"Pennsylvania Dutch"

I was fooled by a surname into thinking that a family living in Pennsylvania in the 1820's that had been described to me as "Pennsylvania Dutch" originated in the Netherlands. Just a reminder that "Pennsylvania Dutch" is more precisely a term for German speaking settlers in Pennsylvania, "Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch" most of whom came from the south western part of Germany. Further research showed that the particular family I was tracing came from Wurtenberg around 1780 and moved on first to the Waterloo area in Southern Ontario around 1820 and then further north. The possible story of why they moved is narrated here.

The first mass German emigration to Philadelphia county took place around 1680 and emigration from the Palatinate began in the early 1700's. The particular dialect that evolved is still spoken in some Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities.

 

One of my third great grandfathers was a "Pennsylvania Dutch" who was born in the Neckar valley in 1736. With the help of a 4th cousin on a completely different line (Scottish) who is German, we were able to find his emigration papers-- fascinating! He first had to pay 10% of his assets (he had 100 guilders, so this amounted to 10 guilders) to get his "manumission" or release from serfdom and the duties he owed (possibly a certain number of days a year farm work, and/or military service, according to the sources). The he paid 10% of what was left (9 guilders out of the 90 remaining) for permission to leave the country. This left him 81 guilders to pay his passage to "Pinßel Fania" and have some money to start out in the new world.