USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Blue book of Schuylkill County : who was who and why, in interior eastern Pennsylvania, in Colonial days, the Huguenots and Palatines, their service in Queen Anne's French and Indian, and Revolutionary Wars : history of the Zerbey, Schwalm, Miller, Merkle, Minnich, Staudt, and many other representative families > Part 1
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BLUE BOOK of SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
HH34609
PUBLIC LIBRARY
OMNIVM-
ICIVIVMi
1
OF THE CITY OF
BOSTON
Mrs. Ella Berbery Cellist.
٠٠
To the Kohoucable Beach
whofe names are hereunto fullcribed, Inhabitants of north Heeft partsof Rotown flip of Oley, Jolyklockan, and pats Djacent. Sewing no Trad as yet Eftablifid amongst us, by means where of the suffer divers herrenencies, Chid about part of land ut prefect not Settled, through which hereby petitioned road is naturally designed to gor by means where of theres willbe no opposition made in laying of it out
Wherefore hoe your Petitioners humbly request feat you will be pleased to Order a High road to be laid out, Beginning at the Lutherian Meeting houle. at Jelpchocan; and to ein Ing. High road, at Quakers meeting hours near George Boone's Will in Oley.
Old pour petitioner's hall ever pray si
Benjamin Loone .
John collins Josephe taken Jonathan Bekon
4
Melaniai friger! en fait wat
May Div ort Soup
LIET
IC RY
PETITION FOR EARLY ROAD (SEPTEMBER, 1727) (MARDIN ZARBEN) MARTIN ZERBE, ONE OF THE SIGNERS
COPY
(Taken from the original petition for early road shown on opposite page.)
September, 1727.
To the Honorable Bench.
We whose names are hereunto subscribed, ye inhabitants of ye North west parts of ye Township of Oley, Tolpehockan, and parts adjacent. Having no Road as yet estab- lished amongst us, by means whereof we suffer diver incon- veniences and a great part of ye land at present not Settled, through which ye hereby petitioned road is naturally designed to go by means of whereof there will be no opposition made in ye laying of it out.
Wherefore, we your Petitioners humbly request that you will be pleased to order a High road to be laid out, Beginning at the Lutherian Meeting House at Tolpehockan to end in the high road, at ye Quakers Meeting House near George Boone's Mill in Oley.
And your petitioners shall ever pray.
Frederick Schaeffer, Adam Lish,
Petter Klub,
Sebastian Fischer,
N. Nevs,
Lenhart Riet,
Nicholas Rienr,
Jasper Riet,
Mardey Stub,
Mardin Battdorff,
Anthonn Schadt,
Lenhart Feg,
Jacob Korbell,
Phillip Braun
Johan Henrich Schnchert,
*MARDIN ZARBEN,
Nicholas Schaeffer,
Michael Aenrich,
Michael Ernst Herner,
Johan Entenfelt,
Johannes Christman,
Benjamin Boone,
Stephan Wasseicheidt,
Isaac Wiseman,
Adam Walbornn,
Jacob Kobft,
John Collins, Joseph Baker,
George Lish,
Jonathan Baker,
Abraham Link,
Hugh Edward,
Nicholas Rull,
William Roberts,
Cunrath Diffenbach,
Peter Hilton.
*Zerbey History, Part 2.
IN THE COURT OF QUARTER SESSIONS OF THE PEACE, OF THE COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA.
In re opening of High Road, at Tulpehocken, &c. September Sessions, 1727.
I certify the foregoing to be a true and correct copy of the original petition in the case above stated, as full, entire and complete as the same now remains of Record in this office.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said Court this twenty-sixth day of February, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and twelve, (1912.)
(Seal)
JOHN E. WALSH, Pro. Clerk.
Blue Book
f
Schuylkill Omity
Who Was Who and Why
In Interior Eastern Pennsylvania, in Colonial Days --- The huguenots and Palatines --- Their Seruire in Queen Anne's, French and Indian, and Revolutionary Mars ---
history of the Zerbey, Schwalm, Miller, Her- kle, Hinnich, Staudt, and Many Other Representative Families.
By Mrs. Ella Zerbey Elliott
Author of "Old Schuylkill Tales" and Other Short Stories. Formerly for Six Years on the Editorial Staff of the Pottsville, Urina., Republican.'
