USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania: The German influence in its settlement and development, Pat VII > Part 11
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90 HAZZARD'S Annals, pp. 505-513.
. 91 GRAHAME'S United States, Vol. II., p. 295.
92 HAZZARD'S Annals of Pennsylvania from 1609 to 1682, p. 593.
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THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
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J F BACHSE, PHOTO.
PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN ENTERPRISE. CARVED BLOCKS MADE AT EPHRATA CLOISTER FOR PRINTING DRESS GOODS. SPECIMENS IN DANNER COLLECTION, MANHEIM, PA.
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Laws Affecting Servants.
I find the word " servant," evidently used in the sense already indicated, in many acts of the General Assembly. It occurs in a law prohibiting work on the " First day of the week, called the Lord's Day," passed Nov. 27, 1700.93 Also in another law passed on the same day and year, and in still another passed at the same time with reference to " servants " assaulting their masters or mistresses.93 A fourth law enacted on the same day of the aforementioned year provides that " if any ' servant' or servants shall pro- cure themselves to be married without consent of his or her master or mistress, (he or she) shall for such, their offense, · each of them serve their respective masters or mistresses, one whole year after the time of their service (by inden- ture, law, or custom) is expired ; and if any person being free shall marry with a servant as aforesaid, he or she so marrying shall pay to the master or mistress of the servant, if for a man twelve pounds; if a woman, six pounds or one year's service ; and the servant so being married shall abide with his or her master or mistress according to in- denture or custom, and one year after as aforesaid." % In still another law passed on the same day and same year, designed for raising county revenues, it is provided, " that no person that has been a bond servant by indenture or otherwise in this government, shall be rated the above four shillings per head until he has been free from his servitude the space of one year." 97
An excellent law concerning servants was passed by the General Assembly, met at Newcastle, in the Lower Coun- ties, in May, 1700. It appears to be the model after which
93 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., p. 4.
94 Ibid., Vol. II., p. 6.
95 Ibid., Vol. II., p. 13.
"% Ibid., Vol. II., p. 22.
97 Ibid., Vol. II., p. 35.
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later legislation was largely formulated, and is therefore quoted :
" AN ACT FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF SERVANTS IN THE PROVINCE AND TERRITORIES.
" For the just Encouragements of Servants in the Dis- charge of their Duty, and the Prevention of their Desert- ing their masters or Owners Services, Be It Enacted by the Proprietary and Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Freemen of this Province and Territories, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, that no Servant, bound to serve his or her Time in this Province or Counties annexed, shall be sold or dis- posed of to any person residing in any other Province or Government, without the Consent of the said Servant and two Justices of the Peace of the said County wherein he lives or is sold, under the Penalty of Ten Pounds, to be forfeited by the Seller.
"AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That no Servant shall be assigned over to another person by any in this Province or Territories, but in the presence of one Justice of the Peace of the County, under the Penalty of Ten Pounds ; which Penalty, with all others in the Act expressed, shall be levied by Distress and Sale of Goods of the Party Offending.
" AND BE IT ENACTED, by the authority aforesaid, that every Servant that shall faithfully serve four years, or more, shall, at the expiration of their Servitude have a Dis- charge, and shall be duly Cloathed with two compleat suits of Apparel, whereof one shall be new, and shall also be furnished with one new Ax, one Grubbing-hoe, and one Weeding-hoe ; at the Charge of their Master or Mistress. "And for the Prevention of Servants quitting their Mas-
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Laws Affecting Indentured Servants.
ters service, BE IT ENACTED by the authority aforesaid, that if any Servant shall absent him or herself from the Service of their Master or Owner for the space of one Day or more, without Leave first obtained for the same, every such Servant shall for every such Days absence be obliged to serve five days after the Expiration of his or her Time, and shall further make such Satisfaction to his or her Master or Owner, for the Damages and charges sustained by such Absence, as the respective County Court shall see meet, who shall order as well the Time to be served, as other Recompence for Damages sustained.
" And whoever shall Apprehend or take up any run- away Servant and shall bring him or her to the Sheriff of the County, such Person shall for every such Servant, if taken up within ten miles of the Servants Abode, receive Ten Shillings Reward of the said Sheriff ; who is hereby re- quired to pay the same, and forthwith to send notice to the Master or Owner, of whom he shall receive Ten Shillings, Prison fees upon Delivery of the said Servant, together with all other Disbursements and reasonable Charges for and upon the same.
