Recently notes have talked about cultural aspects of the Germanic groups and this note is a little variation on that theme. Tomorrow, I will be at the Hans Herr House in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania where I am a volunteer tour guide. This house was built in 1719 and is the oldest building in Lancaster County. But perhaps it is more important as the oldest Mennonite meeting house in the Americas.
Hans Herr was a leader (Bishop, it is said) of a group of Mennonites who came in 1710. Upon landing at Philadelphia, they marched west until they were beyond European civilization and well within the Indian civilization. They went this far because they wanted lots of good land. They were not afraid of the frontier, a characteristic also displayed by the Germanna settlers.
In 1719, Christian, the son of Hans, built the large home known now as the Hans Herr House. They did not copy any of the styles to be found in America. Christian copied the designs of medieval southwest Germany architecture. Even down to the present, cultural change has come very slowly in this area, known as Pennsylvania Dutch country. Characteristics from Germanic life of several centuries ago are still to be seen.
One of the elements that is remarkable is the cooperation of the family in which all members contribute as they can. Some of these efforts amaze us, the outsiders. I have seen teenage girls, barefoot but in long dresses, driving a team of mules to harrow the ground. People work where the effort is needed.
As I take visitors through the house, I ask the younger generation if the Herrs had running water. The answer I usually get is, "No." Then I say, "Take these buckets and run down to the spring and get some water." This usually gets a chuckle but it doesn't take much to amuse some of us. On this same theme, I cite the harvest where even the youngest children may have the job of carrying water to those who are working hard, especially those swinging the scythes. Children would have the job of gathering up the cut grain into bundle-sized lots. More skilled children would tie these bundles with some of the grain itself and put them into a shock. Later, the bundles are taken to the barn to be threshed the next winter.
Some of the slightly older boys would cut up the larger pieces of wood for the fireplace and the "Stube" (stove), and keep a pile beside the fireplace ready for use. Girls would be helping in the kitchen by preparing food and tending the fire. Butter had to be churned. Milking was probably done by the girls. The boys had to round up the cows and bring them in. Spinning was a time-consuming art. In the late summer and fall, food had to be prepared for the winter. Apples were cut up for drying, spread in the sun and turned. Someone had to watch that the livestock did not get into the apples that were spread out. The common theme is that everyone helped out.
It is said that German women were popular with the English as wives just because the German women were willing workers in all kinds of situations. They did what had to be done. When the Germans first settled in Schoharie in New York, they had no draft animals. To plow the land, they tied ropes or vines to the plow and the women, in mass, pulled the plow.
If any of you are going to be around the Hans Herr House tomorrow, do drop by and take the tour. It is worth your time. We even get many visitors from Germany who have heard that it is worth seeing.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.