The people who influenced Franz Daniel Pastorius in Frankfurt were the followers of Phillip Jacob Spener, who in turn had been influenced by William Penn. In August of 1677, in anticipation of his claim to Pennsylvania, William Penn was on his second trip along the Rhine River. He had multiple motivations including the sale of his land in Pennsylvania and the advancement of the Quaker religion. His major themes were piece and happiness in America, free of religious or superior authority.
The Pietists, who were dissatisfied with the religious situation and wanted more freedom in the Protestant teachings, were the first to decide to follow Penn's calling and to emigrate to a new, unspoiled country. They joined the Frankfurt Land Company with the goal of acquiring land in America and helping the emigrants.
Pastorius was fascinated by the plan to emigrate. He became a member of the Land Company, working toward achieving its goals. The other members recognized his ability and devotion to the cause and made him the Secretary of the Frankfurt Land Company.
Had it not been for Pastorius, the whole scheme would probably have failed. As the date for emigration grew closer, the original members started selling their memberships. Speculators entered the picture, but without a desire to emigrate themselves. Pastorius had to look hard for replacements. He traveled widely to spread the thought of the original purposes. In Krefeld he stayed with a Mennonite family and worked closely with the Mennonites. Perhaps they were more receptive because, like William Penn's Quakers, they did not believe in oaths, original sin, christenings, or military action. Because they did not believe in military actions, their fellow citizens did not trust them. Under these conditions, the arguments of Pastorius were well received.
Pastorius went on to Rotterdam, where there were both Quakers and Mennonites. He conferred with Penn's agents, Benjamin Furley and Jakob Teiner, who had good connections with the Quakers in London and New York. Rather quickly, Pastorius went on to London and then to America, where he arrived at Philadelphia on 20 August 1683. There, he reached an agreement with Penn about land for the immigrants. Hard on the heels of Pastorius was a group of families, largely Mennonites, who arrived in October.
Pastorius had 6,000 acres of land from Penn for the immigrants to settle on. This was about six miles northwest of original Philadelphia (now a part of present-day Philadelphia). Forty-four had left Germany but forty-five arrived in Pennsylvania even after one death on the trip.
(07 Jan 04)
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.