USA > Pennsylvania > Historic background and annals of the Swiss and German pioneer settlers of southeastern Pennsylvania, and of their remote ancestors, from the middle of the Dark Ages, down to the time of the Revolutionary War > Part 42
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It is no small honor to the Menno- nite to have the credit of being the real founder of the province (and now the great Commonwealth) of Pennsylvania back of William Penn, whose lives and characters, as Penn this year some of these people who' viewed them, when he visited them had emigrated, had settled at Hill- town, in Pennsylvania, and among them were Christian Lederich who came in 1747 and Valentine Hun- secker in 174S.
1748-Horrors of Overloading These Poor Germans and Swiss Settlers in Small Vessels.
As the rush of the Germans to Pennsylvania became more numerous about this time, the owners of the
along the Rhine Valley, which gave rise in his mind to the "Holy Experi- ment" and made him the father of Pennsylvania, that he was. and is held to be, to this date. As William Penn made Pennsylvania, so the ancient Mennonite Brethren in reality, made William Penn.
1748-Martyr's Mirror Published at Ephrata.
About this year, the German Breth- vessels began packing them away in ren in and about Ephrata, who about places entirely unfit for them, so that 25 years ago, had left the Conestoga a great deal of sickness broke out. We was passed to prevent this. Henry P. Fairchild has written up this subject Day Baptists), had attained such pro- in a thorough manner, in a work : called "Immigration in the Early Days." It was published by McMillan & Co. and gives a great deal of infor- mation concerning the horrible con- dition that existed. settlement and became a religious shall see that in a year or two. a law sect of their own (existing down to this day, and known as the Seventh ficiency and skill, and such intellec- tual ability, so as to be able to pub- lish Tielman, Van Braght's Book of Martyrs or Martyr's Mirror in Ger- man, being a work of about 1400 pages, according to the type of that time. A large edition was published running into the hundreds at least. This shows not so much the intellec- tual advancement to which the
Not only had these Germans be- come so numerous as to be the main civilizing factor in Pennsylvania shortly before and about 1750; but we must remember that as Barclay says, "brethren" had attained at that time of George Fox, the founder of the (even though the book had to be Quakers, "We are compelled to view translated from Dutch to German). him as the unconscious exponent of but more particularly the mechanical
301
GERMAN-SWISS GO INTO POLITICS.
skill and the ingenuity attained, by ! Webb in his petition to the Assem- bly set forth that at the late election there were gross frauds whereby he these people, in making presses and in procuring type of a superior char- acter, so as to print that great work. was not elected; that the good people Many copies of the Mirror, which they ' printed, still extant, attest the early capacity and skill of these people.
Inasmuch as the "Chronicon Eph- ratense" gives a minute detail of the lives and ways of these people and their history, I will not insert any of it in these annals. According to Kuhns, it took 15 men three years to complete this task.
1749 - German-Swiss First Political Efforts in Lancaster County
As soon as King George's War was ended, there was leisure in the Brit- ish Empire for attention to local poli- tics again. Factional contests began in earnest in Lancaster County and were made more intense, because the German-Swiss-Quaker alliance against the Scotch-Irish was now an estab- lished condition here. The German- Swiss now took part in earnest.
There was a keen fight for Assem- blyman in 1749 in Lancaster County, between James Webb and Peter Wor- rall.
Worrall was the popular hotel keeper on West King Street in Lan- caster Borough and Webb a promi- nent politician in Lancaster Township (See 3rd Series Penna. Arch. Vol. 17, pp. 83, 170 and 346). Both were mem- bers of the Assembly in 1748. Webb was English; had just finished build- ing the stone work of the new jail and was close to the English and Scotch- Irish Lancaster County politicians. Peter Worrall was "Dutch" (German) very widely known and very popular as the principal hotel man in the county.
