Gottlieb Mittelberger's journey to Pennsylvania in the year 1750 and return to Germany in the year 1754 : containing not only a description of the country according to its present condition, but also a detailed account of the sad and unfortunate circumstances of most of the Germans that have emigrated, or are emigrating to that country
Gottlieb Mittelbergers Reise nach Pennsylvanien im Jahr 1750.
Place of Publication
Philadelphia
Publisher
J.J. McVey,
Date of Publication
1898.
Physical Description
129 p. : facsim. ; 21 cm.
Notes
With facsimile t.p. of original German ed.: Stuttgard : Gedrukt ben Gottlieb Friderich Jenisch, 1756.
Summary
"Mittelberger's travelogue provides a firsthand historic account of the misery and exploitation of German immigrants during the US colonial period. In his work, he tries to convince his fellow Germans not to immigrate to the American colonies, as the forfeiture of freedom, cost of money, lack of health, and loss of life are too exorbitant to risk and sacrifice. Although never an indentured servant, Mittelberger's written testament is one of several surviving historic works describing the hardships of the redemption system. His meticulous account of his sea voyage to the British Atlantic colonies and subsequent experiences in Pennsylvania has become academically notable, due to the scarcity in primary source material concerning several of the issues he details. Such topics include religious practices in colonial Pennsylvania, European passenger fares for children and adults, as well as the nature and consequences of epidemics on colonial era ships.The work is also noted for its lengthy discussion of sexuality and social mores, including an account of a bigamous threesome and the status of illegitimate children, as evidencing the religious and sexual tolerance of colonial America. Gottlieb Mittelberger traveled to Pennsylvania from Germany in 1750 on a ship primarily filled with poorer immigrants who would become indentured servants upon arriving in Philadelphia. Mittelberger was not a servant, and worked as a school master and organist for three years before returning to Germany in 1754." [from Wikipedia]
Gottlieb Mittelberger's journey to Pennsylvania in the year 1750 and return to Germany in the year 1754 : containing not only a description of the country according to its present condition, but also a detailed account of the sad and unfortunate circumstances of most of the Germans that have emigrated, or are emigrating to that country
Gottlieb Mittelbergers Reise nach Pennsylvanien im Jahr 1750.
Place of Publication
Philadelphia
Publisher
J.J. McVey,
Date of Publication
1898.
Physical Description
129 p. : facsim. ; 21 cm.
Notes
With facsimile t.p. of original German ed.: Stuttgard : Gedrukt ben Gottlieb Friderich Jenisch, 1756.
Summary
Gottlieb Mittelberger (1714-1758) was a German author, schoolmaster, organist, and Lutheran pastor. He was best known for his work Journey to Pennsylvania (1756). Mittelberger's travelogue provides a firsthand historic account of the misery and exploitation of German immigrants during the US colonial period. In his work, he tries to convince his fellow Germans not to immigrate to the American colonies, as the forfeiture of freedom, cost of money, lack of health, and loss of life are too exorbitant to risk and sacrifice.
xii, 219 pages : illustrations, portrait, map ; 24 cm.
Series
Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite history ; no. 8
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-205) and index.
Contents
Bernese Anabaptists in the sixteenth century -- Debates and early persecution -- Bernese Anabaptism in the seventeenth century -- Bernese Anabaptism in the eighteenth century -- Bernese Anabaptism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries -- Migration of Bernese Anabaptists to America in the nineteenth century -- Bernese Anabaptist settlements in America -- Bernese Anabaptism in America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Summary
"This book holds a wealth of information discovered in archives and libraries in Europe. Early history of the beginnings of Anabaptism in the Bernese area of Switzerland is given, followed by emigration stories as people fled to the Alsace and the Palatinate in the 17th century. Genealogy and history is combined, with examples of family names, stating where they lived in Switzerland before emigrating to other parts of Europe and later to America. The appendix lists Anabaptists who fled from Bern to the Palatinate in the 1670s; Bernese Anabaptists found in Basel in the early part of the 18th century; Anabaptists in Commune Florimont, France, in 1791; Anabaptists in Canton Bern in 1823; and Bernese Anabaptist-Mennonite congregations in America." [from the publisher]
Along the Sullivan Trail : the story of Sullivan's Indian expedition of 1779 that opened northern Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes and Genesee region of New York for settlement
"The 1779 Sullivan Expedition, also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, or Sullivan Campaign was an extended systematic military campaign during the American Revolutionary War against Loyalists ('Tories') and the four Nations of the Haudenosaunee which had sided with the British. It has been described by some historians as a genocide due to the magnitude and totality of its violence towards and destruction of the Haudenosaunee." [Wikipedia]
Published in 1890, the book tells the history of the Germans who took part in the wars of the United States, from the early Colonial days until the book's publication in 1890.
National Archives microfilm publications ; microcopy no. 247
Notes
Library owns: Roll 9, Item No. 1, Rough Journals 1774-1789 -- Roll 13, Item No. 1 Rough Journals 1774-1789 -- Roll 60, Item No. 46, Proposals on locating the seat of government and printing the journals -- Roll 83, Item No. 69, Pennsylvania State Papers 1775-1791 -- Roll 178, Item Nos. 159 and 160, Letters from Generals Putnam, Mercer, Lewis, Thompson, Ward, Weedon, Hand, Conway, Sullivan, and Howe 1775-1785 -- Roll 183, Item No. 166, Letters and Papers Relating to Canadian Affairs, Sullivan's Expedition, and the Northern Indians 1775-1779.
Listed in "Microfilm resources for research," 1986 as: M247.
Indexes compiled by John P. Butler.
"The records reproduced in the microfilm publication are from Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention record group 360 in the National Archives."
Reproduced from original documents issued under the title Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789.
Of interest to Lancaster readers, Arnold's wife, Peggy Shippen, was a member of a wealthy Philadelphia family that had links to Lancaster. Major John Andre, the British spy, also had links to Lancaster. He had been captured earlier in the Revolution and had been a prisoner of war in Lancaster . As was the custom for interned officers, he was housed in a private home and was permitted to walk freely in the city.
Summary
"An account of the traitorous trio ( Arnold, his wife, and John Andre ) who almost toppled the American nation at its birth. Benedict Arnold offered to sell his soldiers, with the key fortress of West Point, and to deliver to the enemy, dead or alive, George Washington. The plot promised to destroy the American battle of freedom." [from the publisher]
