Måns Nilsson Kling or Mauno Kling was the Lieutenant in command of the 17th century New Sweden settlement, headquarted at Fort Christina, now Wilmington, Delaware. He may have been of Finnish origin, Finland then being a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. He arrived with the first expedition on March 29, 1638 and was left in command from June 15, 1638 until April 1640.

The first Swedish(-Finnish) expedition to North America was launched from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637. The expediton was organized and overseen by the Finnish Admiral Klaus Fleming. A Dutchman Samuel Blommaert assisted with the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit to lead the expedition.

Peter Minuit was to become the first governor of the newly established colony of New Sweden. However, Minuit reportedly died in the summer of 1638 during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean, while on a journey back to Europe. Thus, the official duties of the first governor of New Sweden were carried out by the Finnish Lieutenant (then raised to the rank of Captain) Mauno Kling, until the next governor was chosen and brought in from the mainland Sweden, two years later.

In 1636-1637 Minuit made arrangements with Samuel Blommaert and the Swedish government to create the first Swedish(-Finnish) colony in the New World. Located on the lower Delaware River at what is now Wilmington, Delaware, within the territory later claimed by the Dutch, it was called New Sweden, with the Swedes (and Finns) landing there in the spring of 1638.

References

External links

• American Swedish Historical Museum. website.
• The Swedish Colonial Society. History of New Sweden in America.
• The New Sweden Centre. website.

New Sweden | American colonial people