** j>Hy^'^iy — — — ^ . .. -.^^ YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES VOLUME I THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS POLITICAL, MORAL, SOCIAL, AND EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE BY ALBERT BERNHARDT FAUST IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1909 COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY ALBSET BER.NMAHI>T FAUST ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Ptibiished December, iqoq Ci /f V'. \ INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT At the suggestion of Dr. Walther Wever, German Consul-General at Chicago, Mrs. Catherine Seipp of that city offered in March, 1904, cash prizes for the three best monographs upon the subject indicated by the title of this book. Competing works were submitted under assumed names on or before March 22, 1907, to the Ger manic Department of the University of Chicago. The prize judges were Professors Hanno Deiler of Tulane, Frederick J. Turner of Wisconsin, and Karl Detlev Jessen of Bryn Mawr. In this contest Professor Faust was awarded the first prize of $3000. STARR WILLARD CUTTING. The Univeksitt of Chicago. PREFACE During the available hours of more than the last ten years, the writer had been studying and collecting mate rials on the German element in the United States, enter taining a vague hope of some day embodying the results of his labors in some useful form. The prominence of the Germans as a formative element of the American people, their continuous participation in the labors of peace and the burdens of war, suggested the need of a record of the essential facts in their history, from the earhest period of their settlements in this country to the present time. Such an historical survey has never existed in the Eng lish language, nor has one been attempted in German since the publications of Loher ( Geschichte und Zustdnde der Deutschen in AmeriTca, 1847) and Eickhoff {In der neuen Heimath, 1884). The question whether the time had come for the preparation of such a work, scholars commonly decided in the negative, in view of the large amount of investigation still necessary, before a complete history of the Germans in this country can be written. This attitude of cautious reserve, however, will not en courage research as much as can be hoped from an expo sition of the rich stores of information already at hand. A mere hoarding of materials, without an intelligent use of them, destroys opportunity, and leaves a responsibility undischarged. In the past few years an increasing interest in the form ative elements of the population of the United States has become manifest. The subject has been admitted into lee- viii PREFACE ture courses at our universities, and has been given space in the pages of our popular magazines. Moreover liie subject of foreign immigration, involving the question of restriction or discrimination, has become one of the g^reat problems of the present day. The serious consideratioii, therefore, of any one of the leading foreign immigratioiu to this country assumes a present and practical value. The call for a comprehensive essay on the Grerman element in the United States, by the founders of the Cun- rad Seipp Memorial Prizes, furnished an opportunity and incentive for the elaboration and completion of the writer's work. The prescribed title, reproduced verbatim on the foregoiii};- title-page, presented a twofold problem ; first, an outline of the history of the Germans in the United States, and secondly, a discussion of their political, moral, sueial, and educational influence. The first part, contained in Volume i, tells the story of the German settlers in the thirteen colonies before the Revolutionary War. continues the narrative through the nineteenth centurv, and calls attention to their leading traits, their acti\'ities in peace and war, then- cooperation in the building of the nation. Their record is a noble one, and should animate their de scendants with the will to keep sacred such names as Weiser, Post, Herkimer, Ludwij,r, Treutlen, Helm. Bow man, Miinch, Follen, Sutro, Sutter, Riiblinij. and a host of others, while Muhlenberg, Stoubeu, Kal'b, Lieber, and Schurz should convey to them the inspiration of lasting achievement. The second part, the discussion of German influences, contained in Volume ii, seemed possible only after an his torical basis had been laid, sueh as has been attempted in Volume I. The method followed was that of summing up instances m order to establish principles. For example, PREFACE ix in the chapter on industrial development, illustrations are furnished, proving that in all branches requiring technical training, German influence has been predominant ; under the head of politics, German independent voting receives illustration ; in the department of agriculture, the principle is maintained, that the German farmer not only applied his native skill and industry, but whenever necessary adapted himself to new conditions, using and inventing agricultural machinery, or becoming a rice-grower in the South, a big farmer in the West. The obstructions in the path of a final solution of the questions proposed in the second part are even more seri ous than in the historical outline. The economic history of the United States has not been written, though steps are now being taken toward an ultimate accomplishment of that gigantic task. The volumes on manufactures in the Census Reports occasionally furnish a few meagre de tails, but the history of none of our great American in dustries has been made available. Each chapter, therefore, has furnished an entirely new field for investigation, and difficulties of a different kind. The plan of questioning experts, or representatives of a particular industry, has frequently been resorted to by the writer, as, e. g., in the departments of viticulture, lithography, and the manu facture of agricultural machinery. The writer has thus frequently gained information not accessible in books. Because of these peculiar difficulties, the second part of the work is necessarily more tentative than the first, pos sessing the faults of pioneer work, yet for that very rea son the more fascinating to the writer, and, it is believed, the more suggestive to the reader. Because of the necessity of restricting within moderate bounds the mass of materials belonging to this subject, a X PREFACE consideration of the Dutch element has been excluded from these pages, except in the statistical estimate of the num ber of persons of German blood in the United States, con tained in the first chapter of the second Volume. Tlie Dutch are Germans of purer blood than the people inhab iting some of the eastern provinces of the German Empire, and their history in the United States is frequently insep arable from that of the other German stocks. Neverthe less they frequently formed separate colonies, as in New York State, and their history is important enough to warrant a separate treatment. Because of their racial distinctness, persons of Jewish blood, born in Germany, have not been regularly consid ered in this work. An exception has been made where they contributed toward bringinp^ over from Germany various elements of cultural, educational, or technical value. When unmistakably derived from the German Fatherland, their work iu the arts and sciences, in educ.ition, and technical industry, should be considered a part of the present investi gation as clearly as the writings of the poet Heine are to be included in the history of German literature. The nnm- ber of Jewish immigrants comini; from Germany has com monly been overestimated. During the only period in which an accurate record has been kept, i. e.. since ISKS. it was found that the German Jews numbered only one and one half per cent of the total immigration from the German Empire (1898-1904). In the German Empire the Jews number only one per cent of the total population. During periods of social persecution in the eighteenth and earfy nineteenth centuries their percentage of immigration was probably higher, but undoubtedly the avera>;e was never above two per cent of the German immigration to the United States. PREFACE XI The attempt has been made to exclude matter which could not be established with certainty. When, for instance, the German ancestry of an important individual was in doubt, his name was omitted in this record. Overstatement has perhaps been more carefully avoided than undervalu ation. In the choice of examples, particularly in the sec ond Volume, the writer was forced to use those concerning which he had accurate information, and also to discrimi nate in favor of those that served best as illustrations. A large number of names were thus omitted, which might well have found a place, many no doubtmore worthy than those employed. The materials collected should therefore be looked upon as illustrative, not exhaustive. The writer gratefully acknowledges courtesies extended to him by Dr. jur. Walther Wever, Consul-General of the German Empire at Chicago (1900-1908), and by Professor Starr Willard Cutting of the University of Chicago, particu larly in the matter of launching the book after the prize award had been made. Though the delay may have tried their patience, the writer's wish, to be allowed to subject the manuscript to a thorough revision before publication, was honored by them and the publishers. The writer de sires to express his thanks to Professor Oscar Kuhns, au thor of " The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania," for the loan of valuable books ; to George M. Dutcher, Professor of History in Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, who read in manuscript most of the chapters of the first Volume, and made a large number of important corrections and suggestions; to Professor B. J. Vos, of the University of Indiana, and to Professor Lane Cooper, of Cornell University, who carefully read the first draft of many of the early chapters. A special debt is due to Walter F. Willcox, Professor xii PREFACE i of Political Economy and Statistics, Cornell University, for his continued interest in the work during its progresi^ and for his criticism and direction in the chapter attempt' ing an estimate of the number of persons of German blood in the population of the United States (Volume n. Chap ter i). Acknowledgment is hereby made of aid received from the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in the cd- lection of data for several chapters in this book. The coop eration of many other helpers is gratefully remembered ; in most cases it is acknowledged on the particular page where their valued assistance was made use of ; some others who have aided in the laborious mechanical tasks of book-mak- ' ing, have preferred to remain unnamed. Communicatiov are sohcited from readers who have corrections to suggest or information to impart. A. B. F. Cornell Universitt, Ithaca, N. Y., AprU 20, 1909. CONTENTS CHAPTER I The Earliest Germans in the Anglo-American Colonieb Introductory — Cosmographers : Behaim, Mercator, Waldsee- miiller, etc 1-6 First German in America : Tyrker in Leif Ericson's Expedition to Wineland (eleventh century) 5-7 Germans in earliest settlements, Port Royal (1562), Jamestown (1607) 7-9 Peter Minnit, purchaser and governor of Manhattan Island (1626) ; founder of New Sweden (1638) 9-13 Jacob Leisler, governor of New York, defender of the people's cause, his martyrdom (1691), and services to the colonies . 13-26 Explorers, etc., Lederer, Hiens, Peter Fabian 26-29 CHAFIER II The First Permanent German Settlement, at Germantown, 1683 William Penn in Germany 30-31 The Pietists of Frankfort-on-the-Main 32-33 Francis Daniel Pastorius, his early life and arrival at Philadelphia 33-34 The Concord, the Mayflower of the Germans 35 Landing, October 6, 1683 36 Founding of Germantown, Pennsylvania 36-38 Industries and customs 38-40 Pastorius as patriarch and scholar 40-46 Protest against slavery 46 The Mystics, Eelpius and his followers 47-52 CHAPTER III Increase in German Immigration in the Eighteenth Century, AND its Causes Conditions in the Palatinate and in the southwestern German countries : causes for emigration 53-60 Immigrant bunting 61 N^wlanders and their methods 62-65 The redemptionist system ; advantages and evils 66-68 Crowding, extortion, shipwrecks . 68-71 The Deutsche Gesellschaft of Philadelphia improves conditions . 71-72 xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER IV The First Exodus— The Palatine Immigration to New Yobi Kocherthal and his followers 73-74 Founding of Newburgb-on-the-Hudson, 1709 74-76 The Exodus of 1710 : arrival in London, separation into yarions groups, transportation to Ireland, South Carolina, etc. . . . 76-7S The main group goes with Govemor Hunter to New York . . . 79-ffi Governor Hunter's plan and its failure. The fortunes and migra tions of the Palatines in New York; East and West Camp, Schoharie, the Mohawk, Tulpehocken, etc 82-l(E John Peter Zenger's independent newspaper, and his stand for the liberty of the press 1O5-110 CHAPTER V The Germans in Pennsylvania The various sects 111-113 The Lutherans, German Reformed, and United Brethren, the three most influential denominations .... . . 116-137 Statistics, and characteristics of the PenDsylvania-Germau farmer, and the sixteen points enumerated by Dr. Rush, the " Tacitus " of the Pennsylvanians ... 128-113 Their printing-presses, newspapers, schools 1-13-ltf CHAPTER VI The Early Gkkmans of Nfw Jersky and of Maryland New Jersey : Germans in New Jersey at the beginning of the eighteenth century . 149 German Valley 149-150 Settlements spreading over Hunterdon, Somerset, Morris, and over parts of Sussex and Warren counties 1,"'J-133 Eminent descendants of the earlv Germans 154 A ohurch quarrel arbitrated by Muhlenberg, etc. 155-158 The Reverend Mr. Waok and other types . . 158-159 The Moravian settlements 160-161 Maryland : sporadic cases of German settlers in the seventeenth century 161-16S In the eighteenth century Germans numerous and influential in Baltimore 163-18? The Germans of Westem Maryland ; Frederick County, Hagers- to""! 107-175 Distinguished Marylanders descended from the oarlv Geriuans . 175-178 CONTENTS XV CHAPTER VII The Germans in Virginia Earliest settlement at Germanna, 1714 178 Governor Spotswood's iron-works 178-179 Settlements at Germantown, Virginia, and elsewhere on the Pied mont Plateau 180-183 Expedition of Governor Spotswood to the mountains .... 183-186 German settlements in the Valley of Virginia, beginning 1726-1727 188-195 The Shenandoah Valley receives the tide of immigration coming from Pennsylvania 195 Settlements pushing toward the southern slope of the Valley, and through the gaps in the mountains 195-196 Germans in other parts of Virginia 197-203 The journeys of Moravian missionaries along the frontier . . . 