In the discussion at the close of the last note, a number of places in America were mentioned by people involved with the emigration of the Germans from Siegen. I failed to mention one other place, New York, where Rev. Häger's son was already in residence. So, the Germans had heard the names of at least six Colonies in America. It is doubtful that they had a clear picture of where they were headed, except that it was "across the ocean".
Willis Kemper could have advanced our understanding of why the Germans left Siegen, but he did not. A powerful motive is necessary to induce people to sell their homes, and undertake a trip which would last the best part of a year. What did induce the Germans to leave? It was not iron! It was not Spotswood! They were to mine silver, but what was their reward to be? Or, as we say today, "What was the payoff for them?" This question remains unanswered.
We do know that Albrecht, the recruiter, signed an agreement in 1711 with the Protestant ministers in Siegen. In this, he agreed to pay a goodly sum from the profits of the mines to the ministers for their help in recruiting people. Did these ministers exert pressure on people to immigrate? (Incidentally, the date of this agreement shows that he, Albrecht, had been working for some time by then in recruiting, without success. Was he, as we do today, paying "headhunters" to find the people?) Knowing that Albrecht was having difficulty in recruiting, and that he was willing to pay good money to obtain people, was the inducement to the immigrants a promise of good pay?
Kemper claims that Siegen was one of the thriftiest and most intelligent provinces of Germany (if it could be said that a province has thrift and intelligence). He offers NO evidence for his claim, but, by his statement, casts slurs on other provinces of equally good names. Sheer politeness would indicate that it would be better to say nothing.
Kemper also claims that the recruits were Master Mechanics, but leaves the term undefined. By the standards of the early eighteenth century, a "Master" has a defined meaning. I know that Johann Jacob Richter was a Master "Steel Smith", or "Toolsmith". But, several of the members were young men, who would not have been able to complete a Master's training at their age. They may have been in training , but they were not yet "Masters".
Of course, a pastor and a schoolteacher are not usually referred to as Master. So let me ask the question, "Can anyone name a 'Master' besides Richter?"
The emigrants are often referred to also as miners but as I have asked before, without any response, " Can anyone in the First Colony be identified as a miner ?"
We have far more questions than we have answers, but one would hardly know it from the false claims of Willis Kemper. It would be better to throw out all of his wild statements, and to get down to serious work.
(10 Jan 02)
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.