Once Upon a Time in Delaware

To be Copyrighted
by the Delaware Society of the
Colonial Dames of America
1911

To All Delaware Children

Dear Girls and Boys:

These true stories are written just for you.They tell how once upon a time brave men andwomen came across the ocean and landed here inthe wilderness, among the Indian tribes; howthey made farms and towns and cities andformed a state; and how they fought for thefreedom and the peace that Delaware now enjoys.Only thirteen out of the forty-eight statesof our Union are original colonies, and Delawareis one of these famous thirteen. You are theyoung citizens, therefore, of an historic state.To you it will fall, some day, to uphold the honorof Delaware. May you be as patriotic and asbrave as the Delaware settlers who conqueredthe wilderness and the Delaware soldiers wholaid down their lives for liberty and right.

The Delaware Society of the

Colonial Dames of America.

Editor’s Preface

This book is published by the Delaware Societyof the Colonial Dames of America for the use,primarily, of the children of Delaware, in schooland out. Its style and matter are thereforchosen to suit young readers.

Many historical points in these stories aremore or less disputed. The original sources donot always agree. In preparing these stories ofDelaware for children’s reading, it has beenthought best to use anecdotes and interestingtraditions whenever they could be found. Theresult is a substantially true set of stories, whichdo not however, undertake to settle the facts inany disputed case, but are designed to leave in achild’s mind the broad outlines of Delawarehistory.

The stories have all been read and revised bythe Hon. Alexander B. Cooper of New Castle,to whom the thanks of the Colonial Dames arehere expressed for his wise and constant help.The Rev. Joseph B. Turner, of Dover, has alsokindly read over several of the stories.

Table of Contents