So the "Dutch" or Germans threw their strength to Worrall and re- elected him. Webb was defeated and charged fraud and contested Wor- rall's election before the Assembly.
thereby are defeated of their privi- lege. Many of the voters in the Coun- ty also joined in a petition setting forth that at the late election the peo- ple crowded in a body and that they stuck their tickets in the end of cloven sticks, and committed other frauds; that tickets were put in by boys; that many voted several times; that the number of votes received was more than double the number of the people who were present; that the officers did not put any on oath or call for any tests. By reason of all this they pray the election to be declared void. (4 Votes of Assembly pp. 117- 18). November 22, the Assembly took the case up and heard many wit- nesses. The testimony was that the election was tumultuous, that no reg- ular list could be taken of the voters' names; that votes by proxy were al- lowed: that illegal votes were re- ceived by inspectors especially by Christian Herr an inspector; votes from minors received that persons not legally chosen inspectors re- ceived votes as inspectors, that many people voted three, four, five and even ten times; that one of the candidates (Worrall) who is returned as elected encouraged giving in more than one vote by the same person, that the number of voters attending did not exceed 1000, though the tickets found in the box were more than 2300 (4 V. p. 122 and Rupp p. 299).
Counsel for the petitioners exam- ined more witnesses the next day. Then Counsel for the Sheriff and in- spectors examined witnesses. These are objected to because they are in- terested witnesses.
The defense was that only two tickets were taken by proxy, by the owners of the tickets were in view,
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302
GERMAN-SWISS AND LANCASTER CO. ELECTION TUMULT OF 1749.
that tickets were taken from minors to get rid of them, but they were not put in the box, that those elected in- spectors soon after starting in were pulled away from their tables and that the number of voters present was as great as the number of votes cast (4 V. p. 123). The case went over to 1750, and Jan. 2nd the Assembly re- sumed considering it (4 V. p. 126). Several witnesses were heard the next day and the list of taxables of Lan- caster County was produced showing there were 4598 to show there was no duplication in voting or repeating (4 V. p. 126). The next day the case was up again and the representative who was charged with encouraging plural- ity of votes in favor of himself on his oath purged himself and also by wit- nesses supported the same (Do. p. 127).
January 5th, a vote was taken on the question of issuing a writ for a new election because the other one was fraud; but it was voted down and the election was adjudged good and regular (Do. 127).
The next day Jan. 6th the Sheriff of Lancaster County was called in and admonished that though the proofs were not sufficient to throw out the members returned the method of managing the election in Lancaster County was very irregular and he was warned that hereafter the names of those for Assembly must be on one ballot, those for Sheriff on another and those for Coroner on another, those for Assessors on another and those for Commissioners on another, and not all on one ballot as has been the custom in Lancaster County; that inspectors must be more particular in the choice of clerks and choose only such as excessive drinking will not, as heretofore, disable them from act- ing; that the Sheriff must hereafter call for the list of voters and have the tally taken and preserve the tallies:
care must be taken to prevent tumult and disorders by placing constables at the doors; that the fraud of re- peating must be suppressed (4 V. pp. 127 and 128). After all this the Sheriff had the "cheek" to present a bill of €20 for his expenses in defending his suspicious and crooked proceeding, (4 V. p. 142).
No comment is necessary upon the extraordinary election of 1749 in the County, except to notice that Chris- tian Herr being appointed out as one of the chief defiers of the law, it may be reasonably inferred that the Ger- mans had control of the election and that their friends the Quakers coun- selled them.
We may conclude too that they knew their case would not suffer in review before the Assembly in the hands of their friends in that body, a large majority of whom were Quak- ers.
1749 -- Ship Records of This Year.
During this year we have twenty- one ship loads of these German-Swiss people.
