USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Germantown > The settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the beginning of German emigration to North America > Part 6
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On the 25th of November, 1688, Pastorius married in Germantown Anna Klostermann, daughter of Dr. Hend- rich Klostermann, of the Duchy of Cleves, and they had two sons, Johann Samuel, born March 30, 1690, and Hein- rich, born April 1, 1692. He died February 27, 1719. There is no stone to mark his grave and no man knows where his bones lie. But Howell Powell, a Welshman, on the 2Ist of the 3d month, 1720, gave forth these enthusi- astic verses to commemorate his merits :
What Francis Daniel Pastorius Hath tane his flight from hence to Olympus Lost to his Posterity, ye Germantown Specially Loss (tho' great gains to him) it was to many, The Hermes, Glory, Crown and Linguists gone Who oft interpreted Teutonick Tongue, The Scribe and Tutor, German's Polar Guide,
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An Antiquarian that was far from pride Religious, Xealous Amanuensis ; An Universal Man in Arts Sciences, Who lov'd his Friends : the Britains; yea all Nations Zealous for the Truth, full of Compations,
Ah! may Germanopolis be agen supplied Of that great Loss; their Honour once, their Guide A wise Achilles as he was be sent Lowly, Lovely, Learn'd, Lively, Still Content, Now free from Cares, Dire Troubles that attend This brittle Case, the Heavenly Quire, befriend Him still; Joyes in the Glorious Lamb, alone Seeth the Beatifick vision
You his Family offspring take Example By Francis, Just Sincere & Truly Humble Tho you condole the Loss of 's Company He got a better; be Content thereby Tho many lost a Friend ; He got; yet they Rejoyce that he hath Nobler still for ay. Tho dead to his Corporal Form, that Sleep, He Live In Immortality needs no Reprieve.
Vade Diis Superis scandere Culmen Olymp Francisce ae que vale, tu cape, carpe viam, Opto simul quaeris vestigia recta sequi Te pedibus verbis, te simul; esse bonos.
And a greater than Howell, William Penn, wrote in 1698-99 this merited encomium : " Irenarcha, hoc anno est aut nuperrime fuit, alias vir sobrius probus prudens et pius spectatae inter omnes inculpataeque famae."
CHAPTER IV. LETTERS HOME.
LETTER FROM FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS, MARCH 7, 1684.64
N order to fulfil my due obligations, as well as my promise, on setting out, I shall state somewhat circum- stantially, how and what I have found and observed in this land, and, while not ignorant that through varying reports of these much is brought to light, I state at the beginning that with impartial pen, and MERCY JUS without purpose to deceive, I will faithfully relate the dis- Arms of William Penn. comforts of the journey and the poverty of this province, as well as the riches of the same, which have been almost too
64 I am indebted for the above letter to the Rev. Wm. J. Hinke, who quite recently discovered it in one of the Continental libraries. Extracts from it appear in the Geographische Beschreibung and are elsewhere used in this volume, but it is so filled with hitherto unknown and graphic de- tails that it is here translated in its entirety.
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highly praised by others. Then I ask nothing more in my little corner of the earth than to walk in the footsteps of Him who is the Way, and to follow His wholesome teach- ing, because He is the Truth, in order that I may forever be joined to Him in life eternal. .
(I) I will therefore begin with the sea voyage which is dangerous indeed on account of possible shipwreck to be feared, as well as unpleasant on account of the coarse and hard ship fare, so that from my own personal experience I can much better understand what David says in the 107th Psalm that on ship board one can search out and learn of not only the wonderful works of the Lord but also the spirit of storm. Concerning my journey hither, on the tenth of June, I sailed from Deal, with four men servants, two maids, two children and one young lad.65 We had on the whole way mostly unfavorable wind, not twelve con- secutive hours of favorable wind, much storm, and tempest. Also the foremast broke into two pieces, so that we reached here in not less than ten weeks ; but sat cito, si sat bene .- considering that it seldom happens that any arrive much more promptly. The people from Crefeld, who reached here October 6th, were just ten weeks on the sea, and the ship that started from Deal with ours, was fourteen days longer on the way and some of the people died. Certain people from Crefeld also between Rotterdam and Eng- land lost a grown daughter, whose loss however was re- placed by the birth of two children. Upon our ship no one died and no one was born. Almost all of the passen-
65 It will be observed that by omitting the English maid who had left him and adding the others on this list to the thirty-three persons from Crefeld, we get the forty-two residents of Germantown mentioned later in this letter. Dilbeck was a member of the German Reformed church and a weaver. His wife was Mary Blomerse. See the valuable papers of Henry S. Dotterer in his Historical Notes Upon the Reformed Church.
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Fare on the Ship.
gers were seasick for several days, but I, when not more than four hours out was upset by other accidents, for the two carved lions over our ship's clock struck me right on the back, and on July 9th, during a storm at night, I fell so violently upon the left side that for some days I was obliged to keep my bed. These two accidents especially recall to me the first fall, which was passed down to all posterity, by our early progenitors in Paradise ; also many of those which I have experienced in this sad valley of my exile per varios casus, etc., but praised be the fatherly hand of divine mercy which so often upholds and restrains us, so that we do not quite fall into the abyss of evil. Gorg Wertmüller also fell heavily. Thomas Gasper was badly hurt. The English maid had the erysipelas and Isaac Dilbeck, who otherwise, according to external ap- pearances, was the strongest, lay below longer than any- one else. I had also a little ship-hospital, as I alone of the Germans had taken my berth among the English. How a companion aboard was careless, and how our ship was made to tremble by the repeated attacks of a whale, I re- lated in detail last time. The fare on board was very bad. We lived medice ac modice. Every ten persons received each week three pounds of butter ; daily four cans of beer, and two cans of water ; at noon every day in the week, meat, and fish three days at noon, which we had to dress with our own butter ; and every day we had to keep enough from our dinner to make our supper upon. The worst of all was that our meat and fish were both so salty and so strong smelling, that we could scarcely half enjoy them. And if I had not prepared myself at the advice of good friends in England, with various kinds of refreshment, it might very likely have gone badly with me. Therefore it is well to suggest to those who wish to come here in the future that
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they either, when there are many of them, provide their own fare, or else make definite arrangements with the cap- tain, in regard to both quantity and quality, how much and what kind they shall daily receive; and, in order to bind him to this the more closely, one should leave unpaid some little from the cost of his passage, also when possible should have himself bound over to such a ship which sails to this town of Philadelphia, since those who are left lying in Upland, undergo many trials.
My company on board consisted of many kinds of people. There was one D. Mediconae with his wife and eight chil- dren, a French captain, a pastry-cook,66 an apothecary, a glassblower, mason, smith, cartwright, joiner, cooper, hat- ter, shoemaker, tailor, gardener, peasants, seamstresses, etc., in all about eighty people in the ship's company. These differ not only in their ages (our oldest woman was sixty years old, the youngest child only twelve weeks) and in their occupations just mentioned, but they were also of such different religions and stations that I might not un- suitably compare the ship which brought them hither, with the Ark of Noah, in which were found not more un- clean beasts than clean (reasonable). In my company I have fallen in with the Romish Church, with the Lutheran, with the Calvinistic, with the Anabaptist and with the English, and only one Quaker.
On the IIth of Aug. we for the first time took a sound- ing and found that we were close upon the great sand bank, and accordingly, in order to sail around it, we must go back for over one hundred miles out of our course.
On the 16th of the same month (August, 1683) with much joy we came into sight of America, and on the 18th in the morning entered Delaware Bay, which is thirty
66 Cornelius Bom. (?)
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English miles long and fifteen wide, while of such un- equal depth that while our ship drew thirteen feet of water, we several times ran aground in the sand.
On the 20th we passed New Castle and Upland and Dimicum, and arrived in the dusk of evening, praised be God, happily in Philadelphia. There, on the following day I gave over to W. Penn the writings which I had with me, and was received by him with affectionate friendliness ; of which very worthy gentleman and praiseworthy ruler, I should speak suitably.
