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UNIVERSITY^

PENNSYLVANIA

UBRARIES

^^AniMMpr OF?{|r

JOmv/' W. icmAUjpaxJiily

Settlement of (3ermantown

anD tbe

!l6eoinnino of (3crnian lEmiaration

Bortb Hmerica

HON. SAMUEL WHITAKER PENNYPACKER, LL.D.

President Judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, and senior
Vice-President of the Historical Society op Pennsylvania.

WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL,
THILADELPHIA.

1899.

THREE HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED
FROM TYPE.

SAMUEL W. PENNYPACKER

1899

PRESS OF

The new Eba Printing Company

LANCASTER, Pa

PREFACE.

S it seemed to be a duty which could
not be avoided, I have w^ritten the fol-
lowing history of the settlement of one
of the most interesting of the Amer-
ican burghs. A descendant of Hen-
drick Pannebecker, Abraham Op den
Graeff , Paul Kuster, Cornelius Tyson,
Peter Conrad, Hendrick Sellen, Hans Peter Umstat and
probably of William Rittenhouse, all of them among the
early residents of Germantown, for thirty years I have been
gradually gathering the original materials from over the
world. The task was one of great difficulty, presenting ob-
stacles not encountered elsewhere and requiring the ex-
amination of almost inaccessible books and papers in the
Dutch, German, French and Latin, as well as the English
languages. An article written by me in 1880, since copied
en masse as to facts, language and notes, in Cassel's History
of the Mennonites, and used by other authors, has here been
reconstructed. The careful and thorough investigations of
the late Dr. Oswald Seidensticker, the work of Julius
F. Sachse upon the German Pietists, the papers of the late
Horatio Gates Jones and the article of H. P. G. Quack,
of Amsterdam, upon Plockhoy's Sociale Plannen have
been used freely. I am indebted likewise to Mr. Sachse
for the production of the illustrations.

Note — Initial from Plockhoy's Kort en Klaer Ontwerp.

iii

LIST OF ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

1 Portrait of the Author Frontispiece.

2 Coat-of-Arms of the Pennypacker family Preface.

3 Letter from Plockhoy's Kort en Klaer Ontwerp .... *'

4 Coat-of-Arms of German Society i

5 Arms of Crefeld i

6 Autograph of William Penn 3

7 Menno Simons 8

8 Caspar Schwenckfeld 13

9 Autograph of Thomas Story 14

ID Arms of the Netherlands 20

11 Arms of Frankfort 21

12 Johanna Eleanora von Merlau . . 22

13 Arms and Autograph of Jacob Van de Wall 22

14 Arms and Autograph of Daniel Behagel '22

15 Seal and Autograph of Dr. Johann Wilhelm Petersen . 24

16 Dr. Johann Wilhelm Petersen 24

17 Title page of the Hertzens-Gesprach 25

18 Title page of the OfTenbahrung Jesu Christi .... 26

19 Arms and Autograph of Johannes Kemler 27

20 Arms and Autograph of Thomas von Wylich * ' . . . 28

21 Seal and Autograph of Johann Jacob Schiitz 29

22 Arms and Autograph of Balthasar Jawert 32

23 Agreement of the Frankfort Land Company 32

24 Arms and Autograph of Gerhard von Mastricht .... 34

25 Arms and Autograph of Johan Le Brun / 36

26 Letter of Attorney from the Frankfort Land Company

to Johannes Kelpius 39

27 Autograph of John Henry Sprogell 44

28 Arms of London 50

29 Page from the Bee Hive of Pastorius 50

30 Arms of Pastorius 51

31 Autograph of Francis Daniel Pastorius 52

32 Title page of the Disputatio Inauguralis of Pastorius . 55

33 Title page of the Beschreibung der Pennsylvaniae, 1700. 65

34 Page from the Beschreibung 67

35 Title page of the Beschreibung, 1704 68

36 Title page of the Vier Kleine Tractatlein 69

vi Illustrations.

37 Title page of the Beschreibung des Windsheim .... 70

38 Title page of Ein Send Brieff 71

39 Title page of Four Boasting Disputers 72

40 Seal of Pastorius 74

41 Letter of Pastorius 80

42 Arms of William Penn 81

43 Arms of the Jacquet family 89

44 Title page of Missive van Cornelis Bom 103

45 Seal of William Penn iic

46 Arms of the Palatinate iii

47 Shoes of the Palatines 112

48 Title page of Croese's Quaker Historic 113

49 Title page of Croese's Historia Quakeriana 115

50 Title page of Croese's History of the Quakers . . . . 117

51 Autograph of Peter Shoemaker 118

52 Autograph of Hendrick Pannebecker 122

53 Flomborn 122

54 Seal of Germantown 123

55 Letter of Pieter Hendricks 127

56 Comet of 1680 126

57 Bible of Hans Peter Umstat 128

58 Copper plate of Dirck Kej'ser 130

59 Tobias Govertz Van den Wyngaert 132

60 Title page of works of Meuno Simons 132

61 Title page of Some Letters from Pennsylvania .... 135

62 Imprint of Reynier Jansen 136

63 Autograph of Benjamin Furly 137

64 Imprint of Reynier Jansen 138

65 Tombstone of Cornelius Tyson . . . . 140

66 Erasmus by Albert Durer 142

67 Arms of the Holy Roman Empire 143

68 Arms of Amsterdam 144

69 Autograph of Hermann op den GraeflF 1 50

70 Rittenhouse Paper Mill 162

71 Arms of Miihlheim 162

72 Title Page of Frame's Description of Pennsylvania . . 163

73 Water Mark of Rittenhouse paper . 166

74 Mennonite Meeting House . 16S

75 Title page of The Christian Confession 1712 171

76 Title page of The Christian Confession 1727 .... 172

77 Title page of Appendix to the Confession of Faith of

the Mennonites 173

78 Autograph of Hendrick Sellen 174

Illustrations. vii

79 Mennonite Meeting House 175

80 Vignette from Plockhoy's Kort en Klaer Ontwerp . . 177

81 Letter written by Matthias Van Bebber 182

82 Title Page of the Kort en Klaer Ontwerp 196

83 Page from the Kort en Klaer Ontwerp . 209

84 Kelpius' Arms .... 212

85 Book plate of Benjamin Furly 214

86 Cave of Kelpius 222

87 Autograph of Johannes Kelpius 223

88 Diploma of Christopher Witt 224

89 Title page of Hymns of Kelpius 225

90 Portrait of Kelpius 226

91 Page from Journal of Kelpius 229

92 Autograph of Daniel Falckner - 230

93 Title page of Sprogell's Tractatlein 232

94 Autograph of Justus Falckner . 233

95 Penn Arms .... 234

96 Title page of Falckner's Curieuse Nachricht 242

97 Title page of the Continuation of the Beschreibung der

Pennsylvanise 243

98 Germantown Colonial Doorway 253

99 Arms of Rotterdam 254

100 Title page of Book of Laws 254

10 r Autograph of Matthias Van Bebber 255

102 Title of Laws and Ordinances 266

103 John of Leyden 10

104 Map of Germantown, 168S 278

105 Page from Book of Laws 280

106 Mill on Cresheim Creek 288

107 Seal of Philadelphia 293

THE SETTLEMENT OF GERMANTOWN, PA.,
AND THE BEGINNING OF GERMAN EMI-
GRATION TO NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.

Crefeld and the Mennonites.

'HE settlement of German-
town in 1683, was the
initial step in the great
movement of people from the
regions bordering on the his-
toric and beautiful Rhine, ex-
tending from its source in the
mountains of Switzerland to
its mouth in the lowlands of
Holland, which has done so
much to give Pennsylvania her
rapid growth as a colony, her
almost unexampled prosperity, and her foremost rank
in the development of the institutions of the country. The
first impulse, followed by the first wave of emigration,
came from Crefeld, a city of the lower Rhine within a
few miles of the borders of Holland. This city has in re-

2 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

cent years grown greatly in wealth and population, through
the evolution of extensive manufactories of silk and other
woven goods from the weaving industries established there
centuries ago by the Mennonites.

On the loth of March, 1682, William Penn conveyed
to Jacob Telner, of Crefeld, doing business as a merchant
in Amsterdam, Jan Streypers, a merchant of Kaldkirchen,
a village in the vicinity, still nearer to Holland, and Dirck
Sipman, of Crefeld, each five thousand acres of land to be
laid out in Pennsylvania. As the deeds were executed
upon that day,^ the design must have been in contempla-

1 Mr. Lawrence Lewis has suggested that under the system of double
dating between January ist and March 25th, which then prevailed, it is
probable that the date was March 10, 1682-83. The evidence pro and con
is strong and conflicting. The facts in favor of 1682-3 ^^^^ mainly :

1. It is manifest from an examination of the patents that the cus-
tom was, whenever a single date, as 1682, was mentioned within those
limits, the latter date, 1682-83, was meant.

2. A deed to Telner, dated June 2, 1683 (Ex. Rec, S, p. 655), recites
as follows : " Whereas, the said William Penn by indentures of lease and
release, bearing date the ninth and tenth days of the month called March
for the consideration therein mentioned, etc." The presumption is that
the March referred to is the one immediately preceding.

3. The lease and release to Telner March 9th and loth, 1682, and sev-
eral deeds of June, 16S3, are all recited to have been in the 35th year of
the reign of Charles II. It is evident that March 10, 16S1-82, and June,
1683, could not both have been within the same year.

This would be enough to decide the matter if the facts in favor of
1681-82 were not equally conclusive. They are :

1. It is probable, a priori, and from the German names of the wit-
nesses that the deeds to the Crefelders, except that to Telner, were dated
and delivered by Benj. Furly, Penn's agent at Rotterdam, for the sale of
lands. In both Holland and Germany the present system of dating had
been in use for over a century.

2. A patent (Ex. Rec, Vol. I., p. 462) recites as follows : " Whereas,
by my indentures of lease and release dated the 9 and 10 days of March
Anno 1682 • ' • and whereas by my indentures date the first day of
April, and year aforesaid, I remised and released to the same Dirck Sip-
man the yearly rent • • • ." The year aforesaid was 1682, and if the

Crefeld. ;j-,

tion and the arrangements made some time before. Tel-
ner had been in America between the years 1678 and 1681,
and we may safely infer that his acquaintance with the
country had much influence in bringing about the pur-
chase."

On the nth of June,
1683, Penn conveyed
to Govert Remke, Le-
nart Arets, and Jacob
Isaacs Van Bebber, a
baker, all of Crefeld, one thousand acres of land each,
and they, together with Telner, Streypers, and Sipman,
constituted the original Crefeld purchasers. It is evident
that their purpose was colonization, and not speculation.
The arrangement between Penn and Sipman provided that
a certain number of families should go to Pennsylvania
within a specified time, and probably the other purchasers

quit rent was released April i, 1682, the conveyance to Sipman must have
been earlier. If on the 25th of March another year, 16S3, had intervened,
the word "aforesaid" could not have been correctly used. This con-
struction is strengthened by the fact that the release of quit rent to
Streypers, which took place April i, 1683, is recited in another patent
(Ex. Rec, I, p. 686) as follows : " Of which said sum or yearly rent by
an indenture bearing date the first day of April for the consideration,
therein mentioned in the year 1683 I remised and released."

3. The lease and release to Telner on March 9 and 10, 1682, are signed
by William Penn, witnessed by Herbert Springett, Thomas Coxe and
Seth Craske, and purport to have been executed in England. An Op den
Graefif deed in the Germantown book recites that they were executed at
London. Now, in March, 16S1-82, Penn was in England, but in March,.
1682-83, lie '"■as in Philadelphia.

4. Pastorius says that Penn at first declined to give the Frankforir
Company city lots, because they had made their purchase after he (Penn )
had left England and the books had been closed, and that a special ar-
rangement was made to satisfy them. Penn left England Sept. i, 1682.
The deeds show that the Crefelders received their city lots.

2 Hazard's Register, Vol. VI., p. 183.

4 The Settlement of Germantozvn,

entered into similar stipulations.^ However that may be,
ere long thirteen men with their families, comprising
thirty-three persons, nearly all of whom were relatives,
were ready to embark to seek new homes across the ocean.
They were Lenart Arets, Abraham Op den Graeff, Dirck
Op den Graeff, Herman Op den Graeff, Willem Strey-
pers, Thones Kunders, Reynier Tyson, Jan Seimens,
Jan Lensen, Peter Keurlis, Johannes Bleikers, Jan Lucken,
and Abraham Tunes. The three Op den Graeffs were
l)rothers, Hermann was a son-in-law of Van Bebber, they
Avere accompanied by their sister Margaretha and their
inother, and they were cousins of Jan and Willem Streypers,
who were also brothers. The wives of Thones Kunders and
Lenart Arets were sisters of the Streypers, and the wife of
Jan was the sister of Reynier Tyson. Peter Keurlis was also
a relative, and the location of the signatures of Jan Lucken
and Abraham Tunes on the certificate of the marriage of
a son of Thones Kunders with a daughter of Willem
Streypers in 1710 indicates that they, too, were connected
with the group by family ties.^ On the 7th of June, 1683,
Jan Streypers and Jan Lensen entered into an agreement
at Crefeld by the terms of which Streypers was to let Len-
sen have fifty acres of land at a rent of a rix dollar and
half a stuyver, and to lend him fifty rix dollars for eight
years at the interest of six rix dollars annually. Lensen
was to transport himself and wife to Pennsylvania, to clear
eight acres of Streyper's land and to work for him twelve
days in each year for eight years. The agreement pro-
ceeds, " I further promise to lend him a Linnen weaving

3 Dutch deed from Sipman to Peter Schumacher in the Germantown
Book, in the Recorder's office.

^ Streper MSS. in the Historical Society. The marriage certificate be-
longed to Dr. J. H. Conrad.

Crefeld. 5

stool with 3 combs, and he shall have said weaving stool
for two years . . . and for this Jan Lensen shall'
teach my son Leonard in one year the art of weaving, and
Leonard shall be bound to weave faithfully during said
year." On the i8th of June the little colony were in Rot-
terdam, whither they were accompanied by Jacob Telner,,
Dirck Sipman, and Jan Streypers, and there many of their
business arrangements were completed. Telner conveyed
two thousand acres of land to the brothers Op den Graeff„
and Sipman made Hermann Op den Graeff his attorney.
Jan Streypers conveyed one hundred acres to his brother
Willem, and to Siemens and Keurlis each two hundred
acres. Bleikers and Lucken each bought two hundred acres
from Benjamin Furly, agent for the purchasers at Frank-
fort. At this time Janes Claypoole, a Quaker merchant
in London, who had previously had business relations
of some kind with Telner, was about to remove with
his family to Pennsylvania, intending to sail in the Con-
cord, Wm. Jeffries, master, a vessel of five hundred tons
burthen. Through him a passage from London was en-
gaged for them in the same vessel, which was expected to
leave Gravesend on the 6th of July, and the money was paid
in advance.^ It is now ascertained definitely that eleven
of these thirteen emigrants were from Crefeld, and the
presumption that their two companions, Jan Lucken and
Abraham Tunes, came from the same city is consequently
strong. This presumption is increased by the indications
of relationship and the fact that the wife of Jan Seimens
was Mercken Williamsen Lucken. Fortunately, however,
we are not wanting in evidence of a general character.
Pastorius, after having an interview with Telner at Rotter-
dam a few weeks earlier, accompanied by four servants,

^ Letter book of James Claypoole in the Historical Society.

"6 The Setilejuent of Gcrmantozin.

who appear to have been Jacob Schumacher, Isaac Dil-
beck, George Wertmuller and Koenradt Rutters, had gone
to America representing both the purchasers at Frankfort
and Crefeld. In his reference to the places in which he
stopped on his journey down the Rhine he nowhere men-
tions emigrants except at Crefeld, where he says: "I
talked with Tunes Kunders and his wife, Dirck Hermann
and Abraham Op den Graeff, and many others who six
weeks later followed me." For some reason the emigrants
were delayed between Rotterdam and London, and Clay-
poole was in great uneasiness for fear the vessel should be
compelled to sail without them, and they should lose their
passage money. He wrote several letters about them to
Benjamin Furly at Rotterdam. June 19th he says : " I am
glad to hear the Crevill ffriends are coming." July 3d he
says : " Before I goe away wch now is like to be longer
than we expected by reason of the Crevill friends not com-
ing we are fain to loyter and keep the ship still at Black-
wall upon one pretence or another ;" and July loth he sa^'s :
*' It troubles me much that the friends from Crevillt are not
yet come."*^ As he had the names of the thirty-three per-
sons, this contemporary evidence is very strong, and it
would seem safe to conclude that all of this pioneer band,
which, with Pastorius, founded Germantown, came from
Crefeld. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg says the first comers
were platt-deutch from the neighborhood of Cleves.''' De-
spite the forebodings of Claypoole the emigrants reached
London in time for the Concord, and they set sail west-
ward on the 24th of July. While they are for the first
time experiencing the dangers and trials of a trip across
the ocean, doubtless sometimes looking back with regret,

^Letter book of James Clajpoole.
"Hallesche Nachrichten, p. 665.

The Waldenses. 7

but oftener wistfully and wonderingly forward, let us re-
turn to inquire who these people were who were wilHng to
abandon forever the old homes and old friends along the
Rhine, and commence new lives with the wolf and the
savage in the forests upon the shores of the Delaware.

The origin of the sect of Mennonites is somewhat in-
volved in obscurity. Their opponents, following Sleidanus
and other writers of the i6th century, have reproached
them with being an outgrowth of the Anabaptists of Mun-
ster. On the contrary, their own historians, Mehrning,
Van Braght, Maatschoen and Roosen, trace their theo-
logical and lineal descent from the Waldenses, some of
whose communities are said to have existed from the
earliest Christian times, and who were able to maintain
themselves in obscure parts of Europe, against the power
of Rome, in large numbers from the 12th century down-
ward. The subject has of recent years received thorough
and philosophical treatment at the hands of S. Blaupot Ten
Gate, a Dutch historian.^

The theory of the Waldensian origin is based mainly on
a certain similarity in creed and church observances ; the
fact that the Waldenses are known to have been numerous
in those portions of Holland and Flanders where the Men-
nonites arose and throve, and to have afterward disap-

^Geschiedkundig Onderzoek naar den Waldenzischen oorsprong van
de Nederlandsche Doopsgezinden. Amsterdam, 1844.

A nearly contemporary authority, which seems to have escaped the ob-
servation of European. investigators, is " De vitis, sectis, et dogmatibus
omnium Haereticorum, &c., per Gabrielem Prateolum Marcossium," pub-
lished at Cologne in 1583, which says, p. 25 : " Est perniciosior etiam tertia
quae quoniam a Catholocis legitime baptizatos rebaptizat, Anabaptistorum
secta vocatur. De quo genere videntur etiam fuisse fratres Vualdenses '■>
quos et ipsos non ita pridem rebaptizasse constat, quamuis eorum non-
nulli, nuper adeo, sicut ipsi in Apologia sua testantur miterare Baptismum
desierint ; inmultis tamen eos cum Anabaptistis conuenire certum est."

8 The Settlement of Germantown.

peared ; the ascertained descent of some Mennonite families
from Waldenses ; and a marked similarity in habits and
occupations. This last fact is especially interesting in our
investigation, as will be hereafter seen. The Waldenses
carried the art of weaving from Flanders into Holland, and
so generally followed that trade as in many localities to
have gone by the name of Tisserands, or weavers.^ It is
not improbable that the truth lies between the two theories
of friend and foe, and that the Baptist movement which
swept through Germany and the Netherlands in the early
part of the i6th century gathered into its embrace many of
these communities of Waldenses. At the one extreme of
this movement were Thomas Munzer, Bernhard Rothman,
Jean Matthys and John of Leyden ; at the other were
Menno Simons and Dirck Philips. Between them stood
Battenberg and David Joris, of Delft. The common ground
of them all, and about the only ground which they had in
common, was opposition to the baptism of infants. The
first party became entangled in the politics of the time, and
ran into the wildest excesses. They preached to the peas-
antry of Europe, trodden beneath the despotic heels of
Church and State, that the kingdom of Christ upon earth
was at hand, that all human authority ought to be resisted
and overthrown, and all property be divided. After fight-
ing many battles and causing untold commotion, they took
possession of the city of Munster, and made John of Leyden
a king. The pseudo-kingdom endured for more than a
year of siege and riot, and then was crushed by the power
of the State, and John of Leyden was torn to pieces with
red hot pincers, and his bones set aloft in an iron cage for
a warning.^*'

^Ten Gate's Onderzoek, p. 42.

'"Catrou's Histoire des Anabaptistes, p. 462.

THE SETTLEHEMT OF CERnANTOWN.

The Mennonites. 9

Menno Simons was born in the village of Witmarsum in
Friesland, in the year 1492, and was educated for the
priesthood, upon whose duties early in life he entered.
The beheading of Sicke Snyder for rebaptism in the year
153 1 in his near neighborhood called his attention to the
subject of infant baptism, and after a careful examination
of the Bible and the writings of Luther and Zwinglius, he
came to the conclusion there was no foundation for the
doctrine in the Scriptures. At the request of a little com-
munity near him holding like views he began to preach to
them, and in 1536 formally severed his connection with
the Church of Rome. Ere long he began to be recognized
as the leader of the Doopsgezindc or Taufgesinnie^ and
gradually the sect assumed from him the name of Menno-
nites. His first book was a dissertation against the errors
and delusions in the teachings of John of Leyden, and
after a convention held at Buckhold, in Westphalia, in
1538, at which Battenberg and David Joris were present,
and Menno and Dirck Philips were represented, the influ-
ence of the fanatical Anabaptists seems to have waned."
His entire works, published at Amsterdam in 1681, make
a folio volume of 642 pages. Luther and Calvin stayed
their hands at a point where power and influence would
have been lost, but the Dutch reformer, Menno, far in
advance of his time, taught the complete severance of
Church and State, and the principles of religious liberty
which have been embodied in our own federal constitution
were first worked out in Holland. •-

The Mennonites believed that no baptism was efficacious

" Nippold's Life of David Joris. Roosen's Menno Simons, p. 32.

1^ Barclay's Religious Societies of the Commonwealth, pp. 78, 676;
Menno's " Exhortation to all in Authority," in his works. Funk's edi-
tion, Vol. I., p. 75 ; Vol. 11., p. 303.

lo The Settlement of Gej-mantown.

unless accompanied by repentance, and that the ceremony
administered to infants was vain. They took not the sword
and were entirely non-resistant.^^ They swore not at all.^*
They practiced the washing of the feet of the brethren, ^^
and made use of the ban or the avoidance of those who
were pertinaciously derelict. ^"^ In dress and speech they
were plain and in manners simple. Their ecclesiastical
enemies, even while burning them for their heresies, bore
testimony to the purity of their lives, their thrift, and
homely virtues. ^^ They were generally husbandmen and
artisans, and so many of them were weavers, that we are
told by Roosen, certain woven and knit fabrics were known
as Mennonite goods. ^^

The shadow of John of Leyden, however, hung over
them, the name of Anabaptist clung to them, and no sect,
not even the early Christians, was ever more bitterly or
persistently persecuted. There were put to death for this
cause at Rotterdam seven persons, Haarlem ten, the Hague
thirteen, Cortrijk twenty, Brugge twenty-three, Amsterdam
twenty-six, Ghent one hundred and three, and Antwerp
two hundred and twenty-nine, and in the last named city
there were thirty-seven in 15 71 and thirty-seven in 1574,
the last by fire.^^ It was usual to burn the men and
drown the women. Occasionally some were buried
alive, and the rack and like preliminary tortures were

13 Matthew, XXVI. , 52.

1* Matthew, V., 32-37.

'SJohn, XIII., 4, 17; I. Timothy, V., lO.

16 Matthew, XVIII. , 17; I. Corinthians, V., 9, 11; Thes., III., 14.

1^ Says Catrou, p. 269, " On ne pent disconvenir que des sectes de la
sorte n'ayent ete remplies d'assez bonnes gens et assez regimes pour les
moeurs." And page 103, " Leurs invectives contre le luxe, contre I'yv-
rognerie, et contre incontinence avoient je ne scai quoi de pathetique."

1^ Life of Gerhard Roosen, p. 9.

IS Geschiedenis der Doopsgezinden in Holland, etc.. Ten Gate, p. 72.

THE SETTLEHErHT OF GERnA/NTOW/N.

OLD FRI/NT OF JOHN OF LEYDEN.

The Mennonites. ii

used to extort confessions, and get information concern-
ing the others of the sect. Ydse Gaukes gives, in a let-
ter written to his brother from prison, a graphic descrip-
tion of his own treatment. After telling, that his hands
were tied behind his back, he continues: "Then they
drew me up about a foot from the ground and let me hang.
I was in great pain, but I tried to be quiet. Nevertheless,
I cried out three times, and then was silent. They said
that is only child's flay, and letting me down again they
put me on a stool, but asked me no questions, and said
nothing to me. They fastened an iron bar to my feet with
tw^o chains, and hung on the bar three heavy weights.
When they drew me up again a Spaniard tried to hit me
in the face with a chain, but he could not reach ; while I
was hanging I struggled hard, and got one foot through
the chain, but then all the weight was on one leg. They
tried to fasten it again, but I fought with all my strength.
That made them all laugh, but I was in great pain." He
was afterward burned to death by a slow fire at Deventer,
in May, 1571."° Their meetings were held in secret places,
often in the middle of the night, and in order to prevent
possible exposure under the pressure of pain, they pur-
posely avoided knowing the names of the brethren w^hom
they met, and of the preachers who baptized them.-^ A re-
ward of one hundred gold guilders was offered for Menno,
malefactors were promised pardon if they should capture
him," Tjaert Ryndertz was put on the w^heel in 1539 for
having given him shelter, and a house in w^hich his wife
and children had rested, unknowai to its ow^ner, w^as confis-

20 Van Braght's Blutige Schauplatz oder Martyrer Spiegel. Ephrata,
1748, Vol. II., p. 632.

21 Van Braght, Vol. II., p. 46S.

22 A copy of the proclamation may be seen in Ten Gate's Geschiedenis
der Doopsgezinden in Friesland, etc., p. 63.

12 The Settlement of Germantown.

cated. He was, as his followers fondly thought, miracu-
lously protected, however, died peacefully in 1559, and
was buried in his own cabbage garden. The natural re-
sult of this persecution was much dispersion. The pros-
perous communities at Hamburg and Altona were founded
by refugees, the first Mennonites in Prussia fled there from
the Netherlands, and others found their way up the Rhine. -^
Crefeld is chiefly noted for its manufactories of silk, linen
and other woven goods, and these manufactures were first
established by persons fleeing from religious intolerance.
From the Mennonites sprang the general Baptist churches
of England, the first of them having an ecclesiastical con-
nection with the parent societies in Holland, and their or-
ganizers being Englishmen who, as has been discovered,
were actual members of the Mennonite church at Amster-
dam.^* It was for the benefit of these Englishmen that the
well-known Confession of Faith of Hans de Ries and
Lubbert Gerritz was written,"^ and according to the late
Robert Barclay, whose valuable work bears every evi-
dence of the most thorough and careful research, it was
from association with these early Baptist teachers that
George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, imbibed his
views. Says Barcla}^ : " We are compelled to view him
as the unconscious exponent of the doctrine, practice, and
discipline of the ancient and stricter party of the Dutch

23 Life of Gerhard Roosen, p. 5. Reiswitz und Waldzeck, p. 19.

2* Barclaj's Religious Societies, pp. 72, 73, 95.

^^The preface to that Confession, Amsterdam, 16S6, says : " Ter cause,
also daer eenige Engelsche ujt Engeland gevlucht ware, om de vrjheyd
der Religie alhier te genieten en alsoo sy een schriftelijcke confessie (van
de voornoemde) hebben begeert, want veele van hare gheselschap inde
Duvtsche Tale onervaren zijnde, het selfde niet en konde versteen ende
als dare konde de ghene die de Tale beyde verstonde de andere onder-
rechten, het welche oock niet onvruchtbaer en is ghebleven, want na over-
legh der saecke zijn sy met de voernoemde Gemeente vereenight."

A Noted Leader.

iito t)nt> Contrafdctur/

rnb $(»0eti bet; xi^arbeit*

JA5 ER AVCH WIM D'"Wni,T.5POT

DE'RHVET iANFUFRyE VaSPAX 50 5CHAJDE^ER•DOCH^^T \p'GOT
ERISr GETR05T EM ALIE'' NOrr DERIT4 BEHVET VO' HXL VM TOrff

vRroBtRscH5"Hi£5TCKriM:- \?© 5^pmsrrpryaT5£iMjnA\ELBR

Contemporar_v portrait of Caspar Schwenckfeldt, A. D. 1556.

1 4 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

Mennonites." '^ To the spread of Mennonite teachings in
England we therefore owe the origin of the Quakers, and
the settlement of Pennsylvania. The doctrine of the inner
light was by no means a new one in Holland and Ger-
many, and the dead letter of the Scriptures is a thought
common to David Joris, Casper Schwenckfeldt, and the
modern Quaker. The similarity between the two sects
has been manifest to all observers, and recognized by
themselves. William Penn, writing to James Logan of
some emigrants in 1709, says: "Herewith comes the
Palatines, whom use with tenderness and love, and fix
them so that they may send over an agreeable character ;
for they are sober people, divers Mennonists, and will
neither swear nor fight. See that Guy has used them
well."'^ Thomas Chalkley, writing from Holland the
same year, says: "There is a great people which they
call Mennonists who are very near to truth, and the fields
are white unto harvest among that people spiritually speak-
ing.-* When Ames,-^ Caton, Stubbs, Penn, and others of
the early Friends went to Holland and Germany, they

were received with the
utmost kindness by the
Mennonites, which is in
strong contrast with their
treatment at the hands of
the established churches.
The strongest testimony of this character, however, is
given by Thomas Story, the recorder of deeds in Pennsyl-

26 p. 77,

2' Penn Logan Correspondence, Vol. II., p.354.

2S Works of Thomas Chalklej, Phila., 1749, p. 70.

29 William Ames, an accession to Qiiakerism f rom the Baptists, -vvas the
first to go to Holland and Germany, and it Avas he who first made the con-
verts in Amsterdam and Kriegsheim.

The ^takers. 15

vania, who made a trip to Holland and Germany in 17 15.
There he preached in the Mennonite meeting houses at
Hoorn, Holfert, Drachten, Goredyke, Hoerveen, Jever,
Oudeboone, Grow, Leeuwarden, Dokkiim and Henleven,
while at Malkwara no meeting was held because " a Person
of note among the Menists being departed this life," and
none at Saardam because of "the chief of the Mennists
being over at Amsterdam." These meetings were attended
almost exclusively by Mennonites, and they entertained
him at their houses. One of their preachers he described
as " convinced of truth," and of another he says that after
a discourse of several hours about religion they "had no
difference." Jacob Nordyke, of Harlingen, a " Menist
and friendly man," accompanied the party on their journey,
and when the wagron broke down near Oudeboone he went
ahead on foot to prepare a meeting. The climax of this
staid good fellowship was capped, however, at Grow. Says
Story in his journal: " Hemine Gosses, their preacher,
came to us and taking me by the hand he embraced
me and saluted me with several kisses, which I readily
answered, for he expressed much satisfaction before the
people, and received us gladly, inviting us to take a dish
of tea with him. . . . He showed us his garden, and gave
us his grapes of several kinds, but first of all a dram lest
we should take cold after the exercise of the meeting," and
" treated us as if he had been a Friend, from which he is
not far, having been as tender as any at meeting."

William Sewel, the historian, was a Mennonite, and it
certainly was no accident that the first two Qjiaker histories
were written in Holland. ^° It was among the Mennonites

3° Sewel and Gerhard Croese. In mj library is the copy of Burrough's
works which Penn gave to Sewel's mother, containing also the autograph
of Sewel.

1 6 The Settlement of Germantown .

they made their converts. ^^ In fact, transition between the
two sects both ways was easy. Quakers became members
of the Mennonite church at Crefeld^^ and at Haarlem,^ and
in the reply which Peter Henrichs and Jacob Claus, of
Amsterdam, made in 1679 to a pamphlet by Heinrich
Kassel, a Mennonite preacher at Kriegsheim, they quote
him as saying " that the so-called Quakers, especially here
in the Palatinate, have fallen off and gone out from the
Mennonites."^^

These were the people who, some as Mennonites,^^ and
others, perhaps as recently converted Quakers, after being
unresistingly driven up and down the Rhine for a century
and a half, were ready to come to the wilds of America.
Of the six original purchasers Jacob Telner and Jacob
Isaacs Van Bebber are known to have been members of
the Mennonite Church ; Govert Remke,^® January 14,
1686, sold his land to Dirck Sipman, and had little to do
with the emigration ; Sipman selected as his attorneys here
at various times Hermann Op den Graeff, Hendrick Sel-
len, and Van Bebber, all of whom were Mennonites ; and
Jan Streypers was represented also by Sellen, was a cousin
of the Op den Graeffs, and was the uncle of Hermannus

^^ Sewel, Barclay, Seidensticker.

3^ Life of Gerhard Roosen, p. 66.

''3 Story's Journal, p. 490.

3* This valuable pamphlet is in the library of A. H. Cassel.

33 In this connection the statement of Hortensius in his Histoire des
Anabaptistes, Paris, 1695, is interesting. He says in the preface: "Car
cette sorte de gens qu'on appelle aujourd hui Mennonites ou Anabaptists
en Holande et ceux qui sont connus en Angleterre sous le nom de Koa-
kres ou Trembleurs, qui sont partages en plus de cent sortes de Sectes,
ne peuvent point confer d'autre origine que celle des Anabaptistes de Mun-
ster quoi qu'a present ils se tiennent beaucoup plus en repos, et qu'ils
n'ayent aucune ambition pour le governement ou I'administration des af-
faires temporelles, et mesme que le port ou 1' usage de toute sortes d'armes
soit entierement defendu parmi eux."

^fijohann Remke was the Mennonite preacher at Crefeld in 1752.

The Mcnnoiiitcs. 17

and Arnold Kuster, two of the most active of the early
Pennsylvania members of that sect. Of the emigrants
Dirck, Hermann and Abraham Op den Graeff were Men-
nonites, and w^ere grandsons of Hermann Op den Graeff,
the delegate from Crefeld to the Council which met at
Dordrecht in 1632, and adopted a Confession of Faith. '^^
Many of the others, as we have seen, w^ere connected
with the Op den Graeffs by family ties. Jan Lensen was
a member of the Mennonite Church here. Jan Lucken
bears the same name as the engraver who illustrated the
edition of Van Braght published in 1685, and others of
the books of that church, and the Dutch Bible which he
brought with him is a copy of the third edition of Nicolaes
Biestkens, the first Bible published by the Mennonites.^^
Lenart Arets, a follower of David Joris, was beheaded at
Poeldyk in 1535. The name Tunes occurs frequently
on the name lists of the Mennonite preachers about the
time of this emigration, and Hermann Tunes was a mem-
ber of the first church in Pennsylvania.

This evidence, good as far as it goes, but not complete,
is strengthened by the statements of Mennonite writers and
others on both sides of the Atlantic. Roosen tells us
" William Penn had in the year 1683 invited the Menno-
nites to settle in Pennsylvania. Soon many from the Neth-
erlands went over and settled in and about Germantow^n."^''
Funk, in his account of the first church, says : " Upon an
invitation from William Penn to our distressed forefathers in
the faith it is said a number of them emigrated either from

''" Scheuten genealogy in the possession of Miss Elizabeth Muller, of
Crefeld. I am indebted for extracts from this valuable MS., which begins
with the years 1562, to Frederick Muller, the celebrated antiquary and bib-
liophile of Amsterdam.

*^The Bible now belongs to Adam Lukens, of North Wales, Bucks Co.,
Pennsylvania.

35 P. 60.

i8 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

Holland or the Palatinate and settled in Germantown in
1683, and there established the first church in America."^"
Rupp asserts that, " In Europe they had been sorely per-
secuted, and on the invitation of the liberal-minded Wil-
liam Penn they transported themselves and families into
the province of Pennsylvania as early as 1683. Those
who came that year and in 1698 settled in and about Ger-
mantown."^^ Says Haldeman : "Whether the first Tauf-
gesinneten or Mennonites came from Holland or Switz-
erland I have no certain information, but they came
in the year 1683."^^ Richard Townsend, an eminent
Quaker preacher, who came over in the Welcome, and
settled a mile from Germantown, calls them a " religious
good people," but he does not say they were Friends, as
he probably would have done had the facts justified it.^^
Abraham, Dirck, and Hermann Op den Graeff, Lenart
Arets, Abraham Tunes and Jan Lensen were linen weav-
ers, and in 1686 Jan Streypers wrote to his brother Willem
inquiring " who wove my yarns, how many ells long, and
how broad the cloth made from it, and through what fine-
ness of comb it had been through.""

The pioneers had a pleasant voyage, and reached Phila-
delphia on the 6th of October. In the language of Clay-
poole, " The blessing of the Lord did attend us so that we
had a very comfortable passage, and had our health all
the way. "^^ Unto Johannes Bleikers a son Peter was born
while at sea. Cold weather was approaching, and they had
little time to waste in idleness or curiosity. On the 12th of
the same month a warrant was issued to Pastorius for six

^'^ Mennonite Family Almanac for 1S75.
^'History of Berks County, p. 423.
^^Geschichte der Gemeinde Gottes, p. 55.
*^ Hazard's Register, Vol. VI., 198.
"Deeds, Streper MSS.
^^Claypoole letter-book.

Ar7nentovjn.

thousand acres " on behalf of the German and Dutch pur-
chasers " ; on the 24th Thomas Fairman measured off four-
teen divisions of land, and the next day meeting together in
the cave of Pastorius they drew lots for the choice of loca-
tion. Under warrant five thousand three hundred and fifty
acres were laid out May 2, 1684, " having been allotted and
shared out by the said Daniel Pastorius, as trustee for them,
and by their own consent to the German and Dutch pur-
chasers after named, as their respective several and distinct
dividends, whose names and quantities of the said land they
and the said Daniel Pastorius did desire might be herein in-
serted and set down, viz. : The first purchasers of Frankfort,
Germany, Jacobus Van de Walle 535, Johan Jacob Schutz
428, Johan Wilhelm Uberfeld 107, Daniel Behagel 3562^,
George Strauss 178^^, Jan Laurens 535, Abraham Hase-
"^'oet 535, in all 2675 acres of land. The first purchasers
of Crefeld, in Germany, Jacob Telner 989, Jan Streypers
275, Dirck Sipman 588, Govert Remke 161, Lenert Arets
501, Jacob Isaacs 161, in all 2675 acres." In addition two
hundred acres were laid out for Pastorius in his own right,
and one hundred and fifty acres to Jurian Hartsfelder, a
stray Dutchman or German, who had been a deputy sheriff
under Andross in 1676, and who now cast his lot in with
the settlers at Germantown.^^

Immediately after the division in the cave of Pastorius
they began to dig the cellars, and build the huts in which,
not without much hardship, they spent the following win-
ter. Thus commenced the settlement of Germantown.
Pastorius tells us that some people making a pun upon the
name called it Arnientozvn, because of their lack of sup-
plies, and adds, "it could not be described, nor would it
be believed by coming generations in what want and need,

•»s Exemplification Record, Vol. I., p. 51. It is also said that lieinrich
Fre_y was here before the landing of Penn.

The Settlement of Germantown.

and with what Christian contentment and persistent indus-
try this Germantown-ship started. "^^ Willem Streypers
wrote over to his brother Jan on the 20th of 2d mo. 1684,
that he was already on Jan's lot to clear and sow it and
make a dwelling, but that there w^as nothing in hand, and
he must have a year's provision, to which in due time Jan

replied by sending a " Box with 3 combs, and 3 , and

5 shirts and a small parcel with iron ware for a weaving
stool," and telling him "to let Jan Lensen weave a piece
of cloth to sell, and apply it to your use." In better spirits
Willem wrote Oct. 22d, 1684: "I have been busy and
made a brave dwelling house, and under it a cellar fit to
live in, and have so much grain, such as Indian Corn and
Buckwheat that this winter I shall be better off than I was
last year."*^

*' Seidensticker's Pastorius in the Deutsche Pioneer, Vol. II., p. 176.
*^ Streper MSS.

Arms of the Netherlands.

CHAPTER II.
The Frankfort Land Company.

Die Stadt Frankfurt.

(^^HERE was another force at
^IJj work in Germany and Hol-
land which had a conspicuous
and important, though not a pri-
mary, influence upon the settle-
ment of Germantown. In 1670
the celebrated Philip Jacob Spener,
founder of the Pietists, established
in the city of Frankfort a Collegia
Ptetaits, the object of which was
to awaken a deeper and more heartfelt interest in religion
by means of meetings of laymen for purposes of prayer and
instruction. Among those who were brought within the
sphere of this influence were Jacob Van de Wall, a mer-
chant of Frankfort, to whom Neander dedicated his book of
hymns ; Dr. Johann Jacob Schutz, a great friend of Neander
and a jurist, who was born in 1640 and died in 1690, and
who wrote the beautiful hymn " Sei Lob und Ehr dem hoch-
sten Gut " : Johann William Ueberfeld, whom the church
historian, Gotfried Arnold, designates as " brother Ueber-
feld " ; Daniel Behagel, merchant in Frankfort ; Casper
Merian, George Strauss, Abraham Hasevoet and Jan

The Settlement of Ger7nanto-wn.

Laurens, an intimate friend of Telner, who appears to
have lived at Rotterdam.'*^ In November, 1682, these eight

JVl^W

men, all of them of influence and distinction, had discussed
at their meetings in Frankfort the subject of the purchase
of a tract of land in Pennsylvania and had concluded

J^^wrfi^^

to make the venture. The motive which determined
this action is no doubt expressed by Pastorius when he

♦^MaxGoebel's Geschichte des Christlichen Lebens, Coblentz,i852, Vol.
II., p. 324-326.

THE SETTLEMEINT OF CERnANTOWN.

le^o^rne von un^ D^iUriiXu

frttB'(^^^^'^^^ p

Johanna Elcanora Von Merlau. 23

says: "After I had sufficiently seen the European
provinces and countries and the threatening movements of
war and had taken to heart the dire changes and disturb-
ances of the fatherland, I was impelled, through a special
guidance from the Almighty, to go to Pennsylvania with
the living hope that my own good, and that of my neigh-
bor and the furthering of the honor of God, which is the
chief point, would be advanced, since in Europe worldi-
ness and sin increase from day to day and the just pun-
ishment of God cannot be much longer delayed."

Pastorius, who had been appointed their agent, bought
for them when in London, between the 8th of May and the
6th of June, 1683, fifteen thousand acres of land which
later was increased to twenty-five thousand acres. Before
November 12, 1686, Merian, Strauss, Hasevoet and Lau-
rens had withdrawn and their interests had become vested
in Pastorius, the celebrated Johanna Eleanora Von Merlau,
Dr. Gerhard Von Mastricht, Dr. Thomas Von Wylich,
Johannes Le Brun, Balthasar Jawert and Dr. Johannes
Kemler.

Johanna Eleanora Von Merlau was born at Frankfort in
1644, of a noble and distinguished family. She was in-
clined to religious thought and mysticism and early in life
began to have dreams and see visions. When she was
four years of age her parents, in order to escape the wars
and rumors of war, had temporarily gone to Philipseck
near Hettersheim. One day when her mother had been
left with the three children, an older sister aged seven,
Eleanora and an infant, suddenly the servants came with
the cry that a troop of horse were upon them. The mother
with the babe in her arms and the tots by her side, walked
to Frankfort with the shouts of the soldiers and the shots
of firearms resounding about her. When she reached a

24 The Settle^nent of Ger7nantozun,

place of safety she fell upon her knees and gave thanks to
God, whereupon the sister of seven years exclaimed :
" What is the use of praying now, they cannot get at us
any more."

When Eleanora was ten years old she asked permission
to go to church to see her sister instructed in the mysteries
of the Lord's Supper, and after she had seen it the devil
put it into the head of some wicked person to accuse her
of having said that if she could get hold of the cup she
would drink the whole of it, as though she were fond of

wine. In her twelfth year she was taken to court to the
Countess von Salms-Redelheim and in her fifteenth year
to the wife of the Hertzog von HoUenstein, Countess of
Hesse, who upon her first marriage became a princess. In
her eighteenth year, in 1662, she saw in a dream in great
golden figures upon the heavens " 1685," which forecasted
the disturbances and persecutions in France and also the
secret of the Millennium which in that year was disclosed to
her. She was married by Dr. Spener, September 17, 1680,
at Frankfort, in the presence of her father, the Princess of
Philipseck and thirty other persons, to one beneath her in
rank. Dr. Johann Wilhelm Petersen, professor at Ros-
tock, preacher at the church of St. Egidius in Hanover,

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF GERnAMTOWN.

Johanna Elcanora Von Mcrlau,

3, VU

efprac^

MX) S^eilc

imt)

§tt^ufmuntevung anbeiretrfVom^

men (&>rri?liebenben ©eelen ans

g(bol)rnm t)on unt) ju 2i)icrlau.

l?<r »§. ©c&rijft Do^oris, iiiiD bci>t)et ^elif(^en Uni.

ver/iftft Prof. Prim.

26 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

iinieitnng

3U8riiliWii((®cv(}iiliJnf6

bctradbtet mirft/

TABELLE,

in tergacmonie t)ccigjngeun&^eitm

furtjlid? cnttoorffen ift/

(nwofltmt)nfn^cr2iebf
ncd? ocni fl3(»<:P ecr (SnaOe

gcBo^rncn von unC ju 2rt(tfau.

SroncffiiitunDSdpiid: julw6ml>n)3c^iinn2)mtW2JlW(cm. 1696

Frankfo7-t Land Company .

bishop's superintendent at Lubeck, chief preacher and
superintendent at Luneberg, and the author of one hun-
dred and sixty books and pamphlets. Together they were
among the founders of the Philadelphia Society at Berle-

burg, where later was published the " Geistliche Fama,"
containing so much information concerning early Pennsyl-
vania. Their lives, with portraits, a book now so rare
that Max Goebel, the learned author of the exhaustive
history of the religious life along the Rhine, was never
able to see a copy, appeared in 17 17.^*^ She was the author
among other works of " Herzens-Gesprach mitt Gott,"
i2mo, 1694, and "Anleitung zu griindlicher Verstandniss
der Heiligen Offenbahrung Jesu Christi," folio, 1696.

Dr. Thomas von Wylich was Secretary or Recorder of
the city of Wesel and we are told that after forty years
his good name there was still like a " plenteous balsam in
fragrance. "^^ Johannes Le Brun was a business man in
Frankfort, one of those to whom Neander dedicated his
hymn book, and Johannes Kemler was rector at Oldenslo

"•The foregoing incidents of her life are taken from my copy of this
autobiography.

5J Goebel, Vol. II., p. 326.

28 The Settlement of Germantown.

and at Lubeck. Daniel Behagel, grandson of Jacob Be-
hagel, was born at Hanau, November i8, 1625, and married
at Muhlheim, May 20, 1654, Magdalena van Mastricht.
Together with his brother-in-law, Jacob van de Wall, he
in 1661 established the manufacture of faience at Frank-
fort.'^^ Of the eleven persons interested five lived in Frank-
fort, two in Wesel, two in Lubeck and one in Duisburg.
It was originally their intention to come to Pennsylvania,
but, much to the regret of Pastorius, who complained
loudly of their change of plan, this purpose was abandoned
and the company formed later became only a seller of lands
to the settlers whom other influences brought here, and a
commercial undertaking. The twenty^-five thousand acres
of land bought by him constituted the most extensive sin-
gle sale made by Penn in the settlement of his province.

*- ^/ O

On the 2d of April, 1685, Van de Wall, Petersen and his
wife, Behagel, Schutz and Merian gave the following
power of attorney to Pastorius :

" At all times and in all things the Lord be praised :
" When as Francis Daniel Pastorius, U. J. Licent'us, a
German of Winsheim in Franckenland, did signify his In-
clination to travel towards Pennsylvania, viz., that Prov-
ince in America which heretofore was called New Neth-

^^ Notes of Henrv S. Dotterer.

Frankfort Land Company, 29

erland, Jacob van de Wallen of Francfort, Merchant, for
himself and as attorney of John Wilhehn Petersen, of Lu-
beck, and of his wife Johanna Eleanora van Merlau, as
also Johann Jacob Schutz of Francfort, U. J. Licent'us,
and Daniel Behagel and Caspar Merian of Francfort,

ajU<:-^,

^^^^^^-^

Merchants, have trusted and Comited unto him the care
& Administration of all their Estate, lands and Rights
which they lawfully obtained there of William Penn, Gov-
ern'r in that part So that the said Pastorius, in the Name
of the Constituents, shall receive and Conserve in the best
form of Law the things themselves, the Possession thereof
and other rights : Order the tillage of the ground and what
belongs to husbandry there according to his best diligence,
hire Labourers, grant part of the land to others, take the
yearly Revenues or Rents ; and shall and may do all what
the Owners mav do in administration, nevertheless all
sorts of alienation and mortgagmg excepted.

30 The Settlement of Germanto%v7i.

" To this end a certain sum of money has been deHvered
to his trusty hands : Of all which he shall and will yearly
give an account to the Constituents or their Heirs ; but
the Constituents will not be obliged to any man by all his
doings and Contracts : What will be reasonable shall be
assigned unto him out of the expected Incomes or Rents
in Pennsylvania.

" This being thus done hath been subscribed by the Par-
ties own hands, Confirmed by Publick authority and Com-
mitted to divine blessing in Francfort on Mayn, a free city
of the German Empire, in the year of Christ, according to
vulgar account, 1683, the 2d day of the 2d month com-
monly called April.

"Jacobus Van de Walle,
For myself, and as attorney for John Wm.
Petersen and his wife Eleonora van Merlau.

" Daniel Behagel.

" John Jacob Schutz.

*' Casper Merian.

" Francis Daniel Pastorius."

Another power of attorney was given to Pastorius dated
May 5th, 1683, which though not extant was probably of
the same purport, executed by Strauss, Hasevoet and
Laurens, then interested in the purchase. On the nth of
July, 1683, Johan Wilhelm Ueberfeld sold his one thousand
acres to Pastorius. The latter, who the same year came
to Germantown, wrote on the 14th day of November,
1685, to Van de Wall, Schutz, Behagel and Petersen
" that in case they would not free me of my promise in
their Letter of Attorney, viz., to be accountable to the
Constituents and their Heirs I was not at all able or will-
ing so to do, but must lay down mine administration ; for
as much as they in like manner promised me to follow me
to this Province the next ensuing year after my departure
out of Germany, the which was not performed by them ;
Wherefore I expect an answer from all whether they would
release unto me the sd mine obligation or not. ^^

53 Pastorius MSS.

Frankfort Land Company. 31

To this request Schutz, with the approval of Petersen and
wife, Van de Wall and Behagel, wrote June 30, 1686:

" Dear Brother: We thank God for thy joyful Recov-
ery and Preservation of all the rest ; Putting in so much
no distrust at all in thy Fidelity and Diligence that we,
especially I for mine own person, do approve thine ac-
counts unseen : Nevertheless in case it is not against thee,
only for a nearer advice sake to send such accounts over :
at least to make no ill Precedent to any future successor
whom perhaps we dare not fully trust without all care : It
will be very pleasing to, and not against us, to approve
them in optima forma."

An agreement forming what became known as the
Frankfort Land Company and fixing the terms upon which
its business should be conducted was executed November
12, 1686. Two printed copies of this agreement with the
autographs, seals and coats-of-arms of each of the signers
still exist and they are both in Philadelphia. That which
was among the papers of William Penn now belongs to
me and the other was recently purchased by the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, for two hundred dollars. At this
time the owners were :

Acres.

Jacob Van de Wallen 250x3

Caspar Merian, now Jacob Van de Wallen 833^

Daniel Behagel 1666%

Johan Jacob Schutz 4000

Johan Wilhelm Uberfeld, now Francis Daniel Pastorius . 1000

Jacob Van de Wallen 1666%

George Strauss, now Johanna Eleonora von Merlau, wife

of Johan Wm. Peterson . 16665^

Daniel Behagel 16665^

D. Gerhard von Mastricht 1666%

D. Thomas von W3 lich i666>^

Johannes Le Brun 1666%

Balthasar Jawert 3333/^

Johannes Kemler 1666%

32 The Settlement of Gcrmantown.

The agreement provided :

" The above said lands, wherever they are or hereafter
shall be Assign'd Jointly and asunder, as also the Lots in
the City, which over and above the aforementioned belong
unto us, to wit, four or six places in the City of Philadel-
phia, for to build new houses upon, and a matter of 300
Acres in the Cities Liberty Situate before and about Phila-
delphia ; And the land, which of late hath been bought
upon the Skulkill for a Brick-kiln, together with all and
every Edifices and other Improvements, which now are
and hereafter in any place and quarter of all Pensilvania,

0^m(i/!,m

and also Victuals, Commodities, Cattle, household stuff and
which we have sent thither, or bought or otherwise acquired
there ; and the present and future Real Rights and Privi-
leges shall now and hereafter be and remain Comon in
Equal Right according to Every One's above specified
Share which he hath in the said Compan}^

" 2. All and every Expenses for the Cultivating, Im-
provement and Buildings ; Item for transporting of Ser-
vants, Tenants and other persons, as also Commodities,
Victuals, tools, «&c., and there in the sd Province for
Tradesmen & labourers, &c., and universally all Charges
of what Name soever, which hitherto have been spent in
America and Europe, or hereafter at the next mentioned
manner may be spent, shall be at Comon Costs after the
rate of Every Ones Share.

n
It:

u_
O

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01

j3 O ^.» -^^^

S 22 e

Frankfort Land Company. 33

"3. Per Contra all Profits, Revenues and whatsoever
there is got, built, planted, tilled and brought forth, either
in products of the Ground, Slaves, Cattle, manufactures
&c., nothing at all Excepted, shall be Comon among all
the Partners pro rata of the number of Acres.

"4. Concerning the Affairs of this Company, the five
head-stems, every 5000 to be accounted for a head-stem,
or as hereafter it may be otherwise Agreed upon, shall
Consult among themselves, and by the Plurality of Votes
(each thousand Acres having ten votes), conclude with
all Convenient Speed.

"5. There in the s'd Province there shall be always an
Attorney for the Company, and in case of his decease,
Absence & Unableness a Substitute be appointed unto him
with a Salary in writing Executed by both Parties. Both
these shall yearly, under both their hands and the Com-
pany's Seal, make an Orderly Inventory of all the Com-
panies effects there. Specifying the Cultivated and uncul-
tivated Acres, meadows, waters, woods, houses, the bounds
thereof, as also the Servants, Tenants, Cattel, fruits,
Victuals, Comodities, debts Active and Passive, ready
money, etc., and send the same over with their Accounts
of Costs & Profits, Receipt & Disbursement, Decrease and
Increase in all particulars, by one and another following
Vessel with a second Original, and likewise in manner
aforesaid Communicate the State of things to him, unto
whom at that time the Correspondenc}^ of the Company
shall be Committed.

" 6. Here in these parts there shall be always Ordained
by the plurality of Votes in Writing two Clerks of the
Company, either of the Companions or Strangers, who
shall attend the Companies Accounts & Correspondency
in America ; Open the letters which belong to them and
Communicate the Contents thereof by way of Extract, or
if need be a Copy to the head-Stems, by and from whom
further all and every Partners are to receive, do & per-
form theirs, write down with short words yet Clearly &
diligently in a Diary of the Pennsylvanian affairs out of the
letters coming from thence or the Occurrencies happening

34 The Settlement of Ge)-niantozvn,

here ; make peculiar memorandums of what is to be done
& Observed ; Adjust every year ukimo Decembris the Ac-
counts, together with the Revision of Inventories, and the
Annotation of Increase & Decrease by Day and Date, as
far as may be had by Letters or otherwise, and being ap-
proved by the five head-Stems or their Attornies, Record
them in a Book, and keep them under two Locks, in good
Order according to their Table or Index, together with
the Companies Documents and Original Writings, ascrib-
ing Day & Date, as also the Copies of the Letters which
they send away in a Certain Place as the Company
Pleaseth, and now for the present time at Francfort upon
"the Mayn, where this work did first begin, and whereunto
•as 3^et the greatest part doth belong, and in all without the
special consent of the five head-Stems not undertake or
dispatch anything of Importance. Further they shall en-

C^n^^uA^J yi^M /^

]oy for all their labour some moderate Recompense from
the Company ; Moreover each head-Stem may for himself
& the Partners thereunto belonging extract out of such let-
ters what he pleaseth ; but the Originals shall be kept in
the Archives.

"7' Hereafter the Company shall sign their letters &
Contracts with a peculiar Seal to be kept along with the
aforesaid Original Documents ; and shall send another

Frankfort Land Company. 35

Seal somewhat different in Bigness & Circumscription to
their factors in Pennsilvania there to make the like use
thereof. Without such Seal no Letters or Contracts shall
be sent in the Companies Name thither or hither, nor be
esteemed firm & good.