" And to prevent the clandestine employment of other Mens Servants, BE IT ENACTED, by the authority afore- said, That whosoever shall conceal any Servant of this Province or Territories or entertain him or her twenty-four hours, without his or her Master's or Owners Knowledge and Consent, and shall not within the said time give an Ac- count thereof to some Justice of the Peace of the County, every such Person shall forfeit Twenty Shillings for every Day's Concealment. And in case the said Justice of the Peace shall not, within twenty-four Hours after complaint made to him, issue his Warrant, directly to the next Con- stable, for apprehending and seizing the said Servant, and
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Poll Inino
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commit him or her to the Custody of the Sheriff of the County, such Justice shall for every such Offence forfeit FIVE POUNDS. And the Sheriff shall by the first Oppor- tunity after he has received the said Servant, send notice thereof to his or her Master or Owner: and the said
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PEASANTS AND COSTUMES OF THE PALATINATE.
Sheriff neglecting or omitting in any case to give Notice to the Master or Owner of the Servant being in his Custody as aforesaid, shall forfeit Five Shillings for every Day's
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Laws Affecting Bond Servants.
neglect after an Opportunity has offered; to be proved against him before the County Court, and to be there ad- judged.
" AND for the more effectual Discouragement of Servants embezzling their Masters' or Owners goods, BE IT EN- ACTED, by the Authority aforesaid, that whosoever shall clandestinely deal or traffick with any Servant white or black, for any Kind of goods or Merchandises, without Leave or Order from his or her Master or Owner, plainly signified or appearing, shall forfeit treble the value of such goods to the Owner; and the Servant, if a white, shall make Satisfaction to his or her Master or Owner by Servi- tude, after the expiration of his or her Time, to double the Value of the said Goods ; and if the Servant be a black, he or she shall be severely whipt in the most Publick Place of the Township where the Offence was comitted." 98
An act for the better regulation of servants in the Prov- ince and Territories, and for the just encouragement of servants in the discharge of their duties, also passed on November 27, 1700, throws so much light on this " ser- vant" question that I give an abridgment of it. It pro- vides that no servant bound to serve a certain time, shall be sold or disposed of to anyone residing in any other prov- ince or government, without his consent and that of two justices of the peace of the county where the servant re- sides, under a ten-pound penalty by the seller. No ser- vant is to be sold or assigned to another person in the Province unless in the presence of a justice, under a ten- pound penalty.
98 Charters and Acts of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania. Printed by PETER MILLER & COMPANY, Phil. M.D.C.C.L.XII., Vol. I., pp. 5 and 6 of Section II.
See also GALLOWAY'S Laws of Pennsylvania, C. 49, p. 7.
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Sec. III. of this law is so important that I quote it entire. " And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every Servant that shall faithfully serve four years or more, shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a discharge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete suits of apparel, whereof one shall be new; and shall also be furnished with one new axe, one grubbing hoe and one weeding hoe at the charge of their master or mistress." Other sections provide that servants who absent themselves from their service for one day without permission, shall for every such day, serve five days longer at the expiration of their time, and besides make satisfaction for all damage the master may have sustained by such absence. Persons apprehending runaway servants and taking them to the sheriff shall receive ten shillings for the same or twenty shillings when the runaway is taken more than ten miles from his master's abode. Persons concealing servants without the master's knowledge, or entertaining them twenty-four hours and who shall not notify either the mas- ter or a justice of the peace, shall be fined twenty shillings for every day's concealment. The final clause in the act provided that whosoever should clandestinely deal or traffic with any servant for any kind of goods or merchandize, without leave or order from the master, shall forfeit treble the value of the goods to the master; and the servant, if white, shall make reparation to his or her master or owner, by servitude after the expiration of his or her time, to double the value of the said goods.99
On October 18, 1701, the law of November 27, 1700, regulating. the marriages of servants as already quoted, was reënacted.
It seems that sometimes "bought servants " left their ›› Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. II., pp. 54-56.
