A founder of the New Sweden colony in present-day Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. In September 1639, he sailed from Goteborg, Sweden, aboard the Kalmar Nyckel, with his pregnant wife and two children. On arriving in New Sweden, he was assigned to work on a plantation in Fort Christina. In 1645, he was released from servitude and moved to Kingsessing (now in West Philadelphia), where he operated a grist mill on Cobb's Creek. In 1653, he was one of 22 signers of a petition of grievances against Governor Johan Printz, which ultimately led to his removal. In 1664, he moved with his family to Wicaco, a former Indian village, where he bought an 1100-acre tract between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. On this land was built the original Gloria Dei Church of log construction in 1677. When Gunnarsson died at Wicaco the following year, he was among the first to be buried at the church. Later, his sons sold part of the Wicaco tract to William Penn, as the site of his city of Philadelphia.