Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration: A British Government Redemptioner Project to Manufacture Naval Stores

Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration: A British Government Redemptioner Project to Manufacture Naval Stores is a scholarly book, full of details and amassed facts in an effort to explain the mass migrations from the war torn Rhine Valley in the early 1700s.  The Palatines were driven from their homes, into the British Empire, by circumstance and desire for a war-free life. Promises were made and hope for something better drove thousands to flee only to be hampered at every turn as politicians, monarchs, and business ventures debated and held in fist the fates of these emigrants. Despite it all, many of these German emigrants and their descendants have played major roles in the American colonies and the overall welfare of what became the United Sates.

History buffs and family historians alike will appreciate the efforts the author has made to uncover the real driving factors, political and  personal, that led to so many Palatines fleeing their homes and seeking refuge throughout the British Empire, including Ireland and the New World. Through a careful and emotionally controlled review of facts, Knittle has made connections and uncovered facts which, in many cases, go against the presumptions and stories that have endured for hundreds of years. Take this example from the introduction written by Dixon Ryan Fox:

“For example, it has usually been state that the Palatine’s disgust for the treatment they had received in New York was an important factor in diverting subsequent German settlement from that province into Pennsylvania. By cool analysis the present author reveals how untenable is this thesis. He has been ready to throw out the dramatic and the picturesque when clouded with doubt or founded on error. He cites the ‘interesting legend’ set forth by his predecessors which had it that the five Mohawk Indians taken by Peter Schulyer to London were so grieved at the plight of the Palatines, then encamped on Blackhearth, that they gave the Schoharie Valley to the Queen on consideration that’s she would bestow it upon the emigrants; then he points out that the Palatines sailed from London before the Indians sailed from Boston, that four of the five Indians were not sachems and had no authority to grant Mohawk lands and that these lands were subsequently ceded at Albany to the province with no reference to the Palatines.”

The book contains a bonus for those whose ancestry leads back to these early German settlers. Contained within these pages are lists totaling around 12,000 Palatine names.

Uncover these truths for yourself, order your copy of Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration: A British Government Redemptioner Project to Manufacture Naval Stores from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: HBK1977, Price: $27.93.



Key to Footnote Citations

I. The Causes of the Early “Palatine” Emigrations

A. The emigrations studied

B. Area in Germany affected by the emigrations

C. Causes

1. Devastation of War

2. Severe winter of 1708

3. Oppressive taxation

4. Religion and land hunger

5. Liberal advertising of British colonies

6. Favorable attitude of British government

a. The aid given to foreign Protestants

b. The naturalization act of 1709

II. The Small Palatine Emigration of 1708

A. Members of the band

B. The trip down the Rhine River

C. Generous treatment in England

D. the settlement at Newburgh, New York

E. Financial difficulties of the colony

1. Kocherhal’s connection with the 1709 emigration

III. The 1709 Palatine Emigration

A. The emigration toward England

1. The preparations in Germany

2. The journey down the Rhine River

3. Subsistence and transportation to England supplied by the British government

4. The attempts to halt the unexpectedly large migration

B. The Palatines in England

1. The size of the immigration

2. The care of the Palatines in London

3. condition of the Palatines

4. Relations of Palatines with English populace

5. The difficulties of the government in relieving itself of the expense of the Palatines in London

a. Attempts to keep lists fail

b. Rio de la Plata proposal

c. Employment in Welsh mines

d. Newfoundland fisheries proposal

e. The proposal to settle in western England (Marquis of Kent)