Among these ship loads of German- Swiss people. we find the common Lancaster County names:
2 Adams-5 Appels-2 Bernharts- 5 Brunners-6 Becks-12 Beckers-
3 Baners-4 Benders-2 Browns-2 Burkharts-4 Benners-S Conrads-2 Diehls -6 Eckerts - 6 Fishers - 2 Frant-2 Franks -- > Foxes-16 Hoff- mans-2 Hertzlers- 4 Hasslers - 7 Hubers -3 Hausers -2 Hellars - 5 Hartmans-4 Hasses-14 Hesses-4, Hahns-2 Hagers-4 Isemans-2 Ja- cobys -- 13 Klines-3 Konigs-7 Kel- lers -- 2 Kramers-4 Kaucmans -3 Kuhns-3 Kurtzes -- 5 Longs-2 Len- harts-9 Lutzes-9 Markles-2 Mess- ners-41 Millers-12 Meyers-2 Ma- gees-22 Schaeffers-25 Snyders-2 Stauffers-2 Shumakers-2 Snavelys- 2 Shumans-5 Schieds -- 3 Sprengers --
303
SHIP RECORDS OF 1749.
4 Shermans-4 Smeltzes-2 Steiger- walts-6 Wolfes-31 Wagners --- 19 master-"Fane" Wm. Hyndman mas- ter and "Show Good Intent" with Ben- Webers-10 Wises-2 Wanamakers- jamin Boswell as master.
2 Workmans-10 Weitzels-2 Yosts- 2 Yaegers-11 Youngs-3 Zieglers and 4 Zimmermans.
It will be observed from the above records, that these Germans were coming in great hordes now. They time. The Swiss immigration had
Also one each of the following Lan- were nearly all poor Germans at this
caster County names:
Arndt - Albert - Albright - Berg- practically been ended a few years er - Brant - Baer -- Barr - Bow- man - Buchman - Christian -- Care earlier. This is a period when the Germans began to push to the front, - Detweiler - Dellinger - Derr - as leaders in other lines, besides agri- Dietz - Eshileman - Erb - Eberhart culture in the County of Lancaster, and we shall observe from now on, (true to their nature), having once become accustomed to these matters, have never ceased, but paid' every in- creasing attention to the subject. In the last preceding item their political activity fully appears.
-- Ernst -- Eckman - Fritz - Foltz - Frantz - Frey - Hummel - Hersh - Herr - Herman - Herman - Hetrick - Kiehl - Kessler - Kern Kramer - Kieffer - Kraus - Krantz - Lambert - Lehman - Lanyz - Ludwig - Morris - Martin - Mann - Marshall - Pieffer - Pfoutz - Peters -- Rohrh - Roth Richer -- Reinhart - Schwartz - Simon - Schaeffer - Switzer Singer -- Stump - Steiger - Smeltz - Stein - Steinmetz - Seitz - Stauffer - - Shock -- Spangler - Thomas "- Tshudy - Vogel - Wiss- ner - Waters - Witmer -Widmyer - Walker - Warfel - Weidner - Walters - Zerfoss and Zwally.
1749-More Contagious Disease Among German Immigrants-Its Treatment.
At a Council held Sept. 11, this year at Philadelphia, the subject of con- tagion among our German ancestors was discussed again. The minutes (5 Col. Rec. 410) of the discussion, are as follows:
"The Governor having order'd Doc- tor Groene and Doctor Thomas Bond to visit the Ship Francis and Eliza- beth, arriv'd in the Cove below the City with Palatines on board from
They came over in the ship "Elliot" James Adams master-"Chesterfield" Thomas Coatam master - "Albany" Robert Brown master - "St. Andrew" Rotterdam, and they having reported James Abercrombie master-"Priscil- : that she was an unhealthy Vessel. several of the Passengers labouring under an eruptive fever which they were of opinion was infectious, he bad order'd the Trustees of the Province Island to attend the Council to be in- form'd of the Condition of the Pest la" Wm. Muir master-"Christian" Thomas Brady master-"Two Broth- ers"-Thomas Arndt master-"Edin- burg" James Russell master-"Phoe- nix" John Mason master-"Patience" Hugh Steele master - "Spoedwell"
James Creagh master-"Ranier" Hen -: House and what conveniences there ry Browning master - "Dragon" were or inight soon be made for the reception and care of the Sick; and George Spencer master-"Isaac" Rob- ert Mitchell master -- "Ann" John the Trustees accordingly attending. Spurrier master - "Jacob" Adolph together with the Doctors, it appear'd DeGrove master-"Leslie" J. Ballen- on examination that the Place was in great Disorder, and that for want of dine master-"Lydia" John Randolph master - "Dragon" Daniel Nicholas room. Household Furniture, and suit-
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304
LAW TO PREVENT CROWDING PALATINE SHIPS.
