NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
The Gift of
William Radehaugh
m ^ ^ ^ ^ m ^ m
XLbc (3erman límmígratíon
into
ll^enn8^lv>a^ía
Xlbrouôb tbe port ot pbílabelpbía,
1700 to 1775.
Part II.
tibe IRebemptioners.
Prepared at the Request of
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
BY
FRANK RIED DIFFENDERFFER.
Ex-Secretary and ex-President of The Pennsylvania-German Society, Secretary of the
Lancaster County Historical Society, Author of " The Three Earls," " The
German Exodus to England in 1709," " The Palatine and Quaker
as Commonwealth-Builders," etc., etc.
LANCASTER, PA.
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
MDCCCG
Copyrighted 1900, by
Frank Ried Diffenderffer.
Edition, 250 Copies.
press op
The New Era Printing Company
Lancaster, pa
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Preface y-8
CHAPTER I.
Our Sources of Information Relative to the German
Immigration, and where they are Defective or Alto¬
gether Absent.—Extensive Character of the Immigra¬
tion not Realized in the Beginning 9-15
CHAPTER II.
Causes Leading to the Migration to Pennsylvania.—
Penn Favorably Known in Germany.—Descriptive Ac¬
counts of the Province Published in many Languages
and widely Circulated 16-22
CHAPTER III.
Penn's own Description of his Province, in which its
Advantages and Attractions are Fully and Minutely set
forth for the Benefit of Intending Immigrants .... 23-33
CHAPTER. IV.
Efforts to Secure Colonists Successful.—Alarm Cre¬
ated by their great Numbers from Germany.—System
of Registration Adopted.—Arrival of many Ships.—
Their Names, Numbers and Places of Departure . . . 34-56
CHAPTER V.
The "Voyage across the Ocean.—Discomforts and
Privations Attending it.—Insufficient Room.—Deficient
Supplies of Food and Drink.—Unsanitary Conditions
and Excessive Mortality 57~7o
iii
iv
Table of Contents.
CHAPTER VI.
Pennsylvania the Favorite Home of German Immi¬
grants.—What Occurred in Massachusetts.—The Ger¬
mans Especially Adapted to the Requirements of Penn's
Province.—Bishop Berkeley's Prevision 7i~77
CHAPTER VII.
Glance at the Quarrels Between the Proprietary Gov¬
ernors and the Provincial Assembly.—It was not the
Political Golden Age to^which we Sometimes Refer
with so much Pride and Pleasure 78-90
CHAPTER VIII.
Early Demand of the Germans for Naturalization.—
Request Denied, but granted Later.—How they Spread
all over the Land and Became the Shield and Bulwark
of the Quakers by Guarding the Frontiers against the
Indians
CHAPTER IX.
The German Population of Pennsylvania as Estimated
by various Writers at various Epochs.—Often mere
Guesses.—Better means of Reaching close Results now.
—Some Sources of Increase not Generally Considered . 99—108
CHAPTER X.
Their Detractors and Their Friends.—What both Par¬
ties have said.—The Great Philosopher Franklin Mis¬
taken.—How the Passing Years have Brought along
their Vindication 109-117
CHAPTER XL
The Germans as Farmers.—Answer to a Recent His¬
torian who Asserts They, although a Race of Farmers,
did not take the Same Enjoyment in Agricultural Pur¬
suits as the Scotch-Irish and Others ! 118-140
Table of Contents.
V
THE REDEMPTIONERS.
CHAPTER I.
Who and What they Were.—A Condition born of
Necessity Beyond the Sea and Transferred to Amer¬
ica.—The Several Kinds of Bond Servants.—A Strik¬
ing Feature in the History of Pennsylvania .... 143-150
CHAPTER II.
Bond Servants a Universal Custom of the Times.—
Brought from Great Britain and taken to all the Middle
Colonies.—Synopsis of Colonial. Legislation on Inden¬
tured Servants 151-171
CHAPTER III.
Origin and Meaning of the Term " Redemptioner."—
Narrative of Gottlieb Mittelberger who, after Residing
in Pennsylvania four years, Returned to the Fatherland
and by Request wrote a full Account of the Voyage
Across the Sea and the Redemptioner Traffic . . 172-187
CHAPTER IV.
The " Newlanders " or Soul-Sellers.—Men who made
a Business of Sending Redemptioners to Pennsylva¬
nia.—How their Nefarious Traffic was Carried on in
the Fatherland.—Letters from Pastor Muhlenberg and
Others 188-200
CHAPTER V.
The Testimony of the Newspapers Concerning the
Traffic in Redemptioners in the Eighteenth Century.—
A Mere Article "of Merchandise in the Market, and sold
to the first Bidder 201-218
vi
Table of Contents.
CHAPTER VI.
Redemptioners or Indentured Servants not all Ger¬
mans.—Ireland, Scotland and England Contributed
large numbers to carry on the w^ork of Commonwealth-
BuUding 219-239
CHAPTER VII.
Christopher Saur's Letters to Governor Morris, Plead¬
ing for Just Legislation looking to the Protection of
German Immigrants in General and the German Re¬
demptioners in Particular 240-257
CHAPTER VIII.
The Mortality of Immigrants on Shipboard.—Organ¬
ization of the German Society, and its good Work.—
Lands Assigned to Redemptioners at the end of their
Service on easy Terms 258-275
CHAPTER IX.
The Traffic in Redemptioners in the Neighboring
Colonies.—Men Kidnapped in London and Deported.—
Prisoners of War sent to America in Cromwell's time
and sold into Bondage 276-293
CHAPTER X.
Argument to show the Redemptioner System was not
wholly Evil.—That much Good came out of it.—That
in some Particulars it was Preferable to the Unre¬
warded Toil in the Fatherland 294—317
INDEX TO FULL-PAGE INSETS.
1. Portrait of Author Frontispiece.
2. Gustavus Adolphus Facing page 14
3. William Penn " " 30
4. Menno Simon " " 46
5. Domestic Industries—^Tow Reel—Spun Flax ... " " 64
6. Glassware made at Manheim, 1768-1774 " " 76
7. Provincial Head Gear—Domestic Utensils " " 88
8. German Household Utensils " " 100
9. Benjamin Franklin " " no
10. Pennsylvania-German Farm Life ^. . " " 122
11. Oldest House in Lancaster County " " 135
12. Domestic Utensils, etc " " 146
13. Pennsylvania-German Enterprise " " 159
14. Baron Stiegel Stove Plate " " 179
15. Witmer's Bridge, across Conestoga River .... " " 191
16. Milk Cellar—Drying Shed " " 202
17. Primitive Cider Mill " " 214
18. Provincial Kitchen Outfit " " 230
19. Rifle Barrel Factory " " 245
20. Henry Keppele " " 264
21. The Community Cider Mill " " 298
22. Franklin College " •' 312
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT.
FAOB.
1. Headpiece
2. Seal of Pennsylvania-German
Society
3. Head Piece
4. Initial of Pennsylvania-Ger¬
man Society
5. Arms of Sweden
6. Autogfraph of Gustavus Adol-
phus
7. Arms of the Holy Roman Em¬
pire
8. Head Piece
9. Arms of the Printers' Guild .
10. Arms of Penn
11. Old Style Fat Lamp
12. Head Piece
13. Palatine Architecture ....
14. Penn'8 " Brief Account " . . .
15. Tail Piece
16. Head Piece
17. Palatine Building:
18. Penn's "Letter to Society of
Traders "
19. Great Seal of the Province . .
20. A Frontier German Hamlet .
21. Budd's Account of Pennsyl¬
vania
22. Old-Time Pennsylvania Cra¬
dle
23. Head Piece
24. Early Farmer's Home ....
25. Cornelius Bom's Account . .
26. Old-Fashioned "Dutch.Oven"
27. Head Piece
28. Specimen of German Archi¬
tecture
29. Francis Daniel Pastorius'
Tracts
30. Headpiece
7
9
9
12
14
15
16
16
19
22
23
23
25
33
34
34
37
38
44
49
56
57
57
61
70
7*
71
73
78
31-
32.
33.
34-
35-
36-
37.
38.
39-
40.
41.
42.
43-
44.
45-
46.
47-
48.
49-
50.
51-
52.
53-
54.
55-
56.
57.
58.
59-
PA6B.
Old Hip-roofed House .... 78
Melchior Adam Pastorius'
Booklet 85
Skimmer and Musstopf ... 90
Head Piece 91
Arms of Holland, A.D. 1694 . 91
Conestoga Team and Wagon . 95
Head Piece 99
Coat-of-Arms 99
Gabriel Thomas' Pennsylva¬
nia 103
Head Piece 109
Fatherland Cathedral .... 109
Falckner's Continuation of
Thomas 113
Specimen of Early Pottery . .117
Early Pennsylvania Home¬
stead 118
Seal of the City of Pennsyl¬
vania 118
Primitive Lantern 124
Early Settlers and their Visi¬
tors 128
Ox Yoke and Flail 132
Early Pennsylvania Printing
Press 136
Arms of Great Britain .... 140
Head Piece 143
Insig^nia of Pennsylvania-Ger¬
man Society 143
A Pioneer's Cabin 148
Head Piece 151
Seal of William Penn .... 151
Gabriel Thomas' Map of Penn¬
sylvania 155
Peasants and Costumes of the
Palatinate 162
London Coffee House 168
Early Pennsylvania Pottery. . 171
viii
Illustrations in Text.
ix
PAGE.
6a Head Piece 172
61. Initial Pennsylvania-German
Society 172
62. Castle in the Palatinate ... 178
63. Straw Bread Basket 183
64. Tail Piece 187
65. Head Piece 188
66. Seal of Germantown 188
67. Autograph Hntry of Pastor
Muhlenberg 193
68. Title Page Kalm's Travels. . . 197
69. lesser Seal of Province.... 198
70. Head Piece 201
71. Arms of Rotterdam 201
72. Autograph of Christopher Saur 204
73. Facsimile Title of Saur's
Paper 207
74. Bread Tray, Knife and Scorer 210
75. Roach Trap, Bügeleisen, etc. . 218
76. Head Piece 219
77. An Bphrata Sjmibol 219
78. Irish Redemptioner's Certifi¬
cate 224
79. Cloister Building, at Bphrata. 228
80. Seal ollthe Bphrata Brethren . 233
81. Redemptioner's Certificate . . 236
82. Razor Case, Razor and Bancet 238
83. Arms of the City of London. . 239
84. Street Scene in Old German-
town 240
85. Seal of William Penn 240
86. Signature of Francis Daniel
Pastorius 244
87. Barly Coffee Mill 246
88. Currency of Revolutionary
Period 249
89. Currency of Revolutionary
Period 250
90. Clock of the Provincial Period 253
91. An old Germantown Band-
mark 257
PAGE.
92. Old Robert's Mill, near Ger¬
mantown 258
93. Arms of the Palatinate . . . 258
94. Smaller Seal of Germantown . 261
95. Tar Bucket of Olden Days . . 263
96. Seal of the German Society of
Pennsylvania 265
97. Map of the Palatinate 267
98. Gourd Seine Float 270
99. Penn's " Some Account "
Tract 274
100. Ross Coat-of-Arms 275
101. Old Market Square, German-
town 276
102. Old Time Wooden Bantem . . 276
103. Governor Markham's Auto¬
graph 278
104. Redemptioners offered for
Sale 280
105. Dutch Boy offered for Sale - . 281
106. Blue Anchor Tavern ..... 284
107. Immigrants on the St. Michael 287
108. Passenger Ship of 1750 .... 290
109. Autograph of Conrad Weiser . 292
no. Tail Piece 293
111. De la Plaine House, German-
town 294
112. Franklin Coat-of-Arms .... 294
113. Bphrata Display Type . . . .295,
114. Celebrated Almanac Cover . . 297
115. Provincial Barber's Basin . . 301
116. Facsimile of Trappe Records 303
117. The Pioneers' Foe 306
118. A Custom in the Father¬
land 310
119. Plockhoy's Description of
Pennsylvania 311
120. The Morris tlouse in German-
town 315
121. The Diffenderffer Wappen . . 317
122. The Bnd 330
PREFATORY.
'HE story of the German immi¬
gration to Pennsylvania in the
17th and i8th centuries, and since,
forms one of the most interesting and
notable chapters in the history of the
colonization of the New World. For
many decades its importance and
significance was not recognized or
understood even by those who formed
part and parcel of it. It is only within a recent period
that it has received the attention it deserves. During the
past few years a dozen books on this and germane sub¬
jects have been written and published and several more
will be issued before the year's close.
Perhaps the main factor in directing attention to this
needed work was the organization of the Pennsylvania-
German Society in 1891. The enterprise of a few en¬
thusiastic men resulted in arousing an interest in the sub¬
ject unknown before. Their action met with a hearty
response from Pennsylvanians of German descent in all
(7)
8 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
parts of the country, and while to-day it may not stand
first in actual membership, the Society is certainly far in
advance of every similar organization in the land in the
amount of excellent work it has done towards carrying out
the purposes of its organization, and in placing the Ger¬
man element in the colonization of Pennsylvania in its
proper light before the world. Its contributions to the
literature of the subject have received recognition and
praise on two continents. The " Slumbering Giant," as
the German element in Pennsylvania has been aptly called,
has at last been aroused to a consciousness of his might
and importance, his birthright and inheritançie, and mani¬
fests a determination to assert his claims to the same.
The question of the German influence in the physical,
political and intellectual upbuilding of this Commonwealth
is of special interest to those of German ancestry. It has
not yet been fully worked out but the present day is radiant
with promise. The following chapters are offered as pre¬
senting some of the "lights and shadows" accompanying
this immigration least familiar to the general reader.
It affords me much pleasure and satisfaction to make
grateful acknowledgment to Julius F. Sachse, Esq., for
the excellent original illustrations he has prepared to ac¬
company this volume ; they not only add much to its at¬
tractiveness, but have, in addition, an historical value all
their own.
F. R. D.
I<ANCASTER, October, 1900.
CHAPTER I.
Our Sources of Information Relative to the German
Immigration, and where they are Defective or Al¬
together Absent.—Extensive Character of that Im¬
migration not Realized in the Beginning.
" I hear the tread of pioneers,
Of nations yet to be ;
The first low wash of waves where soon
Shall roll a human sea.
"The rudiments of empire here,
Are plastic yet and warm ;
The chaos of a mighty world
Is rounding into form."
♦fjrT must be conceded that the
II materials, both written and
traditional, along many lines of the
history of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania are abundant and,
for the most part, thoroughly re¬
liable. Its founder was himself a
university man, ready with tongue
and pen, and the writer of many
pamphlets, and his selection of agents, assistants and
advisers proves him to have had a natural preference for
cultured and scholarly men to aid him in carrying out
his views for the advancement of his province. His
(9)
I o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
selection of the youthful but scholarly Logan, for more
than a generation his tried and trusty Secretary, Griffith
Owen, Samuel Carpenter and others, seems to show the
importance he attached to having men of culture about
him to forward his wise and enlightened schemes of gov¬
ernment and commonwealth-building. It was in a large
measure due to these nien, along with himself, that the
mass of written material at the command of the diligent
historian of to-day is so full and so accessible.
Then, too, time has dealt kindly with our early records.
Much has undoubtedly been lost or destroyed, or, mayhap,
is still buried in unsuspected and neglected depositories ;
but that which has disappeared or failed to appear must
of necessity be only a fractional part of the whole. We
have no reason to believe that any material of supjreme
importance to a reasonably full record of our provincial
period—any lost books of Livy, so to speak—has per¬
ished from our annals. The chain of evidence along most
lines of investigation is as complete and unbroken as we
have a right to expect. It is not to be expected that there
should not be a hiatus here and there, something to be
wished for, something that seems to be needed along a
stretch of time covering more than two hundred years of
the fortunes, the trials and triumphs of the most conglom¬
erate people that ever built up a free and independent State
in modern times. But we may congratulate ourselves that
our records, even back to our beginnings, are so full, and
that with them as faithful guides we can sit down and build
up anew upon the printed page the continuous story of the
men who laid deep and strong the civil, social, religious
and political foundations of Pennsylvania.
And yet there is one chapter, and that a very important
one, from which we turn with regret, because while it
Family Records Lacking.
II
deeply concerns all men of German, Swiss and Huguenot
ancestry, it is the one most needed to throw light on the
arrival of the first comers, the men who came here from
the Rhine provinces ^uring the first quarter of the eight¬
eenth century. Of the many thousands that found their
way across the broad Atlantic to Pennsylvania during that
period, only a small portion brought written records with
them, or took measures to prepare and preserve them after
their arrival. The more highly educated did not neglect
this obligation to posterity. Still others brought with them
that most precious of all their household treasures, the heavy,
oak-lidded German Bible, wherein the Old World pastor
had with scrupulous care recorded the brief life and death
record of the family. Most precious heirlooms are these
household treasures to-day to the few so fortunate as to
have them. But an infinitely greater number, descendants
of those who had not the learning of the schools and who
were incapable of preparing such memorials for'them¬
selves, left no such records for their descendants to fall
back upon, and the latter have in consequence been left to
sail about upon the broad sea of doubt and uncertainty,
unable to obtain their bearings or find their moorings.
It is here that the historiographer of the " Immigration
of the Germans through the port of Philadelphia " finds
himself confronted with almost insuperable difficulties.
During the period between 1683 17^7» the landmarks
that could and should guide him are not to be found.
They have not been obliterated ; they were never erected,
and the perplexed chronicler sails to and fro over that un¬
known and uncharted sea of our provincial history, vainly
endeavoring to pick up and preserve the fiotsam which ac¬
cident, rather than design, may have cast into his pathway.
No wonder that to-day ten thousand men and women of
12 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania^
German ancestry are tireless in their search for the floating
threads, the missing links that are needed to bind them to
the unknown kindred in the Fatherland, but which in
many instances have seemingly been.lost forever.
When the first German settlers came to Pennsylvania,
and in what numbers, and under what circumstances, are
questions more easily asked than answered. Besides, it
would perhaps be more interesting than profitable, for they
left no permanent settlements, left no impress upon the
future of the Province and may therefore be dismissed
ample to establish the presence of German settlers in Penn¬
sylvania long before Pastorius led his colony of Crefelders
to Germantown. Even as these pages are running through
the press a letter has been found in Germany, through the
efforts of a member of the Pennsylvania-German Society,^
written from Germantown itself by one of the Op den
Graeff brothers, dated February 12, 1684, in which the
presence of a German Reformed congregation in that lo-
1 Julius F. Sachse, Esq.
with a mere allusion. The settle¬
ments planted by Gustavus Adol-^
phus and his illustrious minister
Oxensteirna on the Delaware in
1638, and later, although under
the auspices of the Swedish king,
contained a large infusion of Ger¬
mans, to whom unusual induce¬
ments were offered. The second
Governor of that little colony,
Johannes Printz, was a Hols-
ARMS OF SWEDEN.
^ teiner, and brought with him a
considerable number of Pommer-
anian families. I'hese facts are
The Germantown Colony,
13
cality is announced at the time when the Pastorius colony
was established. Who these were, whence they came,
how long they had been there, and kindred questions
may perhaps never be revealed, but the general subject
is nevertheless a most interesting one.
The story of the first strictly German settlement in
Pennsylvania, and of the men and women who composed
it, has recently been so fully and so ably written as to
leave nothing further to be desired.^ Owing to circum¬
stances which it is not necessary to recount in this place,
the existing records were ample to prepare the story of the
beginnings of that mighty Teutonic wave of immigration
which, commencing with that colony of less than two
score members in 1683, continued to come in an ever-in¬
creasing volume until it has outgrown and in a measure
displaced some of the other nationalities which preceded it,
and which was destined eventually to outnumber all the
rest, a preëminence it has never lost, but which is to-day
as marked and lasting as at any previous period in our
history. Well have the results of the past two hundred
years fulfilled the promise of that earlier day when Francis
Daniel Pastorius and his earnest compatriots established
their thriving settlement upon the verdant slopes of Ger¬
mantown.
At the beginning of the German immigration, the won¬
derful dimensions it was destined to attain in the course of
time seem not to have dawned upon anyone either in the
Old World or the New. It was of gradual growth and it
was not until nearly two score years after the founding of
the Province that even an organized effort was made to
2 See the splendid contribution to the Provincial history of Pennsylvania,
The Settlement of Germantown, by Judge Samuel W. Pennypacker, pub¬
lished in Volume IX. of the Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society.
14 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
take an account of the names and numbers of the Germans
who landed on these shores. But although fear then did
what should have been done from the beginning, the records
made were far from complete. We have the names of most
of the new comers, know the names of most of the vessels
that brought them over, and in some instances the ages of
the immigrants, but what to-day seems almost as essential
as either of these, we cannot tell in the majority of cases
the locality whence they came. They came from every
portion of the. German Empire ; many from Switzerland ;
others were of French extraction, but who had for a gen¬
eration or more been radicated in the cantons of Switzer-
«
SIGNATURE OF GUSTAVUS ADOEPHUS, KING OF SWEDEN.
land or in the Netherlands, whence, after acquiring the
language of those countries, they finally made their way to
the shores of the Delaware. In many instances family
traditions preserved through after generations the precise
name of the Old World home. Fortunate indeed are those
who brought with them authenticating documents covering
the birthplace, ancestry, age and other valuable items of
family history. But the number of such is comparatively
small when compared with the entire number of arrivals.
How gratefully would such information be appreciated to-
GERMAN inniQRATlON INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
GU5TAVU5 ADOLFHUS. RING OF SWEDEN
FROM PAINTING AT HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Our Annals Defective.
15
day by the thousands of German ancestry, who in their
search for information covering these and other points find
that their ancestors were among the ten or the fifty of the
same name who came to America in the eighteenth cen¬
tury, but which they were or whence they came must ever
remain a sealed book to them. Right here is where our
historical annals are most defective. There should have
been a complete registration from the beginning. Lacking
that, ten thousand men and women of German lineage are
to-day vainly longing for the information which in all hu¬
man probability will ever remain irrecoverable.
ARMS OF THB HOI,Y ROMAN EMPIRE.
CHAPTER II.
Causes Leading to the Migration to Pennsylvania.—
Fenn Favorably Known in Germany.— Descriptive
Accounts of the Province Published in Many Lan¬
guages and Widely Circulated.
"There is nothing that solidifies and strengthens a nation like the reading
of the nation's own history, whether that history is recorded or embodied in
customs, institutions and monuments."
H
LTHOUGH the causes re¬
sponsible for the German
immigration to Pennsylvania are
to-day well understood, it will
nevertheless be in order to refer to
them briefly at the outset of this
narrative. They were various and
concurrent. There was a spirit of
unrest and dissatisfaction through¬
out Europe and especially in Ger-
many. That continent had been
almost continuously torn by devastating wars for a hundred
years previously. Destruction and desolation had been car¬
ried into millions of homes. In almost every kingdom and
principality the tramp of the invader had been heard, and
wherever he appeared ruin followed in his tracks by day,
(i6)
Colonial Enter frise Begins.
17
and his incendiary torch marked his course by night. The
peasant was no more considered in this clash of arms than
the cattle in his fields. Like them he was valued only for
what he was worth to his lord and master, whoever that
might be. He was pressed into the ranks whenever his
services were needed, while his substance was seized and
converted to the public use. To eke out a scanty existence
where the fates had located him without hope of betterment
or material progression seemed the aim and end of his being.
To rise from the plane of life to which he was born was
a blessing vouchsafed to few. Generations of oppression
and penury had in too many cases dwarfed the humanity
within his soul, and he could only in exceptional cases
look forward to anything better or higher.
But as the night of oppression and wrong was nearing
its zenith, the light of a new and a better day was break¬
ing. The fateful voyage of Columbus changed the fate
and fortunes of two continents. It cleared the way for
the era of maritime adventure which followed it at once.
Western Europe arose and from the Iberian to the Scandi¬
navian peninsulas the nations embarked upon a career of
colonial enterprise. The marvellous tales told by the
Genoese sailor of the new lands beyond the great ocean
spread throughout the nations even more rapidly than the
Fiery Cross among the ancient Highlanders of Scotland,
and each one entered upon the game of seizing whatsoever
it could of the spoils that seemed to await the earliest
comer. England, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden and
France at once entered upon the work of seizure and divi¬
sion.
What a boundless field for enterprise, adventure and
wealth was thus opened up to the cupidity of nations and
of individuals, and how quickly they availed themselves of
18 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
the opportunity ! Colonists are needed to found colonies
and at once every available agency was employed to make
these new lands profitable to their new owners. Government
companies were chartered, expeditions were authorized,
princely land grants were made to individuals and each
and all of these offered inducements to the lower ranks in
life, the husbandmen, the mechanics and men of all work
to enlist themselves in these new enterprises. Of course the
most attractive inducements were held out to set this spirit
of emigration in motion. The allurements of the pro¬
moter of the present day hardly surpass, in their false at¬
tractiveness, the fairy tales held up before the starving
millions of the Old World by the Land Companies and
other schemers whose interests lay in the numbers they
could induce to cross the Atlantic and till their lands and
thus make them valuable.
It would require pages to tell this part of my subject in
all its fullness. The printing press, that greatest of all
the agents in the world's civilization, was already held at
its true value. The prospectus of to-day, it is true, was
not yet known, but in its stead the booklet was equally
effective. Scores of small pamphlets of from ten to one
hundred or more pages each were written, printed and scat¬
tered throughout almost every country in Europe.®
Concerning Pennsylvania.
To William Penn, and especially to his trusted agent
Benjamin Furly, must be credited the honor of diverting by
far the largest part of the German emigration to America,
® In Volume VII. of the Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society
will be found the titles of more than two score of these booklets, all direct¬
ing attention to the Province of Pennsylvania. A few of the more important
ones will be found in this volume.
Penn in Germany,
19
to his own Province. This fact has in recent years been
so clearly demonstrated as to receive universal recognition.
A chain of fortuitous circumstances seems to have been
forged in the Divine workshop linking a series of events
that finally culminated in the most remarkable, as it is also
the most interesting, migration of a people from one country
to another, although separated by thousands of miles of
watery waste, which the world has ever seen.
Allusion has already been made to the crushed, oppressed
and poverty-stricken character of the peasantry in certain
parts of Germany, notably in the Rhine provinces, com¬
monly known as the Palatinate. Religious persecutions
were carried out against them even more relentlessly than
the red hand of domestic and foreign wars. To a people
ready to sacrifice and suffer
all for conscience sake, the
persecution by creed was as
unbearable as that which de¬
spoiled them of their homes
and their substance. Among
these people thus affected,
came in the year 1671 and
again in 1677, a man of
humble yet stately mien, one
who preached the doctrines
of peace and good will to
men. He too had passed
through the tribulations of
sake. He could enter into the true inwardness of the
men of the Palatinate, condole, soothe and encourage.
It was William Penn, the Quaker, whose religious tenets
they found in comparison differed little from those held
by the followers of Menno Simon, which was in itself a
ARMS OF PFNN.
persecution for conscience
20 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
strong bond of sympathy. Penn's heart went out to these
resolute but amiable people. Still another bond, one of
kinship, drew them to him. His mother, Margaret Jasper,
was a Dutch woman and it has been alleged that Penn
spoke and wrote in Dutch and in German also, although
this is not certain. There are few stronger ties than those
of language and this, perhaps, was not wanting.
At the period of his travels through Germany, Penn had
not yet acquired the ownership of Pennsylvania ; it came
four years after his last visit. Naturally, one of the first
things he undertook was to secure colonists for his newly-
acquired province. The attention of Englishmen prior to
that period had been directed to New England, to Mary¬
land, Virginia, and the young colonies to the south of her.
The Quakers, it is true, rallied around him and they were
his earliest adherents, and his was for a time a Quaker
colony. But Penn was a man of broad and enlightened
views. He cared little to what nationality his people be¬
longed provided they were otherwise desirable. Nor creed
nor birth nor color was excluded from the laws he formu¬
lated in 1682.^
A recent writer has referred to the influence exercised
by the personality of Penn upon the Germans in the Rhine
provinces in these words: "To all of them the news in
1681 that the tall young Englishman who four years before
had passed through the Rhine country, preaching a doc¬
trine of religious life not very different from that of Menno
Simon, was now the proprietor in America of a vast re¬
gion—greater than all Bavaria, Wurtemburg and Baden
together—and that he had invited them to come and live
there, without wars and persecutions, under laws which
•*john Russell Young's Memorial History of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p.
fa.
Sale of Land Begins.
21
they should share in making—such news must indeed have
roused and stirred many a discouraged peasant house¬
hold.»®
An earlier author wrote : "It has ever been the policy
of our government (Pennsylvania), before and since the
Revolution, and the disposition of our people to receive all
sober emigrants with open arms, and to give them imme¬
diately the free exercise of their trades and occupations,
and of their religion.» ®
It was this liberal spirit that at once induced him to turn
towards his erstwhile friends in Germany. They, next to
his own Qjiaker friends in England, were nearest his heart,
and accordingly we find that among his first efforts to se¬
cure colonists were those directed towards Germany. He
made them acquainted with his territory in America. He
appointed agents to procure emigrants. Benjamin Furly,
an English Separatist, was perhaps the principal and most
active of these and to him a large measure of credit is due
for giving direction to the rising tide of Teutonic immigra¬
tion. As early as March lo, 1682, he had sold several
5,000-acre tracts of land to merchants of Crefeld. This, it
will be seen, was before Penn had himself visited his
princely domain. In 1683 the elder Pastorius, as agent for
a number of German friends, bought 25,000 acres, and on
these the town of Germantown was soon after located.
That was the beginning, and thenceforward many
® John Russell Young's Memorial History of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p. 62.
® Tench Coxe, A View of the United States of America, p. 74.
22 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
other agencies were at work to increase the number of
German immigrants. The Frankfort Land Company did
its utmost to attract settlers to its lands. Such colonists as
were already here wrote home attrac¬
tive accounts of the new home they
had found in the forests of Pennsyl¬
vania. No one, however, was more
industriously engaged in this work
than Penn himself. As early as 1681
he issued a pamphlet giving infor¬
mation concerning his province to
such as wished " to transport them¬
selves or servants into those parts."
German and Dutch translations were
also printed and scattered broadcast
through the Low Countries and Ger¬
many. In 1682 he sent out in Eng¬
lish and German his Brief Account
of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Another description of his province
was issued in English, Dutch, Ger-
(Blackbird) domestic fat man and French in 1684. But his
lamp, on stand. were not the only pamphlets sent out.
Thomas Budd published an account in English in 1685 ;
Cornelius Bom one in Dutch in the same year ; Dr. Moore
one in English in 1687 ; the elder Pastorius one in Ger¬
man in 1692 ; Gabriel Thomas' well-known Account came
out in English and German in 1698 and had an excellent
effect, as had also Daniel Falkner's Curiouse Information,
published in Frankfort and Leipzig in 1702.^
' The above are only a small portion of this early Pennsylvania literature.
Fac-simile title pages of the above will be found in various places throughout
this volume. For fuller details see Julius F. Sachse's Fatherland^ Volume
VU., Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society.
FETT AMSEE.
CHAPTER III.
Penn's Own Description of His Province, in which its
Advantages and Attractions are Fully and Minutely
Set Forth for the Benefit of Intending Emigrants.
" Bald zienen sie im fernen Westen
Des leichten Bretterhauses Wand ;
Bald reicht sie müden braunen Gästen,
Voll frischen Trunkes, eure Hand.
" Wie wird das Bild der alten Tage
Durch eure Träume glänzend weh'n !
Gleich einer Stillen, frommen Sage
Wird es euch vor der Seele steh'n."
IT
and,
N the preceding chapter
reference has been made
*
to some of the early litera¬
ture sent out by Penn and
others concerning Pennsyl¬
vania. None is more attract¬
ive and interesting than the
one entitled §1. Recount
of tl^i ^robina of ^ínnsglítamE anï>
its Inhabitants. J^or t]¡t Satisfaction
of those that are (^bbentnrers) anb
inclineb to be so, written by Penn
himself and published in
1685. It is full yet concise
as will be seen, very fairly represents the actual con-
(23)
24 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
dition of things as they existed in the Province at that
time. As I know of no better account, I have reproduced
it almost in its entirety. There can be no manner of doubt
that, scattered throughout Central and Western Europe in
various languages, it was a mighty factor in directing imr
migration from the Fatherland towards Pennsylvania.
Of the Produce of the Earth.
1. The EARTH, by God's blessing, has more than an¬
swered our expectation ; the poorest places in our Judg¬
ment producing large Crops of Garden Stuff and Grain.
And though our Ground has not generally the symptoms
of the fat Necks that lie upon Salt Waters in Provinces
Southern of us, our Grain is thought to Excell and our
Crops to be as large. We have had the mark of the good
Ground amongst us from Thirty to Sixty fold of English
Corn.
2. The Land requires less seed: Three -pecks of Wheat
sow an acre, a Bushel at most, and some have had the in¬
crease I have mention'd.
3. Upon Tryal we find that the Corn and Roots that
grow in England thrive very well there, as Wheats Barley^
Eye, Oats, Buck- Wheat, Pease, Beans, Cabbages, Turnips,
Carrots, Parsnups, Colleßowers, Asparagus, Onions, Char-
lots, Garlick, and Irish Potatoes; we have also the Span¬
ish and very good RICE, which do not grow here.
4. Our low lands are excellent for Rape and Hemp and
Flax. A Tryal has been made, and of the two last there
is a considerable quantity Dress'd Yearly.
5. The Weeds of our Woods feed our Cattle to the
Market as well as Dary. I have seen fat Bullocks
brought thence to Market before Mid Summer. Our
Swamps or Marshes yield us course Hay for the Winter.
Pennes Brief Account.'^
A brief Accooot of the
Lately Granted by the
KING,
Under die GREAT
Seal of England,
TO
WILLIAM PENN
and his
Heirs and Afiigns.
Sloce (by die food Viroi^dence tii Ctd, and theüavout of the Rin¿^ ^
C^aiitTO í[a>f^'c«ís i»l|#to nty lot.-! ttioaght it oot icfs oiy
Doty, mà iny íntércft, to give Tonie pubUck notice OT It to
dioro of Otfr. own or Ofher/Kitions^ tfiat.arc inctioVt
to tlrtM^iióit Thcin^ or jFamilies bé^O^ M Stfas, tnày £nd ano»
dicrtkmntry added (o tbtír'Cboioe j^tliat ir they .Íha1ibapf«n to Jikç
the Place, Conditions; aiid 'Govonmicnt. (Ib far astheprerenclnraney of things
iiSilt altoffios aoy.prorpeÁ) they maya if they pleafe. fix with tne in the Pro»
^i^ill^aefcjribc&
I. Tge KÍNG.^ Tftie to /fiir it.
It is the ÎW iajff^oi Nations,, that whatever Waße, or nnfctd.
tcdCptintry, is the OircofVeryrof ^ ií w thft rightof that Prince-that
was at the Charge of the Difcovera : Ków this-"Pr#bifff<L'isa Mew of tnat
part of Amtrico, whldi the King of Anceftots have bten at the^rge
of PiTcovering) end whidi they and hehàye calcen great care to ptefetvc anl
h ILWUliam
TitlB-page op penn's Brief Account, 1682.
20 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
6. English GRASS SEED takes well, which will give
us fatting Hay in time. Of this I made an Experiment in
my own Court Yard, upon sand that was dug out of my
Cellar, with seed that had lain in a Cask open to the
weather two Winters and a Summer ; I caus'd it to be soun
in the beginning of the month called April, and a fortnight
before Midsummer it was fit to Mow. It grew very thick :
But I ordered it to be fed, being in the nature of a Grass
Piatt, on purpose to see if the roots lay firm : And though
it had been meer sand, cast out of the Cellar but a Year
before, the seed took such Root and held the earth so fast,
and fastened itself so well in the Earth, that it held fast
and fed like old English Ground. I mention this, to con¬
fute the Objections that lie against those Parts*, as that,
first, English Grass would not grow ; next, not enough to
mow ; and lastly, not firm enough to feed, from the Levity
of the Mould.
7. All sorts of English fruits that have been tryed take
mighty well for the time : The Peach, Excellent on
Standers, and in great quantities : They sun dry them,
and lay them up in lofts, as we do roots here, and stew
them with Meat in Winter time. Mus Mêlions and Water
Mêlions are raised there, with as little care as Pumpkins
in England. The Vine especially, prevails, which grows
everywhere ; and upon experience of some French People
from Kochel and the Isle of Rhee, GOOD WINE may be
made there, especially when the Earth and Stem are
fin'd and civiliz'd by culture. We hope that good skill in
our most Southern Parts will yield us several of the
Straights Commodities, especially Oyle, Dates, Figs, Al¬
monds, Raisins and Currans.
Fishes of Pennsylvania.
27
Of the Produce of Our Waters.
1. Mighty WHALES roll upon the Coast, near the
Mouth of the Bay of Deleware. Eleven caught and workt
into Oyl one Season. We justly hope a considerable profit
by a Whalery; they being so numerous and the Shore
so suitable.
2. Sturgeon play continually in our Rivers in Summer :
And though the way of cureing them be not generally
known, yet by a Reciept I had of one Collins, that related
to the Company of the Royal Fishery, I did so well pre¬
serve some, that I had them good here three months of the
Summer, and brought some of the same so for England.
3. Alloes, as they call them in France, the Jews Allice,
and our Ignorants, Shads are excellent Fish, and of the
bigness of our largest Carp'. They are so Plentiful, that
Captain Smyth's Ovferseer at the Skulkil, drew 600 and
odd atone Draught; 300 is no wonder; 100 familiarly.
They are excellent Pickeled or Smok'd, as well as boyld
fresh : They are caught by nets only.
4. ROCK are somewhát rounder and longer, also a
whiter fish, little inferior in relish to our Mallet. We have
them almost in the like plenty. These are often Barrelled
like Cod, and not much inferior for their spending. Of both
these the Inhabitants increase their Winter Store : These
are caught by Nets, Hooks and Speers. * * *
There are abundance of lesser fish to be caught of pleas¬
ure, but they gint not cost, as those I have mentioned,
neither in Magnitude nor Number, except the Herring,
which swarm in such Shoales that it is hardly Credible ;
in little Creeks they almost shovel them up in their
tubs. There is the Catfish or Flathead, Lampry, Eale,
Trout, Perch, black and white Smelt, Sunfish, etc. : also
Oysters, Cockles, Cunks, Crabs, Mussles, Mannanoses.
28 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Of Provision in General.
1. It has been often said we were starv'd for want of
food ; some were apt to suggest their fears, others to insin¬
uate their prejudices, and when this was contradicted, and
they assur'd we had plenty, both of Bread, Fish and Flesh,
then 'twas objected that we were forc't to fetch it from
other places at great Charges : but neither is all this true,
tho all the World will think we must either carry Provision
with us, or get it of the Neighborhood till we had gotten
Houses over our heads and a little Land in tillage, we
fetcht none, nor were we wholly helpt by Neighbors ; The
Old Inhabitants supplied us with most of the Corn we
wanted, and a good share of Pork and Beef : 'tis true New
Torky New England and Road Island did with their pro¬
visions fetch our Goods and Money, but at such Rates that
some for almost what they gave, and others carried their
provisions back, expecting a better Market neerer, which
showed no scarcity, and that we were not totally destitute
on our own River. But if my advice be of any Value I
would have them to buy still, and not weaken their Herds,
by Killing their Young Stock too soon.
2. But the right measure of information must be the pro¬
portion of value of Provisions there, to what they are in more
planted and mature Colonies. Beef is commonly sold at the
rate of two -pence per pound; and Pork for two pence half
penny ; Veal and Mutton at three pence or three pence half
penny, that Country money; an English shilling going
for fifteen pence. Grain sells by the Bushel; Wheat at
four shillings; Rye, and excellent good, at three shillings;
Barley two shillings six pence; Indian Corn, two shillings
six pence; Oats, two shillings, in that money still, which in
a new Country, where Grain is so much wanted for feed,
Prices of Grain and Cattle.
29
as for food, cannot be called dear, and especially if we
consider the Consumption of many of the new Commers.
3. There is so great an increase of Grain by the dilli-
gent application of People to Husbandry, that within three
Years, some Plantations have got Twenty Acres in Corn,
some Forty, some Fifty,
4. They are very careful to increase their stock, and
get into Daries as fast as they can. - They already make
good Butter and Cheese. A good Cow and Calf by her
side may be worth three founds sterling, in goods at first
Cost. A pare of Working Oxen, eight founds : a pare of
fat ones. Little more, and a plain Breeding Mare about
five 'pounds sterl.
5. For Fish, it is brought to the Door, both fresh and
salt. SiK. AWoqs or ÍOY twelve pence ; and salt fish
at three far dings per pound. Oysters at 2 s per bushel.
6. Our DRINK has been Beer and Punch,, made of
Rum and Water : Our Beer was mostly made of molasses,
which well boyld, with Sassafras or Pine infused into it,
makes very tollerable drink ; but now they make Mault,
and Mault Drink begins to be common, especially at the
Ordinaries and the Houses of the more substantial People.
In our great Toun there is an able Man, that has set up
a large Brew House, in order to furnish the People with
good Drink, both there, and up and down the River."
This Further Account is too lengthy to be quoted in
full here. He quotes a long letter written by one who had
been in the Province and describes the existing conditions
in the most favorable language. After this he resumes
his own narrative, from which we make another extract.
* ' I. It is agreed on all hands, that the Poor are the Hands
and Feet of the Rich. It is their labour that Improves
Countries ; and to encourage them, is to promote the real
30 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
benefit of the publick. Now as there are abundance of
these people in many parts of Euro-pe^ extreamly desirous
of going to America ; so the way of helping them thither,
or when there, and the return thereof to the Disbursers,
will prove what I say to be true."
Then follow his several schemes for the settlement of
immigrants upon his lands. The amount of lands to be
allotted to each family ; the improvements that will be
built for them, the stock and farming tools that will be
supplied, even their seed for the first year's harvest ; this
is followed by the easy terms upon which payment may be
made, this for those who have the means to transport them¬
selves thither, but no more. Still another plan provides
for such as are destitute of any resources. To each family
of such IDG acres are allotted, with £15 in hand before
starting, to provide adequately for the journey.
All in all, as we read over this scheme of colonization
it appeals to our hearts and better natures as the wisest as
well as most generous that had ever appeared among men.
Plato's Republic,, and Sir Thomas More's Utopia present
nothing with all their wealth of ideal beneficence more
striking than this practical, every-day humanitarianism of
William Penn.
Times for Making the. Voy age.
While it was possible for ships to reach and leave Phila¬
delphia during every month in the year, save occasionally
during the inclement season of mid-winter, the late winter
and autumn months were generally chosen for the depar¬
ture from Europe. We accordingly find the ship arrivals
were most numerous in early spring and late in the fall.
April and May, September, October and November wit¬
nessed the largest influx of immigrants during the year.
GERMAN iniilGRATlON INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
Seasons and Length of Voyage. 31
Of such moment was this matter that Penn himself devotes
a chapter in one of his various pamphlets, addressed to
such as were casting their eyes across the Atlantic, to the
proper season for the experiment. I quote what he says
on this subject :
" Of the Seasons of Going, and Usual Time of
Passage.
'*1. Tho Ships go hence at all times of the Year, it must
be acknowledged, that to go so as to arrive at Spring or
Fall^ is best. For the Summer may be of the hottest, for
fresh Commers, and in the Winter, the wind that prevails,
is the North West, and that blows off the Coast, so that
sometimes it is difficult to enter the Ca^s-
" 2. I propose, therefore, that Ships go hence (from Eu¬
rope) about the middle of the moneths call'd February and
August, which allowing two months for passage reaches in
time enough to plant in the Sfring such things as are
carried hence to plant, and in the Fall to get a small Cot¬
tage, and clear some Land against next S-pring. I have
made a discovery of about a hundred Miles West, and find
those back Lands richer in Soyl, Woods and Fountains,
than that by Deleware ; especially upon the Susquehanna
River.
''3. I must confess I prefer the Fall to come thither, as
believing it more healthy to be followed with Winter than
Summer ; tho, through the great goodness and mercy of
God we have had an extraordinary portion of health, for
so new and numerous a Colony, notwithstanding we have
not been so regular in time.
" 4. The Passage is not to be set by any man ; for Ships
will be quicker and slower, some have been four months,
and some but one and as often. Generally between six
32 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
and nine weeks. One year, of four and twenty Sayl, I
think, there was not three above nine, and there was one
or two under six weeks in the passage.
" 5. To render it more healthy, it is good to keep as much
upon Deck as may be ; for the Air helps against the offen¬
sive smells of a Crowds and a close-place. Also to Scrape
often the Cabbins, under the Beds ; and either carry store
of Rue and Wormwood; and some Rosemary, or often
sprinkle Vinegar about the Cabbin. Pitch burnt, is not
amiss sometimes against faintness and infectious scents. I
speak my experience for the benefit and direction that may
need it."«
The very minuteness with which every detail is given in¬
dicates the desire to leave no room for misunderstandings.
He was anxious that there should be no cause for com¬
plaint. His very frankness must have convinced his read¬
ers and won them. All this became apparent to the new
immigrant and this was no doubt one of the principal reasons
why the reports sent back to Germany were almost univer¬
sally favorable, and proved instrumental in keeping up the
immigration movement so many years.
Peter Kalm, the Swedish botanist and traveller, who
visited America in 1748, bears strong evidence to the fact
that the large immigration of Germans was in a great
measure due to the solicitation of those already here. He
says ; " The Germans wrote to their relatives and friends
and advised them to come to America ; not to New York
where the government had shown itself to be unjust. This
advice had so much influence that the Germans who after¬
wards went in great numbers to North America constantly
avoided New York, and always went to Philadelphia. It
® See Penn's HJuttber account of tbe province of Pennsylvania anb its improve¬
ments, ^oc tbe satisfaction of tbose tbat are abventurers anb inclineb to beso.
Pennsylvania the Farming Colony. 33
sometimes happened that they were forced to go on board
such ships as were bound for New York, but they were
scarcely got on shore before they hastened to Pennsyl¬
vania, in sight of all the "inhabitants of New York." '
The historian Proud, writing in 1798, says that " William
Penn, both in Person and writing, published in Germany^
first gave them information that there was liberty of con¬
science in Pennsylvania^ and that everyone might live there
without molestation. Some of them about the year 1698,
others in 1706, 1709 and 1711, partly for conscience sake,
and partly for their temporal interests, removed thither,
where they say they found their expectations fully an¬
swered, enjoying liberty of conscience according to their
desire, with the benefits of a plentiful country. With this
they acquainted their friends in Germany ; in consequence
of which many of them in the year 1717, etc., removed to
Pennsylvania."
Another of our historians explicitly states that " from
the writings and discourses of William Penn during his
German travels they (the Germans) obtained a knowledge
of Pennsylvania. Some of them removed to the Province
in 1683, others in 1706-1709 and 1711. Their reports in¬
duced many to follow them in 1717.""
® Kalm's Travels in North America, p. 270.
10 Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Vol, II., pp. 344-345.
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, p. 573.
CHAPTER IV.
Efforts to Secure Colonists, Successful.— Alarm Cre¬
ated by their Great Numbers From Germany.— Sys
tem of Registration Adopted.— Arrival of many
Ships.— Their Names, Numbers and Places of De¬
parture.
"Vaterland ! theurer Freund, lebt wohl !
In dem es nach der Fremde soll :
Fin anderes Land, eine and're Luft
Die uns mit Fmst entgegen ruft ;
Kommt, kommt, hier solt ihr ruhig seyn
Ungestört, frei von leibes Pein."
" O Sprecht ! warum zogt ihr von dannen ?
Das Neckarthal hat Wein und Kom ;
Der Schwarzwald steht voll finstrer Tannen ?
Im Spessart klingt des Älplers Horn."
M'
HILE the various mea¬
sures put into opera-
tion by the proprietor to secure
K-• colonists were at once active
persistent, the results for
^ were unimportant so far
immigration from Germany
was concerned. The Crefeld
under Francis Daniel
Pastorius began its settlement
Germantown in 1683. The
'raccessions to that early body
were not numerous during the remainder of the seventeenth
( 34)
Early Colony of Mennom'ies.
35
century. Still, a few came each year. Johannes Kelpiui
with his band of 40 pietists appears to have been among
the first to arrive after the Crefelders ; he came in 1694.
Daniel Falkner brought additions in 1704. *'In 1708-
1709-1710 to 1720 thousands of them emigrated. From
1720 to 1725 the number increased and settled principally
in Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties. In 1719
Jonathan Dickinson wrote, ' we are daily expecting ships
from London which bring over Palatines, in number about
six or seven thousand. We had a parcel who came out
about five years ago, who purchased land about sixty
miles west of Philadelphia, and proved quiet and indus¬
trious.'"^''
This latter colony evidently refers to the little band of
Mennonites, perhaps I should say Swiss-Huguenots, who
came over in 1708 or 1709 and located themselves in the
Pequea Valley, Lancaster county, forming the first settle¬
ment of Europeans within that County.'® Some members
of that colony almost immediately returned to Germany to
bring over relatives and friends, and between the years
1711 and 1717, and for some years later there were large
accessions to the colony. It was one of the most substan¬
tial and successful settlements ever made in Pennsylvania.
Even then, as in later years, most of the colonists came
from the Palatinate, which sent forth her children from her
burned cities and devastated fields, theirfaces turned towards
the land of promise. Just how many Germans landed at
the port of Philadelphia prior to the passage of the regis¬
try law of 1727 is unknown, but the number was undoubt¬
edly large as may be inferred from the quotation above from
*2Rupp'S Thirty Thousand Names, p. 10.
13 "Im Jahr 1709 Kamen etliche familien von der Pfala welche von den
vertriebenen Schweizern abstamnten und Hessen sich nieder in I^ancaster
county." Benjamin Eby's Geschichte der Mennoniten, p. 151.
36 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
Jonathan Dickinson. It was not until 1707 however that
Germans in considerable numbers began arriving. From
that time onward the number increased from year to year,
and ten years later began to attract the attention of the
Provincial Government.
The country seemed to be filling up with Germans, and
as a result of the alarm that was caused thereby. Gover¬
nor William Keith soon after his arrival, on September
7, 1717, observed to the Provincial Council sitting at Phil¬
adelphia " that great numbers of foreigners from Ger¬
many, strangers to our Languages and Constitutions, hav¬
ing lately been imported into this Province daily dispersed
themselves immediately after Landing, without producing
any Certificates, from whence they came or what they
were; and as they seemed to have first Landed in Britain,
and afterwards to have left it Without any License from the
Government, or so much as their Knowledge, so in the
same manner they behaved here, without making the
least application to himself or to any of the magistrates ;
That as this Practice might be of very dangerous Conse¬
quence, since by the same method any number of foreigners
from any nation whatever, as well Enemys as friends,
might throw themselves upon us : The Governor, there¬
fore, thought it requisite that this matter should be Con¬
sidered, & 'tis ordered thereupon, that all the masters of
vessels who have lately imported any of these fforeigners
be summoned to appear at this Board, to Render an acct.
of the number and Characters of the Passengers respec¬
tively from Britain ; That all those who are already Landed
be required by a Proclamation, to be issued for that pur¬
pose, to Repair within the space of one month to some
Magistrate, particularly to the Recorder of this City (Phil¬
adelphia), to take such Oaths appointed by Law as are
One of Pennes Publications,
37
Cjtr <n
P R o V 1 N Z
PENSYLVANIEH
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tm uni)
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PHILADELPHIA
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TITI,IC-PAGE OP THB GBRMAN VpRSION OF PFNN'S I^BTTFRS TO THF
jFree Society of Traders.
38 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
necessary to give assurances of their being well affected to
his Majesty and his Government; But because some of
these foreigners are said to be Menonists, who cannot for
Conscience sake take any Oaths, that those persons be ad¬
mitted upon their giving any Equivalent assurances in their
own way and manner, & that the Naval Officer of this
Port be required not to admit any inward bound vessell to
an Entry, until the master shall first give an exact List of
all their passengers imported by them."
The Provincial Council perhaps never did an act that so
much deserves the thanks and the gratitude of those of Ger¬
man descent in the State of Pennsylvania to-day as in em-
C&EAT SBAI. OF ITHE PROVINCE- 'Ar.' 'i
(REVERSE.) a pnceless
house to which thousands of people of German ancestry
have gone to find information concerning the names, ages
and time of arrival of their ancestors. Never was a gov¬
ernment scare so productive of good results.
The order was immediately acted upon. At the next
meeting of the Council on September 9, 1717, Capt. Rich-
bodying the foregoing views
in an Act of the Assembly
a few years later. It re¬
sulted in the registration of
the many thousands of Ger¬
man and other immigrants,
and these ship masters' lists
as we find them to-day in the
Colonial Records^ Rupp's
Thirty Thousand Names,
and Volume XVII. of the
Second Séries ofPènnsylva-
treasure, a veritable store-
Colonial Records: First Series, Vol. III., p. 29.
Acting on the Governor's Suggestion. 39
mond, Capt. Tower and Capt. Eyers waited upon the
Board with the lists of the Palatines they had brought over
from London, by which it appeared the first had carried
one hundred and sixty-four, the second ninety-one and the
last one hundred and eight.
There is no evidence however, that I am aware of, that
anything further was immediately done towards carrying
out the order passed in 1717. The minutes of the Council
are silent on the subject for ten full years.
On September 14, 1727, again acting on the Governor's
suggestion, a resolution was adopted by the Provincial
Council holding shipmasters to a strict accountability and
ordering an examination into the matter of bringing aliens
into the Province. Here is the Resolution : That the
masters of vessels importing Germans and others from the
continent of Europe, shall be examined whether they have
leave granted to them by the Court of Great Britain for the
importation of these foreigners, and that a List be taken of
all these people, their several occupations, and the place
from whence they came, and shall be further examined
touching their intentions in coming hither ; and that a writ¬
ing be drawn up for them to sign, declaring their allegiance
and subjection to the King of Great Britain, and fidelity to
the Pro^ietary of this Province, and that they will demean
themselves peaceably towards all his Majesty's subjects,
and observe and conform to the Laws of England and the
Government of Pennsylvania."'® The arrival of a ship
load of German immigrants on September 21, 1727, ap¬
pears to have recalled to the Council the action it had de¬
cided upon ten years before. At a meeting held on Sep¬
tember 21, 1727, the following appears on the minutes:
A Paper being drawn up to be signed by those Pala-
^^Colonial Records ; First Series, Vol. III., p. 283.
4© The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
tines, who should come into this Province with an Inten¬
tion to settle therein, pursuant to the order of this Board,
was this day presented, read & approved, & is in these
Words :
" We Subscribers, Natives and late Inhabitants of the
Palatinate upon the Rhine & Places adjacent, having
transported ourselves and Families into this Province of
Pennsylvania, a Colony subject to the Crown of Great
Britain, in hopes and Expectation of finding a Retreat
& peaceful Settlement therein. Do Solemnly promise &
Engage, that We will be faithful & bear true Allegiance
to his present MAJESTY KING GEORGE THE SEC¬
OND, and his Successors Kings of Great Britain, and will
be faithfull to the Proprietor of this Province ; And that we
will demean ourselves peaceably to all His said Majesties
Subjects, and strictly observe & conform to the Laws of
England and this Province, to the utmost of our Power and
best of our understanding."
A signed list was then presented to the Board, on which
were the names of one hundred and nine Palatines, who,
with their families, numbered about four hundred persons,
who had just arrived at the port of Philadelphia, on the
ship William and Sarah, William Hill, Master, from Rot¬
terdam, but last from Dover, England. Captain Hill was
asked whether he had a license from any Court in Great
Britain to bring these people into the Province and what
their intentions were in coming here. He replied that
he had no other authority than the ordinary ship clear¬
ance, and that he believed the immigrants designed to
settle in the Province. After this the persons who had
come over on the William and Sarah were then called be¬
fore the Board, and " did repeat & subscribe the fore¬
going Declaration."
Passenger Lists Perhafs Incomflete, 41
As a matter of interest the names of this earliest impor¬
tation of Germans under the new regulations are here
given. The list is the forerunner of hundreds more which
were placed on record during the following fifty years. It
has been doubted whether the lists preserved in the State
archives at Harrisburg are complete. At all events some
years are missing. The war with France put a stop to
nearly all this traffic, so that between 1756 and 1763 only
one or two arrivals of immigrant ships are recorded ; in
1745 none at all.
The result of that action was that thereafter lists were
regularly made by the masters of ships bringing passengers
to this country, which lists are still preserved in the archives
of the State, at Harrisburg. Sometimes triplicate lists
were prepared. These were submitted to the Provincial
authorities for their satisfaction and guidance, and also be¬
came of service when contracts between these people and
those who hired or bought them were made.^®
There are good reasons for believing that the ships lists
as we find them in Rupp, in Volume XVII. of the Second
Series of Pennsylvania Archives, and of course in the Co¬
lonial Records from which they were mainly compiled,
are in some cases defective, in that they do not in every
instance give the full list of those who came. To what
extent these omissions have been carried, it is impossible
to say from our present knowledge of the subject, but it is
possible that later investigations in Germany and Switzer¬
land may bring fuller lists to light.^^
*®Rupp'S Thirty Thousand Names, p. 40.
That indefatigable and successful searcher into the early ecclestiastical
and secular history of Provincial Pennsylvania, Professor W. J. Hinke, during
his researches in Europe, found, as we leam from a recent article contributed to
Notes and Queries, a pamphlet printed in Zurich, in 1735, called The Limp¬
ing Messenger from Carolina, or the Description of a journey from Zurich
4? The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
I. D. Rupp makes the following remarks concerning
these triple lists :
The master's or captain's lists contain the names of
all male passengers above the age of sixteen, and some of
them, the names of all the passengers. If any had died,
or were sick on the arrival of the ship, they are marked
accordingly.
Another list contains all the names of males above the
age of sixteen, who were made to repeat and subscribe the
Declaration of allegiance, with their own hands, if they
could write, if they could not the name was written by a
clerk, and the qualified person made his mark.
* ' The third list is an autogra-ph duplicate of the second
one, signed in the same way, and is preserved in book
A List of Ye Palatine Passengers Imported in Ye Ship
William and Sarah, Will'm Hill, Mast'r, from
Rotterdam, Phlid'a Ye i8 Sept'bre 1727.
to Rotterdam, by Ludwig Weber, from Wallisellen, in which is given a list of
the Swiss emigrants to Pennsylvania on the ship Mercury. This list contains
a number of names not given in Rupp's list or that of Vol. XVII. of the Ar¬
chives. Better still, it gives the name of the place from which each one of
the colonists went. These colonists left Zurich in October, 1734, and reached
Philadelphia May 29, 1735, having been more than six months on the way.
Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names, p. 40.
form."
Hans Jerrick Swaess,
Benedice Strome,
Hans Jerrick Shoemaker,
Hans Martain Shoemaker,
Hans Mich*® Pagman,
Johan Ilabaraker,
Hieromnius Milder,
Henericus Bell,
Hans Seri Seigler,
Hans Mich'® Siell,
Jacob Josi,
Daniel Levan,
Andr' Simmerman,
Hans Jerrick Wigler,
Johan Wester,
Hans Adam Milder,
Henrick Mayer,
Jacob Gens,
Immigrants on the Ship Willia^n and Sarah.
Sebastian Vink,
Jacob S wicker,
Hans Bernard Wolf,
Ann Floren,
Hans Jacob Ekinan,
Hendrick Wiltier,
Jacob Pause,
Hans Jerrick Wolf,
Hans Jerrick Bowman,
Hans Jerig Anspag,
Christ' Milder,
Patrick Sprigler,
Job Tob' Serveas,
Johannes Eckman,
Christ" Layhengyger,
Andrew Haltspan,
Hans Jerrick Schaub,
Christian Snyder,
Johannes Bartelme,
Johannes Dübendöffer,
Joseph Aelbraght,
Jacob Meyer,
Johannes Bait,
Christopher Walter,
Hans Adam Stall,
Hans Martin Wilder,
Hans Jerig Arldnold,
Hans Jerig Reder,
Hendrick Gonger,
Hans Jerig Roldebas,
Christopher Wittmer,
Clement Eirn,
Johannes Mich'® Peepell,
Philip Siegler,
Rudolph Wilkes,
Abraham Farrf,
Hans Mart" Levisbergn,
Jan. Hend" Scaub,
Abraham Beni,
Frederick Hiligas,
Sebastian Creek,
Alex. Diebenderf,
Johan Will" May,
Casper Springier,
Michael Peitley,
Jno. Barne Levinstey,
Johannes Jlon,
Hans Mich'® Weider,
Leonard Seldonrick,
Will" Turgens,
Will" Tleer,
Anspel Anspag,
Adam Henrick,
Ulrich Sieere,
Junicus Meyer,
Hans Jor® Glergelf,
Steven Frederick,
Philip Feruser,
Hans Filkcysinger,
Hans Jerrick Hoy,
And' Saltsgerrer,
Jacob Wilder,
Johannis Stromf,
Philip Swyger,
Elias Meyer
Martin Brill,
Peter Leyts,
Johanes Hen" Gyger,
Johannes Berret,
Jacob Swartz,
Hans Mich^ Phauts,
Bastiaen Smith,
44 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Tobias Frye,
Jacob Mast,
Nicholas Adams,
Johanes Leyb,
Conrad Miller,
Ulrich Hertsell,
Hans Jerick Guyger,
Hans Jerig Viegle,
Hans Jerig Gramen,
Albert Swope,
Diederick Rolde,
Hans Adam Blender,
Hendrick Hartman,
Philip Jacob Rey lender,
Ernest Roede,
Philip Roedeall,
Hans Jerig Milder,
Uldrick Station.
While this German immigration was considerable in
some years prior to 1727, it was irregular and seemingly
spasmodic. Apparently it was gathering strength and
courage for the half century of irrepressible exodus which
was to follow. In the fall of 1727, five ships laden with
German immigrants reached the wharves of Philadelphia.
It was no doubt these numerous arrivals that alarmed the
Provincial government anew and led to the imposition of the
40-shillings head tax on all aliens. From that time on the
record of arrivals is almost continuous, and although there
are several short breaks in it, we are enabled, nevertheless,
Arrivals from 1^2y to lyyS'
45
to get a fairly accurate idea of its extent and also of the
manner in which it was carried out.
Table Showing the Arrival of German Immigrants
DURING the SpACE of 44 YeARS, AND COVERING
the Period of that Immigration's
Greatest Activity.
The following is the number of immigrant ships that
reached the port of Philadelphia in the period between
1727 and 1775, both years inclusive, of which records have
been preserved.
Number. Year.
Year.
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1775
In all, 321 ships
67 in the second ten
Number. Year.
Number.
• 5
• 3
. 2
• 3
• 4
.11
• 7
, 2
• 3
• 3
• 7
,16
. 8
. 6
• 9
■ 5
743- 9
744 5
745
746 2
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
. 5
. 8
.21
•14
•15
.19
.19
•17
. 2
.none
758 none
759 none
760 none
761 I
762 none
763-
764.
765-
766.
767.
768.
769.
770.
771.
772.
773-
774-
• 4
.11
■ 5
• 5
• 7
• 4
• 4
7
• 9
. 8
15
. 6
44 years : 43 in the first ten years,
121 in the third decade, and 88 dur¬
ing the last eighteen years.
From the foregoing table it will be observed that the tide
of immigration ebbed and flowed by years and periods.
Sometimes these variations can be accounted for and then
46 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
again they appear inexplicable. It is reasonable to sup¬
pose the 40-shillings law was responsible to some extent
for this fluctuating immigration, as so onerous a head tax
as $10 would be likely to exercise a restraining effect on
the poorest class which was already compelled to endure
severe financial strains. It may be that some other cause,
the nature of which has not come down to us, was operative
in producing this result. At the same time it is well to re¬
member there seems to have been a natural ebb and flow in
the numbers without any plausible reason for the same.
The 1,240 arrivals in 1727 were succeeded by 152 fam¬
ilies numbering only 390 in 1728, and by only 243 in 1729.^®
An improvement began in 1730, when the number increased
to 458, and they were succeeded by 631 in 1731. In 1732,
no fewer than 2,093 were landed; that was high-water
mark for a number of years, but in 1738 the number ran up
to 3,115. The numbers then proceed with considerable
regularity until 1745, when no ship with immigrants was
registered. Whether none arrived or whether the records
have been lost or mislaid I do not know ; most likely the
latter, as we are in possession of no information that might
suggest a cause for this stoppage. Besides, there were no
other years without arrivals until 1757 ? during that and the
succeeding three years immigration ceased entirely. That
was due to the breaking out of hostilities between Great
Britain and France, which, as a matter of course, also in¬
volved the colonies of the two powers on this continent,
and which became known in America as the French and
Indian War; the Six Nations having united their fortunes
with France and her important colony of Canada. All
1 ® During the year 1729, there were of Knglish and Welsh passengers and
servants, 267, Scotch servants 43, Irish passengers and servants 1,155, Palatine
(alien, or 40 shilling) passengers 243 ; by way of Newcastle, chiefly passen¬
gers and servants from Ireland, 4,500.—hugh's Historical Account, p. 163.
QERMA/N inniGRATIOM INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
The Arrivals in a Single Tear.
47
manner of hostile French sea craft swept the Atlantic,
depredating on English commerce, and however desirous
Germans may have been to come to America, the danger
of capture by the enemy's ships was a contingency that had
to be considered.
After peace was concluded the tide once more began
coming in a very steady stream until 1773, when it reached
the highest point attained since 1754» from which time
it gradually dwindled until it no longer remained so promi¬
nent and distinctive a feature in the colonization of the
State and Nation.
As throwing much light on the general question, as well
as a matter of interest and curiosity, I here give the names
of the ships, the dates of their arrival and the number of
persons who came on them, during the period of a single
year—that of 1738 :
Arrivals in a Single Year.
Name of Ship. Date of Arrival. No. of Passengers.
Catharine July 27 15
Winter Galley Sept. 5 252
Glasgow Sept. 9 349
Two Sisters Sept. 9 iio
Robert and Oliver Sept. 11 320
^ueen Elizabeth Sept. 16 300
Thistle Sept. 19 300
Nancy and Friendship Sept. 20 187
Nancy Sept. 20 150
Fox Oct. 12 95
Davy Oct. 25 180
Saint Andrew Oct. 27 300
Eilender Thistle Oct. 28 152
Elizabeth Oct. 30 ; 95
Charming Nancy Nov. 9 200
Enterprise Dec. 6 120
48 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Very frequently two ships came into port on the same
day. On September 3, 1739, again on September 16,
1751, and September 27, 1752, three of these vessels sailed
into port. The latter year is noted for its double arrivals,
there having been two on the 22d of September, two on
the 23d and three on the 27th. September 30, 1754, beat
all records, no fewer than four immigrant ships having come
into the port of Philadelphia on that day.
From 1737 to 1746, sixty-seven ships arrived bringing
nearly fifteen thousand Germans, nearly all of whom sailed
from Rotterdam. Of the first 100 ships that came with
immigrants, four came in the month of May, one in June,
one in July, fourteen in August, fifty in September, nine¬
teen in October, five in November, four in December, and
one each in January and February—the latter doubtless
delayed by contrary winds or storms beyond their usual
times. Among that icq were seventy different ships.
Some made a regular business of this kind of traffic and
came a number of times. The Samuel has six voyages to
her credit ; the Saint Andrew four, the Royal Judith five
and ^he Friendship five. Many names continue on the
lists for many years. Some of these craft were called
vessels, others ranked as ships, while there were still others
known as " snows," brigantines," " pinks," " brigs " and
" billenders," names apparently applied to small craft, and
which nomenclature, in part at least, is no longer current
among ship-builders and sea-faring men.
The size of the ships on which these immigrants reached
Pennsylvania, varied very considerably. A list of sixteen
which I have found gives the smallest as 63 feet long over
the gun deck, 20 feet 11 inches breadth of beam and 9 feet
7 ^ inches as the depth of hold, with a tonnage of
tons ; and the largest 99 feet 8 inches as length of deck.
Sudd's Tract on ^Pennsylvania.
49
^ood Order EilMtßed
I N
Pennfilvania &NeW'Jerfey
AMERICA,
Being a true Accoancof the Country •
With its Produce and Commodities there made.
And the great Improvements that maybe made by
means of }&UblichÄtQje^hOUfejS forl^emp, flamand
)L/intltn^CiOth 3 ahby the Advantages of a 0Ublictti^
^CbOOl, the Profits of a ^tiblicfe-Banb, and the Proba¬
bility of its arifing, if thoie direôions here laid down are
followed. With the advantages ofpublick (!5itanatiCj8>«
likewiÎèy lèverai other things needful to be.underftood by
choie that are or do intend to be concerned in' planting ia
the laid Countries,
All which is laid down vcryplain> in this fnûall Treatife ; ic
being eaííc to bcunderftood by any ordinary Capacity^ To
which the Reádtr is referred for his.further iatisfa^on*
Thomas ^udd^
Printed in the Year
TITI,E-PAGB OF BUDD'S Tract, PRINTED BY WIEEIAM BRADFORD,
phieadeephia.
50 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
26 feet 5 inches as breadth of beam and a tonnage of 311^
tons. The average tonnage of the sixteen was 178 tons.
In some years the immigrants were nearly all from the
Palatinate. Then again Wurtembergers, Hannoverians,
Saxons and Alsatians came, flocking by themselves, doubt¬
less because, coming from the same locality, they desired
to settle together after their arrival. At still other times
the immigrants on a ship were composed of the subjects of
half a dozen German rulers.
The principal port of embarkation was Rotterdam, and
thence to Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. Sometimes ships
would load up in London, but generally with small num¬
bers. Among the other points of departure were Rotter¬
dam and Leith ; Rotterdam and Deal ; Rotterdam and
Plymouth, Rotterdam and Portsmouth ; Hamburg and
Cowes ; Amsterdam and Cowes, and other places. In
1770 three ships arrived from Lisbon, Portugal, with
mostly Germans, but a few of other nationalities. In
October, 1774, the ships Polly and Peggy^ arrived from
Lisbon, bringing an entire cargo of Portuguese, Spaniards
or French.
I quote the following from a prominent historian as
pertinent to the question of numbers.
In the summer of 1749 twenty-five sail of large ships
arrived with German passengers alone ; which brought
about twelve thousand souls, some of the ships about six
hundred* each ; and in several other years ftearly the same
number of these people arrived annually ; and in some
years near as many from Ireland. By an exact account of
all the ships and passengers annually which have arrived
at Philadelphia, with Germans alone, nearly from the first
settlement of the Province till about the year 1776, when
their importation ceased, the number of the latter appears
Proud^s Estimates Incorrect, 51
to be about thirty-nine thousand; and their internal in¬
crease has been very great. The Germans sought estates
in this country, where industry and parsimony are the chief
requisites to procure them."^®
This statement is self-contradictory. In the first place,
very few of the ships brought 600 passengers. That seems
to have been about the extreme limit that came on any one
vessel at a time. Only the very largest ships could carry
that number. The smaller craft, and they were far more
numerous than the large ones, carried less than half as
many. Taking the records for a period of ten years, I
find that the average carried by the nearly 70 ships that
arrived during that period to have been about 300 each.
Even that seems a large number when the average size of
the ships—less than 200 tons—is considered. Then, again,
if we take the number of recorded immigrant ships dur¬
ing the period mentioned by Proud, and allow them an
average of only 200 passengers each, we get as a result
nearly twice the total number of German immigrants as
given by him. Besides, we are aware from many other
sources that his is an underestimate as to totals, very much
too low, in fact, as will be shown later on.
There was very little German immigration during the
years immediately following the close of the Revolutionary
War. The British Consul at Philadelphia puts the number
of arrivals between 1783 and 1789 at 1,893 or only about
315 each year, on an average. In the latter named year,
out of 2,176 arrivals only 114 were Germans.
But the action already taken did not wholly allay the fears
of the Proprietary government. Those fears were supple¬
mented by instructions from the British ministry, and two
years after the Legislation already recorded, the impolitic
®0PROiJD's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., pp. 273-274.
52 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Act of the Assembly, laying a head tax upon all aliens who
should come into the Province, was consummated.
Gordon intimates that " a regard to revenue may have
assisted this determination, as many thousands of Germans
were expected in the ensuing year. In justice to the Ger¬
mans, it should be told, that this law was enacted in the
face of a report of a committee of the House, containing
satisfactory evidence of their good conduct."
Here is the report alluded to in the foregoing paragraph :
"The Palatines who had been imported directly into the
Province, had purchased and honestly paid for their lands,
had conducted themselves respectfully towards the govern¬
ment, paid their taxes readily, and were a sober and hon¬
est people in their religious and civil duties. Yet some
who have come by the way of New York and elsewhere,
had seated themselves on lands of the Proprietaries and
others, and refused to yield obedience to the governments."
The latter allusion refers to the colony which came
down the Susquehanna in 1729, under the leadership of
John Conrad Weiser, the younger, and settled in the Tul¬
pehocken region of Berks county. The persistence of
the Germans in adhering to their mother tongue was per¬
haps the principal reason for this uneasiness; besides,
they generally managed to settle near each other, so that
communities composed almost exclusively of Germans
grew up in many places.
As few acts of the Assembly at that early day have re¬
ceived more comment than the one laying a head tax on
aliens, the law is here quoted. The word ' ' Germans" is not
found in the law, but as there were few other aliens besides
these, at that time, the Germans were the persons against
whom the statute was aimed.
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania^ pp. 207-208.
The Forty-Shillings Head Tax.
53
An Act Laying a Duty on Foreigners and Irish
Servants Imported into this Province,
Passed May io, 1729.
"Whereas an act of general assembly of this province
was made in the eighth year of the reign of the late King
George for preventing the importation of persons convicted
of heinous crimes, and, whereas, it appears necessary that
a further provision be made to discourage the great impor¬
tation and coming in of numbers of foreigners and of lewd,
idle and ill-affected persons into this province, as well
from parts beyond the seas as from the neighboring colo¬
nies, by reason whereof not only the quiet and safety of
the peaceable people of this province is very much en¬
dangered, but great numbers of the persons so'imported
and coming into this government, either through age, im-
potency or idleness, have become a heavy burden and
charge upon the inhabitants of this province and is daily
increasing. For remedy whereof :
"Be it enacted by the Honorable Patrick Gordon, Es¬
quire, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Pennsyl¬
vania, by and with the advice and consent of the
freemen of the said Province in General Assembly met,
and by the authority of the same. That all persons being
aliens born out of thè allegiance of the King of Great
Britain and being of the age of sixteen years or upwards
shall within the space of forty-eight houn^ after their being
imported or coming into this province by land or water,
go before some judge or justice of the peace of the said
province or before the mayor or recorder of the city of
Philadelphia for the time being and there take the oaths
appointed to be taken instead of the oath of allegiance and
supremacy, and shall also take the oath of adjuration, for
54 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
which each person shall pay to the person administering
the said oaths the sum of twelve pence and no more. And
if any such alien (being of the age aforesaid) shall refuse
or neglect to take the oaths aforesaid, it shall and may be
lawful to and for any judge, justice of the peace or other
magistrate of this government forthwith to cause such per¬
son or persons to be brought before them, (and) oblige
them to give security for their good behavior and appear¬
ance at the next pourt of general quarter-sessions of the
peace to be held for the city or country where such magis¬
trate resides.
"Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid. That every
person being an alien born out of the allegiance of the
King of Great Britain and being imported or coming into
this province by land or water shall pay the duty of forty
shillings for the uses of this act hereinafter mentioned.
" And that all masters of vessels, merchants and others
who shall import or bring into any port or place within
this province any Irish servant or passenger upon redemp¬
tion, or on condition of paying for his or her passage upon
or after their arrival in the plantations, shall pay for every
such Irish servant or passenger upon redemption as afore¬
said the sum of twenty shillings."
The foregoing includes only a portion of the first and
second sections of the Act, which runs to six sections in all.
The other sections allude to a number of other things, such
as the carrying out of the law, and the penalties imposed
for non-compliance. In section third occurs this clause,
which throws some light upon the methods employed by
ship-captains and importers to smuggle objectionable per¬
sons into the province without a compliance with the laws :
22 The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV., pp. 135-140.
Fraudulent Importation of Convicts. 55
" And whereas it hath been a practice for masters of ves¬
sels, merchants and others trading into this province, with
intent to avoid complying with the payment of the duties
and giving the securities required in the cases of convicts
by the aforesaid act of assembly, to land their servants in
some of the adjacent governments, which servants and con¬
victs have afterwards been secretly brought into this prov¬
ince."
I have found in Watson a case which was one of the
many that caused the insertion of the last quoted par¬
agraph in this Act. He copies the following paragraph
from the Pennsylvania Gazette: «í'An errant cheat de¬
tected at Annapolis ! A vessel arrived there, bringing
sixty-six indentures, signed by the Mayor of Dublin, and
twenty-two voigs^ of such a make as if they were intended
for no other use than to set out the convicts when they
should get on shore." It was a clever ruse to get into the
country a lot of convicts by means of fraudulent papers and
other devices, and dispose of them as honest servants.
It will be observed that the foregoing Act also takes full
cognizance of the importation of persons for sale, of re-
demptioners, the practice being already so general, not
alone as to Germans, but also to Englishmen, Irishmen,
Scotch and Welsh, a fact that is rarely alluded to by
writers when discussing this subject. In another chapter
this fact will be more fully examined and additional testi¬
mony offered, although this allusion to the practice in the
Act of the Assembly puts the matter so plainly as to admit
of no dispute.
Prior to 1741 all the Germans who came to Pennsyl¬
vania were called Palatines on the ship lists, irrespective
of the place of their nativity. Subsequent to that time,
23 Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. II., pp. 266-267.
56 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
however, the terms Por eigner s y* " inhabitants of the
Palatinate and places adjacent" were applied to them.
Still later, after 1754, German principalities from
which they came are not mentioned.
See note by Rupp in Dr. Rush's Manners and Customs of the German
Inhabitants of Pennsylvania^ p. 6.
TYPICAI. PRNNSYIiVANIA-GBRMAN CRADI,E,
With sacking bottom and top cords, showing how the infant was tied in.
CHAPTER V.
The Voyage Across the Ocean.— Discomforts and Pri¬
vations Attending It.— Insufficient Room.— Defi¬
cient Supplies of Food and Drink.— Unsanitary Con¬
ditions and Excessive Mortality.
" Borne far away beyond the ocean's roar,
He found his Fatherland upon this shore ;
And every drop of ardent blood that ran
Through his great heart was true American."
" I<asst hoch die Heimath leben !
Nehmt all' ein Glas zur Hand !
Nicht Jeder hat ein I<iebchen,
Doch Jeder ein Vaterland."
V
'HE uncertainties attend¬
ing the length of the
voyages often entailed great
hardships and misery upon
the immigrants. The ships
I were crowded with passengers
^ beyond their proper room age,
as Mittelberger and others re-
late. As I have shown else-
where chests and other prop¬
erty which should have come
with the voyagers, were left
behind so that more human freight could be put on board.
(57)
58 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
These latter consequently often took up a part of the space
that should have been given to provisions and water.
When the voyages were prolonged—a very common oc¬
currence—the food ran short in a corresponding degree,
and not that only, but deteriorated to an extent that often
rendered it uneatable, save in cases of dire necessity. Low
fares were the rule and that of course also meant provisions
of the cheapest kind, and as few of them as the captain of
the vessel could keep his passengers alive on, and he was
not always over-particular concerning the latter. As it was
with the food so it was with the water supply. The allow¬
ance of the latter, never over-abundant, nearly always ran
short, when the supply was of course curtailed to the pas¬
sengers. Passing vessels were often stopped to secure
fresh supplies both of water and food, and pastor Muhlen-
burg relates how passing showers were sometimes made to
yield their contributions.
In this connection it deserves to be mentioned that in
those days little or no regard was paid to sanitation on
board ships. They were not constructed with such ends in
view but to secure the largest amount of room for the least
expenditure of money. In fact, these things were very
poorly understood at that time. Therefore, with insuffi¬
cient and often unwholesome food, short water supplies
that were unfit to drink, and the crowded condition of the
vessels into the bargain, we need feel no surprise at the
dreadful mortality that so often occurred on board. We
are well aware to-day that typhoid fever is very generally
the result of the use of contaminated water, and that the
demand for greater and purer water supplies is the unceas¬
ing cry from all large and small communities. Need we
wonder that under the stress of all these unhappy concur¬
rent conditions on shipboard, the mortality in many in¬
stances was frightful?
The Victims of Dece-ption,
59
Under conditions of discouragement, robbery, wrong,
deception and contumely that almost exceed the limits of
human credulity, these poor but enthusiastic people con¬
tinued to make their way to America. The story of their
treatment and sufferings while on shipboard equals all the
horrors we have been told of the " middle passage." On
shore the land shark in the shape of the broker and mer¬
chant awaited their arrival to finish the work of spoli¬
ation if the ship captain had not already completed it. It
was but little these helpless sons of toil had, but in their
huge wooden chests were stored a few heirlooms, gener¬
ations old sometimes ; the few household treasures their
scant earnings had enabled them to accumulate, and which,
until now they had tried to keep together. These at once
became the objects of English covetousness, and too often
became the reward of English cupidity. We can scarcely
realize the dismal tale, but it comes to us from so many
sources, official and otherwise, that we can only read, pity
and believe. Herein at least the world has grown better.
If such things are still practiced, it is done secretly ; openly
they have ceased to vex the earth with their detestable in¬
humanity.
Expatriation is usually a severe trial to the men of all
nations, and perhaps to none so much so as to those of
the Teutonic race. They are steady and constant by
nature. Their affection even from days of childhood for
their native soil is deep-rooted, while their love ' and
reverence for home and fatherland is strong and abiding.
Yet in this exodus to the New World all these deep-seated
sentiments gave way under new feelings and impulses.
They migrated to escape from the contracted and un¬
favorable conditions of their home environment, which
were unbearable. That these people should venture their
6o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
all in a quest for rest and comfort in a new and strange
land, marks an era in the migrations of the human family.
The German immigrants seem to have been regarded as
legitimate game by nearly all the men who in any manner
were brought into relations with them. We must, of
course, believe that there was some honesty among the
men who had control of this traffic for so many years, but
truth compels us to say that such men were not the rule
but its exceptions. They had no more interest in these
incoming aliens than what they might make out of them,
legitimately or otherwise. In this they were greatly aided
by the fact that the Germans were unacquainted with the
English language, and therefore prevented from defend¬
ing their rights when they were assailed. Furthermore,
honest themselves, they were prone to put trust-and confi¬
dence in others. Here they committed a grievous mistake.
They were dealing with men in whom all the ordinary in¬
stincts of humanity save that of cupidity appear to have
been almost entirely absent. What show could the trustful
German, fresh from the fields of the Fatherland, have
against men who seemingly lived only to defraud?
A memorial letter written by a well-known Philadelphia
clergyman in 1774 to the then Govenor, gives us an insight
into the frauds perpetrated on these people.
The Memorial of Lewis Weiss, 1774.
"To the Honorable John Penn, Esq', Govenor and
Commander in Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania, &c.
" The Memorial of Lewis Weiss, most respectfully
showeth,
"That altho' in the Bill now before your Honor, ' to
prevent infectious Disease being brought into this Province,*
great care and Tenderness is shewn for the unhappy sick
Bonis Account of Pennsylvania.
6i
Mifllvo van
CORNELLS BOM,
GcTchreven uit cte Sradc
PHILADELPHIA,
In Je Píovintie van
PENNSYLVANIA,
Légende Op d'Ooftzyde vandc
Znyd Revier van Nieuw^Nederland.
Vcrhalcn Je Je groote Voortgtnk
van de fei ve Provmcie,
Wm 6p iiomt
• Dc Gçtuygcnis van
JACOB TELNER.
van Atpilerdam.
Tot Rettcrdam gednikc > by Pieter var
Wijnbruggc, indcLccuweftraec. 1^8:
TITI.B-PAGE OE CORNEEIS BOM'S AcCOUnt.
02 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
and of curing them if possible, yet there seems something
very material that might be added by the Goodness and
Humanity of the Legislative Body of this Province in order
to enlarge the Benefit of an act that is partly intended to
relieve the poor, the sick, and the Stranger, to wit, the
Custody and preservation of their Property shipped on
board of such sickly vessel.
" May it please your Honor to put a Benevolent Construc¬
tion on this your Memoralist's humble application by him
made (indeed not only on behalf of his Countrymen, the
Germans, but) for all unfortunate Strangers taking refuge
in your blessed Province. And for as much as he has these
nineteen years of his Residence here lent his ear to their
numerous Complaints ; he begs Leave to explain the Sub¬
stance thereof in as concise a manner as he is able to con¬
tract in Words so extensive a Subject.
Passengers having Goods of any value on board of the
same Ship in which they transport themselves hardly ever
take Bills of Lading for such Goods, the Merchants, Cap¬
tains, or their Subordinates persuading them that it could
do them no Good but rather involve them into Difficulties at
their arrival. If they leave any Goods in the Stores of the
Freighter of such vessel they will now & then take a little
Note ' that the Merchant has such Chests, Casks, Bales,
&c., and under takes to send it by next Vessel free of
Freight, to the person who deposited such Goods
with him. The Passenger puts the note in his Pocket
Book, he has also the Invoice of his Goods, and his
Money he has sowed up in his old Rags or in a Belt about
his Waist. But in the voyage he or his Wife or some of
his Family, or all of them grow sick. Then the plunder
upon the sick or dead begin, and if the old ones recover
or small Children survive the goods are gone, and the
Pastor Weiss^ Memorial.
63
proofs that they had any are lost. The Captains never re¬
ported to any public officer how many passengers he took
in at the Port from whence he sailed, or how many died
on the voyage, never any manifest of the Goods belonging
to passengers is produced. But in short hardly any vessel
with Palatine Passengers has arrived in the Port of Phila¬
delphia but there has been Clamours and Complaints heard
of Stealing & pilfering the Goods of the Sick & of the
dead. And if your Honour will be pleased to inquire of
the Register General, whether within the space of twenty-
five years or since the passing of the Act 23. Geo. 2, in-
titled ' An Act for the prohibiting of German & other
Passengers in too great Numbers in any one Vessel,' any
considerable Number of Inventories of Goods & Effects of
Persons who died in their Passage hither or soon after
have been exhibited into that Office, you will find that the
practice is otherwise than the Law.
" Upon the whole your Memorialist humbly apprehends
that if sick Passengers shall by Virtue of the Bill now
before your Honour be landed & nursed at the Province
Island and their Chests and other Goods go up to Phila¬
delphia, it will require a particular Provision of what shall
be done for the preservation of their Goods on board.
" L. Weiss.
" Philad'', Jan. 19. 1774."
In some instances these German immigrants have re¬
corded in writings which are still accessible the story of
their sufferings and their wrongs. We have a case of this
in the record of the voyage of the ship Love and Unity^
than which no vessel was perhaps ever more unaptly
named. This ship under the command of Captain Lobb,
sailed from Rotterdam for Philadelphia in May, 1731,
64 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
with more than one hundred and fifty Palatines. Instead
of going to Philadelphia, these people, or rather the sur¬
vivors, were landed on the island of Martha's Vineyard,
off the southern coast of Massachusetts. Of their num¬
ber, only thirty-four reached Philadelphia in May, 1732.^
In a letter written by Johannes Gohr, Jacob Diffebach,
Jonas Daner, Jacob Kuntz and Samuel Schwachhamer,
dated February, 1732, to the Rev. Michael Weiss, a Ger¬
man Reformed minister in Philadelphia, they say among
other things : " Captain Lobb, a wicked murderer of souls,
thought to starve us, not having provided provisions
enough, according to agreement ; and thus got possession
of our goods ; for during the voyage of the last eight
weeks, five persons were only allowed one pint of coarse
meal per day, and a quart of water to each person.
We were twenty-four weeks coming from Rotterdam to
Martha's Vineyard. There were at first more than one
hundred and fifty persons—more than one hundred
perished. • * * To keep from starving, we had to eat
rats and mice. We paid from eight pence to two shillings
for a mouse ; four pence for a quart of water. * * * In one
night several persons miserably perished and were thrown
naked overboard ; no sand was allowed to be used to sink
the bodies but they floated. We paid for a loaf of Indian
corn eight shillings. Our misery was so great that we often
begged the captain to put us on land that we might buy pro¬
visions. He put us off from day to day for eight weeks,
until at last it pleased Almighty God, to send us a sloop,
which brought us to Home's Hole, Martha's Vineyard.
* * * Had he detained four days longer every one of us
would have famished ; for none had it in his power to hand
another a drop of water. * * * All our chests were broken
^^Philadelphia Gazette, May 18, 1732.
iMni(.RArio/N INT(I reNNsuvANiA
DOHESTIC 1/NDU5TRIE5
TOW RRD FLHX REELS.
MARKS SEU/N ELHX
A Pathetic Tale of Suffering and Wrong, 65
open. • * * The captain constrained us to fay the whole
freight of the dead and livings as if he had landed us at
Philadelphia, and we agreed in writing to do so, not under¬
standing what we signed ; but we are not able to comply,
for if we are to pay for the dead^ we should have taken
the goods of the dead; but in discharging the vessel, we
found that most of their chests were broken open and
plundered.
"The captain however, has determined, that we stfhll
pay him in three weeks ; we, therefore, desire you to in¬
stantly assist us as much as is in your povper. For if we
have to pay, the wicked captain will make us all beggars.
* * * We would have sent two or three men with this
letter, but none of us is yet able to stir, for we are weak
and feeble ; but as soon as there shall be two or three of
us able to travel they will follow."^®
The whole history of American colonization may con¬
fidently be challenged to present so pathetic and sorrowful
a tale. The voyage of the "Mayñówer" has been told
and retold in song and story. It is the entire stock in
trade of certain writers. If I remember it aright its one
hundred and two Puritans were all landed after a voyage
of sixty-five days duration. Not a death from any cause,
certainly none from starvation. Yet that voyage is extolled
as the one beyond all others where the courage, fortitude
and endurance of colonists were tried to their utmost. If
the student of American colonization wishes to learn
where humanity's sorest trial on this continent occurred,
he must turn to the German immigration to Pennsylvania
in the eighteenth century.
In this instance the deception and rascality perpetrated
Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. II., April, 1732, p. 727.
66 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
on these poor people became the subject of official investi¬
gation.^
The sequel to this tale of oppression and suffering is
not the least interesting part of the story. It appears that
several of these wretched German immigrants had charged
Captain Lobb with killing several of their countrymen by
his brutal treatment. Such an accusation could hardly
«i^'The particulars of this case, contributed to the Pennsylvania Maga¬
zine of History and Biography, Vol. XXI., pp. 124-125, by Mr. Andrew
M. Davis, as taken from the "Journal of the House of Massachusetts," are as
follows .• " December 29, 1731.
"A Petition sigfn'd Philip Bongarden, in the Name and behalf of sundry poor
distressed Palatines, now at Martha's Vineyard, within this Province (Massa¬
chusetts), setting forth. That they were lately brought into said 'Martha*s Vine¬
yard from Rotterdam, in the Ship Loving Unity, Jacob Dobb Commander, with
whom they entered into a written Agreement at Rotterdam aforesaid (a Copy
of which said Ag^reement was therewith exhibited, translated into English).
That the said Captain had in a most barberons manner dealt with the Petitioners
in their voyage : praying that the Court would Order that the said Capt. Lobb
may be obliged to answer for the Injuries, Wrongs and Abuses by him done and'
offered as herein mentioned ; as also, that he may be obliged to comply with
his Contract, for the transporting of the Petitiones and their Goods to Phila¬
delphia, and that they may meet with such other Relief as shall be agreeable to
Justice. (Brought down this Afternoon by Ebenezer Burrel Esq ;) Pass'd in
Council, viz. In Council, December 29, 1731. Read and Voted, That His Ex¬
cellency be desired to issue out a Special Warrant for citing the before men¬
tioned Jacob lyobb to appear before the Governour and Council to answer to the
Complaint ; and that in the meantime the Goods and Effects of the Palatines,
brought on the ship Loving Unity secured at Martha's Vineyard, and the
said Ship stopped in one of the Harbours there, till the Order of the Governour
and Council thereupon ; and that any two of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace
in Dukes County, be directed to take care that two or three of the principal
Persons of the Palatines be sent up to attend the Governour and Council, to
support this Complaint ; and that they likewise examine some of the Seamen
on Oath, upon this Affair and send up their Examinations to the Secretary.—
Sent down for concurrence.—Read.
" Ordered, That the Treasurer of this Province, be and hereby is directed
to supply the Select-Men of Edgartown with the Sum of Tivo Hundred
Pounds, to be disposed of, according to their best Discretion, for the Relief and
Comfort of the Palatines, lately brought into Martha's Vineyard; The Treas¬
urer to account therefore, in his next Accompt of Disbursements
Sent up for Concurrence.
" December 30. The Order of Council on the Palatines Petition entered Yes-
Accusers Sent to Jail.
67
be passed over in silence, so he haled his accusers into the
Massachusetts courts, and after a prolonged trial, the cap¬
tain was not only acquitted of the charge but the witnesses
against him were saddled with the costs of the trial and
sent to jail until they were paid. The Philadelfhiscke
Zeitung oi 1732 has an account of the proceedings.^
terday, Read a^ain, and after a Debate, thie House passed a Non-Concurrence
thereon, and
" Ordered^ That William Sherley Esq ; be desired to be of Council to Mr.
Philip Bongarden, and assist him in seeking Relief for the Palatines (in whose
behalf he appears) in the legal and customary Way in such cases.
Sent up for Concurrence.
" December 31. Thomas Palmer Esq ; brought down from the Honorable
Board, the OrdA" of the 29th Instant for an Allowance to the Palatines pass'd
in Council viz. In Council Dec. 31, 1731. Read and Concurred; with the
Amendment.
"Sent down for Concurrence. Read and Concurred."
®®Nachdemauf anstifftung und eingebung verschiedener Persohnen, welche
den Kapitain des Schiffs "Diebe und Einigkeit," Jacob Dobb, mit grosser
Barbarey gegen gewisse Pfältzer in seinem Schiffe auf ihrer Passée von
Holland zu Martha's Vineyard, beleget haben, die Ehrsame Richter des
Köeniglichen Obergerichts gut gefunden haben denselben zu verpflichten
dass er vor dem Obergerichte von Rechts-sachen, &c welches den vierdten
Dienstag im Mertz letzthin zu Barnstable vor die County von Barnstable
gehalten worden, erscheinen, und dasjeinge so von des Königs wegen gegen
ihn eingebracht werden möchte, beantworten solle ; da er dann diesem folge
erscheinen, und wegen Zweyer unter Schiedenen Beschuldigungen des mords
von der grossen jury dieser County gegen ihn gefunden, examinirt worden
und nach einem 6 stunden lang gewähretem Wortwechsel die Kline Jury in,
urtheil geschwint einbrachten als unschuldig von der erstem anklage, und
wenig minuten hernach ein gleiches wegen der andern beschuldig^ung. N. B.
Es wurde bey der examinirung observiret, dass das elend so diesen Passagie¬
ren begegnet, nicht von einer gewinnsüchtigen begierde des Capitains, oder
vorsetzlichen Intention die Reise zu verlangern hergekommen, sondern die
länge derselben müste, wie aus dem Tag-register des Capitains, und der
Eydlichen aussage aller Matrosen erhellerte, dem contraierem Winde und der
Wind-stille zugeschrieben werden : Und konten die Gezeugen von des Königs
Seiten den Capitain mit keiner einzigen ausübung einer Härtigkeit während
der reise belegen. Weswegen der Capitain sich zu rechtfertigen gut gefunden,
seinen verletzten carácter öffentlich zu defendiren ; insonderheit in ansehung
der falschen und schändlichen advertissementen, welche sind publiciret wor¬
den denselben zu beflecken und die gemüther des volcks mit vorurtheilen ge¬
gen ihn einzunehmen ehe er examinirt worden und sich selbst rechtmässig
befreyen konte. Weiters ist er nun darauf aus, diejenigen gerichtlich zu ver-
68 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
The foregoing action on the part of Massachusetts had
its counterpart in Pennsylvania in January, 1796. A ship
arrived in Philadelphia in the fall of 179S with a large
number of French immigrants, many of whom were women
and children. On January 13th of the first named year, the
Legislature passed an Act appropriating $1,500 for their re¬
lief, and two hundred and twenty persons were thus aided.
In addition to this Martha's Vineyard episode, there is
still another New England Palatine story, less fully au¬
thenticated, but of the truth of the main details there seems
to be no question. As the story goes, a number of Pala¬
tine immigrants were either shipwrecked or landed under
very destitute circumstances on Block Island towards the
middle of the eighteenth century. No record of the oc-
folgen, welche ihn so boshaftig verleumdet und einen Process verursachet ha¬
ben, der nach Untersuchung grantz ohne gfrund gefunden worden.
See article on the first German newspaper published in America. Pro¬
ceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society, Vol. X., pp. 41-46.
29 " To Thomas Mifflin : Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
"The Commissioners appointed by the act of the I«egislature, dated the 13th
of January, 1796, to afford relief to certain distressed French Emigrants ; Re¬
port that they have endeavoured to fulfil the benevolent views of the Legisla¬
ture, by personally distributing the sum of fifteen hundred Dollars, granted for
that purpose, in money, wood, clothing and other necessaries to about two hun¬
dred and twenty necessitous French People, as by the annexed Schedule ; many
of whom were old, and some of them lame, blind, sick, or otherwise unable to
support themselves.
" It was a very seasonable relief to them during the last winter, and spring,
for which many of them have expressed their gratitude, on leaving the Conti¬
nent to return to their own country. Others remain, endeavouring to habituate
themselves to our language, customs and modes of life ; of whom a number
will, we hope in future be able to gain an honest livelihood, with but little
assistance ; yet some worthy Individuals will probably continue entirely de¬
pendent upon the aid of charity.
"Signed in Philadelphia, the 5th day of November, 1796.
"Samuel P. Griffiths,
"Rob. Ralston,
" Godfrey Haga,
"Joseph Pansom,
"Joseph Lownes."
Whiíti'er's SAip Palatine.
69
curence has been preserved so far as is known ; tradition
only has dealt with it, and that says many of these people
were landed there and that some of them perished. Some
of the survivors got away from the island. A woman who
remained is reported to have married a negro.
The name of the vessel is said to have been the Palatine^
but perhaps that is a mere supposition, the result of con¬
founding it with the country whence these unfortunates
came. The fancy of the poet has been called in to lend
attractiveness to the tale, and Whittier tells a weird story
about the ship Palatine in his " Tent on the Beach." Lis¬
ten to his melodious verse :
" And old men mending their nets of twine,
Talk together of dream and sign,
Talk of the lost ship Palatine.
^
" The ship that a hundred years before,
Freighted deep with its goodly store.
In the gales of the equinox went ashore.
» -jje- « ^ 4|e
"Into the teeth of death she sped:
(May God forgive the hands that fed
The false lights over the rocky head ! )
******
' ' And then, with ghastly shimmer and shine
Over the rocks and the seething brine.
They burned the wreck of the Palatine.
******
" And still on many a moonless night.
From Kingston head and from Montauk light.
The spectre kindles and burns in sight.
******
" And the wise Sound skippers, though skies be fine.
Reef their sails when they see the sign
Of the blazing wreck of the Palatine."
70 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
It has been conjectured that this ship was one which,
although destined for Pennsylvania, was nevertheless di¬
verted from her course by the captain, as was frequently
done for improper purposes, and that the disaster, whatever
its character, was the result of ignorance of the coaSt on
his part.
a "dutch oven."
This was placed upon the hearth and live coals and ashes heaped over it.
%
CHAPTER VI.
Pennsylvania the Favorite Home of German Immi¬
grants.— What Occurred in Massachusetts.— The
Germans Especially Adapted to the Requirements
of Penn's Province.— Bishop Berkeley's Prevision.
"It is a peculiarly noble work rescuing from oblivion those who deserve
immortality, and extending their renown at the same time that we advance
our own."
"Those who take no pride in the achievements of their ancestors, near or
remote, are not likely to accomplish much that will be remembered with
pride by their descendants."
fir '
ROM the time of the
arrival of the first reg¬
ular German colony at Ger-
mantown down until 1776,
and later, Pennsylvania was
the most favored of all the
countries in America, by the
German immigrants. There
were two all-sufficient rea¬
sons for this. First was the
liberal government of Penn's
Province, and second the
illiberal spirit which greeted
them everywhere else. To
this may be added still an¬
other, the character of the
(71)
72 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
soil, so well adapted to the needs of an agricultural people
such as a majority of these colonists were. Then, too, as
the earliest settlers found plenty and contentment under
liberal laws, they were not slow in keeping their friends and
relatives in the old home beyond the sea informed of alLthat
had happened to them. These favorable accounts—for in
nearly every case they were favorable—turned the incom¬
ing tide in the same direction. Naturally, these people
desired to go where their friends and kindred were, or if
neither of these had preceded them, then where their fel¬
low countrymen were, where the German language was
spoken and where the manners and customs of the Father¬
land met them on every hand.
Came they with modest wealth or came they steeped in
poverty as so many were, they could at least expect a wel¬
come, nor was it often that this was not accorded in the
fullest possible measure. There have been preserved in
many families, and they are still told among their descend¬
ants, pleasant tales of welcome to new arrivals by those
who were already on the spot and comfortably fixed. The
nearest neighbors to the new squatter may have lived five
or ten miles away, but they quickly gathered about the
new comer and aided him in the construction of his humble
log dwelling, and in putting out such grain and vegetables
as the season would allow. Often a cow and other domestic
animals were bestowed by a well-to-do neighbor, and in
this way the early hardships and needs were relieved
until the settler was in a measure prepared to take care of
himself and family. Could these charitable and neigh¬
borly deeds be looked for from men of alien races and
tongues? No, but the German heart beat true, and never
made a nobler record than that which was recorded to its
credit in the wilds of Pennsylvania nigh two hundred years
Pastorius' Useful Tracts, 73
.^SfeHeíllí
lioft fe^c nu^i(^
ractátietn
Dt ôftinhwtî Safiâôrum Vitîs
1. Deómnitim Panlificüm Statulis
If. De Cofítiliotum Dedfionibtts
V. De Epifcopis Sc Patriarchis ConftaïK
díiapolitanis^
1.15ow 2rtltt ¿ebena^UbaúS
i.Vcií 2ltter p^ppt ©tfcQ'.
l* Ven bté Concílieí) StiitdSopimií§^
unb Patriare^
SU donjlantíuopd»
gum 0ntnî>e
C)(t túnffíf^bm noi^fiíirneií Ixirditf
i« bauen ^ocbabenbct ^ar(ieft
prse'iTiittiretj
2)uvcb
FRANCISCUM DAÑIELEM,
PASTORIUN. J. II. L.
2(hs6(I: *
Sn'Penf^Ioaníancultc^fí&on tnír lit
®cunb angelegten /. unb nun mit gutem
Succès aufgebenben 0tabt:
C E R M A N. O P O L I
Àm Cbrißi M. DC. XC.
TiTi,E-PAGB OF PASTORIOS' Four Useful Tracts.
74 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
ago. It was, therefore, not mere chance that directed this,
the most remarkable migration of the last century. It
followed along lines that we can easily understand to-day,
and wherever else credit may be due, it is undeniable
that the first impulse came from William Penn himself,
and that as a law giver, a commonwealth builder and as a
Man, he clearly stands before us as the grandest character
that ever landed upon the shores of the New World.
A single life measures but a span in the life of a nation,
therefore it was not given to William Penn to witness the
splendor of his success in commonwealth building. He
died long before his scheme of German immigration
reached even the promise of its later development. But yet
it was granted to him to en^'oy something of the satisfaction
and pride that comes to the man of great plans and ideas,
when even the limited present projects its brightness into
the coming years, filling the future with its radiance.
Well could he exclaim, with true modesty, and with honest
exultation: "I must without vanity, say, I have led the
greatest colony into America that ever any man did upon a
private credit, and the most prosperous beginnings that
ever were in it, are to be found among us."®® With the eye
of faith he
" — Dipt into the future far as human eye could see;
Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be."
William Penn in Pennsylvania and the Governors of
New York and other nearby States were not the only per¬
sons who made efforts to secure these immigrants. During
the first half of the eighteenth century some of the large
landed proprietors in the New England colonies were intent
on the same game. They sent agents across the Atlantic,
30 Penn to Lord Halifax, in Watson's Annals of Pennsylvania, p. 19.
German Love of Country Life.
75
who fairly flooded the Palatinate and other German prov¬
inces with hand-bills and other documents to encourage im¬
migration into that region. Nor were their efforts unsuc¬
cessful. A number of small colonies were persuaded to
come over, and they were settled along the bleak seacoast.
But the unkindly climate, added to the sterility of the soil,
and in some cases also fraudulent titles to their lands, soon
had the, effect of driving them away, they finding more
congenial homes in the Middle and Southern Colonies.
It cannot be gainsaid that the Germans were preëmi-
nently such settlers as the Province of Pennsylvania needed.
From the earliest times they lived in the forests and culti¬
vated the soil. One of the greatest of the Latin historians
has told us that none of the 'German nations lived in
cities, or even allow contiguous settlements. They dwelt
scattered and separate, as a spring, a meadow or a grove
might chance to invite them. Their villages are laid out in
rows of adjoining buildings, but every one surrounds his
house with a vacant space, either by way of security
against fire, or through ignorance of the art of building.
For indeed they are unacquainted with the use of mortar and
tiles and for every purpose employ rude misshapen timber
fashioned with no regard to pleasing the eye." Caesar
speaks to the same purpose, and says, "they think it the
greatest honor to a nation to have as wide an extent of va¬
cant land around their dominions as possible."®^
An eminent German historian has said that the overplus
population of Germany has ever emigrated ; in ancient
times for the purpose of conquering foreign powers ; in
modern times for that of serving under them. In the days
of German heroism, her conquering hordes spread towards
Tacitus, Germania, C. i6.
3«c^ar, Bell. Gall., iv., 3.
76 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
the west and south. During the Middle Ages her mail-
clad warriors took an easterly direction and overran the
Slavonian countries. In modern times, her political and
religous refugees have emigrated in scarcely less consider¬
able numbers to countries far more distant, but in the
humble garb of artificers and beggars, the Parias of the
world. Her ancient warriors gained undying fame and
long maintained the influence and the rule of Germany in
foreign lands. Her modern emigrants have quitted their
native country unnoted, and as early as the second genera¬
tion intermixed with the people among whom they settled.
Hundreds of thousands of Germans have in this manner
aided in aggrandizing the British colonies, while Germany
has derived no benefit from the emigration of her sons.
The industry and honesty for which the German workmen
are remarkable caused some Englishmen to enter into a
speculation to procure their services as white slaves. The
greatest encouragement was accordingly given by them to
emigration from Germany.
Early in the eighteenth century one of the most distin¬
guished of the sons of Ireland came to the New World. He
had all the culture of the schools. There were few depart¬
ments of learning that were unfamiliar to him. Best of all,
his heart was full of love for the human race, for he caught
his inspiration in the same school that gave the world men
like Locke and Penn and Hampden. He came here full of
high hopes and the most exalted ambition. Unfortunately,
his schemes for the uplifting of the American people, from
the Red Man in his forest home to the refined dweller
in the cities, were not realized, and George Berkeley re¬
turned to Europe, eventually to receive a bishopric he did
not covet. But the heart of the gentle prelate turned with
^ ® Menzbl's History of Germany, Chap. CCIiXXIV.
GERMAN IMMIGRATION INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
ARRANGED AND PHOTO. BY J. F. SACHSE. PENNSYLVANIA-QERMAN ENTERPRISE.
GLASSWARE MADE BY BHRON STIEGEL (l 768-177it). MANHEIM. PH.
SreCIMENS IN DflNNER COLLECTION.
Bishof Berkeley's Prevision.
77
an unquenchable and ever-living love to the green fields,
the prosperous villages, and to the happy men who dwelt in
America. Through the mists of the future he thought he
saw what was destined to transpire in that land of his
affection in the years that were still to come, and when the
spirit of prophecy came upon him, he wrote words that
have come down to us, their music reverberating through
the corridors of time.
" In happy climes, the seat of innocence,
Where nature guides, and virtue rules ;
Where men shall not impose for truth and sense
The pedantry of courts and schools :—
" There shall be sung another golden age,—
The rise of empire and of arts,—
The good and great inspiring epic rage—
The wisest heads and noblest hearts.
" Not such as Europe breeds in her decay ;
Such as she bred when fresh and young.
When heavenly flame did animate her clay.
By future poets shall be sung.
"Westward the cause of empire takes its way.
The first four acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day.
Time's noblest offspring is the last."
Is it too much to say to-day that the hopes of William Penn
and the prophetic visions of the poet-Bishop have already
had their realization? Is not Pennsylvania at this very
hour the grandest colony ever founded in the New World.
Which surpasses her? Which equals her? Does she not
stand peerless, an empire Republic, largely the result of
this German immigration?
CHAPTER VII.
A Glance at the Quarrels between the Proprietary
Governors and the Legislatures.— It was not the
Political "Golden Age" to which we sometimes Re¬
fer with so much Pride and Pleasure.
" In Deutsche Eichenforste,
Auf Berge, hoch und grün
Zu frischen Au'n der Donau
Zog mich das Heimweh hin."
" Wie wird es in den fremden Wäldern
Euch nach der Heimathberge gfriin.
Nach Deutschlands gelben Weizenfeldern,
Nach seinen Rebenhügeln ziehn."
H GREAT deal is said
and read in these latter
days of th« golden age of
our provincial times. The
present generation is told to
refer to that idyllic period as
a time and when the golden
rule was the reigning law
among men, to contrast it
with the spirit of legislative
strife, contention and corruption which we are told hold
(78)
Early Provincial Quarrels.
79
sway to-day. The myth has done duty for many a year
and those who are content to take things at second hand,
accept and believe it. But that golden colonial period de¬
rives its fine reputation from the glamor the passing genera¬
tions of men have thrown upon it. Let the student care¬
fully study the Colonial Records and the First Series of
Pennsylvania Archives, and he will have his mind promptly
disabused of these pleasing ideas. The trouble began even
before the death of Penn and it was continued between
nearly all the succeeding Governors and the Assemblies
until the Proprietary rights were extinguished by the Rev¬
olution. No, quarrels between the legislative and execu¬
tive deparlfeients of our fair Province of Pennsylvania were
a constantly recurring affair, and often were anything but
beneficial to the inhabitants.
This fact is recalled now to exemplify a case where it
resulted in the neglect to do a very necessary thing, which
both the Governor and the Assembly seemed anxious to do,
but which through their obstinacy and recriminations, was
long delayed. The need of a hospital or lazaretto for the
reception of immigrants and others who came to Philadel¬
phia on pest-infected vessels, was recognized long before
action was taken to establish one. Not only did the Ger¬
man residents of Philadelphia urge it, but English sub¬
jects also. In 1738 the influence brought to bear on Gov¬
ernor Thomas was so strong that at a Council meeting held
on January 2d of the above mentioned year, he made an
address, in which among other things he highly compli¬
mented the German immigrants and declared the progress
and prosperity of the Province was largely due to their in¬
dustry and thrift. He further said: "The condition, in¬
deed, of such as arrived here lately has given a very just
alarm ; but had you been provided with a Pest House or
8o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Hospital, in a proper Situation, the Evils which have been
apprehended might, under God, have been entirely pre¬
vented. The Law to Prevent Sickly Vessels from coming
into this Government, has been strictly put in Execution by
me. A Physician has been appointed to visit those Vessels,
and the Masters obliged to land such of the Passengers as
were sick, at a distance from the City, and to convey them
at their own Expence, to Houses in the Country convenient
for their Reception. More could not have been done with¬
out inhumanly exposing great Numbers to perish on board
the Ships that brought them. This accident, I cannot
doubt, will induce you to make a Provision against the like
for the future." ^
Owing, however, to the causes just alluded to, the As¬
sembly ignored the Governor's suggestion about providing
a hospital for sick immigrants, and the records make no
further mention of the matter until the 26th of January,
1741, when the Governor laid before the Council the fol¬
lowing address or message which he said he had sent to
the General Assembly, viz :
Gentlemen :
" Several of the most substantial Germans now In¬
habitants of this Province, have joined in a petition to me,
setting forth in Substance, That for want of a Convenient
House for the reception of such of their Countrymen as,
on their Arrival here, laboured under Diseases Contracted
in a long Voyage, they were obliged to continue on board
the Ships which brought them, where they could not get
either Attendance or Conveniences suitable to their Condi¬
tion, from whence many have lost their Lives ; And pray¬
ing that I would recommend to the Assembly the Erecting
3* Colonial Records, Vol. IV., p. 315.
Governor Thomas^ Message.
8i
of a proper Building at the public Expence, not only to ac¬
commodate such as shall arrive hereafter under the same
Circumstances, but to prevent the future Importation of
Diseases into this City, which has more than once felt the
fatal Effects of them.
"The numbers of People which I observed came into
this Province from Ireland & Germany, pointed out to me
the necessity of an Hospital or Pest House, soon after my
arrival here; (August, 1738.) and in 1738 I recommended
it to the Assembly of that year, who seemed so far from
disapproving it, that they gave me hopes of building one
so soon as the Circumstances of the Province should
admit. I very heartily wish for the sake of such ffamilys,
Inhabitants of this City, as suffered in the late Mortality
by the Loss of some who were their Chief Support, and
will therefore feel it for Years to come, and on account of
the Irish & German Strangers, that it had indeed been
done as soon as the Circumstances of the Province did
admit of it. But as it can profit nothing to bewail Evils
past, I hope you will now make the proper Use of them by
doing all in your Power to Prevent the .like for the time to
come.
" I am not insensible that some look with jealous Eyes
upon the yearly concourse of Germans to this Province,
but the Parliament of Great Britain see it in a different
Light, and have therefore given great Encouragement by
a late Act to all such foreign Protestants as shall settle in
his Majesty's Dominions ; And indeed every Man who
well Considers this Matter must allow that every indus¬
trious Laborer from Europe, is a real addition to the wealth
of this Province, and that the Labor of every foreigner
in particular is almost so much clear Gain to our Mother
Country.
82 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
I hope I need not take up more of your or my own
Time to convince you that what is now again recommended
is both for the interest of the Province and the Health of
this City. Evils felt are the most convincing Arguments.
I shall only add, that as Christians and as Men, we are
obliged to make a Charitable Provision for the sick
Stranger, and not by Confining him to a Ship, inhumanly
expose him to fresh Miserys when he hopes that his Suf¬
ferings are soon to be mitigated. Nothing but the build¬
ing an Hospital or Pest House in a proper situation can, in
my Opinion, be a suitable Charity or an Effectual security
for the future, more especially as the Country people are
grown so apprehensive of the Disease that they will not
be persuaded to admit the infected into their Houses."
To. the foregoing meSsage, every word of which was
true, the Assembly returned the following answer :
" A Message to the Governor from the House of Rep¬
resentatives.
" May it please the Governor :
"As great numbers of People from Ireland & Ger¬
many are yearly imported into this Province, some of
whom have been affected with Malignant & Dangerous
Distempers, it is Evident to Us that a convenient House to
accommodate such as shall hereafter arrive under the like
Circumstances, may be of great Use to them, and a means
to prevent the spreading of infectious Distempers among
Us, the Effects of which the City of Philadelphia has
lately felt, altho' we think a due Execution of the Laws
might in part have prevented them. How this failure hap¬
pened, at whose Door it ought to lye, and the Means of
preventing it for the future, we shall take another Occa-
The Assembly Makes Answer. 83
sion to Consider, and therefore we wave further Notice
of it here.
''When the Governor was pleased to recommend the
Building an Hospital or Pest-house to the Assembly in
the Year 1738, it was thought too great an undertaking
for the Circumstances we were then in ; and if it be Con¬
sidered that the Province hath since been at great and un¬
usual Expences, we think it may justly be said that the
State of the Public Treasure neither at present nor at any
time since the year 1738 hath been in a much better Con¬
dition for such an Undertaking than it was at that time.
Nevertheless, as it will not only be Charitable to Strangers
who may hereafter come among us in the distressed Cir¬
cumstances before mentioned, but also of benefit to the in¬
habitants of this Province, we are therefore determined to
take this Matter into Consideration, and to direct a plan to
be proposed and an Estimate made of the Money which
would be requisite for the Building and yearly maintenance
of such an Hospital, to be laid before Us at our next Sit¬
ting. In the mean Time, as it is a Matter of Consider¬
able Importance, we may have the Opportunity of Know¬
ing more .generally the Minds of our Constituents, and it
will give such of them as shall think it fit an Opportunity
of applying to us touching the necessity of such a Build¬
ing, and the Manner of doing it which may render it most
useful & least burthensome to the Province ; And on the
whole we may the better be enabled to judge of the part
it will become Us to act in the Affair.
" Who they are that look with jealous Eyes on the Ger¬
mans the Governor has not been pleased to inform Us,
nor do we know ; Nothing of the kind can justly be at¬
tributed to Us, or any proceeding Assembly to our knowl¬
edge ; On the Contrary, the Legislature of this Province,
84 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
before the late Provision made in the Parliament of Great
Britian, have generally, on application made to them, ad¬
mitted the Germans to partake of the Privileges enjoyed
by the King's natural born Subjects here, and as we look
upon the protestant part of them in general to be Laborius,
Industrious people, we shall cheerfully pferform what may
reasonably be expected from Us for the benefit of those al¬
ready among Us, and such who may hereafter be imported.
" Signed by Order of the House.
"John Kinsey,
" Speaker."
It will readily be seen that the foregoing reply is so much
petty quibbling, intended to excuse the non-performance
of a duty, for neglect of which there really was no excuse.
But Governor Thomas was a good politician, had as good
a command of the English language as the members of the'
Legislature, and above all had the right side of the ques¬
tion. He promptly sent that body a rejoinder on the fol¬
lowing day, January 8th, in the following words :
* ' Gentlemen :
"I am not a little pleased to find by your Message of
Yesterday, that you agree to the necessity of building a
Pest House for the reception of Sick strangers, and to pre¬
vent the Spreading of infectious Diseases they may happen
to have Contracted in their Voyage hither, ánd I cannot
allow myself to doubt of your taking a speedy & proper
Means for the Completion of so charitable a Work.
"Whilst the German petitioners complain that many
have lost their Lives by being confined to the ships, you
express your Dissatisfaction that the Laws have not been
Executed ; that is, I suppose, that sick passengers were not
confined to the Ships. A former Assembly however, com-
Pastorius' Tract on Pennsylvania. 85
jCUtW
Í». 91. atíiií eto«
inDégeím/
04m¿
vielfdftjgm Utidh'td'é^^áSeti^
kiití> fottfttbafftiden Utfoc&m i^terTc ^cof«
fot Decaden^ unO Scbacmtina^-fvAci
ttgcnBuflánbc^/
2(U9
Sííteni^ afaubTtiätbi^en Documentîs uni
SjriífflWB UrfunDen (betf^ö^ebenbenliebe»
SSurgerfcbafft/ unb ^eto tf^acbfommen / ju
alfo lurammen getragen / UnD t»
Den S)vuc( â^flebeti
Melchiorem Adamum Paftofium,
ftitem Sutgemdftern unb Obct^Oltdi)»
tern m befagtec 0taDf*
©ebrticft SU Sî&rnberj
gfDS&vtTtton ©idtnuni) Sco^er^.
titi,B-pag:b of mei,chior adam pastorius' tract on Windsheim
and Pennsylvania.
86 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
posed of many of the same Members with the present, after
the very same Measures taken as to me, were pleased to
tell me in their address * That they had a grateful sense of
my Care in putting in Execution the Law for preventing
Sickly vessels from coming into this Government' But all
I say or do now must be wrong. The Resolutions of the
last Assembly on this .Matter sufficiently explain to me
what is meant by ' taking another occasion to consider at
whose Door the late sickness in Philadelphia ought to lie.'
I shall be glad to see your attempt to justify what was in¬
sinuated & assumed in those Resolves ; Accusations &
Complaints are no new things to me, but thanks to my In¬
tegrity they have been so far from doing me a prejudice
that they have shown me to his Majesty & his Ministers in
a Light more advantageous than I could otherwise have
expected ; ffor this favor tho' not designed as such. Gen¬
tlemen, I thank you.
" If I do not strictly adhere to form in imputing to you
what was done by the two proceeding Assembly's I hope
you will excuse me, for as you are nine in ten of you the
same Members, I do not know how to separate your actions
from your Persons.
"I cannot but differ with you (which I am sorry is too
often the Case) in the State of the Public Treasury
since 1738, for the Public accounts in my Opinion Show
that the Province has at no point of Time since been
unable to Erect the proposed Building ; you have, I con¬
fess, been at some unusual Expence, but I cannot call it
great as you do, since £1,500 out of the £2,500 said to be
Expended has been stopt out of my support. I know of
no other call Upon the Province since for an Unusual Ex-
pence. If you have generously and out of Compassion
for the Sufferings of your Subjects in Britain remitted
The Governor's Rejoinder.
87
£3,000 to your Agent for their Relief, I conclude you were
well able to Spare it. And that otherwise you would not
have done it.
" Either the Memory of some of your Body who were
members in 1738, must have failed them very much ; or
their Sentiments of the Importation of foreigness are, for
very Substantial Reasons, much alter'd ; ffor, not to dwell
upon a small Instance of the assembly's Displeasure to
me at that Time for saying a little too much of the Indus¬
try of the Germans, I refer you to the Minutes for the As¬
sembly's address to the Proprietor in 1738, to convince you
that what I said of their having been looked upon with
Jealous Eyes by some, was not altogether without founda¬
tion. What follows may be found in that address ;
" And this House will, in a proper Time, readily join
with the Governor in any Act that may be judged neces¬
sary, as well for protecting the property of the Proprietors
and others from such unjust Intrusions for the future and
for the preservation of the peace of the Government, as
for Guarding against the Dangers which may arise from
the great & frequent Importation of fforeigners." ^
It is not necessary to follow this quarrel between the
Governor and the Assembly any further. Suffice it to say
that eight days later the Assembly replied to the last quoted
communication of the Governor in a screed nearly thrice
as long, in which an attempt is made to traverse the latter's
very effective and convincing homethrusts.
It appears that a Dr. Grœme had for mány years, more
than twenty, by appointment of an earlier Governor and
the consent of the Provincial Council, visited unhealthy
vessels. About this time he presented a bill reading as
3® From the Minutes of the Provincial Council, in Colonial Records^ Vol. IV.,
pp. 570-571.
88 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
follows: To going on Board Visiting & reporting to
his Honour, the Governor, the State and Condition as to
Sickness & Health of six Palatine vessels, and one with
Negroes from South Carolina, at a Pistole each, £9. i6s."
Of course the Assembly found fault : there was no expla¬
nation of the service rendered ; the names of the ships
were not given, there was no evidence they were infected ;
so the House would not approve the bill. It turned up
again in the following year accompanied by another bill
for £8. 8s., but without the desired explanations. Finally
he was allowed £10 in payment of both. After that he
refused to serve any longer, and Dr. Lachany and some
other doctors, no doubt moved by professional etiquette,
also refused to act in this capacity, and the result was an¬
other war of words between the Governor and his unman¬
ageable Assembly. The latter body drew up and passed
a series of resolutions, the first oné of which read as fol¬
lows : "That for the Governor & Council to draw in
Question, arrange & Censure the proceedings of the
Representatives of the ffreemen of this Province in As¬
sembly met, after the Adjournment of such Assembly, is
assuming to themselves a power the Law hath not intrusted
them with, is illegal, unwarrantable, a high breach of their
Privileges, and of Dangerous Example.With the dis¬
charge of this Parthian shot we shall leave these belig-
erents, who kept up their quarrels for a long time after
with all their original impetuosity.
The outcome of this quarrel was, however, that in 1742,
Fisher's Island was purchased for the sum of £1,700 by a
Committee who were to hold the estate in trust. This
island contained three hundred and forty-two acres, and
was situated near the junction of the Schuylkill with the
3« Colonial Records, Vol. IV., p. 523.
GERMAN inniGRATION INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
HEAD DRESS AND UTENSILS.
(n) QUILTED HOOD, BEAVER HAT, LEGHORN BONNET AND TORTOISE-SHELL COHBS.
(B) SEINE FLOAT, BREAD TRAY, FRUIT BASKET, SFARR CATCHER AND WARMING FAN.
Fisher's Island Bought, 89
Delaware, on the southwest side of the Schuylkill, near its
mouth. The name Fisher's Island was taken from the
man who owned it. The named was changed to Province
Island, and later to State Island. There were some build¬
ings on it at the time and these were utilized as hospitals.
Fines were imposed upon any one harboring a person
who had been ordered to the Island. In January, 1750,
the Assembly appropriated £1,000 to erect a pest house.^
Sometimes when the passengers on an arriving ship
were afflicted with a severe disorder, they were not per¬
mitted to land, but were compelled to remain on board the
close quarters of the infected vessel, a practice which it
may be supposed did not contribute much to their speedy
restoration to health.®®
Under date of October 27, 1738, Lloyd Zachary and
Th. Bond, physicians, presented a certificate to the colonial
council to the following effect: " We have carefully ex¬
amined the state of health of the marines and passengers
on board of the ship St. Andrew, Captain Steadman, from
Rotterdam, and found a great number laboring under a
malignant, eruptive fever, and are of the opinion, they can¬
not, for some time, be landed in town without the danger
of infecting the inhabitants."
Again: "The foreigners, in number 49, imported in
the ship Francis and Elizabeth, Captain Beach, being
3'Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol, III., p. 333,
"The crowded condition of emigrant ships both from Germany and Ireland
had frequently received the attention of the I<egislature. The landing of the
sick was forbidden, but for a long time no adequate provision was made for
their care. But in 1741 an island of 342 acres, subsequently called Province
Island, lying at the confluence of the Schuylkill with the Delaware, was pur¬
chased and a lazaretto established, where such were landed. * * * Strange to
say, no provision was made for their support. The expense was chargeable to
the importers and ship captains, who had their recourse against the effects of
the immigrrants."—Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, pp. 237-238.
ä® Colonial Records, Vol. IV., p. 306.
90 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
sickly, were not permitted to be landed. Likewise the
foreigners, in number 53, imported in the ship Rachel,
Captain Armstrong, were so sickly that it was thought
dangerous to suffer them to land altogether ; whereupon
the sick were ordered to be separated from the well, and
such as recovered, with the well were to be qualified oc¬
casionally."
Colonial Records, Vol. V,, p. 410.
SKIMMER AND MUSSTOPR.
CHAPTER VIH.
Early Demand of the Germans for Naturalization.
— Request Denied, but Granted Later.— How They
Spread over all the Land and became the Shield
and Bulwark of the Quakers by Guarding the Fron¬
tiers against the indians.
" From Delaware's and Schuylkill's gleam,
Away where Susquehanna twines,
And out o'er Allegheny's stream
In places distant fell their lines."
By river and by fountain.
Where'er they touched this strand ;
In wood and vale ^nd mountain.
They found a fatherland.
S has already been stated
the great and persistent
influx of Germans alarmed
the Provincial Assembly,
which at that early period
was composed almost exclu¬
sively of British born sub¬
jects. Several efforts to se¬
cure naturalization met with
much coldness. Their in¬
dustry and abstention from politics were well known, but
(91)
royal arms of holland,
a. d. 1694.
92 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
failed to remove the existing jealousy. As early as 1721,
Palatines, who had long been residents in the Province,
applied for the privileges of naturalization, but their claims
were quietly ignored until 1724, when permission was
granted to bring in a bill, conditionally however, that each
applicant should obtain from a justice of the peace a cer¬
tificate of the value of their property and the nature of their
religious faith.
A bill carrying the foregoing provisions was passed and
laid before the Governor in 1725, but was returned by him
without his approval, on the ground that in a country
where English law and liberty prevailed, a scrutiny into
the private conversation and faith of the citizens, and es¬
pecially into the value of their estates was a measure at
once unjust in its character and establishing a dangerous
precedent. The House yielded to the Governor's reason¬
ing and the bill was withdrawn. But the Palatines became
more urgent for the privileges of citizenship as they saw a
disposition on the part of the authorities to defer their re¬
quest, doubtless apprehending that sinister motives con¬
trolled the action of the Assembly.
In 1729 the question was once more brought up and the
following bill was introduced. It was passed on October
14, 1729, and received the assent of Governor Gordon :
Whereas, By encouragement given by the Honorable
William Penn, Esq., late Proprietary and Governor of the
province of Pennsylvania, and by permission of his Maj¬
esty, King George the First, of blessed memory, and his
predecessors. Kings and Queens of England, &c., divers
Protestants, who were subjects to the Emperor of Ger¬
many, a Prince in amity with the Crown of Great Britain,
transported themselves and estates into the Province of
Pennsylvania, between the years one thousand seven hun-
Gov. Gordon Advises Naturalization. 93
dred and eighteen ; and since they came hither have con¬
tributed very much to the enlargement of the British Em¬
pire, and to the raising and improving sundry commodi¬
ties fit for the markets of Europe, and have always behaved
themselves religiously and peaceably, and have paid a due
regard to the laws and Government of this province ;
And whereas, many of said persons, to wit, Martin
Meylin, Hans Graaf and others, all of Lancaster county,
in the said province, in demonstration of their affection
and zeal for his present Majesty's person and Government,
qualified themselves by taking the qualification, and sub¬
scribing the declaration directed to be taken and subscribed
by the several acts of parliament, made for the security
of his Majesty's person and Government, and for prevent¬
ing the dangers which may happen by Popish Recusants,
&c., and thereupon have húmbly signified to the Governor
and Representatives of the freemen of this province, in
General Assembly, that they have purchased and do hold
lands of the proprietary, and others, his Majesty's subjects
within this province, and have likewise represented their
great desire of being made partakers of those privileges
which the natural born subjects of Great Britain do enjoy
within this province ; and it being just and reasonable,
that those persons who have bona fide purchased lands,
and who have given such testimony of their affection and
obedience to the Crown of Great Britain should as well be
secured in the enjoyment of their estates, as encouraged
in their laudable affection and zeal for the English consti¬
tution :
Be it enacted by the Hon. Patrick Gordon, Esq., Lieu¬
tenant Governor of the province of Pennsylvania, &c., by
and with the advice and consent of the freemen of the said
province, in General Assembly met, and by the authority
94 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
of the same, that (here follow the names of one hundred
and five heads of German families) all of Lancaster county,
be, and shall be to all intents and purposes deemed, taken
and esteemed. His Majesty's natural born subjects of this
province of Pennsylvania, as if they, and each of them had
been born within the said province ; and shall and may,
and everyone of them shall and may, within this province,
take, receive, enjoy, and be entitled to all rights, privi¬
leges and advantages of natural born subjects, as fully,
to all intents and constructions and purposes, whatsoever,
as any of His Majesty's natural born subjects of this prov¬
ince, can, do, or ought to enjoy, by virtue of their being
His Majesty's natural born subjects of His Majesty's said
province of Pennsylvania."^®
From this time forward long lists of persons, mostly Ger¬
mans, however, were presented to the Assembly, asking
that the petitioners be granted the privileges of naturaliza¬
tion and citizenship. As we are nowhere informed that
these hard-working, industrious citizens anywhere turned
in and kicked the Quaker law makers out of their places
of honor and profit, it may be taken for granted they did
all they promised in their oaths of naturalization. When
the troublesome times of the Revolution came along none
were stauncher in their support of the Independence of the
Colonies.
From the following endorsement which appears on the
copy of an act passed by the General Assembly, sitting
from October 14, 1738, until its adjournment on May i,
1739, naturalizing a large number of Germans, I infer
there must have been a charge for naturalization and that
considerable revenue was derived from this source :
Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV., pp. 147-150.
J. I. Mombert's History of Lancaster County, pp. 424-426.
Dispersion of the Immigrants. 95
Philadel'y, the i8th of September.
Then received of Abraham Witmer the sum of one
pound and two shillings (and one pound before) which is
in full for his Naturalization. I say received by me.
Christian Grassold,
Collector.
It was customary to take the immigrants upon disembar¬
kation to the Court House in Philadelphia to be qualified,
but this practice was varied. Sometimes this ceremony oc¬
curred at the office of the Mayor, and again at the office of
some attorney, no doubt authorized for that purpose.^
The names of the incoming Palatines were published in
the Colonial Records from September 21, 1727, until Au¬
gust 30, 1736, when the practice was discontinued.
Where Some of Them Went.
It is interesting to follow these people after reaching
Pennsylvania. The little colony of 33 persons who planted
conestoga team and wagon.
themselves at Germantown under the headship of Francis
Daniel Pastorius, in 1683, was slowly augmented during
the following two decades. But by 1702, as Judge Penny-
■*"See note in Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names, p. 47.
96 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
packer tells us, they began to penetrate into the regions
beyond their own limited domain. The acquisition of land
seems ever to have been a prominent characteristic with the
Germans, and it may be said to continue to this very hour.
Even then the spirit of speculation was rife among them,
Their early cleared farms had become valuable. There
were always those who, having money, preferred to buy
farms from which the heavy timber had been cleared and
on which good buildings were erected. The prices for
wild lands were so reasonable that men were tempted to
sell their early holdings and, with the aid of their sturdy
sons and daughters, to enter upon and conquer new lands
in the interior.
Then, too, the inflowing tide became so strong that there
were no longer lands near the older settlements to be
taken up, and they were perforce compelled to move far
into the backwoods. Lancaster County, Berks County,
Lebanon County, York and Dauphin, Schuylkill, Lehigh
and Northampton all heard the tread of the invading hosts.
One characteristic of these German immigrants deserves
especial mention. While many of them were handicrafts¬
men, by far the greater number were bauern — farmers
— and to this calling they at once betook themselves. In¬
deed, the first thing upon their arrival in Philadelphia was
to find out the nearest route to the unsettled lands of the
Proprietary, and thither they betook themselves at the ear¬
liest possible moment. The backwoods had no terrors for
them. As a race of tillers of the soil, they were well aware
that the character of the timber was an indication of the
nature of the ground on which it stood. They were not
afraid to work. The felling of the trees and the clearing
of the land neither intimidated nor deterred them from
locating where these impediments to farming were great-
The Frontiers Defended by Germans. 97
est. The fatness of the land they knew was greatest
where trees were largest and stood thickest. The mightiest
forests fell at the resounding blows of the woodman's axe,
even as the arch enemy of mankind shrunk at the potent
thrust of Ithurial's spear. Their presence was manifested
in every fertile valley. Wherever a cool spring burst from
the earth, on every green hillside and in the depths of the
forest, their modest homes appeared. The traditional pol¬
icy of the Proprietary Government also pushed them to
the frontiers — the places of danger. Let the truth be told,
even as history is to-day writing it. It is the boast of the
historian that so mild and generous was the dealing of the
Quaker with the aborigines that "not a drop of Quaker
blood was ever shed by an Indian."^ Shall I tell why?
It was because the belt of Quaker settlement was enclosed
in a circumference described by a radius of fifty miles
from Penn's city on the Delaware. Beyond that point
came the sturdy Germans, the Reformed, the Lutherans,
the Dunkers, the Mennonites and the Moravians, whose
settlements effectually prevented the savages from spilling
Quaker blood. Instead, the tomahawk and scalping knife
found sheath in the bodies of the sturdy children of the
Palatinate. Let the sacrificed lives of more than three
hundred men, women and children from the Rhine country,
who fell along the Blue Mountains between 1754 and 1763,
give the true answer to the Quaker boast.
There were many entire settlements throughout eastern
Pennsylvania as early as 1750 where no language but the
Gertaan was heard. They went to the north, the south,
and to the west. Soon they reached the Appalachian
chain of mountains, climbed its wooded sides and de-
Bancroft's United States, Vol. II., p. 383.
Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names, p. 17.
98 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
bouched into the wild regions beyond until the Ohio was
in sight. But on, still on, went that resistless army of
Commonwealth-builders. To-day they are spread over the
fairest and most fertile lands of the great West. Ohio, In¬
diana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and other states,
the entire continent in fact, count among the best of their
citizens the men who went out of Pennsylvania with
Luther's bible in their hands and the language of Schiller
and Goethe upon their lips. Wherever they went their
fervent but unobtrusive piety went with them. As early
as 1750 there were already forty well-established German
Reformed and thirty Lutheran congregations in Pennsyl¬
vania.^ Of the minor church organizations, or rather of
those who had no such organizations, "the sect people,"
like the Mennonites, the Dunkers, Schwenkfelders and
many more, we cannot speak. In the aggregate they
were very numerous and in their quiet way brought credit
on their country and on their lineage, wherever they located
themselves ; and all that was said of them at that early
period attaches to them to-day.
Oswald Seidensticker's Bilder aus der Deutsch-pennsylvanischen
Geschichte, Vol. II., p. 254.
CHAPTER IX.
The German Population of Pennsylvania as Estimated
by various Writers at various Epochs. — Often Mere
Guesses. — Better Means of Reaching close Results
now. — Some Sources of Increase not Generally Con¬
sidered.
"Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod ;
They left unstained what there they found
Freedom to worship God."
O mighty oaks centennial.
On field and fell that stand ;
Keep watch and ward perennial
Above that faithful band.
♦fK^OW many Germans came to
II«/ Pennsylvania during the
eighteenth century? That query
will probably occur to many read¬
ers, because it is one of the most
interesting of all the questions con¬
nected with this subject. In the
absence of direct and indisputable
evidence every effort to solve the
problem must of necessity be in
the nature of an approximation, or
if you will, only a guess. A score of writers have tried
(99)
lOO The German Imihtgration into Pennsylvania.
their hands at the problem, and their guesses are as various
as the writers themselves. In fact, these estimates are
hopelessly discordant and some of them are here given
that the reader may understand the situation and exercise
his own judgment in the matter from the evidence that has
been laid before him in the course of this narration.
Sypher, for example, says "in 1727, nearly 50,000 per¬
sons, mostly Germans, had found a new home in Pennsyl¬
vania," ^ which I venture to think exaggerates the number
at that time so far as the Germans are concerned. Dr.
Charles J. Stillé has estimated the population of the State
in 1740, at 100,000, and he adds, "of the inhabitants of
the Province one-fourth or one-fifth were Quakers, about
one-half Germans and the rest emigrants from the North
of Ireland."^' Governor Thomas, who ought to be good
authority, expressed the opinion that in 1747 the population
numbered 120,000 of which three-fifths or 72,000 were
Germans. I find an estimate in the Colonial Records^ on
what authority is not stated, which gives the population at
220,000 in 1747 of which it is said 100,000 were Germans.
In 1763, a Committee of which Benjamin Franklin was
chairman, reported to Parliament that 30,000 laborers, ser¬
vants and redemptioners had come into the Province
within twenty years and yet "the price of labor had not
diminished."^® This is an interesting fact and is conclu¬
sive evidence that nothing was so much needed in the
growing Province in those early days as men who knew
how to work and were willing to do so. In 1776 Dr.
Franklin's estimate was 160,000 colonists of whom one-
third or 53,000 were Germans, one-third Quakers and the
Sypher's History of Pennsylvania^ p. 73.
Stillé's Life and Times of John Dickinson, pp. 46-47.
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, p. 273.
QERMftN inniGRATlON INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
DOriESTIC UTENSILS.
I WROUGHT IRON CANDLE STICK. 6 CRN POR WRRHING LHRD.
Z PHT LHHP ON EARTHENWARE STAND. 7 WOODEN LANTERN.
3 WALL SCONCE. a TIN CANDLE STICK.
4 PAT LAMP ON PORTABLE BASE. 9 PISH OIL LAMP.
5 LARD LAMP. 10 BUNCH OP SULPHUR STICKS.
Estimates of the German Pofulation. loi
rest of other nationalities. Michael Schlatter, the eminent
missionary and organizer in the Reformed Church, in
1751 gave 190,000 as the total population of Pennsyl¬
vania, of whom one-third or 63,000 were Germans.
Proud, the historian, who ought to be a very competent
authority, estimated the entire population of Pennsylvania
in 1770 at 250,000, with the Germans as one-third of that
number or 83,000. Menzel, in his history of Germany,
informs us that from 1770 to 1791, twenty-four immigrant
ships arrived annually at Philadelphia, without reckoning
those that landed in other harbors.^® This is a wholesale
exaggeration of the actual facts. This statement indicates
the arrival of more than'500 ships during the 21 years
mentioned. We know that is more than the total recorded
number from 1727 to 1791. From 1771 until 1775 there
were only 47 arrivals. There were hardly any German
arrivals during the Revolutionary War, and comparatively
few from 1783 until 1790. We know there were only 114
in the year 1789. It is easy for historians to fall into error
when they draw on their fancy for their facts. According
to Ebeling, the German inhabitants of Pennsylvania num¬
bered 144,660 in the year 1790.®° Seidensticker gives the
inhabitants of the Province in 1752 at 190,000, of which
he says about 90,000 were Germans. The Lutherans in
1731 are supposed to have numbered about 17,000 and the
German Reformed 15,000.®^ . In 1742 the number of Ger¬
mans was given at 100,000 by Hirsching.®^ Rev. J. B.
Rieger estimated the number of Germans in the Province
in 1733 at 15,000. In the notes to Hallische Nach-
Menzel's History of Germany^ Vol, III., Chaj;>. CCI,XXIV.
Ebeling, Beschreibung der Erde, Abtheilung, Pennsylvanien.
Oswald Seidensticker, Geschichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft von
Pennsylvanien, S. 18.
hirsching, Histor. Literar. Handbuch VII., 230.
102 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
richten^ we find this: "If we estimate the Germans of
Pennsylvania, at the middle of the eighteenth century, at
from 70,000 to 80,000, we shall not be far out of the
way."
Franz Löher, in his Geschichte und Zustände der
Deutschen in Amerika^ has some interesting remarks on
this subject.®*
Amid this multiplicity of estimates the writer of to-day
is reluctant to enter the field with some of his own. The
observant men who lived here between 1725 and 1775,
should certainly have been more capable of forming an
accurate estimate than those who came a century or more
after them. But it is evident that many made mere
guesses, without actual knowledge, and their views are,
therefore, without special value. The tendency in almost
every case was to exaggerate. But to-day we know
with tolerable accuracy the number of ships that reached
Philadelphia, and have the ship lists. We know, too,
Hallische Nachrichten, Vol. I., p. 463.
I,ölier says : "There was hardly a single year between 1720 and 1727 that
a large number of ships bearing German immigrants did not arrive in Phila¬
delphia, and even greater numbers came between 1730 and 1742 {Hallische
Nachrichten, 665-668). Already in 1742, the number of «Germans in Pennsyl¬
vania was estimated at 100,000 (Hirsching'S History of Literature^. Eight
years later (1750) it was thought the number was well nigh 230,000. Still other
estimates give the number in 1732 at 30,000, and in 1763 at 280,000 (Grahame
History of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., p. 514. Holmes', Vol. I., 554 ; II., 142).
Philadelphia had in 1749 six English and four German Churches. * * * From
1740 on, thousands of Germans landed in Philadelphia every fall. In 1749
alone 25 ships reached that port with 7,049 ; others say 12,000 {Hallische Nach¬
richten, Grahame, Vol. II., p. 201). During the following three years,
I750> 5I1 52, also came 6,000 {Hall. Nachrichten, 369. Grahame, II., 201).
It is said that in 1759 alone, 22,000 came from Baden, the Palatinate and
Wirtenberg {Mittelberger^, p. 25). In the terrible famine years of 1771 and
1772 came the greatest number, but, in the succeeding four years, from 20 to
24 ships reached Philadelphia with German immigrants {Halle Nachrichten,
125, 735, 682). In 1771 and 1772, 484 persons left Canton Basel for America
{Mittelberger, p. 26)."
Pennsylvania and Neiv Jersey Described. 103
AnHUtoKícaMnd Geogtap^te^t Account
Of THE
PROVINCE and COUNTRY
PENSILVANIA-
AND OF
ihe RichrHeTs of the Soil, th« Sweetnefs of thë SHiJâijon
the Wholeipmnefs of the Aitv the Navigable jRiver^.^ and
others, the prodigious Encreafe-of Corn, the flouriOiíng
Condition of che City of with the Ratify
Buildings, and other tmprovements there. The ftçân)^
Creatures, as Bwds. Beafis. Jpijhe.*. and FoUftSy with ttvf
feveral Ibrtscf MineraU. Pur^ingW^iers, f^nà Stcneâ»
lately dilcovered 'The Natives. ^íimgmes¡ Úúiril>a»
gua^y /(eiigioity LaivSy and Ci^ams ; The -fif ft Planters,
tbeDutchy Sweediy and -with; the tiunriber of
its Inhabitants ; AsaUfo a Touch opón Georgs Keül^s
Neto J^ofigiim y ni his fécond Change fihce he left íthe
ajfA/QEÍiS.
With 0%íap of koth Cótmñes^
A
®y GABRIEL THOMAS.
whorêlîdÉd thejrè'about Pifteen TPeacsii
■ ■! I I li , I .1 .1 " il '
Xo/zte, Printf ti for^aBd'SoltJ
the. Oxon AmÚRÁ'WaraichTifcé^^
TITEB-PAGB OF ORIGINAI, BDITION OF GABRIFI, THOMAS' AcCOUItt.
104 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
that many were here when the registry law went into op¬
eration and who go to swell the whole number ; that in
addition, others came from New York prior to 1700.
In the year 1738 sixteen immigrant ships reached port,
bringing from 15 to 349 each, or a total of 3,115. The
average per ship was about 200. It is reasonable to sup¬
pose that was also a fair average for previous and succeed-
ing years. Between 1727 and 1750, the latter year and
that of 1745 when there were no arrivals not included,
there were 134 arrivals of ships of all sizes. Allowing
these an average of 200 each, we get as a result 26,800
souls, or an average of about 1,220 annually. As has
elsewhere been stated the number of arrivals in 1732 was
2,093, and in 1738, 3,257. In 1728, 1729 and 1730 the
arrivals were 390, 243 and 458 respectively, which, of
course, counter-balance such big years as 1732 and 1738.
We are in the dark as to the ship arrivals between 1714
and 1727, but the accounts are agreed the number was
considerable. I am inclined to accept the Rev. Rieger's
estimate of 15,000 in 1727, instead of in 1733, where he
places it. That number added to estimated arrivals be¬
tween 1727 and 1749, both years included, gives us in
round numbers about 42,000 in 1750, to which must be
added the natural increase which was, perhaps, 5,000
more, or a total German population of 47,000 souls in the
Province in 1750. Between 1750 and 1775, both years
inclusive (but not counting 1757, '58, '59 and '60, during
which there were no arrivals) we have a total of 196
ships in 21 years, which reckoned at the average of 200
to each vessel gives us 39,000 arrivals or rather less than
an average of 1,900 yearly. This added to our previous
estimate for 1750 gives us with the natural increase fully
90,000 Germans in the Province when the Revolutionary
German Soldiers who Remained.
war broke out. Indeed, I am inclined to believe the num¬
ber was nearer 100,000 than 90,000, for these early Ger¬
mans were noted for their large families. There is, how¬
ever, considerable unanimity in one particular among most
of the authorities, and that is that the Germans at any and
every period between 1730 and 1790 constituted about one-
third of the total population. This statement is unques¬
tionably correct as we approach the years nearest the
Revolutionary period. The English Quakers and the
Welsh had not been coming over in any considerable
number, and the same may, perhaps, be said of the
Scotch-Irish. The Germans formed the bulk of the immi¬
grants and necessarily increased their numerical ratio to
the total population of the Province which, according to
the first census in 1790, was 434,373. Accepting the ratio
of one-third being Germans, we get 144,791 as the Ger¬
man population at that period.
There is still another large increase in the German
population of Pennsylvania prior to 1790 which writers
do not reckon with, but which must not be left out of our
estimates. It is those German soldiers who remained in
the State at the close of the Revolutionary War. The
number of these men who were sent to America and
fought under the banner of George III., was, according
to the best authorities, 29,867.®® Of that number, 17,313
returned to Europe in the autumn of 1783. The number
that did not return was 12,554. These have been ac¬
counted for as follows :
Killed and died of wounds 1,200
Died of illness and accident 6,354
Deserted 5,000
Total 12,554
Kapp's Soldatenhandel, 2d edition, p. 209 ; Schlozsr's Stats-Anzeigen,
VI., pp. 521-522.
io6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Here we have five thousand men, most of whom re¬
mained scattered among their countrymen throughout
Pennsylvania. The few hundred who perhaps settled in
other states were more than made up by those German
soldiers who, by agreement with the several German
States, enlisted in the English regiments, some of which
had recruiting stations at various places along the Rhine,
and who were not counted in the financial adjustment of
accounts between Great Britain and the German Princes,
nor compelled to return to Europe.®®
It is well known that during the first quarter of the nine¬
teenth century the German immigration to this State was
well sustained so that probably the Germans and their de¬
scendants have pretty nearly kept up the percentage of
population accorded them by general consent so long as
one hundred and fifty years ago.
The opinion seems to prevail very generally that in 1700
all the Germans in Pennsylvania were those who were
gathered at the Germantown settlement, along the Wis-
sahickon and immediately around Philadelphia. Rupp
expressly states that there were only about 200 families of
Germans in the Province in 1700. I do not coincide with
that view. The colonists which Sweden had begun to
send to the Delaware as early as 1638, were not composed
of Swedes and Finns only ; special privileges were of¬
fered to Germans and these, too, came along.
An examination of the Colonial History of New
York and O'Callagan's Documentary History of New
York^ shows that a number of settlements had been
planted on the Delaware by the City of Amsterdam.
Colonies of Mennonites are mentioned as having settled
in New York prior to 1657. In a report on the State of
See I,owell's Hessians, pp. 21-300.
Mennonite Immigration from New York. 107
Religion in New York^ dated August 5, 1657, addressed
to the Classis of Amsterdam, I find this : "At Gravesend,
on Long Island, there are Mennonists * * * yea they
for the most part reject infant baptism, the Sabbath, the
oflñce of preacher and the teachers of God's word, saying
that through these have come all sorts of contention into
the world. Whenever they meet together one or the other
reads something for them."®'^ I also find that Governor
Fletcher, of New York, wrote in 1693 that " more families
are daily removing for Pennsylvania and Connecticut to be
eased from taxes and detachments."®® The Rev. John
Miller writes in 1696 that "the burdens of the Province
(N. Y.) have made two or three hundred families forsake
it and remove to Pennsylvania, and Maryland chiefly."®®
Here we are told of the migration of as many German
families from New York to Pennsylvania prior to 1693,
as are credited to all Pennsylvania in the year 1700. I
regret that time has not allowed me to examine more fully
the documents here mentioned. There are a great num¬
ber of references in them to Mennonites in New York, and
as these disappeared from that colony at an early date,
there seems to be abundant reason for believing that they
nearly all found their way into Pennsylvania, swelling the
German population to no inconsiderable extent. We un¬
doubtedly have here a factor which must be reckoned
with in any summary we may make of the early population
of Pennsylvania.
I am therefore not ready to accept the generally believed
statement that the colony of Crefelders who settled at Ger-
mantown in 1683 were the only Germans around Philadel¬
phia at that time. The evidence is scattering but none the
67 Documentary History of New York, Vol. III., p. 69.
66 Colonial History of New York, Vol. IV., p. 55.
Ibid., Vol. IV., p. 183.
io8 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
less direct. Watson tells us that one Warner had settled
at William Grove, two miles beyond the city limits as early
as 1658. Also that Jurian Hartsfelder took up 350 acres
of land in March, 1676, nearly six years before Penn's ar¬
rivai.®" Pennypacker says he was " a stray Dutchman or
German, who had been a deputy Sheriff under Andross in
1676." Rupp tells us that one Heinrich Frey had reached
Philadelphia two years before Penn's arrival, and a certain
Plattenbach somewhat later.There was a large general
immigration in 1682, about 30 ships having arrived with
settlers.®® We can no more divest ourselves of the belief
that there were many Germans among these than we can that
there were many Germans among the Swedes and Finns
who first came fifty years earlier, because we know Gustavus
Adolphus asked the Protestant German princes to allowtheir
subjects to join his own subjects in forming the Swedish set¬
tlements on the Delaware. Johannes Printz, who succeeded
Peter Minnewit as Governor, was a German, a Holsteiner,
and he brought with him fifty-four German families, mostly
from Pomerania.®* It is a very logical supposition that
these were only a portion of the Germans who planted them¬
selves along the Delaware at various times between 1638
and 1682. When therefore Rupp tells us that there were
only about 200 German families in Pennsylvania in 1700,
I cannot accept his statement, because I cannot escape the
conclusion from all the evidence accessible, that those figures
should be increased several hundred per cent. Neither do
I doubt that in the fullness of time an abundance of con¬
firmatory evidence of this view will be forthcoming.
Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p. 11.
Pennypacker's Settlement of Germantown, p. 19.
Rupp's History of Berksand Lebanon Counties, p. 90.
®® Prottd's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. I., p. 220.
®^ Inouïs P. Henninghausbn, Esq., The First German Immigrants to
North America, p. 20.
CHAPTER X.
Their Detractors and their Friends.—What Both
Parties have said.—The Great Philosopher Mis¬
taken.— How the Passing Years have Brought along
their Vindication.
Vergessen soll die Feindschaft Sein
Vergessen dann das Schwert ;
Wir wollen uns wie Brüder freu'n—
Uns freun an einem Heerd."
ir
'T will hardly be ques¬
tioned, I suppose, that
Benjamin Franklin was the
greaftest American of the
Revolutionary era. He cer¬
tainly was from a political
point of view. Coming into
the Province in 1723 and
dying in the State in 1790,
his residence here covers al¬
most three-quarters of a cen¬
tury. He literally grew up
with the Province, saw it in
almost every phase of its ca¬
reer, from its earliest struggles until the strong Common-
Arealth was established, let us hope for all time. The
proprietary period was by no means an ideal one. The
student of that early time is confronted on almost every
( 109)
lio The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
page of our history by the quarrels and disputes between
the Governors of the Province and the Provincial Assem¬
blies. The former in standing up for the rights of the
Penn heirs, and the latter jealous of the rights and inter¬
ests of the people, presented a condition of turbulence
hardly equalled in any of the American colonies.
Franklin was on the spot when the great German immi¬
gration set in. He saw it all and could hardly help under¬
standing it. He could not avoid coming in contact with these
people. He did, in fact, come into very close and profitable
relations with them. For years he owned and conducted the
best equipped printing establishment in the Province, if not
in the entire country. This brought him into very close
business relations with the Germans, for there were many
men of high culture among them, who wrote learned books
which Franklin printed for them at his establishment. Had
he understood the Germans better he might have appre¬
ciated this more. At all events he seems to have misunder¬
stood them, and through that misunderstanding to have
done them a great wrong. It may not have been willful,
but it was, nevertheless, inexcusable.
Other men prominent in affairs. Secretary Logan and
some of the early Governors, have had their fling at the
German colonists, but they also in time paid ample testi¬
mony to their excellent qualities. But from none of them
came so severe a blow as from Dr. Franklin. Under date
of May 9, 1753, he wrote a letter to his friend Peter Col-
linson, in which he speaks thus unkindly of these people,
the very bone and sinew of the great Slate that was to be :
" I am perfectly of your mind, that measures of great
temper are necessary touching the Germans, and I am not
without apprehensions, that, through their indiscretion, or
ours, or both, great disorders may one day arise among us.
CERnñN inniGRATION INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
5ENJAniN FRANRLIN.
FrankUfCs Unjust Tirade.
III
Those who came hither are generally the most stupid of their
own nation, and as ignorance is often attended with great
credulity, when knavery would mislead it, and with suspi¬
cion when honesty would set it right ; and, few of the Eng¬
lish understg^nd the German language, and so cannot ad¬
dress them either from the press or pulpit, it is almost
impossible to remove any prejudices they may entertain.
Their clergy have very little influence on the people, who
seem to take pleasure in abusing, and discharging the min¬
ister on every trivial occasion. Not being used to liberty,
they know not how to make modest use of it. * * * They
are under no restraint from ecclesiastical government ; they
behave, however, submissively enough at present to the
civil government, which I wish they may continue to do,
for I remember when they modestly declined intermeddling
with our elections ; but now they come in droves and carry
all before them, except in one or two counties.
" Few of their children in the country know English.
They import many books from Germany, and of the six
printing houses in the Province, two are entirely Ger¬
man, two half German, half English, and but two are en¬
tirely English. They have one German newspaper, and
one-half-German Advertisements intended to be general,
are now printed in Dutch (German) and English. The
signs in our streets (Philadelphia) have inscriptions in both
languages, and some places only in German. They begin,
of late, to make all their bonds and other legal instruments
in their own language, which (though I think it ought not
to be), are allowed in our courts, where the German busi¬
ness so increases, that there is continued need of interpre¬
ters, and I suppose in a few years, they will also be neces¬
sary in the Assembly, to tell one-half of our legislators,
what the other half says. In short, unless the stream of
IT2 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
importation could be turned from this to other colonies, as
you very judiciously propose, they will soon outnumber us,
that all the advantages we will have, will in my opinion,
be not able to preserve our language, and even our gov¬
ernment will become precarious."
The wisest mortals are sometimes short-sighted and Dr.
Franklin must be allowed a place in that category. His
letter is unsound throughout. First he calls them stupid
and ignorant ; later he admits they import many books.
If so ignorant and stupid what did they want with so many
books? If so steeped in mental darkness, how is it that
there were more German newspapers printed in the Prov¬
ince at that very hour than in English? The generally
shrewd philosopher, patriot and statesman involved him¬
self in contradictions such as not even the ''stupid" Ger¬
mans would have done. I may even go further and say,
that at the time Dr. Franklin's letter was written there
were many Germans in Pennsylvania incomparably su¬
perior to him in the learning of the schools. He does not
appear to have thought of that. Perhaps he did not know
it—could not comprehend it.
Well-nigh one hundred and fifty years have come and
gone since his unjust tirade against the German colonists.
Not one of the fears that seemed to have possessed his soul
has been realized. It is true the Quaker no longer gov¬
erns the land. He went to the rear as the Germans came
to the front and assumed control of the Government. They
became the dominant race, and they are so to-day. They
did no violence to the laws ; they upheld them and enforced
them. They have made the State the grandest of all the
forty-five. Dr. Franklin lived to see how idle his predic¬
tions were, and even he recanted.
Spark's Works of Franklin^ Vol. VII., pp. 71-73.
Falckner^s Continuation of Gabriel Thomas. 113
CONTINKATIO
Dte
PENSYLVANI^
9in' (mm (En(:®r4ti|m
AMERICiE.
Uber 9ortgel)tô j^mg><H}orü
Relationes.
3n fï(^ Ijoítenb :
S)fe Situation, untgniètl^ifeitttô
ÇrtbcDmtf. S)ie@4iif»i((cmi(att¿(rr
5íu(fe. S)ie 2(n§af)l bevcv flebauten (gtábte.
teltiame Sreafurrn au l^bierm/Bdgdn uabSifcbeir*
¡Oie Mioerahen ttníi (Sítel^e/teine 2)er(ii (inde&pbrnen toib
»eni8bi(fer@Dra(ben/ Dt(l(aí0iiunO6c&t<fu(^, unj>
«>i( erjtm (Sb(i(}lí(&cn Ddan^er utiO Slnbotice
tanOfS»
3tf<^rtebtnvw
GABRIEL THOMAS
•f. 3Abridm 3mvoÇna (ttfm
Sattbm.
íffidcfjem Traaátl«« bcvgtfâget (în6 :
DANIELFALCKNERS
iSucgtrí unb^ilgtimj in Penfylvaaia >9).
igeaiuivortuiigcn u/f vorgelegte Scagm voo
guten greantien.
^rancffbrc tinb ¿eipMg/
gtt.finbsn CKlo/^uébánbtem.
paeckner's Continuation or gabriri, Thomas' Account.
114 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
There were a number of others whose views coincided
with those of Franklin, at least in some particulars. On
the other hand there were those who spoke and wrote as
decidedly in their behalf. Among these was the historian
Macaulay, who calls them Honest, laborious men, who
had once been thriving burghers of Mannheim and Heidel¬
berg, or who had cultivated the vine on the banks of the
Neckar and Rhine. Their ingenuity and their diligence
could not fail to enrich any land which should afford them
an asylum."
Against the jaundiced views of Dr. Franklin I set those
of a man of our own times, one who from his public
position and his superior opportunities for forming correct
views of the early German immigrants is eminently entitled
to be heard on this question. I mean Dr. James P. Wicker-
sham, for nearly fifteen years Superintendent of Public
Instruction in Pennsylvania. Of Quaker descent, he was
nevertheless broad-minded and liberal, and did not strive to
close his eyes to the good qualities of the early Germans,
with whose descendants he became so intimately connected
and acquainted. He says: "Pennsylvania asa land of
promise became known in Holland, Germany and Switzer¬
land. * * * But it was not long until numbers of the op¬
pressed inhabitants of nearly all parts of Germany and
Switzerland, and especially of districts along the Rhine,
began to seek homes, with wives, children and all they
possessed, in the wilds of Pennsylvania. Among them
were members of a dozen different religious denominations,
large and small. They all came with the common object
of bettering their condition in life, and securing homes in a
country where they could enjoy unmolested the right to
worship God as their consciences dictated. In Penn¬
sylvania, if nowhere else, they knew they would secure
Their Love of Learning Vindicated. 115
civil and religious liberty. Some of thei» were very poor,
even coming without sufficient money to pay the expenses
of their passage, but others were well to do, bought land,
built houses, and soon by patient industry had about them
the comforts to which they had been accustomed. The Ger¬
man immigrants were mostly farmers, but among them
there was a smaller proportion of different kinds of me¬
chanics. They brought few books with them, but nearly
every individual possessed a Bible and a Prayer or Hymn-
book, and many had in addition a Catechism or a Confes¬
sion of Faith. These were the treasures that could not be
left behind, and they are still preserved as heirlooms in
hundreds of old German families.
When they came in bodies, they were usually accom¬
panied by a clergyman or a schoolmaster, or both. They
were not highly educated as a class, but among them
were some good scholars, and few could be found who
were not able to read. The impression has prevailed that
they were grossly ignorant ; it is unjust ; those who make
the charge either do not take the pains to understand, or
wish to misrepresent them. Their average intelligence
compared favorably with that of contemporary American
colonists of other nationalities. If they did not keep pace
with others in subsequent years, their backwardness is
easily accounted for by their living for the most part on
farms, frequently many miles separated, and extending
over large sections of country ; their division into many
religious denominations, among which there was little
unity ; their inability, scattered and broken as they were,
to support ministers and schoolmasters, or even to secure
the advantages of an organized community ; their use of
a language which in a measure isolated them from the
neighboring settlers, and shut them out from the social.
ii6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
political and buaitfießs currents that gave life to the com¬
munities around them ; their unacquaintance with the
proper forms of local self-government, and the habit
brought with them, in all public concerns, of deferring to
some outside or higher authority ; and above all, per¬
haps, their quiet, confiding disposition, quite in contrast
with the ways of some of the more aggressive, self-assert¬
ing classes of people with whom they were brought in
competition. * * *
"Although invited to settle in Pennsylvania, the Ger¬
mans, arriving in such large numbers and spreading over
the country so rapidly, seem to have created a fear on the
part of other settlers and of the provincial authorities that
they would form an unruly element in society, and eventu¬
ally work the overthrow of the government, or assume
possession of it, as their countrymen had done long before
in England. Laws restraining their immigration were
passed, and the alarm disturbed even such well-balanced
minds as those of Logan and Franklin. It is almost need¬
less to add now that such a fear was groundless and arose
wholly out of the political and sectarian prejudices of the
day. On the contrary, it is only just to say that to all
that has gone to build up Pennsylvania, to enlarge her
wealth, to develop her resources, to increase her prosperity,
to educate her people, to give her good government from
the first, the German element of the population has con¬
tributed its full share. Better citizens cannot be found in
any nation on the face of the globe."
No truer tribute was ever paid the German immigrants
than this one, before the Assembly on January 2, 1738, by
Lieutenant-Governor George Thomas when urging the es-
James Pyle Wickersham, A History of Education in Pennsyl¬
vania, pp. 122-124.
Governor Thomas^ Tribute.
117
tablishment of a hospital for sick arrivals : " This Province
has been for some years the Asylum of the distressed
Protestants of the Palatinate, and other parts of Germany,
and I believe it may with truth be said that the present
flourishing condition of it is in a great measure owing to
the industry of these People ; and should anygdiscourage-
ment divert them from coming hither, it may well be
apprehended that the value of your Lands will fall, and
your Advances to wealth be much slower ; for it is not
altogether the goodness of the Soil, but the Number and
Industry of the People that make a flourishing Colony." ^
^''Colonial Records, Vol. IV., p. 315.
SPECIMEN OE EAREY PENNSYLVANIA POlfTERY.
CHAPTER XI.
The Germans as Farmers.— Answer to a Recent His¬
torian who Asserts They, a Race of Farmers, did
not Take the Same Enjoyment in Agricultural Pur¬
suits as the Scotch-Irish and Some Others ! !
" Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ;
How jocund did they drive their teams afield !
How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke ! "
" Und der Vater mit frohem Blick,
forth by a brief sentence found in a recently published his¬
tory of Pennsylvania, and is the last written chapter of this
book—written long after the rest. While not germane to
the general title, it yet deserves a place here inasmuch as
^^HIS chapter is supplemen-
tary. It had no place
in the original plan of the
writer. It has been called
UndSdie Speicher, vom Segen gebogen
Und des Komes bewegte Wogen."
Von des Hauses weitschauendem Giebel
Überzählet sein blühend Glück,
Siehet der Pfosten ragende Bäume,
Und der Scheunen gefüllte Räume,
(ii8)
An Erroneous Statement.
119
it strikes at one of the innumerable errors and misrepre¬
sentations concerning the early German population of
Pennsylvania which crowd the pages of some recent
writers. These errors, I am persuaded, are more the re¬
sult of ignorance than of design, but they are errors never¬
theless, and should be killed at their birth. That is the
only plan known to me to keep down the abundant crop of
ignorance which springs up as often as writers draw on
their imagination for their facts. It is rarely, however,
that anything so gross as t]^e blunder to which I shall refer
appears in print, as genuine history.
I was much surprised to find in a recently issued history
of Pennsylvania, the following surprising statement : " The
Germans perhaps were less given to the enjoyment of agri¬
culture than the Scotch-Irish and other settlers, yet in their
own way they enjoyed existence, etc." By no conceivable
possibility is such a statement likely to be accepted by any
one who has actual knowledge of the German immigration
into this or any other country in America. It shows such
a superficial acquaintance with the subject discussed as to
carry its own condemnation with it. Yet, lest future
writers of our history be lured into making similar state¬
ments, I shall take it upon myself to adduce such proof in
contradiction of the statement quoted, as will, I believe, set
the question at rest effectually and permanently.
I think it will be conceded, as a general proposition, that
men in all civilized countries follow those pursuits to which
they are best adapted and most inclined, whether for profit
or enjoyment. It is true that when Roman civilization
first came into contact with the Germanic tribes, the latter
were more given to war and the chase than to agriculture.
«8 Albert Bolles, Ph.D., I<I<.D., Pennsylvania, Province and State, Vol.
II., p. 161.
I20 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
But even then they grew corn and lived largely upon the
products of the field. In time they became agriculturists
and for hundreds of years parts of Germany have been
among the best cultivated portions of Europe, even as they
are to-day.. In the seventeenth century, the Palatinate
and the Rhine provinces generally were the garden of
Europe. They hold the same rank at this very hour.
Other pursuits were followed, it is true, but outside the
cities the prevailing pursuit was agriculture. The German
immigration to Pennsylvania was very largely from the
Palatinate, not only in its early stages, but subsequently.
Lying before me are lists of those who reached London
during the great German Exodus in 1709, on their way to
America. One of these gives the pursuits of the 2,928
adult males ; of that entire number i ,838 were farmers,
while the remaining 1,073 were classified under 24 other
distinct mechanical and other professions. Another list
containing 1,593 had 1,083 farmers and 510 men trained to
26 other pursuits ; more than 67 per cent, of the entire
number were farmers.
I think it is entirely within bounds to say that 75 per
cent, of the German colonists in Pennsylvania were agri¬
culturists. The first thing they did was to take up land,
generally in the legally prescribed way, but sometimes
irregularly. Nine-tenths of them went into the country,
that is beyond the immediate bounds of Philadelphia, and
most of them took to farming. In fact there was nothing
else for them to get at for many years. Even most of
those who had mechanical trades were compelled to take
to farming because there was not much of a demand for
bakers, glass-blowers, millers, engravers, and some other
classes of handicraftsmen.
Look at the counties settled principally by these people
Germans Now Possess the Land. 121
—Lancaster, Berks, Lebanon, York, Lehigh and North¬
ampton. They comprise to-day the great agricultural re¬
gion of the Commonwealth, and the men who are doing
the farming on their fertile acres are the lineal descendants
three, four or five generations removed from the first farmer
immigrants. It was in every instance the agriculturists
that pushed and were pushed to the outskirts of civilization.
Did they go there for the profit and enjoyment they had in
farming or for the fun of the thing, as we are asked to in¬
fer? What is more, they were the best and most success¬
ful farmers Pennsylvania had during the eighteenth century,
just as they are the best and most successful farmers in
United States to-day, and yet we are deliberately and the
gravely informed they did not enjoy agriculture as much as
the Scotch-Irish and other settlers ! What is the record?
Where are all the Scotch-Irish farmers to-day? Why are
they not on the ancestral'acres as the Germans are? Cum¬
berland county was settled mainly by Scotch-Irish. In
Northampton county there were many Irish and Scotch-
Irish. Three-fourths of all the land in both these agri¬
cultural counties are to-day tilled by Pennsylvania-Ger¬
mans. There are several townships in Lancaster county
once largely occupied by Scotch-Irish of the best class.
One can ride through them an entire day now without find¬
ing one farm tilled by an Ulster Irishman. Nine-tenths
of the farmers in eastern Pennsylvania to-day are descend¬
ants of the men who, we are gravely informed, did not
find the same enjoyment in agriculture as the Scotch-Irish,
Welsh, English and others. If such an array of facts,
susceptible of verification by any one who cares to make
the test, is not deemed sufficient, I will produce further
evidence from contemporary sources to fortify the position
here taken.
122 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
The most eminent medical man in Pennsylvania, if not
in the United States during the last century, was Dr. Ben¬
jamin Rush. In the course of a very busy life he found
time to write and publish a little volume dealing with the
Germans of this State and especially with the German
farmers.®® I will be pardoned if I quote numerous passages
from this book, written by one who had a thorough per¬
sonal knowledge of all he tells us.
