PageBlankenbaker.html

Edenkoben / Pfalz Information

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhs14.html

Germanna istory Noes Page 14

by John Blankenbaker.

(This Page Was Last Modified Wednesday, 06-Apr-2011 15:39:44 MDT.)

Search John's Notes, or This Entire Web Site.

This is the FOURTEENTH page of John BLANKENBAKER's series of Short Notes on GERMANNA History, which were originally posted to the GERMANNA_COLONIES Discussion List. Each page contains 25 Notes.

(See bottom of this page for Links to all Notes pages.)

This Page Contains Notes 326 through 350.

[See Edkoben notes on this page]

GERMANNA History Notes

Page 14

(If the text on this and other pages on this website isn't large enough, click here to see how to increase the size.)

(If you wish to print only part of this page, and not the entire page, click here for instructions.)

Nr. 326:

On the 24th and the 25th of April, the Pennsylvania chapter of the Palatines to America held their spring conference with Dr. Alfred Hans Kuby as the featured speaker. Dr. Kuby lives in Edenkoben, in the Palatinate. He is known as a minister, historian, and genealogist. In one talk, he gave glimpses of life in Edenkoben during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Around 1670, Edenkoben had 500 inhabitants. As a result of the Thirty Years' War the population had been greatly reduced from earlier numbers and it was many decades before the population was rebuilt. One way in which the population was rebuilt was by emigration from other Germanic regions.

Dr. Kuby documents that between 1653, shortly after the end of the war, and 1699, there was a total of 50 families who came from Switzerland to Edenkoben. (One of these families has a Germanna name, Amberger, but I would not claim there was any relationship to the Germanna family.)

In 1715, three families came from French regions, one family came from Flemish regions, one from Italy, and one from another German region. There was therefore a wide diversity of people living in Edenkoben.

In the next year, the pattern was similar. Perhaps there is a connection to the large number who emigrated from German regions in 1717, as these movements of people may have indicated very unsettled conditions.

The ruler of the Palatinate was Catholic and that was the favored religion. If one wanted to hold a public office, one must be a Catholic; however, a majority of the people were Reformed and a smaller number were Lutheran. There were difficulties for the Protestants but the climate was not oppressive. The Protestants had to observe the Catholic holy days. They could not do any work on these days, not even washing clothes at home. If they were caught, they were fined, with the fine going to the Catholic Church.

We now know that many of our Germanna people have origins outside the region from whence they migrated to America. For example, Christopher Zimmerman's ancestors came from the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. As you climb the Willheit tree, you find Swiss origins for some of the people. Many of the Germanna families had ancestors who had migrated into Germanic regions from other places. The Blankenbakers, for example, started on a path that originated in Austria and stopped first in Bavaria before moving west, close to the Rhine River, on lands of the Bishops of Speyer (now Baden). The Harnsbergers appear to have emigrated directly from Switzerland to Virginia but one cannot be sure that they did not do this is a two-stage move. They may have moved to a "German" region but left almost immediately for the New World.

Nr. 327:

In 1670, Edenkoben in the Palatinate had a population of about five hundred. This number was less than in previous times due to the ravages of the Thirty Years' War. Immigration from Switzerland, France, and other German regions helped the city grow. Let us say that by the early 1700's, the population was up to one thousand.

Disease and sickness limited the growth rate. In the Spring of 1735, 37 people died of a plague; in 1743, 32 died. During the first two and a half months of 1750, 26 children died, the oldest of whom was seven. In 1755, 31 children died in four months. In 1762, 64 passed away during the first half of the year. In 1768, from February to August, 50 people died, including 30 children. In 1783, a total of 135 people succumbed, which was 48 more than were born that year. Small pox was the chief culprit for the children.

I am taking the numbers from a talk at the Pennsylvania chapter meeting of Palatines to America by Dr. Alfred Hans Kuby, a life long resident of Edenkoben, who has researched the church and civil records to unfold the history. Dr. Kuby makes the point that as the town rebuilt its population it grew very crowded. Land around the town was needed for grazing, grain, and grapes. It is no wonder that the reports of "lots of cheap land" and "free exercise of religion" by agents for William Penn were received so receptively.

As to the state of education, in 1721, an order was issued to the larger communities, such as Edenkoben, to employ a school girl to motivate other girls to learn to read and write. This implies that the boys were compelled, and girls were encouraged, to go to school.

Many years there were general crop failures. This made an extreme hardship for the citizens since taxes went on and on. One tax in 1730 was a per capita assessment to pay the costs for the Prince Elector to build an enormous castle at Mannheim (housing Mannheim University today). The Prince was called an Elector because he was one of the limited number of people who voted on the election of the German Emperor. At the time, Heidelberg was the capital city of Kurpfalz, which we know today as the Palatinate.

A government order of 1749 prohibited citizens from leaving for Pennsylvania without official permission. Included in the prohibition was a ban on selling property by those who had permission. The order may have been in response to the large number of people who wanted to leave. In the three years from 1749 to 1752, almost 70 people did leave for Pennsylvania. A major reason was poor economic conditions arising from bad weather. The minor religious oppressions were a factor also.

Ludwig Walter led a cow across the street during the Catholic church services on St. Mary's Ascension day. He was fined one Florin to be paid to the Catholic church. Other recorded fines included ones for turning the hay (to dry) and hanging laundry.

Nr. 328:

The question has been asked as to how land was transferred from the Indians to the settler. I had mentioned that some of the Germans in New York had purchased land directly from the Indians. This was not a normal sequence of events.

Generally, the colonial governments and the English crown took the attitude that the land belonged to the Indians. There were flaws in their thinking because the English King claimed authority over all of America north of Florida up to the French in Canada. There were recognized Indian nations.

In Pennsylvania, it was a major point that the Colony would only allow settlement on land that the Colony had purchased from the Indians. In the later periods at least, New York followed a similar policy. In Virginia, there were treaties which recognized boundaries between the Indians and the Europeans. Because there were "considerations" in these treaties, they might be considered as purchase agreements.

In 1722, Gov. Spotswood sailed to Albany, New York, to attend a major conference with the Indians. There were representatives of Pennsylvania and New York at this meeting which lasted for many weeks. As a result of this, the Six Nations of Indians agreed to stay to the west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, while the Europeans were permitted to travel on the west side along the Warrior's path, but the Shenandoah Valley was not to be settled by the whites.

This is often the story of westward expansion. Lines were drawn which were to be the limit of white settlement. Many times the King or the colonial governments tried to enforce this. But invariably the settlers went ahead of the land purchases from the Indians. This left the government with the task of procuring the land from the Indians which the Europeans had already settled. It was embarrassing to the colonial government because of the violations of the treaties. They also wanted to enforce the idea that the Indians sold to the colonial governments, and they in turn sold to the settlers. (As a part of these sales, quit rents were collected indefinitely.)

I mentioned that the Germans along the Hudson River in New York purchased land directly from the Indians at Schoharie. This land had not yet come under the control of the New York colony. It upset them very much and they threatened the Germans with eviction, and the Germans could not obtain a title through the colony.

Among these Germans was the Weiser family. Young Conrad Weiser, a teenager, went to live with the Indians for a while. He learned their language and came to appreciate their way of life. Later the Weiser family moved to Pennsylvania. He was trusted by both the Indians and the whites and he was present at all major conferences to aid in presenting the case of each side. (One of Conrad's daughters became the wife of Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, the great Lutheran leader.)

It is my feeling, but not buttressed by any extensive research, that the Germans accepted the Indians as equals and could live harmoniously with them.

Incidentally, when Gov. Spotswood returned from the conference at Albany, he found that he was no longer governor. He moved from Williamsburg to his new home at Germanna where he was planning to develop his vast empire of more than 100,000 acres, most of which lay to the west of Germanna in the region which the Indians had just conceded to Virginia.

If anyone else can add to or correct the story here, please speak up.

Nr. 329:

The Hans Herr House has a "root cellar." When I taking people around the house and we are in the cellar, I ask them to name what might be found here along about December 15 when Christian Herr lived in the house (he died in 1750). One of the choices that about half the people say is "potatoes." Of course, this is the reason I ask them. I have led them into a wrong answer and therefore the point is reinforced. But in the early eighteenth century, the potato was not trusted by Europeans. Its place was taken by other root vegetables such as the turnip, carrot, parsnip, and rutabaga.

I have read a will of the time, in which the author commands his son to grow one-quarter acre of turnips each year for his mother. Another vegetable which was extremely popular was cabbage.

Dr. Kuby, in his remarks about Edenkoben, makes a few comments about diet. He had been asked, "What did the people eat during the eighteenth century?" His response was that in the nineteenth century it was potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By then, the potato was accepted. It started coming in use late in the second half of the eighteenth and by the nineteenth century was in widespread use. By then, the Europeans were so dependent on it that a crop failure was a disaster.

But in the eighteenth century, a better answer to the question of what people ate was "our daily bread." Grains that were used were rye, spelt, and oats. Grains, millet and barley, were also used to make a pulp. They added lentils, peas, beans, carrots, onions, and white and red cabbage. They had butter and made cheese. Everybody drank wine but most people also drank milk. Most meals were without meat. Occasionally they had a chicken and very often they had eggs. In November or at Christmas they might have a goose.

For treats, the Jewish merchant sold herrings. Other treats were chestnuts, almonds, apples, and pears.

Meat was not common; taste buds were more often satisfied by wine. Though almost everyone drank wine, they probably had fewer drunkards than nowadays.

A special food was "Latwerg," a kind of jam, made from Damson plums and spices. Since they did not have the right kind of Damson plum in Pennsylvania, they used apples and produced that Pennsylvania Dutch speciality, apple butter.

Dr. Kuby's comments have a special reference to Edenkoben whose history he has studied in great depth. I believe that we could modify his comments to apply to America in the following way. Because of the availability of land, it was feasible to grow more animals. Hence, meat became more prominent in the diet. Grapes were not as plentiful and wine was reduced in importance. Apples were much more abundant. These were cut up and dried and by this technique they lasted many months. Much cider was made and it sometimes turned hard. Often it was distilled to make a very alcoholic drink for consumption and for sale. Fruit had another purpose, fattening of animals in the fall of the year. Hogs could find enough food in the forest that no special effort or attention was required during most of the year. But as fall came, if the hogs had not found the orchards, they were driven in to clean up the fruit on the ground.

Nr. 330:

One of the most frequently asked questions is, "Where do I find the ship's list of passengers?" The answer in the eighteenth century is that unless you are talking about Philadelphia, there are no passenger lists. However, many of the Germanna people came through Philadelphia. For example, we have Andreas Gar who arrived at Philadelphia, lived for a while at Germantown, and then moved to the Robinson River community.

In Pennsylvania, three ships in 1717 carrying 363 Palatines arrived at Philadelphia. Klaus Wust puts the number at a higher level than this, saying that perhaps one thousand "Palatines" left that year. (We do know that seventy-odd of these people who intended to go to Pennsylvania did not make it. Instead the captain highjacked them and took them to Virginia.) In Pennsylvania, Gov. William Keith was concerned that so many "foreigners" were immigrating. The Council ordered that the captains turn in lists of names of the people that they had brought. The order may have been too late, as many of the passengers may have dispersed already. We do know that no lists have survived of these passengers.

For the next ten years, the order of the Council was ignored even though the ships were bringing in an increasing number of immigrants from "foreign" parts. A new governor in 1726, Patrick Gordon, was concerned at the number of people who were entering without the permission of the Crown. (Of course, William Penn had made a determined effort to get people from Germany to come to Pennsylvania.) Gordon was also upset that some of these people settled on land without making any application to the Proprietor who now owned the land. He was perhaps even thinking of the Tulpehocken settlers who came in the back door from Schoharie in New York and settled on the western lands beyond the general limits of civilization at the time.

Gordon started enforcing the existing law and added the requirement that these foreigners must take an oath of Allegiance to King George II, including signing their name. These names were entered into the minutes of the Council.

The first 43 oath lists are preserved in the "Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania," sometimes called the "Colonial Records." These lists are incomplete as many of the passengers were too sick to attend the ceremony. Other lists have been published in the "Pennsylvania Archives", where many of the captain's lists are also to be found. One might think that the Captain's lists and the oath lists would duplicate each other but there are differences.

The captains did not always follow the same rules in preparing their lists. Some only listed males above the age of sixteen. Some listed all family members. If the male head of the family died on the trip, the odds are that the rest of the family will not be listed. The only rule of regularity is that each captain prepared his list according to his own rules.

In addition to the captain's list and the loyalty oath, there were naturalization lists. With all of this information, one might think it would be possible to compose a complete list of the Philadelphia immigrants in the eighteenth century (after 1727). Two extensive compilations have been made, but we'll talk about those in the next note.

My understanding of his subject has been helped by hearing a presentation by Annette K. Burgert. Using lists of emigrants from German sources, she has pioneered in matching emigrants to immigrants. She has become very familiar with the Pennsylvania lists.

Nr. 331:

More than one hundred years ago, Daniel Rupp compiled a list of names of foreign immigrants who came through Philadelphia in the years 1727 to 1776. The earlier date was determined by the time that Pennsylvania enforced the laws pertaining to registration of foreign immigrants. The later date was the start of the Rev. War, which halted immigration temporarily. His compilation included about 30,000 names, hence the title, "A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, and other Immigrants to Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776." For short, the book is referred to as "Thirty Thousand Names."

Rupp assumed that the information in the different lists, such as the captain's lists, the loyalty oath lists, and the naturalization lists contained the same names and so he used only one set. As a consequence, his set of names is not as complete as it could be. He had to translate many of the German signatures, and, in the process, made errors. He also committed the crime of reordering the lists. In his time, it was not recognized that there was much information in the order of the names. He used a few sources of information other than the three lists above, and some of his suggestions have led to arguments. The book has been reprinted and is nearly always available.

The "Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series", in volume XVII, expanded upon Rupp's work by using the Captain's lists also. But, they used Rupp's translation of the names and so the errors of Rupp were perpetuated.

The Pennsylvania German Society was moved in the 1930's to issue a book, "Pennsylvania German Pioneers." This was in three volumes, including one volume of facsimile signatures. It was now possible to consult the signatures and determine for yourself whether the translated name was correct. Another significant advantage was the ability to compare the signature at immigration with the signature on later documents to see if they were the same. Thus, you might be able to answer the question of whether you had the right ancestor.

PGP was reprinted several times, but without the signature volume. Nettie Shreiner-Yantis made up for this deficit by publishing the signature volume. More recently, Picton Press has reprinted the entire three volume set, including all illustrations.

Annette K. Burgert, who has done so much on emigration and immigration records, says that the PGP is considered the most accurate version of the immigrant names, but even it contains errors, duplications, and omissions. Each captain used his own rules in making up the ship's list, so that the amount and type of information are uncertain. Since many ships arrived with very sick passengers, not all arrivals made it to the taking of the loyalty oaths. Though the PGP contains an index, it is not to be completely trusted.

If you have not heard Mrs. Burgert speak and you are looking for an ancestor in Europe, you should try to hear her. She has many good ideas.

Nr. 332:

In the last note, I mentioned Annette K. Burgert and recommended, if you had the opportunity, that you hear her. I heard her at the Virginia Chapter meeting of the Palatines to America at their spring meeting.

There are lots of problems in attempting to carry a German name here back to Germany. You may be so lucky as to have a name such as Smith here. In Germany there are almost one-half million Schmids. Surprisingly, since "d" and "t" interchange so frequently, there are only 258 Schmits. But spelled as Schmitt, there are fifty-one thousand of them. All of these start "Sch", which is very typical German. But there is one solitary Shmidt in Germany. (Maybe he just wanted to be different.)

In general, searching for the origins of a Smith family in German is difficult; however, the origins of two of the Germanna Smith families have been found. The successful technique in these cases is instructive. The search was for other Germanna families; the Smith families happened to neighbors of the Clores and Weavers. But once a Germanna-like group was found, it was quite easy to identify the Smiths.

There are some common translations of German names to English. Carpenter goes back to Zimmerman, Weaver to Weber, Taylor/Tailor to Schneider, Dear/Deer to Hirsch, Cook to Koch. In the last of these cases, one researcher that I know is working on the principle of trying to find the location of friends and relatives.

Or the German name may be spelled in English to sound alike; a prime example is Vrede in German, which becomes Frady in English. Typically "-bach" becomes "back," "sch" becomes simply "sh", so that names such as Fischbach become Fishback. Also, never does the ending "man" occur in Germany, the preferred form being "mann." The ending "le" is rare in Germany; more common is the transpose, "el." Thus, there are more than five thousand Kunkels in Germany but only one Kunkle.

Another problem in searching for a name in Germany is that spelling has changed there also as it has here. Johann Michael Willheit has become many names here; in Germany, the name has changed also. One change that is common is the use of new vowels in an old name. Thus, there are 207 Schirks, 117 Scherks, 21 Schierks, and 75 Schurks.

Commonly, the spelling of Blankenbaker in Germany has been considered to be Blankenbuehler. There are over a dozen occurrences of this latter name in Germany today. It would be interesting to know if this is the same family. It is known that "Blankenbakers" remained in Germany after the 1717 emigration.

The counts of the occurrences of names used here, come from the German telephone books. These are available on-line and give you the names, addresses, and zipcodes. I don't know if there is a concept in Germany of unlisted (or private) numbers. (Maybe someone could tell us.)

Most of the thoughts today come from Ken McCrea who is the keeper of the Palatines to America homepage.

Nr. 333:

Not long ago, I acquired a relatively new book, "The German Research Companion," by Shirley J. Riemer. The book is more than 600 pages of information about Germany and genealogy. The first five of the thirty-three chapters are:

1) Germany: some basics,

2) Emigration,

3) Immigration,

4) Arrival in America, and

5) Church and civil records.

Much of the material pertains to the nineteenth century as opposed to the eighteenth century.

The range of material is unusual and one wonders how it was all acquired. Chapter 21 is: Religions, and a short note is given on almost every church with a European origin. Because many of these churches have merged in this past century, these mergers are given. If there is an archive for a denomination, that is given.

To give an idea of some of the crafts to which your ancestors might have belonged, here is a listing of the craftsmen in the city of Jena in 1800:

There were:

55 coblers,

46 butchers,

33 bakers,

24 leather workers of various types,

16 in the cloth crafts,

16 blacksmiths, nailsmiths, and coppersmiths,

15 stocking makers,

11 linen weavers,

11 cabinetmakers,

8 glassmakers,

8 potters,

8 ropemakers,

7 each of coopers, bookbinders, millers, locksmiths, spur makers, & soapmakers,

6 hatmakers,

6 coach or wheelmakers,

4 each of wood turners, furriers, needlemakers, & tin founders,

3 each of tinsmiths, gold workers, button makers, fitters and mechanics, & tanners,

2 each of combmakers, basketmakers, & lacemakers, and

1 each of papermaker, velvet worker, polisher, & type founder.

(Notice there is none that pertains to light such as candlemakers.)

What this does not give us the number in the service trades, or on the farm. The farmers probably outnumbered any other classification. But what makes the classification slightly suspect is that most of the craftsmen above did some farming.

In the city of Jena, wages in 1804 were between 8 and 15 Talers per month for the craftsmen. One Taler is equal to 24 Groschen and each Groschen is equal to 12 Pfennige. Guldens were another common coin and it took one and a half gulden to equal one Taler. One hundred and sixty liters (about a bushel?) of wheat cost 12 Taler. (See Note 335 below for a discussion of how many Bushels 160 Liters equals.) The same quantity of oats cost only 3 Taler. One pfund (about one pound) of beef was only 2 groschen and pork was the same, but a beef tongue was 10 to 12 groschen. One sausage (bratwurst) cost one groschen. To judge these prices, a craftsman was earning about 240 groschen per month. One old hen was 6 or 7 groschen, but a hare was 10 to 18. Other meats you could buy were: eel, carp, venison, goose, duck, pigeons, bacon, & liver; however, the predominance of meats here in the price list should not indicate that meat was a main stay. Many of the vegetables were home grown.

1 Taler = 24 Groschen

1 Taler = 1? Gulden

1 Groschen = 12 Pfennige

Unfortunately, "The German Research Companion," is poorly edited. Spaces are missing so words are run together, and even lines of type of missing. Since the book is loaded with facts, one wonders how carefully the details were checked.

Nr. 334:

The remarks in this note continue the previous discussion of the "The German Research Companion", by Shirley Riemer. Chapters 6 through 10 are:

6) Archives and repositories,

7) German genealogy aids,

8) Genealogical tools,

9) Geography, and

10) American Military Resources.

Until the middle of the fourteenth century, Latin was the official written language of the Holy Roman Empire, which comprised most of the German speaking regions in Europe today. At this time, German was adopted in the court documents of the HRE. By 1500, German was in use in many states and cities as the official language. A big boost came from its adoption by the Universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg. It was the written language of the educated classes.

The printing press, and the books which resulted from it, helped standardize the language, as the books had a wide circulation. The literary language, especially, was becoming standardized. In the spoken languages of the different regions, there were differences in spelling, in the choice of words, and the pronunciation of words.

Martin Luther helped the standardization cause when he published his translation of the Bible into German. He was aware of differences, but he tried to find a common ground in his choice of words. This Bible helped to define High German, which took its name from the region where it was most common, in the southern, higher elevations, as opposed to the northern, almost sea level elevations. Within a century the literary language was well recognized.

Regional differences in spelling and pronunciation continued until almost the end of the 19th century. In 1898, a commission of university professsors and representatives of the theater codified rules of pronunciation for the stage. Further work has refined and extended this to Standard German (Deutsche Hochsprache).

That the development of standards took so long is the result of the political fragmentation of Germany, which was not united until 1871. In 1901, representatives of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland devised a standardized spelling. Reform continues but is opposed by some. One of the spelling proposals would change "Open-Air Festival" to "Openairfestival." (Anyone who has examined web pages that originate in Germany will be impressed by the number of "English" words that they use. It sometimes leaves in doubt as to which language is being used.)

Of course, English and German have a common root. In some Low German areas, the language shows this. My German teacher (not that I have studied German much) said that in a tour of Germany they came to area when she couldn't tell if they speaking bad English or bad German.

Nr. 335:

Warren Lawrence corrected my estimate that 160 liters of grain would be about one bushel. He found that ten liters equals 0.284 bushels. Thus, 160 liters would be 16 times .284 or 4.54 bushels. Please make this correction in note 333. And thank you, Warren, for bringing this to our attention.

Betty Barlow (Email her at: BetBarlow@aol.com) asked a question which will be the main topic of this note. Her ancestor M. Beller (one of the ways that Barlow was spelled in the early days) had a joint land patent with M. Smith. This was issued in 1726. She observes that all of the patents in the Robinson River Valley that were issued in this time period seemed to have no specification of either fees or head rights. In other words the land seems to be free.

Betty is correct. The land was free. The members of the Second Colony were able to take advantage of a law proposed by Alexander Spotswood that was enacted into law. This law was a part of the legislation creating the new counties of Spotsylvania and Brunswick. The law, in effect, said that to encourage settlement in the new counties, land in them would be free for ten years. As the law was passed, it was vague about what was to be forgiven. Also, the law was unusual legislation and required approval in England. It took a while, but in the main, smaller parcels were free of the initial payment and were free of the quitrents. Both provisions were limited to seven years. Only the county of Spotsylvania benefitted, as Brunswick was not ready for development. Of course, the prime beneficiary of the new law was Spotswood, who had more than 100,000 acres in the new county. (He admitted to only about 85,000 acres.)