203-211 CHAPTER Vin The Germans in North and South Carolina during the Eighteenth Century First settlement at Newbern, North Carolina, in 1710 .... 212-213 Indian war 213-215 Germans in Charleston, South Carolina 215-216 Purysburg, South Carolina, 1732 216 Settlements in the Orangeburg and Lexington Districts (Saxe- Gotha), South Carolina, 1735 217-218 The Giessendanners ; Zauberbiihler 218-221 Counties of South Carolina with early German settlers .... 221-226 The flfteen churches of South Carolina .- 226-228 German settlers from Pennsylvania in the interior of North Carolina, 1750 228-229 The Reverend A. Nussmann 230 Moravian settlements in the " Wachovia " tract, North Carolina, 1753 231-232 Bethabara, Bethany, Salem 232-233 CHAPTER IX German Settlements before the Revolution in Georgia AND IN New England The Salzburgers in Georgia, 1734 234^236 Founding of Ebenezer 236 The Moravians leave for Pennsylvania 236 The " great embarkation," 1736 236 xvi CONTENTS Storm at sea W John Wesley !») The location of Ebenezer changed 239 Govemor Oglethorpe's kindness 236 Tbe Reverend J. M. Bolzius and the Reverend I. C. Grouao, actual governors of the colony 241 The question of negro slavery . 241-242 Industries, milling and silk manufacture 243-244 The building of churches 2U A church quarrel arbitrated by the Reverend H. M. Muhlenberg 245-2tf Prosperity of the colony 247 Waldo's interest in German colonization in New England . . . 247-241 The founding of Waldoburg (1741) in the Broad Bay District of Maine 249 Sufferiugs of the first colonists - 249-iSl The war with France, 17-44 ii2 The Indian massacre, 1741) 232 Rebuilding of Waldoburg and accessions to colonists . . 25} Massachusetts attempts to encourage German immigration . . 253 Crellius and Luther as agents .... ... . . 25J Colouies in Massachusetts, Adamsdorf, Bemardsdorf, Leydensdorf 251 Colonies in Nova Scotia 256-258 Colonies in Maine : Frankfort, Dresden, Bremen, etc. . . . ij" Disputed land claims and migration to South Carohna .... 2G0 Germautown, near Boston 280 Strength of the German element 261 CHAPTER X The Location of the 6br.man .Sktti.kus before 1775 ; Their Di- FENSK of the Frontier ; and an Estimate of their Ndmbebs The location of the Germans before tlie Ue\oIutiou marked bv couuties (present boundaries) .... ". 263-364 Two facts impress tlieuiselves : (1) that the Germans occupied the best farming-lauds, and ('J) that tluv were almost directly on the frontier from Maine to (;eor;,M:\ . , 265-366 Their defense of the frontier; ou tlie Mohuwk ; and during tbe French and Indian Wnr . . .... , 267-S7i The services of Conrad Weiser aud Cliristiaii Frederick Post, as envoys to the Indians, etc 272-390 An estimate of the number of settlers of German blood in the thii^ tecu colonies in 1775 ... 282-285 CONTENTS xvii CHAPTER XI The Germans as Patriots and Soldiers, during the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783 Activity of Germans at the beginning of the Revolutionary agita- tion 287 Services of sectarians in the war . . 287 The Tories 288 Resolutions of the Virginia Valley Germans 292-293 The Salzburgers as patriots 295 The German regiments 296 Armand's Legion 297 Washington's body-guard 298 Two types of German patriots : Peter Miihlenberg and Christopher Ludwig 300-305 The Mohawk Germaus 305-306 Battle of Oriskany 307-312 Herkimer 307-312 Results of the battle 313-314 Heroism on the frontier 314-320 German officers in the American army ; Baron Steuben, his serv ices, John Ealb, F. H. Weissenfels ; Ziegler ; Lntterloh, Schott, etc 320-337 The Hiester and Muhlenberg families 337-340 German families of Charleston, etc 340-342 Individuals, Dohrmann, etc 342-344 Germans in the French service 344-345 Siege of Yorktown 346-349 The Hessians 349-356 CHAPTER xn The Winning op the West I. The German Settlers in Kentucky and Tennessee The early history of the Kentucky settlements 357-361 Germans among the colonists from the Carolinas and the Valley of Virginia 362 Favorable location of the Germans for early colonization . . . 362-363 Migratory spirit 363 The question as to whether any particular national type was super ior on the frontier 364-367 The frontier creates types 367 xviii CONTENTS Many instances of Germans as hunters, trappers, and Indian fighters 367-374 The three classes of settlers 374-375 The Germans' share in the permanent settlement of the Bine Giau region of Kentucky 376-377 Statistics gathered from land-recorda and the United States Bu reau of Pensions 377-385 The Grermans settled mainly in the central and westem portions of the Blue Grass region 386 Evidences of early settlements by Germans in Tennessee . . . 367-38} CHAPTER Xin The Winning of the West II. The Settlements of the Ohio Valley German traders, hunters, and missionaries in the Ohio territory . 391 Causes for slow development 393 Pontiac's War 393-394 Colonel Bouquet 394-3% The first permanent white settlement in Ohio that of the Mora vian missionaries on the Muskingum ; Gnadenhiitten, Schon- brunn, etc 396-397 David Zoisborger 396 Unfortunate location of Christian Indians 399-400 The massacre of the Christian Indians at GnadenhQtten .... 401 Continuous Indian wars 4<;i"2-K4 Settlements on the Ohio River, at Marietta, Losantiville (Cinein- nati), etc 406-407 St Clair's defeat 4OS-409 General David Ziegler 409-411 The Indian fighter Lewis Wetzel 412-417 Expedition of General Wayne against the Indians opens the coun try for settlement 417 Ebenezer Zane, founder of Zanesville 418-419 German sectarians in Tuscarawas County 420-4S1 The " Backbone Region " of Ohio 42S The Scioto Valley 42J Martin Baum ot Cincinnati, pioneer of Western commerce . . . 434-496 Christian Waldschmidt in the Little Miami Valley 426-427 Dayton and Germantown in the valley of the Great Miami ... 428 Distribution of German settlers throughout the larger towns of Ohio 429 Tlio traveler Sealsfleld's observations . . 429 Mission tours of the German Methodist Heinrich Bohm . . . 430-431 CONTENTS xix CHAPTER XTV The Winning- op the West m. (A) The Advance of the Frontier Line to the Mississippi Ai^D Missouri Rivers (A) Westward progress of the frontier line, shown by the census maps 433 Descendants of Germans and foreign-born Germans as frontiersmen 434r-435 Two centres of distribution on the Mississippi : (1) New Orleans, (2) St. Louis 436 Early Germans in Louisiana and Alabama (Mobile) 437-439 German settlements along the Missouri River 440 Duden's farm, and description of Missouri 440-442 The " Giessener Gesellschaft," Follen and Miinch 442^43 German towns and counties in Missouri 444-449 (B) Beginning of the advance of the frontier line toward the Northwest 449 The Illinois territory opened by Greorge Rogers Clark .... 449-450 Sketch of his expedition and of the work of his German lieuten ants, Bowman and Helm 451-455 Settlement at Vevay, Indiana 455 The Harmony Society (Rappists) on the Wabash in 1815 . . . 455-467 St. Clair County, Illinois, Belleville ; Highland, Madison County . 457-460 Chicago 460-461 German settlements in Iowa : Dubuque, Davenport, Des Moines, etc. 461-462 Germans in Michigan ; the missionary Baraga ; settlers in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Westphalia (Ionia County) ,. . 463-468 CHAPTER XV The Winning op the West IV. The Northwest, the Southwest, and the Far West (A) The Northwest opened by the Black Hawk War, 1832 . . 468-469 First German settlers in Wisconsin 469 Milwaukee as a distributing-centre 470 Deutsch-Athen 472 The causes for Wisconsin's receiving so large a share of Grerman immigration ; the plan of a German state ; favorable soil ; climate ; reports and literature ; sale of school lands ; com missioners of immigration 473-479 Distril&ution of Germans in Wisconsin 479-481 Minnesota's first German settlers from the Red River District . . 482-484 Founding of New Ulm 484 XX CONTENTS Indian troubles 484 The attack on New Ulm by the Sioux 485490 (B) The Southwest MO The earliest settlers in Texas 491-4S! The " Adelsverein " and its plan of colonization 493-494 New Braunfels and Friedrichsburg 495 Wreck of the " AdeUverein " 49M99 Stability of German colonies in Texas 4Si The agricultural area : Seguin, New Braunfels, San Antonio . . 49) Germans prominent in Texas : Congressmen Schleicher and Degeo^ 499-oQO (C) The Far West 501 German Mennonites in Kansas and Nebraska SOI The Pacific Coast ; Oregon Germans d02-a(B H. L. Yesler, founder of Seattle, Washington SOaSOl John Sutter, pioneer of California ; his career ; gold first diseorered on his estate ; cause of his misfortunes 507-500 The Germans of California 509-511 Sutro and Spreckels in San Francisco BI CHAPTER XVI The German Element in the Wars of the United States Drsnc the Nineteenth CENTrnT Germans in the War of 1812 : Walbach, Strieker, Armistead . 512-511 Indian wars : Heilman and Custer ... 516-5U War with Mexico : Kemper, Kautz, and John A. Quitman (gar- emor of Mississippi) ... 518-^ The Civil War . 32J Statistics of the numbers of German volunteers compared with those of other nationalities S^^J-oy 200,000 volunteers 524-535 German regiments ... 527-SO The influence of Germans in St. Louis and Missouri ; the Turners, the Arsenal, Camp Jackson, Sigel's campaign, etc 528-5iS The Eleventh Corps at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, etc. ; Missionary Ridge ... 542-556 German officers; Sigel, Hccker, Blcnker, Willieh, Schnn, Stein- wehr, Kautz, etc. 5,V.^W Engineers and artillerymen 560-S63 German West Point graduates 5t>3-5K Germans on the Confederate side raVV-jflfi Germany's friendly attitude during the Civil War 567-568 The Spanish War 568 CONTENTS XXI German volunteers in army and navy 568-569 List of officers 569-570 Distinguished service of Rear- Admirals Schley, Kautz, and Kempff 570-572 CHAPTER XVII A Summary View of the German Immigrations of the Ninf.teenth Century ; Their Location, Distribution, and General Character Germans on the frontier 573-574 Diffusion of the German element over the territory of the United States ; equal distribution 574-575 The German Belt 575 The states in which the Germans are more numerous than any other foreign element .... 575-576 Table showing distribution of Germans 677-578 List of cities with largest German populations 579-580 Statistics of the German immigrations of the nineteenth century . 581-682 Causes, in the United States and Germany, for the increase and de cline of immigration 582-587 The general character of the nineteenth century immigrants from Germany 587 Friedrlch Miinch's three immigrations 587-590 Concluding remarks 590-691 ILLUSTRATIONS Old Market Square, Germantown, Pa Frontispiece From a photograph kindly lent by Thomas H. Shoemaker, Oerman- town. Pa., oj a sketch by WUliam Britton before 1823. Martin Behaim 4 From Ghillany's "Behaim." Facsimile op Pages in which the Name "America" first appeared 8 From Waldseemiiller's " Introductio Cosmographiae," in ihe Library of Harvard University. Gerard Mercator 12 From Mercator's Atlas, 1613, in the Library of Harvard University. Facsimile op Title-Page of Pastorius' Bee-Hive .... 42 From "Pastorius' Bee-Hive," by M. D. Leamed. Facsimile op Protest (1688) against the Buying and Keeping OF Negroes 46 From the original MS. in the Library of the Historical Society of Penn sylvania. Johann Kelpius 50 From "Der deutsche Pionier." Map showing the Heart op the German Emigration District in the Eighteenth Century 60 The author's dedgn. Advertisement op Redempttonehs for Sale 68 From Franklin's " Pennsylvania Gazette." Facsimile op an Indenture 68 From the original MS. in the Library of the Historical Society of Penn sylvania. xxiv ILLUSTRATIONS Map showing Location of Early German .Settlements in New York State *^ The author's design. Facsimile of Title-Page of Zenger's New Yoek Weekly Jolknal "* From the original in the Lenox Collection, .Veir Yorh Public Library. Facsimile of Front Page of the Ai count of Zenger'- Trial . 110 From the original in the Lenox CoUection, \ew York Public Lihr-jr^. Ephrata Monastery 11* South View of the Brother House. From a photograph by li. //. Garver. Rf_vr \iew of the Saai. and Sister House. From a photograph by George B. Millar J: Co. Map showing Location of Early German Settlements. New Jersey and rKNNsvLVAxiA ... 118 The autlior's dedgn. Heinrich MixniioR MriiLENnERO \ii From an old engraring in the colledion of Julius F. Sadut. Saier Bible Title, 1743 144 From Schaniz's " The Domestic Life and Characieriftics of Ibe Pmn- sylvania-German Pioneer." Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-Germans . , . . U> Sgraffito Dish made in K.^stern ruNssTLVANiA in ITO-J In Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. SoHAirmi Pie-Plate: the Mischlo-za. Made in SorTHEASr- F.ILN I'l.NNSVl.VANIA IN ITStl. In Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. Map showino the Valley of Virginia 178 The autlior's design. John Martin Bolzius no From Strobel's " The SaUburgera and Oxcxr Dtxendants." ILLUSTRATIONS xxv Jerusalem Church 246 From StrobeFs " The Salzburgers and their Descendants." Map showing German Settlements and Frontier Line, in 1775 264 The author's design. Bas-Reliefs from the Oriskany Monument 308 The Hand-to-Hand Conflict. Herkimeh directing the Oriskany Battle. From the Magazine of American History. Baron Friedrich von Steuben 322 By C. W. Peale. From the original in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Frederick August MtJhlenbbrg 338 After the original painting in the possession of the family. General Peter Muhlenberg 338 From the original painting in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Rev. John Christopher Kunze 338 From an original drawing. Rev. G. H. Ernst Muhlenberg 338 From the original painting in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Mississippi Flat-Boats 358 After a drawing by F. T. Merrill. Conestoga Wagon 358 After a painting by N. H. Trotter. Map showing the Blue-Grass Region 376 The author's design. Johanna Maria Heckewelder 404 From " Der deutsche Pionier." Map showing Distribution of the Population in 1790 {colored) 432 XXVI ILLUSTRATIONS Map sHOwmo Distribution of the Population East of the 100th Meridian in 1820 {colored) 434 Map showing Distribution of the Popclatiox Ea.st of the 100th Meridian in 1850 {colored) 436 Map showing Distribution of the Population (excluding Indians not taxed) in 1890 {colored) 438 General John A. Quitman 520 From Claibome's "Life and Correspondence of J. A. Quitman." Indianapolis Moniment to Civil War Heroes 542 Bruno Schmitz, architect. From a photograph, copyrighted by Bast i Woodworth. ExjUESTIilAN StaTIE OF GENERAL JoHN FREDERICK HaRT^ ra.nft, at Harrisbirg, Pa 5W /•'. W. RuckthM, sculptor. Map showing where the Germans were most numerou-- in 1900, IN COMPARISON WITH Other Foreign Popul.\tionb . Sli Map SHOWING Distiubution of Natures of Germany, 1900 {colored) .... . . 5T^ From Statistical Alias of Oie United States, 1900. Map SHOWING Distribution of NATiMi; of Ireland, 1900 {colored) 5S0 Map showing Distribution of Natives of CIreat Brtt.vin. 1900 {colored) 58J PART I AN HISTORICAL OUTLINE THE GERMAN IMMIGRATIONS TO THE UNITED STATES; THEIR ARRIVAL, LOCATION, PROGRESS OF THEIR SETTLEMENTS; THEIR PART IN THE WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND IN THE WINNING OF THE WEST THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER I THE EARLIEST GERMANS IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES Introductory — Cosmographers : Behaim, Mercator, Waldseemiiller, etc. — First German in America : Tyrker in Leif Ericson's expedition to Wine- land (eleventh century) — Germans in earliest settlements, Port Royal (1562), Jamestown (1607) — Peter Minnit, purchaser and governor of Manhattan Island (1626) ; founder of New Sweden (1638) — Jacob Leisler, governor of New York, defender of the people's cause, his martyr dom (1691), and services to the colonies — Explorers, etc. : Lederer, Hiens, Peter Fabian. In the great struggle for the possession of the North American continent, it has been well said, the Latin na tions sent officers without an army, the English, both offi cers and an army, the Germans, an army without officers.' The Latin nations, with distinguished leaders such as Cor tez, Pizarro, De Soto, Champlain, Marquette, and La Salle, whether in quest of gold or of the fountain of youth, en gaged in great voyages of discovery or grand schemes of empire. The English, with a clearer view of the future, knew that an empire could not be established otherwise than by colonization. Selecting the zone best adapted to the needs of the Teutonic stock, they invited other ' F. Kapp, Die Deutschen im Staate New York, bis zum Anfang des XIX. Jahrhunderts, p. 3. New York : Steiger, 1867. 2 THE GERMAN ELEMENT branches of the same racial group to cooperate in the building of an empire. The Germans, not united in one nation at home, poured streams of people into the Englidi territory. Without organiiation, compelled by the need of subsistence, or conditions intolerable at home, thev ap peared on the threshold of a new country, as in the days of Marius and Sulla, desiring lajid, not conquest. Their ancient kinsmen had beaten against the barriers of the Roman Empire until they had shattered them, and then rejuvenated all of Italy, Spain, and Graul. Similarlv in modern times a migration by the same stock took place to the land of promise called America, the verv name con veying to the Teutonic mind a peculiar fascination, a ro mantic charm, later enhanced by the halo of freedom. This Volktrwanderung was not accompanied by the <:;lory of war or the glamour of fame, but went on in quiet, in cessantly and irresistibly, for more than two centuries, until to-day more than a quarter of the population of the United States is of German blood. The great waves of German immigration making thdr way to the American colonies did not appear until the eighteenth century. Advance movements had heralded the way, the first permanent settlement by Germans hav ing been made at Germantown, Pennsylvania, during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. Long before this there appeared sporadic cases of German settlers, exploren, adventurers, and prominent individuals, servint^ under national flags, — any but German, — some of them at the very beginnings of the colonization of the United States. Their history will be the subject of the present chapter. A conspicuous example of prominent service under a for eign king is that of Martin Behaim. He served Uie king IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 3 of Portugal, but was a native of Nuremberg, born in 1459, of an old patrician family of that city. Fiction has been active about his great name, using misinterpretations of Portuguese documents, or even spurious records, to main tain that Behaim saw Pernambuco and the coast of Brazil almost a decade before the first voyage of Columbus, and that he gave to Magellan information needed to urge him on to his voyage around South America. But even when deprived of this distinction, Behaim remains one of the most eminent men of his age, in the first rank among cos mographers and navigators of his time. He was a friend of Columbus, whom he probably met in Lisbon between 1480 and 1484. He was likewise acquainted with Magel lan. During the period named he was in the employ of the king of Portugal, and, being appointed on a commis sion for the improvement of navigation, he became one of the inventors of the astrolabe. In the capacity of cosmo- grapher, he accompanied the expedition of Diogo Cao, in 1484, to the west coast of Africa. After a voyage of discovery lasting nineteen months, he settled on the island of Fayal, one of the Azores, where he married the daughter of the stadtholder of the Flemish colony established there. In 1491-92 he visited Nuremberg, his native city, for the settlement of an estate. While there he fashioned a globe representing the earth as it was known to the foremost savants of that day. On leaving he presented this globe to his native city, and it is still preserved there as the most interesting relic of the cosmographic art antecedent to the discovery of America. The globe does not prove that Behaim was acquainted with the coast of Brazil, and his influence, therefore, upon the voyages of Columbus and Magellan could have been only such as to strengthen them in their theories and ambitions, not to direct them. Before 4 THE GERMAN ELEMENT returning to Fayal, Behaim was twice captured by pirateg at sea, but his release was effected through friends and his distinguished reputation. He resided at Fayal until 1506, when he was again in Lisbon, where he died the same year. The Germans were not prominent as a seafaring people at the period of the discovery of America. The glory of the Hanseatic League had departed. Their loca tion in the heart of Europe, with but a narrow strip of seacoast at the north, put them at a disadvantage in com parison with the English, French, Dutch, Spaniards, and Portuguese. But while they were not conspicuous as lead ers in the great voyages of discovery, their scholarly in stincts put them in the front rank as cosmographers and cartographers. The instance of Behaim, constructor of the Nuremberg globe and one of the inventors of the astrolabe, has just been given. Even greater is the name of Mer cator (l.'>12-94), the inventor of the Mercator system of projection, which, taking account of the curvature of the earth's surface, is an indispensable aid in nautical map- drawing. Mercator was born in Flanders (Rupelmonde, Belgium), and was of German descent, his name before Latinization being Gerhard Kremer. On commission of Charles V, he manufactured a terrestrial and a celestial globe, which are said to have been superior to anv made before that time. His principal work was his atlas (first edition, Duisburg, 1594), printed from copper plates pre pared by his own hand. A number of other German names appear prominently among cartographers, earlier than Mertator, such as Sohonor (o^lobes, l.")L") and LViOl Reisch (map, 1513), and the Low German Ruysch ^Pto^- emyof 1508, with newly discovered lands indicated). The " Globus Mundi " was published at Strassburt^ in 1509, IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 5 showing an early use of the name " America " in the ac companying text.^ More important still is the fact that a German cosmo- grapher was the first to suggest in a printed book that the name " America " be used to designate the New World. It was Martin Waldseemiiller,^ born at Freiburg about 1480. In 1507 he published his " Cosmographiae Intro ductio," in which an account is furnished of all the voy ages of Vespucius, and the suggestion of the name " America " appears, in the following words : — But now that these parts have been more widely explored and another fourth part has been discovered by Americus Vesputius (as will appear in what follows), I do not see why any one may justly forbid it to be named after Americus, its discoverer, a man of sagacious mind, Amerige, that is the land of Americus, or America, since both Europe and Asia derived their names from women. ^ The credit, therefore, of first advocating in print the use of the name " America," and also of diffusing widely, by means of charts and globes, the knowledge of the newly discovered countries, belongs to German cosmo graphers. The first German to land in the New World arrived be- • Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. ii, pp. 171, 172. ^ The name is spelt also Waltzemiiller, and Walzemiiller. A map accom panying this book has recently been discovered by Professor Fischer in Wol- legg Castle, Wiirtemberg. It had long been looked for, and its existence sometimes disputed. Cf. American Historical Review, vol. x, pp. 150-164: " The oldest map with the name America of the year 1607, and the Carta Marina of the .year 1616 by M. WaldseemuUer (Ilacomilus)." Edited by Joseph Fischer and Fr. R. von Wieser. London, 1903. Cf . also E. G. Bourne, " The Naming of America," Am. Hist. Rev. vol. x, pp. 49, 50. ' A copy of the first edition, of 1507, of Waldseemiiller's Cosmographiae Introductio is contained in the library of Cornell University (A. D. White collection). 6 THE GERMAN ELEMENT fore the discovery of Columbus. He was a member of Leif Ericson's expedition to Wineland. It is no longer a matter of doubt that the Icelanders were the first Europe ans to sight the North Atkntic coast, and attempt a col ony somewhere between Labrador and New England. The proof is furnished by Norse sagas, by traditions and docu ments of various kinds, that taken together make as good evidence as we have of many accepted historical events, such, for instance, as the early settlement of Jamestown. The location of the settlement by the seafarers of Iceland wUl probably remain forever unknown, beyond the limits already mentioned ; the time, also a matter of doubt, has been reckoned as in the eleventh century.' The Gennan in Leif's expedition was named Tyrker, and seems to have been a faithful king's man of the type so frequently found in German epic poetry. His discovery of the grape is characteristic, and forebodes coming events. The Norse .s;ii;a gives the following account : ' — It was diacovered one evening that one of their company was missing, and this proved to be Tyrker, the German. Leif \t«s sorely troubled by tills, for Tyrker had lived with Leif .lud his father for a long time, and had been very devoted to Leif, when he wa.s a child. Leif severely reprimanded his companions, and prepared to go in search for him, taking twelve men with him. They had proceeded but a short distance from the house, when they were met by Tyrker, whom they received most cordiallj. Leif observed at once that his foster-father was in lively spirits. . . . Leif addressed him, and asked : " ^^^^e^ef ore art thou so be lated, f,.->vormes of Ike .\orttmefi rr. America, translated by n. H, -Soulslry, St. Louis: 1903, pp. 1-19. " Beeves, pp. 00-07. IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 7 a time he addressed them in the Northern tongue : " I did not go much farther (than you), and yet I have something of novelty tp relate. I have found vines and grapes." " Is this indeed true, foster-father ? " said Leif. " Of a certainty it is true," quoth he, " for I was born where there is no lack of either grapes or vines." They slept the night through, and on the morrow Leif said to his shipmates : "We will now divide our labors, and each day will either gather grapes or cut vines and fell trees, so as to obtain a cargo of these for my ship." ... A cargo sufficient for the ship was cut, and when the spring came, they made their ship ready, and sailed away ; and from its products Leif gave the land a name, and called it Wineland. The Germans, though not present in large numbers, were nevertheless weU-nigh ubiquitous during the period of new settlements.' At Port Royal, in South Carolina, which was settled in 1562 by a band of Huguenots under Jean Ribault, there seem to have been some Alsatian and Hessian Protestants^ at the very beginning. The settle ment was destroyed by the Spaniard Menendez in 1566. There were several Germans among the first settlers at Jamestown in 1607, as may be seen by the lists of names, which Captain John Smith records, of the original set tlers of the earliest English colony of America.' There are also numerous direct references to the " Dutch " set tlers, whom we need not suppose to have been natives of Holland, particularly since one is referred to as a Switzar ' This is also true of Spanish America. See the publications of the AU- deutscher Verband,in the series " Kampf um das Deutschtum," e. g., Wint- zer. Die Deutschen im tropischen Amerika; Unold, Das Deutschtum in Chile; Sellin, Brasilien, und die La Plata-Staaten. ' Handbuch des Deutschtums im Auslande, Statistische Uebersicht v. F. H. Henoch, hrg. v. AUgemeinen deutschen Schulverein, p. 113. Berlin, 1904. 3 The True Travels, vol. i, pp. 163, 172, 173, Reprint, Richmond, Va., 1819 (of the London edition, 1629). See also The General History of 'Virginia, vol. ii, pp. 45-56, for German names snch as Unger, KefEer, etc.; for the Switzar, Williara Volday, The True Travels, vol. i, p. 231. 