USA > Virginia > History of the German element in Virginia, Vol I > Part 5
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priest at Witmarsum, when in 1535 several Anabaptists and among them his own brother, were executed. This event made a deep impression on his mind, he left the Roman Catholic Church and joined the Anabaptists, taking charge of one of their congregations at Groeningen. Simmons reorgan- ized the Dutch Anabaptists, disapproving all religious and po- litical agitation. He was opposed to christening children, but declared the baptism of adults to be indispensible - and he desired to restore the original character of the Christian Church. Taking oath, warfare, public offices, law-suits and divorces were rejected by him. Although his followers were very peace- able people, they were confounded with the fanatic Anabap- tists, who engaged in a bloody conspiracy at Muenster, and persecution followed. In 1662 twenty-five fugitive Mennonites were already landed at the mouth of the Delaware, but noth- ing is known of their fate. However, many more followed, and from 1709 to 1730 the Mennonite immigration was very great. They mostly settled in Lancaster county, Pa., and from there they spread, about the middle of the 18th century, to Virginia and finally over the great West.
Another kind of Anabaptists are the Dunkards (Tunker or Dunker). Alexander Mark was the founder of this sect. The Dunkards were not tolerated in their native state: "the Palatinate," but they prospered in America. The nickname of Tunker was given them because they perform the act of baptism by immersion, but they call themselves Brethren and in America "the German Baptist Brethren." Immersion with them is a symbolic purification and revival. They resign all worldly amusements, and only admire a truly Christian char- acter and life, they are highly esteemed for their morality and reliability. A promise given they hold sacred. The first twenty families of this sect arrived from Crefeld in Pennsyl- vania anno 1719. Their number soon increased and commu- nities of Dunkards were organized46) 1723 at Germantown, 1724 at Coventry, Chester Co., 1732 at Oley, Berks Co., 1733 at Great Swamp, Buck Co., 1735 at Cocalico, Lancaster Co., 1736 at Weisseichenland, Lancaster Co., 1738 at Klein-Cone- wago, York Co., 1741 at Conewago, York Co., 1748 at Tulpe-
46 ) " Ephrata," by Dr. Oswald Seidensticker, page 27. Cincinnati, 0 , 1883.
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hocken, Berk Co., 1756 at Gross Swatara, Lancaster Co., 1757 at Swatara, Berk Co. But soon they divided into various groups like the Ephrata-sect or Beisselians in 1724. Com- monly they are classed as "Old Conservatives," who consider ignorance as less dangerous to the welfare of the soul than the possession of a treasure of worldly knowledge, - and the "Progressive," who are in favor of public education. 4 7)
The gentle Moravians immigrated into Pennsylvania and Georgia in the fourth decade of the 18th century and proved to be a valuable acquisition. They soon came to Virginia from Tennessee and Ohio. In 1741 Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zin- zendorf, the founder of this sect, arrived in America, where he intended to propagate his creed. The theological principle4 8) of the Moravians has its nucleus in the expiatory death of Christ. From this they derive an ascetic theory of life - but also a grave religious seriousness and reverence. Dogmatical cunning and distinctions of creed they treat with indifference, the serenity of mind they value most. This devotion is to them no tiresome toil, but a pleasure; the death wounds of Christ do not frighten but enchant them. If the Moravian faith is of confined view in sev- eral respects, it has nevertheless infused the deadening dogmatics of Protestantism with new life ; proclaiming: that those will not be excluded from salvation who have no knowledge of the gospel. Count Zinzendorf first endeavored to unite the various sects in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania into one community, but unsuccessfully, and then he directed his attention to the conver- sion of the Indians. The Moravians devoted special care to edu- cation. Their schools at Bethlehem, Litiz and Nazareth were counted among the very best in Pennsylvania. Some of their regulations49) are very peculiar and were the cause that they were regarded as peculiar people. The strict separation of the sexes during juvenile years, the match-making by the old folks with disregard of mutual affection of the betrothed, the use of lottery tickets as decisions of God, the tasteless costumes of the women, were among these strange regulations.
47.) "Geschichte der deutschen Schulbestrebungen in Amerika," by Herrmann Schu- richt, page 5. Leipzig, 1884.
48 ) " Die Geschichte der Pädagogik," by Dr. Karl Schmidt, Vol. II, page 386. Coe- then, 1861.
49 ) "In der neuen Heimath," by Anton Eickhoff, page 139. New York, 1884.
