My love and passion for my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage extends deep and wide, much like my own family tree extends and roots in all directions back to the Palatinate of what is now the region of Southwest Germany, Switzerland, and the Alsace-Lorraine region. One of the many things I adore about our Deitsch culture is the diligence and importance our forebears placed upon record-keeping. A person of Deitsch descent can easily trace their lines back for centuries, and with the help of modern genealogy tools, one can find ship manifests to the Port of Philadelphia containing their ancestors’ names, birth and death documents, articles from old newspapers, pictures, stories, gravesites, and more to enrich one’s understanding of both their own bloodline, as well as the greater culture. We have a rich history of context and experience among us, thanks to the records kept by our forebears, as well as the oral transmission of folk traditions which needed to be protected within the sanctity of practice within our culture, that have allowed our ancestral records, folk traditions, cultural practices, and experiences to transcend beyond our limited experiences of our own lifetime. Genealogy, powered by the excellent records kept by our forebears, widens our scope of perception so we can personally, and culturally, understand where we came from, with intention of advancing ourselves, our families, and our beloved Pennsylvania Dutch culture forward into the future. The understanding of our cultural past is essential for the survival, advancement, and evolution of our culture because without understanding of where we came from and how we were shaped into the culture we are today, history will repeat itself, and we won’t be unified in our efforts, or prepared to take on what mainstream culture brings our way. Each of us can start with ourselves, and our own Deitsch ancestral lineages, and work our way outward.
My dive into genealogy took me down a rabbit hole of wonder. The intoxication of discovery kept me encapsulated for hours on end, proverbially travelling through another time with my Deitsch ancestors from all sides of my family, some Fancy Deitsch, some Plain Deitsch, all from the same Motherland with similar motivation for the same end goal- a better life, and the freedom to live that life as they wished to live it… as themselves. I revisit lines of my family tree periodically to explore as many of the nuances as I possibly can within specific lines of my family.
Most recently, I took a closer look at my Plain Deitsch, Amish- Mennonite, lines. My father’s mother was descended from Amish- Mennonite lines on both her maternal and paternal extensions, and thus, the same moving outward. This recent reflection was inspired by current events within our culture related to an Amish Farmer named Amos Miller in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, whose ongoing and recent injunctions and litigations against him and his raw milk / raw dairy food production and distribution to his private customers has not only made national headlines for its threat to individual autonomy over food choices, but such interference also threatens to Deitsch culture in a myriad of ways. I won’t wander too far off the trail with this next comment/question, but I will visit Amos Miller and our cultural history at greater length further on in this blog. Here is food for thought (pun intended); from a Pennsylvania Dutch cultural perspective, how is the government’s interference and injunctions now toward Miller any different than the suppression, oppression, and pressure for our culture to assimilate with mainstream culture, which truly extend back centuries to the statements put forth by Benjamin Franklin about our ethnicity and immigration, but particularly during the height of the anti-German sentiment in this country during WW1, in the years to follow as a result of fallout from the York Hex Murder, and ultimately during WW2 (leaving aside for now mainstream culture’s ignorance of our ancestors immigration before the nationalization of Germany, with completely different motivations and experiences for immigration than those who identified with Germany as a newly formed nation after the German Confederation formed in 1815 and the nation state officially became its own country in 1871).
Our Deitsch ancestors, those who immigrated from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania via the Port of Philadelphia between 1683 and (approximately) 1815 were driven to do so for various reasons, mostly stemming from holdover from the Thirty Years War which targeted, suppressed, and persecuted Religious expression and ignited rampant famine among an agricultural people. Our ancestors often bartered, begged, and worked off the cost of passage in port cities, such as Amsterdam, or in English ports, before earning their way to Pennsylvania, and some even sold their freedom into indentured servitude upon arrival in Pennsylvania in exchange for the cost of passage. The Amish- Mennonite were a small percentage of our Pennsylvania Dutch demographic who exiled the region of the Palatinate / Switzerland for the promises offered by William Penn in his Charter of Privileges of 1701 which granted citizens of the colony of Pennsylvania a number of basic freedoms- most significantly, freedom of worship and the right of individuals to speak their mind, according to William Penn- The Free Speech Center (firstamendment.mtsu.edu). Many Amish- Mennonite families immigrated because of direct religious persecution, or because of generational religious persecution that continued to impact our forebears with such factors as uprooting, famine, and fear. They lived under conditions of continuous threat in an unstable region.
During my recent genealogical revisit of my Amish-Mennonite heritage, I traveled down the rabbit hole of my Hershberger ancestral line. For context, my father is Martin Luther Wilt (Vield- on the ship’s manifest; Wild(e) in German); the maiden name of my father’s mother was Ida Mae Gindlesperger 1904-2006 (aka Mom Wilt); the maiden name of Ida’s mother was Elizabeth Hershberger 1862-1923. According to an article written by J. Virgil Miller which was published in the July 1999 quarterly publication of Mennonite Family History, which covered the Mennonite, Amish, and Brethren genealogy and family histories, my Amish Hershberger ancestors originated in Canton Basel, Switzerland, in the sixteenth century at the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. I was able to take my own family records back to Fridle Hershberger (1616-?). His grandson, Fridle “Herr” Hershberger (1680-12/12/1766) was also born in Basel-Stadt (Canton Basel), Switzerland; however, he died in Manheim, Rhineland-Pfalz, Palatinate (Germany). Fridle’s son, Christian H. Hershberger (abt. 1708-1770) was born in the Alsace region and he died in Bern Township, Berks County, colony of Pennsylvania. Christian, of whom I am a direct descendant of the 8th generation, was the first in my Hershberger line to immigrate to Pennsylvania after his family was displaced and had moved to the Palatinate prior to Christian’s own ability to immigrate. Christian and his wife, Barbara Rupp, arrived in the Port of Philadelphia aboard the Charming Nancy in 1737, along with their two children, Peter and Anna. There is record of Peter’s birth in Elasshausen, Alsace in 1736, as further evidence of the family’s displacement and movement. Christian and his family were members of the Northkill Amish Settlement in Berks County, as were other Plain lines of my family, such as the Berkey line. Christian and Barbara’s son, Christian Hershberger (5/11/1745-1815) was part of the migration of Amish families away from Northkill Amish Settlement to the Somerset Amish Settlement which formed in 1770 and continues to thrive today.
The article by Miller in Mennonite Family History detailed the religious persecution suffered by my Hershberger ancestors in Switzerland, which highlighted the generational movement explained above, and eventually Christian and Barbara’s immigration to Pennsylvania where they were promised the freedom to settle, live, and worship in peace. Miller wrote that in 1529, Hans Hershberger of Laufelfingen was in a disputation with the Basel reformer, Oecolampadius. Hans and his wife were banned from the territory, and were later imprisoned in Basel after they returned. In 1531, Jackli Hershberger refused to serve in the military and therefore in 1535 his tongue and two fingers were cut off after he returned to the territory after banishment for his refusal to serve against his religious beliefs. In 1581, Hans Hershberger of Laufelfingen was arrested for being a Taufer; he spent eight weeks in prison before he was banished and forced to leave behind his wife and five children. In 1588, Heini Hershberger, most likely a son of Hans, was also brought before the court for being a Taufer (Anabatist). This brings me to Fridle Hershberger, who was taken to the border, along with his wife in 1616, and banished. Fridle and his wife did return, and the authorities did leave them alone. Fridli’s son, or nephew, Fridle Hershberger, was arrested in 1678 and taken to Basel where he was banished after a hearing; he went to live in the Anabaptist communities in the Alsace region. In his article, Miller explains that the Alsace region was ruled by the Catholic bishop of Basel at that time, who allowed them to stay there for a while. He further explained that the Hershberger’s were from the Protestant part of Canton Basel where the authorities were equally as zealous in expelling Anabaptists as the Reformed church was in Canton Bern. For a few generations, the Hershberger name disappeared from Taufer (Anabaptist) notices. Then, after the French Revolution, all people living in France were placed on civil lists, at which time, the Hershberger name appeared again in the Alsace region. Meanwhile, we know Christian’s father had left the Alsace region for the Palatinate after exile from Switzerland, as the family name also continued in the alps of France.
The history of my Hershberger family line is typical of those of us with Plain Deitsch ancestry, and conditions prior to immigration were not much better for our Fancy Deitsch (non-Anabaptist; comprised mostly of Protestant Reformed, a smaller percentage of Catholic, and a minority of heathen) ancestors. Whether Plain or Fancy, our ancestors came here to participate in William Penn’s “Holy Experiment,” that is Penn’s colony of Pennsylvania which he “decided to make a haven for people of all religions and national backgrounds, in which people would live together in peace,” according to The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens—Pennsylvania Colony: The Holy Experiment. Certainly, there was room for our Deitsch ancestors to settle and establish their respective communities. So much so that we flourished within those communities, developing our own culture, language, art, and folk traditions based upon our roots within our Motherland, and collaboration with each other as we worked together to build ourselves strong as the people who became known as “The Pennsylvania Dutch.”
Our forebears were not here long, thriving within the communities they created, before they caught the attention of prominent statesmen and figures, such as Benjamin Franklin, who were fearful of the droves of Palatinate immigrants making their way to Pennsylvania and who refused to assimilate with mainstream culture. In a 1755 essay titled, “Observations Concerning the Increasing of Mankind, Peopling, and Countries,” Franklin made the following remarks, and he also stated clearly the kind of people he wished to see in the colonies:
“… And since Detachments of English from Britain sent to America, will have their Places at Home so soon supply’d and increase so largely here; why should the Palatine Boors [used as an ethnic slur to mean German farmer; peasant] be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion. Which leads me to add one Remark: That the Number of purely white People in the World is proportionally very small. All Africa is black or tawny. Asia chiefly tawny. America (exclusive of the new Comers) wholly so. And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians, and Swedes are generally of what we call a swarthy Complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who with the English, make the principal Body of White People on the Face of the Earth. I could wish their Numbers were increased. And while we are, as I may call it, Scouring our Planet, by clearing America of Woods, and so making this Side of our Globe reflect a brighter Light of the Eyes of Inhabitants in Mars or Venus, why should we in the Sight of Superior Beings, darken its People? Why increase the Sons of Africa, by Planting them in America, where we have so fair an Opportunity, by excluding all Blacks and Tawneys, of increasing the lovely White and Red? But, perhaps I am partial to the complexion of my Country, for such Kind of Partiality is natural to Mankind.” Two tears prior to this essay, Franklin wrote a letter to a man named Peter Collinson, in which he outlined his concerns about the Palatinate (German) immigrants to America, stating: “Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own Nation…” Franklin’s recorded prejudice and fear of the strength, cohesion, and tenacity of our ancestors foreshadows the following two hundred years of suppression and oppression our culture and language suffered, with near-extinction of our language and some of our more intimate, occult folk practices, such as Braucherei / Hexerei.
Anti-German sentiment in America ramped up alongside ignorance of our cultural identity in the early 1900’s, during World War 1. As stated earlier, our forebears immigrated during a specific timeframe from German-speaking regions in the Palatinate (Southwest Germany), Switzerland, Alsace, even some of the German-speaking alps regions of Austria, before Germany had become a nation. Mainstream pressure to assimilate, along with the felt tension only continued to increase in 1928 following the York Hex Murder, in which one Braucherei/Hexerei practitioner, John Blymire, along with two other men, murdered another local Braucherei/Hexerei practitioner, named Nelson Rehmeyer, because Blymire believed Rehmeyer had cursed him. In a struggle to procure Rehmeyer’s grimoire (spell book) to remove the hex he believed Rehmeyer placed upon him, Blymire and the two other men killed Rehmeyer. The homicide and events surrounding it became a spectacle; the folk tradition of Braucherei/Hexerei was exploited in national media, with misperception of our most tightly kept practices splattered across the front pages of newspapers. The Pennsylvania governor and authorities tightened their grip on the “backward Dutch” and intensified pressure to upon our communities for integration. Of course, World War 2 came to follow, and only made matters worse. Our language was largely no longer taught at home, scolded when spoken at school, and folk practices such as Braucherei/Hexerei were underground and in danger of extinction among the Fancy Deitsch communities who were more likely to practice such arts than their Plain counterarts. It was not uncommon for local and federal authorities to raid homes within Deitsch neighborhoods and communities during World War 2, looking for Nazi sympathizers and spies. Tensions were high, and comprehension of our people and our culture was low. Both Fancy and Plain Deitsch people, coming from the region and circumstances previously discussed, kept to themselves within their own communities, and did not necessarily believe in a centralized government; they wished to live freely among themselves, and respectfully with others, but given the experiences of their own ancestors on the road behind them, mistrust of government and separation from the mainstream of society was natural.
The Plain Deitsch took separation from government/mainstream society a few steps further. The Amish especially, in that they typically do not use electricity or modern systems for living, such as technology, though each community is different, and exceptions are made for reasons of business. The Amish do pay taxes; however, they do not pay into Social Security because they see it as a form of insurance, and they do not believe in such systems, rather they rely on their community to take care of one another, with their church as the “hub” of their respective communities. They are taught to respect and pray for governing authorities, according to the bible; however, when caught between their conscience and civic law, they are taught to “Obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29), according to Elizabethtown College: Government- Amish Studies (https://groups.etown.edu), who also related that the Amish emphasize separation between church and state. They usually avoid holding positions of public authority, though they are permitted to vote, they usually avoid doing so unless a local issue of importance to them is on the ballot. Numerous issues over the years have pitted the Amish against regulatory power of the state, so the Amish formed a national steering committee with representatives in various states who work with legislators when issues arise. This point brings me back to my earlier mention of current events in the Amish community surrounding Amos Miller, the organic farmer located in Bird-In-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who produces and sells raw milk and raw dairy food products to his private customers. Amos’s private customers are making clear, conscious decisions about the food the wish to consume, along with the risk of consumption, for the health benefits and personal reasons they choose to do so.
The federal government’s involvement with Amos began in 2015 and has been ongoing in various ways. Lawsuits and injunctions upon Amos have been ongoing over the years, with fines racking up, and even came down on him for raising money via GoFundMe to offset his legal fees and purchase required farm equipment. The inspections of Miller’s farm stemmed from two cases of Listeria that were likely traced back to his farm. Miller was fined $250,000.00 for Contempt of Court charges, as well as other “enforcement costs” for the inspectors; the Federal government later called for Miller to be imprisoned for not paying his fines in the ongoing court battle, yet they also had a problem with the way he was earning money to pay his fines and costs with GoFundMe, as Amos received contributions from all over the country; he is an Amish Organic Farmer with government injunctions against him for the very job he does to earn a living). Miller then wanted to fire his public defender so he could hire someone else, but the judge would not allow that to happen; luckily, Los Angeles attorney, Robert Barnes jumped in and took over his Defense, and in 2023, Amos was able to pay off all of his fines and costs. Then, on January 4, 2024, his farm was raided again, and all his food was confiscated and restricted from sale, though it was retained on Amos’s property where he had to continue to pay for electricity to keep it fresh, though he was not allowed to sell it, or even have samples tested by independent laboratories for his Defense. On January 24, 2024, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture sued Miller again, and at his hearing January 29th, the Judge asked Robert Barnes why Miller does not obtain a permit to sell raw milk without comprehension of the overall issue at hand; a raw milk permit would restrict Miller from producing other raw dairy food products, such as the eggnog and yogurt, which his customers demand for their preference and health, therefore infringing upon the rights of Miller and all those who wish autonomy over their own body and food choices. There are many nuances and events in the Amos Miller case I did not cover here. I urge you to read all you can about the happenings with him and his farm and to get involved. The outcome of his case will set a precedent that will affect everyone when it comes to food freedom; even more so, the disposition of his case will shape Pennsylvania Dutch culture moving forward in a myriad of ways, moving us away from the agriculturally centered people we have always been, toward the fully integrated culture mainstream society/ government always wanted us to be. Whenever I speak about, or advocate for Amos, I am asked, “why is the government picking on an Amish Farmer? Surely, he doesn’t have that many customers that he is cutting into profits of industrialized agriculture? Surely, he is not a threat? What is going on? It doesn’t make sense…” My answer is this:
“The Amish are a soft target. Traditionally, they do not fight back, as they generally believe in forgiveness and walking away over litigation. The government continually uses two illnesses from several years ago as their grounds to continually go after him, which tells me they are grabbing low hanging fruit—it is something to hold onto, to get their foot in the door. If they can topple one organic farm like Miller’s Organic Farm with 4,000 (private) customers across the country, they will set a legal precedence, and the rest will go down like dominoes.”
Our Pennsylvania Dutch culture is a culture rich in our history, practices, art, food, folk practices, and traditions. We are blessed with the technology and networking abilities now to bring us closer together as a culture and community by researching our own Deitsch bloodlines, and bridging distance gaps to become involved with one another. Even our language is making a comeback; there are currently numerous opportunities to learn the language, including Berks County History Center, Robert L. Schreiwer at Bucks County Community College, and Doug Madenford’s Pennsylvania Dutch 101 YouTube classes. Learning the language is an excellent way to connect with your roots as well as revive part of our culture that was once suppressed. Investing in ourselves as Deitch persons helps us invest in one another within our respective Deitsch communities; support for one another is the way for future generations to carry our culture’s skills and arts forward in ways that are both authentic and congruent with the changing times. Along the way, it is important to remember, within the Deitsch community, we must stay cohesive and strong, as it is the integrity of our community, whether Fancy or Plain, no matter what your religious beliefs may be under your Fancy Deitsch umbrella, or your political leaning, our ethnicity is the same, we are one. Our ways are till called into question and challenged by mainstream society. We must have each other’s backs, we are not each other’s enemy, there has never been a more ample opportunity to pull together than right now, and I believe the nearly $250,000.00 donated by people nationwide to support Amos prior to his January 29th, 2024, hearing is evidence of what people can do when they band together.
History repeats itself if we do not know it, so I urge you to take pride in your Deitsch heritage, dive down your own genealogy rabbit hole, and discover that our forebears shared similar experiences that shaped our own lives and brought us where we are today. Let’s use what we know, and use what we have, to advance our Pennsylvania Dutch culture forward.
By Gretchen Swank
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