Maria Månsdotter

Maria Månsdotter, born c. 1676, married Matthias Matthiason, only son and heir of Hendrick Matthiasson, a Finn, who had been sent to New Sweden in 1641 as punishment for a minor crime. In 1648, he was made a freeman and frequently used Freeman as a surname. He also signed the complaint against Governor Printz in 1653, but did not flee New Sweden. However, after marrying Elisabeth (parents not identified), he moved to the Sassafras River in 1658 and settled on a 100-acre plantation on Sassafras Neck called "Mathiason." Upon his death in 1687, this was inherited by his son Matthias Matthiason.

Matthias Matthiason alias Freeman operated an "ordinary" (inn) on his land, which became the first courthouse in Cecil County. In 1699 and 1700, he also traveled to Delaware and worked for two days helping to build Holy Trinity Church. He was suretor for Christopher Mounts, administrator of the estate of Nicholas Dorrell, and when Matthias died in 1702, Christopher Mounts was suretor for his sister Maria, executrix of Matthias' estate. Maria married [2] Otho Othoson [Dutch] in 1704. She died after 1715. Her children, all by her first marriage, were:

Mary Matthiason, born 2 April 1690, married John Kämpe, son of Lars Pålsson Kämpe of New Sweden. In 1717 they moved to Gloucester County, New Jersey, to join John's brother, Paul Kämpe, who had moved there a few years before. Elisabeth Matthiasson, born c. 1694, not further traced. Matthias Matthiasson, Jr., baptized 20 August 1699, inherited his father's "Mathia-son" plantation. He died in 1733 and his widow Mary died in 1740. They had four children, one of whom (Matthias Matthiasson III) became a mariner and was living in Biddeford, Devonshire, England, when he and his wife, Ann sold the last remnant of the home plantation in 1752