2. The Voyage

 

In 1781 an inheritance came due to Conrad and Catharina but unfortunately they had been gone for 33 years and were unable to claim it.� It�s not known whose property it was, but since they were gone their brother Jacob of Wollmesheim applied to the court to receive their shares as next of kin.� The court said okay, but since they had fled without permission, the amount would have to be left on deposit for 37 more years!� This would equal 70 years of absence, and if they hadn�t returned in that time to collect, Jacob could have it after a deduction of 20% representing the 10% manumission fee for each.� They played hardball in those days!

Were Conrad and Catharina alone?� We don�t know for sure.� It was common in those days to emigrate in groups.� But Conrad and Catharina were fleeing.� It wasn�t like those folks who got a big group together, followed all the rules, paid their fees, and left together on a predetermined date.� Still, Catharina was already 31 years old and surely had been married by then, although the church records showed nothing of it.� Perhaps she was already widowed.� Her sister Margaretha, younger by 3� years, had married Conrad Gummel in 1743.� Unfortunately, we lose track of Catharina in America, assuming she survived the voyage.� It is extremely difficult to track down single women in the Colonial period, and if she were widowed we don�t even know her last name.� Conrad was only 23 and there is no evidence to show he was married before arriving in America.

The two of them set off for the Rhine River to catch a boat.� Germersheim was about 13 miles to the east and was a likely spot for a boat landing.� If not, most surely the ancient city of Speyer just 5 more miles from there would be a good place.� After catching a boat, they had to face the long trip down the Rhine to Rotterdam on the North Sea.� The Rhine trip generally took about 4 to 6 weeks, but mileage varied.� It would not have taken so long if it were not for some 3 dozen toll stations along the way.� It seemed that every duchy, province, and cockamamie mini-kingdom gouged the tourists who passed their way.� Sound familiar?� The emigrants were required themselves to pay for each of these toll points, and whatever they had saved up for the voyage could be considerably reduced by the time they got to Rotterdam.

After Rotterdam, there was a long delay waiting for the big ship to come and load for the trip down the English Channel to Cowes.� Cowes is a town on the north coast of the Isle of Wight just off the southern coast of England and the city of Southampton, about 75 miles from the heart of London. �There was also a long wait here, as they waited for additional cargo to be taken on.� This generally included additional passengers, some of them prisoners who were being sent to the Colonies as punishment.� When at last the big boat was loaded for the long voyage to the New World, the emigrants would hunker down in their close quarters.

There is an often-quoted tale of the tribulations encountered in these voyages by one Gottfried Mittelberger who emigrated on a similar ship two years later.� He told of how packed together they were in the hold, like herrings.� If the winds were contrary it would take 2 to 4 weeks just to get from Rotterdam to Cowes and the wait at Cowes could be another 2 weeks and even longer at anchor.� Many ran out of money and their small stock of provisions they had brought for the long voyage were dangerously depleted.� The ocean voyage, even with the best winds, would take 7 weeks and it was not uncommon to be at sea for 12.� He spoke of terrible misery on board, such as stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, seasickness, fever, dysentery, scurvy, etc.� There was also hunger and thirst as well as frost, dampness, lice, and stormy gales that had them thinking the ship was going to the bottom of the sea as they cried and prayed piteously.

He spoke of children not surviving the voyage, with no less than 32 of them thrown into the sea at their death.� Arguments broke out among the people, blaming each other for even thinking of taking this abominable voyage.� The water was bad, the biscuits were wormy, and the meat so salty they suffered from mouth rot.

Some historians have said that Mittelberger laid it on a bit thick.� There is no doubt there was hardship, but these were hardy peasants, used to difficult times and hard labor.� In many voyages there were reports of suffering but with quiet acceptance and patient waiting for sight of the New World.� As far as scurvy, of course it was true because as we now know vitamin C from fresh fruit and vegetables is vital.� It�s interesting to note that just the year before Conrad�s voyage, English naval surgeon James Lind gave 12 sailors with scurvy some fruit, while others were given popular cures such as seawater or nutmeg.� Only those who ate the fresh fruit were cured.� But, it was another 40 years before fruit was standard issue to the sailors.� By 1865, they were giving out limejuice for long voyages prompting people to call English sailors �Limeys�.

Finally the shout of� �land!� came and they crept from below, weeping for joy, praying and singing.� I don�t know how far away you are when you can sight land, but it was said that the New Land in those days was so pure, virgin, and heavily forested that the immigrants, their senses sharp as a razor from deprivation, could smell the evergreens from 100 miles out.

When they finally arrived in port, though, they weren�t allowed to leave the ship until it could be determined who had paid for their voyage in full and who had not.� Those who had paid were released first.� The others had to wait.� Conrad certainly must have known how the system worked, since Thomas Schley of M�rzheim had immigrated before him.� We know that he didn�t have enough money for the entire voyage.� He may have had nothing at all or else just enough to reach Rotterdam, or perhaps England.� In any case, he had signed an indenture, probably with the ship captain, promising to pay when he reached America.� Of course, the ship captain would have no way of collecting when they arrived, so he would simply sell the indenture to the highest bidder.� It�s at this point that the system revealed some aspects of slavery.

Those whose contracts had to be purchased had to wait on board, often for 2 or 3 weeks, many of them sick and dying because of the delay before they could get off the boat.� The sales were carried out every day.� The buyers were English, Dutch, even German folks who sometimes came from distances of 20 to 40 hours away to purchase immigrants for labor.� They would go on board and inspect the passengers, the healthiest naturally taken first with those in poor health left to wait and hope.� There was bargaining about the terms, on how long they would serve for their passage money.� The terms seemed to range from about 3 to 7 years, with 4 being the most common.� The people were in effect binding themselves to the buyer for a fixed term and they had very little freedom during that period.� The buyer was considered a master, permission was required for major events such as marriage or travel and often disallowed.� Running away was punished by increasing the term of service.� It has been estimated that half or more of the German immigrants of this period were indentured servants, of some sort or other.

Some authors refer to them as Redemptioners.� An indentured servant implies that the individual was some sort of convict or very low class individual with few skills, no money, separated from family, and with a longer term of duty.� Redemptioners were defined as most likely middle-class peasants, those who were farmers but who were also artisans with a skill or trade.� They tended to come with families, originally had at least part of the money for the voyage, and their terms were 4 years or less.

Looked at in the best light, this type of servitude was akin to apprenticeship.� The immigrant was in a new and strange environment, not having a clue as to how things are done, with most people speaking a strange tongue.� Servitude enabled a way of learning the ropes, with a place to live, a job, and security in the New Land.� In any event, Conrad didn�t care.� He would serve his time and then, as Hofstadter quoted an immigrant writing home in 1746, �� enjoy full liberty of conscience . . . the law of the land is so constituted, that every man is secure in the enjoyment of his property, the meanest person is out of reach of oppression from the most powerful, nor can anything be taken from him without his receiving satisfaction for it.