5 B. M., Strafford Papers, Add. MSS. 22202, 130.

6 B. M., Add. MSS, 35933, 18; P. R. 0., T 1/119, 100, 104, 123.

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Page 83: To finance the arrangements, the Crown appropriated 15,000 pounds of its revenues in Ireland to be paid in three years at 5,000 pounds a year. Early in 1710, an additional 9,000 pounds were set aside under similar arrangements. (7) Charitable collections secured 409 pounds, shillings and 6 1/4 pence more for the fund. (8) The appropriation of such sums of money by the government aroused the speculative interest of the Irish landlords. Their Irish tenants did not possess a capital of 24 pounds per family of four, (9) neither did the Irish tenants have the financial backing of the Crown. As a result, the Palatines were distributed in lots varying in size from one family to 56 families. The 43 gentlemen, who became their landlords by a draw, were to settle the Palatines on their lands.

12 Crooke's Pamphlet, 4.

13 B. M., Add. MSS. 35933, 12, 17.

14 A proposal was made to send those Palatines back to Holland, who returned from Ireland. P. R. 0., S. P. 34/13 , 14.

15 B. M., Add. MSS. 35933, 13, 18.

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Page 85: Of those Palatines who left their settlements, many stole away without giving their landlords any notice. The Commissioners reported, according to the best information they could get, the Palatines thought that the lands in Ireland were to be rent free. Many of them could not be persuaded to the contrary. The more turbulent Germans stirred up the others with stories of better treatment accorded to those Palatines still in England. A worthless fellow-countryman, who had lived in Ireland several years before, victimized the Palatines by pretending to act as an agent for them in London. Many of the Palatines, it appeared, intended to live on Her Majesty's allowance in Ireland till peace was made and then go back to Germany. (16)

Page 86: tunity to abuse the Palatines. As no other arrangement seems to have been made, it appears probable that the Palatine allowances were turned over to the Irish gentlemen to distribute to their tenants, and under such arrangements the Palatine tenants might receive very little of the allowance granted them. After all, it would be too much to expect a people such as these, with eyes on the New World and its golden promises, to be satisfied with even favorable terms among the meager opportunities of Ireland. It was none too prosperous for most Irishmen themselves.

22 B. M., Add. MSS. 35933, 16.

23 Ibid., 20.

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Page 88: The Irish Commissioners further requested that the Palatines be obliged to declare whether they would accept the arrangement or not. Those who would accept were immediately to enter into covenants as other tenants did with their landlords. Those who refused were to be sent to their own country or elsewhere at the first opportunity. Finally, the Commissioners had reports from the gentlemen who had retained several of the Palatines on their lands, that they would be obliged to return the Palatines to Dublin by March 15th, unless the 40 shillings per annum allowance were made. On the 28th of March, 1712, the English government approved the grant to each family of 40 shillings annually for seven years. It was estimated that 263 Palatine families of 978 persons still remained in Ireland then, but by the time the Irish Commissioners heard of the grant (August 11, 1712), nine more families had departed. With this additional support, the 254 families were all settled in the country.

Near the close of September, 1712, Sir Thomas Southwell sent 130 Palatine families down to his estate in the County of Limerick, (24) where ten other families had remained. Southwell rented them land at almost half of what it could bring, and supplied them with cash and other necessaries. It was stated in June, 1714, when Southwell petitioned the king for 200 pounds due him, that had he not advanced the money, "the last ninety Families wou'd have left the Kingdom." (25) Southwell expressed himself as reluctant to seize the possessions of the Palatines, but he would be compelled to do so unless the Crown reimbursed him. However, on September 1, 1716, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland successfully supported Southwell's claims to the British Treasury for a Palatine debt, which had grown to 557 pounds.(26)

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24 They settled principally at Court Matrix, Killiheen, Ballingarrane and Pallaskenry, and then spread out to the locations given in Appendix I.

26 B. M., Add. MSS. 35933, 24.

26 Ibid., 25

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Page 89: MAP OF SOUTHWESTERN IRELAND, showing the Palatine Settlements in Limerick County. The borders of Limerick County are slightly shaded.

Drawn by A. Cefela.

The Palatines were reported as having employed themselves very industriously in raising flax and hemp. At that time the Commissioners recommended that a minister be secured to read to them the liturgy of the Anglican Church, to which the Palatines readily conformed. The Commissioners further suggested that an agent who understood the German language be appointed to see that the Palatines were not misused by their landlords or by their Irish neighbors. (27) Since a number of the Germans received the sacrament within the time set, looking toward naturalization (under the law which had been repealed in 1711), without taking through ignorance the oath of allegiance required, the Commissioners recommended their case be presented to Parliament for remedy.

27 Ibid., 27.

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Page 90: The Palatines were favored by fortune with the accession of the Hanoverian George I to the British throne in 1714. Since his accession was a continuation of the precious Protestant succession to the throne, the government naturally was even more disposed to support the Protestant cause, especially in Catholic Ireland. Indeed, the "poor German Protestants" were likely to receive special favors from a king who was so German that he could not speak English. On June 15, 1715, an order was issued to continue the 40-shilling grant to each Palatine family for the remainder of the seven-year term, expiring March 2.8, 1719. In addition, on August 12, 1718, the general annual allowance of 624 pounds was ordered to be continued for 14 more years on the expiration of the former grant.(28)

Incidentally, this settlement of Palatines in Ireland was made against a background of distrust of the Irish Catholic population. Fear, that Ireland would be the base for an attempt on the part of the Stuart pretender James III to win back the throne of England, swayed the authorities. In Limerick, where the Palatines remaining in Ireland were eventually established, there had been a serious scare in 1702. The Roman Catholics were rumored to be forming an army. As a result in the next year an act was passed by the Parliament of Ireland, expelling all Roman Catholic residents of Galway and Limerick, unless they gave sufficient assurance of allegiance to the Queen and her successors. (29) Similar rumors continued to haunt the authorities in the next ten years. Consequently, the introduction of Protestant settlers in Limerick County was particularly fortunate from the view-point of those in power. All those able to bear arms were enrolled in the Free Yeomanry of the country and were known as "The German Fusillers" or "True Blues." Each man was supplied with a musket called a "Queen Anne" with which to protect him-

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28 Ibid., 29.

29 P. Fitzgerald and J. J. McGregor, The History of Limerick (Dublin, 1827), II, 455

Page 91: self and his family. (30) At the same time an educational and religious program for conversion of the Irish Roman Catholics was seriously considered. (31)

As late as 1758, the Palatines still had their separate settlements in Ireland. On the afternoon of February 23rd of that year, John Wesley "rode over to Court Mattress [Court Matrix], a colony of Germans, whose parents came out of the Palatinate fifty years ago. Twenty families settled here, twenty more at Killiheen, a mile off; fifty at Balligarane, about two miles eastward; and twenty at Pallas [Pallaskenry], four miles further. " (32) In 1745 Wesley found the Palatines without pastors and completely demoralized but he soon remedied that condition. The Germans became staunch Methodists, which many of them still remain. In 1760, five or six families, including Philip Embury and his cousin Barbara Heck, came to New York. It was here in 1766 that Barbara helped found the Methodist Church of this country by insisting that cousin Philip preach against worldliness." Arthur Young, in his Tour of Ireland, nearly 70 years after the settlement, found three villages of about 70 Palatine families. "For sometime after they settled they fed upon sour crout, but by degrees left it off, and took to potatoes. . . . Their industry goes so far, that jocular reports of its excess are spread: in a very pinching season, one of them yoked his wife against a horse, and went in that manner to work and finished a journey at plough. The industry of the women is a perfect contrast to the Irish ladies in the cabins, who cannot be persuaded on any consideration, even to make hay, it not being the custom of the country. . ." (34)

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30 William Crook, The Palatines in Ireland (London, 1866), 251.

31 B. M., Add. MSS. 35933, 21.

32 John Wesley, Works (1st Amer. ed., New York, 1831), IV, 3.

33 W. W. Sweet, Methodism in American History (New York, 1913), 54.

34 He was nevertheless of the opinion that the Palatines had done far less than the Irish peasant would have done if they had received half the encouragement. Arthur Young, Tour in Ireland (Dublin, 1780), 76.

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Page 92: As late as 1830, another traveler wrote that "The elders of the family preserve, in a great degree, the language, customs, and religion of their old country, but the younger mingle and marry with their Irish neighbors they are at present, as regards both their customs and traditions, only a relic of the past; and yet one so strongly marked and so peculiar, that it will take a long time before all trace of the Fatherland is obliterated." (35) Johann Kohl in his Travels in Ireland in 1842 did not visit the settlements personally, but was informed in the neighborhood, that they could still be distinguished from the rest by the names of "Palatines." (36) But when William Beidelman, once Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, visited Ireland in the closing years of the nineteenth century, he found no trace of any German dialect in the Palatine neighborhoods in Limerick. The language had died out, only German names remained. Some of these had so changed as to make their origin scarcely recognizable. Mr. Beidelman found that the descendants of the Palatines had so intermarried with the Irish population, that their descendants were more Irish than German."

A visit to the area of Palatine settlements in Limerick County in 1934 confirmed much of this. Some Palatine descendants have forgotten their origin. One prominent descendant in replying to a question about German customs, countered with the query, "Were the Palatines Germans?" It is estimated by various individuals of these so-called Palatines that about 700 of them are still living in Limerick County. (38) These

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35 Robert Montgomery Martin, Ireland Before and After the Union with Great Britain (2nd. ed., London, 1848), 191.

36 Johann Georg Kohl, Travels in Ireland (London, 1844), 76.

37 William Beidelman, The Story of the Pennsylvania Germans (Easton, Pennsylvania, 1898), 73.

38 See the list of families in Appendix I. For much of this information I am particularly indebted to Mr. Julius Sheppard, a prominent Palatine of Ballingarrane with a particularly keen mind. I also must express my appreciation of the fine courtesy and help extended to me by the Methodist minister Reverend A. Reilly, of Adare, Limerick County, Irish Free State.

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December 13, 2005. An e-mail From Rich Henninger --

On page 92. Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania”. This is incorrect. William Beidelman was a Pennsylvania lawyer, politician, and author. He was at one time Mayor of the City of Easton, District Attorney of Northampton County, and an elected member of the Pennsylvania State Senate. We was not ever Lieutenant-Governor. I assume this error was made by the original authors and I am hoping you can place a footnote informing the reader that this is not correct. Admittedly this is not a “life altering” error but in the interest of posterity I think it should be corrected. William is an ancestor of mine. I believe I am the only living person currently updating his biography. If you would like to view my sources go to this link:

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=richlaur&id=I3556

Thank You,

Rich Henninger

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Page 93: estimates made independent of one another are remarkable for their general agreement. But it should be noted that many of the Palatines remaining are descendants of mixed unions, that is, with Irish and English in the last generation or two. The adult generation today is largely the ninth in Ireland. Still some are pure Palatine stock and their heavy cast German countenances can be distinguished from the population generally. Careful inquiry has established the complete loss of the German tongue as far back as the seventh generation in the country, that is, about 1860. One Palatine nearly eighty years of age claims that his grandparents knew German, but this was rare. The same individual asserts that his grandfather died at the age of 110. In fact, another Palatine's aunt, still alive (1935), counted 102 years of existence.

Today there is no bad feeling or prejudice between the Irish and the Palatines, other than the general lack of sympathy between Catholic and Protestant. But the Palatines consider themselves Irish and the conclusion is evident that they have been assimilated thoroughly. However, this seems to have been accomplished only in the last three generations. Before that mixed marriages with the Irish were rare and German was probably still their language. In fact, one Palatine's parents were double first cousins, and this was considered rather common. Were there any truth in the prejudice against close marriages, these Palatine descendants should show degeneracy, but the healthy ruddy stock left with marked signs of longevity goes far to show otherwise, when the stock is good to begin with. On the other hand, there are at least two families showing marked feeble-mindedness. In more recent times, the prosperous Palatines are held in high regard in the county and many a native Irishman will ask his Palatine neighbor for his opinion of the price to be asked for his cattle at the county fair.

It may be recalled that Arthur Young estimated the number of the Palatines at 700 in 1776. It would seem that the

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Page 94: Palatine population has not increased, but this is not true. As the native Irish generally have contributed to the population of the world, old and new, so have the "Irish Palatines." Many of the Palatines recall members of their families who emigrated 50 years ago or even more recently to Australia, Canada, United States (Boston, Chicago, New York, and even as far west as Oregon), and various parts of Ireland. This is particularly true of the Switzers who may be found in various parts of Ireland, in Queens County and Dublin as in Limerick County. Here is a typical case. Alexander Jordon, Sr., a French Huguenot, married Mary Smith of Palatine descent. Of the eleven children which blessed that union, one is in New York, U. S. A., one in Reading, England, one in Brighton, England, three in Belfast, Ireland, one in West Africa, two in Limerick and two are dead.

But the natural increase in population has been adversely affected it is apparent, within the last two generations. Most of the Palatines can recall large families of a dozen or more children, one in fact of two dozen, 17 of whom lived to adulthood. But small families are the rule today. One Palatine, of the ninth generation had two children himself; he was one of four children but his grandparents on his father's side had 13. Of course, inquiries were out of order, but the inference was obvious from certain remarks that the small families were a matter of choice, rather than due to any decline in the fertility of the stock. It should be remembered in this correction that it has been in these last few generations that mixed marriages with the Irish and other stock have become common rather than exceptional. These small families are probably not to be attributed to close inbreeding. Of German customs there are none. Sourcrout is unheard of and other Pennsylvania German customs have no foothold in Limerick County. That great quencher of German thirst, beer, is not popular and even cider for which the district was noted some years ago has lost its popularity. I did notice

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Page 95: an old homemade cider press now resting after more than a century of use. John Wesley and his successors have done a thorough job. The Palatines are today a monument to the good influence of a strict but honest discipline. It be noted that some of the Palatines have become Catholic, and this is attributed by the Protestant clergy to the influence of the mixed marriages. I sought in vain for the remnant of a German custom. This failure to find one and the assimilation are to be explained largely by the fact that no further immigration of Germans took place. Here under adverse conditions, national antipathy in the beginning, religious hostility, and economic bitterness, assimilation was delayed for about a century and a half. But then it came fast and with surprising completeness. However, it is well to keep in mind that the Irish themselves have been fairly Anglicized too, at least, to adopting the English language.

What is left, surprising as it may be, is a remnant of the manorial system set up by these Palatines. Early travelers have not commented upon this institution, and hence one is I unprepared for a common with grazing rights and arable land rotating annually in use among the shareholders. These are not found among the Irish and are a survival of the first settlement of great interest. In both Court Matri and Killiheen, a town-land near it, is to be found a meadow for a field held in common. About thirteen families still hold rights in Court Matrix and about twelve in Killiheen. The number of cattle one can graze on the common depends upon the amount of land held in the arable land, and originally each share was eight acres and carried with it one or two "collop." A "collop" was grazing for one cow for two yearlings. Today over these commons there are ninety to a hundred cattle grazing. The arable land is rotated every year, the holders receiving different lands until the whole parcel had passed completely through their hands when they begin to repeat the order all over again.

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Page 96: Two views of the Commons at Court Matrix, Ireland, showing the balks (in the right foreground) still used to separate the plots of land.

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Page 97: One custom was still recalled. That was the custom of the Palatines of having their own Burgomaster, who judged their disputes. In later years he was known as "the King of the Palatines." The last really to hold that title was James Teskey and that was over 60 years ago. Several have been referred to since then by that title but apparently only in a facetious manner. Here again is proof that assimilation occurred about the middle of the nineteenth century, for only then would the Palatine descendants be ready to allow the natives to settle their affairs, that is, when they felt themselves to be natives too.

The Palatine woman is still the typical hard-working German frau, although she would not recognize the word. As one of my companions remarked somewhat derisively, "They would not think of having a maid, and do all the work themselves." Hard-working, whether in the household or in the field, they are helpmates to the core. They still pickle and preserve large quantities of fruits and vegetables, and in this they are the marvel of their neighbors.

Their prosperity too is well recognized in the country. Frugality has concealed much of their wealth, but that which is evident is sufficient to excite the friendly envy of the Irish neighbors. One of them exclaimed, "I can't understand these Palatines. I work as hard as they do, but I can't keep up with them" financially. In the early days the Palatines planted their potatoes in plowed drills and plowed them out. They were thus able to use only one-third the dung used by the Irish, who planted their potatoes in four-row ridges with spades. The Palatine farmers appear to be the first to build silos in Ireland. These practices would seem to indicate that there was a sound personal basis for their prosperity aside from the government aid, though Arthur Young thought that these improvements were solely due to the fact that the Palatines were given long leases."

39 Young, op. cit., I, 178..

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Page 98: Professor Cunningham was too severe when he quoted with apparent approval a parliamentary speech Of 1748, ''The poor Palatines . . . were found to have neither industry nor ingenuity." (40) When Professor Cunningham held that the Palatines were successful almost as much because of the terms on which "the land was leased as to any special characteristics among the settlers," (41)he was stating one view of the case. Not only were the government subsidies of great help, but they were also quite necessary under the uniformly unfriendly conditions. That important factor may be recognized without derogatory conclusions to the people of any nationality. What is now evident, is that the Palatine descendants have continued their prosperity and have won through even under adverse conditions so apparent in the Ireland of today. What is even more convincing, is the general approbrium and approval of the Palatine people held throughout Limerick County by other elements of the population.

Turning to another large settlement of Palatines, we find that a party of Palatines was sent to North Carolina. The efforts of the Carolina Proprietors to populate their colony, culminating in the advertising pamphlet by Kocherthal, have been described, and it has been noticed that Kocherthal's account of Carolina was an important cause of the 1709 emigration. The Lords Proprietors of Carolina were, it seems, among the first to make proposals to the Board of Trade. As early as July 16, 1709, the Proprietors made "proposals to a committee of Council to take all the Palatines here from 15 years to 45 years old, and send them to their plantation; but her Majestie to be at the charge of transporting them, which will be above 10 pounds a head." (42) On July 28th, they ordered that the advertisement printed in the Gazette concerning the

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40 William Cobbett, Parliamentary History of England (London, 1813), XIV, 139 hereafter cited as Parlia. Hist.

41 William Cunningham, Alien Immigrants in England (London, 1897), 250-253.-

42 Luttrell, op. cit., V1, 465.

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Page 99: Palatine immigration, "be printed in High Dutch, for the use of the poor Palatines and the rest of the Germans." (43) On August 11th, they proposed to give 100 acres of land for each man, woman and child, free from any quit-rent for ten years. After ten years, the quit-rent was to be one penny an acre annually. They offered to lease land to the Palatines for the term of three lives or ninety-nine years. (44) These were the same terms as offered in the small circular which was distributed among the Palatines while still in Rotterdam.

These proposals had not been accepted when another group of promoters from Switzerland joined the Proprietors of Carolina in the project. A religious schism had split the town of Bern, and the party of Mennonites, or Anabaptists as they were known in England, were forced to emigrate. (45) They negotiated through a former citizen of Bern, Franz Louis Michel, with the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Carolina. Indeed, some arrangements for land in Pennsylvania had already been made. William Penn, a year later, on April 4, 1710, wrote to Lord Townshend at the Hague asking him to aid in the free passage through Holland of a company of 50 or 60 Switzers under one "Mitchell," who had contracted with him for lands. (46)

Michel was also interested in developing silver mines in the colonies. He enlisted in the latter enterprise Christopher von Graffenried, of an aristocratic family of Bern, a man of pleasing personality, but burdened with debt. The mining project appealed to him as a means of building up his fortune and in 1708, he secretly left Switzerland, having engaged a small party of miners to follow him on his call. (47) According-

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43 "List and abstracts of documents relating to South Carolina [also North Carolina] now existing in State Paper Office, London," in S. C. Hist. Soc. Coll. (Charleston, South Carolina, 1857), I, 179.

44 C. C. 1708-1709, 445.

45 The Mennonites were the followers of Menno Simons, an early Dutch Anabaptist.

47 Townshend MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com., 11th Report, Appendix), 63.

47 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 223.

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Page 100: ly, in 1709 Graffenried was in London awaiting the development of his mining plans. The delays were annoying. His partner, Louis Michel, was occupied with negotiations for the Swiss settlements. On April 28th, Graffenried came to an agreement with the Proprietors of Carolina, for the purchase of 10,000 acres of land (48) on or between the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers or their branches in North Carolina. The purchase price was 10 pounds for each thousand acres. It was further agreed that 100,000 acres were to be reserved to the company for 12 years, if they desired to purchase additional land. The terms were to be at the above mentioned rate, provided the land was taken up within seven years. After that period, the company would have to pay according to the custom prevailing there. One member of the company was to be made a Landgrave, and was to purchase 5,000 acres at the customary quit-rent. (49) By July 14, 1709, Graffenried had joined with Michel in his settlement project, for on that date he and Michel explained to the Board of Trade their proposal to settle Swiss Protestants in Virginia.(50)

The men and women of the 1709 Palatine immigration began to arrive, as already described, in large numbers early in May, and the British government was hard pressed to provide for them. At this juncture, English friends of Graffenried, some of high rank, advised him not to lose so favorable an opportunity to attain desirable settlers on his lands. He was assured that if he would take a considerable number of the Palatines to America, the Queen would not only grant him the money for their passage, but in addition would make a good contribution for them. The good contribution as a matter of fact amounted to almost 4,000 pounds. (51)

Consequently, Graffenried hastened to conclude his ar-

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48 C. C. 1708-1709, 432, 443, 461.

49 N. C. Col. Rec., 1, 707.

50 C. C. 1708-1709, 425.

51 Todd and Goebel, o.- cit., 224.

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Page 101: rangements with the Proprietors of Carolina. He paid 50 pounds for 5,000 acres on August 4, 1709, and was made a landgrave.(52) On the 3rd of September, Graffenried, Michel and the Proprietors entered into another arrangement. Under this agreement, 10,000 acres were granted to Graffenried and his heirs, for the settlement of Palatines. (53) Michel, who was to purchase 35,000 acres, actually contented himself with one fourteenth of that area. (54) From these arrangements, it is apparent that the direction of the company's affairs had passed into the hands of Graffenried.

Late in September, 40 or 50 families of Palatines petitioned that they might be transported with the Swiss now going to North Carolina, (55) and on October 10th, the Commissioners for the Settling of the Palatines permitted Graffenried and Michel to pick out 600 Palatines, about 92 families, to go to Carolina with them. They chose young, healthy and industrious people of various trades. On the 21st, 50 more persons were accepted. (56) Each emigrant received 20 shillings worth of clothes from the government, which also paid their passage, amounting to 5 pounds, 10 shillings each. (57)

Preparations for the settlement in Carolina were now under way. The Lords Proprietors sent to Carolina two letters of instructions with regard to the Palatines. These were sent on September 22, 1709, the first letter being addressed to Christopher Gale, Receiver General of North Carolina. It directed him to supply "Graffenried with such necessaries and provisions of ours for the poor Palatines at such rates as you received them, taking and forwarding his receipt for the same." The Proprietors intended in this way to extend two years' credit to the new settlement. The second letter went to

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52 N. C. Col. Rec., I, 717.

53 C. C. 1708-1709, 719.

54 N. C. Col. Rec., 1, 718.

55 Acts Privy Council Col., 11, 614.

56 Marlborough MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com., 8th Report, Appendix), 47a.

57 N. C. Col. Rec., 1, 986; Trinity College Hist. Pub., IV, 65.

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Page 102: the "Governor or President and Council and Assembly, of North Carolina." It may be taken as a statement of British colonization aims. The Proprietors stated, "We being extreamly desireous that the good of our Province should by all means be promoted, and being sencible that nothing can more effectually contribute thereto than by encreasing the number of the inhabitants and planters, who by their labour and industry may occupy the soil and improve the produce thereof, we have therefore given all reasonable encouragement to some families of poor Palatines to come and settle amongst you, . . . . . we do earnestly recommend them to your care." (58)

Graffenried, according to his own account, took great pains in preparing for the settlement in Carolina. A supply of all kinds of necessary tools was collected. Good food was provided for the voyage. Twelve Palatines were appointed foremen among the people and the whole group was placed under the supervision of three colonial officials bound for Carolina, the Chief Justice, the Surveyor General, and the Receiver General. When all arrangements had been made, Graffenried had the Commissioners for the Settling of the Palatines inspect the arrangements on the ships. Finally in January, 1710, the Palatines sailed for America, (59) Graffenried remaining in England to await the arrival of Michel with his Swiss Anabaptists. Because of rough winds and storms, the ships were driven off their course, and arrived in Virginia, thirteen weeks later.

The Palatines were in poor condition. They were overcrowded, which contributed to the sickness and death of many on the voyage. They were unaccustomed to the salt food. When they finally landed, many could not restrain themselves; several died from drinking too much fresh water and overloading themselves with raw fruits. Others died of fever. The band had lost more than half its members before it was settled. (60)

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58 C. C. 1708-1709, 471.

59 " Trinity College Hist. Pub., IV, 66.

61 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 2.25; N. C. Col. Rec., I, 909.

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Page 103: One ship, carrying the best of the supplies, was plundered at the mouth of the James River by a French privateer. (61) The Palatine party was next transported 20 miles overland, and then shipped across Albermarle Sound to the Neuse River. Here Surveyor General Lawson placed them on the south side of the point of land along the Trent River, in the very hottest and most unhealthy locality--this, Lawson appears to have done for his own advantage, as it was on his land or what he later sold as his land--and there the Palatines lived until fall, when Graffenried arrived.

The Swiss portion of the settlement was meeting with great difficulties. The first group left Bern on March 8, 1710. A number of the group were men who had been imprisoned for their Anabaptist beliefs. They were really being deported to America. When they reached the Low Countries, the Dutch intervened in favor of the victims of the religious persecution. All of the prisoners were freed, but some of them continued on their way.

Meanwhile, Graffenried and Michel, on May 18, 1710, signed the contract with Georg Ritter and Peter Isot, by which they legally became members of the Bern Land Company. (63) The enterprise was founded on the 17,000 acres actually purchased and 12 years' option on 100,000 acres. Permission was also given to take up land above the falls of the Potomac, which would however, be held of the Crown, subject to the Governor of Virginia. The exact amount paid for the land was 175 pounds. Aside from these land grants, the Bern Company had mining rights in Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The stock of the company, consisting of 7,200 pounds, was divided into twenty-four shares

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61 C C. 1710-1711, 114.

62 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 226.

63 This group had petitioned theBritish government on June 28, 1709, for lands and financial aid to settle about 500 Swiss Protestants in Virginia. C C. 1708-1709, 398; P. R. 0., S. P. 44/108, 106. The contract is given in full in Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 292. et seq.

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Page 104: of 300 pounds each. No one person could hold more than one share, but it was not all paid in. Michel was credited with a share to pay him for his discoveries which he claimed to have made and for the 2,500 acres he had turned into the society. One share was credited to Graffenried for his 5,000 acres and his work with the Palatines; and Georg Ritter had a share for expenses already incurred, which left only 6,300 pounds to be paid in. When the contract was signed, others had not contributed their amounts, having until September, 1711 to pay; hence it is impossible to determine how much Graffenried had on hand to support himself and his colonists. The report written months later (in May, 1711) indicates a shortage of 2,400 pounds which should have been raised in some manner. Graffenried, at that time, had spent 2,228 pounds, a part or all of which he had borrowed. The shortage of 2.400 pounds would have covered this and left a little besides. It is very likely that the keeping of the contract would have saved his colony. (64)

Graffenried and the Swiss arrived in Virginia on September 11, 1710, (65) carrying a letter from the Queen to the governor of Virginia. It would seem, too, that the more firmly established colony of Virginia was expected to aid the new settlement nearby. After paying his respects to the Virginia authorities, Graffenried proceeded to the Palatine settlement on the Neuse and Trent Rivers in North Carolina. He found his settlers in misery and wretchedness almost indescribable. They had been compelled to give their clothes and whatever else they possessed to neighboring settlers for food. Most of the colonists were enfeebled by ill health. The aid promised Graffenried and ordered by the Lords Proprietors was not forthcoming.

It seems that Graffenried against his inclination was forced to take a hand in the political struggle raging in North Carolina. In 1708, Edward Tynte had been appointed Governor

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64 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 47.

65 Graffenried sailed from Newcastle early in July. Ibid., 366.

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Page 105: of South Carolina with instructions to deputize Edward Hyde (66) over the northern colony. Until Hyde should arrive, Tynte left in charge Colonel Thomas Cary, a former South Carolina merchant. Unfortunately for the affairs in North Carolina, Tynte died during the summer of 1710 without signing Hyde's commission and administering the oath. Cary, in control of the government and its finances, refused to yield it to Hyde. (67) He also disregarded the instructions of the Proprietors with regard to the Palatines. Graffenried was finally forced openly to take Hyde's part. (68)

He had to use his credit to secure flour from Pennsylvania and other supplies from Virginia. Having provided temporarily for his settlers, he busied himself with the planning of a new town on the land originally designated. With the Surveyor General and his clerk, Graffenried laid out broad streets and houses well separated one from the other. Three acres of land were marked for each family. The village was divided to resemble a cross. In the center a lot was set aside for a church. Meanwhile a good number of Palatines and Swiss began to fell timber to build houses. Every family was given its own plot of ground, so that they could clear it, build their cabins, and prepare their soil for planting and sowing. The settlement was occupied and soon took on the appearance of prosperity. In eighteen months, Graffenried could boast that the Palatine settlement had made more progress than the English inhabitants had in four years. From a combination of the River name, Neuse, and Bern, the home city of the Swiss, including Graffentied and Michel, the settlement was named New Bern. (69)

Graffenried also had "a private and very exact treaty with the Palatines, which was projected, examined and agreed upon beforehand by the Royal Commission, too ample to be

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66 This Edward Hyde should not be confused with Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, one time Governor of New York.

67 C. C. 1711-1712, 33.

68 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 57, et seq.

69 Ibid., 71, 378.

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<--Page 106

Page 107 : inserted here more than in summary: 1st, My colonists owed me fidelity, obedience and respect, and I owed them protection. 2d. I was to furnish each family for the first year a cow and two swine and some utensils, reimbursement to be made after 3 years. 3d. I was to give to each family 300 acres of land and they were to give me for quit-rent two pence per acre, and I on the other hand was to be responsible for the 6 pence per 100 acres acknowledgment toward the Lords Proprietors. This contract was feudal in character. All that was needed was to make its provisions hereditary upon the descendants of the settlers as the title of Landgrave was to be hereditary for Graffenried. That the latter actually exercised authority was evident, for he incurred the enmity of a Palatine blacksmith by sentencing him to a day's log-sawing for using foul language. Some of the Palatines rebelled and left the settlement. Before they could be brought to terms, the Tuscarora Indians made a serious attack on the white settlement.

Despite Graffenried's fair treatment of the Indians, New Bern was subject to Indian attacks in the war which suddenly broke out in 1711. Houses were burned, household furniture destroyed, cattle were shot down and about seventy Palatines were murdered and captured. (71) Graffenried himself narrowly escaped a horrible death, when he and Lawson, the Surveyor General, were captured. They were liberated temporarily, but Lawson insisted on quarreling with one of the Indian chiefs. As a result, they were both condemned to die. Graffenried saved himself by claiming an exemption as "King of the Palatines." (72) His claim was allowed, but Lawson was tortured to death. Before his release in October, Graffenried was forced to arrange a treaty of neutrality for the Palatines in case of war between the Tuscororas and the English. (73) It came too late however, for all the splendid promise of the settle-

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70 Ibid., 69.

71 N. C. Col. Rec., 1, 927 et seq.; Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 82.

72 Ibid., 1, 992.

73 Ibid., I, 935.

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Page 108: ment was brought to naught by that first attack of the savages. The leaders of the settlement considered moving to Virginia or Maryland. Graffenried set out by water to get aid from the governor of Virginia. A sloop was loaded there with provisions and military supplies with the help of a prominent colonist, Colonel Pollock, but the sloop never reached New Bern, for due to carelessness it caught fire, resulting in the total loss of the supplies. A larger sloop or brigantine was sent after much delay.

The end of the Indian troubles brought the Germans little relief. Graffenried exercised one of the rights of a lord over his dependent tenants and permitted the settlers to leave the settlement for two years to work for the English planters. His partner Michel duped him concerning the silver mines he had supposedly found in Pennsylvania. Heavily in debt, Graffenried's creditors, including Pollock, became impatient. His slaves were taken and held for their master's debts and almost penniless, his settlement in need, the mining project an illusion, his partner faithless, Graffenried retired to Virginia on September 20, 1712. There he remained until spring among his friends, trying to get help. On Easter, April 16, 1713, he began his return to England by way of New York. He reached London about September 13th. (74)

In London, Graffenried could obtain no help. Neither the British government nor the Lords Proprietors were inclined to risk any money. A disappointed Graffenried could explain it later only by the deaths of the Queen and the Duke of Beaufort, one of the Carolina Proprietors, which had occurred on August 1st and July 25th respectively in 1714, while he was in Bern. (75) The party of miners, however, for whom Graffenried had arranged in 1709, were awaiting him in London. Under J. Justin Albrecht some 40 miners had set out from Germany with naive faith in the good fortune awaiting them in America after securing passage there from London.

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74 Ibid., 11, 58.

75 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 94, 257.

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Graffenried had written to them from Carolina, relating the all-too-evident uncertainties, among which was the fact that no mines had yet been discovered. But he was himself so wrapped in hope that he was ill-fitted to write counsels of prudence; he had advised the chief miner and a few others to come for a reconnaissance, if they felt disposed. Accordingly, Albrecht had gathered his company together and had managed to reach London."

Hard pressed himself, Graffenried did the best he could for the miners, who refused to turn back. Finally, he found two merchants trading to Virginia, who agreed to advance the transportation and subsistence of these Germans above what they possessed, provided Governor Spotswood of Virginia would accept them and pay the ship captain the amount due him. As the governor had recommended Graffenried to a Colonel Blankistore with regard to mines in that colony, this recommendation was used to forward the arrangement. In April, 1714, the miners arrived in Virginia, where they were well received by Spotswood and founded the settlement of Germanna on the Rapidan River, a branch of the Rappahannock. For the governor they built and operated iron works about 10 miles northeast of the present town of Fredericksburg. (77)

Graffenried remained in England only 4 or 5 weeks and then began his journey home, reaching his family in Bern, November 11, 1713. The members of the Bern Company refused to carry out the agreement. Graffenried was too poor to sue for breach of contract. He tried but failed to interest others in the project, and finally he had to abandon his colony. (78)

Before he departed from Carolina, Graffenried had assigned the Palatines' land to Colonel Pollock as security for the loans previously extended to him, though the land was probably

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76 1bid., 257.

77 Faust, op. cit., 1, 178; William J. Hinke, "The First German Reformed Colony in Virginia," in Jour. Presbyterian Hist. Soc. (Philadelphia, 1903), II.

78 Ibid., 1, 94.

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Page 110: worth only 200 pounds, while the debt amounted to 700 pounds. On February 10, 1715, Pollock wrote in to Graffenried at Bern, asking him to pay 700 pounds at London and keep the title to the land he had taken up. (79) Pollock wrote a severely critical fashion but to no avail. (80) In Graffenried's own account of the failure the accusations are so universal as to raise the presumption that he too was remiss. At least, he did not deal fairly with the Palatines, who never secured titles to the land they had taken up with him.

The Palatines at New Bern had in the meanwhile managed to survive. On November 6, 1714, they petitioned the Council, stating that they were unprovided with the lands, stock and other necessaries promised them and that they were reduced to great want and poverty by the Indian war. They asked that they might be granted permission to take up 400 acres of land for each family at the rate of 10 pounds per 1,000 acres, and be allowed two years to pay for it. (81) Nothing seems to have been done. On March 29, 1743, the Palatines at New Bern requested titles for the land, but Cullen Pollock, the son of Thomas, produced his father's patent and the Palatines' petition was dismissed. (82) In 1747, another petition was drawn up by the Palatines. This was sent to the Privy Council Committee for Plantation Affairs and at length, on March 16, 1748, the government issued orders to Governor Johnston to give the settlers the equivalent of the lands of which they had been dispossessed in 1743, free of quit-rent for 10 years. The colonial assembly was to provide for the expenses of surveying and granting the titles.(83) This was done, and the Palatines were moved to the frontier. Meanwhile other Germans had begun to move into North Carolina from Pennsylvania following the natural highway of the Great Appalachian valley. By 1750, German immigrants had settled in the counties, Craven, Jones, Onslow and Duplin.

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79 N. C. Col. Rec., II, 166.

80 Todd and Goebel, op. cit., 97.

81 N. C. Col. Rec., 11, 46.

82 Ibid., IV, 632.

83 Ibid., IV, 868, 873, 954, 967.

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