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Servants Enlisting as Soldiers.
masters, greatly to the damage of the latter, and enlisted in · the Queen's service over in New Jersey. In consequence of this hardship, an act was passed by the Assembly on August 10, 1711, providing that "any master who shall prove that a servant belonging to him has enlisted in the Queen's service since a certain date without the approval of his master or mistress, shall receive for every month's unexpired service of such servant, the sum of ten shillings, and the full sum which the unexpired time of servitude shall at that rate amount to, the entire sum not to exceed twenty pounds however. The master or mistress shall deliver up the covenant or indenture of such servant and assign thereon their right to such servant's services."
In an act regulating fees to be charged by public offi- cials, passed on May 28, 1715, a shilling is allowed " for writing the assignment of a servant and signing it." 100 On August 24, 1717, an act for levying taxes passed the As- sembly and among its other provisions was one requiring the constables in the several districts of the Province to carefully register the number of bound servants that are held.101 A similar law was reenacted on February 22, 1717- 1718, but servants not out of their servitude six months are exempted.102 A licensing act passed on the 26th day of August, 1721, prohibits the sale of rum, brandy and other spirits to be drunk by servants and others in companies near the place of sale; nor shall such servants be trusted or entertained, if warned by the master or mistress of the same; and any one arresting a servant for a debt con- tracted in this way, such actions shall abate, and the ser- vant or his master or mistress may plead the act in bar.103
100 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. III., p. 100.
101 Ibid., pp. 250-251.
102 Ibid., p. 181.
103 Ibid., p. 129.
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Under an act passed May 5, 1722, a duty was imposed on persons convicted of heinous crimes who should be im- ported into the Province. The law recites that many per- sons trading here had, for purposes of gain, imported and sold as servants for a term of years, persons convicted of crimes, who soon ran away, leaving their masters' service, to the great loss of persons thus buying them. The law inflicted a penalty of five pounds on any shipmaster who should bring such a convict into the Province to be paid before the servant was landed and be in addition held bound in the sum of fifty pounds for the good behavior of such convicted person, for the period of one year. Examina- tions were to be made of suspected persons by justices of the peace, and if any were brought and disposed of without complying with the law, twenty pounds fine was to be levied on the offender. All servants under the age of twelve years were exempted from the provisions of the law.104
This brings the legislation of the Province down to the period when the German immigration began to assume large proportions, and the importation and selling of the same appears to have taken its rise. During all that period the word " Servant " was used ; that of " Redemp- tioner " never, nor at any time thereafter in legal enact- ments, so far as I am aware.
Under the law, all contracts between redemptioners and their purchasers were required to be registered by officials designated for that purpose. It would be of much interest if these complete records were still in existence, but as they have not been discovered thus far, this is hardly to be hoped for now. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has two volumes of such records. The title of the books is German Redemptioners, from 1785 to 1804. That
104 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, Vol. III., pp. 264-268.
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Example From Record Book.
period included three volumes, but the second one is miss- ing. The books are in manuscript, folio in size, and the first one contains 409 pages. The third volume is smaller, only 130 pages, and the date runs from 1817 to 1831. Perhaps we have in this latter date the period when the traffic in these indentured people ceased. The smallness of the volume shows how few were recorded during the long period from 1817 to 1831. The books have a written index.
As a sample of the general character of this registry, the following entry from Volume I., page 57, is given :
" Maria Magdalina Shaffer assigned by John Fromberg, to serve Peter Muhlenberg, Esq. of Montgomery county State of Pennsylvania, the remainder of her indentures, recorded page 14. consideration £6."
" Maria Magdalena Shaffer bound herself to John From- berg, of the city of Philadelphia, merchant, to serve him three years and six monchs : to have customary freedom suits."
All the other records follow the same general style.
The conditions under which British bond servants were brought to this country may be seen by the following in- denture copied from the volume noted above. In this case, however, the document was in shape of a printed form, with names and dates filled in. It was the only one found in the book.