8 THE GERMAN ELEMENT (Swiss). The references to this element among the settlers are not of an enviable sort, the writer frequently stigma tizing them with the epithet " damned " Dutch. On re viewing their history as told by the vainglorious captain, it appears that the epithet, though frankly sincere, is rather a comment on the Dutchman's independence and love of liberty than an evidence of any serious defect of character. The " Dutchmen " were artisans, carpenters mainly, whose services were valuable in the colony. At one time three " Dutchmen " and two Englishmen were em ployed to construct a house for King Powhatan. The pm- pose of the building of the house was apparently to get the king into the power of Captain Smith, and this treacherous plot seems to have been revealed to the king by the " Dutchmen." Themselves sufEering under the tyranny of the idlers of the colony, they felt in sympathy with the red men, who were beyond any doubt treated cruelly by the settlers of Jamestown. The '' Dutchmen " chose to remain with the Indians, preferring' their friendship to that of the "'gentlemen" of Jamestown. All efforts to bring them back were unavailing. One of them was caught ' True Travels, vol. i, p. 208. " For the Dutchmen finding his (King Powhatan's) plentie, and knowing our want, and perceiving his prepantions to surprise us, little thinking we could escape both him and famine; (toob- taine bis favour) revealed tu him so much as they knew of our estates and projects and how to prevent them. One of them being of so great a spirit, judgement and resolution, and a hireling that was certaine of his wages for bis labour, and ever well used both he and bis countrymen ; that the Presi- ilcnt knew not whom better to trust ; and not knowing any fitter for tint employment had sent him as a spy to discover Powhat«n's intent, then littk doubting his honestie, nor could ever be certaine of his villany till neut halfe a yeare after." It must be renienil)ered that ns much treachery existed, from Captain Smith's point of view, among the English settlers a5 among tlie foreign. Between the feuds and desperate conditions prevailing «t Jamestown on the ono hand, and the kindly treatment of the appreciatiT* savages on the other, the Dutchmen probably chose wisely, not feeling MJ national pride in the English settlement. COSMOGRAPHrAE Cj^adodam/ Pamphiliam/ Lidia/ CifidS/ ArnS«# nias maiorem 8C minorem. Colchiden/Hircaniam Miberiain/ Albaniam:& practerea multas quas fin gillatim enumerare longa mora efleC Ita di(^a ab d us nominis regina* Nunc vero 8c hej partes funt latius hi(bra.tx/ 8C alia quarta pars per Amcricu Vefputium( vt in fe^ quentibus audietur)inuema efb qua non video cur quis iure vetet ab Americo inuentorc fagads ingc Iii) viroAmerigen quafi Amend terram/fiuc Ame ncamdicendamtcum 8c Europa 8c Afia a mulieri^: bus {ua(brcitafintnomina.Eius ficu &C gentis mo^ res ex bis binis Amend nauigationibus qu^ fcquii tur liquide intetligi datur. RVDIMENTA qti^ oppofitu vel contra dcnoca^At^ in fexto cli# mate Antarfticii vetCus/ 8c pars extrema Afiricat nuperreperta& Zamziber/laua minor/ & Seula infill^/ 8c quarta orbis parse quam quia Americus inuenit Amerigen/quaG Amend terra/fiueAme^ Amep cam nuncuparelicet)ritac funt. De quibus AuflraU nge bus ctimatibus haecPomponi) Mell^ Geographi Popo. verba inteUigenda Cunt/ vbi ait. Zone habitabiles Mtl^ paria agunt anni tempora/verum non pariter. An# dchthones alteram/nos alteram incoh'mus.IUius Cif FIRST APPEARANCE OF WORD " AMERICA " From Waldseeraiiller's Introductio Cosmographiae IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 9 later and " went by the heels." They were felt to be a serious menace to the colony of Jamestown, whether justly so or not, it is difficult to ascertain. Clearly the situation at Jamestown was not of the best for laborers. They had to do all the work for the drones. Captain John Smith himself agrees in the following state ment to the authorities at home : " When you send againe I entreat you rather send but thirty Carpenters, husband men, gardiners, fisher men, blacksmiths, masons, and dig gers up of trees' roots, well provided, then a thousand of such as we have ; for except wee be able both to lodge them and feed them, the most will consume with want of neces saries before they can be made good for anything.'" The following throws light upon the treatment the " Dutch "- men received : " As for the hiring of the Poles and Dutch men," says Captain Smith, " to make Pitch, Tar, Glasse, Milles and Sope ashes, when the country is replenished with people and necessaries, would have done well, but to send them and seventy more without victualls to work, was not so well advised nor considered of as it should have beene." ^ Again he comments on the character of the set tlers as follows : " Adventurers that never did know what a day's work was, except the Dutchmen and Poles and some dozen other. For all the rest were poore Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-men, libertines, and such like, ten times more fit to spoyle a Commonwealth, than either to begin one or but help to maintaine one." ' There were Germans in the Dutch settlement of New Netherland, arid among them, two who were second to none in moulding the destinies of the colony. The one was the first governor of New Netherland, Peter Minuit, > True Travels, vol. i, p. 202. ' Ibid., vol. i, p. 193. 'Ibid., vol. i, p. 241. 10 THE GERMAN ELEMENT and the other the first governor of New York to repre sent the popular party, Jacob Leisler. Little is known of Peter Minuit (Minnewit) before he appeared in America as director of the colony of New Netherland. All sources agree that he was born in Wesel on the Rhine, and was a Protestant. He arrived in New Amsterdam in May, 1626, with almost absolute power over the colony. Where his predecessors had been unsuc- cessf nl he built the foundation for the greatest metropolis on the American continent. It was he who bought from the Indians the Island of Manhattan (22,(KK) acres) for sixty Dutch guilders, or about twenty-four dollars in gold. Having obtained a secure title to the land, he next erected the first stone fort, at the Battery, and called it Fort Amsterdam. This kept the Indians in check and increased the number of settlers about the fort. The colonists soon became as busy and enterprising as their transatlantic kinsmen in the Low Countries. The Dutch West India Company supplied cattle and horses and land for the ask ing, whilu the crops raised were sufficient for the support of the colonists. Their most profitable occupation was the fur trade with the Indians. The Dutch at New Amster dam became the rivals and superiors of the Pilgrim Fa thers as fur traders. Their exportation of furs, that in 162-1 had reached the sum of 2."),(X)0 guilders, in 1(>28. when the colony numbered 270 souls, rose to 56,tH>(\ and in 1631 to 130,000 guilders. The population steadily in creased in the intorveiiing years. Several ships arrived annually with settlers who were brought over bv thecom- paiiy at twelve and one half cents per day for passage and board and on their arrival received as much land .is they could eultivato. As early as 1631 the shipbuilders of New Amsterdam, under Minuit's administration, built the yac IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 11 Netherland, estimated differently at six to eight hun dred tons burden, and armed with thirty guns, one of the largest ships afloat* at that time, and an object of envy for the mother country.^ Minuit cultivated amicable relations with the New Eng land colonies, but insisted upon his territorial rights. In 1629 the Dutch West India Company established the patroon system, which was destined to have an unfavor able effect on the development of the colony. Patroons were originaUy members of the West India Company, who assumed semi-feudal rights over large tracts, nominally bestowed on them on condition that they would plant a colony of fifty persons on the land vrithin four years. They became manor lords carrying on colonization as a private affair. This unfortunate system aroused a great deal of opposition, and Minuit was made the scapegoat, though he had never favored the patroons beyond obey ing .the commands of the company. Minuit was recalled in August, 1631, and departed in 1632, leaving the colony in a most prosperous condition. After having tried in vain to get justice in Holland, he determined to offer his serv ices to the king of Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus is known as a mighty war lord and defender of the Protestant faith, but little is commonly heard of his far-reaching plans of colonial development. William Usselinx, a native of Antwerp, was the first to suggest to Gustavus Adolphus the enormous possibilities of colonial expansion. Not favored at home, the genius of Usselinx was given a sphere of activity under the ambi tious ruler of Sweden. The Swedish South Company was ^ Cf . Fiske, The Dutch and Quaker Colonies, vol. i, p. 124. ' The Royal George, 1200 tons, was built for the East India Company at Blackwall (London) about 1640. 12 THE GERMAN ELEMENT founded in 1626-27 for trade and colonization west of the Straits of Gibraltar, and extensive privileges were to be given the company for twelve years. The king himself sio-ned for 400,000 Swedish talers. The German cities of Stralsund and Stettin desired to become members, so also the Duke of Pomerania, and much was hoped for from the rich city of Danzig. Livland, with its German popa- lation, wished to subscribe 150,000 talers. and Emden, eager to expand its commerce, was anxious to obtain a seat and voice among the directors of the company. But the death of Gustavus Adolphus wrecked these ambitions plans. The chancellor, Oxenstierna, kept Usselinx in charge until the latter seems to have given up hope. His place as leader of the company was then taken by Minuit, who arrived in Stockholm not earlier than 1636 and quickly gained the confidence of the great statesman. Minuit directed Swedish colonial ambitions toward an attainable goal by turning the attention of the chancellor to the country between Virginia and New Netherland, the land that, some years after, William Penn received as a grant from the English crown. It included the present states of Delaware and Pennsylvania, and parts of New Jersey and Maryland, territory that in the next century became the most fertile soil for the expansion of the Germanic race. Distinct advantages which Minuit possessed were, first, his exceptional experience and keen insight, and secondly, the prestige that Sweden had recently won on the battie- fields of Europe. Toward the end of the year 1637, with a warship and transport bearing fifty immigrants well provisioned, he left for the New World, arriving in Delaware Bay in April, 1638, and successfully kept the English in Vii^nia and the Dutch at New York from interfering with his schemes GERARD MERCATOR IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 13 of colonization. By means of a bold front and wise direc tion he kept his stand securely, knowing minutely the weaknesses of his neighbors on either hand. He built Fort Christina in honor of the Swedish queen, about two miles from the confluence of the Minquaskill and the Delaware, very near the present city of Wilmington. No one understood the fur trade better than Minuit, and even in his first year he drew 30,000 guilders of trade away from New Netherland. Colonists swarmed to the banks of the Delaware, New Sweden claiming the territory on its banks. By 1640 the colony had received many new ac cessions, some from HoUand. It is not unreasonable to suppose that a number of Germans were among the settlers of New Sweden, since the German cities of the Baltic had shown such an active interest in the beginnings of the Swedish West India Company. Minuit died at his post in 1641, and was buried at Fort Christina. No one dared at tack the colony during his lifetime. Its independence was retained fourteen years longer,* untU in 1655 it became part of New Netherland under the energetic governor, Stuyvesant. About fifty years later, in the early history of New York, there lived another German leader of men, Jacob Leisler, the second German governor of New York and first representative of the popular party, for whose cause he suffered martyrdom. He was born in Frankfort-on-the- Main, and arrived in New York in 1660, as a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India Company. He ac quired wealth through trade with the Indians, and by ' John Printz, Governor of New Sweden from 1642 to 1653, according to trustworthy authority was a German nobleman (Johann Printz von Buchan) and had been a commander under Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War. Seidensticker, Bilder aus der deutsch-pennsylvanischen Geschichte,- p. 3 {Geschichtsbldtter, vol. ii). New York: Steiger, 1886. 14 THE GERMAN ELEMENT marriage became connected with the Dutch aristocracy of New York. Instead of becoming a manor lord and pro prietor, then the g^eat goal of provincial ambition, Leisler devoted himself to trade and business, to the fuU extent of hi.s extraordinary energy. He soon became one of the wealthiest citizens of New York, his estate being valoed at l;"i,000 guilders, and only six citizens being richer than himself. One of the three barks owned in New York in 1684 belonged to him, and in the year before he had been appointed a member of the Admiralty Court by Governor Dongan. He was capable of humanitarian ventures, as when, in 1689, he bought a piece of land, the present site of New Rochelle in Westchester Countr, for the Huguenots who had landed in New York. An evidence of wealth also was the ransom of five hundred pounds, paid when he was captured by the pirates of Tunis in 1678.' But Leisler was as public-spirited as he was wealthy. He gave little attention to party strife and to the m- trigues by which leading families gained influence with the governor, but whenever an occasion of moment arrived, Jacob Leisler was the man that impressed the 2>eopIe with his exceptional integrity, liberality, and firmness. When, in 167."), Governor Andros fined a number of burghers because of their opposition to " Popery," Leisler refused to pay, preferring imprisonment to the renunciation of his principles. At another time, when a poor Huq-uenot family landed in New York and were to be sold'as re- demptioners, he instantly paid down the sum demanded for their transportation, thus delivering the refugees from years of servitude. Conditions in New York favored the development of ' Cf. Kapp, p. 39. IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 16 a popular party in opposition to aristocratic rule. King James II had combined the colonies of New England, New York, and New Jersey under the governorship of Andros, an action which displeased the Dutch greatly, for they felt a danger of being overshadowed by the neigh boring Puritan colony. While Governor Andros was in New England, he left New York in charge of Francis Nicholson, as Ueutenant-governor. On February 5, 1689, a Dutch sea-captain brought him the first news of the landing of William of Orange in England, but Nicholson threatened the messenger with severe punishment, if he aUowed the news to spread. But a week later the mer chant and ship-owner, Jacob Leisler, received the news independently and made it public. The propitious moment had not yet arrived, however, for a revolt of the people against their oppressors. They lacked a leader. The man who could help was not a demagogue and would not act unless forced by circumstances. That man was Jacob Leis ler, whose German birth secured for him the sympathy of the Dutch population, and whose public life was noted for public spirit, energy, and Hberality. He was recog nized as a good soldier, and, though connected with the aristocracy by marriage, remained a man of the people, alive to their interests, nearer to them in habits and culture or the lack of it, and admired by them for his plain honesty that never stooped to selfish ends, a prac tice so common among the aristocrats. All too great was his love of duty, his disinterested assent to the wishes of others, and, as later events proved, too keen his sense of responsibility in his high position. Nicholson's unpopularity and that of the ruling class grew from week to week and from day to day, and the slightest shock was sufficient to kindle the spark of revolt. 