USA > South Carolina > History of the German settlements and of the Lutheran church in North and South Carolina : from the earliest period of the colonization of the Dutch, German, and Swiss settlers to the close of the first half of the present century > Part 4
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Sir Nathaniel Johnson, governor of Carolina, intent upon carrying the Palatine's views into exe- cution, overcame every obstacle in his way. A cor- poration, composed of twenty individuals, was in- stituted, with power to exercise high ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Authority was given it to deprive ministers of their livings, and the acts of the Legis- lature, of which John Ashe had gone to procure the repeal, were executed with great zeal and rigor. Thus did Lord Granville, a bigoted mem- ber of the Church of England, who had instructed Governor Johnson to establish that church by legal enactment, effect his purpose.
The Dissenters of all denominations were exas- perated ; a migration to Pennsylvania was spoken of, but it was at last determined to send Joseph Boon to England, with a petition to the House of Lords. On the introduction to this petition, the House, on motion of Lord Granville, the Palatine
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of Carolina, heard counsel at its bar, in behalf of the Lords-Proprietors, and, after some debate, came to a resolution, " that the laws complained of were founded on falsity in matter of fact, re- pugnant to the laws of England, contrary to the charter of the Lords-Proprietors, an encourage- ment to atheism and irreligion, destructive to trade, and tended to the ruin and depopulation of the province."
The Lords next addressed the Queen, beseeching her to use the most effectual means to deliver the Province of Carolina from the "arbitrary oppres- sion under which it lay, and to order the pro- prietors of it to be prosecuted according to law." The subject was referred to the Lords-Commis- sioners of Trade and Plantations, who reported that the facts stated in the petition were true; that the powers granted by the charter had been abused; that the grantees had incurred a forfeiture of it; and recommended that process might be ordered to issue accordingly against their lord- ships.
The Queen's law servants were thereupon di- rected to procure a writ of quo warranto, and to report what might more effectually be done, in order that the Queen might take the government of Carolina into her own hands. The matter was, however, abandoned, and no step was taken to annul the charter, or to relieve the people. (Ram- say, vol. ii, p. 3.)
From this narrative we learn that our Lutheran brethren, the Dutch colonists of South Carolina
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on James Island, likewise suffered severely by this impious act of human legislation, and that they were not attached to the principles and usages of the Church of England, otherwise they never would have been classed by all historians of the two Carolinas among the number of those who dissented from that Church, and protested against its establishment by law.
It may be asked, what reasons we have to con- clude that the Dutch settlers on James Island were members of the Lutheran Church ? To which we reply, that they are so denominated by all histo- rians who have given us an account of the oppres- sive act instigated by Lord Granville, and carried into effect by Governor N. Johnson; consequently we conclude that these settlers from Nova Belgia (now New York) were mostly, if not all, Lu- therans. However, should this doubt arise, that Englishmen were in the habit of denominating Germans as Dutch, thus confounding them with Hollanders, and that thus this mistake might very easily arise, we can safely meet this doubt with the fact, that at this early period, A. D. 1704, there were no other Lutheran Protestants, of either Ger- man or Swiss origin, in all the territory of the two Carolinas; the first German emigrants to these provinces were the Palatines, and they did not arrive at Newbern, N. C., until 1709, and in South Carolina about the same time. Every history of the two provinces, as well as the records in the office of the Secretary of the State, have been thoroughly examined, and no trace of any other
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Lutheran colony could be found for this early period. The conclusion is, therefore, correct, that the Dutch Lutherans mentioned are none other than the Dutch settlers of James Island.
