Skimmington Ride

The Palatines relationship with the Mohawks was considered a threat by Governor Hunter because they were acting outside the control of the British government.  In an effort to regain control, Hunter singled out Johann Weiser as a miscreant, and in July 1715 issued a warrant for Johann’s arrest.

A sheriff named Adams was sent from Albany to arrest Johann, but when he arrived in Schoharie things went terribly wrong.  Nothing could have prepared the poor sheriff for the gang of Palatine women who decided to take justice into their own hands.  Led by Magdalene Zee they attacked the sheriff, horribly beating him, and dragged him through the mud until they had dumped his battered body outside the boundary of the Schoharie settlement.  That taken care of, the women went back to their farms and continued with their chores.  Amazingly, Sheriff Adams survived the attack and somehow made his way back to Albany.

In eighteenth-century Europe the term “skimmington” was used to describe a man who allowed his wife to dominate him.  As a form of peasant justice, the man would be shamed by being forced to ride through the community facing backward on a donkey.   In Schoharie County folklore, what happened to Sheriff Adams was described as a “skimmington ride.”

What happened to the women involved in this violent act?  Nothing.  It was believed that women fell prey to their emotions and couldn’t be held accountable for their actions.  The Palatine men, however, steered clear of Albany for a while.

 

Reference:  

“Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Seven Partners

By 1715 the Palatines were at last settling into comfortable communities and farming life, but their problems were far from over.  A group of land speculators were issued a grant of ten thousand acres of land in Schoharie which covered the entire area where the Palatines had settled.  These men, from some of New York’s wealthiest families, were referred to as the Seven Partners and were all political allies of Governor Hunter.  The Seven Partners sent word to the Palatines that they would need to either purchase the land from the Partners or move.

A battle of words ensued.  The Germans believed that “the land was the King’s and that the(y) were the Kings Subjects and had no power to agree to any thing about his Majesty’s lands without his special order.”   The Partners countered that they were kings of the land where the Palatines were living.   In a sudden and convenient burst of loyalty to the British government, the Palatines responded that their “King was in England, and that the land shou’d not be taken from them without his Majesty’s particular order.” 

The Seven Partners decided to try another tact.  They approached the Mohawk Indians with gifts of money and rum in an effort to convince them to turn over to the Partners their rights to the land.  The Palatines had no choice but to counter by also sending gifts to the Mohawks.  With little to offer, they nonetheless gave what they could in the hope that the Indians would remain on their side. 

 

Reference:  

“Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

“Document History of the State of New York”

Communities

The Palatines, looking for some permanency in their lives, began to purchase from the Mohawks the land on which they had settled in Schoharie.  There were several steps required for individuals to purchase land from Indians; petition the government, obtain a license, have the land surveyed, and receive a letter patent for the land.  Whether the Palatines were ignorant of the process, or they chose not to acknowledge it, they did none of that.   They seemed to prefer dealing directly with the Indians than going through the colonial government.

They established seven communities referred to as dorfs.  The translation of dorf is village, however, the Schoharie dorfs were hardly that.  With no infrastructure such as stores, mills or Churches, these communities were merely groupings of family farms.  They relied upon Schenectady and Albany for supplies and mills.  Religious practices were held in farmhouses and barns.

Acknowledging the Listmaters, who had established themselves as leaders early in the journey, the Palatines named their small communities after them; Kneskerndorf, Gerlachsdorf, Fuchsendorf, Schmidtsdorf, Weiserdorf (also known as Brunnendorf), Hartmannsdorf and Oberweiserdorf.  Giving names to their settlements was a big step for a group of people who had been migrants for four years. 

 

Reference:  

“Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Settling

Anxious to join the 50 families who had already made it to Schoharie, between 450 and 500 Palatines left their temporary shelters in Albany and Schenectady in late winter. 

“In the same year in March, did the remainder of the people…………proceed on their Journey, and by God’s Assistance, travell’d in fourtnight with sledges thro’ the snow which there Cover’d the ground above 3 foot deep, Cold and hunger, Joyn’d their friends and Countrymen in the promis’d land of Schorie.”

