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Pennsylvania:
THE GERMAN INFLUENCE IN ITS SETTLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
A narrative and Critical history.
PREPARED BY AUTHORITY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY. 1
Proceedings ... v.9 PART V.
THE GERMAN EMIGRATION FROM NEW YORK PROVINCE INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
SOCIET
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.
1899.
ハ
I. d. Richards
The Berman Emigration
from new Dork Province
ínto
Pennsylvania
PART V. OF A NARRATIVE AND CRITICAL HISTORY, PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY
BY
REV. MATTHIAS HENRY RICHARDS, D.D.
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN MUHLENBERG COLLEGE OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN ALLENTOWN ; EDITOR OF THE "CHURCH LESSON LEAF" AND "THE HELPER" ; CHAIRMAN OF THE "GENERAL COUNCIL SUNDAY-SCHOOL COMMITTEE" ; EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE "LUTHERAN," " " CHURCH MESSENGER," ETC. ; AUTHOR OF THE "BEGINNER'S CATECHISM," ETC., ETC.
IN
SOCI
PT
LANCASTER, PA 1899
Copyright by Pennsylvania German Society. 1899. All rights reserved.
Illustrations by Julius F. Sachse.
Southern Book Co- 10.
1162741
CHAPTER I.
THE GERMAN EMIGRATION FROM NEW YORK PROVINCE INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
PRELIMINARY RESUMÉ.1
HE task assigned to me is to GER present the features of what may, in some respects, be called an episode of that migra- tion of Palatines which took CIET place in 1710, and which sought its hoped for resting place in New York Province, only to find the rather a prison house and a land of bondage. In other respects, this subsequent migration to Penn- sylvania, though scanty as to numbers, was influential to no inconsiderable degree and deserves therefore a con- sideration far beyond that which should be accorded
1 The sudden decease of the Rev. Dr. M. H. Richards, on Dec. 12, 1898, left his paper in an unfinished condition. At the request of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania-German Society the work of amplification and completion has been reluctantly undertaken by his brother, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Richards.
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otherwise to it in proportion to its extent. Why these Palatines were moved to migration, how that migration took place, whither it was directed, and in what it ended, are all matters which have been treated most ade- quately already. They formed the contents of an able and carefully prepared paper read before this body at its last annual meeting. But it is pardonable, perhaps desirable, to set forth these things once more, as in a summary, in order to introduce satisfactorily the contents of this present paper.
Be it recalled then that the Palatinate had been the seat of cruel and wasteful warfare, had been devastated in 1683, and again in 1693. Its future was as dark as its present was wretched. Relig- ious persecution went hand in 8 G NOSTR hand with material misery. Even nature seemed to have doomed the land, when, in the ET PRO winter of 1709, the cold became CY.P. so intense that birds fell dead DIEV from it in the midst of their AON ET.HMMON DROIT flight, and wild beasts perished :EBOR L in their hiding-places. At the Seal of the Province of New York. same time the fame of America as a land of promise and plenty® began to be spread abroad. It was declared that Queen Anne, of England, stood ready to give a free passage to the forlorn, impoverished, persecuted Palatines, if they saw fit to embark for her colonies in that new land. A yearning resolve, such as marked the Cru- sades, spread like a pestilence, until a mass-migration en- sued ; and 14,000 Palatines and inhabitants of territory contiguous to the Palatinate stood upon the shores of Eng-
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
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THE VALLEY OF SCHOHARIE.
Offer of Indian Chiefs. 353
land, in the neighborhood of London, asking and expect- ing help, homes, food for present need. Even royal charity and willingness was confounded. But every effort was made, and gradually these unfortunates, or their sur- vivors rather, were located here and there, notably in Ire- land and America.
Five Indian chiefs, constituting an embassage to the . British Government, witnessed the misery of this encamp- ment of exiles, and pitied them so greatly as to offer to open for their settlement part of the lands under their con- trol. This offer led to the migration, under the royal charge, of 4,000 to the Province of New York, these Pala- tines expecting an assignment of land, under this Indian promise, and hopeful that industry and peace would restore them to prosperity and happiness. But the governor of the Province, Robert Hunter, along with a wealthy pro- prietor therein, Robert Livingston, had planned their own profit out of the bondage of these strangers. Demands and charges and unexpected conditions fell upon them in their settlement upon the Hudson which, if submitted unto, re- duced them to serfdom. It had been as well to have died at home as to suffer and die here! Again the hope and courage of better things came to them, and they took their flight, in large number, to the Mohawk lands, the consent of the Indians having been gained to their entrance upon them, according to the promise made in England. In the Spring of 1714 we find 150 families around Schoharie, forty miles from Albany. Here they toiled and starved until it was possible, by another year, to prepare ground enough for the sowing of grain and planting of corn for their sustenence. At last they have found rest ! No, not even yet ! They have no title to their land, save from their Indian friends. The governor of the Province sells this
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land, valueless except for what their labor has done for it, unopen to settlement, save as Indian pity had opened it for them, to other provincials as greedy and pitiless as himself, and invokes the power of the State against these still un- happy Palatines ! Then arose threats of armed resistance, the actual sending of three deputies to England to present their case to the Throne, the usual ineffectual outcome when helplessness is worried out by the law's delays and thwarted by the insolence of office. In 1723 affairs stood thus : Hunter had lost his office, a royal order instructed William Burnet, the new governor, to assign vacant lands to all the Germans who had been sent to New York under the late Queen. The new governor did willingly what he could, but " vacant lands " would not mean the retention of what rightfully belonged to these Palatines. The result was various : Some acquiesced, some went to other loca- tions in the Province, and some determined to migrate once more, and this time to Penn's Province of Pennsylvania. It is our duty to follow the experiences and fortunes of these, since these form the migration from New York Province into Pennsylvania.
CHAPTER II. 1
THE MINISINK SETTLEMENT.
E are so accustomed to trace the history of Penn- sylvania from its begin- nings at and below Philadelphia that we overlook a fact but little known to the general public, which is the Minisink Settlement along the banks of the Delaware, above the present town of Strouds- burg in Monroe County. There is a romance surrounding its exis- tence, shrouded as it is in mystery, most inviting to the his- torian, but, as yet, the veil has not been fully lifted. From what is known concerning it there seems to be but little doubt that it is the oldest European settlement in Pennsylva- nia, antedating the advent of Penn in 1682. For years its people lived, toiled, married, suffered, were happy and died in a world of their own, unknown to those who planted their feet, somewhat later, on the banks of the same river so many miles to the south of them. At peace with their neighbor, the Indian, from whom their lands had been
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fairly purchased, they little dreamed of the danger which threatened them from a government of whose existence, even, they were utterly oblivious.
This state of affairs could not exist forever. About 1720 the English authorities had been informed with re- gard to the settlement, and in 1729 a law was passed that any such purchases made from the Indians should be void, and the purchasers indicted for " forcible entry and de- tainer," according to the laws of England. Prior to that, in 1727, the famous surveyor, Nicholas Scull, was directed to go and investigate the facts. Accompanied by Matthew Hughes, a Justice of the Peace from Bucks County, with two others, one being his apprentice, Mr. John Lukens, and hired Indian guides, after a fatiguing journey, through what was then a wilderness uninhabited by any but abo- rigines, Mr. Scull finally reached his destination. The astonishment of the party was great at the sight which met their eyes. On all hands were to be seen cultivated fields and well established homes. Everywhere were thriving orchards and groves of apple trees, of a size and age far beyond any at Philadelphia. The people who inhabited these fertile flats were mostly Hollanders, whose ancestors had come from New York Province and who had never even heard of William Penn, his city of Brotherly Love or his Proprietary Government.
With a laudable curiosity to know more about the origin of these strange people Mr. Lukens asked them many questions, and, in later years (1787), at his instigation, Mr. Samuel Preston, of Stockport, Wayne County, made a special tour of investigation to the same locality. The result was by no mean conclusive and only elicited the fact that the original settlers were, generally, the grandparents of those residing there in 1787, who were, at the time they
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The Minisink Settlement.
gave the information, themselves old men. Their com- munication with the outer world was over a well defined road leading to Esopus, now Kingston, N. Y., which, in former years, had been opened up, with great labor, to give access to two mines, one on the Delaware, where the mountain nearly approaches the lower point of Paaquarry flat, the other at the north foot of the same mountain near half-way between the Delaware and Esopus. Indeed so much labor had been expended in the construction of this road, nearly 100 miles long, that it was supposed the Dutch authorities themselves had aided in its building before the advent of the English in 1664. Its primary object, however, was for mining purposes, and many tons of ore are said to have been hauled over it to Esopus. That such was a fact was evidenced by the appearance of the old mine holes, then visited, but the nature of the ore could never be ascertained.
