Greetings from the President

VOLUME 33 NUMBER PAGE ISSN 8756 811X FEBRUARY 2013 Greetings from the President By Doris Glick 2013 Spring Conference – May 4th The conference will be held May 4th in the Academic Forum at Kutztown University They have been most gracious to allow us to host it in their wonderful facility, the Academic Forum Those of you who attended our Fall 2012 Conference know this building offers state of the art technical support for our speakers, excellent lecture, vendor, and dining spaces as well as convenient parking We want to express our thanks to the PA German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University Their help to us was invaluable See page for details Our Leadership We invite you to become part of our chapter’s leadership Currently, we are seeking a nominating committee chairman, whose responsibility is to help identify members to serve on the chapter board as officers and on committees We want to expand our leadership team and to plan for future leaders Please contact us if you are interested in serving our Chapter in any capacity We hope to hear from you Our Chapter Activities Some very hard working members have come forth to writing for this Penn Pal Newsletter We are most grateful to them We are considering limiting our conference to once a year in the spring, so as to better apply our limited resources to produce an enriching and engaging meeting that offers excellent speakers, vendors and networking opportunities We will discuss and vote on this at our 2013 Spring conference We look forward to your input In closing please keep us apprised of your correct email address As postage and printing costs are going up, this is the way you will be receiving the newsletter There is a $4.00 per year fee for those requesting a 1st class mailing of a paper copy of the newsletter Please mail this directly to the PA Chapter of PALAM, PO Box 35, Temple, Pa 19560 Current PA Chapter Board Officers President……………………… …Doris Glick Recording Secretary………… .Lucy Kern Interim Treasurer…………… Charles Glick Interim Registrar…… Charlene Loiseau Penn Pal Editor……………….Linda Gilmore Souls for Sale: Two German Redemptioners Come to Revolutionary America The Life Stories of John Frederick Whitehead and Johann Carl Büttner By Lucy Kern In 1773 Johann Frederick Whitehead and Johann Carl Büttner were placed aboard the Ship Sally bound from Amsterdam to America They arrived in Philadelphia on the twenty-first of August and were soon sold to different masters They had been recruited by agents of the Dutch East India Company, popularly known as soul sellers, with promises of employment Neither of these young Germans had intended to come to America They had left home and family filled with desire to travel the world and seek their fortune Many years after they served their contracts they wrote their memoirs These firsthand accounts document the recruitment process for indentured servants in detail, describe the conditions under which they served out their contracts, and how they fared after serving the terms of the contract John Frederick Whitehead was born in 1757 in the city of Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania His father, name unknown, died when John was a few months old His mother then married Joakim Kuckuk, whose surname John retained until some time during his years of servitude in Pennsylvania He was indentured on 29 September 1773 to John Starr, a Quaker, of Maiden Creek Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania for a period of six years and six months At the end of his indenture, he became a weaver On 11 May 1786 he married Ann Thomson, or Thompson They resided in Maiden Creek and Windsor Townships in Berks County for several years In 1810 they were residents of Catawissa Township, then Northumberland County, where John was listed as a farmer rather than a weaver At some point the family moved to Colerain Township, Hamilton County, Ohio where he died at the age of fifty-eight An appendix includes his will written in 1815, the inventory of the estate, and a list of the births of his children John Whitehead did not actually write his memoirs but dictated the story of his life to friends as he worked at the loom Only a few parts were written in his own hand The text is in English with some names and phrases in German The manuscript was handed down from his eldest son John, to his son Michael, then to Michael’s second son, Ethan Edwin where it remained until being donated to the Pennsylvania State University Library in 2003 Johann Carl Büttner was born in 1754 in Senftenberg, Saxony He was the son of a minister, one of eleven children He