In the previous note, I examined how often ships repeated the trans-Atlantic crossing carrying German emigrants. Generally, they were not repeaters. Prior to that study, I had made a smaller study of the ship masters, or captains as we usually call them. I arrived at a similar conclusion, namely that there were very few repeaters among the captains. Inexperience was typical.
The period of the study of the ship masters was 1727 to 1741, when 89 ships docked at Philadelphia carrying Germany immigrants. Of the 89 captains of these ships, two men were regulars. In this interval, Hugh Percy came six times, always on the ship Samuel , one of the larger ships. He was equaled by John Stedman who used the ship Pennsylvania Merchant , later renamed the Saint Andrew . James Allen came twice, David Crocket came three times, Walter Goodman came three times, James Marshall came twice, Samuel Merchant came twice, Edward Painter came twice, Daniel Reid came twice, Charles Stedman came three times, and William Vittery came twice.
Fifty-eight masters came only once. Thirty-five of the dockings had a captain who had repeated, or was to repeat, the trip. In other words, a lack of experience was typical. The qualification to be a captain was probably only that he could bring the ship in to the desired port.
This inexperience was probably responsible for the generally poor conditions on board the ships.
Two of the captains, the Stedman brothers, were known to, and favored by, the Germans. They had a favorable reputation with the Germans. Experience and quality of the ship may have made the difference. Since the ships made regular voyages carrying Germans, perhaps the ships were better equipped.
Conditions on board ships and upon arrival in Philadelphia were so bad that a group was formed to protect German immigrants. That was the
German Society of Pennsylvania
, which still exists and functions today. The program or aims of the Society have changed over the course of time, but it still exists.
(16 Feb 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.