Willis Kemper, who wrote the early Kemper and Fishback histories, was not aware of this law and its effect. As a consequence, he misinterpreted history and came to the wrong conclusion, which has biased the understanding of the roles of all of the Germans. He had asked himself, "Why didn't the Second Colony move to the general location of the First Colony at Germantown and so form a single German community." He seemed to take this a personal insult to the First Colony people and he felt that an answer was necessary. The best that he could come up with was that there was an antagonism between the groups because of the religious differences. The First Colony was Reformed and the Second Colony was Lutheran.

Land was free in Spotsylvania County and that is a more likely reason that the Second Colony chose to make their permanent homes in the Robinson River Valley.

Returning to the Smith-Beller joint patent, it remains an unsolved question as to why the two men decided to do this. Joint patents often indicate some relationships between the families, but I believe that none are known in this case.

Nr. 336:

Continuing the discussion of the "German Research Companion", by Shirley Riemer, the Eleventh through the Fifteen chapters are:

11) Land in America,

12) United States census,

13) Newspapers & American records,

14) Using libraries, and

15) Fraternal organizations.

(From this, one can see that not all of the contents are oriented to Germany.)

Material that was especially interesting were the lists of items that Liwwät Knapke Bernard Böke prepared in preparation for the planned immigration to America. She probably prepared the lists herself, to judge from her career afterward. She had hoped that they could travel together, but he came first and she followed shortly after. They were married in Cincinnati not long after she arrived in 1835.

His list of things to take:

ITEMS TO BE WORN OR CARRIED: Underpants, shirt, towel, gloves, hardtack, pants, suspenders, candles, snow boots, handkerchief, tallow, stockings, hat, nightshirt, wool coat, chewing tobacco, and an iron needle.

ITEMS TO BE TRANSPORTED IN A SATCHEL: Crucifix, prayer book, baptismal certificate, rosary, bottle of holy water, soap, drinking cup, salve, cream, and a hand towel.

ITEMS TO BE PACKED IN A TRUNK: Books, mirror, bed linen, lamp black in a bottle with a stopper, pliers, cow hide, strap or belt, mallet, scissors, twine, hood, tacks, file, sealing wax, and a seal.

ITEMS TO BE PACKED IN ANOTHER TRUNK: Pot cover, spoon, knife, blankets, pillows, towels, silver and dishes, bucket, medicine, bed linens, plate, cloths, shirts, a kettle, a feather tick, an apron, and stockings.

PLANNED FOR CARRYING IN A POUCH: Sugar, flour, groats, salt, chocolate wafers, potatoes, a coat, bacon, meat, bread, dried apples, cracklings, lard, a pin for closing clothes, shoes, rice, beans, sauerkraut, honey, a bed spread, and scarves.

Her list of things to take:

ITEMS TO BE WORN OR CARRIED: Long underwear, stockings, belt, jacket, gloves, woolen petticoat, apron, dress, handkerchief, snow boots, button skirt, nightgown, candles, towels, and hardtack.

ITEMS TO BE PACKED IN A SATCHEL: Crucifix, prayerbook, rosary, bottle of holy water, drinking cup, salve, baptismal certificate, soap.

ITEMS TO BE PACKED IN A TRUNK: Books, mirror, bed linen, muslin, ink in a bottle with a stopper, sanitary napkins, paper, quill pens, pillows, chemise, dresses, snow cap, blankets, feather tick, woolen blanket, stockings, nightgowns.

ITEMS TO BE PACKED IN ANOTHER TRUNK: Knife, spoons, forks, hatpin, ball of thread, towels, aprons, needles, yarn, plate, thread, purse, thimble, buttons, cotton thread, silk thread, dish rag, shoes.

TO CARRY IN A POUCH: Sugar, flour, salt, groats, bacon, meat, bread, dried apples, rice, beans, potatoes, sauerkraut.

Then, there was a Seeds List:

BAGS OF VEGEtable AND BERRY SEEDS: Peas, (three varieties), beans (four varieties), turnips (several kinds), beets (three varieties), carrots (two varieties), onions (three varieties), cabbage (three varieties), pickle cucumbers (three varieties), spinach, rhubarb, kohlrabi, leeks, and berries (three varieties).

SMALL BAGS OF GRAIN SEEDS: Seed corn, oats, wheat, clover, barley, rye.

SMALL BAGS OF FRUIT SEEDS: Apples, cherries, peaches, pears, quince, plums, apricots.

SMALL BAGS OF FLOWER SEEDS: Margarita, snapdragon, peonies, lady slipper, morning glory, tulips or crocuses.

Nr. 337:

Chapters 16 through 20 of "The German Research Companion" by Shirley Riemer are:

16) German education & universities,

17) Language,

18) German life,

19) Naming practices, and

20) German military resources.

Food has been a topic in recent comments. Here is the menu on a "cruise ship," meaning an immigrant ship of about 1850, after more than a century of German emigration.

Sunday: salt meat, meal pudding, and prunes.

Monday: salt bacon, pea soup, and potatoes.

Tuesday: salt meat, rice, and prunes.

Wednesday: smoked bacon, sauerkraut, and potatoes.

Thursday: salt meat, potatoes, and bean soup.

Friday: herring, meal and prunes.

Saturday: salt bacon, pea soup, and potatoes.

In 1822, Louis Jüngerich, who had recently immigrated to America, wrote home to his mother, brother, and sister, in Hessen, and gave them specific instructions on what to do if they decided to come to America. He advised signing on for passage without including provisioning. He advised buying their own food, enough for the 90 days that the passage might take. His recommendations per person were:

55 pounds of ship's zwieback or hardtack,

from 6 to 12 pounds of butter,

2 bushels of potatoes,

salt,

15 pounds of flour,

8 pounds of rice,

4 pounds of barley,

"any amount of peas, beans, and some meat stock for a fresh soup,"

vinegar to drink (absolutely necessary),

tea, sugar, chocolate, and brandy ("as you wish"),

20 pounds of well-salted beef,

6 pounds of bacon for fat,

lemons, dried plums, pepper.

[Three tin kettles were recommended, two for cooking and one for liquids. And do not forget your spoons, knives, forks, and cups. The vinegar was to take the place of the ship's water which was not considered safe (it wasn't).]

Louis reported that the best meals were as follows, "I took the ship's zwieback or hardtack that was handed out to us, and butter, soaked the zwieback so that it became spongy, and cooked it in water, adding the butter. This was our best dish . . ."

He explained that the zweiback was not the familiar twice toasted bread, but rather a biscuit-like bread product baked especially to travel well and remain palatable.

Shirley Riemer gives many references as to where she obtained her material. In the case of the letter home from Louis, the modern source was "The Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage," Vol. XIX, No.3, July 1996.

Nr. 338:

The twenty-first through the twenty-fifth chapters of Riemer's "The German Research Companion" are:

21) Religions,

22) Germans from Russia,

23) Pennsylvania,

24) Beyond Germany, and

25) Eastern and Alsace neighbors.

Benjamin Franklin has been quoted as saying, "Why should Pennsylvania, which was founded by Englishmen, become a colony of foreigners, who will soon be so numerous that they will be Germanizing us instead of our Anglicizing them?" It is true that Pennsylvania had a good share of Germans. A Hessian soldier commented, "If you closed your eyes, you could believe you were in Germany."

The very first Germans to America were at Jamestown but it is not clear whether they even left descendants. While individuals surely came and went, the first group to come was the Germantown settlers outside of Philadelphia in 1683. These were augmented by additional people through the following years. In 1709 and in 1710, large groups came to New York and North Carolina. Anabaptists started coming in 1710 to Pennsylvania. In Virginia, the first group, since the Jamestown settlers, came in 1714. Growth in Virginia was steady but no where near the growth in Pennsylvania.

The growth in the number of German immigrants to America was not uniform but it did increase constantly. By 1800, nine percent of the population had ties to Germany. Very large numbers of immigrants started arriving in 1815 and grew throughout the century. The peak year was 1882, when a record quarter of a million Germans came to America. In the last few decades, the numbers have fallen sharply. It has been estimated that altogether, more than eight million Germans have moved to America in our four hundred years of settlement.

Using the 1990 census, it has been estimated that more Americans can be associated with a German background than with any other nationality. In order, the other groups are the Irish, the English, the Italians, and the Polish. This is before other Germanic groups are included, as for example, the Alsatians, the Austrians, the Luxemburgers, the Swiss-Germans, and the Russian-Germans.

The claim can be made that the Germans are the major ethnic group in America.

My grandfather, John Henry Blankenbaker, died in 1918. He was pure German in the sense that all of his ancestors here in America were descended from German immigrants of the early eighteenth century. Therefore he represents two hundred years of life in America. I never met him myself, since he died several years before I was born. It would have been interesting to have talked to him and learned to what extent he thought of himself as German. He may not have recognized that he was a full-blooded German.

Nr. 339:

Let me define two situations. In the first, let us imagine a barrier around what is now the United States. Let us note the nationality of everyone who came to live inside this barrier. These are the immigrants. As each immigrant came in, we ask them where they were born by their country of origin. Of course, it now after the fact and a little late for actual counting but it is possible to make some intelligent guesses about the numbers and the nationalities. If I divide the total number of immigrants by the number who came from England, the answer is something like A% English. In a like manner, perhaps B% came from Ireland, C% came from France, and D% came from Germany.

Here is the second situation. I visit everybody and ask them what percentage of their genes came from the different nations. From this, I can form an average so that the "typical" individual in the US is W% English, X% Irish, Y% French, Z% German, and so on.

The two situations that I have described can and do yield radically different answers. That is, the A, B, C, and D numbers do not look like the W, X, Y, and Z numbers. The reason is that the arrivals of the different nationalities occurred at much different times. It could be the case that the average individual in the US owes 50% of his genes to English origins, yet the English numbered only 10% of the immigrants. In the same way, the typical American may be only 10% German, but the Germans sent more immigrants than any other nationality.

In quoting some statistics in the last note, I wanted only to emphasize the importance of the German immigrants to America. In the Germanna colonies, the numbers were quite small and I wished to note that over the course of time, many Germans came to America. I even used a personal example to suggest that some people may have forgotten their origins. Some forgot deliberately, others lost track in the passage of time.

The numbers yesterday came from Shirley Riemer who was quoting Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann, the president of the Society for German-American Studies. His work seems to have appeared in the UGAC-USA Newsletter for 3 September 1992. (I cannot find the full title to this newsletter in her sixteen pages of reference titles.)

The twenty-sixth through the thirtieth chapters of Riemer's "The German Research Companion" are:

26) Business and trade,

27) Keeping track of time,

28) This and that,

29) Cultural institutions, and

30) Libraries, museums, publishers.

Nr. 340:

The last two chapters of the "The German Research Companion" are:

31) Societies & organizations, and

32) Tourism, chambers of commerce, & more.

An item from the book says that you can obtain an aerial photo of a German village. I will just quote what the book says; I have no experience with this:

"The Cartographic and Architectural Branch of the National Archives is able to provide photographs of German villages.

"To initiate a request, send a map on which the location of the village is marked or provide the exact geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the village, along with any variant spellings that the village name may have. The Cartographic and Architectural Branch will reply with an order form and the negative numbers it has for the village, as well as a cost list.

"Address the request to the:

Cartographic and Architectural Branch (NNSC)

National Archives and Records Administration

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, Maryland 20740-6001

Allow four to six weeks for delivery."

Hofnamen (literally, farm names) . In rural areas, the owners of a farm sometimes are known to their neighbors by a totally different family name than the one shown on their birth or marriage register. This can happen when the original, often centuries-old, name of a farm is passed on despite changes in the owners' names. So a farm once owned by a family name Pfleger was known as Pflegerhof (Pfleger's farm), even though the owner's official name is now Maier. This is called the Hofname (name of the farm). Sometimes a double name is used, such as Pfleger-Maier. I mention this especially because B. C. Holtzclaw noted this phenomena in his research of the early Siegen families.

Nr. 341:

The Second Germanna Colony moved to the Robinson River Valley in 1725. According to the "Church Order" they wrote in 1776, they formally organized as a Lutheran church in 1728. Probably, they built a log chapel about this time. It is known there was a chapel, because deeds specifically refer to it. For several years, they had no minister. During this time, Michael Smith acted as a reader. In 1733, John Caspar Stöver was convinced to become their minister, even though he was not ordained. After ordination, he served for about two years before he and two members of the congregation went on a fund raising trip to Germany that lasted several years. Stöver died on the way home and his place was taken by George Samuel Klüg, who had been hired in Germany as an assistant minister. In 1739, when Klüg and the money were back, construction on the new church building started and the building was completed in 1740. This building still stands, though it had been modified.

The original building was a simple rectangle with the long axis on an east-west axis. There was no ceiling, the roof of the building serving for this. There were two balconies, one at each end of the building. The altar was in the middle of the north wall, between the balconies. Though this seems an unusual location to us today, the placement of the altar in the middle of one of the long walls was not unusual in colonial churches. (I have seen other examples.)

Seating was segregated by 1775 and probably had been since the church was built. The main floor was for married couples who came to church with their mate. One balcony was for women and the other balcony was for men. A widowed man or even a man who came to church without his wife would sit in the men's balcony. Thus, there was an age mixture in the balconies. Though their attendance is not recorded, slaves sat in the back of the balconies (according to the practice in other colonial churches).

When this original building proved not to have enough space is unknown. At some point, probably before the organ was purchased, another wing was built. The plan became a "T" where the original building was the cross bar of the T (the transept), and the new wing became the upright of the T. At the foot of the T, a small balcony became the loft for the organ. I believe that the new wing came before the organ since the decision to purchase the organ is recorded in the church register, but without any discussion as to where to install it, as though space would not be a problem.

There are eight extant Tannenberg organs, all very similar, in existence. I believe the Hebron organ is the only one still used regularly, though the others are in working condition. David Tannenberg was a Moravian and the Moravians made music a major part of their worship service. The Hebron organ is the last, but one, built by Tannenberg.

In the nineteenth century, the interior of Hebron church was "modernized". A ceiling was installed which hid the trusses of the roof. Frescoes were painted on the ceiling.

(Spring City Lutheran Church, here in Chester County, Pennsylvania, has a Tannenberg organ. About 1900 they retired the "old" organ and bought a new one, though the Tannenberg remained in place. Today, the replacement organ is worn out and gone. The Tannenberg is still there and being used for concerts.)

Nr. 342:

I've been found out; at least one of you has detected that I am not a historian. I admit I like history. (When I was in a one room school, there was plenty of free time to use as you wished. A favorite activity of mine was reading the history books.)

When I started reading about Germanna and its history, I was struck by the inconsistency of the statements which were being made. I decided that I would have to dig a little deeper to find the true story. At first, little did I realize how erroneous much of the history was. It was not a case of applying a band aid, surgery was required.

Here are examples of statements that do not hang together. Willis Kemper makes the statement that the Germans were settled on the Germanna tract by Spotswood to work his iron mine, build his iron furnace, and make iron. The major problem with this statement is that the Germanna tract is thirteen miles away from the iron furnace. It just does not make sense that Spotswood would place the workers at a distance of thirteen miles from their work. Also, Spotswood, in a letter, said two years after the Germans arrived that they had done no work for him in that two years. This also makes Kemper's statement very dubious.

One man, Brawdus Martin, realized how inane Kemper's statement was. His, Martin's, solution to this was to relocate Germanna to be at the furnace site. In order to try and prove his point, he actually manufactured false evidence which he presented in the minutes of the old "Society of Germanna Colonies". (In the academic world, a researcher would be removed from his position with disgrace for such an action; however, it appears that Brawdus Martin is going to have a visitor's center named after him by the Memorial Foundation of Germanna Colonies in Virginia.) This was a case of error piled on error.

How did Kemper's line of thought get started? Kemper made the observation that the First Germanna Colony came from a region known for its iron work. Eventually, Spotswood was the owner of an iron mine and furnace. Therefore, Kemper said, it must be the case that Spotswood imported the Germans to do this work. Though the first two statements were true, it does not follow that Kemper's conclusion is true.

