I have mentioned William Byrd (II) in connection with the ship Oliver. His involvement came about in the following way.
He obtained a patent in 1735 for 100,000 acres on the Dan River in Virginia, on the condition that he settle at least one family for every 1,000 acres within two years. Securing 100 families was not easy, but Byrd felt that his contacts with John Ochs, a Swiss promoter, would be fruitful. The first attempt to induce settlers to come to Virginia in 1736 was unsuccessful. Then Byrd turned to the “ Heivetische Societät ” 1 in Berne. To promote the project in Switzerland, they published a booklet in 1737 entitled “Neu-gefundenes Eden” (New Found Eden), which described the land in Virginia. Like much promotional material, the booklet did not adhere strictly to the truth.
The Virginia agent of the Helvetian Society, Dr. Samuel Tschiffeli, had agreed to buy a large part of the Byrd property in his own name. Byrd used this to show the Virginia authorities that his partners were serious, and, thereby, he obtained an extension of time. Recruiting by the Helvetian Society was successful and the Society chartered a ship, the Oliver, to bring the colonists to Virginia. It was the only ship in the 1738 shipping season which was bringing emigrants from Europe to Virginia. The contingent from Freudenberg was taken on, in addition to the Switzers, even though Captain Walker felt that the ship could not carry that many passengers. Of the three hundred people who started the trip, fewer than one hundred survived the voyage. The worst part of the voyage, though it was only a small part of the whole ill-fated attempt, was the grounding and the sinking of the ship off the mouth of the James River in Virginia, after four months on the high seas. Both the Swiss and the Freudenberg emigrants were caught in the disaster. Of the eighteen family units from Freudenberg, only six are known to have any survivors.
Apparently, in addition to the Switzers and the Freudenberg people, some other Palatines were taken on board, even though these added passengers wanted to go to Pennsylvania. This was the case with the Vonderberg family, who had only one survivor.
There is a recorded story of one survivor who had an experience, much the same as Hans Devauld Vonderberg’s story, which was preserved through oral tradition. The sole survivor in the diary account of his own family was Samuel Suther. The Suther family of twelve people left their home on March 28, 1738. The only survivor was the boy Samuel. The father and two daughters died on the shores of England, spared the misery which was to come.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they encountered thirteen storms, taking from the beginning of September to the beginning of January to reach the shore of Virginia.
(20 Sep 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.