(II) My pen (although it is from an eagle, which a so called savage recently brought into my house) is much too weak to express the lofty merits of this Christian, for such he is indeed. He invited me very often to his table, also to walk and ride in his always elevating society; and when I was last away from here for eight days, to bring victuals from New Castle, and he had not seen me for that length of time, he came himself to my little house, and requested that I should still come two or three times to his home, as his guest. He was very fond of the Germans and once said openly in my presence to his councillors and attendants : The Germans I am very fond of and wish that you should love them also; although I never at any other time heard a similar command from him; but these pleased me the more because they entirely conform to the command of God (vid. I John 31. 23). I can now say no more than that Will. Penn is a man who honors God, and is by Him honored in return, who loves good, and is by all good men rightly loved, etc. I do not doubt that others will yet come here and learn by experience that my pen has not written enough in this direction.
(III) About the condition of the land I must in the future after one or more years acquaintance, state some-
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thing more definite. The Swedes and Dutch who have cul- tivated the same for twenty-five years and more, are in this instance, as in most others, of two opinions, laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis. It is certain that the ground soil lacks nothing in fertility, and will here, as well as in Europe, re- ward the labor of our hands, if we work upon and manure it, which two things it most needs. The above-mentioned old inhabitants are poor economists, have neither barns nor stalls, let their grain lie unthreshed under the open sky for several years, and let their cattle, horses, cows, swine, etc., run summer and winter through the thickets, though they derive little benefit therefrom. Surely the penance which God inflicted upon Adam that he should eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, extends also to his descendants in this land, and they who wish to spare their hands may re- main where they are. Hic opus, hic labor est and there is no money without the disposition to work. (Swiss pro- vincialism of to-day for " arbeiten " says " wercken ") for it slips through the fingers, and I may say with Solomon ; It has wings. During the past year very many people both from England and Ireland, as well as from Barbados and other American islands have come here, and this province did not produce sufficient means of subsistence for such an influx, wherefore all food became rather dear, and almost all the money went for the same out of the land. Nevertheless we hope in time to have a greater abundance of both, for W. Penn will coin money, and agriculture will be better established, etc. Farmers and laborers are most needed here, and I wish I had a dozen strong Tyrolese here to cut down the massive oak trees ; for wherever one turns it may be said : Itur in antiquam sylvam. There is everywhere only forest, and little open space to be found, in which, as in other respects, my previously cherished
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Products of the Soil.
hope was vain, for in truth, in these wild orchards there are no apples at all nor pears. And through this very cold winter no game is to be found. The wild grapes are quite small, and better to eat than to make wine from. The walnuts have exceedingly thick shells, and small kernels, so that they are scarcely worth the trouble of opening them ; but the chestnuts and hazelnuts are somewhat better. Also the peaches, apples and pears are very good, and are not to be complained of, except that there are not as many of them as some desire, etc. On the other hand there are more rattle snakes (whose sting is deadly) in the land, than we like, etc. I must yet add this little tanquam testis oculatus, that on the 16th of October beautiful violets were found in the woods; Item. After I came to the town of Germantown on the 24th of October, and on the 25th of the same month, when I was coming back here with seven others, we came upon, on the way, a wild vine running over a tree, upon which hung about four hundred clusters of grapes, wherefore we thereupon cut down the tree, all eight of us had enough, and each one carried a hatful home. Item. When I was dining with W. Penn on the 25th of Aug., after the meal was finished, there was brought in a single root of barley, which had grown here in a garden, and had on it fifty stalks. But all grain does not bear in that pro- portion, it is as the proverb says : One swallow does not make a summer. However I do not doubt that in the future there will be more examples of such fertility, when we earnestly put these to the plow. I regret the vines, which I brought with me because, while we were still in Delaware Bay, they were soaked in sea water, and all but two were spoiled. The oft mentioned W. Penn has planted a vineyard of French vines, whose growth it is a pleasure to look upon, and which brought to my recol- lection, when I saw them, the one of Cap. Johannis.
