USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania: The German influence in its settlement and development, Pat VII > Part 12
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Gottlieb Mittelberger's Narrative.
arrived. They would be obliged to labor upon their arri- val until their passage money amounting to 712 pistoles (about $30) had been earned.111
In my attempt to make this sketch as complete as possi- ble, I have carefully examined all the sources of informa- tion that were accessible or of which I was cognizant. Many writers have touched upon the Redemptioners with more or less fullness but it was a German visitor to Penn- sylvania to whom we are indebted for the fullest, and as I believe a most trustworthy account of the man-traffic which this is an attempt to describe. I refer to the little volume written by Gottlieb Mittelberger.112 Without any attempt at fine writing he tells what he saw and had personal knowledge of. His narrative, in addition to bearing inher- ent evidences of reliability, is further fortified and sup- ported by the concurrent testimony of numerous other writers. In fact, his veracity has never been questioned so far as I am aware, and the student of this period of our history will of necessity have to go to him when the era under review is discussed. He declares at the outset that he " carefully inquired into the condition of the country ; and what I describe here, I have partly experienced myself, and partly heard from trustworthy people who were familiar with the circumstances."
Mittelberger was a native of Wurtemburg. He came to this country in 1750 and returned to Germany in 1754. He was an organist and came over in charge of an organ which was intended for Philadelphia. He served as the
111 ANTON EICKHOFF, In Der Neuen Heimath, p. 142.
112 " Gottlieb Mittelberger's Reise nach Pennsylvanien im Jahre 1750 und Rückreise nach Teutschland im Jahr 1754. Enthaltend nicht nur eine Be- schreibung des Landes nach seinem gegenwärtigen Zustande, sondern auch eine ausführliche Nachricht von den unglück seligen und betrübten Umstän- den der meisten Teutschen, die in dieses Landgezogen sind und dahin ziehen. Frankfurt und Leipzig 1756."
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organist of the Augustus Church at the Trappe, and as a schoolmaster during his nearly four years' stay in Penn- sylvania. His services in both capacities were so highly appreciated that, when he left, the church authorities gave him a most flattering testimonial.113
The account which Gottlieb Mittelberger gives of his voyage to Pennsylvania and of his return to Germany four years later is the fullest known to me of a complete trip from the heart of the Fatherland to the sea, the voy- age across the ocean, the trials and sufferings of that eventful period and the further events that waited on such as came penniless and dependent and who had already in Holland entered into contracts to serve some master until all their passage charges and the food they had consumed were paid for.
Mittelberger did not come as a Redemptioner ; his was a business trip ; he pursued his profession of organist for four years and then returned to Germany. But, as was most natural in a man of his kind and tender nature, he thoroughly sympathized with his poor countrymen in their time of adversity, and, being in daily touch with them and all that was going on in Philadelphia, no man was better acquainted with the wrongs put upon them and of the trials they were compelled to encounter. He was moved by all this, and by the appeals of his Philadelphia acquaintances, to tell the story of what he had seen and heard, upon his return to Germany, and out of the promise he then made we have his book.
It must always be borne in mind that Mittelberger's aim was to dissuade his countrymen from emigrating, and that
113 A most excellent translation of this book has recently been made by Mr. Carl Theo. Eben, and published by John Jos. McVey, of Philadelphia, who has kindly permitted me to make use of the translation for my present purposes.
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he puts the worst construction on the evils to be met and encountered possible, as if it was necessary to make his statements even worse than the reality !
There are some few minor inaccuracies in it, and occa- sionally a statement he had from hearsay is exaggerated, but there are no intentional errors, and the general truth- fulness of his narrative is unquestioned. He was not friendly to this immigration of his countrymen. It is true, he gives a most flattering account of the fertility and pro- ductiveness of the country and of the ease with which a living can be made there, but when he deals with the long voyage, the unpleasant events connected with it, its fatali- ties and losses, he is anxious that the people shall remain at home, and he says he believes they will after they have read what he has written, because such a journey with most involves a loss of property, liberty and peace; with some a loss of life and even of the salvation of their souls, this latter because of the lack of religious opportunities in the new home.
