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LIBRARY

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CatOCNE

The Palatinate OF THE.
RHINE
BURI»0 THC P£RIOD OF
YHE lAHCF PALAT'KE
FMICIATIOflnAMeillCA.

wi/ifzBt/ita o

WUPTCMBURG

SWITIEKLMD

The Story

Pennsylvania Germans

Embracing an account of their Origin,
their History, and their Dialect.

WILLIAM BKIDELMAN
OP THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY BAR, AND MEMBER OF THE
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN SOCIETY.

BASTON, PENNA.
EXPHESS BOOK PRINT.
1898.

Copyright 1898.
By William Beidelman.
AH rights reserved.

DEDICATED
To the descendants of those Germans who many gen
erations ago were exiled from their homes in the
beautiful valleys of the Rhine and Keekar in South
Germany on account of fierce religious, and still
iiercer political persecution.

So waren wir iind sind es auch,
Das edelste Geschlecht,
Von biederm Sinn und reinem Hauch,
Und in der Thaten Recht.
Goethe.

PREFATOET NOTE.
This book has been suggested to the author, by
reason of several visits made by him among the peo
ple of the Upper Rhine country in South Germany,
Avhence emigrated the ancestors of the Pennsylvania
Germans. Much that the reader will find herein con
tained is famiKar history; but it is behoved that there
are some Pennsylvania Germans, who may find some
things in this unpretentious volume concerning their
ancestors and their history, with which they may not
be altogether famihar. It is for them that this book
has been primarily written.
There are not many people who do not share in
the sentiment, which unites one to the history of his
race, his kinsmen, and the home of his fathers. This
sentiment is rooted deep in the affections of most if
not of all people, but with the Germans it is pre
eminent. The Pennsylvania Germans, whose ancestors
were exiled from their homes in the beautiful valleys
of the Rhine and iN^eckar, by fierce religious, and still
fiercer political persecution, are yet after the lapse of
many generations bound by invisible ties to the land
which has been consecrated and made hallowed, by
the same blood which courses in their veins.
The aim of the author has not been to tell any
thing especially new, but rather to bring together in

vi. Prefatory Note.
concise form, an account of the origin, history, and
dialect of the Pennsylvania Germans; the causes
which led their ancestors to emigrate to the province
of Pennsylvania, together with other information
identified Avith their story.
For much of this information the author is in
debted to Zimmerman's "History of G-ermany," Bay
ard Taylor's "History of Germany," Henri Martin's
"History of France," Proud's "History of Pennsyl
vania," Watson's "Annals," JS'ebenius' "Geschichte
die Pfalz," Eckhoff's "In der IsTeuen Heimath,"
"Hallischen Nachrichten," and to other sources.
Certain magazine and newspaper writers are re
sponsible for much misinformation, which prevails
among certain people concerning the Pennsylvania
Germans, — especially with regard to their dialect.
Not many years ago an article appeared in the
"Atlantic Monthly," wherein it was asserted that
"Pennsylvania Dutch" was not German, "nor did
they expect you to call it so." The same author after
ward perpetuated this misinformation by embodying
it in a book. It is scarcely necessaiy to contradict
such manifest error; if it were necessary to do so, the
examples of the Pfalzisch dialect contained in this
volume, and their comparison with Pennsylvania
German will refute conclusively all such erroneous
contention. In this volume the Pennsylvania Germans are
spoken of as Germans, because that is the only desig
nation which is justified by reason of their race, their
history, and their speech.
THE AUTHOR.
Easton, Pa., 1898.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. Introductory. — Earliest known German
Tribes. — Their Contact with the Ro
mans, Franks, Goths, Saxons and
Alemanni,  1
II. The Palatinate (German Pfalz), . . 15
III. The Devastation of the Palatinate, . 22
IV. The Province of Pennsylvania, . . 35
V. German Emigration to Pennsylvania, 40
VI. German Emigration to other American
Colonies. — Palatines settle in Ireland, 59
VII. The Quakers and the Proprietors, . 76
VIII. The Pennsylvania Germans in History.
— In the Revolution,  81
IX. The Pennsylvania German Dialect. —
Its English Infusion. — Pfalzisch and
Pennsylvania German Compared, . 102
X. The German and Dutch Languages, . 123
XI. Schools, Churches and Religious Sects, 129
XII. Social Life and Customs,  138
vll.

viii. Contents.
XIII. Life in Pennsylvania in the Early
Days of its Settlement. — Courts
and the Administration of Justice. —
Early Legislation,  156
Appendix A. — Examples op Pfalzisch, South
German and Pennsylvania German
Dialects,  179
Appendix B. — Vocabulary,  195
Appendix C. — Brief Personal Sketches of Eng
lish, German, and Palatine Rulers
from 1682 TO 1770, the period of
THE great exodus OF GERMAN PALA
TINES TO Pennsylvania,  212
Appendix D.— A Chronological Table of all
THE reigning PRINCES OF THE PALA
tinate, from the first elector in
1147, until 1801, when the electo
rate became extinct,  224
Appendix E. — Glossary,  232

THE STORY OP THE
PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUOTION.
Earliest Known German Tribes. — The Citnbriana
and Tuetonians. — Their Invasion of the Roman
Provinces. — They defeat the Romans. — They
invade Gaul. — Romans begin the Conquest
of the Germans. — ^The Struggle Continues
More than Five Centuries. — Decline of the
Roman Power. — Barbarous Condition of the
German Tribes. — The Four Chief German
Tribes. — Development of the Alemannic Race,
— The Franks defeat the Alemanni. — ^Founding
of the Palatinate State. — Conrad of Hohen-
staufen. Its First Elector. — Extinction of the
Electorate. — The Alemanni an Important Con
stituent of the First German Empire. — The
Alemanni the Progenitors of the Pennsylvania
Germans.
In telling the story of the Pennsylvania Germans,
a brief review of the German race in Europe, be
ginning with the earliest authentic accounts of it, will
enable us to trace the movements of the various tribea

S The Story of the
during successive periods, until we fijid an important
branch of the original stock settled in the region of
the Upper Rhine, in the South of Germany, whence
the ancestors of the Pennsylvania Germans emigrated.
The German race is an important branch of the
Teutonic stock, which constitutes a chief group of the
races comprising, the Indo-European or Aryan
femily. It is not known where the original home of the
Indo-Europeans was. A vast amount of literature
lias been produced on this subject by ethnologists, and
ether investigators, with varying views, only to leave
the question of man's birthplace in dispute and doubt.
The weight of the more recent, and best evidence on
the subject seems to locate his original habitat, at
some point, "somewhere on the southern slope of the
vast chain of mountaius which extend in an almost
imbroken line from the northern coast of Spain east
ward to the Himalayas, and from our present knowl
edge the western rather than the eastern extremity of
tiiis chain, is that which offers the higher probability
©f having been the cradle of the species,"
The period during which the dissemination of the
species of the human race began, is also shrouded in
l3ie gloom of prehistoric times. The first authentic

Pennsylvania Germans. 3
accounts of certaiu German tribes, locates them in the
region of the Baltic Sea, as early as the middle of the
fourth century, B. C. It appears that adventurers
from the south of Europe, visited the shores of the
Baltic at that early period in search of trade, and there
found numerous tribes of a fiercely savage and war
like people, who proved to be German tribes.
It is beheved that soon after their discovery on the
shores of the Baltic, some of them began to migrate
from their homes, and spread throughout other parts
of Europe. It was not, however, imtil several cen
turies after their first discovery, that any accurate
knowledge of those people was gained.
About the beginning of the second century B. C.
two barbarous German tribes, known as the Cim-
brians and Teutonians, came down from the north
of Europe, and made a descent on the Roman prov
inces. Their coming was unheralded, and they came
in such overwhelming numbers, as to bring dismay to
the Romans. History informs us that the fierceness
of the invaders, made the Roman power impotent
with terror to resist them for a time.
The unwelcome visitors claimed that they had
been driven from their homes, on the shores of the
Baltic and North seas, by the inundation of their set-

4 The Story of the
tlements, and that they were in search of new homes.
That they came to stay was not doubted, because they
brought with them, their wives and children, and all
their personal effects.
The Romans after they recovered from the con
sternation into which they had been thrown, by the
precipitous descent upon them by the invading sav
ages, raised up an army against them, to resist their
further advance, but were defeated in a great battle,
fought in the north of Italy, After this battle the
invaders marched into Gaul, destroying everything in
their way, leaving nothing but ruin and desolation in
their trail. It has been estimated that the invading
tribes numbered 200,000, After being absent about
ten years, they returned, when they again met the
Romans in battle, and were defeated.
From this time on, other German tribes began to
make incursions into the Roman provinces, which
brought tliem into frequent conflict with the Romans
who were very aggressively engaged at that period in
extending their dominion by conquest. After having
brought the greater part of Gaul under their sway,
they began the conquest of German territory. The
Romans soon learned, that they had a formidable
people to deal with, who were in possession of the

Pennsylvania Germans. 5
greater part of Central Europe, and who made fierce
resistance to their advance. After a struggle which
lasted for many years, the Romans succeeded in estab
lishing themselves iu that part of Europe, bounded by
the Danube on the south, and by the Main on the
north. Beyond that region, the Romans could not
oenetrate, although they kept the struggle up for
more than five hundred years. The struggle only
ceased with the decline of the Roman empire, after
which the Germans lost no time in recovering the ter
ritory, which the Romans had deprived them of dur
ing the long struggle.
The Germans not only recovered the region be
tween the Danube and the Main, but pushed forward
toward the south, as far as Switzerland, making the
area re-occupied by them German territory, which
has remained German ever since.

THE GERMANS DURING THE PERIOD OF THEIE CONFLICT
WITH THE ROMANS.
The German tribes with which the Romans were
in conflict during the early centuries of our era, were
numerous, and besides fighting a common enemy,
were frequently at war with each other. Their prow-

6 The Story of the
ess in war was great, and if they had been united at
all times, it is not beheved that the Romans could
ever have succeeded in crossing the Rhine, or to have
been able to penetrate as far as the Danube. The
frequent quarrels among them weakened them, and
encouraged the Romans to keep up the struggle for
their subjugation.
We are indebted to the Romans for all that we
know of the early history of the various German
tribes.* One would suppose that the German tribes who

*According to Bayard Taylor's "History of Germany" the German
tribes, during their early contact with the Romans were settled, east of the
Rhine, except two or three small tribes, which are supposed to have crossed
that river and settled between the Vosges and the Rhine, from Strasbiug to
Mayence. The greater part of Belgium was occupied at that time by the
Eburones and Condrusii, to which were afterwards added the Aduatuci.
At the mouth of the Rhine dwelt the Batavi, the forefathers of the Dutch.
A little eastward of the Rhine, on the shores of the North sea, dwelt the
Frisii, where they still dwell in the province of Friesland ; and beyond
them, about the mouth of the Weser. lived the Chauci.
What is now Westphalia was inhabitated by the Sicambrians ; the
Marsi and Ampsiyarii lived beyond them, inwards the Hartz, and south of
the latter the tlbii, from the Weser to the Elbe, in the nonh was the land of
the Cherusci ; south of them were the Chatti, the ancestors of the modern
Hessians ; and still further south along the headwaters of the Main were
the Marcomanni. The Hermunduri, were settled in what is now Saxony,
with their kindred, the Chatti, who were called Suevi by the Romans.
Northward toward the mouth of the Elbe, dwelt the Lorigobardi (Lom
bards) ; beyond them, in Holstein the Saxons ; and north of the latter, in
Schleswig, the Angles,
East of the Elbe were the Semnones ; north of them dwelt the Vandals,
and along the Baltic coast the Rugii ; between these and the Vistula were
the Burgundiones, and a few smaller tribes. In the extreme northeast,
between the Vistula and where Konigsburg now stands, was the home of
the Goths, south of whom were the Slavonic Sarmatians, who afterwards
founded Poland.
The German tribes enumerated constituted all the tribes with which the
Roman power contended for Ave centuries, few of which have their names
preserved in history. It will be seen later on in this volume how all the
names of the German tribes disappeared, and were merged into four prin
ciple ones.

Pennsylvania Germans. 1
had a common origin, connected with ties of blood,
religion and habits, with a common destiny, would
have lived alongside of each other in peace, with a
common enemy constantly in sight threatening their
conquest. But when we consider that those people
were still savages in the early centuries of our era,
and that scarcely more than a generation ago, their
civilized descendants engaged in frequent bloody wars
with their own kinsmen, it ought not occasion much
surprise, that their savage ancestors indulged in simi
lar pastimes many centuries ago.
At the close of the fifth century, when the Roman
power was broken, and its legions began to withdraw
from German territory, they left behind not a few of
their civilized arts, which the Germans acquired dur
ing several centuries of contact with them ; but not
withstanding, the Germans were still a fierce and
savage people in their habits, and mode of life. They
had not yet learned to live in towns and villages ; the
country occupied by them was an unbroken wilder
ness, through which roamed "wild animals, only a
little more savage than the German tribes themselves."
It is remarkable, how few names of German lead
ers during five hundred years of conflict with the
Romans, are preserved in history, while the names of

8 The Story of the
Roman heroes confront us on every page. Among
the few German names which we come across, are the
names of Hermann, the first great German leader,
who destroyed the Roman legions under Varus; Ario-
vistus, chief of the ancient Suevi, who invaded Gaul
in the first century before the Christian era ; Marbod,
who at the head of the Suevi and Marcomanni, won
numerous battles over the Romans ; Theodormar, an
Alemannic chieftain ; Alarich, who led the Goths into
Rome, and Geiserich, kiag of the Vandals, The
poverty of German names may be owing to the fact
that the Romans were the chroniclers of all the events
that have come down to us from those days to the
present, and were more concerned about the fame of
their own heroes, than of that of the Germans.

INFLUENCE OF ROMAN CIVILIZATION ON THE GERMANS.
During the wars for the subjugation of the Ger
mans the latter profited by their contact with the
Romans. They acquired some of their habits and
customs, and it has been asserted that those civilizing
influences extended to the speech and laws of their
conquerers. While the Romans were bent on con
quest, they were also civilizers. Wherever they

Pennsylvania Germans. 9
succeeded in establishing themselves, they were
prompt ia introducing their civilization ; so
that when they left the Germans in undis
puted possession of their country, after a lapse
of centuries, they left the impress of their civilization
upon them, which became a valuable acquisition,
upon which the Germans began to build a civihzation
of their own, which was destined to outgrow that of
their tutors.
The military stations of the Romans grew into
German towns and cities. Everywhere along the
Rhine, and throughout Central and Southern Ger
many are numerous prosperous cities whose names
attest their Roman origin. The Romans built roads
in the conquered territory, which connected with
highways that led to Rome, so as to bring all parts of
the subjugated country in easy communication with
the Roman capital ; streams were spanned by stone
arched bridges, whose enduring piers and foundations
still remain, to be pointed out to the tourist at the
present day.
It can thus be seen how the influences of Roman
civilization helped the Germans, to rise from their
barbarous condition, to a higher state. The Germans
were apt scholars, and long before the middle ages,

10 The Story of the
they had outstripped many other people, in many of
the civihzed arts.
The tribal names hereinbefore mentioned, began
to disappear soon after the struggle between the
Romans and the Germans began. Different tribes
became united with each other from various causes ;
often no doubt for mutual aid and protection ; while
small and weak tribes were absorbed, by larger and
stronger ones.
About the close of the third century A. D. or the
beginning of the fourth, all tribal names had disap
peared from history except those of the Alemanni,
Franks, Saxons and Goths ; all other names had
merged into these four ; although many tribal charact
eristics continued, chief among which was that of
speech. It is claimed by certain philologists, that the
dialects of some of those early German tribes can yet
be traced, in some of the numerous dialects spoken by
the common people in certain parts of Germany at this
day. When it is considered that there are people
living in the mountainous region of Switzerland, who
after the lapse of more than a thousand years since
their progenitors dwelt in the same region, still speak
a corrupted Latin dialect, the foregoiug claim may
be entitled to some credit.

Pennsylvania Germans. 11
THE FRANKS, GOTHS, SAXONS AND ALEMANNI.
After the various tribal names became merged in
the four mentioned, a national formative process was
begun by each, which resulted variously during a
century or more. The Franks were the most progres
sive, and soon overran Gaul, and laid the foundation
of the kingdom of France, They occupied at this
time the region of the lower course of the Scheldt, the
Me use, and the region west of the Rhine, They did
not, however, separate at once from all connection
with the other German tribes, but maintained a geo
graphical union with them for several centuries, until
they finally became separated, during the process of
the formation of the European nations.
The Goths during about the same period were scat
tered over a large area north of the Danube, from
which they made frequent incursions into the Roman
provinces, against which the declining Roman power
could make but little resistance. The Saxons at the
same time dwelt along both sides of the Elbe, extend
ing northwest to the North Sea, and west as far as the
Lower Rhine, Their name is preserved in the Saxony
of to-day. The Alemanni were chiefly of Suevic
origin, but they embraced many other German tribes,

12 The Story of the
as their name, Alemanni — all men, or men of all
nations — vindicates. In the third century of our era,
they occupied the region from the Main to the
Danube, from whence they were driven by the
Romans, but which territory they recovered after the
Roman empire began to decline. They not only re
established themselves in the country from which
they had been driven, but extended their dominion
as far as the Rhine and beyond, including Alsace
and part of Lorraine. Southward they pressed for
ward, until they occupied the greater part of South
• Germany, and Eastern and Northern Switzerland,
At the end of six hundred years, from the time of
their first contact with the Romans, the triumph of
the German races was complete, after which they
were never again disturbed by a Roman foe. The
Alemanni remained in the region of the Upper Rhine
country, where they developed into the race, from
which sprung the progenitors of those Germans, who
many centuries afterwards found their way to Penn
sylvania. The Roman writers regarded the Alemanni as the
largest, and most formidable of all the German tribes.
They constituted a league of different German races
against which the Romans struggled in vain, and

Pennsylvania Germans. 13
when the latter ceased to offer much resistance, the
Alemanni themselves undertook the part of conquer
ors. About the close of the fifth century they met
an army under Clovis, the first French king, in battle,
on a field not far from the present city of Cologne, in
which they were defeated, when they withdrew to
Southwestern Germany where their descendants are
living at this day. During the whole period of Ger
man history, from the founding of the first empire,
the Alemanni constituted a very important element,
and for many centuries maintained an influential and
independent political existence.
With the coming into existence of the princely
family of Hohenstaufen, in the twelfth century, whose
members furnished a long line of kings and emperors
to Germany, the political state of the Palatinate was
founded, with Conrad of Hohenstaufen as the flrst
prince invested with the Electoral authority by his
brother, the Emperor Frederick I, The Palatinate as a
distinct hereditary' sovereignty, continued for nearly
seven hundred years, until in 1801, when it became
extinct, and its territory went to the adjoining states
in Germany, except Rhenish Bavaria, which yet re
mains to remind us, of the digTiity of a once influen-

14 The Story of the
tial principality. During the continuance of the old
state of the Palatinate, its people spread to Baden,
Wurtemberg, Swabia, Bavaria, the Tyrol, and parts
of Switzerland, All of these states contributed to the
German emigration to Pennsylvania, and all practi
cally spoke the same dialect, which came down from
the Alemanni, and which students claim to be the best
type of old High German, as it exists in German liter
ature from the eighth to the eleventh century,
Down to the time when the Romans quitted Ger
many, there had been no successful attempts made to
nationalize the German races, notwithstanding the
greater part of Europe had fallen under their sway.
Soon after this period, the races began to coalesce,
and lay the groundwork from which the European
nations began to be evolved. The Franks, who con
quered Gaul founded the kingdom of France about
this time. The Alemanni who were established in
Southwestern Germany and who had maintained their
independence long before that period, also began the
formation of a national existence with a hereditary
chief at the head. Later they constituted the most
powerful political division of the first German empire,
which dates its existence from 843, with the Treaty of
Verdun.

CHAPTER n.
THE PALATINATE,  (gEEMAN PFALz),
Palatinate as an Independent State of Germany, —
Erection of the Electorate. — Division of the
Palatinate. — ^France Takes a Portion. — ^Its Re
storation to Germany. — Present Rhine Palati
nate. — Ancestors of the Pennsylvania Ger
mans. — Exodus of German Palatines to Pennsyl
vania. — The Rhine Palatinate the Battleground
of all Europe,
The Palatinate was formerly an independent
state of Germany, and consisted of two separate ter
ritorial divisions, respectively called the Upper, or
Bavarian Palatinate, and the Lower, or Rhine Palati
nate. The Bavarian Palatinate now forms the north
ern part of the kingdom of Bavaria. The Lower, or
Rhine Palatinate was situated on both sides of the
Rhine, bounded by Wurtemberg and Baden on the
east ; Baden and Lorraine on the south ; Alsace and
(15)

16 The Story of the
Lorraine on the west. It extended north as far as the
cities of 1'reves and Mainz.
In the twelfth century the Palatinate was erected
into a hereditary monarchy, as already stated, which
was ruled by electors of the old German empire, untU
about the middle of the seventeenth century, when
the two territories were divided, and the Upper Palat
inate became united with Bavaria ; while the Rhine
Palatinate continued in the possession of the original
dynasty. During the eighteenth century, the two
districts were again united under the elector Charles
Theodore, who afterwards also became king of
Bavaria. During the French Revolution, France took pos
session of that part of the Palatinate on the west bank
of the Rhine, but after the fall of Napoleon in 1815,
that part was again restored to Germany, Prussia
and Hesse-Darmstadt received a part, but the greater
part fell to Bavaria. This part constitutes the present
Rhine Palatinate, as is shown on the map of Ger
many, and is bounded by the Rhine on the east ; Prus
sia and Hesse-Darmstadt on the north; Alsace-Lor
raine on the south and west. It forms a Regierungs-
hezirk of Bavaria, with Speyer for its capital.
After 1801, the Rhine Palatinate ceased to exist

Pennsylvania Germans. 17
as an independent state, and its territory was divided
under the terms of the Treaty of LuneviUe, by which
Napoleon dictated, that the Rhine should thenceforth
be the frontier of France. By the terms of that treaty,
the territory comprising the Rhine Palatinate was
divided between Ilesse-Darmstadt, Baden, Leinigen-
Dachsburg, Nassau ; France taking all west of the
Rhine. This partition of the Palatinate remains un
disturbed at this day, with the exception of that part
which fell to France, which was transferred back
again to Germany, after Napoleon's downfall, as
stated. There is nothing in all German history, which pos
sesses a greater interest, than the story of the Rhine
Pfalz. In that beautiful country dwelt the ancestors
of the Pennsylvania Germans two centuries ago, be
fore persecution drove them from it, A journey
through the valley of the Upper Rhine at the present
day will suggest the inquiry, why a people should wish
to leave so fair an estate. Nowhere has nature been
more lavish in bestowing its bounties, than in that fair
land. There, are to be seen, the most highly culti
vated fields ; vine-clad hills ; enchanting scenery ;
ruined castles, that tell of a once feudal dignity and
(2)

18 The Story of the
glory. The valley of the Rhine is indeed " the gar
den of Germany," if not of all Europe, The causes
however which led to the enormous emigration from
the charming Rhine nigh unto two hundred years ago
were irresistable. They are written in fire and blood.
For more than a thousand years, reaching far back
into the earliest times, the Rhine was the prize for
which the Romans, Gauls and the Germans contended.
There is no region of country on the globe, of equal
extent, that has witnessed so many sanguinary con
flicts as the Palatinate of the Rhine. It is there
where the Romans struggled for more than five cen
turies to subdue the fierce German tribes, only to leave
them unconquered at the end of that time. After
the Romans withdrew, the Palatinate continued to be
the battlefield of rival races and of nations. The
many strategic points along the stream made it always
a rich prize to be coveted by European nations when
at war with each other, which was nearly all the time.
No matter what nations were engaged in war the
scene of their conflict was almost invariably trans
ferred to the Upper Rhine country.
From no nation did the Rhine provinces suffer
more, than from the French, The battles of the in-
eessant wars of the French monarchs, were almost

Pennsylvania Germans. 19
invariably fought in the region of the Rhine, As
late as the Franco-German war, if it had not been for
the promptness with which the German troops
marched to the frontier, where they met the French
army ; defeated it, and drove it back upon French ter
ritory, the operations of that war would have once
more taken place in the Rhine country.
The crimes committed in the Palatinate, in con
sequence of religious intolerance, fanaticism, and po
litical persecution, are unparalled in the history of
human savagery. They make the blackest pages in
the history of the whole world.
The German Palatines, at an early day, embraced
the tenets of the Reformation ; so did the people of
most of the other German states. This exercise of
freedom of thought in matters pertaining to religion,
soon brought them in colhsion with the German em
perors, who continued to adhere to the Roman Catho
lic faith. The See of Rome determined to crush out
heresy everywhere, and judging from subsequent
events, it would seem as if the Palatines had been se
lected as the special victims upon whom to inflict the
fullest vengeance of the Catholic princes. The latter
manifested the greatest zeal, in seconding the injunct-

20 The Story of the
ions of the papal authority. The religious contentions
followed soon after Martin Luther's protestation
against the Church of Rome, and they continued for
more than one hundred years. They were waged
with a cruelty and ferocity compared to which the
crimes of the Turks in later years against the Christian
Armenians pale into a mere shadow.
During the Thirty Tears' War the Palatinate wag
frequently ravaged by contending armies. Both the
Protestants and Catholics, in South Germany, were
among the first to take up arms in defense of their
religion, which made the Palatinate the theatre of
war at once, and it continued the scene of many of its
most important conflicts until peace came at the end
of thirty years. Even when the war was transferred
for a time to Bohemia and elsewhere, the Palatinate
did not get a respite, for it was then invaded by a
Spanish army under Spinola in 1620, and again in
1645 the armies under Turenne and Conde, invaded
the Palatinate and each time it was devastated.
When peace came at last with the Treaty of West
phalia, by which Protestantism was saved to Ger
many, but at a fearful cost, the Palatines retired from
the contest, believing that their persecutions had now
come to an end. The war left them in a frightfully

Pennsylvania Germans. 21
impoverished condition. Their land had been turned
into a desert, their substance wasted, a great part of
the population had been destroyed, while those who
were left, had declined morally and mentally to such
an extent, as to require very many years for them, as
well as of all Germany to recover from the demor
alization, as the result of the Thirty Tears' War,
With the end of the war, the Protestant Palatines
gained religious freedom ; it was no longer sought to
compel them to worship God at the point of the
sword, in violation of the dictates of their conscience.
But there was not yet peace for them. Their perse
cutions were not yet to end. The echoes of the clash
ing of arms of the Thirty Tears' War had scarcely
ceased, when the tramp of the invader was again
heard, and it was not long before the unfortunate Pal
atines learned, that the worst cruelties were yet to be
inflicted upon them.

CHAPTER nL
THE DEVASTATION OF THE PAXATINATB,
Death of the Elector Philip Wilhehn, — ^Louis XIV.
seeks the Electorate for His Sister-in-law, the
Duchess of Orleans. — He invades the Palati
nate. — Louvois the King's Secretary of War, —
His atrocious Order. — Burning of a Score of
Cities and Towns in the Palatinate. — ^The Palati
nate overrun and Devastated by the French. —
William III. of England succors the Palatines.
— Imperial Germany also acts. — ^Persecutions
By Louvois, Tesse, and Duras. — Heidelberg
sacked and Burned. — Its Inhabitants expelled.
— Peace and the Treaty of Ryswick. — ^The War
of the Spanish Succession. — German Emigra
tion to America begins. — Causes of German
Emigration,
We have now reached a period in the history of
the Palatinate, when a recital of the events which
transpired there, will show the chief reasons for the
large emigration of the Palatines to America, of
(22)

Pennsylvania Germans. 23
whom the province of Pennsylvania received by far
the larger number.
Upon the death of the Elector Philip Wilhehn, in
1688, John Wilhelm, his eldest son, became the law
ful successor to the Electorate, Louis XIV, of France
undertook to usurp the Electorate for his sister-in-law,
the Duchess of Orleans.
In the autumn of 1688, there began a chapter in
the history of the Palatinate which has no parallel in
the history of the world, for savage brutahty, and the
atrocities perpetrated by the French soldiers, with
the approbation, and under the direction of the French
monarch. The invasion of the Palatinate was attended
by such monstrous crimes, that a belief in them taxes
the credulity of mankind, notwithstanding the barbar
ities of the Turks in these later days. No war was
ever waged with such ferocity, as characterized the
French attempt to subjugate the Palatinate.
In September, 1688, Louis entered on his cam
paign of invasion, and in less than two months from
that time, the whole of the Palatinate was overrun by
his soldiers, under Louvois, Boufflers, and Marshal de
Duras. The whole country was pillaged, and made
desolate ; towns and cities were laid in ashes, and more
than one hundred thousand of the inhabitants mur-

24 The Story of the
dered. The descent of the French troops into the
Palatinate came unexpectedly, and was made with
such suddenness, as to give no chance to arrest the
progress of the invaders. After Louis had set up the
claims of the Duchess of Orleans, and promised to
sustain her pretensions by force of arms, the German
government determined to sustain the lawful elector's
just claim. But the imperial government was weak,
without being prepared to come speedily to the aid of
the lawful prince, while the Palatines were able to
make but feeble resistance against the invaders, who
soon overwhelmed the people, and more than a score
of beautiful cities and towns, fell into the hands of
Louis' ferocious soldiers, to which they apphed the
torch, and the sword to the inhabitants, none of whom
were spared, — ^not even the women and children.
The spirit which controlled the soldiers of the
French king can be judged, by the order which Lou
vois made to his subordinates in command : to " seek
people in the country capable of setting fire to houses
at night, in order that places too remote to be reached
by troops, might nevertheless submit through fear, to
the levy of contributions."
While the work of destruction was going on, the
crafty Louis succeeded in involving the imperial gov-

Pennsylvania Germans. 25
emment, under an incompetent prince in a war with
Austria. To still further make the German govern
ment impotent to succor the Palatines, Louis suc
ceeded in creating a war feeling against the
German ruler, on the part of the Hungarians and
the Turks, who threatened to invade the very heart
of Germany. Those conditions compelled the im
perial government to devote its attentions to the
threatenings of Hungary and Austria, while the Pal
atines were left to take care of themselves. Being too
weak to resist the overwhelming power of the French
soldiers, they fell an easy prey to their ferocity, not
withstanding they made a heroic struggle in defence
of their homes and firesides.
While the Palatines on both sides of the Rhine,
had thus fallen under the cruel yoke of the French
sovereign and his brutal tyranny, and those who still
remained for victims of the fury of the French sol
diers, were ready to surrenderinhopeless despair, there
came a ray of shining hope from England, which
promised relief to the Palatines who had escaped death
at the hands of the brutal minions of Louis XIV.
James II. of England had just then abdicated the
English throne and fled the country, when William
of Orange Avas made king of England. Soon after his

26 The Story of the
accession, this generous prince began to turn his at
tention, to the suffering and persecuted people of the
Palatinate. His first step towards their relief was a
declaration of war against Louis. Wilham soon
found his efforts seconded, by the greater part of
Europe entering into a league against the French
king.. When the Palatines learned what the English
king intended doing for their relief, their rejoicings
were unbounded, and they gathered new hope, and
new courage in their efforts to break the French
power.. At the same time there were many happen
ings in Europe, which caused fresh comphcations ; all
of which operated against Louis. England, Holland,
Spain and the Scandinavian states all combined
against him. With such an array of force united
against the French tyrant, the imperial government
of Germany was aroused to new action, in defence of
the Palatinate, and it began to look as if Louis was
doomed. He was undaunted, however, and prepared
to enter on several new campaigns with renewed vigor.
Notwithstanding his crimes in the Palatinate, he was
able to raise large accessions to his army in Germany.
The threatening attitude of the European powers,
made Louis more cautious in his future movements,
and he decided on a defensive war in the Palatinate

