Israel Acrelius

1714-1800. Lutheran clergyman and author. Born in öster-Aker, Sweden, son of the local pastor, Acrelius studied at the University of Uppsala and was ordained in 1743. He served Swedish pastorates for six years, then sailed for missionary service among the Swedes on the Delaware River south of Philadelphia. Finding church discipline at Christina indecently lax, he put his church in order. He gave active help to the German Lutherans in Pennsylvania and during leisure hours gathered material for his History of New Sweden which, published in 1759, is the chief literary monument of the Swedes on the Delaware. Poor health forced his return to Sweden in 1756.