An Old Dutch Home in New York.
As the miners traversed its length, back and forth, they were struck with the extreme fertility of the Minisink Flats, and were, doubtless, led to select this place for their homes when their countrymen had been displaced by the foreign English power and, to all intents and purposes, an end put to their business of mining.
Whilst it is true these men were Hollanders, or, at least, are so called, and no claims can be made that the settle- ment was of German origin, yet, outside of its general interest as, probably, the oldest white settlement in the Province, and outside of the further interesting fact that its
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people migrated thence from New York, it is by no means devoid of bearing and value in connection with our subject now under consideration.
In the first place these settlers, whilst generally from Holland, were not all so. Even the meager data in our hands show that amongst them were persons of French and Spanish nationality. May there not have been also some from Germany? Of still more interest, however, is the fact that, whilst mining and the transportation of ore did cease, yet intercourse with Esopus did not. This was their market. Without knowledge of Philadelphia, and not knowing whence ran the stream which flowed before their doors, every winter, with loads of wheat and cider, they wended their way over the old Mine Road to Esopus, to return with salt and such necessaries with which they could not provide themselves. Situated as was this town, in close proximity to the Livingston Manor, in time the settlers must have come into intercourse with the Ger- man Palatines who were located all around it. Who can tell what tales of peace, prosperity and happiness were poured by the Pennsylvania settlers, who had little reason to love the English, into the ears of their German brethren still sighing for freedom under their own roof, the pursuit of which drove them from the Fatherland and the attain- ment of which seemed to ever elude their grasp? It is but natural to suppose that some information was gained, and it can hardly be doubted but that this fact had somewhat to do with the immigration from New York Province into Pennsylvania which followed.
This leads us then to a consideration of the reasons and influences which diverted the German immigration to an entirely different path into Penn's Province.
CHAPTER III.
THE CHOICE OF A HOME.
ERELY because the Ger- mans were of another nationality we can under- stand why there should be no enthusiastic desire to commingle with their Dutch brethren, but, beyond all this, the time had not yet arrived when the thought of immigration in that direction had come to maturity. For a while they clung to the hope of a happy issue from their troubles at Livingston Manor itself. When this was no longer possible and, as outcasts, they were forced, once more, to take up the struggle for a home, it was but natural they should remember the lands promised them by their Indian friends in London, and to wend their way to- wards Schoharie rather than towards the hunting grounds of a hostile tribe. Still, it may even be that some Ger- mans then commingled with the Dutch on the Minisink Flats, but of that we have no evidence whatever, save the existence of a few German names which may have come in later, and, indeed, from other parts of the same Prov-
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ince. It was only when driven from their new homes up the Hudson, that to many came the determination to quit forever the land in which they had experienced so many trials and so much misery. Then did they remember all they had heard of that land of promise, Pennsylvania, and, with it as their goal, it only remained to decide upon the precise point of location.
How few persons are aware that a most trifling fact alone prevented the Palatines from making their homes on or near the Minisink Flats, at this point in their history. " Man proposes and God disposes," and the all-wise Father had a different destination selected and a different destiny in view for the heretofore despised Germans who were to mould the future of a great State after first saving its life.
When the last and most severe blow fell on those at Schoharie there seemed but one resort left to them, the appeal to the Throne, and we are familiar with the story of their selection of delegates, of the hardships experienced by those delegates on their voyage to England, and of all their trials upon arrival, during the weary years of waiting for a verdict. We are by no means familiar, however, with the fact that John Conrad Weiser, the principal one of these delegates, having in mind all he had heard at Esopus of the fertile Minisink low lands along the banks of the Upper Delaware, visited the widow of William Penn, at her home in Ruscombe, Berkshire, also interviewed mem- bers of the family, notably John Penn, either there or in London, and endeavored to arrange with them for the pur- chase of lands contiguous to the Dutch settlement. He by no means met with rebuff, and, it is most certain, would have been entirely successful, but, apparently, for the desire of James Logan, the Provincial Secretary, to ac-
Secretary Logan's Interference. 36I
quire the greatest possible amount of money for the Pro- prietors.