16 THE GERMAN ELEMENT An accidental remark of Nicholson's, " I would rather see the city on fire than take the impudence of such feUows as you," addressed to an insubordinate heutenant, gave rise to the alarming rumor that the governor was about to set the city on fire. The flame of revolution blazed up instantly, and spread without let or hindrance. The mob was united in the desire to capture the fort, the hey to the city, with their oldest captain to march at their head. " To Leisler, to Leisler's house," was the cry, — but Leisler refused to assume the leadership. Lieutenant StoU of the Leisler Company, with quick decision, led them on to the fort. Nicholson and Bayard, colonel of mihtia, offered no resistance, submittinff to the inevitable. On the next day Leisler, in a public address, declared, for himself and hiS party, the intention to hold the fort for King William, at the same time entreating the citizens to aid him in this purpose. The masses were yet unde cided, they stUl feared the lieutenant-governor, when a false rumor spread that there were three ships in the bav with eommands of the new king. Upon this, the entire militia company, about four hundred men with their officers, declared themselves for Leisler, the cause of the Protestant religion and the Prince of Oraii-^e, until they should receive commands from the latter, their king. AU those that had wavered now joined Leisler. Nicholson fled from the country, and his counselors escaped or con cealed themselves from the wrath of the people. The city was now ^vithout a government. Thereupon by popular vote a committee of safetv was elected, con sisting of tho most prominent burghers of the citizens party, who, on June 8, 1689, appointed Ltnsler commander- in-chief of the fort and of the city, until the arrival of the new governor from England. When the news arrived IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 17 of the coronation of William and Mary, Leisler at once made preparations for a solemn ceremony of homage, and notified the provincial and municipal officials to take part. When these refused to join in rendering homage, the cere mony took place in New York and Albany without them. Leisler in consequence dismissed the magistrate of the city, and the committee organized new elections for the vacant places of burgomaster and aldermen. The aristo crats naturally did not secure an office, and in August, 1689, the committee of safety appointed Leisler supreme commander of the province. Leisler made a complete re port to King WUliam of aU that had been done, assuring him of his loyalty, his zeal for the Protestant cause, and begging for speedy instructions. Even Leisler's enemies never doubted the sincerity of this petition, and could find fault only with its English. Lieutenant StoU was sent to England with this petition, handed it to the king in person in November, 1689, but met with no success, for Nicholson, who had arrived earlier, had poisoned the king's ear in regard to the popular party in New York, declaring that its actions had arisen from hostility to the English Church rather than from zeal for the new dy nasty. Thus the reward that Leisler merited at royal hands for the successful issue of the revolution, was lost.* Neighbors at home, on the other hand, recognized the loyal and honest efforts of the popular governor, and sent their best wishes for the progress of the revolution, but the dethroned aristocrats spared no efforts in provoking dissension and discord. The name of Leisler was dragged through the mire. He was branded as a tyrant, usurper, demagogue, even as a Papist and Jacobite, by the very 1 Cf. Documents relating to the Colonial History ofthe State of N. Y., vol. iii, pp. 608 f. (Brodhead). 18 THE GERMAN ELEMENT persons who had proved their disloyalty to the new dynasty. One illegal act, and one only, was committed by leis ler,' namely, that he did not publish a certain clause of the king's address that recommended retaining aU old officials with the exception of Papists. Leisler can be justified, however, on the ground that he could not have carried the revolution through successfuUy if the aristo crats had remained in office. The new popular principle could not be represented by them. An unfortunate move also was his attempt to force Al bany to recognize his government. Bayard had fled thither aud succeeded in winnings to his side influential citizens such as the Schuylers, Bleeckers, Van Rensselaers,Cuyler8, and others. Leisler was provoked by the order of Bayard, issued to the militia companies that had been under his command in New York, forbidding them to obey Leisler. The latter answered this order by sending an armed com pany under the command of his son-in-law, Jacob Milbome, to take possession of the fort at Albany and defend the cause of the Protestant king "against Indians and other hostile attacks." The soldiers were not admitted into the city, and as Milbome was too weak to risk a battle, he was compelled to withdraw. This false step gave the fu^ tive aristocrats a chance to file complaints at the Enghsh court against the government of Leisler, falsely accusing him of rebeUion against the English dynastv. Not long after these events, in the beginning of Decem ber, 1689, a royal messenger arrived in Boston with a let ter addressed to Francis Nicholson, " or in his absence to such as for the time being take care for Preserving the ' F. Kapp, Ge.ichichte der Deutschen Un Slaale Xew York, p 44. Ne* York: Steigtr, ISOT. IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 19 Peace and administering the Lawes in our said Province of New York in America." * The enemies of Leisler attempted to get possession of this letter, i. e., to become its recipi ents while in New York, and thereby obtain authority. Bayard and PhUipse, representing a part of the old gov ernment, secretly went to New York for this purpose, but, the ruling party also hearing of the letter, the messenger was taken at once to the fort, where Leisler was in com mand. The letter empowered the man to whom it was directed to assume command as lieutenant-governor and appoint a councU to assist him in the direction of affairs. Accordingly Leisler, on December 11, 1689, assumed the title of lieutenant-governor and named a council of nine persons representing the various trades of the province. This royal message put aside any remaining scruples as to the justice of Leisler's assumption of authority, and the pohtical affairs of the colony soon assumed an orderly and peaceful aspect. An effort was made to capture Leisler on the streets of New York, but, the attempt proving unsuccessful, the ring leaders. Bayard, Van Cortlandt, NicoUs, and others were themselves captured and thrown into prison for high trea son against His Majesty's officers. Bayard and Nicolls were captured while attempting to escape, and the sentence of death was pronounced against them. They humbly sued for mercy and Leisler relented. In the course of events they caused Leisler's ruin. Had Leisler employed the thor ough methods of the revolutionary dictator, he would have destroyed his enemies while they were in his power, and thereby forever ended their opportunities for doing harm. This act of grace on the part of Leisler, while it elevates him as a man, was undoubtedly a political mistake. ' Documents rel. Colonial History, vol. iii, p. 606. 20 THE GERMAN ELEMENT Hardly had he become master over his enemies within, before the lieutenant-governor had to meet a more terrible foe without, the French and Indians, commanded by the brave and energetic Frontenac. At the beg^ning of Janu ary, 1690, the French governor had planned an attack on New York by way of the Mohawk VaUey and Albany. The event which stands out in lurid colors is the massacre at Schenectady. The fort was surprised, burned, and plundered, and the occupants slain or taken prisoners. This terrible misfortune had no Ul effect, however, on the political fortunes of Leisler, for when he now sent troops in the defense of Albany, the city willingly opened its gates and recognized Leisler's authority. He made the citv secure against hostUe attacks and sent a division of 140 men fifty miles beyond to guard against surprise. The enemies of the lieutenant-governor fled to New England. Leisler proved himself equal to the emergency. He saw that coiiperative action on the part of the colonies was essential to resist the formidable foe. Accordingly, in the beginning of AprU, 1690, he invited the governors of Massachusetts, Plymouth, East and West Jersey, Penn sylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to a common councU at New York.' New York, Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Jersey, and Maryland were represented in this plan of de fense. The Carolinas were in their infancy, and Virginia was too remote. The meeting of this congress at New York on the first of May, 1690, was a memorable event in Ameri can history. It was the first congress of American colo nies, the first of a series, that by process of evolution was to culminate in the Continental Congress.' The conoress decided that Massachusetts should send 160 men, Con necticut 135, Plymouth 60, New York 400, and Maryland ' Cf- Kapp, p. 48. : Cf. Fiske, ii, 1SJ-1!>4. IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 21 100, in an expedition for the conquering of Canada, while Massachusetts was also to equip a fleet for the taking of Quebec. At the same time the Mohawk Indians promised an auxiUary force of 1800 warriors to attack the French. It was the first attempt at united action on the part of the colonies, without the aid of the mother country. The great plan, however, was not destined to succeed, largely owing to the jealousies and misunderstandings among the lead ers. The expedition at sea met a similar fate. Though arriving at Quebec, the fleet delayed its attack, and was forced to retreat with great loss. Contrary winds and storms on the return made its destruction almost complete, though the New York contingent were fortunate enough to reach home with their ships. Leisler had won the distinction of equipping the first warship that went out from New York, he had added three ships to the fleet, and contributed energetically in every department. He had instituted the pursuit of six French ships that had dared to approach New York Har bor, had had them brought to New York, condemned, and sold as prizes, a stroke which remained the only fortunate event in a chain of disasters. However, as a result of the expensive operations against Canada, all of the colonies had incurred debts, and great disappointment reigned, particularly when taxation had to be resorted to. Natu rally, Leisler's enemies attempted to make a scapegoat of him, and the lieutenant-governor's position grew more and more difficult, his enemies increasing in numbers day by day. The end of the year 1690 had come, and the home government, refusing to recognize Leisler's services to the crown and colony, appointed a new governor for New York, Colonel Henry Sloughter. The latter had set out 22 THE GERiLAJ^ ELEMENT with several ships and a respectable number of troops, but, to make confusion worse confounded, a storm separating him from the rest of the ships, the second in command. Major Richard Ingoldsby, arrived in New York before the governor. Leisler's enemies were busy winning the favor of the new arrival, and the demand was made of Leisler to surrender the fort at once. This Leisler refused to do untU confronted with the documents giWng In goldsby authority. But the papers were on board the ab sent ship, and Ingoldsby, being discredited, felt his honor as an English officer insulted. He issued a proclamation, in which all those that should oppose him were declared rebels, and all good people were summoned to his assist ance. Leisler, a few days after, February 3, 1691. pro tested in the name of the king and queen against aU the acts of Ingoldsby, holding him accountable for aU acts of violence and bloodshed that might ensue, declaring at tfae same time his readiness to give up the fort to the new governor. Colonel Sloughter, immediately upon his arrival. Each party seemed to be waiting for the other to risk a blow, but as time went on, it was apparent that Ingoldsby was receiving more adherents and Leisler as constantly losing friends. Ingoldsby next attacked, and took two blockhouses with their garrisons, located north of WaU Street. Leisler was now confined to the fort, and, as be fore, refused to give it up. Such was the condition of affairs untU the arrival of Governor Slou^-htor. March 19, KiiH. Both parties eagerly awaited the new governor as a deliverer from the unfortunate entanglement. But Sloughter was a man of no clear vision or strength of character, and even his friends could find littie to's.iy m his behalf. Upon his arrival he became the dupe of the aristocratic party, who boarded his ship to inform him of IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 23 the condition of affairs. There Sloughter appointed his council. Immediately upon arriving, at ten o'clock in the evening, he demanded the keys of the fort, but Leisler wished first an understanding as to the terms of surrender, and guarantees for his security, perhaps distrustful because the messenger whom the new governor had sent was Ingoldsby. Sloughter demanded immediate and uncondi tional surrender, placed Leisler's messenger under arrest, and on the 20th of March took possession of the fort. He took Bayard and NicoUs out of prison, while Leisler and eight friends of the council had to take their places in the same dungeon. The condemnation of Leisler aroused general horror. Such severity none had expected. A sham trial was insti tuted, in which Sloughter appointed Leisler's personal enemies as his judges, viz. : Bayard, Nicolls, PhUipse, and Van Cortlandt, together with four Englishmen who had just arrived. Leisler was charged with rebellion, confisca tion of property, and the iUegal levying of taxes. The other councilors were set free, but the enemies of Leisler were determined to be revenged upon him. Apparently Governor Sloughter hesitated to sign a death-warrant, a spark of justice glimmering within him. A tradition is handed down that the aristocrats steeped the governor in wine and procured his signature while His Excellency was intoxicated. Leisler, previously convicted of