Philadelphia City Hall
At the Court
House Philadelphia, 5 Sept 1743. Present: The Honorable George Thomas, Esq.,
Governor,Wm Till, W" Allen,
Septimus Robinson, Esq.
The Foreigners whose Names are underwritten,
imported in the Snow Charlotta, John Mason, Master, from Rotterdam,but last from
Cowes, did this day take the foregoing Oaths or Qualifications to the
Government, viz.,
- Adolf Filer
- Hen n rich Hant
- Johan Nickel Schnell
- Johan Peter Schwager
- Matteis Bassing
- Henry (HS) Shoemacker
- Johann Philipp Schnell
- Johannes Ickrath
- Wilhelm Bretz
- Johan Friederich Thor
- Jacob Bretz
- Johannes (HL) Lees
- Johannes Lisch
- Johannes Schiffer
- Johann Jacob Eyck
- Phillippus Maurer
- Jacob Eick
- Johannes Gross
- Johann Andoni Hellenthal
- Anthon Schneider
- Johan Georg Miller
- David Dauderman
The Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration
"We subscribers, natives and late inhabitants
of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and places adjacent, having transported
ourselves and families into this province of Pennsylvania, a colony subject to
the crown of Great Britain, in hopes and expectation of finding a retreat and
peaceable settlement therein, do solemnly promise and engage that we will be
faithful and bear true allegiance to his present majesty, King George II, and
his successors, kings of Great Britain, and will be faithful to the proprietors
of this province, and that we will demean ourselves peaceably to all his said
subjects and strictly observe and conform to laws of England and this province,
to the utmost of our power."
It may be prudent to consider that the surname Hellenthal is actually not the surname at all, but the location from which Johann Andoni emigrated. It seems quite likely that Johann was not literate, or spoke much, if any, English. The British officials would be speaking to German speakers, and more likely than not, the misunderstanding became Johan Andoni's surname of Hellenthal.
Hellenthal is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, near the border with Belgium, approximately 19 miles south-west of Euskirchen and 25 miles south-east of Aachen.
It may be prudent to consider that the surname Hellenthal is actually not the surname at all, but the location from which Johann Andoni emigrated. It seems quite likely that Johann was not literate, or spoke much, if any, English. The British officials would be speaking to German speakers, and more likely than not, the misunderstanding became Johan Andoni's surname of Hellenthal.
Hellenthal is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, near the border with Belgium, approximately 19 miles south-west of Euskirchen and 25 miles south-east of Aachen.
|
||
The village Reifferscheid, part of the municipality of
Hellenthal, is dominated by the ruins of the Burg Reifferscheid, that was the
seat of a medieval principality, see Salm. Another village within the
municipality, Blumenthal, features ironworks industry area.
["Hellenthal." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 10 Aug. 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hellenthal]
However, it is possible that Hellenthal was
actually his surname as there are many families in Germany with that surname.
Take your pick. There are at nearest count, 16 variations on the spelling of
the last name Helmandollar.
The captains of all ships carrying German
immigrants prepared a list of all male German passengers over the age of 16 [See above].
When the ship docked in Philadelphia, all passengers on the list boarded a small
boat and were transported to land and the captain led these men to the proper
authorities. The women and children remained on the ship.
The captain and the men walked from the ship onto
Front Street amid the hustle and bustle of the warehouses. It must have been a
shocking scene for the men from the quiet villages of Germany. They turned down
to Second Street and on to the Court House topped with its cupola and
weathervane. They marched up the front steps and through the portico to wait for
the governing men in the curly white wigs to administer the oath. Clerks read
the oath to the new immigrants in English so they probably understood none of
it. It is possible that they had a translator to explain the oath to them. After
the clerk read a section of the oath, all the new immigrants had to repeat it.
This continued for the entire oath.
Upon taking the oath, the passengers were required
to sign their names on two pieces of paper. Since the German people could not
speak English, many officials considered them not intelligent. However, when
required to sign their names, many of the passengers did so in their own
language signifying some amount of education. If the immigrant was unable to
sign his name, a registrar wrote their name for them and they placed an "X" near
their name.
After signing the oath the men were taken back to
the ship. If passengers had not had enough money to pay for their trip to
America, they were "hired" by merchants for a definitive period of time until
the passage to America was paid for. Those passengers who had enough money to
pay their bills for the voyage to America were now free to travel about the
country.
When a ship carrying immigrants from Germany
arrived in the port of Philadelphia, bells were ringing in the city. This was to
alert the citizenry to the fact that there was a boat loaded with immigrants in
the port. The citizens would come to the boat to welcome the passengers and also
to find indenture servants to fill their labor needs. The German people of
Philadelphia who were expecting relatives from the homeland would greet the ship
with fruit and other foods. All Germans in this country at that time had
experienced the trip across the ocean and were well aware of what the passengers
needs were. The established citizenry was also looking for news from the
homeland.
The passengers had two documents with them on this
voyage. The first was a passport that all citizens of Germany and Switzerland
were supposed to have. The passport stated that the community the immigrant came
from did not have any dangerous plague or infectious diseases. It also stated
that the immigrant has paid all the taxes necessary to allow him to travel
freely. The second document was a letter of recommendation issued by the pastor
of the immigrant's home church.
["The Beginning of a New Life", Virginia Woodward, for the
Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society, a registered 5019c)2. September 30, 2014, http://lynnheidelberg.org/beginnewlife.html]
There are some discrepancies that need to be
cleared in this history. Two citations show that Johann Andoni Hellenthal married
Anna Riesling in 1740 in Germany. The citations show the oldest child born in
1745 as Michael with another son, Anton. The names and the dates pass the common
sense test.
However, there is a countervailing piece of
information in the records. There is a journal of Ezekial Sangmeister, who was
a traveling monk with the Dunkers (Church of the Brethen). In his journal he
describes traveling with a Johann Andoni Hellenthal. The journal indicates that
Sangmeister joined the sect in 1748. Thus, one would draw that conclusion that Johann left his family to become a roving monk.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment