Looking at some of the individuals who made the trip from Siegen to London, there is one family to whom we might ascribe a motive with some certainty. That is Rev. Häger, whose son had arrived in New York in 1710. All of the family that remained in Germany consisted of Rev. Häger, his wife, and his two young daughters. If all of these went to the New World, the living members of the family could be reunited. This was certainly a motivation. It was not an easy decision to make, for Rev. Häger was about 70 years old, retired, and, it was thought, not in the best of health. If he died, then his wife would be left to care for the two daughters.
Possibly, Rev. Häger had been influenced by the Protestant pastors in Siegen. They had signed an agreement with Albrecht in which they were to receive money from the profits of the mine. Perhaps they, the Siegen pastors, had encouraged Rev. Häger to go as an encouragement toward the recruiting of the other individuals. The Häger family seems to have been giving up a comfortable life as a retired family. They had a house with servants. If anyone in the group had a reason for not leaving, the Häger family could claim the prize.
Another family who would seem to have little reason for going was the Jacob Holzklau family. He held a job as a school teacher, and was probably farming. It would not seem that he was under any economic pressure. But, like the Hägers, there were family reasons. The family of Margaret Holzklau, Jacob’s wife, seems to have been going "in masse". (These were the Otterbachs.) So, perhaps the Holtzclaws and the Hägers were primarily motivated by family reasons. They went either to keep a family united, or to be reunited with family members.
Hans Jacob Richter earned his admission to the Guild of Steelsmiths and Toolmakers in 1712. To be admitted, presumably as a Master, meant he had studied the craft for many years. The existing members of the guild did not admit members freely to the guild, since the primary purpose of the guild was to ensure a comfortable living for the members. They did not want too much competition. Someone who had won the status of Master could expect a comfortable living. So why did Jacob Rector leave Trupbach? Again, one reason is family. Jacob Richter had married Elizabeth Fischbach, and the Fischbach family was leaving.
So of the first three families that we have examined, it would appear that none of them had a pressing economic reason for leaving. The three families seem to be trying to keep a family united, or to reunite a family. This leaves the basic reasons with the Otterbachs and the Fischbachs, and we will look at them in another note, but I will not promise any answers. Incidentally, both the Otterbach and the Fischbach families lived in Trupbach. Trupbach itself, from the historical description, seems to have been a small, quiet village, basically of farmers.
(03 Apr 01)
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.