"8. In case an}^ of us, or our heirs, should go to Pensil-
vania, or send an Attorney for himself aforehand to pre-
pare him a Settlement and would give him or take along
with himself, several proper things for his use, he or they
may do the same at their own Costs and Riske ; After-
wards, after the rate of his share for every thousand Acres,
chuse for himself Sixty in one tract of uncleared land. So
as we received the same of the Governr. And therefor
he shall pay yearly a Recognition as Rent to the Company
for every ten Acres One English Shilling : And if this
land be not enough, but too narrow for him, there shall
be further allowed unto him, proportionately to his share,
60 acres as aforesaid in consideration of each thousand for
the Moiety of the Price for wch the Company useth to Let
at that time upon Rent unto Strangers ; And in case he
should still desire more land, if the Company can spare it,
at the price & on such Conditions as to a Stranger. Now
upon these lands which one or the other settleth for him-
self alone in manner aforesd, he may act at his pleasure
and use & enjoy all sorts of goods immoveable & moveable
which we have in Comon there before other Strangers,
Nevertheless that all this be unprejudicial to the Comon
best of the Company. And those Companies which dwell
in Pennsilvania shall pay the usual Rent, Wages, Payment,
or Value, of all what they use of the Comon things for them-
selves to the Companies Factors there, whereof they are
at the following Reparation to receive back their share.
But if the whole Company do generally find good to let
go over any of their Companions for their Comon Service
and at their Comon Costs, there shall in that case be made
a particular Agreement. But in every Case in all parts
whatsoever the Companies there & their heirs shall be
Obliged no less than those in Europe to stand to this Con-
tract and to the further orders of the most votes.

36 The Settlement of Germantown.

"9. If the Clerks or else one or more by the Companies
approbation as aforesaid should disburse money, such
debtors shall be obliged to repay the thus disbursed princi-
pal Sum at the utmost within the space of one year with

the Yearly Interest of five per Cent, and therefor their share
shall hereby in the best form of Law be engaged as a
Special Pledge.

" 10. If any of us or Ours soon or late shall Dye without
wife & heir begotten in matrimony of his body, not having
expressly & particularly declared by Testament, or other
credible Disposition in Writing, or by word of mouth, what
he would have done with his share of these Comon goods
after his decease, his share shall accrue and be herewith
assignd to the whole Company proportionably to each
respective share, and shall not be otherwise accounted than
as if he had reserved to himself only the use of such goods
for the term of his life, and presently in the beginning In-
corporated the true Property to the Company. And all
deceases of the Companions, and who are their heirs in this
work, shall by the Clerks then being in credible form
under the attestation of all the nearest relations of the De-
ceased, or of other credible persons be advised with all
speed, Or until the Certainty thereof the Name of the
Deceased be continued in Accounts & Books, And his Con-
tingent wc'h falls to him be kept in the Companies Case
along with the Original Documents.

Frankfort Land Coinfany. 37

"II. It's not lawful for any that is a Partner in this Com-
pany to alien his land or right thereof, all or in part, to
any without the Company, unless he have the Companies
Consent, or at least made the first Offer to the same ; But
if one or other of us, our Wives, Children or whoever shall
be hereafter a Partner of the Company, should be willing
soon or late to alienate his Share or Portion, and none of
the Company to Acquire or buy the Same, then and not
otherwise the Seller shall have liberty to sell it to any
other ; yet with this Proviso, that always the Compan}^ or
if they will not have it, any of the Company, within three
months after the Alienation is made known, shall have
liberty to take to themselves that what is sold, paying down
the consideration money, and for their profit to deduct or
give less than such new Purchaser bought the part alien'd
for Ten per Cent, of the Consideration Money, the Price
whereof both Seller & Buyer shall be obliged to declare
upon their Conscience.

*' 12. In Case, which we do not expect, be it soon or late,
there should happen any misunderstanding or Cause of
Contention between us, Our Heirs & Successors, Concern-
ing these Goods & what thereon doth depend, the same
shall be determined among the members of the Company,
Or if both parties do not account them wholly Impartial by
other than two honest Persons unanimously Chosen by the
differing parties. And these two Chosen Persons shall have
power to take unto them a third, if they think it necessary,
in form & manner hereafter described, vizt. the chosen
Arbitrators on an appointed day & place, in the presence
of the differing parties or their Attornies, after the Invoca-
tion of Divine Assistance and ripe Consideration of the
matter, shall determine the business by their award accord-
ing to their best knowledge & Sentiment, in case they can-
not bring the parties to a Composition ; But if these three
cannot agree, or find out the most votes, they shall send
for advice to one or two of the head-Partners, and then
Conceive and pronounce their Award ; To the Contrary
whereof afterwards in no manner or ways any thing shall
be done, acted or admitted by Right or Force of no Judge

38 The Settlancnt of Germantoivn.

or Man in the whole world in Europe or America ; And if
any should presume to oppose himself hereunto, eo ipso
for by so doing, he shall forfeit his whole share and be-
sides pay a fine of 200 rix Dollars to the publick Almonery
(or to the poor) ipso facto without any exception or further
declaration.

" All faithfully and without Covin. In true witness this
present Contract, to which all Partners after a ripe Con-
sideration did unanimously Consent, is twelve times under
all & every ones own hand & Seal set forth, and an Ex-
emplar thereof delivered to each, and one laid up with the
Comon Documents.

''Given at Francfort upon Mayn the 12th November
Anno 1686."

Pastorius, though with apparent reluctance, continued
as the agent of the company to look after its interests until
some time in the year 1700. On the 24th of January of
that year Catharina Schutz, widow, the widow of Jacob
Van de Wall, the heirs of Daniel Behagel, Johannes
Kemler, Balthasar Jawert, Joh. Wilhelm Petersen, Ger-
hard von Mastricht, Johan Le Brun, and Maria Van de
Wall, widow of Thomas Von Wylich, united in executing
a power of attorney which set out that "because of the
death of some heads of the sd Company & the Interrup-
tion of the French Warr, as also chiefly because of the ab-
sence of the Governor & the Indisposition of the sd our
Factor, these our affairs in the sd Province are come to a
stop, the more mentioned Mr. Pastorius having also de-
sired by & in several of his Letters to be discharged" there
was conferred full power and authority on "Mr. Daniel
Falkner & Johannes Kelpius, as Inhabitants for the present
in Pennsilvania, as also on Mr. Johannes Jawert, the son
of one of our principals by name Mr. Balthasar Jawert of
Lubeck, who hath resolved to transport himself thither."

Letter of Attorney.

y^u^^:^ .

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The Settlement of Germantown,

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42 The Settlement of Germantown.

The three attorneys "Jointly or in case of the Death of
one or the other they or he who remains" were to have the
administration of all the goods and lands, city lots, "the
land bought by the Schuylkill for a brick-kiln," to take an
account from Pastorius, if any lands had been sold without
their knowledge to " vindicate them" and to sell and make
deeds. " Lastly we grant unto them herewith special
power to appropriate fifty acres of our land in German-
town for the benefit of a schoolmaster, that the youth in
reading writing & in good manners & education without
partial admonishing to God and Christ may be brought
up and instructed."^* ,

On the first of March, 1700 (this date may be 1708),
Catharine Elizabeth Schutz, widow, made a deed of gift
certifying that " of a well Considered mind willingly and
of my accord ... I have given as a free Gift or
Present my whole Proportion or share of the 25000 acres
of land purchased in Pensilvania — towit 4000 acres the
wch my aforesd husband deceased hath bought of my own
money, — unto some pious families and Persons who are
already in Pensilvania, or Intend to go thither this year,
as likewise unto such that shall follow them in time to Come,
among whom Mr. Daniel Falkner, who hath settled there
already, & Mr. Arnold Stork who dwells at present at
Duisburg but will shortly transport himself, shall be con-
stituted and appointed as Attornies, as well for themselves
& their families to take part thereof, as also according to
their good Pleasure & Conscience to Cause to participate
other pious families, especially the widows among the same,
viz : widow Zimmermans & other two widows with their
children being of Duisburg." And she added "For as
much as I also understand that George Muller of Freder-

5* The original of this power of attorney now belongs to me.

Fi'ankfort Land Company. 43

ickstadt is resolved to transport himself with his family into
Pennsylvania my will is that he with his shall be one par-
ticipant in this Donation."^*

Pastorius says that in August, 1700, Daniel Falkner and
Johannes Jawert having arrived they began, with Kelpius,
to administer the affairs of the company, and that he de-
livered up to them the land, house, barn, stable, corn in
and above the ground, cattle, household goods, utensils
and two hundred and thirty pounds of arrears of rent, but
that soon after Kelpius declined to act and Daniel Falkner
" Plaid the Sot, making Bonefires of the company's flax in
open street, giving a Piece of eight to one Boy to show him
in his drunken Fit a house in Philada, and to another a bit
to light him his Pipe, &c. In so much that his Fellow
Attorney, Johannes Jawert, affixed an advertisement to the
Meeting house at Germantown that nobody should pay any
rent or other Debt due to the Company unto the sd Falkner.
Yea, and the then Bailif and Burgesses of the Germantown
corporation acquainted the sd Company of the ill Adminis-
tration of this their attorney here in a letter which as they
afterwards did hear rhiscarried."^"

Kelpius executed the following paper witnessed by God-
fried Seelig and Joh. Hendrick Sprogell :

"Whereas, upon recommendation of Mr. Daniel Falk-
ner, the Frankfort Society hath made me ye subscribed
their Plenipotentiary, together with the said Mr. Falkner
& John Jawert, But my Circumstances not permitting to
entangle myself in the like affairs I do Confess herewith
that I do deliver all the authority, which is given unto me
in the Letter of Attorney, to the said Society & him who
did recommend me to the same, towit, Mr. Daniel Falk-

55 Pastorius MSS.

56 Pastorius MSS.

44 The Settlement of Gerniantown.

ner, for to act & prosecute the Case of the said Society
without me with Johan Jawert upon their account accord-
ing to the Letter of Attorney who attributes to one or two
as much power as to three in Case of a natural or Civil
Death." ^^ Jawert and Falkner on March 20th, 1705, sub-
stituted and appointed George Lowther, an attorney at
law in Philadelphia, the attorney in fact for the constitu-
ents. Lowther acted under the power because, on the
26th day of March, 1706, he gave notice to the tenants
and other debtors to meet him on Friday, the 5th of April,
at the house of Joseph Coulson in Germantown.

Meanwhile, in consequence of the notice given at the
meeting house in Germantown on the 9th of November,
1705, by Jawert, no one would buy lands from Falkner,
and the affairs remained in statu quo until the arrival in
Pennsylvania of John Henry Sprogell, the witness to the

renunciation of Kel-

^O/UYI ^Q:rvhj fprvrjC^ . P^^^- P^stoHus as-
c/ I / ^—-L, serts that Sprogell,

" A cunning and
fraudulent fellow, as appears by several letters sent from
Holland after him, arrived in this Province, who one time
would say that his father had some Interest in the Franc-
fort Company, which is utterly false ; and another time that
he bought the Companies estate of Gerhard van Mastricht
and the rest when in Germany and that the French took
away his writings ; which is no more true than the former.
For after he was taken, he still for some weeks did lye in
Holland, and so might either have had other deeds from
them, or at least a letter from any of them to signify unto
their attornies here that he bought the land, which he
never bought one acre of, as since the said Van Mastricht
did write."

"Ibid.

Frankfort Land Comj)any. 45

It appears that Falkner had some kind of a writing,
under which he claimed the right to act alone for the com-
pany, because Pastorius says in opposition to it that it was
a mere declaration signed by but two of the company and
they the youngest, that it did not attempt to revoke the
prior power given to the three attorneys, and that when
Lowther presented it on behalf of Falkner to the court at
Germantown and asked to have it recorded, the court re-
fused upon the ground that it must be proved by two wit-
nesses. Thereupon, Falkner, being over head and ears
in debt, and having failed to sell under this authority,
united with Sprogell and made a friend of David Lloyd by
giving to him a thousand acres of land which belonged to
Benjamin Furly, of Rotterdam. ^^ Lloyd suggested an
action of ejectment based upon the claim of Sprogell, and
in which there could be a recovery by arrangement with
Falkner acting as attorney for the company, and it is as-
serted by Pastorius that it was carried forward to judgment
without notice to him, Jawert, or any one else interested
in behalf of the company. He further complains : " And
many honest men in high and low Germany, who are sin-
cerely inclined to truth. Peace, Righteousness & Chris-
tianity, would not be occasioned to think so strange of this
the Pennsylvanian Lawyers Way of Ejectment sine die ;
especially when they hear that one called a Q^uaker had a
hand in it ; and the sd Pastorius might at least have ob-
tained somewhat of a salary for his Service done unto the
sd Company Seventeen Years and a half, and what he dis-
bursed of his own during that time. Now the Company
being thus miserably dispossessed of their Estate, as afore-
mentioned, the sd Pastorius one with Arnold Cassel went
to David Lloyd, and Complaining of the Wrong, also de-

^ Pastorius MSS. Phcenixville now stands upon this land.

46 The Settlement of Germantozvti.

sired his Advice, presented him a small fee, which he re-
fused to take ; but told him that he the sd Pastorius &
Johannes Jawert were not included in the Ejectment, which
they knew already. And when the sd Pastorius further
asked the sd David Lloyd what was best for him to do?
David drawing his shoulders told him that his land (viz.,
the 1000 acres) was Involved in that of the Company, and
that he must seek for it at Sprogels, which Counsel the sd
Pastorius scrupled to embrace. "^^

In these proceedings and in the manner indicated a judg-
ment in ejectment was obtained in favor of the plaintiff,
execution was issued and possession given.

Sprogell immediately began to cut the timber. On the
ist of March, 1708-9 Pastorius and Jawert presented peti-
tions to the Governor and Council. Pastorius says that
Sprogell " thro the contrivance or Ploting of Daniel Falk-
ner, in ye last adjourned Court held for the County of Phil-
ada, the 15th of January, by means of Fictio juris as they
term it (wherewith your petitioner is altogether unac-
quainted) hath gott a writt of Ejectmt, wch it doth not effect
your petitioner, yet the said Sprogel would have Ejected him
out of his home," and that Sprogell " gott the said Writt of
Ejectmt, so as to finish this his Contrivance in the County
Court, to be held third day of the next month, between
wch and the former no Provincial Court doth intervene for
a Writt of Error, & hath further feed or retain'd the four
known lawyers of this Province, in order to deprive as
well your Petitr., as likewise Johannes Jawert of all ad-
vice in law, wch sufficiently argues his cause to be none of
the best."

Jawert says in his petition that Sprogell " upon his arrival
from Holland first told your Petitr. that he had bought ye

59 Pastorius MSS.

Ejectment Suit. 47

said Estate of those persons residing in Germany, but after-
wards denying it, again preferred to buy ye same of your
Petitr., who is a partner thereof, and his joynt attorney,
Danll Falkner, and when your Petitr. could not accept of
his terms, he offering a very inconsiderable sum, then he
promised one hundred pounds to your Petitr. gratis, or to
put up for himself ; but your Petitr. not willing to betray
his trust, broke off ; and so before he was aware & with-
out ye least of his knowledge said Sprogel . . . ejected
the said Germans out of ye said their estate . . . and
besides he, ye said Sprogel & Falkner, to make this their
abominable plott to bear, did fee all the known attornies,
or Lawyers, of this Province, either to speak for ym, or to
be silent in Court, in order to deprive your Petitr. of all
advice in law, even so much as to find none to signify this,
your Petitioners complaint, or to draw a Peticon to your
Honour and Council in due form in our English method."^''

The clerk of the council says that the attempt was so
heinous that it w^as scarcely considered credible. The
petitioners were called in and examined, and it then ap-
peared that " David Lloyd was principal agent & Contriver
of the whole, and it was affirmed that he had for his pay
a thousand acres of Benjamin Furley's land which he the
said Benjamin was so weak as to intrust to Sprogel with
the disposal of." It was ordered that " notice be given by
all Conveyances that may be to the Frankfort Society of
Purchasers yt they forthwith send full powers to reverse ye
judgment according to law."^'

So far as we know the judgment was never reversed and
Sprogell retained possession. In 17 13 Jawert presented
the matter to the Friends' meeting doubtless for the purpose

^"Colonial Records, Vol. II., p. 430.
^'Colonial Records, Vol. II., p. 432.

^S The Settle^nent of Gcrmantown.

of having some condemnation visited by them upon David
Lloyd. Fortunately we have this communication which
says :

" To the Monthly Meeting of those whom the world calls
Quakers, at Philadelphia :

" Honorable Respected Friends : I have been informed
by my Friend Pastorius that you desire to let you know the
proceedings agt the Francfort Company, which Company
every member of it have always bore a great respect &
love to those wch the world calls Qjs for good but will
take it very strange, to be used as they have been, in their
Country & under their Govermt. Not that I can say or
suppose that any of the real friends which fear God have
had any hand in it, neither can I blame the honorable
Court that was at that time, they were ignorant of the
matter ! But I must blame one of your friends, as he calls
himself, David Lloyd, to take such dirty cause in hand for
the lucre of some great reward. Respected friends, to tell
you first by what power daniel Falkner did that wicked
act he hath none at all, not so much as to sell one foot
of the Companies land without my consent, which will ap-
pear by the letter of Attorney of which friend Pastorius has
a Copie. But it seems falkner by the advice of abovsd
friend D. L. produced a letter of one of the Company in
Court, when they was just breaking up, which impowers
him, to sell the land as he says. If this letter was a true
letter it could impower him no more as if any stranger had
impowered him because of the agreement between all the
members of the Company to act or do nothing without the
Consent & knowledge of all the members, of which I and
Pastorius are 2, much lesser to sell all their land by ONE'S
order. When this wicked plot was contrived by them two
Children of darkness, Daniel Falkner and Sprogel, they
knew well enough that they could do nothing honestly
without my consent, as one of the chief owners & attourney
for the said company. Now to get me in, & save the
money they saw they must give the lawyers, abovesd
Sprogel came to my house and offered some small sum of

Letter of Jawert, ^c^

money for the land to wch I could not consent. So Sprogel
seeing that would not do offered me hundred pounds for a
bribe, of wch the rest of the company should not know,
besides my share in the land. But I told him that I rather
would loose all my land than betray my trust. Seeing now
that their wicked design would not prevail with me they
sett david to work, without doubt he was well paid for it,
(for which I understand friend furly suffers). David
lloyd willing that his brethren should have a share in the
buty, or else would not be seen to act alone, getts two
more. Macnemary had but two periwicks, worth about
ten pounds, for his fee as he told me himself. Now when
it was concluded among them to fullfil their design they
thought the fittest time when the Court was breaking up.
According they did. But Mr. Clark being there which
had had no share yet thought it very strange that such a
weighty business should be called at the breaking up of
the Court, asked what it was. David Lloyd finding Clark
inquiring very earnestly in the matter, for fear their wicked
design should be discovered, said " Thom. hold thy
tongue, thou shalt have fourty shillings " And so it was
done. ^ When friend Pastorius gave me notice of this I
went directly up to Philadelphia and going to the Lawyers
found all their tongues bound, was therefore obliged to
petition the Governor & Council to allow one Lawyer,
which was Clark, who had onl}^ a promise of fourty shill-
ings, but not received the same. But could not untie his
tongue before I gave him tenn pounds ready down in sil-
ver & gold. For which ten pounds & other fast expenses
I had not so much good as I had of a pott good beer & a
penny roll. Friend Pastorius & Caspar Hood can tell
more of it. But hope that the Lord that is the right Judge
will not suffer such wickedness, but will lead the hearts of
upright men to punish such wicked doings. I design to
be up so soon as possible & see what I can do in it with
the help of God and Christian Friends. I must beg your
pardon dear friends that I trouble you with such a large
letter. Wish the Lord your God and my God may com-
fort & bless you through his son Jesus and the power of

50 The Settlement of Germantown.

the Holy Spirit. I am respected friends your friend and
servant.

"John Jawert,

"Maryland, Bohemia river, March the 25th Ano. 1713."

Some years later the survivors of the Company offered
to convey such interests as they possessed to the Society in
London organized for the propagation of the Gospel in
foreign parts. This Society made an investigation which
led to no substantial results. The efforts of the Pietists of
Frankfort which began in religious enthusiasm ended in
pecuniary misfortune. Wanting in that earnestness or per-
sistency of purpose, or perhaps not driven by the same ur-
gency of oppression, which led the purchasers at Crefeld
to cross the seas, they constituted an interesting episode
but not a potent factor in the early life of Germantown.

London.

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF CERnANTOWN.

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"* "mi

FACE FROn THE BEE-HIVE OF FA5T0RIUS.
WRITTEN m SEUEM LflMCUflQES.

CHAPTER III.

Francis Daniel Pastorius.^^

►E now approach the
career of one, who
though his connection
with the settlement was in a
sense accidental, and though
the movement which led to it
cannot be ascribed to his
endeavors, was nevertheless
the most interesting and con-
spicuous figure in associa-
tion with early Germantown.
He well deserves an exalted
place among American wor-
thies and his life in its self abnegation, its literary produc-
tiveness and its breadth of liberality, appears the more ad-
mirable when contrasted with the narrow intelligence and
restricted outlook of the leaders of the Puritan settlements

Pastorius.

^2 The sources of this biography are Pastorius' Umstandige Geograph-
ische Beschreibung Pennsylvaniae, 1700; his Thesis 1676; his MSS. in
the Historical Society of Penna. and in my possession; and Dr. Seiden-
sticker's papers in the Deutsche Pionier, Cincinnati, 1870, Vols. II. and
III.

5 2 The Settle^nent of Germantoivn.

or with the tobacco-dealing and Indian robbing impulses
of those who have been called Cavaliers. His grand-
father, Martin Pastorius, was assessor of the Court at
Erfurt. When Gustavus Adolphus captured the town
the soldiers were quartered in the house, which was

upon the horse-

,. f#^ *txi^ dered it, driving

out the children with their drawn swords. The father rode
to Mayence to make complaint, but again fell into the hands
of the Swedish soldiers and was driven out naked and so
badly beaten that in a few weeks afterwards he died. His
wife was Brigitta, daughter of Christian Flinsberger, of
Miihlhausen.

Melchior Adam, son of Martin, was born at Erfurt,
then containing twenty thousand people, on the 2ist
of September, 1624. In his childhood he met with
many misadventures. Once, when nine months old,
his mother fell with him from a boat into the Rhine,
and later he felt the weight of the swords of the sol-
diers in the army of Gustavus. He went to school at
Erfurt, and studied poetry and rhetoric there, and at
Wurtzburg, philosophy. He traveled to Gotha, Fulda,
Frankfort, Mayence, Aschaffenburg, Wurtzburg and
to Rome, where, August 26, 1644, he entered the col-
lege, and after four years. was graduated Lit. Doctor.
It indicates the manners of the times that once he slept
in a very dark chamber of an inn, while under the bed
la}' the body of a dead man which emitted a dreadful
odor. From Rome he went to Vienna and thence to
France, and at Nancy could find no inn and walked the
streets all night, hearing the dogs bark and the cocks
crow. At Meaux he and his friend were arrested as

Melchior Adam Pastortus. 53

spies, and when he showed his passport and letters from
Cardinal Mazarine was told : "It is these books which
make all the trouble and disturbance in the land." He
reached Paris at a time of great tumult and unquiet, and,
being compelled to keep within his room, there wrote four
little books. On the 12th of June, 1649, he departed for
Amiens, Lyons, Geneva and Basle, and the same year at
Sommerhausen was converted to the Lutheran faith. He
married Magdalena, daughter of Stephen Dietz and Mar-
garetha Fischer, and widow of Henrich Frischman.
Learned in both law and theology he settled at Winds-
heim, of which he wrote a history and where he held
many offices, including those of burgomaster and Superior
Judge.

Francis Daniel Pastorius, son of Melchior and Magda-
lena, was born in Sommerhausen, Sept. 26th, 1651. His
sponsors in baptism were Daniel Gering, Doctor of Law at
Leghitz, and Franciscus, Freyherr of Limburg, the latter of
whom gave him a red scarlet coat, little sword, a hat with
a feather and little white boots, '• thus making a fool of me
in my tender years." At eleven years of age his father
took him to Windsheim and there he went to the gym-
nasium to school. The teacher, Tobias Schumberg, a
Hungarian, knew no German, and the pupils were com-
pelled to talk to him in Latin. On the 31st of July, 1668,
he entered the school at Altdorf and from there August 11,
1670, he went to the University of Strasburg, where he
began to study law and French. In July of 1672 he was
at the high school at Basle, but in November returned to
Windsheim. On the 13th of April, 1673, he went to Altdorf
and July 2d from there to Nuremburg and Erfurt and
thence to Jena, where on the 13th he renewed his study of
the law and learned Italian, and in January, 1674, and

^4 The Setllemeni of Gcrmaniozvn.

again April i8, had a public discussion in that language
upon some legal problem. Thereafter having visited
Naumburg and Gotha he journeyed, July 31, to Regens-
burg in order to secure a better knowledge of jurisprudence,
and on April 16, 1675, he returned from Bayreuth toWind-
sheim. From there, Sept. 17th, he went again to Altdorf,
where finally on the 23d of November, having passed his
examinations, he read his inaugural thesis and was gradu-
ated in law. His copy of this Latin thesis entitled '* Dis-
putatio inauguralis de rasura docmentorum " printed at Alt-
dorff, and the only known copy, is now in my library. It
closes with a Latin anagram upon the names of Melchior
Adam Pastorius, his father, Dorothea Esther Volckmans,
his stepmother, Franciscus Daniel Pastorius and Johannes
Samuel Pastorius, his brother, and is explained in his own
manuscript. After having taken his degree he went home
to Windsheim. On the 24th of April, 1679, ^^ made a jour-
ney to Frankfort on the Mayn and there had a private school
of law for some students and practiced a little. The oppor-
tunity arose to visit Worms, Mannheim and Speyer. From
December i, 1679, to June 26, 1680, he lodged with
Squire Fickard, "A merry hearted old gentleman." On
the latter day he began a tour through Holland, England,
France and Switzerland with Johann Bonaventura von
Rodeck, " a noble young spark," whom he accompanied as
tutor and to whom he had been recommended by Doc-
tor Spener, " The brave patriarch of the Pietists," and
returned to Frankfort fresh and well on the i6th of No-
vember, 1682. There he met in the house called " Saal-
hof" Dr. Spener, Dr. Schutz, Jacob Van de Wall and
Eleanora von Merlau, and heard from his friends many
reports concerning Pennsylvania. Already some God-
fearing people, among whom were the Notary Christian

Francis Daniel Pastorius. 55

DISPUTATIO INAUGURALIS

RASURA DOCU-

MENTORUM.

DIVINA SUFFRAGANTE GRATIA.

AUCTORITATE

JCTORUM ORDINIS

in lacluto Noribergcnfluip Athenaso,

UCENTIA

Suramos in Utroqve jure Hdnores ac

Erivilegia Doctdralia, ixvorcMajorum,

ritecapefTendj,

Tukico Brudstcrufn Examim

Franciscus Daniel Pastorius,

Windcsheiraenfis.
©. 25, Nqv^hr. A. oh ineamatione J. C

ciD lofi LXXVI.

Uteris HtNRici Maieri, Unir. Typog*^-

56 The Seiile7nent of Germantown.

Fenda and Frau Baurin, had determined to emigrate
thither and had packed their goods. A keen desire came
over him to sail in their company, having seen and ex-
perienced sufficient of the frivolity of Europe to lead there
a quiet and Christian life. He presented and sent his books
to his brother, John Samuel, and after many letters ob-
tained the consent of his father, together vi^ith two hundred
rix dollars, and thereupon went to Kriegsheim, where he
saw Peter Schumacher, Gerhard Hendricks and Arnold
Kassel, and made ready for the long journey. On the
2d of April he left Frankfort and came to Cologne,
where he was pleasantly received by David Van Enden,
Daniel Mitz and Dotzen, the representatives there of the
King of Denmark. Dotzen expressed a desire to go with
him, but his wife would not consent. There she went
from house to house in a carriage, but perhaps in America
she would have to look after the cattle and milk the cows.
On the nth of April he went down the Rhine to Urdingen
and from there on foot to Crefeld, where he spoke with
Thones Kunders and his wife, and with Dirck, Hermann,
and Abraham Op den Graeff and many others, who six
weeks later followed him. On the i6th of April he came
to Rotterdam and stopped with his friend Mariette Vette-
kuke, and saw there Benjamin Furly, Peter Hendricks,
Jacob Telner and others. On the 4th of May he sailed
from Rotterdam, and on the 8th reached London, ac-
companied by Tobias L. Kohlhaus. He lodged with
John Hodgkins, in Lombard Street. Together with a
little party of emigrants, Jacob Schumacher, George
Wertmuller, Isaac Dilbeck and his wife Marieke and two
boys, Abraham and Jacob, Thomas Casper, Conrad
Bacher (alias Rutter) and an English maid, Frances Simp-
son, he on the 6th of June sailed from Gravesend, on the

Francis Daniel Pastoriiis. 57

ship America, whose captain was Joseph Wasey, on the
7th reached Deal, on the loth left England, and on the
i6th of August arrived in the New World. Another pas-
senger was the celebrated Thomas Lloyd, afterward
Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, with whom Pastorius
established an intimate friendship. Since Lloyd did not
understand German, and Pastorius was then unused to
talking in English, they carried on their conversation in
Latin. Upon arriving in Philadelphia he went at once
to Penn, who received him with an affectionate friendship,
invited him to dine, and once, after an absence of several
days, came and made him promise to dine with him twice a
week, and expressed much love for the Germans, which
feeling he hoped would be reciprocated. Pastorius built
a little house in Philadelphia, where many of the people
were then living in caves, thirty feet long and fifteen wide,
and made a window, for want of glass, of paper dipped in
oil. Over the door he wrote: " Parva domus sed amica
Bonis procul este Prophani," at which Penn, when he
read it, laughed aloud. We get an idea of the condition
of the new Philadelphia when we learn that Pastorius in
going from the river bank to the house of the baker Cor-
nelius Bom, a few streets off, lost his way among the
bushes.

When Germantown was laid out he opened what is called
the "Germantown Grund und Lager-Buch," containing
the record of the conveyances of lands, and he wrote this
prefatory invocation :

Salve Posteritas

Posteritas Germanopolitana

et ex argumento insequentis paginal primitus observa

Parentes ac Majores Tuos

Alemaniam

^8 The Seitlanent of Gcrmantown,

dulce Solum quod eos genuerat, alueratque diu Voluntario exilia

deseruisse ;
(oh! Patrios focos!)
ut in Silvosa hac Pennsylvania
deserta Solitudine
minus soliciti
residuum Aetatis
Germane h. e. instar fratrum transigerat
Porro etiam addiscas
Qiiantae molis erat
exant lato jam mari Atlantic©
in Septrionali istoc Americae tractu
Germaniam condere gentem

Tuque
Series dilecta Nepotum !
ubi fuimus exemplar honesti
Nostrum imitare exemplum.
Si autem a semita tam difficili aberravimus
Quod poenitenter agnoscitur
ignosce ;
Et sic te faciant aliena pericula cautem.
Vale Posteritas !
Vale Cermanitas !
-Sternum Vale.

Whittier has happily rendered it in English verse as
follows :

Hail to posterity !
Hail future men of Germanopolis !
Let the young generations yet to be
Look kindly upon this.
Think how your fathers left their native land,
Dear German land, O ! sacred hearths and homes !
And where the wild beast roams
In patience planned

Francis Daniel Pastorius. 59

New forest homes beyond the mighty sea,

There undisturbed and free
To live as brothers of one family.

What pains and cares befell,

What trials and what fears,
Remember, and wherein we have done well
Follow our footsteps, men of coming years ;

Where we have failed to do

Aright or wisely live,
Be warned by us, the better way pursue.
And knowing we were human, even as you.

Pity us and forgive.

Farewell, Posterity;

Farewell, dear Germany ;

Forevermore farewell !

We gain some idea of his personal appearance from a
letter of Israel Pemberton, a boy of fourteen, upon whom
he had used the birch, who wrote 13th of 6 mo. 1698 :
♦' The first time I saw him I told my father that I thought
he would prove an angry master. He asked me why so :
I told him I thought so by his nose, for which he called me
a prating boy." He describes himself as *' of a melan-
choly choleric complexion and therefore (Juxta Culpepper
p. 194) gentle, given to sobriety. Solitary, Studious, doubt-
ful, Shamefaced, timorous, pensive, constant and true in
actions, of a slow wit, with obliviousness, &c.

If any does him wrong,

He can't remember 't long."

From his father and other relations he received altogether
twelve hundred and sixty-three Reichsthaler, of which he
says, *'Tot pereunt cum tempore Nummi."

6o The Setthmc7it of Gcrmantown.

He was thoroughly familiar with and wrote fluently in
the Greek, Latin, German, French, Dutch, English, Ital-
ian and Spanish languages. Of his command of the Latin
the following letter to his old teacher Tobias Schumberg
gives evidence :

DE MUNDI VANITATE.

Vale mundi genebundi colorata Gloria

Tua bona, tua dona sperno transitoria

Qiiae externe, hodierne, splendent pulchra facie,

Cras vanescunt et liquescunt sicut Sol in glacie.

Quid sunt Reges? quorum leges terror sunt mortalibus,

Multi locis atque focis latent infernalibus.

Ubi Vani, crine cani Maximi Pontifices?

Qiios honorant et adorant cardinales suppHces,

Quid periti? Eruditi sunt Doctores Artium

Qiiid sunt Harum, vel Illarum studiosi partium ?

Ubi truces Belli duces? Capita militiae?

Quos ascendit et defendit rabies saevitiae.

Tot et tanti, quanti quanti, umbra sunt et vanitas,

Omna Horum nam Decorum brevis est inanitas.

Qui vixerunt, abierunt, restant sola nomina,

Tamquam stata atque rata nostrae sortis omina.

Fuit Cato, fuit Plato, Cyrus, Croesus, Socrates,

Periander, Alexander, Xerxes et Hippocrates,

Maximinus, Constantinus, Gyges, Anaxagoras,

Epicurus, Palinurus, Daemonax, Pythagoras,

Caesar fortis, causa mortis, tot altarum partium,

Ciceronem et Nasonem nil juvabat Artium.

Sed hos cunctos jam defunctos tempore praeterito,

Non est e re, recensere. Hinc concludo merito :

Qui nunc degunt, atque regunt orbem hujus seculi,

Mox sequenturet labentur velut schema speculi.

Et dum mersi universi sunt in mortis gremium,

Vel infernum, vel aeternum sunt capturi praemium.

Slavery. 6i

Hincce Dei Jesu mei invoco clementiam,

Ut is Sursum, cordis cursum ducat ad essentiam,

Trinitatis, quae beatis summam dat laetitiam.

The following letter is characteristic: " Dear Children,
John, Samuel and Henry Pastorius : Though you are
( Germano sanguine nati) of high Dutch Parents, yet re-
member that your father was Naturalized, and ye born in
an English Colony, Consequently each of you Anglus
Nattis an Englishman by Birth. Therefore, it would be a
shame for you if you should be ignorant of the English
Tongue, the Tongue of your Countrymen ; but that you
may learn the better I have left a Book for you both, and
commend the same to your reiterated perusal. If you
should not get much of the Latin, nevertheless read ye the
English part oftentimes over and over and over. And
I assure you i\\dX Semper aliqiiid haerehit. For the Drip-
pings of the house-eaves in time make a hole in a hard
stone. Non vi sed saepe cadendo, and it is very bad Cloath
that by often dipping will take no Colour.

Lectio lecta placet, decies repetita placebit

Quod Natura negat vobis Industria praestet. — F. P. D."

The institution of slavery, which he saw in existence
around him, called forth his earnest opposition, and at a
time when in Massachusetts they were selling Indians, and
white people of other creeds, to be sent to Barbados,
and when even the Qiiakers had not yet given their testi-
mony against the traffic in negroes, he wrote the famous
protest of 1688. In German and English verse, not so
well known, he said ;

Allermassen ungebiihrlich
1st der Handel dieser Zeit,

62 The Settlement of Germantown.

Dass ein Mensch so unnatiirlich

Andre driickt mit Dienstbarkeit.
Ich mocht einen solchen Fragen

Ob er wohl ein Sklav mocht sein,
Ohne Zweifel wird er sagen :

Ach, bewahr' mich Gott ; nein, nein !

And also in English :

If in Christ's doctrine we abide,
Then God is surely on our side,
But if we Christ's precepts transgress,
Negroes by slavery oppress
And white ones grieve by usury,
Two evils which to Heaven cry,
We've neither God nor Christ His Son,
But straightway travel hell wards on.

He was fond of his garden and of flowers and took de-
light in the raising of bees, saying in his punning way
that " Honey is money," and apparently found some re-
laxation in the pursuit of Walton. Sometimes the loneli-
ness of the woods oppressed hira, and with the disappoint-
ing sense that those who were to have been his companions
had failed him, came the longing to see once more the
familiar objects along the Rhine and his old home, but to
a certain extent the presence of Lloyd was a recompense.

" 'Twas he and William Penn that caused me to stay
In this then uncouth land and howling wilderness
Wherein I saw that I but little should possess ;
And if I would return home to my father's house
Perhaps great riches and preferments would espouse."

In Germantown he looked after the affairs of the Frank-
fort Land Company until 1700, and not only did he never
receive any compensation, but he finally, along with the

School. 63

rest, lost his lands. He kept the records of the Court,
compiled the laws and ordinances, was bailiff of the borough
when organized, a justice of the peace and County Judge,
and a member of the Assembly in 1687 ^^id 1691. As a
means of gaining a livelihood he acted as a conveyancer
and notary and wrote leases, mortgages, deeds, articles of
agreement, wills, marriage certificates and other legal docu-
ments and sometimes letters and translations. For a lease,
bond or will he charged from two to three shillings ; for a
deed on parchment from seven to nine shillings, and for a
letter four pence. He wrote a plain flowing script and was
very painstaking and careful about all of his work. Every-
thing that he did, even the most prosy of labors, was en-
livened with a certain quaint and learned humor. In open-
ing an account with the Friends in his account book he
solemnly credits them " in the first place with love." For
the last twenty years of his life he also taught a school, and
his Primer, of which but a single copy seems to be extant,
was the first original school book printed in Pennsylvania.
In a letter still preserved acknowledging a note from
Phineas Pemberton excusing the lateness of his daughters
he commends " the good disposition of the two little ones "
and says : " The very shadow of the rod will do more with
them than the spur with others." The instruction cost from
four to six pence per week. Among those who sent
children to him to be taught were Lenert Arets, Benjamin
Armitage, W. Baumann, Joseph Coulson, James De la
Plaine, Wilhelm Dewees, Cornelius Dewees, Jan Doeden,
Jan De Wilderness, Paul Engle, Jacob Gottschalk, Hans
Graeff, Wilhelm Hosters, Richard Huggin, Dirckjansen,
Howell James, Conrad Jansen, Jurgen Jacobs, Tunes
Kunders, Aret Klincken, Paul Kastner, Paul Kuster,
Peter Keyser, Aret Kuster, Henrich Kassel, Peter Keurlis,

6/\. The Settlement of Germantozun.

Anthony Klincken, Jan Lucken, Jan Lensen, Anton Loof,
Matthias Milan, Benjamin Morgan, Hans Heinrich Mehls,
Jan Neus, Hans Neus, Thomas Potts, Jonas Potts, Samuel
Richardson, Cunrad Rutter, Claus Rittinghuysen, Hen-
drick Sellen, Wilhelm Strepers, Walter Simons, Peter
Schumacher, George Schumacher, Isaac Schumacher,
Richard Townsend, Abraham Tunes, Cornelius Tisen,
Herman Tunes, Arnold Van Vossen, Isaac Van Sintern,
Paul Wulff, Christian Warner and Christopher Witt.

After William Bradford, the printer, had quarreled with
his Quaker friends and gone away to New York, in 1692,
Pastorius thought seriously of starting a press and re-
gretted his lack of knowledge of the art. His younger
brother, Augustin Adam, had at that time in consideration
the question of coming to Pennsylvania, and Pastorius
wrote to him telling him before doing so to spend three
months in a printing office.

When Dr. Griffith Owen died he wrote the following

epitaph :

" What here of Griffith Owen lies
Is only what of all men dies.
I His soul and spirit live above
With God in pure and perfect love."

On the ist of December, 1688, he wrote to his good
friend, George Leonard Modeln, Rector of the School at
Windsheim, upon the subject of the education of youth,
and saying that each boy, according to his capacity, in
addition to his instruction in letters, should be taught ligh;
hand work, so that in case of need he could follow it in
distant provinces and help himself in any part of the world
without dissipating his patrimony, to the sorrow of his elders.
'* I myself would give one hundred rix dollars if the time I
wasted upon learning the Sperling physic and metaphysics

Would be a Printer. 65

PENSYLVA^

3n benen €nb*©ratt|fett
AMERICA

3nD«^3ej!'^ftt3cle3my

FRANCISCUM DANIELEM

PiCSTORIUM,

J. V, Lie. uaD5rtc&cn8;>CKicttctn

SBotbeoange^nrfet finb eittu

ge notable 53e3e'ben|i|jfeti / un&

S9ei:icJ)ti©cDceiben anScflfft .£)crm

Q3autrrt

MELCHIOREM ADAMUM PASTO-

RIUM»

SttfinOcn f><i) S(n^r^a$ Otto, irojob.

66 The Settlement of Germantown.

and other unnecessary sophistical argurnentationes and ar~
guitiones, I had devoted to engineer work or to book printing,
which would have been useful and valuable to me and to
my fellow Christians, rather than to Physics, Metaphysics
and Aristotelian Elenchi and Sylochismi, by which no
savage or heathen can be brought to God, much less a
piece of bread can be made." This, however, was the
ordinary quarrel of a man with his life and occupation. In
the woods as he was, he could not desist from the writing
of books. Seven of them were printed at the time.

1. His inaugural dissertation " De rasura documen-
torum." Altdorff, 1676.

2. Zwey Stiicke aus Philadelphia, 1684.

3. A work in German dedicated to Tobias Schumberg
upon four subjects of ecclesiastical history : The lives of
the Saints ; The Statutes of the Pontiffs ; The decisions of
the Councils of the Church ; and the Bishops and Patriarchs
of Constantinople ; with the pseudo imprint Germanopolis,
1690.

4. A circumstantial geographical description of the lately
founded province of Pennsylvania. Frankfort, 1700.

5. A new Primmer or Methodical Direction to attain the
True Spelling, Reading and Writing of English. New
York, 1698.

6. Ein Send Brieff Offenhertziger Liebsbezeugung an
die sogenannte Pietisten in Hoch Teutschland. Amster-
dam, 1697.

7. Henry Bernhard Koster, William Davis, Thomas
Rutter and Thomas Bowyer, four Boasting Disputers of
this world Rebuked and Answered according to their folly,
which they themselves have manifested in a late pamphlet
entitled Advice for all Professors and Writers. New
York, 1697.

Pastorius as an Author. 6*J

Francisci Danielis Pastorii

Sommerhufano- Franci.

^uc^c Q3co9top()ifcf)e Q3efct)rcibunci
ber U^trtiablt} erfunDencn

2(mcricanifcben ganDfc^afft

PENSYLVANIA,

(Dtit angef)cncttcn cinigett tibtablcnSScgc^

"pattern/ PatriotenunDcjute 5r<JiinDe

I © tjl tcncn tTJcinicten in6c\efamt jut*
(Bnuge bef r♦n^t/ auf waeXOcifc id>/
von meinert 2\in5^5bdnen urt/4uf
temtP.ge Nefei- 5ciclici)f etc meinett
iebeneJiauff gegcn t>ie ti'<2>'?«^vt'i3Feir ju/^in^
5eiicl>tet un&in rtllimmctncmibun batyitig^i
:xad)tet b^be/ txJie id? \>tn alkin d^uteh XVUktt
©(DctcscfEcrtrten / feme bobc 2(Umact>cfiH'd??
ten / unC) fetne una-QVimbiidyeCBute lichen lei'#
tienmodjte. UnO obwoblen icfo neb(irtn^et•ft
jemeinen tOiffenfcbaffccn bet freyen j^utt|(e/
^a9 Studfum Juris feliciterabro!vii*eC/Ote Jta?
iiamfc^'unb 5i'^»5^ft(ct>e @pt'acf)cn exfunda-
mcnto bet»ri|fen / aucbOenfocientmrtrengfop
fen Tour Oiird) bie £an6rcbaffc(?rt cjetban / fo
babe id) jebod) an rtUen0cten urtb^nOen met#
rten gi'offefien S^if^ unb^emubunq an anbei'5
nid)tt?gewenbcc/al9 cigenclid; iuerfflbten/iv<>

4 £>dcfy

66 The Scltlemeiit of Germantown.

PENSYLVA-

AMERICA

FRANCISCUM DANIELEM
PASTORIXIM,

J. V. Lie; «n^ griel>fn«'-9ti(8iNm
Oafdbj!en/

©cbreiben an l>e|j*en ^errtt
CSatUnt

MELCHIOREM ADAMUM

PASTORIUM,

Unt> anPcge giitc gremtP^

SHPtttW^Cj^ ^^^a§ Otto, 1704-

Pastoritis as an Author. 6^

IDocbtingeinerne

vactMkin

D« oftiniutn Sanftorum Vitis
T. Deomnium Pdntifictsm Statutrs
n. De ConCiliorum Decifionibus
V. De Epifcoprs he Patriarchis Conftall*
tinapolitanis*

I. Veil 2lUcr pipfte (BefcQ-. Igtnfu^nJl^J
}♦ INmi ^er Concilicn Stfitt^Sopiruiig*
t,t)wi^enen23tf(^6ffcii unbpatmrcfe^n

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i« baucn 23crf)abtnt)ce 33<iitieilt

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FRANCISCUM DANIELEM

PASTOR lUN. J. in L.

3n15enft)tDanJaneu!((fe}ft>Dnmir fit

(Bxmh ancjclegtcn /, unD uun mit gut<m

Succtfs auf9el)fnben ^tabt:

GERMANOPOLI

48«a Cfcrj/?i M. DC. XC.

*jO The Settlement of Germantown.

^efgpei5una

S4mfc

unD tt>af)rbafftigenUtfacl)en t()vet:fo gcof$
fm Decadent un& Scbarmuna^'tv&c;

SJtteni aCaubTtJfitbtgen Documentis uni

55ri«fflt<D«n UtfunDen ( bee i^o (cbcnben lichen

58ur9<rfcf>a jft / unD ^eto tRa^Fommen / ju guuc

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Melchiorem Adamum Paftor lum i

ftltcm Surgemciftcnt unb Obct-.^ii**

tern m befagtec @taDt

©ebrttcft su 3(tfirnber^
3m3abK(2;bi:iftii6<rfi*

Pastor ins as an Author.

(Fift

)Cttt)^®ru|f

3u 2lCK©t€^J©2C9Jr/

©ehuift Mc 3flW^ ^l««o S3«ct)^5n&Ur/ 1^9 7-

ya The Settlement of Gertnantown.

Hivry Berrhj^rJ Kj>jitT^ W lilt dm D^is^

Thomdi R fitter^ Thorn ai Boryer^

FOUR

Boading Dirputers

Of this World briefly

REBUKED.

And Anfwered according ro their Folly,
which they ihemfelves have manifcfted in a
I a te P atn pb let, en t i t ■ led , advice for afl Pro-
feffori an J Writers.

fvafttti Dan I (I Pajior/i/s*

PrinCed And Sold by WtHtxm Bradford at the
Bible in A^e>VcJ(?rfc.» i ^97-

Pastortus Manuscripts. 73

In addition to these he left forty-three works in manu-
script, two of which, supposed to have been lost, are now
printed in this volume. Many, no doubt, will never be re-
covered, but we have a catalogue of their titles.

I. Alvearium or Bee Hive, a large encyclopaedia of
such matters as he thought necessary for the information
of his children. 2. Academische Spar Stunden. 3. Mis-
cellanica Theologica et Moralia. 4. Formulae Solennes,
or several forms of such writings as are vulgarly in use.
5. Confusanea Geometria, oder einfaltiger Unterricht vom
Landmessen. 6. A breviary of Arithmetic. 7. Lingua
Anglicana or some Miscellaneous Remarks concerning the
English Language. 8. Lingua Latina or Grammatical
Rudiments. 9. Emblematical Recreations. 10. Semel
insanivimus omnes oder Poetische Einfalle. 11. A col-
lection of some English Manuscripts. 12. A collection of
English Hymns alphabetically digested. 13. The Young
Country Clerk. 14. Pennsylvanische Gesetze and Ger-
mantown Statutes. 15. Deliciae hortenses et voluptates
apianae. 16. Itinerarium oder Reisebeschreibung. 17.
Liber Epitaphiorum. 18. Phraseologia Teutonica. Krafft
und Safft der Teutschen Helden-Sprach. 19. Miscellanea
Prima oder Academischer Spar Stunden Vorlaufer. 20.
Medicus Dilectus oder Artzney Biichlein. 21. Oeconomia
oder Haushaltungs reguln. 22. Theologica Anglicana, in
grunem Pergament eingebunden. 23. Melligo Sententia
Latine. 24. Calendarium Calendariorum or a perpetual
Almanack. 25. Onomastical Considerations. 26. Vade-
mecum, or the Christian Scholars pocket book. 27. Nee
tutus piscis ab Anglo ; or a few observations concerning
angling with several tracts on husbandry. 28. Mecum
liber ibis etc or Exemplified Rules of Arithmetic and
Rhythmical and Proverbial Copies. 29. The Good Order

^4 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

and Discipline of the Church of Christ. 30. The Monthly
Monitor, or my first born son of Husbanderia. 31. Bernh.
P. -Catechism, Englished by me. 32. Aviarium oder
Bienenbiichlein. 33. Wm. Penn's Fruchte der Einsamkeit
von mir verteutscht. 34. English Rhymes. 35. Alvear-
ialia. 36. Private Annotations. 37. A Fascicle of Sev-
eral Manuscripts. 38. Additamenta ad Fennes Gram-
maticam Gallicam. 39. Additamenta ad Caffae Gram.
Italicam. 40. Additamenta to the Writing Scholar's Com-
panion. 41. Latinae primordia Linguae. 42. Law terms
added to the Compleat Justice. 43. Anhang zu Tim Koll's
Gartenbiichlein.

In 1713, while confined to bed with a serious illness, he
wrote a lively description of his difficulties with Sprogell
and Falkner over the lands of the Frankfort Land Com-
panjj^, which he evidently intended to print, and which first
appeared, after the lapse of two hundred years, in my Penn-
sylvania Colonial Cases. It is here reproduced as a part of
the history of Germantown and as an illustration of his
style in English composition.

EXEMPLUM SINE EXEMPLO;

(to borrow the Discription of one of John Wilson's Plays)

The Cheats and the Projectors.

I, Francis Daniel Pastorius, having formerly (towit these
28 years past) by Doctor Schutz & other honest men in
high Germany, (Purchasers of 25000 acres of land in this
Province of Pennsylvania, and known by the name of the
Francfort Company) been made & Constituted their At-
torney, and still being concerned as Copartner with them,
to clear my Conscience (as touching the administration of
their sd estate) before all People to whom the reading

THE SETTLEHENT OF CERriA/NTOVM.

SEAL OF FA5T0R1US.

EMLflRGED.

FROM ft CONTEnrORARY DEED IN THE COLLECTION Of THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF FEN NSYLURNI ft.

The Cheats and the Projectors. 75

hereof may come, as I always endeavoured to keep the
same void of offence towards the all seeing Eyes of God,
am, if it were, constrained to publish their short relation
for as much as the aforesd Francfort Company is at present
ejected out of their 25000 acres of land, summo jure, i, e,
summa Injuria, by extreme right, extreme wrong. Now
Intending Brevity, I shall let my Reader know that the sd
Company being all persons of approved Integrity «& learn-
ing became, at least some of them, personally acquainted
with our Worthy Proprietary & Governr. William Penn,
and purchased of him at a full rate the abovementioned
25000 acres, & in the very infancy of this Province dis-
bursed large sums of money for the transporting of Ser-
vants Tenants and others ; and that I, according to the
best of my poor ability, (as many of the primitive Inhabitants
& settlers yet surviving Swedes Dutch and English may
testify) administered their affairs 17 years and a half. But
conscious of my weakness, have often requested them to
disburden me of this Load of theirs I took on my Shoulders
by their frequent assurance to be behind my heels into this
Countrey as soon as the Ice was broken. Whereupon the
heirs of the sd first purchasers did appoint in my room
Daniel Falkner, John Kelpius, & John Jawert, N B to act
JOINTLY and not SEVERALLY. However when the
sd John Kelpius had a forecast in what channel things
would run he with all speed in a certain Instrument (of
George Lowther's device who was the first Lawyer that
unhappily got an hand into the Companies business) de-
clared his Unwillingness to be any further concerned
therein, and therefore termed Civiliter Mortuus. Then
Daniel Falkner & John Jawert acted in the dual number as
the sd Companies Attornies for some few years.

For the sd Jawert being married and settled in Marie-
land, Falkner turned into such a spendthrift and Ever-
drunk-Ever-dry that he made Bonefires of the Companies
flax in open street at Germantown, giving a bit of silver
money to one Lad for lighting his Tobacco-pipe, and a
piece of eight to another for show'ing him a house in Phila-
delphia, which in his sober fits he knew as well as his own.

76 The Settlement of Germantown.

Hereupon his Joint- Attorney John Jawert affixed an adver-
tisement at the Meeting house of Germantown aforesd,
dated the 9th of November 1705, wherein he forewarned
all persons who had any Rent or other Debt to pay unto
the sd Company to forbear the paying thereof &c. And
all was asleep, as Dormice do in winter, till about two
years agoe, one John Henry Sprogel arrived in this Prov-
ince, who being he, that b}^ the Collusion and treachery of
the sd Daniel Falkner, by the wicked assistance of the Pro-
jectors to be hereafter to be spoken of, has through I know
not what Fiction of the Law Ejected the sd Company out
of their real estate of 25000 acres, I think it not amiss to
give some little account of him. His parents I hear are of
a good report and to be pittied for such a Scandal to their
Family. This Degenerate and Prodigal Child came for
the first time into this Province in anno 1700, and quickly
owing more than he was worth, went over to his native
land in order to procure some cash of his Father whom he
said to be a rich Bishop on that side. In his return he
was taken by the French & carried to Dunkerk, whence
he escaped with an empty Brigantine into Holland, and by
the (now repented of) Recommendation of Benjamin
Furly & his Bookkeeper, H. L., found so much Credit
with John Van der Gaegh, Merchant at Rotterdam &
others as to bee Intrusted with a deal of goods. After he
departed out of harms way in that country, and could not
be found when search'd for, in England, he came at last
to Philada and there took his oath (as I am credibly in-
formed) that all the said goods were his own directly or
indirectly. Some of the Germantown people then visiting
this their great Countryman and inquiring for letters were
looked upon as Slaves, he being the only Anglified in all
the Province of Pennsilvania. Howbeit none of us all (I
beleeve) will ever have such a base and disloyal heart
towards our Soveraign Lady the Queen of Great Britain
as to get his Naturalization by the like disingenuous knack
as he did, viz. : — to borrow a key & wear another man's
coat as though it were his own &c.

But to return to the Francfort Companies Concern, he

The Cheats and the Projectors. 77

the aforesd John Henry Sprogel having along with him
a Letter of Attorney from the sd Benjamin Furly ( after-
wards though post festum revoked ) sold 1000 acres of
land, part of the sd Furly's purchase in this Province, unto
David Lloyd at a reasonable price so as to have his Irrea-
sonable advice in Law for the most unjust Entry upon the
Companies land. For he the sd Sprogel, finding no means
to satisfy his Old and Just Debts, was forced to find a new
and untrodden way of Clearing his Scores, and to play the
Gentleman sprung out of a Grocer's Shop. Therefore
among a Swarm of tedious lies (wherewith I dare not
trouble the Reader) he also spread this, that he stroke a
bargain for the Companies land with Doctor Gerhard van
Mastricht, one of Copartners, of whom I but newly re-
ceived an extreme kind Letter to the clean Contrary
thereof. Moreover the sd Sprogel to pacify the above-
mentioned John Jawert, who likewise had a share in the sd
Company, proffered unto him 700 Pounds Pennsilvania
Silver money for the land, and 100 Pounds besides as a
Gratuity to himself &c. But he the sd Jawert being too
honest for an Imposture and Bribe of this black stamp,
Sprogel was driven to that Extremity (hap what may and
let Frost & Fraud have hereafter as foul ends as they will)
that he must now obtain the 25000 Acres & Arrears of
Quitrents due to the Francfort Company solely & alone of
Daniel Falkner, who plunged in needlessly contracted
debts over head «& ears, could expect no gladder tidings (as
he said himself) than the same Proffer made unto him.

