The Expedition

In July 1711 Governor Hunter ran out of money and could no longer pay for the bread and beer which was being provided to the Palatine families in the Camps.  Also at this time the War of the Spanish Succession had come to North America.  Governor Hunter was required to send an expedition north to Montreal to assist in the British campaign to invade Canada, and three hundred Palatine men readily signed up.  They were part of a troop that also included 700 Indians, mostly Iroquois.  It was perhaps the first opportunity for the Palatines to develop a relationship with the Iroquois, whose land bordered Schoharie.  The expedition was short-lived.  It left Albany in early August, only to be turned back in late September due to a failed military campaign. 

Here is where things begin to get a bit murky for my family.  Our ancestors, Gerhardt and Anna Maria, after their long and arduous journey, were established at East Camp.  Family lore is that Gerhardt left on the expedition to Canada, but never returned.  Anna Maria and her two daughters were left to fend for themselves back at the Camp.  Since historians state that everyone from the expedition arrived safely back at the Camps, what became of Gerhardt? 

In “The Palatine Families of New York 1710” noted Palatine researcher, Henry Z. Jones Jr. wrote that Gerhardt eventually settled in Stone Arabia, 30 miles northwest of Schoharie.  Records show that he applied for a patent on land there in 1723.  How did he get there, and why?

The family Bible, now 315 years old, once held the family history.  That information has faded over the centuries, but one piece clearly remains, Gerhardt’s name, presumably in his own handwriting.  He left his home in Germany, taking his meager possessions with him.  One, not so meager, possession was that enormous Bible.  It must have been important to him.  Did he abandon his family……and his Bible?  I run my hands over the battered cover of that very same Bible and don’t want to believe that he did.

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

                      “The Palatine Families of New York 1710” by Henry Z. Jones, Jr.

The Process

The pine forests where the Palatine men were sent to work were approximately 6 miles from the camps, resulting in them being away for weeks at a time.  They were not fully aware of the laborious  process for making tar and pitch, and one can only imagine their reaction upon learning it.  First they would strip bark from sections of standing trees.   This would result in the trees oozing gum where the bark had been, and eventually sealing back over.  The trees would need to be stripped again and again over a two year period.  Those sections of the trees would eventually become saturated with gum, at which time the trees would be felled and cut.  The sections where the trees had been stripped would be slowly burned in an earthen kiln, with a barrel beneath to catch tar that gradually seeped out.   The tar could be used on ships ropes to keep them from rotting, and on ships hulls to protect from salt water corrosion.  Some of the tar would be boiled in large cauldrons until the liquid evaporated, making pitch.  This served as a caulk on ships hulls to keep them watertight.

Another much simpler and faster byproduct of the process was to use the gum soaked pine knots from fallen branches.  These could be used immediately, versus the two year stripping process.  The Palatine children soon followed the men into the forests to gather pine knots.  Within the first two weeks of the project, the men had stripped thousands of trees for the first step in the process.  The children, however, had gathered several wagon loads of pine knots and were apparently the only ones accomplishing something.  This did not set well with the already disgruntled Palatine men.  The women, who had been left behind in the camps, were unhappy with the responsibility of the livestock and fields to care for by themselves. 

Meanwhile, Governor Hunter was growing deeper in debt as he used his personal credit to continue providing for the Palatines.  No one, it seemed, was destined to come out ahead in this project.

 

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Resistance

The long winter finally over, the naval stores project was ready to commence in May 1711.  However, the Palatines refused to work and threatened to strike out for Schoharie, which by now was being referred to as a Land of Cannan.   Their argument stemmed from the belief that the contract which had been read to them on the ships promised them each forty acres of land in Schoharie and seven years to repay their debt.  This would have allowed them to build up their farms while they produced tar and pitch for the British navy. 

To quell the unrest, Governor Hunter called a meeting of the Listmasters where he reminded them of the Queen’s benevolence which had saved the Palatines from starvation.  Since there was no copy of the contract, neither side could prove one way or another what had been promised.  Hunter sent the Listmasters away with orders that they remind the rest of the Palatines of their obligation.

While this meeting took place, several hundred of the Germans had gathered on a nearby hillside brandishing the rifles which Hunter had given them.  Concerned that their leaders may be held hostage, they were prepared to rescue them.  When Hunter heard about this show of force, he sent out sixty professional soldiers to confront them.   The Palatines immediately backed off.  Once safely out of the soldiers range, they shot their rifles into the air in a show of defiance. 

Over the next few days Governor Hunter sent troops into the camps and retrieved all of the firearms.  The Palatines had been in America for almost a year, and it was time they started working.

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness