Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Acrelius, Israel

ACRELIUS, Israel (ăkrā'-le-oos), Swedish clergyman, b. in Osteraker, Sweden, 25 Dec., 1714; d. in Fellingsbro, 25 April, 1800. He was educated in Upsala, ordained in 1743, and sent out as provost of the Swedish congregations in New Sweden (afterward Delaware), in 1749. He reached Philadelphia in November, and began his work with zeal and prudence, successfully superintending the ecclesiastical affairs of the Swedish colonies, which he found in great disorder. But ill health obliged him to resign in 1756, after a sojourn of seven years in America, and on his return to Sweden the king gave him a pension and the living of Fellingsbro. He wrote various articles on America, for Swedish journals and for religious papers, and published “The Swedish Colonies in America” (Stockholm, 1759), which was translated into English in 1874, and is a work of value and interest.