able Apartments, the Sick cou'd be but indifferently taken care of, yet there being a necessity of immediate- ly landing the infected the Trustees promis'd to put the Rooms into the best order they cou'd and to build some slight out Houses that might serve the present Occasion; where- upon the Captain of the Ship Francis and Elizabeth was serv'd with an or- der from the Governor to remove his Vessel to the Mouth of Schuylkill, as near to the Pest House as he cou'd conveniently lye, to send there all the sick and keep the well on board, and not to suffer any Persons to go near them except the Doctors, Necessary Nurses, and Servants."
1750-Law to Prevent Crowding Ger- man Immigrants in Unhealthy Ships.
In prior articles, we have noticed, that the greedy ship owners, began to overcrowd immigrants into their ships for the purpose of making money. This became so bad that the Philadelphia merchants began to ob- ject to these passengers being treat- ed in this way and exposed to dis- ease and, they brought it to the at- tention of the Assembly in 1749, as may be seen in Vol. 4 Votes of As- sembly, p. 121. Conditions became so bad, that citizens began to petition the Assembly to prevent sick and diseased passengers from being im- ported. (Do. 178).
also became interested. Among other things, he said that the provisions of the new bill ought to make consid- erable amendment, while the law should be stronger to prevent these evils. While the Council was debat- ing it, the Assembly agreed to cer- tain amendments and asked a joint committee on the subject, so that the Act be sufficiently strong. (5 Col. Rec. 427). The result was that on Jan. 27th, 1750, the Statute was passed, which is found in Vol. 5 Statutes at Large, p. 94, which sets forth that it has been the practice for masters and owners of the ves- sels, trading in this province, to im- port so great a number of Germans in one vessel, that through want of room and accommodations they con- tracted mortal and contagious dis- eases, which have caused not only the death of great numbers of pas- sengers; but infected those that have arrived, who when they landed. spread the disease. The Act then provided, that no vessel bound to Philadelphia or elsewhere in this province, shall import into Delaware River, or any port in the Province of Pennsylvania, a greater number of passengers in a vessel, than such as may be well provided with good wholesome meat and drink and nec- essaries; and have room for single passengers of the age of over 14 years, 6 ft. in length and 1 ft. 6 in. in width, and if under 14, to contain the same length and width for every two passengers. Upon failure to comply with this Act, the parties were to be fined 10 rounds for each violation.
It was further contended, when the reason for this condition be- came known that not more than a certain number of these immigrants, depending upon the size of the ves- sel, shall be put on a vessel. and a Further, the Act provided, that the ship owners must know the condition and circumstances of all the passen- gers. and inquire whether the officers of the ship have provided them with such room and necessaries, as this bill was drawn for that purpose (Do. 132). This bill was granted in the Assembly (Do. 133). The Council of Pennsylvania, the higher legislative body in the Province, also took a hand in the matter. The Governor | Act provides. The law further pro-
305
MITTELBERGER, ON SEA VOYAGE HORRORS.
vided, that if master or officer of the ship, had passengers that die on the way, leaving goods behind, that the vessel within twenty days after ar- rival, or after the death, should pre- sent a true inventory of the goods, out of which the costs of passage were to be taken, and the remainder should be given to some person for the benefit of the wife or children of the deceased. This Act the Govern- ment of Great Britain approved May 13th, 1751.
1750 -- Gottlieb Mittelberger Tells of the Sufferings of These Germans.
We have another authority upon the condition under which these Ger- mans had to live while crossing the ocean, in the writings of Gottlieb Mittelberger, who journeyed to Pennsylvania in 1750, and knew and experienced personally some of these conditions. His writings contain his experience in coming over and of his visit through this section of Pennsyl- vania. This we find in a small book in the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania at Philadelphia, marked Vg. 33. Among other things he relates the state and unfortunate conditions of these Germans who immigrated.