Pottsville, Ha .. "Republican" Joseph L. Żerhey, Proprietor Publishers 1916
On Serur
COPYRIGHT 1916 BY MRS. ELLA ZERBEY ELLIOTT
PRESS OF POTTSVILLE, PA., "REPUBLICAN"
E. L. CLIFFORD
BUSINESS MANAGER
J. H. ZERBEY, JR. ASSOCIATE EDITOR
i
SCHUYLKILL CO. BLUE BOOK Contents
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
Follow
Frontispiece-Road Petition, Year 1727.
Page
Martin Zerbe's Homestead
1
Pioneer Homestead Map, 1723
36
Early Church, built 1727 42
Conrad Weiser's Signature
48
Patent from John Penn to Seven Stars (Minnich) Property, 1750
72
Land of Early Settlers on Tulpehocken
120
Schuylkill County Erected
141
Site of Mill John4 Zerbe, Tulpehocken
186
Mardin Zarvas Run, 1723, Wm. Penn Grant
200
Rear of Homestead of Martin Zerbe's Land.
208
Map George Zerbe Land, Schuylkill Haven 216
George Zerbe Homestead, near Orwigsburg, Pa. 232
268
Site of John Zerbe's Old Mill ..
308
Conrad Minnich Map, Land Deed
366
Stout Homestead, Settled 1736
392
Ancient Schwalm Castle
414
Andrew Schwalm Homestead, Orwigsburg, Pa.
420
PART I.
Translation of Road Petition.
Page
Title Page
1
Foreword
9
Prologue
12
Huguenots and Palatines
15
Settlers in Interior Eastern Pennsylvania, 1750-1752.
18
1730-1780
19
German Immigration
22
Huguenots and Palatines :
Come to London
25
Invitation to America
25
Sail for New York
26
Who Settlers Were
27
Settle in New York
29
Queen Anne's War
30
Water Right Agreement Johannes Zerbe, 1747
ii
BLUE BOOK OF Contents
Huguenots and Palatines, Continued:
Page
Soldiers in War, 1711
31
Company Lists . 34
Their Lands Resold
34
Pennsylvania Pioneers of 1723:
The Thirty-Three Families
36
Settlers Petition Governor 38
First Church Built, 1727 42
Petition for Roads, 1727
43
Tulpehocken Confusion 44
Province of Pennsylvania 50
Organization of Pennsylvania Counties to 1811.
51
Petition for New County
54
Remonstrate Against Revising Constitution
56
Failed
..
56
Constitution Amended
... .
57
Indian Troubles in Pennsylvania:
Indian Troubles
58
Policy
59
Forts
59
First Fort Dupui
60
Fort Augusta
60
Blue Mountain Forts
61
Forts Lebanon and Franklin
63
Chain of Forts
64
Friendly Indians
65
Indian Atrocities
67-69
The Finschers and Millers
70
John Penn Patent to Seven Stars (Minnich) Property, 1750 .. 73
Neyman and Other Massacres
74
Indian Stories
75-80
War of the Revolution:
War of the Revolution
81
Oath of Allegiance 85
Recruits From Schuylkill (Berks) Co.
85-97
Zerbes, Grubers, Rebers, Stouts, Swartzs, Merkles, Rieths,
97-104
Family Traditions
107-109
War of 1812-1814:
Soldiers From Schuylkill County
.109-113
Mexican War:
Schuylkill County Represented 114-120
The Early Settlers:
Early Notable Settlers 122
Conrad Weiser's Diary 124-132
Governor Schulze Story 134
Baltzar Gehr, Jacob Morgan, Douglass Family, etc .. 135-141
Schuylkill County Erected From Berks 141
etc., in the Early Wars
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Contents
Who Was Who:
Page
First Settlers of Schuylkill County 149
Neuferts, Whetstones, Potts 149
Klocks, Christs, Bresslers 150
Potts, Helms, Hessers
151
The Morris'
154
Boyers, Guldins, Colemans
155
Bocks, DeTurks, Mortimers
159
John R. and Benjamin B. Bannan
160
Lindemuths, Matzs, Roseberrys
163-167
Braun-Brown Family 168
Filberts, Weidmans, Krebs, Tysons 170-171
Spohns, Bechtels, Palmers 173-174
Kaerchers, Kepners, Shippens 175
Hobarts, Bairds, Pattersons
177-179
Zellers, Rahns, Seitzingers
180-182
PART II.
