USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > The German immigration into Pennsylvania through the port of Philadelphia from 1700 to 1775 : part II: The Redemptioners > Part 21
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ELDER NAAS' LETTER.
" Now that we have safely arrived in this land and have been met by our own people in great love and friendship all the rest has been forgotten (the mishaps and hardships of the voyage) in a moment, so to speak, for the sake of the great joy we had in one another. This hardship has lasted about nineteen weeks; then it was over, wherefore be all the glory to the Highest : Amen, yea ; Amen !
" For it does not rue us to have come here, and I wish with all my heart that you and your children could be with us ; however, it cannot be and I must not urge you as the journey is so troublesome for people who are not able to patiently submit to everything, but often in the best there are restless minds, but if I could with the good will of God do for you children all, I assure you that I would not hesi- tate to take the trip once more upon me for your sake ; not because one gets one's living in this land in idleness ! Oh! no; this country requires diligent people, in what-
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Den Zeugnis Server gefügton Himlers in D'in Ginlargely = Zu Gemeinde in the.
Town Ship of Providence.
Gelangst
Johan Jeong Marsstallen
1720,2 Bih Hugu! Sim Friflor dimelia Fiat 12 Jogo wars, amalia
Ponham 17:31/4h 17300g Scholarly ? 84 m In to Gerry Arif man tener July"
1733 VOL n Cher anna Maryfarofa Zeuge aña Margaretszych
Mamalerin Junior. Imis koffer Golfassina Zeugo Valfarina Weberin Marty
Marty
Jobre:
FAC-SIMILE OF EARLIEST ENTRIES IN TRAPPE CHURCH RECORDS, MARCH 8, 1729.
304
The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
ever trade they may be-but then they can make a good living. There are, however, many people here, who are not particularly successful ; as it seems that if some people were in Paradise it would go badly with them. Some are to be blamed for it themselves ; for when they come to this country and see the beautiful plantations ; the number of fine cattle ; and abundance in everything ; and, knowing that they only just have come here too, then they want to have it like that at once, and will not listen to any advice but take large tracts of land with debts, borrow cattle and so forth. These must toil miserably until they get indepen- dent. Well, what shall I say, so it is in the world, where always one is better off than the other. If a person wants to be contented here, with food and shelter, he can under the blessing of God and with diligent hands get plenty of it. Our people are well off ; but some have more abun- dance than others, yet nobody is in want. What I heard concerning the people who do not have the money for the passage, surprised me greatly, how it goes with the young, strong people and artisans, how quickly all were gone, bricklayers, carpenters, and whatever trades they might have. Also old people who have grown children and who understand nothing but farm labor, then the child takes two freights (fare for two) upon itself, its own and that of the father or of the mother four years, and during that time it has all the clothing that is needed and in the end an en- tirely new outfit from head to foot, a horse or cow with a calf. Small children often pay one freight and a half until they are twenty-one years old. The people are obliged to have them taught writing and reading, and in the end to give them new clothes and present them with a horse or cow.
" There are few houses to be found in city or country
305
Two Sides to Every Narrative.
where the people are at all well off, that do not have one or two such children in them. The matter is made legal at the city hall with great earnestness. There parents and children often will be separated 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 hours (in distance), and for many young people it is very good that they cannot pay their own freight. These will sooner be provided for than those who have paid theirs and they can have their bread with others and soon learn the ways of the country.
" I will make an end of this and wish patience to whom- soever reads this. God be with you all. Amen. 175 " Johannes Naas."
This is an extreme view, and not wholly a just one. The facts as they stand recorded in the works of historians and the letters of private individuals' are true, and they must always be accepted as such. At the same time it must be admitted they present us with but one side of the story. Is there no other side to their picture? There are, admittedly, two sides to every narrative? Is this one of the German immigration and the indenturing of many in- dividuals as servants for a term of years an exception? It would, indeed, be an anomalous case if it were so. But it is not. Men like Christoph Saur and Pastor Muhlenberg and Gottlieb Mittelberger embarked in this cause to right a great existing wrong, one that was daily occurring before their own eyes, and with which they were almost hourly made acquainted. It was a crime almost without a parallel in its atrocity, practiced against their countrymen and it may be, their own kith and kin. They were tireless in their efforts
175 The complete letter from which the above extract is taken may be found in Dr. M. G. BRUMBAUGH'S recently published History of the German Bap- tist Brethren, pp. 108-123-a valuable addition to the early religious history of Pennsylvania.
306
The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
to strike it down. They left no stone unturned, nothing undone that would do away with this crime against hu- manity. They showed it up at its worst to arouse the better part of our human nature against the evil, believing, and most truly, that in this way it could most quickly be driven out of existence. If they saw a brighter side to the question it was not for them to reveal it. It was the wrong against which their blows were directed. The better and brighter side needed no defense and, therefore, none was made for it.
ONE OF THE DANGERS ENCOUNTERED BY THE EARLY SETTLERS.
And there was a brighter side just as certainly as there was a dark one. That must, indeed, be an evil's crown of evil that is wholly and unspeakably bad and totally without redeeming features.
Let us, for a while, turn this gloomy picture to the wall and see whether we can discover something better on the other side. Let us bear in mind, in the first place, that while many plunged heedlessly into the pitfalls laid by the soulless soul-brokers, there were-must have been-thou-
307
No Expectations in the Fatherland.
sands of others who were not ignorant of what a servant for a term of years meant. Why did these eager thou- sands hurry from their homes in the Fatherland to such a fate here? We know full well how it was with a majority of them there. Born in poverty, unable to rise above the station of hewers of wood and drawers of water, they were doomed to lives of unceasing toil, with the hope of better- ing their condition as remote as the distant and unheeding stars. What had even the fertile valleys of the Rhine to offer these men? Nothing, and well they knew it. Surely things could not be worse for them in America, and in this we must all agree.
It was a voluntary action on their part. They knew the consequences of their step. They were aware that a ship- owner would not carry them three thousand miles across " the broad ocean and feed them on the way for nothing, merely out of charity. Men do not give valuable things to every comer for nothing. They knew this indebtedness must be repaid when they reached this country by some one for they could not do it themselves. But whoever as- sumed the temporary burden, they knew that in the end their own strong arms must make payment. It cannot be doubted the trials of the voyage were more severe than was anticipated. For that, perhaps, they were not prepared. A healthy young man who may never have known a day's sickness in his life, little thinks the plague will smite him on ship-board; and it was the foul diseases disseminated by personal contact that more than decimated so many hope- ful ship companies that sailed out of Rotterdam. It will hardly be contended that the men coming to Pennsylvania under such conditions looked forward to anything but a life of work until time wiped out the score that had been marked up against them.
.
308
The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
It is true we read of " Servants " or " Redemptioners " who fell into the hands of hard taskmasters. No doubt this was the case. It has been the case since the days of Pharaoh and will continue to be while masters and servants exist upon the earth, and that, most probably, will be until the end of time.
But that was not the rule. I cannot bring myself to believe that they were not mostly exceptional cases.176 It was natural that Germans already in the country and in need of help on their farms, or in whatever occupation they may have been engaged, should have preferred their own coun- trymen. The Germans hold together : it is one of their characteristics, and always has been. The employer pre- ferred one who spoke his own language: who can doubt that? That he preferred one from his own dorf or locality is also certain. When such came together it could not have been difficult to strike a bargain. And having thus made their engagement, will it be doubted that the faithful service of the Redemptioner, anxious to free himself and his wife and perhaps his children also, was not appreciated by the master, his own countryman, and perhaps even an acquaint- ance? To doubt kind treatment from the buyer to the bought, under these conditions is to impugn German honor, German kindness, and that German sense of right which we know is always true to eternal instincts. We have reason to know that as a rule the existing conditions worked well. It was also the servitor's privilege to find another master when the one he had was not to his liking.
176 " These indentured servants were not badly treated either by the Swedes or the Friends. Their usual term of service was four years, and they received a grant of land, generally fifty acres, at the expiration of the term. The system was originally contrived in Maryland in order to increase the labor of the province, and many of the bond servants were persons of good character, but without means, who sold their services for four or five years in order to secure a passage across the ocean to the new land of promise." (SCHARF & WEST- COTT'S History of Philadelphia, Vol. I., p. 134.)