---
ies -- that the journey from Germany to Pennsylvania is 1700 french miles, and that you pass 36 custom houses going down the Rhine. He proceeds and says, that it takes 6 weeks to go down the Rhine alone -- that if a woman should die in child birth, that the dead mother and the living child are both thrown into the sea to- gether-that 32 children died on the ship that he was on -- that every year 20 to 25 ship loads of Germans and Swiss come to Pennsylvania-that in the last 4 years, 25,000 people came- that on his way to America a large shark was caught and when he was brought on the vessel and cut open, a whole man was found in him with boots and silver buckles on. He says that a trip from Durloch to Holland in open sea, takes 200 hours andl often from May to October to cross the ocean-that sickness on board the vessels is horrible and terrible stench is present all the time-that people vomit continually -- suffer .from dysentery, headache, scurvey, cancer, mouth rot, the latter coming from old sharply salted food and foul water-that besides that, they are af- flicted with damp, heat, hunger and want-that the lice are so thick they can be scraped off -- that when a gale rages for two or three nights, misery is at its height, people cry and pray most pitiously-the healthy ones get cruel and curse and some time kill one another-that a woman in child- birth (because of no physician pres- ent, it was thought she would die), was pushed right into the sea-that children from 1 to 7 years nearly all died from hunger and thirst and itch.
Mittelberger was the organist at the Lutheran Church at Trappe. He says May 1, 1750, he set out from Enzwehingen, Vaihingen Co., for Heilbronn, where an organ was ready to be shipped to Pennsylvania -that he sailed with the organ down the Necker and Rhine to Rot- terdam, with 400 persons, Wurten- bergs (Durlach) Palatines, and Swiss to Cowes in England. Finally he landed at Philadelphia, Oct. 10, 1750 -- Gottlieb Mittelberger's De- scription of the German Suffer- ings (Continued). 1750. He then says the reason for publishing this book is the grevious conditions of those who traveled from Germany, and the outrageous : As to the food he says it is dirty' proceedings of the "Dutch Man Deal- and that the passengers get warm ers" and other man dealing emissar- food only three times a week-that
306
MITTELBERGER, ON SEA VOYAGE HORRORS (Continued).
the water is black and full of worms -the biscuits are full of red worms and spiders' nests, and finally, that when the passengers land, they are barely able to walk and just creep from the deck, and when they reach the ground they weep for joy and pray and praise God.
He goes on to say that when the cargo is landed at Philadelphia, only those who can pay their passage can leave the ship-the others are sold- they often stay two or three weeks before any one will buy them and during this time, a good many die. As to the cost of the journey from Rotterdam to Philadelphia he says it is 10 pounds or 60 florins -- children 5 to 10 years old go at one-half price -- cost from his home to Rotterdam, 40 florins.
He then tells about how the pas- sengers are sold, and tells that it begins in a market on board the ship. That every day the English, Dutch and the High Germans come from the city of Philadelphia and other places, 20, 30 or 40 hours away, (1 hour means 4 miles) and go on board the ship and select and bar- gain, the adults agreeing to serve three, four or five years for the amount that is due; but young chil- dren serve ten to 15 years until they are 21 as a rule. He says that many parents must sell and trade their children like cattle, for this will free them of their passage money. A woman must stand good for her hus- band's passage, if he should arrive sick. If the passenger dies when he is half way over, or more than half, the other members of his family must pay for him; but if he dies less than half way, he goes free.
