Conrad Zinn

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The Pennsylvania Dutch Both Conrad and Elizabeth (Newman) Zinn were born in the heart of "Pennsylvania Dutch" country, southeastern Pennsylvania. Conrad’s great grandparents, John Frederick and Anna Sophia (Schneider) Zinn, immigrated to North America in 1738 from Germany. The story of the Pennsylvania Dutch begins in Germany, not Holland. Most of the German immigrants came to North America in the first half of the eighteenth century, culminating in large numbers between 1750 and 1754.754 Most settled initially in southeastern Pennsylvania. They came mainly from a region of Germany known as the Palatinate;755 this is the Rhineland area of southwestern Germany. Most immigrants embarked at Rotterdam, sometimes directly to North America but often via Great Britain.756 Many could not pay their passage. The only thing they had of value was their own services. They came as indentured servants (usually indentured for 4 years) and were called redemptioners.757 The Palatinate Germans referred to themselves as Deitsch, a corruption of the High German Deutsch, meaning "folk" or an inhabitant of Germany;758 hence they became known as the Dutch, or more specifically the Pennsylvania Dutch, since most settled in southeastern Pennsylvania. Many, perhaps most, came to North America to escape religious persecution, but economics played a role as well. Often religious and economic persecution go hand-in-hand. Martin Luther's break with the Catholic Church in the early sixteenth century resulted in two major Protestant religions in Germany: the Lutheran and the Reformed (or Calvinist) elements. Both faiths had much in common; for example, meeting in church edifices and similar doctrines. The early Lutheran Church followed more closely the teaching of Luther (in many respects not unlike those of the Roman Catholic Church) and was favored by noblemen and dissident Catholic churchmen. The Reformed element was a simpler religion, its followers coming mainly from tradesmen and peasants.759 There were also splinter groups, who opposed formal religion, collectively called the plain people, or house Germans, because of their austere dress and the practice of worshipping in homes. These major sects were the Amish and Mennonites; the Moravarians probably also could be included here.760 After the Reformation, large and small conflicts raged throughout Germany, usually in the name of religion; but as often as not politics were involved. The Palatinate, at one time one of the most productive and progressive farming areas of central Europe, suffered greatly, especially the peasants and others at the bottom of the political and economic ladder. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 recognized the Lutheran faith, but not the Reformed element, whose followers were mainly from the Palatinate.761 There followed between 1618 and 1648 the Thirty Years Wars, again in the name of religion but to a great extent politically inspired.762 Parts of the Palatinate were completely devastated, and again the peasants mainly suffered. In 1649, the Peace of Westphalia brought for a time a semblance of tolerance amongst the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed faiths.763 Late in the seventeenth century, the Palatinate was contested by the Catholics of France on one side and the mainly Lutheran princes of northern Europe on the other. This is sometimes called the War of the Palatinate. The French army was ordered to “bruler le Palatinate,” to make the Palatinate uninhabitable. Entire cities were gutted; most villages and farms were burned. During this time religious persecution began in earnest. The electors of the Palatinate changed their religion four times in as many reigns and the people were expected to follow suit. The Peace of Augsburg stipulated that the religion of the subject must follow the religion of the ruler—and most of the electors were either Lutherans or Catholics. The Reformed Palatinate Germans suffered especially during the reign of the Catholic elector Philip William. He was considered a competent and fair ruler, but completely intolerant in religious matters. The last straw appeared to be a climatic event, the severe winter of 1707. Although Palatinate Germans had been trickling into North America as early as the 1660's, emigration from the Palatinate started in earnest in 1709. Another reason the great movements started at that time was because a refugium then existed in North America, thanks to William Penn having been granted large tracts of lands (which were to benefit his Society of Friends) in North America by King Charles II. Penn actively solicited Palatinate Germans to help populate these vast tracts.764 Usually the entire life savings of the family was spent for the passage, or, as indicated, they came as indentured servants. There are numerous accounts of their voyages across the Atlantic, and these would indicate the passage varying from quite unpleasant to utterly tragic for entire families.765 So extensive was the emigration of Reformed Germans from the Palatinate that today this region of Germany is said to be predominately Catholic.

Contents Introduction Generation One Generation Two Generation Three Generation Four Generation Five Generation Six Generation Seven The Newmans The Pennsylvania Dutch End Notes

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