309
The Incentives to Industry.
If these men were poor, they were nevertheless honor- able. It was their bounden duty to comply with their con- tracts. Nothing could be gained by shirking their duties, save trouble. Every one was certain that the day of deliv- erance would come, when he in turn would be an indepen- dent land-owner and entitled to all the rights of citizenship enjoyed by any one. He saw around him, men of standing and character in the community, who had stood on the low- est rung of the social ladder where he himself was then standing. They had attained their position by fulfilling their engagements faithfully. They were an example and their successful careers were an incentive to all who knew them, to also do as they had done. The laws of the Prov- ince made no distinction between him and those above him. He could aspire to anything or any place anyone else had attained. In addition to that, they lent him a helping hand when the hour of his freedom arrived and gave him lands, if he wanted them, on the most favorable terms. There was every incentive for a " Redemptioner " to make a man of himself if he had the will and ability to do so. And why should he not strive towards that end? His hour, the hour so long awaited, had come at last ; the prize he had set out to reach was now within his grasp; the day of fruition was at hand. He had worked hard, but he had done that in the Fatherland also, done it on scanty rations and without any hope of rising or in any way bettering his position. He had passed that point in his new home. He was a free man. The three, four, or five years had rolled away quickly and he was now master of the situation.
And what had others done? They had become the owners in fee simple of estates that ranged from a hundred to a thousand acres of the best and brightest lands the sun shines on to-day. They had become the owners of estates,
310
The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
which in Germany would have entitled them to the highest consideration. In all but name, they had in reality become what the Newlander had promised. Nowhere in all North
A CUSTOM IN THE FATHERLAND.
America was such prosperity seen. It had taken years of honest toil to accomplish this, but it had been done and now the independent owner could sit down, literally as well as figuratively, under his own vine and roof tree with the world's abundance of good things about him.
With such encouragement the " Redeemed "-no longer the " Redemptioner"- had but to go to work for himself as earnestly as he had done for him who had taken him into his family. Generally he was a man in the vigor of life, with many years of good work still in him. There was still ample time to go ahead and improve his condition. Released from the indenture that had held him, with his
31I
The First Pennsylvania Author.
earlier ambition to improve still strong within him, his lot was a hundred fold better and more promising than it had
Kort en klaer ontwerp, bienende tot Een onderling Accoort, 0 M Den arbepd / onrul en moepe- lickhept/ban Alderley-hand-merer- lupben te berlichten DOOR
Een onderlingeCompagnie ofte
Volck-planting(onder de protectie vande H: Mor Heeren Staten Generael der vereenigde Neder-lan- den;en byfonder onder het gunftig gefag van de Achtbare Magiftraten der Stad Amitelre. dam) aen de Zuyt-revier in Nieu-ne- der-land op te rechten; Beftaende in
Land-bouwers, Zee-varende Perfonen, Alderbande noodige Ambachts-luyden, en Meefters van goede konften en wetenschappen.
Stennende op De booz-rechten ban hare Achts baerheben (als hier na bolgt) tot bien epnde betleent.
t'Samen geftelt
Door Pieter Cornelifx, Plockboy van Zierck-zee, voor bem felven en andere Liefhebbers van Nien-neder-land.
t'Amsterdam gedruckt bp Otto Barenifz. Smient, Anno 1662
TITLE-PAGE OF PLOCKHOY'S BOOK. Containing a Scheme for Settlement on the Delaware. 177
177 There is, perhaps, no book or tract relating to the history of Pennsylvania that has greater interest for the student of the early history of the State than the little book whose title-page is given in fac-simile above. It is the first de- scription of the country written by one living there at the time, and who died
312
The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
been in his old home. He felt it and he fell to work to make the most of it. German industry and German thrift still accompanied him. The greedy ship-master and the avaricious broker could not rob him of these. With them and the ready assistance that was ever forthcoming on the part of the old master and nearby acquaintances, he started out on his independent career.