f. West Indies proposal

g. Attempts to settle in England

h. Proposal to settle in Scilly Islands

i. Proposed settlement in Jamaica

j. Enlistments

k. The return of the Papists to Holland

C. Reasons for the absence of proposals from William Penn

IV. The Palatine Settlements in Ireland and North Carolina

A. Ireland

1. The invitation to send Palatines to Ireland

2. The Commissioners for Settling the poor distressed Palatines in Ireland

3. The government subsidies become objects of speculation

4. The desertion of the settlements

5. The attempts to make the settlement successful

a. Mr. Crockett’s mission

b. Subsidies for twenty-one years

6. The assimilation of the Palatines

B. North Carolina

1. Lords Proprietors’ proposal

2. Michel and his Swiss emigrants

3. Graffenried’s opportunity

4. Voyage and settlement under adverse conditions

5. Political difficulties in North Carolina

6. The Indian Massacre

7. The financial difficulties cause the failure of the settlement

8. The settlers without titles to their lands go to the frontier

V. The British Naval Stores Problem and ht Origin of the New York Settlement Scheme

A. Naval Stores—an English necessity

B. History of the Stockholm (Swedish) Tar Companies

1. Early companies

2. The 1689 Company pushes its advantage

3. The English desire for the carrying trade

4. The unfavorable balance of trade with Sweden

5. The Northern War makes conditions worse

C. The early interest in colonial production of naval stores

D. The attempts to secure colonial naval stores up to 1708

1. The request for importation birds

2. The Navy Board commissioners investigate New England possibilities

3. Governor Bellmont’s interest in the problem

4. The Bounty Act of 1704

5. The fear of woolen manufacturers in the northern colonies

6. Bridger appointed Surveyor of Woods

E. The Origin of the New York settlement scheme

1. Naval stores mentioned incidentally for Palatines of 1708

2. The Scotch settlement proposal of 1705

3. The Society scheme drawn up by Halifax

4. The proposal to settle Palatines in New York

F. The decision and plans form a government settlement in New York

G. The reasons for selecting New York

VI. A Government Redemptioner System

A. Preparation for settlement in New York

1. The optimistic expectations

2. Lands and conditions of grants suggested

3. The covenant requested by Hunter and agreed upon

4. War supplies and a minister

5. Transportation

B. The voyage

1. Time of sailing

2. Poor conditions on voyage

C. The reception in New York

D. The legend of the Indian gift of Schoharie

E. The search for suitable site for making naval stores

F. The settlement on Livingston Manor

VII. The Government Tar Industry in Operation

A. The conditions of life in the Hudson River settlements

B. The management

1. The organization

a. For supervision of the project

b. For maintenance of order

2. The supplies

a. Sources of supplies

b. System of distribution

c. Complaints about bad food

d. Charges of cupidity

3. The finances

a. The first year’s costs

b. The request for further grants DuPre’s return to London

c. The non-committal attitude of the Tory Treasury

C. The manufacturing of tar

1. Bridger’s defection

2. The 1711 expedition against Canada

3. Sackett, Bridger’s successor, in charge

4. The Palatine Commission to forward the work

5. Signs of progress int the tar-making

6. Tar manufacturing methods

7. Poor results from Palatine efforts

D. The reasons for the failure

1. Poor instruction and unwilling labor

2. Financial difficulties force the end of government subsistence

3. The effect of the “Ministerial Revolution” of  1710 upon the venture

4. The parliamentary investigation of the Palatine immigration in 1711

5. Hunter’s attempt to collect the debts incurred

VIII. The Palatine Settlements on the Frontier of the Old West

A. The dispersal

1. The Palatines receive permission to leave the government project

2. The suffering of the Germans in the winter of 1712

3. The Palatine preparations to go to Schoharie

4. The method of acquiring land titles

B. The Schoharie frontier settlements

1. Journey to Schoharie

2. The seven villages of the Palatines

3. Starting life all over in the Schoharie Valley

4. Social conditions

C. Relations with the provincial government

1. Reasons for Hunter’s opposition

2. the Bayard incident

3. The grant of the Palatine lands to the Seven Partners

4. Pressure on the Germans to accept the terms

5. The Vrooman incidents and the attempt to arrest Weiser

6. The Palatine mission to London

7. Hunter’s return to England and his opposition

D. The Palatines extend the frontier in the Mohawk Valley and the “Great Valley” of Pennsylvania

1. Governor Burnet’s orders and the first grants in the Mohawk Valley

2. The movement to the Tulpehocken section, around Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania

3. More Palatine grants and purchases in the Mohawk Valley

4. The continuation of Palatine immigrations to Pennsylvania

5. Reasons for the choice of Pennsylvania rather than New York

6. The New York naturalization act of 1715

7. The importance of pamphlet advertising in the Rhineland

E. The Palatines as frontiersmen

1. The hopes of the Board of Trade

2. The relations of the Palatines with the French and Indians

3. A suggested modification of Frederick Jackson Tuner’s thesis of the frontier influence

IX. Conclusion

X. Bibliography

A. Bibliographical guides

B. Primary Sources

1. Manuscript

2. Published

a. Official

b. Unofficial

C. Secondary Sources

1. General works

2. Special works

3. Periodical and learned society contributions

XI. Appendices-introduction to

A. The Kocherthal Party-the 1708 Emigration

B. The First Board of Trade List of Palatines in London (May 6, 1709)

C. The Embarkation Lists from Holland

D. The Roman Catholic Palatines Returned to Holland

E. The New York Subsistence List

F. The Simmendinger Register

G. The Pennsylvania Palatine Lists

H. The Petition List of Palatines in North Carloina

I. The Irish Palatine List

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