USA > Pennsylvania > York County > The Beginnings of the German Element in York County, Pennsylvania > Part 10
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German Element in York County, Pa.
circumstances that precluded the free exercise of their agricultural talents and compelled them to engage in an ungrateful task and one to which they were not at all adapted. Their unhappy past had filled them with in- finite patience and endurance and had made them all too willing to be led and ruled, though they were without leaders and rulers among their own ranks. Even before crossing the ocean they had become the objects of English
scorn. For when in 1709 some 14,000 of these economic fugitives from the Palatinate and from Würtemberg flocked aimlessly into London, their destitute condition aroused the pity of the English and even of the visiting Indian chiefs, and out of commiseration for the "poor miserable Germans" a camp was provided for them on Black Heath where as the objects of charity they were kept from starvation during the winter. And when in the spring they were sent by thousands to Ireland and to the American colonies, 3,000 of them were dispatched to New York. Those who survived the horrors of transportation across the ocean were driven into veritable slavery on the banks of the Hudson and set to work under government overseers to make tar for the English navy. This colony the English settlers had once entered on their own initia- tive and with high and hopeful mien. The German immi- grants now came to it as hirelings, almost as slaves, hum- bled and bent, led by taskmasters and under the paternal direction of the government even in the details of their lives. With great humility and with a deep sense of their inferiority to their English masters, as faithful "bounden servants of His Majesty," they drew out their weary lives and constantly measured their strength against poverty and want. Flight from the valley of the Hudson availed them
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Outstanding Characteristics.
little, for the English authorities pursued them to the val- leys of the Schoharie and the Mohawk and there continued to embitter their lives. But the constant dangers of life in the wilderness developed among them men of leader- ship like the Weisers, strong spirits capable of breaking the net that had been thrown over them. And when after two decades of American bondage the New York Ger- mans finally gained the right to hold their lands with a sense of security and to enjoy the fruits of their labors, they swung themselves higher and steadily higher to posi- tions of useful and independent citizenship and in the course of time took their places alongside of the best in their province. Their early misfortunes had only delayed the inevitable development of their German culture on American soil.
The German settlements in Pennsylvania, east of the Susquehanna, had preliminaries far less dismal than those antecedent to the German settlements in New York. The conditions under which the Pennsylvania Germans came to our country were not nearly so hopeless for the future, the circumstances under which they settled in the new country were not nearly so humiliating nor so compromising of their personal dignity, as was the case with their country- men in the neighboring province to the north. Neverthe- less the early Germans in eastern Pennsylvania were char- acterized by great modesty and reserve. They asked only to be left alone. They had no desire to impress themselves upon their neighbors. 3 They seemed to stand in awe of their more numerous and more aggressive Eng- lish neighbors. Theirs was not the cringing attitude of those who are reduced to dire economic necessity. They were for the most part religious refugees fleeing before
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German Element in York County, Pa.
the oppression of intolerant rulers and seeking their in- alienable right of freedom to worship God. They devoted themselves diligently to their work and to their worship. But they led a quiet, unobtrusive life, yielding a passive obedience as citizens but allowing others to have charge of public affairs, living at peace with all men and preferring to yield every point rather than to become involved in strife. Their entire bearing in those early years of their life in the New World was not the bearing of aggressive American citizens but that of a people who, for the time at least, seemed to regard themselves as strangers in an Eng- lishman's country.
This attitude of apathy, this lack of aggression on the part of the Germans when they arrived in southeastern Pennsylvania, was not due entirely to the quietistic prin- ciples of their religion. It is to be explained also on the ground that the English in those parts could claim priority of settlement and great preponderance of numbers. The English had determined the language of the province and the Germans were regarded as "foreigners" in the land even after they had taken up their abodes in due legal form. The first generation of newcomers naturally did not learn to speak English and this made them the objects of connivance and suspicion not only on the part of their English-speaking neighbors but also on the part of the proprietary authorities. Even the Quaker Assemblymen were persuaded to enact special legislation in the case of these Germans, because they felt that such special meas- ures were necessary to secure the allegiance of the Ger- mans to the British King and to the proprietors of Penn- sylvania.1 After submitting to such measures the Ger-
1 On September 14, 1727, Governor Gordon called a special meeting of the council to report that large numbers of Palatines were arriving from
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Outstanding Characteristics.
mans in those early decades of their American life could not but feel that they were guests in the English colony and that their presence there was largely by sufferance of the English authorities.