Genealogical Records:
Origin of the Zerbeys 187-192
Zerbeys in America 192-194
First Generation 194
The Manors 198
Second Generation
200
(MARTIN ZERBE'S LINE)
John Jacob Zerbe 200
John Zerbe 203
Heinrich Boyer 204
Albrecht and John Philip Strauss 204
George Peter Zerbe 207
Third Generation
211
Peter, Jr., Elizabeth, Valentine
211
Michael
212
John George Zerbe
216
(John) George and Anna Barbara Zerbe's Children ..
220
Hon. Daniel Zerbe
222
Herring Family Tradition
225
Daniel Zerbe, Cressona
226
Henry Zerbe, Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pa ..
227
John Adam Miller
229
232
Fourth Generation George Zerbe Children 233-239
232
Rev. Frank Ellsworth Graeff, D. D. 238
239
John F. Zerbey Family 241
Heber S. Zerbey Family 241
Joseph Henry Zerbey Family 242
"Pottsville Republican" . . . .
242
Robert A. Zerbey Family
245
..
iii
Wm. Merkle Zerbey
iv
BLUE BOOK OF Contents
Genealogical Records, Fourth Genration, Continued
Page
Frederic E. Zerbey Family 245
"Schuylkill Weekly Republican" 246
Charles D. Elliott 246
Ella Zerbey Elliott
246
Adelia E. Zerbey Family
249
Sara Frances Zerbey Family.
250
Rieths or Reeds
250
War Records
254
Ship Lists .257-258
Zerfass, Serfas, Surber, Sarvar, Sevir, Sarvas. .258-260
259
British Oath of Allegiance
260
Penna. Oath of Allegiance
261
Taxables in Berks County, 1752.
262
Early Churches in Schuylkill County
262
The First Census
262
Grubers Intermarried
263
Sontag Family
266
(LORENTZ ZERBE LINE)
First
Generation
266
Lorentz Zerbe Family
267
Second Generation 269
John Zerbe, the Miller, Family
271
Blue Mountain Lands
272
Tulpehocken Confusion
274
Second and Third Generations
277
Dr. Samuel and Maria Isles
279
280
Christian Zerbe
281
Benton H. Zerbe
282
John Zerbe's Law Suit
284
Nathan Zerbe John Zerbe, Cumru Township 288
289
Jonathan and David Zerbe .289-291
Rev. John W. Zerbe
292
George Adam Zerbe, Land and Family
. 294-297
George Zerbe, Tulpehocken, and Family
.297-298
Tyrone and Altoona Zerbes
298
Reading, Pa., Zerbes 301
299
Location of Land, Early Settlers
Host's Church 304
The Jacob Zerbes 304
Joel Zerbe Children 307
Philip Zerbe, of Washington Twp., Schuylkill Co. 309 Descendants .309-323
Centre County Zerbes . 323-325
Northumberland County Zerbes .325-332
Old Church, and Tombstone Records
.333-347
276
Leonard Zerbe
Valentine Zerbe
Third and Fourth Generations
Unclassified Zerbes 303
287
Unclassified Zerbes
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Contents
V
PART III.
Allied Families
Merkles
Church Records
.351-355
Taxables
355
In Wars
357
Wills and Records
357
Michael and Elizabeth, Children
359
Daniel Bartolet's Descendants
361
Isaac Strauch 363
362
Michael Merkle Family
364
Minnich, Muench History
Capt. Conrad Minnich Hotel
Conrad Minnich. Second
373
Minnich, Minnig Genealogy
. 378-387
Phila. Branch Muenchs. .387-393
Staudts. Stoudts, Stouts 393
Miller, Filbert, Kershner, Lerch, Ebling, Snyder, Mau- rer, Wagner and other Families .393-397 397
Marriages, Land Warrants 398
Muellers (Millers) Henry Miller 399
Family History .399-402
Andrew and Elizabeth Miller, Descendants. 403-409
History of the Reber Family 409
Conrad Reber Descendants 409
The Wildermuth Family 411
Origin of the Schwalms 413
First Schwalms in America 413
416
Baptismal Records
417
Andrew Schwalm, Sr., Family
418
Andrew and Hannah Schwalm Family
420
Frederic and Catharine Hacseler Family
421
Haeseler's Ancestry 423
427
Dr. Francis W. Boyer Family
427
James A. Medlar Family 428
428
Boyer Ancestry 429
John Andrew Schwalm Family 430
430
Allen H. Swalm 430
Henry A. Swalm 430
Joseph M. Schwalm Family
431
Sarah L. Schwalm 432
Thomas Clouse and Amanda Schwalm Family 432
Thomas K. Wagner and Susan J. Schwalm Family 432
Hegins Valley Schwalms 433
Hubley Township Schwalms
435
367
371
Graves of 1776 Men Marked
376
Caspar Phillips' Children
William E. Boyer Family
Edmund S. Boyer
Dr. Thomas W. Swalm
Page
351
351
vi SCHUYLKILL CO. BLUE BOOK Contents
Page
Pottsville Erected
437
Great Road or King's Highway
437
Turnpike Roads, Canal, Railways, Stages, etc.
