German Connection:
Germans migrated to the New
World for many reasons. The Palatine Region near
Heidelberg had been ravaged
by the "Thirty Years War" from 1618 until 1648. After this
period a meager existance was
the best life could offer the poor peasant farmers who were
constantly in a stage of conflict
and chaos. Peasants were at the mercy of every maurading
soldier and thieves ravaged
the inhabitants.
With the exception of church
records kept during this period it is difficult to find data which
documents the lineage of other
than the wealthy or the politically well to do. Record
keeping was dictated by local
governments and the general practice of record keeping was
markedly influenced by state
supported church practices in each local area.
It is no wonder that when William
Penn who was the son of a german mother offered
peasants in the Rheinland valley
the chance for a new life on his newly acquired lands in the
new world many made the difficult
journey by ship to Pennsylvania. One such immigrant
was Johannes Jacob Buss who
with his wife Anna Catharina arrived in Philadelphia 11
September 1732 on the ship "Pennsylvania
Merchant." Their arrival is listed in the three
volume classic "Pennsylvania
German Pioneers" by Ralph Strassburger and William
Hinke.