Here David Lloyd (whom to name again I am almost
ashamed) comes in very gingerly to play his Roll FIC-
TIONEM JURIS AD REIPSA DETRUDENDOS
VEROS POSSESSORES, the which nevertheless it seems
he was not bold-faced enough to do in his proper Clothes,
but one Tho : Macknamara a Lawyer, if it were, started
up for the purpose out of Marieland, (for a couple of Peri-
wigs which he himself told me was all the Fee he had of
this his brave Client for blushing in this Case) must be
Nominally inserted in the Ejectment, lending like once the
Cat her Paws to a more Crafty Creature for the drawing

^8 The Settlement of Gerniantown.

of the rested Chestnuts from off the glowing coals. If any
demand how this D — LP^ and Macknamara could possibly
in so horrible a manner Circumvent the County Court, I
suppose the fittest Answer I can Give to this Question is
what Judge Grouden declared before our honourable Lieu-
tenant Governor sitting in Council, viz : that at the tail of
the Court Daniel Falkner and John Henry Sprogel did ap-
pear and the aforenamed d — 11 and M. laid the matter
before the Court, and none there to object anything &c
(For this cheating trick was managed so Clandestinely that
I and John Jawert were altogether ignorant thereof and
when Tho : Clark the Qiieen's Attorney then present in
Court did but rise, the others suspecting he might say
somewhat in Obstruction of their hainous design, was
gently pull'd down by the Sleeve and promised 40 shillings
to be quiet, when he had nothing to offer) Thus they
Surprised the Court and ob-et-subreptitie compassed the
ejectment. Three days after the breaking up of the afresd
Court I heard of this unhandsom Juggle and gave Intelli-
gence thereof to John Jawert, who forthwith came up and
putt in his Humble Bequest to our well respected Lieuten-
ant Govrnr and his honble Council, we had the sd Tho :
Clark assigned to pleade our Cause and so Jawert paid him
a Fee of ten Pounds, but to this day the sd Sprogel still
stirs his stumps in the Companies lands & Rents with-
out the least controlment. Since all this there arrived
divers letters from beyond the Sea, deciphering pretty fully
abundance of the detestable gulleries whereby the sd
Sprogel ensnared & trepan'd the Simplicity of upright &
Plaindealing people in Holland, admonishing him not to
persist in his Evildoings but to Confess and make repara-
tion to the defrauded, if not fourfold as penitent Zaccheus
did, yet so far as his ill gotten griff-graff gains would
reach &c &c. And further there came also fresh Letters
of Attorney from all the Partners of the Francfort Com-
pany, Living in Germany, Impowering some very able
Men in Philada to redress their so horribly distressed Es-

63 To ensure its not being overlooked, I call attention to this pun upon
the names of David Llojd and the Devil.

Death of Pas tortus, 79

tate in this Province by one worse than the worst Land-
Pirate in the world could have done, the which I hope they
will undertake and heartily wish, that the Lord (who is
called a Father to the Fatherless and a Judge of the
Widows, whereof there are at this instant several in the
abovesd Company) may prosper their just Proceedings,
and all, who reverence Righteousness and Equity counte-
nance them therein, and not be partakers of the Spoil, nor
of the Curse entailed thereon with the aforesd John Henry
Sprogel, for whom notwithstanding the foreign discovery
of his unheard of Villanies I retain that sincere Love as to
pray God Almighty to Convict & Convert him of «& from
his Perverseness, that he may foresake his diabolical lies,
pride, bragging and boasting, and not longer continue the
Vassal of Satan and heir of Hell, but become a child of
Heaven and a follower of Christ, our ever-blessed Saviour,
who as he is truth itself so likewise meek and lowly in
heart, leading out of all cozening Practices into the way of
holiness and eternal Felicity.

On the 25th of November, 1688, Pastorius married in
Germantown Anna Klostermann, daughter of Dr. Hend-
rich Klostermann, of the Duchy of Cleves, and they had
two sons, Johann Samuel, born March 30, 1690, and Hein-
rich, born April i, 1692. He died February 27, 1719.
There is no stone to mark his grave and no man knows
where his bones lie. But Howell Powell, a Welshman, on
the 2ist of the 3d month, 1720, gave forth these enthusi-
astic verses to commemorate his merits :

What Francis Daniel Pastorius

Hath tane his flight from hence to Olympus

Lost to his Posterity, ye Germantown Specially

Loss (tho' great gains to him) it was to many,

The Hermes, Glory, Crown and Linguists gone

Who oft interpreted Teutonick Tongue,

The Scribe and Tutor, German's Polar Guide,

8o The Settlement of Germantown,

An Antiquarian that was far from pride

Religious, Xealous Amanuensis ;

An Universal Man in Arts Sciences,

Who lov'd his Friends : the Britains ; yea all Nations

Zealous for the Truth, full of Compations,

Ah ! may Germanopolis be agen supplied

Of that great Loss ; their Honour once, their Guide

A wise Achilles as he was be sent

Lowly, Lovely, Learn' d, Lively, Still Content,

Now free from Cares, Dire Troubles that attend

This brittle Case, the Heavenly Qiiire, befriend

Him still ; Joyes in the Glorious Lamb, alone

Seeth the Beatifick vision

You his Family offspring take Example

By Francis, Just Sincere & Truly Humble

Tho you condole the Loss of 's Company

He got a better ; be Content thereby

Tho many lost a Friend ; He got ; yet they

Rejoyce that he hath Nobler still for ay.

Tho dead to his Corporal Form, that Sleep, He Live

In Immortality needs no Reprieve.

Vade Diis Superis scandere Culmen Olymp
Francisce ae que vale, tu cape, carpe viam,
Opto simul quaeris vestigia recta sequi
Te pedibus verbis, te simul ; esse bonos.

And a greater than Howell, William Penn, wrote in
1698-99 this merited encomium: " Irenarcha, hoc anno
est aut nuperrime fuit, alias vir sobrius probus prudens
et pius spectatae inter omnes inculpataeque famae."

CHAPTER IV.

Letters Home.

Letter from Francis Daniel Pastorius,
March 7, 1684."^

C\'(^N order to fulfil my due
obligations, as well as my
promise, on setting out, I
shall state somewhat circum-
stantially, how and what I have
found and observed in this
land, and, while not ignorant
that through varying reports
of these much is brought to
light, I state at the beginning
that with impartial pen, and
without purpose to deceive, I
will faithfully relate the dis-
comforts of the journey and the
poverty of this province, as
well as the riches of the same, which have been almost too

Arms of William Penn.

^* I am indebted for the above letter to the Rev. \Vm. J. Hinke, vrho
quite recently discovered it in one of the Continental libraries. Extracts
from it appear in the Geographische Beschreibung and are elsewhere used
in this volume, but it is so filled with hitherto unknown and graphic de-
tails that it is here translated in its entirety.

82 The Settlement of Germantown.

highly praised by others. Then I ask nothing more in my
little corner of the earth than to walk in the footsteps of
Him who is the Way, and to follow His wholesome teach-
ing, because He is the Truth, in order that I may forever
be joined to Him in life eternal.

(I) I will therefore begin with the sea voyage which is
dangerous indeed on account of possible shipwreck to be
feared, as well as unpleasant on account of the coarse and
hard ship fare, so that from my own personal experience I
can much better understand what David says in the 107th
Psalm that on ship board one can search out and learn of
not only the wonderful works of the Lord but also the
spirit of storm. Concerning my journey hither, on the
tenth of June, I sailed from Deal, with four men servants,
two maids, two children and one young lad.®* We had on
the whole way mostly unfavorable wind, not twelve con-
secutive hours of favorable wind, much storm, and tempest.
Also the foremast broke into two pieces, so that we reached
here in not less than ten weeks ; but sat cito^ si sat bene, —
considering that it seldom happens that any arrive much
more promptly. The people from Crefeld, who reached
here October 6th, were just ten weeks on the sea, and the
ship that started from Deal with ours, was fourteen days
longer on the way and some of the people died. Certain
people from Crefeld also between Rotterdam and Eng-
land lost a grown daughter, whose loss however was re-
placed by the birth of two children. Upon our ship no
one died and no one was born. Almost all of the passen-

^ It will be observed that by omitting the English maid who had left
him and adding the others on this list to the thirty-three persons from
Crefeld, we get the forty-two residents of Germantown mentioned later in
this letter. Dilbeck was a member of the German Reformed church
and a weaver. His wife was Mary Blomerse. See the valuable papers of
Henry S. Dotterer in his Historical Notes Upon the Reformed Church.

Fare on the Ship. 83

gers were seasick for several days, but I, when not more
than four hours out was upset by other accidents, for the
two carved lions over our ship's clock struck me right on
the back, and on July 9th, during a storm at night, I fell
so violently upon the left side that for some days I was
obliged to keep my bed. These two accidents especially
recall to me the first fall, which was passed down to all
posterity, by our early progenitors in Paradise ; also many
of those which I have experienced in this sad valley of my
exile per varios casus, etc., but praised be the fatherly
hand of divine mercy which so often upholds and restrains
us, so that we do not quite fall into the abyss of evil.
Gorg Wertmiiller also fell heavily. Thomas Gasper was
badly hurt. The English maid had the erysipelas and
Isaac Dilbeck, who otherwise, according to external ap-
pearances, was the strongest, lay below longer than any-
one else. I had also a little ship-hospital, as I alone of the
Germans had taken my berth among the English. How a
companion aboard was careless, and how our ship was
made to tremble by the repeated attacks of a whale, I re-
lated in detail last time. The fare on board was very bad.
We lived nicdice ac niodicc. Every ten persons received
each week three pounds of butter ; daily four cans of beer,
and two cans of water ; at noon every day in the week, meat,
and fish three days at noon, which we had to dress with our
own butter ; and every day we had to keep enough from our
dinner to make our supper upon. The worst of all was
that our meat and fish were both so salty and so strong
smelling, that we could scarcely half enjoy them. And
if I had not prepared myself at the advice of good friends
in England, with various kinds of refreshment, it might
very likely have gone badly with me. Therefore it is well
to suggest to those who wish to come here in the future that

8_i The Settlement of Gei'mantozun,

they either, when there are many of them, provide their
own fare, or else make definite arrangements with the cap-
tain, in regard to both quantity and quality, how much and
what kind they shall daily receive ; and, in order to bind
him to this the more closely, one should leave unpaid some
little from the cost of his passage, also when possible
should have himself bound over to such a ship which sails
to this town of Philadelphia, since those who are left lying
in Upland, undergo many trials.

My company on board consisted of many kinds of people.
There was one D. Mediconae with his wife and eight chil-
dren, a French captain, a pastry-cook,'^*' an apothecary, a
glassblower, mason, smith, cartwright, joiner, cooper, hat-
ter, shoemaker, tailor, gardener, peasants, seamstresses,
etc., in all about eighty people in the ship's company.
These differ not onl}^ in their ages (our oldest woman was
sixty years old, the youngest child only twelve weeks) and
in their occupations just mentioned, but they were also of
such different religions and stations that I might not un-
suitably compare the ship which brought them hither,
with the Ark of Noah, in which were found not more un-
clean beasts than clean (reasonable). In my company I
have fallen in with the Romish Church, with the Lutheran,
with the Calvinistic, with the Anabaptist and with the
English, and only one Quaker.

On the nth of Aug. we for the first time took a sound-
ing and found that we were close upon the great sand bank,
and accordingly, in order to sail around it, we must go
back for over one hundred miles out of our course.

On the i6th of the same month (August, 1683) with
much joy we came into sight of America, and on the iSth
in the morning entered Delaware Bay, which is thirty

^5 Cornelius Bom. ( ?)

William Penn. 85

English miles long and fifteen wide, while of such un-
equal depth that while our ship drew thirteen feet of water,
we several times ran aground in the sand.

On the 20th we passed New Castle and Upland and
Dimicum, and arrived in the dusk of evening, praised be
God, happily in Philadelphia. There, on the following day
I gave over to W. Penn the writings which I had with me,
and was received by him with affectionate friendliness ; of
which very worthy gentleman and praiseworthy ruler, I
should speak suitably.

(II) My pen (although it is from an eagle, which a so
called savage recently brought into my house) is much too
weak to express the lofty merits of this Christian, for
such he is indeed. He invited me very often to his table,
also to walk and ride in his always elevating society ; and
when I was last away from here for eight days, to bring
victuals from New Castle, and he had not seen me for that
length of time, he came himself to my little house, and
requested that I should still come two or three times to his
home, as his guest. He was very fond of the Germans
and once said openly in my presence to his councillors and
attendants : The Germans I am very fond of and wish
that you should love them also ; although I never at any
other time heard a similar command from him ; but these
pleased me the more because they entirely conform to the
command of God (vid. I John 31. 23). I can now say no
more than that Will. Penn is a man who honors God, and
is by Him honored in return, who loves good, and is by
all good men rightly loved, etc. I do not doubt that others
will yet come here and learn by experience that my pen
has not written enough in this direction.

(III) About the condition of the land I must in the
future after one or more years acquaintance, state some-

86 The Settlement of Gerniantown.

thing more definite. The Swedes and Dutch who have cul-
tivated the same for twenty-five years and more, are in this
instance, as in most others, of two opinions, laudatur ab his,
culpatur ab illis. It is certain that the ground soil lacks
nothing in fertility, and will here, as well as in Europe, re-
ward the labor of our hands, if we work upon and manure
it, which two things it most needs. The above-mentioned
old inhabitants are poor economists, have neither barns nor
stalls, let their grain lie unthreshed under the open sky for
several years, and let their cattle, horses, cows, swine, etc.,
run summer and winter through the thickets, though they
derive little benefit therefrom. Surely the penance which
God inflicted upon Adam that he should eat his bread in
the sweat of his brow, extends also to his descendants in
this land, and they who wish to spare their hands may re-
main where they are. Hie opus, hie labor est and there
is no money without the disposition to work. (Swiss pro-
vincialism of to-day for " arbeiten" says " wercken ") for
it slips through the fingers, and I may say with Solomon ;
It has wings. During the past year very many people
both from England and Ireland, as well as from Barbados
and other American islands have come here, and this
province did not produce sufficient means of subsistence
for such an influx, wherefore all food became rather dear,
and almost all the money went for the same out of the land.
Nevertheless we hope in time to have a greater abundance
of both, for W. Penn will coin money, and agriculture will
be better established, etc. Farmers and laborers are most
needed here, and I wish I had a dozen strong Tyrolese
here to cut down the massive oak trees ; for wherever one
turns it may be said : Itur in antiquam sylvam. There is
everywhere only forest, and little open space to be found,
in which, as in other respects, my previously cherished

Products of the Soil, 87

hope was vain, for in truth, in these wild orchards there
are no apples at all nor pears. And through this very cold
winter no game is to be found. The wild grapes are quite
small, and better to eat than to make wine from. The
walnuts have exceedingly thick shells, and small kernels,
so that they are scarcely worth the trouble of opening them ;
but the chestnuts and hazelnuts are somewhat better. Also
the peaches, apples and pears are very good, and are not
to be complained of, except that there are not as many of
them as some desire, etc. On the other hand there are
more rattle snakes (whose sting is deadly) in the land,
than we like, etc. I must yet add this little tanquam testis
oculatus, that on the i6th of October beautiful violets were
found in the woods ; Item. After I came to the town of
Germantown on the 24th of October, and on the 25th of
the same month, when I was coming back here with seven
others, we came upon, on the way, a wild vine running over
a tree, upon which hung about four hundred clusters of
grapes, wherefore we thereupon cut down the tree, all eight
of us had enough, and each one carried a hatful home. Item.
When I was dining with W. Penn on the 25th of Aug.,
after the meal was finished, there was brought in a single
root of barley, which had grown here in a garden, and had
on it fifty stalks. But all grain does not bear in that pro-
portion, it is as the proverb says : One swallow does not
make a summer. However I do not doubt that in the
future there will be more examples of such fertility, when
we earnestly put these to the plow. I regret the vines,
which I brought with me because, while we were still in
Delaware Bay, they were soaked in sea water, and all but
two were spoiled. The oft mentioned W. Penn has
planted a vineyard of French vines, whose growth it is a
pleasure to look upon, and which brought to my recol-
lection, when I saw them, the one of Cap. Johannis.

88 The Settlement of Germantown.

(IV) Philadelphia daily increases in the number of its
houses, and in population ; now there is being built also a
house of correction in order that those who do not wish to
live as Philadelphians should, may be disciplined, for there
are some here, to whom applied what our dear friend said
in his letters, namely that we have more trouble with bad
Christians here than with the Indians. Further, here and
there towns are being built. Beside our own one by name
Franckfurt, about half an hour from here, is beginning to
be started, where also a mill and glass factory are built.
Not far from there, namely, two hours from here, lies our
Germantown, where already forty-two people live in twelve
homes, who are for the most part linen weavers, and not
much given to agriculture. These honest people spent all
their means on their journey, so that where provision was
not made for them by W. Penn, they were obliged to serve
others. They have by repeated wanderings back and
forth made quite a good road all the way to the said Ger-
mantown. And I can say no more for this than that it lies
upon black rich earth, and is girt half way round with
pleasant springs, as with a natural wall. The main street
is sixty feet broad, and the cross street forty, and each
family has an estate of three acres, etc.

(V) In regard to the inhabitants, I can do no better
than divide them into the natural and the cultivated. For,
if I called the former savages, and the latter Christians, I
would be unjust to many of both races. Of the latter, I
have already explained that the sailing ship was not to be
compared to any thing but Noah's Ark. The Lutheran
preacher who wants to show the Swedes the way to heaven
like a statue of Mercury, is, in a word, a drunkard. Simi-
larly there are false coiners, and other vicious persons here,
whom however the breath of God's wrath will haply

Indians.

scatter like chaff, at his good time. Of pious God-fearing
people there is also, no lack, and I can assert in all truth
that nowhere in Europe have I seen, as in our Philadel-
phia, the notice : Such and such a thing has been found,
the loser may apply ; often also the opposite : Such and
such a thing has been lost, whoever returns it shall receive
a reward ; etc. Concerning these first cultivated foreigners
I will say no more now than that among them are found
some Germans who have already been in this country twenty
years and so have become, as it were, naturalized, namely
people from Schleswig, Brandenburg, Holstein, Switzer-
land, etc, also, one from Nuremberg, Jan Jacquet by name,
but will briefly give some in-
formation concerning these
per errorem called savages.
The first which came to my
notice were the two who at
Upland came up to our ship
in a canoe. I presented
them with a drink of brandy,
which they wished to pay for
with half a kopfstuck, and
when I refused this money,
they took my hand and said,

thanks, brother. They are Arms of the jacquet family of
strong of limb, dark in body, Nuremberg.

and they dye their faces red, blue, etc in many ways.
They go in summer quite naked, except for a cloth worn
about the loins, and now in winter they hang duffels over
themselves. They have coal black hair, but the Swedish
children born here have snow white hair, etc. I was once
dining with W. Penn when one of their kings was sitting
with us at table, when W. Penn said to him (for he could

go The Settletnent of Germantown.

speak their language pretty readily) that I was a German,
etc. He came on the 3rd of October, as also on the 12th
of December there came another king and queen to my
house. In like manner man}? of the common people come
over to me very often to whom I almost always show my
regard by a piece of bread and drink of beer, by which an
affection is in turn aroused in them, and they everywhere
call me German and Carissimo (that is Brother). N. B.
Their speech is manly and partakes a little of the gravity
of the Italian, as I had thought, etc. Concerning their
nature and character, one must divide them, so to speak,
into those who have for some time been in communication
with the socalled Christians, and those who have just
begun to creep out of their holes. Now the former are
craft}^ and deceitful, for which they have to thank the
above-mentioned mouth-Christians, semper enim aliquid
haeret. Such a one recently offered me his belt as a
pledge and assurance that he would bring me a turkey,
but he brought me instead an eagle and tried to persuade
me that it was a turkey, etc. When I assured him how-
ever that I had seen more eagles, he motioned to a Swede
who was standing by, that he had done it to deceive, with
the idea that we had just come to the country, and I would
probably be not well acquainted with such birds. Another
one tried the brandy in my flask thus : he stuck his finger
in, and then stuck it into the fire, to see if there was water
mixed with it, etc etc. The latter, on the other hand are
of an honest nature, harm no one, and we have nothing at
all to fear from them. One thing recently sank deep into
my heart when I thought of the earnest warning of our
Saviour that we His disciples should take no thought for
the morrow, because thus the heathen do. Alas, thought
I to myself, how everything is reversed ! If we Christians

Health of Settlers. 91

had not provided for a month or more, how discouraged
we would be ! While these heathen cast their care on God
with such wonderful trustfulness. Just then I was watch-
ing four of them eating together, the earth was at once
their table and bench, pumpkins cooked in pure water,
without butter or seasoning, their only dish, their spoons
were mussel-shells, from which they supped the warm
water, and their plates were oak leaves, which they did not
have to wash after the meal, nor to take care of in case they
needed them again. Ah, worthy friend, let us learn from
these people the blessedness of fearing nothing, that they
may not put us to shame one day before the judgment stool
of Jesus Christ, etc etc.

Of the persons who came here with me already half a
dozen have died, but I and mine have throughout the whole
time been in healthy condition, with good appetites, except
that Isaac Dilbeck for eight days has been somewhat
poorly, and Jacob Schumacher on the ist of October cut
his foot badly with an axe and could not work for a week,
etc. Of the people from Crefeld, no one has died except
the aged mother of Herman op de Graef, who having had
enough of these earthly vanities, soon after her arrival
here went to enjoy the heavenly bliss. Abraham Tunes'
(our tenant's) wife was lying very ill in my little house for
more than two months, was for a long while unconscious,
but improved gradually from day to day.

Now concerning the land bought : This is divided into
three kinds, namely fifteen thousand acres together in one
piece, along a navigable water. In the second place, three
hundred acres in the City Liberties which strip of land is
between the Delaware and Scollkill. Thirdly, three lots
in the city to build houses upon. When, after my arrival,
I went to W. Penn to make out warrants for the said three

92 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

kinds, and to take them into possession, his first answer
was concerning this ;

I. The three lots in the town and the three hundred acres
in the Liberties could not come to them because they were
bought after he W. Penn had already started from Eng-
land, and the books at London were closed, etc., but after
I had represented to him that they were the forerunners
of all Germans, and therefore to have more consideration
etc, he let me measure off at the edge of the town three
adjacent lots, from his younger son's portion.

etc. 12 II, lo 98 7 65 43 2 I

The double line represents the Delaware River, on which
the town lies, the numbers, the following houses, and farm
houses: i. Schwed Schwan. 2. The Lutheran Church.
3. The Pastor's house. 4. An English man. 5. Schwed
Anders. 6. Will Penns youngest son. 7. The
8. Philip Fort. 9. The Society and their Trading house.
10. The Inn of the blue Anchor. 11. James Claypoole.
12 etc. are other houses whose naming is here unnecessary.
They lie thus along the Delaware, for it is a wide street,
upon which follows our first lot, one hundred feet wide and
four hundred long, at the end of which comes a street, then
our second lot, also of the same width and length. Further
another street and then our third lot. Thus there can be
built upon each one two houses in front, and two behind,
directly alongside of each other, in all twelve houses upon
the three lots, with their courts, properly, all of which front
upon the street etc. But we must necessarily build, within
two years, in order that such lots be not lost, three houses,
that is one on each lot. I have already upon the first, together

Lands. 93

with our servant put up a little house one-half under the earth
and half above, which is indeed only thirty feet long, and
fifteen broad, but when the people from Crefeld were lodg-
ing with me, it could accommodate twenty persons. Upon
the window made of oiled paper, over the door I wrote,
Parva Domus sed amica bonis procul este profani ! — ,which
W. Penn read not long ago and was pleased with. Be-
sides this I dug a cellar seven feet deep, twelve wide, and
twenty long, on the Delaware stream, and am now busy
building a stable. All three lots are cleared of the trees,
which I have been cutting down nightly for some nights
past, and I am going to sow them with Indian corn. N. B.
It is especially difficult and costly to clear all the land,
but we cannot do without it on account of the horses, cattle,
and pigs which run loose. Also one cannot the first year
in such a new land raise rye, only Indian (or as you call
it Turkish) corn, which neither tastes as good nor satisfies.
(2) Concerning the three hundred acres in the city Lib-
erties, I have given W. Penn much pressure and especially
urged that B. Furly had promised them in sale to us, etc.
But for a long while he would not agree to it because none
had been set aside for city Liberties when he was in Eng-
land, except to purchasers of five thousand acres among
whom the Germans were not included. At last only a few
days ago, when I again delivered a memorial to him, he
gave me the friendly answer that he from special favor,
would have me receive those three hundred acres, but that
he would have nothing more sold to any one, whosoever
he might be, again, after the closing of the books. So I
intend as soon as possible to start Indian corn here on these
three hundred acres (which are not half an hour's distance
from this town) in order the better to keep cows and pigs,
and to raise more produce, and thus to help those who
come after me.

94 The Scttloncnt of Germantown.

(3) In regard to the fifteen thousand acres, two great
difficulties present themselves, namely that W. Penn does
not want to give them all in one tract, so that so great an
extent of land will not be desert and vacant ; also he does
not want it along the Delaware River, where everything is
already taken up by others. However, after I had many
times by word of mouth as well as by writing represented
that it would be very prejudicial for us and our German
descendants, to be put under the English and had shown
him the communications of B. Furly and his letters to W.
Penn, in which he had promised other things to our nation,
etc, he at last granted in a warrant that we should have
our land altogether, in case we would, within a year's
time, place thirty families upon the fifteen thousand acres,
namely three townships, each of ten households, in which
the three which are already here, are to be reckoned, (but
in case there are not thirty families, he will not promise to
give the land all in one tract) . I for my part would well
wish that we might have a separate little province, and be
so much the more free from all oppression. Now if one
of you might be free in himself to come here, and bring
with him so many families, your own good would be in-
comparably advanced thereby. He, W. Penn said to me
just day before yesterday, substantially that in this case,
he would favor you before all English men who have al-
ready bought, but are not yet here, and would grant cer-
tain privileges to our new Franckenland (as he called the
land assigned to us). But if it turned out to be too diffi-
cult to transport so many families in so short a time, my
earnest suggestion would hold good, that the friend from

should take from you a few thousand acres, and help

hither several households from their great overflow, in
order that the fifteen thousand acres should remain undi-

Germantozvn. 95

vided, and not occasional English neighbors come between
us ; at the same time he will not give it too far away from
his town, namely on the ScoUkill above the Falls, where
he himself expects to build a house, and to set up for him-
self a little dominion. The land along the river is rather
hilly, and not good for the cultivation of the vine, but
further in it is level and fruitful. The greatest trouble is
that one cannot go above the falls and rocky cliffs with
any boat except after heavy rains, and then not without
danger, etc. Now in the meantime I could not know
what you might decide to do about it ; also, about these
oftmentioned fifteen thousand acres. They cost thirty-eight
pound sterling, that is five shillings for every hundred acres,
according to the measurement of this country, which money
I had not at hand, and must wait until I had heard your in-
structions in order not to overstep the limits of my power
of attorney. But that I might show the three families
which had arrived to their six hundred acres I have taken
up together with the Crefelders (who bought eighteen
thousand acres and being all of them here could not get
their land in one tract), six thousand acres in one town-
ship, of which they have three thousand, and we three
thousand. This town I founded on the 24th of October,
and called it Germantoxun. It lies only two hours from
here, upon fruitful soil, and near pleasant springs, which
I have already mentioned. This I had to do because W.
Penn would give to no one his portion separately, but all
must dwell together in townships or towns, and this not
without excellent reasons, the most important of which, is
that in this way the children are kept at school, and are
much more conveniently trained well. Neighbors also
offer each other a kind and helping hand, and with united
voices, can in open assembly praise and honor and mag-

96 The Settlement of Germantown.

nify God's goodness. N. B. You can therefore appropri-
ate only one hundred acres to the famiHes which you bring
over in the future, and still have almost as much inherit-
ance etc.

In regard to my household, I should like to arrange it
in good German style in which Jacob Schumacher and the
old Swiss are very serviceable, but the Hollanders, who
are with me, are not of much use in it, especially the maid
who will not agree to live with the English one ; The latter
will leave, because she cannot get along so well with her
two children, or take them to another husband. I ver}^
much desire as soon as possible to bring here a German
maid, whom I can trust better than I can do now, alas !

Now, if you wish that your hope should not be disap-
pointed, send only Germans, for the Hollanders (as sad
experience has taught me) are not so easily satisfied, which
in this new land is a very necessary quality, etc. I have
no carpenter among m}^ servants. There must be a few
sent therefore, for the building of houses, and it may be of
use to you to know in making your contract with them,
that the daily wages here are much lowered, and they
receive no more daily, beside their board, than two Kopf-
stiicke, although most of them do not work for that, and
prefer to leave the country. N. B. There is a certain
pay fixed for all tradesmen. Also the half of the mer-
chant's goods must be gain although indeed there is proba-
bly little profit to be made by these in two or four years as
the Society is sufficiently aware ; for (i) every new comer
brings with him so many clothes and goods that he needs
nothing for several years. (2) There is here very little
money while the desire for it with many is so much the
greater. On the sixteenth of November there was a yearly
market in our Philadelphia at which however I spent only

Trades. py

a few pounds sterling. (3) One can find no return at all
of goods from this country to England, etc. W. Penn in-
tended very especially to establish weaving and vine cul-
ture. Send us, therefore, when you have a good oppor-
tunity some good vines of whose bearing there will be no
doubt. — Item. All kinds of field and garden seeds, espe-
cially lentils and millet, etc. Also N. B. some large iron
cooking pots and some double-boilers ; item, one iron
stove ; because the winters here are mostly as cold as with
you and the rough north wind much stronger. Item, some
bed covers or mattresses, as I brought no more with me
than just what I needed and have already taken one more
servant. Finally will you also send here some pieces of
Barchet and Osnaburg linen cloth. It can be sold with
great advantage, etc. A tanner can begin his trade with
great advantage as we can obtain enough skins in the
country around us, exchanging one dressed for two un-
dressed and also keep the best for a pair of shoes etc. But
a certain amount of capital must be employed for it ; and
then, through a little money scattered in a short time a
rich harvest would be reaped. Reflect on this with due
consideration. The two most necessary things are i, to
build upon the lots in this town comfortable houses, which
may be leased for a good deal of money, and yearly twelve
per cent, may be made, 2, to found a tile bakery for which
W. Penn has promised to give us a suitable place, for as
long as we bake no stone, our building is entirely of wood.
Other tradesmen may still wait several years etc. etc.

To the four questions I give these brief answers; (i)
W. Penn has laid a good foundation for a wise rule and
published from time to time useful la,ws. (2) He keeps
up neighborly friendship with all governors around him.
He also hopes that the threatening contention with Baldi-

pS The Settlement of Germantown.

mor will as soon as possible be brought to a close and re-
moved by royal decree. (3) The said W. Penn is loved
and praised by all people ; even the old vicious inhabitants
must recognize that they have never seen such a wise ruler.
Oh, what strong and impressive sighs this dear man sent
up on the first day of this again recurring New Year
on high and to the throne of our Emmanuel, because the
true Philadelphia and brother love is not to be met with as
freely in this our Philadelphia, as he on his part desires,
and for the furthering of which he is industriously working
like a true father of his country. (4) The Indians (of
whose nature some little is stated in the foregoing) de-
crease in numbers here daily and withdraw several hun-
dred miles farther into the country etc.

Now perhaps you might ask whether I with a clear, un-
biased conscience would advise one and another of you to
travel hither. I answer with careful reflection that I would
very gladly from my heart have the advantage of your dear
presence : nevertheless if (i) you do not find in yourselves
the freedom of conscience and (2) you cannot resign your-
selves to the difficulties and dangers of the long journey
and (3) to the lack of most comforts to which you have
been accustomed in Germany such as stone houses, agree-
able food and drink etc. for one or two j^ears, then follow
my' advice and remain yet awhile where you are; but if
these above-mentioned considerations do not seem too hard
to you, then go, the sooner the better, out of the European
Sodom and think then of Lot's wife who indeed went for-
ward with her feet but left behind her heart and inclina-
tions. Oh, worthy friend, I wish indeed that with this
eagle's plume I could express to you the love I feel for you
and indeed convince you that it is not a mere lip love but
one which wishes more good to you than to myself. My

Indian Coin. 99

heart is bound unto yours in a bond of love. Let us now
grow together like trees which the right hand of God has
planted by streams of water so that we bring forth not only
leaves but fruit at the proper time, the fruit of repentance,
the fruit of peace, the fruit of justice. For of what ad-
vantage is such a useless tree, although the Gardener
spares it for some years longer, digs and works about it with
all care, he at last when it shows no improvement cuts
it down and casts it into the fire. Forgive me this com-
parison, dear friend. We find here daily such unfruitful
trees and cut them down and use them for firewood. It is
entirely a heartfelt warning which can do no harm. I
recommend you altogether to the divine influence without
which our fruitfulness is imperfect. May the Lord who
has given the will give also the fulfilment ! Amen.

I send enclosed a sample of the Indian coin in common
use here, of which six white ones and three black ones
make an English farthing ; and now certain Indians will
sell nothing more for silver money but will only be paid
in their own coin, because they for the most part are leav-
ing this country and want to retire several hundred miles
into the woods. Then they hold certain superstitions that
just as many Indians must die annually as there are Euro-
peans who come here, etc.

Now I have to state this, according to the measure of my
duty, and I take the greatest care to be truthful, of which
W. Penn and other honest people as well as my own con-
science, which I prize more than thousands, can give irre-
proachable witness. That it is pretty hard for me in this
expensive country, almost without provisions to take care of
so many servants and dependents, you can easily imagine ;
but trust in our Heavenly Father overcomes all things.

Give my hearty greeting to all my other acquaintances.

lOO The Settlement of Germantown.

Letter from Joris Wertmuller.^^

March i6th, 1684.

The blessing of the Lord be all times with you, dearly
beloved brother-in-law, Benedict Kunts, and your house-
hold companion and all good friends who shall inquire
for me, and especially all those who are from the land
of Berne. Through the Blessing of God I greet you all
very heartily, giving you to know that I arrived here in
good health, and God be praised ! — find myself still very
well, earnestl}' wishing that I may receive the same infor-
mation concerning you.

The city of Philadelphia covers a great stretch of country,
and is growing larger and larger. The houses in the
country are better built than those within the city. The
land is very productive, and raises all kinds of fruits. All
kinds of corn are sown. From a bushel of wheat, it is said,
you may get sixty or seventy, so good is the land. You can
keep as many cattle as you wish, and there is provender
enough for them and as many swine as you want, since
there are multitudes of oak trees, which produce an abund-
ance of acorns to make them fat, and other wild nuts. You
find here householders who have a hundred cows and in-
numerable hogs, so that a man can have as much pork as
he wants. There are all kinds of wild animals, such as
deer, roes, etc ; all kinds of birds, some tame and others
wild, by the thousand, together with an exceptionally great
quantity of fish. The land lies in a good climate and is
very healthy. You seldom see mists or fogs. There are
many great and small rivers that are navigable, beautiful
springs, fountains, mountains and valleys. The farmers
or husbandmen live better than lords. If a workman will

^' Biography of Hendrick Pannebecker, p. 27.

Needs of the Voyage. loi

only work four or five days in a week, he can live grandly.
The farmers here pay no tithes nor contributions. What-
ever they have is free for them alone. They eat the best
and sell the worst. You can find as many wild vineyards
as you wish, but no one troubles himself to look after their
safety or take care of them. The vines bear so many
bunches that from one vine many hundred bottles of wine
should be made. Handicraftsmen earn here much money,
together with their board and drink, which are very good.
The natives or Indians are blackish like the heathen, who
through Germany and Holland have disappeared. They
are stronger and haidier than the Christians, and very mild.
They go almost entirely naked, except that they cover their
loins. They use no money, except kraaltjcs and little shells
like those one finds on the bridles of the train horses in
Holland. If any one is inclined to come here, let him look
for a good ship-master, since he cannot believe everything
that they say. The freight from England to Pensilvania
is five pound sterling, about fifty-six Holland guldens, but I
should advise you rather to go with a Holland shipmaster
to Manhates, formerly called New Amsterdam, and now
New York, two or three days' journey from Pensilvania,
and I should advise you to take with you what you need
upon the ship, especially brandy, oranges, lemons, spices
and sugar since the sea maybe very trying. See that you
are well supplied with clothes and linen, and it will be
better than to have money, since what I bought in Holland
for ten guldens, I here sold again for thirty guldens ; but
you must not buy too dear.

I have written to my brother in Amsterdam that he
send me a chest full of clothes. If you or any one else
from the Hague, come here and are willing to bring it
along and take care of the transportation, I shall compen-

102 The Settlement of Germantown.

sate you well for your trouble. So if you bring or send to me
here one or two of my sons who are with my brother I shall
pay all the costs. If anyone can come here in this land at
his own expense, and reaches here in good health, he will
be rich enough, especially if he can bring his family or
some man-servants, because servants are here dear. Peo-
ple bind themselves for three or four years' service for a
great price, and for women they give more than for men
because they are scarce. A good servant can place
himself with a master for a hundred guldens a year and
board.

Brother-in-law B. K., if you come into these regions
bring a woman with you, and if you bring two for me,
Joris Wertmuller, I shall be glad, because then we shall live
like lords. My brother, who lives in Amsterdam, is named
Jochem Wertmuller. He lives in Ree Street in the Three
Gray Shoes. I have many more things to write to you,
but time does not permit. Meanwhile I commend you all
to God the Father Almighty, through our Lord and Sa-
viour Jesus Christ. Amen.

I, Joris Wertmuller, Switzer by birth, at present in Pen-
silvania.

N. B. If anyone comes in this land or wishes to write
letters, let them be addressed to Cornelius Bom in Pensil-
vania, in the city of Philadelphia, cake baker, who used to
live in Haarlem in Holland, and who came here in the
same ship with me and knows where in the country I
dwell.

Letter from Cornelius Bom, October 12, 1684.
Jan Laurens, well beloved friend :

I duly received yours of the 22nd of April, 1684, and
have read it through with heartfelt pleasure, as an evi-

Bom and Telncr. 103

dence of your love to me and to the Lord. Well, Jan, I
have not forgotten you since I have been away from you,
but you have many times been in my thoughts. I have

Miflfive van

CORNELIS BOM,

Gefchreven uic cle Scadt
PHILADELPHIA.

In de Ptovincie van

PENNSYLVANIA,

Lcggcndc op d'Ooftzydc van dc

Znyd R.cvicr van Nieuw l^ecjcdand,

l^crhalendedegroote VoortgAfik

vande fclve Provintie.

i&Mc gp fionte

Dc Getiiygenis van

JACOB TELNER.

van Aipfterdam.

Tot Rjottfrdam gedrykt , by Pieter vrj
Wijnbruggc, In dc Lccuweflracc 1 <^8 =

not written to you, but remembered you in the letter I sent
to Rotterdam. My business has been urgent, and I have
had little time for writing many letters. You want to

IC4 The Settlement of German town.

know how it goes with me here, and how I like it, and
whether things are prosperous with the people, and you
want to learn the condition of the country. Concerning
these things I should answer you briefly and truthfully as
follows : the country is healthful and fruitful, and the con-
ditions are all favorable for its becoming through the
blessing of the Lord and the diligence of men a good
land — better than Holland. It is not so good now but
daily grows better and better. The increase here is so
great that, I believe, nowhere in history can be found such
an instance of growth in a new country. It is as if the
doors had been opened for its progress. Many men are
coming here from many parts of the world, so that it will
be overflowed with the nations. Our Governor's authority
is respected by all and is very mild, so that I trust the
Lord will bless this land more if we continue to walk in
his way. The people in general have so far been pros-
perous in their business, so that those who are industrious
daily expect to do better and have reason to live in hope ;
but many have found it hard to get along, especially those
who did not bring much with them and those who went
into the land to clear it for themselves and did not go to
work for hire by the day. Many of those who have sat
down to their trades alone ^^ have had it somewhat hard.
Carpenters and masons have got along the best. During
the first year or two men spent what they had saved, but
now almost everything is improving. As for myself, I
went through and endured great diflSculties, unaccustomed
hardships and troubles before I got as far as I am now,
but now I am above many, in good shape, and do not
consider that I have less of my own than when I left Hol-

^ So that people who are far from the city can obtain necessary accom-
modations.

Prosperity. 105

land, and am in all respects very well-to-do. I have here
a shop of many kinds of goods and edibles ; sometimes I
ride out with merchandise and sometimes bring something
back, mostly from the Indians, and deal with them in many
things. I have no servants except one negro whom I
bought. I have no rent or tax or excise to pay. I have a
cow which gives plenty of milk, a horse to ride around,
my pigs increase rapidly, so that in the summer I had
seventeen when at first I had only two. I have many
chickens and geese, and a garden and shall next year have
an orchard if I remain well ; so that my wife and I are in
good spirits and are reaching a condition of ease and pros-
perity in which we have great hopes. But when we first
came it was pretty hard in many respects. Those who
come now come as in the summer in what there is to be
done, since now anj'-thing can be had for money. The
market is supplied with fresh mutton and beef at a reason-
able price, in a way that I would have not thought could
have occurred in so short a time. Sometimes there is a
good supply of partridges for half a stuiver apiece,
pigeons, ducks and teals, and fish in great quantities
in their seasons. There are not many roads yet made
in order to receive from and bring to market, but these
things are now beginning to get into order. In a few
years, if it continues in the same way, everything
here will be more plentiful than in other lands. The
commerce and trade are close at the door, to the Bar-
bados, Bermudas and other West India Islands that will
bring this country into a good condition. Time will best
show this to be the case. Nevertheless I do not advise
any one to come here.^^ Those who come ought to come

*5 And in this he acts wisely and with foresight, for how could any one
in such a matter, especially if unrequested, give advice : for it may hap-

io6 The Settlement of Germantoivn,

after Christian deliberation, with pure intentions in fear of
the Lord, so that the Lord may be their support, for be-
fore a man here reaches ease he must exercise great
patience, resignation and industry, the one as much as the
others. Therefore, whoever comes, let him come with a
constant mind, having his eyes fixed upon the commands
of the God above him. This none can do except those
who have the Lord with them in the matter and so are
cleansed from fleshly and worldly views and they have
good counsel by them in all things.

It is hard to them, if trials come, they look to the Lord
and are clear in themselves, so that to them all things are
for the best. For my own part I have no regrets that I
came here, but all the while we have a good hope that
everything was sent for my good, and being clear be-
fore the Lord that I have had no views which dis-
pleased him, and having faith in the great God over the
sea and the land. He has not forgotten me, but has shown
his fatherly care over me and mine. Truly he is a God
over those who are upright of heart and looks upon many
of their weaknesses leniently.

So, my dearly beloved friend, not knowing whether I
shall see your face in the flesh again, I take my leave of
you for the present in the tender love of our Father who has
shown his love for us through his Son, the true light through
which he daily seeks to unite us with him. O great love
of our God ! O let us not forget or think little of him, but
daily answer him by submitting ourselves to his wishes and

pen to one well to another badlj, and no one affair, land, place, state or
manner of living is equally pleasant to all. It is not a vain proverb
which sajs an affair may be equally open to all men but the outcome be
very different. So that he who such a journey undertakes does well to
consider whether he is able to endure the possibilities of failure as well as
of success.

Jacob Tclncr. 107

the power of his mercy which he shows us ! O let us hold
him here in love, and above all remember him and cling
to him ! O that we might daily perceive, that our hearts
more and more cling to the Lord ! That we still more and
more might be united with him in that his spirit might wit-
ness that we are his children, and so his heirs ! Then shall
we be able to say with the Apostle Paul that we know
whenever this earthly house is broken, we have a building
with God everlasting in Heaven. O great cause worthy of
consideration above all causes !

So, true friend, I commend you to the Lord and to his
word of mercy, which is mighty to build up you and me
to the end. So with love, I remain your unchangeable

friend,

Cornelius Bom.

In Philadelphia, the 12th of October, 1684.

Here are it is supposed, four hundred houses great and

small.

Information from Jacob Telner, of Amsterdam.

Jacob writes to me that he supposes there are many who
are desirous of knowing how he and his family are and
how it had fared with them, and requesting me to inform
such persons briefly out of his letters. He says that they
have had a long and hard voyage (that is to say, to New
York, hitherto New Amsterdam) ; that they were twelve
weeks under way, others having made the trip in five, six,
or seven weeks ; that they had very contrary winds and
calms ; that they therein found and experienced remarkably
the presence and protection of the Lord ; that on their
arrival they were received by all their acquaintances with
much love and affection ; that his wife has now forgotten

io8 The Settlement of Gemiantozvn.

the hardships of the sea ; that he found it a very pleasant
country, overflowing with everj^thing (that is to say, in New
York, where he was), where people can live much better
and with less expense than in Holland ; that if men are
industrious in what they undertake, and live in a Christian
manner, they need not work many days in the week ; that
he had heard a good report of Pennsylvania ; and that
there was a very wonderful increase in the production of
everything in proportion to the time, although it was im-
possible in a short time to have things as abundant as in
New York ; that when he went to Pennsylvania he hoped
to give a true report of everything there. Since then he
made a journey there an^ has again returned to New York.
He writes, December 12, 1684, that he found a beautiful
land with a healthy atmosphere, excellent fountains and
springs running through it, beautiful trees from which can
be obtained better firewood than the turf of Holland, and
that in all things it might be considered an exceptionally
excellent land, and that those who belittle it are unworthy
of attention ; that Philadelphia grows rapidly, having al-
ready several hundred houses of stone and wood and cot-
tages ; that he, with his family, intends to move there in the
spring, and further, that he is very well, and that his wife
and especially his daughters are in good health and fat.^"

Letter of Johann Samuel and Heinrich Pastorius.

On the 4th of March, 1699, Johann Samuel and Hein-
rich Pastorius, the one nine and the other seven years of
age, wrote this letter to their grandfather in Windsheim :
** Dearly Beloved Grandfather :

To withstand thy overflowing love and inclination to us,

'° These letters from Bom and Telner in Dutch were printed in Rotter-
dam in 1685. But one copy is known.

Seeking a Pedigree. 109

our father says is as impossible as to swim against the
stream which neither of us two is able to do. We give our
heartfelt thanks for it, and as for the little picture you sent
over to us we never saw anything like it before. There is
an unknown bird in it whose tail is bigger than himself. It
is like, we are told, those proud people from whose faults
may God protect us. There is also a little boy in a red
coat who fell from a globe of the world. Whether this
was so slippery or whether the poor child did not know
how to hold himself up we shall perhaps learn by experi-
ence when we have grown older. The rhymes you wrote
on the back of it pleased our parents very much and they
wish that we shall never forget them especially the close
of the verse.

Christum Jesum recht zu lieben
Und in Guten uns zu iiben.

We often wish that we were with thee or that thou lived
here in our house in Germantown which has a beautiful
front garden and at this time stands empty because we are
in Philadelphia and must spend eight hours every day in
school except the last day of the week when we can stay
home in the afternoon. Since we cannot now have the
hope that we will see our dear grandfather here with, us
we pray thee to give us some account of thy origin and
our elders. So that if one of us should by God's will,
go to Germany we can ask after our relations. Will
thee also give our friendly greeting to our dear cousins
and aunts and show them this so that they often write
letters to us which after our father leaves the world
will be very pleasant to us and we shall not fail through the
help of other pious people to continue the correspondence.

Meanwhile w^e greet thee again most lovingly wishing
from our hearts that you have every earthly and eternal

no The Settlement of Germantown.

good and remain through life under God's true protection,
dear Grandfather,

Thy obedient grandchildren,

Johann Samuel and
Henricus Pastorius."

To this request for information concerning his ante-
cedents the pleased grandfather replied, and thus happily
through the inquiry of these boys was preserved much of
the information we possess relating to the family/^

''I Pastorius Beschreibung, p. loi.

Seal of William Penn.

CHAPTER V.

Kriegsheim.

Arms of the Palatinate.

^'|N addition to the emi-
^1 gration from Crefeld,
^^ — ' and the association at
Frankfort, there was a third
impulse which was of mo-
ment in the settlement of
Germantown. On the up-
per Rhine, two hours' jour-
ney from Worms, one of the
most interesting and his-
toric cities of Germany, the
scene in our race legends of the events of the Nibelungen-
lied, later the home of Charlemagne, and hallowed as the
place where Luther uttered the memorable words " So hilf
mich Gott, hier stehe ich. Ich can nicht anders," lies the
rural village of Kriegsheim, It is situated in the midst of
the beautiful and fertile Palatinate and is forever identi-
fied in its traditions, religion and people, with our Penn-
sylvania life. When I was there, in 1890, it had a popu-
lation of perhaps two or three hundred people who lived
upon one street. About it were the remains of an an-
cient wall, and within it was an old-time hostelry, in
whose stable the village ganger watched over his hogs-

III

112

The Settlement of Germantown.

heads of wine, the representatives of an important local in-
dustry. In this obscure and distant village of simple Ger-
man peasants we trace the ancestry of many of the ladies
who now dance in the assemblies of Philadelphia, and
many of the men who have been her mayors and judges and
filled her most important municipal stations.

Quakerism obtained a foothold upon the continent in a
most remarkable manner. Some of the followers of that
then aggressive sect had been banished to the Island of
Barbados, and had been put upon a British vessel to be

transported. England and
Holland were then at war
and after the vessel had
sailed out to sea it was cap-
tured by a Dutch privateer,
and the useless Quakers
were put on shore on the
coast of Holland. As we are
prettily told by the chron-
icler, " They acquiesced in
their poverty," and though
they had been in no repute
among their own people,
either for riches or endow-

Shoes of the Early Palatines.

ments, " they increased their small fortunes to a consider-
able bulk," and like the trees and plants "the which the
more they were shaken with the winds, the deeper and
faster root they take," they propagated their doctrines in
Holland and Germany. ^^

The meetings established were visited by preachers sent
out by Fox, among others by William Ames, who spoke
Dutch and German. In 1657 Ames and George Rolfe

'2 Gerhard Croese's History of the Quakers. Book 2, p. 15.

Crocse's History.

113

«afrr=

Jdorie/

onbeceniirfpning/

i>ig auf lungft^itt eittrtan&cne

_ acmnen t)ornem(iff) ycit

fcen ^auptftiftern i)iefer (gectf/

6errelberi £e^rfd§en/ttn& (tnfiercti

tf)reS9lcj(|en5U J)ieret3dtauf:J

6eo 3(?&ann ?Kic&«cl Dia&tgfW.

114 '^^^^ Settlement of Germantown.

went to Kriegsheim and succeeded in making some con-
verts among the Mennonites living there. It was the
farthest outpost of Quakerism in Germany and was cher-
ished by them with the most careful zeal. The conversion
of seven or eight families was the reward of their indefa-
tigable energy and effort. This success alarmed the
clergy and incited the rabble '* disposed to do evil, to
abuse those persons by scoffing, cursing, reviling, throw-
ing stones and dirt at them, and breaking their windows."
The magistrates directed that any one who should enter-
tain Ames or Rolfe should be fined forty rix dollars. In
1658, for refusing to bear arms, the goods of John Hen-
dricks to the value of fourteen rix dollars were seized and
he was put in prison. In 1660, for the same reason, his
goods valued at about four and-half rix: dollars were seized.
In 1663 the authorities took from him two cows, and from
Hendricks Gerritz two cows, from the widow of John
Johnson a cow, from George Shoemaker bedding worth
seven rix dollars, from Peter Shoemaker goods worth two
guilders. In 1664 George Shoemaker lost pewter and
brass worth three and a-half guilders, Peter Shoemaker
three sheets worth three guilders, and John Hendricks
three sheets worth three guilders. In 1666, John Shoe-
maker, Peter Shoemaker and John Hendricks each lost
a cow.^^ William Caton paid a visit to them in 1661, and
on the 30th of Eleventh Month wrote from there a letter
to friends in London in which he says, that the Catholic,
Lutheran and Calvinist clergy regarded them " as the
offensivest, the irregularest, and the perturbatiousest people
that are of any sect." He helped them "to gather their
grapes, it being the time of vintage."

Stephen Crisp says in July, 1669 : '* But the Lord pre-

"Cesse's Sufferings of the Quakers. Vol. II., p. 450.

Croesc's History.

Gerardi CroesI

H I S T O R I A

QUAKERIANA,

Sivc

Dc vulgo diiSlis Q^aKbris^

Ab orta illorum ufdue &d rec^
Datum fcbifma ,

L I $ a 1 1 1 L

In quibus prjefertim aginir de ipfo-

yum pricipuis antcccflbribus , U dogma^s

(ut & (imilibus placins aliorum hoc

tempore J fadifcjue ac ufibuS;.

meitiorabilibu .

AMSTELODAMl,

Apud Henricum 8c' Viduaitt
The ODOR I Boom. i6p5.

ii6 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

served me and brought me on the 14th day of that month
to Griesham near Worms, where I had found divers who
had received the Everlasting Truth and had stood in a
testimony for God about ten years, in great sufferings and
tribulations, who received me as a servant of God ; and
my testimony was as a seed upon the tender grass unto
them. I had five good meetings among them and divers
heard the truth and several were reached and convinced
and Friends established in the faith." Just at this time
they were in sore trouble because of the fact that the
Prince of the land, or Pfaltzgraff , had imposed an imusual
fine of four rix dollars upon every family for attending
meetings, and upon failure to pay, goods of three times
the value were taken. Crisp went to Heidelberg to see
the Prince and warned him of the danger of persecution.
The Prince received him graciously, discoursed with him
about general topics, and promised him that the fines
should be remitted, which was accomplished.^^

On the 22d of August, 1677, William Penn left Frank-
fort on his way to Kriegsheim. The magistrate of the
village, upon the instigation of the clergyman, attempted
to prevent him from preaching, but with the friends there
and a " coachful from Worms," he had a quiet and com-
fortable meeting. From there he walked to Mannheim, in
an effort to see the Prince concerning the oppressions of
the Quakers, which had been renewed. Failing to find
him, he wrote to him a vigorous letter upon the subject.
On the 26th Penn walked out from Worms, six English
miles, and held a meeting, lasting five hours, in the course
of which " The Lord's power was sweetly opened to many
of the inhabitants." He describes them as " Poor hearts ;
a little handful surrounded with great and mighty countries

'* Travels of Stephen Crisp, p. 29.

Croesc's History. 117

T HE

General Hiftory

0 F T H E

QUAKERS:

CONTAINING

TheLives,Tenents,Sufferings,Tryals,
Speeches, and Letters ,

Of all the moft iJ^

Eminent Quakers,

Both Men and Women;

From the firfl Rife of thar^"TrT,
down to this prefent Time.

ColkBedfrom Manufchfts^ 8cc.

A Work mvsr attempted before in Englifh.

Being Written Originally in Latin
By GERARD CROtSE.

To which is added,

A L E T T E R writ by George K.€ft^ ,
and (ent by him to the Author of this
Book : Containing a Vindication of himfelf^and
feveral Remarks on this Hiftory.

L017D0S, Printed for Hobn 3Duntoii, at the R^ftn

■ —

I LONDON, Pnnted for jloDn fi>unt<
in Je'weM'Jirtet. \6^6.

ii8 The Settlemetit of Germantown.

of darkness." The meeting was held in a barn. The
magistrate listened from behind the door and subsequently-
reported that he had discovered no heresies and had heard
nothing that was not good. On the 27th, after two more
meetings, Penn, accompanied by several grateful attend-
ants, returned to Worms.

The climax of the story of the Quaker meeting at
Kriegsheim is given by Croese. He says that having
nothing of their own to lose, and hearing of the great
plenty in America, and hoping to gain a livelihood by
their handiwork, they in the very year that preceded the
war with the French " wherein all that fruitful and de-
licious country was wasted with fire and sword " forsook
the cottages which could scarcely be kept standing with
props and stakes, and entered into a voluntary and per-
petual banishment to Pennsylvania, where they lived in the
greatest freedom and with sufficient prosperity.

Jacob Schumacher, the servant who accompanied Pas-
torius, may have been one of the family at Kriegsheim,
but up to the present time no evidence of the fact has been
discovered. It is not improbable.

Oct. 12, 1685, having crossed the sea in the '' Francis and
Dorothy " there arrived in Germantown Peter Schumacher

with his son Peter, his

/'f./ /7 /7 daughters Mary, Frances

>tT^yf /^V^*^^**^ ^"d Gertrude, and his
^/ ^„.y^ cousin Sarah ; Gerhard

Hendricks with his wife
Mary, his daughter Sarah and his servant Heinrich Frey,
the last named from Altheim, in Alsace. Peter Schu-
macher, an early Quaker convert from the Mennonites is
the first person definitely ascertained to have come from
Kriegsheim. Fortunately we know under what auspices

Gerhard Hendricks Dewees. 119

he arrived. By an agreement with Dirck Sipman, of Cre-
feld, dated August i6th, 1685, he was to proceed with the
first good wind to Pennsylvania, and there receive two hun-
dred acres from Hermann Op den Graeff, on which he
should erect a dwelling, and for which he should pay a rent
of two rix dollars a year." Gerhard Hendricks also had
bought two hundred acres from Sipman.^" He came from
Kriegsheim, and I am inclined to think that his identity may
be merged in that of Gerhard Hendricks Dewees. If so, he
was associated with the Op den Graeffs and Van Bebbers,
and was a grandson of Adrian Hendricks Dewees, a Hol-
lander, who seems to have lived in Amsterdam." This iden-
tification, however, needs further investigation. Dewees
bought land of Sipman, which his widow, Zytien, sold in
1 701. The wife of Gerhard Hendricks in the court records
is called Sytje. On the tax list of 1693 there is a Gerhard
Hendricks, but no Dewees, though the latter at that time
was the owner of land. Hendricks after the Dutch manner
called one son William Gerrits and another Lambert Gerrits,
and both men, if they were two, died about the same time.
Much confusion has resulted from a want of familiarity on
the part of local historians with the Dutch habit of omitting
the final or local appellation. Thus the Van Bebbers are
frequently referred to in contemporaneous records as Jacob
Isaacs, Isaac Jacobs and Matthias Jacobs, the Op den
Graeffs as Dirck Isaacs, Abraham Isaacs and Herman
Isaacs ; and Van Burklow as Reynier Hermanns.

On the 20th of March, 1686, Johannes Kassel, a weaver,
and another Quaker convert from the Mennonites, aged
forty-seven years, with his children, Arnold, Peter, Eliza-

"' See his deed in Dutch in the Germantown book.

''fiDeed book E 4, vol. 7, p. iSo.

'■Raths-Buch.

