Many of the colonists fled to Nova Scotia, North Carolina and Boston. Waldoboro is at the head of
the Medomak River tidewater on Muscongus Bay, and the Germans who remained behind turned to
the shipping and fishing industries because of the poor farming land. Between 1830 and 1860, it
became a busy shipbuilding community. The Old German Meeting House and the nearby cemetery
there contains the graves of many of the earliest settlers. Small pockets of Germans arrived equally
unprepared elsewhere. In 1834, nearly 1,000 Germans died from yellow fever in New Orleans.
"Both in Rotterdam and in Amsterdam the people are packed densely, like herrings so to say, in the large sea-vessels.
One person receives a place of scarcely 2 feet width and 6 feet length in the bedstead, while many a ship carries four to
six hundred souls; not to mention the innumerable implements, tools, provisions, water-barrels and other things which
likewise occupy much space.
On account of contrary winds it takes the ships sometimes 2, 3 and 4 weeks to make the trip from Holland to.. . England.
But when the wind is good, they get there in 8 days or even sooner. Everything is examined there and the custom-duties
paid, whence it comes that the ships ride there 8, 10 to 14 days and even longer at anchor, till they have taken in their full
cargoes. During that time every one is compelled to spend his last remaining money and to consume his little stock of
provisions which had been reserved for the sea; so that most passengers, finding themselves on the ocean where they
would be in greater need of them, must greatly suffer from hunger and want. Many suffer want already on the water
between Holland and Old England.
When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors near the city of Kaupp [Cowes] in Old England, the real
misery begins with the long voyage. For from there the ships, unless they have good wind, must often sail 8, 9, 10 to 12
weeks before they reach Philadelphia. But even with the best wind the voyage lasts 7 weeks. But during the voyage there
is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery,
headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted
food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably. Add to this want of provisions, hunger,
thirst, frost, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations, together with other trouble, as the lice abound so
frightfully, especially on sick people, that they can be scraped off the body. The misery reaches the climax when a gale
rages for 2 or 3 nights and days, so that every one believes that the ship will go to the bottom with all human beings on
board. In such a visitation the people cry and pray most piteously. When in such a gale the sea rages and surges, so that
the waves rise often like high mountains one above the other, and often tumble over the ship, so that one fears to go down
with the ship; when the ship is constantly tossed from side to side by the storm and waves, so that no one can either walk,
or sit, or lie, and the closely packed people in the berths are thereby tumbled over each other, both the sick and the well -
it will be readily understood that many of these people, none of whom had been prepared for hardships, suffer so terribly
from them that they do not survive it.
I myself had to pass through a severe illness at sea, and I best know how I felt at the time. These poor people often long
for consolation, and I often entertained and comforted them with singing, praying and exhorting; and whenever it was
possible and the winds and waves permitted it, I kept daily prayer meetings with them on deck. Besides, I baptized five
children in distress, because we had no ordained minister on board. I also held divine service every Sunday by reading
sermons to the people; and when the dead were sunk in the water, I commended them and our souls to the mercy of
God. Among the healthy, impatience sometimes grows so great and cruel that one curses the other, or himself and the day
of his birth, and sometimes come near killing each other. Misery and malice join each other, so that they cheat and rob
one another. One always reproaches the other with having persuaded him to undertake the journey. Frequently children
cry out against their parents, husbands against their wives and wives against their husbands, brothers and sisters, friends
and acquaintances against each other. But most against the soul-traffickers.
Many sigh and cry: "Oh, that I were at home again, and if I had to lie in my pig-sty!" Or they say: "O God, if I only had a
piece of good bread, or a good fresh drop of water." Many people whimper, sigh and cry piteously for their homes; most
of them get home-sick. Many hundred people necessarily die and perish in such misery, and must be cast into the sea,
which drives their relatives, or those who persuaded them to undertake the journey, to such despair that it is almost
impossible to pacify and console them. No one can have an idea of the sufferings which women in confinement have to
bear with their innocent children on board these ships. Few of this class escape with their lives; many a mother is cast into
the water with her child as soon as she is dead. One day, just as we had a heavy gale, a woman in our ship, who was to
give birth and could not give birth under the circumstances, was pushed through a loop-hole [port-hole] in the ship and
dropped into the sea, because she was far in the rear of the ship and could not be brought forward.