Amongst the " Papers Relating to Provincial Affairs " is a letter from James Logan to John Penn, dated Philad'a, 25th Nov'r, 1727. The following extract from it tells the story. Speaking of the division of the property amongst the heirs he says :
" About William's Share, which thou particularly recom- mends, I have been anxious, but there are certain rich low Lands on Delaware, near a hundd miles northward on a Streight Line, not far from a Dutch settlemt, at a place called Mackhackomack in Jersey, and on the confines of N. York Governmt, wch settlemt is about 50 miles from Kingston or Esopus, on Hudson's River. A certain Ger- man of the Palatinate, named Conradt Wyser, who was with thee at Ruscomb or London in the year 1723, treating about Lands, recv'd a few Lines from thee at Lond. wrote from Ruscomb, weh only shew that you had talk'd together about somewhat, but mention not so much as the word Land. A friend of his also made affidavit about some words that pass'd between the Mother and Wyser concern- ing Land here. From these, that fellow has had the as- surance to pretend a power from you to Sell Lands, and thereupon made an agreemt with several People for parcels of those rich Tracts I have mentioned, upon which they have proceeded to purchase Rights of the Indians at ex- cessive prices. Being informed of this, I did what lay in my power to make the People sensible of the cheat, that their Purchases of the Indians were against our Laws, and that their agreement with Wyser was of no validity. One J. Crook, of Kingston, in N. York Governmt, has wrote to thee about these Lands, but having no answer, he en- deavored to take a shorter method, weh was to purchase in
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this town old unlocated Original Rights from thy father's sales in Englª, by Lease & Release, with a design to lay these on such parcels as they have paid for to the Indians. We, the Trustees, coming about ten days since to the knowledge of this, to prevent, as far as we could, such irregular practices, resolved to lay thy Nephew William's Right on these Lands, and have actually sent up the Sur- veyor Gen1, with two others, accompanied with one Matthew Hughes, a Justice of the Peace for Bucks County, a magistrate's presence being necessary, and they are now in most unpleasant, severe weather upon the business, from wch I wish they may return alive & in any tolerable state of health, for they have high, rugged mountains and some deep waters to pass, without any Road or Inhabitants, some good part of the way. There is not above 2 or 3 thousd acres (they say) of that rich Land, and the adjoining is all Rocks & Hills ; yet as it is not above 60 miles or there- abouts from Hudson's River, the Dutch People of N. York Governmt sett a very great value upon it, and were it clear from Indian Claims, would sell readily for good Pay and at a high rate, perhaps 60 or 701bs p. 100 acres, if not more. These Bottoms, I mean, for the rest is good for nothing. I wish we may gett the Survey compleated without any op- position from the Indians, for weh I have taken all possible precautions, and then these Lands will be William's for so we shall return them.
In addition to the above the following letter was previ- ously sent Weiser :
Philadia, 8th June, 1727.
CONRAD WEISER :
Sir : Being informed not only of thy settling our Proptr Lands on ye River Delaware, but of thy undertaking to
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
@ James Logan
FROM PENNSYLVANIA PROVINCE AND STATE," BY ALBERT S. BOLLES.
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Pennsylvania Decided Upon.
sell them to others on pretense of our authority so to doe, I could not at first give any credit to the story till it was afterwards, to my very great surprise, confirmed by several hands. I remember either thy self, or somebody for thee, shewª me, at my house, a few Lines from John Penn, di- rected, as I remember, to one of the Trustees of this Prov- ince, recommending thee to him to make some agreemt with thee, or at least to give thee some encouragemt. But sure I am that no agreemt was ever made with thee, nor any Power ever given thee, by weh thou canst justify thy Proceedings. Therefore, Pray lett common sense and Honesty so far prevail with thee as to forbear imposing on any others under those frivolous pretences, otherwise all that are concerned with thee as thy self may assure your- selves that you must suffer for your Trespasses. If thou makes a proper use of this Letter (of wch I have given a copy to be shown to those who deal with thee) it may pre- vent further trouble and confusion, which is the real de- sire of
Thy well wishing friend J. LOGAN.