MITTELBERGER'S NARRATIVE.
" This journey from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania," he says, " lasts from the beginning of May until the end of October, fully half a year, amid such hardships as no one is able to describe adequately. The cause is because the Rhine boats from Heilbronn to Holland have to pass by 36 custom houses, at all of which the ships are examined, which is done when it suits the convenience of the custom- house officials. In the meantime, the ships with the people are detained long, so that the passengers have to spend much money. The trip down the Rhine alone lasts four, five and even six weeks.
" When the ships and the people reach Holland, they
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are detained there likewise five or six weeks. Because things are very dear there, the poor people have to spend nearly all they have during that time. *
* Both in Rotterdam and Amsterdam the people are packed densely,
CASTLE IN THE PALATINATE.
like herrings, so to say, in the large sea vessels. One person receives a place scarcely two feet wide and six feet long in the beadstead, while many a ship carries four to six hundred souls ; not to mention the innumerable implements, tools, provisions, water barrels and other things which like- wise occupy much space.
"On account of contrary winds it sometimes takes the ships two, three and four weeks to make the trip from Holland to Cowes (on the isle of Weight, on the South coast of England). But when the wind is good they get
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THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
STIECEL.EL12.
NACE
(A) PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN STOVE PLATE, HAROLD DIFFENDERFFER, PHOTO.
(B) FAMILY BAKE-OVEN. J. F. SACHSE, PHOTO.
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Mittelberger's Narrative.
there in eight days or sooner. Every thing is examined at the custom house and the duties paid, and ships are sometimes detained eight, ten and fourteen days before their cargoes are completed. During this delay every one is compelled to spend his last money and to consume the little stock of provisions which had been reserved for the ocean voyage ; so that most passengers, finding themselves on the ocean where they are in still greater need of them, suffer greatly from hunger and want.
" When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors at Cowes, the real misery begins, for from there the ships, unless they have good winds must often sail eight, nine, ten or twelve weeks before they reach Philadelphia. But with the best wind the voyage lasts seven weeks.
" During the voyage there is on board these ships terri- ble misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sicknesses, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipa- tion, boils, scurvy, cancer mouth-rot and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water so that many die miserably.
" Add to this, want of provisions, hunger, thirst, cold, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations, together with other troubles such as lice which abound so plentifully, especially on sick people, that they can be scraped off the body. The misery reaches the climax when a gale rages for two or three days and nights, so that every one believes that the ship will go to the bottom with all the human beings on board.
"Among the healthy, impatience sometimes grows so great and cruel that one curses the other or himself, and the day of his birth, and sometimes come near killing each other. Misery and malice join each other, so that they cheat and rob one another. One always reproaches the
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other for persuading him to undertake the journey. Fre- quently children cry out against their parents, husbands against their wives and wives against their husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances against each other. But most against the soul-traffickers,-(the New- landers).
" Many sigh and cry : ' Oh, that I were at home again, and if I had to lie in my pig sty !' Or they say : ' O God, if I only had a piece of good bread, or a good fresh drop of water.' Many people whimper, and sigh and cry piteously for their homes; most of them get homesick. Many hundred people necessarily die and perish in such misery, and must be cast into the sea, which drives their relatives, or those who persuaded them to undertake the journey, to such despair that it is almost impossible to pacify and console them. In a word, the sighing and cry- ing and lamenting on board the ship continues night and day, so as to cause the hearts even of the most hardened to bleed when they hear it.
" Children from one to seven years rarely survive the voyage; and many a time parents are compelled to see their children miserably suffer and die from hunger, thirst and sickness, and then see them cast into the water. I witnessed such misery in no less than thirty-two children in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea.
