possibly
five hundred of Dutch and mixed blood, together with a few English, all
living a life of abundance on a fine river amid pleasing scenery, with
good supplies of fish and game, a fertile soil, and a wilderness of
opportunity to the west of them. All were well pleased to be relieved
from the stagnant despotism of the Duke of York and to take part in the
free popular government of William Penn in Pennsylvania. They
became magistrates and officials, members of the council and of the
legislature. They soon found that all their avenues of trade and life
were quickened. They passed from mere farmers supplying their own needs
to exporters of the products of their farms.

Descendants of the Swedes and Dutch still form the basis of the
population of Delaware. * There were some Finns at Marcus Hook, which
was called Finland; and it may be noted in passing that there were not
a few French among the Dutch, as among the Germans in Pennsylvania,
Huguenots who had fled from religious persecution in France. The name
Jaquette, well known in Delaware, marks one of these families, whose
immigrant ancestor was one of the Dutch governors. In the ten or
dozen generations since the English conquest intermarriage has in many
instances inextricably mixed up Swede, Dutch, and French, as well as the
English stock, so that many persons with Dutch names are of Swedish or
French descent and vice versa, and some with English names like Oldham
are of Dutch descent. There has been apparently much more intermarriage
among the different nationalities in the province and less standing
aloof than among the alien divisions of Pennsylvania.

* Swedish names anglicized are now found everywhere. Gostafsson
has become Justison and Justis. Bond has become Boon; Hoppman, Hoffman;
Kalsberg, Colesberry; Wihler, Wheeler; Joccom, Yocum; Dahlbo, Dalbow;
Konigh, King; Kyn, Keen; and so on. Then there are also such names as
Wallraven, Hendrickson, Stedham, Peterson, Matson, Talley, Anderson, and
the omnipresent Rambo, which have suffered little, if any, change.
Dutch names are also numerous, such as Lockermans, Vandever, Van
Dyke, Vangezel, Vandegrift, Alricks, Statts, Van Zandt, Hyatt, Cochran
(originally Kolchman), Vance, and Blackstone (originally Blackenstein).

After the English conquest some Irish Presbyterians or Scotch-Irish
entered Delaware. Finally came the Quakers, comparatively few in
colonial times but more numerous after the Revolution, e