USA > Maryland > Annual report of the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, 1st-6th, Vol. 1-6 > Part 20
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THE GERMAN DAY,
whose celebration during the previous year had stirred up the entire city, was again observed on the part of this Society, - together with the "German Society of Baltimore," only in a
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more quiet way, viz .: a banquet. About 140 guests responded to the invitation. Mr. L. P. Hennighausen, President of the "German Society" and first Vice-President of this Society, pre- sided on the occasion. Suitable addresses were delivered after the banquet by Mr. Theo. Poesche, of Washington, D. C., Mr. Ed. F. Leyh, Dr. M. Wiener, and Dr. L. H. Steiner.
THE FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
of this Society, a document of 96 pages, and issued in March 1891, contained besides the Secretary's and Treasurer's Reports, list of members, the following articles composed and delivered by their respective authors :
"Memoranda in Reference to Early German Emigration to Maryland," by F. B. Mayer, of Annapolis, Md.
"Gottlieb Mittelberger's Reise nach Pennsylvanien und ihre Bedeutung als Kulturbild," by Prof. M. D. Learned, Ph. D.
"Early Western Settlements," by L. P. Hennighausen, Esq.
"The Celebration of the German Day of 1890 in Balti- more City," by L. P. Hennighausen, Esq.
"Die Ersten Deutschen Secten in America," Part I, by L. P. Hennighausen, Esq.
"Family Records," by Prof. Ch. F. Raddatz.
THE PAPERS READ AT THE LAST YEAR'S MEETINGS were the following:
1. "Reports of two German Lutheran Ministers to the Ev. Luth. Synod of North Carolina in 1812," by L. P. Hennig- hausen, Esq .- (This article has already - appeared in print in our last year's publication under the title: "Early Western Settlements.")
2. "Deutsche Kultur in Amerika," by Prof. M. D. Learned, D. Ph. - [This article is to appear in this year's Annual Report by resolution of the Society.]
3. "Abbe Domenec's miraculous and ridiculous discovery of Indian customs," by Rev. J. G. Morris, D. D.
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.
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4. Some instances of liberal bequests and donations by foreign-born citizens to charity and education in America," also by Rec. J. G. Morris, D. D.
5. "Early German Settlements in Western Maryland," by L. P. Hennighausen, Esq.
Considering the great difficulty to learn at this late date any of the particulars in the experience and achievements of our earlier German forefathers, whose descendants have largely and for generations become entirely americanized, the endeavors of this Society in this direction, small as they may appear to the casual observer, nevertheless give proof not only of earn- est research on the part of its members, but also of encour- aging success. The Society is under obligations to the follow- ing members and friends of the organization for
DONATIONS MADE DURING THE YEAR:
Dr. Wm. Gombel. - L. P. Hennighansen, Esq. - Dr. L. H. Steiner. - Rev. F. Ph. Hennighansen. - Rev. Ed. Hn- ber. - Rev. W. Arnolt, D. Ph. - Dr. W. II. Egle. - Kunst- ler-Verein in Bremen. - Prof. H. Deiler. - Owners of "Der Deutsche Correspondent" and of "Das Baltimore Journal," who have again gratuitously offered their daily issues.
The following is a-
LIST OF BOOKS
added to our Library during the year both by purchase and by donation :
1. "Durch das Weltall," by Louis Lubkert.
2. Reports of Lutheran Synodical Conventions from the year 1812.
3. Geschichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft von Pennsylva- nien, von Prof. Oswald Seidensticker.
4. Acadia and the Acadians, by Rev. D. L. Roth.
5. Die allgemeine Wappenwissenschaft.
6. Evangelische Liedersammhing.
7. Allgemeine Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von America. by C. P. Taylor.
.
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'8. Jahresbericht der Deutschen Gesellschaft von New Orleans.
9. 2ter Jahresbericht der Gesellschaft des Künstler-Ver- eins in Bremen.
10. Report of Preliminary Meeting of the Pennsylvania German Society.
11. October issue of the Pennsylvania Magazine of His- tory and Biography, containing copy of the Will of Augustine Herman, of Bohemia Manor.
12. Geistliches Blumengärtlein Inniger Seelen, von Terstee- gen, printed in Germantown, Pa., in 1791.
13. 1st vol. of "Der Süden," a weekly paper, published in Richmond, Va., in 1891.