"The principal part of them were farmers. * * • J
shall begin this account of the German inhabitants of
Pennsylvania by describing the manners of the German
farmers. The Germans, taken as a body, especially as
farmers, are not only industrious and frugal, but skillful
cultivators of the earth. I shall enumerate a few partic¬
ulars in which they differ from most of the other farmers
of Pennsylvania. In settling a tract of land, they always
provide large and suitable accommodation for their horses
and cattle, before they lay out much money in building a
house for themselves. * * * The first dwelling house upon
this farm is small and built of logs. It generally lasts the
lifetime of the first settler of a tract of land ; and hence,
they have a saying, that ' a son should always begin his
improvements where his father left off,' that is by build¬
ing a large and convenient stone house.
"They always prefer good land, or that land on which
there is a large quantity of meadow land. From an atten¬
tion to the cultivation of grass, they often double the value
of an old farm in a few years, and grow rich on farms, on
which their predecessors of whom they purchased them
had nearly starved. They prefer purchasing farms with
improvements to settling on a new tract of land.
Benjamin Rush, M.D., An Account of the Manners of the German
Inhabitants of Pennsylvania. Written in 1789.
QERnn/N inniGRñTlO/N into pennsylvania,
pennsylvania-gernan farh life.
RRKINC THE BftRE-OUEN.
Customs of Early Immigrants. 123
" In clearing new land, they do not girdle or belt the trees
simply, and leave them to perish in the ground, as is the
custom of their English or Irish neighbors ; but they
g^erally cut them down and burn them. In destroying
underwood and bushes, they generally grub them out of
the ground, by which means a field is as fit for cultivation
the second year after it is cleared as it is in twenty years
afterwards. The advantages of this mode of clearing,
consists in the immediate product of the field, and in the
greater facility with which it is ploughed, harrowed and
reaped. The expense of repairing a plow, which is often
broken, is greater than the extraordinary expense of grub¬
bing the same field completely, in clearing.
"They feed their horses and cows well, of which they
keep only a small number, in such a manner that the
former perform twice the labor of those horses, and the
latter yield twice the quantity of milk of those cows, that
are less plentifully fed. There is great economy in this
practice, especially in a country where so much of the
labor of the farmer is necessary to support his domestic
animals. A German horse is known in every part of the
State ; indeed, the horse seems ' to feel with his lord, the
pleasure and the pride ' of his extraordinary size or fat.
"The fences of a German farm are generally high and
well built, so that his fields seldom suffer from the inroads
of his own or his neighbors' horses, cattle, hogs or sheep.
"The German farmers are great economists in their wood.
Hence they burn it only in stoves, in which they consume
but a fourth or fifth of what is commonly burnt in ordinary
open fireplaces ; besides their horses are saved by means
of this economy, from that immense labor of hauling
wood in the middle of winter, which frequently unfits the
horses of their (Scotch) neighbors for the toils of the en-
124 German hnmigration into Pennsylvania.
suing spring. Their houses are, moreover, rendered so
comfortable, at all times, by large close stoves, that twice
the business is done by every branch of the family, in
knitting, spinning and mending of farming utensils, that
is done in houses where every member in the family crowds
near a common fireplace, or shivers at a distance from it,
with hands and fingers that move, by reason of the cold,
with only half their usual quickness. They discover
economy in the preservation and increase of their wood,
in several other ways. They sometimes defend it, by high
fences, from their cattle ; by which means the young forest
trees are suffered to grow, to replace
those that are cut down for the neces¬
sary use of the farm.
' ' They keep their horses and cattle
as warm as possible, in winter, by
which means they save a great deal
of their hay and grain, for these ani¬
mals when cold, eat much more than
when in a more comfortable situa¬
tion.
"The German farmers live frug¬
ally in their families, with respect to
diet, furniture, and apparel. They
sell their most profitable grain, which
is wheat, and eat that which is less
profitable, that is rye, or Indian corn.
The profit to a farmer, from this sin¬
gle article of economy, is equal, in
the course of a life-time, to the price
of a farm for one of his children.
" The German farmers have large or profitable gardens
near their houses. These contain little else but useful
PRIMITIV® LANTERN.
Industry of German Housewives.
125
vegetables. Pennsylvania is indebted to the Germans for
the principal part of her knowledge in horticulture. There
was a time when turnips and cabbage were the principal
vegetables that were used in diet by the citizens of Phila¬
delphia. This will not surprise those persons who know that
the first settlers in Pennsylvania left England while horticul¬
ture was in its infancy in that country. Since the settle¬
ment of a number of German gardens in the neighborhood
of Philadelphia, the tables of all classes of citizens have
been covered with a variety of vegetables in every season
of the year, and to the use of these vegetables in diet may
be ascribed the general exemption of the citizens of Phila¬
delphia from diseases of the skin..
" The Germans seldom hire men to work upon their
farms. The feebleness of that authority which masters
possess over their hired servants is such that their wages
are seldom procured from their labor, except in harvest
when they work in the presence of their masters.''" The
wives and"daughters of the German farmers frequently for¬
sake for a while their dairy and spinning wheel, and join
their husbands and brothers in the labor of cutting down,
collecting and bringing home the fruits of the fields and
orchards. The work of the gardens is generally done by
the women of the family.
" A large strong wagon, the ship of inland commerce,
covered with linen cloth, is an essential part of the fur¬
niture of a German farm. In this wagon, drawn by four
'"I avail myself at this place of the liberty to state that one of the
main reasons why the Scotch-Irish were not so successful as farmers as the
Germans, was because their lands were mainly cultivated by negroes as in¬
dentured servants. They did not care for farm work, and the consequence was
the farms did not care for them, and in the end they sold their improved lands
to the Germans who under a better system had been successful in accumulat¬
ing the money to pay for them. They then went into politics and trade,
where they succeeded better.
120 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
or five horses of a peculiar breed they convey to market,
over the roughest roads from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds weight
of the produce of their farms. In the months of September
and October, it is no uncommon thing, on the Lancaster
and Reading roads, to meet in one day fifty or one hun¬
dred of these wagons, on their way to Philadelphia, most
of which belong to German farmers.
"The favorable influence of agriculture, as conducted by
the Germans, in extending human happiness, is m^ifested
by the joy they express upon the birth of a child. No
dread of poverty, nor distrust of Providence, from an in¬
creasing family, depresses the spirit of these industrious
and frugal people. Upon the birth of a son, they exult in
the gift of a plowman or a waggoner ; and upon the birth
of a daughter, they rejoice in the addition of another spin¬
ster or milk-maid to the family.
" The Germans set a great value upon patrimonial prop¬
erty. This useful principle in human nature prevents
much folly and vice in young people. It moreover leads
to lasting and extensive advantages, in the improvement
of a farm ; for what inducements can be stronger in a
parent to plant an orchard, to preserve forest trees or to
build a commodious house than the idea that they will all
be possessed by a succession of generations who shall in¬
herit his blood and name.
"From the history that has been given of the German
agriculture, it will hardly be necessary to add that a
German farm may be distinguished from the farms of the
These were the famous Conestoga wagons and the equally famous Con-
estoga horses, whose fame is as enduring as that of the Commonwealth itself.
" Die entfemsten, besonders deutschen Dandieute, kommen mit grossen,
mit mancherlei Proviant beladenen bedeckten Wagen auf denen sie zugleich
ihren eigenen Mundvorrath und Putter für ihre Pferde mitbringen, und darauf
übernachten." Schoepf's Reise durch Pennsylvanien, 1783, p. 165.
Other Evidence Introduced.
127
other citizens of the State, by the superior size of their barns,
the plain but compact form of their houses, the height of
their inclosures, the extent of their orchards, the fertility
of their fields, the luxuriance of their meadows, and a
general appearance of plenty and neatness in everything
that belongs to them."
I think the eminent professor of the University of Penn¬
sylvania, of 1789, writing with a thorough knowledge of
the German agriculture of his time, may be fairly set
against the professor in the same great school, writing in
the year 1900, whose statement concerning them is so at
variance with the facts, so incorrect and misleading, that
the inference is irresistible that he wrote without a due
examination of the question.
But we need not rely on Dr. Rush alone for evidence
that the Germans were the best farmers in the State, that
they were given to enjoyment in agricultural pursuits
and that their descendants are to this day keeping up the
reputation of their ancestors on the ancestral acres. The
evidence is so manifold and so conclusive that I almost feel
like making an apology for introducing it.
Watson, the annalist, says the best lands in Lancaster
county, and deemed, in general, the finest farms in the
State, are those possessed by the German families." "
Another writer says this :
"The Germans wisely chose some of the best land in
the State, where they soon made themselves comfortable,
and next grew quietly rich. * * * The German popula¬
tion of Pennsylvania, naturally increasing, and augmented
by continual accessions from the Fatherland, has since
spread over a large portion of the State, still inheriting the
Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. II., p. 148.
128 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
economy and prudent foresight of their ancestors, and gen¬
erally establishing themselves on the most fertile soils."
Bancroft, in speaking of the German immigrants to this
country, says : " The Germans, especially of the borders
of the Rhine, thronged to America in such numbers, that
in course of a century, preserving their line of rural life^
they appropriated much of the very best land from the
Mohawk to the valley of Virginia."
EARIyY SETTEERS AND THEIR VISITORS.
Rupp bears this testimony: "The Germans were prin¬
cipally farmers. They depended more upon themselves
than upon others. They wielded the mattock, the axe and
the maul, and by the power of brawny arms, rooted up
the grubs, removed the saplings, felled the majestic oaks,
'ä Charles B. Trego, A Geography of Pennsylvania, p. 89.
Bancroft's United States, Vol. X., pp. 83-^4.
Superiority of German Farmers. 129
laid low the towering hickory ; prostrated, where they
grew, the walnut, poplar, chestnut—cleaved such as suited
for the purpose, into rails for fences—persevered untiringly
until the forest was changed into arable fields."^®
"The Germans," says Proud, "seem more adapted to
agriculture and improvements of a wilderness ; and the
Irish for trade. The Germans soon get estates in this
country, where industry and economy are the chief requi¬
sites to procure them."
In the fall of 1856, the Philadelphia Ledger^ in reply to
some stupid strictures in a New York journal, said: " No
one familiar with the German farmers of Pennsylvania,
need be told that this (the article referred to) is a stupid
and ignorant libel. Its author has either never travelled
through our State, or has maliciously misrepresented what
he saw. So far from our German farmers being on a level
with the serfs of a hundred and fifty years ago, they are
vastly in advance of contemporary German or French
farmers, or even of English farmers of similar means.
On this point we need go no further for authority than to
Mr. Munch, who though hostile in politics to our German
farmers in general, was forced, during his tour through
Penn^lvania, to admit their sterling worth. Mr. Munch
is an experienced and practical agriculturist, so that his
judgment on such a question is worth that of a score of
visionary, ill-informed, prejudiced, disappointed dema¬
gogues. After eulogizing the picturesque natural features
of the landscape of our German counties, praising the ex¬
cellent taste which has preserved the woods on the hill¬
sides, and extolling the appearance of the farms, this gen¬
tleman adds significantly that he found the population of
'®Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names, p, 11.
Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., p. 274.
130 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
* a genial, solid and respectable stamp, enviably circum¬
stanced in comparison with the European farmer, and very
far his superior in intelligence and morals.' * * * In many
particulars, the German farmers surpass even the people
of New England, who, of late, have put in a claim, it
would seem to be the ne flus ultra in all things. The
German farmers understand, or if they do not understand,
they observe the laws of health, better than even the rural
population of Massachusetts ; and the result is that they
are really the finest race of men, physically, to be found
within the borders of the United States. * * * To be
plain, if some of our crochetty, one-ideaed, dyspeptic,
thin, cadaverous. New England brethren would emigrate
to our German counties ; follow, for a generation or two,
the open-air life of our German farmers ; and last of all
marry into our vigorous, anti-hypochondriacal German
families, they would soon cease to die by such scores of
consumption, to complain that there were no longer any
healthy women left, and to amuse sensible people with
such silly vagaries of Pantheism, or a thousand and one
intellectual vagaries which are born of their abnormal
physical condition."
Still another quotation will be allowed me: ''Latterly
much has been heard of an ' endless chain,' used in a finan¬
cial sense. There is an endless chain of another kind in
existence among the substantial Germans in the German
counties of this State. While many of New England's
sons have sold or abandoned their ancient acres and
sought new homes in other States, the lands of these first
Palatine emigrants still remain in the possession of their
descendants, held by ancient indentures, supplemented by
"Quoted by Rtjpp in his Rush's and Customs of the Pennsyl¬
vania Germans.
The Best Farmers in America. 131
an endless chain of fresh titles from father to son, reach¬
ing backward to the original patents from Penn."^®
One of our most eminent historians remarks :
"A still larger number of these German exiles found
refuge in Pennsylvania, to which colony also many were
carried as indentured servants. * * * It was this immigra¬
tion which first introduced into America compact bodies of
German settlers, and along with them the dogmas and
worship of the German Lutheran and German Reformed
churches. Constantly supplied with new recruits, and oc¬
cupying contiguous tracts of territory, the immigrants
preserved and have transmitted to our day, especially in
Pennsylvania, the German language and German manners.
Their industry was remarkable ; they took care to settle
on fertile lands, and they soon became distinguished as
the best farmers in America."
A traveller who passed through the Shenandoah Valley
during the French and Indian War writes as follows : The
low grounds upon the banks of the Shenandoah River are
very rich and fertile. They are chiefly settled by Ger¬
mans (and Pennsylvania-Germans at that, who went there
prior to 1748), who gain a sufficient livelihood by raising
stock for the troops, and sending butter down into the
lower parts of the country. I could not but reflect with
pleasure on the situation of these people, and I think, if
there is such a thing as happiness in this life, they enjoy
it. Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most
delightful climate and richest soil imaginable. They are
'•F. R. Diffenderffer, The Palatine and Quaker as Commonwealth
Builders^ pp. 29-30.
The writer has himself, in the fifth generation ploughed and planted, hoed
and harvested upon the original tract patented to his gpreat-gfreat-grandsire, by
the Penn heirs, in 1734.
Hildreth's History of the United States, First Series, Vol. II., p. 264.
132 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan
scenes ; lofty mountains and transparent streams, falls of
water, rich valleys and majestic woods, the whole inter¬
spersed with an infinite variety of flowering shrubs consti¬
tute the landscapes surrounding them. They are subject
to few diseases, are generally robust and live in perfect
liberty. They know no wants, and are acquainted with
but few vices. Their inexperience of the elegancies of life
precludes any regret that they have not the means of enjoy¬
ing them ; but they possess what many princes would give
half their dominions for—health, contentment, and tran¬
quility of mind."
Dr. Oswald Seidensticker, while living, an honored
professor in the University of Pennsylvania, and who has,
perhaps, given the German immigration into Pennsylvania
as much careful and intelligent study as any one else, has
this to say of them as farmers: " Often as the Germans
•• HowB's Historical Collections of Virginia, p. 468.
Their Industry and Piety.
133
have been spoken of contemptuously in certain matters,
that was not valid when urged against them as farmers.
The very sight of their farms is sufficient to tell that they
are well and carefully managed, providing blessed and
happy homes. Their knowledge of properly preparing
the soil, of growing fine cattle, and of erecting proper
buildings, and their manner of life led the eminent Dr.
Rush to study their character and habits and in his book
to encourage others to imitate their example."
Still another and a recent author writes thus: "In all
they did, they were moved thereto by one great, irresistible
desire, and that was the love of home. * * * Now that
they had found this " home," they were content to abide
on it and to make of it a very garden spot and horn of
plenty for the Province. * * * Because the Germans were
truly in earnest did they persevere until they have spread
abroad over the entire land, supplementing their less stable
brethren of other nationalities. Before even the break of
day, during the heat of the noontide sun the}^ toiled on,
and until its rays had disappeared beneath the western
horizon, when darkness made work impossible, and then
they sought their needed rest in slumber, but not before
each little family had gathered about its altar to sing their
hymns of praise and invoke the same Divine blessing upon
their future undertaking which had been showered upon
their past.
" Other settlers have likewise toiled and struggled, but
it may well be asked what other settlers can show an equal
result to these Palatine immigrants within the same length
of time. Hardly had a decade of time elapsed, when,
on all sides, were to be seen flourishing farms, with fields
Oswald Seidenstickbr, Bilder aus der Deuísch-pennsylvanischen
Geschichte, Vol. II., p. 255.
134 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
of waving grain, orchards laden with fruit, and pastures
filled with well-conditioned domestic animals. The tem¬
porary log house has given place to a two-story stone
structure, a most durable, commodious and comfortable
home ; in place of the shedding, hurriedly erected, now
stands the great red barn, upon its stone base, arid with its
overhanging frame superstructure bursting with plenty;
and everywhere are scattered the many little adjuncts of
prosperity and comfort. How well the fathers then built
is evidenced by the existence of scores of these buildings,
still homelike and inviting as of old."^^
A recent writer, in discussing some changes that have
taken place, how German virility and race-tenacity have
resulted in the elimination of some peoples and the sub¬
stitution of themselves, humorously but truly remarks :
" Penn attempted to engraft on his English stock other
scions, trusting to the virility of his masterful race to pre¬
serve the English type, but the strong German sap has
outworn them all in Lancaster county. The descendants
of the early English who own acres of land here to-day
are becoming rare. The children of the Scotch-Irish by
a kind of natural selection have quit farming and taken to
politics and business, and their ancient acres are covered
with the big red barns that betoken another kindred. The
Welshman has been lost in the shuffle, and the Quaker is
marrying the Dutch girl in self defense. So reads the
record at the close of the nineteenth century. It has
taken almost two hundred years to get there. But * by
their fruits ye shall know them.' "
•2 rbv. M. H. Richards, D.D., Proceedings and Addresses of the Penn¬
sylvania-German Society, Vol. IX., pp. 413-414.
K. Martin, Rsq., Proceedings and Addresses of the Pennsylvania-
German Society, Vol. VIII., p. 13.
GERMAN IMMIGRATION INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
THE OLDEST HOUSE IN LANCASTER COUNTY.
THE CHRISTIAN HERR, BUILT 1719.
Other Nationalities have Disaff eared. 135
Although the foregoing evidence abundantly disproves
the absurd statement that the German colonists found less
enjoyment in agriculture than other nationalities, the panel
of witnesses is by no means exhausted and the testimony
could be expanded into a volume. Most of it is from con¬
temporaneous sources and deals with the question as it
stood one hundred or one hundred and fifty years ago.
Let us turn from that long-gone time and look at the situa¬
tion as we find it at this very hour.
I invite the reader to accompany me for a brief interval
to Lancaster county, as typical a Pennsylvania region to¬
day as it was one hundred and fifty years ago. Its earliest
settlers were Germans and Swiss Huguenots. They were
agriculturists. They bought lands, settled on them, farmed
them, and their descendants in the fourth and fifth genera¬
tions are engaged in the same enjoyable pursuit to-day.
Other men also came into the county ; Quakers, Scotch-
Irish and Welsh, but to-day nineteen twentieths of the more
than 10,000 farms in the county are owned and cultivated
by the descendants of the early German settlers. The town¬
ships of East and West Donegal, Conoy, Mt. Joy and por¬
tions of West Hempfield were settled almost exclusively
by the Scotch-Irish. To-day there is not a single farm in
84 The country architecture of Germany as is well known, runs more to
durability than ornamentation. The German immigrants brought their old-
world building ideas with them. The result is there are to-day many substan¬
tial stone structures, dwelling houses and barns standing all over the earliest
settled portions of the State, whose well-laid walls have bid defiance to the
storms of a century and a half, and even more, and are to-day in such a state of
preservation as to promise another century or two of life. So far as is known
with certainty, the structure shown on the opposite page is the oldest house
still standing, erected in I^ancaster county. The legend 17 C. H.-H. R. 19,
carved on a sandstone forming part of the wall, tells the story of its building
It was erected in 1719, by the Rev. Christian Herr, a minister of the Mennonite
church, who came into the country from the Palatinate, in 1709. The house
stands several miles south of I^ancaster city.
136 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
any of those districts owned and farmed by a Scotch-Irish¬
man I In this instance at least, it was " the other fellow"
and not the German farmer that did not find enjoyment in
his vocation. In the townships of Fulton and Little Brit¬
ain the settlers were almost exclusively Scotch-Irish ; these
have maintained themselves more stubbornly on the an¬
cestral acres, but in recent years an invasion of German
farmers has been steadily encroaching on their ancient do¬
main, and the fate that has befallen the Donegals seems
to be awaiting them also.
Let the man—or men, if there be more than one—who
does not believe the German pioneers had pleasure, en¬
joyment and content on their broad acres, go into that
same county of Lancaster and look the landscape over.
He will find a territory of unsurpassed fertility—another
evidence of the sound agricultural judgment of these peo¬
ple—^yielding as abundantly to-day
as when it was virgin, two centuries
ago. It has enriched every gen¬
eration of those who have owned it.
There have, of course, been some
failures, but the record on the whole,
stands unchallenged. Pride of own¬
ership went hand in hand with agri¬
cultural skill. The land was treated
even as their cattle were, carefully
and plentifully. The result is there
are no deserted farms and ruined farmhouses, as may be
seen all over New England. Even at the present depre¬
ciated prices for real estate, the farms still sell at $200 and
more per acre. Look at the great barns in which their
crops are stored and their cattle housed 1 Large as they
are they are generally inadequate to contain the farm prod-
BA.RI.Y PENNSYLVANIA.
PRINTING PRESS.
The Homes of Comfort and Luxury. 137
ucts, and a dozen grain and hay ricks are built elsewhere
on the farm until the grain can be threshed. Nor is the
barn the only building besides the dwelling house, on the
farm ; sheds, stables, and other outhouses are scattered
around until the farmer's home resembles a hamlet in
itself. All the modern farm machinery, and that too of
the best possible type, is there ; cunning devices of many
kinds that rob labor of half its terrors.
The farmer's house is generally a model of a farmhouse.
There are some that have all the best modern accessories—
steam heat, gas, electric bells, cemented cellars, and simi¬
lar improvements. Within, there is not only comfort but
luxury—fine furniture, pictures, costly carpets, imported
crockery, generally an organ and often a piano. There
are books, magazines and newspapers, and much else.
The son, and often the sons, have their individual teams,
and they use them too. No farmer's outfit in these days is
complete without a fine vehicle or two. It may safely be
said that there is no spot encompassed by the four seas
that hem in this North American continent, nay, none be¬
neath the blue canopy that overspreads the entire earth,
where the agriculturist is better educated, more intelligent
in his calling, better fed and clothed and enjoys so many
of the luxuries of life as the Lancaster county families in
the year of grace, 1900. Go and look at him where he
is ; sit at his table and see the i^ullness thereof, and you will
then be able to give a fitting answer to the calumny, born
of ignorance, that says the German colonists in Pennsyl¬
vania did not, and inferentially do not, find that enjoy¬
ment in agricultural pursuits as the races whose farms
they have bought and now own and cultivate.
One paragraph more will be pardoned : the theme is an
attractive one and I leave it with reluctance. To under-
138 The Ger7nan Immigration into Pennsylvania,
stand fully what these Germans have done for themselves
and for the county of Lancaster a few figures may be in¬
troduced. Being official, and on record they will be ac¬
cepted. Lancaster county is not one of the large counties
of the State or Nation, but it is the richest so far as its agri¬
cultural wealth and products are concerned of all the three
thousand or more within all the States and Territories. For
a quarter of a century it has stood at the head of them all
in the money value of its agricultural products. The cen¬
sus of 1890 gives them at $7,657,790. Her nearest com¬
petitor does not come within a million and a half dollars of
equalling it. The assessors' lists for 1899 value
of her real estate, at the usual low estimate, at $86,796,064
and of her horses and cattle at $1,958,802. Her citizens
report $20,802,634 at interest: the real amount is three
times that sum. To give even a more condensed idea of
what these farmers, who took such little enjoyment in their
chosen pursuit, have done to make their county rich, it
may be stated that there are at the present moment on this
little area of 973 square miles, 26 National Banks, with an
aggregate capital of $3,750,000, and deposits aggregating
$7,000,000 ; also 3 Trust companies, with large assets, and
7 Building and Loan Associations, controlling large sums
of money.
It is aggravating that it should be necessary at this late
day to be compelled to enter into a discussion of this sub¬
ject. But we cannot forget that all the opprobrium and
misrepresentation that has been cast upon the Germans o:^
Pennsylvania has long been borne without a protest. The
chief offenders during the present century are men who
have had no intimate acquaintance with the characteristics
of the men whom they falsely deride and abuse. New
England has contributed even more than her quota to the
Germans the Earliest Abolitionists.
139
number of these defamers. Their scurrilous falsehoods
have so long gone unchallenged that some have accepted
them as truths and reiterated them with all their original
fervency. The day for that has gone. The faults and
shortcomings of the German pioneers and their descendants
were many and obvious. I do not seek to extenuate
them in the slightest degree, but I do assert—^and the
authorities to prove it are legion—that with all their short¬
comings, they were the peers, of any race of men that set
its feet upon the Western Hemisphere, and that in every
qualification that goes to the making of the highest class of
citizenship, they stand at the very forefront to-day.
They brought with them none of the vindictive bigotry
that burnt witches and swung Quakers from the scaffold.
They at once made their own the doctrines of the broad-
minded Penn, that religious and political tolerance were
among the natural and inalienable rights of men. The
subjects of kings and princes in Europe, they left king¬
craft behind them and proclaimed the evangel of free¬
dom in their new home. Let it not be forgotten through
all the years, that these people, whom a few historians and a
host of inconsequent minor scribblers have denounced and
derided as indifferent boors, were nevertheless the first
men on the continent of America to denounce the wrong of
human slavery and petition for its abolition; yea, a cen¬
tury before the sensitive soul of New England even took
thought of the subject, while it was still selling Indians
añd Quakers into West Indian slavery and only forty years
after the great celebrity of Massachusetts, Governor Win¬
throp, disposed of slaves in his will.
The age of the defamer has not gone by, and most prob¬
ably never will. Like the liar and the thief he will main¬
tain his footing among men even unto the end. The men
140 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
who have assailed the good name of the German immi¬
grants to Pennsylvania are, however, in a fair way to die
out. The truth confronts their falsehoods at every stage
and the latter are borne down in the contest. Even now
their numbers are growing fewer and their idle gossip no
longer receives credence as history. The Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, the greatest and grandest of all the mem¬
bers in the Brotherhood of States, confronts them and con¬
futes their idle tattle, born of misapprehension and igno¬
rance, and here I may safely leave them.
ARMS OF GREAT BRITAIN.
Xíhc IRebemptíoners.
CHAPTER I.
Who and What They were.— A Condition Born of Ne¬
cessity beyond the SeA and transferred to America.
— The several Kinds of Bond Servants.— A striking
Feature in the History of Pennsylvania.
" Haz gala, Sancho, de la humîlidad de tu linage, y no te desprecies de decir
que vienes de labradores ; por que viendo que no te corres, ninguno se pondrá
a correrte."
" Und wenn wir dankbar auch ermessen,
Was uns das neue Heim beschied.
So können wir doch nie Vergessen
Der alten Heimath, Wort und Died."
^^HE history of the Germanic im-
migration to the Province of
Pennsylvania naturally divides itself
into two well-defined parts or chap¬
ters. Of one of these, dealing with
the arrival and dispersion of these
people, I have endeavored to write
with that fullness and exactitude
which the importance of the sub¬
ject deserves, in the earlier part of
this work. The other, which re¬
mains to be taken up, will deal
with that portion of these people
whose means were scant even at
the outset of their journey, and wholly inadequate to
(*43)
144 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
bear the strain of a long and tedious sea voyage. Who
arrived virtually penniless and dependent; who had not
been able to pay for their passage across the ocean,
and who, upon their arrival, were compelled to barter or
sell their personal services for a stated period of time, at a
stipulated price, and under prescribed legal regulations, to
such of their fellowmen as stood in need of their labor,
and who were willing to discharge the debts they had been
compelled to incur through their desire to reach this prom¬
ised land, this modern Eden, a new Canaan in a new
world.
The inflowing tide of German immigrants to the Prov¬
ince of Pennsylvania, through the port of Philadelphia,
is not secondary in importance to the coming of William
Penn himself and the establishment of his Government on
the banks of the Delaware. Considered in its historic
bearings, it is not only one of the most noteworthy events
associated with the colonization of America, but is besides
invested with a more special interest, all its own, of which
I shall attempt to give the more important details.
The first Germans to come to America, as colonists in
Pennsylvania, were, as a rule, well to do. Nearly all of
them in the beginning of that mighty exodus had sufficient
means to pay all the charges incurred in going down the
Rhine to the sea, and enough besides to meet the expenses
for carrying them across the ocean, and yet have some left
when they arrived to pay for part or all of the lands they
took up.®® The large tracts taken up by the colony at Ger-
mantown and at Conestoga are all-suflicient evidences of
this. And this continued to be the rule until about 1717,®®
•^Fkanz I/>hbr, Geschichte und Zuständen der Deutschen in America,
p. 80.
•«Also Rupp.
Pennsylvania the Land of Promise. 145
and perhaps later, when the great exodus from the Palati¬
nate set in. Then the real race to reach the New World
began. The poorer classes had not been unobservant of
what was going on. If America was a place where the
rich could become richer still, surely it must be a place
where the poor also might better themselves. At all events,
nothing could be lost by going, because they had the
merest pittance to begin with. Besides, all the accounts
were favorable. Those already in Pennsylvania sent back
glowing descriptions of the ease with which land could be
acquired, the productiveness of the soil, the abundance of
food, the freedom from taxation and the equality of all men
before the law to their natural rights and their religious
creeds.
Such arguments were irresistible to men whose fathers
and themselves had felt all the pangs that poverty, perse¬
cution and wrong can bring upon the citizen. The desire
to flee from the land of oppression to the land of promise
became paramount, and to attain their wish, no hardship
was too great, no sacrifice too costly. Unable to raise the
sum necessary to bring them here, they sold their few
meager belongings, and with the proceeds were enabled to
reach a seaport. Once there, they found plenty of men
ready to send them across the Atlantic. The terms were
hard. They knew they would be, but long before they
reached the western Patmos, the "Insel Pennsylvanien"
as it was frequently written in those days, they often rea¬
lized what kind of a trap it was into which they had fallen.
What they suffered on the voyage, how they were mal¬
treated, and how many of them died, forms perhaps the
most pathetic picture in the history of American coloniza¬
tion, not excepting that drawn by Las Casas three hundred
and fifty years ago, nor the later one limned in Longfel¬
low's Evangeline.
146 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
The evidence concerning the manner in which this im¬
migration was aroused, fostered and carried on, is cumu¬
lative rather than diverse, and there is a close resemblance
in the many narratives I have examined. It is true, the
same series of facts presented themselves to every investi¬
gator and the result is a somewhat tedious sameness in the
various accounts. Once the facts were put on record they
became public property and the latest writer simply fol¬
lowed those who had preceded him. So graphic, how¬
ever, are some of these accounts that I have deemed it a
matter of interest to give several of them, those of Mittel-
berger. Pastor Muhlenberg and Christoph Saur at some
length. Their testimony, coming from both sides of the
ocean, and from men personally familiar with all the cir¬
cumstances they describe, has never been challenged and
has accordingly become part and parcel of the history of
German immigration into America.
The persons without means, who availed themselves of
the facilities offered them by shipmasters to come to this
country, were called " Redemptioners " by their contem¬
poraries, and down even to our own times. It deserves to
be stated, however, that this term does not appear in the
indentures entered into between themselves and those by
whom their obligations were discharged and to whom they
sold their personal services for a term of years. Neither
is the term to be found in any of the legislative acts of the
period. Such persons, whatever their nationality—many
came from British lands—were called indentured or bond
servants, and those terms were invariably applied to them.
As such they were known in ,all the Acts of the Assembly
of the Province of Pennsylvania and those of the three
lower counties. New Castle, Kent and Sussex. It was the
common term prevailing in the mother country and natur-
GERMAN inniGRATlON INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
DOMESTIC UTENSILS.
1 COPPER KETTLE.
2 JflPHNNED TINWARE,
3 EHRTHENWHRE PIE DISH.
t. JflPAHHED COPFEE POT.
DANNER COLLECTION.
SHAVINQ OUTFIT. A.D. 1733,
1 SHAl/ING GLASS.
2 BASIN TO CATCH LATHER.
3 RAZOR AND STROP.
¡i SHAUING nUQ.
5 POWDER AND PUFF BOX.
6 AHSEL AND STAND.
Various Classes of Immigrants. 147
ally followed them to this. It is found in Penn's Condi¬
tions and Concessions issued while he was still in England,
in 1681, and was reiterated many times subsequently.
But while we must distinguish between the men who
had money to transport themselves and their families to
Pennsylvania, and those who came under conditions to
sell their services until their obligations were repaid, we
must not lose sight of a broad distinction between some of
these indentured immigrants. They may very appro¬
priately be divided into two classes. The first was com¬
posed of persons who were honest men and good citizens ;
men who came here of their own volition, who had under¬
gone many trials at home, some because of their religion and
most of them because of the hard conditions of life they were
compelled to face from youth to old age. Political changes
were of frequent occurrence and each one was generally
accompanied by fresh exactions on the part of the new
ruler. After the demands of the tax gatherer had been
met, about the only things that were left were visions of
fresh exactions and possible starvation. Such people were
excusable for contracting terms of temporary servitude in
a distant land to encountering an unending repetition of
their former intolerable state. Their action was at least
voluntary.
But the other class was a widely different one. They
did not come to America because of any special desire on
their part to do so. On the contrary they would doubtless
have preferred to remain in the land of their birth had they
had a voice or a choice in the matter. They were crim¬
inals and felons, the scum of the population, which the
mother country dumped upon her new Province in order
to rid herself of the most objectionable portion of her crim¬
inal classes. The very jails were emptied of their in-
148 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
mates and the latter sent to her colonies, North and South.
This action was naturally resented by the honest and in¬
dustrious colonists of Pennsylvania, and as early as 1722
the Provincial Assembly attempted to prevent the coming'
of these people by imposing a tax upon every criminal
landed in the Province, and in addition made the ship¬
owner responsible for the future good conduct of his pas¬
sengers. But nothing could keep them out and the early
criminal record of Pennsylvania is no doubt largely made
up from this class of her population. It is probably owing
to the dual classes of these indentured servants or redemp-
tioners, that much of the obloquy, which some persons,
ignorant of the circumstances, have visited upon this class
of our colonists, is owing. Ignorance has been the prolific
mother of many of the silly and untruthful accusations
that have from time to time been trumped up against the
German colonists of Pennsylvania.
They differed wholly from the Germans who came to
better their condition and frequently against the protests
World as if it was their right¬
ful inheritance, and able to help themselves. They fought
the battle of civilization in the depths and solitudes of the
A PIONESR'S CABIN.
of the potentates under whose
rule they were living. They
were, indeed, the very flower
of the German peasantry, and
Europe boasted of no better
citizens. They were men of
robust frame, hardy consti¬
tution, inured to toil and
accustomed to earn their liv¬
ing with their hands—Men
who trod the soil of the New
The Victims of Sharkers Continually.
wilderness. There they established the equality of man
in place of hereditary privileges. They were born com¬
monwealth-builders, and their handiwork in Pennsylvania
is one of the marvels of modern colonization.
Under conditions of discouragement, deceit and con¬
tumely, of wrong and robbery that almost exceed the limits
of human belief, these poor people continued to come over
to the land of promise. The story of their treatment on
shipboard equals all the horrors of the " middle passage "
during the African slave traffic, while here, land sharks in
the shape of the commission merchant and money broker,
stood ready upon their arrival to complete the work of
spoliation and plunder. It was little that many of these
forlorn sons of toil had. In their wooden chests heir¬
looms that were sometimes generations old were gathered,
and the few remaining household treasures they had been
able to save out of the wreck of their fortunes, small
though the latter were. These at once attracted the cu¬
pidity of the thieves who lay in waiting for their prey.
Thousands of them found themselves possessed only of
their lives and their strong arms when they stepped on the
Philadelphia wharfs, wherewith to begin anew the battle
of life, the struggle for existence. But handicapped as
they were, they faced adverse fate with stout hearts and
fulfilled their contracts with their purchasers and masters
as faithfully as if their efforts were directed to keep alive
their own hearth-fires or to support their wives and chil¬
dren.
To all the foregoing, separately and collectively, must
be added the sufferings and numerous deaths from small¬
pox, dysentery, poor nutrition, and worst of all the fatal
ship-fever, resulting from the contaminated water and
other causes. The literature of that time, the few news-
150 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
papers, the letters of those who made the voyage and were
not only witnesses but actual sufferers, and the books
and pamphlets that were written and printed, bear ample
testimony to the horrible scenes and sufferings that only
too often came upon the overcrowded immigrant ships. It
is not a pleasant duty to enter into some of the details that
have come down to us. The pen assumes the disagree¬
able task only because the truth and the requirements of
history demand it. It is only another, although perhaps
the most sorrowful, of all the episodes that attended the
colonization of Pennsylvania. It may perhaps be truth¬
fully said that in the first instance the practice had its
origin in laudable and benevolent motives. Those who
lent it their assistance in the beginning, at that time hardly
conceived the extent the hegira was to assume or the depth
of the misery it was to entail. Fraud and deception had
their origin in opportunity ; some men are quick to spring
from good to evil when it pays, and the occasion offers
itself. So I apprehend it was in this case.
I have tried to collect and arrange the evidence still ob¬
tainable and present it in these pages as best I could.
Every writer of our local or general history has dealt with
the question in a summary way, rather than otherwise.
The story is broken into many fragments, and these are
scattered through hundreds of volumes, without anything
approaching completeness or regularity of detail in any.
In the fullness of time, no doubt, some one with love and
leisure for the work will address himself to the task and
write the story of the Redemptioners with the philosophic
spirit and the amplitude it deserves. Meanwhile the fol¬
lowing chapters are offered as a substitute until something
better comes along.
CHAPTER II.
Bond Servants a Universal Custom of the Times.—
Brought from Great Britain and Taken to All the
Middle Colonies.— Synopsis of the Colonial Legis¬
lation on Indentured Servants.
" Such were to take these lands by toil
To till these generous breadths and fair,
Turning this Pennsylvania soil
To fruitful gardens everywhere."
" Kommt zu uns frei von Groll und Trag
Und est das Freundschafts mohl,
Wir haben hier der Hütten g'nug
Und Länder ohne Zahl."
^^^HERE was not a little
rivalry among the vari¬
ous English colonies planted
along the Atlantic seaboard
of America, in their race for
wealth, progress and com¬
mercial supremacy. Into
that competition, Pennsyl¬
vania, although the young¬
est of all the English set¬
tlements, entered with as
much ambition and ardor as the people to the north and
south of her. Penn was a Quaker, and a man of sincere
(ISO
152 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
convictions and unquestioned piety, but we cannot shut
our eyes to the fact that he united a very liberal share of
worldly shrewdness with his colonization schemes. In
fact, the competition in material progress and advance¬
ment in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was
quite as sharp between what are to-day called the Thir¬
teen Colonies as it is to-day. The older settlements had
the advantage of age and experience, and this naturally
compelled the newer ones to redouble their efforts to over¬
take them in the race for advancement and to surpass
them if possible.
In some particulars they endeavored to work out their
destinies along similar lines. They copied from each other
when they thought such imitations would prove advan¬
tageous—not blindly, but always with an eye to the main
chance. When Lord Baltimore found that his older neigh¬
bor Virginia was increasing her population and her wealth
by the extensive importation of male and female servants
from the mother country under indentures that meant years
of servitude, and under conditions not wholly dissimilar to
her negro slave traffic, he at once availed himself of the
Virginia idea, and ship-loads of these people came from
Ireland, Scotland and even England herself.
It can hardly be questioned that the authorities in Penn¬
sylvania took the same view of the case, and early in the
history of the Province introduced, or at least connived at
the system. At all events the fact remains that Penn's
government had hardly got under way, before indentured
servants became a feature in the civil life of the community.
Here, as elsewhere, labor was scarce, and here, perhaps
more than anywhere else, extra labor was required to cut
down the forests, clear the land and keep abreast of the
march of civilization that was moving forward on all sides
of the new settlement.
Legislation Concerning Indentured Servants. 153
All this is to be inferred from the number of these sold
and purchased servants that were brought into Pennsyl¬
vania, and from the legislation that was enacted in conse¬
quence. That legislation grew out of the necessities of the
traffic in these people and consequently reflects its succes¬
sive stages. It must be borne in mind, however, that
while it had even in its earlier stages all the characteristics
that marked it during its most flourishing period, from
1730 to 1770, it had not the same name. The men and
women who were sent over here from Ireland and Scot¬
land, or who came voluntarily under contracts to render
personal service for their passage money, board and any
other expenses that might be incurred, were always called
servants " or " indentured servants" by the laws of the
Province. The word " redemptioner " belongs to a later
period and was of more recent coinage, and this fact must
not be lost sight of, although in reality there was no ma¬
terial difference recognized either by statutory enactments
or by custom, between the two. The word " redemp-
tioner " does not occur in the Pennsylvania Statutes at
Large.
"We may with propriety," says Gordon, "notice here
another class of the people who were not freemen. Many
valuable individuals were imported into the province as
servants, who in consideration of the payment of their pas-
ages and other stipulations, contracted to serve for a defi¬
nite period. This class was a favorite of the law. Pro¬
vision was made by the laws agreed on in England for
recording the names, times and wages of servants; mas¬
ters were allowed to take up lands for their use, and the
servants themselves, after the expiration of their service,
were permitted to become land-holders on easy terms ; they
were provided with sufficient clothing and implements of
154 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
labor ; they could not be sold out of the Province without
their consent, and, in case of marriage, husband and wife
could not be parted. On the other hand, due care was
taken to preserve the rights of the master. Many of the
German and Irish settlers were of this class, from whom
have sprung some of the most reputable and wealthy in¬
habitants of the Province."®^
In speaking of servants about the year 1740, Watson
says : ' ' The other kind were those who were free after a
time. Many came from England, Germany and other
countries who could not pay their passage, who were sold
on their arrival for so many years, at about three to four
pounds Pennsylvania currency per annum, as would pay
their passage : generally fourteen pounds for four years'
service would covet their passage money. Those who
were too old to serve would sell their children in the same
way. Some would sell themselves to get a knowledge of
the country before starting in the world. The purchaser
could resell them for the unexpired time. The purchaser
also had to give them a suit of clothes at the expiration of
the time."®®
I propose to offer a brief résumé of the various legisla¬
tive enactments bearing on this class of immigrants to show
the status held by them, and also the precautions that were
from time to time taken by the law-making power for their
protection.
While the condition of this large class was in innumer¬
able cases to be commiserated, the fact nevertheless re¬
mains that the Legislature threw over them the aegis of its
protection, and in so far as it could, tried to deal fairly
with them. Their rights were as scrupulously guarded as
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania^ pp. 555-556-
Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. III., p. 469.
An Old Maf of Pennsylvania. 155
156 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
those of their masters. It deserves also to be remembered
that no fault was found with the system of buying these
servants and holding them to their service until their obli¬
gations were discharged. That was a recognized custom
of the^ period, already in existence both north and south
of Pennsylvania, and universally acquiesced in. Nobody
thought it wrong. People entered into these obligations
of their own free will. There was no compulsion. The
great wrongs grew out of the practices under which it was
carried on. As these developed and were brought to the
attention of the Legislature, numerous laws were passed to
better guard the rights of the deceived and defrauded im¬
migrants. But the laws could not reach the infamous
Newlander beyond the sea, and he took good care to keep
the broad Atlantic between himself and his outraged vic¬
tims.
The Provincial Government did not do all perhaps it
should or even might have done looking to the protection
of these people. It is important that we keep before us a
clear idea of the spirit of those days. It was very dif-
erent from what we find to-day. Public sentiment leaned
towards severity rather .than towards charity. The laws
dealt more severely with crime, and were often pushed to
the verge of inhumanity. Take for example, the laws
against creditors. In 1705 the first insolvent law in the
Province was passed, and it has justly been said that it
" was formulated in sterner justice than is consistent with
human frailty." When the property of a debtor was in¬
sufficient to discharge his debts, the law compelled him
to make good the deficiency by personal servitude in
case his creditors demanded it, and there were always those
who did. Single men not more than fifty-three years
old could be sold for a period of not more than seven years.
parrel Between the Governor and Assembly. 157
but married men under forty-six could be held for a period
not exceeding five years. A milder law was enacted to
supersede the above one in 1730, but so many creditors
abused its provisions, that satisfaction by servitude was
engrafted upon it in a supplemental clause.®®
There were, too, often quarrels and bickerings between
the Governors and the members of the Assemblv. The
one tried to thwart the wishes and will of the other. When,
for example, the Legislature in 1755 drew up a bill on
this very subject of the better protection of German immi¬
grants, especially to prevent the breaking open of their
chests and the theft of their goods. Governor Thomas cut
out this very matter and returned the rest with his ap¬
proval. There seems to have been a reason for his action,
and the Assembly in a sharp reply told him, in so many
words, that some of his own political household were
regularly engaged in these robberies, and that was no
doubt why he refused to do this act of simple justice. No
doubt they knew what they were talking about.
Many of the English and Welsh settlers who came to
Pennsylvania within twenty years after it was founded
brought indentured servants with them. To hold such
people was evidently an old English custom, and at the
very outset of his proprietary career, provision was made
by Penn for the welfare of these people on regaining their
freedom. No sooner had Pcnn obtained the royal charter
to his province than he issued a long and tedious docu¬
ment for the enlightenment of "those of our own and
other nations that are inclined to transport themselves or
families beyond the seas." On July 11, 1682, while still
in England he issued a series of " conditions or conces¬
sions," running to twenty separate paragraphs or articles.
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, pp. 218-219.
158 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
for the government of the relations between himself and
his province and those who should purchase lands from
him and settle here. The seventh of these conditions reads
as follows : " That for every Fifty acres that shall be al¬
lotted to a servants, at the end of his service, his Quitrent
shall be two shillings per annum, and the master or owner
of the servant, when he shall take up the other Fifty acres,
his Qpit-rent shall be Four shillings by the year, or if the
master of the servant (by reason in the Indentures he is so
obliged to do) allot to the Servant Fifty acres in his own
division, the said master shall have on demand allotted him
from the Governor, the One hundred acres, at the chief
rent of six shillings per annum." ^
"The more wealthy of the Scotch emigrants (to New
Jersey) were noted for the accompaniment of a numerous
retinue of servants and dependents, and, in some instances
they incurred the expense of transporting whole families
of poor laborers whom they established on their lands for a
term of years, and endowed with a competent stock, re¬
ceiving in return one half of the agricultural produce."
From the first, large numbers of these servants came to
Pennsylvania. Claypole says, writing on Oct. i, 1682,
" above fifty servants belonging to the Society are going
away in a great ship for Pennsylvania."
The foregoing establishes the existence of this species of
servitude before the founding of Pennsylvania. It also
shows that in order to give these people a fair start in life
the terms on which they could secure lands from the Pro¬
prietary were more favorable than those accorded to their
masters themselves.
Hazzard's Annals, pp. 505-513.
Grahamb's United States, Vol. II., p. 295.
Hazzard's Annals of Pennsylvania from 1609 to 1682, p. 593.
QERMAN inniGRATlOM INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
J , «ACH8E, PHOTO. PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN ENTERPRISE.
CARVED BLOCKS MADE AT EFHRATA CLOISTER FOR FRINTIHG DRESS QOODS.
SrCCIHENS IN DHNNER COLLECTION, nñNHEin, FH.
Laws Affecting Servants.
159
I find the word servant," evidently used in the sense
already indicated, in many acts of the General Assembly.
It occurs in a law prohibiting work on the " First day of
the week, called the Lord's Day," passed Nov. 27, 1700.®®
Also in another law passed on the same day and year,®^
and in still another passed at the same time with reference
to ** servants " assaulting their masters or mistresses.®® A
fourth law enacted on the same day of the aforementioned
year provides that " if any ' servant' or servants shall pro¬
cure themselves to be married without consent of his or her
master or mistress, (he or she) shall for such, their offense,
each of them serve their respective masters or mistresses,
one whole year after the time of their service (by inden¬
ture, law, or custom) is expired ; and if any person being
free shall marry with a servant as aforesaid, he or she so
marrying shall pay to the master or mistress of the servant,
if for a man twelve pounds ; if a woman, six pounds or
one year's service ; and the servant so being married shall
abide with his or her master or mistress according to in¬
denture or custom, and one year after as aforesaid."®® In
still another law passed on the same day and same year,
designed for raising county revenues, it is provided, " that
no person that has been a bond servant by indenture or
otherwise in this government, shall be rated the above four
shillings per head until he has been free from his servitude
the space of one year." ^
An excellent law concerning servants was passed by the
General Assembly, met at Newcastle, in the Lower Coun¬
ties, in May, 1700. It appears to be the model after which
Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., p. 4.
Ibid., Vol. II., p. 6.
*^Ibid., Vol. II., p. 13,
Ibid., Vol. II., p. 22.
Ibid., Vol. II., p. 35.
i6o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
later legislation was largely formulated, and is therefore
quoted :
♦'An Act for the Better Regulation of Servants
in the Province and Territories.
" For the just Encouragements of Servants in the Dis¬
charge of their Duty, and the Prevention of their Desert¬
ing their masters or Owners Services, Be It Enacted by
the Proprietary and Governor, by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Freemen of this Province and Territories,
in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the
same, that no Servant, bound to serve his or her Time in
this Province or Counties annexed, shall be sold or dis¬
posed of to any person residing in any other Province or
Government, without the Consent of the said Servant and
two Justices of the Peace of the said County wherein he
lives or is sold, under the Penalty of Ten Pounds, to be
forfeited by the Seller.
"And Be it Further Enacted, That no Servant shall
be assigned over to another person by any in this Province
or Territories, but in the presence of one Justice of the
Peace of the County, under the Penalty of Ten Pounds;
which Penalty, with all others in the Act expressed, shall
be levied by Distress and Sale of Goods of the Party
Offending.
" And Be It Enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that
every Servant that shall faithfully serve four years, or
more, shall, at the expiration of their Servitude have a Dis¬
charge, and shall be duly Cloathed with two compleat suits
of Apparel, whereof one shall be new, and shall also be
furnished with one new Ax, one Grubbing-hoe, and one
Weeding-hoe ; at the Charge of their Master or Mistress.
"And for the Prevention of Servants quitting their Mas-
Laws Affecting Indentured Servants. i6i
ters service, Be It Enacted by the authority aforesaid,
that if any Servant shall absent him or herself from the
Service of their Master or Owner for the space of one Day
or more, without Leave first obtained for the same, every
such Servant shall for every such Days absence be obliged
to serve five days after the Expiration of his or her Time,
and shall further make such Satisfaction to his or her
Master or Owner, for the Damages and charges sustained
by such Absence, as the respective County Court shall see
meet, who shall order as well the Time to be served, as
other Recompence for Damages sustained.
"And whoever shall Apprehend or take up any run¬
away Servant and shall bring him or her to the Sheriff of
the County, such Person shall for every such Servant, if
taken up within ten miles of the Servants Abode, receive
Ten Shillings Reward of the said Sheriff ; who is hereby re¬
quired to pay the same, and forthwith to send notice to the
Master or Owner, of whom he shall receive Ten Shillings,
Prison fees upon Delivery of the said Servant, together
with all other Disbursements and reasonable Charges for
and upon the same.
"And to prevent the clandestine employment of other
Mens Servants, Be It Enacted, by the authority afore¬
said, That whosoever shall conceal any Servant of this
Province or Territories or entertain him or her twenty-four
hours, without his or her Master's or Owners Knowledge
and Consent, and shall not within the said time give an Ac¬
count thereof to some Justice of the Peace of the County,
every such Person shall forfeit Twenty Shillings for every
Day's Concealment. And in case the said Justice of the
Peace shall not, within twenty-four Hours after complaint
made to him, issue his Warrant, directly to the next Con¬
stable, for apprehending and seizing the said Servant, and
102 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
commit him or her to the Custody of the Sheriff of the
County, such Justice shall for every such Offence forfeit
Five Pounds. And the Sheriff shall by the first Oppor¬
tunity after he has received the said Servant, send notice
thereof to his or her Master or Owner: and the said
PBASANTS AND COSTUMES OF THE PALATINATE.
Sheriff neglecting or omitting in any case to give Notice
•to the Master or Owner of the Servant being in his Custody
as aforesaid, shall forfeit Five Shillings for every Day's
Laws Affecting Bond Servants. 163
neglect after an Opportunity has offered ; to be proved
against him before the County Court, and to be there ad¬
judged.
"And for the more effectual Discouragement of Servants
embezzling their Masters' or Owners goods, Be It En¬
acted, by the Authority aforesaid, that whosoever shall
clandestinely deal or traflick with any Servant white or
black, for any .Kind of goods or Merchandises, without
Leave or Order from his or her Master or Owner, plainly
signified or appearing, shall forfeit treble the value of such
goods to the Owner ; and the Servant, if a white, shall
make Satisfaction to his or her Master or Owner by Servi¬
tude, after the expiration of his or her Time, to double the
Value of the said Goods ; and if the Servant be a black, he
or she shall be severely whipt in the most Publick Place
of the Township where the Offence was comitted."
An act for the better regulation of servants in the Prov¬
ince and Territories, and for the just encouragement of
servants in the discharge of their duties, also passed on
November 27, 1700, throws so much light on this "ser¬
vant " question that I give an abridgment of it. It pro¬
vides that no servant bound to serve a certain time, shall
be sold or disposed of to anyone residing in any other prov¬
ince or government, without his consent and that of two
justices of the peace of the county where the servant re¬
sides, under a ten-pound penalty by the seller. No ser¬
vant is to be sold or assigned to another person in the
Province unless in the presence of a justice, under a ten-
pound penalty.
Charters and Acts of the Assembly of the Province of Penrisylvania.
Printed by Petbr Miller & Company, Phil. M.D.C.C.I<.XII., Vol. I., pp.
5 and 6 of Section II.
See also Galloway's Laws of Pennsylvania^ C. 49, p. 7.
164 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Sec. III. of this law is so important that I quote it entire.
** And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
every Servant that shall faithfully serve four years or
more, shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a
discharge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete
suits of apparel, whereof one shall be new ; and shall also
be furnished with one new axe, one grubbing hoe and one
weeding hoe at the charge of their master or mistress."
Other sections provide that servants who absent themselves
from their service for one day without permission, shall for
<every such day, serve five days longer at the expiration of
their time, and besides make satisfaction for all damage
the master may have sustained by such absence. Persons
apprehending runaway servants and taking them to the
sheriff shall receive ten shillings for the same or twenty
shillings when the runaway is taken more than ten miles
ftom his master's abode. Persons concealing servants
without the master's knowledge, or entertaining them
twenty-four hours and who shall not notify either the mas¬
ter or a justice of the peace, shall be fined twenty shillings
for every day's concealment. The final clause in the act
provided that whosoever should clandestinely deal or traffic
with any servant for any kind of goods or merchandize,
without leave or order from the master, shall forfeit treble
the value of the goods to the master ; and the servant, if
white, shall make reparation to his or her master or owner,
by servitude after the expiration of his or her time, to
«double the value of the said goods.®^
On October 18, 1701, the law of November 27, 1700,
a-egulating the marriages of servants as already quoted,
was reënacted.
It seems that sometimes " bought servants " left their
'•**.Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., pp. 54-56.
Servants Enlisting as Soldiers. 165
masters, greatly to the damage of the latter, and enlisted in
the Queen's service over in New Jersey. In consequence
of this hardship, an act was passed by the Assembly on
August 10, 1711, providing that "any master who shall
prove that a servant belonging to him has enlisted in the
Qijeen's service since a certain date without the approval
of his master or mistress, shall receive for every month's
unexpired service of such servant, the sum of ten shillings,
and the full sum which the unexpired time of servitude
shall at that rate amount to, the entire sum not to exceed
twenty pounds however. The master or mistress shall
deliver up the covenant or indenture of such servant and
assign thereon their right to such servant's services."
In an act regulating fees to be charged by public offi¬
cials, passed on May 28, 1715, a shilling is allowed " for
writing the assignment of a servant and signing it." On
August 24, 1717, an act for levying taxes passed the As¬
sembly and among its other provisions was one requiring
the constables in the several districts of the Province to
carefully register the number of bound servants that are
held.^°^ A similar law was reënacted on February 22,1717-
1718, but servants not out of their servitude six months are
exempted.A licensing act passed on the 26th day of
August, 1721, prohibits the sale of rum, brandy and other
spirits to be drunk by servants and others in companies
near the place of sale ; nor shall such servants be trusted
or entertained, if warned by the master or mistress of the
same; and any one arresting a servant for a debt con¬
tracted in this way, such actions shall abate, and the ser¬
vant or his master or mistress may plead the act in bar.^"®
Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. III., p. 100.
Ibid., pp. 250-251.
Ibid., p. 181.