Pennsylvania Germans. 27
thenceforth, while he in order to head off the English
Idng in his determination to relieve the Palatines,
hastened to take steps to invade Ireland, as the best
means by which to embarrass William. In this new
enterprise Louis found that he needed more troops
than he had at his disposal ; for a large portion of his
troops were required to garrison the places in the Pal
atinate which had already fallen into the hands of his
soldiers. But the cruel genius of so great a monster
as Louis, did not require much deliberation to find a
way out of the difiiculty. The scheme entered upon
by Louis and his generals, hasbeen characterized by an
eminent French historian, as one which has "sulhed
with an ineffacable stain the reign of Louis the Great."
For an account of the atrocities perpetrated in the
execution of the scheme determined upon, we will
here let the French historian, Henri Martin, tell the
story: It was impossible to furnish garrisons to all places
recently conquered, or rather invaded, without re
newing with more dangerous consequences, the mis
take of 1672. The advanced posts of Wurtemberg
had already been abandoned — somewhat precipitately
in January, 1689. Louvois counselled the king,
utterly to destroy the cities that could not be held, so
that the posts from which the king's troops should

28 The Story of the
retire might henceforth serve no one, Louis after
some hesitation, gave his signature to this expedient,
worthy of Tartar conquerors. They began with the
trans-Rhenish Palatinate. Laudenberg and Heidel
berg were burned, after the inhabitants had been
warned to leave with their families, their cattle and
their furniture. The castle of Heidelberg, the resi
dence of the Elector-Palatine, was sapped and blown
up ; its beautiful ruins are still to posterity a living
testimony of Louvois' fury. The mills, the bridges,
all the public buildings, were torn down ; the whole
city was set on fire, Tesse, the executioner of this in
fernal work (he was nevertheless one of the leaders
of the dragonades) had not the heart to see more,
or drive the unfortunate inhabitants from among the
ruins of their city. He left with his soldiers. The
citizens extinguished the conflagration behind him,
and called to their aid the German troops, who forti
fied themselves in the ruins of the castle. On the
news of this, Louvois became furious that Heidelberer
had not been entirely burned and destroyed, ordered
that M.mnheim should not onlybeburned,butthatnot
one stone should be leftonanother, (March, 1869). Of
the new conquests beyond the Rhine, Philippsburg
alone was preserved. As to the countries on the left
bank, the French contended themselves at first with
dismantling the cities and blowing up the fortifica
tions belonging to the Palatinate, and the electorates
of Mayence and Treves, save Mayence which was
made an im]wrtant stronghold. But when the hos
tile forces began to threaten Mayence, the chief of the
French army of the Rhine, Marshal Duras, proposed to
the king and the minster a frightful resolution, namely,
to destroy, not only the burghs and villages which

Pennsylvania Germans. 29
might facilitate an attack on Mayence, but all the
towns in the neighborhood of the Rhine between
Mayence and Philippsburg. The fatal word given,
Duras became terrified at it himself, and wished to
recede from what he had proposed. Louvois did not
allow his prey to be thus snatched from him ! He
caused the king to order the Marshal to consummate
the deed ! Speyer, AVorms, Oppenheim, Bingen
Frankenthal were condemned to the flames. Fran
chises and privileges were offered to the magistrates
for such as would be willing to emigrate to Lorraine,
Alsace, Fr.mche-Comte, with means of transport for
their household goods. Those who should refuse
might transport their goods to fortified towns belong
ing to the king, but not among enemies. Thus even
the consolation of taking refuge among their country
men was refused them. This was monstrous ; its
exaction worse. It is only too easy to conceive all the
license and rapacity of the soldiers must have added
to those of desolation.
It had been desired that the celebrated cathedrals
of Worms and Speyer, as well as the episcopal palaces,
and the effects that the inhabitants had not been able
to carrj' away, but had been collected there be saved,
but the fire reached the churches, and burned what
ever could be burned (end of May, beginning of
June). This beautiful country which the middle ajjes
had adorned with so many religions and military mon
uments, presented only a mass of smoking ruins, as if
a new Atilla had passed over Gaul and Germany.
One hundred thousand unfortunates driven from
their homes, in flames, demanded vengeance from all
Germany, from all Europe, and raised against the
great king an indignation, still more general than that

30 The Story of the
which had been raised against the French refugees.
The people of the Rhine whom nature has attached
by so many ties to France, vowed a long and implic-
able resentment against its government, which was to
be exinguished only with the monarchy of Louis
XIV. in the presence of a new France,
One other historian in speaking of the cruelties
perpetrated by the French soldiers says: "The
elector beheld from his castle at Mannheim two cities
and twenty-five towns in flames, where lust and rapine
Avalked hand in hand with fire and sword," Another
records that while the burning of cities and towns was
in progress, and the country was being turned into a
desert, the defenceless inhabitants begging for mercy
on their bended knees, were stripped naked and
driven into the fields in mid-winter, where they per
ished in the snow from hunger and cold.
The atrocities here recounted raised the indigna
tion of all the rulers of Europe to the highest pitch,
and resolved on an offensive and defensive treaty
against the French, and determined that they would
not lay down their arms until the French king was
humbled, and all his conquests taken from him.
Affairs in Europe favored the scheme of the princes
now allied against Louis, because the latter was be
ginning to have much more on hand than he was able

Pennsylvania Germans. 31
to attend to. He had the war of the Spanish suc
cession on hand ; he was bent on restoring James II,
to the throne of England, all of which enterprises
weakened him in the Palatinate, because many of his
troops had to be withdrawn from there, because they
were needed elsewhere, while the German princes
entered with renewed vigor on the work of expelling
the French armies from German soil. Such were the
conditions in the fall of 1689. The German troops
wintered in the Palatinate, although that country had
been made almost inhabitable by the ravages of the
French armies. The French remained in Alsace and
Lorraine during the winter. When spring opened
the war in the Palatinate was renewed with still
greater ferocity on the part of the French. Here let
the impartial French chronicler again tell the story:
Louvois was not yet satiated with devastation.
After the loss of Mayence, he would have gladly in
flicted the fate of Worms and Speyer on a much more
illustrious city. He proposed to the king to bum
Treves, Louis when the question had arisen of anni
hilating the towns on the Rhine, was at first facinated
by the kind of terrible grandeur that such a destruct
ion of power manifests ; but the remorse was not slow
to awaken in his soul ; he recoiled before the new out
rage. Louvois warmly repulsed, returned to the
charge. Some days afterwards he audaciously de-

32 The Story of the

/

clared to Louis, that he had taken the responsibility
on himself and had sent the order. The king trans
ported with rage, raised his hand against the minister.
Madame Maintenon threw herself between the two ;
Louis commanded Louvois to hasten to countermand
the order, or his head should answer for a single
house burned. The order had not gone ; Louvois had
sought to compel assent of the king by announcing
the thing done.
It would seem therefore that the enormity of the
crimes committed by his soldiers was at last beginning
to make an impression on his cruel heart. The follow
ing year, in 1690, the war along the Rhine was re
newed, and carried on with varying success. The
ravages of the French soldiers continued, wherever
there was anything left to ravage and destroy. New
horrors continued to be enacted. Heidelberg was
again sacked in 1693, and once more given up to the
flames. This time the entire population was expelled,
and the people left without clothing or provisions.
There was no letting up of these outrages by the
French until the year 1697, when peace came with
the Treaty of Ryswick in September of that year, to
which France, England, Spain, the Netherlands, and
Germany were parties.
From this time on, the Palatinate ceased to be the
special object of vengeance of the French, but it con-

Pennsylvania Germans. 33
tinned to be the battlefleld of other European wars.
It will be seen how difficult it was for the Palatines
to repair the ruin wrought by the soldiers of Louis
XIV, The Palatines despaired of being ever freed
from the horrors of war, or the tramp of invading
armies. They began to look for homes elsewhere.
Many of them had scattered to other parts of Ger
many ; some went beyond, and sought homes in Hol
land, and in other parts of Europe, The new prov
ince of William Penn was brought to the attention of
the troubled Palatines, and it was not long before the
exodus across the sea began. The wars which still
continued to ravage the Palatinate, stimulated the
emigration to America,
The war of the Spanish succession broke out in
1701, and continued until the peace of Utrecht in
1713, During the continuance of that war the Pal
atinate was repeatedly overrun by hostile armies, and
the land laid waste. It was during those years, that
the emigration from the Palatinate to Penn's province
began in earnest, and bv the end of the war many
thousands had found new homes in Pennsylvania,
who formed a nucleus around which many thousands
more gathered in the coming years. (B)

34 The Story of the
In 1715 Louis XIV. died. Frenchmen have em
balmed the memory of this great butcher as " Le
Grande Monarch," but the rest of the world execrates
Ms memory, for the crimes of his soldiers in the Pal
atinate, perpetrated by his approval. He was suc
ceeded by Louis XV,, who in turn plunged France
mto a new war with Saxony, Russia and Austria. In
1740 a general European war began, which involved
the Austrian succession. It continued for eight years,
when it came to an end with the Treaty of Aix-la-
Chapelle, In 1750 war broke outbetweenPrussiaand
Austria, which involved England and France, Dur-
mg all these wars, the Palatinate furnished their
camping grounds and battlefields. No sooner had the
people started to repair the ruin made by hostile
armies, than their fields were again laid waste by a
new war.
We now understand what the causes were which
fed to the great exodus of German Palatines to Amer-
iiea. Life in their own country became intolerable
and Penn's province offered them an asylum.

CHAPTER IV.
THE PSOVINCE OP PENNSYLVANIA.
Penn's Grant. — ^Its Extent. — Penn visits His Prov
ince. — Makes Laws for its Government. — Prior
Explorations of the Dutch, — Dutch and Swedish
Settlements, — First White People who set Foot
on Pennsylvania Soil, — Colony passes under
Engh'sh Control.
There is a pretty well authenticated account of
three European travelers, who in 1614 started from
some point on the Mohawk river, not far from Al
bany, N. T., thence proceeded up the Mohawk valley
a distance of about thirty miles, after which they
changed to a southerly course, through an unbroken
forest, to the headwaters of the Delaware river, and
thence following down the course of that stream a dis
tance of nearly three hundred and fifty miles, through
(35)

36 The Story of the
a trackless vnldemess to Delaware Bay. Those trav
elers are believed to have been the first white men
that ever set foot on the soil of the present State of
Pennsylvania. It is recorded that Cornelius Hend-
rickson, in command of one of the vessels of the West
India Company, while exploring the country along
the Delaware river, met those three men the following
year, some distance below where the city of Philadel
phia now stands, Hendrickson's vessel was the first
one that had ascended the Delaware river as far
north as Pennsylvania up to that time, -although Hen-
drik Hudson, engaged in the Dutch service, had as
early as 1609 ascended the waters of the Delaware as
far as the state of that name.
The Dutch immediately upon the reports of the
explorations of Hudson and Hendrickson, laid claim
to their discoveries, and dispatched vessels to America
with officers who were instructed to establish sover
eignty, over the new possessions in the name of the
Dutch government. Attempts to colonize the new
possessions were also made simultaneously, which
were attended vsdth some success. The civil authority
over the colonies on the Delaware was thereafter ex
ercised by the Dutch, whose chief seat of government
was at New Amsterdam (New Tork). There were

Pennsylvania Germans. 37
but few accessions to the settlements for a long time,
until in 1638 when a company of Swedes, including
some Finns arrived, and established themselves per
manently among the Dutch, after which the colony
was alternately ruled by the Dutch and Swedes, until
1655 when the Dutch authorities came over from
New Amsterdam, and took possession of the Swedish
settlement, as well as the settlements made by the
Dutch, In 1664 the English captured New Amster
dam, when the colonies on the Delaware passed under
their control. Subsequently, in 1674 the Dutch re
captured their American colonies, and after holding
them for a short time, they were again transferred to
English rule ; after that the colonies on the Delaware
within the present limits of Pennsylvania, continued
to be ruled over by the English, until the proprietary
government was established under William Penn.
In 1681 the British government made a grant to
William Penn of a " tract of land in America lying
north of Maryland ; on the east bounded by the Del
aware river ; on the west limited as Maryland, and
northward to extend as far as plantable." Such were
the boundaries of Pennsylvania as defined by the
charter of Charles II. of England to William Penn in
1681. The grant to Penn was made in liquidation of

38 The Story of the
a claim of his father against the government, of six
teen thousand pounds, to which he fell heir, after his
father's death.
In 1682 Penn visited his province, remaining
nearly two years, during which time he instituted a
government for its regulation ; planned the city of
Philadelphia, and laid the foundation of a future
mighty commonwealth. He estabhshed a civil con
stitution, and formulated a code of laws, which guar
anteed civil and religious freedom to every inhabitant
within the limits of his province. Some of the most
beneficient features of Penn's code are still preserved,
in the Declaration of Rights in the present Constitu
tion of Pennsylvania,
After Penn had laid the foundation of civil gov-
ermnent for his province, he put forward schemes for
its colonization. One of his first acts was a treaty
with the Indians, whom he recognized as the rightful
owners of the soil. He did not pretend to make any
title to lands before he procured the relinquishment
of the Indian title by treaty and purchase. The
treaties made by Penn with the Indians were sacredly
kept by hiin, and they stand out in honorable relief,
when contrasted with a century of violated treaties,
broken promises, and bad faith of the United States

Pennsylvania Germans. 39
Government, in its dealings with the various Indian
tribes. After Penn had acquired honest title to the In
dian lands, he offered them for sale in blocks of 5,000
acres for 100 pounds. This was at the rate of ten
cents an acre reckoned at the present value of money,
for the choicest land in Pennsylvania, Persons who
brought servants with them on coming here, were en
titled to 50 acres for each servant, and after the ex
piration of their term of service, the latter were also
entitled to 50 acres of land. Such as desired to rent
land, were charged one penny per annum for each
acre rented. Such liberal terms upon which to
acquire land, gave a great stimulus to emigration, and
it was not long before the great stream of humanity
from the old world, began to flow into Pennsylvania
at a rapid rate, and continued to flow with little abate
ment for upwards of three-quarters of a century.

CHAPTER V.
GERMAN EMIGRATION TO PENNSYLVANIA.
German Quakers arrive. — They found German-
town. — Penn's Return to England. — Visits
the Palatinate, — William III, Dies. — Queen
Anne ascends the Throne. — Her sympathies
with the persecuted Palatines. — Tide of Emi
gration from the Palatinate begins to flow
toward Pennsylvania. — Queen Anne's Liberal
ity. — Emigrants sold for the Cost of their Pas
sage. — Known as Redemptioners. — Terms of
their Sale. — German Hostility to Proprietors.
It has already been seen how all the conditions were
ripe for a speedy settlement of Penn's province. The
same year in which Penn arrived, there was quite an
accession to the few settlers who had preceded him-
The next two years about flfty vessels arrived bring
ing settlers from England, a few from Holland, and
German Quakers from the Palatinate, who founded
Germantown, After Penn returned to England from his first
(40)

Pennsylvania Germans. 41
visit to his province, he visited Germany and there
proclaimed to the persecuted Palatines, the great
opportunities awaiting those who would emigrate to
the land of promise in America. This was Penn's
third visit to the Palatines ; his first visit having been
made in 1671, when he was on a religious pilgrimage,
preaching the tenets of the Quakers, whose society as
a religious sect had been recently founded. He again
visited Germany in 1677 on a similar mission making
many converts, with whom he continued in commun
ication subsequently to his visits. Penn was a pro
ficient German scholar ; spoke the German language
fluently, and his preaching to the Germans, and his
intercourse with them was in their own tongue, so
that he had no difficulty in cultivating the most inti
mate personal relations with them. The German
converts to Quakerism had learned to honor and trust
Penn ; so that when he came among them on his
third visit to proclaim to them, and their kinsmen in
the Palatinate, his province in Pennsylvania, where
he had already established civil and religious liberty,
they did not hesitate long to exchange their desolate
homes in the land where their ancestors for more than
a hundred years, had been the victims of the fiercest
religious and political persecution, that was ever in-

42 The Story of the
flicted on any people in the world's history. The
offer of an asylum in Penn's province came at an
opportune time. The Palatines were longing for
some spot on earth, where they could go and Hve in
peace, freed from their cruel oppressors. Penn
pointed to his province in America, as the solution of
the problem which confronted them. He wanted
colonists, and the Palatines wanted to leave their des
olate and ruined homes, in the land of their birth.
Under such circumstances the start of the emigration
from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania was easy. The
first emigration began while William III, was king
of England, We have already learned how his sym
pathies went out to his suffering Protestant brethren
in the Palatinate, when he came to their rescue, while
they were struggling against the barbarities of the
French king. He died in 1702, when Queen Anne
succeeded him, Anne was a zealous Protestant, and
inherited William's sympathies for the persecuted
Palatines. Her sympathies in this respect, were no
doubt emphasized by the fact that her cousin, Freder
ick V. was at that time the ruling Prince Palatine.
For these and other reasons the Palatines became the
subjects of special consideration of the EngUsh sov
ereign. Queen Anne evinced the most tender regard

Pennsylvania Germans. 43
for them, and when the tide of emigration from the
Palatinate had set fairly in, the generous Queen
assisted numerous Palatines to America, from her own
bounty, some of whom no doubt came to Pennsylva
nia. The memory of Queen Anne deserves to be
gratpfuUy cherished by Pennsylvania Germans by
reason of the generosity bestowed by her upon their
persecuted kinsmen.
Other causes operated to stimulate the German
emigration to Pennsylvania during the first half of
the eighteenth century. Interested parties who had
visited the colonies, returned to their homes in
Europe, and gave the most glowing and exaggerated
accounts of the newly found paradise, so that many
who had. been living in comfort at home, disposed of
their effects, often at a sacrifice, and rushed to the
nearest seaport, and embarked for America, fre
quently to regret it. Many who had no money to
pay for their passage, were carried by masters of ves
sels, who depended for their compensation for trans
porting them across the ocean, on their chances of sell
ing them, for the price of their passage to some pur
chaser for a term of years. Many Palatines, some
Dutch, and a few of other nationalities found their
way to America, and to Pennsylvania by those means.

44 The Story of the
After such immigrants had redeemed their freedom
by honest service, many frequently remained with
their masters for a while longer, until they were able
to set up for themselves. It was not an unusual
occurence for the servant after he had served his
term, to marry his master's daughter. Some of these
servants however would gain their freedom some
times, by running away from their masters.
This species of servitude, and the selling of emi
grants for their passage had not a few of the features
about it, of involuntary chattel slavery, and it was
characterized at the time as the " German Slave
Trade," There were agents in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and
probably other European seaports, who made it a bus
iness to entice people to go to America, with the
promise of having their passage paid, and employ
ment given them on their arrival. Those immigrants
were known officially as "Redemptioners," and their
term of service depended on the value of their ser
vices, in the particular occupation in which they were
employed. A skillful workman usually gained his
freedom in three years, while others were compelled
to serve six or seven years. Children continued in
this involuntary service usually until 21 years of age.

Pennsylvania Germans. 45
The Rev. H, M, Muhlenberg in the "Hallischen
Nachrichten," gives an account of the manner in
which this traffic was conducted. A vessel that had
been long expected, arrived in the harbor of Philadel
phia in mid-winter, and after it had anchored in the
stream, one after another of the intending purchasers
went on board, and examined the list of human
freight, and the terms upon which each soul could be
bought, which list was furnished the master of the
vessel at the port in Holland whence he sailed. The
list set forth the price of each emigrant's passage, and
other incidental expenses in bringing him here.
In the earlier days the price of passage, for each
adult was. from 6 to 10 Louis d'or, (a French gold coin
worth 20 shillings) ; but at the time of which Muhlen
berg ¦wrote, the price had advanced to 14 and 17 Louis
d'or, for each person. Before the vessel could anchor
in front of the city, it was visited by a doctor to ascer
tain whether there was any contagious disease on
board, after which the immigrants were all marched
to the Land Ofiice, where they were made to take the
oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain. They
were then taken back to the ship, where they were
kept under restraint, until publication could be made
of the arrival of the vessel, and the number of passen-

46 The Story of the
gers that were for sale to pay for their passage and
other charges. When the time for the sale arrived,
the purchasers were on hand. The latter went among
the newcomers, looked them carefully over, and when
one was found that suited the purchaser, he took him
to the seller, paid the charges, and then took him to
the Government office, where he bound himself in
writing to serve for a specified term.
The young people of both sexes, were the first to
go ; old people, and those physically defective were
difficult to dispose of. If however they had healthy
children, their passage was added to that of the chil
dren. The latter found ready purchasers, but had to
serve long terms by reason of the additional cost.
The parents were then set at liberty. If any of the
newcomers had friends to pay for their passage, they
also were give their freeedom.
It sometimes happened that a master had no
longer use for a servant purchased by him, or that he
was unsuitable for the needs of the master, in which
case the redemptioner was advertised for sale for the
remainder of the original term of service.
In the " Pennsylvania Staatsbote " of Aug. 4,
1766, appeared the following: "A German female
servant is for sale. She has five years to serve." In

Pennsylvania Germans. 47
the Pennsylvania Gazette in June, 1762 appeared the
following advertisement: "To be sold. A likely
servant woman, having three years to serve. She is
a good spinner,"
In the Pennsylvania Staatsbote of December 14,
1773 is found: "To be sold, A Dutch apprentice
lad, who has five years and three months to serve ;
he has been brought up to the tailor's business. Can
work well,"
Occasionally these servants were put up at public
auction, and knocked down to the highest bidder. In
Christoph Sauer's newspaper, published at German-
town of date of February 10, 1754 appeared the fol
lowing adAJ^ertisement : "Rosina Dorothea Kost, nee
Kaufmaun, bom in Waldenberg, who arrived at
Patapsco, November 12, 1753, desires to let her
brother-in-law, one Spohr of Conestoga know through
the medium of this paper of her sale at public ven
due," Rosina evidently hoped that her brother-in-law
would come forward, and redeem her, if the fore
going notice should be brought to his attention. It
is hoped that he may have done so.
The sale of children of old and decrepid parents,
often worked great wrongs. It not infrequently sep-

48 The Story of the
arated children from their parents, who never saw them
again, because they became scattered among
strangers, and people of different nationality from
themselves, speaking a different language. For a
people in whom the sentiment of the home, and fam
ily is as strong as it is with the Germans, this was an
almost unbearable cruelty.
The system of selling immigrants for the cost of
their passage, only came to an end after a vigorous
protest was made against it, in which some of the re
ligious sects led, notably the Mennonites, They
scattered the intelligence of the horrors of the "Ger
man Slave Trade," throughout the European seaport
towns, whence most of the emigrants sailed for the
American colonies. The Palatine elector, Karl The
odore, also drove the unscrupulous agents of the mas
ters of vessels, who were engaged in recruiting emi
grants, out of the Palatinate.
The owners of vessels found the business of trans
porting emigrants to the colonies in America, to be
sold for their passage a profitable one, but for the
unfortunate victims of the system it must have pos
sessed little romance. The fate of the so-called re
demptioners did not differ very materially from that
of any other system of involuntary serfdom, except-

Pennsylvania Germans. 49
that the term of their servitude was limited, and was
self-imposed. While the system of selling emigrants for the cost
of their passage was profitable for ship-owners, the
cupidity of the latter often got the better of their
business judgment, by overcrowding their vessels to
such an extent, that many passengers died on the
voyage in consequence of sickness, and disease break
ing out among them, as a result of bad food, and
worse sanitary conditions. It has been said of one
small vessel that left a Dutch port, with 400 passen
gers, that arrived at Philadelphia with only 50 of
them alive. An ocean voyage in those days was an
undertaldng to be dreaded under the most favorable
conditions possible ; but the emigrant ships were hor
rible to make the long and tedious voyage in. One
chronicler denominated them as " destroying angels,"
and judging from the mortalities on them, they were
properly designated. The emigrants were packed in
between decks, where they were deprived of all pure
air, so that after a long voyage of many weeks and
often of many months, their quarters became a scene
of filth, horror, and lamentations. It has been stated
that in the year 1738 not less than 2000 passengers
died while crossing the ocean.

50 The Story of the
Those who sailed ships in those days were cruel
taskmasters. An emigrant was of very little account,
beyond the price for which he could be sold H
brought alive to some port in the colonies. Beyond
that the masters of ships had no interest in them.
Those who were able to pay for their passage in ad
vance, received even less consideration from those
who sailed ships, than those whose passage depended
on their sale upon their arrival in America, because
no further pecuniary advantage could be derived
from the former, while the compensation for trans
porting the latter across the ocean, depended upon
bringing them alive and well into some American
port, while it did not matter to the ship-owners,
whether or not the former arrived alive or not. As a
matter of fact, the ship-owners were in pocket, if the
emigrant who paid for his passage in advance, died
early during the voyage.
In 1765 the Provincial Assembly was appealed to,
for the purpose of interesting it in providing legisla
tion, which would result in mitigating the horrors of
a sea voyage in an emigrant ship. There was slight
improvement after that, but it was not until as late aa
1818, when the Legislature of Pennsylvania enacted
more stringent laws regulating the importation of

Pennsylvania Germans. 51
German and other emigrants, that any practical im
provement was brought about.
With regard to the so-called redemptioners, they
were not less esteemed than their more fortunate
countrymen, who were able to pay for their passage
to America, and with very few exceptions, they be
came useful and substantial citizens ; and many of
their descendants in these days are filling honorable
stations in every walk of life.
We have seen on what liberal terms colonists were
invited to the province of Pennsylvania by its
founder; but those liberal terms were afterwards re
stricted, when a change of proprietors came. Wil
liam Penn died July 30, 1718, and his three sons,
Thomas, Richard, and John succeeded him as his
heirs, and assumed control of affairs. After that the
lands were surveyed, and settlers were expected to
pay liberally for the land upon which they had set
tled, but the newcomers were ignorant of the new con
ditions, and relied on the earlier promises, so that
upon their arrival, they paid little attention to the
new mode of procedure to obtain land, but merely
went in search of some favorable location ; settled
thereon, and proceeded to make the necessary im-

62 The Story of the
provements. Their disregard of the new regulations
to obtain land, brought them in collision with the
agents of the proprietory government.
The Idndly regard which Penn had for his early
German colonists, was now succeeded by the indigna
tion of the agents of the new proprietors. James
Logan the Colonial Secretary, wrote in 1725 concern
ing the great influx of German emigrants, and their
unscrupulousness about complying with the rules of
the Land Office, in the following ill-tempered strain:
" They come here in crowds, and as bold indigent
strangers from Germany, where many of them have
been soldiers. All these go on the best vacant lands,
and seize upon them as common spoil." Logan com
plained that they rarely approached him on their ar
rival for the purpose of purchasing land, and when
their right to occupy it was challenged, they sought
to justify their action, by stating that it had been
published in Europe, that colonists were wanted, and
that they had been solicited to come ; and came in
pursuance of those representations, without bringing
with them the means with which to pay for any land.
The new proprietors who succeeded the benevo
lent and pacific Penn, were governed by wholly dif
ferent motives, from those that controlled him. In-

Pennsylvania Germans. 53
stead of seeking the welfare of their fellow men, the
first consideration with them was the promotion of
their own personal interests. It may be said how
ever to their credit, that they did not molest, or try
to dispossess any of the newcomers, who had settled
on land in violation of the regulations of the land
office. More pacific counsels prevailed, and by skill
ful diplomacy on the part of the proprietors they suc
ceeded after a few years, to get a settlement out of the
newcomers for the land occupied by them, after they
had accunialatcd enough money for that purpose.
The great tide of German immigration to Penn
sylvania continued for many years. A few came
near the close of the seventeenth century, but with
the early years of the eighteenth it began in earnest,
and continued for three quarters of a century. By
the time of the Revolution their numerical strength,
made them a powerful factor in determining Penn
sylvania on the side of independence.
Authorities differ with regard to the number of
Germans in Pennsylvania prior to the Revolution.
The late Prof. Haldeman, in his " Pennsylvanisch
Deitsch," places their number in 1763 at 280,000. The
natural increase for the next ten years without any in
crease by immigration, — which however still con-

54 The Story of the
tinned during that period, — would make their num
bers in excess of 300,000 immediately prior to the
Revolution. Against these figures we have the esti
mate of 0. D. Ebeling, a German geographer who
contributed the accounts of America, in " Busching's
Erdbeschreibung," who makes their number in 1790
only 144,660, While the figures given by Prof,
Haldeman may be too high, those by Ebehng are
manifestly too low. It is quite likely that the true
figures are somewhere between the two. The popu
lation of Pennsylvania in 1752 has been flxed at 190,-
000, of which 90,000 or nearlv one-half were esti
mated to have been Germans. Adding to those the
natural increase, and the number of Germans arriv
ing during the succeeding 25 years, as gathered from
the reports of masters of vessels, it would seem as if
the statement was warranted, that the number of Ger
mans in Pennsylvania immediately preceding the
Revolution numbered not less than 200,000. Gov
ernor Thomas the proprietary Governor places them
in 1747 at 120,000,
During the period of the largest emigration from
the Palatinate, which was from about 1730, to 1750,
a period of twenty years, the ships crossing the Atlan
tic, "plied between Rotterdam and Philadelphia with
almost the regularity of a ferry,"

Pennsylvania Germans. 55
Rotterdam was the chief port from which the emi
grants embarked, and the shipping and other re
sources, to transport the people across the Atlantic
were overtaxed to such an extent, that those under
whose direction the business was conducted, sought
to discourage emigTation by various expedients,
among which was the circulation of the most horrible
accounts about the hardships and sufferings of the em
igrants on the voyage across the ocean. The follow
ing is a specimen of the distressing tales circulated to
turn back the tide of Palatines, heading for the land
of promise in Pennsylvania:
" We learn from New Tork that a ship from Rot
terdam, going to Philadelphia, with one hundred and
fifty Palatines on board wandered twenty weeks at
sea. When they finally arrived at port they were
nearly all dead. The rest were forced to subsist on
rats and vermin, and were all sick and weak."
Even this horrible tale of suffering at sea, had no
effect to deter people from undertaking the voyage,
so they continued to come as fast as ever. It may be
stated that the foregoing tale was only a slight exag
geration of the real truth, of the hardships of an ocean
voyage on an emigrant ship in those days.
Notwithstanding the apprehension felt at one

56 The Story of the
time, about the danger of the large German immigra
tion in Pennsylvania to British ascendency in the
colony. Lieutenant Governor Thomas in 1738, when
appealed to, regarding some restrictions against the
continued large German immigration, opposed any
such measure, and gave the following substantial
reasons for refusing to give his sanction to any scheme
looking to a restriction of immigration:
" This Province has been for some years the
Asylum of the distressed Protestants of the Palati
nate, and other parts of Germany, and I beheve it
may with truth be said, that the present flourishing
condition of it is in a great measure owing to the in
dustry of those People ; and should any discourage
ment direct them from coming hither, it may well be
apprehended that the value of your Lands vnll fall,
and your advance to wealth be much slower."
This appeal of the Governor, to the cupidity of
the English members of the provincial council had
the desired effect, and no further efforts were made
to put any restriction on the immigration of German
Palatines. The German settlers occupied all the counties
south and east of the Blue Mountain, except Chester
and the lower end of Bucks ; Delaware not being
then organized. Philadelphia contained very many

Pennsylvania Germans. . 57
of them, and constituted an important element in
commercial and political concerns. In later years
they spread to the counties beyond the Blue Moun
tain, where their descendants still live.
The German Palatines were excellent judges of
the soil. They came from a fertile region in their
native land, the soil of which was in many respects
einjilar to that of the limestone valleys of Pennsyl
vania. The chief occupation of the ancient Upper
Rhine provinces was in those days, and still remains
that of farming. In the valleys of the Rhine and
Neckar, the cereals of oats, rye, wheat, etc., are still
grown abundantly, while the hillsides are covered
with vineyards.
When the Palatines came to Pennsylvania they
instinctively seized on the fertile lands in the lime
stone valleys, leaving the less fertile, hilly, and moun
tainous regions to others that came after them. The
lands settled up(m by the Germans were heavily tim
bered, and it required severe toil to shape them into
farms, but they preferred them to the more open and
sparsely timbered lands, because the latter were less
fertile, though susceptible to be made into farms at
much less expense of labor, and of money.
The wisdom of the Germans in the selection of

68

The Story of the

lands is seen at this day, in the magnificent farms oc
cupied by their descendants everywhere in the fertile
valleys of Southeastern Pennsylvania. It is not be
heved that there is a region of country anywhere on
the globe of equal extent, that possesses greater agri
cultural wealth; such well-tilled fields; palatial farm
houses; immense bams; picturesque and varied scen
ery, and a more contented pastoral Hfe, as is the in
heritance of the Pensylvania German farmers.

CHAPTER VL
GERMAN' IMMIGRANTS IN SOME OF THE OTHER AMERICAN
COLONIES.
Grant of Maryland to Cecilius Calvert. — Maryland
designed as a Refuge for Catholics. — Puritan
aggression. — Religious Freedom Proclaimed. —
German immigration in the Province. — ^Mary
land Germans in the Revolution. — Germans
settle in Virginia. — In the Shenandoah Val
ley. — -Also in North Carolina. — A Colony
of Swiss and Palatines found New Bern. — Graf-
fenried's Adventure with Indians. — The Indians
burn Lawson at the Stake. — "King" of the
Palatines. — War between the English and In
dians. — German Colony in South Carolina. —
Purrysburg founded by Them. — Large German
Settlement on Edisto River. — Saxe-Gotha. —
An Imposter. — Executed for Murder. — Salz-
burgers Emigrate to Georgia. — Germans in
other States. — Palatines settle in Ireland.
New Tork received a large German immigration
at an early day. The influences which operated to
send many Palatines to Pennsylvania, were exerted
(59)

60 The Story of the
in favor of New Tork to a very great extent. The
British government was anxious to colonize that prov
ince, and when the great flood of emigration from the
Palatinate began to set in, much of it was diverted to
NcAv Tork, through the influence of the English.
The latter in numerous instances furnished the means
to transport such as desired to emigrate. In that way
New Tork received many thousands of German im
migrants, most of whom came from the Rhine prov
inces, and settled along the Hudson river, and in the
MohaAvk valley. A German colony also settled in
Schoharie county. The flrst German immigrants
went to New Tork in 1710, and others came after
wards. The Schoharie colony became disintegrated
a few years after its settlement, on account of difficul
ties with the local authorities, when many of them
left NcAv Tork under the lead of John Conrad Weiser
and his son Conrad, and settled in Pennsylvania.
After the Weisers had led their colony to Peim-
sylvania, the emigTation to the province of New Tork
came very nearly to an end. The Schoharie colonists
who came to Pennsylvania, wrote to their relatives
and countrymen in the Palatinate, that they had at
last found an asylum where they could rest in peace,
and be secure in their rights, and advised all who con-

Pennsylvania Germans. 61
templated emigrating to America to avoid New Tork,
and come to Pennsylvania. Many who started from
their homes in the Palatinate after that, vrith the in
tention of going to Pennsylvania, were diverted from
their plans, and forced on ships bound for New Tork ;
but they were no sooner landed than " they hastened
to Pennsylvania in sight of all the inhabitants of New
Tork." The names of many toAvns in New Tork attest
their German origin, such as Newburg, Rhinebeck,
New Pfalz, Palatine Bridge, Herkimer (Hercheimer),
named for General Herkimer, a distinguished soldier
of the State of New Tork, and numerous other names.
NEW JERSEY,
New Jersey being situated between New Tork
and Pennsylvania, necessarily profited by the immi
gration in the adjacent States, although there does not
seem to have been that concerted effort to attract Ger
man emigrants to it, as there was made on behalf of
the New Tork and Pennsylvania colonies, yet the
State was continually receiving numerous accessions
of German settlers. German Valley in what is now
Morris county, was settled by them in consequence
of an untoward event, A shipload of German emi-

62 The Story of the
grants sailed from a European port bound for New
Tork, but adverse Avinds drove the ship out of its
course, and when it finally reached American waters,
found it most convenient to enter the port of Phila
delphia, whence its passengers disembarked, and
sought to make their way to New Tork overland,
across the State of New Jersey, Their course led
them into a beautiful valley, where they halted and
made a permanent settlement, whence came the name,
German Valley, MARYLAND,
In 1632 the province of Maryland was granted to
Cecilius Calvert by Charles I, Calvert was a Roman
Catholic, and it was designed by him, to make his
province a refuge for his co-religionists, without mak
ing it a distinct Catholic colony. In 1663, 200 Cath
olic colonists arrived in Maryland and made a perma
nent settlement. Soon thereafter a number of Puri
tans came and settled among them, who soon created
strife by trying to enforce their pecuhar tenets and
practices upon their Catholic neighbors, which re
sulted in making things very uncomfortable for the
intolerant Puritans, so much so, that they moved out
of Maryland into Virginia,

Pennsylvania Germans. 63
Religious freedom was proclaimed in Maryland
by the authorities, after which Quakers, German
Lutherans, and other sects emigrated thither and
made permanent settlements. Considerable num
bers of German emigrants sailed direct from foreign
ports to Maryland ; many went there from New Tork
where they had become dissatisfied Avith English rule,
while Pennsylvania furnished a good many, and a
few came from New England.
The Germans occupied certain parts of Maryland
in the early days, to the exclusion almost of people
of every other nationality. About the middle of the
previous century, the larger part of the population
of Frederick county, was either German or of Ger
man parentage. Like their kin in Pennsylvania
those Germans continued the almost exclusive use of
their native dialect for a long period after their settle
ment in Frederick county, and until a comparatively
recent period, all religious services were conducted
by them in the German language. At the outbreak
of the Revolution, Maryland sent a German regiment
of infantry in the field, and also a German company
of artillery, besides numerous Germans enlisted* in
other organizations.

64 The Story of the
VIRGINIA.
Virginia began to receive Germans from the Pal
atinate, and from other parts of Germany as early as
1743. In that year a vessel arrived at Hampton
Roads, which had sailed from a Holland port with
200 passengers on board, 100 of whom died on the
voyage. Many SavIss were among the early settlers
in Virginia. Germans from Pennsylvania also set
tled in Virginia during different periods, chiefly in
the Shenandoah valley, NORTH CAROLINA,
In 1719 at a time when the German Palatines
were rushing to America, a large number of them
were in London, awaiting assistance to enable them
to take passage to some one of the American colonies.
There was in London at that time a Swiss gentleman
by the name of Christoph Graffenried, He met
there one Louis Michel also a Swiss, who had spent
some time in America, and was familiar with the
country's needs, and also its possibilities for colonists.
The two conceived the idea of founding a colony of
Swiss and Germans in America, and for that purpose
secured a tract of land in North Carolina, between

Pennsylvania Germans. 65
the Neuse and Cape Fear rivers, Avith the understand
ing that after they had paid for 5000 acres, they
should obtain title to 100,000,
Soon thereafter two vessels Avith 650 Palatines
and Swiss on board, were dispatched to North Caro
lina, where they arrived in December 1710 ; and they
founded Newbem.
The foUoAving year the Tuscarora Indians began
to make war against the English, and whites gener
ally. Before the settlers had any intelligence of the
designs of the Indians, Graffenried who came to
North Carolina with the Swiss and Palatine colonists,
started off on one occasion, with a land surveyor
named Lawson, and a negro servant, to ascend the
river Neuse in a boat to explore the country. They
did not dream of any unfriendUness on the part of
the Indians, so in the evening they tied their boat up
near an Indian village, intending to spend the night
with their savage neighbors. They found the Indians
in a morose mood, manifesting none of their usual good
will. Graff enried's suspicions that their manner boded
trouble, was increased, when he saw a large quantity
of arms and ammunition provided by the Indians.
He started away from the village with his compan
ions, with the intention of ascending higher up the
(5)

-66 The Story of the
stream, but after they had reached their boat and
-were about entering it, they were surrounded by
about 60 armed Indians, who took them back to the
village, and brought them before the chief, who or
dered that they should be kept under strict guard
until the next day, when they were brought before a
council to consider the question, as to what disposition
should be made of them. The foUoAving evening,
they were taken before the council, the dehberations
'of Avhich lasted until the following morning, when an
Indian made his appearance, vsdth whom Lawson had
«ome time previous a difficulty, and from whom the
Indian did not get very good treatment. The Indian
informed the council, that the whites had conspired
in secret to destroy them ; this so angered the sav
ages, that they immediately condemned Graffenried
and his two companions to death. The next day
they were taken to the place of execution, where they
were bound hand and foot, and left lie on the
ground. The Indians kindled a big fio-e, erected a
cross which they decorated Avith flowers. In the
painful position in which Graffenried and his com
panions had been placed, they remained all day and
the following night. With sunrise the next morn
ing, a multitude of Indians assembled, to Avitness the

Pennsylvania Germ,ans. 67
final act of the tragedy. An armed guard stood over
the condemned during all that time. The principal
Indians sat about them in a circle of two rows ; be
hind them were about 300 Indians engaged in
dancing, and yelling hke so many deAdls possessed.
Two executioners were detailed to carry out the de
cree of the coxmcil, who were painted so as to make
as hideous an appearance as possible. In this ex
tremity, a thought occurred to Graffenried. He
turned to the principal chief, and asked what right
they had to condemn an innocent man, and whether
they were AvilKng to hazard the execution of a king ;
pretending that he was the king of the Palatines,
This ruse served its purpose, for a second council was
held ; Graffenried's fetters were unloosened, but
Lawson and the negro servant both suffered death at
the stake.
Graffenried was kept in confinement for five
weeks longer, when he was released, upon his enter
ing into a compact Avith the Indians, that in the event
of war between them and the Enghsh, that he would
remain neutral as "king" of the Palatines, and would
discontinue measuring and appropriating their lands.
In the war which followed, the SavIss and Palatine
settlers, who were both knoAvn under the name of Pal-

68 The Story of the
atines, remained neutral, and Newbem was saved
from harm. The details of the foregoing account of
Graft'enried's adventure is based on a letter written by
him to the governor of the province, soon after its
occurrence. After the war between the Tuscaroras and the In
dians, many other Palatines settled in North Caro
lina ; the names of whose descendants abound num
erously in that state at the present day,
SOUTH CAROLINA,
It is not knoAvn when the Germans first came to
South Carolina, but it is known that in 1734 a num
ber of emigrants from Salzburg arrived at Charleston
and settled in the province, and about the same time
170 Swiss emigrants also arrived at Charleston under
the lead of Johann Peter Purry, and founded Purrys
burg on the Savannah river; the following year 200
additional SavIss arrived, and later a colony of SavIss
and Palatines made settlement in the neighborhood
of Orangeburg, which was founded about the same
time. Their settlement was on the Edisto river, and
the whole region on both sides of the stream in that
neighborhood was originally settled by Germans,
chiefly from the Palatinate, and SAvitzerland. Other

Pennsylvania Germans. 69
Germans from parts in Germany further north settled
in South Carolina, They founded a colony further
inland from Orangeburg, and called it Saxe-Gotha.
This became an important central point, from which
the German settlement spread, which continued to
gain large accessions until the Revolution.
In 1763 there came two ship loads of German em
igrants from London to Charleston. They were poor,
and the Colonial Legislature voted them 500 pounds,
200 muskets and ammunition, and settled them in the
Saxe-Gotha district. The Germans monopolized this
district, and continued to speak the German language
long after it had ceased to be spoken elsewhere in
South Carolina. A traveller who visited this dis-
tiict as late as 1850 Avrote, that German was no longer
spoken by the descendants of the early German set
tlers, but that the people retained their German
Bibles, hymn-books, and observed many of the cus
toms, festivals and holidays of their German ances
tors. There is said to have been a remote district in
South Carolina in the first half of the last century,
which had been settled by Germans, which had
scarcely any communication Avith the outside world ;

70 The Story of the
where the people were vdthout churches, or schools,
who had fallen into such dense ignorance, that they
were not far removed from a savage state. A Svriss
came among them named Weber, who represented
himself to be Je,sus Christ ; his Avif e the Virgin Mary,
and another Avho came with him, as the Holy Ghost.
This imposter hired a man to represent the devil, and
he went about making converts of many simple souls
who believed in him. He ordered that Satan be
bound in chains and placed in a great cavern which
existed in that neighborhood, which was accordingly
done. He finally decreed that Satan should be put
out of the world. The poor devil was placed in a
featherbed, and covered with pillows and bed clothes,
after vs-hich some of Weber's followers smothered
Satan to death. When the affair reached the knowl
edge of the authorities at Charleston, Weber was
arrested, tried for murder ; convicted and duly
hanged. His wife, children, and ignorant dupes
were pardoned by the Governor.

GEORGIA.
Very few Palatines, if any, went to Georgia direct
from Germany in the early days, although consider-

Pennsylvania Germans. 71
able numbers went there from some of the other col
onies. In 1739 a fierce religious persecution began in the
archbishopric of Salzburg. This persecution con
tinued for many years, during which time more than
30,000 Protestant Germans left the archbishopric,
and settled elsewhere. Some went to Prussia, some
to Holland, and others went to England, who soon
thereafter left for Georgia, where they settled perma
nently, and became a nucleus around which several
thousand of the persecuted Salzburgers afterwards
gathered. TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY.
Whatever German immigration went to the terri
tory now embraced in the foregoing named states in
the early days went to North Carolina and Virginia ;
Tennessee being taken from the first named state, and
Kentucky from the latter. After the Revolution,
and Tennessee and Kentucky were admitted as states,
each received large accessions of German population.
Many went to those states from Pennsylvania, Mary
land and Virginia. GERMAN PALATINES IN IRELAND.
About the years 1709-10, when many thousands

72 The Story of the
of Palatines abandoned their native land, to seek
homes elsewhere, the exodus assumed the nature, of
what would in these days be termed a "craze."
Thousands left their homes in the Palatinate, without
any well-defined idea where they would eventually
land. The first consideration with them was to get
away from their oppressors ; the question with regard
to their future was deemed of minor importance.
Under such circumstances 5,000, Germans from the
Palatinate found their way to England in the months
of May and June, 1709, which number was increased
by October to 13,000, comprising husbandmen,
tradesmen, artisans, schoolteachers, and clergymen.
Those emigrants all came to London, and when
the first lot arrived, they took the Londoners by sur
prise, for they came Avithout any notice of their com
ing, and the first intimation which the citizens of
London had concerning them was when they found
about 5,000, Palatine men, women, and children un
der tents in the suburbs of their city. They seemed
to be Avithout any definite plans for the future, beyond
the fact that they had been told in their OAvn country,
that settlers were wanted for the British colonies in
America, and in pursuance of those representations
they came to London, expecting that the British gov-

Pennsylvania Germans. 78
ernment would proAdde for them, England did take
care of them ; sheltering them about the city in empty
dwellings, warehouses, bams, and wherever vacant
places could be found. Good Queen Anne ordered
tents to be pitched on Blackheath for their accommo
dation, A large majority of those people were sent
to the British colonies in America,
Upon the petition of the Lord Lieutenant Gov
ernor of Ireland 3,800 of them were sent to Ireland
and settled in the county Limerick, in the proAdnce of
Munster, where many of their descendants are living
at this day, the most prosperous and well-to-do farmers
and tradesmen in Ireland.
The late Professor Rupp in his book of " The
Names of 30,000 German Immigrants," makes ref
erence to the settlement of those German Palatines in
Ireland, and states " that it is said " that some of
them still speak a German dialect. The author vis
ited the descendants of those people a few years ago,
but found no trace of any German dialect ; it has died
out long ago ; only the German names remain, some
of Avhich have become so changed in their spelhng, as
to make their German origin scarcely recognizable.
Many of those people have intermarried with the
Irish population, so that the present generation is

74 The Story of the
more Irish than German, Those people are still
spoken of as Palatines.
The migration of so many Palatines in the course
of a few months and their sudden appearance in Eng
land, furnishes one of the most interesting episodes in
the whole history of the German emigration from the
Palatinate. Their reception, treatment and their dis
position by the English Government, redounds much
to its credit, generosity, and humanity, most of which
was OAving to the kindly disposition toward those peo
ple of Queen Anne.
While there was no settled purpose in the mind of
the English authorities at first regarding the ultimate
disposition of those people, the first impulse however
was that they had to be provided for. The Palatines
themselves were without any fixed purpose, but were
inspired with the hope of eventually reaching Amer
ica. Some of the young men among them enlisted
in the British army ; others scattered throughout
rural England, while a considerable number of them
sought serAdce in London, and in some of the other
cities and towns of England. The great majority
however were disposed of in the way hereinbefore
stated. As proof of the magnanimity of the English peo-

Pennsylvania Germans. 75
pie in their treatment of their unfortunate guests,
Parliament, at the suggestion of the noble-minded
Queen voted £24,000 for those who elected to go to
Ireland, for transportation and subsistence. Those
that Avere sent to the American colonies also had their
transportation paid by the British government.
Among the foregoing mentioned Palatines, there
were about 1,500 German Catholics, which is evi
dence going to show, that it was not alone religious
persecution as has been often contended, that drove
those people from their homes in the Palatinate, but
that Protestant and Catholic alike left the devastated
land of their birth, to improve their material, rather
than their spiritual welfare.
Those in authority in England at that time were
not as tolerant of other people's rehgiousAdews as people
are in these days, and the government refused to send
those of the Catholic faith to the American colonies,
in consequence of which many of them renounced
their religion rather than return to their desolate and
raAdshed homes in the Palatinate, where such as were
tenacious of their faith were sent under passports of
the British government.

CHAPTER Vn,
THE QUAKERS, GERMANS, AND THE PROPRIETORS,
Quakers Emigrate to America. — Their Hostility to
the Proprietors after Perm. — Indian Outbreaks.
— Quakers refuse to bear Arms. — Defence of
their Oavu Homes left to non-Quakers. — Quak
ers oppose the Formation of a Militia. — Penn's
sons Forsake Quaker Faith. — Attitude of the
Germans. — Christoph Sauer's German News
paper. — Its Influence. — Controls the Germans,
— Their Influence is a menace to English Rule, —
Their Influence in PoUtics, — Sauer's partisan
Appeals to the Germans, — ^Asserts English in
tent to enslave Them, — ^English fear a German
Colony. — ^War between France and Great Brit
ain. — Efforts to stop German Emigration. —
Taxing Emigrants. — Fails to have any effect on
Emigration. — They continue to come.
During the first half of the eighteenth century,
the influence of the Quaker element predominated,
and it can scarcely be said that it was always exerted
for the best interests of the province after Penn died.
The German Quakers never cut much of a figure in
(76)

Pennsylvania Germans. 77
the affairs of the colony ; it was left to the English
Quakers to concern themselves about its domestic
affairs. I'he latter at their former home in England
owed their origin to a revolt against English religious
thought, in consequence of which they became the
subjects of much persecution. After many of them
had emigriited to Pennsylvania, Avhere they were as
sured of religious freedom, it was not long before they
arrayed themselves in opposition to the civil power.
The peace of the new province was often threat
ened by foes from Avithin and from without. The
wars between England and France frequently threat
ened the peace of all the colonies, and the Indians
were a menace to the settlers all the time. They
would start out on frequent raids, among the inhabi
tants, and would sometimes perpetrate cruel
massacres, against which it was of the highest import
ance to guard, by an efficient militia, the organization
of which the Quakers opposed to a man. The Indians
knew that the civil authorities could not rely on the
Quakers for any armed assistance, because they Avere
opposed to war, and the bearing of arms. This left
the defence of the colony to the non-Quaker popula
tion, and to the civil authorities to Avhich the Quakers
refused loyal support. The Quakers were an embar-

78 The Story of the
rassing influence in the Colonial Assembly, to which
they were frequently elected by the aid of the Ger
man votes, especially of those in Northampton
county. It has been said that the organization of this
county, was primarily, for the purpose of divorcing
the German vote from Quaker control, in behalf of
Avhose candidates it was usually cast, in obedience to
the influence of the Quakers of Philadelphia and
Bucks counties.
The Quaker opposition to the organization of a
militia, to protect the province against the Indians
and the French, who were making war on the border,
Avhile the defence of their OAvn homes was left to the
poorly armed non-Quakers, was such a perversion of
common sense and of justice, as to embitter all classes
against a people whose religious tenets could justify,
such rank injustice and selfishness. This attitude of
the reputed mild-mannered Quakers, brought them
into unfriendly relations Avith most of the other colo
nists in Pennsylvania, as well as into hostile colhsion
Avith the proprietary government. The Quakers had
not much respect for the sons of the original pro
prietor. Penn's sons were in control at this time, and
it is interesting to note, that none of them remained
in fellowship Avith the Quakers after their father's

Pennsylvania Germans. 79
death. After his death all the proprietary governors
were non-Quakers, and this fact no doubt, had the
tendency to increase the spirit of insubordination, of
the Quaker element against the civil authority.
For the sake of the truth of history, it must be re
marked, that the Germans who had not much affect
ion for English rule, too often took sides Avith the
Qu.akers in opposing the English, and thereby frus
trated designs of the lawful authorities, intended for
the general welfare.
In 1739 Christoph Saner began to publish a Ger
man newspaper at GermantoAvn, which gained a large
circulation among the Germans, and controlled their
political actions entirely, which was often in opposi
tion to the ruling class.
The Germans however when the security of the
province Avas threatened by the French, or the homes
of the settlers were menaced by their savage foes,
were always among the first to take up arms in de
fence of both ; while their Quaker neighbors not only
refused to take up arms, to defend the homes of the
colonists when threatened by hostile savages, but op
posed the creation of a militia for that purpose.
It is difficult to reconcile this attitude of the Quak
ers toAvards the civil authorities, and their refusal to

80 The Story of the
perform their obligations to the government which
was ever ready to protect them, with the duties of
good citizenship, which was one of the tenets of their
faith. Their disregard of some of the most important
civil obligations, seem to contradict- the teachings of
the sect, of a rigid morality, unbending personal in
tegrity, and living a simple and sincere hfe, of all of
which they were marked exemplars.
The Quakers Avere however, foremost in the work
of many reforms. They entered their protest early
against the infliction of the death penalty, for the
commission of minor offences such as larceny, etc.
The mild laws laid doAvn by Penn for the government
of his proAance, and the satisfactory results springing
therefrom are the best proofs of their utility. The
Quakers Avere also the first to raise their voice against
slavery in the colonies, although it required the teach
ings of more than two hundred years, and at the end
a prodigious civil war, to wipe that institution from
our American system.
While the Quakers in Penn's province in the early
years of its history could not always be commended
for their fidelity to the constituted authorities, yet
they deserve much credit for many commendable
Adrtues,

CHAPTER Vni.
THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS IN HISTORY,
Political Influence of the Germans, — Not an office-
holding Class. — War between England and
France. — German Indifference. — Efforts to An
glicize the Germans, — The Germans During the
Revolution. — Favor Independence. — Germans
Organize. — -Prominent in Furnishing Troops. —
Mainstay of the Army. — Germans a unit for In
dependence, — They raise a Battahon, before
Independence is Declared,
While the Germans never had any particular af
fection for English rule, they nevertheless were
always loyal to the authorities, notwithstanding they-
were strong enough during several decades before the
Revolution, by making an alliance with the Quake?
element to have Avrested the colony from British con
trol. Such an alliance would not have been difficult
by reason of the well-knoAvn hostihty of the Quakers
(81) (6)

S2 The Story of the
to the proprietary rule. But the Germans never had
any ambition in that direction. They cared little for
political power, being content to cultivate their fields,
and enjoy the blessings of civil and rehgious lib-
¦erty, which was denied them in the land of their
birth. They did not aspire to political honors, and
their names seldom appear in the official lists of the
provincial government. Their almost exclusive use
•of the German language, also disquahfled them from
holding office. They however by reason of their
aiumbers exerted an important influence in the colony,
^especially in the election of members of the Colonial
Assembly, as well as Avith regard to other elective
•officers, inasmuch as their votes were in all cases cast
as a unit for a single favorite candidate. The only
issue raised at the elections in those days was the one,
whether the representative of the proprietory govern
ment should succeed, or the opposition candidate
should carry off the honors. The latter usually won,
•wherever the German vote predominated, Sauer's
German paper was the only newspaper circulated
among the Germans for many years, and it controlled
their political actions throughout. It was conducted
•on similar lines to those of the partisan newspapers of
4o-day, It was thoroughly anti-English in sentiment,

Pennsylvania Germans. 83
and indulged in vehement appeals to the prejudices of
the Germans by making them beheve, that it was the
purpose of the English to enslave them ; compelling
their young men to become soldiers, thereby bringing
up the horrible recollections of the military bondage
from which they fled in their native land. Sauer's
paper taught the Germans to believe, that the Enghsh
were seeking to put burdens upon them, as great as
those which they had borne in the old country. The
inculcation of such beliefs, coupled Avith their numer
ical strength alarmed the English, and caused them
to fear, that the Germans would at a time not remote,
give them not only laws of their own making, but
make the colony a German province.
The English distrust of the Germans was height
ened by the fact that about the middle of the eight
eenth century, while Great Britain was at war Avith
France for the conquest of Canada, the Germans were
reluctant, and in some instances absolutely refused to
serve as soldiers, manifesting no small amount of hos
tihty to the British cause; while the French looked to
them for aid and encouragement in their struggle
Avith the British, The Germans made no secret of
their sentiments, that it did not matter much to them
under whose authority they lived, so long as they

84 The Story of the
were not molested in the enjoyment of their property,
and their personal freedom.
But later when the conditions had changed, and
the French became the aggressors, in threatening the
colonies by making war against them, the Germans
made up for their former indifference, by enlisting in
large numbers to defend the colonies against their
hereditary enemies.
Various schemes were proposed to overcome the
influence of the Germans by the English, Among
other things it was suggested, to disfranchise them,
from having any voice in the election of members of
the Colonial Assembly, pending a periodduringwhich
they should be taught the Enghsh tongue. For that
pui-pose it was proposed to support Protestant minis
ters and school teachers among them, to the end that
they should become Enghsh, The schemes suggested
were never carried into execution; so the Germans
failed to become Anglicized, and the descendants of
thousands of them continue to be German at this
day. To arrest the coming of so many Germans in some
degree, the Assembly passed a tax of twenty shilHngs
a head on each newcomer, but it had no effect in pre
venting them from coining.

Pennsylvania Germans. 85
The large influx of Palatines gave James Logan,
the secretary of the province much apprehension and
annoyance. He feared that their numbers would in
time result in the colony being lost to the British
crown, Logan's apprehensions were prophetic ! All
the colonies were wrested from the crown in later
years, and no people rendered more invaluable ser-
Adces in that behalf, than the Germans of Pennsyl
vania, The prejudice of the Enghsh against the Ger
mans was shared by even so eminent a statesman and
philosopher as Benjamin Franklin. From a letter
written by him to Peter CoUinson an Enghsh botanist
and natural philosopher, in 1753, it would seem as if
the latter had been also apprehensive about the large
German immigration in Pennsylvania, and had con
veyed his views to Franklin in a letter to which the
latter replied as follows:
"I am perfectly of your mind, that meas
ures of great temper are necessary touching the
Germans, and am not without apprehensions
that, through their indiscretion, or ours, or both,
great disorders may one day arise among us. Those
who come hither are generally the most stupid of
their OAvn nation, and as ignorance is often attended
with great credulity, when knavery would mislead it,

86 The Story of ths
and Avith suspicion when honesty would set it right;
and few of the English understand the German lan
guage, so that they cannot address them either from
the press or pulpit, it is almost impossible to remove
any prejudice they may entertain. The clergy have
very httle influence on the people, who seem to take
pleasure in abusing and discharging the minister on
every trivial occasion. Not being used to liberty,
they know not how to make modest use of it. They
are under no restraint from ecclesiastical government;
they behave however, submissively enough at present
to the civil government, which I Avish they may con
tinue to do, for I remember when they modestly de
clined intermeddling Avith our elections; but now they
come in droves and carry all before them, except in
one or two counties. Foav of their children in the
country know English. They import many books
from Germany, and, of the six printing houses in the
province, two are entirely German, two half German,
half English, and but two are entirely Enghsh. They
have one German newspaper, and one half German,
Advertisements intended to be general, are now
printed in Dutch, (German) and Enghsh. The signs
in our streets, (Phila.,) have inscriptions in both lan
guages, and some places only in German. They be
gin of late, to make all their bonds and other legal in
struments in their OAvn language, (though I think it
ought not to be), are allowed good in courts, where
the German business so increases, that there is con
tinued need of interpreters, and I suppose in a few
years, they will also be necessary in the Assembly, to
tell one-half of our legislators, what the other half
says. In short, unless the stream of importation
could be turned from this to other colonies, as you

Pennsylvania Germans. 87
very judiciously propose, they will soon outnumber
us, that all the advantages we have, Avill, in my opin
ion, be not able to preserve our language, and even
our government Avill become precarious,"

Some of the adverse criticisms in the foregoing
letter are manifestly unjust; but as they were made to
harmonize with English sentiiu£nt, there may have
been an element of policy in thftn, as Frankhn was at
that time an attache of the proprietary government,
and supplicant for royal favor. The letter also bears
on its face its own contradiction in some essential par
ticulars. The statement that the Germans "import
many books from Germany," which they are pre
sumed to have read, does not bear out the statement
that they were "the most stupid of their nation,"
which contradiction is emphasized by the fact,
as asserted by Franklin that out of the six
printing houses in the province, the Enghsh had only
two; the Germans two, and the remaining two were
half German, and half English,
A people among whom printing houses, books, and
newspapers abound, can safely be accredited with a
fair amount of intelligence, although they may have
obtained the inspiration of their knowledge from Ger
man books and German newspapers.

88 The Story of the
There is no doubt that Franklin thought better of
his German fellow-citizens and compatriots, when in
less than a quarter of a century later they stood
shoulder to shoulder with him in the cause of Ameri
can independence, THE GERMANS IN THE REVOLUTION,
When the first murmurings of discontent, which
later culminated in open revolt, were heard through
out the colonies, the Germans of Pennsylvania were
among the first to place themselves in harmony Avith
those ideas, which determined the colonies in favor of
independence. Even some time before separation had
been determined upon, the Germans were active
among their countrymen in their efforts to promote
that step. It required a great deal of resolution ob
their part to espouse such a policy at that time, Avith
the formidable influences opposed to them. The gov
ernment of the colonies was in the hands of the royal
representatives of the British crown; these sustained
intimate personal and social relations Avith leading col
onists, some of whom supported the royal authority,
while others were resisting British aggression, but
were not decided in favor of separation at that early
stage. The English ties of blood no doubt kept many

Pennsylvania Germans. 89
patriots from favoring extreme measures, before inde
pendence was declared, but the Germans were not in
fluenced by any such considerations. They had in
herited a fierce hatred of oppression in their native
country, and they had no sympathy with a temporiz
ing policy, and declared in favor of independence
long before the events of Lexington and Bunker Hill,
The Germans of Pennsylvania exerted a potent
influence, not only in bringing their OAvn colony to
the side of independence, but they were actively em
ployed in influencing their countrymen in the other
colonies to take a similar step. They put themselves
in communication Avith the German settlers every
where, and urged upon them to espouse the cause of
separation and freedom; and by the time that the first
gun of the Revolution was fired, the Germans in aU
the colonies were in line against the British govern
ment. In Pennsylvania they became the mainstay in
furnishing troops to fill the quotas of its regiments,
and from their ranks came many officers who gained
honorable distinction during the war. Many had
been soldiers in their native country, where they
fought against oppression, while others inherited the
spirit of freedom from their fathers, who had felt the
hand of persecution in other lands.

