Return to London

In 1718 the Schoharie Palatines frustration over not having title to the land they had settled for the past five years had reached an epoch and a division was developing within their community.  Some felt that it would be easier to pay the Seven Partners and live without fear of losing their farms, yet there were still those who refused to give in to Governor Hunter.  That group decided to send a delegation to London and appeal to the crown.

The three men chosen for this task were Johann Weiser, Wilhelm Scheff, and Gerhardt Walrath.  Choosing to stay out of the reach of Governor Hunter they avoided New York City and travelled to Philadelphia, where they set sail for London.  Once underway the ship was raided by pirates who robbed everyone on board.  The Palatine contingent managed to hide a small amount of their money from the pirates, but not enough to sustain them for long.

Once they arrived in London things got worse.  Their earlier benefactor, Queen Anne, had died and her husband had taken over the throne.  Unfortunately, King George showed no interest in hearing their case.  Gerhardt Walrath, realizing the situation was hopeless, decided to return to Schoharie but died on the voyage home.  Having run out of funds, Weiser and Scheff were thrown in debtors’ prison where they had to wait until the families in Schoharie could send more money.

Finally in 1720, two years after they arrived in London, Weiser and Scheff were able to petition the British Board of Trade to hear their case regarding the land in Schoharie which they felt rightfully belonged to the Palatines.  By this time Governor Hunter had arrived in London as well.

Reference:  

“Becoming German” by Phillip Otterness

Stalemate

By 1717 the Palatines were enjoying the fruits of their labors, which only continued to irritate Governor Hunter since they still had not paid the Seven Partners for the land.  He sent a message to Schoharie that the Palatines were to send three men from each village to Albany to meet with him.  When those men arrived Governor Hunter posed three questions to them, which were later recounted as follows.

Why had the settled in Schoharie when they had been told they could not?

“…the utmost necessity and poverty forc’d them to remove thither to earn their bread for the maintenance of their Wifes and Children.”  The Governor had left them to fend for themselves, and from the beginning their goal was to find land on which they could support their families. 

Why hadn’t they reached an agreement with the Seven Partners?

“If they serv’d any body, it must be the King and not a privat person.”  The Palatines continued to claim loyalty to the Crown, while refusing to pay back the debt they owed it.  They also felt that they had invested much labor into improving the land, and the Seven Partners were demanding too much money. 

Why did the Palatines concern themselves so much with the Indians?

“…they were oblig’d to keep fair with the friendly Indians amongst Whom, they dwelt, which was the only way to be protected and live in peace.”   Since the Governor offered them no protection, keeping the Indians as their allies was the safest course.

Governor Hunter agreed to have the Schoharie farms assessed of the improvements the Palatines claimed to have made.  Until the assessments were made and the land purchased at an appropriate price from the Seven Partners, however, the Palatines were forbidden from planting any more crops.  The assessors never arrived and the Palatines continued to farm the land.

Neither side gained an advantage.  The Governor was unable to control the Palatines, and they still did not own any land. 

 

References:  

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

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