USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 1 > Part 9
USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 1 > Part 9
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1,. Wass is der price fum dem ?
C. Well, the price of this is two ten-just twenty-five cents per yard more.
C. Well, der price fun dem is tzwæ dawler un tzæ cent-yusht finf un tzwonsich cent de yord mainer.
L. It's higher priced, then, is it ?
L. Don is des doh haicher in price?
C. Yes, twenty-five cents higher, and I think it worth fully that much more.
C. Yaw, finf un tzwonsich cent haicher, un ich denk es is aw fullens so feel tai wært.
L. I don't know but that it is, and I think it looks yet richer than Mrs. Jenkins'-don't you think so too?
1 .. Ich wase net eb 's net so is, un ich denk es gookt noch reicher os der Mes. Jenkins eras-deuksht net aw so:
C. Oh certainly, it's richer and better.
( Yaw gawiss, es is reicher un besser.
L. Well, I'll take-let me see-eighteen yards-and you may fill the necessary trinnnings, and send it up to No. 945 Quality Street .. The hill you'll send to my husband, Mr. Swelling, at his office, No. 28 Finawe Avenue.
L. Well, ich nemn-Iuss mohl sana -- anchtzain yard, un du mawgsht do trimmings adda, un shicks nut tan nummer nine hoonert un fiuf un færtzich (915) Quality Shtrose, De bill shickshit ten meim monn on siner office, nummer ancht un Izwonsich (28) Finawe Avenue.
Religion and Education .- Tacitus, the Latin his- torian, two thousand years ago, gave a description of the German character, which, at this day, as far as the virtues ascribed to thein are concerned, is appli- cable to the Pennsylvania Germans. These bold pioneers in the settlement of Pennsylvania had brought with them from the fatherland their re-
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THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS.
ligion, love for education and liberty, their industry, economy, and indomitable perseverance. Equipped and adorned with these as their capital and accom- plishments, they gained possession of the fertile val- leys and of the hill-sides, even to the summits, which have been caused by their labors to blossom as the rose, to yield to them abundantly the fruits of the soil, and to gladden the eye of the observer as once did the fertilities of Goshen, the beauties of Sharon, the rich abundance of Canaan, and the enchantments of Paradise. Among the few treasures-very few indeed-which they had brought from their homes beyond the sea were a Bible, a Psalter, Starke's "Gebet Buch," and Arndt's " Wahres Christenthum." Not one of them was without religion and education, two precious legacies which they had brought from the Fatherland and transmitted to their posterity. Houses of worship were erected in every community, which, though but rude structures, afforded them places in which to worship the God of their fathers. It is worthy of mention, too, that these church edifices, hundreds of them in Eastern Pennsylvania, have been built and owned conjointly by different denominations, sometimes three of them using and owning the edifice, having services on alternate Sun- days, or on different hours of the same day, by agree- ment, worshiping under the same roof for a century without a jar or discord. Where, in all this land, can another scetion of country be found in which brethren of different religions faiths have thus dwelt together in unity ? It is doubtful, indeed, whether anywhere in Christendom a parallel case can be found, except, perhaps, in Germany, the native country of these people, where, in certain localities, Protestants and Catholies worship in the same churches, -the one body of Christians occupying the building in the forenoon, and the other in the afternoon, of the same day.
The children, when of proper age, are instructed in the principles of religion, and encouraged to be- come members of the church of their parents. So carefully and conscientionsly were these duties dis- charged by parents, that fifty years ago it was difficult to find an adult who was without church-member- ship. It was looked upon as greatly to the discredit of any one who lived to the age of manhood without having made a profession of religion. When any of these sporadic cases were found, ministers of the gos- pel regarded it their duty to make a public example of them, and to hold them up as a warning to others on the day of their reception as members of the con- gregation.
Church discipline was also rigidly enforced, and though more or less laxity has crept into some of the churches of the present time, yet in most of them the careful practices of the fathers are preserved. Examinations of candidates for church membership are made, and such as do not come up to the require- ment of intellectual and moral qualification are held
in abeyance till, after further instruction of mind and conscience, they attain to the proper standard. Mem- bers of congregations are subjected to an examina- tion before they are admitted to the communion-table. If any are at variance with their neighbors, a recon- ciliation must be effected before they can come to the Lord's table. Those that live in outward and gross sins are prohibited from communing until they have given evidence of sincere repentance. Those who have been guilty of overt acts of transgression are required to do Kerchabusz until they give satisfac- tory evidence of a reformation of their hearts and lives. Suicides were formerly buried on the outside of the graveyard, or in a remote corner within, away from all others. The graveyard (Gottes Acker) is always hard by the church, and regular sermons are preached in the church on funeral occasions.
The educational interests of the young have always received special attention at the hands of the Ger- mans. In the Fatherland every child is compelled to attend school from the age of seven to fourteen. To find a German who cannot read and write is as much of an impossibility as to find one of fourteen years and over who is not a confirmed member of the church.
In conformity with the custom and spirit of the Fatherland, a church and school-house were among the first buildings crected by the sons of their worthy sires as they reached America. In every German community of Pennsylvania, from the Delaware to Lake Erie, this custom was perpetuated. The old edifices, still standing at many places, though simple and primitive in their style of architecture, bear tes- timony to the high value which these people placed on education. Teachers too. not land lacfer and igno- ramnses, but regularly-trained instructors coming from the gymnasia and schul-lehrer seminarien of the old country, were employed whenever the early settlers conkl command the means for doing so. These teach- ers were not mere itinerants, who taught a term and then left, but they were permanently employed. Houses were furnished them, and farms, containing in some cases a hundred acres, were set apart for the use of the teacher, who at the same time was also the organist of the church and musical instructor. lle was the foresinger,-not the chorister not the leader of the singing, but everything that the word foresinger implies. The teacher was as indispensable in many respects as the preacher, and ranked only second to him. lu many cases he took the preacher's place, especially so in conducting the services in the absence of the minister, in which case, though not permitted to enter the pulpit, as that belonged to the minister exclui- sively, in distinction of his office, he read a sermon at the altar. Frequently the minister, as is now the case in the sparsely settled sections of the West and Southwest, was the school-teacher, being engaged six days of the week in teaching, and preaching to the congregation on Sunday, as well as hokdling Finnerlehr.
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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
The Pennsylvania Germans a century, and even fifty years, ago, were almost withont exception farmers, mechanics, and laborers. Their daily toil on the farm and their trades kept the children so busily engaged that they had but little time at their command for school or study. The consequence was that the education of many was sadly neglected; not because the parents disparaged education, but from almost inevitable cirenmstances.
They did not so readily adopt the publie-school system in its earlier days as some of their English neighbors, but this was not because they were un- friendly to education and schools. Neither is their op- position to the public school system to be attributed to ignoranee, as those not conversant with the facts some- times think. There are two reasons for it. Coming from a land where religion is taught in the schools, they feared that in State schools their most precious heritage, religion and religious instruction, would be ignored, and the moral nature of their children left uncared for by a merely seeular education. And, in the second place, with their intense love of liberty, and having come from a land where church and state are united, producing a most nnhappy state of things, they sought to preserve that freedom which they en- joyed here, and feared that by the establishment of State schools a step might be taken looking towards a union of school, church, and state. As soon as they felt eonvineed that such a course was not con- templated, they became the ardent advocates of a free school system, and are now its warmest sup- porters.
Their Traits of Character .- The greater part of the Pennsylvania Germans are farmers, hardy and industrious tillers of the soil. They are robust, strong, healthy, and hard workers. In many of the rural districts women assist the men in farm-work. Though not seen following the plow, it is nevertheless a common sight to see them engaged in raking hay, binding grain, hoeing and husking eorn, milking cows, and the like. If it be a failing, their failing is that they work too much. Ofttimes we have seen young ladies whose parents were worth their thou- sands engaged as servants, waiting on tables at board- ing-school where their brothers were attending as students. While these women may not be experts at the piano, and yet they sometimes are, they under- stand practically how to bake bread, fry beefsteak, and prepare a most sumptuous and tempting mcal. Every mother educates her daughters in the art of housekeeping before they are permitted to leave the maternal roof. Solomon's description of a diligent wife could not have been more acenrate than it is, if he had taken a Pennsylvania German girl for his model.