Another reason for the unequal position of the Germans among the English in southeastern Pennsylvania during the first half of the eighteenth century is to be found in the extreme poverty in which most of them arrived in this country. Most of the German emigrants had not the means to pay their ocean passage. They were persuaded therefore by the agents of the ship-owners to take trans- portation on the basis of a contract binding them to a cer- tain period of service (usually from five to seven years) after they should arrive in America. On reaching America these contracts were offered at public sale by the ship -. owners and the scenes enacted at the port of landing were often pathetic and revolting and always humiliating to the German colonists in America. Those who thus sold them- selves into service were known as " redemptioners." Their fate usually amounted to practical slavery.2 Comparatively very few of this class of immigrants came from any other country than from Germany. Another class of German immigrants, but less numerous than the redemptioners,
Holland and advised them that "it would be highly necessary to concert proper measures for the peace and security of the province, which may be endangered by such numbers of Strangers daily poured in, who being ignorant of our Language & Laws, and settling in a body together, make, as it were, a distinct people from his Majesties Subjects." One week later the Council approved the oath of allegiance which all of "those Palatines " arriving thereafter were required to sign. Col. Rec., III: 282 f. 2 The revolting experiences of the redemptioners, both on shipboard and after their arrival in America, are vividly portrayed by Gottlieb Mittel- berger in his "Reise nach Pennsylvanien in Jahre 1750" and " Rückreise nach Deutchland im Jahre 1754" (Stuttgart, 1756) and by Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg in Die Hallesche Nachrichten, page 997.
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German Element in York County, Pa.
had sold all of their possessions to pay for their transpor- tation. Arriving in this country penniless they would make their way through the inhabited parts of the land, begging as they went, until they reached the borders of civilization where they would settle as squatters.3 This made a very unfavorable impression upon the early in- habitants of English blood, who enjoyed the utmost per- sonal freedom and a satisfying abundance of this world's goods and who in addition were well provided with lead- ers. This moving picture of time-serving and poverty- stricken Germans, in groups and in companies, an army without officers,4 greatly reduced the favorable impression that had been made by the Germantown community under Pastorius. Their resigned attitude and the utter help- lessness of their position gradually brought the Germans into the contempt of their English lawgivers and in every measurement they were placed at least one degree lower than those who spoke English. When they finally brought themselves into positions of prominence and equal influ- ence with the English they did so against great odds.
These facts just related furnish the necessary perspec- tive in which to view the York County Germans if we wish to determine their place in the general history of Germans of America and in the development of our national char- acter. For, to this inferior standing of the earliest Ger- mans among their neighbors in their original settlements in New York and in eastern Pennsylvania, the German
3 It is from these conditions that Charles Sealsfield has drawn his doleful picture of the early Germans in his voluminous works on America and Americans.
4 Friedrich Kapp in his " Geschichte der Deutschen im Staate New York bis zum Anfange des 19. Jahrhunderts " has said: "Zur Eroberung des neuen Weltteils stellten die Romanen Offiziere ohne Heer, die Deutschen ein Heer ohne Offiziere, die Engländer dagegen ein Heer mit Offizieren."
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Outstanding Characteristics.
settlement of York County presents a striking contrast. It marks a new step, one of the first in the Americanization of the Germans in this country.5 In the settlement of York County we have a stage in the political and cultural evolution of the Germans in our country that was not at- tained in other German communities until the middle of the eighteenth century or until the Revolutionary War. The first generation in this county occupied a position and influence and manifested an aggressiveness of character that was only attained by the second or even the third generation of their countrymen east of the river. From the beginning of their history York County affairs received their color and their trend from the German element in the county, and from the beginning, too, German customs and peculiarities have shown great tenacity here.
The Germans who first settled in York County belonged to that hardy class of individuals who are not afraid to venture forth even in the face of danger. When they came to this county they placed the broad Susquehanna between themselves and the great body of their country- men and in many instances they separated themselves by wide stretches of wilderness from the habitations of civil- ized man. Men of daring and men of brawn they were, determined to stand on their rights and to resist any en- croachments upon their liberties. Nearly all of them had spent several years upon American soil and were now be- ginning life anew. Their experience had been valuable. They had become acclimated to America and inured to the soil of the New World. They had passed the period of strain and stress which always came to every immigrant when he first arrived. Though by no means rich, they had
5 It was paralleled perhaps by the case of those New York Germans who had fled to the Lebanon Valley.
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German Element in York County, Pa.
passed beyond straitened circumstances and had usually accumulated enough to provide their own equipment and a fair degree of comfort. They had not been preceded west of the river by a large number of English-speaking neighbors who could thus lord it over them. The settle- ments of the English in the northern part of the county and those of the Scotch-Irish in the southeastern part had begun almost simultaneously with their own, certainly not earlier, and these settlements had not grown nearly so rapidly as their own. The Germans were able therefore to make York County predominantly a German county and their life manifested an independence of spirit and a self-reliance that was quite unknown in the incipient stages of other German settlements.
This view is amply substantiated by a scrutiny of their conduct during the early years of their settlement in York County. The difficulties occasioned by the border con- troversy between the two provinces concerning the lands in the Kreutz Creek Valley furnished abundant oppor- tunity to show the mettle of the Germans who had settled there. They had been invited into those parts as a buffer against the intrusion of Marylanders and they served this purpose well. Their tenacity of purpose and their stout resistance was a matter of no little surprise to those who sought to intrude upon their domain. It cost them many conflicts and not a few real hardships but under the ca- pable leadership of men like Michael Tanner, Henry Hen- dricks, Christian Croll, and Henry Liphart, they succeeded in maintaining themselves and preserving their allegiance to Pennsylvania until the exact determination of the bound- ary line settled the whole difficulty. Some of their num- ber had been persuaded or forced to acknowledge the
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Outstanding Characteristics.
authority of Maryland for a while but they were quick to observe that the Maryland government discriminated against them in its dealings with its subjects, and their resentment at this, together with other arguments of rea- son,6 led them fearlessly to disown the authority of Mary- land, to refuse payment of taxes to Maryland agents, and to prepare to stand their ground as citizens of Pennsyl- vania. In their statements to the governor of Maryland they give unmistakable evidence of their fortitude and determination. In their communication to him under date of August II, 1736, they protest against being " seduced and made use of, to answer purposes which are unjusti- fiable."7 And in a subsequent reply to the governor they firmly declare themselves unwilling to tolerate the "impo- sitions " of the Maryland agents and "the uncommon and cruel usage " to which they had been subjected. They re- count their reasons for concluding " upon their own obser- vations " that they are within the rightful bounds of the province of Pennsylvania, and then register an emphatic refusal to act "against the manifest convictions of our consciences."8 Later they explain their action on the ground that "we believed in our consciences it was our duty."9 For freedom of conscience they had come to America and
6 Among these other considerations which weighed with the Germans to convince them that they were within the proper bounds of Pennsylvania was the fact that the Maryland government persistently failed to give them certificates or warrants for their lands, the observation that their own countrymen east of the river were settled may miles farther south than they themselves and had been settled there for twenty-five years under the undisputed jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, and the conclusion that it was impossible for the Susquehanna to be the boundary between the provinces. Col. Rec., IV: 493.
