Up to 1709, few Germans had emigrated to America. It started with the group that founded Germantown in Philadelphia in 1683, to which there were additions through the years, but certainly nothing very large. Then in 1708, Joshua Kocherthal led a small group (41 people) who claimed to be refugees of the war in the Palatinate. They had sought support from the English government, but none was forthcoming. Nevertheless, they continued on the way, seeking aid from people along the way. Thus, they became an advance publicity team for those who came in later years. At Rotterdam, they obtained passage to London from the English. In London, the party renewed its solicitation for help and some ministers decided they should have help to include a few additional Germans who came late. The place to which they were sent was the Hudson River and the project was naval stores to justify the expense of sending them.
This was a semi-official project with support and objectives determined by the government. At first it went well, but within a few months there was a change of administration due to death. Kocherthal found himself in financial straits. Seeing no relief in New York, he decided to return to England to plead his case. In December 1709, he appeared before the Board of Trade with a proposal for viticulture. He argued that the eventual return from vineyards could be more profitable to the Crown than sugar or tobacco.
At the time that Kocherthal was in London, the city was inundated with thousands of Germans who were seeking transportation to America. Many observers assumed that Kocherthal was in some way related to these Germans, but, in fact, it was mostly a coincidence. To a small extent, his departure from Germany a year before had been a publicity vanguard for the concept of emigration to America. Much more telling, he had written a "Report" in 1706 which encouraged Germans to consider the New World. In 1709, four more printings of this booklet were made, but this was not done by him.
Kocherthal returned to New York without having gained much support from the English government. His group merged with the 1709 group and had a similar history in the years ahead.
(18 Jun 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.