Christopher Weidner

GEDCOM Note

Arrived in Philadelphia in 1734 on the ship "St. Andrew" from Rotterdam with 5 children As was often the case w/German families, surnames were not spelled correctly. The manifest of the St. Andrew records two Weidners as < WIGNER > & < WEIGNER > in the original papers . = list 36A on page 136

IMMIGRATION: Arrived Philadelphia 1734 from Rotterdam but last from Plymouth, on ship "St. Andrew", John Stedman, Master; took the oath 12 Sep 1734 at the Philadelphia courthouse. "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Strassburger and Hinke, vol. I, pp. 136, 140, 141 show 3 lists containing Christopher Wigner and Christopher Weigner, Christoph Wiegner, and Christoph Wiegner respectively.The first of the three lists, namely the captain's list, contains women and children as well as men, and includes 13 Weigners. The book says 89 Palatines, who with their families, making in all 261 persons, were on that ship; it also says "Genealogical Record of the Schwenkfelder Families" by Brecht, p. 45-50, contains the diary of Christopher Schultz regarding this journey. Ltr Meyers to HRJ 10 Apr 1994 contains a photocopy. Christopher was age 16. He used new style dates, the style adopted by the German Catholic parts in 1583 and protestant parts about 1700, so he writes that they arrived in Philadelphia 22 Sep 1734. The English colony of Philadelphia used the old date style until 1752, so the 11-day discrepancy between its records and the diary. Excerpts from the diary: Our dear brethren, the Schwenkfelders, were obliged out of dire necessity to leave their fatherland, seeking homes where they would have freedom of thought and worship. The most promising was Pennsylvania. In 1726 they began to withdraw to Saxony, assembling in Bertelsdorf and Goerlitz. Three very rich brothers of Haarlem, Holland, as benefactors assumed the expenses of the entire journey, and preparations for the far journey were made in April 1734. May 17 we disembarked in Altona and stayed for 11 days as gratis guests of Messrs. von Smissen, father and son. On May 28th at noon we shifted our belongings to three Holland vessels and embarked, excepting Balthasar Hoffman's eldest daughter and his mother, who lay at the point of death; we did not go far. On the 29th all three vessels sailed past Blueckstadt and were driven 13 miles with good wind and then cast anchor til 3 o'clock. A fierce storm arose and the captain of the last ship had to raise anchor and we were driven back four miles into a river named Starr, the storm continuing until evening. On May 31 we came into a harbor where we were obliged to lie all day on account of contrary wind. Early on June 1 we passed Suchhafen and Neuwerk and were 16 miles from Hamburg. On the 2nd, with a strong wind blowing, we passed Borcum, when during the night we were driven back 12 miles...on the 3rd at Stavoren we lay at anchor all night. Nearly all of us were seasick for a few days and one baby was born. On the 4th we entered safely into the harbor of Amsterdam, near Haarlem. From Altona to Haarlem we had nothing to pay. For 15 days we lay at Haarlem, where both large and small were royally entertained by the Messrs von Byuschanses with meats, fish, beer, coffee, tea, and sweets for the children more than once a day. Captain Stedman of the English seagoing vessel "Andrew" for the trip to Philadelphia charged 30 Rix-dollars for each person over 15, half price for 4-15 and nothing for 0-4. The von Byuschanases paid for all unless they had the fare, and established a charity fund in America of 224 Rix-dollars. May God eternally requite these great benefactors. On June 21 we boarded "Andrew". One baby was born. On the 28th we departed in the midst of much cannonading, but after going a half mile anchored again. On the 29th the ship hit a sandbank, whereupon all passengers were ordered to run from side to side, causing a lot of trouble. On 30 June and 2 July we were forced to anchor again near Dordrecht on account of contrary winds. On July 2 we sailed past Dordrecht with a tack wind, and toward evening all the men went on shore to draw the ship through a narrow canal up to the custom house where remained to the 8th. On the 11th we sailed with a good wind out to sea, but hit contrary winds, the boat rocked very badly and nearly all became seasick. Early on the morning of the 12th, Christopher Kriebel's youngest child died, which after a few hours was placed in a bag with a little sand and buried at sea. On the 16th we struck a calm and 6 women from the palatinate and two men fought with one another; the reason was a poor one and the woman who started it was deservedly punished. On the 17th we arrived safely in the harbor of Plymouth where we lay still for 12 days, and could not buy much as everything was dear--we could get fresh water on land but no beer. On the 23rd a young ropemaker from the Palatinate on his wander-year died and was buried on the shore in a very poor coffin. In Plymouth a wealthy young woman gave us passengers 125 shillings, which divided into 4 1/2 English stivers each. On the 29th we set sail and had favorable winds till August 4, making 7 English miles per hour. On the 3rd, David Huebner's youngest child died, aged 1 year 20 weeks, and was buried at sea as "Ach wie elend ist unsre Zeit" (Oh, how bitter is our journey) was sung. On the 4th of August the wind became so strong and this lasted until the 6th. That afternoon many of the Palatinates were sitting on the bow when a big wave was hurled over the ship, swamping the bow and flooding the forepart of the ship. The people were drenched, whereupon a great cry arose, but nobody was drowned. During the night a child was born, and such a strong wind arose that we made 9 miles in an hour. August 9 it became calm and the child of Gregorius Schultz died, the one born on the first day of our journey so aged 16 weeks. Again a mother and daughter of the Palatines quarreled. Washing could have been done during this fine weather. August 10 a very large fish was seen which spouted water high in the air as if it came out of pipes. During this night Abraham Jaeckel's youngest child died, aged 1 3/4 years. The illness consisted of great heat, unnatural thirst, and eruptions, and after death the inside of the mouth was black and