14. Deutsches Lutherisches Gesangbuch, with an intro- duction by Rev. H. M. Mühlenberg, printed in Germantown, Pa., 1795.
15. Gesangbuch für evangelisch - reformirte Gemeinden in den Ver. Staaten von America, printed in Germantown, Pa., 1799.
16. Die Siegesgeschichte der christlichen Religion, von Dr. Jung-Stilling, printed in Reading, in 1814.
Respectfully Submitted,
F. PH. HENNIGHAUSEN, Sec'y.
Baltimore, Md., February 16th, 1892.
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REPORT OF THE TREASURER.
Baltimore, February 16th, 1892.
Cash on hand February 17th, 1891
$348 97
Received dues from 74 members $ 370 00 Interest from Hopkins Place Savings Bank . 10 51 380 51
$729 48
The expenditures were:
For 500 annual reports . $115 00
. Two book cases . 90 00 ·
Rent of rooms, 3 meetings 15 00
Salary to the Secretary .
100 00
Books and pamphlets
7 71
Bookbinding 14 00
Printing, postage, etc. 56 86
Commission to the Collector
12 00 410 60
Balance, on deposit in Hopkins Place Savings Bank $318 88
Respectfully Submitted,
ROB. M. ROTHER, Treas'r.
LEWIS H. STEINER,
Correct.
{
M. D. LEARNED,
Auditing Committee.
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LIST OF OFFICERS :
President : REV. J. G. MORRIS, D. D., L. L. D.
Vice-Presidents :
L. P. HENNIGHAUSEN, Esq., REV. HENRY SCHEIB.
Secretary : REV. F. PH. HENNIGHAUSEN, D. D.
Treasurer : MR. ROBERT M. ROTHER.
Executive Committee : MR. EDW. F. LEYH, Chairman.
MR. GEO. W. GAIL,
MR. C. F. RADDATZ,
MR. ERNEST HOEN, DR. M. D. LEARNED, (and the Officers of the Society.)
LIST OF ACTIVE MEMBERS :
Albrecht, Ph. A 108 Light St.
Arens, Henry .3 E. German St.
Arnolt, Rev. W., D. Ph.
Johns Hopkins University.
Ax, Christian, Jr 1-19 E. Barre St.
Bauernschmidt, Geo. Belair Ave. and Oliver St.
Becker, Henry. 23 South St.
Boss, Robt. D. 110 E. German St.
Brinkmann, A. II 224 W. Camden St
Deichmann, Prof. E., D. Ph
608 N. Eutaw St.
Dohme, Louis. 307 W. Pratt St.
Faust, Jolın. Baltimore and Hanover Sts.
Felgner, Edw. L. 208 S. Charles St
Fuchs, Prof., Otto Maryland Institute.
Gail, Geo. W. 1-19 E. Barre St.
Gans, Edgar, H 209 Courtland St.
Ganter, F. X. .9-11 W. Pratt St.
Gardner, Franz 13 S. High St.
Gieske, Gustav
132 S. Charles St.
Haven, Eberhard. 11 S. Gay St.
Hennighausen, Rev., F. P., D. D., 115 W. Lee St. Hennighausen, Louis P 108 E. Lexington St.
Heubach, Edward. 322 W. Baltimore St.
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Hilgenberg, Chas 1128 La Fayette Ave.
Hilken, II. G.
5 S. Gay St.
Hoen, Ernest. Hoen Building.
Holljes, Capt., Dietr. 924 Fell St.
Huber, Rev., Edw 1400 E. Fayette St.
Knabe, Ernst 22 and 24 E. Baltimore St.
Koch, William. 322 W. Baltimore St.
Koether, William 1108 Towson St.
Lauts, Henry 227 E. German St.
Learned, Prof., M. D, D Ph. Johns Hopkins University.
Lehman, Gust. E. W., D. Ph .. 1721 Park Ave.
Lerian, Jacob.
.66 Lexington Market.
Leyh, Edw. F.
German Correspondent.
Lingenfelder, Henry
200 N. Calvert St.
Loewenthal, Isidor Pratt and Fremont Sts.
Marburg, Wm. A 431 S. Charles St.
Mayer, Fritz 1836 Hollins St.
Morris, Rev., J. G., D D., L. L. D. 406 N. Greene St.
Niemann, Ed. 132 S. Charles St.
Numsen, N. G.
18 Light St.
Numsen, W. N
18 Light St.
Plack, Jacob.
114 S. Frederick St.
Plitt. George .. Central and Eastern Aves.
Raddatz, Prof., Chas. F. Baltimore City College.
Raine, Col .. Fred
German Corresponden't.
Reinhard, Dr .. Ferd
220 W. Madison St.
Reqnardt, J. Fred 225 St. Paul St.
Rittenhouse, Nicolas M
Foot of Cross St.
Rother, Robt. M. Hopkins Place Savings Bank.
Ruhstrat, Carl. 227 E. German St.
Sadtler, Rev., B., D. D
14 E. Huntingdon Ave.
Sattler, Geo. W.
207 S. Charles St.
.
Schade, Rev., Ang. E
613 N. Calvert St.
Scheer, Valentine .. 508 N. Washington St.
Scheib, Rev., Henry 511 N. Carrollton Ave.
Schmeisser, Ernst
1-19 E. Barre St.
Schmucker, Samuel D
10 E. Lexington St.
Selineidereith, L. C.
208 S. Sharp St.
Schroeder, Henry A
Hoen Building.
Schulz, A. H
German Bank.
Schwab, S. A 107 Cheapside.
Smyser, James A. 4 Light St.
Spieker, Prof., E. H., D. Ph. Johns Hopkins University.
Stark, Dr., Henry. 1110 Hanover St.
Steiner, Dr., Lewis H Enoch Pratt Library.
Vees. Henry German-American Fire Insurance Co.
Volek, Dr., Albert .J 328 N. Charles St.
Von Lingen, Geo. A
German Consulate.
Walpert, Fred .. 106 N. Gay St.
Weber, Chas., Jr. 1909 W. Baltimore St.
Wellington, Geo. L. U. S. Assistant Treasurer.
Wood, Prof., II. A., D. Ph.
Johns Hopkins University.
1
EARLY
GERMAN SETTLEMENTS
IN WESTERN MARYLAND.
Early German Settlements in Western Maryland.
BY L. P. HENNIGHAUSEN.
The settlement of the Germans in Western Maryland in col- onial times was undoubtedly an important factor in the development and history of our State. They not only increased the numbers of our inhabitants but brought new industries and arts, intelligence and learning, indomitable perseverance and energy, but above all sturdy arms, an immense working capacity and frugal, simple habits. They brought with them their school teachers and their pastors, and one of their first acts was to erect a school house and have their children taught in the principles of Christianity, and the useful arts of life. From them have sprung many illustrious men, who rendered our nation great services, in times of war and peace, in the council of the nation, on the judicial bench, in schools and colleges, and in every other department of life. They turned the wilderness of Frederick county of the year 1730 into a blooming garden, so that in 1790 Frederick county was the largest wheat producing county in the United States.
If our children or strangers learn the history of our State from some of the so-called histories, until now published, they will never become aware that a German ever set his foot on the soil of Maryland in colonial times, or that the Germans ever exercised any appreciable influence on the destiny of our State. If German names have to be mentioned they are angli- sized and corrupted beyond recognition. In some of these histories the immigration of the Germans is merely mentioned. All they deem worth relating is the succession of the Eng- lish officers, the political conflicts, and constant reference to the English home government. This is only a partial his- tory, but not the history of the people of our State. It is my object by this historical sketch to draw the attention to some facts relating to the carly German immigration to Maryland.
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Maryland was an insignificant colony before the German immigration set in. It was first settled in 1633 and, after a period of fifty-six years, in 1689 it had only about 25,000 in- habitants. The immigration from England had, after the re- storation, practically ceased. In the next 21 years. until 1710, the population increased only 5,000, for it then numbered but 30,000 inhabitants; in 1733 the number of taxable inhabitants of the colony which comprised all males above the age of 15 years and all negroes, was but 31,470. About this time the Germans began to arrive in large numbers and, fifteen years later, the population had increased to 130,000, which was more than double the number of the preceding 100 years; in 1756 it had 154,188 and in 1761 164,007 inhabitants. How much of this remarkable increase from the years 1733 to 1761 is to be credited to the German immigration minst remain a mere surmise. The following faets, may help ns to form some estimate.
The immigration of Germans to Pennsylvania had com- menced in larger numbers as early as 1683, and by their num- bers and industry, this province soon surpassed the other col- onies, which attracted the attention of the Governors of Vir- ginia and Maryland. In the year 1714 twelve German families, consisting of fifty members, had arrived and settled on the Rappahannock River in Virginia, in 1717 twenty German fam- ilies with eighty members followed and settled in the same neighborhood. They built a church, and enjoyed the special favor and friendship of Governor Spottswood, others continued to follow, and the German settlement in Virginia was in reg- · ular communication with the Germans in Pennsylvania. It was in consequence of this settlement and the kindness of Governor Spottswood shown them, that the German-Pennsylvanians in the last century called Virginia by no other name than Spottsyl- vania. The first opened road from Lancaster, York and Han- over to the Virginia settlements was by the Monocacy river to the Potomac. About 1729 the first Germans drifted into Maryland near the Monocacy river, and between the years 1732 and 1734 the first German church in Maryland was erected on the West side of the Monocaey, where the Virginia road crossed the river, about ten miles above where Frederick town was afterward laid out.
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The Governor of Virginia and afterwards Lord Fairfax made strenuous efforts to direct the German immigration to Virginia, and in 1732 the Governor ceded a tract of land of some 25,000 acres to a certain Jost Hite, a German, and Jacob van Meeter, a Dutchman, on condition that they would settle 200 German families on the land ceded to them. Hite and yan Meeter traversed Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Germany in search of the immigrants, and directed them by the road of the Monocacy to Virginia. Charles Lord Baltimore, Governor of Maryland, to outdo the Governor of Virginia, thereupon, on the 2nd of March 1732, made the liberal offer of 200 acres of land in fee, subject to a rent of 4 shillings sterling per year (payable at the end of three years) for every hundred acres, to any person having a family, who should within three years actually settle, with his or her family, on the land between the rivers Potomac and Susquehanna; and to each single person, male or female, between the age of fifteen and thirty, an offer of one hundred acres of the same land on the same terms, with the assurance that they should be as well secured in their liberty and property in Maryland, as in any part of the British plantations in America, without exception.
The settlers on their way to Spottsylvania, seeing the rich soil of Frederick county, offered to them on such liberal terms, did not proceed further but stuck their spades into the ground right then and there, and in a few years there was a prosper- ous settlement in and about Monocacy. From there they spread East, South and West, but for many years the church at Monocacy was their meeting place. It was a frame build- ing and was there until the end of the 18th century, when it was abandoned, and no vestige of it remains to mark the spot where it stood. Its members joined the more prosperous churches at Frederick and other places, and as the old town of Joppa was absorbed by Baltimore, so Frederick took in Monocacy. The first church was of the Lutheran denomina- tion, a German reformed church was organized soon thereafter and appears to have been more prosperous than the Lutheran. The Moravians at an early period sent their Missionary George Ninke and his wife to Monocacy, who made deep inroads into the Lutheran church, and caused much bitter feeling and strife amongst its members. The Moravians, however, left
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Monocacy about the year 1746 taking with them many set- tlers, and founded a church at Graceham. The names of the first ministers at Monocacy are not known. Rev. David Can- dler preached there, in and before the year 1743; he died in Conewego, Pa., in 1744. Rev. Lars Nieberg of the Swedish Lutheran church, who preached in the German language, was for some years the pastor of the Monocacy Lutheran church, and preached also at Frederick, but in 1745 or the beginning of 1746 he joined the Moravians, and his congregation dis- missed him. Germans had settled about Frederick as early as 1734. In 1735 abont one hundred families arrived from Ger- many. Among them was Thomas Schley, their school teacher, who is said to have erected the first house in Frederick, but the town of Frederick was not laid out until the year 1745, and three years after, in 1748, Frederick county was organized and Frederick made the county seat, and thereby soon rose into prominence. We have no information of