“Having been several times kindly invited, I dined with
P.W., a respectable paper-maker in the neighborhood of Merion, where I spent
the afternoon pleasantly. The situation is beautifully romantic, being in a
deep narrow valley, the steep hills on each side of which are covered with
wood. The mill, which would be
considered as an extensive one even in England, is almost wholly employed in
making writing and printing paper, with large quantities of which he supplies
the printers and stationers in Philadelphia.
During the visit he gave me a little history of his life.
About twenty years (before), being then twelve years of age, he left Mentz, his
native place in Germany, accompanied by his father who died on the passage to
this country. Being that class of emigrants called redemptionists[1]
. . . P.W. on the arrival of the ship in the Delaware, was hired by Henry
Drinker, and was employed about the house as a waiting boy and assistant to the
girls in the kitchen. After spending nearly four months in this family, and having acquired the
English language, he had the good sense to discern, that it would be more to
his interest to be taught some manufacture and requested liberty of his master
to be put apprentice to a paper-maker, which was readily granted, although his
first indenture was not yet expired.
After having obtained a knowledge of the manufacture
of paper, he by industry and care, acquired sufficient property and credit to
enable him to begin business which he has, now, for several years, carried on
to advantage. I never was in a paper
mill where the business was managed with more neatness and order. As I sat in
the house it was pleasant to reflect on such an instance of successful industry.”
[1] Proceedings and addresses,
Volume 28, By Pennsylvania-German Society. p.
60:
“When the Germans arrived in America … if they were poor or had no
well-to-do friends, they were compelled to sell themselves for a number of
years to people who in return paid their passage money. This system of redemptioning,
as it was called, was in itself not particularly unjust, but so many abuses
arose that it became a public scandal. In the first place, many Germans, as
mentioned before, came to America in the belief that they would be met by the
representatives of the newlanders, who would furnish them opportunities for
work, so that they could earn the expenses of the voyage in a short time. When
they arrived they were obliged to sell themselves to people who were utter
strangers to them. This sudden transition from independence to servitude undoubtedly
created unspeakable hardship. The time of servitude was often considerably
lengthened because the survivors had to pay the passage money of those who died
at sea. They were at times required to pay even for the food which the dead
would have bought.” Outlines other problems, such as children being sold by
“unscrupulous captains” without the knowledge of their parents, who is some
cases were sick on board the ship.” Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=7tSwAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19&dq#v=onepage&q=webb&f=false
p. 65: “The system of redemptioning was still in vogue after the
War for Independence.”
p. 67 talks about the plight of PA Germans during the French and
Indian war
