I used the name FOLG in the last Note and I wish now that I had used VOLCK in its place. I could have added to the list of reasons that people had for emigrating by 1710, the sad state of political affairs in Nassau-Siegen, where two rulers of opposite faiths used the same town as their base. The conflict between the two was so strong that the economic health of the region was very sick.
By 1709, there were good reasons for emigration throughout Germany, and there had been for several years. Yet there had been no emigration to America in spite of the offer of William Penn to sell land cheaply with a free exercise of religion. When one looks at the situation in the Kraichgau, for example, the invasions by the French had been very destructive. This is confirmed by the state of the Church books where so many were lost and had to be started anew.
Land was becoming very scarce and those who "owned" land were hard pressed to divide it into viable units to give to their children. The rulers were trying to raise taxes and the conflicts between the rulers and the "citizens" were increasing. It had been about thirty years since Penn had started recruiting people, yet his efforts had been remarkably unsuccessful. Today, we might wonder why his efforts had not yielded more than the relatively small group who founded Germantown (now in Philadelphia).
When one studies the situation more closely, it will be found that people were emigrating, but not to America. A significant number were moving east overland. What they were not doing was moving west over the Atlantic Ocean. The feeling against moving west was very strong for a number of reasons. There were many unknowns. How does one do it? How much does it cost? How can one finance it? Is it really a good opportunity? Is it safe to cross the ocean? (Would one fall off the edge?) The answers to these questions were unknowns and people sought what they felt was the relative safety of the land journeys to the east.
One small group of Anabaptists undertook a trip to Pennsylvania in 1709. They had to solve their problems as they went. They did make it to Pennsylvania and they very quickly found that it was desirable. (They were in fact the start of the Pennsylvania "Dutch".) Very quickly they started doing two things: They wrote home, and they sent an emissary to Germany to recruit more of their fellow citizens. One of the early Anabaptists was Hans Herr who lived on the farm adjacent to Wagenbach where the Volcks and Utzes lived. The word that it could be done and how to do it quickly spread and before long Reformed, Lutheran, and more Anabaptists were streaming into Pennsylvania. The best mechanism for selling the American colonies was the letters that the early emigrants to America wrote back home. People listened to friends. (11 Nov 05)
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.