The ships arriving at Philadelphia were so loaded with sick people that the council decided that no one could be put ashore until the ship was cleared by doctors. It was strongly suggested that the captains rent houses outside of the city where passengers could recuperate without spreading their sickness to the residents.
Fifteen leading citizens in Philadelphia formed a committee to compile a comprehensive account of what had happened and to see if measure could not be taken to prevent a recurrence of the events. Many witnesses were called to testify and thus the events of 1738 are documented in better than average fashion. One objective was to warn prospective emigrants of the dangers of the trip.
Though the year of 1738 had been bad, people could still recall singular episodes from the past which, individually, were perhaps worse. Four years earlier, the "Love and Unity" had lost two-thirds of its Palatine passengers from starvation. The voyage had taken nine months and during the last stages of it a lively trade in mice and rats had developed. In another singular event, a ship with English passengers was wrecked on the New England coast with a loss of more than one hundred people.
Late in the year, the situation was summarized by the committee,
"However, this year the sea has held quite a different harvest, because by moderate reckoning, more than 1800 died on the 14 ships arrived till now. While there are still two missing, we have reasons to assume them lost for they have been at sea for more than 24 weeks."
The ship "Davy," one of the 14, arrived on October 25th. The captain, both mates, and 160 passengers died at sea. It was the ship's carpenter, William Patton, who brought the ravaged vessel up the Delaware River. Patton listed 74 men, 37 women, and no children as the remaining passengers, but only 40 of the men were well enough to come to the courthouse.
John Stedman was the favorite captain of the Germans. He had conducted several trips across the Atlantic bringing Germans. He was so well thought of in previous years, that several Germans had written home recommending his ships. This year he did not come into port until October 29, the conclusion of a voyage lasting twelve weeks during which 120 passengers had died. Captain John Stedman was so unnerved by the trip that he refused to take another emigrant transport. He had a brother, esteemed almost as highly, who as a captain lost about 240 of his 300 initial passengers. He also lost mates and sailors and lay near death himself.
Not all of the ships have been accounted for. At least two are still at sea. But this mini-series will close for now. After the second part of "The Year of the Destroying Angeles - 1738" has appeared in Beyond Germanna, I will return with more material on this topic.
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.