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.
James Buchanan; paper read before the Kittochtinny Historical Society of Franklin County, Friday evening, March 30, 1900, at the residence of Dr. Chas. F. Palmer, Chambersburg, Pa
"The saga begins and ends with two commonplace scenes: a teenaged immigrant alighting a ship in colonial Philadelphia with but two letters of introduction and three guineas to his name, and a gravesite ringed by a half-dozen black-clothed mourners. But during the century and a half that encapsulates these vignettes, a Pennsylvania dynasty rose and fell- and rose and fell again. From Robert Coleman of Castle Finn, Ireland, to Robert Habersham Coleman of Cornwall, Lebanon County, four generations of one family amassed several fortunes, monopolized Pennsylvania's ironmaking industry, created entire self-sufficient communities, befriended statesmen, entertained royalty and lived - and died - in an epic drama that still intrigues and fascinates." [from the text]