"This Indenture Made the 13th Day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1784, Alex! Beard of Broughshane, in the Co. of Antrim, Tayler, by consent of his father on the one Part, and John Dickey of Callybarthey in the said county, Gentleman, of the other Part, Witnesseth that the said Alexander Beard, doth hereby covenant, promise and
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THE LONDON COFFEE HOUSE. 105
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Copy of a Redemptioner's Indenture.
grant to and with the said John Dickey his Executors, Administrators and Assigns, from the Day of the Date hereof, until the first and next arrival at Philadelphia, in America, and after for and during the Term of Three years to serve in such Service and Employment as the said John Dickey or his assigns shall there employ him accord- ing to the Custom of the Country in the like kind. In consideration whereof the said John Dickey doth hereby covenant and grant to and with the said Alexander Beard to pay for his Passage and to find and allow him Meat, Drink, Apparel and Lodging with other Necessaries, dur-
105 The London Coffee House was the most celebrated establishment of its kind ever opened in Philadelphia. The original building was erected in 1702 by Charles Reed. It was first used as a "Coffee House " in 1754 by William Bradford, the famous provincial printer. Bradford's petition for a license reads as follows : "Having been advised to keep a Coffee House for the bene- fit of merchants and traders, and as some people may at times be desirous to be furnished with other liquors besides coffee, your petitioner apprehends it is necessary to have the Govenor's license."
The house (still standing) is at the southwest corner of Front and Market streets. It became the resort of everybody of consequence in the city and of all the prominent people who visited Philadelphia. It was the focus of all the news that was going on. The Governor, and merchants of every degree, went there at stated times to drink their coffee, learn the news and gossip. There was a covered shed connected with it, vendues of all kinds were regularly held, and often auctions of negro slaves, men, women and children were held there. Some of the more memorable events in the history of the city occurred on the spot. The Stamp Act papers, which were seized wherever they could be found, were burned there. The ship captain who first brought news of the repeal of the Stamp Act, was wined and dined there. In 1774, the effigies of Governor Hutchinson, of Massachusetts, and of Alexander Wederburn were burnt because of their insults to Dr. Franklin. The Declaration of Independ- ence was read there by John Nixon, after which the Royal Arms were torn down from the Court House, carried there and burned. There General Thomp- son had a personal altercation with Justice Mckean, leading to a challenge by the former, which was declined by the latter, because to accept it would be to violate the laws he was sworn to maintain. Even the Common Council pro- ceedings are frequently dated at the " Coffee House." It is alluded to by all writers of the period as the place of general meeting when any event of impor- tance, foreign or domestic, was to the fore. (WATSON's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p. 203 ; III., p. 203. )
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ing the said Term and at the End of the said Term to pay unto him the usual Allowance, according to the Custom of the country in the like kind. In Witness whereof the Par- ties above Mentioned to these indentures have interchange- ably put their Hands and Seals, the Day and Year first above written.
" Signed, Sealed and Delivered
" in the presence of
"PETER DILLON, ALEX". BEARD,
" JOHN WIER, JOHN DICKEY."
Just when this business came to a close I have not been able definitely to ascertain.106 That it died out gradually is hardly to be doubted. A more enlightened sentiment among the American people, and the still more important fact that the migrating " fever" had about run its course among the poorer classes, for a time, were no doubt the most important factors towards bringing this about.
So far as I have been able to learn, no Redemptioners were brought into Lancaster county after 1811. In that year Mr. Abram Peters, a prominent farmer of the county, while hauling wheat to the mills on the Brandywine, near Wilmington, stopped at Chester to buy a small German girl, his wife needing the services of such a person. He secured an orphan girl named " Kitty," at the price of $25. The mother had died at sea, leaving Kitty and her sister to be disposed of as Redemptioners. The master of the ship desired to sell the sisters to one person, that they might not be separated, and offered the two for $40. Mr. Peters, having no use for two, declined to take them both, but he promised to find a purchaser for the other sister at
10€ From a document quoted elsewhere, it would seem the traffic reached its close about the year 1831.
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Story of a Redemptioner.
$15, if possible. On his way home he met a Quaker gentleman and his wife. The latter wished to buy Kitty. Peters declined to part with her but told them of the other sister still at Chester. The old Quaker at once went to that place and bought her. The two purchasers had ex- changed addresses and promised to keep the two sisters in correspondence with each other. Both girls found kind mistresses and good homes, corresponded and visited each other regularly. Kitty finally married a wealthy German, a baker named Kolb, of Philadelphia.107
107 I am indebted to S. M. Sener, Esq., for the facts of the above narrative.
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EARLY PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY. EARTHEN PIE-PLATE.
CHAPTER III.
ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE TERM " REDEMPTIONER."- NARRATIVE OF GOTTLEIB MITTELBERGER, WHO AFTER RE- SIDING IN PENNSYLVANIA FOUR YEARS RETURNED TO THE FATHERLAND AND BY REQUEST WROTE A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE ACROSS THE SEA AND THE REDEMPTIONER TRAFFIC.
"Amerika, O neues Heimath land ! Du Land der Freiheit, Land voll Licht und Wonne ! Sei uns gegrüsst du gastlich holder Strand, Sei uns gegrüsst du goldene Freiheits-Sonne."
"They came, oft wronged beneath the mast, Or, when escaped the dreaded wave, How many wept their loved ones cast For burial, in an ocean grave."
HE term Redemptioner had its origin in a peculiar sys- tem of voluntary servitude, rec- ognized by law and by custom, under which a freedman entered into a contract with another person, to serve the latter for a stipulated time and at a stipulated price, for moneys paid
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Two Kinds of Redemptioners.
to him or for his benefit, before the service was entered upon. Through the fulfillment of this contract apprentice- ship or servitude, the servitor was said to redeem himself, hence the name of REDEMPTIONER given to those who en- tered into such agreements.
There were two kinds of Redemptioners, and the dis- tinction should be borne in mind. The first were the so- called "indentured servants " who made specific contracts before setting sail, to serve a term of years to masters ; the second, known sometimes as " free willers," were without money, but anxious to emigrate, therefore agreed with the ship-masters to sell themselves and their families on their arrival, for the captain's advantage, and thus repay the cost of their transportation.108
The historian Gordon very clearly and fully sets forth the character of still another class of immigrants. He says : " A part of the emigration to the Colonies was composed of servants, who were of two classes. The first and larger, poor and oppressed in the land of their nativity, sometimes the victims of political changes, or religious intolerance, submitted to a temporary servitude, as the price of freedom, plenty and peace. The second, vagrants and felons, the dregs of the British populace, were cast by the mother country upon her colonies, with the most selfish disregard of the feelings she outraged. From this moral pestilence the first settlers shrunk with horror. In 1682 the Pennsyl- vania Council proposed to prohibit the introduction of con- victs, but the evil was then prospective to them only, and no law was enacted. But an act was now passed (1722), which, though not prohibitory in terms, was such in effect. A duty of five pounds was imposed upon every convicted felon brought into the Province, and the importer was re-
108 MELLICK'S Story of an Old Farm, p. 149.
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quired to give surety for the good behavior of the convict for one year ; and to render these provisions effectual, the owner or master was bound under a penalty of twenty pounds, to render, on oath, or affirmation, within twenty- four hours after the arrival of the vessel, an account to the collector of the names of the servants and passengers. But such account was not required when bond was given conditioned for the reexportation of such servants within six months." 109
The earliest direct reference to this traffic in German Redemptioners which I have found, appears in the work of Eickhoff 110 who cites a letter written in 1728 by several persons at that time, which fully bears out the existence of the trade in German Redemptioners at that period. The letter states that two persons, Oswald Siegfried and Peter Siegfried had informed them (the writers) for the second time from the city of Amsterdam, that there was a certain broker in that city, who would carry emigrants to Penn- sylvania, even when they were unable to pay for their pas- sage, if they could manage to scrape together only half the passage money ; and those who had nothing at all, if they were in a condition to perform manual labor when they
109 GORDON'S History of Pennsylvania, p. 189.
110 " Das diese art der Passagierbeförderung etwa im Jahr 1728 ihren Anfang nahm, laszt sich nach einem Schreiben von Heinrich Kundig, Michael Kra- biel und David Kaufmann an ihre mennonitischen Glaubensgenossen in Am- sterdam (Marz 1738) vermuthen, worin Jene erzählen, sie hätten Allen von der Auswanderung nach Pennsylvanian abgerathen, welche kein Geld hätten, um die Überfahrt selbst zu bezahlen, oder Freunde in Pennsylvanien, die dies thaten. 'Nun hat uns aber Oswald Siegfried und Peter Siegfried zum 2 mal aus Amsterdam geschreiben, dass einer gewissen Kauffman in Amsterdam habe, der de leit nach Benselfania führen wil, wenn sie schon die Fracht nicht haben, wenn sie nur durch einander die halbe Fracht ausmachen Kön- nen; wenn auch leit seien, die nichts haben, wenn sie nur im Stant seien, dass sie arbeiten Können, werden auch mit genommen. Missen davor arbeiten, bis sie 71/2 Bischtolen abverdient haben.' "'
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