It Happened Here--The Palatines
Part 1, the Tar makers
Part 1, the Tar makers
Robert Hunter must have felt quite pleased with himself as he left Britain to return to America early in 1710. He had put together a plan to address two of Britain's most pressing problems, successfully presented it to the Board of Trade and gotten the Queen's approval. One of his major political supporters in America stood to profit significantly from it and hoped to populate his long nearly-vacant manor with tenant farmers. And Robert Hunter was returning as the new governor of New York--New Jersey.
The two problems Hunter's plan addressed stemmed from two long wars, the "War of the Grand Alliance" and the "War of Spanish Succession" that spanned the period of 1684 to 1713. During that period German peasants in the patchwork of tiny duchies and principalities along the lower Rhine (known collectively as the Palatinate) were driven first one way and then another by French armies and alliances of German forces, sometimes aided by the British. Crops and towns were burned, suspected partisans were put to the sword, and once prosperous farmers were impoverished by high taxes and the requisitioning of crops and livestock by occupying armies. The chaotic succession of rulers also demanded the populace follow first, Reformed, then Lutheran religious practises and back again, followed by Roman Catholic rites and beliefs. To add to their difficulties Europe was then in the grip of what today is recognized as the "little ice age" that caused winters to be long, summers to be wet and cold and livestock to perish and crops to rot or freeze. By early 1709 many desperate peasants had had enough and were on the move, down the Rhine to Amsterdam. At first the government of the Queen looked favorably on these, their Protestant brethren and with government and private charity enabled them to come to England. But soon the stream of refugees became a torrent! Thirteen thousand of the poorest, sickest people poured into southeast England and tent cities sprang up around London. What to do with all these people? A few thousand were transported to Ireland but many soon returned to the London area. Some were transported to the Carolinas, but it was said agents of some of the patent-holders there were making the situation worse by recruiting peasants in the Palatinate. A small group led by Rev. Joshua Kocherthal directly petitioned the Queen and were successfully settled in a town they called Neuberg (Newburgh) along the Hudson. But transportation to America was expensive. How to pay for it?
--originally on Rte 32, Newburgh
A second problem emerged from the wars. The British Navy burgeoned as demands to protect a growing mercantile fleet grew. Sturdy English oak could provide the ribbing and planking for new British ships. But tall, straight, strong, supple pine spars and masts could only be obtained abroad, and with them pine tar and "pitch." Pine tar was an essential waterproofing product used by shipbuilders and mariners. Mixed with hemp fibers (oakum) it was hammered into the spaces between hull planks to prevent leaks. Coating standing rigging (shrouds, ratlines), it prevented rotting of these essential support components. (Pine tar could be used to waterproof sailors' clothing and "Taring" and caulking were such essential maintenance tasks that British sailors were often called "tars".) Pitch was a sticky processed pine tar that hardened into a glossy waterproof shell. Collectively these were known as "naval stores." The pine forests bordering the Baltic Sea had been traditional sources of these naval stores but the wars had dramatically increased their cost, and revealed how vulnerable the supply lines were to these areas.
A third problem confronted Robert Livingston, a Hunter supporter in America*. Livingston had been granted a Royal Patent and "purchased" the land from the local Indians. He had hoped to develop a patroonship like the Van Rensselaers, populated by tenant farmers, paying annual "quit-rents" to him and his family in perpetuity. But Livingston got few takers. There were other places in New England, the Jerseys, and the Carolinas where settlers could buy their land out-right, develop it as they saw fit and sell it with their improvements at its' market value. Livingston was not making money on his investment.
Robert Hunter's plan was to transport some 3000 Palatines to the shores of the Hudson River and settle them in two camps. There they would produce tar for the British government and work off the costs of their transportation to America. (As an inducement each family was promised 30 acres of land after they had worked off the costs of the voyage, but in fact no such land was set aside for this payment.) Robert Livingston sold the project a parcel of land, the "East Camp" and nearby pine stands. Livingston was contracted to be the victualer for the camps, producing daily quantities of bread and "ship's beer" for the workers. He also hoped that while some of the immigrants would continue to work producing pine tar, others could be induced to sign life-leases on his manor. (German peasants would become American peasants!) A second camp on the opposite side of the river, "West Camp" was established on land that the colony's assembly had taken back from its original patentee Capt. John Evans. Rev. Joshua Kockerthal, from the Newburgh settlement became the spiritual leader and spokesman for the West Campers.