The result is well known. He prospered as he deserved to do. His cattle multiplied and the soil failed not to pour forth its abundance. The days of adversity passed away. The era of prosperity took their place, and his early hopes and aspirations were realized. That was the career of thousands. Even though some had in earlier days en- countered unspeakable evils, was not this rich fruition of later years infinitely better than anything that could have fallen to their lot in Germany? There they were not bound to a master by indentures, but necessity compelled them to serve him nevertheless from boyhood until inca- pacitated by age, when the poorhouse received their worn- out frames. He was a servant all his life without any rec- ompense at its close, while his food in the meantime was
within its borders after spending most of his life there. The man was Peter Cornelius Plockhoy, a Dutchman who led a colony of Mennonites to Pennsyl- vania at an unknown period and settled at the Hoorn Kill, several miles below Philadelphia. After having been in existence only a few years, Governor Carr, of New York, sent an expedition up the Delaware, which broke up and dis- persed the little colony. What became of Plockhoy, the founder and leader, there are no records to tell. He, however, wrote and had printed at Amster- dam, in the Dutch language, in 1662, the little tract bearing his name, in which he gives a history of his colony and its people. With the dispersion of his little colony, Plockhoy also disappeared, and it was not until 1694, when aged, blind and destitute, he, with his wife, reached the Mennonite settlement at Germantown, where kind and willing friends built him a house, planted him a garden, and where he died. There is not a more pathetic story connected with the history of our State than this one of poor Plockhoy. His little tract is of excessive rarity, the only copy in Pennsylvania being in the library of Judge Pennypacker, of Philadelphia.
See Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society, Vol. II., p. 34.
2
FRANKLIN COLLEGE, 1787
been in hi sode Howden sad he fell to work to
- wout /wery and German thrift
Tweedy ship-master and the
www of these. With them
and P& Aa Staceyer forthcoming on the
oquaintances, he started
Trendi hast Amury He prospered as he deserved Ed Il Wholes wid thik soil failed not to pour The days of adversity passed away.
.
"py wok Wieir place, and his early hopes malued. That was the career of Mgk wome had in earlier days en- ilki was not this rich fruition of Il Nis anything that could have vagy? There they were not much Asjthe ly mod-nisgss, but necessity compelled them to serve ton nevertheless from boyhood until inca- paciloted by an when ile poorhouse received their worn- out trimmen Hr was a servant all his life without any rec- ompensar It does, while his food in the meantime was within i's body is atet sucalug atott of his life there. The man was Peter Cornelius Po Shoy dare -- who led a colony of Mennonites to Pennsyl- - komponente at the Hoorn Kill, several miles below Paradigma Af la carence only a few years, Governor Carr, M Kra Yorr sp (1 /redbone ve: the Telaware, which broke up and dia- The Boston ny What Serfire of Plockhoy, the founder and leader, overhis mu wrestle in lab the bug ter, wiete and had printed at Amster. Sote Ne Wir Troy language is ita thr Xifie tract bearing hia name, in which School of ary and i nogle .With the dispersion of his Wor beer fickim in Mogo-roky abil it was not until 1694, when aged, Mid Dot Stock5 9 60 de ha qued the Mennonite settlement at Germantiny wie bel and scaredly built bim a house, planted him a gariet, and vives a bez 78- &more pathetic story connected with the hitund ---- - or Plockhoy. His little tract is of excessive pour jetsale gy in Mysemola being in the library of Judge Pennypacker, af ruandy
See Procedisev or Da fuq- un German Society, Vol. II., p. 34.
GERMAN IMMIGRATION INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
FRANKLIN COLLEGE, 1787.
313
Fame and Fortune Awaited Many.
that of the poor laborer, poor in kind and scant in quantity. Surely, we cannot contrast such an existence with that passed by his fellow laborer, Redemptioner though he was, in the welcoming breezes of Pennsylvania.
Thousands of them achieved both fame and fortune. Often, if he was a good man and true, he married his quondam owner's daughter, and with her got back part of the riches his years of honorable servitude had helped to create. Among his own countrymen he lost no caste by reason of his service. Why should he? In the world around him one-half his fellows were working as hard as he to repay borrowed money or to pay for lands or other valuables they had purchased. He too was paying a debt voluntarily incurred and there was no disgrace attached to it.