high treason, was accordingly condemned to suffer death, together with his son-in-law, Milborne. The accused had felt so sure of the justice of their cause that, like Egmont and Horn, they refused to defend themselves against the charge of treason. The sentence occasioned resentment and horror in all parts of the colony, and many of the followers of Leisler fled into neighboring provinces, fearing similar 24 THE GERMAN ELEMENT charges against themselves. A popular uprising was im minent in New York City. Leisler's enemies, fearing that he might still be set free, now insisted upon the fruits of their victory, the immediate execution of their victims. The urgent entreaties of Leisler's friends for delay, jnst as in the case of Egmont, only hastened the execution. The scaffold was erected not far from the location of the present Tombs, on the corner of Pearl and Centre streets. The day. May 16, 1691, was wet and cold, and chUledthe spectators to the bone. Leisler made an address to the people, in which he resigned himself to his fate with Christian humility. His dying request to his friends was that they should forget aU injury done to himself and Milborne, and honor his wish, that their ashes might destroy all vestiges of discord and dissension. His son- in-law, Milborne, called out to his enemy. Livingstone, " You are guilty of my death and I shaU accuse yon be fore the eternal judgment seat " ; and to the sheriff, who asked him if he would not bless the king and queen, he said, " Why, I die for them and for the Protestant religion, in which I was born and brought up." The blunder of this execution became apparent in Eng land after the son of Leisler brought the case into the English courts. The case being given over to the colonial ministry, the latter declared that the deceased had been executed justly, but begged for restitution to the family of their property and position, which was granted in 1692. With this Leisler's son was not satisfied; he desired not grace but justice, and after several years more of conten tion in behalf of his father's memory, the English Parha ment reversed the attainder against Leisler and Milbome, justified Leisler's actions in every particular, and restored to his heirs the properties confiscated by the crown (^1695). IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 26 In New York, the two parties, the popular and aristo cratic, continued to exist, and after the governorship of Sloughter, of Ingoldsby, and of Fletcher had ended, the popular party once more gained the ascendancy under the Earl of Bellomont, who, when governor, allowed the remains of Leisler and Milborne to be taken from their burial-place under the gaUows, to the cemetery of the Dutch Church (in the present Exchange Place).* This re moval, in 1698, was an occasion of much solemnity, fifteen hundred persons taking part. Prominent contemporaries in other colonies regarded the execution of Leisler as eminently unjust. Increase Mather, for instance, declaring that Leisler was " barbarously murdered." There are two reasons why the career of Leisler stands out conspicuously in American history : first and foremost, because he was the man who caUed together the first con gress of American colonies ; secondly, because he was the first representative of the popular party against the aristo cratic element, of plebeian against patrician, or of Demo crat against Tory. Had Leisler's dreams been realized, had he received due support from William III, hailed as their national hero by the Dutch of New Amsterdam, then Leisler would have gone down in history as the first great representative of popular government in New York.^ His administration might have been signalized as a long stride advancing toward popular government in the colonies. In view of these facts, this man's personality, in spite of his crudeness and stubbornness bordering on fanaticism, is worthy of the highest respect, being conspicuous for qual ities since then always highly valued in public life, and repeatedly honored by the popular vote, viz.: unques tioned honesty and integrity, unflinching firmness and » Kapp, p. 56. 2 Cf . Fiske, vol. ii, p. 192. 26 THE GERM.VN ELEMENT energy. Experience as a soldier and uncommon success in the administration of affairs were likewise elements contributing to the confidence the people felt in him as a public man. Some of Leisler's descendants were also prominent in Ameiican history. Hester, one of his daughters, married the Dutchman Rynders, whUe her sister, Mary, widow of Milborne, became the wife of the brUliant young Hogue not, Abraham Gouverneur. Mary's son, Nicholas Gouvei^ neur, married Hester's daughter, Gertrude Rynders, and a son of this marriage, Isaac Gouverneur, was the grand father of Gouverneur Morris, one of the ablest members of the convention that framed the constitution of the United States. ''This eminent statesman was thus hneaUy de scended from Jacob Leisler through two of his daogh- ters." ' Dwelling with the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, there was undoubtedly quite a sprinkling of Germans. A good example is that of Dr. Hans Kierstede. who came from Magdeburg in lOiiS with Director Kieft. He was the first practicing physician and surgeon in that colony. He married Sarah Roeloffse, daughter of Roeloff and Anneke Janse, the owner of the Annetje Jans farm on Manhattan Island.^ Among the German settlers of the seventeenth centurv Minuit and Leisler have represented the type of the soldier and statesman, while the " Dutch " in the Jamestown col ony represented the humbler class of artisans or laborers. A third class of pioneers also had German representatives, ' Fiske, vol. ii, p. 187. ' Cf. Selmoiiniakcr, The History of King.ilon, X. )"., p. 4S'2, ISSS. Also Ruth Putnam, " Anuctje Jans Farm," in Hisloric Xew J'o *, vol. i, p. 133, etc. Putnam, 1897. IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 27 namely, the explorers and discoverers. Of the latter there was John Lederer. He was sent on three different ex peditions by Sir WiUiam Berkeley, governor of the colony of Virginia, to explore the land south and west of the James River during the years 1669-70. From his map as well as from his journal we gather that he passed through North Carolina and proceeded as far into South Carolina as the Santee River. There were no whites then living in South Carolina, and only two colonies existing in North Carolina, on the Albemarle Sound and Cape Fear River. Lederer wrote his journal in Latin. Sir William Talbot, governor of Maryland, who translated the journal into English, speaks highly of the author's Uterary attain ments. He had at first been unfavorably biased by evil stories concerning Lederer, yet found him," as he says, " a modest, ingenious person and a pretty scholar," and Le derer vindicated himself " with so convincing reason and circumstance that removed all unfavorable impressions." The fact is, that Lederer had not been well received by the person that sent him, the governor of Virginia, owing to prejudices created against him by the English com panions that set out with him on his journey. They for sook him and turned back. In his journal Lederer declares that he had a private commission from the governor of Virginia to proceed, though the rest of the party should abandon him, and he therefore went on with one Susque hanna Indian, reaching the Santee River at 33 J° north lati tude. His former companions returned to Virginia, and, not expecting that Lederer would ever come back, they excused themselves by false reports concerning him. The three journeys which Lederer made, according to his journal, were first, from the head of the York River due west to the Appalachian Mountains ; secondly, from 28 THE GERMAN ELEMENT the FaUs of the James River, west and southwest into the CaroUnas ; thirdly, from the Falls of the Rappahan nock, west to the mountains. No doubt can attach to the fact of these early western explorations, and they un questionably had a good effect. The tide of immigration, to be sure, did not begin to flow until 1680, but the direction had been indicated. The first German in Texas was a Wiirtemberger by the name of Hiens (Heinz, Hans).' He was a member of the expedition of La Salle in 1687, that vainly sought for the delta of the Mississippi, with a fatal result for the leader. After the murder of La SaUe, the party under the rule of Dubaut ranged aimlessly among the Indians for a whUe, and fell in with some deserters of La Salle's former ex pedition, now living among the savages. One of these conspired with Hiens, and they avenged the murder of La Salle by killing Dubaut and Liotot.^ Hiens, perhaps fearing revenge, left the expedition, parting amicably. Another explorer, the earhest of the three, was Peter Fabian, a Swiss German, member of the expedition sent out in 1663 by the English Carolina Companv to explore the Carolinas. The report of the expedition was probably written by Fabian, the scientific man of the party, as the distances are recorded by the standard of the German mile. The report appeared in 1665 in London, signed by Anthony Long, WiUiam Hilton, and Peter Fabian. It was embodied in the eariiest history of Carolina by John Liw- son, London, 1709.' In the latter work mention is made of another Swiss German explorer, Francis Louis Mitschel ' Cf. Der deutsche Pionier, vol. vi, pp. G!V-70. Cincinn&U, lS6i>-87, 18 vols. The statement is thero made on the authority of Louis Hennepin. » Justin Winsor, Xarrative and Critical History of America, vol. iv, p, 238. • Cf. Der deutsche Pionier, vol. x (1878), p. 188. IN THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES 29 (for Michel), described as sent by his home canton, Bern, to select a suitable tract for a Swiss settlement, and as having, during several years of exploration, discovered large areas among the mountain ranges lying toward the headwaters of the large rivers and bays of Virginia, Mary land, and Pennsylvania, aU uninhabited save by a few savages.* The foregoing chapter attempted to show that, while the Germans living in an inland country were not seafar ers or discoverers, their scholarly bent made them leading cosmographers during the period of American exploration. German settlers appeared even in the earliest colonies on American soil, such as Port Royal, Jamestown, and New Amsterdam. The purchaser and first governor of Man hattan Island, Peter Minuit, who was also the founder of New Sweden, and Jacob Leisler, martyr to the cause of popular government in New York, were Germans. Lederer, Hiens, and Fabian were prominent as early ex plorers in the southern and southwestern zone of English colonization in the seventeenth century. 1 Der deutsche Pionier, vol. x,p. 189. Quotation from Lawson (1709). For Michel see also below, Chapter vm, p. 213. CHAPTER n THE FIRST PEEMANENT GERMAN SETTL^MEXT AT GERMANTOWN, 1683 William Penn in Germany — The Pietists of Frankf ort-on-the-Maia — Francis Daniel Pastorius, his early life and arrival at Philadelphia — The Concord, the Mayflower of the Germans — Landing, October 6, 1683 — Founding of Germantown, Pennsylvania — Lidustries and Costonu — Pastorius as patriarch and scholar — Protest against slavery — The Mystics, Kelpius and his followers. The first German settlement, properly so-called because of its permanence and individuality, began near the close of the seventeenth century. It was a colony of religious refugees, mainly from the Palatinate, who settled at Ger mantown, Pennsylvania, in 168.'). The name of William Penn is intimately associated with its beginnings. Will iam Penn, clinging to his faith in spite of imprisonment and persecution, was enthused with missionary zeal. He made two journeys into Holland and Germanv, in 1671 and 1677, to sjtread Quaker doctrines on the continent of Europe. Only three denominations were recognized along the Rhine and in Germany, namelv, the Catho lic, the Lutheran, and the Reformed. All other forms of worship were outlawed, and their votaries placed in the same class witli heretics and atheists. Such were the INIennonites. of whom considerable numbers existed in Western Germany and Switzerland, the Schwenkfeld- ers and the Quakers. George Fox, the founder of the Socii'ty of Friends, had sent messengers of the new doc trine to the Netherlands and Germany as earlv as 1655, THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 31 and when William Penn made his journeys, a small Qua ker community was still in existence at Kriegsheim (or Krisheim), near Worms, in the Palatinate. In Germany, the Quakers were most successful among the Mennonites, especially in the cities of Liibeck, Emden, Hamburg, Cre- f eld, and in the Palatinate, so also in the Schleswig-Holstein cities, Altona and Friedrichstadt, and in Danzig, then under Polish rule. AU these sectarians suffered much from the rulers of the German principalities, each of whom had the right, by the treaty of Westphalia, to es tablish in his land whatever confession he pleased, and to exclude all others. Even the Pietists, who were but Pro testants with a greater degree of inwardness in their re ligious life, were denounced by the orthodox churches as dangerous innovators. The Mystics, who in the latter part of the seventeenth century reappeared in various forms, were likened unto madmen. The existence of these various sects, and, in particular, the Pietists in Germany, had prepared the ground for the sowing of such principles as those of Penn, for indeed a great degree of similarity existed between the doctrines of the Pietist and Quaker. A higher valuation of emo tion and spirituality, as opposed to rationalism and dogma, characterized both of them ; a Ufe led in imitation of the Saviour, a communing with his spirit, a religion of the heart, supplanted the outward ritualism of an established church. The second joumey of William Penn, in 1677, was noteworthy in history, disproportionately to the number of conversions to the Society of Friends. Although Penn was received with open arms in the Pietistic circle at Frankfort-on-the-Main, was listened to with reverence and admiration by devoted hearers in the Rhine country, and 32 THE GERMAN ELEMENT could count among his disciples some German women of very high social standing, stiU his greatest success, un known to him, was of another kind. William Penn's journey was destined to begin an epoch of poUtical and social, far more than religious movement, for it stirred those waves of immigration that threatened to depopulate southwestern Germany and overrun the new country that William Penn was about to open up for colonization on the banks of the Delaware. Those German sectarians who had most appreciated his simple yet eloquent sermons gave the first impetus to the new movement. The Gennan and Dutch Mennonites in Crefeld and Kriegsheim had representatives in the first shipload that went to Penn's land. The EngUsh government owed Admiral Penn, father of WiUiam Penn, the sum of sixteen thousand pounds sterling, for services and the advances he had made. In stead of payment of the debt, the sou and heir accepted tbe grant of a large stretch of countrv north of Maryland, which was named Pennsylvania. This included the land that Peter Minuit had selected for New Sweden, wisely considering it best adapted to Germanic immigration. The royal charter was issued to Penn March 4. 