By coincidence, in 1710, Peter Schuyler, Mayor of Albany and a delegation from New York were in London attempting to appeal to Parliament and the Queen for more support to counter raids by the French and their Indian allies. To garner maximum attention, he brought along three Mohawk and two Mohican sachems (chiefs). Though one died on the voyage, the remaining four, dressed in native costume caused a sensation in London. They were shown around the city, wined and dined, had their portraits painted and got an audience with the Queen. On one of their sight-seeing trips they encountered the "poor Palatines" in one of their tent encampments. On meeting with the Queen, one of the Mohawk chiefs offered them their hunting grounds in the Schoharie Valley, to which the Queen assented. The Palatines seized on this as if it were their God-given promised land. Going to "Scorie" became the dream of the first generation of immigrants.**
About three thousand Palatines set out with Robert Hunter in ten ships. The Palatines, while recovering from the effects of their long, disease-ridden ocean voyage, in which some 470 died, built their settlements--four villages (Dorfs) in the East Camp and three in the West Camp. They quickly established churches and schools and began learning the trade of tar making.
Colony leaders had hired an "expert," John Bridger to teach the Palatines tar-making. He worked briefly with them, then returned to New England and found excuses not to return to New York, perhaps realizing but not willing to tell authorities that the Hudson pine tar project was likely to fail.
In colonial times, pine tar was made by digging a conical shaped pit, with clay channels at the bottom leading to a collection barrel. It was filled with specially prepared pine trees and branches, stacked to drain into the clay channels. Covered with a layer of soil and mosses, a fire was built on top. Over a period of days, the pine logs would be converted to charcoal and and the pine tar boiled out of them, to be collected in the barrel at the bottom. Too cool or too hot a fire could result in either a disappointing yield, or a flaming disaster. To yield maximum tar, channels needed to be cut in the logs, through the outer bark into the inner bark, but not into the wood itself, (not unlike traditional techniques for collecting latex from rubber trees.)
Counter intuitively, the most tar could be produced, not from green wood but from trees that had been cut, grooved and seasoned for about two years. Unfortunately, the Palatine peasants, farmers and vine-dressers knew almost none of this. Disappointments alternated with disasters and after a year almost no pine tar had been produced. Discouragement set in as the Palatines realized what hard, filthy dirty work they were condemned to. And there was another factor--most pine tar was produced from Pitch Pines and closely related species. The White Pines of Livingston's forests were a poor source for pine tar.
The pine tar project on the Hudson had been almost certainly doomed to failure from its conception. Governor Hunter had to send soldiers to quell the growing dissatisfaction in the camps and to keep the Palatines working. Support dried up with a change of governments from Whig to Tory. One of Hunter's predecessors, a political enemy who hated Livingston, Edward Hyde--Lord Cornbury did everything in his power to sabotage the project. Governor Cornbury had been recalled in disgrace to London in 1708, but after a few years had managed to restore himself to the Queen's favor after inheriting his father's title Earl of Clarendon. As Secretary of the Treasury he blocked all funding for the Palatine tar making project, denying reimbursement of Hunter's expenses. By September 1712 Hunter was at the end of his financial resources and was forced to set the Palatines loose to fend for themselves to "accept any employment from farmers and others in this Province or New Jersey, until recalled by Proclamation" to return to the project. (They never were.)
Next week-- The Palatines, Part 2 Diaspora
Addenda--
Corner Butternut Rd. and Cemetery Rd.
Richfield Springs
Federal Corners rated not
one, but two NYSHMs
*see "It Happened Here--the Tough, Wiley Scotsman and his Diligent Vrouw". New York State Historical Markers: It Happened Here 6/30/13
**It turns out this Mohawk sachem had absolutely no authority to offer this land. Domestic issues were the province of the clan mothers, not male warriors and could only be reached by consensus of them all. Indeed, all matters were reached by consensus/compromise. If an individual/family and the clan were at loggerheads the only recourse was for the dissenters to move away. Throughout Iroquoia there were scattered villages of dissenters, often with peoples from different clans and even different tribes. Onaquaga was one of these. (see "Lost Towns of the Revolution." New York State Historical Markers: It Happened Here 8/7/16) The Schoharie Valley had at least two. The main one was called Wilder Hook by Dutch settlers and was a village of mainly Mohawk dissenters. Another village was predominantly Mohegan. Mohawks, Mohegans, Tuscororas, and Delawares could all be found there. The possibly even exists that that the sachem had not even offered Schoharie to the Palatines, but merely cited the Schoharie Valley as an example of how his people dealt with other people who did not fit in. We will probably never know.