Cut off from the hope of settlement on the Delaware, when Weiser reached Schoharie again he could only recommend one route to those who desired to enter Penn- sylvania, that by the Susquehanna River.
A glance at the map will show that the head waters of this river rise in New York, not very remotely from the Schoharie Valley. When once attained the emigrants could float down its waters to their new home. Nor would they attract attention or run any danger of arrest, in so doing, from the authorities of the Province. They were beyond the line of settlement and were entering into that
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part of Pennsylvania which was equally unsettled. They must take up vacant lands whither they were going, and this would, indeed, be a direct course to such a section.
But outside of geographical considerations, which shut up the wanderers to their course down the Susquehanna, there had not been lacking broad intimations, if not posi- tive invitations and promises from the government of Pennsylvania, which were rendered all the more attractive by the well-earned reputation of William Penn for generous. treatment and mild laws. Pennsylvania was not unknown to the Germans. There was the " Frankfort Land Com- pany," incorporated 1686, whose possessions were at Ger- mantown, and the " Manatawney Patent "-thousands of acres-whose attorney in 1708 was Daniel Falkner. Of the Palatines, from 1708-20, very many came directly to Pennsylvania. They continued coming for many years after this, until the authorities began to fear that the Prov- ince would cease to be English, or respect English au- thority. There are not lacking rumors that Sir William Keith, while governor of the colony, had schemes of founding an independent colony towards the Ohio, and was so friendly toward the Palatines with an eye to this brilliant scheme. At all events it remains a fact that this William Keith was visiting in Albany at the time of the distress of the Palatines and gave them encouragement to come to his colony. In keeping with this is the following petition addressed to him by our immigrants shortly after their settlement in his Province.2
" To his Excellency, William Keith, Baronet, Governor of Pennsylvania, &c., &c., the Honorable Council.
" The petition of us, the subscribers, being thirty-three
2 See Col. Records, Vol. 3, p. 341.
Willing to Purchase Lands. 365
families in number, at present inhabiting Tulpehocken Creek.
" HUMBLY SHEWETH,
" That your petitioners being natives of Germany, about fifteen years ago, were by the great goodness and royal bounty of her late Majesty, Queen Anne, relieved from the hardships which they then suffered in Europe, and were transported into the colony of New York, where they settled. But their families increasing, being in that Gov- ernment confined to the scanty allowance of ten acres of land to each family, whereon they could not well subsist. Your petitioners being informed of the kind reception which their countrymen usually meet with in the Province of Pennsylvania, and hoping they might, with what sub- stance they had, acquire larger settlements in that Prov- ince, did last year (in the spring of 1723), leave their set- tlements in New York Government, and come with their families into this province, where, upon their arrival, they applied themselves to His Excellency, the Governor, who, of his great goodness, permitted them to inhabit upon Tulpehaca Creek (being the farthest inhabited part of the province northwest of Philadelphia), on condition that they should make full satisfaction to the proprietor or his agents, for such lands as should be allotted to them, when they were ready to receive the same. And now, your peti- tioners, understanding that some gentlemen, agents of the proprietor, have ample power to dispose of lands in this province. And we, your petitioners, being willing and ready to purchase, do humbly beseech your Excellency and council to recommend us to the favorable usage of the proprietor's agents, that upon paying the usual prices for lands at such distance from Philadelphia, we may have
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sufficient rights and titles made to us for such lands as we shall have occasion to buy, that our children may have some settlement to depend on hereafter, and that by your authority we may be freed from the demands of the In- dians of that part of the country, who pretend a right thereto. And we humbly beg leave to inform your Excel- lency and Council, that there are fifty families more who, if they may be admitted upon the same conditions, are de- sirous to come and settle with us. We hope for your favorable answer to this our humble request, and as in duty bound shall ever pray, &c."
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