As farmers, the Pennsylvania Germans have no superiors. Their good native judgment guides them in the selection of the farm, and they always have the best in the land. Many a worn-out farm, on which
the original possessor starved, has been purchased at sheriff's sale and the soil's fertility reclaimed by these people. In a few years the new possessor becomes enriched, and lives thereon, as their proverb has it, wie en fogel im honfsarma. Nowhere, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, can farms be found in as high a state of cultivation, stoeked with as fine sheep, horses, and cattle, and as well improved with fine, large, convenient buildings, as in the German counties of Pennsylvania.
The large Schweitzer scheuer, Swiss barn, is a struc- ture peculiar to this people. It is one of the first ne- cessities of the farmer. Even when his house is in- different in style, and cramped in the interior for room, the barn is commodious and supplied with all the modern convenienees. The heavy farm horses, which are always kept scrupulously clean and well fed, re- flect great credit on their owners. They treat their beasts with great consideration, foregoing their own convenience rather than that their cattle and horses should suffer. The horse is stabled and fed before the owner looks after his own wants, thus fulfilling the seriptural preeept that " the righteous man regardeth the life of his beast."
The Pennsylvania German farmer has all the im- proved tools and machinery. Hi- grain is sowa, har- vested, threshed, and cleaned by means of the best machines. All the latest inventions, if proved good, are purchased, regardless of cost. His dairy has the modern improvements, and a ereamery is found in al- most every neighborhood. The improved breeds of cattle are procured for dairy purposes, hundreds of dollars being frequently paid for a choice heifer. Fruit-trees are found, not only in the immediate sur- roundings of the buildings, but entire orchards of ehoiec varieties of apples, pears, peaches, plums, etc., are found on almost every farm. It is not uncommon to meet from twelve to twenty varieties of grapes on a farm. In many sections tobacco is raised and great profits derived therefrom. The fact is, the Pennsyl- vania German farmer is progressive, and when he finds that a new crop can be cultivated to advantage, he is not slow in introducing it. He may not have studied agricultural chemistry theoretically, but he knows experimentally how to adapt his crops to the soil, or the soil to the crops, how to rotate crops, and what ingredients it is necessary to supply to the soil. He has probably not studied higher arithmetic, algebra, or geometry, nor even book-keeping, but he knows how to balance his accounts so that from year to year his property is enhanced in value. He may not have studied political economy, but he has learned to econ- omize practically, so that when the properties of his Yankee neighbors fall into the sheriff's hands he is enabled to purchase them.
In the midst of his busy life, the Pennsylvania German farmer is not indifferent to the enltivation of his æsthetical nature. His house and yard are often very tastefully fixed and arranged. Great taste is
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THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS.
displayed in his flower-garden. The housewife, with her good sense, provides unostentatious decorations for her rooms and parlors, while her beautiful flowers in pots adorn the windows, and often require a small conservatory for their preservation in winter, so that, transplanted in spring, in summer, and even till late fall, the tastefully laid out yard is fragrant with their odor, while their beautiful and varied colors please the eye.
Music is one of the fine arts very extensively culti- vated among this people. An organ, and not nnfre- quently a piano, is found in almost every house. Around this musical instrument, which many a far- mer's daughter can play, the young folks of the neighborhood gather of an evening or a Sunday after- noon, and fill the air with the sounds of their clear, almost stentorian, voices. The notes may not be quite as delicate as refined operatie music, yet they sing with such a heartiness and good cheer that the music seems to come from the imnost soul. It is an out- burst of feeling, of emotion, strong and eloquent, which, though pronounced by the city belle as not delicately beautiful, nevertheless is beautifully sub- lime. Orpheus-like, the Pennsylvania German far- mer's daughter, by hand and voice, has often caused, if not the tree-tops, yet the head of full many a city dude to bow at the magic charm of her music, and, Icarus-like, his wings melted, to be drawn by the re- sistless siren strains to the fatal coast of some Pennsyl- vania German homestead.