This opinion is confirmed by examining Rev. Dr. Schaeffer's Early History of the Lutheran Church in America, in which it will be seen, that in Holland there were Dutch Lutherans as well as Dutch Reformed, at this period, and that a great many of the Dutch settlers of Nova Belgia (now New York) were of the Lutheran faith, and were, on that very account, sorely persecuted by Governor Stuyvesant. Dr. Schaeffer states, p. 64: "The Lutherans had long been accustomed to meet in their own dwellings for purposes of social devotion. Against these meetings, called 'con- venticles' in contempt, Stuyvesant published a fiery proclamation, showed that the Lutherans could expect no indulgence from him, encouraged the Dutch Reformed clergy in enforcing their bap- tismal formulary, so obnoxious to the Lutherans, and continued to punish by fines and imprison- ment those who refused submission." Their first minister, the Rev. John Ernest Goetwater, who was sent to them by the Lutheran Consistory of Amsterdam, Holland, upon his arrival at New Amsterdam (New York), " was cited to appear before the civil tribunal, and forbidden to preach, or to hold any Lutheran ' conventicles ;' in short, he was forthwith banished from New Amsterdam ; and having spent some few weeks in sickness in the suburbs of the city, he embarked, in the month
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of October, and returned to Holland." (Schaeffer, p. 65.) Besides, if Rev. Dr. Howe is correct in dating the arrival of the Dutch settlers on James Island, S. C., as far back as December, 1671, then certainly these Dutch settlers must all, or nearly all, have been Lutherans, for that was the period when they suffered such fierce persecutions from Governor Stuyvesant, before the reins of his gov- ernment had yet passed into the hands of the English, and the Dutch Lutherans were doubtless greatly rejoiced to have an opportunity of escap- ing religious intolerance, by removing to South Carolina in the proprietary government's ships, Blessing and Phænix ; all of which must of neces- sity stand opposed to the statement found in Dr. Howe's History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, p. 86: "The Dutch settlers were of the Presbyterian Church of Holland."
History also informs us of the final fate of this Dutch colony as follows : " The Dutch inhabitants of Jamestown, on James Island, afterwards find- ing their situation too narrow and circumscribed, in process of time spread themselves through the country, where they soon lost their individuality by marriage with the other settlers, and their town was totally deserted." (Hewatt, vol. i, p. 73.)
We sometimes meet with traces of Dutch set- tlers in the Carolinas and Georgia at the present day; they may be supposed to be the descendants of this early Dutch colony on James Island ; they themselves, as well as their surnames, inform us that they are descendants of Dutch ancestry, but
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they remember no longer their own colonial his- tory, it being so remote that even tradition has left them no traces of the same. Many of these are still in full connection with the Lutheran Church, and retain a strong attachment to her doctrines and usages.
Section 7. The colony of Palatinate and Swiss Ger- mans in New-Berne, North Carolina, A.D. 1710.
That lovely and picturesque portion of Ger- many, situated on both sides of the river Rhine, attached now to Bavaria and Baden, formed at one time the country known in history as " The Palatinate." Its inhabitants were mostly Protest- ants, having early embraced the principles of the Reformation, but were compelled to suffer grievous persecutions on account of their religion. In 1622, Heidelberg, the principal city of the Palatinate, was laid in a heap of smouldering ruins by General Tilly, the leader of the Spanish army, during the thirty years' war between the Romanists and the Protestants. In the destruction of this city, the University of Heidelberg was plundered of its immense library, and presented to Pope Gregory XV. The city was afterwards rebuilt, and re- mained in peace for some time, though deprived of much of its former greatness, until a new source of tribulation arose, at the time when the Protestant Electoral house became extinct, and a bloody war with France ensued, which, in 1689,
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again reduced almost the entire city, with its beautiful palace and gardens, into a heap of ruins.
But the cup of calamity and sorrow was not yet full for the inhabitants of this unfortunate country. During the War of the Spanish Succession, a de- scription of which is given in Section 3d, page 37, of this history, a large number of the inhabitants of the Palatinate, without shelter or home, were driven from their fatherland to seek an asylum in foreign countries. A knowledge of their sad condition reached England, and attracted the no- tice of that magnanimous and tender-hearted sov- ereign, Queen Anne, who invited thousands of these unfortunate people to the hospitable shores of her realm, where every provision which hu- manity could devise was made for their welfare. " Great sympathy," says Dr. Hawks, in his His- tory of North Carolina, " was felt for these poor creatures, whose sin was Protestantism merely ; the Queen of England, pitying their condition, by her proclamation in 1708, offered them protection in her dominions, and about twelve thousand of them went to England."
