Anthony: Delaware’s First Known Black Settler

New Castle County · dedicated 1988 · 1110 East 7th Street, Wilmington

A black man named Anthony was among the first permanent settlers of New Sweden. He came to the colony from the West Indies in 1639 aboard the Swedish ship Vogel Grip. Records indicate that Black Anthony became a free man named Antoni Swart, an employee of Governor Johan Printz, who cut hay and sailed Printz’s sloop during the 1640’s and 1650’s.

John Carter Brown Library, Brown University

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