the time when the German church was organized in Frederick but it may be safely presumed from what we know of Mr. Thomas Schley, that it was soon. after his arrival as early as 1735 or 1736. He belonged to the German Reformed Church. The Lutherans organized at a later period, and until then attended the Mono- cacy church. The first entry in the Lutheran church register of baptism at Frederick is dated the 22d of August 1737. It was a son of Frederick Unsult who was christened by a Rev. Mr. Wolf. It is surmised, however, that the christening of this child actually took place in New Jersey, where the Rev. Mr. Wolf was stationed, and the entry in Frederick was made at a later period. From the year 1741 a regular church registry of baptisms ete., in the Lutheran church, in the German lan- guage, was kept in Frederick, and in the year 1743 a German Lutheran church, a frame building, was erected. When Rev. David Candler came there in 1743 he found an organized congregation. In the year 1745 or 1746, Carl Rudolph, Prince of Würtemberg, as he styled himself, came to Monocacy and Frederick. He was a talented and gifted rogne, who pretended to be a regular ordained minister of. the German Intheran Church, and supported his claim by forged documents and let- ters. He led a most dissolute, immoral life, and wherever he came he brought scandal, strife and disgrace. He had been
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among the Salzburgers at Ebenezer in Georgia, and preached the Gospel, but, getting into conflict with the criminal law, he left, remaining for a while in the German settlements of the Carolinas. He next visited the German settlements in Mad- ison county, Va., where his conduct was again the cause of a great scandal. When he came to Maryland he succeeded in obtaining the charge of a German and of an English congrega- tion, and for a time was the regular pastor of the German Lutheran church at Monocacy. From Monocacy he drifted into Pennsylvania, then to New Jersey, and from there to the New England States, where he enlisted in the army and, com- mitting a crime, was sent to prison and not heard of there- after. The Monocacy Lutheran Church then appealed to the Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania to send them a minister, and the Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg requested Rev. G. Nasman, of Phil- adelphia, to visit the churches at Monocaey. In October 1746 Rev. G. Nasman arrived at Monocacy, and on the 31st of the month preached, and baptized six infants and a young man of 19 years. He found the entries of 54 baptisms in the Luth- eran church register. The best report of the Monocacy settle- ment is given by Rev. Michael Schlatter, the organizer of the German Reformed church in North America. He arrived for the first time at Monocacy on the 6th of May, 1747, and on the following day baptized twenty-six children; on the 8th he administered the Lord's supper to eighty-six members of his church, and after Divine service was ended, 46 heads of fam- ilies at once offered to raise for the support of a minister, in money and grain, the amount of forty pounds. Schlatter re- marks in his report that, if this congregation were united with the German Reformed church at Conogocheague, lying 30 miles distant, these two would be able to support a minister. Conogochcague was the first settlement in Washington county and entirely settled by Germans. He ordained elders and deacons at Monocacy and, speaking of the church, he says it appeared to him to be one of the purest in the whole conn- try, one in which he found the most traces of the true fear of God, and one that was free from the sects with which the other places of the country were filled. For, on 7,000 acres in that neighborhood, there were none but such as were of the Ger- man Reformed faith. On the 24th of June, 1747, about seven
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weeks after the visit of Rev. Mr. Schlatter, the Rev. Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg, the great organizer of the German Luth- eran Church in America, arrived at the Monocacy. He found the German Lutherans not in as good a condition as Mr. Schlatter found the German Reformed. The Moravians had been among them, and many Lutherans had joined the Moravians under the charge of Mr. Geo. Ninke, and the Faithful, after they had dispensed with the services of Rev. Lars Wieberg on ac- count of his leaning to the Moravian church, had elected the notorious Carl Rudolph as their pastor, who had brought dis- grace upon them before he left. Muhlenberg condneted the service in the Lutheran church and tried, but did not succeed to reconcile the members who had joined the Moravians. By these reports it appears that more than a thousand Germans must then have lived near Monocacy.