How can one tell this? The best way is to read what Spotswood himself said. He is clear that, by the time the Germans left Germanna, only the mines had been developed and this work did not start until about 1717. There was no furnace even as late as 1719 or 1720. Another man who had a lot to say on the topic was Christopher de Graffenried. Much of what these gentlemen said is available in book form. The books may not be in every library but they are obtainable through interlibrary loans. In addition, there are many original documents. While most of these are in England, microfilms of many are available at the Library of Virginia.

Nr. 343:

For someone who wishes to examine early documents pertaining to the history of the Germanna Colonies, here are some recommendations:

The following is a secondary source by Klaus Wust: "Palatines and Switzers for Virginia, 1705-1738: Costly Lessons for Promoters and Emigrants", in YEARBOOK OF GERMAN-AMERICAN STUDIES, v.19 (1984), pp.43-55. As a general rule, anything by Klaus Wust merits your attention. Klaus examines many documents, in a variety of languages, to obtain his information. Because some of the documents are in German and French and inaccessible, Klaus' studies and reports are the best things for most of us. Be sure and study his notes and bibliography.

Christopher de Graffenried wrote three longhand manuscripts after he returned to Switzerland from America. Two of these are in French and one is in German. They are quite similar in tone but each of them has different marginal notes, which he appears to have added. Vincent H. Todd examined these manuscripts and compared them. He published a summary with notes that comment on the differences in the manuscripts. See "Christoph von Graffenried's Account of the Founding of New Bern" in PUBLICATIONS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION, Raleigh, 1920. The tenor of the notes is that Graffenried felt his failure in America was not his fault and he is determined to let the world know that. He divides his notes into sections and tells what went wrong. Though extremely self-serving, these memoirs do have many facts embedded. The most frustrating thing about the notes is the absence of dates. One has to consult other sources to fix the times.

R. A. Brock, as editor, collected the letters of Alexander Spotswood and published them as "The Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood" in COLLECTIONS OF THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, New Series, v. 1, (1882). Unfortunately, this is not a complete set, but the period of his early governorship in Virginia is well covered. Like many authors, his comments are self-serving even though he was describing official actions.

More information about Spotswood and others is to be found in the Library of Virginia in the Colonial Records Project. This came about shortly after World War II when Virginia was preparing for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. They sent a crew to England to examine colonial records and to photograph all of them which mentioned Virginia. Back home, they prepared an index to these records by subjects and names of people. These indices are available on-line through the Internet for searching but the copies of the records require a physical presence in Richmond. Using these is great fun, though the delay and expense of copies are frustrating. It is very exciting to see a microfilm of things like the map that Franz Michel drew in the first decade of the 1700's which was the cause of there being a Germanna.

Nr. 344:

A reader suggests that I have not covered the Cook family who were members of the Second Colony. Let's see, if by putting our heads together, if we can't make a few statements about them. Michael Cook (Koch) was from Schwaigern, where he had married Barbara Reiner; however, in Virginia, his wife's name seems to have been Mary. Whether Barbara and Mary are the same person is not proven, but Mary does appear to be a Reiner. In fact, in the Hebron Register she is given as a "Steiner", which is surely a mistake for Reiner. Another minor mystery is why Michael Cook and Jacob Crigler had a joint patent for land.

Michael and Mary Cook had four children in Virginia: Margaret, Dorothy, Adam, and George. The Hebron Church Register has many references to the families and their members, and it is possible to state that the four children and their marriage partners were (keeping the number 1 for Michael):

1. George Cook, born before 1723, married first, Mary Sarah Reiner, his first cousin, and married second, Anna Maria Hoffman. He died about 1802. Mary Sarah Reiner came with her family about 1750. Her father is believed to be the brother of Michael Cook's wife.

2. Adam Cook, born before 1723 also, married Barbara Fleshman.

3. Dorothy Cook, married John Carpenter, Jr.

4. Margaret Cook, married Philip Snyder. She died about 1795.

I have the following grandchildren of Michael. Children of George Cook and his first wife, Mary Sarah Reiner:

1. Mary Barbara Cook, b. 1751, married John Blankenbaker.

2. Margaret Cook, b. 1753, married Christopher Tanner.

3. Magdalena Cook, b. 1756, married John Huffman.

4. Elizabeth Cook, b. 1758, d. before 1805, no marriage known.

5. Dorothy Cook, b. 1762, no marriage known.

6. Diana Cook, died at a young age.

7. Lewis Cook, b. 1768, married Mary Yager.

All of the above children birth's are in the Hebron Register. Children of George Cook and his second wife, Anna Maria Hoffman:

1. Ambrose Cook, b. 1775, married Susanna Fleshman.

2. Aaron Cook, b. 1776, married Leanna Garr.

3. Sara Cook, b. 1777, married Andrew Huffman.

4. George Cook, b. 1778, married Jemina Wilhoit.

5. Rosanna Cook, b. 1779.

6. Cornelius Cook, b. 1780, married Mary Wilkinson.

7. Moses Cook, married in 1804, Elizabeth Grayson.

8. ? Jemina ? (This may have been a daughter-in-law, not a daughter.)

Not all of the children of the second family are in Register. Another source of information on the members of the family is the estate settlement of George Cook. As we proceed with the discussion of the Cook family, perhaps readers can add or correct what is said.

Incidentally, I am always open to suggestions as to topics to cover here. But remember that I may not know anything about your favorite topic.

Nr. 345:

Continuing with the Second Germanna Colony family of Michael Cook, some information was given in the last note about his son, George. One reason for starting with George is that the Hebron Register and the estate settlement for George (see Madison County Deed Book for 1805) specify his children, though uncertainties remain. References to other Cooks in the Hebron Register must be references to the children of Adam, if not to the sons George and Adam themselves. (Of course, the next generation could be appearing also.)

Land deeds and the Hebron references establish that Michael Cook had four children, two girls, Dorothy and Margaret, who were older than the two sons, Adam and George. On 1 Aug 1751, Michael Cook gave 100 acres each to Philip Snyder and to John Carpenter, Jr. On 21 Jul 1757, he gave 112 acres to Adam and George. This later date for the son's land is the reason for thinking that the sons were younger than the daughters. The distribution of land was typically German, with both daughters and sons receiving assets. Also, a distribution before death is not unusual.

When the final estate of George Cook, one of the sons of Michael, was divided, there were thirteen heirs who sold smaller pieces of land. Each of the heirs had a set of witnesses to the act. As a consequence, some information can be learned from the names of witnesses. For example, there were two John Blankenbakers in the community at the time. Mary Barbara Cook, the eldest daughter of George Cook, married one of them, but which one? Since the husbands signed for the couples in the estate sale, a John Blankenbaker appeared, and he asked some other Blankenbakers to be his witnesses. The logical persons to ask would be his brothers. Therefore we conclude that this John Blankenbaker was the one who was the son of Zacharias.

In a similar way, Jemina Cook had three witnesses, all different from the other witnesses. Her relationship might be as an unmarried daughter of George, or it might be as a daughter-in-law. Her witnesses were three Garr men. It is hard to escape the conclusion that Jemina was a Garr who had married a son of George who died after his father died and before the estate was settled; however, I have not researched this question in depth. (If I could find my copy of the estate settlement, I might look into this more as I now have a copy of the Garr Genealogy.)

Nr. 346:

[There was no note yesterday due to the severe windstorms in the area. Sunday night, many trees were blown down, taking out the electrical service including our well water. It was an approximate hint of what life in the eighteenth century was like.]

The immigrant, Michael Cook, had two sons, Adam and George. The children of George are fairly well known, though there is an element of uncertainty about a probable son who married Jemina Garr. The remaining third generation Cooks in the Hebron Church Register are assigned to Adam though the process is not fool proof, as a woman with a Cook surname could have the name as a birth name or as a married name. The other problem is sorting out the third generation, especially from the fourth generation.

Adam, of the second generation, did marry Barbara, daughter of Peter Fleshman, and granddaughter of the 1717 immigrant Cyriacus Fleshman, for on 13 Dec 1773, Adam Cook, Christopher Barler (Barlow), Christopher Ryner (Reiner), and John and Peter Fleshman signed an agreement regarding the valuation of the estate of Peter Fleshman, dec'd. (Culpeper D.B. D, p. 222). In the baptisms of the Cook children, the names of Barlow, Reiner, and Fleshman occur very frequently, and they are probably cousins. A tentative list of the children of Adam Cook and his wife, Barbara Fleshman, is:

1. Frederick, married, ca 1778-1780, Eva. Eva's maiden name is uncertain but two families stand out as candidates, Boehm and Smith.

2. Peter, married Mary Carpenter, his first cousin, the daughter of Dorothy Cook and John Carpenter, Jr.

3. John, married Mary Fleshman.

4. Michael, married Catherine Wilhoit.

5. Adam, Jr., married Elisabeth. Elisabeth's maiden name is uncertain.

(B.C. Holtzclaw confused Adam, Sr., with Adam, Jr., and derived a false conclusion.)

1. Daniel, married Rosanna or Rosina Wilhoit.

All of the remaining children are less certain.

1. Mary.

2. Barbara.

3. Margaret.

Other candidate children are:

1. Susan.

2. Ephraim, married Jemina Fleshman.

3. Ann, married Absalom Utz.

4. Elizabeth, married Samuel Snyder, her first cousin, the son of Margaret Cook and Philip Snyder.

Whereas most of the children of George Cook, #2, appear as births in the Hebron Church Register, none of the children of Adam Cook, #3, appear in the birth register. Many of the children of Adam are to be found in the Hebron Register as adults though. The probable reason that the children of Adam do not appear in the birth register is that the register, as it was rewritten in 1776, has no families whose first child was born before 1750. This is a slight bit of evidence that Adam may have been older than George, whose first child was born in 1751.

Nr. 347:

The children of the two daughters of Michael and Mary (Reiner) Cook, 1717 immigrants to Virginia, are known to a better degree than the children of Adam Cook. One of the daughters, Dorothy, married John Carpenter, Jr. The children of John and Dorothy are not given in the Hebron Register because the first child was born before 1750, and the Register includes no families whose first child was born before 1750. The children of John and Dorothy are taken to be:

1. John, III, b. ca 1748, who married Susanna Delph.

2. George, the records are thin for George and the assumption is that he died young.

3. Michael, b. ca 1755, married Rebecca Delph after 1776. Michael was in the Rev. War.

4. Mary, b. ca 1761, married her first cousin Peter Cook, the son of Adam Cook.

5. Samuel, b. ca 1761, married Margaret Blankenbaker.

6. Margaret, b. ca 1763, died without marriage.

7. Leah, b. ca 1765, very few records exist for her.

8. Susanna, b. ca 1769, married John Jesse.

In the last note, Mary was given as a child of Adam Cook. Note that the Mary here married Peter Cook, so that, after marriage, she would be a Mary Cook. It is possible that Adam's Mary and Dorothy's Mary, after marriage, have been confused.

I have a question in my notes to think about. Adam Barlow, Jr.'s, wife was a Leah. Because the Cook, Reiner, Fleshman, and Barlow families are rather close, I have wondered if Leah Carpenter could have married Adam Barlow, Jr. Maybe someone else could comment on this question.

The will of John Carpenter, Jr., who died in 1804, mentions the children John, Michael, Samuel, Mary Cook, Margaret Carpenter, and Susanna Jesse. Thus, George and Leah in the list above are not confirmed by the will of John Carpenter, Jr.

In the Hebron Register, records for the Carpenters are found as both Zimmerman and as Carpenter. There was another, unrelated, Zimmerman family who is always found as Zimmerman so that one must ask which family is meant.

Nr. 348:

Margaret Cook, daughter of Michael Cook and his wife Mary Reiner, married Philip Snyder, a later arrival to the Robinson River community. Philip received a gift of land from Michael Cook. The children of Philip and Margaret started arriving before 1750 and therefore do not appear in the Hebron Church Register. Philip and Margaret appear as sponsors at the baptisms of the children of her brother, George.

The children of Philip Snyder and Margaret Cook are:

1. Michael, b. ca 1749-50, married Mary Delph,

2. (Mary) Margaret, b. 1752, married Michael Delph,

3. William, died as a young man,

4. Elisabeth, b. ca 1754, married ca 1774-76, Conrad Delph,

5. Joseph, married Mary Christopher,

6. Philip, Jr., b. 1758, died without heirs 1820,

7. Mary, b. ca 1762, never married,

8. Susanna, b. ca 1763-4, married before 1788, Jacob Razor,

9. Samuel, b. 1771-2, married Elisabeth Cook, his first cousin,

10. George, died as a young man,

11. ? Adam ?

Margaret, above, probably had the full name of Mary Margaret, for Michael Delph and Mary were parents in 1780 and 1782. Margaret Delph was a sponsor in 1788. Michael and Margaret were at church in 1776 and 1782, but to confuse the issue, there is probably an error in 1782, when Michael and Magdalena were at church in 1778.

Typical baptisms illustrate the family relationships. For example, Michael and Mary Snyder had Adam baptized (born 28 Aug 1774) with sponsors Adam Delph and Rebecca Delph from her family. From his family he had Elizabeth Snyder, his sister. Frederick Tanner was also a sponsor. When Anna Snyder was baptized (born 21 Jan 1776), Joseph Snyder was a sponsor and Daniel and Rebecca Delph were sponsors. After a gap of several years, which should not be taken as signifying anything, Michael and Mary Snyder had Elizabeth (b. 28 Jan 1790) and Josua (b. 12 May 1793) baptized on 16 Jun 1793. By this time, the pattern of the sponsors had changed and the parents served as the sponsors.

Note that there are two families of Michael and Mary. There is Michael and Mary Snyder, and there is Michael and Mary Delph. The two Marys swapped maiden names and married names. It tends to confuse one.

Nr. 349:

Christian Herr, like his father, Hans Herr, was a Mennonite minister. As was typical of the Anabaptists then, Christian had other occupations, in his case farming and distilling. His estate inventory in 1750 shows that he owned two stills. Today, Anabaptists frown severely on the use of alcoholic beverages. With our own Germanna colonists, we often find that they owned stills. A short presentation here on the use of alcohol through the ages is based on material from the current issue (June 1998) of "Scientific American". If you are interested in my own views on alcohol, I have a bottle of spirits that is advertised as aged seven years but, since I have had the bottle, at least some of the contents have aged another fourteen years.

Drinks with a high percentage of alcohol are relatively modern, arising only in the last few hundred years in the western world. Prior to that time, drinks with a low percentage of alcohol, such as beer and wine, have been used for perhaps ten thousand years. As civilization developed or became concentrated in a region, the water supplies became polluted. It simply was not safe to drink the water and beer and wine filled the need for safe liquids.

How many instances can you cite in the Bible where water is extolled as a drink? Jesus converted water into wine and not wine into water. In the writings of the Greeks, water is not mentioned favorably except for mountain springs, deep wells, or from rainwater. Roman towns on a river had water supplied by an aqueduct from sources several miles away because the river water was too polluted. The river was not viewed as a source of water but a disposal means. Unless you were a hermit, living away from civilization, the water was often not fit to drink. This has only changed in the last one or two centuries in the western world.

Additionally, alcoholic beverages were a supply of calories besides being a liquid. The beverages kept well from one growing season to the next.

In 1777, Frederick the Great of Prussia was disturbed by the fad for coffee which had to be imported. He said, "It is disgusting to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects, and the amount of money that goes out of the country as a consequence. Everybody is using coffee; this must be prevented. His majesty was brought up on beer, and so were both his ancestors and officers. Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer, and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be relied upon to endure hardships in case of another war."

Nr. 350:

As to the history of alcoholic beverages, some people give this sequence. Stone age people may have left a pot of honey unattended. Given a little time, fermentation takes place and the result may have been pleasing to the user. With a little experimentation, other substances of high sugar content, perhaps dates or sap, could have been substituted. The essential recipe was to let time to its thing.