438-440
Discovery of Coal
440
Settlers of Norwegian Township
441
Pottsville Erected
443
Pottsville's First Houses and First Settlers
443-445
Old Time Stories
447-455
Hessian Ancestors
455
Wills Probated Before 1800
455-456
Blue Book of Schuylkill and Berks Counties
Who Was Muha
THE ILLUSTRATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE FROM ORIGINALS DESIGNED SOLELY FOR THIS WORK.
NOTSO' FUBLIC LIBRARI
FRONT VIEW OF HOMESTEAD ON SITE OF MARTIN ZERBE'S LAND, SETTLED UPON IN 1723.
Hart
FOREWORD
In preparing this work, which includes the labor of years, the author has used only the best means available for the purpose. The idea of presenting such an array of facts, that makes of the book one neither entirely for private circulation, nor yet one solely for public distribution, first occurred to the writer about ten years ago, when after gathering much genealogical matter, for the main branch of the family, it was found that it was so involved with, and a part of, the pathetic, beautiful and romantic history, of the Huguenots and Pala- tines of the old world, thousands of whom were subsequently the founders of interior southeastern Pennsylvania and parts of other States, that it was next to impossible to divorce the one from the other.
The early settlers of Pennsylvania were not a showy race, they were plain and unassuming people, but they made his- tory and it seemed incumbent upon the author to transmit and preserve it. We are the descendants of French and German ancestry. There are those who are inanely ashamed of their descent and have a horror of being counted among the Penn- sylvania Germans. We are not of these. We are proud of our birthright. We have the homely treasure of a dialect peculiarly our own and we glory in its quaint figures of speech, so largely corrupted with the English, that as a sub-language or idiom it must soon be relegated to the archives of the past.
The Pennsylvania Germans and Huguenots were mainly husbandmen and tillers of the soil. To their untiring industry and perseverance, that wielded the maul, the axe and the mattock, felling the majestic monarchs of the forest and turn- ing the almost impenetrable wilderness into arable fields, rich with tasseled wheat and ripened corn; and making the barren wastes green with verdure and the bleak hillsides to
IO
BLUE BOOK OF Foreword
blossom like the rose, to them, is due much of the present flourishing condition of this our native State.
Plain, but loyal and God-fearing citizens of this Com- monwealth and the States of the Union in which their de- scendants have found homes, they possessed indomitable will, energy and perseverance and were of the stock, from which subsequently, sprung men in every walk of life, from the highest offices in the gift of the people; the presidency, the gubernatorial chair, the Senatorial, Congressional, and Leg- islative chambers, the highest professions, the brave soldier and sailor, on land and sea, down to the plain and unassum- ing civillian who filled his mission by performing his simple duty in life. All honor to the Pennsylvania Germans !
To the works from which the book has been partly com- piled : the Pennsylvania Archives, The Pennsylvania German Society Publications, Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society, the Pennsylvania Associators, Rupp's and Montgom- ery's Histories of Berks County, Cobb's Palatines, Koeppen's Middle Ages, Menzel's Germany, Palatine Refugees in Eng- land, Wheaton's Northmen, etc., etc., we are largely indebted.
The courtesy of Dr. J. W. Jordan, and his assistant Librarian, Ernest Spofford, of the Pennsylvania Historical Society Library, Philadelphia ; Dr. Schulze and Prof. Wm. A. Schwarze, of the Moravian College and Archives, Bethlehem ; the officials of the Pennsylvania State Library, Harrisburg, and the custodians of historical society libraries in Reading, Lebanon, Lancaster, and Harrisburg, in submitting original manuscripts for our inspection, for material, cannot be over- estimated nor too warmly commended.
