NOTES AND DOCUMENTS
Items on Maryland in Early Pennsylvania-German Newspapers
Advertisements and incidental news items in 18th century German-
language newspapers of Pennsylvania provide an important source of con-
temporary material on German immigrants in Maryland, Virginia and other
states to the south. Most early Pennsylvania newspapers had a wide cir-
culation in areas settled by Germans outside Penn's colony. Fortunately,
many rather complete runs exist of these papers which have also become
available in microreproductions in recent years. The following excerpts may
serve to illustrate what type of information can be found by the diligent
historian or genealogist. Advertisements also contribute much to our knowl-
edge of the social, occupational and commercial conditions in the colonial
settlements.
Much has been written about the sufferings of German redemptioners
in Maryland and elsehere and the tragic tales have given rise to the wide-
spread impression that ships' captains and "Palatine" importers were a
heartless, cruel lot. There was another side to this story. One instance was
known from a public note of thanks which the newly-founded German
Society of Maryland inserted in the Maryland Journal on August 10, 1784.
Captain Claas Kulkens of the Brig Lavater was cited for the humane
treatment he had accorded his German passengers. The activity of the
German Society during that year showed other beneficial results. Its
officers worked closely with the firm of Valck, Burger and Schouten, prin-
cipal agents for the importation of indentured servants. Evidently, the
firm agreed in some instances to let newly arrived immigrants find their
own employment upon a pledge to refund the cost of transportation as
soon as they had earned enough to do so. Such generous handling of these
matters represented a risk to the shipping companies as the appeal shows
which was published in the Philadelphische Correspondenz of January 31,
1786:
"Valck, Bürger and Schouten, Baltimore, call upon the following to pay their obli-
gations for ship passage, they having arrived at Baltimore in the fall of 1784 on the
Ship Capellen tot den Pol, Captain H. Reyding, and the ship North America,
Captain T. de Haas, both from Holland, and as they could not obtain employment
in the usual manner they were permitted to go free upon signing an agreement to
pay the costs of passage:
Johann Georg Winter
Johann Heinrich Capiton
Johann Georg Capiton
Peter Winzweiler
Philip Bauer
Anton Miller
F. Folweiler
Anton Becker
Johann Henrich Brill
Gabriel Steinmetz
Michael Kempf
Georg Koch
Samuel Weiser
Jacob Schönenberg
Johann Peter Glass
Johann Fernberg
Christoph Gärtner
Johann August Harter
Christoph Kesselbach
Jacob Schmidt
Jacob Gross
Michael Metz
Friedrich Wagner
Franz Cayral
Stephan Voght
Johann Henrich Eberhard
Peter Oberbach
Philip Schneider
Michael Bart
Joseph Wumps
Johann Henrich Schwartz"
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Again, on March 13, 1787, a similar notice appeared in the Philadel-
phische Correspondenz. This time Johann Daniel Herrose, contract pas-
senger on the brigantine Candidus, Captain A. P. de Haas, arrival August
1786 from Rotterdam, and Margaretha Metzler, on the North America,
Capt. T. de Haas, arrival September 1786 from Amsterdam, had not yet
made any payments for their passage.
The search notices in early German newspapers are particularly valu-
able because immigrants who were looking for relatives and friends usually
mentioned their place of origin in Europe and gave other pertinent infor-
mation not available in other records. Christopher Saur's Pennsylvanische
Berichte in Germantown carried many out-of-state advertisements. The
issue of January 1, 1752 contains the request of Johann Jost Eigenbrod
"Frederick County on Monocacy Creek" for information on the where-
abouts of his sister, Sophia Elisabeth, "who arrived in this country last
year." On January 16, 1754, Johannes Schnell of Stone Arabia, New York,
warns the public against his son-in-law, Johannes Worming, an ex-pastor
who was heading for Maryland and Virginia to do some mischief. The
Berichte of February 16, 1754 bring a notice from Rosina Dorothea Rost,
formerly of Waldenburg "aus dem Hohenlohischen" who arrived at Pe-
tepsco (sic) on November 12, 1753 on a ship of Captain Rattray and was
sold at vendue. She is now looking for her sister and brother-in-law both
of whom were sent away into service. Her address was care of John Jansen,
Annapolis, Maryland. Gottlieb Gander from Lomersheim, Wurtemberg,
tells his friends on March 2, 1759 that he is now established as a linen
weaver in Frederick. In the same issue Ludwig Schellbass of the Rohre-
Darmstadt region announces himself as a miller "nine miles from Fred-
erick." Turning again to the Philadelphische Correspondenz we find
Leonard Schwengel on January 21, 1783 as the proud owner of a grist and
saw mill in Washington County " five miles from Hagerstown." On Janu-
ary 27, 1784, Daniel Körschner at the Head of Elk in Maryland offers to
take letters and messages along to his native Landau where he is going
soon. An example of longevity was furnished by Melchior Geisser who
died on February 8, 1799 at the age of 110 years in western Maryland.
(Philadelphische Correspondenz, March 5, 1799).
German indentured servants were scattered all over the province of
Maryland. Many shortened their terms by lighting out and starting a new
life of their own in the western parts of Maryland and Virginia. Only a
few were apprehended because the German population in the west rarely
rejected a runaway. The best the deprived master could do, was to insert
a reward notice for their apprehension. In Saur's newspaper of July 16,
1754, Stephen Onjou reports that Nicolaus Gartner, 35 years old, and
Conrad Hans, 23 years old ran away from his iron furnace on Gunpowder
River, Maryland. The Staatsbote of June 9, 1772 printed the appeal of
William Giddis of Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland, for the appre-
hension of Johann Bernhold, his German butcher who had disappeared.
The trade in indentured servants was becoming a troublesome business.
George Washington who wanted " two hundred families (not much en-
cumbered with children)" was told by merchant Henry Riddell of Piscata-
way, Maryland, on March 18,1774 that he " will think no further of import-
ing Germans, the difficulty attending it being so great." Significantly, this
statement came a year after the founding of the German Society of Mary-
land which was taking its first energetic measures to prevent the exploita-
tion of Germans coming to Maryland. There is still a wide open field for
case studies on this and other subjects concerning the Maryland Germans.
As the old newspaper files become more and more accessible, a systematic
search should present a worthwhile challenge to the student of Maryland
history.
K. G. WUST
60
The Last Will of Germantown Printer Christopher Sower of March 23,1777
The Archives of our Society contain a variety of documents, partly
dating back to the 18th century. Among these items is an interesting Last
Will by Christopher Sower (1721-1784), son and successor of the pioneer
printer, Christopher Sower, senior (1693-1758) of colonial Pennsylvania.
This will lists the extensive holdings of the younger Sower just about one
year before he was arrested in his house in Germantown for refusing to
swear the oath of allegiance and to commit himself to any position toward
the warfare that was going on. As an elder of the Dunker (German Baptist
Brethren) Church, Sower naturally was opposed to the swearing of any
formal oath and to active or passive participation in armed conflict. The
revolutionary authorities showed no understanding of the pacifist position
of the Dunkers. In his diary, Christopher Sower described in August 1778
how he was forced to leave his home without being able to take even much
needed medicines along. "Then I beg'd for nothing more except my specta-
cles, which was granted. . . . Then they proceeded to sell my effects. . . .
And so they have not only broken the Fundamental rule in selling my
estate, but have also published me in almost all Newspapers as a Traitor,
without any cause and without ever giving me a hearing or a trial."
Sower found a refuge in an old building at Methacton. Some friends of
his church gave him small amounts of money and food to subsist on. He
actually managed to earn some trifling sums of money by helping out here
and there. So he was able to record in the last days of his life, in a feeble
hand under the accounts of gifts and alms from his friends: "The above
has all been paid."
We publish the Last Will of 1777 here because it sheds light on the
property holdings and the printing and type-foundry establishment of
Christopher Sower as they presented themselves shortly before the mis-
fortunes of war deprived him and his heirs of the fruits of two great lives in
the history of printing and publishing in colonial Pennsylvania:
In the Name of God, Amen! I Christopher Sower of Germantown in the County
of Philadelphia, Printer, being in good bodily health and of sound and disposing
mind, memory and understanding praised be the Lord for the same Do hereby make
my Last will and Testament in manner following, that is to say
FIRST I will that all my just debts and funeral Expenses shall be duly paid
and satisfied for which and other purposes herein after declared I do hereby nominate
and appoint my two elder Sons Christopher and Daniel Executors of this my Last
Will and Testament ITEM, I do hereby declare and devise that the general Plan
of this my Will and the chief End and Intention of my own mind, to be pursued
by my Children and by all persons who by virtue hereof or otherwise shall have
any matter to act, settle or determine respecting the Execution thereof, is that all
my Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments and all my Goods and Chattels, Rights
and Credits whatsoever shall be equally divided among my seven Children, to wit,
Christopher, Daniel, Peter, Catherine, Esther, David and Samuel and by them held
and enjoyed in Severally and by their several and respective Heirs Executors and
Administrators and that all the particular Devises and Bequests hereinafter con-
tained upon any Question or Difficulty arising in the Execution of this my Will
shall be reduced to and explained and determined by the Rules of an equal Division
of the whole, so that respect be had to the true value of every part thereof. ITEM I
do hereby constitute and appoint my respected Friends Peter Keyser and Peter
Libert, both of Germantown aforesaid, Guardians of such of my Children as shall
be Minors at the time of my Decease. ITEM, I will and devise that the several
Estates hereinafter devised to my Children shall be appraised or valued by seven
discreet and reputable Freeholders of the County of Philadelphia, Each of my five
elder Children choosing one of the said Appraisers and the said Peter Keyser and
Peter Libert to be the Appraisers on behalf of my two youngest Sons, David and
Samuel. And whatever the seven Appraisers so appointed and to be chosen as
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aforesaid or any four of them shall under their Hands and Seals certify to be the
value of each particular Tenement and Lot or parcel of Ground herein after Specifi-
cally devised to any of my said Children shall be deemed and taken to be the
true value thereof and shall be charged accordingly to the equal Share which the
Child to whom it is herein after devised is to take in my real and personal Estate.
Provided, nevertheless, That if any of my Children being at the time of such
Valuation of full age shall within three months after, or being then under age shall
at his or her arrival at the age of twenty-one years think him or herself aggrieved
with the Valuation of his or her own part (no Dissatisfaction to be allowed in one
of my Children with the Valuation of the Estate of another of them) then he or
she shall or may within the Space of three months from the time of his or her
arrival at the age aforesaid by virtue of the Devise herein after made to him or her,
by public Auction, of which at least four Weeks public notice must be given in two
English and One German Newspapers, sell and dispose of the part and parcel of
Land to him or her specifically devised to the highest and best Bidder. And whatever
Price the Premises shall sell for at such public Auction, the same shall be charged
to his or her equal distributive share in my real and personal Estate—ITEM I give
and devise unto my said Son Christopher Sower All that my Messuage or Tene-
ment and piece or Parcel of Land whereon I now live situate in Germantown afore-
said joining to Main Street, Lands late of Adam Gruber now of Thomas Saltar, a
Road leading to George Danhawers Mill, and John Wisters Land. Together with
the Appurtenances To hold to him my said Son Christopher his Heirs and Assigns
for ever: Charged nevertheless and chargeable to his equal Share in the Division
of my whole Estate with the Sum or Sums of Money which the Premises shall be
valued at or be Sold for as aforesaid. ITEM I give and devise unto my said Son
Daniel Sower All that my Messuage or Tenement Paper Mill Saw Mill and two
parcels of Land near the Falls of Schuylkill on both Sides of Wissahicon Road,
Bounded by the said River and Road and by Lands of John Dickinson Esq. and
Wife, Jonathan Adams and Doctor William Smith. Together with the Appurten-
ances. To hold to him my said Son Daniel his Heirs and Assigns forever: Charged
nevertheless and chargeable to his equal Share in the Division of my whole Estate
with the sum or sums of Money which the Premises shall be valued at or sold for
as aforesaid. ITEM I give and devise unto my Daughter Catherine Sower all that
my Lot or parcel of Land situate at the Upper end of Germantown aforesaid on
the Southeasterly Side of a Road commonly called Keysers Lane or Abington Road
Bounded by the same and by Lands of Jacob Horter, John Engle, Benjamin Keyser
and Joseph Keyser. Together with the Buildings thereon erected and the Appur-
tenances. To hold to her my said Daughter Catherine her Heirs and Assigns for
ever. Charged nevertheless and chargeable to her equal share in the Division of my
whole Estate with such Sum or Sums of money as the premises shall be valued at
or be sold for as aforesaid. ITEM I give and devise unto my Daughter Esther
Sower All that my Lot or parcel of Land situate in the Township of Germantown
on the South Easterly Side of the Great Road leading to the Falls of Schuylkill
Bounded by the same Road and another which divides the Townships Germantown,
Roxborough and the Northern Liberties and by Lands of Winard Nice, which I pur-
chased partly of Theobald Endt and partly of George Herger containing near Seven
Acres. Together with the Appurtenances. To hold to her my said Daughter Esther
Sower her Heirs and Assigns for ever. Charged nevertheless and chargeable to her
equal Share in the Division of my whole Estate with such Sum or Sums of Money as
the Premises shall be valued or sold for as aforesaid. ITEM I give and devise unto my
said Son David Sower All that my Messuage or Tenement and Lot of Ground which
I purchased of Thomas Hyam and others Trustees of the London Company's Lands
situate in Roxborough Township aforesaid Bounded by the River Schuylkill, the
great Road leading from Philadelphia to Reading and by Lands of Samuel Powel and
Christian Lashet containing Eighty-three acres and three quarters of an acre.
Together with the fishing place and all other the Appurtenances. To hold to him my
said Son David, his Heirs and Assigns forever: Charged nevertheless and chargeable
to his equal Share in the Division of my whole Estate with such Sum or Sums
of money as the Premises shall be valued at or sold for as aforesaid. ITEM I give
and devise to my said Son Samuel Sower All that my Messnage or Tenement and
Lot of Ground in Germantown aforesaid which I purchased of the Sheriff Samuel
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Morris situate on the South Westerly Side of the said Main Street and on the
northwesterly Side of the aforesaid Road leading to the Falls of Schuylkill Bounded
by the said Street and Road and by Lands of Justus Fox and of the said Christian
Lashet. Also all that my other Lot of Ground which I purchased of Hannah Rawlin-
son situated on the Northwesterly Side of the aforesaid Road to Schuylkill, Bounded
by the same and Lands of Henry Hill Esq., John Keyser and William Tusten Con-
taining One Acre and three quarters, be it more or less. To hold the said Messuage
or Tenement and two several lots of Ground with the respective Appurtenances
unto my said Son Samuel Sower his Heirs and Assigns for ever: Charged neverthe-
less and chargeable to his equal Share in the Division of my whole Estate with such
Sum and Sums of Money as the Premises shall be valued at or Sold for as aforesaid.
ITEM I will that my whole Apparatus of the Printing Bussiness shall be appraised
by three Master Printers, One to be chosen by my said Son Christopher, another
by my said Son Peter and the third by the Guardians of my younger Children. And
being so appraised I give and allow the same to my said two Sons Christopher and
Peter who shall as near equal as can be divide among themselves every Assortment
of Types, the Presses, Moulds and Matrices for a Letter-Foundery and all other
Tools Implements and Materials to the Printing Business belonging and Shall be
charged with, each of them one Moiety of the Sum found by the said Appraisers.
ITEM, Whereas I have not devised any part of my Real Estate to my said Son
Peter, because he rather seems to decline settling in or near Germantown, so I will
that his Seventh part of my whole Estate as near as can be guessed at, Shall as
soon as possible be made up to him in Cash, deducting the Moiety of the Value of
the Printing Office in order to enable him to make any purchase of Land elsewhere,
whether he be then of Age or not. ITEM, Whereas a considerable part of my
personal Estate consists in printed Books: and if either of my said two Sons
Christopher and Peter should for his own private Advantage undertake to reprint
any of these Books whilst a considerable number of the same Sort belonging to my
Estate remains on hand and unsold the Interest of all my Children must be greatly
affected thereby. For preventing of which I will and direct, that if either of my
said Sons should think proper to reprint any Such Sort of Books altho it was under
the Pretense of Additions or Improvements in matter and form he shall be obliged
to take all such Books of the same Sort belonging to my Estate to himself at the
Common Price for which they are sold to Stationers or Bookbinders and the Amount
thereof shall be charged to his distributive Share or Seventh part of my Estate. And
in case he should refuse to comply with the above Directions he shall forfeit to
my other Children his full Share and Dividend in all the printed Books that shall
belong to my Estate at the time of my decease and in the Monies which shall from
time to time arise by the Sale thereof. Anything in this my Will before or after
contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. And for the better
inforcing this Direction I will that my Son Daniel and the Guardians of my younger
Childrend at the Delivery or Assignment of my printing Office to my Sons,
Christopher and Peter shall take Bonds from them for the Performance thereof.
And I further will and direct that the said Stock of printed Books shall be sold
either at my said Dwellinghouse by my Son Christopher or elsewhere by any other
person or persons whom my said Executors and the Guardians of my younger
Children shall intrust therewith keeping always the same Price at which I usually
have sold them or as near to it as can be. And the Sale of these Books Shall in
the same manner go on from time to time untill they are all sold or untill the 20th
day of March, 1788 when my said Son Samuel shall come to age and then the
whole Stock remaining on hand shall be sold by public Auction giving first four
Weeks Notice thereof in the English and German Newspapers. And for as much
as the Keeping such large Quantity of unbound Books, the taking care thereof that
they may not be destroyed or damaged by Rain, Snow or Vermin, I will and direct
that my said Son Christopher or whoever shall be intrusted with the Care and
Management thereof shall from time to time be allowed a premium of Ten per cent
upon the Amount of the Sales thereof. For and in Consideration of which Premium
he or they shall also answer to my Estate such bad debts as shall happen by their
Selling Books on Trust to indifferent Persons. ITEM I will and devise that the
said Guardians of my younger Childrens shall take care of and manage the Interest
and Shares of them in my Estate and for that purpose inspect the Accounts of my
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Executors and provide that such of my Children as have more than their Seventh
part of my Estate in lands and person Estate Shall well and sufficiently secure the
Overplus in their Hands to their younger Brothers and Sisters, and in particular
that the Account of the Sales of my printed Books shall at least once a year be
settled and the Shares of the said Children paid or secured to them repectively. And
in the year 1788 or sooner if all my printed Books shall be sold before that time
then a final Settlement of all my Estate shall be made between my said Executors
and the Rest of my Children. And I will that the aforesaid Guardians Peter
Keyser and Peter Libert shall be handsomely allowed and paid for their Trouble in
the Premises (One line omitted because of crease in paper making it illegible) than
their younger Brothers and Sisters can obtain, shall in consideration of the equal
Share left them administer gratis on my Estate. ITEM if any of my Children
shall die under age unmarried and without Issue, I will that the particular Estate
in Land herein before given or assigned to him or her shall by my Executors and the
Guardian of my Children be sold at public Auction after a previous notice of at
least four Weeks given in the English and German Newspapers. And I do hereby
impower and authorize them the said Christoper Sower, Daniel Sower, Peter Keyser
and Peter Libert and the Survivors and Survivor of them upon Receipt of the
Purchase Money by proper Deeds and Assurances in the Law to grant and convey
the Fee simple and Inheritance of the Premises to the Purchasor or purchasors
thereof. And the Monies arising by the Sale of such landed Estate and all other
such Childs Monies and Effects part and Share in my Estate the Hands of my
Executors or of the Guardian of such Child shall be equally divided among my
surviving Children and the Issue of such of them as Shall then be dead. Such Issue
taking such part as their deceased Parent would have taken if living. Lastly I do
hereby revoke all other Last Wills by me heretofore made and published declaring
this to be my Last Will and Testament only.
In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal the Twenty-third
Day of March in the Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Seventy-
Seven.
(Signed) CHRISTOPHER SOWER
Signed, Sealed and Declared by the
Testator Christopher Sower for and
as his Last Will and Testament in
the presence of
(First witness illegible due to crease in paper)
Thomas Langstroth
Edmund Longstroth
A New Source of German American History
For more than two centuries the London archives of the Society for
Propagating Christian Knowledge have preserved a valuable yet almost
entirely overlooked source of early German American history, which is soon
to appear in the Wormsloe Foundation Publications of the University of
Georgia Press. This source is the Salzburger Letterbooks of Henry New-
man, the secretary of the S. P. C. K., who was instrumental in sending
several transports of persecuted Salzburg Protestants to the Colony of
Georgia. Although a New Englander of Puritan origins, Newman became
an Anglican and spent all his adult life in the service of the S. P. C. K. in
London. This philanthropic society had been founded in 1698 by Dr.
Thomas Bray for carrying the Gospel to the underprivileged classes of Great
Britain, but it also took an interest in the welfare of oppressed Protestants
on the European continent. English concern for the persecuted Salzburgers
soon expressed itself in legislation; for Parliament resolved to send perse-
cuted Protestants to Georgia under the same favorable conditions being
granted English subjects. In this worthy endeavor the S. P. C. K. played a
leading role, a role that is clearly portrayed in the letters transcribed into
Newman's Salzburger letterbooks.
[64]
The original letterbooks in the S. P. C. K. archives in London consist of
253 closely written folio-sized pages of outward correspondence from the
years 1732 to 1739 and 383 similar pages of inward correspondence from
the years 1732 to 1735. The forthcoming edition of these letters will follow
the exact wording, spelling, and capitalization of the originals and will
deviate from their punctuation only where clarity demands.
Of chief interest to Americans are the letters dealing directly with the
Georgia Salzburgers, the first transport of which gathered at Augsburg
during the summer of 1733 and departed from that city on October 31
under the conduct of Baron Philipp Georg Friedrich von Reck, the 23 year
old nephew of the British-Hanoverian envoy at Regensburg. The letters to,
from, and about von Reck give a detailed account of the first transport's
journey from Augsburg to Charleston and Savannah.
A year after the first transport departed, Urlsperger organized a second
under the conduct of Johann Vat, a citizen of Biel in Switzerland, whose
letters well depict the difficulties caused by the many tolls on the Rhine.
Whereas his party arrived quickly and safely in Georgia, his letters reveal
that not all had gone well with the first transport after their arrival and
that the land assigned them had not measured up to the glowing expecta-
tions of the settlers and of their benefactors in Europe. Even Boltzius and
Gronau, normally so docile and obedient, at last agreed with their congre-
gation that the original location was hopeless and that the settlement would
have to be moved; and their letter in this correspondence, backed by those
of Vat and of Samuel Quincy, the Anglican minister at Savannah, finally
prevailed upon the Trustees to move the wretched survivors to a more
fertile and accessible place.
Although these letterbooks contain letters from James Vernon, Stephen
Hales, Thomas Wilson, Thomas Coram, John Wesley, Samuel Wesley, Sr.,
John Whitelamb, Richard Lowther, George Whitefield, James Oglethorpe,
and other English benefactors both in England and America, by far the
larger part are by Germans, including Gotthilf August Francke, Baron J.
von Reck, Baron von Hugo, Christian von Münch, Heinrich Guerdes,
Johann Georg Morell, Heinrich Butjenter, Christopher Ortmann and many
more. These letters also make informative references to various Germans
who played a role in America, such as Daniel Weisiger, Andreas Gottfried
Dietzius, Christian Ernst Thilo, Andreas Zwiffler, Peter Böhler, and August
Gottlieb Spangenberg. Above all, they give the only complete and accurate
lists of the members of the first three Salzburger transports, with the age,
sex, origin, and profession of most of them. Letters from Johann Tobler of
Rehetobel and Johann Heinrich Labhart of St. Gall give early information
on the designs of the citizens of St. Gall to transport some of their excess
population to Georgia or South Carolina, a scheme that ended in a disas-
trous attempt to found a city of New Windsor on the Savannah River. The
letters from Germany also throw some light on the conditions that en-
couraged so many impecunious Palatines and other Germans to seek a new
start in the new world.
GEORGE FENWICK JONES
University of Maryland
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