Major advances did not occur until agriculture developed plentiful grains and sweeter grapes. The wild grape is normally not sweet enough. By 6000 BC, people in Armenia were growing grapes that were sweet enough to produce wine. Before 3000 BC, the Egyptians and Babylonians were drinking beer from wheat and barley.

Alcohol and agriculture were closely tied together. As more efficient methods of growing the grains developed, people were released to live in cities. Concentrations of people polluted the water and made it unsafe. The alternative was beer and wines.

Babylonian tablets more than six thousand years old tell how to make beer. The Greek word "akratidzomai", which came to mean "to breakfast", literally means "to drink undiluted wine". Simultaneously with this increased use of alcoholic beverages, people in the west acquired the gene which makes the enzyme necessary for alcohol metabolism. In the east, only about half of the people have this ability and alcohol never had the role that it did in the west. The alternative in the east was tea using boiled water which killed the contaminating agents.

Until our middle ages, the alcohol content remained low. Even so, intoxication from excessive use was possible and appeals were made for moderation in its use. But the appeal was not to avoid alcohol but to be moderate in its use.

In 700 AD, the Arabs discovered distillation using the difference in the boiling points of alcohol and water. In fact, our word "alcohol" comes from the Arabic, where it means "basic essence". The resultant liquid had a much higher alcohol content.

In the 18th century a religious antagonism developed against alcohol, especially by the Quakers and Methodists. But the fact remained that the water of the Thames was as polluted as any stream ever was. Water was the biggest spreader of dysentery, cholera, and typhoid. Gradually, though, it became understood that excessive use of alcohol was very damaging to the body.

By the end of the last century, the Mennonites in the western US had developed a policy of abstaining from alcohol, while the Mennonites in the eastern US still allowed their members to use alcohol. The westerners appealed to the easterners to join them in a united front against alcohol. The eastern Mennonites agreed.

And so, from Christian Herr of two and one-half centuries ago, who owned two stills, the Mennonites have come to the position of avoiding alcohol. This was made possible by the advances in sanitation.

(To see John & Eleanor Blankenbaker's May, 2000, and May, 2002, Germany and Austria photos, click here.)

(To see maps of villages in Germany and Austria from which our Germanna ancestors immigrated, click here.)

(This page contains the FOURTEENTH set of Notes, Nr. 326 through Nr. 350.)

John and George would like very much to hear from readers of these Germanna History pages. We welcome your criticisms, compliments, corrections, or other comments. When you click on "click here" below, both of us will receive your message. We would like to hear what you have to say about the content of the Notes, and about spelling, punctuation, format, etc. Just click here to send us your message. Thank You!

There is a Mailing List (also known as a Discussion List or Discussion Group), called GERMANNA_COLONIES, at RootsWeb. This List is open to all subscribers for the broadcast of their messages. John urges more of you to make it a research tool for answering your questions, or for summarizing your findings, on any subject concerning the Germanna Colonies of Virginia. On this List, you may make inquiries of specific Germanna SURNAMES. At present, there are about 1200 subscribers and there are bound to be users here who can help you.

If you are interested in subscribing to this List, click here. You don't need to type anything, just click on "Send". You will shortly receive a Welcome Message explaining the List.

This material has been compiled and placed on this web site by George W. Durman, with the permission of John BLANKENBAKER. It is intended for personal use by genealogists and researchers, and is not to be disseminated further.

INDEX Links to All Pages of John's GERMANNA NOTES

Pg.001-Notes 0001-0025

Pg.002-Notes 0026-0050

Pg.003-Notes 0051-0075

Pg.004-Notes 0076-0100

Pg.005-Notes 0101-0125

Pg.006-Notes 0126-0150

Pg.007-Notes 0151-0175

Pg.008-Notes 0176-0200

Pg.009-Notes 0201-0225

Pg.010-Notes 0226-0250

Pg.011-Notes 0251-0275

Pg.012-Notes 0276-0300

Pg.013-Notes 0301-0325

Pg.014-Notes 0326-0350

Pg.015-Notes 0351-0375

Pg.016-Notes 0376-0400

Pg.017-Notes 0401-0425

Pg.018-Notes 0426-0450

Pg.019-Notes 0451-0475

Pg.020-Notes 0476-0500

Pg.021-Notes 0501-0525

Pg.022-Notes 0526-0550

Pg.023-Notes 0551-0575

Pg.024-Notes 0575-0600

Pg.025-Notes 0601-0625

Pg.026-Notes 0626-0650

Pg.027-Notes 0651-0675

Pg.028-Notes 0676-0700

Pg.029-Notes 0701-0725

Pg.030-Notes 0726-0750

Pg.031-Notes 0751-0775

Pg.032-Notes 0776-0800

Pg.033-Notes 0801-0825

Pg.034-Notes 0826-0850

Pg.035-Notes 0851-0875

Pg.036-Notes 0876-0900

Pg.037-Notes 0901-0925

Pg.038-Notes 0926-0950

Pg.039-Notes 0951-0975

Pg.040-Notes 0976-1000

Pg.041-Notes 1001-1025

Pg.042-Notes 1026-1050

Pg.043-Notes 1051-1075

Pg.044-Notes 1076-1100

Pg.045-Notes 1101-1125

Pg.046-Notes 1126-1150

Pg.047-Notes 1151-1175

Pg.048-Notes 1176-1200

Pg.049-Notes 1201-1225

Pg.050-Notes 1226-1250

Pg.051-Notes 1251-1275

Pg.052-Notes 1276-1300

Pg.053-Notes 1301-1325

Pg.054-Notes 1326-1350

Pg.055-Notes 1351-1375

Pg.056-Notes 1376-1400

Pg.057-Notes 1401-1425

Pg.058-Notes 1426-1450

Pg.059-Notes 1451-1475

Pg.060-Notes 1476-1500

Pg.061-Notes 1501-1525

Pg.062-Notes 1526-1550

Pg.063-Notes 1551-1575

Pg.064-Notes 1576-1600

Pg.065-Notes 1601-1625

Pg.066-Notes 1626-1650

Pg.067-Notes 1651-1675

Pg.068-Notes 1676-1700

Pg.069-Notes 1701-1725

Pg.070-Notes 1726-1750

Pg.071-Notes 1751-1775

Pg.072-Notes 1776-1800

Pg.073-Notes 1801-1825

Pg.074-Notes 1826-1850

Pg.075-Notes 1851-1875

Pg.076-Notes 1876-1900

Pg.077-Notes 1901-1925

Pg.078-Notes 1926-1950

Pg.079-Notes 1951-1975

Pg.080-Notes 1976-2000

Pg.081-Notes 2001-2025

Pg.082-Notes 2026-2050

Pg.083-Notes 2051-2075

Pg.084-Notes 2076-2100

Pg.085-Notes 2101-2125

Pg.086-Notes 2126-2150

Pg.087-Notes 2150-2175

Pg.088-Notes 2176-2200

Pg.089-Notes 2201-2225

Pg.090-Notes 2226-2250

Pg.091-Notes 2251-2275

Pg.092-Notes 2276-2300

Pg.093-Notes 2301-2325

Pg.094-Notes 2326-2350

Pg.095-Notes 2351-2375

Pg.096-Notes 2376-2400

Pg.097-Notes 2401-2425

Pg.098-Notes 2426-2450

Pg.099-Notes 2451-2475

Pg.100-Notes 2476-2500

Pg.101-Comments 0001-0025

INDEX Links to All Pages of John's GENEALOGY COMMENTS

(As of 12 April 2007, John published the last of his "Germanna Notes"; however, he is going to periodically post to the GERMANNA_COLONIES Mailing List in the form of "Genealogy Comments" on various subjects, not necessarily dealing with Germanna. I'm starting the numbering system anew, starting with Comment Nr. 0001.)

Pg.101-Comments 0001-0025

This Page Contains Notes 326 through 350.

Go To Top.

[Back to John's Notes Index Page]

[Germanna Colonies Home Page]

[GERMANNA Home Page]