Children from 1 to 7 years rarely survive the voyage. I witnessed misery in no less than 32 children in our ship, all of
whom were thrown into the sea. The parents grieve all the more since their children find no resting-place in the earth, but
are devoured by the monsters of the sea.
That most of the people get sick is not surprising, because, in addition to all other trials and hardships, warm food is
served only three times a week, the rations being very poor and very little. Such meals can hardly be eaten, on account of
being so unclean. The water which is served out on the ships is often very black, thick and full of worms, so that one
cannot drink it without loathing, even with the greatest thirst. Toward the end we were compelled to eat the ship's biscuit
which had been spoiled long ago; though in a whole biscuit there was scarcely a, piece the size of a dollar that had not
been full of red worms and spiders nests .At length, when, after a long and tedious voyage, the ships come in sight of land,
so that the promontories can be seen, which the people were so eager and anxious to see, all creep from below on deck
to see the land from afar, and they weep for joy, and pray and sing, thanking and praising God. The sight of the land
makes the people on board the ship, especially the sick and the half dead, alive again, so that their hearts leap within
them; they shout and rejoice, and are content to bear their misery in patience, in the hope that they may soon reach the
land in safety. But alas! When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to leave
them except those who pay for their passage or can give good security; the others, who cannot pay, must remain on
board the ships till they are purchased, and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick always fare the
worst, for the healthy are naturally preferred and purchased first; and so the sick and wretched must often remain on
board in front of the city for 2 or 3 weeks, and frequently die, whereas many a one, if he could pay his debt and were
permitted to leave the ship immediately, might recover and remain alive. The sale of human beings in the market on board
the ship is carried on thus: Every day Englishmen, Dutchmen and High German people come from the city of Philadelphia
and other places, in part from a great distance, say 20, 30, or 40 hours away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that
has brought and offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable
for their business, and bargain with them how long they will serve for their passage money, which most of them are still in
debt for. When they have come to an agreement, it happens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to serve 3, 4, 5
or 6 years for the amount due by them, according to their age and strength. But very young people, from 10 to 15 years,
must serve till they are 21 years old. Many parents must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle; for
if their children take the debt upon themselves, the parents can leave the ship free and unrestrained; but as the parents
often do not know where and to what people their children are going, it often happens that such parents and children,
after leaving the ship, do not see each other again for many years, perhaps no more in all their lives.
It often happens that whole families, husband, wife, and children, are separated by being sold to different purchasers,
especially when they have not paid any part of their passage money. When a husband or wife has died at sea, when the
ship has made more than half of her trip, the survivor must pay or serve not only for himself or herself, but also for the
deceased. When both parents have died over half-way at sea, their children, especially when they are young and have
nothing to pawn or to pay, must stand for their own and their parents' passage, and serve till they are 21 years old. When
one has served his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at parting; and if it has been so stipulated, a
man gets in addition a horse, a woman, a cow. When a serf has an opportunity to marry in this country, he or she must
pay for each year which he or she would have yet to serve, 5 to 6 pounds. But many a one who has thus purchased and
paid for his bride, has subsequently repented his bargain, so that he would gladly have returned his exorbitantly dear
ware, and lost the money besides. If some one in this country runs away from his master, who has treated him harshly, he
cannot get far. Good provision has been made for such cases, so that a runaway is soon recovered. He who detains or
returns a deserter receives a good reward. If such a runaway has been away from his master one day, he must serve for it
as a punishment a week, for a week a month, and for a month half a year."
THE INDIAN WARS OF PENNSYLVANIA . From an old manuscript:
"The Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg relates in the 'Hallische Nachrichten,' a touching incident:.It was of the widow of
John Hartman who called at his house in February, 1765, who had been a member of one of Rev. Kurtz's congregations.