90 The Story of the
The historian has faithfully chronicled the dis
tinguished services rendered by all classes during the
Revolution, with the exception of the invaluable ser
vices of the Germans of Pennsylvania; their services
have been dismissed with curt brevity. Even Ban
croft in his history of the Revolution passes them by
in the foUoAving words: "The Germans who consti
tuted a large portion of the population of Pennsylva
nia were all on the side of freedom."
The importance which was attached to the in
fluence which the Germans might exert, in the event
of hostiUties between the colonies and the British
crown is shoAvn, upon the occasion when Franklin ap
peared before the British ministry, urging the repeal
of the Stamp Act, and of other oppressive measures.
He was asked how many Germans there were in
Pennsylvania at that time. He rephed that not less
than one-third of the population, and probably more,
as he had no means to tell accurately. He was then
asked whether any of them had served as soldiers in
the European wars; to which he replied, that they had
not only been soldiers in Europe, but that many of
them had served in the colonial wars. The ministry
also wanted to know whether the Germans were as
much dissatisfied with the stamp tax, as the English

Pennsylvania Germans. 91
born citizens; to which his reply was that they were
even more hostile to it. If this colloquy had any sig-
nificanace at that time, it must be construed to have
meant, that the English had a wholesome dread of the
Germans in the event of an open rupture, between
the mother country and her colonies. Whatever the
moving cause may have been, the Stamp Act was
repealed. As early as 1772 the German residents of Phila
delphia, who at that time exercised a controlling in
fluence in business and civic affairs, organized an
association under the name of "The Patriotic Society
of the City and County of Philadelphia," The pur
pose of this society was to make ready for the struggle
which the Germans regarded as inevitable. In 1774
after the threat had been made by the British min
istry, of closing the Boston harbor, and indicating the
intention of a resort to force, to crush the revolution
ary spirit manifested by the Massachusetts patriots, a
meeting was called by leading Germans of Philadel
phia to consider the threatening situation, at which
meeting a " Correspondence Committee " was ap
pointed, the duty of which was to correspond Avith the
Germans of other colonies, urging upon them to
organize, so as to be ready for the conflict, which to

92 The Story of the
their minds could not be much longer delayed.
In the Provincial Assembly which was held in the
same year, to consider the condition of affairs, the
German element was strongly represented, and their
views received earnest and careful consideration.
Among the Germans who occupied seats in that con
vention were such prominent representatives as Chris
topher Ludvdg, George Schlosser, Adam Hubley,
Jacob Barge, from Philadelphia; Matthias Schlauch,
Moses Erwin, Joseph Ferree, and George Ross, from
Lancaster county; Christopher Schultz, and Jonathan
Potts from Berks county; Peter Keichlein and Jacob
Arndt, from Northampton county, and Casper Weit-
zel from Northumberland coxmty.
In the convention which met in January follow
ing, the Germans Avere still more largely represented.
This convention declared in favor of the utmost re
sistance, against any further British insolence and
tyranny, and issued a call for a Colomal Congress,
The Germans residing in the colonies of New
Tork and North Carolina, were undecided at first
Avith regard to taking sides, before the actual breaking
out of hostihties, until they were appealed to by their
kinsmen in Pennsylvania by means of corres
pondence, and also by messengers sent among them,

Pennsylvania Germans. 93
to urge them to go Avith the Germans of the rest of
the colonies, A pamphlet was Avritten and published
by the "Correspondence Committee," which was espe
cially designed for the Germans of New Tork, and
North Carohna, in which it was set forth, that the
Germans of Pennsylvania had learned with satis
faction, that the people vrithout regard to race, creed,
or former nationality; whether rich or poor, had given
their unqualified approval, to the acts of their Con
gress, and that the Germans especially, everywhere
were taking measures, to have the militia put in shape,
and were forming new mihtary organizations, so that
they should be ready to march wherever they should
be needed in the event of war, and urging upon those
Germans that could not enlist for any reason, to con
tribute to the patriot cause according to their ability.
The pamphlet went on further to state, that they
were grieved to learn, that there were numbers of
Germans, in various parts of New Tork, and many in
North Carolina, who were indifferent to the cause for
which their kinsmen had enlisted and were preparing
elscAvhere, That the efforts of the Germans in Penn
sylvania proved successful is not doubted, for after
the first shedding of blood at Lexington, there were
no Germans in any of the colonies, that did not

94 The Story of the
espouse the cause of the patriots in behalf of freedom.
In May 1776 before the adoption of the Declara
tion of Independenece the Continental Congress de
termined to raise a battahon for immediate service,
and called upon Pennsylvania and Maryland to fur
nish four companies each. On July 17, foUoAving
Pennsylvania reported — not only with the required
four companies — but Avith five full companies, enlisted
from the Germans, The greater number of the Mary
land companies raised for this battahon were also re
cruited from the Germans. Every officer of the bat
talion was a German. Soon after its formation it
took the field, and rendered conspicuous service at a
critical period during the early part of the war.
As there are no doubt many descendants of the
rank and file of this battalion, still hving throughout
Pennsylvania and Maryland, the names of its commis
sioned officers are here given: Colonel, Nicholas
Hausseger; Lieut. Col., George Striker; Major, Lud-
Avig Waltner; Adjutant, Louis von Linkendorf. The
Captains and Lieutenants of each company follow in
the order of their rank: (1) Daniel Burkhard, Fried-
erich Rollwagen, George Habacker; (2) PhiHpp
Grebel, Johann Lora, Christian Meyers; (3) George
Hubley, Peter Boyer, Johann Laudenberger; (4)

Pennsylvania Germans. 95
Heinrich Fister, Karl Balsel, Michael Boyer; (5)
Jacob Bunner, Wilhelm Rice, George Schafer; (6)
George Kieport, Jacob Kotz, Adam Smith; (7) Ben
jamin Weiser, Jacob Bower, Friederich Heiser; (8)
W, Heiser, Samuel Gerock, Wilhelm Ritter; (9) Dan
iel Woelper, Bernhard Hubley, Philipp Schrader.
There was one piece of ill-luck which came to this
battalion. Some complaint was made against its Col
onel, under the pressure of which he resigned and
afterward turned traitgr to the cause of the patriots.
His successor was Baron von Arendt, who afterwards
resigned on account of ill-health, after which Major
Waltner succeeded to the command. In the follow
ing September the battalion was ordered to join
Washington's army.
The cause of the patriots did not look very prom
ising at this time. The British had possession of New
Tork; .New Jersey was wholly defenceless; Philadel
phia was threatened, and a large and influential party
of Tories was watching for an opportunity to strike
the patriots in the rear. The leaders were disheart
ened, Washington's army was not much more than a
ragged mob of undisciplined, "uncouth, intractable
ploughboys and farmers." Many of the German
officers had experience as soldiers in their native coun-

96 The Story of the
try, and they became useful in helping to estabhsh
disciphne, and in making the army fit to fight.
The German battalion participated in the affair
at Trenton in December 1776, which inspired the
army with confidence, and the people with hope; it
was at Princeton; with Washington at the ill-fated
fields of Brandywine and Germantown, and spent the
terrible Avinter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. The
deeds and sufferings of this German battahon furnish
a proud memorial of the German soldiers of the Revo
lution, and it is hoped that some one Avith the laudable
inclination, and access to such of its history as may be
yet preserved, will give to the world a faithful account
of its heroic deeds, on many a battlefield of the Revo
lution. Many German soldiers also served in other
commands, and it is a matter of history that Wash
ington greatly rehed on their fidelity, no matter in
what situation they were placed. If we Avill scan the
Hsts of company, regimental and brigade officers of
the commands from Pennsylvania, we Avill find them
bristling with German names.
It is generally beheved that the German Quakers,
Mennonites, and Moravians held entirely aloof from
the struggle for independence, on account of their re
ligious faith against bearing arms. This is no doubt

Pennsylvania Germans. 97
true of all those who remained loyal to their sect, but
there is authority for the statement, that not a few
young Quakers, and Mennonites, did enlist and fight
with the patriots for freedom. All such however
either voluntarily A\dthdrew from their church, or
were shut out from all fellowship with it.
Before the Revolution many German Catholics
had settled in Pennsylvania, and they were prompt
in enlisting on the side of freedom, and their blood
mingled Avith their Protestant compatriots on many a
sanguinary field of the Revolution,
In the German Cathohc emigration to America,
may be found an argument shoAving that the direct
cause of the great exodus of Germans to America was
not altogether the result of rehgious persecution, but
rather the desire to get away from the incessant
European wars and its desolations. It was not an
unus\ial thing during the later years of the German
emigration, for the Protestant and the Cathohc, to
cross the ocean in the same ship, and upon their arri
val settle in the same neighborhood, and in later years
fight side by side in the cause of civil hberty.
The just tribute to which the Germans of Pennr
sylvania are entitled for their invaluable services, (!)

98 The Story of the
during the Revolutionary War has never been duly
chronicled, and it may be hoped that with the revival
of interest in their history through the Pennsylvania
German Society, that some chronicler Avill some day
do them full justice, GERMAN MERCENAKIES,
There is a popular behef among some people, that
the Hessian mercenaries brought here by the British
government to fight the Americans, remained here after
the war Avas over, and that their descendants constitute
a considerable element of the Pennsylvania Germans
of to-day. Comparatively few remained here after
the war, because the British government was under
contract to return such as escaped the casualities of
the war, after it was over. The few that remained
made good citizens, as they made the very best sol
diers against the Americans, and whenever it was
practicable to do so, they were put in the most re
sponsible places by the British commanders. The in
tense hatred at one time, against the so-called Hessian
soldiers, some of which still lingers Avith the present
generation is very unjust, because they did not volun
teer to fight against the Americans, but they were
forced into the British service, by the impecunious

Pennsylvania Germans. 99
German princes who sold them to the British like so
many slaves. The Hessian soldiers would sometimes
take a notion to desert, and they invariably found
refuge among some of the German colonists. A con
siderable number of them were left behind from time
to time on marches, on account of sickness or wounds;
these always found a ready welcome among the Gei>
man settlers; feAV of them ever found their way back
to their native land.
While all the German mercenaries are knoAvn as
Hessians, they were not all subjects of the Landgrave
of Hesse-Cassel, although the larger portion of them
were furnished by that prince. The first contingent of
German mercenaries was made up as follows: The
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, furnished 12,104; the
Duke of Brunswick 4,084; Prince of Hesse 663;
Prince of Waldeck 670, a total of 17,521, for which
the several princes received $30 for each man. Later
there were additional troops furnished by the German
princes, some of whom came from Anspach-Beiruth,
and Anhalt-Zarbst. Authorities do not agree as to
the exact number of mercenaries furnished by
the German princes. The German historian Freder
ick Kapp, who is said to have investigated the ques
tion closely, places the entire number at 29,166.

100 The Story of the
Kapp informs us that 17,313 returned to their native
land after the war, which would leave 11,853 unac
counted for in America, From this number there
must be taken the casuahties of war, which must have
been exceedingly large, because they had to do their
campaigning in a new, and for a great part in a wild
country, in some parts of which pestilential fevers car
ried the soldiers off much faster, than the bullets of
the enemy. There were none of the sanitary condi
tions of an army in those days, to guard the health
of soldiers, which prevail nowadays, Mihtary sur
gery had made httle progress, so that the percentage
of deaths among the wounded was much larger than
it is in modern times. From these conditions a cal
culation based on the casualties of our Civil War,
Avill enable one to form an approximate idea of the
casualties of the Hessian soldiers in the Revolution.
According to such an estimate, the losses of the Hes
sians from all causes could not have fallen short of
5,000, leaving less than 7,000 who remained in Amer
ica, some of whom settled in the Canadian provinces,
but the majority of them settled in the states of New
Tork, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North, and
South Carolina.

Pennsylvania Germans. 101
It is interesting to note, that appeals were made
by the British government to some of the other
European sovereigns for hirehng soldiers, to fight
against the Americans, besides the German princes
herein mentioned. Holland and Russia were both
appealed to, but their rulers refused to entertain the
proposition. Frederick the Great was also approached
upon the subject of hiring his soldiers, but he not
only declined the tempting offer of $30 a head for
them, but he prohibited, any of the hirehng soldiers
of the other German princes, to go through his terri
tory on their way to the seaports, whence they were to
embark for America,

CHAPTER IX,
THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN DIALECT,
Pennsylvania German a dialect of South Germany, — ¦
German vs, Dutch, — Confusion of Terms. —
Dialect Corrupted, but still Vigorous. — Ger
mans Tenacious of their Dialect. Progress of
English among Them. — No Prospect, that the
Dialect Avill become soon Extinct. — ^Has no Lit
erary Merit.
Pennsylvania German is a legitimate dialect of
South Germany, which has suffered, and become cor
rupted, by the introduction of English words, and
idioms. There are still many thousands of people in
Pennsylvania, who speak no other language. They
are found in nearly all the counties of Pennsylvania,
lying east and south of the Blue Mountain, and in
some of the counties beyond, where their ancestors
took up their places of abode, when they first came to
(102)

Pennsylvania Germans. 103
the province of Pennsylvania, some of whom arrived
as early as the last years of the seventeenth century.
There is a Avidespread misconception concerning
the Pennsylvania Germans, which is not altogether
confined to the illiterate classes of English-speaking
people. There are those who entertain the belief,
that the Pennsylvania Germans are of Dutch extract
ion, and that their dialect is a confused jargon, haAring
no relation to any legitimate language. This mis
taken notion entertained by untrained people is no
doubt largely due, to a confusion of the terms,
Deutsch and Dutch, and also because the Pennsylva
nia Germans are frequently spoken of erroneously, as
the "Pennsylvania Dutch." All Germans in their
OAvn language are designated as Deutsch; the Dutch
are designated in German as Hollander, and their lan
guage as Hollandisch. Uneducated people are apt to
confuse these terms, which leads to the erroneous con
ception before referred to.
The ancestors of the Pennsylvania Germans emi
grated from the region of the Upper Rhine, and from
the valley of the .Neckar in South Germany. The
dialect spoken in that part of Germany is known as
Pfalzisch, and the people at the time of the great
German emigration from there, were known as Ger-

104 The Story of the
man Palatines. The dialect spoken by the Pennsyl
vania Germans at this day, is an inheritance from
their ancestors, and barring its English infusion, it is
substantially the same as when first brought here.
By eliminating the Enghsh words taken up by
Pennsylvania German, the dialect approaches the
Pfalzisch, spoken by the common people in South
Germany very closely. There are many expressions,
words, and idioms common to both that are indis
tinguishable, and for the purposes of coUoqidal inter
course the two dialects meet on common ground, with
out any serious embarrassment.
There is a shade of difference in the pronuncia
tion, accent, and inflexion of words between the Penn
sylvania German and Pfalzisch dialects and similar
differences are noticed, in different German commun
ities in Pennsylvania, the result no doubt of Germans,
speaking various dialects settling in the same neigh
borhood, and each contributing certain peculiarities
to the common speech. But as the Pfalzisch largely
predominated in the early days of German emigration
to Pennsylvania, it is that dialect which has given to
the Pennsylvania German its controlhng characteris
tics. In support of this view the following from Pro
fessor Marion D. Learned's "Pennsylvania German

Pennsylvania Germans. 105
Dialect," may be cited: "Pennsylvania German, in
borrowing from the English to enrich its vocabulary,
has by no means forfeited its birthright and become a
pitiable hybrid of bad German and worse Enghsh,
but on the contrary, has perpetuated in their pristine
Arigor the characteristics of its venerable ancestor, the
Rhine Prankish, specifically Rhine Palatinate,
" Rhinepfdlzisch." When it is considered, how environment influ
ences all conditions, extending to physical character
istics, as well as to the speech of men, the continued
similarity of the dialect of the Pennsylvania Germans
and that spoken in South Germany seems remarkable
after their separation for a period of upwards of two
centuries. But we must not forget the influences and
conditions that surrounded the Germans in Pennsyl
vania for many generations after their coming here;
Avhich operated to keep the Pfalzisch dialect alive
in Pennsylvania doAvn to this time. The greater
portion of the German emigrants were fairly
well educated when they came here. They
brought Avith them educated clergymen who
preached to them in their native language, and school
teachers, who taught their children in their mother
tongue. Education was never neglected by the Ger-

106 The Story of the
mans, and they built churches and school houses
whenever they found it practicable to do so. The
German schools were continued in Pennsylvania until
a comparatively recent period ; German newspapers
still circulate extensively in nearly all of the German
counties, not a few of the people still read their Ger
man Bible, and German Prayer Book, while the Gos
pel is yet preached in German from more than a thous
and pulpits every Sunday throughout the rural dis
tricts of southeastern Pennsylvania. In view of such
conditions and surroundings, there can be no surprise
that the Pennsylvania German dialect should still
flourish in its "pristine vigor," after its separation
from its parent speech for more than a century and a
half. It is not believed that the day of its extinction is
near, A large majority of the school children in the
country districts of half a score of the wealthiest, and
most populous counties in the State, speak the dialect,
not only outside of the school room, but very fre
quently inside. The children do all their thinking in
German; all their little affairs are discussed by them
in their native dialect, so that it can scarcely be other
wise than that they should grow up, and continue al
most as thoroughly German as those that preceded

Pennsylvania Germans. 107
them, making almost exclusive use of their German
dialect, for all purposes of colloquial and familiar in
tercourse. It may be asked whether the English schools do
not make any progress towards Anglicizing the Ger
man children? The answer is that they do, but the
progress in. that direction is slow. While the Ger
man school children get a smattering of English, it
also becomes a prolific means of still further corrupt
ing their native speech, Avithout acquiring much pure
English. When the German schools in Pennsylvania gave
way entirely to altogether English schools, it was be
lieved by many, that it would speedily result in Angli
cizing the Pennsylvania Germans ; but forty years' ex
perience does not prove that it has been an unqualified
success. The German-speaking children in the pubhc
schools, are laboring under great disadvantages along
side of their English-speaking schoolmates. The lat
ter have an intelligent appreciation of their studies,
while the training of the German child is little more
than merely mechanical. The German children be
gin to learn their letters in a language which they do
not understand, and by the time that they begin to

108 The Story of the
have some intelligent comprehension of their studies
the English-speaking children have outstripped them
in the race for knowledge. The question occurs
whether it was altogether wise to take away from ex
clusively German-speaking children their German
schools, and compel them to pursue their studies in a
language to Avhieh they are strangers.
The early Anglicization of the Pennsylvania Ger
mans cannot be looked forward to with much confi
dence, no matter hoAV much the extinction of their
dialect may be desired. It is yet by far too vigorous
to hope for its early disappearance.
The tenacity Avith which the Pennsylvania Ger-
ans haA^e clung to their dialect for so many years, is
not without its parallels among other people. Take
for example Wales, a country which contains an area
much smaller than that embraced by the German
counties of Pennsylvania, Avith less population; sepa
rated from England by only an imaginary boundary;
haAdng been in political connection with Great Britain
for six hundred years; vdth English as the official
language; the language of culture; of commercial in
tercourse; and with Enghsh schools almost every-
Avhere; yet more than one-half of the people of Wales
in the cities and toAvns speak the Welsh language.

Pennsylvania Germans. 109
while in the rural districts the Welsh language is
spoken almost exclusively,
Switzerland furnishes another example. Out of
the 22 cantons of the Swiss republic, with a poulation
of over three millions of people, German is spoken by
the people of 16 cantons; French by those of 5; Ital
ian by the people of only 1, Although German is
the principal language spoken throughout Switzer
land, and is the language of official intercourse; its
various people having lived near neighbors for cen
turies, and under the same government for a long
time, yet each race has maintained its linguistic integ
rity to this day.
There is a region in Switzerland embraced in the
canton of Grisons, where there exists a group of
Romansch dialects, which have come doAvn from the
days of the Remap empire,, when the region in which
those dia^cts stillj exist wad a Roman pjrovihce kuDAvn
as Rhaetia. The canton ih. which those dialects pre
vail, has an area of about twice the size of one of the
largest counties of Pennsylvania, with a population of
about 90,000, surrounded on all sides by neighbors
the greater portion of whom speak German, yet those
people, whose ancestors were "shepherd-peasants"
when Rome was mistress of the world, continue to

110 The Story of the
speak corrupted Latin, after the lapse of more than a
thousand years. LTnless the Pennsylvania German
dialect is less tenacious, it may continue to be spoken
for several centuries.
During the earlier years of the German emigra
tion to Pennsylvania, large numbers of Palatines set
tled in the province of New Tork. Those chiefly
located along the Hudson river; in the Mohawk val
ley, and in Schoharie county. The Dutch and Eng
lish had preceded them. Each race maintained its
OAvn language for a while; the Germans being weakest
in point of numbers, their dialect was the first to dis
appear, but the Dutch being much more numerous,
they held on to their dialect vigorously for a hundred
years, and it did not wholly disappear in the Mohawk
valley, until some time during the first half of the
present century.
While the prospects for the early disappearance
of the Pennsylvania German dialect are not very
promising, it will necessarily become more debased
every year. With the abolition of German schools,
few of the young people Avill learn anything of Hter-
ary German, and while many Avill continue to use the
dialect, they Avill be continually taking up more Eng
lish words, because they Avill find their OAvn vocabulary

Pennsylvania Germans. Ill
groAving more deficient in words to express their
thoughts. Forty years ago the Pennsylvania German
dialect was of much better quality than it is to-day.
It was not then yet as far removed from literary Ger
man as it noAV is; it still retained at that time some of
the advantages of the German schooling of those who
spoke it. Since then many good German words have
dropped out of the dialect, and their places have been
supplied by English words. This debasement of the
dialect Avill increase from now on.
The present century has been fertile in inventions
and discoveries; every branch of the arts and sciences
made AA'onderftil progress; many new things were un
folded, which required the coinage of new words, for
which the Pennsylvania Germans have no German
equivalents; so they draw on the English to supply
the deficiency. So when they speak of the telegraph,
electricity, the telephone, or any other new discovery
or invention they add the technical names employed
to their vocabulary.
So long as the Pennsylvania German confines his
conversation to his personal concerns, and talks about
his horses, his cows, his crops, his fields, and his family
or his domestic affairs, his German vocabulary is gen
erally sufficient, and he draws very little on the Eng-

112 The Story of the
lish. It is only when he enters the domain of politics,
or undertakes to discuss some abstruse philosophic
problem, Ihat he interlards his speech Avith impure
German and probably worse English, making a patois,
that Avould paralyze a Heidelberg professor if he came
Avithin range of it.
Pennsylvania German makes no pretensions to
any literary merit, and it has none, yet it has an
swered the needs of the people speaking it for a long
period of years, and it is not doubted that it Avill con
tinue the speech for colloquial intercourse of many
thousands of people in Pennsylvania for many years
to come. It were far better if English could be made
to take its place for all purposes, but Avith the knowl
edge we have of the tenacity with which a people will
cling to a language or to a dialect, often under the
most adverse conditions, we are made to believe, that
the day of its disappearance is very remote. Its
tenacity is one of the proofs of its quality, and while it
has no literary merit in the sense of High German, it
is yet wonderfully resourceful in expression, and cap
able of the sublimest pathos. Whoever is familiar
Avith Harbaugh's "Gedichte in Pennsyh'anisch
Deutscher Mundart," will testify to the fact that it is
capable of awakening the tenderest emotions of the
human heart.

Pennsylvania Germans. 113
THE ENGLISH INFUSION,
Since the abolition of the German schools, Penn
sylvania German has suffered much by the English
infusion into the dialect. Before that time the in
fusion was not nearly as great. Words which
approach nearest to pure German have suffered th©
most in haAdng their places usurped by English. The
man of middle life who is familiar Avith the dialect
will remember when it contained many pure German
words, and many others nearly pure, some of which
are yet heard occasionally spoken by the older people,
but with the generation now coming on all such words
have been superseded by English, and too often by
worse English relatively, than the quality of the Ger
man the places of which it has taken. It is not more
than a generation and a half ago, since the following
words, and many more equally good were in common
use by Pennsylvania Germans, but which have since
then almost entirely disappeared from the dialect :
Zum beispiel (for example), billige' — ^billigen (ap
prove), ei'richte' — einrichten (arrange), iiberi'scht-
imme' — iibereinschtimmen (to agree), schtimzettle
(ballot), dampkessel — dampfkessel (boiler), aussei
(besides), g'schaft — geschaft (business), handel (deal
ings), koffer (tmnk), gerechtichkeit (justice), geniea- (8)

114 The Story of the
sen (enjoy), genau (exact), entschuldigen (excuse),
ausfiihre — ausfiihren (execute), ausklaren (explain),
erwarten (expect), wahl (election), offentliche vers-
teigening (public vendue), gewalt (force), betrag
(humbug), in der that, Avirklich (indeed), inwennig —
inwendig (inside), bares geld (cash), dreten — ^treten
{kick), vollstandig (complete), hebes brief (love-
letter), einsam (lonesome), nachricht (notice), gentmk
— genug (enough), g'falle' gefaUen (please), einfach
(plain), langsam (slow), studire' — studiren (study),
eichhornche' eichhornchen (squirrel), klug (smart),
rauche' rauchen (smoke), sicher (sure).
This list could be extended so as to reach hundreds
of words, which would prove a much better quaUty of
the dialect in the past, than it now is and how it is
growing more debased by being robbed of legitimate
German words, Avhich are its rightful inheritance.
This is manifestly the result of the abolition of Ger
man schools, and the closer relation to English teach
ing and Enghsh speaking. Foreign-bom Germans
coming to this country and settling in English-speak
ing communities, notAvithstanding their German
training, AAdll pick up many Enghsh words in a com-
paratiAJ^ely short time, which they mix up in their
German speech, although they are thoroughly con-

Pennsylvania Germans. 115
versant with their German equivalents. It would
seem as if the Pennsylvania German's temptation
should be still greater to draw on English to enrich
his vocabulary because it is really deficient in expres
sion, Avhile the newly-arrived German's vocabulary is
adequate for all purposes, yet he is given to the use
of English words in almost the same degree as the
native born Pennsylvania German, The tendency of
all Germans to take up Enghsh in their native speech
is shoAvn by the fact that those who live on the borders
of an English settlement employ more English words,
than those who live more remote from English-speak
ing people,
Pennsylvania German dialect writers vary greatly
in the number of English words which they employ.
Some do not make use of more than 1 German word
to 300 of Enghsh, while others make use of 1 to every
25, One dialect Avriter translated an English poem
of 600 words without the use of a single Enghsh word
and the entire translation is in the vernacular of the
Pennsylvania German,
Humorous dialect writers make use of the largest
percentage of English words, not because they have
no German equivalents, but they think that it in
creases the ludicrous features of their productions.

116 The Story of the
EXAMPLES OP PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN, AND PFALZISCH
COMPAEED,
The word "Pfalzisch" strictly speaking apphes
only to the "Pfalz," or the region formerly embraced
within the limits of the old state of the Palatinate,
but inasmuch as the Pfalzisch dialect has spread all
over South Germany, and even beyond, it has given
character to some of the other German dialects, so
the use of the word is justified in speaking of the
South German dialects generally.
In spelling and pronunciation Pennsylvania Ger
man and Pfalzisch agree in many particulars. With
regard to some of the consonants, both use them inter
changeably. The Pennsylvania German Avill fre
quently give t, the sound of d; b, of p; v, of w, and
vice versa. So will the South German, For ex
ample: Both will say dode, for todt (dead); dochter,
for tochter (daughter); draurig, for traugig (sad);
dhier, for thiir (door); deich, for teich (a swale);
bloge, for plage (to vex); blanscht, for pflanzt
(planted). They will also confuse the letters f, v, and
w, in similar fashion. The letters k, and g are made
to suffer in the same way, as for example in k'scher,
for geschirr (harness). The South German says

Pennsylvania Germans. 117
"nit" for nicht, while the Pennsylvania German wiU
substitute e, for i, and make it "net."
There are very many imperfect German words
in use both in Pennsylvania and in South Ger
many, of which the folloAving are a few examples:
The AA-^ord "grumbeera" (potatoes) is in universal use
by the Germans in Pennsylvania, and is heard every
where in South Germany and east as far as Austria.
It is a corruption of a good German word, "grund-
birn." The latter word is however rarely used by
German-speaking people, the word "kartoffeln" being
preferred. "Beera," for birnen (pears); "pershing,"
for pfirsich (peach) ; "hinkel," for hiihner (chickens)
are all terms common to both dialects. The Germans
of Pennsylvania have the word "pattereesel," or pat-
tereesli, for rebhuhn (partridge). This word seema
to come from the French perdrix, and is believed to
have been brought to Pennsylvania by Alsatians dur
ing the early German emigration. The word is
heard in Alsace and German Lorraine, The Ger
mans corrupted the French word by giAdng it its
diminutive form, by adding the suffix "eesli," a custom
which prevails largely among Germans, as for example:
For hund (dog), they have "hundh," for madchen
(girl), they make maedh, and very many other similar

118 The Story of the
diminutives. The Germans of Alsace and Lorraine
have hved neighbors to the French for so long a time,
that their speech has acquired a considerable number
of French Avords and idioms, whichhave become much
corrupted. Some of this corrupted French was no doubt
brought here by German emigrants who came from
the borders of France,
There are a number of other words in use by
the Pennsylvania Germans which cannot be traced to
any German origin. The Germans hving along the
Delaware river ahvays speak of that stream as the
"reffeer." This term cannot be traced to any Ger
man origin, and is most likely a corruption of the
French riviere for river, Pennsylvania Germans
also speak of a river as a "rcAvwer," or "rewer,"
There are certain words in use by Pennsylvania
Germans that are wholly misapphed, and which have
no relation to the sense in which they are used. This
is the result of a misconception of what certain things
were, which they found when they came here, and
with which they were not familiar. They associated
those Avith things they heard mentioned in Germany,
behoving that the two were the same and in that way
misapplied certain terms.

Pennsylvania Germans. 119
The term "pomeranze" is an example of this mis-
apphcation of terms. The Pennsylvania Germans
make use of this word to designate a "tomato," while
the word is the German term for an orange. In some
parts of Pennsylvania the word pomeranze has been
corrupted into "gomeranze" or "gumeranze," The
German for tomato is liebesapfel. The manner in
which the P, G, have fallen into the error of designat
ing tomatoes as pomeranze has been explained in this
way. In the days of the Palatine emigration tomatoes
were unknoAAoi in the Palatinate, but oranges were
knoAvn there, but their use was confined to the rich
and well-to-do. When the Palatine peasants came to
Pennsylvania, they found tomatoes, and mistook them
for pomeranze (oranges) — ^hence the erroneous desig
nation of tomatoes, Avhich still remains. There are
other similar misapplication of terms.
The following expressions were heard in South
Germany, and a note made of them at the time: At
Speyer: "Na ich denk net" (no I think not); "ich wiU
'mohl Sana" (I'll see) ; "was hen sie don g'doon" (what
have you done) ; "ich Avill ken koffee" (I don't want
coffee); "ich nemenachtel wei'" (I take an eighth of a
liter Avine). The Pfalzer drop the final n, in words

120 The Story of the
like nein, stein, wein, making them nei', wei', and so
on. The Pennsylvania Germans do the same to a
very large extent.
At a Volksfest, not far from Speyer was heard:
*'Ich wase net;" "es is fier uhr, bal' zeit fur erfri-
schung (refreshment);" "ich nem e' bissel Avurst;"
''geb mir e' halb liter bier;" "ich glaab nit os get-
reide (\A^heat) guth g'rode is, wie letscht johr," Chil
dren playing at Heidelberg: "Wu is dei' balla
(where is your ball);" "hasht en ferlora?" "sehn
'mohl dort de geilla (horses)," Strolling through a
narrow street a woman followed a cat out of house,
when she was accosted by one of her neighbors, who
said "dort geht dei kats," to which she rephed: "Ja
die kats schpringed immer zum finschter nans, ich kan
file gar net im haus halte." That such German should
be heard Avithin the very shadow of the great Univer
sity at Heidelberg, must shock the erudite writers of
magazine and newspaper articles, who have made the
•discovery that Pennsylvania "Dutch," is a mere jar
gon, bearing no relation to any knoAvn language.
South Germany is not alone however, in the kind
•of idiomatic German here mentioned. The foUoAving
was heard in classic Dresden. A lady made some in-
•quiry of a police officer about a railway train, to which

Pennsylvania Germans. 121
he replied: "Na, — wid mit em pferdebahn geh',
oder mit em electrische-bahn?" She answered: "Es
is mu- gans einerlei." Question, "Gehen sie nach
Berlin?" Answer, "Ja," The officer replied:
"Den nemmen sie besser den zug os dort dro'wa
schteht," It may be some satisfaction for a Pennsylvania
German to knoAV that there are people who speak
a German dialect, compared to which his OAvn may
make some pretensions of being classic. He can
have his pride gratified in that respect, by a visit to the
extreme southern part of Baden, and the adjoining
cantons in SAvitzerland. For example, in a weingar-
ten at Neuhausen: "Ne' fiir den scha' i' ne'; er zahlt
ni', (fiir ihn arbeit ich nicht, er bezahlt nicht) ;" "ne'
i' ha' ni' (no I have not);" "ge'sht mid nach Scha'-
haus' i' bin zurick vor siev' uhr (gehen sie mit nach
Schaffhausen, bin wieder zurick bis sieben uhr); ich
gla' es net (ich glaube es nicht)." It Avill be noticed
that the foregoing examples of Swiss patois, are much
inferior to Pennsylvania German. The dropping of
final consonants and frequently of entire final sylla
bles, is exasperating to those not accustomed to it.
In the foregoing comparison of the Pennsylvania

122 The Story of the
German and Pfalzisch dialects, the mode of spelling
has been generally followed, which vrill produce the
sound with which Pennsylvania Germans are famihar,
according to Enghsh pronunciation. This is deemed
necessary, because by spelhng Pennsylvania German
words on the basis of literary or High German, would
make them unintelligible to Pennsylvania German
readers, who have no knowledge of literary or High
German. The reader vrill find an extension of comparisons
of Pennsylvania and South German words in the Ap
pendix to this volume; together Avith their High Ger
man, and English equivalents.