learned the trade of a barber-surgeon However, rather than complete schooling to become a surgeon, he, like Whitehead, chose to travel and seek his fortune The soul sellers he encountered promised him, at first, employment as a surgeon aboard ships that sailed to the East Indies Failing that, and in debt to the soul sellers, he agreed to emigrate to America His adventures during indenture are scarcely believable He was sold to a Quaker farmer who lived in New Jersey, ran away, was captured and returned to his owner After breaking the blade of a new plow, a beating by his master and complaints to the judge regarding mistreatment, he was traded for a pair of oxen to a tavern innkeeper He then persuaded the innkeeper to allow him to join a regiment of German immigrants to fight in the War of Independence, deserted, and joined a British Hessian troop He was wounded, gave himself up to the Americans and befriended a surgeon who asked that he be exempted from prisoner exchanges He then joined the British side, was eventually reassigned to the Hessian regiment, and given the position of barber-surgeon He returned to Germany with the Hessian troops in 1783, married, and finished his studies as a surgeon His memoirs entitled Büttner der Amerikaner were published in Germany in 1828 The book is edited with introduction and notes by Susan E Klepp, Farley Grubb, and Anne Pfaelzer de Ortiz Souls for Sale is a fascinating book well worth reading Klepp, Susan, et al, editors Souls for Sale: Two German Redemptioners Come to Revolutionary America The Life Stories of John Frederick Whitehead and Johann Carl Büttner University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006 REICHELDERFERs ON FRAKTUR by Corinne Earnest Joanna Klingeman asked about the name, REICHELDERFER/REICHELDÖRFER on fraktur.* Many of the following examples show REICHELDERFERs located in Albany Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania Unless otherwise stated, all locations given below are in Pennsylvania A Taufschein (birth and baptism certificate) in the pension files of Jacob SCHUMACHER at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., mentions Magdalena REICHELDÖRFER, daughter of Henrich and Maria Catharina (LEBEGUTH [LEBENGUTH]) REICHELDÖRFER Magdalena was born in Albany Township, Berks County, in 1761 The exact date of birth was left blank Although no date of baptism was recorded, Pastor MISCHLER performed the baptism, and the sponsors were Johannes KUNTZ and Magdalena WIRTH, both single According to this certificate, Magdalena REICHELDÖRFER married Jacob SCHUMACHER in 1777 A correspondent says Jacob and Magdalena SCHUMACHER relocated from Pennsylvania to Fairfield County in Ohio A Taufschein at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg says Johannes REICHELSDÖRFER was the son of Michael REICHELSDÖRFER and his wife, Susanna, whose maiden name is also recorded as REICHELSDÖRFER Johannes was born July 15, 1791, in Albany Township, Berks County He was baptized July 15 (presumably the same day he was born) by Jost ROTH The sponsors at Johannes’s baptism were Johannes and Anna Elisabetha REICHELSDÖRFER A Taufschein made for Samuel LAI, son of Adam and Susann LAI, mentions Johann RIECHELDERFER and his wife as sponsors at Samuel’s baptism Samuel was born May 24, 1817 in Albany Township, Berks County He was baptized by Pastor ENGEL, but no date was given Susann LAI’s maiden name might have been POH It is poorly written, but this surname appears in Albany Township In Ernsts on Fraktur, we list data from a Taufschein made for Emmaleina ERNST, daughter of Jacob and Resia [Theresia] (REICHELDERFER) ERNST Emmaleina was born May 6, 1847 in Albany Township, Berks County She was baptized on August 22, 1847 by Johan ZÜLCH The sponsors at Emmaleina’s baptism were Michael and Elisabeth HENDRIX A related example was made for Jacob and Theresia (REICHELDÖRFER) ERNST’s daughter, Elemende Elemende ERNST was born March 24, 1857 in Albany Township She was baptized by G JÄGER on May 24, 1857 Charl[e]s and Dinne [Diana] (FRIESZ) STEIGERWALD sponsored Elemende’s baptism The current location is unknown of a Taufschein made for Ida Agnes SITTLER, daughter of Oliver C and Lovina Rebecka (REICHELDERFER) SITTLER Ida Agnes was born December 4, 1881 in Longswamp Township, Berks County She was baptized on January 15, 1882, but the pastor’s name is illegible The only sponsor at Ida Agnes’s baptism was Lewisa ECK, wife of Frank ECK According to this certificate, Lovina Rebecka REICHELDERFER was the daughter of B REICHELDERFER A Taufschein in a private collection was made for Salliana [Sally Anna], daughter of Jacob and Abia (REICHELDERFER) HORING Salliana was born February 9, 1833 in Albany Township, Berks County She was baptized March 24, 1833 by Johann ZÜLCH The sponsors at Salliana’s baptism were Beniamin [Benjamin] and Esther SANSSELE (?) The mother on the above certificate, Abia REICHELDERFER, might have been Aeppi (possibly Abby) REICHELDERFER, whose name appears on another certificate On February 23, 2001, Horst Auction Centre in Ephrata sold a Taufschein made for Aeppi , daughter of Henrich and Maria (KNEPPER) REICHELDÖRDER Aeppi was born about ten o’clock at night on June 11, 1811 in Albany Township, Berks County She was baptized by Henrich TIEFENBACH [DIEFENBACH] on August 4, 1811 The sponsors at Aeppi’s baptism were Henrich SCHUMACHER and Magdalena KNEPPER, both single On September 30, 1999, a related example sold at Zettlemoyer Auction Company in Fogelsville This example was made for Aeppi’s older sister, Jettia (possibly Lettia, meaning Lydia) Jettia was born to Henrich and Maria (KNEPPER) REICHELDÖRFER about six o’clock in the evening on December 17, 1807 She was born in Albany Township, and baptized by Daniel SCHÖFER, Lutheran, on January 17, 1808 The sponsors at Jettia’s baptism were her maternal grandparents, Johannes and Maria Elisabetha KNEPPER An added note on this certificate says Jettia married George Adam ZETTELMEUER in March 1849 They were married by Pastor JÄGER In November 2010, Garth’s Auctions in Ohio sold four Taufscheine (plural form of Taufschein) made for the children of Anthony and Christina (REICHELDÖRFER) BAUSCHER Unfortunately, the images provided by Garth’s are difficult to read Consequently, information from them reported here is sketchy, but they flush out the Anthony and Christina (REICHELDÖRFER) BAUSCHER family whose records of baptism for some of their children are found in Rosenthal Church of Albany Township Often referred to as Bethel, New Bethel, or Corner Church, these records list Barbara (born 1776), John Henry (born 1780), Anna Elisabeth (born 1783), and Daniel (born 1789 [1788]) The four fraktur sold at Garth’s were made for Peter (born 1782), Magdalena (born 1784), Daniel (the same Daniel as listed in the church records), and Wilhelm (born 1799) Peter BAUSCHER was born in 1782 in Albany Township He was baptized, but information concerning his baptism is illegible other than the names of the sponsors, who were Peter BAUSCHER and Magdalena POH According to his Taufschein, Peter was the only child in this group of four who was born in Albany Township The next three children were born in Bieber Township, Northumberland County, which is why – with the exception of Daniel – they are not listed in the Rosenthal records Magdalena was born in 1784, but the specific date of her birth is illegible The sponsors at her baptism were Antonÿ GIST and Magdalena GROS Daniel was born July 31, 1788, and baptized November by Pastor SCHMITT The sponsors at his baptism were Philip BAUSCHER and Magdalena WIRTHMAN Wilhelm was born about four o’clock in the afternoon on March 8, 1799 He was baptized by Pastor GENSEL The sponsors at his baptism were Wilhelm and Margreth LOHR or LAHR Daniel’s Taufschein says he was born in Bieber Township in 1788 Perhaps because of the location in Northumberland County, there are discrepancies between the Rosenthal Church records and the fraktur concerning the year Daniel was born The church records say he was born July 31, 1789, but Daniel’s Taufschein notes the date of birth was July 31, 1788 Added to this confusion are discrepancies in the father’s first name in records that include John T Humphrey’s Berks County volumes and volume three of F Edward Wright’s Berks County Church Records of the 18th Century Wright says the father’s name was Daniel, but Humphrey says it was Anthony, which agrees with the fraktur A Taufschein related to the above is pictured in The Heart of the Taufschein: Fraktur and the Pivotal Role of Berks County, Pennsylvania It was made for Anthony and Christina BAUSCHER’s son, Johan Henrich, who is listed in the Rosenthal Church records On this certificate, Christina’s maiden name was spelled REICHELSTÖRFFER and Anthony’s first name was written as Andonius This certificate notes that Johan Henrich BAUSCHER was born about eight o’clock on the night of December 26, 1780 in Albany Township He was baptized February 2, presumably in 1781, by Henrich HERTZEL The sponsors at his baptism were Henrich and Catharina REICHELSTÖRFFER Johan Henrich’s certificate was sold at Pook & Pook Auctions in Downingtown on September 26, 2008 Of interest, the next lot in that sale included a Taufschein that mentions the name KLINGEMEN [sic] Obviously, KLINGEMEN is another name that interests Joanna This certificate was made for Sussana, daughter of Johannes and Marieliesabet [Maria Elisabeth] (KLINGEMEN) KNEPPER Sussana was born in Albany Township, Berks County, on October 7, 1795 She was baptized by Peter MILLER, Reformed, but no date of baptism was given The sponsors at Sussana’s baptism were Conrad MILLER and Eliesabeth MEIER, both single On January 16, 2010, Young’s Auction Service of Williamsport sold a Taufschein made for Johannes FRIES, son of Johannes and Anna Maria (REIGELDÖRFER) FRIES Johannes was born in Albany Township, Berks County, on July 26, 1779 He was baptized but information concerning his baptism is illegible The sponsors at Johannes’s baptism were Johannes and Elisabeth REIGELDÖRFER In Stumps on Fraktur, Jacob REICHELDERFER is mentioned as the only sponsor at the baptism of Jacob, son of Abraham MERKEL and his wife, Mary Magdalena, daughter of Conrad STUMP Jacob MERKEL, was born March 5, 1812 in Salt Creek Township, Pickaway County, Ohio He was baptized August 15, 1812 by Jacob LIST [LEIST] The current location is unknown of a Taufschein made for Edson R JONES, son of Lewis and Elisabeth (REICHELDERFER) JONES Edson R JONES was born March 10, 1865 in Salt Creek Township, Pickaway County, Ohio He was baptized by Pastor DENT, but no date of baptism was listed The sponsors at Edson’s baptism were the parents A confirmation certificate in a private collection was made for Lydia Ann REICHELDERFER, who was confirmed November 4, 1883 in Fogelsville by N.W HELFFRICH, Reformed An entry in a Bible record made for the RAUCH family of Albany Township, Berks County, illustrates how small bits of information can be found in seemingly unrelated sources The entry says that Jessie REICHELDORFER was born April 7, 1840 and died May 24, 1902 at the age of 62 years, month, and 17 days The record shows no family relationship between families named RAUCH or REICHELDORFER If you have names you want me to research on fraktur, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Corinne Earnest, PO Box 1132, Clayton, DE 19938 Please be patient for a reply I research names at no charge for members of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Palatines to America *Names are spelled as they appear on the fraktur Lucy Kerns Receives Two Prestigious Awards By Amanda Lynn Richardson Joe Lieby and Lucy Kern Lucy Kern, Library Director at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown Univeristy (PGCHC) is the recipient of two awards based upon her efforts in genealogical research Lucy has received the Mary Owen Steinmetz award and the Palatines to America (PALAM) Meritorious Service Award The Mary Owen Steinmetz award – which is given biannually to a person who has made great strides in the field of genealogical research in Berks County, PA – was presented to Lucy during the Berks County Genealogical Society’s (BCGS) Annual Dinner Meeting in June Lucy joined the BCGS in 1988, served in a board position from 1994-1996 and again from 1996-1998 Lucy is a current member of BCGS PALAM’s Meritorious Service Award – which honors “outstanding performance, meritorious service, and exemplary support in the furtherance of the principles and goals of Palatines to America” – was given at the PALAM Conference on October 6, 2012, held at Kutztown University’s Academic Forum The award was presented by Joe Lieby, current president of PALAM Lucy is the Recording Secretary of the PA Chapter of PALAM Courtesy of Heritage Center News, PGCHC Trade in Strangers, the Beginning of Mass Migration to North America By Marcia Dreisbach Falconer, PhD There are a few books that the serious genealogist, interested in German immigrants who arrived in North America between 1683 and 1774, must have This book is one of them There is much to recommend in this book, beginning with Wokeck’s research into the process of emigration She presents a concise view of the political, economic and living conditions that spurred the waves of emigrants to leave their homes She also talks about the need for and kinds of permission required for people to leave – legally – and about the difficulties of obtaining such permission Although this history is well done, Trade in Strangers is at its best in describing the journey down the Rhine and across the Atlantic To get material for the book, Wokeck delved into archives not often accessed, including a great number of books in German, English and Dutch She also used material from unpublished Dutch manuscripts found in the archives of Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Arnhem in the Netherlands The sum of her finds is a book that is both scholarly and amazingly easy to read Time and again, Wokeck presents a new view of the processes of emigration We learn a great deal about the merchants of the time and the trans-Atlantic trade Passengers were considered “freights” and although some allowance was made for the fact that these are human beings, equal consideration was given to the necessity of packaging the ‘freights’ so as to make money Conditions on the ships are explored well beyond the ‘horror stories’ many of us are familiar with Wokeck goes into calculation of the cost of the journey as well as the connection between these costs and the establishment of the indenture system The reader can open this book and find interesting and generally unknown facts on virtually every page! If you are using this book to write about your immigrant ancestor the task is not to find something relevant, rather the task is to limit the relevant findings that you include so as not to overwhelm your reader In addition to the huge wealth of information in the book itself, there is an invaluable appendix at the end Wokeck mined the shipping records in the Netherland’s archives to produce a detailed chart listing every known immigrant ship that docked in Philadelphia between 1683 and 1774 The chart contains the name of the ship, the type of ship when known (galley, snow, etc.), tonnage, captain’s name, port of embarkation, date of departure (when known), name of merchant, stopover port, date of departure (when known), port of disembarkation, date of arrival, name of merchant, number of passengers/freights, and the best estimate of total number of immigrants on board! In addition to the chart, Wokeck has added a number of comments for many of the journeys These include such notes as “6 adults and 36 children died of small pox during the voyage”, and “all well, none died at sea” I can virtually guarantee that every reader will find not just one, or two, or five or ten new pieces of information in Trade in Strangers, but rather that you will lose count of how many things you’ve learned and simply be amazed that so much information can be included in a single book Wokeck, Marianne Trade in Strangers, the Beginning of Mass Migration to North America University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999 Ruling by the Board of the PA Chapter: Penn Pal is a publication of the Pennsylvania Chapter, Palatines of America All rights reserved Articles in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Pennsylvania Chapter, Palatines of America Include a SASE when writing to request permission Pa Chapter Palatines to America 2013 Spring Conference Saturday, May 4, 2013 Kutztown, PA A Conference flyer will be e-mailed to all Pa Chapter members The registration flyer will also be available on the website Here are key details The Conference fee includes:  Presentations by experts in Pennsylvania German ancestry research  Morning refreshments & hot buffet luncheon  Book Vendors and Networking  Optional afternoon tour of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center On the day of the Conference, registration will start at 8:30 a.m The meeting begins at 9:15 a.m and continues until 3:00 p.m Vendors will be available and those interested in the tour may go to the Heritage Center The tour will start at 3:30pm Directions will be available Conference speakers include:  James C Landis, genealogist and historian, will discuss No Good Deed Goes Unrecorded: Understanding Deeds for Genealogical Research  Lawrence Medaglia, Register of Wills for Berks Co., PA, will discuss Researching Early Wills  Gerald H Smith, genealogist, will discuss Bastards, Bridges & Bawdy Houses: Quarter Sessions Records in Genealogical Research The conference will be in the Academic Forum on the Kutztown University campus For directions, visit http://www2.kutztown.edu/about-ku/campus-maps.htm Registration form will also be available at http://www.palam.org/pennsylvania-palam-chapter.php Pa Chapter Palatines to America PO Box #35 Temple PA 19560 Website: palam.org E-mail: PaChapter_palam@verizon.net ... employment Neither of these young Germans had intended to come to America They had left home and family filled with desire to travel the world and seek their fortune Many years after they served their... contracts they wrote their memoirs These firsthand accounts document the recruitment process for indentured servants in detail, describe the conditions under which they served out their contracts,... of the 18th Century Wright says the father’s name was Daniel, but Humphrey says it was Anthony, which agrees with the fraktur A Taufschein related to the above is pictured in The Heart of the