Johann Valentine Wilt

At the age of 52, Johann Valentine Wilt left from Ziegelhausen, Germany to board the Johnson Galley with his wife, 2 sons and 2 daughters. They arrived in Philadelphia Sep. 18-19, 1732. The Commander of this ship of London was David Crockatt, and he records for us "a true list" naming the "112 men, 98 women, 120 boys and girls, 330 persons." (Germany did not unify as such until 1871, 139 years later.)

Commander Crockatt records:

"Valentine Vield" and "Nicollas Vield" as men over the age of 16. This makes sense with other records that show that Valentine was about 53 and Nicholas 20.

Also listed:

Two women over the age of 14:

"Elizabeth Vield" - Valentine's wife (Maria Elisabette)

"Margt. Vield" - Identity unknown, Valentine & Maria Elisabette's daughters Susanna and Anna both had the middle name Magaret, but they are both said to have died 12 years before 1732, it seems that only one girl died, and the other did go to America.

A boy under 16: "Paul Vield" - Johan Paulus, Valentine & Maria Elisabette's 9 yr old.

A girl under 14: "Elizabeth Vield" - Johanna Elizabeth, Valentine & Maria Elisabette's 7 yr old.

Wilt is spelled "Vield" in the record- varied spellings due to phonetics were common.

- The majority of this research is from Jeane Melendy

•Will*: He left a will on 15 March 1755 at York, PA, US; Wife: Abbiloma Wilt; Plantation to Catholic Church 5 lbs per Mr. Monner when he comes to preach at White Shel's house - a priest; Ex: White Shall, Andrew Coldren; Witnesses: Peter Woltz, Thos. Butler, Jacob Kuntzel; Alias: Felt Shall, Andrew Coler.4

- http://www.ristenbatt.com/genealogy/shplst12.htm

- http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/Wilt-family-crest.htm

Eleven Ships made the same trip in 1732:

15 May 1732 Norris

11 Sep 1732 Samuel

11 Sep 1732 Pennsylvania Merchant

19 Sep 1732 Johnson*****************

21 Sep 1732 Plaisance

23 Sep 1732 Adventure

25 Sep 1732 Loyal Judith

26 Sep 1732 Mary

30 Sep 1732 Dragon

11 Oct 1732 Pleasant

17 Oct 1732 John & William

http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/

http://www.pictonpress.com/store/show/1063

For more on America at the time of the Wilts' arrival, please see Johann Nicholas's profile. Here, relevant history regarding Germany in the 18th century will be addressed.

HOMELAND:

Neckargemünd is a town in Germany, in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the Neckar, 10km upriver from Heidelberg. As of 2006, there were 14,122 inhabitants. It was founded in the 10th century and became a free town in 1286. In 1395 it passed to the elector palatine and, together with the surrounding district, became part of Baden in 1814. The town still keeps its medieval charm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neckargemünd

"Heidelberg-Ziegelhausen is a residential district (of fourteen) at the eastern perimeter of the city of Heidelberg, Germany.

Ziegelhausen lies on the northern banks of the Neckar River and extends northward into the Odenwald Forest. It has a small shopping district but is dominated by single-family and multiple-family houses.

Ziegelhausen's abundant supply of water and steep, south-facing slopes made it a center of the Neckar Valley laundry trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Johannes Brahms summered in Ziegelhausen during the 1880's.

Ziegelhausen has several small parks, including one that features a playground of Niki de Saint-Phalle-inspired tile sculptures.

The symbol of Zeigelhausen is a red brick house. It is on local teams' shirt for most sports."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg-Ziegelhausen

NEAREST MAJOR CITY:

"In 1386, the University of Heidelberg was founded by Rupert I, Elector Palatine. The University played a leading part in the era of humanism and reformation and the conflict between Lutheranism and Calvinism in the 15th and 16th centuries. Heidelberg's library, founded in 1421, is the oldest public library in Germany still intact. A few months after the proclamation of the 95 theses, in April 1518, Martin Luther was received in Heidelberg, to defend them.