Still they needed assistance to survive, since the fields they would soon cultivate would not produce for many months.  This time their assistance came from the Dutch Reformed Church in New York which sent food to Schenectady for the Palatine settlers in Schoharie.  One shipment from New York consisted of eighty bushels of corn, five hundred pounds of smoked pork, and one hundred pounds of bread.  This arrived in July and helped sustain them until harvest time.

Governor Hunter, still expecting the Palatines to work off their debt, sent orders to Schoharie forbidding them to cultivate the land.  He went so far as to make plans for them to work in pine forests near Albany.  His orders were ignored.

 

Reference:  

“Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness
“Document History of the State of New York”

Weiser

One of the Palatine men who was a Listmaster on the ships and in the Camps was Johann Conrad Weiser.  The Listmasters were responsible for keeping records of each family’s debt.  In that capacity he was in service for the Queen, however, Johann had developed a distrust of Governor Hunter and became one of the leaders representing the Palatines in their disputes against him.  When the opportunity came to leave the Camps, Johann was instrumental in the migration to Schoharie. 

In route to Schoharie, Johann chose to keep his family in Schenectady for the winter; all but his 16 year old son, Conrad.  With uncanny foresight, Johann met with a Mohawk leader, Quainant, and arranged for Conrad to live with the Indian’s family.  While residing in the Mohawk village, Conrad was to learn their language and customs. 

The 50 families who continued on to Schoharie arrived in early winter with no firearms for which to defend themselves or hunt for food.  As was later described by one of those first settlers, “…had it not been for the Charity of the Indians who shew’d them where to gather some eatable roots and herbs, must inevitably have persih’d every soul of them.”  A dependency on the Mohawks was already being established.  Young Conrad Weiser’s winter with them would cultivate an invaluable relationship.

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Schoharie Bound

With the announcement in September 1712 that the Governor would no longer support them, the Palatines began to disperse.  Some left for New York City, some for New Jersey, and several hundred for the promised land of Schoharie.  Before the Schoharie contingent could leave they were faced with the complication that the land where they hoped to settle belonged to, and was occupied by, the Mohawk Indians.

Knowing that they could not survive without the permission and support of the Mohawks, the Palatines sent a delegation in October to ask permission to settle in Schoharie.   Since the Mohawks had earlier granted the land to the British for Governor Hunter’s tar and pitch project, they felt they had no authority to stop the Palatines.

The Germans set out immediately.  They travelled on established roads for much of the way, eventually veering off on to a well-traveled Indian path.   With winter settling in, many of the Palatine families took refuge along the way in Albany or Schenectady, but there were 50 families who would not be stopped.  Although they were cold, tired and half starved, they cleared a way through 15 miles of woods and made their way to Schoharie.  

The massive group of German immigrants who arrived in America in 1710 were now scattered and their epic journey beginning, yet again.  Although he was no longer able to support the Palatines, Governor Hunter was not quite done with them.  As they left, he instructed them to return to the Camps in the spring and resume their work in the pine forests. 

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Summer 1712

Following the futile military expedition to Canada in September 1711, the Palatine men returned to the Camps where they and their families settled in for another difficult winter. 

In the spring Governor Hunter remained confident that the naval stores project would succeed, and to ensure that the work continued unhindered he instituted some changes.   First, he made a show of force by posting 30 soldiers around the Camps.   Second, instead of the men merely working off their debt, he allowed that half of the profits from the tar and pitch be paid to them while the other half went toward their expenses. 

With these changes in place the work in the pine fields began again.  The men continued to strip bark from the trees, but now they were also able to begin the process of making tar and pitch utilizing the pine knots gathered by the children.  The summer of 1712 was much quieter and more productive in the pine forests.  Back at the Camps the women were becoming accustomed to growing crops, such as corn, which had been previously unknown to them.  The Palatines were finally settling in.

For Governor Hunter, however, the problems continued.  His credit had run out and he had no more money.  Just as things were beginning to go well, he was forced to give up.  On September 6, 1712 the Palatines were told that the naval stores project was officially over and the government would no longer support them.  

 

Reference:  “Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness