John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1797

" The Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York " report several statistics about the 1710 immigration into that state, all of whom were ‘Palatines’.  They give the occupations of the men, married and unmarried, as follows:

OCCUPATION Number
Husbandmen & Vine Dressers 830
Carpenters 68
Linen Weavers 49
Tailors 41
Masons 39
Smiths 35
Coopers and Brewers 34
Shoemakers 28
Bakers 22
Butchers 22
Millers 18
Joiners 16
Wheelwrights 11
OCCUPATION Number
Schoolmasters 8
Tanners 7
Saddlers 6
Tinoners (Dyers) 6
Brickmakers 3
Herdsmen 3
Hunters 3
Miners 3
Potters 3
Stocking Weavers 3
Lock Smiths 2
Surgeons 2
Statuary 1
TOTAL 1,232


Though this is a biased sample in the sense that these are the occupations that chose to leave Germany, it still gives us some insight into what life in Germany was like.  The first thought is that the majority of the people lived on and from the land.  These are the people who grew the food.  Since about two of every three people were doing this, one sees that a farmer did not produce an abundance of food.  The surplus production, beyond the family’s consumption, of two farmers could also feed a third family.  If it was a bad year for crops, hunger might not be long in following.
(05 Nov 03)

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.