1681, shortly after which there appeared in London a brief de scription of the new province: ''Some account of the Province of Pennsylvania in America," wherein the favorable location, fertile soil, wealth in game and fish, as well as other circumstances advantageous to immi grants, were didy set forth. A translation of this book' appeared in the same year in Amsterdam. 'The title was Eine XachrichI toegen der LandschafI Penwi/lvania in Amerika, welche jiingslens uiUer dem groszen .s',r<,W in Fugland an WiUim Penn. u.s. w. Ubergel>ci) warden. Nebenstbeigefilgtemehemaligcm SohreibeB THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 33 The same persons who were intimate with Penn on his journey to Germany, in 1677, became acquainted with this book, and at once began a correspondence with his agent, Benjamin Furley. They formed a company and bought a large tract of land in Pennsylvania for the pur pose of immigration. In 1682 a young lawyer, Francis Daniel Pastorius, returning from extensive travels, visited Frankfort-on-the-Main. There he became intimate with the noted Pietistic circle, including Dr. Spener, Dr. Schiitz, the notary Fenda, Jacob Van de Walle, Maxi milian Lersner, Eleonore von Merlau, and Maria Juliana Bauer. While with them he frequently heard mention of the name of William Penn, and also saw letters of Benja min Furley and the printed account of Penn's province. They soon disclosed the secret of their purchase of fifteen thousand acres in that remote district, and the purpose of some of their number to migrate thither with their fami lies. " This begat," says Pastorius, " a desire in my soul to continue in their society and with them to lead a quiet, godly, and honest life in a howling wilderness." * These were the beginnings of the Frankfort Company, that later extended its purchases to twenty-five thousand acres, a share of five thousand acres costing one hundred pounds. The members of the company were originally Dr. Schiitz, Jacob Van de Walle, Kaspar Merian, Wilhelm Ueberfeldt, Daniel Behagel, all of Frankfort, besides Georg Strausz, Johann Laurentz, and Abraham Hasevoet. There were several changes of membership in course of time.^ Though des oberwahnten Williara Penn. In Amsterdam gedruckt bei Christoph Conraden, 1681. The same book was also printed in Frankfort as part of the larger work : Diarium Europaeum. ,, ' Cf. German American Annals, vol. v, no. 5, p. 288 ; M. D. Learned, The Life of Franz Daniel Pastorius; Founder of Germantown. ' The names of Merian, Strausz, Laurentz, Ueberfeldt, and Hasevoet 34 THE GERMAN ELEMENT all were very enthusiastic about the plan of immigration, none of the members ever camie to America with the exception of Pastorius, who soon was appointed agent of the company in America. The first actual immigrants were Mennonites from Cre feld, some of whom had become converts to Quakerism through the preaching of William Penn, whUe most of the others joined the Society of Friends in America. There were thirteen heads of famiUes, the greater part inter related by blood or marriage ties.' Pastorius, acting as the agent of the Frankfort Company, first visited Kriegsheun and looked after matters necessary for the long journey,' with the leaders, Peter Schumacher, Gerhard Hendricks, and others, after which he descended the Rhine to Crefeld. He took ship in advance of the others, and lauded in Philadelphia on the 20th of August, 1GS3. Six weeks later, Benjamin Furley had arranged at Rotterdam for the transportation of the first shipload of Germans. The Mmj^ffoirer of the German immigrants to America was the good ship Concord, appropriately named, dropped out, their shares being bought by Pastorius, Eleonore von Merlin (who had now become the wife of the theologian Peterson), R.i]thas*r Jawert, and Johann Kewbler of LUbeck, aud Dr. Gerhard of Maastricht (syndic of Bremen), Johann Lebriin and Thomas Wylich of WeseL A number of these were acquainted with William Penn. ' The names of the thirteen heads of families were ns follows : Dirck, Abraham, and Hermann Op den Griiff, Lenert Arets, Tiiners Knmiers, Kiinort Tisen, Wilhelm Strepers, Jan Lenscn. Peter Keurlis, Jan Simens, Johann Bleikcrs, Abraham Tiines, and Jan l.iu-kou. The Crefelders hud bought land of Williaui Poiiu independently, to tbt extent of 18,000 acres : Jacob Telner 5000, Jan Strei>ers .">000, Direk Sip- man 5000, Govert Remke 1000, Jacob Isaac Van Bebbcr UtOO, Lenert .Knts 1000. Sipman and Ucmke did not iMiiigratc; AroU in U>83, Teliior, whohsd previously been in America, KiSl, Van Bobber, IdST, ,1xn Stropors, 16!'l. ' Tho immigrants from Kriegsheim (Krisheim) arrived in Pennsylvania later ; the lirst to arrive, in 1680, were Peter and Isaac Scbumacher mi Gerhard Ilondricks. THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 35 being the bearer of a devoutly religious and peaceful com pany to the City of Brotherly Love, within the territory of the Holy Experiment. Captain Jeffreys commanded the Concord, a well-bmlt and roomy vessel of the West In dian service. Five pounds, one-half fare for children under twelve, was the rate for which they were carried over. They left Gravesend July 24, 1683, and arrived in Phil adelphia after a moderately long but safe journey, on Oc- toher 6, 1683, the date celebrated by all Germans in America as the beginning of their history in the United States. Pastorius, who had saUed six weeks before from Deal, England, was accompanied by a handful of immigrants, men and women of the serving class, some of whom later became property holders in Germantown.' On board ship Pastorius met one who immediately became his fast friend, the Welsh physician, Thomas Lloyd, scholar of Jesus Col lege, Oxford.^ With him he conversed in Latin, a charac teristic accomphshment of the scholars of that day, Lloyd not being able to speak German, nor Pastorius to converse in English at that time. In the City of Brotherly Love, WUliam Penn received the German pioneer with loving kindness. Another close friend was Penn's secretary, Lehenmann. " The governor often summons me to dine with him " (Penn), wrote Pas torius subsequently. " As I was recently absent from home a week, he came himself to visit me and bade me dine with him twice every week, and declared to his coun- ' Their names were : James Schumacher, Georg WertmilUer, Isaac Dilbeck, his wife and two boys (Abraham and Jacob), Thomas Gasper, Conrad Bacher (alias Rutter), and an English maid, Frances Simpson. The ship was called America, Captain Wasey. Cf. Seidensticker, Bilder aus der deutsch-pennsylvanischen Geschichte, p. 38. ' Later, president of the Provincial Council; died in 1694. 36 THE GERMAN ELEMENT sellors that he loved me and the High Germans very much and wished them to do so likewise." The city of Philadelphia had been laid out but two years before and consisted then of a few poorly buUt houses. " The rest " Pastorius remarked, " was woods and brushwood, in which I lost my way several times in an area no greater thau that between the river bank and the house of my friend, WiUiam Hudson. A striking impression this made upon me, coming from London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Ghent." After the Concord arrived, the first problem was to se lect a location for the German colonists. They had pur chased the right of occupying in all forty-three thousand acres,' and asked for a site on a navigable river, as their contract demanded. But since Penn was not wiUing to carry out the latter condition,' they finally found available a trai t about six mUes above Philadelphia, which is at present in the twenty-second ward of the city and bears still the original name of Germantown.' Pastorius recorded in his " Grund und Lagerbudi " that " the hardships and trials of the early settlers were great, only equalled by their Christian endurance and indefatigable industry, so that Germantown in the early days could well be caUed ' Armen- town,' * ' the city of the poor.' " Of his temporary dweUiug Pastorius tells us it was thirty feet long and fifteen broad, and the windows, because of the lack of glass, were of paper soaked witb oil ; but over the house-door was writ- ' Including 25,000 acres purchased by the Frankfort Company, and 18,000 by the Crefelders. ' For a detailed account of Penn's position, cf. German American -innab, vol. V, no. C, pp. 334-341. ' The date for the laying-out of tho township was October 24, 1683. • Germantown was probably pronounced Jarmautowu, when Armentown, "the town of the poor," would rhyme with it. THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 37 ten a symbol of the good cheer within : " Parva domus sed arnica bonis, procul este prophani." ' The first settlers were mostly weavers from Crefeld. Their industry soon led to the opening of a store in Phil adelphia, for the sale of their wares. Many had also been accustomed to growing the vine, and when they saw the wild grape, they grew hopeful of establishing vineyards. The people of Germantown raised flax with great success, for Pastorius tells us that the prosperity of the young city was largely due to flax-spinning and weaving. There came many accessions from Crefeld, Muhlheim, and Kriegs heim, such colonists as Captain John Smith would have welcomed in Jamestown, mostly tradesmen, weavers, tail ors, shoemakers, locksmiths, and carpenters, who along with their trades also applied themselves to cultivating the soil. As early as November, 1684, there was a sale at the Philadelphia store, over which Pastorius was overseer, in the interests of the Frankfort Company. SmaU were the beginnings, to be sure, the sales of the first year amount ing to only ten dollars, for the times were hard, and the new immigrants were generally suppUed with clothes enough to last them for several years. But soon the reputation of the well-woven goods of Germantown spread far and wide, and there was a large demand for them, coming from the outside, resulting in increased industrial activity.^ ' Pastorius himself translates the motto into German : — Klein ist mein Hans, Doch Gute sieht es gem, Wer gottlos ist, der bleibe fern. " Whereat the Governor, Penn, when he visited it, enjoyed a hearty laugh and encouraged me to continue building." ' William Bradford, 1692, printed a poem by Richard Frame, " A Short Description of Pennsylvania," in which occur the lines : — The Gennan Town of which I spoke hefore. Which is at least in length one mile and more. 38 THE GERMAN ELEMENT Germantown has the honor of establishing the first paper mill in the colonies. WUbelmRuttinghausen (Rittenhoose) of Arnheim, Holland, with his two sons, Clans and Ger hard, settled on a brook running into the Wissahickon, and there built a paper mUl in 1690. The art of making paper was a family possession, their ancestors having already distinguished themselves therein at home. The paper was of excellent quality and the business, later in Claus Ruttinghausen's charge, expanded to an extraor dinary degree. In a few years the number of inhabitants in German- town had increased to such an extent that additions were made to the town. Krisheim (Kriegsheim) with 884 acres, Sommerhausen with 900, Crefeld with 1166 were added to the 2750 acres of Germantown. AU these places were on the same road, Germantown being the southernmost, nearest to Philadelphia, whUe Crefeld was beyond Chest nut HiU, in the present Montgomery County. In German- town, the road, sixty feet broad, ran through the middle of the straggling city and was bordered by peach trees. Each dweUing had a vegetable and flower garden of three acres attached to it. A cross-street, forty feet in width, cut the principal street at right angles and at the erossmg there was an open market-place. The fields lay north and south of the city. In a remarkably short time the stiUness of the primeval forest was broken by the droninjj noise of mill-wheels, the whirring of the weaver's shuttle, and the merry shouts of blue-eyed children. The forests were re placed by orchards, vineyanls. and vegetable gardens dotted with flowers and beehives. Pastorius himself, hke Where live Hiph Oernian ppopl,. and Low I>atch, Whose trade in weaving Limmi doUi ia much : There grows the flax. . . Seidensticker, p. 50. THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 39 many a "Latin farmer" of the later periods, seeing the busy tradesmen and agriculturists about him, regretted the uselessness of book-learning, declaring mournfully, " never have metaphysics and Aristotelian logic made of a savage a Christian, far less earned a loaf of bread." Germantown was incorporated as a town on August 12, 1689. The first burgomaster was Pastorius, and he served in the same capacity in 1692, 1696, and 1697. At other times he was generally city clerk, or scrivener, for which office his skUlf ul and accurate pen well qualified him. Other burgomasters were Dirck Op den Graeff, Arnold Cassel, Reinert Tisen, Daniel Falckner. A public office was felt to be a burden in the idyllic days of Germantown, though the terms of office were not long. A Mennonite might, because of his reUgion, be excused from holding office, but otherwise a citizen was fined three pounds on refusal to accept an election.' Pastorius wrote in 1703 to WUliam Penn, complaining of the difficulty of getting his people to serve as public officers, and expressing the hope that the arrival of new immigrants might relieve the situation. Fines and importations becoming necessary to secure office holders, seems an embarrassment ahnost inconceivable to later generations of men, yet this historical fact empha sizes a trait often exhibited by the Germans in the United States.^ Just as Germantown in its early period was not trou bled with office-seekers, so criminals were rare within its hallowed precincts. Sessions of court took place every six weeks, and frequently they were adjourned because there ' December 1, 1694, Paul WulfE was elected clerk, but declining without good cause, he was f;ned three pounds by the General Court. Cf. German American Annals, N. S., vol. vi, no. 1, p. 10. ^ Cf . Part n, Chapter IV, " Political Influence of the German Element in the United States." 