CHAPTER X.
THE GERMAN AND DUTCH LANGUAGES.
Old Dutch the Basis of all Germanic Languages, —
The Separation of Dutch and German. — The
two Grew Wide Apart. — Affinity of Dutch and
English Languages, — The Saxon Dialect. — ^Lit
erary High German.
Before the revival of learning in Europe, the Ger
man and Dutch languages pursued the same hues;
but after that period they began to separate, and have
since developed into two distinct languages.
The German language is spoken by the people of
the German empire; by about 60 per cent, of those
of Austria, and of about 71 per cent, of those of
SAvitzerland, The Dutch language is spoken by the
inhabitants of the Netherlands, and it is claimed to
be identical, Avith only slight differences, vdth the
Flemish language spoken by the Low German inhabi
tants of Belgium. (123)

124 The Story of the
There Avas a time when Old Dutch embraced the
whole of the Teutonic, or Germanic race, and when
the Dutch language included the Teutonic, or Ger
man language in all its forms. During the Middle
Ages, there was little difference between the various
Teutonic forms. Changes began to develop Avith the
revival of learning in Europe, about the fifteenth cen
tury. After that time, Modern Dutch and Modem
German, became divorced, and the differences which
at first separated them, continued to increase during a
period of more than four centuries, until at this day
they have groAvn wide apart. The changes which
have taken place in their spelling, pronunciation,
phonology, and inflection of words, resulted in two
distinct languages, each with a history of its OAvn, and
tv o nations Avith little or no homogeneity.
When the two languages began to pursue diver
gent lines, the Anglo-Saxon and the Dutch seem to
have continued on parallel lines for a long period, so
that the affinity between those two languages is even
greater, than that which exists between the German
and Dutch, The Dutch language of to-day bears a
striking resemblance to the same language as it ex
isted for three hundred years, beginning with the
tweKth century, during which period the German

Pennsylvania Germans. 125
pursued nearly the same lines. Learning was at a
loAV ebb during those years, and the development of
all languages from their ruder forms to that of a more
cultivated Avas sIoav.
After the separation of the German and Dutch
languages, the former was composed of numerous dia
lects, many of which still continue in their modifled
forms, but a few of them disappeared, while others
became widely separated from their conditions during
the Middle Ages. One of the principal dialects was
of Saxon origin. It made more progTess in traveling
away from Old Middle Dutch, than any of the other
dialects, and in the course of time it became the favor
ite dialect of the more cultivated classes, and writers
began to make use of it for literary purposes. Other
German dialects found very little difficulty in adjust
ing themselves to it, so that German authors, histor
ians, and poets adopted it, and it was thus that it be
came the literary, or High German language of all
German speaking people. A chief influence which
gave great emphasis to the making of the Saxon dia
lect the literary language of all Germans, was on ac
count of Martin Luther selecting it for his translation
of the Bible. That gave it its pre-eminence over all
the other numerous dialects, and it will no doubt con-

126 The Story of the
tinue, for all time the means by which Germans
everywhere throughout the world, AviU express the
thoughts of their inspiration, in poetry, music, and
song. Specimens of the same text, shoAving the affinity
of the English, Dutch, and German Languages.
ENGLISH.
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God and the Word was God, 2.
The same was in the beginning Avith God.
3, All things were made by him; and Avith
out him Avas not anything made that was made.
4, In him was life; and the life was the hght of men.
5. And the hght shineth in darkness; and the dark
ness comprehended it not, 6, There was a man sent
from God whose name was John, 7, The same came
for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all
men through him might beheve, — St, John, chap, 1.
V. 1-7, DUTCH,
1, In den beginne was het woord, en het woord
was bij God, en het woord was God. 2. Dit was in
den beginne bij God. 3. AUe dingen zijn door het-

Pennsylvania Germans. 127
zelve gemaakt, en zonder hetzelve is geen ding gem-
aakt, dat gemaakt is. 4. In hetzelve was het leven,
en het leven was het licht der menschen, 5, En het
licht schijnt in de duistemis, en de duistemis heeft
het niet begrepen, 6, Daar was een mensch van God
gezonden, wiens naam was Johannes. 7. Deze kwam
tot een getuigenis, om van het licht te getuigen, opdat
alien door hem gelooven zouden.
GERMAN,
1, Im Anfang war das Wort, und das Wort war
bei Gott, und Gott war das Wort, 2. Dasselbige war
im Anfang bei Gott. 3. AUe Dinge sind durch das
selbige gemacht, und ohne dasselbige ist nichts ge-
macht, was gemacht ist. 4. In ihm war des Leben,
und das Leben war das Licht der Menschen. 5, Und
das Licht scheinet in der Finsterniss, und die Finster-
niss haben es nicht begriffen, 6, Es ward ein Mensch
von Gott gesandt, der hiess Johannes, 7, Derselbige
kam zum Zeugniss, das er von dem Licht zeugete, und
das sie AUe durch ihn glaubten.
The following version from Caedmon, on the Cre
ation, is a specimen of Anglo-Saxon in King Alfred's
time, about A, D, 885.

128

The Story of the

Nu we sceolan herian heofon-rices weard, metodes
mihte and his mod-geponc wera wuldor-f aeder swa he
Avundra gehwaes ece dryhten cord onstealde.

LITERAL ENGLISH ATERSION.
Now we must praise the guardian of heaven's
kingdom, the Creator's might, and his mind's thought,
glorious Father of men, as of every wonder he. Lord
eternal, formed the beginning.

CHAPTER XI,
SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND RELIGIOUS SECTS,
Early schools in Pennsylvania, — German Schools.-—
Churches, and Religious Sects. — Lutherans Pr©«
dominate. — German Reformed Numerous, —
Swedish Lutherans, — Moravians, and other Sects.
With the founding of Penn's province, and the
organization of a civil government for it, there was
established a moral code in which the principles of
the Quaker sect furnished the groundwork; but it was
not the purpose of Penn to exclude persons of any re
ligious sect, from participation in the new political
regime which he had set up. He opened Avide the
doors to people of different mind and faith from him
self. The only conditions imposed Avere, that all who
came should be peaceably disposed, and loyal to the
(129) (9)

130 The Story of the
government which was erected by him. To that end
schools and churches were estabhshed at a very early
day; flrst by the Quakers; then by the adherents of
the Anglican church, and the Germans soon followed
in their footsteps.
The German emigrants embarking for America
were often furnished Avith rehgious books, chief among
which was "Arndt's Wahres Christenthum," which
not many generations ago was found in the family
of almost CA'ery Pennsylvania German, and it no
doubt still serves the purpose of offering consola
tion to many German readers. Ministers often ac
companied the emigrants on the same ship, as also did
school teachers. The latter would frequently read
printed sermons, and prayers to the people when the
supply of ministers was short.
By far the larger portion of the German emigrants
who came to Pennsylvania were Lutherans and Ger
man Reformed, — the Lutherans predominating.
There also came German Quakers, Mennonites and
later German Catholics, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders,
MoraAdans, and a few minor sects.
The Lutherans and German Reformed embraced
the tenets of the Reformation, in their native country
at an early day, and when they began to emigrate to

Pennsylvania Germans. 131
Pennsylvania, they brought with them the germs of
their religious convictions, which were soon planted
in the new soil, where they grew into flourishing
churches. There were however Lutherans within the limits
of Pennsylvania before the granting of the province to
Penn, and before the Germans came here. About
1638 a sniall colony of Swedes made a settlement a
short distance from where the city of Philadelphia
was afterwards founded. Pastors were sent to them
from Sweden, who organized a Lutheran church,
where its members were worshipping God according
to their conscience, when their countryman Gustavus
Adolphus was fighting for religious freedom in
Europe. Dutch Lutherans from Holland, established a
church at New Amsterdam (New Tork), a few years
prior to the founding of the Swedish church near Phil
adelphia. The Holland Lutherans were the subjects
of much persecution in their new home, on account of
their non-conformity with the Calvanistic rehgion,
which was chiefly in vogue. After the English cap
tured New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, they
gained religious freedom.
The Lutheran Church however did not become an

132 The Story of the
organized religious hierarchy until Melchoir Muhlen
berg was sent to America, upon apphcation to the
Lutheran pastors in London, to look after the Luth
erans in the colonies. He arrived in 1742, and im
mediately proceeded to organize the church by which
he earned the title of the "Patriarch of the Lutheran
Church in the United States." He was highly edu
cated, and while pastor in New Tork, he preached
three times every Sunday in as many languages viz:
German, Dutch and Enghsh.
John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, son of the for
mer, bom in Montgomery county. Pa., became even
more distinguished than his father. He was clergy
man, soldier, and statesman. He went to Woodstock,
Va., to preach in 1772, where he was serving a Luth
eran Congregation when the Revolution broke out.
One Sunday after the services were finished, he threw
off his gown in the pulpit, displaying a mihtary uni
form; read his commission as a colonel, and ordered
the drums to beat for recruits. He served vrith dis
tinction during the war; rose to the rank of Major-
General; served in Congress after the war, and was
elected to the United States Senate from Pennsylva
nia in 1801. He died near Philadelphia Oct. 1,
1807.

Pennsylvania Germans. 133
The Lutherans compose an evangehcal body of
Christians who have as a basis for their creed the
Augsburg Confession,
The GERMAN REFORMED OHUECH, in the United
States owes its origin to the Reformed churches of
Switzerland and Germany, of which ZAvingh and Cal
vin were the most prominent leaders. Rev, Michael
Schlatter was to the Reformed Church in the United
States and Pennsylvania, what Muhlenberg was to
the Lutheran," He was sent here by the Synod of
Holland in 1746, and with his coming the Church be
gan its organized existence as a united ecclesiastical
body; although such eminent clergymen as Johann
Philip Boehm, and George Michael Weiss preceded
him several years, preaching to various Reformed con
gregations in Pennsylvania,
The Reformed Church is Calvanistic, and the
Heidelberg Catechism is the only confession of faith
recognized by it,
Mennonites. — This sect arose in Switzerland in
1525. It was named for Menno Simons, the founder
of the sect, whose members differ in matters of rehg
ious belief from some of the other evangehcal
churches, among other things in opposing infant bap-

134 The Story of the
tism, the taking of oaths, accepting civil offices, and
bearing arms. They suffered great persecution in
Switzerland where the sect had its origin. After
Penn ofl'ered religious freedom in his new province,
they emigrated to Pennsylvania, where they formed
a society at Germantovra as early as 1683.
Dunkers. — The doctrine of the Dunkers is similar
to that of the Mennonites, only differing Avith respect
to baptism, with regard to which they believe in trine
immersion. They are also known as German Ameri
can Baptists; but they call themselves Brethren.
They arose in Germany about 1709, and after being
much persecuted they emigrated to Pennsylvania
during the first quarter of the last century.
Schavenkfelders. — ^Hans Kasper von Schwenk-
feld was born in Silesia in 1490. He was in the ser
vice of the Duke of Leignitz, when he embraced the
Reformation; but later took issue Avith Luther, con
cerning his teaching vrith regard to the Lord's Sup
per. He denied that there was any change in the
elements employed in the sacrament. He founded a
church, which would conform to his ideas, which
brought him in conflict with the Reformers, whose
antagonism drove him from his home to Strassburg,

Pennsylvania Germans. 135
where he was tried for heresy and banished. Most of
his followers emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1734.
Moravians. — This sect takes its name from one
of its principal seats in the fifteenth century, which
was Moravia. Its official name is the Unitas Fra-
trum. The martyrdom of John Huss, gave rise to
the church, and was founded by his followers at Lititz
in Bohemia in 1457. Its fundamental doctrines are
in harmony Avith other evangehcal churches.
They began to arrive in America in 1735, and es
tablished a colony in Georgia; and in 1740, they came
to Pennsylvania, and founded Bethlehem and several
other places; the former continuing its chief seat in
the United States.
Catholics. — Among the emigrants to Pennsylvania
in the last century were numerous German Catholics.
As an ecclesiastical body they do not differ from their
English-speaking co-rehgionists. The Roman Catho
hc Church antedates all other Christian churches.
Catholics claim that Christ conferred special attrib
utes on Peter, making him the rock on which the
church is built. The primary of Peter as one of the
apostles is perpetuated in the Pope of Rome, who as
Peter's successor "enjoys not merely a pre-eminence

136 The Story of the
of honor, but a real, immediate jurisdiction over the
entire church, and over each of its members,"
Minor Sects, — There were other minor sects
among the early arrivals: Mystics, who beheve in a
pure, sublime and wholly disinterested devotion, who
claim that they have direct intercourse Avith the divine
Spirit, and that they gain a knowledge of God and of
spiritual things by the natural intellect, and as such
cannot be analyzed or explained. Separatists who
dissent from all sects, and refuse to conform to any
church government, Inspirationists, who beheve that
inspiration extends to the very words and forms of
expression of the divine message, AU these were
represented in the early German emigration.
Methodists. — During the period of German emi
gration into Pennsylvania, no German speaking Meth
odists came here, because Methodism had not gained
any foothold among the Germans at that time, al
though since then it has spread largely among the
Pennsylvania Germans. Methodism did not make its
appearance in the province of Pennsylvania until long
after George Whitfield, who led the advance guard of
Methodism in the United States came here to preach
the new tenets of the sect. Its first organized exist-

Pennsylvania Germans. 137
ence in America dates with the buUdingof the famous
old "John Street Chapel," in New Tork in 1763,
which is beheved to be the first Methodist church
erected in the Western Hemisphere. There are other
religious sects among the Pennsylvania Germans, but
they are off-shoots of other denominations, and had
no existence among the early emigrants. There are
numerous descendants of Pennsylvania Germans who
after they became Anglicized, joined other evangeUr
cal denominations, such as the Presbyterian, Episco
pal and other churches.

CHAPTER XIL
social life and domestic CUSTOMS.
The German Home. — German Hospitahty. — Consid
eration for Strangers. — ^Inherited Traits and
Customs. — Mode of Living. — Folk Lore. — Teu
tonic Myths and Legends. — Hobdays and Relig
ious Festivals. — Christmas. — City and Rural
Life. — German Pohteness,
When the large stream of German emigration
poured into Pennsylvania, chiefly from South Ger
many, it found none of the conditions here by which
the emigrants had been surrounded at home. The
new order of things made certain changes in their
mode of life necessary, but so far as the new condi
tions would permit, they retained their inherited
traits, social and domestic customs, nearly all of which
have come doAvn to the present generation. In some
instances they have borrowed from their English-
speaking neighbors, while the latter have in return
(188)

Pennsylvania Germans. 139
borroAved largely, from the predominant German ele
ment. But in the main, the social customs and domestic
habits brought by the ancestors of the Pennsylvania
Germans from the fatherland were continued, and re
main to this day Avith little change, both among the
latter and their kinsmen in the Rhine country.
The resemblance of these customs and habits are
most striking, among the Germans in the rural dis
tricts of Pennsylvania, and among the peasantry of
South Germany, for the simple reason that the fixed
habits, and traits of a people, are longest preserved by
the great body of the rural population.
A marked characteristic of all Germans every
where, is their "home life." Nowhere do we find
such cheerful sunny homes, as among the Germans.
No matter how humble the home, or how poor the
family may be, the first consideration always is, to hve
for home and family where cheerfulness, and affect
ion reign supreme. That these Adrtues prevail among
other people there is no doubt, but the Germans are
believed to excel in this respect.
The German mode of living is simple, plain and
economical; heightened by a friendly hospitahty.
With regard to these traits the Pennsylvania Germans

140 The Story of the
retain their racial characteristics. There is a single
domestic virtue universal among them, which serves
to illustrate their character in this respect, and to
prove their disinterested friendship. They always re
ceive and entertain strangers Avith generous hospital
ity. If one should come among them unexpectedly
at meal time, an extra seat is at once provided, and the
stranger asked to join the family at the table. These in
vitations are never perfunctory, but are extended in the
hope that they will be accepted. Should the stranger
be overtaken by night, a spare bed is always provided
for such occasions. These characteristics have been
the subject of frequent remark, by people traveling
among the Germans in the rural districts of Pennsyl
vania. In connection Avith the subject of the Pennsylva
nia German's spare bed, a kind word may be in oraer
for the traditional feather bed which seems to be an
indispensable feature of every Pennsylvania German
household. The often derided feather bed is a dis
tinctive German institution, and is found everywhere
in Germany at this day, in winter and summer. No
matter what the season, the feather quilt is found
neatly folded at the foot of the bed ready for use, in
case the emergency calls for it, so that its existence

Pennsylvania Germans. 141
to-day in Pennsylvania is an honest inheritance from
the ancestors of the Pennsylvania Germans, who
brought the custom with them when they first came
here, and where it has held its own ever since, as one
of the settled household institutions.
While the Pennsylvania Germans retain many of
the customs of their kinsmen on the other side of the
Atlantic there is one particular in which the former
have made a Avide departure. In Germany the peas
antry are all croAvded in small villages, in striking
contrast to the Pennsylvania farmers who live on their
large well-tilled farms, in palatial farm houses which
tell of opulence and luxury. In Germany the peas
antry are living in small dorfs, where the houses are
aU built of stone most of which are several centuries
old; situated on narrow streets, so as to take up as
Httle of the valuable ground as possible; the houses
are often situated in such close proximity to the cows,
pigs and hens as to make it appear as if all belonged
to the same household. This last condition is how
ever an exception to the rule, for as a general rule the
German peasant homes, are clean and wholesome, al
though furnished in the plainest manner. The first
floors are frequently of stone; carpets are rarely seen
in the houses of peasants, and even among the higher

142 The Story of the
classes, floors are usually painted; kept scrupulously
clean; and ornamented Avith rugs.
The universal passion of the Germans for flowers
and other ornamentation is often shown by the poor
est peasants, but their almost constant employment in
the fields, prevents them from indulging their in
stincts in that direction to any great extent, but they
neglect no opportunity to do so, whenever it is pos
sible. The German instinct for flowers is strongly exhib
ited by the Pennsylvania German women. There
are not many, who do not find time to give some atten
tion to their cultiA'ation. The yard of nearly every
Pennsylvania German farm house bears testimony to
this fact. There are few houses in rural Pennsylva
nia the surroundings of which are not more or less
beautified by flowering plants, often of the choicest
kinds; while the poorer people are often content, Avith
a few roses; the fragrant honeysuckle; and sometimes
the unpretentious dahlia and sunflower, are made to
attest their love of the beautiful.
There are certain kinds of labor performed by the
German women in their native country, which are
also performed by German women in rural Pennsyl
vania. They attend to the milking, look after the

Pennsylvania Germans. 143
poultry, and attend to the garden, in addition to their
regular household duties. They also assist not infre
quently at certain kinds of work in the fields. These
customs still prevail largely in Germany, but it is a
satisfaction to note, that the custom is groAving into
disfavor in Pennsylvania more every year, and it is
to be hoped that the chivalry of the Pennsylvania
German farmers Avill soon relegate the practice wholly
to the rear, as a custom out of consonance with the
spirit of the times.
There are many articles of diet pecuhar to the
Pennsylvania Germans to which most people have
been strangers until they acquired the knowledge
from them. For instance, — "Scrapple" (P. G. pan-
haas), which the "Standard Dictionary" defines as an
"article of food made by boiling meal or flour with
scraps of pork, chopped hog's liver, and kidneys, and
seasoning, and served in fried shces;" then adds that
it originated among the "Pennsylvania Dutch." It
did not originate among the "Pennsylvania Dutch"
because in the first place there are no such people, and
in the next place it is a common article of food in the
Rhine Pfalz, Avlience the early German emigrants
brought it to Pennsylvania.

144 The Story of the
The origin of the word "pan-haas," (Enghsh pan-
hare, or pan-rabbit), is a puzzle, but it probably be
longs to that class of slang words, of which "welsh
rabbit;" "bhnd robin," and the hke are specimens,
"Sauer-kraut," a dish at one time associated Avith
things vulgar and regarded as not "good form" to eat
by the more aesthetic people, has forged its way to
the front, until it has acquired a very respectable
standing. It is of purely German origin, and sup-
phed the larder of the Hessian soldiers as one of their
chief articles of diet when they embarked for America
during the Revolutionary War, "Schnits and
knepp," — shced apples, and dumplings, cooked Avith
pork, is another purely German dish, for which the
Pennsylvania Germans are indebted to the father
land. The so-caUed "Dutch cheese," is merely the
"Mainzer kase," of Germany, so named after the city
of Mainz on the Rhine, "Smear-case," from the
German "schmier-kase," is also a native of the Pfalz,
There is an endless variety of articles of food, and
their manner of preparation for the table in vogue
among the Pennsylvania Germans, which are inheri
tances from their ancestors who brought the art with
them, when they emigrated to Pennsylvania.
The custom of feasting at funerals among the Ger-

Pennsylvania Germans. 145
mans in Pennsylvania, has been a subject of mudi
comment by English-speaking people, also prevails in
Germany to a limited extent. It is there confined to
a few simple refreshments for guests, especially for
those who come some distance to attend the funeral.
The someAvhat extravagant feasts prepared by the
Germans in Pennsylvania on the occasion of funerals,
may be the result of their greater abihty to provide
hberally for their guests; but there is no doubt that
the custom is the outgrowth of the disposition of good-
Avill, and benevolence so characteristic of the Germans-
everywhere. Relatives are always invited to attend
funerals by the Pennsylvania Germans, and they
often come long distances, to manifest their sympathy
on such occasions, and it would be regarded a great
breach of civility and of friendship, to send the rela
tives away, without inviting them to partake of the
hospitalities of the house of mourning; and to refuse
to accept such an invitation, would be regarded an
equal breach of decorum toward the bereaved family.
The similarity of the domestic customs of the
Pennsylvania Germans and their Palatine kinsmen,
are exhibited in many ways; but it does not stop Avith
their social habits and domestic customs. Much of
their folk-lore, legendary romances, and Teutonic (10)

146 The Story of the
myths, which have come doAvn the ages, and which
are the inheritances of all German-speaking races are
alike. The Rhine traditions being the most recent
are best preserved.
The resemblances can be traced in many of the
usages and behef s common to both; in their rehgious
observances, and manner of worship; agricultural fes
tivals; customs at weddings; the "home-bringings,"
courtship, making acquaintances; old-fashioned meth
ods of work; neighborly gathering of friends to aid
in certain kinds of work, called by the English-speak
ing people a "bee," such as a husking bee; a bam
raising bee, and the like, which is caUed by the Peim-
sylvania Germans in their dialect a "frohc" which
would seem to indicate that they borrowed the term
from the Enghsh, but it is more hkely that it is a cor
ruption of the German word "fr'ohlich" because on
such occasions all hands are gay, jovial, and make
merry, which is usually heightened by "liquid re
freshments," followed when the work is done by a
great feast. Among the common behefs, more par
ticularly among the less informed are certain super
stitions; belief in fairies, and hobgoblins, and ghosts;
lucky and unlucky days; the influence of certain
planets on the elements, upon which subject they have

Pennsylvania Germans. 147
a vast amount of weather lore; belief in the curative
power of magic; "pow-wow" and the hke. These
and many more are superstitions, customs and behefs,
not altogether handed down traditionally, and com
municated from generation to generation, but most
of them have been preserved in the literature of folk
lore of which the Germans have produced the larger
part. The word folk-lore comes from the German
Volk, people, and Lehre learning. So that the tradi
tions of peasants, and uneducated people, are merely
the result of that which was at one time beheved by
all classes. Even at this day much of the ancient folk-lore is
found to exist, and rigidly believed in by some of the
most intelligent people, as well as among the rudest
and most uncultivated people. How many people are
there who would care to start on a long sea voyage on
a Friday; or go unattended through a lonely grave
yard on a night of inky darkness?
Many church and festal days, observed in the
Pfalz, are still complied with by the Pennsylvania
Germans; although the tendency Avith regard to their
observance is growing feebler every year. The man
of middle hfe Avill remember the time when such
days as Good Friday, Ascension Day, Whitsuntide,

148 The Story of the
and other church days were rigidly observed by at
tending religious serAdces in the morning, and spend
ing the remainder of the day in social recreation, by
Adsiting friends and relatives, and in other similar
diversions. Those days are still devoted to similar enjoyments
in Germany. A great deal of this social recreation in
Germany takes place in Avine halls; beer and music
gardens on all festal occasions as weU as on Sundays.
The Germans are a church-going people on Sunday
mornings, but the afternoons are devoted to recrea
tions, which as a general rule lead to the music gar
dens, where beer and Avine are dispensed. This mix
ing of beer, music, and rehgion on Sunday is one of
the things which few of our American Sabbatarians
can understand, because they view it from the stand
point of what they see of drinking in their own coun
try. And it must be admitted, that it is seriously
doubted, whether a quiet and orderly Sunday could
be had in this country, if the same freedom were al
lowed. If the doors of the saloons in this country
were thrown wide open as they are in Germany from
eleven o'clock in the morning until eleven at night,
drunken revels would follow with almost absolute cer
tainty, while such a thing as drunkenness is almost

Pennsylvania Germans. 149
wholly unknoAvn in South Germany. The people
there drink scarcely any spirits, but confine them
selves to beer, and light wines. This is not true of the
North German states, for there the people drink
spirits, and a good deal of drunkenness prevails. The
Germans as a rule drink moderately. The whole fam
ily goes to the beer garden, or the Avine hall, and a
liter of beer suffices for all, and they will spend an
hour or more over that quantity, while the American
style of drinking would in the same length of time
produce more or less intoxication by reason of the
quantity consumed, much of which is due to the
habit of "treating" which does not prevail in Ger
many, A German familiar Avith the American cus
tom with regard to drinking expressed the difference
between the two countries tersely when he remarked:
" In Deutschland trinken die leute bier, aber in
Amerika saufen sie es,"
Christmas is the great rehgious festal day of the
Germans, as it has become Avith most Christian people
everywhere Avithin recent years. With the Pennsyl
vania Germans it always held first place, as it has with
their kinsmen across the sea, from whom the former
inherited all the essential characteristics of its observ
ance, such as the merry-makings, family re-unions.

150 The Story of the
and other social recreations. Christmas is especially
a German holiday. To them it is largely due that
the day has been shorn of its early ascetic character,
and has been succeeded by a day of sunny cheerful
ness, and general good-vdll. The Germans have sur
rounded it with much poetic sentiment, in addition to
its religious aspect; and while the domestic sentiment
is always uppermost with them, it is at Christmas
that this sentiment is most strongly exemplified.
With Christmas eve the festival commences
Avith them. All Pennsylvania German children
look forward to that evening with great anxiety.
That is the evening for the "Bellsnickle" to put in his
appearance in hideous disguise to look after naughty
boys and girls, and when he distributes his gifts in the
shape of nuts and cakes by throAving them on the
floor, woe to any youngster who dares to pick
any of them up, for if he attempts to do so, he AviU be
sure to get a sound whack on his back with a whip
which this fright of the children carries with him.
The "Bellsnickle" is a purely German character, and
does not seem to belong to any other people who have
not derived the character from the Germans. The
name is supposed to come from the words "peltz" skin,
or a furred coat, and "nickle," a dirty person, as the

Pennsylvania Germans. 151
make-up of the character resembles such a combina
tion. To offset the Bellsnickle there is the patron saint
of the little children, good Kriss Kringle, from the
German Christ-Tcindlein — Christ child — who brings
the children happiness Avith their "Weinacht-ga-
schenk" a word which conveys a much more poetic
sentiment than the commonplace English phrase of
"Christmas present." Most of the Christmas stories
which delight children so much, come from the Ger
mans. The Germans have many holidays. Sometimes
the most triAdal event furnishes the occasion for a
festal day. The birthdays of their princes, and dis
tinguished soldiers and statesmen, are made interest
ing events in the lives of the people themselves, by the
elaborate manner in which they celebrate them.
Among the Germans the birthday of every member
of the family is observed in some way. This custom
prevails to some extent among the Pennsylvania Ger
mans, but it is mainly confined to the celebration of
the birthdays of aged people, especially of parents;
grandparents, and of young children. The Moravians
stiU continue the custom of celebrating the birthdays
in some form, of all the members of their families.

152 The Story of the
The hard Unes of the early German immigrants in
Pennsylvania, had the effect to dispel much of the
cheer of the happy homes, which still surrounds the
firesides of their kinsmen in the Rhine country; and
in these days the Pennsylvania Germans have ac
quired the universal contagion of Americans, of the
mad rush after wealth, which robs them of many of
the sunny pleasures of the Germans in their native
land, about which Americans know very httle.
If the emigrants that come from Germany in
these days, should seem to negative the conditions of
the happy German homes herein mentioned, the re
ply is, that they are not intended to embrace the Ger
mans that come from the eastern part of Germany
where the land is poor and the people still poorer.
Very few emigrants come from the region once em
braced in the old state of the Palatinate to the United
States in these days, and the few that do come do not
make the change to improve their temporal welfare,
but to escape mihtary duty, or the possibihties of
war, which is a continual menace to the peace of Ger
many, AVhile the German peasants in the Rhine
country are not rich, and enjoy but few of the lux
uries of the Pennsylvania German farmers, they have
an abundance of the actual necessities of life; hve

Pennsylvania Germans. 153
comfortably, and are more contented and happier
than any other people in the same walk in life, in the
whole of Europe, and even possibly in this country,
A striking characteristic of the Germans in their
OAvn country is one of politeness, much of which they
soon forget after they come here, and their Pennsyl
vania Gennan kinsmen, do not any longer cultivate
that trait very assiduously; but in this respect they
are not behind the rest of their countrymen in demo
cratic America, It is also true, that there is often as
much genuine friendliness concealed beneath the
rougher exterior of the average American, as there is
in the more polished manner, and outward semblance
of the profusive manifestations of friendship of the
German, or Frenchman, It is a fact however that
Europeans generally are pohter than Americans.
Nowhere does one meet with more courteous con
sideration, afl'abihty and manifestations of good-Avill,
than among the Germans in their native country.
This is tnie Avith regard to their daily intercourse,
and upon all informal occasions, and its heightened in
their intercourse with strangers.
The urbane manner, and considerate courteous-
ness of the Germans is called by them "Gemiithhch-
keit." It is said that the word has no equivalent in

154 The Story of the
the English language. It is this "gemiithhchkeit,"
— good nature, kindly disposition, and affability
which controls every action of the German's daily
life. No matter whether you negotiate Avith the
hellnerin for a glass of beer, or you meet the zim'mer-
mddchen that takes care of your room at thehotel,itis
always "guten morgen," or "guten togr/' and upon your
departure from a place the salutations of adieu, "leTye
icohl," "auf wiedersehen," axe showered upon you in
such an earnest manner, that you must believe that
it is all meant. Traveling on a railway train, a
stranger enters the coupe in which you are seated,
he Avill always greet you by Avishing you good day,
after which he may become absorbed in a book, or as
he frequently does, may enter in conversation Avith
you; and on his departing he Avill invariably wish you a
"glilchliche reise," and "sehr fiel vergniigen." "Ich
danJce sehr," and "ich hitte," are continually heard in
recognition of the most ordinary courtesies at every
turn, all day long. Should you call on some newly-
made acquaintance, you are always received Avith:
"Herzliche wilhommen." Men upon meeting often
take off their hats to each other, especially if they
have not met for some time; and on meeting a peas
ant when traveling in the country, he Avill always take

Pennsylvania Germans. 155
his hat off to a stranger, and bid him the time of day.
With all this excessive pohteness, there is also
sometimes great rudeness, but the latter is a rare ex
ception, and is usually conflned to mihtary officers,
who seem to monopolize all the boorishness and bad
manners in Germany. They seem to think that in
order to prove their chivalry, that they must needs
make themselves offensive by their rudeness.

