In general, among the early Germans in Pennsylvania, poverty was the rule. It was noted that, when visitors arrived at a farm, the children were sometimes hidden because they did not have adequate clothing. Bare feet were the norm. Sometimes the parents kept the children from church because the parents felt the children did not have suitable clothing. One mother did not prepare for twins, and when faced with two babies found she did not have enough clothing. Poverty should not be taken negatively. Getting established in America was a difficult task and most families could point to steady improvements in their living conditions. And they could expect to leave a good estate to their children.
The livestock on the farm included horses, cows, sheep, fowl, and hogs. Horses were more common in Pennsylvania than in neighboring colonies. In any case, the horses were more common in America than in Germany where the beasts of burden were usually cattle. On a typical 125 acre farm, about 26 acres were devoted to raising grain for man, beast, and cash. About nine acres were used for flax, vegetables, and fruits. The meadow, for pasturage and hay, contained about 14 acres. Thus, about fifty acres was needed to maintain the family and its animals. This was also about as much as one family could farm. At the start when the farm was first settled, it was a challenge to have enough land to meet the needs. But only about three acres could be cleared per year.
The German-speaking people raised more churches than the English-speaking people in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of these churches had ministers in the pulpits. When the Moravian missionaries appeared in the remote regions, they found a joyful welcome. A service might be called in a barn or, weather permitted, outdoors. The word spread fast of an upcoming service and it could be expected to be well attended. Muhlenberg noted that the congregation was often cold, wet, and thinly dressed. Without ministers, services in the home were used. Barbara Leinbach wrote, "We lived very retired and cut off from the world. My father held devotions with us children and trained us in singing and prayer."
The motivation for attending church was not entirely spiritual. Church was a social occasion when one could meet neighbors. Living in a very isolated condition during the week, a Sunday service was an occasion to get news and to find out how others were doing.
Life in the homes was very crowded. The Christian Muffley family of ten people (in 1798) lived in a house measuring 24 by 30 feet. There may have been some sleeping space in the loft. Typically a house was not crowded by a lot of furniture. John Dietrich, ten years after his marriage, and with five children under ten, had three chests, six chairs, and one table. There was a total of three beds. In the kitchen, there were two iron pots, two iron kettles, a tea kettle, a coffeepot, and a frying pan. There was no mention of lamps, lanterns, earthenware plates, pewter, wooden bowls, knifes, spoons, or forks.
(29 Nov 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.