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(IV) Philadelphia daily increases in the number of its houses, and in population ; now there is being built also a house of correction in order that those who do not wish to live as Philadelphians should, may be disciplined, for there are some here, to whom applied what our dear friend said in his letters, namely that we have more trouble with bad Christians here than with the Indians. Further, here and there towns are being built. Beside our own one by name Franckfurt, about half an hour from here, is beginning to be started, where also a mill and glass factory are built. Not far from there, namely, two hours from here, lies our Germantown, where already forty-two people live in twelve homes, who are for the most part linen weavers, and not much given to agriculture. These honest people spent all their means on their journey, so that where provision was not made for them by W. Penn, they were obliged to serve others. They have by repeated wanderings back and forth made quite a good road all the way to the said Ger- mantown. And I can say no more for this than that it lies upon black rich earth, and is girt half way round with pleasant springs, as with a natural wall. The main street is sixty feet broad, and the cross street forty, and each family has an estate of three acres, etc.
(V) In regard to the inhabitants, I can do no better than divide them into the natural and the cultivated. For, if I called the former savages, and the latter Christians, I would be unjust to many of both races. Of the latter, I have already explained that the sailing ship was not to be compared to any thing but Noah's Ark. The Lutheran preacher who wants to show the Swedes the way to heaven like a statue of Mercury, is, in a word, a drunkard. Simi- larly there are false coiners, and other vicious persons here, whom however the breath of God's wrath will haply
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Indians.
scatter like chaff, at his good time. Of pious God-fearing people there is also, no lack, and I can assert in all truth that nowhere in Europe have I seen, as in our Philadel- phia, the notice : Such and such a thing has been found, the loser may apply ; often also the opposite: Such and such a thing has been lost, whoever returns it shall receive a reward; etc. Concerning these first cultivated foreigners I will say no more now than that among them are found some Germans who have already been in this country twenty years and so have become, as it were, naturalized, namely people from Schleswig, Brandenburg, Holstein, Switzer- land, etc, also, one from Nuremberg, Jan Jacquet by name, but will briefly give some in- formation concerning these per errorem called savages. The first which came to my notice were the two who at Upland came up to our ship in a canoe. I presented them with a drink of brandy, which they wished to pay for with half a kopfstuck, and when I refused this money, they took my hand and said, thanks, brother. They are Arms of the Jacquet family of Nüremberg. strong of limb, dark in body, and they dye their faces red, blue, etc in many ways. They go in summer quite naked, except for a cloth worn about the loins, and now in winter they hang duffels over themselves. They have coal black hair, but the Swedish children born here have snow white hair, etc. I was once dining with W. Penn when one of their kings was sitting with us at table, when W. Penn said to him (for he could
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speak their language pretty readily) that I was a German, etc. He came on the 3rd of October, as also on the 12th of December there came another king and queen to my house. In like manner many of the common people come over to me very often to whom I almost always show my regard by a piece of bread and drink of beer, by which an affection is in turn aroused in them, and they everywhere call me German and Carissimo (that is Brother). N. B. Their speech is manly and partakes a little of the gravity of the Italian, as I had thought, etc. Concerning their nature and character, one must divide them, so to speak, into those who have for some time been in communication with the socalled Christians, and those who have just begun to creep out of their holes. Now the former are crafty and deceitful, for which they have to thank the above-mentioned mouth-Christians, semper enim aliquid haeret. Such a one recently offered me his belt as a pledge and assurance that he would bring me a turkey, but he brought me instead an eagle and tried to persuade me that it was a turkey, etc. When I assured him how- ever that I had seen more eagles, he motioned to a Swede who was standing by, that he had done it to deceive, with the idea that we had just come to the country, and I would probably be not well acquainted with such birds. Another one tried the brandy in my flask thus : he stuck his finger in, and then stuck it into the fire, to see if there was water mixed with it, etc etc. The latter, on the other hand are of an honest nature, harm no one, and we have nothing at all to fear from them. One thing recently sank deep into my heart when I thought of the earnest warning of our Saviour that we His disciples should take no thought for the morrow, because thus the heathen do. Alas, thought I to myself, how everything is reversed ! If we Christians
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Health of Settlers.
had not provided for a month or more, how discouraged we would be ! While these heathen cast their care on God with such wonderful trustfulness. Just then I was watch- ing four of them eating together, the earth was at once their table and bench, pumpkins cooked in pure water, without butter or seasoning, their only dish, their spoons were mussel-shells, from which they supped the warm water, and their plates were oak leaves, which they did not have to wash after the meal, nor to take care of in case they needed them again. Ah, worthy friend, let us learn from these people the blessedness of fearing nothing, that they may not put us to shame one day before the judgment stool of Jesus Christ, etc etc.