The two problems Hunter's plan addressed stemmed from two long wars, the "War of the Grand Alliance" and the "War of Spanish Succession" that spanned the period of 1684 to 1713. During that period German peasants in the patchwork of tiny duchies and principalities along the lower Rhine (known collectively as the Palatinate) were driven first one way and then another by French armies and alliances of German forces, sometimes aided by the British. Crops and towns were burned, suspected partisans were put to the sword, and once prosperous farmers were impoverished by high taxes and the requisitioning of crops and livestock by occupying armies. The chaotic succession of rulers also demanded the populace follow first, Reformed, then Lutheran religious practises and back again, followed by Roman Catholic rites and beliefs. To add to their difficulties Europe was then in the grip of what today is recognized as the "little ice age" that caused winters to be long, summers to be wet and cold and livestock to perish and crops to rot or freeze. By early 1709 many desperate peasants had had enough and were on the move, down the Rhine to Amsterdam. At first the government of the Queen looked favorably on these, their Protestant brethren and with government and private charity enabled them to come to England. But soon the stream of refugees became a torrent! Thirteen thousand of the poorest, sickest people poured into southeast England and tent cities sprang up around London. What to do with all these people? A few thousand were transported to Ireland but many soon returned to the London area. Some were transported to the Carolinas, but it was said agents of some of the patent-holders there were making the situation worse by recruiting peasants in the Palatinate. A small group led by Rev. Joshua Kocherthal directly petitioned the Queen and were successfully settled in a town they called Neuberg (Newburgh) along the Hudson. But transportation to America was expensive. How to pay for it?
NEW
BURGH
SETTLED
1709, BY EXILES FROM
RHINE
PALATINATE, OUSTED BY
FRENCH,
GRANTED LAND HERE
BY
QUEEN ANNE; LED BY PASTOR,
JOSHUA
DE KOCKERTHAL
--originally on Rte 32, Newburgh
A second problem emerged from the wars. The British Navy burgeoned as demands to protect a growing mercantile fleet grew. Sturdy English oak could provide the ribbing and planking for new British ships. But tall, straight, strong, supple pine spars and masts could only be obtained abroad, and with them pine tar and "pitch." Pine tar was an essential waterproofing product used by shipbuilders and mariners. Mixed with hemp fibers (oakum) it was hammered into the spaces between hull planks to prevent leaks. Coating standing rigging (shrouds, ratlines), it prevented rotting of these essential support components. (Pine tar could be used to waterproof sailors' clothing and "Taring" and caulking were such essential maintenance tasks that British sailors were often called "tars".) Pitch was a sticky processed pine tar that hardened into a glossy waterproof shell. Collectively these were known as "naval stores." The pine forests bordering the Baltic Sea had been traditional sources of these naval stores but the wars had dramatically increased their cost, and revealed how vulnerable the supply lines were to these areas.
 |
| Palatine Park Rd., Germantown |
Robert Hunter's plan was to transport some 3000 Palatines to the shores of the Hudson River and settle them in two camps. There they would produce tar for the British government and work off the costs of their transportation to America. (As an inducement each family was promised 30 acres of land after they had worked off the costs of the voyage, but in fact no such land was set aside for this payment.) Robert Livingston sold the project a parcel of land, the "East Camp" and nearby pine stands. Livingston was contracted to be the victualer for the camps, producing daily quantities of bread and "ship's beer" for the workers. He also hoped that while some of the immigrants would continue to work producing pine tar, others could be induced to sign life-leases on his manor. (German peasants would become American peasants!) A second camp on the opposite side of the river, "West Camp" was established on land that the colony's assembly had taken back from its original patentee Capt. John Evans. Rev. Joshua Kockerthal, from the Newburgh settlement became the spiritual leader and spokesman for the West Campers.-
WEST
CAMP (sign missing)
SETTLED 1710 BY PALATINES
FROM THE RHINELAND FOR
PRODUCTION OF NAVAL STORES.
