| Notes |
- In order to better comprehend the difficulties that accompanied a voyage like our ancestors undertook, one needs to take a step back into the conditions of the times. The Mennonites, named for the 16th-century Dutchman named Menno Simons who was their founder, espoused an evangelical and severely simple religious outlook. They opposed infant baptism, insisted on the Bible as the only spiritual authority, tried to keep their marriages within the Mennonite community of faith, believed in pacifism, refused to take oaths, and dressed very plainly. The Mennonites came to be concentrated in the Jura Mountains and along the Rhine River in Switzerland and southern Germany. The Amish, named for the followers of Jakob Ammann, believed much as the Mennonites did but favored stricter rules on attire and employed firmer discipline - using shunning and excommunication if necessary. Both sects were often persecuted for their views, especially because the authorities regarded them as subversive to social order and potentially disloyal. From about the middle of the 17th century both Amish and Amish Mennonites were expelled from Switzerland or fled before they could be forced out.
William Penn, eager to populate (and sell) his large land holdings, enthusiastically recruited Swiss and German settlers from the Palatine. He made several trips there himself to drum up immigration to Pennsylvania. He could point to the mily's liberal views on religious tolerance, along with thousands of acres of fertile land that were available. So it was that thousands of Swiss and Germans came to America, some directly and some passing through the Netherlands. The peak came in the mid-1700s, when some 30,000 of these people arrived in Pennsylvania.
Most of the emigrants traveled down the Rhine to Rotterdam, a journey that would ordinarily be seven to nine days but probably took far longer because of various inspections and payments, then remained in Rotterdam for some weeks until pao America could be arranged. This was an economic as well as physical ordeal for the emigrants, all the more because they had to leave much of their capital in escrow with the government back in Switzerland until they could prove they were successfully settled - and working - elsewhere and would not return home as paupers.
The entire journey lasted from the beginning of May to November. The Rhine boats went from Heilbronn to Holland, passing twenty-six custom houses and at each one of them the ship had to dock and be boarded so it could be examined. This inrip took four, five and even six weeks. After arriving in Holland they were detained five to six weeks. At every stop the passengers had to spend more money to survive. The last stop before departure was a week or two in a port in England (Cowes in our case), where the captain received official clearance to take the passengers to America (still considered a British colony).
Then, depending on the winds, they began their real misery as they undertook their arduous ocean crossing. It took anywhere from eight to twelve weeks before reaching Philadelphia but never less than seven even with the best winds. Passenre packed densely like herrings without proper food and water and were subject to all sorts of diseases such as dysentery, scurvy, typhoid and smallpox. It was not uncommon for many of the passengers to die of hunger and exposure in their crowded quarters, or to be cheated by the merchants who arranged for passage and provisions - or by the captains who were supposed to make those provisions available. Sometimes survivors were forced to pay the costs of passage for those who had died en route and when they could not come up with the funds, they were sold into indentured servitude.
The following passage was extracted from the Kreider & Gingerich book "Amish and Amish Mennonite Genealogies" by Hugh F. Gingerich and Rachel W. Kreider, 1986, Pequea Publishers, Gordonsville, PA: "Little is known about the journeys of th people in their coming to America. According to Gottlieb Mittelberger, a German traveller, who came to America in 1750 and returned four years later, the journey was a frightful ordeal. He spoke of different customs houses along the Rhine River, each involving long delays and additional expense. In Rotterdam he observed that people were "packed into the big boats as closely as herring." He talked about the stench of fumes, dysentery, vomiting and scurvy. Filthy food and water were major problems, as were also lice, disease, and severe storms. Overcrowding gave way to stealing, cheating, cursing, and bitter arguments between children and parents, husbands and wives. Those who lacked the money to pay for their passage, including the sick, were held on board until their future labor was auctioned off to the highest bidder."
Once in Pennsylvania, the settlers generally moved outwards from Philadelphia and began the process of putting down agricultural roots. The Amish and Amish Mennonites lived amongst one another but kept separate; both were in turn interminth Lutheran and Reformed neighbors, usually also of German and Swiss origin. Gradually the Susquehanna Valley northwest of Philadelphia filled up. Crossings of that great river were established at Harris's Ferry (now Harrisburg) and Wright's Ferry (now Columbia). When the newcomers reached the Juniata River, geography began to steer them first westward and then increasingly toward the southwest. Soon the Great Valley would be beckoning them on to Virginia and further south.
HANS MEYER was a Mennonite and a farmer. He was taxed on 150 acres in Salford Township in 1734. He bought 216 acres in Upper Salford next to Christian Meyer on July 23, 1729 from Casper Wister and Isaac Pennington. He warranted 150 acres adelphia County on February 5, 1733, which was later vacated and not patented.
He was married before emigrating from Germany to America about 1722. He brought with him his eldest son Henry, then but a year old and probably the 4 older daughter, Barbara, Elizabeth, Anna and Hester. Unfortunately the ship's passenger t that date did not name children and wives.
Following is from Meyer book of 1896 authored by A. J. Fretz (page 332)...
The HANS MEYER homestead is situated on the south slope of the west branch of the Perkiomen creek, in the southern central part of Upper Salford township, about two miles east of Salfordville. The deed of Isaac Pennington and wife and Caster, to Hans Meyer, bears date July 23, 1729. The land was bounded as follows: "Beginning at a hickory tree at a corner of Derrick Johnson's land, thence N. E. by a line of marked trees 220 perches to a white oak, thence N. W. by a line of marked trees 177 perches to a black oak, then by a line of marked trees S. W. 140 perches to a post, then S. E. 30 perches to a post, then S. W. 80 perches to a post in a line of the said Derrick Johnson's land, then by the same S. E. 147 perches to the place of beginning, containing by estimation 216 acres, besides the usual allowance of 6 per cent. for roads."
The original homestead is owned and occupied by Jacob L. Moyer, a great-great grandson. The present house was built by Henry L. Moyer. The barn, built by Henry, son of Hans, in 1787, is still standing and is in good condition.
SOURCE of INFORMATION
MR. JOSEPH P. MYERS, Marietta, Georgia, USA.
|
1683 - 1748 (65 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set