As neighbors, they are extremely kind and friendly, | tiful repast until his ability to do further justice to the They frequently assist each other by loans of money. Before the modern innovations and customs were in- troduced, these loans were made without interest and without requiring instruments of writing. Even when
Sobriety, modesty, and honesty are distinguishing characteristics of this people. They are not, as a rule, total abstainers, but are not drinkers on the other notes were given, the holder sometimes handed the hand. Their sociality sometimes leads to convivial- note to the borrower, with the remark, "I might lose : ity, but it seldom terminates in drunkenness. They the paper, and then when you return the money it would canse trouble if I could not find the note, so you best hold the note with the money, and when you return the money you can bring me the note." are from principle opposed to sumptuary laws, but also from principle abhor drunkenness. Their mod- esty has restrained them from protruding themselves to the public gaze. Hence their ability has been un- In sickness and misfortune they assist one another to the extent of their ability, and never accept any compensation. When, before the days of insurance, buildings were destroyed by fire or property was lost by misfortune, they collected moneys, frequently suf- ficient to cover the amount of the loss. At funerals, even to this day, all the neighbors assist the afflicted family until the dead are buried, and it would be re- garded almost as a mortal sin to accept any compen- sation, either for services rendered or money expended in performing these offices of love. derrated, and great injustice done them. If not un- known to fortune, they have been at least to fame in consequence. They have been averse from blowing their own trumpets. For the same reason they pre- fer to suffer denials, privations, and poverty, rather than to protrude themselves upon the charities of others. Tramps and beggars of other nationalities abound, but of the Pennsylvania Germans never. Hardly ever is a single case to be encountered. Their honesty has also become proverbial. Until spoiled by the philosophy of the world, it was regarded as a great disgrace for any of them to become involved in financial failure, or to neglect the payment of their honest debts. The principle that " a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches" influences them in their dealings with their fellow-men.
Their hospitality is proverbial. No one, not even the beggar, is permitted to depart from their gates at meal-times withont having his hunger appeased. Their benefieence is sometimes abused by unseruph- lous persons, who impose npon their kindness. Hence no section of country is so minch infested by tramps as the German counties of Pennsylvania. No Pennsyl-
vania German farmer, even when himself in strait- ened circumstances, would think of accepting pay for meals and lodging from any one who temporarily enjoys his hospitality ; in reality it would be regarded as an insult if any guest should offer to pay for his entertainment.
They are very sociable, and given to visiting; even distant relatives are not forgotten. Sunday afternoon is largely devoted to visiting, but frequently, too, sev- eral days are set apart, when the season of the year permits, for the purpose of making visits. In winter- time entire weeks are devoted to visiting. No visit is counted unless a meal is partaken of in connection therewith. These meals are most bounteous, such as the Pennsylvania German housewife understands so well to prepare. Several kinds of meats, vegetables of all kinds when in season, and pies and pastry of every conceivable kind are on the table. It is not at all unusual to have six to eight different kinds of pies, and frequently as many kinds of cakes.
These vietuals are cooked, and baked, and dished up in the very best style, so as to tempt the appetite of the most fastidious. The good housewife and her daughters, who wait on the guests, insist that every one at table must at least taste every dish and baked article that is passed around. The more there is caten thereof the better the host is pleased. With " Wolf dir duch selver, du escht yo schier gar nir, du bischt duch. nuch net sot, ess dich duch recht sot," and similar ex- pressions, the guest is pressed to partake of the boun- meal is exhausted.