Numbers of these exiles, about four thousand at one time, were afterwards sent, with most liberal provisions, to the Province of New York, where the benevolent Queen made them large grants of land on the banks of the Hudson River, where the towns of Newburg and New Windsor now stand. Other grants were made, through the instrumentality of Queen Anne, by the Proprie- tary government, along the banks of the Con- garee River, in South Carolina.
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However, there were still many of these German Protestants remaining in England, too poor to help themselves, and living upon the charities of the Queen and her benevolent subjects, for whom there had as yet no provision been made for their emigration to America, when Providence opened another and a new way before them.
Baron Christopher de Graffenreid, a Swiss noble- man from Berne, induced a large number of his countrymen, about fifteen hundred souls, to migrate with him to America. They first landed in England, and whilst there the Baron met with Louis Mitchell in the city of London, who had been to America, had spent a number of years on that continent, and was well acquainted with the coun- try; he had been sent over by the Canton of Berne as an exploring agent, in order to search for a large and vacant tract of land, suitable for a colony, either in Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Carolina. These two gentlemen, acting in con- cert, determined to accept of the fair proposals of the Lords-Proprietors, and settle their colony in Carolina. They accordingly purchased ten thou- sand acres from their lordships, which they were permitted to locate in one body, on or between the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers, or any of their tributaries. They paid twenty shillings sterling for each hundred acres, and bound themselves to a quit-rent of the sum of sixpence yearly for every hundred. It was also agreed that instruction should be given to the surveyor-general to lay off in addition one hundred thousand acres, to be re-
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served for them twelve years. De Graffenreid was then made and declared a landgrave.
It now occurred to the good Queen of England that this would be a favorable opportunity to plant another colony of her adopted German Palatines in her transatlantic dominions, which plan was so satisfactory that it met with favor on all sides. On the one hand, the Queen was thereby relieving herself of the support of these poor Germans, for whom she had appointed commissioners to collect money, and thus provide speedily for their perma- nent settlement, besides increasing the strength of her American colonies. On the other hand, these Germans themselves, trained to habits of industry and economy, could but rejoice at the prospect of so soon occupying their own homes, and tilling their own fruitful lands, dependent no longer upon the charities of the benevolent. The Lords-Pro- prietors could, of course, make no objection, as it was their interest to have Carolina peopled with frugal and industrious citizens ; and De Graffen- reid and Mitchell were glad enough to obtain ten- ants for their lands, which could but enhance the value thereof; and, inasmuch as the Swiss emi- grants were also Germans, speaking the same lan- guage with the Palatines, there could be no con- flicting interests between them ; and this addition of settlers could only increase the safety and pros- perity of the new colony.
A negotiation, therefore, was entered into be- tween the Queen's commissioners, the Swiss leaders of the colony, and the Lords-Proprietors. Their
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articles of agreement were soon written and signed, a copy of which may be seen in Hawks' History, from which we learn that the number of German Palatines who emigrated with De Graffenreid and Mitchell amounted to six hundred and fifty, filling two vessels; and that the most liberal provisions were made for them by their English friends, who bound their leaders to the most far-sighted pledges in the contract for their comfort and prosperity. Two hundred and fifty acres of land were to be given them for five years without remuneration, after which they were to pay an annual rent of two- pence per acre; besides, implements for agriculture and building were to be furnished them gratui- tously by De Graffenreid and Mitchell; to be also supplied with cattle, hogs and sheep, which were not to be paid for until seven years after receiving them; and for twelve months after their arrival they were to be supplied with necessary food for themselves and families, which, likewise, was not to be paid for until the end of the second year after their arrival. "The commissioners, on their part, agreed to give each colonist, young and old, twenty shillings sterling in clothes and money, and to pay De Graffenreid and Mitchell £5 10s. sterling a head for transportation."
. In the month of December, 1710, these Swiss and Palatine settlers, with their leaders, landed safely at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers in North Carolina, where they built a town, which they named New-Berne, after the capital city of Switzerland, of which De Graffenreid and
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Mitchell and the majority of the colonists were natives. The troubles of a long and tedious voy- age across the Atlantic were now over; these poor Germans had at last found a home, and here could they worship God according to the doctrines and usages of their own Protestant religion, thanking their Almighty Preserver that they were safely beyond the reach of all Roman Catholic sovereigns.