On the 25th of June Muhlenberg proceeded to the newly laid out town of Frederick to visit the Lutherans, who had settled there and belonged to the Monocacy church. He com- plains . that a certain N. Schmist, formerly a dentist of New Hanover, who since 1736 professed to be a minister of the Gospel, and had removed from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and then returned to Frederick, had officiated there as a clergy- man. On the 7th of May, 1748, Rev. M. Schlatter again vis- ited Monocacy, and the following day he proceeded to the newly laid out town Frederick and preached a sermon, in the school house. The German Reformed congregation were then in the act of erecting a church. He started from there to visit the German settlements in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and an elder from Frederick voluntarily accompanied him. After a journey of thirty-four miles they arrived the next morn- ing in the westernmost settlement of Maryland, Conogo- cheague. It was the first settlement in the present Washing- ton county and remained for many years, and until after the French-Indian war, the frontier settlement. The first settlers there were Germans and members of the Reformed and Lutheran churches. At the time Rev. Mr. Schlatter visited the settle- ment, there were still many Indians in the neighborhood. They seemed to him to be well disposed and very obliging, and when not made drunk by strong drink, friendly towards Christians (Schlatter 174). The settlers, however, had built
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a stockade fort near Clear Spring and on the Potomac, in which their families took refuge when the Indians became hostile. Among the earliest German settlers in this neighbor- hood were the Prathers, the Pols (Poes), Brinkers, Kerehners, Seiberts, Seller, Prices and Jonathan Hager, the founder of Hagerstown. Rev. Mr. Schlatter and his friend received a hospi- table welcome at Conogocheague. He preached there the next dav, on the 9th of May, 1748, to the German Reformed con- gregation. After the sermon he left and traveled ten miles further to the Potomac river and, crossing over into Virginia, he continued fifteen miles without having seen either a house or a human being. On the 10th they took their dinner at Fredericktown, Va., afterward called Winchester. In the eve- ning he came to the German Reformed congregation at She- nandoah river, now Strassburg. He preached there on the 11th to a large number of hearers, baptized many children and adult persons. The next day he proceeded forty-two miles up the valley to New-Germantown, now New-Market, preached there to a large congregation, and on the 13th, in the after- noon, they retraced their steps to Frederick, Md. On the 15th he preached there in the new church which was then not yet completed. After the sermon he administered the Lord's sup- per to ninety-seven members, baptized a number of children, married three couples and installed new elders and deacons. Referring to this congregation, he writes: It is of great ad- vantage to this congregation, that they have the best school- master I have met with in America. He spares neither labor nor pains in instructing the young and in edifying the congregation according to his ability, by means of singing and reading the word of God and sermons on every Lord's day. This schoolteacher was the Mr. Thomas Schley already men- tioned. He was a man of learning and an accomplished inn- sician. He is the ancestor of William Sehley, who emigrated to Georgia, and was in 1825 . elected Judge of the Superior Court, in 1832 Member of Congress, and in 1835 Governor of Georgia; of John Schley, who was elected Judge of the Su- preme Bench of Georgia; of William Schley, the late disting- uished lawyer in our city of Baltimore; of Col. Win. Louis Schley, in the late war; of Capt. Winfield S. Schley, the com- mander of the U. S. Cruiser "Baltimore", and other famous
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men of that name. About the time when Mr. Schley was the teacher of the German Reformed, Otto Rudolph Crecelins was the schoolteacher at the German Lutheran school at Fred- erick. After Crecelins came Theodor Frederick Haux, born 1723 in Kunummern, Germany, who arrived here in 1753 and taught for forty-one years school at the Lutheran church in Frederick, three years in Sharpsburg, and six and a half years in Mid- dletown, Md. He was highly esteemed and died in Frederick on the 14th of March, 1802. In the year 1749 the venerable Rev. Valentine Kraft settled in Frederick and preached there until his death in 1751. Ile had been a Lutheran minister at Zweibrücken in Germany and as an old man emigrated to America in 1742. He was pastor at Mossellen, German. town, and Lancaster, before he came to Frederick. His close association with the Moravians estranged him from his Luth- eran brethren. In 1751, a former schoolteacher, by the name of Streiter, came to Frederick and took charge of the Luth- eran church. He had been a pastor at Indianfield and Gosch- enhoppen, Pa., and claimed to be an ordained minister, which was however disputed. The pastor of the English Episcopal church thereupon applied to the Court for an injunction to restrain the Rev. Mr. Streiter from marrying people. The Court did not grant the injunction, but told the Rev. Mr. Streiter he should confine himself to marrying ouly German people. In 1752 arrived Rev. Mr. Frankenfeld, of the German Reformed church. Rev. M. Schlatter who had been on a visit to Europe had brought him, with five more ministers, from Germany. He accompanied him to Frederick town and duly installed him as the pastor of the German Reformed church in May 1753. The emigration of the Germans to Western Maryland bad at first extended from the German settlements of Pennsylvania, then from Germany to Philadelphia, and by way of Lancaster to Maryland. Knowledge of the rich soil and the liberal terms on which it could be obtained, became more widely spread in the old fatherland, and the emigrant ships, instead of landing as heretofore in Philadelphia, now sailed up Chesapeake Bay and landed their passengers in Annapolis and Baltimore. The records are partly lost and destroyed, we know of only four ships which landed 1060 emigrants at Annapolis in the years 1752 to 1755, and have no record of the emigrants land-
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