Our early history is filled with the story of Redemp- tioners who grew rich by their honest toil and left honor- able names to their descendants. I have at this moment an autobiographical sketch lying before me, written by one of these people. He came to the town where I was born, and for nearly half a century lived within easy speaking distance of my own home. He was well educated. He was honest and faithful. The community honored him with public office, while his enterprise, energy and thrift brought him a large estate. He founded a family and his descendants to-day are honorable and honored, the wealth- iest people in the community. 178 These are things we
178 So few Redemptioners, so far as I have ascertained, left records of their careers, that I am tempted to throw in the form of a note a part of what the one spoken of above says of himself. After telling of his birth at Diedelsheim, in the Palatinate, on January 16, 1750, he proceeds to relate that his father was a Lutheran clergyman and his mother the daughter of another also; who the sponsors at his baptism were, all of which were furnished to him by his pas- tor when he left Germany. He then says :
"My beloved father died in the year -, at the age of 57 : my beloved
314
The German Immigration into Pennsylvania.
must not forget in passing judgment upon this man traffic. Common fairness demands it. It rescued thousands from lives of poorly requited toil and placed them where their labor met with its proper reward. Instead of remaining hewers of wood and drawers of water until life's close, they were placed in conditions where the results of their
mother departed this life in the year 1760. Even in my tender youth, no expense and pains were spared upon my education by my parents. My father had me not only attend church and hear the word of God, but also diligently attend school. I was also sent to a Latin school from my 6th to my 13th year, that with this and an acquaintance with other necessary branches of knowledge, I might the better get along in the world. For the parental love and faithful- ness I experienced, may the great God reward my parents before the throne of the Lamb in Heaven.
"After my father found me qualified to renew my baptismal covenant by a public profession of my faith, I was confirmed in the 13th year of my age, and received for the first time the Lord's Supper. Soon after I expressed my wish to learn the mercantile profession, to which my father gave his consent. I then served a four years apprenticeship in the city of Stuttgart with Mr. Barn- hard Fredk. Behruger. After this I went to Heidelberg where I was in the employ of John W. Godelman for two years. From thence I went to Manitz and entered the celebrated house of John George Gontzinger.
"In order to learn more of the world and to improve my fortune, I resolved to travel to Holland, with the hope of finding employment in some large com merical house. My undertaking was unsuccessful, and this contributed to my coming to America, for as I saw no prospect of getting employment in Holland and did not wish to return to my native land, the way to America was prepared. I crossed the ocean in the ship Minerva, Capt. Arnold, and landed in Phila- delphia on Sept. 20, 1771. I had to content myself with the circumstances in which I then was, and with the ways of the country, which it is true, were not very agreeable. I was under the necessity of hiring myself to Benjamin Davids, an inn-keeper, for three years and nine months. My situation was unpleasant, for my employment did not correspond with that to which I had been accustomed from my youth, in my fatherland. In the course of nine months my hard service ended, for with the aid of good friends, I found means in a becoming way to leave Davids, for the employ of Messrs. Miles & Wistar, where I remained three years and six months."
The foregoing narrative shows how difficult it was, even at that early day, to secure honorable, remunerative employment in the Fatherland. Here was a young man, well born, well nurtured, of good education, trained to business, and yet after serving four years at service in a mercantile house, could find no employment either in his own land or in Holland. As a last resort he came to America. His career answers my argument affirmatively that, despite his three years and nine months of unwelcome service, it was the best thing he could do. It is very certain that he never regretted it.
315
One's Birthplace a Pleasant Memory.
work went to reward themselves. Not one of all this vast multitude, could their views have been ascertained, would have preferred the old hum-drum life of the Fatherland with its many trials and few rewards to the newer life, the freer air, the more generous living and less oppressive bur- dens they found in the pleasant land of Pennsylvania.
THE MORRIS HOUSE IN GERMANTOWN. Where Washington lived in 1793.
At this distant day we can hardly realize all the un- toward circumstances and conditions that fell into the lives of these sons of the Fatherland-these children of misfor- tune and of want. It has been said man must be born somewhere; it is true, and wherever that somewhere may be, that spot, though it be the bleakest on all the earth, will live in his memory forever, and cost him many a pang ere he becomes reconciled to new conditions.
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