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These few remarks about the most important German sects, will suffice to characterize the early German immigration to Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The nature of the Luth- eran and Calvin church are supposed to be familiar to the reader, but the great part they have played in the civilization of the col- onies, will receive in this history full mention in its place.
The religious motives of the early German immigration to Pennsylvania and the adjoining colonies are very well defined by the following public statement of Christian Saur, printer and publisher at Germantown, published in 1754.
" Pennsylvania is a land, the equal of which you cannot hear nor read of in all the world; many thousand people have come here and are still coming here for the sole reason to enjoy its kind government and freedom of conscience. This noble liberty is like a decoy bird or bait which draws men first to Pennsyl- vania, and if good lands get scarce, they move into the adjoining English colonies, and these English colonies are settled by many immigrants from Germany to the advantage of the Crown on ac- count of Pennsylvania."
CHAPTER III.
TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF VIRGINIA.
HE State of Virginia, after the excision of West Virginia, is divided, with reference to the surface and natural character of the land and extending from East to West, into the following grand divisions :
Tidewater Virginia 11,350 sq. miles.
Middle Virginia
12,470
Piedmont District
6,680
The Valley
7,550
The Section of the Blue Ridge
1,230 66
The Appalachian District
5,720
Total, 45,000 sq. miles.
The Tidewater Division extends from the Atlantic ocean to the lower falls of the Appomattox, James and Rappahannock rivers, and is divided by the large tidal rivers and the waters of Chesapeake bay into nine principal and a large number of sec- ondary peninsulas. An imaginary line drawn diagonally across the State and touching the cities of Petersburg, Richmond, Fred- ericksburg and Alexandria, will represent this section. In this belt the winter is mild, snow seldom covers the ground for any length of time, and in summer a large portion of it is refreshed by the sea breeze. Near the line of North Carolina is the swamp and fever-district of Virginia and the fear of "Malaria" keeps away settlers from this unhealthy section. The navi- gable water-ways give the inhabitants special advantages and make the "low country," as it was called, a very desirable part of the State. Hampton roads and Norfolk bay present the finest and deepest harbors on the Atlantic coast. Here the early settlers established themselves, and here are found those elegant mansions and baronial estates for which Virginia was once celebrated. The coast district absorbed most of the
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English immigration and the people of some counties, especially those adjoining Maryland, show to this day, the strongly marked individuality of the English, retaining in a marked degree the manners and expressions of the mother country a century or more ago.5º) Not very flatteringly says a correspondent of the Hand- book of Virginia: "There is nothing lacking here but people, new people, new ideas. We are as intelligent and industrious as most people, but we need new life to pull us out of the grooves and ruts and turn us into different and more progressive chan- nels." The tidewater country being favored with a semi-tropical climate has a great variety of agricultural and garden products, it is the land of peanuts, sweet potatoes, melons, delicious fruit and all sorts of vegetables. The reputation of Virginia tobacco was built upon the product of this region, in colonial times it was the staple product, but now it is only raised to a limited extent in some of the tidewater counties. The tobacco grown at "Varina" on the James river had a special high reputation, and the name of the place is said to have been given to it because of the quality of the tobacco grown there, resembling that of Varinas in Cuba. "The waters of the Chesapeake are of themselves5 1) a bountiful source of supply and a mine of wealth to the people immediately on its shores. There is no other sheet of water in the country that supplies such an abundance of excellent fish and oysters. Travellers from Europe, especially the Germans, who visit Vir- ginia, generally remark upon two things in particular, one is the habitual waste of bread, and the other that they see so few beg- gars or paupers."
Middle Virginia, is a wide undulating plain, crossed by many rivers, bordered by alluvial bottom-lands. It extends to the range of hills parallel to the Blue Ridge and about 20 miles dis- tant from it. This is the great tobacco region of Virginia, and the cereals and fruits of the temperate climate are cultivated here. The extensive and negligent cultivation of tobacco and corn has exhausted much good land, but careful management soon restores to it its original productiveness. This district also suffered greatly during the late war, for it was the main battle
50.) " Handbook of Virginia," 5th edition, by the Commissioner of Agriculture, page 26. Richmond, Va., 1886.
51.) "Physical Survey of Virginia," by Wm. F. Maury, pp. 6-8. Richmond, Va , 1578.
