We looked at some of the motivations the Siegen area people had for leaving their homes. Next, I thought we would compare their motives to the motives of those who left in 1717, but ended up in Virginia.
All of those who left in 1717 intended to go to Pennsylvania. Understanding this helps to make their motives clearer. In the advertising for Pennsylvania, and in their limited knowledge of those who had gone to Pennsylvania, they saw an opportunity to improve their lives in an economic sense.
After the large exodus of 1709, the English had made it clear to the Germans along the Rhine River that they (the English) did not want more Germans to come. They actively discouraged emigration. In the first few years, only a few, not many, Germans went to Pennsylvania. Mostly they were Anabaptists, who were following the Hans Herr party. The Mennonites in Pennsylvania were actively recruiting more co-religionists to come to Pennsylvania. [The Siegen party did pass through London during this period headed for Virginia.]
In 1717, about one thousand Germans, from many different principalities, did decide to go to Pennsylvania. Their reasons were summed up by the pastor at Gemmingen, when he wrote in the death register:
"12 July 1717, the following listed parents, together with their children, expect to move away from here, wanting to take a ship to Pennsylvania, and there in the hardship of the wilderness better their piece of bread than they could here. Not just from here, however, but many people are leaving other villages as well, with the same intention."
[Translation by Johni Cerny and Gary Zimmerman in " Before Germanna ".]
The pastor then listed six families, including the two Smith families, the Weaver family, and the Clore family.
Just as the Siegen group ran into trouble in London, this group of about eighty people ran into trouble in London. These 1717 people signed on with Andrew Tarbett to take them to Pennsylvania in his ship, the Scott. Tarbett knew that Alexander Spotswood was looking for a shipload of Germans to populate his large land holdings beyond the western frontier. He, Tarbett, could obtain a good price for all of them by selling them as indentured servants. Spotswood winked at Tarbett and raised no questions about the injustice of the situation.
Several of these families had been on the move from Austria to Germany, and probably were not yet permanently settled in Germany. Going to Pennsylvania was a way for some of them to establish themselves. But all of them saw a brighter future in Pennsylvania, one that would justify the risk in going.
(09 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.