The attachees of the Chester, Lancaster, Dauphin, Berks, Northumberland, and Schuylkill County Courts and the Court of Quarter Sessions, Philadelphia, and the custodians of the records of some of the early churches, were uniformly oblig-
II
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Foreword
ing in their offers of assistance in the unearthing of records. Many individuals, too, lent their best endeavors and through these the work was made possible.
To the chronological and genealogical data of the Zerbe line, many of the family name contributed and rendered in- valuable assistance. Others, too, collaborateurs in genealog- ical lines that were involved with the above, gave aid and the results speak for themselves.
The many difficulties to be contended with in a work of this nature, are but little understood by the average critic, who rarely sces anything to commend but seeks rather to con- demn or tear down that which he, perhaps, could not origin- ate or erect, himself ; we pass him by and without further apology, present the work to those interested and to an in- dulgent public.
ELLA ZERBEY ELLIOTT.
12
BLUE BOOK OF Prologue
PROLOGUE
It seems singular to the student of the present time, that only within the last thirty years has the history of the United States been considered of enough importance to be included in the curriculum of the large universities, in this country. A young man could, three decades ago, graduate from a four years' course in Harvard College, with all the honors and yet not know, even, of the existence of the Declaration of Inde- pendence or how the Constitution of the United States was framed. Other colleges, too, ignored American History. A boy was required to know of the history of Greece and Rome and during the term he was permitted to acquaint himself with the history of England, but that of the United States was ignored. An inspection of the curriculum of our public schools at the present time, too, reveals the fact that history is studied in a formal way for one year only, the eighth. This condition of things, happily, is passing away ; an effort now being made to introduce into the schools, as text books, such parts of Pennsylvania history that are relative to general school work.
New England history, as written, was largely biased by prejudice or else the truth was wilfully perverted. In the minutes of the Proprietary Government of Pennsylvania, and such reports as have been published in the Archives, there are found facts that prove this assertion.
The official records of a State alone can preserve its true history. The States of New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and others began the publication of their Colonial and Revo- lutionary history before Pennsylvania awakened to the fact
13
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Prologue
that she was lagging behind and it was not until April, 1837, that the immediate publication of the Colonial Records was ordered by the Legislature.
In 1752 the Assembly directed the publication of the Journals of the House, from 1684, which up to that date had remained in manuscript. These annals are records of the uninteresting details of the government of the colonies of Great Britain and much that should have gone down in his- tory was suppressed, as State secrets, for fear of the displeas- ure of the British government.
With the opening of the French and Indian wars the history of Pennsylvania became replete with interest. The Indian massacres along the frontier, the letters of the British officers and others higher up in the English government, make a wonderful story and one that no one who professes to be conversant with early history dare long remain unfamiliar with.
No state in the Union has a history of greater import- ance than Pennsylvania. In her metropolis was located the seat of the colonial government when liberty was declared and on her borders and within her domain the decisive strug- gle for independence culminated. It was in this State that American Independence had its birth and here, too, when the cause under Washington was almost hopeless and the New Englanders deserted it and went home, that Pennsylvania arose in its supremacy and saved the day.
The commonwealth is slowly unveiling the rich treas- ures in her possession but many, too, of the invaluable docu- ments in her vaults were lost, through the ravages of time, dampness and mildew and through the peculations of dis- honest custodians, who were the prey of private collectors ; and some through lack of binding or transmission to print, and others to the careless methods with which they were preserved.
14
BLUE BOOK OF Prologue
It is a discredit to Pennsylvania that a more thorough and systematic effort is not made by authorized bibliograph- ers ; in addition to the transcribers employed on the archives, to at once rehabilitate what remains of these rich and rare treasures, as every year of delay means an added loss.
The Moravian, Lutheran and Reformed churches, in the theological state libraries, at their colleges and seminaries, too, contain many untabulated original manuscripts in the German script that remain untranslated and are fast fading away.
What is true of the State and church, is also true of the individual. The history of the early pioneers is rich with information interwoven with the struggles, fortitude, endur- ance and sterling worth and work of the colonists, that re- mains uncovered and unhonored, through the apathy and carelessness of their descendants, and the custodians of docu- ments that relate to their history.