I20 The Settle7nent of Germantown.

beth, Mary and Sarah, came to Germantown from Kriegs-
heim, having purchased land from members of the Frankfort
Company. In the vessel with Kassel was a widow, Sarah
Shoemaker, from the Palatinate, and doubtless from Kriegs-
heim, with her children, George, Abraham, Barbara,
Isaac, ''^ Susanna, Elizabeth and Benjamin. Among the
Mennonite martyrs mentioned by Van Braght there are
several bearing the name of Schoenmaker, and that there
was a Dutch settlement in the neighborhood of Kriegsheim
is certain. At Flomborn, a few miles distant, is a spring
which the people of the vicinity still call the " Hollander's
Spring."

I have a Dutch medical work published in 1622, which
belonged to Johannes Kassel ; many Dutch books from the
family are in the possession of that indefatigable antiquary,
Abraham H. Cassel, and the deed of Peter Schumacher is
in Dutch. The Kolbs, who came to Pennsylvania later,
were grandsons of Peter Schumacher, and were all earnest
Mennonites. The Kassels brought over with them many
of the manuscripts of one of their family, Ylles Kassel, a
Mennonite preacher at Kriegsheim, who was born before
1618, and died after 1681, and some of these papers are
still preserved. The most interesting is a long poem in
German rhyme, which describes vividly the condition of
the country, and throws the strongest light upon the char-
acter of the people and the causes of the emigration.
The writer says that it was copied off with much pain and
bodily suffering November 28, 1665. It begins :

"O Lord! To Thee the thouehts of all hearts are

'^He married Sarah, onlj daughter of Gerhard Hendricks. Their son
Benjimin, and their grandson Samuel, were successively Mayors of Phil-
adelphia, and a great-granddaughter was the wife of William Rawle. I am
indehted for some of these facts to the kindness of W. Brooke Rawle, Esq.

M^ar in the Palatinate. 121

known. Into Thy hands I commend my body and soul.
When Thou lookest upon me with Thy mercy all things
are well with me. Thou hast stricken me with severe ill-
ness, which is a rod for my correction. Give me patience
and resignation. Forgive all my sins and wickedness.
Let not Thy mercy forsake me. Lay not on me more than
I can bear," and continues, " O, Lord God ! Protect me
in this time of war and danger, that evil men may not
do with me as they wish. Take me to a place where I may
be concealed from them, free from such trials and cares.
My wife and children too, that they may not come to shame
at their hands. Let all my dear friends find mercy from
Thee." After noting a successful flight to Worms, he goes
on, " O dear God and Lord ! to Thee be all thanks, honor
and praise for Thy mercy and pity, which Thou hast
shown to me in this time. Thou hast protected me from
evil men as from my heart I prayed Thee. Thou hast led
me in the right way so that I came to a place where I was
concealed from such sorrows and cares. Thou hast kept
the way clear till I reached the city, while other people
about were much robbed and plundered. I have found a
place among people who show me much love and kind-
ness. . . . Gather us into Heaven of which I am un-
worthy, but still I have a faith that God will not drive me
into the Devil's kingdom with such a host as that which
now in this land with murder and robbery destroys many
people in many places, and never once thinks how it may
stand before God. . . . Well it is known what misery,
suffering, and danger are about in this land with robbing,
plundering, murdering and burning. Many a man is
brought into pain and need, and abused even unto death.
Many a beautiful home is destroyed. The clothes are torn
from the backs of many people. Cattle and herds are

122 The Settlement of Germatitown.

taken away. Much sorrow and complaint have been heard.
The beehives are broken down, the wine spilled.''^

On the road leading from Worms out through Kriegs-
heim, but perhaps five miles further from the city, is the
village of Flomborn. Thither, about twenty years before
the period we are considering, a Dutch family named
Pannebakker, whose arms, three tiles gules on a shield
argent, were cut in glass in the church window at Gorcum
in Holland, came to escape the wars still raging in the
Netherlands. There March 21, 1674, was born Hendrick
Pannebecker. He came as a young man to German-
town, where, in 1699, he married Eve, the daughter of
Hans Peter Umstat. He was a man of education, writing
a dainty script and possessing a knowledge of the Dutch,
German and English languages and of mathematics. He
became the owner of four thousand and twelve acres of
land in the province, and as a surveyor for the Penns, he
ran the lines for their manors and laid out most of the old

roads in Philadel-
phia, now^ Mont-
gomery County.
He died suddenly
April 4, 1754. He founded here a large and influential
family, which gave to the war of the rebellion two
major generals, four colonels, an adjutant general,
two surgeons, a lieutenant colonel, two assistant sur-
geons, an adjutant, nine captains, seven lieutenants, a
quartermaster, a hospital steward, five sergeants, nine
corporals and one hundred privates, altogether one hun-
dred and forty-five men, so far as known, the most exten-
sive contribution of any single American family to that
struggle.

" These papers belong to A. H. Cassel, his descendant.

I^Vvwir vv^ Mtifvw wfv W/w^/w^

CHAPTER VI.

The Growth of the Settlement.

German

C%'iT was the wish of the
Germans, when they
made their purchase
from William Penn, that
their lands should all be laid
out in one tract and upon a
navigable stream. When
they arrived here they were
offered a location upon the
Schuylkill, where are now
Manayunk and Roxbor-
ough. They objected to
the hills and asked for the
ground to the eastward, where it was more level. The
request was granted and on the 24th of October, 1683,
Thomas Fairman measured off fourteen lots. The fol-
lowing day the thirteen families selected by chance the
places of their new homes, and at once began to dig the
cellars and erect the huts in which, with some hardship,
they spent the winter. Pastorius reported that the new

*<* From Townsend Ward's Walk to German town, Penna. Magazine,
Vol. v., upon what authority unknown,

123

124 '^^^^ Settlement of Germantown.

town of Germanopolis was located upon a rich black soil,
well supplied with springs, that the main street was sixty
feet wide, the cross street forty feet wide, and that each
family had three acres of ground. It was covered with
oak, chestnut and other nut trees, and there was a good
meadow for the cows. Whichever way we turn, he wrote,
*'Itur in antiquam Sylvam," it is all overgrown with
woods, and he often wished that he had a pair of strong
Tyrolers to cut down the thick oak trees. On the 20th of
February, 1684, ^^ land was again surveyed by Fairman
and a thousand acres which stretched to the Schuylkill
were cut off. Since the contract was that their land was
to be upon a ship-bearing stream, it looks as though some-
body was taking an advantage of them. A more accurate
survey, December 29th, 1687, determined the quantity of
land in Germantown to be five thousand seven hundred
acres, and for this a patent was issued. It was divided
into four villages : Germantown with two thousand seven
hundred and fifty acres, Crisheim (Kriegsheim) with eight
hundred and eighty-four acres, Sommerhausen with nine
hundred acres, and Crefeld with one thousand one hundred
and sixty-six acres, and thus were the familiar places along
the Rhine commemorated in the new land.

Other emigrants ere long began to appear in the little
town. Cornelius Bom, a Dutch baker, whom Claypoole
mentions in association with Telner and who bears the
same name as a delegate from Schiedam to the Mennonite
Convention at Dordrecht arrived in Philadelphia it maybe
with Pastorius. David Scherkes, perhaps from Muhlheim
on the Ruhr, and Walter Seimens and Isaac Jacobs Van
Bebber, both from Crefeld, were in Germantown Novem-
ber 8th, 1684. Van Bebber was a son of Jacob Isaacs Van
Bebber and was followed here a few^ years later, 1687, by
his father, and brother Matthias. About the same time

Jacob Telner. 125

Pastorius wrote that the floors were laid for sixty-four
houses. Jacob Telner, the second of the original Crefeld
purchasers to cross the Atlantic reached New York, after
a tedious voyage of twelve weeks' duration, and from there
he wrote, Dec. 12, 1684, to Jan Laurens, of Rotterdam.
He seems to have been the central figure of the whole
emigration. As a merchant in Amsterdam his business
was extensive. He had transactions with the Qjiakers in
London and friendly relations with some of the people in
New York. One of the earliest to buy lands here, we find
him meeting Pastorius immediately prior to the latter's de-
parture, doubtless to give instructions, and later personally
superintending the emigration of the Colonists. During
his thirteen years' residence in Germantown his relations
both in a business and social way with the principal men
in Philadelphia were apparently close and intimate. Penn
wrote to Logan in 1703, " I have been much pressed by
Jacob Telner concerning Rebecca Shippen's business in
the town,"^^ and both Robert Turner and Samuel Carpenter
acted as his attorneys. He and his daughter Susanna
were present at the marriage of Francis Raw^le and Martha
Turner in 1689, and witnessed their certificate. The har-
monious blending of the Mennonite and the Qjiaker is
nowhere better show^n than in the fact of his accompanying
John Delavall on a preaching and proselyting tour to New
England in 1692.^^ He was the author of a " Treatise " in
quarto mentioned by Pastorius, and extracts from his letters
to Laurens were printed at Rotterdam in 1685.^ About
1692 he appears to have published a paper in the contro-

51 Penn Logan Correspondence, Vol. I., p. 1S9.

*^ Smith's History, Hazard's Register,Vol.VI., p. 309. Smith adopts him
as a Friend, but in his own letter of 1709, written while he was living
among the Quakers in England, he calls himself a Mennonite.

*"^The Treatise is described by Pastorius in the enumeration of his
library. MS. Hist. Society.

126 The Settlement of Germantown.

versy with George Keith, charging the latter with "Im-
pious blasphemy and denying the Lord that bought him."^^

He was one of the first burgesses of Germantown, the
most extensive landholder there, and promised to give
ground enough for the erection of a market house, a
promise which we will presume he fulfilled. In 1698 he
went to London, where he was living as a merchant as late
as 17 12, and from there in 1709 he wrote to Rotterdam
concerning the miseries of some emigrants, six of whom
were Mennonites from the Palatinate, who had gone that
far on their journey and were unable to proceed. " The
English Friends who are called Quakers," he says, had
given material assistance. ^^ Doubtless European research
would throw much light on his career. He was baptized
at the Mennonite Church in Amsterdam, March 29, 1665.
His only child, Susanna, married Albertus Brandt, a mer-
chant of Germantown and Philadelphia, and after the
death of her first husband in 1701 she married David Wil-
liams.*" After deducting the land laid out in Germantown,
and the two thousand acres sold to the Op den Graeffs,
the bulk of his five thousand acres was taken up on the
Skippack, in a tract for many years known as " Telner's
Township." «^

In an original letter in my possession, written in Amster-
dam 17th of 5th month, 1678, by Peter Hendricks to Roger
Longworth, it is said: " And (to speake it is familiarity
to thee) we have also some feare concerning Jacob Tell-
ner ; he is prettie high and it does not diminish but in-
crease, but my heart's desire is that he may be preserved."

8* A true account of the Scence and advice of the People called Quakers.
^^Dr. Scheffer's paper in the Penna. Magazine, Vol. II., p. 122.
ssExemp. Record, Vol. VII., p. 208.
8'Exemp. Record, Vol. VIII., p. 360.

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF CERHANTOV/N.

^i-.'I^T'^Vuirn ^>!^imi^er urolun C \nncf- iTtirny pon'i^Vlhrfli liib 'c^c^en^'\cTb(J^ tinner ta\tf(
■^ambf ("tor .^etVih^ i^t^ bii'cb'aji^cnfieii t>ey Ohyeri>afort/ in ^^er^aCten auf'i>er

^l>^tPailt"^,un•nl^?rl^ ohstrvirf^ urf}? pc>r aui^rnc^elteft .

.•..-i.-...vi^Ai.„./.?..,.rV/^,.<-

THE QREAT COHET OF 168O.

(from CONTEnrORftRY ENCRftUINC.)

Jacob Telncr.

127

It appears from Keith's True account, London, 1694, that
Telner had printed a catechism " in which said paper he

^j^^'^^^^Af^^.

■7^

"5^'

*/•*

'/^'^

positively asserteth gross Antinomian Doctrines and Princi-
ples, as that men's sins are forgiven them when Christ
-died on the Cross."

128 The Settlement of Germantown,

In 1684 also came Jan Willemse Bockenogen, a Quaker
cooper from Haarlem.^®

October 12, 1685, there arrived in the ship *' Francis
and Dorothy " Heinrich Buchholz and his wife Mary, and
Hans Peter Umstat, from Crefeld, with his wife Barbara,
his son, John, and his daughters, Anna Margaretta and
Eve. Umstat was the son of Nicholas Umstat, who died
at Crefeld at four o'clock on the morning of October 4,
1682. He had bought two hundred acres from Dirck Sip-
man, which were laid out in Germantown toward Plymouth,
and there he spent the remainder of his days. Among
the possessions he brought across the seas with him was a
Bible, printed at Nuremberg in 1568, which had belonged
to his father, Nicholas, at least since 1652, and which I
inherited through his daughter Eve. In it, in addition to
the family entries, are am^ong others the following: "In
the year 1658 the cold was so great that even the Rhine
was frozen up. On the 31st of January so great a snow
fell that it continued for four days. There was no snow
so great within the memory of man," and " December 16,
1680, the Comet Star with a long tail was seen for the first
time." The comet which so impressed him is the one that
appeared in the time of Caesar, and with a period of about
five hundred years, is the most imposing of those known
to astronomers. In 1685 came also Heivert Papen and
about the same time Klas Jansen. Occasionally we catch
a glimpse of the home life of the early dwellers in Ger-
mantown. Willem Streypers, in 1685, had two pairs of
leather breeches, two leather doublets, handkerchiefs,
stockings and a new hat.

The first man to die was Jan Seimens, whose widow was
again about to marry in October, 1685.^^ Bom died before

88 Among his descendants was Henry Armitt Brown, the orator.
89Pastorius' Beschreibung, Leipsic, 1700, p. 23, Strejper MSS.

'X)^. ft' xj 'y

^ t: a s 2 5^ J •-

ir <y) e^ if "^ 'S — 'ir

JO »e> § »j « 5s-— " §
c5 c>\c-**r Jo w s £ 2

Fire. 129

1689, and his daughter Agnes married Anthony Morris,
the ancestor of the distinguished family of that name.^" In
1685 Wigard and Gerhard Levering came from Muhlheim
on the Ruhr,^^ a town also far down the Rhine, near
Holland, which, next to Crefeld, seems to have sent the
largest number of emigrants. The following year a fire
caused considerable loss, and a little church was built at
Germantown. According to Seidensticker it was a Qjiaker
meeting house, and he shows conclusively that before 1692
all of the original thirteen, except Jan Lensen, had in one
way or another been associated with the Qjiakers. In
1687 Arent Klincken arrived from Dalem, in Holland, and
Jan Streypers wrote: "I intend to come over myself,"
which intention he carried into effect before 1706, as at
that date he signed a petition for naturalization.^^ All of

sPAshmead MSS.

^^ Jones' Levering Family.

^^Jan Strepers and his son-in-law, H. J. Van Aaken, metPenn atWesel
in 1686, and brought him from that place to Crefeld. Van Aaken seems
to have been a Quaker Sept. 30th, 1699, on which day he wrote to Penn :
" I understand that Derrick Sypman uses for his Servis to you, our Mag-
istrates at Meurs, which Magistrates offers their Service to you again. So
it would be well that you Did Kyndly Desire them that they would Leave
out of the High Dutch proclomation which is yearly published through-
out 3'e County of Meurs & at ye Court House at Crevel, that ye Qiiakers
should have no meeting upon penalty, & in Case you ffinde freedom to De-
sire ye sd Magistrates at Meurs that they may petition our King William
(as under whose name the sd proclomation is given forth) to leave out j-e
word Quackers & to grant Leberty of Conscience, & if they should not
obtaine ye same from the said King, that then you would be Constrained
for the truth's Sake to Request our King William for the annulling of ye
sd proclomation Concerning the quackers, yor answer to this p. next
shall greatly oblige me, Especially if you would write to me in the Dutch
or German tongue, god almayghty preserve you and yor wife In soule
and body. I myself have some thoughts to Come to you but by heavy
burden of 8 Children, &c., I can hardly move, as also that I want bodyly
Capacity to Clear Lands and ffall trees, as also money to undertake some-
thing Ells." An English translation of this letter in the handwriting of
Matthias Van Bebber is in my collection.

130 The Settlement of Gef'inantown.

the original Crefeld purchasers, therefore, came to Penn-
sylvania sooner or later, except Remke and Sipman. He,
however, returned to Europe, where he and Willem had an
undivided inheritance at Kaldkirchen, and it was agreed
between them that Jan should keep the whole of it, and
Willem take the lands here. The latter were two hundred
and seventy-five acres at Germantown, fifty at Chestnut
Hill, two hundred and seventy-five at the Trappe, four
thousand four hundred and forty-eight in Bucks County,
together with fifty acres of Liberty Lands and three city
lots, the measurement thus considerably overrunning his
purchase.

About 1687 came Jan Duplouvys, a Dutch baker, who
was married by Friends ceremony to Weyntie Van Sanen,
in the presence of Telner and Bom, on the 3d of 3d month
of that year. Dirck Keyser, a silk merchant doing busi-
ness in Printz Gracht, opposite Rees Street, in Amsterdam,
and a Mennonite, connected by family ties with the lead-
ing Mennonites of that city, arrived in Germantown by
way of New York in 1688. If we can rely upon tradition,
he was a descendant of that Leonard Keyser, the friend
of Luther, who was burned to death at Scharding in 1527,
and who, according to Ten Cate, was one of the Walden-
ses.^^ Long after his coming to Germantown he wore a
coat made entirely of silk, which was a matter for disap-
proval, if not a subject for envy. His father was Dirck
Gerritz Keyser, a manufacturer of morocco, and his grand-
father was Dircksz Keyser. His mother was Cornelia,
daughter of Tobias Govertz Van den Wyngaert, one of
the most noted of the early Mennonite preachers, the
learned author of a number of theological works, of whom
there is a fine portrait by the famous Dutch engraver A.
Blootelingh. Here seems to be an appropriate place to

^3 See Pennypacker Reunion, p. 13.

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF CERHANTOWN.

ENQRAVED COFPERrLATE OF DIRCI^ t\EY5ER.

Date of birth of Menno. 131

record a bibliographical incident of real value which de-
serves to be preserved. For many years the scholars of
Europe, interested in the period of the Reformation, had
disputed over the dates of the birth and death of Menno
Simons, one coterie contending for 1492-1559 and their
opponents for 1496-1561. One of the principal authori-
ties was Gerhard Roosen, a preacher of Hamburg, who
lived to a great age and died in the beginning of the i8th
century, and whose testimony was regarded as of impor-
tance because his grandmother had personally known
Menno. But the whole subject was left in vague uncer-
tainty. In 188 1 a man in Ohio wrote to me that he had
an old book, for which he wanted two dollars. It came,
and behold ! it turned out to be a copy of the works of
Menno, printed in 1646, which had belonged to Gerhard
Roosen, and in his hand, written in 167 1, in his 60th year,
was an account of a visit which he, with Tobias Govertz
Van den Wyngaert and Peter Jans Moyer had made to
the grave of Menno. It proceeded to say that he was
born in 1492 and died in 1559, and was buried in his own
cabbage garden. These facts were at once embodied in
a paper by Dr. J. G. DeHoop Scheffer, the historian of
the Reformation in Holland, which was printed in Amster-
dam, and thus was the New World able to furnish informa-
tion which settled an Old World historical controversy.
Who wrote the letters of Junius may 3'^et find an answer
here.

The residents in 1689, not heretofore mentioned, were
Paul Wolff, a weaver from Fendern in Holstein, near
Hamburg; Jacob Jansen Klumpges, Cornelius Siverts,
Hans Millan, Johan Silans, Dirck Van Kolk, Hermann
Bom, Hendrick Sellen, Isaac Schaffer, Ennecke Kloster-
mann, from Muhlheim, on the Ruhr ; Jan Doeden and An-
dries Souplis. Of these Siverts was a native of Friesland,

1^2 The Settlement of Germantozun.

Opera Menno Symons»

iSfte#?oot^ommane/

DAT IS.

a^trgaticrirtgl)/ ban fiinc25oecfernnt^cl)nE'

tcn/t famtn in ecu UerUact.cnDcin ^^ucft beriucuiut/Dooj fom*

JIM0C 23cmuiDcr0 Dec U^acrljc pDt/ ttt €ttt\\ <5oOt£f

etiDe iywitii uacQmiueluaecr.

Item om alle Pundlen <en Artijkulcn,mitrgadcrs divcrfche

reJenen,t'famen-fprekingen,bekentenifle,&c.IndefenBoeckbegre-

pen, lichtelijcken te vinden, fo hebben w;^ twee Regifters daeir

by gevoecht, cnde elck Boeckjnetiijneygen Tijre!,

Prologe ende Voor-rcden,getrouwelijck in onfe

Ncdcrduytfche Spraccke gcftelt,

pfalm 37.30.

Den Mont dergerechtigeiifpreecktvanwtjPiiryf^entfefiJnhppenvari

OordeeUn , de Wetjtjns GoJts is in Jijii hcrte^ffjn tredcn

en jlipp^ren niet.

Gcdrudt in 't Jaer ons Heeren, Anno 1646.

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF CERriA/NTOW/N.

TOBIAS GOVKRT.'iZ vaiKlon%\\

«!.■* indc vUcniiLhc

Doop«e;e:iiidc ^ciiKonti-. U't Aiiilti.i%l.iin .totalis L. X X x

' ■ - ■■'■■ ■ ' t ■. tt .•/! ifti^-jjirjw^n ..•■•-■.'.-

TOBIAS COUERT5Z VA^^DE^^ WYhJQAERT.

PROn fl CONTEnrORARY PRINT BT A. BLOTELINCiH.

Settlers. 133

the home of Menno Simons.^* Sellen, with his brother
Dirk, were Mennonites from Crefeld, and Souplis was ad-
mitted a burgher and denizen of the city of New York,
with a right to trade anywhere in his Majesty's dominions.
The antecedents of the others I have not been able to as-
certain. Hendrick Sellen was very active in affairs at Ger-
mantown, being the attorney in fact for Jan Streypers,
gave the ground for the Mennonite church there, was a
trustee for the church on the Skippack, and in 1698 made
a trip across the sea to Crefeld, carrying back to the old
home many business communications, and, we may well
suppose, many messages of friendship. August 22, 1709,
he had a pint of wine and a roll with Pastorius. He was
naturalized in 1709, and owned two hundred and ninety-
one and a-half acres of land, on which he built an oil mill
in 1 7 14, but before April 16, 1739, he had sold it and re-
moved to Komupoango, in Pennsylvania. An effort at
naturalization in 1691 adds to our list of residents Reynier
Hermanns Van Burklow, Peter Klever, Anthony Loof,
Paul Kastner, Andris Kramer, Jan Williams, Herman Op de
Trap, Hendrick Kasselberg,from Backersdorf,in the county
of Brugge, and Klasjansen. The last two were Mennonites,
Jansen being one of the earliest preachers. Op deTrap, or
Trapman, as he is sometimes called, appears to have
come from Muhlheim, on the Ruhr, and was drowned at
Philadelphia in 1693. GisbertWilhelms diedtheyearbefore.
John Goodson, writing to his friends John and S. Dew in
London, the 24th of 6th mo., 1690, says : " And five miles
off is a town of Dutch and German people that have set up
the linnen manufactory which weave and make many
thousand yards of pure fine linnen cloth in a year, that in
a short time I doubt not but the country will live happily.'"*

8<Raths Buch.

35 Some Letters . . . from Pennsylvania, London, 1691.

134 '^^^^ Settlement of Gcnnantown.

In 1692 culminated the dissensions among the Qjiakers
caused by George Keith and the commotion extended to
the community at Germantown. At a public meeting
Keith called Dirck Op den Graeff an " impudent rascal " —
and since the latter was a justice of the peace in the right
of his position as a burgess of Germantown it was looked
upon as a flagrant attack upon the majesty of the law.
Among those who signed the testimony of the yearly meet-
ing at Burlington 7th of 7th mo., 1692, against Keith,
were Paul Wolff, Paul Kastner, Francis Daniel Pastorius,
Andries Kramer, Dirck Op den Graeff and Arnold Kassel.
The certificate from the Quarterly meeting at Philadelphia,
which Samuel Jennings bore with him to London in 1693,
when he went to present the matter before the Yearly
Meeting there, was signed by Dirck Op den Graeff, Rey-
nier Tyson, Peter Schumacher and Caspar Hoedt. Pas-
torius wrote two pamphlets in the controversy. On the
other hand, Abraham Op den Graeff was one of five per-
sons who, with Keith, issued the Appeal, for publishing
which William Bradford, the printer, was committed, and
a testimony in favor of Keith was signed by Hermann Op
den Graeff, Thomas Rutter, Cornells Si verts, David
Scherkes and Jacob Isaacs Van Bebber.^" The last named
furnishes us with another instance of one known to have
been a Mennonite acting with the Friends, and Sewel, the
Quaker historian, says concerning Keith: " And seeing
several Mennonites of the County of Meurs lived also in
Penna., it was not much to be wondered that they who
count it unlawful for a Christian to bear the sword of the
magistracy did stick to him."

Caspar Hoedt, then a tailor in New York, married there
6th mo. 1 2th, 1686, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Nico-

8^ Potts' Memorial, p. 394.

Letters from Pennsylvania. 13^

Some

LETTERS

AND AN

%Mut of %,mx%

FROM

PENNSYLVANIA.

Containing

The State and Improvement of that

Province.

Pnll^edto prevent MipRe^orts^

^1^

Piiiitedi, aadSoldby Andrei? Sbm^ attlie Crooied'JSUIot m Jlollo^^
rpaymZane^ to. SboredsUhj l6sJ »

136 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

las De la Plaine and Susanna Cresson, who were French
Huguenots. James De la Plaine, a relative and probably
a son of Nicolaes, came to Germantown from New York
prior to August 28th, 1692, on which day he was married
by Friends' ceremony to Hannah Cook. Susanna, a
daughter of Nicolaes, became the wife of Arnold Kassel
9th mo. 2d, 1693.^^

On the 2d of November, 1693, Paul Wolff conveyed a
half acre on the east side and another half acre on the west
side of the street " for a common burying place." In
1694 it was determined that on the " 13th and 14th days of
the 3d and 4th months a fair or open year market shall be
held, and such shall be written to the printer in New York
to have it put in his almanac." ^^

A tax list made by order of the Assembly in 1693 names
the following additional residents, viz : Johannes Pettinger,
John Van de Woestyne and Paulus Kuster. Kuster, a
Mennonite, came from Crefeld with his sons Arnold, Jo-
hannes, and Hermannus, and his wife Gertrude. She was
a sister of Wilhelm Streypers. He was by trade a mason
and he died in 1707.

In 1695 Isaac Ferdinand Saroschi, a Hungarian, the
first of a long line of late followers, who had formerly been
a preceptor in the house of Tobias Schumberg at Winds-
heim, came to Germantown, but after wandering around
for two years causing trouble and " Hungarorum more nur
eleemosinas et donativa colligiret " he returned to Europe
with no very good opinion of the country.

George Gottschalck from Lindau, Bodensee, Daniel
Geissler, Christian Warmer and Martin Sell were in Ger-
mantown in 1694, Levin Harberdinck in 1696, and in 1698

^' Notes of Walter Cresson.
98Rath's Buch.

TME SETTLEHE/NT OF GERHA/NTOW/N.

inPRINT OF REYNIER JAN5EN.
FHILADELFMlfl. 1699

Reynier Jans en. 137

Jan Linderman came from Muhlheim, on the Ruhr. Dur-
ing the last year the right of citizenship was conferred
upon Jan 'Neuss, a Mennonite and silversmith,^^ Willem
Hendricks, Frank Houfer, Paul Engle, whose name is on
the oldest marked stone in the Mennonite graveyard on
the Skippack under date of 1723, and Reynier Jansen.
Though Jansen has since become a man of note, abso-
lutely nothing seems to have been known of his anteced-
ents, and I will, therefore, give in detail such facts as I
have been able to ascertain concerning him. On the 21st
of May, 1698, Cornelius Siverts, of Germantown, wishing
to make some arrangements about land he had inherited in
Friesland, sent a power of attorney to Reynier Jansen, lace
maker at Alkmaer, in Holland. It is consequently mani-
fest that Jansen had not then reached this country. On
the 23d of April,
1700, Benjamin z;^ /2^ /^

Furly, of Rotter- c:e^^i'#^>«>^^-»^>--»>^**^^2^
dam, the agent of ^^ ^^^ ^^^"^

Penn at that city,

gave a power of attorney to Daniel and Justus Falkner to
act for him here. It was of no avail, however, because as
appears from a confirmatory letter of July 28th, 1701, a
previous power " to my loving friend Reynier Jansen,"
lace maker, had not been revoked, though no intima-
tion had ever been received that use had been made of
it. It seems then that between the dates of the Siverts
and Furly powers Jansen had gone to America. On the
29th of November, 1698, Reynier Jansen, who after-
ward became the printer, bought of Thomas Tresse twenty

^Penn bought from him in 1704 a half-dozen silver spoons, which he
presented to the children of Isaac Norris, while on a visit to the latter. —
See Journal.

138 The Settlement of Germantown.

acres of Liberty Lands here, and on the yth of Februar}-,
1698-99, the right of citizenship, as has been said, was
conferred by the Germantown Court upon Reynier Jan-
sen, lace maker. These events fix with some definiteness
the date of his arrival. He must soon afterward have re-
moved to Philadelphia, though retaining his associations
with Germantown, because ten months later, Dec. 23d,
1699, he bought of Peter Klever seventy-five acres in the
latter place by a deed in which he is described as a mer-
chant of Philadelphia. This land he as 2^. printer sold to
Daniel Geissler Oct. 20th, 1701. Since the book called
*' God's protecting providence, etc.," was printed in 1699 it
must have been one of the earliest productions of his press,
and the probabilities are that he began to print late in that
year. Its appearance indicates an untrained printer, and
a meagre font of type. He was the second printer in the
middle colonies, and his books are so rare that a single
specimen would probably bring at auction now more than
the price for which he then sold his whole edition. He
left a son, Stephen, in business in Amsterdam, whom he
had apportioned there, and brought with him to this coun-
try two sons, Tiberius and Joseph, who, after the Dutch
manner, assumed the name Reyniers, and two daughters,
Imity, who married Matthias, son of Hans Millan, of
Germantown, and Alice, who married John Piggot. His
career as a printer was very brief. He died about March
ist, 1706, leaving personal property valued at £226 is,
8d., among which was included "a p'cell of books from
Wm. Bradford £4 2s. od."^«^

We find among the residents in 1699, Evert In den
Hoffen from Muhlheim on the Ruhr, with Hermann, Ger-

JO" Raths Buch. Exemp. Record, Vol. VI., p. 235. Deed Book E 7, p. 550.
Germantown Book, pp. 187, 188. Will Book C, p. 22.

THE SETTLEHEMT OF CERnA/NTCW/N.

'AN ■

aorttatt 0^ aur mnt
of # ESlf

f>ROPR]F

\RN0UR •- '

there u nco belojigm^ ^ \vul i tli^ Ad v i ce ^
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iAffufibly jjictt at *^

N^EW-eAS|tE

/^^j of 06i(}bet^dcTtii Ciontmucd [)y AJ-

iPrinted at M'^:'>- ' - ..y Reynu-r Janjc- lyoi

ABSTRACT OF LAWS FRlfSTED BY REYNIER JANSEN 1701,

Settlers. 139

hard, Peter, and Anneke, who were doubtless his chil-
dren, some of whom are buried in the Mennonite grave-
yard on the Skippack.

Four families, members of the Mennonite Church at
Hamburg, Harmen Karsdorp and family, Claes Berends
and family, including his father-in-law, Cornelius Claes-
sen, Isaac Van Sintern and family, and Paul Roosen and
wife, and two single persons, Heinrich Van Sintern and
the widow Trientje Harmens started for Pennsylvania,
March 5, 1700, and a few months later at least four of
them were here.^'^^ Isaac Van Sintern was a great grand-
son of Jan de Voss, a burgomaster at Hanschooten, in
Flanders, about 1550, a genealogy of whose descendants,
including many American Mennonites, was prepared in
Holland over a hundred years ago. In 1700 also came
George Muller and Justus Falkner, a brother of Daniel,
and the first Lutheran preacher in the province. Among
the residents in 1700 were Isaac Karsdrop and Arnold
Van Vossen, Mennonites, Richard Van der Werf, Dirck
Jansen, who married Margaret Millan, and Sebastian
Bartlesen ; in 1701 Heinrich Lorentz and Christopher
Schlegel ; in 1702 Dirck Jansen, an unmarried man from
Bergerland, working for Johannes Kuster, Ludwig Chris-
tian Sprogell, a bachelor from Holland, and brother of that
John Henry Sprogell, who a few years later brought an
ejectment against Pastorius, and feed all the lawyers of
the province, Marieke Speikerman, Johannes Rebenstock,
Philip Christian Zimmerman, Michael Renberg, with his
sons Dirck and Wilhelm, from Muhlheim, on the Ruhr,
Peter Bun, Isaac Petersen and Jacob Gerritz Holtzhooven,
both from Guelderland, in Holland, Heinrich Tibben,
Willem Hosters, a Mennonite weaver from Crefeld, Jacob

1°^ Mennonitische Blatter, Hamburg.

i^o The Settlement of Germantown.

Classen Arents, from Amsterdam, Jan Krey, Johann
Conrad Cotweis, who was an interpreter in New York in
1709, and Jacob Gaetschalck, a Mennonite preacher; and
in 1703 Anthon}^ Gerckes, Barnt Hendricks, Hans Hein-
rich Meels, Simon Andrews, Hermann Dors^''^ and Cor-
nelius Tyson. The last two appear to have come from
Crefeld, and over Tyson, who died in 17 16, Pastorius
erected in Axe's graveyard at Germantown what is, so far
as I know, the oldest existing tombstone to the memory of
a Dutchman or German in Pennsylvania.^''^

On the 28th of June, 1701, a tax was laid for the build-
ing of a prison, erection of a market, and other objects for
the public good. A weekly market was established " in
the road or highway where the cross street of Germantown
goes down to the Schuylkill." October 8, 1694, Jacob De
la Plaine and Jacob Telner each gave a half acre for the
purpose. ^°* We are told that in 1701 there were in German-
town "three score families, besides several single per-
ons."^"^

As in all communities, the prison preceded the school
house, but the interval was not long. December 30th of that
year " it was found good to start a school here in German-
town," and Arent Klincken, Paul Wolff and Peter Schu-
macher, Jr., were appointed overseers to collect subscrip-

102 <i One Herman Dorst near Germantown, a Batchelor past So years of
Age, who for a long time lived in a House by himself, on the 14th Instant
there dyed by himself." — American Weekly Mercury, October iSth, 1739,
if'^It bears the following inscription :

" Obijt Meiy 9, 1716
Cornelis Tiesen
Salic sin de doon
Die in den Here sterve
Theilric is haer Kroon
Tgloriric haer erve."
">< Collections of the Historical Society of Pa., Vol. i, p. 274.
lo^ibid , p. 283, Rath's Buch.

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF GERriA/NTOW/N.

/_jjM«^

T0nB5T0/NE OF CORNELIUS TYSON.

THE MOST ANCIENT IN OERHANTOWN.

Skippack. 141

tions and arrange with a school teacher. Pastorius was
the first pedagogue. As early as January 25, 1694-95, it
was ordered that stocks should be put up for the punish-
ment of evil doers. We might, perhaps, infer that they
were little used from the fact that, in June, 1702, James
De la Plaine was ordered to remove the old iron from the
rotten stocks and take care of it, but alas ! December 30,
1703, we find that "Peter Schumacher and Isaac Schu-
macher shall arrange with workmen that a prison house
and stocks be put up as soon as possible. ^"^

February 10, 1702-3, Arnold Van Vossen delivered to
Jan Neuss, on behalf of the Mennonites, a deed for three
square perches of land for a church, which, however, was
not built until six years later.

In 1702 began the settlement on the Skippack. This
first outgrowth of Germantown also had its origin at Cre-
feld, and the history of the Crefeld purchase would not be
complete without some reference to it. As we have seen,
of the one thousand acres bought by Govert Remke, one
hundred and sixty-one acres were laid out at Germantown.
The balance he sold in 1686 to Dirck Sipman. Of Sip-
man's own purchase of five thousand acres, five hundred
and eighty-eight acres were laid out at Germantown, and
all that remained of the six thousand acres he sold in 1698
to Matthias Van Bebber, who, getting in addition five hun-
dred acres and four hundred and fifteen acres by purchase,
had the whole tract of six thousand one hundred and sixty-
six acres located by patent, February 22, 1702, on the Skip-
pack. It was in the present Perkiomen Township, Mont-
gomery County, and adjoined Edward Lane and William
Harmer, near what is now the village of Evansburg.^"^
For the next half century, at least, it was known as Beb-

losRath's Buch.

lO'Exemp. Record, Vol. I., p. 47°-

izj.2 The Settlement of Gerniantozvn,

ber's Township, or Bebber's Town, and the name being
often met with in the Germantown records has been a
source of apparently hopeless confusion to our local his-
torians. Van Bebber immediately began to colonize it,
the most of the settlers being Mennonites. Among these
settlers were Hendrick Panriebecker, Johannes Kuster,
Johannes Umstat, Klas Jansen and Jan Krey in 1702;
John Jacobs, in 1704; John Newberry, Thomas Wiseman,
Edward Beer, Gerhard and Hermann In de Hoffen, Dirck
and William Renberg, in 1706; William and Cornelius
Dewees, Hermannus Kuster, Christopher Zimmerman,
Johannes Scholl and Daniel Desmond, in 1708; Jacob,
Johannes and Martin Kolb, Mennonite weavers from Wolfs-
heim, in the Palatinate, and Andrew Strayer, in 1709;
Solomon Dubois, from Ulster County, New York, in 17 16 ;
Paul Fried, in 1727, and in the last year the unsold bal-
ance of the tract passed into the hands of Pannebecker.
Van Bebber gave one hundred acres for a Mennonite
church, which was built about 1725, the trustees being
Hendrick Sellen, Hermannus Kuster, Klas Jansen, Martin
Kolb, Henry Kolb, Jacob Kolb and Michael Ziegler.

The Van Bebbers were undoubtedly men of standing,
ability, enterprise and means. The father, Jacob Isaacs,
moved into Philadelphia before 1698, being described
as a merchant in High street, and died there before
1711.^°^ Matthias, who is frequently mentioned by James
Logan, made a trip to Holland in 1701, witnessing there
Benjamin Furly's power of attorney, July 28th, and had
returned to Philadelphia before April 13th, 1702. He re-
mained in that city until 1704, when he and his elder

i°8He had three grandsons named Jacob, one of whom was doubtless the
Jacob Van Bebber who became Judge of the Supreme Court of Delaware,
Nov. 27th, 1764.

THE SETTLEHEMT OF CERMA/NTOW/N.

I. of '^^

PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS BY ALBERT DURER.

FROn THE COrt OF MIS WORKS BROUQHT TO CERtinNTOWN BY JOHANNES KOLB.

The Van Bcbbers. 143

brother, Isaac Jacobs, accompanied by Reynier Hermanns
Van Burklow, a son-in-law of Peter Schumacher, and
possibly others, removed to Bohemia Manor, Cecil
County, Maryland. There he was a justice of the peace,
and is described in the deeds as a merchant and a gentle-
man. Their descendants, like many others, soon fell
away from the simple habits and strict creed of their
fathers ; the Van Bebbers of Maryland have been distin-
guished in all the wars and at the bar ; and at the Falls of
the Kanawha, Van Bebber's rock, a crag jutting out at a
great height over the river, still preserves the memory and
recalls the exploits of one of the most daring Indian
fighters in Western Virginia.

Arms of the Holy Roman Empire.

CHAPTER VII.

The Op den Graeff Brothers and the Protest
AGAINST Slavery.

(^Jf' HERE was a rustic mur-
^l]j mur in the little burgh
in the year 1688 which
time has shown to have been
the echo of the great wave
that rolls around the world.
The event probably at that
time produced no commotion
and attracted little attention.
It may well be that the con-
sciousness of having won im-
mortality never dawned upon
any of the participants, and
yet a mighty nation will ever
recognize it in time to come as one of the brightest pages
in the early history of Pennsylvania and the country. On
the i8th day of April, 1688, Gerhard Hendricks, Dirck
Op den Graeff, Francis Daniel Pastorius and Abraham
Op den Graeff sent to the Friends' meeting the first public
protest ever made on this continent against the holding of
slaves. A little rill there started which further on became

144

Protest Against Slavery. 145

an immense torrent, and whenever hereafter men trace
analytically the causes which led to Gettysburg and Ap-
pomattox they will begin with the tender consciences of
the linen weavers and husbandmen of Germantown. The
protest is as follows :

This is to ye Monthly Meeting held at Rigert Worrells.
These are the reasons why we are against the traffick of
mens-body as followeth : Is there any that would be done or
handled at this manner? viz. to be sold or made a slave for
all the time of his life ? How fearfull & fainthearted are
many on sea when they see a strange vassel being afraid
it should be a Turck, and they should be tacken and sold
for Slaves in Turckey. Now what is this better done as
Turcks doe? yea rather is it worse for them, wch say they
are Christians for we hear, that ye most part of such
Negers are brought heither against their will & consent,
and that many of them are stollen. Now tho' they are
black, we cannot conceive there is more liberty to have
them slaves, as it is to have other white ones. There is a
saying, that we shall doe to all men, licke as we will be
done our selves : macking no difference of what genera-
tion, descent, or Colour they are. And those who steal or
robb men, and those who buy or purchase them, are they
not all alicke? Here is liberty of Conscience, wch is right
& reasonable, here ought to be lickewise liberty of ye body,
except of evildoers, wch is an other case. But to bring
men hither, or to robb and sell them against their will, we
stand against. In Europe there are many oppressed for
Conscience sacke ; and here there are those oppressed wch
are of a black Colour. And we, who know that men must
not commit adultery, some do commit adultery in others,
separating wifes from their housbands, and giving them to
others and some sell the children of those poor Creatures

146 The Settlement of Germantown.

to other men. Oh, doe consider well this things, you who
doe it, if you would be done at this manner? and if it is
done according Christianity? you surpass Holland and
Germany in this thing. This mackes an ill report in all
those Countries of Europe, where they hear off, that ye
Qjiackers doe here handel men, Licke they handel there
5'e Cattle ; and for that reason some have no mind or in-
clination to come hither. And who shall maintaine this
your cause or plaid for it ! Truely we can not do so ex-
cept you shall inform us better hereoff, viz. that christians
have liberty to practise this things. Pray ! What thing in
the world can be done worse towarts us then if men should
robb or steal us away & sell us for slaves to strange
Countries, separating housband from their wife & children.
Being now this is not done at that manner we will be done
at, therefore we contradict & are against this traffick of
men body. And we who profess that it is not lawfull to
steal, must lickewise avoid to purchase such things as are
stolen, but rather help to stop this robbing and stealing if
possibel and such men ought to be delivred out of ye hands
of ye Robbers and set free as well as in Europe. Then is
Pensilvania to have a good report, in stead it hath now a
bad one for this sacke in other Countries. Especially
whereas ye Europeans are desirous to know in what
manner ye Qjiackers doe rule in their Province & most of
them doe loock upon us with an envious eye. But if this
is done well, what shall we say, is don evil?

If once these slaves (wch they say are so wicked and
stubbern men) should joint themselves, fight for their
freedom and handel their masters & mastrisses, as they did
handel them before ; will these masters & mastrisses tacke
the sword at hand & warr against these poor slaves, licke
we are able to believe, some will not refuse to doe? Or

Protest Against Slavery. 147

have these negers not as much right to fight for their
freedom, as you have to keep them slaves?

Now consider well this thing, if it is good or bad? and
in case you find it to be good to handel these blacks at that
manner, we desire & require you hereby lovingly that you
may informe us herein, which at this time never was done,
viz. that Christians have Liberty to do so, to the end we
shall be satisfied in this point, & satisfie lickewise our good
friends & acquaintances in our natif Country, to whose it
is a terrour or fairfull thing that men should be handeld so
in Pensilvania.

This was is from our meeting at Germantown hold ye
18 of the 2 month 1688 to be delivred to the monthly meet-
ing at Richard Warrels.

gerret hendricks
derick op de graeff
Francis daniell Pastorius
Abraham op den graef.^"^

109 The Friends at Germantown, through William Kite, have recently
had a fac-simile copy of this protest made. Care has been taken to give
it here exactly as it is in the original, as to language, orthography and
punctuation. The disposition which was made of it appears from these
notes from the Friends' records : "At our monthly meeting at Dublin
ye 30 2 mo. 1688, we having inspected ye matter above mentioned & con-
sidered it we finde it so weighty tljat we think it not Expedient for us to
meddle with it here, but do Rather comitt it to ye consideration of ye
Quarterly meeting, ye tennor of it being nearly Related to ye truth, on
behalfe of ye monthly meeting. signed, pr. Jo. Hart."

"This above mentioned was Read in our Quarterly meeting at Phila-
delphia the 4 of ye 4 mo. '88, and was from thence recommended to the
Yearly Meeting, and the above-said Derick and the other two mentioned
therein, to present the same to ye above-said meeting, it being a thing of
too great a weight for this meeting to determine.

Signed by order of ye Meeting,
Anthony Morris."
At the yearly meeting held at Burlington the 5 day of 7 mo. 1688. " A
paper being here presented by some German Friends Concerning the

148 The Setthinent of Gcrniantown.

The men who prepared and signed this remarkable doc-
ument slumbered in almost undisturbed security until the
scholarly Seidensticker published his sketches, and Whit-
tier, using the material thus collected, gave the name of
Pastorius to the world in his beautiful poem. It is a little
sad that Pastorius, whose life in America was spent here,
and who belonged to a mental and moral type entirely our
own, should become celebrated as the Pennsylvania Pil-
grim^ as though he could only obtain appreciation by the
suggestion of a comparison with the men who landed at
Plymouth ; but no poet arose along the Schuylkill to tell
the tale, and we must recognize with gratitude, if with re-
gret, how fittingly others have commemorated the worth of
one whom we had neglected.

It is the purpose of this chapter to gather into one sheaf
such scattered and fragmentary facts concerning the lives
of two others of those four signers as have survived
the lapse of nearly two hundred years. In the Council of
the Mennonite Church, which set forth the eighteen arti-
cles of their confession of faith at the city of Dor-
drecht, April 21, 1632, one of the two delegates from
Krevelt, or Crefeld, was Hermann Op den Graeff. He
was born November 26, 1585, at Aldekerk, a village of
low houses, a somewhat soiled appearance, and a great
church which has evidently for centuries exhausted the
means of the people. It lies on the borders of Holland

Ivawfulness and Unlawfulness of buying and Keeping of Negroes, It was
adjudged not to be so proper for this Meeting to give a Positive Judgment
in the case, It having so General a Relation to many other Parts, and
therefore, at present they forbear it."

The handwriting of the original appears to be that of Pastorius. An
eflFort has been made to take from the Quakers the credit of this important
document, but the evidence that those who sent and those who received
it regarded each other as being members of the same religious society
seems to me conclusive.

The Op den Graeffs. 149

and later became the scene of a great battle between the
French and Germans. From Aldekerk Op den Graeff
removed to Crefeld, and there married a Mennonite girl,
Grietjen Pletjes, daughter of Driessen Pletjes, from Kem-
pen, the town of Thomas a Kempis. He died December
27, 1642, and she died January 7, 1643. They had
eighteen children, among whom was Isaac, who was born
February 28, 1616, and died January 17, 1679. He had
four children, Hermann, Abraham, Dirck and Margaret,
all of whom emigrated to Germantown. The Dordrecht
Confession of Faith appeared in the Martyrer Spiegel of
Van Braght, published at Ephrata in 1749, ^^^ ^^^^ been
many times reproduced in Pennsylvania. When Pastorius
had concluded to cross the ocean he went to Crefeld on
foot, and there talked with Thones Kunders and his wife,
and with Dirck, Hermann and Abraham Op den Graeff,
the three brothers. Did they have some dim and vague
consciousness of the great work which they and their chil-
dren, under the guidance of Providence, were to perform?
Was it given to them to catch a glimpse of what that little
colony, planted in an unknown land thousands of miles
away, was in the course of a few generations to become,
or was the hope of a religious peace alone sufficient to
calm their doubts and allay their fears? Six weeks later
they followed Pastorius. At Rotterdam, on the way, on the
nth of June, they bought jointly from Jacob Telner two
thousand acres of land to be located in Pennsylvania.
Germantown was laid out in fifty-five lots of fifty acres
each, running along upon both sides of the main street,
and in 1689 Dirck Op den Graeff owned the second lot
on the west side going north, Hermann the third, and
Abraham the fourth, with another lot further to the north-
ward. All three were weavers of linen. Richard Frame,

150 The Settlement of Germantown.

in a description of Pennsylvania in verse, published in
1692, refers to Germantown:

"Where lives High German People and Low Dutch
Whose Trade in w^eaving Linnen Cloth is much,
There grows the Flax, as also you may know
That from the same they do divide the tow;"

and Gabriel Thomas, in his account of the " Province
and Country of Pennsylvania," published in 1698, says
they made "very fine German Linen, such as no person
of Quality need be ashamed to wear." It may be fairly
claimed for Abraham op den Graeff that he was the most
skilled of these artisans, doing even more than his part to
have the town merit its motto of " Vinum Linum et

Textrinum^'' since
*^^ XT/ on the 17th of 9th

petition was pre-
sented to the Provincial Council, " for ye Govr's promise
to him should make the first and finest pece of linnen
Cloath,""" Upon a bond given by him to John Gibb in
1702 for £38 5s., afterward assigned to Joseph Shippen,
and recorded in the Germantown book, are, among others,
these items of credit : " Cloth 32 yds @ 3s, 6d," and " 36-
y^ Linning @ 4s," showing the prices at which these fa-
brics were sold.

On the 1 2th of 6th month, 1689, Penn issued to Dirck
op den Graeff, Abraham op den Graeff, Hermann op den
Graeff, called " Towne President," and eight others, a
charter for the incorporation of Germantown, and directed
Dirck, Hermann and Thones Kunders to be the first bur-
gesses, and Abraham, with Jacob Isaacs van Bebber,

110 Colonial Records, Vol. I., p. 193.

George Keith. 151

Johannes Kassel, Heifert Papen, Hermann Bon and Dirck
Van Kolk to be the first committee-men. The bailiff and
two eldest burgesses were made justices of the peace.'"
This charter, however, did not go into effect until 1691.
Under it, afterward, Dirck was a bailiff in the years 1693
and 1694, and Abraham a burgess in 1692. Abraham
was also elected a member of the Assembly for the years
1689, 1690 and 1692, sharing with Pastorius, who held
the same position in 1687, the honor of being the only
Germantown settlers who became legislators.

Their strongest claim, however, to the remembrance of
future generations, is based upon the Anti-Slavery protest.
It is probable, from the learning and ability of Pastorius,
that he was the author of this protest, but it is reasonably
certain that Dirck op den Graeff bore it to the quarterly
meeting at Richard Worrall's, and his is the only name
mentioned in connection with its presentation to the yearly
meeting, to which it was referred as a topic of too much
importance to be considered elsewhere.

A short time after this earnest expression of humani-
tarian sentiment had been laid away among neglected
records, awaiting a more genial air and a stronger light in
which to germinate, events of seemingly much more mo-
ment occurred to claim the attention of the Society of
Friends. George Keith, whose memory is apostatized by
them, and revered by Episcopalians, who had been one of
the earliest and most effective of their preachers, began to
differ with many of the leading members of the Society
concerning questions of doctrine. In the nature of things,
the defection of a man of such prominence .was followed
by that of many others. Dissension was introduced into
the meetings and division and discord into families. In a

11' Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. I., p. 3.

152 The Settlement of Germantown.

quiet and peaceable way the warfare was waged very bit-
terly and many harsh things were said softly. Dirck op
den Graeff adhered to the cause of the Friends, but Abra-
ham and Hermann were among the disaffected, and the
three brothers seem to have been more deeply involved in
the controversy than any of the other Germans. The
numerous public discussions which were held only served
to confirm each faction in the correctness of its own ren-
dering of the Scriptures ; the Friends who were sent to
deal with George privately and to indicate to him whither
he was tending made little progress ; and the difficulty
having become too great to be appeased, twenty-eight
ministers presented a paper of condemnation against him
at the monthly meeting at Frankford. Dirck op den
Graeff, a magistrate in the right of his position as a bur-
gess of Germantown, was present at the meeting and must
in some way have shown an interest in the proceedings,
since Keith called him publicly " an impudent Rascal."
Most unfortunate words ! Uttered in a moment of thought-
less wrath, and repeated in the numerous pamphlets and
broadsides which the occasion called forth, they returned
again and again to plague their author. Beaten out in the
fervor of religious and polemic zeal, they were construed
to impliedly attack the civil government in the person of
one of its trusted officers. Ere long, in reply to the testi-
mony against Keith, the celebrated William Bradford
printed "An appeal from the twenty-eight Judges to the
Spirit of Truth and true Judgment in all faithful Friends
called ^takers that meet at this yearly meeting at Burling-
ton, 7 mo., '92," signed by George Keith, George Hutche-
son, Thomas Budd, John Hart, Richard Dungwoody and
Abraham op den Graeff. The appeal is, in the main, an
attempt to submit to the people the question which had

Keith's Ap;pcal. 153

been decided against Keith by the ministers as to whether
the inner light was not alone insufficient, but it closes with
the following pointed and pertinent queries :

" 9. Whether the said 28 persons had not done much
better to have passed Judgment against some of their
Brethren at Philadelphia(some of themselves being deeply
guilty) for countenancing and allowing some called
^takers, and owning them in so doing, to hire men to
fight (and giving them a Commt'ssion so to do, signed by
three Justices of the Peace called ^takers, one whereof
being a Preacher among them) as accordingly they did,
and recovered a Sloop, and took some Privateers by force
of arms ?

" 10. Whether hiring men thus to fight, and also to pro-
vide the Indians with Powder and Lead to fight against
other Indians is not a manifest Transgression of our prin-
ciple against the use of the carnal Sword and other carnal
Weapons? Whether these called Qjiakers in their so
doing have not greatly weakened the Testimony of Friends
in England, Barbadoes, «&c., who have suffered much for
their refusing to contribute to uphold the Militia, or any
Military force ? And whether is not their Practice here an
evil President, if any change of government happen in this
place, to bring Sufferings on faithful Friends, that for
Conscience sake refuse to contribute to the Militia? And
how can they justly refuse to do that under another's Gov-
ernment, which they have done or allowed to be done
under their own? But in these and other things we stand
up Witnesses against them, with all faithful Friends every-
where.

'* II. Whether it be according to the Gospel that Minis-
ters would pass sentence of Death on Malefactors, as some
pretended Ministers here have done, preaching one day

154 '^^^ Settlement of Germantown.

Not to take an Eye for an Eye (Matt. v. 38), and another
day to contradict it by taking Life ?

*' 12. "Whether there is any Example or President for it
in Scripture, or in all Christendom, that Ministers should
engross the worldly Government, as they do here? which
hath proved of a very evil tendency.""^

There was enough of truth in the intimations contained
in these queries to make them offensive and disagreeable.
According to the account of it given by Caleb Pusey, an
opponent of Keith, in his " Satan's Harbinger Encoun-
tered," when Babbitt had stolen the sloop and escaped down
the river, the three magistrates issued a warrant in the
nature of a hue and cry, and a party of men went out in
boat and captured the robbers. As they were about to
depart, Samuel Carpenter, a leading and wealthy Friend,
stood up on the wharf and promised them one hundred
pounds in the event of success. Doubtless they used some
force ; but to call them militia, and the warrant a commis-
sion, was, to say the least for it, quite ingenious on the part
of Keith. The Appeal had the effect of converting what
had hitherto been purely a matter of Church into one of
State. Bradford and John McComb were arrested and
committed for printing it, but were afterwards discharged.
Keith and Budd were indicted before the grand jury,
tried, convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of five pounds
each. These proceedings caused as much excitement as
our placid forefathers were capable of feeling, and became
the subject of universal comment. The justices, Arthur
Cooke, Samuel Jennings, Samuel Richardson, Humphrey
Murray, Anthony Morris and Robert Ewer met in private
session on the 25th of 6th month, 1692, and issued the fol-
lowing proclamation of warning and explanation :

"2 A mutilated copy of this Appeal is in the Friends' library on Arch
Street above Third.

Proclajnation of the Judges. 155

"Whereas, the government of this Province, being by
the late King of England's peculiar favor, vested and since
continued in Governor Penn, who thought fit to make his
and our w^orthy friend, Thomas Lloyd, his Deputy Gover-
nor, by and under whom the Magistrates do act in the gov-
ernment, and whereas it hath been proved before us that
George Keith, being a resident here, did, contrary to his
duty, publicly revile the said Deputy Governor by calling
him an impudent man, telling him he was not fit to be a
Governor, and that his name would stink, with many other
slighting and abusive expressions, both to him and the
magistrates : (and he thatuseth such exorbitancy of speech
towards our said Governor, may be supposed will easily
dare to call the Members of Council and Magistrates im-
pudent Rascals, as he has lately called one in open as-
sembly, that was constituted by the Proprietary to be a
Magistrate) and he also charged the Magistrates who are
Magistrates here, with engrossing the magisterial power
in their hands, that they might usurp authorit}^ over him :
saying also, he hoped in God, he should shortly see their
power taken from them : All which he acted in an inde-
cent manner.

" And further, the said George Keith, with several of
his adherents, having some few days since, with unusual
insolence, by a printed sheet called an Appeal, etc., tra-
duced and vilely misrepresented the industry, care, readi-
ness and vigilance of some magistrates and others here, in
their late proceedings against the privateers Babbitt and
his crew, in order to bring them to condign punishment,
whereby to discourage such assemblies for the future ;
and have thereby defamed and arraigned the determina-
tion of the principal judicature against murderers ; and
not only so, but also by wrong insinuations have laboured

156 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

to possess the readers of their pamphlet that it is incon-
sistent for those who are Ministers of the Gospel to act as
Magistrates, which, if granted, will render our said pro-
prietary incapable of the powers given him by the King's
letters patent, and so prostitute the validity of every act of
government, more especially in the executive part thereof,
to the courtesie and censure of all factious spirits, and mal-
contents under the same.

"Now forasmuch as we, as well as others, have borne
and still do patiently endure the said George Keith and his
adherents in their many personal reflections against us and
their gross revilings of our religious Society, yet we can-
not (without the violation of our trust to the King and
governor, as also to the inhabitants of this government)
pass by or connive at, such part of the said pamphlet and
speeches, that have a tendency to sedition and disturbance
of the peace, as also to the subversion of the present gov-
ernment, or to the aspersing magistrates thereof. There-
fore for the undeceiving of all people, we have thought fit
by this public writing not only to signify that our pro-
cedure against the persons now in the Sheriff's custody,
as well as what we intend against others concerned (in its
proper place) respects only that part of the said printed
sheet which appears to have the tendency aforesaid, and
not any part relating to differences in religion, but also
these are to caution such who were well affected to the
security, peace and legal administration of justice in this
place that they give no countenance to any revilers and con-
temners of authority, magistrates or magistracy, as also to
warn all other persons that they forbear the further pub-
lishing and spreading of the said pamphlets, as they will
answer the contrary to their peril." "^

'"Smith's History in Hazard' Register, Vol. VI., p. 281.

The Court. 157

"What we intend against others concerned," would
seem to imply that a bolt was being forged over the heads
of Abraham op den Graeff and the remaining three signers
of the insolent pamphlet ; but it was never discharged.
The yearly meeting at Burlington disowned Keith, and
this action the yearly meeting at London confirmed. Dirck
op den Graeff was one of those who signed the testimony
against him and one of those giving a certificate to Samuel
Jennings, who went to London to represent his opponents.
Hermann op den Graeff, on the other hand, was among a
minority of sixty-nine, who issued a paper at the yearly
meeting at Burlington, favoring him. The results of this
schism were extensive and grave. It placed a weapon in
the hands of the enemies of Friends which they used in
Europe, as well as here, without stint. Ecclesiastically it
led to the foundation of the Episcopal Church in Pennsyl-
vania. Politically it threatened to change the destinies of
a Commonwealth, since it was one of the principal reasons
assigned for depriving Penn of the control of his province.

The incorporation of Germantown rendered necessary
the opening of a court. In its records may be traced the
little bickerings and contentions which mark the darker
parts of the characters of these goodly people. Its pro-
ceedings conducted with their simple and primitive ideas
of judicature, written in their quaint language, are both
instructive and entertaining, since they show what manner
of men these were, whose worst faults appear to have con-
sisted in the neglect of fences and the occasional use of
uncomplimentary adjectives. From among them is ex-
tracted whatever, during the course of about thirteen years,
relates to the Op den Graeffs.

1696. "The 3rd day of the 9th month, before the per-
sons constituting this Court of Record, proclamation was

158 The Settlement of Germantown.

made and the overseers of the fences did present as insuffi-
cient the fence of Hermann op den Graeff, Abraham op
den Graeff, Isaac Jacobs, Johannes Pottinger, Lenert Arets
and Reinert Tyson."

"The 6th day of the 9th month, after proclamation, the
overseers of the fences being appointed to appear before
this Court, did present as yet insufficient the fence of Her-
mann op den Graeff, Abraham op den Graeff, Isaac Jacobs
and Johannes Pottinger."

James de la Plaine, Coroner, brought into this court the
names of the jury which he summoned the 24th day of 4th
month, 1 701, viz: Thomas Williams, foreman; Peter
Keurlis, Hermann op den Graeff, Reiner Peters, Peter
Shoemaker, Reiner Tyson, Peter Brown, John Umstat,
Thomas Potts, Reiner Hermans, Dirk Johnson, Hermann
Tunes. Their verdict was as followeth : We, the jury,
find that through carelessless the cart and the lime killed the
man ; the wheel wounded his back and head, and it killed
him."

1 700-1. "The 7th day of the 9th month, Abraham op
de Graeff and Peter Keurlis were sent for to answer the
complaints made against their children by Daniel Falckner
and Johannes Jawert, but the said Abraham op de Graeff
being not well and Peter Keurlis gone to Philadelphia, this
matter was left to the next session."

20th of nth month, 1701. ".The sheriff complains
against Abraham op de Graeff's son Jacob, for having
taken a horse out of his custody. The said Jacob answers
that he brought the horse thither again. The Court fined
him half a crown, besides what his father is to pay the
sheriff according to the law of this corporation."

"The sheriff, Jonas Potts, gave Abraham op de Graeff
the lie for saying that the said sheriff agreed with Matthew

Court Records. 159

Peters to take for his fees 7s, 6d., which upon acknowledge-
ment was forgiven and laid by."

December 28th, 1703. "Abraham op de Graeff did
mightly abuse the Bailiff in open court, wherefore he was
brought out of it to answer for the same at the Court of
Record."

2ist of ist month, 1703-4. *' Abraham op de Graeff
being formerly committed by James de la Plaine, Bailiff,
for several offences mentioned in the mittimus, and the said
Abraham having further, with many injurious words,
abused the now Bailiff Arent Klincken in open Court of
Record, held here at Germantown, the 28th day of Decem-
ber, 1703, was fined by this present Court the sum of two
pounds and ten shillings and he to remain in the Sheriff's
custody until the said fine and fees be satisfied."

13th of 4th month, 1704. "The action of Mattheus
Smith against Abraham op de Graeff was called and the
following persons attested as jurymen, viz : Paul Wolff,
Tunes Kunders, William Strepers, Dirk Jansen, Jr., John
Van de Wilderness, Dirk Jansen, Sr., Walter Simens,
Henry Tubben, John Smith, Lenert Arets, Hermannus
Kuster and Cornelius Dewees. The declaration of Matthew
Smith being read, the answer of the defendant was that he
proffered pay to the plaintiff, but that he would not accept of
it, and brings for his evidences Edward Jerman and Joseph
Coulson, who were both attested and said that Abraham op
den Graeff came to the ordinary of Germantown, where
Matthew Smith was and told to the said Smith that he
should come along with him and receive his pay, and that
the said Abraham had scales at home ; but Smith did not
go. The plaintiff asked the said German and Coulson
whether they heard the defendant proffer any kind of pay-
ment ; they both said no. The jury's verdict was as fol-

i6o The Settlement of Germanto-wn.

loweth : The jury understand that Matthew Smith refused
the payment which Abraham had offered, the said Matthew
is guihy ; but Abraham must pay the sum which the arbi-
trators had agreed upon. Paul Wolff, foreman."

October 3d, 1704. "The action of Abraham op den
Graeff, against David Sherkes, for slandering him, the
said Abraham, that no honest man would be in his com-
pany, was called, and the bond of the said David Sherkes
and Dirck Keyser, Sr., for the defendant's appearing at
this Court was read ; the cause pleaded, and as witnesses
were attested Dirck Keyser, Sr., Dirck Keyser, Jr., Arnold
Van Vosen and Hermann Dors, whereupon the jury brought
in their verdict thus : We of the jury find for the defendant.
The plaintiff desired an appeal, but when he was told he
must pay the charges of the Court and give bond to prose-
cute he went away and did neither."

Dirck died about May, 1697, leaving a widow Nilcken
or Nieltje, but probably no children. Hermann, about
September 29, 1701, removed to Kent county, in the
"Territories," now the State of Delaware, and died before
May 2, 1704. In a deed made by Abraham in 1685 there
is a reference to his " hausfrau Catharina," and May 16,
1704, he and his wife Trintje sold their brick house in
Germantown. Soon afterward he removed to Perkiomen,
and traces of the closing years of his life are very meagre.
Of the two thousand acres purchased by the three brothers
from Telner, eight hundred and twenty-eight were located
in Germantown and sold, and the balance, after the deaths
of Dirck and Hermann, vested in Abraham through the
legal principle of survivorship. He had them laid out in
the Dutch Township fronting on the Perkiomen, where he
was living April 6, 17 10, and where he died before
March 25, 173 1. On the 27th of August, 1709, he gave

The Op den Graeff Brothers, i6i

to his daughter Margaret and her husband Thomas Howe,
a tailor of Germantown, three hundred acres of this land.
In consideration of the gift Howe " doth hereby promise to
maintain the within named Abraham op den Graeff if he
should want livelihood at any time during his life, and to
attend upon him and be dutiful to him." It is to be hoped
that this covenant was more faithfully kept than sometimes
happens with such promises when men in their old age
drop the reins into other hands. His children beside Mar-
garet were Isaac, Jacob, and Anne, the wife of Hermann
In de Hoffen. In their youth he sent Isaac and Jacob to
school to Pastorius. It is probable that after the Keith
difficulty he did not renew his association with the Friends,
and that his remains lie with those of the In de Hoffens
(Dehaven) in the Mennonite graveyard on the Skippack
near Evansburg. His name has been converted into Upde-
graff, Updegrave and Updegrove, but those who bear it
are not numerous.

CHAPTER VIII.

William Rittenhouse and the Paper Mill.

ILLIAM RITTEN-
HOUSE was born in
the year 1664, in the
principality of Broich, near the
city of Mulheim, on the Ruhr,
where his brother Heinrich
Nicholaus and his mother Ma-
ria Hagerhoffs were living in
1678. At this time he was a
resident of Amsterdam. We
are told that his ancestors had
long been manufacturers of pa-
per at Arnheim. However this
may be, it is certain that this was the business to which he
was trained, because when he took the oath of citizenship
in Amsterdam, June 23d, 1678, he was described as a
paper maker from Muhlheim. He emigrated to New
York, but since there was no printer in that city, and no
opportunity therefore for carrying on his business of mak-
ing paper, in 1688, together with his sons Gerhard and
Klaus (Nicholas) and his daughter Elizabeth, who subse-

162

— a:

U-" iij

■C a

UJ £

to cc

Z) 5
O

jFrame's Description. 163

A .Short

DESCRIPTION

OP ^

Ott A Relation What things are known,

enjoyed, nnd like to be difcovered m

in the faid Province.

of England.

^y Richard Frame.

T Tinted and Sold hy William Bradford i>
Philadelphia, 16^2.

quently married Heivert Papen, he came to Germantown.
There, in 1690, upon a little stream flowing into the Wis-
sahickon, he erected the first paper mill in America, an
event which must ever preserve his memory in the recol-
lections of men. He was the founder of a family which

164 The Settlement of Germaniozvn.

in the person of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer, phil-
osopher and statesman, reached the very highest intel-
lectual rank.

In 1692 William Bradford printed a poem by Richard
Frame, an early resident of Philadelphia, entitled *' A
Short Description of Pennsilvania or a relation of what
things are known, enjoyed and like to be discovered in the
said Province." In it Frame writes :

" The German-Town of which I spoke before,
Which is, at least in length one mile or more.
Where lives High German People and Low Dutch,
Whose trade in weaving linen Cloth is much.
There grows the flax, as also you may know.
That from the same they do divide the Tow ;
Their trade fits well within this habitation.
We find convenience for their Occasion,
One trade brings in imployment for another,
So that we may suppose each trade a brother ;
From linen rags good paper doth derive,
The first trade keeps the second trade alive ;
Without the first the second cannot be,
Therefore since these two can so well agree.
Convenience doth appear to place them nigh,
One in Germantown, t'other hard by.
A paper mill near German-Town doth stand.
So that the flax which first springs from the land.
First flax, then yarn, and then they must begin,
To weave the same which they took pains to spin.
Also when on our backs it is well worn.
Some of the same remains ragged and Torn ;
Then of the Rags our Paper it is made ;
Which in process of time doth waste and fade :
So what comes from the earth, appeareth plain.
The same in Time, returneth to earth again."

Holme's Relation. 165

While this is perhaps not very attractive as to verse, it
furnishes proof of the fact that in 1692 the paper mill was
in operation, and consuming to some extent the waste of
linen which the weavers of Germantown were making.
In 1690 Robert Turner, William Bradford, the printer in
Philadelphia, Thomas Tresse and William Rittenhouse
had formed a company for the purpose of erecting the
mill, and Samuel Carpenter, a wealthy merchant in Phila-
delphia, had agreed to convey to them twenty acres of
ground upon a lease for nine hundred and ninety-nine
years at a rental of five shillings per annum. The mill was
constructed, but no formal lease was executed.

Before February 9, 1705-6, the interests of Turner
and Tresse had been purchased by Rittenhouse, who was
now the sole owner, and upon that day Carpenter made a
lease to him for a term of nine hundred and seventy-five
years at the same rental. It was Bradford's interest in
the mill which was referred to by John Holme in " A true
relation to the flourishing State of Pensilvania," written in
1696, when he says :

" Here dwelt a printer and I find,
That he can both print books and bind ;
He wants not paper, ink nor skill,
He's owner of a paper mill.
The paper mill is here hard by
And makes good paper frequently.
But the printer, as I do here tell,
Is gone into New York to dwell.
No doubt but he will lay up bags.
If he can get good store of rags.
Kind friends when thy old shift is rent,
Let it to the paper mill be sent."

1 66

The Settlement of Germantown.

And Gabriel Thomas in his description of Pennsylvania
in 1697 says : "All sorts of very good paper are made in

OfAWIA

Watermark used by Rittenhouse.

the German-town as also very fine German linen such as
no person of quality need be ashamed to wear."

Bradford wrote to London, November 18, 1690 :
" Samuel Carpenter and I are building a paper mill about

Rittenhotisc Paper Mill. 167

a mile from thy mills at Skulkill, and hope we shall have
paper within less than four months.""* But notwithstand-
ing this modest statement, it is quite plain that Ritten-
house was the most important member of the company,
upon whom the others relied for the skill both to construct
the mill and to conduct the business. It was not long be-
fore Bradford had become embroiled in the schism started
by Keith, had quarreled with his patrons the Qjiakers,
who assisted him in the establishment of his press, and with
Carpenter, his financial support, and had gone away to
New York. In 1697 he leased his one-fourth interest for
ten years to William Rittenhouse and his son Klaas upon
their undertaking to furnish him " Seven ream of printing
paper. Two ream of good writing paper, and two ream ol
blue paper" every year during the term. He was further
to have the refusal of all "ye printing paper that they
make and he shall take ye same at ten shillings per ream "
and the refusal of " five ream of writing paper and thirty
ream of brown paper yearly and every year during ye said
term of ten years, ye printing paper to be at 20 s and ye
brown paper at 6 s per ream." For a period of twenty
years all the American paper used in Philadelphia and
New York was supplied from this mill. The first water-
mark used was the word " Company," but this was soon
superseded by the letters " W. R." on one-half of the sheet,
and on the other a clover leaf in a shield with a crown-like
top and the word Pensilvania underneath. The clover leaf
was adopted from the town seal of Germantown. The
next watermark consisted of the letters " K. R.," the in-
itials of Klaas Rittenhouse. About 1700 a sudden flood
carried away the mill with a quantity of paper, material
and tools, but a more substantial structure was erected to

"^Letters from Pennsylvania, London, 1691, p. 8.

1 68 The Settlement of Germanto-wn.

take its place in 1702. Bradford finally parted with his
interest June 20, 1704.

Rittenhouse has still another claim to be remembered for
his connection with the work of the community at German-
town. In the year 1686 a little church was built.

Although it is so described by Pastorius, there is no
doubt it was a Quaker meeting house. Ere long the Men-
nonites began to feel that they were numerous enough to
establish a distinctive organization, separate from that of
the sect of the Proprietor. Rittenhouse was their first
preacher. We have fortunately an account of the origin
of this movement from the pen of a contemporary, Jacob
Godschalks, from a city called Gog in the land of Cleeve.
He says : " The beginning or the origin of the community
of Jesus Christ here at Germantown, who are called Men-
nonites, took its rise in this way, that some friends out of
Holland and other places in Germany, came here to-
gether, and although they did not all agree, since at this
time the most were still Quakers, nevertheless they found
it good to have exercises together, but in doing it they
were to be regarded as sheep who had no shepherd, and
since as yet they had no preachers, they endeavored to
instruct one another. In the year 1690 more Friends
from Crefeld and elsewhere came into the land, who were
also of our brethren and added themselves and attended
our exercises in the house of Isaac Jacobs."^ These last
mentioned friends from the first found it good, or judged
it better for the building up of the community to choose
by a unanimity of voters a preacher and some deacons.
Thereupon was William Rittenhouse, born in Mongouer-
land, chosen preacher, and Jan Neues of Creveld, as dea-
con, and the first named entered upon the performance of

"^ Van Bebber.

The Mennonite Church. 169

his duties on the 8th of October, 1702. They undertook
a second election of two preachers and Jacob Godschalks
from Gog, and Hans Neues from Creveld were chosen
preachers. These two last mentioned at first served the
community by reading, but afterwards a difficulty arose
between Hans Neues and Arnold Van Vossen, and since
the first thought that he was wronged, he separated him-
self from the community and did not again unite with it.
In the year 1707 some brethren came to us out of the
Palatinate, who for a whole year kept by themselves.
The i8th of February, 1708, the first chosen preacher,
Willem Ruttinghausen died, to the great regret of the
community. Since now Jacob Godschalks alone served
the community, and the Brethren from the Palatinate had
united with us, they considered it necessary to choose be-
sides three men as deacons and overseers, which happened
the 2 2d of March, 1708, and there were chosen Isac Van
Sinteren, Hendrik Kassel and Conrad Janz. A month
afterward, April 20th, there were besides two preachers
chosen, to wit : Herman Casdorp and Martin Kolb. After
that we remained some time living in good peace. Mean-
while some persons presented themselves in order to be
taken into the community through baptism, whereupon the
community, then consisting of thirty-three members, in-
cluding the preachers and deacons, having consulted to-
gether, ordered that the request of these persons should be
complied with, and accordingly the administration of this
rite was conducted by Jacob Godschalks and water bap-
tism performed for the first time in the land. May 9, 1708.
The persons to whom baptism was administered were eleven
in number, and our community increased to forty-five mem-
bers. The 23d of May we celebrated the suffering and
death of our Saviour by observing the Lord's Supper as

lyo The Settlement of Gei'maniozvn.

instituted by the apostles. In 1709 some more Brothers
and Sisters came to us throughout the Palatinate, so that
on the 6th of April, 171 2, our community at Germantown,
and thence extending to Schippak, was so increased that
we had ninety-nine members." "''

It appears that the Mennonites wrote from Germantown
to Amsterdam asking that a preacher be sent to them.
The letter is lost, but it was answered by Gerhard Roosen,
Pieter Van Helle, Jacob Van Kampen and Jean De Leoni
in a communication addressed to Claas Berend, Paul
Roosen, Heinrich van Sintern, Harmen Kasdorp and
Isaac Van Sintern at Germantown, informing them that no
preacher was willing to take the long and dangerous jour-
ney, advising them prayerfully to select one of their num-
ber for the performance of these duties."^ On the 3d of
September, 1708, Jacob Gaetschalk, Harman Karsdorp,
Martin Kolb, Isak Van Sintern and Conrad Jansen wrote
to Amsterdam " a loving and friendly request " for " some
catechisms for the children and little testaments for the
young." There was no bible at the meeting house, and
only one copy in the whole membership. They added
" that the community is still weak and it would cost much
money to get them printed, while the members who come
here from Germany have spent everything and must begin
anew, and all work in order to pay for the conveniences of
life of which they stand in need." They had asked Wil-
liam Bradford in New York concerning the publication of
a confession of Faith, but found that it would cost so much
that the purpose had to be abandoned. The letter bore
fruit, because " The Christian Confession of the Faith of

"5 Life of Hendrick Pannebecker, p. 48. The original document in
Dutch is in my possession.

"' Cassel's History of the Mennonites, p. 140,

Mennonite Confession of Faith.

171

The

Chriftian
CONFESSION

Of the Faith of the harmlcfs
Chriftians , in the Ne-
therlands known by
the name of

MENNONISTS.

AMSTERD

Printed in the Year,

1172 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

The

CONFESSION

Of the Faith of the harmlcft
Chriflianf^ in the Ne-
therlandsj known by
the name of

MENNONISTS*

AMSTERDAM.

Printed, and Re-printed and Sold by
Andrew Bradford in Philadelfhia,
in the Year, 1727.

Mennonite Confession of Faith. 173

APPENDIX

TO THE

CONFESSION of FAITH

Of the Chriftians, railed,

MENNONISTS^

GIVING

A flion and full Account of them ; bccaufe
of the Immagination of the Ncwncfs of
our Religion, the Weapon and Rcvenge-
lefs Chriltendom, and. its being.

Publifhcd

Formerly m the Low-Dfttch^ and tranflarcd
out of the fame into High-Dutcb, and out
of that into the Engliff} Language, 1725'.

PHILADELPHIA:

Jhrinted by Anirctu Bradford^ in the Yesu^
1727.

1 74 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

the harmless Christians in the Netherlands known by the
name of the Mennonites " was printed in Amsterdam, 1712,
in English, " at the desire of some of our Fellow believers
in Pensylvania " and was reprinted in Philadelphia by
Andrew Bradford in 1727."^

Martin Kolb, one of the writers of this letter, a grandson
of Peter Schumacher, was born in the village of Wolfs-
heim, in the Palatinate, in 1680 and came with his brothers
Johannes and Jacob to Pennsylvania in the spring of 1707.
He married May 19, 1709, Magdalena, daughter of
Isaac Van Sintern and she may claim the distinction of
having been the first genealogist in the province. Isaac
Van Sintern, a great grandson of Jan de Voss, a Burgo-
master at Handschooten, in Flanders, about 1550, was born
September 4, 1662, and married in Amsterdam Cornelia
Claassen, of Hamburg. He came with four daughters to
Pennsylvania after 1687, died August 23, 1737, and was
buried at Skippack. Magdalena Kolb, about 1770, when
a very old woman, prepared a record of about five hundred
of the descendants in Pennsylvania, which was sent to
Holland and incorporated in the De Voss genealogy.

On the loth of February, 1702-3, Arnold Van Vos-
sen delivered to Jan Neuss on behalf of the Menno-
nites a deed for three square perches of land for a
church. On it a log house was built, possibly at that

time and certainly not

JL.B^/C^.^^^^ later than 1708. The
Cy ly / / quantity of land was later

increased, since in 1714,
Sept. 5th, Van Vossen conveyed thirty-five perches to
Hendrick Sellen and Jan Neuss "for a place to erect a
meeting house for the use and service of the said Men-

1" A copy of each edition is in my library.

Aji Old Landmark.

175

176

The Settlement of Germantoivn.

nonites (alias Menisten) and for a place to bury their
dead.'

Neuss died before Dec. 8, 1724, on which day Sellen
executed a declaration of trust.

The members, May 23, 1708, were Wynant Bowman,
Ann Bowman, Cornelius Claassen, Peter Conrad, Gertrude
Conrad, Johannes Conrad, Civilia Conrad, Jacob God-
schalk and his wife, Johannes Gorgas, Margaret Huberts,
Conrad Johnson and wife, Harmen Kasdorp and wife,
Martin Kolb and wife, Heinrich Kassel and wife, Johannes
Krey, Helena Krey, Paul Klumpges, Johannes Kolb,
Jacob Kolb, Barbara Kolb, Arnold Kuster, Elizabeth
Kuster, Hermannus Kuster, Peter Keyser, Catharine
Kasselberg, Jan Lensen, Jan Neuss, Hans Neuss, William
Rittenhouse and wife, Altien Rebenstock, Mary Sellen,
Hendrick Sellen, Hermen Tuyner, (?), Mary Tuynen,
Margaret Tyson, Altien Tyson, Christopher Timmerman,
Civilia Van Vossen, Arnold Van Vossen, Isaac Jacobs
Van Bebber, Jacob Isaacs Van Bebber, Isaac Van Sintern
and wife, Sarah Van Sintern."^

"5 Morgan Edwards' Materials towards a History of the American Bap-
tists. Vol. I., p. 96.

CHAPTER IX.

Peter Cornelius Plockhoy, of Zierik Zee.
Communal Plans and Settlement on
THE Hoorn Kill.

His

►E now approach the most
heroic figure and tlie
most pathetic series of
incidents in connection with
the early history of German-
town. It is the story of one

"Who died in the broken battle,
who lies with swordless
hand,
In the realm that the foe hath
conquered, on the edge of a
stranger land."

Robert Owen and Charles
Fourier of recent years have elaborated theories of a com-
munal life, which have attracted wide attention and dis-
cussion, and in this country led Hawthorne, Thoreau,
Emerson and their companions to make the experiment at
Brook Farm. This experiment, at least, had the result of
leading to the production of the Blithedale Romance and
other interesting literature of permanent value. The fore-

177

Vignette from Plockhoy's Kort
en klaar Ontwerp.

1 78 The Settlement of Germantown.

runner of Owen, in the suggestion of these views of life,
was acknowledged by him to have been the Quaker, Robert
Bellers, who in 1696 published a book in London advo-
cating the erection of a college of labor wherein should
be taught trades and housekeeping, and where the rich
would get a profit, the poor a living, and the young would
be properly instructed. Karl Marx praises this book as
marking an epoch in the history of political econom}^
But as there were brave men before Agamemnon, and a
book of Jasher before that of Jeremiah, so was there a pre-
cursor to Bellers, Owen and Fourier.

Peter Cornelius Plockhoy came of a Mennonite family,
living at Zierik Zee, and was deeply impressed with the
strong religious sentiment of the age and of the sect to
which he belonged. He regarded the Christian church
as a great universal union of brethren, common to all
lands and to all ages, under the one head of Christ, and
he says of himself that he was grieved to see the dissen-
sions among the many sects into which this brotherhood
was divided. He thought over a means by which he could
help to break down the walls of separation, and concluded
that the man who could do the most to accomplish this ob-
ject was Cromwell, the Protector of England. Thereupon
he abandoned for a time his family and went to London.
Cromwell, in whose character was blended the capacity
for military affairs and statecraft, with strong religious
impulses and tendencies, gave him a hearing and permitted
him to explain his views at length. The result was that he
prepared two letters to the Protector. The first of them
was dated June 24, 1658. It urged upon Cromwell to see
to it that he, who by his achievements had been saved
from Anti-Christ, should not again fall into the hands of
the little Anti-Christs. The little Anti-Christs were those

Letters to Cromzuell. 17c)

sects which differ among themselves and exclude others,
and the preachers of these sects. The church of Christ
indicates something broad and universal. God and Christ
alone are its masters. The government ought to prevent
that any man should undertake to rule over another in
matters of conscience. All are upon an equality in mat-
ters of religion. The government ought not to lend its
authority to sects which, contrary to the Holy Scriptures,
have established forms and formulas in the shape of con-
fessions of faith, by which they bind fast the wills of man-
kind. No, there is one church for all. In the church
differences of opinion can be permitted, but brotherhood
and unity possess them all. For this common Christian
church the Lord Protector ought to provide. He must
cause it to be brought about that in each city, and in each
county, there shall be a common Christian place of meeting,
and that a great hall shall be built where the meeting shall
be held, and the Holy Scriptures be read for all, and after
the reading each shall have an opportunity to express
briefly his opinion concerning it. The sitting places in
such a hall could be arranged in the form of an amphi-
theatre, and with rising steps. Freedom of speech must
be preserved for each. Then all sects would accustom them-
selves to come into one temple. Once more, there would
be unity. The light would be opened in the midst of the
darkness. Forbearing love would again.be the custom.
Freedom of conscience would be the rule.

This first letter was soon after followed by a second.
The theme of a common Christian church is again set
out. The result in consequence must be a separation of
church and state. It is true the government must see to
it that in the great hall, as they come together, everything
should be done in an orderly manner, and that they who

i8o The Settlement of Germantozvn.

there read the Holy Scriptures should receive a certain
compensation. But the Lord Protector must no more per-
mit that preachers and leaders of the church shall be paid
wages after the manner of persons employed by the state.
The sects could as they chose support their own preachers.
But to give tithes to the preachers must be forbidden.
When this cable of hope for the preachers is cut, then is
the might of the sects broken. The common church will
then be able to rise up. The kingdom of Christ will then
broaden out much further than England, in Holland, Den-
mark, Sweden and France. We shall hear no more of
the mere names of men, as of Luther and Calvin. Re-
ligion and statecraft will no more be mingled.

Whatever may be thought of the practicability of the
scheme of Plockhoy it is certain that his ideas indicate
great clearness of insight and that they were far in advance
of his age. It would be interesting to know how they im-
pressed Cromwell. Fortune, however, here as elsewhere,
did not favor Plockhoy. On the 3d of September, 1658,
Cromwell died. This event was, no doubt, a severe blow
to the hopes of the philosopher, but he did not surrender.
He was ready to utilize the meeting of the Parliament
which took place January 27, 1659. -^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^'^^ ^^^"
ters written to Cromwell put into print, and added to them
a short address to the Parliament. In it he still urges the
universal character of Christianity. The government
must support no sects. They must only take care that the
truth, like the sun, has the opportunity to make itself mani-
fest, and also in the schools and universities. A magis-
trate at all times must stand immovable in the midst, as a
moderator between all the sects. He gave these three
communications to the public in a pamphlet, a copy of
which is in the university library at Ghent and whose title

Plockhoy's Way io Peace. i8i

is "The way to the Peace and Settlement of these nations
fully discovered in two letters delivered to his late High-
nesse the Lord Protector, and one to the present Parlia-
ment where in the liberty of speaking (which every one
desires for himself) is opposed against Anti-Christ, for the
procuring of his downfall, who will not grant the same to
others, and now published to awaken the publick spirit in
England, and to raise up an universal magistrate in
Christendome, that can suffer all sorts of people (of what
religion soever they are) in any one country, as God (the
great magistrate) suffers the same in all the countreys of
the world." Matth. 5 : 15, "Men do not light a candle
and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house. By Peter
Cornelius Van Zurick-Zee, a lover of truth and peace.
Printed in the year 1659." He says in it with truth that
his pamphlet had little chance of success. The Parlia-
ment which for the moment honored Richard Cromwell as
the successor of his father, was little thinking of the
separation of church and state. The army was the mas-
ter of all, and the restoration was already in sight. Still
Plockhoy remained in London, and cherished his dream
of the brotherhood of man. He abandoned for the time
the division of the kingdom of God into sects, and gave
his thought to the separation of the rich and the poor.
Could no way be found to fill up the gap and to better the
conditions of the poor? Could no way be found for the
improvement of their lives? He devoted himself to the
work and the same year gave out a remarkable plan for a
social union of laymen without regard to sect. A copy is
in the British Museum and is entitled: "A way pro-
pounded to make the poor in these and other nations happy.
By bringing together a fit, suitable and well qualified peo-

1 82 The Settlement of Germantown.

pie into one hous-hold government, or little common-
wealth, wherein every one may keep his Propriety, and be
employed in some work or other, as he shall be fit, with-
out being oppressed. Being the way not only to rid those
and other Nations from idle, evil and disorderly' persons,
but also from all such that have sought and found out
many inventions to live upon the labor of others. Where-
unto is also annexed an invitation to this society or little
Commonwealth, Psalm : Blessed is he that considereth the
poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble, the
Lord shall preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall
be blessed upon the earth. By Peter Cornelius van Zu-
rick-zee, London, 1659. Printed for R. C. at the sign of
the Black Spread Eagle at the West End of Pauls' Church
Yard." 1-0

The object of the plan is to increase the happiness of the
poor. There must be no more oppression of others. The
common life must again rest upon uprightness, upon love
and upon brotherly union. No yoke shall be longer borne.
There must be freedom from all idle and wrong doing per-
sons, but above all from those who have sharpened their wits
and found the means "to live from the labor of others."
To accomplish this the plan provides for groups of col-
lective house-keeping and labor combinations of working
men who are willing to enter upon a common method of
life. Two principles lie at the foundation. The first is
the doctrine of equality. Men must abandon all ideas of
greatness and desire for superior rank, and follow the ex-
ample of Christ who came not to be served, but to serve,
and who upon the question of his disciples, as to which

''"I have never seen either of these pamphlets and have translated
them from the Dutch of Mr. H. P. G. Quack's admirable paper on Plock-
hoy's Sociale plannen, Amsterdam, 1892.

THE SETTLENE/NT OF CERriA/NTOW/N.

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LETTER OF H. J. VAM AflKEM. TRANSLATED BY MATTHIAS VAN BEBBER
fl/ND m MIS AUTOQRAFH.

Communal Life. 183

of them would be the first after his death, answered that
he should be the first among them who became the servant
of them all. It is therefore necessary to be careful to
make the work of all equal and thus lighten the labor of
the poor. Moreover, man must take heed of what the
clergymen so often have in their mouths, in order to make
the deaths of men so much the more serviceable to them-
selves. They say they care only for the soul. As though
they can love the soul which they see not, and at the same
time show not the least compassion for the body which
they see very well. No. As well for the body of each
as the soul must we be considerate, making such an order
in the community that all who now scarcely have bread
shall have their wants satisfied and appeased. If inequality
were banished, then would the mischief which arises from
the difference between the rich and poor, disappear.
Jealousy, superfluity, lying, and deception shall disappear
from among those " who maintain equality."

The other essential idea is to bring into practice the
principle of association. «' Neither doth anyone stand
simply by himself alone." Fourier expressed the same
idea in almost the identical words at the beginning of the
present century. Plockhoy's view was as follows : When-
ever a hundred families live separately, there are neces-
sary at least a hundred women to do the household work.
Unite them and let the hundred dwell together, and then
the household work can be entirely done by twenty-five
women, and the other seventy-five, if they are capable,
can work for the community. When a hundred people
live apart every day, there is a necessity for a hundred
fires to prepare the mid-day meal. If they be brought
together, then the great fires of four or five ovens are
ample for the purpose. The objective point of the as-

184 The Settlevient of Germantoivn.

sociation is thus a saving. But this is only a negative
gain. A positive benefit of working together is a com-
plete development of the work or knowledge, and thus a
greater result from the work. While generally in the
world, he says, it is to the profit of the individual to keep
his capacity and skill away from the rest, when he enters
into association, he brings his knowledge and skill into the
community, and devotes it to the common good. " This is
the only way to find out the height, depth, length and
breadth of all the affairs of the world." In order, now,
to start the foundation of such a community, and Fourier
says the same thing, it is necessary that some capable
people should advance capital enough to buy a piece of
land upon which the establishment of the community can
be based. After the land has been secured, four sorts of
people are necessary to unite themselves in the common
household, to wit : those who understand the cultivation of
the soil, merchants and tradesmen, sailors and fishermen,
and finally masters in arts and trades. Tradespeople come
well first, learned and scientific people last. Also, in
the beginning, it is better that the majority should be un-
married. For the living and working together of all these
people and for their union into one working group, he
suggests certain rules. And first with respect to owner-
ship. The time of work for all the people is fixed at ten
hours a day except upon the Sabbath. They, however,
who are hired servants of the community may work twelve
hours upon working days while they, themselves, are
members of it. Each may work in that occupation or that
labor which suits him. It shall not be entirely forbidden
to prepare those things which, in the view of the com-
munity, are superfluous, so long as the world remains at-
tached to them. In all hand work the effort shall be made

Communal Life. 185

to secure the best masters, and they, like the others, shall
work ten hours a day and lead the rest. All are bound to
work. An exception can only be made in the case of
those rich people who, while not belonging to the associ-
ation, may desire to live there by paying for their rooms,
board and clothes. Should these of their own will do any
work for the community, then are they an example for all
the rich " time-loosers " in this world. Those who belong
to the association shall not be bound to make their goods
common. There is thus not a communality of goods.
Each may keep his own property. Still is it something
exceptional, whenever anyone freely pours gold into the
funds or capital of the community. Those who bring in
lands or ground for the common work shall in the first
place be secured in the holding of their title. They give
up the use of it without rent and permit that the land be
cultivated by the association. Unless they otherwise de-
termine and make over the land after their death to the
community, the children or relatives shall inherit it. Each
receives his share in the gains of the community. In case
there are no profits nothing shall be taken. So that it be
well understood that those who come into the community do
so not for the sake of gain. Gain is, however, more likely
to be made in such an association, since the expense of
living there is less than in the outside world. The liv-
ing is simple and sober. Finery in dress is forbidden.
The price of necessaries is less because the community
buys at wholesale. Besides, the community has its own
cattle, its own vegetables and fruits, catches its own fish
and brews its own drink.

In order to secure the benefit of the communitv, and to
do its work, it is necessary to have two great houses, one
of them in or near the city, especially for merchants and

i86 The Settlement of Germantown.

shop-keepers, the other in the country near a river, arranged
for the farmers, the seamen and sailors, the tradesmen and
the learned. The house in the city shall be large enough
for twenty or thirty people to live together. It shall pos-
sess stores and different compartments for merchandise, or
cloth, woolen and linen goods, worsteds, clothes, shoes and
all useful things. The articles produced by the work of
the community can be sold at a moderate and cheap price
to the public, at a less price than others, for the reason that
the cost of production, as has been said, is less. The
profit upon the goods shall belong to the community. The
house in the city is thus mainly an office and bazaar.
Business and industry are the chief features of this house.
With care shall it be seen that the young people who are
intended for salesmen shall attend to those things for which
they are designed. In the same house dwell also the phys-
icians, surgeons and apothecaries who must be in the city.
These last can as well practice without as within the com-
munit}^ and thus add to the profits, but they must always
be ready to serve the poor without charge. Also there
must be in the house in the city single persons at all times
to get the clothes and other things ready daily, and to per-
form the daily service.

The house in the country shall be built close by a river
so that there may be the opportunity to bring many goods
there by water. It were best to surround the house with
a ditch crossed by a drawbridge, so that it may be safer
from thieves and rovers. The water of the river offers an
opportunity for catching fish. Near this house a court or
garden is laid out, and further away stretch fields and
meadows. Here the cultivation of the land and the raising
of cattle are the principal occupations, for commerce and
trade have at their foundation agriculture and cattle raising.

The Tozvn House and Country House. 187

For trade have the people of the community need of
clothes, woolen and worsted goods, linen, &c. But to
prepare the goods they need flax and sheep. There must
be then those who understand the art, further those who
can make the land fruitful, gardeners and cultivators who
can make all sorts of trees, vines, roots, herbs and flowers
grow. They belong in the house in the country. Further
must be found there masons, carpenters, smiths, and also
ship-builders who can make ships and boats, to sail to
Holland, Flanders, France and other lands and countries,
manned with their own people from the community. If
such a ship makes a bad trip, nobody blames the sailor.
The families of the ship people, while the men are at sea,
receive from the community all that they need. Finally
in the house in the country are men skilled in all the arts
and sciences, mathematics, masters in navigation, and in
conclusion, teachers and their pupils.

The two houses shall be so arranged and constructed
that the people there, besides their private rooms, shall And
common chambers or halls. While for each man and his
wife are kept a room and closet, there shall be a large hall
for all those affairs which they are prepared to undertake
in an orderly manner, a kitchen where all the food is made
ready, a good cellar to keep provisions and drink, a hall
where all eat together, a room for the children, a large
room for scholars, a room for the sick, a room for the
doctors and surgeons and for the preparation and preser-
vation of drugs and medicines, a room for a library, space
for maps and instruments relating to the arts and sciences,
and finally a large room for the strangers, who intend
some time to remain with the community and who either
will do work for it or pay the expense of their maintenance.
Each house shall make up its account for the half or whole

1 88 The Settleitient of Germantown.

year. Whatever then is found beyond what is necessary
for support and furtherance shall be divided among all the
men, women, youths and maidens, so that each may have
enough to give to the poor, or to entertain his friends who
may come to see him.

Concerning the householding arrangements and manner
of living there are some directions to which attention must
be given. The chief thouglit, however, is that in the
midst of the union there is freedom. In this house, he
says, each one may do his own work. The freedom
within the circle of the community is recognized in all
things, for example in the clothing. It is true all luxury
is forbidden, but should any one desire stuff for clothing
of a finer sort than that of the others, he may have it by
paying so much out of his own money. No uniform,
cloister like life is directed, only the recognition of com-
munity appears clearly at every point. Unity character-
izes the observance of meal time. The whole brother-
hood and sisterhood sit down together, women and men,
youths and maidens meeting each other, sitting at the dish
in the order of Joseph's brethren, the women right opposite
the men, the sons next to their father, the daughters next
to their mother, while the young people by turns serve the
table. Ceremonies and compliments are not to be taken
in thought by those sitting opposite to each other, since
each one is assured of the good will and friendliness of
the rest.

In the matter of choosing a wife, entire freedom is per-
mitted. The man, however, does not need to take his
wife from the community. If he finds a virtuous spouse
outside of this circle, he can go to live with her, or bring
her into the community. In the instruction and education
of the children the idea of the common life is kept stead-

The Teaching of the Children. 189

fastly in view. All receive the same instructions, all,
whether their parents be rich or poor, must learn a trade,
and rather one modest trade that can keep them from
want than two or three different trades. This concerns
especially the children of the poor. With respect to these
it is especially ordered that they be not drilled to slavish
work. Also the children of the rich people who do not
belong to the association, but still go to its school, shall
be required to exercise themselves three hours a day at a
trade, so that they, should they meet with misfortune in
life, may be able to secure a livelihood. And the maid-
ens, in addition to the care of the house-keeping and the
going about with and looking after the children, shall
learn some work, capable of supporting them, so that they,
should they later leave the community or be married, may
be in a situation to maintain themselves. The children
shall not be instructed in any forms of religion prepared
by men, but in the Holy Scriptures, besides in the nat-
ural sciences, arts and languages. The utmost care shall
be taken that their understandings be not corrupted before
they have the use of speech. They are required in spirit-
ual matters to believe no man, since they have the spirit of
God, and like the prophets and apostles work wonders.
For our belief, says Plockhoy, ought not to depend upon
the words of men, but upon the might of the wonderful
works of God. So doing shall there no germs of sects,
factions or divisions be laid in their hearts.

In this community formulas of belief shall have no con-
trol. All things wherein the kingdom of God does not
exist shall, when they are not in conflict with Scripture or
reason, be permitted, such as the outerly form of baptism,
the Lord's Supper and such ceremonies, since there is
more danger in neglecting these things than in carrying

ipo The Settlement of Germantoivn.

them into effect. There shall, and let this be compared
with his letters to Cromwell, be built a great gathering
place, a hall, in the form of an amphitheatre, with seats
arranged one above the other like steps, not alone for the
service of the community, but for all sensible men in com-
mon. In the hall shall the Holy Scriptures be read and
thereafter shall each have the freedom to express briefly
his opinion. In this manner differences of sentiment will
be prevented, since there will be entire freedom of speech.
The community shall strive to keep constantly in view the
idea of bringing the good folks out of all sects into com-
bination and union, so as to be together a strong guard
against perversity and sin.

The direction of the association shall be in the hands
of a Governor, who must be at least forty years of age.
He shall be chosen by the people. Next to him three men
shall be named also by the people, who shall have the
management and care of the money of the community.
All the office holders must resign each year. Neverthe-
less the community shall have the power again to select
them. Among these shall be chosen the overseers or
directors, men and women, of the different parts or di-
visions of the community. The propriety of making
changes by turns shall be taken into thought in such a way
that a certain rank shall be given to age, and always care
shall be taken that those older in service can instruct the
new beginners. It is well to be understood that this as-
sociation so founded is to be obedient to the government
of the country where it is established. It shall pay the
taxes and lovingly support the laws of the land in all
things which are not contrary to the command of God.

There follow now some rules about the method of dea.-
ing with those who shall wish to leave the community. In

Plochhoy's Plans. 191

the first place each one who shall wish to say farewell
shall receive back not only what he brought with him,
but his share in the gains, whatever they are, up to the time
of his departure. He shall be required to make known
to the community in time his intention to depart, so that
the directorship can see that the sum taken by him can be
provided for. A sum of twelve hundred gulden shall be
set apart for this purpose. With respect to large sums, the
community reserves to itself the privilege of completing
the payment after the lapse of a year's time, provided a
fourth part of the debt be actually paid. If a young man
or a maiden leaves the community in order to get married,
he or she shall receive that part of the accumulated gains
made during the time of his or her life there. If no gain has
been made within this time, the community will give them
something. If it should unluckily turn out that the com-
munity should at some time be dissolved, then, after all
the creditors have been paid, shall the land and the money
which, with free will, have been given for the building up
of the association, come to the poor people who have
brought nothing into the community, unless there are poor
relations of those who have given, out of love, capital to
the association. These shall then have equal parts with
the others. These are now the principal rules. In such
an organization will, according to the opinion of the pro-
jector, the association present a beautiful and peaceful
sight. Each of the people is received into a restful self-
working community, where all is in an entire equipoise.
All work for all, each finds satisfaction of his wants.
Here no more shall be heard, with the eye turned upon
the children who have been born, the sighing wish that he
had never married, that he had never been born. There
shall be no more oppression of the work people by

192 The Settlement of Germantozun.

patrons. In the outside world the contractors oppress the
workmen, and these pinch, out of hard work, a small re-
ward, while in this circle the profits of the contractors
overflow and drip down to the benefit and refreshment of
the work people. A feeling of calmness penetrates the
union. Men shall live there without care or trouble.
Losses shall be borne by all together. Safely can men
advise the wanderers and ship-wrecked upon the world's
sea of [life to turn to the community ; there can they again
take heart, again raise up their heads. Honorable trades-
men and shopkeepers who are unable to support the
struggle of a hard life or the wrestling with oppression
may turn to this place of retreat. Brave people who,
through sickness or want of work, fall into poverty can
here find quiet, for here they are brought into and become
parts of a vast organization. Each who works has now
the assurance that he has, as the purchaser of his product,
the whole association. Is the worker sick? The others
work for him. He need have no anxiety for his old days,
and is free from the perplexing feeling that he, after
twenty or thirty years of almost intolerable work, has no
prospect of any return. All extremes are absent from the
association. No one is poor and no one is excessively
rich. The eagerness to hunt for shadows, the uncertainty
between the hope of receiving gain and the fear of mak-
ing losses, are entirely absent. Moreover, is he assured that
the children whom he leaves after him can here lead a
quiet industrial life without care. After hazards and
great risks, or substance or income, he does not reach.
Still is he easy in conscience. The end finds him in peace.
This equipoise of life shall also appear good to the woman
who now, whether she is young and wishes to be married,
or whether she is a widow and must take care of herself.

Plockhoy's Plans. 193

depends too much upon outerly circumstances, upon the
kingdom of this world, upon circumstances or fortune.
First in such an association can she find security and
steadfastness of life. Nevertheless, give heed to it, says
Plockhoy, that this place where each, through his work,
can spend a secure life, be not compared to a hospital, an
old man's or woman's house where the people already
aged come with their stripes, their oppositions, their deeply
rooted ills, after their bodies have been lamed or stiffened
from hard labor, and their spirits have been destroyed
through bad habits. For the most part the people grovel
away in the hard earth or sink into such a depth of igno-
rance that no glimmer of reason can again enlighten them.
Those who now wish to come into this association please
to think, concludes our writer, that only such people shall
be received who are brave, intelligent and unpartisan.
All others begin to work in the association for hire and
can first live in their own houses until they are prepared
to come into the full union. In conclusion the writer gave
the information that it was first his intention to found such
an association in London, then in Bristol and afterwards
in Ireland, where much land could be bought for little
money, and much wood for building houses and ships and
for the preparation of other essentials.

To this plan, which appeared in print in 1659, were added
an invitation in English to unite with the association thus
described, and a scheme " showing the excess of Christian
love and the folly of those who have not considered for
what end the Lord of Heaven and Earth has created them "
with the quotation from Matthew, 12th Chapter, 50th verse :
<« For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is
in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother."
It was a clear demonstration that such a union of men

ip4 The Settlement of Ger^nantozun.

meant something since God himself joined them together.
Such a society was possible in this association arranged by
Peter Cornelius Plockhoy of Zierik Zee. Through such
established communal life should the earthly desire for
riches or idle honor be restrained. Unity of life should be
considered. Real equality could be established. All the
childish attention given to mere forms could be thrown
aside. Such a peaceful association had been in the early
times of Christianity a living truth. But the anti-Christ
had known how to destroy the beautiful unity. Since had
the Roman Catholic church added abuse upon abuse.
Institutions such as that of the lazy monks had stolen in to
produce corruption, so that the reformation had again re-
stored the ancient truth. Now again must it be awakened
in order to break the remaining strength of Satan, the
enemy of mankind. We must be Christians not only in
name but in fact. Therefore must men unite as true
brothers and thus proceed with this scheme.

The whole was concluded with a short letter wherein the
people were invited to give their money in order to raise
the capital necessary to start the movement. This want
was only to be the bridge, since the association, so it was
expressly assured, can later stand through its own strength,
according to the testimony of credible persons who gave the
information that many hundred people, in Zebenbergen^^^ in
Hungary and in the land of the Palatinate, beginning in
a small way had not only lived an agreeable life together,
but had accumulated means which had enabled them to do
good to others not in the association.

Such is a full summary of the social and communistic
plan of Plockhoy, as it appeared in the year 1659. In it
can be found all the thoughts which, written by Sellers in
1696, gave him note among economists. Presented to

'2' These people were Saxons, living in Siebenbiirgen (Transjlvania).

Plockhoy on the South River. 195

Englishmen in the time of Charles II., when the pleasures
and revelries of the Court gave the cue to life, and the
needs of the poor had little chance of being heard, it
seemed to produce no effect beyond the aspirations and
philanthropic outpourings of the prospectus. It was men-
tioned in Sir Frederic Morton Eden's large quarto work
upon "The state of the poor," published in London in
1797. It was stolen by Abraham van Akkeren, who pub-
lished it under his own name and with a different title,
without reference to Plockhoy, in Amsterdam in 1688.
And this was apparently all. And yet in Girard College
in Philadelphia to-day may be found the large hall, ar-
ranged like an amphitheatre, wath rising seats where the
Scriptures are read and all the formulas of sect are rigidl}'-
excluded as outlined by Plockhoy. In the large apart-
ment houses springing up in all the modern cities may be
found that economy of household labor he suggested. In
his views with respect to practical Christianit}^, the eco-
nomical utilization of labor, the separation of church and
state, the education of the young, including the teaching
of trades, and the practical insight which led him to permit
the retention of hallowed but unessential ceremonies, he
was far ahead of his age and presented much that is ad-
mirable. England afforded him no opportunity and he
went to Amsterdam. And, behold, the w^ay opened up to
him ! The seed which would not germinate in the old and
worn-out lands of Europe might produce abundant har-
vests when sown in the virgin soil of the new world be-
yond the sea. Distance and danger and difficulty did not
daunt the brave spirit of Plockhoy. The Dutch were then
the owners of the New Netherlands, which included the
North River, now the Hudson, and the South River, now
the Delaware. A site upon the Delaware became the

ip6 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

Kort en klaer ootcrerp
tunmDerot

Een ohderling Accoor t ,

p M

©en arbepD/ onrutt en moepc-

WcftBept/Dan 2!lDerle;?-[)ani>.U)etQi:./

DOOR

Een onderlingeCompagnie ofte

Vo!ck-p]anting(onder de protcftic vandc H; Mo;

Heeren Statcn Generael der vereenigde Neder-lan-

<lenjenbyfonder onder hec gunftiggefagvande

Achtbare MagiQraten dec Scad Amflelrc^

dam) aen de Zuyt-revier in Nieu-ne-

der-land op te rechtenj Beftaendeiof

Land-bouwtrs,

Zee-varendfPtrfomn^

ylldtrhande noodige Ambachtt-luydcn, en Metfiert

vartgoedt konfltntn wetenfcbappen.

dteunetiDe op nr \>mtttt^ttn i?ati i)are ^tW

tjiHt^ttim(Q\0^m nauolgo totDienepnoeuectcent.
t'Samen gcftelc

Door Pttter Cemelific. "Plockhoy van Zterck-zee, 'voerbemfchenensmdae.
Ltef-bebbers van Nteu-nedtr-land.

t'UmBttdaoi 0tD?UCbt tip Octo Barentfz. Smieat,;Attno:i56».

The Valley of the Stvans. 197

chosen field where his schemes for the benefit of humanity,
so long thought out, were to be put in operation. The
place selected was the mouth of the Hoorn Kill, where is
now the town of Lewes, in the State of Delaware. The
beautiful name of Swanendael, " The Valley of the
Swans," has a ring of promise, could we but forget that
the swan is the bird which sings once and then dies.
There was another omen. In 1630 Gilles Osset had taken
a little colony of thirty-three persons to the same place,
all of whom had been murdered by the Indians, and their
bones were scattered along the shore.

In 1662 Plockhoy published at Amsterdam a Dutch
quarto volume called " Kort en Klaer Ontwerp," or, in
English; " Short and clear plan, serving as a mutual con-
tract to lighten the labor and anxiety and trouble of all
kinds of handicrafts' men by the establishment of a Com-
munit}^ or Colony on the South River in the New Nether-
lands, comprising agriculturists, seafaring men, all kinds
of necessary tradespeople and masters of good arts and
sciences, under the protection of their High Mightinesses,
the Lords States-General of the United Netherlands and
particularly under the favorable auspices of the Honorable
Magistrates of the City of Amsterdam, depending upon
the privileges of their Honors as hereinafter set forth,
granted for the purpose. Brought together by Peter Cor-
nelius Plockhoy of Zierck Zee for himself and other lovers
of New Netherlands." The onl}- copy of this book in any
of the States along the Delaware is in my library. It is
believed that another w^ork " Kort Verhael van Nieu Ned-
erlants " which appeared a few months later without a
name, was written by the same author, but the evidence is
not clear. The scheme which he arranged for his settle-
ment in America was as follows :

ipS The Settlement of Gcrmantown.

Since men with their famihes Hving alone or scattered
through the land, because they are by themselves alone
and because of poverty, sickness, death, or other misfor-
tune, are able to secure little success or advancement, have
we, lovers of humanity, in order to better our own and our
neighbors' welfare, undertaken, under the protection of
their High Mightinesses the States-General of the United
Netherlands and especially under that of the Honorable
Magistrates of the city of Amsterdam, to establish a mutual
company or society upon the South River in New Nether-
lands, consisting of a peaceful united and select folk who,
by aiding each other in the cultivation of the land, fisheries,
trades and other useful occupations, hope to better the
condition of many oppressed people who live here in great
trouble. In accordance with the mutual agreement, in
order that the aforesaid society may be governed in good
order, we have prepared the following regulations :

First : In order that a numerous mutual company
wherein each may have his goods and dwelling apart shall
be under one common direction, but without being subject
to the control of any individual, each shall have the free-
dom to use his judgment in the improvement of the estab-
lished conditions by adding thereto, either by the common
consent or by the votes of two-thirds of the association,
thus expressly excluding such persons as wish obstinately
to accomplish ends according to their own opinions.

In order to open the door for all kinds of reasonable and
unpartisan men, there will be needed here first : cultivators
of the soil ; second, seafaring men : third, all kinds of use-
ful tradespeople, and fourth masters of good arts and sci-
ences, who all with a voluntary unanimity shall work for
the common good and benefit like members of one family.
The profits from farming, fish catching, mining or any

Settlement at the Hoorn Kill. 199

other labor shall be divided not according to the number
of families, but according to the number of individuals in
such families, sick or well, who are over twenty years of
age, all unmarried persons, both women and men who are
not at service, receiving as much as those married ; but
the married who are under twenty years of age, shall be-
gin to receive their profits from the year of their marriage.
Only the men who belong to the society shall have the
privilege over the women that the undivided lands shall be
divided among them according to lot, when their moneys
are brought to the magistrate. Those who are under
twenty years of age shall like all the others, whether they
can be of service or not, be supplied with necessaries out
of the common goods. Those in our society who are ac-
customed to farming or other labor shall, when all is
brought into good order, work every day except the Sab-
bath, six hours for the common profit, or supply others in
their place. The remaining hours shall be their own for
their own profit, refreshment of the body, or other useful
pursuits. To which end not only married men, but also
all unmarried men above twenty years of age may select
out of the common grounds a piece of land for a private
plantation whereon to plant or cultivate, as it may seem to
them good. The seafaring persons and others whose
labor cannot be accommodated to any fixed hours, in order
in the overtime to secure their profit from planting or oth-
erwise and to be on an equality with the tradesmen and
farmers so far as possible, shall receive, instead of a pri-
vate plantation, some other profit from the society.

So as to keep everything in good order, every year
those who are thirty years old or over shall choose, by a
majority of votes, the names being written on folded pieces
of paper, one man for director over the whole society, who,

200 The Settlement of Germantown.

having ruled for one year, shall give up his office and go
back to the common work. But no person shall be nom-
inated in the election who has been in the office the year
before, or is not fit for the same, or not inclined to perform
the duties of the office, so that no man may be selected
contrary to his sense and inclination. The office, how-
ever, will not be burdensome in itself, since the rulers or
directors do not have to make any rules or laws, but only
to see that the regulations made or found good by the
whole people are observed. So doing shall no man rule
according to his own will or pleasure, except in little
things for which no special order can be made. Still as
he makes no more profit by ruling than the others do by
working through the same time, why would he not rather
work in quiet for the common profit six hours a day in ac-
cordance with our rule than to busy himself with the con-
tinually distracting cares of the many affairs of govern-
ment?

Beside the director over the whole society, there shall
be chosen two of the most suitable men to keep the books,
one of whom shall give the order in writing, upon which
the other delivers the money, wares or merchandise to the
person whom the written order describes, placing the reck-
oning of the same in the book, in order to make good the
reckoning of him who has given the order. These book-
keepers may also be used for the purpose of writing
letters, journals and other matters which concern the so-
ciety. No man alone, even the most important of the
whole society, shall be in control of the common funds,
but the three highest in the government, namely the chosen
director of the whole society, and the two book-keepers
aforesaid, shall at all times have the keys of the three dif-
ferent locks so that neither one or two in the absence of

Settlement at the Hoorn Kill. 201

the third can open the cash. At the end of each year
shall all the accounts of the society be brought into bal-
ance, and all with the knowledge of the society be well
balanced, and the books with two of the keys belonging
to the common cash be put in the hands of the two above-
named bookkeepers and the great book with a key be
given to the newly chosen director for protection.

No man shall be permitted to take away cargoes of
merchandise from here or elsewhere in order to carry
on a private business until he has paid the money ad-
vanced by the magistrates of the city of Amsterdam.
Also shall each one be permitted to carry on business with
those goods and wares which he, through his art, trade or
land cultivation, has made his private property through his
overtime. And in case that any person, whether a mem-
ber or no member of our society, desires to pay in money,
wares or merchandise in order therewith to make a profit,
he shall receive a reasonable interest or the half of the
profit upon his capital, wherein he is much more secure,
having the common property of the society as security,
than if he ventured his merchandise with a private person.
In order to avoid, as much as possible, the risks of loss
we shall not trust the society's money, wares or merchan-
dise to any one to be exported or traded with in the coun-
try, unless he has capital or a wife and children, where-
with he is, as it were, anchored in the society.

The women, if their husbands die first, shall, with their
children, be taken care of out of the common fund, and
each person in such a family who is above twenty years
of age shall, together with the mother, be paid a share of
the profit which appears yearly, after the payment of the
common needs. Only the profit, in order to make the
common fund safe, shall be retained until the moneys

202 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

needed for the Lords shall be secured. The children or
persons under age shall every day work for half a day
and go to school for half a day except upon the Sabbath,
and, besides learning a suitable trade, shall be taught to
read, write and cipher according to their age and ability,
so that they may be freed from bondage and may not fall
into idleness and folly.

Among all the trades and occupations the most suitable
workmen shall be chosen for masters and foremen who, as
well as the other people of our company, shall work six
hours a day for the common good, or be busy placing in
the book all that is received or paid out for the society.

The name of servant or servant-maid has no place
among us, where each, head for head, watches over his
share of the profits. Still if strangers, whether full grown
or persons under age, not of our society, will work for
another for daily hire or otherwise, and are received by
one person or another or in one family or another as ser-
vant or servant maids, and work six hours a day for the
community, and the overtime for their masters and mis-
tresses privately, doing during the six hours the necessary
things like others of the society, and giving the remaining
work and service for the profit of their masters and mis-
tresses, they shall receive so much money or the worth of
it as is paid here or there in the country.

In matters of religion in order to arrange all well, shall
each have freedom of conscience, to which and in order
that no one give any offence by formulas established by
men, in a common meeting house on each Sabbath day or
on Sunday and holidays shall the Holy Scriptures, which
all Christians recognize for truth, be read, and psalms and
hymns sung. Should the number of persons so increase
with lapse of time that each kind of people belonging to

Comriion School. 203

one sect should want its own meeting house and choose to
support its own preachers, it may be done. This is a
matter with which the society has nothing at all to do.'"

The children and youths shall be taught in our common
school, so that everywhere equality be regarded, no
human formulas of religion, but only the Holy Scriptures,
natural sciences and similar instruction enabling them to
rightly use their reason and not by the inculcation of pri-
vate opinions to destroy it. This must be observed that no
foundation of sect or partisanship be laid in their hearts.
If any one wishes to have his children taught in a private
school or by a private teacher, such person may freely be
guided by his own conscience, the more so that it does not
in the least concern the society.

Any man who for conscientious reasons is unable to bear
arms, in order to be free from service and watch, shall
pay yearly a certain tax or contribution to that part of the
society which protects him in case it is desired. This
work, since w^e believe only in defensive war, is to provide
officers, and maintain order when occasion demands it,
and also the daily exercise of drill, the securing of ammu-
nition, and whatever is necessary in this respect.

If any colonists, after we have worked a year or two
upon the common plantation, come to us as partners and
desire a part not only in the cleared land, but also in the
undivided cattle and all that is common, they must enter
into an agreement with the society concerning it and pay
for the privilege in money or wares. If they are people
who have no money or goods to pay for the privilege, but
are willing to work six hours a day for the society and in
this way lighten our work some hours a day, they may do
so in order that, instead of showing them a favor, our own
plantations and opportunities may be improved.

'2* A note of admiration cannot be withheld.

204 The Settlement of Germantown.

And in case any persons dwelling here in the Fatherland
shall desire for themselves, their descendants or heirs to
become partners in our common plantation, after we have
worked upon it two, three or four years, they may make an
agreement before our departure with the society, and by
placing a certain sum of money or merchandise in our
company obtain such a privilege and receive their part of
the divided cattle and all other profits which come out of
the common work in the aforesaid years.

No lordship or servile slavery shall burden our com-
pany. So shall each be held to use his diligence to work
out a good example of progress. But if anyone, through
unworthiness or unrighteousness, disobey the common laws
and rules, and makes himself undesirable in the company,
and after he has been reasoned with in a friendly way by
the directors and others, he is headstrong and will not
heed, he may be expelled and driven out by the votes of
at least two-thirds, their opinions being written upon folded
pieces of paper, but still not without giving him his part
of the profit made in his time after his part of the ad-
vanced money has been paid.

The men may sell their share in the common plantation
and in the undivided cattle and in everything which is
coming to them from the society, or put others in their
places who will bear their part of the common good. To
perform the common work with the others is regarded as
sufficient by the society.

If any one washes to leave the society before the ad-
vanced moneys are paid to the magistrates, in order to re-
turn to the Fatherland, he is free at any time to do it, and
to transport his family at the common expense, transfer-
ring to the society his share in the undivided land, cattle
and other things coming to him. He shall only take with

W/ial Settlers Wanted. 205

him his own private property, so that the remaining colon-
ists may not be hindered from paying the money advanced
by the magistrates of the city of Amsterdam.

If any one wishes to go over or to journey elsewhere at
his own expense and at any time to withdraw from the so-
ciety, he can do it upon first paying the moneys so far as
it concerns him which he has received from the Lords by
way of advancement, selling his share in the common land
and everything that is in common, or if he chooses to re-
main a partner by putting in his place a person acceptable
to the society, as has been said upon helping the others to
do the common work, if it be done, he may go and dwell
in any place he thinks best. The reader will be pleased
to remember that we desire no wild cursers, drunkards or
other such strange people in our community, but only such
as we know by experience or by recommendation to be
reasonable unpartisan persons. Others whom we know
not may work for us as day laborers until we find out they
are suitable to come into the society, which consists, as has
been said, not only of farmers, seafaring persons, and mas-
ters of good arts and sciences, but also of all sorts of use-
ful tradesmen, such as smiths, house carpenters, ship car-
penters, brickmakers, masons, stonecutters, potters, tilers,
dishmakers, woodsawyers, wagonmakers, chestmakers,
turners, joiners, coopers, millwrights, millers, bakers,
brewers, distillers, butchers, jarmakers, skindressers,
leathermakers, shoemakers, glovemakers, saddlers, tail-
ors, brushmakers, hatters, bleachers, painters, woolcomb-
ers, threadtwisters, weavers, fullers, ropemakers, sieve-
makers, sailmakers, netmakers, blockmakers, compass-
makers, makers of sea instruments, refiners, braziers,
pewterers, plumbers, tinmen, glassblowers, glassmakers,
basketmakers, spectaclemakers, combmakers, soapboilers.

2o6 The Settlement of Germantown.

saltboilers, glueboilers, oilmillers, needlemakers, pinmak-
ers, cutters, sheathmakers, surgeons, druggists, etc.

All who intended to participate were to be ready to start
not later than the middle of September, in 1662, and were
to come to Brouwerstraet, in Amsterdam, the Boomgaert of
New Netherland, between 8 and 9 o'clock in the morning,
or to the Sea Dike, in the Golden Boot, in the evening be-
tween 6 and 7 o'clock, so that the number of persons could
be known and provisions for a year could be secured,
wares and merchandise could be brought and agreements
made. The book was illustrated with a picture of a boat.
It was enlivened by a ringing poem upon New Nether-
lands by Karel ver Loove at the beginning, and some
verses at the end by Jacob Steendam, the poet of the
North River, which have been somewhat roughly trans-
lated as follows :

SPURRING VERSES.'^^

You poor, who know not how your living to obtain ;

You affluent, who seek in mind to be content ;

Choose you New Netherland, which no one shall disdain;

Before your time and strength here fruitlessly are spent.

There have you other ends, your labor to incite ;

Your work will generous soils, with usury, requite.

New Netherland's the flow'r, the noblest of all lands ;

With richest blessings crowned, where milk and honey flow;

Endowed ; yea, filled up full, with what may thrive and grow.

The air, the earth, the sea, each pregnant with its gift.

The needy, without trouble, from distress to lift.

The birds obscure the sky, so numerous in their flight.
The animals roam wild, and flatten down the ground.
The fish swarm in the waters, and exclude the light.

123 From Henrj C. Murphy's Jacob Steendam. The Hague, 1861.

Sftwring Verses. 207

The oysters there, than which no better can be found,
Are piled up heap on heap, till islands they attain ;
And vegetation clothes the forest, mead and plain.

You have a portion there which costs not pains or gold.

But if you labor give, then shall you also share

(With trust in Him who you from want does there uphold)

A rich reward, in time, for all your toil and care.

In cattle, grain and fruit, and every other thing;

Whereby you always have great cause His praise to sing.

What see you in your houses, towns and Fatherland?
Is God not over all ? the heavens ever wide .'*
His blessings deck the earth — like bursting veins expand,
In floods of treasure o'er, wherever you abide ;
Which neither are to monarchies nor dukedoms bound.
They are as well in one as other country found.

But there, a living view does always meet your eye

Of Eden, and of the promised land of Jacob's seed ;

Who would not, then, in such a formed community,

Desire to be a freeman ; and the rights decreed.

To each and every one, by Amstel's burgher Lords,

T' enjoy? And treat with honor what their rule awards?

Communities the groundwork are of every state ;
They first the hamlet, village and the city make ;
From whence proceeds the commonwealth ; whose members

great
Become, an interest in the common welfare take.
'Tis no Utopia ; it rests on principles.
Which, for true liberty, prescribes you settled rules.

You will not aliens, in those far lands appear ;

As formerly in Egypt, e'en was Israel,

Nor have you slavery nor tyranny to fear,

Since Joseph's eyes do see, and on the compass fall.

The civic Fathers who on th'Y, perform their labors,

Are your protectors ; and your countrymen are neighbors.

2o8 The Settlement of Germantovjn.

New Netherland's South River — second Amazon,

For you a pleasure garden on its banks concedes.

Choose you the Swanendael, where Osset had his throne,

Or any other spot your avocation needs.

You have the choice of all ; and you're left free to choose ;

Keep the conditions well, and 3^ou have naught to lose.

Discard the base report, unworthy of your ear ;
'Tis forged by ignorance and hate and jealous spite,
By those who are its authors, to bedim this fair
Bright morning sun before the laughing noonday light.
An accident may hinder, but not change the plan.
Whose gloss, take that away, you then may fairly scan.

'Twas but an accident, which gives them stuff to slight

That land, which, as I know ^ no proper rival has;

In order from your purpose they may you affright,

Who there desire to live, before you thither pass.

'Tis groundless, ev'ry one may easily perceive,

Who now neglects the chance, great treasures does he leave.

The plan met with the favor of the Burgomasters of
Amsterdam, who entered into an agreement with Plock-
hoy, June 6, 1662, that he should take twenty-five persons,
described as Mennonites, with him to the South River, for
each of whom they were to advance one hundred guilders.
The colonists were further to be free from taxes or tenths
for twenty years. They were to repay the sums advanced
and to make arrangements for other settlers to follow.

In due time the same year they reached the Valley of the
Swans and at last the great scheme of a community founded
upon the idea of the brotherhood of man, its members living
together in peace and sharing equitably the results of their
mutual labors, hearing the Gospel without dogma or form
read in a common meeting place for all sects, was put in
operation. What would have been the result had they

Burgomasters of Amsterdam. 209

Burgcrmecftcren

endeRegeerders ^^\.

Stad i^mltelredamme.

LfoWyalcoosgenegenblijventotvoorc-
fettinge van defer Stede Colonic inNieu-
Nederlandj 50 0 tS'T, dat Wy met ken-
nifle ende goed-vinden van de Heeren
xxxvj. Kaden, gerefolveert bebbcn tot
dien eynde metPictec Cornelifz. Plock-
hoyvan Zierick-Zee op te rechten hec
na-voJgende Accoorc , namentlijck >

Dae by Pieter Cornelifz. Plockhoy aen-neenu fo dra moge-
ll)ck aeu Onsvoor te (Vellen vier-en-twintig Mannen.de welc-
ke met hem roakeode eenfocieceyt tan xxv. perfoneli.haer ful-
kli verbinden metde cerfte gelegentbeyt van Schlp of $diepen
te vertreckcn oa de vooifz defer Scede Colonic, om haer in de
felve'mettcrWoonncectefetten.enmecLand-bouwcrye, Vis-
fcherye » Hand wei'cken en anders ce generen , 't felve fo vecl
doeaelijck beneerftigende j niet alleen ten fijne dat fy uyt foda •
ni^n arbeyt bequamclijck fouden konnen leven.maer oock.op
datdaer door voorraet yoor andere aen-komende Perfonen
^odeHuys-gefionen foude mogen toe-ber'e) t wordeo^

Des fal de yoorfz focieteyt van xxv. Mans-perf6n^(^ft
van meet of minder getal.nadatfe foude mogen komen f&\er-
meerderenof verminderen^voor'tgemeeni mitlgaders noclj
5acr-en-boven «der Ik ijan de felve Societeyc voor fig felfs in 'k
parnciiirer, ?jtti tijd tot tijd mogen uyt-kiergn^Jej^eh en'de ac^,
Kief nemeofdvcel Lands, memand andfrs^oe-kbrnende'tfy- CO *^a»
iCftdeHdcrc-Kil,t!3ofeIde«,m t Diflrift vaodefe Colooic.waer S;;'^ *^

A ij '»>«1

2IO The Settlement of Germantown.

been left undisturbed, we do not know. But the times
were unpropitious and the misfortunes which ever attended
the steps of Plockhoy pursued him in the distant land.
The hand of fate fell heavily upon him and an evil day
soon came. War broke out between England and Hol-
land, the result of which was that the Dutch surrendered
the New Netherlands and retained the island of Java and
other East India islands, then regarded as much the more
valuable possessions. In the course of this war, when Sir
Robert Carr entered the South River, on behalf of the
English in 1664, he sent a boat to the Hoorn Kill and de-
molished the settlement and seized and carried off " what
belonged to the Quaking Society of Plockhoy to a very
naile." What became of the people has always been a
mystery. History throws no light on the subject, and of
contemporary documents there are none. In the year 1694
there came an old blind man and his wife to Germantown.
His miserable condition awakened the tender sympathies
of the Mennonites there. They gave him the citizenship
free of charge. They set apart for him at the end street
of the village by Peter Klever's corner a lot twelve rods
long and one rod broad, whereon to build a little house
and make a garden, which should be his as long as he and
his wife should live. In front of it they planted a tree.
Jan Doeden and William Rittenhouse were appointed to
take up " a free will offering '" and to have the little house
built. This is all we know, but it is surely a satisfaction
to see this ray of sunlight thrown upon the brow of the
hapless old man as he neared his grave. After thirty
years of untracked wanderings upon these wild shores,
friends had come across the sea to give a home at last to
one whose whole life had been devoted to the welfare of
his fellows. It was Peter Cornelius Plockhoy. What

No Slavery. 211

recognition may be hereafter awarded to his career cannot
be foretold. His efforts resulted in what the w^orld calls
failure, and for over two hundred years he has slept in the
deepest obscurity, yet wdien we compare him w'ith his con-
temporaries, with the courtiers, Sir Walter Raleigh and
Sir William Berkeley, with Cotton Mather, inciting the
magistrates to hang old women for imaginary crimes, and
see him wrestling with Cromwell, not for his own gain,
but for the help of the downtrodden and the poor, teach-
ing the separation of church and state, protesting against
injuring the minds of children by dogma, and with so clear
a sense of justice that even the vicious, when driven from
the community, were to receive their share of the posses-
sions, we cannot help but recognize his merit and intelli-
gence, and feel for him that sympathy that makes us all
akin. When we find him, first of all the colonizers of
America, so long ago as 1662, announcing the broad prin-
ciple that " no lordship or servile slavery shall burden our
company," he seems to grow into heroic proportions.
Whatever else may happen, certain it is that the events of
the life of one, whose book marks the very beginning of
the literature and history of the ten millions of people who
now live in the States along the Zuid Rivier, must always
be of keen interest to them and their descendants. The
copy of this book, from which an English translation has
here been made, belonged in 1865 to Samuel L. M. Bar-
low, of New York, and because of its great interest and
excessive rarity the Knickerbocker Club undertook its re-
production. The translator, however, met with such diffi-
culty in the rendition of the black letter Dutch that it led
to delay and the abandonment of the enterprise. ^^

'"Growoll's American Book Clubs, p. 126.

CHAPTER X.

The Pietists — Henry Bernhard Koster, Johannes

Kelpius, Daniel Falkner and the Woman

IN the Wilderness.

/^ ERHARD CROESE,

the historian of the
Quakers, writing ini696
of the followers of Spener and
the believers in the mystical
theology of Jacob Boehm,
the inspired shoemaker of
Gorlitz, says : " And there is
no occasion here to relate how
much vexation and trouble
their Ministers, and other
good men, had in Holland,
both from the old Weigelian family, and from this new
brood of Teutonicks ; seeing this is so well known there and
in every body's mouth ; But this is not to be past over so far
as it has relation to the affairs of the Qiiakers. Among
these few mystical men there was one John Jacob Zimmer-
man, Pastor of the Lutheran Church in the Duchy of
Wirtemburg, a Man skilled in Mathematicks, and, saving

212

Arms used by the brother
of Kelpius.

Johann Jacob Zimmermann. 213

what he had contracted of these erroneous opinions, had
all other excellent endowments of mind, to which may be
added the temperance of his Life, wherein he was inferior
to none, and who was of considerable fame in the world;
Who when he saw there was nothing but great danger
like to hang over himself and his Friends, he invites and
stirs up through his own hope about sixteen or seventeen
FamiHes of these sort of Men, to prefer also an hope of
better things, tho it were dubious before the present dan-
ger, and forsaking their Country which they through the
most precipitous and utmost danger, tho they suffered Death
for the same, could not help and relieve as they supposed,
and leaving their Inheritance which they could not carry
along with them, to depart and betake themselves into
other parts of the world, even to Pensilvania, the Quakers'
Country, and there divide all the good and evil that befell
them between themselves, and learn the Languages of
that People, and Endeavour to inspire Faith and Piety into
the same Inhabitants by their words and examples which
they could not do to these Christians here. These agree
to it, at least so far as to try and sound the way, and if
things did not go ill, to fortify and fit themselves for the
same. Zimmerman having yet^^ N. Koster for his Col-
league, who was also a famous Man, and of such severe
manners that few could equal him, writes to a certain
Quaker in Holland who was a Man of no mean Learning,
and very wealthy, very bountiful and liberal towards all
the poor pious and good : That as he and his follozvers
and his friends designed [they are the very words of the
letter which is now in my custody] to depart from these
Babilonish Coasts, to those American Plantatioiis , being
led thereunto by the guidance of the Divine Sprit, and

'25 Henry Bernhard Koster.

214 ^'^^^ Settlement of Germantoivn.

that seeing that all of the??t wanted worldly substance that
they would not let the?n want Friends, but assist them
herein that they tnight have a good ship well provided for
them to carry them into those places, zuherein they might
mind this one thing, towit to show with unanimous consent,
their Faith and Love in the Spirit, in converting of Peo-
ple, but at the same time to stistain their bodies by their
daily Labour. So great was the desire, inclination and
affection of this Man towards them, that he forthwith
promised them all manner of assistance, and performed it
and fitted them with a ship for their purpose, and did out
of that large Portion of Land he had in Pensilvania, assign
unto them a matter of two thousand and four hundred
acres forever of' such Land as it was, but such as might
be manured, imposing yearly to be paid a very Small mat-
ter of rent upon every Acre, and gave freely of his own
and what he got from his friends, as much as paid their
charge and Passage, amounting to an hundred and thirty
pounds sterling ; a very great gift, and so much the more
strange, that that same Quaker should be so liberal, and
yet would not have his name mentioned, or known in the
matter/^^ But when these Men came into Holland they
sailed from thence directly for Pensilvania. Zimmerman
seasonably dies, but surely it was unseasonable for them,
but yet not so, but that they all did cheerfully pursue their
Voyage, and while I am writing hereof, I receive an ac-
count, that they arrived at the place they aimed at, and
they all lived in the same house, and had a publick Meet-
ing, and that they took much pains, to teach the blind peo-
ple to become like unto themselves, and to conform to
their examples. "^^

*^^ After a lapse of two hundred years his name may be now mentioned.
It was Benjamin Furly.
"'Croese, Vol. II., p. 262.

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF GERnAiNTOW/N.

BOOr^-FLATE OF BENJAnilS FURLY.

ORIGINAL IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Voyage to America. 215

Johannes Kelpius opened his Latin journal with a quo-
tation from Seneca " Unto whatever land I come, I
come to my own. There is no banishment, every country
is my country and every where there is good. If a man
be wise he is a traveller, if a fool an exile." From it we
learn that among these mystical Pietists were Kelpius from
Denndorf in Transylvania, Henry Bernhard Koster of
Blumenberg, Daniel Falkner of Saxony, Daniel Lutke,
Johannes Seelig of Lemgo, Ludwig Bidermann of Anhalt,
Henry Lorenz, whose little six-months-old son died and
was buried at sea, George G. Lorenz and Peter Schaeffer,
a Finlander.

Among the company, which consisted of about forty
persons, were also the widow of Zimmermann and their
children, Maria Margaretha, baptized Oct. 10, 1675, Philip
Christian, baptized Feb. 18, 1678, Matthaius, baptized
June 25, 1680, and Jacob Christoph, baptized May 14,
1683.^^^ They left Rotterdam in August of 1693 and re-
mained in London for six months. In February they
went down the Thames in a sloop to Gravesend and there
embarked on a ship the " Sarah Maria" armed with four-
teen cannon. On the i6th the ship ran aground, and
when signals of distress brought no assistance, their pray-
ers prevailed and a great wave lifted it off the bank in
safety. On the 21st they arrived at Deal and there waited
two weeks for a convoy. Four days they were in the
channel in the midst of severe storms which made their
ship dance about " like a little ball which most of us were
not accustomed to." For five weeks they lay at Plymouth
awaiting the convoy. For amusement they had discus-
sions upon the Scriptures and prayer meetings, at which
they sang hymns of praise and joy and played upon the

'"Sachse's Pietists.

2i6 The Settlement of Gej-mantoivn.

musical instruments they had brought with them. On the
i8th of April they set sail. Though once the gale snapped
two of the masts, there was no danger on the ocean be-
cause the water was as deep below as the highest clouds
were above the earth, and there was nothing for the ship
to strike against. Fish of monstrous size spouted water
"as fire engines do." One day they caught a big fish
which the English called a shark. It had a way " of
prowling after ships so as to snap up people." On the loth
of May they encountered a hostile French frigate of
twenty-four guns and a merchant ship with six guns.
The cannon opened fire and the Pietists "abstained of
carnal weapons, and taking the shield of faith, sat down
between desks behind boxes and cases, and prayed and in-
voked the Lord everyone for himself." The result was
that the Merciful Father caused the balls to " drop into the
water in front of the ship," and after one of them had
knocked a bottle out of the hand of the Captain's boy, and
a Frenchman while aiming with a rifle at the Captain was
killed, the Lord struck the enemy with fear and they fled.
The battle lasted four hours and one hostile ship with
twenty-four Frenchmen was captured. It contained sugar
and cider, and an equal share of the " unjust mammon"
was allowed to all. On the 14th of June they entered the
Chesapeake Bay, and two days before had had their first
glimpse of the American coast. There must have been
some dissensions among them, probably over some prob-
lem presented by the mysteries of Boehm which were not
all "Morning Redness," because before they landed,
Koster had excommunicated Falkner, together with a
woman, Anna Maria Schuchart, who saw visions and had
been left behind in Germany. They were pleased with
America, because here one could be "peasant, scholar,

The Woman in the Wilderness. 217

priest and nobleman all at the same time without interfer-
ence." They landed at Bohemia Manor, arrived in Phil-
adelphia June 23, 1694, and thence proceeded to German-
town, where in the house of Jacob Isaacs Van Bebber,
they held three meetings a week at which Koster spake
publicly. He also spoke once a week in English in Phil-
adelphia. In August, of 1694, a gentleman of Philadel-
phia gave them one hundred and seventy-five acres of
ground, three miles from Germantown, upon the ridge and
on it they at once began to build a log house. ^'^ It was a
little block house of trees laid one upon another cleared
out of the forest, and to save themselves from hunger they
planted Turkish corn. They called themselves " The con-
tented of the God-loving Soul " ; but since they maintained
that the sixth verse of the Twelfth Chapter of Revelations
indicated, when properly interpreted, the near approach of
the coming of Christ, the name given them by those who
surrounded them was "The Society of the Woman in the
Wilderness," and like such names as Qiiaker and Metho-
dist, at first used in derision, it has clung to them. It was
their purpose to refrain from marriage, " according to the
better advice of Saint Paul," but ere long this rule was
broken by Bidermann, who before August had been united
with Maria Margaretha Zimmermann, and having sepa-
rated from the community, had gone to live apart in Ger-
mantown. Muhlenberg, who came to Pennsylvania a half
century later, reports from tradition that they cared noth-
ing for the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, re-
garding the Holy writ as a dead letter in this respect,
but that they busied themselves with the Theosophical
Sophia and speculations and practical alchemy. They

129 See Journal Penna. Magazine, Vol. II., p. 427, and Adelung's Life of
Koster.

2i8 The Settlement of Ger^nantown.

were always awaiting and looking for the coming of the
Millennium. There is a record at Ephrata that upon the
seventh anniversary of their arrival, which they had pre-
pared to celebrate with special effort, and while in the
midst of their ceremonies, " a white obscure moving body
in the air, attracted their attention, which as it approached,
assumed the form and mien of an angel. It receded into
the shadows of the forest and appeared again immediately
before them as the fairest of the lovely." ^^^ They watched
through the night, and the second night, without further
disclosures. The third night the apparition was again
present. They fell upon their knees, but alas, the pray-
ers they uttered seemed to repel rather than to attract the
ethereal divinity, and so " Kelpius and his brethren re-
mained at the Laurea, wearing out the thread of life in re-
tirement and patient waiting for the final drama they were
to enact in the wilderness." The Chronicoti Efhratense
says that after the death of Kelpius, the tempter found oc-
casion to scatter them and that " those who had been most
zealous against marrying, now betook themselves to
women again."

Johann Jacob Zimmermann, the original founder of
this community of Mystics, was born at the village of
Vaihingen, on the Entz, in the Duchy of Wurtemburg,
in 1644, and displaying great zeal in learning, was taken
into the service of the Duke at the age of seventeen. He
was then sent to the University of Tubingen, where he
was graduated in 1664, as Master of Philosophy, and at
once there became an instructor in arithmetic. He en-
tered the Lutheran ministry, and, from 167 1 to 1684, was
in charge of the church at Bietigheim. He became, how-
ever, profoundly impressed with the views of Jacob Boehm,
whose influence upon theological thought has been most

^*' Sachse's Pietists.

Johati7i Jacob Zimniermann. 219

remarkable and extensive, and regarding the great comet
of 1680 as a warning, he prophecied the near approach of
the destruction of the world. Getting into controversy
with the orthodox, and being accused of trying to elevate
Boehm above the apostles, of teaching astrology, magic
and cabbalism, he was tried and deposed from the ministry.
From 1684 to 1689, he was professor of mathematics in
Heidelberg University. He had the support of a promi-
nent minister of state, but persisting in views regarded as
peculiar, and maintaining that an invasion by the French
was a visitation by the Lord, because of his persecution,
he lost position and influence. He was the author of at
least eighteen published works upon theology and astron-
omy. He died on his way to Pennsylvania in 1693.
Gottfried Arnold, in his Kirchen und Kctzer Historie^
Vol. ni., p. 913, describes Zimmermann as a very learned
astrologus, magus, cabalista, and preacher, and says he
was deposed because of his attachment to the doctrines of
Boehm, and because in 1689, he published a tract on the
extension of common love to the remaining Jews, Turks
and heathen. On the 25th of the loth month, 1694, his
widow "was received gratis" into the corporation of Ger-
mantown. ^^'

Henry Bernhard Koster, who from the exercise of the
power of excommunication, would seem to have succeeded
Zimmermann, was the son of Ludolph Koster, burgo-
master and merchant at Blumenberg, where he was born
in November, 1662. He entered the town school of his
native city, and when the rector there, Vogelsang, became
director of the grammar school at Detmold, Koster fol-
lowed him and remained four years under his instruction.
He was at the gymnasium at Bremen five years, studied law

**' Among his many descendants in Pennsylvania is Thomas Allen
Glenn, the genealogist.

220 The Settlement of Gerniantoivn.

three years at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, and left the Uni-
versity in 1684 in the twenty-second year of his age. He
possessed much talent, which he used for his own advance-
ment and for the instruction of youth. He was first tutor
in the family of Aulic Counsellor Polemius, in Kustrin,
and by instructing his pupils, not in the ordinary methods,
but by attractive discourses, he became known to Privy
Counseller Otto von Schwerin, at Berlin, who, in 1685,
made him tutor to his three sons. Here he had the ad-
vantage of a great library. From Walton's Polyglot he
derived a fondness for the eastern languages and for the-
ology. Conceiving a mistrust for the accepted text of the
Hebrew Bible, he made a translation from the Septuagint
version into the German. His patron had influence with
the Prince of Brandenburg, and offered him an important
position. But Koster declined to go to the court, where
there were so many temptations to sin, and emigrated in-
stead to Pennsylvania. He had been in the service of the
Baron von Schwerin for seven years. Just before the ar-
rival of the mystics in Pennsylvania there had occurred
the division among the Quakers, caused by George Keith.
When Koster began to preach in the English language he
was attended by the Keithian separatists in large numbers.
His success led him to entertain the hope of establishing a
sect based upon his own peculiar views, and no doubt led
ultimately to his separation from the community upon the
Ridge. He bore an active part in the Keith controversy
and caused great commotion among the Quakers. In
1696, taking with him six others, he went to the yearly
meeting at Burlington, where there were in attendance
about four thousand people and thirty preachers. He
asked to be heard, but no attention was paid to him.
Finally he insisted while one of their preachers was

Henry Bernhard Koster. 221

speaking, and since the preacher had a weak voice, and
Koster one which was loud and powerful, he succeeded
in making himself heard, although all the preachers got
upon the bench and tried to prevent him. He cried, "I
raise my voice against you with the full witness of the
word of God in order to oppose, out of the Holy Scripture,
your blasphemous teaching, which is worse than that of
the heathens of America, namely, the teaching of your
spiritual Jesus, and that the body which Jesus had on earth
disappeared in the clouds on his journey to Heaven."
And he closed with, " Now to-day has the light of the
Scriptures appeared in the second American darkness,
and its strength you shall learn, not only here in Burling-
ton, but in all the colonies." He wrote an account of the
affair called " History of the Protestation Done in the
Publick Yearly Meeting of the Qiiakers at Burlington in
the 3^ear 1696," published by William Bradford in New
York, 1697. It is pointed out by Sachse that this work,
of which, unfortunately, we have no copy, issued in both
German and English, has the distinction of being the first
book printed in the German language in America. Nor
have we the exact title. Pastorius, in his reply, refers to
it as " Advice for all professors and writers," and says
Koster arrived here " his heart and head filled with whim-
sical and boisterous imaginations, but his hands and purse
emptied of the money which our friends beyond the sea
imparted unto him and some of his company." About this
time, differing with Kelpius, he endeavored to establish a
community, based upon a common ownership of goods,
on some lands given to him in Plymouth, to be called
"The True Church of Philadelphia or Brotherly Love."
A house was built styled " Irenia," or the house of peace.
The attempt, however, failed, the people, who never num-

222 The Settlement of Germantown.

bered more than four or five, scattered, and the land re-
verted to the donor. He persuaded some of the Keithians
to permit him to baptize them. He chose for the purpose
the river near Philadelphia and made an address before a
great concourse of people, wherein he sought to show that
he had a right to baptize as the apostles did. Then he
baptized one after the other and dismissed each with the
words, " Go forth and do this all the days of thy life."
But he had awakened the animosity of the Quakers ; he
had become separated from the community on the Ridge,
and the Keithians gradually drifted back into connection
with the church of England. In December, 1699, he
went from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and thence in Jan-
uar}^ 1700, in a tobacco ship, to London, and soon after-
ward to Amsterdam. At this time the Duchess Charlotta
Sophia had a claim against the Duke Ferdinand of Cur-
land, which Koster undertook to secure for her. He went
to Stockholm in 1702, followed the King, who was with
his army in Poland, and there in camp before Thoren,
succeeded in compelling the Duke to pay a part of the
money. For several years thereafter he taught languages
at Hamburg. The Baron von Schaak, the Danish Am-
bassador to England, at this time wanted a tutor for his
sons and Koster was selected for the place, and he re-
mained upon the estate of the Count as tutor for seven
years. In 1724 he went to Berleburg, where he was un-
der the protection of Count Casimir von Sayn and Wit-
genstein. In 1735 he was teaching eastern and western
languages in Hanover. He claimed to know and to un-
derstand most of the languages of the world. But among
them all his Holy languages were the Greek, the German,
the Bohemian and the Hebrew, in which he at all times re-
peated his prayers. He maintained stoutly that he would

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF CERnANTOW/N.

CAVE OF JOHANNES r\ELFIU5.

AS IT APfEflRS IN 1899.

Johannes Kclfitis Transylvanus. 223

never die, and he came pretty near keeping his word,
since he reached the age of ninety-eight years, and re-
tained his health and vivacity until the last. He died in
1749. ^^^ publications, in addition to those already men-
tioned were five in number/"^^

Johannes Kelpius was born in 1673, at or near Denn-
dorf, in Transylvania, and was the son of George Kel-
pius, a clergyman. When he was only twelve years of
age, his father died. Three friends of the family sent

>Ce^^77'> ^^

him to the high school at Tubingen, and later to the Uni-
versity, where he was graduated at the age of sixteen as
Doctor of Philosophy and the liberal arts. He wrote a
Latin thesis, " Theologia Naturalis, seu Metaphysicae
Metamorphosis sub moderamine Viri M. Dan. Guilh.
Molleri, pro summis honoribus, et privilegiis philosophicis
legitime obtinendis, die 15 Jun, 1689. Altforfii." In
1690, together with his teacher. Dr. Johannes Fabricius,
a celebrated theologian, he wrote a work in eighteen chap-
ters entitled " Scylla Theologiae, aliquot exemplis Patrum
et Doctorium Ecclesiae qui cum alios refutare laborarent
fervore disputationis obrepti in contrarios errores misere
inciderent, ostensa, atque in materiam disputationis pro-
posita a Joh Fabricio. S. Theol. P. F. et M. Joh Kelpio.

"2 Life of Hendrick Pannebecker, p. 107. Adelung's Geschichte der
menschlichen Narrheit, Vol. VII., p. 86.

224

The Settlement of Germantown.

The Lamenting Voice of the Hidden Love. 225

^/cc r^ciinaitin^ /Voice
Cf the

at the ttrne

W(d C/^re/rfy the d/inHritude

cf Mr Sn^f'"-'^^
Qyt/tjjcfecl ^ cjie.

jlitcA . V// S^ JO

Jie/ot/ce. fiat aaauyi /rie C' mtne^neMM^iJfieti
^ ^JhaJl Sc a t^^^ uj^ r/ie . JiaiU ^<Kr ike

^''1^mJ'U€ tk^t if /,UHe fTiefZ/kai'/^^t

0/ a/yfi

Title page of Witt's translation of the hymns of Kelpius.

226 The Settlement of Germantown.

Altdorfii, 1690." The same year he wrote an essay upon
the question whether it was fitting that a Christian youth
should listen to the heathen philosophy of Aristotle. It
was entitled: " Inquisitio an Ethicus Ethnicus, aptus sit
Christianae Inventutis hodiernas, sive ; An Juvenis Chris-
tianus sit idoneus auditor ethices Aristotelieae. Resp Bal-
thos Blosio Norimb. 1690."

Meeting with Zimmermann in Nuremburg, he became
a convert and when only twenty years of age, started for
Pennsylvania. After the withdrawal of Koster he became
the head of the community on the Ridge. Of his work
while here we have his Latin Journal of the voyage, a
copy of a letter in German to Heinrich Johannes Deich-
man, of London, September 24, 1697, a copy of a letter
in German to Deichman, May 12, 1699, sent through Jan
van Loevenigh, of Crefeld, a letter in English, in 1699,
to Stephen Mumford, of Long Island, a letter in Latin to
the Swede Rev. Eric Biork, a letter, October 10, 1704, in
German to Maria Elizabetha Gerber, in Virginia, a letter
in July, 1705, to Dr. Fabricius, in German, a letter in
German to Deichman, July 23, 1705, and a letter of May
25, 1706, to Esther Palmer, of Long Island, in English.
There is also a manuscript volume of hymns, now in the
possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, writ-
ten in German, and translated into English, not very effec-
tively, by Dr. Christopher Witt. Prefixed to this volume
is a portrait of Kelpius upon canvas, by Witt and on the
title page the hymns are said to have been written by one
*' In Kummer" thus concealing the initials of the author in
an anagram. The volume is dated in 1705, and the por-
trait, probably taken from life, is evidently contemporary
with the book, and is believed to be the earliest extant por-
trait painted in America. One of the hymns upon the sub-
ject of Peacefulness, written, Kelpius says, as he lay in

THE 5ETTLEnE/NT OF CERnA/NTOWN.

PORTRAIT OF JOHANNES KELFIU5. BY CHRISTOPHER WITT. IN 1705.

BELIEVED TO BE THE EARLIEST ftnERICHN PORTRftlT !« OIL.

(OV/ER)

Johannes Kelptus. 227

*' Christian Warmer's house very weak, in a small bed,
not unlike a coffin, in May, 1706," begins :
" Hier lieg ich geschmieget

Erkrancket im Schrein

Fast ganzlich besieget

Von sussesster Pein."

and was to be sung to the popular tune of *' So wunsch ich
nun eine gute nacht." A musical score accompanies each
of the hymns. He is also said to have written "Eine kuerze
und begreifliche Anleitung zum stillen Gebet," which was
translated into English and printed by Sower in 1763.

On the 24th of January, 1700, he was appointed, to-
gether with Daniel Falckner and Johannes Jawert, agent
for the Frankfort Land Company, but he declined to serve.
He was impressed with the belief that he would not die,
but be taken to Heaven bodily like Elijah. Being slight
and delicate, he caught a severe cold, which ended in
consumption and he died in 1708. Muhlenberg gives a
strange account of his closing hours from the i-eport of his
friend, Daniel Geissler. For three long days and nights
he prayed that body and soul might remain united and be
transfigured. At last he gave up and said : " My beloved
Daniel, I am not to have that for which I hoped. I have
received my answer. Dust I am and to dust I must re-
turn. It is ordained that I shall die like all the children
of Adam." He then gave Geissler a sealed casket and
told him to take it to the river Schuylkill and throw it into
deep water. Geissler took it to the bank, but concluded to
hide it until after the death of his master, and then examine
the contents. Upon his return, Kelpius arose, looked him
in the eyes sharply, and said, " Daniel, thou hast not done
as I bid thee. Thou hast not cast the casket into the river,
but hast hid it by the shore." Then Geissler, convinced of

228 The Settlement of Ger?nantotun.

his master's occult force, hurried to the bank and threw it
into the river. It fell with flashes like lightning and peals
like thunder. This story sounds very much like another
version of the death of King Arthur, and the experience
of Sir Bedivere with the sword Excalibur.
In one of his hymns Kelpius writes :
" Doch weil ich am Reigen

Des Todes noch geh'

Und kan nicht versteigen

Die Englische Hoh,"

which I translate :

" And since I am mortal
Whom death will not slight,
And cannot mount upward
The angelic height."

This expresses a thought entirely contrary to the belief
attributed to him by Muhlenberg, whose orthodox training
sometimes prevented him from getting the measure ac-
curately of the faiths of those not in the church.

Peter Miller, the Prior of Ephrata, who was more sym-
pathetic, gave this account of him : Kelpius, educated
in one of the most distinguished universities of Europe,
and having had advantage of the best resources for the
acquirement of knowledge, was calculated to edify and
enlighten those who resorted to him for information. He
had particularly made great progress in the study of ancient
law, and was quite proficient in theology. He was inti-
mately acquainted with the works of the rabbins, the
heathen and stoic philosophers, the fathers of the Chris-
tian church, and the reformers. He was conversant with
the writings of Tertullian, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St.
Cyprian, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Tauler, Eck, Myconius,
Carlstadt, Hedio, Faber, Osiander, Luther, Zwinglius,

Journal of Kelfius. 229

"jCj^'^ f---'^- ^^' - ^%,^i0^'''

Cl^hx /A»* .^ :,^ i>,4*'^rO^*. ^ .^ «^^

/ctP^<^/ctU^rt, e.^*-^MT*yi-7^o»cc yh^rxKjJ^Uii^

Page from the Journal of Kelpiiis.

230 The Settlement of Germantown.

and others, whose opinions he would frequently analyze
and expound with much animation. He was also a strict
disciplinarian, and kept attention directed inwards upon
self. To know self he contended is the first and most es-
sential of all knowledge. Thales, the Milesian, he main-
tained, was the author of the precept, "Know Thyself,"
which was adopted by Chilo, the Lacedamonian, and is
one of the three inscriptions which, according to Pliny,
was consecrated at Delphos by golden letters, and acquired
the authority of divine oracle.

It was supposed to have been given by Apollo, of which
opinion Cicero has left a record. He directed a sedulous
watchfulness over the temper, inclinations and passions
and applauded very much the counsel of Marcus Aurelius :
" Look within ; for within is the formation of good."

Kelpius has become widely and popularly known as
" The Hermit of the Wissahickon."

Daniel Falckner, another of the emigrants of 1694, was
born in Langen Reinsdorf, in Saxony, Nov. 24, 1666,
and was the son of Daniel and grandson of Christian
Falckner, both of whom were clergymen. He also was
educated for the ministry. A description of the voyage

to America, from which we

/7 . ^ h^/^ get much information, is be-

ya/niH/ Ja^^'^^^ lieved by Seidensticker to have

been written by him. In 1698
he went back to Europe in an effort to bring another
colony to Pennsylvania. While there he wrote a little
volume published at Franckfurt, in 1702, a copy of which
I have, entitled " Curieuse Nachricht von Pennsylvania
in Norden America," in which he describes himself as a
professor, burgher and pilgrim. He came back holding
authority to represent the Frankfort Land Company, but

Johann Seeli'g. 231

his efforts were not very successful, and it appears both
from the statements of Pastorius and the court records that
he was for a time given to indulgence. He married and
separated from the community on the Ridge. His manner
of life no doubt improved, since Sachse has shown that he
later became pastor of the Lutheran congregations on the
Raritan, and elsewhere in New Jersey, where he spent
much time in botanical studies, and was living respected
until as late as 1741. " Falckner's Swamp" in Mont-
gomery Co., Pa., still bears his name.

Johann Seelig, a teacher and a bookbinder, was born at
Lengo, Lippe Detmold, in 1668. Saur, in 1739, published
in Germantown a little volume entitled " Ein Abgenoth-
igter Bericht," the only known copy of which I have,
wherein he tells of a certain Dr. Schotte, whose letters he
prints, and who, he says, preached in 1687 with so much
fervor that his hearers were astounded and *' fell upon the
earth and lay together in heaps as if dead." Schotte
stretched out his arm as stiff as an iron bar, so that many
men could not move it. He rode through the cities and to
the universities of Europe and brought one hundred and
forty-five people together, giving them each a distinctive
name. Among them were many of the Pietists, Dr. Jo-
hann Wilhelm Petersen, as Elias ; Spener, as Nicodemus ;
Johann Heinrich Sprogell, as Philemon ; Daniel Falckner,
as Gains ; Johannes Kelpius, as Philologus ; Johanna Elea-
nora Von Merlau as Sara ; the widow Schiitz, as Susanna ;
and Johann Seelig, as Pudens. Of Seelig's life in Pennsyl-
vania all that seems to be known is that Kelpius was much
attached to him ; that. May 12, 1699, he wrote a long letter
to Deichman, in London, couched in the mystic language
of his sect ; that he lived the life of a hermit eight miles
from Philadelphia, where he bound books and taught the

232 The Settlement of Germantown.

few, /^

t^dr

MS. volume by Sprogell in 1703 in my library.

Justus Falckner. 233

children, and that he died April 26, 1745, aged seventy-
seven years.

Justus Falckner, brother of Daniel, was born Nov. 22,
1672, and in 1693 was a student in the University at Halle.
We are told by Biorck that he left his home " to escape the
burden of the pastorate." He wrote a number of hymns
which are still preserved. In 1700 he came with his
brother to Pennsylvania. He was ordained by Rudman
in the old Swedes Church at Wiccacoe on Nov. 24, 1703,
and from that time was pastor of the Holy Trinity Lu-

theran Church in New York, until 1723. In 1708 he
published in Dutch a " Grondlycke Onderricht," a cate-
chism, printed by Bradford, in New York, the only known
copy of which is in the library of the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania and which was long supposed to be the
first Dutch book printed in America. He married May
26, 1 7 17, Gerritje Hardick, and had three children.

Despite the earnest efforts of Mr. Sachse, who has given
special attention to the subject, and of earlier writers, there
is little definite information concerning the community
upon the Ridge. Who composed the forty immigrants, be-
side those named, we do not know. What they did and
what was the manner of their lives is for the most part
involved in hopeless obscurity. Though men of learning
they seem to have given little attention to the affairs of this
world, and to have fixed their patient expectations upon
the rewards that were to come in the next, because of the
self-denial exercised while here.

CHAPTER XI.

The Indians.

(TJr'HE settlers of German-
\fj) town, in making their
homes out in the woods,
in a new land, were brought
into continual contact with
the savages. Among them-
selves there was much of
wonderment, and among their
relatives in Holland and Ger-
many, much of curiosity with
respect to the appearance,
origin, habits and manner of
life of these denizens of the forest. To this fact we owe
the preservation of a series of pictures of Indian life at
that early time, the most thorough and complete in exist-
ence with respect to the Indians in the neighborhood
of Philadelphia, enlivened with anecdote and filled with

234

Indian Habits. 235

interesting details, which, because they were hidden in a
foreign language and in inaccessible books, have remained
almost entirely unknown. The Dutch and Germans at
Germantown did not approach the Indians with a purpose
of first getting their corn, and then killing them and taking
possession of their lands, a course of conduct prev^alent in
so man}^ of the American colonies, ^'^^ but they seemed to
regard the situation as offering an unlimited opportunity
for the cultivation of the Mennonite principles of peace and
the extension of Pietistic mysticism.

Pastorius says the wild people came to barter fish,
birds, deer, and skins of beaver, otter, and foxes, some-
times for drink, and sometimes for their own money, which
consisted only of coral strung upon a string, and split
mussel shells, some white arid some a light brown. This
kind of coral money they knew how to twist ingeniously
together, and they used it instead of gold chains. The
King had a crown of it. Twelve pieces of the brown and
twenty-four of the white were worth a Frankfort albus.

They were a strong, active and agile people, dark in
color, who at first went naked, except a cloth around the
loins, but had begun to wear shirts. They had coal black
hair. They cropped the hair on the head, and smeared on
fat and let a long cue grow on the right side. The child-
ren at first were white enough, but their parents rubbed
them with fat and exposed them to the hot sun, so as to
make them brown. They are entirely candid, keep to
their promises, and deceive and mislead nobody. They
are hospitable and are true, and often live together quietly.

133 II And tooke with them parte of ye corne and buried up ye rest. . . .
Hear they gott seed to plant them corne ye next year, or else they might
have starved for they had none nor any likelihood to get any." " Others
fell to plaine stealing both night and day from ye Indians." "Thus it
pleased God to vanquish their enemies." Bradford's History of Plymouth.

236 The Settlement of Germantown.

Their huts are made of bent saplings, which they cover
with bark. They use neither table nor bench, and have
no furniture, except a pot, in which they cook their meat.
He says : I once saw four of them eating together in the
greatest pleasure, and all they had was a pumpkin cooked
in water, without butter or spice. The table and bench
were the dear earth. Their spoons were mussel shells,
with which they supped up the warm water. Their plates
were the leaves from a nearby tree, which they carefully
washed after the meal, and preserved for the future. I
thought to myself these wild people have never heard the
teachings of Jesus concerning temperance and moderation
in their whole lives, and yet observe them much better
than Christians. They are earnest and use few words,
and express wonder when they hear the continuous and
light talk of the Christians. Each has but one wife, and
they sorely hate whoring, kissing and lying. They have
no images, but worship one almighty and good God, who
restrains the power of the devil. They believe in an
undying soul, which after the course of their life is run,
may expect, through the almighty power of God, a suitable
reward. They carry on their religious services with sing-
ing, and make wonderful gestures and movements with
their hands and feet, and when they remember the death
of their relatives and friends, they begin to howl and weep
very pitifully. In our meetings they are very still and at-
tentive, so that I firmly believe at the day of judgment,
they will sit above those of Tyre and Sydon and put to
shame mere name and mouth Christians. As to their
manner of living, the men do the hunting and fishing.
The women bring up their children with the greatest care,
and dissuade them from vice. They plant about their huts
Indian corn and beans, but pay no attention to further

Indian Habits. lyi

cultivation of the ground, and to cattle, and wonder much
that the Christians are so much troubled over eatinji and
drinking, clothing and houses, as though they doubted
that God would care for them. Their speech is very
grave, and in pronunciation, like the Italian, but the words
are entirely strange. They dye their faces, both men and
women use tobacco, and spend their time with a pipe in
their mouths in continual idleness.

I was the other day at the table of our Governor
William Penn, and met there a King of the savages.
William Penn told him that I was a German, and came
from lands the farthest away. A few days afterwards he
came with his Queen to Germantown to see me. I treated
them as well as I could with food and drink, whereupon
he showed a great attachment to me and called me Caris-
simo, which is brother. Another time King Colkamicha
came to our Governor and showed a great inclination to
the Christian religion and to the light of the truth in his
heart. He had an unexpected attack of disease, deter-
mined to stay with us, and as his illness increased, had his
nephew, Jahkiolol, brought to him, and in the presence of
many of our people and his, in these words, made him
King:

" My brother's son, on this day I give thee my heart in
thy bosom, and I will that thou lovest that which is good,
and shunnest that which is evil and evil company ; also
when there is any discourse, do not speak first, but let
all speak before thee, and take well in thought what
each says, and when thou hast heard all, take that which
is good, as I have done. Although I had intended to make
Schoppii king in my stead, I have learned from my phy-
sician that Schoppii told him secretly since I was sick not
to cure me or make me better, and when he was with me

238 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

in Hulling Schead's house/^* I saw he was more inclined to
be drunk than to listen to my words. Therefore, I said to
him he should not be king, and I have chosen thee, my
brother's son, in my place. Dear brother's son, I will that
thou doest right by the Indians, as well as the Christians,
as I have done. I am very weak or I would say more,"
and soon after he died.

A very cunning savage came to me one day and
offered to bring me a turkey hen for a certain price. But
he brought me instead an eagle, and insisted upon it that
it was a turkey. But I showed him that I knew very well
the difference between the birds. Then he said to a Swede
standing by that he had not supposed that a German so
lately arrived would know these birds apart.

They are much better contented with and more careless
about the future than are we Christians. They circum-
vent nobody in trade or conduct. They know nothing of
the proud manner and modes of dress, to which we so ad-
here. They do not swear and curse. They are temperate
in eating and drinking, and if one once in awhile imbibes
too much, the result is usually with the mouth-Christians,
who, for their own profit, sell the cursed strong drink.
During my ten years abode here I have never heard of
their using force toward anybody, much less committing
murder, which they could readily do in concealment in the
great and thick woods.

In reply to a question of his brother Augustine Adam,
as to how the Indian kings held their courts, Pastorius
says: Their royal palaces are so poorly constructed that
I can scarcely describe them. There is only a single
room or chamber in a tree hut covered with bark, without

'3< Hollingshead,

Indian Education.

'39

chimney, steps or privy. These kings go upon the hunt,
shoot wild animals, and earn their living with their hands.
They have neither knights nor lackeys, nor maids nor
maidens of state, and what would they do with a master
of the stables who have no horse and go on foot. No
tutor is necessary, where only the bodily wants of wife
and children are to be supplied. They live in a state of
nature, quae ^yaucis contenta est. Their bartering with us
Christians consists in this, that they bring to market bear,
elk and deer hides, beaver, marten, otter and other skins,
also turkeys, game and fish, for which they get powder,
lead, woolen covers and brandy, which last with all strong
drinks, it is contrary to law to sell, since it is misused by
them and leads to their injury. They use no bakeoven,
but bake their bread in the ashes. So many of these
w^ild people have died since I came here that no more than
a fourth remain of those who were here ten years ago.

They are forest people who instruct one another, and
the old teach the young by traditions. They are usually
long of stature, strong of body, broad of shoulders and
head, proud and stern in appearance, with black hair.
They smear their faces with bear's fat, and all kinds of
d3^es, have no beard, are free and open in spirit, use few
words, but do it with emphasis. They can neither read
nor write, but are nevertheless intelligent, keen, earnest
and unabashed. They purchase enough and pay readily,
can endure hunger long, love drink, work but little, spend
their lives in hunting and fishing, and no one of them can
ride upon a horse. In summer they are covered with
nature's covering, but in winter wrap themselves in a
great square cloth, and cover themselves in their huts with
bear and deer skins. Instead of shoes they use doeskins
and have no hats. The women are light-hearted, chatty
and proud, and bind their hair in a knot. They have high

240 The Settlement of Germantown.

breasts and black necks, as are also their ears and arms,
about which they hang coral. As the men hunt in the
woods, so the women plant beans and Turkish corn. They
love their children very much. As soon as they are born,
they are bound upon shingles, and when they cry, are
stilled by moving them rapidly to and fro. While still
quite young they are put into the warm streams to harden
them. When they are young they must catch fish with
hooks, and as they grow stronger, they are exercised in
hunting. The maidens when they are grown cover their
faces, and thus show that they are read}^ to marry. All
their crimes they punish with fines, even the death blow.
If a man strike a woman, he must pay double, be-
cause women bring forth children, which men cannot
do. They say God dwells in the great sun land, to which,
after death, they must hasten. Their religion consists of
two kinds of service, singing and sacrifice. The first of
the hunt they kill with such rapidity for sacrifices, that
their bodies are thrown into perspiration. When they
sing, they dance around in a circle, and in the midst two
dance and start a sad song. All join in a wierd cry.
Then they weep, snap with their teeth, soon crack their
fingers, stamp with their feet, and continue this laughable
play earnestly and zealously. When they are sick they
eat no flesh, except that of a female. When they bury
their dead, they throw whatever is valuable into the grave
in order to give it to be understood that good will towards
the departed has not perished. Their mourning, which
continues for a whole year, is shown in their blackened
faces. Their huts they build of trees and bushes, and no
one of them is so unskilled in the art of building that he
cannot construct one for himself and his family in three or
four hours.

Indian Language.

241

Their speech is shown in
Eitanithap,
A eitha,
Tan Komi,
Past ni anda qui,
Gecho lucendi,

o letto,

Noha mattappi,

Gecho Ki Wengkinum

Husko Lallaculla,

Langund ag boon,

Lamess,

Acothita,

HIttuck nipa,

Chingo Metschi,

Alappo,

Nacha Kuin,

Alia,

Squaa,

Hexis,

Menitto,

Murs,

Kusch Kusch,

Wicco,

Hockihockon,

Pocksuckan,

the following dialogue :

Welcome, good friend.

You, too, are welcome.

Whence come you?

Not from far.

What is your name?

Franciscus.

It is good.

Be seated.
, What do you want?

I am very hungry.

Give me bread.

Fish.

Fruit.

There is a tree full.

When do you depart.

To-morrow.

Day after to-morrow.

Mother.

Wife.

An old woman.

The Devil.

A cow.

A pig.

A house.
Estate.

Knife.

Pastorius closes this letter and his description of the In-
dians, by saying : " Whatever professor can hunt out the
origin and roots of these Indian words will win my praise.
Interim, my paper is small, the pen is a stump, the ink
will not run, there is no more oil in the lamp, it is late at

242 The Settlement of Gerniantown.

Curieufe m<^W^^

r>on

PENSYLVANFA

trt

9luf Scgc^ren guterSreunfce/

flcn / bet) faiier Sltneifi au6 ^euifcft*

lrin^ uacl) obtgem San^e Anno 1700*

evtl)eilct/uni)nun Anno i7oainDcn2)rucf

gegebcn worben.

Spaniel 'Sdfnecn/ProfcfTorc,

SSurgern unD 5)i!flrim aUba-

-I ^

2u pnDeu bep 2(nbrea^ Otto/55w*Mttl)(cni»

3m ^r (i^wlli ,70,,

Falckncr's Book. 2/^^

CONTINdATIO

PENSYLVANIiE

AMERICiE.

Ubtxt>oxmbi$ j£)ernj pafiorit

RelatiOQes.
3n jic^ l)a(tenb :

C(e Situation, un5 gni*t6aif eft bt$

g(u jfe. liDte 2(n§af)l bmr bi^^o oebauten ^tabte,

aJic \t\t]mi (Itcatuaa an Xbmcn/fQiefln «b& glfcftcit.

JDfe Mineraiien iinD (JJiflijeftfinc ©ercB flnqt^brnta »(►

Jen©o(cf«reprac&«ti/ JX<HaloiiunD6<Muc&c. Unfr

pic crftm (Bivim^ti 8)flan^er bqO ^naancc

GABRIEL THOMAS

•iBelcOem Traacltt^m nodb bet)0efu9et (inb :
2)e^ J^tt. DANIEL FA LCKNERS

iSurgcr^ unl) pilgrims in PcnfylvaaU ij?*

$&eaiitivortujig(n uff oorgdcgte Srasec t)t>a

gutcn t^rranDen. ^

5rancf furt unb £eipMg /

244 "^^^ Settlement of Ger^nantoivn.

night, my eyes are full of sleep. Take care of yourself.
I close."

Daniel Falckner, whose book, in 1702, is in great part
made up of a description of the Indians and their habits,
writes : Their number, since they have been attacked by
the diseases brought by the Europeans into the country,
have been very much decreased, so that where one hun-
dred were seen thirty years ago there is now scarcely
one. Others must bend to their humor and follow their
inclinations, since they stand fast in their own way, and
they do, speak and appear as they choose. The simple
plan of going along with them is the best rule. When
they are drunk it is better to let them alone.

Their virtue of all virtues is to strive persistently for
those things upon which they have determined. They are
naturally simple in their wants, and therefore when they
take trouble, they do not think of making a profit or benefit
for themselves, but it gives them a satisfaction, since it
can be seen that they can do it, although the great love
for strong drink and the desire for better clothing give
them the selfish wish for gain. They are generally so-
ciable, generous, earnest and show wrath, especially to-
wards their own people. The chief of their occupations
is hunting and fishing, and their women plant a little In-
dian corn, beans, pumpkins, melons, etc. They prepare
skins and make stockings and liga, that is shoes, and
also wooden platters and spoons out of the knots that grow
on trees. The women cut wood, cook, wait upon the
children, make purses of wild hemp, cards, tapestry of
dyed straw, baskets of dyed bark, and covers twisted with
feathers. Among the children there is seldom one crip-
pled or lamed. It is remarkable that there is so little un-
chastity among them, since they go nearly naked and

Indian Habits. 245

have every opportunity. Among us Europeans we have
the punishment of the law and the earnest command of
God, and yet the men cannot be made and kept as pure as
these are without any law. The marriage ceremony is in
this wise : The man gives the woman a deer foot, which
imports that he will secure her meat. The woman gives
the man a handful of corn, which imports that she will
look after the bread and cooking. A man is permitted to
have two wives if he undertakes to support them, but it is
a reproach to them.

It is easy to learn their language, since they have no
more words than things. Their verbs and nouns have
neither time nor number. The others are mere proper
names and appellations. In the want of conjunctions they
have taken some from the Swedes and others, to wit. Ok
and Ni.

They cannot say R. They talk more with their gestures
and accent than with words ; therefore those who speak
with them, and that of which he speaks, must be present.
Thus they say Lanconti, when they want to give some-
thing to somebody, and also when they have already given
something. They cannot keep many things in their minds,
and cultivate more the sense of oblivion than of science
and memor}^ and therefore have no monuments of an-
tiquity. But when they want something preserved they
call their young people together and impress it upon
them, and when they think it worth the trouble they com-
mand these that they in turn in their old age tell it and
impress it upon the young. In intercourse with them it is
important to follow their humor and mingle in their earn-
estness and laughter, since they are inclined to anger and
easily think they are insulted. To secure and keep their
confidence we let them come to our houses, and do not let

246 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

them go without eating and drinking, and when they come
in the evening we give them permission to lie by the fire,
and so when we go to them they are more kindly and hos-
pitable.

Good and evil are with them nature and custom, and
have no certain boundaries. In murder, robbery and adul-
tery, which are capital, the king speaks the sentence.
The reward of the good consists in honor and in a present
measured by their ability. Punishment is indicated by the
words of the king, " Beat him dead," which the accused
accepts, since they do not much regard life.

Each king rules over a certain territory, and a king
must be the best hunter and the bravest man, so as to be
able to give the best counsel. The king's word is abso-
lute, but he is himself the first to obey the command. His
service does not differ from the rest, and he has no ser-
vants. If he has enemies his retainers are at his command,
and remain in their huts by him. He confers with the
boldest of his people when anything of importance is to
be considered. When there is room they sit around the
king's fire. The property of the retainers is at his dispo-
sal, but it does him no good, and the king's property is at
the disposal of the retainers. Sometimes the retainers
bring some of their money, which they call luampon^ and
is black and white, like a kind of enamel or glass pattern,
or cut straw, which money is of value to the Europeans
also, and Lagio is given for it. But they do not tell how
they make it. When they go far upon a hunt, or to war,
it is permitted to the women to go along, but the king
orders some of the men to protect those who remain at
home. Small crimes they punish with a fine. When a
man dies in debt the relatives pay it, so that they be not
disgraced. Still they ask indulgence.

Indian Habits. 247

The king must be the wisest and most skillful, strong
and the best hunter, therefore rule is not inheritable. He
and his wife have somewhat more of ornament than the
others, but it only appears in this, that they string their
kind of money together like pearls, according to the shad-
ing, and fasten them upon the head like a crown, or upon
the breast, or in the top knot.

Concerning their diseases and cures Falckner says :
When they have feverish attacks, or do not feel well,
they cook the black hulls of nuts in water and drink the
extract in great quantities, and they bind themselves about
the body and head with bands of coiled hemp. They
sweat in the following manner : They make a low hut,
just high enough to sit in and cover it to the ground with
the bark of trees and skins. Then they heat some stones
outside, and carrying them into the kennel, sit upon them
and sweat so violently as to wet the earth. A European
could not possibly stand it. When they have sweated
sufficiently they run out and jump into the cold water.
Then they are cured.

They have a root which keeps away the snakes. They
bind it upon the bone, and run into the woods and are un-
injured by the snakes. If they have not this root, and are
bitten, they cut the bite out of the flesh.

To cure swellings, fluxes or sprains of the limbs they
let them bleed, and cut with a sharp flint through the skin
without touching a vein, which they know well how to
avoid, and hold the member by the fire, and scrape off with
a piece of wood the blood that prevents the flow till it stops
bleeding. Then they wash the wound with water and lay
on it a certain root, which they rub between two stones, and
some little green leaves. In a single night the wound
heals. When they get splinters in their feet they cut them

248 The Settlement of Germantown.

clean out with a knife and smear the wound with snake
fat ; then it heals.

For inner disorders they eat the small entrails of young
Deasts with fat.

They are seldom at peace. The fighting happens
first in single parties, where man fights with man, or two
or three together with bows, axes, reeds and flints, and it
generally occurs upon their hunts. They take prisoners
and sell them. When their enemies collect and form a
battle array they arrange themselves in a circle, so that
on all sides their faces are turned to the foe, and when one
is shot dead or wounded they draw him inside the circle
and make it smaller. When they take prisoners they sell
two or three of the fattest to be broiled and eaten. All the
southern Indians believe that a man cannot more avenge
himself upon an enemy than by eating his flesh. They re-
gard the flesh of the natives as better than game, for the
reason that this flesh is not salted, but entirely sweet, but
on the other hand that of the English and French is salty
and disagreeable. They use all kinds of stratagems to
overcome their enemies, whether single or in parties ; they
examine the bushes and grass, from which they can tell
with certainty whether a man, women or child, European
or savage, has passed. They go in the night upon the
high mountains and look around where fires are made
in the woods. Then they go to the other side of the fire,
creep up and shoot or kill their foes, while they are asleep.
Against parties they make a plan to drive them into a
corner, so that they may be taken prisoners.

Their dwelling is in no settled place, and their house-
keeping is variable. The house is sometimes made in an
old fallen tree, but when complete it stands clear and is
only the height of a man. In the middle it is open, so

Making Pone. 249

that the smoke of the fire, which is in the center, may es-
cape. The hut is covered with the bark of trees, and in
the same way is protected around. Inside they put straw
or long grass. Some make tapestry of dyed straw and
ornament the house, which, in their speech, is called a
Wickwam. If they are caught away from home in the
rain they take a cover they have with them and spread it
out like a roof and get under it, or they make a great fire
and throw foul wood upon it to make much smoke, and lie
on that side of it toward which the wind drives the smoke,
so that the smoke scatters the rain, and that which falls is
by the smoke and heat made warm. In the huts they
throw quantities of grass or deer skins, and at night cover
themselves with them, or with bear skins, or with a woolen
cover, or with a cover of turkey feathers, very skillfully
worked together, and then they put the smallest child in
front of them and one at the back.

Their furniture consists of a piece of a hewed tree, or
one which stands with its root in the ground, in the midst
of which they burn a hole like a deep dish or mortar, in
which they pound their Indian corn. They make bread
of this corn, which they call Ponn, and they make soup of
it, which they call Sapan. They sprinkle the corn with hot
water, and beat it to get the peel off, and pound it small,
sift the smallest through a straw basket, and make loaves
like great goat's cheeses. They stick these in the hot
ashes, and scrape the coals over them, and so bake them.
When it is ready they wash the bread off with water.
Sometimes they mix red or other colored beans under the
bread, which then looks as though raisins were baked in
it.'^ They have also a pot in which they cook the deer's

135 I know of no other such graphic description of the Indian women
making their pone.

250 The Settlement of Germantown.

meat, but this they do not wash, and think the strength
would thus be taken out. Nor do they skim it, but what
runs over they let go. They like the meat bloody and
regard it as healthy. Then they cook beans or pounded
corn in the meat broth. They cook also tortoises (terra-
pin?) without a pot under the coals in their own shells.
They do not take much time with birds when they are
small, but burn the feathers off in the fire. But the feathers
of turkeys they use to work into covers. They eat also
foxes, fat dogs, civet cats, beavers, squirrels and hawks.
For roasting they have nothing except a stake, which they
make sharp at both ends. They stick one end in the
ground ; upon the other end they stick the meat cut thin
and at times turn it.

The rest of their furniture is a calibash, or pumpkin,
cleaned out to hold drink, wooden spoons which they make
in their manner, and in case of need they use mussel or
oyster shells. Their wooden dishes are made of the knots
of trees and of hard pumpkin rind. Many of them have
two or three sacks made of the wild hemp, shaded by dyes,
brown, red and white, skillfully put together. They make
smaller sacks of the straw of the Indian corn, in which
they carry their furniture and a little hatchet, which they
call Domehicken. They now get these from the Euro-
peans. Formerly they used hard stones instead. Of this
stone they also made their axes. There is a brown stone
like a blood stone (jasper?) which they by many blows
make sharp and pointed. Their barns they make in the
earth, dig a hole the depth of a man, like a spring, line it
with long grass, and there put their Indian corn, pumpkins
and other things. Their dogs and pigs they accustom to
come, not upon seeing them, but by following their voices.
At nights they water their swine, and when they are fat,

Indian Habits. 251

sell them to the Europeans for rum, since they do not much
esteem pork.

The women do not help each other at the births of their
children, but they go off entirely alone to some previously
selected place. Nevertheless there is never seen among
them an ill formed or crippled child. The children are
soon bound upon a little board, upon which they fasten a
skin and cover it with another, so that they can better be
carried upon the back, and be held when they suck.

They fish with hooks. They make stone dams and
enclose the fish. They bind a long row of twigs with the
leaves together and draw it through the water, by which
means the fish are driven into a corner, and they then
capture them with the hands. They also have boats of
hollowed-out trees, with the crevices stopped with moss,
in which they chase the sturgeon. They capture wild
beasts by their rapid and continuous running, and by
shooting them. Some beasts they hunt by night by the
clear moon. The wild cats they shoot with arrows. The
amphibia, such as rats, martens, etc., they take by night
in traps like our marten traps.

They have, by the presence and mode of life of the
Europeans, learned to live in a disorderly manner in eat-
ing, drinking, cursing, lying and cheating. One has
shown the other the way. The Europeans have brought
them brandy, beer, and other materials, and now the sav-
ages seek them eagerly, and although it is forbidden by
law, they find means to secure them to their injury.

They make a hole or grave, in which they bury the
dead, to whom they give something to eat, and besides
what he especially cared for in life ; also his bow and ar-
rows or a flint, so that he can hunt upon the way, since
they believe he now journeys toward the warm or cold

252 The Settlement of Germantown,

country, according as he has lived a good or evil life.
The grave is covered with wood and grass, and then earth
is heaped upon it. The wife and children often go there
and lament. They have a certain length of time, in which
to think of the dead. During this time they disturb the
earth on the grave, so that no grass can grow on it.
When the time is over, no man is permitted to call the
name of the dead, since he is now forgotten.

They do not observe the seventh day. I once asked
one of them why he worked upon Sunday. He gave me
for answer that he must eat upon Sunday as upon other
days, and therefore he must hunt, but that if he had had
something on hand, then he would keep Sunday.

Kelpius tells of a visit that Penn made to the Indians in
1701, at Kintika, and that he endeavored to inculcate in
them a belief in the God who rules the Heavens and the
earth. Kelpius, who, notwithstanding the assistance of
Furly, was none too fond of the Quakers, reported that the
Indians listened gravely, and replied: "You ask us to
believe in the great creator and ruler of Heaven and
earth, and yet you yourself do not believe nor trust Him,
for 3^ou have taken the land unto yourself, which we and
our friends occupied in common. You scheme night and
day how you may preserve it, so that none can take it
from you. Yea, you even scheme beyond your life, and
parcel it out between your children, this manor for one
child, that manor for another. We believe in God, the
creator, and ruler of Heaven and earth. He maintains
the sun. He maintained our fathers for so many many
moons. He maintains us and we believe and are sure
that He will also protect our children, as well as ourselves.
And so long as we have this faith, we trust in Him, and
never bequeath a foot of ground."

Friendly Intercourse.

253

This friendly intercourse with the natives, based upon
the principles of mutual advantage and assistance, and
accompanied by an appreciation and recognition of their
meritorious characteristics, contrasts forcibly with the burn-
ing of the women and children of the Pequods and other
similar events, which have stained our American annals.''*

12^ When Uncas, the Mohican, captured Miantonomo, the Narragansett,
the Commissioners of Plymouth advised the savage to kill his enemy and
he " accordingly executed him in a very faire manner." Bradford's His-
tory of Plymouth, p. 507.

A Germantown Colonial Doorway.

CHAPTER XII.

Germantown as a Borough, and its Book of Laws.

FTER the town had become
populous enough to war-
rant its having control of
its own affairs, a charter of incor-
poration, dated May 31, 1691,
was issued to Francis Daniel Pas-
torius, bailiff ; Jacob Telner,
Dirck op den Graeff, Hermann
op den Graeff, and Thones Kun-
ders, burgesses ; Abraham op
den Graeff, Jacob Isaacs Van
Bebber, Johannes Kassel, Heifert Papen, Hermann Bon
and Dirck Van Kolk, committeemen, with power to hold
a court and a market, to admit citizens, to impose fines,
and to make ordinances. The bailiff and first two bur-
gesses were constituted justices of the peace. '^"^ The primi-
tive Solons and Lycurguses of Germantown did not want
their laws to go unheeded. They were not keen enough
to invent that convenient maxim Ignorantia legis neminem
excusat. It was, therefore, ordered that " On the 19th

•"^ Penna. Archives, Vol. I., p. in.

254

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF CERriA/NTOW/N.

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TITLE- PA5TORIUS' HS BOOt\ OP LAWS.

The Weavers. 255

of 1st mo. in each year the people shall be called together,
and the laws and ordinances read aloud to them."^^'^ Oh
ye modern legislators ! think how few must have been the
statutes, and how plain the language in which they were
written, in that happy community.

As we have seen, the greater number of the first Cre-
feld emigrants were weavers. This industr}'^ increased so
that Frame described Germantown as a place —

" Where lives High German people and Low Dutch
Whose trade in weaving linnen cloth is much ;
There grows the Flax as also you may know
That from the same they do divide the tow;"

and Thomas says they made " very fine German Linen
such as no person of Quality need be ashamed to wear."
When, therefore, Pastorius was called upon to devise a
town seal, he selected a clover on one of whose leaves was
a vine, on another a stalk of flax, and on the third a
weaver's spool, with the motto, " Vinum, Linum, et Tex-
trinum." This seal happily suggests the relations of the
town with the far past, and it is a curious instance of the
permanence of causes that these simple people, after the
lapse of six centuries, and after being transplanted to a
distance of thousands of miles, should still be pursuing
the occupation of the Waldenses of Flanders. The cor-
poration was maintained until January 11, 1707, but al-
ways with considerable difficulty in getting the offices
filled. Says Loher, "They would do nothing but work

"7 Raths Buch.

256 The Settlement of Germantown.

and pray, and their mild consciences made them opposed
to the swearing of oaths and courts, and would not suffer
them to use harsh weapons against thieves and tres-
passers." Through conscientious scruples Arent Klincken
declined to be burgess in 1695, Heivert Papen in 1701,
Cornells Siverts in 1702, and Paul Engle in 1703 ; Jan
Lensen to be a committeeman in 1701, Arnold Kuster and
Daniel Geissler in 1702 ; Matteus Millan to be constable in
1703 ; and in 1695 Albertus Brandt was fined for a failure
to act as juryman, " having no other escape but that in
court in Phila. he was wronged upon the account of a
jury." New-comers were required to pay for the right of
citizenship, and the date of the conferment of this right
doubtless approximates that of the arrival. ^^^

The records of the Court occasionally gave particulars
which aid us in getting a view of the manner of life and
habit of thought of the residents. Upon one occasion the
Court was adjourned "by reason of the absence of some
for religious meeting over Schuylkill." Intended mar-
riages, and notices of things lost and found, were posted
up in conspicuous places in the town. Both Maria Mar-
garet Zimmermann, the widow of the astronomer, and Peter
Cornelius Plockhoy were given the burgher right " gratis."
Johannes Pettinger, on the 19th day of the nth month,
1694, " did push, and evilly handle" Johannes Kuster, for
which he was properly fined two shillings.

On the 7th day of the 3d month, 1695, Peter Keurlis
was attested : " why he did not come when the Justice sent
for him. He answered : He had much work to do.

"Whereupon he further was attested : Why he refused to
lodge travellers ? Answer : He only intended to sell drink,
but not to keep an ordinary.

"Then he was attested : Why he did sell barley malt beer

"8 Raths Buch and Court Record.

The Court.

257

4d a quart against the law of this province ? Answer : He
did not know such a law. Lastly, he was asked why he
would not obey the law of Germantown corporation, which
forbids to sell more than a gill of rum or a quart of beer
every half a day to each individual. Answer : They be-
ing able to bear more he could or would not obey that
law." This recalcitrance led to a fine of five pounds.
Keeping the fences in order and the hogs from running at
large caused much trouble. John Silans confessed that
on Sep. 6, 1695, " he did beat, wound and evilly entreat "
John Pettinger, who apparently had a faculty for getting
into scrapes, and was fined ten shillings. A jury found
on 24th of 4th month, 1701, " we the jury find that through
carelessness the cart and the lime killed the man. The
wheel wounded the back of his head and it killed him."

A defendant was brought into the court concerning cer-
tain fees and charges and the accounts were produced be-
fore him. He said : " The paper was cut off and blotted
and that this was done since he delivered it to the Court
and that who could trust such a Court?" This was too
much, and the Court adjourned for four weeks.

Reynier Peters was fined twenty shillings for calling
the Sheriff "a rascal and a lyar " on the open street.
George Muller was fined for laying a wager "to smoke
above one hundred pipes in one day." Owners of lands
were required to put stakes wath their names on them along
the boundaries. Nov. 28, 1704, Daniel Falckner came into
Court and behaved very ill " like one that was last night
drunk and not yet having recovered his witts."

No serious crime and no attempt at oppression occurred
during the fifteen years covered by the record."'

"* Collections of the Historical Soc. of Pa., Vol. I., p. 245. During
the first eighteen years at Plymouth four men were hanged for murder
and one escaped. Bradford's History of Plymouth, p. 432.

258

The Settlement of Gerfnantown.

The corporation laws, prepared by Pastorius and care-
fully written by him and others in a volume in German
and Dutch script, were supposed to have been utterly lost.
The volume met with strange vicissitudes and was a few
years ago discovered by accident in the possession of a
citizen of one of the states on the Pacific slope. Up to
the present time these laws have remained unknown and,
constituting as they do the earliest body of municipal legis-
lation extant in Pennsylvania and perhaps in the country,
their historical importance cannot be overestimated. These
laws and ordinances are as follows :

The Laws of Germantozun. 259

Leges Pennsilvaniae
h. e.

The Great Law of the Province
of Pennsilvania.

Gal. 5 : 14 All the Law is fulfilled in one word in this :
"Thou shallt love thy neighbour as thyself. Add Rom.
13 : 3. Matth. 7 : 12.

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the
Prophets. Add, Caps 22x35 ^tc.

Salus Populi Suprema Lex est.
Francis Daniel Pastorius his book.

1690.

1 . Copy of the Germantown Charter.

2. Laws, Ordinances and Statutes of the Community of
Germantown, made and published from time to time in
meetings of the General Court of that place.

3. The laws of the Province of Pennsilvania antecedent
to the said Charter and By Laws.

The law is good if a man use it Lawfully, i Tim. i : 8.

Summum Jus, Summa Injuria. Extreme right is ex-
treme wrong. Between just laws and righteous men no
antipathy. Good laws bind evil people.

The greatest bait to offend is the hope of impunity.

26o The Settlement of Gcrtnantown.

Copy of the Charter.

I William Penn, Proprietor of the Province of Pennsil-
vania in America under the Imperial Crowne of great
Britaine by vertue of Letters Patent, under the great Seale
of England doe grant unto Francis Daniel Pastorius Civil-
ian, Jacob Tellner, merchant, Dirk Isaacs Opte Graef
Linnenmaker, Herman Isaacs opte Graef, Tennis Coen-
derts, Abraham Isaacs opte Graef, Jacob Isaacs, Johannes
Cassels, Heyvart Papen, Herman Bon, Dirck van Kolck,
all of Germantovvn, yeomen, that they shall bee one Body
Politique and Corporate in deed and in name, by the name
of the Bailiffe, Burgesses and Comonalty of Germantown
in the County of Philadelphia, in the Province of Pennsil-
vania, and them by that Name one Body Politique and Cor-
porate in deed and in name for ever I doe for mee, my
heirs and Successors create, make and declaire by these
presents. And that they and their Successors by the name
of the Bailiffe, Burgesses and Comonalty of Germantown
bee and at all times hereafter shall bee persons able and
capable in Law with a joynd Stocke to trade, and with the
same or any part thereoff to have, take, purchase, possesse
and enjoy mannors, messuages, lands, tenements, and
Rents of the yearly value of fifteen hundred pounds p. Ann.
liberties, Priviledges, jurisdictions, franchises and heredi-
taments of what kinde. Nature or Qualitie to them and
their Successors, and assigns ; and also to give, grant, de-
mise, aliene, assigne and dispose of the same. And that
they and their Successors, by the name of the Bailiffe,
Burgesses and Comonalty of Germantown shall and may
bee persons able and capable in Law to plead and bee im-
pleaded, answer and bee answered, defend and bee de-
fended in whatsoever Courts and places, and before what-

The Charter. 261

soever Judges and Justices, Officers and Ministers of mee,
my heirs and Successors in all and Singular Pleas, actions,
Suits, Causes, Quarrels and demands whatsoever, and of
what kinde. Nature or Sort soever. And that it shall and
may bee lawfull to and for the said Corporation and their
Successors to have and use a Common Scale for any Busi-
ness of or concerning the said Corporation and the same
from time to time at their will to change or alter. And for
the better government of the said Corporation I doe further
grant to the said Corporation that there shall bee from
henceforth one of the said Corporation to bee elected and
to bee Bailiffe of the said Corporation, and four other of
the said Corporation to bee elected and to bee chosen Bur-
gesses of the said Corporation, and that there shall bee from
henceforth six persons members of the said Corpor" elected
and bee Committeemen of the said Corporation, which said
Bailiffe, Burgesses and Committeemen shall bee called the
Generall Court of the Corporation of Germantown. And
that they or any three or more of them, whereof the Bailiffe
with two, or in his absence any three of the Burgesses, to
bee always Some, shall bee and are hereby authorized,
according to such rules, orders and directions as shall from
time to time bee made and given unto them by the Generall
Court of the said Corporation (and for want of such
rules orders and directions (when desired) as they them-
selves shall thinke meete) shall manege, govern and direct
all the affaires and business of the said Corporation and
all their Servants and Ministers whatsoever and generally
to act and doe in all other matters and things whatsoever
so as they shall judge necessary and expedient for the well
governing and Government of the said Corporation, and
the Improvement of their Lands, tenements and other estate,
joynt Stock and trade ; and to doe enjoy, performe and

^3 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

execute all the powers, authorities, priviledges, acts and
things in like manner to all Intents and purposes as if the
same ware done at and by a Generall Court of the said
Corporation.

And I doe by these presents assigne, nominate, declare
and make the said Francis Daniell Pastorius of Germantown
Civilian to bee the first and present Bailiffe, and the afore-
said Jacob Tellner, Dirck Isaacs opte Graef Herman
Isaacs opte Graef and Tennis Coenderts to bee the first
present Burgesses, and the aforesaid Abraham Isaacs opte
Graef, Jacob Isaacs, Johannes Cassels, Heyvart Papen,
Herman Bon and Dirck van Kolck the first and present
Committeemen of the said Corporation ; the said Bailiffe
& Burgesses & Committeemen to continue in their respec-
tive offices and places untill the first day of December next,
ensuing the date hereof, and from thence untill there bee a
new choyse of other Persons duely to succeed them, ac-
cording as it is hereinafter directed ; unless they or any of
them shall happen to dye or bee removed by order to bee
made by a Generall Court of the said Corporation before
the expiration of that time ; and in case any of them shall
happen to dye or bee removed before the said first day of
December, it shall and may bee lawfull to and for the per-
sons assembled at any Generall Court of the said Corpor-
ation whereoff the Bailiffe if present with two, or in his ab-
sence three of the Burgesses to bee Some to make choyse of
any other fit person beeing a member of the said Corpora-
tion in the place of such person so deceased or removed,
which person so to bee chosen shall continue in the said
Place and office during the Residue of the said time. And
I doe further for mee, my heirs and Successors give and
grant to the said Bailiffe, Burgesses and Committeemen of
Germantown and their Successors, that it shall and may

The Charter. 263

bee lawfull to and for the said Bailiffe, Burgesses and
Committeemen at and upon the said first day of December
in every year successively for ever hereafter (unless the
said first day of December happen to fall on the first day
of the weeke, and then at and upon the next day follow-
ing)— to assemble and meet together in some convenient
place to bee appointed by the Bailiffe, or in his absence by
any three of the Burgesses of the said Corporation for the
time being, which assembly and meeting of the said Cor-
poration at such time and place as aforesaid shall bee and
shall bee called a Generall Court of the Corporation of
Germantown, and that they being so assembled, it shall
and may bee lawfull to and for the major part of them
which shall bee then present, not being less than seaven in
number, whereof the Bailiffe and two of the Burgesses, or
in absence of the Bailiffe three of the Burgesses for the
beincr to bee some, to elect and nominate one Bailiffe, four
Burgesses and Six Committeemen for the purposes afore-
said, and also such other officers as they shall think neces-
sary for the more due Government of the said Corporation
out of the members of the said Corporation, which are to
continue in their respective offices and places for the ensu-
ing year, unless within that time they shall happen to dye
or bee removed for some reasonable Cause as aforesaid,
and upon the death or Removall of the Bailiffe, any Bur-
gesse, or any of the six Committeemen, or any other officer
at any time within the year, and before the said first day
of December, it shall and may bee lawfull to and for the
generality of them the said Bailiffe, Burgesses and Com-
mitteemen for the time being, or the major part of them
present at any Generall Court of the same Corporation to
bee for that purpose assembled, whereof the Bailiffe and
two of the Burgesses, or in the absence of the Bailiffe three

264 The Settlement of Ger^nantown.

of the Burgesses for the time being, to bee always some, to
elect and nominate a Bailiffe, Burgess or Burgesses, Com-
mitteeman or Committeemen as there shall bee occasion in
the place and room of such person or persons respectively
as shall so happen to dye or bee removed.

And likew^ise that it shall and may bee lawfull to and for
the Bailiffe and two of the Burgesses, or in the absence of
the Bailiffe three of the Burgesses of the said Corporation,
for the time being from time to time so often as they shall
find cause, to sumon a generall Court of the said Cor-
poration of Germantown, and that no assembly or meeting
of the said Corporation shall bee deemed and accounted a
generall Court of the said Corporation unless the Bailiffe
and two of the Burgesses, or in absence of the Bailiffe,
three of the Burgesses and four of the Committeemen at
least bee present.

And I doe for mee my heirs and Successors give and
grant unto the said Corporation of Germantown and their
Successors full and free libert}^ power and authority from
time to time at any of their generall Courts to admitt such
and so many persons into their Corporation and Society,
and to increase, contract or divide their joynt Stoke, or any
part thereof, when so often and in such proportions and
manner as they or the greatest part of them then present
(whereof the Bailiffe and two of the Burgesses or in his
absence three of the Burgesses for the time being to bee
always some) shall think fitt. And also that the said
Bailiffe, Burgesses and Committeemen for the time being
from time to time at their said generall Courts shall have
power to make, and they may make, ordaine, constitute
and establish such and so many good and reasonable Laws,
Ordinances and Constitutions as to the greatest part of them
at such generall Court and Courts assembled, whereof the

The Charter. 265

Bailiffe and two of the Burgesses, or in absence of the
BaiHffe three of the Burgesses for the time being, to bee
allways some, shall seem necessary and convenient for the
good Government of the said Corporation and their affairs ;
and the same Laws, Orders Ordinances and Constitutions
so made to bee put in use and execution accordingly, and
at their pleasur to revoke, alter and make anew, as Occa-
sion shall require. And also to impose and set such mulcts
and amerciaments upon the breakers of such Laws and
Ordinances as to them or the greater part of them so as-
sembled (whereof the Bailiffe and two of the Burgesses,
or in absence of the Bailiffe three of the Burgesses to
bee always some) in their discretions shall bee thought
reasonable ; which said Laws and Ordinances shall bee
put in execution by such officers of the said Corporation,
for the time being, as shall bee by the said Court appointed
for that purpose, or in default of such appointment by the
Bailiffe and two of the Burgesses, or in absence of the
Bailiffe by three of the Burgesses for the time beeing to
bee chosen ; and the said mulcts and amerciaments so
imposed and set upon the breakers of the same Laws and
Ordinances as aforesaid shall from time to time bee
levied and receaved by such the officers and servants of
the said Corporation (in that behalf to bee appointed in
manner as aforesaid) to and for the use of the said Cor-
poration and their Successors by distress or otherwise in
such manner as the said generall Court shall direct and
appoint not contrary to Law, without the Impediment of
mee, my heirs and successors, or of any the officers and
ministers of mee, my heirs and Successors, and without any
account to bee made, rendred or given to mee, my heirs
and Successors for the same or any part thereof; or else
that the said mulcts and amerciaments or any part thereof

266 The Settlement of Germantown.

may upon the offenders submission or Conformity bee re-
mitted, pardoned or released by the said generall Court of
the said Corporation at their will and pleasur. And that
the Bailiffe and two eldest Burgesses for the time being
shall bee Justices of the Peace, and shall have full power
and authority to act as Justices of the Peace within the
said Corporation and to doe all act and acts, thing and
things whatsoever, which any other Justice or Justices of
the Peace can or may doe within my said Province. And
further, I doe hereby grant to the said Bailiffe, Burgesses
and Comonalty of Germantown, that they and their Suc-
cessors shall and may have, hold and keep before the
Bailiffe and three of the eldest Burgesses of the said Cor-
poration and the Recorder for the time being of the said
Corporation one Court of Record to bee held every six
weeks in the year yearly, for such time as they shall think
fitt for the hearing or determining of all Civil causes,
matters and things whatsoever (arising or happening be-
twixt the Inhabitants of the said Corporation) according to
the Laws of the said Province and of the Kingdome of
England, reserving the liberty of Appeall according to the
same. And also to have, hold and keep one publick
market every sixth day in the week in such convenient
place and manner as the Provinciall Charter doeth direct.
And further to doe and act any other matter or thing what-
soever for the good government of the said Corporation
and the members thereof, and for the maneging and order-
ing of the estate, Stoke and affairs of the said Corporation
as they shall at any time or times thinke or judge expedi-
ent or necessary, and as any other Corporation within my
said Province shall may or can doe by Law not being in-
consistent to the Laws of England or of my said Province.
Hereby giving and granting that this my present Charter

THE SETTLEHE/NT OF GERHA/NTOWM.

- /./. .^..: -;__

TITLE OF THE CERHANTOWN LAW5 AND ORDINANCES,
m THE HAMD OF FRAMCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS.

The Laws. 267

or Grant shall in all Courts of Law and Equity bee con-
strued and taken most favorably and beneficially for the
Grantees and the said Corporation. Given under my
hand and the lesser Scale of the said Province at London
this twelfth day of the month called August in the year of
our Lord 1689.

Wm. Penn.

Upon the back of the charter Wm. Penn wrote with his
own hand 12th of 6 mo. Aug. 89. *' Lett this pass the
great Scale

" Wm. Penn.

" To Tho. Loyd keeper thereof in Pennsilvania."

Past under the great Scale of the Province of Pennsil-
vania on the thirtieth day of the third month 1691.
Recorded the thirtieth day of the third month 1691.

per Da. Lloyd, Deputy.**"

Laws, Ordinances and Statutes of the Community

AT Germantown, Made and Ratified from

Time to Time in the General

Court at that Place.

It is evident, as well from the valuable testimony of
Holy Scripture, as from the firm foundation of reason, and
daily experience, that the conditions, established by God
above, bring to the evil doer punishment and terror, not
less praise and reward to the pious.

Moreover it is everywhere recognized that magistrates
without eternal laws and reasonable civil ordinances (as
long as human weakness and frailty last) often do not
clearly see their duty in the punishment of crime, and the

'♦" The Charter is here printed as to language, orthography and punctua-
tion as written by Pastorius.

268 The Settlement of Germantown.

reward of good works, but may easily become tyrannical
and arbitrary. Accordingly now William Penn, Pro-
prietor and Governor of Pennsilvania, with power held
from the King in England, to the Bailiffe and Burgesses
of the community at Germantown, by means of a special
charter or grant of franchise of the date 6 mo. 12th 1689
among other things, has graciously permitted and decreed
that they may from time to time in their General Court
make and establish as many good and reasonable laws, or-
dinances and statutes as for the salutary government of
this community and its affairs may be necessary and ad-
vantageous, and may accordingly bring such into effect
and perfect them, and also may, when changing circum-
stances make it necessary, alter their laws, or withdraw
them, and establish new ones.

Wherefore, we, the present first Bailiff and Burgesses
of the place, do hereby in friendly manner inform each
and every citizen, inhabitant and tenant under German-
town jurisdiction that, we, according to the demand of our
State, still young, and established only a few years ago,
and of its well being, by virtue of the powers given to us
in the above mentioned charter, and by the authority of
the King, and in the name of William Penn, have in sev-
eral General Courts (held the 6th, 15th, and 22nd of the
6th month) drawn up the following laws and ordinances,
and also unanimously determined that they shall be pub-
lished and made known to the community by public read-
ing, in order that all may live manfully according to them
from this time forth and no one may plead ignorance as an
excuse for his disobedience.

And as we now earnestly wish and desire that, towards
those who henceforth shall serve in the Magistrate's office
here, all citizens and subjects under our jurisdiction may,

The Laws. 269

with just zeal and conscientious obedience, submit to and
support such laws and statutes, so long as they are not
changed or withdrawn ; so we must also warn earnestly,
ex officio, the offenders and obstinate delinquents, and also
address them separately in the words of the Holy Apostle :
♦* If thou doest that which is evil, be afraid, for he (the
ruler) beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister
of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth
evil."

Most especially and before all else all the citizens in-
habitants and under tenants under Germantown jurisdiction
or those who are settled and live here, recognizing with
thankful hearts the special providence of the Almighty, as
well as the gracious kindness of our King and Governor, (by
virtue of which every one may without the least constraint
or oppression, serve God unrestrainedly according to the
best of his knowledge and conscience, and may worship him
more freely than is possible in most other lands at this time)
shall keep themselves from all sin and evil, by which the
great God of Heaven and earth is displeased and angered,
such as these : cursing and swearing by his Holy name,
blasphemy against his divine majesty, unchaste babbling
talk, which is not befitting for Christians, the dice, cards
and other plays, lying, false witness, slander, libelling, in-
surrection, fighting, duelling, murder, incendiarism, re-
vihng, scolding, especially against parents, magistrates,
masters and women, stealing, robbery, fornication, adul-
tery, blood or Sodomitical crime, drunkenness, forgery
of a manuscript, or seal, debasement of coin, or false rep-
resentation of boundary lines, etc., against which and other
crimes special provision has already been made in the laws
of this land by fines and corporal punishment ; whence as
well in this case as in regard to the other ordinances con-

270 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

tained therein, each and every one is to be informed. And
by no means shall any one be pardoned by the excuse that
he does not understand the English language and so did
not know of such a law, nor by any other kind of pretext
or excuse.

Further, the four immediately following fundamental
articles, which the founders of this township of German-
town at first unanimously ratified for the greater and more
rapid growth of this place shall at all times be inviolably
kept, namely :

1. That as well in Germantown as in the villages there-
unto belonging, all the properties shall be taken up in reg-
ular order and succession, without any exception, both
upon the east and west, from beginning to end. But in
case both sides are alike, then he who wishes to take up a
property must draw lots with the others who have received
land in the village, unless they freely grant and offer him
the choice.

2. That when a number of them wish to settle at the
same time and to take up land together, they shall draw
lots, unless it be that they of themselves give the choice to
one or more among them.

3. That since Germantown is laid out like a town and
every whole property contains four acres, every half prop-
erty two acres, no inhabitant here shall be entitled to build
his dwelling except upon the aforesaid four or two acres
respectively, without obtaining first the consent of the com-
munity and then that of the General Court. Vid. Num. 52.

4. That, when upon any one's private property, water
shall be found suitable for the erection of mills of any
kind, the community shall have full right to build such
mills, but that for such they must be willing to satisfy the
owner of the land according to the decision of impartial

The Lazus. 271

persons. But in case the owner himself should build a
mill within a year on such a place, it shall not be taken
from him.

Finally the other laws and statutes following shall be
valid and remain until the magistrates of this town in the
General Court, after finding out further good, shall either
change these or abolish and annul them altogether.
Namely :

5. No one shall build a dwelling on the side land which
he possesses outside of Germantown for the completion of
his fifty or twenty-five acres or establish a household there,
as long as he has no actual family in Germantown, under
fine of twenty-five pounds.

6. Each resident shall keep the long street through the
town or village, in front of his property, cleaned and free
from all brush (knuysten) as well as from weeds and other
trash, at all times. Or if in eight days after the street over-
seer orders him, he has not obeyed, two shillings shall be
imposed.

7. Of the cross streets only two at first, namely the
Schuylkill and Mill Street, shall be opened and fenced off,
and both shall be cleared by compulsory labor, from this
present date on to the end of next October. The other
four, any one who is willing to clear and sow them, may
hold and use for six years after he has taken possession,
provided he leaves ten feet for the public highway.

8. The trees upon the cross and side streets as far as
the boundary lines, are for the community, and no one
may cut down any of them for private use, under penalty
of five pounds fine.

9. The outer cross streets, as long as no division fences
are made, shall be fenced and kept in good condition by
all those whose land extends through them, each one in

272 The Settlement of Germantoivn.

proportion to the amount of his property — also under pen-
alty of five pounds.

10. The posts of the said cross and side fences may
stand a foot and a half into the street until such time as
each lot in that quarter shall be separately fenced off, but
such one and one half foot shall not thereby become the
property of the corner lot, but shall also belong to the
community for the street.

11. If any one wants to have a division fence made, he
shall do it at his own expense, and not demand that his
next neighbor pay his share in it, but in case the latter uses
such a fence also when completed, he shall make good half
of what he enjoys to him who made it.

12. Each and all who wish to keep cattle of any kind,
shall fence in before the end of the next month, Septem-
ber, a special enclosure or yard, so that the cattle cannot
run into the common fields or through the house door or
other doors. Whoever fails to do this must make good all
damage thus occasioned, and also pay three shillings fine.

Vide infra. Num. 12.

13. All fences shall be at least five feet high, and
strictly, on the lowest foot and a half from the ground
there shall be no spaces more than four inches wide ; from
there to the height of four feet no spaces more than six
inches wide, and the top part shall be well guarded with
strong rails. Also it shall be permitted to no one outside
on the street to lay trees and such things against the rail
fence, over which young pigs and other animals could the
more easily climb up and get over. Whenever neglect of
this on the part of any one shall be made known by the
fence inspectors, he shall fix it within twenty four hours,
or upon failure shall be fined six shillings.

Vide infra, Num. 13.

Cattle and Pigs. 273

14. If the fences are completed after the approved
fashion, and yet horses oxen or cows jump over them,
those who suffer damage from it are entitled to demand
satisfaction from the owner of the animals, and further,
if he refuses, to bring it before the sheriff. S.Z. But
if a young pig or a hog come into fenced off property,
and any one on the place makes complaint, and the owner
cannot prove that it came in through a gate or a gap which
was already in the fence, he shall be fined five shillings for
each pig, each time it goes on to the property, of which
three shillings belong and must be paid to the community,
the other two to him who has suffered thereby.

Vide infra. Num. 14.

15. On the other hand, no one is permitted to kill an-
other's pig, which so runs on to his place, but in case he
does, he must pay immediately to the owner the full price
which impartial persons consider it to have been worth.

15 et post

Vide infra, Nu. 48 et. post 51.

16. When anyone is proven to have accidentally let any
kind of cattle into fenced off land, he is bound to make
good all damage that they may have done or caused, and
besides is to be fined one shilling.

17. But whoever voluntarily and purposely lets any cattle
through a gate or otherwise into a field shall be fined ten
shillings.

18. Germantown, and the three village communities
therein included, (Krisheim, Somerhausen and Crefelt)
shall each separately make their paths, roads and bridges,
and keep them continually in good repair.

Vide infra, Num. 19.

18. The common service must be done equally by all

274 "^^^^ Settlement of Germantoivn.

who have families. But whoever has one or more prop-
erties in addition at any time, must do extra service for
each one, when his turn comes.

19. The members of the General Court, together with
the town clerk and messengers, in consideration of the
length of time which they spend in consultation and the
arrangement of the common business and affairs, shall, so
long as they are performing such duties, be excused and
free from the common compulsory labor.

N. B. This law, after repeated opposition and final soli-
citation of the community, has been by the General Court
repealed and abolished.

20. Ever}^ one must plant his trees at least one rod from
the furrow of the neighboring property, or else, on com-
plaint being made, be compelled to take them out again.

21. All must, as far as their neighbors clear and plow

the land, cut down the trees within four rods on their own

ground, (even the community upon the cross and side streets

also) or at least make them so that they may not shade the

neighbouring cultivated land. Whoever fails to do this in

eight days after his neighbor has sent him notice, shall pay

six shillings fine.

Vide Num. 56.

22. It is freely permitted to any one living under this
jurisdiction, in case of pressing need, to travel over his
fellow citizens' cultivated land. Whoever seeks to hinder
or hold him back shall be fined six shillings.

23. The dogs are to be kept chained from the middle of
the third month (May) until the end of the harvest, or else
kept in so that they can do no damage, otherwise the
owners of the dog must make entirely good all damage,
and besides pay a line of six shillings.

Vide Num. 55.

Chickens — Cattle — Burning Brush. 275

24. Chickens shall be free to run about to this extent,
that people may frighten them away, but may not shoot
them or kill them by a blow, or by throwing anything at
them. But whoever, contrary to this, kills anothers' hen,
must not only pay the owners for the same, but also for
each so killed hen, must pay one shilling fine. S. 2 : —
Ducks however it is hereby strictly prohibited to keep, to-
gether with other injurious things. This on payment of
the damage done, and fine of six pence for any one that
has done any damage.

25. Oxen and cows which are over three years old, and
run with the others in the brush, must have the tips of
their horns cut off, so that they may not injure the others
by hooking them. Whoever neglects this until the end of
next September, must, together with the damage that his
cattle in such condition have done, pay eleven shillings for
each one whose horns are not cut.

26. Whatever resident of our township of Germantown
shall, within the same, shoot or otherwise kill a wolf, and
bring its head to one of the justices, shall receive six shill-
ings for every one.

27. At the time when the laws of this land permit the
brush to be burned, all inhabitants in Germantown, as well
as in the village communities thereunto belonging, shall
be required to announce to the neighbors of their quarters
twenty four hours beforehand, from house to house, on what
day and at what time of day, they wish to burn on their
places, but without this neighborly warning they may not
make a fire. Otherwise they must make good any dam-
age caused by such burning, out of the proper time. Fur-
thermore, all who own, or inhabit side lands, shall yearly
put such under fire.

N. B. This law was thus amended ist mo. 17, 1696.

2^6 The Settlement of Ger^nantown.

28. If any one finds anything, he shall, through the town
clerk, have a notice of the same publicly made (and he
must have three pence for his trouble) ; but if this is not
done the finder shall be severely punished.

29. Poor and old people, under our jurisdiction, who
cannot longer support themselves by the labor of their
hands, and indigent widows and orphans may make them-
selves known to the General Court, by which they shall be
helped as far as possible.

30. Bills of sale and lease, as well as all contracts re-
lating to land and other immovable property (except for
rent for a year or less), which are made within the juris-
diction of Germantown, shall not be valid until they have
been acknowledged and delivered in the open Court of

record.

Vide infra, Num. 31.

N. B. The foregoing thirty laws and ordinances were
read to the community and published, 6th mo. (Au-
gust) 28, 1691.

32. Each and every one who shall hereafter wish to
buy or rent land in the township of Germantown, or to set-
tle within it, shall first procure from the General Court of
his fellow citizens the right or privilege of living here, and
without such permission no one shall participate in our
privileges.

33. In order the better to avoid all possibility of fire,
every one is hereby strictly forbidden to carry fire through
the streets, or even from his next door neighbor's house to his
own, unless it is in a covered pot or kettle. If any one comes
to get fire without such pot or kettle he must be refused.
If he, however, does this nevertheless, and damage is
thereby incurred, the magistrates of this place may hold
him responsible for all damage, but if no harm comes from

Fires. 277

it, and yet complaint is made, the offender shall be fined
six shillings.

34. Similarly, no one may within Germantown or the
village communities thereunto belonging, carry upon the
open streets, or in stables or barns, a lighted candle, short
or long, except in a lantern ; and also upon said streets and
in stables and barns, no one may smoke tobacco, on pain
of repairing all damage, and fine of six shillings, if no
harm be done and yet he be accused.

35. Also no one, in said Germantown jurisdiction, shall
dry flax, or make it ready for breaking, in the house over a
fire, or in a hole in which there is a fire, which is not re-
moved at least five rods from any kind of building. Also
no one is permitted to break or swing flax at the lamp or
candle. All under the same conditions and fine as are
published in both preceding laws.

Vide infra, num. 36.

35. At all times there shall be within Germantown for
every sixth lot, a fire hook twenty five feet long, and also a
ladder twenty five feet high, namely, in all, four fire hooks
and four ladders, and no one shall use these except in case
of fire under penalty of six shillings fine.

36. Two of the six members of the council shall alter-
nately every two months inspect the chimneys and hearths*
and when they find anything wrong, they must notify the
owner of the house of the time within which he must fix
it ; and if the latter fails to do this, he must be fined six
shillings.

Vide num. 36.

37. No one shall take down another's fence or hedge to
pass through, until he has obtained permission from the
owner of the fence, nor take away any rails from another's

278 The Settlemetit of Germantozvn.

fence; or, in case such a complaint is made, the offence
shall be punishable according to the decision of the magis-
trates then serving.

38. Since when blocks or other wood are laid against a
fence, the fence is not only damaged, but also at time of
burning brush, is so much harder to save, no one shall lay
wood of any kind against another's fence on pain of severe
penalty, if accusation is made.

39. When any one cuts down a tree and it falls against
the fence, or if a dead tree of itself strike it, he who cut it
down, or to whom the tree belongs, shall within twenty four
hours take it away from the fence, and set this up as it was
before, or pay whatever penalty the authorities shall pre-
scribe, if accusation is brought against him.

N. B. Of the proceeding nine laws, num. 32 anno 1691,
Novemb. 20th, numbers 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 on
December 15th were made in full General Court, and the
same published by reading them to the community.

40. Those deeds and contracts which, according to the
contents of the 30th law, must be acknowledged and de-
livered in open Court of Record shall be first perfectly
valid when they have been sealed by the Bailiff with the
common town seal, and recorded by the Court clerk ; for
no document or contract of any kind shall or may be written
of record, which has not thus been sealed. And there
shall be paid for the sealing not more than six pence and
for the recording one shilling.

Decretum in Senatu 11 mo. 2, 1691. Promulgated to
the community 4 mo. 14, 1692.

Vide infra, num. 3.

N. B. Anno 1692/3 20th of ist mo. (March) were all
the preceding laws except Num. 19 again read aloud to
the community by order of the General Court.

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Fences — Boundaries. 279

40. The present inhabitants of the village of Krisheim
shall according to their undertaking intention and purpose,
like those in Germantown, fence their fields in together,
but if these or some of them shall prefer to make partition
fences, each neighbor shall prepare to furnish half of this
fence, or else be required to pay for it.

This law was made i mo. 17th, 1696.

41. The 19th day of first month, March, shall be named
for yearly reading aloud the laws and ordinances made
from time to time by the General Court here, to the com-
munity, the members having been previously notified to
come together on this same day.

This was also made ist mo. 17, 1696.

42. On the 20th of said first month every second year, all
of the inhabitants of the township of Germantown, especially
the young people, shall go around the lines of the common
enclosure, and where it is necessary, renew the marks and
signs thereof. (Also made ist mo. 17, 1696.)

The following 43 law is still valid :

43. Each and all who are chosen by the General Court,
for any kind of commission or service, shall be compelled
to enter on such duties and fulfill them faithfully under
penalty of three pounds fine. But the person so chosen
may state truthfully with yea or no, if he for conscience
sake cannot take upon himself such duties, or if he is under
sixteen or over sixty years old, or if the preceding year he
held any commission in the general or open court.

N. B. This law was never repealed and should not be
crossed out. Also was made ist mo. 17, 1696.

44. All racing, as well as all other unnecessary fast
driving in the streets of Germantown, is hereby strictly
prohibited, and whoever disobeys, and thereby causes
damage, shall fully repair it, and also pay ten shill. fine.

28o

The Settlement of Gerfnantowfi.

Extract from the book of laws.

Branding Horses — Pigs. 281

Of this fine, one shilling shall be demanded, even though
no actual loss is incurred by the racing, in case accusation
is made. Also on istmo. 17, 1697.

45. Furthermore, all shooting is likewise prohibited to
old and young on the first day of the week, otherwise
called Sunday, under penalty of twenty shillings fine.

Also ist mo. 17, 1696. Adde infra, num. 46.

47. In order that the benefit of our best and most com-
plete brand of the clover leaf registered in Philadelphia,
may be preserved strictly for the community, all inhabitants
of Germantown who sell their own horses, marked with
said clover leaf, or exchange them or otherwise part with
them to any one who does not belong to our Corporation,
shall before parting Math the horse, burn upon him in ad-
dition to such clover leaf, with the stamp prepared for the
purpose, the letter G, under penalty of ten shillings fine.
Also all who go away from this jurisdiction on their horses,
shall be compelled to do so with their clover leaf so
marked, under penalty of the now imposed fine of ten
shillings for every animal that is not so branded with the
letter G.

This law was made Decem. 18, 1696, by the General
Court then assembled, and forthwith published by public
reading.

48. No citizen or inhabitant of Germantown after four
weeks from the date here set down, shall let any kind of
swine or young pigs run in either the fields or streets under
penalty of losing all such swine or young pigs that run loose
which, after said four weeks, shall by certain persons
thereunto appointed, be put up for sale, from which one-
fourth part shall go to him who has taken them up, one-
fourth to the officer who sells them the next day after the
bill of sale has been up, and the other half to the com-

282 The Settlement of Gertnantown.

munity. Yet it is expressly directed that in case a hog or
young pig shall against the owner's will, break out or run
over a field or street, they shall reckon from the first
twenty-four hours after the breaking out, before the above
order goes into effect. Also if any swine or young pigs,
which belong to some one living outside of Germantown,
shall be found running loose upon said fields or streets,
the owner of the same shall pay for every one, as often as
it is caught, ten pence to persons appointed to receive it.
In the meantime, before the herein mentioned four weeks
are passed, every inhabitant shall have liberty to catch
every hog or young pig which comes into his fields, and
then the owner of the same is bound to pay to him who
has them, two shillings each, or, if he refuse, the finder
may bring them to the officer and he may put them up for
sale according to a previously posted bill, and may keep
the third part of the ransom money for his trouble.

This law was made 5th mo. 20, 1697, in the General
Court and publicly put up, and the preceding 15th law re-
pealed and withdrawn.

Vide num. 51.

49. It is ordered by the General Court that no one here
in Germantown shall keep an inn without license or per-
mission of the Court, and shall give bond in twenty-five
pounds. So as to keep good order in his house no one
shall entertain transient guests except only the inn-keeper.

In order to avoid drunkenness, no inhabitant or person
within the jurisdiction of Germantown shall be permitted
to sell rum or other strong drink to any Indians, or he shall
be punished according to the circumstances as the Court
shall find good.

Vide seq., num. 50.

50. On the 9th of 6th mo. 1701, the preceding 49th law

Swine. 283

was abolished, and the 46th was again established by the
General Court with this proviso : That no inn-keepers on
the first day called Sunday in God's service, shall hold
gatherings of guests, and besides, throughout the whole
week, no one except travellers shall be found here in an
inn drinking later than nine o'clock at night, on pain of
whatever penalty the court of record shall inflict.

51. On Sept. 17, 1701, the 48th law was repealed, and
the following two made by the General Court and pub-
lished with those following : All swine, except suckling
pigs, which are found after the 21st day of this month in
the fields of Germantown, without a yoke of two feet long,
the officer of the corporation, or in his absence, or if he re-
fuse, some citizen with two of his neighbors as witnesses,
is hereby entitled to catch or kill, and the half of it shall
go to the officer, or in such case as mentioned above, the
citizen who in such case has caught or killed the chased
pig, for his trouble, and the other half shall fall to the
community. For damages, up to the 22nd day of this
month, for swine which are now running in said fields, the
owner of the land upon which the swine are caught or
killed, shall be recompensed according to the decision of

disinterested persons.

Vide num. 55.

51. So also was the following ordered : All citizens here
in Germantown shall have full right to catch and bring to
the officer all horses, cows, calves, and pigs found running
loose upon their enclosed fields, and the officer shall pay
them one shilling for each head, and shall receive beside
from the owner of the cattle so caught two shill. together
with all costs for trouble and fodder. But in case he catch
them himself, he shall have only the two shill. and said costs.
But he who has to pay the officer for his catde, shall re-

284 The Settlement of Germantown.

ceive whatever he pays out in this way, provided his own
fence is good and regular, from those or him whose fences
or fence are not sufficient, besides all lost time and costs
of judgment whatever they come to in the dispute.

Horses which can jump the prescribed fence are to be
kept with a strong halter around the neck or else kept in a
stable.

Num. 12. Each and every property, half property or
smaller place upon which any one dwells here in German-
town, shall have a special yard (werf) fenced in so that the
cattle may not so easily run into the common field. And
such yard fences shall be like the other field fences, strong
and sufficient to keep out cattle ; also this shall be regu-
larly examined by the fence inspector. Whoever neglects
to make this fence or to repair it, must make good all
damage caused thereby, and also when accusation is made
against him, must pay three shillings fine.

This was made in place of the above 12th law, i mo.
17th, 1696.

Num. 13. All fences shall be five feet high, and the
highest part protected with strong rails, and otherwise so
made and contrived as to keep the cattle out of the fields.
Also, no one shall be permitted outside on the street, to
leave trees and such things against the fences, by which
little pigs and other harmful animals might the more easily
climb up and get over. Whereupon any one on being in-
formed of such offence by the fence inspector, shall repair
the same within twenty four hours, or on neglect of the
same shall be fined six shillings.

This was also made i mo. 17th, 1696.

Num. 14. If horses, oxen, cows, etc. come through or
over a fence, and do harm, and the fence inspector of that
quarter recognize that such fence is firm and in good con-

Sivine — Roads. 285

dition, the proprietor or owner of the cattle shall be in-
debted and compelled to repair all damage.

This was also made i mo. 17, 1696.

Number 15. Any one may set a dog upon swine or
young pigs which come upon these streets, but with strict
care not to kill them. But if a hog comes into the fenced
off land, every inhabitant of this quarter is free to catch it
and show it to the owner of the hog, and then the latter
shall be bound to pay for every hog or young pig so caught
which is one year old six shillings, for one a half year old
three shillings, for the good of the community. But if he will
not pay in such manner, he who caught it shall bring it to
the officer, who at the earliest four hours after he has
previously published it shall publicly sell the hog, and give
the money received for it to the rent master, but keep back
for himself six shillings from every pound.

This also was made i mo. 17, 1696.

Vide num. 48.

Num. 19. The road master, as often as common service
is needed to be done, shall the day before call upon as
many persons as he considers necessary for the present
work, and those persons are bound to be upon hand and to
work. Whoever does not come himself or send some capa-
ble person in his stead, shall have to pay six shillings fine
for each day, but if he is so sick that he cannot do his own
work, or if he has a wife in child bed in his house, in this
case he is not compelled to serve. The aforesaid road
master must always keep just and accurate reckoning with
all of those who remain in arrears, and give over the same
annually in the last court of record in the same year.

This was made instead of the preceding i8th on common
service, i mo. 17, 1696.

Num. 31. The foregoing deeds and contracts shall be

286 The Settlement of Germantowji.

sealed by the Bailiff with the common town seal and then
first copied of record, and for the sealing only six pence
shall be paid, but for the recording one shilling.

This was made in place of the 40th, i mo. 17, 1696.

Number 36. The general court shall yearly appoint two

men of the community who every two months shall inspect

the chimneys and fire places, and where they find them

imperfect they shall give a certain time to the man living

in the house to remedy it, and if the latter neglects doing

it, he shall be fined six shillings.

Also made i mo. 17? 1696.

Vide Num. 55.

Num. 46. To prevent drunkenness no citizen or under-
tenant under Germantown jurisdiction shall sell to any
Indians rum or other strong drink, also inn keepers are
hereby forbidden to tap more than each half day one
quart of beer or a gill of rum for each Indian man or
woman, on pain of whatever punishment the court shall
find good, according to the magnitude of the offence.

This law also was made in the General Court i mo. 17,
1696.

Num. 52. To the foregoing 3rd ordinance was added on
the 12 mo. 26, 1 701-2 by the General Court : — And any one
who already has his dwelling upon said four or two acres
may not himself or have any one else build a dwelling or
stable upon land lying back of it.

Num. 53. On the aforesaid 26 day of 12 month 1701-2
was substituted by the general court in the 51 ordinance,
fifteen inches instead of two feet.

Num. 54. On the same 26 day of 12 mo. 1701-2 the fol-
lowing law was made : — Behind each and every property
in Germantown the fences shall stand away forty feet from
the line, so that the cattle may pass through. But so long

Officers. 287

as the neighboring property does not reach the said back
fence, every man in Germantown is free to fence in and
use the land up to the line.

55. Also on the 26th day of 12 mo. 1 701-2 by the Gen-
eral Court, the 23d law about the dogs, the 36th about the
chimney inspector, and the last part of the 51st law about
the swine, were repealed.

56. On the nth of 3 mo. 1703 in the General Court,
there was substituted in the 21st law two rods for the four
rods.

Those who held the town offices during the period of its
corporate existence, so far as they have been ascertained,
were as follows :

1691. Bailiff: F. D. Pastorius. Burgesses: Jacob Tel -
ner, Dirck Op den Graeff, Hermann Op den Graeff. Re-
corder : Jacob Isaacs van Bebber. Clerk : Paul Wulf .
Sheriff: Andreas Souplis. Constable, Jan Lucken.

1692. Bailiff: F. D. Pastorius. Burgesses: Reynier
Tyson, Abraham Op den Graeff, Van Bebber. Recorder :
Arnold Cassel. Clerk: Paul Wulf. Sheriff: David
Scherkges. Constable : Peter Keurlis.

1693. Bailiff: Dirck Op den Graeff. Burgesses: R.
Tyson, J. Lucken, Peter Schumacher jun. Recorder:
Arnold Cassel. Clerk : F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff : Jacob
Schumacher. Constable : P. Keurlis.

1694. Bailiff: Dirck Op den Graeff. Burgesses: R.
Tyson, Peter Schumacher jun., Abraham Tunes. Re-
corder: Albert Brand, later, A. Cassel. Clerk: F. D.
Pastorius. Sheriff: Jan Lucken. Constable : P. Keurlis.

1695. Bailiff: A. Cassel. Burgesses: Arent Klincken,
Jan Doeden, Peter Schumacher jun. Recorder : Heivert
Papen. Clerk : F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff : Jan Lucken,

288 The Settlement of Germantotvn.

after May 7 Isaac Schumacher. Constable : Jan Silans
and Johann Kuster.

1696. Bailiff: F. D. Pastorius. Burgesses: Peter
Schumacher jun., Reynier Tyson, Lenart Arets. Recorder:
Thones Kunders. Clerk : Anton Loof. Sheriff : Isaac
Schumacher. Constable : Andreas Kramer und Joh.
Kuster.

1 701. Bailiff: Daniel Falckner. Burgesses: Cornells
Sivert, Justus Falckner, Thones Kunders. Recorder:
Johannes Jawert. Clerk : F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff : Jonas
Potts.

1702. Bailiff : Arent Klincken. Burgesses : Paul Wulff,
Peter Schumacher, Wilh. Strepers. Recorder : Joh. Con-
rad Cotweis. Clerk: F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff : Jonas
Potts.

1703. Bailiff: James Delaplaine. Burgesses: Thones
Kunders, Daniel Falckner, J. C. Cotweis. Recorder:
Richard van de Werff. Clerk : F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff:
Thorn. Potts, jun. Constable : Walter Simens.

1704. Bailiff : Arent Klincken. Burgesses : Hans Hein-
rich Mehls, Peter Schumacher, jun., Anton Gerkes. Re-
corder : Simon Andrews. Clerk : F. D. Pastorius. Con-
stable, Wilhelm de Wees.

1706. Bailiff : James Delaplaine. Burgesses : Thones
Kunders, Lenart Arets, Isaac Schumacher. Recorder:
Caspar Hood. Clerk: F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff: Wil-
helm de Wees. Constables : Cornelius de Wees, Simon
Andrews und Joh. Kuster.

1707. Bailiff: Thomas Rutter. Burgesses: Joh. Kus-
ter, Wilh. Strepers, Peter Schumacher. Recorder: Cas-
par Hood. Clerk: F. D. Pastorius. Sheriff: Jonas
Potts."'

"' Seidensticker.

CHAPTER XIII,

The Significance of the Settlement.

(^r'HERE are many fea-
^y) tures about the settle-
ment of Germantown,
which make it an event not
only of local but of national
and cosmopolitan impor-
tance. Regarded from the
point of view of the intro-
duction into America of the
results of European learn-
ing and cultivation, it is
believed that no other set-
tlement on this side of the Atlantic, certainly neither
Jamestown, Plymouth nor Philadelphia, had so large a
proportion of men who had won distinction abroad in lit-
erature and polemics. And it must be remembered that the
intellectual thought of that age was mainly absorbed in re-
ligious controversy. Those in the advance of theological
inquir}' upon the continent of Europe, who had begun to
forecast the condition of things we now enjoy, and who
were thus brought into hopeless conflict with the concen-

290 The Settlement of Ger7nantozvn,

trated forces of church and government, looked to Penn-
sylvania, not only as a haven, but as the only place in the
world, with the possible exception of Holland, where their
views might have an opportunity to bear fruitage. Of
those interested in the settlement as purchasers Schutz,
Ueberfeld, Eleanora von Merlau, Petersen, Kemler, Zim-
mermann and Furly, and of the actual settlers Plockhoy,
Pastorius, Bom, Thomas Rutter, Telner, Koster, Kelpius,
Daniel Falckner and Justus Falckner, all wrote books and
produced literary labors some of them of magnitude and
importance

In Germantown were begun the weaving of linen and
cloth, and the manufacture of paper. The great carpet
and other woolen industries of the state and the publishing
houses and newspapers of the country may alike look back
to the clover leaf of this ancient burgh with its motto :
*' Vinum Linum et Textrinum," with something of the
same feeling that inspired the crusader of the middle ages
when he gazed upon the cross. At Germantown began
the inflow into America of that potent race which under
the great Hermann in the battle in the Teutoberger wald
overthrew the power of Rome, which in the sixth century
conquered and colonized England and now supplies her
kings, which in the sixteenth century under the lead of
Luther confronted the Pope, and which has done so much
to enrich, strengthen and liberalize the state of Pennsyl-
vania and to establish those commonwealths in the west
where in the future will rest the control of the nation.

But of more moment than any of these was the lesson
taught to mankind by the settlement. The linen weavers
of Germantown, no matter how humble may have been
their station, or how inconspicuous may have been the
events of their lives, were the farthest outcome of the ages.

Calvinists and Anabaptists. 291

and of the future they were the prophets. Set aloft as an
example here were the men who in advance of their fel-
lows, had struck what has become the key-note of Ameri-
can civilization and the hope of futurity for all the races of
the w^orld. When Bullinger, the learned and able ex-
pounder of the views of the Swiss Calvinists, wrote in
1560 his " Origin of the Anabaptists," he said in describ-
ing their heretical beliefs : " But they hold stiffly the oppo-
site and maintain that the government shall not interfere in
questions of religion and belief. It appears to these Bap-
tists to be unreasonable that any sword should be used in
the church except the word of God, and still more unrea-
sonable that a man should submit questions of religion or
belief to the determination of other men, that is, to those
who control the government.'"" He unconsciously, and by
way of condemnation, marked the lines definitely. He
believed that heresy was a sin against God and a crime
against the state and as such to be punished by the law.
The Anabaptists, on the contrary, taught that matters of
faith were between the man and his God with which the
government had nothing to do. The doctrines advocated
by Bullinger, extending later into England, led to the or-
ganization of the Puritans, and to the founding of the
colony of Massachusetts, as a theocracy, where Quakers,
Baptists, Antinomians and other heretics were punished
and expelled. The doctrines of the Anabaptists carried
through Holland to England resulted in the formation of
the sect of Quakers and the founding of Pennsylvania,
where all were welcome and all were permitted to cher-
ish their own creeds. To Germantown as Mennonites
came the Anabaptists themselves. Though in England
even yet the church and state are united, in America the

"2 Widertoufferen Ursprung, Zurich, 1560, p. 165.

292 The Settlement of Germantozvn.

contest has been ended, and the constitutions of all the
states of the union provide for the exercise of liberty
of conscience. When men have once persuaded them-
selves that the Lord has drawn an impassable distinction,
to their advantage, between them and their fellows, the step
towards the assumption of intellectual and physical control
over the less fortunate is easily taken. All peoples have
found their bondsmen among the outside barbarians. It
is not therefore surprising that when the memorial of the
Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slav-
ery, was presented to Congress in 1790, it should meet
with the opposition of Fisher Ames and the support of
Hiester, Muhlenberg and Wynkoop, the Pennsylvania
German contingent then in the House. ^^^

When Plockhoy in 1662 declared that no slavery should
exist in his colony, it was only three years later than the
decree of a Massachusetts court which directed that the
Quakers, Daniel and Provided Southwick, should be sold
in the Barbados,^" and when the Op den Graeffs, Pas-
torius and Hendricks presented their well-reasoned pro-
test in 1688, the other American colonists, as well as
the EngHsh and the Dutch, were busily engaged in mak-
ing their annual profits from the trade in slaves.

The settlement of Germantown then has a higher import
than that new homes were founded and that a new burgh,
destined to fame though it was, was builded on the face of
the earth. It has a wider significance even than that here
was the beginning of that immense immigration of Germans
who have since flocked to these shores. Those burghers
from the Rhine, better far than the Pilgrims who landed
at Plymouth, better even that the Quakers who established

1" Journal of the House, p. 62.

1" Hazard's Historical Collections, Vol. II., p. 563.

Conclusion.

293

a city of brotherly love, stood for that spirit of universal
toleration which found no abiding place save in America.
Their feet were planted directly upon that path which leads
from the darkness of the middle ages down to the light
of the nineteenth century, from the oppressions of the
past, to the freedom of the present. Holding as they did
opinions banned in Europe, and which only the fullness
of time could justify, standing as they did on what was
then the outer picket line of civilization, they best repre-
sented the meaning of the colonization of Pennsylvania,
and the principles lying at the foundation of her institu-
tions and of those of the great nation of which she forms
a part.

INDEX,

Agreement forming Frankfort Land
Company, 32-38

Aldekerk, 148

Alsace, 118

Altona, Communities at, 12

Altdorf, 53, 54

Altheim, 118

Alkmaer, 137

Ames, Fisher, 292

Ames, William, 14, 112, 114

Amiens, 53

Amsterdam, 2, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16,
17, loi, 107, 119, 125, 126, 130,
131, 138, 140, 162, 170, 174, 195,
197, 198, 205, 206, 208, 209, 222

Amsterdam, Coat of Arms of, 144

Anabaptists, 7, 8, 9, 16, 84, 291

Anders, Schwed, 92

Andrews, Simon, 140, 288

Andross, 19

Anhalt, 215

" Anleitung zu griindliclier Ver-
standniss," 27

Antwerp, 10

Antinomians, 291

Appeal, Keith's, 134

Arents, Jacob Classen, 140 \

Arets, Lenart, 3, 4, 17, 18, 19, 63,
159, 288

Arm en town, 19

Armitage, Benjamin, 63

Arnheim, 162

Arnold, Gottfried, 21, 219

Aschaflfenburg, 52

Autographs :

Behagel, Daniel, 22, 41
Falckner, Daniel, 41, 230
Falckner, Justus, 233
Furly, Benjamin, 137

Autographs :

Jawert, Balthasar, 32, 41

Jawert, Johan, 41

Kelpius, Johannes, 41, 223

Kemler, Johannes, 27, 41

Le Brun, Johan, 36, 41

Op den GraeflF, Herman, 150

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 52

Penu, Wm., 3

Hendrick Pannebecker, 122

Petersen, Johan Wilhelm, 24, 41

Schutz, Catharina Elisabetha,4i

Schutz, Johan Jacob, 29

Sellen, Hendrick, 174

Shoemaker, Peter, 118

Sprogell, John Henry, 44

Story, Tho., 14

Van Bebber, Matthias, 255

Van de Wall, Jacob, 22

Von Mastricht, Gerhard, 34, 41

Von Wylich, Tho., 28

Babbitt, 154
Bacher, Conrad, 56
Backersdorf, 133
Baltimore, 97
Baptists, 291
Baptists, Origin of, 12
Baptist Movement, 8

arbados, 105, 112, 292
Barclay, Robert, 9, 12, 16
Barlow, Samuel L. M., 211
Bartlesen, Sebastian, 139
Basle, 53
Battenberg, 8, 9
Baumann, W., 63
Baurin, Frau, 56
Bayreuth, 54

^95

296

Index.

Bebber's Township, 141, 142

Beer, Edward, 142

Bees, 62

Behagel, Daniel, 19, 21, 28, 29, 30,

31. 38
Behagel, Daniel, Coat of Arms of, 22
Behagel, Daniel, Autograph of, 22
Behagel, Jacob, 28
Bellers, Robert, 17S, 194
Berends, Claes, 139, 170
Bergerland, 139
Berkeley, Sir WilHani, 211
Berleburg, 222
Berlin, 220
Bermudas, 105
Berne, 100
Besse's " Suffering of the Quakers,"

114
Bible of Hans Peter Umstat, 128
Bibliographical Incident, 131
Bibles, 170

Bidermann, Ludwig, 215, 217
Bietigheim, 218
Biestkens, Nicolaes, 17
Biork, Rev. Eric, 226, 233
Black wall, 6

Bleikers, Johannes, 4, 5, 18
Bleikers, Peter, 18
Blomerse, Mary, 82
Blooteliugh, A., 130
Blumenberg, 215, 219
Bockenogen, Jan Willemse, 12S
Bodensee, 136

Boehm, Jacob, 212, 216, 218, 219
Bom, Agnes, 129
Bom, Cornelius, 57, 84, 102, 124,

128, 129, 130, 290
Bom, Cornelius, Letter of, 102
Bon, Hermann, 131, 151, 254, 260, 262
Bowman, Wynant, 176
Bowman, Ann, 176
Bowyer, Thomas, 66
Bradford, Andrew, 174

Bradford's History of Plymouth,

235, 253, 257
Bradford, William, 64, 134, 138, 152,

154, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168,

170, 221, 233
Brandenburg, 89
Brandt, Albertus, 126, 256, 287
Bremen, 219
Brick Kiln, 42

Brook Farm Experiment, 177
Brown, Henry Armitt, 128
Brown, Peter, 158
Brugge, 10
Buckhold, 9

Buckholz, Heinrich, 128
Buckholz, Mary, 128
Budd, Thomas, 152, 154
Bullinger, 291
Bun, Peter, 139

Burgomasters of Amsterdam, 209
Burlington, 134, 147, 152, 157, 220

Calvin, 9

Calvinistic Church, 84, 114

Calvinists, 291

Carpenter, Samuel, 125, 154, 165,

166, 167
Carr, Sir Robert, 210
Casdorp, Herman, 169
Casper, Thomas, 56
Cassel, Abraham H., 120, 122
Cassel, Arnold, 45, 287
Cassels, Johannes, 260, 262
Catholic Clergy, 114
Caton, William, 14, 114
Catrou, 8, 10
Cavaliers, 52
Cave of Pastorius, 19
Caves in Philadelphia, 57
Chalkley, Thomas, 14
Charlotta Sophia, Duchess, 222
Charter of German town, 254,260-267
Chestnuts, 87

Index.

297

Church, Mennonite, 168, 169, 170
Claasseu, Cornelia, 174
Claesseu, Cornelius, 139, 176
Clark, Thomas, 49, 78
Clans, Jacob, 16

Claypoole, James, 5, 6, 18, 92, 124
Cleves, 6, 79, 168 »

Coats of Arms of :

Amsterdam, 144

Behagel, Daniel, 22

Crefeld, i

Frankfort, 21

Holy Roman Empire, 143

Jaquet Family of Niiremburg,
89

Jawert, Balthasar, 32

Kemler, Johannes, 27

Le Brun, Johan, 36

London, 50

Miilheim, 162

Netherlands, 20

Palatinate, iii

Pas tori us, Francis Daniel, 51

Penn, William, 81

Pennypacker Family, Preface,

Rotterdam, 254

Van de Walle, Jacobus, 22

Von Rlastricht, Gerhard, 34

Von Wylich, Thomas, 28
Coenderts, Tennis, 260, 262
Collegia Pietatis, 21
Cologne, 56

Colonization of Germantown, 3
Comet of 16S0, 128
Commerce, 105
Communal Plans of Plockhoy, 177,

183-194
Concord, The Ship, 5, 6
Conrad, Civilia, 176
Conrad, Dr. J. H., 4
Conrad, Gertrude, 176
Conrad, Johannes, 176
Conrad, Peter, 176

Conveyance of Land to Crefelders,

2. 3
Cook, Hannah, 136
Cooke, Arthur, 154
Cortrijk, 10

Cotweis, Johan Conrad, 140, 288
Coulson, Joseph, 44, 63, 159
Court at Germantown, 157, 256, 257,

258
Coxe, Thomas, 3
Craske, Seth, 3
Crefeld, 1-6, 16, 17, 50, 56, 82, 91, 119,

124, 125, 128, 129, 130, 133, 136, 139,

140, 141, 148, 149, 168, 169, 226
Crefeld, Coat of Arms of, i
Cresson, Susanna, 136
Cresson, Walter, 136
Crisheim, 124
Crisp, Stephen, T14, 116
Croese, Gerhard, 15, 118, 212
Croese's History, 113, 115, 117
Cromwell, 178, 211
Culpepper, 59

Dalem, 129

Davis, William, 66

Deal, 57, 82, 215

Deed of Gift of Catherine Schutz, 42

Deichman, Heinrich Johannes, 226,

231
De la Plaine, Elizabeth, 134
De la Plaine, Jacob, 140
De la Plaine, James, 63, 136, 141,

15S, 159, 2S8
De la Plaine, Nicolas, 136
De la Plaine, Susanna, 136
Delavall, John, 125
Delavs^are Bay, 84, 87
De Leoui, Jean, 170
Delft, 8
'* De Muudi Vanitate " of Pastorius,

60
Denmark, 56

298

Index.

Denndorf, 215

Desmond, Daniel, 142

Detmold, 219, 231

Deventer, 11

De Voss, Jan, 139, 174

Dewees, Adrian Hendricks, 119

Dewees, Cornelius, 63, 142, 159, 2S8

Dewees, Gerhard Hendricks, 119

Dewees, William, 63, 142, 2S8

Dewees, Zytien, 119

De Wilderness, Jan, 63

Dew, John and S., 133

Dietz, Magdalena, 53

Dietz, Stephen, 53

Dilbeck, Abraham, 56

Dilbeck, laaac, 6, 56, 82, 83, 91

Dilbeck, Jacob, 56

Dilbeck, Marieke, 56

Dimicum, 85

Dissentions Among the Quakers,

134, 151, 152-157
Doeden, Jan, 63, 131, 210, 287
Dokkum, 15

Doopsgezinde or Taufgesinnte, 9
Dordrecht Confession of Faith, 149
Dordrecht, Council at, 17, 124, 148
Dors, Hermann, 140, 160
Dotterer, Henry S., 28, 82
Dotzen, 56
Drachten, 15
Dubois, Solomon, 142
Duisburg, 28, 42
Dungwoody, Richard, 152
Dunkerk, 76
Duplouvys, Jan, 130

Early Medical Diploma, 224
Eden, Sir Frederic Morton, 195
Ejectment of Frankfort Land Com-
pany, 45, 46, 75
Engle, Paul, 63, 137, 256
English Church, 84
Epitaph of Dr. GriflBith Owen, 64

Ephrata, 218
Erfurt, 52, 53
Evansburg, 141, 161
Ewer, Robert, 154
Exemplum sine Exemplo, 74
Extract from the Book of Laws of
Germantown, 280

Fabricius, Dr. Johannes, 223, 226

Fairman, Thomas, 19, 123

Fairs, 136

Falckner, Christian, 230

Falckner, Daniel, 38, 42-48, 74-78,

137. 139- 158, 212, 215, 216, 227,

230, 231, 244, 247, 257, 288, 290
Falckner, Daniel, Autograph of, 41,

230
Falckner, Justus, 137, 139, 233, 288,

290
Falckner, Justus, Autograph of, 233
Falckner's Swamp, 231
Fare on Ship-board, 83, 84
Farmers, Condition of, loi
Fenda, Notary Christian, 56
Fendern, 131

Ferdinand of Curland, Duke, 222
Fickard, 'Squire, 54
First book written in German in

America, 221
Fisher, Margaretha, 53
Flanders, 7, 8, 187
Flinsberger, Brigitta, 52
Flinsberger, Christian, 52
Flomborn, 120, 122
Fourier, Charles, 177, 184
Fox, George, 12, 112
Frame, Richard, 149, 163, 255
Frame, Richard, poem of, 164
Franciscus, 53
Franckenland, 94
Frankfort, 5, 6, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27,

28, 29, 38, 43, 47, 50, 52, 54, 56, 88,

116, 152

Index.

J99

Frankfort, Coat of Arms of, 21

Frankfort Land Company, 3, 21, 44,
48, 74-79. 227, 230

Frankfort Ivand Company, Forma-
tion of, 31

Frankfort Land Company, Eject-
ment of, 45, 46

Frankfort Land Company, Pastor-
ius Connection with, 62

Frankfurt on the Oder, 220

Frederickstadt, 42

Frey, Heinrich, 19, 118

Fried, Paul, 142

Friends, 47, 63

Friends, Dissensions among the,

151, 152-157
Friends, Relations with Mennonites,

14, 15, 16
Friesland, 9, 137
Frischman, Henrich, 53
Fulda, 52
Funk, 9, 17
Furly, Benjamin, 2, 5, 6, 45, 47, 56,

76, 77, 93. 94, 137, 142, 214, 252,

290
Furly, Benjamin, Autograph of, 137

Gasper, Thomas, 83

Gaukes, Ydse, 11

Geissler, Daniel, 136, 138, 227, 256

Genealogy, The Earliest, 174

Geneva, 53

Gerber, Maria Elizabetha, 226

Gerckes, Anthony, 140, 28S

Gering, Daniel, 53

Germanopolis, 57, 124

Germantown as a Borough and its

Book of Laws, 254
Germantown Charter, 260-266
Germantown Colonial Doorway, A,

253
Germantown, Condition of Land of,
86, 87, 88, 124

Germantown, Court at, 45, 157, 257,

258
Germantown, Fire in, 129
Germantown, Founders of, 4, 6, 95
Germantown, Grund und Lager-

Buch, 57
Germantown, Laws of, 259, 267-287
Germantown, Naming, of 95
Germantown, Population of, 88, 140
Germantown, Seal of, 123
Germantown, Settlement of, i, 17,

18, 19, 21
Gerrits, Lambert, 119
Gerrits, William, 119
Gerritz, Hendricks, 114
Gerritz, Lubbert, 12
Ghent, 10
Gibb, John, 150
Goebel, Max, 22, 27
Gog, 168, 169
Goodson, John, 133
Gorcum, 122
Goredyke, 15
Gorgas, Johannes, 176
Gosses, Hemine, 15
Gotha, 52, 54
Gottschalk, George, 136
Gottschalk, Jacob, 63, 140, 168, 169,

176
GraefF, Hans, 63
Gravesend, 56
Growden, Judge, 78
Grow, 15

Growth of the Settlement, The, 133
Guelderland, 139
Gustavus Adolphus, 52

Haarlem, 10, 16, 102, 128

Hague, 10, loi

Haldeman, 18

Hamburg, 131, 139, 174, 222

Hamburg, Communities at, 12

Hanau, 28

300

Index.

Hanover, 24

Hanschooten, 139, 174

Harberdinck, Levin, 136

Hardick, Gerritje, 233

Harlingen, 15

Harmens, Trientje, 139

Harmer, William, 141

Hart, Jo., 147, 152

Hartsfelder, Jurian, 19

Hasevoet, Abraham, 19, 21, 23, 30

Health of settlers, gr

Heidelberg, 116

Hendricks, Barnt, 140

Hendricks, Gerard, 56, 118, 119, 120,

144, 147, 292
Hendricks, John, 114
Hendricks, Mary, 118
Hendricks, Peter, 16, 56, 126
Hendricks, Peter, Letter of, 127
Hendricks, Sarah, 118, 120
Hendricks, Sytje, 119
Hendricks, Willem, 137
Henleven, 15
Hermans, Reynicr, 158
Hermit of the Wissahickon, 230
Hesse, Countess of, 24
Hiester, 292

Hinke, Rev. Wm. J., 81
History, Croese's, 113, 115, 117, 212
Hodgkins, John, 56
Hoedt, Caspar, 49, 134, 288
Hoerveen, 15

Hogs, 100, 273, 281, 282, 283, 285
Holfert, 15

Hollensteiu, Herzog von, 24
Holliugshead, 238
Holme, John, Poem of, 165
Holsteiu, 89

Hwitzhooven, Jacob Gerritz, 139
Hoorn, 15

Hoorn Kill, Destruction of, 210
Hoorn Kill, Settlement at, 197-205
Hosters, Wilhelm, 63, 139

Houfer, Frank, 137
Household of Pastorius, 96
Houses in early Philadelphia, 57,

93. 107
Howe, Thomas, 161
Huberts, Margaret, 176
Huggin, Richard, 63
Hutcheson, George, 152

In den Hoflfen, Anneke, 139

In den Hoflfen, Evert, 138

In den Hoffen, Gerhard, 138, 142

In den Hoflfen, Hermann, 138, 142,

161
In den Hoflfen, Peter, 139
Indians, 89, 90, 91, 98, 99, 105, 153
Indians, the, 234
Indian Cunning, 90
Indians, Friendly Intercourse with,

253
Indian Habits, 235-240, 244-252
Indian Education, 239
Indian Language, 241, 245
Indians Making Pone, 249
Infant Baptism, 10
Information from Jacob Telner, 100
Inhabitants of Germantown, 88, 89
Ireland, 86
Isaacs, Jacob, 19, 260, 262

Jacobs, Isaac, 143, 158
Jacobs, John, 142
Jacobs, Jurgen, 63
Jacquet Coat-of-Arms, 89
Jacquet, Jan, 89
James, Howell, 63
Jamestown, 289

Jaiisen, Conrad, 63, 169, 170, 176
Jansen, Dirck, 63, 139, 158, 159
Jausen, Dirck, Jr. 159
Jansen, Klas, 128, 133, 142
Jansen, Reynier, 137, 138
Jansen, Stephen, 138

Index.

301

Jawert, Baltliasar, 23, 31, 38, 45
Jawert, Baltliasar, Autograph of, 32,

41
Jawert, Balthazar, Coat-of-Arius of,

32
Jawert, Johannes, 38, 43-47, 50. 75

-78, 158, 227, 288
Jawert, Johannes, Autograph of, 41
Jawert, Johannes, Letter of, 48
Jeffries, Wm., 5
Jena, 53

Jennings, Samuel, 134, 154, 157
Jermau, Edward, 159
Jever, 15

Johannis, Cap., 87
Johnson, John, 114
Jones Levering family, 129
Joris, David, 8, 9, 14, 17
Journal, Page from Kelpius', 229

Kaldkirchen, 2, 130

Karsdorp, Harmen, 139, 170, 176

Karsdorp, Isaac, 139

Kassel, Arnold, 56, 119, 134, 136

Kassel, Elizabeth, 119

Kassel, Heinrich, 16, 63, 169, 176

Kassel, Johannes, 119, 120, 151, 254

Kassel, Mary, 120

Kassel, Peter, 119

Kassel, Sarah, 120

Kassel, Ylles, 120

Kassel, Ylles, Poem of, 120, 121, 122

Kasselberg, Catharine, 176

Kasselberg, Hendrick, 133

Kastncr, Paul, 63, 133, 134

Keith, George, 126, 127, 134, 151,

152-157, 167, 220
Keith's Appeal, 152, 153, 154
Kelpius, Johannes, 38, 43, 75, 212,

215, 218, 221, 223, 226, 227, 228,

230, 231, 252, 290
Kelpius, Johannes, Autograph of,

41. 223

Kelpius, Johannes, Works and Let-
ters of, 226, 227

Kelpius' Journal, Page of, 229

Keiping, Portrait of, 226

Kemlcr, Dr. Johannes, 23, 27, 31,
38, 290

Kemler, Johannes, Autograph of,

27. 41
Kemler, Johannes, Coat-of-Arms of,

27
Kempen, 149
a'Kempis, Thomas, 149
Keurlis, Peter, 4, 5, 63, 158, 256, 287
Keyser, Dirck, 130, 160
Keyser, Dirck, Jr., 160
Keyser, Dirck, Gerritz, 130
Keyser, Dircksz, 130
Ke3'ser, Leonard, 130
Keyser, Peter, 63, 176
Kintika, 252
Kite, William, 147
Klever, Peter, 138, 210
Klincken, Anthony, 64
Klincken, Aret, 63, 129, 140, 159,

256, 287, 288
Klostermann, Anna, 79, 131
Klostermann, Dr. Hendrich, 79
Klumpges, Jacob Jansen, 131
Klumpges, Paul, 176
Kohlhaus, Tobias L., 56
Kolb, Barbara, 176
Kolb, Henry, 142
Kolb Jacob, 142, 174, 176
Kolb, Johannes, 142, 174, 176
Kolb, Magdalena, 174
Kolb, Martin, 142, 169, 170, 174, 176
Kolbs, 120
Komupoango, 133
Koster, Henry Bernhard, 66, 212,

213, 215, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221,

222, 223, 228, 290
Koster, Ludolph, 219
Kramer, Andreas, 133, 134, 28S

302

Index.

Krey, Jan, 140, 142, 176

Krey, Helena, 176

Kriegsheim, 14, 16, 56, in, 114, 116,

118, 1x9, 120, 122
Kunders, Thones, 4, 6, 56, 63, 149,

150, 159. 254, 2S8
Kunts, Benedict, icxj
Kuster, Aret, 63

Kuster, Arnold, 17, 136, 176, 256
Kuster, Elizabeth, 176
Kuster, Gertrude, 136
Kuster, Hermannus, 16, 136, 142,

159. 176
Kuster, Johannes, 136, 139, 142, 256,

288
Kuster, Paul, 63, 136
Kustrin, 220

Land, Condition of, in Germantown,

86, 87, 100, lor, 108
Land conveyed by W. Penn, 2, 3
Land, divisions in Germantown,

19, 91-94, 123, 124
Land purchases in Pennsylvania,

23, 28, 141, 149, 160
Lane, Edward, 141
Langen Rheinsdorf, 230
Laurens, Jan, 19, 22, 23, 30, 102,

125
Laws, of Germantown, 259, 267-2S7
Branding Horses, Pigs, 281
Cattle and Pigs, 273, 284
Chickens, Cattle, Burning

Brush, 275
Drunkenness, 286
Fences, 272, 278, 279
Fires, 276, 277
Roads, 285
Swine, 282, 283, 285
Trees, Dogs, 274
Extract from the Book of Laws,
280
Le Bruu, Johannes, 23, 27, 31, 38

Le Brun, Johannes, Coat-of-Arms of,

36
Le Brun, Johannes, Autograph of,

36, 41
Leeuwarden, 15
Leghitz, 53
Lemgo, 215, 231
Lensen, Jan, 4, 17, 18, 20, 64, 129,

176, 256
Letter of Gerhard Roosen, etc., 170
Letter in the handwriting of lilat-

thias Van Bebber, 129.
Letter of Jawert, 48
Letter of Johann Samuel and Hein-

rich Pastorius, 108
Letter of Joris Wertmuller, 100
Letter of Pieter Hendricks, 127
Letter of Zimmermann, 213, 214
Letters of Attorney, 28, 39
Letters Home, 81
Letters of Pastorius, 30, 60, 6r, 81
Letters of Plockhoy to Cromwell,

178, 179, 180
Letter of Schutz, 31
Levering, Gerhard, 129
Levering, Wigard, 129
Lewes, 197

Lewis, Mr. Lawrence, 2
Leyden, John of, 8, 9, 10
Limburg, 53
Lindau, 136
Linderman, Jan, 137
Linen, 150, 166

Literature, 51, 74, 164, 165, 290
Lloyd, David, 45-49, 77, 78, 267
Lloyd, Thomas, 57, 155, 267
Logan, James, 14, 125, 142
Loher, 255
London, 3, 5, 6, 56, 114, 125, 126,

127, 133. 134, 157, 178, 181, 215,

222, 231
London, Coat-of-Arms of, 50
London, Society in, 50

Index.

303

Longworth, Roger, 126
Loof, Anton, 64, 133, 288
Lorentz, George G., 215
Lorentz, Heinricb, 139, 215
Lowther, George, 44, 45, 75
Lubeck, 28, 38
Lucken, Jan, 4, 5, 17, 64, 287
Lucken, INIercken Williamsen, 5
Lukens, Adam, 17
Luther, 9, iii, 130, 290
lyUtke, Daniel, 215

Maatschoen, 7

Macuamara, Thos., 49, 77, 78

Malkwara, 15

Manayunk, 123

Mannheim, 54, 116

Martyrdom, 10, il

Miirtyrer Spiegel, 149

Mather, Cotton, 211

Matthys, Jean, 8

Mayence, 52

Mazarin, Cardinal, 53

McComb, John, 154

Meaux, 52

Medical Diploma, Early, 224

Mehls, Hans Heinricb, 64, 140, 2S8

Mehrning, 7

Memliers of Mennonite Church, 176

Mennonite Church, 168, 169, 170,

174
Mennonite Meeting House in Ger-

mantown, 175
Mennonites, 2, 12, 14, 114, 118, 119,

120, 125, 126, 130, 133, 134, 137.

139, 141, 142, 148, 149, 168, 170,

208, 210, 291
Mennonites, Beliefs and Practices

of, 10
Mennonites, Community at Ger-

mantown, 168, 169, 170
Mennonite Confession of Faith,

170-174

Mennonites, Description of, by W.
Pcnn and Thomas Chalkley, 14

Mennonites, Origin of, 7, 8, 9

Mennonites, Persecutions of, 10, 11

Mennonites, Settlement in Penn-
sylvania, 16

Mennonite Treatment of Friends,
12, 14, 16

Merian, Casper, 21, 23, 28-31

Millan, Hans, 131, 138

Millan, Imity, 138

Millan, Margaret, 139

Millan, Matthias, 64, 138, 256

Miller, Peter, 228

Modeln, George Leonard, 64

Morgan, Benjamin, 64

Morris, Anthony, 129, 147, 154

Moyer, Peter Jans, 131

Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior, 6,
217, 227, 228, 292

Miihlhausen, 52

Miihlheim, 28, 124, 129, 131, 133,

137, 139- 162
Miihlheim, Coat-of-Arms of, 162
Muller, Frederick, 17
MuUer, Miss Elizabeth, 17
Mumford, Stephen, 226
Munster, 7, 8
Munzer, Thomas, 8
Murphy, Henry C, 206
Murray, Humphrey, 154

Nancy, 52

Naumburg, 54

Neander, 21, 27

Needs of Voyage to America, loi

Netherlands, Coat-of-Arms of, 20

Neues, Hans, 64, 169, 176

Neus, Jan, 64, 137, 141, 168, 174, 176

Newberry, John, 142

New Castle, 85

New York, 64

Nippold, 9

304

Index.

Nordyke, Jacob, 15
Nuremberg, 53, 89, 128, 226

Oldenslo, 27

Op den Graeff, Abraham, 4, 6, 17, 18,
56, 134, 144 149. 150- 151. 152, 157
-161, 254, 260, 262, 287

Op den Graeff, Anne, 161

Op den GraefFs, Brothers, 4, 5, 16,
126, 292

Op den Graefif Brothers and the Pro-
test against Slavery, 144

Op den Graeff, Dirck, 4, 6, 17, 18, 56,
134, 144, 147, 149, 150, 151, 152,
157, 160, 254, 260, 262, 287

Op den Graeff, Hermann, 4, 5, 6, 16,
17, 18, 56, 91, 119, 134. 148, 149.
150, 152, 157, 15S, 254, 260, 262, 287

Op den Graeff, Hermann, Autograph
of, 150

Op den Graeff, Isaac, 149, 161

Op den Graeff, Jacob, 158, 161

Op den Graeff, Margaret, 149, 161

Op den Graeff, Nilcken, 160

Op den Graeff, Trintje, 160

Op den Trap, Herman, 133

Osset, Gilles, 197

Oudeboone, 15

Owen, Dr. Griffith, 64

Owen, Robert, 177

Palatinate, 18, 120, 126, 142, 169,

170, 174, 194
Palatinate, Coat-of-Arms of, iii
Palatinate, French invasion of, 121
Palmer, Esther, 226
Pamphlet of Plockhoy, 181
Pannebecker, Hendrick, 100, 122,

142
Pannebecker, Hendrick, Autograph

of, 122
Pannebecker, Coat-of-Arms of, Pref-
ace

Papen, Heivert, 128, 151, 163, 254,
256, 260, 262, 287

Paper executed by Kelpius, 43

Paper-mill, First, 163, 165, 166, 167

Paris, 16, 53

Pastorius, Augustin Adam, 64, 238

Pastorius' Beschreibung, no, 128

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 3, 5, 6, 18,
19, 22, 23, 28, 30, 38, 42-46, 48,
49. 51, 54. 57. 118, 123, 124, 125,
133. 134. 139. 140, 141, 144, 147-
149, 151, 161, 165, 221, 231, 235,
238, 241, 254, 255, 258-260, 261,
287, 288, 290, 292

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, Ancestry
of, 52

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, Auto-
graph of, 52

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, Coat-of-
Arms of, 51

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, House-
hold of, 96

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, Life of
53-57. 62-64, 74, 79. 80

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, Personal
appearance of, 59

Pastorius, F'rancis Daniel, Sea voy-
age of, 82-84

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, Works of,
51. 54. 55, 57. 58, 60-79

Pastorius, Heinrich, Letter of, loS

Pastorius, Johannes Samuel, 54, 56

Pastorius, Johann Samuel, Letter
of, 108

Pastorius, Leges Pennsylvaniae, etc,

259
Pastorius, Letters, 61, 81

Pastorius, Martin, 52
Pastorius, Melchior Adam, 52-54
Pastorius' School, 63
Pemberton, Phineas, 63
Penn, William, 2, 3, 14, 17-19, 28,
57, 75, 80, 85-S7, 89, 91-93, 97-99.

Index.

305

116, 118, 123, 125, 129, 137, 150,
155. 157, 237. 252. 260, 267, 268

Penn, William, Autograph of, 3

Penn, William, Coat-of-Arms of, 81

Peun, William, Seal of, no

Peters, Matthew, 15S

Peters, Reynier, 158, 257

Petersen, Dr. Johaii Wilhelm, 24,
28-31, 38, 231, 290

Petersen, Dr. Joliau Wilhelm, Auto-
graph of, 24, 41

Petersen, Dr. Johan Wilhelm, Seal
of, 24

Petersen, Isaac, 139

Petition of Pastorius and Jawert, 46,

47
Pettiuger, Johannes, 136, 158, 256,

257
Philadelphia in time of Pastorius, 57
Philips, Dirck, 8, 9
Philipseck, 23
Philipseck, Princess of, 24
Phoenixville, 45
Pietists, 21, 50, 54, 2r2, 215, 231
Pietists, Voyage of, 215, 216
Piggot, Alice, 138
P'ggot, John, 138
Pletjes, Driessen, 149
Pletjes, Griejen, 149
Plockhoy, Peter Cornelius, 177, 180,

193, 194, 195, 197, 210, 211, 256,

290, 292
Plockhoy, on the South River, 195
Plockhoy 's Communal Plans, 177-

194
Plockhoy's last days, 210
Plockhoy's letters to Cromwell, 178-

180
Plockhoy's settlement at Hoorn

Kill, 197-208
Plockhoy's Way to Peace, 181, 182
Plockhoy's Writings, 197
Plymouth, 215, 253, 257, 289, 292

Poeldyk, 17

Polemius, Aulic Counsellor, 220
Population of Germantown, 88
Population of Philadelphia, 88

Portrait, Earliest American, 226

Potts, Jonas, 64, 15S, 288

Potts, Thomas, 64, 158

Powell, Howell, 79

Power of Attorney given to Daniel
Falckner, etc., 38

Power of Attorney given to Pasto-
rius, 28, 29, 30.

Primer of Pastorius, 63

Printers, 137, 170

Prison, 140

Proclamation of the Judges, 155,
156

Prosperity in Germantown, 104, 105

Protest Against Slavery, 61, 145, 146,

147, 151
Prussia, First Mennonites in, 12
Puritan leaders, 51
Puritans, 291
Pusey, Caleb, 154

Quack, H. P. G., 182

Quakerism on the Continent, 112,

114, 116, 118
Quakers, 45, 48,61, 64, 84, 112, 119,

125, 126, 128, 129, 134, 146, 147,

152, 153, 167, 178, 212, 220, 222,

252, 291, 292
Quakers, Origin of, 12, 14, 16

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 211
Rawle, Francis, 125
Rawle, W. Brooke, 120
Rawle, William, 120
Rebenstock ,Altien, 176
Rebenstock, Johannes, 139
Records of the Court, 157-160
Regensburg, 54

3o6

Index.

Remke, Govert, 3, 16, 19, 130, 141
Remke, Johann, 16
Renberg, Dirck, 139, 142
Renberg, Michael, 139
Renberg, Wilhelm, 139, 142
Renunciation of Kelpius, 43
Reyniers, Joseph, 138
Reyniers, Tiberius, 138
Rhine, i, 6, 16, 52, 56, iii
Richardson, Samuel, 64, 154
de Ries, Hans, 12
Rittenhouse, David, 164
Rittenhouse, Elizabeth, 162
Rittenhouse, Gerhard, 162
Rittenhouse, Heinrich Nicholaus, 1 62
Rittenhouse, Maria Hagerhoffs, 162
Rittenhouse, Watermark used by,

166
Rittenhouse, William, 162, 165, 167,

169, 176, 210
Rittinghuysen, Claus, 64
Rolfe, George, 112, 114
Rome, 52

Romish Church, 84
Roosen, Gerhard, 7, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17,

131, 170
Roosen, Paul, 139, 170
Rostock, 24
Rothman, Bernhard, 8
Rotterdam, 2, 5, 6, 10, 22, 45, 56, 76,

82. 103, 125, 137, 149, 215
Rotterdam, Coat-of-Arms of, 254
Roxborough, 123
Rudman, 233
Rupp, 18

Rutter, Thomas, 66, 134, 288, 290
Rutters, Koenradt, 6, 56, 64
Ryndertz, Tjaert, 11

"Saalhof,"54
Saardam, 15

Sachse, Julius F., 215, 218, 221, 231,
233

Salms-Redelheim, Countess von, 24
Saroschi, Isaac Ferdinand, 136
"Satan's Harbinger Encountered,"

154
Saur, 231

Schaeffer, Peter, 215
Schaflfer, Isaac, 131
Scharding, 130

Scheffer, J. G. DeHoop, 126, 131
Scherkes, David, 124, 134, 160, 287
Schiedam, 124
Schlegel, Christopher, 139
Schleswig, 89
SchoU, Johannes, 142
School of Pastorius, 63
School book. First in Pennsylvania,

63
Schools, 59, 140, 180
Schotte, Dr., 231
Schuchart, Anna Maria, 216
Schumacher, Abraham, 120
Schumacher, Barbara, 120
Schumacher, Benjamin, 120
Schumacher, Elizabeth, 120
Schumacher, Frances, 118
Schumacher, George, 114, 120
Schumacher, Gertrude, u8
Schumacher, Jacob, 6, 56, 91, 96,

118, 287
Schumacher, Isaac, 64, 120, 141, 288
Schumacher, Johan, 114
Schumacher, Mary, 118
Schumacher, Peter, 4, 56, 64, 114,

118, 120, 134, 140, 141, 143, Tc:8

174, 287, 288
Schumacher, Peter, Autograph of,n8
Schumacher, Sarah, 118, 120
Schumacher, Susanna, 120
Schumberg, Tobias, 53, 60, 136
Schutz, Cathariua, 38, 42, 231
Schutz, Catharina, Autograph of, 41
Schutz, Johau Jacob, 19, 21, 28, 29,

30, 31. 54, 74, 290

Itidex.

307

Schutz, Johan Jacob, Autograph of,

29
Schutz, Johan Jacob, Seal of, 29
Schwan, Schwed, 92
Schwenckfeldt, Caspar, 14
Schweuckfeldt, Caspar, Contempo

rary Portrait of, 13
Schwerin, Otto von, 220
Seal of Germantown, 123
Seal of Johan Jacob Schutz, 29
Seal of Johan Wilhelm Petersen, 24
Seal of William Penn, no
Sea voyage, 82, 216
Sea voyage of Pastorius, 82, 84
Seelig, God fried, 43
Seidensticker, Oswald, 16, 20, 129,

148, 230, 28S
Seimeus, Jan, 4, 5, 128
Sell, Martin, 136
Sellen, Dirck, 133
Sellen, Hendrick, 16, 64, 131, 133,

142, 174, 176
Sellen, Hendrick, Autograph of, 174
Sellen, Mary, 176
Servants, 102, 105
Settlement of Pennsylvania, Origin

of, 14
Sewel, William, 15, 16, 134
Shippen, Joseph, 150
Shippen, Rebecca, 125
Shoes of the early Palatinate, 112
Significance of the Settlement, the,

2S9
Silans, Johan, 131, 257, 288
Simons, Menno, 8, 9, 11, 131, 133
Simons, Menno, Date of birth of,

131
Simons, Menno, Life and works of,

9. 131
Simons, Walter, 64, 124, 159, 288
Simpson, Frances, 56
Sipman, Dirck, 2-5. 16, 19, 119, 128

-130, 141

Siverts, Cornelius, 131, 134, 137, 256,

2S8
Skippack,i26, 133, 137, 139, 141, i6r,

170, 174
Slavery, 211, 292
Slavery, Protest against, 62, 144-147,

151
Sleidanus, 7
Smith, John, 159
Smith, Matthew, 159, 160
Snow, A great, 128
Snyder, Sicke, 9
Sommerhausen, 53, 124, 273
Souplis, Andries, 131, 133, 288
Southwick, Daniel, 292
Southwick, Provided, 292
Speikerman, Mariecke, 139
Spener, Philip Jacob, 21, 24, 54, 212,

231
Speyer, 54
Springett, Herbert, 3
Sprogell, John Hendrick, 43-49, 74i

76-79. 139. 231, 232

Sprogell, John Plendrick, Auto-
graph of, 44

Sprogell, Ludwig Christian, 139

"Spurring Verses," 206-208

Stecndam, Jacob, 206

Stockholm, 222

Stocks, 141

Stork, Arnold, 42

Story, Thomas, autograph of, 14

Story, Thomas, Testimony and
preaching of, 14, 15

Strasburg, 53

Strauss, George, 19, 21, 23, 30, 31

Strayer, Andrew, 142

St. Egidius, 24

Streypers, Jan, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 18-20

Strcypeis, Leonard, 5

Streypers, Wilhelm, 4, 5, 18, 20, 64,
1 28, 130, 136, 159, 288

Stubbs, 14

3o8

Index.

Survey of land, 123, 124
Swanendael, 197
Swans, Valley of the, 197

Tanners, 97

Telner, Jacob, 2, 3, 5, 16, 19,56,
J07, 124, 127, 130, 140, 149, 160,
254, 260, 262, 287, 290

Telner, Susanna, 125, 126

Telner's Township, 126

Ten Gate, S. Blaupot, 7, 8, 10, 11,
130

Thomas, Gabriel, 150, 166, 255

Thoren, 222

Tibben, Heindrich, 139, 159

Tilers, 97

Timmerman, Christopher, 176

Tisserands, 8

Title pages of books :

"A Circumstantial Geograph-
ical Description of the Lately
Founded Province of Pennsyl-
vania." By Pastorius, 65, 67, 68
" Anleitung zu griindlicher Ver-
standniss," etc. By Johanna
Eleanora von Merlau, 26

"An Appendix to the Confes-
sion of Faith," etc. The Men-
nonites, 173

" A Short Description of Penn-
sylvania," etc. By Richard Frame,

163

" Continuatio der Beschreibung
der Landschaft Pennsylvanise."
By Daniel Falckner, 243

"Curieuse Nachricht von Penn-
sylvania." By Daniel Falckner,
242

"Disputatio Inauguralis," etc.
By Pastorius, 55

' ' Bin Seud-Bricf, ' ' etc. By Pas-
torius, 71

" Four Boasting Disputers Re-
buked." By Pastorius, 72

" Gerhard Croese's Quaker-
Historie," 113, 115 1 17

" Herzens-Gesprach mitt Gott."
By Johanna Eleanora von INIerlau,

" Kort en Klaer Qntwerp," etc-
By Plockhoy, 196

" Kurtze Beschreibung des H.
R. Reichs Stadt Windsheim."
By Pastorius, 70

" Missive van Cornelis Bom,"
103
Ms. Volume by Sprogcll, 232
"Opera Menno Symons," 132
"Some Letters and an abstract
of Letters from Pennsylvania,"
etc., 135

"The Christian Confession of
the Faith," etc. The Mcnnouites,
171, 172

''Vier kleine doch ungemeine
uud sehr nutzliche Tractallein."
By Pastorius, 69

Witt's translation of the hymns
of Kelpius, 225
Tombstone, The Oldest, 14a
Town Officers, Germantown, 287,

288
Townsend, Richard, 18, 64
Trades and Tradesmen, 96, 97, 104
Trappe, 130

Tresse, Thomas, 137, 165
Tunes, Abraham, 4, 5, 18, 64, 91,

287
Tunes, Hermann, 17, 64, 158
Turner, Martha, 125
Turner, Robert, 125, 165
Tuynen, Mary, 176
Tuyner, Hermen, 176
Tyson, Allien, 176
Tyson, Cornelius, 64, 140
Tyson, Margaret, 176
Tyson, Reynier, 4, 134, 158, 2S7, 288

Index.

309

Uberfeld, Johann Wilhelm, 19, 21,

30, 31, 290
Umstat, Auna Margaretta, 128
Unistat, Barbara, 128
Umstat, Eve, 122, 128
Umstat, Hans Peter, 122, 12S
Umstat, John, 128, 142, 158
Umstat, Nicholas, 12S
Upland, 84, 85, 89
Urdingen, 56
Vaihingen, 218

"Valley of the Swans," 197, 208
Van Aaken, H. J., 129
Van Akkeren, Abraham, 195
Van Bebber, Isaac Jacobs, 124, 143,

168, 176
Van Bebber, Jacob Isaacs, 3, 16, 119,

124, 134, 142, 150, 176, 217, 254, 287
Van Bebber, Matthias, 124, 129,

141, 142
Van Bebber, Matthias, Autograph

of, 255
Van Bebber, Matthias, Letter of,

129
Van Bebber's Rock, 143
Van Braght, 7, 11, 17, 120, 149
Van Burkelow, Reynier, 119, 133,

143
Van den Wyngaert, Tobias Govertz,

130, 131
Van der Gaegh, John, 76
Van der Werf, Richard, 139, 28S
Van de Walle, Jacobus, 19, 21, 28-

32, 3S, 54
Van de Walle, Jacobus, Autograph

of, 22
Van de Walle, Jacobus, Coat-of-

Arms of, 22
Van de Walle, Maria, 38
Van de Walle, Maria, Autograph of,

41
Van de Wilderness, John, 159
Van de Woestync, John, 136

Van Enden, David, 56

Van Hclle, Pieter, 170

Van Kampen, Jacob, 170

Van Kolk, Dirck, 131, 151, 254, 260,

262
Van Loevenigh, Jan, 226
Van Sanen, Weyntie, 130
Van Siiitern, Heinrich, 139, 170
Van Sintern, Isaac, 64, 139, 169, 170,

174, 176
Van Sintern, Sarah, 176
Van Vossen, Arnold, 64, 139, 141,

160, 169, 174, 176
Van Vossen, Civilia, 176
Ver Loove, Karel, 206
Verses of Howell Powell, 79
Vetterkuke, Marictte, 56
Vienna, 52
Vines, 87, loi
Vogelsang, 219

Volckmans, Dorothea Esther, 54
Von Mastricht, Dr. Gerhard, 23, 31,

38
Von Mastricht, Gerhard, Autograph

of, 34, 41
Von Mastricht, Gerhard, Coat-of-

Arms of, 34
Von Merlau, Johanna Eleanora, 23.

29. 30. 31, 54. 231
Von Merlau, Johanna Eleanora,

Life of, 23, 24, 27
Von Merlau, Johanna Eleanora,

Works of, 25-27, 290
Von Rodeck, Johann Bonaventura,

54
Vou Sayn, Count Casimir, 222
Von Schaak, Baron, 222
Von Wylich, Dr. Thomas, 23, 27, 31,

Von Wylich, Dr. Thomas, Auto-
graph of, 28

Von Wylich, Dr. Thomas, Coatof-
Arms of, 28

3IO

Index.

Voyage of Jacob Telner, 107

Waldenses, 7, 8, 130, 255

Walnuts, 87

Ward, Townsend, 123

War in the Palatinate, 120-122

War of the Rebellion, I^argest con-
tribution to, 122

Warner, Christian, 64, 136, 227

Wasey, Joseph, 57

Watermark used by Rittenhouse,
166, 167

Weavers, 10, 18, 255

Weaving, 8, 133

Wertmuller, George, 6, 56, 83, 102

Wertmuller, George, Letter of, 100

Wertmuller, Jochem, 102

Wesel, 27, 28, 129

Westphalia, 9

Windsheim, 28, 53, 54, 64, 108, 136

Wirtemburg, 212

Wiseman, Thomas, 142

Witgenstein, 222

Witmarsum, 9

Witt, Christopher, 64, 226

Wolfsheim, 142, 174

Woman in the Wilderness, 212, 217

Woods, 124

Worms, 54, III, 116, 118, 122

Worrell, Rigert, 145, 147, 151

WulfF, Paul, 64, 131, 134, 136, 140,

159, 160, 287, 28S
Wurtzburg, 52
Wyukoop, 292

Ziegler, Michael, 142
Zimmermann, Christopher, 142, 215
Zimmermann, John Jacob, 212, 213,

214, 218, 219, 226, 290
Zimmermann, John Jacob, Letter of,

213, 214
Zimmermann, Maria Margaretha,

215, 217, 256
Zimmermann, Matthias, 215
Zimmermann, Philip Christian, 139

215
Zimmermanns, Widow, 42, 215
Zwinglius, 9

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