scorched (scarlet fever?). The next day we had a southerly wind, not too strong, but it broke off the highest and middle mast. The wind continued on the 12th till noon, then became stronger. The night was quite boisterous when many waves were thrown over the ship again. On the 13th a soft north wind arose, but we could not make much progress against the stormy waves. On the 14th, Melchior Meschter's child died, aged 1 year 8 weeks. It rained hard, the wind ceased, but the waves continued to rage. This is the most distressing time on board ship--because of being hurled from one side of the ship to the other one could neither sit nor lie down. This caused a great deal of discomfort to the sick. On this day the mast was again rigged up and toward the end of the day another ship passed. On the 17th it was again contrary accompanied by thunderstorms. The waves appeared as huge mountains. On the 18th David Schubert's child died, 7 weeks old, having been born aboard the ship. On the 20th many waves were thrown over the ship. The ship, facing the opposing waves, rose and fell 10 ells [37 feet]. On the 22nd Maria Schubert died very suddenly while she was giving the children soup. Four days prior to this she had injured herself while ascending some part of the ship. In the afternoon she was lowered into the deep on a plank. On account of the extreme heat on this day the captain gave us two tankards of water in addition to the allotted amount, at 5 different times. Each day we were allowed one tankard of beer and one tankard of water, until we had been on the ocean 14 days, then the beer gave out, and we received 2 tankards of water, but it was very foul and unpalatable, but since we had no other we had to drink it...it could be tasted in the foods. On Sundays the captain gave some of his victuals and some of his medicines to the most infirm. Toward evening we met another ship in the evening twilight when the captains held a long conversation in English by means of speaking trumpets. It was an English ship from Barbadoes in America, bound for Bristol, England, having been 20 days on the sea. On the 24th the wind hurled a wave on the ship that knocked people down, wet sails on the masts 9 ells high, and hurled much water into several of the sleeping quarters because the gangways had not been closed. We had rain during the night and on the 26th and much rainwater was caught, very refreshing compared to the foul-smelling ship's water. During the night of the 28th George Hoffman's youngest son, George, 20, died of malarial fever. On September 2 we saw a very large bird. On the 5th there was wind which drove us south to the 35th parallel...the heat could hardly be endured; the captain therefore ordered some water. On the 6th we had a pretty strong southwest wind, a tack wind which veered the ship so much to one side that one can hardly walk or stand up, and if one cannot hold fast to something he will fall down. On the 10th we encountered a real storm from the east which was so severe that all sails had to be furled, the rudder tied, and the ship given over to the fierce, wild sea, and it is scarcely possible to describe the distress. Every place in the vessel where there was a hole or a window was nailed up and everybody was confined without any air and in the midst of great heat. In addition to this the boat rocked terribly and water poured in everywhere. God be praised that this storm did not last more than 8 hours, for without air we could not have endured it any longer. On the 12th the sailors dropped the sounding lead and struck at 45 fathoms. On the 13th four large fish sailed about the vessel. The sailors tried to catch one, but since it was so heavy the cord broke and the fish fell back into the water. On the 15th the lead was dropped but no bottom was found; on the 16th it was at 55 fathoms; during that night it was 50 fathoms,early on the 17th 20 fathoms, and at noon 18 fathoms. Then a sailor on the mast cried "Land! Land!". Toward the evening the anchor was dropped in the Delaware Bay. That day and on the 19th the wind continued so strong and bitter cold that one had doubts as to whether we had come to a warmer country. Toward 7 p.m. a boatman came rowing who remained with us, and at the same time a vessel came down the Delaware from Philadelphia bound for England, with which our captain sent a letter to his wife in Rotterdam announcing our safe arrival. On the 20th at 3 p.m. the anchor was raised. About 8 p.m. the old widow Reinwald, from Armenruh, died. She had been ailing for a long time, and was lowered into the water at 10:00. On the 21 September the anchor was dropped near New Castle, and we obtained our first fresh water out of the river. The captain rowed over and brought back a bag of applies which he shared with the passengers. Apples and rolls were brought for sale. On the 22nd, thank God, we came safely into the harbor of Philadelphia; the anchor was cast and the cannons were fired. Many people came on board including George Schultz who provided us with fresh beer. On the 23rd of September, all males pst 16 years of age had to go to the Courthouse and take the oath of Allegiance to the ruler of the country, namely the King of Great Britain. We Silesians who could not take the oath on account of ourbeliefs, were quite readily excused and were permitted to pledge our allegiance with a clasp of the hand. We had a very good captain, who kept strictly to his contract, and very able sailors, who had very much patience with us. Sundays, beef; Mondays, rice and syrup; Tuesdays, pork and peas. As a rule we had good meat, but it was salted too much. Wednesdays, meal; Thursday, beef and barley. We preferred the meal to meat. On the other days we had dried codfish, syrup, coffee and peas. Altogether, there were 300 persons on the vessel. We completed our long and dangerous journey, having spent almost half a year.

GEDCOM Note

GEDCOM Source

@R-1676687309@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,2204::0

GEDCOM Source

Volume: 203 1,2204::492031

GEDCOM Source

@R-1676687309@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,2204::0

GEDCOM Source

Volume: 203 1,2204::492031

GEDCOM Source

@R-1676687309@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,2204::0

GEDCOM Source

Volume: 203 1,2204::492031