CHAPTER Xm.
life in PENNSYLVANIA IN THE EARLY DATS,
Poverty of early Settlers, — Lack of Houses to Hve in.
— Some made their Homes in Caves at First. —
Food was Plentiful. — Game was Abundant. —
Lack of Roads. — Country a dense Forest. — Only
Indian Trails to get from one Place to Another.
— Early Roads Projected. — Wild Animals num
erous and Destructive. — Early Iron making. —
The Crime of Horse Stealing. — ^Health of new
Settlers. — Courts and Penalties. — Early Laws.
As has already been learned, German emigration
into Pennsylvania began with Penn's first visit to his
proAdnce, but the great tide of emigration did not set
in, until the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Penn was an early reformer in England, with
notions of his own concerning both spiritual, and
secular matters, Avhich were considered at that time
as heretical, Aosionary, and impractical. In his new
(166)

Pennsylvania Germans. 157
province in America, he was not hampered with any
of the traditions of European governments, with their
arbitrary rule, religious persecution, and political op
pression. He was free on this side of the Atlantic,
to give a practical turn to his schemes of an ideal gov
ernment which should be a rehgious and temporal
pai'adise. His notions of government involved entirely new
ideas, and were not at all consonant Avith the times
in which he lived. He did not believe in much gov
ernmental restraint, but believed that a people were
best governed who felt the restraints of government
the least. On this basis he undertook to lay the foun
dation of civil government for his province.
People who beheld the elements Avith which he
would have to contend, despaired of his success in
forming a government of law and order, Avith the ma
terial at hand. As in all new countries there were
among the people whom he found here, the idle, the
vicious, and the depraved, to say nothing of the incon
gruous elements, of people of different nationality,
language, customs and manners. His task must
have seemed a formidable one; but he succeeded as
the framers of no government ever succeeded before
him, nor since.

158 The Story of the
The German emigrants on their coining here
found a beneficient government on their arrival, and
they were rid of the fearful persecution from which
they had been made the sufferers in their native land,
yet they had an appalhng taskbefore them, in making
for themselves homes in the forest Avilderness, to
which they had come. But they were free men for
the first time in their lives. The wrongs of their
cruel oppressors no longer beset them by day, nor
haunted their dreams by night. Most of the emi
grants were very poor and had to make their new
start in hfe, with nothing but stout hearts and Avilling
hands. Many on their arrival at Philadelphia had
not the means to procure shelter and it could not be
procured very often at any price, so that not a few
made their temporary homes in caves along the shores
of the Delaware river, which had been preAdously
occupied by native Indians. It is said that the first
white child bom of English parents at Philadelphia,
Avas born in one of those caves. John Key, whobecame
an honored citizen, and who lived a long life of use
fulness, had such a humble birthplace in 1682, He
died in Chester county in 1767,
It was not long however before the early arrivals
were provided Avith more substantial dwellings, for in

Pennsylvania Germans. 159
less than two years after Penn had laid out his ideal
city, it contained 300 houses built of wood; affording
a fair degree of comfort.
After that more siibstantial buildings began to be
erected of brick brought from England, some of
which still remain standing, well preserved to testify
to the thrift and enterprise of the settlers two cen
turies ago.
The mode of living at first corresponded, Avith the
early means of shelter, and pretty much all except the
few rich, shared the same conditions. After the
newcomer had succeededsofar as to be able to live un
der the roof of his own modest log cabin, he had made
an enviable start, and soon forgot his earlier priva
tions, while the recollections of his wretched condi
tion in his native land, made him happy and con
tended in his new home. After he succeeded to a log
cabin, a horse, cow, plow, axe, saw, and a table of
rough hewn timber, a bedstead and bench in keeping,
he regarded himself on the high road to fortune, and
was happy in the contrast between his condition in
his new home, and his former home in the desolate
Palatinate. With the few primitive household goods,
clothing aptly corresponded. Woolen fabrics were
unknown. The clothing of the new settlers consist-

160 The Story of the
ed of home-made cloth, woven from tow, made
from flax grown on the virgin soil. Their apparel
was neither rich nor gaudy, and didnot admit of much
change of dress, which was chiefly conflned to a shirt,
trousers, and coat. In warm weather the shirt and
trousers sufficed; in cold weather an additional top coat
was Avom for protection. Shoes were made to last a
long time, and were only worn when absolutely neces
sary. Cobblers traveled through the country, among
the settlers and mended their shoes; in that way pro
curing a hvehhood.
The foregoing observations apply only to the
rural population in the early days. In Philadelphia
the residents fared better. That city soon developed
into a prosperous commercial toAvn, and it remained
for many years the chief mart in Pennsylvania, to
which settlers came to trade from all parts of the
proAdnce, Most of the early settlers in Pennsylvania took
to farming on their arriA'^al as soon as they were able
to do so, because they were trained to that occupation
at home, and it also brought them thie quickest return,
and surest employment.
But to make farms in those days was no easy task.
It was necessary first to subdue the Avilderness, wliich

Pennsylvania Germans. 161
was an unbroken forest everywhere. There were no
roads, and to travel from one part of the country to
another was a difficult undertaking. The Indian
trails furnished the only means to get through the
forest, which in many places was practically impene
trable. There were innumerable streams to be
crossed, without bridges. The building of roads of
course receiA'ed early attention, but its progress must
necessarily have been slow, owing to the nature of
the country through which they had to be built, and
the making of them did not keep pace Avith the con
stantly increasing population.
In 1686, four years after Philadelphia was
founded, a road to Trenton was projected. This was
done no doubt to bring the settlements already exist
ing in southern parts of New Jersey in easy commun
ication Avith Philadelphia. In 1729 a road was laid
out to Lancaster; by that time many thousands of
pettlers had located between the latter place and Phil
adelphia, Avith no direct means of communication.
Before that time people traveling between those two
places had to go in a round about way, by Chester;
and the projected road to Lancaster was not built until
1733. A road from Philadelphia to Upper MUford
township in Avhat is now Lehigh county, was buUt
(11)

162 The Story of the
about the same time. From that time on, many roads
were projected and built throughout eastern Pennsyl
vania, Before the building of roads was begun the farm
ers had no need for wagons, so that horses were made
the chief vehicles for the purposes of transportation,
while the shoulders of the stalwart farmers were made
to perform similar service. Road building through
the dense forest was not easy. Large trees had to be
¦felled, and the roadway cleared of stumps and brush.
After roads were thus opened, many farmers at flrst
improvised wagons, by making wheels out of the butt
•ends of large trees, Untanned hides furnished
materials for harness. Settlers during the early years
of their coming here hved far apart, so that they
could not be of much service to each other, and when
winter came on, all communication between them
practically ended, until the foUoAving spring.
The early settlers surely found no earthly paradise
when they first came here, and their descendants who
"¦to-day occupy the rich and highly cultivated farms
which their ancestors hewed out of the primeval
forest, cannot realize the poverty and privations of
the first comers to Penn's El Dorado; yet they were
content, because they were no longer the victims of a

Pennsylvania Germans. 163
ferocious soldiery, whose crimes made their hves in
tolerable in the land of their birth.
The great discomforts and privations of the
earhest settlers were of not long duration. It did not
take those that came first long to get a fair start, and
they soon acquired an abundance of the most urgent
necessities, which they were ever ready to share Avith
their newly arrived countrymen. There does not
seem to have been at any time any great scarcity of
food, for it seems that the streams and forests sup
plied that in abundance, Penn on the occasion of
his flrst visit to his province, Avrote to a friend in Eng
land: "Of food there is an abundance, and of the
best quality," One newly arrived emigrant wrote:
"Wild pigeons come in clouds, and frequently fly so
low as to enable one to knock them down Avith a stick.
Wild turkeys are so large and fat; some of them
weigh 46 pounds. Some that weigh as much as 30
pounds are sold for a shilling. A deer can be bought
for two shillings and six pence. The streams are fuU
of fish, and so they are in New Jersey. The Indiana
often bring in seven or eight deer at a time; of geese,
ducks, Avild swan, and pheasants there are plenty."
In 1750 the farmers complained to the govern
ment, that the bounty offered for the destruction of

164 The Story of the
squirrels, was an injury to them, because laborers, in
stead of helping in harvest, would go squirrel hunt
ing, because they could make better wages thereby,
than by working in harvest.
According to an act of the Colonial Assembly,
the government paid a bounty for each dozen crows,
blackbirds, and squirrels, one shilling and six pence.
Even at that price those destructive creatures did not
seem to diminish, so that in 1754 an appeal was made
to the Assembly to compel every settler to destroy a
certain number of them, for which he was to receive
certain compensation, and in case anyone failed to
destroy his share, he was to forfeit a pro rata penalty.
It was hoped by such means, to save the farmers' com
after it was planted and came up, which the crows,
blackbirds, and squirrels destroyed. Deer were also
so numerous as to become very destructive of the
grain after it came up in the fall. Foxes and musk-
rats, wer§ also very destructive of poultry, and wolves
were very numerous and would sometimes destroy
entire flocks of sheep. The farmers were never with
out their guns; it was customary for them to carry
them wherever they went. These animals had their
homes in the dense forests which were inaccessible on
account of the lack of roads. Farmers frequently

Pennsylvania Germans. 165
lost their horses if allowed to stray away in the end
less wood. The dense forests made horse-steahng an
easy occupation for the lawless, and it constituted one
of the chief crimes of the early days of the settlement
of the province,as the forestsmadeaconvenienthiding
place for them Avith their prey. During a period of
three years after Northampton County was organized,
nine horse thieves were tried and punished in that
county, while a great many more escaped arrest. The
punishment prescribed at that time for horse-stealing,
was public whipping, which did not have the effect
to deter the lawless from committing that sort of
crime. The field of operation of the horse-thieves
was so large and their chances of escape so great, that
they carried on their occupation Avith little hindrance.
The extent of the CAdl was so great, that the citizens
petitioned the Assembly to create the death penalty
for the crime of horse-stealing.
The horse-thieves seem to have had a monopoly
of crime. For a new country there was none of that
laAvlessness which has characterized the new frontier
settlements of our western domain. The "tough cit
izen" of our western frontier had not then yet been
developed. He seems to have made his appearance
later, and is especially, an American product, unique

166 The Story of the
in his character, VAdthout a rival, or counterpart in any
other part of the world, outside of the United States.
After agriculture had made a fair start other in
dustries began to attract the attention of the more
Avide-awake settlers, who had cast their lot Avith the
future of Penn's province. As early as 1696, only
14 years after Penn laid out his ideal city on the Del
aware, the question of making iron began to be dis
cussed, and in 1726 a German by the name of Kurtz
gave the matter a practical turn, by the erection of a
furnace, A firm named Grubb Bros., also built a furnace
and iron-works about the same time in Lancaster
County. By the time of the middle of the eighteenth
century, the proAdnce of Pennsylvania had made
much progress in agriculture and the industrial arts,
and its boundless resources and great hidden wealth,
began to attract great attention, when many persons
of wealth in England and Germany, were attracted
hither, who began the development of the iron, and
other resources, and estabhsh various industrial en
terprises, to meet the growing needs of the province.
In those early days, the traffic in spirituous Hquors
as a beverage was ah'eady a perplexing question. The

Pennsylvania Germans. 167
manufacture of the product became a profitable in
dustry soon after the settlement of the province, and
the early settlers were not exempt, from the craving
for some artificial stimulant, whichhasbeenimplanted
in mankind ever since Noah planted a vineyard
among the hills of Ararat, and became "drunken" on
the fruits thereof. The excessive use then, as it always
has been, brought along Avith it its attendant evils,
In 1721 a convention of leading citizens was held at
Philadelphia, to consider the question, of restraining
the traffic in strong drink, and to encourage the use
of hght beer instead, as being less injurious. It would
seem from this proposition, that the German citizens
sought to introduce, and enforce the custom of beer
drinking which then prevailed in their native land
and which still continues, instead of the use of spirit
uous liquors as a beverage, which are vastly more in
jurious. In South Germany at this day, the people
confine themselves almost exclusively to hght Avines
and beer, Avith the result that an intoxicated person is
scarcely ever seen in that part of Germany.
In 1733 the OAvners of certain iron works peti
tioned the Legislature, to enact a law prohibiting the
traffic in strong drink in the neighborhood where
their works were operated, as it was injurious to the

168 The Story of the
management of their industries; but asked that the
Bale of beer and cider be permitted.
LTnlike most new countries the province of Penn
sylvania was singularly exempt from many of those
diseases Avith which new countries have to contend,
and outside of the few small towns which existed in
the early days there were no doctors, and the obsti
nate Quakers did not seem to think that there was
any need for them, and did not encourage their com
ing. They seemed to have had nearly or quite as much
aversion to doctors as they had to lawyers. One
Quaker wrote in 1690 concerning the needs of the
colony: "Of lawyers and doctors I Avill make no
mention as the country is very peaceable and
healthy." This complacent Quaker probably changed
his mind about doctors, when later malignant fevers,
and the smallpox broke out among the settlers, which
resulted in very many deaths. In later years Phila
delphia had a visitation from the yellow fever which
carried its citizens off by hundreds. As late as the
middle of the last century, Philadelphia did not have
a single paved street, and until 1793 the water for
culinary, and other household purposes was obtained
from wells which could not be saved from becoming

Pennsylvania Germans. 169
polluted by surface drainage. After Philadelphia
had been scourged by the yellow fever well water fell
into disfavor, and the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers
were draAvn upon for water.
COURTS AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
During the early years after the founding of the
province, there were no courts. The Quakers who
were then in control discouraged them, as they also
did lawyers, and all litigation. One of the first
laws passed by the Colonial Assembly, was one to
prevent litigation. It was not until 1701 that courts
were considered necessary. In that year a Court
House Avas built at Philadelphia, which answered for
the whole province. The justices appointed to pre
side over the courts, were empowered to make final
settlement of all disputes.
The business of the courts in those days, was con
ducted Avith great formality and solemnity. The
judges Avore three-cornered hats, and when they re
turned from court to their homes, the constables with
the emblems of their office led the way. The judges
on the bench wore a grave and serious aspect. The
common folks in attendance were inspired with great
awe. It is needless to say that things in this respect

170 The Story of the
have changed since then. In those days judges were
the appendages of royalty, while in these later days,
the people make and unmake them at their pleasure.
The penalties inflicted on offenders against the
law were pecuhar, and in many cases revolting; savor
ing more as viewed at this day, of primitive savagery,
than that of a criminal code of a civilized people.
Malefactors for certain offences were branded in the
hands with red hot irons; others had their ears cut
off, or Avere nailed fast by their ears to the whipping
post; or sentenced to a certain number of lashes, whUe
others for more trivial offences were made to stand
in the pillory for a specified time. The pillory was
usually erected in the market place, and the sentence
usually carried out on market days, Watson in his "An
nals" says that upon such occasions the price of eggs
usually adA^anced for obvious reasons. The penalties
here enumerated were dealt out to persons found
guilty of crime, Avithout regard to rank, station or sex.
In Christoph Sauer's newspaper of date of March
16, 1775, an amusing incident is related, as having
occurred at Easton, A man was sentenced to receive
a certaiu number of lashes, for having stolen an axe.
The sheriff who was not inclined to inflict the punish-

Pennsylvania Germans. 171
ment, offered four dollars to any one who would per
form the duty for him. No one came forward to
perform the job, when the culprit's Avife came along,
and undertook to perform the task. She laid on the
number of lashes decreed, with all her might, after
which she added one more, remarking at the same
time that the last one was for the occasion when her
husband boxed her ears. She was paid her four dol
lars by the sheriff, and the law was vindicated. Some
times a malefactor's entire property was forfeited;
sometimes only a fine Avas imposed, and if the con
demned was unable to pay it, he was put up at pubhc
auction, and sold to the highest bidder to serve a
certain length of time, which was governed by the
price bidden. This latter feature of the law remained
in force until 1786, while the whipping post was not
abohshed until 1790. EARLY LEGISLATION.
The first Colonial Assembly of Pennsylvania met
at Philadelphia January 10, 1683, and was of course
dominated by Penn, and his co-religionists. Some
queer laws were proposed, and some of them were
enacted, and put in force. One legislator wanted a
law passed to encourage matrimony; another sought

172 The Story of the
to make it unlaAvful for any one to wear more than
two kinds of clothing. One kind was prescribed for
summer, and another kind for Avinter,
It Avas made unlaAvful for any one to introduce,
or frequent "stage plays," and the penalty was fixed
at ten days' imprisonment at hard labor in the house
of correction, or forfeit twenty shillings. It was also
made unlawful for any one to play cards for amuse
ment, under a penalty of five shillings, or in default
of payment, imprisonment in the house of correction,
at labor five days.
The price of ale and beer at a pubhc house, was
fixed at two pennies a Winchester quart.
A law Avas passed, changing the names of the days
of the Aveek, "according to Scripture," making them
first, second, third, etc., instead of the "heathen
names," Monday, Tuesday, etc. The names of the
months were similarly changed.
Any one convicted of lying in conversation, was
to suffer a penalty of half a crown for each offense,
or in default of payment suffer three days imprison
ment at hard labor. If such a law were in force in
these days the revenues therefrom would soon create
a surjilus, and the gOA^emment would not be embar
rassed by a deficit.

Pennsylvania Germans. 173
Any one found guilty of speaking derogatorily of
the sentence, or judgment of any court, or of speaking
disrespectfully of a judge, was to be fined at the dis
cretion of the court.
Any one found guilty of stealing hogs a third time
was to receive thirty lashes, and be banished from the
proAdnce. It was made the duty of parents to have their
children taught to read and Avrite, by the time they
were twelve years of age; then taught some useful
trade, for neglect of which, the parents were fined
five pounds for every child so neglected.
UNJUST CRITICISM OF PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS.
The Pennsylvania Germans have often been made
to suffer by calumnious reports concerning them, by
reason of the prejudice, and oftener perhaps of the
ignorance of a certain class of writers for the press,
A number of years ago, an editorial appeared in the
Public Ledger, defending them against the aspersions
and mendacious misrepresentations of a Tankee
scribbler for a newspaper who said: "The immi
grants came over here with their priests, a fragment
of the middle ages, uneducated and uncultivated.
What is the consequence ? We see before us the pet-

174 The Story of the
rifaction of a social and mental condition which haa
long since disappeared from Germany, We behold a
picture of the dark ages,"
It is remarkable that such dense ignorance should
have existed anywhere, even among only half educated
people, at any time Avithin the present century con
cerning a people, who have always occupied an honor
able and conspicuous place in the history of their state
and country; who to-day number not less than a nul-
lion and a half of people, many of whom are filling
some of the highest stations in every walk of life.
All that is necessary to put to shame such base hbel-
lers as the foregoing is to point to the long Hne of
Pennsylvania's German Governors, and to the men
of the same blood in our halls of legislation, on the
bench, at the bar, in the pulpit, among the men emi
nent in the sciences, among the educators, business
men and financiers, not only in Pennsylvania, but
wherever the Pennsylvania Germans and their de
scendants have spread.
The following extract from the editorial of the
Ledger is just as timely now as when first written, in
case there are still any people as ignorant and misin
formed, as the one who wrote the foregoing Hbel:
"No one famihar with the German farmers of

Pennsylvania Germans. 175
Pennsylvania need be told that this is a stupid and
ignorant libel. Its author has either never traveled
through our state, or has mahciously misrepresented
what he saAV. So far from our German farmers being
on a level Avith the serfs of one hundred and fifty
years ago, they are vastly in advance of cotemporary
German and French farmers, or even of English
farmers of similar means. On this point we need go
no further for authority than to Mr. Munch, the f el-
loAV laborer with Mr, Herder in the late campaign,
who though hostile in politics to our German farmers
in general, was forced, during his tour through Penn
sylvania, to admit their sterhng worth. Mr. Munch
is an experienced and practical agriculturist, and not
merely a speculative man of letters, so that his judg
ment on such a question is worth that of a score of
visionary, ill-informed, prejudiced, disappointed
demagogues or partisan editors. After eulogizing
the picturesque natural features of the landscape of
our German counties, praising the excellent taste
which has preserved the woods on the hill sides, and
extolhng the appearance of the farms, this gentle
man adds significantly that he found the people of a
genial, sohd and respectable stamp, enviably circum
stanced in comparison with the European farmer, and
very far superior in intelligence and morals. It is
time that the truth should be spoken, and justice done
to our German population. We are Avilling to go aa
far as any one in testifying to the value of books,
newspapers and schools; we are Avilhng to admit that
our German farmers, as a class, have cared less for
these things than they ought; but we are not siUy
enough to say that a man is necessarily a bad farmer,
a disorderly citizen, or a profligate husband because

176 The Story of the
he does not speak English, is not crammed with book-
learning, or does not take in a half a dozen journals.
Our (lennan farmers prove the reverse. Whether a
denizen of a state be valuable to it on account of what
he annually adds to the realized wealth of the com
munity, or for his faithful obedience to the laws, or
for his sacredness with which he preserves the family
compact, our German farmers certainly meritas much
as any other class for the practice of either of these
Adrtues, or indeed for the harmonious exercise of them
all. Even their intelligence is underrated. As Mr,
Munch of .Misso, has said, they are a 'genial, solid and
respectable stamp;' there is no false mental glitter
about them; in a word, they are rather men of sound
judgment, than brilliant rhetoricians, or one-sided
ideologists. All persons who have had transactions
with our German farmers, love to respect the excel
lent sense they display in the ordinary concerns of
life. * * « *
In many particulars, German farmers surpass
even the people of New England, who of late have
put in a claim, it would seem to be the ne plus ultra
in all things. The German farmers understand, or
if they do not understand they observe the laws of
health, better than even the rural people of Massa
chusetts; and the result is that they are really the
finest race of men, physically, to be found in the
United States. In certain favorable localities of
Kentucky, or on the frontier, where from being a
dominant caste, or from the immediate Adcinity of the
unpeopled wilderness, the inhabitants live a half
nomad life, there are as fine, perhaps finer specimens
of men to be seen; but there is nowhere in America,
an agricultural population, the members of which

Pennsylvania Germans. 177
personally till the soil, that has such thews and sinews,
such a healthy development, or such generally pro
longed hfe, as our much abused "Pennsylvania
Dutchmen." To be plain, if some of our crotchetty,
one-idead dyspeptic, thin cadaverous, New England
brethren would emigrate to our German counties;
foUoAV for a generation or two, the open air life of
our German farmers; and last of all marry into our
vigorous anti-hypochondrical German families, they
would soon cease to die by scores of consumption, to
complain that there were no longer any healthy
women left, and to amuse sensible people Avith such
silly A'agaries of Pantheism, or a thousand and one
intellectual v.agaries which are born of their abnormal
physical conditions."
In these somewhat desultory and digressive pages,
the author sought to tell the "Story of the Pennsyl
vania Germans," but he realizes that the task has been
but imperfectly performed. If however he has
succeeded in encouraging some one else Avith the
energy and inclination to undertake the task on a
more extended scale, he will be amply paid for all the
time and labor which this volume has cost him. The
story of the Pennsylvania Germans has never been
told, and is only partially chronicled in these pages.
It still remains for some faithful chronicler to give
them their proper place in the history of their State,
and of the nation, in behalf of which they rendered
invaluable services at the birth of the Republic. (12)

APPENDIX A.

EXAMPLES OF PFALZISCH, AND SOUTH GERMAN DIALECTS.
The foUoAving poem, in the Pfalzisch dialect, is
from Professor Franz von Kobell's "Gedichte in
Pfalzisch Mundart."
(Franz von Kobell, was bom at Munich in 1803,
and died there in 1882, where he had been Professor
of Mineralogy, in the LTniversity of Munich for many
years. He was also a poet of considerable distinction.)
'S Lob ATin Binge',
Die herrhchsht' Gegend am ganze Rhei'
Dess is die Gegend Aom Binge',
Es Avachst der allerbeschte wei'
Der Scharlach wachst bei Binge'.
Die g'schick'schte Schiffleit', die mer find't,
Dess sin die Schiffer atih Binge',
Un' sicht mer in Meens, e'hiibsches Kind,
Wo is es her? Vim Binge'.
(179)

180 The Story of the
Ke' Loch is uf der ganze' Welt
So beriihmt wie des vun Binge',
Ke' Thorn so keck in's wasser g'stellt,
Wie der im Rhei' bei Binge',
Die Mans' vum Bischof Hatto, sichi
Sin g'schAvumme' bis noch Binge',
Ke G'schicht' war je so ferchterhch,
Wie selli dort bei Binge',
Un' die heilig' Hildegard die war
Halt aach drheem in Binge',
Un Avar Aebtissen dort sogar,
Dess alles war in Binge'.
Es is e' wahri Herhchkeit
Dess liebe kleene Binge',
Mei' Vater and Mutter un' all mei Lent'
Ja mir sin all' vun Binge',
In the foregoing poem there is not a single word
that is not identical Avith Pennsylvania German ex
cept the word "keck" (bold, or saucy)' in the third
Hne of the third stanza, and the author can recall that
word being used by Pennsylvania Germans a genera
tion and a half ago, but it seems to have dropped out
of the dialect, in recent years.
The word "Loch" in the third stanza, has refer
ence to the so-called "Bingerloch," or "Hole of Bin
gen," which derives its name from the narroAving of

Pennsylvania Germans. 181
the Rhine near Bingen, to a dangerous rocky chan
nel; and the "Thorn" in the same stanza, refers to the
famous "Mouse Tower," which received its name
from the legend, concerning the cruel Bishop Hatto
of Mainz, who as the legend tells us bnmed a num
ber of people in a bam, during a famine, and who was
afterwards attacked by swarms of mice, when he took
refuge in the tower on the rock in the middle of the
river, and was there devoured by the mice, that fol
lowed him thither. This is one of the many legends
of the Rhine, preserved in a volume of "Legends of
the Rhine," by H. A. Guerber, and is as follows:
BINGEN.  THE RAT TOWER.
In the year 914, Avhen Hatto was Bishop of Mainz,
a protracted rain entirely ruined the harvest, occa
sioning a terrible famine from which the poor people
suffered sorely. As they were perishing from hunger,
they finally applied to the bishop, whose granaries
were filled to overflowing Avith the produce of the
former, more favorable years. But the Bishop was
cruel and hard-hearted and utterly refused to listen
to them until at last they so wearied him by their
constant importunity, that he bade them to assemble
in an empty bam, where he promised to meet them
on a certain day, and hour to quiet all their demands.
Almost beside themselves Avith joy at the promise,
the people hastened to the appointed spot, gathering
there in such numbers that the empty barn was soon

182 The Story of the
quite full. Anxiously they watched for the bishop,
whom they greeted with loud cries of joy, as soon as
he appeared. Their acclamations were however soon
changed into blood-curdling cries of distress, for the
cruel prelate after bidding his servants fasten the
doors and windows so that none could escape, set flre
to the building and burned them all, declaring they
were hke rats and should perish in the same way.
This wholesale massacre ended, the bishop retired
home, sat down before his lavishly spread table, and
ate Avith as healthy an appetite as usual. When he
entered the dining room on the morrow, however, he
stood still in dismay, for during the night the rats
gnawed his recently finished portrait out of the frame,
and it now lay an unseemly heap upon the floor.
When he stood over it his heart filled Avith sudden
nameless terror, for he fancied it was a bad omen; a
servant came rushing into the room, bidding him to
fly for his life, as a whole army of hungry, fierce look
ing rats were coming that way. Without waiting
for his usual escort, the bishop flung himself on his
messenger's steed, and rode rapidly away. From
time to time he nervously turned his head to mark
the gradual approach of a dark line, formed of thous
ands of rats, animated by the revengeful spirit of the
poor he had so cruelly burned.
Faster and faster Hatto urged his panting steed,
but in spite of all his efforts, he had scarcely dis
mounted, entered a small skiff and rode out into the
Rhine, ere an army of rats fell upon his horse and de
voured it. The bishop shuddering Avith fear, rowed
Avith all his might to his tower in the middle of the
Rhine, where he quickly locked himself in fancying
that he had escaped from his hungry foes. But the

Pennsylvania Germans. 18S
voracious rats having disposed of his steed, now boldly
swam across the Bingerloch to the tower, and
swarmed up its sides, seeking some crcAdce through
which they could get at their foe. As they found
none, they set their sharp teeth to work, and Hatto
quailed Avith dread as he heard them gnavdng busUy
on aU sides. In a very few moments the rats had a
thousand holes through which they rushed upon
their victim,
Southey, who has versified this legend, which h©
calls "God's Judgment upon a vricked Bishop," de
scribes their entrance thus:
"And in at the Avindow, and at the door.
And through the walls, helter skelter they pour,
And doAvn from the ceiling, and up through the floor,.
From the right and the left, from behind and front.
before.
From within and without, from above and below.
And all at once to the bishop they go.
"They have whetted their teeth against the stones,.
And now they pick the bishop's bones;
They gnawed the flesh from every limb.
For they were sent to do judgment on him."
Ever since then, that building in the Rhine ha»
been knoAvn as the "Rat Tower." Tradition relates-
that the bishop's soul sank doAvn to the nethermost
hell, where it is ever burning in a fire far hotter, than
that he kindled around the starving poor. At sunset
a pecuhar red glow may be seen over the tower, and'

184 The Story of the
this, the people declare is only a faint reflection of
the infernal furnace, to warn all mankind against
cruelty to God's poor.
POEM EST SOUTH GERMAN DIALECT.
The foUoAving is a characteristic poem in the
South German dialect, taken from the "FHegende
Blatter," a humorous periodical, pubhshed at Munich:
E' Frilhling's Poesie.
Wan die Beem un' Hecke
Gans voU Veggie hucke,
Un' die Deckel-schnecke
Aus de Hauser gucke
Dann isch' Frijohr worre.
Wan die Schlee bliehe
Un' die Veilcber kumme,
Wann die Keffer fliehe
Un' die Imme summe,
Dann isch' Frijohr worre.
Wann die Fresch un' krotte
Ihre junge hortzle,
Uffem Wiesebodde
Wie besoff' umporzle
Dann isch Frijohr worre.
Wann die junge Mere
No' de Buwe gucke
Un' vor alle Dere
Omds die Alte hucke
Dann isch Frijohr worre.