Of the persons who came here with me already half a dozen have died, but I and mine have throughout the whole time been in healthy condition, with good appetites, except that Isaac Dilbeck for eight days has been somewhat poorly, and Jacob Schumacher on the Ist of October cut his foot badly with an axe and could not work for a week, etc. Of the people from Crefeld, no one has died except the aged mother of Herman op de Graef, who having had enough of these earthly vanities, soon after her arrival here went to enjoy the heavenly bliss. Abraham Tunes' (our tenant's) wife was lying very ill in my little house for more than two months, was for a long while unconscious, but improved gradually from day to day.
Now concerning the land bought: This is divided into three kinds, namely fifteen thousand acres together in one piece, along a navigable water. In the second place, three hundred acres in the City Liberties which strip of land is between the Delaware and Scollkill. Thirdly, three lots in the city to build houses upon. When, after my arrival, I went to W. Penn to make out warrants for the said three
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kinds, and to take them into possession, his first answer was concerning this ;
I. The three lots in the town and the three hundred acres in the Liberties could not come to them because they were bought after he W. Penn had already started from Eng- land, and the books at London were closed, etc., but after I had represented to him that they were the forerunners of all Germans, and therefore to have more consideration etc, he let me measure off at the edge of the town three adjacent lots, from his younger son's portion.
etc.
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The double line represents the Delaware River, on which the town lies, the numbers, the following houses, and farm houses : I. Schwed Schwan. 2. The Lutheran Church. 3. The Pastor's house. 4. An English man. 5. Schwed Anders. 6. Will Penns youngest son. 7. The . 8. Philip Fort. 9. The Society and their Trading house. IO. The Inn of the blue Anchor. II. James Claypoole. 12 etc. are other houses whose naming is here unnecessary. They lie thus along the Delaware, for it is a wide street, upon which follows our first lot, one hundred feet wide and four hundred long, at the end of which comes a street, then our second lot, also of the same width and length. Further another street and then our third lot. Thus there can be built upon each one two houses in front, and two behind, directly alongside of each other, in all twelve houses upon the three lots, with their courts, properly, all of which front upon the street etc. But we must necessarily build, within two years, in order that such lots be not lost, three houses, that is one on each lot. I have already upon the first, together
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Lands.
with our servant put up a little house one-half under the earth and half above, which is indeed only thirty feet long, and fifteen broad, but when the people from Crefeld were lodg- ing with me, it could accommodate twenty persons. Upon the window made of oiled paper, over the door I wrote, Parva Domus sed amica bonis procul este profani !- ,which W. Penn read not long ago and was pleased with. Be- sides this I dug a cellar seven feet deep, twelve wide, and twenty long, on the Delaware stream, and am now busy building a stable. All three lots are cleared of the trees, which I have been cutting down nightly for some nights past, and I am going to sow them with Indian corn. N. B. It is especially difficult and costly to clear all the land, but we cannot do without it on account of the horses, cattle, and pigs which run loose. Also one cannot the first year in such a new land raise rye, only Indian (or as you call it Turkish) corn, which neither tastes as good nor satisfies.
(2) Concerning the three hundred acres in the city Lib- erties, I have given W. Penn much pressure and especially urged that B. Furly had promised them in sale to us, etc. But for a long while he would not agree to it because none had been set aside for city Liberties when he was in Eng- land, except to purchasers of five thousand acres among whom the Germans were not included. At last only a few days ago, when I again delivered a memorial to him, he gave me the friendly answer that he from special favor, would have me receive those three hundred acres, but that he would have nothing more sold to any one, whosoever he might be, again, after the closing of the books. So I intend as soon as possible to start Indian corn here on these three hundred acres (which are not half an hour's distance from this town) in order the better to keep cows and pigs, and to raise more produce, and thus to help those who come after me.
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