Customs, Habits, Peculiarities, etc .- The Old- time Schools and Schoolmasters .- The school-houses
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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
and furniture in the Pennsylvania German districts were often of a very primitive character. The build- ing was n rudely-constructed log cabin, with four windows, unplastered walls, a six-plate wood-stove, and no furniture. The desks were inclined planes of rough boards around the wall, at which the larger scholars found place to do their writing, while they sat on benches rudely manufactured from a log split through the middle, or slabs, with legs or rounds fitted into auger-holes. These benches, without support for the baek, were placed around the stove, on which the smaller scholars were seated seven hours a day, with nothing to do but to stare at the unplastered wall or look at the old " Mary Ann Furnace" stove. The daily routine of school exercises consisted in " ufsaiga." This meant the reading and spelling of words, without regard to sense and expression. The exercises con- tinned during all of the day, from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M., with an hour's recess at noon. There was eiphering and writing, but not in elass. Each pupil constituted his own class, and when help was needed the slate was brought to the teacher, who looked over the "sums," while, at the same time, the " ufsawga" went on. The writers received no attention, except an oeeasional mending of the goose-quill pen.
The books in use were the Testament, the " English Reader," "Comly's Spelling-Book," and the " Ameri- can Tudor Arithmetic." Geography, grammar, his- tory, and kindred branches were not known. The teacher's knowledge of the branches taught was fre- quently very limited. Reading was a merely mechan- ieal exercise, consisting of the pronunciation of a eertain number of words. It was a practical solution of the problem of maxima and minima,-pronouncing the greatest number of words in the shortest time possible. The pupil that could do this was considered the best reader. The teacher's knowledge of arith- metic was very meagre. One of the first superintend- ents of Lehigh County reports that he found a teacher at his examinations who could add and subtract, but when requested to perform an operation involving multiplication and division he excused himself, say- ing, Dis multipliterra un difideera hab ich noch net gelernt (" I have not fearned yet to multiply and di- vide"). Among the tricks played on the teacher was that of locking him out on Fosnacht (Shrove Tuesday ), and not permitting him to come in till he treated to cake and wine, the mmipils "holding the fort" inside. Some of the shrewder teachers devised plans hy which they could get possession of the house. In one in- stance the teacher tied chips in a paper, and colored some water so that it had the appearance of red wine. With the bottle of colored water resembling wine in one hand and the package of chips in the other, he ap- proached the school-house, when the door was thrown widely open. After the teacher had entered the house and the deception was detected, it was too late to change the programnue, as he now had possession, and, with birch in hand, soon eoumuanded order, bringing
the ringleaders to terms. Another elimbing on the roof, placed a board on the chimney, or rather on the pipe protruding above the roof. The smoke had no means of escaping, and, very soon, doors and windows were cheerfully opened, admitting the teacher nolens rolens.
Their Social Gatherings and Employment .- Their soeiability has devised various methods for the Pennsylvania Germans performing their hardest work in a collective capacity, thus greatly lightening the burden, and making labor a pleasant employ- ment rather than an irksome task. The farmer as- sists his neighbors, and they in turn assist him. In harvest-time as many as twenty to thirty persons of the same neighborhood were formerly frequently seen in one field. Thus when one farmer's grain was eut the harvesters went to the next, thus continuing till all the grain was harvested. The hard work was com- pensated by the many pleasures connected with it. The large party of workers collecting under a shade- tree to eat the nine-o'clock lunch or " the four-o'clock piece," relating anecdotes, cracking jokes, and en- gaging in pleasantries, men and women participating with equal enjoyment; the immense dinner, break- fast, and supper-tables, where a feast of good things was spread out, and a flow of lively sentiment kept up the laughter until the food, relished by the keen appetite, slowly but surely disappeared; the rah sehtund (rest-hour), from twelve to two, spent in rest, sleep, or story-telling under the shade-tree by some, while the women assist in washing dishes, and the mowers or cradlers grind their scythes, and in hay harvest (dengel) hammer them; the evening enjoy- ments, when there is feier owret (holi-evening), all sit on the piazza or recline on benches, enjoying rest after the weary labors of the day, verifying their proverb, "Nuch der ervet is gut ruhe," were social events which those that engaged in them recall with a never-to-be-forgotten pleasure.
The corn-husking parties, when of an evening the young men and ladies, to the number of thirty or forty, assemble to assist a neighbor to house his crop, are most enjoyable affairs. When a red car is found by a gentleman, it entitles him to the privilege of kissing a lady. There is a merriment stich as even a New Orleans Mardi Gras hardly affords. Then comes supper, and the carnival that follows.
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