7 Md. Archives, Vol. 28: 100 f .; also Col. Rec. Pa., IV: 61 f.
8 Col. Rec., IV: 492 f.
9 Col. Rec., IV : 75.
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freedom of conscience they are now determined to main- tain in York County though it be necessary to fight for it. They were accused of having revolted from their allegiance to Maryland because of the influence and persuasion of the agents of Pennsylvania. This they deny very emphat- ically. They stoutly insist that they have acted solely upon their own initiative and in a special statement they set forth at length that they have taken these measures entirely "of our own mere motion and freewill, without any pre- vious persuasion, threatening or compulsion."10 And this there is every reason to believe. It was always doubted by the Maryland authorities, but it is substantiated both by direct statements and, what is more, by the clearest of implications on the part of the Pennsylvania authorities.11
10 Ibid.
11 The full and confidential statement of Blunston gives no intimation that he has persuaded them to this action but plainly implies that they have taken the initiative in the matter (Col. Rec., IV: 57), and the personal appeal of the Germans in Philadelphia (Col. Rec., IV: 188 f.) shows their sincerity in their move. Furthermore the unmistakeable implications of several private letters from Blunston allow no reasonable doubt that the Germans proceeded without his instigation. Already on January 2, 1735, almost eighteen months before the Germans actually transferred their allegiance to Pennsylvania, Blunston wrote to the proprietary: "A few days since twelve or fourteen Dutch Inhabitants on the other side opposite to us were here and desired to be admitted to take licence under you. They think they have been imposed upon by the Marylanders and most of Em incline to be Pennsylvanians." Afterwards during the difficulties that followed upon the "revolt of the Germans" there arose between Blunston and Penn a slight difference of opinion as to the policy that ought to be pursued and on January 13, 1737, Blunston wrote to Penn protesting that Penn's letters implied a conviction "that he receiving the Dutch as tenants to this government (who had once been under that of Maryland) was an act of favor to them and not a benefit to your proprietary interest. . . . Now if that be the case I must acknowledge the principles I have acted on have been wrong, for when the Dutch informed me of their inclinations to change I believed it would be for your benefit." This clearly indicates that the Germans had taken the initiative, for if Blunston had tried to
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Outstanding Characteristics.
The action of the Germans in refusing to pay taxes to Maryland and in declaring themselves citizens of Penn- sylvania called forth retaliatory measures from the Mary- landers. They sought to collect taxes from them by force. They harassed and plundered them and threatened them with fire and ejectment. The Germans used peaceful means of defence as long as that course seemed feasible. On one occasion when the Marylanders were seizing the goods of some of the Germans " under pretence of publick Dues" the Germans sent Michael Tanner to remonstrate with them. He went alone and met them " six miles back from the River" and by reasoning with them succeeded in getting them to withdraw under a truce of two weeks.12
In the hope of adjusting the difficulties without resort- ing to force they sent to the Council at Philadelphia and asked that their tracts be laid out in accurate surveys so that they might have clear titles under Pennsylvania.13 Later they proposed to go in a body to Annapolis and lay their case before the Governor in person, acquainting him with the violence and the inconveniences to which they were exposed by "Higginbotham and his lawless crew," and seeking his intervention for the betterment of their conditions.14 And they even took measures to apply to the King himself for the redress of their grievances.15 But neither of these latter proposals seem to have been carried into execution.
persuade them to disown Maryland and to acknowledge Pennsylvania he would certainly have used this fact as an argument here in this confidential letter. And Penn evidently knew nothing of such efforts to persuade the Germans and even doubted the expediency of receiving them when they had applied.
12 Col. Rec., IV: 69; also a Blunston letter to Penn of Sept. 8, 1736.
13 Col. Rec., IV : 70.
14 Col. Rec., IV : 155.
15 Col. Rec., IV: 156.
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German Element in York County, Pa.
The Germans sought first of all to keep the peace so long as that was possible without doing violence to their consciences, but when peaceful measures did not avail and when they were threatened with attack they did not scruple to employ more strenuous measures of defense.16 When the governor of Maryland threatens to treat them like rebels and enemies they prepare to defend their homes. They meet force with force. When unable to do this alone they call for constables and assistance from the other side of the river. When Cressap captures one of these con- stables and is hurrying off with him towards Maryland he is " warmly pursued " and the constable is rescued.17 When the outrages of the Marylanders continue without abate- ment they send a delegation of their number to Phila- delphia with representations to the provincial council con- cerning their distresses and praying for aid against the turbulent enemy.18 When a force of 300 comes from Maryland the provincial government of Pennsylvania takes a hand in the defense but not without the valiant aid of the Germans themselves.19
By the beginning of 1737 several of their leaders had been taken captive and the guerilla tactics of the Mary- landers had so depleted the numbers of the Germans that the rest of them became terrified and fled across the Sus- quehanna for safety.20 In May, 1737, many of them are reported in prison at Annapolis.21 But meanwhile their stout resistance west of the Susquehanna had permitted the cumbersome negotiations between the two provinces
16 Col. Rec., IV: 148.
17 Col. Rec., IV : 58.
18 Col. Rec., IV: 188 f.
19 Col. Rec., IV : 63 ff.
20 Col. Rec., IV: 149.
21 Vide supra, p. 68, footnote 39.
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Outstanding Characteristics.
and between the proprietors in England to take their course without prejudice to Pennsylvania and their service to their state had been rendered even though they were now for a time driven from the field. Another year saw the royal order of 1738 and its temporary conditions after- wards led to the permanent jurisdiction of Pennsylvania over all that disputed region.
The Germans were always encouraged by the Lancaster County authorities and by the provincial council of Penn- sylvania22 and their firm unyielding attitude was appre- ciated by those authorities. The council sympathized with the Germans in the hardships and distresses to which they were exposed but at the same time they felt that for the Germans to yield to their adversaries and quit their habi- tations west of the Susquehanna would mean the over- throw of an important principle and might involve serious consequences for the future of the province of Pennsyl- vania. For when Samuel Blunston raises the question be- fore the council " whether it may be more elegible to order the Removal of all those who are seated under Pennsyl- vania on the west side of Susquehanna, than to use further Endeavours for their Defence, since it is now apparent these cannot be effectual without coming to Blows," the council sets itself strongly against the suggestion, on the ground that "it is not consistent either with the Honour or Safety of this Province, to remove those of its Inhabi- tants who are seated within its unquestionable Bounds, since such an Act might be construed a Cession of those parts to Maryland, who would not fail thereupon to take possession of them; and in all probability from such an, Encouragement, would endeavour at further Encroach- ments on this side of the River, in pursuance of their late
22 E. g., Archives, I: 317; Col. Rec., IV: 195.
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German Element in York County, Pa.
exorbitant Claims."23 It was felt that the honor and authority of the province depended upon the tenacity of the German settlers.24 This responsibility they discharged by insisting upon recognizing the jurisdiction of Pennsyl- vania until the crisis of the controversy between the prov- inces was passed. This function they performed for the history of Pennsylvania not so much out of a consciousness of their mission as out of their native hardiness and ag- gressiveness of spirit. And these qualities of character were a source of no little gratification to the provincial authorities. For, says James Logan, President of the Council, in a writing to Governor Ogle dated September 18, 1736, in which he speaks of the encroachments and the hostilities west of the river: "This province, especially those parts are filled with people of more spirit than to brook such treatment, and if any mischief ensue on their opposition to your attacks, you cannot but well know who must be accountable for it."25 Where the poverty-stricken
23 Col. Rec., IV: 150 f.
24 Blunston wrote to the proprietary on October 17, 1734, suggesting that the tracts of the Germans be laid out to them and that they be given sur- veys, and observing: "Tis true the setlers are at present generally poor and unable to pay for their lands (or even the surveys) but we look on them 'as persons suitable to keep possession." The sentiments of this letter were endorsed by John Wright. The Lancaster County officials evidently appreciated the resoluteness and tenacity of these Germans, and two years later when the forceful conflicts west of the river have begun and when Thomas Penn suggests that some of the Germans be removed, Blunston sets himself against the suggestion and remarks (letter received by Penn on December 1, 1736) : "For those who are most in danger by staying are those who are most resolute and active and by whom the rest are directed." The York County Germans evidently did not lack aggressive leaders among their own numbers.
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