40 THE GERMAN ELEMENT was nothing to do. Routine business, sales, purchases, con tracts, etc., were but rarely interrupted by punishments, fines at the worst, for the neglect of fences, concerning which Germantown citizens were very particular (an ex ample of speedy Americanization, since they had no fences at home), or for aUowing cattle to stray, or for an occa sional case of drunkenness. The records, by accident per haps, teU us that beer was brewed in the early days of Germantown. Peter Keurlis, in May, 1695, was sum moned before court, because he had, on an inn-keeper's license, kept a saloon. He was the same that had been granted the privilege of selling a quantity of beer brewed for a fair that had not been held.' It is interesting to note that the law-makers of Germantown restricted the sale of intoxicants, limiting the same purchaser during a half-day to a quarter of a pint of rum or a quart of beer. It must not be supposed, however, that Germantown was the scene of frequent intoxication. In half a dozen years hardly a single case of drunkenness was recorded, though every detail seems to have been put down, as for instance, when Miiller was imprisoned for wisliing to smoke one hundred pipes of tobacco in one day as the result of a wager, or when Caspar Karsten called the poUceman a rogue.' In the year 1693 Pastorius and Peter Schumacher were commissioned to procure stocks for the public punishment of offenders. Very little use seems to have been made of them. Again, in tbe minutes of 1697. we read that Arndt Kliucken gave his old house for use as a prison. No more convincing proof, however, of the Arcadian conditions of this early German settlement could be cited tiian the min- ' This happened in November, IClV.. Peter Kcurlia was, in all probabil ity, the lirst boor-brewer in tho American colonies. ' See Soid.nstiekor, chap, viii, "'Aus der Gerichtsstubc," Bilder aus der deul.ich-pennsybanischeti Geschichte, pp. 5l>-Gl.>. • THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 41 ute : "AU crimes that have been committed previous to this date are to be forgiven, but whatever evil happens henceforward shall be punished." ' A court seal being found desirable, Pastorius was com missioned to prepare the design. He selected a clover leaf on the three leaves of which were sketched respectively a vine, a flax blossom, and a weaver's shuttle, with the motto : " Vinum, Linum et Textrinum." ^ Annual fairs were held in 1701 or before, and semi-annual fairs in 1702, 1704, and continuously thereafter in the spring and autumn.' Pastorius had frequently desired to lay down the cares of public office, and when the Frankfort Company in time relieved him, the result was not altogether favorable to the company's interests. It was in January, 1700, when Daniel Falckner, Johann Kelpius, and Johann Jawert were appointed agents of the company with full power. Kelpius, hermit and mystic, was not concerned with the affairs of this world. Falckner was a mischiefmaker, and Jawert, the only happy choice among the three, was an honest man imposed upon.* In October, 1701, Falckner ' Minutes of the year 1697. See Seidensticker, supra, chap, vii, p. 55. "Aile Strafen, welche gefallen sein in vorige Zeit, soUen aile vergeben sein, aber was nun fortan vorfallt, soil exekutirt werden." ' Pastorius translates this, " Der Wein, der Lein und der Webeschrein," in order to denote, as he declared, that in Germantown the principal occupa tions were : viniculture, flax-growing, and textile industries. Another trans lation has been made by Seidensticker, to the effect that agriculture, manu factures, and the merry enjoyment of life were in Germantown and have been for two centuries thereafter, in the United States, the characteristic modes of activity of the German immigrants. ' Perhaps the county fair which has come down to us is a survival of the Pennsylvania German " Jahrmarkt." * Sachse, German Sectarians of Pennsylvania, gives a very sympathetic account of Daniel Falckner, who is generally, perhaps, not given entire justice. His service to Germantown was to stir it up out of its ruts, and to the Frankfort Compa^ to insist on the measuring of the remaining 22,025 42 THE GERMAN ELEMENT and Jawert, as agents, energetically pressed the claim for the land to whicli the Frankfort Company was entitled by the terms of the original purchase. This tiact of twenty- two thousand and twenty-five acres, when assigned, was located in the northwestern part of Montgomery County, New Hanover Township, on the Manatawny River, which flows into the SchuyUdll at Pottstown. It became known as Falckner's Swamp, and later was sold to Johann Hen- rich Sprogel, at a ridiculously low figure. The sale was concluded by Falckner, who, it seems, owed ' Sprogel some money, while Jawert was duped, or kept unin formed. Jawert complained that he had not been con sulted in this somewhat obscure transaction. A panic was caused by the adventurer Sprogel, in 1708, when he attempted to dispossess a great many uf the Ger mantown settlers of their lands, claiming that he owned tiie only correct title by virtue of his purchase of the Frankfort Company's rights. The settlers appealed to Pas torius, who was always the deliverer in time of trouble. and Pastorius hastened to Philadelphia. He found that " all of the lawyers of the city were feed," which meant that all four of the lawyers residing in Philadelphia had been engaged in behalf of Sprogel's side of the case. Pastorius, not affluent enough to import an advocate from New York, consulted his friend, James Logan, and with acres, which, however, he lost again for the corapany, throngh sale. Daniel Falckner's later oarorr was » useful one, as pioneer and minister in Xew Jorst V and Xew York. Ue had also been the founder of the first Lutheran ohurch in Falcluu'r's Swamp district (Manatawny). l>nMiel must not he con founded with Justus Falckner, ordained in the Swedish Liithonui church at Wioacoa, and lioKived minister in New York and along the Hudson. 1703-23. His brother Diniel then served his parish for a short time, until Pastor Berkonmeyor came. ' Cf. "The Case of the Frankfort Company's Business briefly stated" (by Pastorius), (fVrnmn .\minr,v> ^tirid.'.', vol. v, uo, t!, pp. 353 ff,' W*k-yi .>» -t.M....y^ 7T„.-.v„- K,.«T;*^t^ fee ¦¦'%.i,-' «..(.-''''.' «....-.-v/ .k':i.,.j,.i '„.-,-'.,-.,u b: jjn.v/- -V.--. ,;,i.,i/ //.-,.. /..;:. '.y^;' ' :' • ^iii ,-ictxf- t.i'i.t .7 SiTi-r/i''"., . ii' -^" •' j^,•,«j,•^// '¦'''.•'>-/• ''J,/'^. ., - ;^/.,- ./rf.'^i ¦¦'¦., '.¦•• KI, .M • V i"'"-' l'-' P' ¦•¦"¦¦'-;'* ,¦• .f V ,T, .y'..r. .UK./-//.... . /. ¦---¦-' -I. .X',-r-, .'--Jv ..fc ..^.. f , .-V^'- ,„V\«.Ki.r,. .., -¦: y..ri. ..T-.+'f... \ ?! V FACSIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE OF PASTORIUS' BEEHIVE THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 43 the straightforward testimony of Jawert, the injustice of the plot was exposed and the difficulties removed. While the settlers of Germantown retained their rights to their property, Sprogel remained in possession of Falckner's Swamp, which was by no means what the name implies, but good land, constituting, as above stated, the remain ing portion of the Frankfort Company's land, about seven eighths of the twenty-five thousand acres originally pur chased from William Penn. Germantown maintained its independent government untU 1707. In that year George Lowjher, the queen's attorney, summarily dismissed the town's court and the newly elected officers. There were mild protests, but no serious regrets, since the citizens of Germantown were thereby relieved of at least one tax, having previously, in spite of their complaints, been required to pay a three fold tax, viz. : for the province, for the county Phil adelphia, and for their own municipality. When the old accounts were closed, the treasury of Germantown stUl owed Pastorius two pounds fourteen shiUings, and, judg ing by the carefully k-ept books of Pastorius, that debt was never paid. This is an Ulustration among many of the unselfishness with which Pastorius did his work. He was in every respect a pubUc-spirited man, the " Bradford " of Germantown, and it is well to pause a moment for closer acquaintance with this interesting man.' Franz Daniel Pastorius was born in Sommerhausen, in 1651, the son of a jurist of prominence. He studied at the Universities of Altdorf, Strassburg, Basel, and Jena. Besides his special training in law and theology he was • Seidensticker, Bilder aus der deutsch-pennsylvanischen Geschichte, iv, xi, u. xii, Absohnitt. An exhaustive treatment of Pastorius' life and work, by Professor M. D. Learned, has appeared in German American Annals, vols, v and vi. 44 THE GERMAN ELEMENT a polylinguist, and probably no man among his contempo raries in America was his equal, certainly not his superior, in classical culture and encyclopaedic learning. He was remarkable as a statistician, noting every fact of knowledge or experience with characteristic accuracy and neatness, an evidence of which is his scrap-book called the " Bee hive," stUl preserved and treasured by his descendants.' Of his other works the best known is his description of Pennsylvania, a collection of his letters and reports, sent to his father, Melchior Adam Pastorius, and by him col lected in book form and published in 1700.' But better than his learning, that if chronicled at the present day might smack of pedantry (if not put us to shame), was his exemplary character. He was the main stay of the colony, the chief cause of its initial success. The prosperity of Germantown was his hfe-work, exclud ing ever the thought of personal gain, or the feverish appetite for land speculation. He served the colony as burgomaster and town clerk, and at all times as notary, his handwriting being visible in all public and private docuiiKiits, for which he exacted fees lamentably smaU. Nevertheless he was self-respecting, and whUe not wealthy, was able at his death, in 1719, to leave his widow and ' Exact title : Francis Daniel Pastorius, His Hive, Beesloci (Biencistoek), Melliotrophium, .-llwar or Rusca .ipum ; begun A. D. 1696. Most of the matter is written in English, for Pastorius had gained a mastery of tbe hin- guage. Hlsturieal, literary, geographical, didactic, sententious, and epi grammatic articles and notes to the number of 5000 are loosely strong ti)f,rether. ^'e^ses (doggerel, more strictly speaking), in English, Latin, Gei^ man, French, Duteh, Italian, vary the monotuny of this queer hive of pedantic learning. A facsimile of one of the |mges is reprodnood in,4iiK-n. cana tlrrmanica, vol. i, part 4, and copious extracts arc published in vols, i and ii. ' UmstHndige Geographiiche Be.tchrribung der :u aUerletzt E't'umlene Provintz Peiw.ii/lvaitia an denm End-GniiU:cn .imericae in der )Sest-WA gelegen. Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1700. THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 45 two sons a respectable property. Besides being a public officer in Germantown, and a member of the assembly (which with the provincial councU was the legislative power of the colonial government) in 1687 and lt)91, he was the leader in educational matters. In 1698 he was caUed to the Quaker School in Phil adelphia, which he served until 1700. Two years after, when a school was established in Germantown, Pastorius became its head. The latter, a coeducational institution, was supported by a fixed rate, four to sixpence a week as the scholar's fee, while several citizens besides made volun tary contributions. A night school was established for such as labored during the day or were too far advanced in years for the day school. However distinct and valuable were the material con tributions, such as its agriculture, its paper manufacture, its weaving and nulling industries, the German settle ment in colonial Pennsylvania was stiU more remarkable for another feature, — a monument built more endur ing than brass, erected for the cause of humanity, that will make Germantown forever memorable in the annals of the people of the United States. This was German- town's protest against negro slavery, made in the year 1688, the first formal action ever taken against the barter in human flesh within the boundaries of the United States.' The system of negro slavery was repulsive to the German settlers from the. very start, and they were shocked to find that the Quakers remained indifferent toward this criminal abuse. They faUed to understand how the Quakers could harmonize slavery with their religion, • E. Bettle, iu his Notices of Negro Slavery in America: "To this body of humble, unpretending and almost unnoticed philanthropists belongs the honor of having been the first association who ever remonstrated against Negro slavery." Quoted by Seidensticker, supra, p. 67. 46 THE GERMAN ELEMENT and hoping to awaken them from their stupor, the German settlers appealed to the Quakers' sense of honor, their pride and vaunted humanity. The protest had its origin in a gathering of Germans who met on the 18th of AprU, 1688, in Germantown. A document, still preserved, was drawn up, in the handwriting of Pastorius, and signed by Garret Hendericks, Franz Daniel Pastorius, Dirck Op den Graeff, and Abraham Op den Graeff. Addressed to the monthly meeting of the Quakers, about to take place in Richard Worrell's house. Lower DubUn, its design was to bring the matter of slavery before that gathering for debate and action. The monthly gathering of the 30th of AprU deemed the matter of sueh importance that they could not pretend to take action upon it. They referred it to the quarterly meeting, as the content of the protest " was quite in accord with the truth.". The quarterly meeting, held in June, acted simUarly, considering the case too important for their action and appointing a com mittee to lay the protest before the annual meeting, the highest tribunal of the Quakers. The annual meeting oc curred in the same year, when " the document protesting against the buying and keeping of negro slaves, received from several German Friends," was acknowledged, but it was voted not fitting for the association to pass definite judg ment upon the matter, since it stood in intimate relation with other affairs. The whole matter was laid on the table for the nonce, a diplomatic evasion. Seventeen vears later the Quakers did make resolutions against the slave trade, and in 1770 the Friends were advised never to appoint slaveholders as overseers. The German Quakers may be considereil the radical wing of the Quakers at that early period, on the question of abolition. The settlement of Germantown remained a German city. \! !^^>- ¦ V >¦ > ,4 .; ^ *. -;; i N» 1 ^ .5v ¦Mi :^ N., 1~^ BEGINNING OF PROTEST /". t V!-' -iC'f —Sit} r'j ¦ ft^^ Mt- '^' I J. ¦' '' • .^ ¦' #^ '" ^ / ri '/¦4 1' f^'Y' W n - fm)9 ' ( •. ¦'*• '^-