Tar and Pitch

Governor Hunter of New York saw the Palatine situation as something other than the burden it actually was; an opportunity.  He proposed a German settlement in the forests of New York to produce naval stores of tar and pitch.   There, the Palatines would also serve as a human barrier against the French and their Indian allies.

The primary producer of tar and pitch in the early 18^th century was Sweden.  Tar was used on a ship’s ropes to prevent rotting, and pitch was used to caulk the hulls.  As it was a necessary commodity for the British Navy, they had long been searching for a way to produce it for themselves. 

In early December, Hunter’s proposal was accepted by the British Board of Trade.  The money that the Palatines earned by the production of the naval stores would be used to pay off the cost of their settlement and subsidies.  After their debt was paid, each person would be granted forty acres of land. 

At last a plan that made sense; at least for the British.  As farmers, the Palatines were ill-suited to work in pine forests, nor did they want to.  However, regardless of how the Germans felt, ships were chartered to send 3,000 Palatines to New York.  They were finally on their way.  Almost….

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Resettlement

The Palatine situation was getting out of control, and the British government had to take action.  They attempted to move small groups of Palatines to villages and towns throughout the country by offering to subsidize their settlement.  However, it had little effect.  The British citizens were not sympathetic to the Germans, and instead were concerned about diseases that the Palatines might spread from the squalor in which they lived.  Not in my backyard was the general consensus.  By mid-summer the government, out of desperation, came up with three new plans which involved other British holdings.

As they were working to strengthen the Protestant interest in Ireland, the British government offered the Palatines a small subsidy to settle there.  Over 3,000 of them took the offer and sailed for Dublin, but soon realized that it was no better than the situation they had left in Germany – they were tenant farmers again.  Just over a year after they left England, two-thirds of them had made their way back; once again looking to the British government to assume their care.

Another plan, North Carolina, was much more appealing.  Each family was offered 250 acres of land to settle.  The government carefully selected 600 young, strong and healthy Palatines to make the trip.  Unfortunately, it ended in disaster.  They suffered a voyage of over 3 months at sea in squalid conditions.  Half of the Palatines didn’t survive the trip, and more died in conflicts with the native Tuscarora Indians.

Jamaica, too, was an option, with a plan to send 1,000 immigrants to increase the British stronghold on the island.  The proposal, however, never got off the ground due to its complexities. 

The Palatines had made their way from Germany to Holland to England with each leg of the journey becoming more onerous.  The possibility of a free life and land was dashed each step of the way.  What was to become of them? 

Grateful to reside in beautiful Schoharie County, I wonder as I look back at the Palatines’ journey how close I came to being a citizen of England, Ireland, or even Jamaica?  What providence kept my ancestors, Gerhardt and Maria, from being chosen for one of those destinations? 

The British government had one more option that was beginning to take hold – the New York territory.  (YAY!)

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness