My Ancestors in Early Pennsylvania Settlers
Community History
English Quakers founded Pennsylvania as a bastion freedom and tolerance. Thousands of German, Swiss, and Scots followed, drawn by the promise of freedom and acres of rich farmland. Their industry and success raised Pennsylvania to prominence among the American colonies. Their soldiers helped ensure a Union victory in the Civil War, and they went on to leave their stamp on the settling and culture of the American Midwest.
Fleeing the Ravages of War (1725–1750)
Thousands of Swiss and German immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Many came to escape the lingering devastation from decades of war and marauding armies razing villages and destroying crops in their homelands. They tended to come as families, and many arrived as indentured servants owing between two and seven years of labor to pay off their passage. Although Switzerland remained relatively untouched by war, its feudal system made life miserable for most, and the monarchy’s tight-fisted policies controlling religion compelled many Swiss to leave.
New Battles (1750–1775)
After years of living relatively peacefully with local Native American groups, settlers on the frontier found themselves caught in the fighting of the French and Indian War. Settlements emptied as families fled to larger towns for protection, and many men joined the fight on the British side. Pennsylvanians used new roads to move troops and supplies for the war, and as the fighting stopped, farmers used those roads to push even further west. Wherever they went, the “Pennsylvania Dutch” left their mark, from the German they spoke to the iconic two-story barns they built.
The Impact of Independence (1775–1825)
Pennsylvania farmers had turned the colony into America’s breadbasket by the time the Revolutionary War began. Thousands of Pennsylvanians fought in the Revolution, while others raised crops to feed the army. With the opening of Ohio after the war, many Pennsylvania residents started moving west again. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 linked the east to the west, beckoning the land-hungry and restless descendants of Pennsylvania’s early settlers. Ohio’s population increased from 45,000 in 1800 to over 2 million in 1850, including many German-speakers from Pennsylvania.
Wheels of Progress (1825–1850)
Coal mining and iron production were changing the face and character of Pennsylvania as the state embraced the Industrial Revolution. However, at mid-century, most of the state’s population still worked in agriculture. Wheat was the major crop, but machinery like threshers and harvesters were beginning to transform farming. At the same time, the Main Line of Public Works, a series of roads, rail, and canals, between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, promoted trade between eastern and western markets. In 1834, Pennsylvania passed a law to provide free public schools—though some German speakers worried about losing their language and preferred their own schools.
War & Growth (1850–1900)
Pennsylvania’s early settlers praised the freedom they had found in America. New York provided the Union with more soldiers than Pennsylvania during the Civil War, and the state was a major source of food, coal, iron, and other supplies as well as manpower. After the war, some descendants of Pennsylvania’s early settlers kept moving west along the “German belt,” settling in neighboring Ohio and Indiana. Others joined German populations in Buffalo or Chicago. They brought along their traditions of breweries, beer gardens, and gymnastic/social clubs known as Turnverein.
Sauerkraut Becomes ‘Liberty Cabbage’ (1900–1925)
At the turn of the century, Pennsylvania was a world-renowned manufacturing center. Many of the descendants of the state’s early German settlers now lived in or around cities and industrial areas and worked in factories, shops, and mills from Philadelphia to Chicago. War years were boom times for Pennsylvania and Ohio as factories met demands for everything from woolen blankets to armaments, and farmers enjoyed high prices for wheat.
Down & Back Up Again (1925–1950)
The Depression hit single-industry towns like Altoona (railroads) and Reading (textiles), steel towns like Pittsburgh, and hundreds of small coal mining towns especially hard. In Philadelphia, unemployment, foreclosures, and evictions skyrocketed. The state’s government initially blocked some New Deal programs, and by 1932, Pennsylvania had more families looking for relief than any other state in the country. In Ohio, more than a third of factory workers and two-thirds of construction workers were out of work, and teachers in Cleveland took pay cuts. World War II got the states’ economic engines started again, and more women joined the workforce during the war.
A Changing Landscape (1950–1975)
Defense work had lured Easterners to West Coast cities during World War II, and some continued to move west. Those who stayed saw changes at home. Even while some cities embarked on urban renewal projects, like Pittsburgh’s Renaissance I, families kept moving to the suburbs. Manufacturing began faltering, a harbinger of the decline of the steel industry that would hit cities like Youngstown and Allentown hard. On the brighter side, Philadelphia’s American Bandstand broadcast new music to America’s teenagers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates brought home World Series titles.
My Life's Journey 