She and her husband had emigrated to this country from Reutlingen, Wurtemberg, and settled on the frontiers of Lebanon
County. The Indians fell upon them in October, 1755, killed her husband, one of the sons, and carried off two small
daughters into captivity, whilst she and the other son were absent. On her return she found the home in ashes, and her
family either dead or lost to her, whereupon she fled to the interior settlements at Tuipehocken and remained there.
The sequel to this occurrence is exceedingly interesting The two girls were taken away. It was never known what became
of Barbara, the elder, but Regina, with another little girl two years old, were given to an old Indian women, who treated
them very harshly. In the absence of her son, who supplied them with food, she drove the children into the woods to
gather herbs and roots to eat, and, when they failed to get enough, beat them cruelly. So they lived until Regina was about
nineteen years old and the other girl eleven. Her mother was a good Christian woman, and had taught her daughters their
prayers, together with many texts from the Scriptures, and their beautiful German hymns, much of which clung to her
memory during all these years of captivity.
At last, in the providence of God, Colonel Bouquet brought the Indians under subjection in 1764 and obliged them to give
up their captives. More than two hundred of these unfortunate beings were gathered together at Carlisle, amongst them
the two girls, and notices were sent all over the country for those who had lost friends and relatives, of that fact. Parents
and husbands came, in some instances, hundreds of miles, in the hope of recovering those they had lost, the widow being
one of the number. There were many joyful scenes, but more sad ones. So many changes had taken place, that in many
instances, recognition seemed impossible. This was the case with the widow. She went up and down the long line, but, in
the young women who stood before her, dressed in Indian costume, she failed to recognize the little girls she had lost. As
she stood, gazing and weeping, Colonel Bouquet compassionately suggested that she do something which might recall the
past to her children. She could think of nothing but a hymn which was formerly a favorite with the little ones:
'Allein, und doch nicht ganz allein, Bin ich in meiner Einsamkeit.' She commenced singing, in German, but had barely
completed two lines, when poor Regina rushed from the crowd, began to sing also and threw her arms around her
mother. They both wept for joy and the Colonel gave the daughter up to her mother. But the other girl had no parents,
they having probably been murdered. She clung to Regina and begged to be taken home with her. Poor as was the
widow she could not resist the appeal. The three departed together."
Enough German immigrants toughed it out to make an impression on society,and in 1789, Dr. Benjamin Rush,
Surgeon general at the time of the Revolution, published "An Account of the Manners of the German
Inhabitants of Pennsylvania":
"In settling a tract of land they always provide large and suitable accommodations for their horses and cattle, before they
lay out much money in building a house for themselves. The first house is small and built of logs. It generally lasts through
the lifetime of the first settler and hence, they have a saying, that a son should always begin his improvements, where his
father left off. They always prefer good land, or that land on which there are great meadows. By giving attention to the
cultivation of grass, they often in a few years double the value of an old farm, and grow rich on farms, on which their
predecessors, of whom they purchased them, had nearly starved. In clearing new land they do not simply girdle or belt the
trees, and leave them to perish in the ground, as is the custom of their English or Irish neighbors; they generally cut them
down and burn them. Underbrush and bushes they pull out by the roots. The advantage is that the land is fit for cultivation
the second year.
They feed their horses and cows well, thereby practicing economy, for such animals perform twice the labor or yield twice
the amount of the less well fed. A German horse is known in every part of the state. The German farmers are also great
wood-economists. They do not waste it in large fire-places, but burn it in stoves, using about one-fourth to one-fifth as
much. Their houses are made very comfortable by these stoves, around which the family can get more equal chance than
when burning their faces and freezing their backs before open fire-places.
The Germans live frugally in regard to diet, furniture and dress. They eat sparingly of boiled meat, but use large quantities
of all kinds of vegetables. They use few distilled spirits (whiskey and rum), preferring cider, beer, wine, and simple water.
In their homespun garments they are likewise economical. When they use European articles of dress, they prefer those of
best quality and highest price. They are afraid to get into debt, and seldom purchase anything without paying cash for it.
Kitchen gardening the Germans introduced altogether. Their gardens contain useful vegetables at every season of the year.