In 1620, the royal crown of Bohemia was offered to the Elector, Frederick V (married to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of James VI of Scotland). He became known as the "winter king", as he only reigned for one winter until the Imperial house of Habsburg regained the crown by force. This marked the beginning of the Thirty Years' War.

In 1622, after a siege of two months, the armies of the Catholic League, commanded by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, captured Heidelberg. He gave the famous Bibliotheca Palatina from the Church of the Holy Ghost to the Pope as a present. The Catholic, Bavarian branch of the house of Wittelsbach gained control over the Palatinate and the title of Prince-Elector. In 1648, at the end of the war, Frederick V's son Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, was able to recover his titles and lands.

In order to strengthen his dynastic power, he married his daughter Liselotte to Philip I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, king of France. In 1685, after the death of Charles Louis' son Elector Charles II, Louis XIV laid claim to his sister in law's inheritance. The claim was rejected, and war ensued. In 1689, city and castle were both taken by French troops, who brought about an almost total destruction in 1693.

In 1720, religious conflicts with the citizens of Heidelberg caused the Prince-Elector Charles III Philip to transfer his residence to nearby Mannheim, where it remained until the Elector Charles Theodore became Elector of Bavaria in 1777 and established his court in Munich.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg

MORE LOCAL POLITICS:

"Karl [Charles] III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. Neuburg, November 4, 1661 – d. Mannheim, December 31, 1742) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach. He was Elector Palatine, Count of Palatinate-Neuburg, and Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1716 to 1742.

Born in Neuburg an der Donau, Karl Philip was the seventh of 17 children of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

He succeeded his brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine on his death in 1716. He moved the Palatinate's capital from Heidelberg to the new city of Mannheim in 1720. Upon his death in 1742, the Palatinate-Neuburg line became extinct, and the Palatinate (including Neuburg, Jülich and Berg) was inherited by the Palatinate-Sulzbach line of the Wittelsbach family.

While in Mannheim, Karl III Philip, and later his nephew, put together what was commonly regarded as the finest orchestra in all of Europe. Under the leadership of musicians such as Johann Stamitz and Carlo Grua, the orchestra of the Kapelle was lauded by such musicians such as Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_III_Philip%2C_Elector_Palatine

HISTORY OVERVIEW: "THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE"

The medieval empire stemmed from a division of the Carolingian Empire in 843, which was founded by Charlemagne on 25 December 800, and existed in varying forms until 1806, its territory stretching from the Eider River in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south. Often referred to as the Holy Roman Empire (or the Old Empire) , it was officially called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ") starting in 1448, to adjust the title to its then reduced territory.

Under the reign of the Ottonian emperors (919–1024) , the duchies of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia, and Bavaria were consolidated, and the German king was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the Salian emperors (1024–1125) , the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy, although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy. Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254) , the German princes increased their influence further south and east into territories inhabited by Slavs (Ostsiedlung). Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League.

Martin Luther, (1483–1546) initiated the Protestant Reformation.

The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire that lasted until its dissolution. It codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics. Beginning in the 15th century, the emperors were elected nearly exclusively from the Habsburg dynasty of Austria.

"The monk Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses questioning the Roman Catholic Church in 1517, thereby sparking the Protestant Reformation. A separate Lutheran church was acknowledged as the newly sanctioned religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) , which devastated German lands.[11] The population of the German states was reduced by about 30%.[12] The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire was de facto divided into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1806, the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.[13]"

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany

CULTURE:

LATE BAROQUE MUSIC (1680–1750)

The dividing line between middle and late Baroque is a matter of some debate. Dates for the beginning of "late" baroque style range from 1680 to 1720. In no small part this is because there was not one synchronized transition; different national styles experienced changes at different rates and at different times. Italy is generally regarded as the first country to move to the late baroque style. The important dividing line in most histories of baroque music is the full absorption of tonality as a structuring principle of music. This was particularly evident in the wake of theoretical work by Jean-Philippe Rameau, who replaced Lully as the important French opera composer. At the same time, through the work of Johann Fux, the Renaissance style of polyphony was made the basis for the study of counterpoint. The combination of modal counterpoint with tonal logic of cadences created the sense that there were two styles of composition—the homophonic dominated by vertical considerations and the polyphonic dominated by imitation and contrapuntal considerations.

