August 19, 2007
L. Lyle Dreibelbis
Good Evening Cousins:
It is an honor, a once in a lifetime experience for me, and a privilege to be with you this evening. Thank you for that introduction. This is the 275th reunion, a very special occasion. Mark called me and said I had been selected to speak this evening, and the subject is my choice. There is only one subject, “John Jacob Dreibelbis.” His life interests me and I have done considerable research on it.
A short review of his life: he was born in 1709, came to Philadelphia on Ship Mary through Rotterdam, and Cowes in 1732. Was indentured to a Mr. Wister, and was with him for 11 years. Went to Coxtown and became the largest land owner and taxpayer in the area. I have three questions about this life line.
1. Why did he stay in Germany until 1732?
2. Did he stay with Wister for 11 years?
3. How did he accumulate enough wealth to buy so much land?
I am going to attempt to answer these questions. It has taken a lot of research. You don’t find the answers in headlines or front page stories. It takes a lot of reading, looking for snippets of information that may have a bearing on the story, and then putting these pieces together to form a logical, reasonable story. (And it is a story – not fact.)
THE MOST IMPORTANT CLUE is the fact that John Jacob’s father, Jacob, was a Master Carpenter. This came from a notation in the Hassloch Church Records. At that time, a Master Carpenter was a member of the Carpenters Guild, and was the only carpenter who could take on apprentices for training. The Guild also had a close relationship with the Church, which is probably the reason the record could be found in the church.
The Master Carpenter could take boys at 12 to 14 years of age and teach them carpentry. It took seven years for an apprentice to attain the rank of Journeyman Carpenter. During this seven year period, he received no pay for his work. He was actually being trained by working on the job. He did receive room, board, and clothing. When he became a journeyman, he still worked for the Master Carpenter but received pay. He could go out on his own and work also, but under the direction of the Master Carpenter. After ten years as a journeyman and with the recommendation of the Master Carpenter, he could become a Guild Member and a Master Carpenter.
It was customary for Master Carpenters to take on their own sons as apprentices. Carpenters were a very important trade in Society and were a very close knit group. Carpenters’ daughters usually married carpenters. It is very likely that John Jacob took this opportunity and became an apprentice at age 12. In seven years he would be 19, and could work with his father for two more years, until his father’s death in 1730, as a journeyman carpenter.
Let me read to you other important findings in my research.
- In 1721, an order was issued to larger communities that a school girl must be hired to motivate girls to read and write. This implies that boys were compelled, and girls were encouraged to go school. So, I believe John Jacob went to school and could read and write and do numbers. He probably started at age seven, and finished at age 12.
- On Oct 14, 1727, the provincial Council adopted a resolution requiring all vessels importing Germans and other foreigners to prepare lists of such persons, their occupations, age, and place from whence they came. If Captain Gray, Master of “The Mary,” had done this, most of my questions would have been answered. I found three ships arriving in 1733 with these lists. Most of the people were “Peasants,” a lot of “farmers,” then weavers, and smithies. Out of three ship loads, about 200 men, there was only one carpenter. This tells me that there was ample work for carpenters in Germany. There is no real reason for carpenters to want to leave. It also tells me there is a great shortage of carpenters in the colonies.
- Another Snippet: The carpenter in Colonial America had been a man with considerable bargaining power. As one of a small number of skilled artisans in a young eager society eager for new houses, commercial buildings, and wooden ships and wharves, he often made more than two times as much as his English counterpart. This tells me there is incentive for young carpenters to go to the Colonies even though there is work at home.
- Another snippet: Americans were substantially better off than their European brethren. Not only were they better fed and housed than most Europeans at the time, they were significantly more likely to become property owners. The only way to become a property owner in Germany was to inherit it as an heir.
- Another snippet: In most cases, the work of the indentured servant would be household or agriculture unskilled labor. There was also a great demand for skilled craftsmen. If an indentured servant had a skill that was in demand, like weaving, smithying or carpentry, the chances of negotiating a shorter contract was quite good.
- Who was Casper Wister? He came to Philadelphia in 1717. He paid his own way, but landed penniless. His first jobs were carrying ashes. He finally made arrangements to become an apprentice to a brass button maker. He started his own button manufacturing business and was quite successful and had wealth by 1732, when John Jacob arrived.
Out of these few words I have concluded John Jacob had an opportunity of his lifetime. If one follows the “path of least resistance” then John Jacob became a carpenter. It was the easy thing for him to do.
The family surely discussed going to Philadelphia at the dinner table and laid out a plan for each of the children. Mary Magdalena left for the Colonies in 1731, but being a woman, no records on her were kept.
NOW let’s go back and review the situation in Germany: It was not a good place to live; it had been torn by numerous wars. The Thirty Years war was from 1618 to 1648. All the countries of Europe were in this war, but the battle field was Germany. From 1600 to 1700 the Armies of France constantly pillaged and warred in the Palatine area. Many towns and villages were burned to the ground.
Many innocent people were killed and robbed of their belongings. The winter of 1708-1709 was the worst in over 100 years. They had sub freezing temperatures starting on October 1 and lasting six months. Many people, animals, trees and vineyards died. Rivers froze. Then there were taxes. A constant wave of new taxes imposed on the people. And fines, the Church went loco with bizarre fines. A man was fined for driving his cow across the road to graze, on a Holy Day. A woman was fined for hanging out her laundry, and another man fined for turning his hay.
People were becoming unhappy with this situation.
WHAT WAS KNOWN ABOUT THE TRIP TO PHILADELPHIA
It was very expensive to take a commercial boat down the Rhine. A precedent had been set by all the people who left in the spring of 1709. About 7,000 people left. Most built their own boats or rafts. It was common knowledge that if you took your own boat or raft, it took at least two people to make it a safe trip. You usually had to wait in Rotterdam for a boat to Philadelphia. It was law that the boat had to stop in England before going on to Philadelphia. The trip across the Atlantic was a high risk trip. There were storms, crowded accommodations, bad food, little water, no dignity, and lots of sickness and death. Free passage could be arranged as an indentured passenger. This meant you must find someone to pay your fare when you arrived in Philadelphia. You could not leave the ship until this payment was made.
For a man 23 years old, the going indenture was for three years. Now we are going to ride along with John Jacob on his trip to Philadelphia. He went with a friend, at least, to Rotterdam. They made a raft and took off with their meager belongings and a chest of carpenter tools. John Jacob’s mother probably insisted he take some of his father’s tools. We are going to start from Hassloch. Hassloch was established in 400 AD as a Roman settlement. In 600 AD it was made a village. To this day it is a village, the largest in Germany. Population today is 20,000. It may have been about 4,000 in 1732. Now there are a number of Hassloch’s in Germany.
To be sure you get the right one, go to Google Earth, search for “H -A -S -S- L- O- C –H,” Germany. It will take you to the right one.
(“John Jacob Goes to Philadelphia” DVD started at this point.)