Pennsylvania is indebted to the Germans for the principal part of her knowledge of horticulture. The work of the gardens
is generally done by the women of the family. Hired help is procured only in harvest time. The favorable influence of
agriculture, as conducted by the Germans, in extending the most happiness, is manifested by the joy expressed at the birth
of a child. No dread of poverty or distrust of Providence from an increasing family depress the spirits of this industrious
and frugal people. In their children they produce not only the habits of labor but a love of it. When a young man asks the
consent of his father to marry the girl of his choice he does not inquire so much whether she be rich or poor, or whether
she possess any personal or mental accomplishments, but whether she be industrious, and acquainted with the duties of a
good housewife. They are no strangers to the virtue of hospitality. The hungry or benighted traveller is always sure to find
a hearty welcome under their roofs. They are extremely kind and friendly as neighbors."
Perhaps a total of one to two hundred thousand German immigrants came to the English Colonies
during the 18th century. German life became a very prominent factor in New York and to a large
extent in Pennsylvania. A number of prominent statesmen, scholars and heroes of the Revolution
came from the ranks of the German immigration during the first decades of the 18th century.
Ironically, the Conestoga wagon was first designed and built by German settlers in Pennsylvania.
They might have had a clue they would move again one day. Such was the influence of the German
element at the time, that Benjamin Franklin feared America would no longer remain English.
Immigrants were at the mercy of unscrupulous land speculators who lured them to remote areas
nobody else would want. For example, between 1742 and 1753, roughly 1000 Germans settled in
Waldoboro, Maine, (then Broad Bay, Massachusetts). This area was part of a large land grant held
by colonist Samuel Waldo. His Swiss emissary, Sebastian Zauberbuhler, made a number of recruiting
trips to Germany claiming that the region was a thriving area. Once there, the new settlers found a
very hard, frightening life in the wilderness. The first group of German settlers arrived on September
24,1742 and three more ships followed between 1751 and 1753. Several of their houses, made by
hand under harsh conditions, were burned and their neighbors killed or carried into captivity by
Native Americans.
Early German Immigrants in America
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Gottlieb Mittelberger, On the Misfortune of Indentured Servants:
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Aside from Redemptioners, those early German immigrants who came to America as indentured
servants, there were various religious sects such as the Amish, Moravians, Mennonites, Dunkards,
Schwenkfelders and others who sought refuge from European persecution. In 1694 in Pennsylvania,
a group of German Second Adventists led by Johannes Kelpius who believed in the imminent second
coming of the Christ in America founded two important Utopian communes, Ephrata Cloister and
The Woman in the Wilderness. Woman in the Wilderness derived its name from the woman who fled
to the wilderness to escape a dragon and wait for the return of Christ in Revelation 12:6 “And the
woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her
there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” They developed a school for neighborhood
children, held public worship services, and practiced medicine, but otherwise lived as hermits in
caves along the Wissahikon River.
Scoundrel stories abound in the early immigration sagas. In October of 1763, British King George III
offered land to officers and soldiers to settle Canada with Protestants. One of those who responded
was an opportunistic officer named Johann Heinrich Christian von Stümpel, who had served in the
army of Ferdinand of Brunswick. In 1763, he applied for a land grant in Nova Scotia and was
granted a deed for hundreds of acres of Canadian land for 4,000 "poor Palatine" settlers that he
promised to organize into a militia within a decade. He immediately found 400 eager would-be
German colonists and took them to London, and then promptly vanished with all of their money,
stranding his helpless victims who lived hungrily and miserably in tents in London on charity.
Finally, around the time Stümpel was finally caught and arrested in Ansbach, enough donations had
been raised to transport the settlers to the New World, and in the spring of 1764 two shiploads of the
Germans arrived at Charleston, South Carolina. They would be among the last German settlers there.
They were guided up-country through dark forests and damps swamps to the very edge of a white
settlement named "Londonderry". Once here, the haggard and worn out Germans made a new life,
had children and even built a church called "St. George on Hard Labor Creek" where the gospel was
preached in German. Somehow, during the American Revolution, the church and the settlers seemed
to just fade away from existence.