In the year 1711, not many months after the ar- rival of the De Graffenreid colony, a dreadful In- dian war broke out, brought on by the agency of two miserable white men, Carey and John Porter, whose turbulent ambition did not permit them to submit to the authorized and lawful government of Hyde; Carey, having determined to take the rule out of the hands of Governor Hyde, and to act in that capacity himself, but being unsuccess- ful in his attempt, resorted with his friends to the base and fiendish measure of stirring up the Tus- carora Indians "to cut off all the inhabitants of that part of Carolina that adhered to Mr. Hyde." For this purpose Carey dispatched his friend, John Porter, to those Indians, numbering twelve hun- dred fencible men, promising them great rewards for the accomplishment of this bloody deed.
The white settlers had all this while lived on the most friendly terms with the Indians, and if any case of disturbance among individuals occurred occasionally, it was soon amicably settled by the law, to which both parties had recourse, and was equitable enough on both sides. The Indians were frequently employed by the whites as domestics,
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without any suspicion or alarm, they having in- gress and egress to and from the dwellings of the whites. " At length the appointed day of slaughter came. Twelve hundred Tuscaroras, separated into numerous small divisions, entered on their secret march. No outward manifestations of hostility were to be seen ; individuals were sent among the whites to reconnoitre, and, as usual, entered the houses of their doomed victims as friends. As night approached, large numbers appeared, as if seeking provisions ; but still not in such quantities did they show themselves as to beget alarm.
"At the dawn of day they impatiently waited for sunrise, which was the preconcerted signal for the simultaneous butchery. As soon as it arrived, those in the houses of the whites, and scarce a habitation in any settlement of the province was at that moment without them, gave a whoop, which was instantly responded to by their com- panions lurking in the adjacent woods, and the frightful work of blood began.
"The slaughter was indiscriminate, and the wonder is that any white person escaped. Gray- haired age, and vigorous manhood, and childhood's helplessness, all fared alike. One hundred and thirty victims were butchered in the settlements on Roanoke. The Swiss and Palatines around New- bern, to the number of sixty or more, were murdered. The poor Huguenots of Bath and its vicinity, to what number we know not, fell under the knife or the tomahawk. Happy he who could hide him- self, or escape from the scene of horror. But soon
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the torch was applied to the dwelling and store- house alike, and the concealed were forced from their hiding-places.
" The incarnate fiends, with loud yells, then marched in their several divisions through the forests to a common centre previously designated, and, infuriated now by drunkenness, staggered on their bloody man-hunt for the few whites, who had escaped the desolation of their habitations. They formed new parties, and scoured the country north of Albemarle as far westward as the Chowan. The carnage lasted for three days, and terminated at last from the disability produced in the savage by the combined effect of drunkenness and fatigue. The few colonists who had escaped slaughter, avail- ing themselves of the forced suspension of whole- sale murder, gathered together as they could with their arms, and stunned by the blow they had re- ceived, attempted at first nothing more than to collect the women and children, and guard them night and day until time would enable them to concert other measures." (Hawks' Hist. of N. C., vol. ii, pp. 530-532.)
A few days previous to this general massacre, Baron De Graffenreid and the surveyor-general, Lawson, with a negro servant belonging to the Baron, ascended the river Neuse in a boat for the purpose of inspecting the lands and make further explorations. Not dreaming of Indian hostilities they expected to spend the first night at an Indian village named Corutra; but finding that several Indians whom they had met were armed, they did
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not like the appearance of these things, and de- termined to sail up the river; but as they made for their boat they were seized by the Indians, and were led the next day to a council purposely con- vened ; but might have been liberated, as the coun- cil was dissolved without any apparent decision, had not an Indian who understood a little English, and listened to their conversation, told a falsehood against them, which so exasperated the others that they at once executed the negro in a manner not known, and poor Lawson was inhumanly murdered by having sharp pine splinters inserted in his flesh, which were then set on fire. De Graffenreid escaped by stating he was King of the German Palatines, and demanded of them by what authority they could put a king to death, especially as he had committed no offence towards them. His life was accordingly spared, though he was still kept in custody.
