Fertile Land

In the camps on Nutten Island, the Palatines began the process of reestablishing their families, as well as their churches.  They were grouped together by the ships they had arrived on, so that the Listmasters, who kept records of the provisions each family received during the voyage, could continue this work on land. 

Governor Hunter had been advised by the Board of Trade in England to look into land along the Schoharie River for the project.  This land belonged to the Mohawk Indians, but they had previously offered it to the Queen.  Her Majesty’s surveyor general was sent to assess the land, and he reported back to Governor Hunter that the land was too fertile.  The tar and pitch project required pine forests which grew on poor and rocky soil.  So instead, Hunter purchased 6,000 acres of land along the Hudson River from Robert Livingston, as well as another 6,300 acres across the river.

Land “too fertile” is an oxymoron to a farmer, and the Palatines were not pleased when they heard it.  Forgetting the need to pay back 18 months of support, they balked at the notion that their labors were better suited in pine forests. 

Today the Schoharie Valley remains an amazingly fertile land.  Nothing compares to this area in early summer when the crops are growing in the fields.  Farm stands overflow with abundance.  We eat vegetables until we can’t eat any more, and then we start canning.  The Palatines were absolutely right, fertile land is good land.  However, they had a debt to repay.

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

New York City

After a 4 month delay off the coast of England, the voyage across the ocean took another 2 months.  Finally the first ship, the Lyon of Leith, reached New York with 350 Palatines on board.  A total of 10 ships had left England and 8 of them arrived at their destination by the end of June.  The other 2 ships encountered problems along the way, arriving in July and August.  A doctor aboard the Lyon of Leith reported that all of its passengers had been sick during the voyage.  There are no records of how many Palatines died during the voyage, but it is estimated that upward of 500 people who boarded the ships in December did not survive.

In 1710 New York City had a population of 6,000.  As was the situation in Rotterdam and again in London, the sudden influx of 3,000 immigrants was more than the city was capable of supporting.  Because of this, it was decided that the Palatines would be settled on Nutten Island in army tents.  Governor Hunter reported that they were in a “deplorable sickly condition.”

There were many widows and orphans by the time the Palatines reached America.  Because the men would be the laborers for the Tar and Pitch project, anyone without a man in the family was considered useless.   Many widows remarried quickly to solidify their future in this new land.  However, orphaned children, as well as children of widows were apprenticed to the residents of New York City.  This created the first of many problems between Governor Hunter and the people he was supposed to be helping.

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

The Contract

During the last week of December 3,000 Palatines were allowed to board the ships that would carry them, at long last, to America.  Their perseverance had paid off.  Once on board the ships, however, all they did was wait; again.

Governor Hunter, in an effort to protect his own interests in this venture, felt it was necessary to have a contract that clearly spelled out the conditions of this arrangement.  He wanted to be sure that the Palatines had no doubt about their responsibility to pay back the British Government for their transportation and support.  The Board of Trade drafted a contract that was eventually approved by the Attorney General.  The Palatines were not invited to participate in this process.

The overcrowded ships sat off the southern coast of England as winter eventually gave way to spring.  After four months of intolerable living conditions aboard the ships, the Palatines heard the terms of their contract as it was read to them.  As this was one more step in moving forward, they didn’t question the contract.  They also didn’t sign it.

In the middle of April 1710, fourteen months after many of the Palatines had walked away from their homes, they finally set sail for America.

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

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

 

London.

Once the first group of Palatines reached London in early May, the hardships only increased.  They were housed in warehouses and barns.  Their numbers were far greater than the space allotted to them.  Many had arrived in London very ill.  Many more became ill soon thereafter.  They were at the mercy, and extreme generosity, of the British government for their food, shelter and general wellbeing. 

By mid-June 6,000 more Palatines were shipped from Rotterdam to London.  More space was needed to house them, so the government established camps and provided them with thousands of army tents.  Their care was more of a burden than the British government could handle so the queen authorized a nationwide charity drive, with everyone, including servants, expected to donate.  This did not set well with the Londoners, many of whom were living in poverty themselves.

To ensure the proper distribution of food and supplies, the authorities selected certain Palatine men to act as camp supervisors.  Among their duties was to keep a record of what each family received.  These men were chosen because of their ability to read and write, and were thereafter referred to as the Listmasters.  They would play an important role in the future of the Palatines.

“Let us recollect it was liberty, the hope of liberty, for themselves and us and ours, which conquered all discouragements, dangers and trials.”  John Adams, in reference to America’s forefathers.  As we, today, wonder what could drive a person to embark on a journey of unbearable tribulations, “liberty” is the term best used.  The Palatines were not to be deterred, by circumstance nor adversity.

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

 

More Palatines

In April 1709 Johann and Rebecca Iffland left Tann Germany in search of a better life.  We know that they were among the first group of Palatines to actually make it to America.

Did they know Gerhardt and Maria Schaeffer?  Presumably not. 

Did their paths cross at some point during this journey?  Possibly so. 

Does it matter?  For Toby Semprevivo and me it does.

Travelling from Michigan, Toby and her husband, Phillip, visited the Palatine House last weekend and we spent an hour or more swapping stories about our Palatine heritage.  This is not uncommon.  We are often visited by people studying their family history.  They’ve spent years doing research and the Palatine House becomes another piece of the puzzle for them.  Not because they have a direct connection to it, but because it helps them to pull all those pieces together into a picture that’s been developing in their minds.   In many cases the Palatine House gives them the feeling of ancestral home.  We love to watch that happen. 

During our discussion, I learned that Toby is a member of several historical societies including the DAR and the Colonial Dames of America. (I love that name!)  It’s wonderful that our past is preserved by organizations like those and small town historical societies, such as the Schoharie Colonial Heritage Association.  We owe an enormous thank you to the altruistic volunteers of these organizations for keeping history in the forefront of our minds.  

Johann and Rebecca, Gerhardt and Maria; their actions set a course that 306 years later brought Toby and I to meet on a sunny day in Schoharie.   This story continues to be amazing!

Next post…..back to the journey.