" Often a father is separated by death from his wife and children, or mothers from their little children, or even both parents from their children ; and sometimes entire families die in quick succession ; so that often many dead persons lie in the berths besides the living ones, especially when contagious diseases have broken out on the ship.
That most of the people get sick is not surprising, be- cause, in addition to all other trials and hardships, warm
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Mittelberger's Narrative.
food is served only three times a week, the rations being very poor and very small. These meals can hardly be eaten on account of being so unclean. The water which is served out on the ships is often very black, thick and full of worms, so that one cannot drink it without loathing, even with the greatest thirst. O surely, one would often give much money at sea for a piece of good bread, or a drink of good water, if it could only be had. I myself experienced that sufficiently, I am sorry to say. Toward the end we were compelled to eat the ship's biscuit which had been spoiled long ago; though in a whole biscuit there was scarcely a piece the size of a dollar that had not been full of red worms and spiders nests. Great hunger and thirst force us to eat and drink everything ; but many do so at the risk of their lives.
" At length, when after a long and tedious voyage, the ships come in sight of land, so that the promontories can be seen, which the people were so eager and anxious to see, all creep from below to the deck to see the land from afar, and they weep for joy, and pray and sing, thanking and praising God. The sight of the land makes the people on board the ship, especially the sick and the half dead, alive again, so that their hearts leap within them ; they shout and rejoice, and are content to bear their misery in patience, in the hope that they may soon reach the land in safety. But alas !
" When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their - long voyage no one is permitted to leave them except those who pay for their passage or can give good security ; the others who cannot pay must remain on board the ships till they are purchased, and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick always fare the worst, for the · healthy are naturally preferred and purchased first; and
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so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in front of the city for two or three weeks, and frequently die, whereas many a one if he could pay his debt and was permitted to leave the ship immediately, might recover.
" Before I describe how this traffic in human flesh is conducted, I must mention how much the journey to Penn- sylvania costs. A person over ten years pays for the pas- sage from Rotterdam to Philadelphia, £10. Children from five to ten years pay half price, £5. All children under five years are free. For these prices the passengers are conveyed to Philadelphia, and as long as they are at sea pro- vided with food, though with very poor food, as has been shown.
" But this is only the sea passage; the other costs on land, from home to Rotterdam, including the passage on the Rhine, are at least $35, no matter how economically one may live. No account is here made of extraordinary contingencies. I may safely assert that with the greatest economy, many passengers have spent $176 from home to Philadelphia.
" The sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried on thus : Every day Englishmen, Dutch- men and high German people come from the city of Phila- delphia and other places, some from a great distance, say sixty, ninety, and one hundred and twenty miles away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought and offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable for their business, and bargain with them how long they will serve for their passage money, for which most of them are still in debt. When they have come to an agreement, it happens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to serve three, four, five or six years for the amount due by
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them, according to their age and strength. But very young people, from ten to fifteen years, must serve until they are twenty-one years old.
" Many persons must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle; for if their children take the debt upon themselves, the parents can leave the ship free and unrestrained ; but as the parents often do not know where and to what people their children are going, it often happens that such parents and chil- dren, after leaving the ship do not see each other again for years, perhaps no more in all their lives.
STRAW BASKET FOR BAKING BREAD, AND SCRAPER.
" When people arrive who cannot make +' selves free, but - undren under five years of age, they cannot free themselves by them ; for such children must be given to somebody without compensation to be brought up, and they must serve for their bringing up till they are twenty- one years old. Children from five to ten years, who pay half price for their passage, must likewise serve for it until they are twenty-one years old ; they cannot, therefore, re- deem their parents by taking the debt of the latter upon themselves. But children above ten years can take part of their parents' debts upon themselves.
" A woman must stand for her husband if he arrives sick, and in like manner a man for his sick wife, and take the debt upon herself or himself, and thus serve five or six years not alone for his or her own debt, but also for that of
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the sick husband or wife. But if both are sick, such persons are sent from the ship to the hospital, but not until it ap- pears probable that they will find no purchasers. As soon as they are well again they must serve for their passage, or pay if they have means.