This massacre, as a necessary consequence, led to a war with the Indians in North Carolina, in which the Palatines were obliged to remain neu- tral, as De Graffenreid had obtained his liberty by a treaty of neutrality with such of the savages who were in arms. The principal terms of the treaty were, that he and his Palatines on the one hand, and the Tuscarora and Core Indians on the other, should preserve friendship towards each other; that in the existing war with the English the Palatines should remain neutral, and that the Baron should take up no land without the consent of the Indians.
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The Baron adhered strictly to the terms of this treaty, which was, of course, not agreeable to the whites in general, but which was, nevertheless, of great advantage to the province, "as it afforded him an opportunity, which he improved at the constant risk of his life, to discover and commu- nicate to the whites all the Indians' plans." "This neutrality alone probably saved the remnant of the settlement at what is now Newberne from utter extermination. The danger of discovery, however, was so constant and so great, that the Baron would gladly have removed with his Pala- tines to Virginia." (Hawks, vol. ii, p. 536.)
Shortly afterwards the settlers received aid from South Carolina against these relentless savages. Colonel Barnwell, with a detachment of the mili- tia and friendly Yemassee Indians, was sent to attack these hostile savages, who were so much reduced by the loss in killed, wounded, and pris- oners, that they caused the whites but little trou- ble afterwards, and soon removed to other parts, when the colony began once more to flourish through the benign influence of peace.
Baron De Graffenreid having had a bitter expe- rience of Indian treatment, in which his life was in constant jeopardy, resolved to return to his native country, Switzerland. He, however, left the German Palatines, who were already suffi- ciently impoverished by the Indian war, in a most destitute condition, by withholding their titles to their lands, and contrary to the stipulations of the
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contract made between himself and the London commissioners appointed by Queen Anne.
Williamson, in his History of North Carolina, states that these poor Germans were looked upon by the Swiss gentlemen as mere objects of specu- lation, and that De Graffenreid mortgaged their lands to Colonel Pollock in order to satisfy a debt which he had incurred. Dr. Hawks, however, frees Louis Mitchell from all blame in this matter, since the power of making titles was not vested in him. Whether the Baron ever returned to America, or permitted his family to remain here whilst he visited his native country, or whether after all his family had departed from America, some again sought a home in Carolina, is not re- lated; but it is well known that his descendants are still residing in different portions of Carolina.
The last resource left to these German Palatines was to send a petition to the council, dated Novem- ber 6th, 1714, in which they stated that they were "disappointed of their lands," &c., which were to be provided for them, and petitioned that each family might have permission to take up four hundred acres of land, and have two years' time of payment allowed them. The council granted their petition, and represented their case to the Lords-Proprietors, from whom they doubtless re- ceived every aid and encouragement which could be afforded them.
It would require very patient and toilsome re- search among the unpublished archives of Europe in order to answer the question positively, to what
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religious denomination these Swiss and Palatinate Ger- mans at Newberne professed themselves. All the historians of North Carolina are silent on this subject. However, let us not overlook such au- thorities which are within our reach even in this country.
The present, as well as the former religious con- dition of Switzerland is well known. The popu- lation is divided into the Roman Catholic, the Re- formed, and the Lutheran Churches. The emi- grants from that country to Newberne were doubtless all Protestants, inasmuch as they were brought over by Protestant leaders, and soon after their arrival in North Carolina connected them- selves with a Protestant Church. The majority of them were most likely members of the Reformed Church, so supposed, because the Reformed Church is the strongest Protestant denomination in Swit- zerland.
The German Palatines were all Protestants, inas- much as, on account of this " sin," as Dr. Hawks ironically expresses it, they suffered such grievous persecutions, and were forced to flee from their native country to seek an asylum in England. That the greater number of Palatines were Lu- therans may safely be presumed ; from the exten- sive history of Lutheranism by Seckendorff, we learn that Lutheranism made rapid progress in the Palatinate at the time of the Reformation, and that it had greatly prevailed in that country dur- ing the seventeenth century, which was the time immediately preceding the departure of these
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