Pennsylvania Germans. 185
A POEM IN THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN DIALECT.
The following from "Gedichte in Pennsylvanisch
Deutscher Mundart" by the late Rev. Heinrich Har-
baugh, is an excellent example of Pennsylvania Ger
man dialect, showing the subhmity, and deep pathos
of which the dialect is capable:
HEEMWEH.
Ich, wees net was de Uhrsach is —
Wees net, warum ich's du:
'N jedes Johr niach ich der weg
Der Alte Heemet zu:
Hah Aveiter nix zu suche dort —
Kee' Erbschaft un kee geld;
Un doch treibt mich des Heemgefiehl
So schtark wie alle Welt;
Nor'd schtart ich ewe ab un geh,
Wie owe schun gemeldt.
Wie nacher dass ich kumm zum Ziel,
Wie schtiirker Avill ich geh.
For ebbes in mei 'm Herz werd letz
Un dhut m'r kreislich weh.
Der letschte Hiwel schpring ich nuf ,
Un eb ich drowe bin,
Sehtreck ich mich uf so hoch ich kann
Un guck mit luschte bin;
Ich seh's alt Schtee'haus dorch die Beem,
Un Avott ich war schun drin.

186 The Story of the
Guk Avie der Kicheschornschtee' schmokt —
Wie oft hob ich sel g'seh,
Wann ich draus in de Felder war,
'N Buwele jung un klee'
O, sehnscht die Fenschterscheiwe dort?
Sie guk'n roth wie Blut;
Hab oft cunsiddert, doch net g'Avisst,
Dass sell die Sunn so dhut,
Ja, manches wees'n Kind noch net —
Wann's dhet, war's ah net gut!
Wie gleich ich selle Babble Beem,
Sie schtehn Avie Brieder dar;
Un uf'm Gipple — g'vriss ich leb!
Hockt alleweil'n Schtaar!
'S Gipple biegt sich — ^guk, Avie's gaunscht — •
'R hebt sich awer fescht;
Ich seh sei' rothe Fliegle plehn,
Wann er sei' Feddere wescht;
Will wette, dass sei' Fraale hot
Uf sellem Baam 'n nescht!

O, es gedenkt m'r noch gans gut,
Wo selle werri Beem
Net greeser als 'n Welschkornschtock
Gebrocht sin worre heem.
Die Mammi war an's Grandad's g'west,
Dort ware Beem Avie die;
Drei Wipplein hot sie mitgebrocht,
Un g'sa't "Dort blanscht sie hie,"
M'r hen's gedliu' — un glaabscht du's nau —
Dort selh Beem sin sie I

Pennsylvania Germans. 187
Guk! werkhch, ich bin schier am Haus! —
Wie schnell geht doch die Zeit!
Wann m'r so in Gedanke geht.
So wees m'r net Avie weit,
Dort is d'r Schap, die Welschkomkrip,
Die Seiderpress dort draus;
Dort is die Scheier, un dort die Schpring —
Frisch quellt des wasser raus;
Un guk! die sehm alt Klapbord-Fens,
Un's Dheerle vor'm Haus,

Alles is schtill — sie wisse net,
Dass ebber fremmes kummt.
Ich denk, der alte Watsch is dodt,
Sunscht war er raus gedschumpt;
For er hot als verschinnert g'brillt
Wann er hot's Dheerle g'heert;
Es war de Triiw'lers kreishch bang,
Sie werre gans A'^erzehrt:
Kee' G'f ohr — er hot paar Mol gegauzt
Nor'd is er umgekehrt.
Alles is schtill — die Dheer is zu!
Ich schteh, besinne mich!
Es rappelt doch en wenig nau
Dort hinne in der kich.
Ich geh net nei- — ich kann noch net!
Mei' Herz fiehlt schwer un krank;
Ich geh'n wenig uf die Bortsch,
Un hock mich uf die Bank;
Es seht mich niemand, wann ich heil,
Hinner der Drauwerank!

188 The Story of the
Zwee Blatz sin do uf dare Bortsch,
Die halt ich hoch in Acht,
Bis meines Lebens Sonn versinkt
In schtiller Dodtes-Nacht!
Wo ich vum alte Vaterhaus
'S erscht mol bin gauge fort,
Schtand mei' Mammi weinend da.
An sellem Rigel dort;
Un nix is mir so heilig nau
Als grade seller Ort,
Ich kann sie heit noch sehne schteh,
Ihr Schnuppduch in d'r Hand;
Die Backe roth, die Aage nass —
O, Avie sie doch do schtand!
Dort gab ich ihr mei' Farewell,
Ich weinte als ich's gab,
'S war's leschte Mol in dare Welt,
Dass ich's ihr gewe hab!
Befor ich widder kumme bin
War sie in ihrem Grab!

Nau Avann ich an mei' Mammi denk,
L'n meen, ich dhet sie seh.
So schteht sie an dem Rigel dort
Un Aveint, well ich wek geh!
Ich seh sie net im Shockelschtuhl!
Net an keem annere Ort;
Ich denk net an sie als im Grab;
Juscht an dem Rigel dort!
Dort schteht sie immer vor mei'm Herz
Un weint noch liebreich fort!

Pennsylvania Germans. 189
Was macht's dass ich so dort hi' guk.
An sell End vun der Bank!
Weescht du's? Mei' Herz is noch net dodt,
Ich wees es, Gott sei Dank!
Wie manchmal sass mei Dady dort.
Am Summer-nochmiddag,
Die Hande uf der Schoos gekreizt,
Sei Schtock bei Seite lag.
Was hot er dort im Schtille g'denkt?
Wer mecht es AAdsse — sag?
Verleicht is es'n Kindheets-Draam,
Dass ihn so sanft bewegt;
Oder is er'n Jinghng jetz,
Der scheene Plane legt!
Er hebt sei' Aage uf juscht nau
Un gnkt weit iwer's Feld;
Er seht v'rleicht d'r Kerchhof dort,
Der schun die Mammi heit!
Er sehnt v'rleicht nooch seiner Ruh
Dort in der bessere Welt!
Ich wees net, soil ich nei' in's Haus,
Ich zitter an der Dheer!
Es is wol alles voU inseid,
Un doch is alles leer!
'S is net meh heem, Avie's eemol war,
Un kann's ah nimme sei;
Was naus mit unsere Eltere geht
Kummt ewig nimme nei'!
Die Friede hot der Dodt geamt.
Das Trauerdheel is mei'!

190 The Story of the
So geht's in dare rauhe Welt,
Wo alles muss vergeh!
Ja, in der alte Heemet gar
Fiehlt m'r sich all allee' !
O, wann's net vor der Himmel war,
Mit seiner scheene Ruh,
Dann war m'r's do schun lang verleedt,
Ich Avisst net, was ze dhu,
Doch Hoffnung leichtet meinen Weg
Der ew'gen Heemet zu,
Dort is'n schee', schee', Vaterhaus,
Dort geht m'r nimmeh fort;
Es weint kee' guti Mammi meh'
In sellem Freideort,
Kee' Dady such meh' for'n Grab,
Wo, was er heb hat hegt!
Sell is kee' Elendwelt Avie die.
Wo alle Luscht betriegt;
Dort hat das Lewe cAviglich
Iwer der Dodt gesiegt,
Dort find m'r, was m'r do verliert,
Un b'halt in EAvigkeit;
Dort lewe unsre Dodte all.
In Licht un ew'ger Freid!
Wie oft, wann ich in Druwel bin,
Denk ich an selh Ruh,
Un wott, wann's Gott's Wilhe war,
Ich ging ihr schneller zu;
Doch wart ich bis mei' Schtindle schlagt
Nor'd sag ich — Welt, adju!

Pennsylvania Germans. 191
PENN'SYLVANIA GERMAN AND HIGH GERMAN COMPARED.
A comparison of Pennsylvania German Avith BSgh
German, Avill prove the quahty of the former. For
that purpose, Goethe's Erlkonig is given, and also
rendered in Pennsylvania German,
Erlkonig.
Wer reitet so spat durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er f asst ihn sicher, er halt ihn warm,
"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?"
Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkonig nicht?
Den Erlkonig mit Kron' und Schweif ?
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif,"
"Du hebes Kind, komm', geh mit mir!
Gar schone Spiele spiel' ich mit dir!
Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand;
Meine Mutter hat manch gulden Gewand,
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und horest du nicht.
Was Erlkonig mir leise verspricht?
"Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind !
In diirren Blattern sauselt der Wind,"
Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir geh'n?
Meine Tochter soUen dich warten schon;
Meine Tochter fiihren den nachtlichen Reih'n
Und Aviegen und tanzen und singen dich ein."

192 The Story of the
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehts du nicht dort
Erlkonigs Tochter am diistem Ort?
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh's genau,
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau."
"Ich Lieb' dich, mich reitz deine schone Gestalt,
Und hist du nicht willig, so branch' ich Gewalt."
Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fasst er mich an,
Erlkonig hat mir ein Leids gethan!
Dem Vater grauset's, er reited geschAvind,
Er halt in den Armen das achtzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Miih' und Noth;
In seinein Armen das Kind war todt.

PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FORM,
Wer reit so schpote dorch Nacht un Wind?
Es is der Vater mit seini Kind;
Er hat den Bu woU in seim Arm,
Er fascht ihn sicher, er halt ihn warm,
"Mei Soh, mei Soh, was bischt du so bang dei G'sicht"
Sehn'scht, Vater du ken Erlkonig net?
Der Erlkonig mit Kron' un Schweef ,
Mei Soh, es is en Newel schtreef e.
"Du liewes Kind, kum geh mit mir!
Gar scheene Schpiele schpiel ich mit dir!
Manch' fiel-fart Blume sin am Schtrand
Mei Milter hat manch' guld'ne G'gleed.

Pennsylvania Germans. 193
Mei Vater, mei Vater, un heerscht du net.
Was ErUc(3nig mir schtille verschprecht?
"Sei ruhig, bleib ruhig, mei Kind
In der Blatter merwelt der Wind.
"Wilscht feiner Bu, du mit mir geh?
Mei Dochter soUe dir abwarte schee,
Mei Dochter f eih'r'n den nachthche Danz
Un schockle un Danz'n un singe dich ei."
Mei Vater, mei Vater, un sehnscht du net dort,
Erlkonig's Dochter am dunkle platz,
"Mei Soh, mei Soh, ich seh'n es ganau
Es scheine die alte Weide so gro'."
"Ich lieb dich, mich ziegt dei schee Muschter
Un bischt du net willig, so branch ich g'walt."'
Mei Vater, mei Vater jetzt fascht er mich ah,
Erlkonig hat mir en wee's ge-dhu.
Dem Vater fiircht's, er reit g'schAvind
Er halt in 'em Arm dess seif'ziches Kindt
Erreecht den Llof mit Meeh un Noth
In seim Arm dess Kindt war dodt.

In rendering the "Erlkonig" in Pennsylvania
German no English words are employed, and only
such words are used, as are in daily use by people
speaking the dialect. Harbaugh in his poems makes
use of a number of pure German words, such as are
rarely used by Pennsylvania Germans at this day,
(13)

194

The Story of the

but in the main he foUowed the Pennsylvania Ger
man usages.
It will also be observed that in the foregoing ex
amples of the Pfalzisch and South German dialects,
that both approach closely the spelling, accent, and
phonology of the Pennsylvania German, which at-
itests their intimate relationship.

196 The

Story of the

A,

P. G.

Pfalzisch.

Ah,

Ah,

aUenig,

allenig.

allegebott,

allegebott.

anne'geh.

anne'geh.

anner.

anner.

appel.

appel.

arthch,

arthch,

aUeweil,

alleweil.

awer,

awer.

angsterhch.

angsterhch,

High German.

English.

Auch,

Also,

allein,

alone.

jeden augenbHck,

every moment.

hin gehen.

to go there.

ander.

other.

apfel.

apple.

sonderbar,

wonderful.

ebenjetzt.

even now.

aber.

but.

angstlich.

afraid.

B.

P.G.

Pf'dlziscR.

Backoufe,

Backoufe,

baU,

ball,

baam.

baam.

beem (bame).

bam.

batsche (im wasser).

batsche.

babbere.

babbere.

Pennsylvania Germans.

197

bass uf.

bass uf.

beer.

beer.

beerebaum.

beerebaum.

bibi, bibiche,

bib'che.

buchele.

buchele.

bissel.

bissel.

blabbere,

blabbere,

bio.

bio.

blosbalk,

blosbalg,

boUere,

boUere,

bu.

bu.

buwe.

buwe.

huddle.

buttle.

High German.

English.

Backofen,

Bakeoven,

bald.

soon,

baum.

tree.

baume,

trees.

waten.

to wade.

schnell schwetzen.

rapid talk.

lass auf.

take care,

lime.

pear.

bimebaum.

pear tree,

kleines huhn.

little chicken.

buchlein.

small book,

wenig.

Httle,

eilig blabbem,

idle talk.

blau.

blue.

blosbalg,

bellows,

poltern.

make noise.

bublein.

boy.

knaben.

boys,

flasche.

I)ottle.

198

The Story of the

0,

P. 0.
Christ owet,
Christel, clafeer.
High German.
Christ abend,
Christiana,
clavier.

P.G.

Pfalzisch.
Christ owet,
Christel,
clavier, English.
Christmas eve,
Christian,
piano-forte.

D.

Pfalzisch.

Dabber,

Dabber,

dahl,

dahl.

dambnudle,

dambnudle,

dochterle.

dochterle,

deheem.

deheem,

deiwel.

deiwel.

deel.

deel,

dir.

dir.

der wu.

der Avu,

dichel'che.

dichel'che.

dings.

dings.

dodte-lad.

dodte-lad.

darmHch,

darmlich.

dreckich.

drecket.

dummele.

dummele,

dun'er.

dun ihr,

drick'le.

trickele,

der wo.

der wo.

der zwett,

der zwett.

Pennsylvania Gernmns.

19»

High German.

EngUsh.

Geschwind,

Hurry,

thai,

dale.

dampfnudle,

dumpling.

tochterlein,

Httle daughter,

deheim.

at home.

teufel.

devU,

theU,

part.

dir,

your.

der welcher,

that who.

tuchleiii.

small cloth.

dinge,

things.

tode-lad,

coffin,

taumlich,

dizzy.

schlammig.

muddy.

eilen,

hurrying.

thut ihr,

do you,

trockenen.

to dry.

der welche.

which one.

der zweite.

the second.

E.

P.O.

Pfdlzisc%.

Ebber,

ebber.

ebbes,

ebbes.

eche.

eche.

eifrig,

eifrig.

ehnder.

ehnder,

egens.

egens.

e'letzig,

e'letzig.

elle-bohe.

elle-boh'.

eme.

em'.

200

The

Story of the

er'beere,

er'beere.

emol.

emol,
end.
en'.
ent.
ent.
High
German.
English.
etwer.
some one.
etwas.
something,
eiche.
oak.
eifrig,
industrious,
friiher,
sooner.
eigens.
own.
vereinzelt,
single,
ellbogen,
elbow.
ihm,
him.
erdbeere,
strawberry.
einmal.
once.
eine.
one.
ende,
end.
ente.
duck,
E.
P.
G.
Pfalzisch
FHcke,
flicke,
fraa.
fraa.
fremm.
fremm.
frog.
froh'.
High German.
English.
flicken.
mend.
frau.
woman, Avife,
fremde,
stranger.
fragen,
ask.
Pennsylvania Germans.

201

G,

P.G.

Pfalzisch.

Gackere,

gackere,

galje,

galje,

«ale.

geel.

g'for.

g'for,

geh,

geh,

geloffe,

geloffe,

gedu.

gedu,

gelle,

gel',

g'nunk.

g'nunk.

glawe.

glaw'.

glei.

glei'.

gro,

gro'.

geblanzt.

geplanzt,

grumbeere,

grundbeere,

gummera.

gurken.

High German.

English.

gackern.

to cackle,

galgen,

gallows.

gelb.

yellow,

gefahr.

danger.

igehen,

to go.

gelaufen.

walked.

gethan,

done.

gelt.

is it not true?

genug.

enough.

glauben,

believing.

gleich.

soon,

grau.

grey,

gepflanzt.

planted.

T^artoffeln,

potatoes.

gurken.

cucumbers.

202 The

Story of the

H,

P.G.

Pfalzisch.

Hensching,

han'sche.

hab.

hann.

ha'mer.

ha'mer.

ha'wer.

ha'wer,

hell.

hel'.

hem.

hem'.

herr jeh.

herr jeh.

he'wel,

he'wel.

hickele.

hiickele,

hinkel,

hinkel.

hucke.

hucke.

hochzich.

hochzich.

hunne.

hunne,

hiinnert,

hunnert.

huscht,

hascht,

heemzu,

heemzu.

High German.

English.

handschuh.

gloves.

haben.

to have.

haben Avir,

have we.

hafer.

oats.

holle.

hell.

Herr-Jesus,

Lord Jesus,

hiigel.

hill.

hemde.

shirt.

hiickeln, hupfen.

to hop, or leap.

huhn.

chicken.

sitzen.

to sit.

hochzeit.

wedding,

unten.

below.

Pennsylvania Germans.

203

hundert,

hundred.

hast.

have.

heim zu,

homeward.

P.O.

Pfalzisch.

Is,

IS,

is'm.

is'm.

iwer,

iwer,

iw'rig,ich" frog.

iw'rig, ich frog,

High German.

English.

ist,ist ihm,
iiber, Tibrig, ich frage,

is,is he,
over, left over,
I ask.
J,
P.
0.
Pfalzisch.
Johr, jarelich,
jauchze, junghaet, jud.
Jahr,
jahrlich,
jauchze', junghaet,
High German.
Jahr,
jahrlich,
jauchzen, jungheit,jude,
English.
year,
yearly, to shout,
newness, or young,
jew.
204 The

Story of the

K.

P.G.

Pfalzisch

Kawfe,

Kaufe,

kapp.

kapp.

kenne.

ka',

knopp,

knopp,

kohle.

kohle,

krapsche.

krapsche.

kreisch.

kreisch.

krott,

krott.

kumm'rad.

kiimmerad.

High German.

English.

kaufen.

to buy,

miitze.

cap.

kein.

none.

knopf.

button.

kohlen,

coal.

zusammen raffen.

to grasp.

schrei.

yell.

krote.

toad,

kamerad,

comrade.

L,

P.G.

Pfalzisch.

Laab,

lab.

lappes.

lappes.

lebdag.

lebdah'.

lehne,

lehne,

lefze.

lefze.

ledig.

lerig.

letz.

letz.

lewendig.

lewendig,

lutzer,

lutzer,

Pennsylvania Germans.

205

Higl

\, German.

English.

laub.

leaf.

muthloser mensch.

spiritless man.

lebenzeit.

lifetime,

leihen.

to loan,

Hppen,

Hps,
leidig.
tiresome.
verkehrt,
wrong.
lebendig.
alive,
laterne.
lantern.
M,
P. G.
Pfalzisch.
Maad,
mad.
mad,
mad, or mere,
maha,
maha.
mag.
mag.
mais'che,
mais'che.
manch'.
manch'.
meh',
meh'.
mehner.
mehner.
milHch,
milch.
munder.
munder.
High German.
English.
magd,
maid.
madcher.
girls.
magen.
stomach.
magen.
may.
mauslein,
little mouse,
manig.
many,
206

The Story of the

mehr,
milch,munter.

more,milk,active.

N.

P. 0.

Pfalzisch.

Naz,

naz.

nau.

nau,

ne,

ne.

net.

net,

newel.

newel.

newe,

newe.

newe naus,

newe naus.

nexe.

nexe,

ne-wer,

'ne-wer.

nix.

nix,

nochber.

nachber,

nix batte,

nix batte.

High German.

Englii

faden, zwim,

thread,

nun, jezt.

now.

nein.

no.

nicht.

not,

nebel.

mist,

neben.

at the side.

neben aus,

out at the side.

necken.

to tease.

hin iiber.

the other side.

nichts.

nothing.

nachbar.

neighbor.

nichts nutzen.

does no good.

Pennsylvania Germans.

207

O,

P.

, 0.

Pfalzisch.

Oftmole,

oftmal,

oufe,

oufe.

ostera.

,

ostera,

owet.

owend.

owwe.

ovsrwe.
High
German.
English.
oftmals,
oftentime.
ofen.
stove.
ostem.
easter.
abend.
evening.
oben,
above.
P.
P
. 0
Pfalzisch.
Paad,
pad,
pann,
pann.
parre,
parre.
persching,
persiche.
pishbere.
pishbere.
protzig.
prozig,
pattereesel,
perdreesel, (heard in Lorraine)
High
German.
English.
pfad.
pathj
pfanne.
pan.
pfarrer,
parson,
pfersiche.
peach,
wispem.
to whisper.
miirrisch,
peevish.
rebhuhn.
i I
partridge.
208

The

Story of the
R,

P.

G.

Pfalzisch.

Rappele,
rechele.

rappelle,
rechele.

reckel'che.

reckel'che,

reche.

reche,

reff,

reff.
reh'ert.
rehe'.
roll duwak.
rool dawak.
roppe,
runner,
roppe, r'under.
High German.
English.
rappeleln,
reehnen.
rattle,
reckon,
rocklein, rechen.
small coat,
rake.
futter behalter.
manger.
regen, roUen tabak.
rain,roll tobacco,
ropfen, hereunter,
to pluck,
down here.
P.
G.
S, Pfalzisch.
Sag,shank.
sah', shank.
sheckig,
schunke.
sheckig,
schinke.
schlosee, schlippe,
seller.
schlosee, hagel,
schliippe,seller.
Pennsylvania Germans.

20^

sellemol,

sellemol,

sehne.

seh'.

sin un schand,

sin un scha',

siwe,

siwe.

schtrump,

schtrump.

schproch,

schprach,

schun,

schon.

schtee.

schtee',

achtiwel.

schtieb'l.

schmeisse.

schmeisse',

schlofe.

schlafe.

schornschtee,

schornschtee,

schtrale.

schtriegel,

schpell,

steck-nodel.

High German.

English.

sagen,

say.

schrank.

cupboard.

gefleckt.

speckeled,

schinken,

ham.

hagel.

haU,

schliipen,

to slide.

jener,

that one.

jenerzeit.

that time.

sehen.

to see.

siind und schande,

sin and shame.

sieben,

seven.

schtrumpf.

stocking,

schprache,

language.

schon,

already.

stein.

stone,r

stiefel,

boots.

werfen.

to throw,

schlafen.

to sleep.

(U)

210

The

Story of the

schornstein.

chimney.

kamin.

comb.

steck-nadel.

pin.
T,

P.

G.

Pfalzisch.

Triweliere,

triwehere.
tu-wock or duwack,
tabak.
tadele.
tadele.
tanze.
tanze.
teivel, or deivel,
teufel.
High German.
English.
qualen.
to torment.
tabak.
tobacco.
tadelen,
to censure.
tanzen.
to dance.
teufel.
dcAdl.
U.
P.
G.
Pfalzisch.
Uf,
uf.
un.
un.
unne.
unne.
High German.
English.
auf.
up.
und.
and,
unten,
under.
V.
P.
G.
Pfalzisch.
Vechel'che,
vechel'che.
verretsche.
verratsche.
verbunne,
verbunne,
verwische,
verwische.
verschreckt,
verschreckt.
Pennsylvania Germans.

211

High

German.

English.

voglein.

small bird.

klatschen,

to slander,

verbunden,

joined,

erwischen.

to catch,
schrecken,
scared.
W.
F
'. 0.
Pfalzisch.
Witt du.
witt du.
woUen'er,
woUen'r,
wore-et.
woret.
wu.
AVU,
High
German.
English.
wUst du.
will you.
wollt ihr.
will you.
wahrheit.
truth.
wo.
where.
Z.
P
. G.
Pfalzisch.
Zamme,
zamme.
zipple.
zipple.
zwee,
zwee.
ze zwett.
ze zwett,
zeitig.
zeitig.
High
German.
English.
zusammen,
together,
zipfel.
tip-top.
zwei.
two.
zu zwett.
both.
reif, zeitig,
ripe.
APPENDIX C.

Brief sketches of the rulers in England, Germany,
and the Palatinate from 1682 to 1770, the period of
the great exodus of German Palatines to Pennsyl
vania. KINGS OF ENGLAND. 1660-1820.
Charles tl. : King of England, was born May 29,
1630, and died Feb, 6, 1685; Hved four years after he
made his grant of Pennsylvania to WiUiam Penn.
He was son of Charles I, who was tried for treason,
and executed at WhitehaU in January 1649, Charles
was not a good king, Dr, Brewer one of his biog
raphers says of him, that he was a good-natured,
shrewd, and witty; but indolent, selfish, and insin
cere. His profligacy was scandalous, and his extrav
agance frightful. The duke of Buckingham one of
(212)

Pennsylvania Germans. 213
his favorite companions wrote a mock epitaph for him
after his death, which was as foUows:
Here Hes our mutton-eating king.
Whose word no man rehes on;
He never said a foolish thing,
.,\nd never did a wise one,
Jauies n, — Charles H, was succeeded by his
brother James IT., a zealous Roman CathoHc, Hia
right to the throne was disputed by the duke of Mon
mouth, but the latter was taken prisoner and be
headed. James suspended the statutes which had
been passed against the CathoHcs, which angered the
Protestants, who invited his son-in-law WUHam of
Orange to become their king. The prince of Orange
accepted the iuAdtation; came to England in Novem
ber 1688, James raised an army against him, but
was defeated near the river Boyne in Ireland July 1,
1690, after which he fled to France where he died in
exile, William and Mary, — James was foUowed by
his daughter, and her husband who reigned jointly as
Wilham III, and Mary 11. from 1689 until Decem
ber 27, 1694, when Mary died, after which WiUiam
reigned alone until his death which occurred in 1702.
One of his biographers describes Wilham, as a

214 The Story of the
man of middle stature, slender, deHcate, subject to
asthma. He Avas plain in manners, reserved, cold,
and inflexible. His judgment was sound, his cour
age intrepid, his penetration most acute, and the
greatest general of his age.
We have seen in these pages, how he made war
against Louis XIV., the French king, in order to
succor the persecuted Palatines. England made
great progress under his rule, and WUHam and Mary
will ahvays be remembered as among the best of Eng
lish sovereigns.
Anne. — ^After the death of Wilham III., Anne,
the second daughter of James H., came to the throne
of England. She was born February 6, 1665, and
died August 1, 1714, after a reign of 12 years. She
has been described by one of her biographers, as hav
ing been of good natural capacity; but not weU edu
cated; her temper was mild; her manners coarse; her
disposition affectionate, and her charity unboimded.
This last virtue agrees vdth the statement that many
Palatines came to America, and to Pennsylvania as
the result of her benefactions.
George i. — After Anne's death in 1714 George
1,, elector of Hanover, and duke of BrunsAvick, was

Pennsylvania Germans. 215
crowned king of England. He was in the line of
succession to the British throne, by reason of being a
great-grandson of James I. He was also a cousin of
Queen Anne. He was bom March 28, 1660, reigned
from 1714 until he died June 12, 1727. He has been
described as having been of middle size, his counte
nance and expression, and his whole appearance un
dignified. He was sensible and industrious; plain
and simple in his mode of life after the manner of the
Germans; and grave, and heartless. He had no love
for England when he came to the throne, and never
acquired any. He was profoundly ignorant of the
Enghsh language, and of England's laws and its his
tory. It is said of him that he never learned to speak
the English language Avith any degree of accuracy.
George ii. : son of the former, succeeded to the
throne in 1727, and reigned until 1760, a period of
a Httle more than 33 years. He was bom at Han
over, Nov. 10, 1683; and died Oct. 1760. His prede-
, Hctions for Germany were quite as strong as those of
his father. In personal appearance, he was low in
stature, carried himself very erect; had prominent
eyes; a high nose, and receding forehead. He was
reserved and cautious in his manner, violent, and oh-

216 The Story of the
stinate, covetous and mean. He was a soldier and
had no other accomplishment.
George ra,, who foUowed George IE, to the Brit
ish throne, was a grand-son of the latter, having been
bom June 4, 1738, He was a son of Frederick Louis,
prince of Wales. He reigned from 1760, until Jan,
29, 1820, when he died,
Americans have a better knowledge of George
ni, than any of his immediate predecessors, because
he was on the British throne during the Revolution
ary War, As all the grievances of the American
colonies were charged against his account, the Amer
ican youths have learned to know him in history as a
Avicked tyrant, although the real tyrants were his
ministers, against whom the greater indignation
should at all times have been directed. The British
ministry had much more to do Avith shaping the Brit
ish policy, Avith regard to the American colonies both
before, and during the war than the king had.
George III. suffered much on account of the infirmi
ties of his mind. It gave way five times during his
reign viz: in 1764, 1788, 1801, 1804, and the last
time in 1810, after which the full vigor of his mind
was never restored.

Pennsylvania Germans. 217
It is said of him, that when in full possession of his
faculties, that he was a man of great courage, and
steadiness of purpose; was temperate, faithful and
conscientious: religious, moral, and benevolent; but
bigoted and obstinate. His court was a model of de
corum, and his domestic life irreproachable.
GERMAN EMPERORS.
Leopold i., was bom June 9, 1640; died May 5,
1705. He Avas emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,
from 1658 until 1705. The empire was also called
the German-Roman Empire. The name "Holy
Roman Empire," is the result of the theoretical pre
tensions, that the German emperors, were the repre
sentatives of the ancient Roman emperors, who as
serted authority over all the nations of Western and
Central Europe. The empire comprised all the Ger
man-speaking people, but so far as any exercise of
imperial poAver was concerned, it was more the out
ward show and trappings of an empire, than one
exercising and maintaining its authority as such.
All the European nations during the centuries
of the first German empire were incessantly at war
with each other, and the German government was
feeble in asserting its imperial authority, while cer-

218 The Story of the
tain of the German states were continually at war,
with one nation or another, other of the German
states, were fighting among themselves. To meet aU
the exigencies of war which were constantly rising
Leopold was Avholly unfitted. He was a weak
and incompetent prince, and many of the ravages of
the French armies in the Palatinate during the last
half of the seventeenth century, were largely the re
sult of his incapacity. He was neither soldier, nor
statesman, and chaos ran riot in Germany during his
long and miserable reign.
Joseph i., Leopold's son, succeeded to the throne
of the empire after the death of his father. He was
hbm July 26, 1678; crowned emperor of Germany
in 1705, and reigned until his death, which occurred
April 17, 1711. He was involved in the war of the
Spanish succession.
That war also involved France, during the reign
of Louis XIV. The latter grew tired of the war, and
offered to relingnish his claims and end it. As an
inducement for Germany to make peace, Louis of
fered the emperor to restore Alsatia and Strasburg
Avhicli had been taken from Germany several years
before. This offer Joseph rejected, and it is a remark-

Pennsylvania Germans. 219
able fact that Germany was not able to recover
Alsatia and Strasburg for 160 years thereafter; not
until it was returned to its ancient owners as spoil of
the Franco-German war in 1871, although Louis
offered to return it as a condition of peace in 1710.
The emperor Joseph was no improvement on his
father as a ruler.
Karl vi., the pretender to the throne of Spain,
and second son of Leopold I., became emperor of Ger
many after the death of Joseph I., in 1711. Karl
was elected to the imperial throne, as aU German
emperors were in those days. He issued a decree
about 1714, knoAvn as the "Pragmatic Sanction," es
tablishing the succession to the throne of the German
empire for his djmasty.
Karl was bom Oct 1, 1685; died Oct. 20, 1740.
He reigned 29 years, during which time there were
the usual happenings of war, diplomatic intrigue,
without any exhibition of statesmanship, or the least
progress in advancing Germany to the rank of even
a second-rate nation. Up to this period Germany as
a nation can scarcely be said to have a history as such,
and at no time could the German empire lay claim to
the exercise of authority over all the states which
were theoretically under its sway.