" It often happens that whole families, husband, wife and children, are separated by being sold to different pur- chasers, especially when they have not paid any part of their passage money.
" When a husband or wife has died at sea, after the ship has completed more than half her trip, the survivor must pay or serve not only for himself or herself, but also for the deceased.114
" When both parents died after the voyage was more than half completed, their children, especially when they are young and have nothing to pawn or pay, must stand for their own and their parents' passage, and serve till they are twenty-one years old. When one has served his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at part- ing - ; been so stipulated, a man gets in addition
hoe and a woman a cow. ·
" When a servant has an opportunity to marry in this country, he or she must pay for each year he or she would still have to serve, £5 or £6. But many a one who has thus purchased and paid for his bride, has subsequently repented of his bargain, so that he would gladly have re- turned his dear ware and lost his money in addition.
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" If a servant in this country runs away from his master who has treated him harshly, he cannot get far. Good provision has been made for such cases so that a runaway is soon recovered. He who detains or returns a deserter receives a good reward.
114 Less than half the voyage having been made when a passenger died, there was no claim for passage money.
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Good Condition of Some Ships.
" If such a runaway has been away from his master a single day, he must serve an entire week for it; if absent a week, then a month, and for a month, half a year. But if the master does not care to keep the runaway when he gets him back, he may sell him for as many years as he has still to serve."
It must not be supposed that the scenes and events described in the foregoing quotations from Mittelberger were everyday occurrences, at least so far as the suffer- ings, sickness and deaths at sea are concerned. They did occur, but he takes especial pains to represent everything at its worst. Many a ship came over in good condition, with no unusual sickness on board, and under the charge of humane ship captains. But so far as the sale and dis- posal of the passengers upon their arrival was concerned, that was an unvarying affair. It was, however, just what many of these people were aware of, and may be said to have bargained for, before they stepped on shipboard to come here and they had only themselves to blame for the after Jery it entailed. It is not to be doubted that by
f. .e greater number of these people were misled and ceived by the Newlanders, and were ill prepared for the voyage besides, so that only disappointment, with many of the miseries rehearsed by Mittelberger, were realized by them on the voyage and when they arrived.
The following passage from Löher is interesting : "The Germans, who for so many years were hired out to pay costs of transportation, are called 'Servants' (Knechte) or Redemptioners (Käuflinge). When they ... serve with English people, their language soon becomes one of mixed English and German. (A notable proof of this fact is supplied by Pastor Brunholtz, of the Lutheran
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Church, who recorded the following in his diary : " On March 25, 1745, a man called on me and requested me to go to Chester, and preach to the Germans there. On the morning of June 30 I went to Chester, which is about 16 miles from Philadelphia. The Germans here, who for the most part are 'servants,' as they are called, employed by English people, and so speaking a mixture of German and English."115) In the country they are usually well treated and cared for, especially when good for- tune so wills it that they become inmates of a German household. If one of the latter secures an entire family, the man is generally occupied in field labor, and also carries on his trade if he has one, sometimes on his own account and at others on that of his master. It was allowed him to have a few head of cattle. The wife was generally a housemaid and a caretaker of children, while her own little ones were assigned to all kinds of light work. The servitude finally came to an end when the boy reached the age of 21 and the girl that of 18 years. They might not get married without the consent of their masters. A runaway was compelled to serve an additional week for each day's absence and six months for each week's ab- sence, and could, what was otherwise unlawful, be sold to another person for the period of his unexpired service.
" When the term of service was over, a thrifty servant had saved quite a sum and secured a home for himself, for land was cheap.116 Perhaps more than one-third of the original German immigrants and their descendants who are so well-to-do now, began life in this humble way. Their sons were already notable persons at the time of the Revolution. An Act of Parliament passed in 1756,
115 MANN'S Hallische Nachrichten, Eng. Ed., p. 162.
116 He could take up fifty acres of land at a nominal rent.
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allowed servants, with the consent of their masters, to be- come soldiers. Many of these immigrants who brought considerable amounts of gold with them, hired themselves for a time until they should become acquainted with the country and people. The German and English-Irish Re- demptioners came mostly to Pennsylvania; the English to Virginia, and the statistics of that State show that annually about 1,500 Redemptioners arrived there. In later times the service of these people became still more liberal. I have spoken to many householders and schoolmasters who were told by their fathers how they had been persuaded to"come to America, but who, after serving half a year of their time, ran away. It was difficult to find a runaway from the set- tlements in the depths of the forest." 117
117 LÖHER'S Die Deutschen in Amerika, p. 82.
CHAPTER IV.
THE NEWLANDERS OR SOUL-SELLERS .- MEN WHO MADE A BUSINESS OF SENDING REDEMPTIONERS TO PENNSYLVANIA. - HOW THEIR NEFARIOUS TRAFFIC WAS CARRIED ON IN THE FATHERLAND .- LETTERS FROM PASTOR MUHLEN- BERG AND OTHERS.
" Yet here sits peace ; and rest sits here. These wide-boughed oaks, they house wise men- The student and the sage austere ; And men of wondrous thought and ken. Here men of God in holy guise Invoke the peace of Paradise."
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SEAL OF GERMANTOWN.
(186)
EFORE this influx of persons willing to sell their personal ser- vices to pay the expenses of their transportation had been long in operation, the possibilities of turning it to profitable account were considered by sea- faring and other men, but more especially by a class of sharpers who, having
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Practices of the Newlanders.
come to this country with a full knowledge of the desire of so many of their countrymen in Germany also to migrate, availed themselves of that fact, and of the circumstances surrounding it, to make money out of it.
These man-traffickers or Seelen-Hendler, as the elder Saur denominated them, were known to the Dutch as " Zeilverkoopers," that is, soul-sellers, but among the Germans themselves more generally as Newlanders. These pestiferous fellows associated and entered into agreements with sea captains, merchants and ship owners to handle this immigrant traffic. They were almost with- out exception persons who had left their country for their country's good, had come to Pennsylvania as mere adven- turers and, after taking in the situation thoroughly, adopted schemes of rascality whereby they might defraud their more honest and unsuspecting countrymen.
Of themselves they could not carry out their nefarious plans, but wherever such rogues are found still others will be ready to aid and abet them in their schemes. These base coparceners were found in ship masters, ship owners and commission merchants, on both sides of the Atlantic. The Newlanders went up and down the Rhine and the ad- jacent country, well dressed, pretending to be prosperous merchants in Philadelphia, and used all their powers of persuasion to induce the humble peasantry to dispose of their small belongings and embark for the land of promise.118 They commonly received a commission of seven dollars per head for every immigrant they could bring to the ship owner for embarcation, and a free pas- sage for the Newlander himself besides. When two, three,
118 " Many Newlanders boast that they are rich merchants in Pennsylvania, that they sail in their own ships, and own houses in Germantown. Others are dressed in costly clothes, wearing wigs and ruffles to make an imposing appearance."-SAUR'S German paper, October 16, 1749.
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four and five hundred souls embarked on a single vessel, it will readily be seen what a profitable business it was that these scoundrels were engaged in. Being so lucra- tive, it is little wonder that so many followed it. We are told that in the year 1749 alone, upwards of one hundred and thirty were engaged in it.119 Sometimes, however, these precious scoundrels got their deserts. Here and there a German prince was to be found who was well acquainted with the nefarious character of these men, and the disrepu- table business they were engaged in. They retained an affection for their subjects even though the latter were leav- ing the Fatherland by hundreds and thousands. When, therefore, these Newlanders made themselves especially obnoxious some of them were seized, imprisoned and put to hauling dirt on the streets and other menial occupations.120
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