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WILMINGTON
"Her mingled streams of Swedish, Dutch and English blood."
By E. N. VALLANDIGHAM
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