220 The Story of the
Maria Theresa. With her coming to the throne
the real history of Germany may be said to begin.
She came to the throne after the death of her father,
Karl VI. by virtue of the pragmatic sanction. She
was bom May 13, 1717; died Nov, 29, 1780, With
her reign began a Adgoroua administration of the af
fairs of the empire. It has been said of her that:
"Since the death of Maxamilian II, in 1576, Austria
had no male ruler so prudent, just and energetic as
this woman," Five years after her coming to the
throne her husband Francis I, died, when his eldest
son succeeded to the title as "Emperor," but he was
only emperor in name, so long as the empress Hved,
for she kept the conduct of affairs in her OAvn hands.
Bayard Taylor, in his "History of Germany,"
says of her: "Maria Theresa, Hke aU the Hapsburgs,
after Ferdinand L, had groAvn up under the influence
of the Jesuits, and her ideas of justice were limited
by her rehgious bigotry. In other respects she Avaa
wise and Hberal; she effected a complete reorganiza
tion of the government, establishing special depart
ments of justice, industry and commerce; she thought
to develop the resources of the country; abolish
torture, introduced a new criminal code, — ^in short,
she neglected scarcely any important interests of the

Pennsylvania Germans. 221
people, except their education and their rehgious
freedom. Nevertheless she was always jealous of the
presumptions of Rome, and prevented as far as she
was able, the immediate dependence of the Cathohc
clergy upon the Pope,"
Maria Theresa was an empress of great abUity,
and during her reign, the German states made great
progress in many of the useful arts, and industries.
Her usefulness came to an end vrith her death in
1780, and the first German empire ceased to exist in
1806, when Francis II, abdicated as its last emperor,
PALATINE electors.
Philip Wilhelm, — This prince who was bom in
1651, became the elector of the Palatinate in 1685,
and continued to rule for three years when he died.
During his short reign the Palatinate was compara
tively free from the ravages of contending armies.
The rapacity of Louis XIV, gave the poor Palatines
a brief respite; but their misery was not long post
poned, for the French king made war again upon
them hnmediately upon the accession of Phihp Wil-
hehn's successor,
John Wilhelm,— With the death of the former
prince, his eldest son, John Wilhelm became the rul-

i'a2 The Story of the
ing prince Palatine, He was bom in 1658, and
came to the electorate in 1688, and continued, until
his death in 1716. It was during his reign, that the
beautiful Palatinate was made a desert, by the armies
of Louis XIV., in his efforts to usurp the electorate
for his sister-in-law, the duchess of Orleans. He was
a Aveak prince, and resided away from his dominion
for a great part of the time of the French occupation
of the Palatinate. He estabhshed himself at Diissel-
dorf, from Avhence he feebly directed, the operations
against the French hordes who were engaged in devas
tating the Rhine provinces.
Charles Philip. — This prince was a brother of
the former, and became elector in 1717. He was
bom in 1661, and his reign ended Avith his death in
1.742. Louis XIV. died two years before the reign
of Charles Philip began, so the latter was spared the
ordeal of defending the Palatinate, against theravagea
of the French soldiers, although his dominion contin
ued to be overrun by the soldiers of other European
nations at war with each other. Charles PhiHp was
a fair sort of a prince, and tried to restore the Pala
tinate to some of its ancient splendor, and made some
progress in that direction. He restored the castle of

Pennsylvania Germans. 223
Heidelberg in a great measure, and built the beauti
ful castle at Mannheim, and lived there during a part
of his reign.
Charles Theodore. — -This prince belonged to a
collateral branch of the line of Palatine electors, and
was bom in 1724; came to the electorate in 1742, and
continued his rule until 1799, when he died. He
was a noble prince, highly educated, and devoted to
the fine arts. Numerous monuments of his reign
remain around Heidelberg, and the beautiful bridge
over the Neckar is one of them, which is pointed out
to the tourists by the citizens of Heidelberg Avith
great pride at the present day.
In 1777, Charles Theodore inherited the throne
of Bavaria, and then removed his court to Munich,
He continued however in the electorate' of the Pala
tinate until his death, when he was succeeded by Max
imilian Joseph, who continued in the electorate only
two years, when it became extinct, by virtue of the
terms of the treaty of LuneviUe, which was dictated
by Napoleon; whereby France received aU of the
Palatinate, on the west bank of the Rhine, and Baden
received the greater part of it, situated on the east
side. That part of the Palatinate on the west bank

224 The Story of the
of the Rhine taken by France was ceded back to Ger
many, after the downfall of Napoleon in 1815.
MaximiHan Joseph was the last ruling Palatine
elector. He came to the electorate in 1799, and in
1802 to 1803 he transferred his rights to the newly
estabhshed electoral House of Baden. In 1806 he
became King of Bavaria.
There were other princes in the direct line of de
scent of the Palatine electors who kept up the title for
a number of years after the electorate was abolished,
but none ever reigned, and the line is now extinct.

APPENDIX D.

A OHEONOLOGIOAL TABLE OF ALL THE REIGNING PBINOES
OF THE PALATINATE.
1. Conrad of Hohenstaufen. — He was the first
prince invested Avith the electoral dignity. He was
raised to the honor byhisbrotherthe Emperor Freder
ick V, (Barbarossa) ; was bom in 1127; died in 1195.
2, Henry the Gtjelph, — Son of Henry the Lion
— duke of BrunsAvick; became Pfalzgrave of the
Rhine after Conrad. Bom in 1169; died 1227.
3, Henry the Younger; married Mathilda of
Brabant; bom in 1194; died 1214,
4, Loms I., duke of Bavaria, was made elector by
the German emperor for distinguished mihtary ser
vices, although Henry the Younger's father was still
(225) (16)

226 The Story of the
living, and was the rightful heir of Conrad of Hohen
staufen. 5. Otho, the niustrious, son of Louis I, foUowed
sthe latter; he was bom in 1206; died 1253.
6, Louis II., the Severe, son of Otho I., married
jSd^ary of Brabant, whom he had beheaded without
cause in a fit of jealousy.
7. Rudolph i., son of Louis, at the beginning
reigned in common Avith his brother Louis of Bavaria,
who afterwards became emperor. He divided his
lands, and retained the Palatinate of the Rhine, whUe
his brother kept Bavaria.
8, Adolphus the Just, became invested Avith the
•electorate by his uncle emperor Louis, in 1320, He
was bom in 1300; died in 1327,
9. Rudolph ii., next succeeded to the electorate.
10. Rupert l, the Elder, reigned according to
the Avill of his uncle, in common Avith his brother,
and for the deceased brother Adolphus. He was the
founder of the University of Heidelberg in 1346, and
he also built the Rupertina Chapel of Heidelberg
castle. He was bom in 1309; died 1390.
11. Rupert ii., the Hard-hearted, son of Adolph,

Pennsylvania Germans. 227
came next to the electorate. He was an impetuous
soldier, who participated in most of the numerous
wars, which distracted the peace of Germany in hia
day. 12, Rupert hi., sumamed the Good, and on ac
count of his love of justice, called Justinian; the only
son of Rupert II. He was popular with all the Ger
man princes, who elected him king of Germany in
1400. He built the Rupert's building in the castle
of Heidelberg. He was born in 1352; died in 1410.
13, Louis III., sumamed the Bearded, was the
ancestor of the Heidelberg line of princes. He was
patron of Conrad of Constance in 1414, and confined
Pope John XXIII, for a long time in the Rudolph
building a prisoner. Born in 1376; died in 1437,
14. Louis iv., sumamed the Candid, came next
and reigned 12 years. He was bom in 1424; died
1449. 15. Frederick: i., the Victorious, brother of
Louis IV. became elector at the latter's death. Ger
man affairs were in a greatly disturbed condition,
when he came to the electorate. He became arrayed
against the emperor, and likewise the Pope; but he
triumphed over all his enemies, and his name lives in

228 The Story of the
history as one of the most eminent of all the German
princes. He was born in 1425; died in 1476.
16. Philip, the Sincere, son of Louis IV, suc
ceeded Frederick I, He was a prince who was de
voted to the sciences, and who labored for the welfare
of the people over whom he reigned. Bom in 1448;
died in 1508,
17, Louis v., sumamed the Pacific; was so called
because he labored unceasingly, at the meetings of
the diets of the German empire to pacify aU the
princes who differed in their religious opinions. He
was the son of PhiHp; and was a great disciple of
peace: he nevertheless prepared for war by construct
ing important fortifications of the castle of Heidel
berg, He constructed the Louis bmlding of the
castle, and connected the grand rampart, the Louis
tower; the watch tower, and the big tower, by subter
ranean passages. His reign was a comparatively
pacific one, and lasted 36 years. It was during his
reign that Martin Luther launched his Reformation,
and nailed the 95 theses on the chuneh door of Wit
tenberg; and was excommunicated by the pope from
the church of Rome. Louis was born in 1478; died
1544,

Pennsylvania Germans. 229
18. Frederick ii., the Wise, was a brother of
Louis V. His reign lasted only six years; but he im
proved that time by completing the fortifications of
the Heidelberg castle, and built the new court in con
nection with it. He was bom in 1482; died in 1550,
19. Otho Henry, the Magnanimous, was next
to obtain the electorate. He received his name be
cause of his generosity in protecting the arts and
sciences; and it was he who built the most beautiful
architectural monument of the castle of Heidelberg,
— the Otho-Henry building. He was born in 1502;
died in 1559.
20. Frederick hi., the Pious, had an uneventful
reign, excepting the religious contentions, in conse
quence of the Reformation. Bom in 1515; died
1576. 21. Louis VL, son of the former, reigned 15
years, from 1559 until 1576. Bom in 1539; died in
1583. 22. John Casimir, brother of the former, came to
the electorate in 1576. He was a chivalrous prince;
much esteemed by his subjects. He built the first
Big Tun, in the ceUar of the Heidelberg castle. Bom
in 1543; died 1592.

230 The Story of the
23. Frederick rv., son of Louis VI., reigned 18
years, during which he erected the splendid Freder
ick's building Avith its new chapel in the castle. Bom
1574; died 1610,
24. Frederick v., surnamed the Patient, married
Elizabeth Stuart of England, grand-daughter of the
unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. He made many
fine architectural additions to the castle of Heidel
berg; among them the palace of Elizabeth, and its
magnificent gate which is still admired in the
grandeur of its ruins by thousands of tourists each
year, Frederick was elected king of Bohemia in
1619, but soon after he was defeated in a great battle
near Prague by the emperor Ferdinand, and thereby
lost his croAvn, when he fled to Holland, where he
died without ever returning to the castle of his an
cestors. Born in 1596 ; died 1632.
25. Charles Louis, surnamed the German Solo
mon, returned to his hereditary lands in 1649, as heir
to the Palatinate, He restored the castle which had
been almost ruined by the ravages of the Thirty
Years' War, and made himself useful in re-establishing
prosperity to the Palatinate, which had been severely
aflHcted, and he soon succeeded in making the rich

Pennsylvania Germans. 231
soil of the valleys of the Upper Rhine, and Neckar
bloom again like a garden. He was a noble prince;
born in 1617, died in 1680 whUe on his way from
Mannheim to Heidelberg in an orchard in the viUage
of Edingen, 26. Charles, his only son and heir succeeded
him. He died Avithout issue and his sister married to
the duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV. of France,
who made pretensions to the electorate, and was
supported by Louis. Her unjust claim was the signal
for the unfortunate war, which brought the ruin and
desolation to the Palatinate, the details of which have
been recounted in these pages.
Sketches of the Palatine electors, 27, 28, -29 and
30 have already been noted among the sketches of the
counts Palatine, who reigned during the period of the
German emigration from the Palatinate to America.

APPENDIX E.

GLOSSARY,

Aduatuci, a German tribe formed out of the frag
ments of the Cimbrians and Teutonians,
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of. A treaty which ended
the war of the Austrian Succession, in October,
1748.
Alsace, a province of the German empire, a part of
which was conquered by France in the Thirty
Years' War, and the whole ceded to France in
1791. The whole was ceded back to Germany
in 1871, as a result of the Franco-Prussian war,
•Alemanni, a German race of Suevic origin, which
occupied the region from the Main to the Dan
ube, in the first part of the third century A. D.,
afterwards extending to the Rhine, including
Alsace, and part of Eastern SAvitzerland.
(232)

Pennsylvania Germans. 233
Ampsivari, a German tribe described by Tacitus,
which continued until the fifth century A. D.,
when it became merged in the Franks.
Anne, Queen, succeeded to the throne of England in
1702, upon the death of WiUiam HI.
Aryan, a Sanscrit word, apphed to all nations who
apeak a language mainly derived from the San
scrit, or ancient Hindoo, as the Greek, Latin,
Gothic, English, German and all kindred
tongues.
Arendt, Baron von, a patriot and German soldier, of
the Revolution,
Attilla, a famous king of the Huns, whose conquests
in Europe Avere a terrific marvel, leaving ruin
and desolation in his trail, in consequence of
which he was called the "Scourge of God." He
died in 453 A. D.
Austrian Succession, War of. The emperor Charles
VI. had no male heirs, and he soughttogetallthe
powers concerned to accede to the Pragmatic
Sanction, by which the Austrian possessions
Avere to go to his eldest daughter Maria Theresa.
The elector of Bavaria, Charles Albert, never

234 The Story of the
gave consent to the pragmatic sanction, and
when Charles the VI. died, he claimed the Aus
trian throne, as being next in line of succession,
A desire seized the European powers to break up
the Austrian state, and divide its dominions
among them. Great Britain was the only
European nation which came to the aid of Aus
tria. After eight years of war, Maria Theresa
Avas confirmed as empress of Austria.
B.
Batavi, a German tribe, which took sides Avith the
Romans, and enlisted in its armies, against the
rest of the Germans. They became ultimately
merged in the Salic Franks,
Barbarians, foreigners; people whose names have
"Bar" prefixed to them, signifying son of,
Bingen, a city of Germany, in Hesse, situated at the
junction of the Nahe vdth the Rhine,
Boehm, Philip, an early German Reformed preach6r
in Pennsylvania,
Boufflers, a marshal of France under Louis XIV.,
born January, 1644; died August 20, 1711,

Pennsylvania Germans. 235
Brainard, David, a missionary among the Indians,
bora at Haddonfield, Conn., April 20, 1718;
died at Northampton, Mass., Oct. 9, 1749.
Brandywine, Battle of. A battle fought on the creek
of that name in Pennsylvania, during the Revo
lutionary war, at which the Americans under
Washington were defeated by the British under
General Howe.
Burgimdians, a German tribe, which settled in Gaul,
and founded the kingdom of Burgundy in the
fifth century. C.
Calvert, Cecilius (Lord Baltimore). The first propri
etor of Maryland; bom about the year 1605;
died at London Nov. 30, 1675.
Chauci, a German tribe, first mentioned by Strabo,
living about the shores of the North Sea, on
both sides of the Weser. They disappeared in
the fifth century, becoming merged vdth the
Saxons.
Chatti, a powerful German tribe, some of whom left
their abode in the region of the Main, and be
came absorbed by the Salic Franks, Those who
remained, were the progenitors of the Hessians,

236 The Story of the
Cherusci, a German tribe, dwelHng in the time of
Caesar, west of the Elbe, about the middle
Yv'eser. Their name disappeared in the fifth
century, when they became a constituent part of
the Saxons.
Cimbrians, an ancient German tribe, inhabiting
Northern Germany at an early day. With the
Teutons as allies they invaded the Roman prov
inces in 113 B. C. They were afterwards
"virtually exterminated," by a Roman army un
der Marius.
Clovis, born about 465; died at Paris Sept. 8, 511.
He was the founder of the Merovingian Hne of
Prankish kings.
Conde, Prince de, born at Paris 1621; died at Fon-
tainbleau, France, Dec. 11, 1686. He was a cel
ebrated French general during the reign of Louis
XI v., and took an active part in the devastation
of the Palatinate,
Condrusii, a German tribe, occupying a part of Bel
gium, when they became first knoAvn. Their
name disappeared from history at an early day.
D.
Dunkers, a sect of German American Baptists, called

Pennsylvania Germans. 237
by themselves Brethren, founded in Westphalia,
in 1708, by Alexander Mack,
Duras, de, a French general under Louis XIV,
E.
Eburones, a German tribe occupying a part of Bel
gium at the time the Romans first made their
acquaintance,
Erlkonig, the subject of Goethe's well-knoAvn poem.
In Gennan legend, a "gobhn or personified
natural power who haunts the Black Forest. He
is particularly addicted to destroying children,"

Finns, the natives of Finland, a colony of whom made
settlement on the Delaware river Avithin the pres
ent limits of Pennsylvania, as early as the year
1637,
Flemish, a Low German language of which the Dutch
is a type,
Frederick, The Great, bom at Berhn Jan, 24, 1712;
died at Sans Souci near Potsdam Aug, 17, 1786,
King of Prussia, and one of the greatest generals
and statesmen of his time.

238 The Story of the
Franche-Comte, an ancient government of Eastern
France. It was at one time a part of the old
kingdom of Burgundy, but was annexed to
France more than two hundred years ago,
Franks, the name assumed, in the third century A. D,
by a confederation of German tribes, a branch of
which founded the Merovingian monarchy, un
der Clovis (481-511).
Frankenthal, a toAvn in the Palatinate, destroyed by
the soldiers of Louis XIV.
Franklin, Benjamin, an American statesman, diplo
mat, philosopher, and author. Bom at Boston,
Mass., Jan. 17, 1706; died at Philadelphia April
17, 1790.
Frisii, a German tribe, on the North Sea, and the
progenitors of the present race of Friesians in
Friesland, G,
German: Origin, of name unknown; is said to be
neither of Latin, nor of German origin; claimed
to be most probably Celtic,
"German Slave Trade," a name contemptuously ap-

Pennsylvania Germans. 239
plied to the custom of selhng German emigrants
for the cost of their passage,
Germantown, a former borough of Pennsylvania, now
a part of the municipality of Philadelphia.
Founded by German Quakers in 1683.
Goths, a poAverful Teutonic tribe, forming two his
torical divisions of the Visigoths, and Ostrogoths;
branches of them settled early, in the present
Servia, and Bulgaria; while others founded mon
archies in France, Italy, and Spain, They be
came merged later into other races,
Graffenried, a SavIss colonist, in North Carolina, who
helped to found Newbem, H,
Hatto, Bishop, archbishop of Mainz; died about 970.
According to a German legend, he was eaten
ahve by mice as a punishment for having burned
to the ground a bam full of people during the
tune of a famine.
"Heemweh," a characteristic poem by the late Rev.
Heinrich Harbaugh in the Pennsylvania Ger
man dialect,
Heidelberg, a city in Baden, Germany, situated on

240 The Story of the
the Neckar 12 miles from its junction Avith th«
Rhine at Mannheim. It was for many years
the seat of the Palatine electors, and contains
the famous castle built by them. Its ruins are
said to be the most imposing in Europe,
Hendrickson, Cornelius, a navigator in the service of
the Dutch East India Company, who explored
the Delaware river, as far as the present site of
Philadelphia in 1614,
Hermunduri, a German tribe, a branch of the Suevi.
It is believed that they became the Thuringians.
Hessians, are the natives or inhabitants of Hesse in
Germany, In this volume, the name is em
ployed to designate the hireling soldiers which
the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and certain other
German princes sold to the British government,
to fight against American independence,
Hohenstaufen, The name of a German princely
family, which has furnished the sovereigns to the
first (rerman empire, 1138-1254; also for a long
period the Palatine electors, were suppHed by
the same family. The dynasty became extinct
in 1268, when Conradin, the last of the line,
was executed.

Pennsylvania Germans. 241
L
Indo-European, applied to the languages of India and
Europe, which are derived from the prehistoric
Aryan language; also appHes to the people or
nations Avho speak those languages.
Inspirationists, a rehgious sect, some of whom found
their way to Pennsylvania at an early day.
K.
Key, John, the first while child born at Philadelphia,
after Penn had laid out his city,
"King of the Palatines," Graffenried one of the
founders of Newbem, N, C, saved his life, after
he was condemned to be burned at the stake, by
pretending that he was "king of the Palatines,"

Lawson, Samuel, a companion of Graffenried, whom
the Tuscarora Indians burned at the stake,
Lexington, a city 11 miles from Boston, Mass, It is
the scene of the flrst bloodshed of the American
Revolution, April 19, 1775.
Longobardi, an early German tribe, knoAvn later as
(16)

242 The Story of the
the Lombards, who founded the kingdom of
Lombardy, which was overthrown by Charle
magne in 774,
Lorraine, a region on the border between France and
Germany, formerly an independent duchy, con
quered by France in the I7th century. The
German part of it was ceded to Germany in 1871,
in consequence of the treaty between France
and Germany after the Franco-German war,
Lothaire, king of Lorraine, died 869,
Louis XIV,, sumamed by the French, "Le Grand" —
(the Great), He was bom Sept, 5, 1638; died
at Versailles Sept, 1715, The devastation of
the Palatinate, by his soldiers, under his direct
ion and approval, Avill always cause his memory
to be execrated, throughout the ciAdlized world.
Louvois, Francois, Marquis de, born at Paris Jan. 9,
1639; died July 16, 1691, A noted French
statesman, minster of war under Louis XIV, and
one of the chief instruments in the devastation of
the Rhine provinces, 1666-1691,
LuneviUe, Treaty of. A treaty which the First
Napoleon dominated, and in which most of the
powers of continental Europe participated. It

Pennsylvania Germans. 243
was concluded Feb, 9, 1801. By its terms
France received all the territory on the west
bank of the Rhine; Tuscany was ceded to Parma;
and the Cisalpine, Ligurian, Helvetic, and Ba-
tavian repubhcs were recognized. The end of
the "Holy Roman Empire," soon followed this
treaty, M.
Maintenon, Francoise d' Aubige, was born in prison
at Niort, France, Nov, 27, 1635; died at St, Cyr
near Versailles April 15, 1719, Her parents
Avere in prison for political offenses when she
was born. She became the second wife of Louis
XIV, and is said to have exercised great influ
ence over him with regard to hisrehgious bigotry
and his persecutions in the Palatinate.
Mannheim, a city of Baden, situated at the junction of
the Neckar with the Rhine, It was founded in
1606; was destroyed during the Thirty Years'
War; rebuilt, and became the capital of the Pal
atinate in 1720.
Mainz, a city on the Rhine, and capital of Rhine-
Hesse.

244 The Story of the
Marcomanni, a German tribe, branch of the Suevi.
Drusus in his campaign found them on the mid
dle and upper Rhine stoutly resisting his ad
vance. They disappeared from history as a sep
arate tribe in the fourth century.
Marsi, a German tribe, mentioned by Strabo, which
dwelt in the region about Saxony, at the com
mencement of our era, which disappeared as a
distinct tribe after the campaign of Germanicua.
Melac, a French officer under whose immediate di
rection Heidelberg was sacked and burned.
Mennonites, a religious sect founded in Europe in the
16th century. To escape persecution many of
them emigrated to Pennsylvania.
Michel, Louis, a Swiss colonist in North Carolina who
assisted in the founding of Newbem,
Muhlenberg, Heinrich Melchoir; bom at Einbeck
Prussia, Sept, 6, 1711; died at Trappe, Pa., Oct.
7, 1787. A German clergyman, and chief
founder of the Lutheran Church in the Umted
States,
Muhlenberg, John Peter Gabriel, son of the former,
born at Trappe, Pa., Oct, 1, 1746; (Hed near

Pennsylvania Germans. 245
Philadelphia Oct, 1, 1807, He was a Lutheran
clergyman, Major-General in the Revolutionary
army; member of Congress, and United States
Senator from Pennsylvania,
Mystics, a name common to several religious sects
some of whose members came to Pennsylvania
Avith the early German emigration.
O.
Oppenheun, a town in the province of Rhine-Hesse,
11 miles southAvest of Mainz. It was one of the
toAvns destroyed by the French soldiers.
Orleans, Duchess of, sister-in-law of Louis XIV. for
Avhom the latter tried to usurp the Palatine
electorate after the death of the elector PhiHp
Wilhelm, AA^hich resulted in the war which devas
tated the Palatinate, and drove thousands of the
inhabitants from their homes.
P.
Palatinate, a former German state, which ceased to
exist as an independent state in 1801.
Pfalz, the German term for the Palatinate.
Pfalzer, an inhabitant of the Palatinate; and German
term for Palatine.

246 The Story of the
Philippsburg, a town of Baden which suffered much
from the wars of Louis XIV.
Pm-rysburg, a town in South Carolina, founded by
German emigrants from the Palatinate early in
the 18th century.
Penn, William, founder of Pennsylvania, who gave
the province its first code of laws; bom in Lon
don Oct. 14, 1664; died in England, July 30,
1718. He was a son of Admiral Sir WUHam
Penn. He was carefully educated, studied at
Oxford; was converted to Quakerism, after
which he was expelled from the university. He
was repeatedly imprisoned, for preaching the
Quaker doctrines, but continued in his faith to
the end. After his father's death, he inherited
a claim against the British government of 16,000
pounds, on account of which Charles II. gave
him the grant of Pennsylvania. Q.
Quaker, one of a rehgious sect foimded by George
Fox, in England about the year 1650, The sect
suffered much persecution in England which re
sulted in very many of them to emigrate to
Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Germans. 247
R,
Redemptioner, as applied to emigrants who were sold
for their passage upon their arrival at American
ports, one who redeemed his freedom by a term
of service.
Reformation, specifically the rehgious movement
commenced by Martin Luther, in the early part
of the 16th century, which resulted in the for
mation of the various Protestant sects,
Rhenish Bavaria, the present Rhine Palatinate, with
Speyer as the capital,
Roman Empire, founded about 500 years before the
Christian era, and embracing at one time nearly
the whole civilized world. It began to decHne
about the fifth century of our era, and later was
compelled to give up nearly all its conquests of
many centuries.
Ryswick, Treaty of. At the treaty signed at RysAvick,
a viUage in Holland, Sept. 21, 1697, between
France on the one side, and England, the Neth
erlands, Germany, and Spain on the other, by
which Louis XIV., among other things, recog
nized WiUiam III. as king of England, thereby

248 The Story of the
abandoning the cause of the Stuarts. As WU
Ham III. had espoused the cause of the Palatines,
against whom Louis had carried on a frightful
war of devastation for many years, and as Ger
many was a party to the treaty, one of its condi
tions was that Louis was to withdraw his armiea
from the Palatinate, S,
Saner, Christopher, the pioneer printer of German
newspapers in the United States. He began the
publication of a German newspaper at German-
toAvn, Pa., in 1739, which continued to be printed
many years, exerting a great influence among
the German settlers in Pennsylvania.
Salzburgers, refugees from the archbishopric of Salz
burg in Austria, who emigrated on account of
religious persecution. Many of them found
their Avay to Georgia, and South Carolina.
Saxe-Gotha, an early German settlement in South
Carolina, named from the principality in Ger
many, AA'hence the flrst settlers came.
Saxon dialect, a dialect which came from a Low Ger
man dialect, and developed into the present lit
erary or High German.

Pennsylvania Germans. 249
Schwenkfeld, Hans Kasper: Bom in Silesia 1490;
died in New Ulm, Germany, 1561. A German
Protestant Mystic, persecuted by the Lutherans;
founder of a sect of Schwenkfelders, orSchwenk-
feldians, who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the
17th century,
Semnones, a German tribe, and a principal branch of
the Suevi. Their name disappeared from his
tory, at the end of the second century.
Separatists, a sect of religionists, who refuse to con
form to, or be governed by any church or its
forms,
Sicam.brians, a powerful German tribe, in ancient
times, which afterward became merged in the
confederation of the Franks,
Spanish Succession, War of, a war arising out of the
disputes about the succession in Spain on the
death of Charles the II., which lasted from 1701
until 1714. It was fought betAveen Louis I.,
emperor of Germany on the one side, and Louis
XIV. of France, and his allies on the other. The
emperor of Germany, and the king of France,
each claimed the right to name the successor.

250 The Story of the
Speyer, the capital of the Rhenish Palatinate, situated
at the junction of the Speier with the Rhine. It
was totally destroyed by the French in 1689,
Suevi, is the collective name of a German people,
knovm to Caesar, who describes them as the
largest, and most warlike of the German tribes.
In the fifth century the Suevi appeared as neigh
bors and alhes of the Alemanni, Avith whom they
acted as one people. They settled in the region
of the headwaters of the Danube, where their
name is still preserved in Swabia,

Tesse, a French General operating in the Palatinate,
afterward a Marshal of France; born 1651; died
1704,
Teutonians, a German tribe who Avith the Cimbrians,
defeated several Roman armies, near the end of
the second century B. C, but were defeated, and
nearly destroyed, by Marius, at what is now Aix,
France, in 102 B. C, They afterwards settled
near the Lower Elbe,
Thirty Years' War, A rehgious, and poHtical war,
which involved Germany, and other countries in

Pennsylvania Germans. 251
Europe, and continued from 1618, untU 1648.
The struggle was begun between the Roman
CathoHcs and Protestants, for the ascendency
both rehgious and political. The immediate
cause of the war was the result of the persecu
tions of Protestants by Ferdinand, when he be
came king of Bohemia. Protestant churches
were closed in some places, and puUed doAvn at
others. Disturbances and persecutions of Prot
estants soon spread into Germany, and elsewhere.
Protestant and Catholics alike armed, for the
coming confhct, which continued for thirty
years; coming to an end Avith the treaty of West-
phaHa, Oct. 24, 1648,
TiUy, a famous German general in the Thirty Years'
War, serving in the Imperial army. He was
bom in Belgium in February, 1559; died from a
mortal wound received in a contest Avith Gus
tavus Adophus, AprU 30, 1632,
Tory, one who during the Revolution, adhered to the
British crown,
Trenton, Battle of, A victory gained by the Ameri
cans under Washington, over the British and
Hessian mercenaries, Dec, 26, 1776,

252 The Story of the
Turenne, a celebrated French marshal; born at Sedan,
France, Sept. 11, 1611; he devastated the Rhine
provinces in 1674, and was killed by a cannon
ball, Avhile on a reconnoissance, near Sasbach,
Baden.
TrcA'es, a city in Rhennish Prussia, on the Moselle,
noted for its Roman antiquities. U.
Ubii, a German tribe, first mentioned by Caesar, who
found them situated on the right bank of the
Rhine, north of the Taunus region; their prin
cipal place Avas where the Cologne of to-day
stands. They became ultimately merged in the
Franks.
Utrecht, Treaty of. By this treaty the war of the
Spanish succession came to an end, in 1713, be
tween France on the one side, and Great Britain,
the Netherlands, Savoy, and Portugal on the
other. By it, Philip V. of France was con
firmed as king of Spain, and France recognized
the Protestant succession in England; Prussia
was recognized as a kingdom, and Great Britain
received Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, etc., in
North America.

Pennsylvania Germans. 253
V,
Vandals, a German tribe, which made its flrst appear
ance in middle and southern Germany, in the
first half of the flfth century. They ravaged
Gaul, Spain, and North Africa, etc., and in 445,
they ravaged Rome, doing much damage to
treasures, art, and literature. They founded a
kingdom in Africa with Carthage as its capital.
Verdun, Treaty of. A treaty made at Verdun,
France, in 843, between the French emperor
Lothaire, and his brother Ludwig the German.
By this treaty, Lothaire was confirmed as em
peror, and received Italy, and in general the
region west of the Rhine and Alps, and east of
the Rhine, etc.; Charles the Bald obtained the
region west of Lothaire's dominions, and LudAvig
the region between the Rhine and the Elbe,
which formed the nucleus of the first German
empire, W,
Weber, an imposter, who was executed at Charleston,
S. C, for murder in the early days of the settle
ment of that state.

264 The Story of the Pennsylvania Germans.
Westphalia, Treaty of. This treaty was concluded
in 1648, and ended the Thirty Years' War,
Among the conditions of that treaty, the elec
toral house of the Palatinate received the Rhine
Palatinate; and rehgious freedom was guaran
teed, thereby saving Protestantism to Europe
and to the world,
WiUiam IIL, King of England, 1689-1702.
Wolf, George, a son of a German emigrant from the
Palatinate, and Governor of Pennsylvania 1829-
1835, and founder of the Common School Sys
tem of that state.