Sept. 1764. They had six children:
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Andrew Tranberg, born 18 April 1727, became a merchant in Wilmington, but died unmarried 16 Jan. 1759.
Rebecca Tranberg, born 3 June 1730, was married on 27 Feb. 1752 at Holy Trinity Church to Baron Adolph Benzel, son of the Swedish Archbishop Eric Benzelius and grandson of Bishop Jesper Swedberg. Benzel became an officer in the British Army in the New York colony and died at Crown Point on Lake Champlain in 1775. Rebecca returned to Wilmington, where, on 26 Nov. 1783, she married William Killen, Chief Justice of the State of Delaware. She died 7 Jan. 1790 in Dover, Delaware.
Elisabeth Tranberg, born 7 Nov. 1732, married [1] pastor Olof Parlin of Gloria Dei Church, 31 Oct. 1751, [2] Gabriel Springer of Wilmington, 14 Jan. 1762; died 29 Sept. 1802 in Wilmington.
Rachel Tranberg, born 9 Jan. 1737, died in 1743 in Wilmington.
Peter Tranberg, born 15 Jan. 1741, buried 29 July 1750 in Wilmington.
Theophilus Tranberg, born 9 March 1746, died 9 May 1746 in Wilmington.
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Picture: View of the Elk River near Elkton, Maryland, Wiki