The early pioneers passed through many stirring and even thrilling vicissitudes, but they were formed of the fibre that makes heroes and not only endured untold hardships but lived and even thrived under them. Without the help of these rugged and fearless people, the nation under its heroic lead- ers, in the struggle for liberty, would have sunk into the depths of thraldom, unknown decay and servitude to an older, wealthier and more powerful country and liberty would never have been proclaimed throughout our beloved land.
15
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Huguenots and Palatines
The Huguenots and Palatines
HAT Norsemen and not Christopher Columbus discovered America and also, that, to the Teutonic race belongs that honor, is conceded by scholars and historians. The Norse Sagas embody the real history of the Germanic race. Greenland has many evidences of their settlement and farther south there are relics and proofs that the North American Indians absorbed these races and, as Father Charlevoix, Jesuit Priest, states, "Taught the aborigines the story of the cross be- fore the advent of the early missionaries," who have been accredited with that pioneer work.
Writers of American history, thus far, have not accorded the Germans their due, in regard to the discovery of this Con- tinent. The injustice of biased statements or else the total ig- moring by historians of what was done by Germans in the exploration, development and early settlement of America, has led the Pennsylvania German Society, a body of men composed of Pennsylvanians, born of German descent, to decree the com- pilation of a new and critical history of this Commonwealth. A large sum of money has been subscribed to enable Savants to make a thorough research of the libraries and repositories of learning in the old world; and particular epochs and sections are made the especial study of members of the Society appointed for the purpose and the results forthcoming are of such a com- prehensive and thorough nature as to revolutionize many hereto- fore accepted historical facts and add many unknown truths to the basis of those already proven1.
(New History of Penna. The Penna. German Society, Vol. VII., pp. 33-198.)
16
BLUE BOOK OF Huguenots and Palatines
The Swedes were the first settlers in Pennsylvania in 1638. The first commissioners from Wm. Penn to treat with the Indi- ans came over in 1681, and Wm. Penn, himself, arrived Oct. 27, 1682.2 In 1701 a small colony of Swedes settled on the Schuyl- kill River near the mouth of the Manatawny Creek, 10,500 acres were surveyed and layed off for them. They built the first church for religious worship, in interior Pennsylvania, 1716, and owing to the amicable relations between themselves and the Indians, called their settlement Amity (Chester County). This name has been retained as the name of that township, in Berks County, to the present day. A small colony of Germans came in 1712 and settled on Manatawny Creek. Then another colony of thirty-three families came in 1723, journeying south from New York. 1, 2
They were Huguenots and Palatines, who had cast their lot together, in a common cause, to escape religious persecution, fled their native land and came to the new world to build up homes away from the thraldom and dictation of Kings and Princes.
During the middle of the 16th century, the reformers under Calvin became strong in France, not only as a religious sect but as a political body. The name Huguenots was given them in derision and they were bitterly opposed by the French Court and disliked by the Roman hierarchy. Strong in their Pro- testant belief they could not change it to conform with that of the ruling prince.
Frederic II, the elector Palatinate, was a Lutheran, Frederic III a Calvanist. Ludovic V restored the Lutheran Church, his son who succeeded him became a Calvinist and he was succeeded by a Catholic, who cruelly oppressed the Protestants.
In 1634 the city of Heidelberg was taken by Louis XIV of France. In 1688 the French army invaded Germany and devas- tated the beautiful Palatinate of the Rhine, causing suffering and
(Note 1-D. Rupp, Thirty Thousand Immigrants, Appendix.) (Penna. Archives, Vol. 7, p. 291.)
(Note 2-Penna. Archives, Vol. 7, pp. 118, 125, 262.)
17
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Huguenots and Palatines
desolation worse than the German war, which brought ruin and starvation to thousands. More than 40 cities and hundreds of towns and villages were reduced to ashes. The inhabitants were driven into the fields in mid-winter. The cities of Manheim, Heidelberg, Worms, and Mayence were partly destroyed. The city of Heidelberg was rebuilt and in 1693 was again taken by the French and laid in ashes. 15,000 men, women and children were made homeless, stripped of all their possessions, turned into the fields by night, destitute and half naked, but with characteristic pluck they again rebuilt the city and restored their homes under the promise that they should have protection.
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