BUILT CHURCH AND SCHOOL
DURING FIRST WINTER.
Location: US 9W AT WEST CAMP
 |
| Rte 9W. West Camp |
 |
| Rte 30, Middleburgh |
About three thousand Palatines set out with Robert Hunter in ten ships. The Palatines, while recovering from the effects of their long, disease-ridden ocean voyage, in which some 470 died, built their settlements--four villages (Dorfs) in the East Camp and three in the West Camp. They quickly established churches and schools and began learning the trade of tar making.
 |
| Rte 9, Germantown |
Colony leaders had hired an "expert," John Bridger to teach the Palatines tar-making. He worked briefly with them, then returned to New England and found excuses not to return to New York, perhaps realizing but not willing to tell authorities that the Hudson pine tar project was likely to fail.
 |
| Rte. 9, Germantown |
In colonial times, pine tar was made by digging a conical shaped pit, with clay channels at the bottom leading to a collection barrel. It was filled with specially prepared pine trees and branches, stacked to drain into the clay channels. Covered with a layer of soil and mosses, a fire was built on top. Over a period of days, the pine logs would be converted to charcoal and and the pine tar boiled out of them, to be collected in the barrel at the bottom. Too cool or too hot a fire could result in either a disappointing yield, or a flaming disaster. To yield maximum tar, channels needed to be cut in the logs, through the outer bark into the inner bark, but not into the wood itself, (not unlike traditional techniques for collecting latex from rubber trees.)
Counter intuitively, the most tar could be produced, not from green wood but from trees that had been cut, grooved and seasoned for about two years. Unfortunately, the Palatine peasants, farmers and vine-dressers knew almost none of this. Disappointments alternated with disasters and after a year almost no pine tar had been produced. Discouragement set in as the Palatines realized what hard, filthy dirty work they were condemned to. And there was another factor--most pine tar was produced from Pitch Pines and closely related species. The White Pines of Livingston's forests were a poor source for pine tar.
The pine tar project on the Hudson had been almost certainly doomed to failure from its conception. Governor Hunter had to send soldiers to quell the growing dissatisfaction in the camps and to keep the Palatines working. Support dried up with a change of governments from Whig to Tory. One of Hunter's predecessors, a political enemy who hated Livingston, Edward Hyde--Lord Cornbury did everything in his power to sabotage the project. Governor Cornbury had been recalled in disgrace to London in 1708, but after a few years had managed to restore himself to the Queen's favor after inheriting his father's title Earl of Clarendon. As Secretary of the Treasury he blocked all funding for the Palatine tar making project, denying reimbursement of Hunter's expenses. By September 1712 Hunter was at the end of his financial resources and was forced to set the Palatines loose to fend for themselves to "accept any employment from farmers and others in this Province or New Jersey, until recalled by Proclamation" to return to the project. (They never were.)
Next week-- The Palatines, Part 2 Diaspora
Addenda--
Back on 12/31/14 I wrote an article It Happened Here -- N.Y.'s Ghost Towns. Recently I came across another striking example of a "New York Ghost town" a short distance south of Rte 20 in
Otsego County.
Corner Butternut Rd. and Cemetery Rd.
Richfield Springs
Federal Corners rated not
one, but two NYSHMs
 |
| Federal Corners, today. |
*see "It Happened Here--the Tough, Wiley Scotsman and his Diligent Vrouw". New York State Historical Markers: It Happened Here 6/30/13
**It turns out this Mohawk sachem had absolutely no authority to offer this land. Domestic issues were the province of the clan mothers, not male warriors and could only be reached by consensus of them all. Indeed, all matters were reached by consensus/compromise. If an individual/family and the clan were at loggerheads the only recourse was for the dissenters to move away. Throughout Iroquoia there were scattered villages of dissenters, often with peoples from different clans and even different tribes. Onaquaga was one of these. (see "Lost Towns of the Revolution." New York State Historical Markers: It Happened Here 8/7/16) The Schoharie Valley had at least two. The main one was called Wilder Hook by Dutch settlers and was a village of mainly Mohawk dissenters. Another village was predominantly Mohegan. Mohawks, Mohegans, Tuscororas, and Delawares could all be found there. The possibly even exists that that the sachem had not even offered Schoharie to the Palatines, but merely cited the Schoharie Valley as an example of how his people dealt with other people who did not fit in. We will probably never know.