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ground. However, this healthy and most improvable region gradually regains its former condition. The forest growth changes as we ascend from the tidewater division to Piedmont, the cypress disappears and the cedar, pine and holly, the gum, oak, chestnut, hickory, tulip tree, walnut, locust, maple, syca- more and other timber become more and more frequent. The mineral resources are very extensive, besides coal this country yields: gold, silver, copper, sulphur, and iron ores in great abundance, and for architectural purposes fine gray granite, brown stone, slate for roofing, limestone and marble are worked. The population corresponded during the 17th and 18th centuries with that of the tidewater region, but it had a visible tincture of German. Since the end of the war enterprising settlers from Eurore and from the North and West, have come here, and with- in the last ten years a marked improvement is manifested in the general appearance of the country.
The Piedmont Division, as its name implies, lies at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains, and extends from the Poto- mac to the Dan river. It is a delightful country - for climate, beauty of landscape, variety of scenery, natural fertility of soil, water courses contributing to practical purposes as well as to beauty of scenery, this section is surpassed by few, if any other sections in the United States, and it may justly be called : "the orchard and vineyard of Virginia." The highest mountains are the picturesque peaks of Otter - 3874 and 4000 feet high, and if the atmosphere is clear the mountains are enveiled in a violet tint or vapor, like the Alps on the line of northern Italy and Switzerland. The climate is, as has been stated before, mild and invigorating. Piedmont is in fact the best sanitarium in the United States, east of the Mississippi. The population is of a cosmopolitan character - and to her industrious German ele- ment this section is indebted for much of its prosperity.
The Valley is a portion of the great central Appalachian valley, that extends for several hundred miles from Canada to Alabama, a broad belt of rolling country, enclosed between lofty mountain ranges, diversified by hills and valleys with many winding streams of water. The Blue Ridge is on the east, and
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the Kitatinny or Endless Mountains on the west.32) The Valley is the American land of red soil - and it enjoys and deserves the reputation of great fertility. The various grasses for hay and pasture, the natural blue grass lands, make the valley the home of the stock raiser and dairy man. Washington, the no- ble and great son of Virginia, remarked about this rich section : "In soil, climate and productions, in my opinion, it will be con- sidered, if not considered so already, as the garden of America." For a century and a half human labor has especially improved it and made it the most flourishing part of Virginia. Randolph Harrison, Commissioner of Agriculture, said53) : "A large por- tion of the valley was settled by Pennsylvania Germans in the early history of the State. These people brought with them their frugal habits, their conservative systems and modes of farming, which served to keep it what nature made it to be - one of the most desirable tracts of country in the United States." Besides her farming advantages the valley possesses many min- eral springs of excellent waters of their nature and many min- erals are found there. This district is naturally divided in the following sub-divisions : the Shenandoah valley, the Jamesriver valley, the Roanoke valley, the New River and Kanawha valley, and the Holston or Tennessee valley.
The Blue Ridge Division or New River Plateau is enclosed between the two widely diverging ranges of the Blue Ridge and comprises the counties of Floyd, Carroll and Grayson. Its mean elevation over the sea is about 2600 feet, and the soil is covered by timber and grass. These counties send to market herds of fine healthy cattle, flocks of sheep, much high prized tobacco, wheat, dried fruit, etc., and some of the finest apples produced in Virginia. The mineral resources are very great, but unde- veloped, and offer profitable investment to enterprising capi- talists.
The Appalachian Country is a rough mountain district thinly populated. It is composed of a number of parallel moun- tain chains, with trough-like valleys between them, the moun-
52 ) " Virginia, a Geographical and Political Summary," by the Board of Immigration, page 8. Richmond, Va , 1876.
53 ) "Handbook of Virginia," Fifth edition, by the Commissioner of Agriculture, p 110. Richmond, Va., 1886.
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tains often extending for fifty miles or more as an unbroken, single, straight, lofty ridge, with an equally uniform valley alongside : sometimes the mountains recede and the valleys wi- den.54) This district belongs to the Mississippi valley, for the waters are all drained off into that river, either by the tribu- taries of the Ohio or the Tennessee rivers. It is rich in timber, coal and iron and also has some mineral springs of sanitary value.
The New State of West Virginia, to which a later chapter of this history is devoted, resembles in its western part the last described district, - it is underlaid with coal, rich in timber, though upon the mountains it is still chiefly an untrodden wil- derness, - and the eastern counties are in respect to surface, resources and population similar to the Shenandoah valley.
These short geographical remarks will serve to gain a view of the different divisions of Virginia and to facilitate a correct understanding of the following historical account.
54 ) "Virginia, a geographical and political summary," by the Board of Immigration. p 8, etc. 1876
CHAPTER IV.
CAUSES OF THE GERMAN IMMIGRATION INTO VIRGINIA DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
N the early part of the eighteenth century a large number of Germans immigrated as well into Virginia as into Pennsyl- vania and were the instrument by which the immense nat- ural resources of the colony were developed and a regular and sound state of affairs was created. In the numerous petty States of the German empire, at the end of the seventeenth and in the beginning of the eighteenth century, most deplorable conditions prevailed and the suffering of the people was nigh unbearable. The cruelty of the despotic rulers had already driven thousands of peaceable citizens from their homes and across the ocean, - to Virginia also Germans had come and the number of the fugi- tives from the German Fatherland increased yearly. Particu- larly southern Germany - and there especially the once flour- ishing Palatinate, sighed under the hardships and devastations of repeated wars, the tyranny of extravagant princes, and the hateful struggle for supremacy of the various Christian confes- sions. In the seventeenth century the despotism of the Elector of the Palatinate had forced his people to change its creed three times, first to the Lutheran, then to the Calvinist, again to the Lutheran and finally a second time to the Calvinist faith. This occurrence is certainly abhorrible as the most unwarranted op- pression of the liberty of thought and conscience. Louis XIV of France, invaded the German country and destroyed its last resources. The French marshal de Turenne devastated this beautiful section of Germany from 1673 to 1676 - and in 1689 Durat ordered the population of nearly half a million people to leave their homes within three days. In the midst of winter,
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without shelter or food, many died. The cities of Phillipsburg, Frankenthal, Mannheim, etc., were reduced to ashes, fields and vineyards were devastated and the magnificent castle of Heidel- berg was demolished. After all these trials the enemy at home took the place of the French tormentor. Elector Johann Wil- helm, 1690-1716, an able pupil of the Jesuits and an unbounded prodigal, aimed to take advantage of the animosity between the Lutherans and Reformists for forcible conversion to Catholicism, and his successor, Karl Philipp, persecuted all Protestants in fanatic fury and forced emigration on many.
Similar conditions prevailed in the entire German empire and particularly in the countries of the lower Rhine, Hanno- ver and Thurinia. To make the national misfortune complete, French taste, luxury and corruption spread among the higher classes of society, and morality and propriety of conduct dis- appeared. Thus Germary grew faithless to its true character and bowed to foreign influence. Helpless and poor, in con- stant fear of death, the mass of the people took refuge with its inmost feeling and thought, saving to themselves self-re- spect and the belief in human equality. Under ruins and mould, behind prison-walls, germinated the seed-corn of true humanity and sound philosophy. Amidst its disgrace the heart of the German nation commenced to embrace the real theory of life and liberty, and the plain and pious peasant and citizen learned to value the art of reasoning in place of quiet submission to despotism. More sects were organized and each of them, even when adopting odd methods, gave evidence of mental impulse and independent reasoning. Their followers adhered to it manly and neither persecution nor exile forced them to desert their belief.
The German emigrants to America, having gone through such a school of bitter trials, imported firmness of character and had the willingness and qualification of doing the hard labor of pioneers. Faithful to their conviction they proved themselves in the New World conducive to the public good, obedient to law - and yet firmly devoted to the principles of liberty.
In the year 1702 Queen Anne ascended the English throne. Moved by the sufferings of the German people and recognizing
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their qualifications for the colonization of her American prov- inces, she patronized German immigration to Pennsylvania, New York, the Carolinas, Virginia, etc. At the same time several of the German Swiss cantons, like Bern, Basel, Appen- cell, St. Gallen, etc., undertook to colonize the surplus of their population in South and North Carolina and Virginia.
Among those unfortunate Palatines who had been robbed by the French plunderers and then forced to emigrate, was Rev. Josua von Kocherthal.55) In January 1708 he applied to the English resident at Frankfurt a./M., Mr. Davenant, to furnish him and several families, numbering in all 61 persons, with money and passports to travel to England. Davenant asked his government for instructions - and the request was declined. However the Palatines managed to reach London and being without means of support, Queen Anne granted to each of them one shilling per day. The news of their kind treatment soon spread in Germany and intensified the long- ing to escape the sufferings at home. At the same time Eng- lish emissaries travelled in the German States to induce wealthy people to emigrate to America, and these men distributed pamphlets and books containing the most enticing descrip- tions of the resources, fertility and beauty of the New World. On the 4th of February 1709 Montague offered in the English parliament a bill for the naturalization of foreign Protestants, which was passed without opposition. This new law purposed to induce the rich French Huguenots to emigrate to the Eng- lish colonies, - but the poor people of southern Germany considered it as an invitation extended to them too. In the spring of 1709 the exodus was very great, so much so that in June more than 10,000 Germans had arrived in London, and at the end of the year their number is said to have been 32,500. Most of them were homeless, poor but good and use- ful working people. Frank's "Frankfurter Mess Kalender" reports for instance, that from Easter to the fall of 1709 about 6520 German Protestants reached London, of which 1278 were men with families, 1238 married women, 39 widows, 384 young men, 106 maidens, 379 boys and 374 girls over 14 years
55 ) "Geschichte der deutschen Einwanderung in Amerika," by Friedrich Kapp, p 79. N. Y. 1868.
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of age and 2672 children of different age. The professions among them were represented by 1083 farmers and vintagers, 90 carpenters, 34 bakers, 48 masons, 20 cabinet-makers, 40 shoe-makers, 58 tailors, 15 butchers, 27 millers, 7 tanners, 4 stocking-weavers, 6 barbers, 3 lock-smiths, 13 blacksmiths, 46 linen and woolen-weavers, 48 coopers, 13 cast-wrights, 5 hun- ters, 7 saddlers, 2 glaziers, 2 hat-makers, 8 tile-makers, 1 cook, 10 teachers, 1 student and 2 engravers, in short they were of the working and middle classes. But on account of their large number they soon became a burden to the English gov- ernment and the native population,-however they were cared for as far as possible. The queen paid daily 160 pounds ster- ling for their support, in all parts of Great Britain collections were started for the benefit of "the poor Germans." The lin- nen weavers were taken to Scotch and Irish factories, the young girls received employment in families, - many young men took service in the army and navy, and all others were taken to camp at Black Heath near Greenwich until they could be transported to America. But many of those in camp, it is said several thousands, died of fever.
More than 3000 were sent to New York, about 600 to North Carolina, and several shiploads to Virginia. E. Willard says56): "Six or seven thousand arrived during the year 1710 and settled in the province of New York, Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia and Carolina."
A German Jetter by David Topp, dated : Lemgo, January 5th 1711, is preserved in the State Library at Richmond. The name of the person addressed is missing, - but the con- tents of the letter indicate that he was a clergyman - and it gives evidence of the continued immigration of Germans. The pious mode of thinking of the German people and the deplor- able conditions which prevailed in Germany at that time, are also illustrated by this interesting document. We copy the following from it: "Wir können nichts weiter alsz das wir wünschen, der Herre Herr, welcher ihn so wunderbahrlich bisz dahin geführet, der wolle ihn fernerweit in seiner christ-
56 ) "History of the United States," by E. Willard, pp. 134, 135. New York and Chi- cago. 1871.
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lichen resolution und Gelassenheit stärken, festigen und grün- den : ja Er wolle ihm Gnade geben, sich selbst und viele an- dere Menschen stark zu machen an den inwendigen Menschen, das Sie durch seine Lehre und Leben dasz eitele Wesen die- ser Welt und die theuerwerthen ewigen schätze in dem him- lischen Sion unterscheiden und erwehlen lernen." - - - and furthermore to elucidate the wretched condition in the German empire : "Hier in Lemgo neiget sich alles kräfftig zum unter- gange und werden wir unvermerket unserm Landesherrn gantz subject, wie dan hier in Teutschland die Herrschaften alle souverain, und die unterthanen alle sclavisch werden, Gott ändere die Gemüther und bessere die Zeiten, sonst wird alles desperat werden. Das beste ist dasz fast zehen jahr her noch so wohlfeile Zeit allhier gewest; wir wüssten gern wasz bei ihnen vor getreide wächset und ob es wohl hoch im preisse sei, worauf da so viel. Familien jaehrlich dazu kommen, und wie und womit sich dieselben alle ernehren, ob Sie alda Häu- ser finden oder bauen, ob Sie die Heyden oder Wilden mit der Zeit vertreiben oder bekehren, oder was es für arth men- schen da gebe und wie Sie leben. Ich bitte nochmahlst um weitläufige Nachricht und schliesse damit." -
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