During the 1700's, the number of emigrants varied tremendously with the years. When the numbers were high, this led to problems in transporting them. Quite independently of this question, the winds and the weather did not always cooperate. The year 1738 was very adverse for German emigrants because so many decided to leave in that year and the weather was not cooperative. As a result, the year of 1738 became known as the year of the destroying angels, a reference to Psalm 78, verse 49.
At the start of the eighteenth century, ignoring the year of 1709 when more than 10,000 Germans set out for the New World, the groups were small. Trans-atlantic travel did not excite the shippers and the emigrants were left to arrange many of the details themselves. There was usually a common pattern to the migration. People found their way down the Rhine River toward Rotterdam. At Rotterdam, they found a ship to England, usually London. In England, they had to search for another ship to carry them on to America.
This was much the pattern for both the First and Second Germanna Colonies. They managed to get to London, and in London they found another ship. For different reasons, both Colonies had troubles in London. The First Colony had been expecting to meet Graffenried, or at least to meet a representative, who would help them with the next leg. Graffenried was tardy, and furthermore he was broke. By agreeing in advance to work for Spotswood (who knew nothing of the arrangements at this time), they were able to book passage on a ship leaving in the month of January. The Second Colony struck a bargain with a captain to take them to Pennsylvania. The captain was then thrown in the debtor's prison and a delay ensued before he could secure his release. No doubt, the Second Colony left late in the year also.
With the passage of time, the shippers observed that they were carrying more raw material back to England than they were carrying goods or people to America. In order to catch the maximum number of German emigrants, British shippers opened offices in Rotterdam and Amsterdam to catch the emigrants at the source. They even did more as they recruited within Germany. Their main agents were people known as "new-landers." These were Germans who had come home for visits or trading purposes. For every emigrant that a newlander steered to a shipper, the newlander built up credits against the cost of his own return passage or of the freight on his goods.
The ships were required to visit an English port after they left Holland and before they departed for America. London was not a favored location because it was out of the way. One very popular station was Cowes on the Isle of Wight, just south of Portsmouth on the southern coast of England. In America, when the ship's master reported where his ship was from, it is this "refueling" or provisioning point that he gave. This has confused many descendants of Germans because their ancestor arrived on a ship from an English port. It is very unlikely that the ships took on additional passengers at these refueling stops.
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.