1®® Ibid., p. 129.
i66 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Under an act passed May 5, 1722, a duty was imposed on
persons convicted of heinoiis crimes who should be im¬
ported into the Province. The law recites that many per¬
sons trading here had, for purposes of gain, imported and
sold as servants for a term of years, persons convicted of
crimes, who soon ran away, leaving their masters' service,
to the great loss of persons thus buying them. The law
inflicted a penalty of five pounds on any shipmaster who
should bring such a convict into the Province to be paid
before the servant was landed and be in addition held bound
in the sum of fifty pounds for the good behavior of such
convicted person, for the period of one year. Examina¬
tions were to be made of suspected persons by justices of
the peace, and if any were brought and disposed of without
complying with the law, twenty pounds fine was to be levied
on the offender. All servants under the age of twelve
years were exempted from the provisions of the law.^"^
This brings the legislation of the Province down to the
period when the German immigration began to assume
large proportions, and the importation and selling of the
same appears to have taken its rise. During all that
period the word Servant " was used ; that of " Redemp-
tioner " never, nor at any time thereafter in legal enact¬
ments, so far as I am aware.
Under the law, all contracts between redemptioners and
their purchasers were required to be registered by officials
designated for that purpose. It would be of much interest
if these complete records were still in existence, but as they
have not been discovered thus far, this is hardly to be
hoped for now. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
has two volumes of such records. The title of the books
is German Redemftioners, from lySy to 1804. That
Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania^ Vol. III., pp. 264-268.
Example From Record Book. 167
period included three volumes, but the second one is miss¬
ing. The books are in manuscript, folio in size, and the
first one contains 409 pages. The third volume is smaller,
only 130 pages, and the date runs from 1817 to 1831.
Perhaps we have in this latter date the period when the
traffic in these indentured people ceased. The smallness
of the volume shows how few were recorded during the
long period from 1817 to 1831. The books have a written
index.
As a sample of the general character of this registry, the
following entry from Volume I., page 57, is given :
" Maria Magdalina Shaffer assigned by John Fromberg,
to serve Petet Muhlenberg, Esq. of Montgomery county
State of Pennsylvania, the remainder of her indentures,
recorded page 14. consideration £6."
" Maria Magdalena Shaffer bound herself to John From¬
berg, of the city of Philadelphia, merchant, to serve him
three years and six monchs : to have customary freedom
suits."
All the other records follow the same general style.
The conditions under which British bond servants were
brought to this country may be seen by the following in¬
denture copied from the volume noted above. In this case,
however, the document was in shape of a printed form,
with names and dates filled in. It was the only one found
in the book.
"This Indenture Made the 13th Day of May, in the
year of our Lord, 1784, Alex' Beard of Broughshane, in
the Co. of Antrim, Tayler, by consent of his father on the
one Part, and John Dickey of Callybarthey in the said
county. Gentleman, of the other Part, Witnesseth that the
said Alexander Beard, doth hereby covenant, promise and
i68 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Cofy of a jRedem^tioner's Indenture. 169
grant to and with the said John Dickey his Executors,
Administrators and Assigns, from the Day of the Date
hereof, until the first and next arrival at Philadelphia, inn
America, and after for and during the Term of Three-
years to serve in such Service and Employment as the said?
John Dickey or his assigns shall there employ him accord¬
ing to the Custom of the Country in the like kind. In
consideration whereof the said John Dickey doth hereby
covenant and grant to and with the said Alexander Beard
to pay for his Passage and to find and. allow him Meat,
Drink, Apparel and Lodging with other Necessaries, dur-
105 f he i^ondon Coffee House was the most celebrated establishment of its
kind ever opened in Philadelphia. The original building was erected in 1702
by Charles Reed. It was first used as a Coffee House " in 1754 by William
Bradford, the famous provincial printçr. Bradford's petition for a license
reads as follows : "Having been advised to keep a Coffee House for the bene¬
fit of merchants and traders, and as some people may at times be desirous to
be furnished with other liquors besides coffee, your petitioner apprehendá'*it is
necessary to have the Govenor's license."
The house (still standing) is at the southwest corner of Front and Market
streets. It became the resort of everybody of consequence in the city and of
all the prominent people who visited Philadelphia. It was the focus of all the
news that was going on. The Governor, and merchants of every degree, went
there at stated times to drink their coffee, learn the news and gossip. There
was a covered shed connected with it, vendues of all kinds were regularly
held, and often auctions of negro slaves, men, women and children were held
there. Some of the more memorable events in the history of the city occurred
on the spot. The Stamp Act papers, which were seized wherever they could
be found, were burned there. The ship captain who first brought news of the
repeal of the Stamp Act, was wined and dined there. In 1774, the effigies of
Governor Hutchinson, of Massachusetts, and of Alexander Wederbum were
burnt because of their insults to Dr. Franklin. The Declaration of Independ¬
ence was read there by John Nixon, after which the Royal Arms were torn
down from the Court House, carried there and burned. There General Thomp¬
son had a personal altercation with Justice McKeau; leading to a challenge by
the former, which was declined by the latter, because to accept it would be to
violate the laws he was sworn to maintain. Fven the Common Council pro¬
ceedings are frequently dated at the " Coffee House." It is alluded to by all
writers ofthe period as the place of general meeting when any event of impor¬
tance, foreign or domestic, was to the fore. (Watson's A nnals ofPhilacLeiphiay
Vol. I., p. 203 ; III., p. 203.)
170 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
ing the said Term and at the End of the said Term to pay
unto him the usual Allowance, according to the Custom of
the country in the like kind. In Witness whereof the Par¬
ties above Mentioned to these indentures have interchange¬
ably put their Hands and Seals, the Day and Year first
above written.
" Signed, Sealed and Delivered
" in the presence of
Peter Dillon, Alex" Beard,
*'JoHN Wier, John Dickey."
Just when this business came to a close I have not been
able definitely to ascertain.^®® That it died out gradually is
hardly to be doubted. A more enlightened sentiment
among the American people, and the still more important
fact that the migrating "fever" had about run its course
among the poorer classes, for a time, were no doubt the
most important factors towards bringing this about.
So far as I have been able to learn, no Redemptioners
were brought into Lancaster county after 1811. In that
year Mr. Abram Peters, a prominent farmer of the county,
while hauling wheat to the mills on the Brandywine, near
Wilmington, stopped at Chester to buy a small German
girl, his wife needing the services of such a person. He
secured an orphan girl named " Kitty," at the price of $25.
The mother had died at sea, leaving Kitty and her sister
to be disposed of as Redemptioners. The master of the
ship desired to sell the sisters to one person, that they
might not be separated, and offered the two for $40. Mr.
Peters, having no use for two, declined to take them both,
but he promised to find a purchaser for the other sister at
106 From a document quoted elsewhere, it would seem the traffic reached its
close about the year 1831.
Story of a Redemptioner. 171
$15, if possible. On his way home he met a Qpaker
gentleman and his wife. The latter wished to buy Kitty.
Peters declined to part with her but told them of the other
sister still at Chester. The old Quaker at once went to
that place and bought her. The two purchasers had ex¬
changed addresses and promised to keep the two sisters in
correspondence with each other. Both girls found kind
mistresses and good homes, corresponded and visited each
other regularly. Kitty finally married a wealthy German,
a baker named Kolb, of Philadelphia.^"'
10' I am indebted to S. M, Sener, Esq., for the facts of the above narrative.
EARI.Y PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY. EARTHEN PIE-PLATE.
CHAPTER III.
Origin and Meaning of the Term " Redemptioner."—
Narrative of Gottleib Mittelberger, who after Re¬
siding in Pennsylvania four years Returned to the
Fatherland and by Request wrote a full Account
of the Voyage Across the Sea and the Redemptioner
Traffic.
into a contract with another person, to serve the latter for
a stipulated time and at a stipulated price, for moneys paid
"Amerika, O neues Heimath land !
Du Dand der Freiheit, Dand voll Dicht und Wonne Î
Sei uns gegrüsst du gastlich holder Strand,
Sei uns gegrüsst du goldene Freiheits-Sonne."
" They came, oft wronged beneath the mast.
Or, when escaped the dreaded wave,
How many wept their loved ones cast
For burial, in an ocean grave."
HE term Redemptioner had
its origin in a peculiar sys¬
tem of voluntary servitude, rec¬
ognized by law and by custom,
under which a freedman entered
(172)
Ttvo Kinds of Redem^tioners.
173
to him or for his benefit, before the service was entered
upon. Through the fulfillment of this contract apprentice¬
ship or servitude, the servitor was said to redeem himself,
hence the name of Redemptioner given to those who en¬
tered into such agreements.
There were two kinds of Redemptioners, and the dis¬
tinction should be borne in mind. The first were the so-
called "indentured servants" who made specific contracts
before setting sail, to serve a term of years to masters ; the
second, known sometimes as "free willers," were without
money, l3ut anxious to emigrate, therefore agreed with the
ship-masters to sell themselves and their families on
their arrival, for the captain's advantage, and thus repay
the cost of their transportation.^"®
The historian Gordon very clearly and fully sets forth the
character of still another class of immigrants. He says :
"A part of the emigration to the Colonies was composed
of servants, who were of two classes. The first and larger,
poor and oppressed in the land of their nativity, sometimes
the victims of political changes, or religious intolerance,
submitted to a temporary servitude, as the price of freedom,
plenty and peace. The second, vagrants and felons, the
dregs of the British populace, were cast by the mother
country upon her colonies, with the most selfish disregard
of the feelings she outraged. From this moral pestilence
the first settlers shrunk with horror. In 1682 the Pennsyl¬
vania Council proposed to prohibit the introduction of con¬
victs, but the evil was then prospective to them only, and
no law was enacted. But an act was now passed (1722),
which, though not prohibitory in terms, was such in effect.
A duty of five pounds was imposed upon every convicted
felon brought into the Province, and the importer was re-
108 Mellick's Slory of an Old Farm, p. 149.
i74 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
quired to give surety for the good behavior of the convict
for one year ; and to render these provisions effectual, the
owner or master was bound under a penalty of twenty
pounds, to render, on oath, or affirmation, within twenty-
four hours after the arrival of the vessel, an account to the
collector of the names of the servants and passengers.
But such account was not required when bond was given
conditioned for the reexportation of such servants within
six months."
The earliest direct reference to this traffic in German
Redemptioners which I have found, appears in the work
of Eickhoff who cites a letter written in 1728 by several
persons at that time, which fully bears out the existence of
the trade in German Redemptioners at that period. The
letter states that two persons, Oswald Siegfried and Peter
Siegfried had informed them (the writers) for the second
time from the city of Amsterdam, that there was a certain
broker in that city, who would carry emigrants to Penn¬
sylvania, even when they were unable to pay for their pas¬
sage, if they could manage to scrape together only half the
passage money ; and those who had nothing at all, if they
were in a condition to perform manual labor when they
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, p. 189.
110 " Das diese art der Passagierbeförderung etwa im Jahr 1728 ihren Anfang
nahm, laszt sich nach einem Schreiben von Heinrich Kundig, Michael Zra-
biel und David Kaufmann an ihre mennonitischen Glaubensgenossen in Am¬
sterdam (Marz 1738) vermuthen, worin Jene erzöhlen, sie hätten Allen von
der Auswanderung nach Pennsylvanian abgerathen, welche kein Geld hätten,
um die Überfahrt selbst zu bezahlen, oder Freunde in Pennsylvanien, die dies
thäten. ' Nun hat uns aber Oswald Siegfried und Peter Siegfried zum 2 mal
aus Amsterdam geschreiben, dass einer gewissen Kauffman in Amsterdam
habe, der de leit nach Benselfania führen wil, wenn sie schon die Fracht
nicht haben, wenn sie nur durch einander die halbe Fracht ausmachen Kön¬
nen; wenn auch leit seien, die nichts haben, wenn sie nur im Staut seien, dass
sie arbeiten Können, werden auch mit genommen. Missen davor arbeiten,
bis sie 7îé Bischtolen abverdient haben.' "
Gottlieh Mittelherger's Narrative, 175
arrived. They would be obliged to labor upon their arri¬
val until their passage money amounting to 7^ pistoles
(about $30) had been earned."^
In my attempt to make this sketch as complete as possi¬
ble, I have carefully examined all the sources of informa¬
tion that were accessible or of which I was cognizant.
Many writers have touched upon the Redemptioners with
more or less fullness but it was a German visitor to Penn¬
sylvania to whom we are indebted for the fullest, and as I
believe a most trustworthy account of the man-traffic which
this is an attempt to describe. I refer to the little volume
written by Gottlieb Mittelberger."^ Without any attempt
at fine writing he tells what he saw and had personal
knowledge of. His narrative, in addition to bearing inher¬
ent evidences of reliability, is further fortified and sup¬
ported by the concurrent testimony of numerous other
writers. In fact, his veracity has never been questioned
so far as I am aware, and the student of this period of our
history will of necessity have to go to him when the era
under review is discussed. He declares at the outset that
he "carefully inquired into the condition of the country;
and what I describe here, I have partly experienced myself,
and partly heard from trustworthy people who were familiar
with the circumstances."
Mittelberger was a native of Wurtemburg. He came to
this country in 1750 and returned to Germany in 1754.
He was an organist and came over in charge of an organ
which was intended for Philadelphia. He served as the
Anton Eickhoff, In Der Neuen Heimath, p. 142.
" Gottlieb Mittelberger's Reise nach Pennsylvanien im Jahre 1730 und
Rückreise nach Teutschland im Jahr 1754. Enthaltend nicht nur eine Be¬
schreibung des Landes nach seinem gegenwärtigen Zustande, sondern auch
eine ausführliche Nachricht von den unglückseligen und betrübten Umstän¬
den der meisten Teutschen, die in dieses Landgezogen sind und dahin ziehen.
Frankfurt und Leipzig 1756."
176 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
organist of the Augustus Church at the Trappe, and as a
schoolmaster during his nearly four years' stay in Penn¬
sylvania. His services in both capacities were so highly
appreciated that, when he left, the church authorities gave
him a most flattering testimonial."®
The account which Gottlieb Mittelberger gives of his
voyage to Pennsylvania and of his return to Germany
four years later is the fullest known to me of a complete
trip from the heart of the Fatherland to the sea, the voy¬
age across the ocean, the trials and sufferings of that
eventful period and the further events that waited on such
as came penniless and dependent and who had already in
Holland entered into contracts to serve some master until
all their passage charges and the food they had consumed
were paid for.
Mittelberger did not come as a Redemptioner ; his was
a business trip ; he pursued his profession of organist for
four years and then returned to Germany. But, as was
most natural in a man of his kind and tender nature, he
thoroughly sympathized with his poor countrymen in their
time of adversity, arid, being in daily touch with them and
all that was going on in Philadelphia, no man was better
acquainted with the wrongs put upon them and of the trials
they were compelled to encounter. He was moved by all
this, and by the appeals of his Philadelphia acquaintances,
to tell the story of what he had seen and heard, upon his
return to Germany, and out of the promise he then made
we have his book.
It must always be borne in mind that Mittelberger's aim
was to dissuade his countrymen from emigrating, and that
113 A most excellent translation of this book has recently been made by Mr.
Carl Theo. Eben, and published by John Jos. McVey, of Philadelphia, who has
kindly permitted me to make use of the translation for my present purposes.
Mittelb erger's Narrative.
177
he puts the worst construction on the evils to be met and
encountered possible, as if it was necessary to make his
statements even worse than the reality !
There are some few minor inaccuracies in it, and occa¬
sionally a statement he had from hearsay is exaggerated,
but there are no intentional errors, and the general truth¬
fulness of his narrative is unquestioned. He was not
friendly to this immigration of his countrymen. It is true,
he gives a most flattering account of the fertility and pro¬
ductiveness of the country and of the ease with which a
living can be made there, but when he deals with the long
voyage, the unpleasant events connected with it, its fatali¬
ties and losses, he is anxious that the people shall remain
at home, and he says he believes they will after they have
read what he has written, because such a journey with
most involves a loss of property, liberty and peace ; with
some a loss of life and even of the salvation of their souls,
this latter because of the lack of religious opportunities in
the new home.
Mittelberger's Narrative.
" This journey from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania," he
says, " lasts from the beginning of May until the end of
October, fully half a year, amid such hardships as no one
is able to describe adequately. The cause is because the
Rhine boats from Heilbronn to Holland have to pass by
36 custom houses, at all of which the ships are examined,
which is done when it suits the convenience of the custom¬
house oiïicials. In the meantime, the ships with the people
are detained long, so that the passengers have to spend
much money. The trip down the Rhine alone lasts four,
five and even six weeks.
" When the ships and the people reach Holland, they
lyS The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
are detained there likewise five or six weeks. ■ Because
things are very dear there, the poor people have to spend
nearly all they have during that time. * * * Both in
Rotterdam and Amsterdam the people are packed densely,
CASTI,E IN THE PALATINATE.
like herrings, so to say, in the large sea vessels. One
person receives a place scarcely two feet wide and six feet
long in the beadstead, while many a ship carries four to six
hundred souls ; not to mention the innumerable implements,
tools, provisions, water barrels and other things which like¬
wise occupy much space.
" On account of contrary winds it sometimes takes the
ships two, three and four weeks to make the trip from
Holland to Cowes (on the isle of Weight, on the South
coast of England). But when the wind is good they get
GERHAN inniQRATlO/N INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
ELiZ
(A) P E IS N s YLV A/MI A~G E R M AN STOVE PLATE, harold oiffenderffer, photo,
(5) PANILY BflKE-OVE/S, f. rachse, photo.
Mittelherger*s Narrative.
179
there in eight days or sooner. Every thing is examined
at the custom house and the duties paid, and ships are
sometimes detained eight, ten and fourteen days before
their cargoes are completed. During this delay every one
is compelled to spend his last money and to consume the
little stock of provisions which had been reserved for the
ocean voyage ; so that most passengers, finding themselves
on the ocean where they are in still greater need of them,
suffer greatly from hunger and want.
" When the ships have for the last time weighed their
anchors at Cowes, the real misery begins, for from there
the ships, unless they have good winds must often sail eight,
nine, ten or twelve weeks before they reach Philadelphia.
But with the best wind the voyage lasts seven weeks.
" During the voyage there is on board these ships terri¬
ble misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds
of sicknesses, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipa¬
tion, boils, scurvy, cancer mouth-rot and the like, all of
which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also
from very bad and foul water so that many die miserably.
"Add to this, want of provisions, hunger, thirst, cold,
heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations,
together with other troubles such as lice which abound so
plentifully, especially on sick people, that they can be
scraped off the body. The misery reaches the climax
when a gale rages for two or three days and nights, so
that every one believes that the ship will go to the bottom
with all the human beings on board. * * •
"Among the healthy, impatience sometimes grows so
great and cruel that one curses the other or himself, and
the day of his birth, and sometimes come near killing each
other. Misery and malice join each other, so that they
cheat and rob one another. One always reproaches the
i8o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
other for persuading him to undertake the journey. Fre¬
quently children cry out against their parents, husbands
against their wives and wives against their husbands,
brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances against each
other. But most against the soul-traffickers,—(the New-
landers).
" Many sigh and cry : ' Oh, that I were at home again,
and if I had to lie in my pig sty Î ' Or they say : ' O God,
if I only had a piece of good bread, or a good fresh drop
of water.' Many people whimper, and sigh and cry
piteously for their homes; most of them get homesick.
Many hundred people necessarily die and perish in such
misery, and must be cast into the sea, which drives their
relatives, or those who persuaded them to undertake the
journey, to such despair that it is almost impossible to
pacify and console them. In a word, the sighing and cry¬
ing and lamenting on board the ship continues night and
day, so as to cause the hearts even of the most hardened
to bleed when they hear it. • * *
' ' Children from one to seven years rarely survive the
voyage ; and many a time parents are compelled to see
their children miserably suffer and die from hunger, thirst
and sickness, and then see them cast into the water. I
witnessed such misery in no less than thirty-two children
in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea. * * *
* ' Often a father is separated by death from his wife and
children, or mothers from their little children, or even both
parents from their children ; and sometimes entire families
die in quick succession ; so that often many dead persons
lie in the berths besides the living ones, especially when
contagious diseases have broken out on the ship. * * *
That most of the people get sick is not surprising, be¬
cause, in addition to all other trials and hardships, warm
Mitteiberger*s Narrative.
i8i
food is served only three times a week, the rations being
very poor and very small. These meals can hardly be
eaten on account of being so unclean. The water which
is served out on the ships is often very black, thick and
full of worms, so that one cannot drink it without loathing,
even with the greatest thirst. O surely, one would often give
much money at sea for a piece of good bread, or a drink of
good water, if it could only be had. I myself experienced
that sufficiently, I am sorry to say. Toward the end we
were compelled to eat the ship's biscuit which had been
spoiled long ago ; though in a whole biscuit there was
scarcely a piece the size of a dollar that had not been full
of red worms and spiders nests. Great hunger and thirst
force us to eat and drink everything ; but many do so at
the risk of their lives. * * *
" At length, when after a long and tedious voyage, the
ships come in sight of land, so that the promontories can
be seen, which the people were so eager and anxious to
see, all creep from below to the deck to see the land from
afar, and they weep for joy, and pray and sing, thanking
and praising God. The sight of the land makes the
people on board the ship, especially the sick and the half
dead, alive again, so that their hearts leap within them ;
they shout and rejoice, and are content to bear their misery
in patience, in the hope that they may soon reach the land
in safety. But alas I
" When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their
long voyage no one is permitted to leave them except those
who pay for their passage or can give good security ; the
others who cannot pay must remain on board the ships till
they are purchased, and are released from the ships by
their purchasers. The sick always fare the worst, for the
healthy are naturally preferred and purchased first ; and
182 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in
front of the city for two or three weeks, and frequently
die, whereas many a one if he could pay his debt and was
permitted to leave the ship immediately, might recover.
Before I describe how this traffic in human flesh is
conducted, I must mention how much the journey to Penn¬
sylvania costs. A person over ten years pays for the pas¬
sage from Rotterdam to Philadelphia, £io. Children from
flve to ten years pay half price, £5. All children under
five years are free. For these prices the passengers are
conveyed to Philadelphia, and as long as they are at sea pro¬
vided with food, though with very poor food, as has been
shown.
" But this is only the sea passage; the other costs on
land, from home to Rotterdam, including the passage on
the Rhine, are at least $35, no matter how economically
one may live. No account is here made of extraordinary
contingencies. I may safely assert that with the greatest
economy, many passengers have spent $176 from home to
Philadelphia.
" The sale of human beings in the market on board the
ship is carried on thus : Every day Englishmen, Dutch¬
men and high German people come from the city of Phila¬
delphia and other places, some from a great distance, say
sixty, ninety, and one hundred and twenty miles away,
and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought
and offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select
among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable for
their business, and bargain with them how long they will
serve for their passage money, for which most of them
are still in debt. When they have come to an agreement,
it happens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to
serve three, four, five or six years for the amount due by
Mittelberger's Narrative.
183
them, according to their age and strength. But very
young people, from ten to fifteen years, must serve until
they are twenty-one years old.
" Many persons must sell and trade away their children
like so many head of cattle ; for if their children take the
debt upon themselves, the
parents can leave the ship
free and unrestrained ; but
as the parents often do not
know where and to what
people their children are
going, it often happens
that such parents and chil¬
dren, after leaving the
ship do not see each other
again for years, perhaps
no more in all their lives.
"When people arrive
who cannot make them¬
selves free, but have children under five years of age, they
cannot free themselves by them ; for such children must be
given to somebody without compensation to be brought up,
and they must serve for their bringing up till they are twenty-
one years old. Children from five to ten years, who pay
half price for their passage, must likewise serve for it until
they are twenty-one years old ; they cannot, therefore, re¬
deem their parents by taking the debt of the latter upon
themselves. But children above ten years can take part of
their parents' debts upon theipselves.
" A woman must stand for her husband if he arrives
sick, and in like manner a man for his sick wife, and take
the debt upon^herself or himself, and thus serve five or six
years not alone for his or her own debt, but also for that of
184 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
the sick husband or wife. But if both are sick, such persons
are sent from the ship to the hospital, but not until it ap¬
pears probable that th^y will find no purchasers. As soon
as they are well again they must serve for their passage,
or pay if they have means.
"It often happens that whole families, husband, wife
and children, are separated by being sold to different pur¬
chasers, especially when they have not paid any part of
their passage money.
" When a husband or wife has died at sea, after the ship
has completed more than half her trip, the survivor must
pay or serve not only for himself or herself, but also for
the deceased."^
' ' When both parents died after the voyage was more than
half completed, their children, especially when they are
young and have nothing to pawn or pay, must stand for
their own and their parents' passage, and serve till they are
twenty-one years old. When one has served his or her
term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at part¬
ing and if it has been so stipulated, a man gets in addition
a horse and a woman a cow.
' ' When a servant has an opportunity to marry in this
country, he or she must pay for each year he or she would
still have to serve, £5 or £6. But many a one who has
thus purchased and paid for his bride, has subsequently
repented of his bargain, so that he would gladly have re¬
turned his dear ware and lost his money in addition.
" If a servant in this country runs away from his master
who has treated him harshly, he cannot get far. Good
provision has been made for such cases so that a runaway
is soon recovered. He who detains or returns a deserter
receives a good reward.
than half the voyage having been made when a passenger died,
there was no claim for passage money.
Good Condition of Some Shipi.
185
"If such a runaway has been away from his master a
single day, he must serve an entire week for it ; if absent
a week, then a month, and for a month, half a year. But
if the master does not care to keep the runaway when he
gets him back, he may sell him for as many years as he
has still to serve."
It must not be supposed that the scenes and events
described in the foregoing quotations from Mittelberger
were everyday occurrences, at least so far as the suffer¬
ings, sickness and deaths at sea are concerned. They did
occur, but he takes especial pains to represent everything
at its worst. Many a ship came over in good condition,
with no unusual sickness on board, and under the charge
of humane ship captains. But so far as the sale and dis¬
posal of the passengers upon their arrival was concerned,
that was an unvarying affair. It was, however, just what
many of these people were aware of, and may be said to
have bargained for, before they stepped on shipboard to
come here, and they had only themselves to blame for the
after-misery it entailed. It is not to be doubted that by
far the greater number of these people were misled and
deceived by the Newlanders, and were ill prepared for
the voyage besides, so that only disappointment, with many
of the miseries rehearsed by Mittelberger, were realized by
them on the voyage and when they arrived.
The following passage from Löher is interesting :
"The Germans, who for so many years were hired out
to pay costs of transportation, are called ' Servants '
(Knechte) or Redemptioners (Käuflinge). When they
serve with English people, their language soon becomes
one of mixed English and German. (A notable proof of
this fact is supplied by Pastor Brunholtz, of the Lutheran
186 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Church, who recorded the following in his diary: On
March 25, 1745, a man called on me and requested me to
go to Chester, and preach to the Germans there. * * *
On the morning of June 30 I went to Chester, which is
about 16 miles from Philadelphia. The Germans here,
who for the most part are ' servants,' as they are called,
employed by English people, and so speaking a mixture
of German and English.'"^®) In the country they are^usually
well treated and cared for, especially when good for¬
tune so wills it that they become inmates of a German
household. If one of the latter secures an entire family,
the man is generally occupied in field labor, and also
carries on his trade if he has one, sometimes on his own
account and at others on that of his master. It was
allowed him to have a few head of cattle. The wife was
generally a housemaid and a caretaker of children, while
her own little ones were assigned to all kinds of light work.
The servitude finally came to an end when the boy reached
the age of 21 and the girl that of 18 years. They might
not get married without the consent of their masters. A
runaway was compelled to serve an additional week for
each day's absence and six months for each week's ab¬
sence, and could, what was otherwise unlawful, be sold to
another person for the period of his unexpired service.
"When the term of service was over, a thrifty servant
had saved quite a sum and secured a home for himself, for
land was cheap."® Perhaps more than one-third of the
original German immigrants and their descendants who
are so well-to-do now, began life in this humble way.
Their sons were already notable persons at the time
of the Revolution. An Act of Parliament passed in 1756,
"5 Mann's Hallische Nachrichten, Eng. Ed., p. 162.
He could take up fifty acres of land at a nominal rent.
Franz Löher S^uoted.
allowed servants, with the consent of their masters, to be¬
come soldiers. Many of these immigrants who brought
considerable amounts of gold with them, hired themselves
for a time until they should become acquainted with the
country and people. The German and English-Irish Re-
demptioners came mostly to Pennsylvania ; the English to
Virginia, and the statistics of that State show that annually
about 1,500 Redemptioners arrived there. In later times
the service of these people became still more liberal. I have
spoken to many householders and schoolmasters who were
told by their fathers how they had been persuaded to come
to America, but who, after serving half a year of their time,
ran away. It was diflScult to find a runaway from the set¬
tlements in the depths of the forest."
I<ÖHBR'S Die Deutschen in Amerika, p. 82.
CHAPTER IV.
The Newlanders or Soul-Sellers.— Men who made a
Business of sending Redemptioners to Pennsylvania.
— How their Nefarious Traffic was carried on in
the Fatherland.— Letters from Pastor Muhlen¬
berg and Others.
" Yet here sits peace ; and rest sits here.
These wide-boughed oaks, they house wise men—
The student and the sage austere ;
And men of wondrous thought and ken.
Here men of God in holy guise
Invoke the peace of Paradise."
SEAL OE GERMANTOWN.
rEFORE this influx
of persons willing
to sell their personal ser¬
vices to pay the expenses
of their transportation had
been long in operation,
the possibilities of turning
it to profitable account
were considered by sea¬
faring and other men, but
more especially by a class
of sharpers who, having
(i88)
Practices of the Newlanders.
189
come to this country with a full knowledge of the desire of
so many of their countrymen in Germany also to migrate,
availed themselves of that fact, and of the circumstances
surrounding it, to make money out of it.
These man-traffickers or Seelen-Hendler, as the elder
Saur denominated them, were known to the Dutch as
" Zeilverkoopers," that is, soul-sellers, but among the
Germans themselves more generally as Newlanders.
These pestiferous fellows associated and entered into
agreements with sea captains, merchants and ship owners
to handle this immigrant traffic. They were almost with¬
out exception persons who had left their country for their
country's good, had come to Pennsylvania as mere adven¬
turers and, after taking in the situation thoroughly, adopted
schemes of rascality whereby they might defraud their
more honest and unsuspecting coiintrymen.
Of themselves they could not carry out their nefarious
plans, but wherever such rogues are found still others will
be ready to aid and abet them in their schemes. These
base coparceners were found in ship masters, ship owners
and commission merchants, on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Newlanders went up and down the Rhine and the ad¬
jacent country, well dressed, pretending to be prosperous
merchants in Philadelphia, and used all their powers of
persuasion to induce the humble peasantry to dispose of
their small belongings and embark for the land of
promise.They commonly received a commission of
seven dollars per head for »every immigrant they could
bring to the ship owner for embarcation, and a free pas¬
sage for the Newlander himself besides. When two, three,
118 " Many Newlanders boast that they are rich merchants in Pennsylvania,
that they sail in their own ships, and own houses in Germantown. Others
are dressed in costly clothes, wearing wigs and ruffles to make an imposing
appearance,"—Saur's German paper, October 16, 1749.
190 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
four and five hundred souls embarked on a single vessel,
it will readily be seen what a profitable business it was
that these scoundrels were engaged in. Being so lucra¬
tive, it is little wonder that so many followed it. We are
told that in the year 1749 alone, upwards of one hundred
and thirty were engaged in it."' Sometimes, however,
these precious scoundrels got their deserts. Here and there
a German prince was to be found who was well acquainted
with the nefarious character of these men, and the disrepu¬
table business they were engaged in. They retained an
affection for their subjects even though the latter were leav¬
ing the Fatherland by hundreds and thousands. When,
therefore, these Newlanders made themselves especially
obnoxious some of them were seized, imprisoned and put
to hauling dirt on the streets and other menial occupations.^'"
Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg's Account.
Pastor H. M. Muhlenberg, who was ever solicitous for
the well-being of his misguided and maltreated country¬
men, as was to be expected, also pays his respects to these
Newlanders. In a letter written to a friend in Halle, in
1763, he says concerning them : "I cannot forbear mak¬
ing some remarks touching Newlanders^ in order to caution
our German countrymen. I do not speak of such as re¬
turn to Germany for their patrimony, or to collect money
for others, who reside here, and who sometimes use the
119 Ks sind dieses Jahr, 130 Neulaender drussen.—Christopher Saur.'s
Pennsylvania Berichte, September 16, 1749.
190 So haben verschiedene Herrn im Reiche beschlossen dass die boese Neu¬
laender, oder seelen-verkaeufer, anhalten und verhindern wollen dass ihre
unter thanen sollen aus ihren Reiche nicht gekauft werden von den Rotter¬
damer Kaufleuten. Zu dem ende haben die Herrn im Reiche etliche solcher
Neulaender in Gefaengfnisse gesetzt in schul-karren geschlossen und dreck
fahren lassen.—Saur'S Pennsylvania Berichte, December 1, 1754.
OERn/\/S inniGRATlON INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
WITiTER'S BRIDGE ACROSS THE CONESTOQA RIVER, BUILT 1800.
Pastor Muhlenherg^s Narrative. 191
money collected to purchase merchandise, which they sell
in our markets. This is a lawful transaction. * • • In
speaking of the Newlanders I mean such as are not disposed
to support themselves honestly. I mean those who solicit
powers of attorney to collect money in Germany for others,
they having none to collect for themselves—who are a
the same time in the service of others—urging upon Ger¬
mans, till they prevail upon them, by means fair or foul,
to forsake their Vaterland and immigrate to the New
World. The usual course pursued by them is, first to
seek the acquaintance of merchants in Holland, from
whom they receive free passage, also a stipulated sum of
money, for every family or unmarried person, they can
prevail on to leave their homes for Holland. To accom¬
plish their mission successfully, they resort to various arti¬
fices. As a studied prelude to the tragedy, they appear
gorgeously attired, make an imposing display with their
watches, using every means to create the impression that
they are persons of immense wealth.
" Thus the credulous are often deceived, become anx¬
ious to emigrate and live in so prosperous and rich a country
as Pennsylvania. By these plausible representations and
glowing descriptions of America, the impression is made
that in Pennsylvania the Elysian fields are to be found—
that every desirable vegetable grows spontaneously ; hills
and mountains are pregnant with unalloyed gold and sil-
12» witmer's Bridge, one of the oldest and most picturesque of the stone
bridges in Pennsylvania, spans the Conestoga river a short distance beyond the
eastern limits of I.ancaster city. A safe crossing over this stream was much
needed to accommodate the great volume of traffic carried on between Phila¬
delphia and the interior of the State. Its erection is due to the energy and en¬
terprise of a single person of German descent, Mr. Abraham Witmer, who
with his own resources undertook the task of construction in 1799, and com¬
pleted it in 1800. The bridge is in a perfect state of preservation to-day and
accommodates a heavy business traffic.
192 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
ver ; that the fountains gush copious and ceaseless streams
of milk and honey. The Newlanders aver that in Penn¬
sylvania the menial servant becomes the independent lord ;
the spinster the perfect lady ; the laborious husband soon
plays nobleman at ease ; the plodding care-worn peasant
and the toiling mechanic are created Lord Barons. * * •
Many are naturally disposed to improve their temporal
condition, consequently they desire to live in such a country.
In Europe the country is overburdened with people—the
labor of the poorer class is not in demand—^the taxes are
enormous—the service to the lords of the manor intoler¬
able. Under such circumstances, the Newlander easily
prevails with many to leave their hearths and homes. In
haste the Germans convert their effects into money, hon¬
estly pay their debts, if they have any. The balance of
the money is placed into the hands of the Newlander for
safe keeping. Finally they enter upon their exodus from
home. The expenses of the Rhine passage are charged
to their account. On their arrival in Holland, if detained
there, Dutch merchants advance the poorer classes some
money, which is added to the bill for contingencies. The
several sums with a poll tax and ocean fare, swell the
amount enormously. Before immigrants embark they
must sign articles of agreement written in English, and
the Newlanders persuade the people that they are their im¬
partial friends to see that they have justice done them.
The more human freight the ship captains can crowd into
a ship the more profitable it is for them, if they do not die
on the way, otherwise they may lose by it. For that reason
the ships are kept clean and all kinds of precautions are
taken to keep the passengers in good health, and to bring
them to market in good condition. In former years they
122 This is an allusion to the tax levied on foreigners.
Pastor Muhlenberg's Narrative.
193
were not so careful, and allowed many to die. When pa¬
rents died on ship board leaving children behind them the
captains and Newlanders acted as guardians of the chil¬
dren, and took what property was left by the parents so
that when the children reached the shore, they were sold to
pay their and their parents' passage money. Children un-
, AUTOGRAPH ENTRY OF REV. H. M. MUHLENBERG IN TRAPPE RECORDS,
1742.
der six are gratuitously disposed of. The chests and
goods of the deceased are sold ; the money thus realized
squares the account. Such heaven-abhorrent deception,
led to the formation of an association in Philadelphia to
assist as far as was possible, and protect them in their
right. So soon as the ships in Holland are fully freighted
they set sail. The hardships that must be encountered are
made lighter through the sweet hope that they speedily
reach the new world and attain their longed for Paradise.
Finally the ship reaches Philadelphia, where mer¬
chants and ship owners receive the bills of freight and
articles of agreement subscribed by the immigrants. Be¬
fore debarking, passengers are examined by a medical
194 German Immi^ation into Pennsylvania.
officer, whether they are free from contagious diseases.
If all is right the immigrants are marched to the Court
House to take the oath of fealty to the King of Great
Britain; after which they are taken back to the ship.
Public notice is then given that German passengers will be
sold for their freight. Those having means to pay are
allowed to leave the vessel. To the less fortunate—unbe¬
mittelte—without means, the ship is a mart. Purchasers
make their selections, agree afterwards with their preëmpted
servants for a stipulated period of service. Young and
unmarried persons of both sexes are sold first and their
future condition depends much on their master's disposition,
situation and rank in society. Married people, widows, and
the infirm are dull sale. If they have children these are
sold, and the parents' fare charged to the children's ac¬
count, and the children are consequently obliged to serve
a longer time. Children are in this way not infrequeiftly
separated forever from their parents. Some children are
sold to English masters and in this wy forget their mother
tongue. By having their children sold, parents are allowed
to leave the ship. Still, their condition is unenviable ; they
are destitute, poorly clad, the infirmities of age often
weighing them down, making them appear as if they had
emerged from a sepulchre.
" Many of them are compelled through their poverty,
to beg their bread from door to door from their German
countrymen. The English usually close their doors against
them, through fear of infectious diseases. These things
cause one's heart to bleed, to see and hear fellow mortals,
who had been persuaded to leave a Christian country, la¬
menting, weeping, wringing their hands in sad despair,
because of their misery, and the dispersion of their chil¬
dren. Little did the parents anticipate such things.
Newlanders and Suh-Agents. 195
" Some having become exasperated beyond measure, in¬
voke the angry elements of heaven and conjure up the
denizens of hell, to crush to atoms the Newlanders, mer¬
chants in Holland and ship owners who so grossly deceived
them. As those cannot hear the denunoiations of their
victims, they are of course not moved to compassion.
Many of the Newlanders, who both hear and see these
things, only laugh at their victims, giving them the taunting
comfort which the priests of old gave to Judas Iscariot—
* what is that to us, see thou to it.' The children of poor
parents, if kept in hardship, learning that because of the
non-sale of father or mother they have to serve the longer,
often became incensed, yea even embittered against their
own parents."
The immigrants that met with the readiest sale and
brought the highest prices were mechanics and laboring
men. That was the kind of labor most in demand both in
city and country. Of course, when these conditions were
united with good health and youth, or early middle age,
the servant was not long in finding a purchaser and master.
Old men and women were not desired, because their days
of greatest usefulness were behind them.
There were Newlanders who had still other men or
agents under them, engaged in this nefarious practice.
Dr. Ernest Otto Hopp, of Germany, in his book on this
German slavery in this country, tells of one Heerbrand
who achieved unusual notoriety as a procurer of ignorant
Germans for America. He had a considerable number of
men in his pay who were continually procuring victims,
kidnapping beggars and vagrants who had no connections,
paying two florins for every one delivered to him. He
was also a ship captain and is said to have alone brought
six hundred of these people to America.
^^^Hallische Nachrichten, pp. 997-1012.
196 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Ship captains had a lien on their passengers until the
ships' charges were paid, and Professor Kalm in his travels
tells that when he reached Philadelphia in September,
1748, on the ship Mary^ upon going on shore with the
captain, the latter turned to his mate and charged him
" not to let any one of the twenty-three Germans and their
families go out of the vessel unless he paid for his passage»
or some one else did it for him."
Gottlieb Mittelberger also pays his respects to these ras¬
cals in his usual vigorous and off-hand manner. After
saying that the large emigration to America is due to the
persuasions and deceptions practiced by the Newlanders,
he says :
"These men-thieves inveigle people of every rank and
profession, among them many soldiers, scholars, artists
and mechanics. They rob the princes and lords of their
subjects and take them to Rotterdam or Amsterdam to be
sold there. They receive there from their merchants for
every person of ten years and over 3 florins or a ducat ;
whereas the merchants get in Philadelphia 60, 70 or 80
florins for such a person, in proportion as said person has
incurred more or less debts during the voyage. When
such a Newlander has collected a ' transport,' and if it
does not suit him to accompany them to America, he stays
behind, passes the winter in Holland or elsewhere ; in the
spring he again obtains money in advance for emigrants
from his merchants, goes to Germany again, pretending
that he had come from Pennsylvania with the intention of
purchasing all sorts of merchandise which he was going to
take there.
" Frequently these Newlanders say that they had re¬
ceived powers of attorney from some countrymen of from
"♦Pktbr Ka.lm's Travels in America.
Kalmus Book on North America.
197
iorra america.
^fm\U wenlfaiîs
oí
puuici
m
HHasaami îmfeabt î Àboy
cädemicQ«
Tom, II
0ilCKMSJ^'U»
mM'sÁEmí^
FAC-SIMII,B OF TI1M,F-PAGE OF PETFR KAEM'S TRAVEES IN
NORTH AMERICA.
198 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
the authorities of Pennsylvania to obtain legacies or in-
Ijeritances for these countrymen ; and that they would avail
themselves of this good and sure opportunity to take their
friends, brothers or sisters, or even their parents with them ;
and it has often happened that such old people followed
them, trusting to the persuasion of these Newlanders that
they would be better provided for.
" Such old people they seek to get away with them in
order to entice other people to follow them. Thus they
have seduced many away who said if such and such rela¬
tives of theirs went to America, they would risk it too.
These men-thieves resort to various tricks, never forgetting
to display their money before the poor people, but which
is nothing else but a bait from Holland, and accursed blood-
money.
"When these men-thieves persuade persons of rank,
such as nobles, learned or skilled people who cannot pay
their passage and cannot give secu¬
rity, these are treated just like ordi¬
nary poor people, and must remain
on board the ship till some one
comes and buys them from the cap¬
tain, and when they are released at
last from the ship, they must serve
their lords and masters, by whom
i,EssER sEAi, OP PROVINCE they have been bought, like com-
(Used by Supreme Court). day-laborers. Their rank,
skill and learning avail them nothing, for here none but
laborers and mechanics are wanted. But the worst is that
such people, who are not accustomed to work, are treated
to blows and cuffs, like cattle, till they have learned the
hard work. Many a one, on finding himself thus shame¬
fully deceived by the Newlanders, has shortenéd his own
Mittelherger Denounces Neivlanders, 199
life, or has given way to despair, so that he could .not be
helped, or has run away, only to fare worse afterwards
than before.
" It often happens that the merchants in Holland make
a secret contract with their captains and the Newlanders,
to the effect that the latter must take the ships with their
human freight to another place in America, and not to
Pennsylvania where these people want to go, if they think
they can elsewhere find a better market for them. Many
a one who has a good friend or acquaintance, or a relative
in Pennsylvania to whose helping care he has trusted, finds
himself thus grievously disappointed in consequence of
such infamous deception, being separated from friends
whom he will never see again in this or in that country.
Thus emigrants are compelled in Holland to submit to
the wind and to the captain's will, because they cannot
know at sea where the ship is steered to. But all this is
the fault of the Newlander and of some unscrupulous
dealers in human flesh in Holland.
" Many people who go to Philadelphia, entrust their
money, which they have brought with them from their
homes, to these Newlanders, but these thieves often re¬
main in Holland with the money, or sail from there with
another ship to another English colony, so that the poor
defrauded people, when they reach the country, have no
other choice but to serve or sell their children, if they
have any, only to get away from the ship.
<'The following remarkable case may serve as an ex¬
ample. In 1753 a noble lady, N. V., came with her two
half grown daughters and a young son to Philadelphia.
On the trip down the Rhine she entrusted more than 1,000
rix-dollars to a Newlander who was well known to her.
But when the ship on which the lady had taken passage.
200 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
started from Holland, this villain remained behind with the
money ; in consequence of which the lady found herself in
such want and distress that her two daughters were com¬
pelled to serve. In the following spring this poor lady
sent her son to Holland to search for the embezzler of her
money, but at the time of my departure, in 1754, nothing
had as yet been heard of him, and it was even rumored
that the young gentleman had died during his voyage."
It is not easy to tell of all the hardships, indignities and
injustices that were practiced upon these people, not always,
it is true, but often. Many to whom they were indentured
were wholly unscrupulous, and intent upon getting every¬
thing possible out of them, no matter what the terms of the
indentures were. When possible such papers were treated
as if they did not exist. They were kept beyond the time
of service agreed upon. They were not sent to school ac¬
cording to promise, and although both German and Eng¬
lish were to be taught them, only the latter language was
employed. Sometimes they were restrained from attend¬
ing church. Hard masters there were who often treated
them cruelly, requiring labor at their hands which they were
not bound to perform. The avarice of the masters fre¬
quently kept them from providing the necessary sustenance
and clothing for their helpless servants.
126 MiTTELBERGER's Reise nach Pennsylvanian, pp. 38-41.
1J 6 « < Die BerschweruQgfen armer Knecht sind mannichfaltigr. Oft."wollen die
Meister ihre verbundenen Knecht über die zeit behalten. Oft versagen sie
ihnen den in Fall, dass sie als Kinder verbunden wurden, mit au^halte-
nen Unterricht. Oft geben sie denselben nur im Englischen wenn er auch
im Deutschen ausgedungen war. Oft halten sie sie von ihrem Gottesdienste
zurreck. Oft behandeln sie dieselben mit Wuth und Grans amkeit. Oft
weisen sie ihnen Arbeit an dazu sie nicht verpflichtet waren. Oft ver¬
bietet ihnen der Geiz den gehoerigen unterhalt und Kleidung zurechen."—
Prof. Kunze's Rede vor der Deutschen Gesellschaft zu Philadelphia, 1782.
CHAPTER V.
The Testimony of the Newspapers concerning the
Traffic in Redemptioners in the Eighteenth Cen¬
tury.— A mere Article of Merchandise in the Mar¬
ket and Disposed of to the first Bidder ready to Pay
the Price Demanded.
" Kin armer Wand'rer bin icb bier,
Und oftmals Schwer die Noth ;
Oft web und einsam ist es mir—
Denn Wieb und Kind sind tod !
So singe icb das Trauerlied—
Und Sehnsucht drück't mich sehr,
Und in mei'm Hertz schläft Weib und Kind,
Wie Perlen tief i'm Meer ! "
'^^HE Redemptioners never had a
more sincere, able or faithful
friend than Christopher Saur the
elder, the famous Germantown printer
and publisher. He was one of the
most prominent of all the Germans
in the Province during many years.
A godly man, his heart was alive to
the wrongs and indignities that were
heaped upon so many of his unfor¬
tunate countrymen. His presence in or near the city of
Philadelphia made him acquainted from day to day with
what was going on among these unfortunate people. As
the publisher of a German newspaper, he took occasion to
(20I)
arms of rotterdam.
202 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
keep this human traffic and everything connected with it
before the public in the columns of his paper, her Hock
Deutsche Pennsylvanische Berichte. Almost every number
during the seasons of arrival, had paragraphs relating to
the coming of vessels, the condition of the immigrants, their
treatment, their wrongs and of much else which he no doubt
hoped would have a salutary effect upon the public con¬
science, and in that way lead to the amelioration of the hard
conditions under which they voyaged and their treatment
upon their arrival.
Not only as throwing much light on various phases of
the Redemptioner traffic, but also as showing Saur's un¬
wearied assiduity in stirring up the public to better the con¬
dition of the German Redemptioner immigrants, a series
of extracts from his newspaper are here given, and also
some from The American Weekly Mercury^ an English
newspaper.^
From The American Weekly Mercury, Philadelphia,
September i, 1720 ;
** On the 30*(arrived) the ship Laurel John Goppel, from
Leverpool and Cork with 24.0 odd Palatinate Passengers
come here to settle."
The above is the earliest record of any ship carrying
Palatines I have met. Additional interest attaches to its
arrival as it is most probably the vessel on which the well-
known clergyman. Rev. J. Ph. Boehm, came to this coun¬
try, August 30, 1720.
The first public notice of the Redemptioner traffic that
1271 under many obligratíons to my learned and courteous antiquarian
friend, Prof. W. J. Hinke, of the Ursinus School of Theology, for valuable
aid along this line of my researches.
GERHAN inniGRATlON INTO RENNSYLUANIA.
DOnESTlC INDUSTRIES.
niLK CELLAR AND STRING. SHED FOR FRUIT DRYING (SC H NITZ-HOUSE^
Testimony of the Early Press, 203
I have found is in The American Weekly Mercury, pub¬
lished in^Philadelphia in 1722 ; it reads as follows :
" Thomas Denham to his good country friends adviseth :
That he has some likely servants to dispose of. One hun¬
dred Palatines for five years, at £10 a head."
From The American Weekly Mercury, November 7,
1728 :
' ' Thpse Palatines who have hitherto neglected to pay for
their passages in the ship James Goodwill, are to take
notice that if they do not pay me on board of the said
ship, or to Charles Reid of Philadelphia the sum from
them respectively due, the 20th day of this Instant No¬
vember, they will be proceeded against according to Law
by David Crocket."
From The American Weekly Mercury, November 7,
1728 :
"Just arrived from London, in the ship Borden, William
Harbert, Commander, a parcel of young likely men ser¬
vants, consisting of Husbandmen, Joyners, Shoemakers,
Weavers, Smiths, Brick-makers, Bricklayers, Sawyers,
Taylers, Stay-Makers, Butchers, Chair makers, and sev¬
eral other trades, and are to be sold very reasonable either
for ready money, wheat Bread, or Flour, by Edward
Hoone, in Philadelphia."
As the above ship is not listed among those enumerated
in Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names nor among those in Vol.
XVII. of the second series of Pennsylvania Archives it is
most probable that they were Irish, Scotch and English im¬
migrants who, as has already been stated, were compelled
to pass through all the conditions of servitude imposed
upon the Germans, and wJio came under like impoverished
circumstances, but not to be registered.
204 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
From The American Weekly Mercury^ February 18,
Lately arrived from London, a parcel of very likely
English Servants, men and women, several of the men
Tradesmen ; to be sold reasonable and Time allowed for
payment. By Charles Read of Philadelphia, or Capt. John
Ball, on board his ship, at Anthony Millkinson^s Wharf.
From The American Weekly Mercury y May 22, 1729 :
"There is just arrived from Scotland, a parcel of choice
Scotch Servants; Taylors, Weavers, Shoemakers and
ploughmen, some for five and others for seven years ; Im¬
ported by James Coults, they are on board a sloop lying
opposite to the Market Street Wharf y where there is a boat
constantly attending to carry any one on board that wants
to see them.
" N. B. The said James Coults is to be spoke with, at
Andrew Bradford's, at the sign of the Bible, in Second
Street."
From The American Weekly Mercury y May 22, 1729 :
"Just arrived from London in the ship Providenccy Capt.
Jonathan Clarke, a parcel of very likely servantSy most
Tradesmen, to be sold on reasonable Terms ; the ship now
lies at Mr. Lawrences Wharf where either the Master or
the said Lawrence are to be spoke with."
From The American Weekly Mercury y August 28,1729.
"Lately arrived from Plymouth in the ship John and
Anne y Thomas Warcut, Master, a parcel of likely servants
1729 :
Testimony of the Early Press.
205
on board the said ship, to be sold reasonable for money or
country produce ; credit given if required.
" The above named ship is now lying at William Fish-
hourrCs Wharf and will be ready to sail for Plymouth in
three weeks after."
From The Pennsylvania Gazette^ June, 1742 :
"To be sold. A likely Servant Woman, having three
years and a half to serve. She is a good spinner."
From Der Hoch Deutsche PennsyIvanische Berichte^
Philadelphia, February 16, 1745 :
" We have heard of the ship Argyle^ Captain Stettman,
from Rotterdam for Philadelphia, with Germans. It was
one hundred hours distant from England when it met two
Spanish war ships which put the Captain and some passen¬
gers on a Holland ship by which they were put on shore in
England. Another ship, the H. Andra^ Captain Braum,
bound for Philadelphia with 300 Germans, who reached
Charleston, Carolina ; some of the passengers have arrived
in Philadelphia who each had still three doubloons to pay ;
others reached New York who had money and some of these
are still expected here. It seems that while the ship is
again being loaded it is convenient for them to journey
here. These people say the Captain offered in case they
would sign a new contract, he would convey them to
Charleston within four days ; but in case they refused then
they must travel eight weeks more to Philadelphia. But
if they insist in going direct to that city he would let them
go hungry, he not having enough food to feed them.
" Still another ship with Germans boundfor Philadelphia,
was already in the Delaware but went back and entered
the Susquehanna and so reached Maryland where the ship
will again be loaded.
2o6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
" Another ship reached Philadelphia with 400 Germans
and it is said not many over 50 remain alive. They re¬
ceived their bread ration every two weeks and many ate
in 4, 5 and 6 days what should have done them i5*days.
And when they get no cooked food for 8 days their bread
was all so much the sooner ; and when they had to wait 3
days over the three weeks, those without money became
enfeebled, and those who had money could get plenty of
flour from the captain, at three pence sterling per pound
and a quart bottle of wine for seven thalers. A certain
man whose wife was nearly famished bought ev^ry day
meal and wine for her and their children, thus kept them
alive : another man who had eaten all his week's bread
asked the captain for a little bread, but in vain. He then
came to the captain and requested the latter to throw them
overboard at once rather than allow them to die by inches.
He brought his meal sack to the captain and asked him to
put a small quantity into it : the captain took the bag, put
in some sand and stones and returned it to the man. The
latter shed some tears, laid down and died, together with
his wife. The living had as much to pay as before for the
bread that should have been given to the dead. When
such people have no Christian love or mercy on each other,
we may well ask if there is no justice in this bepraised
land, and we will be answered. Yes, but he who does not
know the road thither, must pay dearly for his experience.
After having fasted long, no man is ready to bell the cat.
Shoujd Cain return to earth in our time and interview a
good lawyer, with gold enough, he would be able to prove
he had not even seen Abel."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ May 16, 1748 :
" Robert and Amos Strettle, of Philadelphia, announce
!Der
O^r:
amwlttng
^flc^nc&íerí / bem ^atur # tinî) Âirc&en#DîcidJ.
i^tßc& 10/ 17 J 9.
<Benei^«r SLtÇ&e
anbern ^ib^ótíemr benfiibie
(f df 0^^ unb fubttüe^ß^ ber^]9e«
nanfen €&víf!m bienef;
bev ©evinslh ber^ûrmt^#. ^am
ofït^unb ^öicrbe gerne efft wogma<g
i^tïtp m^SDffnmig egmerlDe nftlto^nedni^
^en^i^eö/ »cnigflbertKufwecfung unb
bee^úHfcbauénébe» ettíi^ñ/ biee^iefcti#
f(í«(Fett. mô^tm ibôW JônffHg ew
raoeSInramhtngen tmb^ teir giie bien(td^
ernil&^éngHmi^
FAC-SIMII,E OF PART OF FIRST PAGR OF CHRISTOPH SAUR'S PAPRR, THF FIRST PRRMANFNT
GFRMAN PAPBR PUBFISHFD IN AMBRICA.
2o8 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
that their contracts with their debtors expire on June 30,
and all the Germans who came to Philadelphia from Rot¬
terdam on their ship and have not paid their passage money
will be legally proceeded against unless they pay by that
time."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Philadelphia, August
1,1749:
"A letter has been received in Germantown, written in
the beginning of August, 1749, in Virginia, in which two
potters say they sailed from Rotterdam for Philadelphia.
Their company contracted with the Captain of the ship to
pay ten doubloons for their passage, but he deceived them
and carried them all to Virginia, and sold them for five
years. They ask whether there is no help for them, as
they never entered into such a contract. It appears the
ship belonged to the Captain and was not consigned to any
agent in Philadelphia."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Germantown, Novem¬
ber 16, 1749 •
"The ships on which so many persons had put their
chests, and which were so long in coming over, arrived on
the 9 and 11 of the present month in Philadelphia. We
hear that many of these chests were broken open. It is
customary that when a ship captain receives goods and
wares for delivery, he must turn them over to the owner
as he receives them when the freight is paid, and what is
lacking must be made good by him. But the Germans
pay and must pay when their chests are robbed or when
famished with hunger, even though their contracts are ex¬
pressly to the contrary."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte, December i, 1749:
" It is well known that after ships arrive in Philadelphia
Testimony of the Early Press.
209
with Newlanders, there is always a new crop of spurious
twenty-shilling Philadelphia bills in circulation, dated
August 10, 1739."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Germantown, July
16,1750:
During the past summer Abraham'^Bär, of Madedeche,
took with him on his trip to Rotterdam, two beggar boys
who bound themselves to serve seven years for their pas¬
sage money. When they reached here they learned that
they could not be made to serve longer than 4 years or
until the age of 21 years."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ No. 123, August 16,
1750:
' ' Six ships with Irish servants have arrived at Phila¬
delphia, and two ships with German Newcomers. Some
say 18 more are on their way here ; others say 24 and still
others 10,000 persons."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Germantown, De¬
cember 16, 1750 :
" Capt. Hasselwood has arrived from Holland with the
latest ship that brought Germans. It is the fourteenth that
has come laden with Germans this year. 4,317 have regis¬
tered in the Court House. (The last one mutinied against
the captain and all the chests of the salesmen and them¬
selves are under arrest.) Besides these, 1,000 servants and
passengers arrived from Ireland and England."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Germantown, June
16, 1752 :
** On the 5th of the present month a ship with a few Ger-
2IO The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
mans reached Philadelphia. It is a year since they left
Germany and they were five months in reaching the Dela¬
ware, which being frozen, they sailed for the island of
Antiqua in the West Indies. They suffered much from lack
of food and from scurvy,
from which many died,
among the latter being the
captain himself. Out of 200
passengers only 19 sur¬
vived, besidesthe helmsman
and two sailors. It is said
they were Suabians and it
became a second nature to
them to use an oath to every
second word, and they
wished to each other that
thunder and lightning
would strike them. The
kind of religion these people
have is not known, but they
use a hundred thousand
cuss words."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Boston, September
25, 1752 :
" On last Tuesday a ship arrived from Holland with 300
Germans, men, women and children. Some of them will
settle in Germantown, and the rest in the eastern part of
the Province. There were 40 births on board during the
voyage. Among the mechanics and artists were a great
many glass workers, and a factory will be established for
them as soon as possible."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ New York, October
16, 1752:
BR9AD I^RAY, KNIPR AND FIB
CRüSr SCORBR.
Immigrants Tricked by Newlanders. 211
"During the past week came Captain Pikeman with
Palatines."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte, October 16, 1752 ;
" From a letter received from Charleston, South Caro¬
lina, we learn that a vessel reached that harboi; after a
voyage of 18 weeks' duration. The people were all suf¬
fering from hunger and thirst. Another vessel that came
from Rotterdam by way of Liverpool, also arrived with a
cargo of Palatines, all of whom were fresh and well.
When the Captains are stingy and save the money that
should be used in buying provisions, the poor passengers
die of starvation, while their friends must pay for their
deaths. If however the Captains are liberal and* buy suf¬
ficient food, then it is just to pay for the food."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Germantown, Decem¬
ber I, 1752 :
"While tyrannical Sea Captains for many years past
kept the poor German immigrants in such a plight, that
many of them died, the Government of the Province
passed a law that when the newly arrived Germans made
complaint hereafter, that they were not allowed the room
on shipboard that was contracted for, nor the food agreed
upon, the Captain should pay a fine of ten pounds. But
nevertheless we hear that although the poor people almost
died of hunger: when they reached the river Delaware
they were informed by the Newlanders that visitors would
arrive and would ask them whether they had room enough,
and sufficient to eat, then they should all exclaim Yes Î
yes 1 but if they complained, they would not be allowed
to land under four weeks' time. When the passengers
are therefore tired of the sea and ship and of the want
212 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
of food, all who were able to do so called out, Yes I yes.
If they complained after they landed, concerning a lack
of food and space, then there was no help for them. The
tyrannical captains would rather spend a hundred pounds
among Newlanders and visitors than a thousand pounds
in fines."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ March i, 1753 :
" Captain Hyman Thompson, being about to return to
Europe, all those who came over on his Ship, and are still
indebted to him, are notified that the accounts have been
placed in the hands of Mrs. Carl and Alexander Stedmann.
If they do not come forward promptly they will be legally
proceeded against and put into the costs."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ September 16, 1755 :
Many Redemptioners having joined the army in Phila¬
delphia, they will again be delivered to their former mas¬
ters. They are sharply questioned whether they are
servants, but when they declare they are not, when they
really are, they are whipped."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Germantown, Feb¬
ruary 16, 1750*
<*We have heard during the past fall that a ship with
Germans was driven on the coast of France and many were
drowned. The rest were taken to England and sent over
in a merchant vessel to this country, and it is known that
they were five months on the sea, when the ship sprung
a leak which could not be found, compelling all on board
to labor at the pumps for seven days and nights. At last
they were overtaken by a ship bound for Charleston, when
the Captain of the latter took off sixteen families with the
Sales of German Redemftioners. 213
necessary provisions and nothing else, soon after which the
ship went down while the rescued ones reached Carolina."
From The Pennsylvania Berichte^ Philadelphia, August
16, 1756:
" A ship having arrived from Ireland with servants, some
artisans, those interested can call on Thomas Gardens, at
Mr. Parnell's wharf, or on the Captain Nathanael Ambler
on the ship. They are Irish."
From The Pennsylvania Staatsbote, November 9, 1764 :
German Arrivals.
" To-day the ship Boston, Captain Mathem Carr, ar¬
rived from Rotterdam, with several hundred Germans.
Among them are all kinds of mechanics, day laborers and
young people, men as well as women, and boys and girls.
All those who desire to procure such servants are requested
to call on David Rundle, on Front Street."
From The Pennsylvania Staatsbote, December 14,
1773 •
"To be sold. A Dutch Apprentice lad, who has five
years and three months to serve ; he has been brought up
to the tailor's business. Can work well."
From The Pennsylvania Staatsbote^'^z.mx^ry 18, 1774:
" German People.
" There are still 50 or 60 German persons newly arrived
from Germany. They can be found with the widow Kri-
derin, at the sign of the Golden Swan. Among them are
two Schoolmasters, Mechanics, Farmers, also young chil¬
dren as well as boys and girls. They are desirous of serv¬
ing for their passage money."
214 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
From The Pennsylvania Staatsbote^ April 25, 1785 :
For sale, a bound German maid-servant. She is a
strong, fresh and sound person, and is not sold because of
any defect, but only because she is unsuited to the work
she is engaged in. She understands all kinds of farm labor,
is very affable and suitable for a hotel. She still has five
years to serve."
Not only farmers and mechanics were among these
people, but students and schoolmasters also came into this
work-market. Pastor Kunze tells us that he himself had
this experience : A student who arrived was secured, and
with his help a Latin school was started.In 1793 the
elders of the Lutheran and Reformed church at Ham¬
burg, Berks county, secured a schoolmaster, John Fried-
rich Schock, who served them three years and four
months, in consideration of having his passage money
paid, and receiving the customary outfit (gebräuchlichen
Freiheits Kleidung) at the end of his term of service.
As an example of the manner in which the arrivals of
ships bringing German passengers whose passage money
was unpaid, was brought to public attention, I quote the
following announcement from Bradford's Journal for
September 29, 1773 :
" German Passengers.
"Just arrived in the ship Britannia^ James Peter,
Master. A number of healthy German Passengers,
chiefly young people, whose freights are to be paid to
Joshua Pisher and Sons, or to the Mastèr on board the
Ship lying off the draw-bridge."
Hallische Nachrichten, p. 1477.
GERnAN iniilGRATION INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
PENNSYLVANIA-OERHAN FARPl LIFE.
MAKING CIDER EOR HOME USE.
Charges Against Immigrants, 215
From Rupp's collection of names I find this ship had
reached Philadelphia eleven days before the advertisement
appeared in the newspaper. A reasonable inference is
that at that particular time the Redemptioner market was
not as brisk as it might have been, and that special efforts
were necessary to work off the human cargo.
The above-named firm seems to have been largely en¬
gaged in the business of bringing over German immi¬
grants.
Here is a partial list of the passengers on the already
named ship Britannia, prepared in the office of Messrs.
Joshua Fisher & Sons, showing the amount of the passage
money due by each, as well as some additional expenses in¬
curred by them on the voyage, most probably for provi¬
sions, which were never over-abundant and generally in¬
sufficient.
Andreas Keym £26.7
Lena Bekker, his wife 22.2
Expense 16 days 1.12
£5ÖT~
Hendrick Soueau £20.15
Dorothea, his wife 20.11
Expenses 1.12
42.18
John Frederick Camerloo £23.15
Anna, his wife 22. i
Expenses 1.12
£47.8
Simon Martz
Ann, his wife....l
Anna Margaretta, daughter
Expenses £ 2.8
2i6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Augustinus Hess £19.1
Maria, wife 18.19
Anna Margtta daughter 19.4
Expenses 2.8
£59.12
Jacob Schott ) ^
Anna, wife J '
Expenses..,
1.12
18.13
Christopher Schever "I jCco T
Anna, wife J ^ ''
1.12
£51.19
John George Kunkell J
Anna, wife >■ £4^*5
Catherina, daughter j
Expenses 3*4
£44.9
Jacob Steyheler £19.19
Catharina, wife 17.18
Expenses 1.12
£39-9
Bernard Schmit
Margaretta, wife
Turgen, son
Catharina, daughter
Expenses 3.4
£64.9
Andreas Otto ) Vat ^7
Sophi, wife J ' ^ *'
Expenses 1.12
£42.19
}
Expenses 1.12
£51-
.£61.5
Charges Against Immigrants.
Jacob Wanner
Maria wife
Expensse
Daniel Spees ")
Anna, wife j
Expenses
Christian Habert )
Anna Maria, wife J
Expenses
Daniel Spees Jr. )
Anna, wife j
Expenses
Andreas Kirch
Anna Maria, wife
Maria Elizabeth
Expenses
Jacob Twytser
Johanna Barbara, wife
Expenses
Gomad Foltz
Susanna, wife >■
Maria, daughter}
Expenses
}
William Schwartz )
Anna Maria, wife j
Expenses
Christian Nell
Expenses
217
£20.15
1.12
£22.7
£38.17
1.12
£40.9
^43-4
1.12
£44.16
£36.17
1.12
£38.9
£44.9
2.8
£46.17
£42.7
1.12
^43-19
£51.
2.8
£35-16
i.ia
£37.8
£20.
.16
£20.16
2i8 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Johann Jeremiah Snell .....£24.19
Expenses 16
^^25-15
Gerrett Benengé -£23.11
Expenses 16
£24.7
Anty. Guerin £21. 3.6
Expenses .16.
£21.19.6
Pierie Mullott £21.
Expenses 16
£21.16
Gertuna Vogelsand"* £17.18
.16
£18.14
1*» The origfinal of the foregoing interesting document is among the manu¬
script collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Rupp, in his
Thirty Thousand Names, gives the names of the passengers on the Britannia,
but not all of them. This list gives additional ones.
ROACH TRAP, BUGRI,EISRN AND BREI-PPANNE.
CHAPTER VI.
Rkdemptioners or Indentured Servants not all Ger¬
man.— Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England con¬
tributed Large Numbers to Carry on the Work of
Commonwealth-Building in Pennsylvania.
" Be this my home till some fair star
Stoops earthward and shall beckon me ;
For surely Godland lies not far
From these green heights and this great sea,
My friend, my lover, trend this way
Not far along lies Arcady."
W
HILE, of course, un¬
der the general title
of Redemptioners, I have ref¬
erence mainly to those of Ger¬
man birth, these people were
composed of nearly every
other nationality that contri¬
buted material to the upbuild¬
ing of the American com¬
monwealths. Such being the
case, and while, when we
find reference to indentured
servants and Redemptioners
in many authors, the refer¬
ence, where no direct distinction is made, is to Germans. I
have deemed it quite germane to the subject to devote a few
(219)
AN BFHRATA SYMBOL.
220 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
paragraphs to those of other nationalities, to the Irish, who,
after the Germans, were the most numerous, the English,
the Scotch and the Welsh. There was no legal distinction
between any of them prior to the registry law of 1727-
The Germans only were required to take the oath of alle¬
giance, that not being required of the others who were al¬
ready subjects of the British crown.
Furthermore, in the early days of the history of Pennsyl¬
vania and the three Lower Counties of New Castle, Kent
and Sussex, many of the indentured servants came over as
already such, having been either in the service of well-to-
do masters at home, or, having been taken into such ser¬
vice there to supply the needed labor on the lands which
their masters had already bought from the Proprietary.
Once here, all the other conditions were applicable to them
as to those from foreign countries. They received the same
outfit upon the completion of their term of service, and were
equally entitled to take up fifty acres of land at a nominal
annual rental.
Such being the state of the case, the indentured servants,
whatever their nationality, naturally fall into the same
category and may be considered together. A further
reason for so doing is found in the fact that those writers
who have dealt with the general question, have given their
attention almost exclusively to those who came from Ger¬
many, while the rest have barely received mention and in
most cases have been passed by without any reference
whatever.
So greatly was the value of colonists regarded by Penn,
that when he prepared his frame of laws in England, in
1682, a section was given to the manner in which these
persons should be registered, treated and otherwise cared
for. Special advantages were offered to such as should
Servants Sent to Care for Pro-perty. 221
bring along servants. Both the master and the servant
were entitled to fifty acres of land upon the conclusion of
the latter's term of service, upon special conditions. The
servant under the conditions imposed was not necessarily
a menial. His standing might be as good as his master's
and some were sent here to take charge of the property of
owners who remained behind. William Penn himself sent
over about a score of such indentured servants, the list of
which is still extant.
The result was that during the first decade or two after
Penn's acquisition of the Province, a large number of these
people were brought over. Evidently, all who could bring
servants did so. Either the arrivals were not all registered
as the law provided, or else the registry books have been
lost. James Claypole was appointed register in 1686 and
a registry book in his handwriting is still extant, covering
a period of about three years, which in a measure reveals
the extent to which these indentured servants were brought
into the Province at that time. A few extracts are here
quoted from the book.
" Came in the ship Endeavour of London. George
Thorp Mr Richard Hough, of Maxfield in Cheshire hus¬
bandman, (Servants) Fran. Hough, Jam: Sutton, Tho.
Woodhouse, Mary Woodhouse.
" In ditto shipp : Fran : Stanfield & Grace his wife late
of Garton in Cheshire Husbandman, (children) Jam : Mary,
Sarah, Eliz : Grace (and) Hannah Stanfield. (Servants)
Dan : Browne, Theo : Maxsey, Isa : Broohesby, Rob.
Sidbotham, John Smith, Robî Bryan, W Rudway, Tho.
Sidbotham.
"John Maddock, in ditto shipp. Servants, George
Phillips Ralph Duckard.
" The Providence of Scarborough Robî Hopper Mf Grif-
222 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
fith Owen & his wife Sarah and their sone Robî & 2 daugh¬
ters Sarah & Elenor & 7 servants named Thos. Armes,
John Ball 4 years, Robert Lort for 8 yearsf Alexander
Edwards ; Jeane, Bridget & Eliza Watts 3 years.
" Henry Baker & Margaret his wife & their Daughters
Rachell, Rebecca, Phebey & Hester and Nathan & Samuel
their sones. Mary Becket & 10 servts named John Slidell
for 4 years, Hen: Slidell 4 ye", James Yeates 5 ye", Jno
Hurst 4 ye", Tho : íRsher 4 ye", John Steadman 4 years,
Thos. Candy for Joseph Feoror 4 ye", Deborah Booth 4
yrs. Joshua Lert 4 years.
"The Bristoll Merchant John Stephens Commander
Arrived here the 10*'' of Month 1685.
" The passengers names are as followeth viz :
Jasper Farmer, Senior, his Family (names given).
"Jasper Farmer Junior's family (names given).
" Their Servants are as followeth viz. :
" loone Daly, Philip Mayow and Helen his wife, John
Mayow, John Whitloe, Nicholas Whitloe, George Fisher,
Arthur Smith, Thomas Alferry, Henry Wells, Robert
Wilkinson, Elizabeth Mayow, Martha Mayow, Sara Burke,
Shebe Orevan, Andrew Walbridge.
" In the Lion of Leverpoole.
"Joseph Fisher & Elizabeth Fisher his wife late of Stillor-
gin near Dublin in Ireland, Yeoman, born in Elton in Ches-
ire in old England. (Children) Moses, Joseph, Mary, and
Marth Fisher.
Time to Payment in Acres of
Servants. Money. I,and.
Edward Lancaster 4 £4.10 50
W- Robertson 4 — 50
Ed. Doyle 4 — 50
Ben: Cilft 4 — 50
Redemptioners in Delaware.
223
Servants.
Tho: Tearewood
Time to Payment in
Serve. Money.
Acres of
I^and.
50
50
50
50
50
50
50»"
Robert Kilcarth
Peter Long
4 —
8 —
2 6.
2
Phi 11 Packer
4
4
4
4
Wm. Conduit
Mary Toole...,
3-
3-
Elez : Johnson
Redemptioners in Delaware
The Duke of York made provision for the holding of
indentured servants in his Colony of Delaware, in 1676.
Under the law of September 22d of that year servants were
not permitted to give or sell any commodity whatever
during their term of service. All were compelled to work
at their callings the whole day, with intervals for food
and rest. Runaways could be seized and brought back.
If cruelly treated by master or mistress, servants could
lodge complaint, and if lamed or an eye struck out, they
were to be at once freed and due recompense made. If,
however, servants complained against their owners with¬
out cause, or were unable to prove their case, they were
" enjoyned to serve three Months time extraordinary
(Gratis) for every such ondue Complaint." No servants
except slaves could be assigned over to other masters " by
themselves. Executors or Administrators for above the
Space of one year, unless for good reasons offered."
Finally the law said, " All Servants who have served Dilli-
gently ; and faithfully to the benefit of their Masters or
t
Dames five or Seaven yeares, shall not be Sent empty away,
and if any have proved unfaithful or negligent in their
Service, notwithstanding the good usage of their Masters,
Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. VIII., pp. 328-335.
TThis Indenture made
m the Ycd^f^jí^^r^nc thouíánd, feven hundred and ¿-cW^^j;^2^ETWEEN
of the one Part, and
1 w the other Part,
"WITNESSETH, thar the íúáJfÍKá^ifr^.l^Jca^'^ doth hereby covenant, promife
and grant, tp-and with the Íáidi^^í^ —^Executors,
Adminiftrat^l^nd Aflig^ the Pay of the Daté hereof until the firft and next
Arrival at —4n America, and after for and during the Term
of Years to icrve in fuch Service and Employment as the iaid
öf >¿¿^ Afligns íhall there employ >^,e^ccording tp the
^ñorn^of the Cotintiy in the like Kind. In Coniideration Tvhereof the íáid¿^
doth here^ covenant and grant taand with the faidcy..^«.^
to pay fory4«</f*aitage, and to find allowA^^Mcat, Drink, Apparel
and Lodging, with other Neceilaries, during the faid Term ¿ and at the End of the faid
Term to pay unto the ufual Allowance, according to the Cufiom of the Country
in the like Kind. IN WITNESS whereof the Parties above-tnentioncd to thde
Indentures have interchangeably put their Hands and Seals, the Day and Year fir<^
above written. . ^
Signed, Sealed, and Delivere^^
the Erefence of
IRISH RXnXMPTlONBR'S INDBNÏÛRB.
About Irish Redemftioners,
225
they shall not be dismist till they have made satisfaction
according to the Judgment of the Constable and Overseers
of the parish where they dwell."
Irish Redemftioners.
Almost every writer who has dealt with the Provincial
period of our history has had something to say about this
servant slavery among the German immigrants, and yet it
is rare to find allusions to the Irish servants who either
came voluntarily or were sent over, who were also disposed
of in precisely the same way, and who were as eminently
deserving of the name of " Redemptioners " as any pas¬
sengers that ever came from the Rhine country. The
only distinction I have been able to find between the Ger¬
man and Irish trade is that those who came from the Ger¬
man provinces, while for the most part poor and needy,
were nevertheless honest peasants and handicraftsmen,
who were not expatriated for any crimes, but who volun¬
tarily forsook their homes to better themselves in Pennsyl¬
vania; while, on the other hand, those who came from
Ireland did but rarely come of their own free will, were
not honorable and industrious members of the body politic,
but on the contrary, were largely composed of the criminal
classes whom it was deemed desirable to get out of the
country, and who were hurried on ship-board by any and
every expedient that would accomplish that purpose.
The fact that they were called " Servants " by those who
shipped them here, and by those who purchased or hired
them, instead of "Redemptioners," as in the case of the
Germans, has no significance whatever. The process in
both cases was precisely alike. The further fact that
fewer of these " Servants" came from Ireland than Ger-
Duke of York's Book of Laws, 1676-1682, pp. 37-38.
220 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
many, and the additional one that they were already
citizens of Great Britain and, therefore, not so likely to
attract attention, has apparently kept their coming and their
conditional servitude out of general sight.
This sending of jailbirds and promiscuous malefactors
was not a new idea when put into practice in Pennsylvania.
Irish indentured servants had the reputation of being
incorrigible runaways.'®^ Franklin's Pennsylvania Ga¬
zette in almost every issue for many years contained ad¬
vertisements about runaway servants.
Redemptioners in Virginia.
"Conditional servitude under indentures or covenants,
had from the first existed in Virginia. The servant stood
to his master in the relation of a debtor, bound to discharge
the costs of emigration by the entire employment of his
powers for the benefit of his creditor. Oppression early
ensued : men who had been transported into Virginia at
an expense of eight or ten pounds, were sometimes sold
for forty, fifty, or even threescore pounds. The supply
of white servants became a regular business ; and a class
of men, nic-named * spirits,'used to delude young persons,
servants and idlers, into embarking for America, as to a
land of spontaneous plenty. White servants came to be
a usual article of traffic. They were sold in England to
be transported, and in Virginia were resold to the highest
bidder ; like negroes, they were to be purchased on ship¬
board, as men buy horses at a fair. In 1672, the average
price in the colonies, where five years of service were due,
was about ten pounds ; while a negro was worth twenty or
twenty-five pounds. So usual was this manner of dealing
in Englishmen, that not the Scots only, who were taken
132 John Russell Young's Memorial History of Philadelphia.
Redem^tîoners Enlisted as Soldiers. 227
on the battlefield of Dunbar, were sent into involuntary
servitude in New England, but the royalist prisoners of
the battle of Worcester ; and the leaders in the insurrec¬
tion of Penruddoc, in spite of the remonstrances of Ha-
selrig and Henry Vane, were shipped to America. At
the corresponding period, in Ireland the crowded exporta¬
tion of Irish Catholics was a frequent event, and was
attended by aggravations hardly inferior to the atrocities
of the African slave trade. In 1685, when nearly a thou¬
sand of the prisoners, condemned for participating in the
insurrection of Monmouth, were sentenced to transporta¬
tion, men of influence at court, with rival importunity,
scrambled for the convicted insurgents as a merchantable
commodity."
It is a curious fact that during the administration of
Governor Thomas, 1740-1747, the enlisting of indentured
or bought servants—Redemptioners—as soldiers, was per¬
mitted to be put into execution, England being then at war
with Spain. It was an innovation and injurious to many.
John Wright, an old and most worthy Lancaster county
magistrate and member of the Assembly having denounced
the practice, was dismissed from his office. Proud says :
" The number of bought and indentured servants who were
thus taken from their masters, as appears by the printed
votes in the Assembly, were about 276, whose masters
were compensated by the Assembly for their loss sus¬
tained thereby, to the amount of about £2,588."^®^
In Ireland Also.
While it appears there were agents in England and Ire¬
land engaged in the business of hunting up immigrants for
History of the United States. Boston Ed., lo vols. Vol.
I., pp. 175-176.
^'•^Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., p. 220.
228 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
sale and service in Pennsylvania, and that these dealers in
human poverty were as base and unscrupulous as the New-
landers who zigzagged across Germany on the same mis¬
sion, it is nevertheless an established fact that it was an
authorized business, recognized by law as well as sanc¬
tioned by custom, and that a number of honorable men, of
excellent standing in their respective communities on both
sides of the water were engaged in this servant traffic, for
servants these people were called and not redemptioners.
ONE CE THE CEOISTER BUILDINGS AT EPHRATA.
Mr. Benjamin Marshall was a Philadelphia merchant,
shipper and importer. His father was the celebrated
diarist Chistopher Marshall, of Revolutionary memory, a
born Irishman, but a true and unswerving supporter of the
patriot cause. I present several letters written by Benja¬
min Marshall to his business correspondents in Ireland,
which throw much light on this part of my subject and are
of genuine historical value. The first one is as follows ;
" Philadelphia, November 9,1765.
"To Barney Egan :
" Should thee have a mind (to send) a Vessel this
Way, about 100 Men and Boys Servants with as many
passengers as could be got, so as to be here by the Middle
No Women Rédemftîoners Wanted. 229
or Latter end of May, I think might answer well. Stout,
able Laboring men & Tradesmen out of the Country with
Young Boys & Lads answers best. Women are so
troublesome (that) it would be best to send few or none, as
there is often so many Drawbacks on them. This I men¬
tion should thee have any intention of sending a Vessel this
way for any thing."
Mr. Marshall was seemingly desirous that a ship-load of
Irish Servants should be consigned to his house in the
spring of 1766; so to make sure of it he wrote another
letter on the same day to another Irish correspondent as
follows :
Philadelphia, November 9,1765.
"To Thomas Murphy :
' ' The chief articles that answer here from Ireland
which can be brought are Linnens, (which ought to go to
Liverpool to receive the Bounty) Beef, Butter, Men,
Women & Boys Servants the less Women the better as
they are very troublesome, and the best time for Servants
is about the month of May."
A year later Mr. Marshall again writes to the correspon¬
dent first named, the following letter :
" Philadelphia, June 7th, 1766.
" To Barney Egan, Esq. :
" Irish servants will be very dull such numbers have
already arrived from Different parts & many more expected,
that I believe it will be over done, especially as several
Dutch vessels are expected here, which will always com¬
mand the Market. Captain Power I believe has near sold
all his, he being pretty early."
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XX., pp. 210-
212.
230 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
The fact is, this traffic was profitable all around. We
have seen how the agent made it pay in securing the im¬
migrants ; how the ship masters coined money out of it in
a number of ways, most of which were disreputable, and,
finally, how even respectable merchants on this side of the
water were prompt to take a hand in disposing of these
cargoes of human beings for the money that was in the
business : for when has money failed to carry the day ?
I have found in a very long letter written in October,
1725» by Robert Parke, from Chester township in Dela¬
ware county, to Mary Valentine, in Ireland, the following
interesting passage, which throws much light on the sub¬
ject of indentured servants : the writer recommended that
his old friend might indenture some of his children if he had
not sufficient means to pay all the passage money.
" I desire thee may tell my old friend Samuel Thornton
that he could give so much Credit to my word» & find
no Iffs nor ands in my Letter that in Plain terms he could
not do better than Come here, for both his & his wife's
trade are very good here, the best way for him to do is to
pay what money he Can Conveniently Spare at that Side
& Engage himself to Pay the rest at this side & when
he Comes here if he Can get no friend to lay down the
money for him, when it Comes to the worst, he may hire
out 2 or 3 Children & I wod have him Cloath his family
as well as his Small Ability will allow, thee may tell him
what things are proper to bring with him both for his Sea
Store & for his Use in this Country. I wod have him
Procure 3 or 4 Lusty Servants & Agree to pay their
passage at this Side he might sell 2 & pay the others
passage with the money. * * ♦ "
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. V., p. 357.
QERMAN inniGRñTlON INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
DOnESTIC UTENSILS.
ROCKINQ MEAT CHOPPER. SHEEP SHEARS, ETC. A KITCHEN OUTFIT.
The Business Pronounced Lucrative, 231
The following letters from the then British Consul in
Philadelphia, are of exceeding interest. They show not
only that this trafRc was still active at the time they were
written, but give actual figures indicating that while the ar¬
rival of German Redemptioners had greatly declined, those
from Ireland were pouring in more numerously than ever.
" Philadelphia, September 22, 1789.
"To the Duke of Leeds :
ÍÍ * * * indentured servants have arrived since
the Peace 'till the present year,—In the course of which
many hundreds have arrived in the Delaware from Ireland
alone and more are expected. Some have been imported
into Maryland but not in so great a proportion as into Penn¬
sylvania. The trade is a lucrative one and will be pursued
eagerly unless proper obstacles are thrown in the way
which I humbly presume may be done upon principles
perfectly consistent with the (English) constitution ; hav¬
ing in view so humane a purpose as the providing for the
convenience and comfort of the unwary emigrants so often
seduced from their country by the force of artful and false
suggestions. * * * They pass the term of their servitude
and when that expires they for the most part continue
laborers for years in the neighborhood where they have
served, having no immediate means to enable them to set¬
tle lands^^' or to enable them to migrate to a distant coun¬
try ; the mere temporary loss of labor of this description
of people is an object of great consequence to any country,
but when it is considered that few of them ever return to
their native land, the importance of their loss is immensely
aggravated. "P. Bond."
^®'This is a mistake ; they could take up fifty acres of land, as has al¬
ready been stated, at a rent of one cent per acre, annually, if they so desired.
232 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
" Philadelphia, November 10, 1789.
"To the Duke of Leeds :
" * * * The migration hither since the Peace, my
Lord, have been much greater from Ireland than from all
other parts of Europe. Of 25,716 passengers (Redemp-
tioners and Servants) imported into Pennsylvania since the
Peace, 1,893 only were Germans, the rest consisting of
Irish and some few Scotch. Of these (2,176) imported dur¬
ing the present year, 114 only were Germans. An almost
total stop has been lately put to the migration hither from
the Palatinate and other parts of Germany, so that the few
who now come hither from that country, get into Holland
by stealth and embark at Amsterdam and Rotterdam,
and these are very ordinary people. * * * As to the con¬
dition and treatment of these people, many were crowded
into small vessels destitute of proper room and accommo¬
dations, and abridged of the proper allowance of food.
They suffered greatly and contagious diseases were often
introduced into the Province by them. The terms, too, of
paying the passage money were frequently departed from :
passengers who embarked as Redemptioners were hurried
from on ship board before the limited time for their re¬
demption was expired, and before their friends could
have notice of their arrival to interpose their relief and
rescue them from servitude."
Phenias Bond was the British Consul at Philadelphia
during 1787-1788 and 1789. He was born in Philadel¬
phia in 1749 Phineas Bond and
Wilhelmina.Moore, and a nephew of the distinguished Dr.
Thomas Bond, of the University of Pennsylvania. His
royalistic tendencies during the Revolution resulted in his
Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1896, Vol. I.,
pp. 619-620.
Secretary Logan Gives His Views. 233
arrest as a public enemy, but he was subsequently released
on parole. From his private and public stations he was
certainly acquainted with the situation.^^®
James Logan did not look with a kindly eye on the
arrival of any nationality save Englishmen. This dislike
seems to have extended to the
Irish, albeit he himself was
Irish born. In the Logan
MSS are found frequent al¬
lusions expressive of this
frame of mind. In 1725 he
says : " There are so many as
one hundred thousand acres
of land, possessed by per¬
sons, (including Germans),
who resolutely set down and
improved it without any right rphrata
to it," and he is much at a loss
to determine how to dispossess them. In 1729 he expresses
himself as glad to find that Parliament is about to take
measures to prevent the too free immigration to this coun¬
try. In that year the twenty-shilling tax on every servant
arriving was laid but even that was evaded by the captain
of a ship arriving from Dublin, who landed one hun¬
dred convicts and papists at Burlington, thus escaping the
tax. It looks, he says, as if Ireland is to send all her in¬
habitants hither, for last week not less than six ships ar¬
rived, and every day two or three arrive also. The com¬
mon fear is, that if they continue to come, they will make
themselves proprietors of the province. It is strange, he
says, that they thus crowd where they are not wanted.
1S9I am indebted to S. M. Sener, Esq., for having drawn my attention to
the above valuable letters.
234 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
But, besides, convicts are imported thither.^^ The Indians
themselves were alarmed at the swarms of strangers, and
he was afraid of a breach between them, for the Irish were
very rough to them.
In 1730 he returns to the same subject and complains
of the Scotch-Irish, "who were acting in a very disorderly
manner and possessing themselves of Conestoga Manor,
fifteen thousand acres, being the best land in Lancaster
county. In doing this by force, they alleged that it was
against the laws of God and nature, that so much land
should be idle, while so many Christians wanted it to labor
on, and to raise their bread."
There can be no doubt that some of these German and
Irish immigrants gave the Proprietary a great deal of trou¬
ble. They availed themselves of all the advantages they
were able to secure and very often concerned themselves
very little whether they complied with the laws of the
Province or not. Secretary Logan more than once refers
to this matter in his correspondence. Jn a letter to John
Penn, dated November 25, 1727, he says:
" We have many thousands of foreigners, mostly Pala¬
tinates, so called, already in y® Countrey, of whom nearly
1,500 came in this last summer; many of them are a sur-
ley people, divers Papists amongst them, & y® men gen¬
erally well arm'd. We have from the North of Ireland,
great numbers yearly, 8 or 9 Ships this last ffall dis¬
charged at Newcastle. Both these sorts sitt frequently
down on any spott of vacant Land they can find, without
asking questions ; the last Palatines say there will be
1*0 One Augustus Gun, of Cork, advertised in the Philadelphia papers that
he had powers from the Mayor of Cork, for many years to procure servants for
America. (Rupp'S History of Berks and Lebanon Counties, p. 115.)
Quoted by Rupp in his History of Berks and Lebanon Counties, pp.
114-115.
Germans Pushed to the Frontiers. 235
twice the number next year, & ye Irish say y" same of
their People ; last week one of these latter (y® Irish) ap¬
plied to me, in the name of 400, as he said, who depended
all on me, for directions where they should settle. They
say the Proprietor invited People to come & settle his
Countrey, that they are come for that end, & must live ;
both they and the Palatines pretend they would buy, but
not one in twenty has anything to pay with."
In 1729, John, Thomas and Richard Penn wrote to
Logan as follows concerning this vexed question :
"As to the Palatines, you have often taken notice of to
us, wee apprehend have Lately arrived in greater Quan¬
tities than may be consistent with the welfare of the Coun¬
try, and therefore, applied ourselves to our Councill to
find a proper way to prevent it, the result of which was,
that an act of assembly should be got or endeavoured
at, and sent us over immediately, when we would take
sufficient Care to get it approved by the King.^*^ With this
resolution we acquainted the Govenour, by Capí String-
fellow, to Maryland, the 25*'' Feb"^^, a Duplicate of which
we have since sent by another shipp, both -vf" times we
also enclos'd Letters for thee ; but as to any other people
coming over who are the subjects of the British Crown,
we can't Conceive it anyways practicable to prohibit it:
but supposing they are natives of Ireland & Roman Cath-
olicks, they ought not to settle till they have taken the
proper Oaths to the King, & Promis'd Obedience to the
Laws, of the Country, and, indeed, we Can't Conceive it
unreasonable that if they are Inclinable to settle. They
should be oblig'd to settle, either backwards to
Pennsylvania Archives: Second Series, Vol. VII., pp. 96-97.
All laws passed by the Provincial Assembly were subject to the approval
of the Crown. Frequently action on them was delayed for long periods, and
sometimes they were not' acted on at all.
236 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
^Mx&INDEmURE Witneffeth that
dbth Vbltintarfly put Servant
^éti0ÉÍ^ 40^
toierve the faid
ánd his Áfligns, for and during the fuTI Space, Thi^ and Term
Yeats from the firft Day Of the faid
arrival in, V in the United States of AMÉRICA,
during^whicíi Tijnç or Terlte thé feid Maller or his Aflïgns íball
and mtí find and Áipiply the {^d, i»ith iufficient
Meat,"t)*öiik^j Apparel, Lodgihj^ and all OthefnecÔÎàries befitting
fuch a .Ser^^ and at the e^ and expiration of laid Term, the
iàid to be made, Free,, and receive
according to the CuftOm of ^e Country. Provided neverAi^ß,
and iheie 'Prefenfs are on thi&Condition, tbat'if the^id
'—^ (hall 1^ the laid
or his Affiffoi'^ Days after
arrivé Jj^^allbftF^^ndthc ahoilaktdenture and every
Clanfe therein,'ablolutely Yoid and of no Çfieét. m^wit^ß
whereof the laid Parties'ha^Kereimto iñter^pgeebly put their
Hands and Seals the Day 'of
Yeaf Ot ôtit Lord, One TïfouÎaiid Seven Hundred and
in the Preftncc of uxe Right
tYöiÄ^Iat of the City of Cork
A REDEMPTIONKR'S CERTIFICATE.
Prices Paid for Indentured Servants. 237
SASqyEHANNAH OR NORTH IN Y' COUNTRY BEYOND THE
OTHER settlements, as we had mentioned before in rela¬
tion to the Palatines; but we must desire Care may be
taken that they are not suffered to settle towards Mary¬
land, on any account."
Just as the Ubii, a German tribe was moved to the banks
of the Rhine by the Romans, that they might serve as a
guard and outpost against invaders,so did the Govern¬
ment of Penn also try to settle them on the frontiers as
a guard against the incursions of the Red men.
Further light is thrown on this interesting question by an
original manuscript in the collection of the Historical So¬
ciety of Pennsylvania. It is "A List of Serv'® Indented
on Board the Pennsylvania Packet Capt. Peter Osborne for
Philadelphia the 15*'' day of March, 1775. Coming from
a British port, it is of course not mentioned by Rupp nor
in Volume XVII. of the second series of State Archives.
It gives a list of thirty-seven names of tradesmen, evidently
all English, Scotch or Irish, with the amount due the ship
owner and the sums for which they were sold, as well as
the names of the buyers. This list is too long to be given
here, but we will quote a few items :
Benj. Boswell, Baker,
Due £21.4
Sold for £18.
John Haynas, Hair Dresser,
" 22.4
(( ((
20.
John Thomas, Smith,
" 26.4
(( u
20.
William Avery, Taylor,
" 21.4
((
20.
W™ Edwards, Painter,
" 36.4
(( ((
20.
W" Chase, Cordwainer,
" 23.4
(( ÍÍ
19.
James Vanlone, Watchfinisher,
" 17-5
it il
21.
Ws Longwood, Groom,
" 23.4
(( u
20.
Geo. Warren, Labourer,
" 14-7
11 11
24.
John Longan, Husbandman,
" 19-5
it ((
19.
W" Mitchell, Stone Mason,
" 21.4
t( ((
20.
Pennsylvania Archives: Second Series, Vol. VII., pp. 131-132.
145 Tacitus, Germania, C. 28.
238 The German Im7nigration into Pennsylvania.
We here get a glimpse at the sums these servants were sold
for, and find that in a majority of cases the amount was less
than the cost incurred by their passage across the ocean.
Just how this traffic was
profitable to the ship¬
master or the broker, is
not evident from the
meager revelations fur¬
nished by the paper it¬
self. The explanation
probably is that there
was a large profit on the
extra charges always
set against each immi¬
grant, and that a reduc¬
tion of a few pounds
could well be made on
each one sold and still
leave a handsome sur¬
plus on the investment.
From other sources we
RAZOR CASE, RAZOR ARD «RCET. 1«»™ ® P®»"
senger died, leaving no
relative behind to look after his possessions, his chest—and
a great oaken chest was the almost invariable accompani¬
ment of the German immigrant—was seized by the ship¬
master and all its contents^ appropriated. Even when
young children were left by the deceased, their rights were
often ignored and whatever of value there may have been
was confiscated in the rough, sailor-like fashion of the
times, without the slightest regard for the rights of these
unprotected and helpless ones. The heart often sinks at
the recital of these inhuman proceedings practiced because
there were none to protest or defend.
Prosperity of Some Redemptioners. 239
It deserves to be stated that many who came here and
were well to do, bringing their servants along, often lost
the standing in the community they at first held. They
were unable to maintain their old social standing against
the democratic spirit which even then prevailed, and in
many instances their humble servitors, the Redemptioners,
taught to labor in the stern school of adversity, prospered,
and in the second and third generations, by their thrift and
industry, took the places once held by their old masters.
ARMS OP CITY OP I,ONDON.
STREElí SCENE IN OED GERMANTOWN.
CHAPTER VII.
Christopher Saur's notable Letters to Governor
Morris, pleading for Legislation looking to the
better Protection of German Immigrants in General
and the German Redemptioners in Particular.
*' They, wandering here, made barren forests bloom.
And the new soil a happier robe assume :
They planned no schemes that virtue disapproves.
They robbed no Indian of his native groves.
But, just to all, beheld their tribes increase.
Did what they could to bind the world in peace.
And, far retreating from a selfish band,
Bade Freedom flourish in this foreign land."
CHRISTOPHER SAUR
did not confine his efforts
for rendering aid to his coun¬
trymen to the columns of his
wide-awake newspaper. Nor
did he confine his energy and
activity to words alone. He
went among the newly arrived
Redemptioners and rendered
whatever material assistance
was in his power. In certain
cases he gave money to relieve
SEAL OF WILLIAM PENN. their necessities ; in others he
( 240)
Saur*s First Letter to Gov. Morris. 241
saw that they were cared for when such care was required,
and in still others, the sick and starving wretches were taken
to his own home and those of his friends to be cared for
and nursed back to health there. If they died, he saw that
they received Christian burial.
But, while ever on the alert to render assistance of this
practical kind, he was at work in still other ways, his efforts
all being directed towards the end so near his loyal Ger¬
man nature. His name will always be revered by Penn¬
sylvania-Germans for his unselfish work in the interest of
his countrymen, and the two letters in their behalf, ad¬
dressed to Governor Morris, alone constitute a monument
to his memory as enduring as brass or the pyramids of
Egypt. They are here given in grateful memory of his
excellent service in the cause of humanity.
Christopher Saur's First Letter to Governor
Morris on the Trials and Wrongs of
the Early German Immigrants.
" Germaptown, Pa., March 15th, 1755.
" Honored and Beloved Sir :—
" Confidence in your wisdom and clemency made me
so free as to write this letter to you. I would not have it
that anybody should know of these private lines, otherwise
it would have become me to get a hand able to write in a
proper manner and style to a person as your station re-
quireth.
"It is now thirty years since I came to this Province, out of
a country where no liberty of conscience was, nor humanity
reigned in the house of my then country lord, and where
all the people are owned with their bodies to the lord there,
and are obliged to work for him six days in every week,
viz. : three days with a horse, and three days with a hoe,
242 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
shovel or spade ; or if he cannot come himself, he must
send somebody in his place. And when I came to this
Province and found everything to the contrary from where
I came from, I wrote largely to all my friends and ac¬
quaintances of the civil and religious liberty, privileges,
etc. and of the goodness I have heard and seen, and my
letters were printed and reprinted and provoked many a
thousand people to come to this Province, and many
thanked the Lord for it, and desired their friends also to
come here.
" Some years the price was five pistoles per head freight,
and the merchants and the captains crowded for passen¬
gers, finding more profit by passengers than by goods, etc.
" But the love for great gain caused Steadman to lodge
the poor passengers like herrings, and as too many had
not room between decks, he kept abundance of them upon
deck ; and sailing to the Southward, where the people
were at once out of their climate, and for the wantj^of
water and room, became sick and died very fast, in such
a manner that in one year no less than two thousand
were buried in the seas and in Philadelphia. Steadman
at that time bought a license in Holland that no captain
or merchant could load any as long as he had not
two thousand loaded. This murderous trade made my
heart ache, especially, when I heard that there was more
profit by their death than by carrying them alive. I
thought of my provoking letters being partly the cause of
so many people's deaths. •! wrote to the magistrate at Rot¬
terdam, and immediately the ^^Mono;polium" was taken
from John Steadman.
" Our Legislature was also petitioned, and a law was
made as good as it is, but was never executed. Mr.
Spofford, an old, poor captain, was made overseer for the
New Overseers Suggested.
243
vessels that came loaded with passengers, whose salary
came to from $200 to $300 a year, for concealing the fact
that sometimes the poor people had but twelve inches place
and not halfnbread nor water. Spofford died and our As¬
sembly chose one Mr. Trotter who left every ship slip, al¬
though he knew that a great many people had no room at
all, except in the long boat, where every man perished.
There were so many complaints that many in Philadelphia
and almost all in Germantown signed a petition that our
Assembly might give that office to one Thomas Say, an
English merchant, at Philadelphia, of whom we have the
confidence that he would take no bribe for concealing what
the poor people suffered; or if they will not turn Mr.
Trotter out of office, to give him as assistant one Daniel
Mackinett, a shopkeeper in Philadelphia, who speaks
Dutch and English, who might speak with the people in
their language, but in vain, except they have done what I
know not.
' 'Among other grievances the Germans suffer is one viz :
that the ignorant Germans agree fairly with merchants at
Holland for seven pistoles and a half"® ; when they come to
Philadelphia the merchants make them pay what they
please, and take at least nine pistoles. The poor people
on board are prisoners. They durst not go ashore, or have
their chests delivered, except they allow in a bond or pay
what they owe not ; and when they go into the country,
they loudly complain there, that no justice is to be had for
poor strangers. They show their agreements, wherein is
fairly mentioned that they are to pay seven pistoles and a
half to Isaac and Zacharay Hoke, at Rotterdam, or their
order at Philadelphia, etc. This is so much practiced,
^■*®Saur here means the price for carrying immigrants from Rotterdam to
Philadelphia.
244 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
that of at least 2,000 or 3,000 pounds in each year the
country is wronged. It was much desired that among
wholesome laws, such a one may be made that when ves¬
sels arrive, a commissioner might be appoin|ed to inspect
their and agreement and judge if 7^ pistoles make not
seven and a half. Some of the Assemblymen were asked
whether there was no remedy? They answered, *The
law is such that what is above forty shillings must be decided
at court, and every one must make his owp cause appear
good and stand a trial.' A very poor comfort for two or
three thousand wronged people, to live at the discretion of
their merchants. They so long to go ashore, and fill once
their belly, that they submit and pay what is demanded ;
and some are sighing, some are cursing, and some believe
that their case differs very little from such as fall into the
hands of highwaymen who present a pistol upon their
breast and are desired to give whatever the highwaymen
pleaseth; and who can hinder them thinking so? I, my¬
self, thought a commission could be ordered in only such
cases, but I observed that our assembly has more a mind
to prevent the importation of such passengers than to do
justice to them ; and seeing that your honor is not of
the same mind, and intends to alter the said bill, I find my¬
self obliged to let your Honor know the main points, with¬
out which nothing will be done to the purpose.
" I was surprised to see the title of the bill, which, in my
opinion, is not the will of the crown, nor of the proprietors ;
neither is it the will of the Lord, who gives an open way
that the poor and distressed, the afflicted, and any people
QERMAiS inniGRATlON INTO PENNSTLVANIA.
J. F. 8ACH8E, PHOTO. F E N N S Y L V A N1A-G E R H A N ENTERPRISE.
INTERIOR OF AN OLD BORINQ-FIILL ON THE TULFEHOCREN. HERE RIFLE BARRELS WERE MADE DURING THE REVOLUTION.
Evil Conduct of Ship Captains. 245
may come to a place where there is room for them ; and if
there is no room for any more, there is land enough in our
neighborhood, as there are eight or nine counties of Dutch
(German) people in Virginia, where many out of Pennsyl¬
vania are removed to. Methinks it will be proper to let
them come, and let justice be done them. The order of
the Lord is such : ' Defend the poor and fatherless ; do
justice to the afflicted and needy, deliver the poor and
needy, and rid them out of the land of the wicked.'—
Ps. 82.
' ' Beloved sir, you are certainly a servant of the Lord our
God, and I do believe you are willing to do what lies in
your power ; but I am ready to think, that as you left the
bill to your councillors, you will not be so fully informed
of the worst of the grievances, as one of thêm has a great
share of the interest. If these are not looked particularly
into, that which is the most complained of viz : that the
captains often hurry them away without an agreement, or
the agreement is not signed, or, if a fair agreement is
written, signed or sealed, it will not be performed, and they
must pay whatever they please ; and when the people's
chests are put in stores until they go and fetch money by
their friends, and pay for what they agreed upon, and
much more, and demand their chest, they will find it
opened and plundered of part or all ; or the chest is not
at all to be found wherefore they have paid, and no justice
for them, because they have no English tongue, and no
money to go to law with such as they are ; and that we
have no such an offlcer as will, or can speak with the
people but will rather take pay for concealing their griev¬
ances—and who will speak to such an one, as it stands ?
The law is, that ' a man may get security as good as he
can.' But when merchants BIND some other people to-
2^6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
gether, whose families were obliged to die, and who are
famished for want, and as a prisoner at the vessel is re¬
tained and forced to bind himself—one for two or three,
who are greatly indebted and who, perhaps, pays his own
debt while the others can't—he is freed to go out of the
country, and will go
rather than go to
prison; and if poor
widows are bound
for others much in
debt, who will marry
such a one? Must
she not go sorrowful
most of her lifetime ?
"Formerly, our
Assembly has bought
a house on an island
in the river Dela¬
ware, where healthy
people will soon become sick. This house might do very
well in contagious distempers, but if a place were allowed on
a healthy, dry ground—where, by a collection, the Germans
might build a house, with convenient places, and stoves for
winter, etc. ; it would be better for the people in common
sickness where their friends might attend them and take
care of them. They would do better than to perish under
the merciless hands of these merchants ; for life is sweet.
" Beloved sir, I am old and infirm, bending with my staff
to the grave, and will be gone by and by, and hope that
your Honor will not take it amiss to have recommended to
you the helpless. We beg and desire in our prayers that
the Lord may protect you from all evil, and from all en¬
croachments, and if we do the like unto them that are in
BARI<Y COFPBB MILI»
The Assembly and Governor at Odds. 247
poor condition and danger, we may expect the Lord will
do so to us accordingly ; but', if we do to the contrary, how
can we expect the Lord's protection over us? For He
promises to measure to us as we do measure.
" I conclude with a hearty desire that the Lord will give
your Honor wisdom and patience, that your administration
may be blessed, and in His time give you the reward of a
good, true and faithful servant, and I remain your humble
servant,
" Christoph Saur,
" Printer in Germantown."
For some reason, Governor Morris, who was on bad
terms with the House, did not regard the proposed bill
favorably although he had recommended such a meas¬
ure himself in a message to the House on December 12th
of the previous year.^^^ This angered the Assembly who
sent him a sharp message on May 15, 1755, part of which
is here given. << * * * The grevions Calamities we were
then threatened with, the melancholy Spectacle of the
Distress of so many of our Fellow Creatures perishing
for Want of Change of Apparel, Room, and other nec¬
essaries on board their Ships, and after being landed
among Us the extreme Danger of the Benevolent and
the Charitable exposed them to in approaching those un-
happy Sufferers, together with the Governor's own Recom¬
mendation, gave Us Reason to hope that he might be at
Liberty and that his own Inclinations would have induced
him to have passed such a Bill as might prevent the like
for the future, but we are under the greatest Concern to
find Ourselves disappointed in these our reasonable Ex¬
pectations.
Colonial Records, Vol. VI., p. 190.
248 The Ger^nan Immigration into Pennsylvania.
" By our Charters and the Laws of this Province the
whole Legislative Power is vested in the Governor and the
Representatives of the» People ; and as we know of no
other Negative upon our Bills but what the Governor him¬
self has, we could wish he had been pleased to exercise
his own Judgment upon this our Bill without referring the
Consideration of it to a Committee of his Council most of
them Such, as We are informed, vuho are or have lately^
been concerned in the Importations, the Abuses of which
this bill was designed to regulate and redress.-
" The German Importations were at first and for a con¬
siderable Time of such as were Families of Substance and
industrious, sober. People, who constantly brought with
them their Chests and Apparel and other Necessaries for
so long a voyage. But these we apprehend have for some
time past been shipped on board other vessels in order to
leave more Room for crowding their unhappy Passengers
in greater Numbers, and to secure the Freights of such as
might perish during the voyage, which experience has
convinced us must be the Case of very many where such
Numbers (as have been lately imported in each Vessel) are
crowded together without Change of Raiment or any other
Means of Keeping themselves sweet and clean. But this
Provision the Governor has been pleased to throw out of
our Bill ; and yet we think it so essentially necessary that
the Want of it must necessarily poisen the Air those un-
happy Passengers breathe on Shipboard, and spread it
wherever they land to infect the Country which receives
them, especially as the Governor has likewise altered the
Provision We had made by the Advice of the Physicians
for accommodating them with more Room and Air upon
their Arrival here.
"We have reason to believe that the Importations of
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250 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
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Assembly*s Answer to the Governor, 251
Germans have been for some Time composed of a great
Mixture of the Refuse of their People and that the very-
Gaols have contributed to the Supplies We are burdened
with. But as there are many of more Substance and better
Character, We thought it reasonable to hinder the Importer
from obliging such as had no connections with one another
to become jointly bound for their respective Freights or
Passages ; but the Governor has thought fit to alter this
also in such a manner as to elude the good Purposes in¬
tended by the Act, by which means those who are of more
Substance are involved in the Contracts and Debts of
Others, and the Merchants secured at the Expence of the
Country where they are necessitated and do become very
frequently Beggars from Door to Door, to the great Injury
of the Inhabitants, and the Increase and Propogation of
the Distempers they have brought among us. Many who
have indented themselves for the Payment of their Pas¬
sages have frequently been afflicted with such frequent and
loathesome Diseases at the time as have rendered them alto¬
gether unfit for the Services they had contracted to perform,
for which we had provided a remedy by the Bill ; but the
Governor has thought fit to strike it out and leave Us ex¬
posed to this grevions Imposition without a Remedy," etc.
It was this action on the part of the Governor Morris
that called out Christopher Saur's second letter, which is
also given.
Two months later this staunch and steady friend of his
countrymen, whose wrongs were daily brought under his
notice, again wrote to Governor Morris on this subject, as
follows :
<< Germantown, Pa., May 12, 1755.
Honored and Beloved Sir :
"Although I do believe with sincerity, that you have
252 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
at this time serious and troublesome business enough,
nevertheless, my confidence in your wisdom makes me
to write the following defective lines, whereby I desire not
so much as a farthing of profit for myself.
" When I heard last that the Assembly adjourned, I was
desirous to know what was done concerning the Dutch bill
and was told that your Honor have consented to all points,
except that the German passengers need not have their
chests along with them ; and because you was busy with
more needful business, it was not ended. I was sorry for
it, and thought, either your Honor has not good counsel¬
lors or you cant think of the consequences, otherwise you
could not insist on this point. Therefore I hope you will
not take it amiss to be informed of the case, and of some
of the consequences, viz. :—The crown of England found
it profitable to peopling the American colonies ; and for
the encouragement thereof, the coming and transportation
of German Protestants was indulged, and orders were
given to the officers at the customhouses in the parts of
England, not to be sharp with the vessels of German pas¬
sengers—knowing that the populating of the British col¬
onies will, in time become, profit more than the trifies of
duty at the customhouses would import in the present time.
This the merchants and importers experienced.
"They filled the vessels with passengers and as much of
the merchant's goods as they thought fit, and left the pas¬
sengers' chests &c behind, and sometimes they loaded
vessels wholly with Palatines' chests. But the poor people
depended upon their chests, wherein was some provision,
such as they were used to, as dried-apples, pears, plums,
mustard, medicines, vinegar, brandy, gammons, butter,
clothing, shirts and other necessary linens, money and
whatevet they brought with them ; and when their chests
Sauras Second Letter.
253
were left behind, or were shipped in some other vessel they
had lack of nourishment. When not sufficient provision
was shipped for the passengers, and they had nothing
themselves, they famished and died. When they arrived
alive, they had no money to buy bread,
nor anything to sell. If they would spare
clothes, they had no clothes nor shirt to
strip themselves, nor were they able to
cleanse themselves of lice and nastiness.
If they were taken into houses, trusting
on their effects and money, when it
comes, if was either left behind, or rob¬
bed and plundered by the sailors behind
or in the vessels. If such a vessel ar¬
rived before them, it was searched by
the merchants' boys, &c., and their best
effects all taken out, and no remedy for
it, and this last mentioned practice, that
people's chests are opened and their best
effects taken out, is not only a practice
this twenty five, twenty, ten or five
years, or sometime only; but it is the
common custom and daily complaints to
the week last past; when a pious man,
living with me, had his chest broken open
and three fine shirts and a flute taken out.
The lock was broken to pieces and the
lid of the chest split with iron and
chisels. Such, my dear Sir, is the case,
and if your honor will countenance the
•' VINCIAIv PERIOD.
mentioned practices, the consequences
will be, that the vessels with passengers will be filled with
merchant's goods, wine, &c., as much as possible, and at
254 German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
the King's custom they will call it passengers' drink, and
necessaries for the people, then household goods, &c., which
will be called free of duty. And if they please to load the
vessels only with chests of passengers and what lies under
them, that will be called also free of duty at the custom¬
houses; and as there are no owners of the chests with
them, and no bill of loading is ever given, nor will be
given, the chests will be freely opened and plundered by
the sailors and others, and what is left will be searched
in the stores by the merchants' boys and their friends and
acquaintances. Thus, by the consequence, the King will
be cheated, and the smugglers and store boys will be glad
of your upholding and encouraging this, their profitable
business ; but the poor sufferers will sigh or carry a re¬
venge in their bosoms, according as they are godly or un¬
godly, that such thievery and robbery is maintained.
If such a merchant should lose thirty, forty, fifty or
ten thousand pounds, he may have some yet to spend and
to spare, and has friends, but if a poor man's chest is left
behind, or plundered either at sea or in the stores he has
lost all he has. If a rich man's store, or house, or chest
is broken open and robbed or plundered there is abundance
of noise about it; but if i,ooo poor men's property is taken
from them, in the manner mentioned, there is not a word to
be said.
"If I were ordered to print advertisements of people
who lost their chests, by leaving them behind against their
will, or whose chests were opened and plundered at sea,
when they were sent after them in other vessels, or whose
were opened and plundered in the stores of Philadel¬
phia—should come and receive their value for it, (not four
fold) but only single or half ; your honor would be wondering
of a swarm from more than two or three thousand people.
Saur Pleads with the Governor. 255
But as such is not to be expected, it niust be referred to
the decision of the great, great, long, long day, where
certainly an impartial judgment will be seen, and the last
farthing must be paid, whereas in this present time, such
poor sufferers has, and will have no better answer than is
commonly given : ' Can you prove who has opened and
stolen out of your chest?'or 'Have you a bill of load¬
ing ? ' this has been the practice by some of the merchants
of Philadelphia, and if it must continue longer, the Lord
our God must compare that city to her sister Sodom, as he
said : ' Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom : pride,
fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her.
Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy
(Ezekiel, 16:40) but rather weakened the hand of the
poor and needy ' (18 : 2)."
In a postscript, as if he could not write too often or too
forcibly of the wrongs of these poor people, he adds, con¬
veying a threat ;
"The Lord bless our good King and all his faithful
ministers, and your Honor, and protect the city of Phila¬
delphia and country from all incursions and attempts of
enemies. But if you should insist against a remedy for
the poor Germans' grievances—although no remedy is to
be had for that which is past—and an attempt of enemies
should ensue before the city of Philadelphia, you will cer¬
tainly find the Germans faithful to the English nation ; as
you might have seen how industrious they are to serve the
King and government, for the protection of their sub¬
stance, life and liberties. But, as there are many and
many thousands who have suffered injustice of their mer¬
chants at Philadelphia, it would not be prudent to call on
them all for assistance, as there are certainly many wicked
256 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
among the Germahs ; which, if they should find them¬
selves overpowered by the French, I would not be bound
for their behaviour, that they would not make reprisals on
them that picked their chests and forced them to pay what
they owed not ! and hindered yet the remedy for others.
No ! if they were all Englishmen who suffered so much, I
would much less be bound for their good behaviour.
" Pray sir do not look upon this as a trifle ; for there are
many Germans, who have been wealthy people are many
Germans, who have lost sixty, eighty, one, two, three,
four hundred to a thousand pounds' worth, by leaving their
chests behind, or were deprived and robbed in the stores,
of their substance, and are obliged now to live poor, with
grief. If you do scruple the truth of this assertion, let
them be called in the newspaper, with hopes for reme¬
dies, and your Honor will believe me ; but if the Dutch
(German) nation should hear that no regard is for them,
and no justice to be obtained, it will be utterly in vain to
offer them free schools—especially as they are to be reg¬
ulated and inspected by one who is not respected in all
this Province.
' ' I hope your Honor will pardon my scribbling ; as it has
no other aim than a needful redressing of the multitude of
grievances of the poor people, and for the preserving of
their lives and property, and that the Germans may be ad¬
hered to the friendship of the English nation, and for se¬
curing the honor of your Excellency, and not for a farthing
for your humble servant.
" Christopher Saur,
" Printer of Germantown."
It will be noted that both the Assembly and Saur averred
that some of the members of the Governor's Council were
engaged in this most disreputable business, and it may be
Humanity of Christofher Saur. 257
that the influence of these interested persons was at the
bottom of his rejection of the measures proposed to remedy
these evils. On the day following the delivery of the
message of the House to the Governor, the latter replied
with equal acerbity. He briefly gives his reasons for his
action in the matter, but they are lame and unsatisfactory,
strengthening the belief that he was trying to take care of
his friends.
It is said of the elder Christopher Saur that " on learn¬
ing from time to time that a vessel containing passengers
had arrived in Philadelphia from Germany, he and his
neighbors gathered vehicles and hastened to the landing
place, whence those of the newcomers who were ill, were
taken to his house, which for the time being was turned
into a hospital, and there they were treated medically,
nursed and supported by him until they became convales¬
cent and able to earn their own living."
Charles G. Sauer's Address at Memorial Services at the Church of
the Brethren, at Germantown, January i, 1899.
AN OI.D GERMANTOWN LANDMARK.
oi,d robert's mil,!,, near germantown.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Mortality that Sometimes came upon the Immi»
grants on Ship-board. organization of the German
Society of Pennsylvania, and its excellent Work.—
Lands assigned to Redemptioners at the End of their
Terms of Service, on easy Terms.
"Er ward in engen Koje Kalt,
Kam nie zurück zum Port,
Man hat ihn auf ein Brett geschnallt,
Und warf ihn über Bord."
" Dem bieten grane Eltern noch
Zum letztenmal die Hand ;
Den Koser Bruder, Schwester, Freund ;
Und alles schweigt, und alles weint,
Todtbloss von uns gewandt."
♦jFN a general way, the
II mortality among the
immigrants resulting from
the crowded condition of the
ships, the bad character of
the provisions and water
and frequently from the
scant supply of the same,
the length of the voyage
and other causes, has al-
arms of the palatinate."®
149 The arms, or wappen, of the Palatinate is an imposing piece of heraldic
art, sufficient, one would think, to do hon or to a land a thousand times the size
(258)
Availing Death Rate Among Immigrants. 259
ready been alluded to. But it is only when we come down
to an actual presentation of the records that have reached
our day, that we get a correct idea of the appalling char¬
acter of the death rate upon which the ©erman settlements
in Pennsylvania were built. Doubtless something beyond
the ordinary was seen in the migration from Europe to
other portions of the American continent, but as that migra¬
tion was more circumscribed in its numbers and the ra¬
pidity of its inflow, so also was the death rate attending it
on a minor scale. It is surprising that the reality, as it be¬
came known in the Fatherland, did not hold back the mul¬
titudes anxious to come over. Perhaps the ebb and flow,
as we now know it, greater in some years, and then again
greatly diminished in others, may be accounted for by the
fears that came upon the intending immigrants as letters
from friends gradually drifted back to the old home. Some
of the Palatinate. Even the shield of Achilles, as pictured by Homer, was not
more elaborate or picturesque. Its manifold armorial divisions arose out of the
numerous changées and acquisitions to the original fief. I subjoin a descrip¬
tion of it in German, without venturing on a translation.
Das Kurpfälsichen wappen bestehet aus zusam mengebrunden ovalrunden
Schilden. Der i. ist quadrirt mit einem Mittelschilde, welcher im Schwartzen
Felde einem goldenen rothgeprouren Döwen, wegen der Pfaltz am Rhein hat.
Das I. Quartier des Haupt-Schilders ist von Silber und Blau, Schraggeweckt,
wegen Baiem ; in 2. goldenen ist ein Schwazer gekrärter Döwe, wegen Jülich ;
im 3. bauen ein silbernes Schildchen, aus dem 8. goldene Stabe im Kreis gesetzt,
heroorgehen, wegen Cleve ; im 4. silbernen is ein rother Döwe, mit einer
blauen Krone, wegen Berg. Der 2. Hauptschild ist quergetheilt. In der abem
Hälfte, in goldenem Felde, ist vorn ein Schwarzer Querbalken, wegen der
Grafschaft Mors ; hintem im blauen, 3. goldene Kreuzchen, über einem drey-
fachen grünen Hügel, wegen Bergen op Zoom. Die untere Hälfte ist 3 mal
in die Dänge getheilt. Im vordersten silbernen Felde ist ein Blauer Döwe,
wegen Veldenz -, im mittlem goldenen ein von Silber und Roth, zu 4. Reihen
geschackter Querbalken, wegen der Graffschaft Mark, im hintersten silbernen
sind 3 rothe Sparren, wegen Ravensburg. Der 3te rothe Hauptschild enthält
den goldenen Reichsapfel, wegen des Erztmdisestenamts. Diese 3. Haupts¬
childe werden von dem Kurhute bedeckt, und von der Kelte des St. Georgen
und St. Hubertordens und des goldenen Bliesses umgeben ; und von 2. Döwen
gehalten.
26o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
of them must have been of a character to daunt the courage
of even the stout-hearted dwellers along the Rhine. We
only know that these people continued to pour into the
province for more than a century in spite of all the draw¬
backs that were presenting themselves during all that time.
Although the first large colony of German immigrants
to cross the ocean, and that suffered excessive losses on
the voyage, did not come to Pennsylvania, it nevertheless
deserves special mention here, because it was the largest
single body of colonists that ever reached America, and
because many of its members eventually found their way
into the valleys of the Swatara and Tulpeh ocken. It was
the colony sent to the State of New York at the request
of Governor Hunter, who happened to be in England
when the great German Exodus to London occurred, in
1709. Even the members of this early colony were re-
demptioners, in fact if not in name. They contracted to
repay the British government the expenses incurred in
sending them over. They were called " Servants to the
Crown." After they had discharged their obligations,
they were to receive five pounds each and every family
forty acres of land.
Three thousand and more of these people were em¬
barked in midwinter for New York. The exact date is
unknown. It was probably some time during the month of
January, 1710. The diarist Luttrell says, under date of De¬
cember 28, 1709, Colonel Hunter designs, next week to
embark for his government at New York, and most of the
Palatines remaining here goe with him to people that col¬
ony." Conrad Weiser, who was among them, wrote at a
late period of his life that ** About Christmas-day (1709)
we embarked, and ten ship loads with about 4,000 souls
were sent to America." Weiser was a lad of thirteen
Governor Hunter's Colonists*
261
years at the time, and wrote from recollection many years
after. As he was wrong in the number who set sail, so
he no doubt was as to the time of embarcation. These
3,000 persons of both sexes and all ages were crowded
into ten ships. No official register of them is known. The
vessels were small and as about 300 persons were crowded
into each one, the voyage was a dreary one. By the middle
of June seven of the ships had made land ; the latest did
not arrive until near the close of July—a five months*
voyage, and one, the Herbert, not come at all, hav¬
ing been cast ashore on Long Island and lost. The deaths
during the voyage were " above 470," writes Governor
Hunter, but other authorities place them at a far higher
number. Conrad Weiser, in his old age
and without actual data for his estimate,
places the loss at 1,700, which is much
too high. The best authorities place
the number at 859, showing a mortality
of more than 25 per cent. Boehme-
states that * ' Of some families neither
parents nor children survive." Eighty
are said to have died on a single ship,
with most of the living ill. It deserves also to be stated
that the children of these maltreated immigrants were by
order of Governor Hunter apprenticed among the colonists,
which act was bitterly resented by the parents. It was one
of the first of the long series of wrongs that befell them.
It was no doubt the sorrowful experience of these ten ship¬
loads of Germans that thereafter turned all the immigrants
towards Pennsylvania. But one more ship with Palatines
went to New York, and that was in 1772. It is even pos¬
sible this ship was carried out of its course and made port
at New York instead of Philadelphia.
SEAI. OP GPRMAN-
XOWN.
202 The German Immigratiön into Pennsylvania.
Christopher Saur in his first letter to Governor Morris
asserts that in a single year two thousand German immi*
grants found ocean burial while on their way to Pennsyl'-
vania.
Caspar Wistar wrote in 1732 : '* Last year a ship was
twenty-four weeks at sea, and of the 150 passengers on
board thereof, more than 100 died of hunger and privatioti>
and the survivors were imprisoned and compelled to pay
the entire passage-money for themselves and the deceased.
In this year 10 ships arrived in Philadelphia with 5,000
passengers. One ship was seventeen weeks at sea and
about 60 passengers thereof died."
Christopher Saur in 1758 estimated that 2,000 of the
passengers on the fifteen ships Jhat arrived that year, died
during the Voyage.
Johann Heinrich Keppele, who afterwards became the
ñtst president of the German Society of Pennsylvania, says
in his diairy that of the 312^ passengers on board the ship
in which he came over, 250 died during the voyage.
But it must not be supposed that all ships carrying immi¬
grants encountered the appalling losses we have mentioned.
In 1748 I find this in Saur's paper: " Seven ships loaded
with German immigrants left Rotterdam ; of these three
have arrived in Philadelphia, making the passage from
port to port in 31 days, all fresh and well so far as we
know. They were also humanely treated on the voyage."
A ship that left Europe in December, 1738, with 400
Palatines, was wrecked on the coast of Block Island. All
save 105 had previously died and fifteen of those who
landed also died after landing, making a loss of seventy^
seven per cent.
A vessel that reached the port of Philadelphia in 174S,
landed only 50 survivors out of a total of 400 souls that
Mortality on Skif-board.
263
had sailed away from Europe. In this case starvation was
the principal cause of the appalling mortality.
In 1754, sexton of the Stranger's Burying Ground in
Philadelphia, testified under oath that he had buried 253
Palatines up to November 14th, to which " six;or eight more
should be added." It
seems the diseases con¬
tracted on ship-board
followed them long
after they reached Phil¬
adelphia.^®"
iu In February, 1745,
Saur said in his news¬
paper : ' ' Another ship
arrived in Philadelphia
with Germans. It is
said she left port with
400 souls and that there
are now not many more
than 50 left alive."
On the 26th of
December, 1738, a ship
of three hundred tons
was wrecked on Block
Island, near the coast of the State of Rhode Island. This
ship sailed from Rotterdam in August, 1738, last from
Cowes, England. John Wanton, the Governor of Rhode
Island, sent Mr. Peter Bouse, and others, from Newport,
to Block Island, to see how matters were. On the 19th of
January, 1739, they returned to Newport, R. I., reporting
that the ship was commanded by Capt. Geo. Long, that
he died on the inward passage, and that the mate then took
Colonial Records^ Vol. VI., p. 173.
AN OLD TAR BUCKET, SUCH AS WAS AL¬
WAYS CARRIED BY THE CONE-
STOGA WAGONS.
264 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
charge of the ship which had sailed from Rotterdam with
400 Palatines, destined for Philadelphia, that an exceed¬
ingly malignant fever and flux had prevailed among them,
only 105 landing at Block Island, and that by death the
number had been further reduced to 90. The chief reason
alleged for this great mortality was the bad condition of the
water taken in at Rotterdam. It was filled in casks that
before had contained white and red wine. The greater
part of the goods of the Palatines was lost."
It may be stated in this connection that the ship Welcome^
on which Penn came over in the fall of 1683, was of 30(0
tons. The small-pox broke out on board and proved fat^l
to nearly one-third of those on board.
Formation of the German Society.
Despite all the efforts made by private individuals, and
the various enactments of the Provincial Assembly, effec¬
tual and permanent relief was not destined to come in that
way. It was not until a united, influential and determined
body of men formed themselves into a corporation and set
to work at the task before them with a will, that the dawn
at last began to break. It was on Christmas day in 1764
that a number of the most influential German residents in
Philadelphia met in the Lutheran School House, on Cherry
street and organized the " German Society of Pennsyl¬
vania." It was legally incorporated on September 20,
1787, but it did not wait for that legal recognition to begin
its work. Its first president was Johann Heinrich Kep-
pele, an opulent and influential merchant of Philadelphia.
His efficiency in conducting the affairs of the Society was
so clearly recognized that he was annually reëlected to the
Presidency for a period of seventeen years.
Pennsylvania Gazette, Februarys, 1739.
Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p. 15.
QERMAM inniGRñTlO/N INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
HENRY REPFELE.
The Society Actively at Work,
265
No time was lost in beginning the work mapped out, to
do away with the manifold abuses that attended the immi¬
gration of Germans, to succor the sick and to lend sub¬
stantial aid to the needy and deserving. The Assembly
was at once taken in hand and certain reforms demanded.
The matter came up before that body on January 11, 1765,
and an act in nine sections, prepared by the Society, was
laid before it, in which the rights of immigrants were pro¬
vided for while on the sea, and safeguarded after their
landing. Objections were at once
made by prominent merchants who
had previously driven a very profit¬
able trade in Redemptioners, and
who saw in the passage of the pro¬
posed act an end to their iniquitous
but profitable traffic ; but it was en¬
acted into a law despite their pro¬
tests. Governor John Penn, how¬
ever, refused to sign the act because
it was presented to him on the last
day of the session. It has been sus¬
pected that his |!)rincipal reason was that he was unwilling
to give offense to his many influential English friends
whose revenues it was certain would be interfered with.
But the German Society meant business and was not to
be turned down by a single rebuff, from whatever source.
During the following sumnjer another bill was brought
forward, modifying the former one in some particulars.
This one was also passed and this lime the Governor's sig¬
nature was added. May 18, 1765. All immigrants who
had complaints to make were invited to present them to the
Society, which in turn became the champion of these op¬
pressed people. In 1785 it succeeded in procuring legis-
SEAI, OF THE GERMAN
SOCIETY CE PENN¬
SYLVANIA.
266 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
lation providing for the establishment of a Bureau of Reg¬
istration, and the appointment of an official who could
speak both the German and English languages. Previ¬
ously the newcomers had been haled before the Mayors
of the city, to take the necessary oaths ; yet Seidensticker
tells us that from 1700 to 1800 there were only two Mayors
of Philadelphia who could speak the German language.
For a time, this active and unceasing energy put an end to
the most serious complaints, but later they again came to
the front, and in iSiS still another act, and a more strict
and exacting one, was passed, after which these long-con¬
tinued wrongs finally disappeared.
The Society was of much assistance in a financial way
to the needy immigrants, aiding thousands to better their
condition, and on the whole did an untold amount of good.
It solicited outside contributions but most of the money ex¬
pended was contributed by the members themselves. It
supplied bread, meat and other good and fresh food to the
needy ones, but sometimes the need was even greater than
the Society's means would allow. It sent the sick to spe¬
cial houses and appealed to the authorities whenever an
injustice was brought to its notice. But the Society fre¬
quently had its own troubles with those whom it tried to
succor. Its generous deeds sometimes failed to satisfy the
wishes and expectations of the newcomers. They looked
for more. They expected that the Society would also
clear the rough land for them and hand it over to them
according to the terms of their contracts with the Newland-
ers, which was of course an impossibility. Some also in¬
sisted that the Society should buy their time, clothe and
keep all the old, poor, infirm and sick, and give them a
decent burial when dead.^®^
See Muhlenberg's letter in Hallische Nachrichten, p. 998.
An Old Maf of the Palatinate. 267
Iplimz
i,tns>
Jiamnataift,
Uttn',.
JiOTSCh.'
■^Wac\
Wls]b^4^t
V
jRcTirb^'h
Zavterin^fy^
Biscfair^i
*icr Zeit der
ißranzösischealavasioneii
1674aiicL1689/90.
• iMáísstáb 1: I.8OO.O00
Uncu cJifMtütn M-"J. '
♦ Jß.i aJO'i'ioxerftStfe Orte
MAP OF THE PAEATINATE IN 169O.
208 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
Able men presided over the destinies of the Society.
The elder Muhlenberg took a warm interest in it and had
advised its organization in the Hallische Nachrichten. Two
of his sons were among its presidents ; General Peter
Muhlenberg in 1788 and also from 1801 to 1807 and his
brother Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg from 1789 to
1797, at the same time that he was serving as Speaker of
the Federal House of Representatives. The Society has
continued its good work down to our own time. It has not
only a fine Society Hall, but an excellent library and a
very considerable endowment.
Friedrich Kapp gives a single example out of the hun¬
dreds of cases in which the German Society interfered in
the interests of persons and families and saw justice done
them. It is the case of one George Martin, who, for him¬
self, his wife and five children, two of whom were under
five years of age and who under the regular custom should
be counted as one full freight, contracted with the captain
of the ship Minerva to be carried to Pennsylvania for the
sum of £9 per head, or £54 for all charges. He advanced
forty guilders in Rotterdam, or about $16.66. Martin
died on the passage across the ocean. When the rest of
the family reached Philadelphia, the three eldest sons were
each sold by the captain to five years' service for £30, or
£90 in all ; the remaining two children under five years of
age were disposed of for £10 for the two, in all £100 to
pay the £58 agreed upon in the contract. But that was not
all ; the forty-six-year-old widow was also sold to five years
of servitude for £22. The Society secured the widow's
release, but she made no objection to the children paying
the passage money in the manner indicated.
At the present hour steamship companies are doing
1®'* Fkiedrich Kapp, Die Deutschen im Staate New York, p. aig.
Land for Redemftioners. 269
just what the individual ship owners did one hundred and
fifty years ago. They have their regular agents in Italy,
Austria, Germany and Poland, who are painting the old
pictures over again, holding up the old attractions and,
often in ways far from reputable, securing emigrants to
fill their coffers. In this way we can easily account for
the 500,000 persons who have come to this country during
the present year. Before the Chinese exclusion law was
passed, thousands of those people were brought here by
syndicates and their services sold to those who would have
them. The Padrone system which prevails among the
Italian immigrants of the poorer classes is also little else
than a revival of the old-time methods that prevailed in the
goodly Province of Pennsylvania during the period under
consideration. As practiced now it is shorn of its worst
features by the humanity of the times, but the underlying
principles are not widely different.
Land Provided for Redemptioners.
At some time, and somewhere, either by written page or
verbal declaration, it was decreed that bond servants should
receive at the expiration of their term of service, fifty acres
of land from the Proprietary Government at the exceed¬
ingly low annual quit rent of two shillings, or about one
cent per acre. Nothing in the various regulations and
laws prescribed for the government of the Province was
more generous and wise than that. It was designed to
give the newly freed man an opportunity with every other
immigrant to get a good start in life. It cast behind what
the man had previously been and recognized him as a
free man, entitled to all the rights and privileges of full
citizenship. His quit rent was to be only one-half that
270 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania,
which his former master was required to pay. In short,
the fullest opportunity was given him to repair his fortunes
if his industry and thrift so inclined him.
But all my researches to trace the origin of this practice
of bestowing these fifty acres of land upon bond servants,
have been unavailing. There are many allusions to it
scattered throughout the laws regulating the affairs of the
Province, as well as among more recent writers, but it is
always alluded to as an already existing law. The original
decree or place of record is nowhere revealed. For in¬
stance, in Penn's " Conditions
and Concessions " the seventh
section reads as follows : " That
for every Fifty Acres that shall
be allotted to a Servant at the
End of his] Service, his Quitrent
shall be Two Shillings -per An^
num^ and the Master or Owner
of the Servant, when he shall
take up the other Fifty Acres,
his Quitrent shall be Four Shil¬
lings by the Year, or if the
Master of the Servant (by rea¬
son in the Indentures he is so
obliged to do) allot out to the
Servant Fifty Acres in his own
Division, the said Master shall have on Demand allotted to
him from the Governor, the One Hundred Acres at the
chief Rent of Six Shillings per Annum.Grahame
165 «' Certain Conditions and Concessions agreed upon by William Penn, Pro¬
prietary and Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and those who are thç
Adventurers and Purchasers in the same Province, the Eleventh of July, One
Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty One."
GOURD FOR SEINE FEOAT.
Conditions to Renters^ 271
makes an emphatic declaration about such a law in a para¬
graph discussing this very article in the " Conditions and
Concessions."
Benjamin Furley, the English Quaker and a life-long
friend of Penn, whose principal agent he was for the sale
of lands in the newly acquired Province, in a letter to a
friend sets forth under date of March 6, 1684, certain ex¬
planations concerning the conditions granted to settlers.
Among other things he has a paragraph relative to
Renters.
" To those who have enough money to pay the expense
of their passage as well for themselves as for their wives,
children, and servants, but upon their arrival have no more
money with which to buy lands, the Governor gives full
liberty for themselves, their wives, children and servants
who are not under the age of sixteen years, whether male
or female, each to take fifty acres at an annual rent in per¬
petuity of an English dernier for each acre, which is less
than a Dutch soL It will be rented to them and to their
children in perpetuity the same as if they had bought the
said land. For the children and servants after the term of
their service will have expired, in order to encourage them
to serve faithfully their fathers and masters, the Gh^vernof
gives them full liberty for themselves and their heirs in per¬
petuity, to take for each 50 acres, paying only a little an¬
nual rent of two English shillings (Escalins) for 50 acres,
which is less than a farthing for each acre. And they and
tiie constitutional frame was appended a code of 40 conditional
laws. Among tHem it proclaimed that the rank and rights of freemen of the
Province should accrue to all purchasers of a hundred acres of land : to all ser¬
vants or bondsmen who at the expiration of their engagements should culti¬
vate the quota of land (50 acres) allotted to them by law. " (Grahame's History
of Pennsylvania, pp. 333-334- )
272 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
their fathers and masters will be regarded as true citizens.
They will have the right of suffrage not only for the elec¬
tion of Magistrates of-the place where they live but also
for that of the members of the Council of the Province and
the General Assembly, which two bodies joined with the
Governor are the Sovereignty, and what is much more
they may be chosen to exercise some office, if the commu¬
nity of the place where they live considers them capable
of it, no matter what their nationality or religion."
It will be seen from the foregoing that these 50 acres of
land which were allotted to Redemptioners at the conclu¬
sion of their term of service, were not an absolute gift or
donation by the Proprietors, as so many writers seem to
think, but were rented to them on more reasonable terms
than to their masters. I have nowhere found whether
other equally favorable concessions were made when the
Redemptioner purchased his 50 acres outright or when he
after a while preferred exclusive ownership in preference
to the payment of quit-rent. Doubtless, in the latter case,
he came in on the same footing as any other original pur¬
chaser. A recent history ventures upon the following ex¬
planation : "The land secured by settlers and servants
who had worked out their term of years, was granted in
fee under favor which came directly or indirectly from the
crown." To the average reader that must appear like an
explanation that does not explain, and is incorrect in addi¬
tion. The regulation did not convey an absolute title to
land. It was granted under a reservation and not in fee
simple. Every student knows that all the laws passed in
the Province were subject to revision by the crown, and
iB7 See article by Judge S. W. Pennypacker in Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, Vol. VI., pp. 320-321.
Scharf & Westcott's History of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p. 134.
Lands Given to Redem-ptioners.
273
therefore whatever law or custom, to be legal, must have
received the royal assent. What is much more to the point
is when and where that concession to indentured servants
was first proclaimed and put upon record. It seems un¬
reasonable that there was no legal authorization of the
practice.
Addenda.
Long after the foregoing remarks and speculations con¬
cerning the time and place where the custom of allowing
indentured servitors to take up 50 acres of land at a nom¬
inal quit-rent had been written, and after the chapter in
which they appear had been printed, I had the good for¬
tune to find the authorization that had so long eluded my
search.
On March 4, 1681, King Charles signed the document
which gave to William Penn the Province of Pennsylvania.
Very soon thereafter Penn wrote an account of his new
possessions from the best information he then had. It was
printed in a folio pamphlet of ten pages, entitled : Some
ACCOUNT of the Province of Pennsilvania in
AMERICA ; Lately Granted under the Great Seal of
ENGLAND to William Penn, Etc. Together with
Priviledges and Powers necessary to the well-governing
thereof Made puhlick for the Information of such as are
or may be disposed to Transport themselves or Servants into
those Parts. London : Printed^ and Sold by Benjamin
Clark Bookseller in George-Tard Lombard-Street^ 1681.^^
The title of the tract in fac-simile will be found on page
272.
In this scarce and valuable little tract Penn sets forth the
"Conditions" under which he was disposed to colonize
his new Province. Condition No. III. reads as follows :
274 The Gennan Immigration into Pennsylvania.
S O M £
ACCOUNT
OF THE
PROVINCE
PENNSILVANIA
AMERICA'
♦
Lately Granted under the Great Seal
ENGLAND
T O
William Penn,
Tpgether with Priviledges and Powers necef*
fary to the well-governing thercot.
Made publick for the Inforniation of fuch as are or may be
difpofcd CO Tranfport diemielves or Servants
into chofc Parts.
LON'DO N: Printed, and Sold by Cîark
Bookièllei in Ceorgc-iiarA U)mhairA'ßreeti \6% i,
PENN'S FIRST PAMPHLET ON HIS AMERICAN POSSESSIONS.
Fifty Acres Allotted to Each Servant. 275
" My conditions will relate to^three sorts of people : ist.
Those that will buy : 2dly. Those that take up land upon
rent: sdly. Servants. To the first, the shares I sell shall
be certain as to number of acres ; that is to say, every one
shall contain five thousand acres, free from any Indian in¬
cumbrance, the price a hundred pounds and for the quit-
rent but one English shilling or the value of it yearly for
a hundred acres ; and the said quit-rent not to begin to be
paid till 1684. To the second sort, that take upland upon
rent, they shall have liberty so to do paying yearly one
penny per acre, not exceeding two hundred acres.—To
the third sort, to wit, servants that are carried over, fifty
acres shall be allowed to the master for every head, and
fifty acres to every servant when their time is
expired. And because some engaged with me that may
not be disposed to go, it were very advisable for every
three adventurers to send an overseer with their servants,
which would well pay the cost."
COAT-OF-ARMS OF GFORGE ROSS, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE, FROM LANCASTER, PA.
the oed market square at germantown.
CHAPTER IX.
The Traffic in Redemptioners as Carried on in the
Neighboring Colonies—^Men Kidnapped in the Streets
of London and Deported—Prisoners of War sent to
America and sold into Bondage in Cromwell's Time.
" God's blessing on the Fatherland,
And all beneath her dome ;
And also on the newer land
We now have made our home."
" Ein dichter Kreis von Eieben steht,
Ihr Brüder, um uns her ;
Uns Knüpft so manches theuere Band
An unser deutsches Vaterland,
Drum fällt der Abschied schwer."
M HILE my discussion
of this question has
special reference to the Pro¬
vince of Pennsylvania, the
trade had so ramified into the
neighboring regions to the
south of us, that a brief glance
at what prevailed there will
assist us in understanding the situation at our own doors.
In fact we may be said to have taken it from them, because
(276)
old-time wooden lantern.
Servant Laws in Maryland.
277
it prevailed there many years before it developed in Penn¬
sylvania. It prevailed in Virginia from an early period,
and when Lord Baltimore established his government in
his new Province of Maryland, he was prompt to recognize
the same system in order to more rapidly secure colonists.
In the beginning the term of service there was fixed at five
years. In 1638 the Maryland Assembly passed an act
reducing it to four years, which remained in force until
1715» when it was amended by fixing the period of service
for servants above the age of twenty-five years, at five
years ; those between the age of eighteen and twenty-five
years, at'six years ; those between fifteen and eighteen at
seven years, while all below fifteen years were compelled
to remain with their masters until they reached the age of
twenty-two years.
Servants in Maryland were from the first placed under
the protection of the law, which no doubt threw many
safeguards around them, preventing impositions in many
cases, and securing them justice from hard and inhuman
masters. Either by law or by custom the practice grew
up of rewarding these servants at the expiration of their
time of service, as we find in 1637 one of these servants
entitled to "one cap or hat, one new cloth or frieze suit,
one shirt, one pair of shoes and stockings, one axe, one
broad and one narrow hoe, fifty acres of land and three
barrels of corn" out of the estate of his deceased master.^®"
There, as in Pennsylvania, the way to preferment was
open to man and master alike. There as here many of
these Redemptioners became in time prosperous, promi¬
nent people. No stigma was attached to this temporary ser-
15® LotJiS P. Hennighausen, The Redemptioners and the German Society
of Maryland, pp. 1-2.
180 Louis P. Hennighausen, Case quoted from Maryland Archives, 1637.
278 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
vitude, and intermarriages between masters and their female
servants were not infrequent, nor between servants and
members of the master's household. But these people
could not select their masters. They were compelled to
serve those who paid the sums due the ship captain or ship
owner. Indeed their lot was often during its duration actu¬
ally harder than that of the negro slaves, for it was to the
owner's interests to take care of his slaves, who were his
all their lives, while the indentured servants remained with
him for a few years only. There were consequently as
many complaints there as in Pennsylvania.
We must not lose sight of the fact, however, that for
many years these Redemptioners were almost exclusively
of English and Irish birth. It was not so easy to deal
with them as with foreigners. They sent their complaints
to England, and measures were taken there to prevent the
abuses complained of. The press even took up the refrain
and the letters sent home appeared in the newspapers, ac¬
companied by warnings against entering into these con¬
tracts. It was not until the institution was in full career in
Penn's province that it began there. The first Germans
who reached Maryland in considerable numbers were such
as migrated out of Pennsylvania. Lancaster county lay
on the Maryland border, and the migrating instinct soon
took them to Baltimore, Harford, Frederick and the western
counties. As these people made themselves homes and be¬
came prosperous, they needed labor for their fields and
naturally enough preferred their own countrymen. The
GERriñN inniGRñTION INTO PENNSYLVANIA
Redemftîoners in Maryland. 279
Newlanders, however, were just as willing to send their
ship-loads of human freight to Baltimore as to Philadelphia,
and it was not long before ships began to arrive in the
former port even as they were doing at the latter.
While Pennsylvania, in 1765, at the instigation of the
German Society newly formed in the State, passed laws
for the protection of these immigrants, nothing of the kind
was done in Maryland until a long time afterwards. The
Maryland newspapers of the period teem with notices of
the arrivals of immigrant ships and offerings for sale of
the passengers, just as did those of Philadelphia. Here
are a few examples :
From the Baltimore American, February 8, 1817—
"GERMAN Redemptioners.
"The Dutch ship Jungfrau Johanna, Capt. H. H.
Bleeker, has arrived off Annapolis, from Amsterdam with
a number of passengers, principally farmers and me¬
chanics of all sorts, and several fine young boys and girls,
whose time will be disposed of. Mr. Bolte, ship broker
of Baltimore, will attend on board at Annapolis, to whom
those who wish to supply themselves with good servants,
will please apply; also to Capt. Bleeker on board."
Two weeks later this appeared in the same paper :
" That a few entire families are still on board Johanna
to be hired."
Here is another :
"For Sale or Hire.
"A German Redemptioner, for the term of two years.
28o The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
He is a stout, healthy man, and well acquainted with farm¬
ing, wagon driving and the management of horses. For
further particulars apply to
" C. R. Green, Auctioneer."
Redemptioners,
THERE Oill remain oijlioariltEejbmAiixQra.
aboné anongfc
Servant gids, gardenehr, hiitcbcys^ QiafooSi
bakers, bread bakers,^ t éhoemakcr^. a.filvec
liuiib, I leather drefler« i tobactóniR, a pai^
cook, and fome a little'aciiiiaiDtod wlih.'tyahiiig
on families, asvvell as farn^g and tebdíag borféa,
&c They ere all in good k.eal(b. Any pe<cfoQ|
defirooB of being accommodated in che above
branch CS will pleafie Ipeedily toapply 'to
Captain JOHN «BOWLE6,
in the ftreaxn^^off E0ÍL^-PaÍ0tí<
Who offtrf fn Sttley
So IceOi^NMind Water Caflta
a cheft elegant Fowling Pieces, .fioglt and dpa-,
ble barrelled
t^fioo Patch Brick, and
Sundry'ihips Provlûnn^.
July 14. âjheïïqt
SHIPMASTER'S ADVERTISEMENT OF REDEMPTIONERS.
On April I Ith we have this :
"GERMAN REDEMPTIONER—$30 REWARD.
"Absconded from the Subscriber on Sunday, the 5th
inst., a German Redemptioner, who arrived here in
November last, by name Maurice Schumacher, about 30
years of age, 5 feet 9 inches, well proportioned, good
countenance, but rather pale in complexion, short hair,
has a very genteel suit of clothes, by trade a cabinet
maker, but has been employed by me in the making of
brushes. He is a good German scholar, understands
Price of a German Boy.
French and Latin, an excel¬
lent workman, speaks Eng¬
lish imperfectly. $30 Re¬
ward if lodged in jail.
"Jos. M. Stapleton,
"Brush Maker,
"139 Baltimore Street."
On March 3d a reward is
offered for the capture of a
German Redemptioner, a
tailor who took French leave
from Washington.
On March nth a reward
of $30 is offered for the
capture of a German Re¬
demptioner, a bricklayer.
As late as April 7th of the
same year, 1817, I find our
old friend, the Johanna^
which, arriving on Febru¬
ary 8th, had not yet dis¬
posed of her living cargo, as
the following advertisement
shows :
" German Redemption-
ers.
"The Dutch Johan¬
na, Captain H. H. Bleeker,
has arrived before this City,
and lies now in the cove of
Wiegman's Wharf ; there
are on board, desirous of
282 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
binding themselves, for their passage, the following single
men : Two capital blacksmiths, a rope maker, a carrier, a
smart apothecary, a tailor, a good man to cook, several
young men as waiters, etc. Among those with families are
gardeners, weavers, a stonemason, a miller, a baker, a
sugar baker, farmers and other professions, etc."
Two months in port and not all sold yet !
One more extract from the Baltimore American and I
am done. It is this, in the issue of February 7, 1817, a
winter of extraordinary severity in that latitude :..
" A ship with upward of 300 German men, women and
children has arrived-off Annapolis, where she is detained
by ice. These people have been fifteen weeks on board
and are short of provisions. Upon making the Capes,
their bedding having become filthy, was thrown overboard.
They are now actually perishing from the cold and want
of provisions."
No bedding, few provisions, with the thermometer rang¬
ing from five degrees above to four below zero. Surely
the Maryland Redemptioner was tasting all the miseries
of servitude, as his Pennsylvania brother had done for
three-quarters of a century previously.
In answer to a strong newspaper appeal made by a
German descendant, a meeting of Germans and descend¬
ants of Germans was called on February 13, 1817, to form
a society to protect and assist, so far as was possible, the
German immigrants. That action resulted in the forma¬
tion of the German Society of Maryland. The member¬
ship was composed of the best and most prominent men in
the State, and it at once went to work with an energy and
determination that promised good results. The captain of
the Johanna was prosecuted for illegal practices and for
appropriating to his own use the effects of dead passengers.
The sick on board were sent to hospitals.
The German Society of Maryland. 283
In 1818 the Society was instrumental in securing the
passage of an act by the Maryland Assembly consisting
of numerous sections in which provision was made to do
away with the evils which had hitherto prevailed in the
importation, sale and treatment of Redemptioners of Ger¬
man and Swiss ancestry. Every one of the disgraceful
practices which formerly obtained was done away with.
The Society took care that this excellent law was strictly
enforced and in a few years the bringing over of Redemp¬
tioners became so unprofitable that the very name disap¬
peared from the records. Upon one occasion—it was in
March, 1819—a ship, the Vrouw Elizaheth^ reached Balti¬
more with a number of immigrants, who before embarking
had subscribed to the usual conditions.. But when they
reached this country, they refused to comply with their
agreements. The officers of the Society refused to coun¬
tenance this action and wrote them a letter in which they
said that as the Captain of the ship had treated them with
the utmost kindness, they must comply with their con¬
tracts and that the Society would not countenance their
attempt to evade their honest obligations. Herein the So¬
ciety manifested its desire to deal fairly with Shipmasters as
well as with the poor people they brought over.'®^
It deserves to be stated that, in addition to the large num¬
ber of Germans who went to Maryland from Pennsylvania,
there was also considerable immigration into that State
through the port of Annapolis. From the entries at that
city we learn the fact that from 1752 to 1755, 1,060 Ger¬
man immigrants arrived there ; in 1752,150 ; in 1753, 460 ;
and in 1755, 450. They are spoken of as Palatines.
1611 desire to express my acknowledgment for many of the foregoing
facts relating to the Redemptioners of Maryland, to the excellent little work
of I<ouiS P. Hennighatjsen, Esq., to which I have already referred.
Publications of the Society for the History of the Germans in Mary¬
land, for 1890-1891, pp. 18-19.
Condition of Redem^tioners in Maryland. 285
" No public records were kept of the contracts entered
into abroad by the Redemptioners (of Maryland) nor of the
time of the expiration of their service. The Redemptioners
were not furnished with duplicates of their contracts. They
could be, and sometimes were, mortgaged, hired out for a
shorter period, sold and transferred like chattel by their
masters. (^Maryland Archives^ 1637-50, pp. 132-486.)
The Redemptioners, belonging to the poor and most of
them to the ignorant class, it is apparent that under these
circumstances were at a great disadvantage against rapa¬
cious masters, who kept them in servitude after the expira¬
tion of their true contract time, claiming their services for a
longer period.
" As the number of slaves increased in the colony, and
labor became despised, the Redemptioner lost caste and
the respect which is accorded to working people in non-
slave-holding communities. He was in many respects
treated like the black slave. He could neither purchase
nor sell anything without the permission of the master. If
163 One of the historical buildings of early Philadelphia was "The Blue
Anchor Tavern." It was built at the confluence of Dock Creek with the Dela¬
ware, This creek was formed by several springs leading out of the swampy
ground near its mouth. The tavern was built by George Griest. It stood on
what is now the southwest corner of South and Ninth streets. The river bank
in front of it was low and sandy and elsewhere high and precipitous. Penn
left the ship Welcome on which he had come over, at Upland, now Chester,
and came up the river in a boat, landing at " The Blue Anchor." Tradition as¬
signs to it the honor of being the flrst house built in Philadelphia. It was small
in size, having fronts on both Front and Dock streets, with ceilings feet
high. While it looked like a brick house it in reality was framed of wood with
bricks filled in. The tavern, from its favored locality, was a noted place for
business. All small vessels made their landing there. There was a public
ferry across Dock Creek at the tavern. Dock Creek being then navigable for
small craft. Griest, the first landlord, was a Quaker, as were his successors,
Reese Price, Peter Howard and Benjamin Humphries. Proud says the house
was not quite finished at the time of Penn's arrival in November, 1682. Dater
the tavern went by the name of " The Boatswain and Call." It was torn down
in 1828. (See Watson's Annals of Philadelphia.')
286 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
caught ten miles away from home, without the written per¬
mission of his master, he was liable to be taken up as a run¬
away and severely punished. The person who harbored a
runaway was fined 500 pounds of tobacco for each twenty-
four hours, and to be whipped if unable to pay the fine.
There was a standing reward of 200 pounds of tobacco for
capturing runaways, and the Indians received for every
captured runaway they turned in a ' match coat.' For
every day's absence from work ten days were added to his
time of servitude. The master had a right to whip his Re-
demptioner for any real or imaginary offense, which must
have been a very difficult matter to determine, for offenses
may be multiplied. The laws also provided for his pro¬
tection. For excessively cruel punishment the master could
be fined and the Redemptioner set free. I presume in most
cases this was only effective when the Redemptioner had
influential friends who would take up his case."^®^
The System in New York.
New York had a similar system, although, owing to the
fact that the many large landed estates owned by the Pa-
troons, were worked by free tenant farmers, the number of
white indentured servants was not nearly so great as in
Pennsylvania. The character of this labor was, however,
the same as in Pennsylvania and Maryland. They con¬
sisted of convicts sent from England and Ireland, of the
miserably poor who Iwere kidnapped and sold into servi¬
tude, and of Redemptioners who were disposed of on their
arrival, as in Pennsylvania, to pay the cost of transporta¬
tion and other expenses.^®® It is elsewhere stated in these
Louis P. Hennighausen, The Redemptioners^ pp. 5-6.
165 3ee John Fiske's Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America^ Vol. II., p.
286.
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288 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
pages that many of the children of parents who died on
the ten ships that brought over the more than three thou¬
sand Germans to New York in 1710, were bound out to ser¬
vitude by the Government authorities.
The State of New York also legislated on this perplex¬
ing question, as may be seen by the following :
" And Whereas, the emigration of poor persons from
Europe hath greatly conduced to the settlement of this
State, while a Colony ; and Whereas, doubts have arisen
tending to the discouragement of further importations of
such poor persons ;—therefore be it further enacted, by the
authority aforesaid that every contract already made or
hereafter to be made by any infant or other person coming
from beyond the sea, executed in the presence of two wit¬
nesses and acknowledged by the servant, before any
Mayor, Recorder, Alderman or Justice of the Peace, shall
bind the party entering into the same, for such term and
for such services as shall be therein specified : And that
every assignment of the same executed before two credible
witnesses shall be effectual to transfer the same contract
for the residue of the term therein mentioned. But that
no contract shall bind any infant longer than his or her ar¬
rival to the full age of twenty-one years ; excepting such
as are or shall be bound in order to raise money for the
payment of their passages, who may be bound until the
age of twenty-four years, provided the term of such service
shall not exceed four years in the whole."
The Traffic in Virginia.
The early Virginia colonists were a class, who came not
to work themselves, but to live on the labor of others.
166 New York Laws, Chapter 15. "An act concerning apprentices and Ser¬
vants." Passed February 6, 1788.
Redemftioner Life in Virginia.
289
This required the aid of servile labor. Negro labor was at
first resorted to. That was in 1619, but as the demand
was greater than the supply, other sources had to be found.
Convicted criminals were sent from the mother country in
large numbers. But other means were also resorted to.
Men, boys and girls were kidnapped in the streets of Lon¬
don, hurried on ship-board and sent to the new colony,
where they were indentured as servants for a term of years.
The usual term of service was four years but this was only
too frequently prolonged beyond that period for trivial of¬
fenses. Fiske says "their lives were in theory protected
by law, but when an indentured servant came to his death
from prolonged ill usage or from excessive punishment, or
even from sudden violence, it was not easy to get a verdict
against the master. In those days of frequent flogging, the
lash was inflicted upon the indentured servant with scarcely
less compunction than upon the purchased slave."But
the majority of the indentured white servants of Vir¬
ginia, like those of Pennsylvania, were honest, well-
behaved persons, who like the latter sold themselves into
temporary servitude to pay the charges of transportation.
The purchaser paid the ship master with the then coin of
the colony, tobacco, and received his servant. There as
in Pennsylvania they were known as Redemptioners, and
like those in this State numbered many of excellent char¬
acter. There was no let up in this importation of convicts
and servants until it was terminated by the Revolutionary
War. It has been variously estimated that the number of
involuntary immigrants sent to America from Great Britain
between 1717 and 1775 was 10,000 and during the seven¬
teenth and eighteenth centuries 50,000. Probably a ma-
John Fiske's Old Virginia and her Neighbours^ Vol. I., p. 177.
American Historical Review, II., p. 25. See also Penny Cyclopedia,
Vol. XXV., p. 138.
290 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
jority of these reached Virginia. The latter colony re¬
ceived more Redemptioners than any of the other colonies
during the seventeeth century, but in the eighteenth, Penn¬
sylvania was the more favored province.
There were still another class of servants who were sent
to America who deserve to be mentioned in this connec¬
tion. They were prisoners of war, men who were cap¬
tured by Cromwell at Dunbar and Worcester. Some of
PASSENGER SHIP CP THE PERIOD—1750.
From a Contemporary Drawing.
these were sent to Virginia. After the restoration of the
Stuart dynasty, so many non-conformists were sold into
servitude in Virginia as to lead to an insurrection in 1663,
Redemftioners Sent to JVew Jersey. 291
followed by legislation designed to keep all convicts out of
the colony.
Of the services rendered to the colony of Virginia by
these indentured servants it has been said they were " the
main pillar of the industrial fabric, and performed the most
honorable work in establishing and sustaining it."
In Virginia, as in Pennsylvania, many of these Redemp-
tioners rose to be persons of wealth and importance in the
Commonwealth, and occasionally became members of the
House of Burgesses. At the same time it deserves to be
very distinctly stated that the general character of the Re-
demptioners in Virginia was by no means equal to that of
the Germans who came to Pennsylvania ; nor was any¬
thing else to be expected considering the classes from
whom so many sprung.
In New Jersey.
Mellick informs us that the laws of New Jersey were
about like those of Pennsylvania in relation to the Re-
demptioners. Contiguous as the two were, with only the
Delaware river between, this was to be expected. In
Section 5, of the Colonial Entry Book of^that State, oc¬
curs the following :
"The waies of obtayning these servants have beene
usually by employing a sorte of men and women who
make it theire profession to tempt or gaine poore or idle
persons to goe to the Plantations and having persuaded or
deceived them on Shipp board they receive a reward from
the person who employed them."
i69 pisKE's Old Virginia and her Neighbours, Vol. II., pp. 184-185.
^'0 Bruce'S Economic History of Virginia, Vol. I., p. 609.
"Many of the early settlers of Virginia reached that colony as servants,
doomed according to the severe laws of that age, to temporary bondage. Some
of them, even, were convicts." (Bancroft's History of the United States,
Vol. II., p. 191.)
292 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
In New Jersey, under the laws, white servants could not
be compelled to serve more than four years if sold or bound
after attaining the age of seventeen years. Young chil¬
dren were held until they attained their majority. When
the term of service expired the redemptioner received two
suits of clothing, one falling axe, one good hoe and seven
bushels of corn. The master was not allowed to inflict
corporeal punishment upon his bond servant, but he could
bring the case to the attention of a civil magistrate.
It is a noteworthy fact that the most popular novel pub¬
lished in the United States in the year 1899 has a Redemp¬
tioner for its hero, and for the most part the scene of the
novel is laid in New Jersey. Another work of fiction, al¬
most equal to the previous one mentioned in popularity,
deals with a Redemptioner hero in Virginia.^^^
The colony South Carolina also received some of this
Redemptioner immigration, and pretty nearly the same
h
conditions and terms for taking them there, and holding
them in bondage, prevailed as elsewhere.
Joshua Kocherthal in his little pamphlet, published in
Frankfort in 1709, in which he strives to divert German
emigration from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, says in
his ninth chapter that "Special arrangements have to be
made with the Captain for each half grown child. Fer¬
ons too poor to pay, sometimes find proprietors willing to
advance the funds, in return for which they serve the latter
for some time in Carolina. The period of service, in time
171 Ford's Janice Meredith and Johnston's To Have and to Hold,
KochenthaVs Invitation to Carolina. 293
of peace, is from two to three years, but when the fare is
higher (he states it to be from five to six pounds sterling,
but the cost of a convoy and other expenses, raise it to
seven and eight pounds for every adult), the time is neces¬
sarily longer.He adds in an appendix that " an im¬
migrant to Pennsylvania must have the ready money with
which to prepay his passage, while for one going to Caro¬
lina, this is not necessary."
Full and Circumstantial Report Concerning the Renowned District of
Carolina in British America, 1709.
See also Dr. Jacobs' German Emigration to America, pp. 39-^40.
the de da peaine hqhse, germantown.
CHAPTER X.
Argument Attempting to Show the Redemptioner
System was by no Means an Unmixed Evil.—That
Much Good Came out of it.—That in Most Respects
it was Preferable to the Unending Round of Toil
that had to be encountered in the Fatherland.
" O, Rivers, with your beauty time-defying,
Flowing along our peaceful shores to-day,
Be glad you fostered them—the heroes lying
Deep in the silent clay.
" Be jubilant ye Hill-tops old and hoary—
Proud that their feet have trod your rocky
ways ;
Rej oice, ye Vales, for they have brought you
glory
And ever during praise."
®NE hundred and fifty years
are but a short period in
the history of the human race.
In the early ages of the world
that number of years would come
and go and at their close men thought and did and felt
about as at their beginning. Habits and morals were not as
now, things that change almost as regularly and frequently
(294)
DKST J
franklin arms.
This Traffic a Custom of the Age, 295
as the earth's revolutions around the sun. But times have
undergone a wonderful transformation during the past cen¬
tury and a-half. So far away is 1730 in its customs and
manner of thought, that we hardly realize that it was the
time in which our great-grandfathers lived, and yet in some
things we seem as far removed from those days as we are
from the biblical patriarchs who lived and died upon the
Judean hills, thousands of years ago.
This man-traffic, which I have attempted to describe in
these pages, did not at that time create the general ab¬
horrence with which we now regard it. It was a matter
of every-day business in every community. It had the
SPECIMEN OE EPHRATA DISPLAY TYPE, MADE AND USED AT THAT
PLACE PRIOR TO 1748.
endorsement, so far as we may judge from the records
and the spirit of that time, of the majority of the com¬
munity. It was recognized as a legitimate business by
296 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
the laws of the land. It was in full accord with the com¬
mon life of the people. Even Sauer, Mittelberger,
Muhlenberg and the other worthies of that period who
have been referred to and liberally quoted, did not arraign
the system itself, but the numberless and almost nameless
abuses it called forth. It was the injustice, the hardships,
the rascality, misrepresentations, methods of transporta¬
tion, the crowded condition of the ships, the hunger and
starvation, the sufferings, the general horrors by which it
was accompanied, that called forth their protests. Never,
since men have gone down to the sea in ships, have such
sufferings and iniquities been known. Only men dead
to all the better instincts of our human nature could have
been guilty of the barbarities practiced upon these inno¬
cent, helpless victims of man's inhumanity to man.
Even as I read them to-day, I cannot understand why
these men did not arise in their might and thmr wrath,
smite their oppressors, and cast them into the sea, even as
their own dead were thrown into the kindly waters, un-
knelled, uncoifined and unknown. They were many and
their oppressors few ; smarting under the deceptions and
wrongs practiced upon them, their forbearance seems al¬
most inexplicable. Here, too, the spirit of the age played
its part. It was an age of loyalty to lord and master. To
them the doctrine of jure divino was not a mere abstrac¬
tion. It was one of the overmastering principles of their
lives. They were respecters of authority, and to an ex¬
tent that for half a century and more led to their disadvan¬
tage. For once the divine precept of obedience to author¬
ity worked to their undoing.
We fail to understand how these poor people should have
consented to all this unutterable injustice and wrong-doing
for several generations. If the immigrant of 1728 was
The Father of His Country. 297
unaware of what was in store for him, the same cannot be
said of those who camé in 1750 and thereafter. The At-
£ aire öltet: ©etnicfí Uiy granciê ^ailei).
FAC-SIMILE OF COVER ON BAILEY'S GERMAN ALMANAC.
173 The above cut is a fac-simile of the cover on an almanac—Gantz
Neue Berbesserte Nord-Americanische Calender. Auf das iNÇste Jahr u. f.
w. Berfertigt von David Rittenhaus,—published at I«ancaster, Pa., by Francis
298 The German Immigration into Temisylvania.
lantic was wide, but not so wide that letters could not reach
the relatives and friends who were still in the old home.
We know many of them wrote and told the horrors that had
been encountered. It is true, as is elsewhere recounted,
that the Newlanders even stole the letters from America,
when they could, to prevent the dismal tales they told from
becoming known to those for whom they were intended ;
but that, doubtless, was an infrequent occurrence, and pos¬
sible only on favorable occasions. Why then did these
people persist in coming, five and six thousand yearly, for
lengthy periods ? The question is difficult to answer, per¬
haps, and yet I venture upon an explanation.
Why do thousands of gold-seekers and other adventurers
brave all the hardships of Alaskan winters to find fortunes in
the Klondike? Everybody knows that not one in a score
of them is successful, and yet the hegira thitherward is as
active to-day as when that wealth-fever first set the gold-
seekers in motion. We hear and know some are success¬
ful. The rest hope they may be. All who came to Amer¬
ica did not score failures. Not all were penniless and
needy. Those who were able to make a fair start were
successful far beyond anything they could ever have at¬
tained in their old homes. The virgin lands were rich
almost beyond description. In that the booklets of Penn,
Pastorius, Thomas and others did not exaggerate. The sit¬
uation in this particular was not overdrawn, and the lands
were cheap. It is true there was hard labor and plenty of
it before the settler. But he was a German, strong of will
Bailey. It possesses especial historical interest from the fact that the winged
allegorical figure of Fame, seen in the upper part, holds in one of her hands a
medallion portrait of Washington, while in the other she has a horn, from
which a blast is blown with the legend Des Landes Vater. This is the first
recorded instance where the designation of " Father of his Country " was
given to Washington,
GERnñ/N inniQRñTlO/N INTO FENNSYLUñNlñ.
PENNSYLVANIñ-GERHñN FARM LIFE,
n connuNiTY cider-fress.
Plenty in the New Ho^ne.
and limb, inured to toil and not afraid to labor every day
in the year except Sundays, if the situation required such
service. The seasons were on his side and he saw houses
and lands, such as he never dreamed of owning, belong¬
ing to him, yielding him an abundant support and provid¬
ing an inheritance for those whom he should leave behind
him.
Another important condition of life came to the front
with these people, to which most of them perhaps had been
strangers in the old home. It was the question of food.
Not only did the soil yield its abundant harvests, but the
fields and the woods made no mean additions to their
larder. Game of many kinds was at their command.
Fur and feather and fin may almost be said to have been
as much the product of their farms as wheat and corn and
potatoes. Meat could be on their tables daily if they so
desired. Mittelberger is very explicit on this point. He
says: "Provisions are cheap in Pennsylvania. The
people live well, especially on all sorts of grain, which
thrives very well, because the soil is wild and fat. They
have good cattle, fast horses and many bees. The sheep
which are larger than the German ones, have generally
two lambs a year. Hogs and poultry, especially turkeys
are raised by almost everybody. Every evening many a
tree is so full of chickens that the boughs bend beneath
them. Even in the hiimhlest and poorest houses m this
country there is no meal without meat, and no one eats
the bread without the butter or cheese, although the bread
is as good as with us. On account of the extensive stock
raising, meat is very cheap : one can buy the best beef for
three kreuzers a pound."He tells of poultry and eggs,
fish, turtles, venison, wild pigeons, and other foods ; not
174 mittelberger's Reise nach Pennsylvanian im Jahr 1754, pp. 64-65.
300 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
to mention nuts, grapes and other fruits that were to be had
in every woods for the gathering.
All these things were well known in the Fatherland.
Every letter spoke of them. Such flattering tales had
their effect. They came for the most part to men and
women whose lines in life were hard and drawn. The
struggle for existence there was all those words imply.
Nowhere in Europe was it harder. It was a from-hand-
to-mouth life. The food was often scant, and not of the
best at that. As these letters and the various descriptions
of Penn's wonderful land which were everywhere distrib¬
uted by the Newlanders were read around the fireside dur¬
ing the bleak winters, and the ever-present scant larder
forced itself upon the mind, there could be but one result.
The overmastering instinct of the race to better its con¬
dition came upon them. There are many causes that lead
men to seek new homes, in distant lands, but there is one
that overtops all the rest. It is the desire to better their
worldly condition, the hope of material advancement, in
short, it is better bread and more of it that lies at the source
of nearly all the migrations of the human family. The
love of gain, the desire for property and the accumulation
of wealth was the great underlying principle of all coloni¬
zation on the American continent. It was this all-power¬
ful motive that crowded out all else, and led these people
to brave all dangers, known and unknown, to reach this
western Eden. So long as distress and danger and diffi¬
culties are in the dim distance, we fail to give them due
consideration. It is only when they become a present
reality, a source of trial and sorrow, that we realize the
true condition of things.
These people were ready to encounter the obstacles they
knew were to be met. Perhaps they underestimated their
Only Denunciations for the Traffic. 301
importance and character. That was something which
could not be guarded against. At all events, their fears
were cast behind them and that hope which springs eternal
in the human breast held sway, and spurred them to take
the leap in the dark which many lived to regret, and which
thousands regretted while dying. No sadder tale can ever
be told. It has become an imperishable page in the his¬
tory of the Germans of Pennsylvania ; one that the historian
reluctantly deals with, so
full of sorrow and heart¬
break is it.
So abominable and in¬
human were the dealings
of the Newlanders, ship¬
masters, ship-owners and
most of the commission
merchants with these help¬
less immigrante, and so
sad and sorrowful the fate
of many of them, that the
wrath of the reader is also
aroused and the denunci¬
ation has become universal. The same incidents are told
by them all, and the worst are of course chosen for expo¬
sure ; the same tale of starvation and pestilence and death
is rehearsed so that we almost insensibly reach the conclu¬
sion that from the beginning until the end, there was one
long, continuous cloud over the horizon of these people, un¬
relieved by a single rift and un-illumined by a single ray.
Almost every writer whom I have consulted has written
only in terms of unqualified condemnation of the evils that
arose out of the system of bonded servants. There is
however one noteworthy exception.
barber's basin, in use 150
years ago.
302 The German Tnmigration into Pennsylvania.
Elder Johannes Naas, who, next to Alexander Mack, was
the most celebrated and influential member of theTaufer or
Brethren church in Germany, came to this country in
1733« Shortly after his arrival he wrote a long letter to his
son, Jacob Wilhelm Naas, who was living in Switzerland at
the time, in which all the incidents and circumstances of
his voyage are minutely detailed. The letter is well worth
reading by every one who has an interest in the events I
have been trying to depict. Want of space prevents its
appearance here in its entirety. The concluding portion
bears directly on the case of the Redemptioners, and con¬
trary to the customary practice, the writer regards that
question favorably, rather than otherwise, for which reason
I quote that part of his letter.
Elder Naas' Letter.
" Now that we have safely arrived in this land and have
been met by our own people in great love and friendship
all the rest has been forgotten (the mishaps and hardships
of the voyage) in a moment, so to speak, for the sake of
the great joy we had in one another. This hardship has
lasted about nineteen weeks ; then it was over, wherefore
be all the glory to the Highest : Amen, yea ; Amen !
" For it does not rue us to have come here, and I wish
with all my heart that you and your children could be with
us ; however, it cannot be and I must not urge you as the
journey is so troublesome for people who are not able to
patiently submit to everything, but often in the best there
are restless minds, but if I could with the good will of God
do for you children all, I assure you that I would not hesi¬
tate to take the trip once more upon me for your sake ;
not because one gets one's living in this land in idleness !
Oh ! no ; this country requires diligent people, in what-
FAC-SIMII^E OF FARI,IEST ENTRIES IN TRAPPE CHURCH RECORDS, MARCH 8, 1729.
304 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
ever trade they may be—but then they can make a good
living. There are, however, many people here, who are
not particularly successful ; as it seems that if some people
were in Paradise it would go badly with them. Some are
to be blamed for it themselves ; for when they come to this
country and see the beautiful plantations ; the number of
fine cattle ; and abundance in everything ; and, knowing
that they only just have come here too, then they want to
have it like that at once, and will not listen to any advice
but take large tracts of land with debts, borrow; cattle and
so forth. These must toil miserably until they get indepen¬
dent. Well, what shall I say, so it is in the world, where
always one is better off than the other. If a person wants
to be contented here, with food and shelter, he can under
the blessing of God and with diligent hands get plenty of
it. Our people are well off ; but some have more abun¬
dance than others, yet nobody is in want. What I heard
concerning the people who do not have the money for the
passage, surprised me greatly, how it goes with the young,
strong people and artisans, how quickly all were gone,
bricklayers, carpenters, and whatever trades they might
have. Also old people who have grown children and who
understand nothing but farm labor, then the child takes two
freights (fare for two) upon itself, its own and that of the
father or of the mother four years, and during that time it
has all the clothing that is needed and in the end an en¬
tirely new outfit from head to-foot, a horse or cow with a
calf. Small children often pay one freight and a half
until they are twenty-one years old. The people are
obliged to have them taught writing and reading, and in
the end to give them new clothes and present them with
a horse or cow.
"There are few houses to be found in city or country
Two Sides to Every Narrative. 305
where the people are at all well off, that do not have one
or two such children in them. The matter is made legal
at the city hall with great earnestness. There parents
and children often will be separated 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20 hours (in distance), and for many young
people it is very good that they cannot pay their own freight.
These will sooner be provided for than those who have
paid theirs and they can have their bread with others and
soon learn the ways of the country.
" I will make an end of this and wish patience to whom¬
soever reads this. God be with you all. Amen.^^®
"Johannes Naas."
This is an extreme view, and not wholly a just one.
The facts as they stand recorded in the works of historians
and the letters of private individuals are true, and they
must always be accepted as such. At the same time it
must be admitted they present us with but one side of the
story. Is there no other side to their picture? There are,
admittedly, two sides to every narrative? Is this one of
the German immigration and the indenturing of many in¬
dividuals as servants for a term of years an exception? It
would, indeed, be an anomalous case if it were so. But it is
not. Men like Christoph Saur and Pastor Muhlenberg and
Gottlieb Mittelberger embarked in this cause to right a great
existing wrong, one that was daily occurring before their
own eyes, and with which they were almost hourly made
acquainted. It was a crime almost without a parallel in its
atrocity, practiced against their countrymen and it may be,
their own kith and kin. They were tireless in their efforts
The complete letter from which the above extract is taken may be found
in Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh's recently published History of the German Bap¬
tist Brethren, pp. 108-123—a valuable addition to the early religious history of
Pennsylvania.
3o6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
to strike it down. They left no stone unturned, nothing
undone that would do away with this crime against hu¬
manity. They showed it up at its worst to arouse the
better part of our human nature against the evil, believing,
and most truly, that in this way it could most quickly be
driven out of existence. If they saw a brighter side to the
question it was not for them to reveal it. It was the wrong
against which their blows were directed. The better and
brighter side needed no defense and, therefore, none was
made for it.
ONE OF THE DANGERS ENCOUNTERED BY THE EARDY SETTLERS.
And there was a brighter side just as certainly as there
was a dark one. That must, indeed, be an evil's crown
of evil that is wholly and unspeakably bad and totally
without redeeming features.
Let us, for a while, turn this gloomy picture to the wall
and see whether we can discover something better on the
other side. Let us bear in mind, in the first place, that
while many plunged heedlessly into the pitfalls laid by the
soulless soul-brokers, there were—must have been—thou-
No Ex-pectations in the Fatherland. 307
sands of others who were not ignorant of what a servant
for a term of years meant. Why did these eagef thou¬
sands hurry from their homes in the Fatherland to such a
fate here? We know full well how it was with a majority
of them there. Born in poverty, unable to rise above the
station of hewers of wood and drawers of water, they were
doomed to lives of unceasing toil, with the hope of better¬
ing their condition as remote as the distant and unheeding
stars. What had even the fertile valleys of the Rhine to
offer these men? Nothing, and well they knew it. Surely
things could not be worse for them in America, and in
this we must all agree.
It was a voluntary action on their part. They knew the
consequences of their step. They were aware that a ship¬
owner would not carry them three thousand miles across
the broad ocean and feed them on the way for nothing,
merely out of charity. Men do not give valuable things to
every comer for nothing. They knew this indebtedness
must be repaid when they reached this country by some one
for they could not do it themselves. But whoever as¬
sumed the temporary burden, they knew that in the end
their own strong arms must make payment. It cannot be
doubted the trials of the voyage were more severe than was
anticipated. For that, perhaps, they were not prepared.
A healthy young man who niay never have known a day's
sickness in his life, little thinks the plague will smite him on
ship-board; and it was the foul diseases disseminated by
personal contact that more than decimated so many hope¬
ful ship companies that sailed out of Rotterdam. It will
hardly be contended that the men coming to Pennsylvania
under such conditions looked forward to anything but a
life of work until time wiped out the score that had been
marked up against them.
3o8 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
It is true we read of " Servants " or " Redemptioners "
who fell into the hands of hard taskmasters. No doubt
this was the case. It has been the case since the days of
Pharaoh and will continue to be while masters and servants
exist upon the earth, and that, most probably, will be until
the end of time.
But that was not the rule. I cannot bring myself to
believe that they were not mostly exceptional cases.It
was natural that Germans already in the country and in need
of help on their farms, or in whatever occupation they may
have been engaged, should have preferred their own coun¬
trymen. The Germans hold together : it is one of their
characteristics, and always has been. The employer pre¬
ferred one who spoke his own language : who can doubt
that? j^That he preferred one from his own dorf or locality is
also certain. When such came together it could not have
been difficult to strike a bargain. And having thus made
their engagement, will it be doubted that the faithful service
of the Redemptioner, anxious to free himself and his wife
and perhaps his children also, was not appreciated by the
master, his own countryman, and perhaps even an acquaint¬
ance? To doubt kind treatment from the buyer to the
bought, under these conditions is to impugn German honor,
German kindness, and that German sense of right which
we know is always true to eternal instincts. We have
reason to know that as a rule the existing conditions worked
well. It was also the servitor's privilege to find another
master when the one he had was not to his liking.
176 «' These indentured servants were not badly treated either by the Swedes
or the Friends. Their usual term of service was four years, and they received
a grant of land, generally fifty acres, at the expiration of the term. The system
was originally contrived in Maryland in order to increase the labor of the
province, and many of the bond servants were persons of good character, but
without means, who sold their services for four or five years in order to secure
a passage across the ocean to the new land of promise." (Scharf & Wbst-
cott's History of Philadelphia y o\. I., p. 134.)
The Incentives to Industry.
If these men were poor, they were nevertheless honor¬
able. It was their bounden duty to comply with their con¬
tracts. Nothing could be gained by. shirking their duties,
save trouble. Every one was certain that the day of deliv¬
erance would come, when he in turn would be an indepen¬
dent land-owner and entitled to all the rights of citizenship
enjoyed by any one. He saw around him, men of standing
and character in the community, who had stood on the low¬
est rung of the social ladder where he himself was then
standing. They had attained their position by fulfilling
their engagements faithfully. They were an example and
their successful careers were an incentive to all who knew
them, to also do as they had done. The laws of the Prov¬
ince made no distinction between him and those above him.
He could aspire to anything or any place anyone else had
attained. In addition to that, they lent him a helping hand
when the hour of his freedom arrived and gave him lands, if
he wanted them, on the most favorable terms. There was
every incentive for a " Redemptioner " to make a man of
himself if he had the will and ability to do so. And why
should he not strive towards that end ? His hour, the hour
so long awaited, had come at last ; the prize he had set out
to reach was now within his grasp ; the day of fruition was
at hand. He had worked hard, but he had done that in the
Fatherland also, done it on scanty rations and without any
hope of rising or in any way bettering his position. He
had passed that point in his new home. He was a free
man. The three, four, or five years had rolled away
quickly and he was now master of the situation.
And what had others done? They had become the
owners in fee simple of estates that ranged from a hundred
to a thousand acres of the best and brightest lands the sun
shines on to-day. They had become the owners of estates^
310 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
which in Germany would have entitled them to the highest
consideration. In all but name, they had in reality become
what the Newlander had promised. Nowhere in all North
A CUSTOM IN THE FATHERLAND.
America was such prosperity seen. It had taken years of
honest toil to accomplish this, but it had been done and
now the independent owner could sit down, literally as well
as figuratively, under his own vine and roof tree with the
world's abundance of good things about him.
With such encouragement the " Redeemed "—no longer
the " Redemptioner "— had but to go to work for himself
as earnestly as he had done for him who had taken him
into his family. Generally he was a man in the vigor of
life, with many yeafs of good work still in him. There
was still ample time to go ahead and improve his condition.
Released from the indenture that had held him, with his
The First Pennsylvania Author.
3"
earlier ambition to improve still strong within him, his lot
was a hundred fold better and more promising than it had
Koit eo klaer xjotveip,
búmn&ttoe
Een onderling Accoort,
o M
Den atbepD / oneull en moepe«
iQcbütpt/ban aiDetiep-ijamt-uinq^
IupDtnteMù|)t(n
D O O K
Een onderlingeCompagilie ofte
VoIck-planting(onder de proteste vande H; Mos
Heeren Státen Geheraelder veceenigde Neder<laa>
denkenbvfonder ondee hec gunítiegefagvandé •
Achtbare Magißraten dec Stad Anmelce«
dam) aen de Zuy'c-reviec in Nieu<nc«
der-land op ce cechtenj Beßaendean
Ltmi-houiverSi
Zte-varenJePerßnttif
jilderbandtnoodige AmiachUduydenf eH Mteßtrx
vangotdtktnßtn tn v/itefifibappcn.
jMetmniDeopDtt)oo}-tec^teni)an tiert aciin
iNMrtifben (alu |iiec na nolgt) (othtenepnoe oecleim«
t'Sainen geßelc
ÄHT fitter C«nuUßi,Ploekbey vt» Zûrci'tett wtrbtmfihtptnmiitrt
LUf-Mitrs'^t» NiuT'tftitr läui*
*^lbtótrbamQtl*íttdit6pOtto BareatfztSmieat. Anno
TITIvE-PAGE OF PLOCKHOY'S BOOK.
Containing a Scheme for Settlement on the Delaware.'"
There is, perhaps, no book or tract relating to the history of Pennsylvania
that has greater interest for the student of the early history of the State than
the little book whose title-page is given in fac-simile above. It is the first de¬
scription of the country written by one living there at the time, and who died
312 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
been in his old home. He felt it and he fell to work to
make the most of it. German industry and German thrift
still accompanied him. The greedy ship-master and the
avaricious broker could not rob him of these. With them
and the ready assistance that was ever forthcoming on the
part of the old master and nearby acquaintances, he started
out on his independent career.
The result is well known. He prospered as he deserved
to do. His cattle multiplied and the soil failed not to pour
forth its abundance. The days of adversity passed away.
The era of prosperity took their place, and his early hopes
and aspirations were realized. That was the career of
thousands. Even though some had in earlier days en¬
countered unspeakable evils, was not this rich fruition of
later years infinitely better than anything that could have
fallen to their lot in Germany? There they were not
bound to a master by indentures, but necessity compelled
them to serve him nevertheless from boyhood until inca¬
pacitated by age, when the poorhouse received their worn-
out frames. He was a servant all his life without any rec¬
ompense at its close, while his food in the meantime was
within its borders after spending most of his life there. The man was Peter
Cornelius Plockhoy, a Dutchman who led a colony of Mennonites to Pennsyl¬
vania at an unknown period and settled at the Hoorn Kill, several miles below
Philadelphia. After having been in existence only a few years, Governor Carr,
of New York, sent an expedition up the Delaware, which broke up and dis¬
persed the little colony. What became of Plockhoy, the founder and leader,
there are no records to tell. He, however, wrote and had printed at Amster¬
dam, in the Dutch language, in 1662, the little tract bearing his name, in which
he gives a history of his colony and its people. With the dispersion of his
little colony, Plockhoy also disappeared, and it was not until 1694, when aged,
blind and destitute, he, with his wife, reached the Mennonite settlement at
Germantown, where kind and willing friends built him a house, planted him a
garden, and where he died. There is not a more pathetic story connected with
the history of our State than this one of poor Plockhoy. His little tract is of
excessive rarity, the only copy in Pennsylvania being in the library of Judge
Pennypacker, of Philadelphia.
See Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society, Vol. II., p. 34.
QERnñN inniGRATlO/N INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
FRANKLIN COLLEGE. 17Ô7.
Fame and Fortune Awaited Many, 313
that of the poor laborer, poor in kind and scant in quantity.
Surely, we cannot contrast such an existence with that
passed by his fellow laborer, Redemptioner though he was,
in the welcoming breezes of Pennsylvania.
Thousands of them achieved both fame and fortune.
Often, if he was a good man and true, he married his
quondam owner's daughter, and with her got back part of
the riches his years of honorable servitude had helped to
create. Among his own countrymen he lost no caste by
reason of his service. Why should he? In the world
around him one-half his fellows were working as hard as
he to repay borrowed money or to pay for lands or other
valuables they had purchased. He too was paying a debt
voluntarily incurred and there was no disgrace attached
to it.
Our early history is filled with the story of Redemp-
tioners who grev(^ rich by their honest toil and left honor¬
able names to their descendants. I have at this moment
an autobiographical sketch lying before me, written by one
of these people. He came to the town where I was born,
and for neañy half a century lived within easy speaking
distance of my own home. He was well educated. He
was honest and faithful. The community honored him
with public officç, while his enterprise, energy and thrift
brought him a large estate. He founded a family and his
descendants to-day are honorable and honored, the wealth¬
iest people in the community.These are things we
few Redemptioners, so far as I have ascertained, left records of their
careers, that I am tempted to throw in the form of a note a part of what the
one spoken of above says of himself. After telling of his birth at Diedelsheim,
in the Palatinate, on January i6, 1750, he proceeds to relate that his father was
a I^utheran clergyman and his mother the daughter of another also ; who the
sponsors at his baptism were, all of which were furnished to him by his pas¬
tor when he left Germany. He then says :
" My beloved father died in the year , at the age of 57 : my beloved
314 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
must not forget in passing judgment upon this man traffic.
Common fairness demands it. If rescued thousands from
lives of poorly requited toil and placed them where their
labor met with its proper reward. Instead of remaining
hewers of wood and drawers of water until life's close,
they were placed in conditions where the results of their
mother departed this life in the year 1760. Even in my tender youth, no expense
and pains were spared upon my education by my parents. My father had me
not only attend church and hear the word of God, but also diligently attend
school. 1 was also sent to a fatin school from my 6th to my 13th year, that
with this and an acquaintance with other necessary branches of knowledge, I
might the better get along in the world. For the parental love and faithful¬
ness I experienced, may the g^eat God reward my parents before the throne of
the Lamb in Heaven.
" After my father found me qualified to renew my baptismal covenant by a
public profession of my faith, I was confirmed in the 13th year of my age, and
received for the first time the Lord's Supper. Soon after I expressed my wish
to learn the mercantile profession, to which my father gave his consent. I
then served a four years apprenticeship in the city of Stuttgart with Mr. Bam-
hard Fredk. Behrager. After this I went to Heidelberg where I was in the
employ of John W. Godelman for two years. From thence I went to Manitz
and entered the celebrated house of John George Gontzinger.
" In order to learn more of the world and to improve my fortune, I resolved
to travel to Holland, with the hope of finding employment in some large com
merical house. My undertaking was unsuccessful, and this contributed to my
coming to America, for as I saw no prospect of getting employment in Holland
and did not wish to return to my native land, the way to Ameiica was prepared.
I crossed the ocean in the ship Minerva, Capt. Arnold, and landed in Phila¬
delphia on Sept. 20, 1771. I had to content myself with the circumstances in
which I then was, and with the ways of the country, which it is tme, were not
very agrreeable. I was under the necessity of hiring myself to Benjamin
Davids, an inn-keeper, for three years and nine months. My situation was
unpleasant, for my employment did not corre.spond.with that to which I had
been accustomed from my youth, in my fatherland. In the course of nine
months my hard service ended, for with the aid of good friends, I found means
in a becoming way to leave Davids, for the employ of Messrs. Miles & Wistar,
where I remained three years and six months."
The foregoing narrative shows how difficult it was, even at that early day, to
secure honorable, remunerative employment in the Fatherland. Here was a
young man, well born, well nurtured, of good education, trained to business,
and yet after serving four years at service in a mercantile house, could find no
employment either in his own land or in Holland. As a last resort he came to
America. His career answers my argument affirmatively that, despite his three
years and nine months of unwelcome service, it was the best thing he could do*
It is very certain that he never regretted it.
One^s Birthflace a Pleasant Memory. 315
work went to reward themselves. Not one of all this vast
multitude, could their views have been ascertained, would
have preferred the old hum-drum life of the Fatherland
with its many trials and few rewards to the newer life, the
freer air, the more generous living and less oppressive bur¬
dens they found in the pleasant land of Pennsylvania.
THE MORRIS HOUSE IN GERMANTOWN.
Where Washington lived in 1793.
At this distant day we can hardly realize all the un¬
toward circumstances and conditions that fell into the lives
of these sons of the Fatherland—these children of misfor¬
tune and of want. It has been said man must be born
somewhere ; it is true, and wherever that somewhere may
be, tkat spot, though it be the bleakest on all the earth,
will live in his memory forever, and cost him many a pang
ere he becomes reconciled to new conditions.
To leave home and friends and country is a trial under
3i6 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
even the most favorable circumstances. To leave them,
penniless, with the future all doubt and uncertainty, but with
a full knowledge that a life of toil, hard and unremitting,
with perhaps nothing better at the end of it, is as dreary
a prospect as can shadow any life.
Thousands of them, after spending many years in freeing
themselves and their loved ones from the clutches of the
taskmaster, had to begin life anew on their own account,
in the silence and gloom of the forest. Here their remain¬
ing years were passed, generally with abundance crowning
their declining years. They had at last homes and fire¬
side comforts to leave to those who came after them. The
worst for them was now over. True, they had at last at¬
tained their early hopes, but how much in mind and person
had to be endured before the period of fruition arrived.
How often in their hours of deepest sadness and gloom
the memories of the earlier days in the old home must have
forced themselves with overpowering strength upon these
sons of sorrow I Only men and women deeply imbued
with the consolations of religion could have survived it all
without following the advice of the Hebrew prophet's wife,
to curse God and die.
Out of those olden forests, out of those homes in the
valleys and mountain recesses emerged men imbued with
the same spirit of freedom and independence that has
marked the men of German ancestry during the long ages
that have come and gone since Tacitus portrayed their
sturdy virtues in his imperishable pages. Centuries of
suffering as well as centuries of success were needed to
build and mould the German character into what we find
it to-day. The crown has come after the cross. Wrong
and sorrow and toil were theirs, but through them all they
were true to their lineage, and now, when another century
They Fought a Good Fight.
317
and a-half has come and gone, the proudest eulogium we
can pass upon them and their work is the one we could
wish succeeding generations may pronounce upon us :—
they fought a good fight, they kept the faith.
" We leave their memory to the hearts that love them ;
Their sacrifice shall still remembered be ;
The very clouds shall pause in pride above them
Who, though in bonds, were free."
GENERAL INDEX.
Act, regulating sale of servants,
163 ; regulating discharge of
servants, 164 ; regulating the con¬
cealment of servants, 164 ; regu¬
lating fees charged by public offi¬
cials, 165 ; regulating importation
of criminal servants, 166.
Action of Massachusetts Legisla¬
ture, 66.
Acts relative to Provincial servants,
160, 161, 162, 163,
Agriculturists, well educated, 137.
All immigrants at first called Pala¬
tines, 55.
Ambler, Capt. Nathaniel, 206.
American Historical Association,
232.
American Weekly Mercury^ 202,
203, 204.
Amsterdam, experience of immi¬
grants in, 178.
An age of loyalty to rulers and law,
296.
Annapolis, 279, 282 ; immigration
through port of, 283.
Antigua, island of, 210.
Application for naturalization in
1721, 92.
Appropriation of ;^i,oao for pest-
house, in 1750, 89.
Argyle, the ship, 205.
Arms, of Sweden, 12 ; of Holy
Roman Empire, 15 ; of the
Printers' Guild, 16 ; of William
Penn, 19 ; of George Ross, 273.
(3'
Armstrong, Captain of ship Rachel,
90.
Arrivals of ships in 44 years, 45.
Asking the Governor's Assistance, 8.
Asylum for distressed Protestants
of the Palatinate, 117.
Attempted explanation of Immigra¬
tion, 298.
Author's estimate of the German
population, 102.
Autobiography of F. S., a Redemp-
tioner—became a citizen of stand¬
ing and fortune, 314.
Average tonnage of immigrant
ships, 50.
BAILEY'S ALMANAC, cover of,
297.
Baltimore American quoted, 279-
282.
Baltimore, Lord, derives ideas for
his colony from Virginia, 152.
Bancroft's History quoted, 97, 127,
227, 289, 291.
Bär, Abraham, mentioned, 209.
Beach, Captain, of the Ship Francis
and Elizabeth, 89.
Berichte, Saur's German news¬
paper, 202, 206, 207, 208, 209,
210, 211, 212, 213.
Berkeley, Bishop, in America and
his prophetic vision, 77.
Berks county spoken of, 96.
Best time for making voyage, 30.
Bill for visiting infected vessels, 88.
8)
General
Index.
319
Bill of Naturalization passed in
1729, 92.
Blecket, Capt. H. H., mentioned,
279.
Blue Anchor Tavern, sketch of, 284.
Blue Mountains, murders along
them by the Indians, 97.
Bolte, Mr., ship broker, 279.
Bom, Cornelius, his tract on Penn¬
sylvania spoken of, 22.
Bond, Dr. Thomas, Port Physician
presents certificate, 89 ; letter
from, 232.
Bongarden, Philip, mentioned, 67.
Bradford's Journal quoted, 214.
Bristol Merchant, the ship, 222.
Britannia, the ship, 214-215.
British Consul, letter from, 231.
Bruce's History of Virginia quoted,
291.
Brumbaugh, M. G., History of the
German Brethren mentioned, 305.
Budd, Thomas, his history of Penn¬
sylvania and New Jersey, 49 ; his
booklet on Pennsylvania, 22.
Bureau of Registration secured by
legal enactment, 266.
r^APTAINS of ships never reported
^ number of dead passengers, 63.
Carolina spoken of, 212.
Carpenter, Samuel, 10.
Case of the ship Love and Unity, 63.
Catholics from Ireland sold, 227.
Causes of immigration well under¬
stood now, 16 ; hope of bettering
their condition, 300; conditions
of life hard in the Fatherland, 300;
abundance of food, 299; provisions
cheap, meat plenty and game of
all kinds on hand, 299.
Certificates, Redemptioners', 222,
236.
Changes in a century, 294.
Charleston, S. C., spoken of, 212.
Chests of immigrants robbed, 62 ;
left behind intentionally, 252 ;
broken open, 253.
Children allowed to assume parents'
debts, 183 ; apprenticed in New
York, 261 ; kidnapped in London,
289.
Chinese exclusion law referred to,
269.
Classis of Amsterdam written to,
107.
Claypole, James, appointed Regis¬
ter, 221.
Cloister Building, the Saal, 228.
Collinson, Peter, letter written to
him by Franklin, no.
Colonial Entry Bpok, 291.
Colonial History of New York
quoted, 106.
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania,
quoted, 38, 80, 87, 88, 89, 90, 95,
117, 247, 263.
Colonists needed, 18.
Columbus mentioned, 17.
Conestoga Manor spoken of, 234 ;
settled by well-to-do Germans,
144 ; farmers' teams and wagons,
95-
Conoy township settled by Scotch-
Irish, 135.
Convicts sent over by the mayor of
Dublin, 55.
Cost of journey to Pennsylvania,
182.
Cowes, Leith, Deal and London
points of departure for ships, 50.
Coxe, Tench, mentioned, 21.
Crefeld Colony, 34.
Crefelders settle at Germantown,
12 ; not the only Germans around
Philadelphia, 107.
320
General
Index.
Cromwell's prisoners sent to Amer¬
ica and sold as Redemptioners, 121.
Cumberland county settled by
Scotch-Irish, 121.
Dangers in wait for early set¬
tlers, 306.
Dauphin county receives settlers, 94.
Deficient food and drink, 57.
Delaware, Penn's government on
banks of, 144.
Desire for lands, 96.
Dickinson, Jonathan, letter by, 35.
Discomforts of voyage, 57.
Diseases contracted on voyage, 259,
260, 261, 262.
Dislike of New York, 32.
Dissension over laws concerning Re-
demptioners, 157.
Donegal township settled by Scotch-
Irish, 135.
DübendörfFer, John and Alexander,
arrive, 43.
Dunbar, Cromwell at, 290.
Dutch and German probably spoken
by Penn, 18.
Earliest Germans left no per¬
manent settlements, 12.
Early provipcial records reason¬
ably complete, 10.
Ebb and flow of immigration, 46.
Ebeling estimates German popula¬
tion of Pennsylvania, loi.
Eby, Benjamin, history quoted, 35.
Efforts, to establish a hospital in
Philadelphia in 1738, 79; of im¬
migrants to secure naturalization,
91.
Egan, Barney, letter to, by Charles
Marshall, 228.
Eickhoff, earliest reference to traffic
in Redemptioners, 174.
Eickhoff, Anton, quoted, 175.
Embarkation of 3,000 Germans for
' New York, 260.
Endeavor, name of ship, 221.
Endless chain, as applied to Ger¬
man land titles, 130.
English as Redemptioners, 220.
Ephrata community, mystic seal of,
233-
Errors in regard to German popu¬
lation, 119.
Every writer condemns traffic in
Redemptioners, 301.
Excessive mortality on shipboard,
57-
Exodus, German, to England men¬
tioned, 260.
Extent of German immigration not
realized at first, 13.
Extract from Franklin's German
paper, 67.
Eyers, Capt., mentioned, 39.
F AC-SIMILE of title of Penn's
letters to the Society of Free
traders, 37 ; also of Brief Account,
25 ; of Trappe Records, 303.
Falkner, Daniel, arrives in 1700, 22 ;
his " Curiouse Information "
Tract, 22 ; his continuation of
Thomas' book, 113.
Families separated by sale, 184.
Favorable accounts sent home con¬
cerning Pennsylvania, 35, 242.
Few German arrivals between 1783-
1789, 51.
Fiery Cross of the Highlands spoken
of, 17.
Fifty acres of land allotted to Re¬
demptioners, 269, 270, 271, 272,
273. 274-
Fifty thousand convicts sent to
America, 289.
General
Index.
321
First book ■written in Pennsylvania
abont Pennsylvania, 311.
First German settlers in Penn¬
sylvania, 13.
Fisher, Joshua & Sons mentioned,
214, 215.
Fisher's Island purchased for a
quarantine station and hospital
in 1742, for ;¿"i,7oo, 88 ; name
changed to Province Island and
later to State Island, 89.
Fiske, John, historian, quoted, 289.
Five ship-loads of Germans arrive
in 1727, 44.
Fletcher, Governor, quoted, 107.
Formation of the German Society of
Pennsylvania in 1764, 266.
Forty shillings head tax on aliens,
44.
Frankfort Land Company, 21.
Franklin, Dr., alarmed by great
German immigration speaks ill of
them, 109, 116; makes estimate
of the German population of the
Pro'vince, 100.
Frederick county, Md., spoken of,
278.
Freiheits Kleidung, 214.
French and Indian War stops immi¬
gration, 41-46.
French immigrants arrive in Penn¬
sylvania, 66; action of the Legisla¬
ture to support them, 66.
Frey, Heinrich, here before Penn,
108.
Fulton township still farmed by
Scotch-Irish, 136.
Furley, Benjamin, Penn's agent, de¬
serving of honor, 18 ; sells lands
for Penn, 21, 271.
Further estimates of the German
population of Pennsylvania, 98,
99,100, ICI, 102, 103,104,105,106.
GENTLEMAN'S Magazine quot¬
ed, 65.
German immigration a notable
chapter in the History of Pennsyl¬
vania, 7 ; element called a " Slum¬
bering Giant," 8 ; Bibles spoken
of, II ; Reformed community in
1664, 12, 13 ; near to Penn, 21 ;
and Dutch translations of Penn's
tracts, 22 ; arrivals at New York ;
advise their friends to come over,
32; called foreigners-after 1741,
56 ; immigration not the result of
chance, 74 ; addicted to country
and agricultural life, 75 ; ever a
race of colonists, 76 ; petitioners
complain, 84 ; a race of farmers,
96 ; located on the frontiers, as
protection against Indians, 97 ;
lives sacrificed in the French and
Indian War, 97 ; enter Ohio, In¬
diana, Illinois, Kansas and the en¬
tire Great West, 98 ; Reformed
numbers in 1731, loi ; noted for
large families, 102 ; soldiers re¬
mained in Pennsylvania, 106 ; mis¬
understood by Franklin, no;
newspapers in 1753, in; immi¬
grants brought Bibles, prayer-
books and catechisms, 115 ; defer¬
ence to authority, 116 ; the con¬
fiding disposition, 116; feared as
an unruly element, 116; mostly
farmers, 115-118 ; isolated by their
language, 115 ; division into nu¬
merous religious sects, 115 ; some
highly educated, 115 ; charge of
being no lovers of agriculture, 119 ;
summary of pursuits, 120; their
improvement of farm lands, 122 ;
methods of clearing lands, 123,
124 ; care of domestic animals, 123,
124; cultivation of vegetables, 125 ;
322
General Index,
mode of conveying produce to
market, 125, 126 ; ideas regarding
patrimony, 126; habits of thought,
127 ; introduction of German Re¬
formed and Lutheran churches,
131 ; beautiful natural surround¬
ings, 132 ; their love of home, 133 ;
their trust in the Divine blessing,
133 ; their race virility, 134 ; oppo¬
sition to slavery, 139 ; in Virginia,
245 ; persons of substance, 248 ;
begging in streets, 251 ; afflicted
with diseases, 251 ; loyal to the
English crown, 255 ; exodus to
England mentioned, 260 ; Society
of Pennsylvania mentioned, 262 ;
Society formed, 264 ; rewards of¬
fered for runaway Redemptioners,
280 ; Society of Maryland, 282 ;
they hold together, 308 ; their jus¬
tice and kindness, 308 ; character
moulded by sufferings, 316.
Germanic races mostly agricultur¬
ists, 120.
Germantown settled in 1683, 13; col¬
onized by well-to-do immigrants,
144 ; slavery augmented, 145.
Golden Swan mentioned, 213.
Gordon, Governor Patrick, and his
law, 53, 93.
Gordon, the historian, quoted, 33,
34, 52, 89 ; estimate of number of
Germans, 100 ; describes the Re¬
demptioners, 153.
Graaf, Hans, and others naturalized,
93-
Graeme, Dr., mentioned, 87.
Grahame, the historian, on condi¬
tions and concessions, 271.
Guesses at the number of Germans
in Pennaylvania, 100.
Gun, Augustus, advertises servants,
234.
Gustavus Adolphus, King of Swe¬
den, solicits German colonists, 108.
Hallische Nachrichten
mentioned, 102, 266,
Hamburg, Berks county, 214.
Hampden, John, mentioned, 76.
Harford county, Maryland, 278.
Hartsfelder, Julian, here in 1676,
108,
Hasselwood, Captain, 209.
Head Tax, a means of revenue,
52.
Heavy arrivals in 1732 and 1738,
46.
Hennighausen, l. P., 108, 277, 283.
Hersching estimates number of Ger¬
man immigrants, loi.
Hessian soldiers augment popula¬
tion, 105.
Hill, Captain, before the Board, 40.
Hinke, Prof. W. J.'s valuable find,
41, 202.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
237-
Hoke, Isaac and Zachary, men¬
tioned, 243.
Holland to Cowes, trip from, 178.
Hopp, Dr. Ernest Otto, his book on
newlanders, 195.
Horrors of the middle passage, 59.
Hospital erected in 1750 at a cost of
;¿'i,ooo, 89.
Hospital, established, 246.
How to preserve health on ship¬
board, 32.
Hugh's Historical Account, 46.
Huguenots and Swiss, mentioned,
II,
Humanity's sorest trial in the Colo¬
nies, 65.
Hunter, Governor, of New York,
260.
General
Index.
323
IMMIGRANTS, whence they came,
14 ; lists preserved at Harrisburg,
41 ; at first called Palatines, 55 ;
regarded as legitimate game, 60 ;
an addition to the wealth of a
country, 81 ; not permitted to land
when ill, 89; desire naturaliza¬
tion, 91 ; qualified at Court House,
95 ; their hardships while cross¬
ing the ocean, 179, 180 ; become
Revolutionary soldiers, 187; re¬
specters of authority, 296.
Immigration, irregular prior to
1727, 44; of Germans from New
York, 107 ; profitable to the
crown, 252.
Imposition on passengers, 62.
Indentured servants of great val^e
to Virginia, 291.
Indians alarmed at number of immi¬
grants, 234.
Industry of the people, 117.
Injustice from merchants, 255.
Insel Pennsylvanien, the western
Patmos, 145.
Insolvent law in Province of Penn¬
sylvania, 156.
In some years all immigrants from
the Palatinate, 50.
Irish and German immigrants afiBlict-
ed with dangerous distempers, 82.
Irish, as Redemptioners, 220, 225 ;
Catholics exported and sold, 227.
Irish servants mentioned, 54 ; taxed
20 shillings, 54.
Island for hospital bought, 246.
JANICE MEREDITH, referred to,
292.
Jasper, Margaret, Penn's mother, 20.
Jealousy of the Germans, spoken of,
83.
Johanna, name of ship, 282.
Jungfrau, Johanna, a Dutch ship,
279.
KADM, peter, traveler and
botanist, 32, 194.
Eapp, Friedrich, 268 ; Soldaten¬
handel quoted, 105.
Keith, Governor, calls attention to
immigration of Germans, 36.
Kelpius, Johannes, comes with 40
followers, 35.
Kent, county of, 220.
Keppele, Johann Heinrich, 262.
King Charles, referred to, 273.
Kinsey, John, Speaker of the Legis¬
lature, 84.
Kocherthal, Joshua, quoted, 292.
Kunze, Pastor, 214.
Lancaster county mentioned,
94, 96 ; formerly occupied by
Scotch-Irish, 121 ; typical German
county, 135 ; richness of the soil,
136; richest agricultural county in
the United States, 234.
Land Companies seeking colonists,
18.
Lands provided for Redemptioners,
269 ; granted to settlers, 272 ;
to renters, 275 ; to servants, 275.
Landmarks between 1683 and 1727
scarce, 11.
Large arrival of Germans in 1707,36.
Large number of German churches,
98.
Las Casas mentioned, 145.
Laws restraining immigration, 116.
Lebanon county spoken of, 96.
Ledger, Philadelphia, on German
immigrants, 129.
Leeds, Duke of, letter to, 231, 232.
Legislation growing out of human
trafl&c, 153.
324
General
Index.
Legislature admits ueed of hospital,
83.
Lehigh county receives German
immigrants, 96.
Length of ocean voyage, 31, 32.
Liberty of conscience announced by
Penn, 33.
Lists of passengers exacted from
ship captains, 38 ; in triplicate,
41 ; probably not complete in
every instance, 41.
Little Britain township mentioned,
136.
Little encouragement to Germans
in New England and the South,
76.
Little immigration following Revo¬
lutionary War, 51.
Liverpool, 211.
Lobb, Captain, maltreatment of
immigrants, 66.
Locke, John, mentioned, 76.
Logan, James, mentioned, 10 ;
speaks ill of the Germans, no ;
alarmed at extent of immigration,
116, 233, 234.
Löher, Franz, estimate of popula¬
tion, 102 ; his account of Redemp-
tioners, 144, 185.
Longfellow's Evangeline referred
to, 145.
Lord Baltimore gets ideas from
Virginia, 152.
Lowell's Hessians quoted, 156.
Lutheran churches in Pennsylvania
in 1750, 98.
Lutherans, number of in 1731, loi.
Luttrell, the diarist, quoted, 260.
MACAULAY'S tribute to the Ger¬
man immigrants, 114.
Many books imported from Ger¬
many, III.
Margaret Jasper, Penn's mother, 20.
Market Square at Germantown, 276.
Markham, Governor, signature of,
278.
Marshall, Benjamin, 228, 229.
Marshall, Christopher, 228.
Martha's Vineyard^ tragedy, 65.
Martin George's case, 268.
Maryland spoken of, 237, 277 ; As¬
sembly of, 277, 283 ; archives
quoted from, 285.
Mechanical trades, 120.
Mechanics enumerated, 237.
Mellick on New Jersey Redemp-
tioners, 291 ; on the laws of New
Jersey, 291.
Menno Simon, reference to, 19,
20.
Mennonites excused from taking
oaths, 38 ; in New York, 107.
Menzel's History of Germany, quot¬
ed, 76, lor.
Merchants in the Redemptioner traf¬
fic, 265.
Message of Governor Thomas about
hospitals, 80.
Meylin, Martin, and others natural¬
ized, 93.
Mifflin, Governor Thomas, report
to, in 1796, 68.
Miller, Rev. John, writes about
Mennonites, 107.
Minerva^ ship, trouble with immi¬
grants, 268.
Minnewit, Peter, mentioned, 108.
Mittelberger, Gottlieb, mentioned,
57, 146 ; renders best account of
human traffic, 175 ; remains four
years in Pennsylvania, 176; re¬
counts wrongs endured, 176 ; op¬
poses immigration, 177 ; narrative
quoted, 177 ; pays his respects to
the newlanders, 196.
General Index.
325
Mçdern farmliouses, improvements
in, 137 ; farm machinery, 137.
Mombert's, Rev. J. I., history quot¬
ed, 94.
Monmouth insurrection mentioned,
227.
Moore, Dr., mentioned, 22.
More than 200 German families in
Pennsylvania in 1700, 108.
Morris, Governor, Saur's letter to,
241, 247, 251.
Mortality among immigrants, 258.
Mount Joy township settled by
Scotch-Irish, 135.
Muhlenberg, Frederick Augustus,
268.
Muhlenberg, General Peter, 268.
Muhlenberg, Pastor H. M., men¬
tioned, his account of the new-
landers, 190-266.
Murphy, Thomas, letter to, 229.
NAAS, Elder Johannes, 302 ; he
defends the system, 302 ; tells
his experiences, 304.
Names of immigrants on ship Will¬
iam and Sarah, 42 ; of ships that
came in 1738, 47 ; of different
sea-craft, 48 ; of Fisher's Island,
89 ; of Palatines published in Co¬
lonial Records from 1727 until
1736. 95-
National banks in Lancaster county,
138.
Natural increase in population, 102.
New arrivals assisted by those al¬
ready here, 72.
New England settlers compared
with German ones, 130.
New Jersey's laws for Redemption-
ers, 292.
Newcastle, arrivals at, in 1729, 46 ;
county of, 220.
Newcomers compelled to go to the
frontiers, 96.
Newlanders defined, 189 ; their in¬
iquitous methods, 189-194 ; guilty
of robbery, 199 ; steal letters,
298.
New York Germans come to Penn¬
sylvania, 52 ; her large colony,
260 ; the system in, 286 ; legisla¬
tion concerning Redemptioners,
288.
Nineteen ships arrive in a single
year, 46.
No arrivals in 1745, 46.
No caste lost by being Redemp¬
tioners, 313.
No disgrace attached to this servi¬
tude, 313 ; no distinctions under
the laws, 309 ; no language but
German spoken in some sections,
97-
Non-conformists sold as Redemp¬
tioners, 290.
Northampton county mentioned,
121.
Nowhere else in America was such
prosperity seen, 310.
Number of the German immigrants,
99 ; to each ship, 102 ; of invol¬
untary immigrants, 289.
O'CALLAGAN'S New York
quoted, 106.
One hundred and fifty years ago not
a golden age politically, 79,
Op den Graeff brothers spoken of,
12.
Oppression of the peasantry in
Germany, 17.
Other colonies try to secure immi¬
grants, 74.
Owen, Griffith, spoken of, 10.
Oxenstierna, Axel, mentioned, 12.
326
General Index.
PALATINATE, persecutions in,
19 ; the garden of Europe,
120.
Palatines spoken of, 67 ; promise al¬
legiance to Great Britain, 40, 211,
335, 237, 283.
Palmer, Thomas, mentioned 67.
Pamphlets descriptive of Pennsyl¬
vania, 18.
Parke, Robert, letter by, quoted,
230.
Passengers who arrived in 1738, 47.
Passenger ship of the period, 290.
Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 12, 34, 95.
Pastorius, Melchior Adam, 22 ; his
pamphlets, 85.
Pathetic letter from maltreated
passengers, 64.
Patroons, owners of large estates,
286.
Penn's selection of scholarly men,
9 ; a man of culture, 9 ; favorably
known in Germany, 16, 18 ; his
*'Brief Account," 22; "Further
Account," 23-32 ; his truthful¬
ness, 32 ; Government alarmed,
36 ; grandest character that ever
came to America, 74, 76 ; his
worldly shrewdness, 152 ; sanc¬
tions servitude, 152 ; allots lands
to Redemptioners, 158 ; his appre¬
ciation of colonists, 220-221 ; his
"Conditions and Concessions,"
270-273; his "Some Account,"
274.
Penn, Governor John, letter to, 60,
234 ; refuses to sign law favorable
to German immigrants, 265.
Pennsylvania Archives, 38, 203,
235, 237.
Pennsylvania Berichte, Saur's news¬
paper, 202, 205, 206, 208, 209, 210,
211, 212; Staatsbote, 213; Gazette,
214; Magazine of History and Bi¬
ography, 223, 229-230.
Pennsylvania, descriptive accounts
of, circulated, 16 ; always most
favored by immigrants, 71 ; the
greatest of all the Provinces, 77,
78 ; built up and developed by
Germans, 116 ; Germans her most
successful farmers, 121 ; her best
counties to-day in German hands,
121.
Pennsylvania Gazelle, 55, 64, 264.
Pennsylvania-German Society a fac¬
tor in stimulating research, 7 ;
quoted, 68 ; seal of, 9.
Pennypacker, Judge S. W., referred,
to, 13, 95, 108.
Pequea colonists sent over for
their friends, 35.
Persons of German ancestry search¬
ing for records, 11.
Pest-house building recommended,
83.
Pestilence prevails in Philadelphia
in 1740, 83.
Philadelphia, vicinity of, favored by
Germans, 120; Ledger, 1856, de¬
fends German immigrants, 129 ;
immigration through port of, 144;
had only two mayors who could
speak German, 264.
Philadelphische Zeilung's account
of the Massachusetts episode, 66.
Pioneer German hamlet, 44.
Plockhoy, Christopher, 311, 312.
Prefatory note, 7, 8.
Prices paid for Redemptioners, 238.
Principal places of embarcation,
50.
Printz, Governor Johannes, 12 ; a
German, 108.
Prisoners taken inEngland sold, 226;
of war sold as Redemptioners, 290.
General Index.
327
Prosperity of Redemptîoners, 136,
137, 138.
Proud's History quoted, 33, 51, 108,
129, 227.
ProTincial Assembly defends itself,
83-
Provincial Council, records of, 87.
Provision made for English, Irish
and Welsh indentured servants,
157; lands given Redemptîoners
on easy terms, 269.
Quakers spoken of, 19, 20,21.
Quarrels between the early
Governors and the Legisla¬
tures, 78.
Quit-rents paid by renters, 275.
Rain caught from passing show¬
ers, 58.
Rations served on ship-board, 181.
Records, Colonial, 38, 39, 80, 89, 90,
247.
Redemptîoners accused of illiter¬
acy by Franklin, m ; name not
mentioned in Acts of Assembly,
146 ; term defined, 146 ; origin
of term, 172 ; two classes, 173 ;
two kinds of, 147 ; better class de¬
scribed, 148 ; evils which befell
them on arrival, 149, 150; word
does not occur inStatutes atLarge,
153; indentures, copies of, 167, 236;
annual influx of, 187 ; reduced to
desperation by ill-treatment, 198 ;
injustice from masters, 200, 212,
215 ; not always Germans, 219 ; in
Delaware, 223 ; Irish, 225 ; in Vir¬
ginia, 226 ; spoken of, 272, 277 ; of
English and Irish birth, 278; of
Swiss ancestry, 283 ; sometimes
treated like slaves, 285, 286 ; paid
for with tobacco, 289; known in
New York, 289 ; rise to eminence
in Virginia, 291 ; valuable as col¬
onists, 291 ; traffic an every-day
business, 295; had the sanction of
the times, 295 ; only its abuses ar¬
raigned, 296 ; the traffic an im¬
perishable page in Pennsylvania
history, 301 ; many doomed to life¬
long poverty in Germany, 307;
hewers of wood and drawers of
water, 307 ; in the hands of task¬
masters, 308 ; poor but honorable,
309 ; grew rich by honest toil, 313 ;
sustained by the consolations of
religion, 316; true to their lineage,
316 ; left broad acres to their de¬
scendants 129, 314 ; they fought a
good fight,they kept the faith,3i7.
Reformed Churches in Pennsylva¬
nia in 1750, 98.
Region of the Ohio penetrated by
Germans, 97.
Registration an excellent step, 38 ;
of contracts between master and
man, 166.
Reiger, Rev. J. B., makes estimate
of the number of Germans, loi.
Rejoinder of Gov. Thomas to As¬
sembly, 84.
Religious tolerance of German set¬
tlers, 139.
Renters had right of suffrage, 272 ;
of fifty acres, 271.
Revenue defrauded, 254,
Rhine Provinces spoken of, 11.
Rivalry among English colonies,
151-
Roman civilization in contact with
Germanic tribes, 119.
Rotterdam, 208, 2ii.
Rupp's 30,000 Names, 35, 38, 56, 97,
128, 203, 214, 234.
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, his book, 56,
122, 127.
328
General Index.
SAAL, the, at Bphrata, 228.
Sachse, Julius F., illustrations
of, referred to, 8, 12 ; Father¬
land spoken of, 22.
Sale of immigrants on ship-board,
182.
Sauer, Charles G., quoted, 257.
Saur, Christoph, 146, 201, 240, 241 ;
letters to Governor Morris, 243,
247, 251, 256, 257, 262, 263.
Say, Thomas, proposed as overseer,
243-
Scharf & Westcott's History quoted
368.
Schuylkill county settled, 96.
Scotch indentured servants, 55.
Scotch-Irish, their pursuits com¬
pared with those of the Germans,
118 ; their elimination from farms,
136; emigrants accompanied by
servants and dependents, 158 ; as
Redemptioners, 220.
Seal of Pennsylvania-German Soci¬
ety, 9; of Ephrata community,233.
Sect, people spoken of, Mennonites,
Dunkers and Schwenkfelders, 98.
Seidensticker, Dr. Oswald, 98; esti¬
mates German population, loi,
132, 266.
Sener, S. M., mentioned, 233.
Servant, the word as understood in
acts of Assembly, 159 ; rewarded
at expiration of term of service,
277 ; in Maryland, 277,
Settlement in Berks, Montgomery
and Lancaster counties, 35.
Settlement of Germantown in 1683,
34.
Settlers needed in Pennsylvania, 75.
Shenandoah Valley settled by Ger¬
mans, 131.
Ship-captains, brokers and mer¬
chants all engaged in the work of
spoliation, 59 ; ship-load arrives
in Massachusetts, 64; ship Her¬
bert lost, 261 ; ship agents at the
present time, 269 ; ship-masters
advertisement, 279-280.
Ship-masters held to account, 39.
Ship Mercury mentioned, 42 ; Sam¬
uel makes six voyages, 48.
Ship William and Sarah, 40.
Shipping lists perhaps incomplete,
41.
Shortcomings of German settlers,
139-
Sick immigrants' case before the
Assembly, 80; not permitted to
land, 90.
Six hundred passengers on one
ship, 51.
Six Nations, Indians, unite with
France, 46.
Size of ships carrying immigrants,
48 ; average size 200 tons, 51.
Small immigration by other nation¬
alities, 105.
Small-pox on ship Welcome, 264.
Some Germans were Franklin's su¬
periors in scholarship, 112.
Sources of information, 9.
South Carolina Redemptioners, 292.
Spark's Life of Franklin cited, 112.
Spofford, Dr., made overseer, 242.
Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania
quoted, 54, 94.
Steadman, Captain, of the St. An¬
drew, 89, 242.
Stillé's, Chas. J., estimate of German
population, 100.
Story of the ship Palatine, wrecked
off Block Island, 68.
Story of Redemptioners treated by
local historians, 150.
Stranger's burying-ground spoken
of, 263.
General
Index.
329
Stuart dynasty, restoration of, 290.
Successful settlement in Lancaster
county, 35.
Supplies nearly always deficient, 58.
Sussex, county of, 220.
Swabians mentioned, 210.
Swatara, valley of the, 260.
Swedes and Friends treated Re-
demptioners kindly, 308.
Swedish colonies partly composed of
Germans, 106.
Swiss and Huguenot settlers re¬
ferred to, II ; Colony of, in the
Pequea valley in 1709, 34.
Sypher, J. R., estimate of number
of German immigrants, 100.
System concerning servants in New
York, 286.
Table of ships with German im¬
migrants, 45.
Tacitus quoted, 237.
Teutonic race constant by nature,
59-
The Assembly's reply to Governor
Thomas, 82.
The bright side of the Redemptioner
traffic, 306.
The Father of his Country, 297.
The food question, 299.
The forty-shilling law quoted, 53.
Their memories remain with their
descendants, 317.
Thomas', Gabriel, account alluded
to, 22 ; his account quoted, 103.
Thomas, Governor, quarrel with the
Provincial Legislature, 79 ; his re¬
joinder, 84, 86 ; his salary with¬
held, 86; scores the Legislature,
87, 227.
Timbered country preferred by Ger¬
mans, 96.
"To Have and to Hold," 292.
Tract of the Elder Pastorius, 73.
Traditional policy of Penn's Gov¬
ernment, 97.
Trappe Records, extract from, 309.
Treatment on ship-board, 59.
Tribute to Germans by Governor
Thomas, 116.
Tulpehocken Valley settled by Ger¬
mans from New York in 1729,
260.
Two mayors only in 100 years who
could speak German, 264.
Two sides to every picture, 305.
Two, three and four ships arrive on
the same day, 48.
Unable to defend their rights,
60.
University of Philadelphia, 232.
Unsanitary condition of ships, 57.
VALUE of farm lands, 136.
Vane, Sir Henry, protests, 227.
Vessel shipwrecked with 400 Pala¬
tines on board, 262.
Virginia, Redemptioners in, 226,
277 ; the traffic in that State, 288 ;
number of immigrants to, 289 ;
and her neighbors, 289-291 ; voy¬
age across the ocean, 57.
Voyage of the Mayflower shows no
deaths from starvation, 65.
Vrouw Elizabeth, ship, 283.
WANTON, Governor of Rhode
Island, action in a case of
shipwreck, 263.
Warner, an early settler, 108.
Watson, the annalist, referred to,
55, 89, 108, 127, 264; defines
indentured servants, 154.
Weiser, John Conrad, and his colony
in 1729, 260, 261.
330
General Index,
Weiss, Rev. Lewis, memorial of, 60.
Welsh, indentured servants, 55 ; as
Redemptioners, 220.
West Hempfield township, settled
by Scotch-Irish, 135.
Where our annals are most defective,
15-
Whittier, quoted, 9, 69.
Why no Quaker blood was shed by
Indians, 97.
Wickersham, James P., bears testi¬
mony to the excellence of the Ger¬
man settlers, 114.
Wiegman's wharf, 281.
Wistar, Casper, letter quoted, 262.
Worcester, prisoners taken there
sold, 290.
Written records brought by few,
II.
Wrongs of immigrants stated, 62.
Wurtembergers, Hannoverians, Al¬
satians and Saxons, came almost
exclusively in some years, 50.
YORK COUNTY spoken of, 96.
Young, John Russell, reference to,
20-21.
ZACHARY, DR. LLOYD, de¬
clines the appointment of hos¬
pital surgeon, 88 ; presents cer¬
tificate, 89.