John Hansson Steelman
John Hansson Steelman, also known as "Hance" Stillman, Stelman, Tilghman, or Tillmann (1655–1749), the eldest son of Hans Månsson and Ella Olofsdotter Stille.
In 1693 he changed his name to John Hansson Steelman, from a combination of his mother's maiden name Stille and her husband's patronym, Måns.
[7][9] Steelman and his oldest son John were naturalized as residents of Cecil County by an act of the Maryland General Assembly in October 1695.
Steelman also established trade with the Shawnees at Pequea on the Susquehanna, and at Pechoquealin (now Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania) on the Delaware, before 1697.
[11]: 129 On 1 June 1697, Steelman was called before a joint conference of the Council of Maryland and asked to give an account of the Susquehannock and other Indians living on Chesapeake Bay.
He reported: On 26 May 1698, a conference was held at Steelman's trading-house at Sahakitko between John Thompson and two other commissioners, sent by Governor Nathaniel Blakiston of Maryland, and the chiefs of the Susquehannocks, the Shawnees, and the Delawares.
[10]: 66–67 Steelman's name is signed as a witness to the treaty made between Penn and the Susquehannocks, on 23 April 1701, ceding their lands along the Potomac River to the English in return for protection and trade privileges.
[13][14]: 17 In October 1702, "John Hans Tillman" (Steelman) was ordered to act as interpreter in an investigation into robberies supposedly committed by some Conestoga Indians.
[11]: 165 According to testimony provided for an investigation led by Deputy Governor Charles Gookin, when Steelman discovered that Le Tort and the slaves were missing, he went to the home of Shawnee chief Opessa Straight Tail at Pequea Creek, who later testified that Opessa Straight Tail was absolved by Governor Gookin for the murder, and all but one of the Shawnee warriors responsible for killing Le Tort were hunted down and killed.
By 1701, this was affecting their profits, and William Penn felt that Steelman should obtain a Pennsylvania trader's license since he was doing so much business across the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.
In April, 1701 Penn had Steelman's trade goods confiscated at Philadelphia while they were in transit to Lechay (Lehigh Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania).
[11]: 164 At a meeting held on 31 May, Governor Penn stated to his Council, that In 1705, Steelman planned to open a trading post at Conestoga, to the dismay of the Pennsylvania provincial authorities.
He told them "that he understood John Hans was building a log house, for trade amongst them, which made us [the Government's representatives] uneasy; and desired to know whether they [the Indians] encouraged it.
"[11]: 164 Steelman moved in 1693 to Sahakitko (present-day Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland) on the Little Elk River, where he built a log cabin and then a stone house and became one of the foremost Indian traders.
[23] A doorway on the east side led into a kitchen, which was probably the original log cabin residence and trading post that Steelman lived in while he was building the stone structure.
An archeological investigation found signs of this log structure, which was converted into a kitchen, and may also have served as a combination sauna and smokehouse.
[18]: 27 There was a wide doorway on one side of the house, with steps leading from the outside into the basement, where goods and customers could enter the trading post area.
[17] By 1720 Steelman had moved west to what is now Adams County, where he continued his trading ventures as the first white settler in that part of the country.
[17] Steelman was forced to relocate his business as his Shawnee and Lenape customers moved westward into the Ohio country, pressured by the growing colonial population as new settlements were established, forests were cut down and game disappeared.