The forms which had begun to be established in the previous era flourished and were given wider range of diversity; concerto, suite, sonata, concerto grosso, oratorio, opera and ballet all saw a proliferation of national styles and structures. The overall form of pieces was generally simple, with repeated binary forms (AABB), simple three part forms (ABC), and rondeau forms being common. These schematics in turn influenced later composers. ...

But perhaps the most famous composer to be associated with royal patronage was George Frideric Handel [contemporary of Vivaldi and Scarlatti], who was born in Germany, studied for three years in Italy, and went to London in 1711, which was his base of operations for a long and profitable career that included independently produced operas and commissions for nobility. He was constantly searching for successful commercial formulas, in opera, and then in oratorios in English. A continuous worker, Handel borrowed from others and often recycled his own material. He was also known for reworking pieces such as the famous Messiah, which premiered in 1741, for available singers and musicians. Even as his economic circumstances rose and fell with his productions, his reputation, based on published keyboard works, ceremonial music, constant stagings of operas and oratorios and concerti grossi, grew exponentially. By the time of his death, he was regarded as the leading composer in Europe and was studied by later classical-era musicians. Handel, because of his very public ambitions, rested a great deal of his output on melodic resource combined with a rich performance tradition of improvisation and counterpoint. The practice of ornamentation in the Baroque style was at a very high level of development under his direction. He travelled all over Europe to engage singers and learn the music of other composers, and thus he had among the widest acquaintance of other styles of any composer.

Johann Sebastian Bach has, over time, come to be seen as the towering figure of Baroque music, with what Bela Bartok described as "a religion" surrounding him. During the baroque period, he was better known as a teacher, administrator and performer than composer, being less famous than either Handel or Georg Philipp Telemann. Born in Eisenach in 1685 to a musical family, he received an extensive early education and was considered to have an excellent boy soprano voice. He held a variety of posts as an organist, rapidly gaining in fame for his virtuosity and ability. In 1723 he settled at the post which he was associated with for virtually the rest of his life: cantor and director of music for Leipzig. His varied experience allowed him to become the town's leader of music both secular and sacred, teacher of its musicians, and leading musical figure. Bach's musical innovations plumbed the depths and the outer limits of the Baroque homophonic and polyphonic forms. He was a virtual catalog of every contrapuntal device possible and every acceptable means of creating webs of harmony with the chorale. As a result, his works in the form of the fugue coupled with preludes and toccatas for organ, and the baroque concerto forms, have become fundamental in both performance and theoretical technique. Virtually every instrument and ensemble of the age—except for the theatre genres—is represented copiously in his output. Bach's teachings became prominent in the classical and romantic eras as composers rediscovered the harmonic and melodic subtleties of his works.

Georg Philipp Telemann was the most famous instrumental composer of his time, and massively prolific—even by the standards of an age where composers had to produce large volumes of music. His two most important positions—director of music in Frankfurt in 1712 and in 1721 director of music of the Johanneum in Hamburg—required him to compose vocal and instrumental music for secular and sacred contexts. He composed two complete cantata cycles for Sunday services, as well as sacred oratorios. Telemann also founded a periodical that published new music, much of it by Telemann. This dissemination of music made him a composer with an international audience, as evidenced by his successful trip to Paris in 1731. Some of his finest works were in the 1750s and 1760s, when the Baroque style was being replaced by simpler styles but were popular at the time and afterwards. Among these late works are "Der Tod Jesu" ("The death of Jesus") 1755, "Die Donner-Ode" ("The Ode of Thunder") 1756, "Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu" ("The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus") 1760 and "Der Tag des Gerichts" ("The Day of Judgement") 1762.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_music