As I have been discussing social conditions in Hesse, perhaps you have felt that it did not apply to “your people”. We do have the comments of one Johannes Wilhelm Hoffman, which might be taken as “closer to home”. Wilhelm Hoffman was the younger brother of John Huffman (1714 Colony) and of Henry Huffman (1743 immigrant who lived close to John in the Robinson River Valley). Wilhelm also emigrated to America, but he chose to live in Pennsylvania, not in Virginia. Our interest in him centers on his diary and account book, which has been preserved (now in The Library of Congress). I am using a translation by Charles T. Zahn.
The book is better described as an account book, not as a diary. William was very selective about what he entered into the book. He especially entered the services he performed for others plus the taxes and fines he paid. The book begins in 1733, when he was 21, with a prayer, which makes it clear that he was a dedicated member of the Reformed Church and that he regarded the Catholics very unfavorably, as even worse than the “Turks”. The source of much of his grief was that he lived in Eisern in an area which was controlled by the Catholics. The head of the government had been the Catholic prince of Nassau, who lived in the Upper Castle in Siegen. (After the prince had beheaded one of the citizens early in the century, the administration of the area was given to the Archbishop of Cologne by the Emperor.)William tried to rationalize life by saying that God had ordained overlords to rule over the peasants, and to require services from the peasants at the overlord's command. He continued that, whereas God had made him a peasant in this fatherland which had Catholic rulers, he hoped to live in peace with good health and fortune. "Therefore, I, Johannes Wilhelm Hoffman, from Eysern, intend to record the services I give to the overlords." Among the services he had or expected to perform were mowing, making hay, hauling wood from the forest, hunting, and military service. Since he did own a horse, many of the services involved the horse.
Two of the services seemed to have a very adverse effect on Wilhelm. He had to perform military service and he had to quarter soldiers in his house. Quartering of soldiers was a burden that fell almost exclusively upon the Reformed Church members. He did not spell out the wars clearly, but foreign troops and citizens from other regions were involved.
Fines were levied for different causes. Wilhelm and his fellow church members spent a lot of time in appealing these fines. Great turmoil ensued whenever an overlord died and before the successor was determined. The Reformed Church members were fined whenever they held school on Catholic saint days. Though much of the burden which befell Wilhelm was because he was a Reformed member, he never wavered in his faith, or considered changing it.
(From number 3 issue of volume 9 of Beyond Germanna.)
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.