Mittelberger then tells of some of the customs in his day in Pennsyl- vania among the Germans and what he learned about Philadelphia. As to Philadelphia in 1750 he says, it
takes 1 day to walk around the town -that there are 300 new houses built every year-that there are S churches, three English, 3 German, 1 Swede and 1 Quaker-that the lan- guage is German and English. Then as to Pennsylvania he says (p. 57) that this is a very populous prov- ince inhabited far and wide -that there are new towns here, such as Germantown, Lancaster, Rittengs- town (Reading). As to country wed- dings and funerals, as many as 400 and 500 come on horseback - neigh- bors give warning as far as 50 miles in 24 hours and give notice to peo- ple to come to funerals-that while coming in, good cake is handed all and a goblet of hot West India rum punch into which lemon, sugar and juniper berries are put-and sweet cider is drunk - that the coffins are made of walnut stained brown and varnished-4 brass handles are on them -- and if a young man dies, 4 maidens carry him, and if a maiden dies, 4 unmarried men carry her. He said that the German Lutheran preacher in Lancaster at that time was Mr. Garack-there are no beg- gars in Pennsylvania-that on the first Sunday of May all make merry. those born in America deck them- selves like Indians and no one else is allowed to do that. He states at that time there were pipe organs in Pennsylvania, namely in Philadel- phia, Germantown, Providence and New Hanover and Tulpehocken and Lancaster,-and that they were all shipped into this country in the last 4 years.
Speaking about the people he says an English servant woman in Phila- delphia is as elegantly dressed as an aristocratic lady in Germany-Eng- lish ladies are very beautiful and wear their hair cut short or frizzled. Speaking of the development of the country he says: in one day's
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307
GERMAN-SWISS POLITICAL ACTIVITY.
journeying from Philadelphia; you come into wild, uncleared land; but there are three great roads -one from Philadelphia to Delaware and Frankfort, one to Germantown and Reading; and one to Lancaster.
This ancient minister and musician says considerable more in his book; but we have quite enough to give us a general idea of the conditions of the German sections of Pennsylvania at this time.
1750 - German-Swiss in Political Af- fairs.
In Vol. 4, Votes of Assembly, p. 153, it is stated that this year a great multitude of people, mostly Germans, came upon the regular election of- ficers at York and with sticks and billets of wood, drove them away, and broke the windows about the place of holding the election; threw brick bats and took the ballot box away and held the election themselves. This seems to indicate that the Ger- mans were determined that they would see that justice was done at the elections and they employed the methods of getting control, that were used by all parties during these times, brute force. There was a sim- ilar clash somewhat earlier in Penn- sylvania. Account of this appears in a prior article of these annals. It appears that this was a regular elec- tion riot between the Irish and Eng- lish and the Germans. The case came up before the authorities and among others, Benjamin Swope gave his deposition, which appears in Vol. two, 1st ser. of Pa. Archives. p. 51. His deposition is in substance as follows: That the election was begun and car- ried on by the Sheriff, in a peaceable manner, about one hour and one-half, and then the riot began and the Sher- iff went out and quieted the people 1 and then he returned. Then five or ! six men of the neighborhood of Marsh Creek came with clubs and voted. Swope went out to quell the
another riot happened and the Sher- iff tried to quell it: but he was afraid of getting hurt-that there was fight- ing among the people, several were knocked down-but at last the Dutch prevailed and came in a body to the number of 150 all around the house where the election was held, and the Sheriff went out - the third time to quell the tumult - the election was stopped and the ballot box was locked up by the Sheriff before he went out. When the Sheriff returned the box was put on a table and he was asked whether he would not go on with the election. He said when the tumult was over a little he would go on but not at present. The Sheriff told the people if they would be quiet the election would be opened by him; but the people behaved in a disorder- ly manner and threatened in the Ger- man language, if their tickets were not taken immediately, they would break open the door. The Sheriff all this time was walking about the house in great fear and his friends advised him to go on with the elec- tion at once, or otherwise the people would break in. The Sheriff said he would not go on with the election that night. Then Benjamin Swope went and told the people in Dutch language that they might as well go home, there would be no election that night. The Dutch answered, that they had as good a right to vote as the others that voted, and they would vote and they began to tear down the windows, broke down the door and behaved disorderly. Then Swope tried to get the Sheriff to go on with the election, that he would surely be killed if he refused; but he said he would take the box into a private room and count the ballot. Swope said he would not be present at the reading of these tickets: because there was only one-half of the tickets taken in that were there ready to be
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